Campa Family

Halloween

2010-11-19T15:06:00.004-05:00

We had a fantastic Halloween.
Addison really grasped the idea of trick-or-treating,
well the taking of candy anyway, right out of people's hands or buckets!

Our little Tinkerbell

Ginny Weasley & Luna Lovegood

the witches of Hogwarts and the pirate

I can't get enough of her!!!

Meka & I went as "Vanilla & Chocolate"

Something to talk about

2010-08-16T21:57:00.002-04:00

There have been many "somethings" to talk about over the last neglected blogging year, but let's start with the biggies...

This past Thursday Brian and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. I am so grateful to have him in my life. Here's to the next 10 years(and many more)!

Last week Cassidy broke her leg in a bicycle collision. The poor girl has a full leg cast that will be on for 6-8 weeks, followed by a 4 week half leg cast, and then a boot for another 4 weeks. She is out of soccer, tennis, and anything active for 6 months! Fortunately for her, school starts back in 1 week, I think she's had enough Wii and TV to last a lifetime! I know it must be difficult for her to have to depend on someone else for every little thing, from getting a drink, to going to the bathroom, and getting up and down our many stairs(I should have some decent muscles by the end of this!) My heart just breaks for her. Her friends have been great, bringing activities and gifts and treats, and spending time with her. They are each excited to take turns pushing her around in her wheelchair at school.

Chloe has adjusted to being the sole person in charge of the daily chores, though a bit begrudgingly. She is very excited to start back to school and see all of her friends that she has missed over the summer due to several vacations(next post I promise.)

Addison, well, where to start? She's now 20 months old and rules the roost. She has a strong will, one that I fight throughout the day, whether it's her outfit, shoes, food or the biggest-sitting in her high chair to eat. She always gives in with a smile in the end, when she sees that I'm not going to budge. This strong will regulary leads to throwing herself on the floor and semi-screaming for about 30 seconds. Then she picks herself up off the ground and gives up the fight. So yes, she's a handful, BUT she is also a little sweetheart. She loves to blow kisses and receive kisses(but rarely gives them). Before she goes to sleep she has to receive a kiss from everyone in the family. She LOVES music and will dance to any song. Her favorites are any Taylor Swift song and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now." She enjoys conducting music and singing along at church, though she has to be the one holding the book... She's not a huge fan of being away from her mom and dad, but after a few minutes of top-of-her-lungs screaming, she usually settles in just fine. She says many words and even more incoherent words that only she understands. She has a massive amount of hair that always seems to be in her face. One of the cutest things is watching her push the hair out of her face(that sounds lame now that I write it, but it really is cute!) She loves to "go bye-bye" and gets her shoes, and my shoes and purse as soon as she decides it's time. She adores her big sisters and wants to be just like them. She loves having her picture taken, but you better get it on the first try because there is NO guarantee that she will be willing to take a second one. Now let's back up a bit(if you're still reading)...At 15 months of age I was getting pretty tired of her crawling around and tearing up the knees of clothes, and that she couldn't wear any of her dresses(which was most of her wardrobe!) So I took matters into my own hands. I took her to the park, rolled up her leggings and let her scratch up her knees. She did not like this at all, so she started walking. Really? That's all it took, making my kid get bloody knees??? Why didn't I think of that sooner? Well now I know and am passing on the advice to anyone in need of it. Her cute little walk is more of a waddle, it always makes me laugh. She is a beautiful, sweet, and opinionated little girl, and I love her dearly.

Anyone want to hear about Hawaii?

Merry Christmas from the Campa Family

2009-12-25T11:04:00.001-05:00

The big 8!!!

2009-12-05T00:26:00.002-05:00

Today Chloe and Cassie are 8 years old. It has, as everyone says, flown by, but yet it seems like they've always been with us. It is such a blessing to have 2 wonderful, kind, thoughtful, loving, brave, spritual, and just amazing girls. Brian & I love them so very much. And Addison adores them completely.
Next Saturday they will be baptized into our church. They have been counting down the days until their baptism for quite some time now. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the incredible family that I have.

We are having a surprise birthday party for the girls in, well, 7.5 hours...It is a surprise for their friends as well, which is a fun twist.

The breakfast extravaganza will be followed by Gator Day! And then I will sing in a concert in the evening, with another on Sunday. It's a jam packed weekend. Oh, and Addison's birthday is in 5 days!!! So much to do, so little time.

My Resume (not for hire)

2009-10-07T15:01:00.004-04:00

This post is all about me, well, sort-of. I just want everyone to understand why it is that I don't post very often. Here's what my life entails (my commitments):

for me:
Chords of Faith-Treasurer/accountant, and of course I sing in the choir
Tennis-playing on ALTA and soon to be USTA leagues each week (plus practices)

for kids:
PTA-too many jobs, averaging around 12 hours a week
Girl Scouts-just started our own troop (I know, what was I thinking?)
Chauffeur-soccer, tennis, playdates...
Piano lessons-I'm just an amateur, but it beats paying someone to teach them!
Voice lessons-not as much an amateur, and they love to sing
Tennis lessons-they prefer me to the tennis lessons I paid for, so here we go again

for church:
Choir director
Ward roadshow-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

for family:
all that household stuff
lots of lovin'
and of course there's my full-time job-ADDISON

for job:
work about 20 hours a week

SO, to keep myself sane, I watch football, exercise (though I would like to do much more than I do), play with my friends, and try to have lots of quality time with the fam. And best of all, I take a leave of absence during the summers from almost everything! (except work unfortunately) To sum it all up, there's not much time for blogging...

Fun pictures of C&C

2009-09-25T20:02:00.001-04:00

My friend Deanne is in photography school, and has taken some great pictures of Chloe and Cassidy. Here are my favorites:

Chloe underwater

Cassie

9 months

2009-09-25T19:59:00.002-04:00

Addison update:
She is all over the place, and is definitely not afraid of falling down the stairs
-I have caught her by the leg on more than one occasion...
She does not like organic food, she would much rather have whatever daddy is eating!
According to my friends, she is good for babysitters
(hopefully they aren't trying to make me feel better.)
She can finally get to a sitting position on her own
She got 4 top teeth in this past weekend
And best of all, she knows how to smile for the camera!!!

AGC-8

2009-08-19T10:49:00.001-04:00

Our little cutie is 8 months old!
She got to spend all summer long with family,
who loved to hold her, kiss her, and feed her all sorts of new and interesting food...
She got her bottom 2 teeth in at 7 months, but none since then.
She is sitting like a champ and hates to lie down.
She hasn't figured out how to get from laying down to sitting up,
nor is she crawling in the forward direction
--just scooching backwards, which infuriates her!
She is very mild tempered, has the best smile and is a fantastic sleeper.
However, she despises the falling asleep part,
I think she just wants to be part of the party.
She misses her entertaining sisters while they are at school
--I'm nowhere near as funny as they are.
When daddy comes home, she knows he's going to scoop her right up off the floor.
He's starting to speak Spanish to her, hopefully her big sisters will catch on too.
Oh and did I mention her luscious cheeks!?!

Back to School Pool Time Fun

2009-08-19T09:22:00.001-04:00

Chloe and Cassie have a great group of friends at school.
They all get along really well and have a lot of fun together.
It will be fun to watch them grow up over the years.

First Day of School and New Do's

2009-08-14T10:32:00.002-04:00

Chloe & Cassie
2nd Graders!

School started this past Monday. I was extremely tempted to tell the school that Chloe and Cassie had the swine flu, just so I could have a few more weeks with them. However, they were very eager to get back to school and see all of their friends, and especially to start 2nd grade!

Along with a new grade came new hair-do's. Chloe and Cassie both researched online the hair style they wanted, printed the pictures and took them to the salon. Chloe is the one in purple with the short bob. Cassie was supposed to stay long, but ended up picking a hair-cut pretty similar to Chloe's, just a tad bit longer. So much for people being able to tell them apart by their hair length...

2009-08-14T08:07:00.002-04:00

Ok, so my big mistake yesterday(AT&T email that went out to everyone I've ever contacted, and even made it's way to my blog, 3 times!) has prompted me to finally post on here. Sometimes you have to hit the bottom before you can make your way back up, right?

5 Months Old

2009-05-12T11:57:00.002-04:00

It's about time I share some pictures and tidbits about our little princess. Addison's nicknames include: The Princess, Addi-Boo, and Bugaboo. She is 5 months old already, I can hardly believe it. She is a very easy baby. She loves to be looked at, and talked to. She is in heaven when daddy comes home, because he immediately picks her up and carries her all over the place. In contrast, I hardly ever carry her around, I would never get anything done! Addison is such a smiley, happy baby. The only time she fusses is when she's hungry, tired, or needs a diaper change. She is quite the trooper hanging out in her stroller while I play tennis or go running. Fortunately she loves to be outside and have the wind blowing in her face. She enjoys her tubby time, even having water poured on her head-just as long as I'm singing to her all the while. Her favorite songs are The Wheels on the Bus(motions done with her feet instead of hands), our Goodmorning song, and a song that I made up to the melody of My Humps! She started eating food last week once we realized that she is very interested in that stuff that daddy is putting in his mouth at dinner time(she of course sits on his lap at dinner every night.) Carrots were first, and today we will start in with peas. Hopefully this will jumpstart a love for vegetables. She gets so excited when we call daddy on the phone, she just smiles and jabbers away. Recently she has started trying to eat the phone, so we may need to improvise. Last week she discovered her feet and plays with them all the time. 2 days ago her feet and mouth met, and have become best friends. Chloe and Cassie absolutely adore her. They read to her, sing to her, play with her, take her on walks, and get her out of her crib. Oh and they change her diapers (wet only). She scooches around a little bit on her belly, I do NOT look forward to her crawling. Maybe we'll just keep her on her back so she doesn't learn to crawl quite yet! Most importantly, she has been sleeping through the night 7-7 for a month now, with an occasional 5am snack. I feel well rested most days, and if not, it's my own fault...

All in all, she is heaven sent. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

The Ligon Family

2009-04-20T08:08:00.001-04:00

Spring Break

2009-04-20T07:58:00.003-04:00

How much can someone cram in to one week of spring break? Here's a quick list of our fun times: visiting Katherine and her new baby(resulting in an off road adventure for my girls and myself), Erin's lacrosse game, eating out with my dad, games, bowling, tennis, the Science Center, Wet 'n Wild(only once though cause it was too cold the other days), and we spent a few days in Vero with Ma-eating at a yummy Japanese steak house and then the fantastic Easter Party. Becca wrote about this much more thoroughly, so please read her blog(I'm going to cut and paste some of what she wrote, sorry for ripping you off Becca!) http://thedanguyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-is-in-air.html

My Song...by Angie

2009-03-02T13:22:00.003-05:00

Angie wrote these words and sung them to "The Tide is High"

The notes are high but I sing right on
The Florida Gators are number one

I'm not the kind of girl
Who does anything halfway
Oh, no

You don’t need the rule book
When you play with me
There’s a reason they call me
The game Nazi
(bridge)

That movie looks great but Brian has his doubts
It must be time for a girls’ night out
(bridge)

Today I am thirty and Im feeling great
We’ll party like it is 1988

I'm not the kind of girl
Who does anything halfway
Oh, no

The notes are high but I sing right on
The Florida Gators are number one
Number one, number one

The fantastic 80's

2009-03-02T13:15:00.001-05:00

For my 30th birthday we had a totally radical 80's party! Everyone came fully dressed as if they had walked straight out of the 80's...Goodwill had a lot of business from us this past week. We had such a great time getting ready for the party, seeing everyone in their fantastic outfits, and singing karaoke to our fave 80's songs(despite technical malfunctions.) Megan won best female outfit, wearing a red jacket with major shoulder pads, red tights, and perfectly teased hair! Josh Petty won best male, dressed as a character(who though?) with awesome hair! Everyone really looked great, but Leslie topped it all to me in her Prom dress! My friend Angie wrote and sang a song for/about me as the kick-off to karaoke---thanks Angie!!!

Becca and Charles made their bi-monthly trip up, with my little sister Mikenzie in tow. Maryssa and Austin also made the long trip to celebrate with me!

Thanks LaLona for doing so much for my party! Unfortunately her little boy got sick, so Deanne graciously stepped in and hosted our big crowd.

It was definitely the best birthday party I've ever been to, if I do say so myself!

More pictures to come(if you have some, please send them to me!)

Pictures please

2009-03-01T23:50:00.000-05:00

If you took pictures last night, please send them to me...thanks!

Fun in the Snow!

2009-03-01T21:32:00.006-05:00

The girls finally got to use their sled on snow! Usually they slide down our grassy hill on their boogey boards and sled, but this was so much better and faster!

Our first photo shoot

2009-02-16T23:43:00.002-05:00

To see more pics, or download one, click the picture below:

2 Months Old

Addison's first 2 months

2009-02-14T16:31:00.003-05:00

It has been exciting to watch Addison develop over the past two months. I jumped for joy when she had finally gotten back to her birth weight at 5 weeks (I had felt like such a failure when she was only gaining an ounce a week.) Now she is up to 9 pounds, still a skinny little thing. She has also grown 2 inches (a pound per inch.) She smiles all the time, and we have figured out a good day time schedule (except today of course.) She slept through the night one time, that was heavenly! Most nights she gets up every 3 to 4 hours.

Chloe and Cassie are having a blast with Addison, she's like their little baby doll. They dress her, change her diaper, feed her bottles, push her in the stroller, put her down for naps, and hug and kiss her every chance they get. I couldn't have asked for anything better than my two little helpers. Brian has been a champ changing diapers, putting her to bed, and giving me time to get out with my friends. Overall, this is a much easier experience this time around. (Oh, and the nursing has gotten much better)

Addison has been on several vacations already. We went to Florida for Christmas (Destin area and Orlando), and we also went to North Carolina for a snowboarding vacation with my Dad and Deana. Chloe and Cassie were superstars on the snowboard.

There are a couple of slideshows below of the past two months, just click play or the link to see the album on my google photos site.

Addison's first 2 months:

Winter get-away:

Florida-Christmas:

Valentine's

2009-02-14T16:23:00.002-05:00

For Valentine's, Jennie, Milena and I had a special dinner party for our girls. Everyone made their own pizzas and decorated cupcakes. Chloe and Cassie love hanging out with their friends Talia, Maili, and Cassidy G.

Leg Warmers???

2009-01-22T13:27:00.004-05:00

To my dismay, Chloe has jumped on the leg warmers bandwagon. I'm not much of a fan of this style, but then again, it took me months to come to terms with capris and now they are my best friend during summertime. Since Brian gets the girls up and to school in the morning, he helped Chloe do some research on how to wear leg warmers. (see links below) When he told me that she had worn them over her jeans I thought he was kidding. I mean, why would you wear leg warmers OVER your jeans? Brian informed me that it is the IN way to wear them. I guess I'm not fashion forward enough.

http://www.thebudgetbabe.com/archives/972-3-Ways-to-Wear-Leg-Warmers.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2282116_wear-leg-warmers-.html

National Champs! Again!!!

2009-01-09T00:10:00.002-05:00

Charles and Brian celebrating our awesome win against Oklahoma!
They always have to drink IBC root beer when they are together.
It's so great that my husband and Becca's husband are such good friends.

I've been so excited for this game that I couldn't sleep at all today, and now I'm way wired!
I sure hope Addison sleeps until noon tomorrow because I'm going to be exhausted...

Addison Grace Campa

2008-12-19T10:31:00.001-05:00

It took us a few days to make a decision on her name, but Brian knew it all along...

ADDISON GRACE

I decided to go with a c-section, having had one before, and not wanting to get too close to Christmas with her birthday. It was really nice to know that we were going in, got straight to it, and then she was here! A friend of mine gave me my epidural and worked some magic to get my mom into the O.R. for the surgery, only Brian was supposed to be able to get in. It was great to have both of them there.

Every day Chloe and Cassie came to the hospital before and after school, wanting to spend as much time with us as possible. (Fortunately the hospital is less than half a mile away) Brian was a trooper sleeping on that tiny couch and changing diapers left and right! Becca and my mom spent lots of time visiting and bringing me yummy food. Addison and I had many visitors while we were in the hospital, thank you all for your love and support.

I'm so grateful that my mom and Becca have been here with me this last week and a half, and thanks to your families for their sacrifices as well. Becca was a super helper with my TO-DO-LIST, and really made sure that my household ran as I would have run it. And if it wasn't for my mom's support, I think I would have definitely given up on nursing. Thank you both so much for being here and holding my hand through the tears and pain, and everything else you did! My sister Erin also came up for a few days, and cooked and cleaned more than I've ever seen from her before!

Chloe and Cassie are totally loving having a baby in the house. They are always wanting to hold her and have been practicing changing her diaper and getting her in and out of her carseat and bouncer. Even our dog Raffi has acclimated to having her around. Brian has been super dad these past few weeks, especially since my "retirement" as mother of the house. He is very comfortable with Addi, and seems to enjoy changing diapers!!!

My body seems to be recovering pretty well from the surgery, the most painful part of the whole thing has definitely been the nursing. And while it's nice that Addi often sleeps 4 hours at a time, and last night through the whole night, it tends to cause a bit more pain when it comes time to feed...

I look forward to being back up to speed so that I can spend more time playing with Chloe and Cassie, and less time sleeping. They are very understanding and great little helpers. I don't know how anyone has a baby with a toddler around, that must be so hard.

The slideshow below has some more pics from the hospital, and several post-hospital pics.

She's Here!

2008-12-10T18:25:00.004-05:00

Baby Campa is finally here!! And her name is...........................................Well, we still don't know. But the important thing is that Carol and the baby are both healthy and doing great. Little baby Campa was born this morning at 10:06 AM. She weighs 6 lbs 15 oz and is 19 and 3/4 inches long. She is absolutely gorgeous, but that's no shocker. Chloe and Cassie are wonderful with her, as everyone expected. Since Carol is still obviously in the hospital she asked me (Becca) to post some pictures. I'm sure Carol will blog more about everything when she has a chance. Whenever a name is decided upon I will be sure to let you all know.

No baby yet, but Happy Birthday to Chloe & Cassie! And GO GATORS!!!

2008-12-08T09:45:00.001-05:00

For those that think my lack of blogging might have something to do with having a baby, sorry to disappoint you... no baby yet. We did have a day that we thought it was happening, last Saturday during the FSU game. My contractions started around 3:00(with some assistance from castor oil and my mom zapping me at specific pressure points) and were about 2-3 minutes apart until around 10pm. At that point they started slowing down, so I went to the gym and did 2 hard miles on the elliptical. All to no avail, by midnight the contractions were completely gone. I was so ready to be done, so I of course was quite disappointed at the outcome. So now we wait, but only 2 more days. My mom is driving up today, and Becca is flying here tomorrow to be with me for my scheduled c-section on Wednesday morning. In 48 hours we will have a baby(yet to be named...)

On a brighter note, Chloe and Cassie had their 7th birthday this past Friday. We started the day as usual, I woke them up at midnight, sang happy birthday and let them each open a present. Brian's family came up for the girls birthday to celebrate with us, which the girls thoroughly loved! The week before we celebrated with my family while they were visiting for Thanksgiving. I can't believe they are 7 already. They can't wait to turn 8 and get baptized! All of their church friends have been baptized this past year, so they are a bit anxious for their 8th birthday to get here.

And on an AWESOME note, the Gators won the SEC championship game and are heading to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!! We couldn't be more thrilled!

All I'm saying...

2008-11-16T23:20:00.001-05:00

That's our boy!!!

and how about our running backs this year???

A beautiful Fall day

2008-11-04T19:59:00.001-05:00

This weekend, after an amazing win over UGa, we took a day trip to North Georgia. We saw beautiful colored leaves along the way, and enjoyed a fun day as a family. In another two weeks the leaves will be even more beautiful, but these days we have to get things done in the NOW to prepare for the baby.

Brian's latest finished project:
North Georgia College Recreation Center

For all the pics above, plus a few more: http://picasaweb.google.com/carolcampa/Fall2008#

"Great Expectations"

2008-10-23T12:42:00.006-04:00

My dear friends Jennie and Milena threw a baby shower for me a few weeks ago. The theme of the party was "Great Expectations." For the invitations they made a "library card" with all of the information about the shower, including the Title(theme): Great Expectations, and Due Date : DEC 17 2008(that was my favorite part)...It was so clever! There was also a bookmark asking everyone to bring one of their favorite books for me to read to the baby(in lieu of a card.) I was given some wonderful treasures that I have never even heard of! At the party everyone was asked to write one line about yours truly, which would be compiled into "Ode to Carol" It was funny, sweet, and so very thoughtful. Thank you ladies for being such great friends and putting together a fantastic shower for me! And Jennie, you did a fantastic job planting all the beautiful flowers in your back yard!

My mom, sister Mikenzie, and my best friend from high school-Maryssa surprised me and drove up for the shower. Becca and Isabelle got to spend 3 fantastic weeks here(more about that later.) Maryssa brought a whole assortment of bath bombs (round, fantastic smelling balls that you put in the bathtub to make your skin feel soft and smell oh so sweet) to make a "Bath Bomb Buffet" All the guests went home with a bag of different scents of the bath bombs. Thanks Maryssa, you rock!

The Bath Bomb Buffet

My American Girls

2008-09-19T11:03:00.005-04:00

Chloe & Cassie were introduced to the world of American Girl Dolls a few years ago when my mom bought them the Bitty Twins. Earlier this year they decided they wanted the big girl dolls. We told the girls that they would have to save their money. So they worked hard to earn allowance and a little extra here and there. Fortunately they both lost a lot of teeth this year, and the tooth fairy was very generous, so that helped. After a couple weeks of saving, Cassidy decided that Webkinz would be more fun to buy, and started spending her money. Chloe held firm to saving $100 for her doll. After a while Cassie changed her mind and start saving for the doll again. Finally, Chloe had enough money and we went to the American Girl Store and bought the "Just Like You" doll. Chloe was so proud of herself(and so were we) when she handed the cashier the $96.35 for her doll. As a reward for having saved enough money for the doll, Brian and I bought her the ice skating accessory pack. Cassie was a bit bummed about not getting a doll, but she knew she had made the choice to spend her money early on, and that it would be a bit longer before she would have enough money to buy herself a doll too. A few weeks later, she lost a tooth, giving her the last few dollars that she needed. We went straight away to the store and bought her doll. Her "accessory reward" was a golf and tennis packet. This was a really fun way to teach the girls about money and saving. The dolls names are currently Abigail and Addison, but considering that those are two of mine and Brian's top choices for the baby, one of the names will most likely have to change!

It's a...

2008-08-06T15:21:00.002-04:00

So I had my ultrasound yesterday, and the ultrasound technician confirmed that we are having a

GIRL!!!

I had an ultrasound 8 weeks ago(as part of some testing) and the tech said she was pretty sure it was a girl, but I wasn't taking any chances of her being wrong. I didn't want to tell Chloe and Cassie it was a girl, and then have it turn out to be a boy. Plus, I wanted the girls and Brian to be with me when we found out. So yesterday we saw that the little baby growing inside of me is definitely a girl. This was greeted with much enthusiasm from Chloe and Cassie. They still haven't stopped celebrating. Brian has had 8 weeks to cope with the fact that he may not being getting a boy, but he said he was praying for some male parts to grow... I guess not all prayers are answered! I, on the other hand, have been feeling a bit less anxiety at the thought of not having to figure out how to raise a boy. But then more anxiety at the thought of Brian wanting to do this again to try to get a boy next time! Just remember Brian, your brother has 4 girls, it just doesn't run in your family!

Not for the faint of stomach

2008-07-13T16:50:00.004-04:00

Since everyone's been waiting for a post for a while, see if you can handle this...

After a few marvelous weeks of not throwing up, I was reminded what it feels like to puke up spaghetti today, but not for my normal puking reasons. Brian and I (well mostly Brian) have been trying to get the house in a good selling condition, i.e. DE-CLUTTERING! Today I was getting all of the girls dress-ups together and went to get a few from the laundry room. When I walked in I smelled something STANK! I looked around, found the source (rotten potatoes), turned around and puked, first into my hands and then all over the garage floor. I went upstairs to clean up, and upon return found that our dog Raffi had politely helped out by licking it all up. Well this sent me into an even worse bout of puking. I ran out of my garage and started throwing up all over our driveway. I'm praying that none of our neighbors were looking out their windows for the next five minutes that I continued to puke up the rest of my lunch.

Brian's response: hmm.. you are supposed to be cleaning not making it worse--THANKS BRIAN!

Still want more posts from me???

After 7 years

2008-05-22T09:21:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I know some of you think I was making you jump through hoops, but I thought it would be more fun that way. Plus this means I'm posting a record number of times in 1 week!

Yes, we are going to have another baby. The baby is due December 17th (forever away!), just after Chloe and Cassie's 7th birthdays. This time it is only 1 baby, so I'm thinking positive...not as sick, no early labor, easier delivery (can't get worse), only 1 crying baby, only 1 baby's diaper to change, only 1 baby teething at once...Could I have handled another set of twins, definitely. Am I grateful that it's just one, OH YEAH!!!

I have been sick, but not admitted to the hospital kind of sick. I started out with drugs, got them before I even started feeling sick, just to be prepared---last time I didn't get drugs until I was 18 weeks, could have made a difference. I'm tired a lot, and don't feel like going anywhere, which is very unnatural for me. Fortunately, Brian doesn't mind hanging out at the house watching basketball every night. Back to the drug thing...my insurance will only give me 48 tablets of Zofran a month, which = 1 1/2 a day. Now, I'm supposed to take 4 a day, but the insurance won't pay for any more because it's too expensive. I have to pick the days that I need to be the most productive, and that's when I take them. Some days, if I don't mind spending the day in the bathroom puking, I don't take any, or I take my sister's leftover Phenergan-which knocks me out for hours (great for night time!) So, if anyone has any extra Zofran laying around, let me know!

Chloe and Cassie are sooooooooooo excited to have a little brother or sister. They are going to be such amazing big sisters. Brian is really hoping for a little boy, I guess there's a bit too much estrogen in the house... Personally, I'm terrified of having a boy, what on earth would I do with a boy?????? I have no clue how to take care of or raise a boy. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Isabelle and ........

2008-05-21T09:11:00.002-04:00

If you head over to my sister's blog you will see lots of cute pics of my niece Isabelle. If you read further you will find some interesting information, but that's all I'm going to say.....................

http://thedanguyfamily.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-half-birthday-isabelle.html

Camping

2008-05-19T20:05:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago(5 actually) we decided to take our first family camping trip. (long story, pictures at bottom) We didn't have much by way of gear, but all you really need is a tent, right?

We loaded(and I mean loaded) my SUV with blankets, pillows, ipod and player, a travel hammock, and our tent. When we arrived at our very civilized campsite (not exactly roughing it) we soon realized that we didn't bring several important things...wood(for a fire), oh and matches to go along, something dry to burn(since everything outside was wet from the much needed rain), bug spray, FOOD, oh and tennis shoes for me :)

Fortunately, we had some great neighbors at the grounds, who gave us wood and a fire ring. I had my trusty Kakuro book with me, so we used the puzzles I had already done as our dry paper to help out our fire. I found a local "corner store" where I bought a single fire log, a box of Pop-Tarts to toast for breakfast, one bag of marshmallows, 3 king sized hersheys, and 1 of the tiniest boxes of graham crackers ever. I would have bought more of these, but I had already cleaned them out! We later realized that we had nothing to start the fire with, so Brian went back out and bought a lighter. It's a good thing the gas station was less than a quarter of a mile away!!!

Brian did a great job of starting the fire and soon we were making our very tasty and expensive s'mores (that little store robbed me!) We were all exhausted pretty early and hit the sack, I mean blankets. Around 2 in the morning I woke to numb toes, then I swear my whole body proceeded to freeze in the next 5 minutes. I was not alone in this frozen state. 3 of us huddled together trying to give and get as much heat as possible-Chloe was nice and cozy in her and Cassidy's 4 blankets they were supposed to be sharing...By 5am Cassie and I had had enough. We went to the bathroom and stood under the hand dryer trying to thaw our hands and feet, and backsides! Then we decided to go to the local Waffle House. We dragged Brian and Chloe out of bed and went to have some hot chocolate and semi-hot, not-so-tasty food. We made our way back to our little campsite as the sun was beginning to rise. Exhausted from a sleepless night, we cuddled back under the blankets, and slept until 11:30! We had fun roasting Pop-Tarts, playing frisbee, flying a kite, and playing on the playground when the sun warmed the air back up. When we left, the girls even asked if we could go camping again!!! We later found out that it had been 30 degrees that night, not exactly camping under the stars with no sleeping bags, kind of weather! 2 days later, I bought some 30 degree and up sleeping bags, in case there is a next time...And next time I'll remember my tennis shoes!

Laser Tag

2008-03-30T14:18:00.004-04:00

Last night a bunch of us went out for a continuation of my birthday. We played a couple crazy games of laser tag-the first of which I came in 1st place!!! The second game, however, I was demolished by all those who's egos were crushed by a girl beating them...plus they all learned the secrets to getting mad points!

Afterwards we played Signs! Brian and I used to play this with our friends in Connecticut a lot. It was so much fun playing with all of our Atlanta friends.

My Birthday!

2008-03-20T13:19:00.001-04:00

For my birthday(still not the big one), Chloe, Cassie and I went to take a girls picture
-this was our first since they were 4 weeks old!

Jen planned a fun night with some of our friends. It turned out a little different than she had intended, but we still had a super fun night, eating dinner, playing Mafia and Guitar Hero, and eating a slightly freezer burnt Snicker's Ice Cream cake!
And laser tag will meet it's match next week!

Becca sent a very cute flower arrangement-thanks Becca!
I forgot to take a picture, but my friend Liz got the same arrangement for her birthday yesterday, so I stole her picture!!!

A little bit of Wicked

2008-02-27T23:47:00.002-05:00

A little over a year ago, my friend Kristin and I sang a couple of songs from Wicked in our Stake talent show. We had so much fun practicing and singing together, but she obviously had more fun on the stage...follow these links to see the videos and see how great of a performer Kristin is!!!
For Good: http://4ofuselliotts.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-talent-show.html
What is This Feeling?: http://4ofuselliotts.blogspot.com/2008/02/talent-show.html

Zoo Atlanta

2008-02-25T15:16:00.003-05:00

We bought an annual pass to Zoo Atlanta this year. It is not the most amazing zoo I've ever been to, but it has lots of animals, a great playground, and FREE PARKING! Jen, LaLona and I, and kiddos, went last week for President's day. It was a tad bit cold, but we did our best to stay warm and had fun anyway.

When any of you come to visit, I can take you to the zoo for free!

Thanks to LaLona for providing the camera!

Weekend Get-away

2008-02-22T07:14:00.004-05:00

Apparently many of you have grown tired of checking my blog, only to find "Who to vote for?" as my still most recent post. Your complaints have been heard...

A few weeks ago Brian and I went on our first trip to San Francisco, with our friends Brian & Sam. Although the heavens opened up and flooded us with rain for our first few days, we still managed to see and do many things. Our visitor's guide included: Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Citizen Cupcake, Ghirardelli Square(a couple of times), the Golden Gate Bridge and Park, Lombard Street, the Trolleys, and the best part...cruising through the streets of San Francisco in our ScootCars (see pics in slide show below.) We also spent many hours in the hot tub at the hotel, and quite a bit of time in the Concierge lounge(I can't write about that, but if you want to know, just ask!!!) We ate at several great restaurants and laughed a lot! We also got to spend an evening with our friends Brinly & James, who we met while in school in Connecticut. It was great to see them after so long.

Brian & Sam make great travelling companions, thanks for inviting us. We can't wait to go on another trip!!!

Who to vote for?

2008-02-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

So I have been having this internal debate about who to vote for today. Even as I walked up to the table and handed them my license I said, "do I have to decide right now between Republican and Democrat?" Let me tell you why I am having this struggle...

I have 2 candidates that I truly would be happy with in office Romney and Obama. I agree with several stances on both candidates, though Romney's economical experience gives him an edge with me. I think they both show great character. I've been teaching my girls about voting, and how it is important to know what each of the candidates believe in. I even took the girls with me to vote, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I also took a test which confirmed how I feel about the candidates:
http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

My "heart vote" is definitely with Romney. However, I really believe that we are going to have a Democrat as President. I absolutely can't stand Hillary Clinton(or her husband) and definitely don't want to see her in office. So now I'm torn, do I vote for Obama simply so he can have one more vote against Hillary = "mind vote"? Or do I vote with my heart for Romney? I've been turning this over in my head constantly. Even as I entered the middle school to vote I was still unsure.

So, when the election official said, "yes, you have to choose now," I went with my gut and voted for Romney. I feel good about this decision.

GO VOTE!

Eventually I will post something personal...

2008-02-04T15:06:00.001-05:00

http://view.break.com/445525 - Watch more free videos

Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station.(Thanks Kellie!)

This one is all about me...

2008-01-03T23:11:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've ever followed up on being tagged before, but tonight I need something to distract me--more to follow...

How long have you been together? Married over 7 years
How long did you date? 2 years
How old is he? 31(next week)
Who eats more? I eat more of the healthy stuff, he eats more of the junk food
Who said I love you first? definitely me
Who is taller? Brian, but he hates it when I challenge his height by wearing high heels
Who sings better? I have the music degree...I definitely can't draw worth anything though
Who is smarter? Me, but Brian went to Yale...
Who does the laundry? me
Who does the dishes? me
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me
Who pays the bills? me
Who mows the lawn? that's what HOA is for!
Who cooks dinner? me, except when Brian orders pizza
Who drives when you are together? if we need to get there fast, ME
Who is more stubborn? we are both hard headed, but I would say me
Who kissed who first? depends on who is telling the story, I say Brian
Who asked who out? me
Who proposed? Brian
Who is more sensitive? definitely me
Who has more friends? me, Brian always makes fun of me for having to invite 20 people to go out to dinner
Who has more siblings? me
Who wears the pants in the family? ME
I am tagging: Deanna, Carolee, and Becca-as if you have nothing better to do!

Funny Wedding Dance

2007-12-04T16:08:00.001-05:00

Some of you probably already saw this on Rebecca's blog, but I had to post it for everyone else.

PLEASE watch this-especially my family as this holds, uhh, sentimental value?.?.?.

Isabelle's birthday - 11/19/2007

2007-11-24T19:13:00.000-05:00

The Danguy Family: Isabelle's birthday - 11/19/2007

Becca was so amazing, as was Charles. I think I had forgotten what a miracle it is to bring a baby into this world. And also so special that our Heavenly Father would entrust this sweet child in the home of my wonderful sister and brother-in-law. I love you guys! I wish I could be with you for her every move... and to help out of course!

Fall brings company

2007-11-09T16:05:00.000-05:00

This fall we've had several visitors, but didn't manage to get many pictures...

Ma started off October by spending 5 days with us. We shopped at the outlets, hiked at Amicalola Falls, went to a giant Pumpkin Patch and the Apple Festival in Elijay, in the north Georgia mountains, went to the Atlanta Zoo, and got manicures and pedicures. The girls did their nails in orange and blue!!! We absolutely loved having Ma around and hope she comes back very soon...

Next to visit was my incredibly helpful and fun little sister, Mikenzie. A few days before she got here a cafeteria table at the girls' school fell on my leg and disabled me for a couple weeks. Mikenzie was my lifesaver (Brian was at Yale for a conference.) Not only did she totally take care of and entertain Chloe and Cassidy, but she also took care of me. THANKS KENZIE--next time we'll have more fun, I promise! (my leg is much better now)

Our last visitor for the fall was my dad! We spent a very relaxing weekend watching lots of football! He and Brian went to the Falcons game and had a good manly bonding day. We can't wait for him to come back too...

There's still some fall left if anyone else wants to come!

Time for Catch-Up

2007-11-04T14:44:00.000-05:00

I have so much blogging to do and so many pictures to post...
So, I will follow the rule of thumb for Scrapbooking, start with the current and then work backwards. So you're going to get a reverse order of happenings, but I guess that's better than nothing, right?

Halloween

2007-11-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

Not sure where Chloe got the idea, but she was a way cute Super Girl! With no help from me, Cassidy decided to be a Gator Cheerleader! (that's my girl!!!)

Fashion?

2007-09-22T20:26:00.000-04:00

Chloe & Cassie love to mix and match(?) clothes and accessories.
This has been going on forever.(note picture below from when they were 3!)
Where did they get their sense of style????

Soccer Season

2007-09-21T10:18:00.000-04:00

This year Brian is coaching Chloe & Cassie's soccer team. The girls love having him as their coach! If they pay attention, these 4 & 5 year olds could learn a lot from Brian. Actually they will probably just learn to run fast. Maybe when they are 10 they will be ready to learn some of Brian's great soccer skills!!!

My favorites

2007-09-07T08:55:00.000-04:00

You will see on the side of the blog a new box labeled "CJ's Shared Items" (my family nickname). These are posts(by friends) that are important or interesting to me.

For example:
NYC & Good Friends: For Labor Day we made our annual trip to NYC with my family. We saw 3 shows-Les Miserables, The Drowsy Chaperone and Legally Blonde. We also went to the US Open Tennis tournament, and watched hours of tennis on the big screen at Rockefeller Plaza. We went to the Brazilian festival, and ate crepes and bought cheap jewelry! Our friends Kristy and Paul came into the city to see us on Saturday(note the "shared item" but just in case you can't figure that out CLICK HERE) We had such a great time hanging out with them and catching up. It was a fabulous weekend!

RIP Pavarotti: This You Tube clip of Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" is one of the most incredible and moving pieces of music I have ever heard. CLICK HERE to read the story and translation of this aria. Pavarotti was so amazingly talented. Musicians like Pavarotti truly touch my soul.

Happy Birthday Pa

2007-08-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

I've spent all day today thinking about my Pa. I took a few hours to go through all of my boxes of photos with him, and put my favorite on this web album (go to the actual album to read the captions.) He is such a special person to me. I miss him so much, but I know he is watching my family with pride and love.

Kindergarten

2007-08-24T10:53:00.000-04:00

Last week Chloe and Cassie started Kindergarten. They were so excited to have homework on their first day of school. (I'm not kidding!) They are in the same class again this year, and have 2 fabulous teachers for their main class. Each day they go to a specialty class-Art, Music, Computer Lab, and P.E.--where they are learning how to do push-ups! They trully love school, and are such bright girls. And their best friend from last year is in their class again. (Her mom requested this! I didn't even know you could ask to be in the same class as your friend...)

We finished too!

2007-07-27T09:36:00.000-04:00

Brian and I bought Harry Potter CD's. We both managed to finish listening to it on our iPods within 4 days. We're both so busy that listening is the only way to go for us. For me, instead of sitting in a corner ignoring the world reading my book for 2 days, I listened while cooking, cleaning, driving, sleeping...And Brian listened intently while at work for a couple of days! We both thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyone who wants to talk about the book, give me a call!!!

Unfortunate Matters

2007-07-16T16:28:00.000-04:00

Our very good friends, the Montgomery's, are moving to Utah on Thursday. This is going to be very hard on our entire family. Their daughter Avery is the same age as Chloe and Cassie, and they are all best friends. Yesterday I had this conversation with Chloe:
Me: Chloe, which friend do you like playing with the most?
Chloe: Unfortunately, Avery.
Me: Why did you say unfortunately? (I was thinking that she may be using the word incorrectly)
Chloe: I said unfortunately because she is moving to UTAH!

She was in fact using the word correctly, and I agree, it is indeed very unfortunate.

Chloe & Cassie Update

2007-06-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

It's been several months since I posted about my cute little twins, so here it goes...

Soccer: Cassie turned into quite the little soccer player this season. She averaged 2 goals per game, and was determined to be part of every minute on the field (vs. last season-just hanging out). Chloe seemed to be getting more into it by the end of the season, and even scored her first goal the last game!

School: Chloe & Cassie finished Pre-K in May and are getting ready to start Kindergarten next month! They really love going to school, playing with friends and learning. This past year they had great teachers, which made our first real school experience a success. We have requested for the girls to be in the same class next year, after that they will probably be in different classes. They have been working on their reading and math, and are getting quite good at both.

Body Parts: Cassie lost her first tooth in the car on the way to her grandma & grandpa's house. Chloe lost her first tooth a few days later at her Aunt Melissa's house. Brian and I were on vacation, so the tooth fairy was kind enough to leave the teeth behind for their parents to see...which meant the tooth fairy gave them money twice! A few weeks later Cassie pulled out her other very wiggly tooth. Chloe's other tooth is barely hanging on. For both girls it is their bottom front teeth, and both have their adult teeth coming in already.

Bikes: Last month my mom taught the girls to ride bikes without training wheels. This is something I have been terrified of doing, I was too scared of them falling and bleeding all over the place. My mom was a trooper and jumped right in. Now they are having a blast riding up and down our street. Thanks mom!!!

Swimming: I have two little fish on my hands. They race across the pool, swim to the bottom to get toys, dive off of rocks and diving boards, and twist and turn under the water. They simply love to swim.

Activities: Chloe and Cassie just love dancing..we've been watching the show "So You Think You Can Dance" and the girls copy everything they do. I guess it's time to get them into more serious dance classes. They've taken ballet but not too intensely. They are working on cartwheels and handstands. Also, they are very into fashion...they just pulled all of our clothes out of our suitcases to create a fashion store in our bedroom at my uncle's house!

Overall: Chloe and Cassie are such sweet girls, always helpful, kind and considerate. They make me laugh constantly, they are just so silly. Cassie seems to be a bit more outgoing and Chloe kind of sits back and watches her. I just adore my girls. Oh, and they are so excited for their upcoming cousin Isabelle, they prayer for their Aunt Becca and baby Isabelle every day.

10 Year Reunion!!!!!!!!!!

2007-06-20T21:16:00.000-04:00

I know that I still need to post about my amazing trip last month, and I will, I promise! But first a few pics from my 10 year high school reunion...

Note:I was definitely the most changed of all my friends, they have never seen me with STRAIGHT HAIR!!! add a tattoo, and make-up(I never was much of a fan) I couldn't believe how many people had to look at my name tag or would stare at me for several seconds before they realized who I was!

Note 2: Brian couldn't go to the Reunion with me because he used up all of his vacation time to go on our incredible trip last month. I'm excited for him to meet my friends in the near future.

The first night we met downtown, it was a wild reunion with my dearest and wildest friends from high school. (missed you Becky!) It's amazing how fast time passes, but yet we were able to pick up right where we left off. I love you girls!!!

Day two, though very tired, I took Chloe & Cassie to the "Family Picnic" This is where I got to show off my beautiful and fabulous children. Only 2 of my friends of my high school have kids or are even married! Melissa and my sister Becca came with me to make sure I wasn't lonely! :)

(In between reunion festivities, my little brother Jacob got baptized! Chloe and Cassie are so excited to turn in 2 1/2 years, when they will be able to get baptized too!)

Saturday evening was the "Main Mane Event", a formal dinner, there was a bit of drama regarding the planning of the reunion...oh high school... My lobster dinner was delicious and I had the chance to talk to even more old friends. We then went out for some more precious catching up time.

It truly was a wonderful weekend. There is nothing like old friends, one's I've known for half my life even.

Nathalie, Lori, me, & Katie

Melissa, me & Joe

at the Reunion Family Picnic

Michelle, me, Katie & Nat

Alexandria

2007-05-27T06:51:00.000-04:00

We are in Alexandria, Egypt but unable to access email. Hopefully this will be able to get around the library's security system. I'm posting this to my blog as well to see if that works any better...

We saw the Pyramids of Giza yesterday-incredible!!! We also went on a Jeep & camel safari through the Sahara Desert! That was pretty wild! Today we are exploring the city of Alexandria...not my favorite place we have visited, but exciting none the less. Hope all is well.

Carol & Brian

PS...
Chloe and Cassie-we love you!!!
Becca-Ma is so excited about her earring! We had a wonderful time in Reunion!
Mom-see you in a week!
Melissa-Happy Birthday!!!

HSDRP-OUT

2007-04-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

Today I was driving behind a nice new BMW and noticed an interesting license plate, which read:

H.S.DRP-OUT

So this high school drop out wants us to know that he made it big and can afford a new BMW without even finishing high school? What kind of example is that setting? If I dropped out of high school I surely wouldn't brag about it! A male high school drop out especially says to me TOTAL SLACKER! This may sound sexist, but I say this because most females that I know that dropped out of high did so because they got pregnant. Anyway, thoughts???

2007-04-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

Because I think this is quite humorous...

1. go to http://www.google.co.uk/

2. click on "maps," above the search bar...

3. click on "get directions"

4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)

5. type "Paris" in the second box (the "to" box)

6. click on "get directions"

7. scroll down to step #24 !! (priceless)

GATORS #1!!!!!

2007-04-02T23:32:00.000-04:00

What an amazing game and tournament, oh and the whole past year! This couldn't have been better. And how sweet to beat Ohio State in football AND basketball! And of course the back-to-back basketball title is amazingly fantastic!!! More from the Gator house soon...

Mom's 50th Birthday Cruise

2007-03-29T13:01:00.000-04:00

We have tons of pictures, with more to come. Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/carolcampa/MomS50thBirthdayCruise

Happy Birthday Mom (a little late)

2007-03-29T12:42:00.000-04:00

We had such a wonderful time, thanks to all of my family for the great memories.

Creative Sharing

2007-02-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

When we went to church we had a full bag of unbroken, straight from the box, crayons. When we came they were all broken in half. I was quite frustrated that my girls had broken all of their crayons, obviously on perhaps. During interrogation I finally got Cassie to fess up, "I broke them in half so that Chloe could have the same color as me at the same time!" I guess that's how I have taught them to be with other things, so why not crayons?

Metatarsals

2007-02-16T16:14:00.000-05:00

We have our first broken bone! A couple of days ago we had a bit of a wild child over for a playdate. She somehow convinced my perfect little angels to jump on my bed, and very softly pushed Chloe off the bed. This resulted in our first broken bone-her left foot-3rd metatarsal. It is very NOT serious, but Chloe sure seems to be working it! She was really liking the attention, until she was told she couldn't play on the playground at school today. She's been carried around by me for the past 72 hours, and I'm getting a bit tired. Oh well, gotta dote on my little girl! Especially since I tried to tell her to tough it out for the first 30 hours, not really believing that she was badly hurt-just thought she wanted attention...Then I finally took her to the hospital, where they took x-rays of her very swollen and bruised foot. I was feeling pretty guilty when they told me it was broken, so now I guess I'm trying to make it up to her by babying her.

GATORS RULE!

2007-02-08T16:25:00.000-05:00

Long overdue is a post re: GATORS WIN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
So this was one of the best days of my life. I can't even express how excited I was leading up to the game, and even more so during and after. It had been 10 years since our only other football national championship win. Hopefully we will win again before another 10 years roll around. So, now we are the defending champions for BOTH Football AND Basketball, pretty incredible. Our basketball team is totally holding it's own, ranked #1, with an awesome record so far this season. Last night each of our starters had some awesome dunks against Georgia. Gotta love my gators!!!

Pictures, pictures and more pictures

2007-02-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

I put a ton of pics on my webalbum
Here's the link http://picasaweb.google.com/carolcampa
If it doesn't work, let me know.
or try this

My Favorite Pictures

Christmas with Carol's family 2006

2007-01-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

5 Keys to Being a Great Wife

2006-10-28T11:02:00.000-04:00

LDS Living came out with a great article today entitled "5 Keys to Being a Great Wife." I really enjoyed this, and I actually agree with practically everything. It's definitely worth reading the whole article, but here are some of my favorite points:

Do Honor Your Parents
Now just how does a wife honor her parents in her marriage? One important way is to keep them out of your marriage. President Kimball expressed this well; “You love them more than ever; you cherish their counsel; you appreciate their association; but you live your own lives.”

Do Value Yourself
In your marriage, you must choose to be a partner in the marriage relationship—not a limited partner, not the general partner, but a full and active equal partner. If you take the time to develop yourself as a full partner, then you can have the true oneness in marriage that you desire.

Do Gain an Understanding of What a Man Is
As we study “maleness,” we learn that our perspectives are different. They look at the world differently than we do. But it’s just like glasses are different for each person. Is one right and the other wrong? No, each perspective is just different and suited to our needs and circumstances.
One of the biggest insights gained in my marriage is that my husband thinks like a guy. Wow! What a revelation! Often when he wasn’t talking, it was because he didn’t have any deep thoughts to share. Nothing personal.

Do Value Your Commitment
A friend said to me one day, “I want the same testimony of my marriage as I do of the Church.”
All our marriages are at various levels of love and commitment. Even within our own marriage, my husband and I have varying degrees from year to year. Hopefully, we can work on improving our present feelings and move them in a positive direction.

The First Week

2006-10-20T09:19:00.000-04:00

So, this post began uhh 2 months ago, and I never finished. It will give you a glimpse of the first week anyway. I was trying to be creative, but apparently ran out of any creative juices I might have had.......................

Chloe & Cassie's first week of Pre-K...

Prologue:
Thursday morning, we get up early and get dressed nice and cute for the Pre-K Open House. I try so hard to keep a smile on my face, and be excited for my girls and this new school. Inside though I am so frustrated because this is not a great school. Most of the schools that surround our zone are excellent schools, but this one has many negatives to me. We walk up to registration, and find out that Chloe and Cassie are in different classes. Immediately I feel the panic and anxiety setting in. I knew that someday they would be separated, but now? At 4 years old? In PRE-Kindergarten? This is just not ok. I'm not emotionally or mentally prepared for this, and neither are the girls. The prinicipal explains to me that they always separate family members, but if I want them to, they will try to switch one of the girls. We walk down to the first classroom, Chloe's class. The teachers are great, Chloe seems totally comfortable in here. This could be okay, this school might work for one year, then we'll move... Next we walk down the hall to Cassie's classroom. Cassie says to me "mommy, I didn't know that Chloe and me weren't going to be in the same class. Did you know?" I shake my head, but she gives me a questioning look. "Cassie, I found out the same moment that you did, I promise." (We always talk about things/events before they happen) My cell phone rings, my hands are shaking as I try to answer Brian's call. He asks how it is and I can feel the anxiety coming on strong. I am not okay with our girls being different classes and neither is he. He says to tell them we want them in the same class, and for them to take care of it today, not wait until the first day to see if there is any space in either of the classes--this is the option that the Pre-K social worker told me. We then walk into Cassie's class and the teacher barely says a word to us. The classroom feels cold and unwelcoming. This is not where Cassie belongs, I'm sure now. If they are in different classes, they won't get to eat together or have recess together. Why should they be torn away from their best friends?

The first day:
There are no tears, just lots of smiles. Even after I leave, no tears. My girls are in the same class, with great teachers. This is good. They are the minority as far as language goes(15 out of 20 of the kids speak Spanish), but hopefully they will learn Spanish!
I pick them in the carpool and ask how their first day was. They say in some order all at once "fabulous, wonderful, great, fun, so cool, ..." They loved it.

The rest of the week went about the same. And the past 2 months have proven to be just as wonderful for them. I have never heard a complaint, only excitement. Their bedtime is 7:00, giving them plenty of rest before their 6:30am wake up call. It's also nice to have some quiet time with Brian in the evenings.

Just thought I'd post this since I put actual thought into starting it...

#2

2006-10-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

Has it been almost 2 months already?? Well, we have been a bit busy, as usual. There is a lot to blog about, but for the moment the most pressing matter is Gator football. According to ESPN, after our amazing game against LSU we are #2!!! Ok, that's still not #1, but if we can win the rest of the season(that's a lot) then surely they will have no choice but to make us #1. So, how fabulous would it be to win the Basketball and Football National Championships in the same year??????? It would be super fabuloso! And it would be exactly 10 years since we won the title beating FSU 32-29! As you can tell, this is pretty exciting to me. Lots of ifs, but, it could happen if...

Soccer

2006-08-21T16:09:00.000-04:00

Chloe & Cassie loved soccer camp, although it was extremely hot outside.
The first day Chloe came home saying "it wasn't real soccer, not like on TV"
we had been watching the World Cup on tv for the past few weeks...

They are starting the YMCA soccer league next week.
It will be fun to go to their games,
and watch a bunch of 4 &5 year olds kicking the ball around.
Their games are on Saturdays if anyone wants to come!

Facial Hair

2006-08-21T16:07:00.000-04:00

So I think Brian really wants a son--Saturday he and the girls came down with shaving cream all over their chins, and the girls told me they wanted to shave their faces like daddy! Or do the girls just want to have facial hair so they can be like their dad?

Pictures

2006-08-21T16:05:00.000-04:00

I just realized that I had these cute pictures saved as a draft from April!!!
This is Alia Ebbert with C&C at the Georgia Aquarium-the best ever...

Cassie loves to wear her tiara everywhere she goes,
and carry Fifi-her poodle purse!

School Pics

2006-08-15T15:12:00.000-04:00

Second day of school...
with their first day presents--
Cassie w/ Little Mermaid (she lights up and sings)
Chloe w/Mermaidia (her wings turn into her tail)

FIRST DAY!!!
Cassie on left, Chloe on right(very typical look on Chloe's face)

In their Pre-K class!

Wedding Pictures

2006-07-12T21:48:00.000-04:00

Cassie at the Luau-Reception

All of the cousins (not quite ready to pose...)

Beau, the groom, and his uncles
Left to right: my dad, Richard, Beau, Mike

with my Granddaddy Buck

Summertime

2006-07-12T20:18:00.000-04:00

It has been quite the summer here in HOTlanta. It is seriously hot, and extremely humid. It's a good thing we have a pool in the neighborhood, and working AC in our home and cars!

Our summer started off with a trip to Florida. We first visited Brian's sister(as I previously posted about). Then we went to the beach for a couple of very relaxing days with my family. The girls and I then headed to Orlando, and Brian went back to Atlanta. We of course played games, swam a lot, and slept in every day! On our return to Atlanta, I brought along a couple of stragglers, my sisters Laila and Kenzie, and my brother Jacob. It was actually a pleasant ride home. My siblings and my children went to the Georgia Aquarium for a week long camp. Laila's class got to observe the feeding and training of the whale sharks--very cool! All of the classes (which were divided by age) got to go behind the scenes to watch feeding, training, and the care of all of the animals. They all absolutely loved camp. We love going to the aquarium as a family, so it is really great to hear the girls talk about all of the things they learned as we walk by all of the different exhibits.

In the meantime, I started a new job at an eye doctor's office. This is a great move for me, as it will give me the flexibility I want to spend time with my girls, and pick them up from school everyday. Plus, I get all the full-time benefits even though I'm only working part-time! Those were my terms, and I guess they really wanted me!!!!

After 5 days of being a mother of 5 (something I don't ever want to be!), my mom flew up to Atlanta to rescue me. We hung out, shopped, played games...what else would I do with my family??? My mom and the 5 kids all ventured up to the North Georgia mountains for a 2 week retreat. Brian and I joined them over the weekend. Our road trip there was not so enjoyable though. As we were just about to reach the cabin, a deer jump out of the woods and in front of my car. I screamed, swerved, slammed on my brakes, everything, but there was no stopping destiny...I hit the deer. Brian swears the deer ran off, but I think he got flung back into the woods from the impact of my car! Well, that little episode cost $2000 worth of damage to our car. Thank goodness for insurance, minus that dumb deductible--there goes my ottoman I wanted to buy! The rest of the weekend was uneventful, relaxing, and very rainy. Chloe and Cassie stayed for a few more days, and then went on another road trip with Brian and myself.

This time we were off to Wilmington, NC. My cousin Beau was getting married on Sunday to a wonderful woman-Crystal. Becca (my sister) and I jumped right into the wedding preparations. We had so much fun helping get everything set up, and making sure all the details were in place that we decided we should go into business together. I really couldn't think of a better job for me than event planning. I love that kind of stuff! The ceremony, which was held at a park, had a little glitch, the minister forgot the music...so I was asked to sing something, ANYTHING, a capella. This meant a lot to Crystal, so of course I couldn't refuse. I'm not sure if anyone other than Crystal could really hear me, there was a fountain in the lake behind us that was quite loud. But she looked beautiful, and they were both so happy. The Luau- reception was a ton of fun. Lots of great food, dancing, horseshoe contests, and even karaoke! It was so nice to be able to spend time with my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. (Thanks Aunt Kathy for letting us all crash at your place!) The next day we went to the beach with all of my cousins, Beau & Crystal, Parker, and Roman. Of course, most of the pictures are on Becca's camera, so you'll have to wait to see those... On the way back, we stopped in Florence, SC and stayed at a hotel with Becca and Charles(who fyi just got approved for his Green Card!!!!!!!!!) What did we do?? Well, we played spades, slept in, swam, and played some more spades...Then we said our goodbyes.

In comes the 4th of July...My mom, Roland, and kids arrived at our house just in time to go to our church BBQ. There was of course tons of food, socializing, and Roland and Brian played some volleyball. We then tried to see fireworks, but after 45 minutes of waiting for the lightning and rain to end, we decided to head home. We did get to see those same fireworks "the largest firework display in the Southeast" on TV just minutes after getting home. It was a very different feel watching them to the tune of "When you wish upon a star" vs. BANG, BANG, BANG!

On Wednesday my family drove back to Orlando, all but Laila. She decided to stay here for another 2 weeks. We love having her here. The girls especially have had a great chance to get to know her even better (they will have been together for 6 weeks by the time she goes home.) We will miss her incredibly!

My friends seem to be having babies left and right, all boys too! (Except Melissa's twin Lily) I had a shower for one last Saturday, and there's another this Saturday. And several more to follow this summer.

Next week Chloe and Cassie are going to soccer camp. They have been so excited to get ready for this, buying their shorts, shin guards, balls, bag...Still searching for cleats that aren't 3 inches too big. After soccer camp they will be going to Brian's parents house in Florida for 2 weeks, to spend some time with their grandparents and cousins. While they are gone I'm going to NYC for a few days with my friend Sam, and I will get to visit some old friends. Can't wait to go back to the city! And of course to see everyone...wish you were still there D!

Brian is still loving his job, though always on the look for that amazing opportunity around the corner. The girls love summertime. And I keep extremely busy. I'm not singing much right now, which I really miss. But hopefully I will find something to do with my music soon. I guess I will end this novel, just wanted to get all caught up...

Oh and the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That means that my favorite NBA team, the Miami Heat AND my favorite college team, the FLORIDA GATORS, both won their Championships! What a fabulous year for my teams! Too bad my good luck isn't rubbing off on any of the Atlanta sports teams...

Pool Pictures

2006-06-03T16:20:00.000-04:00

We're in Florida visiting Brian's sister and the new twins. We'll get pictures with Luke and Lily later. Here are some of our little swimmers.

Chloe and Cassie have been swimming almost every day for the last 2 weeks, and have become best friends with the water!

Chloe, Savannah & Cassie

Cassie w/her new goggles

Chloe swimming like a frog

Mother's Day

2006-05-20T08:50:00.000-04:00

Every time I move my mom comes and plants flowers for me. (I don't really like getting my hands and nails dirty) When we moved into our house last summer we brought over my empty flower pots--empty because the plants had died! (not very good at taking care of plants either) They have sat empty in our garage for the past year. Last weekend Brian took the girls out for a little bit, while I was at girls' night. When I came home I was delighted to see the planters on my balcony and front porch full of yellow flowers (my favorite color of flowers). This was such a sweet notion. I have tried my best to keep them watered. Fortunately I have 2 little girls who love to do just that!

On Mother's Day we spent the day at our favorite park, eating a picnic, playing frisbee and soccer, and getting a funky sunburn (my shorts were kind of twisted while a took a little nap). It was a very nice and relaxing day-much needed.

Twins-Luke and Lily

2006-05-20T08:40:00.000-04:00

Melissa had her twins on Wednesday May 10th. All are doing very well.

This is big sister Savannah with Luke and Lily.

The Garden

2006-05-11T13:17:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Chords of Faith(the area choir that I sing with) performed The Garden by Michael McClean. It's an allegorical oratorio, an allegory told through music. We did this when I lived in Connecticut too. It was such a wonderful experience to relive this music. The reflection of the Savior's life and his suffering is felt deep in your soul through this music. Music has always touched me in ways that nothing else could. This was, without a doubt, one of the most spiritually moving moments of my life(lasting an hour!)

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to sing The Garden with my choir. We are hoping to turn it into a yearly event, similar to the LDS pageants in other places throughout the country. I love singing with a group that is so talented, and with incredible conductors. I suppose this is as close as I will ever get to singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

April

2006-04-27T12:32:00.000-04:00

April flew by for me. First some of our best friends, the Ebbert family, came to visit us for a week. It was a fabulous week that went by way too fast. We went to the Georgia Aquarium, played frisbee, played tennis, rode bikes and the Barbie Jeep, got yummy ice cream, made incredible dinners, played tons of games, shopped, pampered ourselves, talked, and laughed a lot. It was just like the old days! It was really fun to watch our girls play with their daughter Alia. It had been almost 2 years since they had seen each other, but they jumped right back into playing, as if they hadn't ever been away. That's the way that good friends should be. It is so reassuring to know that you have friendships that will last a lifetime.
(If I ever get around to posting pics, I will post some from this week. But until then, you can see some on their website HERE and HERE.)
Oh yeah, and we watched THE GATORS win their FIRST basketball NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! It was a pathetic final game, total blowout, but we were able to rest easy watching anyway.

Then we went to Florida for a few days and had a very relaxing couple of days. Sometime I forget how much I love the beach...One of those things that you appreciate more when you've been away for a while. Then Chloe and Cassie stayed-as you read in my mom's guest post.

For Easter, my sister Becca and her husband Charles came to visit, and brought the girls home. We had a packed weekend. Played games of course, went to a Primary Easter party, went to the Atlanta Thrashers game, and Becca and I went to THE BLACK EYED PEAS concert. All events were so much fun! We had a very nice and relaxing Easter day, which we spent at our friends' Sam & Brian's house, followed by more Settlers of Catan. We have so much fun hanging out with them.

Since then, Brian and I have both been working a ton. Tomorrow we are heading back down to Florida for Roland's surprise 50th birthday party! Lots of driving, but it will be a blast I'm sure.

To sum it up, we've kept really busy working and playing with friends and family, good times!

Guest Blog from Nana

2006-04-13T11:11:00.000-04:00

Chloe & Cassie are spending their spring break with my mom in Florida. My mom very kindly wrote up a couple of cute stories about their stay...

This week Chloe and Cassie were staying at my house in Orlando. On Monday I took them to the Science Center. The first thing we saw were the baby (but getting bigger) aligators and snapping turtles swimming around the atrium pond. The girls were a bit hesitant and kept their distance from the glass. Next we went into a room with lizards, geckos, tarantulas etc in glass tanks. After some coaxing and reassuring that none of the animals would get out, they settled in to look at them. Wouldn't you know that just as they are getting okay with this whole thing, a giant Florida cockroach crawls across the floor. Well, that was the end of that room. Then we went to the cinedome for a star gazers show. The announcer said that a hampster named Jerry has escaped and would we please look under our seats. It was part of the show, but at first that was not evident. I don't think these girls trust me any more!

Chloe is so cute. I took her to the Cingular store with me. She was sitting on the counter and while we waited, I poked her belly and told her it had a sign on it that said "tickle me". That was followed by a tickle of course. Next, I said that I was wrong and it actually said "kiss me" (by the way, that is one of their favorite words "actually Nana. . .") She then proceeded to lift up her shirt and said "that's not what it says." I asked her what it said and she said, "it says FEED ME." These girls love to eat. The next morning I was driving Jake and Mikenzie to school and Chloe had just woken up so I popped her in the car with me. After I dropped them off I asked Chloe what she wanted to do today because it is their last day. I gave her some options, go to the park, go shopping, go to the zoo. She considered all of them for a few minutes and said, "I know what I want to do . . . eat." A one track mind for sure.

Also, FYI, Carol, Chloe fell in the pool yesterday with all of her clothes on. We were all right there and no problem, but her respect for the edge has increased. Also, Cassie spent the night at Becca's. Have they ever been apart before?

Love you
MOM

That was their first night apart I believe. According to Becca and Charles, Cassidy thought it was so cool that she was spending the night by herself. Sometimes they like that personal attention.

My mom has put a very obnoxious sounding alarm system on all of her doors leading outside. This made me feel at ease about the girls being there without me watching their every move. They love to swim, but most definitely need adult supervision. One time I heard Chloe say to Mikenzie as she opened the door, "we didn't ask mommy if we could go outside yet." That told me that she had listened to the rules and she was going to be responsible.

Chloe and Cassie are coming home tomorrow, I can't wait!

Final 4!

2006-03-28T14:14:00.000-05:00

We've been watching a lot of basketball lately, especially our Gators. Chloe and Cassidy do a great job as little cheerleaders. They are now singing a fabulous song titled "Follow the Gators" to the tune of "Follow the Prophet"! It goes something like this: "follow the Gators, follow the Gators, follow the Gators, they know the way!" Gotta love that!

Movie Favorites

2006-03-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to see this movie next summer!

Why?

2006-03-23T19:07:00.000-05:00

I swear I have tried to teach my children the best I know how. Specifically I am talking about cleaning up after themselves. Everything in their room has a specific home, and Chloe and Cassidy can tell you exactly where everything goes. However, they seem to have too much fun playing to ever clean up! Yesterday morning there room was pretty much clean when their grandparents left here. But by the time we went up to get ready for bed, it looked like a tornado had struck again. Last night I even refused to go in and sing them songs for bedtime because I said I wouldn't step foot in their room again until it was clean. Seriously, I don't get it. I've tried bribing even...I told them that if there room was clean at bedtime, I would give them each money to put in their new piggy banks. I then told them that the next time I went into their room, anything that wasn't put away would be put in a box, and would be sent to the attic. I haven't gone in their room yet since this box threat because I don't want to have to follow through, and I ALWAYS follow through. I just don't know what else to do. I guess I just have to box it all up. But I don't know if even that would teach them a lesson. I get so frustrated by this. I know kids can be messy, but my kids really do know how to clean. They are always cleaning at other people's houses, so why not their own??? Currently I am in a state of near exploding. I try to stay calm, but I know I will just burst at something else. My patience is definitely running thin at the moment. How many ways can I say that I am going crazy? I just HATE messes!

2006-03-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to post about a specific subject for a while, and now I need to vent about it. There's a new show on HBO called "Big Love" about a polygamist family in Utah. Well, the Mormon polygamy questions seem to be everywhere these days. But the thing that made me blog today was a comment by a patients husband...
We were discussing the college basketball tournament. He said that he and his wife filled out their brackets. His picks were based on knowledge of the teams. Her picks were based on the city, "San Diego's a nice city, I'll pick them...Utah, the Mormon's have more than one wife, they should lose..." He did mention at some point that he went to some big Baptist church, so I wasn't all that surprised by his remark. Why can't people get it through their heads that WE don't do that! I'm so tired of it all.

Seeing as I started this post on the 17th, 6 days ago, I'll just leave it as it is. You see, I just don't have much time for this anymore! That's like the emails that sit in draft mode in my email box for weeks.

Lent

2006-03-04T22:28:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday Chloe and Cassie learned about Ash Wednesday and Lent at their Catholic pre-school. They came home with papers saying what they were going to do for Lent.

Cassie:
For lent I am going to..."Help sister and help mommy with Raffi."
Chloe:
For lent I am going to..."Help with dishes and food."

Their theme at school was Jesus is the reason for the season.

So, not only are they learning letters, shapes, writing, and coloring in the lines, they are also learning how to cross themselves, say Catholic prayers, and all about Catholic traditions and holidays. I have yet to see them cross themselves at home, so hopefully it won't cross over into the rest of their lives.(no pun intended) I'm actually very pleased that their school teaches them such good principles. I'll be sad for them to be in public school next year, away from the good Christian themes and examples. I still can't believe that they are going to be in school full time next year. They're getting old too! At least it's not just me.

New Joke

2006-03-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

Chloe and Cassidy's favorite joke to tell:

If you're American in the living room, what are you in the bathroom?
.
.
.
.
.
.
EUROPEAN!

I know, real suspenseful. They think it's hillarious, even though they have no clue what it means. They just like it when people laugh at their joke!

I want...

2006-03-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

Chloe: I really want you to be nice to me mommy. All of the other kids at school, their mommies buy them whatever they want. Lauren has all of the toys.

Oh boy. First I buy them everything I can think of when they're young. Then I realize that they don't need so much stuff, so I start buying less. And now my kids are catching on that some kids have way more than they do. I'm guessing this is only the beginning.

Surprise Party, and Birthday

2006-03-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

On Friday night I was thrown my first ever surprise birthday party. Usually I manage to ruin any surprise, but this time I had no clue. My mom came up for the weekend too, which is always great. The party was at our clubhouse, with lots of food, and tasty desserts. Samantha brought a chocolate fountain, our party must-have. We played my all-time favorite big group game SIGNS. We used to play this in Connecticut a lot. I never got sick of it, and it's been forever since I've had a chance to play with friends. I actually taught SIGNS to the Young Women at church a few weeks ago as part of a Personal Progress party. Anyway, everyone seemed to get a big kick out of the game. Though I missed having people save me at the last second-thanks Andy, I still try to pull on my beard! When the party seemed as though it was dieing down, my friends Stacey and Michael decided we needed to spice it back up. Which led to a huge food fight. It started with the left-over bags of marshmallow(meant for the chocolate fondue), but then it turned mean with whole bananas, and cut up pineapple. We were laughing so hard. It was truly quite the sight. And my mom got it all on video! We all finally took our kids home around midnight, praying they would all sleep until at least 10 the next morning. My girls were up at 9, not too bad.

Today, for my birthday, some friends took me out to a very tasty breakfast. Afterwards we went and got manicures and pedicures, which is so relaxing. It feels so good to get pampered. We're going to celebrate more tonight. I sure do love birthdays!

1987

2006-02-21T12:38:00.000-05:00

Everyday we have new patients come into the office. And everyday I see young girls who were born in 1984, 85, 86, 87, and I think that they must be too young to be having surgery. But then I realize that I'm just getting old(er). Like today one patient was born in '87, but she's 18. I just can't believe it. I mean, I can do the math, but it's hard to believe that I'm just getting to be, well, old(er). I will be 27 next week, and I'm already getting embarassed to tell my young friends, or the young women at church how old I am. It's not like I'm 30 or anything :) When I think about my friends here, most of them are in their mid-30's, so I'm the baby. But their kids are all the same age as mine, so it seems like we're the same age. But when I'm their age, 36, I will have teenagers!!! Very, very scarey. I like being one of the young moms(one with young kids). MOM-is that why you kept having kids? So you could be a young mom? It's pretty brilliant really, everyone thinks she's in her 30's cause she has young kids! Too bad that I want to be done having kids by 30...

Cassieism

2006-02-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

Cassieism doesn't quite work as well as Aliaism does it? Twinism? I need some advice on this...

Cassie's lunch prayer today:
"...please bless the food to be yummy!..."
Has it not been yummy lately???

Chloe's dinner prayer:
"...bless mommy and daddy and Cassie and Chloe, bless the Bishop, and bless Heavenly Father and bless Jesus..."
How precious is that?
They also always bless themselves in the third person.

A very uninteresting post

2006-02-19T17:14:00.001-05:00

"Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren't distracted by the total lack of content in your writing."
-Randy K. Milholland

Every time I read an article, a brochure, a book, anything, the thing that catches my eye are always the typos. Stupid mistakes make me want to circle them with a red pen and send it back. Mostly it's the spelling errors that make me crazy, but also when things aren't alligned. I've been tempted many times to write in to the company who's brochure or ad's have mistakes. I mean, these are professionals, they should have someone editing their work.

I'm sure I have typos here and on other posts, so maybe I should edit my own posts! However, my blogfather once made a point to never edit a blog or else your true feelings won't come out, or something like that. I'll stick with just typing, and hope that I won't look stupid now! Mostly I just ramble anyway....

Ballroom

2006-02-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

We just finished watching the movie "Shall We Dance" for our Sunday family activity. Chloe and Cassidy loved all of the dancing. Chloe wants Brian to dance with her just like they did on the movie. It is quite humorous, she gets mad at him when he looks at the TV instead of her (he's watching a basketball game). She does spins, stomps her feet, and throws her body backwards to make him catch her, but if he dips her back before the dance is over she says "daddy we're not over yet!" Whenever he does something wrong, she marches away and comes back a minute later to make him dance with her more. Cassie said "your partner runned away daddy, because you're not doing it right." I love my little dancers!

Now Chloe and Brian are racing each other on Brian's PSP Snowboarding game(the current favorite activity), while Cassie and I are working on Valentine's for their Valentine's party at school.

I love these days that we get to spend together as a family.

Postsecret

2006-02-10T15:34:00.000-05:00

POSTSECRET

This is my new favorite website to visit. These are postcards that people make at home, creatively telling their darkest secrets, and send it in anonymously. I read through some of the postcards in the new book Postsecret, by Frank Warner. Some make you laugh, some make you cry, some make you say HUH??? All in all, it's very interesting.

Labs update

2006-02-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

They say it's endometriosis, and that I need more testing done. I'm just learning what it is, but here's a link for anyone else that wants to know more.

I'm sure I'm fine, but we want to be safe.

Back to work

2006-02-06T15:45:00.000-05:00

I started back at work today, though a bit slower than usual. Also my mom and my sister Laila left. It was so great to have them here, they really took such great care of us. Of course it's always nice to have your mom take care of you. There's nothing like your mommy when you're sick (or impaired.) Love ya Mom!!!

Pathology-not cancerous, but I was told I need to see my OB-GYN for possible implications with a future pregnancy.

I know, I know pictures....someday!

2006-02-01T18:02:00.000-05:00

Just to let everyone know, my surgery went really well. A couple of funny stories....
Monday I asked the esthetician at my work if she would put some good lip balm on me after my surgery. She said "yeah, just remind me." Uhh, did she really think I would remember? We all got a good laugh out of that comment. Well, as soon as they awoke me from my deep sleep, I said "Karen...lips...I remembered" This got an even bigger laugh!!! The first thing I said after waking up was "is it too late to change my mind?" I guess I was pretty funny while in this weird drugged up state.

So the hernia turned out to be something else. The doctor cut out this black lump and sent it to pathology. He looked around some more to see if there were any more, but he didn't see any. It was probably just a lymph node. I will keep you all informed as to what the black lump was.

Overall, I'm doing much better than I had anticipated.

24 Hours in My Life

2006-01-27T14:10:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a horrible scare. I will start with little details first.

Wednesday afternoon...C&C's friend Lauren came over for a play date. Kristin called and asked if Caleb(3 yrs old) could come play at our house while she went to the dentist, knowing that I would be teaching voice lessons and Caleb would be unsupervised. This was fine with me, as a lot of my friends do this on Wednesdays.

3:00pm Kristin dropped off Caleb while I was in a voice lesson, so I didn't see her. At 3:45 my last lesson began. I decided to have all 4 of the kids come down to the basement with me for this last hour. They played in the garage, rolled the balls, colored, all very quietly. At 4:35 Caleb went upstairs. At 4:40 I asked Chloe to go upstairs to make sure Caleb wasn't getting into trouble. At 4:45 the lesson ended and the rest of us went upstairs. I asked Chloe where Caleb was, and she said she couldn't find him. We casually looked in all the rooms-under beds, in closets, all the bathrooms-in bathtubs. No sign of him. We called his name expecting him to giggle as he usually does playing hide and seek. No sound. I went back downstairs and see that my front door is unlocked. This scared me completely. I ALWAYS lock my door. But there it was, UNLOCKED! I went outside calling his name. Just then my voice lesson's mother(who happens to be a good friend) pulled up. She and I searched around my building first, then ran through the rest of the subdivision. Nothing. No one had seen him. By that point we had multiple neighbors out helping in the search. We looked in the ditches, at the clubhouse, in the pool, everywhere. Finally we realized it was time to call the police. My friend Debbie called the police from my house while I drove up and down the 2 very busy roads that are on either side of us. I drove into every neighborhood. Nothing. I said a prayer, and felt that we were doing everything right. I called Ty, Caleb's dad at work, and left an urgent message on his voicemail. I called Kristin at home and left an urgent message there. Neither of them have cell phones. On my way home I pick up a policeman that is directing rush hour traffic at our intersection. He hadn't seen Caleb, nor were there any reports of a 3 yr old boy being found. 5:15pm He rode back to my house with me, where we found several police officers waiting for us. Also inside the house was Lauren's (C&C's friend) mother, Cindy. Cindy had shown up to a house full of police officers, and me gone! Debbie and her daughter Melissa were at the house with the kids, and told her what was going on. Brian had come home during this time too, and had begun looking around the neighborhood, along with at least 15 neighbors, and 10 policemen. More police officers showed up over the next 20 minutes. I am questioned over and over again. By this point I knew he couldn't possibly be hiding or roaming the streets. He had either been taken, or was dead. Memories and emotions from last May when my dear friend's son died came rushing back. I knew I was going to have to move, and that Kristin was going to hate me forever. So many emotions, so many thoughts, such horror. 5:41 Cindy comes running outside telling us that Kristin had just left a message on the answering machine, saying that she had Caleb, and not to go looking for him! I called to confirm this, and then the police officer also spoke with her. He told her that policemen were on their way to her house. Just then a firetruck pulled up. Everyone was informed that the search was over.

So that was my traumatic recollection of the story.

To be fair, and to answer questions, here's Kristin's side...

When Kristin knocked on my door, Caleb came from the garage and unlocked the door. She assumed that I had sent him, since she knew that I was teaching a voice lesson. She didn't want to interrupt my lesson, so she took Caleb and left. She also was in a hurry to pick up Ty from the train station. When she got to the train station and ended up waiting 40 minutes. When she got home, she heard my messages, and called me to let me know she had Caleb.

At Kristin's house...the policeman took Kristin's statement, and then said, "Ma'am, we had 20 police officers, 2 helicopters, and the Amber Alert out looking for your son. Next I suggest you interrupt your friend and let her know that you are taking your son."

She of course felt absolutely horrible about this. We have all been a bit traumatized about this. Many lessons were learned, and fortunately it all turned out ok.

Since the title of this post is 24 hours...Thursday morning I had to go see a general surgeon. It turns out that I have a hernia at the edge of my caesarean. It is likely that it was not stitched together tight enough. (Is it too late to file a lawsuit???) So today I go under the knife to fix my hernia. It shouldn't be too bad, but it still makes me nervous. I was pretty emotional when I was told about the hernia and needed surgery, but that was because I was still recovering from the trauma of the previous evening.

It's time to head to my surgery, I'll write again soon.