Thankful

On this Thanksgiving eve, I have been thinking of all the many things that I have to be thankful for. So, in true blog fashion (it seems I fall into this too much!) I have created a bulleted list of these things:

• Caleb- While he has certainly given us a run for our money, I am thankful that he is who he is. Caleb is SO smart, so much so that often, throughout his short little life, he has scared the living daylights out of me by something that has come out of his mouth. He is also so sweet and, for the most part, is so loving toward his family. Caleb and my mom have a serious bond that is sweet to see and I love that they have a tie that nothing can break.
• Piper- I love her spirit and determination. This girl has a serious drive that no one can deter. She sees what she wants and goes for it, but still always comes back to her mama. Piper is shy sometimes and I love that she looks to her dad, brother and I for comfort, instead of someone else. Piper is super helpful and loves to be in the middle of all the action. She is just so much fun!
• Jes- I am thankful for a husband that provides and provides well for his family. While things are always perfect in our marriage, or even in our house, he's always here and always comes home. That's more than you can say for a lot of 32 year old men. I'm also so thankful that he works so hard so I can be at home with the kids. Because he works so hard, it allows me to be home and just have to work a bit in the evenings.
• My things- Now, I know it's not really kosher to say that you are thankful for stuff, but I am thankful that I have enough "stuff" to provide a good life for my family. I'm thankful for my house, even though it sometimes feels like a shoebox, and sometimes things break and we have to fix them, but it's ours and I'm glad we have it.
• My family- I am thankful that I have a family. There are some who do not, and I just can't imagine the despair that that might cause them, especially during a holiday where the tradition is to gather as one. Now, my family is far from perfect, in fact we are probably more on the end of super odd, but it works for us and it's normal for us. In the past few years we have learned to love each other for who we are, and respect each other, and for that I am thankful.
• Time- I am thankful that I have lived another year. We are not promised any time, as we know that our days are numbered, and I am glad that I have been around yet another year to wipe noses and hineys, feed small children, drive countless miles, laugh, cry, cook meals, see milestones, discipline, and all the other small things that we all take for granted.

So, I guess I'm just thankful.

Fall Fun

We've been having quite a good time this fall so far. The weather has been a bit precarious with all the rain and such, but we've managed to squeeze in all our fall traditions so far this year.



We managed to make our yearly trip to the Dallas Arboretum, but this year it was just my mom and the kids and myself. Everyone else that usually goes with us chickened out, but we braved the mud (it has rained quite a lot here in the past month to month and a half) and had quite a fun time! This year, more than ever, it has been quite the challenge to get both of the kids to look at me to get a proper photo. Last year, Piper was an infant and she, mostly, stayed where I put her. Now, not so much as she can just stand up and take off wherever she pleases. Poor Caleb tries to be still and look at the camera as much as he can, but there's only so much a 4.5 year old can take before something shiny or fun attracts his eye!



Caleb finished up his soccer season on the 31st of October. I am working on crafting a full post about soccer, but just to sum it up we had a really crummy coach (lots of screaming, foot stomping and fit throwing and not a lot of coaching) and the boys just had no idea what to do. The last game of the season, all the boys were given a trophy. Caleb is super proud of his! The rest of the team is signing up to play on the same team in the Spring, but we are not going to do soccer again until Fall, if at all. We will certainly be looking for a new team/coach too!



Halloween this year was more fun than it has ever been! Caleb was Batman and Piper was Catgirl. They were just two superheroes waiting to save mankind!
This year, like last, we went to my parent's church's Fall Festival event. Normally, it is held at the church, but with Halloween being during the weekend they were able to schedule it to be held at Firewheel Mall in Garland. This is one of those super popular outdoor malls with a large courtyard. The games were spread out and there were so many kids and parents there! I know that it had to have been a great success! I know both of our munchkins had so much fun playing the games, collecting their candy and riding the ponies!

Each year, since Caleb was a baby, I have taken the kid(s) to The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm, just north of us in Celina. This year I decided to go with my MOPS group but due to incessant rain it was rescheduled 3 times. The last time that we scheduled the trip was just before they were to close down for the winter so it was a now or never type thing. I had seen on the news that Celina had been getting more rain than even we had and that most of the properties there had to bring the city in to pump out all the water that was collecting. The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm was no exception. I knew when we left that day that we would be covered in mud and boy was I right! We arrived to a flooded farm with a huge lake of rain water in the center of the property. We had to park far away and be shuttled in on the hayride to get around it. It wasn't exactly the traditional hayride, but it was a hayride nonetheless! We had a great time getting dirty, feeding the animals and picking out our pumpkins. Piper was fairly clean when we went to leave (she hung out in the VERY muddy stroller most of the time), but I just stripped Caleb's and my shoes off, rolled up our muddy pants and drove home.

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving around here, which also means one more thing for me: the end of the fall semester! I have an extra class this semester which translates into more grading and while I have enjoyed it, I will be glad for a break!

Health Update

Where does the time go here? I keep telling myself that it hasn't been that long since I wrote here and then I click over and see it really has.
Well, anyway I should really update on the state of my health I addressed a few posts ago.
I went to the doctor this past Monday and she did a very thorough examination of the lymph nodes in my cervical (neck) region and found that the one that was swollen on the right is totally normal now. She also found that the lymph node on the right that was so big had shrunk around 2cm in a month. It seems that she estimated it to be 3cm a month ago and that it was now nearer to 1cm. Our next step was to go to see a surgeon to see if it needed to be removed, but she decided that we should wait another 2 weeks and revisit before we did that.
Overall, I felt better after leaving this appointment than I did the last. Also, I do feel better, mostly, as I was just not well for many weeks on end. We both agreed that with all the stuff going around right now and living with two small children, aka germ magnets, that I probably have been picking up small, but certainly noticeable and bothersome illnesses all that time.
If you are my friend on facebook then you have seen my status updates about Piper. If you are not, then here's the basic rundown on what has been going on with her. Last Thursday afternoon, Piper felt warm so I thought I would take her temperature. It was high, but literally 15 minutes later she was normal. Strange, I thought. I also thought I might have caught her at a weird time, however 1 hour later she was hot again.
Now, if you have not been around Piper, you would not know that she is very much a drama queen. She has a very big personality and is very much like her mother, so to say that she was grumpy is not that abnormal for her, especially late in the day. I went to work Thursday night thinking she was teething (the girl is 16 months old and only has 4 at this point!), however when I got home I discovered she was burning up but had no other symptoms.
Thus began the next few, miserable days where Piper ran fever consistently regardless of the medication she had on board or not. Yesterday, she did not have fever, but late in the afternoon she had a rash on her torso and upper back. I, of course, called doctor and come to find out, she had/has Roseola!
Who gets that anymore? I had it as a small child, but it never occurred to me that my kid/kids would get it. Anyway, the nurse told me that the cases in our area are up and that is seems to be yet another thing going around.
I just wanted to update all of y'all who were praying for us over the past few weeks and say thank you! I so appreciate all the love and prayers!

This past weekend, Caleb, Piper and I were looking back through some old photos that are on the computer and came across these old videos of Caleb. They are too cute and made me wonder where my little boy went, so I thought I would share.

If you have read my blog for awhile now, then you will more than likely recognize this first one. This is Caleb dancing to a song from a Veggie Tales movie. He is not quite 2 here and is just as sweet as I remember him. It's been no secret Caleb's deep and abiding love for Larry and Bob, a love that still has not waned. We are still watching, talking about, singing the songs of Bob and Larry and all the other Veggie Tale characters. At the end of this video, if you listen very carefully, you will hear him say, "Yay, Wawry" translated yay, Larry. So cute.

I just happened to discover this one and had completely forgotten about it. This one brought tears to my eyes. I had forgotten...

I guess I was video happy this day as this one is the very same day, just after the dancing video. Here Caleb is counting to 20, a skill that he perfected long before this video was taken. I still have no idea how he learned this, as I did not teach him this, but he could totally do it and still look SO cute at the same time.

The Goings On Round Here.

I figured that I should post something a little bit more positive that that last one. Most of y'all probably could care less, but it makes me a bit crazy to leave that there knowing that's the first thing that someone would read coming here.
So, with all that said, here's what's been going on in our lives in bulleted form (since I'm supposed to be typing notes for work tomorrow):

• Piper has really been growing! She's walking really well and is talking up a blue streak. This past weekend, she said her first sentence. She had grabbed Caleb's cup off his table (it has no lid as he is a BIG boy now and doesn't think he EVER needs one) and walked across the room with it. Of course, it sloshed all over her and got her shirt and upper body wet. She looked at me, clear as day and said, "I'm wet" and pointed to her shirt. Later on in the day she told me she was poopy. She can also say her name now, although she can't say her r's yet, so it's just about as cute as it gets!
• Jes was gone this past weekend on his very first weekend long motorcycle ride with what I like to call his motorcycle gang. It is really just a bunch of guys, much like himself, who enjoy riding sport bikes and don't do anything stupid like wheelies or stuff like that. They get all decked out in their safety gear and off they go. This weekend they took off to western Arkansas and were able to see some pretty nice scenery as the leaves are changing and have just a great time!
• Yesterday was my birthday. I turned another year older. Enough already.
• Caleb has really changed a lot in the last few months. It seems that when I look back at all the difficulties he has overcome, it just seems impossible that we are at this point in our lives. He is communicating well these days and seems to have gone over the hump with regards to his behavior. Now, don't get me wrong, he is still 4 and stilld doesn't like to share and still breaks down when his tired, hungry, etc, but he's getting better at moderating his emotions. We were in the pediatrician's office with Piper for a well check up and he was getting VERY frustrated that he couldn't complete a picture on the magna doodle as he wanted. The doctor took notice of this and stopped to watch to see how he would react (we have talked extensively about Caleb and he knows him well). Caleb looked at me, on the edge of losing it and I told him to just stop, and try again. He said this exact thing, "Oh, yeah. I forgot. I'll try again." and went back to trying and succeeded. The pediatrician took note.
• Caleb has been playing soccer. That's another post for another day. Suffice it to say, we won't be doing this again.

We are just living life and making big decisions that I'll post about as we go!

The Post In Which I Freak the Heck Out

So, I guess it's been over a month since I've posted here, huh?!?
There have been some big things going on round these parts, most of which consume my every moment, leaving me without much to say, or the energy in which to say it, at the end of the day.
I'm sure that most of my regular readers are gone, but for those of you that are still with me, this post is all about me.
I need some prayers.
There. I said it.
I'm not normally one to ask for this, but I'm totally freaked about this.
About a month ago, I discovered a very swollen lymph node in my neck. I had just been sick and was just then getting over whatever the weird cold/allergy fusion type thing that seemed to be going around. I did not have a regular doctor, as it seems the only doctor that I had seen on a regular basis in the past 2 years was my ob/gyn. I suppose that's the case when you are trying to conceive, have become pregnant, and have recently delivered.
Anyway, I got an appointment in the office of Jes's doctor and had her check it out. She noticed it right off and found that there was another one swollen on the other side too, but not as bad. Then she said something to me that has haunted me since. She said, "Let's see you again in a month and if it hasn't gone down then we'll send you to a specialist. You'll probably have to have a biopsy."
Sweet heavens.
Guess what, I go back in 2 weeks and it still hasn't gone down.
Commence the hyperventilating.
I have since had a couple of near and honest to goodness panic attacks over this. My biggest issue is that I know more than the average person and my mind just goes there. I've been through every possible scenario on this and I've just about convinced myself that something is terribly wrong.
So, please pray that this thing just goes away. That's it. I don't want prayers for comfort, I just want it gone. Call me selfish, but there it is.

The Post Where Caleb Makes Me Feel Like The Prettiest Mama On The Block

Setting: We were at the doctor

Caleb: Mama, I HAVE to draw a picture.

Me: Ok, dear, grab the Magna Doodle and go to town.

Caleb: I'm going to draw you.

Me: Hm, ok honey.

Caleb: draw draw draw. draw draw draw.
Mama, Look!

Me: Oh, honey that's great! (really it was!)

Caleb: Mama, it's you! It's the most beautiful ballerina in the WHOLE world!

Me: aww...