Long time, no post

So yes, it's been a while since I've posted. Again, not due to slacking, just SUUUUUPPER busy. The weekend was crammed full of stuff, even though it wasn't all fun. Plus, we've all been taking turns being sick, which is never fun. Precious petite princess had her 15 month well baby visit, and thankfully, all was well! She is still quite the petite little thing, though, landing in the 25th percentile all the way around, except for her head circumference, which, in TRUE fashion for our family, was solidly in the 97th percentile! That's a big ol' brain in there for a petite princess! She did have to get two shots (never fun, but necessary!), and pulled through like a trooper only crying a bit on the second shot.
Friday I didn't have class, but didn't get to enjoy my day off as it was my turn to be sick. Nothing major, just enough to keep me down and feeling crummy. I started to feel a little better as the day progressed, and by the afternoon I was feeling well enough to go get the kids from MDO and take bouncing blue-eyed boy to get his hair cut. I have to admit, I'm a little sad about it now, as it didn't turn out quite the way I was wanting. Oh well, it will grow. After that, we headed out to my parents' house, as it was the big moving day for them. It was with very mixed emotions that I drove the roads in the neighborhood leading to the home I grew up in. I'd already had a good cry about it that morning, but continued to be a little weepy as the final things were loaded up and we cleaned. I have a whole post planned dedicated to this event, coming up so stay tuned! We all caravanned (?) to the new house and shared a dinner of pizza and hot pop (Mommy Dearest forgot they had no ice yet!).
Saturday morning The Boy had a dental appointment for a baby tooth that had been bothering him. Good thing I went with him, because they ended up needing to remove the tooth to prevent further infection. Fortunately (though he feels otherwise) the tooth was in a location that no immediate action needs to take place to replace it. It's one of his far back molars, so it in no way affected that gorgeous smile. He spent the rest of the day in pain :( so I played mommy, wife, and nurse that day!
Unfortunately I think I wore myself out on Saturday because Sunday I was feeling awful again. We DID make it to Sunday school and worship, but I was not feeling my greatest. We had planned (and told bouncing blue-eyed boy) that we would take the kids to the fair. I was so upset thinking I wouldn't be able to follow through with that promise! However, after a good nap and some meds, I was feeling well enough to pack everyone up and head off to the great state fair! We had a WONDERFUL time, just our little family of four! Great food, rides, games, and of course, pics!! I'll be posting those soon.
For now, we are all starting to feel better (thank goodness!) and gearing up for the fun, festive month of October! This time of year is SO much fun with the kids!

Hooray, hooray!!

I hate sounding like I'm bragging about it, but I just get SO excited when I do well on a test! And today was one of those days! I'm in this Anatomy & Physiology class, which is a requirement for ANY nursing major, and I have this professor who just might as well be as boring as the dull brown chalkboard he writes upon. Plus, he goes on and on and on about information I feel is completely irrelevant for what we need to be discussing to get the grade. So, after *somewhat* stressing about the test last Wednesday (really I was stressing more about all the ridiculous instructions he has for taking his exams, and trying to do them the right way so I wouldn't automatically fail before even getting my No. 2 to the page), we got our results this morning and- I MADE A 95!!! AND what's even better...that was without the extra credit points. I know, you must be thinking "Well why didn't you get the extra credit points?!" Well, I spent my valuable time studying the material he said we would be tested on, not the extra credit stuff (which had NOTHING to do with the unit we were testing on). So, I am feeling quite accomplished today...perhaps the most difficult class I've got, and I made a 95 on my first exam! Hopefully I can just continue the semester at that rate and it will truly be a HUGE success! Bring it, nursing school!

Not what it seems

I assure you, the reason I've not posted since Thursday is NOT because I've been slacking! Quite the opposite, in fact! Gosh, we were just CRAZY busy all weekend, and it was great!
Friday, Baby Boy and myself stayed in bed for most of the day feeling crummy. Fortunately for me, Petite Princess was able to go to MDO so I only had to keep up with one toddler for a majority of the day. It was so nice though, to spend some quality snuggle time with my Baby Boy. He's getting so big, it seems everyday he's more boy and less baby. Definitely a bittersweet time for his mommy :(
That night The Boy and I were supposed to be attending a wedding rehearsal and dinner for some very good friends' ceremony, but since I was not feeling so great, he went alone. His band was also going to be playing at the reception, so they needed some extra practice time anyway. So I got the kids bathed and in bed early, and then tucked myself in for an early bed time.
Saturday, we were in hyper mode ALL day! We got up early, with several errands needing to be taken care of. Since it's the weekend, we try to do as much as possible with just the four of us, even if it means just running all over the city, in and out of the car many times. I was so blessed to have all three of my loves accompany me to pick out a new outfit for the wedding. Amazingly, no melt downs occurred while we were shopping, even from The Boy! ;) So I got an adorable new outfit that everyone agreed looked good. After that we got to head to a local builder's supply store to check out appliances and lighting fixtures for our *potential* new house! I should have more (good) news on that later this week! Just keep us in your prayers, please, as this has been a much longer process than any of us ever anticipated. We know God has the perfect home in store for us, we are just growing more and more anxious to get our family in to it! Then it was time to drop the kiddos off at Mimzy & Dude's so The Boy and I could get ready to head to the wedding.
It was set at the most adorable location in the heart of old downtown, and truly is a vintage oasis in the midst of metropolitan hustle abd bustle. The colors were magnificent- true reflections of the beautiful fall season we are entering into. Rich oranges, warm grays, greens and deep, saturated reds. And the bride was absolutely stunning. We had a wonderful time "playing" with old friends, and listening to The Boy and his band play. We spent the cool, breezy, beautiful evening dancing, singing, eating cake, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. (I'll post some great pics of all this later in the week!)
Today, I was still not feeling too great, so we were sluggish to get up and around for church, and unfortunately did not make it to our home church for worship. I feel so out of sorts on the weekends now, and it resonates through my week when I don't get my Sunday morning routine just right. I miss the time of fellowship and worship with brothers and sisters who are united to celebrate the love of our gracious God. However, we were able to join my parents (and the kiddos) at their home church, which is the church I grew up in. It's nice to be able to go back to your "roots" every now and again.
The rest of our day was spent doing family things. We took my mom & dad to see "the house", then we did a little Sunday shopping with our two favorite kids on this earth. The evening was nice and relaxed with just pizza for dinner, followed by baths and story time. It's so fun to get to watch the kids interact with each other in these special moments. They truly are getting to be great friends, and I love to watch that relationship blossom.
We are looking forward to a great week, hopefully and prayerfully filled with some BIG blessed events for our family. We hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with fun, laughter, love, and blessings. Have a great Monday!

Slacker No More!

So, in reading all the posts my friends make on their blogs, I've come to realize I'm already a blog-slacker...and I've just started! AAArrrggh!! Tonight, that shall change!

I guess I should let you in on the title of my blog:

I have always been OBSESSED with the field of medicine, and God has a *funny* way of making these things hit home. I entered OU as a pre-med/microbiology major, with the hopes and aspirations to one day be a pediatric oncologist/hematologist. It was not to be, however, for me to breeze through undergraduate studies, on to med school, and so forth. In the fall of 2002, a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This diagnosis caught our entire family off guard. We were plagued with memories of a neighborhood friend who died of an aggressive brain tumor/cancer just a few years before, as that was the only experience we had ever known similar to what we were facing. We were not hopeless, though, as we had no doubts our God would pull all of us through this terrifying ordeal. Tests were run, blood was taken (and taken and taken), spinal taps were drawn, I had every kind of MRI, MRA, MR(you name it)...and it was still up for debate as to exactly what kind of tumor it was. Initial thoughts were that it wasn't even a tumor, rather the "scar" from a stroke. (A stroke?! I'm a healthy 19 year old!) Other thoughts were that it was tumefactive MS. Another shocking possiblility...being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at only 19 years of age. Through MUCH prayer and sheer faith in God, we were led down a path, step by step, that took myself and my family to the place we felt we needed to be. My aunt in Houston is a nurse for a cardiac surgeon, who just *happens* to be good friends with the chief of neurosurgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He asked his friend if he would take a look at all my scans, and he agreed. Within days of receiving all the results, Dr. Raymond Sawaya was in contact with my mom, advising her of every step he felt we needed to take. There were many hurdles to overcome- financial, a place for my parents to stay, insurance benefits, risk/benefit ratio, etc. And one by one, our gracious Lord gave us the answers. Insurance carrier agreed to cover 90% of all costs, and the MD Anderson's status as a research facility meant a large portion of what was left after insurance could possibly be written off. My aunt who got us in contact with Dr. Sawaya had a friend who lived literally BLOCKS from the medical center. Again, it just so *happened* that this friend was scheduled to be on vacation for two weeks...the exact two weeks that *coincided* with our scheduled time in Houston. She offered her amazing newly renovated loft for us to stay in, she was going to have to get a housesitter anyway (all three of us stayed there for the few days of pre-op and my parents stayed there while I spent a week in the hospital after surgery), and it took at the most, five minutes to get from her loft to the hospital where I was staying. All the pieces just seemed to be laid out before us...and God just coaxed us along His predestined path. We learned a lot about faith in those months leading up to the surgery...and they are all lessons that resonate with me more strongly as time goes by. After pathology came back, it was discovered the tumor was pre-cancerous. The headaches that led to the discovery of the tumor were/are in no way related to it. It was what most of my doctors refer to as a "coincidental finding". I know the truth. Dr. Sawaya told us that had the tumor not been discovered until IT showed symptoms of itself, I most likely would have been 25/26 years old with cancer the size of an orange or grapefruit that would not have been operable.

Now, for the next part of the story:

The Boy and I started dating the summer before he was to begin law school. This (finally) happened FOUR years after I graduated high school, a year after him. Oh the crush I had on him, though, when we were in school together. He was my idea of "AMAZING", and my best friend and I each shared this affection for him (as did many of my fellow female classmates, I'm sure). He was, in a word, spectacular. Dreamily tall, athletic build (he was a football player!), milk dud eyes, with lashes that went on for days, gorgeous almost black brown hair, and the smile...oh the smile, it would make any girl weak in the knees. It was simply flawless, and he had no problem flashing that thing around like a diamond ring. But the best part about him? He was without a doubt, the sweetest boy I'd ever spoken to. Granted, he spent most of the class time we had together picking on me with some of the other guys in our Algebra 3 class, but I didn't care...it meant I had his attention :) Needless to say, I "suffered" through the class and squeaked out of that ELECTIVE with a C. He, however, made an A. Five years later, a *chance* reunion with an old friend of mine led to her giving The Boy my number (upon my urging, begging, and pleading, of course). He called a few weeks later, to see if I'd like to "hang out" at dinner. I laughed my way through the entire 10 minute conversation- I was SO nervous that was all I could do! But, it was official (at least from my perspective), I was going on a date with THE BOY the following Tuesday (Tuesday? Really?! Who goes on dates on a Tuesday night? But whatever!! It was a date!) So, the day came...I spent hours the night before scouring my wardrobe for the PERFECT outfit, and had finally settled on an amazing little ensemble. I spent the entire day at work just giddy with excitement and nervousness...everyone knew that I was going out the The Boy, and this was a HUGE deal. I had agreed to meet him in Norman, since he was living there at the time (I have NO idea why I did this, ha!) so I headed that way with plenty of extra time for any sort of traffic problems, tie-ups, etc. What I hadn't accounted for however, was getting pulled over by a state trooper. Yep, a mere 10 minutes into my drive, the gut-wrenching blue and reds flashed up behind me, and my stomach dropped to my toes. What seemed like decades (fifteen minutes) later, after explaining to the trooper that I was actually on my way to a date with The Boy, who is the son of the District Judge of the particular county we were in, I drove away with my $220 ticket. But even that couldn't dampen the excitement that was pumping through my veins. I finally made it to Norman, after having to call him and explain to him why I would be about 20 minutes late. We had dinner at this horrible little restaurant (though I didn't admit that to him until at least a year later) and I barely ate a thing due to the feeling that I might puke all over his gorgeous blue shirt that made those brown eyes a dark sea of deliciousness, because I was SO nervous. We then went to hang out at their house where we talked with his roommate, then went out to sit on the back deck and chat. When I get nervous, I tend to talk a lot....and by that, I mean a LOT more than USUAL. I can't say for sure exactly what we talked about that night, but I do know that boy had to listen to nonsensical rambling for a good two hours. When I left that night he gave me the awkward "side hug", and I just knew I'd blown any chance of ever having a second date. Which, in all honesty I knew wasn't a real possibility anyway, because my friend who set us up told me he wasn't looking for anything serious, as he was getting ready to start law school and really wanted to focus on that, and not a relationship. Much to both of our surprise though, a week later (after countless hours on the phone and going on dates every night from Thursday to the following Tuesday!), the boy told me he loved me...and I knew it was true, because I loved him too. Oh, how I loved that amazingly handsome (yes, he even improved with age!), genuine, tenderhearted, smart boy.

(Even with black icing all over his face, those pearly whites just sparkle!!)

And here's how the story goes now:

We barely knew life together before "the law" and now we couldn't tell you what that was like. He started law school in August 2005. In the three years to follow we: got married, moved, gave birth to beautiful bouncing blue-eyed boy, moved, celebrated his graduation, and less than four weeks later gave birth to our precious petite princess!! All that excitement left us with one MAJOR hurdle...the Bar Exam. UGH. Anyone that has ever had to experience in anyway knows what dread and anxiety this can bring with it. Our precious petite princess was a mere 6 weeks old when The Boy spent two days in downtown OKC taking this monster of a test. Then we "got" to wait another 6 weeks before finding out the results. In true rockstar fashion, though, he passed with flying colors!! And we spent the next 4 days celebrating with anyone and everyone! Fortunately, he already had a job lined up (pending his passage of the Bar) and upon being sworn in (another 3 weeks later) he was an official attorney!









Today, I am 26 years old...married to The Boy, who truly is the Man of My Dreams, I am the gushingly proud mommy to the two most amazing babies in the world, sleeping peacefully in their beds down the hall. My life has purpose (as all of ours do) and I'm living to fulfill it. I am back in school finishing up my nursing degree. My goal is to go into pediatric oncology/hematology...but now I have a whole new respect and outlook of what a cancer diagnosis means, and the opportunities it brings with it.

This life of ours is so richly blessed with love beyond measure. I know that each step and decision in our pasts has brought us to this day...where we are together, celebrating the many blessings God has given us. I strive to make Him proud of me every day- to be the follower He desires me to be, the wife He desires me to be, the mother He desires me to be, the daughter, sister, friend...I pray my faith will be the defining trait in my life. And through that faith, I will show compassion, love, forgiveness the way He designed me to.

Just FYI

So, now that I've settled in to my new blog home I figured for those who may read this I'd give you a little peek into what makes me Me.

• I was born in Natchez, MS, literally on top of the great Mississippi (and at a point where it really is great!). I still love Natchez, and wish there was a way my children and husband could experience it for all the greatness it offered me.

• I LOVE thunderstorms and tornadoes. When my parents first moved our family to OK, back when I was in third grade, my mom's tremendous fear of these storms rubbed off on me, and I would make myself sick with worry any time there was a gray cloud in the sky. Now, after years of obsessive weather-watching, storm season is a time of excitement and adrenaline rushes for me!

• I love to cook, bake, prepare food...but hate to eat! I used to think it was sheer torture when I would go on a date with a guy and he would take me to dinner. Eating in public is not something I enjoy at all!

• I've had a crush on my husband since I was at least a freshman in high school. He was a year ahead of me in school, and had a girlfriend pretty much all the way through high school. We had a class together my junior/his senior year. I sat right in front of him in Algebra 3, and it was the biggest, giddiest distraction ever. I finished the class with a C. And I'm really good at math.

• My son, Bouncing blue-eyed boy, was born on June 16, exactly one month before his due date. That day also "happens" to be the birthday of the friend who is responsible for The Boy and me dating in the first place. I think God chose the perfect way to honor her involvement with this incredible love we share.

• When I was seven years old I fell out of a tree trying to get into the house to watch a new episode of Full House. Upon hitting the ground I broke both my wrists. No, the kid in the tree with me did not push me.

• I always desired to have a blond-haired, blue-eyed child. Firgured I'd have to adopt from Sweden or Russia to get that. My precious son was born with sparkling blue eyes (The Boy has milk chocolate colored eyes, mine are chameleon-like hazel) and brown hair with blond streaks. Today, he's as blond, and blue-eyed as one could get. God gave me that special little gift, simply because He knew I really truly desired it.

• When I was nineteen years old, I planned my own funeral with my mom. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, after an acute onset of migraine headaches. To this day, all doctors say there is NO way my headaches were related to the tumor. They referred to it as an "coincidental finding". As a believer in Christ, my personal Lord and Savior, I know better. The tumor is gone now, having been surgically removed. The migraines remain...

• I have two AMAZING sisters...

• My husband and I named our first born child after a football field.

• My parents are truly the best parents in the world. And they've been married for over 30 years. How cool is that?

• My favorite holiday is the 4th of July. I love our nation...and fireworks.

• I can't wait to be a nurse. I have an intense passion for nurturing and can't wait to serve God by serving my patients.

• I would love to have a house FULL of children. I think it would be SO much fun to have about 10 kids.

• I hate washing my hair, and LOVE brushing my teeth.

• I would totally love for someone to come in to my life and completely make over my wardrobe, makeup, etc. I just don't have the energy to figure it all out.

• My best friend and I could pass for twins. And if there was some kind of award for the best friend in the world...she would win, hands down. I love my Twinnie.

• I wish I had a really cool accent...something like Nicole Kidman mixed with a little Penelope Cruz.

• I REALLY enjoy sleep. And I'm really tired right now. So I'm going to go treat myself to some sleep now.

In the beginning...

Now that I've got a new "blog home" I guess I'd better start making good use of it! It seems simple enough, but when you've got a lot to say (as I always do), things could get a little tricky. So, here goes- I'm gonna try it and see where it takes me.
Things are in motion that could make these next several months very interesting for my family and myself; we are (still) in the process of buying a new home, I've finally returned to school (and this time to finish!), the kids are at ages of incredible growth and change, and I'm looking to expand my horizons into small business. These are just a sampling of the things that make this life of mine a crazy one, and one that I would never change. I'm so richly blessed by the family and friends God has given to me, as well as the support groups I have all around me. I would be nowhere near here without these ones I love so dearly. I hope that this blog will serve as a source of humor (because it truly is a crazy life), enlightenment (because hopefully my family isn't the only one experiencing this exhilirating ride), advice (seeking mostly), and if nothing else, entertainment (because...well, I have two toddlers!). So sit back, and enjoy the show folks, it's guaranteed to never have a dull moment!