Thank You!

So, in June of 2010 Chris and I received some test results that said I had the beginning stages of cervical cancer.....yes, the dreaded "c" word. It took us by surprise and made us stop and evaluate some parts of our lives. Personally, it brought me to my knees and rely on the only one that could make this "result" go away.

The doctor said that we had a choice to make and after much prayer Chris and I decided to do the wait and see approach. The doctor gave me a deadline of 6 months and then we would retest and establish a treatment. She said with my age (no, I'm not that old) there wasn't much hope of my immune system killing off the cancer cells on it's own.

We chose not to share this with many people because we knew it was in God's hands and didn't want others to worry.

I am fortunate to report and share that God still does intervene and do miracles (in case anyone wasn't sure). The doctor called me this morning with the results of testing that was done last week and she said there is no sign of any cancer cells and everything looks completely normal!!

So, THANK YOU God for being with Chris and me on this journey, reminding me that I CAN lean on you and trust that you will always be there for me, and answering our prayers.

Tender Hearted Carson

I know that this is a long time coming since I did one of these on Cooper a long while ago, so here goes.

Carson:
- is a cuddler
- likes electronics (a lot!)
- always eats the fruit on the plate first
- will do almost anything to get a chance to watch a "video"
- is very into clocks and time keeping, he always asks me what time it is
- loves to dance and sing
- is a fan of any upbeat music
- sometimes like to start conversations speaking so fast that no one has a clue what he is talking about, but they must be good conversations because he always ends up laughing really hard
- is a big fan of 101 Dalmations
- likes dogs
- is fond of the color yellow
- is always asking "Who's coming to visit today?" or "Where are we going to today?" (he likes to stay social)
- makes sure that I always give him a kiss and hug goodbye before we leave each other for any reason

I'm sure there are many more ways to describe Carson, these are what comes to mind right now.

God has given him such a tender heart and it will hopefully stay that way.

Yet another one....

I told a couple people about our last milestone passing events and they all said I should blog about it, so here is another story for the books.

The boys were told that after their 3rd birthday party, they had to mail their bubbies (pacifiers) to the new babies to use. We built it up for a couple of weeks so that they were prepared and excited for it to come. We even asked them what they wanted from the babies as a thank you gift and they both agreed on puzzles.

Anyways, the night came to ship the bubbies off. We traced their hands on the box and addressed it to the new babies and then sealed it up. The boys walked the box to the mailbox and said goodbye to it.

That night we did the same bedtime rituals and laid the boys down. Cooper was just fine, but about 2 minutes after we closed the door and said goodnight Carson started crying. I was standing outside their door listening. Their conversation went as follows:

Carson: "Cooper, Cooper will you go get the bubbies? The new babies don't have them yet?" (all while crying for his bubby)
Cooper: "Carson, it's okay, you be okay. I love you Carson, you gonna be okay."
Carson: "please go get it Cooper, I miss it, I change my mind, I don't want the new babies to have it"

It went on like this for a couple of minutes and so I went in to comfort him. I gave him my bear that my dad had given me when I was younger (this had been set aside as a backup to help him through this). I told him that the new babies were excited to have bubbies to use and he was very nice to do this for them. After kisses, tucking in again and goodnights, I left the room (and, of course, continued to listen at the door).

Cooper: "Carson, you happy now, you okay now?"
Carson: "Yes, Cooper, I'm happy now"
Cooper: "I love mommy."

Yes, my heart melted. It was even greater hearing them lean on each other and help each other.

The next morning they got to go to the mailbox and get their gifts out. They were so excited and happy to get their wooden puzzles. They have spent many hours since then at the table doing those puzzles and have completely forgotten about their bubbies.



Tracing Cooper's hand on the box.



Carson getting a little more time with his bubby before sending it off.


BYE-BYE BUBBIES!!!!

3 year old boys!!!

Last night, I officially put my 2 year olds to bed for the last time. Tonight, I got to hold my 2-3 year olds in our comfy chair that we sit in each night before bed, read their favorite books to them (Richard Scarry) and sing their favorite songs with them (Jesus Loves Me, Pop Goes the Weasel, Deep and Wide, Zaccheus and Mommy Loves You). The last one was extra special. It is just a simple song that goes with the tune "Ferres Jacques", or however you spell it, that I sang to the boys for the first time exactly 3 years ago in the hospital.

It is amazing how much things have changed in the last 3 years. Some of the recent changes we have experienced:
1. We have finally got to start movie night once a week. This is something Chris and I have been looking forward to for quite some time. The boys think it is the neatest thing!
2. We said goodbye to pacifiers completely. Note the picture at the very bottom of the boys mailing off their "bubbies" to the new babies. They did tremendously well with this transition, as usual. (I will actually post an individual blog on this later because it is very touching.)
3. We are even closer to being potty trained. (again, an individual blog is to follow regarding this....not so touching).
4. The boys have developed their own opinions on quite a few things and are ready to share them with anyone and everyone.

God has blessed Chris and me with Carson and Cooper and we are so thankful for being given this opportunity to raise 2 very special and unique boys.

Please enjoy some pictures below of their birthday party.


This was a birthday of games (mommy's favorite so far)!! It seems like at age 3, kids are set free to play all sorts of games.....and we are quite prepared. It was be a blast teaching the boys to play all of the games they received on their birthday!

Cooper (yes he is getting quite big!!)
Carson (always looking for the camera)
Amazingly enough, the table with all of the kids eating was very calm and quiet. They were all very well behaved!


Daddy helping Carson open his card.
Our youngest guest, Claire.
Luke watching the boys open their gifts with his mom. He was very good at being patient while the boys opened all of their gifts.
Hopey enjoying the balloons they all got on their chairs.


The cake pops were a huge hit! Some of the kids weren't sure whether to lick them or bite them.
Cooper (as shocking as it sounds) dove right into his putting the construction to the test. It ended up being a ball for mom to hold while he took bites off of it.
Ella, finally deciding to bite it instead of licking it and getting nowhere.
The boys saying bye-bye to their "bubbies" (pacifiers) before we walked them out to the mail.

Final Christmas 2010

Modern Cranberry Noir Christmas

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Big Boy Beds

Again, a little late, but the boys did the big transition of leaving their cribs the beginning of August this year. We have had so many changes (leaving baby stages and going to boy stages) that it has been entirely too hard to keep up.

As usual, the boys made this transition with flying colors. I am pretty sure it was harder for me than it was for them.




I was wanting to get one last shot of Carson sleeping in his bed, so he laid down and pretended he was sleeping.

Of course, the first thing Cooper noticed were the car rugs....they were a big hit!

These beds now swallow them whole!! This is Cooper, by the way.

And this is Carson. Their stuffed animals take up more space in their beds than they do.

And, last but not least, this was the one hurdle we had to "nip in the butt". There was a week where I kept finding Cooper asleep in the chair during naptime. By the way, the blanket on the chair is the bedding Chris had when he was a little boy.

Fall Festival

We truly got to see an "ordinary" event differently this year thanks to the boys. Everything was so exciting and new to them. They soak up every moment they experience!!

I will apologize ahead of time about the music going on longer than the photos, I couldn't figure it out and my tech support (MJ) was most likely asleep when I was working on this.

Don't forget to pause the music on the right hand side of the blog.
Enjoy!