In the Home Stretch

It's that glorious (insert sarcastic tone here) time of year again at school. The home stretch where everyone is ready for a break! Every teacher, parent and child. I have once again taken on too many projects including painting, making appearances, parties, cooking, baking, etc!! How quickly I forget each year that I just want to have fun in December. I just want to visit friends, hang out, and party. Adam's birthday is this month so that contributes to the wanting to celebrate. We had a fantastic time in Lake Charles this past weekend. I'm so glad we made it. LSU game party, then spent some much needed time with old friends and family. So much needed, that we decided we will drop everything and go back next weekend! Still today and every day, I say to Adam (each time we cross that 210 bridge) that I would drop everything and move back to Lake Charles (around our school schedule, of course)!! ;)

Thanksgiving!

I was feeling like listing the things I'm thankful for, but, not to my surprise, they weren't much different from the things I was thankful for last year at this time!
Here is my list from last year with a few changes in parentheses.
2010 LIST (with 2011 changes in parentheses)
1. My husband...strong and funny and supportive and patient and a Daddy!!(2011:He is number one for a reason)
2. My strong Baylor, who is benevolently unaware of how many people's lives he's touched. He just lives like any normal kiddo, griping about school, homework, & chores... But never about dr. visits, bone marrow biopsies, bloodwork, xrays, hearing aids, daily hormone shots or having hands like no one else! He's a bit of heaven.(2011: one change here-we did start ADD medicine &, wow, how he sprouted into a smart little guy)
3. Funny Adeline, who's excitement & zest & curiousity wear us out! She's incredibly healthy and such an addition to our lives (2011: ummmm, can I stress zest & curiousity WEAR us out???)
4. My great friends. Friends like Melissa who keep me sane and "un-momly" and Kristie, who loves my child, and is orgaized enough for the both of us! She's so organized, she knows what her 3 kids are doing, and can still keep track of mine all at the same time! All of our other friends that keep our life fun by going out with us on the weekends, or chatting with us at work, or remembering to send a text when we haven't talked in a while, or comment about how cute our kids are on Facebook!! You're all special in some way! (2011: More new friends like Heather, Lacey & Ashley & old favorites like Leslie & Steph who make me miss Lake Charles dearly)
5. Our great families. Our family who we know are there to help in any way! Theresa, who remembers to call and check in. Wes & Sarah who stay close & are great babysitters! Mom for saving us on any day when we're in a pinch. My dad who provides opportunities for my son to have four-wheelers and see deer and other wild animals that aren't possible as "city folk"! Nana Perky for having Baylor thinking that Target is the special place where families go to bond, haha!! Grandma Liz who will always say yes to any outlandish thing that Adam asked for because she loves him so much & who always thought it was important to introduce us to things like books and musicals, which we now make important to our own kids! And Papa Johnny for being such a supportive listener to my husband during all of their "insurance business" talks!
We love our families! Can't say it enough!
6. Our health...Yes, the old cliche! But with the daily/weekly stories of people we know finding out unhealthy news, I thank God every single day (not just November) for our health. We have tried our very best to keep our bodies as healthy as possible, no more feeding chemicals! We try on a daily basis to keep our diet clean & let our kids know that it's important to exercise your body. It's tough, so it seems like every day is a new day, but we've come a long way from the days of processed foods and fast food joints being part of our daily routine. (2011: still much of the same, but I said all year since last Thanksgiving that we would run a 5K as a family & a whole year has gone by and we didn't do it!! New goal for this year)

Nonuts!

Adeline is now old enough to tattle on daddy. When adam has the kids, they frequent the donut shop way more than I would like in the mornings before school. I do not approve, and today she came in and told me "nonuts, mmmm" (which is Adeline for donuts)! I asked what made her think of donuts and she said "daddy nonuts". I said," yes daddy takes you to get donuts. Does mommy get donuts?" Then with this sheepish look like she realized maybe she wasn't supposed to say she said "Noooo"!
Ugh, I very much dislike donuts. I tried to convince Adam to stay away by telling him they're just giant french fries with sugar poured all over them. It hasn't worked!!

Nail Painting

Yes, she found the nail polish on her own when only daddy was home. Yes, she got it open. Yes, she made a mess. And, no, dad did not notice, but we did get pictures!

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween! We had a little cowgirl, thanks to Grandpa Lulue and Yoda, of course. There are no pictures of the 2 of them together because Adeline was too scared of Baylor!

"Work Friends" or Just "Friends"?

I wonder why we use the term "work friends"? I was lying in bed thinking about this one night recently. Maybe because lots of life moments have been happening with my work friends. My work friends are my friends. I hope. And, why wouldn't they be? I spend more time with my work friends than any of my other friends, or family, for that matter. My work friends are the first and last ones to see me every day besides Adam & the kids. They're the first to know if something is wrong, the first to hear bad news, and the first to hear good news. They listened to me the many times I cried and worried about Baylor's hard times in school or, most recently, the 100 times in a row that I did the pro/con list about choosing a daycare for my baby. They share with me their problems and their kids' problems and their family issues and their newest little bundles of joy! My closest friends made throughout the years have been people I've worked with, and they are the friends I stay in touch with most often. So I concluded that, for me at least, there really aren't "work friends". I just have great friends that I happen to work with!

Daycare Shopping

I've been daycare shopping for Adeline all of this week. We can no longer stay at Mamu's house, but we will miss her like crazy.
They are all so different, the daycares. I quickly counted out the first two places I visited simply on lack of "warm and fuzzy". That is an actual very high ranked daycare characteristic on my list!
It's funny all of the things that change when you become a real parent. Of course, when you're pregnant, everything is going to be a perfect wonderland when your baby is born. My kids were definitely going to be the most beautiful, incredibly smart, and very athletic. Maybe even get some scholarships so we don't have to pay for college. Then, they're here and real, and everything just goes to hell! You no longer care about all the fancy stuff when they're babies, and, instead, just concentrate more on holding them (and maybe taking showers!). Then when they start school, you don't seem to worry about them being the smartest, but just hope they have friends! I'm sure these little surprises continue on and on.
I found myself saying to one daycare manager today, who was explaining the school curriculum (of 2 year olds, mind you), that " I don't really care if she learns anything, just that everyone loves and hugs her"! Now when Baylor was 2, I thought this but never would have said it. Today, I didn't even regret it. AND, I would, in a heartbeat, choose the daycare that said back to me "oh we totally agree"!

Mmmmm and Ewwww

Okay Adeline does have quite the vocabulary, but her comparison of how things taste is just plain "mmmm" or "ewww". It's very funny. When she takes the first bite, she'll usually say "that's ewww" or "that's mmmmm"! Tonight she was eating dinner and, of course, Baylor didn't like dinner so I asked Adeline if it was eww. She said "No, mom, Mmmmm!" I love that girl, and her stinky brother that thinks all of my food is "ewww"!

Adeline & Daddy Yell at Football

Baylor So Sick!

We tackled 104 fever yesterday! Really scary. Baylor's fever spiked and we couldn't get it down. The dr. checked for strep after school, and it was negative. He ran 104 all evening. We couldn't break the fever. He was supposed to go back to the dr today to test for flu, but he woke up fine & didn't run a fever all day. He always does this stuff to us :)

Biggest Loser & Modern Family Are Back

I can't help it, I LOVE Biggest Loser. I'm so glad it's back on. Now, it does come on Tuesday, which is usually ice cream night for Nicole and Adam, so we are that couple sitting on the couch eating ice cream during Biggest Loser! Ha. However, we do work our booties off in the gym every other day. It's worth it!
We were already crying in the very first episode this year!
Now, for everyone not watching the TV show, Modern Family, set your mental clock for Wednesdays 8:00!! It is the BEST show on television right now. So, so funny. I hate to admit how much TV we watch from 8-10 pm after the kids are in bed, but it's such a stress reliever :)

New School Year, New Adventures

Well, the new school year brings me back in the classroom. I think it's the best move ever. I'm so happy every day with my class & the stress & the planning & the small successes! I'm teaching 2nd grade this year. I was at two schools before training in technology. Now I get to stay at just one of my schools, back in the classroom, and Baylor moved over to be with me. He is in 4th grade this year at a new school, but he said he thinks this school is the best place for him! It was the sweetest thing!
I'm on a new team that I love & making some great, new friends. I'm not going to lie, I feel like I'm right where I need to be.

Top 5 things I'm thankful for at my job:

#5- 21 seven year olds that want to hug me
#4- A new team with 4 other great teachers & friends
#3- Treats in the teachers' lounge
#2- 21 seven year olds that think I can sing well
#1- Getting paid to do what I love!

New Janese Family Pet

In an effort to not get rabbits from Gran, we let Baylor bring home a kitten from Grandpa Lulue's house. What a pain! My furniture, not to mention our skin, is torn to shreds. She sure is cute, though. She is named Caddy, thanks to Adeline, and Baylor has been really good doing his pet owner duties like water, food & litter box. We'll see how long that lasts! Adeline thinks the new kitten is hilarious because she occasionally just appears out of nowhere, until she attacks her (this can be read either way--Adeline attacks the kitten & the kitten attacks Adeline!).

1st Day of School

Baylor: 4th grade
Me: 2nd grade

Adeline's 2nd Birthday

I know it's cliche, but boy does time fly! I can't believe our little Adeline is already 2! We celebrated simply with a pink lemonade theme. All the family came & we got some great gifts!

The invitation!


Party Favors!

How does this work?

We blew them out!


Dolls! My favorite gift!

Wiffleball Bat Shiner

Whoops another ER trip! Baylor was playing with his friend Trenten at my friend Kristie's house. She called to tell me that he got hit with a plastic bat & he may need stitches. So, we met her at the after hour clinic & THIS is what I saw!

They wouldn't even see us at the clinic. Sent us straight to the ER. He was a trooper with 5 stitches on top of the eye and 2 underneath.

Cousin Emma's 1st Birthday!

We can share!

Look how tall!

Adeline & Emma

Baylor & Carter

Grandpa Lulue walking the Carter & Baylor

Fun At the Boardwalk

Braden came to spend a couple of nights with us this summer so we decided to use the last of our Kemah Boardwalk Family Fun tickets that Grandpa Lulue gave Baylor last year for his birthday. All we had left were tickets to ride the Joe's Crabshack Beast speed boat. We wanted to wait for warmer weather so we've held on to them. So we went out expecting to get splashed & got drenched like tidal waves were hitting us over and over!! It was unexpected but fun! Then the kids played on the splashpad while we listened to some bands warm up & rehearse for the night. I hope they had fun.

New Pictures

Adeline 2 years
Baylor 9 years

July 4th at the Beach

We got to spend a relaxing July 4th at the beach this weekend thanks to our friend Georgia! Everyone had a great time.

Adeline is a pro at "I love you".

It's so sweet when we put her to bed and she yells from her room, "night night, I love you (juv ju)", then "I love you daddy", "I love you mommy". Really, it's so cute that I want to go get her out of her bed, and sometimes I do! Also, when she's hitting or scratching baylor and he gets mad or I get mad at her, she just hugs him real quick and says 'I love you". She's learned to use her cuteness for scheming! I'm positive this came from her daddy!

Daddy Gets Broken In

Isn't this the cutest thing ever? Daddy couldn't say no. Of course, there ended up being more polish on her toes than her nails, but super cute!

3rd Grade Awards

Baylor finished 3rd grade. He got a perserverance award. Highlight of 3rd grade for me: he passed the state TAKS test!! After much worry from me & his teachers. Thank goodness. That is one thing I don't want to have to stress about. Thanks to my great friend for teaching him & taking care of him this year!

It's Summer!

No Clothes? No problem!




Lots of playing outside this summer!

Brother's Pajamas

She insists on wearing Baylor's pajamas. She takes her's off and brings clothes from Baylor's drawer in the living room for us to put on her!

Congratulations Wes & Sarah

My brother Wesley & Sarah got married and we had so much fun! Everything was beautiful. Congratulations guys, we love you both!

Sarah & My mom


Me & my brothers

Update On Baylor

After the latest bone marrow biopsy in May, we thought we were on the verge of bone marrow transplant as soon as this summer. Summer is actually perfect timing. Baylor would have to be in the hospital for 8 weeks, and then isolated at home for 3-4 months.
His doctors met and discussed and felt that they could wait because his blood counts continue to look good, and he has plenty of donor options in the bone marrow registry. There was no sense of urgency at this time.
So, my hope is that they don't spring this on us right after school starts! That would be the worst time possible.
As for now, we will sit tight and continue to watch his blood counts and bone marrow.

Talking to Daddy

Or she thinks she is talking to him! He has no idea what she's talking about.

I Love You

Yay, Adeline finally said I love you! We say it to her all the time trying to get her to repeat it. Today I was eating cocoa almonds and she wanted one, so I said okay can you say I Love you? And she did!! Then, of course, she got a cocoa almond. It was like a little treat for saying it, so then she kept hugging my leg and saying "Love You" so she could have another! It was so cute. I just love her!

San Antonio Ranch for Baylor

Our family was asked yesterday to go to a ranch in San Antonio with some other families from Texas Children's Hospital all expenses paid!! Lucky us! The owners of the ranch are apparently big donors to the hospital and paying to fly us there and covering all of our expenses for the weekend. All of the patients who were asked to go are in bone marrow treatment or transplant or preparation. They also send some staff memebers from the hospital. The coordinator at the hospital said these people do this every year. They just want to provide a restful weekend to go out and enjoy ourselves. How can we turn that down?
There will be swimming, horseback riding, canoeing, camp fires, etc. We leave May 20th. I can't wait, and I'm sure Baylor can't either. Now, to figure out what to do with Adeline.....

Baylor's First Communion

Baylor received the sacrament of 1st Communion at our church this weekend. We are so proud of him. He actually wants to go to church next weekend now so he can walk up there and get communion. We'll see how long that lasts! Thanks to Gran for coming to celebrate with us.

Baylor AKA a Sailor

Don't people say you talk like a sailor if you curse a lot? Well, Baylor topped last time he woke up from anesthesia when he woke up today! Good lord. Oh today, when Baylor was getting his anesthesia, Adam was even whispering to him to dream happy thoughts about soccer & fishing. We were hoping it would make him wake up in a happier mood. Nope! Adam & I even argued about who would get to go back there with him in the recovery room because it's so embarrassing yet amusing at the same time. I won and got to back today. I giggled the whole time & felt sorry for all nurses and patients around us in the recovery room. No telling what he was saying before I got back there, but the first thing he said when I walked in when the nurse was asking him where he was going to eat when he left was "to hell and Chuck E Cheese! You go to hell and I'll go to Chuck E Cheese!"
Really, when I post these to the blog afterwards, adam and I laugh so hard I wish someone could see us! It's hard for me to type it without the giggling fit all over again!
He dropped a couple of "mother effers" and "this effin IV in my hand" (the actual word "effer", not the bad word) and I was pleading in my head that he didn't say the real word & he did! But it was kinda to himself so I don't know that many people heard him. Phew.
I swear this is his alter ego or something, like he has to let out everything he holds in all the time from being so shy. His whole attitude is very cocky when he wakes up from the anesthesia saying to me that he doesn't care what I say, and he can talk however he wants. So this went on for about 15 minutes.
I,in the meantime was describing to 2 nurses how he normally acts & they were shocked. I didn't even bother trying to defend us by saying that we really never talk like this & I don't know where he gets it. I'm positive they think we're horrible. Ha!
A few more highlights(those of you who know Baylor will appreciate these):
-"the sprite has alcohol in it" (the nurse wanted him to drink some sprite) & "she's trying to get me drunk"
-"my mom gets drunk"
-"where's Adam? I wanted to tell him he looks like crap"
-AND he sang the Pink song 'so what, I'm a still a Rockstar,etc etc "

OH YEAH, all that really happened! I can't even get through one sentence trying to relay the info to Adam because we both start laughing so hard. Parents of the year we are!!

On a happy note... He was his happy little self after 10 or 15 minutes & of course didn't say a word to anyone as we left. And we are now eating lunch at Chuck E Cheese!

Updates With Baylor

Baylor has had 2 not so good blood work results in the past 2 weeks at his pediatrician's office, so we are sitting at TX children's right now to do a more thorough blood work up here. I'm sure his hematologist will have us doing another bone marrow biopsy to check all that soon. I will update when I know. Just trying not to worry too much about all of that.
Well, the third blood draw on Monday when I previously posted this still wasn't very consistent , so we are back at TX Children's today (Wednesday) to do another bone marrow biopsy. It's the only way to know for certain that nothing weird is going on in Baylor's little body. We should hear some news by Friday.

Easter 2011

Dying Easter Eggs

Baylor wasn't too happy that we couldn't get down to egg dying business with Adeline around!




Look at that cuteness sprawled out across the table!!

The Easter Bunny Bust

At the last minute this year I realized we had not gone to see the Easter Bunny to have pictures made. Baylor reluctantly agreed after a promise that we could look around Build A Bear at the mall. So, dressed in pretty clothes, we head off the mall on Good Friday to fight the crowd!! We waited in line for over 2 hours (well, Adam waited in line while Adeline and I popped in and out of a couple of stores). Adeline happily looked and waved at the Easter Bunny the whole time until it was our turn!
Then she clung to me for dear life. Unfortunately, this is what we got

Adeline in her pretty dress, courtesy of Nana Perky (thank you!), back at home after refusing to sit with the Easter Bunny!


Baylor being a good sport & posing with the ridiculously large Easter Bunny!!

Baylor Wrecks the 4Wheeler

Thanks to daddy maybe???

This is Why I'm Constantly Cleaning!

In an effort to catch Adeline saying please on camera, I ended up catching her at her best (wink, wink)! Notice the floor behind her when she finishes with the destruction on the pantry! But....she does say please!

More Baby Business

So Adeline runs in the kitchen tonight to me and says, "Baby in the side" (or at least that's what it sounded like), so I say, "What?", "Baby inside?", "Baby outside?", " Baby with Dog?" (because she sometimes leaves the babies in the back yard) ....Then it hit me..."Baby in potty?", which got a little look of recognition on her sweet face. Here's what we found when we lifted the lid to the toilet.

Crazy Changes!

Big changes are upon our family! I will be going back to teaching 1st grade next school year. Our district cut back 8 technology positions. They took the whole group of 32 of us & cut the 8 with the fewest number of years in the district. It was a blessing in disguise for me. I've been toying with the idea of going back in the classroom for the past 2 years and had been talking with my building principals about whether or not to go back. My heart just belongs in the classroom. Seeing kids lives change, seeing happy parents, seeing growth every day. All the things we take for granted when we're teachers!
I just keep warning my family it may be stressful for a little while! I'll be like a first year teacher again. Yiy!

Countdown is on to the Big Game

The big alumni football game for Hamshire-Fannett & Hardin Jefferson is coming soon. Adam is still rocking out the workouts in our garage every night. I am also rocking out the workouts with my trainer & with gym classes, but I am going NOWHERE (I feel like the hamster on the wheel)!! The boys have had practice the past couple of Sundays and it's all getting very exciting. It makes me smile to see Adam in his element with all of this football stuff & with him coaching Baylor's soccer team. It just comes so natural to him. The big game is April 30th. I know there will be a great turn out & lots of pictures to come!

Selling Lemonade

Baylor and Trenten decided to have a lemonade stand. Poor babies would not come in all day. They worked and worked, they lowered their prices to get more people to buy (from $1.00 to 50 cents), and they even waved people down to stop! They made $3.25 all day. I think I spent more than that on lemonade and cups, but they split the money when they were done and were very happy!

A Moment of Cuteness

Adeline 18 months, Baylor 9 years

Baby Eats

I don't know how this baby ended up in this chair with her. She must've had it behind her back when I lifted her up there, but I turn around to see this. She's putting the food in the baby's mouth (smearing it on her face, actually) and saying, "Baby eat"! Then she looks at us and smiles.