First Day of Preschool!

Emmy had her first day of preschool today!  It's at Total Childcare Center, and it was highly recommended by a neighbor.  It's off-base in Lemoore, and takes less than 15 minutes to get to.  She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-noon.  And she loves it!  We had a great time preparing for her first day.  We painted her fingers and toes hot pink, packed her backpack with an extra change of clothes (just in case), and picked out her outfit for the big day.

The next morning, I woke the kids up at 6:30 am.  Yes, 6:30 am!  That's just cruel!  But most days, that's when Brenner wakes up.  Emmy usually wakes up between 7:30-8.  We ate breakfast, got dressed (Emmy didn't want to wear the dress I laid out, so she picked out her clothes all by herself), did our hair and were out the door by 7:30.  School is in swing this week, and I didn't realize the traffic would be so bad on base.  It wasn't really the traffic that was bad, it was the little kids walking to school and the crossing guards that caused such a delay.  But we made it just in time!

I wanted to get a picture of Emmy outside, and this was the only face I could get.  It stunk outside!  Evidently, early in the morning, the smell of cow manure fills the air.  This was the first day since we've been here that I noticed it.  Oh it was terrible!  Emmy's expression tells it all.

Brenner and I took Emmy inside, we put her backpack in her cubby, found the apple with her name on it, and velcroed it on the attendance cabinet.  Then she was off!  I don't even think we got a hug good-bye.  She saw Bethany (her new friend) and they ran off and got into some toys.  It was really neat to see how all the moms and even some dads were there wishing their children a great first day of school.  I wasn't the only obsessive mom with a camera.  Although, I really didn't even take many pictures.  Some moms were having a hard time leaving, as their kids were crying for them.  I'm so thankful that I didn't have to deal with that.  Emmy's a social butterfly.

When I picked Emmy up, Bethany saw me enter the room and she runs over to Emmy and says, "Emmy!  Emmy!  Your mom's here!  Your mom's here!"  It took Emmy a minute, then she turns around and runs up to me saying, "MOM!"  Finally, I got my hug.

Rebecca (Bethany's mom) and I asked how the girls were.  The teacher's response was "Emberlyn's quiet."  Ha!  Quiet?  We'll see what they say next week...

From Emmy's report, I couldn't get many details.  So, I'm not exactly sure what they did the first day.  But I hope Emmy's future reports will be extensively detailed.  I want to know everything!

Doesn't she look SO grown-up in this picture???

                            

Emmy and Brenner

Come on Brenner!  Just one more picture!

 

Cheers to Emmy's first day of preschool!

My Dear Mom

I don't know how to start this post without describing what an amazing person my mom is.  She is my best friend.  She gives me wonderful parenting advice.  She and I like to spend time together driving around the city and shopping for hours upon hours.  She has been so supportive in everything I choose to do in life, including moving me across the country at the ripe old age of 20 to marry a man I met 9 months earlier.  You're an amazing mom for that.  She juggles her 5 kids as well as running in-home childcare.  She is an incredible wife to my dad.  She is a loyal companion to her 2 sisters.  She is a wonderful and loving daughter to her parents.  She is an instant and generous friend to everyone she meets.  She is the greatest mom anyone could ever ask for.

Thank you mom for everything you do.  Somedays I don't know how you get it all done, but just know that you have so many people in your life that are so appreciative.  We love you.

My mom has had some health issues that started earlier this year.  She has had significant pains in her intestines.  Some days were worse than others.  And some foods caused more severe pain than others.  In order to get to the bottom of this, she decided to go see a doctor.  She had a colonoscopy on July 9th; and they discovered a donut-shaped tumor that was clogging 90% of her colon.

My sister, Chelsea, was still in California with me during this time.  We were shopping at Michael's and we received a phone call from my dad shortly after the procedure.  Chelsea handed the phone over to me, and the next thing I know... my mom was telling me that she had cancer.

My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer.  My dad immediately contacted MD Anderson in Houston which was highly recommended by a family friend.  Unfortunately, they couldn't see her as soon as the doctors thought she should be seen.  So he put in a phone call to UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.  My parents met the surgeon, loved the surgeon, and were anxious to get the surgery over with.

Fast forward to July 20th:  Surgery was a huge success.  My sister flew out to TX, just in time, to make the trip to Dallas with my mom, my dad, and my grandma.  They took out the tumor, and all the surrounding organs looked great.  My mom is recovering very well.  It was difficult for her getting up, moving, and walking around.  But knew that the sooner she did it, the quicker she'd recover.  I'm so proud of her.  She's a tough cookie.

My mom has one more hurdle to go through.  We found out that 5 of 15 lymph nodes were affected, putting her in stage 3 cancer.  She will undergo 6 months of chemotherapy.  My mom will have another consultation on August 9th in Dallas to talk more about treatment and what to expect.  Even though my heart is breaking; as I had hoped that this one surgery would be a cure-all, I know that it could have been worse.  I also know that God is in control, so there's no reason to worry.

My daily prayer:
 Dear God,

Give my mom the strength she needs to get through this next hurdle.  Be with her while she goes in and receives treatment.  Give her courage as she goes into the unknown.  Show her your love.  Give her peace in her mind and heart as your will unfolds.  Hold her close and guide her through.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Thank you friends for all your support.  You have been so good to me.  Your prayers are so very appreciated.  My mom has all the support in the world.  And I know she is in great hands, thanks to a wonderful team of doctors, a supportive family that will be her constant rock, and an amazing and loving God.


So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

Brenner's 11 Months

My oh my!  11 MONTHS!  We are getting so excited to start celebrating Brenner's 1st birthday.

Brenner is crawling!  He started crawling about a week before he turned 11 months.  It didn't take him long to figure out how to get around at supersonic speed.  He's so fast!

Watch out!  It's Brenner the tornado!  He makes such a mess.  His favorite thing to do is pull all the puzzles off the shelves.  Then mommy puts them all back together and 5 seconds later, he pulls them back down.  Why do I try??

He's still a great eater.  However, there is one food that I have tried with him several times.  And he makes a disgusted face each time.  And you'll never believe what it is...  potatoes!  I don't know why, but he's just not a big fan of mashed potatoes.  They're lightly seasoned, and I even add milk and butter, but he just doesn't seem to like it.  We'll keep trying.  Other than that, he's a fabulous eater.

There's a game he likes to play in his highchair.  It's called, "Let's feed the imaginary dog game."  We no longer have Avery, our sweet and adorable schnauzer (tear, tear), but Brenner feels the need to toss all of his food overboard as if a hungry dog will lap it up.  He takes a bite and then throws food off his tray.  Takes another 2 bites, then throws a bite onto the floor.  Etc...Etc... It's a game every baby plays, and it cracks me up.  I have learned to leave the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the dining room because I'm constantly vacuuming up the mess.

Love you Brenner!  Can't wait for your first birthday!

Sequoia National Park

We had our first California adventure!  And what an adventure it was.  Sequoia National Park is about 70 miles away.  What an easy drive.  So, we got there 1 hour later, and I thought, wow!  This is nice.  Let's get out and play.  And then it took another hour to drive up the mountain.  Seriously.  Not only are you driving no faster than 20 mph, but they were working on the roads.  So, you had to stop, at one point, and let the oncoming traffic complete their route, and then it was your turn up the one lane road.  We went over 6,000 feet.  The temperature dropped from 104 degrees when we first arrived, to 84 degrees.  Emmy kept saying, "We're going up a mountain!"  We couldn't wait to get out of the car and see what the Sequoias offered.  We stopped at Crescent Meadow.  Brenner rode in a backpack carrier on Wade's back.  And Emmy hiked alongside us. 

It was green.  It was so, so green.  The trees were unreal.  They truly are the world's largest trees.  That's a fact Jack.  Brenner loved it.  He was all smiles throughout our little trek.  Emmy had fun running on the dirt trail.  Some of it was paved, which was nice.  There were so many people there, but once you get out and on a trail, everyone just spreads out.  It didn't seem overcrowded at all.  As we were walking, we saw a small group gathered, looking out at the meadow.  We looked out, and sure enough, there was a small, black bear.  A lady was telling us that they only have black bears there, but some are brown, and even blonde.  This bear was brown.  And we got a great view of it.  Emmy even got to see it.  Pretty amazing, to say the least.

We bought an annual pass that gets us into all the National Parks.  So, little black bear, we will be back to see you soon.   

Can you see the bear?

Under the tree we go

Home Sweet Home

We're in California at last!  And it feels so good to have a home again.  We've been "on the road" the last month and a half, and we can finally sleep in our own bed, eat at our own kitchen table, and well, just unload and organize.  Chelsea has been an amazing help.  Chelsea, watch the kids.  Chelsea, clean the blinds.  Chelsea, do the dishes.  Chelsea, iron my clothes.  Ok, no, we didn't turn her into Cinderella, but she helped in any way that we needed.  And for that, I thank you SO much Chels.  You're an amazing aunt and a fabulous sister!

My mother-in-law, Letha, stayed with us for a few days before heading back to Texas.  And she tackled a lot while here as well.  Thank you, Letha, for all your help with getting our lives unpacked and set up.  We were through our boxes in two days, very impressive Wade.  And we didn't have a washer and dryer yet, so we had to do laundry every couple days at the laundromat on base.  Not fun.  First of all, it was a sauna in there!  Second of all, they're public machines.  Enough said.  But, at least I could do 5 loads at once.  That saved a lot of time.  And it was only 2 blocks away.  I'm proud to say I own a shiny new, red washer and dryer.  Problem solved.

I deleted the post of our new house because I was going to replace all the pictures with new ones.  Everything's settled and nearly all decorated.  However, I still haven't taken any new ones.  I promise, I'll take some soon.  Oh, and I have art projects, thanks to my crafty sis, to post.  Those coming soon too!  For now, here we are in Lemoore, California!

Brenner's 10 Months

Brenner is 10 months and time has just been flying!

Brenner likes to feed himself. He gets a little annoyed when you try and feed him. He just wants food on his tray. And he piles it in. He's a GREAT eater. He likes tomatoes, grapes, bread, pork loin, ham, chicken, pasta...the list goes on. There's not a lot he doesn't like. A matter of fact, he sometimes eats his big sissy's leftovers.

He loves splashing in the bathtub. Mommy likes to keep it clean, so I typically tell him, "Brenner, no splashing." And then when Daddy gives him a bath, he says, "Splash, splash!"

He loves going to the swimming pool. I have a turtle floatie that I put him in. He loves looking around and watching all the kids jump in the water. He especially likes watching Emmy swim around in her water wings.

Brenner hasn't figured out crawling yet, but he's getting closer and closer. He gets around by rolling and rolling. It's pretty funny watching him.

He loves getting tickled, and is extremely ticklish. I love giving him kisses on his neck. He just shrivels into a ball and cracks up.

He still uses his pacifier, mostly at night. He's not completely sleeping through the night. Probably because mommy has spoiled him. By the second fuss, I'm already in his room. He wakes up about 6:30 in the morning. Don't know where this came from. We are not morning people around here. On a happy note, he takes 2 naps a day still.

He loves going on walks in the stroller. We go on a morning walk before it really starts heating up outside. And we take one after dinner. The wind starts blowing in the evening and it's completely perfect outside. It's funny because he starts getting fussy after we eat dinner, and I tell Wade every time, that it's because he's ready to go outside. Sure enough, we plop him in the stroller, and he chills out for his evening stroll. He knows our routines around here!

He loves clapping his hands and he gives big waves. He says "mama" but usually when he's really tired and gets whiny. He says "dada" and "haaa," which means hi.

He's getting to be so big. I love watching him play with Emmy. They are just the cutest. She can still get the biggest laugh out of him. I don't know how she does it. We love you Brenner! Happy 10 months!