A week of celebrating!

So my birthday was on Thursday the 27th and we have kind of celebrated all week long! I am not one to make a big deal, but of course if you fuss over me for my birthday I won't complain :)! I have not posted all week because between birthday celebrations, Ian's busy schedule, and dr appts my week became a little busy. I will definitely start with the fun part of our week!

On Wednesday night Jeremy brought home a Rick's cake for my birthday(white cake white icing my absolute favorite from Rick's). We had cake and they gave me an hour massage gift certificate. It was so sweet. We blew out candles not just once, but probably 3 or 4 or maybe even 5 times. They all 3 sang to me and Carter sang at the top of his lungs, it was hysterical! We have it on video on our new Handy Cam(gift to ourselves since we didn't get to go on vacation), but I haven't figured out how to download the videos. I will share as soon as I figure it out because it so cute.

Thursday at school I got lots of surprises. I got an adorable cake from Rick's that had a high heel and a purple purse on it from my wonderful friends I work with Melissa, Sharon, and Kelly. I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble(Sharon), pedicure gift certificate(Ashley), money for a dinner out with my hubby(Christina), gift certificate to Something Urban(Melissa), plumeria lotion and shower gel(Ginger), gift certificate to Sonic and some snacks(Inger), and of course lots of little pictures and cards from my kiddos.

On Thursday night my dad and Jannie put together a little family get together for my birthday at their house. They had Flying Burrito catered in and the most ADORABLE birthday cake you have ever seen. It was an enormous cupcake with about 8 or 9 layers of cake and icing. So incredibly yummy! I got lots of goodies and some money to spend on myself which is always a nice treat. Then we came home and vegged on the couch and watched Big Brother, so it was the perfect ending to my birthday.

A friend of my Ginger that teaches across the hall has a birthday the day before mine, so she decided that she was going to throw a birthday party for both of us at her house. It was so enjoyable! We had yummy kabobs her husband grilled and everyone brought a side dish or dessert. All the guys went down and played pool and darts and all the girls stayed in the house and played Catch Phrase. Jeremy got to come after work and my friend Brandy went with me, it was so much fun! Thank you Ginger and Andy for throwing us a great party!

Ok so enough about my birthday, let me fill you in on the rest of our week. Nothing really new to report. Jeremy did have an appointment with Dr. B on Wednesday. The appointment went well and Jeremy's blood levels were looking good. We decided to leave Jeremy's chemo on Tuesdays and he will continue to get his pack off on Thursdays. Dr. B is so pleased with how Jeremy is doing and how well he looks. He said that the wiped out feeling he is having on those few days after the pump comes off is very normal and he just could not say enough times how proud he was of Jeremy and myself. He truly is an encourager and we are so blessed that he is taking such good care of Jeremy. We went ahead and he scheduled Jeremy's next 3 treatments and then he scheduled him for another PET scan on October 5. This worked out so perfect because I am off that week, so Jeremy will have his scan on the Monday I am off and then we will get the results of the scan on Wednesday when we have an appt with Dr. B. Chemo is scheduled for this Tuesday, so please send up prayers that Jeremy can be comfortable and rest as he needs to.

I don't have any pictures this week, which is sad since it was my birthday. However my camera is still at school because I have been doing some pictures of my kiddos with it being the beginning of the year. I promise to post some pictures of birthday and birthday cakes sometime this week.

Jeremy is doing good. We have a great weekend! We had the party last night and then today we took the boys to the last Naturals baseball game of the season. It was SO much fun! Ian and Carter would live at the ball field if we would let them. Carter yelled for Strike almost the entire time. Strike did come over there and then of course Carter didn't want near him, only close enough to see him but not close enough to touch him. One funny thing that happened at the game was they announced that the person sitting in Section 107 Row F Seat 2 won a Swiffer Wet Jet, well at that moment it just happened to be Carter. The man came down and gave it to Carter and he started moving back and saying OH NO Tank U, NO Tank U. He wanted no part of that Swiffer Wet Jet, it was hysterical! I guess he thought if I win something at a baseball game it should be a bat, ball, t-shirt, etc. but not something you use to clean.

Once again it has been a blessed week for us. A few thank yous:
*Thank you to Luann for the wonderful soup dinner you brought for our family. You not only have been a wonderful sub in my classroom, but also a wonderful friend to me.
*Thank you to all the emails, facebook messages, cards, gifts and emails I got wishing me birthday wishes. It meant a lot.
*Thank you again to our wonderful neighbors Jim and Murphy for taking care of our yard work.
*Thank you to Jannie (aka Tata) for keeping the boys so Jeremy and I could not only go to my birthday party, but also sleep in on Sunday morning. Okay I will be honest I slept until noon and it was glorious!
*Thank you to Dad and Jannie for the wonderful birthday dinner and family party. It was so nice and I enjoyed it so much.
*Thank you to my friend Brandy for coming over and bringing me birthday presents, McAllister's tea, and going with me to my party. I am SO blessed to have you in my life. When God brought us together so many years ago in Kays Hall(our dorm we lived in) I had no idea how important you would become in my life. I truly don't know what I would do without you. You are there for me anytime anyday and always willing to take on anything. From the bottom of my heart thank you for being such an amazing friend to me and being such a wonderful "aunt bwandy" to the boys.

Well that pretty much catches you up on our week. Hope to have some pictures posted later in the week and once I figure out my new video camera I will post some videos. Thank you for the continued love, prayers, and support. It means so much to our family.

Glorious Day!!!

Ok so these are a few pics from our glorious Sunday together. We did decide to play hookie this morning from church, but it was all in good fun. We got up and got dressed and headed to Golden Corral for a yummy breakfast buffet. I think I ate, but I am not really sure I was running around fixing plates, filling drinks, and as you can see from above the getting the breakfast of champions.......gummy bears and M&M's! We had a good time and from there we headed to Fast Lanes! We were there when they opened and got a lane to glow bowl! This was Carter's first trip to bowl and he loved it. We had a great time! Carter of course got a little wild and crazy and slid on the alley and bounced a few balls down the lane! Ian is quite the little bowler and before it was over wanted the gutter guards taken down when he bowled, I think he finally realized he didn't really need them. We bowled for about an hour and then let the boys play some of the games. We were just fixing to leave and Ian had $1.00 left on his fast lane card, so he decided to play this game and he pulled the lever, hit the stop button, and bells started going off! He hit the jackpot! It was hysterical! He got 250 tickets and bought him and his brother swords! So sweet! Now I haven't mentioned yet about Carter's new friend he made while we were there, he found one of the workers who was working on some of the games. He apparently really thought Carter was a cutie because Carter scored some free games, lots of tickets, and lots of candy for him and Ian. It was quite funny! From there we had to stop and pick up a few things from Wal Mart and then it was home for some much needed naps. We had a great day just the 4 of us and we all needed it!

Ian after his victorious lucky streak!!!!

This is a picture of Carter with his new Elmo Live that Angie and Murphy brought home for him! He loves it and giggles the whole time Elmo is talking!

Picture of Carter on his rocking horse that Papaw and Tata got for Ian when he was about 2. Carter rides it all over the living room and yells MEEEE HAAAAWWWWW(which translates to YEEHAW!)

Basket of goodies from the Coleman family! They also brought us a yummy taco puff dinner and the boys got Happy Meals. Not to mention we had a great visit and the kids had a GREAT time playing! We look forward to doing it again soon! Maybe you work with Ian on those robot moves some more Kathleen!!!!!

Ok so as you know from the last post it has been a rough week, but we have embraced it and prayed and we know that this week is going to be better for our whole family. We made sure to really take time out this weekend and enjoy one another and relax. It was wonderful. Kind of makes me think of that song, Momma said there'd be days like this....well momma did say there would be good days and bad days. Today was a good one and we NEEDED it!

A quick funny before I sign off for the night......of course it involves Carter! I know you didn't even question that! I was on the phone with my mom tonight and Carter went into the bathroom, well actually I thought he went in my closet so after a few minutes I told my mom I better check on Carter because he was quiet.................well he had good reason that he was quiet because he had his head in the TOILET! Ok for those of that read our blog regularly yes this time it was flushed, but seriously his head was soaked because there is no telling how many times he had dipped his head in there! I started yelling Carter NO get your head out of that toilet and I got the old stand by I sorry Momma I sorry Momma. Now before I went a-wall I did grab the camera and he smiled so big you would have thought he just got off a roller coaster ride at Silver Dollar City! In the meantime I take him to tell Jeremy what he has done and I said to Jeremy Honestly who puts there head in the toilet?????? and you hear Carter say MMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE! He was so proud..........................disgusting!!!!!!! So below is a picture of Carter's exciting time with the toilet tonight! For the record he had a shower and I scrubbed his head. He didn't like it, but I didn't care at that point it was getting clean!

We are so blessed. Good days, bad days it doesn't matter there are always friends and family there for us. A few thank yous from the week:
*Thank you to Dianna for feeding our family again. Not only has she cooked for us, but also bought pizza for our family 2 different nights. Thank you so much! Also thank you for the wonderful Living through laughter book you passed on to me. I have it on my bedside table and I am enjoying laughing through stories, quotes, and scripture.

*Thank you to Bill and Jeannie for the Noodles gift certificate. You knew just what we needed.

*Thank you to Angela for the 2 big jugs of tea from Chick fil a. First of all tea is my favorite thing! I could drink it all day everyday, but to get 2 jugs from Chick fil a that was a treat! We enjoyed it all weekend.

*Thank you to Murphy and Angie for Carter's Elmo and also for letting Ian come over and play and cook out.

*Thank you to Brandy for the yummy Market Place you brought us for dinner the other night and also for the adorable pillow you made for my classroom. I am so BLESSED to have you as a friend! I love ya!

*Thank you to the Coleman family for the yummy dinner, all the baseball goodies :), The Shack, and the wonderful visit we had!

*Thank you to Sandra for the amazing book you gave me. I will share some of it with you all soon. I am reading it everyday and it is about families and individuals that have experienced cancer along with their walk with God. It was the exact thing I needed the day she brought it to me. I know that Sandra and I are both walking the same path and it truly touched my heart that you shared something that had been so touching to your journey with me.

Well I pray that you all have a blessed week. Jeremy goes to the doctor on Wednesday to see Dr. B and have his blood levels checked. Will give you an update once we hear something.

Holding my chin up

Ok so I would be lying if I post how happy happy and goody goody I was right now. So when thinking about my post tonight I thought okay when we look back and read about this journey, we both know there were good times, bad times, easy times, hard times, etc. Well for some reason this has been a rough week for me. I know Jeremy is the one going through the chemo, but for some reason my emotions just got the best of me this week. I have gotten many messages from many of you about how strong I am and how strong my faith is and it is trust me however I am human and some days are just easier than others. Unfortunately this whole week has been tough on me and the boys as well.

Jeremy had chemo on Tuesday and had the pack removed on Thursday. From there he rested most of Thursday and all day Friday. He worked today and is wiped out tonight. Tomorrow we are planning to veg out and spend the day together as a family, which we all need.

I guess after going through this journey for 8 weeks my mind is finally able to wander in places it hasn't before or I have actually had time to stop and think and process things that I haven't been able to. I will say getting back into the routine of work and school is good however on the days we need to all just pile in bed and be together it is not an option. I hate feeling weak I know it is normal and I know it is going to happen, but I am not a person that likes to feel weak or out of control. I am a control freak, so when I begin to feel weak it stresses me out! This week Ian also had a major breakdown. Jeremy and I neither one knew what to do, it happened to be on Jeremy's scheduled day off which he had planned to spend at home resting, so after talking to Ian's teacher we decided he needed to be with his daddy. Jeremy came and got him and they picked up some Steak and Shake and headed home for some quality time and lots of vegging out. Ian has been great ever since. He just woke up that day and something told him he needed to be with his daddy and he hasn't asked for Jeremy in quite a while so we felt like we needed to let him do that and have that time with him. Now later that night Carter also had a major meltdown and also wanted nothing but his daddy. This pretty much shows how rough our week has been.

My mom and stepdad came Thursday night and helped us catch up on some things at the house. In the meantime our washer went out(just what I needed, I mean I was already have a rough week!). My stepdad came to the rescue and bought us a new washer and had someone install it. Praise the Lord we are back in business to wash and dry. You don't realize how much you wash in one week until you are without. A big thanks to my mom for cleaning our entire house and getting things back in order. Also a thanks to my stepdad for the big load of snacks he brought us from the Little Debbie store! The boys have chowed on oatmeal creme pies and glazed donuts all evening!

I PRAY next week is going to be better. I know it will. Tonight I spent a lot of time in prayer and I prayed for the Lord to continue to bless our family and take away my anxiety and stress. I pray that he will embrace me and comfort me. I truly know deep in my heart that Jeremy is going to be ok all in due time, but I also know that we have many bumps ahead. Sometimes it all just becomes extremely overwhelming for me. I don't want to let anyone down and I want to continue to keep our house running as smoothly as possible. I guess this week it just all caught up with me. I have those feelings any wife or mother would have I want to take the pain away. I wish it could be me instead of him. So many times when Carter has been sick I have said if I could take all the illness from him and put it into me I would and I feel the same way with Jeremy. However when I verbalized this to Jeremy he said absolutely NOT our family could not function without you, so God knew what he was doing :). It made me feel good, but at the same time I want to take his hurt and fear away.

Like I said I am human, so I feel no need to sugarcoat it and not share the tough times too. Please lift our family up in prayer and please lift me up in prayer as I continue to do the day to day things our family needs.

Ian met with the play therapist on Monday and it went great! We couldn't have asked for it to have gone any better! He loved Ms. D and enjoyed his time with her. She also gave us some great ideas of things to do at home to help him and Carter both. Another thing that Ian has done this week that is so exciting is he started taekwondo! He has been talking about doing this for a few months, but ever since school started he has really wanted to do it. So Wednesday night we went and signed him up and he took his first class right then. He loved it so much we went back to the Thursday and Friday night class!!! He looks so cute in his white outfit with his white belt! I haven't taken my camera yet, but I will next week.

Well that is all for tonight I hope tomorrow to post a few pictures and catch up thank yous. I hope you all have a blessed Sunday and thank you for the prayers and understanding our praises and our rough times.

Great Discovery

So today I decided to bring my laptop with me to do some schoolwork while Jeremy got his chemo and surprise they have wireless! So here I am reporting to you live from the "chemo suite" :). Day is off to a good start. Jeremy's blood levels were good, so treatment is underway. After this treatment we are down to the single digits.........which means 3 down 9 to go! Jeremy has felt very good the past few days, so we are praying that this is going to be a good week for his chemo and that he is going to feel good. Will report back soon on that. I had promised that coming soon I would have a dedication to great friends and amazing neighbors, so today I am dedicating to them.

Friends:
*Melissa-I have mentioned Melissa many times in many different posts and that is because she has done SO much for us. I can't even begin to recite the things that she has done for us. She has cooked us so many meals, snacks, and treats. She has kept the kids numerous times when we have needed to go to dr appts or Jeremy's chemo. She checks on us everyday and is the most support a girl could ask for in this time of need. Melissa has scheduled all our meals since Jeremy returned home from the hospital after his surgery(I can never begin to tell you what a help this has been to us). Just when I would begin to feel like the world was falling out from under me, Melissa would show up on the doorstep with goodies or a Sonic drink. Then if the boys were having a tough time she would show up with sidewalk chalk, t-shirts, candy, etc. God has blessed me with Melissa in my life. The funny thing about Melissa and I's story is her sister Janet and I were very good friends in elementary and junior high school. I saw Melissa in passing, but never really got to know her. Then a few years ago our principal hired a new special ed teacher and it was Melissa.......small world right! Carter was going through a lot of things medically and Melissa was there to offer support and very good advice and instantly we became very good friends. Without her I honestly don't know how I would get through each day. She also keeps me in books and magazines!!!! Ian always tells people mom hit the jackpot with Melissa because she has lots of books by her bed to read! Thank you Melissa from the bottom of our hearts.

*Ashley-Ok so this summer I had to leave my kiddos ALOT and it was hard, but anytime Jeremy needed treatment or if I just needed a night out of the house Ashley was right there to get the boys and the boys LOVE her. They are big buddies with Ashley's kiddos, Lexi(6 yrs old), Ayden(1 yr old). When I would get there to pick them up Carter would beg to stay and would hide his face so that I wouldn't see him and he wouldn't have to leave. David and Ashley have done so much for us this summer and we appreciate it so much. Ian has gone to the lake the movies and had so much fun thanks to your families!

*Kelly-Kelly and I have been friends ever since she got hired at Asbell and I can't express how supportive she is to me. Kelly is the person I called when I was driving home in my car after finding out Jeremy had cancer and when she answered I broke out into tears. She knew I was upset and was already grabbing her keys and hopping in to race to our house. When I finally gained a little control I told her that we had just found out the test came back as cancer. Kelly is someone I can always call on no matter what. Day night early late it doesn't matter. Such a blessing. Now Carter is staying at her house everyday with Nanny and Kelly's baby Kambree. So exciting that Carter and Kambree are going to get to grow up together and play and have fun. The memories we are going to have of the two of them are going to be great!

*Brandy, Jennifer, Angela, and Sharon are my tride and true amigos. They call and check on my day after day week after week. Always checking to see what we need or what they can do. I can't begin to tell you how much their phone calls, food, cards and everything else mean to us. It is so nice to know that we have these amazing support systems whenever we need. God has blessed us and having them in my life is so WONDERFUL!

Neighbors
Ok so I don't even know where to begin we have the most AMAZING neighbors you have ever seen. If you are not blessed with good neighbors I am so so so sorry because without ours I don't know what we would do.
*The Fisks-Ok so right next door to us we have the Fisk family and they have done SO much for us I can't even say thank you to them enough. Jim and Lisa have cooked for us MANY times. They have sent Josh their son (our new food deliver guy :) over with loads of different goodies for us to eat. We have had soup, pasta, shrimp, crab, sausage, bread, the list goes on and on and it is all so yummy! Jim has mowed our yard every week and made sure it is in tiptop shape. He mows, weedeats, and uses the blower in every place he can. I think it might even look better now than it used to.......don't tell Jeremy ;). One day I even looked out and saw Lisa blowing off our driveway, I mean I wouldn't even know how to start a blower. I mean this family is so giving. They have let me bring the boys over for a swim and have invited Ian over to play. We are so incredibly blessed to have them living next door to us and we owe them so much and appreciate all they have done for our family.

*Murphy and Angie-These are our neighbors across the street and they are so great to us! They have brought us loads and loads of groceries for us and the kiddos. We are still munching on all those snacks! This weekend we even made the yummy funnel cakes from the funnel cake kit they brought us. They have invited Ian over to play with Murphy's son Tyler MANY times! They have had a sleepover, played Wii, football, gone to the movies, swimming and the list goes on and on. I can't begin to tell you how much Ian has enjoyed his time with them this summer. We are so blessed to have them as our across the street neighbors!

Well I was a little long winded today, but I had to publicly thank these people and let them know how much impact they have had on our lives. We have had so many people cook for us, send us goodies, cards, etc. I could never thank everyone enough and it means so much to us. Please know that because of all the giving people in our life that is how we get through each day.

TGI the WEEKEND!

Ok so getting into the routine is still not easy. I am still feeling a little under the weather, so I basically get up go to work, take care of the kiddos, got to bed, and then start the whole thing over again. I don't know if I have caught a virus, but I just can't knock it. I am resting this weekend so I am praying that next week is better. I am sure some of it is contributed to my stress which I do have a lot of right now. Let me tell you I love my job I truly do however some years are just easier than others and this is one of those years that is not so easy. I have some great kids, but they are ALL different and unique with some very standout personalities! This makes everyday quite interesting! So as I discover all their personalities and they of course figure out mine, everyday is a bit of a challenge. We have been in school for 7 days now and I think after we get one more week under our belt things will begin to fall into step. Just to give you a little insight into my day I have 22 students(full classroom) and I have a full time aide(well from 8-2). Over half my class is boys and I have 5 students that do not speak English. I have one student from Columbia, 2 from Mexico, Korea, and Pakistan. I also have a little boy from Kenya, but he speaks very fluent English. I also have a student with cerebral palsy this year and she is in a wheelchair and she has a full time aide. I am also learning a lot more about autism this year because I have a student with autism and we have quite a few in the other kindergarten classes that have been diagnosed with autism. The parents that I am working with are very open with their child's diagnosis and have assured me I can be as well(so please don't think I am spilling secret information!). I love the fact that they are such advocates for their children and they want me to learn more and the students in our class to learn more as well. That is a big reason why their kiddos are doing so well and transitioning into kindergarten because of their amazing supportive parents. So as you can see I have some sweet babies, but when you throw them all into one classroom it does take some monitoring and adjusting to figure out how to get your day to run smoothly.

Jeremy is doing well. He has worked all this week and we are both gearing up for his 3rd treatment this coming week. The one event he had take place this week was one of his crowns popped off. Keep in mind when you have chemo they do not want you to have any dental work in fact we even had to cancel his teeth cleaning, so we both panicked and just sat there frozen for a couple minutes after it happened. Luckily the next day he had an oncology appt and I had a dentist appt, so we talked to both and he was able to get it glued back on early Friday morning. Thank goodness because it was driving him crazy. He had some blood work done this week and his WBC(white blood cell) and platelet levels had dropped a little nothing to worry about right now, but they are going to keep a close eye on them. So please lift up prayers for Jeremy's levels to maintain in a healthy level through the chemo. We go on Tuesday morning and they will recheck them before they begin his treatment. This coming week he will wear his pump on Tuesday, Wednesday, and have it taken off on Thursday morning. We are hoping that this will help to be able to work on Saturday and then spend Sunday with me and the boys. I think it will be better doing it a little earlier in the week.

Many of you know that Ian has had a tough time the past few months and is dealing with a lot of anger. Please pray for him as we continue to deal with this. We were referred to what is supposed to be a wonderful play therapist and we will be seeing her this Monday. We were kind of on the fence with this decision, but I think in the long run it could be what he needs, someone to talk to besides Jeremy and myself. I don't want him to resent Jeremy for something that cannot be helped and it is very hard for me as a mommy to see him so upset and angry. My dad and stepmom surprised him with a trip to St. Louis in September, so this will be a good getaway for him and he is already counting down the days.

Carter is WILD as ever. I swear this week he kind of went nuts! Now keep in mind he is a perfect angel for nanny(the new babysitter that he loves!), but when we get home he is like a bull in a china closet! I have picked up diapers, Cheerios, cleaned up root beer, piles of dvds, all the contents of my purse, dog food, sour patch kids, cookies, tomatoes, etc. etc.! He is INTO everything! The funny thing is he knows it too because as soon as you catch him in the act he will start saying I sorry I sorry I sorry momma over and over and over. Now is he really sorry........uh NO, but he sure does think that will get him out of the line of fire! The other thing he has discovered is those really swell toddler proof door covers I paid 10 bucks for can be pulled right off the door and he can take off running. He pulls that door cover off the knob and says UHOH I broke it and then takes off into the garage, so needless to say we are having to keep the doors locked and garage door down all the time. Wow the joy of a wild toddler is CRAZY!

We had a great visit this weekend with Gary and Dawn. This is Jeremy's uncle that lives right outside of Houston that he is just like sometimes! Our visits with them are few and far between however I love it when we see them because Dawn and I are both scrapbook addicts, so we always hit the scrapbook stores together! Unfortunately the visit was short, but we had such a great time! The boys are still wishing Uncle Gary was still here to play with them in the yard. Not to mention Dawn is quite the pitcher! Dawn took some great pics, she is really into photography so I will be posting some pics of our visit soon! Had a great visit and we are so glad you came!

Thank yous:

*Thank you to Melissa for the great fettuccine dinner. It was so yummy!!!

*Thank you to Mags for the adorable prayer bracelet you made me. You are such a sweetie just like your momma!

*Thank you to Ashley for the Mexican dinner, you underestimate yourself in the world of cooking! It was so good and boys ate those cookies up!

*Thank you to Carlena for the delicious dinner! The boys have found a new thing to add to our menu with your beef stroganoff, they loved it!

*Thank you to Linda for the "cookout" dinner you delivered to our door and of course for your swim date you had with Ian while cooking it. He will be ready to come home with you any day of the week!

*Thank you the Mandie for inviting Ian to go to the Naturals game, he had a great time!

*Thank you to Gary and Dawn for the Mexican dinner, donut breakfast, and my adorable Dream necklace!!! I wore it to church this morning and haven't taken it off yet!!

WHEW!!!!!

Ok so what a week! I am exhausted! The best thing that could have happened to me was that school started on Thursday. I mean we had the kiddos 2 days and then we had a little break for the weekend. Not because the kids are wild :), but because I have been home this summer with Jeremy and the kids and we have taken it easy, so getting back into the full swing of things is not easy. I mean we would lounge until 9 or 10 and now I am up at 5:15 and we are walking out the door at 6:45 to make sure we get Carter dropped off and get to school to help my lil kindergarten kiddos get through the breakfast line. So needless to say the last few days have been a whirlwind in our house. One thing you have to realize is that Jeremy has taken Carter to daycare for the past year and he doesn't have to be at work until about 9, so Carter is used to sleeping in or at least lounging until about 8:15. Big change..........I think so! However he does like getting to see his Bubba(Ian :) in the mornings, but his mood is still a little sour! Basically I am the ONLY morning person in our house, makes for a really fun morning! He prefers to be left alone and wants the channel on his channel of choice nobody elses! I will never get to watch the news before work again!

Well many of you I know are wondering if we survived round 2 of chemo???? Yes he did! Dr. B was right the symptoms were very similar especially according to the day they fell on, but luckily they weren't as severe this time. I mean he was tired but instead of sleeping all day he napped all morning and then watched tv from the couch the rest of the day. The great thing is he never got sick at his stomach. Probably the hardest side effect he experiencing is the cold sensitivity in his mouth. So throughout the 3 days of chemo he was able to work a couple half days and then on Saturday he rested a lot. By today though he is feeling much better. We got up this morning and went to church, had lunch at Mazzio's(Jeremy's choice!), and then stopped and the boys and I had snow cones(kind of mean isn't it since Jeremy couldn't have anything cold, but the boys loved them as you will see in some pics below!). Now we are at home vegging the rest of the day.

Jeremy and Ian are downstairs playing Playstation, Carter napping, and I am updating the blog, but should be working on my lesson plans for next week. Nothing too exciting going on this week, Jeremy has a check up scheduled with the surgeon and he also has an appt with the APN nurse at the oncology clinic to see how his treatment went and check his blood counts(which so far have been good!)

One little kink we had in our plan that I haven't mentioned is that Carter's daycare closed about 2 weeks before school started. We have been using this same daycare since Ian was 3, so this was quite a shock. Needless to say I had to find a new daycare for Carter, but we didn't really want to make a big financial commitment to a daycare or preschool since we know this school year is going to be a little crazy and I am going to be taking quite a few days off. So when my friend Kelly offered her Nanny that keeps her baby at her house we decided that was a great idea. Now keep in mind she also kept Ian when he was the exact same age and he loved her, so even though Carter won't have kids to play with we thought we would give it a try. So last week we packed him up and headed to take him to stay with Nanny and Baby Kambree(will have to post a pic of her and Carter because she is precious!). Needless to say Carter did GREAT! I think he loves how relaxed his days are and loves having a baby to be around. Nanny says he does so good during they day. He just plays with Nanny, Kambree, and by himself. He lays himself down for a nap about the same time everyday! He is eating like a little pig and at school he was a little particular! Now one thing you have to know about Carter is that he is NOT a night sleeper and hasn't been since he was born. We have been to different doctors and he has even had a sleep study done, but since he has been staying with Nanny he has slept all night every night! He is ready for bed at 8:30 and I have to wake him up at 6:15 every morning. It is the craziest thing, but it is wonderful! The other nice thing is for now it will cut down on a lot of the germs that would have normally been brought home from daycare. Once again God is GOOD! Not even something we had thought of doing and the situation is better than what we had before.

Gotta share a few pics from our first days of school and our weekend! Also catching on my Thank yous before I go! In the next couple weeks please know as we get the "hang" of things my posts may not be as frequent(will still update atleast a couple times a week atleast) however I plan to dedicate a post or two to great friends and great neighbors! It is much overdue! First day of school...............................................

*Note their new backpacks they were so proud of!*

I take Ian's picture in this exact same spot every year on the first day of school! He looks so tired and so big!

Ian's new 2nd grade teacher! I know he already loves her because before he went to bed after the first day of school, he said I sure hope tomorrow is as good as today! On Friday he said it definitely was!!!

Let me tell you about these next 2 pics! A friend of mine, Karen made us a very yummy dinner last week and made us a cake with sprinkles for desert. Well I should say she made it because she thought the boys would enjoy it! Well they did! As soon as I opened it Carter was yelling Happy Birthday Happy Birthday and screaming for me to get the candles! So I did and we sang Happy Birthday 4 times and blew out candles 5 times! It looks like Carter is mad in the picture below, but actually he is singing! Good times!!!!!! Ian was so good, he just went along with it! Then every morning after that when you asked Carter what he wanted for breakfast he screamed birthday cake!

The pics above are from before church today and our snow cone stop. Ok so the boys got new outfits from Nana and they are adorable. So I of course wanted to get a picture of them with the outfits on. The picture is not a good one, the funny thing is I get tons of great pictures of them in house with nothing but shorts and a diaper on, but put them in a cute outfit from Gymboree and they won't smile to save my life. Jeremy and I were even begging, threatening, and acting crazy. Nothing was working! Ian DID NOT want his picture made and Carter was too busy watching the sprinkler across the street, so what you see is what you get :)!

Thank yous for last week:

*Sharon and Larry for all the yummy veggies and all the help in my classroom. I appreciate Larry being Handy Manny and doing all my handy work for me!

*A BIG thank you to Elizabeth, Angela, and Luann for all the help in classroom! Also a big thank you to Elizabeth and Joseph for helping me with Carter during open house.

*I don't have enough thank yous for my SUPER friend Brandy who helped me set up my classroom and organized all my stuff for me, it was such a help and helped me to get myself motivated! Thanks for all the Sonic drinks and of course for Jeremy's shirt!!!!(will post a pic for all to see because it is so cute!)

*Thank you to Jim and Lisa next door for EVERYTHING! You have brought us food, let us swim, and kept our yard in tip top shape. We can never thank you enough for all you have done. We are so blessed to have such amazing neighbors.

*Thank you to Linda, Mike, and Melissa for the yummy dinner you made us! It was so good and the coconut pie was delicious!

*Thank you to Chris and Ramona for the wonderful lasagna dinner! It was so sweet of both of you! The boys ate the entire box of cookies you brought!

*Thank you to Karen for the great chicken and veggie dinner and of course the famous birthday cake!

*Thank you to Mrs. Reyes for the pizza dinner! You are a sweetie!

*Thank you to my Aunt Janice for passing along the cookbook that has all the recipes for different side effects of cancer. If it worked for Uncle George I know it will work for Jeremy.

*Thank you to Murphy and Angie for letting Ian and Tyler have a sleepover and play Wii til the wee hours of the night!

*Thank you to Angie for bringing a little bit of Lulu's(restaurant in Gulf Shores that Jeremy and I love!) to me!

Not sure where July went!

Ok so I know many of you are checking in and so I am going to have a quick post for tonight to give an update, but I have to get in bed early because tomorrow is our 1st day of school and I have 22 little kindergarten kiddos that are counting on me to be well rested and ready to go! The school I teach at is on a balanced calendar, so we go back a few weeks earlier, but get some weeks off throughout the year that are wonderful!
Jeremy had his start of round 2 of chemo today. We got there about 8:15 and they gave him meds until about 11:45. Went good and he even was able to go back to work afterwards. He has his pump on and is planning to work again tomorrow. He has it taken off on Friday morning and is going to see how he feels Friday and Saturday before deciding if he will work or not. Dr. B said that symptoms and sickness tend to hit at the same time with this type of chemo, so this means that Friday and Saturday would be his rough days, so we are just going to play it by ear and see how it goes.
I got my classroom set up and ready thanks to MANY different people who I promise I will thank this weekend when I get caught up on everything :). Never realized how hard it was to be wife, mom, teacher, and nurse! Going to be a wild 6 months, but we are going to get through. I know this post is short, but I have to get to school bright and early and be ready for my new babies! Will post more this weekend! Hope you all are having a great week! Sending lots of love and hugs!
Oh and by the way my oldest baby starts 2nd grade tomorrow, I can't believe it! Pics to come this weekend!

World Are You Out There?

Well we have been in this house ALOT pretty much since we received Jeremy's diagnosis on June 19. Tomorrow is the BIG day when we return to work. Obviously my nerves have gotten the best of me because I am updating the blog at 11:30 at night when I should be sleeping because I have to be at work tomorrow at 8am. However I have always been one of those people that doesn't sleep good on Sunday nights and then us both returning to work tomorrow on top of it being a Sunday doesn't mix well. The nice thing is both boys are with Papaw and Tata, so it has just been a nice relaxing evening. Jeremy and I ate sushi and watched Big Brother. One thing we do a lot when the boys are gone at the same time :) is sit on the couch and eat California Rolls until we can pop! I love nights like that and of course the boys don't like sushi so they could care less that they are missing out on this!
So tomorrow I return to my WONDERFUL job with my AMAZING friends at Asbell and Jeremy will return to the job he LOVES at the Hyundai dealership. We will both be off on Wednesday morning for his 2nd round of chemo and from there we will see how our work schedules go. This will definitely be an adventurous school year for us all. Since I am a teacher we live August to August on a school year calendar rather than January to December! Juggling work, school, kiddos, many dr appts, chemo, and of course the regular activities of everyday life is not always going to be easy. Please pray for us as we get back into the routine of our somewhat normal life. We know that the next 6 months will not be easy for us, but through prayer and amazing friends and family we are going to make it.
I know that I need to make myself go to sleep so I am going to catch up on my Thank You's and a few pics I took this weekend later in the week.
Sending love and hugs to you all and hoping you have a great week!