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!