Birthday Boy

 

Happy Birthday to our little man who was born

Mary 28, 2008!

We love so much!

Our little Hiker

This morning we all went on a hike. This is Jack’s first hike and he did pretty well. We walked about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. Side note: It took my FIL over an hour to remember where this place was but finally we found it. http://sawneemountain.org/

We had to stop along the way to take some photos.

This one below might be my favorite!

This one is a cute one too.

Off we go again up the mountain.

But eventually his little legs got tired and he hitched a ride on Poppa.

Finally we reached the top. It was beautiful and very cold and windy.

Looking over Cumming and Canton.

And in the end it was worth it. My husband posing at the top of the mountain.

Spring has arrived

We hope that Spring is here to stay…we went to the park this past weekend. It was mid 60’s and it was just beautiful!

Jack had a play date with Miss Molly and I think we all had fun! Hopefully there will be many more days at the park this year!

Snowfall 2010

Friday we received about 3 inches of snow. It started around 1pm and continued till 6pm. As soon as we all got home we went ‘side’ with Jack. Jack says ‘side’ for outside. So out we went! We walked all around our apartment, we made snow balls, climbed up hills, and then we fell down the hills.

It was just beautiful! They are saying we might get another inch of snow tonight or into tomorrow morning. We will wait and see. It’s pretty cool to know that GA has snow and more snow then Vancouver!

Love

Things I love:

thunderstorms

maui

cherry coke zero

sushi

jimmy buffett

my black boots

chocolate milk

disney world

kitties

uga bulldogs

blankets

my boys

a fireplace

smores

nicholas cage

gerber daisy

Struggling to find the voice

I've been in a rut lately since my friend past. It's like I've lost my voice to blog. Sounds strange right...so I came across these great photo that made me smile.

My cousin, Steph, myself and my brother at my rehearsal dinner. April 2007

Loss of a dear friend

On Jan. 1st the world lost an amazing sole a dear friend had lost her battle with cancer. In one moment my world stopped.

I had the opportunity to talk with her on the phone a couple weeks before Christmas. I was lucky enough to speak with her as she asked her daughter to have me call her in the hospital. Even though our short conversation gave me no hope of a quick recover I knew she still had her humor and this made me smile if even for a moment.

I wanted to share this letter that I had written about her shortly before the holidays.

A dear family friend of ours was recently diagnosed with the rarest cancer cell, Multiple Myeloma.

We worked together for 4 years. She is a loving, compassionate person who never wants to burden herself on others. Before her diagnosis she was a vibrant woman with lots of life! She loves music, quilting, her cats, drinking wine, eating good food and spending time with her friends and family.

I will never forget the day she went to the doctor. The day before we meet up with her and her daughter for the Dave Matthews Concert! The very next day she went to Grady for her doctor’s appointment, she had been to the doctor before with complaints of stomach pain and hip pain but the doctor’s couldn’t figure it out just yet. Finally they figured out that she has cancer. The cancer cells had attacked much of her body and she is already at the late stage 3 of the cancer progression.

Since her diagnosed in May 2009 she’s had many changes in her life; she decided to quit her job to focus on her health but she has no insurance; she had to move from the home she loved to a smaller place just to afford rent and utilities; her daughter and 4 yr old granddaughter moved from DC to be with her and help her out; she’s on her 2^nd run of chemo and hoping that she can afford or find funding for her Stem Cell Transplant; she’s in lots of physical pain that never stop; and now she has a hard time walking as the cancer lesions have increased and spread to her ankles which she will need a walker or a wheelchair to get around.

She went for about a month with out treatment as the first round gave excellent results. However, since she not only has a rare form of cancer, but the rarest cancer cell with in Multiple Myeloma the levels have come back up rapidly and she is undergoing chemotherapy again. Basically she HAS to have the stem cell transplant. We are working on the government funding for that so hopefully it will come through soon and we can start that process.

Soon after Thanksgiving, she was readmitted to the hospital due to her calcium levels increasing in her brain causing her to hallucinate and have signs of dementia. A few weeks later after additional and extensive chemo treatments we learned that her heart couldn't take the pain any longer.

My friend, a mother, a daughter, a wife, and a sister lost her battle after 6 months of being diagnosed.

She is in heaven pain free. Though she'll never know how much I think about her everyday, you are still with me.

She had given me a quote several years a go as a reminder of who we are and what we do isn't always easy.

"If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. It's hard that makes it Great."

Visit with Santa

Jack sat with Santa this weekend. We went up to Bass Pro Shop early Saturday morning and was early in line. Jack had plenty of time to walk around the store and find many things he wants for Christmas! He was such a trooper! He didn't cry which I thought he might. The little 15 month old girl in front of us cried so I distracted Jack so he couldn't see her. I think it worked.

As you can see he's really serious and no smiles on Santa's lap. I'm not even sure if he told Santa what he wants for Christmas but I'm sure he will bring him everything he ever wanted!

Happy Holidays!

Jack is 18 months!

Our little munchkin is 18 months old! Where did all the time go? Oh wait I remember...sleepless nights but priceless moments.

Jack went to the doctor for his check up yesterday and here are his stats:

height: 33 inches (89%) He will be tall!

weight: 24.9 lbs (32%) He will be slender!

He had another eye exam and all looks good. Two shots and out the door! He's become slightly less interested in going to the doctor at his age. As he finally understands that going to the doctor means that he will have to lay down and get check out and get those routine shots! Last week I took him into the doctor because he was sick. He had Croup for the 3rd time this year. However he's all better.

No more doctor appointments until May at his 2 year checkup!

MIA

Family: Jack, Mom, and Dad

Jack as a Race car Driver on Halloween!

Jack at the Pumpkin Patch! 'SOLD' How cute is he?

Yep that's me! I've been MIA for a couple weeks. We've just been busy!

Here are a couple of photos of our little man taken in October!

A Jack First!

We took Jack to his first Fair last weekend. The first thing we did was visit the Petting zoo. This was Jack's first time feeding the animals! As you can see he was throwing the food at the goats. But not to worry after throwing the food, the kindly bent over and kissed the goat.

Priceless moments in life are spent with children!

Please make it stop!

Those of you who are living in the Southeast...be thankfully that you are where you are today.

In Atlanta and the surrrounding areas we will get over 5 inches of rain TODAY. Now granted it's been raining for the last 7 days with some totals up to 20 inches. Note: Atlanta is not close to Seattle or Portland. I can't recall it raining this much in all my life!

I'm at work waiting on my boss to return with a Wet/Dry Vaccuum. Our office is in a old house, ranch, brick, built in the 60's and it has a basement. (ha, ha) Our air cut off around noon, so my boss went into the basement to find about 8 inches of rain! To top it off, there are several other areas of the house/office where rain is coming in. We have the attic, the fireplace, archways into many rooms, the 'garage' as it once was but now it's enclosed. But that too is raining...

My husband called to let me know that water is coming into our apartment through the sliding glass doors. The water has gone about 10 feet into our living room. Great right? After being pregnant and expecting we thought it'd be a great idea to move to the bottom floor rather than the 3rd floor, guess again!

Well' here I sit until my boss returns so we can do what we can do before we leave. At least the phones are quiet.

In serach of a Camera???

I am in search for a new camera! But I need help!

-What brand?

-What style?

-How big or how small?

What am I taking photos of you ask?

I love taking photos of my family and any vacation.

How skilled am I?

Um I'm not. I'd like to take a photography class but don't i need a camera first?

My current camera is a Kodak digital and rechargable. No doubt it's been a good camera to me but now I want to use it much more and would like to hold many more photos then it does. I think it holds 200.

What about this one?

http://store.kodak.com/store/ekconsus/en_US/pd/productID.145101200

Or this one?

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=19211#ModelDetailAct

Please help me! Any suggestions are gladly welcomed!

All things are not created equal!

Jack at his first pumpkin patch, Oct. 2008. 5 months old

So I've been on Weight Watchers since June and I've lost about 17 lb! I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it and imbracing this thing called exercise! It is true the older you get the more your body doesn't want to move!

With fall right around the door step, I'm excited to be re-introduced to the revised/lighter casseroles, soups and hearty meals all over again. (note: this is not my first time with WW) However I can't tell you how much I disguise Pumpkin anything! I love them for decoration but I don't eat pumkpin filling. pumkin pie, pumkin seeds, or try and subsitute pumpkin filling in my brownies! Yes I know it will lower the point value and I can eat 5 in one sitting but don't you know it changes the flavor?

Um. Gross.

Here's another rant I'll share with you. I've completely fallen in love with Hungry Girl too. Plus WW supports her stuff. I recently bought her cookbook that has many recipes and all under 200 calories. Love it! But...Laughing Cow Cheese sucks! It refuses to melt, it doesn't in no way compare to any cheese i eat, and it's in wedges. What is the deal?

Please leave the pumpkins on the porch!

Jack is 15 months!

It's hard to believe that my little pumpkin is already 15 months old! How did this happen???

We went to the Pediatrician last week and he had two vaccines plus the flu shot. Other then being a bit grumpy that evening our pumpkin is back to normal.

He's growing like a weed!

He is 31 inches tall; although he wouldn't lay still for the nurse to meausre and he was 30.75 just 3 months ago so I'm sure he's much taller. 46%

He weighs just 23lb and 12 oz. He only gained 1 lb since his 12 month check up! 38% - I guess this means he should weigh more but he's really active so no worries plus he eats very good!

His head cicumference is the same at 19 inches which is remarkable it hasn't gotten bigger over time. 80%

He's absoultely priceless!

It was a big HIT!

Last night my co-workers and I had a farewell dinner for another collegue of ours! We decided that each of us would cook one course with our friend. So I was in charge of the appetizer!

I found a light salad that would be within my WW points but also looked yummy! I was right it was a huge hit!

Grilled Peaches over Arugula with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

Yield

6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups arugula mixture, 3 peach wedges, about 1/3 ounce prosciutto, 1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic syrup, and 1 teaspoon cheese)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 peaches, pitted and each cut into 6 wedges
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of kosher salt
• 10 cup trimmed arugula (about 10 ounces)
• 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese

Preparation

1. Bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer until vinegar is reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in honey. Cool to room temperature.

2. Prepare grill to high heat.

3. Place peach wedges on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 30 seconds on each side or until grill marks appear but peaches are still firm. Remove from grill; set aside.

4. Combine oil, pepper, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add arugula, tossing gently to coat. Arrange arugula mixture on a platter. Top with peach wedges and prosciutto. Drizzle with balsamic syrup; sprinkle with cheese.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

100 (36% from fat)

Fat:

4g (sat 1g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.5g)

Protein:

3.9g

Carbohydrate:

13.1g

Fiber:

1.3g

Cholesterol:

7mg

Iron:

0.8mg

Sodium:

183mg

Calcium:

61mg

Compliments of Cooking Light!

Sick of being sick

How Ironic that my last post was also about being sick - however that one was about my child and my husband being sick. That night I got home from work, picked through my dinner, and shortly after I had chills and the fever the same one my husband had two nights ago.

Tuesday morning came and I was still having the chills so I called off of work. However that wasn't the end of it. My stomach started to churn, make very loud noises as if it was fighting within its self and then the cramping started. I was in so much pain. When I went to the bathroom it turned out that I too had been stricken with the wrath. I too had diarrhea. There is no nice way to put it. All morning back and forth from my bed. So i didn't waste any time and I called the doctor. Thankfully I was able to see the Nurse Practitioner in one hour.

At the doctors office I went through the normal procedure, check your weight (hmm nice I thought I lost 3 lbs since Monday), check my blood pressure (good), took my temp (98), ask about my symptoms (fever, chills, cramping, diarrhea), and then she listened to my stomach. Oh cool I thought I never get to lay down on the doctors table. She carefully listened with her stethoscope (although you didn't need that my tummy was having war and loud enough for everyone to hear), she moved it around a bit and said WOW it's really busy in there. She then asked for a urine sample. However that was a NO go. Add Dehydration to my list! So then she took some blood. I was told to take it easy, eat bland foods such as toast, potatoes, and Gatorade 2 (less sugar) and drink lots of it. She gave me a prescription to keep the cramping down as it might help the stomach issues. I ended up staying home the next day too. The overnight was pure hell. While lying in bed trying to sleep any time i moved or my husband moved I had to go to the bathroom. I was miserable. I was weak and tired.

I decided to go to work on Friday only because we were having a going away dinner for a collegue of mine. I did speak to the nurse as she called to check on me and ask how I was feeling. I told her things were the same and I didn't feel any better. She spoke with the Nurse Practionier and called in two antibotics for me to start taking. I didn't make it all day and left around 3:30. I went home to pick up my antibotics and rested. The past two days I was lucky if I ate 2 pieces of toast and one other item. However with these antibotics I would have to eat at least twice a day as my medicine needs to be taken with food.

Over the weekend I am still not better, I'm eating a bit more, drinking lots, and resting. So here is the TMI alert - stop reading if you don't want to know!!!
I had to take a stool sample for the doctors office. Not pleasant but have to do it. I shouldn't be still sick! This is miserable. I am miserable. I want to be better and back to normal how hard is that to ask. I've never been this ill before and for this long.

Today I've eaten: scrambled eggs and 1 biscuit, noodles, and cinnamon toast. I can't wait to eat my points again. I haven't counted points in over 10 days. I didn't go to WW this Saturday as it didn't seem right to go in and loosing 13lbs and get a celebration for it. "Hi, I've been sick for 7 days and not eating so that's how I lost all this weight!" Um No that is not good for my body or for my mind. However I did make a deal with myself that when I loose 10 lb that I will reward myself with a hair relaxer...any takers?

A week of sickness

The past week my household has been sick. It all started with Jack when he had a fever last Sunday and a runny nose. This quickly turned into Croup along with not eating and diarrhea and continued for about 5 days. He seems to be much better with little coughing and still not eating much. I also have been weak, sick to my stomach and tired. Then oddly enough my cycle started 4 days early! Now my husband is feeling the rath. The one person in the family that misses it all! He's had a fever for two evenings and a sick stomach. I told him to stay home and rest but he doesn't listen sometimes.

I can't wait till we are all back to normal. No one likes being sick!

Vote! Vote! Vote!

Please vote for our son who is in 2nd place of over 4888 photos submitted to the Disney.com ‘Messy Baby Faces’ Contest!

Vote here!

You can vote once every day until August 28th!

Hot Hot Hot

What do you do when it’s 93 degree in Hot’Lanta? You go where it’s cool!

We all love the new fountain park near our home! It is especially great when we all don’t want to get wet!

Note: These are Crocs! Orange at that but nonetheless his father approves!