Its HOT is COLD....

WOW. This Texas weather change is making for runny noses here in our house. It was sunny and warm enough on Monday for me to be in flip flops and a tank top and now the DFW area is experiencing light snow.....seriously! That is what it is like here in Texas, in case you didn't know! But what better excuse to make some home made chili!?! My house smells mmm, mmmmmm good!

I started a new Mod (E) on Monday. I was looking forward to having Mrs. Gust that I had in Mod C but her MS is "flaring" up so she is only with us the first 3 hours of the day. Mrs. Bryant is nice and all but I am a little bummed. This is an intense mod over the urinary system and hematology. This past week was all focused on laws (CLIA and OSHA again) and the different types of hematology labs. I was pretty stressed because on Monday we found out that our final (in 3 weeks) is 38 pages long PLUS 3 diagrams. SERIOUSLY!?!? She has our vocab tests and chapter tests on Thursdays and they are pretty intense. I got a 95 in the vocab and a 91 on the chapter test (I must have had some good guesses because I was SERIOUSLY getting all the laws mixed up). Enough about me.

Rylee is moving forward with her potty training skills! She is in panties 90% of the time! George and I are so proud of her! She has made me so proud. I can't believe how fast she has taken to the potty. She even woke me up on Wednesday night to let me know that she needed to go!!!! The thing we need to work hard on now it teaching her to pull her pants AND panties down! She has been trying to go on her own without telling us and she ends up peeing on the potty IN HER PANTIES! ;) She is trying though and that is what is important. She has been potty training for ONLY 10 days! She is throwing less and less temper tantrums which has been nice. BUT when she throws one, MAN it is bad! She is still enjoying school and she putting more and more words together and every now and then she will ask/tell us a sentence! I am so proud of her

George has been keeping busy, or as busy as he can in the slow season. He has found a new love....disc golf! He has become quite obsessed! It is a little annoying but he could be doing worse things so I try not to complain too much. He is having to learn how to be a better helper around the house because I can not keep up with laundry, cleaning, a toddler and school work all by myself anymore. He is adjusting well for the most part.

that's about it for now...........

pee pee in the potty- WEEK 1

Rylee is officially potty training! We decided that Tuesday would be our start day. I dropped Rylee off of school with 3 changes of clothes and 3 pairs of panties and her stack of diapers that were already there. I was expecting to pick her up and have at least 1-2 soiled outfits to bring home and wash. To our surprise.......NO ACCIDENTS!!!!!!!!! We were shocked, proud, amazed, and happy to know that we were not starting too early. Rylee has been going pee pee on the potty in the mornings more mornings than not since before she was 18 months old. However, after the initial pee in the potty in the morning getting her to go the rest of the day was not something that she was interested in doing. I talked with her pediatrician and asked him what he thought and he said that when she starts showing interest to encourage her but that once we start, we don't stop. It can take up to 8 months but I am confident that she will be potty trained before that. I also had done research on different ways that parents potty train and one of the things that made since for me was to NOT use pull ups or any other training diaper, because after all that is what it is, a glorified diaper. She is in panties all day at school except at nap time and she is in panties when she is at home unless she is sleeping or in the car.

Tuesday she had one accident when we got home because we were playing out side and when I told her we were going in to use the potty she got upset and started to throw a fit and in turn peed on herself :/. Wednesday she had one accident at school because the afternoon teacher didn't put her on the potty for 1 hr and 20 min.....well duh lady, she is potty training that means no more that 45 min. - 1 hour without potty time!!!! She also didnt quite make it to the potty when we were getting ready for bath time. She wasn't paying attention and sat on the floor NEXT TO THE POTTY....she tried! Yesterday was another great day at school and she had no accidents! AND.....no accidents at home!!!!!!!!!!! Day #3 and NO ACCIDENTS!!!!! WHOO HOO!

My mom is in high spirits. She is feeling much more confident about her surgery with the other surgeon vs. Dr. Johnson who has done all of the ones before. She meets with them on Tuesday and we should have a better idea of when they think the surgery will be.

George is staying busy. He has been working in landscape jobs with 2 customers here in our neighborhood so that has been nice. I can help, or atleast TRY to help him when I get out of school.

I finished MOD D yesterday and start MOD E on Monday! I only go to MOD G, then 8 weeks of EKG and 8 weeks of X-Ray, 4 weeks of externship and I am DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has gone by fast I am almost 1/2 way finished. I had been slacking between Christmas and last week when it comes to going to the gym. I have been going a LOT this week. With the stress of what is going on with my mom, finals, and other life things, it has been a nice release! I would like to be back down to a singe digit size before I graduate....that is my goal. I am a size 12 now.... only 2 dress sizes to go! I have lost 13 lbs since school started but i have only had a gym membership since Thanksgiving!

That's it for now...........

please pray.........

My mom is my best friend. She is a beautiful person both inside and out. Her faith in God is noteworthy and admirable. I hope that I can be as good of a friend and mom to Rylee that she is to me. She has endured so much the last 5 years......3 brain tumors/surgery, 1 reconstructive surgery, 1 cornea transplant, 74 treatments of proton therapy, an implant to let her be able to hear again and NOW they just found a 4th brain tumor/cyst. They are not able to tell weather this is a cyst or a tumor where as in the past they could tell that from the MRI that is was a benign tumor. Her normal brain surgeon, Dr. Johnson, is out on medical leave and she is SUPER nervous to have anyone else so the procedure on her. They will have to remove the plates that they put in during her reconstructive surgery in order to reach this new one. Her proton doctor said that they could laser it away but by doing that they will never know if it is malignant or not. She has decided to go ahead with the surgery but they have not set a date yet. I am worried more this time than in the past. She is normally so positive and strong with all of this that it makes you feel guilty for feeling sorry for her..... not this time. It has hit her WAY hard making it even more hard on me, which I know might sound selfish. I just worry that if she goes into surgery this time with any hesitation or doubt that she might not make it out. How much can one body handle? I know that it isn't up to me, my mom, or even her surgeon as to whether or not she lives or dies. I know that He has our life planned out before we are even born. I am just not ready to think about Rylee not remembering her. I need her in my life, she is my rock. She is my HERO she is my MOM! I don't want to know life without her.....My mom and I after her 2nd surgery
After her 3rd surgery......

PLEASE....if you pray then please pray for my mom and my family. If you don't pray please keep us in your thoughts..... Thank you so much.
My mom and Rylee about a year ago...this is her favorite picture of the two of them.

Our Story.....

Im sort of at a loss when it comes to what I write about. SOOOO I think I will just take it back a few years to 1997.....

I was in 8th grade at Shackelford Middle School here in Arlington, Texas. It was Mid March, I was 14. My friend Paul introduced me to a boy named George (I bet you know where this is going now). Paul and George were in 9th grade, and have been best friends since before Kindergarten. Their parents still live on the same street. I had a crush on George, my first REAL crush. I was just starting to get a little "boy crazy". Paul was an immediate friend to me. I had just moved to Arlington from Maui Hawaii where I had live the previous 2 1/2 years. George and I started talking on the phone and I guess you could say we were "boyfriend/girlfriend". My mom, was not fond of George (to say it nicely) nor was George's mom of me. George would sneak out at night and come to my townhouse about 1/2 mile away with a few of his friends, Blake, Josh, David and sometimes Paul too! My cousin, Heather was staying with us that Summer (we were together EVERY Summer from the time we were babies) and she would sneak out with me to the pool everynight when my mom and then step-dad went to bed. We would go swimming, talk/hang out, etc. After a month or so my mom was DONE! I went out of town for a week with a friend of mine and when I got home my mom had packed up our townhouse and told me we were moving THAT NIGHT!!!!!!!!!! I was devastated.... I knew that George was going to come see me that night....I "made" my mom wait so that I could say good bye.

We moved to Addison. that is 25-30 miles away....a long way for a 14 year old girl and a 15 year old boy to carry on a relationship. I was so giddy, girly and "IN LOVE" (naive) that I thought we would be together FOREVER. We dated off an on through high school, which caused more heartache than anything so we broke up the Summer before my senior year. I soon started dating a new guy, Scott, and was treated "the way a girl should be treated". We moved in together just after I graduated and got engaged. After a year of living together I decided that I wanted to move in with some girlfriends before we got married so that I would know what it was like. I think in the back of my mind I knew that 19/20 was too young to be so serious, but I loved him.

New Year Eve, just after I turned 20 (going into 2003) I met up with Paul and ran into George. It was crazy, the butterflies that I got when we were 14 were still there.We talked, I told him I was happy and engaged and doing great in school (I WAS!!!!). I soon later broke up with Scott....the next day to be exact. George and I started "talking" in February. He courted me, took me on dates, and took me home. It was a side of George I hadn't known before..... 6 months later I moved back to Arlington with one of my female room mates and a year after that George and I moved in together. That was August 2004. We have had our hard times, bad times, good times and GREAT times....together. We got married January 2, 2009. This March will be 13 years from the time we started dating... We are so blessed to have what we have....TRUE LOVE. The good times out weight the bad and I KNOW that we will be that cute little old couple still holding hands and pinching each others butts as we walk down the street......

that's it for now..........

Rylee is 2!!!!

Rylee turned 2 on Monday. I can't believe it. She is 2. My baby is not a baby. She is running, CLIMBING, jumping off of things, talking up a storm, learning new words EVERY day. She is 29 lbs 14 oz and 33.5 inches tall. She is in size 2T-3T clothes, size 6 shoe, size 5 diaper, and seems to be going through a growth spurt. She has grown 13.5 inches and gained 23 lbs 3 oz since she made her debut into our life at 4:34am 1-4-08. That seems like a lot but she has only gained 6 lbs this past year. She was on the chunky side most of her first year, especially after her surgery. She is, unfortunately, in full swing with the "terrible 2's". Her attitude is quite amusing at times but for the most part I will NOT miss this phase. Don't get me wrong, she is sweet as can be 95% of the time but the other 5% she is BAD. We are enforcing time out. She has graduated from 1 min. time outs to 2 min. time outs!(1 minute per year old she is) She has 22 teeth, only had 8ish at her first birthday! She loves her babies and playing house. She is using her imagination and it is so cute to watch her play! She is still 100% daddy's girl. We are having her birthday party tomorrow at my dad's house (thanks daddy). Should be LOTS of fun. I will post pictures later this weekend. George and I ordered her a REAL cool art easel/desk for her birthday and we finally got it yesterday. Here are some pictures......
School is going good for me, same old same old, drawing blood, giving injections, performing EKGs....and still making GREAT grades! I also just found out that when I am done with school I can challenge the board who administers the LVN testing and possibly become an LVN also!!!! George is working, trying to stay busy. He (I) will be happy when the winter season is over and he is able to stay busier.

that's about it for now............

Hello 2010!

George and I had a great time on my birthday! We went to On The Border with 14 close friends and then we went out to The Fox and Hound and ended up at The Big Apple for some drunk karaoke! haha that is always fun. Here are some pictures~George and ME!!~

~DOWNING the Hurricaine while they speed sang happy birthday~
~Me and Khristi~

We said goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010 at our friends ranch. We wanted to stay close to home incase Rylee had a belly issue. My mom and Rylee had another GREAT sleepover. Today we are just laying around, recovering. I thing George and some buddies are going to play disc golf tomorrow. Sunday we will probably go to my dad's house. I have to study this weekend at some point, I haven't opened my books in the last week ~ EEEK!

Monday we went back to the doctor to see what is going on with Rylee's digestive system. The doctor is pretty sure that she has a parasite! I was shocked! I had to get 4 samles of poo....yuck! We won't know what the results are until Monday.....going to be a long weekend! Monday is also Rylee's 2nd birthday!!!!! I can't believe how fast the last 2 years have gone by. I am going to take some cookies to her school around 2:30 when I get out of school and then we are having cake at George's parents house that night. Saturday, the 9th we are having her party at my dad's house (thanks daddy!). I ordered Rylee's easel and it should be her between the 6th and 12th. It is WAY cool. It has a magnetic dry erase board that folds down into a desk and it comes with 4 cubbies, a crayon/marker/paint organizer and a stool for 59.99!!!! I am proud of it! If she doesn't like it I know I will....haha

that is about it for now...............