Happy birthday Sweetart!!!!

Our baby is one today! I cant believe it, it doesn't seem possible. Our 1st child was born March 12 2008 at 11:18am by c-section.

Happy 1st birthday Ray!

Mommy and Daddy getting ready to go have you

7lbs, 2oz, 19 inches long, you were such a beautiful baby (still are)Look at that face!!!!!!Mommy and you getting ready to go to our room, it is the 1st time I got to hold youDaddy is so proud!1st family photoCousin's Jess and Brandon seeing you for the 1st timeOh, I could just eat you up, you are so cute!!!

Bye for now!

This time last year......

I was in the hospital awaiting the birth of our 1st son! We had to be at the hospital by 4:00pm on March 11Th 2008, I think we were there by 3:30. Charlene (aka mother-in-law) took me to the hospital because Alvin wanted to finish out his work day and he knew all they would be doing was checking me in and things he really didn't need to be there for, and he wouldn't be back to work for the next week and a half. I went to the hospital the day before to have my cervix "ripened" that stuff had to work for 12 hours. It was so exciting, and such a great experience. They took such good care of us, I loved Hendricks hospital.

Our view from our labor room

Me waiting for my baby!My IV, you cant see it but, the IV was in the other hand but it "blew" and they had to go to the other hand, didn't my nails look pretty? That was the last lime they looked that good! (my baby was in my tummy in this picture) :(Our TV we were watching Jeopardy, then American IdleDaddy waiting for his baby Daddy's comfy bed for the night!I think I am going to have a hard time tomorrow, I have to work, UNTIL 7:00pm!!!!! It is going to be awful, its not fair, I should be home with my baby on his 1st birthday! There will be more tomorrow!!

Bye for now!

Our Family Pictures

We had Ray's 1yr/ family pictures done. They turned out pretty good. Ray did cry for some of them. We go the CD with all the pictures on so I am going to post a few that we did not buy, I cant let you girl's at work (Dawn and Holly) and the people that I am going to send them to see the final one's!
Isn't this one cute, the lady there wanted us to buy this one, "I don't think so" we have enough of him looking this way, but he does look cute!
Bye for now!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Alvin's birthday, and he was off work and got to spend the day with Ray (that rhymes). Anyway, it was a great day, it was almost 70 degree's here, so they played outside. I guess Ray wasn't to happy to come inside! They also came up to see me at work. I love it when he comes to work so I can show him off. I have to say it was so hard to be at work knowing that they were home together (and that it was 70 outside) and I wasn't with them. But its good for them to spend time alone. Alvin took some pictures of Ray outside, so I will post them when I get them loaded on to the computer.
Tomorrow we are going to have Ray's 1 year pictures done, and we are going to take a family picture also. I wish I were thinner for it, but oh well, I will regret it later if we don't get one just because of my weight. So wish us luck that we get some good one's. Ray's personality is alot different than it was when we had his 3 month pictures done.
I talked to my dad tonight and they met with the oncologist today and had blood work done to see if she is ready for her next dose of chemo. She is ready for it so that will be done on Monday. They also talked to the Dr. about why she is so so so tired and pretty much "lifeless", he said it was because she had such a large dose of chemo the 1st time. She is dehydrated so they put something in her port to help that, they said she should start feeling better by Sunday. My dad said she is so weak that he has to help her get on/off the toilet (more info than you needed?) he said she is just in bad shape right now, but that will change (hopefully) by the end of the weekend. He also said that her hair is thinning, I didn't ask, but I didn't think she was suppose to lose her hair with this chemo, so I am going to have to find out about that. I didn't even talk to her today, I will hopefully talk to her tomorrow.
I think thats all for now, Bye for now!

Pictures

Hello everybody! Ray is feeling better, he is eating and sleeping better. Me on the other hand, I don't feel so good. I definitely got this nasty cold, my throat is killing me, my head hurt and my nose is stuffy. (I think I'm done with the whining) Anyway, I made our appointment to get Rays 1 year pictures done on Saturday. I am hoping Alvin will agree to have a family picture done.

I keep think of how my life was last year at this time, how excited and nervous I was, ready to be off bed rest. (what I would give to be on "bed rest" now) Tomorrow is Alvin's birthday and him and Ray are spending the day together, and we are suppose to have GREAT weather. I hope they have a good time, but I am a little jealous, but I have to remember I have gotten alot of "one on one" time with Ray.

I have been talking to my mom and she is very depressed. She really doesn't have much pain anymore, but she doesnt feel good, and no one can really give her a reason why. I am very worried about her and my dad. They just need for my mom to feel good and be able to get up and around. She meets with her oncologist tomorrow and hopefully they can give her some answers.

I think he wants outside, what do you think?

Playing with his fridge toy

"I cant believe mom is letting me play with the phone, and sit on the counter"

My sick boy that was sleeping on the reclinerDaddy and Ray, like the droolRay wants to play with Gabrielle so bad, this picture was right after she "smacked" at himTrying to keep him occupied while we cooked, it worked!These 2 pictures are funny, Alvin gave Ray his cell phone them called it, the ring tone is a guy saying "hey your phone ringin, hey your phone ringin, hey your phone ringin, hey your phone ringin" by the time its done the guy is screaming (it obviosly is getting louder) Anyway Ray thought it was so funny, so I snapped these picturesHope all is well, bye for now.

When it rains it pours!

Ray is still sick and this time with a double ear infection! I tell you what "I am over this illness stuff." Yesterday, Ray woke up very cranky, almost unconscionable, so I took his temp and it was running about 100.5 and up but never got over 101.2. So Alvin suggested I call the Dr. because of his Croup he had the week before. The nurse at the Dr's office ran down her list of questions over the phone and when I told him that he had gotten up in the middle of the night the last 2 nights she said "we better take a look at him" So I took him in and sure enough "ear infection in both ears" My poor baby, he just cant get a break, he is just so pitiful, he breaks my heart. Daddy said that he better get better by Friday, cause that is Alvin's birthday and he is off work, so they are having a "guys day" I think Alvin is looking forward to spending some "one on one" time with him. To top everything off, I woke up this morning and I have a sore throat. I guess I didn't dodge the bullet on this illness (bummer)
Some of you might have noticed my new "stamp" on the side of my blog. If you get a chance you might want to look at the blog. Poor Jonah. The condition he has would just be horrible! (makes our illness's seem very minor) But please pray for him and his family, they have already lost one child, and to have to go through this also, they could use the prayers, I'm sure.
I hope everyone is doing good. Bye for now!

I think this is a record

I cant believe I have posted as much as I have this month, I guess I have alot to talk about! I wanted to fill you all in on my mom, she went home from the hospital today. She found out that the pain medicine she was on basically "attacked" her liver and that's what caused the infection! So they have changed her pain medicine and all her tests have come back fine and her liver is functioning normal again, Thank goodness! She was very ready to get home, I called her today and they were leaving the hospital, so I really didn't get to talk to her.

Ray is still coughing and nasty nose. Alvin said he can feel that his chest is congested also. I cant believe this illness that is going around town. My boss called in sick today because of it, and that is soooooo not like him. All the girls at work have gotten it also. Can we just say "we need spring?" I am ready to open my windows and not wear a coat, the smell of fresh cut grass, and a thunder storm! It did storm here last night, I only heard it thunder twice. So to me that doesn't count!

My boys, can you tell Ray likes his Daddy? (Daddy likes Ray an awful lot too)

Bye for now!

I have a sick boy!

Ray is sick again! It started Tuesday morning I noticed he was coughing, I took him to his Aunt Dawn's for the day and when I got home, he had been running a low grade fever and just wasn't himself. So Wednesday he still had all the same symptoms and that night he got pretty bad, coughing, runny nose, fever, so I called the Dr. and took him this morning to get checked out, well my boy has Croup. They gave him a steroid at the office and told me to watch his breathing and the steroid should make him better in about 24 hours.
It just seems he's been sick alot lately, but if you look at his 1 year of life, he has really only been sick about 3 times, I don't know if that's good or bad. I stayed home with him today, I hope that makes him feel better. I know when I'm sick I want my mom (still at my age) so hopefully he'll be the same.
Hope everyone is good! Bye for now!

Mom update

I talked to my mom today, They are going to keep her until at least Friday. Most of her tests have come back OK with the exception of her liver, they think the infection is in her liver. So they have started giving her antibiotics and very good pain meds, they changed her pain meds because this one is easier on the liver. She said she was very lightheaded after she took it, but the nurse said it was one of the side effects of that medicine. She also said that the chemo meds she is on could cause infection (one of the side effects), this all started about 5 days after her chemo treatment.
She sounds good, but after she "faked" feeling good, I'm not to sure. I feel she is where she needs to be right now. My sister Amy (the one that has been taking care of them) said this may be a blessing in disguise, with her in the hospital it will give my dad a break for a little while, he is under so much stress, making sure she gets her meds when she needs them and making sure he's there for her every move, plus making sure he stays healthy for her.
Thank you everybody for your thoughts and prayers! I'll update when I know more! Bye for now!

We need prayers!

My mom has been having a rough time lately! She is still very much in pain and apparently has been "faking" feeling good. She is so tried of not being able to do things on her own. My sister Stacy just called and told me that my mom is in the hospital! She had some blood work done yesterday and (I hope I'm getting this right) her white blood count was low and today she started running a fever. So they took her to the hospital, I haven't gotten word if they are going to keep her or not, so please pray for her and my dad, they could use all they can get!
I will post when I know something! Bye for now!

Not much of anything going on!

To start off I will post pictures of Ray's dental visit to make my "commenter" happy! He sure doesn't look happy in these pictures but he really did good! These pictures are scanned so they really are not that good!

The first two are of Shellie brushing his teeth:

Then Dr B came to check him See he's all better now!It really does look horrible, but little people really do fine with it!

Everything is going good here, we have just been hanging out and getting ready for a PARTY! It sure is coming fast, I bought a gallon of milk today and it expires the day before Ray's birthday, can you believe that?

Alvin got Ray's car seat for the truck, and Ray had lots of fun playing in the box.

A funny "family" photoThis picture Charlene took of him and I think its pretty cuteRay is starting to "stand" on his own, he still isn't walking yet, but maybe before to long he will be, and with the exception of the words "dada, mama", and other one's I really cant figure out he can say "banana", we have been giving him banana's to eat and when we give it to him we say "banana" well guess who say's it now! Even a lady at the store commented on it! I will have to try and get it on video.

Here's a picture of him "standing" on his own

Hope everyone is good, bye for now!

I cant believe I forgot!

Ray had his 1st Dental check up! Being that's where I work, I was able to work him into the schedule. He did pretty good, of course he cryed but I'm used to that! Dr. B said he looks good, "No cavities" (thats a good thing) He does have a thick muscle between his 2 front teeth, (I have the samething) that muscle will cause a gap between his 2 front teeth if its not fixed. He wont have it fixed until he's about 7 or 8 years old. Charlene was there and took pictures, so when I get them, I will post them.
I hope everyone is good. Bye for now!

Hello

Hi there! Not really a whole lot to talk about this week. We are all feeling better and Alvin (that goodness) never (knock on wood) got what Ray and I had! Ray is back to eating, he has had a few 12 ounce bottle's, I guess maybe he knows that they (the bottles) will be going away in less than 1 month! That makes mommy sad. Alvin and I went out and got alot of stuff for his birthday party yesterday. I still cant believe he will be 1 year old.

I'm not sure if my mom and dad will be able to come for his party, my mom started her Chemo today so she's not sure how she will do with it. She is doing a clinical trail, that is a combination of 3 different chemo drugs. So she's not sure how it will make her feel or how often she will do it. She will not loose her hair with this stuff. I think she is pretty happy about that. She has gotten out of the house alot, and I am happy to hear that.

I think thats all for now, I hope everyone has a good week!

Here are a few pictures that I think are cute, (dont I think they are all cute?)

Mohawk

Ray's 1st Mohawk, how cute is that?

We are all feeling alittle better, besides having a few issue's I think we are on the down hill slope. YEAH!!!! We all did get out of the house on Saturday and took Ray to Chuck E Cheese's. What were we thinking going on a Saturday? We didn't know that you had to order food 1st then they gave you a table. So we just went in and looked for a table but they all had "Reserved" on them, so we thought "ok we will just play and eat lunch elsewhere" then I asked the lady if all the tables were taken and she said to order food and they would give us a table. That really is a great idea so that people don't come just to play and take a table anyway! Here are a few pictures of our day.

He loved the "Bob the builder" ride, he got very upset when we took him off! (I don't think that's going to get any better)

This little boy was nice enough to let Ray ride with him, Alvin paid for 2 rides, (of course he let Ray ride, what kid wouldn't when its free)Ray didn't care for it when it went WAY up, he was ready to get off then,Boy this place changed from when I was a kid, what happened to the band? Looking at the train, we were going to put tokens in but people kept getting in front of us, so "Thanks everybody for letting Ray watch for free"Then we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's house and Ray had fun on the "Pink" thing that he will love us for when he's older, he didn't seem to care ,Everything else is good, I talked to my mom and she GOT OUT OF THE HOUSE, she went to breakfast then she felt good enough to go to Lowe's where they got some new things for the house. I'm so happy to hear that she got out! She said her back now feels like she has a cramp in it, she is on her way, she sees her Oncologist tomorrow to see whats next!

Bye for now, and by the way I'm moving up in the computer world, I got a "Face book" account! Boy oh boy, I got a Blog and a Face book account, whats next for me?

I am really going to try hard to work a full week this week, wish me luck!

SICK!!!!

I have been so so so sick! It started on Monday and I told Alvin that I thought he gave me his chest cold, my chest felt so tight (and I'm not talking "tight" that you just worked out, heaven forbid I work out) Then I got up Tuesday and after finally making it to work from the "not much of any accumulation" snow (thank you weather man, I think they changed there mind when there was already 2 or 3 inches on the ground) where was I? Oh, I was able to make it til lunch with a very deep, scratchy voice due to my chest cold, then I started feeling very sore and achy, Jamie at work suggested I take my temp, it was a low grade fever 99.1 but that is high for me, I'm usually around 96, so due to the snow we were light at work and I told them I was not going to argue if they sent me home, well they did. I went home and watched TV and rested. Then in the middle of the night it all hit me!!!!!!!

I didn't sleep well at all and went and tryed to sleep on the couch then around 2:30 I woke up and had to get sick. (I know more info than you need, but it just got worse, if you no what I mean, I will save you all from the details but it was BAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!) I felt alittle better until about 5:00 then it happened AGAIN! It was awful, that morning I felt like I had been hit with a mac truck, my back, legs, arms, head hurt, even my fingers hurt. I called the Dr and they told me (which I already knew) they couldn't do anything for the Flu but that she (the Dr) would want to listen to my chest due to how bad I sounded. So I made an appointment for 11:00am.
I layed in bed and I wanted my mom! So I call her crying. I'm sure that I was going though nothing that she is going though but I still wanted her, There is nothing like you mom when you sick, here I am a 35 year old mom myself and I still want my mommy!!!

In the mean time Charlene calls and says that Ray is doing the same thing that I am doing. Great, I gave my child this illness that's kickin my butt and I cant take care of him!!!! I called his Dr and they told that there is one nasty bug going around and to give him Pedialyte and call them if he keeps nothing down or not peeing.

I went and saw the Dr and she gave me a nausea/cough medicine and told me to stay home until Friday and get some rest. So to make a very long story short, Ray and I were sick with the Flu/cold, and Alvin is still fighting his Chest cold. Its just been a very happy place to be.

I did go back to work today, I get tried very very fast, but now we have the weekend to recoup. Which I think we all need and its suppose to be a warmer weekend. (if the weather man is right about that) We all need to get better soon cause we are going to be having a PARTY in a little over a month (I really cant believe that) I will let you know when we get better and pray that Alvin doesn't get what we had!!!!

Update on my mom, She had her "port" put in on Monday 2-2-09 and then on Tuesday she had her Bone Infusion done to strengthen her bone's, then she has 1 more radiation on Monday, she meets with her Oncologist on Tuesday and then will probably start chemo after that. She is feeling better if she stays on top of her pain meds, if she doenst she starts to hurt again. She sounds good, she still needs help with things that require her to bend over. The ladies in her bridge club have paid to have a cleaning service come in once a month to clean her house until she is ready to do it. It's that nice!!! Thanks ladies!!!!

Alvins mom and dad had to say goodbye to another family member (one of the furry kind) see the post before this one on that! I'm so sorry mom and dad, Smoky will be missed alot!!!!

Hope everyone is well!!

Rest in peace Smoky!

This is Smoky! He passed away yesterday! He was Alvin's mom and dads cat that they have had since...well, forever! They got him as a kitty and he was the most sweetest cat EVER! (I say that even over my own cat) Grandma will take good care of you in heaven Smoky, you will be missed!!!!!

Busy week

Hi! It has been a very busy week/weekend! First of all I was suppose to go back to work last Tuesday, but Alvin's Grandma's Funeral was that day, it was a very nice service (at least the part I was there for) I took Ray out of the room because I felt he was being to loud. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as I thought, but he just seemed so loud! I wanted to be with Alvin so bad. I looked though the window in the door and he was sitting down there with his head down, I felt so sorry for him, I wanted to be able to comfort him! So when they played a song Ray and I went back in and sat with him and then the service was over! I was glad I was there for him when he said his "last goodbye". Then at the graveside service I wanted to go with him, but I didn't want to leave Ray in the van all alone, so Rhea said she would stay with Ray so I could be with Alvin. "Thank you Rhea". I would have left Ray with a babysitter but everyone that watches him was there with us or working. He was so sick that I didn't want to ask the lady next door to watch him because he would have gotten all her daycare kids sick! After the funeral we all went over to Steve and Dawns house, that was nice we had lunch and all talked about our memory's of Grandma, she was a funny lady! While we were over their the "BIG" snow started. We ended up with 12.5 inches of snow between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. So guess what that meant "no work for me on Wednesday either" I was beginning to think I wasn't suppose to go back to work. So Ray and I hung out on Wednesday. Finally on Thursday I was back to work and all was normal! The girls really made me feel that they were happy I was back and that makes me feel good!

We got a visit from my sister Stacy and her family this weekend. They live in western Kentucky and they had been without power since Tuesday. I guess the same storm we had got them but with all ICE! Thankfully they haven't "officially" sold their other house that has gas heat, so they were able to go there and stay warm. But they were running out of clean clothes. So They packed up and came to Indy for the weekend. They were all so happy to sleep in a "real" bed instead of the cots they have been in for almost a week, also so happy to watch TV. It sounds very scary down there. They showed me pictures and video and it is just awful! Before they left here Sunday, their neighbor called and said they had power at their house, but they called again and said it had gone back off, then back on again! That would be awful, not knowing if the power was going to stay on. I think they are going to try to be more prepared for something like this in the future. It made me realize that I'm not at all prepared. We don't have an emergency kit or anything like that. I think I'm one of these people that think "it wont happen to me", but it can, the area they live in is only about 5 hours away. My sister and her family realized very fast that it can happen to you and I'm going to try and learn from them. It will be awhile before life is back to "normal" for them, they are welcome to our house anytime they need!

Anyway, it was great to see them, I told my mom that I love to see my family but not under the circumstances that I've been seeing them. Here is such a cute picture of Evan, Kayla and Ray,

Here are a couple of pictures that I think are kinda funny, we have all been sick especially Ray, so these pictures are so out of the ordinary, we never sleep with Ray,Ray is feeling better, his nose isn't such "a mess" and I'm sooo glad cause he hates having it wiped, it got pretty "raw" this time, but I found (at wal-mart) these things called "Boogie Wipes" they are a wipe that is wet with saline and other moisturizers. They really seemed to help, he still didn't like it, but for the soreness and getting the dried boogers off it helped. I said that I might get them for us also. LOL

I hope everyone is good, be safe!