Anybody? Anybody at all?

Helllllooooo out there! Anybody there? Writing will finally resume!

Finally an update!

Short and sweet just to say I'm still here! Will post more when the kids are back in school.

On March 17, at 735pm my dad lost his battle with cancer. It completely breaks my heart that after such a long hard fight, we lost him.

Thank you to everyone that supported me through this journey. When I update again, there is some funny things that came out of this.

Happy New Years!

I decided that this year instead of resolutions, Id rather make goals. So here they are!

1. More family time
2. Learn how to say no!
3. Get on with this change of diet so I can be healthier
4. Get back to at least walking a few times a week
5. Purge things in the house
6. Get organized better
7. Get my scrapbooking stuff organized
8. Start scrapbooking again!
9. Learn to can

So these are my simple goals. Some I have started on already. Every three months I'm going to check back on them and see what is working and whats not and go from there.

Hope everyone has a great new year!

Moving Forward and Not Looking Back

Its been awhile. Yes, I know this. But life gets in the way. Instead of going on about the last few months, I will touch on somethings that people have asked about. Other then that, unless something changes, I wont be going back to blog about it.

My dad-He entered his fourth year battle with cancer. Things aren't very good at this time. Hope and pray is all we are doing.

My nephew-He is doing amazing! Perfect in every way and hitting every milestone on time despite his 8 week early arrival.

My weight loss-40 pounds gone and 34 more to go!

My home situation-8 months later and he still doesn't have a job. However he is still working in the river. I have played around with the idea of school and work. Still very undecided.

Going to do my very best to get back into blogging. Sometimes here is the only place I can put my feelings without worrying about what people are going to say or the crap I will get for saying it aloud.

Adventures In NICU Land

It seemed our trips to the NICU to see CJ never went with out something happening. It became quite comical. We had things happening going up, coming home and then of course there was the impromptu trip that we made when I swore Jen was going to kill the nurses. So here goes!

Driving up one morning, somehow we ended up in the shipping yard. Don't ask, because we still don't know. This was our very first trip up together. After riding around and seeing the boats and all the trucks we asked for directions and got back on track. We even saw where the cruise ships leave port. So when we take our cruise, we now know exactly how to get there!

Twice on the way home we encountered police and fire/ems problems. Some poor soul decided to end his life and jump off the bridge in Solomons. And another night we watched a very drunk lady get locked up which blocked traffic up for miles because of the show she put on.

Most of the time we spent in the NICU wasn't bad. For the most part, he had wonderful nurses. You can tell the ones who really love their jobs. You can also tell the ones that need to move on. One nurse in my opinion was very nasty. And she made my sister cry. This was the first time that I said something. Its high stress as it is. We all know why he was there. But treating Jen the way she did and acting like an ass was unnecessary. So I had to tell her about herself! The second time was quite exciting. I got a phone call very early in the am. I'm pretty sure at this point Jen was going to knock off the night nurses. She was highly pissed. The night nurse decided to tube feed him instead of bottle feed him. Mind you, him drinking a bottle was the only reason why he was still in the NICU. So how can he learn if you wont give it to him? She asked to have the tube removed and of course they didn't want that. So before we left, I was holding CJ and I whispered in his ear that if he pulled that tube out, he could come home and Id buy him a pony.

Watch what you tell the little ones! Late that night, Jen called and I can hear her giggling before I even said hello. She then says "Guess what your nephew did?" Then she tells me how he pulled out the tube and she refused to let them put in a new one. Well played little man, well played! But guess what? Four days later he was home!

Now about that pony.....

Hello Life!

Its been a little over a month since Ive written last. Well after my last post, things got super crazy. My sister went in for a non stress test on Saturday. And then ended up being air lifted to Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. She has Hope Syndrome and Pre-Eclampsia. And it was Easter weekend. I took the girls to the circus in Baltimore Easter Sunday. (Funny how God works). After the circus we went to the hospital to visit and bring my brother in law home. All was good, they had her under control. Bad news was she was staying till CJ was born. So we made a list of things that she would need for her new home. Everything was great. Then Monday, a little after 5 hours from talking to her, Chris called. Her blood pressure was out of control and it was time for CJ to make it to this world. And Tuesday morning he did. Born 8 weeks early.

The next six weeks were full of tears, worry and almost three hour drives one way to visit him in the NICU. But it was worth every minute. He did great and was only in the NICU for eating issues, nothing medical.

Now here it is July 1 and he will be 3 months old tomorrow. And he's wonderful. My sister however, had to have emergency surgery. She had mastitis which wouldn't go away and they had to do surgery to get rid of the infection. That same day Sara was taken to the ER for what we thought was an asthma attack and ended up being pneumonia.

Can I have that summer vacation now please?

And there will be some blogging about our endless adventures to Baltimore!

Happy Birthday Sissy

Today would have been my sister Sharon's 44th birthday.I cant believe she has been gone so long. For those of you that don't know, she was killed by a drunk driver when she was 16. I was 8. And she was my world. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her or think about her. Those that say time heals all wounds, must have never lost a sibling. I actually did a little research on this subject. They say losing a sibling is worst then losing any other family member, including a parent. I always wonder what she would think about what is going on in this family.

Sharon, I miss you like crazy and wish you were here. Love you always and forever!