Stats....Random....$5.00 shoes

So...Todd is good! The results came back yesterday and it was a subcutaneous cyst. THANK GOODNESS! I usually love being right but sometimes (like this) being wrong is even better!!!

have you noticed that you have a "stats" section now? I was checking this out today and found I have people that read from all over the world. That is exciting and scary at the same time.

I guess I never really thought much about this blog when I started writing. It was just me...and 1 follower that I didn't know. Now even though I only have 46 follows it says I average about 2,000 views a day. Either yall 46 are really in love with our family or some people read and don't follow....(by the way you should follow) every month I pick a follower and send them a special happy just because. I love sending people things I love (1 lucky follower has gotten my favorite label making machine...1 has gotten a great devotion book)

Friday, I promise to post the Chicago trip blog from Todd and Mine's anniversary trip. I have been sorting through all my pictures and I am ready!!

I do have something exciting to share with you! You all know I love a good bargain! I am the queen on consignment for expensive brands and cheap things! Well....yesterday I was at Family Dollar wasting time while Madyson was at Ballet and I discovered the MOST ADORABLE shoes! They are part of the knew kids line "Kidgets" This shoes are t-strap canvas shoes and they are leopard print. The best part...they were $5.00! Madyson and Aubrie have their expensive shoes but its nice to send them to school and not worry about their "nice shoes" getting messed up!

Ive been distracting myself

This weekend I knew was going to be rough. I left work Friday in tears and they sat behind my eyes all weekend. In my way, way past I would have just gone out for a drink or 12. But in my new life, my Christian life, I dealt with the worringisms by doing the one thing I love to do...throw things away. I am the polar opposite from hoarder. I hate things. I have the hardest time at Christmas and Birthdays when people give me "stuff". Because usually I will use it out of kindness then it sits somewhere (under my bed, in my closet, in the garage.)

Well Saturday I got up and started cleaning out the garage. This literally has never been done in the 18 years I have lived at my house. Mine and Todd's stuff was there from when we moved. All my dad's junk was in there. You could barely park a car.

I didn't think to take pictures because really it wasn't for an "whooo look what I did" it was to keep my mind off of Todd's thing.

I spent from 7:30-5:00 pulling everything out, reorganizing it, throwing it away. We took 3 truck loads to the Salvation Army...4 to the dumpster. You can now almost park 2 cars in the garage! It is fabulous.

After the garage was cleaned out, I washed the garage door, the side of the house...all of the stuff.

Saturday Night Todd was finally feeling a little better so he wanted to watch a movie. I let him pick and we watched Date Night. It was an unusual choice for us (esp. when the kids are up) but it was funny.

Sunday, Todd was up ready for church. He wasn't feeling his best but he wanted to go. So we went and came home. His incision spot is swollen so he took some medicine and laid down. I then I had to find another way to distract myself from crying. SO...I started stripping beds, dumping baskets, washing clothes (you know I'm seriously distraught if Laundry helps me feel better) cleaning out closets, organizing shoes, scrubbing floors, shredding old papers..making lasagna....everything. I finally stopped at 11:30 last night.

Today is possibly the day we find out about Todd's thing he had removed....I am hoping and praying it is nothing and our world will go back to normal.

Thursday!

Well yesterday was another one of those ways that started rough but ended great!
We had Todd's Pre-Op Doctors Appointment @ 10:00. When we arrived we were told "they are way, way behind back there so its probably going to be a while" Normally, I would have been fine waiting. BUT I had lunch plans with my sweet Jessica and Kristina (my cousin) was in labor! So, I impatiently sat in the chair shaking my foot. Finally, I texted a friend of mine and asked her to post on THE CITY (our churches social networking site) a prayer request for patience bc mine just wasn't working!

We got in to see the doctor about 45 minutes after our appointment time. He took a look at Todd's neck and said, "this is a sebaceous cyst" we can remove that here. FABULOUS NEWS! Well...he had a resident with him and he had the resident feel the "thing". The resident said, "I think it feels like a something that ends with oma". Our dr. told him to feel it again and feel how it felt and how it was loose and how blah blah blah.

Well, after about 15 minutes we were sent to the OR of the clinic. Yes we, I got to go, because I am hard core like that =).

Well they started, I had seen this procedure a few times during my stint in the hospital world. I knew it should take about 8 minutes. Well then I hear, "mmmm. That's odd." The procedure lasted 35 minutes. When the cyst was removed we were all in agreement that it was not a cyst. It didn't look like a cyst, it was attached. It was a shock. Todd was sewn up and the thing was just sent off to get biopsied. The resident had that "I told you so look on his face"...I think he was right.

So now, we are in waiting period. This thing is being examined and we find out Monday or Tuesday what it is. I have my opinions but I am not a trained professional so Todd told me to keep them to myself. So that started off the day.

Here is Todd after, in the car on the way to our next stop, The Birthing Suites!
(see how he is biting his lip? That's what he does when he is frustrated with me)

I needed to be at the hospital after all of Todd's mess. I needed something to take my mind off of crying. Not crying that I think it is something bad. Crying that I don't want to watch the person I love suffer, ever. And that was the first time I had ever seen him being cut open and in pain.

Kristina was in labor. They had done the balloon, they had started her IV, they had put in the internal baby monitor, they had stopped the pitocin, Bailey didn't like contractions. Every time one came, her heart rank sank. So, Kristina got to join the C-section club with me. Bailey was born at 2:05. She weight 6lbs 13oz and was 19.5 inches long! She has a head full of dark brown hair with a few blond highlights!!
I waited until 7pm when "my bailey bug" was finally let out of transition to hold her! Here we are!

isn't that a good look for me? I am so excited She is here and healthy so I can play with her and love on her until I have one of my own! (oh and madyson and AK both decided yesterday they are ready for a baby!)

A case of the Mondays

So yesterday was not a good day for me. I couldn't post our anniversary trip blog bc I wasn't in the "happy mood".

Let me recap.

1) I woke up, got the girls up. We were eating breakfast getting ready for school when a squirrel flew into my dining room window. The dogs (all 4 of them) were playing Frisbee with this poor squirrel. I had to go and save his dead remains from being demolished by the 1 eyed pug, the chipompoo, the sophie girl and mr. snoop (coyote/German Shepard mix)

2) Todd had to go to the doctor yesterday. He has a lump on his neck we thought was an ingrown hair...turns out it is a cyst and that he will have to have surgery (sometime next week) to remove it.

3) At work I find out that the elephants at the zoo (who I use to work with) are being transferred to another zoo due to financial reasons. This devastated me bc those girls are like family to me. But I know they will have a great life at their new zoo. I cried most of the afternoon.

So needless to say....yesterday was one of those days where I wish I was in bed watching Tinkerbell with the girls.

Lets do some catching up!

Man, I have missed you gals! (and maybe guys??)

Lets catch up! What's Been going on in our household? ALOT!!

Our baby is officially a big girl! For the first time in 4 years we are out of DIAPERS!!!

Aubrie has mastered 1 & 2 in the potty and has been in wearing pan.tie.s for 3 days!

The girls both started school!

Aubrie is in 2 year old preschool and Madyson is in 4k!

Todd and I celebrated 5 years of marriage in Chicago! Our first trip away from the girls and we had fun! We stayed 2 days in St. Louis so I could do some zoo research and then we spent 2 days in chicago!

We went to a cubs game and saw all the sites!

(the mac n cheese is from the Boathouse in St. Louis...it was AMAZING)

In St. Louis, I got hit on by one hansome man! He was pure animal!!

(more pics to come in next post)

So needless to say, the last few weeks have been great!!!! How have you been?

Wowzers!

Okay so The Stork usually hits my life every 3-6 months.

He has now INVADED my reader!

"The Cobia Family", SD, Kelly, Jennifer, Rachel, Angela, Johnlyn, Carley, Hannah....

Seriously, this isn't even everyone!

Congrats to all you mommies to be! There has been some SERIOUS BIZZYNESS going on in the world! =)

I will be praying for each one of yall as you take your pregnancy journey!

Oh and If I didn't mention you (which I probably missed since I am only blogging 3 days and week and have way to many to read) Please comment below so I can pray for you as well!

From my Heart: When Life Gets into Marriage

I remember as a child thinking about how one day I was going to grow up and marry this handsome man and run my own business and travel the world with him. Even in my first pageant, my ambition in life was "To be a wedding planner and of course get married".

But then that day came, oh.. when I was around 18 when I thought to myself....you know marriage might not be all it cracked up to be. I mean, the "wifely" role of raising kids, taking care of a household, being the rock of the family. Yeah....none of that really appealed to me. It was the "perks" of marriage that appealed to me.

Then one day, I saw a picture of a guy, and my prospective changed. I said (and actually meant it) that is the guy I am going to marry. 6 months later, I did just that.

Now marriage for me was a quick thing. We never dated, we barely knew anything about each other, we had no careers, just jobs, we had no time to prepare. We eloped and kept it a secret. Then we all know what happened. Madyson was bestowed upon us, and life changed fast.

That time we needed to figure out who that other person was, was defiantly cut short. We now had to figure out, HOW we are going to do this. We had to quit living on love and start living a life that could support a child.

We both excelled in our career choices. I always knew event planning was my desire. I just had to figure out how to do that, without being "a wedding planner". Todd wanted to be a teacher but was an amazing business man, so he chose that career path.

After Madyson came, we had to adjust to life with 1 child, while still being newlyweds. It was very hard. Todd was in school and working full time. I was a stay at home mom (for the first time in my life) for 6 months. We moved 2x that year. We had to buy furniture, I had to go back to work (after not sleeping for 6months) it was just crazy. Then as we started getting settled....Aubrie came. and the roller coaster started again.

The one thing that has kept Todd and I together for *almost 5 years is the promises that we made to each other on day 1.

"It is about us and how we want to do it. We always talk, no matter if it isn't a pleasant conversation. We show love even when we don't feel like it. We never go to bed angry"

Life Happens, Marriage doesn't. You can't just say "I do" and go about it. Marriage is a full-time job.
For almost *5 years Todd and I have worked and worked and worked. We have overcome battles, we have learned a lot about ourselves, we have given every ounce of ourselves to our kids. We have fought and we have cried....but we have also loved more deeply than most people ever do.

I had an email from a reader who was horrified at the fact that we have been married for 5 years and we are just now leaving our kids for the first time. She went on to explain how it is so important for a marriage for couples to spend time together outside of the house, without the kids.

Thank you reader. I am completely aware of that fact. Todd and I have had over nights, we have had date nights, we spend time together a lot. But this weekend is our first trip (multiple days) away from the kids and it isn't because we haven't wanted too. Its because it has taken me this long to get to the point where I can.

In 1999, I suffered a huge loss in my life when my best friend (who was 15) was killed in a car accident. My life was turned upside down, inside out. I spent years learning how to cope with the thoughts in my head. One of the ladies who use to help me told me as I was finishing my last session with her, "One day you will have kids and the fears and the pain that you feel now, will come back to you, but you are strong enough to over come it."

For the first 2 years of being a mom that fear was there, but I couldn't overcome it, because I had no one to trust in. As my relationship with Christ has gotten stronger the pain has been eased. I am now at a point in my life where I am ready to leave my children for a few days.

I am excited about this trip. Todd and I are not "romantic" people. Destination trips, candle light dinners....that just isn't our thing. We are adventurous and fun and really random. This trip is just a highlight of things we love to do and time we are so excited to get. I am blessed that all of our parents (8ish) of them have come together in different ways to help us celebrate this big occasion. Because 5 years ago, I can guarantee they NEVER thought we would be here!

But at the same time, We are missing the first day of preschool for aubrie kate, the first day of 4k for Madyson, and Madyson's first day of ballet class for her new year. But I know it will be worth it, and I have taught my mom how to use her digital camera so she can capture it all for me!

So reader that will remain nameless,

 Thank you for your concern. Life sometimes gets into a marriage. Weather it be work, money, old battle scars, or children. When that does happen, it doesn't make your marriage less stronger, it just makes it more to work at. And makes the time you do get, even more special!

random things that I get grossed out by.

I think one of the things Todd gets the biggest kick out of is how certain things make me throw up. I mean literally I will throw up or start heaving. Its not your normal blood, open wounds, organs falling out (okay ive only seen that 4x in my life but still) it is weird things that send me running to the bathroom to "get sick"

1)Hair. It grosses me out. After spending a few years in the hotel industry & the animal industry this is what gets me everytime.
a1) Wet hair in the bathtub, sink, drain.
a2) random hairs in towels, on shower curtains, on floors, anywhere.

I have been known to switch hotel rooms if I find 1 hair in my folded towel or on the soap dish. When I worked in hotels, I had our maids wear shower caps so we could avoid this problem.

My first memory of the hair issue is..I was riding in my aunts very nice car. She always had it super clean and fresh. Well I was in the back seat and my mom (who was riding shot gun) moved the seat forward for some reason. When she did that an old tator tot with a hair on it fell out from under the seat. I threw up all over the car.

2)the belt at a grocery store. If I go to Kroger, I always use the self checkout. Even if I have $200 dollars of groceries I will stand there and do each one BC...when I was in college we had to do an experiment where we swabbed random things and brought it back to put in petridishes to see what grew. Well most people decided to swab water fountains, toilets, bathroom door handles....we all know those are GROSS. I swabbed the belt at the grocery store. It had staph, ecoli, and salmonella all on it. Makes since. .
I have serious problems with the belt and even though I haven't thrown up yet, It makes me sick to my stomach just looking at it. Since our target doesn't sell raw meat, I guess it doesn't bother me as much but grocery store belts really get me!

3) Public tables. The other day we were eating lunch at a local eatery and madyson was under the table getting her shoe that fell off her foot. She came up and said "Ew, someone put a booger under there." Yes they did, and yes we left.

4)Chili. Can't stand looking at it or smelling it.

5) After Todd read this he reminded me of one important one. Left overs that have somehow made there way to the back of the refridge and have been forgotten. UGH!!


Do you have anything that makes you say EWWW?!??

Falling apart!

Gals!
I am so sorry! I am sure that you all think I am falling part (which I kind of am!)

Last week turned into crazy week. Today was promotion Sunday at church and we literally had to spend the entire week hunting down people to fill all our empty rooms. I am not sure what is going on this year, but we are lacking teachers SERIOUSLY! it is so sad for these kiddos to walk into a room with a different teacher every week! =( I am pulling double duty this year. Instead of worship, I am teaching 2 year olds at 9am then working with children (1st-6th grade) at 10:30. I honestly feel that God has called me to do this. And today was a great example of why we need teachers. I bounced in and out of rooms the entire 2nd hour.
Please add our ministry to your prayer list. That people's hearts will be open and they will see that its okay to share an hour a week with kiddos that need to know about God's love!

2nd on my list of reasons i haven't blogged is...

Mine and Todd's 5 year anniversary is coming up and we have been busy mapping out our road trip. When Todd and I were (without children) we would pack up on a Thursday and leave until the following Tuesday...just driving. We would go to random places and have so much fun. When we were trying to decide where to spend our 5 year anniversary we both just fell in love with the idea of reliving those moments we had together. See in 4 years we have NEVER (not even 1x) left the girls for more than 1 night. It is seriously time for us to have some alone adult time and enjoy each other. So we have been mapping out our route of where all we want to go and researching things to do in those areas!
I don't want to give away all our plans but it will end at Wrigley Field, which I am SO excited about. I love baseball! I am really looking forward to jumping in the car and going and seeing what adventures we can find!

So that is this weekend!!!!

How has your week been? Busy?

Time is FLYING by!

I can't believe summer is already over! 2 weeks then we start a new school year! We have the names of the teachers that the girls are going to have next year and I am so excited.

Aubrie Kate is moving up to Mrs. Kim's class. I love Mrs. Kim. Madyson had her as a 2 year old and she learned so much!

Madyson is moving to Mrs. Kendall's class. We are so excited to have Mrs. Kendall! She is a new teacher this year, a very godly woman, young, and very energetic! Which is what Madyson needs! Sadly, all our little friends we have made over the past few years are all in different rooms (except 2..1 girl and our "boyfriend") We are defiantly going to miss being with them! But I know that God is in control and this is just a taste of what Big School will be like next year with over 300 kiddos!

Also on the agenda this week is Soccer registration (it actually started weeks ago but I prefer to register all at the same time) and Ballet Registration. We are already registered for ballet but we have to go and get fitted for our new leotards and stuff~

And who can forget one of the biggest changes this week! Yesterday my sweet Zebras (sunday school class) graduated up to Flamingos. So next week Todd and I start teaching a new class. We prayed about it alot. He loves older kiddos, I love the babies. Where would God put us? After much prayer, I felt that God wanted me to teach Aubrie Kate's class. So, I told Todd. Who also felt that was the same. But he had a tug at his heart to stay on Elementary as well. So we are double duting the roles this year. Preschool @ 9 and Elementary @ 10:30. We will go to worship on Sunday Night.

Also coming up is Mine and Todd's anniversary vacation! 5 years of marriage, OH MY!
We are planning on going to Chicago for 4 days, BUT I discovered that the Monday & Tuesday we are there is when the girls are going to start school....I am NEVER away from my kiddos. EVER. and this breaks my heart.

So stay tuned! Post are sure to be exciting in the coming weeks! But this week you can expect.....
Disney Day 2 & 3
Baby Shower for Bailey
Things that make me throw up in my mouth