2013 is off to a start!

This month has had some highs and lows and I don't just mean the weather! Although WOW it's been odd. :-)

Emma has had some excellent bonding time with her Daddy and I and of course I pulled out the camera.

She's finally getting hair! REAL length and all! 

Helping Daddy cook is the best!

After we made the chocolate and pecan chess pie then it was off to biscuits. And a new found appreciation for self rising flower!!

In case you haven't tried it for yourself...it's salty!

Squeezed in a wonderful play date with our good buddy Elle! 

The colder temperatures have not kept us inside too much! Here is a photo bomb from Brinkley and Gabby before a walk.

And Daddy's team won it's 75th national championship...after 10 I think they become less special. ;-)~

She couldn't stay up to watch the ending but she did sport her Bama jamas to bed! She has also helped Daddy repot plants and even had a Daddy daughter date at fun city while I went out for dinner with some girl friends!

Not to be outdone Mommy and Emma also went for chicken ad had some play time at Chick-Fil-A

We always talk about Mommy and Daddy's going to work and since I work at a school and Emma goes to a school I decided that calling my work the University would be better. Emma decided we needed a trip to "da unabersity" was just what today called for. That also worked out for me because some of my photos. :-)

I am guessing a proposal took place on campus yesterday! I took advantage of it! :-)

 Emma's been learnin all kind of fun life skills at school like how to put her coat gloves and pants on, scraping her plate when she is done eating, washing her hands before meals and using her words with her friends and teachers. She is working on color and shape sorting in the two photos below.

We sure missed Miss Haley over the break and when we got back we also got to meet a new teacher Miss Shayla since Miss Lauren was promoted to a lead teacher in another EP classroom! We will miss her but are so happy for her too.

We started our second round of swim lessons but it's soooo much better with the addition of Jack Jack. Since we knew we'd have a beau in the class we had to get a new swimsuit!

And the first day came

And the second week

But this week it was just us cause poor Jackson came down with strep.

Brinkley's last month has been some kind of month. I dub this photo below "I wish cancer never existed"

Resting on a pillow Mommy wasn't using

Enduring snuggle time with Emma!

More chemo, the lowest CBC ever and then the worst part was another biopsy on an additional lump I found on his neck. Turns out it is thyroid carcinoma. My sweet little boy now has the two worst types of cancer anyone can have. For now he still feels great except for the week after the doxarubicin injection at OSU so we will continue on that protocal but I am waiting on more information from his oncology doctor on what steps if any we look at for the thyroid. I am praying about it daily but one thing I think is set is that I will not put him through any more surgeries. I worry that the next time he is put under he might not wake up and I just don't think I am ready for that. 

Again he still acts like a young pup so after his chemo today we too a stroll around Old Main lawn. No squirrels to chase but there were lots of things to smell and sticks to chew!

And just so you don't think I have forgotten about Gabby here is a candid I got of her after a bit of grass in the backyard! ;-)

As for me and Michael...we've been good BUT I was sick for 2 weeks after Christmas. Emma's been to the doctor twice, had an ear infection that didn't go away with a week of antibiotic ear drops so now she is on oral antibiotics also we all seem to have a touch of some special stomach bug. :-D  Prayers for healing seems like a give-in for the winter months with a toddler. :-) No matter what is happening we know God is in control and we will make it through all of this!

Thanks for reading my ramblings and be blessed!!

Jill

PS and a naked curls photo to end the day!!

Home is where your heart is

And for me that is anywhere your family is and at Christmas time that is Brinkley!!

We spent a wonderful week in Brinkley with my super sweet little brother in our "vacation home" ;-) We are so lucky to have a place we can literally spead out into four different rooms in his house with the Kitchen, two guest rooms and the library which is turned into Emma's play room.

We made it to church on Sunday and it was Emma's 3rd Christmas cantata of the year!

Then right afterwards we went to MeMe and PapPaws for lunch 

And we even got to see our cousins who only live 30 miles from us but we never get to see!

That night Emma was surprised by a early Christmas gift from Poppy! Due to our current storage limitations this guy will stay in Brinkley for a while but that just makes it another fun reason to visit Brinkley.

We took advantage of the wonderful weather on Christmas Eve to play outside as well as indoors!

Then after Nana got off work to walk the puppies and for Emma and Michael to get in some fishing.

We even checked out Uncle Denny's tractor graveyard! 

Brinkley, Ruby and Gabby

Kalie and Scout

And lastly Dottie

Three generations 

Daddy is showing Emma how to thread a weight on the line

That night Grandmother was even able to join us for about 18 hours!! After her long drive we busted out the gingerbread village and had a great time and laugh!! If you have never tried to make these...lets just say that it's NOT easy!

After laughing at us for a while...Hunter decided he would show us how it was done

Emma decided that eating the decorations was the best use of her time! 

Sprinkles!

Grandmothers was going down so we all pitched in to try to keep it from going down!!

The finished products

It's hard to see cause it focused on us and not the houses but they really did turn out cute. Cute but not perfect by any means!

Christmas day was filled with family, food and some gifts too.  Emma got her first tricycle 

And her own tent

Stocking time...and her tongue is out. 

FINALLY got my snuggie!! I have been asking for one for 5 years but Michael thought I was joking.

Emma loves to help us clean so she got her very own broom, dust pan and swifter.

Checking out Grandmother glass charms after a bit of strawberries for breakfast.

Here she is!

Morning family shot

Hunter got his own version of a snuggie

We had a little breakfast and then off to MeMe and Pap Paws for lunch. I did mention that there was food?

 Three generations

Four

Five or another 4?? Not sure how that would work with the addition of Grandmother.

The fact that Emma was pretty clingy should have alerted me to the fact that she wasn't feeling too good...more to come on that later.

Lisa even came to eat!!

Family shot

Our wonderful hosts!

After lunch at MeMe and PapPaw we made our way over to Nannies. By this time we were already an hour after normal nap time so I didn't even try to get any pictures.  :-) Cousin Amber took some so hopefully I will get them from her soon! 

But we did get our annual cousin photo.

We thought that we would just miss nap time but it turned out that Emma wanted to lay down on the couch with Michael and I to watch a little Yo Gabba Gabba. And we also took her temp right before that and she was running 101.4  :-( 

After a bit of tylenol she woke up feeling much better but that didn't stop us from visiting the doctor on Thursday to get a baby zpack and a new inhaler. While Emma was sleeping the snow started falling and on Wednesday that kept Mom and I from making our trip to Little Rock to shop on the day after Christmas. But the dogs LOVED the snow!

Emma wasn't so sure. :-)

And here Mom and Hunter tried to have a snow fight...but it was really Hunter nailing Mom again and again while he didn't move and Mom still couldn't hit him!

The next day I headed to Hazen to get Brinkley's CBC done and everything was still good so we proceeded with the next round of chemo medications and headed back to Hunters. Michael and Emma decided to travel to Wynne's Walmart for a bit to do and while they were gone I got to lay my eyes on my beautifully pregnant friend Elizabeth! She is glowing and we were just days away from finding out that she was having a little boy!!!

After Michael got home he packed up his stuff and went to deer camp with Hunter to try and get another deer. He wasn't lucky but he was happy he got to go out there and spend time with the uncles and cousins!

Friday we did something we had been wanting to do for at least 7 years and that was make dumplins with Nannie!! Michael wanted to learn exactly how she makes them for me and so her recipe will live  on long after Nannie is gone. 

It was soooo hard for her to let Michael do it! She just wanted to show him herself!! ;-D

You can tell she's still not 100% but she was well on the mend by this time.

That pretty much wrapped up our week in Brinkley and no matter how much fun we had down there we were all so happy to get back home and get back to a bit of a routine! 

Next...our start to the new year!

Be blessed!!
Jill