Thanksgiving is over... Moving on to Christmas

I am usually one of those people that doesn't want to hear Christmas music or see a tree or decoration until after Thanksgiving. We usually put up our tree and lights the day after. Because we were gone we decided to do it on the Wed before Thanksgiving. It so doesn't feel like Christmas to me! I am not really in the mood and even with our lights on the house, and the tree up I just can't seem to get in the Christmas Spirit.

Brent was determined to get a new fake tree this year. As many of you know we moved a little over a year ago and our house has a higher ceiling in it than our old one. So to him that translates into a bigger tree!! We spent on night driving from Home Depot to Home Depot looking for the tree that we liked the best. Apparently we were not the only ones that thought it looked the most real because it ended up taking us the next day and the 4th store to find it.

Here Brent and the kids are getting it all set up! The kids were so excited to see the tree go up, to get out the decorations.

The kids did a great job, if you look really closely to the front of the tree there is a huge gob of decorations in one spot! I kept telling them to spread it around the front, back up and down and then Emeri told me that I could do that! Thanks sis! They really are so sweet! I will have to take another picture of them in front of the fully decorated tree!

I have to explain this shirt... My friend Julie made it for me. For those of you who have ever seen me pregnant I carry my babies all out front. I really look like I just stuck a basketball in my shirt. And I have been told that from behind you can't really tell and then I turn around and bamm... Well I was complaining to her how I just get gawked at and the "Oh my when are you due??" "Do you always carry your babies that way?" So she happened to be with me when I got such a comment and she said.. "I am going to make you a shirt so nobody has to ask!" So here it is the shirt! I wore it to my doctors appointment and to the grocery stores and got mixed reviews. But I really like it. Maybe that is why I am not ready for Christmas because it could be as early as 2 weeks later that I have a baby!

Happy decorating to you all, I hope that you are more in the Christmas spirit than I am!

Thanksgiving

Wow, I can't believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone. This year has gone by so fast with many miles stones for our family. I would feel very ungrateful if I didn't take the time to recognize all the many blessings in my life. First and foremost is my wonderful family. I have been blessed with a wonderful loving husband who if he had known what he was getting into would have run the other way. Instead he loves me through my many moods and craziness! My children are such a blessing not always perfect but amazing and teach me so much! Nathan is such a caring soul, he loves to help others. But even more than that he is his father child and loves to make people laugh! (Though sometimes embarrassing to his mother, I am not the most out going type!) He is such a social butterfly!!

Emeri is a pillar of strength and determination. She has made it through so much more than any child her age should ever have to but she did it with grace and strength. She has a mind of her own and knows just what she wants and how she wants it. Not always seeing that mom knows best and I have learned to let some of my pride and stubbornness go. I know that it is important to let your children make their choices in moderation and Emeri has really chosen to express her self in how she dresses and has her hair done. This has been a very hard lesson for me as a mom to learn. But we are getting their. Just so you know if she is wearing a funky hair style or clothes that don't match it is not because I didn't put up a fight... I love you my sweet princess! :)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a pillar of strength for me I am not sure where I would be with out it. I am grateful for my testimony and only hope that I can continue to grow in wisdom and strength.

We have been blessed with amazing extended family and friends, we love you all and are so grateful that you are a part of our lives.

Now down to our activities. Last week was a very fun and busy week. Nathan and Emeri's last day before Thanksgiving break was on Tues. Nathan's 1st grade class had a presentation on the Blue Bonnets of Texas and then a Thanksgiving feast. His teacher Ms Bigler gave him the ending part she said because she needed a strong reader. He had brought home his part a while ago and worked very hard to memorize it. By then end he could not only recite his part from memory but also some of the other kids! He did a great job and it was so fun to watch! Then came the Thanksgiving feast. The parents were asked to bring in chicken nuggets, grapes, carrots and dip and drinks. Well knowing our Nathan I knew he wasn't going to eat any thing. So we packed his lunch and that was what he ate!

The Friday before that we had gotten a phone call from Julie English the principal at Coulson Tough where Nathan goes to school. That is never a phone call that a parent wants to get. At first I was afraid that something had happened to him. They are always good at telling you that it is not an emergency but did let us know that for personal reasons Ms Bigler was leaving. That Nathan would have a new teacher after the Thanksgiving break. It is a teacher that he knows, she was a kindergarten teacher last year and she has spent time over the last 3 weeks in his class room. The only thing is this same thing happened to Nathan last year. They decided that the Kindergarten classes were to big and so they added another one. Nathan was chosen to be put into that class. I hope that he doesn't think that this is a regular thing, although it seems to be the theme in our family. Emeri's preschool teacher also left this year to take a new job and had a new teacher come in. I have been reminded that last year turned out to be a blessing and that his teacher Ms Berkley was wonderful. I only hope and pray that this is the case this year as well. Ms Bigler, we are going to miss you so much, we understand your reasons and wish you all the luck. We look forward to seeing you during lunch and when you come to help out!

Thanksgiving dinner was quite at our house. We usually get together with friends but most every one had family in town or was out of town for the Holidays! So we decided to still have the turkey and few things that we like to eat and then drive to San Antonio to take the kids to Sea World. It was so much fun. And really it was great weather and not to bad for the crowds! The kids had a great time swimming, roasting marshmallows and enjoyed being in the hotel. After Saturday both kids were ready to go home and did great in the car. So all and all it was a great Thanksgiving! Thank you all for being a part of our lives! We love you!!

Service to Mankind Gala

Brent and I had the opportunity to attend the "Service to Mankind Gala" this weekend benefiting and put on by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It has been a growing relationship with many of those wonderful women who work for them through Team in Training and the different organizations that they run. This was for something different and very special. For those of you who didn't know about a year after Emeri was diagnosed with Leukemia we were asked if she would like to be the honored teammate for Team in Training for their cycle team. We of course said yes at the opportunity. When we went to the kick of party and hearing and meeting these people who were interested in training every Saturday for 4 months and then riding their bikes in a race of 109 miles in one day in honor of our child and raising significant funds Brent felt the need to sign up as well. After he did the company that he works for Anadarko sponsored him and made a very generous donation to LLS. Resulting in them getting an award this year as a "Community Honoree". Brent was asked to accept this award on their behalf. Emeri was also honored that night as being the Honored Patient. It was such a proud moment for me with both having their pictures in the program as well as a video clip of them. We were also very honored and excited to have Dr Dreyer be our guest. It was a very fun evening, although getting dressed up like we were going to the prom 7 1/2 months pregnant wasn't as much fun! But still... Brent looked very handsome in his tux! They also honored a nurse from a different hospital and a Transplant Dr that works at numerous hospitals including Texas Children's. I was able to chat with one of the Transplant Dr's who is going to help me get the baby's cord blood banked here in Houston for free! I had found a company because of Emeri and the benefit it would be to her that would do it for free as well but she doesn't like to have it shipped over night and this way it would be here in Houston. We all agreed that it was one of those things that we will do put pray that we never have to use it!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was so much fun! We had Aunt Cheryl here for our Church Trunk or Treat. The idea is like Trick or Treat but instead you go to each car's trunk and get candy. It was so fun, each car was decorated or a game for the kids to play. Of course they had way to much candy already. Then came Halloween night, we have a tradition of eating hot dogs with neighbors in our old neighborhood then to trick or treat in our neighborhood. I kept hearing that people were expecting more kids so they kept dumping candy into Emeri and Nathan's bags. By the time we were done they were both full. Brent and I were sad parents. Half way through Nathan was done, but don't worry we kept on telling him to keep going, you never know what good candy those other houses might have. Now I am regretting that since all day long I hear "Can I have some candy??" I think it is time for me to go through and send the rest with Brent to work.

Here are a few pictures of our little ones, Nathan was Ash Ketchum from Pokemon, Emeri was a Kitty Princess. Not really any thing to do with a princess but because it had pink and a tutu she decided that made her a princess. She was getting upset because every one just kept calling her a cat! Any way she looked pretty cute and Nathan was so excited about his costume!

Trying Something New

After much thought I have decided to try and do a blog. Emeri's Caringbridge site has been such a blessing with her treatments and keeping every one updated that I want to find a way to continue doing that for our family. With Emeri being off treatment our appointments are only once a month which mean that there isn't as much to update on or about her, that being said I will continue to update after each appointment on Caringbridge. I thought that this would be a good way to start our "new" life off treatment and keep you all updated on the happenings of our family. Please be patient with me, I am new at this and still trying to figure it all out! (As Brent can attest to!) It seems to be that I am not as computer literate as I thought. Please check back soon for Halloween pictures and updates. Thanks for you continued love and support! Hope you enjoy reading our going on's!