True Love....

Tonight I found the PERFECT little pictures with my FAVORITE sayings.

I tell Russell all the time that true love and true Happiness isn't by choice it is by chance.

It comes once in a life time.

You have to listen to your heart.

I sure am glad that I listen to my heart all the time, and I am ecstatic that Russell listened to his.

I could not ever imagine my life without having loved my Best Friend!

Russell and I have "Haters"

They hate us because we are happy.

Because jealousy has gotten the best of them.

Because we proved everyone wrong and showed that we are happy and by taking a leap of faith we have grown more and more in love each and every day!

We are talked about everyday.

I wish everyone could find a love like we have.

Take that chance, close your eyes and listen to your heart.

"In the End it is worth it!"  

You will never find that "PERFECT" person, but you will find the imperfect person perfectly!

 

Melts my heart!

Love you baby!

Goodbyes are the Hardest

Growing up I always wanted a Saint Bernard. In 2005 Russ (daddy) surprised me with Kody, Our very own handsome Saint. (well kind of) He wanted to surprise me but being as persistent as I was, I tagged along for a very long ride. I guessed where we were going when we pulled into an unknown neighborhood. I was so excited that when we pulled up to the house I jumped out of the truck before daddy could even put it in park. This sweet lady was standing outside holding him. He was so cuddly (cotton ball) and 8weeks old. It was seriously LOVE at first site.

Not for daddy, I think he felt like it was a competition. These two bumped heads, and constantly fought. But Kody held his grounds. Daddy would get so mad at me during the day because I would sneak Kody in the house, He hated Kody drool. But I would clean the walls, and sweep the floors all day long to hide the fact he was in the house. But sometimes I'd get caught because I missed a string of drool. :) HE WAS SERIOUSLY THE BEST!

 

 Kody was "our" very first baby, He gave me so much joy. He went everywhere with me. He loved car rides. Inside the truck or out side. He never missed the word "GO" even if I told the kids "go outside to play"  he thought we were going on a car ride. When Kody got sick we had to spell the word "G-O" and he noticed he was missing out on going places. If daddy was with us we would take him since he could lift him in and out of the truck. WE ALL LOVED HIM SO MUCH!

Kody loved me as much as I loved him, even more. He loved to "cuddle" and he loved to be cuddled. Wherever I was, Kody was. He was the sweetest. When I was sad he would sit next to the bed, lay his head to rest next to mine, and just sit with me. He would listen to everything I had to say. He would drive daddy crazy because he would get up about 2 or 3 times a night to check on me while I was sleeping. HE WAS SO SPECIAL

Kody was silly and didn't realize it. He made us laugh so much, and after a few times of forcing himself in the small dog door he finally pissed me off. He was hilarious when he would get in and just lay in the small dog kennel. He HATED showers but would let us bathe him. He wouldn't look at anyone after because he would be so upset. HE WAS SO FUNNY!

He seriously cracked me up. Daddy made me a garden for mothers day, Kody didn't mind that there were strawberries growing in his "bed" or the one he "claimed" He would just sun bathe. HE WAS SOO HILARIOUS! 

 When we found out nearly 3 months ago that Kody had bone cancer. I was in denial. We put him on medication and he acted as if he was not sick anymore. I got my hopes up. Pretended as if nothing was wrong because I didn't want to believe that he was sick. Often cried over the fact I didn't have very long. He still continued to follow me around the house. sit between daddy and I, stand between the kids and myself during our morning hugs, or any hug. Protected me from strangers. Daddy knew I was safe when I was home because Kody wouldn't let anyone near me. He would lean against me all the time, like I was a pole. This is our last family photo with Kody. He was always by my side. I MISS HIM SO!

 Thank you Kody for being my best friend. You showed and taught me so much! You never let me down. you gave me so many laughs, and kissed all my tears away. I cry even more when I think about you and I don't have you next to me to kiss my tears and sit by my side through my battle of "heeling" You were truly the BEST. I have so many funny stories/memories
to tell the kids about you when they are old enough to understand. I never knew I could love a pet as much as I loved you! I miss you so much already! I MISS YOUR KISSES!
                                              


Everyone knew just how much you meant to me. Our vet "Dr Dargar" had your paw print made in clay for me. your dirt, and hair are still pressed hard into the clay. Daddy had you cremated and brought home for me. You rest in this beautiful box locked with your name engraved in a heart.

Rest beautiful baby boy.

I love you!

Forever in my heart!

It is happening all over again

The complete lag, and neglect of this blog.
It has been a while that I have gotten on a computer.
I blame it all on the "smart phones"!
I have forgotten my passwords to just about everything.
I "facebook" everything.
It is So completely convenient to snap a picture and upload it to facebook. I have got to figure out how to blog from my phone. I
Love looking back at my blog and reading "stories" not just a quick "status"
My family from far and near, I am sorry that I have not updated recently! I will, the kids are getting so big and beautiful!
The end of the school year is approaching fast. I will update soon! Possibly tonight.

Picture Day

I have the most BEAUTIFUL bundle here!

Today is picture day AGAIN!!

I think we have like 10 more picture days to get through this school year.

These guys LOVE picture day and both Candice and Austin sit at the table during breakfast and smile at each other asking "should I smile like this, or this, or this?"

It is hilarious!

(I think the smiles in the picture are the ones they chose for each other,

Austin said "Candice said I have to show my beautiful teeth")

Makes me laugh so hard!

Ethan and Sam both love to join in on their game so they say "look at me, look at me"

How I love these guys!

They seriously make my Heart HAPPY!

 

By the way two separate pictures, because Sam didn't get in the "group" picture but had to have a picture. We are "equal" here and NO ONE will be left out, even if it is a picture ;)

 

6 Beautiful Candice years

Happy Birthday my sweet Beautiful Angel baby!!

6 years ago on this day (my "first" due date) my water broke at 5:30am thankfully I was awake and eating an unusual bowl of cereal. (One of my favorite foods when I was pregnant with her)

However, it was not the "normal" water break. I actually felt like I had to "P" I sat on the toilet ALL morning, going back and forth in such confusion. I had a scheduled Dr appointment at 10am so I waited, I did not want to be an annoyance to anyone. Thankfully Dad didn't miss any of the

 (2week - weekly appointments) So he was home that day. I started to feel funny, my stomach was tightening but it was not painful. The DR confirmed my water break at the appointment and sent us on our way to the hospital.  

(that was another funny story, dad will gladly tell you that one it is one of his favorite stories and he tells it so well)

We stopped at home to grab a few things, more like pack my bag and put the car seat in the car. Get ready for our delivery. I started to get scared. I called all our family and let them know its "GO" time.

Finally I was ready to go, still no painful contractions. As a matter of fact I did not feel any contractions because I got hooked up to the epidural right away. PERFECT labor!

Everyone started coming in, so excited for the arrival of my first baby, grand baby, and niece. We all waited patiently and as we were waiting I also got to "re announce" my engagement to dad, he had asked me the night before. SO much excitement to take in less then 24 hours.

Then 5:30pm came rolling around faster then you could ever imagine. And there you were a

 6pound 15ounce Candice Sue!

You have been a heaven sent angel baby since that day.

I am so THANKFUL for you!

 

(that is my small story for now)

Tonsils

Who needs them anyway?

Certainly not Ethan, Ethan has had a lot of problems with his speech.

Being his mom I completely understand everything that he is saying.

My biggest concern has always been, WHY is he always sick with a cold. He always has boogers, and sounds congested. I have spent many mornings at the Dr with him and we have enough amoxacillin to last us a long time. The Dr repetitively says nothing is wrong just a cold.

When I went to sign Candice up for preschool last year the lady at the registry asked if I had ever had Ethan evaluated. I stared at her for a minute wondering what was wrong with my son. But also concerned to what she might see I asked her many questions. Then I made an appointment to have him evaluated. Great news came our way when I sat down at the evaluation center and was told Ethan has speech problems. (oh?? I understand him, he talks like he is congested and misses a few letters here and there) He started pre school a week after his sister. So he could start to get the help he needed. This year Ethan's speech has gone down hill. So bad that I have a hard time understanding him. So I thought many days and nights what I need to do. Read "symptoms" and came to the conclusion that he needs his tonsils taken out.  I called an ENT. They got us in nice and quick. As we sat down with Dr Page to talk about Ethan, he looks down Ethan's throat and says "dude them are some BIG tonsils, we need to take them out"  I so badly wanted to squeeze him!! Is this our solution? Just removing his tonsils...  I asked for the next and soonest appointment. They called and scheduled him in for the next week. Dr Page made Ethan so excited, that Ethan actually counted down the days until his surgery. When FINALLY the BIG day has come Ethan woke up and said "0" days mom. My nerves kicked in. I started to think is this the right thing to do? When we got there Ethan was so excited, there were so many scared kids, crying, clinching onto moms and dads. Not Ethan he was ready. As I was signing papers, that one dreadful paper came up "next of kin" I just about barfed all over the place. I wanted to change my mind. But I knew in my heart this is the best thing for him. The Dr had been so reassuring.  When Ethan's name was called, we went to the back to get him ready. He was more and more excited. Being one of the youngest kids in the office I could not believe how well he was taking it all in. He felt silly in his gown. Just before they came to take Ethan, The Dr came in and he says "Ethan do you remember why you are here?" Ethan responds "To get new medicine"

OH??!!  We all laugh and the Dr says Yes I will get you new meds.

After they took Ethan to the back, they took us to the patient recovery room, The procedure took a totally of 25-30 minutes. Dr said he did awesome! We went to his recovery room to find a very uncomfortable Ethan. Coughing,and moving around so I put my upper body on his to comfort him right away so he knew I was there. He calmed a little so the nurse asked me to quickly climb in bed and hold him. I was not going to deny holding my baby boy. So I climbed in and right away he reached his comfort zone. I snapped a picture of us together since I was not going to get any of just him in recovery.

UNBELIEVABLE! The Dr came to talk about his discharge and do's and don'ts. We were getting discharged at 10am only 1 hour after surgery. Ethan and I took a short nap together. I woke up to see the time was 9:45 so I climbed as gently as I could out of the bed, trying to quietly wake him up so we can get him to drink some before we left. He woke up and I asked "are you ready to go home" He said "YES" I asked the nurse for a Popsicle. I told Ethan you have to eat this so we can go home. He ate that Popsicle so fast, got dressed and walked out telling everyone "BYE"  He JUST had surgery!!! Get back in here and rest kid!! Geesh!!
 Once we got him home, he was awake and you would have never known that he had surgery. He sucked on Popsicles, and drank lots of cold beverages. Even ate noodles for dinner.
Everyone came over to see him and bring him (balloons, toys, flowers, and more Popsicles) He was so happy.  He slept without snoring, he has been breathing out of his nose, and his voice sounds different already and its JUST day 2!

 My heart is so happy to know that Ethan was on everyones mind, and prayers. A little thought here and there and calls, texts, and visits for Ethan. We are truly thankful for the wonderful people in our lives. The ones that took a minute out of their crazy busy lives to call or visit him.  I know this was the best thing for him.

Dentist

Today we ALL went to have our 6 month family teeth cleaning.

It was Sammie's first cleaning and she did AWESOME!

No cavities, and she got to meet "Mr Thirsty" (the thing that sucks the spit out of your mouth) and she thought "Mr Thirsty" was the coolest thing ever! I was SHOCKED that she let them "count teeth" and brush her teeth, and floss even! She is THAT independent she loves to do that on her very own. Thankfully they were so good with her she cant wait to go back in August!

Candice and Ethan had NO cavities, they did AWESOME! Super proud of them.

Austin doesn't have any "NEW" cavities. but he has two small ones from before. Hopefully he will lose those teeth soon and they will not affect him.

We all got our new tooth brushes, more tooth paist, and floss!

We sure LOVE our Dentist, and having BEAUTIFUL teeth to go with our Beautiful smiles!