So Long 2011; HELLO 2012!!

Very sorry it's been so long since I've written. It's been quite an eventful time!

You just had your 4th birthday last weekend and we had a killer party at our house again this year. This time you wanted to invite several schoolmates & really enjoyed running through the house with them & the pinata you guys got to beat up on. Our neighbors came as well & several other family friends. It was a wonderful day! You had been talking about getting a Justin Bieber cake for weeks & we ordered one to our dismay but you wound up changing your mind at the 11th hour & getting a princess cake; we made homemade cupcakes as well. Can't believe you're 4 years old now!

This week you had your 4-year checkup and they gave you your shots so you're all set for a long time now but Daddy said you were talking crazy afterwards & very upset about the whole thing.

You are still quite the dancer & are always really animated. They wanted to use your voice for a project at school to help other kids learn to speak better. You like to open the hello kitty sticker book & "read" to us from it. You call Sam Scearce your boyfriend & the latest teeny bopper shows you like best are: Suite Life & Sonny with a Chance.

We had a fantastic fall and Christmas. You are like a little monkey playing at the gym on the rings & ropes. For Christmas you got a sleeping puppy & a Rebecca American Girl doll. The elves also made you some cool shoes. You got a great bike with training wheels for your birthday & rode it almost all the way to the gym. You love getting your dad to take you box sledding too!

Aunt Amber has moved in with us so you're getting even more love & attention. You're spoiled silly! So much more to share, but I must get to work for a bit then go to get you soon. Miss you so much when we're apart!!! That reminds me, one of my favorite things you've been saying lately is how you don't want to go to college, you just want to live with mom & daddy forever. I WISH ;)

BC; Summer's Over; New Classroom!

Hey lil' darlin'!
Gosh I love you & how you make every day so much fun and touch our lives; you are such a joy to be around & so unbelievably intelligent & crazy smart & cute. You are the best thing we ever did!

Let me catch you up on the rest of our summer. The 3 of us have spent most of it trying to get the box running smoothly and that has been a labor of love. You get more time with your dad at least & get to see us going after something we are passionate about & truly believe in - and be active and have FUN! It's a bit of a struggle due to major demands on us, but well worth it we think & all signs keep pointing to the fact that we are on track & doing things right.

In July we attended an event called Hillacious and camped at Amicalola Falls for that. You came & hung out all weekend & made friends with a little girl named Anna from B'ham who we hope to meet again. Very nice folks. At the end of the month we headed to Whistler for a week & it was a big trip. The flights were very long & delayed, so we it wound up taking 14 hours both ways which exhausted all of us & made me not want to fly so far next time.

In Whistler, you were happiest just hanging at the pool - there was a waterslide that you loved & you did wonderfully swimming around & playing in the water. You liked to go to the "market" store every day for treats and there was a children's "Adventure Zone" area we enjoyed where you did the bungee trampoline, bouncy house, and horseback ride all several times. We rode mtn biking trails once with you in a trailer & saw a momma and baby black bear. We had 5 bear sightings during our trip and played at the playground several times. It was so scenic and beautiful but mostly mom & dad just enjoy spending uniterrupted time together as a family. Good thing since we won't be able to afford expensive trips any more for a while ;)

You have gotten into some teeny bopper shows I really don't care for and I think you sass like a little teenager sometimes b/c of them - it does give us a laugh though! You still say Justin Bieber is your boyfriend & brother & have a big imagination.

You started into a new (& your last) classroom at Siskin & it seems great so far. You still talk about marrying Wills. You did come down with Staph (MRSA actaully) the week school started and we had to lance & treat your leg & bottom which was a bit traumatic but you did great & are better now. You'll be seeing Nancy for your doctor now. Can't believe what a big & bright little girl you are growing into. I just so want to spend more time with you and you'll start pre-K this time next year!

We got the go ahead to try to get pregnant again & you still very much want to be a big sis. We're doing what we can lil momma not to let you down ;) For now, you take excellent care of feeding Kelsey and making sure Murray is taken care of too. We just found out she is diabetic & now have to get her well. You love spending time at the Bustamante's and dancing & putting on shows.

This coming weekend we are going camping for Labor day and very excited for some R&R with you. We'll be sure to get lots of pics! Love you with all my heart & soul!!!

Summertime Roles (Jane's Addiction songtitle I'd sing to you)

My sweet sweet Hadley - sorry it has been so long since I posted; we have opened the business & therefore life has been ultra busy. You continue to thrive in everything you do & grow up really fast.

In May, we went to Disney World for a day & you were "done" after about 2 hours there & ready to go back to the pool. I carried your sleeping butt out as the 3pm parade was starting. You did enjoy meeting Mickey & the Princesses. We rode It's a Small World and Peter Pan but you really had the most fun at the Hilton Grand Vaca Resorts pool. (Dad & I bought this timeshare with them which you will own should anything happen to us so know that).. sorry for the digression.. and that I don't have any pics of Disney; we were having too much fun to stop for that.

We went back to St. Augustine for the family vaca the 1st week of June & that just gets more fun each year. You and Willa are funny playing together and your swimming came along a great deal during the course of the week. You wore a bubble suit most of the time. You enjoyed playing in the sand & catching minnows & hanging with your big cousins. Every time we drive anywhere, you're so used to flying, you'll ask "when are we gonna get to the airport" and we said, we're not, and you wanted to know how we were going to get to the beach then. You've been asking lately to go back to Puerto Rico and St. Augustine..

Later in June, I got to take you to Beauty & the Beast musical at Memorial Auditorium with the Bustamante children. I thought we'd have to leave for the 1st half hour but you finally came around and laughed at the scary parts and we had a great time. You have been interested in gymnastics this summer so you've started that & you seem to be dreaming a lot. You stay up much later than the average 3 year old (like 10-something most nights) and love to dance. You want to know who sings every song that comes on & you like to have "the whole family" all together, including Kelsey & Murray.

Oliver told you he loved you and you said: "we're neighbors Oliver but we're not husband and wife." You like to say "not so much" and "I'm used to it." You fell in the lake at Deem & Nancy's but thankfully had your life jacket on. Dad & I have been cutting out grains, so you'd been wanting a sandwich and I told you we'd get some bread at the store. When I put it in the basket, you picked it up & sniffed it and said "mmmm mom, smell this bread, it smells SOOOO good.." This past weekend we celebrated Grandmother's 60th bday at CERA which was nice and took you to 3 parties 3 nights in a row. I drew a line with you one night about not wearing funky socks with your outfit and you cried but I thought you were over it and about 20 minutes later you came into my room with a face completely painted with permanant marker right before we left for a party; I shouldn't have argued with you about the socks I guess!

You are such a joy & privelage to know; I wish I got to spend more time with you; it has been hard juggling the new business, my career, and our social life but I know we've made the right decision to open this crossfit even though we won't have as much money. So many things in life are more important! But you top the list baby!! Love you oh so much. Can't wait to pick you up from school in 3 hours :)

Disney

Hey Bugga! We are having such an eventful year - and spring. You are doing awesome; we've hardly seen any bruises since your transfusion - and emotionally, you are as happy as can be :) Things are going great; we spent all of 5 hours at Disney on our trip to Orlando and you were really happy just to play at the condo and pool. You have an imaginary brother named Gabe and imaginary baby friend named Charlie and still love to talk about how things are Brandi, Ashley, or Bailey's favorites. You HAD to have a Justin Beiber doll and got one yesterday. You talk about your dad's new job at the gym and like to talk about getting married too.

Rainboots, tutu and plie squats, oh my!

Hey there little Momma!
Just checking in; life continues to throw us for loops but we're holding strong and keeping the Faith and counting our Blessings each day. Your health has been fantastic ever since we checked out of TCT; you aren't bruising a bit any more. Praise God!

In other news, mommy has lost another pregnancy, so we are no longer expecting to bring a sibling into the world this year, but we're not giving up hope - and God's timing of you and I staying a night at TCT and us being worried sick about your issues was no mistake; when the dr. told me a week later (at my 12 week appt) that the baby had stopped developing around week 8, I barely flinched. I am just too grateful for the healthy girl I've got to feel sorry for myself. I still want to give you a brother or sister but we aren't lacking for anything and are just trying to trust in God's plan.

Last week you had your dance recital and that was a ton of fun; you wore your hello kitty rainboots with a tutu to rehearsals and stole the show once again on the big night running around the table and losing your sailor hat on stage and telling Miss Lindsay "let's catch it" about the pumpkins. It's all on video for you to see!

This week there were devestating storms all around us but we suffered no real damage. Praying for all those affected and we are out of power, so it's like camping at home. Although, last night we took you to the movies for our 1st time as a family (Crystal took you one time last summer). We saw an adorable film called "Rio" and you really enjoyed it. You even recognized Rihanna's voice when she sang on the cartoon. On the way home, I got tickled b/c you were talking to the red lights just like I do saying "Come on, turn green - this is taking all day!"

You had a wonderful Easter - Gigi and G-Daddy came in from Nashville and took you to Coolidge and for burgers & fro-yo, then on Sunday, all the grandparents had breakfast with us and we all went to church together. It was really special and you were happy with the Tinkerbell and sugared egg and towel and bug catchers the Easter Bunny brought to you. You just love playing with worms and finding ants and other critters. Feeding Kelsey is one of your chores and you give her lots of love.

So far, despite all the doctors and unfortunate news, we are having a fantastic spring. Daddy is working terribly hard to get the gym open soon and the two of you are getting a lot of time together and making life easier on mom as far as taking care of the house for us. I think this is going to be really good for our family :)

Love you so very much - write soon. Mom

Your Diagnosis

Little Bit,
Last week we got quite a scare. You started getting really bad bruises in early March (a black eye without even flinching and really beat up legs) and during trip to Puerto Rico, we decided we needed to check into it (3/17-24). We had bloodwork done on Fri, 4/1/11 – Dr. Coffman’s office said the bloodwork was fine, but they wanted to go ahead and see you. Tuesday, 4/5 they told your dad your platelets were at 100k as of Friday and were about to send you home but then decided to do a quick check since Child protective Services was calling us. Then, your dad was told that you did not need to see CPS, he needed to take you straight to TC Thompson because you have ITP, an autoimmune condition that causes your antibodies to attack your own platelets in response to a virus. Your platelets were so low they didn’t register (and normal is >150k). We checked you in and they ran an IV of immunogloben for around 4 hours and kept you until around lunch on Wed, 4/6. Friday they checked your platelets and they were 100, so you appear to be responding well. We are hopeful the case is acute, not chronic and learning more about it each day. You don’t have to take meds regularly or anything and that’s a relief, but this condition does put you at higher risk for other autoimmune conditions such as lupus, chrone’s disease, diabetes, etc. We are going to do everything we possibly can to optimize your health and you have been a real trooper so far.

You turned back to a momma’s girl this week; I think you have a 6th sense that I need you desparately. You call the baby in my belly Conrad now and talk about having one in your belly too ;0 You pray for G-Daddy to run faster (b/c you confused job and jog). You LOVE my little ponies now and continue to blow our minds daily with your recount of things that you have heard or picked up on. It is truly remarkable! You are our angel and so many people are praying for your wellness. Love you so much baby and always here for you no matter what – I didn’t even mind being at TCT – you make everything fun. I just want to be wherever you are!!!

Spring Break 2011

Baby Bear –
We just spring breaked in Puerto Rico and always just love spending good quality time from you away from all the distractions of our daily lives. Mommy and Daddy are about to take on some big changes. You have a sibling on the way – due in October – and Daddy is going to open a Crossfit gym! You’re going to be getting a lot of time around workouts which you already seem to “get.” We are hoping this will enhance our life quality even though we probably won’t be making as much money. For my birthday, you even made me a pull-up bar from tinker toys and you like to talk about getting your workout. You love to dance and we laughed a lot about this donkey butt song “lemme ride that donkey donkey” – works every time if you’re sad or something.

So, you spent some time with Grandmother and your cousins when mom & dad attended a workshop and came home with “Beiber Fever.” You like to look at JB pictures on the computer and go around singing “like baby baby baby oahhh” and the ludacris part about “when I was 13, I had my 1st love….. she’s my starbucks.” You can point he and Rihanna out in magazines and sing their songs. So cute! It cracks us up! You also point out the police by shouting “5-0” and ask lots of questions about what their job is, etc. Whenever you get hurt, you like Momma to “get” whatever hurt you and I find various ways to inflict pain on the floor, doorjams, walls, toys, you name it. We have fun with that  When you’re eating, you like to say: “I think I like ___” and know that it is really super cute. You love fro-yo. You like to draw tornadoes ever since we had one a few weeks ago while mom was in Florida. You’ve been telling us you want to marry Wills from school. We are hoping to take you to Disney World if you can reduce your whining and pick your toys up more. That would be fun!