March 28, 2007

Just an update:
The news was not good at all. My mom has been diagnosed with that horrible “C” word. I hate to even type it. I just can’t believe it. The docs found a tumor the size of a golf ball in her pancreas. It is blocking a main artery so they cannot remove it. They will do a procedure in the morning to allow her to start eating again. They will start chemo to try to reduce the size of the tumor in order to remove it. She is doing great other than that. I am still here in Houston. I cancelled my trip back home and will be here with her till after Easter. I have been staying with her at the hospital overnight and day. Mike will be here soon. We miss him terribly.
Our family is staying strong in prayer and faith and just know that God will heal her body of this terrible “C”.

Thank you for your continued prayers, keep praying please.

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An Update…

They will be performing a biopsy in the morning on my mom. I am not upset or worried because I know that she is fine. The specialist came into her room last night and at the same time my cousin happened to call on the phone so my mom told him to talk to her instead because she would be able to understand more of what he was saying. So after that phone call my cousin called me in hysterics because he basically told her that my mom, a woman of strong faith, perfect health, goes to the doctor all the time, has never been seriously sick an day in her life, has a “C” (I refuse to even type that curse word) in her pancreas that is too far gone and that he really thinks that the family should be there together to make decisions.
I will stand steadfast in my belief of my heart and roll my eyes at this specialist who has not even done a biopsy yet. All he has are pictures from a CAT scan that he said the other day, he could not tell what it was he was looking at. I am shocked and appalled that he would come to a diagnosis without the proper test being done. Therefore I will not accept anything that he says and continue to pray over my mom and trust in God to heal whatever it is in her body that is making her sick.
I am flying to Houston with my kids on Sat. morning for the weekend because I did find some cheap tickets and will be back on Tues. then go back on the 4th. I will stay strong and go there to make my mom strong and let her see her grandchildren so that she can have uplifted spirits.

Please continue to pray. Thanks

This is a layout I had done a few months back about my mom, please forgive the color in the scan, it came out horrible…

Journaling Reads:

I see you. I snapped this shot. I must say that the first thing I think when I look at these pics is, wow, you haven’t changed much in the 32 years since we took those shots in a photo booth together.

It makes me think of all you’ve done for me. I was 6 mos, you took me in. You made me yours. You did your best. There is so much that comes to my mind. I can remember things as far back as about age 3. The memory is amazing.

I remember you taking me to the library. Even thought you had no formal education, you knew how important it was to read to me. If it weren’t for you, I probably would not have this passion for writing as I do. I remember when you bought me my first pair of roller skates. You took me outside and held my hand and stood by my side until I got the hang of it. I know that you think I don’t remember these things, but I do.

All of these memories are good and nice to have but I must say, the main thing I remember, the thing that defines who I am, probably the most important thing you could have ever taught me is to love Jesus Christ. Without this lesson, my life would not be the same.

The emotions that are evoked when I look at these pictures are sadness, because I was just an innocent child whose parents were too young to care for her, and happiness because I had grandparents who were willing to take me and give me a life I would not have had otherwise.

And congrats to all the awesome winners in the HOF contest! Yall are all awesome!

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Please cont. to Pray…

Just wanted to update everyone about my mom. Just in case some of you guys don’t know, this is my grandma that raised me since I was 6 months old. My real mom was never there for either one of us so it has pretty much been just us all my life. My real mom has been really great though, I am proud that she is stepping up to the plate and has been there at the hospital with her. She spent the night with her the first night and was there again tonight.

The doctor does see a mass in her Pancreas. They will be doing a biopsy to see if it is benign or malignant. He didn’t say how big it was. I know nothing about these kind of things other then God’s promises to us and he specifically said in Jer 30:17 For I will restore health to you, and I will heal your wounds, says the Lord, because they have called you an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no one seeks after and for whom no one cares!
and because we are believers with full faith in Him he said:
Matt 8:13 Then to the centurion Jesus said, Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant boy was restored to health at that very moment.
Matt 9:22 Jesus turned around and, seeing her, He said, Take courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well. And at once the woman was restored to health.
So we are believing to hear good news and rebuke any bad new and thoughts in Jesus holy name.

I feel really bad that I am not there right now. Mike wanted me to go but my mom said not to because we will be there in 2 weeks anyway and she said that she will need me more if she has surgery. It is very hard with the kids. But my mom, aunts, cousins, sisters are there. I feel peace of mind that everything is fine and will remain that way.

My cousin was there with her this morning and said that my mom told her that she was at peace if God wanted to take her because she has lived her life and if fulfilled but that the only reason she doesn’t want to leave is for ME. You know I was so touched and had to cry. I knew she had a heart 🙂 She has always had a hard time showing her true feeling but I know what is inside.

Anyway, here is a pic of my mom. I know she looks really young but she really is a senior citizen, she never told me her real age but Krista said that she saw her ID once and that she is about 76, lol, I’m not sure (shrug) She is always full of life, very healthy, always goes to her check ups (like evry month for different random tests) we always tease her that she should have been a doctor, loves to have a great time, is always there with a shoulder to cry on for everyone, and puts Jesus first always.

The power of prayer is amazing. This will always be Abbey’s scripture because of the power it had over that threat of autism. When I laid hands on my baby girl and prayed with my cousin on the phone, I cannot tell you the feeling I had when that miracle was performed right before my eyes…

Matt 18:19 Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven.

I really appreciate your prayers and concerns and I will tell her about all of you because she will appreciate it too. She will be amazed at the outpour just for her. She has a hard time believing she is special. She is really such a great person and mom.

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Pray for Grandma again…

Mom is in the hospital again. She was rushed in last night in very very bad pain. She was starting to dehydrate and couldn’t eat, so my mother took her in. I called and let the nurse have it, well not really have it because it isn’t her fault, but I stressed to her that my mom has been there twice and we have no answers, I mean for crying out loud, it’s the world famous Houston Medical Center for gosh sakes. Someone has to be able to run some kind of test or something, wouldn’t you think? So they got her back in the ER as soon as they could and ran a CAT scan. This morning they had to run another CAT because they saw something but couldn’t tell what it was, in her intestine. She said they told her it may be a small tumor. We don’t know for sure yet. We have strong faith that through His stripes we are healed and we know that this will be over very soon. She is in good spirit but very fragile and has a tube down her nose, just tired. So I will keep yall updated. And thanks for the prayers. Hugs!

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Check out this ROCK!

This post will be all about my little sissy. She and her boyfriend have been high school sweethearts like forever and now they are engaged. I am so happy for them. They have accomplished so much. They are both in school for their Masters degrees, have their own home, and he is waiting to get approval for a job with the FBI, I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying that, lol, it just sounds so top secret, kwim 😉
Anyway, here are some pics. One of her engagement ring that he had custom made for her from some jewelry that he had given her throughout their years together. I thought that was a cool idea, they had it all melted down and added a ring from his mom and then topped it off with that rock and walah, a beautiful ring 🙂
The next pic is of them on the night he engaged and the last pic is what she calls her Titanic pose. They went on a cruise in Dec. and had a blast.
And…they want me to do their engagement pics. That will be so much fun. Let’s see if I still know how to use my camera,lol.

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Let’s RoDeO…

First off, I wanted to share some music with you. I have had a few people tell me that they can’t get it to start. I am not sure if it only works with certain browsers or what but I am on a Firefox browser which I have found to be way better then Explorer. It pics up everything 🙂
It is optional so if you want to hear it you can click the play button on my little radio on the right side bar under my fav links. It is my all time favorite Christian artist Jaci Velasquez and this song and her albums I listen to every day. It just touches my heart so much. She is an amazing artist with an awsome voice. Her music touches me to tears everyday 🙂

It is rodeo time in Houston and oh how I wish I was there. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is one of the biggest around. It is sooo much fun! When I was single, I used to take Krista to see Reba McEntire every year. I don’t listen to country music unless I’m in Texas (and only occasionally at that) but someone had given me tickets one year and we went and it somehow became a tradition. I love it when that happens. I can’t believe that was so long ago and seems like only yesterday. It was a time that we used to share that was rare back then. It was fun.
I realized yesterday that Krista is like my best friend and I told her that. We were eating at Jason’s Deli with the babies and I told her “like you are my best friend you know” I mean we are always together, we talk about so much, we share alot it just occured to me at that moment that my daughter is like my best friend. I think I have always tried so hard to be a mother figure with her because I did have her so young, kwim, but now that she is 18 it is easier to see her as a friend. I mean really, we are not that many years apart. Dont get me wrong, I never want to have that, I’m my daughters best friend and there is no parenting going on here type of relationship but it is really cool that I can now see her as my bff. I still do enjoy the absolute shock in everyones face when we are out shopping and people find out that we are not sisters but mother/daughter. I now know how my real mom felt and she was younger when she had me then when I had Krista, imagine that. My real mom and I have always had more of a sister relationship because she didnt raise me. I am the big sister with more sense and she is the little sister that needs me to guide her so many times, kwim.

My mom is doing much bettter from her stomach. She said this is the first day that she has actaully not had pain. Thanks for thinking of her 🙂

Here is a pic of Abbey in her rodeo gear, even though we aren’t there 😉

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Thank You and More Shopping…

I really appreciate all of the well wishes I got for my mom. She is still not doing too great. She said that the pain came back last night and I told her to go to another doctor/hospital. I mean I want her to go somewhere that they can check her out really good and not just press down on her stomach and make guesses KWIM.

Anyway, I just wanted to stress how great of a shopper I am, lol. I think this weeks, or months, theme of my blog should be shopping. I love finding great deals so much. I have some very good childrens stores that I go to and find the best deals on gently used clothing. Some of my friends turn their noses to that kind of thing but not me, no way. I think it all started when I was an Ebay seller. I used to resell all of Abbey’s clothes and made a killing. Don’t get me wrong either, I can power shop in Nordstrom like no other ( and find the best deals there too 😉 , but if I can find like new designer clothes I will snag those up in a heart beat. I quit Ebaying a while back. It just got too stressful. I was a Power Seller for a very long time and it was a ton of work. It was fun for a long while but then I discovered 2Peas and really got into this scrapbooking thing, lol, and ebay went out the window (selling that is, not shopping). So here are some pics of my best clothing deals this week. Blake was in deperate need of pants because he is growing like a weed and I still had szs 9-12 mos in his closet, poor little guy was starting to walk around in high water jeans. Abbey got a few deals too. Now if I could only bring myself to ebay all of the stuff I cleared out of the closet, lol, some of it is still nwt…

2 Baby Gap Shirts

My favorite Baby Gap Bear 🙂

I love it when I find 2 pc outfits

The Childrens Place super cute sweater with Nautica Pants!

My all time favorite Ralph Lauren jeans 😉

Gymboree Whale line sweater to match the set that Abbey already has and a new with tags Carters john-john

Super cute Gymboree bug shirt with new with tags Old Navy shoes

Very colorful Childrens Place dress and Classic Ralph Lauren dress

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Don’t drink the orange juice Grandma…

My mom (grandmother) got very ill yesterday. I called her and she was crying. She had drank orange juice and got a very bad pain at the mouth of her stomach and was just so very sick. My mother (my real mom and her daughter) took her to the hospital last night at around 9:30. I didn’t hear from them for the rest of the night.
I called her this morning and thank God she was at home and doing better. She said the hooked her up to an IV and gave her some meds. The doctor told her that the acid from the orange juice was the cause. My grandmother is a very healthy 74’ish yr old. She loves to have a good time and is still very strong and healthy so it is not good to hear her in such a sick and helpless form.

Many of you know that my grandmother raised me from the age of 6 mos. I felt so very bad not being able to help her. I felt helpless because she was crying out for help and there was nothing I could do. She lives alone and my mom (her dd) doesn’t keep close contact with her. I know she even hated to call her to take her to the hospital but she was that desperate. When I was growing up, my grandmother was not a very affectionate person. I never received the affection from a mother that I needed, I wanted. I am extremely affectionate, they say I get that from my real dad. It is hard to even hug her when we see each other because it feels awkward. I am very affectionate with my kids and always want them to know that they can come to me for a big hug and kiss. Nonetheless I really feel bad living so far away from her knowing that she is there all alone. I spoke to her this evening and she is feeling much better and just afraid to eat anything.

This is a layout I had made about how affectionate my Blake is with me. I used some of my old HS tapes and the tag is from a pair of pants that I had bought the other day. I am just loving all the new tags that clothing manufacturers are using nowadays. I kept it simple which is not normally like me but occasionally I like to just journal and keep the rest simple…

Journaling reads:
Wow! This is amazing! You have changed so much in t he past year and it is ever so evident in this picture. You are no longer my tiny, helpless baby boy. You are growing into a stunningly handsome big kid, but look closer, look into those eyes, those eyes that go so very deep, and you will see what I see every day, a loving, soft gentle soul who still needs mommy’s care. You are by far the most lovable, huggable child I have ever come across. Your sisters never did cuddle as much as you do. I cherish those hugs and kisses and cuddles because I know as you get older, they will get less frequent. I never ever want them to stop. I will always be here with open arms.

And here are some pics of my loot from Target, notice all the red sale stickers. I got some really great deals but are you suprised, lol.
Almost all Making Memories which was actually the first company I was obsessed with, ever, in scrapbooking. I remember way back when, loading up on all their metals and of course I still love their paints. I think my favorite line from them is Vintage Hip. I love it!

Random About Me Fact:
I do pride myself on being the BEST deal finder. I will have to make a list to post of all the amazing deals I have found in my lifetime.

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Short, short, ShOrT…

Posting will be short cause it’s late and I have to pic up dh at the airport early tomorrow. Our home will be UFC filled this weekend 🙂
I am happy tonight because I was able to bless my cousin with airline tickets to come visit me. I found the tickets super cheap on Southwest and it’s a done deal. They will be here in June.
Here are a few projects:
This was one of my entries for the Scrapologie DT about my scrappin style. So sad I didn’t get that one 😦 but I still love this lo 🙂
That’s me, a dork behind the camera, of course!

These are some of the mini’s I did for my shadow boxes

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