Christmas Pageant

Here is Noah and his little joy school friends acting out the nativity story. I'm so proud of Noah!

Noah is 4!

Noah turned 4 yesterday. Over the weekend we took a trip to the zoo per Noah's request. We invited cousins and friends to meet us there and have cake. The weather was PERFECT. We really couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

It's just crazy to me that it's been four years since Noah was born. I still remember that day like is was yesterday. I remember the excitement and anticipation of what he would look like, what he would act like and everything. He's turned out to be more than we ever could have guessed. If I could describe Noah in three words they would be: loving, joyful, and bright. Happy birthday Noah!

Pain, part 2

After recovering from my surgery in July I found that the pain I was experiencing was much better, but not entirely gone. Last week, I started feeling like I might have another cyst. By Tuesday, I could hardly walk without extreme pain. My doc is out of town so I made an appointment with his collegue. She was equally great and equally perplexed by my situation. I do, indeed, have another cyst on my right ovary. This one, 5 centimeters in diameter. The last one was 6. "Large" pain-causing cysts in most women are 2-3 cms. So, I guess that would make mine XXL. The fact that I got 2 of them in 8 months is equally alarming.

So, I found myself driving home with tears streaming down my face asking, "why me?" The tiny thread I was already hanging on broke and it was all I could do to go through the motions the rest of the day. Pretty pathetic.

That night, I was holding my little boy in my arms and he said to me, "I just love you SO much, mommy." It was really what I needed to hear. I started thinking and realized that I have so many good things in my life that a few more months of pain is nothing. My condition is not life threatening, my kids are healthy, my husband has a job, and the list goes on. I WILL survive this.

What are the next steps? Well, I either need to get pregnant or go on birth control to stop the cysts from coming back. Getting pregnant on my own has not been working for me for the last year so fertility drugs are probably in the plan. So, what's next? Triplets? Bring it on.

She's 2!

So I'm about 2 months late on this post but, better late than never right?

At the end of August Allison turned 2 so we threw her a big joint birthday party/luau with her best friend Savannah who is 3 days older. We did it in the common area behind our condo which worked out great. It was the perfect sunny day and we set up a moonbounce, slip 'n slide, kiddie pool, and tiki hut. We had a really great turn out and it was a blast. Here are some pics.

Presents!


In the moonbounce, which my sister so generously gave me so if you ever need one, I have one!

Party central.

Eating her birthday ice cream.

Blowing out her candles.

This is the cake Lynne (Savannah's mom) and I spent half the night making the night before. The beach is vanilla wafer crumbs and I made the tiny little grass skirts by hand. It tasted as good as it looks too!

I CAN'T BELIEVE OUR BABY GIRL IS 2!

Back to School

Well, tomorrow I'm off to school to get my teaching certification. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Luckily, the kids will not be in daycare but spending some quality time with grandparents and friends while mommy is studying. I will miss them, but it will be worth it when we can actually start saving some money for their futures.

Summer Fun

It seems that summer has just flown by. Here's some pics of the fun things we've done this summer.

4th of July. Noah and Allison liked the lights, but not the noise.

We had the opportunity to go to Florida and see the Huling clan in July. We spent a weekend in Destin playing with all of Keith's extended family. It was the first reunion in about 3 years. I don't have any pics of that yet. After going to Destin we spent a week in Orlando with Jeff and Robin (Keith's bro and his wife). They were great hosts and got us good deals on tickets to Universal Studios and Disney World. Above is Allison and her daddy on the African Safari ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom. I'm not really sure what's going on with her finger.

Here we all are in front of Cinderella's castle. It was sure a hot day!

Teacups!

Noah's first roller coaster ride. He wasn't scared a bit.

Noah and Allison with their cousin Ella. Noah says "roar!" for some reason. Allison and Ella are close to the same age. They had a love hate relationship. They loved to fight and they hated to share. Hopefully, they will get along better when they're a little older.

This is outside the Jaws ride at Universal Studios. We took the little ones on it. For those of you who have to been on that ride it's all very fake. Big artificial sharks jump out at you and the driver of the boat pretends we are getting attacked by sharks. Noah didn't know it was fake and spent the whole ride yelling, "we gotta get outta here!" Poor little guy, he thinks it's funny now since we told him is was just pretend.

Dora.

At Islands of Adventure.

On Fish, Two Fish. We got very wet on this ride.

Noah and Ella on Dr. Seuss' crazy carousel.

Waiting out the rain. The kids were none too happy about the fun interruption.

After waiting out the rain we finally made it to the Harry Potter attraction. It was pretty amazing. The best part....butterbeer. It's like drinking candy coated ice cream.

Happy Summer!

Noah's First Song

Recovery

Over the course of the last 5 months or so I've been dealing with some health issues. It all started with a large ovarian cyst (about the size of a baseball). The cyst went away but the pain didn't. I went to see the OBGYN that delivered Allison, Dr. Tudder. He prescribed a bunch of different medications that didn't work. I had multiple ultrasounds and an MRI which all revealed nothing. Eventually, Dr. Tudder said that there was nothing wrong and that I should go back to my family doctor to find the cause of the pain.

I was crushed. I really believed that this doctor would be able to figure out what was wrong. At that point I was ready to give up and just live with the constant pain. Keith convinced me that I should seek another opinion. After asking around for some recommendations I went to Dr. Silas, another OBGYN. After hearing my ordeal and doing a physical exam he agreed that my problem was most likely gynological. He suggested doing an explorative laparoscopy. After giving it some thought and prayer we decided to go forward with the surgery not really knowing what was there, if anything.

One of my greatest fears was that they would find nothing and the surgery would have been for naught. I was also concerned they would find a serious problem. Yesterday, I went in for surgery. The doctor found evidence of a prior infection that had caused a great deal of scar tissue to form. That scar tissued adhered my reproductive organs to my liver. He was able to detach the organs and put them back where they are supposed to be. According to my doctor, there was no way any external imaging could have detected this particular problem.

The long term effects of this are that I will still experience pain from time to time, although not nearly the pain I've had over the last few months. It is yet to be determined how this will effect my ability to have more children. I'll have to have more tests run so see how extensive the damage is.

I am so relieved to finally know what's been going on in my body. At times I felt like I was going crazy. Like, maybe the pain didn't really exist. It has been one of the greatest trials of my life, thus far. I have definitely felt the prayers of my family and friends over the last several months. The Lord has blessed me with the ability to endure this while still fulfilling my roles as a wife, mother and teacher. There have been days when I literally have felt myself being carried when I couldn't go on any longer. Thanks to everyone who has supported me through this difficult time. Now, all that is left is recovery.

Ham

Several weeks ago we were approached by a guy with a camera crew asking to interview us for a TV commercial. We signed the appropriate wavers and did the interview. Noah pretty much stole the show. It ended up making it into a radio commercial for Cox Cable. They edited out the part about us having Dish Network. Haha. Here's the interview. I'm so proud of my little ham.

:-)

Races and Other Things

It has been an eventful couple of months. In March I ran in the National Half Marathon relay with couple of friends. It was the first year they were doing it as a relay. It was not organized very well. I did the 2nd leg. After finish my 5 miles I had to ride the train to the finish line and by the time I got there the race was well over. I would have been better off just running it to the end.

In April, Keith and I ran the Ocean City Half-Marathon, the same race I did last year. It was really great having a running buddy this time. My training wasn't what it was last year due to some health problems. But, we finished in the same amount of time. If Keith hadn't been there I don't think I would have finished in under 2 1/2 hours. This time the kids came and my parents helped out. It was really fun to see them at various points during the race and at the finish. It was a great experience overall.

In May I turned 27. My parents took me up to NYC for my cousins wedding. While we were there we went to see West Side Story on Broadway. It was amazing. I'm officially in love with musical theater. I can't wait till I can go do that again.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of months.

Allison has discovered her love for blackberries.

This is the only picture we took on the day of our race.

Incognito.

Getting ready to start my leg of the relay.

The boys at the air show. I LOVE this picture.

Catching Up

So my last post was before Christmas. We have lots to catch up on! Our biggest news as of late is that I will be going back to school full time in the fall. We have decided that we would both like to pursue careers in teaching. The plan is for me to get my teaching certificate first and then Keith will go back to school after I start working. I can't think of anything more fun that having summers off together as a family.

Keith turned 28 last week. He got shoes and camping gear and spent time with family. It was fun and low key. Noah had a great time helping put the candles in the cake which was a lemon chocolate chip cake. Yum! We debated whether Keith is "pushing" 30 yet. When he turned 27 the conclusion was that he was only "leaning" toward 30. I think 28 is pushing 30 but some think you have to be 29 before that happens. Either way time is moving fast. It seems the older we get the faster time goes. Will we wake up tomorrow at Allison's wedding?

The kids are thriving. A picture is worth a thousand words so perhaps all these photos will make up for 3 months worth of blogging neglect. Enjoy!

We had record breaking snowfalls this winter. Allison was adorable in her snow pants!

Perma-pigtails.

Allison is discovering her inner daredevil.

Noah is a happy 3 year old who loves to snuggle with Mom and Dad.

Noah with his best friend at Hidden Pond.

We survived the cold/flu season reasonable well. Allison did get a 48 hour bug. She fell asleep on the couch which almost never happens.

Our little girl has learned how to eat with a spoon.

This was when Noah got my mascara.

Here's Keith entertaining some kids who came over for a playdate.