The Christmas Letter-like Post.

Well life is speeding along and and I'm just trying to enjoy the ride. A quick update on my family members.


Me: Still loving my job. Have a great "family" I work with. So happy I changed hospitals! God has blessed me numerous times over with this change, and I am forever grateful.
I am starting a New Year's Resolution. Like most I am going to try to lose some weight. I really want to do good at this. I hope I am not setting myself up for failure. I am joining 2 weight loss "programs." The pound plunge, and Healthy Lifestyles Nebraska. Both which do weekly weigh ins, and awards prizes for losses. We also have purchased a elliptical workout machine, which, once it arrives will be a giant eye sore and uncomfortable piece of furniture in out living room. So if you are coming over for a visit, I apologize now, I promise not to make you sit on it though! ;) Currently I have a little cold/throat bug bothering me but that will soon subside with the nice meds I was given to day!


Ryan: He is still working a Weathercraft. He got a new company truck. Its white, so now all the vehicles in front of our home are white. Ryan's, been working on the siding and upstairs bedroom in his free time, which is a rarity with our little ones running around. Cancer stuff is still int eh clear. Hopefully in the next 18 months he will be completely done with it all! PTL!

Luke: My little school boy. He learns new fun things all the time, and (I'm a little biased) he remembers things SO well. He can still tell me what each of his and Adalei's birthdays were (minus his first), what he/she got, what he/she ate for their birthday and who was there. I will say that there are pictures there that might have triggered these memories, but none browsed through in a LONG time. I hope he keeps that capacity to remember things! Its all about letters and number for him right now. Some were a struggle, and in the process of working with Luke Adalei has picked up on a lot of it and actually can count better than her big brother.
Adalei: Speaking of Adalei, my little sweetie is getting so big, she and Luke wear the same size!!! She is just 2 inches shorter than Luke too. My little talker. Right now her brain is moving faster than her mouth can catch up and she has started to stutter a little, but what from what I have researched, she should grow out of it before she is 4, and not to worry about it until then. Adalei's biggest accomplishment is the potty! She is almost completely day potty trained for Mommy (won't go at all for Daddy), and stays dry 1/2 teh time during naps. She wants to be a big girl and "do it self." Adalei has her yearly heart check up right around the corner. I don't foresee any complications arising either. Adalei is a growing weed and her heart seems to beat strong with her!

I hope all my friends and family had a lovely holiday and I will try to share more frequently.

Love,
Cindy

ER visit, and a cold

Whine and complain! Please let me....

Went to the ER yesterday for a rapid heart rate. I had just finished eating lunch and went back to work down to OBV and it hit me. I had one of the girls check my BP. 126/76, but my heartrate was 136. I was feeling diaphoretic, and lightheaded, and my chest was pounding. It lasted over an hour. Then I decided I can't get it to go down, and called to leave work, and then went to the ER. Got a bolus, lots of tests done and after my bolus I felt much better, heart rate went down to 96-100 resting and 110's with activity. I felt much better. Test came back fine--a little hyponatremic (low sodium), but not bad. I had been very well hydrated that day in my own opinion, I had drank almost 1 liter of water (Maybe too hydrated? Doesn't seem possible). No caffeine either..... I am just getting tired of hearing the same old thing. Why does this keep happening? I guess I should just be thankful that I didn't need a BP medication to bring it down. So I am going to try again to eat smaller meals more frequently to hopefully curb this response that my body keeps doing once I eat.

Today, I feel tired and my ear hurts. I can barely hear anything out of it. Once Luke is down for a nap I believe I will do the same. I am happy that I got to be on call today!!! I feel yucky, and would rather not have this yucky feeling at work.

Ryan is liking Addalei again. However I am not liking the middle names again, so if any of you have an idea, please share it!! I would love to hear your ideas. I am thinking more and more out there with the middle name, but I do think it should be shorter? Not definite.
I like:

Sage
Elle
Aven
Jean

Open too many ideas.

Oh I forgot if I mentioned on the last post I made that when I got home from from my appointment that Ryan was unable to go to, he had a little present fro me and Addalei? He had bought a sweet little pink sleeper with a bunny and flowers on it. The feet and arms have little ruffles on them too. It is cute. Such a sweet daddy. He also keeps saying to my when I leave to go somewhere, take care of Daddy's Little Girl. Aww... Melts my heart!
Well have a great day!
Cindy

Great Weekend and Note to My Friend

Hello,

I had a wonderful weekend. Ryan and I headed down to Omaha. It was a very nice get-away for me and my hubby. Totally relaxing and fun. We went to the casino and I lost some and Ryan lost a bunch--and then recovered it! :) Ate at some fun place. We got some FUN shopping done. The best part-- I got to see Sarah, and meet little Jackson!!!

After meeting Jackson and buying some fun baby clothes, I am starting to feel that nesting thing coming on strong. I want to get the room ready, but I don't have a room to move Luke too yet. so it will all have to wait. But I am getting really excited.

I decided to post some pics of my specific clothes I have bought new for the baby. I still have quite a few used girl items that were given to me, and of course all of Luke's things for a boy. But I needed a few extras. Hee hee. It made me feel better. I actually have a nice selection of things.

I have quite an assortment of little girls things, and almost everything that I have ever bought was on clearance/sale. My mom bought that cute shirt and blue skort. Way too cute!





It obvious that I have a thing for fruity flavored clothes!! Hee hee

This has the cherries on the front (see above this one) and on the little bottom. Too cute!



Some big girl clothes, most of which I paid 1 dollar or less for. I Love the polka-dot shirt!!

We do have some boy clothes also, just not as many new ones. I have boxes of clothes to go through if this is a boy! Note: the cute pumpkin hat that I picked up for 25 cents. Great buy, I also got the cute girls white hat for the same price. Steal!



The bottom on this one is also adorable. I purchased a similar outfit for Jackson at toys-r-us, and then realized its a carters outfit too. So when I was at carters store the next day and saw this number I had to get it. It was on sale too. They had great Memorial Day sales; we got over 10 things and spent 40 bucks! I would really like to saw that my hubby was the one that found the pricier items that we purchased ;) I love Carters. Most of the outfits are carters whether I brought directly from there store or from department stores. I would just dress my child in Carters clothes if they had a store nearby!!!

This little number is the coming home/hospital picture outfit for my little girl. I have had this outfit since before Luke was born, in case he was a little girl. I absolutely adore it! It is two separate pieces but I had to have a sweater over it, because Luke was to be born in the early spring, and so yeah. The sweater. They are adorable pieces alone, or together. I took the liberty to show it off a little.


I love the purple in it. Way too cute!



Here is the same dress with little truck tracks on it. Big Brothers! I don't have a coming home outfit for if its a boy yet. Because I haven't found the perfect one yet. But trust me you will see it one way or another!


Daddy picked out this cute little vibrating chick for the baby. It is too adorable. It chirps too. I have been holding on my belly. The baby squirms after I play it. :)

Maybe I should include this next long bit into a post of its own, but oh well, they correlate, and you can take a break if your eyes are bugging out.

I was given the privilege to meet Jackson, one of my bestest friends ever, Sarah's new little guy. I meet him Saturday. Just slightly over 12 hours after he was born. Jackson is such a cutie pie. He was six weeks early and my is he a cutie. I was actually with Sarah when she held Jackson for the very first time. Sigh... I knew I was going to need my Kleenexes to write this all out. I can't stop crying. It was beautiful. (I know that holding Luke for the first time was beyond awesome.) I just felt this bond between Sarah and Jackson emit from them. It was magnetizing.

Being a nurse and studying about all aspects of life/medical/emotional needs. I thought I had the basics covered for what a NICU mother/baby bond would be like. I even knew what it was like to have a baby myself. However, nothing could prepare me for the whole tornado of emotions I went through just watching Sarah and Jackson. Not even brushing on the tip of the iceberg what Sarah must have been feeling.

Sarah had pre-eclampsia and needed to deliver him early. The emergency of taking Jackson to make sure he was well, would have been heart-wrenching. Seeing your baby for a few moments and not being able to see him for hours after would have been horrible. I can't imagine it. Not knowing what he is going through. Not being able to take that time to count each toe and finger, and see all the faces of your loved ones as he is shown to everyone. That would have been hard. Sarah was strong though, and knowing that your little one needs that extra care right then, would have been enough to allow him to leave your side. My heart leaps out for Sarah with that thought. I don't think I would have been that strong.

It was great to see Sarah, she was a glowing Mama. However, she was very tired too. I remember the day of and after Luke was born, not wanting to sleep for fear of missing something, and desperately needing rest. Then I was able to go with her and her Mama and sister to see Jackson.

I stood quietly outside Jackson's room, as the nurse and Sarah discussed the care and needs of little Jackson prior to Sarah finally holding him. I thought to myself, If I was in Sarah's shoes I would be blanking out by now. Wanting to have the nurse be done so I could hold my baby, but coming back to realize that this is necessary information on how I can help my little one the best.

Just knowing the all too fragile state Jackson was in/could potentially be in, scared me. I was afraid he would bust if we whispered too loud. But, you could obviously see how strong and healthy he was. This little dude did not require any oxygen needs. That rocks! He was still closely monitored by numerous cords and electrodes, and was receiving IV fluids. All the cords are so cumbersome. I deal with cords and tubes on the babes I care for on my floor, but this seemed so much more vital too me on Jackson. I stared in awe at the numbers and the little heart rhythm scrolling across the screen. I thought so many questions to myself. I can't even imagine all the questions Sarah would have had.

Sarah, had magnesium still infusing, and although I have never experienced it, I do know that many of its side effects are not fun at all. Sarah must have been feeling all this exhaustion from labor and lack of sleep, and overwhelming excitement that all mothers have. However, on top of that too-- weariness, pain and excessive heat brought on by the mag. She sat holding Jackson, in that wonderful soothing bliss all mothers know. Taking all of her little one in, as if she were breathing his spirit in. Familiarizing herself with every grasp, wiggle, and grunt he made. Seeing her soothe him when he was fussing was endearing. When Sarah leaned forward to kiss her little one, it was very surreal. She barely brushed him with her lips. I think that is when it really hit me the most. He is so little, and fragile. I couldn't know what Sarah was thinking then, but I know when Luke was born, it took me 2 weeks before I really felt comfortable to kiss him.

Was it the whole theory that nurses don't kiss babies/patients? I think that was part of it. There was part of me that also felt that he wasn't truly mine, I did not have the right to kiss him. He would be taken away from me, so I better not do too much or get too close. This also plays into the part of, what if I lose him? What if he were to die/or get really sick? I don't want to hurt him, or be too attached. Really odd thoughts, but that's how I felt with Luke, so maybe this is how Sarah felt kind of.

When I left that night, Sarah was back to her room and Jackson was in his own room all snuggly warm and ever so handsome. I thought to myself, I have been a witness to such a momentous thing here, and have thought about hardly anything else since then. I feel truly blessed to be a part of that moment.

Sarah, thank you. I hope this post means as much to you as the experience you gave me. I just wanted to give you a glimpse in to how thankful for that moment I was. I feel totally undeserving to have been a part of it. I will cherish it with all of my heart! I am so proud of you for dealing with all you did in your pregnancy, and doing all you could to allow Jackson more time to grow. You are an amazing Mama! Jackson is a lucky little Graham cracker! I can't wait to see him when he is a big strong boy, in which, I will be showering him with kisses!! Sorry Jackson, Auntie Cindy will be after you!

I will say that though Jackson is the cutest little bug around, and I am getting ants in my pants for my little bug to show up. I think I will be okay if he/she bakes for a few more months first!!

Oh and I think you all deserve a pic of my little man too... Thanks for joining me with this LONG post. :)

Happy Memorial Day!

Save it for another day.

Baby was in the wrong position. We were unable to see anything, and once again no pictures. I am bummed that he didn't take any for us. But, I suppose I should just be happy he agreed to do another ultrasound. He also told me that we might sneak in at my next appointment for another peek. Good. I wonder if I ask him about it if he would take a 4-D pic like he told me at my 20 week appt???
I mentioned the contractions, and of course, he said the tried and true response, "rest and drink lots of fluids, if it doesn't go away in 1 hour than call." I already knew that. He was nice and explained other possible pre-term labor symptoms and assured me me that if necessary, he would write a Dr. note for me to rest more at work when/if needed. I am happy to here that. So I suppose I have a new favorite OB Dr. However, Dr. J will remain awesome in my book. I just have to squeeze in the other 3 doctors now, because I am supposed to see all in the group in case one of them delivers me, they would have all interacted with the care of my pregnancy. However, with Dr. T "bribing" me with all these ultrasounds, I keep on setting up apportionment's with him. I can honestly say though, I am almost at peace with not knowing. It makes me even more excited for the delivery... many many weeks from now! At least we are at the milestone date, Woo Hoo!

Luke is growing good. Tall for his age, and growing just right. Made the doctor (and all of us)laugh, so that was fun to see. Dr said that she would babysit him anytime if we needed one! Hee hee. My big boy also got 3 shots today. Tolerating them well also.


Ryan will need surgery. He has 2 torn ligaments in his ankle, and a badly bruised bone. The PA there said that Ryan can wait to have surgery. So he is on physical therapy and has a brace in the meantime. Ryan will plan to have surgery when work slows down. In November (after deer season of course).

Loved my new eye doc. Very nice and thorough. New contacts in 2 weeks! Speaking of which, my eyes are very tired and I think I will take out my contacts and get some sleep!

Night all.

Sunday daze

We went to Kearney for a day trip that turned into a overnight trip. I knew I should have packed a overnight bag!! We bought Luke a mattress for a toddler bed we haven't purchased yet. Got all three of us swimming outfits so we could go swimming at the pool at the hotel. I am glad to have a better fitting swimsuit, but I am not so pleased at how I looked in it. Mind you, that most of me was before baby. Actually, I am growing ever so affectionately for my baby bump. It looks right now! Yippey! I will have to snap a few pics, now that I am feeling better about it. But, not with the swimsuit.... something with much more coverage! :)

I have been having a few contractions lately. They are mildly painful, they make my tummy really hard and achy from the top of the uterus to the lowest part possible; mostly painful in the the lower part, but they go away after a few minutes and are infrequent. Friday, at work, they were a little more consistent. I had a back ache to go along with it. I had been doing quite a bit of walking, and after I relaxed for longer than an hour, then went away completely. I will be sure to mention it to the Dr's this Thursday, just in case.

Sigh.... Thursday, what a busy, hopefully good, milestoned day it will be! 24 weeks on Thursday. We have made it to the clearing point. Not out of danger zone, but the baby is viable. and that means a lot to me. They will fight harder to keep my baby alive, if something were to happen. God I pray that nothing does happen. Thursday is when we have our next US!!! Show us what you got baby! Luke has his 2 year check up. Ryan is following up on his MRI of his ankle, to find out if he has ligament damage or what is causing him pain to his right ankle. And what is needed to fix it. Surgery or just PT. I am praying for the best outcome. I also have an eye appointment. Every person in the family will be checked-up on!!

Oh man, the hormones are hitting me hard lately. Mood swings and hot flashes like crazy! I am sweating while everyone else in bundled up!!! I also have been having this weird taste of pocket lint in my mouth lately, I believe it is just a weird variation of heartburn. (How do I know what pocket lint tastes like, you ask? As a kid didn't you ever place a candy in your pocket for later, and once you popped the candy in your mouth you tasted the lint from your pocket also....? No..... Well okay, I am just really weird then.)

Well that's enough musing for one day. Later everyone!!!
Cindy

Seeing is Believing

Believe.

You have to be very imaginative, but can't you just see where the little arm and legs are? I sure could! :) This was my 8 week appointment. Being my second, maybe they don't get very detailed, but I felt like the appointment left me feeling like it wasn't as magical as I expected it to be. I will say that when you see the little light flashing of the baby's heartbeat still made me tear up, but I just didn't get to see much, the NP didn't offer much information or "look here," or much of anything. I really do hope for better treatment from here on out. The NP was very nice, but not what I was expecting.

The weather is so beautiful! I really should be enjoying it more.

I spent most of the day hugging a toilet. Thank God not for that reason!! I was scrubbing Ryan's office toilet. Let me tell you pumice stones are WoNdErFul!!!! I will not go into further detail, but I was glad that job was done. I was sweetly pre-rewarded prior to my toilet date from Ryan and Luke the night before. I was working, just about done with my shift, and here comes my sweetie, and my little guy with a dozen beautiful pink roses, and some yummy granola bars for me and all my co-workers. What a guy!!! I love my Men!

Oh we got a new car.

Now we have a great family vehicle! Yah!

Healthy Family plan-- good/not great. We have been packing lunches and eating healthy until we are together and eat out. No no no! Exercise for Ryan is going Great. Me. I think I had better get outside and enjoy this nice weather. This plan consists of a non existing chart I need to get done, and placing stickers on the chart for every day we eat healthy and exercise. Every 10 stickers we award ourselves 20 dollars and put it in the massage/spa fund. Once we have what we need for a massage, we can schedule one! I LOVE hot stone therapy massage, but I probably will have to stick with the pregnancy massage or a manicure or something like that. Oh yeah each individual is awarded there own 20 dollars at the 10 day mark. just to clarify. If I ever get the chart done I will take a pic and post it!

Well I feel a little better now that I have had a chance to catch up. Off to make dinner and clean the house up! I love the fresh air coming in from my open windows! Awesome!

Well now that I am here I feel that I don't have as much juice to get a long blog going. I had all sorts of ideas and thoughts, now... not so much.

I work tomorrow. Work is changing. Change at work sometimes scares me. I am going to continue to pray its for the best, but I am nervous.

Morning sickness-- no throw up but the constant nausea, is tiresome. I had a few days of it during our vacation. Not fun. Overall the trip to Branson was fun. I got some cute clothes and serving dishes and a new white jacket to wear with maternity shirts, because I am not buying a bunch of maternity tops... sigh.

I feel all sorts of melancholy today. I feel really excited for this little one, and I don't feel that it is a shared excitement. I talked about it, we are both in agreement that we are blessed that we are. I just am not focused on the work to prepare. I guess. That's all it ever is. I think that is how most are. I just want the all smiles jumping up and down excitement, not the worried/happy excitement. I am not thinking practical I suppose.

Ryan and I are starting a HEALTHY Family plan. I am trying to make up some name tags for my graph I am making. I am excited, to do this, today i just don't care about a lot.

I must say that I know there has been all clear signs for months now, I am still nervous about Ryan's Dr. Appointment today. What if now that we have little one on the way there is a positive tumor marker. Ahh.. Quit borrowing trouble Cindy.

On a positive note my little peanut is about the size of a medium shrimp!! Grow Baby Grow!

We have been starting the mental list of possible baby names. We have pretty much decided that we would like to go with biblical names. Although Luke Daniels name wasn't planned that way, it ended up that it is all biblical names, and thought maybe that theme was a good road to go down. We will see. I am on the fence about it. There are a few names I like that are not biblical.

Well I guess I had better get some things done. Good day everyone!

Cindy

10 Days

This is just a random post. Can you believe there are 10 days til Christmas?!

I still hate ham. Yuck!

I love Christmas.

I love my present this year! It's the best one ever.

This year. Wow, this year. I never want to repeat it. It makes this Christmas extra special.

My husband is the most wonderful, caring man alive.

P.S. I Love You is a great movie.

I am tired and emotional-- after watching this movie.

I still am wanting to cry.

I am excited for getting Christmas cards and treats delivered.

I posted different music for Christmas. These are my favorite ones.

Here are the Christmas tree hunt pictures. We had fun even though it was bitter yesterday.

Hot Chocolate and Candy canes are a must. Jamming out to Christmas tunes also a must.

Luke chillin' in his impressive snow suit.

Daddy enjoying his cup of minty cheer!

Yah! Our Christmas tree. It tried to escape twice and roll away from us. But we captured it!! hee hee.

Merry Christmas!

Cindy

Random Post

This is just a boring post today. Nothing really great to share.

I am still having the pelvic pain, at times it's better, however today it seems worse, maybe because I am not at work, Thus, I am thinking about it/noticing it more...?

I am not sure if i have shared the good news you all. But Ryans CT's, which were done the first week of this month, came back clear! So, no sign of anymore cancer!! Yippie!

Luke is saying new words that's a little fun.
I will tell you some and give you a guessing game I suppose. Its been awhile since I've done that.

"Byche"-- Bryce his cousin

"po-pen"-- open

"mowmee"--monkey

Here is your guessing ones:

"bwew-sips"-- Hints: one word and its a food item?

"oo-baw"-- Hints: one word, and its a sport?

"ow-we-all"-- Hints: one word, a lot shorter than he pronounces it, and also a food item?

Have a good day!!
:)

Cindy

Emotional Me

I really don't have a lot of time to blog unfortunately. I am really emotional tonight, I miss my baby boy...... I wish we would have taken him with us to Omaha, because now it will be Friday before I see him again and that won't be for very long. I work this weekend, Saturday and Sunday after returning from Mayo Clinic on Friday evening. I know my baby is having a blast at his Great Aunt Patty's, but I wish wish I could be hugging on him right now. So Aunt Patty when you read this, please give my little guy one of your terrific hugs from his Mommy. That is if he will let ya. He is not usually the cuddly baby I want him to be. Oh well! Sigh... I miss him.

I am also nervous for Ryans Appointment. I know all of you have been praying your hearts out, which I can't not thank you enough for, however, if you wouldn't mind saying a prayer for this appointment to go well, and that we get good results, we all would appreciate it. Thank You . Thank you. Thank you!!

Emotionally wretched,
Cindy

Full Speed Ahead

YAH! We are over the speed bump!!!! Full Speed ahead!

Dr. Cretella states that he thinks we can put Ryan onto follow up mode. We go to Mayo Clinic on July 31 to find out for sure, and to also find out how closely Ryan needs watched. But based on Dr. C's opinion, no more Chemo!!!

Well ,We have a busy weekend ahead of us. I am trying to finish my Painting project and we are trying to get a few things done with other kitchen and remodeling things, while impatiently waiting for our countertops.

I am also a gift receiver for one of my close friends Amber's wedding. I had a great time at her bachlorette party, I hope to get some of those pics in my computer some time so I can share some of that with you. It was fun dressing up in prom dresses and masks and running around. I miss those girls. We had such a fun time.

Lukey has 3 molars popped up in his mouth now. And he is too small for his size 5 shoes.... Sigh. They are not kidding when they say they grow up to fast. I was admring his footprints we have imprints of, from when he was 4 days old. Wow! He was so tiny!

Well I am so happy that all this is getting close to being over. I was going to share our 4th of July pictures before, but this seems like a good time to use fireworks to show how happy, elated and thankful I am right now!!!!! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts during this time.

Cindy

Markedly Confused

Please Pray.

I think we have good news. The CT results show markedly smaller lymphnodes. Dr. Cretella says good response from chemo. Are we done? We didn't get that answered. So we are in the air still. We want to take these results and rejoice, but are we honestly done...? Are there still some residual cancer that still needs to be cleared?
more chemo?
Surgery?
Please, Lord, not surgery.

Ryan had a terrible dream that he was filled with cancer. So his nightmare wasn't true, so he was happy about that. We are thankful for the improvement but there is still so much up in the air as to what is next.....
Please pray for peace tonight as we wait until tomorrow to hear for sure.

Cindy

Show me your pearly whites.

Here are some more fun pictures or Luke.

Brush-A Brush-A Brush-A!

Ryan is all done with Chemo. feeling much better today too. CT scans on the 14th and we get the results the 16th, hopefully.

Our house is coming along nicely. We got all of the cabinets moved from storage and Ryan installed most of the bases cabinets today. Tomorrow, I will help him finish the bases cabinets up and do a section or tearing up old flooring in front of the door, and then we will screw down the living room floor so it won't squeak. That's our plans for tomorrow.

This month I have a couple of wedding to attend I am so excited to go to both. My friend Amber is having her bridal shower and bachlorette party Sunday, and her wedding the following Saturday. I am so excited for her bachlorette party we are going to dress up in our old prom/bridesmaids dresses and party.

Then on the 25th is my dear college friend Sarah's wedding. I am so excited to see her, and meet her new husband. I just adore her family to pieces, and can't wait to catch up with them, if they are not to busy during the whole wedding. Man, I miss my Sarah, Lynn, Anna, and Miss Darlene.

Well , its bedtime. Sweet Dreams All!

Cindy

Campin' Kids

These are more pictures from our camping trip some of them were way too cute to not share. I hope you enjoy them just as much as I am enjoying them!!!

Happy family! I wish I had a more natural smile cause this is such a cute picture!

Here Luke is trying to help take the picture.

Adventuring out at the campsite.

Getting ready to Roast Marshmallows!

I love this pic also. With the fog in the background and two of my favorite guys! Look at Ryan's cute dimple. I love my boys' dimples.

Roasting Time!

"What is this stuff?!"

"Eww... It's so sticky!"

If you are going to go camping this summer. I Highly recommend the KOA outside of Mount Rushmore. It's more like a resort. Lots of fun stuff to do. I wish Luke was a little older, because there was fun water slides and lots of swimming pools, and a bouncy pillow. Well here, check it out if you are interested. It was so much fun! Mount Rushmore KOA

Happy Summer Days

Cindy

Me Casa es Su Casa

Here is a few pics on our latest development of our house. I Hope to get a slide show thing set up for more pictures but for now a long post of pictures will do. Enjoy!

Kitchen and stairs in dining room.

Dining room/patio doors, with our lovely view of the dump truck! =)
the mocha-brown room is the kitchen.

View of the upstairs from the dining room.

My paint project! Living room.

Close up of the living room paint project.

Silver, copper and gold, metallic paint on my wall. I love it!!!!

It has a glowy shine to it and depending on where you look and what lights are hitting it, the different colors stand out. It's really more neat in person than what you see here.

It was a great day we got alot accomplished. We got all of the 3/4" sturdy tounge and groove floor board screwed down. When I say screwed down, I am NOT kidding. There are a lot more than 2 thousand screws to hold down the flooring in the kitchen and dining room. Ryan is also going to screw down the flooring in the Living room to where we are going to have carpet. and Ryan said, "So, it better not squeek!" There you have it. We are hopefully going to have a quiet floor here soon! Yah!

Tomorrows plan-- chemo treatment and bring the cabinets down from upstairs. If Ryan is feeling good. He is definitely not feeling top notch these last 2 "easy weeks." The Chemo has caught up with him, and he just doesn't have as much fire as he usually has to get things done. This bums him out. I try to do as much as I can for him so he can conserve his energy, however his "red headed stubborness." kicks in and he pushes himself. Probably farther than he should. So please pray that Ryan's energy improves, and that he lets himself slow down a little more. Good night everyone. Sweet dreams and blessings from our house to yours!

Cindy

CAUTION WET PAINT

Well, today I started painting, primer that is. Oh my, I had forgotten how much the drywall sucks up that primer. I haven't gotten very far at all. 2 walls and 1/2 the ceiling and most of the corners in the living room is all that I have finished. I worked on it for approximately 2 1/2 hours. I was hoping that it would have gone faster, so I can start opening up the awesome colors that I got yesterday.

Ryan gave me the go ahead to do a specialty paint technique in the living room. I think it will be really neat when it's all done, however, its the last room that will be able to be done. I bought 3 awesome metallic colors to complete the project. Ooh... they are so pretty. I am also excited to paint the dining room accent walls-- Deeply Red! So cool!

Tomorrow before Ryan's chemotherapy I am going to try my hardest to get the living room priming finished. I pray that it goes faster tomorrow than in seemed to tonight.

I am sure many of you are looking for an update on Ryan also. He is fairing this round of the "bad" chemo therapy well so far. Nausea has stayed in check for the most part, we pretty much have the troubleshooting figured out now... wish it would have been sooner. Reglan is great, and greasy foods --Bad! His main dilemma is sleeping, he is not sleeping very well at night and thus tired during the day. Please pray that Ryan get a restful nights sleep tonight, and throughout this hard week.

I am heading back to Ed, and Holly's house after I have cleaned up. We are staying out there since the guys sanding the drywall were finishing and cleaning up today. I don't need to have my boys breathing that nasty dust in. It's pretty much all settled tonight, so we should be in the clear to be at home after tonight. I am so excited to be getting closer to the finish line with our house!!

Artistically yours,
Cindy

Opening Ceremonies

Welcome, I decided that I needed another outlet for my blogging, I had been blogging on my myspace account and honestly I hadn't gotten any or very few comments or responses from readers, so I decided to give it a whirl here. I wont swamp you all to my whole life story in one post, but if interested I will be happy to share.

I have a beautiful little boy named Luke. He is my highlight of each day. He is 14 months old. Running around and getting into everything.

Ryan, is my wonderful husband. He is currently half way through Chemo treatments for cancer. Quite a struggle some days, but we are blessed that we found it quickly and we are hopefully almost dome with his treatments. 3 1/2 weeks to go. Whoorah!

Our house is a Constructions zone. This is often a source of my frustrations on a weekly basis, as we have only half of our house livable right now, and live off of microwavable food. Blah.

Well, as I continue to find opportunities to share, I will.

God Bless you!

Cindy