Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Goodbye Blogger. Hello Tumblr.

Well, my little adventure here in blogger-land has been a sweet one. Just like a teenage romance - all hot and bothered in the beginning but by the time summer rolls around, it gets harder to maintain and just fizzles. It's sad but true. Ahh...but don't cry for me Argentina. The Van Fam is moving on to bigger and better quicker and simpler. And fear not, I promise to update this one as often as I do my Facebook. Pretty soon, you'll know what I am eating, watching, and wearing. At least for the school year.

So hop on over, follow me there, and why your at, go ahead and start your own. You know ya wanna? All the cool kids are doing.

http://thevanfam.tumblr.com/

Word.


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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Happy 5th Birthday JD!

(I apologize for the spelling and grammatical errors...I am tired and have no time to proof.)

Five years ago today my life changed drastically. I am sure it's a day I will remember in detail until the day I die. It started very early (VERY early - I am so not a morning person) and pretty cold. It was A LOT colder than it is today (global warming), I do know that. It was around 5:30 when we left our house. I will never forget that last picture I took before we headed out the door...I wish I could b/c it's horrendous but special all the same.

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I can remember checking in and being soooo incredibly nervous. There aren't words to describe your first time. I can remember being nervous when it was time to have MacKenzie but there's no comparison to that first time. To the unknown. It's scary y'all, that's all I can say. It takes forever to actually get in the bed, get hooked up to a monitor, and then get the process going. Of course, after two rounds of PTL I was a pro at the intro-process. I was induced at 7:30 a.m. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. It took FOREVER to get to 4cm thanks to the excess scar tissue from my cerclage. The waiting was made worse due to the room temperature. Yes, I got the room with the broken a/c. They did try to fix it. Let me tell you, few things are more awkward than laying in a hospital bed, feeling like a whale with a pee bag hooked up to you, while three strange men attempt to fix the a/c. Nice. My doc eventually came to check on me and had a FIT about the heat and demanded they move me if they wanted her to deliver this baby. They were thrilled. So thrilled that when one of the nurses rolled me into another room she was a little rough and my pee bag got caught on the door jam and jerked pretty dang hard. I screamed! I remember getting my water broken, which is the most awkward feeling EVER. I had to pee so bad when they broke my water and I was so uncomfortable because I refused to pee during the process. Wierd. It's one of those things I wish a man could somewhat understand because it's such an abnormal feeling. Then came the epidural which I am just not a fan of. I had it with both kids but I don't think I would have it a third time. I may or may not be a slight hypochondriac so being given a list of symptons (some being very severe) and told to immediately noify the anasthesiologist if you feel one is NEVER a good idea. I think I felt 3 of the 10 right off the bat. Anyways, epidural done and the wait continues. It was a hard wait because my mama couldn't be there. Susan (my MIL) and my Nana were there but my mom had to stay home because she was sick as a dog. Luckily, as time drew nearer and the nurses changed and saw how upset I was. They told her to come up but she would need to wear a mask. Somewhere close to 7 or 8cm I spiked a fever and was put on oxygen. The process was taking so long that at 8 cm I could feel just about everything. It was horrible. I begged for more anasthesia but Mr. Popular was in the middle of a c-section! Seriously?! My doc came to check on me and I was at 9 cm. She wanted to start but I refused to push until I got more drugs. Possibly my worse decsion ever. I got a second dose and it WIPED ME OUT. All I remember from there was trying to stay awake and trying to push somewhere other than my face. The whole pushing process took an hour or two. I can't remember. I do remember closing my eyes and drifting into a dream in between contractions and Jimmy flippin' out. At some point my doctor mentioned something about a vaccuum and that's all I needed to hear. The real pushes came and that boy was out - 7:58 p.m. I do remember a few other things. I remember specifically wanting no one in there but Jimmy until the time came and then I wanted my mommy (and boy am I glad she stayed, I got the best birthing pictures ever). I remember puking in a trash can and then eating Olive Garden (the evening nurses were MUCH better than the mean morning nurses)! I remember friends coming and going and there were A LOT. I remember being told by Nicole, my best friend - bless her heart - that she saw my placenta as they wheeled it away. Nice. I remember my brother being very freaked out by the oxygen mask and the pain and the throwing up. I remember a lot of small things. But the one thing I remember most...the one thing that made every second worth it...the one thing I will NEVER EVER forget was holding my sweet JD for the first time. There are no words to describe that feeling. It's one of those moments that I can NOT wait for my sweet friends to experience. It's beyong amazing and one of the few moments that is life altering in the most incredible way!

5 years ago my sweet, precious boy came into our lives.

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And sweet boy, you have been blessing our lives ever since. You are such an amazing little boy and have such a unique personality. You are the sweetest thing ever. I bet I hear, "Mom, I love you!" twenty times a day. You are affectionate beyond words. You are smart and always asking questions. You are ALL boy and keep us on our toes. You have a beautiful soul. You are a joy to watch grow up. You are very compassionate and tender-hearted. You love meeting new people and aren't the least bit shy. You seem to be the apple of your teacher's eyes. You live every day like it's the best day ever. You are so loved by many. You have a VERY special place in your PawPaw's heart. You are a FUN big brother and both love to aggrivate and love to love-on your sister. You are just pure JOY. I am so blessed to have you in my world. 5 years ago today you forever changed our lives and daddy and I still haven't gotten use to it. I love you sweet boy.

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1 Week

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3 Months

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6 Months

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1st 4th of July

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9 Months

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1st Birthday

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Easter at age 1

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2nd Birthday

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2-1/2

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2-1/2 and me preggo

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Age 3

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Easter when you were 3

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3-1/2

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4th Birthday

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Easter at 4

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1st Year of TBall

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4-1/2

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Christmas 2009 - 4

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY!!!

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Enjoying your chocolate chip waffles this morning

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The ONLY thing you asked for this year - a kickstand (since you mastered the bike with no training wheels last week!)

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Having cake with the family tonight at CiCi's Pizza

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Present Time!

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TROUBLE!

I can not believe 5 years have passed since I first held you in my arms. It feels like only seconds. I can't wait to watch you grow over the next 5, but can we slow down a little please? I llok so forward to watching you celebrate your birthday this weekend with your bestest friends! Happy Birthday My Love!

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving - Better Late Than Never!

Holy Moly Stroll-la-moni! That is JD's version of holy moly. Where did holy moly even come from? Can y'all believe it's December 1st? I know I can't but I am sure glad it is. I la-huv this time of year. And the fact that it's actually cold in Houston (REALLY cold right now) makes it that much sweeter. I am not sure what makes this year so much more exciting or maybe I am this excited every year and just forget, but I am all about the Christmas spirit this year. I am sure it has something to do with the kids and how JD totally gets it this year and even though MacKenzie doesn't, she is so filled with the awe of it all. I can't quit smiling and talking about Christmas because I am so happy it's here. Jimmy thinks I am a total dork but I know he's enjoying it as well. He can't fool me!

But before I get carried away with the Christmas talk, I want to recap our wonderful Thanksgiving.

Not from Thanksgiving but one of my faves from this fall...
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Another one not from Thanksgiving but the Priss at her Pumpkin Patch at school...that smile never gets old.
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Oh, and one from the pumpkin patch up the road with my sweet Nana and precious babies.
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So this Thanksgiving was my FIRST time to ever play hostess. I busted my tail getting the house all ready for the big day! Which for some would be pure stress but I'm all kinds of OCD-preassure-lovin' wierd and I think I actually enjoyed it. LOL. Anyways, alls got done and Thanksgiving was WONDERFUL! Seriously. I didn't take very many pictures but here are a few...

My DELICIOUS turkey. I think it might be the best I've ever had in my entire life.
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My plate of food.
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roll, turkey, southern-style creamed corn, sweet potatoes, southern green beans, cranberry salad, broccoli salad, ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, and dressing with gravy. YUMO!

We had a wonderful day and it was spent with family that I love so much. It left me feeling so completely blessed and thankful that not only do I have such wonderful parents (and even though Tim is technically my step-dad, he's such an amazing father to me and grandfather to my babies) but I have been truly blessed to marry into such an amazing family. I know how uncommon it is to have one BIG GIANT family that loves to all be together. I LOVE so much that we don't have to split holidays up with our family here. I love that we can all get together and it's perfect. I am TRULY blessed and just so incredibly greatful for all God has given us.

And how do you end a PERFECT Thanksgiving you ask? Black Friday! Do you know that this was my first REAL black friday experience ever? Sure, I've done the shopping during the day on Friday but I have never been one of those crazy people that stay up all night to shop. This year, Jimmy and I did it together and it was so incredibly exhausting but FUN at the same time. We went to the outlet mall at midnight and then hit Walmart at 2:00 where we shopped until 5:00 when we could finally checkout. We weren't out of there until 6:30 - the sun was a-risin'. Oh, but we had a good time together. I think it's something we'll do every year from here on out with ONE exception. We will have someone keep the kids for the first half of the next day. Staying up for 24 hours straight and then parenting is NOT fun. But we did get some killer deals and a new flat screen for our bedroom!!!

We spent the rest of Friday takin it easy. We did go get our tree but didn't decorate it or anything. Saturday morning we got up and headed to Saratoga to do Thanksgiving with Tim's family. It was so much fun and as usual, the kids had a blast in the country. Bless JD's heart. He's truly a country boy stuck in the suburbs!! Here are a few pictures...

JD playing in the country
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Mac WILL NOT be left out
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My sweet boy
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The boys shooting skeet
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JD and his blackcats
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Kenz not liking them so much
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The girls enjoying the bonfire
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He picks up sticks the entire time - he's my workin' man!
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Shan and Mac
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Well. That's all I got for now. I am gonna try really hard to post some pictures of the new house in the next few days.

For now...hop on over to my wonderful mommy's blog. She'll get you all in the Christmas mood!
http://thegannonfamily.blogspot.com/

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