Boughs of Holly are UP!

To begin with, I have an edit to make to the last post. When I said, "I am thanksful for my huband who does so much for me and only completes a little..." I meant, "I am thankful for my husband who does so much for me and only COMPLAINS a little!" Doesn't that make more sense?!

I hope your Thanksgiving celebrations were full of love and joy, creating beautiful memories. We have had our decorations up since a week before Thanksgiving. I will have to post pictures sometime. I love decorating for Christmas every year. It renews my energy and fills my heart with magic. It seems that, as we get older, the holidays lose their excitement, and the stars in our childlike eyes become dollar signs as we age. My goal for this year is to recapture that wonderment. I will let you know how that works.

My health has stabilized I guess. My version of "feel good" has been altered somewhat. However, I will take it! Brandon's kidneys have gotten leveled out so that he only has to see his specialist every 5 months. I am hoping that means that it will be at least until he has finished his degrees before he needs a new kidney.

Thanksgiving was good. My grandparents and aunt, uncle and cousins came from Texas to be with us. We had plenty of yummy food. In fact, we still have some left and probably need to freeze it. We went on what was supposed to be a Christmas light tour but became a tour of the homes where our grandparents used to live. Yes, there were enough homes to constitute a tour. We shopped at stores that were not busy with Christmas crowds on Friday. I spent time with Jennifer on Saturday. I finished most gift shopping yesterday. Brandon and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on Friday as well. However, we actually did something special last night as Thanksgiving festivities were ongoing through the weekend. We are eating the cake that topped my wedding cake. We saved them for year 2. We have two anniversaries since we were married Nov. 26th in a small union then had our "big" wedding June 13th. They are almost exactly 6 months apart. So it works out well.

This week will be less busy but still busy. Tomorrow we see the DR for our first infertility appointment. I don't know what to expect, but I'm hoping it doesn't include too much blood-letting. Thursday I get to cuddle the newborns! Saturday we are going to see one of my students in "Annie". She is playing the same role that I played at her age...the role of the youngest orphan. She is so cute, and her family is one to emulate. Next week we have 4 drs appointments. Whew! May your days be jolly and bright! ~Brenda


PS Please pray for my brother, Tyler, this month as he is experiencing some perhaps unusual 18-year-old growing pains.

absentee apology!

We have been noticeably absent from posting lately. Nothing really was going on. We were working on Christmas decorations. We also took pictures of our family for Christmas cards. They turned out very well!! I will show you a few. We have an appointment on December 1st to go the OB GYN doctor to discuss infertility. I am hoping that it is an easy fix. I did a fertility test last week. It measures your ovarian reserve to see how fertile you are. It shows that you have a good supply of eggs. I got the result I was hoping for on that test!! I'm fertile!!! I have eggs! I have lots and lots of eggs!!!!!! Now....to get them to come down each month. hmmmm

I have enjoyed cuddling the babies at the hospital. They are so sweet! SOme of the nurses call me the baby whisperer. They aren't doing it this week because of Thanksgiving.

Next, here comes the most important part of this post. My mom's best friend, Shelli, just had some bad news about her cancer...She had been doing well with her weekly chemo treatments for the last four years. Her doctor ran a bunch of tests and then told Shelli the results. The tumors have stopped shrinking, in fact she has a tumor and a mass on her ovary. The only thing to do is a chemo threatment every 21 days. We hope that this new method of treatment will be he one to cure her. Her DR says that there are no trials open right now. He told her she needs to pray that one of the trials will open up a slot. I know she is really scared, and I am too.

We need a prayer circle or something,.

I worked really hard on the Christmas cards this week. I downlodaded the trial for photoshop elements. I LOVE IT~~!!!!!I made the cards all by myself@ Then I designed return address labels

I have a lot of pictures that I could show you. THey turned out so cute! Don't you think? We bought that really nice NIkon DSLR last summer and decided to do our own professional pictures. I hope you like them!!

On a side note, it is that time of year where we spend time with the people that we love and we bond over eating ridiculous amounts of food. I will have to say that I will be incomplete at this year's celebration because some of my dear friends won't be there. I love you guys so much! I am thanksful for my huband who does so much for me and only completes a little. I am thankful that I will soon know what is up with our inferttility. I am thankful for the GOOD friends that I have. The true friendships that those friends bring to me, teaches me how to know when somebody is not a good friend. I vow to not concern myself with people that are not my true friends. I shouldn't have to walk on glass around some people. I shouldn't have to worry about whether or not "so and so" is going to get mad at me again. I shouldn't have to worry about somebody getting mad at me for something tiny and not coming to me to talk about it and fix the misunderstanding!!! True friends are those that you know will always be around, will never drop and block you for no apparent reason! True friends are fewer and some of my true friends don't live near me! Kristina, Eneida, Diana, Steph, you all are wonderful women strong and intelligent and you don't let anything get in your way. I love you so much no matter where you live! :)
Althought, Diana, Eneida, and Steph need to move here!!!

Luckily I was born into the same family as my best friend was. I love you Tara! I was also fortunate that my mother found Shelli, her best friend many many years ago!! Sixteen years ago, Shelli gave birth to McKenzie. I was 15 when she was born, and we've been friends since. I love McKenzie and feel like she is my sister. She is so strong and gives me strength too. I don't know what I would do without Kenzie. WHO DID GREAT IN HER PLAY!!!!!

Finally, there is Jennifer! We met in the second grade, and she was similar to what she is now! She is shy and quiet, but she is also loyal! She would do anything for you and is a great nurse. She has had to nurse many people in her family, and I know she would be there for me any time I needed her! She was there with me at the hospital when Brandon was getting his biopsies of his kidney. She would clean my house if I weren't able to do so. She is so full of heart, kindness, and righteous beauty!

If I am not back to post before, then I hope your Thanksgiving is a magical day full of laughter and love! You know what I am thankful for this year!!!

The Name Game

So, while we are not pregnant, Brandon and I find joy in choosing names for our future children. We compiled a list of family names and names that we liked, paying attention to Irish names. After that, we narrowed it down to our top ten of male and female names and researched the meaning of each name in addition to figuring out what nicknames could be derived from each one. So you see that it was a process! Finally we chose our top 3 of each gender and tried to find middle names for those. I was told by a friend that Biblical names gave a stigma to the child that puts pressure on them from the moment they are born. I disagree. What are your thoughts on this statement? While we have taken the time to pick out our favorite names, we feel that even if we were to get pregnant, we would hold off on declaring the name of that child. It might be nice to wait to see what the baby looks like in our arms. :) Here are our lists. This may be the only time that I share a list as I don't want negativity once we have chosen the names we love and are special to us. It is a special thing to name your child which is why I never belittle a name that a friend has chosen when asked my opinion. The only time I did was when Jennifer Davis was thinking of naming her son Samuel. I pointed out that the child would be Sammy Davis. Therefore, if you read the following lists and are struck by something similar to the Sammy Davis fiasco, please share!

Girls:
Lydia-no meaning
Sophia-wisdom
Cecilia-blind one, patron Saint of music
Ava-life or serpent
Mia-no meaning
Gia-God's grace
Elise-God's promise
Felicity-happy
Meredith-great noted ruler
Anabel-Bell meaning beautiful
Emilia-rival, laborious, eager
Betheney-house of figs
Quinlan-queen of the land

Boys:
Hayden-hedged valley
Jonah-dove, peace
Liam-a helmet or protection
Abel-breath, vapor, meadow
Eli-high
Riley-rye clearing
Bennett-no meaning
Noah-peaceful, long-lived, comforter, wanderer
Brody-ditch, brother
Quinton-queen's settlement
Jude/Judah-the praised one
Grayson-son of the gray-haired man
Gareth-gentle; a knight in King Arthur's round table
Wesley-western meadow
Bentley-bent grass meadow
Owen-God is good

While some of these names can be used as middle names too, some of our favorite middle names at this time are Scarlett, Rose, Dawn, Ray, Noel, Talulah, Iris, and Tess. For the males we have Jacob, Abe, Ray, Bryce, Abraham, Cole, Logan, Elliott, Brendon, Brayden, and Decklan. It is possible that any of these could be substituted for first names too. You never know.

As you know, I think, I had to quit cuddling because mornings proved too difficult. However, they found an afternoon spot for me! I am excited to resume this wonderful task! I have to conclude this so I can paint my toenails. :) I hope you all had wonderful weekends. Jennifer, I hope you are recovering from your cold. Please include my cousin's grandma on her mother's side in your prayers. Grandma Blanton is very ill and is in the hospital. I know that she could use prayers along with Tara and her mom Vicki. Thanks.

Prayer Time

As you say your nightly prayers over the next few days, please say a little prayer for me. I have to have a Pulmonary Function test, CT scan, and echocardiogram on Friday. It is supposed to take 3 1/2 hours. I have been having some spells where I have difficulty getting enough breath. I am sure it will be okay, but my excellent doctor cares about me, and wants to keep me safe and lessen any anxiety that I may have when unable to breathe. Scary times!

This Just In.....

Yesterday the letter that I have been waiting for a year to receive appeared in our mailbox. I read it and re-read it looking for the BUT. I still have not been able to find it, and because of that I feel pretty sure that I have been accepted into the Social Security Disability program. I do not know how this came to feel like an accomplishment. The decision process that occurred while I was trying to figure out if I could continue working was emotional as was the SSD application process. I never thought this is where my life would end up at this point. It is sad to me. I feel robbed of this part of my life. Most people are building their career and reaping the rewards that their college and grad courses have brought them. I only have the small loan payment to show for those days. Still, I was euphoric that this time of applications and waiting was over. It is so crazy that I was waiting for somebody that has never met me or seen what I have gone through recently or over the past ten years to tell me what I already knew. It wasn't until I spoke to my disability insurance company (a life saver that I recommend to any working person), and the woman on the other end of the line told me that my case had been moved to a new department. That department being "permanent disability" was what stopped me cold. I laughed to the lady and told her that I thought that was pretty depressing. She agreed. Hopefully that won't be the case. Hopefully there will be a cure soon. Hopefully. Maybe now that the government agrees that I am going through a difficult period with my health I might be able to find some strength in that. Sometimes it feels like I have to defend myself to others a lot. I worry that people think I am not trying hard enough or that I'm being lazy or whiny. Maybe now I can tell myself that they can think what they want. The people who have read my charts extensively, namely my doctors, the SSD people and disability insurance people know the truth. I hope this is the close to one chapter and the beginning of the next.

Babysitting Blues?

No! We had no babysitting blues last night with baby Zack. We had fervently prepared for a battle with colic. I read through a few websites about colic and learned several positions and tricks to help ease the pain, a few of which I already knew. He arrived at about 6:30 and was bright-eyed and happy. Oddly, he was in a position that older boys are known to be caught.

Look at the look on his face! "Busted!" We fed him his dinner, and shortly after he ate, he began to show signs of discomfort, but before he got too fussy, I began to try some of the positions. Each one would work for a while. He would get relief from them. When he was tired of that one, we would switch it up. Before we knew it, the time had passed, and he had barely made a peep. I had him asleep and in bed by 9:45. Zack woke up at 5:30 AM. I changed his diaper, and he was starvin' Marvin. Brandon woke up from his cries of hunger and quickly got to work making a bottle. I was so happy for the help. I fed him and he was soon back to sleep. I decided to go ahead and change him before putting him back to bed. We did so with moves like a pro. He barely knew what had happened by the time he was back in bed getting patted on the back to ease him into slumber. Brandon and I went back to bed as well. At 10:00 AM I was wondering if he was okay as I expected him to have been awake by then. I checked, but he was out like a light still. Within 30 minutes the little guy was awake. I had his bottle made, and he ate happily. His mom was here by 12:45 PM at which point I had him asleep for his afternoon nap. I'm not sure how he was tired, but he was! I put him to sleep with rhythmic pats on the back and a repetitive song. "Baby Zacky no more fussy. We don't want to hear it...We don't want to hear it." Worked like a charm.... Here are some photos from this "morning". They are a little dark because I took them with the cell phone.

Our other cousin was just here with some special little trick or treaters. We took some pictures that I will share soon. Gabriel didn't want to go because he was ready to go into "his" room, but they had some more candy gathering to do!

OH boy!

Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I'm not sure if that is an appropriate statement for this, but it seems like it. Since we can't have a baby for ourselves, we just borrow babies from those that let us, namely my cousins. For some reason, they are the only people that feel comfortable with our parenting skills apparently. I guess that is not true, we have been asked to babysit Rebecca's twin baby girls twice. You better believe we did it both times. OH yeah, there was another baby we had a few weeks ago. My cousin's friend needed a babysitter for her 18 month baby boy. He was so sweet. I really enjoyed rocking him to sleep when he spent the night with us. Tonight my cousin Andrea's three-month-old baby boy, Zack, is spending the night! I need to start cleaning a little. I like my house to be in perfect order when there is a baby in the house. I can't wait to feed him and rock him to sleep. She says he has tummy issues and sometimes cries for hours. I'm up for the task. I slept in as much as possible so that I could be ready for battle tonight. Brandon is napping right now. I'm not sure he realizes what he is in for. We are also babysitting our other cousin's son, Gabriel, for a week while they go out of town again. He is almost 2. We have him a lot, and he is a joy! He is sweet, curious, smart, and personable. He actually looks like he could be our's. However, I can't take credit for him. He is so well behaved that I wish I could. While it isn't the same as having our own babies, we really enjoy our time practicing. Hopefully someday all of this time spent babysitting will pay off. I hope everybody is doing well and has a great weekend. I cannot wait to see everybody's Halloween pictures. We really wanted to dress up, but we have nowhere to go. Oh well.

Yesterday was a fun day. We went to Friday's where we have not been in forever. We had a coupon for buy one meal get one free. Brandon had his favorite chicken and cheese dish, while I had steak and potatoes. I am an Oklahoma girl, after all! After that we went to Old Navy. Brandon has wanted a pea coat for a few years, and I got a coupon to get one piece of outerwear for 1/2 off. Imagine our surprise when the $80 coat was marked half off already! So we got the coat for $20!!! It was a great day for saving money, and I love it!