Cute CG babies!

This is totally stinking cute!

Phone calls with the boys

I absolutely love talking on the phone with my boys. I'm continually amazed by how well Jimmy is speaking and Ty is communicating better each day.

Today I got to hear Tyler cheer when I told him that the doctor had said I'm good to come to Houston in six more Sundays. I also got to hear him read me a story he and grandma are writing. She was helping but he knows some of the words. He also told me about his new friend Ralphie "at the hair cutting place." So we talked about Sister Oliver and how she's done mommy's hair too and how nice she is. Ty also told me how she doesn't use a machine to cut hair but only uses scissors. It's fun to hear what they decide to share with me.

Jimmy told me about cleaning up the Duplo blocks. He also shared some other things but I don't remember what. Grandma told me that he's attached himself to a friend of Jeffrey's. Before Jimmy had only been swimming without his life jacket to Grandma but now he loves to swim to Chris. Today Chris wasn't there but a sibling of a friend was. This sibling is only four years old and swimming with floaties of her own but J really wanted to swim to her without his life jacket. Yeah, logically grandma said no but it is still cute.

Lastly, the doctor was totally supportive of me going to Houston next month. I should be done with IV treatments about a week before I leave and can keep working with him by phone and they'll mail me medication when I run low. He was also excited by the fact that when the sinus crap finally hit my lungs it was only for a day or so. So we're definitely making progress. Yahoo!

Happy Birthday Anna!

There isn't a real reason for posting this picture except that Jimmy's face was so round and cute it just makes me happy. He really was a good baby. And Ty, well he's always been a good brother.

The big news today:

Happy birthday to my sister Anna!!!! She's 22!

This pic got us in lots of trouble and was one of the many, many, many times Anna faked/joked about being pregnant. I think we did a good job creating those boobs and stomach.

I can't begin to imagine how many pictures we have of Anna and Ty. They really are best buds.

P.S. Monday's episode of the Colbert Report was beyond freaking hilarious. The whole way through was fantastic! You must watch it now.

We've set a date!!!!

Yes, I miss my kids like crazy. Hugely crazy. Make up words level of crazy.

The thing that has been hardest for all of us is not knowing when we'll get to be together again. This weekend we started to figure that out. We're worried about bringing the kids home and then running into trouble again since this junk has a history of fluxing between better and worse. So we decided to have a transition phase where I go down to Houston too. This way I can be there with the boys and (on my good days) relieve some of Laurie and Roger's burdens.

I'll take the next six weeks or so to set up a game plan with my doctor, find medical support down there and do my best to get as strong as I can. Then Reed and I will drive down on August 13th! He'll stay for a week to spend time with the kids and then head back to Amarillo to work. We hate having our family apart but he really does have a fabulous job/insurance/situation in general and the boys and I will be in the best supportive situation down there. Ty will start kindergarten in Friendswood and Jimmy will probably do a mother's day out program like twice a week. We're figuring I'll be down there at least a month but of course that will all depend on how things go with my health.

It is wonderful to be able to answer the boys' questions of "when can we come home?" with a solid answer of at least when mom will come down to stay. Maybe then they'll start to express that they miss their dad too!

Words of Encouragement

Thank you Nicky for sharing this talk with me today. It really hit the spot.

My Sister's Keeper

So I took myself to see this movie this afternoon and it was sooooo good. Really was across the board. I got to cry many times and really drain my sinuses which was a good thing. Reed would have jabbed his eyes out but I loved it.

Oh and the cast really was more star studded than I expected. Joan Cusack (Runaway Bride) was in it, as was Thomas Dekker (John Conner in Terminator: SCC), Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Emily Deschanel (Bones), Cameron Diaz, and Abigail Breslin (who I fell in love with when she guested on Greys as a girl who couldn't feel pain).

Another look alike

On the left is Jared Padalecki who plays Sam Winchester on Supernatural and on the right is Tommy Johnston (my sister-in-law's brother-in-law, a.k.a. our fake family here in town).

It is more than just the hair. The stance, the strong facial structure and ways they stand.

Do you see it too?

The kitchen is done!

Just wanted to update. Reed finished the floor in the kitchen day before last. He'll start on the blue half of the living room today. It is looking great!

New haircut!

I had more hair come out than normal this morning in the shower. Then, brushing and anytime I ran my fingers through my hair I had at least twice the normal amount come out. Its been thinning for a while but this brought it to another level. So as I sat in the bank drive through this afternoon obsessing over it I saw a hair cutting place and decided to at least cut it shorter. That way as it falls out it won't be as long. So I cut off like 6 or 7 inches. Seriously my hair went about halfway down my torso. Its tons lighter now, still fits in a ponytail and I actually think looks nicer than the super long it was before. Oh, and aside from the trim I gave myself a while back this is the first time I've cut my hair in nearly two years!