Taking Care of Grandma Teddy

We took off Saturday morning to Alto to spend some time with Grandma Teddy and help her out after her surgery last week. She is recovering well, but still healing and is not able to do much work around her house. Brandon cooked for us all over the weekend and then he had to come back to work. The kids and I stayed through Wednesday afternoon so I could help with other things. I got her bathrooms good and clean, sheets washed, and vacuumed and dusted. That will help her make it a while until she is able to do more. I also drove her to her doctor's appointment on Tuesday. She got her drain tube out, which was a relief. She was very uncomfortable with that thing. But she still has to go back next Tuesday to get the rest of her staples out and to meet with the oncologist. From there she will know when she can have the other breast removed and her reconstruction done.

The kids enjoyed their visit to Grandma's house. She has some old toys they love and they also got to visit a little with Mamaw and Papaw and Tory. Lillian was amazed to see that pears grow on trees and she and Andrew ate a few. Brandon made us a pear pie as well and it was delicious!

It is really nice to be a stay at home mom and be able to go when we can to visit and help Grandma out. Hopefully we'll be able to do the same after the next round of surgeries. Keep praying as well that she doesn't have to do chemo or radiation!

She's Growing Up! (tear, tear)

Lillian started preschool on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9-1 last June. She has loved it and all her friends she has made there. She has been especially attached to her teacher, Mrs. Paula. She goes in each morning and just hugs onto her. Well, after a summer, a school year, and another summer, today it all came to an end. It was her last day in Mrs. Paula's class. She will be moving up after their break next week to her new class. I'll update you more on that when it happens, but wanted to share some pictures I took of them today when I picked Lillian up from school. We will definitely miss Mrs. Paula. She is a great teacher and Lillian adores her!

Here are some pictures of her with Jorden, Mrs. Paula's daughter. She helps during the summer and Lillian loves her! Then Lillian and Quinn. Quinn and Lillian weren't in the same class for the summer, but will be in the fall. Their birthdays are only about a week apart and if we and they stay put in our houses, they will be in Kindergarten together eventually.

A Whole New Perspective

As most of you are aware, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer yesterday. She found a lump a couple of weeks ago and went in for testing and then was told to come back in to talk to the doctor. Our fears were confirmed. She has it in 4 places in her milk ducts. They are to do a mastectomy on Monday to remove the breast. This is a terrible thing, but also a good thing because they think this should take care of it and she will not have to do radiation or chemo. Please pray for her as she goes through this tough time. She will be in the hospital at least one night and then will be home 3-4 weeks to recover.

It gives me a whole new perspective on a cause that I've been really proud to be a part of over the past year. My sisters and I ran in the Komen Race for the Cure last November and will be doing it again this year. We raised $800 last time, so it is good to know that money went to helping my mom! It really makes me think about God's plan and purpose that we would have been involved in that race out of all that we could have chosen. I'm excited to do it again this year and am even more determined to help the fight against breast cancer. And it will be so wonderful and exciting to have my mom there this year wearing a pink shirt as a survivor!

Please let me know if you would like to join our team and run or walk on November 1st! We'd be happy to have more members on our team, Pink Power!

Trip to Alto

Our busy weekend ended this way....5 minutes after pulling away from Grandma's house!

We drove down to Alto this weekend to visit my mom and for me to hostess at Amy's baby shower. Amy is my sister Katy's best friend growing up. Katy wasn't able to come in for the shower due to work commitments, so I wanted to make sure and come and help out. With Amy being her best friend, she was like another little sister to me. She was at our house all the time and we all hung out together. It was a really nice shower and Amy got some great stuff for baby Clayton. I know she is ready for him to come and for the heat to go away!

Besides the shower, we visited with my mom and Tory. The kids love seeing the horses at the Rose's house next door, so we paid them a visit. The kids also had a lot of fun just playing at Grandma's house. Andrew also ate at the little kid table for the first time. He thought he was so big! Here are some pictures:

Oh, and a random halloween wig we found in the closet! Little rocker Andrew!

National Night Out & Time Out

In case you didn't know, last night was National Night Out. It promotes awareness within your neighborhoods about safety and gets everyone out to meet and visit with the neighbors. Our neighborhood had a get-together at our park with free snowcones, drinks, and hotdogs. So I decided to take Lillian down there around 7 when Andrew was getting his bath and bedtime with Dad.

Lillian loved her snowcone and fireman's hat she got from the firemen. She wouldn't jump in the bouncy house though since I would have to hold her goodies. She also had a hotdog! She put it away pretty fast. It was a fun little outing for me and her.

















In other news, Andrew has been growing up and turning into a terrible two, I'm afraid! He is constantly seeing what he can get into and do. I thought it was funny that when he was trying to pull all the books off the bookshelf, I told him no! Do you want to go to the corner? And...he just went and sat down on the time out chair! ha ha I'm sure he'll be there many more times to come!