Blessed Beyond Measure

Meet Shedd ! Named after the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago , Illinois. Daddy had the chance to travel with the orchestra from his school on a trip to Chicago. On his trip, he adopted Shedd into our family for Nixon. He decided to take pictures of all of his adventures along the way. Enjoy! Taking in the Orchestra Getting Ready to Play in Chicago Symphony Hall If you look closely, he is leading the orchestra! Plane Ride Home Riding On a Fire Truck Getting Ready to Ride on the Touring Cruise Meeting a Blue Man Riding the Boat Watching TV in the Room Driving the Bus Looking Down in Chicago Water Tower Place Helping Out at Water Tower Place Oh, so tired! Time for bed!! Heading to the Skydeck Ledge Blues Brothers at Gino's Pizza Having a Cup American Doll Store- scoping out a girlfriend! Posing at the Museum of Industry and Technology

Today was a long day! Between school, tutoring and grocery shopping I was beat by the time we got in the car to head home. I was half-way listening as Nixon was telling me something about taking her new fancy pen to school. I can't be the only mom who half participates in conversations with their kids from time to time. She shocked me into listening when she exclaimed that her fancy new pen was stuck in her hair. She began telling me it was wrapped around really tight and may never come out. Then she explains that it's alright because it looks like a curler anyway. I finally turn around to check out this "new" pen and find a tampon stuck very tightly in her hair. Luckily, it came out. We won't be wearing the "fancy pen" to school tomorrow!

I read THIS post today and it really made me think. As I browsed all of the pictures I have, I am in so few of them. And as I look through family photos of my childhood, my mom is in so few of them. It seems that us moms are always holding the camera. Capturing those precious moments that fly by in only a moment. The moments that we want to remember for a lifetime. But, how true is it that our children will not only want to remember the moments of play in their own lives, but the moments when mom loved and cherished them. When she was in the picture. When I was in the picture. So, my goal is to put myself in more pictures from now on. Won't you join me?!

The same Indian Bryan and I posed in front of on our honeymoon! Little Sas! Ahh! She loved the big fluffy beds in our cabin. My Little Tourist The hotel on the hill was the one that Bryan and I stayed in on our honeymoon Who better to imitate ? Cosmic Caverns- a really amazing cave we visited. We loved it! Especially the sweet cat that looked like Grey and the fruit bats! Nana and Papa Near our hotel Bryan and I traveled to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and Branson, Missouri for our honeymoon in 2003. This year for spring break we decided to re-visit the same spots and had a great time! Wish the weather had been a little warmer, but we still had fun.

I love to watch Grey's Anatomy. It has always been a favorite of mine. It isn't on Bryan's list of things he loves to watch, so I DVR it and watch it on nights when he works. Last night he worked the talent show at his school, so I had time to catch up on the last four episodes. It caught me completely off guard when one of the characters was scared something was wrong with her new pregnancy and the words "molar pregnancy" slipped into the conversation. Something like, "Please don't let it be a molar pregnancy." My journey has been a long one. And I have had to change a lot about my life. My oncologist was very frank with me about the changes that had to be made in my life if I wanted cancer to stay out of my future. She explained that holding on to stress and feelings is what she sees develop cancer in people the most . . . and that if I didn't learn to actually allow myself to "feel" things, then I would probably have cancer ...

I know I was a pain in the teenage years. I have apologized to my parents many times about the things I said when I was a teenager. So, why in the world is my six-year old talking like she is sixteen and knows everything there is to know?! "Mom, I already told you we weren't going to this store today." "Well, we are because I want to go." "Well, I am not going because you aren't the boss of me." "Oh really. I am pretty sure that I AM the boss of you. I am your mother and I make decisions that are best for you. Do you understand that." "No. I sure don't. And you aren't the boss of me." Wow! She is pretty strong-willed. Thankfully, I just got an email from Baby Center talking about the power struggles of six-year olds . So, hoping this is a temporary transition . And not the teenage years lasting forever and ever!!

Nixon is such an old soul. I am pretty sure she worries about things most kids don't even think about. Today she was melting into tears in the car. I finally got her to talk to me about what she was feeling. "What is wrong sweetie?" "I don't want to hurt you, so I don't want to talk about it." "Nixon, you can tell me anything at all." "Momma, have you ever had so much fun that you forgot about me?" "I know what you are talking about. In my life I have had so much fun that I forgot just how much I missed someone." "Well, I think I forgot about you today at school. I always miss you so much that it makes my heart hurt. And then we were having so much fun at recess that I forgot how much I love you. I forgot about you." "No punkin , you didn't forget about me. You just had a moment where something else you were doing was more important than missing me and that is alright." "I just don't ...