Trust in the Lord.....

I have to keep reminding myself that life's situations are not up to me. I have to turn everything over to the lord and trust in his decisions. We are a bit overwhelmed with family and friend diagnosis the past month. February is not only filled with birthdays it is also going to be filled with surgeries. Granny had her neck surgery yesterday to clear out a blocked artery. She did fantastic and I'm just waiting to hear when she'll be transferred out of ICU and into a room. If she continues to do well she will be home probably later today or tomorrow. Then we have to wait to see what they want to do with the spot on her lungs. They will biopsy it in the next several weeks and decide what to do from there. Here is a recent pic of Layla with Granny!


On a more positive note, I'm going to brag about my awesome three year old. Although we have seen some different behavior issues since she's turned 3, she is also so stinkin smart! I love watching her learn and apply things she's learned in the past. She loves to "play school" with mommy upstairs at her art table. We do pages from workbooks working on letters, numbers, colors, etc. She loves it and so do I!!!

Happy New Year!

Holidays were great and we just celebrated Layla's 3rd birthday. It still amazes me that she is 3 already. She had a great princess themed birthday party with friends and family on Sunday and then Dan and I spent an awesome day with her on her birthday. We played all morning with her new toys, had lunch at Culver's and then swam at the River Plex that night. We had a blast! Here is a pic from her b-day party.
I wish I could say that 2011 is starting out right, but there are some serious health concerns that I've been hit with the past couple of weeks. Not myself, but people that are close to me. The first one is my Grandpa. He was diagnosed with an aneursym a few years back and his doctors feel that since it is growing, it needs to be taken care of. After several tests it was determined that he needed major surgery to repair. He is 86 years old and I can't imagine him going through this. I still believe that he won't pass the tests it takes to undergo the surgery, but maybe I'm just in denial.
The next medical issue is with my Granny. She has had several health issues in the past two years, but they found 90% blockage in her main neck artery. She is scheduled for surgery this Tuesday. While she was undergoing pre-surgery testing they found something on her lungs that they didn't like, so now we're waiting on those tests.
Judy, my best friends mom was recently diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and they found out today that she has to have major brain surgery to repair called a craniotomy. She is scheduled to have this on February 8th, but we're hoping they can get her in sooner. The doctor said she is a ticking time bomb.....scary news!
And last a teacher friend of mine who is 33 was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They found it in her brain, lungs, and lymph nodes. They are treating her very aggressively with radiation on her brain and not touching the other spots as of now. I truly believe in miracles and I'm hoping she is going to be a true testament as one.
I'm going to do what I only know how to do in all of these situations and just pray, pray, pray!!

Holiday Cheer

It's been awhile. I wanted to try and write a blog daily in November because it was National Blogging Month, but that didn't go so well. Well, our house is festive and ready for Christmas. Layla has been ready for weeks and is really making it so fun this year. I can honestly say she understands the traditions of the holiday and Santa. I've really been talking to her a lot about Christmas being Jesus' Birthday. I want to start some traditions with her this year helping her focus on the "true"meaning of Christmas. She's getting so big and grown-up. Today is exactly a month away from her 3rd b-day....CRAZY! People look at her and think she's 4 or turning 4. Tim came by today and hasn't seen her in over a month and couldn't believe how big she's gotten. He was like..."her face is changing too!" It's funny to hear a grown man fawn over a toddler like that! More blogs to come as the holiday craziness begins!

CRAP

There goes my goal for November... It's not that I haven't had anything to write about, its just taking the time to do it. So a couple of posts ago I wrote about my weight struggles and finally getting my weight down to a semi-comfortable number. I do have 9 more lbs to go until my ultimate goal. It's going to be the hardest 9 lbs of them all too! I have a feeling when I get there, I'll want to go even further. It just feels so great to have my weight down and fit into clothes a lot easier. Why would I ever want to go back to that lazy heavy body?? Running is so amazing too! My time has come down a ton an I feel great! So anyway, I'm going to post a recent pic of myself at the state xc meet. This is the first picture where I can really tell the difference in weight. I'm very proud of myself and I just pray I don't let myself get lazy EVER again!

Busy at our house Tonight!

Tonight we will be babysitting a 7 month old and 3 year old. Their mom, Shelley, is in the hospital awaiting gall bladder surgery. They have an older sister who is 5, but she is at another house. I'm excited to get to help, but nervous about making the girls comfortable and hopefully giving them a good nights rest. Carly slept on a couch last night and Krissa likes to sleep in her car seat, but I'm hoping they can get a good rest at our place tonight. I'm also concerned about bottles. I SOOO have no clue about heating them, measuring, yada, yada. My darling daughter hated bottles and was nursed until she was 13 months old.
Dan was looking forward to deer hunting tonight, but I asked if he would go another time and hang out to help me. He can wear the girls out before bath and bed and hopefully they won't keep each other up talking all night. I know he's ok helping, but he was also really looking forward to hunting too. I feel bad, but I need him. Anyway, I'll post tomorrow and let you know how our exciting evening went. Wish us luck!

National Blog Month

I'm going to try and post every day this month because it is officially National Blog Month!!! We have had quite the crazy weekend. Dan's team did not qualify for state (7th out of 20 teams) They were so stinkin close too! I think all of the boys were bummed, but Tyler did make it out individually. Many of them are returning next year, so hopefully they can make that trip to state.
Halloween finally arrived and Layla had a blast! I definitely got my money's worth out of her costume this year. She wore it to the church party, school party, farm park witches walk, and Halloween night. And of course she insisted on putting it on this morning for "dress up." My parents brought chili over and we had a nice evening. Layla thought she was hot stuff ringing and knocking on doors to get candy.
Today we got to watch Jack for the McAllisters while Hope is in the hospital having her baby. I'm so excited to hear some news. I'm hoping tonight we may get an announcement while we are all at the Ladies Tea. Overall Layla does a very good job with "Jackie" ( what she calls him), but she threw such a monster fit before nap that I'm wondering if I need to really work more with her sharing and playing with other kids. I'd love to make an excuse and say it was because she was tired and yada, yada, yada, but the past couple of days she's been really testing her limits and I think we're going to have to be even more strict with her. Oh the joys of parenting!!! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some Baby McAllister news. :)

The Windy City

I'm sitting here looking out my big front window watching the leaves blow around like crazy. Today and tomorrow we are supposed to get wind gusts up to maybe 30-50 mph. Of course today was the day I needed to run and I was dreading it. I headed out on a fairly new route and going out the loop it wasn't bad. I felt light my legs were strong I was feeling good. Then....I turned around to head home....holy crap!!! The reason I felt so good was because the flippin wind was pushing my large ass...of course I felt light! So, on the way home I looked like a freak trying to lift each leg and run and winds blowing me all over the road. I ran 3 miles and it felt like 12!!! I'm so glad to get my run in today so I won't have to blow all over Pekin tomorrow! Next month is National Blog Month and I'm going to try and blog every day. I CAN DO IT!!! By the way, I'm still dropping weight and I feel really good about myself. Last week I broke the 170 mark and it feels great! My ultimate goal is 155 and I can't wait to get there and maybe even beyond that! Dan is so complimentary and he makes me feel so pretty and thin. Other people have also noticed and it's so exciting! I'm posting a before and after pic to see if I can tell the difference.
This was me in June of 2009 at my heaviest EVER. I was 211 pounds. RIDICULOUS!!! I am now 167 and I'm currently needing to find a good pic of me to share. It will be my next mission!