Work. It. Son..

Sam and his idol, Jason

It's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of country music. Boy, did I marry the wrong man... When we travel, Chivas and I have music war in the car. Unfortunately young Sam has taken the wrong path and chosen a future career in Country Music Entertainment. Notice he sings the line "cold beer". I almost didn't post this hilarious video because of that line. Ever since my best friend Jamie married Jason Miller (lead singer from Crossin' Dixon) Sam has devoted his life to belting country music at the top of his lungs! Thank you Jason Miller...for poisoning my childs mind and torturing my ears on a daily basis...Just kidding Jason...we love you! Maybe Sam really is destined to be the next George Strait...

The KING of Fashion...or not

It never fails ya'll...Sam is going to crack us up every day...in some way or another! So yesterday he decides he wants to be a "ninja cougar". Yep, that's right people...ninja cougar. Whatever that may be! Wardrobe for a ninja cougar consists of: long sleeve tee tucked into SKIN TIGHT Under Armour cold gear pants and cowboy boots. NICE!

Busy Bees!!!

I know, I know...I'm slacking BIG TIME on posting! School has sucked every ounce of life out of me! Only 5 more months! I promise to post new photos of the boys this weekend. We are all doing very well. We've been busy adjusting to our new schedules. Allison, Granny, and Nana have been SUPER TROOPERS with the boys! It's so reassuring to know that I can leave my children with people that I know will take just as good (or better;-) care of them than I would. What a blessing family is!!!!
Chap has learned so many new things in the past couple of weeks. He is on the brink of a fairly extensive vocabulary for a 10 month old! He says Nana, two, no-no and a few others. He is still obsessed with his furry brother Ty. He tells him "no no Ty." SO SWEET!
Sam is enjoying school but had a difficult time at first getting used to being ready in time in the mornings. No more Mommy doing it for him! It was a much needed transition...for me and for him! He has been complaining of his ears and we have noticed that he has had a difficult time hearing lately. Chivas took him to the doc yesterday and he has a double ear infection! He's doing much better today.
I had an appointment with Dr. Fredericks Saturday evening...Yes, I said Saturday evening! She works seven days a week! My appointment was at 5:15 pm! And of course I was not the last person there. She is amazing. I am so proud to report that she believes I am in a remission! NO MORE IVIG! For now anyways...I will see her every few months to closely monitor my condition so that I don't have an exacerbation.
Chivas is doing great as usual. He is so calm and relaxed...change doesn't bother him. He goes with the flow! It's perfect confirmation that he is the one for me! I definitely need his personality to tone mine down a notch!

Baby's Best Friend

Lately Chap has been CRAZY about Ty. Chap thinks Ty is HILARIOUS and he loves to hear him bark. Ty has always loved kids...and yes...he is SUPER gentle with them. Ty has always had a special bond with Sam (they grew up together) but he is also enjoying getting to know Chap! Most days Ty just enjoys sitting in his kennel being ridiculously lazy. So Chap loves to crawl into the sun room to watch Ty. Chap has just learned to say "Hey TY!" and "woof woof!"...SO PRESH! We love having Ty in our family!

What a year!

This year has been full of so many blessings! Kudos to Lindsey Cummins for making me realize that! We were so shocked at the blessing of another baby (little Chap). I will admit that I wasn't the happiest camper when I found out that I was pregnant. I had just been accepted into nursing school and struggled with the thought of not being able to finish the program. That pregnancy turned out to be the biggest blessing I could every imagine. God has such a wonderful master plan. After Chap was born I was FINALLY diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (mouthful, I know....we'll call it CIDP!) after literally years of neurological problems I finally found a doctor that could help me! I love Dr. Ruth Fredericks. She's my little angel! After this diagnoses I was told that I should never have any more children...this suddenly made me realize why God had given Chap to us when I wasn't prepared for another baby! What a relief it was to know what was causing so many problems in my body! So after spinal taps and EMG's and countless visits to the doctor we finally could move on with a plan to control my disease. After several rounds of IVIG (Intravenous immune globulin) I can do things that were out of the question before! I went from not being able to walk through walmart to doing whatever I want to do! It's truly a miracle drug (as it should be...being more expensive than chemo!) I feel better now than I have in years. The only bad part is that it is the ONLY drug that slows my disease! We are steadily praying for a new alternative...something I can do at home! Until then we will keep doing IVIG. We are trying to go longer without an infusion...we are trying every 3 months instead of every 6 weeks! Chivas is a trooper! He was been so perfect and supportive! Also, my family has been incredible! We know that it is a long road ahead (lifelong diseases can be so stubborn! haha)...that can turn at any given moment...but we are ready for whatever! Little Sam has had a wonderful year. He has really transformed into a funny little boy...SO independent and headstrong. He adores his baby brother! Chivas has had a busy year...mostly because he had to deal with my medical drama! He is so kind and sincere...he takes things so easily without getting stressed out! Chivas and I are both going back to school in 2 weeks! AHHHH! We are both really excited. I will graduate in June...thank goodness! I'm sure each year will become more and more joyous!

Longleaf Fun

Christmas day we left for Longleaf. Longleaf is about 2000 acres in the middle of NOWHERE...literally! Nestled in the center of the woods is a gorgeous master house and "little house". It is HEAVEN on Earth! Longleaf is the only place that I've ever been where you hear absolutely NOTHING...no cars, no cows, no people, not even the cell phone ringing (not a single bar of service:-( So Daddy got to hunt and we got to RELAX! So fun...miss is already. Sam caught 7 fish one day! All by himself! It was SO hot there...seriously like 80 degrees each day!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was SO much fun! I've tried to upload the video all morning long and cant seem to get it to work! I'm SO frustrated. The file is probably too big. Anyways, Chap loved all of his gifts especially Elmo LIVE! He was content in simply holding Elmo's hand! It was so sweet! A few ACTION shots with Sam and his new Jeep...hilarious!