Life Be Crazy Yo!

Dear Blog, I have missed you in case you were wondering. I started this post back in MARCH! That's how busy we are. I promise to catch up with more soon. Love, Michelle

March 2013 - Seriously. I can't even begin to explain how insane the past few weeks have been. We have had strep, a trip to the ER and stitches, colds and allergies, work, teething, sleep deprivation,an upcoming move and on top of all of that - my Dad's lymphoma did not react to the last chemo treatment like it was supposed to. SO!

My parents headed to MD Anderson in Houston last week for a second opinion. They met with the head of the lymphoma unit, and they really liked the doctor. He is assuming that my dad has a different type of lymphoma than what he was originally diagnosed. So for the past week, Pops has been prodded, poked, and scanned to see if they can figure out what is going on in him. They were able to come home for the weekend to care of some things but they had to return Monday for more tests. They meet with the doctor again on Thursday with hopefully results of the tests and getting a treatment plan in place.

This is what I will tell you. This is REALLY weighing heavily on us. Between my Mom's ongoing battle with cancer and now this...it's really taking a toll on our emotions. Last week was pretty tough keeping it together and not having an emotional break down during work hours...it's so hard to keep focus when the mind wants to wander into dark places. I can tell it's really affecting my siblings the same as me because we are all just trying to stay busy until we know the results of everything...and with that being said, I don't even know how my parents are holding it together.

What I do know is this - I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for all the prayers and positive thoughts that they are being flooded with. It helps me to know how much others are praying and thinking about them because one of the hardest things is not being able to be there to hug them and help out. Thank goodness my sister is as close as she is because I know that seeing those grand babies is very therapeutic for them. I was really uncertain that we were going to make the trip down for Easter but after all of this, I feel like they need a good dose of some granddaughter love and some baby love.

So we did go to Magnolia and had a really nice trip. It was, of course, much too short though. I will give a complete update on Dad in another post, but he is doing ok as of now and still not undergoing any treatments until they can nail down what is going on with him. Since then, we moved in to a new house (more space and better area), we took a trip to Dallas to celebrate my birthday and see Bon Jovi. Check. Andy's mom came up for a visit, my parents came up for a visit, we went to Houston for my cousin's wedding, we have been trying to keep up with our busy little 9 month old baby (sobs quietly - my uterus is mad at me and wants to have another baby but don't get your hopes up - she is closed for business) and our VERY busy 3 year old Princess, who is now in gymnastics, and we just squeezed in a trip to the beach. Oh and did I mention the weather was OUT OF CONTROL in May. I mean really. Thank God we were not affected by the tornadoes, but my heart just breaks for those that were.  More to come with pictures and details of our travels.

Making a Chick for Easter.

Giving LF some Life Lessons. 

G

He hates it when I put up pictures like this, but I LOVE the Papa Bear and Cam Cub snuggle pictures. 

Oooof. He is going to break some hearts. My my my...

My loves. 

All I Need is my Three

Tomorrow is my 31st birthday. Andy has been asking me what I want, and I am such a practical person. I was like, oh a new ironing board (really?), maybe a gold chain (the one I usually wear with all my love's initials broke), maybe some exercise gear, but nothing really exciting at all. One year I just wanted my Dyson Ball vacuum. I mean, don't get too crazy, although those Ball vacuums are expensive. We are also taking a trip to Dallas to see Bon Jovi with some of our best friends so I am really counting that as part of my birthday as well this year. I am sure we'll do some shopping and what not there, but I really just can't think of anything that I just have to have this year.

So what do I really want for my birthday? After thinking about this for the past few days, I realized that I already have it. All I really need is my three - and the ones that add that smile or warm thought along the way.

I have my best friend, husband (almost seven years - ha! Bet some of you can't believe that!), love of my life, soul mate, and partner. Andy - I love you the most.

My best girl is the sweetest, funniest, sassiest, and smartest little three year old that I could ask for. And my Cam Cub is the last piece to complete my heart. He is the happiest baby and such a joy to be around. I love playing with him and he gives me the biggest smiles and laughs. These children. One just can't explain how that love runs so deep. I would do anything for them. Anything.

I could not ask for a better father, mother, sister, brother, mother-in-law, sister-in-laws, brother-in-law and family. Through the thick and thin, easy and hard, tears and laughter, joys and sorrows, this family is rock solid.

I have the BEST friends that a girl could ask for - each of them for different reasons.  They come in all different shapes, sizes, colors and locations, some are new and some are old, and I feel blessed that they have chosen me to be a part of their lives as well.

I can't leave out my fur babies either. Brutus and Hazel are so good with Cam and Lila Faye. When that big ol' tongue sneaks one on me or that little one burrows in her bean bag, they always put a smile on my face (except when they bark and the babies are sleeping - no smile then).

I don't really have anything that I want for my birthday this year because I already have it. This year is a celebration of my life, but also all the one's whose lives I love so dearly as well. Because that is what is important.

Blessed, y'all. My cup runneth over.

December 2012/January 2013

Ok this is going to just be a quick update and  pictures from the past couple of months! I am so behind and need to catch up. The update for the Marlette's is: Andy is still working in Enid, I just started a new part time job at a small oil and gas brokerage, Lila Faye is still going to school and loving it, and Cam is growing so fast! He is going to be crawling in no time and is about to cut a tooth, I think. All he wants to do is chew on everything and is a super drooly baby. We have managed to keep the flu out of the house thus far (knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood). Christmas and New Year's flew by and here we are in February already. Geeez. We still feel like OKC is where we want to live permanently but time will tell. We are toying with the idea of finding a rent house since we are growing out of this duplex pretty quickly. No rush on moving by any means though!

The first pictures are finding our Christmas tree. It was a really fun Christmas tree farm, and I look forward to this tradition! We survived Christmas tree hunting this year with only one meltdown, a small amount of blood, summer weather, and a lovely pre-cut tree.

We were both able to attend LF's Christmas party at school and SANTA came for a visit! It was really cute seeing all the kids so excited/scared. Of course, our child was the first one to greet him and sit in his lap. She was not scared at all!! The picture of us is from Jenny and Roger's wedding weekend, where we actually had our first real "date" in a long time! It was a full weekend of fun and they had a beautiful wedding.

Santa did come visit us this year and LF was so excited! It was really a nice relaxing morning with a vegetable strata that I made and we even had our first White Christmas. That evening we went to the Daves's house for Christmas dinner and fun. We ALL spent the night there! It was so fun! The guys helped LF make some snowballs and she got a lot of new bling from her BFF's Brynn and Jenny. They were so sweet to welcome us into their home, and I feel really lucky we have met such a great group of people here. Then Andy's mom came up to visit the day after Christmas and stated til that Sunday. It was such a good visit but it ended much too quickly.

We also had company for New Year's which was super fun! Andy's SAE big brother Jake, his wife Lacey, and their daughter Leighton came up. We had DG come keep the kids so we got to have a night surrounded by adults! It was great and LF and Leighton got to have their first slumber party. More pictures to come soon!