I'm fairly certain Hallmark doesn't make a card for Ectopiversaries.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
You almost had a baby
But, we fooled you!
October 29, 2007 is the day I had the surgery to remove the baby that was growing in my left fallopian tube. It had a heartbeat and aside from it's poor sense of direction, it was a healthy baby.
I'm not proud of where I went after that "event". I blogged about it so if you are so inclined, just take a gander through oh, almost all of 2008 and you'll get a pretty good sense of where I was.
The words ANGRY and BITTER pretty much sum it up.
But, as they say, things happen for a reason, right?
That event also gave me a kick in the ass and once I was lifted out of that dark hole, I was more determined than ever to have a child.
Or, children. LOL! What can I say? I'm an overachiever.
October 29th will always be a reminder of the sacrifice to be where we are today. So very thankful.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Evil that Lurks in the Shadows
Last year, my husband and I got hooked on the TV series, "The Walking Dead". If you haven't seen it, it's a show about zombies. This season, it has taken a new twist and there is now a hemorrhagic plaque circulating around the survivor's compound.
Like some evil being, it lurks in the shadows and no one knows when or who it will choose as its next victim.
I've begun to think of cancer as this evil. We all go about our lives not knowing that cancer is lurking in the shadows. Will it choose me? You? Your son or daughter? Your best friend?
Over the last year, I've learned of several young children (ages 2-10) who have been struck by this horrible disease. They all live within 10 minutes of my house and I learned about all of them through the miracle of social media.
I've often asked myself, "Are there more cases of childhood cancer now or am I just hearing about it more because of social media's prevalence in our everyday lives"?
After learning about every single one of the children, I have followed their stories. Some are still battling that dark evil and some, sadly, have lost.
And, with every story, the heaviness of sorrow and fear weighs on my heart.
Last month, I attended a fundraiser for a little boy who has battled 3 different cancers in his short 10 years of life. He is now partially paralyzed but he's alive. At the event, the mother of a remarkable young girl got up and spoke to the crowd. Her 10-year old daughter was scheduled to speak and the mother apologized that Gabby recently had a treatment and was exhausted after attending a Girl Scouts' retreat the day before.
I learned yesterday that Gabriella passed away Saturday night. I never met her and for all intents and purposes, her life had no link to mine. Yet, I can't stop thinking about her.
Now that I have 2 children of my own, the thought of that evil choosing one of them scares me to pieces. I can't imagine being a parent and watching your child have to endure the horrors of chemo, radiation and endless drugs. And, then watching your child take his/her last breaths on this earth.
Part of me wishes that I never learned about those children and their stories. Part of me would rather live in a world of oblivion where nothing bad happens to children.
And, the other part of me is glad that I got to "know" them. Without their stories, there would be no research, no awareness, no purpose for their lives.
Life is so precious.
Like some evil being, it lurks in the shadows and no one knows when or who it will choose as its next victim.
I've begun to think of cancer as this evil. We all go about our lives not knowing that cancer is lurking in the shadows. Will it choose me? You? Your son or daughter? Your best friend?
Over the last year, I've learned of several young children (ages 2-10) who have been struck by this horrible disease. They all live within 10 minutes of my house and I learned about all of them through the miracle of social media.
I've often asked myself, "Are there more cases of childhood cancer now or am I just hearing about it more because of social media's prevalence in our everyday lives"?
After learning about every single one of the children, I have followed their stories. Some are still battling that dark evil and some, sadly, have lost.
And, with every story, the heaviness of sorrow and fear weighs on my heart.
Last month, I attended a fundraiser for a little boy who has battled 3 different cancers in his short 10 years of life. He is now partially paralyzed but he's alive. At the event, the mother of a remarkable young girl got up and spoke to the crowd. Her 10-year old daughter was scheduled to speak and the mother apologized that Gabby recently had a treatment and was exhausted after attending a Girl Scouts' retreat the day before.
I learned yesterday that Gabriella passed away Saturday night. I never met her and for all intents and purposes, her life had no link to mine. Yet, I can't stop thinking about her.
Now that I have 2 children of my own, the thought of that evil choosing one of them scares me to pieces. I can't imagine being a parent and watching your child have to endure the horrors of chemo, radiation and endless drugs. And, then watching your child take his/her last breaths on this earth.
Part of me wishes that I never learned about those children and their stories. Part of me would rather live in a world of oblivion where nothing bad happens to children.
And, the other part of me is glad that I got to "know" them. Without their stories, there would be no research, no awareness, no purpose for their lives.
Life is so precious.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Time Flies When You're Having Fun!
I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. Things have been crazy busy.
The twins turned 4 years old on October 4th and we had their Carnival Party on the 5th. My parents drove up from North Carolina and my sister and her family drove all the way from Nashville to help us celebrate! We had a full house Saturday night and it was so great to have all of us together again.
The party turned out fabulous but it was A LOT of work. I took their birthday off from work to do party prep and was literally non-stop from 7:00 am until 10:00 pm.
(when I start to post about their birthday party next year, y'all remind me how much work it is! Deal?)
At 3:00 pm, I took a break and took some treats to the kids' classroom (cookies, pretzels and juice). I think I could have only done that and the kids would have been happy. Christopher thanked me at least 5 times for coming.
Friday evening, the kids opened their presents from us and they made out like bandits. Chris is currently into anything super hero (Iron Man, Spider Man, Batman). He also wanted some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff. Kendall's favorite show right now is Little Einsteins and wouldn't you know? It's out of production and they no longer make new toys. After some searching on Amazon, I found a set that was decently priced and not considered a "Collector's Item". She also received some Bubble Guppies and Team Umizoomi stuff.
Are they spoiled? YES!
These kids are a true blessing and I just have to spoil my babies on their special day! :)
I tried to make their party as carnival-like as possible, considering we were really just in our front yard. LOL! Thankfully it didn't rain but it was unseasonably warm and turned out to be a 90 degree day! Everyone accepted the invitation and we had almost 40 people attend. Quite a crowd!
For food, I made cupcakes that looked like popcorn, funnel cakes, cookies that looked like corn dogs, popcorn, soft pretzels, cotton candy, peanuts, hot dogs, chili and sausage & peppers. Oh, and we had a nacho bar too. Phew!
For games, we played ring toss, corn hole, basketball, beanbag toss (knock the cans over) and I found a really cool Duck Arcade game where you shoot the ducks and bells ring and music plays. We also had face painting, a Photo Booth (which was the hit of the party, by the way), a "Kissing" booth, a "Fortune teller" (Magic 8 ball and Fortune cookies) and Spin Art. Do you guys remember doing Spin Art on the boardwalk at the beach? Sooooo much fun!
I had planned to make these really cute goldfish soap favors but after just one, I quickly realized that 1) I didn't buy enough supplies to make 12 of those suckers and 2) it was WAY too time consuming. So, I made one and bailed on the idea. But, it is cute!
On the big day, I was so busy that I completely forgot to take pictures. Duh!
Here's a few taken by some of our guests. You can get a little bit of an idea of the decorations. We had 6 tables set up across the parking lot. The games were set up to the right and you can sort of see the food table all the way in the back.
The next morning, we woke up and I suddenly remembered that we completely forgot to give the kids their BIG birthday present. I couldn't believe we forgot! Pop Pop and Daddy sneaked down to the basement to put them together and then we surprised the kids.
It was an exhausting weekend but I know the kids' will have such fond memories and that's all that matters!
The twins turned 4 years old on October 4th and we had their Carnival Party on the 5th. My parents drove up from North Carolina and my sister and her family drove all the way from Nashville to help us celebrate! We had a full house Saturday night and it was so great to have all of us together again.
The party turned out fabulous but it was A LOT of work. I took their birthday off from work to do party prep and was literally non-stop from 7:00 am until 10:00 pm.
(when I start to post about their birthday party next year, y'all remind me how much work it is! Deal?)
At 3:00 pm, I took a break and took some treats to the kids' classroom (cookies, pretzels and juice). I think I could have only done that and the kids would have been happy. Christopher thanked me at least 5 times for coming.
Friday evening, the kids opened their presents from us and they made out like bandits. Chris is currently into anything super hero (Iron Man, Spider Man, Batman). He also wanted some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff. Kendall's favorite show right now is Little Einsteins and wouldn't you know? It's out of production and they no longer make new toys. After some searching on Amazon, I found a set that was decently priced and not considered a "Collector's Item". She also received some Bubble Guppies and Team Umizoomi stuff.
Are they spoiled? YES!
These kids are a true blessing and I just have to spoil my babies on their special day! :)
I tried to make their party as carnival-like as possible, considering we were really just in our front yard. LOL! Thankfully it didn't rain but it was unseasonably warm and turned out to be a 90 degree day! Everyone accepted the invitation and we had almost 40 people attend. Quite a crowd!
For food, I made cupcakes that looked like popcorn, funnel cakes, cookies that looked like corn dogs, popcorn, soft pretzels, cotton candy, peanuts, hot dogs, chili and sausage & peppers. Oh, and we had a nacho bar too. Phew!
For games, we played ring toss, corn hole, basketball, beanbag toss (knock the cans over) and I found a really cool Duck Arcade game where you shoot the ducks and bells ring and music plays. We also had face painting, a Photo Booth (which was the hit of the party, by the way), a "Kissing" booth, a "Fortune teller" (Magic 8 ball and Fortune cookies) and Spin Art. Do you guys remember doing Spin Art on the boardwalk at the beach? Sooooo much fun!
I had planned to make these really cute goldfish soap favors but after just one, I quickly realized that 1) I didn't buy enough supplies to make 12 of those suckers and 2) it was WAY too time consuming. So, I made one and bailed on the idea. But, it is cute!
On the big day, I was so busy that I completely forgot to take pictures. Duh!
Here's a few taken by some of our guests. You can get a little bit of an idea of the decorations. We had 6 tables set up across the parking lot. The games were set up to the right and you can sort of see the food table all the way in the back.
The next morning, we woke up and I suddenly remembered that we completely forgot to give the kids their BIG birthday present. I couldn't believe we forgot! Pop Pop and Daddy sneaked down to the basement to put them together and then we surprised the kids.
It was an exhausting weekend but I know the kids' will have such fond memories and that's all that matters!
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