Reminiscing...

When was the last time that you took a few moments and thought about your life? I have always been an analytical person, constantly considering and analyzing what is happening in my life, what it changes, where it's going and what that will mean for my future. There's a song out by Trace Adkins, called "You're gonna miss this", which is the inspiration for this post. While I love my life and wouldn't change it for the world, there are a few things I miss...

1 That sick-at-your-stomach,-miss-him-so-much,-have-to-see-him-right-this-second-feeling, that you have in the beginning of a relationship. While I love Mitch to death, I see him often enough that I rarely get that anymore. lol, Anytime he is on a business trip I get a refresher though! hehe

2. My mustang...She was sooo pretty! lol (this was the day after I got her)

Just today I was remembering the time I went toilet papering with some friends on Halloween, and a few months later came out of my house to head to school, just to find my car COVERED in toilet paper. Not the house, not the yard, not Josh's truck, but my mustang, practically white from all the toilet paper. Needless to say I was late for school!

3. Having a need to go to Lakeland on a regular basis...
Both of my mom's parents are buried in Lakeland and that city will always have a special place in my heart because of the wonderful memories that I have with my grandparents and extended family.

Growing up, we went to Lakeland often, and even after my Grandma passed away, still made it down there every 6 to 9 months for several years. (mainly for the funerals of my Grandpa's siblings) But at least it meant seeing my cousins, putting flowers on my Grandparent's graves and driving my Fields Rd. Now I look for any reason to go down there, just last weekend Mom told me that one of her cousins had called Friday because there was a reunion Saturday and they just found Mom's number. It was too late to go by the time she mentioned it, but I was really depressed about it for the rest of the day, its been over a year since we were down there and I don't have any idea when we'll go back...

4. Cheerleading... I know it sounds silly, but I LOVED being a cheerleader. I loved the practicing, I loved the games, I loved the competition, I loved it all! No doubt Brooke will at least try it and maybe I'll be able to see her come love it too.

4b. A tangent off of Cheerleading is how I miss knowing high school football players! lol I spent 6 falls going to a high school football game every Friday night, and its just not as much fun when you don't know any of the players. I miss cheering on my classmates or my brother!
Josh his senior year...



5. The Westside! While I love having my own home and our house and yard is wonderful, I miss the westside so much!! If only Mitch could be transferred back to Jax, I could return to the BEST side of town! lol

6. Line Dancing...

My senior year of high school, just as soon as I turned 18, I started going line dancing every Friday night with a group from church. There would be anywhere from 4 to 20 ppl from church and we'd hang out and dance and have a great time. Now that I'm an "old married woman" I don't have anyone who will go with me! (Mitch is sooo not a line dancer! haha)

7. My short hair! I had short hair from 7th grade until the 2006. I had begun to grow it out before I started dating Mitch and then kept it long for one reason or another ever since then. I think about cutting it again all the time but I don't have the guts! Besides, what would I do when I need it out of my face, I look down a lot these days! haha.
The original short bob...

What it turned into by senior year...


7a. While on the subject of hair, I just want to reminisce the loss of two of my best ...
While in Orlando Jr year...


And doing my hair myself for one of the first and last times (at least for a while, lol)...


8. After-Thanksgiving-Day-Shopping with my mom, aunt and cousins...Some years we even ran into more family! (Laura, Me, Mom, Kelley, Aunt Betty, Aunt Gail and Aunt Linda, and the girls in the front are Becca and Hannah!)

After my cousin Kelley moved to Tennessee, they're family started having Thanksgiving up there and Mitch and I can't go because he has to work on the day after Thanksgiving! :(

9. My girl-friends! In middle school and high school (church) Amy and I were attached at the hip! lol Now that we're all grown up and married, I never get to see her anymore!
This is us in 7th grade, doing a puppet show for VBS

And in Mexico right before preforming...

And for my junior and senior year, Starr and I were blond and brunette versions of each other! lol We went everywhere together, finished each other's sentences, spoke in code and matched everything from our shirts to our cars!
She passed away last year, and while I'll always have my Brookelynne Starr, I'll always miss my Melody Starr!
And last is my Sasha! We met on the bus in 6th grade and she's always been there when I needed her!
Now that we're both married, we try to get together as often as possible, Wasn't she such a beautiful bride?


I'm sure there are more, but I need to make dinner, lol. I'll leave you with this last thought...

One thing that I'm A-okay with is that this...
(My mom with Me)

Has turned into this..

(Me and Brooke)

3 years, going strong....

This past week Mitch and I celebrated our 3 Valentine's day together and our 3rd Anniversary! Mitchell brought me some beautiful roses and an adorable teddy bear! It was so funny, because my teddy bear is holding a strawberry, so I was hugging it and was like "Oh my goodness, it even smells like a strawberry!" and Mitch was like "No it doesn't!" and so we both smelled it, and it did! :) haha.

Here they are! Aren't they beautiful!


Friday night we spent our first night away from our beautiful Brookelynne. Mitch used his connections to get us a free night at a amazing hotel on Jekyll Island! It was at Oceanside Inn and Suites and we had a room with a king size bed, jacuzzi, 2 flat screen tvs, and a private balcony, all about 100 yards from the ocean! It was so great, and we had a wonderful time, having dinner on St Simons and then spending the night on Jekyll! Brookelynne spent the night at Grandma's house, and Paw Paw and Grandma had a great time with her!

Saturday we picked her up and had lunch, and then headed to Publix, but on the way I accomplished the feat of dumping an entire drink in my lap!!! haha Needless to say, we came home instead!

Gone Consignment Crazy!

Since I have chosen to spend (waste) time looking up all of this information, I feel that it is only right that I share it with everyone! I will post the websites at the end of the post, but first will do a basic run down of the dates/times/locations so that you don't have to look over every website yourselves! I will also update this post in a couple months with the fall schedule of sales!

If you know of one that I don't have listed here, please let me know and I'll add it!

The first of the spring sales was the Jump N Jax sale last week. While it is now over, I'm going to go ahead and give you some info so that you know the wheres...

It was held Feb 3rd through 7th, on the corner of Timuquana and Roosevelt. They had a presale for volunteers, consignors and grandparents. They also have a half off day on the last day of the sale.

JumpNJax

The second is Wee Trade, which is going on now.

Date/Times: February 11, 9am-6pm
February 12, 9am-6pm
February 13, 9am-6pm (This day is the 1/2 price day!)

Location: 1666 University Blvd W.
(The corner of San Jose and University next to the Bealls Outlet)

Details: This sale has a presale for volunteers, consignors, military, and first time
parents/grandparents, but you have to have a pass or preregister online.
Wee Trade

The third is Between Friends

Dates/Times: February 25, 9am-6pm
February 26, 9am-6pm
February 27, 9am-5pm

Location: 175 Hampton Point Dr
St Augustine, FL 32092
(In the Watson Realty Building on CR210, 2nd Floor)

Details: This sale has no presale or half price day.
Between Friends

The fourth is Finders Keepers

Dates/Times: February 25, 9am-6pm
February 26, 9am-6pm
February 27, 9am-3pm (This is the 1/2 price day!)

Location: Morocco Shrine Auditorium
3800 S St Johns Bluff Rd.

Details: This sale has a presale for consignors and volunteers only.
Finders Keepers

The fifth is Upscale Kids Sale

Dates/Times: March 3, 7:30pm-9pm (Presale hours)
March 4, 9am-8pm
March 5, 9am-8pm
March 6, 8am-noon (This is the 1/2 price day!)

Location: Epicenter at Christ the Redeemer Church
190 S Roscoe Blvd
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32083

Details: This sale has a presale for consigners, volunteers, and new moms. Mom's must preregister
to attend this presale.
Upscale Kids Sale


The sixth is Kids Go Round

Dates/Times: March 11, 10am-12pm (Presale Hours)
March 11, 12pm-6pm
March 12, 9am-6pm
March 13, 9am-2pm (This is the 1/2 price day!)

Location: Faith Community Church
3450 County Road 210 W
St Johns, FL 32259

Details: Presale is for consignors, volunteers and new moms. Moms must preregister online to get
into this presale!
Kids Go Round

If my hyperlinks don't work then here are the websites again!

http://www.jumpnjaxkids.com/kidtkid_home.html
http://www.weetradekids.com/index.html
http://www.betweenfriendsofstjohns.com/Home_Page.php
http://www.finderskeepersjax.com/index.htm
http://www.upscalekidssale.com/index.php
http://www.kidsgoround.org/index.html

One specialist down, at least one more to go...

Brooke in her pretty brown dress


This morning we saw the dermatologist and she was very nice. She looked at the spot on Brooke's neck and told me that it is one of four things...

1. It could be nothing at all, and go away on its own, because it's in the crease of her neck, it may just be taking a while or be a type of birthmark. Apparently there are some birthmarks that do scab and 'heal' and then repeat, but she's not comfortable saying it's that because that kind is always on the skull. Those also go away on their own by a year of age.

2. Its a manifestation of some sort of infection

3. Its a 'growth', as in tumor, and may be a form of skin cancer.

4. Its a sinus tract.

The only way to find out if it's 1,2, or 3 is to do a biopsy, but she's not comfortable sticking a needle anywhere near it until we're 100% sure that there is no sinus tract behind it, so I have to go see the ENT on the 3rd to rule out #4, before we continue. If it is a sinus tract, there are two options, as I understood it so far. They have to go in and remove the tract, or if it is almost completely closed, they can do something with out surgery. (but I don't know what that is). If the ENT says that it is not sinus tract, then we have a few different things to do, we need to watch it for the next 6-8 months. If at anytime it has a different growth or scab from the ones she's had, we need to take her back, because that would indicate possible skin cancer. If after a year old it is still there but not changing, then we need to take her back because that would indicate that its the manifestation thing. So for right now, we're just hanging... Her appointment with the ENT is on March 3rd and hopefully we will have an answer at the end of that visit, but who really knows.


This is my stinker in her new activity table from Nay Nay! Not quite tall enough yet!

Four Months Already!

Monday Brooke turned 4 months old!! OH. MY. GOODNESS. (As my friend Angela would put it! lol). Today we had her 4 month appointment and it went really well. We'll start off with her stats...

Weight: 13 lbs 15.5 oz
Height/Length: 25 inches
Head Circumference: 42 cm
On the Chart: 50th to 75th percentile for both height and weight

And she looks great! We saw Dr Sanchez, and I can't believe I am actually saying this, but I think I'm going to make him her official primary doctor. I have ended up seeing him on both of her well check ups, basically as a fluke. For her 2 month appointment, she had the ear infection about 2 weeks before her 'official appointment', but since we had to go in for a follow up with him 2 days before her appointment and the infection was gone, they went ahead and did it then. I made this appointment for this day and time hoping Mitch would be able to make it (which he didn't), and he was the only one at the Riverside office who had an opening this day. I've said that I wanted my girls to have a female doctor and my boys to have a male one, and I love several of the female doctors at the group, Dr Sanchez has really been great, personable and doesn't make me feel like I'm inconveniencing him or taking too much of his time. But that's not the point, back to Brookelynne...

All of the things they normally check looked great, she's eating the right amounts, and she's got a tooth coming in and that's the reason for the ear-pulling phenomenon that we've been experiencing, lol. Unfortunately we are going to have to see a/some specialist(s) for a spot on her neck. When she was born, we noticed she had what looked like a scratch on her neck, but we just assumed that the doctor scratched her when he pulled her out of my uterus. At her two month appointment I showed it to Dr Sanchez, because it wasn't gone. One day I'll look at it and there's a fresh scab, the next time I see it, it looks like its almost gone, but then a week later it looks fresh again. He wanted us to give it a little more time and so we looked at it today, and he's referring us first (and hopefully only) to a dermatologist, which is best case scenario, where its some sort of rash that will be treatable with injections or a topical cream. If we see her and she can't take care of it then we'll have to go see a general surgeon.

Here is the reason that concern's Dr Sanchez. Apparently, while in the womb, before their head completely develops, they have what are called "sinus tracts" that are necessary until their sinus cavity is formed. They usually grow closed by week 28-30 of the pregnancy. If they aren't closed then they have to be removed. Brooke's what-ever-it-is is in the exact spot that one sinus tract runs, and while Dr Sanchez couldn't see a actual hole (which is why he's sending us to a dermatologist first) it seems to be draining from somewhere because it scabs over periodically. So I have an appointment at 10:15 tomorrow, so we'll see where this goes. But I'm not worried, because my God is great, and He has given us an amazing little girl to care for and no matter what happens, she's ultimately His, and He'll used her for His glory no matter what! :)

Speaking of that little girl, I am pretty sure you all would like to see a picture!


This is our "Super Baby"!

And one for the road....


(this is her laughing at the dogs, she finds them HILARIOUS all of a sudden!)

Feburary has arrived!

Well so much has happened in the last two weeks that we have not had any free time! Since the night spent in the ER, my mom's pain has been tolerable. She's watching what she eats and it still hurts her on a regular basis but there's nothing we can do about it until they get her in to see the general surgeon.

In the mean time, we have been busy busy busy with Pastor's Conference at our church!! It started last Friday, and I volunteered all day (From 9-7) at the registration desk. It was a great time and I got to know some sweet people! Saturday we went to see Mitch's mom and enjoyed spending some time on that side of town. Sunday I worked in the nursery all morning, and then we had Mom's anniversary lunch because Monday was 13 years since her lung transplant!! Isn't that amazing? God is so good, the doctors said she'd only live another 3 to 5 years and here we are at 13 still going strong!! :) I am so grateful for that!

Sunday night I went back and got to hear Dr Ergan Caner speak! He's so great and I love listening to him! Monday and Tuesday I worked some long hours, in the nursery from 8:15 to 11:45, doing the Apples of Gold seminars from noon to 3:30 and then back in the nursery at 6:15 to 9:45! They were two very long hard days, but it was great to help w pastors conference!

Wednesday I met up with Jeanna and Zach for lunch and had a good time visiting with them before going to Jump N Jax with Mom. (Its a consignment sale that is twice a year!) We had a great time and got some of the CUTEST things!!

Thursday was my husband's birthday!! Yay!! He turned 30, and I have to say he's the best looking 30 year old I've ever seen!! :)

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I'll leave you with this adorable picture of my baby girl looking in the mirror!