Finally...SUMMER is HERE!!!

I love summer! Teachers love summer!! Summer is a much needed 10 week break from watching the clock all day....repeating yourself all day....a time to refuel and recharge for the next school year spending time getting stuff done with friends and family and around the house. Charli and I had a BLAST last week. Ruby was gone on vacation so it was just C and I playing all week. I took her to the pool a couple of days.

 She was a bit shy of the water but I know that will change as the weeks progress. We also took a trip to Sulphur Springs to see MeMe. Charli adores her MeMe!


 
 
She is a mess!  They were playing music over the outdoor speakers and she was just a dancing away in the water.  She is definitely a hip shaker!!

Mr. and Mrs. Travis Jacobs

I can't believe my baby sister is finally married!  I am so happy for her and Travis.  He is such a great guy and I have no doubt he'll take amazing care of her.  The day  was perfect.  Yes, it was hot, but a beautiful day for a wedding. 

The wedding took place at The Belgum House in Longview.  It was AMAZING!  They thought of everything!  Charli really got into the make-up and primping before the wedding lol!

Charli LOVES to dance and they had a jukebox!  She was in heaven! :)

Such a memorable day and I am so happy to have been a part of it!

Easter

We had a blast at the Botanical Gardens in Grapevine!  Charli has become quiet the independent one when walking out and about.  There is a ton of exploring to do at this age :) 

OOPS!

Well, not exactly what I said when I tripped and tumbled over the baby gate at 6:45 am Wed. morning!  My foot got a hold of it and I took a pretty hard fall landing on my right leg and foot.  I heard a loud pop and then felt a million times more pain that I've felt before.  And I do feel I have a high tolerance for pain!  I actually never got above a "5" in the hospital having Charli and I told the doctor Wednesday I was at least at a 9 when I finally got there.  Darren ran to my rescue thinking the worst had happened and an intruder was in the house hurting me.  I guess from the other room this all sounded even more tragic!  We sat for almost an hour trying to get me off the floor.  There was no mobility, just pain, and I was getting worried.  This was not a pretty sight although it is almost funny to think about now.

Thank you to Shelli (sis in law) for taking me to the clinic and sitting for 3 hours while they did x-rays and got me fixed up.  They put a soft cast on and gave me crutches and told me there was a small fracture in the posterior tibia and a bad sprain and pull in my ankle.  I was so glad the whole thing wasn't broken!!  They were afraid a possible tear in a ligament so they wanted me to follow up with the Orthopedic surgeon for an MRI.  My mom came over and spent the day Wed. and Thurs. to help out with the house and Charli so Darren could work.  My work was wonderful with encouraging me to rest and take it easy at home!  I have never broken a bone or had to be on crutches and I must say I have developed a WHOLE new respect for those on crutches!  It is a complete workout!

I went to the Ortho on Thurs. and he removed the cast and examined it and the xrays from the other doctor of the ankle and didn't feel it was time for an MRI.  He x-rayed my leg and knee as well and said he didn't think the small fracture needed a cast but just a brace and compress wrap and to do the R.I.C.E treatment (Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate).    He encouraged me to start trying to put weight on it and slowly try walking to help exercise it.  What seemed impossible at first has become easier over the last few days.  I will go back in 2 weeks and they'll do x-rays again and hopefully it will be getting all better!!

Here are some pics after he removed the cast with just the splint and wrap on and then a couple of pics on day 4 when I removed everything for a bath.  There is still some swelling and brusing but it is feeling much better.  I can put some weight on it and actually walking a little today with just one crutch!  I bet I will be driving tomorrow and hopefully walking (slowly and carefully) with no crutches! 

I definitely plan to slow down and take things a little eaiser (I am sure my leg will remind me of this for a few more weeks too).  Having a 1 year old and a hurt leg don't really go together very well!!!!  Everyone, please be careful of those baby gates out there.  They may keep your babies safe, but they can really reach up and grab ya!! :) 

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and thoughts :)  I am doing great!

Holidays, Charli turns 1, New Years, and THE BIG SNOW!!!

Do you ever wish you could push the pause button in your life?  This is how I feel a lot these days!  It seems like just the other day I was updating this blog and it was still December.  Now here we are in Feb. and time is just flying right by.  A lot has happened since my last post.

We had an amazing Christmas with all of our family.  It was especially fun this Christmas at my parents with both the babies.  Children just seem to make the holidays even more fun and special.  I really enjoyed having a two week break from work to spend time with Charli girl!!

December 29th was Charli's one year bday and we decided to give her a party at The Wiggly Center in Frisco. The weather held off for us that day and we and a terrific turnout with friends and family.  Everyone had a blast!  Here are a few pics of Charli and her sweet friends, Grayson Butler, Maddie Robinson, Lily Medlin, Luke Sanders, her cousin Abigail Roden and her super sweet cousin Shaddox Burton! 

 We took Charli for her 1 year well exam and sweet thing weighed 18 lbs 6 oz. She is a little thing :) We just can't believe she is already one!  She is truly the most amazing blessing we could ever ask for.   Again, time sure does fly right by.  She'll be starting elementary school before we know it!!  Where's that pause button???  

New Years was great.  Darren and I took Charli to my parents for the night and we went to the Stars game and to Big D NYE and then stayed at the Doubletree for the night.  Charli took her FIRST 2 steps while at my parents!!  We were so excited for her.  Darren and I had a blast with friends at Victory park for the game and music afterwards.  We are definitely considering this again next year!  We all ate our cabbage and blackeyed peas New Years Day. Did you?  Here's hoping for a lucky year!

Feb. 11th it came a HUGE snow!  I left at 2 am Wed night/Thurs. morning for San Antonio with the FISD All City Choir on a charter bus.  There was zero snow when we left at 2 am and by 7:30 I got an email from Darren on my phone with pics of nothing but beautiful white fluffy snow.  It was absolutely amazing how quick it feel all day.  We headed back from San Antonio around lunch time Thursday and about Hillsboro we crept into the snowy wonderland.  We couldn't believe how much snow there was!  School was cancelled Friday so Charli and I enjoyed a little playing in the snow.  She didn't really know what to think of it but wasn't too fond of the cold part of it!  The news stated this was the most snow Dallas had ever had.  They also said after this storm hit Florida there would be snow on the ground in all 50 states.  The grass and rooftops are still covered here on Saturday, but the majority is melting away.  It was so beautiful while it lasted :). 

                                   Cheers to all!  Happy New Year and hope to see you soon!

"It's The Most Wonderful Time....of the year!"

Or is it???  As much as I love this time of year, I really don't love shopping this time of year!  The shopping began Black Friday.  We LOVE Black Friday shopping at 4am, but it'll wear you out that's for sure.   From there I decided to shop online for most of the rest needed.  Shopping online is a much better idea, let me tell you!  I tried to get out and about to finish a final few gifts at a few stores and it was NUTS!  Not only are there zero parking spots, but people are just crazy everywhere.  The lines are long, the stores are a mess, and it just doesn't seem like "the most wonderful time of the year."  I will remind myself to start super early next year and also take advantage of online shopping.  You might think paying the shipping cost is a waste, but I say not.  Shopping online is my new favorite friend :)

The topic of discussion last weekend was "to tree or not to tree?"  We thought our floors would be installed a few days ago (and what a mess that is going to be), but turns out it will be the 28th.  I just couldn't bare NOT putting up a tree for C's first Christmas so I made the journey to Wally World and purchased a 6 1/2 foot prelit tree, added some multi-colored lights and a few ornaments and "ta-da" it is now Christmas in The Roden home :)  So glad I did!  Let me note that there are TWO trees (much bigger) up in the attic right now but I am too freaked out over spiders these days to get up there and hunt for all the xmas stuff so I opted to just buy new. 

Once the tree was up we took Charli for her visit to see Santa.  We tried two different Santas and she just wasn't gonna be happy with either.  I am not sure if it is the bright red suit, the long white beard, or just the stranger part of it but she wasn't buying it.  We'll just try again next year :)  I hear the Santa in Allen and the one in Northpark are just amazing!  Maybe we'll try there!

    

Backtracking a bit....another fav of this month was getting to go to the Adolphus parade.  It was a blast and Charli LOVED all the floats, characters, and bands that played.  It was freezing, but so fun!  It was the perfect way to start the holiday season! 

                                                                           

One thing is for sure, I truly do love the holidays.  I love being out of school and able to spend time with my sweet baby girl and jolly good husband.  I also look forward to visiting with our families and making memories with them.  The time is really just flying by ya know.  It seems like just a short while ago I was getting ready to have Charli and now we can't imagine life without her!  Darren and I feel so fortunate to have her and such wonderful people in our lives.  Merry Christmas!

What a week!

So I guess you can say we haven't had the best of weeks!  Charli had a flare up with her eczema last Monday and it is so frustrating for her and us.  I let her oral meds run out and didn't schedule the doc exam because it was doing so good.  Well, I learned to not let that happen!  Poor thing didn't sleep much Monday and Tuesday and she seemed fussy and uncomfortable.  This is not Charli's norm.  I was lucky to get a last minute appt. with the allergist and they changed our meds up.  We are taking Zantac twice a day (just a small amount) and also Zyrtec once a day.  A little bit of hydrocortizone cream and tons of Vanicream on the skin and boy have things turned around!!!  We have our fun loving happy baby back!!!!  Eczema is so frustrating.  You have to tackle it everyday.  Many friends who have experienced this skin disorder with their children have shared their strategies.  I have learned that what works for one doesn't always work for the next person.  We know she has allergies to several different things and we certatinly try to limit her from those things.  We do not let her anywhere around peanuts and eggs!  The cats and dogs are a bit hard to keep her away from though.  It can always be so many things: dust, indoor/outdoor allergies, environmental, clothing, food allergies, etc.  Educating yourself is key to tackling it as well!

Just as we thought we would get sleep Wed. night, I got up about midnight to find standing water in the hallway, hall bath,, and our bedroom carpet.  We had some sort of sewer blockage which decided to back up all in the house!  I tackled the drains and washed those down with bleach to rid the smell, grabbed every towel in the house and tried to make it through the night (sleeping 4 am - 6 am isn't the best).  Thurs. we got the insurance company involved as well as the restoration company and the City of Lewisville.  Luckily, Lewisville will come out and clean the lines up to 2 times a year FREE!  This would normally have to be done by a plumber.  That fixed the program.  Well, not the damages.  The restoration company tore out our bedroom carpets, some of the wood floors, and all baseboards along most of the walls in that part of the house.  Luckily the city determined the blockage to be on the residential side so insurance will pay less our deductible.  YAY!  I guess our Thanksgiving break will consist of lots of cleaning and dealing with floor companies and insurance company.  I guess I need to figure out who fixes the baseboards?

To top off this delightful week, i woke up Sat. to a strange golf ball size place on my thigh.  It hurt really bad.  It swelled up all day to a huge raised blister full of fluid.  I ended up at the doctor Sat. afternoon and he prescribed antibiotics.  It looks like a spider bite and was no infected. 

What else?  NOTHING!!!  We have had our share this week to last us another 2 years at least :)  Here are some pics to show off our crazy week!