The Toddler Chronicles

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-17T09:25:00.004-07:00

Incase you didn't get our Christmas card this is it! :)

I have received quite a few Christmas letters this year. All of them from families that have multiple children. Personally, I don't see how they do it. I barely have an extra 10 minutes in a day when I am at home and how they have time to sit down and write a letter is beyond me! More power to them. :)

But...

Since I am at work right now (and lets admit..this time of year who actually works at work? =) I thought I would give you all my version of our Christmas letter.

So here goes nothin...

Merry Christmas from Travis, Sarah & Kaelynn! I hope this letter finds everyone in good health and spirits. We have had quite the year in 2009. Full of ups and downs.

In March my step-dad was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. We were called to come to Virginia b/c he was in the hospital and things were not looking to great. Praise the Lord he came through and was able to go home! He has been fighting his battle with cancer ever since and the tumor has shrunk! He still has a long battle ahead of him but God is so good in answering our prayers to shrink the tumor and give us even more time with him. :)

In April we celebrated Kaelynn's 2nd birthday. She is growing up more and more every day. She may look like Travis but she has my personality and LOVELY morning attitude! :) These days she is so independent and likes things to be exactly her way. Everything has to be situated exactly to her liking and she will work on it until it is right. She loves to help me bake, put clothes in the washer and dryer, she also loves to unload the silverware from the dishwasher. She is still in "school" here on post and loves every minute of it. Her favorite part of the day is when they get to "wiggle their butt" to the hokie pokie. She is really getting into Christmas this year and is making it so much more fun. I have ALWAYS loved this time of year but she just makes it even more amazing.

In July we were so excited to have Travis' mom come to visit us. It was great having her here and being able to show her our new stomping grounds. :)

My birthday was also in July, but we won't discuss any of that or how old I am. HA!

In September and October we were lucky to spend 2 1/2 weeks in Virginia. 1 week of that was spent at Myrtle Beach! Boy have I missed that place! It was also Kaelynn's 1st time at the beach. SHE LOVED IT! She still talks about the "big water" and is wanting to go back.

Travis had to have 2 surgeries on his shoulder this year. Both of which did NOTHING to correct the problem. So ultimately it came to the conclusion that he was not able to be a combat MP, and these days if you are unable to go to war then the Army doesn't see any use for you. We have started the process of a Medical Discharge. Once he is out we will be relocating to Indianapolis. We are very excited to be moving around family!

This year we will be spending Christmas in Colorado. We wish that we could be with our families again this year but it just didn't work out.

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Love,

The Dooley's

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2009-11-30T12:07:00.004-07:00

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CHRISTMAS!

I always have..but this year..is SO MUCH more fun! Kaelynn is so excited about the decorations and the trees. She makes it so much fun! I can't wait to be able to tell her what Christmas is really all about!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Whew! It's been awhile..

2009-11-12T11:17:00.003-07:00

Boy do I have alot to catch everyone up on!

I haven't posted since we went to the Beach in September. We had A BLAST! Kaelynn *LOVED* the beach and playing in the "Big Water". We couldn't keep her out of it and she totally wore me out! She is still talking about going back to the big water soon.

We spent about 3 weeks in VA during September/October and it was so nice to see our family and friends!

Since we have been back we have been told that Travis is going to be Medically Discharged from the Army. One part of me wants to jump for joy and do cartwheels in the street, but yet another part of me is so scared to be thrown into this horrible economy and have to find jobs. LUCKILY, the Army comes with resources and benefits that will help Travis find a job or get into school. We have decided that when this happens we will be relocating to the Indianapolis area. Because of that I am soo excited! We will be surrounded by family and Kaelynn will be able to play with Chloe and all of my cousins out there! Hope they are ready for that! haha! Travis will be going back to the Dr. on November 30th where he will hopefully get the referral to be discharged and the process will get started. It can take anywhere from 1 month to 6 months for us to get out. Just depends on the process. As is everything with the Army we will be playing the "Hurry up and wait" game. Will definitely keep everyone posted as all of that unfolds even more in the upcoming weeks.

So on a GREAT note! My very first *BEST FRIEND* is now living in Colorado Springs and I couldn't be happier! Thats right! Tiffany is in town! It is so great to have her here and for our kids to be able to play. I look forward to spending what time we have left here with her and her family :) Just like old times!

This coming weekend we are heading to Vail, CO for a marriage retreat with Travis's company. I am looking forward to that. The last one we attended was great and we learned alot.

THEN..next weekend we are heading to Durango, CO to take Kaelynn on "The Polar Express". We will be spending the weekend there as it is a 5 hour drive. I am so excited to see her face when she sees the train! It is going to be so fun!

I promise i will do better with keeping up. Things have been pretty crazy the last couple of months!

Hope everyone is doing well! We are so excited for the upcoming Holidays!

When the leaves start to FALL

2009-11-12T11:11:00.005-07:00

Here are some of my favorites from the beginning of the Fall season!

Kaelynn with her BFF Emma! We Love the Hall family!

Time to play catch up!

2009-11-12T10:53:00.006-07:00

Here are pics from our beach trip in September!

Kaelynn with "Uncle Van"

Ahh this is the life!

Riding the horse

Kaelynn and her Pop-Pop

Such a modest little girl..

I wish all of our pics had this kind of background..

Silly face!

This smile melts my heart!

Indy trip so far..

2009-08-29T08:43:00.005-06:00

Flying by!

2009-08-17T16:08:00.002-06:00

Ok seriously! I can't believe we are halfway through August!! Where has this year gone?!? We have been having LOTS of fun this summer with guests and playing at the pool. I finally finished my summer quarter at School and actually have a month off!! WOOHOO! I was pretty stressed out this past quarter since it was a shorter quarter but with the same amount of work as a regular time frame. Now nothing but relaxation to look forward to...or as much as you can get with a 2 year old in the mix!

On the 24th we are leavin on a jet plane to go see my Dad, Kara and Chloe in Indianapolis! We are very excited and Kaelynn can't wait to see Chloe and ride the ponies! We will be there until the 1st. Unfortunately Travis won't be able to join us because he is trying to save as much leave as he can for their leave before they deploy.

Travis is having surgery on the 9th AGAIN. He is having alot of fluid build up in his shoulder and has alot of scar tissue buildup. This time they will actually have to make an insicion so we will see how it goes. LUCKILY he will get 30 days leave for the surgery which means.....

On the 16th we leave for Virginia and Travis now gets to leave with us!! We will be heading to the beach on the 18th and will be there with my Mom and Ted until the 25th! Sooooo excited about this because I have not been to the beach in a few years plus this will be Kaelynn's first trip there! I can't wait to see how much fun she has!

On a more serious note..Please continue to keep Ted in your prayers. We found out a couple of weeks ago he is going to have to go through more Chemo treatments starting this week. He will have 8 rounds of this every 3 weeks. Please pray for his strength during these treatments. We have been able to see him on the webcam lately (now that I have it working properly!) and he looks really good!

Hope you all are doing well!!

Take Care!

XOXO

Potty Talk

2009-07-11T16:05:00.001-06:00

So I would FINALLY consider us 99% potty trained!

We have made it to the point where Kaelynn is asking to go when we are out and about. It couldn't happen at more inconvenient moments BUT nonetheless..IT IS HAPPENING! :)

On my way........to 30!?!?

2009-07-11T16:00:00.003-06:00

July 8 was a sad day for me. I turned 26. HA! Which means that I am now less than 4 years from turning 30. Can you tell I am NOT THRILLED?! BUT then someone said "HAPPY BIRFDAY MOMMY!" and it made it all worthwhile :)

A day at the pool

2009-07-11T15:55:00.004-06:00

We finally got a chance to check out our pool here on post! We had a great time! Kaelynn LOVED it! She loved the kiddie water slide and jumping into the pool. She was such a little fish :) Guess we will be spending alot more time there now that its free! :)

Eatin good..in the neighborhood :)

2009-06-26T16:46:00.002-06:00

Fun in the sand with Daddy!

2009-06-24T20:23:00.004-06:00

These aren't very exciting but I just think she is so darn cute, I had to post them :)

The Greatest Show on Earth!

2009-06-15T14:08:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we took Kaelynn to her first Circus!! Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey were in town and they put on a show just for Military so we ended up getting free tickets! She absolutely LOVED it! She can't stop talking about the Tigers and Elephants (which by the way I am so impressed at how well she says that word!). I did about pass out when they told us how much a snowcone and cotton candy were though. HOLY MOLY! Just because you put a snow cone in a cup that says Ringling Bros on it doesn't make it worth $15!! And just b/c you add a wizard hat to the top of the cotton candy bag doesn't make it worth $12!!! Needless to say my little princess didn't get either of those. Not that she really cared b/c daddy made sure her popcorn bowl never saw the bottom of the tub. Lol. We had so much fun though. It was great actually having her in a good mood and seeing her so excited! She passed out before we even got out of the parking lot!

Her list of songs is increasing by the bus loads! She just starts rattling off songs and it blows my mind! She is obsessed with Twinkle, Twinkle little star, the itsy bitsy spider and the ABC's (which she now can sing all the way thru!) This morning i woke up to her singing Old McDonald..it was too funny!

Sadly this morning we were informed that her BFF Alexis will be leaving at the end of this month. You laugh at me saying "her BFF" but I kid you not when i tell you that Alexis CRIED the other day when I picked Kaelynn up early on my day off. They give each other high fives when one of them leaves and help each other wash their hands when one of them comes in the morning. It is quite cute actually. Hopefully Kaelynn won't be too upset. I mean afterall she does still have Lupita which is the 3rd musketeer in the group and who happens to look just like Dora the Explorer so obviously Kaelynn loves her and talks about her all the time.

That's about all for now! Hope you all are doing well!

XOXOXO

Finished my finals..summer..and upcoming events!

2009-06-09T16:04:00.003-06:00

So after years of saying " I really need to go back to school" I have successfully finished my first quarter!! I am quite proud of myself for making it through this first quarter. It was hard trying to get a routine down of when I can do homework and having to take care of Kaelynn as well. But it all worked out and I took my last finals today! I PASSED! Whew! I get a 10 day break for "summer" and then its back to the grind for summer quarter. Luckily i get a whole month off between august and september :)

Trav's mom will be here July 3-10th!! I can't wait! We are going to have a lot of fun! I am in the process now of trying to plan fun stuff for us to get into :)

I am very excited for our upcoming trip home! That's right i said HOME! I can't wait to get back to VA! Kaelynn and myself will be flying (alone...ugh..ahem..i mean YAY!) back on sept 16. From there we will leave for Myrtle Beach on the 19th with my mom and Ted. Travis won't be able to join us down there until the 23rd..bummer..he will only get 1 day at the beach..stupid army! But I am so looking forward to a vacation..or whatever kind of vacation I can get with a 2 year old! We will then be in Roanoke from Sept 25-Oct 5. I can't wait to see everyone..aaahhh...I can already taste Kabuki! So who is going with me?!? :)

All of you anxiously awaiting our return to the east coast can take comfort in the fact that me and Kaelynn will be moving back to Roanoke around March of 2010. Travis's unit is on the books to deploy next April. Most of you know how much i despise living out here in CO and shut off from the fam and friends so we decided that it would be best for me and the monster to just come on back home for that year.

DEPLOYMENT...just the thought of the word makes my heart skip a beat. Two of my friends out here had their husbands deploy within the last couple of weeks. My heart was breaking for them. Still is. The night before they left I found myself thinking of how fast time is coming up for our turn. I'm pretty sure i had a small panic attack. I felt like i was going to throw up and was having trouble breathing. Travis will be going to Afghanistan for atleast a year. I know I shouldn't be dwelling on it this far out in advance but when you hear that dreaded D word you just can't help it. Many people say to me "well maybe he wont be able to with his shoulder problems" honestly..that doesn't make me feel any better. Nothing will stop him from deploying. I will tell you that right now. He has already volunteered to ship out 5 times before. Fortunately for me his unit doesn't want to lose him b/c he is one of their best soldiers. (I heard that for myself from his SGT! I'm not just saying that! haha) I just keep thinking "what have we gotten ourselves into?"

Have you seen that state farm commercial? The really sad one of them always being there? It makes me lose it when i see the lady coming off of the bus in her uniform and grabbing her son. I just pray..pray so hard for the times ahead of us. That I won't end up hating the army even more than I already do. And I know deep down that we can't stop anything from happening. If it is God's will to happen it is going to happen whether he is in Afghan or here in CO.

It is less than a year away. I am hoping he will be here for Kaelynn's birthday atleast. ANYWAY...I hate to get all depressing when I am talking of something that is 10 months away..but it is just what's on my mind.

Anyway..as you all sit around the dinner table..or play on facebook..or whatever you do throughout your day just take time to say a prayer for all of the soldiers overseas. It's b/c of them that you are able to do these things freely. Also keep in mind the Button and Kunkle families. I <3 those girls!

Update on Ted

2009-05-27T09:14:00.000-06:00

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24)

I received this email from Ted updating on his recent appointment yesterday 5/26.

I had an appointment with my chemo doctor yesterday. (Sorry about misspelling "Kemo" last week, but I used spell check on the computer). Here are some of the results:
1. Right lung is clear. Small tumor is gone.
2. Left lung is much clearer than it was. Tumor is shrinking.
3. Lymph nodes in the chest have not shrunk as much as they need. They are still very close to the pericardium in the heart. Radiation could cause some heart damage. I'm not sure how much more damage my heart can take.
4. Bad News: 5 more rounds of chemo in conjunction with the radiation therapy. They are planning to do both at the same time. I was told that is a common practice if I can take it physically. They are going to use a different chemo drug "Navelbine". This drug is used to kill cancer cells that are fast dividing cells, in conjunction with radiation. My first round of treatment with this drug will start on June 9th and run for 5 consecutive weeks, along with the 6-7 weeks of radiation. The purpose is to shrink the lung tumor and lymph node tumors in my chest to a more manageable size for the radiation therapy. I don't have the dates yet for the radiation therapy to begin. I thought it was going to be the first week of June. We'll have to wait and see now.
5. Side effects of this chemo drug and the side effects of the radiation is really going to be a challenge, both mentally and physically.

Side effects are as follows:
a. Signs of decreased red blood cells
b. Unusually weak and tired
c. Fainting spells
d. Light headedness
e. Breathing problems
f. Chest Pain
g. Constipation
h. Bad cough
i. Mouth sores
j. Nausea & vomiting
k. Pain swelling, redness, irritation at the injection site
l. Pain, tingling, numbness in the hands and feet
m. Stomach Pain
n. Trouble passing urine
o. Hair loss (not much left now)
p. Jaw pain
q. Loss of appetite

All of these symptoms in conjunction with soreness and shrinkage in the esophagus, sore throat, bronchial swelling, problems swallowing and generally an unwell feeling from the combination of the chemo & radiation really makes one want to jump right in there and say "Bring it on". The doctor did give me a prescription for Cymbalta for depression and Ativan Lorazepam for anxiety. I guess I have been depressed the last couple of weeks. Maybe these will help my mood and feeling of well being.I appreciate everyone's continued support, cards and calls.

It's Blue!!

2009-05-19T14:17:00.001-06:00

Update on Ted

2009-05-17T21:35:00.001-06:00

Ted was at the hospital on 5/12. He was just a little dehydrated, not too bad. His potassium and magnesium levels were really low, so they gave him that also.

He asked his oncologist to give him his best “guestimate” of what he could expect as far as radiation, how many, etc. The Dr. said if all goes well, he will take 1 10-15 minute treatment of radiation everyday for 30-33 days….told him to expect complications (with swallowing, coughing, etc.) Said that it usually takes around 2 weeks for you to begin the process of feeling better once the treatments are through. Should start the radiation treatments in June. So it sounds like June is going to be a pretty rough month.

One of his blood levels did indicate that the size of the large tumor has shrunk, but the level is still well above where it should be, but at least it sounds like the chemo is working.

He meets with the radiation oncologist on May 20th to discuss the treatments. There is still a chance that the radiologist will not want to do the treatments due to the location of the tumor being so close to the heart. We may not find that out for sure until they do the next scan on May 26th during his next chemo treatment.

That’s it for now. Thanks for everone’s support, help, and encouragement during all this. He still has a lot ahead of him so continue to pray for him.

Please pray for the Freeman Family!

2009-05-16T22:16:00.002-06:00

Please pray for the Freeman family as they prepare to go through the worst case scenario that a parent ever has to go through. They will say goodbye to their daughter Kayleigh tomorrow (Sunday 5/17). You can read their story here http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Song!

2009-05-11T19:23:00.001-06:00

Potty Training 101

2009-05-05T21:32:00.001-06:00

As some of you know already we are in full potty training mode. I am very pleased to report that Kaelynn is 100% trained AT DAYCARE! She takes herself every 5-10 minutes whether she needs to go or not. They can't keep the girl off the potty at school. She has no accidents during nap time or outside play. She is great! At home...that is a different story. We started off with the plastic seats on the big potty b/c she had no interest in the little ones. And quite frankly they gross me out just sitting around like that. ANYWAY, she was doing OK at home but we were still having quite a few accidents. After talking to her teachers we decided it was best to get her a small potty that she does not need help with getting on and off (at school they have actual toilets but they are toddler size). This thing arrived tonight (Courtesy of "Granny"!) at 7:56. I kid you not this child was on it and using it at 7:57. She was pretty excited about it and we had one of our wonderful tantrums when i had to take her off of it for bedtime. Gotta love the terrible 2's! Anyway..thought you all would enjoy these pictures and an update on the GREAT POTTY CHRONICLES!!

Calling all angels!

2009-05-04T12:41:00.009-06:00

So this adorable little girl is Addy Grace. She is the daughter of a dear friend of mine in Roanoke. On May 1 she tested positive for Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 . This is the leading cause of deaths from genetic disorders for children under age 2. I am asking....no...I am begging for all of you that believe in the power of prayer to pray for this little girl and her family. Her parents are having to face some of the most difficult times in their lives right now. No parent should ever have to go through something like this. Please add them to any prayer list you have access to.

Thanks again!

XOXO

Sarah

Our first stitches!!

2009-04-23T17:28:00.002-06:00

So Kaelynn got her first 3 stitches today....IN HER TONGUE...ugh.

Rewind to this morning. Kaelynn likes to stand on the toilet and play in the water in the sink while I do my hair and makeup. Today she got a little to wild for her own good and fell between the cabinet and the toilet. Her chin hit the cabinet and she bit her tongue. I didn't think much of it..well other than all of the blood. She stopped crying pretty quickly and the blood had stopped. I gave her a popcycle and she was ok. A few minutes later she started screaming. I came out and there was blood everywhere and she was screaming "MY TONGUE! MY TONGUE!" Well I look inside her mouth and sure enough, there is a hole big enough to fit my pinky finger in. Geez....So off to the ER we go. I didn't think they would do much for her since it was her tongue but with all of the blood coming out i thought it was best to go. We get there and they look at her and they were like "uh yea she needs stitches." so what does that mean? Since she is a 2 year old and pretty uncooperative when it comes to Dr's it means putting her to sleep. So thats what they did...that was the worst experience of my life so far. To see my baby just go limp in my arms and then see her limp on the bed was breaking my heart. They were done in like 10 minutes and she started to wake up. She was pretty out of it. But let me tell you this, not that many of you will be suprised..the first thing she asked for was not MOMMY..it was KITTY...lol luckily we had brought it with us.

Anyway, she is doing ok now. She can't eat anything that is very solid and can't use her sippy cups. We made a trip to the store to get her some pudding and ice cream cups. I dont hear her complaining too much right now about her diet ;)

That's about all of the excitement for now!

Can I get some candy now!?!?!?

2009-04-21T21:18:00.002-06:00

Ok so potty training is in full swing around here! Since Kaelynn turned 2 they can officially start working with her at school too. Monday I was a bit nervous as it was her first day there in just panties! They told me to send lots of clothes and extra shoes..

Let me catch you up a bit.

We have been working with her slightly here at home the last couple of months. She was doing fairly well. I wish i could say we didn't bribe her to use the potty but we do. You go potty...you get a hershey kiss! If you make it a few good hours in just panties and no accidents....you get ice cream!!

Ok fast forward!

Monday at school she did AWESOME!!! NO ACCIDENTS!!! She even was telling the teachers every time she had to go!! I was so proud!!! When i picked her up one of the teachers said "she keeps asking me for candy?" i thought for a second not really understanding why she would be asking a teacher for candy..then i just cracked up laughing. At that point Kaelynn came running up to me from the playground and said "CREAM CREAM!!!" a.k.a ice cream...she knew what a good girl she had been!!

Today wasn't as exciting as monday. We were at the park for most of the day and well, we just haven't made it to the point where we can be on the go and not have a diaper on. But I can happily say that I see a diaperless world in my not so distant future! :)

Birthday and Easter egg hunt..

2009-04-15T18:36:00.005-06:00

Jet Settin Family!

2009-04-13T09:42:00.003-06:00

WOW. I feel like all we've done the last month is travel. We spent about a week at home in the last month! We made it back from Indy on Saturday. We really left on friday but had to stay in a hotel that night. I was so ready to get off the plane and get home friday afternoon. Travis had Kaelynn and I grabbed our bags and all but ran off the plane. We were sitting outside waiting on the shuttle to get to our car and Travis says "You got the DVD bag right?". GULP. I instantly started replaying the last 45 minutes and visualising all of the bags i had thrown under the stroller. SURELY I GOT THAT BAG! Then came the nausea...NOPE IT WAS ON THE PLANE! And that plane was already headed to LAS VEGAS! To make matters worse, we get to our car and realize that not only did i leave the dvd player on the plane, but our car keys and house key were in the bag with it! Holy Moly....I was in BIG TROUBLE! Luckily, at 10:30 that evening they called to say they had the bag!! We picked it up the next morning bright and early since Kaelynn woke up at 6am (thanks to east coast time!) and made our way back to colorado springs! WHEW!!!

While we were gone, Kaelynn celebrated her 2nd birthday!! She had so much fun with her cousins and AUNT Chloe..haha

I have been in my classes for 3 weeks now. It is going pretty well. It is ALOT of work going to school full time and working and having Kaelynn but I am making it work.

**I have been working on this post since monday if that tells you how much free time i have! But since then we have gotten word that Travis will more than likely be deploying by the end of this year. There is a group deploying after the new year at some point and they were told today that they would be going BEFORE that group. So that is what we are looking at right now. I'm not able to post specific dates (not that i have any at this time anyway) but will definitely keep you all updated when we get more information.**

Love you all! I am going to try to post pictures tonight from our trip to Indy!

Sarah

Turning a Corner..

2009-03-25T20:16:00.002-06:00

God is so good!

Ted came home on tuesday afternoon! I can't believe the difference a week makes but he was doing much better than he was this time last week. We had quite a few scares over the last week but he is still here with us and that is all that matters. He received his first Chemo treatment monday evening. So far he has no nausea from it or any negative side effects. Hopefully that will continue over the next 6 months while he goes thru even more treatments. The Dr. said he will never be cancer free but they are hoping this treatment WILL put him into remission. Again they don't want to tell us much about that b/c it is so far advanced and they just don't know but they are hoping it will work that way. Sunday and Monday he was doing soo much better mentally. He was more alert and aware of what was going on. Sunday he was even well enough to tolerate a visit from Kaelynn. He talked with her and made funny faces at her. She wasn't quite sure why Pop Pop couldn't get down and play with her like he normally does. She kept saying "pop pop sick" ugh..broke my heart.

He is not out of the woods though and still needs lots of prayers. Not only him but my mom as well. She has alot on her shoulders right now and needs strength to get thru all of this.

I will make sure to keep everyone updated on Ted's health as news comes along. Now that he is out of the hospital he will have treatments every 3 weeks for the next 6 months.

We are working on a request to get assigned back to Virginia so I can be there for both of them. Hopefully we can get back to Fort Lee under a compassionate reassignment and be able to help my mom out a few days each week.

We did make it back to Colorado last night. It was good to be home but I really hated to leave my mom.

Next week we hop right back on a plane to go to Indiana. I can't wait to see everyone there and maybe have some time to relax a little bit. Kaelynn's birthday is quickly approaching and I can't believe she will be 2 on April 5! Time sure does fly..

That's all for now I guess. I still need to unpack from the trip but am too exhausted..I may as well just leave everything packed for next weeks trip :)

XOXO

A Diagnosis..

2009-03-19T17:51:00.002-06:00

Today we did receive a diagnosis for Ted. We are dealing with Adenocarcinoma (non-small cell) either in stage 3a or 3b. 3a would mean the cancer has NOT spread to other areas. 3b would mean it is spreading into his heart and cells around his heart. We are currently waiting for the results to see which stage 3 he falls into.

They are wanting to start Chemotherapy next week while he is still in the hospital however they can not start it until he has recovered from the heart surgery he had earlier this week. Prior scans he had done last week left him with a prognosis of 6 months to live. We are still waiting to see if that has changed.

Here is some info on his type of cancer and lung cancer in general.

Adenocarcinoma (an NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, making up 30-40% of all cases. A subtype of adenocarcinoma is called bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma, which creates a pneumonialike appearance on chest x-ray films

Lung Cancer Causes:

Cigarette smoking is the most significant cause of lung cancer. Research as far back as the 1950s clearly established this relationship.

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4000 chemicals, many of which have been identified as causing cancer.

A person who smokes more than 1 pack of cigarettes per day has a risk of developing lung cancer 20-25 times greater than someone who has never smoked.

Once a person quits smoking, his or her risk for lung cancer gradually decreases. About 15 years after quitting, the risk for lung cancer decreases to the level of someone who never smoked.

Cigar and pipe smoking increases the risk of lung cancer but not as much as smoking cigarettes does.

About 85% of lung cancers occur in a smoker or former smoker.

The risk of developing lung cancer is related to the following factors:
The number of cigarettes smoked
The age at which a person started smoking
How long a person has smoked (or had smoked before quitting)

Overall, 14% of people with lung cancer survive for at least 5 years.

People who have stage I NSCLC (non small cell lung cancer) and undergo lung surgery have a 60-70% chance of surviving 5 years.

People with stage II NSCLC have a 30-40% chance of cure, and those with stage IIIa have a 20-30% chance of cure.

People with extensive nonoperable lung cancer have an average survival duration of 9 months or less

Update..

2009-03-18T20:31:00.003-06:00

I want to start this by saying THANK YOU for all of you who have sent me messages of support, hope and prayer. I seriously can feel all of the prayers going up for my family.

As far as Travis goes, he came out of his surgery with flying colors. He has only taken his pain medication once the night of his surgery so he could get some rest and hasn't touched it since. Call it being brave or call it being stubborn i really don't know but I am so proud of him. :)

We did arrive in Roanoke tuesday afternoon. We went to the hospital that evening. I have to say that was the absolute hardest thing I have ever done. To see someone that I have always thought was so strong and tough (which he is do NOT get me wrong) in the place he is, just broke my heart. He is in so much pain and has so many tubes hooked up to him. I really just sat there. I had no clue what to even say. They are having a tough time figuring out where all of the fluid around his heart is coming from. So far they have taken off 2400 cc's of fluid. That was the amount we were told last night and they are constantly draining it thru the chest tube they put in. As of last night he started collecting fluid on his lungs. It is very hard for him to breathe and his oxygen level is very low. Today was not a very good day. They had him very sedated and he wasn't really "there". He falls asleep talking to you he is so tired and drained. They did a lung biopsy on Monday and we are still waiting for the results of that. The dr said it could take 72 hours. He is still in a very critical condition and will remain in the ICU atleast thru the weekend.

To top everything off, Kaelynn fell down my mom's hardwood steps last night. She was following travis upstairs and the very first *thud* I heard I KNEW what was happening...I heard about 12 thuds after that before i was able to get to her. That pretty much sent me over the edge. She was crying, I was crying..it was a mess. THANKFULLY she is ok and walked away with only a minor bruise.

Again, I want to thank everyone for the prayers and support. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep sending them up for us.

I will update again as I find out more...I spend most of the day at the hospital even though we only get to see him for 15 minutes every 2 hours. So the best way to reach me is thru a text message since I don't get very good reception in the waiting room.

Love to you all.

Sarah

Prayers are needed.

2009-03-15T15:56:00.001-06:00

This morning at 5am my step dad was taken to the ER. He was not able to breathe and his blood pressure was dangerously low. They found that he was building up fluid around his heart. Since then they have taken 800cc's of fluid off of his heart. A normal heart only has 10cc's of fluid. The DR told my mom if they had been an hour later he wouldn't have made it. We also have found out that he does have lung cancer. However they can not deal with that issue until they figure out what is going on with his heart. He is in ICU in Roanoke. Please just keep my family in your prayers. Travis is having surgery tomorrow so there is alot going on. I will probably be heading to roanoke at some point this week.

Lots coming up!

2009-03-10T14:18:00.004-06:00

Travis had his pre-op appointment yesterday. They have moved his surgery up to this coming monday. The Dr. said it is going to be a very painful recovery the first 1-2 weeks and that he is not 100% sure this is going to correct the problems. To fill some of you in and to answer the 100 of questions i am going to receive I will recap why Travis is having surgery. A few years ago he broke his collar bone in a dirt bike accident. It was never operated on to correct the bone. When he went into the Army he has been doing Physical Training every single day. They had some pretty intense training when he first got here to Carson (like making the guys lift telephone poles) which seemed to start aggravating the problem. Since then he has developed severe pain in his shoulder and his arm will go numb at times. On monday they are going to be shaving off some of his rotator cuff as well as removing part of the bone in the AC joint (apparently you don't need that?). If this surgery does not correct the pain as well as his range of motion he will start the process of a medical discharge from the army. Right now that is the worst thing possible that could happen with the economy being the way it is right now. He also will not be able to lift ANYTHING for atleast the first 6 weeks after the surgery...so guess what that means??? No lifting Kaelynn or really doing anything with her other than sitting on the floor playing blocks. She is quite the rough house and doesn't do anything gently.

Also, due to the surgery he will be on leave for 30 days!! He also will only be working a "9-5" mon-fri schedule! I am so happy he will be around more the next few months!

So onto a lighter subject!

LESS THAN A MONTH AND KAELYNN WILL BE 2 YEARS OLD!!

We are flying out on the 2nd of April to head to Indiana to see my family. We will be there for an entire week so we are really excited about that! Kaelynn will get to play with Chloe and all of the cousins out there!

I also start my classes on March 30th. I will be taking classes full time for 9 months. We couldn't afford the top medical transcription program but I was lucky enough to find an actual school that partners with that program so my actual certificate will still be from them and I will be able to use financial aid. Hopefully this will lead to a more flexible working schedule for me and less time at daycare for Kaelynn which would mean more time to spend with her! :)

Keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers please! The next few months are going to be busy with me working part time, school full time and travis not being 100%.

Take care!

XOXO

What a beautiful day!

2009-03-04T12:50:00.003-07:00

Yesterday Travis had his appointment with the surgeon about his shoulder. FINALLY got to talk to an actual Dr. who said he shouldn't have gone this long without surgery. SOOO...they are doing it on March 24th. They will be shaving off some of his rotator cuff and taking out part of his AC joint bone. After 6 months of recovering/physical therapy they will re-evaluate him. If it hasn't totally corrected the problem he will be discharged from the army. So please pray this surgery goes well and corrects the problems with his shoulder!

So this week we have had temps in the 70's!! I am absolutely LOVING this weather! All of this cold weather and snow is for the birds. Ironically enough it snowed back in Roanoke. They can keep it! I am soo ready for spring and warm weather! We actually had to break out Kaelynn's new clothes for spring this week b/c the child would have burnt up!

In 1 month from tomorrow we will have a 2 year old! I seriously can not believe this! Here are some funnies we've heard over the last few days:

Mommy: Kaelynn you better get over here before I say 3. One.....two....
Kaelynn: BUCKLE MY SHOE!

Kaelynn: More juice mommy.
Mommy: Not until dinner
Kaelynn: OH PLEASE MOMMY!!!

Daddy: A...B...C...D
Kaelynn: E...F...G
Daddy: H...I...J...K
Kaelynn: E...F...G

When Daddy's away we will play!!!

2009-02-18T21:16:00.006-07:00

Not so happy Valentines day......

2009-02-15T21:24:00.003-07:00

I get A LOT of strange looks when people say "what are you two doing for valentines day?" and i respond with "oh we don't really celebrate valentines day." Apparently that is a new concept to most. You see, I really don't get the point. I guess when I dated guys in the past it was a big build up to see how much they "cared" about me. But Travis and I are different. I've ALWAYS known how much he cares about me and he LOVES me EVERY DAY not just ONE day. I don't need one day a year to tell me that. Especially these days with money being tight it's kind of a waste of money. Think about it, do you REALLY eat every single piece of chocolate in that heart shaped box? Or do you just take a bite to see what it is. And flowers, well they die. So you may as well just throw that money in the trash can. And do you really need ANOTHER stuffed animal in the top of your closet?? I don't!

With that being said......

I've been pretty stinkin sick since wednesday. I woke up wednesday and told Travis i had a sore throat. I didn't think much about it b/c it wasn't anything major. Just thought it was due to the cold weather and it would wear off. I felt fine otherwise. About 10am i was hit with a ton of bricks. Horrible chills, my whole body ached and my skin was burning hot. I left work to get some flu medicine and headed home. Later that night I was feeling better. Thursday i was back to normal but still had that pesky sore throat. Friday I was increasingly worse and Saturday it felt like i was swallowing razor blades and only ice water was offering any comfort. I finally sucked it up and headed to the ER. Wouldn't you know it...STREP THROAT. Now mind you, I have had strep throat in the past..but HOLY MOLY I have never felt a pain like this! I was offered 10 days of penicillin pills taking 4 pills a day OR to take one shot and be done with it. As much as I HATE HATE HATE needles I chose the shot b/c I just couldn't think of swallowing ANYTHING at that point. I was fulling prepared for the nurse to come in and poke my arm. I even had my sleeve pulled up and everything. She comes in...then shows me how to "position" myself..WHAT?!? Lets just say..I haven't had a shot like THIS since i was probably 5. ANYWAY...i woke up this morning feeling a bit of relief. It was more like 20 razor blades in my throat instead of 100. I am coughing like a chain smoker and still can't eat very much. I have had about 300 oz of water in the past 48 hours. I feel like a fish...........

Enough about me...

Travis went back on patrol duty TONIGHT. They called him at the last minute today and told him he had to work the midnight shift. Very frustrating. He was supposed to be off tomorrow and stay home with Kaelynn since her daycare is closed for Presidents day. I hope he can do ok with little to no sleep tomorrow.

His unit has given us a free weekend at a ski resort here! Breckinridge Ski resort is where we will be going March 6-8! I can't wait! It looks so beautiful there! Can't beat free...

He goes to see a Surgeon on March 3 for his shoulder. Hopefully he will have another option other than pushing pills on him to correct the issue. I will keep you posted...

Now onto the queen bee...

Kaelynn is very busy lately! She is talking soooo much and says some of the funniest things! She is putting more and more words together to make sentences and it amazes me what she is learning. She asked her kitty this morning if it had peed in her bed. hahaha No idea where she gets some of these things! She loves playing on the Wii fit..and everything has to be on her own terms. she has to walk by herself and gosh forbid she holds your hand doing anything! she falls like a wet noodle and i am totally that mom dragging a screaming kid across the parking lot that everyone is looking at. Aaahh the joys of toddler-hood.

Well I guess i better try to get some sleep...haven't had much of that the last few nights.

XOXO

Rock-a-bye baby.......in the recliner

2009-02-12T20:43:00.001-07:00

Put your big girl panties on....

2009-02-10T20:14:00.002-07:00

Our first experience with big girl panties! Kaelynn was very proud of these! Thanks to Granny who sent us a box full!!

A B C..1 2 3

2009-02-02T10:43:00.005-07:00

So I have finally decided to go back to school. Not a traditional school. I will be going to get my certificate in Medical Transcription. It will take me roughly 4 months or so. They said if I am able to go full time i can finish in 4 months. We will see though with a part time job and a toddler on my hands. I am hoping to be complete with it by the summer. We are very excited about me being able to do this. Not only will i be working from home from I can work wherever home may be. I won't have to worry about finding another job when we move somewhere else. I am going tomorrow to speak to someone about applying for funding thru the Army. They have accounts set up at certain posts for spouses who are wanting to get into a "portable career". The amount I would get for 1 year is exactly the amount i would need for this course. So i'm keeping my fingers crossed everything works out and i can qualify for the money. I've been doing tons of research on the classes and the job the last couple of weeks and feel confident that this is something I can and want to do. Not to mention, in this economy it is a job that is still needed and the people are in high demand. I am very excited about what lays ahead for me...

Another exciting note, Kaelynn went #2 in the potty again Saturday!! She actually told me ahead of time this time and was so proud of herself! haha

She is starting to put more and more words together. This is a conversation from friday morning

Travis: Kaelynn what are you doing?
Kaelynn: I eat toast daddy.
Travis: oh ok. is it good?
Kaelynn: ahuh. its yummy.

Some of you know how attached this child is to her puppies. We can't go anywhere without them and at bed time we are piling 4 regular puppies and a giant puppy in the bed with her along with 3 blankets and 2 pillows. The other day we had a slight emergency with her most favorite puppy. It seemed he wasn't going to make it as he was flat as a pancake on the floor. We rushed to walmart to get some stuffing and were able to make it back in time and get him plumped back up and sewn back together before any dramatic episodes happened. It was a close call no doubt! He has recovered fully and is back to his normal activities.

Travis more than likely will be going back on road shift on Feb 17th. Good for him but that means we go back to never seeing him.

We are looking forward to our trip to Indiana to see my family for Kaelynn's birthday! We miss them so much!

TaTa for now!

XOXO

Winter Night in Colorado

2009-01-30T20:32:00.002-07:00

Potty or Bust!

2009-01-19T20:42:00.002-07:00

So lately Kaelynn has been asking to sit on the potty. I had gotten seats that make our regular toilets small enough for her to sit on b/c quite frankly the ones that just sit around gross me out. I couldn't bring myself to buy them. We have had good success with #1 in the potty and tonight we actually had #2! I don't expect anyone who is not a parent to still be reading...and those of you that are know how exciting this is!!

We are on our way to a diaperless world! Oh how wonderful that will be!

Jitterbug

2009-01-16T22:05:00.003-07:00

So Kaelynn absolutely LOVES to dance! They have daily dance time at school and she knows all of the little moves and motions to their songs. On her days home from school she loves for me to turn on her cd player or CMT and she just "gets down" to the music. Here is a little sampling of her moves. I'm thinking she has major potential.....

Bounce and Spin Zebra

2009-01-07T21:29:00.002-07:00

Kaelynn got some new toys today with her Toys R Us gift cards from Poppy and Nana, Granny, Grand-daddy and Aunt Wah Wah. This is one of them. She has had a blast on it!

From the mouth of a toddler!

2009-01-07T15:51:00.004-07:00

Since Kaelynn has been in daycare her vocabulary is greatly increasing. As much as I hate putting her in daycare, i have to admit it has been absolutely wonderful for her! She has started talking in sentences and it is rare now that we don't know what she is asking for.

She always has to have a kiss from daddy when he leaves for work. Well more than one..as he walks out the door she is screaming "kiss daddy!" And she will always tell you she loves you when she is going to bed. It is so darn cute.

One pretty cute thing...FOR RIGHT NOW..that she did ...just imagine this conversation ...

Travis : Kaelynn don't mess with that
Kaelynn: ok
Travis: Kaelynn I said don't mess with that!:
Kaelynn: I SAID DON'T!!! (as she shakes her finger at travis)

Another incident...we were at Travis's dads house with many many antiques sitting around..

Me: Kaelynn don't touch that
Kaelynn: I touch it mommy! (as she is taking off with the piece of china in her hands)

I can't help but laugh at her most of the time. She will tell you when she's cold, oh and the child loves germ exing her hands. She can name just about any animal on a farm and make the sounds that go along with them. She insists on using a spoon and fork every time she eats. When she is being funny she likes to call me "Mom" and cracks up laughing. She came up to me just last night and said "HI MOM!" and ran off...she is a silly girl. She is really into coloring lately and is getting pretty good at naming the colors too.

She is also getting pretty helpful. I can ask her to go get something and sure enough, she will bring it to me. If she is looking for something and you tell her it is in her bedroom, off she goes up the stairs and then comes back down with whatever she is looking for.

I can't believe how big she is getting. She will be 2 in April and I have no idea where the time has gone.

I haven't really updated about her lately so I thought i would give a little rundown of the latest and greatest. The life with a toddler is definitely BUSY and keeps us on our toes! We never know what is going to come out of her mouth next!

XOXO

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that jazz!

2009-01-06T10:13:00.002-07:00

Well we have made it back from Virginia! We left on Christmas day and arrived there about 7:30 that evening. It was great to see everyone while we were in! I wish we could have spent more time with others, it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day anymore. I used to be early for everything and now with Kaelynn i am late for everything! i can't get anywhere on time these days!

We headed back to Colorado on January 4th. That was the last time we would travel with Kaelynn in our lap. NEVER AGAIN. We decided from this point forward we would just have to cough up the money for her to have her own seat. That was the worst night. The first flight from Roanoke to Chicago she screamed the entire way. I can only imagine what the other people around us were thinking..but we tried everything to keep her quiet. We then boarded the plane to head to denver. We hadn't even taken off yet and Kaelynn threw up all over herself and me. I think that was pushing my limit at that point. She then went into a crazy mode and was trying everything in her power to not go to sleep. she was exhausted but wouldn't give in. thankfully she wasn't crying so i wasn't fighting her too bad. after throwing a can of juice in my lap she finally passed out. at that point travis and myself looked at each other and just started cracking up laughing. what else could we do? it was either laugh or cry. i had reached my limit with her that night and we were stuck on a plane.

We are now back in Colorado and today is my first day back at work. I was wondering if I would even have a job. Things have been a little strange around here lately. My boss isn't paying bills and has told the higher ups with Allstate that they need to let her close this 2nd office that i stay at or she will leave all together. So i am in the market for another job i guess. This whole thing just makes me nervous. She has been late on the last 2 pay checks and i just don't have a good feeling.

I am hoping to get out to Indy around march sometime to see everyone there. Luckily we can fly southwest and afford Kaelynn her own seat! haha otherwise it might be next year before anyone else sees us!

Well i better get back to looking like i am working..not that it matters since i am here alone.

XOXO

A Soldiers Silent Night

2008-12-16T09:48:00.002-07:00

Please listen to A Soldiers Silent Night on my player at the bottom of the page.

While you are listening please remember all of the military men and women that are away from their family and friends this holiday season. I am so thankful to have Travis at home with us this year.

2008 in a nutshell..

2008-12-08T09:34:00.002-07:00

So I can't really say I'm sad to see 2008 go. During this past year I have probably been at the lowest points in my life that I have ever been. Don't get me wrong, there have been some great times this year, but unfortunately they are overshadowed by all of the bad things. I will recap what we've been up to this past year and thankfully it leads to us being in a better place at the end of the year than we were at the beginning!

We started off the year by saying goodbye to Travis. He was gone for the first 6 months of the year for Basic Trainging and AIT. That alone was one of the hardest things. I don't know many guys that would go to the lengths he has to keep our family on our feet. The sacrifices he has made for us are just unbelievable.

We celebrated Kaelynn's birthday in April. We had 2 parties. One in Virginia and one in Indiana. I am so thankful to have my family and it made this time so much easier with their love and support. They have no idea how much they helped me . But if it weren't for Kaelynn I don't know how I would have made it. I had to stay strong and positive for her. She is my life line and the reason i wake up every morning.

In June we made our way out to Missouri to see Travis graduate from AIT. This was the first time we had seen him since he left in January. They did not have a basic training graduation b/c he was at what they call OSUT ( one station unit training). We spent family day with him and he looked like a totally different person. He was actually smiling. I hadn't seen him smile in I don't know how long. Graduation day came. I never thought I could be so proud of someone. I had heard people talking about their "heart swelling with pride" before but I never knew what that was like until that day. To see them marching in and hear them swearing to defend our country and put their lives at stake so everyone else could still live in freedom. It was a feeling like none other. My eyes had tears and I think it made me love him even more. To know what he was giving up so we could have financial stability, a roof over our heads and food in the fridge.

At the end of June we made our way out here to Colorado Springs, CO. Yep! Fort Carson had our name all over it. Now let me just say, for those of you that told me how beautiful Colorado is I am going to assume you are meaning the western and northern part of the state. Colorado Springs is beautiful in its own way..the Mountains are beautiful when they are covered in snow. The tumbleweeds are absolutely to die for! haha It is more of a desert area around here. But it is what it is and hopefully we will be back on the East coast in a couple of years!

In November we celebrated our first Thanksgiving EVER without being surrounded by family and friends. It was nice to be able to enjoy the day together and not have to run all over town to see everyone but we did miss everyone terribly. Travis also started his phase for training for deployment. If nothing changes (which who are we kidding this is the army we are talking about!) they are scheduled to deploy August of 2009. We are starting the process to try and get approved to transfer to another post closer to home. Travis was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) after one of his last calls on the road. It was pretty horrifying and very upsetting for him. Some of you know what I am referring to and some do not. I will leave it that way. With that said we are trying to use that angle to make a point that him staying on this post and seeing the place this happened every single day only makes him relive that accident and increase his anxiety and depression. He is seeing a therapist to help deal with the issues, this was required by his unit. His therapist seems to think it would be a good idea as well if he were transferred. Hopefully she can help us out with that. I will keep everyone updated on that situation and let you know if anything changes.

We are getting ready to celebrate another Christmas! This will be Kaelynn's 2nd Christmas and she is going to be so fun! I have taught her how to say MERRY CHRISTMAS! She is so cute! We are soo excited to be able to go home for Christmas! We will be arriving in Roanoke on Christmas night! We can't wait to see everyone (especially Josh,Manisha and Emma!! I miss that little girl!!)
We will be in town until January 4th!! We are counting down the days!

To everyone else we will not be able to see this Christmas, I hope it is a good one. We have had a hard road since Kaelynn was born and I don't know if I would have made it without all of you! We love you all and thank you so much for everything you have done for us!

We are looking forward to a new year full of new experiences and new paths!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Travis, Sarah and Kaelynn

Lots and lots going on!

2008-12-02T11:08:00.002-07:00

I will update with the small stuff before I get to the main reason of this blog.

1. We will be coming into Roanoke on Christmas day and leaving Jan 4. I told you before it could change! haha

2. Kaelynn has now learned how to say "please" and "thank you". She will tell you thank you until you tell her she is welcome. :o)

3. Our Thanksgiving dinner turned out quite yummy! It was actually kind of nice to not have to drive all over town to see everyone. We could actually enjoy the day!

Ok..the main reason for this blog is to ask for prayers. Not for myself but for one of my greatest friends Shay. Also for her husband Nick. They are both 23 years old, were just married in October and within the last couple of weeks Shay has been diagnosed with Cancer. They have a rough road ahead of them. She goes to see a specialist tomorrow to find out if it has spread. I can only imagine what they are both going thru right now. I am asking for prayers for their strength and for her healing. It doesn't seem right at 23 years old that she should have to go thru something like this..they should be enjoying being newlyweds not dealing with life changing events. She is also waiting to find out if her insurance is still going to be paid by her employer as she will have to miss a lot of work. Pray for their finances. If anyone knows the stress that finances can put on someone and their relationships it is me. I would not wish what we have been thru since Kaelynn was born on anyone. It is really scary to think that someone like Shay is having to go thru something so terrible. It really makes you think about a lot that we take for granted every day....

Shay if you are reading this know that I love you! I am thinking of you and praying for both you and Nick every single day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-26T10:41:00.002-07:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

We hope everyone has a safe holiday if you are doing any traveling!

We are so thankful for the friends and family that we have in our lives! It won't be the same this year without being around everyone, but we will be starting our own little tradition. We have decided to actually COOK tomorrow. (I can hear some of you laughing now) Usually on Thanksgiving we are running all over creation to try and see everyone, so it will be nice to be able to just sit at home and enjoy the day!

Updates...

We are not moving into the house. The deal fell thru once the guys wife got involved. Won't get into deatils..she is just a very inpatient lady. That's all i'm sayin.

We will be in Roanoke from December 28th-Jan 4. Our original plans of coming in on christmas day got changed...as usual with the Army!! but we are still getting to come home! so that is good. don't be surprised if it changes once again before we buy our tickets though! haha

Travis gets his first 4 day holiday weekend since we've moved here! He has had to work all of the others. Now that they are in the training cycle and off of road duty he actually gets to enjoy the holiday. He also will only be working mon-fri "9-5" ! so that is good! no more crazy hours for quite awhile!

That's about it!!

We love and miss you all!!!!

XOXO

Life's a changin once again!

2008-11-19T12:05:00.002-07:00

Yesterday we went to look at this rental house that is owned by a SGT in the K-9 unit. It is great! 3 bedrooms, all good sizes with walk in closets! 2 bathrooms!! And a great kitchen! Tons of counter and cabinet space!! Lots and lots of room for Kaelynn to stomp thru. It also has about 7 acres of land to run on! It is in the middle of nowhere off of 2 dirt roads. There are other houses "around" but none that close to us. Our closest neighbors are all of the prairie dogs running around. :)

We are going to rent the house. We have to go thru the process of getting out of our lease on post which i'm guessing will be about 30 days.

Now here comes the good part. At first he was going to give us a GREAT deal on the rent! About $400 less than what he would charge someone else. THEN TODAY he called and told Travis if i would watch their daughter we could live there FOR FREE! Thats right! FOR FREE! When we do the math we would come out ahead of where we are right now since we will be able to keep all of our housing allowance and not pay for daycare anymore.

On one hand i don't want to pull Kaelynn out of daycare since she was just starting to get the hang of it, BUT on the other this is a great deal! And after this current bout of sickness we have with Kaelynn I'm not looking forward to what the rest of the winter holds with daycare germs.

I still need to speak with them and work out the details and get this in writing..so I will keep you all updated on what we decide to do! But regardless we are definitely taking the house!

So now we will definitely have plenty of room for you all to come visit!!

On a side note, Kaelynn has been pretty sick. Nasty crud from daycare i'm assuming. she went back to the dr today and has fluid in both ears so they gave her some amoxicillan. Hopefully that will start working and she can return to daycare tomorrow just in time for their Thanksgiving Feast!

Take care!

XOXO

Carry us back to Ole Virginia!

2008-11-13T12:06:00.003-07:00

We finally heard that our leave request for Christmas was APPROVED! Yay!! As of right now our leave dates are from Dec 28th-Jan 4th. However with the 25-26th being a holiday and Travis is supposed to have the 27th off we SHOULD be arriving in Roanoke on CHRISTMAS DAY! So that means we SHOULD be in town the 25-4. It's going to be BUSY BUSY with having to see everyone but we will do everything we can to make sure we get together with everyone!

Kaelynn is doing very well at daycare. She naps everyday for 1 hour. Not as much as I would like but i will take it. Hopefully she will get used to sleeping in that environment even more and start sleeping longer. The short naps make her a bit of a monster in the evenings! She ended up "bonding" with a teacher in the other half of the room so they did move her across the wall to the other part of the room. She takes her pink "puppy" every single day with her. I was told that if the other kids notice she doesn't have the puppy they run around to find it and get it back to her. haha you don't mess with her "puppies" unless you want to deal with her. :o)

We are hoping to get to Indy later in January or in February. I hate not being able to share the holidays with everyone but I guess that would be kind of impossible to be in Indiana and Virginia.

I'm trying to find a place that I can get Thanksgiving dinner from. Those of you that know me, KNOW that I don't need to be cooking that kind of meal. haha I have a couple of places in mind but I guess i need to get on the ball so i can get it ordered in time. I guess this year it will be just the 3 of us! We will be able to start our own family traditions.

That's about it for now. I hope you all have a great rest of the week!!

XOXO

We survived!!

2008-10-31T12:32:00.002-06:00

Well, we have officially survived the first week of daycare!

Kaelynn is still adjusting to being there but keeps improving each day. Monday she did not take any nap whatsoever. Let me tell you was she fun that evening! haha Tuesday she took a brief 10 minute nap at the table. She fell asleep while one of the ladies was rubbing her back. 10 minutes is better than nothing i guess. Wednesday and Thursday she took an hour nap! I was so impressed!

She isn't very happy when I drop her off in the mornings but that usually doesn't last long. They keep her busy all day and she is one tired little girl when I get her home. Today she left early b/c Travis doesn't have to work until I get off. I'm sure she was happy about daddy coming to get her!

Today they had PJ day for halloween. We bought her some special halloween PJ's to wear! They are also having a Thanksgiving Lunch on Nov 21st. I am hoping me and Travis both can go! Can't have her being the only one without their parents there! haha

At any rate, slowly but surely she is adjusting. The ladies say she does just fine during the day unless someone tries to take her puppy away from her. I wouldn't suggest that to anyone!

Tonight I am taking her to a local church for some "Trunk or Treating". Hopefully she will tolerate her costume as well as she did at the Zoo!

Hope everyone has a safe halloween out there!!

XOXO

Updated Pictures

2008-10-23T20:36:00.002-06:00

I am slowly but surely updating our picture site. Please keep checking back often over the next few days to see Kaelynn's latest adventures!!

http://travissarahandkaelynn.shutterfly.com

XOXO

Room number BLUE 2!

2008-10-23T09:26:00.003-06:00

So yesterday was the BIG day! Well more for me than anyone. I signed Kaelynn up for daycare. I felt so sad as I was doing it. She is getting so big and becoming her own VERY INDEPENDENT person. I know she is ready for this, I just don't know that I am! Once she was in the system we were able to go over to her center (which luckily is right across the street from us!) and meet the director and her teachers and see her room. She is in Room BLUE 2! We walked in and off she went! She was into everything they had! I could have left at that point and she wouldn't have even known. I have to say I am very impressed with the center and her teachers. They told me for each meal they do a "family style" setting. This cracked me up when they said that b/c they are going to be having Kaelynn serve herself?! haha I would love to see how this goes! One big adjustment she will have to make is her sippy cup. NO SIPPY CUPS ALLOWED! Mainly for germ and allergy reasons. They teach them how to drink out of regular cups. Oh me oh my! Every room has no less than 5 video cameras. Travis can come in at any time and check in on the monitor to see how she is doing. I love the fact that they have a very open door policy. If at any time I want to come and check in on the room or even spend a few hours in the room they will let me. Not that I want to spend a few hours in a room full of crazy toddlers but atleast i know the door is open if i feel the need! Also, when the time comes they work with your on a plan for potty training and follow that plan during the day as well! My biggest concern was nap time. I didn't want them forcing her to sleep when she isn't tired or isn't used to the routine there yet. They DO NOT have cribs for them! They each have their own mats and blankets they sleep on every day from 12-2. When i asked about this, b/c Kaelynn is very particular about her nap time routine, they said they give them 30 minutes to go to sleep. They will do everything from singing to them, to rubbing their backs to rocking them. If they are not tired and sleeping after that 30 minutes they will allow them to get up and play away from the other children.

Monday is her first day! Wish me luck! I am praying the transition goes smoothly! I might need more prayers than Kaelynn though!

XOXO

Boo at the Zoo!!!

2008-10-20T10:01:00.004-06:00

Last night we went to Boo at the Zoo! Kaelynn had such a good time! She did so much better in her costume than I thought she would! She would say "Trick Treat" when going up to a booth and hold out her bucket (which she didnt let go of the entire time!) and then actually tell them THANK YOU! I was so proud of her! I'll have more pictures of our adventures on Halloween!

XOXO

Pumpkin Patch and Finger Painting!!!

2008-10-12T17:39:00.004-06:00

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday! Kaelynn had a blast! My only suggestion for those of you with little ones...NEVER ...EVER...EVER follow an 18 month old into a corn maze!!! :o)

Fall is here

2008-10-06T11:42:00.003-06:00

Colorado has had it's first snow of the season already! It wasn't in the Springs but a couple of hours west of us. Needless to say it was a sign that it is moving our way! Not looking forward to snow already but I am loving this fall weather! The aspen trees are finally starting to change colors. I will have to post pictures when they all turn and the mountain is in color. It still right now looks like abunch of dirt! haha

Kaelynn is learning a lot of new words! Lately she LOVES to tell me NO when i ask her to do something. She is also starting to take herself to bed! haha At bedtime she starts up the stairs and tells us "Night Night". She is getting so big. I can't believe yesterday she was 18 months old! She has her check up on wednesday when she will be getting shots. NO FUN! She also isn't really into being carried anywhere anymore. She wants "DOWN!" and wants to walk on her own. She is able to climb up into the car on her own but we have yet to master her being able to get herself into her carseat! haha She loves to sing and dance to her shows in the morning and sings along with the "2 1/2 men commercials" haha she is quite the funny girl! We have had to remove the coffee table and end tables in the living room due to her climbing on them constantly. She still finds it amusing to climb into her highchair and slide in between the tray and the seat. I still haven't figured out how she manages that!

We are getting ready to put her in an actual daycare center. I am kind of nervous about this HUGE transition but I think it is best. She really needs the interaction with other kids and learn how to play without hitting or pinching. I am thinking her first day will be the 27th of this month. Keep your fingers crossed that this goes smoothly!

I agreed to pick up 2 half days at work. That will add Wednesday and Fridays 9-1 to my schedule. I am still liking the job. Hopefully soon i will be able to start studying to get licensed. I am nervous already though about the test. Hopefully it isn't as bad as I am thinking it is though.

Travis is liking being out on the road. Except when he is supposed to get off at 2am and doesn't get off until 6:30. He wasn't too happy about that. His SGT's seem to be pretty impressed with his "work ethic". They told him at his last monthly review he has major potential to be an Officer. He just needs to get his degree. Which he has been planning on doing but with his schedule he doesn't really have that much free time to take classes. Hopefully he will have more time when they move into another training phase in a couple of months.

We are preparing for my mom to visit on the 18th! We are very excited about that!

Chris, Kendra and Hunter left on Sunday from their surprise visit! It was good to see them and most of all it was good to finally meet Hunter!

That's it for now. I better get back to work! haha

XOXOXO

We love trash

2008-09-19T08:29:00.002-06:00

Recently Kaelynn has learned how to throw trash away. That has become her latest obsession. We are also working on eating our meals on actual plates and NOT throwing them in the floor! She is doing fairly well. She is getting the concept though and is getting better about not throwing the plate.

I have been at my job a couple of weeks now and I love it. In the near future I will be working on getting my license to sell insurance. Since we will be here atleast 3 years (more on that in a bit) to possibly 5 years I figured I may as well make this job worth it to put on my resume! ha

We did find out that Fort Carson is a 3 year location. 1 year to work and train, 1 year to deploy and 1 year for recouping. We were told that after our 3 years we can request to be moved anywhere we want BUT it will add another year to his contract. But we are kind of thinking that the extra year might be worth them paying to move us back to the east coast so when he does get out (IF HE GETS OUT) we are already "back home". We will just have to see how it all plays out right now.

He did start "working the road" this week. He likes it but this week he is on day shift and said it is very boring. Other than the occasional traffic ticket or illegal cell phone use ticket thats about it for him. Luckily next week he is on "swing shift" which is 5pm to 2am. All I gotta say to the people on our street is watch out. They are definitely on his radar with their constant partying outside into the wee hours of the morning. not to mention keeping their children outside with them.

Travis will start his field training in a couple of months. They will be preparing for their deployment next spring/summer.

I had to be "that neighbor" last night. Over the last few weeks cigarettes have been piling up in our yard. Obviously not from us but from our neighbors. Oh our wonderful neighbors. Right now there are about 30 in our front yard. Today i am going to pick them all up now that I have been able to point it out to them and ask them to please not throw them in our yard b/c our daughter likes to put them in her mouth. YEA GROSS I KNOW!

That's about it for now! Hope everyone is doing well!

XOXOXO

Hi Ho Hi Ho..It's off to work I go

2008-09-01T09:09:00.002-06:00

Last July as I walked out of the doors of Allstate's National Support Center I said "Yea! I will never sit behind a computer and look at alstar and alliance all day!" Well, as of this past friday I am officially sitting behind a computer looking at alstar and alliance all day...once again! I did get a job with the Hedges Insurance Agency. Part time working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Not a bad set up if you ask me. Fortunately I don't need much formal training since everything flooded back into my head on friday as i fixed a few errors for the agent on some policies. You allstaters know exactly what i'm talking about.

Some of you may be wondering why i decided to go back to work. Well I will explain that to you in one word...KAELYNN. She has been driving me absolutely insane. Not to mention constantly being surrounded by gates and feeling almost trapped on base I desperately needed a break. To those SAHM's out there you know what i'm talking about...to those who have yet to have children of your own you may be thinking i am a terrible mother for wanting to get away from my daughter...but you just wait! hahaha Kaelynn has been playing with another little boy in the neighborhood. He will be 2 in October. His mom is actually going to be watching her while I go to work. I am very fortunate to have found her. Kaelynn absolutely loves her and I have no worries when i've left her with her.

So I hope everyone has had a great labor day weekend. We spent yesterday cleaning carpets and furniture. The carpet looks better than it did when we moved in. We are also getting ready for Dad, Kara and Chloe to arrive on Wednesday! Kaelynn is looking forward to having Chloe around for a few days :o) We will see how it goes since she has no meaning of the word SHARE and freaks out when even Bailey is near her toys...man oh man.

XOXO

Life at Fort Carson

2008-08-12T13:46:00.007-06:00

This is the PX..like a walmart..but smaller and no groceries. This is the special forces complex and about as close as you can get if you are not special forces.
This is the hospital on base

This is the -5 star hotel we had to stay in..it has more buildings but they all look like this. JUNK.
This is the mountain you can see no matter where you are on base. It is right in our backyard.
Another view of the mountain and a neighborhood
This is our house...HAHA JUST KIDDING! This is upper officer housing...

This is the commanding general's house. Our yard DOES NOT look like that!

This is the commissary...or grocery store.
A view of the a neighborhood and the desert
This is housing for E-8 to E-9
Golf Clubhouse

Main Playground

NOW THIS IS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD...however we are one of the only neighborhoods with air conditioning. most of the houses dont have AC..even officer housing..SO TAKE THAT!

New videos of Kaelynn

2008-08-08T21:53:00.003-06:00

She has recently learned how to sing "Row Row Row your boat".....HOWEVER we are still working on the "your boat" part. :o) She also likes to DANCE DANCE DANCE!

This is Kaelynn using the toy Mamaw got her for her birthday to help me vacuum..

Our new car! And it's not a van!!

2008-08-01T15:46:00.002-06:00

Here is our new car! We bought it today. Plenty of room for Kaelynn AND Bailey! It's loaded. Everything but leather interior. Heated seats, sunroof and third row seating just to name my faves!

Diamonds are a girls best friend...and apparently so is lasagna!

2008-07-31T13:23:00.003-06:00

Nothing much to report. The biggest thing I guess is that we did infact get Kaelynn's ears pierced. I KNOW I KNOW! I said I was going to wait until she was older and could ask me for it. I didn't want to risk her ears being very sensitive and dealing with infections. Well can I just say first off that when we got here EVERY SINGLE person thought SHE was a HE! Didn't matter what she had on they called her a boy. Quite frankly I got a little tired of hearing it. So one day we were at the mall and Travis looked at her and said "you want some diamonds in your ears" and she did her little head nod yes and her surprised face. How can you possibly say no to that?!? So we did it. We got her ears pierced. And no she is not traumatized by it. I personally could not stand there and watch so Travis got to be the bad guy and hold her down. However I was standing close by with a chocolate chip M&M cookie and some lemonade for when she was done. The worst part for her was having to hold her down. She barely cried ONCE THEY WERE DONE. As soon as that cookie hit her mouth she was over it and back to her usual self!

Another positive note, BAILEY HAS ARRIVED! He has been here for a week now and we can definitely tell he is soo happy to be a house dog again! He had to stay outside continuously for 5 months and he just is not used to that. Yea he's a dog...but still. He likes to be inside. haha He and Kaelynn have been getting re-aquainted. The last time he was actually living with us she was not this mobile at all! I'm glad he is so patient with her!

Not much else to report. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Dad, Kara and Chloe! They will be here in about a month! We are also busy car shopping. It keeps looking more and more like a van is the best option for us. I can hear some of you laughing now but stop it! haha With Kaelynn's monster car seat and Bailey and then having to haul stuff around that we end up buying it just makes the most sense for the amount of room it has! We will keep you all updated on that though.

That's all for now!

XOXO

A couple of pictures

2008-07-17T14:17:00.003-06:00

These are just a few pictures from our back yard...or lack thereof..we do have grass seed coming on tuesday so hopefully it will be a bit prettier in a couple of weeks!

Greetings from Fort Carson!!

2008-07-15T21:14:00.002-06:00

We made it!

We finally were able to get internet today so I am able to get on here and update everyone!

We made it out here on June 30th. Kaelynn had a rough time adjusting to the time difference but all is well now and we are back on a fairly decent schedule. We had to stay in the hotel here on base ( i would not recommend to anyone personally) until July 10th. We signed the lease on our townhome on the 9th and moved in on the 10th. Well not really moved in since our furniture didn't arrive until yesterday but we made it work for awhile. The furniture did not arrive without complications of course. Kaelynn's crib has gashes and scrathes all over it. Not to mention they have misplaced every single bolt and screw to put anything back together. She couldn't sleep in her bed even if we wanted her to. Needless to say I was not please about that aspect.

Travis has been stuck in processing since we arrived due to a missing form from his training. They finally received that on friday and he was able to move on thru the processing on monday. Tomorrow he will arrive at the MP unit and find out his assignment and whether or not he will be deploying in the near future.

Now that I have my computer back I will get some pictures up on here so everyone can see the surroundings. I will admit that CO Springs is not nearly as beautiful as everyone made it out to be. We literally are in the desert. There is no grass. The mountains are not green. Give me the VA mountains anytime! We are having some grass seed delivered next week so we can hopefully have some color to our yard!

I will post more later!

P.S. Bailey will arrive on the 22nd! We miss him terribly!!

Moving updates

2008-06-24T10:05:00.002-06:00

Travis finally graduated!

After all of the excitement of having him back with us wore off the stress of preparing for a move we know nothing about set in. We have decided to fly to Colorado with Travis by his reporting date of July 2nd. We will be heading out on June 30th and will *hopefully* have a room at the Colorado Inn on base. Once he does all of his processing for Fort Carson we will be allowed 10 days to find a place to live (if a house on base is not available). We have sent a request to Ft. Lee in Richmond,VA for transportation of our household items. As of right now we do not know when they will be picking them up. All they would tell us was the date we requested to have them moved, which was June 27th, will not be available.

We are having a going away party this saturday June 28th. Originally it was going to be Sarah's mom's 50th bday party but she decided to change it to a party for us. (one less reminder she is 50 i guess haha)

I know many of you have called me wanting to know how things are going and I have not returned any phone calls yet. I am sorry, however with everything going on I just don't have time or answers for you. I will do my best to return phone calls before we leave though. Just bare with me. :o)

That is about all I have right now. We do not know if we have a house on base yet and won't know until we get there. We are running into many obstacles. Mainly things we were told would be paid by the army, actually are not paid by them and they will be out of pocket. I'm sure many of you know that adds even more stress.

This may be my last post until we get settled SOMEWHERE and get internet back on.

Hope everyone is doing well and we will talk to you all soon! Next time you read something new on here it will be from Colorado!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

Travis, Sarah & Kaelynn

The Frog Pond and the Terrible One's?!?!?!?

2008-06-13T19:42:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday, Sue (Trav's mom) took Kaelynn to the Frog Pond. It is a pool in Christiansburg geared toward the little ones. Most of the pool isn't over 4 ft deep. Kaelynn really enjoyed it! She liked looking at all the people and floating around in her new green float. Her favorite thing i believe was going down the baby slide. Before I get hate emails for letting her go down a slide let me say that the child never left my hands! She really had a good time and we are hoping to take Travis there before he has to head out to Colorado without us.

So lately I feel as if we are reaching the Terrible Two's a year early. Didn't you know? 1 is the new 2! Kaelynn has had a terrible time with her her attitude. She also does not think any of her food needs to stay on her tray. It all ends up in the floor, and her cup gets slung across the room. We are in the process of working on this. But I have to admit, there have been times I've just wanted to run away!
Yesterday by far was the hardest day we have had since Travis left. I didn't even get to eat my dinner at Cracker Barrell b/c she started screaming when I took her food away due to her throwing it in the aisle. So we left to walk the sidewalk while my mom and Ted ate their dinner peacefully. Granted she does have 5-6 teeth coming in at the same time. I am blaming some of her behavior on the pain of those teeth coming thru. I know how i felt when my wisdom teeth were cutting thru, so sometimes I can't say that I blame her for throwing fits. The food is a different story!
Today was better attitude wise. She still didn't eat as well as she normally does BUT she DID eat better than the last few days.

Ok so we are gearing up for our trip to Missouri on Tuesday. We are so excited! I am terribly excited b/c I actually reached my weightloss goal I had set for his graduation. I was really proud of myself for sticking to Weight Watchers and actually accomplishing something so big. I still have another 30 lbs to go to reach my ultimate goal but I am taking it "a pound at a time" . I really feel good about myself and can actually look in the mirror and not get bummed out!

I will update once we return from Missouri on our moving plans, as we still have on clue what is going on and I will also post pictures!

Take care and we love you all!

Fun in the Sun

2008-06-05T11:51:00.004-06:00

Today Kaelynn and myself played in her baby pool....

I guess she decided to take a little break..

Kaelynn eating a lemon & Moving updates

2008-06-04T07:47:00.004-06:00

Well we are left with about 2 weeks until Travis Graduates. Me, Kaelynn and Sue (Trav's mom) will be making our way out to St. Louis on June 17th. We will be meeting my Dad, Kara and Chloe and heading to family day on the base to check out how Travis has been living for the past 4 1/2 months. We will spend a couple of days in St. Louis to do some sight seeing before coming back to Roanoke.

At this point the plan is for Travis to spend about 2 days in Roanoke and then fly out to Colorado to do all of his in processing and to see if they have a house for us. Once everything is set up for him he will come back to Roanoke and then we will have 10 days to make our way to Colorado. We won't have as much a time as we would have liked to spend with family and friends together before we leave so I am hoping to set up some kind of cook out a day or so before we are set to leave. I will keep everyone posted.

That is about all the information I have at this point! Hope you enjoy the video of Kaelynn eating a lemon! That happens to be one of her favorite things to do these days! haha

Funny Girls

2008-05-18T19:26:00.003-06:00

We are currently in Indiana. Since we have been here Kaelynn has officially started walking. I will get video of that up in the next couple of days but in the mean time here is a video of Chloe pushing Kaelynn around in the scooter.

If you didn't already know...now you do.

2008-04-24T13:25:00.003-06:00

If you are reading this then I am 99.9% sure you already know that Travis has enlisted as Active Duty in the Army. If you didn't know, well now you do. I started this blog seperately from Kaelynn's page to keep people updated on our day to day lives as we embark on this new journey and head to Colorado Springs to live at Fort Carson.

Currently Travis is going thru AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to become a Military Police Officer. You will hear it referred to as MP. He was just named a squad leader in charge of 10 guys. He is set to graduate on June 18th. At that point we will have 10 days to use as leave to move. He is trying to get the option to do "Hometown Recruiting" which will buy us 10 more days at home. We will just have to wait and see.

On Tuesday he officially received his orders to report to Fort Carson,CO. Right in Colorado Springs. I know that wasn't what everyone was hoping for and they were wanting us to be closer to home. Personally, I think this is going to be a great opportunity. It will give us a chance to detach from our family which has become our security blankets and to stand on our own 2 feet by ourselves and just be our own family unit. We are so excited to get to see another part of the country and a part that is so amazingly beautiful to say the least. The base is approx. 6,200 ft above sea level which from what we hear will take us a couple of months to adjust too. Travis will have a few months to adjust and pass his Physical Training (PT) and Sarah will have to cook with the high altitude directions. :o) We will also have to keep a closer eye on Kaelynn and make sure to keep her hydrated and not let her get too winded.

Right now we are on a waiting list for on base housing. We have been assigned a 2 bedroom. No reason to give us more than we need I guess. haha Currently we are position 217 out of 226. haha we will see how fast it goes but we have until the end of June to really worry about it.

If you are interested in looking at the base website you can visit http://www.carson.army.mill/

If you are wondering what all there will be to do when you come visit us (hehe) you can visit http://www.experiencecoloradosprings.com/

We will keep this updated as frequently as possible!

This is a Bible verse that comforts us when we are worrying about tomorrow..
Matthew 6:25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

The Toddler Chronicles

Merry Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Whew! It's been awhile..

*When the leaves start to FALL*

Time to play catch up!

Indy trip so far..

Flying by!

Potty Talk

On my way........to 30!?!?

A day at the pool

Eatin good..in the neighborhood :)

Fun in the sand with Daddy!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

Finished my finals..summer..and upcoming events!

Update on Ted

It's Blue!!

Update on Ted

Please pray for the Freeman Family!

Happy Birthday Song!

Potty Training 101

Calling all angels!

Our first stitches!!

Can I get some candy now!?!?!?

Birthday and Easter egg hunt..

Jet Settin Family!

Turning a Corner..

A Diagnosis..

Update..

Prayers are needed.

Lots coming up!

What a beautiful day!

When Daddy's away we will play!!!

Not so happy Valentines day......

Rock-a-bye baby.......in the recliner

Put your big girl panties on....

A B C..1 2 3

Winter Night in Colorado

Potty or Bust!

Jitterbug

Bounce and Spin Zebra

From the mouth of a toddler!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that jazz!

A Soldiers Silent Night

2008 in a nutshell..

Lots and lots going on!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Life's a changin once again!

Carry us back to Ole Virginia!

We survived!!

Updated Pictures

Room number BLUE 2!

Boo at the Zoo!!!

Pumpkin Patch and Finger Painting!!!

Fall is here

We love trash

Hi Ho Hi Ho..It's off to work I go

Life at Fort Carson

New videos of Kaelynn

Our new car! And it's not a van!!

Diamonds are a girls best friend...and apparently so is lasagna!

A couple of pictures

Greetings from Fort Carson!!

Moving updates

The Frog Pond and the Terrible One's?!?!?!?

Fun in the Sun

Kaelynn eating a lemon & Moving updates

Funny Girls

If you didn't already know...now you do.

When the leaves start to FALL