A whole year?!

It's been 13 MONTHS since I last blogged. Unbelievable! Well, I started working at the end of February 2012 and I love it!! Tender Care is an awesome place to be! I am an infant teacher and Danica has made lifelong friends in her class! Work is FUN again!! Danica is growing taller, smarter an sassier everyday!! We moved into our house at the end of August and I am still in the process of hanging pictures and hunting for different pieces of furniture for storage and decorative purposes! It's so much fun! Danica has completed two more rodeo series- ACYRA in which she won a new halter, and her second year in LCSP where she received another buckle! Also, she competed in Bellville's Small Town Christmas Pageant and won Little Miss Noel Most Photogenic! She was asked to participate in the Christmas parade because of her title, and she loved it! For Christmas Danica asked for a saddle and saddle blanket. Pepaw and I were so excited and she LOVED opening her saddle on Christmas morning! I can't wait to saddle up Patches (our new horse since Chicken's ankle is bad) and see Danica ride in her new gear!! Well, I better get back to cheering for the Texans! Merry Christmas and happy new year!! Xoxo, Jessica :-)

MOPS, NASCAR & Danica!!

This year is blowing right by us! Once again, it's been three months since I've blogged! So let's see what's new.... Well, MOPS and Bible Study has started which is TONS of fun- for me AND Danica! She's starting to do really well while she's away from me, and it helps that we now go there EVERY Thursday instead of just twice a month! She has her breakdowns when I walk out but the girls tell me that she gets over it within minutes! MOPS is really fun with all the other mommies and Bible Study has really opened my eyes to a lot of things in my marriage- good things though!! Also, Eric is still doing his thing at work, he went to a NASCAR race this past weekend which he LOVED! I'm so glad his job has those kind of perks! As for Danica, she is getting more and more independent! She acts like she's 5 instead of 20 months! She is SO bossy and persistent! Wonder where she gets that from?! LOL!! She is currently into Yo Gabba Gabba and Olivia- A LOT!! She likes Franklin and Mrs. Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, but those are just the minor ones! We're about to get into the holidays and I am so not ready! I haven't even started Christmas shopping! I do have a lot of ideas for presents though!! Well, that's gonna be all for now! Danica is demanding that I "get up!!" :-) ~Jessica

It's Been Awhile!!

Sheesh! It's been 3 months to the day that I last posted! Well, not much has happened but here's a quick update while Danica naps! I turned a quarter century old on June 4 and I feel older! LOL! Also, Eric was promoted to full-time Asst. Manager which is GREAT! Not much else happened in June or July that merits posting about, just life as usual, up until the end of July! We realized that at this point in time it's not in our best interests to buy a house, so we are going to wait until next year and save more money in the meantime! I am in the waiting process of receiving my Dental Assistant Registration papers from the state so I can start job hunting. Probably won't be able to job hunt until the first of the year because of the long approval process. Oh well, more time at home with my sweet girl!Also, on July 30-31st, we went on vacation to Sea World with the Beamons and my Mom! It was a BLAST!!! It was Eric's first time to go and I honestly don't remember going when I was little! Danica LOVED the Sesame Street rides- especially the Big Wave! She's a thrill-seeker like her Daddy! The guys MADE me and Briana ride a HUGE roller coaster with them and I was terrified the entire ride! LOL! All in all, it was a great trip! TODAY, is mine and Eric's FOURTH wedding anniversary! Yay, us! We are planning a movie and dinner date while Mom watches Danica! Also, on another note, Danica is 16.5 months old and already knows over 100 words independently! We are SOOO proud of her! She is learning more and more everyday! Well, that's about it for posting! God bless!!
~Jess

We have a WALKER!!

Obviously, by the title you know that Danica is WALKING now! She walked officially on Easter Sunday in the evening and we are SO excited! She is getting faster and faster; I'll probably be running to catch up with her by next month! Oh wait, let me back up and say the Danica's 1st birthday at the park was an absolute BLAST and she loved it! I'm pretty sure all the kids enjoyed the carousel too! Danica's vocabulary is growing by the day and she can say so many words on her own! I should write them all down and count them so I can track her progress! Someone remind me to do that later LOL! Life is chugging along as usual these days. Eric was told last week that he should be promoted to full-time within a month so we're pretty excited about that! We've started to once again look into our options in housing. I've also finished my dental schooling and am waiting on my CPR certificate to come in so I can register with the state. After that I can get a job in that field! Although I'm hoping to keep Danica home with me until she's 18 months old! I'm definitely not looking forward to going back to work and leaving our little girl in someone else's care! I know, everyone does it, but STILL! This is my BABY!!! Okay, on to something else- we finished paying off one of our vehicles last month with is a HUGE blessing and it feels so good AND weird to not have that payment anymore! God is really blessing us! While things are going so well around here, I can't help but think about the wildfire victims (Texas) and the tornado victims (GA, AL, KY, VA, etc). I'll keep praying that the federal govt gives all these states relief money to rebuild! Also, with the recent death of Osama Bin Laden, everyone's been feeling a renewed sense of patriotism- and relief of course! While I don't celebrate the loss of a life (I'd rather put him in a cell and strip away all his power and let him sit there for the rest of his life) I DO celebrate the end of fear for many countries. I'm just praying none of his supporters take up his reins! Well, my little walker wants to play so I'll update again soon! God bless! ~Jessica, Eric & Danica

Vote For Danica!!

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Tanya's Ordeal

I decided to write a note about it for those of you who've been keeping up with her! =]

March 4: At breakfast and started leaking fluid. Did this occasionally throughout the day.

March 5: Doesn't want to eat, so we know she's in labor. Continues to leak fluid, but more often.

March 6: We came home that night to find her leaning forward and hardly able to walk. She started to throw up every 5 minutes until she was dry-heaving. At this time I called the vet. Then I noticed a greenish fluid leaking from her. The vet said that was an infection and that if the pups weren't dead yet, they would be and so would Tanya. I rushed her to the vet at midnight. They immediately took her in and did blood work and an x-ray. Then they came in and said she was doing really bad and needed a c-section as soon as they got her re-hydrated. They told me they may need help with the pups if they were living, I agreed to help since there were only 2 vets on duty. 30 minutes later, they started the surgery. I sat there for what seemed like forever, but it was only 15 minutes. One vet came to get me and asked if I would be "okay" to see Tanya on the OR table with her uterus out. I was. So, next thing I know, pups are coming out one at a time, lifeless. We tried everything, massaging them, suctioning their nose and mouth, nothing worked. Oh, the first pup was the main cause of all the infection- it had gotten stuck up high in the birth canal and died. It was already disintegrating. The last pup to come out was lifeless, but warmer than the others. I started massaging him and suctioning him. After two suctions, he started hiccuping! We wrapped him in a towel and continued rubbing him for about 30 minutes. Then we fed him and he made his first sound shortly after! Meanwhile, Tanya was still in trouble. Her heart-rate was really slow and the infection was all in her uterus and insides. They flushed her out and completely removed her uterus, etc. It took about 30 minutes just to close her up. The vet told me they originally didn't think she would survive surgery so that was a miracle in itself. They didn't think she'd make it to the morning. I took the pup home and began the surrogate-mommy-up-every-hour feedings.

March 7: We went to visit Tanya and she was still in really bad shape. The vet said that we should prepare for the worst. She was in renal failure/kidney failure and her blood pressure wasn't good. That afternoon I went to visit her and she was still the same. I told her we loved her and that if she could fight, we wanted her to fight. If she couldn't, we understood.

March 8: Tanya was doing better! They did a blood pressure check and it had improved. Not normal, but improved. She was lifting her head and acknowledging the staff!

March 9: They did blood work and her kidney levels were normal, her blood pressure was good and she was standing up and perky!The only thing they were worried about was her potassium level being low. So they needed to watch her a bit longer.

March 10: They called to tell me that she could come home that afternoon! It was a miracle! Everything was improving and looking good! They sent her home with pain medication and an antibiotic. She has to go back in 2 weeks to check her kidney levels. Not sure if she has permanent kidney damage. Hopefully not, but if so, there's medicine for that.

So all in all, it was a very near-death experience for Tanya and her miracle pup. The pup is getting bigger, eating more and sleeping longer (just like a newborn)! Tanya is improving everyday and we thank God for answering our prayers. Now I'm just praying that her two week check-up goes well! Thank y'all so much for the prayers, I know without a doubt that she wouldn't have made it without them!

**On a side note- The pup (Little Dude) died this past Sunday at one week old. R.I.P. sweet pup, have fun playing with your siblings in Heaven!

Juat another day in Paradise!!

What a Monday! Oh wait, it's TUESDAY.. Let's see, this is how our day has gone:
8:15 AM- wake up for the day.
8:16 AM- realize I have woken up with a complicated migraine (I had my first one 8 months ago and it has the symptoms of a stroke). Fortunately, I had some prescription ibuprofen to take. (Didn't really help).
10:30 AM- Get a call from a neighbor asking about the two weird guys walking up and down the street (that we BOTH noticed) with mean-looking dogs. Freaked us both out, so she called and alerted the sheriff.
11:30 AM- Danica FINALLY goes down for a nap after fighting with herself over it.
1:00 PM- Danica wakes up from nap and pees through a FRESH diaper all over both of us.
1:15 PM- Changed Danica's diaper and clothes ( and my clothes), pick her up and she spits up sour milk on my clean shirt and her's.
1:30 PM- Migraine is finally gone, just have a sore head now!
2:25 PM- Danica spits up her juice in the dog bowl, wipes it out with her hand and then licks her hand.
2:35 PM- She just grunted out a poop for the 3rd time today, luckily it all stayed in the diaper.
2:51 PM- Danica sits in her high chair happily munching on a Mum-Mum while Mommy blogs. :)

This is domestic bliss.... :) Let's hope the rest of the evening/night is only half as eventful as the first part of the day!! :)

Short & Sweet

So Danica is 11 months old and will be ONE YEAR OLD in LESS than a month! I'm slowly getting all her party supplies together and it's looking good! Her theme will be Polka dots and cupcakes- I decided I didn't want a Minnie Mouse theme or anything like that. We've got the Fireman's Park kitchen and carousel booked for her as well! We are so excited! She is adding new words to her vocabulary daily. As of yesterday she can pick up a cell phone and she'll say "bone" for phone! She repeats almost everything so we have to watch our mouths a little closer!! She also went to the doctor yesterday because she hadn't been feeling well for about 2.5 days. Her temp was 100.9, the highest it has gotten. We found out she had a cold and double middle-ear infections. We are very thankful that this is the first sickness she has gotten! Once again, I am truly blessed to be a stay at home Mom! She is on antibiotics and is already feeling better, just exhausted from not sleeping well the past few nights! I am so amazed at the constant blessings God has shown us with our health, family and friends. I am constantly thankful for our little miracle baby!! Also, I started school again with Nikki! YAY! We are taking an online Dental Assisting course with UT Health Science Center. It'll take a month to complete and then we'll take an additional course to be certified to monitor Nitrous Oxide, which will take another month. I am excited to be able to do this program while staying home with Danica! Also, Eric should be going full-time at his job here in the next couple of months which will enable us to get a house of our own! Also, he started working with a guy who runs a vintage restorations shop out of his home. He loves it and is gaining real-world experience in the field he went to school for! All in all, life is great and we're praising God for miracles!!