Tangled ... literally!

OYE, SO my family has nicknamed me "Tangled" .... and I am so looking forward to getting untangled :) The last month has been a roller coaster between GI doctors, physicians and surgeons. For the past 3 years since I had my youngest child I have had a constant pain in my upper left side of my abdomen and 3 years later, NUMEROUS doctors visits later WALLA ... a diagnosis. Basically my middle intestine is tangled or medically speaking called; 
 Intussusception (in-tuh-suh-SEP-shun) is a serious disorder in which part of the intestine — either the small intestine or colon — slides into another part of the intestine. This "telescoping" often blocks the intestine, preventing food or fluid from passing through. Intussusception also cuts off the blood supply to the part of the intestine that's affected .


I was about to give up since each and every doctor I visited told me I either had a hernia or that I just simply had GI problems or the best was I needed to work on my core since I had gained so much weight with back to back pregnancies .... At first I thought , " Was I going crazy?!" But on a flight to Hawaii this year I knew from sitting there for 6 + hours something wasn't right and went into the doctor again this year and finally found one who listened to me and referred me to a great GI and 2 scans, 1 MRI later we found what is causing all this rucus. Luckily for me it will be an easy fix and next week I will go in for a surgery to untangle me ... YAY, can't wait!!1 I have the most AMAZING friends and family a girl can ask for who have been here for me and so dang supportive/encouraging and I am so thankful for them and I cannot wait to get back the lil things most of us take for granted such as exercising without it hurting, eating a gigantic meal or sitting for a few hours w/o pain ... I've got another plane to catch to Hawaii with my hubby & babies in January and nothing is going to  hold me back ...g bye pain! :) 

Fore She Was Mama

One of my most FAVORITE songs in the world is Clay Walker's "Fore She Was Mama" song ...
"About Mama, ‘fore she was Mama
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
Won’t admit she smoked marijuana
But that was Mama, ‘fore she was Mama" .....HA! All true except trade in the string bikini for a regular bikini, Tijuana for Rocky Point and marijuana for a pack of Parliaments and there ya have it, this mama fore she was mama :)

Well just because you become a mama doesn't mean the fun stops! Course there are different rules now but there should always be some fun! A few months ago myself and some of my closets girlfriends were sittin around the table discussing the need for a girls trip ..." VEGAS!", one shouted out ...NAH too expensive, "Reunion up in Flagstaff to visit our old stomping grounds," another said ...NAH, we've been there, done that, then " How bout Havasu? hmmm...Lake +boat = good times!" and that was it. Girls weekend was planned and fun was had by ALL! We bar hopped our first night there and laughed about how in the older days we discussed boys, our current college classes, clothes .... 10 years later we are talkin about husbands, babies, mortgages and regularity ( ha, yeah I said it, bowel movements) and had the best darn time any group of 4 friends could have along with my fabulous folks whose house we stayed at and boat we took over! We went out on the lake at 8 in the morn and didn't even get off the boat till almost 8 that night ... we cruised the lake, listened to some Tom Petty and had not a care in the world.  This is going to be something I look forward to for the next so many years to come ... I absolutely LOVE my girls and adore my parents for one of the best weekends ever and lettin this mama let loose, yee haw!

 Besties on a boat

 My AMAZING parents

 Sun bums

 It's all good till you get to the Turtle

It doesn't get any lazier than this!

There are no words

Aly, Jenny, Steph, Lisa

London Bridge @ Lake Havasu

Ahh, my happy place

Diddy & Mims

School Days

"Keep it together mom, keep it together" I told myself this morn as I packed Sammie's lunch and filled out her 'Superstar' sheet sent from her teacher asking each parent to fill out a form as to why they think their new Pre-K student is a star. As I wrote down all the wonderful things that came to my mind I cried and asked, "Where have the last 4 1/2 years gone?!" Last year I sent her to preschool to  learn ABC's, how to share, play with others and now I'm sending her to a brand new place, with brand new teachers, and brand new kids to prepare for the big leagues ...KINDERGARTEN!

But first lets being with my little man Case ... did I cry, no, do I love him any less cus I didn't? Of course not, its just that this kid let me tell ya literally came out of the womb ready to party! He is the boy and he is following in his sissy's footsteps by going to the same Preschool as she did so mommy already knows the teacher, most of the students, their families, etc ... so of course its bitter sweet to see your baby strap on a backpack and leave the nest but Casen is not one to worry about, I guarantee you in about 15 years from now he will definitely be named in his yearbook the Class Clown or Life of the Party. The kid already came home today with a birthday invitation from a classmate! Case is just fine he jumps right in, it is Sammie who is a bit more timid & shy that mommy grows worried about thinking "Oh I hope my babys not sitting by herself ... Did she ask others to play with her? etc, etc" 

We drop Casen off at his school, kiss him goodbye, no tears on either end and we head off to our next stop, Sammie's new school. Hand in hand Luke and I walk her up to her classroom where there were other little students waiting with their folks for the class doors to open. The teacher Ms. Dena opens the door and asks the students to line up against the wall and one by one come in as the parents sign them in ... Luke takes care of the sign in sheet as I'm all about walkin in with Sammie and helping her find her way. 

"Excuse me, parents are encouraged NOT to go into the classroom," exclaims Ms. Dena

I'm thinking .... WHAT?! Parents can't go into the classroom, what kind of crazy is this lady on?! You want me to just SEND my baby in there to either sink or swim???

"Does she know how to read her name?" asked Ms. Dena as I just stood there starring in amazement still from her last little piece of info ... I shook my head yes. " Well then she can go in there, find her bag hook with her name on it, put her bag on the hook and she'll be fine," She said with a smile.

As I'm about to grab my daughter and run, Luke pushes Sammie into the class, grabs me and pulls me away and says, " She is fine, let her go!"

I stood there with the other mommies peering through the window with tears in our eyes watching our not so babies anymore find their way without us. One by one our husbands pry ed us away from the window and took us back to our cars.

And there ya have it, the first day back to school ... Casen ended up having a blast, met some new friends and reconnected with others he met this summer. Sammie had a great time as well, she informed me that it was different from Ms. Mechelle's house last year but that it was going to be OK. She was also picked as this weeks Superstar when her entry that her mama had written out was chosen and read aloud to the class. As class star Sam is in charge of helping her teacher with her classroom duties for the whole week, something she is VERY excited about :)

Casen 3 years- Preschool

Sammie 4 years - Pre-K

Will you be my girlfriend?!

"Come on in boy, sit on down

And tell me 'bout yourself
So you like my daughter, do you now
Yeah we think she's something else
She's her daddy's girl and her mama's world
She deserves respect, that's what she'll get, ain't it son
Now y'all run along and have some fun
I'll see you when you get back
Bet I'll be up all night
Still cleaning this gun" - Rodney Atkins lyrics to his memorable "Cleanin This Gun" song, also the song that Luke has hummed since our little Sammie Annie was in the womb, ha! 
Luke went ahead and cleaned out his gun last night ... you think I'm kidden?! Our good friend D told us last night that her little man Landon informed her that he was going to ask our Sammie to be his girlfriend at todays play date ... as I chuckled at the adorable thought of little L asking this of Sam, Luke had a deer in the headlight look and said, "It's starting!" and grabbed his chest. 
Oh calm down daddy, you've got a looooooooooong road ahead of ya, this is just Little Rascal type Darla & Alfalfa love! Just WAIT till she's in junior high and someone asks her to a dance or better yet, PROM! Dear lord please watch over my husband through these years ... because yes he does have a gun and he remembers very fondly that he too once was a young boy :)


"Well now that I'm a father
I'm scared to death one day my daughter's gonna find
That teenage boy I used to be
Who seems to have just one thing on his mind
She's growing up so fast it won't be long
'fore I'll have to put the fear of god
Into some kid at the door" .... lyrics of that same song that are now runnin through Luke's head,  hehe!

 S & L