DeWitt Annual Family Festivus

You know you have an awesome family when you have the words "Festivus" in your invitation to attend a gathering!  And, you know you have an awesome family when you have this family little cousinettes playing in a little bitty house.

It just doesn't get much better than hanging with your cousins and watching all of the kids play like we used to play. Or talking to your Aunt and Uncles and laughing, well crying too. 

Darrah and Jared hosted this year, and it was fun to watch everyone enjoy the outdoors. Only in Texas can you hang outside in December and have fun!

And only in Texas do you get to hit a pinata in December at a Christmas function...

Mimi with her great grand triplets....they are in love with her.

As the evening started to end, the boys went hunting so I decided a sleepover was a great idea. The babies agreed especially because Knox had 2 new kitties to play with.

The babies had a blast playing with Knox and baby Charlie

The sleepover was a success!

I am SO grateful for a wonderful and beautiful family. The only person missing is sitting on an angel cloud in the Heavens. We missed you this year Shelly. Love you so.

Christmas Morning!

Christmas....

A reason to celebrate and remember the birth of Jesus. There is not a better place to be in fellowship with others for this celebration than our church family, The Quest. Here are the babies and I before our evening service at our Terrell campus. 

There is also nothing better than babies waking up to the "magic" of Santa. Jack and I had a fun time setting everything up and getting it all ready for when they wake up to see what Santa brought. We have a tradition that the babies open 3 presents from Jack and I. Just like Jesus was given gold, frankincense and myrrh, our babies also get 3 gifts. However, the Santa gift was a bike!

Here is Abigail sporting her wheels...

Jessy was ALL about it! She loved riding her bike up and down the sidewalk.

Well....then there is my amazingly always happy and looking at the glass full love bug, Wyatt! He wasn't a huge fan of the bike, so instead he wanted to decorated with the paper and ribbons left from presents. Anyone that knows my son knows that this is totally him!

It's amazing to see how 3.5 year old babies look when they are loved and blessed in so many ways. Merry Christmas from all of our family!

School Class Christmas Party!

How did I get so lucky to have donut Friday with these 3 little people every week!?!?! One will never know, but it sure is super fun! 

Here is a typical order....they don't just eat a little either...

Jessy wants at least 4 kolaches...

Abigail will usually take an apple fritter and maybe a few donut holes...

And Wyatt is all about the icing donut with sprinkles!

Christmas is such a blessing of a holiday. I am so grateful for the chance to join these little ones for their school Christmas party! A whole lotta fun!

Fun Fest 2013

I look forward to a Fall event in Royse City every year called Fun Fest. This small town even is held on Main Street, and is a day of food, games, vendors, music and more. For the past 6 years I have had a Mary Kay booth, but as the babies have gotten older, I have wanted to enjoy more the event than actually work the event. 

This year was so fun! It was a little cooler than it has been in year past, so we had to bundle up pretty good. 

Here we are with the Duck Dynasty crew...

My handsome ham of a son loving the pumpkin patch!

We got our face painted...

We rode ponies...

And even met the Royse City Firehouse Dog.

I love our small town. The friendly people, the great community and the fun memories make it all worth while!

Dallas Zoo with Ginger

My babies are so lucky! Not only do they have a fun mom who takes them to the Zoo, BUT they have an amazing friend, Ginger, who loves them and even loves to go to the Zoo with them! 

Ginger has become a part of our family. For the best nearly 2 years, so has come on a Monday or Wednesday and been a huge help to Jack and I. She is so loving, fun and sweet to each of them, and such a treasure for them to have her in our life. 

We made our way to the Dallas Zoo and had a great afternoon. 

We fed the giraffes...

Watched the tigers sleep...

Had some lunch...

Fed the birds some lunch...

And ended our day riding the carousel...

The zoo is a fun, but exhausting experience for all of us. The goal is to get them home and all crash for a nap! Ginger and I did a great job making sure that happened. ;)

Glimpse in the life of...

You stay home? Oh, what do you do all day? I'm sure you have your hands full? Do you work? 

The questions really could go on and on....

Some people get it, some people have not a clue, BUT let me be the first to tell you, that stay at home Moms are a special kind. I am NOT just saying that because I stayed home, I am saying that now because as I type I have been working outside the home for the first time in almost 3.5 years. The difference for me is clear... Staying home is mentally exhausting, working outside the home is physically exhausting. Such a difference. I mean really, the instant they get up they each ask at least 50 questions and they are already at 150%, totally ready to hit the day running. They have more energy than the energizer bunny, they are quicker to destroy a room than anything you have ever seen....bottom line, they wear me out!!!

Here is when I officed from home and attempted to do Tri County Septic office work and Mary Kay. Not too much work going on here except destroying the office.

Playdoh anyone? A great activity to keep everyone occupied. The clean up isn't really fun, but the silent activity is worth it ;)

Then we have story time with Elmo...

It's time for Elmo to go to bed...

A typical day at the grocery store, no cart necessary, just use the cho-cho wagon...

My diva helpers ready to "work!"

This picture was from several months back, but I had to include and show that the busyness started early!

Sometimes we have to take a "time out!" This corner has been used so many times now you can't even imagine!

And if we get really crazy, or are really lucky and Daddy come's home from work early, we get a fort! As you can see Abigail is all about this fort!

I don't take back any of these memories for a second. Every day I realize the blessings I have and how grateful I am for the patience the Lord has given me. Not every day is easy and some days I have more than 1 glass of wine by 7 pm, ha, BUT staying home with my little people has been a privilege, and I would not have had it any other way!

Mother's Day

What a beautiful day today was!! I am so blessed to have a loving husband as well as happy, healthy, fun loving babies. I truly lived Heaven on Earth today...simply a wonderful day.

Jack got up before the house started stirring and made my favorite breakfast....homemade "Jack" omelet. YUMMM! Sauteed onion and mushrooms, bacon, cheese and avocado  UH-MAZING! My mom and Rick stayed the night before so we all went to church following breakfast. Service was so special and I was so happy to share the morning with my Mom. We got back home and Jack told me head to the nail salon....there was NO arguing there. I got a mani and pedi while he got everyone ready for a nap. The pampering was stellar! Not only did I get to spend a good 2 hours in the massage chair, but they were serving WINE! Pretty much a perfect pampering session. When I got home the kids had just woken up from their nap, and we decided to head to the park to feed the ducks and play outside. The weather has been SO nice the past few days. We did a lot of exploring, a lot of turtle watching and a lot of swinging....pretty much perfect. We picked up pizza on the way home and had a great dinner outside.

After dinner Jack and I spent about 20 minutes just watching the triplets play and interact with each other. They are so funny with all of their little conversations....just like big people, but with cute little voices. It is so interesting the dynamics and the roles they play. There are times when Abigail acts like the mother and is really bossy, and then other times when Jessy plays that role. Wyatt usually just goes along with what they do, but it is so funny to see how both of them are little "mothers" to him. He however always has the new and "better" ideas, and the girls usually aren't opposed to them. They also find the most interesting items to play with...no reason for toys really, they are happy with swimming pool tubing, buckets, cups...the list could go on and on.

I am truly grateful for this day, so amazed by the love I have for my Mother, and the love I feel for my babies as their mother. I feel blessed and honored daily.

Muffins for Mom's

What a special privilege to come to my babies school to have a Mother's Day breakfast. They were really excited for me to have breakfast with them, and I felt the same way. We had some orange juice, several cinnamon rolls and I think Wyatt had a muffin or two. ;)

The Mother's Day Out program in Royse City has done a stellar job loving, teaching and helping my babies grow. They have all learned so much and LOVE their teacher, Miss. Allison and Miss. Claire.

I feel blessed they have been a part of the program all year. Thank you First Baptist Church of Royse City.

Cancer....surgery....recovery....

You know it's really amazing how quickly we are reminded of how precious life truly is. 

In November I went in for my yearly appointment with my amazing OB, Dr. Romberg. The results came back abnormal, which isn't always something to be concerned about. I went in again for another check and again, it came back abnormal. In December I was scheduled for a colposcopy which was an in office procedure that basically took away the area that showed abnormal cells. 

The procedure showed severe abnormal cells still again and the severity was worse that expected, pre-cancerous cells, therefore scheduling me for what is called a "cone" procedure. This procedure is an extensive biopsy of the area, a day surgery to remove the cancerous cells. It would also give my doctor an idea of how severe the pre-cancerous cells. I went in early January and was so blessed with the help of my mom, dad and step parents with the triplets. The hope was that after 6 weeks of recovery from the "cone" procedure, I would have a CTScan and that the cancer would be gone. 

The results however showed, stage 1 cervical cancer. I remember my doctor calling me. I was in my kitchen with my grandmother. My babies were at Mother's Day Out, Mimi and I were recovering chairs in my dining room. My phone rang, and it was my doctor's cell phone. She explained all the details and what would happen next. I would need to recover and heal from the cone procedure and then have tests following. That would be the only way to get a clear idea of the cell activity and make for certain there was nothing else after the area have been removed. 

Here I am with 2 of my loves, resting and snuggling. They totally understood that momma had a "boo boo."

               

With much prayer and support, I had to wait. 

There was a small set back however at about week 2. I came down with a small cold. I started coughing and just not feeling great. I dropped the kids off to school and carried on with my normal routine. I went to the bathroom and noticed an abnormal amount of blood, possibly coming from the surgery site. I called my doctor immediately and they told me to come into the office. Jack came home to drive me, I was loosing too much blood to even drive myself. Our dear friend Kathy came over to take care of the kids while we rushed to the doctors office. 

I won't go into too many details, but the bottom line was that after about 3 times trying to pack my inside, not asleep mind you, they were not able to stop the bleeding. I was admitted into the Baylor that evening. The goal was to try to stop the bleeding and heal from there, however after almost 72 hours, and the condition not changing, Dr. Romberg had to stitch up the area again. I had coughed so hard at some point, that a stitch loosened. 

Let me just tell you this was when the line "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health" really shows its true colors. If it would not have been for my amazing husband Jack, I would NOT have made it thru the pain and suffering of the past 72 hours. He squeezed my hand when I was in pain, he helped me stay dry and clean, he made sure I was comfortable, and just did whatever he could to make sure I was taken care of. I am so grateful for all he did for me. 

I was released from the hospital the day following the 2nd procedure and had to take it EASY again really had to heal. I am so grateful that my Dad and Denise were able to take the babies to East Texas for a week so I could recover. This gave me the time I truly needed to heal and stay healed. I had to wait another 6 weeks tho to check to see if the cancer was still there. The waiting game...agian....

After 6 weeks I was scheduled for a CTScan to see if the cancer had spread. Jack and I went in early one morning and were placed in a room. I had to drink this radioactive "smoothie" and digest for close to 2 hours before the scan was performed. It did not taste good at all! 

The scan came back clear. The cancer had NOT spread and did not show any signs of existence. The cone procedure had worked and gotten the amount that was cancerous. A hysterectomy was scheduled. I was so fortunate that Dr. Romberg has a partner who is knowledgeable in the robotics hysterectomy procedure. This would allow for minimal invasive surgery that would actually only take about 1-2 weeks to heal, and close to 4 weeks for full recovery. For a momma with triplets, this was something that was a great option! It was somewhat of a

Dad and Denise offered to watch the babies again for a week while I recovered from surgery. I went in early on a spring morning and for the 3rd time was put under, with hope that this would be the very last time.

It took about 3-4 weeks for full recovery, but I was able to do things with my family and around the house after about 2 weeks.

Here are some pictures I took while I was recovering....

My babies knew their Momma was sick, but weren't exactly sure what was going on. I am SO grateful for a faithful Father, a smart doctor, a loving family and supportive church. God is good.