Just Google It.

Gosh this past week has been different. I'm out of my comfort zone at times, and I kinda like to be in control of some stuff... ya know?

Our family is dealing with a certain issue and I'm not allowed to blog about in detail at all, and I won't. I guess since I don't have a play by play manual on this particular issue, it drags me way out of my comfort zone. I have surrendered my worries over to God. I pray. Pray some more, and more and even more. My family is being embraced by God, and I know the outcome of this, will be His will.

 I'm human though, and I'm a wee bit impatient from time to time. I like instant answers to questions, which is why I LOVE google. It gives me instant answers to sometimes meaningless questions that I often have. For those questions that I have for real life issues, I shall wait until He wants me to know the answers.

Enough of that issue. Let's move on shall we?

Lulu comes home from a basketball game complaining that her finger was hurting her real bad. Now, this child is notorious for having tons of injuries and ailments, so when we heard about this finger thing, we laughed. The way her finger looked the next morning was surprising to me. It was swollen, and it hurt her to even touch it. At that point, I was concerned. Fast forward to later that afternoon, I took her to the Dr.

I was trying to take a pic to show you just how swollen her hand is. See how her index finger was bent up? The Dr explained to us that she had to make that finger straight so that it's not permanently bent. It's a tendon issue that as of this sec, isn't resolved yet. Poor Lulu, it look pretty painful.

After being at the hospital & Dr's office for 3 office, we finally left. Hairline fracture on her index finger, severe bruise to the wrist, & a possible torn tendon. We have to wait to have an MRI to give us that answer. BTW, I did google possible signs of torn tendon in a fingers, I wasn't given clear answers. LOL

Later that night, the door bell rings, it's Alex & Marina! As they walked in we could tell something was really wrong with Alex. She had ice on her right hand, and she was upset. She got hurt at practice. Poor baby! Broke my heart to see Alex crying. She was laughing and smiling by the time she left though :))
Hope my girls get well soon. We got softball & golf season already upon us....we don't have time for injuries!!

Meet Jojo

Back in Nov. of 10', our good friend Dewaine lost his mother. Mary Cooley was so unique, had a such a big heart and we all adored her. Last time I had saw her, was back in July of 10'. I went over to her house to get her Internet up and running. She always had her faithful dog by her side. I remember trying to pet him, but he was very guarded, and wouldn't really let me. He would jump up on Mary's lap and watch my every move.

Mary's hubby Gerald explained to me the relationship that Mary and this dog had. She had been confined to a wheel-chair for quite some time, so she wasn't exactly able to just go anywhere at anytime. So getting her this dog was perfect for so many reasons. They were a match made in heaven. She gave him all the love and attention that a dog could EVER want and he was her faithful companion. One day this poor dog's owner is there, and the next she's gone. 

I remember going to visit Gerald, Dewaine & Denise (Dewaine's wife) a couple of days after Mary had passed, and the dog was nowhere in site. I asked Denise about him, and she told me to walk down the hallway and look on Mary's bed. There lying at the foot of the bed, was this poor dog waiting for Mary. It broke our hearts. He was lost, and staying where he knew she would come, and where he felt safe. During the week of her passing, Dewaine had asked Devin if he would take the dog if Gerald couldn't take care of him. There was NO WAY in the world we would ever say no. 

Meet JoJo Cooley.

2-1/2wks after Mary died, Gerald gave Devin a call and asked if we would take Jojo. Gerald had returned back to work, and Jojo was left alone, he wasn't used to that. When he left to work, Jojo was on Mary's bed, and when he returned hours later, he was in the same spot.

 Early one Sat. morning, Gerald brought Jojo over along with all of his belongings. He handed him to me and cried. Jojo locked eyes with him, and he tilted his head. Gerald looked right at him and told him to please not look at him and that he would be very loved here. He hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and said thank you. I'll never forget that. Lil' Ricky followed him outside and just hugged him while he cried. 

Jojo didn't eat for two days after he got here. He would just shiver and stay in the same spot. Lil' Ricky was so concerned about him, that he called up his Uncle Ricky and asked him to pls help him save this dog. Together, they were able to get him to eat and he was drinking water out of the lid of a water bottle cap. His demeanor would changed a little every day. Finally one day, he just snapped out of it, we were all sitting in the living room and he started playing with his toys and wagging his tail :)

Meet Jojo Cooley Beardslee

Two months later, Jojo is a very happy spoiled dog. He spends most of his time with me since I'm a SAHM. He's my shadow and a good protector. I recently took a video of Devin talking to Aydan & cooing him, in the background of this video, you can hear Jojo crying and going crazy because we weren't paying attention to him. lol

He's pitiful, a mess, & at times a weirdo. I get annoyed with his "clingyness", but he's happy and a nice blessing & addition to our family.

I Melted.

I'm so glad I'm feeling better, otherwise I would have missed out on a busy weekend.

I convinced Devin that he needed to go to my cousin's wedding with me on Sat. It's always fun to get dressed up and go out, especially with my family. Gosh the kids & Devin looked so great. We had fun visiting with family and the wedding was so beautiful. They had the most amazing cake, I had to take a pic of it.

Isn't that something? I was so full from the meal, that I didn't save room to go to the dessert table, I wish I would have. Have you ever done that? Thought about something you "should have" eaten a day or two ago, or am I just that "chubby?" lol. The entire event was very classy, and I'm so glad we went.

Going to the wedding was great, but the highlight of the day for us didn't happen until we were back on Hwy 385 heading South, with Mr. Adyan Matthew in tow. Aydan is my sister Elizabeth's son. ( I call her E.G.) That lil' boy is something special. So sweet, happy & handsome. He reminds me so much of Ricky Devin when he was a baby. I'm actually privledged enough to see this blessing enter this world. My sister let me in the room with her when he was delivered via C-Section. Nah Nah Nee Boo Boo I met him 1st!

Aydan's smile can just melt your heart. This pic was taken after the 2nd time we tried to put him down for the night. There was too much going on for him to go to sleep. All the xtra attention, extra hugs, kisses, he just couldn't miss out on. He finally gave up and went to sleep after midnight, we wore him out. Surely his cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much :) I loved waking up the next morning and seeing all the baby things lying around. A baby sure does have a way of changing the dynamics of a house, and all of us loved that he was there.

My time with him was a cut a lil' short because I had some stuff that I needed to bake for later that day. So Devin & Lil' Ricky kept him company while I was busy in the kitchen. At one point I looked up, and Devin was holding & cooing him, and Ricky D was kneeling next to his dad, and rubbing Aydan on the back telling him he loved him. I melted. My baby boy was being so sweet & gentle to Aydan, and Devin's touch with babies is like no other.  Moments like that are few & far between in my house.

So EG, thanks for letting us bring him home with us. I love you :))

No More Olivia's for me...EVER.

36 hours ago, I just knew I was dying. As I stood in front of the toilet, tears coming down my face, I closed my eyes and envisioned the flowers at my funeral. Beautiful orchids, roses, gorgeous plants, and wait a minute, here it comes again....that churning in my stomach. Ugh. I'm not eating anything, so where the heck is this liquid coming from?

Let's go back to Tues afternoon. I thought that I would be a good mom and treat the kids to burritos from Olivia's for lunch. We had a meat a potato left, and Ricky D & I shared it later that evening. 3am,  I woke to "Hey Mom, my stomach feels funny." 5 minutes after he woke me up, Ricky & the toilet became best friends. Poor baby. I changed sheets, gave him some meds, and finally got back to bed. As I'm lying there, my stomach is rumbling, popping and well, it hurt. I made my way to bathroom, and right as I got to the door out of nowhere, here comes vomit.

 I hate that word. I hate doing it. I hate it. 

Thank goodness we have 2 bathrooms. Ricky was in one, I was in another. It's so hard to take care of your child when you feel so horrible. 

I finally woke Dev up @ 7, and told him we're sick. I feared it was a bug. What the heck was I gonna do if we all went down at once? I knew it was going around. By noon, Dev & Lulu were showing no signs of getting sick, so I knew we had dodged a bullet. The only thing that tied mine & Ricky's stomach problem together....was that dadgum burrito.

So, there in that bowl that Lulu made for me, has been my life the past few days. Devin really stepped up and took care of us very well. The night I got sick, I had these plans of going to Odessa the next morning and getting some errands done. Devin did those too :) On his way home, he called me to tell me that he had a surprise for me, he promised that it would make me feel better. He picked me out a new outfit!! :) Both the top and the bottoms were the right size. My sister was with him when he picked the outfit out, and she told me that he really wanted to get me PJ's with bacon & eggs on em'. Tacky? Nah, I think those would have been pretty darn cute!

Turns out I wasn't dying, it was just food poisoning. I will NEVER EVER eat a thing from Olivia's again. It just so happens that good ole' Crane, TX has more burrito places per capita than any other place in the world, so I have options. lol

Thanks for making us better.

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

I'll admit it. 2010 was NOT my year to blog. There was countless times that I thought about blogging, but I just never did. So, I'm not going to spend anymore time beating myself up over that, this time, I'm just gonna do it. Writing, Blogging, Journaling is such a great therapy.

So, here we are. New Year. My family has grown. Kristen got married in November to a great guy. Kristen Blake Polvon. It's still a lil' weird for me to see her name change on FB. Brandon is perfect for her. My sister gave birth to my nephew, Aydan! Finally another boy in the family! We were needing one so very badly.

Stephen is slowly but surely getting back on his feet. I miss that kid. We got to see him for a couple of days back in May for Kristen's graduation. He wasn't doing so hot back then. His life has made a 180 degree turn, for the better of coarse. Even though he's so far away, I understand him, and I believe he understands the path I've walked in the past, and the hardships that I endured. Our respect for one another has grown.

Ricky Devin &  Lulu are growing up so fast. Ricky played on the JV football team in the fall. He did AMAZING! He's passed every six weeks thus far. He always seems to pull through with the grades. lol He's a freshman this school year. He tried out for One Act, and well, he was the only freshman chosen to the cast. How awesome is that? It's in his blood. Both mom and dad were quite the thespians themselves :) Lulu is a sophomore. She's so beautiful. I'm so freaking proud of this kid. She's gone through a lot, and persevered so well. She's extremely active, sports, 4h, school, and Steve. Steve Heredia, was not a kid that I wasn't real fond of a year ago. You know, the dreaded boyfriend. Steve has stuck it out, and is respectful of us and our wishes.

Photography has become more than just a hobby for me. I've had several successful paying jobs now. I've enjoyed being able to help capture a moment in time for people. How much of an honor is that? I'm so blessed.

Devin's health has improved. His feet are unbelievably better. Diabetes is under control, & blood pressure is stable :) He's a mess, but he's my mess. This past year, we've grown closer than we have ever been before. This May we will mark our 20th year together. Now that we are down to having only 2 kids in the house, our time alone together had increased quite a bit. We go on "mini-dates" and we socialize a lot with our friends.

I'm going to try my hardest to blog as often as I can, and when I do, I want to add a photo of some sort.

BTW, some of the things I will blog about, I PROMISE- there is no way in the world that you can make that kind of stuff up.

-BB