Spring? Are you here?

Hi ya'll! It's March...and the Texas weather is wreaking havoc on out little home. We all have a little too much drainage... and Sami currently holds the record for "most sick" with a double ear infection! UGH!

Bill's job (mentioned last month) is a perfect fit. He is the VP of West Coast Operations and a Senior Media Artisan! If that doesn't tell you how perfect this job is for him I don't know what does. (Well maybe that there is a "play corner" with Guitar Hero set up is another tell tale sign!)
He is loving it...fancy pants and all! He is producing industrial videos for corporations mostly Frito Lay. Check out the website...you can learn more...www.infinitude.com

MJ is learning to read and do math. It amazes me! He and Sam are so darn cute together. They are playing together wonderfully now. It is fun for Bill and I to get the chance to sit back and watch them play. We did that today at the park...glorious!


Our Ninja turtle! I think considering Bill and I had never painted faces before we did darn good! This kid turned into a ninja in two seconds. He LOVED it!


This little lady can melt your heart with this smile! She is learning her ABC's and is just so active! She is starting to slow down...but only by the tiniest bit! She can sit for half of a movie now. That's pretty big!
MJ's tough guy look...a little more cute than tough if you ask me!
This night was amazing...we did some video taping which the kids wanted to immediately watch. Boy...it's going to be amazing to tell them someday that Mom and Dad used to have to wait to see pictures and had a piece of luggage as a video camera...not a travel pack of tissues!


Adorable! Her hair is growing so much.
Daddy filled the tub up a little too much with bubbles and water! Floating heads!
Strategic bubbles!

I have my first check up with my breast specialist since my surgery last year pretty soon. I am coming up on my one year anniversary soon. It's amazing what this last year has brought us. We are only a few weeks away from the year anniversary of our signing on our home! That is freaking amazing! Life is good...God has been watching out for us!

Love to you all...Happy Easter!

February...let it snow!

One great pic of me and my gal...Sami has grown so much since the beginning of the year. Listening to her talk up a storm and sing song her way through the day makes me grin. Our biggest hurdle at the moment is potty training...all in good time! Clearly "Sami's" time! I really like this photo!
So I have been itching to go sledding since the snow dropped more inches on our fair Texas land the past couple of days than it has in my life time! We bundled up the kids and ourselves as best as we could and "hit the slopes" of Frisco! The city park gave us a perfect spot for sledding...and it looked like a few other folks had the same idea! I don't know if any of them had as good a time as we did though!
My baby girl...not even three and brave enough to go head first!


We tried a few different methods when it came to our sledding equipment. The cookie sheet and blown up baby pools didn't do well...but the packaging from one of the products my company sells worked perfectly! Just a little cardboard with acetate around it...but it was definitely the best!
MJ away!!!!!

The kids have found another way to bond. They figured this one out on their own. I heard Sami giggling like crazy the other day and came around the corner to find them turning each other around on the sit-n-spin. Hilarious! It's great that they like each other so much! (Most days!)
One Extra large snowman in our front yard.
I love me some Saturday Mornings!

MJ was moving around the living room with the umbrella in his hand a few weeks ago. My light bulb went off...so this is a pic of MJ as Gene Kelly. A very proud moment for me! (That is actually Singing in the Rain on the TV!)Our 2 year old going on 16! She really loves this dress...thanks Aunt Katie! She asked me to take pictures of her...Oh boy! She LOVES shoes...I know now that if I ever need to calm her down...we go to Payless!

In other news...
Bill has changed career paths again...sort of. I believe the last time I wrote he was still looking to finish his teaching certificate and start teaching next semester. Well...a guy he went to high school with has a video production company about 20 minutes south of our house and he was hired two weeks ago! He is really enjoying his time and feels that this really could be "it!" I couldn't be more happy for him. To have a job these days is a blessing...to get to do something you enjoy is a miracle!

Happy Valentines everyone! Much love to all of you!

Stephanie

Hi ya'll!!! Happy 2010!

So another holiday season has come and gone...and we got some great photos to show for it! Since I have been such a loser and haven't published a post in more than three months...I think I will give you all a treat and show you some pictures before I write!

This is our house on the first snow of the season...Bill and I had just brought the kids back home from our Thanksgiving trip to KC and we really didn't want to go back to work. We were both pretty tired and when we saw the snow falling all the negativity about "getting back to real life" melted away! Those are the kids on the sidewalk...their first snow!
This was "Clark's" first attempt at 6305 Montgomery Dr.! He did a gosh darn great job!

This was our Christmas morning! It snowed for the second time of the season and we couldn't have been more blessed! Our Christmas morning started with snowmen, snowballs, and snow angels! How amazing! All after opening presents in our own home! So amazing!




The kids still love their sit-n-spins! Well, I should say that Bumblebee the Transformer and Fancy "Sami" love their sit-n-spins!
Watch out! The eyes alone will get you...every time!
Sami on Christmas Morning in her brand new dance outfit...holding the tail of her favorite stuffed kitty! Thanks Aunt Lora!

This one I took for Aunt Shelly (stripy pants!)...the hair sticking up on it's ends was a bonus!
Practice...
Again with the super hero strong men!
We hope that this year brings everyone happiness and harmony. We are looking forward to some great fun in 2010. I will have to say I am a little sad that we don't have hover cars...I thought that we would by now.

Love to you all!

My 3 scars

I think that is going to be part of my book title...My 3 scars. What do you think?



Well...the kids are doing great. Just tonight MJ came out of his room (after we had put him to bed mind you) with his shirt turned around on his arm in a fashion that I just couldn't fathom. He was standing in his normal spot in the hallway trying to get a glimpse of the TV (normal thing for him) and I heard him. I said MJ...you need to go to bed. He came down the hallway and said "my clothes are twisted up." When we saw what he had done (somehow his right shoulder was showing and the sleeve was twisted...but still on) Bill said, "how did that happen?" MJ's response: "I don't know." Priceless! I turned his shirt around and Bill took him off to bed stopping in the bathroom on the way. Bill had eaten some popcorn not 5 minutes before...and I hear MJ say to Bill, "I am sorry that I couldn't join in the fun of eating popcorn Dad." Twice in one night...priceless!!!!!

Samantha is proving to be every bit of a spitfire you could get in a 2 year old. That's right...she is almost two! She is adorable, sassy, smart, crazy, and fun. I think that rolls up into one great little kid. She is stacking blocks with the best of them...and she picks up on things really quick. She is very observant and loving. Just can't get enough! Three word phrases are coming very easy for her. GT program...here we come!

I have healed nicely with my last surgery being almost two weeks ago. I have no pain and will start scar therapy soon. I have truly been blessed through this process by the most supportive family in the world. Especially my loving husband. He has sat by my bedside making me laugh and heal. He doesn't mind the new knockers at all either! (Sorry to all of you who really didn't want to hear that.)

Last weekend I attended a conference at the Gilda House in Dallas with my Grandfather and Mother in Law. When I arrived I went to the first person with a name tag that I could find and told them that I was 1.5 weeks out of surgery and would love to talk if given the opportunity. Once pointed to the correct person...they were more than grateful to hear of my enthusiasm...especially seeing that one of the "patient panel" had come down sick. I wrote a quick 5-10 minute breakdown of my story and oila...a speaker I became! I loved participating and helping. I think that my story is different as it is positive. I fought cancer before it had the chance to get me. I really enjoyed having my Grandfather there to hear my side too. He is really an inspiration as he is 82 and still keeping on top of everything. It's amazing! Such an inspiration! So I am hoping to continue my speaking and have started my book. It will be a while before it is finished. I have a lot to say.

Bill is doing great. He is still working for Murder Mystery Players, working for my Dad on and off, and starts his course for his alternative teaching certificate in a couple of weeks. He will finish by the end of this year and we will see what happens at the beginning of next year. Great things to come!

Our house continues to keep us happy...it really is amazing! I have officially organized every part of the house...and continue to think of new things to do! What a great creative outlet!

We have also found an amazing church that we became members of yesterday. It's amazing to have a community of people that we can become a part of. Believe me...I have some ideas about what can be done there too! One has something to do with compost...but I digress.

We love you all and thank you for your love, prayers, and support through these last 4 months.

Over 6 weeks

Well hello everyone!

It's over 6 weeks after my surgery and I am doing just fine! I have one more appointment this week and then I am done until September when I have a day surgery to "finish up" my "biscuts!" Everything (all meds) has seemed to calm down a bit and I am happy to announce that I have even had a dream or two lately! (I haven't been sleeping well...that's what that means!)

We were lucky enough to have "Pappy" come and stay with us for a week at the end of June. He stayed with the kiddos at the end of the month when our daycare lady needed to take a week off. I think he enjoyed himself...but was darn tired by the end of the week! We sure were thrilled to have him stay with us. I think MJ will always remember that Pappy taught him how to play hopscotch!

This one was taken on July 4th...those little cheeks were red because it was freakin' hot that night! Despite the meltdown we had not too much later after this picture was taken...she still was really cute!
MJ on his birthday...he had a few gifts (thanks Pawpaw and Aunt Vicki!) to open that morning...

And one more to open that night (thanks Uncle Rob!)



We had a "messyfest" in our backyard for MJ's birthday. It was filled with all kinds of fun. This is Bill testing out the home made slip and slide. Apparently dish soap makes this work pretty well. hmmm....


I love this picture of Harper Tagg...she couldn't be more serious about that cake. She put her best effort in making a pretty big old mess of her face!
What...
Here is Asher making a pretty great splash into the "slide pool." The kids had such a great time sliding down the "water slide" into the pool. My Dad got took on the post of refilling the pool.
Here's Asher's brother Aden. They both had pretty good form...until Aden lost part of a tooth when they decided to hit heads together! It wouldn't be a Schnitzius gathering unless there was some sort of injury!
Here is Sami...this was a pretty great splash!
Here is Ashton...can you guess who his brother's are?
Again...adorable!
What are you looking at??? (This is MJ's cousin Jacob!)


MJ and Joshua (Jacob's brother) are ready for anything...please note how the water is getting darker . It was sitting in the mud...and by the end of the day no one wanted to put their hand in the pool! This is about as daring as we wanted MJ to get...


This one took me a while to get uploaded...sorry about that! We want to thank everyone who sent cards, money, and gifts to MJ and me for our birthday's! We both had a great time celebrating. Now it's back to the grindstone. I am back to work full time. August is going to prove a busy month for us. We have a couple of trips planned and work is going to be busy. We also plan to hit the pool as much as we can!

OK ya'll...hope you are having a great summer. We love you all and hope you are doing well today!

Love
Stephanie

One week down!

Hi everyone.
I only have a few minutes before Bill and the kids make it home, and I am finding typing is something that I am having to re-learn! I am sure the drugs have NOTHING to do with that! :) My fingers aren't going where my brain wants them to!!!

Things are coming along just fine. I don't have any drains left (had 5 in the hospital) and an appointment next Thursday for my first "expansion." All of the pathology reports came back negative...so that is a real plus. By doing this surgery (as upside down as it has made my family and my life) I know that my chances of having cancer in the future are significantly lower. I never really thought of the emotional toll this would take on me and mine...but we are a pretty tight group and will make it just fine!

I can't thank all of you enough for the prayers, flowers, thoughts of support, family, and food support. I couldn't have done this without each and every one of your help!

Many more blogs to come...Stephanie!

Here are a few pictures of the kids playing at the pool with the family...they clearly had a great "vacation!"

PS- I still have a nasty case of poison oak...which just adds to the humor! Truthfully!