When it rains, it pours!

But we already knew that, right? In case you haven't heard...Cypress, Texas, where we reside, was pounded with 11 inches of rain on Monday night/Tuesday morning. We were expecting some pretty heavy rain, but were told it would pass on through about 9 pm. No biggie, right? This IS Houston, Texas and we are use to some rain! Frequent rain.

I knew we were in trouble around 3 am when the rain was still coming down HARD!!! Lightning and thunder brought my 20 month old into my bed. As soon as she drifted back off to sleep, momma had to go check the back yard! Stat. That is always a good starting point because we have a retention pond right behind our house. Now mind you, I saw the water at 3 am. This picture was snapped after day light. AFTER the rain has slowed a lot! Take a look.

Lake view property! Not so much. And here is a look at the front cul-de-sac area.


Unfortunately, we have a roof leak. More than likely, it occurred during Hurricane Ike. Although I called an Insurance Adjuster out to our home after Ike, he claimed there was not any roof damage. I believe he was wrong.
Since the month of the hurricane, Spetember 2008, there was an area in our master bath that kept catching my eye. I chalked it up to the home settling and the drywall bending a bit. I was wrong.
Turns out, that same area was brought to my attention by Richard on Tuesday - saying, "Is that a leak?" while climbing out of the shower. I knew EXACTLY what he was referring to. And I said, "Probably," as I turned around to look at THAT spot. He didn't even need to point out the area. Sure enough - definitely wet dry wall!!!
Again, stay tuned to the days of our lives...

Richard's 15 hour whirlwind!

It's 12:34 am on Monday morning, 04/20/09. I hear Richard sick (again) down stairs throwing up. As I lie there in a semi-coma-like state, I say to myself..."another gall bladder attack."

Richard has been having bouts of attacks for many months now. About one month ago he went to see our family doctor, Dr. Groff, who ordered him to have an abdominal ultrasound to confirm if he has gall stones that are causing his attacks. Procrastinate. That is all I will say about that!

Over the months, both myself and Richard did a lot of research on the internet and self-diagnosed him with gall stones, and thus he is experiencing gall bladder attacks. These attacks are very painful. They begin with an aching, burning pain in the middle of his abdomen and radiate up to his back. He throws up, has sweats, with chills, and is down right miserable. The attacks usually last 3 hours. As soon as the pain subsides, he is fine. Back to normal. I think that is the reason he put off the ultrasound...it's like he forgets as quickly as the pain subsides. I do not forget about being up all night listening to that awful stuff!

Back to 12:34 am on Monday morning. Around 3 am Richard insists that I call for an ambulance. I did. I took about 10 minutes to arrive. (Tick, tock, people.) Three paramedics from the Cy-Fair VFD come inside the house to find Richard curled up on the floor like a scared puppy dog...they tell him, "Sir, you know you should NOT be on the floor." That's the first I have heard of that...still not sure why that is and I didn't think to ask why. So, they load him on the stretcher...our neighbor Bobby calls to make sure everything is okay! Thank heavens! My saving grace...I ask him if his wife, Stacy, would mind coming over to listen for Layla. She does. I head to the hospital right behind the ambulance. Our destination - North Cypress Hospital. This is the same hospital we had to take Layla to last APRIL - April 12th to be exact! She was very ill with the Adeno virus.

As I walk into the same ER I carried my eight month old daughter into the previous year - everything slows down to a blur. I see the room Layla was in. I see some of the same familiar faces that helped us. I see the radiology room where they took an x-ray of Layla's chest. So surreal....oh! Back to the real world. Richard. Is he okay?

The paramedics were just unloading him from the ambulance...I passed him right up as I was in my hazy surreal world! Oops.

The paramedics would not give Richard any pain medication because they were not sure of the cause of his pain. In the ER, Richard was still shaking in pain, and continuing to throw up pure yellow-green bile. The hospital nurse finally administered a pain med....and you could just see Richard go to a far, far away happy place. Which, in turn, made me a lot happier.

Let's fast forward a bit...abdominal, liver, pancreas ultrasound...confirmation of gall stones...blood test work up to check liver enzyme levels and white cell blood count...this was to determine whether or not he need immediate removal of his gall bladder or some time to research what medical actions should follow. No choice - immediate removal of gall bladder. Surgery scheduled for 1 pm with Dr. Keller.

As I was sitting in the waiting room for what felt like ages...they finally called me back at 4 pm to see him. He was pretty loopy, but the surgery was a success!!! Thank the Lord!!! And even better news - no other damage occurred to any of his vital organs! God is indeed good.

Instructions - take it easy, don't drive for a few weeks, rest and drink plenty of fluids. Follow up with the surgeon in two weeks. Then he was dismissed and we were able to head back home....

Now THAT - that is a whirlwind if I ever...

It's raining cats and...Sammie!

The decision was made. Richard thought Layla NEEDED a puppy. So...Layla got a puppy. Spoiled much?

We headed out of Houston, Seguin bound on Saturday. Even though Friday we were pounded by unrelenting rain, we still hit the road about 8 am on Saturday morning, never even turning on the weather channel! We are so smart.

We drove for 2 hours in terrible rain, all to pick up our sweet new Chiweenie! That's right. A Chiweenie. One part Chihuahua and one part Dachshund. His name is Sammie and he is 10 weeks old.

Say hello Sammie! We adopted him from my cousin, Dee.
Layla fell in love with another Chiweenie the previous weekend. My younger sister, Kimberly, had adopted Sadie, who is Sammie's younger sister.
Say hello Sadie! She was so sweet and the perfect size for Layla. Richard inquired if Dee had another pup - and of course she did! ONE MORE! A little boy! We claimed him and he joined our household over the weekend.

He is a sweet little boy and listens well. Layla enjoys Sammie, as long as he doesn't jump on her. We are working on that, but - HEY! He IS just a puppy. He fits well into our family and we are looking forward to many happy and cherished memories! Thank you Dee!
And besides - Sammie is already teaching Layla many new tricks! Like how to chew on her blanket. She did NOT think it was very funny when Sammie was chewing on her blanket. But as soon as I told him to stop, she laughed hysterically! And then imitated her new pup! Layla is one silly little girl!

What a weekend.

Rain. Puppy. Bluebonnets. Surgery.

I will fill in all the details shortly. Stay tuned for the days of our lives...

My Honey and My Bunny!

I have to share some of my favorite pictures of my treasured grandma, Honey, and my sweet little bunny. Just so happens, that my favorite pictures of these two gals are during the Easter holiday. Some from this year....
And some from last year that still tug at my heart strings!!!


I will cherish these photos forever. I love ya'll.

It was a Hoppy Easter!

Another wonderful holiday with family and friends. Just how I like to spend the majority of my time! We headed to San Antonio to celebrate Easter with the fam. Ethan, Paige and Layla dyed Easter eggs, hunted Easter eggs, and of course we had to get photos with the Easter Bunny!

Layla and Paige didn't want much to do with that sweet little Easter Bunny, but it lead to some great photos to last the ages....
MOM - you still owe me those pics....I am waiting...until then. Here are some photos I snapped over the weekend. Layla absoultely LOVED her basket that the Easter Bunny left for her at home. She "oh-ed" and "Awe-ed" and she was oh-so precious!

Teething...good God!

Ha! Forgive me if I ramble today....I am working off of 3 hours total sleep last night, and that is if I am lucky!

My 20 month old - sweet, precious, loving, LOUD little girl is cutting some major teeth right about now. Bless her little heart. She screamed, I mean, SCREAMED her lungs out last night! She was in so much pain, it was heart breaking! And tiring...I kept thinking, "She has to stop at some point and fall asleep." WRONG!

I called on the Good Lord many times last night...to bring comfort to Layla. To let there be peace on earth! Good God, please help me!

To bring you up to speed...Layla only has about 12 teeth so far. (Take a look at that set to the left!) They get 20! Twenty, people!!!! This is gonna be a long haul....please pray for us to pull through! Wowsa.

A Shandy-kinda month

The days and weeks sneak by on me, faster than I can keep up! March is gone and we are well into April already. Geesh...let's back up about a month.

Richard's older sister, Melissa, and her husband, Scottie, came down to Houston for a visit in March. It was a wonderful time, truly. We all enjoyed their company and especially me, because I was able to get to know Melissa even better. Imagine - seven kids/babies when we go to Oklahoma for a visit. Then you add Layla in the mix, and well, it is hectic! Finding good quality time to sit down and visit with Melissa has been few and far between, but we were able to do that. It was nice. We celebrated Melissa's birthday on Sunday, March 15th, the day of their departure! Looking forward to our next visit...

Before I could turn around good, Jason, Richard's younger brother, his wife, Cristine, and their oldest four boys came whipping in to town. They only stayed a couple of days before jetting back Oklahoma so Cristine could go back to work! Wait...come back! I didn't even get any pictures...okay. Maybe next time?