Sorry I haven't posted in so long.  I've had a crazy few months including a surgery, 2 hospital stays and radiation.  In late February I had a mastectomy.  After finding the lump on my left breast and finding the cancer on my right breast skin, my doctors deciding removing both breasts was best. They also removed 30+ lymph nodes under my right armpit and a few on the left side.  I have gotten used to not having breasts and find it nice not to put a bra on every day :)  I will not have reconstruction surgery.  I don't want any more surgeries than necessary.  In March I was hospitalized for having fevers.  I stayed for 4 days and they didnt find anything wrong me.  I guess it just had to run its course.

After my hospital stay, my family and I spent a week in FL.  We went to Daytona Beach and stayed in the same hotel we stayed in when I was a kid.  It was a lot of fun except the last few days, the fever came back and I spent the last few days in bed.  As soon as we got back I started 6 weeks of radiation.  It was a looooong 6 weeks driving back and forth to the cancer center every day.  By week 4, my skin was fried.  I finally finished this past Monday and my skin is red and blistering and bleeding.  It will take a few weeks to heal.  I have to keep it covered constantly so it doesn't seep through to my shirts.  Radiation also makes you incredibly tired, so i've been dealing with that as well.

I spent last weekend in the hospital again for dehydration, fever, and nausea.  My blood was also low, so I had to get 2 blood transfusions.  I am home now and recovering.  My mom has been here all week taking care of me and i couldn't be more thankful for her.  Thank you mom for always being here for me and for the kids. We love you so much!

Thank you again for all your prayers and of course I can always use more.  As I've learned over the past 9 months, this is a never-ending battle and it seems once things settle down, something else will happen to change things up again.  It is a constant struggle. 

Update

I have been doing pretty well lately.  I had a bone scan and ct scan in December and results were somewhat positive.  My bones were stable, the cancer in my liver had shrunk a little bit, and the lump in my breast grew a bit.  I seemed to be having a "mixed reaction" to my medicine, where the medicine is only working on some parts of my body, but not all.  Had a bit of a set back the week before Christmas when I found a lump in my good breast. After a biopsy, we found out that it was indeed cancerous.  It is so small, we have no idea if it has always been there or was a new lump.  We went ahead and changed my medication.  I have another CT scan tomorrow on my liver to see how it is reacting to the new medication.  Please pray it turns out well, and the cancer is still shrinking.

My mom & I took the kids to FL a couple weeks ago for a week of fun in the sun.  We had a wonderful time staying with my Uncle in Boca Raton and then a day at Disney World.  Kyle surprised us at our hotel and went to Disney with us!! It was such a surprise and so much fun.  The kiddos had a great time.  We had breakfast with some characters and went on at least 5 rides without much waiting.  It was the perfect Disney trip!

I am so thankful for every good day I have.  I am also thankful that the cancer seems to be staying put, without much spreading.  I pray every day that it continues to stay put or just disappears altogether would be nice as well.  I am so thankful for the help I have.  Kyle does everything for me.  After working and going to class everyday, he comes home to vacuum and clean up the kitchen every night.  My mom still comes down once a week and cleans my entire house and does the laundry.  My Grandma helps with watching the kids if i have an appointment and is always bringing food to the house, which is a huge blessing!!!  Still thankful for everyone out there praying for me.  I need all the prayers I can get!

Just a Little Update

I've been doing pretty well lately.  It does seem that every day I will wake up with a new pain somewhere, but it doesn't last too long (a couple days).  But overall, I am feeling better.  It is hard for me, because every time I have a new pain, I worry A LOT.  I am pretty sure most of my new pain is just from over use or using a muscle i haven't used in months.  I have my next round of scans on December 8, so please PRAY for me.  Pray that they don't find anything new and my cancer is shrinking. Please pray for my healing, seriously, I'm so nervous.  I don't want them to find anything new.  The lump in my breast is shrinking, which should mean the other cancer is shrinking as well, but you never know.  I am still trying to be positive and have inner peace.  Kyle and I went to see Kara Tippets speak last Monday and she was amazing.  She wrote the book The Hardest Peace.  If you haven't read it, I recommend it. She talks a lot about having inner peace throughout her struggle with her Stage 4 cancer and her relationship with Jesus.  This is still new to me (3 months now!), so I am still trying to have that inner peace and strength that Kara does.  I am still in the process of questioning everything.  Is this really happening?  What if the medicine doesn't work? How long will I live?  I have an endless amount of questions.  While I am excited to see Jesus and my baby Valerie and my Meme, I want to see my Lilly & Landon grow up, I need to.  I've decided to make this Christmas the best ever.  I want the kids to have a wonderful Christmas with great memories.  I want every day now to be special with my kiddos.  I've decided to take each day and make it the best day I could have.  I am really enjoying the small things that I took for granted before.  I've discovered I love laying in my bed watching TV and eating Sour Patch Kids after the kids go to bed. LOL. Last night we went out to dinner and to see Christmas lights and it was just the best evening.  I was so happy. 

I can eat now!!! Really, really eat everything! I was having the hardest time eating.  I had to force myself to eat anything and of course I lost 2 more lbs when I went to the doc a couple weeks ago.  Down to 111.  That is like my high school days.  My doc put me on a new medicine and it is amazing.  I love to eat again!! I'm sure i've put on a few lbs by now.  I've been eating a LOT!  Please continue to pray for my healing.  Thank you all again for the cards, donations, and well wishes. 

I know i haven't blogged in a long time, so i thought i would update today.  Things are going well.  My radiation is over and right now I am just doing hormone therapy.  I get a shot once a month and take a medicine called Tamoxifen every day.  The bones in my hip and back are still growing and getting stronger.  Its hard to believe that in July I was walking around with bone fractures in my lower back and hip! I could barely walk and trying to take care of Lilly & Landon, keep my house clean, make dinner, etc....all by myself since Kyle was at work during the day and in class at night. I would have kept going until I fell down with a broken hip!  I finally broke down and called my mom and told I just couldn't do it anymore!  I couldn't pick up landon or even reach down to get the clothes out of the dryer!  I am still in some pain, but am off all pain medicine.  I am still using my walker (and hating it!). I don't want people to stare or feel sorry for me or wonder why a 31 year old woman has to use a walker.  Last night we had dinner out at Applebees. Lilly spilled her chocolate milk all over my lap and i was so embarrassed to walk out.  Did the 31 year old with a walker pee her pants too??  I just can't help but to have these thoughts.  I am trying so hard to stay positive though.  Even though I have Stage 4 cancer, I am hopeful for my future.  I still have my moments when I can't bear to think about what is happening. I have cancer that will never leave my body??  I will eventually have to have chemotherapy??  I know that everyone is dying and NO ONE can predict their tomorrow, but I just feel like my days are more numbered than most.  I can't help but feeling cancer (a horrible, terrible word I can barely say) is just a death sentence!!  When I get like this, Kyle is great at talking to me and saying all the right things.  He always helps put things in perspective and makes me feel good again. 
 I can't wait until the day I can pick Landon up again and not have a caretaker.  I LOVE my mother being here with me and am so thankful to have her, but I'm ready to get my life back.  I'm ready to be able to take care of my children, change landon's diaper, put him in his bed, make them dinner.....I'm getting there, slowly, but it is happening.  I stayed with Landon for a few hours today, and it was great! I am still working on getting my appetite back.  I can still just eat "light" foods and no dairy!! 
I want to thank EVERYONE who came to the benefit, donated to our medical bills (because we have a TON), bought my kids birthday presents, said a prayer, sent a card, brought a meal, etc.....  I am so thankful to have so many people pulling for me.  It means so much to me and brings me to tears just thinking about it.  Please just keep praying for this cancer to completely leave my body (I believe in miracles!!!). 

#wongstrong Benefit!

My benefit was this last Saturday night and it was just amazing.  There were so many people there!  It was so nice to see all of the people who love and care about me. It was also like a mini high school reunion.  People i haven't seen for 10+ years were there in support of me!  Like I said before, it was amazing. 

I am feeling a lot better lately.  I still get sick, but it is not all day long.  If I eat something too heavy it usually comes back up.  And i have to time my anti-nausea medicine perfectly around when I eat.  I have been sticking to soups and jello and crackers and that's pretty much it.  My pain is a lot better.  There is still a lot of pressure on my lower back when I get up, but that is pretty much it for the pain.  Kyle and i went to a couple stores the other day and it was such a good outing.  I used the cart instead of my walker and it just made me feel normal again.  Such a good feeling to feel normal again.  I can't wait to get rid of this walker!! Should only be a couple more weeks.  Once i get rid of the walker and can eat normally, I will be back in business :)  I can't wait to just get up and do things.  Clean up the kitchen, pick something up off the floor, walk up the stairs without assistance!! I am going in this week for another scan of my pelvis.  Please pray that it looks good!!  I also need to start gaining weight.  Believe it or not, I weighed 148 in July.  Right now I am about 115.  And believe it or not, I don't like my new, small body.  I wish I could go back to my normal weight and just be normal again.  But, sigh, this is my new normal.  Tamoxifen every day and shots once a month are my new normal.  But if it is keeping me alive, I'm cool with it!

This morning I woke up in a pretty good mood, so I put my contacts in and makeup on for the first time in over a month.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I had a doc appt at 9:30 at the Cancer Center this morning.  At the center I received fluids just to rehydrate my body and give me some energy, although this  afternoon I'm exhausted, so I'm not sure it worked!  I also met with one of my docs.  I decided to ask a question that i've been thinking about and some people have asked. Will I ever go in to remission?  The answer is sadly NO.  I will live and fight with this disease my entire life.  It has spread too far.  Once the cancer is in your bones, it is there for life!  I can use medicine to shrink it, but I will be on some sort of hormone therapy my entire life.  I will also have Chemo sometime in my life, when the hormone therapy stops working.  The doctor compared it to Diabetes. Diabetes 20 years ago might have a death sentence.  But now people are living with it every day.  That is what my Cancer will be like.  I will always fight it as long as I live.  I asked again (since last time I was mostly out of it) and the cancer is in my breast (which will NOT be removed because the cancer has already spread), my liver, and my bones-- a lot in my pelvis and spine, my upper leg, my shoulder, even my skull.  This cancer has spread!!!  To think I've been living with it for so long with no idea is crazy to me.  If my hip and back would not have started hurting, I would still be walking around here with no idea of the cancer!!!  Actually hopefully I would have had another mammogram by now to diagnose the breast cancer, but who knows? It went undetected for so long.  If any woman is reading this PLEASE get regular mammograms and do not take NO for an answer! If you think something is wrong, there probably is. Doctors do not know everything!  If I were more persistent, I would have been a year ahead on this thing and it might not have spread so much.  After hearing my diagnosis again today, I cried and probably ruined my make up.  I just hope I am able to live a long life with my husband and kiddos.  It will be a happy day when i can pick up my Landon again.  I miss my kids.  Yes they are here with me. But i miss our normal life: bathtime, bedtime, even changing diapers and especially just getting on the floor and playing with them.  In good news, I am trying to get my stomach back to normal.  It mostly is and i can eat somewhat normally now.  I am down to 120 lbs, which is like what I was when i started college.  I've officially lost all my baby weight...woohoo...what a way to do it.  If only I could go back to my 147lb healthy body :)  Although, i'm thinking it hasn't been very healthy lately.  Ok...enough complaining today. I'm still here, still alive, still breathing. Just got to keep remembering that.

Cancer.  I seriously can't believe I have cancer.  I am 31 years old, with my only major health problem being asthma.  I don't have time to have cancer!  I have 2 small children to raise, a husband and a home to take care of.  This sucks! I promise this whole post won't be about how much this sucks, but the first part does. I need to vent.

I sleep on the recliner part of my couch because it the most like a hospital bed.  It is the easiest way for me to get up and down.  I wear a back brace almost 24 hrs a day and it itches!  I walk to and from the bathroom with a walker.  I can't get dressed or shower or do anything by myself.  A small part because it hurts too much, the largest part because we are afraid my hip will BREAK if i put too much pressure on it or if i should fall.  I have NO appetite.  I could go on and on and continue to feel sorry for myself, but i will only allow myself to do that a small part of the day.  I have to accept this hiccup in my life and move forward, but it does suck.

I have had 3 radiation treatments.  These are not so bad, but I do have to lay flat on my back for about 20 minutes, which is just awful for me right now.  I have about 3 weeks left of every day radiation treatments.  They are supposed to shrink the cancer and rebuild the bone i have lost. My cancer will never die or completely leave my body.  Too much damage has been done.  What happens now is that it shrinks with radiation and with hormone therapy.  I will take meds for the rest of my life.  When my cancer becomes immune to the treatment, I will start another treatment.  I will hopefully be able to live a pretty normal life eventually. 

We have been blessed with so many loving people praying for us, making us meals, making donations to help with medical expenses, cleaning my house, running to the store for diapers, making a pitcher of my favorite iced tea, buying me special deodorant, etc....  My high school classmates are forming a benefit for me.  For ME?!!   I feel so honored and blessed that people care so much about me.  It is wonderful to know that i am loved so much.  Especially thankful for my husband, my mom, and mother in law.  They are behind the scenes helpers.  Day to day, bathing my kids, bathing me, laundry, etc...  My husband just said this morning as he was trying to do a million things at once, "How do people do this every day with no help??!!"  Hmmm....well i used to honey, crazy isn't it :)

Cancer

I received terrible news about 3 days ago. I have cancer. Stage 4 cancer.  I guess it began years ago. A small lump in my breast that went undetected for years. I am young, i have always had dense lumpy breasts anyway. Fast forward to last October. I noticed a lump. About walnut size and very tender. I scheduled a mammogram. I had the mammogram and they found nothing! I also had an ultrasound, again nothing. The doctors thought...it was hormones, and it should go away about 6 months. Fast forward even further.  Life happened, and I didn't think too much about it. Kyle started a law internship which unfortunately didn't come with insurance. We purchased our own short term insurance with a $5000 deductible. We tried very hard not to use it!  In July, I noticed the lump had gotten even bigger, but was no longer painful. Also in July I hurt my hip and my back on two different instances.  When August came, I could barely walk. I saw my doc twice, had an xray, received 2 rounds of pain pills and muscle relaxers. Nothing worked. I finally had an MRI on Thursday. I immediately received a call to come into the docs office for my results. He showed me my back and hip and all the cancer in both. It turns out my bones were so brittle from the cancer, I almost had to have a hip replacement Thursday night. I also had developed a fracture in my back.  Hence all the pain I have been in. I immediately met with cancer doctors and started more tests to see if it has spread even more.  I had a breast biopsy and it was confirmed that the cancer most definitely started in my my breast. I also have cancer in my lymph nodes as well.  I had another MRI, and 2 more different scans.  Right now, we are waiting on results to see if it has spread further. On Tuesday I will start radiation. The goal is to grow my bones and shrink the cancer with the radiation.  Then I will start chemo or hormone therapy.  I have looooong road ahead of me. It is not good.  And it turns out my breast lump was caused by estrogen, so every time I had a birth control pill, I was feeding it.  Right now, I am in a lot of pain. I can put no pressure on my bad hip, so I have to walk with a walker.  To even lift the walker, it puts a ton of pressure on my lower back and hurts so back with every step.  I can't do anything myself and need to be sitting or laying constantly. I am really only comfortable laying.  Please please pray for me.  I am trying to be so confident that everything will be ok, but my whole life has drastically changed.  I thought after going through everything with Valerie, I had hit my quota for bad things happening in my life, but apparently not. 

2011

Hello 2012, Goodbye 2011!!!!

We are so happy to welcome in a new year! 2011 was not very kind to us.  About a year ago, January 10, 2011, our lives were turned upside down when we found out our baby was a girl (yay!), but also had major heart defects & Trisomy 13.  I will never, ever forget that moment in the Doctor's office.  I remember being so happy & very surprised we were having a girl, and moments before hearing the awful news, updating my facebook status to say Baby Wong is a Girl!!!!  Literally seconds later, our dr. came in and immediately told us that our baby was not healthy.  Heart defects & a 1 valve umbilical cord.  Told us our baby probably has a chromosomal abnormality, most likely Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome).  We were devastated but made peace that our daughter would probably have Down's, and have to have multiple heart surgeries.  I remember being so upset that she would probably never be able to play sports, and never really be able to run & play with her big sister.  Then another shocker--the very worst--Trisomy 13.....what doctors say is "incompatible with life".  Ugh....what an awful, awful moment.  Knowing that the baby trying to grow inside you could pass away at any moment was a horrible feeling.  I felt like i had to walk on eggshells not to hurt her or do anything to put her in any more stress.  Every week, going to the doctor to hopefully find a heartbeat.  The only thing that kept me going was her constant kicking.  Loved those kicks :)  They were very reassuring.  And then it was May 2011, Mother's Day, I was a wreck.  Not only was lilly very sick, I knew something was wrong with Valerie.  I was emotional, crying, all day.  I just knew she was gone... The next day, the dreaded heartbeat check, there was no heartbeat.  The day i gave birth to Valerie was the most painful & also peaceful day I've ever experienced.  So many emotions, but after she was born....only peace.  Such an amazing feeling, I will never forget it!

Lilly in 2011:

• became a big sister!
• turned 3 years old
• started  preschool
• went on 2 vacations
• learned to swim
• got her first haircut

She loves:

• milk, cheese, noodles, bologna (she calls gobloney) :), fruit, yogurt smoothies, cucumbers (she calls pickles)
• her bitty baby and has named her Jesus :)
• playing outside
• Tangled & Snow White
• playing dress up
• wearing only dresses or skirts with leggings (will not put jeans or regular pants on)
• helping...anything i let her do, she is thrilled to help out!

Hoping & praying 2012 is much nicer than 2011 :)

Still Thankful...

Geez i am bad at this!  I thought posting every day would be easy, but its not!  So here is what i am thankful for, days 13-21:

• Our church & lilly's preschool, Carmel Lutheran.  This church has made us feel so at home there!
• Lilly's imaginative personality.  She makes up the cutest songs and stories & has named her baby Jesus Mary Wong.  I just love listening to her play....
• the food we have to eat every day whenever we are hungry
• books...i love to read! 
• my bathtub.  Nothing better than a relaxing bath with a great book!
• that my family is healthy.  One of the things we are most thankful for!
• Kyle's job.  He supports our family and has a company car.  Very blessed.
• that i had 22 years with my Meme.  She was an amazing grandma and i miss her every day.  She was my second mom :)
• my education.  loved every second at Purdue, including getting my bachelors degree! hehe...

Thankful days 4-12

Since I posted last, here is what i've been thankful for (i've been putting my thankful posts of facebook):

• my warm, cozy bed :)
• my parents, Bob & Julie Marchese--love them so much!  I think my mother is a super-mom who can and does do everything (cook, clean, work, and still have plenty of quality time with her children).  She is amazing!
• my house!
• my job at market day--this job gives me the opportunity to work when i want & stay home with Lilly.  there are so many benefits of working for market day!
• my brother, Brad, and sister-in-law Hayley....love having a new best friend & coupon buddy!
• great friends!
• the Veterans who have & are still helping and working for our country!

Today i am thankful for coupons :)  Seems like a silly thing to be thankful for, but i love them.   They provide an awesome hobby for me while allowing me to save massive amounts of money for our family, which in turn has allowed me to stay at home a lot more with Lilly!  I remember before I couponed going to the grocery and spending like $150 on groceries every 1-2 weeks!  Now i spend around $50 every 2 weeks, buying fresh milk when needed.  We no longer have to make a monthly Walmart trip buying $50-$75 in toiletries.  We are completely stocked up on shampoo, conditioner, razors, shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deoderant, body wash, lotion, etc.....  So anyway...yes, i am thankful for coupons.  :)

November 3rd

Today I so thankful for my 2nd daughter, Valerie Wong.  Miss her so much...i wonder what life would be like right now with a 6 month old & a 3 year old?!

I like to imagine what Valerie would have been like as a child, teenager, & adult.  I like to think that Lilly takes after her daddy.  Lilly is outgoing, spunky, always on the go, etc...  I think Valerie would have been just the opposite.  And the name Valerie Ann Wong sounds so professional.  She would have been something great, i just know it!

                                          Lilly                                                   Valerie

                                     Doesn't she look so much like Lilly??

We miss her!

November 2nd

Today i am thankful for my beautiful daughter Lilly.  She is incredibly sweet, loving, outgoing, and funny.  I am so blessed that she is my girl.  I love her more than anything.  Lilly has the best personality.  I am so, so lucky :)

This is Lilly's model pose :)

November 1

I have decided to post every day in November about something I am thankful for. 

Today I am especially thankful for my husband, Kyle.  Kyle & I have been through so much together--both good & bad.  Mostly good, but the bad has helped bring us closer together and have a stronger relationship.  He is the best daddy to Lilly and I love watching them together.  He is so hard working and strives every day to make our lives better!  I love you Kyle Wong.  Thank you for being an amazing husband!

Since I blogged last:

• Lilly started preschool!  She loves it!  She has lots of friends and is learning a lot!

I have no idea what is up with her closed mouth smiles....she is silly. :)

• Lilly turned 3!  She had a Minnie Mouse birthday party.

• Lilly was Snow White for Halloween.



Bummer of a CVS trip tonight

Okay fellow couponers...i can't stop thinking about my trip to CVS tonight.  I did not do so good, and i keep thinking of ways it could have been better.  I did 2 transactions and I should have done 3!  Here is what I got:

Transaction #1
Renu Contact Solution $7.89
Lipton Iced Tea $1.00
After coupons=
Spent .62 out of pocket, received 6.00 in extra bucks

Transaction #2
Twin pack Opti Free Contact Solution $14.99
2 Garnier Shampoo $3.99 each (7.98)
1 Garnier Conditioner $3.99
1 Garnier Hair Spray $3.79
Water Wings (for vacation) $2.99
U by Kotex $3.49
After coupons=
Spent $18 out of pocket, received 12.00 in extra bucks

I spent $18 out of pocket!!!!!!!  That totally sucks.  Before I started couponing, that would have been nothing.  But now that I do, that seeems like soooooo much.  These aren't even things I need.  I already have sooo many shampoos & conditioners.  I have so many boxes of pads & tampons, I would probably be good for a year!  The only thing we will use soon is the opti-free (which alone only cost $14.99!)  How in the world did I spend $18??!!  If I could go back, i would have made the opti free another transaction....what a bummer. 

It felt good to vent...i guess with so many AWESOME trips to CVS spending almost nothing, I was bound to have a bad trip sometime!  And on the bright side, I now have $12 in ecbs....  Thank goodness we are leaving for vacation soon, i think i may need a very small break in couponing...although I may have to hit up Target while I'm down there and you know I'll be taking my coupons :)

Goals for Today

Moneysavingmom.com is one of my favorite blogs.  Not only are there deal postings, she also posts: recipes, ideas, living frugally, etc...  On her facebook page, she has been posting her top 5 goals to get done that day.  I think this is something I need to start doing.  While it is nice to have no agenda and to go about the day as we please, I feel I need something to hold me accountable.  So on days that I can, I will post my goals for the day either on my blog or facebook, or maybe just make a list when I wake up every morning.  Today my goals are:

• Finish my menu plan for next week and half
• Vacuum entire downstairs
• Unload dishwasher and reload
• Take ironing board back upstairs (it has been sitting in our entryway for a week) oops
• Clean kitchen floor (sweep & mop)

I have started making & selling diaper cakes.  It is so much fun!  Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing one.  With all of the materials that go into it I have to charge $65.  If that is a little too expensive, let me know and we can scale it down and make it for less.  Please let me know if you are interested!  They are perfect for baby showers as a gift or a centerpiece.  If you are hosting a shower~this makes a perfect gift!  I can also make cakes for bridal showers using towels instead of diapers.  My email is kariekwong@gmail.com if you are interested.

 Boy diaper cake

 Lilly looking so cute!

 New deck!

 First night in her big girl bed!

Girl diaper cake-I can't rotate it...sorry!

Summer Update

So i went to buy my coupons (newspapers) yesterday at a gas station and they were completely out!  I asked if they had any left, and the man said that there is a lady in the area who is a big couponer and she buys every single paper they have on Sundays plus he orders her an extra 35 newpapers.  Every Sunday.  35+ newspapers.  Ridiculous.  All i wanted was 2 little papers :)

I am LOVING this summer.  Our new deck has made it so perfect.  I love sitting on the deck while Lilly plays in her pool & new swingset!  We are looking forward to vacation in SC again!

Lilly is 2 and 9 months old and is getting so big.  Can't believe I will have a 3 year old in a few months!  Lilly loves:

• Watching movies...favorites right now are Despicable Me and Gnomeo & Juliet (they are my favorite too!)  Despicable Me=hilarious
• Reading her books....favorites right now are ALL Berenstein Bear books.  She loves them!  Thank goodness my mom saved all of mine from when i was a kid.
• Playing, playing, and more playing.  Loves to play with her kitchen, making "food", going to the "store"....very into pretend playing.  Also loves building with blocks.
• Loves to play outside.  She is definitely an outside kind of girl. 
• her big girl bed! 

Love my Lilly girl!!  Still missing my Valerie.  Knowing she is waiting on us in Heaven makes everything a little easier :)  Can't wait to see her again!!  If you haven't read Heaven is For Real...please do.  GREAT book! 

My Addiction to Couponing

So I think I may have an addiction--to couponing.  Every week, I can't wait for Sunday.  I love getting the new coupon inserts in the newspaper!  I buy about 3 papers every Sunday just for the coupons.  I am constantly online checking my favorite deal sites: myfrugaladventures.com, moneysavingmom.com, and thekrazycouponlady.com.  I am also constantly planning another trip to either CVS, target, or walmart.  Did you know that walmart price matches any other ad you bring in?!  Our Marsh had triple coupons 2 weekends ago, and I went crazy!  It was so fun...I went to marsh 7 times in the 4 days this was taking place.  And my most favorite place is CVS!  This was what my trip looked like yesterday:
5 count Zyrtec 5.99  (had a $4 coupon)
1 colgate toothpaste 2.99  (had a $1 coupon)
2 crest toothpaste 2.49 each  (had 2 $1 coupons)
1 colgate toothbrush 2.79  (had a .75 coupon)
Schick Hydro 5 razor 8.00  (had a $4 coupon)
   
Total: about $25
I used extrabucks (i already had) to pay my $12 balance after using coupons. 

Paid $1.50 out of pocket
Received $16 ecb to use on my next trip!

I love CVS!  Is anyone else CVSing every week? 

Honestly for me couponing is so much fun--the thrill of getting things for almost free is SO exciting.  Even if I don't exactly need the things I'll be getting for free-someone will.   I am constantly getting colgate toothpaste for free--which i hand right over to my parents because they use colgate and we don't.  Same with deoderant, while Kyle is dead set on Pure Sport Old Spice deoderant, my dad doesn't care what he uses.   If I get too much of something, i can always donate it.  So anyways...couponing is my thing.  Everyone needs a "thing".  Kyle is into hockey, and I am so into couponing.  If i was working, I would probably not be so into this, but since i'm not--i have a lot of extra time on my hands!

If anyone is just throwing their coupon inserts away, feel free to send them my way :)

Pictures of Valerie

“Lord make me a rainbow, I’ll shine down on my mother

She’ll know I’m safe with you when she stands under my colors…”

Oh, and life ain’t always what you think it ought to be, no

Ain’t even gray, but she buries her baby…”

-The Band Perry

My beautiful baby Valerie

Missing her...

"There are mothers who give birth to babies, too good for this world of men. They touch our lives for a moment, then travel Home again." ~Unknown


Missing my sweet babe.
Can't wait to show you all a picture of Valerie.  Just waiting to get the photos back.  Today we got her molds from the hospital and they are perfect!  Can't believe how teeny tiny her feet were.  Wish i could hold her just one more time. 
We have some other exciting news.  Kyle got accepted into law school!  He will be starting at IUPUI in August.  It will be a long 4 years as he tries to balance his family, full time job, school, and hockey :)  But hopefully in the end it will all be worth it.  I am so thrilled that Kyle got accepted and think he will make an amazing lawyer!  I love my handsome, sweet, & smart husband.  We are looking forward to this summer.  Kyle & his friends have been busy building a deck and a play set in our backyard!  We are so excited to be able to go outside and relax on our deck and watch Lilly play :) (And do lots of laying out!!)