2011 in Review

How 2011 beganBeen re-reading my blog and reminding myself what happened in 2011.

We have had a full year, like always.  

Hollister turned 5 in January.
I ran my first half marathon in January.

Trevor kept making cakes and even made his own for his birthday.

In March, I turned the big 4-0. We celebrated for a long time. I had a surprise party and it was GREAT!

Life was pretty normal with Tball and Soccer.

In May, we had a scare. After my first mammogram, I had to have two biopsy's on my left breast. It was very scary. Mine and Trevor's first medical scare together. Thankfully, they were benign and I will have six month mammograms instead of yearly. (Can you tell we were "scared?" I used that word enough huh?)
Side note: I just had my mammogram re-check this week and all is well!

Summer started and Mommy played teacher with her kids. Hollister and I tried doing some things for kindergarten. We did have some fun with letters, but I am not sure how productive we were.

Summer ended with some work changes for most of us. CJ had his first job. Kendrick got a full time job with Samsung and I finally made the jump to work in Elgin ISD. I made a huge leap to 6th grade Math, yep... MIDDLE SCHOOL.

Then it feels like life really got crazy round here.

Hollister started kindergarten, CJ started high school and I started teaching middle school.

Kindergarten has been good. Hollister loves his teacher and his friends. he is learning so much every day. He is having some speech issues, which we have been aware of. In 2012, he will have some testing done to see about some formal help with those tricky sounds. We think this will help him a lot.

Transitioning into high school for CJ has been extremely uneventful. He does really well academically and continues to play tennis.

Middle school has not been fun. It has been challenging to say the least. My goal this break has been t o rest and relax from it all. I think I have done a good job of that and I feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the Spring semester.



If all else fails, we can buy him this hat!

Fall brought some heavy duty medical concerns again. Hollister was diagnosed with a cholesteatoma in both his ears. My big long post after his first surgery explains it medically. I can't express how difficult it has been for Trevor and I. We are thankful for healthy kids, we know how blessed we are, trust me. But, watching your kid after surgery with a huge bandage on his head, is devastating. Probably the hardest part was beforehand though. The unknown of what would happen for him afterward with his hearing, very unnerving for us. So far though since the surgery we have been encouraged by Hollister's progress. He actually does have hearing in his left ear. At this point he could use a high powdered hearing aide and hear normally. He will have his second surgery in March and then we will just wait and see. We will tackle his right ear a few months after the left ear is complete. The doctor is actually optimistic and surprised how well he is doing now. We really like his doctor and trust him immensely. It is such a good feeling.

For some reason I never found time to post the pictures we had taken of the boys around Hamilton's 2nd birthday. They are soooo good!



I went to the doctor in September for a rash on my finger and left with a diagnosis of high blood pressure and a "full" thyroid. I would begin daily blood pressure medicine and have an ultrasound on my thyroid. Side note: Mary, my oldest sister had thyroid cancer in May and had her thyroid removed. We learned it was hereditary and that is why a check was even done. Good thing too. I did have 3 nodules on one side. We decided instead of going through the drama of more biopsies, we would just have that side removed and if cancer was found, remove the whole thing.

Hamilton turned 2 in November and keeps us all on our feet.

In December, Trevor and I both ran a half marathon in Vegas baby!

Almost 2 weeks ago now, I had half of my thyroid removed. Cancer was present. It was extremely small  (.5 cm) and enclosed inside a nodule. My doctor chose not to remove my entire thyroid. At this point, the chances of cancer coming back are 50/50. Which is kind of what most people's chances are, right? At this moment the plan is to have blood work done in January just to make sure my thyroid is functioning properly and medicine is not needed. Then in 6 months I will have an ultrasound to see if any nodules have appeared on my remaining side.

My blood pressure is completely under control and my rash, well, it comes and goes. Medicine helps that too.

Kendrick continues to work and take classes at ACC. He has a girlfriend, named Kaitlyn. He continues to live here at home and is a big help with the boys when we need him.

Trevor keeps working like always. He stays really busy and I don't think he'd have it any other way. He also keeps making cakes and trying new things. He makes them for fun as well as a little money. I think its therapeutic for him. He always has to be making things.

2011 has been a full year. We look forward to tackling 2012!