Something to cheer me up....

I have been trying to decide whether or not to keep this blog strictly about Addison or write about my family and other kids here as well.... and well, I've decided there's simply no seperating the two. Addison's illness affects everything we do as a family so you're going to be reading  alot more - which will hopefully give me a place to share some encouraging positive things that happen in our lives too. So for those of you who don't know us, you will soon feel like you do a little more. My world is Addison, but there's so much more to it than that. This blog will now contain our regular 'family' blog as well as Addison's journey. And more pictures!

So without further ado, here is a little introduction to 'the other' members of our family..since you know Addi pretty darn well.. :)

A little bit about me: I'm 25 years old, and mama to three beautiful children. Our house is crazy 24/7 - and I can try all I want to not let it get that way, but we've decided that maybe thats just part of the charm of having a big family and now I just do the best I can. I'm not supermom, although I try to be. Eventually I learned that I can't in fact, do it all, and thats why God gave me this awesome person to share my life with.  I've been married for just over a year to Adam, husband and daddy extrordinaire. We are totally the parents whose kids will be like "ewww! Stop kissing in front of us!"

I've got a Bachelor degree in HR that will likely never do more than take up space on our bookshelf. I have so many big dreams...but most of them are wild and impossible with our family. One day I will settle down and pick one and be a superstar at whatever it is. But for now, being just plain "Mama" is the most-fulfilling thing I could wish for.

My parenting style is very laid back...it has to be, now that we have a sick baby. Taking care of Addison is a full time job but I would never want anyone but myself to be doing it. I do miss the casual things like just grabbing my purse and heading out the door to run errands (it takes us at least 20 minutes to leave the house now for ANYTHING, haha). I put on three jackets, three little pairs of shoes, and round up cups and diapers, and everything else to put in my 'luggage' to run errands now. I would never have it any other way. 

I used to be in pageants, movies.... I used to think I could be Miss America. I used to be self absorbed and 'pretty' and worried about my looks, and my body, and whether or not 115 pounds was looking chubby or not.
Now I'm a coupon cutting, messy haired, tired out mommy.
And the only person I'm worried about getting chubby is Addison ;)
If only my 17-year-old self could see me now.... I like to think she'd be impressed.

Adam and I fell in love so fast that it was hard to remember a day without each other. Falling in love with not only me, but my 2-under-2 daughters pretty much made him a saint as far as I was concerned. He could've taken one look at my mess of a life and moved on, but he not only rolled up his sleeves and stayed... he grabbed the wheel and held us afloat while I took a moment to breathe and learn to love again. Adam is one-of-a-kind. He makes me laugh, everywhere we go people always ask if we are newlyweds. Yep, we are those people, still holding hands, feeding each other dessert in restaurants, and laughing and smiling 24/7. Of course we have our disagreements as well, but its sooo awesome to be in the kind of marriage where a fight never gets past the part where you laugh and say "this is dumb, im sorry." Adam works his butt off to take care of us all. He works 3 jobs and we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like to, but we know the kids wont live with us forever, so we spend as much 'family time' as we can. One day down the road itll be just the two of us, but for now, spending our time being a big family is our hearts desire. I have been so blessed with an unselish husband and he is also an amazing father. I never feel like everything is on my shoulders. He is always the first to step in when I need help. He's always supported me in everything I've done, but most of all, he reminds me not to take life so seriously. He brings me out of my shell, makes me sexy when I feel intimidated, makes me strong when I feel weak. Its definitely everything I prayed for in a marriage and I am so happy to be in love with someone who is my best friend above all.

Liliana is 2.5. Her and Brooklyn were born 18 months to the day apart. They are definitely sisters - wildly different, full of fight, and each others number one fan. Lily is... a terrible 2. Actually, she was a terrible 2 week old too. She had horrible colic and cried 15 hours a day. I don't remember a whole lot from her early infancy and that's probably for the best. Its hard to tell what her personality would be when she screamed all day long. But even then, in the rare moment she was not crying, she had the BIGGEST smile ever. It was simply contagious, and it was like she found everything around her funny. Pure joy is what she brings everywhere she goes. Having Lily is a little bit like having it be summer year round.... a wild thunderstorm once in a while, but mostly sunshine as far as the eye can see. She has curly red hair and a temper to match. And at 2.5, she says the funniest stuff ever. Everytime she's away from me for even an hour the firs thing I hear is "OH my gosh, you won't believe what she said...." Haha, yes I will. Because she's HILARIOUS. Lily is a spitfire. Pure and unrefined wild child. She is defiant, and has a bossy streak a mile wide. But when I tuck her in at night, she grabs my face and whispers, "Mama, I wuv you soooo much! Kiss my whhhipsss." and I can't help but grin. I dare you to spend an hour with her and not laugh and laugh and laugh.



Brooklyn is newly 4, and our little diva. The resident drama queen. She is sweet as can be, always the first to jump in and cheer someone up. She's very attentive to people's feelings and hates having her own feelings hurt too. She came out of the womb an infant in size, but a woman at heart. She was miss independent from day one, never a baby who needed to be carried in my arms all day long or who would cry if I left the room. She just liked to play alone and that was that - she let me know if I was in her 'space'. She crawled at 5 months and walked at 8.... when we learned she would be a big sister. She was intrigued and in love from day one. She is beautiful, strong and smart. She wears the purple dress in this picture most of everyday, along with her dress up heels. Even in the backyard.  I can pretty much sum up her personality with this little story: Her first day of preschool, barely 3 years old, we pull into the parking lot and she says to me very gently, "Okay, Mom - I'm gonna give you a hug, and then you have to go....." :)