Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Brynn!!!

Susan, Courtney, me, Brynn with Carlee and Staci


Last Wednesday night we celebrated Brynn's 27th Birthday!!! The girls all got together for dinner at Cyclone Anaya's in Addison to hang out celebrate Brynn! This was the first dinner that we have had a dinner since Susan delivered Carlee and was released from the hospital. (We celebrated Courtney's b-day in Sue's hospital room in June!) It was so much fun spending the evening together and so special to all of us to have Carlee join in on our girls dinners!!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Extreme Home Makeover

A couple of weeks ago Extreme Home Makeover was in the Dallas area (Lancaster to be exact) working on a house for a Dallas Police Officer that was shot in the line of duty. Carlton Marshall was shot in he neck in October 2007 while on a SWAT raid serving a narcotics search warrant. He was immediately treated on the scene by 2 SWAT Doctors that cut a hole in his neck allowing him to breathe and then was taken to Parkland Hospital (where I work!) for care and spent over 9 months in the hospital. He suffered severe spinal cord damage immediately, followed by hearing, a stroke and even contacted meningitis.


Gregg and I both wrote letters to Extreme Home Makeover a while back when the Irving and Dallas Police Departments were working to nominate the Marshall Family for the build. (Lt. Marshall's wife is a Irving Homicide Detective.) We were so excited when we heard that this family had been chosen and the house that they were living in would be replaced with a new and much needed home complete with a therapy area!

We went Wednesday night to go help move in furniture and decorate the house before the family came home Thursday. We went out at 8pm and were planning on staying all night long. Around 2am things were slowing down and starting to stall and so we left. (I had to lecture at 10am Thursday morning and so I wanted a little sleep!)

While we were there we got to meet a lot of the behind the scene people for the show and learn so much about Extreme Home Makeover! We helped move some furniture, arrange things for the designers to look over and even got to do a little decorating- ie: putting the toilet paper on the roles and stocking cabinets with extra candles!

The evening was lots of fun and a totally awesome thing to get to be a small part of! I heard a rumor that the show would air in September so everyone must watch then!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

4th of July

I love the 4th of July and everything that it represents! It truly is my favorite holiday! We had an amazing 4th of July this year and enjoyed spending the day together!!! (This is the first year since we started dating that Gregg has been off on the 4th and we have gotten to spend the actual day celebrating.)

We decided to rent a hotel room for Saturday night in Las Colinas. We got a suite at the Omni Mandalay on the 25th floor with a balcony so we could go out and watch Irving's Fireworks. The room was awesome and it was great to be away from home and to not have to worry about traffic and all of the heat. We picked up sandwiches for supper on the way to the hotel and brought our own wine and drinks to enjoy! We decided that it would be fun to get dressed up for the night and just enjoy a evening together! The Irving Symphony Orchestra played patriotic songs before the fireworks started and so it was great to get to hear all those songs!

And a couple of silly pictures from our evening!

View of Williams Square from our balcony (where the ISO played)

FIREWORKS!!!

Happy 233rd Birthday America! We are so proud to be an Americans and feel so blessed to live in the land of the free! Thank you to all the men and women of the military past, present and future that have fought for our country and our freedom!!!

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Hope that yall had as great of a day as we did!

The end of Camp

Bailey came back from camp on Friday and so Gregg and I decided to go back to Temple and surprise her! (There was a program for parents to go and watch when they picked their kids up and since B went to camp with her other aunt and was staying with her she didn't have "parents" to meet her at the end of camp.)

We left for Temple around 3pm in order to get there at 5:30pm for the show to start. We heard about mid-way there that the buses had not shown up on time to pick the kids up from camp and so they were going to be late getting back. We decided to keep going and called Gregg's friend Nos to meet us for dinner. It was great to get to see him again and spend some time with him.

The buses finally got in around 8:30pm (3 hours late) and we got to see Bailey! She was so excited that we were there and was so anxious to tell us all about her week and introduce her to all her new friends! Once there all the kids had pizza and then they sang a song for the parents that was so cute and had movements to it. After the song we watched a picture show of the kids from the week. It was great to see all of the pictures and see what they had been up to for the week! Bailey talked through the entire show explaining to me who was in each picture and what they were doing. It was great to see her so excited about everything!

After making sure that Bailey had all of her belongings together and saying goodbye to her a dozen times, which made me cry, we finally left Temple around 10pm and headed back home. It was really hard for me to say goodbye to B this time. It breaks my heart to know that she isn't going home to Seth.

We love you Bug and are so glad that we have gotten to spend so much time with you recently! Can't wait to see you again!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Our week with Bailey Bug!

Bailey came to visit us Tuesday and has been staying with us since then! We have been very busy this week and have had a lot of fun with her here. The week has been exhausting but also reassuring because we survived having a 10 year old in our house for 6 days!!! Here is the rundown of our week and lots of pictures!


Bailey flew in Tuesday afternoon and I picked her up from the airport. Since Gregg was working we decided to have a girls afternoon and went to get Manicures and Pedicures and then go to dinner!

She refused to smile for a real picture!

Bailey really wanted to paint her nails purple or green (which I rejected!) but finally decided on a shade of pink with cute little flowers on her thumbs and big toes. They even put a little bit of silver sparkle in the flowers which she LOVED!

B's pretty nails! (We took this picture Sunday morning so they are a little grown out.)
After our spa session, we went to eat at Cheesecake Factory!!! Bailey loved having dinner there and especially loved the piece of Snickers Cheesecake that we had after dinner!

The rest of Tuesday night was quite- we went home and went to bed. Wednesday morning came quick since we had to get up early to meet Gregg. I had to work on Wednesday so B got to spend the day hanging out with Uncle Gregg! She was very excited about getting to spend the whole day with just him!!! We met Gregg for Breakfast at "Lucky's" and after eating some YUMMY food I went to work and Gregg and Bailey went to 6 Flags for a few of hours! (I have to admit that while I was sad to be away from them I was not the least bit sad not being at 6 Flags since Wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far and temperatures hit 103 degrees!)

Bailey finally getting to see Uncle Gregg

Gregg said it was HOT but that they had lots of fun and that B was a Super Trooper! They rode all the big rides that Bailey was tall enough to ride including Superman!!! (Bailey panicked mid way through the ride but survived it and even got a pink Superman cape to show off for it!

Bailey waiting in line to ride Titan

Wednesday night we went to dinner at "On The Border" and then took Bailey to the movies and to see "Imagine That" with Eddie Murphy. The movie was really, really cute!

On Thursday we slept in and then got ready and took the Dart Train to the Dallas World Aquarium! None of us have ever been to the Aquarium here so I think that Gregg and I might have been more excited about going than Bailey!

Bailey and I waiting for the train

B enjoying the train ride


We loved the aquarium and had a great time!!! There was so much to see and all the different areas there were so neat! (Plus, it was indoors and air conditioned which was a MAJOR bonus!!!)

Gregg and Bailey


Bailey loved the JellyfishAttempting to take a picture with the jellyfish

We got to watch the diver feed the fish in one of the tanks!

After watching the diver feed the fish and clean the glass we headed over to the shark tank to wait for them to be fed. The shark tank was a 40 foot long tunnel filled with 400,000 gallons of water and lots of different types of sharks plus other fish and a few sting rays. Those sharks were hungry and knew that it was almost feeding time and were swarming!

My favorite picture of Gregg and Bailey- at the shark tank!
Miss Priss

Uncle Gregg and Aunt Chelsey

After the aquarium we stopped for ice cream and then walked back to the train station. By the time we made it back to our car Bailey was worn out and almost asleep! We stopped to get groceries and pizza and then went home and watched "Bride Wars" while eating dinner!

Friday morning we woke up early and Gregg made breakfast for us before we headed to Fort Worth and to the Zoo! We met Gary, Macy, Lilly, Rhyann and Gavin at the Zoo for a day of fun! The kids all enjoyed running around and looking at all of the animals while the adults followed behind talking about how hot it was! The animals were a little boring that day and were really just laying around trying to stay cool!

Gregg helping Lilly feed the birds

Bailey holding a bird

Bailey and Lilly

Gregg with Gavin and Lilly (he was SOOO good with the kids!!!)

Gavin developed quite the crush on Lilly!

And even stole a real kiss from her when Gary wasn't looking (of course!)

We had a great time at the Zoo and really enjoyed spending time with all of our friends! It was so great to see Rhyann and Gavin and I can't wait till we can hang out with them again!!!

We left the Zoo middle of the afternoon and headed out to Gary and Macy's lake house to spend the rest of the day! We got to go swimming and even rode the jet ski's!!! Bailey loved being out at the lake and LOVED Gary! She took to him and followed him around all afternoon and evening! The water was awesome and so relaxing! After swimming the guys cooked out on the grill and we had hamburgers and hot dogs and then we went back out by the lake and popped some firecrackers! Bailey enjoyed chasing after the guys with snappers and playing with the sparklers!!!

Bailey wearing one of Lilly's toys as a skirt and acting like a ballerina!

Saturday morning the guys got up and went to a sale at Cabella's while the girls slept in. Macy and I got to hang out and catch up before we had to pack up and head back to Wylie. When we got home Bailey and I made cards for her to take to camp this week so she can write home while Gregg took a nap. Then we went to have our final dinner with B at Dicky's!

This morning we took Bailey to Temple to meet up with her Aunt Serena and go to Camp Dreamcatcher for the week! I was worse than some of the parents there and cried like a baby when we said goodbye to Bailey! I have had such a fun time with the girl this week and have enjoyed all of our time together! We love you very much kiddo and can't wait to see you again!!!

On our way to Temple

Monday, June 22, 2009

Bautizo and Bailey

Yesterday, I went to Alejandro Carmona's Bautizo (Baptism). Alejandro's parents and I became very close when their first son, Ricardo, was in the NNICU in 2007. I was in the delivery room when Alejandro entered this world on August 26, 2008 sharing with his family as they celebrated his Baptism yesterday was very special for me.

After the Baptism I went back to the Carmona's house to continue the celebration! We ate homemade Carnitas, rice, beans and salsa- all very YUMMY!!! They even had a DJ playing music and everyone was dancing! I got to meet a lot of Martin and Martha's family and felt so honored to be included in their celebration. I look forward to watching Alejandro grow up and to sharing more special celebrations with this family!

And tomorrow, our niece Bailey is coming to stay with us for the rest of the week!!! Gregg and I are very excited about getting to see Bailey again and sharing this special time with her! We have been looking forward to this week for a while now and have lots of fun things planned for her time here in Dallas! I plan on taking lots of pictures and hope to have a few things to post about over the next few days so stay tuned!!!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Perfect Miracle!!!

My friend Susan had her baby girl this morning! Carlee Marie Cheyne entered this world at 10:19am. She is a perfectly healthy 35 week miracle weighing in at 5 pounds and is 18 in long!

Little Miss Carlee has been quite the drama queen for the last 7 weeks of Susan's pregnancy causing her to be on bedrest and in the hospital! Susan was amazing while in the hospital and has been in such great spirits throughout everything. I have been blessed because Sue has been in a hospital that was easy for me to get to and so I have gotten to spend a lot of time with her! We have had lots of laughs and fun passing the time!

Carlee is a true miracle and it is amazing that she is the healthy baby that she is right now! Susan has been through a lot during this pregnancy and most of us really thought that she was going to deliver at 28 weeks when she was first admitted to the hospital. God is amazing and his work is beautiful!

We are so excited for Craig, Susan and the entire Cheyne/ Miller clan!!!

The Proud Papa

Susan and her little Angel

Sweet Baby Girl

Cheyne Family

Mom and baby (with a little bow I made for Carlee)

me and Miss Carlee