oh the fun of being one!

almost a month later........

charlie's first birthday was a fantastic day- she had no idea what was going on and was asleep for the first half of her party. which was jungle themed- very fun! I had my best friend Alicia up from north carolina to get everything together.

what an awesome day- and amazing friends & family to help celebrate this milestone. we are truly blessed.

on another note i figured it was time to change up some of the decorations in charlie's room. here are the old pics- cards from baby shower (i've since replaced w/ cards from 1st birthday, but haven't taken pics yet.) this girl is growing up! :)

i've yet to put them up- but i found some old school letter cards that i am going to hang up on the wall. i've been searching for the perfect set and just never ordered any. while going through things from my parents house i found these- full of tape & pin marks. I'm sure they lined the walls of all of our rooms when we were little. having this to put up for charlie is so very special. will have to take pics soon!

sweet moments

i keep saying "i need to write down the sweet things that charlie is doing..." so here we go:

- flirtatious "hi"- is SO cute- batting her L-O-N-G eyelashes & softly saying hi. it melts our hearts!
- sharing- the halloween candy bucket kept her busy for a long time- pull the candy in, take it out, put it in..... one day she was handing me pieces and for whatever reason i wasn't paying attention. charlie grabs my hand, opens it, and places a piece of candy in it. so sweet.
- jason taught her "just kidding" where she cracks up- he'll pass balls, toys, candy, whatever back and forth but every now and then instead of giving it to her he grabs it back and says, "tricked you..." she laughs and laughs. i think she is learning to trick us now too.
-"daddy's home"- when jason gets home if we're in the family room she rushes to the window where she can see him get out of the car- she laughs and squeals when he comes up to the window to see her.
- noticing other babies- we've had several itty bitty babies over recently and she is interested in them for sure. maybe she needs a sibiling? :)
-crusing all around- it is just fascinating to watch her figure things out- learning to sit back down on her own, leanring that certain drawers will pinch fingers- down to little things like helping herself get dressed.
-weaned herself from nursing- right at 11 months. i am glad she stopped when she was ready.

we're coming up on her first birthday- where did the time go? and it took about a year- but i am having my first night away from home this weekend- and i have to say that i CANNOT wait! i have really needed a break and am going to the beach with a girlfriend to volunteer at a friends 5K race. saturday afternoon- come on! :)

clean floor, no more.....

should have known that after scrubbing, and i mean scrubbing the floor under the high chair (and washing the seat cover, all that fun stuff) ALL of tonights dinner would end up on the floor! in my attempt to find low sodium waffles/pancakes (because charlie scarfs up eggos) the healthier ones didn't fly too well...... so i ended up mixing them in with some pureed fruit :)

ok, and pictures aren't cooperating...... don't have the energy to try to figure out how to correct....

where oh where......

i know that is a kiddie song- haven't learned it yet- although now i think the tune will be in my head (and yours!) for a while. ooops!

Been too long, huh? We've been all over the place! Mid July Charlie and I went to North Carolina- we never have enough time there- ever. But we squeezed in time here and there- the main reason was going to a meeting/mediation with our lawyers about the lawsuit from my family's accident. What a nightmare- it was draining mentally & emotionally- and nothing really happened. We knew it wouldn't- but it was a hard day. Hopefully this will all be wrapped up in 6-8 months (candidly speaking.... hehehe).

Flora rode home with me to maryland and we had days full of spongebob & swimming! Julia came up a few days later and us girls headed north to Grandma's. What a special trip that was- a slow paced time on beautiful property and good food. After a few days we headed east to Nana's where life is a little bit faster paced. Charlie had her first trip to NYC- she loved it of course. As hard as it was traveling and sleeping (she actually slept very very well)- it was SO worth it to see family- especially grandmothers. I'm thankful we can take off and my husband will stay home and work very hard!

Early August just the three of us headed to the beach- a beautiful home of a co-worker of jasons that we were able to stay at. It was a great time- but now i see why people travel with nannies or their whole family! Charlie rules the schedule- but I am totally ok with that. She def. takes priority and when she is happy- we are all happy!

So we've been home for a couple of weeks now- Charlie is growing and growing. She's such a doll. She is very happy *most* of the time- when she's not it is very frustrating! (today she screamed on our whole walk- but when we got home and picked her up- she let out a BIG burp- we'll remember that next time!).

I've got exciting things going on here and there- i wish there were more than 24 hours in a day!

Burger Tradition

Submarine Sandwiches- that is what we did EVERY year on the 4th of july. Other things included a parade in Caldwell, fireworks at the Hils' house in Efland or at the courthouse in carrboro- and one year there was a parade in Graham maybe?

I personally LOVE fireworks but we haven't seen them (on the 4th) in a couple of years. Last year we were at a buffet dinner in OC while the fireworks show was going on (the place was empty!) and this year we had a wonderful afternoon at our old house with the neighbors- Charlie loved the doggies!

So I made a platter of subs and we enjoyed the weather & company. Happy 4th of July! One year we'll make it to DC- that will be fun!

mom would be proud

I think it's fitting that on the day my mom would have turned 60- I did something I know she'd be proud of! Well- she'd probably be proud of me for lots of things..... :)

After Charlie went to bed I *thought* it would be a good idea to go grocery shopping and get it out of the way. I never thought the store would be so crowded at 9pm! Maybe it is the holiday weekend....

Anyway, mom would be proud b/c at the checkout the woman gave me my total- $40 something dollars and said- "wow, you got a lot of groceries for 40 dollars- I am impressed!" Oh it was a great Barbara Burger moment- and it made me smile lots.

Love you and miss you mom!

down by the bay.......

had a wonderful weekend w/ family & might as well be family (fab. friends!) Charlie had her first experience in a swimming pool- loved it- first time being in the sand (didn't give her a chance to get it in her mouth.....) and played with daddy all day on his first fathers day. She is 7 months old now- wow!
We've been spending lots of time at home and quick trips here and there in between naps- this kid rules the house!

dogsitting for the neighbors


playing in the morning

cool website

I am always looking for unique things off the beaten path- came across this cool site that can direct you to interesting places!

www.roadsideamerica.com

this week we are going to the enchanted forest in ellicot city for charlie to see the animals. she already LOVES cats & dogs- she is so sweet!

another month!

Bullet points are easier (thanks Jessica!)

• wow, what a month! we've been doing great- getting a great schedule going, enjoying the weather, sleeping a bit more:)





• charlie at 6 months-

we have our checkup this week, so don't know her weight & height yet. she's a growing- and eating solids- i made oh 10 lbs of sweet potatos today..... stocked up for quite a while. tried avacado today, i ate more than her :)

• memorial day weekend was great- great friends to be with and a super time with just the three of us.


• so sad about john & kate +8........ MY opinion is that they should yank the show, regardless of their relationship status. i feel so bad for both of them- but john looked so pitiful during his solo interviews.


• have had some super hard days with thinking of my parents & brother. it stinks because when other things in life are hard- it seems that much harder that they're not here. and reminders are everywhere. I am thankful to be able to have mostly positive thoughts and reactions, but those hard times get in there good. i see some therapy in my future......


• working hard with the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults- so much fun. I'm thankful to have had more speaking opportunities- some bigger, some small- I'm gaining insight on new and different aspects of my cancer journey to share & relate with others. doing relay for life with a dear friend nancy next week- looking forward to that.
• not much else, or if there is I can't remember.... i have been forgetting EVERYTHING these days....
  

April Pics

Rolled over for the first time during the blessing of easter dinner- no one saw it!

everything in the mouth & doing push ups

watching final four basketball w/ daddy!

a visit from DEAR friends the Balamucki's from North Carolina!

Best Bud Whitaker Samples came to visit from Ohio- we miss them!

Finally a nice, warm day outside

Not a happy girl

George Castanza eat your heart out!

easter sunday!

Charlie slept through church!

And we were hoping to get lots more pics of this peanut in her pretty dress (now I understand why people do this BEFORE easter!)- it was too chilly, so we'll have to do another photo shoot- perhaps at Duke Gardens or Ayr Mount next week! Yay!

We had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord & Saviour! :)

4 months!

cutest baby at the bar

And probably the ONLY baby at the bar (we were home by 7:30- we're not bad parents! :) )(our neighbor made the HUGE cupcake for our annual neighborhood party- can we say sugar rush?)

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Imerman Angels

I just found out about this organization, and if you know of anyone currently in any kind of cancer treatment, or a past patient, see if they'd be interested in becoming matched up with someone of the same type of cancer. Just to be able to talk to someone else about a similar experience can be so helpful during a scary, unpredictable situation.

http://www.imermanangels.org/index.php

Also, the Ulman Cancer Fund posted my little story on their blog, check it out! :)

http://ulmanfund.blogspot.com/

march 13th

I'm missing Ivan all day, he would have been 23.
I am thankful to have memories of him being young, vibrant, strong- happy. even though his life was cut way too short, the life he had was great. it wasn't perfect- but he was happy, and made those around him happy.
Miss you bro-

11, the event

This week I had the pleasure of getting out to an event by the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults with a couple of girlfriends who are also cancer survivors. One of the featured guests was hgtv host Vern Yip from deserving design- we got to meet him, but it was funny- we were having our picture taken with him, and he didn't even engage in conversation..... oh well, he must have been tired or something...... We got to watch an advanced screening of his show that he did for a scholarship recipient of the UCF- so that was a lot of fun.

Perhaps the most exciting part was meeting Doug Ulman, the founder of UCF. He started this foundation 11 years ago at the age of 19 when he was diagonosed with cancer and had no where to go for support. He was too old for pediatrics, but WAY younger than the patients in his clinic. I felt the same way during my treatments. Everyone always thought my mom was the patient (as if my bald head didn't give it away....) when we went to appointments. Anyway, we got to chat with Doug for quite a while, and it was pretty awesome. And it wasn't until after that I made the connection that Doug is now the president/CEO of the Lance Armstrong Foundation..... wow!

I'm looking forward to getting more involved with the Ulman Cancer Fund. They have LOTS of running events that I will not be taking part of! But it has been my desire for a while to become a mentor/supporter of young adults who are going through cancer treatment, so this will open some good doors! And it's my long term goal to go back to school at some point and get a degree in counseling to be able to work professionally with young adult cancer patients.

It's funny, I can look back at my cancer experience and find SO many positives that have come out of it. I am truly thankful for it. :)