PHOTOS SOON!

ok... I have to really sift through my pics! SOOOOOOOOOOO many!!!!! It's nuts! But in the next day or so there will be tons posted!
xoxoxoxo :)

ONE YEAR!

Ok... This is crazy! It has actually been a year since I last updated this darn thing. Well... Shame on me!
The kids are doing GREAT! I will post tons of pics in a bit. Things are crazy but good. The new place is up and going and doing wonderful! We are very lucky this far to have had so much press and great feedback! Could not ask for a better response to goodfriend! Talula is now 2 and smart as a whip! She is a crack up. Has a personality that will win anybody over in about a second (thank you daddy!) Jude is going to be 4 soon! VERY hard to believe! He is a great little boy! He may be the sweetest most compassionate little man ever! He has SO much of his daddy and Uncle Chad in him it is crazy! I see so much of both of them daily! Talula has a lot of mommy and daddy. She is a sweet entertaining little pistol! There is so much that its almost too much to sum up in one post. I may just keep it short and sweet and let the photos in the next post tell the story.
My family is doing alright. My dad is still in treatment along with my grandfather so prayers o plenty are always welcomed for them and my mother and all of the family really. So Happy Spring and enjoy the photos in the next post!
xoxoxo

Ahhhh! Sun and Fun!

Spring break is OVER! that means things get back to normal! Jude will be going back to MDO and parks will be way less crowded! YAY! :)

The kids and I have really been enjoying the sun! Its SO wonderful to get outside! This past week was a busy one! Fun but busy!!! Matt worked his butt off all week! Then Thursday St. Patty's Day my mom was nice enough to come over and watch the kids while I snuck up to Vickery to surprise Matt. ST. Patty's Day marks the "anniversary" of us getting together. So since he had to work I put on my fancies and surprised him with me and homemade from scratch marshmallow and buttercream frosting cupcakes (green for St. Patty's of course). It was fun! Then this Saturday Matts folks came in for a quick visit with Matt and the kids. I was able to join them for lunch and a quick look at the new building and all the progress going on! I had to get ready for my short girls weekend jaunt to "the woods". I did discover a bug I had no idea existed!!! Its a carpenter bee! Its huge and drills perfect round holes into wood! is CRAZY!!! Anyway while taking my AM jog we came across a stray mini pony. Yes, I said a stray mini pony! It was crazy! We just had a super fun time!

Talula is a true fireball these days! She is into EVERYTHING and determined as heck! Its great, but she will make you run circles all day till you just poop out! She never stops! She is so big!!!!! Growing so quickly!!! Jude is just all boy! Thursday night the toilet in the main bathroom busted so I took the kids Friday morning to Lowes to get a new one. Its like a little boys dream in there! he was fascinated watching them get the toilet down for us and everything! It was a blast! Do Friday night my dad came over so he and Matt could install the new toilet. Well Jude was a BIG helper! He just loved working with his grandaddy to put in his new toilet! It was adorable! I wish I had photos of it! But i was very busy keeping lil miss fireball away from all the action!

In personal news my hair is rounding into the 2 1/2 year mark and I'm loving it more every day! Its so true the longer you have them the better they get! I cant wait for year 5 and year 10!

We will be having a few play dates this week so I'm sure I will have more fun photos! YAY!!!!

Jude and Talula- She refused to stand still!



GET OUT OF MY WAY!



Mmmmmm! Frosting!


Double the cute!


Fun at Lowes



Jude filling the water table



Fun in the sun


Trick rider


Sleepy Girl



Matts Folks and the completed plumbing


Fires, bugs, stray ponies, & frogs. OH MY!







2 1/2 years and counting

Catch up!

"Time flies"... People say it all the time and most people just nod their head and agree. But if you really sit back and think about it it does... And i will also state for the record that prior to kids I had NO clue just how fast. And again people tell you "oh just wait till you have kids it gets even faster". Well, it does! Things have been pretty good around the Tobin house. I'm doing TONS better! I still have my good days and my bad days but the good FAR out weigh the bad! And Matt just received word today that the building permit is on ready and its now official to begin the build out on the new place! It is very exciting! And in even bigger new Talula is ONE!!! Its crazy to think that its already been a year since our little shmugga face was born! She is pretty darn amazing! She was walking at about 10-11months which was about when Jude started also. She is saying tons of things "Daddy" (that was her first word) "Thank you" "Stinky" " NO" and my personal favorite "Alright". There are a couple more i think she is working on but I'm not too sure what they are yet. She is a very happy baby with the fire of both her mommy and daddy. She has started picking on Jude! Its pretty funny how the two of them interact. Jude is so sweet and sensitive, and Talula is a fireball!!! Its great! Jude is doing great at MDO he really enjoys it. The biggest Jude news is...drumroll... POTTY TRAINED!!!! Now let me say he is still working on nighttime but man o man he is doing wonderful at school and at home! Its so crazy. In the same week that he just decided it was time to go potty in the potty all the time Talula was big enough to turn her car seat front facing. These sound like small things but let me tell you Matt and I both were like "were did or little babies go?" It was a lot for mommy to take in all in the same week! Jude is doing great! He had tubes put in both ears and his adenoids removed, he had so many ear infections and sinus problems. As a result he had 30% hearing loss and we didn't even know it! So we had a super unpleasant day when he had to go in for surgery. I can pretty much go my entire life without having either of my children put under for anything and I'll be just fine! Matt and I both!!!! But he has been doing great ever since and we hope his sinus issues just continue to get better. HE is so much happier now that he can hear us and he talks so much better and listens better too. So YAY for that but don't want to do it again!! I Will be updating the blog more and more! I'm going to be staying on top of it. The kids keep changing so much I need to make sure I catch as much as I can!!!! I've included pictures ranging from Christmas morning to today! SO much to share I always feel so behind! Thats another reason i need to keep on this better so I dont leave things out or forget! :)


Talula loves Fletch


Jude checking it out


Pancakes with Grandaddy and Grandma


Excited to have brothers stuff


Fixing his bike


Cutie butt magoo!


Kleenex= best toy ever!


Not wanting it on her hands


Her cake


The Birthday Girl!!! 1 year old!!!


Yay!!! It begins!


Mommy and Jude


Judes giant icicle!


Loving on Abby


Ahhhhh....First BBQ, she is enjoying veggie baked beans! Yummy!


Me and Abby Doozer... best dog ever!


Piggy tails!


She found my yarn


Ya, Fletch is a model


Grandaddys ipad!


done!


Fletcher and I begin the kitchen assembly


What can I say? hahahaha!


taking it in


The Fun!


After Santa, before the morning fun!


Jude leaving the cookies for santa!


This picture is a must!! Jude came in and made me laugh SO hard! He was just being silly! I love it!


)

Christmas Time!

Tis the season! SO many things have happened since July 27! I'll give a very quick overview. Most of you know i got a case of shingles that turned into meningitis (an infection of the brain and spinal fluid) then that turned into encephalitis (an infection in the brain). I don't have memory of any of it. July 27 was the last day i remembered prior to falling ill. Long story short i went through a several trips to ER long hospital stay that included isolation from my children! I'm thankful to god i do not remember this! I then went home on a port with in home iv infusion. I then lost my right vestibular system function. The nerves that tell the right side of my body to be balanced and hear and were my body is in space were killed. They cant tell my brain any of that info. I have gone through vestibular rehab and i can now drive short distances and most important take care of my beautiful family again! We are so very lucky that i survived this illness as well as didn't come out 100% paralyzed. This is a very rare form the Dr's don't know much about or how to treat. So thank God for how blessed we are!! So that brings me to the part were i have to thank my entire family for the help they extended!! I may not remember it all but I'm so thankful to my parents, aunts, and Matt's mom! My amazing Grandparents!!!! My friends new and old! The awesome moms group who kept Matt well fed!! Without everybody pitching in I'm not sure how we would've gotten through it!?!? But the most important thanks must go out to my amazing husband for holding it all together!!!! This has strengthened our marriage in a way you cant imagine! He has taken care of me more then most couples in their 80's even have! I am so grateful I married such a strong caring man! I'm not sure how he did it, but i thank God each day that he did! We are still working through the after effects of the illness but by this time next year I'm going to be back running again and will be in the run the rock marathon! That's my goal! (that's what i was training to do when i got sick). while training i will find all the cancer runs i can to help support the ongoing battle my father has to fight and the battle my mother has fought with hers as well! So its going to be a good year! Jude is in mothers day out and will start primary next school year. It's crazy how fast they grow! Talula Pearl is growing and amazing us like crazy! She's 10 months old today!!!! She says "daddy" "no" and "uh oh". She's already trying to walk! We are looking forward to Christmas this year since Jude has a whole new outlook on Christmas and Santa! It will be so great!
I really cant say just how blessed and lucky we are! There have been so many "bad" things happen this year, but i feel with each bad thing comes a wonderful blessing! What we don't realize is how when things happen there are blessings that come from it, even if its not a blessing directly to us. Maybe it caused somebody your close to to receive it?! God works in strange ways! I can say that because it would be very very easy for me to be angry and bitter at the "cards" my family has been dealt. With my mom having gotten colon cancer, losing relationships that were once indestructible, my fathers cancer, my illness. All of these things could make me very angry or bitter at other people. But I choose to look at it different as i have seen blessings and lessons come from all of these things. So its hard to be mad, bitter, or jealous. I love my family so much and love my husband dearly. I'm so pleased with how my life has turned out! and this Christmas is such an important one to us! We are all together and that is the greatest gift of all!!! Ill see if i can post pictures. I'm on my iPad (Matt got it for my bday!!) so not sure if i can? :)
Merry Christmas!
Ok so the pictures show so much! Judes now in a big boy bed and Ive gone from hospital to taking a trip to NYC from my husband and parents to go see Marta and Jerm and got to see Pee Wee on Broadway!!! It was the greatest day EVER I built my own Muppet and went and saw Pee Wee!!!! BEST DAY EVER!
And I'm sure I'm leaving something out but I will end with introducing our newest family member Fletch! He is an 11year young cat that we adopted from the SPCA! He has thumbs and a personality that will win you over in about 2 seconds! He is a flawless fit for our family! We couldn't be happier! We have a couple health hurtles to jump but once we do he will be good to go!