At the Park

Ethan and I drove up to Huntsville today to hang out with Tiff and Fayth. Here are some random pics. You can click on them to enlarge.

Goofing Off

So Tiff came over yesterday and we went to lunch and a movie. Here are some pics of us goofing off:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas..

So, we had a great day today!! We started off with Santa and Ethan was beside himself!! Then, Grandma Wendy and Papa Ronald sent him a Ford F150 truck so we Ethan decided that he had to eat breakfast in it. After that, it was off to my parents....The hit of the day?....An Optimus Prime helmet that my parents got for Boo. I seriously think everyone but me wore it at least once. The only reason that I didn't was because I didn't want to mess up my hair...lol....Ethan made it all day without a nap and was actually in a great mood, which is unusual if he misses his nap. After we got home, Jerry took Ethan out to the backyard where he learned how to drive his new truck....and lets not forget to mention that he thought he was all that, while he was driving it! We had a really good Christmas...here are some snapshots from the day. Check out my dead sexy parents! ROFL

My Heart...

Ethan and I were out playing today. This is from Christmas Eve day. You can click on them to make them larger. Love to you all!

Summary of Email Signatures

I was compiling these tonight and these are the best of the best.

Tiffany and Me

My best friend Tiffany has been my best friend since I was 15. She was my first best friend and we have seen each other through some of our best and worst times. I ran across this the other day and it sums us up....

This and That

So, it's been a while since I have blogged. Life has just been really busy. I'm in my last week of school (next week) and I really need a break. I have a week off so that is great. I'm currently training the girl that is taking my place. She has no experience in research so we have started way at the beginning. She is bright though and is catching on fast. It's been a little hard doing my old job and my new one at the same time. I don't think it will be long though. Ethan is so excited about Christmas. We don't have a whole lot planned for Christmas eve. Normally we go to my aunts house but we decided to try something new this year. We are going to stay home and cook dinner then go look at Christmas lights with Ethan. We got packages from both Jerry's parents and my step-mom, and we haven't let him open them yet. We are going to do it all Christmas morning. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees that Santa has been there. We are also going to bake cookies for Santa on Christmas eve. I plan on taking a ton of pictures, so stay tuned.

Here are my 2 new email signatures. I am using the fist one in my email but I like the second one too. Not sure what I will do with it. Love to you all!

Surviving

Well, I seem to be surviving my first week as a compliance manager. I've already had my first big assignment and made it through. I will say that my promotion has caused big waves for some. Actually it's been a bit of drama and I find it trivial.

We have a minivan with an automatic sliding door. The front of the door has a sensor to where if someone gets in front of the closing door, it will re-open. However, the back part of the door does not have a sensor, it just closes up. Well, this morning as I am getting Ethan out of the van for daycare, he is standing behind me and put his fingers where it closes. By the time I saw it, the door was closing onto his 4 fingers. By this time I had just locked my door and when I saw this happening, I freaked out and dropped my keys. Our van also automatically opens up when you pull on the handle. I did that and it didn't open. I couldn't figure out why (as Ethan's fingers are still caught in the door). Then it dawned on me that my door was locked. I grabbed my keys from the ground and unlocked the door. He was crying and I was crying. At the end of all of this, he just ended up with a bruised finger. His 4 fingers were really indented at first and I was scared that he had broken his finger. But, he could move them. I called the daycare all throughout the day to see how he was doing and he was doing fine. I think it was more traumatic for me than it was for him.

We are going Christmas shopping on Saturday and Ethan is going to play with his best friend/cousin, Boo Boo (Chas). I'm so excited about Christmas because Ethan is so excited. We go driving around looking at lights quite a bit. We let him plug in the lights and big Santa every night. We are still unsure what we are going to get him as his smaller presents. His big present this year is a Smart Cycle. It looks like a stationary bike and you have to peddle it to make a game that is hooked up to the TV, work. We think he will like it.

The new girl that is taking my position will start on Monday. I've already taken her around to meet people and I really like her. I think she is going to do really well in research.

Other than that, I can't think of anything else to catch up on. Hope everyone reading is doing GREAT!!! Hugs to you all.

It's official!

Well, you are looking at (well not looking) at the new research compliance manager for the Heart Center where I work. My new day was very hectic but I jumped in with both feet. I figure I will take it one day at a time.

Ethan is so excited about Christmas that it is contagious. It's neat to see through is innocent eyes. The lights continue to fascinate him and he recently adopted our stockings as his "baby's". They each have some kind of animal or Santa on them as the head of the stocking so he's been wanting to sleep with them....lol He's been having a hard time not wanting to go to daycare every day but from what I understand, it is normal for his age. That doesn't make it any easier though, to tell him that he has to go because I have to go to work. This morning he asked if he could just go to work with me and it broke my heart. He's such a sweet and loving little boy that is so fun to be around. He really does enrich those lives that he touches.

Next weekend we will finish our Christmas shopping. As much as I HATE the cold weather, it just doesn't feel like Christmas right now because today's high is 80 degrees. Due to the dramatic weather changes every other day, I am losing my voice and officially sound like a frog. I called Jerry today and he thought I was crying...lol

Well, that is about all of the update that I have for now. I'm going to get some new pics of Ethan and try and post them this weekend. Cheers!

Christmas Lights!

These pictures don't do the house justice. The lights are so pretty!!!! The top of the house has popping blue lights and looks so great from the street! You can click on them to make them bigger.

Holiday in the Park

Yesterday Eunice, Barry, and I took the boys to Holiday in the Park. They met Santa, rode a train, and rode a carosel (twice!) We all had so much fun but the boys had a blast. While we were gone, Jerry hung up Christmas lights outside. Then when we got home, we decorated the tree! Ethan was so excited! Here are a few pictures:

Double Edged Sword

So, I spoke with my boss this morning and will be moving into my new office on the 6th of December. My promotion isn't going to be totally final but he needs my space. We are going over job expectations and he drops a huge bomb on me that almost has me quaking in my shoes! There is a huge research study here that is high profile....the current coordinator is mediocre so the are not even sure how the quality of the data in the trial is....they are also 100% sure that it is going to be audited by the FDA in the next year. Oh, and the current coordinator just turned in her resignation so cleaning up the study should be fun....Anyway, this is going to be a "make you" or "break you" type of situation because the doctor is very high profile. If I audit it and miss things, he will get written up by the FDA. I was told that will have a year or so to clean it up, so that is good but man, that is a lot of pressure....

On the flip side, there is no current position for the one that I am taking. They just created the position for me. That means that there is no process already in place. That is a good thing and a bad thing. I'm going to have to develop a whole section of my department from scratch (eek) but at the same time, I will be able to set it up the way that I want it.

I'm rambling because the closer I get, the more nervous I become. It may not seem like it, but it is a huge step for my career.

Ethan's School Pictures

Ethan had his picture done twice in October. They are "the roaring 20's" and his Christmas pictures. You can click on them to make them bigger. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

We had a really nice day today. We all went to Mom and Pops, and just had relaxing afternoon. It's always great when we get together, I love it when the boys spend time together. They butted heads a little today but they generally had a good day. They really are best friends. Anyway, here are some pictures from today...

As Promised!

Here are some random pictures:

Updating on not Updating

Hmmmm it seems that I have a ton of pictures on my camera that I need to upload to my computer. Pics of Jake and Ethan, and Ethan with Boo. He's doing fine, just has a runny nose and a cough but nothing big. That normally happens every time the weather changes, and in Texas that is every other day.

Well, Thanksgiving is in just a few days and I can't believe how fast this year is going by. We are going to my moms house where my immediate family will be there and also Eunice's (my SIL) mom will come as well. Tina (Eunice's mom)has been coming over for the last 3ish years. I know it makes it easier on Barry and Eunice not to have to travel, and Tina is so sweet!

My promotion is in the works as we speak. I interviewed a girl last week that would take my place. She has NO experience in research (which is good and bad) but she will spend the next 2-3 months with me. It's good in the fact that she will be coming into the department with no bad habits to break. She seemed like she was very intelligent so I think she will pick up just fine.

I went through 3 different job descriptions last week because my boss wasn't sure what title to give me. I read them over and with what the department wants me to do we decided on the title Research Compliance Manager. My job will be to make sure that all of the studies in 3 different departments are run the way that they should (according to federal law) and to make them all "FDA ready". That just means that if the FDA comes in tomorrow, we will be prepared. I'm a little nervous because it won't just be my department (which already does most of the research in the hospital) but 2 departments that I have never worked with. Cardiovascular surgery and anesthesiology will be the other 2 departments. It is required that the job be posted and then I apply for it. I should be in my new position before Christmas.

Boo came over last night and spent the night with us. It's amazing how much they act like brothers. They play and fight just like siblings. They are the same age though so it's really neat that they have each other. They both like the same things and have the same interests. I took a few pictures and will get them up soon.

We are going to start decorating for Christmas in the next few weeks. Ethan is so excited about the season. He LOVES Santa and it will be fun this year to take him to sit on his lap.

He had some school pictures taken and they turned out so great. The theme is the Roaring 20's. They had him dressed in overalls with no shirt and they were rolled up at the feet. Then they put him in a straw hat. I'll try and get them scanned so that everyone can see, we didn't buy but a few prints.

I promise pictures really soon!

2 Slide shows!

After the birthday party, Ethan was sitting on pins waiting on Jake to arrive. I captured his arrival and Ethan's excitement. He was so very happy to see him...LOL he calls Jake "brother"....It's so cute!

Fayth's Birthday Party

Tiffany's daughter Fayth is turning 3!!! Today we went in to Huntsville to her party, they had it at Mr. Gatti's and he had a blast. We played skeet ball, air hockey and rode a motorcycle to name a few...enjoy the pics.

A Few Random Pictures

OK so I pulled these off of my camera a little while ago. The this one is of Ethan passing out Halloween candy and of him being mad that I was taking pictures of him...lol (You can click on them to make them bigger).







The next ones were just of him playing on the chair and I snapped some pics..

Pictures as Promised!

OK the first set were from the weekend before last (October 20th). The second part is from the zoo last weekend (October 27), and the last skeleton set is from tonight! Enjoy.

Weekend Fun

Well, I can't say it was ALL fun but we had a good weekend. Saturday we took Ethan to the zoo. Parking was a disaster and we had to park at a hospital and walk it was so bad. With it being Halloween weekend, there were SO many people there that it made it a little difficult to totally enjoy it. However, after we were there for about half an hour...and Ethan got to see some monkeys, he finally started to enjoy himself. He was downright fascinated with the giraffes, bears, and the lions and tigers. He told me later that the bear was his favorite.

Sunday it was such a pretty day that we went to breakfast and also spent time at the park. He got to play and run to his hearts content. Then afterwards, we went to Target to buy Halloween supplies for his party. We ended up getting candy, individual play dough's, and a little tiny game. We then bought some Halloween treat bags and Ethan got to stuff them with the presents we bought for his classmates. He loved making the goody bags! So, tomorrow is his Halloween party at school and he gets to dress up for his it. I'm pretty sure that he is going to be Spiderman! He will get to give out his goody bags to his classmates.

I still have some pictures from the weekend before last and last weekend still on my camera. My goal tonight is to get them loaded and post them on the blog. Here's to hoping!

A Cold Day in Texas!

A cold front moved in yesterday and man it got cold! It went from low 90's to 50 degrees in a day. We went over the weekend and got Ethan some winter clothes and boy are we glad that we did. We hit JC Penny's, Old Navy, and Target. Would you believe that Target was the most expensive!? We got him some jeans from there and it's just ridiculous how much jeans cost for a 3 year old. We got some really good deals at Old Navy and JC Penny's, so we were thrilled.

Ethan got his school pictures in and they turned out cute. He took some antique ones about a week and a half later, so we didn't order any of the regular ones. We will probably just take him to JC Penny's instead. It's been so long since we did that. We wanted to go get family photos over the summer but Jake didn't come.

I still need to download the pictures from over the weekend from my camera. School has been hectic and taking up most of my free time.

Other than that, there isn't much else going on. It's been pretty quiet on the home front.

Welcome Saturday, Welcome!

Wow! This has been a really long week! I am so happy that it's the weekend. We are getting ready for Halloween and Ethan is beside himself with excitement. We went out on Thursday and got him a skeleton costume per his request. Why you ask? He saw his very first skeleton at the ortho's office when he broke his arm and was fascinated. For some reason he loves them. We then found a Spiderman costume today and it was such a good deal that we picked it up too. He ran around in both costumes and is adorable. I got some pictures of him in Spiderman and I will post them later.

We went to moms today to celebrate her birthday. Barry made enchiladas. We didn't stay long though because needed to get back and do things around the house. Barry still has this sadness about him. I know he misses Josh a lot. He's been going to see Shere every day. I wanted to go today but I just couldn't. I don't know why, I just couldn't. I didn't know what I would say to her. What can you say? It upset me a lot that I didn't go but I just couldn't. Maybe next week.

Anniversary

Today marks the 5th year that Jerry and I have been married. I just can't believe how time flies when you are with someone you love. It was also a bittersweet day because we buried Josh today. It was a nice but very difficult service. I have never seen so many people at one funeral before. It really said a lot about what kind of person Josh was. Barry isn't so great but he'll get better with each passing day. TJ too. After the funeral several (SEVERAL) of us went back to Shere's house. Tiffany and I went together as we always do.

Jerry and I didn't do much today, but saying goodbye to someone just makes you realize that you have to cherish each moment that you have with your loved ones. We are all still having a very tough time trying to rationalize what happened or why. I don't think we will ever fully understand. I saw Dougies mom today. It was the first time that I have seen her since we buried Dougie. That has been 13 years. I can't believe how time gets away from us. I saw people today that I haven't seen since we graduated but we picked up like it was just yesterday. Grief does that.

We are taking Ethan to get his cast off tomorrow. He is so excited that he can't stand it. He's really done so well and has been such a trooper. The arm still has some healing to do, but the doctor says he doesn't need his cast anymore. We just have to be extra careful for a while. To be honest, I'm really nervous about taking it off while his arm is still fractured....but....I wasn't the one that went to medical school, so I am trusting what the doctor says. Wish us luck.

On a side note, Jerry and I will get to go out next Friday night to celebrate. It's a little late but hey...late is better than never!

Saying Goodbye

This week has been very difficult. We lost a dear friend on Barrys birthday. One of Barry's best friends. Sunday Josh and TJ were duck hunting and riding 4-wheelers. Lightening struck a tree and hit Josh. I'm not going to go into details because it's to painful to re-live. The anniversary of his and Shere's loss of their child was just on October 3rd. They just found out that she is pregnant again.

The viewing is tomorrow and the funeral is on Thursday. Barry and TJ both will be pall bearers. It has been hard on everyone that knew him but we can only imagine what Shere is going through. We will just try and be there for her when she needs us.

Idiot Box

1. What TV show have you seen every episode of?
Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Bones, House, Grey's Anatomy...the list could go on and on!

2. What show makes you laugh until you cry?
Hands down, Friends! That show cracks me up every time!

3. What show do you wish had not been cancelled?
Veronica Mars

4. What show do you wish WOULD be cancelled?
That dumb caveman show. Who was the idiot that thought it would make a good show?

5. Who is your favorite TV character, either past or present?
The characters on Bones...I LOVE them!!!

OK....Now I'm tagging Erin and CJen!

I Love my Son

Ethan is doing so well with his cast. He's such a trooper. He isn't asking us constantly to remove his cast. He did tell us that his favorite color wasn't green anymore! LOL Jerry got home on Monday night and I was SOOOOOO glad to see him.

Work is going really well and it looks like I will have my promotion sometime in November. YAYYYY

All in all things are great around here. I just wanted to check in!