Okay. Fine.

Okay, fine. I submit. I have failed as a blogger. But I do have reasons... all of my readers know them already. I will admit, I do have ADHD. Take meds for it, but still life and blogging passes me by, each and every day.

So there. Forgive me! We are in the throws of moving. In the past 2 months, we have been told that our family was not qualified to move to Misawa Air Base, Japan because of some sort of medical hinderance. Little did we know that it wasn't Noah's asthma: it was because of the pulmonary embolism (blood clot in my lung) I had post Ellyotte's c-section.

Misawa's medical group commander needed reassurance that Dan and I weren't planning on having any more biological babies. While bittersweet to accept, we gladly did so in the face of Dan doing 2+ years away from his wife and children (we were facing that and I was a mess for a good 2 weeks till we found out otherwise!). Dan told the commander that we have a method in place to prevent future pregnancies and that I - of all people (after my hematologist care, etc for one whole year and the botched c-section that caused me to not be able to carry any more children...) - understand the risk of having more biological children. And IF I were to become pregnant, Dan would have me on the first flight out: Misawa doesn't have a high risk specialist. And it seems to be the hobby to have babies in Northern Japan. I guess the 9 months of winter gets to some folks!

So... no more babies for us. It is a hard pill to swallow because we want more perfect Noahs and Ellys but my body cannot handle any more pregnancies. There would be babies without a Mom. We have decided that we want to expand our family 100% by adopting. We haven't started the process, but we have acknowledged it. That's the first step.

Dan promotes to Major this next week - exactly 10 years and several "officers of the year" later. He will promote and then the next day, we will final out from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana and head to Alabama. After 2 days there, we will catch a flight to DC to visit the Bealls and our extended family/friends for a week. Then back to Bama/the condo in Panama City Beach, FL till Dan heads to Northern Japan the 3rd week of June. He will go over with our sweet cat Gumbo (Piper, our beloved dog, has a new home where she is LOVED so much!) and he will get us set up in our new home, with new cars, new everything.

Our home here in LA hasn't sold yet. Boo. But we have everything out of it and have sold our washer/dryer as well as lots of furniture and Dan's Camry. We will leave my beloved 4 Runner in Alabama for the 3 years we are in Asia. Dan will have to get us two new cars once over in Japan: they drive on the other side of the car, other side of the road and have totally different emissions standards.

We are living in the hotel (TLF) on base in LA right now and having fun. Noah has walking pneumonia on top of some severe asthma issues and Ellyotte has yet another ear infection. But, we are loving our adventures as a family of four. Those will end mid June when our Daddy heads to Japan without us.

Dan will come back mid October for us... because he's a groomsmen in Kelly (my precious baby sister) and Adam's wedding that I am Matron/Maid of Honor in. We are so excited for their wedding. Adam is a perfect match for our crazy yet normal yet weird yet perfect Hawkins family. And the babies are both in their wedding. So Dan has to be back for it! And has to be back to get us to take back to Japan with him.

So, I will be in Alabama with my folks - moving back in....with two babies and my yet unwed sister!!!! - till the fall! If you wanna hook up and hang out, holla at me. Can't wait for this crazy summer!

My sweet little ones

"Go Go" time! That's what E calls popsicles!

One more visit from my folks before we moved outta our house

Breakfast in bed for Mother's Day!

Mudbug Madness festival in Louisiana

My friend Amy and me out for a crawfish dinner

Burning time and energy - with markers! - in lodging on base

Not looking forward to being away from him for 4-5 months......

Last day at our beloved pre-school in Louisiana. Noah's been there since he was 18 months old!

Best looking reason I've ever seen to buy a house ASAP

Excited about markers!

Family fun at Mudbug Madness

My sweet girl - and her busted head :(

Exploring the bayous of Barksdale AFB, LA - definite GATOR siting!

This is what a 4 year old redhead with walking pneumonia looks like: at the hospital getting some breathing treatments.

Moving out! Noah was screaming in my ear because he wanted ice cream... not cuz he was sad!

Ellyotte... Sweet Girl

I have to admit: I am not as good about documenting our daughter's milestones. And I feel bad... somewhat. Because I really do spend the majority of my time enjoying Ellyotte's minutes and seconds of her days.

She's such an incredible source of joy for Dan and me. We literally delight in everything she does; even the tantrums. She's started throwing serious tantrums when it comes to sharing. It's hilarious!

I took her to her supposed-to-be-15-month-appointment even though she's 17 months... and she was right on track for an 18 month old (because that's what they checked her for!).

At 17 months, Ellyotte:
- weighs in at 25 lbs exactly putting her in the 65th percentile for weight.
- measures in at 32 inches also putting her in the 65th percentile for height.
- wears a 7.5 size shoe!! No surprise because her daddy wears a 14.5 in mens and I'm in a 9.5 womens. She's a long, big foot string bean!
- LOVES her brother. And I mean LOVES him. She kisses him all over as does he with her. And she fights royally with him - they are enemies number 1 when it comes to one another but when someone insults or accidentally injures his sister, Noah Beall will put down someone!
- loves frozen anything; especially ice in her snack cup. She wants "ish" and popsicles and frozen fruit for every "meal."
- wears size 2T solidly. Again, she's tall for her age. I am sure we will see this trend her whole life: her daddy is 6'4" and Im 5'8" and my daddy is also 6'4". Noah's not even 4 yet and is in a 6/7!
- talks all the time - even if we don't know what she's saying. She talks so much, but she will also look at you like you are an idiot if she's not in the mood to be sociable.
- LOVES her Graddy and JanJan! I mean, LOVES them. She goes up to pictures in our home and gets so excited by seeing Graddy and Janjan.
- and LOVES, LOVES, ADORES kitty cats! Not even kidding... she says 'eeeeoww" constantly to anything that even resembles a cat. It is awesome.
- is my Mini-Me. Literally, everything I do is either with her by my side or with her on my hip. She looks like me, acts like me, is my redemption. I adore that baby girl and would die for her, just like I would die for her brother.

I feel so blessed. It is such a cliche to say that but it is true. My kids are perfect, despite the garbage and horrors we had to go through to bring them into life. I love them with my whole being. And Dan and I are still throwing around the idea of having yet a third - even though we have been told that we shouldn't, that it's a risk, that no matter what I'd be a high risk pregnancy, yada-yada. We want a third and maybe fourth. But we also are seriously considering adopting our next babies; please join us in praying for our future "Beall babies."

What a hilarious child!

Mini Katie, right?!

Peek a boo!

Ice Cream with Daddy

And on another note, we are proud to announce the birth of our new and so far, only NIECE Caroline Grace Beall into the world! After 2 trying years, Todd (Dan's only brother) and his sweet wife (one of my best friends) Annie, are finally parents. Annie went into labor with Caroline on her due date, 31 December, and after 30+ hours of hard labor, delivered our sweet baby girl. We are thrilled for them. Caroline Grace is absolutely precious and just perfect. Ellyotte and I will fly up to Ohio (from Louisiana) in a couple of weeks to help Annie and to spend some fun quality time with her and Caroline. I am really excited for that; Noah will have great time with his daddy while Sister and I "get away." Annie was an incredible blessing to me post Ellyotte and post blood clot. She came into our home and without my prompting, she cleaned top to bottom. I hope to do the same for her and to stock her freezer with lots of yummy things so she won't have to cook for a while! I love them so much and can't wait to be there for them like they were here for me in my time of need.

Sweet Caroline

I adore this precious blessing

Ellyotte's FIRST Birthday Party!

If you judge by the pictures, this baby girl had a GREAT first birthday! We had about 30 friends over to celebrate her big day this past Saturday. She had cake, ice cream, and tons of fun. Ellyotte got lots of toys and clothes and books - and she was such a sport. She literally enjoyed every minute of the day! And Dan and I did too: we set up a "redneck water park" in the back yard where the bigger kids and men enjoyed the 105 degree heat (!!) and beer, and the ladies and babies stayed inside.

What a fun afternoon! My mom and sister were here and we just had a special, memorable time.

Ellyotte's Invitation

Here is the cute CUTE invitation we sent out to Ellyotte's friends and family. Her party was yesterday, July 23, 2011, and I am busy uploading the fun pictures from her big day. I will post soon!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

07.21.2010

In 5 days, our precious Ellyotte Pierce Beall will be 1. I am dumbfounded by the way the year has gone by and how it is a blur yet a lifetime. There is no way to imagine my life before my daughter entered it. Every smile, laugh, nose crunch, reach for me, whine, word spoken, dirty diaper, roll on the floor with her brother, everything my baby girl does melts me and molds me closer to her. She's my mini me and my fresh start. The innocence that surrounds both of those babies is surreal. I want to keep it that way forever.

The love I have for our first born, Noah, is so different from the love I have for my girl. I don't love him or her more or less; it is just DIFFERENT. Just today, I called Noah my baby. He said "I not a baby. I'm big." Yet he knew when I called him my baby what I meant. He knows he will always be my baby boy. He's my fiesty redhead - a reminder of my very Irish heritage and of my beloved Aunt Mamie who passed onto Heaven in November; he's the antagonist in my days, the one I go head-to-head with constantly; the one I "nap" in "mama's bed" with... even though I rarely sleep, I let him nuzzle in the crook of my arm and I just breathe him in. He still says "I wanna hold you mama." Gah, that melts me and no matter how frustrated I am by him, I let him "hold" me. But Ellyotte.... I look at that face and I am just amazed by how differently I love her.

When she was delivered via scheduled c-section on 21 July 2010 and entered this planet at 8:05 AM, I had no idea how my life would change. Obviously for the better, long term. But within six days - 144 hours - I was back in the hospital facing MY eternity and my babies and husband were facing their lives without me in them. I sat on the phone with one of my best friends on this earth, Amy Hall, all alone in a hospital bed in the heart unit of the same hospital where life had just begun for my daughter and sobbed to the depths of my soul. She just let me and prayed for me because I was at a loss for words.

As I've said in previous posts, all I could hear over and over in my brain were the words Sally Fields screamed in "Steel Magnolias" in the graveyard after her baby was buried: "(Her son) will never know how wonderful his mother was and how much she loved him." I had carried Elly since conception and not for one second - even when we craved sleep in the hospital post surgery and I asked the nurses to take her to the nursery and within 15 minutes, I couldn't stand her being 30 feet away and made them bring her back - had I been away from her.


Yet, I kissed her new head, nursed her and sent her home with the love of my life, the father of my babies, to be with MY mom - who had given me MY life and who was at MY house hysterically crying and praying over HER firstborn. My mom had lost her only brother to a pulmonary embolism following knee surgery so she was my angel in disguise. She found me gasping for air, she forced me to go to the hospital and despite her deepest anguish and fear, she kept my house running and took care of herself, my babies and my husband while I struggled.

That is how Ellyotte's first year on this earth started. The months following her birth, she went with us to internist, OB, hematologist appointments and never cried or protested. God gave us a baby that we needed for the challenges we faced. She's never been a challenge: unlike Noah, no colic, no sleepless nights, no prolonged crying. At one year, she sleeps 14 hours a night and still takes two long naps during the day. But when she misses a nap here and there, she never cries. Dan swears that when she cries, it is because we have done something wrong. And, that is usually the case.


Our Elly Belle is the sweetest, happiest baby we have ever been around. We've been told time and again we should never, ever even consider getting pregnant again (because of my uterine window condition and the clotting disorder I have), and given how good Ellyotte is and how wild Noah is, we might want to consider that advice: nothing gets better than Miss Ellyotte! She's the best baby ever and we would be pressing our luck if we pursued adding any more to our brood. For as good as she is, we'd be begging for one just as bad!

At ONE YEAR, Ellyotte is:
- 22 lbs, 11 ounces and 31" long. She is a LONG string bean!
- Wears size 2T in clothing - because of her length.
- Wears a size 4 shoes. Still a bit big on her but she no longer comfortably fits into a 3...
- Says many things: Cat- eeow (everything animal wise - even our fish - are cats!), bah (for bottle or food), night night (when she's tired at night), nap (yep, she tells me when it is time for nap), buhbuh (for Noah), dah-dah (daddy), maaaahhhhh-maaaahhhh (she's super dramatic when it comes to me!), jah-jah (for her Jan Jan - my mom), gahddy (for my dad, Graddy), dank-eeewwww (thank you).
- she's trying so hard to walk! Not too much longer. We think we inhibited her walking by putting her into her walker - which she's a speed demon in!
- Have I mentioned she's a mama's girl!? Yep, that she is.

We do have an appointment with a specialist on 4 August. It is the "final word" in our reproductive pursuits.... Dr. Groom will tell us once and for all if/when one or both of us should be sterilized. We know the challenges we face should we have more and we know that given how perfect our two existing babies are we shouldn't push our luck. But.... how do we KNOW that we aren't supposed to have more?? Yes. My uterus is a wreck and my blood condition is a mess. But do we trust the 15th "man" that tells us to never have any more children or do we trust God and not do anything to prevent a pregnancy? Is that irresponsible to disregard MY health for the life of another unborn child? Or do we trust the opinion of an extremely well respected high risk OB to be the final judgement call? Please pray for us and for our decision. We want to be responsible: I am a wife and a mother of two first and foremost. I realize what I am looking to risk to bring another life into the world but what am I supposed to do??? Sterilize myself or pursue our desire to add more to our family? Please pray....

Nonetheless, wish our baby girl - our MIRACLE baby, Ellyotte - a happy first birthday. For as many doctors that told me that I shouldn't still be alive, that same number have said that our daughter should have been the first casualty of the blood clot and the uterine window I suffered post-Noah c-section.

God bless this baby as she enters her 2nd year for she blesses so many others with her new and pure and sweet spirit.

Summer Fun

It is insane to me how quickly these days are flying by lately. In one month from today, our sweet Ellyotte Girl will be ONE!!!! We are just floored by how fast this year has gone while also not being able to remember life without her in it.

Noah is turning more and more into a big boy by the minute: he is in Swim School here in Louisiana and although yesterday was his first of five days, the kid is rocking it! He is already swimming, with head under water, ALONE. What?! He's fearless and I am so proud. We wanted him to be fully capable of swimming without floaties for our annual family beach trip this next month. Well, that he will be!

I am doing well. On a quick break from teaching this summer - I will pick up my classes again in August. It is nice not grading papers every day!

My sister turned the big 3-0 last week and it was great being back in Alabama to celebrate with her. I took her, and her friends/my friends, down to the condo in Panama City Beach for an amazing long weekend. We had a blast! And even took a boat out all day on Saturday to swim with the dolphins. It was awesome.

Here are some fun pictures from the month so far. Our girl is standing and cruising - hopefully she will start walking soon. She has 8 teeth, tons of hair and sleeps 14 hours at night! What an incredible baby girl. Whew, I am thankful.