say, what?

what's been going on with the libbys?


we took lana to the ice exhibit at the gaylord over christmas....

we celebrated christmas! and found out that santa is a giant....here we are trying to take a picture with him, but could only fit his shoes in the pic....

lana took up golf! (come on, college scholarship!)

we went to the ranger game...and sat 2 rows behind home plate. this girl is a mega fan :)

we welcomed taya into our family! 

and big sister lana has been in love with her from day 1....

we brought our sweet girl home to begin our life as a family of 4. wow....

lana finished up her first year of preschool with a performance by her class...

more to come!

7 month update!

i don't even know how to get you caught up on what's happened since february. in one way, so much has happened...but in another, it's just kinda been life. nothing too incredibly exciting although it's definitely kept us on our toes!

the school year started off with a bang...drew got strep over labor day and was down and out for a solid week. he'd probably tell you that a month later he still doesn't feel "normal". it was pretty bad - anything with a 104 degree fever has to be bad!

then a few weeks ago i took lana to the doctor because she'd been coughing for several weeks. i figured if it was a cold it would take several to go away. she had no fever. she hadn't slowed down one bit. so you can imagine i was shocked to find out she had pneumonia! whoa!!

so we got lana all healed up, drew kinda healed up, only for this weekend to be more than busy. lana came home from school friday with LICE! its disgusting. so we've been washing everything, cleaning everything, disinfecting everything...not fun at all. i've never done this much laundry. i'm wondering if there's a preventative shampoo out there we can all 3 use to make sure this never happens again! drew and i are clear as of now...

in other news....i leave for china in a few weeks. i'm pretty excited about going! it will be interesting to say the least. jcp is sending me and a few other people to tour factories, mills, and the ports. since my job is planning production lines and capacities it's going to be very helpful to understand the process. i'll try to upload pictures when i get back. no promises. clearly. ha!

i'll leave you with some pictures of the past 7 months! enjoy your sunday!

lana and her cousin corbin playing on the teeter totter

playing at the park by the coast

fishing out of the side of grandpa's boat in oregon

getting her face painted for 4th of july!

the fam!

at the coast looking for sea anemones and star fish

face painting - her first time

ready to get on the plane and head to oregon (430am!!!)

bowling for the first time

the 3 of us at the coast

4th of july fireworks

riding the horse in nana and grandpa's basement

4D movie at lego land

painted fingernails! her newest thing

her first day of preschool!

sometimes life just isn't that fun....

the past week has been a roller coaster. normally i would've been continuing the countdown to my birthday. because face it, i LOVE my birthday. but this week i haven't felt like counting down to anything. it was the slowest week of my life. and honestly, i forgot there was anything exciting waiting at the end of it anyway.

my junior year of college i moved out of the on campus dorms at acu and into my first "place of my own". and what do you need when you move out? why a pet of course! so within maybe a week of moving back to abilene for the start of the fall semester, i found the perfect little guy to keep my roommates and me company. jaxon was purchased from the pound and hidden from my parents, my landlord, and anyone else who would be upset at the purchase that i really couldn't afford :) but i loved that little guy. even when he'd dart out of the house and make a b-line for judge ely (one of the busiest streets in abilene). i've been through a lot with that guy. i joke that i've had him longer than drew :)

and although he's been a little more neglected since lana entered the picture, i still love him so much. he's a good dog. kinda tears up my backyard (with the help of his accomplice--toketee) but i love him.

last friday he got really sick. i took him to the emergency room (for dogs) to find out he had ketoacidosis. his body was shutting down because he had diabetes and his body was not doing hot. we hospitalized him over the course of the weekend to get the ketones out of his urine and to get some fluids in him. he was severely dehydrated from the starvation. but i picked him up monday morning with a refreshing new hope. he was better. the ketones were gone. and so started the new routine of owning a diabetic dog. or so we thought.

over the course of the week jax wasn't getting any better. i was getting up VERY early every morning to start the course of his treatment...medicine to take away the nausea so when i force fed him, he wouldn't puke it back up. and then i'd have to give him his antibiotics to fight off the infection in him, and lastly the insulin shots. i'm not afraid of needles so that was no big thing. but jax just wasn't getting better. as of yesterday morning i was still force feeding him. he didn't want anything we offered. and when i say anything, i mean ANY thing. after more blood work friday afternoon, the vet called saturday to say without an ultrasound she wouldn't be able to tell for sure what was going on with him. but that she was certain diabetes was secondary.

the vet really wanted an ultrasound to find out what else was wrong. but after all of the money we'd already laid out we didn't really think it would be wise to spend money on. because if it was cancer, we really couldn't afford the $3K-$5K it would cost to treat him. and he's almost 11 years old. the vet thought at most we'd extend his life another year. so, as an alternative, we thought doing subcutaneous fluids at home would flush out his kidneys. if the levels didn't go back to normal then we would know it was probably cancer.

we gave jax his first round of fluids around 5pm last night. again, not afraid of needles so sticking that ridiculously thick needle in him was no big deal. the big deal came with the seizure. he's had a history of seizures but nothing like this. about an hour after the fluids he started tensing up. i couldn't even tell what was going on because his seizures had never looked like that before. i kept calling him to get up to go outside, but he wouldn't move. i tried to pick him up but his legs wouldn't work. then it became apparent what was happening. that seizure lasted about 30 minutes. THIRTY minutes. and during that time he was barking, yelping, and i was in tears. it was the worst thing in the world to watch him go through. and he was in so much pain.

after the seizure we called the emergency room to see if this was a sign of the end or something else--because obviously i was googling symptoms/signs trying to figure out on my own what was going on. the ER had his records so they knew what was going on. it was time to let go. so for about 2 hours i cried trying to convince myself that i really had done all we could do. that he was just at that point. he didn't want to move. he didn't want to eat. he'd lost so much weight and could barely support himself when he walked. really, he just laid there looking lifeless. you might get a tail wag out of him every once in a while, but he was already gone. yah, he was breathing but he was already gone. so we took jax up to the emergency room and put him to sleep. and it was probably the hardest decision i've had to make this far in my life. because i felt like i was giving up on him. but the doctor assured me (as did drew and my sister) that it was time. drew mentioned that the saddest thing about him dying was that he looked the same dead as he did the last day he was alive. and it was true.

i still wonder if the poor guy ever even had diabetes. all of the symptoms of diabetes are those of kidney disease/renal failure. so it would make sense that getting his glucose levels in check didn't fix the problem. because that wasn't the problem.

i have to say that yesterday was probably the worst birthday i've ever had. and i'm sitting here looking at toketee thinking "do we really only have you now? jaxon is really gone?" i'm so grateful that toketee is healthy but just can't believe what all has happened over the course of the past week. it came out of no where.

but i know he's better off. who knew i would be in such mourning over this. i think its going to be a process and would really appreciate your prayers.

great studies!

oh, man, people. lots going on right now and i'm fired up!

if you need some studies, our church is doing a series on galatians that is just incredible. we're 2 weeks in so go back and listen to the sermons. i think you'll enjoy it!

also, at our small group last night our group leaders were talking about a sermon series that mark driscoll of mars hill church in seattle is doing. he has a book that goes along with it and he's probably about 5 sermons into this series called real marriage. i'm fortunate enough to be in a career where as i build and analyze spreadsheets all day i can listen to sermons. i'm am just being incrediblly blessed by this series (although i only started listening today, i'm 3 sermons in already!) drew and i are going to get the book/study guide and start it as a time of study for us. i highly encourage you to listen! take notes! and apply it! :)

also, we're coming up on ash wednesday that's usually the start of lent. LENT? yes. i did just say lent. i don't know why, but i've never really thought about lent or actually observing it. probably because of my traditional church of christ upbringing where we didn't do it if it wasn't in the bible. CLEARLY in the bible, actually. so when the village published a lent guide and suggested we actually observe it this year, my first response was, "i'm not catholic". see, right there it shows you what i know (or don't, actually). so then i thumbed through the guide and thought, you know, maybe i should do this. because why in the world not? why not have a set devotional where i'm "following God into the wilderness" to see what he wants to reveal to me? i spend entirely too much time NOT following God into the wilderness, so i'm certain this is going to be transforming.

and if that's not enough we just finished a book called vintage jesus with our small group. wonderful, just wonderful. i love how i think i know everything and then i read a book like this and its revealed to me that i really don't know anything at all. it discusses some controversial points that i really didn't realize were so controversial. like, why was it so important that mary be a virgin? and how do we know that jesus really did raise from the dead (which i didn't realize so many people didn't agree with..."christians" who didn't agree with it). plus there's a wonderful chapter on prophetic words and how jesus fulfills those prophecies. i absolutely loved it. and highly recommend it.

hope you're all having a wonderful monday! pray for warm weather. HE HEARS OUR PRAYERS! :)

and a pic of me and my girl who's almost THREE! WHAAAA?????

womp, womp....

guess i haven't been so great at keeping this thing updated, huh?

maybe its because i don't feel like life has been all that exciting! school started and we're in the heat of football season. marcus got their first loss this past friday to a team who's nationally ranked...i think its safe to say we'll make the playoffs.

next week basketball tryouts start, so we'll have some overlapping of sports this year. so i guess the countdown to spring break starts...because thats when drew will be on cruise control for the remainder of the school year and...HOME! :) we miss him when he's gone.

lana is keeping us super busy with potty training. i feel like we've been doing this for ages. but i think she's pretty much trained now! we couldn't figure out how to get her to TELL US that she needed to go. she'd always go when we asked her to, but she'd never instigate it. so now we bribe her with reese's pieces....and of course, she tells us very frequently :) whatever works, right? haven't had ANY accidents ALL WEEK! i am one happy momma!

i got moved to a new area a few weeks ago at work...they moved me to jewelry. its nothing new thanks to my zale days, but its been 4 years since i worked in jewelry...kinda forgot a lot! its coming back to me. things are getting a little busy at work since black friday/cyber monday/christmas is all around the corner...but i've been saying christmas is around the corner since july...drives drew nuts :)

i decided not to run the white rock this year...last year's half marathon was good enough. after all the money we poured out on a bulging disc earlier this year, my doc said it'd be wise of me not to run more than 6 miles at a time. so i'm obeying because i'm a good patient...and a rule follower :) and i go back to the dermatologist in november to get checked for more skin cancer spots...pray no more have surfaced. that cream treatment is NASTY....and EXPENSIVE...and i'm a wimp :)

halloween is on monday and what do you think lana is going to be? NOTHING! ha! i thought about taking her trick or treating because i think she's at the point where she'd really have a good time...but drew will have a 7th grade football game. there is NO way i'm doing the trick or treat thing alone. it just wouldn't be nearly as fun. so we'll be at home handing out candy this year!

we're still enjoying church at the village. we both think matt is such a gifted speaker...its really easy to listen to him and it doesn't feel like he preaches nearly an hour each week. there have been some things brought to light that i guess i just skimmed over in my bible my whole life. so honestly, its really driving me to read, study, and learn everything i can in order to see what God is saying through it all. we are also REALLY enjoying our small group....although i wouldn't call it SMALL....i think 22 people is kinda BIG! :) but its fun because there are so many kids. this year we're hosting the kids at our house, we have some college girls come babysit the kiddos, and all the adults meet at another house. it works out great and lana LOVES it when her 'friends' come over. i just can't explain how excited she gets.

i updated lana's baby site -- new pictures under her 2years album....but here are some from the past, oh i don't know, 6 months?? i'm getting TERRIBLE at this...sorry.

more to come! hopefully it won't be another 3 months, though....

whoops!

well, i didn't realize how much time had passed since the last post. i'm sure i need to update you on my doctor appointments....and everything else.

i finally got the results back from my biopsies last week. they cut 8 spots. 3 came back as no big deal. 4 places came back as skin cancer--basal cell carcinoma. the last spot came back as a dysplastic mole...in short, thats the in between stage of a normal mole and melanoma. i'm very grateful that's all it was since that's the worst kind of skin cancer you can have.

so last wednesday i went to the pharmacy and picked up a prescription for a cream to start treating one of the skin cancer spots. its superficial so no surgery needed. just 6 weeks of cream rubbed on it and we should be good. of course, that cream is $100 a pop. and of course, its also used to treat genital warts. ugh. i'm going to make a point to talk about skin cancer every time i need a refill for my own sake. i don't want anyone thinking i have genital warts! :)

so that leaves the surgeries. i have to have 4 spots cut out--3 of them are skin cancer and the 4th is the dysplastic mole. they can't do them together, so i had to set up 4 different appointments starting in mid july. nice. so i'm going to have gashes and stitches on my chest, shoulder, and side...just in time for summer time! needless to say, i now hate the sun and am staying as far away as possible.

in other news...summer has officially started and i'm so grateful for this little break drew gets from school. he works so hard throughout the year he definitely enjoys his time off. we're really enjoying the hyundai....highly recommend it if you're in the market for a new car. lana is growing and changing. keeps us on our toes. i'm constantly staring at her amazed at how this little person is growing up so fast. i just love her to pieces! keep all the teachers in your prayers and districts haven't made their cuts yet. we think drew will be safe, but we're not sure about my brother in law....seems like they cut the arts before anything else. being a band director isn't job security, sadly. Have a happy monday! keep the libbys in your prayers!

cha cha cha cha changes

what's going on? well, where do i start? :)

after watching gas prices soar, drew and i decided it was time to get rid of our premium gas guzzling machine....we traded it in for a WONDERFUL 40mpg elantra....

i was so sad to see this car go...i cried. seriously. but 24mpg with premium was not good on the budget. nor was the $250 headlight replacement, the $1200 expense of tires because they can not be rotated at ALL....i could go on. it was so much fun to have for the short time we owned it! i suggest you ask TONS of questions before buying a lexus...or any 'luxury' car for that matter. it was painful.

so now we have this! sporty, sleek, and super mileage. i'm already having fun driving it. missing a lot of the bells and whistles from the IS, but this car is really neat too!

so what else? well, thanks to drew's sister, we've all been to the dermatologist within the past week. drew checked out well...they're just going to watch him with yearly checkups. my appointment was not so good. i went this morning and they biopsied 5 spots...they had to stop at 5 because my insurance only pays for 5 per visit. so guess what that means? i go back tomorrow. because i'm pretty sure they have 5 more they want to biopsy. i have not gotten as great of news as drew did...they want to see me back multiple times of year. dang fair skin! but i'd rather do this than die an early death from skin cancer...i find out in 2 weeks what the results are from the spots they removed. i'm asking for lots of prayers. because, honestly, i'm a little scared about this.

what else? i've been interviewing for a new spot at jcp. i have pretty much hit the point (actually, i'm sure i hit this point about 6 months ago, but couldn't do anything about it then) where i have to move jobs or i might just quit. this position is highly analytical which i hate....so i've interviewed for a spot on the internet side. i'd be in charge of running a portion of jcp.com--making sure the pictures are uploaded on site, that we have enough inventory to support the product placement, that the site is inviting...etc. i think it'll be a lot of fun! i get to merchandise my little 'store' and do some more creative stuff. i should find out at the beginning of next week if i got the job. there were 6 of us interviewing so it may be a long shot. we'll see!

drew also has quite a bit going on. without getting into details, just pray for the job situation. the school districts are making huge cuts, they actually have a coaching spot open at his school, but they're not sure who (if anyone) will fill it thanks to hiring freezes...plus a lot more that isn't public knowledge so i'm not going to go into everything until he gives me permission to do so :)

we've also been reading an amazing book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love in our small group at church. i HIGHLY recommend this book. do yourself a favor...go check it out or buy it. it'll turn your world up side down!

i'm on sinus infection #2 in the past month. this has been a HORRIBLE allergy season in texas. we have some crazy winds that are stirring things up and literally kicking my rear. i'm actually working from home today thanks to my throbbing/pulsating sinuses. yippee.

anyway, just updated lana's picture site... head over and check out what's been going on with her the past month by clicking here!

have a great wednesday!