Relay #2 of 2009!

We went to our second Relay For Life of 2009 last night in Norfolk for Madison County! I had never been to their event and I wanted to see how another county like ours did things! It made me nervous for our big day in four weeks and super excited to see how it goes!! Also anxious because the baby will be here by then!!

My mom and nephew, along with a friend, came to walk with us...which was so nice!!

I got to walk the survivor lap with Charli, which...will that EVER not be emotional?!! The American Cancer Society is the "official" sponsor of birthdays so everyone sang "happy birthday" to the survivors, and I held back the tears. The simple thought of knowing she has more birthdays coming up BECAUSE she is a survivor is a concept I had never really thought about. How powerful is that though, not sure I will ever look at singing her happy birthday the same again!! We did the walk which I managed to do dry eyed - and then did the caregiver lap with our family who came with!

After a few laps Charli was tired, and I was too!! She ran out of steam and needed me to give her a piggyback ride, so "baby" was acting up in jealousy I imagine and was ready for me to be done for the day!!!

It was another neat experience, and I truly encourage ALL of you to go find a Relay to attend this year. It is hard to explain, you just have to experience it.

Have a great weekend!!

Charli before the Relay....




Bryant and Charli - silly face picture (Charli's idea, thanks for playing along Bry!!)

Bry and Charli, nice picture :-)

she is still here!!!

I realized tonight that I haven't posted pictures of Charli in ages! And, then I sadly realized that I haven't taken any pictures of Charli in AGES...thank God her grandma took some this weekend so I could remind you all what she looks like :)

Saturday Chad and I met some friends in Omaha for a nice little mini-vaca of eating and baseball! It was a fun get away for the two of us, and a nice time for Charli to spend with her grandma and grandpa Preister! I think everyone had a great time. Charli was up until nearly 11:00 Saturday night I was told, watching 101 Dalmatians and snacking on popcorn!! It is amazing how being apart for a measly 24 hours can make her seem so grown up!! After we picked her up we headed to the farm so she could play with almost all of her cousins! She had a LONG day of playing outside and was exhausted! After that little adventure we went to see baby Braxton, but Charli feel asleep just minutes after leaving the farm...so Charli slept most of the visit there!!

I have included a picture of Charli's new "favorite" thing...drawing! She is getting very good at coloring and is starting to grasp the idea of coloring inside the lines. She has learned to draw a pretty good stick person too, better than I can do that is for sure! She has a lot of creative blood on her dad's side...so I hope she can channel that!!!

Just a reminder that anyone who wants to take advantage of Jody's pencil sketch promotion for the Relay has only a few days left to do that!!! Also - luminary or Relay For Life donations are due just around the corner...please let me know if you have questions!!

The poker run is NEXT Sunday, please pray for great weather and an amazing day all around!! I am excited to keep this ANNUAL even going!!

Courtney and Brenda at the Royals game!

35 weeks...and one dirty mirror!

this was on the patient bed at my family practice doctors office today, I was so pleased to see it I had to take a picture!! It isn't very often I run across something that talks about Childhood Cancer in a "public" area, I made sure to tell the doctor thank you :-)

Charli's rendition of a "girl"

she would draw for days!

playing with her pet turtle grandpa preister found for her!

grandma and grandpa preister

jump-jump

Charli sitting on the humphrey bulldog...we have a picture of her doing this last year -- she looks a little bigger this time!!

swing-swing...she is a monkey :-)

petting a baby duck of uncle brads!!

I guess it has been about two weeks since I've been on, so I am not sure where to pick up on what has been going on!!

Charli has been keeping busy and we have been keeping busy with her...sadly that means I often forget the camera when we head places. She is becoming a big risk taker. I have, more than once, walked away from whatever her and her dad are doing because I can't stand to see the things she wants to try! I know it is part of growing up...but I would like to keep her out of the ER :-)

Charli is very into the baby. She has started talking to him/her and telling the baby stories about what she has done or is going to do. It is obvious that the baby is taking up all the space in there and at night it looks like I have two aliens fighting in my tummy - bouncing back and forth and up and down, you have to see it to really believe it!

she wanted to smile for the camera too!!

mother's day - she is a cheese ball

all dressed up for Bryant's college graduation1

on a play date with Grandma Preister! She does have fuzzy hair, but in this picture it is all static electricity from her many slides, in many different positions, down the slide :-)

Relay For Life

Hello y'all! Just wanted to pass along a team fundraiser that we are working on (t-shirts still available if you want one!). My mother-in-law Jody is bringing back her pencil sketch this year! She was very successful with this in 2008 and I expect 2009 to be no different!!

If you purchase a luminary for $10 in honor or memory of someone during the month of May Jody will draw you a complimentary 8x10 photo of your choice (one subject per $10 donation)!!

I may be biased, but I don't really think so, this is a great memory and keepsake to have for anyone...and to get it for only $10 WHILE helping the Relay For Life is a WIN WIN for everyone!!

You can contact Jody directly (Jody223@hotmail.com) for additional information. I hope several of you are able to take advantage of this again this year!! The photos on the flier are samples that she did last year, maybe you could be in the 2010 flier :-)

THANK YOU JODY for offering up your skills to help support our team!!

28 and 32

What a neat day I had yesterday!! It was my birthday and I have NEVER been treated like such a princess!!

It started off by hearing my name and the DJ talk about me on the radio, someone I know through the Relay...so we got a neat little plug to the event!! Chad and the "kids" (Charli, baby, Wynston, Kasper, and CoCo) left cards for me on the counter and the kids at daycare welcomed me with a big "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", and the little 18-month old sang me happy birthday!! I was walking into work and my great friend Natalie handed me a diet mt. dew, butterfinger, and laffy-taffy! What a fun start!! When I got inside I saw that Chad's aunt Janice had dropped of a pretty pot of flowers and a muffin, what a neat and practical idea! AND - how fun to have it for breakfast!!!

A few hours into my morning I had the most beautiful pink flowers delivered to me from Charli and the baby! Chad said that he had to call them in because Charli's phone wasn't working...but I secretly think it was "his idea"!!! At work the birthday girl always gets to pick the place and they buy, so I picked Duster's Pub...yummy! While we were eating another delivery came! I got a beautiful basket of flowers from Amanda and Brad, a gorgeous rose from my friend Pam and her husband, and a fun bouquet of balloons from my newest nephew Braxton. The balloons were held down with a pineapple...which totally cracked me up!!! I love pineapple and usually try to take one if we go there for supper or something! Braxton is so smart, a great gift for me!!

I even got off work a few hours early because we had a doctors appointment. We are 32 weeks and will have an ultrasound at our next appointment in a few weeks. Maybe I will have a picture to post?! After that we went to eat at Godfathers and got ice cream!!! Like I said...I was treated like a princess ALL day!!

Then, today, a friend and her husband bought my lunch at Subway (my favorite place ever!!) to treat me for my birthday!! I said that "28" must be the magic age, because never in my life have I felt so loved, for me!! Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, everyone made the day great!!

So, back to baby...

We have about 6-7 weeks left with not much to report in the meantime, which is good news! Charli is STILL convinced that this baby is a "little sister" which she plans on sharing everything with! Who would like to be in charge of reminding her this in about a year...and for the rest of her life!?

Hope everyone else had as good of a Cinco De Mayo as me :-)

Thank you Amanda and Brad!!

yummy Braxton, sorry I couldn't get a picture of both the pineapple AND balloons!!!

Thank you Pam and John!!


Thank you Chuck and Janice!!



Thank you Charli and Baby!

32 weeks and counting...it's great to see how dirty my bathroom mirror is. Another great feeling, seeing that my "junk in the trunk" is as big (if not bigger) than my baby bump. Pictures don't lie, FAN-TASTIC!