Santa...how do you like my dress?

So we made the trek to the ghastly Sears Portrait Studio for our obligatory Christmas photos this evening. They turned out pretty well considering what you must endure to have your pictures taken at that place. I always feel like I need to send us all through a decontamination session after we go there.

Makenzie has been talking alot about Santa Claus this year. In years past, her relationship with the jolly old fat man hasn't been that great (see year 1 picture below--we didn't get one last year, that's how bad it was).

She's been talking about how he's her "favorite" and she wants to sit in his lap and tell him that she wants a pink highchair for her bear this year. And we've been taking advantage of it too--reminding her that he's watching every time she misbehaves--bad parents, I know. So anyway...after our lovely Sears photo shoot, we ventured through the maze of mall-goers to the far end of the mall to see Santa.

We lost dad halfway there at the Sprint kiosk, but we trekked onward to our goal of seeing the bearded fellow. We passed the Cowboys store, the puppy place and finally he was in sight. I felt my own heart begin to pound a little bit to be honest, but Makenzie was innocently naive. There was no line so we snaked our way right up to the old fat guy in no time flat and then it happened...she bolted. Sit in his lap? I dont' think so!

I scooped her up and wrestled her to his presence where she said in her mousiest voice ever "See my cute dress?" And Santa answered agreebly to which Makenzie squeeked "...and my shoes too?" I took advantage of their dialogue to inch ever so closer to the big guy, but try as he might Santa couldn't talk her into anything more than a quick snatch of a candy cane from his hand. Alas....maybe next year!

I am thankful for....

...a wonderful husband who is a great dad who balances the whole loving/disciplinarian thing much better than I do.
...a beautiful, smart, funny and spunky daughter who I would have never in a million years thought I would ever be blessed enough to have.
...a family who, despite our "issues", all really love each other when it comes right down to it.
...jobs for both Tim and I so that we can support our family and enjoy nice things in life.
...freedom that comes from being an American (God, please let us stay free).
...peace in our lives for the first time in a very long time.
...having the privilege to live in Aggieland-whoop!
...a nice house, comfy bed, a/c to keep me cool, a heater to keep me warm, food in our cupboards, cars that run, clothes on our backs....you get the point.
...a God who loves me and walks with me through trials and tribulations.

Kung Fu quotes

We rented Kung Fu Panda last night and these are my favorite quotes from Oogway:

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

"One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it. "

I thought it was a really cute movie. We rented it more for Makenzie, but it seems as though her attention span is still not mature enough to handle anything more than any of the shows on Noggin. But Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it so much that we watched it again today!

9 Years Ago Today….

…Aggieland changed forever.

I awoke bright and early to get ready to pick up my much-anticipated and hard-earned Aggie ring. As I got dressed, I turned on the t.v. and was hit like a ton of bricks by the reports that Bonfire had collapsed.

I remember staring at the t.v. as Carmen Izzo gave her live reports at the scene of the nightmare that began at 2:42 a.m. that morning as the huge stack of logs came tumbling down, popping and cracking in the eerie silence of the night. As it fell, it extinguished the lives of these 12 Aggies and injured many others.

I called my (then) boyfriend and gave him a wake-up call I’m sure he’ll never forget--I knew his roommate was a Red Pot and worked nights on the stack. Thankfully, he had just left stack an hour before the collapse and was safe and sound.

I had looked forward to that day (getting my ring) with so much anticipation and now I wasn’t even sure if I should go get it. I felt a strange sense of guilt for picking it up when there were people dying in the mass of collapsed logs just across campus….but I went, and along with hundreds of other Aggies, I retrieved my gleaming piece of Aggie spirit.

Instead of the joy and exuberance that normally fills the Former Student Association on Aggie ring day, we all walked around like zombies mourning for our fellow Aggies whose names we didn’t yet know. I left the association and walked across an eerily quiet campus to show off my ring to my mom in the Administration Building and then made my way to West Campus for my first class of the day. We didn’t do much learning or notetaking that morning—mainly we just sat together and expressed our awe and incredulity at what had happened in the dark of the early morning hours. We sat in groups and came together as Junior and Senior Aggies whose hearts were broken for those we never knew but whose deaths we felt at the core of our very being.

I worked at the hospital as an ICU tech along with my paramedic boyfriend and we went into work that night and cared for the barely-alive John Comstock (the 13th Aggie pulled from the rubble). For days on end, he was touch and go as his body fought the trauma and infections, as his doctors made the decisions to take one limb and then part of another, and as his mother cried by his bedside. He was “my” patient in the ICU for weeks on end. I remember us repeating over and over again that he couldn’t die because God had already taken 12—that special “Aggie” number—surely He wouldn’t take the 13th. He was cared for as an Aggie should be, by other Aggies who understood why he did what he did and who shared that special bond—we even had a fundraiser and sold tshirts that said “I took care of John Comstock.” We were so proud of him and his will to live!

In the days that followed, we walked to campus and joined the thousands at the candlelight vigil. Thousands of pinpoints of candlelight snaked their way through campus that night as we prayed for the victims and their families. We made our way to the flagpole at the Admin Building where other Aggies who had gotten their rings along with me left them in honor of the fallen. Wow—what a tribute. It was a tribute that only an Aggie could understand—noone else understands how that ring is an extension of each of us.

We went on to beat Texas in the rivalry Thanksgiving day game that year—even they honored our fallen Aggies and mourned our losses with us.

As I reflect back on that day, it seems like just yesterday. I’m sure the pain is so real and still very raw for those that lost their friends and family that day. They will never be forgotten—their lives are forever memorialized on our campus and their faces are forever etched into our memories and hearts.

“From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. And from the inside looking out, you can't explain it.”

Game Day

I'm sad to say that I haven't been back to Kyle Field for a game since I graduated 8 years ago....until today. And what a hell of a game I picked for my homecoming. I won't mention the final score at the end of our spanking, I'll just share the pictures. AND--we got a @#$$%^ parking ticket.

The Corps marches in.

Look at those Senior boots.

The Stars and Stripes arrive.

Here comes the band!
The Cavalry.

The stands begin to fill up.

The fly over.

Here comes the boys.

Do you think they know their fate?!

Huddle up!

"Now forming at the north end of Kyle Field." (It still gives me chills.)

Block TAM-whoop!

Better Late than Never

I know we're a little late here, but here's a picture of Makenzie and her trick-or-treating partner, Kilana. She's my college roommate's little girl.

Praying for Mckmama and Baby Stellan

UPDATE: Stellan was born healthy and they can find no trace of his heart problems now! WOW! Check it out here.

If you frequent my blog, you have probably noticed the button to the right that says “Praying for MckMama”....that one….right there.-------------------------------------------->

I found her blog through another blog I read. She is pregnant with her 4th baby and was told 13 weeks ago that his heart was irreparably damaged due to a congenital electrical defect very similar to Tim’s and that IF he made it to a viable gestational age, he would be delivered, but would likely die before that. She posted to her blog vigilantly while in the hospital for weeks and weeks enduring the side effects of antiarrythmic drugs she was taking on behalf of little unborn Stellan.

And then miraculously, Stellan’s little heart went back into a normal sinus rhythm, his hydrops decreased, and his heart size came closer to normal (though it is still somewhat enlarged). She was sent home and by the glory of God, tomorrow she will deliver little Stellan via c-section at 37 weeks gestation!

All bets are off as to how Stellan will fair once he is separated from his lifeline inside his mommy’s womb, but please take time to say a prayer for her (or send some positive thoughts her way), little Stellan and the doctors and nurses who will attend the delivery tomorrow morning at 9:30am CST.