Wow, What a Year!!!

Today has been a bad day for me. I started thinking about all that my family and I have been through these past two years and all the loss we have indured. It has been a rough two years to say the least. I believe the last post I made was about Baylee -- but not that she was here, but that she was going to be born on December 7th, 2010.

Today is September 17th, 2012 -- so just shy of 2 years later. Two years ago in June, we lost my dad. One of, if not the best man I have ever known. He was a rock! We all miss him, I think Rylee most of all. Dad must have met Baylee before she was born and taught her how to tease and smile that shit-eating grin. I swear she reminds me so much of him, it is scary. She was our light during that horrible time.

Last September, my mom was dignosed with Stage IV lung cancer. She is such a fighter and I am so proud of all that she has accomplished. She has undergone chemotherapy and radiation trying to fight this terrible disease.

This past March, my mother-in-law, Margaret lost her 7 plus year long battle with cancer. Talk about fighting!! She got to meet all her grandbabies and loved them all. We miss her so much.

In June, my Grandma Caldwell joined my dad and grandpa in heaven. She had been ready to go for so long and passed peacefully with our California family by her side.

In the early morning hours of July 15th, my whole world was rocked to its core. My oldest brother, Bill, took his own life. I had just been out there with him on June 28th - July 2nd and Rylee had just flown home from there on July 12th. I attended his memorial service with our brother John. It was an awesome sight! The Banning Police Department really showed their love for my brother. I miss him so much. I looked forward to the texts I would get that would just say "luv ya."

I have been thinking about Billy a lot today. He is on my mind for some reason. I heard Miranda Lamberts song "Over You," and it made me think of him even more.... below are the lyrics.

Weather man said it's gonna snow,
By now I should be used to the cold.
Mid-February shouldn't be so scary.
It was only December,
I still remember the presents,the tree, you and me.

But you went away,
How dare you?
I miss you.
They say I'll be okay,
But I'm not going to ever get over you.

Living alone, here in this place,
I think of you and I'm not afraid.
Your favorite records make me feel better,
Cause you sing along with every song.
I know you didn't mean to give them to me.

But you went away,
How dare you?
I miss you.
They say I'll be okay,
But I'm not going to ever get over you.

It really sinks in, you know,
When I see it in stone

'Cause you went away
How dare you?
I miss you.
They say I'll be okay,
But I'm not going to ever get over you.


With all this death and sadness -- two wonderful things happened to my family. One was on December 7th, 2010 and that was the birth of Miss Baylee Dyan Hooker. The other occurred roughly one year later on January 15th, 2012 and that was the birth of Maddie Jo Tinnes, my niece Cammie's daughter.

I am going to try and post more often because I find that it is theraputic for me. It might also help me deal with all that is going on around me. I want to thank my friends and extended family for your support during these hard times.

12/7

Well all... it looks like December 7th will be Baylee's birthday, barring any unforseen circumstances. YAY!! I am planning on working until December 3rd and then taking off the rest of the year and most of January :-)

At our appointment today I found out that I have only gained 2 lbs this entire pregnancy!! YAY! I asked the doctor if this was ok and she said that it is better then fine!! She said that Baylee is measuring perfect and it is just her gaining and me losing. Never thought that getting pregnant was the diet that I needed.

Her heartbeat is strong at 155 bpm. Which is nice to hear since I had a nice visit to a Urgent Care in Tulsa this weekend. Turns out I have a bladder/kidney infection. I am on antibiotics for that and we will look at testing again when I am done with those to make sure the infection is gone. No harm to the baby though, that is a good thing.

Love ya all and I will post more soon.

Misty

Addition to the Hooker Family

I have decided it is time to start blogging about our new additon. We found out on July 20, 2010 that we will be having another girl!! Her name is going to be Baylee Dyan. We are excited about this news. We would have been happy with a boy also, but I think God knows that we do our best work with girls!! Rylee is beyond the moon at the thought of having a new little sister. That is what she always said she wanted.

Things are going good in this pregnancy. At the beginning I lost 5 lbs and at the 7/20 Doctor's appointment I had gained it back. So right now I am at my pre-preganancy weight. I am happy that I am not like I was with Rylee and already up 20 lbs. I have had 4 sonograms so far -- one to confirm the pregnancy, one when they couldn't find the heartbeat, one for my 1st trimester screening and then the BIG Anatomy/Gender Screening. Rylee has been to 2 of them. She was very interested in why the baby kept moving so much.

Rylee will start 1st grade on August 23rd. Boy is she growing up fast. She is a very good student and loves to learn. As her Kindergarten teacher said she is small, but mighty. She is a good leader -- hmm.. wonder where she gets that from, must be her daddy -- NOT!! I can't wait to see what this school year brings.

Talk to you all soon

First Day Pictures

As promised here are some of the pictures I took of Rylee on her first day as a Kindergartener!!

Kindergartener!!!

On Monday my baby became an offical big girl. She is now a "Schoolager" as she calls them. She did so good. We woke up in the morning and got her ready for school. Teeth brushed, check. Hair done, check in a braid. First day of school clothes on, check. Backpack, check. And it was out the door for school. As we were walking up to the school she was a little timid, but once we entered the school and started towards her classroom, she "strutted." We were the first into the classroom and those of you who know me probably could have guessed that, huh! She got a little shy until one of her "boyfriends" (Ryan) came in. I had told the teacher on Friday at Meet the Teacher that she might want to keep Rylee, Ryan and Carson apart due to them being such good friends. She told us that atleast for the first day it was ok for them to sit together, so they would feel comfortable (which Ry told me after school, she did).

After I got her settled in her chair and at the prodding of the counselor, I left. No tears were shed!! Aren't you all proud of me? I went to lunch with a few friends from work who, like me, also had a daughter starting Kindergarten. It was really nice to have people to talk about my feelings of that day with. Thanks Erin and Gwen!!

School gets out at 3:00 pm and Rylee is signed up for Extended School Day (ESD) at the school. I took all of Monday off because I wanted to make sure that the "routine" went smooth. GOOD THING I DID!!! I was waiting outside of the school to make sure she got settled in ESD when who should walk out of the cafeteria doors, but my little miss. I asked the closest faculty member, "Is that for ESD?" and she said, "No, those are the daycare vans." I advised her that my daughter was standing in the line for the daycare vans and she was supposed to be in ESD. Lucky I was there huh? Who knows where my daughter would have ended up.

On Tuesday (day #2 of Kindergarten) Jeff took Ry to school. She did wonderful. This time there was no issue with ESD. Everything worked out perfect.

I cannot believe that my baby is in school already, doesn't it seem like yesterday I was pregnant with her and working down on the curb??? Wow how time flies. I will post some pictures soon.

Trip to Phoenix

This past weekend Rylee and I took a trip to Phoenix to see my nieces (Cammie and Cassie). We had a wonderful time. We spent Friday night at Cindy's house. Woke up early on Saturday and took a walk to Target (yes we walked), had a light lunch at Wendy's and an awesome cupcake at one of those cupcake places. I had a red velvet (don't be jealous mom) and Rylee had a chocolate chip. It was nice to spend some quality time with Cindy and Cassie.

One of the Instructors that I work with gave us a free night at the Arizona Biltmore that he had one and was unable to use. We used that on Saturday night. The girls got to swim for a while that night. Yes, it was actually warm enough to swim. Last year at the beginning of summer, Rylee was a little scared to swim on her own. Not this time. She had no fear, which kind of scared Cindy, so she jumped in "just in case." Rylee loved swimming out to Cassie from the steps and back in, too. The free night also included breakfast in the morning, so we woke up and ordered room service (which was not cheap). It was nice to be pampered. Oh and the omelets were wonderful!!

On Sunday we picked Cammie up at noon and I took her to lunch. Oh how I miss that girl. For those of you who don't know Cammie and I are more like sisters then we are like aunt/niece. Rylee really loves her too. That night a friend of mine from high school (Sharla) came over and we went out to dinner. It was nice to see her, it has been atleast 2 almost 3 years since we have seen each other. We talked for a while and then it was off to bed for me.

Trying to catch a 6:55 am flight with a 5 year old is not fun. Needless to say we made it home. Rylee came to work with me for a few hours before we went home. I will post some pictures soon.

March 23, 2009

Well, tomorrow is a new begining for us. I will officially register my baby for Kindergarten. Rylee is excited at the aspect of going to "Real School" and becoming a Schoolager, as they call them at her Pre-school. She has told us that means that she will no longer have to sit on a mat or in a circle, she will now have a desk to sit at.

I have yet to decide how things are going to work once she does start school. Now we can have her at Pre-school at 6:30 am, which works well with Jeff's schedule. When she starts Kindergarten we cannot drop her off until 7:30 am, which is when Jeff has to be to work. AGH... lots of things to think about.

Over the weekend my mom (Maga) and I took Rylee to see Disney on Ice. She really loved it. I don't think she took her eyes off the ice the whole entire show. There was one time that Goofy fell off the stage and she laughed so hard that the people around us looked at her and started laughing. If any of you haven't heard her laugh, it is VERY contagious.