I'm 8 inches lighter...

I'm going to tell the end of this story first, then go back to the beginning. So let me start by saying, I don't have cancer! Beginning in December 2008, I went through 2 months of testing to determine whether I might have breast cancer. I had a mammogram, 2 ultrasounds and an MRI and finally in late January a doctor decided that what I had been feeling is an inflamed and out of place lymph node.

Those two months were emotionally and spiritually trying. I was facing the possibility of having the disease that took my mom's life and the anniversary of her death was in January. At the same time, we were dealing with many other sadnesses - my sweet Uncle Ralph's heart concerns, our dear friend Alex's declining health, the death of Chris' uncle Robert. Add to that some financial strain and the added cost of all of the tests! Without the relationship that I have with my Creator, I would have been a basket case. But I was so blessed to be able to pour out my heart to Him and I was able to see Him working in and around me in ways that confirmed that I wasn't alone. Chris was a tremendous support. We prayed together often and he was able to be at peace through it all as well. We kept the testing a secret for two reasons - 1) I thought that if I did end up having cancer, there would be plenty of time to discuss it with loved ones, and 2) our families have dealt with cancer for far too long and we didn't want anyone to move into a place of unncessary worry. A few of the tests that they did were in a Breast Center. The pillars in the parking garage were painted pink. there was Susan Komen merchandise in the office and pink ribbons were everyone. I felt such a burden to pray for every woman in the waiting room. There is such a strength and resolve in these women - something I truly admired in my mom during the 4 years she fought the disease. I decided then that if I had cancer and was going to face chemo anyway, I'd go ahead and donate my hair (which was ridiculously long) to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. This is an organization that creates wigs for women who are facing cancer and don't have the money to buy a wig.

Well, I found out the lump was not cancerous and I was faced with the decision of whether or not to donate my hair...took me a while to finally decide. I believe that God prepares us for events that are going to take place in our future...one of the things that helped me decide to do it was my sweet sister. We usually give each other Pink Ribbon merchandise for birthdays and Christmases. This year, Chrissy gave me a pink ribbon Chi for Christmas ( I love my Chi from my Chee! ) The Chi is super skinny - great for short hair styles. This week I decided to go for it!! I went to a new stylist on Friday and had her chop off 8-9 inches!! I think I need to play with styling it, but it's pretty cute. And hopefully the hair I lost will be put to good use. Long story, I know - here's the big reveal...







Chris says this last picture looks like I'm holding up a squirrel! :)

I should add that 8-9 inches didn't end up being near the amount of hair I thought it would be. So if you've considered donating, don't be afraid to go in and have your stylist measure your locks to see where your hair will fall once cut and styled. Locks of Love (wigs for children) does require 10 inches so that's something to keep in mind as well.

Icy Day

OK so this a totally random pic that doesn't belong with the post...but I had no where to put it and I think it's so cute. About a month ago, Hannah found this little bug in our entry way and the girls were mesmerized. Here's the result :)

Our Icy Day...

The freezing rain started yesterday afternoon and I'm not sure if it's stopped yet. My agency was closed today and Chris cancelled his clients so we spent a cozy day at home with our daughters. Here are a few pics of our adventures...

Madeline ready to go slippin and slidin

Enjoying an icicle

Hannah wasn't too sure about walking on the icy ground

Defrosting and eating raisins

Madeline eating a bowl of snow

These are some of my FAVORITE PICS!! Madeline and I mixed a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls this evening. And then Hannah pulled up a stool to get in on the action. The girls were eating flour (yuck!) and loving it.

Mini Vacation...

On Friday, we were so pleased to receive an invitation to join our friends for a trip to their parents house on Lake Eufala. I did a miserable job of taking pictures but we had a wonderful time! We arrived late Friday night and the kids stayed up until about 11:00 playing like crazy. My girls were up bright and early Saturday morning and we filled the day with meals, more play time and a trip down to the lake. Kathy - I stole some of your pics from facebook to add to my sorry collection of memories :)

Baby Rylee really likes Madeline, she smiles every time Madeline comes near.

Ed and Chris took Madeline and Gunner on a golf cart ride to the other side of the lake. If you look really closely, you can see tiny Madeline in her yellow coat and tiny Gunner to the right of her.

Hannah warming up from our trip down to the dock

Breakfast of champions - powdered sugar donuts and blueberries!
Amazing that we got all 4 children in one pic!! L to R: Gunner, Madeline, Rylee and HannahMadeline holding Rylee - my girls are absolutely enthralled with babies!
Ed, Gunner, Rylee and Kathy

Madeline, Jen, Chris and Hannah

Madeline modeling...

Madeline picked out her outfit and made a specific request for her hair this day. Lately she's been running from the camera. But she was so proud of her carefully planned look that she decided to grant me a photo shoot. Grey turtleneck with metallic threads, dark skinny jeans, Target "ugs" My cutie!! I love her!!

Sweet Celebration...

January 3rd was the 7th anniversary of my mom's entrance to Heaven!

Some day I'm going to create a post about my mom. She was (and is) an amazing woman with a loving heart and a deep down joy that was evident to everyone around her. I miss her so much and I passionately look forward to seeing her again in our eternal home.

I've found creative ways to teach Madeline about her Mimi and I look forward to carrying this on with Hannah when she's old enough to understand. Though Madeline has never seen her Mimi, she "knows" her and loves her and looks forward to meeting her one day.

On January 3rd, I was talking with Madeline about the day that Mimi went to Heaven, and her first response was "We should make a cake!!!". What a lovely idea from a lovely girl! Madeline knows the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon as "mimi's ribbon" so of course we had to decorate with it. Below are some picks of our cake. While Madeline and I iced the cake, Hannah enjoyed rubbing peanut butter and bananas all over her face. I'm going to post a video too...it's obviously staged but Madeline is cute in it.

Mimi's Cake from jen giles on Vimeo.

Hannah's Trick (15 mos old)

This video is old - this happened in October. But it's one of my favorite videos of Hannah. None of us taught her to do this - she just went through a phase where she was making herself burp on demand. It was SO funny! Watch her eyebrows, that's the funniest part to me. She was about 15 months old here.


Hannah Burping from jen giles on Vimeo.

Cody and Manda's Wedding

Chris' sister, Manda, married Cody Standrige on Friday December 19th!!!

The wedding and reception were absolutely gorgeous and we were so honored to be a part of the entire event. Chris got to stand in for their dad and give Manda away, Madeline and Hannah were the flower girl/ring bearer, and I was a bridesmaid. We are so so happy for these two and the love they have for each other. And we are very happy to welcome Cody (officially) to the family!

We were sort of biting our nails, waiting to see if Hannah would learn to walk in time for the wedding. She is 18 months old now but only started walking on her own about 4 weeks ago! During rehearsal, Madeline refused to practice. Her exasperated reason: "I've watched other flower girls, I KNOW what to do and I WILL do it at the wedding!". Hannah was more than happy to walk up and down the aisle but was too young to understand why she was doing it or what she should do once she got there. Amazingly, they both walked down the aisle together at the right time of the ceremony.

Since Madeline didn't practice at the rehearsal, Hannah wasn't prepared for the idea that flower petals would be thrown. So halfway down the aisle, Hannah started bending down to pick up each of the petals that Madeline was throwing. Madeline tried really hard to get Hannah to walk with her to the front. But I ended up breaking away to get Hannah and bring her to the front. We had decided to let Hannah wander around at the front of the church, and Chrissy was our escape plan. If Hannah got too distracting, Chrissy would take her out. There was a lit memory candle on a pedastal on the floor near us and we were all holding our breath because Hannah still tends to fall over every 5th step or so. Chris got stressed out about Hannah toddling around the candle and talking out loud. So he asked Chrissy to take Hannah out. Poor chrissy had to pick up my strong willed daughter and carry her up the center aisle while Hannah was kicking and screaming "No NOOOO" in her pretty ivory dress. All in all they did a great job and we were so very proud of them!! I just had to paint a picture of those funny moments for you. If I can post videos of those parts of the ceremony I will...

Here are some pics...

Heather and Phillip, our neice and nephew, at the rehearsal dinner...

My beautiful sister, Manda - straight out of a magazine...

Madeline, having her hair professionally fixed...

Madeline and Chris just before the wedding - I think Madeline was getting a little nervous...
Madeline and Hannah shortly before the wedding - This is the only pic I have of them together...

Chris and his mom at the reception...

Chris and our nephew Austin dancing (?) at the reception...

Hannah and I dancing at the reception...


Joy and Mick, our sister and bro in law, dancing ...