Justin's "Surprises"!

Justin is back from deployment, and it's still very surreal. We got to spend the entire day together as a family, just laughing and having so much fun. I am one lucky girl! Now, he is back at work...They have him working nights for the next 2 weeks during first leave. It's hard to get used to him being here when he is already gone again! Alana almost cried tonight when he left for work. She has been clinging to him so much it's ridiculous! She is definitely a daddy's little girl. She can't get enough...I have been so busy the past week or so getting a few "surprises" ready for Justin. I wanted to post about them, but I also knew if I did he would see them and it wouldn't be a surprise...I suppose it's safe now :)

First of all, when we got back from TN (literally THE DAY we got back from TN), Alana and I redecorated her room. I think it turned out super cute and she LOVES it! She has been sleeping in her room 11-12 hours a night, no fussing, nothing...it's amazing and worth every penny that I spent at Wally World to buy the stuff. As much as I hate going there, they have some pretty awesome stuff!

Here's her new curtains, bedding, and rug...
and polka dot walls!

And more polka dots on the other wall!

We also wanted to work on "Justin's room". It's kind of funny, but we also refer to our spare bedroom as "Justin's room" because he kind of staked a claim on it and likes to escape there. The only problem is that it hasn't really been very functional...I've said it's been more of a storage closet than anything. Well, I changed that this past week. I have the scars to prove it too :) I think a lot of my obsession stemmed from too many lonely nights watching HGTV!!! Alana and I both put our own touches on the room and prayed that Justin would appreciate it as much as we thought he should haha...

Alana painted her feet for a project for him...

An absolute artist!

I am a dork, so I wrote this poem and put it on the door (to his room)
for him to see when he got home...

A new futon!!!

And this super comfy chair!

I hung these curtains myself and used power tools to put up the curtain rod...
Special thanks to my amazing Dad who walked me through the parts of a drill over the phone.
I only drew blood ONCE :)

And you can't tell that great from the picture, but I painted the desk and the bookshelf black to match the rest of the room (they were dark wood)...I had to take them apart in a million pieces and figure out how to put them together, but they look SOOOOO much better!

Here are Alana's finished masterpiece canvas paintings!

We finished the room and then we had to take care of a few more things before Justin got home...

Alana eating the last tootsie roll!!!

Making a sign for Daddy!

Ta-Dum!

And of course, peanut butter w/ reeses peanut butter cup cookies!
Mmmm...

Justin was not only surprised by the room, he loves it! He couldn't believe how much work I had done--and Alana! He said we might have worked even harder than he did...yeah, I doubt that! I do have a lot of cuts and bruises, but it was every bit of worth it!

He's Home!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what an amazing day! I know I haven't been blogging much, but I've been preparing for Justin's homecoming...and now HE'S HOME!!! I am so happy, I can hardly stand it. I'll take you through the day with pictures :)

Alana and me at the pier waiting for Justin

It was sooooo hot but luckily Angie brought an umbrella!

Our first glimpse of the ship rounding the corner!

Angie and Jalen

Me and Alana (she's looking up at the ship)

Finally it's here!

Angie and me...self-portrait, thanks Angie!

Boredom kicks in...so Alana colors.

And Jalen plays with his magnets...

Now they both play with dinosaurs...

It's like Where's Waldo?
Can you find Justin???

Alana did!

The loves of my life, loving on each other!

Alana and Daddy

So happy to be together again!!!

And already playing dolls...

It turned out to be such a great day...The weather turned out to be beautiful, not a cloud in the sky...thanks for all those prayers!!! And Alana hung in there, even if it was 100 degrees. Most of you might not know, but it takes them over an hour to secure the brow once they get in and then there are 6,000 people to get off one at a time! So it's a LOT of waiting! We are so thankful that Justin is home and we survived yet another deployment! And now we are home in our air-conditioning! Oh and yeah...Justin dropped 30 lbs while he was gone!!! He didn't even know it! I can't even believe it, he's straight skinny now :) Guess he was trying to keep up with me...we tied! Haha.

I'm gonna get back to enjoying my family...
Peace, Love and sunburns that are worth it!

Whole Lotta Catching Up!

I know I have been neglecting my blog for the past bit, but things have been crazy busy in my world! We are back in Norfolk and I have been getting so much done! My internet is finally back up and running, so I could upload some pictures and blog again. Justin will be home in less than a week and Alana and I couldn't be more excited! We miss Grammy and TN, but gosh it's good to be home! Alana has been the most perfect angel since we got home, too...I don't know, maybe she left her grumpy butt at my mom's. I am not complaining, though! She's been amazing!

Before we left, Alana had a dress-up/birthday party to go to. It was for her best little friend (and Grammy's neighbor), Caitlyn! She was so excited to go, but mostly to dress up! She wanted to go as "Fancy Nancy"...I think she looked soooo adorable! See for yourself...

Such a poser haha!

Cheese!

Yes, it took forever to get the curls in her hair...
But she was super patient!

Got Caitlyn's present ready to go!

Caitlyn, Elizabeth and Alana

I always say that I hate Virginia, but I have really changed my mind :) We've been to the pool and the beach in the past few days, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. We went to the beach at the end of our street on Wednesday, and I sat there for two hours...I kept thinking to myself that I could honestly sit there forever. Just wished Justin was there, too!

Pigtails!

Playing with the sand

We made a sand turtle...work with me :)
We also made a Spongebob and Patrick, but I didn't bother wasting my pictures on that!

Sweetness.

I have been running around like a crazy woman trying to get this house in order and things organized before Justin's homecoming. I haven't had a chance to clean Cupid's bowl since we got back from TN. Well, I decided to do it this morning, and while I was washing it I somehow broke it. Yeah, that's right...glass shattered everywhere in the sink. What a way to start my day :) We went to Walmart to buy a new bowl for him and came home with a friend (or foe) too! Meet the newest addition to the Portas family, Violet. You can't tell so much from the picture but he is SUPER bright and pretty! This is a special double betta tank, so they can't get to each other...there is a shield that blocks them from seeing each other, but you can take it out and they can see each other and fan out their tails, etc...it's kind of mean to do that if you ask me--but I did it haha. I think Cupid is mad at me.

Violet and Cupid!

I'm off to get Alana bathed and ready for bed...She has transitioned back SO well! Sleeping in her bed like a big girl, not giving me any hassles. Hope it sticks when Daddy gets home! So excited that tomorrow is church! I've missed TCLC!!!

OH and before I forget AGAIN...Judy is home in Cedar Key and doing well. Continue praying for her as she relearns to balance/walk without her big toe...and also for her pain management!

Peace, Love and Updates

NOT That I'm Counting...

***UPDATE***
For those of you who don't get it (ie, JUSTIN) it's a 15 not 6...and it represents a certain number of days :)



Nuff said...

Cow Appreciation Day!

My last couple of posts have been pretty serious, so I thought I'd lighten the mood. Unless you live under a rock, you probably know that yesterday was "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick Fil-A restaurants everywhere. Maybe I just know that because I go there every other day :) Anywho, yesterday the doorbell rang and I thought it was Alana's friend from across the street, Caitlyn. I was right, it was...but she was dressed as a cow! Elizabeth and Caitlyn apparently don't know about our Chick Fil-A addiction either, because they ran straight over to tell us about the "free meal if you dress like a cow" day. They even brought over extra cow parts for Alana!

Alana, Caitlyn and Elizabeth

We decided to make our way to Chick Fil-A for dinner, even though that hadn't been the plan. Alana put her spots, etc back on...and said...

"Mooooooo!"

She didn't want to wear the cow stuff, so we told her she didn't have to. Then once we got there and she saw all the other kids with their cow spots galore, she had an all-out meltdown. I should've known! She was crying and saying, "I can't...even...look at...any of the kids...because it makes me...want to have my cow costume on!" She is quite dramatic, but she comes by it honestly :)

Just thought I'd share these pictures with everyone! Especially you, Melanie!

Peace, Love and Free Chicken

Another Update.

Just talked to Judy. I didn't post last night, because I wanted to wait until I talked to her personally :) I did talk to Marko last night and knew that her surgery was successful. They put a stint in both her right and left leg...It brought the pink color back to her toes on her right foot almost immediately. The doctors are pleased with the results and are sure that the plaque dropping off into her legs was causing her problems with healing, etc...That's the good news. The bad news is that Judy just told me they will be amputating her big toe on her left foot on Monday. They are letting her recover from one surgery to do another. It's such a scary thing, but she is being very strong (at least on the outside). I guess gangrene has set in and they don't want to risk it spreading to her foot or beyond.

Please continue to pray...This is a long, hard road for Judy. It's also hard on Justin, because he is so far away and feels helpless. Justin loves his mom, and she is his only parent...so when she is sick, he is worried. He'll be home soon and we are hoping that Judy will be sent home by the end of next week.

Thanks for all of the concern and prayers...It means the world to all of us!

Update on Judy

Just got off the phone with Judy. She was signing consent forms for a procedure to remove a blockage in her upper left aortic valve (in her leg). There is plaque that has apparently been breaking off and going down into her leg and her toe, causing a lot of the issues we've been concerned with. The doctors are doing this procedure in hopes of saving her big toe. This, for obvious reasons, is a big deal. Judy is in high spirits, and she said she can feel all of the prayers. Her surgery will be this afternoon and I will post an update as soon as I know something. These are answers we have been waiting for...

Please continue to pray!!!

Prayer Request!

Please pray for my mother-in-law, Judy. I don't want to go into all of the details right here and now...Partially because I'm tired, and also because some of it is not common knowledge at the moment. God knows her needs, and that's all that matters.

She is still in the hospital at Tampa General. We had to take her there unexpectedly the day before we came back to Nashville. We didn't expect her to be admitted at all, let alone still be there 5 days later. She's still waiting for answers...

Pray for the doctors, that they will have the wisdom and knowledge to deal with her disease--even though most are baffled by it. Pray for comfort for Judy, as she has been in pain for far too long. Pray for us (her family) that we would know the right words to say to her in this uncertain time.

Thank you ahead of time for the prayers. I know I have lots of faithful family and friends that will lift her up...and I will update as I can.

Alana's 5th Birthday at Disney!!!

I realize that Alana turned five about 10 days ago...but I have been in FL and didn't have my USB cable for my camera OR my computer with me! The good news is that I have both of those things now, and I'm here to share a TON of pictures from our day at the happiest place on earth!

We had cake and ice cream the night before at Papa's house...

And off to the Magic Kingdom!

Grammy and Alana waiting for the tram to take us to the park.

The birthday girl, waiting once again...
This time for the ferry!

Finally, we made it...
And Alana was in awe of what she saw!

Cinderella!

...and Belle! (and Beast)

Let's not forget Ariel and Prince Eric!

And what would a trip to Disney be without the Country Bear Jamboree?!

Grammy and Alana on the teacups!

Before I was too dizzy...

Look at that smile!

Whooooooa, Mommy!

At Pooh's Playground

On Cinderella's Carousel

Let's not leave Grammy out :)

I told Alana she could pick a hat for a souvenir...
Of course, she picked this one!!!

Refueling with some H20

And then back to Pooh's Playground...

Still there...
You take a kid to Disney and they want to play on a playground :)

Don't believe the rumors...it's still there.
It's a Small World!

"Wow, Mommy look at all this cool stuff!"

Breaking for dinner, just in time for the rain to start!

But it cleared up in time for the fireworks to happen...
Me and Alana waiting for the fireworks to start!

Cinderella's Castle (from the back)

This was my favorite part of the entire day...maybe of my entire life!
Watching Alana, watch the fireworks!

Dumbo!

The front of Cinderella's Castle

On the tram back to the car...
At midnight, and she's still smiling!!!

And then about 5 minutes later...

Wow, what an amazing time we had! I have been to Disney more times than I can count, but it's never been as fun as it was when I saw it through Alana's eyes! We rode tons of rides (not pictured) like the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, a Goofy rollercoaster...We had ice cream and went to Storytime with Belle...We also saw not one, but TWO parades. Even I was impressed with the SpectroMagic parade. It was awesome! I have video of both that and of Alana watching the fireworks...I might have to post it on here somewhere before too long :) I'm so incredibly pleased with how our trip went, though. Alana was a complete angel the entire time...she walked the entire 11+ hours that we were there...and didn't complain even once! Must be because she's FIVE now!

Peace, Love and Mickey Mouse!