Too Cute

Got these from my sister-in-law, Jill, yesterday. I don't think this sweet little man needs any introduction on my blog, but in case you've missed previous posts.....meet Tyce! :)  Our handsome, burly nephew!

They are just TOO CUTE not to share.....eat your hearts out, ladies and gentleman.  This little guy is all of 9 weeks old and a SOLID 14-pounds of pure muscle.

With studying ending soon at our house....that means more free time.....which means more trips to Denton.....which means more time with this guy and his family! Yay :)

When the Cats Away.....

.....the mice will play :)

Yesterday Alan was at the fire station, so Bentley and I got out our art supplies.  We created several small signs to place about the house to remind Alan that we were "on his team."  He has been studying SOOOO hard, and we wanted to let him know how much we appreciate him.  Regardless of his promotional exam coming up, he will still be a HERO in our books.

Guilty Pleasures

I'm not exactly sure why I have decided to share this with y'all.....probably because I hope it adds a smile to your face for the day.  I'm a DORK--if you didnt already know that or if you'd like more of these dorky stories you should ask my husband.

Today was the first day that Ive been home alone and feelin' productive since my surgery. My house got a much needed top-to-bottom cleaning, especially needed after 40ish some odd people tracked through my house this last Saturday night.

Anyhow, SO, today I washed ALL of my pajama pants------wait for it-------then, proceeded to IRON them! :)  Yes, you read that correctly. I ironed all my freshly laundered pajama pants! Why? Because it makes me happy.  There is nothing better in the world (well, ok, maybe a few things) than putting on a pair of good smellin', wrinkle-free  cotton pajama pants at the end of a long day!  In fact, it's 4pm here in Bixby, Oklahoma, and Ive already got a clean, pressed pair of 'em on!

Please tell me I'm not the only one in this world with this obsession.
I was just happy to have enough "free time" to enjoy such a task :)

My Cup Runneth Over

I came to work this morning with a new, refreshed spirit about me.

My husband has been studying extra hard over the last month and a half for a promotional exam on August 2nd.  Our big family of three has had to sacrifice in order to help him study.  For those of you that know Alan well, you know how active of a boy he is. He is not the kind of person to sit around with a book in his face, especially during the summer!  We all three understand that our sacrifices could potentially lead to a financial gain for our family and a much earned promotion for Alan at the firestation. Bentley and I have had to sacrifice plenty of our fun, special "Daddy" time this summer. :(  We have been sad about it, but keeping a cheerful demeanor when talking to Alan about his dedication to his studying.  I know that Alan misses his time with us just as much, if not more, than we've been missing him.

Yesterday, we put the books aside and had an entire day of "family lounging at our house" day! :)  We went to church, ate lunch, and claimed our spots on the couch where we enjoyed Nascar, Indy Racing, World Cup Softball, Golf, and last but not least, The Hangover. Bentley LOVED having his Daddy available for rope and fetch!  Still not wanting our day to come to an end, we loaded up our car with our giant golden retriever at 10pm and headed out for icecream at Sonic, then we took a slllloooow drive around our neighborhood with the windows down--someone in the car really enjoys that activity, I'll let you decide who I'm talking about.  We wrapped up our evening by laying in bed and reading Bentley some of his favorite Bible stories: Jesus walking on the water to his disciples and the story of Zaccheus and the sycamore tree.  :)

Our family NEEDED that day together!  Alan had been just as frustrated about studying, as Bentley and I had been about missing our "Daddy" time.  We now are refreshed, energized, and encouraged to help Alan over the next seven days "finish strong" in his studying and preparations for his big test next Monday! :)  Either way the outcome of the test, we know that he studied with persistency and dedication-- and he still makes us PROUD!

Whenever he is finally done with all this studying, promotion or no promotion, our family will be planning one of these:  

Busy, Busy Week(end)

My belly is feeling much better, every day got easier and easier to move around!

I'm now back to normal size--for awhile there it looked like the doctor put a small fetus in my belly while he was in there. :) I don't think it works that way, though.  I think I finally weigh my pre-surgery weight too! All the swollen(ness) and gas in my belly area put 6lbs on my body, phew!  Somehow, though, I managed to come out of all of this with a head cold-yuck! Leave it to me to figure out someway to be sick. I've been on antibiotics for 5 days now, just as a post-surgery routine. Needless to say, they aren't stopping whatever bug I have in my nose and face! ....Please ignore the hideous, unmakeup-ed face in the picture below, I just wanted y'all to see the massiveness of my belly:

On Monday night, Alan and I ventured out to see the WWE: Monday Night Raw. Both of us have followed wrestling since our younger days--and neither of us care that you're laughing right now ;) It was an amazing time! I will leave you to salivate over the amazing body of John Cena, he's on my TOP FIVE list of best-looking men of all time in the whole wide world :) You get the picture.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us at our household, so I'm really needing my body to cooperate.  Jill and Tyce are in town---YAY for Tyce's first Oklahoma visit. :) I hope he knows this is where he belongs, the great Sooner state! (I just can't grasp the idea of my nephew as a Longhorn fan--or any Texas school for that matter) And, Saturday is Jordan and Jessica's wedding reception at our house! My brother and sister-in-law went away to Eureka Springs to get married, so our family decided to throw them a non-traditional(ish) wedding reception--complete with burgers and hotdogs! I'm so excited for a whole weekend full of a handsome husband and wonderful family!

Sunday Funday

One can only sit around their house for so long staring at their swollen, bruised belly, right?!
Trust me when I tell you, I look like one hot trailer park momma wanderin' around my house in my jammies with my big 'ol belly sticking out.   Its not like a pregnant belly, it's more like a "too much beer" belly--only firm.  It's impressive!

To brighten my spirits, Trish picked me up this morning and whisked me away to Affair of the Heart. I waddled around until I found a *super* cute watch....just picture black rubbery, zebra stripe, and rhinestones.  I'll leave it to your imaginations.  :)

Next, my momma came over with a "surgery gift" from my parents. I am now the proud owner of a new CRICUT! That's right, friends, be jealous!  Getting "surgery gifts" of that magnitude almost makes surgery worth the pain--haha, who am I kidding?

Finally, my brother brought over his sweet, cute family and some beautiful flowers.  These girls make me so happy!  We are hosting a family cookout event next Saturday, and all Brooke can talk about is "DJing with Uncle Hammer." Alan might have got himself a new business partner!

Blog Award

Thanks, Emily, for the friendly blogger award! :)  This is a FIRST in my blogging career.

Now, I'm suppose to share 7 things about myself:

1) I just had my first legit surgery yesterday...and, surgery isnt all it's cracked up to be. Someone should have told me that it hurts :(

2) I am more happy with my job now than I have been in a long time. Its so nice to be happy about going to work.

3)  I have a husband that I am still head-over-heels in love with. Dont get me wrong, he definately has his onery days, but he can change that with just one sweet little look.

4) We're going to WWE Monday Night Raw in two days! It was Alan's Fathers Day gift from Bentley.

5) I'm more than ready for another cruise, even though we went on our last one 5 months ago. Its an addiction.

6)  I LOVE me some reality TV--mainly, American Idol, The Bachelorette/Bachelor, Jersey Shores, Keeping up with the Kardashians...just to name a few.

7) I have the biggest, sweetest, most handsome son in the whole wide world! Bentley Stewart Hancock.

He is, by far, the best cuddler that lives in my house.

Quick Update

Hey y'all....

Alan left the computer in bed with me :)
Just wanted to give you a quick update from my surgery today.

Everything went fantastic!  I was a little nervous about being put to sleep, but I put my big girl panties on and tried not to show it.  A sweet little nurse grabbed my hand and held it the whole time I was being given medications pre-sleep, she was so kind and reassuring.

I don't remember seeing the doctor after surgery, but got a report from my mom and Alan.
He removed a significant amount of endometriosis from around my uterus and bowels, I'll learn more about this at our post-op appointment, though. Also, he removed a large septum from my uterus--I guess he indicated to Alan that it was larger than he originally thought.

Basically, that's it.
I'll learn about all the remainder of my treatment at my post-op appointment--sounding like Glucophage, Estrogen, and Lupron, though---ugh! I might be a bit of an emotional, hormonal train wreck for awhile :)

My pain has been fairly under control with the help of my little narcotic friend!  Of course, it hurts a decent amount of move around, but Ive been laying in bed all afternoon/evening.  Throat is a little sore from being intubated and Ive had "morning voice" all day, hehe!

Thanks for checkin' in with me today!

So, I have been getting a little dumpy over The Bachelorette being over soon knowing that I wouldnt have any of my favorite reality shows to follow for awhile.

That was, until I saw this.......

MTV Shows

....and, O.M.G., I'm super pumped! :)
Bring it on Jersey Shore crew, in MIAMI!

I smell some girls nights in the making!

Under the Knife

Friday is a BIG day for our family: I'm going "under the knife!" Yikes.

Being a medical person, I haven't felt like I've been nervous for this procedure, but I've dreamt about surgery nearly every night this week.  One night I dreamt that I woke up during the surgery and my Grandma Donna was in the operating room. I was yelling at everyone to STOP and put me back to sleep---haha, the things our minds conceive?!

There are a few things you can pray for during this procedure:

1) Pray for a safe, quick surgery and skillful physicians hands.

2) Pray that they find NO endometriosis. Its not the end-all situation, but its out of selfish reasons that Im asking this of you.  The less they find wrong with my uterus, the sooner after surgery we will be allowed to "try" to become pregnant. If they have to remove a significant amount of endometriosis, it will only delay the process by a few months. Either way, it will totally be worth it!  Im just asking for you to pray for an ideal situation.

3) Pray for Alan.  Ive never been under anesthesia before and never been intubated--pray that if Alan needs patience with me that God gives it to him :)

4) MOST OF ALL, pray that God can heal my "broke" uterus through this procedure and will allow me to carry a healthy pregnancy(ies)!

For those of you interested, Alan will have his phone with him.  Im sure he wont mind giving you an update!

Thanks for the prayers!! Here goes nothing.....

Instant Elation

Two posts in one day. I know, right?

I have been jacking around with my blog for awhile, because it was brought to my attention that no one could leave me comments. This would explain why no one ever has....? :(

Anyhow, it's FIXED! :)

Leave me comments, YAY!

Writers Workshop, Week 2

"WHAT YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT YOUR LIFE, IF YOU COULD"

Yesterday afternoon, we received news that our friend, Brian, had been found dead in his home. This came as shocking, sad news to a whole community of people!

Brian has served with Alan on the Tulsa Fire Department for many years as a firefighter and paramedic-he was loved and well-respected by his coworkers!  He also served his country as a Marine, fighting across seas during Desert Storm.  Working on the same city streets as Brian, I know how much he was committed to his job and loved serving the citizens of Tulsa.  He was also dedicated to continuing his education, constantly seeking ways to improve his knowledge and skills.  One of my favorite qualities about Brian was his faithfulness to his friends in his life.  Brian adored his friends and would have given the shirt off his back to any of them.  Heaven has a special place for heroes like Brian!

With most of the details surrounding his death to be unknown, there have been a lot of rumors and speculations.  Sadly, we will probably never know the real truth.  For Brian's sake, I hope and pray that he had not suffered tremendously......physically or emotionally.  My heart aches for him and those who love him!

Life is waaaaay too short for "what-if's."  As a Chrisitian I have a VERY simple form of theology that I follow: LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE. It's not my job to judge or condemn, I simply am to LOVE. 

It took this situation for me to realize that sometimes that's not enough. I have a comfort zone, and I need to step out of it.  I need to be able to look my friends in the eyes and tell them, "God LOVES you, just as you are."  I can love on someone all my little heart will let me, but sometimes I'm going to have to open my mouth and say it.  Nothing over the top, nothing condemning....just a simple GOD LOVES YOU.

I have no regrets with the situation surrounding Brian's death, but there are plenty of other circumstances in my life that I feel could benefit from hearing those three little words. God has taken this sad situation and filled a little cup of evangelism in my heart.  For that, I am grateful!

No more wishing I would have spoke of God's love, it's time to start doing.

Lovin' on Tyce

We finally made it down to Denton, Texas yesterday to spend some time loving on our ALMOST 7-week-old nephew, Tyce.  It was such a wonderful day for us!  We hadn't gotten to see Tyce, in person, since the day he was born. Boy, has he changed?!?

Here are the boys in matching TFD shirts! Alan loves how little "TYCE" appears on the onesie.

My arms definately got a "mommy" workout yesterday holding this little big guy!

How could you not just want to squeeze those little cheeks?!

It was so good to spend some time with Beau and Jill too! Now that we know a day trip is definately an option, we will probably be running I-35 south a little more often.  I can't wait to see this little guy again!

Checkin' off my List

So far, so good....as far as my "11 Things to do Before 2011" goes.

• I've lost a total of 13-pounds, so I'm nearly to my 15-pound goal.
• We've planned a girls weekend trip to War Eagle in October (it even has an official Facebook event page!)
• I'm a master of coupon clipping.
• and, last but not least, I have NOT cut my hair yet :)

It's now time to conquer my self-taught Bible study. I set this as a goal for myself, because I'm notorious for starting a new book/study and NEVER finishing it.  It's something like a monthly occurrence for me. :(  I'm determined to actually *finish* a book/study this time around!  With that being said, today I start "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver.  I've owned this particular book for almost a year, and I darn-near have the first two chapters memorized! Haha.  So, here goes nothing--keep me accountable and encourage me to finish the book! 

"Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord's feet....but daily demands of a busy world just won't leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him...yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy."

My inability to finish this book in the past should be sufficient proof as to why I would benefit from slowing down and finding intimacy with God during the busyness of my life!

To Put a Smile on my Face

This is the first week I've participated in Mama Kat's Writers Workshop, but I'm likin' this idea.  Since I'm a fairly new blogger, Lord knows I could use the help. We'll see how it goes!

Here are 10 things that are sure to put a smile on my face when I'm not happy:

1) Our boat. On the lake. Hot summer sun. No clouds.

2) Root beer floats from Sonic during the summer

3) Girls Nights (think GREAT girlfriends, nail painting, face mask wearing, The Bachelor(ette), gossip, drinks, Kohl's, K-Mart, Braums, Priscillas....you never know where you're going to end up on a girls night with my friends, haha!)

4)  My husband....and his naked little rear (Yes, I said it. You can hate me.)

5)  Making up curse words (I usually just end up laughing at myself because I'm like a 5-year-old)

6) Driving with the windows down and a good song on the radio

7) Hearing my husband call me his "Pretty Wife" (which he does almost daily!!)

8)  Having a good "eyelash" day...you know, the kind of day when all your eyelashes are in the perfect place after a mascara application

9) Shake Weight Commericals. I know, I'm a weirdo.

10)  Remembering the times from college when my roommates would request that I sing to them to put them in better moods. For those that don't know, I'm a terrible singer. Those girls loved my rendition of the intro song to "A Wedding Story" on TLC.  Apparently, it's entertaining.