a new decade!

wow- did we really make it to another decade? Crazy to think about! 10 years ago for New Year's, we were in Chicago with our good friends, Kelly and Jose (and Migs too) trying to decide if we should go downtown. Decided to stay in with all the scary Y2K rumors going around. LOL

The last 10 years have provided some great excitement and sadness. Random things I'm remembering about the last 10 years

1. in 2001, we welcomed our first child, a boy, on Sept 13th. Two days before, America was shaken by the tragic events of 9/11.
2. we bought our first house in April 2001.
3. We sold our first house in July 2003 and moved back to Springville (across from my parents) in Sept 2003.
4. Feb 2004, found out we we were pregnant with our 2nd baby.
5. May 2004, miscarried our sweet baby boy that I still think of as "Ben" in my head- he was a Triploid baby
6. July 2004, found out we were expecting again! WOW- that was fast!
7. Oct 2004, found out we were having a girl, who we would name "Ashlynne Rae" because her name had to have 17 letters in it.
8. 2005, welcomed our baby girl, on Feb 27th. Beau started working at IITI, the same company his dad worked at for many years when we were in high school
9. I broke my two toes 1 week after Ashlynne was born (ironically, on her original due date)
10. Summer 2005, Beau coached his first year at Wash
11. Feb 2006, rescued a dog, who Cade named Prince
12. May 2006, rescued a cat, who I call "Momma" because she popped out 2 kitties on June 15th (3 days prior to her scheduled spay). We named the babies Milo and Otis, but Otis died. We still have Milo, so we officially have a "zoo" at our house. LOL
13. Apr 2000, Beau was honorably discharged from the Marines. We went to the Final Four in Indianapolis, where Mich St won. I started working at Vz (then called Worldcom, Inc) and have been here since
14. 2005, Brittany and Mark became engaged and I decided to finally lose some weight- ended up losing 40 lbs and have since gained 20 back! :)
15. May 2007- celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss. still so in love!
16. Sept 2007- our first baby started Kindergarten
17. Summer 2008, Beau made the switch back to Springville softball.
18. 2009- bought season tix to the Iowa football games and we LOVE it
19. Sept 2009- went to DisneyWorld for Cade's 8th birthday
20. May 2009- find out from the TV that our good friends, Sheri (31), Garett (11) and Gavin (9) were murdered in Columbia, IL. Sheri's husband and the boy's father, Chris, has been charged with their murders. I can honestly say that I think about the three of them often and my heart re-breaks every time.

I'm sure I forgot some, but that's ok. This is my blog and it won't be perfect. I will try to finally get some pictures on here. We got our camera charged again (lost the charger in FL) and finally have the Disney pics I can post!

Hope everyone has a great 2010! Please keep checking in!

reflecting

so, this week has been not what i expected...

I had a great time in Peoria- when I got home, Beau had made supper for the kids and me and it was awesome to be back. This week is "hell week" as Grandma calls it for me. Grandma had her colonoscopy on Monday- the results came back that all the polyps were non-cancerous- so that's great news!

We didn't get to go to Adventureland yesterday because the weather looked awful all day. so, we've tentatively rescheduled for 8/7. Aunt Brittany wants to take Cade and Ashlynne afterwards and take them to a Dinosaur Museum on Friday- they will LOVE that. Hopefully it works out.

Cade got to go to Wasserbahn Water park today (in Amana) with Daycamp- he had a great time. We went to a "birthday" party tonight for our good friend, Michelle Garrison, and her daughter, Molly. They share a birthday. Michelle turned 30 and Molly 2. I asked Michelle what it feels like to be 30 since I'm going to know in 9 days. =( The kids were wiped when we got home- Cade even fell asleep in the car.

I was going to blog about some other news that I found out today but I'm going to hold off until I know more (should be Monday) - which would be why my week "didn't turn out as expected".

exciting stuff

so, my sweet 6 year old (almost 7) lost his first tooth today. It's his bottom right. He was so excited when he showed me it was loose on Tuesday night that he couldn't sleep! I think he feels behind from his classmates because they'll all lost one (if not more) tooth - and he's one of the oldest in his class! :) It didn't take long for it to come out- we went to TX Roadhouse tonight. We were supposed to go to the Kernel's game to watch the Springville Girls' Basketball team get honored for winning State this past year, but the weather had to postpone that. You should heard Ashlynne whining that we were going to TX Roadhouse- darnit, she wanted POPCORN! :) you can tell that girl has been to some games in her lifetime. Anyway- back to the tooth- Cade told us at the beginning of supper that his tooth was really loose- that it wouldn't come back forward- it was only staying back (before he had been apparently able to wriggle it). Anyway- not too long into supper- and out it came. Cade has the tiniest teeth I have ever seen- he takes after his Aunt Christina- but I think they're even smaller than hers! So, I kept the tooth in my pocket for safe-keeping. Ashlynne then told us all through dinner about how she was losing teeth too!

So, Cade falls asleep in the truck on the way home- so I'm thinking "good, he won't remember his tooth and we can wait until tomorrow night to put it under his pillow". the only reason i was thinking this was because I wanted to be there in the morning when he wakes up excited to find what the tooth fairy left. Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving to work with Beau (bright and early) so I don't assume Cade is going to be up. :( So, anyway- of course, he didn't forget the tooth. Half asleep he wanted it - so we put it under his pillow. I gave him 7 quarters. I had no idea how much to give him and wanted it to be something special since it was his first. Since I wasn't expecting it to fall out so quickly, I wasn't exactly prepared. I was going to ask around and see what other people had done- or I thought of like a silver dollar or a $2 bill- something unique. But since i had neither of those things- 7 quarters it was... 1 quarter for each year he is old and then 1 extra one since he lost his FIRST tooth. I wrote him a note from the tooth fairy with my left hand- hopefully he'll be able to read it! Beau, of course, thinks I'm an idiot. he told me at supper that I was more excited than Cade was (probably) ;)

exciting news on ashlynne- my good friend, Stacey, and I signed up our girls for dance today. You see, Stacey and I danced together for years, so this seems so perfect. I could hear the excitement in both our voices as we signed them up, visited their classroom, saw where we could peek in (the viewing window), reminisced about how our moms did the same thing and then we got to see all the cute leotards and shoes! The sad thing is I think my mom kept all my dance shoes, so Sis may be able to wear some of my old pairs- how perfect would that be! They get to take ballet AND tap though - and i'm not sure we did tap so young- so I may have to buy tap shoes anyway.

update on Teri's surgery- all went well. She either comes home tomorrow or she IS home now, i wasn't sure which when I talked to mom. i know this morning she already had her IVs out and she was up eating breakfast. So, that's great news- i knew she could do it!

well, i'm off to peoria in the morning- i'll post next week probably!

Doctors, surgerys and hospitals

so, today, i'm writing to ask for everyones thoughts and prayers for my family in the coming 10 days. You see, my Aunt Teri (Uncle Jeff's wife) had a massive stroke in January following a hysterectomy. She had to have a surgery at that time to remove part of her skull to give her brain room to swell. She is having the surgery tomorrow to put her skull back together. I know she is very nervous about this surgery. We all know Teri is so strong though- she'll fly through with flying colors. She does have a terrible headache that she's had since Sunday and we're hoping it's just stress. so, everyone, please keep her in your thoughts tomorrow during the surgery and in the coming weeks while she recovers.

My Uncle Jeff (Teri's husband) is struggling too right now with some medical issues. At Thanksgiving last year, he couldn't keep any food down- it wasn't like he was sick, but like the food wouldn't get past a part in his throat. Now that he's 124 lbs and it still happens all the time (he was I think 180 lbs before), he finally went to a Gastro doctor (don't know the full name). =) they think something is wrong with his esophogus, so he has to have a procedure done next Friday (7/25) to blow up his esophogus with a balloon to make the hole bigger and see if that helps.

THENNNN, my grandma has been sick for a while- they're not quite sure what's wrong with her... but she had colon cancer a few years back and she has to have another colonoscopy. Hopefully that comes back with good news and she just has a virus or something.

so, in general, just keep us all in your thoughts and i'll keep you posted.

a couple funny things my sweet boy has said recently...

"Dad, I'm getting armpit hair". Beau told him, no, you're not. He said- yes, come feel it. (he had a rash under his armpit that he thought was hair). too funny

then, this morning, my sweet boy asked me what butter was made from. he said- oh, ya, milk. i said, ya, and fat. He goes how do they get the fat in there? do they cut someone's belly open and put the fat in the butter?

They're telling us maybe Thursday or Friday we can get back in the office- YEAH!!!!!!!

I'm going to Peoria this weekend to see my cousin, Erin, with her sister, Shannon. Girls' weekend! should be fun- i'm sure i'll miss the kids (and of course, Beau) and by Sunday, I'm always ready to come home, but it's a fun time away. Cade had a birthday party for his friend, Dustin, Saturday afternoon, so I'm sure that will be fun for him.

Side note- we're going to Adventureland next Thursday (6/24) and yesterday morning when Ashlynne got up, she asked me if we were going today. I told her no- 10 days. She said- i want to go on the ferris wheel first. I told her, yes, honey, I know- you tell us every day. Then she tells me that she wants to ride that big boat though - b/c it tickles her tummy. Now, how does that girl remember that???

it's over

What's over, you ask? 2 things...

1. Softball. Our Springville Orioles lost a heartbreaker tonight to North Mahaska. I don't believe they were the better team, but they hit the ball hard and we left a lot of runners on base. This season was magical- the kids, the parents, the community, have all been great. We loved our time at Wash, but this just felt right. It's too bad that it's over. I can't help but be a little happy to have our "daddy" back.

2. The ability to have babies. :) I took the leap and had a procedure called "Essure" done yesterday. Therefore, there will be no more Beau and Jaime Zaruba babies. I got a little teary eyed yesterday before it started- partly because I think I was realizing the decision I was making (and I'm not regretting it at all) and also because I was nervous as hell. Those of you that know how squemish I am with needles, doctors, surgery, etc. But it was cake- any one that wants to be done having babies, I highly recommend. I also highly recommed Dr. Jason Rexroth- has to be the best doctor on the face of the earth.

I posting this now at 11pm because I'm not tired. I slept pretty much all day today because I was still doped up. They gave me Valium and Perkoset (sp?) before the surgery, then gave me a shot of Terodol at the surgery. Then I was on 800mg Ibuprofen and Perkoset again afterwards. Totally loopy! You should have heard how much I talked during that 20 minute surgery- it was funny. I could tell I was talking a lot and I asked them if everyone talked so much and they said- yes, keep talking- this is the best part! :) I think I can officially say that I have now been drunk- or know what it feels like to be drunk anyway!

That's all I'll post for now- hope everyone is well. Let me know if you are reading my blog at all- zaruba2@aol.com

sad day

(Started writing this on Thursday, July 3rd- finished today, July 6th)

Yesterday was a sad day. My dad called me a little after 9 and asked if Mom was at my house. I told him no, and that I was trying to get a hold of her too... (I had called to tell her a funny story about Cade- which I'll post down below). He proceeded to tell me that Courtney (my dog) wasn't doing so well yesterday morning.



My parent's bought Courtney for me when i was 14. My brother, Bret, had just gotten a weiner dog, Zoey, from his girlfriend, so Mom and Dad came home with Courtney. I remember I was walking home from school and I was right by the elementary and they pulled up behind me. I saw Mom had something in her lap and i thought it was a bunny at first (they had brought me home a bunny a few years back). But then I saw it was a puppy and was so excited!



Trying to determine a name was tricky- she whined all the time and she drooled, I remember. I was trying to think of a name and Dribbles came to mind. Mom was like- no, why don't you give her your favorite girl's name? I remember being in a "club" with my 2 childhood friends, Sarah and Julie, and we had these "club" names. Mine was Kortni. We all spelled our names weird- I think Sarah's name was Skii, but don't remember Julie's. :) Anyway- so Kortni was my favorite name and that's how she got her name. I didn't spell it my "club" way, just the normal way. Let me tell you too, if I would have known Courtney would still be alive when I wanted to have kids, I would have never named her that- Beau refused to let me name our kid Courtney (name I wanted when I was pregnant with both kids).



Anyway- so back to yesterday... Dad told me that Courtney had thrown up a couple times throughout the night and he couldn't get her to go to outside (he always lets them out before he goes to work). He said she finally went out back and just laid by the fire barrel. Dad had to go out and pick her up to get her to come back inside. He said she's been drinking a lot of water and when she came inside, she didn't want her treats. He woke Mom up to tell her how she was acting and then went to work. So after he told me this, Ashlynne and I went over to their house (Cade was at daycamp with Raeleigh) and sure enough, Mom and Courtney were gone. I started to get nervous because I didn't know what had happened. I called Linn Animal Hospital and sure enough, they were there. I asked them to have Mom call me when she got done (of course, she didn't have her cell phone with her).



Mom called and said that they were going to put Courtney down. She was full of cancer and completely dehydrated. Mom said yesterday morning, she just could not stop panting. She said that the doctor told her how much it would cost to run a bunch of tests- like $150- not bad, but Mom said the outcome would have probably been the same. She didn't want Courtney to suffer like Blackie did (mom and dad's first dog). Courtney would have been 16 on July 13th, so she lived a nice, long, happy life.



I feel guilty because I don't feel as sad as I think I should. Maybe it's because when I got married, I left Courtney at Mom and Dad's because we didn't want to split her and Zoey up. So, I'm not as close to her? Didn't take care of her like I do MJ and Prince and consider my kids too? I did get a little teary eyed yesterday when I thought of the day Mom and Dad brought her home and how we came to name her.



Of course, we know she's in a better place and her and Zoey are together again.



On a lighter note- here is the story I got from Raeleigh's mom yesterday as they were driving to daycamp:



So, they pulled up next to a guy who was smoking. Raeleigh said, "look, he's got one of those things that are bad for you. You know, a smoking stick". The, the driver proceeded to throw the cigarette butt out the window. Cade said, "uh oh, he just littered- he threw a candy wrapper out the window". Raeleigh said, "no, that was his smoking stick". Cade said, "no, it couldn't have been. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to smoke and drive".

Hope everyone had a happy 4th!

tired

nothing really new to post... we're all tired- which really isn't anything new either. I just finally got Ashlynne to sleep on the couch after about a half hour of her bawling her head off in her crib. (Cade fell asleep in about 2 minutes). =) So, now I'm just relishing in the quiet time. Although, I might lie down here soon- it's been a long week with work (hell week). I worked a lot today - and thank goodness for Brittany and Mark who came over this morning to grout our bathroom floor. They kept the kids entertained for a while- Beau is gone all day at meetings for softball (all-conference, all-district). I really should be cleaning, but I would rather take a quick nap now and then clean later. That's my motto- clean later. :)

Cade has a slower week this next week, but still relatively busy. He'll go with Raeleigh M/W/F and actually be home with me Tues/Thurs. I'm hoping he can go to Gma Harry's one of those days because he sure misses her. She hasn't been been feeling good, so we'll have to see. Cade is going on a field trip Wednesday to see the movie Wall-E. I'm jealous- he gets to do so many fun things! :)

Sis and I will probably just hang out again this week- they're still talking like 2 more weeks before we can go back to work. we're just playing it by ear.

This week is a big one for Beau- he start districts on Wednesday (against HLV @ S-ville). Christina is coming home this week- YEAH!!!!! and then we're going to a 4th of July party in Ames to see Brittany and Mark's finished house. It should be a fast week!

Hope all is well with everyone