They Didn't Plan It & We Are Done

Isn’t this a cute picture of Katie and Cassie? They didn’t even plan to dress alike! They look like sisters sometimes – now especially since Katie made a spur of the moment decision on Friday when she went in to get her bangs trimmed and instead got 9” cut off her hair.

We were all joking that in like two years – we would have all thought that they had called each other and planned to dress alike – but at the age of eight – it was just coincidence. Yesterday was Cassie’s birthday and she had her party at Walker Springs Park. That’s where Katie had her 2nd and 4th birthday parties – such a smart decision! Especially when you have 10+ kids! You rent the gazebo and it’s easy clean up. Plus – what kid doesn’t enjoy an afternoon at the park?

Cassie is one of Katie’s best friends. They live two houses down and her and her big sister Alex are just the best! They also have a little brother, Malachi – and he just adores Katie! The whole family is wonderful and we love having such great neighbors.

Cassie is Katie’s easiest friend to buy for since she is horse crazy too!! She loves horses as much as Katie and they have a horse and a mule that they board west of Farragut!

Katie had NEVER done the monkey bars before. She heard that “the other Katie” – one of Alex’s friends from church who was also at the party – had fallen twice and broken her arm twice – in the same location – on the monkey bars and Katie then says “Can I try”? *sigh* Thank goodness we were emergency room free yesterday!



It was a fun afternoon meeting some new people. A lot of my friends and people who know me have wondered if I was going to get that “baby fever” since most female WLS patients become very fertile after having the surgery and loosing so much weight… Matter of fact, you have to be EXTRA careful the first year NOT to get pregnant by using two forms of birth control… that’s how fertile women become. Well, I can definitely tell that my hormones have kicked into high gear… never in my life have I had PMS and now monthly – I feel like I’m having out of body experiences! I can see how grumpy and yucky I’m being but I truly can’t help it.

Anyway, I DO HAVE SOME NEWS!!! Cassie and Alex’s mom is four months pregnant with her FOURTH child and another family that was there had a TWO WEEK old adorable little baby boy… their FOURTH as well! NO BABY FEVER! Not a hint, not a glimpse, not an inkling… NADA!

We are good – we are done! For years, I would get a twinge of disappointment and hurt when I would hear women tell their pregnancy stories, talk about breast feeding, etc. I would feel like that even though I know I couldn’t love Katie any more than I do… I missed out on a little bit of motherhood. I always also wondered what Don and I would have done together biologically….

Well, maybe it’s because of what I went through medically in Jan & Feb with my complications… maybe I’ve just realized that the few things that I did miss out on aren’t really what’s important in the long run… not quite sure!

I just know that I never want to voluntarily put my body at risk again and a pregnancy at 40 would be risk… YES, 40!!! I will be turning 40 in 36 days! Isn’t that crazy?

It’s all good! I’m not upset about almost being 40… I’m going to be like my great aunt Gladys… each wrinkle proves I’m enjoying my life and I’m going to be thankful for every birthday I see roll around.

I’m comfortably in a size 16, squeezing into a 14… so I will come close to hitting my goal of being in a 14 by the time I hit 40. Sara Ramirez… beautiful Sara Ramirez from Grey’s Anatomy is a size 14 and she is just STUNNING! I don’t pretend to be stunning but hey – it was my “turning 40 goal” and I think I’m gonna make it.

But, we are quite thankful to have our family of three! We have a loving and supportive family and close friends… Katie’s at the age where we get to do fabulously fun things together… WE ARE GOOD! Don just has to keep me from watching Monday’s Child! *wink*