Update

My older sister Kelsey told me that she was tired of looking at the same post on my blog since Tinsley was born.  With that incentive I have decided it's about time to update this thing.  It's funny how time seems to fly and before you know it, your blog is months behind. 

In March we moved into our first house.  We have a beautiful fenced backyard, finished basement with a mother-in-law suite, gym room,play room, craft room, deck...the list goes on and on.  My favorite room however is my piano room.  I don't get the opportunity to play the piano as much as I like, but I just love the feel of the room.  It feels like a great escape from the chaos of the rest of the house.  We still have a lot to do with the house, but I figure since we own it we can take our time.

Once Miss Tinsley was born I had a slew of health problems.  Before I left the hospital my right eye was blurry and I was seeing spots.  I didn't think anything of it when I mentioned it to the nurse right as we were about to leave, but they took it very seriously and had me stay an extra night and have an ultrasound of the arteries in my neck and an MRI of my head.  Luckily they didn't find anything, and they send me on my way.  2 weeks later my postpartum bleeding picked up and I was sent to the hospital to have it checked out.  I had an ultrasound done and there was nothing left over from the pregnancy but I found out that I have multiple ovarian cysts on both ovaries.  The bleeding continued and then I started feeling dizzy.  I felt dizzy everyday, it was like I was walking on the moon.  Nothing I could do, could make it stop.  Again I went back to the hospital for a brain scan, head scan, back x-ray, and other tests.  The results came up with nothing, except for a little bit of fluid behind my right ear.  I was sent home again with no answers, and dizziness.  I went to an eye doctor, and then an ear doctor and he found out that my sinus' are inflamed.  I have been on a nasal spray, and have a follow-up appointment next week.  It seems to be better, however I have days where I get super dizzy. 

Despite all the scary issues, we had some good news come these past few months too.  I went in for my monthly breast appointment and found out that my breast mass is completely gone!!!  What a blessing to hear, and a huge relief.  I will follow-up after I am done nursing to make sure everything looks good. :)

Since Tinsley's birth we have had a slew of visitors!  I was so blessed to have my sister-in-law Julie come out with her kids to help out with Arista and Tinsley, and it was fun to catch up with her in the process. 

Since my Mom wasn't able to come out, my younger sister Kipley came out for 10 days to help out.  Despite just having Tinsley that didn't stop us for going to the mall numerous times, Mt. Vernon, DC Cupcakes, National Geographic Museum, and National Harbor.  It meant so much to me that Kipley came out for the short amount of time that she did.  Arista loved to tease Kipley and told her many times to go on the airplane.

After Kipley left my other younger sister Mikelle came out for 2 weeks.  It was so great to have help once again, since I was still have medical postpartum problems.  Mikelle and I were able to read an entire book, visit Annapolis, National Geographic museum, eat too many M&Ms and watch lots and lots of movies.  It was hard to say goodbye to Mikelle, and we can't wait until she comes out for New Years. ;)

Not long after Mikelle left another visitor came!  My best friend Courtney from high school came out for a week and we took a trip to NYC.  It was my 3rd time there, and it didn't disappoint.  We spent 3 full days and 2 nights there, and we did EVERYTHING!  We saw Mary Poppins, Newsies, The 9/11 memorial, the top of the Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, and of course Times Square.  It was so much fun, and exhausting!  We are planning on doing a girls trip every 2 years.  I hope I see her again before then.

A week after Courtney came my second cousins Gracie and Mallory came out for 5 days.  It was a lot of fun to have young girls around the house.  I felt like I was an older sister again having fun with  my little sisters.  We played many board games, watched movies, went to six flags, and had a spa night!  Yes, I even did their toes.  I was sad to see them go, and hope that they will come back soon.  They were a great help with the girls and I never had to ask them to help either.  They just jumped right in.

We are looking forward to having my parents and brother come out in September.  Here is what you all have been waiting for....

1 Month

                                                                            

2 Months

 3 Months

Tinsley has been a wonderful addition to our family.  She has such a sweet spirit and a beautiful smile.  I can't wait to see her grow up, and I am so grateful that I get to raise another sweet spirit.  I'll try my best to update my blog more often!

Introducing

Tinsley May Martin

9lbs 5oz

21 inches long

May 2, 2012 @ 4:53pm



The Lump

"So I go to the doctor, and he did the bio... the b... the... the bios... the... b... the "bobopsy." Inside the lump he found teeth and a spinal cord. Yes. Inside the lump was my twin." - My Big Fat Greek Wedding


I am so behind on blogging that I find it just pointless to even go back to where I left off. So I figured I would try to move forward and do better. :) I have been thinking a lot about trials lately and why we get the ones we do, and why it seems like sometimes others don't get any at all. Chris and I feel like we had a calm from the storms of life for awhile and then I found a lump in my left breast. I don't think I would have thought anything of it, except that my Mom had breast cancer 2 years ago. I decided to have my high risk doctor take a look at it and go from there. She was concerned and sent me to a breast center to have to checked out. My lump is the size of a walnut and immovable. The specialist ordered me to have an ultrasound and biopsy done a few days later. When the ultrasound was done the mass was huge! I tried to make a joke to the technician "It isn't the size of a pea is it?" to which she seriously said "No, it's not." I began to worry because she didn't say anything but told me that the doctor would come into talk to me about it. When the doctor came in to do the biopsy he said he thought it looked like a fibroid cyst, but the results would let us know for sure. After a PAINFUL biopsy...I went home feeling at peace about everything, and knew that no matter what happened our family would be okay. I felt strongly that I wasn't alone while having my procedure done, and that the Lord was with me.

After a LONG weekend, I finally got the call that the results were clear. My heart was filled with gratitude to my family for their fasting and prayers and to a loving Heavenly Father who answered my prayers. I don't know what the future holds, having a big history of breast cancer in my family I have almost come to grips with the fact that I may get it...eventually. No matter what happens I know that we can get through anything if we remain faithful and roll with the punches. There were times during this experience of pure fear and sadness, but I kept telling myself that we will be okay no matter what happens.

"Come what may, and love it."

Arista-isms

This little girl cracks me up. I am so behind on blogging, but I just had to share this. Tonight Arista kept saying "My tummy". When I asked her what was wrong with it, she said there was a baby in it. She kept saying "Baby in my tummy." When Chris asked her what her baby's name was she said "Brylie". SOOOOO cute! She has never said my name before, and now the little baby in her tummy shares my name. She is so stinkin' cute! Now she is pointing to Daddy's baby in his tummy.

Arista has just learned how to say "I love you" and says it all the time.

Grandma Mary got her some big girl panties for her birthday and she carries them around everywhere! They had to go to the grocery store and the library with us.

She calls The Little Mermaid "Lema" and Rapunzel "Punny"

She loves to tell us to "move" and everything is "mine".

Every cat's name is "Chewby".

Everything is the color "buh-yellow".

She called Vader "Via".

She knows the entire song of "Somewhere over the rainbow", "Popcorn Popping", "I see the moon" and "Rock A Bye".

Arista wants to watch "Winnie the Pooh" DAILY and sings all the songs.

She has to sleep with her princess shoes, baby Ashley, and a teacup and spoon.

Everyone poops except for her, and she loves to tell you all the people who do.

Dancing to music is Arista's favorite thing to do.


Man has she grown up fast. :(

Arista's Surprise Announcement

ALIVE

We are alive! Just been super busy lately. Will update soon!

VHTRC Women's Half Marathon

After ten weeks of training I finally participated in my first ever half marathon. 4days prior to the race the weather was horrible with flooding rains, thunder, lightning, and not a chance of letting up for the race. Fortunately a miracle accrued and the rain stopped! The main road to the race was closed due to flooding, but that didn't stop us from making it to the park. Chad and Sue came over at 7am to watch Arista while Chris drove me to the park. We stopped at McDonald's for some oatmeal, and then reached Fountain Head State Park about 30 minutes prior to the race. After choking down energy beans, drinking a gallon of water, and doing some light stretching, it was time to get ready to start.





I decided the best strategy would be to stay in the middle of the pack to start, since it was all trail running. I didn't want to be stuck behind someone really slow. Fortunately we all spaced out pretty well after we made it to the "Do Loop" and passing was easy. First obnoxious thing to go wrong, I had to go to the bathroom. There were times when I seriously considered going behind a tree. Secondly, I couldn't get my ipod to turn on at all, so I kept myself entertained by thinking, practising kegels(NEVER drink too much water before a race) singing primary songs, and repeating over and over and over "This is the trail that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends."



The "Do Loop" was HARD. I had run on the "Do Loop" twice before, but somehow never did the entire thing. I think we read the map wrong. The loop felt like it went on forever and ever. Luckily they had a water station right when we got out of there.



After the famous loop we headed on a trail back to where we started, and then we entered the trail for the last 5 miles. Right as I went into the trail the leader was heading out. It was a little disheartening to know that I still had 5 miles to go and she was done, however it was nice knowing I was on the final stretch. The last 5miles were tough tough tough. I pulled a groin muscle, which was very painful and didn't help since there were a lot of steep hills covered in rocky mud. At times it took all my will power not to just stop. There were a few times when I would trip over a branch or rock, but luckily it was smooth sailing.

When I finally reached the turnaround point I got a burst of energy, and just wanted to finish. I grabbed some water and a handful of M&M's(mistake) and took off running. I think the last few miles were the longest of the entire race, and I just kept thinking about how much I hated trail running, and swore to myself I would never run one again. Finally, finally, finally, I made it out. I first saw Chad and Arista sitting on the grass waving, and then Chris with the camera.






I did it! I made it! The first thing I did was kiss Chris then walked straight to the bathroom. Then we took some photos. Oh I looked so lovely and smelled just like the great outdoors.







I was so proud of myself and relieved that I finished. I am so grateful for Chris' parents and Chris and Arista coming to cheer me on at the end. It meant so much to me that they were all so supportive. I have learned a few things about myself and things for future races. 1. I am much stronger than I think. 2. Training is important, and I am grateful I stuck with it. 3. NEVER drink too much water before a race. 4. Test Ipod before a race. 5. No matter how many people tell you it will be hard, or you can't do it, you can, and you did!



Happy trails to you!