A few firsts....

This week was a week of a few firsts for the Pittman household. Madison learned to ride her bike without training wheels, and Audrey moved to a "big-girl" bed. We are behind on both of these things, but better late than never. For Madison, the training wheels have come off about 2 times before now, and quickly put back on. BUT....this time...she breezed through it. I was amazed at her first time on the bike - she went all the way down the road. Her stopping was a little tricky and there was a fall or two, but she is doing great now. She quickly learned to start going by herself, which I think is a major task!! So...her time was NOW!!

And I know what you are thinking - Audrey was still in a baby bed?? OH MY! Well...she has LOVED her bed, and NEVER tried to crawl out of it. Anytime we would ask her if she wanted to sleep in a "big girl bed" she quickly answered a resounding "NO!" So...we never pushed it. But...I just decided it was time for that too!! So...we went with baby steps for a short time. As I was taking the bed down, I realized it would convert to a toddler bed (didn't know this or I would have done that sooner!). She slept that way for a couple of nights, and then on Tuesday morning - the baby bed left the room!! She has been sleeping in it with no problem. One afternoon for her nap, she didn't want to go to sleep, so she sat in the bed and cried for an hour - but she never got out of the bed!! (I know that that is coming, but will take what I have and be glad for it now!) She has figured how to crawl out of the bed (because I do have a side rail up), but she still sits there and cries for me until I come and get her. I figured it would be Audrey for sure, that would get up in the middle of the night by herself, and find herself a little snack - but so far so good!!!

And I am saying (holding my breath a little) that Audrey is potty-trained (well...at all times but naptime and overnight!)!! She is doing a great job with that also. So...the next big hurdle is the pacifier - which she loves, I love, Grant loves, Madison loves! We like that it will keep her quiet sometimes, so this one might be a little while coming!!

Happy Veteran's Day!

I just wanted to say Happy Veteran's Day to all of you serving now or who have already served our great nation. A special shout out to my hubby who served in the Marine Corp, my brother-in-law David who served in the Navy, my brother-in-law Rob Bourne who was in the Army and deployed to Iraq for 6 months several years ago, our friend Lee Henry who is still active in the National Guard, and my new friend Mrs. Kay's son, Everett, who is serving in Iraq right now. To these and all the brave men and women, we thank you!!

I found a poem that I had written for Rob on his return from Iraq and wanted to share with you now. Austin was very young (around 2) when Rob left, and Ella was born while he was deployed - she was 2 months old when he returned. (Austin is now 7, and Ella 5). Here is a picture of them meeting Rob off the bus. It was such a moving experience being there to watch that reunion. (Check out Abbey's blog as well www.bournebuzz.blogspot.com).

Welcome Home Soldier

We sat with our eyes so wide,

Watching blast after blast.

Asking, "Had the war just begun?"

And "How long would it last?"

Explosions and Bombs.

Rocket propelled grenades.

These are the images we saw

Over and over for days.

As we watched with great horror

From our limited view,

We prayed to God above

To put his angels around you.

For there was nothing else that we could do,

Though we wanted it to be so bad.

We just had to patiently wait

For our prayers were all we had.

To the Heart of Iraq

Our brave ones forged ahead.

"This could be a slow process,"

Our President had said.

So we celebrated our victories,

And wept for the fallen men.

For these were our brave soldiers:

Husbands, Sons, Wives, Daughters, and Friends.

We were in a state of awe

As Saddam's statue fell to the ground.

The Iraqi's were celebrating.

Had freedom been found?

Only time will tell

The final outcome of this war.

But we're glad you've fought for freedom,

And that we'll continue to fight for more.

They say rebuilding and restoring Iraq

Is the mission of today.

So a successful endeavor we want,

For that is what we pray.

We thank you for your efforts

In this war that you have made.

And applaud you for the progress

And the price that you have paid.

"Operation Iraqi Freedom"

"The Fall of Baghdad"

"Shock and Awe"

Are the headlines we had.

But the headline today

Is much better you see.

"Welcome Home Soldier"

You've come back to thee.

We're so glad you've come home

All safe and sound.

Open arms of the ones you love

Are the first things you found.

For there was Abbey and Austin,

Baby Ella was knew.

Let's not forget Frankie

For he missed you, too.

We'll never know in full

The things you've had to do.

But we know how glad we are

That you have made it through.

For you were a brave soul you see,

But others were brave as well.

This story is about Austin,

And this is one I'll tell.

After a phone conversation with you,

I saw him lower his head.

"What's the matter baby?" I asked.

"I want to go to Baghdad" is what he said.

For all that Austin knew

Is that is the place his dad had gone.

And he wanted to go to you

Since you could not come home.

But he was brave throughout,

And kept the family one.

He put food on the table.

A hunter he has become.

From turkey to deer,

to little piglets, too,

He's shot, skinned, and cooked it all

And become just like you!!

Now there's the matter of another.

This story's about your wife.

Perhaps the strongest of us all.

Your love, your friend, your life.

As Ella came into this world,

I saw tears stream down Abbey's face.

And I knew that she was wishing

That you were in a different place.

But as true to her nature as she could be

Her face always portrayed a smile.

For she had birthed a miracle.

Your precious little child.

A stronger person I've never known

In my entire life.

She's held it together through it all

For she is a soldier's wife.

So from now on and forever

Rob, Abbey, Austin and Ella it will be.

For you went to war a father of one.

But came back to more family.

A brave soldier you have become

For that there is no doubt.

But a greater husband and father you've always been

That's what life is all about.

Isn't it great to raise a family

In the country of the USA?

A place where freedom rings,

And where red, white, and blue are the colors of the day

So we welcome you home, soldier.

Be proud of the path you've helped pave.

You’re back in the land of the free

America the Beautiful. The Home of the Brave!!!

Halloween!!!

Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (Madison)
and the Bride (Audrey) - Grant's already trying to give her away!

"I like this trick-or-treating thing!!"

"All you've got to do is look sweet!!"

Scariest thing for us to be - LSU FANS!!!

Lori (cavewoman) and Me!

After it was all said and done!

"Let me get a little more comfortable..."

"Now...that's what I'm talking about!"

We had yet another great Halloween!! The girls had a lot of fun, and we enjoyed getting together with our good friends for hot dogs & chili and taco soup! I had to bring the rice krispy treats - and it was almost like being at home growing up!! ha ha. (What is it with hot dogs & chili on Halloween, anyways?) OH, well...I just know that it has been my family's tradition for a long time, and when I met my friend Lori and she told me they did the same thing - I knew we would be great friends (ha ha - that's a little dramatic) - I knew we'd be great friends either way!

Well... hope you all had a great Halloween as well. Dorothy had a great time and found that "There's no place like home" after a long night of trick-or-treating, and unfortunately, the Groom said the Bride was too much for him to handle - so she's stuck with us for quite a few more Halloweens. (We love you Audrey - we really do!!) You're a beautiful bride!!

Lots of love,

Amber

Storybook Day at School!

Today was Storybook Day at Madison's school. Madison went as Fancy Nancy!!!

Audrey creating her own costume!

Audrey didn't like our pumpkin, so she wanted to pose in front of the neighbor's pumpkins!

Not sure what she thought she was, but she was quite proud of it!!!

Pumpkin Carving

Here are the girls carving a pumpkin with Grant. Last year, we carved 3 (or I should say, Grant did!). Notice we only have one this year, and look how small it is!! ha ha.

Back from Boston!

(Dawn with her cushie carpet pads!)

(Duck Tour)

(Tina driving the Duck...Quack Quack!)

Me, Dawn, Julie, Tina - at Quincy Market

(Dawn, Tina, and Julie - ready to begin!)

(Tina, and me - holding on for dear life on Subway! -another fear conquered!)

Just wanted to let you all know that I am back from Boston and had one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. It was such a thrill to work with such great ladies. We immediately knew we were going to have a great time, when the adventure began at the Hertz Rental car place. I'm going to have to really think of a good way to describe the scenario, because it was really one of those things that you couldn't "create" better if you tried. Just to highlight, it involved losing the car rental receipt from our parking place to the exit booth, Tina frantically trying to get the back hatch unlocked, with Dawn steadily locking it each time Tina was successful in unlocking it (Dawn not doing this on purpose though!), the windshield wipers going on and off, the car being shut off while in park, and then having difficulty even getting the car to start up again (because it was in park), and I really think somewhere in there, a boob was accidently responsible for causing the horn to start blowing. All of this at the exit booth, with cars steadily lining up behind us!!

What a way to get started. I would love to be able to adequately describe Dawn's carefree attitude at the hands of our trusty Navigon trying to get us to where we needed to be. We would be in a very serious junction - needing to turn right or left at like this very second - and she would turn around giggling trying to tell us a story that could easily have waited UNTIL we made our important turn! About 20 turnarounds, several loopty loops, many streets that were marked both North and South but heading in the same direction, we amazingly found our way to the hotel. Feeling very confident now in our abilities to travel, we decided to head out for a bite to eat at "the mall" (as if there is only one mall in Boston, and our navigon was going to find that one mall for us), we traveled through people's yards in a random neighborhood in search of a place to eat. Another 2 hours shot in the car on the lovely roads of Boston. [Tina, I will forever consider you a warrior for the cause - for all the driving you did, and for being so brave!! Your white knuckles will forever be etched in my memory!]

This is how it all began!!

Tired already - so were we...so off to bed we went so that we could get up bright and early for all the setting up we would have to do on Friday (which took all of about maybe 1 hour!!). But, hey...we were ready!

So off to the duck tour we went...(I had no idea what a Duck tour was, but it's some military vehicle that took us on a land tour and water tour). This was fun and would have been more helpful had I known some of the history of Boston before we arrived, but a fun experience nonetheless. Tina drove the boat better than the rental car - but hey, at least she was brave enough to be the "driver."

We were shocked when we returned to the Convention Center after our afternoon of sightseeing to find our booth totally destroyed (I shouldn't say totally -but it was messed up!)! Huge crates (that the HUGE pharaceutical companies were unpacking) were backed into our booth, our curtains were on the floor with our decorations getting all messed up! So...while this was a bad thing in the beginning, we were able to make "friends in high places," and immediately, everyone knew who we were - "the crazy ladies from the spot booth!" (not really...that's just we called ourselves!) But from tragedy, comes progress - right, so were able to squeeze out 2 more chairs (because we could only pay for 2 of us to have chairs), and Dawn tried to get us cushie carpet pads for our carpet, but managed to get the nice set-up lady to hand cut for her shoe-size carpet cushions for her to stand on.

Let's see...that brings us to Saturday morning, which was our first day of Convention. We had a great day and made a lot of positive contacts with doctors. One in particular, stayed in our booth for a while, looking at pictures and asking questions, and told us that she felt she just missed a diagnosis, and was glad to be talking with us so that she could go back and adequately diagnose this child. For me, that made it all worth it!!

Along with that...we connected with many nurse practitioners, doctors, publication representatives, the National Organization of Rare Diseases, Epi-Pen manufacturers, a group that provide camps for kids with special medical conditions that might limit them from going to regular camps, and many more. We were commended for our work and the overall look of our booth by the AAP representatives, and just had a very productive time overall.

On Sunday morning (I think...the days started running together), many physicians had just come from a dermatology lecture where a small segment on mastocytosis was discussed, so this was great for us. They were immediately drawn to us to learn more.

We purchased a scanning system from the Tradeshow organization in order to be able to scan doctor badges to get information from them in order to send more information to their offices. We had very many contacts this way and cannot wait to make further connections with them.

Some of our publications materials were donated and tons were done at a fabulous price by one of our members and her husband's printing company (so while we didn't give away all 6000 of our brochures, we will have wonderful color copies to distribute across the country to many more doctor offices, and have a ready made supply for future conventions!!!)

All of this was such a great experience. The subway ride was my first, and our tour of the cemetaries and Quincy Market was great fun!!

I cannot believe that 2 and a half years ago, the word mastocytosis was foreign to me, and I was honored to be there representing this great group!! It was such a joy and a blessing.

I just wanted to personally thank you all for the contributions you made to the organization, either through your financial donation, or your many prayers for us while we prepared, and as we traveled.

I love you all, and am so excited for having been apart of this great opportunity!!

Probably one of the greatest surprises of the whole trip was that Grant had the girls bathed and in their pj's when he picked me up at the airport, I opened the door to a CLEAN house, and the bed was actually turned down for me - just waiting for me to fall in. (And for you Dawn - the only thing that could have made it better would have been if there was a little Hershey's kiss resting on my pillow!) - But since Grant didn't know about our little story - I won't fault him for that.

Tina, Dawn, and Julie - you've made me laugh harder than I have in a long time and cry with such joyful tears...I will never look at a Navigation system and not think of you Dawn, or drive around a strange city without thinking of Tina, never have a better backseat driver companion as you Julie, or never ever have a more exciting, emotional, prideful experience in my life. I am so honored to have had the opportunity to work with you. You inspire me, uplift me, and above all, fill me with a lifetime of wonderful memories and you've provided me with 3 new lifelong friends. I love you girls!!!

Grant, thanks for "letting me" go!! Thanks for encouraging me to have fun, for praying for me, for taking such good care of the girls while I was gone. Thanks for knowing that I was going to be tired when I came in last night and for having everything ready for me to fall into bed and go sound asleep. I really do love you with all of my heart, and we couldn't have done what we did without the support from our husbands and significant others. Your support brings me to tears!

I love you!

I just cannot say thanks enough for all that each of you have done. Whatever your part was was instrumental in getting us there and having it be a success. I had a great time (can you tell?)

I'll stop for now...but it was great!!

Amber