Ashley Annabelle On the Verge: My how the time has flown!!!

First of all, I must apologize for the length of time it has been since my last post. This thing we call life has been so crazy and busy that I have honestly forgotten that I had this blog, until I "Google" searched myself. I know...that's pretty pathetic, but here we are...now. It looks like Ashley was two years old the last time I posted, so we have a lot to catch up on. Since she is now six years old, we have four years to cover. I will try to make this long, busy story of our lives simple and sweet for all of you reading. As most of you know, my job situation at CDP was always up in the air. Being a contract employee, you never know from year to year whether you will be renewed or not. I began working at CDP just before Ashley's first birthday. During Ashley's early years, the job afforded me the ability to keep us in our home and support her. I continued to work there until I left in January of 2012, just after her fifth birthday. Due to insourcing of contract positions to permanent federal positions and the competition with veterans, I sought other employment before my contract ended. I was offered and subsequently accepted a job in the Tax Department at HealthSouth Corporation. Ashley and I packed up and moved to Trussville to live with Chris. At this point, Chris and I had been together for three years and it seemed like perfect timing. While still working at CDP though, I had "gone back to school" full time at JSU. So, in addition to moving to a new city, in a new house, with a new living arrangement, starting a new job and Ashley in a new childcare situation, I also had to study and make good grades. For the next eight months, I settled into my new job and Ashley settled into daycare life and began losing teeth.

Let's jump to August, 2012...Ashley starts kindergarten! Can you even believe that my little baby girl is going to school? I know I can't. It seems as though her life has passed so quickly that all of a sudden, she's not a baby anymore! She's a kindergartner! She attended Paine Primary in Trussville and her teacher's name was Mrs. Lackey. We had some hiccups during the year, beginning with Ashley's diagnosis of ADHD in December. Subsequently, she began a daily routine of medication, which helped tremendously. It was really a complete transformation. She went from frowny faces and daily comments in her agenda book to "starry-eyed" faces every day. She went from failing kindergarten, to a truly awesome student. Her grades improved, her conduct improved, her test scores improved. It was an amazing thing.

During the school year, she also began getting strep... a lot. Seeing that I'm her mother, I should have expected that since I fought the same battle my entire life, until they FINALLY removed my tonsils and adenoids when I was 18. She and I both also contracted the flu during Christmas. Eventually, she was referred by her pediatrician to an ENT at Children's. Her surgery was scheduled for Friday, February 22, 2013. She came through the surgery fine...so we thought. Her newly retired Mimi came to stay with her the following week to allow me to work. You see, that was the first week of my two-week's notice at HealthSouth. I had been offered a job at Black Creek Integrated Systems Corporation in the Sales & Marketing Department. Anyway, I digress...On Monday morning, March 4, 2013 at 5:00 a.m., I awoke to a horrible scream coming from Ashley's room. This was the first time I'd heard such an URGENT scream come from her. I rushed in there to find her and her bedroom covered in blood. Let's just say, instead of reliving the whole scene all over again, that it was horrific. I rushed her to Children's Hospital ER, where she was rushed into a room and they began working on her. Needless to say, I was scared to death and horrified at the thought of what was happening to my child. She wound up being rushed into emergency surgery, where the ruptured blood vessels were cartarized and the old blood (she'd been slowly hemmhoraging internally since the first surgery) filling her stomach was removed. Though she had lost half of her blood volume, they gave her a chance to recoup that on her own, without the introduction of foriegn blood. She was fine and was released from the hospital after a short stay.

This brings us to starting my new job. I began working at Black Creek on March 11, 2013, and knew I'd made the right decision right away. It is a local small business in Irondale performing work in the corrections industry. I loved it right away. As if loving a new job right away wasn't enough, I received a call from the president of the compnay about a month and half after I started. He offered me a promotion to the newly created position of Service Coordinator. After seeking, finding and training a replacement, I have now transitioned into my new role and have begun trying to formulate processes and procedures to ensure that the department flows appropriately. I absolutely love it! I don't think I've ever been happier in a job. Press Release

Ashley graduated from kindergarten in May and will be promoted to first grade in August. She is currently on a trip to Disney World with her dad and having a blast!

I'm posting a few pictures here from the past few years, but nowhere close to covering everything. Again, I apologize!

Ashley at Mimi's house