Walkin in an Element'ry wonderland!!!

Children scream, they won't lis-in'
When they go, we won't miss em',
In all of this pain,
we try to stay sane,
Workin' in an element'ry school.
Christmas comes, they're excited,
Though our nerves, they've ignited,
They're off of the walls,
they run in the halls,
Workin' in an element'ry school.
In the lunchroom we can hear them yellin'
And we know that they are really wound.
Someone hits, the other says, "I'm tellin'
"And that is when our heads begin to pound.
Pretty soon we'll be restin'
Cause our nerves, they've been testin'
We're happy it's clear
It comes once a year
Christmas in an element'ry school!

Everyday is a Blessing!

Every year the Laneys send out a picture of their boys to everyone in the tri-state region. The past three years, they have had to let one more person in on the pics (me)... and this year...Ava had to be apart of the show...even though she decided to not look at the camera! ha! These boys are brothers to me that I never had. I am so grateful and blessed to have them in my life. Cal has an amazing family and they have always made me feel so apart.


Everyday is a blessing and we are learning to enjoy EVERY moment and not try to "fast-foward" to the next phase of our lives but to be happy right where we are in our life. This week I will turn 28. I never in a million years thought that I would be 28 years old and still not be a mother...but God has a different plan than I did and we can' t wait to see what his plan is. He is a an amazing God and His plan is perfect! I keep looking at Cal and thinking to myself the lyrics from that Trace Atkins song "You're Gonna Miss This"... We need to just soak up all of our alone time and know that one day in the next few years...those "alone time" moments will be few and far between. I thank God for all of the sweet moments that we have together. Our love grows more and more every day...I never know that I could love someone so very much! Cal is such an amazing man and he will always be my prince charming!

Ava the ladybug!

Ava picked out a ladybug outfit this year for Halloween...ha! She looked so cute! (She wouldn't keep the little hat on that went with it)

Hotty Toddy!!!

Cal and I went up to Oxford to watch the Rebels play last weekend! We took our neighbors with us, which are Auburn fans. They were so sweet and got us tickets....BUT they were in the Auburn section...it was SO weird sitting over there. I felt out of my element. It was so good to see friends and catch up with everyone! It is also good to act like you are in college again every once in a while! :) Here are a few pics from the fun-filled weekend!

life in residency....

I know I never put up any posts. I never really have alot of big news. ha! Residency consumes our life...so there is no time for any news. ha. Cal is still working hard at UAB and I am pouring myself into work. I am at home alone today...that seems to be the norm during residency! I guess the biggest news we have is that Ava learned to shake last week...ha...yes we have such an exciting life. We just try our best to fit as much time together as we can with our crazy schedule.

Cal and I went to Tuscaloosa this weekend to watch the Rebels play...sad loss. At least we stepped it up during the 2nd half. We met up with Luke, Cal's brother, and Bo. We sat down at our seats and two good friends from college just so happened to have seats right next to us. It felt like old times listening to Drew and John yell at the Rebels! ha! I can't believe we are all so grown up and married now. ha..

Destin!!!

Cal and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary one month later in Destin! We stayed in a little Inn right in front of the beach. It was so cute, and looked more like a little bed and breakfast! The Inn was also "doggy" friendly, which was nice for Miss Ava! She enjoyed her little doggy yard and the restaurant that was outside which provided water bowls for dogs. It was such a cute little place! Ava LOVED the beach and chasing sea gulls...but was NOT a big fan of the ocean when it washed up on her feet....as you can see in the above picture! She was hillarious out there! Cal and I had a great time just talking and being together...we don't get a whole lot of alone time with his schedule! It's so wonderful to fall in love all over again....everyday we live! We are now hoping to expand our family...so please keep us in your prayers that God's will be done and everything will happen in His time!

Update on Cal and Adair!

We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary on June 17! Cal suprised me with a day at the spa! It was wonderful! We are going to continue celebrating in Destin next week! We are so excited about going to the beach...we haven't seen sand since our honeymoon! YAY!
Cal is now a 2nd year resident...we are starting to see that dim light at the end of the tunnel! He is just gone so darn much! I'm ready to have him around more! We will start interviewing and looking at where we will go for his fellowship in cardiology this year. wow...time is flying by!
We had a great time this weekend with friends and thier babies at our 4th of July party! We can see the Vulcan fireworks from our backyard...so we cooked out hamburgers and hotdogs and let the babies roll around on blankets in the yard! (WOW I am ready for a baby) Ava wasn't too happy about the babies...but I think she started getting used to it! ha!
I am enjoying summer break and luckily Cal has a week off during this month! yay! I can't wait to have alot of good time with him! We are taking Ava with us to the beach next week...so I'll post some pics...we'll see how that goes! haha! Miss Priss Ava...I don't know what she is going to do in the sand! ha!

2 weddings in 2 weeks!

I had the privalege of being involved in two of my best friend's wedding this past month. Christina and James Crane were married on June 7, 2006. They met through Christina's mom and have been iseperable every since. The wedding was beautiful and so was the bride! They are now living in Lafayette, LA. James is an engineer on an oil rig out in the ocean, so he is gone ALOT! Christina is trying to get used to having her husband gone so much! Keep her in your prayers!


I was also so blessed to be apart of Leah and Tyler's big day! Leah and Tyler met about 4 years ago and both knew from the start that they would be together! They are truly an amazing couple. I can't wait for many more memories for years to come with the Bardens! It was such an honor to be apart of two such dear friend's special day!

My best friend Rachel had the most beautiful wedding weekend in New Orleans last weekend! They have such a neat story and a fairy tale romance. Rachel and Virgil met while Rachel was in graduate school in Florida. They had a few dates at this point in time, but Rachel wasn't ready to settle down and neither was Virgil.. it just wasn't the right time. The two coincidentally met again in New Orleans over the weekend of New Years last year. They once again hit it off and by April 20th they were engaged. They were officially married during the month of August and he took Rachel way far away to London. They have been travelling every weekend and seeing parts of the world that most will never see ever since. This is truly a dream for Rachel, and to be able to spend this time with Virgil, I know, is priceless! They had their spiritual ceremony this past weekend.. on April 20th.. the same day that they got engaged.. and the same day of his parent's 40th wedding anniversary. It was truly a special weekend.. and was topped off with a wedding cake just for his parents which they were able to cut and feed each other again...just as they had done 40 years prior! I was truly honored to be apart of such an amazing time in thier life!

My god-daughter Madyson... on the CNN website...

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-7545#

This is something very serious and we should all be very aware...


Written by her Madyson's mother, Ashley:

Everything that I am able to write, I know a lot of you have heard and experienced the story before... but this is the story of Mady.
My daughter Madyson is 7 years old and has autism. She was a perfect baby, walked and talked early, did everything wonderful!!
But then we "lost" her when she was about 20 months old. We lost her to the dark dark place called autism. Mady quit talking and looking at us. She went further and further in this new world. I promised her, as her mother, that I will bring her back to me. I started to do research online and everything I read started to make sense. All the doctors I took her to, just looked at me like I was a crazy person and I had no idea what I was talking about!! Well, after different doctors and tests, we learned that Mady was on the spectrum. We started her in pre-school at age 3, each year we would see some progress. Now she is 7 and she is progressing so much. She is talking more, but she only repeats what we say. But, I just am so glad to hear that sweet little voice again!! She is only getting to the point that she will tell you what she wants in one word. She will tell me "eat" but it is my job to figure out what she wants to eat! I am hoping that one day I will be able to carry on a conversation with my sweet little girl.
Even though Mady can not say much, she is up to date with all of the typical girls her age. She loves Hannah Montana and is a computer genius! She loves music and I am looking into music lessons for her in my area. I am the type of mom that takes her places. I keep her busy with all types of projects. She loves to shop and dress up like a diva (she gets it from my mom). I want her to be around the typical kids, so she can learn social skills from them. I know that a lot of you can relate with my story, so my advice is to keep on being the best parents and remember that we can fight this together as a team.

Easter and NCAA!!!

Well...Easter was wonderful bc mom and dad got to come and go with us to ou new church here in Birmingham. It was really special to have them here. We were able to spend the week before with Cal's sweet parents and had a beautiful weekend with my parents. We cooked a big meal for them on Sat. night and I had some great one on one time with mom. Dad and Cal had fun at the NCAA tournament held here in Bham, and mom and I had our time. We took our Easter picture in our backyard overlooking the beautiful city. After church, my parent heading back to Oxford and Cal and I went to watch Tennessee play in the NCAA tourn. I really had a great time! It was a unique experience in our own hometown!

"Sips and Strokes"

March 21, 2007

Mom and I were able to spend fun time together at "Sips and Strokes". It is this really neat place in Bham that lets you bring your own wine and food or whatever you want and have a painting class. Mom is so an "A" type character... it was a blast watching her analyze her painting. I am so "whatever" about everything... so I was done WAY before her. Our paintings turned out so different... mom's was of course way better! ha! I can't wait til my girls come in town... I am DEFINATELY dragging you to "Sips and Strokes"!!

Miss Lily Elizabeth Sistrunk!!

ahhh... sweet Lily....it was such a beautiful moment to see Miss Lily again. Her mommy and I have been through so much together! Kate, Lily's mom, is one of my dearest friends in the world! She is just the sweetest and best friend that anyone could ask for! God has done so many amazing things for Kate and I am so proud of her! She has the most amazing husband anyone could ask for and the cutest sweetest baby ever! I look back on our time living together in Oxford while we were at Ole Miss and then our time living together out in the real world...in Jackson...trying to figure everything out together...and learning what life is all about. I appreciate all of the wedding planning that Kate had to listen to while living with me in Jackson. Holding Lily in my arms brought back floods of memories that Kate and I had together. God is so amazing in the way that he works in people's lives. We never would have guessed that either of us would be where we are in our lives right now...and boy....we are both in perfect spots in our life...execpt... I WANT a baby too!! ha! I have the fever! It was so great to go on a double date with Kate and Brian. I enjoyed getting to catch up... it always feels like we haven't skipped a beat! I love you Katester!

Brody Cole Hayman!

I was so excited to meet Mr. Brody Cole. It makes me just feel gushy all over to look at one of my good friends and this little person in my arms and know that he is part of her. It will never cease to amaze me.... the beauty of child birth and the love that is involved with the whole process. I was able to sit and really listen to things that Nicole is going through and take notes for when that special time comes for me. I am VERY ready!!!

I also really enjoyed going to our old meeting place at Cozumel with Nicole and Crystal. AHHH... the many afternoons spent there just talking about teaching at JPS....ahhhh good memories... it is what kept me going during that point in my life!

Miss you girls alot!!!

St. Patty's Parade!

So much fun...hanging out with good friends...eating crawfish... and watching the Sweet Potato queens do their thing.

This is all part of a great tradition in the south! We started off our vacation with the parade and had alot of time to visit friends and family during our stay in Jackson.

We were able to see a couple of my friends and Cal got to see alot of his old high school friends....

It was so good to get away from the every day routines for a little while...

first time bloggin...

Well.... the whole blog idea is a new thing to me....so here goes the first post! I guess I will tell a bit about "The Laney's" and they became. Cal was born and raised in Jackson, MS. He was an incredible football player in high school and an amazing golfer still. He was and is a very avid hunter. He would rather be in a duck hole than anywhere in the world! He went to Jackson Academy and Ole Miss for undergrad. Cal was a Sigma Chi at Ole Miss. He attended medical school at the Ole Miss campus in Jackson and is now finishing his first year of residency at UAB in Birmingham, AL. I was born and raised in Clarksdale, MS... I'm a "delta girl" at heart! I went to Lee Academy and ran track, played tennis, and soccer. I went to Ole Miss for undergrad. as well and was an AOPi. I also got my masters at Ole Miss as well... I wasn't quite ready for college to be over! ha! I am a kindergarten teacher in Hoover, AL and absolutely love it!
How we met....
Cal and I met in a psychology class our freshman year of college. We started dating our senior year of college. Cal told me that he was going to marry me on our 3rd date and scared me away! I was only 21 and not ready to hear something like that. I couldn't get him off of my mind though...so I called him several months later and the rest was history! We dating for about 2 years before we got engaged and had a year long engagement. We got married in Oxford, MS on June 17, 2006. We lived in Jackson, MS for 2 years and now live in Birmingham, AL. I spend alot of alone time as a resident's wife. I have made tons of good friends and am having a good time learning my way around Birmingham!