My Knee Surgery Update Plus Bella's Birthday Is Today!

Today is my sweet Bella's birthday! She turned 4 years old today. You all hear me talking about Bella alot.

Bella has been the most loving, most loyal and the sweetest little girl I have ever had. Never had I loved any animal as much as I love Bella. I got Bella for my 10th wedding anniversary. She was just 2 1/2 pounds when I bought her. She was so tiny and she still is. Bella is a yorkie-poo. Since the day I brought her home she has been by my side for every minute that I am at home and she follows me everywhere. She LOVES to go bye-bye and she goes pretty much everywhere with me. When I am driving she will take her left paw and brush it up and down on my arm a few times when wants to get in my lap. So I will move my right arm off of the steering wheel so she can get on my lap. Bella will then stand up with her front feet on the steering wheel and then she will sit on my lap. It is so cute to see her do this. Since day one I have talked to her like she was a little person. Bella always amazes me how she understands everything I am saying to her. She is seriously the smartest dog I have EVER seen. When you get a new pet you really never know what their personality will be. I won the jackpot with Bella's personality. She LOVES people and I mean she loves  every kid or adult she sees. She is so friendly and when we are around people whether it is kids or adults she will literally pull me so she can go up to them. Bella is always so happy and loves to play. She has been the best gift I have ever received in my whole entire life. Our family looks forward to many many more years of happiness with her. Bella is such a blessing and I love her so very much!! Can you tell? :o)

So Happy Birthday Bella!! We love you so much!

Here is my update from my knee surgery from yesterday.

Because of my total joint replacement on both sides of my jaw the anesthesiologist came to see me before surgery like they always do and because of my jaw replacement he was so nervous and he decided to give me a spinal and he put me to sleep with other medications. I am in a TON of pain. It hurts so bad and has me in tears. I cannot put weight on my knee for up to 12 weeks. But I am doing ok and I wanted to let you all know. Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers. I hope you are all doing well! Sending hugs to you all!

Big Cricut Hugs!
~Terri

Today is Surgery Day!!!

Hi crafters!! I am getting ready to go to the hospital for my knee surgery this morning. I just wanted to let you all know that it is today and I always want to keep you all updated. This photo above shows what I am having done except there will be 3 of those rods inside my knee at the same time. I didn't want to post a photo that too graphic. You get the idea. The other thing is that my surgeon has SO many different things to fix in my knee. But will be ALL good and worth it to get out of this pain and for this swelling to finally go down once I heal. My left knee has been swollen for over one year. It has been crazy trying to get the right treatment for this. So I am grateful.

I have the BEST blog followers in the whole wide world! Thank you all for always supporting me and for being such amazing women!

On to some other news...Yesterday afternoon I got an email from a brand new sponsor and I am excited to post a brand new giveaway for you all. I think what I am going to do is leave my Happy Spring Giveaway opened until this new giveaway is over and then I will post the winner for both on the same day. My goal is once I get home from the hospital later today and if I am feeling ok that I will be able to get the giveaway going since I will be relaxing in bed with my laptop. That is my goal anyhow and I really hope that I can do that. I know you all will understand if I am in too much pain that I will post it in a few days. So we will see how today goes! Sounds good?

So I am off and I will give you an update as soon as I can! I hope you all hav a fabulous day! Be kind to eachother and please wish me luck!

Big Cricut Hugs!
~Terri

Update On Me & My Happy Spring Giveaway...

Hi guys! I know it has been awhile since I have posted. Especially since I first posted my latest happy spring giveaway. I wanted to explain to my blog readers, followers and those who entered my spring giveaway why I have not picked a winner yet. I promise that I have a good reason!

This past few months my health has taken a turn and I have had to be on some pretty serious medications to try and get things under control. For the past year there have been some elevations and markers in my blood that my doctor is very concerned about. After some further testing she said that I could have either one of these 3 diseases...they are either lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or cancer. None of them are conditions or diseases that I would want. But what person would want any disease? No one that I know!  My doctor ruled out Lupus and we are almost positive that rheumatoid arthritis is not the culprit is not the issue either. There is a high rate of cancer in my family so cancer really makes me nervous. My dad passed away from cancer at the age of 49. Anyhow, Six months ago my doctor started me on this very serious medication to see if it would help change things. Unfortunately this medication did not change anything. My blood work actually got worse. So I was told to the stop the medication and let me tell you I was more then happy to stop it. It had some pretty serious side effects including blindness and thank goodness I was lucky enough not to have any of the side effects. When I heard that blindness was a side effect I was very hesitant to take it. But in order to get better I took the chance and thank goodness I had no side effects and I can still see. :o) It is a shame that 6 months have passed by and my condition has only gotten worse.

My doctor said the next step is to start me on chemo therapy. I am not sure how long I am supposed to be on it. It could be a few months to a year as she is not sure. I just know that I am not looking forward to the massive side effects of this medication including losing my hair. I have a ton of long, naturally curly thick hair that I do not want to lose. But according to my doctor this is what is next and my goal is to feel better as that is the most important part of all of this.

On top of all that, like that is not enough, I have been having some serious issues with my knees, especially my left knee. It has been swollen like super swollen and I have been in some serious pain for over 1 year now. The medication that I took for the 6 months should have helped my knee symptoms but unfortunately it did nothing. So after getting an x-ray and an MRI it was revealed this week that I have a tear in my left meniscus as well as some serious osteoarthritis and bone spurs on both sides of my knee that require surgery to correct these several issues. The surgeons will smooth out my knee bones on each side as well as remove those several bone spurs. He will also drain the excess fluid that is causing my knee to look several times it's normal size. I also have a pretty bad case of bursitis in several areas all around my knee. Boy oh boy, I can tell you that it is very painful. The best way I can describe the pain is that it feels like a hot poker is being jabbed inside my knee.  This pain never stops no matter what I do. So my knee surgery will be on June 7th. I will have to be off of my knee for 6 to 12 weeks and then I will have to start physical therapy.

Hopefully that will take care of my knee but I now must see an oncologist to see what other treatments are best for me for my other health issue. If it is not one thing it is another! I am trying to stay as positive as possible. My friends and family are always there to support me and they really have helped me accept all of this is going on and I can beat it all and get better. I really am not sure what I would do without them! They are the best!!

Because all of this is going on right now I have decided to leave my giveaway opened for a bit longer and hopefully that is OK with you all. Once everything calms down I promise I will pick a winner and you will be the first to know who won.

Thank you all for your understanding and for being patient with me while I go through all of this. I am looking forward to feeling better and getting back on my feet. Not sure how long it will take for me to get there but it is my goal to get better as soon as possible.

As I continue to get more updates I will keep you all posted! Just know that I hope you all are doing well and I miss being on here blogging and posting my newest projects! Thank you for understanding and for continuing to follow me here at
Two Pink Peas!!

Big Cricut Hugs!
~Terri

Baby Avery Passed Away...

I was very sad and upset to read that beautiful little Avery passed away on April 30th 2012. This is what happened according to Avery's daddy on Avery's blog..

Hello everyone this is Avery's father. Avery passed away yesterday sometime around 3pm due to pulmonary complications related to SMA. In short, one of her lungs collapsed and she went into cardiac arrest. I immediately performed CPR on her and was able to bring her back to life, but only for a brief period of time before she passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital. Avery's passing this quickly came as a complete shock to all of us, as she had just been given a thumbs up at her last doctors appointment only three days ago. While we were aware of the severity of her diagnosis, we never lost hope for Avery and even in her passing, we still have hope for our daughter and all of her friends. I'm going to share a note Avery gave me back when all of this started, but made me promise not to open until I knew the time was right...(The note is on Avery's blog and the link is below))

This photo was taken 15 to 20 minutes before Avery passed. Before reading about Avery I never knew about SMA. This sweet angel has made a HUGE impact on our world in such a short time. Please visit Avery's Blog and Avery's Facebook Page.

I admire Avery's parents for loving their sweet little baby so much and how they are raising awareness about SMA. They are trying to raise enough money to help other babies with SMA. If you are able to donate anything...even if only $1.00! Think about it.. if every single person donated $1.00 they would have a TON of money to help the research and help find a cure for SMA. Every penny counts! Avery and her story has touch my heart in a very special way and I will never forget about her. Don't forget to count your blessings tonight and hug your babies tight.

Avery...thank you for sharing your beautiful life with all of us. You will be missed by millions and millions but your spirit and memory will live on in our hearts forever!

Big Avery Hugs To You All!!

~Terri

PLEASE Help Baby Avery Who Will Pass Away From A Rare Disease...

I found this story about a beautiful little baby girl named Avery. On Good Friday at around 3:30 p.m., Laura and Mike Canahuati of Houston got a call from a neurologist confirming their worst fear. The tests results showed their 5-month-old daughter Avery has a rare and incurable genetic disorder.

Avery was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder that attacks spinal neurons and progressively debilitates muscle function. Avery's was Type 1, the most severe kind, and doctors told them their little girl had only 18 months to live.

"We had several days of sitting in shock and crying and then we pulled ourselves out of that," Laura said. "Since we had such a short time, we knew we wanted to make the best of it."

To cherish every moment with Avery, the Canahuatis created " Avery's Bucket List," a blog written from Avery's perspective where they chronicle her world and track their family adventures, checking things off from the bucket list as they go.

The bucket list includes milestones in every child's life - from sitting up, kissing her mom and dad, to having a birthday party, meeting Santa Claus, losing a tooth, visiting college and more.

"We have our days, it's not that we don't," said Mike Canahuati, 31, who writes the blog in his daughter's voice. "The blog made it into … 'Let's go to the Canahuatis and smile at Avery and appreciate life instead of crying."
"I have a lot of living to do in just a little bit of time," Avery "writes" on the blog. "In everything I do, the two most important things are that I'm spending time with my mommy & daddy, while at the same time spreading awareness for SMA."

Avery's story and bucket list has struck a chord online. Since the Canahuatis started the blog earlier this month, it has racked up close to 500,000 page views, Mike said, with people as far as Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany and New Zealand visiting it.

"When we saw how many people it was reaching in a few days, that's when we realized we could really get the word out on SMA and spread the word as much as we could," said Laura, who worked as a kindergarten teacher before giving birth to Avery, an 11-11-11 baby.

SMA is the No. 1 genetic killer of children under the age of 2 in the U.S., but most people don't know about it, Laura explained. An estimated one in 40 people are carriers of SMA. If both parents are carriers, like Laura and Mike are, there's a 25 percent chance of their child having SMA.
Laura and Mike urge all parents to talk to their OB GYNs and get tested to see if they are a carrier for SMA.
"Our goal for Avery to be the face of SMA. Just like when you say the word cancer, I don't think there's a single person who doesn't know what cancer is, we want it to be the same for SMA," Laura said.

Avery has already lost the ability to move her legs. She can barely move her arms and doctors say eventually she will be unable to move her head or breathe without the help of a respirator. Last week, she had a G-Tube put in so she can be fed through a line in her stomach and her parents constantly monitor her oxygen levels since babies with SMA have difficulty regulating their breath.

While her parents know Avery won't be able to fulfill many of the rites of passage that are on the list, they are finding joy in what their baby can do - tasting solid foods, taking a "big girl bath," flying a kite and blowing bubbles - and are finding a way to share in some of the later milestones with her now.
Fast forward a few years, Mike and Laura took Avery on her first college visit to their alma mater at Texas State University, earlier this month. Avery just got her very own (faux) driver's license made - one with an ugly pictures and one with a great picture, hitting two items on her list.

Thanks to some mommy matchmaking, she scored her first kiss from a boy named Cooper "McDreamy," who also has SMA.

"His name is Cooper and he's 19 months old (I just love older men, they're so much more mature than 3 & 4 month olds)," Avery gushes on the blog. "My mommy and daddy said this might be the best kiss since Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams in The Notebook."

Tonight, Avery will get to throw out the first pitch at a baseball came for a new minor league team in Houston, the Sugarland Skeeters. Another day, another adventure.

The last thing on the bucket list: to overcome her illness. Laura and Mike know that will not happen since the research is too far off to save Avery, but they hope their daughter's story will raise awareness for the disease and help find a cure.

"No one should have to go through this," Laura said.

Check out here blog here: Avery's Blog 

and her facebook page HERE

Avery's parents Laura and Mike Canahuati are trying so hard to get Ellen to have them on the show so they can spread the word about Avery and her condition. Please write to Ellen and help Avery and her parents spread the word about this rare condition. You can help by writing The Ellen show and swarming her with emails asking her to have Avery and her parents on to spread the word.

Avery's parents are declaring Tuesday, May 1st, to be

"Ellen's Going To Love Me, But Not My Friends" Day.

Why?

I think Ellen is the perfect person to help me spread my message about SMA because she's compassionate, funny, and wants to meet inspirational people, which apparently some people think I am.

So here's what they need from you...Please take a moment to write Ellen about Avery.

 

Feel free to WRITE YOUR OWN

OR

COPY & PASTE FROM BELOW (ADD TO THIS IF YOU'D LIKE):

Dear Ellen:

I'm writing about a 5-month old little girl named Avery who has an incurable disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). While SMA is the #1 genetic killer of infants & children under the age of 2, most people have never heard of it, there is no cure for it, and there's minimal clinical research being done to find a cure for it. Avery has created a "bucket list" of things she'd like to accomplish before she dies and one of those things is to be on your show to help spread awareness about SMA to protect future children and their parents/loved ones from SMA.

Since starting her blog 3 weeks ago, she already has over 500,000 page views, has been talked about in online news articles (including MSN, and she's been seen on FOX & CBS news stations throughout the country. Yet her #1 goal on her bucket list remains to be on your show so you can help her teach the world about SMA.

Will you please make time for Avery and help her achieve her #1 bucket list goal?

 

If you visit Avery's blog or facebook page please let them know that Two Pink Peas sent you to help! Let's all open our hearts for this precious little girl who is trying to spread the word and achieve her bucket wish list!

 

Big Cricut Hugs To You All!

~Terri

Wanna Win A Brand New Gypsy Kit W/ DVD and More?

Wanna Chance To Win A Brand New Gypsy Kit? All you have to do is go to Paper Piecings By Nikki at this link on Facebook and tell them that Terri of Two Pink Peas sent you AFTER you click LIKE! You have to click LIKE! The more I refer the more chances I have to win! But here is the great part for YOU.. After you enter under Terri Of Two Pink Peas you can ask your friends to let Paper Piecings By Nikki know YOU sent them. Here is the link.. https://www.facebook.com/nikkicalmes Thanks girls and GOOD luck! This ends April 30th so HURRY on over!

If you let Nikki know that Two Pink Peas sent you I will give you an EXTRA entry for MY blog candy at http://twopinkpeas.blogspot.com/2012/04/happy-spring-giveaway-added-goodies.html just let me know that you went to Nikki's site and clicked Like and said my name! Then leave me a comment for an extra entry for my blog candy!

Need Help Making A Little Girls 11th Birthday AMAZING!!

I would like to introduce to you to this BEAUTIFUL little girl named Tati Webb. Her birthday is this coming Monday and she is turning 11 years old. Her beautiful mother Therese contacted me and asked me if I could help Tati for her very special birthday. It is an honor for me to help Tati have the best 11th birthday ever and I need help from as many of you that are able to help me.

Therese and Tati are having a hard time right now as are so many families are these days. Therese wish is for Tati to receive a ton of Happy Birthday cards. This is a time that we can all pay it forward for sweet Tati. By the way..Tati's name is so beautiful. I absolutely love it!

In addition to the birthday card that I will make for Tati I am also going to send Tati a little gift. This is an option for those of you who are able to do that for her. It does not have to be something expensive as I am sure Tati would appreciate anything even if it is just a beautifully handmade card. Please do not feel obligated that you have to send a gift as this is completely optional. I know that Tati is going to be so happy when she receives so many birthday cards and sees how many people care about her.

Let's all gather our hearts and show Tati that there are so many amazing and caring people in this world that are willing to reach out and extend love and friendship to someone who needs and deserves it.

Tati's address is....

Tati Webb

1738 Lexington Ave

Apt 13G

New York, NY 10029

For those who decide to send Tati one of your beautifully handmade cards, a store bought card as it does not have to be handmade or a small gift I would LOVE to have photos so that I can post them on my blog to show off your beautiful and amazingly creative work. I also want to show you my appreciation that you are helping sweet Tati! We all are going to fill Tati's heart with love on this very special birthday and that is a gift that no money can buy.

Thank you ALL so much for taking the time to read about Therese and Tati. I hope that we can all put our hearts together and help make Tati's 11th birthday the best one ever!! I know that I have the BEST followers and blog readers ever and I know how huge your hearts are.

So, who is with me to show some love to sweet Tati??

Before I go I wanted to share an adorable video of Tati singing a Selena Gomez song. How cute is she?
Way to go Tati!!

Big Cricut Hugs To You ALL!!

~Terri

We R Memory Keepers Lucky 8 Punch How To Use Video Feat. Hallie

Today my sweet and beautiful little Hallie had both of my

We R Memory Keepers Lucky 8

punches out and was playing around with them.

If you can't see it here you can go on YouTube HERE.

(I had SO many issues trying to upload it on here. I spent literally 5 hours trying to get it loaded.)

Hallie LOVES anything that has to do with crafting and she is always grabbing my tools, paper, glitter and you name it.

Any time she can use her imagination is so great as I fully encourage her to be as creative as she wants to be.

And trust me when I say that Hallie is VERY creative.

Not too long ago I had promised that I would post a how to video showing how to use these great punches.

Since I have not had a chance to make it myself

there was no time like the present. So I got my Flip out and took a few videos of Hallie using both Lucky 8 punches.

Hallie did such a great job explaining how these punches work. I was very proud of her as any mom would be! It is kind of funny because she is about the size of the punches..lol. They are SO huge and she is so tiny!

Hallie is a little ham and she had no issues when I asked her to demonstrate how they work for a video that would be on Two Pink Peas. So we got to work and I took a few

videos of her while I was cooking dinner.

This was a serious multi task..lol.

But who are better at multi tasking then women??

Seriously though, it was no big deal.

These videos will show, explain & hopefully

help those of you who have not used them before

and those who have not bought them yet.

These punches are so versatile in that you can get 3 different looks with each punch. Hallie and I really love that the most.

I hope you enjoy watching my sweet little Hallie Bleu

demonstrate how to use these. She did a great job!

Thank you Hallie for being so brave & so willing to do this for mommy, Two Pink Peas and all of my blog readers and blog followers. Mommy is very, very proud of you!

Big Cricut Hugs! ~Terri & Hallie

We R Memory Keepers Lucky 8 Punch How To Video Feat. Hallie...

Today my sweet and beautiful little Hallie had both of my

We R Memory Keepers Lucky 8

punches out and was playing around with them.

To see the video click HERE. It is on YouTube.

(I had SO many issues trying to upload it on here. I spent literally 5 hours trying to get it loaded.)

Hallie LOVES anything that has to do with crafting and she is always grabbing my tools, paper, glitter and you name it.

Any time she can use her imagination is so great as I fully encourage her to be as creative as she wants to be.

And trust me when I say that Hallie is VERY creative.

Not too long ago I had promised that I would post a how to video showing how to use these great punches.

Since I have not had a chance to make it myself

there was no time like the present. So I got my Flip out and took a few videos of Hallie using both Lucky 8 punches.

Hallie did such a great job explaining how these punches work. I was very proud of her as any mom would be! It is kind of funny because she is about the size of the punches..lol. They are SO huge and she is so tiny!

Hallie is a little ham and she had no issues when I asked her to demonstrate how they work for a video that would be on Two Pink Peas. So we got to work and I took a few

videos of her while I was cooking dinner.

This was a serious multi task..lol.

But who are better at multi tasking then women??

Seriously though, it was no big deal.

These videos will show, explain & hopefully

help those of you who have not used them before

and those who have not bought them yet.

These punches are so versatile in that you can get 3 different looks with each punch. Hallie and I really love that the most.

I hope you enjoy watching my sweet little Hallie Bleu

demonstrate how to use these. She did a great job!

Thank you Hallie for being so brave & so willing to do this for mommy, Two Pink Peas and all of my blog readers and blog followers. Mommy is very, very proud of you!

Big Cricut Hugs! ~Terri & Hallie

Happy Spring Giveaway Added Goodies....

As promised I am posting the photos of the additional goodies that I am adding in my Happy Spring giveaway. Most of these items are halloween themed but I have SO many, tons actually of all of this stuff that I thought I would get rid of some of my stash. I am adding several Studio G punches, Glitter, Ink, adorable brads, chipboard and stickers. There is a possibility that I will continue to add more so I will keep this giveaway going for awhile. Let's see how big we can make this. One lucky person will get EVERYTHING in these photos and I may just add more goodies for you all!

To enter in this giveaway is easy. Just go HERE and leave me a comment and become a follower of Two Pink Peas on google friend connect. That's it.. easy peasy!

If you would like additional chances you are free to post this on your facebook, twitter, your blog either as a post or on your sidebar. Just make sure to leave me a comment on what you did and a link to it. Good luck to all of you. I wish I could give these goodies to all of you.

I hope that you all enjoy your day today and I am getting ready to post a how to video that Hallie made for you all showing how to use the We R Memory Keepers Lucky 8 punches. She did a GREAT job! I tried for hours last night to upload it but for some reason I was having major issues getting it to post. So I will try again now.

Thanks for stopping by Two Pink Peas.
Big Cricut Hugs!! ~Terri