Welcome to Team NeMO!

Hi Y'all! I'm Paige :)  Welcome to my little space on the World Wide Web where I get to share about my life and everything that comes with it.  The incredibly adorable things the boys do, the incredibly naughty things the boys do, living with NMO and trying to not let it affect my day to day life, and how sometimes, despite my best efforts, how NMO kicks my butt.  My desperate desire to go on a vacation with my husband, recipes I try and the family likes, things I like to do, projects I attempt (the successes and failures), homeschooling the boys.... just life in general.  If I have time to write about it, you get the pleasure of reading about it.

Myself, Zachary, Paul, and Braden - Manhattan Beach, CA. July 2012.

A little about "us" I am a sorta wife.  I mean it's not that we don't want to get married, we just have not got around to it.  Paul and I have a backwards life, has it worked out for us - YES! In every aspect he is my other half, but would I recommend how we did things to anyone else, NEVER in a million years!  So for all intents and purposes, I am a wife, and Paul is my husband.  I am a stay at home mom to our 2 boys, I cook, I clean, I do it all - I am a WIFE! - And now that we are all clear on that, moving along...

Quick story while we are on the topic: Paul and I met in college.  He was a super super senior (24 years old) and I was a 17 year old freshman.  I got pregnant with Braden at 18, had him when I was 19 - and it was a horribly emotional pregnancy.  I moved back home (to Colorado) to be closer to my family.  Paul stayed in San Diego, where he is from and where he had been working since graduating.  Long story short - After Braden was born, he moved out to Colorado to be with us, and we lived with my parents for about a year.  Deciding if "us" was something we wanted.  I was finishing up with school.  We were learning to be parents. And so much more during that time.  Let's just say it was a crazy year!  Anyways, fast forward 4 years and we are here today, still standing, but through our fair share of ups and downs.

Braden, was born in August 2008.  After living with my parents (and younger twin sisters who were still in high school might I add), we bought a little 3 bedroom condo down the street, and a few months after moving, we found out we were pregnant with #2.  Zachary was born in September 2010 (he was actually planned!).  We wanted to give Braden a sibling, and since Paul and I were in a good place, we wanted to start growing our family.  I graduated from college with a BS in Business Marketing a month before Zachary was born (go mom!).  Both of these little guys are the greatest things that have happened to Paul and I, both individually, and as a couple.

Braden Richard - August 7, 2008

Zachary Charles - September 22, 2010

Then the madness of our lives began.  I will try to keep this short and sweet and not ramble on too much....

A few months after Zachy was born, I started getting sick, really sick.  What started out as headaches and being tired all the time, slowly turned into muscle aches and paralysis in the lower half of my body.  The first few signs and symptoms I thought nothing of, I was a mom of a 2 year old and 2 month old - of course I am tired, of course I have headaches, of course my eyes hurt.  I eventually ended up in the ICU for about a week on a heavy, heavy does of steroids, and then moved to a recovery center where I had to learn to walk again.  What was originally diagnosed as MS, turned into a diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) a few months later (we are now in March of 2011 for those of you keeping a timeline).  All I can say is we have the best family and the greatest support system there is.  It takes a village to take care of a sick mama and 2 little boys. 

So at that point in life: I was a new mom of 2 boys, have an incredibly rare disease, and, oh yeah, my parents were getting ready to move to Texas in July!

Now, I am walking, running, only have minimal sight loss, and am other wise really healthy.  I stay at home with the boys while the hubby goes to work for us.  We attempt homeschooling, and really like to go out to lunch with friends ;)  Every day is a learning experience for each of us.

A few months ago, I started this blog to keep my family and friends in touch with the happenings in our lives.  If I made phone calls to everyone about the cute little things the boys do everyday I would not have time to sleep! I have tried to do this a few times before and really have never been extremely successful {I would define success in this case as staying active in writing things} I would post photos every couple months or so, and would always forget to remind people to go check out the latest updates.

So now I am making this blog a little more, and the adventure begins....