Allow me to introduce myself...

This will probably be a rather long post.  I am a talker (even though I know this isn't technically "talking") and sometimes I don't know when to stop.

As I said before, my name is Alane.  I was born and raised in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, a small city about twenty minutes from New Orleans.  And just because I'm from the NOLA area does NOT mean I go there and party.  I'm actually a homebody who spends most weekends cooking, cleaning, and being entertained by my wild neighbors.

I was the person who always said they would never have a child.  But nine years ago on Saint Patrick's Day I found I was pregnant and had just started my second semester of college.  Here I was young, naive, and unprepared to take on life for myself and I was going to bring another life in the world.  I was petrified.  Thankfully I had (AND STILL DO, THANK GOD!) the support of her dad, my family, and his family.  Her name is Abigail Josephine Dykes and I wouldn't trade her for the world.  I see so much of myself in her and she is the reason I wake up every day, go to school, and do what I do.  I want to show her that you can do anything you want as long as you are passionate about it and work hard for it.

This is an older picture of her, but I just LOVE it.  She is such a doll!  I know every parent brags on their kids, but I feel Abigail has earned every bit of bragging.  She hasn't had a "typical" childhood.  When she was born, she had a large red mark on her left thigh.  The doctors said it was a hemangioma, a type of birthmark that would go away as she got older and shouldn't give her any problems.  SHOULDN'T.  They gave us a referral to a dermatologist at Children's Hospital in New Orleans just to check things out.  They couldn't have been farther from the truth.  They did a biopsy of her leg and found out this wasn't just ANY red mark.  This is Kaposiform Hemangioendothelioma (KHE).  It is a VERY RARE benign tumor that traps blood platelets.  It's not cancerous, but they ultimately treated her with two eight week treatments of chemotherapy when she was two years old.  She had the best group of doctors EVER that did ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING they could for her.  Thankfully now she goes to CHNOLA (Children's Hospital New Orleans) annually for blood tests and everything is fine now.  But yeah...that's why I feel she deserves EXTRA BRAGGING RIGHTS.

I have a pretty awesome boyfriend/baby daddy/fiance' too.  His name is Emmett and we have been together since the end of my sophomore year in high school, so this year makes twelve years together.  Without him, I wouldn't have Abigail and wouldn't have somebody to keep me on my toes, to make me laugh, and be my rock.  We will get married, but I'd rather get done ultimately with school before I start planning a wedding and he loves and respects me for it.  

Another older picture, from about two years ago.  I'm BAD about keeping pictures!  :(

But a little more about me...I attend Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans.  Small college, close to home, and awesome people and teachers there.  I couldn't ask for a better school to go to.  I am excited to say that I'll be graduating on May 19 with my Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts.  Don't laugh, I'm not gonna be a Liberal Arts major working at a burger joint.  I am returning to OLHCC in the fall to major in Radiologic Technology and minor in English.  I go to school part time and work 3/4 of the time at an AWESOME company named Belle Chasse Marine.  I've been there for almost seven years now and I really couldn't ask for a better place to work at.  They worked out my schedule for me while Abby was going through chemo and they're allowing me to work flexible hours so that I may go to school.  I have made some awesome friends there and I'll be so sad when I leave when I'm REALLY done with school.


One more member of my family that I must mention in the most recent addition.  Her name is Lola Belle.  She is almost a year old and is like a second child to me.  She has filled all the voids we've had in our life and brings such joy and happiness to our family.

We adopted her from a local rescue named Puppy Power Rescue.  We think she is a mix of beagle and Jack Russell terrier.  Whatever she is, we love her with all our hearts!

I guess I will stop here because it's taken me three days just to write what I have here!  :)  I know I have plenty of opportunities to write more and I promise to be good and write on a regular basis.

I'd like to end with a nice quote that I think describes me well...