Memaw

Today is officially one of the worst ever. My Memaw told me today that she has to have an Electrophysiology Study done on her heart on Tuesday. To make matters worse, the DR that is doing it said he’s fairly certain she’ll need to have a pacemaker installed. The good news, since every cloud MUST have a silver lining, is that he told her it’s lucky they caught this early. He said usually this sort of thing is caught in the ER when a patient has to have an emergency pacemaker installed. So yeah, I suppose we could call that good news. But I’m writing this to ask for prayers for her. She always acts as though things are OK when everyone around her knows different. And of course, her first thought was not of herself but of me and my family. She wondered how we were going to be able to have the kids taken care of if she had the procedure done, with me only having 3 weeks of school left. She also seemed more concerned about being able to help out with them and watching them when I start work than she was about herself and the complications she could face. I don’t know that I’ve ever known anyone more selfless and giving than her. She has put her heart and soul into my family this year, and she’s gone way above and beyond anything anyone could ever expect or ask anyone to do. I cannot help but feel that her worsening cardiac status is somehow my fault. She’s been put under so much stress and strain this year, and it’s all my fault. Well, not ALL my fault…there is at least one other person to blame for a lot of stress, but that’s another story and a different blog. She’s taken care of our kids at least two days a week, and usually more like 3 while I’m at school and Michael is at work. She’s very rarely complained. And she works like a dog when she’s here – she’s constantly cleaning this or straightening that or even washing something. Good grief, it’s like having our own personal maid. And the thing is : I LOVE that she does it, but I HATE it too. She drives me nuts because she won’t just sit there and do nothing but watch the kids play. She tells me she feels like something needs to be done and she’s going to do it. I can’t fault her for it, it’s just her nature. I hope that if she does have to have a pacemaker installed, that the procedure goes smoothly and she has no complications. She sure could use all the prayers you can give right now. And so could I. I’m thankful for family and friends to help us through this right now. Everything happens Tuesday December 5th at 7 am. Yeah, that’s the day after my 27th birthday…gee willikers I’m getting old. But again, a different story for a different blog. Thanks for the prayers y’all, they mean the world to us.

Turkey Day

The “BIG T” yeah, that’s right people…yours truly is attempting a TURKEY!! You heard it right, and you heard it first here : Thanksgiving day at MY house with my little family and I’M doing all the cooking….I cannot wait to see how it all comes out. I’ll post some in situ pictures, so to speak. Here’s the menu (it’s OK to drool, just don’t get it on your keyboard OK??) :

Turkey stuffed with great yummy stuffing
Dressing (called dressing when it’s not inside the turkey & stuffing when it is)
Green bean casserole (face it, what is Thanksgiving without it?)
Mashed potatoes (whipped, actually…I can’t wait!!)
Gravy
Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
Iced tea

Oh yeah…I just really can’t wait!

We’ll start the morning off with cranberry orange muffins, sausage balls and coffee.

Look for the fun pictures to be posted tomorrow or Friday!!

WHO ARE YOU???? WHO WHO WHO WHO...

Yeah, so Michael and I TOTALLY went to see The Who last night. It was the most fun I've had in a single night in a long time! Special thanks to KC for the tickets, he REALLY hooked us up...SERIOUSLY!!!! The seats were awesome, the concert was incredible and even though our tickets said "no cameras allowed" when we arrived we found we could take flash or no flash stills...so I whipped out the Motorola Razr which takes surprisingly decent pics!! The distance of the photos doesn't do our actual distance justice, but you'll get the picture.

On a different note (but the same night...) we had our very first babysitter last night!!! It was awesome...THANK YOU ERIN!!!!!! We couldn't have had this much fun without you!!!!

Cool Slideshows

November Kiddos

Cool Slideshows

Today was a good day

Today has been a good day. My mom and Toby took Daniel to the circus…he LOVED it…apparently. Not only did he love it, so did Toby! I’ve actually never seen him that excited about anything before. Daniel couldn’t get enough of them! I was so incredibly touched by the fact that they took him, because it means so much for him to have a relationship with his grandparents. There’s really only so much we can do as his parents, we need his grandparents/great-grandparents to help out. Being a grandparent is really so much more than just a name. I really can’t express how much it meant to me today. I only hope they continue to do things like that…even taking him to the park or something, just anything to spend some time with him. He had an absolute BLAST. As soon as Mom emails me pictures, I’ll post them!!

I LOVE MY KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll put some pictures of them up on the family pics site…when I get them uploaded.

In defense of "STUPIDITY"

In defense of “stupidity” and those of us that affects…

Hey, I’ve got friends who serve in the military…friends who have served in the military…and probably my son or his friends (or maybe my daughter or her friends) will serve in the military. Heck, I was even about yay close to joining the Army myself! I have NOTHING against the troops, and I have NOTHING against those good, brave souls fighting over there. I am WELL AWARE that “Freedom isn’t Free” and I know exactly what is at stake in this war we are fighting. Guess what (and here’s the shocker) : I HATE this war. I think we long ago lost sight of what it was “supposed” to be about, and it has become something we have to “prove.” We are all of us Americans. We are all of us FREE. There are good boys, girls, men, and women over there in the Middle East. I am aware of the fact that were it not for someone willing to die for Freedom I wouldn’t have the ability to sit here writing this.

So, in defense of “stupidity” or “un-patriotism” as some like to call it, I’m writing this…because I have the right to do it. I have the right to hate this war. I have the right to hate the fact that I have friends whose children are growing up without a father around because he chose to join the military. I think there is a misconception going around about folks in the military : there is this idea that they’re somehow brainwashed. I happen to disagree with that particular sentiment, I don’t think people who are in the military are brainwashed any more than people who choose to be police officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, doctors, etc. Those people who put their lives on the line every day…for the sake of someone else. But you know what? I’m tired of hearing about another innocent soldier who lost his or her life to some senseless war in a foreign country. WE invaded THEM. Sure, we saw to it that Saddam got what he deserved…great. Good job, W. (Insert eye rolley thing here.) But at what cost?? How many hundreds and thousands of lives could have been spared had we simply done something a little bit different? But hey, I’m not bashing the troops so don’t send out your little hate mail to me! I happen to have a deep seated love for the troops. I think they’re brave. I think they’re heroes. But I think this war is stupid. So my “Support The Troops” is : BRING THEM HOME NOW!! Yeah, we’re there…yeah we started something we probably can’t finish…but the sooner we try the sooner we get our young men and women home safely where they belong. Or are they going to always be there in some form? Is this another Korea? I hope not…look where that got us.

Yes, you can HATE the war and LOVE the troops. You can loathe W with all of your heart and still support the troops. They are not one and the same. I do not understand Senator Kerry’s comment any more than I understand the backlash it caused. He’s entitled to his opinions, and I truly believe that he misspoke (which is something W supporters are fond of saying he does…frankly, I think his brain just doesn’t work quite right) and is genuinely sorry for the way things came out. Kerry himself served in the military. But does he have a point? Are there kids out there who see no other way to better themselves than by joining the armed forces? After all, isn’t that one of the biggest selling points : we’ll pay for college! How many inner city and low income youths see College as their tickets out? And just how many can afford College on their own? Probably not many, y’all. So yeah, I think I understand the thought behind Kerry’s comment…but I agree : exactly what he said was idiotic, and he’s apologized. But come on, there are those of us in this country who have had to give a lot of credit to the President, that he didn’t (IMHO) deserve. Is it too much to ask for the same for John Kerry? I don’t think so. After all, fool me once………

Update

Saturday 11/11/06….too early to decorate for Christmas? Something tells me NO, and that means that on Saturday I’m going to put our Christmas tree up. I can’t wait!! I really want to decorate the house well this year and the earlier I start the better. Especially since we are going to have Thanksgiving at our house this year.

Michael’s car is quite possibly not fixable. We thought it was fixed but it is having the same problem again, so it’s back in the shop. I’m just afraid to hear how much more it’s going to cost. We just cannot afford to keep fixing that stupid car, it’s worthless!! If a car can’t even perform its basic function of getting you from point A to point B, is it of any use to anyone? Nope. It’s worth more in the repaired parts than the whole stupid car put together. I’m just fed up with it!

I only have about 28 days of school left! That makes me really happy, and I’m going to start putting in the applications again. I’m hanging all of my hopes on Cook’s but we’ll see. I know I could possibly get hired at Kindred in the ICU, which would be a great option for me…give me some ICU experience while I get my RN/BSN. We’ll see. I just pray that I get a hospital/acute setting job that pays well. This has been a rough year and I thank GOD it’s almost over. We just have to make it 6 more weeks…

6 more weeks…
6 more weeks…

Everyone chant it with me…

6 more weeks…
6 more weeks…
6 more weeks…

December 22, here I come!! (I’m trying to talk Michael into going away over Christmas. I think he and I deserve the time to ourselves, but I guess we’ll have to find out if we’ll be able to or not. As of right now, it just seems impossible…but we’ll see!)

Just Not Hungry

I’ve been experiencing something strange lately. It’s something I’ve not experienced since before I was pregnant with Daniel. I am NOT hungry. This is not simply because I just don’t want to eat, it’s actually something I really don’t want to do…I just do not want to eat. If I have a twinge of hunger then I eat, but it doesn’t take very much to fill me up. I’m looking back at my craving Texas de Brazil post, and even that isn’t making me hungry. It’s bothering me.

I was anorexic for a long time. I withheld food from myself on purpose. I didn’t feel like this. This is weird…it’s almost like my body feels that I’ve been stuffing it so full of food for so long now it’s just tired and wants a break! I can understand that! We’re going to eat on Saturday at Lonesome Dove…I hope I’m hungry by then.

Sometimes things smell good, and I’ll eat a bite or two. I even ate a small bowl of Bebe’s dumplings on Sunday at lunch. But today we went to Babe’s, which NORMALLY I love…the kids ate more than me!! Even Memaw ate more and that is saying something. I just got really full, really fast. It’s not scaring me…yet

Anyway I’m sure there will be an appetite in my near future. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just sit back and enjoy the money I’m saving on groceries ;)

"ARRRRRR Ladies!!"

He hasn't quite mastered the word "matey" so he says "ladies..." which is actually a lot more accurate. What a lady killer!!!

My Boodley Doodley

I love my children. They bring great joy into my life, in ways I could never have imagined. They honestly are my reason for waking up in the morning, and my reason for succeeding at what I'm trying to do. My children are my everything, they are so important to me and no matter what I always put them first. Their well being and their welfare is more important than anything else. It's amazing that someone who has been as selfish as me their entire life can become someone completely selfless (well, when it comes to my children that is). Yeah, it's pretty amazing.

But then again, my kids are amazing!


Oh yeah, and Michael ain't half bad himself ;) I'll blog later about the crap he's dealing with at school right now. UGH

"...and Zoe be a parrot"

I had really thought I'd be able to "forget" the whole pirate/parrot thing for Halloween. No such luck, though!! I made the mistake of telling Daniel, or as I like to call him "my little elephant," that he could be a pirate and Zoe could be a parrot for Halloween. He reminds me daily of the fact. In fact, he tells everyone he meets in about five seconds that he's going to be a pirate for Halloween, "and Zoe be a parrot!" So, I finally found him a cool Pirate costume and I am making Zoe's parrot costume. She's actually going to be more of an abstract parrot than a recognizable parrot. We'll see...I'm going to work on it tomorrow night when I have some time.

Michael has night time rehearsals for his fall show at school all this week. My nightly projects, while waiting for him to get home :

Tonight : clean out and reorganize the fridge/freezer
Tomorrow : he'll be home, so nothing
Wednesday : laundry, and do Zoe's costume
Thursday : homework/studying
Friday : make a yummy dinner for late night dinner and movie night with Michael when he gets home, along with my famous "adult" fruit slushies. :)

Saturday night we're taking the kiddos to Boo at the Zoo, I'm excited because we took Daniel last year, and I think he was still a wee bit too young to realize what it was all about. Then Sunday night is the Live Theatre League bowling party...Michael and I are going in period costumes. It started out as pirates, but ended up him looking more like King Charles, and I am wearing a great dress with pannes and it'll be a bear to bowl in but who cares?!?! I'm excited.

Monday I'm off school, WOO HOO and then Tuesday is Halloween. I think I'm going to take the kids with Bebe to the little township firehall festival. It'll be fun for the kiddos, especially Daniel.

I think I've killed quite a bit of time, and now I can safely bathe Daniel and he'll go on to bed without much fight since he's practically asleep beside me on the bed. Zoe's already asleep...her nap was early today so she was in bed by 6. My little wonder miracle sleeper baby!! She's the best little sleeper EVER. Daniel is getting there...we've had a little backsliding the last few days, though. He doesn't want to stay in his room if the sun is still up, so we have to deal with that. Poor little guy. I wish he'd just stay in his bed until morning! He startled me awake Sunday morning when he opened our bedroom door and came in shouting "GOOD MORNING MOMMY!!!!" What a little trickster. It's good night time for little man. I'm going to post a video of him "reading" me his story book earlier tonight. It's way too cute for words.

Daniel, The Last Year

Create Your Own!

Zoe's slide show Birthday Party Fun

Create Your Own!

What a difference a YEAR makes!!

October 12, 2005
October 12, 2006
I threw this one in because it's such a funny face!!

One year ago (yesterday, really) our lives were graced by the birth of the beautiful Zoe Elizabeth. She came into this world in distress, weighing a little over 6 pounds and today she is a wonderfully happy and extremely happy 23 pound bouncy baby girl. Well, she's not really a baby anymore but she sure is bouncy! She's 31" tall, too! She's wearing size 12 mos clothing, and she has the sweetest disposition a mom could ask for. She sleeps 12 hours during the night, and she goes to bed without complaining (much) every night. She loves her sleep!! She's the cutest little girl ever, and she LOVES to dance. She'll get up on one foot with the knee bent and the other knee underneath her, raise her arms and "conduct" while she bounces to the beat. She LOVES "The Little Mermaid," which she got for her Birthday. And we got her Cinderella too, so we'll see what she thinks about that. Daniel has a crush on the Little Mermaid...it's so cute!

She's wonderful, we're Blessed, and most important of all : SHE'S HEALTHY!!!! Thank GOD

Zoe's Birthday Party!

She enjoyed her birthday cake more than her brother did on his first birthday!! She's SO CUTE!!!! Her Birthday is Wednesday, in honor of that day I'll post more pics and a long post about her, too