Monday, June 29, 2009

I won an award!!!

This is the award I won from my friend Peggy. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you can "Encourage and Inspire" someone just by being YOU! Thank you, Peggy! I am truly honored.


Ian--Twenty weeks + 4 days


I'm behind on Ian's weekly update again! Better late than never, right?!
I had the opportunity to watch our little friend, Angelena, Friday morning. She is 10 days younger than Ian. I put them on a blanket on the floor together and Ian tried to grab her hair, cheek, shirt, and eventually found her hand. They were both so good, and I really enjoyed having an extra baby (especially a baby girl!) in the house for a few hours!
Ian is on the same schedule. He still eats every three hours, sleeps 11-12 hours at night, drinks 6 ounces, except he gets 7 ounces for his last bottle, smiles often, coos a lot, and remains a very pleasant baby.
New things...He found his toes!!! I love it when babies find their toes. He is beginning to laugh a little, too. He is officially in 6-12 month clothes, but doesn't have much room in them. He is one big boy!!!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Exhausted?


I guess VBS is wearing Ari out! This is the way he fell asleep this afternoon while watching a movie. I think everyone will be going to bed early tonight.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

What two year olds will do when mom steps out...

I went out to the garage to get something, then Roger called me over to see our watermelons, so I walked over to see them, and when I came back inside I heard water running, and found a certain two year old in the bathroom sink with no underwear, faucet running, and brushing his teeth. This little boy leaves me speechless...

Monday, June 22, 2009

A wee little update

Ian feels better!!! Praise the Lord!

Franklin: Moooooooommmmmm!!! I see a spider!!!
Me: Okay, I'll be there in a minute.
Franklin: That's okay, Mom. I just killed it with my hand. Here it is!
Ewwww....

Ari has an imaginary friend...I think. His name is John. Hmmmm...

Lauren: Mom, may I hold Ian. 1 minute later...Mom, would you pleeeeease take this big boy out of my arms? :-)

Miles: "May I have more chocolate soy milk, pweeze?" A constant question...

Lauren, Franklin and Ari started VBS this week. They loved it today. Lauren and Franklin have been talking about the songs with sign language they learned all day.

We had a second showing on our house today. They are deciding between our house and a new house. I have no idea what the difference is between the two. Our house is only 3 years old and in great condition. I'll have to post some pictures soon. We are praying HARD that it will sell!

I am sick...again. Actually, I have never been completely well. I keep getting different viruses. This is getting so old! It's kind of depressing.

Roger is already getting busy going to meetings that will help further his campaign. He won't get too busy yet, but that will come.

I'm off to take a break with a nice glass of water...

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Ian--Nineteen Weeks Old + 2 days


Look at the first picture of Ian's sad face. That is the face he has had a lot the past week. He is usually such a happy little guy...but not right now. He had a fever for three days this week and it even got to 103.5. His tummy has been hurting him and I have been changing some nasty diapers. I think he may have a stomach virus. He was up at 5:00 this morning and was not too happy. I cuddled him and gave him a bottle and he went back to sleep. I feel so bad for him. It's so hard when they can't tell you what is wrong, so you don't know what to do to help them.
He's been having a hard time taking naps, as well.
On another note...Ian went to the beach for the first time Thursday. He was fussy, so he didn't care about it, but at least he was there. My friend, Nicole, who I grew up with was vacationing in Daytona Beach, so we met up with her and her husband and their families and had a fun time on the beach.
Poor little Ian...:-(

Friday, June 19, 2009

Free Clippies, and a new friend, too!

I love my new friend, Elisa! I grew up with her husband, who was more like a brother then a friend...fighting and all! I'm so glad Johnny married Elisa! She is a true sweetheart!

Hop on over to her blog (seabafive.blogspot.com) to get to know her and for the chance to win some hair clips for the favorite little girl in your life. She does a fabulous job on her clips!!! They are the cutest I've seen, and far better than any store clips I've seen!

You're the best, Elisa!!!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Our Big Announcement

ROGER IS RUNNING FOR STATE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

My little stair steps




Pictures!





The Fruits/Vegetables of our labor

Roger planted a garden this year. It was our first garden! We have tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, carrots, and green beans. We've tried growing canteloupe and watermelon, but didn't have enough bees around to pollinate for fruit production. Our entire family has had so much fun watching it grow and picking new vegetables each day. We have enjoyed our home-grown vegetables every night for dinner. We've nearly become vegetarians recently!!! We love it!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A lesson learned

I am sick...very sick. It started last Tuesday with a scratchy throat, then a sore throat, then an extremely sore throat that hurt so bad I couldn't eat anything. I have lost 4 pounds in the last week. It wasn't getting any better, so I went to a walk-in clinic this morning. (Roger was going to take the kids to church this morning, except Ian, but Franklin began vomiting. He has been fine the rest of the day.) I was at the clinic at 8:30, but found out it didn't open until nine. There were already 5 men standing at the front door smoking, so I waited in the van. Then, more and more cars drove up, so I decided to get in line. When they opened the doors at 9:00 there were 17 people waiting to get in. Crazy!
Hang in there with me...the "lesson learned" is coming...
I get to the receptionist who is not very friendly, and some would say is not even nice. I was kind and polite, which most people are probably not, since they are waiting in a long line and know that it may be a few hours before they see the doctor. I listened and watched her as she handled each patient that walked in the door. She wasn't nice to anyone...sadly.
(on a side note: I have a bacterial infection in the glands in my neck, and a viral infection in my throat that has caused several ulcers to form on my throat, and in the back of my mouth and tongue. My throat hurts so bad that I still can't eat anything other than jello. It's miserable!)
On with the story:
Next, I went to CVS to get a prescription filled. The ladies at the pharmacy were pleasant, but business-like. I sat next to the pharmacy waiting for my prescription to be filled when an older black gentleman came by in his motorized wheel chair. He didn't look like a man of means. He had on dirty, tattered pants and an old shirt. He wasn't wearing shoes, but had on white socks. His feet looked large. He hadn't shaved in days, nor had he probably showered. BUT, this is where the lesson comes in...As he drove by me to go to the bathroom and looked me straight in the eyes, and with pure kindness, love, and compassion he said, "I sure hope you feel better soon," and then he drove by. This was a person that I probably would not have looked at twice, but he didn't look above or below me...he looked into my soul and I could feel his compassion. He was kind...to me. He didn't ignore me because I was young, or a woman, or sick, or white...
I was just another person he felt compassion for. Wow! That really made me think. How often do I treat people better because they look like they have more money, or they are pretty, or smell good, or seem really nice...not just because they are a person.
Then I remembered this story...(I know this is long, but keep reading because it may be a "lesson learned" for you, too!)
At a community college there was a really long line for admissions. Students were getting frustrated at how long they had been standing there...over an hour. A gentleman that worked for the college saw how long the line was and wondered why it was moving so slowly and how long it was taking to get through, so he decided to get in line and wait with the students. After an hour of waiting he finally got to the front of the line where the young receptionist was speaking on her cell phone while doing her job. When she looked up and saw who was next she was completely embarrassed, got off the phone immediately, and said, "Oh, Dr. King (President of the college) I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were waiting in line. What can I do for you?" He smiled and said, "You can treat everyone as though they are Dr. King." He calmly walked away.
Do you get that? The Bible tells us that we are to treat everyone as better than ourselves. Oh, how I miserably fail at times. I was reminded this morning. Lesson learned...again.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Ian--Eighteen Weeks Old


My little sleeping chubby-cheeked beauty is Eighteen Weeks Old. He had his four month check-up this afternoon and was so good and smiley until they gave him two shots and a liquid to drink. Poor baby! I hate shots!
So, as for his stats...He is one BIG boy! He weighed 17 pounds, and was 26 inches. That puts him in the 90th percentile for height and weight. No wonder he is growing out of his 3-6 month pj's.
He is on the same schedule...He gets his first bottle between 7-7:30 each morning and then every three hours until his last bottle at 7:30 at night. He goes right to sleep when I put him in bed.
We do have something new to share this week...Ian is a thumb sucker! It's cute! I never thought I would say that, but it really is. Actually, I swore I would never have a thumb sucker, but Lauren started sucking her thumb at 7-8 weeks. I tried to cover her hands, but she would find a way to uncover them. I put her in a gown that had the hands covered, but she worked her entire body out of the gown until it was over her face. After the second time she did that I was too concerned about her safety and decided she could suck her thumb. Franklin was a pacifier baby until I took it away at 11 months, Ari sucks on his tongue when he gets tired, Miles is a thumb sucker, and now I have my third thumb sucker...Never say never!
Since Ian is doing so well the doctor told me I have up until 6 months to start him on solids. Thankfully, he is very relaxed in this area and didn't pressure me to start right away. Even if he had pressured me I still would have waited. Ian is fine, and it adds more work to my day to feed cereal, so I will wait.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Ian--Seventeen Weeks (one day before 4 months!)




Ian will be four months old tomorrow! I weighed him on a friend's baby scale yesterday and he weighed a little over 16 pounds. Sixteen pounds???!!! Oh my!
He still eats 6-7 ounces every 3-3.5 hours during the day. He drinks his last bottle at 7:30, goes to bed, and gets up around 7:00 (sometimes a little earlier and sometimes a little later) in the morning.
Miles was ready to move to a big bed, so I set up the bunkbeds in Lauren's room on Tuesday, moved the crib mattress up for Ian, switched clothes to the appropriate rooms, and did the big switcheroo! Ian loves his crib and sleeps very well in this "new" room. Miles is really happy, with his new bed, too!