His Mercy Endureth Forever

Free Family Fun Night

2012-01-22T22:08:00.000-05:00

Over the last year or so we, like many other families, have cut back on a lot of luxuries in an effort to save money. One of the frivolities is going out, whether for dinner, or the movies or some other activity that the kids enjoyed doing that usually involved spending big bucks! We started having Friday Movie Night at home. Sometimes we will download a movie on the PS3, other times we will just watch one of the gazillion movies we already own. We also try to do a fun dinner at the house, that we wouldn't normally have during the week, such as hot dogs over the fire pit (very cheap meal...yet fun family time) or fondue. But we are always looking for other options for an inexpensive evening out. One that we have found to be a true winner in our household is the Campfire Movie at Ft. Wilderness (Walt Disney World Resort). I know it's hard to believe that anything Di$ney related could be free. Not to worry, there are definitely ways to spend money during this evening out...but it is also possible to have a completely free evening (if you don't count the gas $ spent coming and going).

(we did splurge on a box of popcorn)

Ft. Wilderness Campground is one of Disney's resorts. They play a Disney movie (rated G or PG) every single night in a big outdoor campfire setting. They have stadium seating set up in the very back. They have some "log" style benches in the middle and then they have a big open area for laying blankets down to watch the movie. Parking is FREE! Bus ride to the Meadows Trading Post (a.k.a. Campfire) FREE! Entrance to movie FREE! Best of all you can bring your own snacks and drinks (or you can purchase some from the snack bar). You can bring your own Smore's ingredients and roast them over the camp fire (or you can purchase some from the snack bar).

The late Fall/Winter is definitely the best time of year to go. The crowds are not too big. The weather is gorgeous. Plus the movie starts and hour earlier than it does in the Summer months (due to longer daylight hours). This website lists the months movie schedule so you pick the best movie/date to take the family. Camp fire is lit at 6:30pm, Chip and Dale perform around 7pm and then the movie starts at 7:40 (times about an hour later in the summer months).

We took the kids on Friday night and saw the movie Brother Bear. Which was awesome because it had been YEARS since the kids had seen it they didn't even remember what the movie was about. So it was like taking them to a new release. We love living this close to Disney. We have taken advantage of the Campfire movie on a number of occasions and the kids enjoy themselves each time.

(waiting for the bus)

Reflecting...

2012-01-20T14:08:00.001-05:00

I've been reflecting today. Reflecting on parenthood. More specifically, motherhood. I know all mother's deal with guilt at one time or another, but sometimes I truly feel like I'm on an island. A friend of mine recently left her full time job to stay at home with her three kids. I am well aware that although this is the life(being a mom) I have always dreamed of and wouldn't change my "career" for anything in the world, I know that I was raised in this environment so it wasn't a foreign concept to me. However, so many people were not brought up in a household where Mom was at home through out the day. So for them to make a decision to stay at home with their kids, it is probably a much bigger struggle. I decided to write my friend some words of encouragement in her upcoming journey. And her reply caught me by surprise somewhat. She called me "Super Mom". And as I read this I both laughed and cringed at the same time.

Now, I'm not going to lie and I'm going to try to say this without sounding like I'm bragging. But I've been called this before. And sure it makes my ego feel good to hear someone say this about me, but in all actuality when I hear this I am secretly rolling my eyes or snorting in sarcasm. Because when I hear these words said about me, I instantly think "wow, I must really have them fooled if they think I'm a great mom!" My mind instantly starts replaying the fact that I totally lost my cool with the kids over a dirty sock left in the bathroom, or the dinner of frozen chicken nuggets and canned green beans I fed my family one night or the ginormous pile of clothes waiting to be ironed for the last month and a half. Even my dear sweet hubby tells me ALL. THE. TIME. what a great mom I am and I just stare at him in disbelief...because he actually lives with me. He hears me rant and holler over the dirty sock in the bathroom. He eats the frozen chicken nugget meal with canned green beans. He digs his clothes out of that massive pile and irons something himself.

So I ask, how do we combat this enormous guilt we are plagued with as mothers?

1. Try to focus on what we HAVE accomplished in a day/week/month:

"Finally, brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

2. Be grateful for each and every situation you are in:

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Philippians 4:4-6

3. Turn to Christ and His Word in our moments of weakness:

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corr. 12:9

Yes, I will still have days where I feed my family a less than gourmet dinner. And yes, I will still have days where I go all Archie Bunker on the kiddos. And you can bet your biscuits there might be a day where I don't invite you in because of the entire contents of our kitchen may still be sitting in the sink with leftover chicken nuggets and canned green beans hardened into a crusty layer. But, I know that in a few years I will look back upon a quiet/clean house and say thank you Lord for giving me this life.

A note from teacher

2012-01-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, Brady's teacher sent a note home to me. I don't know about anyone else, but anytime a note comes home that is stapled closed and addressed to "the Parents of Brady Johnson" my heart skips a little beat.

Here is what the letter said:

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson,

I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how proud I am of Brady. He has been working very hard in reading and math. As a result he is making steady progress in both areas. He has a great personality, and I can always count on him to break out the dance moves.

Sincerely,

"His Teacher"

And in case you have forgotten how cool his moves are, check out this old post!

Change your blog roll...

2012-01-11T09:33:00.000-05:00

Just in case you all didn't realize, Rachel A. has moved to a new blog site. Please make sure you update her on your list. Her new blog is also in my sidebar. It's called Ever Growing. She's an amazing gal who has some great things on her blog!

1994 - Eternity

2012-01-08T00:00:00.006-05:00

18 years ago I was just 18 years old. 18 years ago I married my soul mate. 18 years ago I envisioned this fantasy of what our marriage would be like. And 18 years later I am living every girls dream! Happy anniversary to my favorite husband in the world...oh wait, he's my one and only!

16 Week Update

2012-01-07T12:35:00.001-05:00

This pregnancy is really flying by! I had my 16 week checkup this week and everything is going very well. My OB came in to the exam room with the doppler and listened to the baby's heartbeat for a good amount of time. Then he said "boy...dark hair...right handed!" I asked him if this was his official prediction and he laughed and said "Oh those are just a bunch of old wives tales, they don't mean a thing." So of course that evening I told the kids what the doctor had said and Brady (who has decided he likes being the only boy in the family and wants another sister) said "MAAAANNNN, when I wanted a boy I got a girl. Now that I want a girl it's going to be a boy!" I tried to explain to him that the doctor was just being silly and he had no idea if it was a boy or a girl. But Brady is convinced that since the doctor predicted it to be a boy, then it must be. We scheduled the BIG ultrasound for January 31. But don't get your hopes up because we are not going to find out the gender. We are however, going to check the kids out of school early that day so they can go with us. I'm trying to post a gender poll on my side bar, if I have any readers left after my long hiatus, feel free to vote. The big reveal will be sometime in June! :)

Flashback Friday

2012-01-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

Abbey - 1 1/2 years old

Brady - 1 1/2 years old

Kinley - 1 1/2 years old

Day 5 of the Daniel Fast

2012-01-05T23:16:00.000-05:00

Matthew is doing awesome on the Daniel Fast. Not only has he not had any caffeine or sugar since Sunday, but he's still been a relatively nice guy to live with (ha ha - no seriously, I haven't seen any grumpiness at all). And as an added bonus, he's been doing all the dinner time cooking this week. Matthew LOVES to cook and he is really good at it. I can only tell you the jist of what he made, because he rarely follows a recipe and just adds stuff here and there as he goes. Here are the meals we have had so far this week:

Sunday (lunch at church): Roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts with onions and garlic. The recipe in the book called this a Roasted Potato Salad, but his was more like roasted vegetables (it was not served cold)

Monday: Chipotle Chili - MMMMMMMMM. This was D-Lish! Kidney beans, black beans fresh tomatoes and all kinds of good seasonings. We served these over Tostito brand corn chips which have no other preservatives in them, several of the websites we looked at said these were allowed, but after rethinking it we are pretty sure they are probably fried and not baked. So if we have this again during the fast period, Matthew will have to leave these off. This meal was a hit with the kids too.

Tuesday: Whole wheat spaghetti and fresh marinara sauce. Again made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms, basil and I'm sure some other stuff that I'm leaving out. We did put butter on mine and the kids pasta, but Matthew went sans butter! The kids devoured it. It was Uh-May-ZING!

Wednesday: Leftovers.

Thursday: Stuffed bell peppers made with black beans and whole grain brown rice. Matthew and I thought they were very good, the kids however were not big fans of the peppers. But they "choked" it down and got two desserts for their efforts! :)

I have to say...I was not looking forward to the brown rice and whole wheat pasta. But so far the meals have been great. I can see ourselves making the switch (maybe not 100% of the time) to whole grain/wheat for the future. If you want more details on any of these recipes, let me know and I will be happy to try and pin Matthew down on the specifics! Happy Healthy Eating Ya'll!

Fellow Bloggie...Check it out!

2012-01-04T15:59:00.001-05:00

One of my dearest friends is this amazing photographer. She has recently decided to further pursue her amazing talent. If you live in the Lakeland area and need a photographer, check her out. You can see her blog/portfolio here and also keep updated on her new stuff by clicking on her blog link in my side bar. We are going to have her do some family pictures as well as some newborn pictures as soon as the newest member of the family arrives. You can be certain I will be sharing those with you all this summer.

Relationship Status...

2012-01-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

Dear 6 a.m.

We have been in a very committed relationship for the last 4 months. I realize you must feel like I have abandoned you over the last two weeks. But I just want to say, it's not you it's me. I needed to take some time to regroup, reorganize and reevaluate our relationship. Although I may have spent a lot of time with 8 a.m. and even flirted with 9 a.m. a couple of times, you were never far from my mind. However, after this two week hiatus from our relationship, I have come to the realization that I do in fact still need you. So if you could please forgive me for putting you on the back burner temporarily. I would greatly appreciate you not taking your hurt and anger out on me anymore. I will be honest and admit that I don't know if I am ready for a long term relationship with you, but for now I know you are what I need.

Sincerely,

Your Faithful Companion

The Daniel Fast

2012-01-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

Matthew has decided to participate in a popular Christian fast known as the Daniel Fast. This is NOT a diet to lose weight. It is an opportunity to commit yourself spiritually through prayer. The Daniel Fast is based on the book of Daniel in which a number of young men are brought to King Nebuchadnezzar's palace to live for a period of three years. During these three years in the pagan palace these men "receive a set amount of food and wine from the king's table. However, Daniel resolves not to defile himself by partaking of the royal food." He requests to eat only fruits and vegetables and drink water only. Because Daniel stood up for what he believed, the Lord granted Daniel with special insight and knowledge as well as the ability to understand dreams and visions (Daniel 1:17). Many years later Daniel is still receiving the visions from the Lord and in Daniel 10, he receives a particular vision that disturbs him greatly and he goes into a state of mourning (which is also known as fasting) for a period of three weeks. In this chapter it speaks of the "diet" he ate during this period of time when he prayed vigilantly to the Lord for not his own needs, but for the people that he loved. This is where the Daniel Fast comes into play. The theory behind fasting is that when your body is hungered or craving a particular food it is a physical reminder to stop and pray. Matthew has asked me to participate with him and although I support him in his desire to embark on this journey, I will not be joining him fully. There are several reasons for me not taking on this challenge. #1 being pregnant, although this is a very healthy food list, I feel like I would not be able to get the adequate calories and nutrition needed. and #2 I think this requires a strong spiritual desire that I don't feel I have been burdened with at this time. I feel like if I were to commit to this fully, I would be doing it for the wrong reasons (because Matthew asked me) and not because I have a very specific need or desire to be in that spiritual frame of mind. But since I want to support Matthew in his goal, I have agreed to help him prepare meals for the whole family to enjoy at dinner time. I will not eat or drink anything from the "no no" list in front of him.

He is using the book pictured below as his guide/cookbook. The basic idea of the diet is a vegan diet only more restrictive. A vegan diet consists of any fruits and vegetables and any food that does not contain any animal products. So no meat or dairy. The fast goes a step further and says no artificial sweeteners or preservatives as well as no enriched grains of any kind. And since Daniel drank only water, that eliminates all other beverages...coffee, soda, tea etc. This is where most people suffer the most. I know I for one can not eliminate the small amount of caffeine I am able to drink. Weak, I know...but I'm just being honest. Over the next couple of weeks I will keep you all updated on Matthew's progress. I will also post some of the recipes that we try. Yesterday (January 1st) was day 1. And it did make Matthew physically ill not having had any caffeine. However today, he has felt much better. I know there will probably be a few more days of him feeling the withdrawals, but in the end I think he will be amazed at his physical health as well as his spiritual health.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T19:01:00.001-05:00

Long time no post, I know. Things have been crazy hectic. I enjoy reading all the blogs I follow, but just finding the time/energy to actually write something on my own has been on the bottom of the to do list.

2011 was filled with many shocks/surprises both good and bad. Just after the kids started back to school, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I have not written about it up until now as it has been a very difficult thing to accept. The Lord has answered many prayers on her behalf and although she is enduring a very trying treatment schedule, her prognosis is the best we could have hoped for. Please continue to keep her and my dad in your prayers.

In October, we also received some very shocking news (for those who have not heard yet). We are expecting our fourth child. After the initial shock wore off, we were overwhelmed with excitement at the blessing we have been given. So much of our married life had been spent trying to conceive and dealing with losses. And now to have the Lord give us another child is...well...overwhelming to say the least. For the first time in my life I can say, without hesitation our family is complete (come mid-June). I look back and recall many days/nights I questioned why I had such a burden for children if it was not the Lord's desire for us to have any(more). I prayed he would remove that burden from my heart and give me peace. When we finally had Kinley, people would often ask if she was the last one. My answer was usually "I'm not sure, I guess we'll just see if the Lord sends us anymore." Even though deep down I felt like with all we went through to have her, more than likely no more children were in our future. I didn't have that same aching and yearning for more children after Kinley was born, but I was never able to say with certainty that our family was complete. But the Lord not only gave us this special surprise baby but he also gave me that peace that I had been seeking and praying for. The Lord always answers prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's no and sometimes it is not yet.

As we start this new year, we have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. My mom's chemo treatments should end sometime in mid April. After that she will begin radiation treatments. And right around the time she finishes her final radiation treatment her seventh grandchild will be born. I am confident the Lord will continue to provide us all that we need in 2012. My prayer for you all is that the Lord is ever present in your lives as well.

May the Pox soon be lifted!

2011-10-18T22:16:00.000-04:00

Alternate Titles:

Cabin Fever Anyone?
"With all the pillows in the house, why are you laying on MINE?" (Okay so I'm not so proud of this one)
Grocery List: LYSOL, LYSOL & LYSOL
Knock Knock. Who's there? Atch. Atch Who? God Bless You! (which btw, Kinley now fake sneezes...too cute).
When it rains it pours

Our house has been filled with the sickies! I feel like the dead man walking, as I am the only one to not be sick yet *knocking on wood*. It started off with Kinley running a low grade fever on Friday that turned into a horrible case of hand foot and mouth disease (which is essentially just a virus). Then on Sunday night/Monday morning Abbey woke up with a sick stomach. Then when Brady got home from school on Monday afternoon, he and Matthew both crawled into bed with body aches and fatigue. I think everyone is on the mend although poor Itty Bitty has some serious blisters from her virus! If you have a weak stomach, don't look at these pictures.

The blisters are on her lips, around her mouth and around her nose

The rash starts off looking like a heat rash...

...but then turns into blisters

This one is just for fun, so you can see how long her hair is getting!

And then September hit!

2011-10-01T15:09:00.003-04:00

I remember a time when our week day evenings were all about homework, dinner, bath time and bedtime!
I remember a time when my vehicle rarely saw the week day's dusky evenings!
I remember a time when Itty Bitty spent more time on the CARpet than the CAR!

And then September hit. It hit us HARD. Gone are the days of my kids being in the same extra curricular activities. When Abbey was little (before Brady was old enough to have any activities) she did gymnastics and later ballet. When Brady was old enough to start some activities we enrolled them both in a soccer program. They both had practice on the same night at the same time and had games on the same day (sometimes at the same time). Then they both tried tennis for a summer...neither really liked it all that much. Then the place they played soccer discontinued their program. So we got them both into golf. Again, same time, same place. NO BIG DEAL. Then my world came crashing to a halt or more like sped into warp speed mode. Brady decided he HATED golf...I'm sorry did I say "hate" I meant to say despised...like fake a sudden stomach virus to get out of playing despise! He missed soccer, he wanted to play soccer again, somewhere, somehow. But Abbey, nope, she loved golf. Has aspirations of playing on her middle school team. Working towards college scholarships, she is! And one day will play for the LPGA (or so in her mind).

So here we are in September. Golf lessons on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Soccer on Mondays and Saturdays. Then we decided to throw in Cotillion for Abbey on Monday nights and Brady's guitar lessons on Tuesdays. And don't forget church on Wednesday nights. Then you throw in a random dentist/doctor/hair appointment on Thursdays and there goes my week and then my month. So as you can tell, this is why I haven't posted much and I will not be going out on a limb and saying I will try to do better, cause, frankly people, it just aint happening! I leave you with some random pictures!

Bow-Bow Holders

2011-09-09T20:04:00.000-04:00

I've started making organizers for hair accessories as gifts. I've made quite a few, but of course didn't take pictures of all of them but here are a few that I have done.

I also used this same idea and made teacher appreciation gifts. I attached clothes pins all down the ribbons and on the rings I attached blank index cards. And, of course like I said earlier, I forgot to take pictures of those!

Trash vs. Treasure

2011-09-08T10:12:00.001-04:00

The big kids are going to learn really quickly not to leave stuff lying around. Itty Bitty has figured out how to open the garbage can drawer AND "throw away" things! She was pretty proud of herself!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

p.s. Is it just me or do I sound like I've been sucking down some helium? Maybe I could get a job at WDW as one of the characters! :)

Pride cometh before the fall

2011-09-02T16:14:00.000-04:00

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself today. The kids have been back in school for the last two weeks and I have stuck to my meal planning and house work despite the fact that we have been bombarded with activities. In the past, PTA meetings and birthday parties and sick babies would have been a great excuse to order take out or skip cleaning the toilets. Not this time, no sir, I made a commitment and I was sticking to it! So as a reward for my "good behavior" I decided to be especially frugal and hit Steak-n-shake for their happy hour half priced drinks. I got a nice refreshing fountain coke to sip and enjoy after a couple of weeks of hard work. But alas, the Lord kneweth my sin and he judged me. As I turned the corner out of the steak-n-shake parking lot, my cup of bubbly caffeinated nectar toppled out of the cup holder and spilled in its entirety all over the floor of my truck. SIGH...So not only did I NOT get to enjoy my refreshing beverage, but I had to clean out my truck when I got home!

Lesson learned, dear Lord...at least until I fall again!

He must think I'm cheap...

2011-08-26T17:42:00.000-04:00

Overheard Brady telling Abbey in the car after school today:

"I wish we had to pay $1 each day to go to school. Cause then Mom wouldn't want to pay that much money and not send me to school."

Eleven in '11

2011-08-23T16:25:00.000-04:00

Dear Abbey,

August 23, 2000 at 8:40pm you arrived in this world. That was eleven years ago and you have not stopped blessing our lives. You are a light in this world that shines so brightly. You are outgoing and friendly and almost always smiling. Your smile and personality are contagious. If you're afraid of something you don't really show it. You accept challenges and tackle them head on. You have grown and changed so much in this last year. You are no longer my little girl, but a young lady. Your desire to follow Him is so uplifting and I hope that feeling continues to grow and influence others around you. May this new adventure in middle school be full of exciting and happy memories. We love you very much Abbey Rose!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Stock piles...

2011-08-20T22:21:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the Extreme Couponing show? You know the one where they stockpile all sorts of unnecessary grocery items (for instance, diapers when you have NO CHILDREN) in order to get their grocery bill to a measly $1.31! I can't seem to figure out the whole stock piling idea. Whenever things are buy-one-get-one at Publix we "stock-pile" items that we actually use. Taco kits are one of our favorites. We eat tacos in our house A LOT...like a couple times a month! So this is why the thought never crossed my mind that perhaps my taco shells were a bit rancid! Rancid, you say? Oh sure, I opened the package and thought "hmmm, that smells a bit strong." Then I popped them in the oven and as they were cooking away, I thought "man, what spilled in my oven that stinks sooooo bad?" Nor, did the thought cross my mind when I mentioned it to sweet Hubs that they smelled weird. And when I bit into my first bite and nearly gagged in my mouth and said there is no way I can eat these taco shells did I think that they could possibly be bad. Finally, Matthew said "I guess they taste a little bit weird, but not that bad." That's when I thought I'd better check the box and lo and behold the expiration date had not only come and gone, but was older than my sweet Itty Bitty! Dad-gum, how long had those been sitting in my pantry. And as my wonderful older sister will tell you, it is not the first time we have had expired food in our house (and usually it gets served to Kimberly before we find out it's expired). So, I state my question again! How in the world do these extreme couponers maintain their stock piles without it going bad? My so called stock pile consists of maybe 5 or so of an item at one time and yet I am constantly throwing out unopened expired food! So much for saving a couple bucks on the BOGO items!

Book Preview

2011-08-05T23:09:00.000-04:00

I can't call it a "review" since I haven't finished it yet, but I wanted to share it with you because so far I am really enjoying it. Abbey starts middle school in just 17 short days. And yes, come Monday August 22nd if you are suddenly overwhelmed by the sounds of hysterical sobbing, that will probably be me! So with middle school comes all these awkward discussions a parent must have with their child...and with Abbey being a girl, guess who gets that job! So far the talks have gone smooth and groovy until the most recent brick wall we've seemed to have hit. BOYFRIENDS! Oh yes, my not quite 11 year old is only slightly boy crazy (read: the hormones have kicked into high gear). I was really struggling with how to approach the topic of boy/girl relationships and heard about this book from none other than the Duggar Clan.

Here is the synopsis from the publisher: This guide to radiant purity combines the thoughts and events in the life of a young princess with solid, clear teaching of Biblical convictions that young ladies today need to grasp. Through a captivating fairy tale, modern day examples, practical instruction and abundant humor, Sarah Mally challenges young ladies to turn to the Lord for fulfillment, to guard their hearts and minds, to identify and avoid the world’s thinking and to shine brightly in this generation.

It is a "fairy tale" type story that is interspersed with the author's (a single young woman) views on how to remain pure. It is specifically written for girls who have not started dating, in that it is not graphic as to what a physical relationship is, yet it is also written for a woman of any age on how to conduct herself in a relationship. What has really impressed me the most is that all the scripture quoted is from the KJV. Abbey and I are reading it together. Abbey is enjoying the fairy tale portion as much as the commentary. It opens up the door of communication to what kind of things she should look for in a boy as well as other biblical principles, such as respect of elders. Now don't get me wrong, I am certainly not trying to marry off my tweenager. But I think it is so important for her to be confident enough in her convictions from an early age, that as she gets older and is faced with the temptations of this world, that she will have the foundation necessary to resist and thus avoid some life altering repercussions.

So far, I think the book is great. We're about 1/4 the way through it. I will give my final review when we finish it. This book gives Abbey something to look forward to with just us together. I strongly recommend this for anyone with young daughters on the verge of middle school.

Bartender...

2011-07-29T17:22:00.001-04:00

...I'll have a Cheerio Spritzer, Neat!

Kinley decided to invent a new mixed drink cocktail during our very hot walk around the lake today. She was pretty proud of herself.

click on the picture above to get a closer look at the cheerios floating around in the water bottle!

The monkey stole his moves...

2011-07-19T18:07:00.000-04:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I've always wondered who taught Brady to dance...and now we know!

The one where the kids got mono!

2011-06-15T00:32:00.000-04:00

Yes, my 10 and 8 year old have mono. I have no clue who they've been kissing. We don't know of anyone who has it. They don't share drinks (or kiss) anyone that we don't know so I'm guessing it may have been picked up through a water fountain perhaps. Or maybe last month when Matthew was sick, he had it and didn't know it was mono...just thought it was a cold. We're baffled to say the least. But as much as I hate to "waste" our summer being sick, I guess this is the best time to get it. We don't have to be anywhere or do anything. They can just rest and relax and get it knocked out of their little systems.

I'll try to condense the story down. Kinley was sick at the end of April. Don't know if she had it, but could be. Then in May Matthew got pretty sick. He was wiped out for a good week or two. At the end of May (Memorial Day to be specific) Brady started coming down with similar symptoms to Matthew. Took him to the doctor and they thought for sure he had strep. Everything came back negative. He wasn't getting any better so they thought maybe it might be a sinus infection so they had me fill a prescription for Amoxil which he started on Friday June 3rd. Then this past weekend Abbey started coming down with it. We were out of town at Disney for the weekend. So Monday when we woke up I called the doctor to schedule an appointment for her. After checking her over he announced that she had an enlarged spleen. He checked Brady also and he had an enlarged spleen too. The doctor drew blood on both of them and they both came back positive for mono. Now we have to keep them inactive until the swelling goes down. All I have to say is the Lord was certainly looking over them. I keep thinking back to all the physical things they have done that could have caused their spleens to rupture prior to us knowing the diagnosis. Thank you Lord.

So now we will plan on a very quiet summer. I told them it was going to be the summer of their wildest dreams: They get to lay around and watch TV and play video games and read all day long without me telling them to "go outside and play!" We will be hitting the library, the free movies at the theater and any other low key activities I can come up with! This is just forcing us to slow down and take a much needed breather!

Parenting...FAIL!!!

2011-06-02T09:46:00.002-04:00

What is that saying? "The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry" Yes, here it is June. My Itty Bitty turned ONE on May 11th. And not only am I just now getting around to writing her 1 year old post, but because of the crazy hectic month we have had, her birthday party WILL NOT be until the end of June! Can we say THIRD CHILD SYNDROME? So without further ado, the much awaited, highly anticipated One Year Old Post!!!

Dear Itty Bitty,

Look at how much you have grown in just 12 short months! This past year has flown by. This year has been both difficult and amazing all at once. What we once thought was colic/acid reflux, I am now beginning to wonder if it wasn't just your strong will. You know what you want when you want it and make sure everyone around you knows it as well.

We can still call you Itty Bitty. At your 12 month check up you weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs. 9 oz. and 27" long. That is the 1% for weight and 3% for height but your head circumference is near 50% which means you're too smart for your own good! What is surprising is that you are eating us out of house and home. We have yet to find a food that you will not eat. You want black beans and rice? Okay! You want a dill pickle? Alrighty! You want a whole corn on the cob? You got it, Girl! The only thing we are having trouble with is getting you switched over to whole milk. You are still nursing 3 times a day, but twice a day you take an 8oz sippy cup of formula. I tried weaning by slowing increasing the amount of whole milk and decreasing the amount of formula, but you didn't really care for that too much. So then we tried cold turkey and gave you all whole milk, which you rather impolitely turned your nose up to. So we've decided to just keep you on formula for a little while longer. And frankly, with the summer coming up and all the go-go-going we've got, formula is a LOT more convenient!

Your favorite things right now are your Elmo couch (which used to be Sissy and Bubba's "weekend" bed). You love to sit/lay on it and read your books, play with your toys, drink your milk or even conk out for a little cat nap! Although you can walk a good bit, you still prefer to crawl. It's your comfort zone. You're speedy and coordinated with crawling, but walking? Not so much! In fact, you crawled into Brady's room the other day and pulled out his big Pokemon Book. This book weighs almost as much as you and yet you managed to get it from his room back out to the family room so that you could lay on your Elmo Couch and read it. You are getting more bold and brave in your walking tho. If you start to crawl, we tell you to stand up and you do. I think it's just a matter of confidence for you.

You know where your toes are. You can tell us what a cow and elephant say. You love to be sung to and you try really hard to sing back. If we ask you what song do you want to sing, you always put your fingers together for the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Your vocabulary is not very big right at the moment. You can say mamma, dadda, hi and bye, ball (which sounds like bye). You make a noise that sounds just like you're saying "what's that?" and it usually is accompanied by a point of the finger. You have practically lived at Abbey and Brady's school this year. Everyone at the school oohs and ahhhs over you and you love it. You are still very much Momma's girl (which I thoroughly enjoy), but you also enjoy flirting and entertaining people as well. There's not a whole lot of people you will go to other than me, but if they are offering food it certainly makes you rethink the whole Momma's girl decision.

You're gorgeous and goofy at the same time...a dangerous combination in my opinion. I have enjoyed this past year with you and I look forward to many more years of you learning, developing and becoming this amazing little girl! Happy Birthday to my sweetness!

Sneak Preview

2011-05-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

I've spent the better part of my day making these invitations. Finding the perfect font, placing the circles in just the right spot, drawing the ladybugs just so and of course taking the perfect pictures! The first picture is her blowing a kiss to everyone. The second is her telling everyone how big she is! Wait till you see the poem that goes on the back side! It was written just for her by her Aunt Kell Kell!

Even Baldy Babies...

2011-04-25T10:10:00.000-04:00

...have bad hair days!

Alternate Titles:
     "Reading with Bozo"
     "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear"
     "Naptime was a Doozy!"

Check it out!

2011-04-24T21:55:00.000-04:00

My hubby has a new website (he doesn't want to call it a blog)! Check it out here!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T06:47:00.000-04:00

Thoughtful Thursday

2011-03-24T08:00:00.006-04:00

This is just a list of the few random thoughts going through my head!

Thought #1: I really wish I blogged more. If I spent more time blogging and less time reading other peoples blogs, then I wouldn't feel so bad about not updating my children's baby books.

Thought #2: I stalk WAAAAAYYYYYY too many blogs. It's pretty embarrassing when I have a conversation that goes like this: "Oh my goodness, you'll never believe what I heard today. My friend...well she's not really my friend...I know her from on-line...well I don't really know her, I read her blog...and well, never mind it's not really that interesting" and then I slink away red faced and hoping I didn't reveal just how much of a nerd I really am.

Thought #3: I wonder if anyone stalks my blog. :-)

Thought #4: I need to work on my patience. Yesterday morning when we were supposed to be walking out the door to leave for school, the kids were in Abbey's room goofing off. When I went in there to get onto them about not being ready for school, they said they wanted to show me something with Itty Bitty. Instead of letting them show me, I yelled at them and told them we didn't have time and we were going to be late for school. In retrospect, I felt really bad about it. They were having so much fun with their baby sister making her laugh harder than she has ever laughed before and I cut that short. I apologized to them after school.

Thought #5: I really wish I had a talent for photography. So often I look at something the kids are doing and I can see a great photo opportunity. I want to be able to look back at that photo and not only SEE what they were doing but FEEL the memory. I'm lucky if my photo turns out with the kids in focus. And to think I had a whole semester of photography in college. What did I learn? That I really don't have a talent for photography.

Thought #6: I am really happy for my friends who have recently added to their family through the gift of adoption. I think about the birth mothers' selfless act that gave these special families these amazing little blessings. I think about the Lord's hand in these situations and I am so thankful.

Thought #7: I was beginning to wonder if I was being too protective of Brady because I still don't let him go into public restrooms by himself (he has to go in the ladies restroom with me) and then I read stories like this and it just reaffirms my actions. And to think we were just at Lowry Park last week over spring break.

Thought #8: Thought #7 really made me think about my "danger radar" and I wonder how many times my radar has protected my children from something or someone horrible. Sometimes things like that keep me up at night.

Thought #9: Perhaps my "danger radar" has been enhanced by watching too many episodes of Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU. Note to self: do not watch those shows right before going to bed.

Thought #10: I have really bizarre dreams sometimes. Note to self: stop watching Criminal Minds and SVU right before going to bed!!!

Way Back Whensday!

2011-03-23T08:32:00.000-04:00

My computer crashed a little over a year ago and I lost all my pictures that were on that hard drive. But, my hubby, my hero saved the day. He took the old computer to his IT guy and was able to rescue all (I think) of my pictures. So last night I was browsing the disc and came across some really funny pictures, that I'm sure my kids will be mortified that I am posting, but oh well that's our privilege as parents right?

Brady has always had a fascination of climbing into small confined spaces. Never could quite figure this one out. And for those of you who are wondering who that pretty little girl he is sitting with in the laundry basket...that is one special Kit Kat!

Strength from the Lord

2011-03-01T22:22:00.000-05:00

When I was a child I often thought about becoming a nurse. Then the older I got the more I realized I really didn't handle viewing medical procedures all too well. I've passed out at the sight of my own blood. Had to turn away from seeing my child getting stitches. Had zero desire to see my own children being born. In a million years I never thought I would be able to take on the task of giving anyone, my child none the less, a shot. But here we are. Abbey began a medication this weekend that is administered in injection form. We all learned how to do the injection, but Abbey hasn't built up the courage yet to give it to herself. So each night mean old mom sticks her with a needle. She is so brave and determined. Please pray for her and pray for me that the Lord will continue to give me the strength to do this. We have this medicine on a trial basis as our insurance has denied initial coverage. The medicine is VERY EXPENSIVE and not something we can afford to do without coverage. However, the mfg. of this medicine is providing it to us at no charge on a temporary basis. We are hoping that Abbey will respond to the medication in a way that we can use it as leverage for the insurance company. I think even harder than inflicting the pain of a needle on your child is the knowledge that your child would benefit from a medication that you can not provide for them.

"You're My Best Boy"...

2011-02-16T23:45:00.000-05:00

...those are the words I always share with Brady, to which he replies "and you're my best Mom." *heart melts* There were days during my latest pregnancy that I often wondered if I would be the Mother of 1 girl and 2 boys or 2 girls and 1 boy. I think the Lord knew exactly what he was doing. Brady is my one and only. A son has a very special place in a mother's heart and I am so thankful for that relationship. Eight years ago, this little man came into our lives. It's so hard to believe how fast they grow up. I look back at pictures from just a couple of years ago and I stare in wonderment at the little boy who is quickly approaching the teenage years. This last year has been a challenge. I'm not sure if it is the change from being the "baby" of the family to being the middle child AND the only boy. Or if it is just he's at an age where he is being exposed to more things (and behaviors) and flirting with the boundary line.

Brady, you are goofy and silly and witty and shy. You don't like to be the center of attention unlike your older sister. You are timid and fearful of trying new things and you definitely are not a daredevil. You started taking guitar lessons from Poppa this year and seem to really be enjoying it. You have never really been into music, but your bright blue guitar has peaked your interest more so than anything else. You listen to songs on the radio and ask questions about the instruments you hear playing. Of course your Daddy just beams with excitement when you make observations about acoustic vs. electric guitar sounds.

Brady you are an amazing little boy and I pray that the Lord will continue to direct us to teach you to be the man He would want you to be. Happy birthday, Bub! We love you very much.

Months 6-9

2011-02-16T09:06:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how these last few months have flown by. You are learning new things every day. You are growing (although not as much as we'd like to see). At your 9 month check up you tipped the scales at 14 pounds 11 ounces, which is just barely on the growth chart at 1%. You are 26" long which is a whopping 7% on the growth chart and your head cir. was 17 1/4" which is 44%. So we have determined that you definitely have a biggie ole noggin for that growing brain of yours. You are very active. Just after your 5 month old post, you started crawling and have not slowed down since. You mastered the stairs last month as well. You now venture all over the house looking for things to occupy your busy little hands. Your favorite thing to do is crawl into your room and take EVERY SINGLE book off your book shelf.

We still battle the "spitty baby". We took you to a GI specialist in Dec. who classified you as "failure to thrive." This made me so angry because they measured you wrong and wouldn't go back and take a second measurement. They wanted to run all kinds of tests to rule out diseases like cystic fibrosis which you clearly don't have. They also wanted me to stop nursing and put you on formula full time, I told them I was not willing to do that so instead they told me to supplement each feeding with a bottle of formula that was mixed at 24 calories per ounce instead of the standard 20 cal/oz. In addition to that they wanted me to add a calorie booster to your solids twice a day. Needless to say we decided to get a second opinion. We went ahead and did the calorie booster and formula supplementing and 3 weeks later we met with another doctor. In 3 weeks you had gained just under 2 pounds. The new doctor said you're gaining too much weight too quickly and to take you off the calorie booster. Other than that he said you were perfectly healthy and not to worry about the reflux. You should outgrow it by the time you are a year old. In the meantime, we took you off the calorie booster as the doctor suggested and within a few short days, you stopped sleeping through the night. You cut your first tooth during this time so we didn't know if it was the teething causing you to wake or if it was a growth spurt. Pretty much the entire month of January, we adjusted many different things to get you back to sleeping through the night. We finally called the GI specialist (the one we liked) back and asked if maybe you needed to go back on the calorie booster. The nurse said it wouldn't hurt to try so I promptly ordered a new can. We started adding a little to your food at night only and it seems to be doing the trick. We've got our sleeping baby back.

Kinley's Tricks

Clapping
waving
says "bye"
gives high five
plays peek-a-boo
climbs stairs
pulls up to standing position
fake coughs/sneezes (I do have video of this and I will try to post it later)
plays "night night" (this is where she lays down and pretends to be sleeping, but then pops up and you have to yell "wake up wake up"
throws a ball (it's more like drops the ball)
drinks from a sippy (hooray)

I blinked...

2011-02-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

...and 3 months passed by. So I'll try to catch you up. We went to Georgia for Thanksgiving and then blah blah blah had 20 or so people over for Christmas then yada yada yada and now we're coming up on the February birthday boys! In the meantime, Kinley began crawling shortly after her 5 month post. And within a week or so of crawling, she started pulling up on furniture. And just recently she has managed to climb up the stairs in an effort to find her Bubba and Sissy. So the baby gate has been placed, however, it doesn't fit properly with the baseboards, so I will give her another month or so before she figures out she can actually go under the baby gate to access the stairs. I owe you pictures for her 6-9 months. Yeah yeah yeah, I'll get a round tuit!

Kinley got a new swing for Christmas, so she got to try it out the other day. At first she didn't really like it, but once Abbey and Brady got on their swings too, she thought she was big stuff!

Conversations

2010-11-29T22:02:00.000-05:00

Conversation with Brady in the grocery store today!

Brady: I think I want to buy Poppa a new chainsaw for christmas.
Me: What is Poppa going to do with a chainsaw in his condo? (maintenance free mind you)
Brady: Cut his meat!

Apparently Brady thought the electric knife that Poppa used to cut the turkey with on Thanksgiving Day was a chainsaw.

Day 25 - My day as a SAHM!

2010-11-06T11:48:00.001-04:00

I sleep in until about 10 or 11, wake up and eat breakfast. Curl up on the couch with some bon-bons and my DVR'd soap operas and...what?!? Isn't that what people assume SAHMs do all day???

Here is my day:

5:15am - wake up and pump (sorry for the TMI, but that's what I do)

5:30am - start making breakfast and lunches for the kids

6:00am - wake up Kinley to feed her (Abbey and Brady are getting up and dressed at this time too).

6:45am - get dressed and ready to take kids to school

7:00am - out the door and in the truck

7:45am - back home from taking the kids to school (if I didn't have to "work" at the school). Change

diaper dress Itty Bitty and give her medicine (still on Zantac for acid reflux).

8:00am - Kinley plays on the floor while I clean up kitchen, make bed fix myself some breakfast, eat and check emails. Sometimes I give Kinley a bath at this time, sometimes after she eats her cereal.

9:00am - feed Kinley cereal.

9:30am - playtime for Kinley (might be on the floor or the walker or reading books in the rocking chair with Momma).

10:00am - nurse Kinley

11:00am - Kinley down for a nap. I try to get a few things done around the house at this time (doesn't always go as plan). Eat lunch.

1:00pm - nurse Kinley

2:00pm - leave to pick kids up from school.

3:00pm - return home. Help kids with homework, start getting dinner ready (when I actually make dinner).

4:00pm - nurse Kinley

5:00pm - finish working on dinner. Big kids are in the bathtub/shower.

5:30-6:00ish - sit down to eat.

6:30-7:00ish - get up from the table, kids finish up homework if not already done.

7:00 until 8:00 - family time! We either watch Family Fued/Jeopardy together, play the wii, or play a board game.

8:00pm - Abbey and Brady in bed, Kinley takes her last feed.

9:00pm - Kinley in bed. Veg-out time or computer time or school volunteer stuff

10ish - in bed, but may watch a little bit of tv to unwind, usually whatever sports game is on or the news.

Good Night, ready to start the day again!

Now understand, there are some days when this schedule is nowhere near what my day is like. For instance, if I have errands to run, that's usually done when Kinley would be napping. Some days I'm volunteering at the school for a while. And then there are some days like today when Kinley refuses to take a nap so our whole schedule is thrown out the window! And then there is the weekend, where we just kinda go with the flow!

Day 24- Where I Live

2010-11-05T11:48:00.000-04:00

I decided instead of showing pictures of my house, I thought I'd give a little history lesson on Lakeland. I was born and raised in Tampa and moved to Lakeland in 1994 when Matthew and I got married. I have fallen in love with the small town atmosphere and consider this my home. I love raising my children in a town, where the big news is that the City Commissioners are fighting a lawsuit so they can continue to open meetings with prayer. I love raising my children in a town where we rarely go out without running into someone we know. So here is a little bit about Lakeland, from the city's website.

Lakeland, Florida was incorporated January 1, 1885. The town was founded by Abraham Munn, who purchased 80 acres of land in what is now downtown Lakeland in 1882 and platted the land for the town in 1884. Munn was a resident of Louisville, Kentucky. Among the names considered (and rejected) for the town by its residents were Munnville, Red Bug and Rome City. It is reassuring that farsightedness prevailed in the selection of the name.

For a short time, Lakeland had a rival on the south side of Lake Parker, the largest lake in the city. That town was Acton. It had a church before Lakeland did, and more importantly, a railroad depot. Under mysterious circumstances the depot burned, and shortly thereafter a larger, modern structure was built in Lakeland. Acton began to decline and was gone by 1906. By the mid-1890’s some 25 trains were stopping in Lakeland each day. Because of the excellent railroad service, progressive outlook, attractive location and elevation (227 feet), the community grew and prospered.

In 1885 the Tremont Hotel, said to have been the best hotel in South Florida at that time, was built by Munn. It remained Lakeland's finest hostelry for years. It was moved in 1923 to make way for the construction of the Terrace Hotel, which still stands today.

City fathers knew how to deal with crime. In 1886 they passed an ordinance prohibiting "straggling around" the town. The mayor's report for the second quarter of that year shows 36 arrests; offenses included fighting, gambling, boisterous cursing and swearing, public drinking, lewd conduct, discharging firearms, sanitary violation, petty larceny and peddling without a license. The first jail was called the McDermott House -- named after its first occupant.

In 1887 nursery owner Ed Tison claimed to have originated the Marsh Seedless Grapefruit from cuttings on a tree growing on property of J. H. Hancock, north of Lakeland. About the same time he perfected this fruit, he sold his nurseries to C .M. Marsh, who gave his name to the new variety of the citrus family.

In the winter of 1888, H .S. Galloway demonstrated the profitable character of the strawberry crop and its adaptation to this area by netting over $600 from a single acre of strawberries, thus originating the strawberry industry in this county. By 1894 Lakeland was shipping more strawberries than any other place in the state.

The Lakeland Light and Power Company erected a light plant at the corner of Cedar Street and Massachusetts Avenue in 1891. In May of that year plant manager Harry C. Sloan threw the switch which turned on the current, and Lakeland was lighted by electricity for the first time. It was the only town in Florida besides Jacksonville and Tampa to have electric lights.

In the summer of 1898 some 9,000 troops were quartered in Lakeland, awaiting embarkation for Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Regiments camped on Lakes Wire and Morton. Lakeland's steady growth continued during the early 1900's. The town's first bond election in 1901 secured $110,000 for a school building. In that same year Park Trammell, who had been practicing law locally since 1899, was elected mayor. Later he served as governor of Florida and then U. S. senator.

The city's first telephone exchange was built in 1902, the first fire department was organized in 1908, free mail delivery was inaugurated in 1912, and in 1913, the city government changed from the aldermanic to the commission form. In 1916 the cornerstone of the first hospital was laid, and in 1921 Florida Southern College moved here from Sutherland.

The Florida boom resulted in the construction of many significant structures in Lakeland, a number of which are today listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This list includes the Terrace Hotel, New Florida Hotel (Regency Towers), Polk Theatre, Park Trammell Building (formerly the Lakeland Public Library and today the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce), and others. This was Lakeland's golden age. The Cleveland Indians held spring training here from 1923 to 1927. Cleveland Heights subdivision was developed and the Carpenters and Joiners Retirement Home was constructed.

During this same time two Lakeland residents nearly made aviation history as the first man and woman to fly across the Atlantic. Shortly after Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic, George Haldeman and Ruth Elder attempted to duplicate the feat. Taking off from New York, the couple developed engine trouble a few hundred miles off the coast of Spain and ditched their plane in the ocean. They were rescued by a Dutch tanker which took them to Europe, where they were received with much fanfare.

The "boom" period went "bust" quickly, and years passed before the city recovered. Part of the re-emergence was due to the arrival of the Detroit Tigers in 1934 for spring training. (The team continues to train here.) The development of the Lakeland Municipal Airport as a major facility in central Florida transportation was another factor. The 1930’s also featured the arrival of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1938 he came to Lakeland at the request of Florida Southern College President Ludd Spivey to design a "great education temple in Florida." For 20 years Wright worked on his "true American campus" creation. He planned 18 structures, 12 of which were completed and six left on the drawing board. He called his project "A Child of the Sun," so named from the architect’s own description of being "out of the ground, into the light, a child of the sun." It is the largest on-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world.

The Lodwick School of Aeronautics, owned by aviation pioneer Al Lodwick, opened in 1940 and trained several thousand men to fly for the U.S. Army Air Corps. At the same time Food Machinery Company was researching and developing amphibious tanks. Drane Field, in southwest Lakeland, was the site on which B-24 bomber crews trained. The Women’s Civil Defense League was also active. The community was solidly behind the war effort.

After the war, George Jenkins rapidly expanded his Publix supermarket chain and installed his corporate headquarters in Lakeland. Today, Breed Technologies and Discount Auto Parts, based locally, trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The citrus and phosphate industries, though not within the city limits, contribute significantly to Lakeland's economy. Seventy percent of the phosphate produced in the U.S. is extracted and processed within 25 miles of this city. Citrus growth and production have made this area the "World's Citrus Center." Through the 1980's Lakeland and its surroundings produced 25 percent of the nation's citrus. The Florida Department of Citrus and Florida Citrus Mutual are located here.

With a current population of 77,000+ Lakeland continues to grow. It has been designated a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S. Census Bureau for over 20 years. With tourist attractions such as Disney World, Busch Gardens, Cypress Gardens and Bok Tower all within half an hour's drive, Lakeland is capitalizing on its ideal central Florida location. With its commitment to downtown development, redevelopment and historical preservation, and keen insight into its past and present, it is a model for other cities. Its future is bright... and secure.

Compiled by Hal Hubener. Last revised 6-27-97

My Prayers!

2010-11-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

There aren't many things more humbling than praying for your own children. As I pray for Abbey, Brady and Kinley to possess the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), it kind of comes full circle. More than anything I need Him to change me, to soften my heart, to instill in me the fruits of the spirit, and to give me wisdom so that I can be an appropriate model for my children.

I realize that I will fail miserably. Probably on a daily basis. That is a very blunt and honest statement, I admit, but it's true. I will mess up.

“But God…” Isn’t that a powerful statement and one I am so thankful for.

I have a Savior who has already covered me. He alone will be the one to capture their hearts and bring them to Himself. He alone carries their future, and He alone will be the one to cover everything that I cannot.

And so as I pray for my precious children, I pray for myself (and Matthew) that God would work in me and through me. That He would grant me grace and that He would grant me mercy. But most importantly, that He would grant me wisdom in all situations.

Day 23 - You Tube Video

2010-10-29T17:16:00.001-04:00

My child would not be able to sit down for the rest of his/her life if he/she chose to do this!

Day 22 - Website

2010-10-28T17:18:00.000-04:00

I have so many websites that I enjoy...I'm not sure I can narrow it down to just one. Here are some of the ones I use a lot:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kjv/
http://www.publix.com/save/
http://www.target.com/

Mover and a Shaker

2010-10-27T22:03:00.000-04:00

Itty Bitty is on the move at 5 months old. Although Kinley is not crawling in the traditional since, she can get to any toy she wants including Mom's stack of magazines which she got a hold of and tore to shreds. She can also sit up for a few minutes on her own, she supports her torso on one of her hands. She has found her voice, and unfortunately has started using it to really try and get her way. She likes to be a part of the action and doesn't like being "by herself"...you know five feet away on her blanket in the family room while we are sitting at the table eating dinner. She's got several new nicknames. Daddy calls her Thumper because she is always got one leg that is kicking up and down, whether she's on her belly or on her back. Momma and the kids call her Froggy because of the way she gets up on her feet and bounces up and down. I really don't remember Abbey or Brady being so active and mobile at this age. Still no teeth, we joke that her gums are as bald as her noggin! Although her fuzz is starting to come in a little more. Sometimes when she wears her big bow-bow, it musses up the fuzz! I think she is starting to develop a little bit of a Momma's Girl complex, which is fine with me because I know one of these days she will be way too busy to want to snuggle with me. I know I say this each and every month, but I just can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

Day 21 - A Recipe

2010-10-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

This recipe is from publix.com/aprons. This meal is really tasty and really easy to do and most importantly...the kids love it!

Chicken Primavera with Parmesan Pasta
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbs EVOO, divided
2 Tbs fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped (I used dried parsley)
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning, divided
1/2 c dry white wine
2 medium yellow squash
1 medium zucchini
1 c fresh green beans
2 fresh garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 c matchstick carrots
1 c pre-diced onions (I just bought and onion and cut it myself)
1 (14.5-oz) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained (I used the publix brand)

1. Preheat large saute pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place 1 Tbs EVOO in pan, then add chicken; cook 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. While chicken cooks, chop parsley.
2. Add parsley, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, and wine to chicken. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover; simmer 6-8 minutes or until 165 degrees F.
3. Cut squash and zucchini in half lengthwise; then cut into 1/4" thick slices. Trim ends of beans; cut into 2" long lengths. Chop garlic.
4. Remove chicken from pan. Add 1 Tbs EVOO, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients (except tomatoes); cook and stir 5-7 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.
5. Stir in tomatoes; cook 4-5 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Parmesan Pasta
12 oz penne pasta
2 Tbs shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs herb garlic butter ( I used Land o' Lakes brand garlic butter)

1. Prepare pasta following package directions
2. Drain pasta; Place in large serving bowl. Stir in cheese and butter. Place vegetable mixture on top of pasta. Cut chicken into bite size strips and add to pasta and veggies.

Day 19 & Day 20 - A Talent and a Hobby

2010-10-25T21:52:00.000-04:00

I realize it was quite a while ago when I left off, but life with 3 kids can get busy. My sister reminded me that I had promised I would finish this task, so I decided to combine these two days, besides the fact that I'm so far behind, because to me they are essentially the same (in my case). I would say my talent/hobby is party planning. I love to throw parties. I love to decorate. I love to be creative with the invitations. I love to decorate cakes/cup cakes! Some of my favorite parties I've done were of course for my own family. I think my favorite was when Brady turned four he wanted a pirate party. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the invitations, but they were totally cool. I printed out the invitation to look like a treasure map with the "X" marks the spot at our house. I then soaked the paper in tea to give it a rustic look and then I burned the edges to finish off the look. I rolled them up and tied a string around them and placed them in a clear glass bottle and hand delivered them to each party guest. For the party day, I had a sand box filled with trinkets and "jewels" for the kids to dig for buried treasure. Kelly used eyeliner to draw scars, beards and other piratey things on the kids faces. All the kids got pirate bandannas, eye patches and a gold hoop earring as part of their goodie bag. They also got a mini bucket and shovel filled with a small vanilla pudding treat with crushed vanilla wafers on top to make it look like it was filled with sand. I of course made a pirate ship cake and for the grand finale, I had made two giant card board ships and divided the kids (and adults) into two teams. Each team got behind one of the pirate ships. Each team received a bag of jumbo marshmallows (cannons) and they had a marshmallow fight. I do believe the grownups had more fun pelting one another with marshmallows than the kids, and who knew a marshmallow could leave a welt. I do have pictures from the party itself, however they are still stuck on the computer that crashed at the end of last year. So instead I will leave you with some other pictures from parties I have done.

Motherhood Math!

2010-10-05T22:57:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling very guilty about the lack of energy I have been experiencing of late. At the end of the day, I look at my ~~bomb shelter~~ house and marvel at the incredible mess and wonder if I did anything productive the whole day. I look at my blog as the days/weeks go by without a post and wonder where my time went. So, as I sit here at 10:30 at night waiting for the last load of laundry to finish so I can move it to the dryer I ponder where all my time was spent and could I have made better use of the day. I started doing calculations in my head and realized there are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish a mothers job. So often we (stay at home moms) hear: "What do you do all day?" So I have figured it out...the motherhood math...Mommy-by- numbers:

Feeding Kinley: 5-6 times per day at 45-60 minutes each session = avg. 5 hours a day 7 days a week

Driving Kids to school: 40 minutes round trip 2 times a day 5 days a week

School morning breakfast/lunch boxes: 15 minutes a day 5 days a week

Preparing Dinner: I will be conservative and say 4 hours a week (since my hubby is so nice to allow meals out a lot)

Helping Kids with Homework: 1 hour a day 4 days a week

So if you do the math, these tasks alone account for a 51 hour work week. This doesn't include all the household chores that have been taking care of (cleaning bathrooms, washing/folding clothes, dishes, grocery shopping, changing diapers, giving baths, bill paying, volunteering at school...the list could go on and on).

So why do I do it? What keeps me sane?

It's my 10 year old saying "Mom, you are the best Mom in the whole wide world" (in appreciation for bringing her violin to school that she left at home on accident).

It's my 7 year old asking me to read a story with him.

It's my (nearly) 5 month old finding me from across the room and smiling until her eyes disappear.

It's these things and more that make me so thankful to have the most difficult, demanding, underpaid job in the world but more importantly to appreciate the sacrifice MY mother made for me and my siblings when we were growing up. I truly do love my life as a mother and I wouldn't change a minute of the day. And now my washing machine is done.

4 months

2010-09-25T09:49:00.000-04:00

This is a few weeks delayed I know...life is busy with 3 kids, two of which are in school. Kinley has moved past her evening colic but has developed lap colic. This is a non-medical term for spoilousrottenitis! And if you still haven't figured it out, that means she is very happy when she is being held or the center of attention. Hmmm can we say 3rd child syndrome already? Kinley loves going with me to the kids school to volunteer. She hangs out in the snugglie (although I'm not sure how much longer my back can handle that) facing out so that she can see all the kids. And of course all the kids at school just love when she comes to school too. We have not started her on solids yet, although it is definitely right around the corner. She is very interested in all the food on the table and if you are holding her while your eating she is always trying to grab at food and put it in her mouth. Don't even try to sit down to dinner without bringing her to the table with you. She of course if a Johnson baby which means she is petite! Weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds 4 ounces (with a slightly wet diaper) she is only in the 3rd percentile for weight. She is however in the 20th percentile for height at 23 1/4". Kinley is rolling all over the place. If you put her on her blanket you will eventually find her about two feet away with a trail of spitty from here to there! Her favorite toy is a book that is very crinkly with lots of colors and textures that are great to chew on. Although her hands are always in her mouth and everyone swears she is about to cut teeth, there are no nubbins of toofers yet. We are enjoying every minute with her. We can't even remember what life was like before she was a part of our family.

Happy 4 Months Bitty Baby!

Buying the vote

2010-09-24T11:56:00.000-04:00

Abbey had her SGA speech last week and found out she had been selected to go to the next round. This next round involves giving her speech to 3 administrative personnel at the school. On Tuesday she apparently found out what these three ladies like from Starbucks and asked me if she could bring coffee to them on Friday (today, the day of her speech)! Not only had she gotten the teachers orders in advance, but she figured out that if we left early enough we could go a different way to school which just so happens to run past the Starbucks. I said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" and she said, "But Mom, several kids are bringing the teachers something." I said "Well you can talk to your Daddy, but I don't think that's a very good idea." So no sooner had Matthew stepped a toe in the door that evening, she was asking if he would take her on Friday to Starbucks. He thought it was a fabulous idea and said sure! So this morning, Matthew and Abbey left bright and early to purchase their ~~bribes~~ steamin' hot javas. Matthew said when they got to school this morning and Abbey delivered the coffees, the ladies were so surprised and "jokingly" told her she had their vote! When I got to school this morning with Brady, the ladies told me what a great idea that was and they loved it! So apparently the cost of SGA campaigns runs around $15 in coffee! In my eyes I thought it was ridiculous to encourage this, but in Matthew's eyes (as a business owner) he said "Hey when I'm courting new clients, I will bring 'goodies' to their office for meetings. This tells them I'm willing to go the extra mile to make them happy!" Watch out Obama, Abbey might be more of a smooth talker than you!

Day 18 - Our Wedding

2010-09-19T08:26:00.002-04:00

Sixteen plus years ago I married my soul mate. My best friend. The love of my life. He was and still is my "one and only." We had a beautiful wedding of which I have no scanned photos since nearly 17 years ago digital cameras didn't exist...or if they did, they were too dog-gone expensive for anyone other than a professional photographer to own. Ouch...technology sure does age a person. We were married on January 8, 1994 (Elvis' birthday, for those of you who didn't already know). We were babies back then: I was barely 18 and he was almost 22. We each had four attendants: my sisters Kimberly(maid of honor), Kelly, and my high school friends Nicole and Kristi. Matthew's Dad was his best man, his friends Jason and David and Phil(Kimberly's boyfriend then/now husband). My brother Kyle who was 4 at the time was our ring bearer and my cousin Ashley was our flower girl. Eld. Ronald Lawrence married us. One of my favorite things about the wedding was my sister Kelly singing and all the fresh flowers. We have had an amazing life together. Although life doesn't always go exactly the way we imagined it, the Lord has given us everything we could possibly want and more. We are so blessed to have found one another and I am truly thankful.

"Bust-a-move Brady"

2010-09-17T22:46:00.001-04:00

Alternate Post Titles:

"So You Think You Can Dance"

"Mr. Roboto"

"Talent Only A Mother Could Love"

"Brady's Got Talent"

"No Guts, No Glory"

"He's My Shy One"

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This was ~~starving for attention~~ Talent Week at the kids school. And my son decided that this performance was far less embarrassing than singing! SERIOUSLY! And No I won't be offended if the tears of laughter stream down your face like mine. AAAHHHH, a mother's pride and joy.

Day 17 - A piece of Art

2010-09-15T08:31:00.001-04:00

A Young Woman Reading - Jean-Honoré Fragonard - 1776

When I was younger, my Grandmother who was living in Michigan at the time had this replica painting hung in the sitting area at the top of her stairs. Whenever we would go and visit, I would sit and stare at the painting. Studying the brush strokes, the colors...every little detail. When she moved down to Florida a few years ago, she decided the painting was just too big for her house and offered it to me. I was thrilled to have it. When we decided to build our house we are in, I literally built the house around this painting. We have a very large wall in our formal living room where this is hung. Now I just need to get furniture in that room to accompany my favorite painting!

All About Abbey!

2010-09-14T21:56:00.001-04:00

Abbey might be my mini-me when it comes to looks, but personality wise we couldn't be more opposite! She's outgoing, chatty and LOVES to be the center of attention. This year in 5th grade the writing curriculum focuses on persuasive writing which includes speeches. So all 5th graders have to write a speech for student government elections. Abbey's speech was so cute, and she wrote it all by herself. I barely had to help her at all. She did her speech in class today and hopefully she will find out in the next day or so if she made it through to the next level.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Abbey also just started taking violin lessons. The school she goes to offers it to all 5th graders during the school day...which means it's an extra curricular activity that I don't have to chauffeur any kids to! YAY! She is loving it already and is very eager to practice and learn more. They haven't started learning how to use the bow yet, just plucking!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 16 - A song that makes me cry

2010-09-14T08:43:00.003-04:00

It's not so much the song that makes me cry, but what it represents. I used this song/montage when Brady started kindegarten! I know a lot of you just sent your kids off to school for the first time ever and it is so hard to say goodbye. I get teary eyed whenever I hear this song and watch the slideshow. It's an oldie but a goodie! I can't believe how much they have grown in such a short period of time!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 15 - Dream House

2010-09-13T08:05:00.003-04:00

We built a house a few years ago and had an absolutely amazing experience. We are so blessed to have this house. It is my dream house because of my wonderful husband and kids who live here with me. So since I already have my dream home, I thought I would change it up a bit.

With Matthew being in the industry that he is in, real estate has always been an interest of his and mine! Even though we have no intention of moving/building again anytime soon, we always like to check out real estate listings in the area and just see what homes are selling for. Some of you may recall a few months ago, a certain popular golfer became a fixture in the tabloids over an incident that occurred outside his home. Well as it turns out, this golfer happens to live not too far from us in a community called Windemere. This subdivision is the home of several other local sporting celebrities (Shaquille O'Neal and Warren Sapp). Recently, I was curious to see what homes in this golfing community were selling for during this housing slump and I came across this unbelievable listing:

This is a "single" family home listed for a cool $100,000,000! No, I did not type that incorrectly...One Hundred MILLION dollars is the listing price for this UNFINISHED property! The owner of this property, David Siegel, is currently slumming it in a 20,000sf $5.5 million dollar shack. Apparently 20,000 square feet is just a bit too tight of living quarters so he and his wife decided they needed to build this monstrosity: 66,800sf 13 bedrooms, 23 baths on 10.12 acres. Unfortunately, as CEO of Orlando based company Westgate Resorts, the economy has stunted his income a bit so he halted construction of his property. Now I know many of my readers out there have this kind of cash just laying around, but don't rush right out and pay full asking price for this little vacation cottage. You could save $25M by purchasing it unfinished. And with the $25M you save, I'm sure you and the Home Depot sales clerk could come up with a few "home improvement" weekend projects to finish up the job! Read more about this bargain basement property here.

Day 14 - Non Fiction Book

2010-09-12T08:58:00.001-04:00

I haven't read this book, but I love to collect books/magazines on creative cakes and cupcakes. I've never taken a decorating class so my skills are very basic and limited, but I love to create cakes and cup cakes for different parties that we have for the kids or for showers. It totally stresses me out to decorate a cake but at the same time it's an outlet...is that possible?

Day 13 - Fictional Book(s)

2010-09-11T08:51:00.000-04:00

So, I'm not really sure why these next two posts are here (I didn't make up the list) since we already discussed favorite books. But I have been informed that since I am helping the 5th graders at our school prepare for the Sunshine State Book Bowl, that I must read all 15 of the books. So in no particular order, here are the list of books I will be reading over the next few months. I'm hoping since they are "children's books" they will be realitively easy reads that won't occupy too much of my very limited time!

The Seer of Shadows
Cicada Summer
Masterpiece
Obi, Gerbil on the Loose
Kenny & the Dragon
The Gollywhopper Games
The Girl Who Could Fly
Eleven.
Bird Lake Moon
Piper Reed: Navy Brat
Safe at Home
11 Birthdays
Mogo, the Third Warthog
Someone Named Eva
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

Go pahk ya cah in the garage!

2010-09-10T22:26:00.000-04:00

I love love love going up to visit my bestie in Boston and hearing that New England accent! She has 3 beautiful children, Morgan (4), Maddie (3) and Jack (10 months). We had such a great time and the weather was perfect...mid 70's in the day upper 50's at night! We flew in on Saturday afternoon and hung out at their house. They just recently moved into this beautiful 1920's home in Quincy (pronounced Quin-zee) with this huge double lot full of trees, but best of all are the GORGEOUS original hardwood floors throughout the whole entire house!

On Sunday, we got up and headed into Boston to catch the ferry to Georges Island. This is one of numerous islands out in the harbor that you can tour.

History:

At the time of Euro-American colonization, Georges Island was composed of two drumlins, rising out of the bay like other nearby islands. The island was used for agriculture for 200 years until 1825 when the U.S. Government acquired it for coastal defense.

Over the next 20 years the island was dramatically altered, and one of the country's finest forts was built. Dedicated in 1847, Fort Warren's defensive design was virtually obsolete upon completion. However, the fort served as a training ground, patrol point, and Civil War prison that gained a favorable reputation for the humane treatment of its Confederate prisoners. After 100 years of military use, the fort was decommissioned in 1947 and acquired by the Metropolitan District Commission for historic preservation and recreation in 1958.

To this day, in the fort's dark corridors, the legend lives on of "The Lady in Black," the ghost of a Confederate prisoner's wife who is said to have been sentenced to death for aiding in an escape and hanged in a black robe made from the fort's mess hall drapes

Since we had to wait for the ferry, we took the kids to the nearby carousel and playground. They had a blast. We then caught the ferry over to Georges Island where we climbed trees, rocks and forts! We came back across the ferry and took a little detour through Quincy Market and Faneuil (pronounce Fan-yule) Hall. This is a touristy outdoor shopping center with lots of unique little shops and eateries. We then headed to the North End (which is the area of Boston known for all their Italian Restaurants). Since we were such a big party (4 adults and 6 kids) and since it was Labor Day weekend we had a little trouble finding a spot big enough to fit all of us! We enjoyed a yummy delicious meal of homemade pastas and sauces! We left there and started heading back to the vehicles, but had to make a detour to a Italian Gelato Shop. WAAAAAYYYY better than any Coldstone!

On Monday we got up and made our way to Tougas Farm, an apple orchard in one of Boston's suburbs. We got to ride a wagon out to the orchards and pick/eat all different kinds of apples. We tried: Early Fugis, McIntosh, Courtlands, Golden Delicious and maybe a few other types. Even Kinley and Jack got to get in on the action! After snackin' on apples and a quick bite for lunch, we headed back home. The grown-ups (plus Kinley) went to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox vs. Rays game. Although our Rays did less than stellar (read: they were slaughtered), it was an awesome stadium with so much history. We found the Red Sox fans very friendly. Even though they trail us by 5 or so games, I think our common hatred of the NYY plus the fact that we had the cutest little "Baby Ray" at the stadium kept the harassment at a minimum (or it could be the fact that we got crushed by them).

We got up early Tuesday morning and headed to the airport for our flight back home. The trip was way too short, but we had a great visit. We will definitely be planning another trip up there again when Kinley is a bit older so we can do more of the historical tours!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 12 - Something I'm OCD about!

2010-09-10T08:19:00.001-04:00

This was probably the hardest post for me to come up with. I am not one of those type A personalities that have to have things a certain way. I have to work really hard not to be messy. I have to work really hard to stay organized. And my Type A defieciency means I fail at both of those more times than not. So to say I'm OCD about something would be a real stretch, but I finally came up with something, and I'm sure Matthew will agree with me (since this is something that drives him C-R-A-Z-Y).

SEATBELTS!

I am obsessed by seatbelts. No one is allowed to ride in my vehicle without wearing a seatbelt. I'm talking "as long as the car is moving, seatbelts must be worn". Matthew will let the kids go without a seatbelt if we are driving across a parking lot. For example, in town the Publix and Target are on the same side of the road but have two different parking lots. So many times we go from Publix to Target or vice versa and Matthew will tell the kids they don't have to buckle up. Me? I make them buckle their seatbelts. I make sure Kinley is completely strapped/buckled in, even for the 1/10 mile drive at 5mph. And where did this obsession come from you might ask? Well when we were younger (before Kyle was even a glimmer in my parents' eye) we were driving through a movie theater parking lot. My Dad (I think) missed a stop sign and had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision with another car and all of us in the backseat went a'tumblin. Kelly literally somersaulted her way to the front of the van. And Kimberly and I got scraped/bruised up a bit from our spill. So since then, it's all about the seatbelts!

Now on a funnier sillier side note, I have another OCDish habit that Matthew thinks is ridiculous. I have to sleep in shorts or pajama pants. No matter what the temperature is outside. No cute little nighties for me (TMI I know). I have to have shorts and t-shirts or pants and t-shirts on any time I go to bed. I blame my parents for this and yes I am still in therapy over it. When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I was woken early from a very deep sleep probably around 5am. I was told to hurry up and put my flip flops on and to get in the vehicle. At that time I slept in a t-shirt that did not quite cover my "undies" (I'm pretty sure I remember it was a Smokey Mountain, GA t-shirt). I sleepily stumbled into the car not sure where we were going. When we arrived at our destination, I was mortified to find out that my Mom (who was my girlscout co-leader) and the other Girlscout leader had planned a surprise breakfast for all of us in the troop...AT A TRUCKSTOP! Yes! You read that correctly...a bunch of pre-teen awkward girls at a truckstop in Tampa for breakfast. Now she claims that it was not a truckstop, it was a restaurant. But excuse me, this so-called restaurant was located just North of I-275 near Ray J stadium and in the parking lot were a bunch of semi tractor trailers and where do you think all the drivers of those semis were...sitting in that "restaurant" staring at all of us little girls with our undergarments exposed! Oh yes! Therapy is still on-going!

Day 10 Updated with Day 11 - Recent Photo of yourself

2010-09-09T08:18:00.000-04:00

We just got back from visiting my best friend from high school and her beautiful family up in Boston. Nicole and I actually met in junior high (or what you youngsters call middle school) and have stayed in touch all these years. Through college and weddings (we were in each others weddings) and now raising children! She and her sweet hubby Tom graciously allowed us to come and invade not only their home but their routine. With two families of five (six kids ages 10, 7, 4, 3, 10 1/2 mo. and 3 1/2 mo.) made for an interesting and exciting tour of the "Bahston" Area!

This is us in high school. Oh yeah we were sooooo coool!

And this is us now with our families (minus Tom, he was nice enough to take the picture). I only wish I could say I have aged as well as she has! Thanks again Tom, Nicole, Morgan, Maddie and Jack for letting us come and visit. There will be an additional post with lots of pictures of our fun adventures!

Day 10 - A photo of me taken over ten years ago!

2010-09-07T17:00:00.000-04:00

Since digital cameras were not around way back when I was a youngster, you'll have to make due with these scanned images. I would guesstimate these pictures to be circa 1992/93 when Matthew and I were dating! Man we were young!

Day 9 - A photo you took!

2010-09-05T14:05:00.002-04:00

This was taken from the top of the Empire State Building back in December following their first big snowfall of the season.

Day 8 - A picture that makes you angry/sad!

2010-09-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

One of the saddest stories in recent news for the Hillborough/Polk County area. I can't even begin to imagine what these brave officers' families are going through right now.

Day 7 - A picture that makes me happy!

2010-09-03T08:30:00.001-04:00

Oh sure, like I'm supposed to be able to just pick one?

Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things!

2010-09-02T08:23:00.000-04:00

Since Kelly has gotten ahead of me in days, it's going to appear that I am copying her. But what can I say, we're sisters! We look alike, we talk alike...we think alike.

My knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior
My Husband and kids
My extended families
Our pastor and his family
Our church friends
Blogs/Facebook
Marco Island Beach
Traveling to new places
Fountain Coke
Eating "out"
Family game night (board games, card games,wii)
Kinley's smiles
Shoes...even tho it's hard to find them in my size.
Bargains! I love to shop and get great deals!
Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy oh and Who Wants to be a Millionaire oh wait lets just say all game shows!
Reece's Peanut Butter Cups! My taste buds enjoy, my thighs...not so much!
A Florida Winter...not this past winter but the "typical" Florida Winter...which feels more like Fall.
Ray's baseball!
Ice Cream/milk shakes
Ironing - NOT - Just seeing if you were paying attention! Actually it's wrinkle free clothing!

Day 5 - Favorite Quote

2010-08-31T08:14:00.000-04:00

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what my favorite quote is. And of course there are always the silly lines from movies that I say to my kids, such as "Crying? Crying? There's no crying in baseball" (A League of Their Own). I will typically say this line anytime ~~Abbey~~ one of the kids starts to cry for some ridiculous reason, even when it has nothing to do with baseball! And who can forget "Run Forest, Run" (Forest Gump) directed at my very pokey son!

But those don't really have true meaning. A favorite quote to me is something that resonates deep inside. It's a way of living your life. It's a thought process. So again I went back to into deep thought and it came to me. As a Primitive Baptist, I've been blessed with the knowledge of grace and mercy. And too often people can not correctly distinguish the difference between grace and mercy. A few years ago a preacher (and I'm sorry to say I'm not sure I remember who it was) gave the most profound definition of the two and I find myself repeating it sometimes without even realizing it.

"Grace is the things we are given that we DON'T deserve and mercy is the protection from the things we DO deserve."

How simple is that?

Day 4 - Favorite Book

2010-08-30T08:33:00.000-04:00

I used to enjoy reading, but I honestly can't think of the last time I picked up a book to read for "pleasure." And although I enjoyed reading at one time, I'm not sure I can say I have a favorite book. So therefore, I will just share with you what I am currently reading:

KJV Bible
To Train Up a Child - Michael & Debi Pearl
Shepherding a Child's Heart - Tedd Tripp
Horrible Harry Series (reading these with Brady)
Lots of "Baby Books" with Kinley
my guilty pleasure most of all is my blogs! Not only do I read the ones on my blogroll, but I have a whole other list of blogs I "stalk"!

I do have a favorite author if and when I ever do get back into reading and that is David Baldacci. I've read at least 6 of his books (Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, Simple Truth, Split Second, Camel Club & have started numerous times but yet to finish The Collector). They are murder/mysteries usually set in the D.C. or Virginia area. My most favorite would have to be The Winner:

Publisher's Summary

LuAnn Tyler is a twenty-year-old unwed mother in Rikersville, Georgia, a woman who can use her fists as well as her wits, a woman striving to escape an abusive relationship and a life of endless poverty. Suddenly, under the pretense of giving her a decent job, a mysterious Mr. Jackson makes her an offer he thinks no one can refuse: a guarantee to be the next winner of the $100 million national lottery.

But LuAnn won't do it. At first. Then, less than twenty-four hours later, she is fighting for her life and running from a false murder charge. Jackson's offer -- and its condition that she leave the country forever -- seems to be her only hope. She accepts his proposition and the new life the unlimited wealth buys her and her infant daughter. Ten years later, LuAnn disobeys Jackson and secretly returns to the United States, where she is still wanted for murder.

There, she meets Matthew Riggs, a man whose origins are as murky and troublesome as her own. LuAnn's life is shattered when a canny reporter smelling a scam in the national lottery picks up her trail, and Jackson, a seemingly omniscient master of impersonation, comes to punish her for disobeying him. At the same time, the FBI is set on her track when investigators suspect someone may have fixed the lottery. While the hunters close in for the kill, LuAnn finds herself turning to Matt Riggs for help, but he may be just another predator in her life.

Day 3 - Favorite Television Program

2010-08-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

Yes! This is the 2nd post of the day, so make sure you scroll down to see the first post! Now the past few days I have had a hard time narrowing down my "favorites". This, however, was an easy choice (although there is still two). I love me some crime drama! So it comes as no shock that I'm slightly addicted to these two shows:

Now Criminal Minds has been known to give me not only some nightmares, but also some real life fears. Such as, If I go into a public restroom that seems a little off the beaten path, I will check all the stalls to make sure no one is hiding inside one! I know you think I'm kidding but that's how badly one of those episodes freaked me out. The Mentalist too is a crime drama, however it has quite a bit of humor in it. Since the main character makes his living on "reading" peoples behavior he has been hired by the CBI to help solve crimes, but he usually does so in a very odd sometimes nontraditional way! Check them out! I usually DVR them so that I don't have to stay up late and watch them, plus I get to fast forward through all the commercials! SCORE!

Project Runway

2010-08-27T08:23:00.000-04:00

This week on Project Runway, contestants were given accessory items only to create a FABULOUS outfit! Our winner this week won immunity from elimination with her creative use of scarves, headbands and barrettes. Her style: White Wedding!

This overachieving young designer also created the "Blue Ocean Belly Dress" however, due to the risque nature of this outfit no pictures are available. Stay tuned next week on Project Runway, when the designers will be given the next task: Toilet Paper Wearables!

Day 2 - Favorite Movie

2010-08-26T10:39:00.000-04:00

Again, there is just no way to narrow this down to one favorite. Different days, different moods!

Favorite Action/Adventure:

Ummm yeah, for those of you who KNOW me, know that this isn't a big surprise. The whole series is completely edge of your seat exciting, but I would have to say the first one is my absolute favorite!

Favorite Family Movie:

Not really sure if that is the right category but again this series is so wonderful! I think the actress Megan Follows that plays the title character is so amazing. She portrays herself as a 12 year old girl on up to a young woman so well. And of course, I've gotten Abbey hooked on the series as well! :-)

Favorite Children's Movie:

When you have kids, you have to be prepared to watch the same movie over and over and over again. So when one comes along that you not only tolerate, but would secretly watch on TV after the kids have gone to bed, well it's just a little slice of apple pie happiness! And yes I know that many of you will ~~hang me by my toenails~~ disagree with me, and maybe it's because I missed some of TS3 while I was tending to a fussy baby, but I think TS2 is the best story line of the series. Hmmm do I sense a pattern here with my "series movies"?

However, I can't forget to include this classic. But I don't know if it would fall under childrens, romance, comedy or family...oh well, it too is a great movie that my kids love!

I'm sure I could add numerous other movies to this post. But that would defeat the purpose then. You see, I'm the type of person who could watch a movie and forget that I've ever seen it and then watch it again until almost the very end before I realized I had seen it. And that doesn't mean I didn't think it was good, it just means I have very little brain capacity for storing that kind of memory. So I like to watch movies and I like to watch the ones I really liked over and over again. Because there is always something that you missed the first ~~or second or even third~~ time around!

Day 1 - Favorite Song(s)

2010-08-25T09:04:00.002-04:00

It is impossible to choose just one song to be my favorite. So I have broken it down into a few categories.

Favorite Church Hymn:

"It Is Well With My Soul" is very special to me. The Sunday after our first miscarriage, while we were at home recovering we requested the congregation to sing this song. Our Pastor called us at home and we got to hear everyone sing the song. To this day, this song still brings tears to my eyes when it is sung.

Favorite Oldies:
Well, since my name is Kerry Ane my parents used to sing this song to me when I was growing up. I always thought it was really cool to have my name in a song.

Favorite Song From High School:
This song always brings me back to my memories from highschool. One of my friends performed this at a talent show and anytime it comes on the radio I have to crank it up.

Favorite Kids Song:
This song just brings a smile to my face whenever I hear it. Who can resist the cute little face of Curious George the Monkey?

Favorite Romantic Song:
This is the song you crank really loud, turn off the lights and slow dance to. Mmmmmmm. Oh yeah, I like U2!

30 Day Blog Journal

2010-08-24T12:38:00.001-04:00

I have to admit, I get in a bloggers block more often than not. I know I have so much going on in my life that I shouldn't run out of things to blog about, but sometimes I just feel like no one wants to see our blurry photos from the family vacation or hear how my child left her brand new wet bathing suit in a plastic bag for two weeks because she "forgot it" or listen to my rant about the woman who cut in front of me in the drive through line at Chick-fil-a. So I've decided to attempt this 30 Day Blog Journal and I would love to invite all my fellow bloggies out there to join with me. It may not be 30 consecutive days, but I promise I will complete every one of these entries! Can't wait to read all of yours!

Day 1 - your favorite song

Day 2 - your favorite movie

Day 3 - your favorite television program

Day 4 - your favorite book

Day 5 - your favorite quote

Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things

Day 7 - a photo that makes you happy

Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad

Day 9 - a photo you took

Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you

Day 11 - a photo of you recently

Day 12 - something you are OCD about

Day 13 - a fictional book

Day 14 - a non-fictional book

Day 15 - your dream house

Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)

Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)

Day 18 - my wedding/future wedding/past wedding

Day 19 - a talent of yours

Day 20 - a hobby of yours

Day 21 - a recipe

Day 22 - a website

Day 23 - a youtube video

Day 24 - where I live

Day 25 - your day, in great detail

Day 26 - your week, in great detail

Day 27 - my worst habit

Day 28 - whats in my handbag/purse/diaper bag (for those of us who don't carry a purse at the moment)

Day 29 - hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days

Day 30 - a dream for the future

Growing, Growing...Gone!

2010-08-12T09:48:00.003-04:00

Gone...Where has the time gone? 3 months old...12 weeks (well now it's 13 weeks) since you made your debut on this earth. You are such a smiley baby (except when you're having tummy issues, which isn't nearly as often any more). You've started chuckling at different things, mostly the big kids that love to entertain you. You rolled from your belly to your back intentionally for the first time at 12 weeks old and you rolled from your back to your belly for the first time today (13 weeks). You are a GREAT sleeper. You still go to bed around 9:30 or 10 and sleep until 8am usually. I haven't quite figured out how we're going to change your schedule once school starts back up, but I'm sure we will manage. You still take several naps a day and follow the "wake, eat, play" cycle. You're nursing like a champ still, which I am so thankful for. That is one thing I regretted for Brady that he didn't nurse for very long. I love that time we spend together. You usually nurse for 30-45 minutes every 3 hours, sometimes you'll go to 4 hours, but I don't like to do that too often. Your hand coordination is really starting to develop. And you are enjoying tummy time so much more these days. You are really trying to figure out how to move that little body of your to where you want to go. It won't be long before you are rolling and scooting all over the place. You had your first babysitter on Tuesday night. And of course Mimmy took excellent care of you while Momma and Daddy went out on a date. Even tho you are the third child, Momma still had a hard time leaving you. We left you crying with Mimmy and Momma was having second thoughts about leaving you. But Mimmy helped you get your air bubble out of your tummy and the rest of the evening was smooth sailing. All the kudos to your Mimmy since she is in the process of potty training Li-Li-Lou-Lou! I do owe her BIG time! Abbey and Brady have been at the beach this week with GiGi and Poppa and although you've been completely unfazed for the most part, you really miss not having your entertainers on car rides. This whole week that they've been gone, you have fussed in the backseat. I am truly amazed that after 3 months of you being here, the "novelty" still hasn't worn off for Abbey and Brady. They left on Saturday morning for the beach and when they got to church on Sunday after only being gone for less than 24 hours, they couldn't leave you alone for 2 seconds. Brady kept getting up to ask you "Did you miss me?" "Do you still remember your Bubba?" And each time you would flash him your biggest smile and he would just light up. You still continue to take the Zantac (acid reflux medicine) two times a day. And you will probably continue with that until about 6 months old. You won't have your next check up until September but you are currently around 9 1/2 pounds. We thank the Lord daily for giving you to us.

Almost Double Digits!

2010-07-14T15:12:00.003-04:00

We're just about a month and a half shy of Abbey turning double digits! How is it possible for time to have gone by so quickly!

If you remember we took Abbey to a specialist back in February, after that appointment he decided he wanted to see her back in June to go over the results of her bloodwork. All her bloodwork came back normal except for the fact that she is vitamin D insufficient (which is a step up from deficient). The doctor prescribed her 1000mg of vitamin D supplements daily. He was not overly worried about this tho and said that the insufficiency has nothing to do with her small stature. He says that 90% of people today are insufficient. Apparently milk does not provide the amount of vitamin D that it was once thought and the majority of your vit D intake comes from the sun. However due to the abundance of sunscreen people now wear to protect against skin cancer, a person's body does not get the vitamin D they need, so therefore supplementation is highly recommended for most people! Hmmm...who knew! Anyway, back to the appointment...the doctor was also concerned that her growth hormone level was on the very low side of normal. However a one time blood draw of GH is not an accurate indicator of your GH levels since the body produces most of its GH while one is sleeping. The doctor wanted her to have a growth hormone stimulation test done. This was done this past Friday. She was hooked up to an IV and administered two different types of medications to stimulate her GHs. She then had blood draws at 30 minute intervals for basically 2 -3 hours. Abbey did amazing. The doctor had prescribed a lidocain cream to rub on her arms at the spot where the IV would be placed. That stuff is amazing! Abbey never even felt the IV go in and all the blood draws came from the IV port once it was in place, so she only had to be stuck that one time and the lidocain did the trick...nary a tear was shed. The most painful part of the whole test was when it came time to remove the IV and the tape that held the port in place was pulled off along with the numerous little hairs on her arm! She was a trooper tho.

We will go back at the end of this month for the results, but based on the information we have received thus far, Abbey is a good candidate for growth hormone therapy. I know GHT is very controversial, but we've done a lot of research. Obviously, we will get some more info once we talk to the doctor at the end of the month, but what we have found out so far is that the controversy comes mainly from the fact that GHT is often abused by people not suffering from growth hormone deficiency in an effort to improve athleticism. The side effects that occur are because they are not under the care of a doctor who monitors them properly.

On a side note, Abbey decided to get her haircut since Kinley has become a fan of latching on with her death grip. She looks so grownie with her new style, but best of all is that she really likes it. None of you know the battles we have endured with that child over her hair not being brushed properly or at all for that matter!

2 months

2010-07-12T14:43:00.007-04:00

I can't get my photos to load with the month by month for comparison, so you will have to look back at this post to see how much Lil' Bit has grown in a months time. She is getting very interactive. She is especially happy in the mornings and talks the most first thing after she wakes up.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

2 month old stats:

9lbs. 2 oz. - 10th percentile
21 1/2" long - 16th percentile
Can't decide if she wants to be a thumb sucker, a "Texas long horn" baby (for those of you who don't understand, she likes to suck her two middle fingers only) or a paci baby!
sleeps all night long (from 10pm to about 6am) on her back, but prefers to sleep on her stomach during the day...but that only happens if someone is holding her because she still spits up so much!
Takes 1ml of zantac twice daily. Daddy thinks it's helping, Momma thinks the jury is still out (see reason below).
Has evening colic, but we're surviving...sometimes all you can do is laugh. She has been given the 3 week ultimatum tho! :)
Is happiest and most interactive in the morning.
Enjoys watching TV! Mostly the Rays games, we like to train them early!

The mind of a 7 year old boy!

2010-07-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

After Brady was put to bed this evening he came out of his room and complained to Matthew that there was a beeping noise in his room. Matthew went in to check it out and couldn't find anything or hear anything, so Brady went back to bed. A few minutes later Brady came out again and said the beeping had started again. So Matthew went back in there and layed down on his bed with him. That's when the noise started back again. This was the conversation that followed:

Matthew: Brady is that the noise you hear?

Brady: Do you hear it too?

Matthew: It's just a cricket outside your window.

Brady: Crickets make that noise?

Matthew: Yes! They make it by rubbing their legs together.

Brady: Oh good! I thought it was a bomb!

H.R.S. and other happenings

2010-06-27T16:04:00.010-04:00

Lots has happened in the last 3 weeks since my last post. Since H.R.S. (aka. Her Royal Spittiness or Princess Spitty) still hadn't lost her umbilical cord, I called the doctor to check on it. They told me to give it another week and then to come in for a treatment of silver nitrate. Well after 6 weeks and two silver nitrate treatments, we finally have a submersible baby! YAY! She had her first tub bath at 6 weeks 1 day old!

We also spoke to the doctor about her reflux/colic episodes she was having. For the last couple of weeks Kinley was having about 2-3 hour stretches in the evening where she just screamed and screamed. She would go stiff as a board and nothing we did would comfort her. Knowing that my brother had colic for his first 3 months of life, I was preparing myself for that but hoping that it was more acid reflux. Our ped concurred that it was probably a combination of reflux and colic and prescribed her zantac twice a day. She told us that if the crying was due to the reflux, the zantac would help, but if it was colic then there was nothing that could be done about it. I'm very thankful to say that after almost a full week on the medicine we are so happy with the improvement. It's almost a night and day difference. She still gets fussy every evening around 7:30 or so, but at least now she is consolable. One method that has consistently worked for her is having her back against my chest while I'm sitting down (this way she can "stand" in my lap) and I rub her belly. In the last two weeks she has also started sleeping through the night. She will usually take her last feed around 9:30-10:30 and sleep until 5-6 in the morning.

We went on our first overnight trip with the kids to the beach and we had a blast. Kinley got to visit the Gulf for a few minutes and the big kids got to play too. I even got real pictures this time.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had Bro. Jamie and Sis. Bobbie Jo over one Sunday after church and she was telling me about this store called Strasburgs Childrens clothing. Well the next day I took my mom to the Orlando outlet mall and there just so happened to be a Strasburgs there! So of course we had to stop in AND we couldn't resist buying matching outfits for all the Miller grandbabies. And the timing was perfect because it was the weekend before Fathers Day so we were able to take the kids out to Hollis Gardens and get pictures and give them to the Grandfathers for Father's Day presents. Abbey and Brooke had matching dresses and Lindsey and Kinley have matching outfits. Then Brady had shorts that matched all the girls' dresses and Joshua had little overalls that matched! The kids were so cute and were so excited to have outfits that all matched!

4 Weeks Old!

2010-06-08T11:46:00.003-04:00

Why is it the last 4 weeks of pregnancy seem to have been at a standstill, yet once you arrived the 4 weeks have gone by like 4 minutes? I want to savor every moment of your little newborn life. I know so many "new mom's" are in survival mode, just waiting to move past this stage, but I think because deep down I have come to the realization that you will probably be our last, that I want to soak up every aspect of this stage. I love the bonding time we have during your feedings and despite my better judgment I love that you love to be held. I cherish the naps you take on my chest, I love the smell of your head as you snuggle into my neck (even though it smells like spitty most of the time). You have rolled over a couple of times, but I'm pretty sure they were complete flukes. You can hold your head up really well, although we do still call you a bobblehead! Kinley you are absolutely the blessing we prayed for all these years. You have completed our family.

Kinley's Likes:

napping on someones chest
to be swaddled
to be held
bath time (sponge baths...since she still hasn't lost her umbilical stump!)
binkys during the day

Kinley's Dislikes:

Gripe water, which is fine because it doesn't help her spit-up!
being in a room by herself
anything that vibrates (ie. bouncy seat, bassinet)
sitting in a dirty diaper (not even for a minute)
when the Momma drinks a fountain Coke! Waaaaahhhhh...that's what she says when I do and that's what I say when I don't!

New Camera!

2010-06-07T16:44:00.004-04:00

Matthew got his Father's Day present early...a new digital camera, that I get to use! YAY Unfortunately, because we just got it on Saturday, we haven't learned all the settings yet so today when we took it to the kids awards assemblies, we didn't have a whole lot of pictures turn out. We're still in the learning curve! Hopefully we will figure it out soon!

Abbey and Brady both did great this school year and came home with some major loot! Trophies, medallions, certificates...they racked up! And little Kinley was so impressed with her big Sis and Bro. that she slept through both of their awards ceremonies!

Way to go Abbey and Brady, you both worked really hard this school year and Momma and Dad are so pleased with you both! Only 2 more days left of school and off to enjoy the "lazy" days of summer!

In case you didn't know...

2010-06-05T18:49:00.002-04:00

Here is a blog of one of our favorite Alabamians, Hannah. She's got some pretty funny stuff! Check her out! Make sure to add her to your blog roll so that others can visit her as well!

100th post and a whole bunch of randomness!

2010-06-03T12:27:00.009-04:00

I was hoping my 100th post would be this fabulously exciting post about all kinds of interesting stuff, but it's not! It's just some cute pictures from the last few days.

On Memorial day Brady wanted to hold his somewhat fussy sister, so he layed down on the couch with her on his chest ...

...and within a few moments she was sound asleep, so Brady decided to rest his eyes too!

The kids had crazy hair day at school on Wednesday!

On Wednesday after school Abbey had to go have some blood work done. She was very brave but Brady was very worried about her, so as we were leaving the lab I snapped this picture of Brady taking good care of his Big Sis!

And yes, they did go to the lab with their "crazy hair"!

Sisters!

2010-05-27T17:01:00.005-04:00

2 weeks have come and gone. And although we are starting to find some routine and schedules, we still haven't ventured out of the house much. With school almost out, the kids haven't had much homework, so Abbey usually likes to come home and "entertain" Kinley in the afternoon. Abbey likes to sit in the rocking chair with Kinley while vegging out to some afternoon cartoons. And sometimes, the two of them will just lay on a blanket together. It is so sweet to see this bonding time between the two girls! Tomorrow is Kinley's 2 week check up. She is definitely over 7 pounds now! At 2 weeks old, Kinley is trying really hard to "talk" and smile. As with most babies, she prefers to be held, although she is getting better about sleeping in her bouncy seat during the day. At night, she is doing amazingly well. She usually has a 5 hour stretch between her 8-9pm feeding and then doesn't wake up again until around 5:30am, which is fine since I have to be up by 6 to get the kids ready for school. She is finally taking a pacifier during the day, which means happy mom and happy baby!

New Baby...New Traditions!

2010-05-23T20:46:00.003-04:00

Now that Baby Kinley is here, we have a new tradition that we've started with the kids. Every night when it's bedtime for Abbey and Brady, Baby Kinley has to come and lay next to each one of them and say prayers with them. Sometimes Kinley is screaming crying, sometimes she's sound asleep, and sometimes she just calmly lays next to her Sissy and Bubba and listens to them say their prayers. Abbey and Brady look forward to it every night and I hope that it will be a tradition that we continue in some way or another for a long time.

New born math

2010-05-19T10:26:00.003-04:00

After 3 children, I still have not been able to figure out the newborn math! You know the one: weight gain + satisfied baby = no spit up! I have tried every configuration known to motherhood to keep my children was spitting up 24/7! There must be a spitting gene in our family. I have tried nursing for only 10 minutes total but feeding her every 1-1 1/2 hours. I've tried the gluttonous method of letting her stay on for as long as she will. I've tried not laying her down for a period of time after eating, but the only thing that does is make for one spoiled baby! Our poor visitors come with food and presents and leave with a Tide pen or a dry cleaning claim. Kinley's nickname when we first got home from the hospital was "Bitty Baby" now it's "Spitty Baby"! I have just learned to live with the fact that I WILL be the mother who wears her child's spit up proudly. It is a right of passage and as a third timer, I know that this too shall pass and I will be missing the days of snuggling my newborn. Despite Kinley's spittiness, she is doing amazing. We took her in last Friday for her first newborn pediatrician appointment. She had lost about 6oz. in the hospital and had gain one ounce back as of Friday. But because she was little to start, the Dr. wanted me to bring her in on Monday for another weight check. She weighed in at a whopping 6lbs. 10.8oz. The Dr. was very pleased with that gain, so now we don't go back until she is 2 weeks old.

Kinley Ane

2010-05-15T21:20:00.002-04:00

After several years of waiting for this little blessing to join our family, we are happy to announce the birth of Kinley Ane. At my doctor's appointment on Monday (May 10th) my ob suggested I come in on Tuesday to be induced. I was at 3cm and having contractions, but they still weren't enough to make any progress. We got to the hospital at 7:30 on Tuesday morning and they hooked me up to all the monitors and started all the paper work. My doctor said I was registering some good contractions so he decided to wait on the pitocin. He broke my water at around 9:30 in the morning. By 11:30 my contractions were pretty regular and strong so I was hopeful that my body was working the way it was supposed to. I asked for my epidural and shortly afterwards I was examined again but I had only progressed to 4cm. My dr. decided since I hadn't made much progress even with my contractions, to start the pitocin. They checked me off and on over the next few hours and kept bumping up the pitocin, but I still wasn't moving much. At 2pm he came in and checked me again and I was still at 4-5cm. So he bumped my pitocin again. I was starting to think this was going to be a really long day, so we let Abbey and Brady come in and visit for a little bit. At about 2:30, I had a contraction that was really strong and quite painful (considering I had an epidural). About 3 or 4 minutes later I felt another one and realized I was experiencing a lot of pressure all of the sudden. I told Matthew to get the kids out of the room and call the nurse. When she came in, I told her I was feeling a lot of pain and pressure and I wanted to get a "top off" on my epidural. She said let me check you first. She looked at me and said "Sorry, Honey, I can't top off the epidural. The baby is here and will be born in the next few minutes." Over the next 5 minutes chaos erupted as they phoned for the doctor to hurry and get in here. Seven minutes later little Kinley entered into the world with the most perfect coloring and the most perfectly shaped little head. It was by far my most painful delivery, I felt EVERYTHING! I'm not really sure why my epidural didn't work, but I guess if you're going to have an epidural that doesn't work, it's good to have a 7 minute delivery! We are all doing great. Abbey and Brady are absolutely in L-O-V-E! Thank you for all your prayers!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kinley Ane
6lbs. 12oz. 20"
born on May 11, 2010
at 2:48 p.m.

Tomorrow's D-Day!

2010-05-10T21:13:00.004-04:00

It looks like Baby J will be making his/her grand appearance tomorrow sometime. I am scheduled to be induced tomorrow morning at 7:30 and hopefully before early evening we will know if we have a Kinley Ane or a Cayden Matthew! Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow. We are all very excited (especially the kids)!

YES!

2010-05-05T15:39:00.002-04:00

That is the answer to the questions I receive everywhere I go anymore:

1. Are you still here?
2. Are you ready?
3. Are you getting uncomfortable?
4. Are the kids excited?
5. Will you call me and let me know when you're on your way to the hospital?

Days away!

2010-05-04T13:33:00.002-04:00

We are just days away from our new bundle being here! Hopefully sooner rather than later. We are all very anxious and excited. Abbey has been asking numerous times a day "if I felt like the baby was going to be born today?" I finally had to tell her that if she asked me one more time I was going to send her to her room and not let her out until after the baby was born. I explained to her that she will be one of the first people to know and that she wasn't going to miss anything!

I'm getting pretty uncomfortable and sleep does not come very easily, but I know it's just God's way of preparing us for having a newborn in the house! My question is how in the world can I be compared to the "broad side of a barn" on Sunday (thanks Sis. Amanda) and then the very next day be told "Oh wow, I thought you'd already had the baby. When I first saw you, you didn't even look pregnant." Aaahhhh! Who do you think I'll be spending more time with???

Going to the County Fair...

2010-04-27T16:01:00.004-04:00

...science fair that is! Abbey and two other students were selected out of the entire 4th grade (88 students total) to enter their science fair projects in the County Fair. Abbey and her daddy are super duper excited. They worked really hard on this together. The judging/awards ceremony will be May 12th! Way to go Abster!

Her project was to determine if adding gravel to sand would make the water drain better through the sand.

This is where I've been all month!

2010-04-22T20:23:00.003-04:00

So I know it's been a while, however I do have good reason. As you may remember from my last post, I asked for prayers for several little girls suffering from cancer. One of them being a first grader in Brady's class. As the homeroom parent, I was asked to coordinated fundraising efforts on behalf of the family. I am so overwhelmed by the generosity that has been shown to this family. I sent home letters with all the students at the school for donations and the response has been amazing. I was also asked to try to coordinate some sort of "spirit" night to help raise money as well. Unfortunately due to the tight timeline (the school year is almost over) and the expense needed to hold such a function, we came up with a different plan. I came up with a logo for t-shirts and Matthew and I worked together to get local businesses to donate money to be used to purchase the t-shirts. The businesses in turn got their logo on the back of the t-shirt and we were able to completely cover the cost of the shirts. This allowed us to be able to give 100% of the money from the sale of the shirts to the family. After much running around collecting money and artwork/logos, and approvals from public school administration and all the other red tape to make this happen, I picked up the shirts yesterday from the screen printers and we sold them this afternoon/evening at our PTA meeting. It was an amazing success. I want to thank not only our very generous sponsors, but the overwhelming support of our teachers/parents/students who purchased the shirts.

Prayer Requests!

2010-03-19T16:45:00.002-04:00

In my entire 30 something years of life, I don't think I have ever personally encountered a child going through cancer and yet in the last 3 months, we have learned of 3 young girls ranging in age from 2 years to 7 years old that have all been diagnosed with a different form of cancer. The emotional and financial burdens these 3 families face over the next few weeks, months and years is overwhelming to think about. Please stop and take some extra time to ask for the Lord's presence in these cases!

Where has it gone?

2010-02-24T11:26:00.004-05:00

My brain, that is...my creative juices...my very important thought processes! My hope is that it is all going to this little bundle that is baking. The bad news is, well, I just got nutin! I have sat at this computer numerous times to type out a post and it sits in the draft box for days and days until I go back and delete it. I think mainly because I've been so bad about taking pictures and I keep hoping I'll remember the camera the "next time" to add to that post. It seems to be a futile effort.

February has been a very busy month. With birthdays, doctor's appointments, church meetings and trips out of town, you would think I could muster up something to write about.

So I will attempt to break it down. I will start with the doctor's appointments. In the last week we've had 4 appointments between me and the kids. All is well with me and the babe...just hit the 28 week mark, had my glucose tolerance test and will start going to appointments every two weeks now. That means things are going to start flying by.

As for Abbey, many of you know how petite she is and as her parents it is so difficult to see how much it bothers her. It breaks my heart that she has to go through the pain of not only the teasing and mean words that come from kids mouths, but the comments from adults too. It has been on our minds a lot to take her to a specialist to check and make sure all is well, but knowing that Matthew and I are not exactly giants kept telling ourselves it's just in her genes to be petite. But after talking to Abbey one day and realizing just how badly it is affecting her self esteem, we decided to look into getting things checked out. We chose a dr. in Orlando who specialized in pediatric endocrinology. We met with him a little over a week ago and had a very good visit. Abbey really liked him. He was great with her, made her laugh, made her feel grown up all around excellent bedside manner. He seemed to be very knowledgeable yet not too aggressive. We didn't want to just jump into a whole bunch of stuff without having time to think it over. He did an x-ray of her hand while we were there to get her "bone age". Apparently your bone age can be off from your biological age. In her case, because of family history, he fully anticipated seeing that her bone age is about 2 years behind her actual age, which is a good thing, because that means she will have two additional years of growing to help her catch up. We don't have the results of the x-ray back but she is scheduled to go back to him in June where we will get the results of the x-ray as well as some blood work that he wants to have done in a few months. We're prayerful that we can find some answers and that there will be a resolution as well.

Brady has also been to the doctor this past week. Since he just had a birthday, I took him in for his 7 year old check up. Just routine stuff, not anticipating much of anything. I mentioned to his pedi. about his bizarre nosebleed episodes as well as his lumberjack snoring and asked her if these two things go together and if it was just allergies and what not. She asked a few questions and then suggested he go see an ENT (ear nose throat doctor). Well two days later we're at the ENT and he strongly recommends surgery for Brady. In the doctors words, Brady's adenoid is "grossly over sized" and his tonsils are moderately enlarged. He is very concerned with Brady's respiratory rate and is very confident that he is also having episodes of sleep apnea at night. He also stated that the reasons for the nosebleeds are because he has exposed blood vessels on one side and those will have to be cauterized. The thought of putting him through another procedure after our experience this past summer with his surgery sends me into a state of convulsions. But the thought of him having respiratory problems/sleep apnea scares me a little more. The poor kid, Matthew and I were counting up in our head last night: in his 7 whole years of life he has been to the ER 5 times (that's counting the 2 different ER's we went to following his surgery last summer), has had 3 different medical procedures done which all involved cauterizing, a ride in an ambulance that included numerous stitches to the forehead and now this. And he is considered a healthy kid!

I think I will end my post here. I will try to continue to catch up with birthdays and vacations and church meetings, BEFORE Baby Johnson arrives. Please pray for us and the doctors. Please pray that we will be able to make the best decisions for the health and well-being of our children.

Quote of the Day...

2010-01-09T11:41:00.003-05:00

Brady: "Mom, it wastes water to take baths and showers every day"

Brady: "Mom, I'm not a girly-boy, I'm just helping Abbey clean up!"

(This was stated because he was holding Abbey's baby doll.)

We're having people over tonight and Brady decided to get out his vacuum and help clean up! He's such a good boy!

Sweet 16...

2010-01-08T07:28:00.003-05:00

No that is not my age (shocking I know) but the number of years Matthew and I have been married! And yes, we do know it's Elvis' birthday as well. It was one of our bargaining chips to the parents to bump up the wedding a few months! And of course who can say "No" to Elvis?

Matthew,

You have no idea the amazing man you are. I am so blessed to have found you at such a young age. I am so thankful for your commitment to the Lord, me, your children and your work. I have no doubt in my mind that I am exactly where I dreamed I would be oh so many years ago in my childhood. I love you for supporting me to be a SAHM. I love your sense of humor and your ability of finding the positive side in things. Your passion for the church and our Lord above is what inspires me most. You are such an incredible father, I am just so amazed that the Lord gave you to me. Thank you for our first sixteen years together and looking forward to our journey to forever still to come! I love you!

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Last of the NYC pics

2010-01-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

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NYC - Part 3 - Videos

2010-01-05T17:44:00.005-05:00

I haven't had a chance to finish posting pictures from our big NYC excursion. We had such an amazing time...even though we ate at McDonald's more times than I care to admit. Of course the big news is that we timed our trip perfectly. We arrived on Friday around lunchtime and got to see some sights and do some shopping. Then on Saturday we got up and headed over to Rockefeller Center for some ice skating.

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Saturday night it started to snow and by Sunday morning it looked like a winter wonderland! This was the first time for the kids to see snow and although they thought it was pretty fun...I think I have cured them of ever wanting to move out of the state of Florida. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that us "Florida Crackers" didn't have all the proper gear to keep from getting wet in the snow! Our little puny Wal-mart gloves just didn't cut it, nor did our jeans that were thoroughly soaked after one attempt at snow angels.

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This video was taken first thing Sunday morning, before the city had a chance to fully shovel it's way out of the snow. Most of the sidewalks were still freshly covered and I decided to pull out the camera just to show what NYC looks like before the snow plows come through. I was able to catch a very smooth move by a very cool six year old.

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20/20 Vision

2009-12-29T15:40:00.005-05:00

I just had my 20 week checkup. This of course is a really big milestone. 20 weeks in 20 weeks to go! The big halfway point. And of course, the BIG ULTRASOUND! We had an amazing tech who did the ultrasound for us. She was so friendly and reassuring. So many times you get these techs that almost don't even look at you and tell you up front that they "will not be talking or answering any questions not to disturb them during their measurements!" But this young lady was truly amazing. We brought the kids with us so that they could see the baby moving all around. Brady's favorite part was "seeing the baby's bones!" I mean come on, does that really surprise anyone, especially with how excited he was to see dinosaur bones up in NYC? Abbey of course loved all of it. The Lord answered our prayers and all the measurements and anatomy came back healthy and strong. Baby J's heartbeat was at 152 today. We were able to get all of the scan on VHS to show all the movement and we also got some still shots as well. Baby J is weighing in at a whopping 12 oz. (basically a can of soda) which is right where he/she should be. Thank you for all your continued prayers. We are so excited to now officially be in the downswing of the pregnancy. May will be here before we know it and we can't wait to snuggle up to this baby! I have included probably the one and only intentional shot of the bump that you will see on here. I will also try to add a survey to the side of the page for anyone up for the challenge of guessing the gender. As of today's appointment, I am up 5 pounds. Let's hope I can keep that trend going. I gained exactly 22 pounds with both Abbey and Brady so I'd like to shoot for that again give or take a pound or two!

This was a really good shot of the umbilical cord on the far right of the baby's abdomen

Have you ever seen such a perfect little foot?

Baby J appears to be a thumb sucker. The tech said she has rarely seen a baby actually get it's thumb in its mouth during an ultrasound, but Baby J had a good hold of it's thumb and was sucking away!

These shots are always a litttle freaky looking, but this is the face straight on. You can make out the eye sockets in this one.

NYC - Part 2

2009-12-24T23:10:00.007-05:00

As most of you have heard, Brady couldn't wait to get the camera out and start taking pictures, so as soon as we arrived at the airport he began!

Brady asked me to take a picture of the three of them riding the airport tram!

This was the Burger King in the airport! He acts like he's never seen a BK before!

Me holding a banana to eat once we boarded the plane! And yes, that it my enormous (according to my sweet husband and son)19 week belly as the backdrop.

Brady took this picture of himself sitting on the airplane waiting to take off

And of course, you can't go ice skating without Santa Claus.

Brady really loved the Museum of Natural History. If you've never seen the movie Night at the Museum, this is the location of the film and he was so excited to see all the stuff from the movie, especially the dinosaurs. So the next few shots are from the museum.

T-Rex - His favorite

Wall mural at the entrance to one of the dinosaur rooms

Stegosauraus (I think)

Several dinosaurs together.

Triceratops

Wooly Mammoth - His 2nd favorite

The "art" if you can call it that on one of the walls inside the subway station.

I'm sure you can guess the next few are the Statue of Liberty.

View of the NYC skyline from the statue.

Brady being the statue in front of the statue!

And last but certainly not least, a picture of his Avatar toy from McDonalds.

NYC - Part 1

2009-12-24T22:42:00.009-05:00

Since I don't have a lot of time to post all about our vacation to NYC, I'll break it down into parts. The first two parts will be the pictures the kids took with their very own disposable cameras. Part 1 is from Abbey's camera. And for some reason, I can't change the order of the pictures! GRRR!

Abbey had one last shot when we got home, so she took a picture of our tree.

The arch at Washington Square park (in the middle of the NYU campus)

The Statue of Liberty (with a little mittened thumb in the upper corner) from the ferry

Another view of the statue from the ferry

The skyline from the observation deck of the Empire State Building

Another great shot from the top of the Empire State Building

Not exactly sure why this was photo worthy, but it's the kitchen at the Museum of Natural History food court.

Abbey thought it was hilarious that someone wrote on a car in the snow! It definitely deserved a photo!

The snow beginning to fall outside the filthy McDonalds window where we were refueling our waning energy!

Visiting with Santa at Macy's

The ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center

Abbey's ice skate

One of the horse drawn carriages near Central Park.

Me and Brady in the car that picked us up from La Guardia and took us to our hotel.

What a month...or longer!

2009-12-14T17:01:00.003-05:00

November and December get very busy around here, but add in a virus infected computer that goes kaput, children that tag team you with a very strange stomach virus and a "what was I thinking when I signed up for this" PTA project and you get a very bad blogger! I have a "new to me computer" to replace by sickie computer, but I have no photos (not that I've taken too many anyways) because they are on the old one that we have not had a chance to get to Matthew's IT guy at work to try to recover.

So this will be a fairly random post to try to catch you up and what all we've done or will be doing! In the middle of November we took the kids to a USF Bulls football game. A client of Matthew's gave us the tickets and they were fantastic seats! We all had a really good time, even though it did get a little warmish in the stadium, but hey that's the trade-off to living in Florida! We had all of my Mom's side of the family over for Thanksgiving and had a great time! The food was YUMMO and the weather turned out to be really nice! The kids spent the night with Matthew's parents on Thanksgiving night and Matthew and I got up at 3:15am to hit the Black Friday sales! This was our first time and although I felt a great sense of accomplishment when we were done shopping at 9:30 a.m., I don't think the deals were quite worthy of a 3 o'clock wake up call!

Our November ended with Abbey coming down with a stomach virus and for the last two weeks we have literally been on house confinement while the kids swapped middle of the night sick sessions! Hmmm, we'll be adding a third child into the mix soon, that should make for interesting cold and flu seasons around here! The kids went back to school today, and dare I say, I think they might be rid of that nastiness! On Friday, we will be heading out early for a family trip to NYC! The kids are so excited! This will be Brady's first plane trip ever and the first one that Abbey will actually remember! We have lots of fun and exciting things planned while we're up there. The kids got disposable cameras as early Christmas presents from my parents and it is killing them that they can't take pictures yet! We told them they had to wait until our trip, but once we get there they can take whatever pictures they want! So in other words, we will have two disposable cameras each with 27 shots, filled with pictures of the Orlando airport. What's really humorous (or sadly age defining) is that the kids don't understand the concept of a camera with film. They keep asking if they can delete a picture after they take it to make room for more pictures! Ahhh the spoils of the digital world! We of course will have the digital camera and I haven't quite decided if we will take the video camera as well. I mean come on, we're already a bunch of touristy Floridians traipsing through NYC, we don't want to look like complete fools with a video camera in our hands too! ha ha! We'll get back in time for Christmas at home and then a nice relaxing week off before the hectic new year begins!

As for the new year, that will probably be the start of babyizing the house! We go for our big 20 week ultrasound the Tuesday after X-mas, but don't get all excited because we are not going to find out what we're having. I haven't decided what I like more...the element of surprise in the delivery room, the random old wives tales used to predict, or the sheer shock on people's faces when they hear us say "we don't want to know what we're having"!

Thanks for continuing to check in on our little fam! We hope you all have a very Happy Holiday Season, because who are we kidding, I probably won't be posting again for another week or so! Who knows, maybe I'll surprise you!

Amazing Weekend!

2009-11-02T08:52:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderfully blessed weekend visiting with our friends from Little Zion. Elder David Crawford preached on Friday night and Saturday and the spirit of the Lord was with us. We really enjoyed visiting with everyone and we look forward to our upcoming meeting at Little Union. It will begin on Thursday night (November 12th) and will continue with both morning and evening services on Friday and Saturday and conclude on Sunday morning. Elder Ricky Harcrow from Alabama will be preaching.

On Saturday night we took the kids over to Nanna and Grandpa's house to carve pumpkins, eat pizza and go trick or treating! It was a little warmish for the last day of October (even for Florida) and the skeeters were out in full force, but none the less we had a great time and the kids racked up the loot!

We also gained a glorious hour this weekend. It was a much needed hour. It has been really difficult gettin' going in the mornings. It just isn't right having to drive your kids to school when it's still dark outside. And we even have some "coolish" temps predicted for the WHOLE week! I might even be able to turn off the a/c and open up the windows a bit! YEAH!

Let the busy holiday season begin! Happy Fall, Ya'll!

His Mercy Endureth Forever

Free Family Fun Night

Reflecting...

A note from teacher

Change your blog roll...

1994 - Eternity

16 Week Update

Flashback Friday

Day 5 of the Daniel Fast

Fellow Bloggie...Check it out!

Relationship Status...

The Daniel Fast

Happy New Year!

May the Pox soon be lifted!

And then September hit!

Bow-Bow Holders

Trash vs. Treasure

Pride cometh before the fall

He must think I'm cheap...

Eleven in '11

Stock piles...

Book Preview

Bartender...

The monkey stole his moves...

The one where the kids got mono!

Parenting...FAIL!!!

Sneak Preview

Even Baldy Babies...

Check it out!

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday

Way Back Whensday!

Strength from the Lord

"You're My Best Boy"...

Months 6-9

I blinked...

Conversations

Day 25 - My day as a SAHM!

Day 24- Where I Live

My Prayers!

Day 23 - You Tube Video

Day 22 - Website

Mover and a Shaker

Day 21 - A Recipe

Day 19 & Day 20 - A Talent and a Hobby

Motherhood Math!

4 months

Buying the vote

Day 18 - Our Wedding

"Bust-a-move Brady"

Day 17 - A piece of Art

All About Abbey!

Day 16 - A song that makes me cry

Day 15 - Dream House

Day 14 - Non Fiction Book

Day 13 - Fictional Book(s)

Go pahk ya cah in the garage!

Day 12 - Something I'm OCD about!

Day 10 *Updated* with Day 11 - Recent Photo of yourself

Day 10 - A photo of me taken over ten years ago!

Day 9 - A photo you took!

Day 8 - A picture that makes you angry/sad!

Day 7 - A picture that makes me happy!

Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things!

Day 5 - Favorite Quote

Day 4 - Favorite Book

Day 3 - Favorite Television Program

Project Runway

Day 2 - Favorite Movie

Day 1 - Favorite Song(s)

30 Day Blog Journal

Growing, Growing...Gone!

Almost Double Digits!

2 months

The mind of a 7 year old boy!

H.R.S. and other happenings

4 Weeks Old!

New Camera!

In case you didn't know...

100th post and a whole bunch of randomness!

Day 10 Updated with Day 11 - Recent Photo of yourself