HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We hope you had a great and safe Halloween night. First of all, I made the biggest mistake by telling Katie it was Halloween and what we were going to do tonight. She was so excited, maybe too excited. Beings that she got out of bed late this morning, I let her wait until 1:45 before taking a nap. I had to go into her bedroom several times to try to calm her down and go to sleep. Nothing I tried was working, she would not go to sleep. At one time I heard her in her room, so I thought I would check it out. I peeked into her room and she had stripped her clothes and diaper off, standing in the middle of her room. She told me she had poopied. Well, there was her mattress in the middle of the floor with soiled sheets. I didn't want to get on to her right away, not until I got more information. I did get on to her about taking her mattress off of the bed. As I was changing her sheets, I noticed the wet pillows and blankets underneath the mattress on the floor. It was obvious she had pee-peed on the pillows and blankets while on the bed. The pillows were too wet for a diaper to just leak that's when I found her clothes and diaper. The clothes were dry as everything and the diaper was barely wet. What am I going to do with her? As long as she was in the room, she got an ear full whether she wanted to hear it or not. Of course, I disciplined her for taking her clothes and diaper off and peeing on her bedding. I think the worst part for her is me taking her TV time away. All evening, she wanted to watch a movie, but I reminder her of what she did. I told Maryann about it when she was here. She knows how the terrible twos have just about gotten the best of me. She told me that Katie knew she did wrong and she was trying to clean it up, which makes sense. Of course, Katie has to realize what she did was wrong and she will have to face the consequence. Realizing she wouldn't stay in bed to take a nap, I sent her to the Living Room to lay on the couch. Finally, she went to sleep around 4:00. She was able to take an hour and a half nap before Nick and his friends stopped by. They were Trick or Treating for canned food items for the needy. I don't think he said, but I'm assuming his school is heading the fundraiser. They were on their way to host a haunted house at school. Millard and Peggy made it just in time to eat the hot dogs, I had just gotten off the grill. Maryann showed up close to the same time. Katie was beginning to really wake up. Millard, Peggy & Maryann brought Katie some treats. Of my gosh the treats! Maryann had a Halloween gift bag full of food (hostess cupcakes, animal crackers, gummies, berry flavored apple sauce, juice boxes, animal shaped disposable plates, chips and etc.). We laughed because of all the stuff. Afterwards, Katie and I ran over to Mom, Dad, June and Pat's to Trick or Treat. Mom had her second shot yesterday and wasn't all that spry. She said the doctor felt she may have to have surgery before long. She said something about the doctor saying there was too much going on in her back. He said the tube is narrowing and the nerves that would be going down her legs are pinched off. He thinks the shots will eventually not help and that surgery might do the job. On the way home, Katie wanted to stop by McDonalds for chicken and fry-fries. She was so happy to get her chicken and fry-fries. We got back home to pick up the rest of the gang and head to church. I think Katie had fun at the Fall Festival. As soon as we drove in the parking lot, Katie spotted the Princess Jumping House. When we got out of the car, she told me that she wanted to go to the Princess Castle. She had so much fun jumping around in there. When it was time to get out, she started crying. I don't know if she was crying because it was time to get out or if she got hurt. I guess we'll find out tomorrow to see if there are any bruises. We got her mind off of it to walk around the festival. She wanted to get on all the big kid's rides and games. Poor thing! She seemed satisfied watching people and checking out their costumes. Buddy, when she found a witch or some other character she knew, she let me know in a hurry. We found a couple of her friends from church, Sophie and Claire. Sophie was dressed up as Cinderella and she looked so tired. Claire wasn't dressed up, but she looked just as tired as Sophie. I wished I had Doug take their picture before we left. We found Katie's Sunday School Teacher, Kathy, she's the one in the ambulance. Kathy is a real EMT and a sweet sweet woman. She talks about Katie all the time, she seems to really like our little Katiebug. It makes you feel good when someone says something nice about Katie's behavior. It's too bad she's not like that all the time. Kathy and Dr. Warner were passing candy out to the little kids and letting them view the inside of a real ambulance. Kathy took Katie inside and she didn't care too much about the candy. She wanted to check everything else out inside the ambulance. It's been a while since I've seen Scott, Dr. Warner, he couldn't believe how much Katie had grown. I guess we got home around 8:00. Doug noticed our next door neighbors were home. I knew Mrs. Evelyn wanted to see Katie, so we hiked over there with our flashlights. I been noticing that Katie is a little afraid of the dark. I thought she was going to cry on the way over to Evelyn's house, but she was fine on the way back home. Go figure! I would have to say that we made a day of it.

Katie's Snow White Costume - Halloween 2007

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Katie finally got to see her new Snow White costume this afternoon. I used the costume to the fullest extent in order to get Katie to eat breakfast, take a tubby, and to be on her best behavior. I've achieved the first two, but I'm still working on the last one. After her tubby, she aggravated me to death about getting her prize. She loved her costume. I think she thought a prize was candy because as soon as she got her costume on, she still wanted her prize. I gave her a pack of gummies and a few M&Ms. She was so excited to go outside and have her picture made with her new Snow White outfit. I have to say that she makes a great Snow White! More pictures are available on the photosite. I'll make sure you see tonight's Halloween pictures as soon as I can. Have a great and safe Halloween!

Are You Ready For Halloween?

I think we're ready for Halloween. It's nearly midnight and I'm finally taking a rest before I go to bed. Katie and I went to Walmart for some last minute Halloween treats. Katie loves gummies and I found a box of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang packs of gummies with 100% vitamin C. With all the sickness going around, I thought it would be a good idea to get these for Katiebug. I've been giving her Flintstones Vitamins with Immunity Support. I hope this will help her from getting most of the bugs this Winter. As soon as we got back home, I put the final touch outside by hanging spider webs. I've got them all strung around the porch, ready to welcome all of our little goblins. Before I sat down for Supper, I baked a couple dozen Ghostly Cupcakes with sugar sprinkles. I filled up all the trick or treat bags with all kinds of goodies (gummies, M&Ms, Reeses, Whoopers, Hersheys Milk Chocolate, Sweet Tarts, Halloween Stickers and Smarties). I tried to get Katie to help me stuff the bags, but she either wanted to play with the candy or eat it. When the cupcakes came out of the oven to cool off, she kept thinking they were pancakes. Poor child! She's never had a cupcake, but she will tomorrow. I sent her and her Daddy to bed, while I finished decorating the cupcakes. I put Doug some aside to take to work. I think the guys around his cubical would like an after lunch dessert, unless it's Jason and then it will be as soon as he gets to work. tehe!

My Mom had another shot in her back today to help her with her walking. As you may know she had one of these shots a few weeks ago and it seemed to help. Unfortunately, the pain relief from the shot didn't last very long. We are hopeful this shot will do the trick. She is very discouraged about the whole thing. I don't know how she's doing tonight because when I called Dad at 5:00, she had not come out. I called their house around 7:45 and no one answered, so I'm guessing they hadn't come home yet. I got too wrapped up tonight to call again, so I will call in the morning to check on her. I plan to go over tomorrow afternoon to visit a little bit. I know they would want to see Katie in her costume and I thought I would take some cupcakes. I plan to take a few pictures of Katie tomorrow with her in her costume and the Fall Festival. Maryann is suppose to come over before we leave for the festival to visit and see Katie in her Snow White Costume. Millard and Peggy are coming over after work for Supper and to go with us to the festival. I think Katie will have a good time.

Hope ya'll have a Safe and Spooktacular Halloween!

Attention PRAYER WARRIORS!

I need my Prayer Warriors! I just got a notice from MOMS group at church. Beth said a little boy, Sam, needs our prayers. He was born this past Spring along with his twin sister, Sadie. This morning, his Mommy checked on him & his sister during their nap time. Sam wasn't breathing. She preformed CPR on little Sam and rushed him right to the hospital. The doctors said he had fluid on his lungs and was asphyxiated. The fluid was removed this afternoon. The scan shows very little brain activity and they are concerned infection might set in. The doctors are not giving much hope, but they are not the final authority. Please remember this little boy and his family in your prayers. I know they will appreciate it!

I have an Emily update. The lung was staying inflated, so the doctors closed off the hole where the tube went in and she got to go home. I don't know where she might be now on the donor list. Her doctor is trying to get her name moved up because she is in such a dangerous stage right now. Thank you for all of your prayers! Please continue to remember this family.

I saw Abby at church Sunday and she looks great. She still had a little bit of swelling in her eye lid, but she was all grins. Thank you so much for all the prayers. I know her and her family appreciate it.

Katie's First Hair Cut

I needed a hair cut so bad. I was so bad I could have audition for "The Shaggy Dog." We have pictures next weekend, so I wanted Katie and myself to look presentable. Saturday, Doug went with me to watch Katie while I got my hair cut. At first I didn't think Katie getting her hair cut was going to happen. Theresa, hair dresser, wanted to see if Katie would sit on the booster chair, well that wasn't going to happen. She began climbing me like a monkey climbing up a tree. Alright! I let her sit in my lap and she seemed to calm down until Theresa came at her with the apron. Theresa let her look at it and talked to her, trying to get Katie to warm up to her. Nope! Wasn't going to happen. Katie kept pushing the apron away from her. I asked Katie if I could put the apron on her and she seemed okay with it. Then came the comb and scissors! Theresa tried to just comb her hair, but she kept looking her and Katie didn't want Theresa touching her. She kept pulling away from her and then she began crying. I brought some smarties candies for her to eat while getting her hair cut, but she didn't want them. Theresa keeps Dum-Dum suckers, so we got her one and she settled down real quick. She ate two suckers after everything was said and done. We have more pictures on our photosite, check it out.

Tonight, we were invited to a fish fry at Sue and Tim's house. I guess we got there sometime after 1:00 and got home a little after 7:30. We tried to get Katie to take a nap on the way over there, but she was too excited. She was doing everything to stay awake. She was getting a little cranky at Sue's, so I put her up on the couch. All she had to do was beg Susan to hold her. I told Katie she had to stay on Susan's lap or hit the couch. She would stay on Sue's lap for a little bit and then she would start squirming off her lap. I finally gave up because she stopped being so cranky for a while. Of course, I had to stay on top of Katie most of the time. Ugh! She has to investigate everything. This includes testing me to see if she can touch something or not and then she has to see if when I say no, I really mean it. It was good to see everyone and we had a real good visit.

Liz & Nolan's kids get ready for Halloween!

Liz sent us these adorable pictures of Maddie & Jake. They are so cute as Tigger! Happy Halloween!

Children's Toy Recalls - Oct. 25th

Here are the latest recalls reported from CPSC:

1. Children's Metal Jewelry Recalled By WeGlow International Due to Risk of Lead Exposure. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08044.html
2. Dollar Tree Stores Inc. Recalls Children's Jewelry Due to Risk of Lead Exposure. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08045.html
3. Serious Head Injuries Prompt Recall of Bumbo Baby Sitter Seats - New Warnings and Instructions to Be Provided To Consumers. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08046.html
4. Fisher Price Recalls Go Diego Go Boat Toys Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08048.html
5. Jo-Ann Stores Expands Recall of Children's Toy Garden Tools Due to Violation of Lead in Paint Standard. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08049.html
6. DecoPac Inc. Recalls Football Bobble Head Cake Decorations Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08050.html
7. Family Dollar Stores Recalls Halloween Pails Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08051.html

Halloween Hangman

Ya'll have got to try this game. I love the skeleton when he is about to be hanged. Too cute! If you like to play hangman, you'll love this game. http://www.dedge.com/flash/hangman/hangman.swf

"The Golden Compass" Movie - Beware!

I wanted to pass along this information that I received this evening from a friend. This story has been checked out with Snopes and it is completely true. Please feel free to check out the original articles going around about this movie. http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp.

Please make yourselves aware of the content of the movie and especially the content of the book series the movie is based on before you or your kids decide to watch it. Received the followed post from another loop. This is important since the marketing for this movie has already started. It looks a lot like "Narnia" but is so far from it. BEWARE! There will be a new Children's movie out in December called THE GOLDEN COMPASS. It is written by Phillip Pullman, a proud atheist who belongs to secular humanist societies. He hates C. S. Lewis's Chronicle¢s of Narnia and has written a trilogy to show the other side. The movie has been dumbed down to fool kids and their parents in the hope that they will buy his trilogy where in the end the children kill God and everyone can do as they please. Nicole Kidman stars in the movie so it will probably be advertised a lot. This is just a friendly warning that you sure won't hear on the regular TV. Pullman , a prominent British atheist, has acknowledged that this is in fact his goal. He has claimed that "it is my goal to go after Christianity, I want God to be dead in my works. I want to undermine Christianity." ALSO, for additional info, follow the links:http://en.wikipedia ..org/wiki/ Philip_Pullmanhttp://www.mtv. com/movies/ news/articles/ 1571750/20071011 /story.jhtml http://www.imdb. com/title/ tt0385752/ maindetails http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ His_Dark_ Materials: _The_Golden_ Compass

Doctor Visit

Yesterday, I went to my 2 week doctor visit since we lost the baby. I believe this was one of the hardest things I had to do. It wasn't so hard sitting in the waiting room as it was actually walking back to my doctor's examining room. While waiting, I met a lady that was 5 months pregnant. Her and her family were there to find out the sex of the baby. Of course, she felt bad because I had lost my baby, but she understood. She had a miscarriage a year ago and she asked if this was my 2 week appointment after the loss. "Yeah," I answered. She went on to tell me that the 2 week appointment was the hardest thing for her because everyone around her was happy and pregnant. Like I said, I wasn't sad because I was surrounded by pregnant women. When the nurse called me back to get my file, she thought I was still pregnant because it wasn't noted in the file. She was wanting me to pay one of my installments to go towards my deductible as an OB patient. I asked her if I still had to pay for it since I no longer was pregnant. Of course, she felt terrible. She apologized and explained that she didn't know because it wasn't noted. She asked me to tell Dr. Keller's nurse that I was no longer an OB patient and to take me off the list. Wow! I guess saying that makes it so official and so depressing. I tried to be brave and strong telling her what the other nurse said. They were all very sweet and quickly took me in an examining room to cry and get a little self control. Dr. Keller was nice enough to sit and listen to me. It seemed as if he took all the time in world with me and was able to answer all my questions. He seemed to think from the way things appeared the miscarriage was brought on by the baby not developing enough chromosomes. He said the sack was fully developed, but the egg wasn't completely fertilized. He said this was a rare occurrence and more than likely the next time we get pregnant it won't happen again. I explained to him that Doug and I haven't been preventing this for about a year now and we would like to pursue trying to get pregnant. He advised waiting another 6-8 weeks before trying again. He said that normally give yourself about a year, but since we've been trying for a year to give ourselves another 6 months. If by chance nothing is happening, he said when we are ready to call him up and he would get the paper work ready to send us back to the ART Program. I really hope we won't have to go through all that again. You talk about STRESSFUL! I went on to tell him how it is so easy to blame myself. I asked him if there was anything I could have done to help prevent this from happening. For anyone whose been through this type of HELL before, you would do anything to avoid any chances of it happening again. "No," he answered. I guess he felt comfortable enough to share with me his personal horror stories. He assured me that he has never been in my shoes, personally, but he has been in Doug's shoes. He and his wife has had a total of 14 miscarriages. I told him this one miscarriage has been awful, I can't imagine (nor would I want to) having 13 more losses. How awful! He went on to tell me that he felt terrible for his wife because he's a doctor and couldn't do anything about it. I've had several older women ask me why I didn't have a DNC. I asked Dr. Keller and he said it was because I wasn't that far along and that I probably could have handled the cramping a lot better than I would have say at 3 months PG or so. He basically leaves it up to the patient if they want a DNC done. He went on to say that if I was 7 weeks or so along, he would have recommended the DNC, but I did fine. He assured me that the next time we get pregnant, I more than likely will not be considered a high risk patient.

I dropped Katie off at Peggy's house, while I went for my doctor's appointment. She always has such a good time at her Grandma Peggy's house. It was too cold and wet outside, so they stayed inside watching movies and playing. Peggy has a hard time getting Katie to take naps during the day, needless to say she didn't have one. After my appointment, I stopped off at Target for a little while and grabbed some chicken from KFC for Supper. By the time I got back to Peggy and Millard's, Katie was beginning to show signs of not having a nap. She was a little terror! She was so mean to Millard and Peggy. I don't think Millard got to spend much time with her because she was being so bad and wouldn't have much to do with anyone, if she couldn't get her way. Millard and Peggy was nice enough to have us stay for Supper. I was still upset, so it was nice to be around someone who love you. Soon after Supper dishes, I packed us up and I had to get Katie out of there before she broke something. Katie was so tired! She was asleep before I got on the main road. It was still pretty early when we got home, 6:30, so I tried keeping her up. I finally gave up because she went over to her little chair, laid her head in it and fell asleep. As easy as I could, I changed her clothes and diaper. By the time, I took out her hair bow and rubber band, she was ready to get up. I tried rocking her in the chair, but Doug called and Katie wanted to get off of my lap. After awhile, she began to get cranky again. To bed she went and this time to stay. While I was on the phone with Maryann, she tried her best to sneak out of her bedroom. Ugh! I would have to take her back to bed and tuck her in again. This went on for close to 2 1/2 hours until I didn't hear a sound from her close to 9:30. I checked on her before I went to bed, around 10:30 and she was out like a light. It was nice to watch horror movies last night until about 1:30 a.m. tehe! Normally, I don't get to watch spooky movies because Katie's too young and Doug doesn't like them. I got to watch "Scream" and "The Omen II." I'm kind of surprised I didn't have nightmares after watching "The Omen II." I only have nightmares after watching movies that really could happen and we all know there is such of a thing as the Antichrist. I guess my conscience was clear by not having nightmares.

Today is laundry day, since we are under a water restriction. We can only use excessive amounts of water (laundry, washing cars & watering lawn) two days out of the week. Our days are Tuesday and Friday. Yes, I know it's not Tuesday, but I wasn't home yesterday to wash clothes. We've got a huge pile of clothes from last Thursday that needs to be washed because we were gone to TN last Friday. The temperature is staying in the upper 50s, lower 60s most of the day and gloomy. They are predicting another chance for rain today as well, which is much needed. It rained most of the day yesterday, but it was a misty rain and not a good down pour. I think the weatherman said we got a total of less than an inch of rain in our area. I've been kind of concerned about all the sickness going around - staph infection, bronchitis and croup that I'm afraid to get Katie out unless absolutely necessary. I never realized how contagious Staph was until a nurse in our Sunday School class was telling us about it. Wow! She said most doctors misdiagnose because the first signs of Staph looks like a Brown Recluse Spider bite (with the brown spot in the center of the bite). When the Staph spreads that's when the doctor's diagnosis includes Staph Infection. A dear friend of ours, Sheila, told us the other day that her son, Rusty, got a spider bite and later developed a Staph Infection (MIRSA). It's been 4 weeks and he has it in 5 different areas on his body including his nose. She said he is miserable. The nurse in our class, Nina, asked if the doctor gave him something (oil like medicine) to put on a Quitip and rub around the inside of his nose. "No," Sheila responded with concern on her face. Nina said unless he gets this medicine to kill the Staph in his nose, he will be a carrier and he will have several different occurrences with Staph until he kills it out of his nose. She added that he must clean after himself, so his wife doesn't catch it from him. For instance, he must clean out the bathroom completely until his is over it. She said it is best to have him use a separate bathroom until he is over it and then clean out the bathroom with Clorox. After hearing this from her, every little bug bite Katie has on her body I watch it closely.

Our Trip to Tennessee

What a gorgeous day to travel to Chattanooga for the day! The weather could not have been more perfect for our trip. Katie was set up with her DVD player and toys. We decided to stop at a rest area by Nickajack River to stretch our legs and take a potty break. Who should we run into but Doug's cousins, Brenda & Eddie. I stepped out of the stall and there was Brenda waiting to use the bathroom. What a surprise! She said her and Eddie were headed to Gatlinburg for a few days, like they do every year, and just decided to stop off for a bathroom break. They couldn't have picked a better week to go to Gatlinburg because it's suppose to be beautiful all weekend and next week with the temps in the lower 70s.

When we got back on the road and got Katie settled down watching "Snow White," I asked Doug if we could stop off at Lookout Mountain. We haven't been there in years and you have to stop off at Lookout Mountain. He didn't see where that would be a problem. I wasn't paying too close attention as to where he was going. The next thing I know we are winding around a mountain. We must already be at Lookout Mountain, but the roads didn't look familiar. The next thing I know, we are at Ruby Falls parking lot and some guy motions us to turn right into their parking area. Where were we going, I was wondering. After driving a complete circle around the Ruby Falls parking lot, we agreed the continue driving up the road. We found the Lookout Mountain Incline, which Doug was familiar with. I still had no idea where we were and I was trying to describe to him what small National Park/Parking in order to see and take pictures off Lookout Mountain. Well, we accidentally ended up at "Point Park," which is an old Civil War era Military park. They had old model canons displayed here and there and in the middle of the park overlooking the mountain was a huge monument of both a Union and Confederate soldiers. The scenery was breath taking. There were quite a few people in the park with the same idea we had. A group of women with their children were having a picnic on the grass by the monument, while catching up with the latest gossip. I saw a couple of Dads playing ball with their boys. The rest of the visitors were like us, taking pictures of their kids and reading the historical markers. There were a few small gift shops along with the visitor center surrounding this military park, but it was mostly residential. The residential housing wasn't your basic mansions, some where more like compounds with spectacular views. Seriously, there were a couple of houses that looked like two houses joined together, they were so big. Doug and I wondered if the residential folks used the incline during the Winter or bad weather months in order to get off the mountain.

We got to downtown Chattanooga in time to find us some lunch. Doug wanted to try this pizza place called "Lupis," but we had the hardest time finding it. When we finally found it, we parked the car and headed over there. Hello, we walked right by "Mellow Mushroom." Well, why try a pizza place that you're not too familiar with when you have a "Mellow Mushroom" right in front of your face. I love their house special pizza. It was so nice outside, so we thought it would be a good idea to eat outside. Plus, I didn't see where we could fit the stroller any where inside the restaurant without parking it by the door or outside. As we were waiting for our food, here came a "Southern Belle" lady all dressed up and passing out brochures for boat rides on the "Southern Belle." Katie kept looking at her. I had to take a picture of the Southern Belle and she didn't seem to mind. Katie ate a half piece of pizza and was ready to go see the shark. We finally got to the Tennessee Aquarium in time to have to wait forever and a day just to get a couple tickets. Ugh!!!! I guess after the line of people stretched all the way outside, they decided to bring a second clerk out to take people's money. I was so afraid Katie wouldn't be able to see everything because we got there so late. Unfortunately, we didn't see any divers dressed up as mermaid or any other character, but seeing Katie's face when she saw these sea creatures in real life was enough for me. She seemed to have had a great time. She was wild! If I had to guess, I would say her favorite creatures were as follows: Shark (definitely the shark), Penguins, Clown Fish, River Otters, Stingrays, snakes and alligators. I thought she would like the turtles and sea horses, but she really didn't seem too interested. I guess they were going too slow for her. In the Jelly Fish Exhibit, in the middle of the room, there were four long tubes that reached from the ceiling to the floor. These tubes were full of Jelly Fish and the tubes would change different colors, I'm sure from colored light bulbs. Katie seemed to like that because of the different colors, I don't think it's because of the Jelly Fish. I couldn't get over this huge crab called a "Giant Spider Crab." I'd never seen such a huge crab like that before. Wow! You can see the excitement on my face from the pictures (on website). I was talking to the lady (also in the picture) about how big it was. We were laughing because we just got through talking about wanting those crab legs on a plate. Her little boy liked the idea too because he added "with lots and lots of melted butter." I would have to say the shark exhibit with the other reef dwellers was probably Katie's favorite because that's all she talked about. I loved that they had a bubble like area where the children could climb up and look up through the tank. It's like they are in the water with the fish themselves. Katie loved it! In the sea horse exhibit, they had a tank with Clown Fish and the other fish on "Finding Nemo." What kind of fish was "Dory"? Anyway, that was the other fish in the tank with the Clown Fish. I told Katie, "look there's Dory and Nemo." She got so excited that she had to hug the tank. I wished Doug could have gotten a picture of it, but I don't think he saw her. Right off the bat, Katie picked up a stuffed Clown Fish in the gift shop. She kept going over to the rubber snakes and plastic creatures like sharks, salamanders, frogs, etc. I tried to direct to something like a cute cuddly otter or penguin. She liked the penguin as well, but she kept going back to the snakes & sharks. We found some what of a cute stuffed shark, but she found a rubber (ugly) shark that she had to have. By this time, she was tired and cranky. So, Daddy took her out of the store and walked her around outside while I got her some prizes to remind her of her experience. I did get the Clown Fish and Shark, but I got a Penguin and Doug really liked this T-shirt. The shirt is pink with a cute fish on the front all dressed up and on top it says "Princess." They didn't have a 2T in this shirt, so we got a 3T. She should be able to wear it next Summer/Fall.

We had to stop by the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Neither I nor Doug could get over the lack of business the Choo Choo was bringing in. I hope it was just because it was Friday and maybe they are really slow during the week. I took a few pictures of their rose garden. Poor Katiebug fell asleep soon after we left the aquarium, so she missed most of the Choo Choo. I mean, she was awake but out of it. If you know what I mean. I did go into a gift shop and purchase her a train whistle. She likes to whistle. It's still a little big for her, but I blow it for her. I could have bought a smaller one, but I didn't want to run the risk of her running around the house with the small whistle in her mouth and trip and fall with it in her mouth.

What an exciting day? Katie did get in a good nap coming home and we stopped off at a Cracker Barrel for Supper. I think we got home around 9:00 and we were so tired. You can see all the rest of our little trip pictures on our photosite.

I've been shopping for a Christmas outfit/dress for Katie to wear during our family photos that I'm going to schedule sometime in November. I've bid on several dresses from eBay and have lost them because I just can't force myself to spend more than $40 on a dress, she might wear very few times. I've been keeping my eyes open at Belk and Dillards because they are beginning to stock their Christmas outfits. Well, I'm not looking anymore! Peggy and Millard bought Katie this adorable little corduroy outfit from a local shop. The shirt & pants are red corduroy material. The shirt is sleeveless and ties up on the shoulders. I'm planning on taking the shirt up to Monograms Plus and having a "K" monogrammed on the front of the shirt. There is a ruffle (white with polka dots) around the bottom of the shirt and pants legs. It is so adorable! I believe this is the outfit we're going to dress Katie up in for our First Family Christmas Portrait. I'm so excited! Now, what will Doug and I wear?

Special Prayer for Emily!

I've mentioned to you about Emily. She has one good lung that collapsed after church one Sunday not too long ago. Emily is in the hospital with a chest tube into her good lung. It collapsed to 30%. I called her hospital room this morning to see how she was doing. I spoke to her husband, Jason, who seems very optimistic or in good spirits. He said that Emily still has the chest tube, but is in good spirits. Her doctor had not made his rounds yet, so we don't really know what the progress might be at this time. I asked if it would be okay that I call a little later today and find out what the doctor had to say. Knowing doctors, her doctor probably won't get to her before noon. I plan to call the hospital back before I leave for the day. Please keep her and her family in your prayers, she has a small child and husband. Hopefully, I'll get to learn more this afternoon to pass along to you. Thanks!

Also very recently, a lady joined our church. Well, her husband called our church and asked what he could do to become a member as well. Ms. Dorothy asked him if he was a member of a church. "No," he responded. Ms. Dorothy asked him if he could meet with her at the church and they could just talk. Praise the Lord! After many prayers and long talks with Dorothy, he accepted the Lord. He will be baptised this Sunday. Now, he and his wife are concerned about their daughter, Kristen. She is in the 11th grade and has not professed her beliefs. Her parents ask us today to please pray for their daughter that she might receive Christ as her personal Savior. Thank you!

It's Thursday!

I was asked to fill in for Telia at church today. The hardest part of this ordeal is feeling alright to surf the Internet, make personal phone calls and read a book while I'm suppose to working. I've begged for work or let me answer the phones. I need to do something. I can't hardly believe they actually pay someone to stay at the front desk, especially on Thursdays, to smile and look pretty if there is a chance someone might walk in. Telia and Theresa both have told me that Thursdays are the slowest days out of the whole week. I sure hope so. The most I've done today is make coffee for the atrium, volunteer to check on a member (whose in the hospital) and direct a lady looking for her Bible Study Group. After sitting in for Telia last month, I got smart and brought a book with me to read. As you may know, I'm not much for reading novels, but I've already read four chapters this morning. The new novel, I'm reading, is "The Christmas Box Collection," which includes "The Christmas Box," "Timepiece," and "The Letter." They are all pretty much short stories. A friend of mine gave me this book a couple of years. With just having Katie, I didn't have the opportunity to read it, so I passed it along to my Mother. I don't know how many of you who had the privilege of seeing the Hallmark movie, "The Christmas Box" with "John Boy" off of the show "The Waltons." I never can remember his real name other than "John Boy." Sorry! Anyway, I had the opportunity to watch this movie and it was so moving that I kept it in the back of my mind, I needed to read the book. Well, the other day while dusting Mom's bookcase, I saw the book and ask her if she was finished with it. "Yes," she said. I told her that since I saw the movie last year, I wanted to try and read the book. Like I said, I've only read four chapters and there is only one difference between the movie and story thus far. If I'm not mistaken, on the movie Richard owns a ski supply store and in the book he owns a formal wear shop. Hopefully, I'll be encouraged to finish by Christmas time. We'll see.

Our car's brakes have needed to be replaced. In fact, it's been a little scary imagining Doug driving the car in it's condition. Every time Doug found an opportunity to get the brakes fixed, something would come up. Ugh! Millard knows this guy that could do the work, so Doug and Millard dropped the car off Tuesday evening. Millard and Peggy was so nice to let us borrow their car, while ours was being worked on. It all worked out for the best. As soon as Doug got off work yesterday, he went straight to his parent's house. Apparently, Millard and he picked up our car and thankfully it works great. I was so relieved because I didn't want to go to TN, driving a car with bad brakes.

Yesterday, I put a chicken in the cock pot to cook, while Katie and I did a little shopping. I needed to go to the Post Office and ship a package and WalMart to get some candy for the Fall Festival at church. Can you imagine WalMart not selling spiderwebs for Halloween? I'm sure they are just sold out, but I've been checking our WalMart out now for a few weeks to get spiderwebs for the front porch. The other day I thought I was just over looking them, so I asked a clerk that was working that section. I asked her to please direct me to spiderwebs. She was even amazed, they didn't have any. I guess, I'll have to go to a dollar store. WalMart is still getting in quite a bit of Christmas stuff. I check out the ornament section every time I go in, hoping to find a Madonna with child suitable for Katie's Christmas tree. I've told you in the past blogs how much trouble I've had trying to find a suitable one for a child. I love the ornaments that Oriental Trading sells, felt type material, but I don't want to have to purchase a dozen in order to get one. They do however sell the whole manager scene characters as ornaments. In the description it says per dozen and there just so happens to be 12 characters in the manager set, but what's throwing me off is it says dozen and not set. I thought about calling the company and asking them what's the deal. Have you seen where some people put approximately 4' pre-lite evergreen trees in urns on their front porch by the door? I think they are so beautiful, especially during the Holiday season. Apparently, Peggy has admired them as well because she told me that she had been looking for a pair to put out on her porch. WalMart must have just gotten these trees in the past couple of weeks. As soon as I saw them the other day, I called Peggy and let her know that they had three trees available. I didn't think they were badly priced either. There's nothing fancy about these trees, but I think they are pretty. The urns are a dark bronze color and the 4.5' pre-lite trees are for indoor and outdoor decoration. If your looking for these trees, you'll find them at WalMart in the Christmas section for around $49 each. I did notice yesterday, they had another kind of pre-lite tree. I didn't like it as much because the tree was in a cheap plastic terracotta pot. I picked up a couple of the pretty trees for her. They came by the other night and she seems to like them as well. I think they'll look so pretty on her front porch. I knew Peggy had to work yesterday and I figured she didn't want to have to bother making Supper for all of us. So later that evening, I made some Chicken and Dumplings for Supper to take over to Millard and Peggy's house. I wanted to try these break away cookies from Toll House. They have pecans, chocolate chips, and caramel inside. I made some of these for dessert. Oh were they good! I don't think anyone was left still hungry. In fact, the food I made ended up being so much that we will have leftovers tonight. Katie was so excited to get to spend the night with her Grandma Peggy and Papa Millard. She wanted to make sure I brought certain things (toys), she needed. For instance, her dolls and pillowcase. I made extra sure to pack her Snow White dress, dress up shoes & all the accessories. She was so excited when I showed it to her at Peggy and Millard's that right off the bat, she had to have her Snow White dress on. I called Peggy this morning to see how they did last night. She said that they went to bed around 10:30 and she got up at 8:15 this morning.

Guess what, Laura? I found a place locally that sells "Bare Minerals." It's a local salon not too far from the house. I didn't even know they existed until I found their ad in the Sunday newspaper. I wanted to go by there yesterday to check out their prices and products, but I was afraid Katie would be too cranky. They are open this weekend from 8-2, so hopefully I'll get to check it out. I also thought about calling Sephora in B'ham to see if I could place an order through them and see how much shipping would cost. I haven't done it yet, but my brushes are needing some attention. How do you clean your brushes? I wanted to get some of "Bare Esscentials" cleaning solution for their brushes, but I haven't made it back to Sephora. I'm hoping to get some from this new place here in town. Whoo Hoo!

Dad's Cousin Visits

Gordon is my Dad's first cousin. They met for the first time about 5 years ago. Dad said it was because Gordon was in the military (Navy & Air Force), so he was always gone over seas. When he retired from the military, he bought the ranch and has been there since. Gordon & his wife, Kitty came up to visit Mom and Dad from FL. It was nice to meet them both and they were very sweet people. Can you believe Gordon is 80 years old. Doesn't he look great for his age? He owns a ranch and stays very busy with all of his cows, donkeys, horses & other farm animals.

Hey Ya'll!

Well, we've finished putting up all the Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations. Yes, I like to put them up all at once that way I can slowly take them down. Katie is having a ball with the season. We bought two heads, Werewolf & Frankenstein, years ago during a after Halloween sale at WalMart. They have been one of the best holiday purchases. We've gotten more fun from these heads, which are sensored. Katie just loves them both. All day, every day, she'll ask one of us to play them both. Another problem we have is keeping her from turning on the inflatables every time you turn around. There is no telling what our power bill will be this month. I got Katie's Halloween costume in the mail Friday and it is adorable. If you don't already know, she will be dressing up as Snow White. I didn't purchase the accessories to go with the costume, like the hair band, wand and shoes. I just bought a pair of black patent leather shoes with little flowers that I think will go perfect. Katie already has a red hair bow, so I'll just pull her hair up. I put the costume away in her closet, so she couldn't see it.

Some cousins of my Dad's came to town this past week to visit. I had never met them until last Thursday. They are close to Mom and Dad's age and live in FL. They were really nice people and Katie took up with the lady, Kitty. Kitty heard about our loss and talked to me about her miscarriages. Wow! She said she had 14 miscarriages in her life, but she has two children. It's been a struggle getting through this one, I can't imagine going this 14 times. Talk about testing her faith! It would be so hard. I did take a couple of pictures, but I don't have them downloaded at this time. As soon as I do, I'll post them for you to see Gordon and Kitty.

A new Target Store opened up close by here, so Katie and I freshened up and went shopping. I haven't been to Hobby Lobby in I don't know how long, we went there first and spent too much time and money. tehe! It's bad when your two year old tells you, she's ready to go. I found a Christmas tree, perfect for Katie's room. It's one of those 60's looking silver tinsel type mini Christmas Trees. I got a few lime green & bright pink ornaments to go on it. I'm searching for a baby Jesus that a little girl can tell who it is. The baby Jesus' I've found are either clear or gold plastic. I like the Jesus ornaments that the Oriental Trading sells, but I don't want to buy a dozen just to get one. It's so nice to not have to drive more than an hour away to go to the nearest Target. This Target isn't a Super Center, but it's still nice. While I was in line to check out, I was talking to the lady behind me. She said she had waited 20 years to get a Target in her town. She was originally from Minnesota. I told her, I guess you have been waiting a long time because that's the stores they have up North. She was telling me how she hates going to WalMart.

Doug and I watched a cute movie, "Evan Almighty." I wasn't too sure about this movie when he rented it because I didn't like "Bruce Almighty." I was hoping this movie would be a whole lot better than "Bruce Almighty." By all means, "Evan Almighty" doesn't come close to "Rush Hour 3" as being the funniest movie this year, but it was funny. I recommend it, plus you can watch it around children.

Saturday, Katie and I visited my Mom. She is still improving, but has to take it easy. Susan and Leslie were there and while Les watched Katie for me, Sue and I helped Mom switch out her Summer and Winter clothes. We made Chicken Salad for lunch and had M & Ms for dessert. I think Katie got on a sugar high from the M & Ms. Leslie told me she let Katie play in Pat's big shop. The vehicles were gone, so she had a large room to play in. Leslie said Katie looked around and said "cool." Stunned, Leslie asked her when she started using that word. Les told me Katie stopped, looked at her and said "that's one of my new sayings." I couldn't hardly believe what Leslie was telling me, but I guess Katie has heard me telling people "that's one of her new sayings." I just wished I could have heard her say it. These days, you never know what's going to come out of her mouth. It's amazing the words or sayings she picks up.

Today was my turn to be with the two years old at church, which is Katie's room. Katie gets in more trouble with her climbing. She climbs everything and doesn't have a fear in the world. I've noticed something about her today, which made my Motherly heart smile. I think Katie is going to be a good nurturing person. Why I say that is because a little boy, her age, got hurt from another little boy. The hurt little boy's name is Lane. A little later, Lane was playing with his car by himself and Katie went up to him and apparently asked if he was okay because I heard Lane tell her that he got hurt. She started patting him on the back and laid her head on his shoulder. I heard him say, "I'm okay." Lane is a cute little boy with blonde blonde hair and blue eyes, so if Katie was flirting a little she's got good taste. Out of the class of approximately 13 children, Lane is a sweetheart. I've never had any trouble out of him.

JC Penny Toy Recall

According to the CPSC, JC Penny is recalling several toys due to lead paint.

• Winnie the Pooh Play Sets http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08022.html
• Deluxe Art Set http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08023.html
• Breyer Stirrup Ornaments http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08024.html

Cracker Barrel is recalling their "Travel Art Set" http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08021.html and Kipper Brothers is recalling their bendable Dinosaurs http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08020.html due to lead paint.

Beautiful Flowers!

I want to thank Kevin, Maryann, Ryan, Whitney & Natalie for thinking of us and sending us this beautiful bouquet. It was so thoughtful and sweet! I don't know why, but it's been hard on me today. I'm guessing it's because today was the first day back to some what of normalcy. Every once in a while I would think about it and breakdown. I know around Doug I try to be brave and not cry or show too much emotion because he can't take it very good. I've been thinking about watching a good sobby chick flick, while Doug's not here, and let it go. I really have to watch it around Katiebug too because she's caught me a time or two and she doesn't understand. She'll come over, pat me and ask me "what's wrong?" I feel bad then and try to straighten up. I'm sorry if you guys might be tired of hearing me sob on my blogs. I'm going to get through this. I promise one day, I will get through it and I will be back to my long boring novels. tehe!

Picture Day

Today was picture day for Katiebug. Since it was nice and cool early this morning, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get Katie dressed up and take a few Fallish pictures. Of course, she wouldn't cooperate with me. I would ask her to look at me and say "cheese." She would say "cheese" all right, it's the looking at Mommy part she couldn't get down pat. She was entirely too involved looking at other things instead of me. I tried bribes, giving her the mean Mommy tone in my voice, and resorted to begging. It's too bad she doesn't take good pictures like she did when she was an infant. Use to, I could just say "boo" or make a funny face and she would look at me and start laughing. Now she's Miss Priss the independent, until she wants something. Oh well, it's just one of the many things to come. Right? I wanted to add my slide show on this blog, but for so some reason the site I normally use is down. I'm just displaying a few of my better shots. You will have to visit our photosite to see the rest, I'm afraid. Sorry!

Thus far, Katie loves her Halloween/Fall decorations all throughout the house. She is so fascinated with witches and pumpkins. Every time when we are out and about and she sees a witch or pumpkin, she immediately points it out and demands that I see it as well. She will continue to ask me if I see the pumpkin or witch. She'll ask, "Mommy, pumpkin see it? See it? Pumpkin Mommy, see it?" This will go on until I confirm to her that "yes, I saw the pumpkin." As soon as I respond, she'll grin and is content until the next pumpkin or witch we encounter. We've been watching the new "Miss Spider" Halloween movie I got her recently. Watching it kind of puts me in the Fall spirit. I'm ready for cool days and long walks in the forest with a light jacket, which brings back memories for me. When I was young, living at home, one thing we always did, especially around the Fall months, was take a long walk in the woods. Mom and I or my sisters, would talk and talk about anything and everything. How we would all come together as a family and gather the Winter supply of wood for our fireplace and stove. It was a lot of hard work, but it was a way to bring us together and have great times. After working hard, we'd gather around the Supper table (we would have two large tables surrounded by people) full of food. We would tell stories and laugh while eating our meal. When all of us girls would finish the Supper dishes, we would gather around the table once again and play games until it was time for them to go home. The men would recline around the TV and watch a football game or two. It's too bad our family has gotten so large that it's hard for all of us to take those long walks in the woods on a cool Fall day and just talk about anything. Maybe when we move into our other home, some day, we might have a small patch of woods for Katie and me to walk in and make our own memories.

After great deliberation, it's official! Katie will be dressing up as Snow White for Halloween. The Snow White outfit she wore at her birthday has just about cu put. I purchased another full size dress from WalMart not too long ago, but it's entirely too big on her. In fact when I bought it, it said on the tag for children 3+. I didn't think anything of it because the other SW outfit was for 3+. If I had noticed the tag inside the dress I would have had some clear understanding because it said for sizes 4-6. It maybe a little big, but she still loves it and wears it any chance she can. There are days when she must wear it during nap time. Yes, I've given in. I couldn't handle the fussing every nap time; however, I do draw a line when it comes to bed time. I just don't feel comfortable with her sleeping in this big dress all night. I fear, she might get strangled or something. Some of you may know how I love shopping at the Disney store. I've always been a Disney fan at heart and always will. Anyway, I've been watching their Princess costume gowns (so pretty) and they finally put them on sale for a more reasonable price (online only). I debated between "Belle," "Cinderella," and "Snow White." I had Katie look at the dresses online and she really liked the "Belle" and "Snow White." We've got more stuff for "Snow White" than "Belle" (accessories) that I thought it would be better to get the SW. The best part about it is I was able to purchase a 2-3T. Woo Hoo! I just bought a pair of black patent leather Mary Jane shoes, which would look great with the dress. Peggy bought her a red hair bow not too long ago to go with one of her outfits. It seems to all work out perfectly. We should get the dress in another week. Susan suggested that I not show Katie the dress until Halloween night because how much she loves to dress up. Susan's right and I will try my best to not show her the gown, but some of you know how I am. It's funny the girl is such a girly girl. She will go as far as grabbing a pillow case or silky security blanket, wrap it around her waist and tell us she is dressed up. If the other big SW dress survives Katie's dress up days until next Halloween, then can you guess what she will be next year for Halloween? It would be great if it survives because then I won't have to buy another costume. By then, she'll begin to understand how this all works and will want to be something else. That will be my luck!

Starbucks Recalls Children's Plastic Cups

I received this recall notice from CPSC. Starbucks is recalling these cups because of choking hazards. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08017.html

Precious Babies!

Is this not cute or what? Liz sent me these pictures this morning. She knew I needed a little chuckle!

Answered Prayers

Thank you so much for the well needed prayers for the little girl on the left, Abby. These photos are before and after the surgery, she underwent yesterday. I'm sure it will take some time to see real results in the reconstruction. I can see a difference just looking at these photos. According to her Grandma, the surgery was a great success and Abby seems to be doing well. She woke up this morning wanted to eat something. Poor sweetheart, had her scalp completely pulled forward in order to perform the surgery. I'm not displaying any of the other photos, to spare the faint at heart. From the photos I saw, she was cut from ear to ear. God's hands are protecting this little miracle. Her family and I thank you again for the many many prayers. As soon as I hear anything else, I will pass it along to you.


I spoke to my Mother this morning and she is doing great! According to Maryann, Mom ended up having more than one place on her back. Luckily, they caught it and fixed it as well. When I talked to Mom today, she said she feels great and she could tell a world of difference. She is up walking! I ask her if she was up dancing around praising God. She said she wanted to, but the doctor told her to take it easy for a few days. Tehe! We have all been so worried about her and we just thank and praise the Dear Lord above that she is healed. Thank you all for the many many prayers! God Bless You!

As for me, I'm doing a little better each passing day. I'm still doing things (lots and lots of things) to take my mind off of the baby. There are moments, like talking to my Mom or Dad, when I break down and cry. I think I cry because I'm so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love me and care about me. I just thank God every day for the love I feel from all of my family and friends. Thank You! Doug went back to work today, which was a good thing. He needs to get his mind off of me and the baby as well. He hasn't expressed his disappointment to me because that's not the type of person he is, but I'm sure he is grieving in his own way. Thank you for the prayers and please continue to pray for us.

I got online last night because I think it would be a good idea for Doug, Katie and myself to get away for a day or mini trip. We won't go any where any time soon. We'll have to talk about it this weekend and see what we can do. The two places, I would be interested in going is Chattanooga & Opryland. In the month of October, the Tennessee Aquarium are ready for Halloween "Thrill, Gill and Chills" special event. In the description, they mention that during specific times there will be mermaid dressed and other costume divers feeding the sea creatures. I know Katie would freak out if she saw a real mermaid feeding the sea creatures at the aquarium. I also would love to see Katie's face when she sees the lights at the Opryland Hotel. I think she would be too young to understand the different shows, but I would like to see the Light Show at the main fountains inside the hotel. The Light Shows are great! Plus, Santa is suppose to be inside the hotel ready for children to sit on his knee and have pictures made. During a specific time of the month of December, there will be a craft show. I would love to have the chance to go to the craft show. I might get back online and see if there are other places that would be fun to go.

Special Prayer Requests

Attention all Prayer Warriors! I need your help. Of course, there are needs every where, but locally (our church family) request your personal prayers.

Emily (church member) has been fighting a terrible disease for quite some time. So long that I can't remember what exactly caused this domino effect with her poor body. She has been waiting for so long for a lung transplant. Her left lung has completely gone cu put. She has had several opportunities to get a transplant, but walls would continue to be put in her path. If she wasn't sick, she would receive a donor lung that was too large for her. It has been very trying, but her faith remains and her hopes are high. This past Sunday as she was leaving the church building, the good lung began to collapse. As she puts it, "thankfully it only went down 10%." It seems as if her good lung is wearing out as well. She is a Mother of a young daughter and loving Wife. She and her family would appreciate it if you would please remember her in your prayers.

Abby is 4 1/2 years old with a tumor in her eyebrow bone. Thankfully, it is benign and is growing away from her brain. According to her Grandmother, a couple of years ago they fixed it temporarily. As it grows the tumor is putting pressure on the optic nerve and now they are planning to complete it by removing the eyebrow bone. She will undergo reconstructive surgery of the eyebrow bone by using pieces of bone from her skull. I know her family have got to be going out of their mind. Plus, Abby's Mom is expecting a baby in December. Her Grandma request that you please remember this family in your prayers.

Thank You So Much! God Bless!

This was just another Christian video that touched me as well. It's called "Hold On" and that's exactly what the Lord wants us to do "Hold On." We may be going through a very rough time in our life, but He wants us to come to him and put our worries and strife in His hands. He will give us rest! Hold on to your faith in Him and always keep hope alive in your heart and love Him with all your soul. I love you!

I wanted to express my feelings by way of an inspirational song called "I Will Lift Up My Eyes." It touched my heart and soul because I have a lot of healing to go through in my heart. God is the only true healer and I know one day I will smile again. If you might be going through a tough time, I pray you will go in a room by yourself and play this video. Don't just play it the video, but read and listen to the lyrics.

Our Loss

This morning, I received a call from Dr. Keller pretty much confirming that we have lost our baby. Yeah, I may have been only 5 weeks pregnant, but there was a life growing inside of me and I was aware of it for a short time. Dr. Keller didn't give us a reason for the miscarriage, but I wasn't really looking for the how or why right now. He wants me to go ahead and keep my appointment in a couple of weeks. He wants to check me out and talk with me about future plans for another pregnancy. Doug and I agreed that we would like to continue to try to conceive again. We are doing about as good as can be expected. We know this was the Lord's will and even though I don't know the purpose right now, I feel that God may want me to use this experience in order to be His vessel. Believe me the Devil has tried his best to get me in the pit. It's easy to just curl up and drown in my sorrow. Whenever I sit down and rest for a moment, the Devil steps in and begins to whisper in my ear the famous "what if" or "it's because" and don't forget the "why did God do this to us?" The Devil wants every opportunity to get me going and begin blaming someone or something. I don't blame anyone or anything and I know their is a reason. The Lord has kept me strong thus far. I'm trying my humanly best not to breakdown my faith and disappoint Him. One way is to stay busy and pray a lot to Him. Doug stayed home from work and we all three had a day together. I couldn't just sit around thinking about what has just happened to us over the weekend. I had to do something, so we cleaned and decorated the house for Fall. Katie is such a good helper! She helped me strip beds, wash clothes, dust furniture, vacuum floors, put things away and put out the Halloween stuff. She loves the heads - Frankenstein & Werewolf. Both heads have sensors that when they are set off, they begin to sing songs "I'm a boogey man" and "Whose at my door?" We later got out to get some groceries. I want to thank all of you for the many needed prayers. I ask that you please continue to remember us during this tough time.

"Good Job"

I don't think I've mentioned this story before, so here it goes. Katie's new saying is "Good Job." I try to praise her as much as possible, well apparently I'm teaching her something I wasn't intending. Now when you do something special, she'll cheer you. When I finish coloring my picture, she'll say "good job, Mommy" along with clapping and cheering. She helped Peggy put up Halloween clings on her front storm door. When they finished, Katie told Peggy she did a great job. Another thing we've noticed is how she is starting her English so proper by saying "yes." Normally, we say yeah for "yes," but not baby girl. You ask her a question and she'll say "yes." I don't believe she learned this from us. I really don't know who she picked this up. She is such a priss.

Prayer Requests

I really don't know anything different then I did yesterday. The nurse had me come into the doctor's office for some blood tests. They were able to work me in at 3:00 this afternoon. We won't have the results in until 9:00 tomorrow morning. I think Doug is going to stay with me until the results come in and we know more. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, we sincerely appreciate each and every one. Please continue with the prayers and God bless you.

Please keep my Mom and niece-in-law, Sarah, in your prayers as well. My Mom will go to the pain clinic to have a shot put in her back. This shot will hopefully kill the pain that has my Mom prisoner and is suppose to begin to heal the inflamed nerve. Sarah goes in for her second pregnancy diabetes test, I can't remember the name-Sorry. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about because I'm running a blank right now.

Need Your Prayers

Friday, I had an ultrasound performed to determine how long I was expecting. It appears that I'm only 5 weeks pregnant because it was too early to see a baby. Doug and Katie went with me, but there was nothing to show Katie. She did fine inside the ultrasound room; however, she didn't like the idea of me leaving the room a couple of times. The tech gave her a sucker for being such a good girl sitting with her Daddy and waiting on Mommy.

Doug took us shopping after we left the doctor's office. Belk had a good sale on their toddler clothes. I got Katie a cute corduroy dress with fairies in pastel colors. They are gradually getting their Christmas outfits and Winter coats, but they are not on sale. I'll have to watch these items and hopefully snag them up when they go on sale.

When we got home that night, I began to spot. The nurse and Technician told me that I would spot a little after doing the ultrasound. They said that if I did spot to just take it easy and if it fills up a light days pad, then I needed to call the office. Well only a little bit showed up on the piece of TP. It's real scary when this happens. Before I noticed the bleeding, I was trying to decorate the house for Fall. Needless to say, I stopped and took it easy the rest of the night. Saturday morning, I bleed a little more as soon as I got out of bed. Doug had left to get new brakes on the car. I panicked and called my doctor's office. Dr. Ray was on call and quickly called me back. He reassured me that spotting was normal, but make sure I'm not having a full blown menstrual. He said I would know the difference. I asked him why my body was doing this because this never happened with my first baby. He told me every pregnancy is different. He reminded me to take it easy the rest of the day or until the bleeding stops, which includes heavy lifting, pulling or exerting myself. He continued to say that if I lay down or sit for a long period of time, the spotting could appear a little heavier. He said that since I was so early in my pregnancy, their was nothing we could do except wait. All day yesterday, I bleed off and on but nothing to fill up a pad. Of course, I've been scared out of my wits. Doug tried to comfort me, but really didn't know what to do or say. I knew I had to go to the Lord. As I was laying on the bed in a fetal position, crying, I wanted God to hold me and tell me everything was going to be alright. At first, I really didn't want to talk to anyone. Doug explained the matter to those who called concerned about me. I want to thank you for the calls and I appreciate you and the prayers. This morning, I'm still spotting so who knows what's going on with my body. Doug has been so attentive with me and Katie. He has really stepped up taking care of Katie and myself. He may not say anything about it (feelings), but I know he is just as disappointed. I think he was really excited about having another baby. The first question you want to ask God is "why?" I know in my heart and soul is this is happening for a reason. Who knows maybe our baby will pull through all of this and we will still have a baby in June. If it is the Lord's will to go ahead and take this baby with Him, all I ask is for His understanding and I will be sensitive enough to see the purpose for this chapter in my life, so I might help someone else. I understand there is a purpose for everything, no matter how hard it is to handle at times. I ask for your continued prayers for a safe and healthy pregnancy and if it is not God's will then I need His strength to get me through this in one piece. Thank you and I love you!

Target Recalls Plush Boys Rattle

I received a recall notice from CPSC regarding the above subject due to choking hazard. Please make sure you don't have one of these in your home. Link to notice: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08002.html

Toby Mac - Diverse City!

Toby Mac was in concert here in town. We could hear the music from our front porch. Doug wanted to check it out and see how big of a crowd showed up. We heard them say from the stage that between 5,000 - 6,000 made it inside the gates. There were cars from all over the state for the concert. We stayed until Doug could hear "Diverse City" and then we left to go back home. Katie loved the music. She found her groove and started dancing and singing. The video shown is from Doug's camera phone, so the quality isn't that good.

Millard's Company Picnic

Saturday was Millard's Company Picnic. I wasn't feeling all that great, but I think everyone else had a great time. They had a live band playing while you ate barbeque from "Dreamland." They had the blow up activities for the kids. I was glad to see that they had the jumping house again this year. As you can tell from the picture, Katie loved the jumping house. The only problem was the jumping house was connected to a tall climbing mountain in order to slide down the other side. We did pretty good about keeping Katie just in the jumping house, but she finally had to check the other side out too. Of course, she couldn't make it up the climbing mountain to go down the slide. She was so mad because she couldn't make it up there like the rest of the kids, but she tried so hard. Poor baby! Millard and Peggy missed the Bingo because one document said one time and another document said another. They seemed a little upset. tehe! Later, we all met up at our house and visited. We ate pizza and watched Alabama get stomped.

SURPRISE!

As most of you may know, we are expecting a baby. I will spare you with full details, but a couple of weeks ago I felt pretty yucking, crampy & sick at my stomach. I just dismissed it because I've been under a little bit of stress and worry about my Mother. I knew my monthly was expected at any time, so I figured that was the problem. Well last week, the symptoms were still happening and I began to worry a little bit. Believe me, pregnancy was the furthest from my mind. My body has been out of whack since May-June. After awhile my mind began to wander. Is there something seriously wrong with me? Do I have cancer? What could be wrong with me? The whole time I was thinking the worst, Dr. Doug continued to tell me that we were pregnant. I was so emotional that I would go to bed at night crying and praying to God. Saturday night while I was praying, God sent this calming, "at peace," feeling over me and I knew right then everything was going to be alright. I still didn't know what was wrong, but God was in control. As soon as I got up Sunday morning, I made up my mind to get a test after church. I guess it was around 1:30 when I took the test. Immediately, the test showed the pregnancy symbol. Wow! I couldn't get over it. I was in a state of shock. All I could do was start laughing and cried. I continued to watch over the test the rest of the day, to make sure it doesn't change during the day. Isn't that funny! I did the same thing when we were pregnant with Katie. Dr. Doug thinks I'm pregnant because of the large amounts of Tomato Juice he has been drinking every day since around April or May. I wasn't aware until this past Sunday that Tomato Juice has a large percent of Vitamin C (120%) in a 2 quart jar. I would say that Doug drinks half a jar a day. We could probably sell this method to the A.R.T. Program. Do you think we could get a large sum of money for selling this method? Nah, me neither. tehe!

Even though this pregnancy was a complete surprise, Doug and I had hoped God would answer our prayer to have the opportunity to have another child. I just didn't know He would have answered our prayer so quickly, since it took us three years to receive Katie. I feel like I'm on top of the world. I don't deserve having these precious children in my life, but I thank God for giving me the opportunity to raise these children in a Christian home. Please pray for us that we might bring these children up the way God would want them. Thanks!

I went to the doctor Tuesday to confirm the pregnancy and to undergo my annual exam. My blood work was good and I am very pregnant. The big question is "how pregnant am I?" During my exam, Dr. Keller seem to think I might be close to 10 weeks, but it was a guess. Friday, we are scheduled for an ultrasound to see if it will tell us more. I requested to be put on Progesterone caplets because I was on them while I was pregnant with Katie. Dr. Keller thought it would be a good idea and had no problem giving me a prescription.

I'm doing pretty good. The cramping is gone, but I'm getting use to the heavy stomach now. I've felt a little yucky, but nothing like it was with Katie. I've noticed my stomach gets heavy and yucky feeling late at night. I get very uncomfortable in bed during the night. I can't sleep on my stomach and my abdomen feels like it's pulling away from the rest of my body, if I lay on my back. Poor Doug, the wall of pillows have returned to our bed once again.

My Mom did get another professional opinion about her back/leg problem. She went to another Neurosurgeon and he seemed to think that she has a nerve problem in her back causing her not to walk. She had an MRI done last week and went through an electrode procedure yesterday. Both the MRI and electrode procedure indicate, she had an inflamed/infected nerve in the F4 or F5 (can't remember) in her vertebrae. The plan is she will go to the pain clinic and have a shot of cortisone put in her back to help with the pain and let the vertebrae heal. The doctor seems to think this will do the trick. Thank you for all the prayers for my Mom, I know she appreciates them. Please continue to pray that this procedure will do the trick and she will be back on her feet.