Happy Halloween!

I wanted to wish you a very special and safe

Happy Halloween!

Baby Doctor Visit

I had my 18 week baby doctor check up yesterday. Baby is doing good and growing like a weed. Like any Mom, I was looking forward to hearing that little heart beat in order to get a sense of relief. A big sigh of relief when I heard it. The nurse said it was good and strong at a rate of 165. Does that mean it's a boy or girl? Hum! We will see in the next few days. I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any either. So that's good. Of course, my doctor is expecting me to gain some weight the next time I see her. I told her about still feeling yucky, but that I figured it was because of the sinus. Thankfully, she gave me another prescription for Zofan, but I didn't expect the prescription for Lortab. What? I asked the nurse why she gave me that prescription. She said it was for the bad sinus headaches. I reassured the nurse that I will be sticking with the Tylenol. The nurse agreed, but if I couldn't handle the headaches to take the Lortab. Okay. I also asked her about my legs feeling so heavy this early. I explained that I start getting weak legged whether I'm standing in front of the mirror, putting on my makeup or doing my routine walking. She checked my records and all the tests that they ran the last time, came back alright. She asked me if I had that with Katie. I assured her that I didn't have this problem still so early in my pregnancy. She assured me that some pregnant women go through this at this stage. I've told Doug that I done climbing ladders or wearing high heels because of my undependable legs.

My next appointment is the week before Thanksgiving. This will be the big appointment that we've been waiting for. Lord willing, we'll be able to find out if we are expecting a baby boy or another baby girl in March/April. I'm so excited.

Can you tell that I'm beginning to get the fever? I felt like doing a little shopping after the doctor's appointment, so I headed over to Babies R Us. I use to love that store when Katie was a baby. I had a lot of fun just checking everything out. I got a couple of things that I'll need for the hospital and when we get home. I'm starting to make a mental note of things I'll need for the hospital and when we get home. I'm not going to worry about digging out all of bottles and other things that I've packed away until after Christmas.

I guess Doug and I have decided to try the bassinet again. As you remember, Katie hated her bassinet when we brought her home. We ended up putting her in her crib around 2 weeks old. Doug and I discussed having one of those boxes in our bed, for the baby to sleep with us. He is too afraid that he might roll over on top of the baby. After talking to Lissa, I've decided not to move Katie into our bedroom, so me and the baby would take over her bedroom. Lissa reminded me how painful it was to get Katie to sleep in her own bed when she was around a year old. You know how you get into those baby stages. It was a very painful two weeks of Katie crying herself to sleep because she wanted to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. I don't want to go through that again.

Prayer Request

I have a couple of prayer requests to pass along to you.

My mom called me last night to let me know that my Great-Aunt Mary fell and broke her lower back area. She will be in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Her laying in a hospital bed for that long worries me a little. She is up there in years. Sandy, correct me if I'm wrong, I think she is around 97-98 years old.

If you remember I asked for prayer for a friend, Cindy's niece, Allison. She had an emergency DNC a couple of weeks ago. It resulted in some kind of fast growing tissue causing her body to think she is pregnant. Well, she had to undergo another surgery yesterday. The tissue came back and growing faster than before. Her doctor's were concerned that we were dealing with cancer, so they called in a Oncologist Specialist to oversee her procedure. The specialist assured Allison's mother that he doesn't think it is cancer. But after doing more tests, they'll be able to know more next week.

Please remember these women in your prayers and I'll keep you posted on their condition.

Halloween Update

Doug took today off for a little R & R. Katie and I plan to carve our pumpkin, fill the goody bags, get Katie dressed up in her costume and take some pictures. Later this evening, we'll stop by Mom & Dad, June & Pat, and Maryann & Kevin's houses. Millard and Peggy are coming here when we get back, so they can go with Katie to our church's Fall Festival. I'll try to post pictures either tonight or in the morning.

Sorry I haven't wrote in a few days. I'm in the middle of a Christmas project for my parents. I can't go into a lot of detail for fear that it might get back to Mom and Dad accidentally. What I can tell you is that us sisters have decided to do something for our parents that is long deserved. Closer to Christmas, I might give you a little sneak peek. Tehe! This project will probably take me away from blogging so much, giving you a break. Ha! So, please bare with me.

Saturday, I was actually feeling good. Doug, Katie and I went to Huntsville to do a little shopping. On the way, we stopped by a friend of Doug's house. Doug's told me a lot about his friend, Chuck, that he works with. Finally, I got to meet him. He is very nice and believe it or not, he is my number one non-family blog reader. He told me that he looks forward to reading what The Mason Bunch is up to next. So, I would like to give a shout out to Chuck!

Katie had her first Halloween costume party yesterday at ballet. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go. I've been battling sinus drainage and didn't feel good. I had been looking forward to going because I wanted to take a picture of all the little girls, all dressed up, in Katie's class. Katie had been looking forward to the class as well and I didn't want her to miss out. So, Peggy was kind enough to take her for me.

I've been going through a little insomnia and late late night nausea, so I try to sleep when I can. I'll go to sleep around 8:00 or 9:00 at night and wake up around midnight. I'll toss and turn until I get sick, so I'll just get up. Most of the time, I can eat a few crackers and be able to feel well enough to go back to sleep around 4:00 or 5:00. Ugh! I don't think I had this problem when I was pregnant with Katie. Oh well.

By the way, Doug brought home the "Tinkerbell" movie last night. Katie loves it! She watched it twice last night before going to bed and once already this morning. I enjoyed watching the movie myself. It's a real cute fairytale story about Tinkerbell. I won't give it away, but there's a surprise ending.

Candy Recall
Laura sent me an email message regarding a specific candy recall. Please read the following information below:

HALLOWEEN CANDY RECALLED

(you can verify this on snopes:Candy Recall Information From Snopes )

There is a new warning put out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency....
Sherwood brand Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate coins are being recalled due to the fact that they contain Melamine, the ingredient in milk product that has caused many infant deaths in china. These candies are sold at Costco< /U>, as well as many bulk and dollar stores. please make sure to check your children's Halloween candy and DO NOT LET THEM EAT THE PIRATE COINS (you know the ones wrapped in the shiny gold foil) and please let other parents know about this!

Puppy, Poodle, What?

Okay, who put the idea of puppies in Katie's head? Come on and fess up. Yesterday out of the blue, Katie told me that she would like a tiny poodle puppy. What? I asked her, "who told you that?" I was surprised to hear her request a puppy, but a "POODLE" puppy. Right now, I'm blaming my mom because she has a poodle dog.

1. I can't handle any more animals at this point. Sure, we have Montana which will be 12 years old in February. Here lately, I've been calling Katie my little monkey because she is climbing the walls at times. Of course, she doesn't like me calling her my little monkey. She'll correct me and let me know that her name is Katie and not monkey.
2. Doug would have a complete come apart, if a house dog took over this house.
3. The whole puppy training would probably send me over the edge at this point.

Ever since Katie got to play with Leslie's puppy, Charlie, Katie's been on fire for small dogs. That is as long as the dog doesn't come running at her and barking. We were walking down our street and our new neighbors didn't have their little teacup sized Poodle dog penned up. The little dog kept barking and running at Katie, scaring her to death. I kept assuring her that the dog wouldn't hurt us because I could probably step on this dog and that would be the end of it.

I might have to get her a stuffed poodle puppy for Christmas and let that be her puppy. If she takes care of it like she does her bedroom, it won't last. Poor dog!

In closing, I would like to personally thank the person that put this idea in her head. THANKS A LOT! (Tehe!)

Halloween Cat Bowling

June sent this fun Halloween game to me by email. It's a little harder than it looks, but fun that is if you have the time. I wanted to share the fun with you. To get on the website, just click here Cat Bowling .



Did I Feel The Baby?

Last night as I'm trying to relax in bed because I was feeling yucky, I rolled over on my back to see if it would calm my stomach. As I'm laying on my back, all of the sudden I felt something rub up. It was like the baby was turning. A little later, it did it again.

Prayer Request Update

I received an email from Cindy this morning. She attached an email from her sister Judy regarding an updated report on her daughter, Allison. Below is the email in it's full content:

We heard from the Dr. today. The pathologist report showed the tissue to be benign. Nothing cancerous!Thank you for your prayers. It also said it did not appear to be a molar pregnancy,but just to be very sure her Dr. is going to have her come in and have blood drawn for 3 weeks to confirm that the pregnancy hormone level has returned to 0. This will make sure that the tissue has not grown back. We are still not positive what caused this and we may never know,but at least we know more of what it is not. She is feeling really sick from the antibiotics that she is taking. Her husband Josh returned to school in Virginia today. Thank you all so much for your concern.


Blessings
Judy

Playing In The Leaves

Katie wanted to play with the leaves today as we were walking around the yard. I knew I needed some exercise and the leaves were getting a little out of hand in one section of the yard. So, I grabbed Katie and myself a rack to do a little yard work. The one section made a nice big pile of leaves, just perfect to jump into. Well, Katie didn't jump into the pile, but she did have fun playing with them.


Here's a picture of Katie helping me gather leaves with the Mongoose Rack. Yes, believe it or not it's called the Mongoose.


Katie acting goofy for a picture.


She wanted a couple of her blow up toys included in the picture.

Mom & Dad Visit
Mom called me this morning asking if they could come by for a visit. I was so thrilled to have them over because they haven't been in this house for about a year or so. I was so proud of Mom and the way she was able to make it up our driveway, which is kind of down hill, and making it up into our house. She got all comfortable on the couch and tried to warm up to Katie. It's been a little struggle getting Katie to warm up to Mom since she's been out of the hospital. For the past couple of years, Mom's been so sick with her back. Then, don't forget the nightmare that started a year ago December and didn't end until July/August, when Mom came home for good. Today, Katie and Mom actually interacted a little more with one another than in the past few months. Dad and Mom stayed and visited for a couple of hours before they wanted to head down to the nursing home that Mom lived for a few months. They made a few friends there and like to stop and visit every so often.

Mystery Holes


Okay, I need your help. In the above picture, there are two medium sized holes in the ground. There are holes like these all over our property, both in the front and back yards. It's like they just show up over night. I haven't taken this case to the farmer's coop yet. I'm afraid there is some kind of alien living underground in our yard.

Here is a close up of one of the holes. It's hard to tell if an animal dug the hole because most of them don't have dirt around the hole. It's almost like something dug from the inside out. I only took pictures of the holes that didn't have grass around it, so you could see it real well, but there are holes where grass is growing. It's like there's a whole colony of these holes. What could it be?



Barbeque Chicken

This has been a rare thing to see around our household for the past few months. I can't stand the smell of most food being cooked inside the house and I haven't really had the stomach to cook supper. I've felt bad that Doug's had to fend for himself. I wanted to try grillin' some barbeque chicken today and see if it would make me sick. The only thing that made me sick is me eating too much. I ate half of one of these breasts and some steamed mixed veggies. It was so good, but again my stomach wasn't use to me eating so much. Ugh! What a stomachache! I love to baste the chicken in Cattlemen's Barbeque sauce. Yum, it's so good!

Comment Questions?

I'm waiting for Katie to get through playing in the tub, so we can get ready for ballet class. I remembered that I forgot to answer some questions that were left in my comment section. I try to answer all the questions the best I can.

Laura asks -

When we will find out the sex of the baby? Well, I've got an appointment for November 20th for an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. So Lord willing, we'll know if it's a boy or girl in order to announce it to our family and friends by Thanksgiving.

Sandy asks -

What about Jo for a middle name? Sandy, you know I love you with all my heart. Right? Saying that, I don't like the name Jo. I'm sorry, but I didn't care for any of the names you mentioned that mixed in all of my sisters' names. I LOVE YOU though! So I don't get into any trouble with anyone in our family, I must find a middle name that doesn't connect to anyone in the family.

Your suggestion about the nail and picture for Christmas gifts was a great idea. I passed it along to Peggy. Millard and her picked up a few more nails, but she didn't think of giving these away to family members. She thought it was a good idea as well. Thank you again.

Our Little Pumpkin

This past week, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to pick up Katie a descent sized pumpkin in order to be carved. I had hopes that Doug would be able to go with me to get the pumpkin. Of course, our weekend was full just like every other weekend is full, so I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to get Katie's pumpkin this year. Like every where else, I've noticed that the pumpkin supply has been picked through and we would only have one more weekend before Halloween. Ugh! Well Sunday after church, Doug agreed to go to Walmart with us and get Katie a pumpkin. We found the perfect size, but Katie wanted a baby pumpkin as well. She picked out the one she wanted and I suggested that we would paint the baby pumpkin. She was all for that idea. She was so excited that she wanted to paint it that night.

Yesterday morning, she asked again if we would paint our pumpkin today. Sure, why not? You may not know this about me, but I get very nervous doing crafts that include glue, paint and scissors with Katie. So, she had to learn the hard way that she has to listen to me and pay attention. I had glitter stickers and glitter glue to decorate the pumpkin. Before I could blink, she had all the stickers stacked on top of one another and the lids off of the glitter glue. Ugh! "TIME OUT!" When I had to take it away from her, all she could say was "mom I'm helping". I tried to explain to her that her stickers are not going to be sticky anymore, if she plays with them and the glue will get every where.

I figured that I would draw the face and let her paint the back of the pumpkin. She was getting impatient because I had to draw the face first and all she wanted to do is paint. She asked, "can I paint now?" Finally, it was time to paint. The package that the glitter glue came in said "ready to use". Well, the paint wouldn't come out. Before I finally stuck a pin down in the tube, I squeezed the bottle one more time. The top popped off and went flying across the room, followed by blue glitter glue. "Mom, what did you do?" Katie asked me all surprised. All I could do was laugh. There was blue glitter all over Katie's table, carpet, our white walls and on the entertainment center. I told Doug last night, I'll be finding blue glitter for the next year. LOL! Katie was so antsy about her turn to paint. She had a hard time getting the paint out of the tubes, so I had to help her paint spirals and squiggles. Sure enough, the stickers had a hard time sticking.



Here's our art work! I tried to paint the stem with red glitter glue, but all it would do is run down. It doing that made it look like red blood running down the pumpkin's face. Ugh! I had to constantly make sure the red "blood" wasn't running down in her face. Ha!


Here's Katie's art work! She did a good job. She couldn't understand why we didn't add a little pink marker art work.

Ryan Comes By
Ryan came by for a little visit. He wanted to see us before he had to head back home. Once Katie got warmed up to him, she wouldn't leave him alone. We would try to visit and catch up with each other, but Katie would not have it. She would get right in Ryan's face and boss him around. His work is still doing good and he will be taking a couple of classes that pertain to his job. He said that he and Kacy will have to work up until the day after Halloween and they'll get a few days off again. So, they are hoping to come down together for a couple of weeks. I asked him about Whitney and Zayne getting engaged. Him being the big brother, I didn't know what to expect from him. He said he couldn't be pleased about it. He went on and on about how he likes Zayne. They both went fishing the other day and had a good time. I am so glad to hear that they get along so well and I'm sure Whitney appreciates it. I know I love Zayne and how he takes such good care of Whit.

Prayer Request Update
I forgot to update you yesterday about a precious prayer request. My friend from church, Cindy, has a niece that thought she was pregnant and ended up being a tumor. Well, she did have an emergency surgery last Tuesday. Cindy reported Sunday that her niece had a DNC and removed the tumor. They sent the tumor off and won't know if it was cancer or not for a few days. Please continue to remember her in your prayers.

Lissa & Randy Stops By

It was so good to see my cousins, Randy and Lissa, again. They stopped by on their way home. It's too bad that they live so far away to where we don't get to see them as much as we would like, but we enjoyed the time we had with them. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them next year when the baby arrives.

Baby Bump



Okay, I've had a couple of requests to see an updated picture of the baby bump. I felt pretty good Saturday, so I thought I had better take that picture. Ha! I'm 16 weeks pregnant and I still haven't felt the baby move. I'm expecting to feel a flutter or bubble at any time now. In a way, I'm glad it's not as active as his/her sister was at this time. It's funny how you have a hard time waiting for that next stage in pregnancy and your child's development. You can't wait to feel thoses first kicks inside your belly, then when it finally starts all you want is for it to calm down a little. Katie loved to jump around in my belly late at night, while laying on my side. My next doctor's appointment is next week, so I'm excited to hear that little heart beat and make sure everything's still good.


Here's a side view. Doug and I have been discussing baby names. Doug was watching a football game and some one from the Texas team was named "Colt". He asked about that name because he really liked it. Well, I hadn't told him yet, but I had been tossing around the name "Colton" in my own head. I asked him, "what about Colton?" He agreed that he liked it. Right now, we like the name Colton Lamar for a boy's name and we like Lauren for a girl's name. I'm having a difficult time coming up with a middle name for the girl. I think the name Lauren Elizabeth would be beautiful, but I'm afraid my sister, Susan, would kill me. She wants a niece named after her and since my other sister's name is June Elizabeth, it won't be good for me. Plus, I have a niece named Elizabeth "Liz". So, I'm stuck with the middle name. We still have lots of time and I'm sure something will hit me just perfect.

The Old Homestead

Peggy and Millard received a call this weekend from the new owner of the old Horton homestead. He informed them that the house would be burned down Saturday. Doug took the camera and headed over to take pictures. Katie spent the night with Peggy and Millard Friday night, so she got to see all the action up close. She was so excited telling me Saturday night about the house being burnt to the ground. Doug took several pictures for the family to see and we posted them on our photo site for your viewing.



A Little History

I got inside Peggy's head and dug a little history information from her. We were trying to figure out how old is this house. Peggy was guessing 100 +, but after being told the history, I would say it would be closer to 200 years old. She told me that her grandmother, "Ma Riggs" grew up in this house. Sorry, but I don't know "Ma Riggs' maiden name. When she married "Pa Riggs", they ended up living in this house. They birthed and raised their family in this house, including Peggy's mother. As soon as Peggy's mother and father (Horton) married, Ma Riggs was still living. Mr. & Mrs. Horton (Peggy's parents) paid Ma Riggs' other daughter her half of the property, so they could live with Ma Riggs and take care of her. Mr. & Mrs. Horton birthed and raised their children (5 children) in this house, including Peggy. Peggy's parents passed away in the 80's and since then this piece of property, including the old homestead, has switched owners twice. The last owner rented the house out to relatives for a few years, but it's been vacant for the past few years. The new owner of the house plans to take the ruble and bury it some where on the extended property.

The local fire department participated in this burning. They had a few new volunteer firemen that needed to practice going into a burning house. So, this ended up being a practice burning as well. Doug said that it looked like there were close to 20 people to possibly participate in this practice. They would set a section of the house on fire and 4 firefighters at a time had to crawl in and extinguish the fire.

Attention All Horton Family: Doug took several pictures of this event. If you would like a disk of these pictures, please leave me a comment and I'll make sure, we'll get you one. Also, if you would like a nail or some reminder, please call Peggy and make sure you get one. If you do want some reminder, please contact us as soon as possible because the owner is planning to clearing the land this week.

Doug and I went out there yesterday to check it out. The house was still hot and smoking, but we were amazed how they used sandstone for stilts on this house instead of brick. The nails that held the walls together were not like the ordinary nails you see today.

Featuring Mariposa

Katie was so excited to try on her Mariposa Halloween costume. For those who don't know who Mariposa is, it's from a Barbie movie. I think it turned out cute.



I haven't decided on what tights to use or shoes.


As I told you yesterday, I couldn't buy the head band that went with this costume because the only places I knew that sold them were sold out. So, I did like any mom does, I improvised. I examined a picture of the head band and created one of our own. It was fun and easy to create. It contains: butterflies, flowers, crystal beads and lots of different colored ribbon. As much as Katie loves to play dress-up, I'll probably create a few more for her.

Pregnancy Health Information
I was reading through one of my new magazines that I received from my doctor, "Fit Pregnancy". It struck my interest because it had to do with Chocolate Lovers. Good news Pregnant Chocolate Lovers! According to the article, "A Yale study found that expectant moms who ate chocolate five or more times a week had a lower risk for preeclampsia than those who ate it less than once a week. Dark Chocolate, in particular, contains a substance thought to have cardiovascular benefits that help prevent preeclampsia". If you're not too sure what preeclampsia is, it's having high blood pressure during pregnancy. Preeclampsia can develop into more serious Eclampsia. Eclampsia is high blood pressure along with seizures. So, chocolate lovers eat up!
(The above information was taken from "Fit Pregnancy" Oct/Nov 2008 issue)

Don't forget the new Disney's Tinkerbell movie is coming out on DVD
October 28th

Haystack People

Katie couldn't wait to have her picture made with the Haystack People. We live in a German town, so the Haystack People are tradition along with German dinners at different places, decorations and festivals.



This morning, I was feeling a little better than I was yesterday. I thought it would be a good time to get the supplies, I needed to finish up Katie's Halloween costume. When I told Katie that we would be going to Hobby Lobby to get the stuff to make her Mariposa head band, she was so excited. Before I could get my hair fixed and my makeup on, she was at the door ready to go. She had a ball in Hobby Lobby, looking at all the Halloween (what's left) and Christmas decorations. As soon as we got home, I started on Katie's head band. I was hoping that making the head band would get my mind off of my stomach just like me blogging would get my mind off of it. No such luck. If I feel okay tomorrow, maybe I can get Katie to try on her Halloween costume along with the matching head band and take some pictures.

I Dunno!

Oh, no! I'm I headed in this direction? Already this morning, Katie thought it would be a good idea for me to let her "play" a Barbie game on the computer. As soon as I informed her "no", she began crying and whining. As Bill Cosby said in his standup comedy, 'let the beatings begin'. Ha! Ha!

Where Is My Little Adorable Baby Girl?

My sister, Sandy, warned me about how aliens will one day come down and suck the brains out of my children, to where you can't recognize them anymore. Well, I believe aliens have come down and did a body switch with my child. Why do I say that? It's because Katie has turned into this child that I don't know anymore. She wakes up cranky and whiny and goes to bed cranky and whiny. Grant it, I've let her go too long without cracking the whip and making her tow the line. What parent really does? Now that I'm in the condition that I'm in, seems to make things worse. What am I to do? On top of the whining and crying over nothing, I've been fighting her to take a nap. So far, she's winning! Then, she wants to take a nap at 6:00 p.m., which means she doesn't want to go to sleep until 10:30-11:00 p.m. Normally, I'd go with it, but now it not so easy because Doug puts her to bed at night. He likes to go to bed around 9:00 - 9:30 p.m. because he gets up around 4:45 in the mornings. I've been talking to my girlfriends about it and they said that they went through the same thing. In fact, Rachel's 4 year old little girl has refused to take a nap for several months now. Zoe, Rachel's daughter, won't take a nap during the day and argues with her because she wants to take her nap around 6:00 p.m. I've threatened and whipped Katie over the whining and throwing fits because I won't let her do something she wants to do. It's not working! As much as I don't want to do it, I'm going to have to go back to taking things away from her and not letting her do special things. On the way home from ballet, she asked me if she could watch "Little Einsteins" in the Living Room when we got home. Usually, I have no problem. I had my hands full coming into the house and right off the bat, she starts telling me to turn on "Little Einsteins" and she wants her drink. I told her "time out" because I had to unload the truck. She starts getting upset with me because she thought I was putting her in "time out". Ugh! I had to calm her down and explain what I meant. Of course, I was getting no where. So, I told her that I was in "time out". Well, she loved that idea. She began telling me that I had to sit down for 3 minutes and to be good. It didn't take long before she began throwing a fit because I wasn't fast enough. THAT'S IT! I had enough. I told her that she would not be watching "Little Einsteins" tonight and if she kept this attitude up, I might rethink the idea of her spending the night with Grandma Peggy and Papa Millard this weekend. I hate it, but somethings got to give because she is running all over us. She's out of control. Lord, please help me.

Prayer Request

Prayer Request
A friend of mine, Cindy, is requesting your prayers for her niece, Allison. Allison found out she was pregnant last week, about 3-4 weeks. Yesterday, Cindy received a phone call from her sister and Allison's mom, Judy. Allison had a sonogram done yesterday during her doctor's appointment. Unfortuately, they discovered that there was no baby, instead Allison has a tumor. She will undergo an emergency surgery this morning to remove the tumor. They don't know if the tumor is cancer. Please remember her and her family today.

I spoke to my neighbor, Evelyn, yesterday. As you know, she lost her husband last May to a heart attack, while turkey hunting in Indiana. Evelyn's had a hard time off and on. She said that it's just too hard for her to give him up. She told me that she'll catch herself watching the back door, waiting for Charles to come walking through that door. I don't know what she must be feeling or what she might be going through. With the holidays soon approaching, I'm sure she will need many many prayers for her and her family to get through it. She herself has health problems: heart, leg and weight problems. Bless her heart, she has been working very hard to get her weight under control. I asked her about her weight because I've noticed for some time how the pounds seem to be shedding off of her. She told me yesterday that she has lost a total of 52 pounds since Charles' death.

Show & Tell

Show & Tell
Okay, do you remember me telling you about "The Heads", we have as Halloween decorations? Katie just loves Frankie.

Introducing Wolfman. If you turn on his motion detector or push his button, he will hallow. While his eyes glow, he will begin singing "I'm a Boogie Man".


Introducing Frankie. If you turn on his motion detector or push his button, he will make a spooky noise or say that he wants some candy. While his eyes glow, he will begin singing The Beatles song "Who Can Be Knocking At My Door". It's pretty cute and Katie begs for us to turn them on for her.

The picture above is of our Fall Tree for the season. It's not the greatest, but I thought it turned out pretty good. I don't remember where I got the idea, but I wanted to do something a little less intense compared to last year. All I did was trace Katie's hand print onto a piece of cardboard to make all of these different colored hands for leaves out of construction paper. I cut the tree trunk out of construction paper as well and buddy I had just enough paper to work with. Shoo!

A few weeks ago I got a letter from "Taste of Home" introducing one of their new cook books "The Ultimate Cookie Collection". I love to bake in our family and just love cookies. I wanted this cook book so bad, but I threw away the offer because I've got so many recipe books and really didn't need another one. Well to my surprise, my sweet mother-in-law thought of me when she got her offer in the mail. She bought the book for me and it came with a paperback recipe book for smoothies. It just made my day when she gave it to me. I just hope that my kids will enjoy cooking because they will have quite the collection to get them started. Ha! One day, I'll have to take a picture of my cook book collection. If you like "Taste of Home" and collecting cook books, you'll have to keep your eyes out for a new book that's available now. It's titled something like "America's Best Church Supper Recipes". You know that will be a good cook book.

I hope to hear that y'all had a wonderful weekend. Our weekend wasn't too exciting. First, because Bama Football took a well deserved break this weekend and second, we didn't have any specific plans that is until Will decided to come visit us. Ha! Isn't that awful to say? I just can't trust him playing with Katie outside unsupervised because he likes to play in our road. I've been working on Katie so hard about not getting in the road and she's done so good minding me, but all those threats and scare tactics will go out the window, if Will goes to the road. Saturday morning, I heard this little tap-tap-tap at our side door. Right away, I knew it was Will. He was wanting Katie to come out to play. I've been giving these kids so many excuses on why they can't play with each other, mostly because I've been too sick to go outside and watch them. This time, I gave in. I grabbed me some Gatorade, my shoes and headed out the door. Doug knows how Will is as well, so we both talked to Katie about going to the road. I went a little further and talked with Will about it as well. Doug and I went outside to watch the kids. About that time, our neighbor came outside with Will's parents. They told Will to not come over because they were on their way to town. Well, it's too late because both kids were in the sandbox, covered in sand. I've said in the past and I will continue to say, Will will make an excellent trial lawyer one day. He will argue and debate on an agreement that he can leave with. For instance, he tried to convince his grandmother to let him stay with us while they went to town or if Katie could go with them. I never could understand all of these years, how Will's Mom always just sits there and doesn't say a word. I've seen his dad or grandma tell him because I said so. The mother never says anything, she just sits there and listens to either her husband or mother argue with Will. I don't understand it. Oh well. Will did finally leave after he spoke to me first. He wanted to devise a plan for when he gets back from town. Little did he know, Doug already had a plan for us. Will had to ask me several questions like what time does Katie take her nap? What time does she get up from her nap? What time does she go to bed for the night? When should he come over? I finally told him how about he or his grandma call us when they get in and see if he can play with Katie. He didn't care for that idea and do you know why? It's because most of the time he sneaks away from his grandma and mother to come over to our house. He has done this since he was 2 years old. They never know when he is over here. Now the child is 7 years old and still does it, but now he has learned to lie about it. The first question I ask him is "does your grandma or mom know that you're over here?" He always says "sure". Of course, they never do.

As soon as Will left, Doug asked me if I wanted to go to Target. He thought there was a good deal Target was promoting on their Blu-Ray players. The deal was if you purchase a player and get two or three movies for free, something like that. When we got there, he soon found out that there was much more to it and not such a good deal after all. It's sad when you have a good time walking around Target and looking at all the stuff. I was so excited because I finally found an ice shaver and it was on sale on top of that. Hurray! The only bad thing is that I wasn't lasting long at all. We were gone most of the day.

Visit From The College Students

Friday afternoon, Leslie and Charlie (her puppy) came by to see us. I haven't seen her in a long time and she wanted to see how big Katie was getting along with my belly. Ha! Doug was home Friday, so he made us all spaghetti with meat sauce. Leslie likes our spaghetti recipe, which is very simple.

1. Cook your noodles until soft and tender. Drain the noodle, but don't run water over them. Return the noodles back to your pot, to keep them warm. Sometimes, I add a little olive oil and stir around to coat.
2. Cook a mixture of hamburger and mild sausage meat in a skillet until browned.
3. Add your sauce. We always use "Paul Newman's Marinara" sauce. It's the best!

It sounds like everything is going well with her. She got a babysitting job, which always helps to give you a little cash in your pocket. Katie loved Charlie! He was just Katie's size and she wasn't too afraid of him. Because of past experiences, Katie thinks that all dogs are going to bite her and cats are going to scratch her, all except Montana. Ha! He's so big though and likes to get in her face, which she doesn't like either. With Charlie, she actually got to sit down and we showed her how to pet and play with him. Of course, she is still a little girl and wants to put her hands around his neck, but she didn't hurt him. It was cute and I wished I had taped Katie and Charlie playing hide and seek. Too cute!

Nicholas got to come home this weekend because he is on Fall break through Tuesday. Yesterday, he and June came by to visit for little bit. Katie was so tickled to see Nicholas and June. As soon as I told her that they were coming over, she thought we were going to their house. She was going around getting some toys and asking me if it was okay to take them with us. Finally, they showed up and as soon as I told Katie that they were here, she hit the door running outside to welcome them. Nicholas got to picking at Katie, which is right up her alley. She was wound up for hours until about 6:00. We turned on "The Water Horse", one of her new favorite movies, and she was out for the night. Nicholas is still loving school and is making really good grades. It sounds like he has made so many new friends.

Comment Questions
Sarah - I'm glad y'all enjoyed the Apple Pie and no some times it doesn't look all that gourmet, but it is very good. After I create something I like to go back and tweak it as well, you never know what new good things will come out of it. So create away. You'll have to tell your mother for me that I don't know of a good cranberry salad recipe right now, but I will ask my mother-in-law to see if she might have a good recipe. I'm assuming you're needing this salad for Thanksgiving? I'm one of those people that like the cranberry sauce right out of the can. Yes, isn't it sad?

Well, have a good Monday and take care.

A visit with Jon and Susan

Katie and I visited Jon yesterday for a few hours. What an adventure for Katie. She's at this age where she'll ask me a million questions about everything. I try to answer her questions the best I can and if she asks me repeated questions, then I answer her question with a question. I do that in hopes to get her thinking. Normally, she answers her on question then I won't have to be one of these parents to continuously say "I don't know" all the time. Ha! As soon as we got on the highway, she asked if we were going to June's house. I told her no, but we would be going by June's house. She was all confused. For a little while, she thought we were going to see Susan at June's house. Every little town or community we drove through, she'd ask me "Mom, where are we at now?" It got funny as we went through several little towns. It was as if her little sponge brain was soaking up everything. She went as far as repeating the names of the towns that I told her. If she said it wrong, she'd say it again until I'd confirm with her that it was correct. As soon as she reached success, she'd giggle and laugh about it. Well that's enough bragging. Ha! Ha!

Jon wasn't having such a good day, as you can imagine. Poor thing! He thought he would try to eat a bowl of Romaine (?) noodles for lunch. He might have taken 2 or 3 spoonfuls before pushing away from the table and heading for the couch. Later, Susan got out of him that it hurt too much eating the noodles and caused him to be a little light headed. I guess he's going to have to stick with pudding, jello and broth for a few days. I felt so bad for him.

Sure, I wanted to check in with Jon and see how he is doing, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit with Sue. I can't remember the last time we saw each other. I knew she wanted to see Katie and I figured she could use some company. I think I was right to go on my assumption because Sue said that ever since Jon's been home, all he wants to do is play his Play Station. He has the cow bell by his side and his note pad to communicate with everyone. Katie really liked getting a hold of that cow bell. Of course, after we told her not to ring the bell, she accidentally rang it a few times. Ugh! Susan had her harvest decorations out to decorate her home. Katie was excited to help her aunt Sue-Sue decorate. I was a nervous wreck because Susan let her put glass figurines up on the shelves and table. Ugh! I just knew Katie would drop something and break it. Susan had all kinds of glass pretties around the house. I stayed on Katie about touching stuff because I would feel so bad, if she was to break something. That's my worse fear when we go to any one's house. Sue said that she's been doing odd job around the house that she's put off for a while. She got her guest bathroom painted yesterday and it looks good. She painted it a coffee color with navy blue accessories. I think we had a good visit and pretty much caught up with each other. It's too bad we live so far away.

No sooner did we get back on the highway, heading home, Katie was fast asleep. On the way home, I took a detour to check out my old home place that I grew up in. Wow! It's amazing how drastically things change when you haven't seen it in a very long time. The neighborhood changes their landscape or build a house or two. The driveway to my grandparents' old homestead had a garage on it that the neighbors took over. I guess they are assuming Uncle Bob and Aunt Nell are not going to need that driveway anymore. Ha! Sandy - the old silver maple in our front yard is dying off. I remember climbing all the way to the very tip top of that tree. At times, I get choked up when I have to pass by my old home. I want to pull in the drive, curl up on the kitchen bench and talk to Mom, while she's cooking something. I've got 21 years of memories surrounded around that place. How I miss it all so much! Well that's enough sobbing.

Political
I must warn you first before you read any more of this subject. You don't want to read this if you are a Democrat, Liberal or an Obama Lover.

I normally don't voice my political opinion on my blog, but I can't keep silent any more. I'm sure like you, I'm very concerned about this upcoming Presidential Election. Sure you can't trust any politician because they speak out both sides of their mouth. What disturbs me is the reports I'm hearing from the media about the association between Bill Ayers (domestic terrorist), ACORN (known for voter fraud) and Barrack Obama. Yeah, Barrack may have been too young to know Ayers when he was in his bombing days, but he was aware of what Ayers stood for when his Senate campaign days were launched. Ayers was right there with Barrack, supporting and helping him. Ann Coulter, news reporter & author, brought up a very interesting question. 'What did Ayers see in Obama?' Did you know that Obama was one of the main leaders of ACORN. He trained the ACORN workers when it first started in Chicago. Now, there are at least 10 states investigating this organization for voter fraud. Are you aware that ACORN gets federal money, your money, to help their "cause"? Now, I'm sorry but this fires me up. Grant it, McCain is no angel by no means and if there was an good moral Christian Independent in the race, I'd probably vote for him. But people that are putting their heads in the sand about the disturbing issues between Bill Ayers and Barrack Obama, are still willing to vote for this man. Obama's spokespeople have reported (making excuses) that was Bill Ayers past and he no longer is violent. FOX News reports differently that Ayers could still be very dangerous. Please pray about this election.

Another thing that fires me up is this $700 billion bailout that fortunately for my state senator didn't vote for the bill. Did you hear what AIG ex-executives did to celebrate this bill that passed last week? I guess they thought they deserved to go to California for some spa treatment. Oh, did I mention that they used over $400,000 of the bailout money to pay for this treatment? What is this world coming to? Well that's enough of my ranting.

A Little Scare
I had a little scare last night. As you know, I'll be around 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Well, I've noticed for the past couple of days where my pelvic & pubic bones are making me very uncomfortable or even hurt at times. Last night, the pain was a little intense and when I coughed, I thought my ovaries were going to explode. I took a Tylenol PM last night and went to bed. I woke up hurting again at 3:00 this morning. I ate a few crackers with a couple Tylenol and went back to bed. As soon as I could, I called my doctor's office to see if there might be something wrong. I don't remember feeling this way so soon in my pregnancy. The nurse was so sweet to call me back right away. She assured me that it doesn't sound like any thing serious. She said that it sounds like a legiment got pulled that's causing the pain and discomfort. Shoo!

Jon Update

I just got off the phone with Susan. She said that the surgery went well with Jon. The doctor said that his tonsils were the size of golf balls. Susan and Jon actually looked at the holes after the operation and couldn't believe how big they were. Susan, jokingly, told Jon that he should be able to breathe now. The doctor assured Sue that today will be Jon's best day, but in the next 7 days will be rough for him. Jon's only allowed to eat soft foods for the next 10 days until the doctor dismisses him. Poor Sue, she said they were on their way home when their vehicle broke down. Luckily, they broke down very close to home and she as able to call close relatives to rescue her. Fortunately, Susan's sister-in-law, Regina, was with them. Everything worked out and she's able to laugh about it now. I know she's got to be breathing a little easier, now that the worse of it is over. Katie and I plan on visiting them in the middle of the week. I'm sure Susan would appreciate a visit. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

Apple Pie

This time of year, I usually love to create my favorite comfort foods. I thought I would share a couple of my favorite Fall time recipes with you. Hopefully when I'm feeling up to baking and cooking again, I'll make one or both of these recipes and take a picture for you.

This recipe was passed down to me from my mother-in-law. I love it! Every time I've made it, I never have any left after a get together.

Apple Pie
1 Granny Smith Apple (cut in 8's)
1 roll Cresent Rolls
1 stick butter or 1/2 cup butter, soft
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
Apple Pie Spice

1. Roll crescents around each apple piece. Place in a square pan. Sprinkle apple pie spice on top of each.
2. In a small sauce pan combine: orange juice, sugar and butter. Mix on medium heat until butter melts.
3. Pour sauce on top of apples.
4. Bake on 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 8

Classic Southern Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup light or dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon or margarine butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup pecans
1 (9") unbaked or frozen deep-dish pie crust

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F


2. Large bowl stir first 5 ingredients until well blended. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust.


3. Bake 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted 1/2 way between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Makes 8 servings.

Note: To use prepared frozen pie crust: use 9" deep dish pie crust. Do not thaw. Preheat oven on cookie sheet. Pour filling into frozen crust; bake on cookie sheet. Don't use insulated cookie sheet.

Katie & Daisy

I would like to introduce Katie's new friend, Daisy. Millard and Peggy brought this scarecrow to Katie yesterday. At first, she wasn't too sure about it. She would just look at for a little while before she would touch it. She had the hardest time coming up with a name for her new friend. Finally at the supper table, she announced that her scarecrow's name is Daisy. I think that is a great name for her scarecrow. She keeps her in her bedroom. I wished you could see her lugging this scarecrow around the house with her. It's too cute!



She loves her Daisy



We were able to get out our Halloween decorations yesterday. We decorated the yard and house in no time. Katie was a little scared of the heads, Frankie & Wolf Man, but she soon enjoyed them singing to her. These are the heads that she remembered from last year because they were her favorite and apparently still are.



I had to bribe Katie to wear her Halloween outfit because as you can see, it's not a dress. I told her that as soon as Mommy gets a few good pictures of her in one of her Halloween outfits, I would let her change into any dress she wants to wear.

Praise Report
If you've been keeping up with Emily Mulkey and her lung transplant, I have great news this morning. A friend of mine emailed me and said that Emily was released from UAB Hospital. Everything seems to continue to do well and now she'll be able to move to her new home in Texas. I'm so happy for her.

I haven't heard anything from Jon this morning about his surgery. His surgery was around 7:00 this morning, so I'm planning on called a little later tonight to see how every thing is going with him. Thank you for the prayers.

Nicholas Comes To Town

What a day yesterday? Shoo! It all started when Natalie and Whitney took Zayne's little sister, Nia (4 years old) and Katie to the Octoberfest here in town. Whitney and Natalie went on and on about how the girls had a blast, but they preferred the local school slide than the festival games. Too funny! What can I say, Katie is easily amused. I wished I had taken a picture of her before she left. I bought this dress from The Children's Place that she picked out last month in Foley. This dress reminds me of the 60's with these big flowers all over in the colors of yellow, fuchsia, and orange. Well, I thought I would give her the 60's dog ears hairstyle. It's not actually pig tails because they are down low almost below the ears. She looked like a little girl ready to go to school. I should have put on her metallic pink boots instead of her Mary Jane style pink shoes. When I'm feeling much better, we might have to have another fashion show. Ha!

After lunch, Doug and I headed over to Mom, Dad, June & Pat's house for a visit. Nicholas came home this weekend from college and we wanted to visit with him for a little bit. When we got there Maryann and Mom were going through Mom's collection of make-up, lotion and other creams. You would not believe the lotion bottles. I told Maryann that a lot of them are probably from when she was in the hospital so many times. I know Mom's hands and legs would be so dry that someone would go buy her a bottle and then the next thing, the bottle would go missing and we'd have to get another one for her. Mom continues to improve remarkably well. In fact, I have good news. Mom was dismissed from her physical therapist. Her therapist has confidence that Mom can do her own therapy on her own and he foresees her walking with a cane by next Spring. Whoo Hoo! Isn't that great news?!? I don't know if I've told y'all or not, but her feeding tube was taken out as well. Saying all of this, she does still tire easily. We left around 7:30 last night and you could tell that Mom had a big day because she was wiped out.

Maryann and Whitney talked to me more about the wedding. It sounds like they are trucking right along. Zayne and Whitney have apparently set a date for July 18th. They picked this date because Zayne's best friend, Justin Britt, won't be available for the wedding until then. For you Bama fans, yes, this is the same former Alabama football player and now in the NFL. I got to see Whitney's colors on a picture for an ideal bridesmaids' dresses. The color looks like a shiny royal blue with a brown sash around the waist. It's very pretty. I finally got to meet Zayne's mom, Robin. She came over to pick up Nia and drop off some magazines and books for Whitney. You talk about a couple of excited moms. Robin and Maryann had their heads buried in those Wedding magazines and every once in a while, you'll hear the ohhs and ahhs. It was cute. Poor Whitney has got so much on her plate with Nursing School, exams, and passing the board before she gets married. She told me that she didn't know how she was going to plan the wedding in enough time. Please keep her in your prayers.

Katie was worn out that she was asleep before we hit the interstate last night. Her and Nia were filthy from head to toe, but they had a great time together. I couldn't give Katie a bath last night because I was past my down time. Doug was sweet to give her a bath for me. I didn't get much sleep last night because by midnight, Katie began screaming and crying for me. Doug and I couldn't get her to calm down and tell us what was the matter. We kept asking questions, but all she would do is scream louder. Ugh! When we finally thought we had her calmed down and headed back to sleep, no sooner did we get into bed and I piled my pillows around me when she began to scream and cry again. Ugh! I finally told her to come in there with us. Eventually, I went ahead and got her to come in our bed. That poor baby, I don't know what all the fuss was about, but we still had a hard time getting her to calm down in our bed. When she finally fell asleep, I was wide awake. That's my luck! I know for sure that I looked at the clock it was 2 a.m. Then the dreams started and caused me to wake up every hour and a half. Ugh! Needless to say, I'm tired and feel like I've been run over by a Mac truck. We've got Peggy and Millard coming over today, I just hope I'll be able to function.

How about the Crimson Tide? Wow! I didn't get to watch the game on television because the girls, Nia and Katie, wanted to stay outside and play. It was Zayne, Whitney, Natalie and myself sitting outside talking and watching the girls, when Pat came over with the radio for Zayne to listen to the game. I'm sorry guys, but I just can't understand the game listening to the radio, other than when we make touch downs. I have to watch the game to get into the excitement. The guys were complaining about some of Bama's moves that we should have blasted KY on the score board. You know what matters - WE WON! WHOO HOO! ROLL TIDE!

Prayer Request
Please remember my nephew, Jon, tomorrow as he undergoes surgery to have his tonsils taken out.

Praise Report
Thanks for all the prayers for my brother-in-law, Kevin, his surgery on his hand went well. I asked him last night how he was doing and he said it was a little stove up, but good other than that.

First Trimester Celebration

Whoo Hoo! I've made it through our first trimester! I wanted to celebrate by thank you for all of your prayers for me and my family (Doug & Katie). We appreciate every one. I'm sorry, but it's October and time to feel a little Fallish that's why I had to put the Alabama decorations up and create one for Fall. I found a few Halloween pictures of Katie from last year and come up with my new header. I hope you enjoy it.

Katie is ready for Halloween this year. It's amazing how she remembers specific things like decorations that I used last year and she talks about them. She's smart as a tack. I may not be 100%, but I'm hoping, with Doug's help, to put up some Halloween decorations for Katie. Most of you know me and how I love to decorate for the holidays. I don't want to disciple Katie and not have any Halloween decorations up just because I don't feel up to it.

The weather has been gorgeous here this past few days and has been a little bit of a tease for me with temperatures in the mid 70's during the day and in the 50's at night. I've been complaining about how stinky my house has been smelling since I've been pregnant. Of course, Doug says that it doesn't stink to him and it's all in my head, which he is probably right. Saying that, I've been turning off the heat pump and opening up the house and letting it breathe. Ahhh! It smells much better now.

Hope y'all have a great weekend and enjoy your community Harvest Festivals and Octoberfest. Our Octoberfest starts today. I've got to get out and take pictures of the haystack people in and around town. Katie saw them the first time last week. She asked me, "Mom, what's that?" Of course, they were not finished because they were missing their clothes. It was a little hard for Katie to understand that they are suppose to be haystack people. Ha! Ha!

Baby Doctor Visit

Yesterday afternoon was my first appointment with my new OB/GYN, Dr. Kakani. She's a little hard to understand because of the accent, she's from India, but she is very enlightening. Trust me, I was a little shocked when she came in popping jokes and being funny. She told me that you have to have a little humor with this job. When everything was said and done, I have to say that I like her.

I'm sure that you've noticed that my Baby Countdown Gadget to the right has changed or looks different. Well, that's because it has changed. As you may know, I've been telling you that the baby has been showing bigger than what my menstrual cycle is predicting. Dr. Long's nurses just reassured me that I'm just having a big baby. Well, Dr. Kakani's Tech measured the baby during our ultrasound and it is showing that the baby is 13 weeks and 4 days, instead of 12 weeks and 2 days. Dr. Kakani is confident that since the baby has been measuring a week ahead this whole time that more than likely we are a week ahead than first thought. Of course, I'm all for that idea. Dr. Kakani has moved our due date from April 12th to April 3rd. She added that when I reach 38 weeks and the baby looks good to go, she's going to give me that option to take the baby a little early. Whoo Hoo! See why I like her so much? She was wanting to know why I had a C-Section with Katie and after I told her, she suggested that I have a C-Section with this baby. Since I had such a good experience with my last C-Section, I told her that I'm all for it. The little joke now is if we decide to have to baby being delivered on April Fool's Day. Anyway, the baby is still doing well. I got to hear his heart beat and the Tech said it was good and strong.

I've had some people ask me when we could find out the sex of the baby. I really couldn't remember. Well, Dr. Kakani said that we could find out the sex in 7 weeks, which makes me around 20 weeks pregnant. I can't believe that it will just be 7 weeks to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl, which we will be happy either way. I'm still having problems with names because I don't want my children to come up to me in several years and ask why I named them this name. Doug is coming up with names like: Lucy Sue and Griffith. Other people have suggested Major and Zeb. Nothing is hitting me across the head right now.

I'm really hoping that since I'm very close to the end of my 1st Trimester, I'll be feeling much better soon. Because sinus season is getting into it's peak, I haven't felt well on top of my usual sickness. Please continue to keep me in your prayers.

When I got home yesterday evening from the doctor's visit, Katie came running up to me and asking if I was feeling better. Peggy said that Katie asked her earlier if I was in the hospital. I guess I feel good that my little girl is worried about me, but yet I don't want her to worry.

Katie Story
I've got to tell you this funny Katie story. She saw me looking through my baby name book. "Whatcha looking at Mom?" she asked. Her and I sat down and I told her that I had a baby inside me. "That's me in there (pointing to my belly)?" she asked. "No" I told her. I told her that we have another baby inside Mommy's belly. "There's a baby in there?" she asked. I assured her that there was. She was all smiles. "And we need to name the baby" I told her. I asked her, "what should we name the baby?" You could tell, she was thinking very hard and finally a light bulb went off. She suggested, "Dora, Boots and Diego." In order to confirm from her, I asked her if the baby was a girl, we will call her Dora. "Uh, huh" she said. If it's a boy, we call him Boots or Diego. "Uh, huh" she said. Well, I don't need to search anymore names. Katie has it narrowed down. Ha!

Praise Report
I spoke to Maryann yesterday and Kevin went through his surgery just fine. He was at home by 10:00 yesterday morning and on some good drugs for the pain. If you don't know, Kevin had surgery on his hand because of "Trigger Finger".

Prayer Request
Maryann, Whitney's mom and my sister, is a bundle of nerves now that Whitney and Zayne have announced their engagement. Bless her heart! As a mom I can understand. You want your little girl to have the most perfect wedding possible. Please keep her in your prayers.