UN To Tell Parents How To Raise Their Kids

I caught a little bit of this news report from Fox News this morning. The original notice was reported yesterday. Some times I wonder what country I'm living in when I hear garbage like this.

Sen. Barbara Boxer is pushing the Obama administration to move forward with ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, a controversial treaty that has never gained much support in the U.S. (Fox News.com)

Basically, this treaty would give the government the right to tell parents how to raise and discipline their very own children. Ha! "Whether you ground your kids for smoking marijuana, whether you take them to church, whether you let them go to junior prom, all of those things . . . will be the government's decision," said Michael Farris, president of ParentalRights.org. "It will affect every parent who's told their children to do the dishes." (Fox News.com)

Only a constitutional amendment will ensure that the courts of our nation protect the fundamental right of parents to raise their children. (Parentalrights.org)

I don't know about you, but this just gets my goat! How do you feel about telling your 5 year old not to stomp off throwing a fit because he/she can't watch any more tv, come back at you and say oh yes I can? The Rights of Children says that I can and your not the boss of me. You had better brace yourself because this could very well happen and kids are smart enough to understand what's going on.

For further information on this subject can be found on the following site:
Fox News.com Report
Parental Rights.org
Slice of Laodicea

Conversations with God - Part 2

Wow! Thanks Sandy for finding this website with further information. Bottom line, we need to make sure our children are not pressured to read or purchase this book from or for school. A lot of false/misleading books are exposed to our school age children on a daily basis from the school system and teachers. I've seen segments on Fox News exposing a few history books that are very misleading. We just need to over see what our kids are reading in school and not assume anything. HERE is the link Sandy forwarded to me regarding "Conversations with God".

Moving Day
Saturday, we are planning on moving stuff (boxes) out and put into the storage building. I've been working with Katie's boxes of clothes, making sure they are all sealed up correctly. I've also tried to pack up some baby toys. There are lots more toys I need to go through in Katie's play boxes, but I'll just have to find another day to do it. Me spending so much time in Katie's room, clearing out stuff, has gotten her all upset. She doesn't want me to clean out her closet or drawers. She would see an old dress or outfit, she'd ask if she could wear it. As soon as I told her that it was too small, she would begin crying and whining. Ugh! I tried to explain to her that as soon as we made lots of room in her closet, we would go shopping and get new clothes that she could wear. I figured that would smooth things a little, but no such luck. "But mom" she whined. "I just want to wear that one." So frustrating at times.

Conversations With God?

I received an email from a friend of ours making us aware of the book "Conversations With God". This is the first time I've heard of this book and don't know much information, that is for true. According to snopes this email has been circulated since October 2002 and they considered it undetermined. Below is a copy of what these emails are saying:

If you have children or grandchildren, work with children at church, or you have neighborhood children whose parents you know, please take note of the information below and pass it along to others. Schools are distributing this Book to children through the Scholastic Book Club. The name of the book is Conversations with God.. James Dobson talked about this book twice this week. It is devastating. Parents, churches and Christian schools need to be aware of it. Please pass this information on to Church/e-mail addresses, Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, friends. Please pay special attention not only to what your kids watch on TV, in movie theaters, on the internet, and the music they listen to, but also be alert regarding the books they read. Two particular books are, Conversations with God and Conversations with God for Teens, written by Neale D. Walsch. They sound harmless enough by their titles alone. The books have been on the New York Times best sellers list for a number of weeks, and they make truth of the statement, "Don't judge a book by its cover or title." The author purports to answer various questions asked by kids using the "voice of God". However, the "answers" that he gives are not Bible-based and go against the very infallible word of God. For instance (and I paraphrase),When a girl asks the question "Why am I a lesbian?" His answer is that she was 'born that way' because of genetics (just as you were born right-handed, with brown eyes, etc.). Then he tells her to go out and "celebrate" her differences. Another girls poses the question "I am living with my boyfriend. My parents say that I should marry him because I am living in sin. Should I marry him?" His reply is, "Who are you sinning against? Not me, because you have done nothing wrong." Another question asks about God's forgiveness of sin. His reply "I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive. There is no such thing as right or wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people. People have chosen to judge one another and this is wrong, because the rule is "'judge not lest ye be judged." Not only are these books the false doctrine of the devil, but in some instances quote (in error) the Word of God. And the list goes on. These books (and others like it) are being sold to schoolchildren through (The Scholastic Book Club), and we need to be aware of what is being fed to our children. The children of our nation are under attack.. So I pray that you be sober and vigilant about teaching your children the Word of God, and guarding their exposure to worldly mediums, because our adversary, the devil, roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). We know that lions usually hunt for the slowest, weakest and YOUNGEST of its prey. Pass this on to every Believer you know. And, if you are in doubt, check out the books yourself.

I've tried to do some research online about the above information and I just can't find anything that confirms this statement. I even checked out The Scholastic Store and it doesn't show on their list of books for sale. I'm going to keep my eyes and ears open. If you have any other information, I'd be interested in hearing it.

Katie School Update

Well, I have exciting news to report. Katie and I just got back from her future school, she will be attending in the Fall. Originally, I wasn't going to get her out in this weather and especially after our episode early this morning. I've been watching her all morning and she hasn't had a fever for 12 hours. I'm really hoping the worst is behind us now. I thought this morning would be a good opportunity to make the necessary phone calls. I've been on the phone all morning. I had a few questions for the Covenant School before we decided, which preschool she would be attending. There's a specific teacher for Katie, if she attends this school and I was beginning to panic because her class was filling up fast. Ugh! They were nice enough to leave a packet for me at the school office. The more and more I worried about Katie not being able to get into this school or any school, the more I wanted to bundle her up and register her today. I spoke to Doug before we left and I told him my dilemma. I filled him in on all the info I found out this morning. He agreed with me to go ahead and get her registered. Katie was so excited when I told her that we were going to go visit a school, she might be going to after her birthday. Her main concern was if they had a swing and slide. I guess who cares about the class room or the fun she'll be having with the other kids. As long as they have a slide and swing.

I think we got to the school just in time because the teacher, Katie Burney, had 7 children signed up in her class for next year and they allow up to 10 children per class. Shoo! After I got Katie registered and requested Katie Burney as her teacher, we got to go check out the place. I really like the fact that all of their classes are small, more one on one. Katie loves her classroom! She kept asking me if that was really going to be her room. Of course, she went straight for the toys. Mrs. Katie wasn't there, but we see her a lot at church. Katie will get to go 3 times a week for half a day. I think she'll really enjoy going to preschool. Here's a link to the Covenant School. Oh and by the way, they did have a nice playground with a swing and slide for Katie to play on. Shoo!

No Ballet Today

I was just telling to mom yesterday morning how fortunate we were because Katie had not been sick in a very long time. I had cleaned out the medicine cabinet the other day and threw out a bunch of expired children's medicine. I made a list of over the counter meds to get before the baby got here like Children's Tylenol, Motrin and Gas Drops. Well, I spoke too soon about Katie not being sick. Because as soon as the guy left after setting up the storage building, she actually asked me if she could lay down on the couch. She has never asked to lay down, so that was a red flag. Her laying on the couch didn't take long before she was out. Peggy came over to pick her up to take her to ballet class for me. When I got her off the couch, she felt real warm. I was hoping it was from the blanket that she was wrapped up in, but no such luck. She had a temperature 101 degrees. Ugh! Peggy was so sweet to go get us some Tylenol from the store. Katie was doing good after a dose of Tylenol. She was so upset, she couldn't go to ballet. She begged and begged me to let her go. I called her instructor to let her know that Katie wouldn't be in class. It's very important that all the girls attend class because they are learning their routine for the Spring Recital. Elaine, ballet school owner, told me to call back to see if we could get Katie into class another day this week.

Katie went about 7 hours without a temperature, so I thought we were out of the woods. That is until 1:00 this morning. She came crawling into bed with us. She had a slight temp of 99.6 degrees, so I tried giving her more medicine. Well it didn't stay down long. Yuck! Bless her heart. She asked me what she just did. When I told her that she threw up, she kept apologizing. I assured her that it was alright. I'm a sensitive person when it comes to people that get sick. I did pretty good because I didn't loose it until after everything was cleaned up and Katie was tucked into bed by daddy. When Doug and Katie heard me in the bathroom, Doug said Katie turned over and told him that I was green. I'm hoping her sickness was a 24 hour bug because it's been 9 1/2 hours since she had some medicine and there is no fever.

Storage Building
Doug, Millard and Peggy checked out the building as soon as Doug got home from work. We all seem to really like it, especially me. I plan on going through Katie's clothes and getting the Space Bags re-vaccumed. Doug is talking about getting stuff moved into the building this weekend.

Cullman Rapist
There are no major reports or leads on this creep. The county is in chaos, trying to find this guy and get him behind bars, which would be fine with me. It's amazing how a community like ours comes together in situations like this. Everyone has turned into a Neighborhood Watch, which is great. Everyone is watching out for everyone else. I spoke to June yesterday and she said that the phone calls are nonstop at Investigations. She added, all calls have been checked out, but still no real leads to this guy.

It's Here!

We finally got our storage building delivered this morning. It feels so strange to look in the backyard and see this building back there. It was cool to watch this guy manuever the trailer around our yard in order to get it to where we needed to set it up. Below are a few pictures:

It was neat watching the trailer moving sideways. He had a wireless remote that he could control the direction of the trailer.

As you can see the extra set of wheels underneath the trailer. With a click of a button, these wheels came down and lifted the trailer.

The guy did a great job getting the building back there and setting it up. He told me that Doug would have to get me some steps or ramp made because it is rather steep.

Katie couldn't wait to get inside the new building. She kept asking me when we could get in.

Welcome Carson Wade!

I received Liz's email this morning with lots of pictures of Carson Wade. He is so precious!

6lbs. 15.2 oz.
20 inches long
He arrived at 7:53 a.m.

Storage Building Update

Oh, I received a surprising call early this morning. Our storage building is ready to be delivered. YAY! I'm so excited. It will be delivered some time this morning. I plan to take lots of pictures because I'm curious as to how they plan on getting this building up our driveway. I'll post pictures as soon as I possibly can.

Funny Katie Story

With pregnancy, I've been having a hard time these days resting good at night. Thank goodness, I don't have a job to go to early in the mornings. LOL! I'd be such a zombie. I got to sleep in late this morning. Katie crawled into bed with me at 6:00 this morning. By 7:30, it was time for me to eat. Katie was fast asleep, so I just closed the door to let her rest. By 8:00, I heard her crying. I was afraid she had fallen off the bed. Instead, she said she was afraid that I left her. When she calmed down and we began talking about what we were going to do today, she perked up and informed me that she was too scared to sleep in her bedroom. I figured she would tell me that she had monsters or something similar. I was shocked at first when she told me why she couldn't sleep in her room. I had to start laughing. She said, she couldn't sleep in her bedroom because she could hear daddy snoring through the wall. She had this serious look on her face telling me this. As I'm laughing, she continued saying that he is so loud and we need to tell him to be quiet.

Cullman Has Serial Rapist On The Loose

I know this is shocking news for our community, but it's very true and scary. We've had this creep on the loose in the county for sometime now. The word going around town is this guy waits for his victims at public places like a store or restaurant. So far, he picks women that are alone. He watches them get into their vehicle and follows them to their home. There, he forces his way into their home with a mask over his head, gray hoodie and holding a gun. He held up one lady, asked for all the cash she had in the house and afterwards raped her. He attacked a women at a local park. She fought him tooth and nail. After he beat her up, she escaped his filthy clutches and she got help by getting a construction worker's attention. He's attacked 4 women total thus far and he attacks his victims during the day. This guy is bold and one day his number will be up.

Doug and I went over safety plans, in case this rapist comes knocking at our door. Trust me, I've been looking over my shoulder now and watching everyone. Hey, I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it.

A friend of our forwarded us a sketch of the suspect. He is of Hispanic or Indian Origin, 5'6" or 5' 7" & is thick build. If you've seen this guy or have any information about him, please call the Cullman Police Department as soon as possible.

Congratulations Liz & Nolan!

Mom just called me and said Liz and baby are doing fine. I don't know the exact weight or measurements yet, but mom seems to think that he was shy an ounce to being 7 pounds. His name is Carson Wade. They liked the name Carson and Wade is Liz's dad's name. Mom was telling me that the epidural didn't take affect, so they had to knock her out completely. Bless her heart! She went on to say, as soon as the doctor and nurses were getting him out, he began peeing all over them. LOL! I thought that was funny. I hope Liz writes these things down in his baby book. Ha! Liz was suppose to take her laptop with them to the hospital, so they could post pictures as soon as possible. I can't wait to see him. Sarah IM'd me just a little while ago saying how cute he was and that he has a head full of black hair.

Thinking Of You!

I just wanted to put a post to Liz and Nolan today.

Liz is undergoing a C-Section this morning at 7:30. So, I'll be getting another nephew sometime this morning. Whoo Hoo! Liz & Nolan still haven't announced the baby's name, so hopefully they will post pictures soon after his delivery & a name.

We wish you all the very best

Our thoughts and prayers are with you

We Love You!

Are We Living In A Socialist Country?

As a Christian and Patriot of these United States, I felt it was my responsibility to make you aware of this speech from 1965 about Socialism (Communism) easing into the United States of America. You may have heard this speech during Government class in High School. The speaker is Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture, from the Eisenhower administration. Pres. Eisenhower wanted Mr. Benson to meet with the Communist leader, Nikita Khruschev, regarding enriching their agriculture. The above recording is part of Mr. Benson's speech after meeting with these communist leaders and what they had to say about our country.

Glenn Beck is a journalist from Fox News Network, which is refreshing our history by presenting this Benson speech. I like to watch Glenn every day at 4 p.m. CST. He's been doing a special every day this past week about Socialism.

I have questions for you today. Is this (Socialism) what we really want? I mean, it's nice to have the feeling that you will be taken care of financially, but there are consequences. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, more than likely IT IS. I don't know about you, but I feel enslaved enough by having to pay taxes just to find out later that the money was used to develop a "Quiet Zone" in an area in San Diego. Yeah, you heard me. This is one of the MANY (useless) jobs that are suppose to stimulate the economy. What a joke! What would our forefathers say right now to us? After they have worked so hard to provide and ensure us with the freedoms and opportunities, this is how we repay them. By saying that we want the government to take care us and not take on any responsibility for our own actions. I pray God will shake us back to our senses before it's too late. Is it too late? Can I save my beloved country for the sake of my children and their freedoms? We must all stand up and say NO MORE!

We Have A Birth Date Scheduled

Doug and I went to my doctor's appointment yesterday morning. Doug finally got to meet Dr. Kakani for the first time. I asked him later what he thought of her and he seemed to like her. The first thing, I guess, he noticed was her mole that is conveniently in the middle of her forehead. He was telling me how it worked out perfectly because as you know she's Indian.

I think Dr. Kakani is convinced now that my glucose levels are just fine because the blood work came back at 70, which she said was very normal. I guess me staying away from sweets for a few days helped out, but trust me I've been missing my cookies and donuts. Ha! I told Doug maybe now Dr. Kakani will leave me alone and not make me go through the fasting again. Ugh! I've gained 4 lbs, which Dr. Kakani seemed pleased with but I don't want to gain too much weight. Doug has been so sweet about the whole thing saying I need to gain the weight. When they monitored the baby's heart rate it was running a little fast, 166. His heart rate has been around 150-156. I asked the nurse if that was okay and she assured me that he was just being active. I addressed my concern about the sharp pains I was experiencing in my lower abdomen. I told her that I couldn't remember having that with my first child and it could be that the baby is just pushing on something, causing the pain. She agreed with me, but she wanted to check it out. Ugh! Right away, I knew me telling her this was a BIG MISTAKE. If you've ever had a baby then you know happened next. All in all, everything is trucking right away as planned.

I was actually surprised when Dr. Kakani asked me if we had scheduled the C-Section yet. I told her no because she said earlier that I could pick out a date closer to 38 weeks. So, all of this was a big surprise for me. Well, she said that we needed to schedule the date if that was okay with us. Of course, I was all for it. As of today, we are scheduled for a C-Section on March the 27th at 7:30 a.m. I guess now that we have a date in place, I'm even more excited. So, put this date on your calendar!

After the appointment, Doug and I went to Blue Plate Cafe for breakfast and enjoyed their Blue Plate Special - eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast and orange juice. It was so good! Doug found out that they service fried bologna. He said it was really good. We headed back to the hospital for a tour. The nurses there was so nice and helpful. I really hope we have a good experience, while we are there. The nurses went over with us what to expect before, during and after the surgery. We got to view some of the rooms, which Doug and I were a little disappointed because they were smaller than the one we were in at Decatur. One of the nurses said more than likely we might get one of their bigger rooms because I'll be a Triage patient and we'll have more stuff. They do have some waiting areas, but they are not necessarily close to the patients rooms. I'll probably have to stay in the hospital for about 3 days, unless Dr. Kakani feels that I'll be ready to leave a day early.

Katie's Schooling Update
I received a call from Sonshine Preschool the other day. They've had Katie on a waiting list from last year and they have an opening this next school year. She was calling to see if we were still interested in enrolling her with them. Not being able to discuss this with Doug because he was at work, I asked the lady to please send me a packet and let us look through it.

My new dilemma is convincing Katie that she can go to the potty by herself and wipe her own self. Sometimes she'll go by herself, then there are other days when she wants me to hold her hand. I can understand being in there when she poopies, to help out. I told Doug that we probably need to teach her how to wipe better because I don't know if the teachers will help out in the bathrooms at school. Moms, am I being paranoid? One day this past week, she wanted me to help her in the bathroom. She was being lazy not wanting to wipe or put her clothes back on herself. I finally told her that she'd better start, if she wanted to go to school. I added that if she couldn't go to the bathroom by herself then she couldn't go to school. Oh my gosh! You would have thought that I told her that her life was over. She began crying and begging me to send her to school. So, moms I need your advice that have already gone through this stage. What do I do? Am I being too rough with her or not enough?

Special Prayer Request

I mentioned a friend and Sunday School member of ours has just been diagnosed with cancer. Well, I just got an email stating that her surgery has been moved up from March to February 20th. Please keep her in your prayers, I know she will appreciate it. Thank you!

Liz emailed me this morning letting me that she will be having a C-Section on Monday at 7:30. I'm so excited for them. Please remember them during this time.

I spoke to Susan yesterday and she is concerned about my nephew, Jon's, sugar problem. As most of you know, Jon was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic or borderline diabetic. He's been on a special diet and exercise program for almost a year now, it seems like. Doctors, Susan and Jon all felt like this would solve the problem. Susan said that normal glucose is between 0-3 and Jon's showed up 4.4. Since then, he's been doing real good about watching what he eats (sugar & carbs). Plus, he's been working out with weights and lots of walking. You can tell by looking at him that he's lost quite a bit of weight. The boy is solid as a rock. Well, he had his glucose tested again last Friday. The results came back yesterday and his level is 11. I'm pretty sure I got all of these numbers correct, but I know I got the last number correct. The doctor has got Jon on medication to help get his glucose number down. Their plan now is for Jon to stay on his special diet, exercise and take his medication in hopes that this will solve the problem. I told Sue this has got to be so hard for him. It's hard for me to stay away from sweets for very long, so I can't imagine a 15 year boy restraining himself. Please remember him in your prayers.

You've Got To Read!

Okay, I maybe a little late on giving my books in review of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. I guess I won't be too late, if you haven't seen the movie yet. Oh my gosh! I absolutely loved this novel, I couldn't set it down for very long this past weekend and have finished reading it today.

As most of you know that I'm not a big novel reader just because I can't get past the 5 chapters of plot (yawn). I think the last novel, I read that I was this excited about and couldn't put it down was "The Pelican Brief" by John Grisham. I'm so glad I found this hilarious novel at the library. The main character, Becky Bloomwood is a piece of work and it's amazing the predicaments she gets herself into. You never know what's going to happen to her next and I hated every time I had to set my book down because I had to find out what happened next or how she got herself out of a bad situation. Becky tries her best to have a little self-control when it comes to her finances, but she is surrounded by temptations that finally get the best of her. She tries to make things right and you end up routing for her because you feel so sorry for her. You can't help but love Becky like your sister or best friend. Becky is still silly when it comes to finances, but the novel ends in a happy ending for her. Now, I'm ready to watch the movie. I just hope the movie is half as good as the book. I can't wait to see it.

The author, Sophie Kinsella, has a few Becky Bloomwood sequels that I would love to read next. They are as follows:

Simply Wonderful Valentine's Day

I've read some of your blogs and it sounds like everyone had a nice Valentine's weekend, including us. Ours started Friday, Katie and I had a Mommy & Daughter Day. We got all dressed up and I asked her what she wanted to do. All she could think of is go to Walmart and look at the toys, her favorite past time.

I haven't taken Katie to the library since September, so I thought it would be a good idea to stop by there first. Normally, she loves going to the library. Of course, she made a new little friend and went her separate way. I picked her out a few books and I wanted to see if there was something for me. I told her where I would be, which isn't that far and I knew she would be checking in on me because she likes for me to be real close to her. Sure enough, I'd hear her calling "mom". She would tell me that she was just looking for me and then she'd ask "what are you doing?" As soon as I told her that I was looking for a book, she was up for the job of finding a special book for me. I did find the novel "Confessions of a Shopaholic". I would have been very interested in reading this novel months ago and now that the movie is out, I didn't know if I should try to read it. I grabbed it anyway because I thought it would be funny to read. I've read 7 chapters out of 24 thus far and it is really funny. The main character reminds me of someone I know, but I'm not mentioning who. When I took Katie back to her section, she showed me the stack of books that she wanted to check out. Okay. I was afraid we would be going over our limit, so I asked her to weed through and pick out the ones she had to have right now. Before we left, we had to say hello to all the little creatures & pets the library has on display. They have a turtle, guinea pig, hamsters, and spider.

Katie and I were getting hungry after leaving the library, so we headed to Chik-fil-a. I got us a large waffle fries and drink to share. It was so nice, the cashiers handed out long stem red roses to every customer to celebrate Valentines. Katie had a fit because she loves flowers. She kept saying "I love your flower". I told her that it was hers and her eyes got so big because she couldn't believe it. She was so proud of that rose. She couldn't wait to show it to her daddy when he got home from work.

We walked around Walmart, eating our fries and sipping on our tea. I had to get a couple of things and the rest of the time, we spent in the toy section. It's a good thing that I didn't do any serious shopping in there because I was so wore out by the time we left. While we were there, Katie had to pick out all the toys that she would like to get for the next holiday . . . Easter. I do have to say, the Thumbelina dolls are precious and she is dying to have one.

The rest of the day, I let Katie play computer games (Disney Playhouse & Barbie) and watch movies. I think she had a very good day.

On Valentines Day, Doug and I went ahead and put the gifts on Katie's table for her to see as soon as she got out of bed. I had to go wake her up because she loves to sleep in in the mornings. As soon as her eyes opened, she asked if she had any presents. She's been so excited for Valentine's Day. We got her one of the Barbie Fairytopia movies that she doesn't have and a Little Dreams baby doll.

She loved her gifts or that's what she kept telling us. She's wanted this doll for some time and it is so neat. It acts so much like a real baby because it's eyes, mouth & stomach are fully animated. To activate it, you have to put her pacifier or bottle in her mouth. From there, she can make sucking sounds, babble, crying & breathing sounds when she falls asleep. She's really cute and Katie just loves her. Doug got a box of his favorite candy, Turtles and I received a new movie, "Nights in Rodanthe". I've been wanting to watch this movie for some time, but I haven't had the opportunity. Now I can watch it any time I want. Later that afternoon, Katie and I went over to Maryann's house. When she showed Maryann her new doll, Maryann asked her what the doll's name was and she said "baby brother". LOL!
Millard and Peggy came over that night and gave Katie their present. My goodness, Katie is a lucky little girl. She received a couple new books, a coloring book, a pretty outfit, and lots of candy.

Yesterday, Doug went to start up the car for church because it was a little chilly. Well to our surprise, one of our tires was flat as a flitter. It's a good thing we didn't get that flat on the road. Doug was able to get some air in it long enough to go get it fixed. He's been keeping an eye on the air pressure and it has slowly started going back down. We don't know if it's because of the cold weather causing it or if the tire is truly losing air. He took his tank with him to work this morning just in case he needs it. He may have to stop by some where and get a new tire on the way home.

Baby Update
Baby and I are doing fine, still growing like a weed. According to my weekly updates, the baby should weigh a little over 4 lbs. and is 17 inches long. He should be plumping up from here on to delivery time. My next doctor's appointment is Thursday. Doug is going to go with me because they want to check my glucose again, which means I have to fast. Ugh! After our appointment, we are going to check with the hospital and see if we can go on a tour.

Congratulations Whitney!

I have to congratulate Whitney for getting on at UAB hospital. According to Maryann, there are two different spots that she can work with the babies, which is what she wants to do. I'm so happy for her!

Prayer Request

A lot has happened this week and several people need your prayers.

Liz went to the doctor yesterday and the doctor moved up her C-Section from the 26th of February to the 23rd of February at noon. That is unless the baby decides to come early. Please remember them as they go through this exciting and nervous time.

Laura's grandmother passed away the other day. She had been battling a brain tumor for quite some time now. No one can be prepared for the death of a loved one no matter how long they've been struggling with their illness. Her grandma is now released from her illness and reunited with her Savior and family in heaven. Please remember Laura, her mother and other living family members as they grieve their loss.

A friend and Sunday School member at our church, Beth, was recently diagnosed with having cancer. I'm unclear as to where the cancer is located. Beth went through some tests yesterday and the doctors have confirmed that her lungs are clear of any cancer cells. She went on to say that she will undergo some minor surgery (outpatient) followed by radiation treatments. Her surgery is scheduled for the 4th day of March. She is in good spirits and would appreciate your many many prayers during this scary time in her life.

My heart stopped shortly after I came into Living Room with my breakfast, turned on Fox & Friends and saw breaking news that a plane had crashed. The crash killed all 49 people on the plane, plus 1 person on the ground. Of course, seeing this scene flashed horrible memories of 911. The first thought that went through my mind was "is this another terrorist attack?" I think they are ruling that the crash was caused by really bad winds. It's horrible anyway it happened. Please remember these victims' loved ones.

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?!?

I've been busy these past few days and lots have been going on. First of all, I had the guys from Dutch Barn come out twice yesterday to check out the property for the storage building, they will be delivering (hopefully) in a couple of weeks. Doug and I wanted to make sure they will be able to bring a 10 x 20' building up our driveway, but instead they were concerned about damaging one of my flowerbeds. Who cares about the flowerbed, it can be re-done in my book. After they evaluated the site and re-evaluated, we all decided that it can be done and I gave them a down payment. Oh, I'm so excited about finally getting our building ordered.

My Baby Girl Growing Up
I've been wanting to go through some of Katie's newborn outfits and pull out clothes that I know Colton would be able to wear. I assure you nothing phrilly or pink. LOL! I got so excited about ordering the building yesterday afternoon that I went ahead and went through a couple of space bags full of clothes. I ended up making three piles of clothes. One for Colton, one to keep for Katie or my nieces and another pile to sell or give away. My gosh the clothes and you know it was so hard to put a lot of Katie's clothes in the sell/give away pile. Don't get me wrong, I want to give. I think me going through her baby clothes hit me hard that my little girl isn't a baby anymore. It's too bad that they don't stay little for long. Katie enjoyed looking at her newborn stuff. "I wore that when I was baby?" she'd ask. It was as if she was amazed to be that little. She has seen her baby pictures, but I think she was shocked when she could actually see and feel the outfits that she wore.

Speaking of my baby girl growing up, Doug and I have been talking this past weekend about Katie attending preschool next Fall. I've wrote to you in the past about my concern for Katie when she attends Kindergarten. I just think she would be able to learn more and be more prepared for Kindergarten, if she went to preschool. She's learning to listen better since she's been in ballet, but I think it would be a good experience for her. Nothing is official, but I think we are going to try to get Katie enrolled into Christ Covenant School the next school year. Doug and I asked Katie if she wanted to go to school and she seemed real excited. "Uh, huh!" she responded. A bonus, I know one of the pre-K4 school teachers, Katie B. Her and her husband not only go to the same church that we do, but I've worked with her in the Children's Ministry. I've seen her in action and I know she is real good with the children. She has a bubbly attitude and makes learning fun. My friend, Rachel takes her kids to Christ Covenant and she goes on and on about how she loves Katie B. as her children's teacher. Rachel told me that Katie B. is teaching her daughter, Zoe (4 yrs old) how to read. Zoe and Katie (my daughter) are friends and I think it would be good for Katie to have someone that she knows at that school, eventhough Zoe will be in Kindergarten next year. Here is their school link: Christ Covenant School.

Oh, I've got to tell you about a fun computer game that Katie and I came across. I've told you about Katie loving to play games off of the computer like Angelina Ballerina, Magical Fairy and Barbie. Well, Katie was getting bored playing the same games over and over (dress-up, ballet dancing and memory games). So, we went over to Noggin and I found a Blue's Clue's Mix & Match game that Katie loves to play. You have to match up Magenta's outfit. For instance, if she is wearing a cap with a ladybug on it, you have to find her shirt with a ladybug and put it on her. I kinda wish it was a little more challenging for Katie because she can finish the game in nothing flat, but she is always so proud that she did good. If you want to check out the game, you can go here.

Easter
I'm breathing a little better now that I'm slowly getting Easter done for the kids. Yes! As you know, I've got Katie's dress bought and ready. Well, now I've got Colton's Easter outfit purchased along with his coming home outfit. I thought they were so cute, but Doug is afraid that I'm going to turn our boy into a girly boy.

The above outfit is for Easter and announcement portraits
I thought this outfit was so precious! I love the rocking horses. This looks bigger then the outfit above, but I was hoping it would be Colton's coming home outfit. We'll see. I may have to use the white romper instead, depending how big he will be.
Doug ragged me about this outfit because it's a gown.

I've also been getting Easter bunny gifts for Katie here and there. I wanted to get her this baby doll from "Little Dreams". This doll is so neat and Katie really liked it. It opens and closes it's eyes, makes noises and literally drinks it's bottle. So cool! I wanted to get Katie a special doll to take care of when Colton comes home and I had this doll in mind. Well a couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to get concerned because Walmart sold out of these dolls and the shelves have been empty since then. Ugh! Monday, we had to go to Walmart and I went by the toys to see if maybe a shipment came in. Yes! They must have just delivered them because there were quite a few. You talk about being sneaky. I had to sneak the doll past Katie and have the cashier fix it to where she wouldn't be able to see it. I'm thinking about giving Katie the doll for Valentine's Day because Colton will be here before Easter. It just depends because I ordered the Disney Bingo DVD game last week from Target and I haven't seen it yet. I was going to give that to Katie for Valentine's Day. We'll see.

New Projects
Maryann came over last night and dropped off some "Save A Date" paper for me to create for Zayne & Whitney's wedding. She's wanting them by this weekend, so she may come by tomorrow to pick them up. I've never made these before, but it looks like no big deal. We'll see. I've had problems with special paper in the past, but prevailed then. Pray for me.

Weather
It's suppose to get real bad around here today. So, Katie and I are going to stay at home and catch up on some stuff around here. I've been watching the news this morning and all the tornado damage in the Oklahoma area. So bad! It looks like most of the bad cells are more towards the Ohio Valley, so I'm hoping we won't get the really bad stuff here.

Storage Building

We are very thankful to God this past week because Doug did not receive a pink slip at work. ULA had to relieve hundreds of employees country wide. I feel so bad for those that did loose their jobs and pray that they will be able to hire onto another program as soon as possible. I kept my ear glued to the phone last Thursday, expecting Doug's call. You can not imagine the sense of relief that was lifted off of my shoulders. Sure, we know God is in command and what will happen, will happen. We had been praying that if it was God's will that Doug be laid off, He would give us the strength and guidance to make the right decisions.

Now, we know Doug will be sticking around ULA for a while, it was time for us to go storage building shopping. I reminded Doug that I kept up my part of the deal as far as not raging him about the well needed building, until we knew for sure he would not be laid off. Saturday morning, we got dressed and went shopping for our new building. I think we've decided to get a 10 x 16' vinyl siding with a metal roof. We both loved the 10 x 20' building, but we are concerned if the company will be able to haul it up our driveway. Katie had so much fun going with us to look for buildings. We are going to go with Dutch Barns and they build more than just storage buildings. They have kids' playhouses and gazebos on display as well. They have two playhouses just Katie's size outside and she absolutely loves them. Katie and I loved their one gazebo because it has a nice glider rocker and picnic table. Oh, it would look soooo nice in our back yard.

Today, I'm planning on getting in touch with Dutch Barns. We need to get an updated quote, ask if the 10 x 20' building would be able to be hauled up our driveway without any problems and find out how long it will take to get it built. As you may know, we don't have much time to waste getting this building delivered. I'm going to say, we have about a month to work with before baby boy arrives and we need that time to clean out the house before he comes. Lord willing, it won't take that long to build this storage building. Please pray for us because we are cutting it close.

Below are a few pictures of our shopping adventure:

10 x 16' Vinyl Siding Building

Side View: 10 x 20' Cedar Building

Front View: 10 x 20' Cedar Building



These are the playhouses that Katie had a fit over

Now, wouldn't this be nice in our back yard? Ha! Ha!

Katie kept telling us how much fun she was having swinging

Prayer Request
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but Laura and Wayne need your prayers. Their little girl, Alise, had an accident Saturday evening and ended up in the hospital. She's okay now, but her little face is all swollen and scabbed up.

It sounds like Liz and Nolan might be meeting their new little boy earlier than expected. She's been experiencing some preterm labor pains and had to be taken to the hospital this past weekend. Their trying their best to keep little boy in to cook a little longer, but he seems too excited to meet his new siblings and parents. Please keep them in your prayers.

Happy Anniversary Liz & Nolan!
I also would like to wish my niece, Elizabeth, and her husband, Nolan, a very Happy Anniversary! I hope y'all did have a good anniversary celebrate, considering.

Happy Birthday Chuck!

I would like to wish our friend, Chuck a very . . .

Happy Birthday!

Ellen Calls Gladys

I have to thank Sarah for my laugh for the day. Ellen DeGeneres called a lady, Gladys, on the phone from Austin, TX. It took a little while to download from YouTube in order for me to watch it, but it is well worth it.

Laughter truly is the best medicine!

Baby Update
Thursday, I had my bi-weekly doctor's appointment. Baby is doing good. I got to meet one of the other doctors and I really liked her, very patient and took lots of time with me. Since we are still expecting to schedule a C-Section, we went over some of the procedures and made sure what to expect on the BIG day. We are 32 weeks pregnant, baby is still moving further south (I didn't think that was even possible, but he is) and I'm having a little more intense Braxton Hicks (approx. 3-4 bad ones a day). They didn't do the Strep B test yet. Dr. Reidy said that they will do that at 35 weeks, which means probably at my next appointment. We go back in a couple of weeks. This appointment will not be fun for me because I have to fast again, so they can check my glucose and make sure that it's still doing good. Please pray for me. Doug is suppose to be going with me. After our appointment, we are to call the hospital to see if a room is open. If it is, we will go on a little tour of the hospital and nursery.

Not Doing Much
We've had a pretty busy week. Yesterday, Doug was home and we just had a down time. We messed around the house and watched TV. It was great! I also thought it was a great time to drag out the bank statements and work on them. Yuck! Soon, I figured out why I hated doing bank statements. It gives me heartburn!

Katie at Computer Class

I know some of you are going to say "oh, my gosh! What next?" Tehe! Several months ago, I started teaching Katie how to use my laptop computer simply because I got tired of doing the computer games for her to just watch. At first, I had a hard time getting her to remember how to move the cursor and click on the mouse. It's really been hard with her being so young and not being able to read. Saying this, I have to say the more and more she uses the computer, the more she remembers even if she doesn't know what the word "next" means. She knows that she has to click on the button "next" to go to the next screen or "play" in order to start the game. Her favorite website is Barbie. She can play the "Mariposa Dress-Up", "Princess Dress-Up", "12 Dancing Princesses Ballet Dancing Game" and Peek-a-Boo Memory Game without assistance. Yeah, if she accidentally clicks on something she wasn't suppose to, she'll ask me to fix it. It doesn't happen a lot, so I think she is doing really good. Below are a few pictures of Katie playing her Barbie game. I hate it that you can't see the actual game on the computer screen. Yes, she is in her jammies because she wanted to play as soon as she got up yesterday morning.

Katie moving the cursor around with her finger

Katie clicking the mouse button to select an object on her game

Katie is still loving her Kumon workbooks. She's just about finished her Letter Tracing workbook, so I'll have to go out and get another one soon. Right now, she is content to re-trace the letters that she's already done. The dot-to-dot is a little more challenging because we've done all the dot-to-dots that go up to 15 count. The further you go through the book the higher the numbers go. Yikes! Katie gets a little distracted and impatient with me because I making her count past 15. Yeah, she still has a short attention span. By the way, me aggravating her about how to spell her name is finally paying off. YES! Now, when you ask her how to spell her name she will say "K-A-T-I-E". I'm so proud of her. I may have a hand full of gray hair from being frustrated, but I can't stop smiling when we finally accomplish something big. As she is tracing her letters, I'll add that "A" is for Alabama, "B" is for ball, etc. She remembered when I told her that "M" is for mommy. She recognized the letter "M" and said, "hey, that's for mommy" as she was pointing to the letter "M". Yay! I was so proud. So, if you are trying to teach your small children at home, I want you to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope after you feel like you are such a failure. Yes, your kids actually do listen to you. They just like to ignore you until it's necessary. LOL! I know I sound like a crazy mom, but I can't help but be so happy.

I spoke to my friend, Rachel yesterday during ballet. She was encouraging me to send Katie to K4 at Christ Covenant next year, so her and Zoe will be able to be together. I've been noticing the relationships Katie has made with the little girls in her class. They are all smiles when they see each other every Tuesday and have to tell each other "goodbye" before we leave. If one little girl isn't waiting to go to ballet class, Katie gets worried. Yesterday, Ella was running a little late and Katie wanted to know where she was. "Mom is Ella okay? Where is she?" she asked me. When Ella did show up, Katie asked her if she was okay. Ella chimed in and told us that she wasn't feeling good. Katie acting like a big sister, told Ella that she hoped she would feel better. She went as far as telling her, "awww, I'm sorry your sick." This is exactly what I had hoped to gain for Katie by going to ballet, relationships and some listening skills. She's developed the relationships, now we have to work on the listening skills.

Anywho, I mentioned to Doug what Rachel said about Christ Covenant and it ends up that I know the K4 teacher, Katie Burney. She is a member of our church and we both help out in our Children's Ministry together. She is always bubbly and she's so good with the 2 year olds. Rachel went on and on about how good she is with Zoe and how everyone (moms) love her. Last year, I called around to all the preschools here in town and we just didn't feel like we could afford to send Katie to a private school, with me not working. Now, I'm still not working and we have another bundle of joy coming. However, Doug wants me to call around again and get some estimates on area preschools. I really wished our city school system would offer a K4 program to the city that's not for lower income families. I had already heard that they are more than likely going to offer the program just for lower income families again this year, but Doug wants me to call and make sure. You would think since we pay the taxes for these programs that they would offer it to the city, no matter the income.

Tomorrow is baby doctor appointment. Whoo Hoo! They'll probably test me for Strep B and do the usual check up. I'll let you know how it goes.

Justin Timberlake on SNL

Have you seen this? It's Justin Timberlake on SNL imitating Beyonce's dancers on her music video "Single Ladies: Put A Ring On It". When it does show Justin, he is on your left hand of the screen. Leslie showed this video from YouTube to me yesterday. I thought it was funny and had to share it with you. It's hard for me to imagine someone, especially a man, to have these kinds of moves. I didn't see this on SNL because I can't stay up that late anymore since I've been pregnant. So, Leslie said the girl in the middle with Timberlake is in fact, Beyonce. I hope you enjoy watching it. I know I'll have to revisit it from time to time. LOL!

Ground Hog's Day
Well, it looks like we've got another 6 weeks of Winter. Our rain finally slacked off, but is expected to return tomorrow.

Katie's eBay Dress Update
Oh, I'm so excited! We received both of Katie's dresses this afternoon and they are so sweet. We'll have to have a fashion show for you soon, with all of her new clothes. Tehe!

Are We Ready For Baby?
Yeah, I know that we still have some time before Colton makes his big premiere. However, I'm feeling much more at ease because we are officially pre-registered at the hospital and I've got an appointment scheduled for a tour of the hospital. I showed Maryann and Whitney the outfits we've received for the baby.

Now, I need to go through some of those outfits and some of Katie's clothes that are for both genders and get them washed up. I'll need to pull out the bottles, wash them up and replace the nipples. We'll just need to get some diapers closer to the day and we'll be doing good.

As far as how am I doing, the intense Braxton Hicks have arrived. I had 3 hard ones Saturday & Sunday. I had these a lot when I was pregnant with Katie and oh how I've not missed them. The baby is definitely getting longer because I have to stretch out, when he stretches out. The other day, he was pushing on my left hip and his head ended up underneath my right ribs. Ugh! You talk about holding your breath. Yesterday, I was trying to get up off the couch to tell Leslie goodbye. The baby's body got all pushed out on my right side. It was freaky looking because it was as if you could see and feel his backside (head & back). He stayed in that position for some time. Leslie was having a fit, rubbing him and going on about how she could feel him. The little stinker likes to wake me up during the night, jumping around and having a good time. I've got a check up later this week. This visit, I'll get to meet with one of the other doctors because my doctor will be on vacation. Let's just hope, my doctor won't be on vacation the week I have the baby. Ha! That's happened to me before and another doctor delivered Katie.

Have a great week!

Mom's Birthday Party & Super Bowl XLIII

I think mom had a great time at her party. She will be turning 72 years old on the 4th of February.

Susan made the cake and put 72 candles on it. Mom had a hard time blowing out all of those candles, so Katie tried to help. They both still had a hard time, so Susan had to do the final blow out before the cake caught on fire. LOL!
I got a shot of the chefs outside observing the fish fry.

After supper, we all settled down for the big game and the 3D commericals.

Ground Hog's Day

Will the ground hog see his shadow? I have a feeling that he will here in the south. They are predicting rain and sleet today. Tomorrow, we are expected to get some snow flurries.