Belle of the Ball

This is how AL dressed for pre-k this morning!  I went and bought the kids' Halloween costumes last night while the kids stayed at my MIL house.  So, this morning I brought the kids home b/f we had to go to school and I had them out for them to see.  She LOVED it immediately!  And of course she had to wear it to school.  She still had it on when I picked her up from school and when I got home from work! 

When I brought her home at lunch Kimber was down for his nap.  I framed a 16X20 pic of both kids.  K's is still sitting on the floor in the living room and without anyone looking she went up to the pic and the following happened:

AL went up to the pic and said "Kimber I love you" and then gave him a kiss.  Then she said, "Oh no! It's midnight, I have to go!" and she turned and ran away!  It was HILARIOUS! I could not stop laughing.  If you know her in at all, you can totally picture this!

She finally had to take off the dress because she was playing in the sprinklers and got wet and then fell down in the dirt!  I'm sure she will be looking for it in the morning!

Disney Live

Well, we had a very eventful weekend.  We went to a birthday party, AL and I went to see Disney Princess Live and then I went to campaign "parties".  The highlight, of course, was Disney Live.  AL and I met Olivia and KiAnne in Shreveport for the big event!  Of course, AL had to wear her Tangled outfit! 

Both girls LOVED the show.  We got to see the story of Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast.  What a treat!  Here are some pics.

Notice the crowns, drinks and cotton candy...those things did NOT come cheap!  Thanks Grammie!

Taming the Tongue

I'm not one to gossip a lot.  I guess it's because I've endured the recieving end of gossip and really hate the way it makes you feel.  In Sunday school yesterday we read the passage in James that speaks on gossip.  While this was not the heart of the lesson, God really laid this verse upon my heart and convicted me.  It made me realize that I should not praise the Lord with one breath and curse another God-created human in another.  All my words should glorify God.  And let's be honest, who needs to gossip.  There are much better things to discuss! 

James 3:5-11 states "the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be."

So, it will be my mission to stop any gossiping or negative talk I do about others.  Just think, you don't like people gossiping or speaking negative of you or your family so don't do it about others.  We all have our faults so maybe we can focus on correcting those faults before criticizing others!

Tough

I was unaware that last Saturday was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day until I read several blogs on the issue.  I, also, am one of the 1 in 4 that have lost a baby due to miscarriage.  This is a difficult issue for me, even though it has been four years since our loss.  It was tough.

I was so excited when we found out we were pregnant, it happened very quickly for us.  I was in law school and we had insurance, but I had just added maternity insurance.  We went to the doctor to confirm the home test and my doctor did an ultrasound and said the baby was due in February and my conception date was 2 weeks before my insurance would kick in, so no coverage.  Well, that was ok b/c at that point I had no idea how much a baby would cost so that didn't weigh on my mind too much b/c let's face it, we were HAVING A BABY!  But after the ultrasound he turned to my husband and said "You know, one out of every four pregnancies ends in a miscarriage so don't get too excited."  Really?!?  That's what you tell first time parents!  I was six weeks along.

So, we went home and decided we would tell our parents.  We told mine and they were excited.  We then went to Dustin's parents house and I felt funny.  I went to the bathroom and began bleeding so we went immediately home without talking to them.  They came over to our house later, and we had to tell them that we thought we had lost the baby.  It was tough.

This happened on a Saturday so I finally got in touch with my doctor and his response was "Well, maybe next time you'll have insurance."  Really?!?  Needless to say, he is no longer my OB/GYN. 

I have a friend in BR who is an excellent OB/GYN so we called him and decided to take a drive down there to let him check me out.  Long story short, I ended up having a D & C.  (All I can remember is the nurse kept beating my hand trying to find a vein for the IV and saying "I'm usually on pediatrics and this is a big needle!" Very helpful at this point!). 

It was a very difficult time and I cried a lot during that time and had a lot of questions.  I was so blessed with wonderful husband, family and friends that were there for me.  I got the sweetest note from my daddy that next day and he's not a man of many words. 
I can say that 3 months later I was elated to find out I was pregnant again, but also very cautious.  I couldn't get too excited.  However, my wonderful friend and doctor in BR (yes, I drove 3 hours one-way for all appts) helped me through everything and I delivered a healthy baby girl on July 31, 2008.

I know I would not be blessed with my wonderful AL and KT had I not had that miscarriage.  Also, it is much more common than you think.  I have had the opportunity to use this experience to comfort others and show them that God is good even in our darkest moments. 

Also, recently I realized that this pain does not just come to women who have miscarriages.  This pain is felt by women who plan to adoption, have infertility issues, and I'm sure I'm leaving out other women too.  If your heart is given to a baby, whether growing inside you, through adoption, or the desire and everyday struggle of conceiving, you go through the same process when you realize that dream will not come to fruition. So, as women, let's try to remember that.

Please be kind to others and remember that you don't know their circumstance or what they may have gone through lately.

Funny

I have two funnies to share this morning:

1. Dustin cooked the kids cinnamon rolls and he took Kimber from the bathtub to check out the cinnamon rolls, so of course, he was naked.  Once he saw the cinnamon rolls he HAD TO HAVE ONE!  So Dustin iced them and gave him one (still w/o a diaper on) and he sat in his high chair, butt naked, and ate not one, but two cinnamon rolls!  It was too too funny!  Dustin took a pic but I thought a little inappropriate for all to see!  But it had us rolling!
2. I baked cupcakes last night to take to work.  When I was taking them to the car this morning AL asked if those were for her class.  I told her I was taking a snack to work but she insisted that she have some to give her friends.  There was a tin with 4 cupcakes in it so I told her she could take it to her teachers.  She is always the first to arrive and was talking to her teachers when she lifted the lid off of the tin to show them the treats.  She then proceeded to lick the top of the tin that had some residual icing on it!  Then she noticed she had gotten some icing on her shirt and she lifted her shirt and began licking the icing off of it!  TOO FUNNY!  I'm sure they let her bring the cupcakes home to finish eating!

Pumpkin Patches

We had a busy weekend.  Saturday, we went to buy some fall shoes, pumpkin patch, and the mall to ride the carosuel and get cookies!  We had a lot of fun!  On Sunday, we met my friends and their 2 year old, JH (aka The SugarPlum) at the pumpkin patch in Start.  We had a good time there too.  On Monday, AL was out of school so Nanny took both kids back to the pumpkin patch b/c Kimber slept through most of it on Sunday.  Here are the cute pics of the many pumpkin patch trips.

Kimber pulling his pumpkin around the patch.



 AL making her way through the pumpkin maze.

The next pics are from their Monday pumpkin patch (my camera was out of battery on Sunday):

They loved all of it!  There are no pics of it, but there is a "corn box" (instead of a sand box) at the patch in Start that they LOVE!

Woman v. Man

This is my nightly schedule with the kids:

- Get home around 5:15 p.m.
- Play with kiddos til around 6:00 p.m.
- Fix and eat supper 6:00-6:30 p.m.
- Playtime 6:30-7:00
- Bath time 7:00-7:30
- Get ready for bed, read books, and go to bed 8:00

So, this is our nightly schedule.  Obviously, there is always give and take in there.  I do allow them to watch one t.v. show after their bath.  They love to read books so we always read and say our prayers before bedtime. 

My wonderful husband usually comes home around bath time.  He works until the sun goes down (or maybe now days it's shooting).  However, I had Bible study tonight and he was watching the kids.  My Bible study was from 5:30-6:40.  About 6:50 I received a text from him stating "what time will you be home?".  With this, I knew he was ready for me to come home and help him.  I was turning onto our road so he didn't have long to wait.

When I arrived home, the kids met me at the door with smiles and hugs.  I walked in and asked what was going on and he said "They are hungry".  Ok, I died laughing.  I said "why didn't you feed them?"  He said "What was I supposed to feed them?  They have been eating cheetos and sun chips but I think they're really hungry!"  He gave them a napkin and sat each one in a chair.  He said they let him know when they needed more chips!

Just to be clear, we have frozen chicken nuggets, leftover taco meat, rice, and beans, cooked rice and brocolli, peanut butter and bread, eggs and bacon, the list can continue....

Although I was not here, I'm thinking the schedule was drastically different with daddy!  I know they LOVED it b/c the rules are a little less strict.  But I know they were glad when mama got home at 7:00 p.m. and fixed them dinner.  

I could not stop laughing at the fact that he asked me "what am I suppose to feed them?"!!! Too funny.  But let me say, they were all in one piece, no one was crying and they were smiling when I got home!  He did a GREAT JOB!

Speaking the Truth

 

This sweet little cheerleader was speaking nothing but the truth today.  This is what she told her teacher all at one time:  "God loves us very much and poo poo stinks!"  Hilarious!  Now, that is speaking the truth!  Two important things all children should know!

Geaux Tigers!

How many farmers does it take to fix a flat?

Well my husband was out of town so my "stand-in husband" (aka my father-in-law) has been doing my "husband" duties!  He is so great!  This morning at 6:30 a.m. he came to pick up my trash.  We do not live in the city and don't have a trash service so we take ours to a dumpster at the farm.  Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked...so Mr. Todd came to get my 4 bags of trash this morning and told me that I had a flat tire.  But not to worry, he would have Roosevelt up there to fix it before I needed to leave for work.

So, at 7:30 I see Uncle Tim pull up, followed by Mr. Todd, and Papa (Dustin's wonderful grandfather).  So I walk outside and ask them "How many farmers does it take to fix a flat!?"  Their answer:  at least one more b/c Uncle Tim's air compressor wouldn't start and Papa's hose was broken to his air compressor.  So, Papa called one of his employees.  So, up pulls the ton truck and three, yes three more farmers!  It was HILARIOUS!  It was a great start to my morning.

Also, Papa dropped off the square bales of hay I asked for only last night!  He takes such good care of us!  The kids and Lilia are going to make a scarecrow (I think)!  I will have to post a final pic!