Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Happy Birthday Gracie Lynne

Today is Gracie Lynne's birthday. One year ago today she entered and left this world. We know she is in Heaven with our Lord Jesus, but we still miss her here on this Earth...every day. So Happy Birthday baby girl. We will always, always, and always love you and miss you every day until we see you again.

We did take some time today to go to Gracie's garden to celebrate her life and remember her. We are thankful for a peaceful place to sit and just be. We took out some new flowers and a little happy present for her. Also had some pink cupcakes in her honor. Not nearly good enough as having her here, but it is what we could do to keep her memory alive in our hearts and minds.

Mommy loves you.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

September 2010 - Preschool and Veggie Tales

Jonathan is absolutely LOVING his new preschool class. His teacher, Mrs. Meagan, is great and he is learning a TON of stuff already. It is so much fun to watch him try to write his letters, sounding things out, picking out letters on signs, etc. He is very into learning and reading, which is a true blessing. They do a bulletin board each month. For the first month of school, they did Mrs. Meagan's Monsters. Jonathan has gotten very into monsters (not scary ones) lately, so this was perfect for him. He made a great scary monster face for his plate and then decorated it with green paint and blue string hair. He has decided that monsters should be blue. Not sure why, but he colors all of them blue now.

We had our 23+ week appointment with the High Risk OB clinic on September 17th. This appointment was specifically to check on the baby's heart. Let me tell you, this one was the most stressful of the three we have done. First a regular sonographer came in and did a mini-ultrasound of the baby in general. She measured him, checked him out again, and gave us some great pics of him. We even got to see him in 4D which was VERY cool. I have to say, he looks just like the baby pictures of Jonathan. Too little peas in a pod I'm thinking. But, the 4D was very comforting. So very real to see him that way and just imagine him here with us in just a few short months. After she left, another cardiac sonographer came in and did an ultrasound/echocardiogram of his heart. Let me tell you, that was hard. Mark and I had no real idea of what she was doing or seeing and she was not allowed to tell us anything. So we are basically just sitting there in silence for 30-45 minutes while she looks at his heart. Then she left. Didn't give us any inclination good or bad. Whoah, that was hard! After her, the high risk OB came in to tell us that everything on the regular ultrasound was great and that the baby was doing great overall. She said the heart doctor would be in to talk to us about his heart. She left and the pediatric cardiologist from Arkansas Children's Hospital came in. She watched the video of the entire ultrasound that the girl had done. At the end, she finally told us that his heart looked great. She did not see any problems and did not feel like there was anything there to be concerned about. She was super nice and we both really liked her a lot. She did say that there are a few problems that you cannot see on an ultrasound and to make sure that the pediatricians check him out good when he gets here, but she did not expect for there to be any problems. Wow, the stress level in the room dropped by about a million! We are so very thankful and blessed and happy by this news. The other great news is that we are officially discharged from the High Risk clinic. We will now just be followed by our regular OB (who we love) until this little man gets here. Wow. What an amazing blessing. Seriously. I just cannot thank God enough. We will keep praying that things go well and that he will come here healthy, happy, and on time (not early!). Thank you so much for praying for us. We know how much God is here with us and we are so thankful.

This appointment was even more appreciated in that we had had a scare the week before. I had gotten a stomach virus the first week of the school year from the kids. Of course. I always end up getting the stomach viruses. Well this one did not seem to want to go away. After a week, I called the OB's office and they suggested I go to the regular doctor's office to check things out. When I got there, they did a urinalysis and saw blood in my urine. Well, of course, this completely freaked me out. He, not being an OB, didn't really know what to do. He thought it was an UTI, but he wasn't sure. Well, this led to me leaving his office and driving directly to the ER at Baptist. Of course, I had taken Jonathan with me as preschool was over for the day. Poor, sweet baby was such a very good listener through everything. We called my best friend Karen, and her kind Mother in Law came and picked up Jonathan to take him to Karen's house. Mark was in Pine Bluff at work when I called him with all of this. He immediately heads for home, but he is an hour away. The ER has no desire to get involved with the prego (me), so they immediately send me up to Labor and Delivery so that they can monitor the baby. Let me tell you, it was some very, very bad deja vu to be back there, NOT wanting to have a baby, and knowing that things could go very badly, very quickly. Poor Mark was just beside himself. He kept saying how much he hated it there. So sad when the L&D unit should be a happy place. Anyway, they hooked me up to the fetal heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor. After a while, they decided that there was nothing wrong with the baby and that he was not in any distress. This was a huge blessing and relief to us. They did look at me, though, and said, "He is fine. You, however, are very sick." That I knew, but it was still kind of funny. It ended up that I did have a bladder infection (from the stomach virus) and severe dehydration. Four nurses tried to start an IV before they finally had to call in an anethesiologist to get one started. Let me tell you, that wasn't much fun. My poor hands and arms were bruised for a week. They ran two bags of fluids and a bag of antibiotics. About 8 hours later, we got to go home. In the mean time, we sat there and listened to the baby's heart beat on the monitors. It was a beautiful sound and, trust me, the highlight of the day. He wasn't a huge fan of that monitor and kept kicking at it or moving away from it. This made us laugh. The nurses kept having to move the monitor around to find him. He is just so little right now that he can definitely move away from it. They are used to term babies who don't have much room left to move!! Anyway, it was a very exciting and scary day, but a blessing still that the baby was good.







I have a couple of new prego pics, but of course, they are still on the camera. I'll have to work on downloading them soon.

This past Wednesday, his class took a walking "field trip" to the other playground at Easter Seals. They rarely get to play over there, so it was a big hit with all of the kids. I sent my camera with his teacher, and she got some great pictures. There really are some very nice things about working at the same place as where he goes to preschool. He has made several new friends in his class (of which I'm very thankful for) and really likes going to school every day. I thought these pics turned out great. Now if only I can get caught up with scrapbooking so I could make a page of them!

Thursday night was the highlight of Jonathan's week. Our church sponsored "Veggie Tales" to come in and do a show. It was an absolute blast. As soon as the music started, he just got giddy. He jus loves Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber. He could not believe that they were at HIS church. I was so glad that we were able to go. Mark had gone on a lightning fast trip to Chicago Wednesday morning to give a speech. He flew back to Little Rock at 5:20pm Thursday. The show started at 6pm on the complete other side of town from the airport...during rush hour. Thankfully, his plane was right on time and he hadn't checked any bags. He walked into the sanctuary at 5:58pm. Jonathan was so glad that Mark was there and I know Mark was glad he hadn't missed it either. I bought Jonathan a "Super Larry" hat and a cute t-shirt. He looks so cute in this silly hat, cracks me up. At the show, some of the children were standing in the aisles so they could see better. Jonathan started in the aisle, and then slowly moved closer and closer towards the stage. He eventually ended up on the steps. The stage manager on either side of the stage gently told him he couldn't stand on the steps. He went and had a conversation with each of them to see where he COULD stand. Such a little negotiator. But he did, listened, and followed their directions. I was very proud, but it was hilarious watching him talk to these two guys. I couldn't hear what either of them said, but I can imagine!

Friday, August 27, 2010

August 2010 - New Year of Preschool

August has started with a bang! This month has FLOWN by and I cannot believe that it is almost the end of August already!!

Jonathan started a new class in preschool this fall and it has been absolutely wonderful. He loved his old teacher and class, but I think he is feeling pretty special being in the "big boy" class. The only down side is that he is not with the same kids. He skipped a class and quite a few of his friends did not, unfortunately. But, the teacher is wonderful and I know that he will make some new friends quickly. He comes home almost every day telling me the new things they have done and what they are going to do tomorrow, etc. Mark and I are sooooo very thankful that he likes preschool. It makes it so much easier for me to go to work knowing that he is happy. (I have enough Mommy guilt as it is, don't need an unhappy baby making it worse!). I bought him a new shirt to wear to the first day of school. I went to Gymboree planning to buy ONE shirt. Just one.... Well...of course they were having a sale....and it was Gymbucks time....and there was cute stuff for the new baby.... Let's just say that I now have two Gymbucks and quite a few new clothes for Jonathan and for the new baby. I fully admit to a spending problem when it comes to things for my children. Children, wow, that's a new word in my vocabularly and I'm loving it!! Oh, stopped and got a double doozie cookie at Great American Cookie in the mall too. Love being pregnant and not worrying too much about calories/fat. That puppy was good!!!!

Anyway, preschool is going great. The Kinders came for a show at the end of the first week. They are a husband/wife team who have written quite a few kids cd's and do concerts for big events around town. Jonathan and the rest of the kids had a blast listening to the music.

Here is the next prego pic. This one is 17 weeks. We had our 18 week ultrasound the next week with the High Risk OB Clinic. We had done a nuchal translucency test at 13 weeks and they were thinking we might be having a boy. Well, our 18 week ultrasound confirmed it. IT'S A BOY!! I am now completely outnumbered at my house! But also completely blessed beyond compare. Even more importantly, there were no problems noted at the ultrasound. The baby appears to be completely healthy and there were no problems. I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a relief that is. Mark and I had both felt that this baby was ok, but it was wonderful to have some confirmation. Thank you Lord for our
many blessings. We have another appointment scheduled at 24 weeks with the High Risk OB's for an echocardiogram to look specifically at the heart. They think all is well, but this will give us more information. After that, it will just be regular OB appointments and waiting for the baby to get here. Come on January!! My friend, Michelle, at work is having a girl as is my cousin Athena. Plus, also found out that three of the ladies that I've gotten to know from Holy Sews are pregnant as well. One is due in November with a boy and the other two are due about two months after me. It is baby mecca around here. Pour on the blessings Lord!!

Thanks for checking in on us. Here's hoping I can stay a little more caught up....well, at least I'll try!!

July 2010

We started off July with a little Christmas time! Christmas in July is always a plus for me!! I had bought a kit to make rice crispie snowmen last December. Unfortunately, with so many other things going on, we never got around to making the snowmen. Well, Jonathan found the kit in the pantry and wanted to make it. So, we did! It was so silly but we all had fun. The kit came with edible paints to paint the snowmen with. Jonathan loved that part the best. We ended up making Christmas trees to go with the snowman which was fun as well.

I usually buy Jonathan a new t-shirt for the Fourth of July but just didn't get around to it this year. Plus, the ones that I did see were just not what I wanted for him. So, instead, I dressed him in a cute red polo shirt and khaki shorts to wear to church. He was so handsome and we had a nice day at home, just the three of us.




I stopped at a local Farmer's Market one afternoon and got some beautiful looking tomatoes. I decided to try and make something that I have never dared to do before. I got out my Vicksburg cookbooks and braved the infamous Vicksburg Tomato Sandwiches. Now, if you're not from Vicksburg, then you wouldn't understand, but they are kinda a big deal! It was the one must have item, food wise, for our wedding, for my wedding shower, my baby shower in Vicksburg, and pretty much any other important event I can think of. I am not saying that these were up to that caliber, but they were good! I didn't do the homemade mayo as it has raw eggs in it (not a good thing for a prego) but I did the variation one. (Of course, now with all the egg drama recall thing going around, I'm glad I didn't do the raw egg thing). Mark will not eat raw tomatoes, but Jonathan seemed to like my sandwiches. Yum, yum, yum!! Now, if only I can convince my SIL Kim to have them at her wedding in January then life will be good! I mean, seriously, we can drive them from Vicksburg down to Hattiesburg right!?!?!?!?

Jonathan's preschool had an end-of-the-year "fair" at school to celebrate the end of the summer. They had mini-corn dogs, juice, snow cones, read books, went fishing for prizes, bobbed for ducks, played with bubbles, saw a 'fortune' teller, and had just an all-around good time. He had a blast with all of it. Oh, and they did temporary tattoos. He picked Spiderman, that was probably the highlight for him. And that silly thing lasted for 4-5 days. Took us forever to get that silly thing off.



I love this picture of Jonathan and my Daddy. My parents came up to visit at the end of the month and Jonathan just loves spending time with the both of them. He sat down with my Daddy to watch the tv and they just looked too cute sitting there together. And that is a good end to July!

June 2010

Here's the update on June! We didn't take a lot of pictures this month as we didn't get out and do much. Pregnancy has this love-r-ly effect of nausea and vomiting and profuse tiredness on me! But, here is a run-down of what did happen!

The month started off with a fun start. We had our first doctor's appointment where we got to see the heartbeat of our sweet little baby. Nice and strong! We also had a fun surprise while we were there. We ran into one of my coworkers Michelle and her husband, Brian. We knew they had been trying but did not know that she was pregnant. Nor did she know that I was pregnant! So it was a fun surprise in the waiting room to run into them. We decided that we needed to plan something special to tell everyone at work. After trying several different ideas, we finally came up with this.
We decided to take a picture of the two ultrasound pictures up against our respective bellies. I'm the one in the peachy-orange shirt. We had a lot of fun showing the picture to everyone and having them try to figure out what was going on. Then, when they finally figured it out, we all had plenty of laughs and hugs to go around. Michelle is due December 29th and I'm due January 11th. VERY close! Will be a little low on PT's at the beginning of the year with us both out on maternity leave too! About a month later, we found out that one of the OT's at work is also expecting...with twins! It is baby central around our work. Don't drink the water!!!!

My cousin Athena is also expecting another little one! She is due January 30th, so just a few weeks behind me. Her little boy, Preston, is about 6 months younger than Jonathan, so it is pretty exciting to have our newest little ones coming so close together again. Thank you for all your prayers for our sweet baby and we ask you to please remember the other little babies on the way as well. We know that God hears all of our prayers and that he will be with us and guide us always.

The other BIG news of June is that Mark and his Dad were able to finish Jonathan's playground. This structure is big and soooo much fun for Jonathan to play on. He is so very happy to have his very own swing, slide, fort, etc. The only problem is that it has been so unbearably hot here this summer that he has not had much of an opportunity to play on it. Mostly late at night, which unfortunately means mosquitoes. Here's hoping that it will cool down soon! He has been asking and asking for friends to come over to play with him, so we are hoping for some cooler weather.

Here is one of the first prego pics that we've taken. I was ten weeks here in this shot. Look more pregnant than that I know, but remember, this isn't my first baby!

I know more happened in June, but I honestly can't remember what it is, so I'll just have to leave you with this! Here's hoping that maybe it's in my calendar or that Mark remembers so that it isn't lost for all time!! But unfortunately, there is not pictorial evidence of whatever it was!!

Monday, August 23, 2010

May 2010

Well, things are going a little better at our house, so I figured it was about time to try and get (slightly) caught up. At least finish May! Then maybe next time I have a few minutes I can do June!!

At the beginning of May was the annual Preschool Art Show and fundraiser to raise money for the preschool and for the PTA. They display art from each classroom, which is judged, and also have tables for silent auctions of classroom art, donated baskets, etc. Jonathan won a First Place ribbon for his ladybug art and a Third Place ribbon for his Thanksgiving turkey placemat. I made a scrapbook page of Jonathan's class that was auctioned off as well. Of course, I spent MUCH more money that my page raised buying his classroom's art! It was a fun week as always.

We made our first and only trip to the AR Traveler's baseball game in May as well. It has just gotten waaaayyyyy too hot to be outside for a game, which is unfortunate as we all love to go to the ball game. The game was a blast. Mark got us fantastic seats behind the visitor's dugout two rows back. Jonathan was super excited as he "caught" a baseball in his hat. Actually someone caught it and gave it to him, but all he saw was it landing in his hat, which is all that really matters. He was so excited and kept a tight hold on the ball the rest of the night. The game was also part of my Mother's Day present. A great present I might add! My sweet boys also gave me some beautiful flowers for Mother's Day. I love a pretty bouquet of flowers.
We made a trip to Madison to see my parents near the end of May. They decided to surprise Jonathan with a Slip and Slide! It was hilarious. I think Mark had as much fun as Jonathan did. Jonathan really liked when someone pushed him down the slide.

The last weekend of the month, my MIL and SIL came up to go wedding dress shopping!!! We went to Lowe's in Brinkley, AR, which trust me, is one massive wedding dress mecca. We were there ALL DAY long, but it was well worth it as we found THE dress. Obviously can't put any pics up, but trust me, it is gorgeous. We are all looking forward to the wedding in January.

Speaking of January, we are looking forward to another BIG family event to happen that month. We are expecting another baby!! We are so excited and so blessed beyond belief. Mark and I have prayed long and hard before deciding this was the path we wanted to take. We truly feel that God has not closed this door for us. And while we know that we are not promised a good outcome, we are promised that God will hold us and be with us through all that will come, good and bad. In the mean time, though, we are just excited about a little brother or sister for Jonathan and a new baby for us and our family! We would like to ask for prayers for this precious baby and for the Mommy, that he or she will be happy and healthy and safe and that the Mommy will stay well during the time to come.

Of course, we found out about the baby right after we found out Kim's wedding date. Which, of course, was planned for the same weekend. Wanting her family to be able to be there and be a part of her big day, she graciously moved the wedding back a few weeks. So hopefully we all be there! Mark and Jonathan are in the wedding and we are all very excited for the big day.

Well there is the condensed version of May 2010! Time to put a happy little boy to bed, but hopefully I can catch up June and July soon!!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Field Trip to the Zoo

May has come running in with a bang! It is only half-way through the month and it seems like we have been so busy already.IMG_0531 Our first big trip was Jonathan’s last field trip of the year, to the Little Rock Zoo. Now, as zoos go, this one is not the best, but it’s not the worst! And, for a bunch of three year olds, it is more than sufficient!

I decided to take the entire day off to just spend some extraIMG_0550 time with Jonathan. Usually when we go on a field trip, I am rushing back to work to treat kids and miss out on some of that time with him. Not this time! We had a great day with his friends, and then a great rest of the day just the two of us.

ESA Zoo Field Trip_0009Jonathan’s Class and Teachers

IMG_0574Ready for the Train Ride!

100_0493 Mommy & Jonathan on the Train Ride

100_0541 We left the zoo with his class and had sack lunches on the picnic tables outside of the zoo. After his class went back to school, Jonathan and I went back into the zoo for a little more fun. The first thing we did was to ride the carousel or the merry-go-round as Jonathan would say. The horses do not move on this one, instead the floor moves up and down at some funky angles. Jonathan really liked it, but I was not a big fan. I kept picturing him sliding off the back of his horse!!

100_0564The next place we stopped was the giraffes! This was the animal that Jonathan had been asking to see since being told that we were going to the zoo. We had briefly seen them with his class, but we went back to really spend some time watching them. Jonathan loved the giraffes.

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  100_0571

The last thing we did was make a swing through the gift shop. 100_0573He had been such a good listener and such a sweet boy all day that I told him he could pick out a toy. He was very excited and ended up picking out this animal umbrella. He has taken it with him EVERYWHERE! Luckily for him, we have had quite a bit of rain, so it has come in handy lately! Of course, on this day, it was just nice to block a little of the sun!!    

 

Two more new posts after this one! Keep reading for more fun!!

Preschool Gymboree Class

Jonathan’s preschool is very lucky to have Mrs. Valerie from Gymboree come in on Friday to teach a movement/gymnastics class. Jonathan absolutely loves the class and Mrs. Valerie as well. Since the Gymboree Play and Music closed in February, he hasn’t been going to a class and has really missed it. We are very glad that they have this smaller option available at his preschool. She has been teaching the kids to do forward rolls, headstands, running jumps, broad jumps, and all other kinds of fun stuff. Jonathan has gotten pretty good at most of it. When he first began doing a roll, he would mainly roll to the side or sometimes over his head. Now, he really gets a good push off with his feet to roll straight over his head. And the headstands are too funny, but he is definitely developing some good trunk control. (The PT in me is proud!)

100_0485Jumping off the Spring Board

 DSC_0258Ready to Jump            

DSC_0345Hands Up

DSC_0347Hands Down and Up to a Headstand!   

DSC_0353Ta-Da! Superstar!

IMG_0469Ready to Roll

100_0466   Dancing with the Rainbow Rope

100_0440Cute Picture that his teacher used for my Mother’s Day card.

 

((See post below for more new stuff!!!))