Wild Week!

This week almost did me in. We had to make up Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday. So I worked from 7:30AM to 9PM that night. (In between those times I took 30 minutes to take Mary-Kate to the dentist.)She liked it much better than last time. She didn't scream or cry or insult the dentist. Ha! It was all good. I got home and seemed okay.

Tuesday when I went to work, I got a horrible nose bleed. I had a horrible headache that I couldn't shake. I went to the school nurse and she checked my blood pressure. It was REALLY high for me. So I called the clinic to see if I could speak to my doctor or his nurse. He wasn't in today, so they called me in and I saw a different doctor. By the time he saw me, the blood pressure was down. They did a thorough check and I am not pre-eclamptic yet. I was thrilled about this. I am not swollen or anything, but I just didn't feel well. He told me I could not work long hours like the night before again.

The rest of the week was hustle and bustle too. This weekend I have gotten to stay home and I am so glad.

Mary-Kate has a big birthday on March 7th. I am getting last minute details taken care of. Get ready for a big post on my baby being 4.

She has gotten to make and erupt a volcano for V week.

She and her classmates were flying "kites"outside the other day. She loved it. I thought it was the funniest thing.

I also got this beautiful tile from Jessica McCash this week! I e-mailed her and asked if she could make this for me. I think it is so precious! Thanks a million Jessica!

Have a great weekend!

A Good Cry

Sometimes we are in need of a good cry. I sure had mine this weekend. I was reading a blog that really touched me. I cried. No, I didn't just cry. I ugly cried. Then I told my Mom about this blog after church, and she ugly cried with me all over again when I showed it to her.

If you have a moment at all this will touch your heart if your will read this. It really will cause you to tear up. Grab some tissue. It is a beautiful story.

Enjoy the Small Things

The story brought back so many emotions and memories for me.
The reason I think this touched me so much is because I have a very tender heart for children with special needs. Growing up there was a kid in my class who had a speech problem. Kids made fun of him because they couldn't understand him. For some reason I could understand ever thing he said. I helped the teachers find out information they needed from him. (Kind of like an interpreter.) I also had a special place for this young kid because he had a bad scar on his face. When he was a baby, his mom got mad and threw a plate that hit him and scarred him. I didn't see the incident happen, but he told me about it in Kindergarten.

Another story, my sister and I are almost 20 years apart in age. I remember when she was pregnant with her third child the doctor told her the baby had a high chance of having Down's Syndrome. She called to talk with our Dad. She was so scared. I wasn't. I got on the phone and told her how special she was if God chose her to be a parent of a child who just happened to have this. I told her not to worry. I would fly to Alaska on summer break to help her. ( I was only 16 years old.) When she had her last doctor's appointment, the doctor noticed something wrong with the baby. They had to take the baby by c-section. Immediately. When the baby was born, she didn't have DS, but she did have to have 1/3 of her intestines removed. Today she is a junior in high school. She plays volley ball and ice skates.

You never know what will happen, but you have to roll with the punches. I have learned not to get too upset until there is something to get upset about.

Please check out the blog I listed. You will be glad you did.

Thanks for your prayers

My Dad had an appointment in Little Rock today to find out about the cancer. He does have cancer again. (He has been prostate cancer free for 12 years or so. Remember he does deal with bladder cancer too. He is a tough man.) The doctor knew he had cancer, but wanted to make sure that it hadn't spread. That is so scary when the experts aren't sure where it is. My Dad's CT and bone scans came back clear. They did find the cancer in one location. It hasn't spread. The doctor is determined to help my Dad through the process of treatment. For now, he will only have to take medicine to fight the cancer. The doctor is positive this treatment will work for my Dad. We are so excited. It was the best birthday present EVAH!

Some of my friends at work surprised me with great gifts from Bath and Body Works, a sisters figurine from a local gift shop, a baby album, and bracelets.

Mary-Kate shopped for me last weekend and bought me (with the help of her daddy) some nice Drenched in Pink lotion and body splash to go along with it. (Never tried this scent before. Thara said she just had to get this.)

My husband got me a Clinique gift that came with a free gift. He got me the neatest picture frame that has "The Girls" written on it. Lurve me that.

He and MK made me a birthday cake and baked Ziti for dinner.

My parents had gotten me a pair of rubber boots, a pedicure, and a awesome picture frame for ultra sounds pictures.

It was a great day! The best things in life are simple. Spending time with family and friends and my Dad's news.

Doctor's Appointment and Birthday

I had a doctor's appointment Monday. The baby is growing fine. I had a blood test recently just to check to see if the baby had any neural tubal defects, down syndrome, or spina bifida. My doctor 4 years ago encouraged this test because of my age. So since I am even older now, I just knew it was a given to take the test. No matter what the results, we weren't going to change a thing. It would just give us a heads up to what we were facing. The baby looked good. She doesn't seem to have any of the above mentioned things. We are blessed. My blood pressure was high again. I have to be checked every two weeks now for that since I had previous problems in my last pregnancy. That was not what I wanted to hear. Hopefully I will calm down and not have more problems with blood pressure.


My Dad's CT scans were clear. He gets his bone scan results tomorrow.

I have a birthday tomorrow. Nothing planned other than work and taking MK to dancing lessons. Maybe my husband and MK have a few surprises for me.

Happy Early Valentine's Day

Today was the best day! I had the day off and attended Mary-Kate's Valentine's
Party at her school. My mom went with me.

I was also able to stay with my mom at the hospital while my dad was getting his bone scan. His ct scans came back clear. Praise the Lord. Hopefully the cancer is not in his bones. It was stressful, but he is glad all of the tests are over. So now we wait.


I learned something very important about my child today. She doesn't like anything dressed in a costume that doesn't have a face she can see. The Cat and the Hat came to her school today. She was scared to death. She said she doesn't like masks or faces covered up. I was glad I was there to hold her during story time with the Cat and the Hat. She wouldn't even have a group picture with her class and the Cat. When he left, it was all good.

Belly Picture (6 months)

Little Rock and the Wonder Place

Last weekend, we had big plans to meet blogging friends Laura and Leigh Ann. We were going to meet and have lunch. Thara and I were going to go on to Little Rock that evening to take his sister and her husband out for their January birthdays. The ice and snow changed our plans. We ended up going to Little Rock this weekend.

Thara, Me, Mary-Kate, and his mom took Alissa (Thara's sister), Nick (Alissa's husband) and Isabella (their daughter) to the Wonder Place. I wish we had something like this closer to home. It was so great for the ages of both girls. 2 and 3 and 1/2. There was a fun sand table to dig in. There was a fun water table to play in with turtles and boats. There was an arts and crafts room. There was a room for building with blocks. We found a slide and something to climb on too. They had a playroom for dressing up and having puppet shows. This place even had a kitchen room and a grocery room for kids to pretend to buy groceries and cook their items. A table was set up for playing with train tracks, cars, etc. I thought it was great. You can tell by the looks on the girls' faces just how much fun it was.

We got the girls some food to take home. They had a play date with Nana so that we could take Nick and Alissa out to PF Changs. Oh and did I pay for it today, but it was so good. I am swelled up like a toad today, but it was so worth it!

Hope you had a fun weekend!

I promise to post a belly picture this week. I am not embarrassed or anything, I just haven't done it. Although this week when I was going outside to do my cross walk duty, my assistant principal asked if I need a bigger umbrella. My principal the next day saw me coming down the hall from the cafeteria and widened the aisle for me. I'll leave you in suspense with how big I am getting. LOL.

Thrilling Thursday

My Emmy Baby on ETSY made these for me! It thrilled me to receive them today!

I can't wait to see my girls in these.

Simple Pleasures

• morning quiet time with God (starts my day right)
• sonic diet cokes (before pregnancy)
• starbucks' skinny caramel latte (before pregnancy)
• catching up on blog reading
• catching up with family
• being snowed in with Thara and Mary-Kate
• date nights with Thara
• eating Mexican food
• holding MK in my lap and feeling Madelyn kick us
• everyone in my family being healthy
• back to the Mexican food chips and salsa
• Sonic m&m blasts

I see a pattern? What are your simple pleasures?

(update: I am feeling so much better. Just sore and mad that I fell.)

I Fell

Yesterday was such a great day!

• got up early enough to walk on the treadmill
• we all got off to various places on time (Thara and I took work, Mary-Kate to school.)
• I set up the book fair at my school and it didn't tire me out
• Mary-Kate passed her tests at her school with flying colors
• My Dad went to all of his appointments and got his scans all scheduled
• Mary-Kate and I got haircuts

Then when we got home, I fell on the floor. My feet slipped out from under me. I fell on my tail bone first and then onto my back. I hit it hard too. I scared MK to death. I didn't mean to do this. I was horrified. MK ran to get me the phone and some slippers so I wouldn't fall again. She got in the floor with me and patted me. I finally pulled myself together and was able to get up. The baby is fine, but I am sure sore. I can't believe that that even happened. I was so glad that MK was with me. I told her she was such a big helper. She told me she was my superhero. I laughed.