Skating & Drumming

Friday afternoon Josie had her four year appointment with the pediatrician. She was such a big girl as they checked her height, weight, blood pressure, and temp. She said her ABCs for the doctor, told the doctor her name and Lollie's name. And then the doctor mentioned shots. In the past Josie has always done great with shots. In fact at Lol's 2 year appointment Josie was so upset that Lollie was getting shots and she wasn't I had them give her the flu shot so that way she could get a shot. However I guess something has changed in the past 4.5 months. I told Josie that she had done this tons of times and that it might hurt a little, but that she would okay. I then showed her both of my arms where I had blood taken from and she said okay. So when the nurse came in to give her the shots she laid there real still and said "Ouch. That hurt" with all three shots, but never cried. She was such a trooper. That evening we just hung out at home because it had been a pretty bad day for us all after everything we had all gone through.

This was Joe's weekend to work so Saturday morning the girls and I cleaned the house a little and then went to Wal-Mart. After Wal-Mart we came home, ate lunch, and took naps. After naps we headed to Skate Zone for Meredith's skating birthday party. The girls were so excited. Lol had little plastic skate things that fit over her shoes. She could walk in the things so I'm not real sure how they teach kids to skate. We got the real things for Josie. She did really good. She even went by herself holding onto to the rail several times. We were so proud of her.






After the party we went and hung out with Aunt Sheila, Uncle Quint, Caden & Ansleigh. The girls ooed and awwed over Ansleigh and had hilarious conversations with Caden. They are so cute to watch.

Sunday the girls and I went to church. Every Sunday before Sunday School we have "Singing in the Santucary" and we sing fun songs and other Christian songs that we don't normally sing in church. For about the past month to two months Mr. John has been bringing his drums to play along with the guitars. Well this Sunday all the kids finally worked up the courage to "help" Mr. John out with this drumming. I know that it is really hard to tell but in this picture Josie and Jolie are "helping" Mr. John drum. They were so cute and they were getting into it. They both love music so much.


The girls and I ate lunch with Mary Kelley, Jesse & Catie and then it was home for naps. We just hung out at home the rest of the evening.

So far I am still doing really good and have not had any sickness (Knock on wood). I feel great besides being hungry all the time. I think the girls have mixed emotions about it all. They seem really interested in the baby and ask questions and like to touch my belly and kiss my belly, but at the same time they have really started acting out more since we told them about the baby. Erica said hopefully they will have it all out of their systems by the time the baby gets here. I don't know. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions? Josie was so young when we had Lol that she never really knew anything and adjusted fine to having the baby around, so this is all new to me. So far the only thing that has changed for them is not being able to jump on my belly, but I guess just the idea of it for them, I don't know.

Let Me Introduce You to Baby J

I had my first doctors appointment yesterday and everything went really well. My mother-in-law went with me for moral support and we were pretty much in and out of there. He did mention about the RH (it is a blood thing where Joe and my blood do not get along because one of us is positive and one of us is negative. It does not affect me, but my body sees the baby as a foreign invader and tries to attack it. There are shots you take to prevent your body from doing anything to the baby) and that if I had any bleeding I needed to call him. We have dealt with the RH since our first pregnancy and most of the time you have a shot at 28 weeks along and then one after the birth and that is what we did with both Josie and Jolie. However there has been some time inbetween this baby and when Lol was born and so he just told me to call him if I had any bleeding and I would need to get a shot earlier than 28 weeks. Well this morning I had some bleeding and they told me to come in for an ultrasound. Now I will never miss an opportunity to see the baby but I must admit that I was quite scared. The nurse flat out told me that bright red blood was "not normal." Needless to say I cried almost the whole way to the doctors office thinking that I was going to lose the baby. Once again my mother-in-law met me there for moral support. They did an ultrasound and everything looked fine. We got to hear the heartbeat and see the baby. The heartbeat was a good strong heartbeat. The ultrasound tech said that everything looked great to her and that she felt that I had no need to worry. She did say that the baby was measuring six weeks along though instead of seven which is what my cycles say I should be. So she adjusted my due date to October 14. As a precaustion I did do more blood work so that they can check my levels to make sure nothing is going on that she could not see in the ultrasound. She felt that the bleeding was just implantation. I should have the results from my blood work on Monday. So I was very happy to see ONE baby with a strong heartbeat.

So with great pleasure I introduce you to "Baby J."

Finally an Explanation

Since the night we told the girls that I had a baby in my belly Josie has told us that there is two babies. She has said this several times and it has me a little worried only because when my cousin's ex-wife was pregnant her niece kept telling her there were two babies, and come to find out there were. On our way home from church last night she again told me that there was two babies. I asked her why she kept saying that and her answer "Well a baby for me and a baby for Lollie." AWWWW, and it finally makes since. Today I have my first doctor's appointment and I am a little nervous because I have never gone to my first pregnancy appointment by myself. I have always been scared to get bad news. But if there are twins, which we are praying it is not, they would be able to tell from the bloodwork he takes today or a few other signs.

Last night was our Ash Wednesday service at church. I picked up the girls and we ate before going to church and as we were driving to church I explained to Josie what was going to happen, that Mr. Jonathan would be ashes on our head in the shape of a cross. Her response, "Mommy, we don't put dirt on our heads." The girl is too smart and too funny. My response, well we do this one time of year. He response, "Well that is just crazy." She was so excited as we walked into church and she kept teling me "this is crazy." She did great through the service and Jonathan gave us the option of our crosses being on our forehead or on our hand and Josie opted for her hand. I almost cried as I watched Jonathan "mark" her. This was her first Ash Wednesday service that she could actually somewhat understand what was going on. It was very special for me to experience that with her. When we went to get Lollie from the nursery her reaction was hilarious. She just kept pointing to everyone's foreheads. I'm sure she was wondering what she had missed.

Happy Lent everyone!

What is better than a family of 4, a family of 5 :)

Well in case you have not heard, we are pregnant again:) Were we shocked, yes; are we excited, of course. This is a beautiful blessing from God and we know that. We trust that He will continue to look after us and provide for us just as he always has. It will take some rearranging of the house, our time, and of course money, but we would not trade it for anything in the world. Josie keeps telling us that there are two babies, a brother and a sister. My goodness, I hope she is wrong. Just one baby, please. I have my first doctors appointment this Thursday. I am only about six and a half weeks along, but I'm already showing a little. I guess when it is your third one your body knows what to do and everything pops out. My estimated due date is October 8th so this one and Jolie will have birthdays close together (hers is September 21st).

In other news, in case you have not heard, it snowed in Alabama. It was goregous. After it had been snowing for a while we bundled up and walked around the nieghborhood and played. The girls had a blast.

Jolie:


Josie:


Jolie:


Josie:


Joe & the girls making snowballs




Both Joe and I got the day off since it was snowing and we had a wonderful day playing with the girls. That night we took them to Other Mama's to spend the night. Saturday I had my eyes checked and yes I'm more blind than I was two years ago, but the doctor was awesome. The last time I had my eyes checked Lol had just been born and I was nursing and that doctor said he could not dilate my eyes, so as soon as I went into the room for my exam I told him I was pregnant. He then told me he would not dilate my eyes and asked how old I was. I told him 27 and he said so I assume this is your first. Joe and I just looked at each other and I said, no this will be our third. After my exam Joe and I went and visited my dad and grandma and then had an awesome lunch at the Olive Garden. Then we went home to watch some movies. We picked up the girls later that night. Sunday morning we went to Quint & Sheila's church to see Ansleigh dedicated. I get tingles just thinking about it. I truly and firmly believe in the saying it takes a village to raise a child and being a part of that even if she is my niece means so much to me. We left right after that part of the service and made it to our church in time for our service. Joe had a session meeting so I took the girls home for naps. It was an awesome weekend and it was so nice to be reminded of the amazing blessings that God has given me in Joe, Josie, Jolie, and all of our family and friends.

My Sweet Girls

So far this week has been a good one. Josie has thoroughly enjoyed playing with all the toys she got at her birthday party, and she is working her way through all the clothes she got as well. Some of our family gave her money and so I bought her a V-smile cyber pocket. It is a hand held video game thing for toddlers. She had gotten a regular $10.00 hand held game and she got all excited thinking it was going to be like Meredith's (Erica's daughter)Nintendo DS. Well a Nintendo DS is a little over $100.00 and that is a bit much to spend on a 4 year old especially something that is bound to get broken or misused. So I was looking at the educational games that V-smile makes and found that they have a new thing called the cyber pocket. It is a little bit bigger than a DS but is basically the same thing for toddlers. I found her a Dora game that teaches letters, numbers,colors, etc. and could not wait to see her face when she saw. She reacted just as I thought. She plays it when she wakes up in the morning, on the way to Ms. Erica's, and when she gets home. The great thing is she is learning. Every time a letter comes on the screen she gets so excited because she knows the letter. What is super cute is that she loves all letters in her name. There was an "I" on there last night and she told me like in my name and I told her that I had one and that Jolie had an "I" as well, but that didn't mean as much to her:) It is so awesome watching her learn more and more and I owe it all to Erica.

Last night was a little warmer so I let the girls jump on the "jumpoline" as Josie calls it before eating. After dinner we played with the playdough that my cousins got her. It was so sweet watching them help each other with their creations. I am still just in shock at how fast our girls are growing up.

Josie has an appointment with her ENT tomorrow to see whether the tubes have fallen out or if they need to be taken out. Hopefully we will get good news and her ear problems will be over. Joe is taking her to her appointment and after her appointment he will drop Josie off with Erica and get Lol to spend a Daddy~Daughter day with her. I'm not sure yet what they are doing, but I know they'll have fun.

As I mentioned before we are making our way through the clothes she got for her birthday and today she wore the jumper that Aunt Tiffany made with the matching hair bow that Aunt Tiffany made. She was so excited to wear it and kept telling me to look at how pretty she was. She could not get out of the truck fast enough this morning to show Ms. Erica how cute she was. I'll let y'all be the judge, but I think they both are pretty darn adorable.

Josie's Birthday Weekend

Wow what a weekend. Friday Joe took Josie up to Perry County to go hunting for her birthday. They love spending Daddy - daughter time together. Me, on the other hand, did not have such a good day. In fact it turned out to be a horrible no good day. I was stressed when I came into work because (1) we needed a new dryer and (2) I hate leaving my mom and Bet alone at our house when she comes up to visit. So my mind was already preoccupied. Keith actually gave me something back in which I had many tons of mistakes and made the comment "I don't know where your mind was at." Uggh, Sorry Keith. Around 10:00 Keith left for the day and told me I could leave at 1:30. Yeahh! So I immediately called my dad to see if he could take me and Lol to Best Buy to get our new dryer since Joe had taken the truck. Dad and I agreed that we would meet at our house at 2:00 p.m. Well at 12:25 p.m. a Judge set a hearing in a huge case for Monday (yes today) at 9:00 a.m. I tracked Keith down and he gave me a list of stuff to get down before Monday at 9:00 a.m. but said I could still leave at 1:30 since I had family up. My blood pressure was through the roof running around and making calls trying to do everything I could in 45 minutes. I got everything but one thing done and left him a note that I could not come to work on it Saturday because that was Josie's birthday party and Sunday was Josie's birthday but I would come while she was napping. I got to the house a little after 2:00 p.m. Ben, Mom, and Bet already had the old dryer out of the house. Yeah!! So Dad and I went and got the new dryer. Ben, Mom & Bet were waiting at our house when we got back and Ben got it all hooked up for me. They also went ahead and helped me move the trampoline to a better part of the yard since we were all out there which was an adventure in itself. We had legs falling off and we had to walk through bushes and trees, but we finally got it where we wanted it. After that we rested for a few minutes. I called Joe and he told me that they were going to eat at his Grandmothers and Mom and Bet were going to dinner with Ben and Tiffany so it was just me and Lol. So I decided to call Other Mama and see if she wanted to go to dinner. She did so Lol and I ran some errands and met her for dinner. After dinner we headed home and Joe and Josie got home shortly after us. We then bathed the girls and put them down for bed. A little later Bet told me that the new dryer was not heating. It was 8:45 and Marvins had already closed and Lowes closes at 9:00 so Ben and Joe were about to head to Best Buy when an electrican friend of ours told us to try something. It worked!!! So then Mom, Joe and I headed to the church to start decorating for Josie's birthday party. We worked from around 9:15 p.m. until midnight. We set up tables for the adults to sit at, we set up the food tables, we made the elevator ramp into Mt. Burdick, we put up a Happy Birthday bulletin board, we hung snowflakes from everywhere, we made winter scenes all over the walls, we set up a crafts table, we set up the blow up penguin, we started blowing up balloons, we put up blue streamers, hung posters of Dora, and placed Dora dolls around the room. A little after midnight we headed home in a horrible rain. As we were passing the Wetumpka Water Works and Russell plant we saw where a car had hydroplaned off the road and into the ditch so I called 911. The 911 people did not know where I was talking about (how scary is that!!) so they then transferred me to the Wetumpka Police Department who again acted like they had no clue where the Wetumpka Water Works was at. I was also told to "slow down ma'am." I cracked up laughing as soon as I hung up. He was acting like I was describing a horrible crime and was talking too fast when I all I was doing was asking them to send someone out to check on the person in front of the Wetumpka Water works. Needless to say it was after 1:00 a.m. before we got in bed. Saturday the girls, mom and I got up and started making the "smores" (we dipped marshmellows into chocolate and then into crushed up graham crackers.) After that Mom and I cleaned the pools for us to put the snow into. Then we loaded up and headed back to the church. Other Mama met us at the church and Mom, Other Mama, and I worked from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. putting the snow in the pools, finished blowing up the ballons, making goody bags, realizing we needed a skate board for Mt. Burdick, putting up pictures of Josie, and everything else that had to be done. Mom and I left the church at noon and picked up Josie's cake. She had asked for Dora & Boots icecream cake so that is what we got her. We headed home to eat lunch, shower, and the girls ready. Needless to say it was very rushed but we managed to get back down to the church a around 1:30-1:35. Mom and Bet had stopped to get ice so the girls talked to Aunt Becca who was waiting for us at the church while we waited for Mom and Bet to get there. I wanted Mom to see Josie's reaction to everything since she had worked just as hard as I had. So when they got there we all walked in and Josie and Jolie both just started squealing. We had a blow up penguin that they could throw "snowballs" (styrofoam balls) at, we had the elevator ramp set up for them to slide down, we had three plastic pools set up with "snow" (two had stuff that is called instant snow that felt like snow and the third pool was full of stuff/fluff stuff), we had a craft table, we had a streamer thing they could run through, and we had tons of balloons and plastic balls on the floor to make it look like snow on the floor for them to play with. It really did look like a Winter Wonder Land. We had around 55 people and Josie had an awesome time. She was so excited and I really hope everyone had a good time. And I want to thank every one so much that came because it would not have been a party without all of you. I also want to thank everyone who helped setup and clean up afterwards. It took us about an hour to an hour and a half to clean up. Here are some pictures:

Josie & Ms. Erica:

Lollie & Blake playing in the snow:





Anyone else who has pictures, please send them to me.

It totally made all it all worth it when as soon as we got in the car Josie told us that she had had fun at her party. And we didn't even ask her. She loved all of her presents and has already played with everything. That evening we ordered in pizza and Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Ben, and Tanner came to the house to hang out with us. Sunday morning when Josie got up she came and got in the bed with me and Joe. We both told her happy birthday and she was so excited because it was her birthday "again." We sang her happy birthday at breakfast and at church. After church the four of us, Chris, Crystal, Elias, Annaleigh, Tim, Mary Kelley, Jesse & Catie went to lunch at Shoneys where they brought her a huge piece of cake and sang happy birthday to her. She loved it :) We went home and laid the girls down for naps and I went into work for two hours. Then I ran to the store to get stuff to make dinner. I went home and cooked spaghetti (one of Josie's favorites) and then she got to blow out her candle again as we sang her happy birthday. Other Mama had bought a cupcake cake shaped like a dog which she was "so excited" about so she and Lol each got a cupcake. I want to thank all of you who called her and wished her happy birthday yesterday. She loves getting calls and those made her day on top of everyone who saw her wishing her a happy birthady and singing to her. All in all she had a great birthday and I still can not believe I am mother to a 4 year old and a 2 year old. Thank you again to everyone who helped in so many ways over the weekend! We love you all.