A few more birthday pictures

Here are some of the pictures Other Mama took:

Lol & Me (This is a better one of me):

Lol & Me again (This is a better one of her):

Lol getting a piece of her cake:

Random Shots:


Josie being silly:

Jolie's Birthday

Jolie had an awesome birthday party and I want to thank everyone who came or has sent her a card or gift. She has been so cute about her birthday this year. The fun for her started Friday. Pap-paw picked her and Josie up from Ms. Erica's around 2:00 p.m. They then went to our house to wait until Other Mama got off work. When she got off work they all went down to Build a Bear where both Jolie and Josie got to build Hello Kitty teddy bears. They then got to pick out clothes (including shoes) for their new Hello Kitties. After that they all went out to eat where the waitresses brought her a huge birthday dessert and sang for her. While they were out partying I had gone to my grandmothers where my grandmother, Aunt Pam, and I made rice krispie treats for Jolie's birthday party on Saturday. We made teddy bears, balloons, and even some Hello Kitty rice krispie treat pops. That evening Joe and I went and bought all the other things we needed for the party and her birthday presents.

Friday also happened to be the girl's last day at Ms. Erica's. She bought them gifts and gave them "Certificate's of Promotion" since they will both be going to "big girl school" soon.




Saturday morning Pap-paw came over to help and I do not know what I would have done without him. My feet and ankles have started swelling and so I am really trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. We got to the park and got our little pavillion decorated. Well, actually Daddy and Joe did most of the work. I did do some but both of them kept telling me to sit down and put my feet up. It was hot. Earlier in the week the weather channel said it was supposed to be 93, but their "forecast" kept going up during the week. I think it was 96 or 97, but the kids didn't seem to mind a bit. Notice how red all of their little faces are in the pictures, but they all had a blast playing on the playground. When they got thirsty they would come up for some water, lemonade, or a kool-aid jammer. After the party we went home and crashed. The girls were exhausted after playing so hard and not having a nap and my feet were really swollen. The girls were asleep by 7 or 7:30 and I spent the rest of the night in bed with my feet propped up.

Sunday morning we skipped church because we had a family function and I knew I would be overdoing myself if I tried to go to both church and the family get together. So I took my time making spinach dip and Paula Dean's broccoli casserole. Then we all loaded up and headed to Aunt Elisa's. The food was great and I think we all ate way too much. I again spent most of the time with my feet propped up because of swelling. The girls had a blast playing with all their cousins, riding around on the golf cart, and playing with Other Mama. Later that evening we went to a church friend's house to get a crib and changing table that they gave us. Then it was back home to rest for the evening.

I have an ultrasound and doctors appointment this Thursday. I will be 37 weeks. At my 36 week appointment I was measuring to be 39 weeks, so I'm curious to see what the ultrasound shows. Right now we have an induction date of October 8th unless I go before then.

Tomorrow is Jolie's actual birthdate. She will be 3. It is so hard to believe how fast they are growing. As often as we get asked if Jolie and Josie are twins, their personalities could not be more different. Jolie is full of life and loves to make you laugh. She also has a little mean streak in her sometimes. She still loves to cuddle (on her terms of course), and is very friendly and outgoing. Very rarely does she meet a stranger. She is our lollipop and I just could not imagine our lives without her.

Well I'm going to close with pictures from the birthday party:













Some of the party goers: Caden, Josie, Annaleigh, Jolie & Elias (missing: Ansleigh, Abby Grace, Ben's two foster children, Jesee & Catie):


A special, special thank you to Crystal, my camera woman :) I know Other Mama took some pictures as well, and I will post those when I get them.

Surprise, Surprise

So you know how we told you all that when Joel got here I would become a stay at home mom and we were moving to Greenville. Well that was actually a test to see how many of you would miss us and how much we meant to you. Most of you passed, and I am sorry to say some of you did not. Just joking. Well, actually it was a test, but I believe it was God testing Joe and me, to see how obedient we would be. Through a certain chain of events, e-mail me if you want all the details, I will be staying at my job and we will not be moving to Greenville. Since we had already told Erica that we were moving she had made other arrangements to fill the girls' spots. So their last day with Erica is this Friday. However, the day after it became a question of us staying Sheila (my wonderful and most awesome sister-in-law) and I got busy making new arrangements for all three Burdick children's care, and we actually got it all taken care of in a span of a few hours. The plan is that my dad will keep the girls until I have Joel. Josie will start the pre-K program associated with the school she will enter next August probably about a week after I have Joel. I will keep Jolie at home with me while I am on maternity leave to get her fully potty trained and when I go back to work I will put her in the same program as Josie. They of course will be in different classes, but it is at the same place. Joel will then enter a home daycare in Millbrook with his cousin Ansleigh. The wonderful lady is actually willing to hold his spot until I go back to work. Now I am not sure what we will do if I don't get Lol completely potty trained by the time I go back to work, but I'm not thinking about that right now. There is only one explanation for all of this--GOD!!! To top it all off Joe found out about a job opening close to home so we put in his application last night. All apps were due by today so hopefully we will hear something soon. So lots of prayers that he gets this new job. It will be a paycut but what he spends on gas might even it out. The big question is insurance. We have no clue how much the insurance will be. So I guess if it is meant to be, it will all work out.

I am personally still in shock at how things have completely turned around. So now we can finally get Joel's room ready and unpack the boxes that are currently in his room.

The girls are loving Awana and have been every Wednesday night since it started. Josie is doing awesome at learning her Bible verses and has already earned a patch and should receive another one tomorrow. Hopefully the vests will be in that they ordered so that she can have her vest.

We did have our first emergency room visit with the girls. I'm thinking saying that Josie is 4 (5 in January) and Jolie is 2 (turning 3 next week) that we are doing pretty good. I was washing dishes and Joe was getting their bath water ready when Josie came out saying that Jolie had beads everywhere in their room. Joe went back to their room and asked her what she was doing to which she replied that she had stuck them up her nose. Joe came into to tell me that we was taking her to the doctor to which I asked why because she looked fine. He then told me that she had stuck beads up her nose and I started laughing. What possesses children to stick things in their noses, mouths, and ears?? So he headed to the hosptial because Pri-Med said they would not have the tools to remove the beads. We called Other Mama to see if she could meet Joe there to help with Jolie. Joe and Jolie got home sometime after 10. The ER doctor did not see anything but said he also did not have the tools to really look. He told Joe to take her to the ENT the next day. So Other Mama was kind enough to take her to the ENT the next day. Dr. Rand looked down her nose and throat and did not see any "foreign" objects. He did say that it was time to schedule her surgery to have her adnoids and possibly both tonils taken out. (I will do that while I'm on maternity leave). So Other Mama took her back to Erica. Later that afternoon I got a call from Erica saying that Lol had just sneezed out one bead and that when she looked up Lol's nose she could see another one and was able to get it out. About 20 minutes later I got another call from Erica saying that she saw another but could not get it out. To this day, we have not seen the third bead. So we are not sure if it has come out and we have not seen it or if Erica thought she saw another one and there really wasn't one. Ohhh, life with toddlers.

Jolie's birthday party is this Saturday and I am just got the invitations sent out today. She is so cute and excited about her birthday. I can't wait to see her reaction to everything on Saturday.

My last doctors appointment went well. I start going once a week now. However, the way I'm feeling these days I don't know how much longer I'm going to last. I don't remember all these pains and not feeling right with the girls. So we shall see.

I think that is about everything. We continue to ask for your prayers because we are still just following God's lead. We have no clue why we have been lead down the paths that we have, but we are along for the ride.

I'll end with some pictures of the girls.
Josie at Tanner's birthday party:

Lol & Tanner at Tanner's birthday party:

Josie & Lol at Tanner's birthday party:

Josie Swimming:

Jolie Swimming: