Hurricane Gustav

My SIL & Nieces #1 & #2 are here in Alabama.

They evacuated Louisiana because of Gustav.

They are told that it may be 6-8 weeks before they have power again.

And that the toilets cannot be flushed because sewers are full too.

Just ... wow. 6-8 weeks without being able to go home.

Welcome to the Family Niece#4

SIL B had baby Niece#4 yesterday morning around 10:35am. I didn't ask the exact time, because I got the call at 10:20 that she was starting to push and another call at 10:35 that Niece#4 had arrived, healthy!

She was 6lbs. 14oz. and 18 in. long. She is the shortest of my FIL's grandbabies, but not the smallest, Niece#2 was 6lb. 9oz, I believe.

Mom and Baby are doing well!



Daphne

Busy Busy

We've been really busy for the past couple weeks.

We spent a week in my hometown visiting with Hubby's family, then my family.

We celebrated Independence Day, we attended my SIL B's baby shower, and the guys rode horses. Matter fact, I barely got any pictures of LittleMan because he was always off on a horse!

We brought my Mother home with us for a week.

My Granny will be arriving tomorrow to spend the night, then take my Mother back home with her.

Here's some pictures from the past couple weeks:

Princess playin

LittleMan on the slip slide

food from good ole' Piggly Wiggly

mud ridin'

eatin' watermelon

ready for the baby shower

mommy's little firecracker

Princess with Mommy at the baby shower

roastin' marshmallows

my cuties

Princess LOVES her new PINK Hannah Montana hair stick

Our Independence Celebration Plans

Today is the last day of June!

I cannot believe July is upon us already! June just flew by!

And we didn't keep up with schoolwork or anything!

Thursday morning, we are leaving for my Hubby's mother's house. We will be having cookouts, and going to SIL B's baby shower. [Niece4 is due to join us early August] [We also have a Niece5 due to join us in early October, from BIL C and his gf-L]

From there, we are driving over to my Granny's house on Monday morning, and spending some time there, until leaving to come home late Tuesday night. We like to drive while the kids sleep!

We are bringing my mother home with us. Hubby has taken his vacation that week. (July 7-11) We plan to do some things with my Mom. Like going up Cheaha Mt. and having a picnic.

My Granny & Papaw will be coming to pick my Mom up on July 16. I hope they plan to stay at least one night with us, it's been such a long time since they both have been able to come down.

So, I will be pretty busy! I just hope I get everything I need done by Wednesday night. I hate forgetting things at home when we travel!

Weekend Visit with Family

This weekend me and the kids went to visit my hometown, where we visiting with my Mom, Granny, Papaw, Aunt Vicki, Uncle "Mellow" and 3 cousins "Racer", "Slugger" and "DQ" (Drama Queen).

Princess on LittleMan's new toy

Me and my Granny - Oh yeah, I cut my hair off a couple weeks ago ;)
LittleMan about to go ridin'
Racer and his Princess shadow
LittleMan ridin around with Aunt Vicki
Princess playin in Granny's dirt
My Mom and me
Didn't get her way
LittleMan playin ball with Aunt Vicki
Happy again
Vicki's pup, Cage
Granny's pup Beethoven
Granny's other 2 pups, Champ & Buffy

What my Mom taught me.

[Some of this could possibly be a little altered from the actuality of it, but I was six, so it's hard to remember. It's pretty darn close though.]

November 6, 1986 - When I was six years old and just started Kindergarten, my Mom had a terrible car wreck. She was in a brand new Chevy Cavalier, that she hadn't even made the first payment on, and her tie rod snapped. She flipped down a hill eleven times; coming half-way out of the sun roof somewhere around the seventh flip, as the car flipped over on top of her, breaking her back.

They say she died on the scene twice and was brought back by a wonderful lady. Overall she broke: her back, both kneecaps, her leg, her hip, her arm, her nose and she had a chunk of skull broke loose at the top of her forehead. [The chuck of skull part we didn't find out about until I was around 14, more about that later.] [We also found out sometime later, that it altered her mental state, blinded her in one eye, and she couldn't smell anymore]

My Mom taught me .. Shit happens.

They airlifted her to Memphis TN. She was in the hospital for three months. I was unaware of ANYTHING for the first month and a half. I was shuffled from family member to family member, as my Granny, Papaw, Uncle, and Aunt Vicki was hundreds of miles away at the hospital.

My Mom taught me ... absence makes the heart grow fonder.

After about a month, my Papaw and Aunt Vicki came home to me. But I still didn't know where Mommy was. My aunt Vicki took care of me like I was her own, and she was only 18 years old at the time.

I remember being so frustrated that no one would tell me where my Mom was, I took some scissors and gaped my hair up. It wasn't long after that, they told me a version of what happen. They took me to the hospital to see my Mom, who after months of being in the hospital, still had 2 black eyes. I remember burying my face in Aunt Vicki's shoulder, afraid of what I was about to see.

But she was ALIVE!

My Mom taught me Bravery.

When she got to come home from the hospital, we had to live with my Grandparents because Mom had to wear a back brace and couldn't take care of herself, much less take care of me. We lived there for years I remember.

My Mom taught me about patience ... even though I don't have any. {lol}

Fast forward years later, they found the hole in her head and the piece of skull had slid down and settled into her sinus cavity. She had surgery to repair it on January 14, 1995. They did surgery where they had to peel her face down to get the bone out. Then they placed a metal plate over the hole. I remember feeding her jello at the hospital.

My Mom taught me strength.

Over the years, I moved out of the house away from my Mom several times. As I said before, her mental state had been altered, she was still very smart, but had the competency of a 16 year old. We fought like sisters. I lived with Aunt Vicki for a while, my Grandparents for a while. But I always ended back with my Mom.

My Mom taught me Unconditional Love.

A New Bloggin Buddy

My Aunt Vicki has started a new blog just today!! It's her first trip into the blogging world. It's called Forgotten Mom, if you'd like to stop by and see how much her and I are alike!!

Come on people, let's get her addicted to blogging too!! lol

While you're there, give her a holler and tell 'er her niece Daphne sent you over!

Later Y'all!

Saturday Rodeo

The rodeo was fun. The kids enjoyed it, except that Princess had a tummy ache & some poopy problems. Other than that, everything went well.
It. Was. Freakin. Cold. Though.


LittleMan rode the mechanical bull again. This time they actually turned it up and bucked him around. We went to a different bull this time though, one inside, because. It. Was. Freakin. Cold.


Hubby bought me my centerpiece that I've been wanting for my kitchen table. I had found a similar one online, but it cost over $100! This one didn't.



And we won't go back to the 4pm show again. It was shorter and when we left ... at 630 ... I felt like I had just got there.


Next year, it's back to the 8pm show. The only reason we opted for the 4pm was because we brought Princess this year. It was her first time. =)



But next year, yeah, 8pm. It may end late, but we're gonna get a hotel room.

A Good Day

Today has turned out to be a pretty darn good day ... so far. =)

Today is my Papaw's birthday! He is now 68 years old, but he doesn't look it at all! He lives about 200 miles away from me or I would go takes pictures =)

Me & the kids went to the thrift store & got me some goodies this morning.

LittleMan lost his FIRST TOOTH! He pulled it all by himself!

LittleMan rocked it at his T-Ball Draft!
Princess was kind of upset that she didn't have cleats or a glove & then that she couldn't go on the field with LittleMan. But she had fun running around the place.

LittleMan is going to stay the night at his bff's house tonight, so that makes him happy too!

Yep ... a pretty good day. I hope the rest of the day goes as well!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Catch Up

Friday I went with R, my SIL to the movie theater. We watched National Treasure 2. I really didn't want to go, I was sick & I was tired and it was the 9pm show. Plus, I never seen National Treasure 1. But since I never get to go hardly anywhere without the kids, and I rarely get to spend time with R, I went anyway.

It was a good movie. I really enjoyed it. But it just wasn't my kind of movie. I still don't plan on watching part 1.

Early this morning, we had severe storms roll through Bama. They cancelled school today for our area. It didn't get too bad at our house, but it was scary watching the news. Hubby had already left for work before it started up here. So having him gone was probably the main reason it got scary for me.

LittleMan is enjoying his day off. He's already woke Baby Boy up twice and I've wanted to lock him in his room. I personally think they should have just started school late ......

Tomorrow I have an appointment at my dentist for a cleaning. And I can't find anyone to keep Princess, so I guess she's gonna have to go with me. I hope she behaves while we're there.

And I have Baby Boy again Friday. This is my first week keeping him more than 3 days, so my pay increases too. YAY!

Hubby & LittleMan will be camping/horse riding this weekend, so what are me & Princess doing ??? You guessed it .... Thrift Store!

How is your week going?

The week that changed my life forever

February 19. In less than a month will be my Dad's birthday [who has passed away]. With it being so close, I feel I need to share a piece of my past. I don't believe that I have finished dealing with his death yet, so maybe this will help ... to get it down, seems so ... I don't know, real? final? something.


My husband's cell phone woke me up on the morning of August 10, 2005 around 4am. I was very pregnant, due in just days, so the interruption in sleep was annoying. Andy answered it and long story short, we found out my Dad had been hit the night before in a hit & run accident and died. Most of my family lives about 200 miles away, so there was no visiting with my Mom, who took it the worst, of course; and I knew there would be no way I could travel to be at his funeral. I never had a chance to say good bye.

There is a lot about that day I don't remember, mainly because I think I just thought a lot. I know that I had awesome support from my family [both mine & Hubby's side] We had a houseful all day. And someone was constantly calling us.
I still remember not being able to show emotion in front of anyone. I don't know why, but it was a weird feeling. I was able to let little pieces out with Andy, but not much more.

Andy took me to the hospital maternity ward that night. Just to check and make sure Baby Princess wasn't stressed. Thankfully, she was fine. The next day I had a routine OB visit. My Dr. decided with the circumstances and my due date, it would be best if I was admitted that night.

I didn't sleep that night at the hospital. I was already having light sporadic contractions, but that wasn't it. Every time I closed my eyes, I seen Daddy there. I wasn't ready to face him. I think maybe I was mad at him. I had just talked to him on the phone that morning that he died and he told me, he would be here for me, when I brought his first grand-daughter into the world.

Let's speed things up .... the next morning they induced me and at 343pm on August 12th 2005, there was my Princess. Only 13 minutes of pushing. Beautiful, Healthy, with long toes! The nurses commented about this future little ballerina.

By that night, I wasn't feeling right and I knew it. My back hurt, my ribs & chest hurt, I was in a cold sweat .... the nurses told me it was gas and not to drink any more carbonated drinks. It didn't work, but I thought it might have something to do with the fact that my epidural had wore off 45 minutes before Princess was born.

After we got home from the hospital, there was an instance that I couldn't breathe right. I thought it was my milk coming in. Later that night, I was up feeding Princess. After I got her back down, I couldn't lay down. It hurt so bad. A few hours pass and I am having to bend over to breathe. This new day that was beginning was August 17.

My Mom & Granny were still at my house, helping me adjust to having 2 kids and just being there for me because of my Dad. So my Granny rushes me to the ER. Everyone panics and thinks I'm in labor [that is to show that I have not lost 1 pound since giving birth almost 5 days ago]

Another long story short and countless wrong conclusions, I was in Congestive Heart Failure. They injected me with Lasix and within a couple hours, they had almost 6 liters of fluid that had been inside my body. I had been drowning from the inside.

The condition that caused this is called Dilated Cardiomyopathy. And the cause? Being pregnant didn't agree with my body. They said it started with my first, LittleMan, but being pregnant a second time was too much for my heart.

In 2 days time, I went from weighing 163 pounds to weighing 138 pounds.

I was put on 5 meds, 2 just for my heart. And a low-sodium & low-fluid diet. That diet alone made my life hell for the following few months. [By the end of 7 weeks, I was down to 127 pounds] But then the news that ... if I ever got pregnant again, I wouldn't live to deliver the baby.

After that lots of things happen, my body changed, I had tubal ligation surgery, I went though panic attacks & depression. But most of all, I thrived. I lived. I grew.





That was over 2 years ago. And it still feels like yesterday. I'm still on the meds, but I took myself off the diet once my Ejection Fraction had went back as close to normal as it could get. I still watch my weight though, just to make sure I'm not holding too much fluid.




My Dad would have been turning 47 year old this year.

A little Update

I thought I'd update everyone. Since my last blog, I started babysitting (app. 3 days a week) my cousin's 2 month old baby "Baby Boy" I watched him M, T & W. No time to blog those days, cuz he isn't picked up until 6pm.

Wednesday afternoon, Little Man comes home from school with a tummy ache. I go through his backpack like usual, and find a note from his teacher. 4 children checked out today with .... the stomach virus. Of course Little Man, not wanting to be left out (lol), came down with it about an hour later. I felt so bad for him! Poor little guy was so sick! So I didn't sleep hardly at all Wednesday night, rushing to his side everytime he got sick. So, he was out of school yesterday. And he still wasn't eating as of last night, so I made the decision to keep him out today too.

Well.... he is better today. {Thank God of course!} But doesn't understand why I won't let him outside to ride his bike, or go horse riding with his Daddy. He actually told me that he was mad at me because I wouldn't let him do anything. =( Ah, the joys of Motherhood.

Tonight my MIL will be coming with her bunch to stay for the weekend. So blogging will be out of the question until at least Sunday evening, if then. But I will get to go to the Thrift store. We always go when she visits. I LOVE me some thift store shopping! Yep that's right!

Plus my MIL seems to LOVE to clean {lol} [or at least it seems that way] so I don't have to clean up after everyone by myself. That's a big Plus +++++

So not much else to blog about, except I found boxes full of horse magazines from the 80's in my attic [from previous owner] which I plan to sell on ebay, if I ever get my courage up to do so. I'm so afraid that I'm gonna get screwed some how. Lose money or come in contact with some weird/stalker person. Keep your fingers crossed for me, k?

Little Man's 6th birthday was on the 2nd and I'm thinking about giving him a small party on the 19th. Some of the family has already given him money, but I think he deserves a party this year. Since his birthday is so close to Christmas, we didn't give him a party last year. But I feel like he shouldn't miss out just because his birthday falls on the day it does...

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

I've been bad

I know! I'm really behind on my blogging!
After Christmas, that Friday we left for Louisiana to visit with my hubby's brother's family. We were there until New Years Day.
It took a couple days for us to get back in the swing of things and have some clean clothes too!
Then my uncle came to visit on the 2nd {WHICH IS MY LITTLE MAN'S BIRTHDAY, BTW!!! HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!} and he is still here visiting until tonight.
So even though the holidays are over, we are still pretty busy!
I promise to get back in the swing of things ASAP!!!
Hope everyone had a terrific New Years!!!!

Gone for a bit

Just a heads up [for the 3 people that actually read my blog, lol] I am leaving out of town tonight for Christmas with one part of hubby's family & then Christmas with my family. I probably won't be able to blog til I get home, which will be Christmas Eve ... so it may be after Christmas!
Where we're going, they don't have DSL ... I know! It's like some other land! lol So I probably won't be able to read all my fave blogs either =( Know that I will catch up with my reading ASAP!
Good bye Internet friends & Happy Holidays!

Friends & Pictures

Yesterday was spent with my S-M-I-L [that's step-mom-in-law] Christmas shopping for my 2 kiddos & my 3 nieces. We had tons of fun in the best stores, TJ Maxx & Ross. Then we ate lunch at a place I've never tried. We had the buffet at a Chinese place. Now, I've only had Chinese a few times, which is why my SMIL wanted me to try it. Well, it wasn't the worst food I've had, but I think it's safe to say that I won't be eating there again any time soon. [1 fact about me: I'm a super picky eater]
Today was good progress on my organization list. I went through & cleaned out Princess's closet, clothes & even pulled down clothes from the attic to organize them into all one size in each box. We have 3 nieces older than Princess, so we get the great hand-me-downs! [which I am ever so grateful for!!] So I organized what sizes I had into summer & winter boxes. That [and regular cleaning] took most of the day.
Tonight, we went out with my BF Girlfriend & her fiance. We ate at my fave Mexican restaurant. It was so Yummy! Good times, great friends! And the kids actually acted pretty well while we were there. Princess got all upset when she noticed the people way down at the bar were watching a rodeo, and our TV was showing basketball. To keep her from hollering, we had to get the television changed to rodeo. That's my little cowgirl =)
And we took some Christmas pictures today. They were suppose to be all 4 of us, but hubby had "issues" so our "family" picture only had me & the 2 rug rats in it.

A Little Elf Fun

Hey, I just made a total elf of myself.
Check it out by clicking the link HERE.

Make yourself one here
I got this from a friend's page !