December part 1

Before we left the Crescent City we got to do a few fun Christmas things. Wish it was more, but an ear infection ruined our last plans :( We went to Miracle on Fulton Street in New Orleans. A street they set aside and decorate and it snows every hour. Our friends James, Ella & Annie joined us, the girls loved it! It was like a winter wonderland without the frigid temps.

Maddy and Ella playing in the snow!

Since we were going to be gone for Christmas, Keith and I gave Mad her Christmas present early. She LOVES to cook and loves playing with her new kitchen! The morning we gave it to her I made pancakes and when I gave her one she took it straight to the microwave on her kitchen and started pushing buttons....too sweet!We left for Mema and Papa's house (Keith's parents) on the 18th and spent a few days with them for Christmas. We had an awesome time playing at home with grandparents and more cousins than she can count! For good measure, I threw in a picture of Maddy in this swing from last Thanksgiving, they grow too fast.....

Mema and Papa got Maddy Elmo Encore for Christmas and she is in L-O-V-E.

She even shares her sippy cup with him!

On Sunday we went to Chrissy & Stephen's church so we could see Luke's Christmas program. It was TOO cute. We snapped a few photos outside before the service started. Mema made this jumper for Maddy. We really are blessed, thanks Mema!

Here's Luke! (he's the one in the back) He was a Shepherd in

The Greatest Christmas Present Ever!

Papa is playing with Maddy.

Her cousin Cassie got the food/pots & pans set for her.

She wanted to cook from then on.

We had a few errands to run, which included a stop in the mall, so we decided to try the Santa line. We only waited about 5 minutes, and when we got up to Santa, Maddy was shaking her head no just as fast as she could. So I held her and we 'talked' to Santa! It was pretty funny!

Lunch at McAllisters!

What can I say? She's a ham. I wish I could capture more of these moments on film!

Our trip to Babyland General coming soon....

Thoughts from Keith

"He made HIM who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)

A question to consider: When reading this verse, what automatically comes to your mind?

For me, this verse says a lot about who God is and the true meaning of Christmas. During this time of year the phrase that is tossed about is 'Jesus is the Reason for the Season.' To some this is just a phrase and to others it really speaks to the true meaning of why we celebrate during the Christmas Season. Jesus did come to this earth to carry out the will of God and for this reason he took on our sin so that we could have a personal relationship with him. Oswald Chambers wrote "sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God." Jesus came to this earth to take our sins so we may have that relationship with the Father. We now have direct access to approach the Father anytime we want. With this in mind, consider how many times in the past few days we have spent talking with God and allowing the relationship to grow?

The last few days have truly been a whirlwind, trying to finish a semester of classes, attending Christmas parties, managing a staff, and getting ready for the Holiday Season. For me this season is more then gifts, it is about being with my family. I have been blessed with an amazing wife that supports me one hundred percent. What can I say? My heart stills beats as fast as it did the day that I truly knew she was the one. Our daughter is a joy that brings a smile to my face every day when she says 'daddy!' when I get home from work. This is the best gift that someone could ask for: being with the ones you love the most. However, our fellowship and our love for Christ should surpass the love of our family. This season think about your relationship with the Lord and evaluate it. Is he truly number 1 in your life? Family is next in line. Because the best gift we have ever received or can receive is the free gift of knowing Him and believing in him whole heartily.

This is something to just think about this season as Christmas approaches. There are so many people in this world that truly have nothing, but are happy because they know that they have real meaning in knowing Jesus Christ. To often, we (I am just as guilty) are not satisfied with what God has truly blessed us with. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and a family that loves me. But most of all, a God that loves me unconditionally! Here are some lyrics to a song that I heard the other day that really sums up why I chose to write some words:

Give this Christmas Away by Matthew West and Amy Grant:

What if I told you

You have the power

To give someone hope

Beyond their wildest dreams

What if I told you

It’s right there in your hands

In your hands

It’s hard to imagine

How something so small

Can make all the difference

Tear down the tallest wall

What if December

Looked different this year

What if we all just

Give this Christmas away

If there’s love in your heart

Don’t let it stay there

Give this Christmas away

And your life will be changed

By the gifts you receive

When you give this Christmas away

Merry Christmas!

One of many highlights of every day

Please excuse my hand, I'm not really sure how I achieved that effect. Sesame Street is a highlight of Maddy's day too, she LOVES Elmo and now she's figured out when the sponsors come up (Earth's Best, Mcdonalds, Beaches, etc.) that the show is about to come on and she gets ridiculously happy! I love it. Enjoy our little girl who is growing up so fast!

Oh, another highlight is when Daddy gets home after work. She looks for his truck out the window and then goes to the door to wait for him, it's so sweet.

30 Years

I can't even begin to describe how blessed I am to have been born to these two! They have been and still are awesome parents and a great example of how a marriage should function biblically. Mom and Dad, thank you for living out your faith day by day and giving your children a wonderful model in marriage. I love you. Happy 30th Anniversary!

I have done something horrific

Unspeakable cruelty in the eyes of my child. I was washing her clothes this morning and of course I grabbed everything I could see. The tears started when Maddy looked around and could not find a blanket. We went to her dresser where they live and she was not interested in any of those blankets. All of the good blankets are now in the dryer. You would think the world has ended. Never again will that happen.

I get this look a lot

We are well into the talking stage, but I still can't understand most of what is being said.... It's frustrating on both ends. Usually Madison rattles something off and gives this look of expectation and when I don't follow through, I get this:

Quilt

So a few months back I made my first quilt. :) I had to wait to say anything about it, b/c I made it for my newest cousin and I was waiting for him to get here! Truett Stringer was born on August 16th and is just adorable. I haven't met him yet, but hopefully will be able to in early October. Here are a couple of pics of the quilt.

It's okay to take pride in your work isn't it?

Turned out pretty good I think.

Post surgery update

"C-sections are the way to go." or NOT. I've heard several people say this before and now I'm thinking they were on crack. I did have Madison vaginally and it was a really rough recovery due to some complications, but this being cut open business is horrible. Let's back up and I'll tell you about the surgery. I went in on Thursday knowing all of the possibilities: losing one ovary or both, hysterectomy, death, etc. I was dreading getting an IV in because I have horrible veins. I know a lot of people say this, but mine really are, just ask any nurse at Ochsner. They had to stick me 7 times for my D&C in June. This time it only took 5!

I don't remember the surgery, except the moments before and the waking up process. Have you ever been under anesthesia before? I think it's a really awesome thing, but I hate coming off of it. You go in and out of consciousness. First you can hear. After a while you can open your eyes. But even these actions seem to take a lot out of you and back to la la land you go. Anyway, I remember waking up in recovery and Keith was there with me. I asked him how the surgery went and he said "It went really well honey, the doctor said it couldn't have gone any better." I said "do I still have my ovary?" pause. pause. (please note the next phrase was said with great sympathy & compassion) "no, honey they had to take it." I think at this point I conked out again. I must have prepared for this possibility more than I thought or either the Holy Spirit was preparing me because I'm really okay with it. I think I'm really just glad I don't have cancer. Later the doc explained that when he went in, he couldn't even find the ovary b/c the cyst engulfed/killed it. So he took out the whole thing. There are several bits of good news: 1) the cyst was completely ben

ign 2) None of the stuff inside the cyst leaked out, which was a big concern. If it did, it could have caused major issues. 3) the other ovary is '

perfect' (in the words of my doc) and will take over the job of the other one, which means I won't have any hormone issues and such. When I woke up fully from surgery I had the same thought Mom did after her hysterectomy: "This hurts way worse than I thought it would". I'm healing a little more each day and figuring out ways to move around that don't hurt as bad.

It's definitely hard when Maddy is standing at my leg crying holding her arms out...breaks my heart. Fortunately she shouldn't remember this :)

I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of prayer, visitors, phone calls, emails, texts, facebook messages, meals, etc. I really can't begin to thank you enough. I am blessed. The Lord will receive glory through this. Feel free to call or email me, I have lots of time on my hands! And who wouldn't be blessed to see this smiling face every day? I'll throw in one of me too, I guess we do look alike :)

Surgery Day

My surgery is at 7 (central), it should last around 2 hours. If you want an update after that, just give Keith or my parents a call! Thanks for praying.

Medical Update.

I’ve been putting this off for a little bit. When Keith & I went in for our ultrasound back in June and found out we’d had a miscarriage, the doctor called back the next day and told me they’d found a cyst on my right ovary. Which was just like putting sulfur in an open wound (which I have done via sulfur water in Alaska; totally a different story). They said I’d have to come back in 6 weeks for a follow up ultrasound to see the status of this cyst. 6 weeks came and went, had the ultrasound and I was pretty prepared for what came next (at least part of it). I had been having some pain in the right ovary area, so I knew it was still there, the doc called and confirmed my suspicions that it had grown. He told me they think it is a dermoid cyst, which by nature are mostly benign, but don’t go away on their own. So he told me I’d need surgery. I was okay with that until he called me a few days later and told me the cyst was too big to do laparoscopic. Now I’m getting sliced opened, c-section style. That is TOTALLY different. It requires at least one night’s stay in the hospital and 4-6 weeks of recovery. How do you explain to a 1.5 year old that her Mom can’t pick her up for that long? I will also admit that I HATE asking for help to do things. I’m prideful….and stubborn when it comes to this. I’m going to have to get over myself. Needless to say it’s been an eventful summer on the medical front and is now continuing into the fall. I have 3 more doctor appointments next week, including a stress test, and then the surgery is Thursday the 27^th. I need your prayers desperately, I’m not looking forward to this at all.

Maddy Dancing

Starting off a new week

Well, the past few days have been pretty eventful. I am recovering well from surgery. I've had very little pain, but am still taking it easy. I over-did it a bit yesterday, tried to pick up my 25 pounder, had to rest the remainder of the day. Jo is a super substitute mom for Maddy and doing a great job helping around the house. And we're also getting in some good laughs like we always do when we're together. Keith has not been feeling well for the past several days and I'm hoping he will return to normal soon! Maddy apparently has been sick for many days, we just didn't know it. Somewhere in our travels during the past week she has picked up hand, foot & mouth disease. (I can hear the collective sypmathetic gasp from mom's everywhere). She seems to be feeling okay, but the sores just look so painful to me. She should be getting over that in the next couple of days. Unfortunatley that meant we couldn't go to church today.....sad. Not a fun way to spend Father's Day. I think we'll go out for Snoballs later, that should make everyone happy!

Brokenhearted

At our ultrasound yesterday, we found out there was no heartbeat. Please pray for us as we are mourning for the child we never got to meet and for my surgery (d and c) tomorrow at noon. Keith & I covet your prayers.

On the way home from the doctor yesterday I saw a billboard which read:
"Jesus-the healer of broken hearts" and I was quickly reminded that even in this I can praise Him. No matter the circumstance, He is still the Lord and worthy of praise.

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Pics

Put up some pics on Facebook from our trip. If you aren't connected to me there, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075763&id=41801150&l=a1cb7f5401

Home from Alaska!

We had a great time on our cruise w/ my fam, but I am glad to be home and back to a semi-regular schedule for my baby, who is not so babyish anymore.  BUT we have another little one on the way, so I'm sure I'll be getting a baby fix soon enough.  This one is due January 10th. I have my first ultrasound next week, so there will be pics soon! We are really excited.  I will post some pics from Alaska soon, between all of the cameras that went, I'm sure we have thousands of photos, so I need to collect them from other people. We told my parents via Maddy's shirt, but eventually I had to help matters along b/c no one was noticing what it said.  Everyone is excited though.  Except the part where we can't go anywhere for Christmas :( I'm really sad about that. Oh well, no dwelling on that now. Hope everyone has a great day! 

Our afternoon trip to the beach

Keith worked a half day on Friday because he was already over his hours and we decided to head to Gulfport, Mississippi, for a mini afternoon vacation!  We went to the beach for about an hour, then went to the outlet mall to pick up a few things for our cruise. It was a great time away from the city.  It was Maddy's first time to the ocean and I think she (like her parents) prefers the pool :)

Playing with the menu at dinner, the kids loves menus, I think b/c they resemble books? 

She absolutely loved this water ball, I'm sure we'll make good use out of those this summer

Eww, Mom I have something on my hand, get it off! 

Right before we went to the beach and one of the few pics we got with the hat on! 

Playing peek a boo with the laundry room door

Maddy loves straws, among other things (cups, bottles, napkins, menus, the list goes on).  She chews on them, but this was a new way to manipulate it, too cute! 

Can't believe it's been so long....

Sorry to those I've disappointed, including myself, for not blogging at least a little more frequently! We've been pretty busy lately.  Keith's semester is finally over and we are home free for summer.  Woohoo! In April we traveled home to Andy & Caitlin's wedding which was wonderful! I attended my first crawfish boil at the seminary and was pleasantly surprised. It is a lot of work to get a little tiny bit of meat out, but at least it was good!  Kevin, Amy & Ashton (Keith's twin brother & fam) came to visit a couple of weekends ago and we had a great time!  We hit up all the fun places: the French Quarter, good eatin', the aquarium, etc. I'm so thankful they took time to come spend with us, it was much fun getting caught up! We seem to be on the go a lot, I feel like I live from one trip to the next, this time we made it 4 weeks at home.... We're leaving tomorrow (Tues.) for Valdosta to Keith's parents house and are really looking forward to seeing his family! 

Maddy at the Aquarium 

Kevin, Amy & Ashton at Cafe Du Monde

Maddy with Dad at the Aquarium 

Ashton & Madison playing on the sofa

With Mom at the Aquarium 

So funny. I don't think he could have opened his mouth any wider! 

My first little crawfish....he was yummy.

The fam at Caitlin & Andy's rehearsal dinner! 

Truevalue Spring Market & some other stuff!

Mom and Dad arrived on Friday night in the rain and we painstakingly searched for a place to eat that didn't have a 2 hour wait, luckily we found one! Dad left early Saturday morning to head to the hardware show downtown and Keith went to work for a few hours.  We joined Dad at the show around 11am. For those (probably most) who haven't been to a hardware show, they are pretty huge.  There are hundreds of vendors selling anything you might ever want to find in a hardware store.  So you walk around and buy stuff for your store, or in our case, walk around and see what's there, get the free stuff and eat the plentiful peanuts. While looking around, we came across the Radio Flyer booth and were looking at their stuff.  (Dad had already commented that he was thinking about getting a wagon for Maddy and I wanted to see what all they had)  So, we walk up and there is this Radio Flyer Sport Coupe that I put Maddy in cause it looked fun.  It had a handle so the parent could push the child if necessary.  I asked the salesman if I could take her picture in it and he said, "sure, in fact if you want, you can push her around in that." I was like, 'sold' and we took off.  So here are various pics of Maddy in the awesome coupe that I think we talked Pop into.  Oh, she had her monkey has her passenger, thanks to the Jernigan's for her birthday :) 

The Yummy peanuts I took a picture of for Jo Jo (who desperately wanted to come, but couldn't due to school).  Everyone had to have a badge to get in, even Maddy. And a random alligator we got from a vendor. 

After we left the show about 3ish, we went to lunch/dinner at Landry's.  It was so good, except having to look at the 'snot rockets' as I like to call them.  Dad & Keith enjoyed them though.

Dad likes to entertain Maddy with some dog-like activities! Fun for everyone. 

Outside of Landry's (the one located on the Lake, not the French Quarter). Mom pointing out the sail boats to a very tired one year old. 

Playing at home after her nap on Sunday! 

It was a fun weekend, I took Mom and Dad to the airport this morning.  Beth Moore is coming to NOLA this weekend and I got a free ticket from one of my neighbors!!! I can't wait to go! A big thank you in advance to my amazing husband for keeping Maddy while I'm gone.

Maddy turned One!

We left on Thursday March 12th for the long trip to Cleveland.  We arrived at 11:30pm, it was late, Madison was past ready to get out of the car seat.  Picked up a few hours of sleep before Friday hit.  We had the priviledge of going to eat lunch with my great grandmother in Norcross. This is a picture of Grandma Minnie with Jo and Maddy at lunch.  

We also we preparing for my cousin's bridal shower, which was Saturday morning AND making the cake for Maddy's party.  I started before dinner and finished at 1am. (When I say "I" I really mean me, Mom, Keith, Jo & I think Verona helped too, my memory gets fuzzy past 10pm).   The ONE cake was mom's idea, I can't take the credit, but it did turn out cute.  Jeff told me he wanted a TWENTY ONE in May, I laughed. 

Saturday came and Mom & me headed south at the crack of dawn (or so it seemed after my few hours of sleep) for the shower.  It was so great.  I got to see tons of family and my almost new relative Caitlin.  Another cousin Shana is about 5 months pregnant and it was so great to see her! She and Josh just found out they are having a boy and I am so excited! After the shower was over, I drove me and Nana back to Cleveland for Maddy's party.  People were already arriving and it just seems like a blur in my mind.  My cousin Tiff got engaged on Friday morning and we doubled the birthday as an engagement party too.  It was such fun to see everyone and open gifts (Cause Mad was not interested) and eat cake.  She liked that okay, but it was like eating with the paparazzi, I think like 15 cameras went off and she was like "whoa, everyone's staring at me." 

The rest of the week flew by.  We got Madison a passport, Keith took a trip to middle GA for work, got hair cuts, went to church, shopped, & hung out with the fam.  Jeff and Courtney got to come home on Friday evening and we had lots of fun with them! All good things come to an end and we took a leisurely trip home on Sunday.  By leisurely I mean it took a total of 11 hours!  We stopped in Montgomery to eat at Red Robin (can I say Yum) and decided to go to Kohls and let Maddy stretch some more, from there we went to Target and back to Kohls to purchase some luggage that was 50% off. Yay for that.  Also stopped in Gulfport to get gas and groceries.  It was a long day and our house looked like a hurricane ripped through it once we (mainly Keith, actually I think totally Keith) unloaded the car. We're getting unpacked though and settling to to a semi-normal routine before Mom and Dad arrive on Friday for the Hardware Show.  So excited about that, I'll definitely post about it. 

Mardi Gras

Okay I must admit that Mardi Gras is nothing like my preconceived notions thought it was.  It's way more family oriented to start with.  The crazy stuff happens in the French Quarter mostly. Over the course of February there are over 60 parades in the city of New Orleans, most of which are completely family friendly. There are millions of beads everywhere: on trees, in streets, etc. It is like a kids dream. It is really like a local national holiday(s). The schools are closed for a few days, most businesses shut down, I'm not even sure if the mail ran or not....It's big, I'm telling you. 

Mom, Dad & Jo came into town this past weekend for a couple of days and we had a blast. (pictures to come as soon as they email me some :)  They arrived Fri. morning and we braved the French Quarter about 11am for some poboys. There were a lot of people already in the area and also some people witnessing.  I've seen some very interesting witnessing techniques over the past few days and have even wondered what Gospel they are spreading.  On Friday we saw some guys on a corner handing out stuff, I took one to see what they were sharing, it was completely evangelical, I agreed with everything on the tract.  However, on the news, they showed all these people on the infamous Bourbon Street with huge signs. Some of them read: "Why do you love the devil?" including a laundry list of sins. Another sign said Roman Catholicism is of the devil and the like. My favorite was this guy, supposedly witnessing, who had "repent you swine" on his hat.  Effective witnessing? I think not. 

Update.....finally!

Actually the reason I haven't updated in a while is cause not too much has been going on! The only highlight I can think of is Keith's mom (Mema) coming to visit for a week.  We had lots of fun with her.  We got to hang out and eat, what more could we ask for? 

Around the time that Mema started her visit, Madison decided she was going to start waking up at 6:15 every morning and she hasn't quit :( Therefore, around 8:30 or so she goes down for a nap, it's kinda crazy.  

Other 2 items of note.  1) I decided to join the local MOPS at church and I am loving it. It's twice a month and I love the fellowship and learning time.  Most recently we had a woman talk to us about praying with and for your child.  It was awesome! 2) I got to go to our church's women's retreat.  It was totally worth it! We had so much fun and learned a lot from our speaker who was a very spunky elderly professor. 

The kid loves cups. I don't know why. I actually had to go ask for another cup at this restaurant because she started screaming when I took it out of her hands....

More to come soon...