First Tennessee

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

Last Saturday my sweet little Brielle turned FIVE!!! I can't believe it. She is growing up so fast. I would not trade her for anything. She really is one of the sweetest, most loving, friendly kids in the world. She is genuinely concerned about everyone, and she has a love for life that I would love to bottle up! She definitely has her moments, and she is so stubborn, but hopefully as she grows older she will be stubborn about the right things and it will be her biggest strength. I love her so much and I am so grateful that she is my daughter.


She had such a fun birthday too! After spending the night in a hotel, we woke up and ate waffles for breakfast in our hotel room. Then we made the three hour drive home, where we talked and played and she watched her new movie she got for her birthday. We arrived home and ate lunch, then got everyone ready and headed off to Build-A-Bear! She was so excited. She picked out a bunny and Benson of course picked out a panda bear(just like Kung Fu Panda). They made their animals and then picked out the clothes. Brielle picked out a ballet outfit for hers and named her Ballerina Bunny.



Then we went and got pizza and a movie and had a picnic on the living room floor and watched the movie as a family. After the movie, we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. (Thanks everyone for all her fun gifts!) She had a great birthday!


The cake is supposed to resemble the Barbie movie Mermaidia, where barbie turns into a mermaid and her friend Bibble the puff ball is with her. I know it is not my best cake, but this one was a bit harder! YIKES!

SURPRISE!

A couple of weeks ago my mom flew out to Tennessee for a friendly visit to celebrate mine and Brielle's birthdays. I had to drive to Nashville to pick her up and when I did guess who was with her? MY SISTER! I haven't seen her since August, but we pretty much talk on the phone everyday. I really miss her and so when she showed up at the airport, I was very surprised. They had planned it for weeks and didn't say a word! I was so thrilled. We had such a good time together, just staying up late talking, going shopping, working on projects, and of course visiting the Smokey Mountains. At the end of there stay I had to drive them back to Nashville to fly home, so we made a girls trip of it!! I had some friends watch the boys while the girls drove out there and toured around Nashville and went shopping, and of course out to dinner. My mom was then sweet enough to get a hotel room for the night for the four of us! It was a blast! I love my mom and sister so much. They had to sacrifice a lot of time and money to get here and I miss them already!

Here are the pictures of the fun!

I locked my keys in the car when we went to the Smokey Mountains and this is the park we found as we were waiting for the locksmith!
Here is my mom with the kids by the Old Mill restaurant where we ate lunch. If you want REAL southern food, this is the place to go!
Parker loves his mommy!
Brielle the poser!
My sweet sister and the kids! Brielle and Benson LOVED all the attention!
Here is Benson feeding the ducks at the park, that kid has no fear.
This is our trip in Nashville. This cafe has animals that look real and make noises, and Brielle was terrified. She only smiled for the picture.
Who doesn't want ther picture with a big smiling shark?
Brielle found a fancy off-roading machine, I think it only cost $10,000.

A birthday with friends!

March 11th marked my 27th brithday! I know I am getting old. I am officially in my late twenties. It is a crazy feeling to be getting older in age, but not feeling any older. I guess that is so true with everyone. That is why you see 50 year olds doing crazy things like they were twenty. They probably still feel twenty.

Anyway, I had a great birthday. Doug woke up early and fixed me a great omelet breakfast. He is the omelet king and it was so tasty. Then I got the kids ready and my neighbor girl came over to babysit while some of my girlfriends took me to lunch! We went to a local restaurant called Aubrey's and it was so good! Then I came home and my sweet friend Jennifer stopped by with cookies and brownies! YUM! (she is such a great VT) Then for a special treat my dear friend Kendra and her sweet daughter Sophie came for a visit! They live a few hours away and drove over to celebrate with us! We went and i showed her around town, and we got dinner at one of my favorite places...Chick-fil-a! After dinner we ate cake and ice cream, put the kids to bed, watched American Idol, and stayed up until 2:00 in the morning talking about life! It was a great Birthday!
Then the next day we went up into the smokies for a little shopping and more fun! We loved having Kendra and Sophie here! Thanks Kenj!

Then Last Friday I was able to celebrate my birthday again. Doug is at the church late on Wednesdays so we had to postpone our celebration of my birthday. We went out Friday night thanks to our dear friend Haley. We decided to go non traditional and went to the grocery store for ice cream instead of an ice cream shop. (Ice cream is my favorite) So we each bought a pint of ice cream for ourselves and a fraction of the price, and took it to the movies with us. Doug was so sweet and conceded to go see the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with me. I thought it was so cute! It was so nice to go out on a date with no kids and enjoy an adult movie! Thanks honey, you are the best!

P.S. I left out one great surprise, Doug bought my my favorite perfume called Burberry Brit! If you havent smelled it, you should, it is so great!

Dog days

A few days ago we got to dog sit for the day. Our neighbors wanted to bring there little puppy over for the kids to play with, so we decided to dog sit while they were at work. Needless to say all three of the kids were excited when this cute little puppy showed up. For those of you who don't know, I like animals, but I never want to have a pet. ( I know my kids are deprived) But, I was actually glad when the dog came over to entertain the kids. They dropped him off about 8:30, and my kids only came inside to eat lunch, and they were outside the rest of the day. He was actually a great puppy too. He never barked, and was so sweet with the kids, even when Benson pulled his tail! Brielle decided to name him Kiddlip. I know, what a name right? He was great though. The only problem is that now the kids ask me if they can ever have a puppy! I won't give in, but IF I ever did, this would be my type of dog. Look how cute he is!



Here is little Parker all screened in wishing he was outside with the kids too!

Now THAT is funny!

I am sure you have heard the phrase, kids say the darndest things. Well, it is true! Pretty much every day around here. I thought it would be fun to put the funny things my kids say on here every once in a while. I encourage you to join with me on your own blog, because what is funnier than reading the things kids have to say?

When Brielle was in nursery a little girl was really bothering her. She kept pulling her hair and touching her and Brielle was fed up. So she turned to the girl completely serious and said, "STOP! Don't touch me, for I am filled with the power of God." The girls stopped dead in her tracks and didn't touch her again! So funny!

One more for Brielle. She was at a friends house the other day and was asked by our friend to get out of the dining room. She looked straight at him and said, "Well, I am sorry for ruining your life" Oh my drama queen.


Benson really loves movies. He pretty much would be happy if I played Kung Fu Panda all day for him. Well, you know the part of the movie before it actually starts, that shows all the previews for other movies, yeah he loves that part to. Usually it starts out by saying coming soon to DVD. Now to the good part. Every day without fail Benson will ask me if Daddy is coming home soon. But since this love of movies began he asks, "Mommy is Daddy coming home soon to DVD?"

Well, Parker doesn't say much yet, but he sure is cute!

How do you know?

How do you know if you make the right choice on big decisions? I don't know about you but I think the biggest decision you will make in your life is who you will marry. It takes so much dating, courting, fasting, prayer, and of course love. Well folks I can say without a doubt that I made the most absolute, positive, wonderful, life changing decision when I chose to marry Doug. He is my perfect match. He makes me a better person every day, and more than that, I know he loves me more than anything else. He has been such a huge support to me over the past few weeks. He is willing to do anything he can to help me and make me feel better. I love him so much and I am so grateful for him. Thanks Doug for being my best friend. I included a picture just to show how much he has been doing. He is cleaning the bathrooms. I know, I am pretty lucky.

Tennessee

There are not many places in the world that allow you to do two oppostie activities in one week.
First, the kids played in the snow and built snowmen...


Then they rode their bikes and flew kites in 65 degree weather a week later.



Isn't the South great?

Time to Pay it Forward!

My friend Shannon started this pay it forward fun! Thanks Shan! Here's how it works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well-before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 3 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!"

The Update

Well, I am home. I never thought I would be so happy to say those words but I am. Don't get me wrong, hospitals are soo necessary, but just a bit too overrated. Anyway, I thought I would post an update so I can track my progress since coming home.

I made it home on Saturday even thought the Doctors were a little wary about me leaving the hospital with my white blood cell count still on the low end. But there really was no other tests that could be run, so I came home. The diagnosis for now is something called Postinfectious Autoimmune disorder. Pretty much it means that I had an infection and my white blood cells started attacking my body as well as the infection. This is what they think caused the inflammation in my brain, hopefully describing the headaches. That is still to be determined. So they put me on Steroids, which I take every morning. Guess what? These steroids don't make you buff, they just make you gain weight. :( Oh well, if it means no more headaches I will take it.

As for the crazy fever and body aches I am still a mystery. All they can guess is that I had some secondary infection on top of it all and we are praying I NEVER get that virus again. So now I just take the steroids and wait. I am pretty much wiped out and want to keep sleeping, which thanks to my mom being here I can get in some naps. My body has been through the ringer and I know it will take a while for me to get my strength and energy back. Slow and sure wins the race right?

I really do have to say that I am grateful for this experience. I hear people say that all the time when they go through something hard and now I know what they mean. It is amazing the great life lessons that can be learned in one week of life. Now for me it is not okay to get stressed about the little things. I want to be moving and serving and doing. I want to be proactive instead of just thinking of all the things I could be doing. Because you never know when you wont be able To do those things anymore. Are bodies are subject to the pains of the world and you can be healthy one day and sick the next. Life really is too short.

Thank you all again for the many prayers and wonderful service on my behalf. You will never know how much it means to me and my family. My cup is overflowing.