Hawaii!

We're off!!! We fly out in the morning for Hawaii!! Crazy, huh?? Stewart and I, the girls, Stewart's mom and brother are all headed for the big island! We will return next Monday and I'm sure I will have MANY stories and pictures to share! Right now we are still trying to pack and load all the electronic gizmos we are packing for Abby's entertainment! I sure wish there was something we could guarantee Ellie Kate's successful flight! Please pray - I'm a little spastic about travelling this far with the girls, but I know that God can provide travelling mercies!

Still trying to get the March for Babies info ready to go! The march is Saturday, April 18th!

Aloha!

Another Hurdle Crossed

We are back in the land of the living! Wow - that flu virus is a humdinger! Luckily (I guess :)) I got the worst of it! Abby took a few days to shake it. Ellie Kate is still fighting off all of the congestion but we are getting more and more smiles, so I think she is starting to feel a little better! She still has a terrible time sleeping. She just smothers under all that gunk - hopefully it will start clearing out soon!

This may sound just silly to some, but last week was a HUGE hurdle for me! I have shared my "fear" complex as of late. Well I have always had a fear of my children being sick. I really don't know why - we all hate to see our children sick, but I am a real germaphobe! I am still haunted by the first bad stomach virus that Abby shared with the ENTIRE family (extended included)! We all came out alive and kicking, but I just dread sickness so bad. Well, enter child #2, born in the winter with a preschool age sibling and two parents working in germ filled elementary schools and you can imagine my paranoia! Our pediatrician has laughed and told me I was going to make Abby think she was a bioterrorist if I kept making her change clothes the instant she walked in the door! Well who brought home the germs - ME! But you know what, the Lord really helped my fear factor last week. Instead of constantly obsessing over if the girls were going to get it, I just prayed he would protect them. As the days wore on and I realized they were going to get it, I prayed he would give us all strength. As I thought about my life saving parents and mother-in-law who pitched in to help, I prayed for their strength instead of fearing for the worst. God is good! Simple prayers - simple answers. We survived. Life is back to whatever normal is these days!

Look at my divas - Oh me! Abby LOVES picking out her own clothes (when I let her), and now she is dressing Ellie Kate too! Gotta love the crown - she certainly did!

I can't tell you how much all of my "blogger" friends mean to me! I really only started this as an outlet, and because I was so inspired by Amy George's blog. She and I have met in person a few times now, and have shared a few conversations, but without her ministry through her blog, I would not know her story, her journey, her trust and faith in God and how He can lead you through the toughest trials of life. Now I have had the pleasure to communicate with others who I haven't had the pleasure to meet, but we share in each other's triumphs and trials through our blogs. Isn't God amazing?? I'm sure most of us only live within 30 minutes of each other (maybe even 5), but we would have never had the pleasure of gaining strength from each other were it not for blogs. I have always wanted to bear spiritual "fruit" along my journey. I certainly don't want to be barren and dry. Sometimes, though, I need the fruit that someone else is bearing. Several times lately, it has come through this outlet! I can't tell you how much it means to me and encourages me to see your stories, and then humbled to see your comments that you are praying for me in my journey. Amy - you'll never know how much it meant that you prayed for me that night. God is so good to watch out for us when we don't have the strength to do so ourselves! I hope I can return the favor someday.

I hope to post this week about our family team for the March for Babies. We started our team last year in memory of Olivia. I will post more as soon as I get all of our information straightened out. If you are not already affiliated with a team, I would love for you to join us!

More soon!

Total Exhaustion!

We have the flu - everyone that is except Stewart! I woke up with it Saturday. We sent each girl to a different grandparent and crossed our fingers. By Monday night, it appeared the worse was over so we let Abby come home. Well she woke up early Tuesday morning with it. Mom then called and said Ellie Kate just wasn't acting right. By the end of yesterday we had been to Huntsville Pediatrics twice and everyone had Tamiflu. Abby and I are making it OK with the help of great drugs, but poor little Ellie Kate is too little to take anything. She cried more last night than she has her entire three months combined. Stewart and I prayed and I know our family and friends were praying. Finally around 8:30, she settled down and fell asleep on top of me. She is still one sick little girl, but she hasn't gotten back to that point. Praise the Lord!

Today is Ellie Kate's 3 month birthday - wow how time flies! I will post more later, but it is amazing how far the Lord has brought us. Right now, Stewart is home and offering to take over while I go take a nap - I'm gong to take him up on it!

What a week!

Well, we survived my first week back at work - I think! It was a TOUGH week!! New routines, I had sinus crud and not much sleep, but we are all still alive and kicking and realizing that another week starts tomorrow! Abby is doing an awesome job getting herself ready in the mornings! Stewart has promised her a Chucky Cheese trip if she keeps it up! She came in one morning all dressed and said, "Look, I"m even acting perky!" Ellie Kate is still doing great. She still has bouts with her reflux, but it's better. She's in a funky sleep pattern right now that's leaving me with only 4-5 hours of sleep a night, but hopefully she'll start stretching that out a little VERY soon! Stewart's mom and a lady from our church are watching her, so that is a huge relief!

Thanks to Mimi (my Mom)! She knew we had a tough week and she had a slumber party with Abby Friday night, and EK last night. It was great to only have one girl at a time and have some one-on -one time! We also had a family get together with my grandmother, aunt/uncle, and cousins last night. The kids had SO much fun! We have another cousin on the way soon - there is still some debate over a name, but I'll let you know :)

Right now my biggest struggle is within. I think the last two years of ups and lots of downs has gotten my defenses down. Add that to crazy postpartum hormones, and I've got a fight on my hands! The doctor said it's postpartum depression. Maybe so - but I'm pretty sure the Devil has jumped in with both feet as well!! I know the Lord is not the author of confusion and the Devil would like nothing better than for me to live in fear - fear that the unexpected will happen. Fear that something will happen to one of us or the girls. I know we all have that to some degree, but unfortunately our family has experienced the reality of that! What I need to concentrate on is that we have also experienced the comfort that only the Lord can bring during those times, and trust that HE will take us through whatever may come. All of this makes perfect sense as I sit here typing, but I have to find a way to trust that in my heart. Needless to say, this daily struggle is more exhausting than getting everyone to work/school, dinner, etc. Put it all together and I've got my hands full! My greatest desire right now is to simply find a way to lay down this struggle so I can enjoy this wonderful life the Lord has given me. I know He will help me in His time. I guess that's why patience is a virtue. :)

No time for new pictures this week - maybe next week will be a little less crazy!

Some friends of ours welcomed their first little girl this week - Maleah Brooke! She was born 6 weeks early and is in the NICU, but she is making great progress. She is already off the ventilator and they are going to start feeding her tomorrow. Please pray for her and her mommy and daddy - Deanna and John. This is their first, so you can imagine what this new adventure is like!

Hoping and praying for a better week........

Valentine Recap

WOW! What a weekend! I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day - we certainly did! The festivities started on Friday with Abby's party at school. I volunteered to do the cupcakes. I considered it my last hurrah as a stay at home mom! I can't take credit though - a sister from our church actually made them! They are the most to die for cupcakes with Suzie Q cream in the middle! My Weight Watcher points FLEW out the window with those!!

Here's a shot of Abby's valentines that she passed out! Our friend Marty, (see her blog, My Crazy Life), made the pictures for her - TOO cute!!

Valentine's Day was packed with FUN! The day started with a Mother/Daughter Princess Tea at Abby's Preschool. It was so cute! They had fancy tables set up and lots of activities for the girls. They had built in a great story about a princess who saved her first kiss for the perfect prince - not the one with strength, riches or romance, but the common man with kindness in his heart. It was too sweet! I really had no idea there were books with that theme written for children, but what a great message to start exposing the girls to!




We then moved on to a Valentines party at our church. Lots of activities and games. Here are some shots of Abby with her friends.

Where was Ellie Kate during all of this?? At home warm and snugly in her PJs with her Daddy!

Stewart had some surprises in store for me as well! That afternoon 2 dozen roses showed up at my door! Then his Mom came to watch the girls so we could go to dinner and the symphony! I remember the first time I ever went to the symphony. It was on Valentines Day when Stewart and I were dating. I surprised him with tickets that year because I knew he would love it, and this year he returned the favor! I have to admit - my sleep deprived state made it hard to not nod off a couple of times, but it was great! Since Stewart's undergrad degree is in music, he was totally back in his element! It was a great surprise!! What a great man I am married too :)

Well, this is it - back to work for me tomorrow! Stewart's mom is going to keep EK for us, so that is a huge relief. I'm dreading getting a new routine ironed out, but I know that after a few days it will seem like normal. I'll post more later - today I just don't want to think about it! :) I've got both girls at home with me and we are too busy having fun to think about tomorrow!!

Good Morning!

I promised some new pictures!! EK is doing MUCH better with her reflux so smiles have been plenty the last few days.

I think maybe she and Abby were singing in this shot!

Anyone have any ideas what to get a 10 week old for Valentine's Day?? Abby is easy - too easy really! I have to control how much I buy for her! But what in the world do I get EK? Stewart said formula - HA! They flavored her Zantac chocolate so maybe she thinks that is her twice a day treat!

We have a super busy weekend planned! And of course Tuesday is when I go back to work. I am going to get as much done as I can and enjoy my last few days! :)

Weighing in at.....

13 pounds, 3 ounces!! Can you believe it! Ellie Kate had her 2 month checkup last week, and things look great! She has gained 4 1/2 pounds since Christmas Eve!! I think our pediatrician thought we had moved on from formula to Happy Meals! She passed all her checks with flying colors and even survived the shots without TOO much drama. Her biggest obstacle now is a terrible case of reflux. It seems like every baby I know has this now, but we're hoping that a combination of Zantac and lots of prayers from friends and family will do the trick! :)

Everything else around here is pretty much status quo. I am scheduled to go back to work next week (we're not talking or thinking about that right now :( ) so I am somewhere between being lazy and frantically trying to finish that "what I want to get done on maternity leave" list. I have been having some major ups and downs emotionally, but the support of my family is helping me through! I have been blessed throughout my life to feel fairly confidant in my ability to "handle" things with the help of the Lord. Recently, my body has reminded me that we've been through A LOT over the last 18 months, and it has been tough to admit that I just can't handle it all - all the time. I know with the help of my doctors, the support of my family, and the grace of the good Lord above I will survive this too! I'm starting to think that the Lord doesn't want us to get too comfortable in this life, but rather be in a condition to always remember to call on him for our needs.

Please check out my blog list and read about "The Macs". I stumbled on their blog from another one and it absolutely broke my heart. Their precious 9 month old was diagnosed with cancer 3 weeks ago, and died this weekend. Please pray for this family! Life is so uncertain - I'm glad the Lord is not!

New pictures soon!