Our Christmas Week

                                Jae making our annual Christmas cookies

                                    She loved decorating the cookies

                                    getting ready to go for a sled ride

                            I think she was saying "Ahhhh!"

                      Daddy got her going a little to fast.

                           Daddy getting her ready to make a  snow angel.

                          Jae making her Snow Angel.        

        We didn't have a lot of snow, but Jae and Daddy made a little snow man.

                             Jae and Daddy had a snowball fight!
Christmas has come and gone. Why does it always seem like it takes forever for it to get to Thanksgiving and then before you know it Christmas day is here. Then on that night I always feel like, where did Christmas go? We had a pretty good week of Christmas. It started on the saturday before Christmas. We went to my mom's house and ate chilli and homemade pizza, then we exchanged gifts. On Christmas Eve we headed down the road to Lonnie's Parent's house. We had dinner and then exchanged gifts with them too. That night it was a little hard to get Jae to go to sleep. I thought that since she had played with her cousin Becky for six hours, that she would be worn out and go right to sleep. Boy was I wrong. She opened two gifts from me and Lonnie. She got The Night Before Christmas book, new pajamas to wear that night, and Jingle the Husky pup. She was excited (especially over Jingle) and looked at us and said "Oh, Thank you Momma and Daddy!" I felt so touched that she had manners and used them. She put on her new Pajamas and Lonnie read both stories to her; then it was bedtime. Finally, around midnight she went to sleep. Lonnie set up all the presents and we went to bed. Christmas morning Jae didn't wake up until 10am. I couldn't believe it. I really had thought she would at least wake up by 6am. After we opened gifts we sat around all day playing with Jae's toys and taking it easy. That evening we got some snow, so on Wednesday morning we got up and took Jae out to play in the snow. She loves to sled. Her and Lonnie played in the snow for about an hour or more. That night we had a nice big home cooked dinner and then went to bed early. Thursday morning I had a OBGYN appointment. While we were there we learned that last month when I took my glucose test that my numbers were elevated. So, I had to schedule an appointment to do the fasting 3 hour glucose test. Oh yay!( a little sarcasm there) after the appointment we then headed to Cabot to have Christmas at my dad's house. I cooked dinner for all of us when I got there, and then we waited for my brother to come in from work. While we were waiting we went next door to visit with my Uncle and he gave Jae some presents.  It was about midnight when he got there, but the roads down there where still a little icy  and there was snow everywhere. Jae could hardly wait to open her gifts. She was so excited to get a  bow and arrow set and a Duck hunting game for outside.(the duck really flies and you have 3 chances to shoot it down)She also was happy about her flashing rain boots. Finally on Friday we had our last Christmas event. We went to my Aunt and Uncles house for our annual Garner Christmas. There we ate soup and Sandwiches and then the kids all exchanged gifts. We visited for a few hours and Jae played with her cousin Anslee and my little step sister Morgan. That night at about 9:30 we started our Journey home. We finally arrived home about midnight, unpacked and headed to bed. We all three slept good that night. My main regret about Christmas, is that I wish I could have gotten more for lonnie. We had decided not to really get anything for each other except maybe a small gift. Well, all I had got him was a Phillip Phillips cd, and He bought me a new set of beautiful dishes and a box of Coffee for my Keurig coffee maker. I felt bad, but he said there really wasn't anything he needed or wanted. All in all I think we had a pretty good Christmas. I know that Jae had an amazing Christmas. She thanked everyone for her gifts and loved every present. It warmed my heart to see her so happy and appreciative, even if she is only 3 years old.

sorry so long,but it's been 5 months!

The last time I blogged was back in July. We had just celebrated Jaelyn's 3rd birthday and also found out we were expecting another baby. I believe the shock of the news has finally worn off, but now we are super excited to know we will be expecting a boy in March of 2013!
     Lonnie and I don't really have disagreements that often, but this time when it comes to picking out a name for our lil guy, we just haven't been able to agree on any name. I am one of those people that like to do things early such as: picking out the baby's name, getting the room ready, and having everything organized for the baby done months early. With Jaelyn her first name was picked out pretty much from day one, and her middle name was picked out four months before she was born! With her room, everything was done from the flooring being laid in her room to the outfits being organized two months early. This part would have been done even sooner, but Lonnie came down with Pneumonia and was in the hospital for a while. So I get pretty frustrated when We have about 3 months left to prepare for our lil guy and nothing is ready. We don't have a name our the room even started. we have all the furniture, we just need the bedding and paint! Plus right now that room is a craft room/catch all room!
     This pregnancy has been so much easier on my body than my first was. So far I have hardly been  sick at all. I have gained 13 pounds, and I can still wear some of my regular jeans. My blood pressure is staying Great this time too. No signs of pre-eclampsia this time at all. The only thing I have experienced this time is
heart burn with acid reflux  and a busted blood vessel in my eye. In a way I am happy I had the bad experience with my first pregnancy, because it amazes me this time at how good I feel. With my first pregnancy I was sick for hours a day. I threw up even when I drank water! This was pretty much the entire time, and I had horrible headaches. I gained 75 pounds, my blood pressure usually stayed at 155/110, and my hands, feet, and face swelled from week 24 on. I was put on bed rest at 28 weeks due to pre-eclampsia too.
     Jaelyn is so excited about having a lil brother. She can't wait. Every time I go to the doctor and she doesn't come with us, she asks if they took the baby out of my belly. She is even trying to help name him! I can't wait to see what a great big sister she will be. I am glad it has worked out the way it has and that my children will be almost  4 years apart. 

                                                                   6 weeks pregnant!

                                                                    9 weeks pregnant!

                                                                   22 weeks pregnant!


    

Jae's 3rd Birthday and a Huge Surprise!

     On July 7th we had Jaelyn's 3rd Birthday Party. We were throwing her a Dora the Explorer Party and had it all planned out. Well the afternoon of her party we got some huge winds coming through our yard and then a heavy down pour of rain for about an hour. ( we had not seen rain in almost 2 months.) After the rain stopped our electric went out. This is not a great thing to happen when you have 20 people coming over and still haven't cooked the mexican casseroles to serve. About 2 hours before the party was to start we packed up the casserole items and headed about 15mins away to Lonnie's parents. We got there and I prepped and cooked the casseroles and fixed my hair, and then we headed back home just in time to greet our first party guests. We still had no electric and found out that the line that went from the main line to the pole in our yard had been snapped by the crazy wind storm. So We had the party by candle light  and sun light, and opened up the windows. It was not that hot outside since it had rained, but it was getting to be muggy. Jaelyn had a blast playing with her friends. To my surprise everyone enjoyed the Mexican Chicken Casserole, Cheese Dip, and Cupcakes.
Jaelyn was so excited about going out and hitting the pinata, that she wanted to go outside after every present she opened. We had to make her stay inside and open them all. She got some great gifts: clothes, a big pool, toys, and pool toys. The electric came on after the party had been going for about 2 or 3 hours, so then my dad, lonnie, and the kids all had a water ballon fight. Everyone enjoyed  the party and had a great time visiting.
     The next morning was Jaelyn's actual Birthday. When she got up we gave her the gifts we had for her. There were a few little things and then she opened her Doll House. She had been wanting this doll house since Christmas. Every time we went to eat at the Cracker Barrel she would play with it. We also had bought her a little guitar, so she could play it when daddy played his. She loves it when her daddy plays his guitars.We took her to eat at the Cracker barrel and had the staff sing Happy Birthday to her. She got a little scared when they sang to her, but boy did she love her chocolate brownie and ice cream. I can't believe my baby is already 3 years old.
     The week before and  of Jaelyn's Birthday  we had been doing some major cleaning out at our house. So, I had decided to get rid of all of our baby stuff. It took about 7 years to get pregnant with Jaelyn and I truly thought since it had already 3 years after her that we would probably not be having any more children. Every thing got sold except some clothes. I mean I sold the stroller/carrier set, little stroller, walker, jumper, 2 bigger car seats, pack n play, swing, and high chair. Almost all of it was truly for a girl only all pink and brown. I was so relieved to be cleaning out my garage and extra bed room. So about 2 - 3 weeks later I was feeling bad and the pain kept getting worse. I thought I was getting a kidney infection so i made a doctors appointment. Back in May I got sick all of the sudden with some of the same pain and with in 2 days was admitted to the hospital for 2 days with a serious Kidney infection. So I went to the doctor expecting to hear you have a UTI and take these antibiotics. The Doctor Came in and said yes it looked as though I had a little bit of infection and I had felt the symptoms early. So she prescribed me some antibiotics and asked a few questions and then said do you want us to run a pregnancy test? I said sure but it took 7 years the first time and I highly doubt it will be positive this time. So, I sat in the room for about 10 minutes waiting on her to come back, and finally she popped her head in the door and said "It's Positive". I was in shock. At first I really thought she was joking with me and then it sank in I realized whey would she lie or joke about this to me. She asked if I wanted to see the test and have it. I said yes, because I wanted to show it to Lonnie so he wouldn't think I was joking. I opened the door to the truck and handed him the positive test. His eyes got so big. He looked at the test and then at me, and then back at the test. The first things out of his mouth were I guess I need to start working more and I told you that you had been acting strange. He had asked me a couple of times if I was pregnant, because he said I was very emotional lately. We were in shock for a few days, and Some people said maybe it's a sign we're gonna have a boy this time. since we sold all of our girl stuff. We are pretty excited and just hoping to have a healthy pregnancy this time. Girl or Boy we are still excited!!

Sunny Wishes,

The little things in Life

So far this summer we've made a few little Road trips. Just day trips to see different things. Jaelyn loves to ride in the car and especially loves singing to the radio in the car. So our day trips started off a couple of weeks ago by going to Bentonville. We walked around the Square, looked through the walmart museum, and then we toured Crystal Bridges Art Museum. Jaelyn did pretty good all day and She really enjoyed The pretend station in the Kids area of the Museum. Our next trip me, Lonnie, and Jaelyn went to the Oklahoma Aquarium. Since our child is obsessed with sea life and this place was only 3.5 hours away we thought we would take her there. She was mesmerized by all the fish. She loved getting to see "Nemo" and "Dorie" and "Nemo's Dad". When we walked through the Shark tunnel she was fine( My daughter loves sharks) until we stood her up by the glass so I could get her picture with the sharks in the background. She began to cry and said she was so scared, until she go back down on the floor and then laughed and pointed some more. We did have a little melt down because she did not want to go into the bathroom at the Aquarium before we were leaving and she wanted to go through a second time and see all the sea life again. All and all we drove 3.5 hours there, spent 3 hours looking, and drove 3.5 hours back home. The last little road trip me Jaelyn took was through NW Arkansas. We went with my Mom and Step dad again. We went to Eureka Springs to check out the Glass Cathedral, but  there was a wedding going on so We didn't get to look at it. Then we drove across the last Standing Suspension Bridge in Arkansas to get to the tiny town of Beaver. From there we  came across this little family chocolate factory called "Greers Candies" and stopped and tried some Chocolate. Let me just say if you ever drive through Gateway, Arkansas stop there and try some of their Candies. They even have Sugar free and it is very tasty too. All done by hand and by the same family for many years. Jaelyn then got to go through The NW Arkansas tunnel for the first time. I believe she was amazed that we had drove through a Mountain. Our final stop that day was dinner at the Cracker Barrel!
This week we have enjoyed fun a little closer to home. On the 4th we went to a cook out at some friends of ours and visited and enjoyed a huge water balloon fight. Since the burn/firework ban was in effect we enjoyed water balloons. I honestly don't think anyone there missed the fireworks at all. Jaelyn has been wanting to go fishing again, so yesterday we went to Horsehead Lake and fished for about 1 hour. Jaelyn and I didn't even get one bite, but Lonnie got a few bites and caught a pretty good size Bass. I have truly enjoyed being able to spend so much time with my family this summer.

                                        Jae in awe of "Nemo".

                                                 feeding time at the Shark tank!

                                    This is were she started to get scared.

                                                  Jaelyn and Lonnie.

                                                       Jaelyn and Me.

                                           Suspension bridge we went over

                                         Yummy chocolate covered strawberry!

                               Jae eating her yummy Sugar free Choc. covered pretzel

                                     Throwing her first water balloon!

                                           Going into the Tunnel

                                     Beautiful view of Horsehead Lake

                         Lonnie and his Bass he caught

                                         Jaelyn playing on the dock

                                                                  My silly girl!!

Hidden gifts from Grandma 13 years later

A couple of weeks ago Lonnie was going through boxes we had stored in our shop, and he came across a box full of new blank canvases. They had been my grandma's. She had loved painting and took it up as a hobby in the mid 80's.

 These are two of her paintings that hang in our home now.The seashell one my grandma painted especially for me for my 13th (i think) birthday, It hangs in Jaelyns room now. The Swan painting( that is a pic of my PA inside the painting) hangs in our extra room. I have tons more put away in storage!
 Anyhow when my Grandparent's passed away, the canvases were left in the house and I decided to take them home with me. I am sad to say they ended up in a box, and now seven years later I have found the perfect use for them. I decided we could use them for art projects for Jaelyn. On Tuesday I took Jaelyn outside along with some finger paint and a paint brush. My little girl will not use her fingers to paint. She can't stand the paint to get on her hands. So this is what she did...

She had a blast painting and had to pose with her daddy with her finished project! Even though Jae and her Great Grandma never met; I still like to think the canvases were a hidden gift for Jae! I think Grandma would be so PROUD.


Sunny Wishes,

 

A fulfilled Sunday

Around our area, we have hardly seen rain in about a month. So, on Sunday when the sky filled with clouds I couldn't help but feel Joy. Rain you are welcome to my home any day! 

Jaelyn and I  decided to make some Humming bird Juice (her words) for the two Humming birds that come to our porch. She loved pouring and mixing the powder and water. You would have thought I bought her some great toy or something.

After making the "bird Juice" we played a game of Hide and Seek. This is pretty funny to watch. A 2year old that will count  a little out loud and then says "ready or not here I come", but never closes her eyes. She also would run from me every time. Lets just say it was pretty much a game of chase. She  really enjoyed it!

                                

The rest of the afternoon consisted of her eating yogurt on the porch, driving her truck, looking at plants in the yard and then playing in the rain. Then it was off to take a bath while it rained pretty hard; and just as I was about to finish prepping dinner and put it into the oven the Electric went out. So me and Jae sat around talking and goofing off until it came back on two hours later. Then it was time to eat dinner and get Jae off to bed.

Today I came across a blog that told a tearful story of a family's loss. They lost their only child at the time due to an accidental drowning. This was one of the most heart wrenching stories I have ever read. This Mother and Father are truly an inspiration. To go on and be so strong after losing a child has got to be the hardest thing to do. I felt so much sympathy and love for their family, and I realized how blessed I am to have my little girl. After reading this blog I decided to spend as much time doing  fun things with my own child. I want to look back and see how much I enjoyed these days of her being little.

If you want to check out this Lovely and Inspiring blog I found; you can look at it at
http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/

Did I mention How much I LOVE this little girl? She's Mine and Lonnie's World!


Sunny Wishes,