Alot to be THANKFUL for and alot to PRAY about!

I have so much to be thankful for Lord and I know that! I am so thankful for my beautiful house, my hard working husband, and my healthy, silly little boys! I am OH so thankful for Carson's sweet little heart! I love the way he has the most kind personality sometimes! Last night as I tucked him in he said, "I love you mommy" Of course I responded with "I love you more!" and he said, "I love you more mommy!" ...as I walked out of the room he must of said," Mommy I love you!"10 more times!" Even after I had closed the door, I could still hear him in there professing his love to me! I would periodically walk by and suffice him with an I love you too, but that sweet boy shouted his "I love you's" until he fell asleep!! Goodness Lord, I am so thankful for his little love! I am just as greatful for my silly little Camden! I am oh so in love and thanful for his little scrunched up nose! He makes the most adorable face when he is super happy or mad and I love it! He scrunches up his little nose and its just adorable...see? It is that little face that makes my heart skip a beat! He has the most contagious laugh too!!! Its just about the cutest noise I have ever heard!!! Thank you so much Lord for giving me these two very special little boys!!!

I am SOOOOO Thankful that school is DONE for the quarter! I seriously am in need of a break and I think its well deserved, especially since I will be ending this quarter with two A's and a B! I feel like that is a big accomplishment for someone who has as much going on in life as I do!! I have done the best job I can do and I am just PRAYING I get accepted into the nursing program! I have completedall my core classes and I have submitted everything I need to be accepted. I won't know for sure if I have been accepted until possibly as last as December and the nursing Program starts January...PRAY FOR FAVOR PLEASE! I feel like I have worked very hard. I have a GPA of 3.6- which = 3 A's and 2 B's and I scored high on the nursing entrance exam so I am just hoping I have God's favor and everything works in his perfect plan for me!!!

ok, now I think its time to ask for something a little more important. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for my father in law. As many of you are aware, Derek's dad has been through so much lately! Last year he overcame stage 4 lung cancer, and now he is going through a whole new thing and we just aren't sure what is happening at the moment. For the last few months Derek's dad has been having dizzy spells. He will get very dizzy and sometimes he is doing nothing but just sitting down. WEll he had set up an appt to see his Dr.(the appt was supposed to be today) and yesterday(Sunday) Derek's mom called us while we were at at birthday party and asked Derek to come right away, she explained that his daddy was having a horrible dizzy spell and that he had been laying on the couch for over an hour and couldn't get up! Derek and I (along with the kids) rushed to his house, about 5 mins before we got there his mom called again and said for him to get there QUICK because his dad was starting to shake, and was kind of crumpled over! Derek FREAKED and put the petal to the floor(thank you GOD for your protection)! When we got there, Derek's dad couldn't get up and Derek and his brother in law Scott had to CARRY his dad out of the house and into the truck! Derek told me to follow him to the hospital and off we went! Poor Derek's mom was crying and the whole family was just a nervous wreck! When we got to the hospital and Derek tried to get his daddy out of the truck, he again could bare no weight on his legs and just crumpled really out of the car. My sweet husband is now sobbing at this point and just hearbroken seeing his daddy like this! They immediately took him back and ran many test, all with no answers. They admitted him over night and he is STILL completely numb on his left side of the body! At this point the nuerologist is saying he feels a stroke is the cause, but he said he will NOT stop until he has a certain answer as to what is wrong. We all had a very hard time seeing Derek's dad in this condition. He was and still is NOT acting himself. He is doing very strange things and moving his body without even knowing what he is doing. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM!!!!! He is really an amazing man, and loved by many. He is Carson's very best friend and it would just devistate all of us if something happens to him!!! I know God is in control and that he is wrapping his arms around our family right now, but this is just a very scary time for us and we need all the uplifting and prayers we can get! I will keep everyone updated as we know more!!

Our weekend with the FLU

It all started Friday morning. Derek was getting Carson ready to go to school( I call it school, I guess its really daycare. They do learn lots so humor me and call it school too lol) . Anyways, back to what I was saying...Ahemmmm... so Derek was getting Carson ready for school and I could hear Carson crying and not being his normal happy self. Although I do not have school on Friday, I usually use that day to get all the things I cannot get done during the week. I typically do alot of cleaning and studying on those days and I have Cam here with me. I got up out of bed and Derek said to me, " I don't think Carson is feeling good, maybe he should stay home with you today!" I could just look at Carson and tell Derek was right. I felt his forehead and he didn't feel warm, but I asked Carson if he would like to stay home and go back to sleep with mommy, and he said, "yes!" So, it was off to sleep we went. We slept until about 8:30 and then got up to eat some breakfast. Carson and Cam played and Carson seemed in a much better mood than the first time he woke up. He had a strange dry cough, but nothing I would even think to worry about. About 10:30 I noticed Carson was very quiet. Him and Camden were watching cartoons, and I looked at Carson and it was unmistakable. His little face was beat red, his eyes puffy and swollen, and I felt his head...HE WAS BURNING UP! I took his temp. and sure enough 102.8! It all happened so fast. I immediately gave him tylenol and called the Ped. center. They told me to bring him in around 1:15. I hurried and got all of us ready and then dropped Cam off at his Meme's house. Those of you with two children can agree, two babies in a Dr's office is more than alot of work, its exhausting. Plus, I knew Carson needed his mommy's undivided attention. We got to the Dr. they brought us right back and took his temp. Even after the tylenol it was still high, infact it had increased to 103.1! The Dr. took one look at Carson and said, "Mom, I hate to tell you this but I can almost guarentee you he has the flu." Then he proceeded to say, "And there is a very good chance its H1N1(better known as the SWINE Flu)" I sat there and just was shocked. How in the WORLD did my baby get the swine flu. The swabbed his nose(which was NOT an easy task, he wasn't HAVING it at all) and we waited for the results. Sure enough, he tested positive for both flu A and Flu B- which is a sure sign of swine flu. The dr. wrote us a prescription for Tamiflu and sent us home with the fear of knowing this is very easily spreadable!

The first night was pretty bad. Carson was miserable. His fever was up and down and he would look at his daddy and I with the most pitiful face and say, "Mommy , Daddy...I don't feel good....I HURT!" He had me in tears several times. It is hard hearing that sweet voice tell you how bad they feel. Cam seemed to be weathering fine and I just held out hope that JUST maybe he would be spared. Keeping them seperated with impossible though. They are brothers and love to be around each other. I did my best, but it wasn't easy. We let Carson sleep with us that night because his fever was around 104 and not breaking and we were just worried sick about him. It didn't hurt either that he BEGGED to sleep with us. It was a ROUGH night to say the least. He spent most of the night coughing and his daddy and I spent most of the night tossing and turning. Here is Carson probably at his sickest, laying in Mommy's lap

Saturday we all got up and it was obvious that no matter the precautions, it had gotten to Cam too! Same dry cough, puffy eyes and red face. I felt his head, sure enough he was warm. I immediately called the Ped center and they were nice enough to just go ahead and call Tamiflu in to the pharmacy for Camden. No need to see him, it was quite obvious what was wrong with him. I think Saturday was the hardest, both boys were needing their mommy, and Derek had to work. I did the best I could, I made them both as comfortable as possible, and kept them hydrated. I knew Camden had to be feeling pretty bad because he had absolutely NO desire to eat. Anyone who knows him knows this is NOT him at all. That boy EATS any chance he is given. Guess I need to just say, THANK GOD FOR PEDIALYTE. When Derek got home it took a big load of me, I was able to hop in the bath and run to town to grab Cam's meds and stock up on more pedialyte and motrin. By that night Carson was doing better. He was still running a fever, and acting kind of puney, but he wasn't lethargic anymore and was moving around a little better. Camden on the other hand was the sickest I have ever seen him. He was burning up and just looked pitiful. He layed in my lap or his daddy's and just moaned. It was pretty heart wrenching. His daddy and I prayed over him and just ask God to give his little body some relief. Around 7ish I took his temp and it was 103. I dosed him with tylenol and gave it a little time. After an hour still no change so I gave him motrin and again waited. By 9:30 it was still 103 and I was getting worried, so I broke out the rags, got them cool and put them on his head. Here he is sitting with daddy, trying to get his fever to break
I am not sure it ever did, but he feel asleep I must of held him for a few hours and just listened to him breathe. I honestly felt helpless, and my mommy instincts were having a hard time accepting that I couldnt fix this or make it all better.

This morning(Sunday) Carson was almost back to his old self. He was running a low grade fever, but his silly little spirit was renewed and it was very relieving! My little bear on the other hand was still burning up and I wasn't really sure his fever had ever broken from the night before. His daddy just held him and rocked him and it was pitiful just listening to him whimper. I again dosed him up with some tylenol and waited. After an hour had went by and nothing had changed I was ready to load him up and head to the ER. I couldn't stand to sit there and watch my baby be so miserable. After going back in fourth in my head though, I reasoned with myself and came to the conclusion that taking him there would probably be a waste. I knew there was nothing they could really do for him. I knew I could do just as much as they could here at home and he would probably be alot more comfortable here too. Since Carson was feeling better he was my little helper boy. He fed Camden some rainins for me see

As the afternoon has progressed, God has answer our prayers and BOTH boys are feeling better. Their fevers are still around 101-102 but they are getting their energy and silly little personalities back. As much as I am so sad this happened to them, it was nice getting to be their MOMMY. They wanted me, they wanted my love and affection. Just me sitting and rocking them was medicine to them. Corny as it is, Mommy and Daddy's love helped them get better. There is NO better feeling in the world than knowing you are someones hero and protector and this weekend made me just thank God that I am these sweet boys mommy! Unfortunantly, I am not feeling so good now, but I will push through and just be thankful my baby boys are OK! :-)

This is them NOW, watching some Dora, and feeling much better!

The moments that make my heart SMILE!

In past posts I have blogged about Carson and his non-existent potty enthusiasm. When I first hopped on the potty wagon, I just envisioned Carson knowing exactly what to do, catching on with no problems, and this whole potty thing being a piece of cake. I WAS WRONG! After many packs of pull-ups, a child who had NO interest in going on the toilet whatsoever, and a mom(ME)who was thinking that she'd end up with a 6 year old still in diapers, things were NOT going as planned. After meeting with some other moms at a Breastfeeding group I go too( I know, WEIRD..I don't even breastfeed anymore, but I got attached to the other moms there and haven't been able to ween myself away yet lol) I got some helpful advice, and a new determination. I have heard so many things lately about just letting the child be naked and that way if they do go on the floor they can actually visuialize what exactly they are doing. This is about the LAST thing I wanted to do. I could just SEE myself spending the day scrubbing poopy and pee out of my carpet. With much hesitation though, I knew I needed to give it a try. So Saturday I decided it was now or never. I took off Carson's diaper and put him on his potty. I explained to him that he was a big boy now and no longer needed to wear a diaper. I told him that if he felt the urge that he should go on the potty and not on the floor. Nervous as I was, I just crossed my fingers and prayed for the best! The best is EXACTLY what I got, Carson caught on immediately and only had ONE accident on the floor(and he did it was right next to the potty) other than that, he used the potty everytime he had to go that afternoon! Yes, there is that proud little boys using his potty like a pro! I think Camden wanted in on the action too, but he will have to wait his turn! Sunday, we went to church and I put him in a pullup because we have a strict policy in our church nursery that unless a child is FULLY potty trained they must wear a diaper or pullup! When he had the pullup on not ONCE did he ask to use the bathroom. I was not happy when I heard this, but I expected it because to him a pullup is just a diaper. After church, I went to walmart and bought him a package of new big boy underwear, I was determined not to give up! When he woke up from his nap Sunday, I took off the pullup and showed him what I had bought. Carson was soo excited, they have cars on them and he loves them. Here he is in his new undies! Can you guess what happened after I put those on? NO ACCIDENTS the rest of the day. He went on the potty every single time! Its amazing what not having a diaper or pull ups on has done for him! I don't even have to ask if he needs to go, he just goes to the bathroom, does his stuff, and then comes out and say with the biggest smile, "MOMMY I DID IT!" I am so proud of him! Today, he went off to school in big boy undies. I was slightly hesitant, but I have faith that he will do well. Derek said he didn't pee at all on the way to school and as soon as he walked in the door, he told his teacher he needed to potty! WAY TO GO CARSON! :-)

Other moments that make my heart smile are ones like this When Carson and his daddy are so preciously asleep on the couch! Soo sweet!

Or this When Camden has the cutest, cheesiest, smile on his face!

Yes, I have ALOT of reason for my heart to smile!

Doctor, Doctor...give me the news!

Many of you probably aren't aware that I have been having some medical issues lately! Irregular and sometimes NO periods, tiredness, trouble loosing weight(no matter the constant exercise and dieting), and lots of emotions rising up and crashing down. At first glance these symptoms scream PREGNANCY! EEEEEKKKK! Yea, that is what I thought too. Just the though of being pregnant right now can almost make me burst into tears! Don't get me wrong, we WANT more children, but now is just not the right time! I have so much going on with school and lets not forget I have two BABIES here at home, both still in diapers. Adding a third baby to the mix just is asking for pure chaos! I know something is just not right with my body though. Don't worry I am NOT pregnant! Actually, my Dr. and I very much think it's my thyroid and that is something that hopefully will easily be treated with medication! I won't know for sure that is the problem until Monday, but I did go to my Dr. today and we did the blood work to get a for sure result. I did however rule out that pregnancy is definitely NOT the problem though :)

What I LOVE about my life!!!

WARNING: This has the potential to be a long blog! It will be filled with lots of updates and fun things to know about :-)

I(probably like many of you) spend a fair amount of time complaining. It is fair to say that I have moments of weakness when I forget all that I have and start complaining about all that I don't have!! I thought I would post a blog and just layout all I am truly thankful for and give some updates while doing it because its been a few weeks since I blogged!!! I think it would be a neat things for all of you to do too! '

*What I love about my life 1* My FAMILY! :)
I love that I have a hard working husband who is QUITE good looking if I do say so myself, and who is an amazing dad to our kids. I love that I have two little boys who could ALMOST pass for twins, but have such different personalities. I love that although they aren't even CLOSE to being perfect, well behaved children, that they do have a very sweet and loving side! I absolutely LOVE the way they love each other. Just about nothing makes me smile bigger than Carson asking me where is "Bubba" or they way he says, "Cam C'mon, lets go Bubba" when he wants him to come play!

I LOVE God and my church. I love the people there and the good feeling I get when I walk in on Sunday morning. I LOVE LOVE LOVE working in our church nursery. Allot of you are probably thinking after having two kids of my own, why would I want to deal with other peoples, but honestly it isn't like that at all. I am creating bonds with all these children. I love playing with them and watching my children get to interact with them too, and how could you not love moments like THIS one? Two sweet babies snuggled up in my lap? Yes, life is good!

I LOVE(and I mean SERIOUSLY LOVE) Target. I love the way I can spend hours on end in that store and still not be ready to go. I love the dollar bins when you first walk in, and all the cool stuff I find in there. I love their baby clothes, and their women's lounge wear(SOOO CUTE!) and I LOVE that they have a Starbucks there so I can order whatever my little heart desires that day! Weather it be a Mocha Frap, or a Hot Chocolate....*Sigh*Life is SO good!

I LOVE Kohls just about equally as much as Target! I love how I can get my whole family new clothes there and feel soo good about they money I spent. I love how they send me 15-20% off coupons regularly, which gives me a GREAT excuse to cruise on down there and put that savings to use!!!

I love my friends! Life would be so boring without them! I love the way we laugh together about silly things and are always there for each other when we need to be! I love hanging out with them and letting our kids play together. I really am thankful that God has blessed me with such great people in my life! I guess this one won't have a picture because there would be too many friends to put up here, but you all know who you are! :)

As much as I hate to admit this....I LOVE SCHOOL! I know, I know, I am a DORK! I can't help but love how accomplished I feel while I am there. Although it is extremly challenging, time consuming and stressful, I am oh so proud of myself for working so hard to pursue my dreams! *I equally love those nice little BREAKS from school that I get too though :-)......speaking of...one of THOSE is coming up very soon!!!

Guess my point in doing this is just to remind MYSELF mostly how much I have in life that is good! It gets too easy sometimes to focus on the negative and I don't think that is very pleasing to God. I am a lucky girl and I need to remind myself sometimes! :-)

Old Folks

Yall, I truly am OLD. No, I don't look old(infact, I frequently have fellow students GAWK when I say I am married with children, they say I look too young)but deep down I am! I am OLD inside I guess. I never, EVER thought this would be me, but it is and I am embracing it!

Here is why I say I am SO old

Old folks example #1- my husband likes to watch UFC which usually doesn't end until between 12 and 1 a.m. We usually have company over who enjoy watching it with us, but LONG before the fight is over, I have told my company, and my husband good night and am OFF to sleep in my bed! Maybe that seems extremely rude, but it seems extremely RATIONAL to me because no matter how late I choose to stay up, my children will not care and STILL but up by 7:30. I am NOOOOOO fun when I haven't had enough sleep, so I choose to sleep instead of stay up late.

Old folks example #2- I am getting so set in my ways. I find myself needing things to be "just so" and not wanting to conform to anything else.

Old folks example #3- I find myself saying "Kids these days", and, "Back when I was growing up". I mean MY GOODNESS I am 22, not 85. Back when I was GROWIN UP ..is still NOW ...so what in the world am I doing saying these things!


Yep, its official...I AM OLD...Oh shoot..late for Bingo night...got to go!.......... :-)



JUST KIDDING

The bi-polars of parenting!

I truly hope I am not the only mom out there feeling this way! If you can agree please comment and say AMEN lol

So, today as I am trying to clean my house spic and span, and manage to very active children, I started to realize how being a parent can truly make you seem a little bi-polar. I woke up this morning to two adorable, bright eyed boys who were just as sweet and loving as they could be. I made them breakfast and we laughed and played. We sang songs and did lots of fun snuggle time! I turned on cartoons and my Doodle(carson) said, "Mommy sit and watch Dora." He wanted me to sit with him and snuggle while we watched Dora. I thought my heart would BURST from how much love I was feeling towards my little guys.

I looked around my house and knew cleaning was way over due. I have cleaned my house many times with both boys here, and although it can be challenging, the job gets done. I started with the guest bathroom, because it is very easy to see my living room from there, hence I can see the boys watching cartoons. As I am scrubbing the tub, I realize it is all too quiet and decide to just take a peek at the boys. I see Carson standing in front of the couch, milk carton in hand and I get an overwhelming pit in my stomach. As I round the corner, terror sets in and I find that Carson has hit an all time high with this little stunt he has pulled. You see apparently Carson thinks he is grown and decided to get his cereal bowl and fill it with milk. Even if he had done this at the kitchen table, it would of been bad, but COME ON, why did he have to choose the couch? Are you getting a mental picture yet. Yup, you guessed it, a couch cushion FULL of milk :). Thank goodness I have leather couches, but still clean up was a JOB! That is when the SCREAMING lunatic came into play! I screamed, popped his little hinny and sent him to his room! Holy moly..I went from loving mommy to crazy lady in 2.5 seconds! After taking a few moments to calm down, I calmly went into Carson's room and explained to him that if he needs something he should ask ME and not take it upon himself to do it. He told me he was sorry and that he would NOT go in my fridge again......I won't hold my breath! ;-)

I love my boys more than life itself. I wouldn't trade a moment with them for anything in this world, but I must admit they know how to make a woman crazy!.....Oh don't worry I'm back to "over-the moon in love" mommy mood...but that could change in a matter of seconds! :)