Monday, March 29, 2010

Fun Weekend..

This weekend was pretty fun! Friday night we dropped the big kids off at my mom and dads house for the NIGHT and dropped Rachel off at Arnolds' parents house. We actually got to go out ALONE! It was so crazy, it was like we were dating again! We went to pizza hut and had dinner. So nice just to sit together and not have to worry about feeding kids. After that we went to Target-- cant have a night out w/out going to Target ;-) I finally finished up last-min shopping for the kids' Easter Baskets. Then we went to walk around the mall for awhile. I wanted to get my haircut but we waited in line forever and i got tired of waiting.. so oh well. When we went back to pick up Rachel she said MAMA for the first time! I was sooo excited! I had been trying to get her to say it forever. :)



Saturday morning we got up early so we could go to a Big kids' consignment sale in Morganton. Some friends had told me about it and ARnold said hed take me. We got some breakfast on the way. It was nice only having Rachel to deal with, it was a PACKED house! Rachel sat contently in her stroller the whole time. Lots of people came up to tell her how cute she was :) Anyway, i didnt find much at all, I was pretty disappointed. I found a few outfits for Rachel (not like she needed anymore!) and ONE top for Brooke, at least it was cute. AFter that we went to another consignment sale down the road from our house-- it was half off day and i actually DID find some stuff there. A few more outfits for the kids, a few outfits for a friend whos due next month, a backpack for Caleb, some shoes for him, and a few puzzles and books. So i was happy i went :) we also stopped by this Garden center in town and ARnold picked out some tomato plants. We plan on having a garden this year, I think that will be something fun to do as a family.



After that we went and picked up the kids. They had had a great time at their Grandparents house! they slept in the room that used to be my bedroom :) we got some lunch, then came home and they took naps. Later that night we went to Shrimp Fest which i already wrote about in another blog :)




Sunday morning we all woke up late and we RUSHED to get ready for church.. we were still a little late but I was surprised we got ready that fast! Rachel stayed in the nursery again,shes finally start to warm up to the idea, i think :) After church we went to a lunch that the youth was having to earn money for a trip. It was lasanga, salad and bread. Rachel had her first taste of Mac & cheese andshe loved it! She was grabbing a handfull before the plate even hit her highchair.. we all cracked up at her :) Also, the preachers got PIES in the face! it was sooo funny. For a $1, anyone could go give them a pie in the face. We tried to get the kids to but they were shy, so Arnold did it instead :)


After church we all took naps. Arnold and I read alittle bit out of the LOVE DARE book.. we are doing the LOve Dare and are on Day 20 or so I think... its going pretty well :)

Shrimp Fest 2010!

Saturday night we went over to Arnold's Uncle Dwight's house for their annual SHRIMP FEST! They also had crab legs this year so i was soooo happy! I love me some seafood! ;-) The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, and seeing their grandparents. It is always a packed house and hard to walk around when they have get-togethers but I know its memories we will have and hold in the future of family togetherness. This was the first family get-together without Nancy :( You could tell, it just wasnt the same. But at least we were all together and had a great time. Rachels little cousin who is 2 told me that Rachel was her baby now LOL it was so cute :) She spent a lot of time playing with her and hugging her.. Rachel ate it all up :)










Rach and one of her cousins




Happy Birthday..

Today would have been Aunt Nancy's Birthday. I wish she were here, and we were celebrating her birthday with a big party! I look back on her big 60th birthday party, it was so much fun :) She would have only been 62 today.. so sad to have died so young. But I know shes in SUCH a better place now and having a blast. We will all be together again someday! Just wanted to say Love you and Miss you Aunt Nancy!!!!




This was Nancys Big 60th Bday Bash, 2 yrs Ago

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

*Rachel is 9 Months old!*


Well my girl girl is now 9 months old! Cant believe she will be 1 year in less than 3 months! I am already planning her birthday party ;-)


She went in for her 9-month well-checkup yesterday. She was 20 lbs and almost 30 inches long! 97th percentile for height! I shouldnt be surprised though, since she comes from a family of tall people! ;-)


She had to get her finger pricked to check her bloodiron, and get 2 shots :( I always hate that part, hated to see her cry! Right after she yelled out DADA! I was like hey, im here to comfort you :( LOL! But she cant say Mama yet... ;-)


The dr said she was doing well, except she should be standing up holding onto something by now. Caleb didnt walk until 19 mos and still has problems with stairs, they said he had low muscle tone in his legs.So i guess theyre going to keep a watch on her b/c of that. We have to go back in 6 weeks for a developmental Re-check to see if shes doing that yet.. so I hope shes doing it by then! :)

*My Mother-in-Laws Bday*

Sunday was my Mother-in-laws Birthday. Arnold still wasnt feeling up to going out, so Igot all 3 kids ready for Church and took them (that in itself was exhausting!) Brooke and Caleb went straight into their class with no fuss, so i was so happy about that. Rachel was in the nursery with one other baby and happily set in the floor and played with him, it was so cute :) She even took a short nap while in there. I was amazed at how well the kids did! Anyway, after church we all went to Applebees for lunch... Inlaws, me and kids, and my SIL and neice. I had the chicken fajita rollup which is sooooo good! Baby Rach ate some of my mashed potatoes.. she LOVES people food, and will eat whatever youll give her :) We gave MIL her bday present.. We had gotten her this stuffed bear on a stand that had a saying and a banner that said GRANDMA. And an ceramic elephant lamp thing from Kirklands. Ithink she liked her gift. They came out and sang to her and gave her some icecream which she shared with thekids. All in all it was a pretty good day. I just hated that it was pouring down rain! (i get kinda scared driving in rain!) Not to mention i got SOAKED walking into Applebees. But oh well!





The kids were saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA! :)

*Sick Family!!**

Well this past week has been HARD. Lets see.. last Wed. Arnold wasnt feeling well so he went to the DR. They told him he had the flu. Caleb had been coughing real bad, and Rachel had a red eye with drainage, so we took them both to the Dr. Turns out Rachel had pink eye. Caleb just had a bad cold.. so he didnt have to get any meds. My kidneys were acting up again really badly, so i went to the dr that day too... He told me my infection had cleared up, but hewasnt sure why i still was having bad back pains and chills. He wanted me to get an ultrasound done on my kidneys to check for any kidney damage but I found out it was going to be $1,300 even AFTER insurance, so i decided to put it on hold for now.


Anyway, so Arnold took the rest of the week off from work. He stayed in our bedroom.. never came out. Just slept. It hit him hard. I took him his lunches and dinners in every day. It was tough not having any help w/ the kids at all at night so i felt like Supermom! ;-)


Two days later Rachel had been crying and NOTHING would calm her down or make her happy, so i decided to take herback to the DR again. Glad i did, b/c she had developed an Ear infection. So she was put on another medicine. I just wish they could have found it 2 days earlier to save me another copay! isnt that how it always happens though?? :(


So the weekend was pretty boring.... not able to do much because no one was feeling well. stinks because the weather outside was sooo nice!



Arnold went back to work Monday but was only able to make it half a day. Today he went back again and made it the whole day... so I think hes finally starting to do better! yay! :) As for Rachel, her eyes have cleared up nicely. And no one in the family caught the pinkeye which was amazing considering how contagious it is!

RIP Aunt Nancy..


I meant to post this last month, but it has just been to hard until now.

Alot of you know about Arnold's Aunt Nancy...she has lived next door to us and she was basically Arnold's 2nd mother because she watched him when Arnold was a little kid. They were really close. And ever since we had kids she would basically take Brooke every Friday night so we could go out together and have some time alone. She was SUCH a wonderful woman.


Anyway, for the past year she had been losing a lot of weight and looking kindof weak. I didnt really know anything was going on with her though. She was the kindof person who never went to the Doctor her whole life, either. The weekend of Valentines Day i found out she had been very sick and was throwing up alot.


That Monday the 15th she came over to our house to give the kids' their Valentines Day presents. She kindof fell on our doorstep.. but i thought she just tripped. Anyway, everything seemed ok that night I guess, the kids loved getting to see her. I was busy running around trying to get the house cleaned up after the day and trying to get Brooke a bath. If i had known, I would have taken the time to sit down and talk to her more. Unfortunately that night she walked out of our house would be the last time we'd see her :(



Anyway, Wed. morning around 8 am we got a call from my Sister-in-law saying that Nancy had been rushed to Frye hospital in an ambulance because Gene had found her unreponsive in her bedroom. Well of course everyone was going crazy and was upset, wondering what was going on. Arnold was so upset, he took the day off and stayed home with us. We kept getting updates all day. At one point her bloodsugar had spiked up to over 800,and later it was so high i was unreadable by the machine. Her daughter Beth went back to see her and she opened her eyes for a few mins and talked a little but it was mostly jibberish. She then was back out again.


We got a call around lunch time that the Drs had said they had gotten her stable, which was a good sign. She was on lots of sedation and in an actual room at that point.


Then we got another call-- things had taken a turn for the worse and she had died :( 12:30 on Wed. Feb. 17th, 2010.



They think she went into Diabetic shock. She had all the signs over the past months of developing diabetes. Diabetes runs in Arnolds family and 2 of his uncles have it.



Anyway, her funeral was beautiful. Arnold was asked to be a pallbearer. All of them wore purple ties (Nancys fave. colors) And Nancy wore a purple dress. It was soooo sad to see her like that. I just couldnt get over the shock. Things can change in an instant.


We will miss her so much, as will my kids. She meant to world to all of us.