*Yearly Tradition*

Every year since I was little we have had a tradition-- on the day after Thanksgiving-- of going to the mtns to this Christmas tree farm.. walking thru woods and across the creek and going to pick out a tree.. then we go and have lunch afterwards. Then we go home, set the tree up, and decorate it. Ever since i got married and then had kids, Arnold and the kids have started going too. well this year Arnold had to work since he was out of vacation time, so the kids and I got ready that morning, went over to mom and dads house and went w/ them on the trip. We took 2 vehicles.. mom drove our van and she, I and the kids rode in there, and dad drove another vehicle and him, Alex, and his girlfriend rode in there. We got up there and it was COLD. It was in the 30s. We got out of the van and caleb said COLD COLD and wanted to go back to the van.. so we sat in the van with the kids while dad, alex and his GF went to pick out the tree. It was funny, we had Caleb so wrapped up in like 6 or 7 layers and he was huge on top and tiny on bottom... :-P After they had gotten the tree wrapped up and loaded on top of the vehicle, we left. (BTW, Caleb FREAKED out about the trees going thru the machine... but I told him it was ok-- and he calmed down lol) Anyway, we then went by the little restaurant we usually go to afterwards, but it was closed.. so we drove to a nearby Cracker Barrell. Well EVERYONE and their brother was there, it was going to be a 20 minute wait! So we just decided to go a little further and stop at a Wendys. So we finally ate lunch after 2 pm. But it was all in all a fun day! I enjoyed the ride there and back, and getting to talk to my mom. We have always been close.

Heres a few pics I took of the kids at my Parents' house before we left for the Mtns..

She likes to stick her tongue out at me :-P

She loves her teethers these days-- There should be a tooth soon!

Too bad Rachel couldnt sit up, lol :)


Protective Big Brother :)

I can hardly ever get him to smile for the camera! :)

*Thanksgiving 2009*

Thanksgiving went pretty well this year. We got up and got the kids ready and went to church at 11 am. Every year we go w/ the inlaws to eat lunch at the church... our church has this HUGE community-wide Thanksgiving lunch, thats offered to anyone... in need or people just not wanting to cook. We just go there b/c its much easier (My MIL doesnt like to cook, lol)

After lunch we went over to my parents' house. We watched the Charlotte Parade.. its a tradition to watch the parades every year. I looked thru the Black Friday ads for fun, but i knew i wasnt going shopping this year. Alex brought his new girlfriend over.. she seemed really nice. We then ate lunch AGAIN at 2 pm. I didnt eat much the 2nd time around.. had some mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, a roll and a little bit of turkey--my dad deep fries the turkey and its soooo good! :) We stayed for the whole afternoon just about.. we got Rachel to take a long nap while we were there. We all sat around the kitchen table and colored w/ Brooke and Rachel and watched "The Parent Trap".. i love that movie! :) Arnold had never seen it before. Around 6 or so i wasnt feeling too good so we went home and put the kids to bed. Arnold and I watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special on tv.. and then we passed out on the couch together-- it had been a long day! :)

Heres a few Pics I took at Mom & Dads House...

I wanted to get a pic of her in the leaves :-P

Wisdom Teeth Surgery...

Yep I finally had it done.. this past Friday morning to be exact. They had been coming in and bothering me for awhile, but i kept putting it off b/c I was scared. But then i kept getting gum infections and they said i needed them out soon, so i gave in.

I went to a Dr in Lenoir..he was really nice, and so was his staff. on the morning of, I was really really nervous and sooo hungry b/c of course they dont let you eat that morning. So my stomach was killing me! It was so cute, i kept worrying outloud and Brooke kept saying "Its ok mommy!" I love that she can understand things more now :) It helped me feel better :)

My mom came over and took me, so that Arnold could go to work that day (hes all out of vacation time from back when i was hospitalized) Anyway... we left Rachel at Aunt Nancys house while we went, and took brooke and caleb with us. From what i heard they did pretty well-- I packed them a bag of toys, books and snacks.

I went back there, laid in the chair and I was expecting to be put to sleep, b/c thats what everyone else has told me happened to them. They told me they dont do that there, but they give you good drugs thru an IV and that I wouldnt care. I was still sooo scared, my heart rate was in the 140s. Then he started injecting the meds thru the iv and i slowly calmed down but still was worried, so he gave me one more dosage and then my heart rate dropped down to the 60s or so and I was GOOD to go.. I was awake but i totally was out of it and didnt care what they were doing to me. It felt like it FLEW by. It was crazy... so surreal. So anyway, when they were done they said ALL DONE! and i was like SERIOUSLY?! It was soo hard to talk with the gauze in my mouth, i felt silly. But i was in no pain so that was good. Mom drove up to the door and they helped me walk out.. i was staggering around like a drunk person :-P

Then we drove to the CVS to get my meds... they prescribed me some Demerol. It had been about an hour and i was realllly starting to hurt, b/c the stuff they had given me at the DR was wearing off. So as soon as i got those Demerol pills, i took one. I stayed at Mom and Dads the whole afternoon and they looked after me and the kids :) I slept most of the time and then got up around 5 and tried to eat a little but it still hurt. I took another pill at 6 and just laid on the couch and watched tv until Arnold came over to pick us up. He worked a long shift that day since my parents were able to watch me and the kids.

Later that night i was STARVING and wanted to eat so bad.. Arnold went and got me a cheeseburger. I ate SLOWER than i EVER have in my entire life. it hurt so bad but it felt sooo good to have food on my stomach again! Then around 10 i took another demerol and got really woozy and went to sleep. Saturday I rested and hung out around the house and slowly started to feel better..

Today i feel about 80-90% better id say. Ive healed up really good. The bleeding stopped a lot quicker than I had imagined. And i didnt get all swollen and puffy,so that was good. I am back to eating basically all normal solid foods... so much for a diet :-P

Oh and yeah-- they bagged up my teeth and sent them home w/ me-- i didnt ask for them, they just did it anyway. I dont know if i want to keep them or not-- its kinda gross but it was also so crazy seeing them, and how big they were! and of course i had to share the pic on here ;-)

Finally Got a Pic..

Of All 3 kids sitting and looking at me! I wish Rachel was smiling though! :) And no, shes not already sitting up on her own-- im back there behind her holding her up! :-P Im thinking of cropping this pic some and using it as our Christmas card this year :) Anyway, just had to share!!

My 2nd Therapy Session..

Last night I had my second session with my therapist. Most of you know im going to one, to try and help me with my anxiety and Post Tramatic Stress Disorder. The last time I went it was pouring down rain, and last night it was nice outside and clear, so that was nice. Arnold still drove me though..his place is in Morganton and Im horrible with directions :-P

The session went pretty well, i guess. We mostly talked about my recent fears, of having my wisdome teeth out this Friday. I am TERRIFIED.. i dont like procedures/surgery to begin with, but now with my anxiety its even worse. He told me it shouldnt be too bad, that ill be knocked out the whole time and itll be over with before i know it... Thats what Arnold tells me too-- he had his taken out when he was a teenager. I guess i just have trust issues w/ Drs after what happened to me back in July, But i know they are human and can make mistakes too, and i have to realize that and move on with my life. I really like the Dr/staff at the place im going Friday, so that helps a little. They say the risk factors of anything happening are very low which is good! My mom is going to take care of me all day Friday after the surgery so that Arnold can work-- hes already out of vacation days.



Anyway, we also talked about new ways of me trying to work thru my anxiety,and some stress-relieveing activities to try. He said praying for guidance to help me thru this should make me feel better also. He told me that at my next session we will try imagery techniques and breathing exercises where you try to get to a total state of calmness and serenity. I hope that works for me-- because id really like to try and use that when Im having tough days. The therapist did say that he thinks I have a good chance of working thru this and being able to get off the anxiety meds and move on with life sometime in the near future (a few months to a year) since my anxiety is directly linked to a specific event that happened to me. He said at least this is a new thing and i havent dealt with anxiety my whole life! That is so true!



Anyway, my next session is scheduled in 2 weeks, for Nov 30th. Wish me luck! :)

Our Christmas Decorations

I think I already mentioned this, but we decorated for Christmas already! We decided to do it early since this month is jam-packed busy and this Friday i have to get my wisdom teeth out, sowe wanted to go ahead and have it done and over with. The kids love it! They get excited every morning they wake up and see the tree :)


Heres a few pics of the decorations..

Our Tree-- Its behind the couch so I didnt get a full shot

My Christmas Willow Tree Figurine

Christmas Houses


Snowmen-- My friend Jess made the middle one :)

Our Family Ornament this year-- Turtles! ;-)

The wreath on our door

TWO Parties in One Day!

saturday we had a busy day! We had TWO birthday parties to go to. One was for my friend Amy's daughter, Kaitlyn, who was turning 1. And one was for my friend Kelly's son, Kaden, who was turning 6!

The party for Kaitlyn was at their house... in their backyard and storage area thingie. It was a ladybug theme w/ pink and lime green colors, it was so cute! The cakes were AWESOME. They were made by a lady that is on the Hickory Mom group. It was the first time i got to taste one of her cakes and it was GOOD! The kids had a blast playing in the bounce house, and Brooke jumped on the trampoline for awhile..but she kept falling down :-P We had pizza from Cicis and then cake, and then watched Kait open her presents for a little bit. It was a really fun day! And we couldnt have asked for better weather-- it was so warm and sunny! :)



Later that evening we went to the other party at Little Gym. The kids have been there a few times because their cousin, Rebekah goes there for classes. They LOVE it there... The party was neat, they got to run around and play on the equipment, and they had circle time and played a few games. Then we went into the party room and had pizza and cake. Kadens theme was Transformers. It looked like he got a lot of neat presents! I think we'll have to plan a bday party for the kids there sometime in the future b/c I know theyll love it. They get to go again in Dec. for Rebekahs 5th bday party.




So needless to say, they were hopped up on sugar on Saturday but they had a blast, and thats what really matters :) We all had pizza and cake for Lunch AND dinner that day, so that was a treat ;-) The kids crashed hard that night when we got home and slept good.. gotta love it :)

Heres a few pics from the parties...

At Amys house for Kaits Party

The amazing cakes!

Birthday girl enjoying that cake ;-)


Amy and Kait :)

Brooke on the trampoline-- trying to stay up! :)

The Little Gym Party

Rach and I watching the older kids :)

The kids in the party room, eating

Mom of the Year..

This Moms' group im in, called Hickory Moms, gives out a Mom of the Year Award every year, at the annual Christmas party. People can send in the name of a person they feel is deserving of it.. and then the leader of the group lists the nominees and people vote.. and the winner gets announced at the Christmas Party.

Well anyway, today i was on the board and was surprised/happy to see that I had been nominated! It was me and 5 other moms. Right now im in the top 3... it just makes me feel so good that people seem to like me as a mom and a friend.. and think i would be deserving of that award! That really boosts my confidence! Like i said, i was shocked i was nominated. Somedays I really feel like i just dont have it together at all! But anyway-- that really made my day :) Im up against some other REALLY good moms.. a few are pretty close friends of mine, and they all deserve to win! So good luck to all of us! :-P

Christmas Gift Fund..

For the past few months I have been selling stuff on Ebay, trying to make extra cash for the Christmas gift fund, because i knew wed be tight this year. Well its been going pretty well... I sell a little bit of everything, the kids' outgrown clothes, shoes, stuff i bought and never ended up using, books of mine, old dvds, etc. Some things im surprised at how high they went for! I really love the whole process-- but its a lot of work. It really takes some time to get everything packaged up and then get it all to the post office and shipped in a reasonable amount of time. The ladies at the Hildebran Post Office are really starting to know me over there, haha :-P

Last night I took a bunch of old clothes that the kids had outgrown and some dvds and vhs tapes and other misc stuff to Once Upon a Child-- a kids' consignment store in Hickory. They usually pay pretty cheap, but they pay you right then.. and its a QUICK way to get rid of stuff and make some cash, so I decided to do that last night with a lot of the stuff that i figured wouldnt bring much on Ebay anyway. I made $52, so not too bad. Anything added to the Christmas fund helps ;-)

STRESSFUL DAY!!!

Yesterday I had a TOUGH afternoon. Somedays the kids just decide to "test" me and thats exactly what they did yesterday. Brooke and Caleb were playing in Brookes room.. and I heard Brooke yell. So i went running in there... I slid.... (its hardwood floors in there) and I fell! They had dumped out an entire bottle of SHAMPOO! Boy was that a mess to clean up. I was soooo mad. The kids both sat in timeout while i cleaned up the mess. Then they went down for their naps early. Im ok-- i just hurt my left hip/thigh a little bit, but no biggie. Oh yeah, and when i found them, they were NAKED and running around crazy. They had their little potty out. I am all for them being interested in the potty, but not when im not in there to supervise! That could create another big mess! ARGHHHH! And then neither of them really took a nap at all.. they just stayed in their rooms and rested. I was sooo glad when the day was over.

Rachel's Dr Appt...

Rachel had her 4-month appt today. She was supposed to have it last month, but we had to cancel and they didnt have another opening until today. So shes technically almost 5 months (only 8 more days-- where did the time go?!) So these are almost her 5-month stats actually, but here they are:

She is 14 lbs, 12 ozs! (she loves to eat!) ;-)

She is 25 inches long!

Arnold took her so im not sure the percentiles and all that-- The last time we had her checked she was "average" but on the tall side-- well no surprise there! ;-)

She had to have 2 shots, poor baby-- But Arnold said she did ok.

Overall shes a healthy, happy baby! :) Next appt will be her 6-month!

In the Christmas Spirit! :)

Guess what we did Sunday evening? We put up our Christmas tree! Yes, i know its kindof early, but I love christmas and wanted to do it :) Also.. the next few weeks are jam-packed busy for us-- and im having my wisdom teeth out on the 20th, so we decided to go ahead and already have it done. Arnold and I went down to the basement and got all the stuff while the kids were napping. We have a fake, prelit tree... we dont feel like dealing with the real tree these days, although someday id love to get a real one! We set it up and fluffed it out-- lol. When the kids got up from their nap they were soo excited! So it was worth it just for that. Of course they wanted to mess with it-- we had to rearrange the living room so the couch was in front of it and they couldnt get to it easily. The next day I decorated it with all our ornaments. I love looking thru our collection every year.. I still have some that I made or were given when I was a kid! We started a tradition where we buy the kids a new ornament every year. This year Caleb gets a "Cars" ornament, Brooke gets a "My little Pony" ornament, and Rachel gets a "Babys 1st Christmas" ornament :) I also found the CUTEST turtle ornmanet at Kohls a few weeks ago, so thats going to be our family ornament. (we call the kids our turtles.. long story!) Also i love to go to Hallmark a few weeks after Christmas and pick up a few ornaments for next year when theyre REALLY cheap! I love that! :)

Nice Fall Day at the Park..

This past Saturday it was such beautiful weather outside! So we decided to take the kids out. We went to Glen Hilton Park. The kids had so much fun playing on the playground and swinging. A little after we got there my Sister in law and neice Rebekah joined us. We then went on a nature walk on the trail thru the woods.. and on the walking along the bridge. Caleb LOVED seeing the ducks. He quacked at them over and over again.. it was hilarious. My neice found some girls feeding the ducks and asked them for a piece of bread... they gave it to her,and we waited for her to throw it in the water.. but she ATE it instead! HAHAHA :) She handed some over to Brooke too. Jennifer asked her why shed done that and she said MAMA IM HUNGRY! haha. Jenn was so embarassed, but it was cute ;-) After that we went by Mcdonalds and all got a a snack. I joked that we had spent all that time walking and being healthy then we went to McDonalds :-P Oh well!

Here are a few pics from the Park...

The rest of the Weekend..

Sunday we got ready and went to church... of course with the time change the kids were up EARLY with the sun :( Oh well, at least we werent late! I had a bit of anxiety at church-- still trying to work thru my anxiety issues-- so we sat right outside the sanctuary and listened to the sermon on the speakers. Thankfully the kids stayed in their Sunday school class this week! they are really starting to look forward to church and im glad :)


Afterwards we went to lunch w/ the inlaws at Ruby Tuesdays. Thank goodness my FIL had gotten a table early b/c they were PACKED! Brooke and Caleb both somehow managed to bump their heads on the table while we were there and cry-- they are both so clumbsy-- they probably get it from me ;-) After lunch we stopped by the inlaws' house to change diapers and stuff. we were invited to a 1st Birthday party of the daughter of Arnolds' best friend from childhood, Hayden. It was at a country club in Hickory.. they did a pink/green color scheme and it was so cute! The kids played for about 30 minutes, then we left-- b/c i wasnt feeling well. :( I really hope getting my wisdom teeth out soon helps make me feel better!


Last night we just hung around the house and ate a casserole my mom had made for us-- chicken, rice and veggies-- yum! We watched "Elmos Christmas Countdown" on DVD... brooke just loves that video and its Nov. so its not too early yet, right?! :-P

At lunch-- Brooke had just hit her head :(

Caleb waiting on a diaper change

My sweet baby and I :)

Shes so smily :)

Halloween 2009

Saturday was unfortunately a dreary, rainy day for Halloween! But it still went pretty well I guess. After the kids got up from their naps Sat. afternoon we got them dressed up in their costumes. Caleb HATED his at first and screamed.. but he got over it. We first went by Aunt Nancys house and showed off the kids, and she gave us all candy treat bags :) Then we went to our church for the Trunk or Treat. the kids had so much fun going around to everyone and getting candy. I dont usually give them candy often, but that night I let them eat candy in the car while we were driving around... they loved it and it kept them quiet :-P We were going to go to my parents' church also but it started raining pretty hard, so we just went on over to my parents' house to let them see the kids. We ate some dinner while we were there, also. When we got home the kids crashed hard! After they went to bed Arnold and I went thru their candy and swiped some :-P I took the 3 Musketeers and Skittles.. Yummy :)

Consultation at the Oral Surgeon..

Friday afternoon i went to the oral surgeon in Lenoir for my consultation. The dr looked in my mouth and said i definately had a gum infection.. so he prescribed me a stronger antibiotic to get rid of it. He said the way the upper left tooth is coming in, its really causing pain in my gum. We talked for awhile and i decided that Im going to have all 3 wisdom teeth taken out at the same time.. to get it over with. The surgery is going to cost $1500.00 in all... and we're filing our insurance.. we think we only have to pay 20%.. but we'll see. They said theyd need to talk to my General Dr about me going off blood thinners for a few days before and after the surgery... since im right now at a huge risk for bleeding profusely after the surgery. My general dr really wishes i didnt have to go off the meds but he knows that i need to get the teeth out so ill quit having so many infections. I am currently waiting on a call back from the Oral surgeon.. we are going to schdule my day for the surgery. I am hoping for either this friday or Friday the 20th.. b/c the other weekends in November are booked for me and i dont want to miss anything i had planned!

I am really freaked out about the surgery in general, and having to go off my blood thinners... I dont think im at risk for a blood clot anymore, but its still scary! So please pray for me if you dont mind.. that I will be safe, and that I can keep it together for this! Thanks! :)