The Horton Family

Pillowcase Dress

2010-02-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

Yes! That's right! I am slowly but surely becoming better acquainted with my sewing skills! Who knows, maybe I'll be the winner on Project Runway one day! HAHAHA! That was just a joke! Anywho, I made this super cute Spingtime pillowcase dress tonight. I am going to give it to one of my friend's little girls. I hope she likes it!

We are still sick but have a clean house....

2010-02-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

After 2 weeks of having RSV, Jack and I are still fighting this sickness. NOT FUN! Although we haven't been feeling too sick, we still have all the symptoms. It's like having a REALLY bad cold. I know I can handle it but I was just worried about little man. A few days ago, Chance told me that he had noticed that Jack was pulling on his ears. I was like well I haven't seen it but I will be watching for it. I never saw it happen. Well since Jack's congestion hasn't gotten any better, we decided we better take him to the doctor today before it is the weekend. Low and behold, the poor baby has double ear infections. I feel so bad for him. Luckily, he isn't acting like he has them so I am thankful that we caught them early enough before they got bad and he started to run fever. Ear infections are very common with RSV. Jack's doctor said it can sometimes take 4 weeks before adults start to feel better so that I need to go to my doctor and get some antibiotics to clear me up. I think I have a sinus infection now. I just wanted to update everybody on this yucky RSV virus. It is not fun at all. John Parker is 100% better. No coughing, congestion, or runny nose! Thank the good Lord. Now if Jack and I could just get better.

I have to brag on my husband a little bit too. Being sick and having sick babies has definitely worn me out. I am sure Chance is sleepy too. But instead of him being selfish and sleeping in, he let me sleep in. I slept til 1:00!! Can you believe that?? When I woke up, I could see that my floors were swept and mopped and he had dusted the living room. He also picked up all my junk in the kitchen from sewing and piled it up nicely and clean the kitchen! I was so impressed! It made my day! So thanks honey!! I love you!

Simple Pleasures

2010-02-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

After reading a few of my bloggy friends lists, I decided to blog about my simple pleasures. I love the idea of being able to put all the things that just make me happy on a list so that I can always have it to think about. I am so lucky and thankful to have so many wonderful things to make me smile. I am sure this list could be a mile long, but here are some of my favorite simple pleasures:

*The way Dr. Pepper burns your throat when you take your first drink in the morning.

*Puppy Breath

*When John Parker gets to laughing really hard. It cracks me up.

*A clean house. It is rarely this way so I get extra excited when it is.

*The smell of clean clothes, towels, bed linens. I use a little too much softener. =)

*Saying something to Jack and he just turns and grins at me.

*Just being a mom. Although it is sometime stressful, it is the best thing I could ever ask for.

*Seeing my family, but especially getting to see my Dad's side of the family because they live 3 hours away.

*Making crafts and sewing.

*Getting the bills paid early and not have to stress about them for a while.

*Paint pens.

*A long hot bath.

*My iPhone. I really don't know what I would do without it.

*Getting my eyebrows waxed. I feel like a new woman afterwards.

*Driving in the car by myself when I can listen to my music and sing as loud as a want.

*My Granny Griffith's chocolate and biscuits.

*White teeth.

*John Parker telling me he loves me.

What are some of your simple pleasures?

Messy Markers

2010-02-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

The other day, I don't remember what I was doing but I'm sure it was some sort of craft, I let John Parker sit at the table and use some of the new colors and markers that he had gotten for Christmas. I thought this would be fun for him and help me keep a tab on him. I walked out of the room. I was probably gone a minute at the most. I came back to find this.......

He had colored all over the bottom of his feet, his hands, and smeared some on his head. At first I was like Nooooo!!! Then I realized there was nothing that I could do at this point and he thought it was so funny. I couldn't help but to laugh with him. He kept saying "Look Mommy"! Haha! After taking a few pictures, I picked him straight up from his chair and carried him to the bathtub. Thank goodness these markers came off easily with water! It turned the whole bathtub colors.

Got to love him! Even if he is covered in markers!!

Checker Barrel

2010-02-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Or you may know it as Cracker Barrel.

John Parker has come up with a cute little name for this yummy place!! He calls is Checker Barrel. Why do I think this is so cute....well because when we go there, which is about once a week, he LOVES to play with the checkers that they have set up. As soon as we get there, he wants to sit in one of those adorable rocking chairs and play checkers. He just moves them around or carries them from one table to the other, but he absolutely loves it.

If we even mention that we are going to go there, he gets so excited and says over and over, Checker Barrel, Checker Barrel. I wanted to get this written down before he stops saying it and it just becomes a distant memory! My mom got him his very own set of checkers for Valentine's Day! I know he is going to love it! Hopefully we can keep up with all the pieces!!

Happy Groundhog Day (hopefully the groundhog was wrong),

5 Month Update

2010-02-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

Well tomorrow is my sweet angel's 5 month birthday!! I say this every month, but where does the time go? We are so busy in our everyday life that we don't stop to think about it. Here are a few of the things that Jack has been doing this month:

Tried eating cereal from a spoon! He did not like it! He has been fed cereal through his bottle since he was 2.5 weeks old (doctor's order for his reflux). I figured he wouldn't mind the taste but he sure didn't! Not even with apple juice. We will just keep giving it through a bottle and try baby food next.
Drooling a ton!!
Getting teeth! Instead of getting the bottom front two first, he is getting the bottom two that are beside the front two. Has this ever happened with anybody's else babies? I am kinda worried about it.
Has a few favorite toys!
Has decided to roll over in his crib! It scares me to death to walk in and find him on his belly asleep.
We had to put the swing up and break out the jumper. He can pull himself out of the swing now.
Got his first sickness! RSV!!! SOOOO Scary. Thank the good Lord that he is getting over it and is going to be okay.
Had to go the Emergency Room last Friday because of the RSV.
He weighs 18 lbs. and 10 oz. Such a BIG boy.
He wants to get down and play with his brother all the time! It's precious!
He is wearing size 3 diapers now.
Has outgrown all his 6 month sleepers.
Just keeps getting sweeter everyday! =)

I still haven't gotten my camera fixed so I haven't been able to post new pictures, but here are a few from Chance's phone.

Angel baby taking a nap with his new blankie that my Granny made for him! Isn't it cute...of course he is too =)

Here he is at the Emergency Room! He was so miserable!

So you don't worry about us: We are all doing much better. John Parker is on day 10 his sickness and still has a horrible cough. Other than that, he is great. Jack still has all the coughing, congestion, and runny nose, and not to mention he is getting teeth. I think my illness has turned into a sinus infection but I'm feeling fine besides that. We are so thankful for everybody's prayers and concerns about us. It has been a rocky week or so but things are finally looking up for our health. I am so thankful that Chance didn't get sick! Thank goodness because he has done a wonderful job taking care of us. This virus will give you symptoms for 8-15 days. I have a feeling it will be a least another week before we are completely free of illness!!!! Thank you again for your prayers!!

Love,
Lauren

Burp

2010-01-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Well I have been BUSY sewing away! I have been making these cute burp cloths AND selling them too ! I sell them for $5 a piece. They make great baby shower gifts too! =) I will be posting new things that I am making soon!

Better Late Than Never

2010-01-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

I am just not getting around to writing my "Christmas blog". My camera has been broken so I cannot hook it up to the computer, BUT I can still take pictures. I just have to go to Wal-Mart (joy) and get a digital CD made. Anyways, I am just thankful that I can still take pictures.

Our Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We were super busy and there were a few nights I didn't get very much sleep. I learned that crafting (or crapping as John Parker says) is something that I REALLY enjoy. I love to make things and seem to appreciate everything a ton more because of the time and effort I put into my crafts. I have made ornaments for some of my close friends and family, ornaments for John Parker's teachers, decorative snowflakes, decorated candles, cute soap containers, a wreath, learned that Heirloom White spray paint works wonders, worked on a few projects in Jack's nursery, and the list goes on and on.

Besides all the crafting I have been doing, I am so excited that we had another little one to share a First Christmas with this year. Although he really didn't know what was going on, it was still exciting for Chance and I. We are so blessed to have 2 beautiful and healthy baby boys.

We started off Christmas Eve making sugar cookies for Santa. John Parker loved to help me make them. He even made chocolate Ovaltine milk for him (since this is what he LOVES to drink). We laid the cookies and milk out and he went to bed. When he woke up, he was so excited to see that they were magically GONE. Santa had eaten ALL the cookies and drank ALL the chocolate milk. It was so precious to see his face.

Then he decided to lay down by Jack. Jack still slept in his nap nanny on Christmas, but we decided no more nap nanny the day after Christmas. He had pulled himself up in it and turned sideways. Talk about scary, waking up to find him laying that way.

They are almost laying the same way! I thought this was too funny!!

Christmas morning, we woke up at 6:15 to have Christmas #1 with GiGi and PeePaw (Chance's parents). They came over and got to watch the boys open presents from Santa and from their side of the family. Although it was really early, it was a lot of fun.

His very own digital camera (that way he can't break mine anymore)

Ripping the paper off the presents

Jack hanging out in his swing patiently waiting his turn

Buzz Lightyear was the highlight of the day! He loved this present.

Why not just lay on the box? This might help me open the present faster!

....and again!!

Another Toy Story toy and a doctor set! He loves to go to the doctor to see Dr. Lucas!

Sitting on his soccer goal!

Taking a break to drink his chocolate milk.

Jack's presents weren't as exciting. He got mostly clothes, blankets, bottles, a little piano, a play mat, rattles, toys he can chew on, a new crib mobile.

Opening his giddy up n go pony! I can't wait to post a pic of him riding it! It is sooooo funny!

A present from Aunt Karen. He loves his presents from her.

Jack opening his present from Aunt Karen. It's a precious moments doll that says a bedtime prayer! John Parker stole it and now sleeps with him every night.

After our Christmas at our house, we went to my Mom's. We opened presents and ate breakfast with her, Pat, and my brothers. We got lots of nice things. We are lucky for parents that help us out so much.

Next, we went to my Granny Pat's and Papa Troy's (my mom's parents). We eat dinner with the whole family and then open presents. We get money and a stocking with random things in it. Again, very blessed by them as well.

For dinner, we went to my Dad's. My brother, my stepbrother, and my stepmom all ate dinner together and then opened presents. We got some more money (which we very much needed) and some more random presents.

We are so blessed by our families for helping us out right now. Chance STILL hasn't gotten paid. It's been over 3 months. We could focus on this negativity all the time but we are choosing to rise above it and put it in God's hands. So far, we have made it just fine, although it's been tough.
I hope everybody else had as great of a Christmas as we did!

Oh yeah, and then I found out that one of my best friend's is PREGNANT!! I am soooo excited for her and her little family! I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl! Yay for Morgan!!

Happy New Year,

Happy 4 Month Birthday Baby Jack!!

2010-01-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

Jack getting ready for the Liberty Bowl! Go Hogs!! This was right after he rolled over! He had been trying all morning to do it! He was worn out!

I cannot believe that Jack is already 4 months old today. It just seems like time goes by so fast. Maybe because we are so busy and always tired. LOL! Having 2 boys under the age of 3 will do that to ya! Jack is not a "newborn" anymore. He is developing a sweet little personality. He loves his big brother to pieces. Anytime John Parker comes within his view, he just grins and cackles. It's absolutely precious. I know he is thinking how bad he wants to play with his big brother. I think they are going to be the best of friends. John Parker loves Jack just as much. He is always wanting to hold him and play with him. He will even tell me when Jack is mad, or hungry, or spit up. He gets very concerned for his brother. This too is absolutely priceless. I couldn't have asked for two sweeter babies.

Some of the things that Jack is doing this month:

Putting his feet in his mouth
Rolling over from back to belly. He rolled over from belly to back on Halloween!
Wanting to be sitting up so he can see what is going on around him better
Drooling!!!!
Pushing up on his knees and turning circles while laying on his belly
Sleeping in his crib ALL night!! (no more nap nanny)
VERY ticklish
wears #3 diapers
very interested in the dogs
starting to reach for toys around him
wearing 6-9 and 6-12 month clothes
wearing size 2 shoe

Our camera broke two days ago before I could get all the Christmas pictures uploaded to the computer. Now I am going to have to get a new one or see if we can get that one fixed. Luckily, I can still take the simcard to the store and get a cd made but I haven't had time to do that yet. Fortunately, we have taken a few pictures of Jack with our phones. Here are a few:

John Parker feeding Jack a bottle! Like I said, he LOVES to help!!

Jack on Christmas day at my Dad's wearing Uncle Sam's Conway Fire Department Hat.

2009-12-17T09:23:00.000-08:00

I love our Christmas card this year. John Parker's face is absolutely priceless and it captures his personality so well. He was so excited to get to see Santa. It was so easy to get him to smile and make cute faces! He still talks about it and walks around saying "Santa come to John Parker house" or "Santa Claus coming to town". Jack didn't care either way about Santa. I am just happy that he wasn't frightened by him. When we went to have this picture made, Chance found out that the man playing Santa is actually one of his friends from high school. It was too funny. He isn't as old as he looks! We thought he was the absolute best Santa Claus we have ever seen!! Click here to go to his website!! Merry Christmas.

God bless,

Christmas Crafts

2009-12-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

I have only been blogging for a few weeks now, but I have found SOOOO many different "craft" blogs that I have become a little bit obsessed. I have made numerous trips to Hobby Lobby to stock up on all my supplies. With it being Christmas time and since we are on a budget this year, I have had to make some things instead of being able to just spend tons of money on them. I don't mind though because I love to make things. There are still so many ideas I want to try, but since Christmas is almost here and since Hobby Lobby is sold out of the good stuff, I will just wait until next Christmas. =( I just thought everybody might want to see a few things I have made and maybe you will be inspired as well.

This is John Parker's teacher's present. I used a clear glass ornament (50% off at Hobby Lobby). I liked that part of it. Then, Chance, my wonderful assistant, drew the Teddy Bear on the ornament. John Parker is in the Teddy Bear class in case you were wondering. I think Chance did a GREAT job drawing the bear to match the one that is on JP's folder. We used paint pens. Then I wrote all the kiddo's names on the ornament and the year 2009-2010. Next, I painted over it with mod podge so that the paint wouldn't scratch off. We filled it about a quarter way full with Epsom Salt to make it look like snow. Finally, I tied a big brown bow on it. I LOVE personalized and sentimental things like this. I hope his teacher's love it too!! Tomorrow is his party, so we will see.

Kitchen table picture. Nothing to fantastic about this.

These are my lollipop ornaments. I thought they turned out really great. I used scrapbook paper, hot glue, a button, and ribbon to make these little cuties. They really add a lot to my tree and were very inexpensive to make. My wonderful assistant also helped me make these. Man, is he crafty! If you would like to know how to make them, let me know, and I will make a tutorial for ya.

This picture is for Morgan. This is what it looks like. (yes I know my light fixture is ugly and I will be working on that before too long)

A cute little card tree. I will hang all the Christmas cards that we get on it! I just used leftover decorations and an old red drapery panel for the skirt. You can't even tell! I didn't want to put too many decorations on it because I am hoping it will be covered by the time Christmas gets here!

My snowy candle. If you want to have this look on ANYTHING, just buy some Epsom Salt. It makes the perfect snow. I put some mod podge around the base and then rolled it in the salt.

Well there ya have it. Some of my Christmas crafts! I am working on a few things for Jack's room right now. I have learned that scrapbook paper, paint, and mod podge go hand in hand! I am redoing a little side table that we have had forever. It was one of Chance's bachelor pad furniture. It is starting to look great though! I will post pictures when I get it done.

I hope everybody is actually getting to enjoy this time of year! It is such a great time to really appreciate the things you have and the people that are in your life!

Merry Christmas,

Jack is 3 months!!!

2009-12-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

Well, he was 3 months yesterday! Happy 3 month birthday my sweet baby boy!

I will start by saying that my mom has told me many times that I was not an easy baby. I am sure I had my good moments, but I wasn't always the best kid either. I had a BAD attitude as a teenager. I am sure divorce had an impact on me, but that is no excuse for the way I treated my parents. I am sure that Chance wasn't a perfect angel either. He has told me stories.

Now I will tell you how PERFECT my little Jack is. I cannot believe how God has blessed Chance and I with this sweet little boy. Our first few weeks with Jack in our lives were a little rough as we were getting adjusted to having another little one around. He had reflux pretty bad. We couldn't even lay him on his back because he would start spitting up and choking. It was so scary. For about 6 weeks of his life, we sat in the chair in his room and took turns holding him all night. He was prescribed Prevacid at 2.5 weeks but that didn't start helping until October 24. We were in Branson when his reflux finally resided. We were on cloud 9! We finally felt comfortable to start taking him out to do things with us. We were living in fear that he was going to spit up all over himself, carseat, and us.

I don't think the Prevacid is what has made the huge difference for our little man. We found out about a sleeping device called a nap nanny. It is an elevated piece of foam that has a special shape and it is supposed to help with reflux, colic, ear infections, etc. www.napnanny.comThe nap nanny has been great and Jack still loves it and sleeps in it all the time. You can buy them at Pickles and Icecream in Little Rock. I think the nap nanny has definitely helped Jack, but I met a special lady that I know God sent to me.

On October 14, my sweet friend Laura was in labor with her daughter. I had been rushing around all day trying to get there as fast as I could but it took me longer than I expected. I took Jack with me, but I didn't make it until she was actually pushing. So I sat with some of her friends and family that I didn't know very well or at all. There were seats all around and this lady comes and sits down right beside me. I wasn't weirded out but I was wondering why she wanted to sit so close. She just started talking to me about Jack and asking me all about him. She asked if he was sleeping at night and I told her about his reflux and how we are holding him all night. She began to tell me a story about when one of her sons was a baby and had reflux. She said, "do you bless his food?" I was like, well no I've never thought to do that. She said that she began praying over her baby's bottles before they would eat and just like that his reflux went away. I was willing to try anything to get Jack's reflux to go away. I went home and immediately made Jack a bottle and prayed over it. 10 days later, his reflux is pretty much gone. Come to find out it was Laura's husband's grandmother. We pray over our food, so why not pray for your baby's food as well. God has really helped Jack with his reflux and we are so grateful to not have to stress out about it anymore.

He has become a happy, smiling, giggly little thing. He is so ticklish too! He laughed for the first time a few days ago. I was holding him in the kitchen and Chance was holding his hands and started singing "jiggle bells". haha! He was cracking up. We just stood there and cried! It was so precious. He loves to watch and listen to John Parker. He loves to watch TV. He stares at it in amazement. He loves my Dad too. John Parker and Jack both have a special bond with him for some reason. It's so sweet to me. He sleeps all night. He has been doing that since November 12. He is sleeping from about 10 to 9. What a blessing!!! Both of my boys have been great sleepers.

John Parker is so much fun right now, too! He is starting to sing songs. He loves to sing, 5 little monkey's jumping on the bed, the itsy bitsy spider, abc's, happy birthday, jesus loves me, and some song that he learned at school that we cannot figure out. He say's "apple nanny"! We think he is saying "apple banana". So funny and cute. He loves to eat hot dogs, "mimi's" yogurt, chocolate milk, cake (but only the icing), any kind of biscuits or bread, candy. Wow, he must be my child! haha! He is so much like me it's scary!

I am so happy to get all these memories out before I forget them. I love my children so much, but I am struggling right now with my patience for John Parker and trying to be the best mommy I can. I feel like we are too hard on him sometimes. If you read this, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that God will show us the way on how to discipline JP without being overbearing or "mean". It is hard being a mommy. There are sooooooo many great moments, but it does get rough.

God bless you,

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2009-12-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite crafts to do to spruce up my house is decorating candles. My friend Morgan is the person who should get the credit for this. She made me some for my birthday and I was so excited. It is an expensive way to make any boring candle come to life. I decorated a few candles around my house this way for Christmas. I had a ton of plain white candles leftover from our wedding that I didn't know what to do with so this was perfect.

Things you need:

Decorative/scrapbook paper (usually 50% off at Hobby Lobby)
Hot glue gun or double stick tape
Scissors
Candles

Next, you take your candle and lay it on the paper. Measure how much paper you will need to cut to match up with the candle. Once, you get it measured and cut, you just roll the paper around the candle and use the adhesive to make it stick together. Cut off an excess paper that you have. Now you have a beautiful decorated candle. You can even change out the paper for each holiday or season and just recycle the candle. Unfortunately, you cannot actually light these candles because the paper may catch on fire. You can even add ribbon, jewels, or any embellishment you want to make it more personal. Thanks Morgan for this great and inexpensive decoration idea.

Here is my wreath that I made out of a wire coat hanger and ornaments, for those of you that I told about it.

We are so excited around our house this holiday season! We are getting to celebrate a first Christmas with our sweet baby Jack! It's also going to be so much fun for John Parker because he actually understands what is going on this year. He really wants Santa to come to his house and bring him presents. We invested in an Elf on the Shelf to help with his behavior. HaHa! So far, our elf Buddy, hasn't been much help. John Parker will act up and I will tell him that Buddy is watching and is going to tell Santa if he is a bad boy. He says, "Santa bring John Parker presents." He hasn't grasped the fact that Santa doesn't bring presents to bad kids. Maybe Buddy will be a better asset next year =) I have a feeling that regardless Santa will be coming to our house with lots of presents.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T13:26:00.001-08:00

Jack in his Thanksgiving attire! It say's "Thankful for Mommy and Daddy"! We are SOOO thankful to have this little guy in our lives!!

Me and my cousin, Megan!

Our official Thanksgiving family photo! It's also the first picture we have of the 4 of us! I love it!

My first pecan pie to make! It was yummy

My first coconut pie to make!!

Thanksgiving #3 in Cove with my dad's side of the family! This is only a few of them

Our Thanksgiving holiday was so much fun. We went to my Granny Pat and Papa Troy's on actual Thanksgiving day for lunch. I actually helped cook the food this year which was a lot of fun for me. I enjoyed getting to spend that time bonding with my Granny. Later that night, we went to my dad's to eat Thanksgiving dinner with him and Vivian. That was yummy also. Then on Saturday, we drove to Cove and had a dinner with my dad's side of the family. My Granny Griffith cooks the best food! It was so much fun. I am so very thankful for my sweet family, my parents, all of my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We are so lucky and blessed. Then we came home and put up the tree! I absolutely love my tree this year!

Jack was watching us put up the tree! He was such a good boy and let mommy get it all decorated

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

Well the last couple of weeks have been very trying for my family, and the following weeks will be as well. The army is not treating Chance very well, which makes our family struggle. Although we are having some hard times in our lives right now, we still have SO much to be thankful for!

1. We have a roof over our head, heat to keep us warm, food to fill our bellies, cars that work, running water, a beautiful house

2. Healthy sweet babies

3. Our families

4. Our true friends

5. Our health

6. A brand new kitchen, although the cabinets still don't match, I am thankful for appliances and being able to use all my drawers and cabinets.

7. Clothes

8. The opportunity to get a college degree, now to find a job. I will be thankful when that happens too.

9. Chance's back healing up amazingly well!

10. My cousin Megan! She is like my sister! Although she doesn't know it, I really need her in my life!

11. And the most important thing, God! Without him, nothing is possible! We are so lucky to have a God who loves us so much!

I hope everybody enjoys their Thanksgiving as much as we will!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Moldy Mess

2009-11-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I discovered a little bit of water leaking out from underneath our cabinets in our kitchen. We ignored it and thought that maybe it was the dogs' slobber or something else. Well it kept happening and happening. After discovering water all over the carpet in the nursery we decided to have a plumber come out and check and he found that the pump to our dishwasher was leaking. He didn't think that it was too bad of a leak so we didn't do anything about it. The day we came home from the hospital with Jack, John Parker started developing a cough then a runny nose and so on. After a visit to the doctor at least one time a week for 10 weeks, 3 antibiotics, an inhaler, and a doctor telling us that it sounds like John Parker is getting asthma, we finally decided that we probably had a problem. We got some people to come out and pull the kick boards off the bottom of the cabinets to discover that we had TONS of black mold under the cabinets. Ever since then, we have been living a crazy life. Chance had to have back surgery the same day that the people were coming to rip our cabinets out and clean up the mold.

It has been nearly two weeks and while we have cabinets now, they are really crappy. The list goes on and on for the things that is wrong with them. I am so disappointed. We are hoping that the company we are using will redeem themselves or we are going to have to find somebody new. I hope that doesn't happen because I am ready for people to be out of my house.

We have been staying with my Dad and Stepmom this whole time. I have had a hard time trying to find things for John Parker to do to keep busy. Since Chance is not able to lift or really help out with the kids right now, it has been very stressful. However, I have made it and I feel like I will be a stronger person after all of this is said and done. Here are some pictures of the things we have been doing to keep ourselves busy.

Holiday House

This was a great shopping event in Little Rock. It features lots of vendors from all over. Great for getting a little Christmas shopping done. All I bought was a new diaper bag. (imagine that) My mom, my cousins Megan & Anna, Granny, my aunts Cathy & Sharon, and John Parker and Jack all went together. I was glad that all my family could go together.

Grace Elizabeth

Another very exciting thing for me this past week is FINALLY getting to meet Laura's sweet baby, Grace! She was born Oct 14. I got to see her the day she was born but I had not been able to get back over to her house because of all the colds and sickness that we kept getting. I did not want to risk giving her something. John Parker was at school, so Jack and I went over and had a little play date. Although Grace slept through most of it, I still loved getting to hold her and see her. She was sleeping with one eye open and the other closed. It was so funny. Her and Jack also started grunting in harmony! She is beautiful, just like her momma!

We also made it to the park a few times, gone out to eat a whole bunch, went to playworld, Dazzle Daze. Jack even started sleeping through the night while we were at my dad's.

Let's just hope that my kitchen can get finished before Thanksgiving! I am beyond ready to get my house decorated and back in order. Sorry this blog ended up being so long. I just had to get my memories down before I lost them.

God bless,

Design Dazzle

2009-11-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to let all of you guys know about this GREAT blog that I have found. Its called designdazzle.blogspot.com. If you are into decorating or do it yourself projects its wonderful (especially if you have kids). I have spend HOURS looking at the site and bookmarking tons of ideas and things I want to do. It's a great place for a designer to find inspiration (go figure why I like it so much). Anyways, just thought I would share this wonderful blog with you all. Hope you like it as much as I did!

Back Surgery

2009-11-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, Chance just recently went under the knife. He had 2 herniated disks in his spine. He has had this injury going on 2 years. A few days after we got married, he had to leave to go to Ft. Smith for training because he was deploying to go to Iraq. Needless to say, God had other plans for him. He hurt his back and ended up not being able to go overseas. We were thankful that he was getting the opportunity to stay home, since John Parker was only 4 or 5 months old at the time. He hasn't been able to return to his military job since the injury. It has been a long and stressful journey but a great one at the same time. He has been able to stay home and hasn't missed anything going on with me or our children. We also were blessed with another little guy, baby Jack (as John Parker calls him). We might not have him if weren't for Chance's injury. So we take the good with the bad. Chance has had 3 steroid epidural injections, a nerve block, x-rays, MRI's, and CT scans to figure out what needed to be done. Not to mention the countless hours that he has had to waste at doctor's offices. After all of this, I think he was finally ready to get the surgery over with. So on Wednesday, November 11, he finally went under the knife. We got to St. Vincent's at 7:30 am. After checking in, we sat for about 2 hours in the surgery waiting room. They finally called him back around 9:30 am. I had to sit by myself for 2 hours while they prepped him. I was a nervous wreck wondering what they were doing to him. Finally, they called me back to come sit with him until it was time for his surgery. The nurse discovered that he was hiding gum in his mouth and they made him wait even longer because he was not supposed to have ANYTHING to eat or drink. They said the gum would cause secretions that could go into his lungs during surgery. They gave him Reglan and made him wait for a little while longer. While waiting we played rock paper scissors. I ended up winning, naturally. Haha! We took pictures and just laughed and had a good time. Chance was in high spirits. I on the other hand was getting a little nervous for him. They came in and got him around 1:30 and off he went. About 2 hours later, the doctor came and told me that the surgery was over and that Chance was doing great. I just sat and waited for him to wake up so I could go see him. When I saw him, he was smiling and said he felt better than he did before he went into surgery. That was a relief. Ever since then, he has been getting up and walking, riding in the car, we even went and had family pictures taken 2 days later. We are just ready for him to be completely recovered. It breaks his heart not to be able to carry Jack and John Parker or help me do simple everyday things. We are sooooo thankful for everybody's thoughts and prayers.These are the cool leggings and socks that he had to wear! Don't you wish you had a pair?

He was happy!! This is before surgery!!