At Home With The Hodges

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY...well, almost

2011-01-05T07:57:00.001-05:00

This is my spunky little Bethany. Please pray for her as she will have eye surgery tomorrow. I will update you all then!

This, That, and Everything Else

2010-12-13T11:14:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in a while and I do not apologize. The blog takes a back seat whenever we are busy having fun and enjoying life! Let me catch up a bit...

Thanksgiving:

I felt a tremendous need to be with my side of the family for this Thanksgiving holiday. This would be the first Thanksgiving without Dad in our lives and even that thought was tremendously hard for me to bear. Thinking about mom being without Dad was even worse to think about, but we all came together as a family and had a great time at my brother and sister in laws house. The cousins exchanged Christmas presents since we wouldn't be together around Christmas time. A lot of us shared something else...the stomach virus! My poor nieces and sister in law got it first. About 2 days later I woke up to a vomiting son. My poor mom was sick for days. Thinking the illness was over, I made the trek back home to VA, and got sick in the middle of the night. Uugghh! It had been years since I had a stomach virus and I was glad when we were over it and so thankful that Bethany and Danny didn't get sick!

Since Thanksgiving:

We have been busy. Before Thanksgiving I had a terrible toothache that I continued to put off. When the stomach virus was over, I decided enough was enough and visited the dentist. Yep, cracked tooth down to the root...had to be pulled, which was no fun! It was pulled a week ago today and as I sit here and type, I am going through dry socket pain. I have an appt this afternoon to see the oral surgeon again to have the extraction site "medicated and packed". I just want the pain to GO AWAY!!!

The other thing I have been busy with is, frankly, just keeping up with the kids and my home duties. I have really kind of begun again with potty training Josiah. I have pulled out a timer and for the past few days, Josiah has been going potty every time the timer goes off, which I set it for about 20-30 minutes every time. Poor guy wakes up every morning and every afternoon from nap, soaking wet. We have to change the bed sheets everyday, most of the time twice a day. I have limited the amount of fluids he gets a night...no more bedtime milk, but milk and the last of the fluids is served with dinner. Man o'man has this been a long and drawn out process!!! I am beginning to think that Bethany will be potty trained before Josiah at this rate! Ha! Anyway, I will persevere and we will conquer this mountain!

I have taken on a few more babysitting adventures, not every day, but when I am needed. This will assist financially and I have enjoyed having these dear kids with bright, blooming imaginations! They are had to keep up with mentally and physically! They are dear too. It is fun to have them around. Josiah is seeming to feel out of place and unsure of himself. I am just not sure how to help him handle more kids, but I love on him a lot and try to reassure him.

One thing that has taken up an incredible amount of my time is menu planning. Yes, MENU PLANNING! I am trying to have my 2011 menu plans set in stone before the first of the year. I have gotten a lot done, too. Breakfast and lunches were easy to figure out. We will have the same breakfast and lunch menu each week for the entire year. For Dinner, I am trying a wide variety of things. I will be having soup for dinner at least two days of the week during the cold weeks and when it gets warmer, we will be having sandwiches at least twice a week so we might be able to get out and do more in the warmer weeks. I am trying at least one meatless dish each week and one new dish each week. We are trying for a non-monotonous fare. The more engaging the meal, the less likely we will want to go out to eat, which is a major problem for our family. I am keeping a kitchen journal this year so I can keep up with the menu plans and keep up with what my DH likes and doesn't like about the new meals and what I can do to improve for the next year. So, this brings me to another topic....

My blogging New Year's Resolutions:

I want to make things less sporadic, more fun and informational, so here are the changes you will see:

Meal Planning Mondays - will list the weeks meal plans; sometimes I will add recipes, sometimes I will only add recipes upon request

Thanksgiving Tuesdays and Thanksgiving Thursdays: I will share posts of the things me and my family are thankful for

Wordless Wednesdays - I plan to post the cutest picture of the week and let you think what you will

Funny Fridays - we have a lot of funny stuff going on around here - On Friday's I will share the funniest moments of the week.

Saturdays and Sundays will be blog free! Let me know what you think about everything. Do you have any new ideas for blogging in 2011? Let me hear about it!

Doing what it takes to stay at home

2010-11-10T08:01:00.002-05:00

My greatest joy in this life is my children. I desire with all that I have in me to train them to be a Godly young man and woman. I desire to be able to raise them myself and to be here at home with them as much as possible. This is not an easy task in this day and age though, you know? It is difficult, at best, to be home with your kids and have one income and be able to pay all the bills and meet all the needs of everyone in the family. Even though it is difficult, I believe I have the talent and resources to make this staying at home thing work!

This all being said, I would like to share with you what I have been doing from home and I would LOVE for you to share with me any ideas and thoughts that you have that have enabled you to stay at home with your children. As I have mentioned before, I love to sew. My heart is really into sewing little girls items and baby items. I love to make cute little girl dresses, pillow case dresses, pants and shirts for little girls. I also make hot and cold therapy packs for migraines and other aches and pains. These packs are sooo wonderful and I use them for much more than aches and pains! Have you heard of Boppy nursing pillows for the nursing mother? It is one of those big hit items that came out several years ago as a way to make a baby and mother more comfortable as they bond through feedings. For these pillows, I have begun making nursing pillow covers. Guess what else I have been asked to sew? I have been asked the make some doggy diapers! I never thought I would ever make a diaper for dogs! HA! I try to sell my sewing stuff on Ebay.com and a handmade items website called etsy.com. I would love for you to look me up sometime and take a look at my things. Offer insight and wisdom and I would LOVE for you to please share with others the website I share with you. Word of mouth works GREAT!!!

I will say this, as a disclaimer: I know staying at home with your kids is sometimes not able to be done. I know that bills have to be paid, needs have to be met, so I am not saying that women can not work outside of the home or that they should not at all. I even took a year after my daugther was born and I HAD to go back to work to help meet the needs and pay the bills. I am just trying to think outside of the box and encourage others to think outside the box, because for me, I believe I can stay at home if I use all of my valuable resources!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/melliehodges

Really funny story...about a neti-pot

2010-10-09T23:51:00.003-04:00

Okay, Friday morning I woke up with a TERRIBLE allergy attack. I hadn't had one this bad in such a long time. My face was swollen, it hurt to talk and my sinuses were pounding me with pressure. So, I got in the car and went to the store looking for some serious relief. Now, I have been told about the neti-pot before by those who swear by it. It is supposed to irrigate your sinuses and make you feel all better. So, I came home with this new contraption. I have always been kind of icked out by the thought of using a neti-pot. Heck, I hate to even blow my nose, let alone, talk about it! It has just been real gross to me. So, I set up to use this contraption and man, did it work! I almost felt a little "high" after the first time I used it. I went from being clogged up, not able to breathe and in pain to being able to breathe better than I had in months! The pressure was gone and I felt liberated!

So, on to the funny part of this post...I was on the phone with someone who will remain anonymous for the sake of, well, anonimity [how's that for originality!]. I told her about my new found freedom and how great I was feeling. I asked her if she had ever used a neti-pot. She went on to tell me a similar story about being in pain with sinuses and seeking relief and turning to the neti-pot. So, she used the neti-pot and said when she did, she thought that there would have been way more fluid coming back out the other side of her nose, but there wasn't. She said that she blew her nose afterwards and that she felt some relief, but that it was really weird that not more fluid came back out. So, later on the same day, this friend had a chiropractic appointment. She said she got settled face down on the adjustment bench and the chiropractor gave her an adjustment and that when he did, the remaining fluid practically flew out her nose. Now, I may just be an icky person, but I found this so hilarious! I have been laughing about it all day. Can you imagine this whole scenario??? It has really just made my day and keeps on making me laugh out loud!

Speak the Truth in Love

2010-10-08T23:21:00.000-04:00

Most of you who know me, and know me fairly well, know that I am not an outspoken person. You know that I tend to shy away from arguments, conflict and disagreements in general. You know that I prefer, almost more than anything, to keep the peace and make everyone happy. This past month I have found myself speaking out against things I normally would just shy away from. Things that I would normally just let each person have their own opinion and viewpoint about and simply agree to disagree. I have found myself in some heated and some not so heated discussions on varying topics. In the end I have been left to wonder if I should have ever said anything at all. Should I have spoken up and added my two cents, or should I have just shut up and not worried one bit about what was being said? Well, I won’t bother you with any of the details of the arguments, but there were three in particular that were controversial and I found myself not being able to stay quiet. One of the discussions I particularly struggled over whether or not to speak up. I actually prayed on and off all day and recalled to mind Psalm 19:14 many times, then toward the end of the day, I did decide to speak up. I am glad I did. It was regarding a subject that is near and dear to me and has affected my family and others around me, so I spoke my mind and tried to encourage others. My two cents may not have had a significant affect on anyone but me. I realized that it is okay, and even good, to speak up and even encourage others to seek the One who is Holy and seek to magnify Him and Him alone. Speak the truth in love, dear friends. If you can’t speak the truth in love, it is better to keep your lips sealed and not damage yourself and the friendships and acquaintances around you.

Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Hoarder???

2010-09-07T14:11:00.003-04:00

AFter reading a friends FaceBook status this week, I went on-line to www.aetv.com and watched a couple of episodes of a show called Hoarders. I had watched a couple of these shows here and there over the past few months, but when I watched a couple of the shows on line, I have seriously begun to look around my house and have some very small inside panic attacks. Here's my thing...I like a place for everything and everything in its' place, whereas, my husband likes a place for everything all over the place...no kidding! I am a neat freak. I like countertops to be free of clutter, nothing but the crock pot and some bananas on top of the fridge, nothing on top of the microwave, and my goodness, I hate to use my kitchen table as a catch all! On the opposite end of the spectrum, my DH views ALL of the aforementioned spaces as useless wasted space, and frankly, since I can't beat him at it, for the most part, I join him at his game. Then, when I start to have these little panic attacks [I use this phrase so lightly, basically it is just disgust at the way things look that make me upset, so not real panic attacks], I drive my husband nuts making mad dash sweeps through the house thowing out this, storing that and arguing with him about what needs to be put away and what doesn't. So, when I watch this show, I totally do not understand the hoarder mentality. I will give to you that it is a mental disorder...the people on the show are just plain crazy...but I think I have a little OCD on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am an organize it junkie who just can't get organized. Do any of you mothers feel that way? I have two small kids, 3 and under, I babysit 9 hours a day two other small kids, 4 and under, then I have my big baby, my DH, who I would not trade for anything in the world. I just can't keep up, so I give in to the pressure and usually end up with a messy house most of the time. I will say this, though...watching the show has made me make a huge pile of things for my hubby to take to the basement when he wakes up! Happy fall to all, and get rid of your junk!!!

Some of my sewing creations...

2010-08-14T12:58:00.002-04:00

Here are just a few of the dresses I have been working on. I love to sew and these are so simple and cute for little girls!

This was an apron for a cousins little girl. I love the fact that it doesn't pull at the neck, but wraps around and ties at the waist.

I have been trying to add a few embellishments to the dresses I make so they all don't look just alike. I pratty much specialize in the pillow case dresses because they are so easy to make and soooo cute!

To sew or not to sew, that is the question!

2010-08-08T22:53:00.003-04:00

Last week, I did not do any sewing because I felt that it had become and all-consuming thing for me. I was in a zone and there was not much else I wanted to do or did while I was sewing. I did complete about 20 projects to sell from the week before, but the week before, I also did not have a very clean or organized house, I did not make dinner, Danny did, and time with the kids was at a minimum because I was consumed. So, this week, I want to get back into my sewing, but I must prioritize my time better. This is what I think I will do this week: I will cut out my sewing projects when the kids go down for their afternoon naps, and when they go to bed for the night, I can get about 3 hours of sewing in. That way, my time with the kids is not compromised, dinner is cooked, and I can also focus on the house being clean and organized. This is a lot of what I have been thinking about today and feeling guilty over letting my sewing get out of hand. Sewing is something I have grown to LOVE and even though it is also a means to make money, I realize I have to give it is proper time and place. There is a limit I must learn!!! What kinds of things do you let get in the way of your time keeping house and training your kids? How do you prioritize and plan? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

WAY PAST DUE

2010-08-03T23:07:00.002-04:00

I am sorry because I am WAY PAST DUE with a Hodges Family update. There is so much going on and so much to tell, so let's get to it!

Okay, so the last update was my broken ankle, so let me start there. Thankfully, my break was not too bad, so I spent about 3 weeks in a non-walking cast. I was down and out, meaning, I wasn't supposed to be walking at all, just using crutches, but remember, that was a joke! I couldn't use crutches, the cast came up too high to use the knee walker and a boot that was put on was affecting prior nerve damage in my leg, so that was a no go. It was really humbling! I wasn't really able to do much of anything but sit and watch the kids through the day, and that was with no lifting and not getting up on my leg. By the Grace of God, I got my cast off, and about an hour later, me and the kids hopped in the car and headed for GA! No, I am not joking!!! I was in a caravan with my cousins here in Roanoke and we made it in time for the SHoal Creek 4th of July meeting. It had been forever since I was able to be there and it was soooo enjoyable!!! I got to see and visit a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time and being under the sound of the Word was awesome! What a great meeting!

So, I stayed in GA for almost two weeks, just me and the kids. I spend a lot of time with my younger brother, his wife and kids and I also went to visit my cousin's family and my older brother and his wife and kids in south GA. I really enjoyed spending time with my mom and Granny too. ll in all it was a great and needed trip. I was beyond thanful to be back home though. I missed my husband and the kids missed him so badly too!

You may be asking how I was able to take a couple of weeks away from my job and make it to GA. Well, that is another thing. A few things came up at home making it necessary for me to leave my part time job and come back home as a full time stay at home mom. I loved my PT job, but I love more being here with my family full time where I am completely and 100% needed. We were having some problems with Josiah that required a lot more of my attention that it was getting. Praise the Lord the situation seems to have gotten a lot better since I left my job.

Since leaving my Pt job and coming back from GA, I have been really sick with bronchitis. Who ever heard of bronchitis in the summer...not just the summer, but the heat of the summer? What a bummer! Danny and the kids finally came down with it too, so we have been down and out for a couple of weeks. We seem to be on the upswing now and I am ready to get on with things. I have been really busy this week cleaning, organizing and purging. It has felt really good. I am getting ready to start babysitting again full time so I can afford to stay at home. It will be difficult, but still worth it. I have been working on other things too. I have been sewing a whole lot - especially little girls items, and we are about to begin the adventure of some mild preschooling. I am excited about everything.

Well, this is a long post, so I am going to close for now and hope to update you all again soon!

Crutches Stink...

2010-06-20T07:37:00.002-04:00

I remember when I was little I always wanted to break a lower extremity because I thought about how fun it would be to walk on crutches. I thought it would be so cool and so easy and so fun. Now, I am an adult and am having my first experience with crutches and I want to scream! So, let me take you back a little...

June in Roanoke brings out our delicious wild raspberries in the backyard. We have spent the better part of this last week picking raspberries and Josiah has fallen in love with picking raspberries fresh and eating them for hours at a time. It takes him quite a while to get all of the fuzz off of the raspberry, so he doesn't eat many, but loves telling me all about "drinking the raspberries". So, Wednesday night after I got home from work, Danny told me there were more raspberries to pick and we needed to get them before the birds did. I agreed...I wanted some raspberry cobbler and so did Danny. Danny needed to go to the basement so he took Josiah with him and I told him I was going to take Bethany down the back porch steps. Now, let me tell you, I have NEVER had a good track record with stairs of any kind. I am not allowed to carry anything up or downstairs any more, per my sweet husband, and this time was no different. Bethany is a hefty little girl, so I basically don't carry her anywhere anymore unless really necessary. I started to walk her down the steps, she was two steps above me, and I thought to myself: "The steps are a little slick...what on earth will I do with Bethany if I start to fall?" About that time, I started to slip, and I pushed Bethany backwards hoping she would sit and not fall, which worked, but I fell down about 5 more steps on my bottom and back. I got to the end and was in a little bit of pain, especially with my ankle, but I still didn't know if I was injured badly. My foot continued to hurt, but I got up and picked raspberries for about an hour. My foot was swelling quite a bit and was a little bruised, but this had happened before and was not a big deal, right? I got up and went to work the next day, all day, still in pain. I got up and went to work Friday, still in pain, but relieved when I was told my team got to leave at 2pm. I knew where I was headed...URGENT CARE. I took myself in and was seen and had xrays and they told me...I have a broken ankle! AAGGHHH...They put a big splint on it and told me I need to go to the orthopaedic specialist the next week to see what the next course of action was. Now I sit here, unable to do much of anything for myself or my kids and feeling cmpletely helpless! My sis in law came over and helped me get the kids some lunch and put them down for naps, so that was a big help. My mother in law is going to help take me to the specialist and my cousins are going to watch the kids for me when I go. In the middle of all of this, I still have to go to work part time and all that fun stuff. I am just praying that the spcialist can put me in a walking boot or something like that so I can get around, because crutches DO NOT get along with me!

Well, enough for now, off the computer and time to hobble around!

Playing catch up with the Hodges Family

2010-06-07T09:38:00.002-04:00

Sorry for no recent posts. We have been busy, busy, busy! What have we been busy doing, you ask? Well, I am glad you asked...here is what we have been doing:

Danny has been busy working in the garden. We are not as far along on it as we had hoped, but this is the week that we will finish planting so we can have some produce! We do have some lettuce varieties sprouting, but that is all that has been planted so far. Danny will also be planting a wide variety of tomatoes. My only request is grape tomatoes so I can make tons of salsa! I love fresh garden salsa. I don't use any hot peppers in mine, though, so others might be disappointed. We are also planting squash and zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, and the rest I am drawing a blank on. Our back yard is covered with raised bed containers and container gardens. As for me, I am going to buy/plant some herbs. I want cilantro, basil, rosemary and thyme. We already have chocolate mint, mint, and lemon balm.

We also recently took a trip to GA. It was a sweet time of fellowship with all of my immediate family, but hard at the same time because it was the first time we have been together without Dad. At one point, we were about to eat a dinner outside at my brothers house and my brother looked around at everyone and said, "Okay, who's missing?" I just cracked up because the only one missing was Dad. That laughing then turned to a few tears. Things will never be the same going back to GA. That's not good or bad, just a fact, you know? We did have a major answer to prayers when we were preparing to head to GA. My mom called me and asked me what we decided about Dad's car. I was a little confused because months ago we talked and I told her we weren't able to buy it. She was a little confused that I was confused, so I told her again that we just couldn't afford to buy it. She said, no, she paid it off and did we want it? Wow. I was dumbfounded. Our cars still work, but we can't travel in them anymore because they are old. Danny has taken really good care of them, they just don't travel. So, we came home with a new charcoal colored 2006 Nissan Altima. Praise the Lord. Sometimes it is hard for me to be really happy about it because it is just another reminder that Dad is gone, and truly, I would rather have Dad, but as Josiah says, "That's just the way the story goes!"

Okay, that's enough of our busy-ness...I leave you with some funnies:

We were on the way to Mee-maw's house one day and this is our conversation:

Josiah: Mommy, is Mee-maw going to slap me?
Me: No, Josiah. Mee-maw has never slapped you and will not slap you today.
Josiah: Are you sure?
Me: Yes, I am sure!
Josiah: [After thinking for a minute] Well, Is Meemaw going to smack you?

My favorite Josiah funny of the week:

We were on the way to the grocery store and this is the conversation:

Josiah: Mommy, will you turn it on Boortz? [Neil Boortz is talk radio]
Me: No, I will not turn it on Boortz!
Josiah: Well, then, will you turn it on Rush? [As in Rush Limbaugh]
Me: No, I will not!
I thought to myself "Daddy has been found out!"

My favorite Bethany funny of the week:

We were leaving Meemaw's house one day and Bethany saw Pap-pap coming out of the house and says:

"Ohhh, Pap-pap! I want him, I need him, I want him, I need him!" Which she said through tears ALL OF THE WAY HOME!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Discipline...such a hard task

2010-05-16T22:31:00.000-04:00

Today was hard with Josiah. Almost anything I said to do or not do, he disobeyed. If I told him to do something, first words out of his mouth was no mommy or growling or pitching a fit. He was disciplined MANY MANY times today. So, when we got home, I don't remember what he did, didn't do or said, but he got in trouble and was disciplined again.We usually quote Ephesians 6:1, Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right, after a moment of discipline....after this moment, he was in stubborn stand-off mode and would not quote the verse with us. We stopped, prayed about it and prayed over him, but he still pitched a fit when he tried to say the verse. Then, as we are quoting the... See More verse to him again, we hear from the other room: "Chiwen, obey parents and Lord this is right!" This was shouted out from Bethany, who said it pretty clearly, as if to tell Josiah..hey, it's just that easy! We decided after praying to go and take naps. Josiah took a three hour nap. The first words out of his mouth when he woke up was "Hey, mommy! Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right!"

Oh, my!

2010-04-26T21:38:00.002-04:00

As I was getting ready for the day one morning, from Josiah's bedroom, this is what I hear:

At the gate to the bedroom door, Bethany and Josiah are playing and Bethany throws her Elmo doll over the gate...

Josiah: "Bet-bet! You not supposed to do that! You can not throw Elmo! That's not good!"

Bethany fusses and whines because she wants her Elmo doll back...then I hear:

Josiah: "No ma'am, Bet-bet! I'm sorry, but you've lost your 'piz-e-ledge'!"

I am constantly telling Josiah that when he disobeys that it results in lost priveledges...at least I now know that something might be sinking in, right?

REAL SIMPLE

2010-04-18T21:26:00.002-04:00

I love magazines that focus on family, organizing, cooking, crafting, children and the home. Danny came home one morning and brought me a huge box full of REAL SIMPLE magazines. I LOVE this magazine! This magazine has so many useful and helpful hints and tips and it inspires me to do better and think differently about things,especially about things in my home. As I read through these magazines, I think I am going to post some things here on my blog that others might deem useful and helpful. Here is some information from a REAL SIMPLE:FAMILY EDITION that I really enjoyed:

Q: How do you get your kids to pitch in around the house?

A: Each of the kids would draw a slip of paper and do their activity for 15 minutes

We leave a list of chores that need tending to on the kitchen counter, and each child writes their name to the ones they want to do. It is first come, first served.

We have a toy race.

Instead of saying, "Pick up your room," I say, "Hang up five shirts."

I give chores for the unreasonable arguments that break out in the house.

Every morning before they leave for school, they have to spend five minutes straightening their rooms.

I had each of my children a laundry basket and set them on a treasure hunt for items strewn around the house.

I assign each child a room to clean based on their personal preference, and they were responsible for that room every week.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Now, on the flip side, this question was asked to children of these same parents:

Q: How do you pitch in around the house?

A: I take all of my game boys and push them up against the wall.

I organize the socks.

I cook breakfast on Sunday mornings.

I help mom do the laundry and I set the table.

Whenever something is messy, I just pick it up and put it where it belongs.

At night I lay out what I am going to wear at school the next day.

I take out the garbage.

I make frozen macaroni and cheese by myself.

I take a shower every night.

I just try to stay out of the way.

The kids answers just tickled me! Right now, the kids are not quite old enough to do a lot of things around the house to help, but Josiah knows, before nap time and bedtime every day, it is time to put all of the toys away. Bethany is learning, and doing pretty good. Bethany, however thinks that putting the toys away means putting them in the kitchen sink...it is so cute. She will go and put something in the sink, and come back clapping and says, "Good job, Bet!". Josiah also is responsible for putting all of his dishes away, and he also puts his dirty clothes in the dirty pile. He also is responsible for picking up the food off of the floor after meals. Most of this he does with little prompting and I am proud of my little man.

How do you inspire your kids to help around the house? I would love to hear your answers!!!!!

Goals for the week

2010-04-12T07:16:00.002-04:00

We heard a wonderful sermon at church yesterday by visiting preacher, Elder Glen Ray, from Georgia. He spoke on "Controlling the Tongue", which is a topic very needful in today's age and time. This sermon was very convicting and I am basing my weekly goals upon the message that was brought forth yesterday. Here are some of the main points he made:

* We need to stop and literally think before we say things.
Is what I have to say really important? Is it going to hurt or cause anger or strife?
* Be ready to learn, not ready to teach. James 3...
We need to close our mouths and listen and be willing to learn instead of talking all of the time because we think we have things others need to hear.
* Fires always start out small
Remember, little things we say can have drastic consequences.
*Proverbs 15:1: "A soft answer turneth away wrath."
Do you ever speak sharply to someone, anticipating a sharp response, as if to say, "Bring it on, I am ready for a fight!"? Does anyone ever speak sharply to you making you want to lash back out in anger? We need to fight to give a sharp answer, no matter what is said to us, and it will diffuse the situation immediately. Speaking to someone sharply is like handing them a firework and waiting to see if they will light it!
*Do not be a gossiper or tale-bearer
This one speaks for itself
*Wait until the right time to approach someone who has offended you. Do not go to someone in anger, because you will be sure to say the wrong things at the wrong time. Sit back and wait until the anger has dissipated, then go to the person in love.

These were just some of the highlights, but they spoke volumes to me! My goal for the week is to guard my tongue and think before I speak.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

On another note, last week was a great week. There was a lot of sunshine and record high temps. We spent many an evening outdoors with the kids playing, either in the backyard or walking to the park. We had a lot of outdoor fun this week, with a lot more to come, hopefully! I got up at 5:15a every week day this past week, except for Wednesday, and hit the gym. This was no easy task, and I have been so exhausted I can't see straight, but I did have goo results on the scale...I lost 5.4 pounds! My goals for this week, in this area, is to hit the gym early again this week and not strain my knee anymore. I think I will be hitting the pool and hot tub a lot because of this severe pain in my knee.

Whatever your goals are for the week, May the Lord bless you endeavors and cause yoiu you to reach them!

Some funnies

2010-04-02T21:34:00.003-04:00

I have been sewing for a few days and really enjoying it, so when I finished another pair of bloomers for Bethany this morning, I got really excited to try them on her. Josiah was sharing my excitement and this is what happened next:

Josiah: "Mommy, will you make me some boomers like Bet-bet's?"
Me: "Well, honey, bloomers are for little girls to wear."
Josiah: "Mommy, please?" [followed by "please" in sign language]
Me: [Heart incredibly softened] "Okay buddy, I will make you some 'boomers', to wear to bed, okay?"
Josiah: "Um, yes, mommy. Make them with Veggie Tales, okay?"

He just tickled me to death! This did prompt me to search the internet for Veggie tales fabric for which to make him some "boomers" for bed time. I found a really good deal and purchased some!

Another funny was on my birthday and this is what happened:

I got the kids up early and I decided we were going to go out to eat for mommy's birthday. On the way this was the conversation:

Me: "Today is Mommy's birthday!"
Josiah: "Um, Mommy, today CAN'T be your birthday!"
Me: "It can't? Why not?"
Josiah: "Because you don't have any presents!"
Me: "Well, it is my birthday, presents or not..."
Josiah: "No, mommy, it still CAN'T be, because you are sick!"

It was true, I was trying my best to get over laryngitis, but it was still pretty bad. After a couple of days of whispering and telling Josiah I couldn't talk, he would tell me to "hush" because I was sick.

So, we went into IHOP and when the waitress came around, to take our order, I began to "try to talk" and Josiah said:
"Um, hush mommy, you're sick." Then, after a little bit of being in shock he said: "Mommy wants 'mancakes' [pancakes], Bet-bet wants fruit and I want cottage cheese, okay?"
My mouth just about hit the floor...he just took over and me and the waitress cracked up!

My little man is getting so big and he keeps us in stitches...most of the time!

The phone call I will miss...

2010-03-25T21:08:00.002-04:00

About this time every year I get a phone call. It is a sweet and funny call and it usually starts off with a song and ends up with some fussing and play arguing on the part of the callers, which always makes me laugh. I have been thinking all day about the phone call I would have had tomorrow. The one where mom and dad call and sing to me to wish me a happy birthday. I have had a rough day today thinking about dad and how he isn't here to call me for my birthday this year. This is the most of several "firsts" we will go through this year. For some reason, it has made me weepy and sad all day and I have had a hard time shaking these feelings. I know it is normal, I just don't like feeling this depressed. Music has been good therapy for me though. I heard several songs today that reminded me of dad and allowed me to cry and weep for missing him. There are two songs in particular that really bring out the cry sessions for me. They are very moving songs and I know Dad would have loved them because he loved contemporary Christian music. Anyway, I am going to send you the links to the songs so you can hear how beautiful they are and weep yet rejoice with me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3CVlv2dz3w
This is Mandisa singing "He is with you"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvrBQL8swLl
This is Chris Tomlin singing "I will Rise"

These are my thoughts for the day and I thought you would enjoy these songs as much as I do.

The things you'll do...

2010-03-22T04:58:00.002-04:00

It's 4:45am, and I am up again. This nagging cough has me awake again...I was determined the next time this happened I was going to try a new natural cough suppressant I had been given. It sounded awful, but I was willing...more than willing to try it! Here is what you will need:

1 small jar [I took a baby food jar]
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ginger
2 Tbsp. Water
1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Honey

Put lid on and shake until well incorporated. Store any unused portion in the refrigerator.

I joke and say the reason this is so effective is that the cayenne pepper singes your throat so bad that you aren't able to cough any more. No, but really, try it the next time you really need some relief. It has given me some this morning. Along that same note, I decided to google natural cough suppressants and there is a wealth of information out there. Next time you are up at 4:45am, and desperate to quit coughing, do some research and get some relief!

Family Notebook

2010-03-20T23:20:00.002-04:00

I have been busy. Busy and sick. This new start to spring is not what I care for in the least little bit! This has happened for two years in a row and I have a year to figure out why we all get sooo sick this time of year. I have been able to contemplate about a lot of things while spending a majority of this week at home with my family.

This is what I have been thinking about...Family Organization. It is something I think about all of the time, mostly because I am not able to acquire it for the most part, or haven't been able to yet. Over the years I have thought about a central location that we as a family can turn to for household needs, wants and information. So, after years of thinking about it, my thoughts have developed into a Family Notebook. Here is what is contained within:

"From the Kitchen"

Menu Plans
Grocery Lists
Coupons and Ads

"Around the House"

Daily To Do
Weekly To Do
Monthly To Do
Master Cleaning Lists

"Spiritual Growth"

Scripture Memorization
Scripture Reading
Prayer Journal
Hospitality and Giving

"Hobbies"

Arts and Crafts
Fun w/ the Kids
Ideas

"Addresses"

"Calendar"

"Danny"

So, my idea that has come to fruition at least shows that I "want" to be an organized person and family. I want my kids to have organized lives with some sort of structure and meaning and hopefuilly this will get us back on the track.

So, I would love to hear from others...how do you keep organization in your families? Please let me know so that I might be able to fill out the Ideas section of our family planner...It is lacking for the moment!

Happy Spring!

What's up with us? Not much!

2010-02-22T09:29:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to stop by for an update. I don't have a lot to say or anything, just wanted to say I am still here, just not into updating too often! My family is still trying to get things back to normal after the death of my father, but I have a feeling this whole next year, things are going to be in an upheaval. Please keep praying for us.

We don't have a lot going on, but we are looking forward to spring. I am looking forward to planting new things in our backyard garden. I am also looking forward to having an herb garden this year and have been reading up on the art of growing and drying herbs. I am really looking forward to this. Ya know what else I am looking forward to? Salsa! Yep, some good ol' salsa from the garden! I told my husband I want lots and lots and lots of cherry or grape tomatoes [because in my opinion, they make the best salsa!] from the garden. I am also looking forward to our elderly neighbors plums falling because every year he lets us have them all. Last year, I made TONS of baby food with it, this year, I am not sure. I will make something for the neighbor though! Also, we have two huge wild raspberry bushes in our backyard, and some over in the brush on the other side of the street that I love to pick as well. Oooh! I am getting excited about the spring and summer!

What about the spring and summer are you getting excited about? What kinds of things do you grow in your gardens? Let me know! Share your knowledge!

Let it snow!

2010-02-07T20:51:00.005-05:00

We are getting snow, snow and more snow this Winter season. Josiah loves the snow and often asks if he can go out and "touch the snow". He does not like to stand on it or sit in it, or really play in it, just be out in it and occasionally touch it. He loves to shovel snow with Daddy and loves to eat the snow. Bethany is not quite old enough to enjoy the snow, plus she is sick, so she has been staying inside and putting on hats and scarfs and just being soo cute and funny! We have been "snowed in" for about 4 days now and I am loving it, but I guess the roads will be clear enough for me to go back to work tomorrow...it has been fun while it lasted!

Update

2010-02-05T20:35:00.003-05:00

Good Evening to everyone. I am sorry, but blogging has taken a very big back seat in my life right now, although, I feel as though I may be able to get back into the swing of updating more often soon.

As my last post stated, I was looking forward to the new year. I was ready for 2009 to be done and over with. I was ready to take my new years resolutions to new heights and begin another year fresh. So far, this year is not what I ever would have chosen for my family. Not in a million years! What I have to realize, though, is that what I want for my family and God's will for my family may not always be the same. That is a hard fact to grasp hold of sometimes, so we plod along, grasping and grasping. Sometimes we fall, but God in His mercy gently lifts us back up and helps us, in many ways, to keep grasping and reaching for Him.

Most of you who read anything I post already know what I am going to tell you. For others, I am sorry, but I am not going to go into a lot of detail. Monday night, January 4th of this year, my Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. We all knew that stage 4 lung cancer was treatable, but not curable, therefore, we knew Dad was going to die, we just didn't know how much longer God would leave him with us. My Dad died at home, in the arms of my mother, surrounded by my brothers, his mother, and my mother's parents on Thursday, January 19th around 7:15 in the evening, 15 days after his original diagnosis. My Dad's last breath in this world was his first breath in Heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ, praise the Lord!

While I STILL feel a little bit in shock and absolutely devastated at the loss of my father, I also have a peace that has come over me. It is really awesome. The peace of which I speak came over me when I first got to GA and walked into my Dad's hospital room and saw him laying there struggling to breathe. I knew Dad was going to die and I was soooo sad. I was sooo devastated and sad, but God gave me, and I believe my entire family, such peace about His will. I remember when the DR who came to give the final diagnosis to our family about Dad's condition and just how bad things were, Dad listened to the DR, asked a few questions and then looked at us. I remember him telling us so many times that he was not afraid to die and that he wanted, more than anything, for God to be glorified in his illness. We all gathered around the bed listening to the DR talk and Dad asked her if taking chemo would help anything or how long it might prolong his days on earth. She said that there was really no telling how much longer it would allow him to live. He asked what the DR thought his quality of life might be if he decided to try to do chemo for the sake of more time with his family and she said the quality more than likely would be poor. He looked at us and said: "I want to go home and spend my last days here on earth with you at home." So, that is what we did. Dad got progressively worse in the hospital and frankly, we did not think that he was going to make the transport home because he was so ill. Not only that, but he was coming home to much less oxygen than he was on in the hospital. We brought Dad home under hospice care and Dad seemed to get a little better.

Let me tell you a little about my Dad's last days. Dad loved his church and God so wholly and they loved him too. The church members were so desperate to see him, and they knew how bad Dad wanted to be at church, that we set up a church service in mom and dad's home that afternoon and the members came to him. I am almost certain all church members were there save one member who was sick. What a blessing it was! We sang to him, a little preaching was done and members came and gave him the "right hand of fellowship" . Also, in my Dad's last days, he was not able to get up and down much, but he was able to go back out on the back porch one last time and be with my Papaw Nacho who helped him rebuild the back porch several years earlier. He was able to go upstairs, shower, shave and get a haircut one last time. My mom called me crying one day telling me that Dad got to go upstairs and lay down in bed with her one last time. She said she figured they would have gone up there and talked and chatted while laying there in bed, but she said Dad rubbed her head and they both fell asleep for a while together.

I must say that Dad being sick and me living 8 hours away was the hardest thing about this entire ordeal. I had work to think about, Danny's work to think about, my kid's. There were so many things I did or didn't do and decisions I made that were really hard. The first time I went to see Dad after finding out this news was really late one night and we had a call that we needed to come asap, so we drove all night to get there and for the next several days, I threw my kids in the laps of others and my husband and spent most of my time with Dad and my siblings and their families. I dreaded making a decision to go back home and I prayed all night one night and begged God to show me what to do. Danny had to go back to work and I would have to within a day or two. God answered my prayers and I was able to stay one more day after I sent my husband and kids home. I remember telling Dad goodbye when it was time for me to leave on that go around. I sat beside him holding his hand and told him I had to go but that I would be back in a few days. He asked me what day I would be back. I told him on Friday and he looked at me and said: "You go on home and go back to work. I will be here Friday when you get back." That was all I needed to hear. The next weekend we went on down to GA, but leaving this time was different. I wanted to be with my Dad and my family when he passed away so badly, but I knew I had to get back to VA. When I sat down with Dad this time, it was different. I still sat beside him and held his hands and told him I had to leave and how much I loved him. This time Dad asked me: "Do you have to go?" When I told him I did, he asked me: "Can you take Danny and the kids home and come right back?" It was then that I realized that Dad may not have known when he was going to die, but he knew that it would be soon. I told him how much I loved him and that if the Lord called him home to be with Him, then I would be okay. We said our goodbyes and I went home. It was less than 24 hours later that I was called and told that Dad had passed away. That was soo hard, but I know that it was not God's will for me to have been there. I am at peace, but I miss my Dad oh so much!

Well, that is really all I want to say. I could go into much more detail, but I won't. I will say this though: My dad was an awesome father, husband, son and grandfather. He was a devoted and loved church member and he was an awesome friend and co-worker. He was loved by many and will be missed by everyone who had the awesome priveledge to know him.

Please don't stop praying for me or my family. Keep my mom in your prayers. Also, please pray for my granny. Dad was her youngest son and last living. I can not imagine what it is like to lose all three of your sons to an early death.

Thanks for all of yours prayers so far!

Looking forward to the New Year

2009-12-28T06:47:00.002-05:00

For anyone who has come on a consistent basis to look for a new entry, I am sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Life takes over sometimes and leaves me with little time for myself, much less my family, and as you all understand, when there is time left over, family comes first!

I am looking forward to seeing this old year out and the new year in. I am very excited at what the New Year may hold for me and my family. I have a couple of serious projects going on that I need your prayers about, and I hope to blog more about those projects on my health and well being blog site, weightingfornothing.blogspot.com. I am not sure how often I can keep it up , but I will try to write on both at least weekly from now on.

Let me fill you in a little about us since last we spoke...

Bethany got her glasses and they are absolutely adorable on her. There are two questions that everyone asks me when they see a baby/toddler so young wearing glasses, so I will tell you a little. First question is: "How do you get them to stay on?" Well, when we first put them on Bethany, her first instinct was to reach up and jerk them off. For the first few days, I didn't fight her on it. I would put them on her and when she took them off, I would try a couple of more times to put them on. If she kept taking them off, I would put them away for a while and try later. After about a week, she was wearing them for several hours at a time before she started taking them off. Now, she pretty much goes all week wearing her glasses, and occasionally takes them off when she is tired or really upset. Plus, the stems wrap around her ears holding them on really well! Bethany seems to be seeing a whole new world since her glasses. She is so much more bubbly and giddy with people and I think it is because she can now see their facial expressions and interact with them better. The second question is: "How does the doctor know that she can't see or that she needs glasses?" The answer is...I really don't know the answer, but I do know that she can see with them on whereas she could not without them. The doctor said that she is .5 diopter away from being considered legally blind, so, her eyesight is very bad. She will have to wear glasses the rest of her life, and I am okay with that...especially since she is sooo cute!

We had a family and fun filled Thanksgiving holiday. I ventured out on my own and took a trip, by myself with Josiah and Bethany in tow, and we went to Georgia where I was desperate to see my family and spend some time with them. I got to meet my new nephew, and cried the first time I held him. I had been waiting and hoping for him for so long. He is adorable and looks just like my older brother, in my opinion. He has the cutest reddish hair and it just kind of sticks up everywhere! I also got to meet my new niece who was born back in May. I knew if I didn't take this trip to GA that I wouldn't get to see them for another while, so I am glad I went. The trip went well. Me and the kids got up around 5am and headed out. I doubled Josiah and Bethany both up on diapers and we hit the road. We stopped twice, once at a rest area at the NC border, then again in Commerce, GA where we had lunch at Chik-fil-A. I made everyone mad at the restaurant because I took about 15 minutes in the handicap stall changing Bethany and Josiah and also using the facilities myself. After all, it was black Friday and lunch time and people were GRUMPY!!! We hit mom and dad's house in record time and I was so thrilled to be there! Josiah was my constant companion the whole trip, not sleeping a wink the whole way. We constantly talked about all of the big trucks and all of the lakes of water we got to see. He is really so much fun! We also listened to Josiah's new Veggie Tales CD, almost the entire way...it is STILL stuck in my head! While we were in GA, we got to meet up with two of my grandmothers and and aunt and uncle and many cousins for a family luncheon. It was good to see everyone and wish more could have been there. Hey, the highlight was a bunch of the Strevel men got out to play some football and that was pretty fun-ny! I was supposed to head back home Sunday morning, but I was desperate to go to Shoal Creek, my home church, and visit with the saints and the Lord there, so I decided to do it and stayed for church, then the family talked me into going out to lunch with them. This put me travelling home most of the way in the dark, which I did not like, but it wasn't so bad! I had so much fun on this trip and would do it again in a heart beat!

I kept telling Danny that I thought we were due for a really big winter storm this year. Then, the news started posting these winter storm warnings. I really like the snow, but my DH has to drive a truck in it, so it is no fun for him. I called him from work one day and asked him if he heard the news and that they were saying we might get anywhere from 12-18 inches of snow. His response is always: "I'll believe it when I see it." Well, the snow started falling and I was sent home early from work. By the time I made it home, there were already a couple of inches on the ground...unbelievable. So, later on that night, we had TONS of snow and Danny had to get out and drive in it. Around 3:15am, my phone rang and Danny told me he was in his truck, stuck in the snow in a ditch on the side of the road off of Rte 11. He said an EMS/fire worker told him that the road was closed ahead due to an accident and he had to turn around. He thought he was turning around in a driveway, but not so. For 17 long hours, my baby was stuck in the snow on the side of the road in his truck. Thankfully he was able to keep the truck running, so he had heat and he had food with him. He got out at one point and walked up to the house where he was stuck and it turned out to be a frat house where a bunch of guys were hanging out and they let him use the bathroom and sit around for a while. When Danny was finally given permission to abandon his truck [how nice of his employer...] he had a fellow worker who lived in the area come and pick him up and see if he could find a hotel room to sleep in. They drove around for hours and all 18 hotels/motels in Lexington, VA had no vacancies [because everyone was abandoning their cars on the local interstate and seeking shelter]. I tried to find him a place to stay and finally decided to call the local Sherriff's office in Rockbridge County to see if they had a shelter or something like it for stranded motorists. She said that the National Guard set up an emergency shelter at the local High School, so I sent Danny there. He slept that night on the hard gym floor underneath some bleachers with a dumb dog whining near him all night. He was miserable! So, Danny left at 8pm on Friday night and me and the kids were stuck at home without him until Sunday afternoon around 4pm. I was sooo glad to see him! The kids were ecstatic too! I am so glad that ordeal was over and I will not wish for snow again in a while!

We had a nice Christmas with Danny's side of the family. I missed my family, and am still missing them, something terrible! I wish they could have been here, or we could have been there or something! Josiah had fun opening presents this year, but still does not understand what Christmas is all about. EVERYONE kept asking him about Santa and if he was going to see Santa this year, etc., which drove me crazy. Josiah will eventually know about santa, but only as a fictional character and not as some kind of mystical being who brings him goodies. I just don't want him to think that is what Christmas is all about.

Well, it is time for me to close for now. I just wanted to say Hi and I had not forgotten about my blog, just out of time on a regular basis!

Just the Facts, Please!

2009-11-16T22:14:00.002-05:00

Fact # 1: This is day four of being sick. I am sick of sick!

So, I picked Bethany up one day last week and noticed she had a bit of a fever. I chalked it up to teething. I gave her some tylenol and figured we were in for a rough couple of weeks. Then, Danny tells me he is feeling kinda sick and achy. That is when I told him he was not allowed to kiss me or the babies and to stay away from us [nice and loving wife, huh?]. Then, after an extremely cranky day with Josiah, I checked him for a fever, and guess what? Yeah, I had to try to not kiss on my kids for a few days. I wasn't supposed to get this! I am the one who has been diligently drinking my emergen-c's and all that good stuff! Friday of last week rolled around and I was at work and I could tell I had a fever because my eyes were so hot! So, we have all had fevers and coughs and I pray we are nearing an end!'

Fact # 2: I miss my family in GA and can't wait to see them all Thanksgiving weekend.

Me and the kiddos, and maybe my sis in law will be taking a trek to GA. I am excited and can't wait. I do not relish a trip by myself and I always have more fun any and every where with my sis in law, so I hope she can come! I am really excited to be able to meet my newest niece and my newest nephew on this trip. Watch out...here comes Aunt Melanie [I bet that is what my siblings have been telling them too!].

Fact # 3: I know we can shop for groceries once a week and spend less than $75.

The discouraging part is that we live in a day and time where if we want something we go and get it and we don't care if we are down to our last penny. It doesn't matter when we last went to the store, if we forgot it, we will go back. I am so frustrated at our spending habits and we continue to daily evaluate and will do so until we change for good. Until then, my discouragement will continue!

Fact # 4: I am tired and it is time to go to bed.

Good night everyone!

100th Blog Post

2009-10-28T22:49:00.002-04:00

Wow! 100 posts? Really? I didn't think I would ever go this far! This has been a busy season, month, week, and day for us here at the Hodges'! We seem to be swirling around here in the beautiful fall weather of Roanoke, Va.. I simply love this time of year. Our road is covered fall colored leaves and a lot of leaves in our front yard from the neighbor's tree. I think we will rake some leaves this weekend and play in them for a while. How much fun will this be? A lot, I tell you!!!

So, today has been a very busy day. I worked an early shift instead of the afternoon shift, and I took the afternoon to take Bethany to the eye doctor. She has crossed eyes, especially a problem with her left eye and we needed to have it seen about it. I thought the doctor would tell me that I was over-reacting or that the problem would eventually fix himself, but he almost immediately told me that there was a problem with her eyes and they were very crossed and then after a complete exam, he told me that Bethany is "extremely far-sighted" and that she needs glasses almost immediately. He says that she will proably need them for the rest of her life. Okay, I can handle that! At least it is not surgery she needs or any further problems, this is something that can easily be fixed with glasses. The only dilemma now is...what color... pink or purple? :-) I will post pictures one we get her glasses so everyone can see how cute she is.

Josiah, on the other hand, has entered a new phase of his life which I affectionately refer to as the "Hey momma..." phase. Oh my goodness, every other phrase out of his mouth is "hey momma...". It is driving me a little batty, but I always try to acknowledge him in spite of wanting to plug my ears! Here is a sample of one of our conversations in the car today:

J: "Hey momma!"
M: "What, honey?"
J: "Larry boy is brokie, momma."
M: "It is?"
J: "Uh-huh. Hey momma?"
M: What, honey?
J: "Daddy is driving."
J: "Hey momma?
M: "Yes, sweetie?"
J: "Go bye-bye eat?
M: Yes, we are going to eat Mexican tonight."
J: "Hey momma?"
M: "Mommy's not here!"
J: "Hey, momma? Where are you?" [in a sweet sing-songy voice!]

We had a good laugh over this one. This is literally the way things are going all day with Josiah. I have to keep reminding myself I love to hear him call my name. My mom laughed and said to wait until both Josiah and Bethany are calling my name. I laughed and cringed at the same time!

Well, it is time to head on to bed for another day here at the Hodges.

God Bless to all!

Heart full of Thanksgivings

2009-10-17T12:22:00.002-04:00

I have been having so many moments of reflection today. I am so thankful for my children. I love them so much. I remember about 6 years ago my doctor told me I wouldn't be able to have children, and no I have two. I must admit when I saw this doctor coming into the restaurant that I was leaving this week, I enjoyed the fact that she just about had to pick her jaw up off of the floor when she saw me and my two precious children. I was overwhelmed with the love of God and wanted to say "Isn't God good?" but instead I got a little choked up and couldn't say anything at all. God is good. He is God.

This morning as I was waking up, Bethany was playing joyfully in her bed in the corner and I could hear Josiah starting to stir. I went and took a shower and then it began: "Mommy, blah, blah, blah." This is what I heard over and over again. Josiah has begun to add "mommy" or "daddy" at the end or beginning of anything and everything he has to say. I love to hear it ringing in my ears, but this morning as I was trying to get dressed and he wanted my undevoted attention, I thought to myself, "now I know what mom and dad always meant when they said they were going to change their name"! So, I called my mom and dad and left a message telling them it has finally and really hit me why they always said that!

Josiah and Bethany have begun to play together and they have been complete angels today. I guess they sense that mommy has a lot to get done before company arrives this afternoon and they are being so sweet. Josiah will go and get toys for Bethany to play with and he will tell her and show her how some toys work. All in all he tries to take care of her as well as he can. He is an awesome big brother!

Well, I do have company coming and I have a few more things I would like to get done, but I just wanted to pause and say how thankful I am for my blessings!

Happy Day at The Hodges

2009-10-11T22:58:00.003-04:00

So, I finally moved into my part time position at my current job, and for some reason it seems like I even have less time than when I was working full time for 10 weeks! This is why I haven't been blogging for a while! Since my last post a lot has happened. I have fell more and more in love with my husband, my son and my daughter. I have also loved spending more time with them even though most of my days seem hurried and worried. Here are some updates on everyone:

Josiah:
- potty time is getting better; he is still not potty trained, but he wears underwear during the day and pullups at nap and night time; he still won't tell me when he *needs* to go potty, but maybe that will come soon
- I have put up a potty time sticker chart where Josiah gets to pick a sticker and put it up and every five that he puts up, Josiah gets a treat - we'll see how this goes!
- Josiah has decided recently that nap time is a thing of his past, but mommy and daddy will fight this one for all it's worth! He has been getting in a lot of trouble for getting out of bed in the middle of nap time and when he gets up in the morning and when he goes to bed at night...
- he is learning so many new words and things and phrases; he is learning to pretend and this is so much fun to watch also! He will watch a movie or a TV show, then he will play with these toys and start calling them by the names on the TV shows. For instance, all of his horses names are "strawberry" in honor of Elmo's Wild Wild West. He also has a donkey he officially has named "Wild Wild West" and some of his farm animals he has named "Pecos Bill".
- Josiah loves Bethany with all of his heart and is really enjoying playing with her lately. He will crawl on the floor with her and say "Come on, Bet-Bet, let's go!". He also kisses and hugs her many times throughout the day.

Bethany:
- she is finally crawling! For two months she would get up on her arms and legs and rock back and forth, but now she is finally on the go
- she is out human vacuum cleaner! No, seriously!!! I never had this problem with Josiah. He never put things in his mouth! Bethany will put anything in her mouth, especially if it is paper. She LOVES paper! I had to call the gas company and ask for another bill because SHE ATE IT!
- She babbles all of the time now about "MA-MA-MA-MA" and "BA-BA-BA-BA". She has also begun to grunt at me when she is frustrated or not getting her way, so a little thump on the hand and a "no-no" has been assisting me in changing her little attitude.
- she is always so happy. She wakes up in a good mood and hardly ever seems to be upset. She loves playing with Josiah and LOVES to pull his curly head of hair...she LOVES it, I tell you!

This past Saturday, we had the first official Happy Day at the Hodges. A lot of party decor and things were being thrown away at work but I instead brought them home with me. I put up streamers and ballons in the doorways and we dedicated the day to being "HAPPY". Josiah came downstairs and saw the streamers and went crazy. He loved walking through them at the doorway and would run through and say "It's a Happy Day!". We also made a picture and he wanted to give it to his Meemaw [Danny's mom] and we made a card for cousin Bailey [I am feeling so bad because I can not find it now!] and we made some music makers - two paper plates glued together with dried beans inside. We danced around the living room and made ourselves look silly, but we had fun doing it!

This next week I am officially dedicating to TV Free activities. The TV being on has been too much a part of my day and the kids day. WE are going without the TV this week!!!

Well, I really am falling asleep at the computer here and I think I will call it a night!

I love Holiday Weekends and TIme Off From Work!

2009-09-07T08:59:00.002-04:00

As I write this, my DH is outside clearing brush off of the fences in the cool morning air. Poor thing, he let it go way too long and now he declares he is "paying for it". I think I might take him a cool glass of water...wouldn't that be sweet of me?

We have had a wonderful family weekend together! I started my weekend by being one of the ones who won a contest at work and got to leave an hour early at 4pm. I came home in a hurry to make dinner and we had the most delicious roasted chicken pesto sandwiches. I mean delicious! We then got our swimsuits on and headed to the YMCA. Bethany, who has HATED baths up until a month or two ago, kicked, splashed and squealed in the water for about an hour an a half continuously, then she decided she had had enough! Josiah was very brave in the water as long as he could stand on his own two feet. He would walk all the way to the 3 1/2 foot deep water and hold his head back and keep his face out of the water. He even jumped up and down a few times, going under the water, and declared: "It's not scary!" Which is what he always says when he is scared by something. I spent a glorious 10 minutes in the hot tub, then gave Danny his 10 minutes. Danny and I ended the evening watching about 1/2 of the movie "The Patriot", one of our favorites.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early. We were determined to go yard saling! Boy, did we hit the jackpot at one sight. Josiah was desperately in need of some clothes and I bought about 40 pieces of clothing for him, some shoes and some toys for less than $20. We bought a few things for Bethany a little later on. All in all, we spent $30 and racked up. I think I have clothes to last Josiah from now until next fall! We came home and took a long nap in anticipation of our date night. My dear sister in law agreed to come over and watch Josiah and Bethany for us so we went out. Danny and I had a splendid evening together at Olive Garden, which, we decided our last date night had been the night before Bethany was born, 12/4, also at Olive Garden, except, if I remember correctly we had taken the same dear sister in law and sweet cousin along with us. We had a delightful evening and ended it with some antenna shopping at Best Buy and some book reading at Barnes and Noble, one of our favorite places...I think we own stock by now!

We had a great day at church on Sunday and just enjoyed spending time with the kiddos. We went grocery shopping and had some playtime at the best Mcdonald's playland I have ever seen...even better that we had it all to ourselves!

Well, Danny is still outside chopping away, the kitchen is clean, and lo, I hear baby babbling coming from upstairs. I guess it is time for the kids to join us...but first, to get my love a glass of ice water and a just maybe a kiss...!

Josiah and Bethany - my delights!

2009-08-29T21:33:00.002-04:00

Since I have gone back to work, and am there on a full-time basis right now, I have missed SOOO much with my kids! I think one day I am going to come home and Bethany will finally be taking that first crawling step...and I will have missed it! Well, today I was determined I wouldn't miss anything with my little delights. We went grocery shopping together [I sincerely thank the Lord for the invention of the double seating shopping cart at Kroger!], went to play at Mr. Tarpley's park, a real nice park here in Roanoke where a prominent man in the neighborhood left this section of land for a fenced in playground for the kids in our city, we took glorious naps and spent some time in the swimming pool. Josiah also got to "take Daddy for a walk" to the store to get mommy a bottle of coke...what a man! Along the way, we had some rather icky events as well! Bethany still sleeps in our bedroom in the corner in her crib. She is such a good and sound sleeper...I can come and go as I please and she never wakes...even if I have to turn the light on! Well, I woke up to the beautiful sounds of my little girl playing and cooing from the corner. I laid there and listened for a while when I realized something wasn't right! There was a terrible smell, also coming from the same corner. Dare I even look, I thought to myself. I knew I was going to regret it, but I had to look. I rose up out of bed to see my precious little girl on her hands and knees, diaper long gone, and poo-poo from head to toe. Did I say head to toe? I meant HEAD TO TOE!!! Oh gag! I thought. How am I going to get these clothes off of her, then she smiled at me and I realized the distance this disgusting stuff had gone...she had it on her face, in her hair, on her pacifier...which just dropped out of her mouth. She had socks on and when I took the socks off, it was on her feet through the socks. This stuff was everywhere! I held her naked little body by her two hands and hurried her to the bathtub. This stuff gave me a hard time coming off too! So, needless to say, tonight we wore bloomers over our diaper when we went to bed!

As for Josiah, he heard me ask Daddy if Daddy would go and buy me a coke at the store down the street, and Josiah said he wanted to take Daddy for a walk. So, Josiah got to go with him, wearing his big boy Elmo underwear and not pull ups! Woo-hoo! I think I have him scared enough that he won't wet his underwear. He is afraid to "pee-pee" on Elmo. I say: "Hey, whatever works"! So, after Josiah went to take Daddy on his walk, I heard screaming and crying and I see Daddy carrying Josiah back to the house. I thought the sounds appeared to be hurt cries, and that some doctoring might be necessary, so before they got back in the door, I got out the first aid kit and some antisceptic spray. Josiah sat on the table screaming until I cleaned him up and put "boo-boo stickers" on his knees. Who knew a little skinned knee could bleed so much? Well, Josiah was more upset about coming back home than he was about falling and hurting his knees!

Well, I know this isn't much, but this is how my day has been spent...with my wonderful kids and husband - the delights of my world!

God Has Been My Refuge Daily

2009-08-23T22:42:00.003-04:00

GOD HAS BEEN MY REFUGE DAILY

God has been my refuge daily,

God has been my hiding place,

He will ever lead me onward,

He will take me home at last.

He knows all my joys and sorrows,

He knows all my trials and cares,

He knows all my sins and errors,

Yet for me He daily cares.

He has taught my heart to love him,

While he found me deep in sin,

Yet He loved me long before then,

E'en before the world began.

All my days I want to serve Him,
He has been so good to me,

Every day shall be to praise Him,

Long as breath remains in me!

I can not get this song out of my head tonight and have been singing or humming it often. It is such a beautiful song about God's love for us. My family is going through some trials right now, our church family is going through some trials, but what a consolation to know that God daily cares for me. He knows all my joys and sorrows...every single one of them! He knows all of my sins and errors and YET He still loves and cares for me! Hallelujah! Despite all of these trials we may seem to be going through, we serve and awesome God and that will never change. I need to remember to constantly look to Him from "whence cometh my help"!

I hope anyone having a rough week or feeling down can read the words to this song and be uplifted knowing that God is in control and loves His children. Praying without ceasing...

You thought I forgot, didn't you?

2009-08-15T15:59:00.002-04:00

Every Saturday since I last posted I have had major things going on and simply NO TIME at all to catch up on my blogging. I really don't have a lot of time today, but thankfully I am a fast typist and can get a lot in in just a few minutes!

My DH is out cutting our grass and a neighbor lady's, Josiah and Bethany are both taking a nap, the kitchen is clean and dinner is in the oven, so I thought: why not?! We have been tremendously busy over the past few weeks and it seems like I have less and less time with the family, so some thing have to go. Blogging and computer time are just examples. I have to get up around 6am every morning to get ready, get the kids bags ready and be out the door and to work at 8am. Then, I work and do not get home until around 5:15! As soon as I come in the door, though, my darling son greets me with a big hug and a kiss and begs me to lay down on the sofa and rest while Daddy massages my feet. Bethany sees me and starts kicking and squealing in the floor from her beloved play spot. She is content for me to play with her from my "resting" spot on the sofa. I do this every day for Josiah. He needs this special attention from me and I am glad to give it and get so much in return. I love sitting and unwinding from my day before resuming family life. I love coming home to my babies, but wish I didn't have to leave them in the first place. I am still on a full time schedule, hoping to hear any day about my part time schedule. That is something all of my friends can pray about for me!

Some fun things about the kiddoes:

Josiah:
He is getting bigger and bigger and he is such a sweet big brother. He is always trying to figure out why Bethany might be upset and when she is, he will bring her a new toy and tell her not to cry that it is okay. He has been learning some Bible verses: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.", and "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine". Any time he is fussy or disobedient after disciplining, I make him quote these verses and we talk about them. Josiah also says our dinner time prayer. He can't say all of the words, but he will say most of the prayer: "God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. By His hands we are fed, give us Lord our daily bread. Amen." He looks forward to this every evening when we sit down to eat. He is such a good little boy, but he does have his moments where I want to wring my hands and pull out my hair. I don't think these times will lessen as he grows, but I am looking for alternative ways to help him not fuss, whine or pitch fits as much. These moments are not fun for me! I do love it when Josiah gets real lovey and wants to "hold me" or love on me and kiss me. It makes everything better!

Bethany:
This little girl is soon to be on the move! She loves to sit in the living room and play. When she does, she rocks back and forth and ends up scooting a good bit on her bottom. She is soon going to be able to get to where she wants to go. She will roll over to her tummy and get up on her hands and knees, rock back and forth, then give herself a good push, which propels her forward. She is our constant delight. About a week or so ago, she cut 4 teeth at the same time and we hardly noticed...she did have some fussy moments though. She continues to be a good eater and sleeper all of the time for which I am thankful. Her favorite past times as of late have been when I drape the big floor blanket over the dining room table and she and Josiah go under there to play. They both love it. Whenever Bethany gets upset, Josiah will go get her another toy and say: "Do you like it sweetheart?". This just melts my heart. A couple of nights ago, they spent about an hour and a half under the table together!

Well, I just wanted to share a few things about us and what's going on. Hope you all are having a GREAT summer and enjoying the sunshine! God Bless Everyone!

A Saturday Posting

2009-07-18T14:13:00.002-04:00

Well, it is Saturday again and do you know where my kids are? Yep, they are taking their Saturday afternoon naps and I am playing catch-up once again. This has been another hectic week, but here we are, at the end of it, and soon we will be ready to go again!

One majorly awesome part of this week was that I became and aunt again! My older brother and his wife gave birth to a little boy weighing about 8 lbs. and 4 ozs. this week. This little baby boy is going to be spoiled in the best way possible! He has three older sisters from 14-9 years old and they love him so very much. He has a HEAD FULL of reddish/brownish/blondish hair. He is absolutely cute!!! I am so thankful for his swift and healthy delivery and I simply can not wait to hold him and love on him!!!

Josiah and Bethany have been great and well taken care of this week by my loving family. I just don't know what I would do without everyone who has been so gracious to help us. They really are a tremendous blessing!

We have been tremendously blessed and favored by the Lord this week and that is my update!

One more thing...

2009-07-11T14:04:00.002-04:00

I forgot to finish telling about Bethany's DR appointment. So, she is 20 lbs and about 29 inches long [she will be tall just like her brother!!!]. We notices a few weeks ago that Bethany's left eye has a tendency to drift inwards toward her nose, then about a week later, we noticed that he eyes cross quite a bit. We have been set up with a pediatric opthamology appointment in October [as you can tell, they are not too worried about her!] to check out her eyes. The DR was not too concerned, but agreed that her eyes crossing so much and so harshly was not normal. So, we will keep you updated. For those of you who have facebook, check out our pictures there. It is much easier to load pictures to FB than here!

A Lot To Talk About

2009-07-11T13:22:00.002-04:00

This has been a ______________ week. There are just too many words I could use to fill in the blank! Any of these words would fit: hectic, great, sad, mind-numbing, tiring, exhilarating, exhausting, weird, nerve-wracking and soo many more! It has been that kind of week because I had to do something this week that I did not think I would have to do this soon. I have dreaded this from the time Josiah first became a twinkle in our eyes! I rose at 6am every day, got dressed up in business clothes, left my beautifully sleeping children and oh-so handsome husband, and went back to work. I put make-up on every day this week! I have gone back to work for my former employer who was always so good to me. They have offered me a part time job back in the call center where I previously worked for almost three years before Josiah came along. I can't wait until the part time hours take effect because that means I will have a WHOLE lot more time with my family. For the next six weeks I have to train full time M-F and this is going to be hard on our family. Please pray for us. I have never been away from the kids this long during the day and I am sad and miss them all day long! They are doing well so far and talk about me during the day, mostly Josiah says: "Mommy no here. Mommy at work. Mommy, where are you?" Danny says he gets up in the morning excited to go downstairs and see mommy only to discover that she is not there. That makes me really sad! It has not been as hard as I thought though. I really enjoyed walking back into that building and seeing all the familiar faces I had grown to enjoy. I enjoyed meeting all of the new people and showing pictures of the kids to everyone. I think anyone who would listen to me got to hear all about my kids this week! Caring for the kids while I am gone has been a challenge, but so many of my friends and family have come along and helped us out and I am so thankful. Let me give you just a snippet of our schedule this week...Monday and Friday, Danny came home from his overnight job, and went straight to sleep, and woke up when the kids did around 9am. He got them breakfast and they did a good bit of playing around and had an early lunch, then he loaded them up to go to Grandma's house where Grandma took over their care. Daddy sacked out in a bed at Grandma's and slept as much as he could for the next few hours, then he brought them home around 5pm, we had dinner and Danny went back to sleep while I excitedly took my turn having a blast with the kids. On Tuesdays, a dear cousin, bless her heart, comes over around 9am when the kids are waking. This dear cousin takes care of the kids until Danny wakes up later in the day. This week, our dear cousin even was sweet enough to put the crockpot dinner on for us so we could eat when I got home instead of having to rush around trying to cook, or even worse, going out for a bite to eat. On Wednesdays, Danny and I get the kids up and ready to go to a dear friends house for half of the day. Danny takes them over to the friends around 7am and then comes home and sleeps, then gets up around noon and goes back to pick them up. Danny doesn't have to work on Wednesday nights so he does not have to find time for more sleep. He does take a nap with the kids in the afternoon however! Thursdays Danny has the kids all day and tries to nap when they do. Right now we have a plan to meet each other for lunch every afternoon at ChickfilA so we can talk and I can see the kids. So, my poor husband is struggling to get his sleep, to say the least. Hopefully we won't have to do this much longer! I am so thankful for dear friends, cousins and Grandma's who do what they can to help us out. They may refuse to take cash compensation, but they will be compensated, just wait and see!

Well, enough about work! Let me tell you a few things about the kids this week! Bethany is getting sooo big. Last week she had her 6 month check up at 7 months. She is 20 lbs! She is such a big and beautiful little girl! She is beginning to "talk" to us soo much more than she did before. She is still trying to figure out this rolling over thing...she starts to roll a little, then can't find where to put her hands, and gets stuck and frustrated! She may not be fully rolling over yet, but she can sit up like a pro! She loves to sit and when she is sitting, she rocks back and forth wildly out of excitement. Bethany has grown to love sitting in the grass...seriously. We go outside and she squirms and wiggles and squeals until I put her down. When I do, she gets so excited and says: "Ma ma ma ma ma ma" over and over again while rocking back and forth. Today she did something I have never seen any baby do and she quite confused me with it at first! Josiah made a mess in the floor and I needed to clean it up, so I put Bethany down in the dining room, sitting on her bottom. When I came back, she was still sitting facing the same position, but she was across the room about 10 feet. I thought I was losing my mind, but I was sure I put her in the dining room and not the living room! I thought maybe Josiah moved her, but no, he was still in the same place as before. So, I picked Bethany up and put her back in the dining room and went around the corner to secretly watch her. That little booger scooted on her bottom across the entire floor so very quickly. She just pulled her feet into her tummy and pushed sending her backwards. She did this over and over again so fast and was back across the room in seconds! She was very pleased with herself too! Also, Bethany has HATED her baths since she was born. I mean screaming like her legs have been severed HATE. So about a week or so ago, we decided to go to the local public pool with the kids. I thought Bethany would hate it, but she had the time of her life! Since the pool, Bethany has declared her love for bath times, especially with Josiah. She squeals, kicks, laughs and talks the whole time she is in the tub. It is so funny how she has done a complete 180 on us!

Josiah is enjoying his baby sister immensely. He has discovered over the past few weeks that she loves him dearly and he takes advantage of this, in a good way. Josiah is the only one that can make Bethany laugh and he does it by getting near her and belting out laugh after laugh and giggle after giggle. This excites Bethany to no end. Josiah loves to kiss on Bethany and hug her and "hold" her at almost every opportunity. Josiah is beginning to love reading books, especially reading to Bethany. Josiah also tries to help feed Bethany at every opportunity, which is not always a good thing. Bethany has already had raisins, a whole tomato and some whole blueberries in her mouth before mommy came to the rescue. Josiah is truly learning more and more every day about the consequences of his actions. His favorite question right now will be to ask: "What happens if you______?" I will tell him, I don't know, what happens? To which he says: "I skank your hand!" He is learning the hard way not to touch the computer, not to spit, especially in people's faces, and to obey in general. Josiah has become very loving this past week, always laying his head against my chest and saying: "It's okay mommy." He will now kiss me on the lips, which has always been hard for him to do. He has always preferred to be kissed on the cheek. He will pray with us at night before bedtime and tell us he loves us, which warms our hearts!

Well, this has been the Hodges Family update and I hope you have enjoyed. Since our schedule has been so hectic and will continue to be, don't look for updates often, because I ain't doing it during the week! I have reserved Saturday afternoon nap times to catch up on the house and me!

Have a good weekend!

The Month of June

2009-06-30T21:14:00.002-04:00

This month has flown by. I have been really busy, but it seems if I were to stop and tell what I were busy doing, my mind draws a blank! Well, I will recap as much as I can remember!

Josiah's potty training is still going, slowly but sweetly. I did cringe this morning when he came up to me and said: "Um, mommy? Yucky dirty on the chair, yucky dirty on the floor and yucky dirty on my hands!" To which I quickly turned from what I was doing to check the adult version of the damage...it wasn't too bad, but he wasn't kidding either! Josiah will tell me when he is wet and when he has messed his pants, but he won't tell me when he needs to go. He will tell me he needs to mess about 10 minute before he does, to which I proactively put him on the potty and cheer him on. Then nothing happens until we put the pants back on. How do we figure this part out??? Well, on to greener pastures...

Bethany is sitting up for 20 and 30 minutes at a time. She LOVES for Josiah to play with her and Josiah loves to play with her, although his playing with her has to be severely monitored! For some reason he likes to plant his palm in her face and shove her over when she is sitting up, and he thinks it is funny. Bethany is also making a lot of sounds and making a lot of noise. Her favorite right now is sticking her tongue out and spitting. Josiah loves it when Bethany makes her spitting noise but doesn't quite understand why it is not alright for him to spit. We went to a church meeting this past weekend and twice I had to discipline Josiah for spitting in people's faces when they talked to him. Josiah spitting has a lot more force than a little old baby spit! I was literally wiping spit out of one lady's hair! So, we were in the car on the way home from this meeting and Josiah turned around to me and said: "Mommy! What happens if you spit? What? What happens?" I told him: "You tell me, what happens if you spit?" Then Josiah said: "I take you out and skank your hand!"He doesn't quite understand why he can't spit but Bethany can, so he has told me several times that Bethany needs a spankin'! Even though Bethany is sitting up, she could care less about rolling over and has maybe done so about 5 times. Isn't that weird? Josiah was rolling from one side of the room to the other by 7 months!

Now for some sadness to share. Danny and I have been praying about our financial situation for a while now and feel led for me to go back to work part time. I have been praying about what to do and where to go when I noticed an ad for the previous company I worked for, and they were looking for part time work! I would love to work for my previous company again and it was PT! Even better! So, this week I have been finishing up paperwork for going back to work at Delta Dental. I have been preparing myself for leaving the kids for 1/2 a day and I though I had gotten to the point where I felt like I could do it and not feel too bad or too guilty. Then yesterday a bombshell went off in my lap! I was told that the training begins this next Monday and that the training is for 6 weeks [it has been over 2 years since I have been at Delta, so I have to go through the training again, understandably!] and not only is it for 6 weeks, it is from Monday thru Friday from 8a-5p. I guess I just didn't think it would be this much. I have been bursting out in tears yesterday and today over the thought of leaving my kids on a daily basis for most of the day. Six weeks! Bethany will be rolling over and crawling and I will be missing it!!! I am so sad and downcast. I am blessed however to have a wonderful friend who is helping to keep the kids one day a week and my mother in law is keeping the kids two days a week. Daddy is off and keeping the kids one day a week and our cousin will fill in for one day a week or as needed. The Lord has helped us to have all of the pieces fall into place and this is what we have needed. Please pray for me while I have to be away from my kids. I am feeling all alone and very sad right now and I don't like these feelings!

This has been our June goings on and I will try to be more diligent to write more in the future!!!

Don't Laugh At Me! Okay, Not Too Hard Anyway...

2009-06-08T23:20:00.002-04:00

We have a dilemma here in the Hodges' House...my son's bottom is too big for regular diapers anymore. Yes, he's only a little over two, but he is almost 45 lbs and they just don't make diapers that big! We have gone to pull-ups that don't have enough coverage and we have even bought size 7 diapers that are WAY more expensive. I came to the conclusion that we couldn't do this anymore. We are not made of money, you know! So, I read a book and talked with a friend who has tried the potty training in a day method. My friend said it worked for her, and out of desperation and literal lack of money, we decided to try this method.

Basically, you get a baby doll that has a refillable bottle to drink from, and the ability to pee. You give your child the bottle and have your child give the baby drink. Then tell your child that the baby has to go potty on the potty chair. Instruct your child to then put the baby on the potty chair and watch the baby go potty. After the baby potties on the chair, instruct your child to give the baby a treat. Instruct your child to congratulate the baby and continue letting your child give the baby water and telling the baby to go potty on the potty chair. After this scenario a few times over, tell your child it is time for them to potty like a big boy/girl on the potty chair. Instruct the child to pull their pants down, let them situate themselves, wait for them to pee on the potty, congratulate them heartily, then give them a treat. This should go on for the better part of a day. Try to set aside time where it is just you and the child you are training. Better yet, let the child go naked without pants and when you see them running around every 5-10 minutes, tell them it is time to potty on the potty chair.

So, you may laugh now, but don't laugh too hard, because if you read my blog about a month or so ago, pottying was a no-go. Since the baby doll, Josiah has not skipped a beat. He comes to me at various times of the day and tells me his baby went to pee on the potty and needs a treat, but I make him sit down and pee first. Now, he is not FULLY trained, but we are well on our way to no more diapers for the big kid! He still wets in his pants, but now he comes and tells me he didn't pee on the potty, but he peed in his pants and it is "dirty, yucky". Pooping on the potty has not ocurred yet...I won't even begin to mention that, but if you are ready to start and you think your child is, get the baby doll...it has worked wonders for us!

Happy training!

How can she be 6 months old?

2009-06-05T07:54:00.004-04:00

It seems like just yesterday I was whining about how miserable I was in the last stages of my pregnancy. I was miserable, but oh-so excited to meet my baby girl! Bethany has been a delightful baby since day one. Almost from the start, she has slept through the night and she loves the 3 hour routine...eat, stay awake for about an hour and a half, then sleep an hour an a half. This is how she works her days. She can sleep just about anywhere...I have a bed set up over in the corner and she sleeps there while her rowdy brother plays and stomps around, and she sleeps through the antics of the kids I babysit. She hates to go to sleep in your arms and will fight you for all it's worth, but she is so easy to go to sleep. Just give her a "buddy" [pacifier] and a blanket [she rubs her blanket on her face to help her go to sleep!] and she is out in seconds...literally! Bethany is so laid back and easy going. She loves to watch everything that is going on around her. She is so excited to have discovered her big brother. She loves watching Josiah do anything. Bethany hates it when he leaves the room, though. I tease and say that she has brother separation anxiety! One of the best parts of Bethany's day is laying down in Josiah's bed with him. She loves it! She kicks her feet, grabs for Josiah, coos and talks and has the best of times! Bethany does not roll over a lot, maybe only three or four times since birth, but she is already sitting up. She can sit up on her own for about 15 minutes before she shows significant signs of being tired of it! For about 2 months now, Bethany has been giving kisses. What, you don't believe it? I thought at first it was nothing, but I kid you not! If you get close enough, she will grab your face with both hands and plant a juicy one on your cheek, and she will do this over and over again as much as you will let her. It is the sweetest thing ever. Sometimes she takes you by surprise and literally lunges at your face to kiss on you. If I kiss on her cheeks, this always inevitably starts an all out kiss-fest!

I thank God every day for my children and I love them so very much! Happy 6 month birthday Bet-bet [as Josiah calls her!]!

What have we been up to?

2009-05-23T11:40:00.002-04:00

I didn't realize just how little time I would have once the springs rolled to an end and the summer started breathing down our necks. Warmer weather here makes Josiah want to be outside almost 100% of the time and I try to accommodate him because I would rather him be active and outdoors than inside sitting around or wanting to watch videos. Josiah loves trees, flowers, sticks, trucks, BIG trucks and anyone who will stop and talk to him as they go by or we go by. He loves to get his push toy and walk all the way to the end of the street and back [it would be about 1/2 a mile I would guess]. He would do it over and over again if I let him. We went out this morning for a walk and we got back to our house and he was completely covered in sweat, sweat dripping down his face and curly locks of golden hair. I wasn't ready to go inside yet, but I did feel like we needed some water and this cause much of a fuss! We got our water though and walked again to the end of the street and back.

Well, this is not all we have been up to. I am ending up a school season long babysitting spree [except for the almost 3 months I was out on "maternity leave"]. I love the family I babysit for. They have a 6 1/2, 3 and almost 2 yr old. I have babysit them of and on for about 2 years, or at least since the baby was a baby. They are a real sweet Christian family and I have enjoyed them immensely. I am currently looking for some more babysitting to take on for the summer. I must do the babysitting or something like it for the time being so I can stay at home and be my all to my kids. I may have an opportunity to watch 2 teenage foster girls during the day this summer. I am still praying about this and have not heard back from the lady that interviewed me. All who read this can pray for me to have some one come along that I can minister to and that can bring in enough money to comtinue to keep me at home.

Other than babysitting and working around the house, we have had a rather wondrous occurrence in Roanoke. I won't mention names, because I just don't mention other people by name on my blog because they probably wouldn't want it, but one of my favorite people, and a simply wonderful young lady is now an engaged young woman. If anyone reading this is a part of Facebook and a friend of mine on facebook, go check out my pictures if you haven't already! As a result of this engagement and upcoming wedding, I have kicked it into high gear and I am exercising like crazy and really enjoying it. For more on that, visit my blog weightingfornothing.blogspot.com in the next couple of days and I will have some updates. I have to lose a lot of weight before I will even look decent in family pictures at this wedding!

Okay, so updates on the wee ones. Josiah has been a delight this week. Every week he comes up with something new to tickle us with or delight us with. It is his job, right? Well, this week he has been referring to himself as "Siah". He will say things like: "Siah do it!", or, "Siah help mommy!". He is absolutely adorable with this. He is becoming more and more aware of what it means to obey mommy and daddy and what happens if he chooses not to. When Sunday morning comes around and he realizes we are getting ready for church, he will say: "Go to church, praise the Lord, sit still and be quiet, or get a skankin!" I think he knows we mean business! He really is a good little boy during church and most other times! He has finally realized that Bethany can bring him much joy and that he can bring her much joy as well. He loves to make her smile and to make her coo. She loves him too! Two times this past month I have had to rescue her from Josiah. One of the times I heard Bethany coughing and I turned around to see raisings spewing out of her mouth. Josiah had given her a handful and explained to me that he was "sharing". The other time I walked in the room and Bethany had a tomato slice hanging from her mouth. It was darling, but I have to watch that boy! This time he explained that she was "starving!".

Bethany is still her lovable and agreeable self. She hardly ever cries and those two bottom teeth in the middle finally broke through and are not giving her much more trouble anymore. She has grown significantly in the last month and a half or so. She went from a kind of tiny little 11 pound 4 month old to an almost 15 lb 5 1/2 month old. This is probably because we made a switch to formula because of technical difficulties :-) and she has been having a few baby foods. She LOVES sweet potatoes, but they don't love her tummy, so we have nixed them for a couple of months. She also likes bananas, rice cereal, avacado and sweet peas. This is about as far as we have ventured so far. She doesn't flip over much when she is on the floor, but she is already starting to sit up on her own, but is still a little unsteady.

As for me and Danny, we shared our 8th wedding anniversary this month as well as Danny's 42nd birthday. We didn't do much on these two occasions but spend some time together and that is always fun!

Well, that is about it for now. I will try to get back to more consistent blogging, but don't get your hopes up since Summer is upon us! Happy Memorial Day and Memorial Day weekend!

Bad Habits

2009-05-13T09:00:00.003-04:00

I have a really bad habit of turning the TV on and just listening to it during the day. I don't really watch anything bad, mostly news. I realized yesterday the negative affect this is having on my young son though. You know you watch too much TV when your son repeats a popular law office commercial he has heard way too many times:

"Tell them you mean business! Call Kalfus and Nachman on the HURTLINE now!"

My husband and I really laughed hard the first time we heard this, but when he said it so many times, I realized this bad habit HAD TO GO!

What kinds of bad habits do you have that you have seen come out in your kids?

These are a few of my favorite things...

2009-05-07T22:36:00.002-04:00

Color:

Yellow

Dessert:

Homemade Icecream

Smell:

Vanilla

Flower:

Yellow Rose

Animal:

Umm...I guess any type of small dog

Month:

October

Beverage:

Pumpkin Spice Frapuccino

Pair of Shoes:

I am sooo not a shoe person, so plain sandals

Snack:

Apple Slices and Peanut Butter

Song:

I Can Only Imagine

Mercy Me

Book:

It is hard to name just one

I like a lot of Christian Fiction and Biographies

Fruit:

Cantaloupe

Hairstyle:

I change it so often, who knows? I really like it short enough to wash and go and not have to do much with it

Piece of Clothing:

My undershirts

Store to clothes shop:

Cato's

Season:

Spring/Fall

Hobby:

Crocheting

Things to collect:

I really do not like to collect things, but I have so many collections I never intended

Movie:

Gone with the Wind and the Sound of Music

Restaurant:

Right now, McAlister's

My Little Man

2009-05-04T18:49:00.003-04:00

Here is a short video clip of my little man having fun and keeping us in stitches!

What are you trying to say?

2009-04-24T13:52:00.004-04:00

If I were to tell you that the way you dress communicates to others what's in your heart, would you agree or disagree? Think about it for a few minutes. The way you dress...a form of communication? Really...what do you think?

Think about it this way: when you see a bride walking down the aisle brilliantly dressed in her best attire for her future husband. When you see her in all of her dazzling beauty, doesn't the way she is dressed make a statement? Doesn't it speak to others of the love that is in her heart for the man she is about to marry? Or, think about it this way: if you see someone dressed in a thick wool hat, wool mittens, a scarf around the neck and a heavy coat on, wouldn't it be safe to say this person is cold and is not headed to a picnic?

Clothing can communicate to others whether we are from a poor or a wealthy family. Have you ever seen someone on the street and thought they must live in a bad section of town, or seen someone else and thought about how nice it would be to have the kind of money they do in order to shop for clothes? Clothing sends out a message about our values, our character and our attitudes. For example, you can look at some people and tell that neatness is not a concern to them. You can look at others and tell by the way they are dressed whether they are having a good day or not. The way we dress and the way that we present ourselves is a reflection of what is in our heart.

In First Timothy 2:9, women are exhorted to dress modestly. Modest? What does modest mean to you? The most fitting definition of the word modest that I could find, that spoke the most to me, was from Webster's Dictionary, definition # 3: "observing the proprieties of dress and behavior". In simple terms, this means to dress decently.

The main reason I am writing this is that we, as Christians, have an obligation to set ourselves apart from those that are in the world. Part of setting ourselves apart from those in the world is to dress differently from those in the world. Ladies, are you doing YOUR part to set yourself apart from the world and dress in a decent manner (I speak especially to teens and young adults!)? If not, you need to take a serious look in the mirror and change your appearance so that you might not be conformed to this world!

I want to leave you with a few examples I have seen recently of immodest dress and ask all of you teens and young women to take some time out to think about and pray about the way that you dress and ask yourselves if you are doing all you can to glorify God in your manner of dressing. Here are some of the examples of immodest dress:

Tight and form fitting shirts [what good is a shirt that covers private body parts if the size of the shirt enhances that which is covered?]
Shirts that are too short and expose the belly/hip area
Shirts that are too low cut or too loose at the top so that every move you make exposes private body parts [you can always find sleeveless shirts to wear under low cut shirts, or button up the shirts, or better yet, if the shirt is too low cut or too short, don't buy it and don't wear it!]
Shirts that have writing across the chest are NOT decent at all because this only draws the eye to private parts of the body
Pants or shorts that have writing across the bottom do the same thing - draws the eye to private body parts
Pants that are too low waisted paired with a shirt that is too short [hey, I know low rise pants, jeans and shorts are the trend nowadays. I am not necessarily against them. It is when your shirt is not long enough to cover what the bottoms leave behind that causes indecent dress]
Skirts that have slits in the sides and up the back need to be checked. You should sit down in front of a mirror and check all angles of your dress with this type of skirt on. What happens when you cross your legs? How big does the slit open up when you sit, stand and walk?
See through material is just that! If you want to wear something with thin material, please invest in a nice full body or half body slip in order to more fully clothe yourself.

These are just a few things that I have seen lately. Remember, these things I am seeing from our fellow sisters in Christ! We have a responsibility to uphold one another, exhort one another, and rebuke one another in love when necessary.

I am not the most eloquent of writers or speakers. I really am a mild mannered, down to earth kind of person [at least I think I am!]. My intention here is not to offend anyone or point fingers at anyone other than our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that all who read this take to heart what I have written. Please examine yourselves and your lives and truly ask yourself whether or not you have set yourself apart from those that are in the world.

I welcome any and every comment, whether private or public, and would be happy to discuss this subject more in length with anyone who has the desire!

I've been out of the loop

2009-04-22T12:01:00.003-04:00

Hello all! I returned just yesterday afternoon from a trip to GA to be with my family. I had such a great time! Great sleep? No, but a great time, yes! We have planned this trip since before Bethany was born and now I can't believe it is over. We had so many plans and things to do on this trip and I feel like I hardly ever stopped to take time to smell the roses, so to speak.

We left around 2pm one afternoon to make our trip. It was a nice trip except for maybe the last two hours where both Josiah and Bethany screamed and screamed. Bethany was miserable and was scrunched up in the back seat of the rental car. We stopped and decided to switch the places where both car seats were and this seemed to greatly help. Danny has such long legs that he had to put the car seat back a lot further on Bethany than we would have wanted. This seemed to calm both of the kids down and we soon arrived in Conyers, GA around 10:30pm or so. It was a long trip, but well worth it!

We met up with my little brother, his wife and their little girl who were also visiting at my parents for a week or so. The Wednesday after we arrived we decided to take the kids to the Yellow River Game Ranch where you can feed live animals. This was great! Deer came up to you out of nowhere, eating carrots and apples right out of your hands. There were also foxes, chickens, roosters, rabbits, bears, squirrels, pigs, goats, sheep and so many more animals. I am sure I am leaving some out, but you get the point! The kids had a blast. Josiah has a rooster's crow down to an art now, as the roosters followed us around making all sorts of noises. Josiah lost interest a lot sooner than his cousin did, and he just wanted to "Run, run, run!" all over the place.

That evening, Danny went to the Atlanta Tea Party with some of the local church family, while I gladly stayed at home and looked after the kids. Truth be told, you would not have found me dead on the streets of Atlanta in all of that mess!

The next day, I went to a huge kid's consignment sale with my sister in law and got a good bit of things, spending less than $20 - that is always a great feeling! We spent most of the rest of the day letting the kids nap and catching up ourselves, then we went to Shoal Creek PBC for their dinner and prayer meeting. It was nice to see friends and family and spend time with them in the Lord.

Friday my older brother, his wife and their three girls came up to my parents for a couple of days. The first order of business for us all was a trip to Stone Mountain State Park. It had been a long time since I went to Stone Mtn, and I had a great time! We took a picnic and had a great time eating, some walked down to the mill, and some threw the football around and had a few laughs. Mom and dad went back home for the afternoon to get some rest, while the rest of us split up for just a little while. Me, Danny, my younger brother and his family and the kiddos went and rode the train around the mountain. It was nice, but the seats were less than uncomfortable! We then went to the barnyard for the kids to play...it wasn't quite meant for their age, so we stayed for a minutes, then moved on. At that point we decided to ride the airlift to the top of the mountain. It had been forever since I was up there and it was nice to see again. I am so glad I didn't have to hike the mountain to get there! We met up with the rest of the family, then headed home for dinner with all of the family and togetherness...playing some Wii. Yes, as you guessed, it was a sight to behold!

Saturday we all had plans to head to the church for the Strevel Family Reunion. I looked forward to spending time together with family from near and far. We all gathered at the church and prepared to have a nice potluck dinner when we saw the commotion outside and noticed that one of the little cousins was hurt. Our 10 year old little cousin fell off of about a 10 foot platform and broke both of his arms and scraped his chin. He was rushed to the nearest ER while we prayed and waited for news on him. They returned a couple of hours later, indeed with 2 broken bones in one arm and 1 in another. He had temporary slings put on and would have to get casts on both arms a couple of days later. Poor guy! Since the accident, I heard he is well, although in pain, but he does have his casts on and is on the mend.

A lot more went on while I was in GA, I have only hit the highlights, but I must say that we had a great time and I can't wait to make it back...although I have no idea when! I miss my family and can't wait to hear about the new arrivals of my niece in May and my nephew in August.

I hope to catch up here around the house and to write more soon. I have a subject that I have so strongly on my mind that I am currently writing about and praying about and I hope to share it with you all really soon, so don't be a stranger to my blog!

Unwanted Phone Calls

2009-04-07T23:26:00.002-04:00

This really annoying debt consolidation company got our phone number and will not stop calling me! I have had at least 3-5 calls a day for the past 6 days [except for Sunday...]. They start promptly at around 7:30am and call all throughout the day. I have done all of the following:

I have requested that they take me off of their call list
I have asked to speak to a manager - which got me nowhere
I have even become sarcastic with them when they ask for me by name. "May I speak to Melanie please?" To which I reply: "I'm sorry, I'm not available right now, can I leave myself a message?" To which the person on the other end says yes, so I say: "Please leave your message at the sound of the beep. BEEP!"
I have even not answered or hung up on them

Even though I have done all of these things, they STILL will not quit calling me. I have been able to find some humor in this situation though. The humor came when every time they called today, I answered, put them on speakerphone, and let my two year old Josiah do all the talking for me! He loves to talk on the phone to anyone who will talk back. The conversation went somewhat like this: "Hi, can I speak to Melanie?" To which Josiah replied: "Sljufkmws sdkfjsdkjf fksmneom sljfosemv sldlsdmp slmjsldfmk s;dkflsm,bsa;vm bgkfbbafalsdjf asdfkjdksfskl dlmfksdjfkdj fkdjfkv apepmvaopdmm wpasoefsdf." This must have tickled the caller on the other end almost as much as it tickled me because the caller put Josiah on speakerphone so all of his fellow workers could hear him. Then this is what I heard: "Is your mommy home?" To which Josiah replied with A LOT more babble. The workers listening on speakerphone began to laugh at what they were hearing, then Josiah let out a big fake laugh himself and says: "You so funny!". I know this may seem weird or odd to a lot of you, but I despise it when people call my house over and over again, especially if I have requested that they not. I am VERY MUCH not a phone person. I can go days without answering the phone. I can ignore a phone ringing like no one's business. I guess this comes from working in a lot of call centers at various times in my life. At my last job, some days I would answer as many as 160 calls a day. So, this was one of the highlights of my day, and I WILL use my son's love for the phone to my advantage again, whenever the opportunity arises!

Another funny...

2009-04-01T15:05:00.003-04:00

As naptime comes to a near end, I hear my son on the baby monitor starting to babble a little to himself. Then all of a sudden, I hear this: "Momma! Whell all oo?" Which, coming from Josiah means where are you. I hear this over and over again, then I hear: "Momma not coming!". Precious...t-totally!~

Weighting for nothing

2009-04-01T14:59:00.002-04:00

I have created a new blog, separate from this one, that will be more about losing weight, WW, and my effort to help others and myself lead a better lifestyle through healthy eating. If you want to follow or chime in, please go to: weightingfornothing.blogspot.com. Anyone at anytime please feel free to send me your tips, recipes or articles that you think might be helpful to me or others!

Your laugh for the day

2009-03-31T15:55:00.002-04:00

This morning as I was awakened by Josiah's loud bedroom banter, I went to get him out of bed to begin our day. He was soaking wet! Usually we don't do diaper changes until after breakfast, but this one meant a change of clothes immediately. So, I got him undressed and undiapered and realized all of the diapers were downstairs. So, I went and gathered Bethany and directed little naked bird downstairs. I laid Bethany down in her portable crib and decided to throw an egg and some cheese in the microwave for Josiah before sticking his diaper on...after all, it would just take a second, right? So, I am mixing an egg up and from the other room I hear: "Oh, pee-pee! Wow! Pee-pee!", proclaimed proudly. I hustled into the dining room in time to see Josiah leaning over the baby bed while peeing all over Bethany. When I say ALL OVER, I mean ALL OVER! She had it on her head and face, clothes and feet. Now, mind you, Josiah didn't do this on purpose. He was trying to put Bethany's pacifier in her mouth when he just let fly. So, instead of breakfast first thing this morning, we started off with a bath for Bethany. She was a trooper and smiled and cooed at her big brother like he was her best friend in the whole world! This, therefore, is your laugh for the day!

Potty training is for the birds!

2009-03-30T23:30:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I have made a decision...Josiah may be mentally ready for potty training, but he is not physically. I made this decision after 7 attempts of sitting on the potty only rendered Josiah wetting his Elmo underwear within two minutes after each attempt. Congrats to me though! I managed to keep a smile on my face every time he/we cleaned up the floor. After talking to several people and doing a little research, I have decided to put potty training on the back burner when Josiah is able to understand a little more about what actually is going on with that part of his body.

One thing that has been working though is cutting back on using the "buddy". I have been telling him that he is a big boy and doesn't need his buddy. He was getting sleepy today and came up to me, laid his head on my leg and said he needed a baby buddy. Josiah now only sleeps with his buddy at nap and night time. We went a full Sunday service without the buddy, only one trip to the bathroom for some discipline, several pinches and whispers in the ear and we came out on the other side still not giving in and giving him his buddy. The buddy during church has always been my calming mechanism because I worry about him being loud during church, but he is just fine without it! At the end of the closing prayer, when the amen was said, Josiah did tickle everyone when he jumped down out of Daddy's arms and loudly proclaimed: "Run, run, run!!!"

Thanks everyone for your insight and listening. Our next big transition will be no more crib...when did my little boy get so BIG???

It's time...

2009-03-27T23:33:00.004-04:00

Oh my goodness, how on earth do you potty train a boy??? I wish he weren't ready, but fact is, he is. I have tried to deny it and tell myself that he isn't, but the fact remains that he will be potty training himself soon if I don't get on the ball. How do I know he is ready, you ask? Well, the other day as I was changing Bethany's diaper, in the kitchen I heard: "Go poo-poo on the potty! Good job! Hold it down!" These are all of the things that I tell him when I occasionally sit him on his little porta-potty. When I went into the kitchen, not only was he sitting on his little potty, but he had pulled his little elastic pants down and pulled his diaper off and was pretending to grunt and strain. It was HILARIOUS until I realized...it's time. So, in the spirit of potty training, we bought Elmo underwear to go with the Thomas the train underwear he already has. He loved the Elmo undies so much, I put them on him tonight and let him prance around in them. He had his first accident tonight at his play table. He stopped and had a shocked look on his face, clasped his cheeks with the palms of his hands and proclaimed loudly: "Oh no!!!". I gave him a little towel and told him to clean it up and then I told him to take off his undies. He did all of this, then took it upon himself to sit on the potty one more time. I really am not sure how all of this is going to go. From all of the tips that I have received from friends and family, here is what we are going to do: Tomorrow starts the run around in nothing but your undies and socks day. I bought a timer tonight that has a lovely ding. I am going to make Josiah sit on the potty for 2 minutes every 20-30 minutes ALL DAY LONG. I made a sticker chart for Josiah and he will get one sticker for sitting on the potty, 2 stickers for pee-peeing and 3 stickers for poo-pooing. I decided not to go with the candy reward system yet because Josiah has never had candy besides a sucker at the DR's office and sugar tends to be a love for our family, so I do not want to start on this road unless I have to. I have promised myself not to get mad or upset if I have messes to clean up, this is just part of the fun. Also, as much as possible, Josiah will be responsible for cleaning up his accidents. I will let you know how this goes...

Guess what else it is time for? I think it is time for Josiah to make the transition from the crib to a bed. First of all, my little boy is HUGE and I can't believe he still fits in the crib, but he does. We have a convertible bed given to us by a cousin, so we are going to move Josiah's crib to the guest room for Ms. Bethany and set up Josiah's bed. I really am interested to see how this goes...it ought to be fun!

It is also time for one more thing: goodbye buddy! Josiah calls his trusty pacifier sidekick his buddy. I have all but eliminated it from everyday life, but I think it is totally time for it to go as I can see a sort of overbite forming with Josiah's teeth. Right now, he only uses it for bedtime and church. Bedtime I am not necessarily worried about, but church scares me. Unless he has his buddy, he just will not be quiet! I guess I am going to have to increase the discipline measures as well!

Don't worry, I am not going to do all of these things at one time...that would be a recipe for disaster! I will slowly but surely get around to making these changes before Josiah is five...or maybe a little sooner!

Weigh In Tuesday

2009-03-17T22:41:00.002-04:00

After being T-totally upset with myself and allowing stress to motivate my food choices, last week I was determined to "eat to live, not live to eat". Well, my determination paid off. I had three goals last week:

Track everything I ate, every day for the week
Get more fruits and vegetables in
Exercise at least 5 days out of the week

So, how did I do, you ask? GREAT! The only goal I did not attain was # 3 and it wasn't for lack of trying! I went to the gym 3 days out of the week, but due to my aforementioned knee re-injury, I went two days and could not really do anything! That was really disappointing! So, yesterday I really got back into kicking it at the gym, but my knee is still bothering me. Instead of walking at a high intensity level, I walked longer at a lower intensity level. Still hurt, but not as bad as I could! When we went to weigh in at Weight Watchers this week, I was eagerly anticipating my weigh-in because I knew I did a good job of watching myself this week. I lost 6.2 pounds! I know this is abnormal for 1 week and I don't expect as much the following weeks, but this is great motivation for me, and I believe great motivation for my DH too. My DH is motivation to me and I am glad that I might be able to be some for him! Until next Tuesday, happy exercising!!!

Time to catch up!

2009-03-13T23:32:00.003-04:00

I am so sick of DR appts! Sick of them, I tell you! In the last month with trips to the DR and hospital, we have spent well over $500 out of pocket, and let me tell you, that money could have been well used somewhere else! I am thankful, however, that Bethany and Josiah are well, Danny is well, and well, I am on the road to total recovery! I had a DR's appt this past week that will probably result in making an additional appt with another DR. I was in the waiting room with about 10 other people when the receptionist called me back up to their counter to get my insurance card. On the way, my left knee had a hard meeting with a foreign object and down I went, crying like a baby. Now, I don't normally cry like a baby over things like this, but now is the time to share with you what I didn't in any previous posts. About a week and a half ago, I had a pretty nasty fall here in my kitchen and ended up landing in my dining room. I tripped over one of my sons push toys [which has been since relegated to the backyard, never to return to the inside!] and down I went. I fell so hard that my husband, who was asleep at the time, heard me before I screamed his name and came running downstairs to help me. Boy, howdy, I was in some major pain. I fell on the knee and elbow that I had fallen on a few weeks ago, but this time I also injured my wrist and whacked my knee so bad that it is still numb! Well, when I hit my leg in the DR's ofc, I immediately started crying because my knee already hurt sooo bad, and now my whole leg, from ankle to hip was throbbing in pain. A guy in the office was laughing hysterically about the whole ordeal, which irritated me, so when I stood up, I looked at him with tears streaming down my face and said to him, "I am so glad I could provide quality entertainment for you this morning", to which he continued to chuckle a bit. What was this foreign object you ask? I feel a bit stupid telling you, but it was a glass top table and I simply NEVER saw it! Before you think this is simply ridiculous, let me tell you, nothing was on the table and the carpet beneath the table was yellow as was the frame holding the glass table top, so really, it was hard to see. Yes, I did complain about it to the receptionist! :-) So, I am still waiting for the numbness and throbbing to go away. It is very hot to the touch and swollen, and any amount of pressure or anything just makes me want to scream! I am praying that it will heal swiftly and that no serious damage has been done. Until then, I am trying to stay off of it!

On to more exciting things! I asked you all to pray for my mother a few weeks ago because a mass was found in her small intestines. She has had a procedure done and will hear the results of that procedure on Wednesday. At this time, there is every indication that she will have to undergo surgery to have the mass removed, but we just don't know yet what all is happening. I will mention this again next week, Lord willing. Until then, please continue to pray for my mom and dad and my family!

I haven't written about my Weight Watchers Tuesdays in a while, not because I have been doing badly, but because I just simply haven't gotten in here to do it. I did gain a little bit while Bethany was sick and was in the hospital for the night, but I am back on track and I have even joined the gym! YES! I am so excited, except my knee has kept me away for a few days. I do hope to go back tomorrow and go VERY slowly on the treadmill and then maybe do some upper body training. Everyone ought to check and see if there is a Planet Fitness in your area because they have a great gym and their small package is only $29 yearly fee then $10 a month, guaranteed to never increase. There is no contract with this plan and you can cancel at any time!

Well, I am going to close for now and hop off to bed...on my one good leg!

Sweet...or embarrassing???

2009-03-09T19:53:00.002-04:00

Josiah bought his first drink for a little girl today... after he went up to her table at Chik-fil-A and swiped her applejuice! So, we have to work on this "we don't own the world" stuff!

I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

2009-03-05T11:20:00.002-05:00

No, seriously, I can't hear you! I was so sick last week with my kids being sick and Bethany being in the hospital, it just wasn't Momma's turn to be checked out by the DR. I realized my turn had come when my hearing had just about gone. I can't hear out of my right ear, and the left ear has an echo that is so annoying! That good old sinus infection I had developed into my ears. Nice, huh? My DR fussed and fussed at me for not coming in sooner, and I finally told him, the kids come first! I have always taken my hearing for granted, I realize. It is so frustrating not to be able to hear everything I once heard. On the other hand, I realize also that it is nice not to hear the intense fussing that goes on around here. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at Josiah fussing and whining and have been oh so happy to tell him: "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!". This just about makes him stop immediately because what purpose is there in fussing and whining if you can't annoy someone with it? Anyway, this is what's happening at the Hodges'. We are slowly but surely getting a little better all of the time!

"I like it!"

2009-03-03T11:39:00.002-05:00

Even though Josiah is battling this ickiness with the best of us, he has been cute as a bug! I was sitting here doing some bills on the computer this morning and thought about how he would like to see some Elmo on the computer. Elmo is one of his favorite characters right now. I typed Elmo into the google search engine and came up with lots of stuff to see. Josiah promptly asked, "In your lap? In your lap?" So I put him up in my lap and we enjoyed some Elmo together. I love seeing him get so excited about things. After every little video clip he saw, he would loudly proclaim: "I like it!", and then he would proclaim a lot of un-understandable words very excitedly. He enjoyed our little video watching so much this morning that he got down and sat by Bethany, who is in her swing, and held her little hand and excitedly told her all about Elmo. The only words I really understood in his conversation with Bethany was "Elmo" and "I like it"! Bethany smiled and cooed at him through the whole conversation!

RSV - Respiratory Syncyntial Virus

2009-02-28T23:26:00.003-05:00

This has been some week! I noticed Josiah developing a cough about Sunday a week ago, but it was very light and not very often. By Monday, I knew it...he was sick. The poor kids I babysit had the same coughing and runny noses so it was hard to escape. Monday night I noticed Bethany feeling uncomfomfortable and kind of fidgety - yes, I know, she is a baby and that is the way they are, but something told me to put her in the bed with me that night just in case she was sick too. That is when I heard the coughing. Bethany started coughing and it sounded like a pack of dogs barking. Tuesday morning, we took the kids in for a sick visit with the DR. Josiah was given and antibiotic for a severe sinus and respiratory infection, and they swabbed Bethany's nose to test for RSV. I had never heard of RSV until this year, or maybe the very end of last year. I have learned a lot of things, such as RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, like a runny nose and fever. However, in infants, particularly those under 3 months or preemies, the symptoms can get dramatically worse. We were told that we did the right thing bringing them in, and that there was nothing that could be given to make the RSV better for Bethany because it is a virus and it just has to run it's course. We were told to look for a few things and if we noticed any persistent coughing, wheezing, rapid breathing, grunting and gasping for air, or blue color around the lips and mouth that we were to contact them immediately or go to the ER. Well, Wednesday morning came around. Josiah had a 103.4 temp and was begging to go outside and play and was very disappointed when "No" was the consistent answer. He then began to lie around a little more, one time he got a book, laid down on the sofa to "read it" and I heard him talking to himself: "No outside. I sick!". Bethany on the other hand seemed much worse to me as far as her coughing. She was coughing, gagging and choking so hard that I could not get her to nurse. When nursing failed, I tried a bottle of formula. When that failed, she was peaceful, so I let her sleep and was determined to keep trying to get some fluids in her every couple of hours. Wednesday night was rough. Poor Danny, who works over night hadn't had any sleep, and Wednesdays are his night off, so he crashed. I laid there with Bethany beside us in the bed coughing and gagging terribly. I knew the coughing was good for her because it meant that the junk was clearing out of her lungs, but when she was not coughing, she was incredibly lethargic and at one point went about 12 hours without even opening her eyes. Her cries were pathetic little kitten mews, so I knew she felt terrible. On top of all of this, did I tell you I was incredibly sick at this point? Yeah, momma got it too! Well, Thursday morning was kind of a blur and I can't remember exactly what was happening, but we called the nurse and she told us to go to the ER to have Bethany seen. I know she had a fever, slightly, but I can't remember what it was about her breathing that made us concerned. Can you say lack of sleep??? We went in to the ER and they saw her immediately and pretty soon thereafter gave her a breathing treatment. Bethany nursed great in the hospital, two or three times in fact, then by the time we left, she was smiling and cooing! I told one of the ER nurses that Bethany was high maintenance and wanted to make sure we were spending money on her [well, it seemed funny at the time...remember: lack of sleep!]. We went back home and crashed! Bethany was well through the rest of the day and slept all night. Friday morning, Bethany wouldn't nurse again and was very congested. We held the poor thing down and suctioned out her nose and got her good nad mad, but she still wouldn't nurse. Danny got her to drinking from her bottle, so I was getting dressed and ready to go to the DR for myself. I was sooo sick and only got about 2 hours of sleep the night before. When I got out of the shower, I heard Danny kind of freaking out, heard Bethany gagging and choking with that cough, and I went into our room and Bethany had vomited up some of what she ate. After Danny got that cleaned up, I could hear Bethany wheezing. I asked Danny to make sure that is what I was hearing and he said he heard it to. Something in me made me take off her clothes so I could see her breathing. I got her PJ's and onsie off and was watching her. Now, it is normal for a baby to retract just a little bit when they breathe, and I know what normal looks like and what I was seeing was not "normal". She was retracting greatly, with every rapid breath, her belly ballooned out and I could see all of her ribs. She was grunting just a little with every breath too. I called the DR and spoke with the nurse and told her what was happening. They said they could see us for a "sick appt" at 4pm...what? are you kidding me? I couldn't let this go on for hours and asked her what I needed to do immediately. She told me to go in the bathroom and close the door and turn the shower on as hot as it would go and to lay Bethany on a towel on the floor to see if the steam would help her breathe better and then to call them back. In the meantime, I called my cousin and my aunt and told them what was happening [they are both nurse midwives] and asked for their advice, which was to go back to the ER. We did that, I was met immediately with someone at the ER room who could tell Bethany was struggling to breathe and so she took her back to triage while I checked in. When I got back to where Bethany was, they were already giving her a breathing treatment to see if that would help. We were put in an emer room and waited to be seen by the DR. Bethany had calmed down greatly by this time. Her breathing is always better if I can just keep her calm. Once she gets to crying and coughing, that is all she wrote! So, Bethany nursed again, but was still pretty lethargic and incredibly pale. She slept on and off, was given another breathing treatment. Her pulse/oxygen level was 100% so she did not need oxygen they said. With just some rest and the breathing treatment, Bethany was breathing so much better, but she was still retracting in her chest much more than normal. They finally decided to admit her overnight more for observation than anything else. Since she was admitted Friday night until Saturday morning, she was doing real well. She was alert, smiling and cooing at us all, eating well and her coughing was not quite so bad. They finally released us today around 2pm. I stayed with Bethany through the night so by the time we got home, I was going on about 32 hours of no sleep. I slept for about 4 hours, then it was Danny's turn to sleep because he had to go back to work tonight. I took Bethany down into the basement where she slept almost the entire rest of the evening, and so did mommy. Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but I am about to go back to bed...still haven't caught up!!!

Anyway, this is what we have been up to the last week or so. Grand, huh? I am so thankful that Bethany is so much better. I am so thankful to have friends and family praying for us and for Bethany and Josiah to get better. I truly believe we are on the mend. One thing I feel really compelled to say is this: If you are sick, with just a common cold, or a cough, PLEASE stay home and away from other people! A common cold in an adult can turn into life-threatening RSV for infants. Also, in the winter, wash your hands often and thoroughly! You should wash your hands often and with hot water and soap. You should wash long enough to sing the song "Happy Birthday" twice. Teach your kids to wash their hands often and thoroughly Poor Danny, I know he thinks I am on his case, but I will tell you like I tell him - even if your kids are acting fine, but you know they are sick, they need to stay indoors, away from other people, especially senior citizens and infants. They shouldn't go play at the park, they shouldn't go with you to the store, but they should stay inside and recuperate. Surely you can find something indoors that is fun for you and your kids and a way to pass the time until they are over their illness and ready to be among the living again.

Stay happy and stay well!

Obey immediately, completely, joyfully and from the heart!

2009-02-22T23:06:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted, but man, have I been busy! I had a dear friend and her family come and stay with us for a week and a half. My house is small, but we managed 4 adults and 5 small kids, 6 and under for those 10 days. We managed by taking MANY trips to the park, a trip to Mill Mountain to see the Roanoke Star, and even a trip to my dear mother in law's house where there is a huge field in the backyard. We played and played and drained some of the kid's energy to a mere fraction of what it could have been inside!

Danny and I are trying really hard to be consistent in Josiah's training, and when needed, discipline. This takes real work and dedication on our part, but with the mercy and grace of God, we know we can attain our goal. Some funny moments along the way are bound to happen, right? Well, when it is cold outside, Danny and I take the kids to the mall and we walk. I was trying to give Danny some time alone in Barnes and Noble, so he took the baby, who did not require my immediate attention, and I took Josiah to play in a kid's play area. Why a door would not be put on a kid's play area, in a mall, is beyond me. But, there we are, all of these little attractions to play on, and what does Josiah choose to do? He chooses to run out the door beyond me and into the mall. I pulled him back in, told him not to go out and to go play. Well, he did this again! I got him, took him back in and sternly reprimanded him and told him he was not to go out the door. Well, do you think this worked? 1-2-3!!! He was off again! I told myself this had to stop. I had other parents looking at me and laughing. I then got down on Josiah's eye level, discreetly took the palm of his hand and pinched him very hard as I spoke to him: "Josiah, do not go out the door again. You must obey mommy or we will go to the bathroom for a spanking." Pinching the hand while we are in public when no one else can see has proven to work well with Josiah. I took him back into the play area and he went to play. A few minutes later, he slowly walked to the door. He looked at me, took another step, and got the the very edge of the carpet at the door. Very loudly, he said: "Obey mommy! No-no!" and then pinched his hand. At this point, he turned back around and didn't go by the door again the rest of the time we were there. All of the parents were laughing about his sudden attitude change and his obedience. This really tickled me too because it proved to me that a 2 yr old knows what you are saying to them. Some people out in the world today don't think you should discipline children for disobedience or disrespectfulness, and I firmly will tell you, if you don't get it early, when the first signs are exhibited, you will pay for it later in life!!! If they are old enough to exhibit the sinfulness of their hearts, they are old enough to be disciplined. We are also trying to diligently train Josiah to come to us the first time we call him. This one has been tough. I think we let him get away with not coming on the first command for too long and now we are having to pay for our procrastination. Danny and I both are practicing telling him to "Come here" once and if he does not obey, he is disciplined. Tonight when I told him it was time to go to bed and to come here and kiss mommy. He looked up at me, smiled and said: "Obey mommy now!", but he sat there another few seconds without moving, and then said: "Need a spankin' mommy!" Well, he got what he asked for, and still had to go to bed. When we got to bed and I was tucking him in and about to pray with him, he kept saying: "Sorry, mommy." I am not sure what he was saying sorry about because this is his new word and he has not been using it in the correct context, but it sure was cute!

I remember my Aunt Judy always teaching her kids to obey immediately, completely, joyfully and from the heart. Danny and I are trying very hard to instill this in Josiah as well. We also are practicing Ephesians 6:1 with him, which is: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right." Make no mistake, parents. Your children hear you, know what you are saying, and it is up to us to make sure they obey us and do what is right. This is a role given to us by our Heavenly Father, who we also hear and also know what He is saying to us. It is simple...we just have to obey!

Josiah Kenton Hodges 2/10/2009

2009-02-09T21:08:00.002-05:00

Wow! I really can't think of a much different word right now. Is my little boy really going to be a two-year old tomorrow? This sweet little boy who we were told we would never be able to have? He is daily evidence in our lives that nothing is impossible with God! Josiah had a particularly hard day today and I really couldn't totally put my hands on why. We have company right now and are having a great time with them, but he really has fussed and cried most of the day. I think it is still his poor molars and Praise the Lord that the teething tablets seemed to help right away! As Josiah was told it was time to go nite-nite, another crying spell immediately came upon us. Bethany was screaming to be fed, our guests little ones wanted some reading to, but I took "little" Josiah, all 40+ pounds of him up in my lap and cuddled him in my arms and sang to him his favorite song: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty...". When he was an infant and he was crying and crying into the wee hours of the night, I would belt out this song and he would instantly become silent and look into my face and just listen. Well, tonight was no different. He let me cuddle him and sing to him for a few minutes as I scratched and rubbed his back. As I was singing to him, I was remembering how the only times he would sit in my lap and let me cuddle him is when I was also singing to him. Maybe all he needed was a few minutes of completely undivided mommy time or just needed to be held, I don't know, but I loved it and cherish these moments when my little boy will let me hold him and sing to him. God knew that I needed my little boy and when I needed him and sent him to us almost 2 years ago. We pray daily that we may teach Josiah by example and train him to be a Godly young man. Sometimes the days are long, hard and trying, but the days of joy and fulfillment far outweight the trying days. Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet, gift from God. Mommy, Daddy and Bethany love you dearly!

Of Crockpots, Washing Machines and Taxes

2009-01-30T11:59:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday I declared the week of the crockpot and what a week it was!!! I loved cooking in the crockpot every day. It was so less time consuming than standing over the stove and oven for a while. I will summarize just a little on each meal:
Crockpot Spaghetti: Sorry, but it was nasty! I would have been better off buying a jar of Ragu and mixing it in with some meat! I won't try this one again, but that's okay.
Basil Chicken: This was so easy to make and it was delicious! It turned out to have somewhat of a lemony flavor. Danny asked me to serve this one again and soon!
Chicken Breasts Supreme: This was as easy as the Basil Chicken and as good. This will be another meal soon as well.
Yankee Pot Roast: I liked this a lot, but it turned out really watery and the carrots did not get completely done in the alotted time. This was frustrating for me because the carrots are my favorite part. I had to cook it about 4 hours longer than instructed. I might try this one again but I will have to play with the cooking instructions!
I will have a couple of crockpot meals this week, but we have such a hectic schedule that only two nights this week we will be able to have classes together. I don't like this, but it is for a good reason. Danny has some classes that he needs to take and it is time...I am going to miss him this next week...it seems like he will hardly be around!

Well, it has happened! Old Faithful, our washing machine, has croaked. She was a good girl for 17 years until her insides gave out. She became leaky and non-agitating, and her motor just quit. Well, as sad as I am, her replacement will arrive sometime tomorrow. I am excited because I enjoy doing the laundry as long as I don't have to put it away. I will wash/dry/fold all day if I have to, and Danny is kind enough to do the carrying up and down the stairs and more likely than not, it is Danny who puts the clothes away [thank you, honey!!!]. So, I can't wait to use our new gadget. The scary thing is, they say these things go in threes, so I have been watching my freezer and refrigerator diligently and praying they don't conk out on us too!

T'is the season to do your taxes! Guess what?!?! I finished mine last night!!! When you file taxes, if you do not have a lot of extra stuff, but just basic filing, I truly recommend hrblock.com because I have used them the past three years and they make filing state and federal taxes a breeze. More power to you if you can do them on your own...you are more skilled than I! Anyway, hrblock.com walks you through step by step and exxplains things to you thoroughly as you go along. It really is simple to file this way. I am glad we are done, and all I can say is: "I love refunds!!!". I know, getting a refund means you loan money to the government interest free for a year, but I have always enjoyed getting a lump sum refund because it actually makes me feel like I have some money... Happy Tax Season!!!

Prayer Request

2009-01-29T23:45:00.002-05:00

I believe greatly in the power of prayer. I believe that God hears the prayers of His children and that is why when someone asks me to pray for them, I tell them I will, then I do. I write down the request in a journal [I am not always the best record keeper], and try to remember them in prayer. Because I believe in the power of prayer, I also do not hesitate to share prayer requests with others. Having said that, I would like to ask for prayer for my mom. She has been having some health issues and recently had a cat scan that showed a mass in her small intestines. The doctors can not give her information as to its' malignancy, etc., until more tests are done, so please pray for her as she seeks more information regarding her health. Mom's words to me tonight were: "I serve and awesome God. I don't know if it is my time to go or not, but I know I serve an awesome God." Thanks you for praying for her with me!

Can't really think of a title...

2009-01-27T23:33:00.004-05:00

This week has really been "blah" so far. Poor Josiah is cutting all four of his two year molars at the same time, which is making him crankier than ever. The bad part is, the crankier he is, the crankier I am. I have been trying to maintain an upbeat attitude and trying to help Josiah by doing all sorts of things like stopping anything and everything and only spending time with him. Also, I have been going around the house singing all of his favorite songs and letting him watch all of his favorite videos. None of this is working! He has been following me around the house begging for "gook" [milk!] all day long. I generally give him about 20-24 ozs of milk a day with water mixed in between. He has been screaming and throwing his cup when I give him water or when I tell him that he can not have any milk. So, the scenario is something like this:
Josiah: "Need gook, momma! Pease! Need gook, now. Oh momma, need some gook? Just a little gook, pease?"
Momma: "Honey, you just had milk and you can not have any more right now [at which point he starts screaming and stomping his feet, and perfecting the sign for "please"]."
Josiah then carries on his hissy fit, is warned that he needs to stop and obey mommy, at which point he doesn't, then is therefore disciplined.
This is the viscious cycle we have been through the entire day for the past two days, only occasionally he will substitute the phrase "I'm so hungy, momma!", instead of "gook". This has been the way my last two days have gone...the entire day! Okay, so I ask myself, is this just molar problems, or is this the infamous terrible twos coming to haunt me? I am so stressed out!

Meanwhile, little Bethany is just taking it all in stride. The only thing going on with the little sugar is a pretty bad case of thrush. Poor thing, her mouth looks terrible and she has these terrible white blisters all over the outside and inside of her little lips! She doesn't complain much, though, but doesn't want to nurse much either.

On the up side, even thought Josiah has been having a couple of really bad days, he has shown me that he is a great big brother and that he is going to be really sweet to his little sister most of the time. Most of the day, little Bethany is either in my arms, in her portable crib on the floor or in her portable swing on the floor. She was crying this morning in her crib, and I was on the phone with the insurance company, and I saw Josiah get down on his knees beside her bed and take her hand and say, "Let's pray!", then he has proceeded to say a few uncomprehendable words, then a hearty amen. Another time he was down on the floor by her bed and he was saying, "Oh, baby! Are you hungy? It's okay, don't cry.". This warmed my heart. Josiah also has asked several times, "Can I hold her?", and has helped me pat her back to burp her. He often tells her he loves her and kisses her a lot. He also loves to share his toys with her, but she is not too fond of this yet! :-)

Well, I guess I am just venting and ranting...it always feels good to write things down and get them off your mind. If you think of us, please pray that this new way of handling our days may be brighter int he future!

Just call me GRACE

2009-01-24T09:29:00.003-05:00

I am not the most graceful of people. I tend to trip, lose my balance and even fall a good bit of the time. It is so annoying! When I get frustrated or mad, this tendency is even worse. Well, this morning around 4am, I got up to check on the baby because normally she would have woken up to eat before then. I found her peacefully sleeping away. She was so beautiful! I decided to let her sleep. Well, I looked down and saw a blanket had fallen in the floor and I thought I should pick it up before I slipped on it. I leaned over and the blood rush and half-asleepness took over! I left my dresser drawer open just a little bit the night before. Well I lost my balance and fell face first into my stupid dresser drawer, then all the way down I went! I cut my knee and hand pretty bad and I was afraid to touch my head for fear that I gashed it open, but thankfully, there was no blood there, but you can see a visible bruise on my scalp! My right arm is pretty sore and I have a headache and a little bitty blood blister on my left thumb...I don't know what I did in the fall to get that, but it hurts! It could have been much worse. Since Danny works over night, he told me he was going to wake me up when he got home to make sure I was okay. I was feeding the baby when he came to bed, so I am sure he was relieved to see that!

Menu Planning

2009-01-22T15:40:00.003-05:00

I declare this week of menu plans to be:

THE WEEK OF THE CROCKPOT

So, I do my menu planning on a bit of a different schedule than most. Most people work Monday-Sunday, or beginning of the week to the end, but I usually go from Friday-Thursday and do all of my grocery shopping on Thursdays. I do my shopping on Thursdays because Danny is off of work, and I actually like going to the grocery store with him. We make a great team! Plus, I hate going by myself, and there is not enough money in this country that you could pay me to go alone but with my two kids. We would do without before that happened! Danny sent me a cool website about a week or so ago and it had hundreds and hundreds of crockpot recipes. The website is www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook . I have gone through a lot of the recipes and printed some out and here are the recipes I will be trying this week - all in the crockpot!!!

Friday: Crockpot Spaghetti : www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook/spagsauce1.html

Salad

Saturday: Basil Chicken: www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook/crockpot/basilchk.html

Brown Rice

Creamed Spinach

Sunday: We declare this bi-weekly fend for yourself dinner

Monday: Chicken Breasts Supreme: www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook/crockpot/cbs.html

Parmesan Broccoli

Tuesday: We always go out to eat after weigh-in

Wednesday: Yankee Pot Roast and Vegetables: www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook/crockpot/yankptrst.html

Thursday: We declare this bi-weekly fend for yourself dinner

We have two days a week where we fend for ourselves for dinner because our schedules clash. Danny works overnight and sleeps late on Sundays and Thursdays because of work, so we can't have dinner at the same time.

So there you have it! I have never made crockpot meals every day for a week, but I hope this proves to be a very time-saving endeavor...I'll let you know!

Weigh-In Tuesday, Week 4

2009-01-20T23:07:00.004-05:00

YAY! Down 1 more pound. Slowly but surely, this tortoise will win the race! The only problem is, I did not reach all of my goals that I set for last week. So, here they are again:

Track the foods I eat and their points value
Find the time and place to work in some more exercise [any advice here would be great!]
Simply eat better

Okay, so I might have reached one goal. I did simply eat better. I made a conscious effort to go for wiser food choices even when unwise choices were right in front of me. I will not even go into the Chik-fil-A icecream saga, but will only say, pray for me that I might be able to resist temptation in this area. Icecream isn't even one of my favorite foods, plus it is freezing outside, so who would want icecream in this weather?!? So these goals will be added to my goals for this week which are:

Be a better encouragement to my DH, by example and with my words
Don't eat out again until next Tuesday night

More next week, and thanks for your prayers!

Dr. Herbert Whitley

2009-01-20T14:24:00.002-05:00

For some reason, when Bethany was referred to pediatric cardiologist, Herbert Whitley, I thought his name sounded good for a fictional character in a little kids book. Well, Dr. Whitley was a very kind doctor and was good to my baby girl this morning. Apparently I met Dr. Whitley in the hospital when he checked Bethany out originally...I did??? He remembered me, but alas, I did not remember him. He said I was pretty drugged up...how embarrassing!

Well, the good news is that the three holes found in Bethany's heart after she was born have closed! Praise the Lord! The doctor said that everything looked great and sounded great and that we have no more need of him. The bad news is that Bethany was so upset at having to be undressed in front of him, she screamed all of the way out to the car, and it was sooo cold here this morning that her little tear drops froze on her cheek! I kid you not! I wish I had my camera! Poor little darling! Well, we got home got her hooked up to the thing she wanted most...food, and she calmed right down and smiled a bunch at me later. I do not think she will hold it against me in the long run!

What's cooking at the Hodges???

2009-01-14T21:33:00.002-05:00

Wednesday nights we generally get together with the folks from church and go to the nursing home to sing to some elderly members, but it was so cold tonight, and Josiah was running a fever, so we decided to stay home. I was in the pantry and saw a box of Oat Bran muffins and was overcome with the urge to cook a bunch of stuff tonight. Danny and I have been cooking up a storm. Danny has done most of the extra hardwork as I have had to stop and feed the baby, but we made 4 different egg casseroles. I made two little ones for Josiah that have ham and cheese in them. Mine has cheese and ground turkey meat. Danny made his probably the best out of all of ours! To his, we added peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon and cheese. I wish I liked all of this stuff, because his looked great! We also made a bunch of whole wheat pancakes [4" around is 1 pt per pancake!]. I also cooked a crockpot of black beans yesterday, a crockpot of pinto beans today, and Danny cooked up some ground meat to go into spaghetti sauce. The only thing we didn't end up cooking was the oat bran muffins...my inspiration!

Let me back track to Monday...

2009-01-13T22:28:00.002-05:00

Monday I took DD, Bethany, to her 1 month check up [what?!?! she's 1 month old?!?!]. My little girl was a trooper! She is doing well in all areas and is not putting on a lot of weight, but she has put on some height! My little girl is 24 inches long! Her little pants I had on her today look like baby capris! Okay, back to her weight...she has not made it back up to her birth weight yet, and these were words I dreaded hearing, because I knew the song and dance...the doctor and nurse were going to go on and on and on about how I must not be making enough milk, how I need to supplement, and how we must get the baby's weight up. Well, I went in with confidence and would not let them tell me I wasn't making enough milk or that I needed to switch to formula, etc. I think these doctors and nurses prey on the mothers who seem unsure of themselves and less confident! Not a word at all was said to me about formula this visit. Of course, it would be great if she was back up to her birth weight, but she is close enough, and she has put on over a pound since leaving the hospital [born 8'7", lost down to 7'3", now weighs 8'5"] so I think they were pleased. Anyway, a heart murmur was not at all detected, yet a follow up appointment with the cardiologist is still in order. If you recall, Bethany had three little holes in her heart that had not closed after she was born, and she had a pretty bad heart murmur the first day after she was born, but it has not been heard again since then. All in all, we had a great check up, so we will now just wait and see what the cardiologist says.

Weigh-In Tuesday

2009-01-13T22:17:00.003-05:00

This week marked my second week back on Weight Watchers. We always go every Tuesday night and weigh in, hoping the scale shows some results. I was not good this week. I realized that Chick-fil-A's ice cream mix that I love is back, so I can't tell you exactly how many ice creams I ate this week [their ice cream is about the only kind I even like!], and where am I supposed to find time to exercise? Before DS and DD, every morning before work, I would get up and hit the gym at 5:30am for 1 1/2 hours! Now, my only exercise is chasing my DS around the house and doing squats when I lean down to pick up my DD...don't think I am kidding!!! Well, I was prepared to have to answer for my bad week of eating, but, the Lord is good. Despite all of the bad that is in me, I was still blessed to be able to drop 1.4 lbs. This has greatly motivated me! My goals for this upcoming week are:

Track the foods I eat and their points value
Find the time and place to work in some more exercise [any advice here would be great!]
Simply eat better

I will let you know next Tuesday how things go. BTW, my gorgeous husband lost 1.0 too! Our main goal, above all else, is to lose SOMETHING each week, no matter how big or small. This goal was achieved!

Out and About...almost by myself

2009-01-10T23:08:00.002-05:00

Wednesday night my DH was off of work. I told him the next day I was going to go off by myself for a little while and just get away. He was very cooperative and encouraging. So, Thursday, I go off, almost by myself, gotta take DD because she is attached at the...well, you know...and I was almost bored out of my mind! I didn't have a wired, almost two year old, yelling, screaming or running around like a chicken with his head cut off, and I didn't have my DH with me, so I was totally out of my element! So, where did I go? I went to the children's consignment store and bought a couple of needed items for boths of the kids wardrobe's, then went next door to Michael's just to look around for a few things, then to Walmart. How lame is all of that? Well, I think it is pretty lame if I do say so myself. You would think that I could come up with some more interesting things to do on one of my first trips out by myself since my DD was born. Well, my whole point of telling you all of this is to tell you how off kilter I really was this day. Boy, was I in another planet or what??? I have a good example for you...

After leaving Michael's, the wind was blowing so hard and it had become VERY cold. I rushed out to the wagon, got the baby in the car, broke down the stroller, lifted it into the back of the wagon and went and jumped in the car. I leaned over, put my keys in the ignition...might as well warm the car up, right? So, I get the heat going and I was flipping the radio stations back and forth trying to see if there was something good on. I pulled down my mirror a couple of times to check my make up and hair. I think to myself, "Good grief! What is taking my DH so long!" I sit there for a few more minutes, and wonder again..."Where is he?" About that time, I realize my stupidity...and I then got out of the passenger side of the car, got back into the driver's seat and went on my way! Boy, did I feel like a dork! Well, this just goes to show you how little I leave the house by myself! Maybe it's because I really need the supervision...

My DH Rocks!!!

2009-01-07T17:07:00.002-05:00

Sunday afternoon/evening was rough. Josiah totally ransacked the living room and dining room while Bethany wanted to nurse all evening [a growth spurt, I guess!]. By the time bedtime was near, I didn't even make Josiah clean up his toys for the evening like we habitually do, I just told him to go upstairs, it was time for bed. Well, I didn't get around the picking up the toys either, or clearing the dinner table, or doing the dishes. Do you ever just have one of those days? Well, I left it all and told myself I would clean it up in the morning. Well, the morning sun arose and I came downstairs and saw the kitchen, dining room and living room had been cleaned and straightened up. I later told my husband thank you for cleaning up and told him I was sorry for us just leaving it that way. He said that he came home and all he wanted to do was sit on the computer for a couple of hours and then come to bed. He then said that he thought about how I must feel at the end of the day and how I still do things around the house even when I didn't want to, and the thought inspired him to take a few minutes and straighten up for me. It made a major difference in my day! My DH totally rocks!!! [BTW, he does this kind of stuff for me all of the time...I think he really loves me!]

January 6, 2008

2009-01-06T23:44:00.002-05:00

Tuesdays are WW [Weight Watchers] meeting days. We packed ourselves up with our two kiddos and booked it on up to the meeting site and sat wondered how going anywhere with our kids will ever seem normal again. There we were, Josiah was spitting up [yes, he is almost two and still does that!!!] and in my haste to make it somewhere on time, I forgot the baby wipes, so Danny took Josiah, ran next door, bought some wipes and came back. Josiah is learning more and more to be more vocal at the most inappropriate times, so we spent a lot of our time telling him he needed to use his inside voice and whisper...didn't work, though! Sigh! Well, the good news is, even though we couldn't hear most of what was going on during the meeting, at least I can report that we BOTH lost some weight! YAY!!! I won't report Danny's figures because I haven't checked with him yet, but as for me, I am below a certain number that I am really excited about, and I lost 2.6 lbs this past week. I think that is a good start back, if I do say so myself!

So, enough about that...I have been lacking energy as far as normal cleaning/straightening up around the house goes, so when I get in this kind of rut, what do I do? I go to the bookstore and read organizing books. Boy are they motivating! Have you ever tried it? So, I did that tonight and came home with all sorts of ideas, got out my family notebook when I got home and made plans and came up with a game plan to try from now on as far as keeping my house in order. I am excited to say I will start tomorrow and try to make my new plans a habit. If you have been having trouble with things around the house, try researching organization and cleaning tips and motivate yourself!

I must get an early start in the morning so ta-ta for now!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T17:17:00.003-05:00

So, I really did nothing exciting to bring in the New Year last night. We went to a funeral home to be with friends who were mourning the death of their mother, we almost creamed a couple of deer, Danny headed off to work at 11:30 and I was feeding Bethany as the clock struck midnight. I did spend a lot of time yesterday contemplating 2008, it's ups and downs, and what I would like to be different in 2009. I came up with a lot of things...I will spare you and only share a few of my "resolutions".

Be diligent in my Bible reading
Memorize the book of James
Open my home to others more
Lose weight [there's good news here...Danny and I joined Weight Watchers again this past Tuesday night! I have lost 70 lbs with Weight Watchers before and I am ready to do it again!!!]
Be more active
Follow my weekly menu plan [I am a real good planner, but I never seem to follow through!]
Have nightly devotions as a family
Eat out WAY less than last year
Dinner at home with the family
Get down in the floor and play with Josiah a lot more often
Go to more church meetings/singings/gatherings

Okay, so these are just a few things and maybe as the year goes on I will elaborate more, but for now, these are priority issues for me and my family. So, how did you spend your New Year and did you make any resolutions you want to share???

May the Lord graciously see you through this year as He has for 2008!

Pictures

2008-12-29T23:17:00.006-05:00

I am sorry I haven't been posting too much lately...I think everyone understands though, right? Just a little not of update, we at the Hodges home are doing well, just trying to find normal...I just don't know where I lost it! Bethany is a true answer to prayers. I honestly prayed for a baby who was laid back, content and happy, or the grace the handle one who was not, and the Lord has sent me a quiet, happy, content little girl who really only cries when her diaper is changed. She hasn't even cried when Josiah threw some toys in her bed and they landed on her head. Josiah on the other hand is a confused little fella and I feel so bad for him! He does not handle well any attention that is not on him. He has never been like this before, but he can't stand for me to put my attention on anything else, whether it be a phone call, the computer, cooking or anything. If my attention to him is missing, he acts out like there is no tomorrow. He has started to cry like the baby does because he thinks I will react to him faster. He also has become really good at just throwing himself into the floor and hashing out a real good fit. There have probably been many times during the day that he needed discipline, but all I could see fit to do was to hold him in my arms and tell him how much I love him. Last week, for an entire week, my parents were here to visit and to help me out with our new addition. I had a great time with them here and was so sad to see them go, but I think that Josiah was affected by their leaving much worse than I was. He still goes to the bottom of the stairs and says, "Da-daddy and Mamaw! Come play!". He also has informed me several times that "Da-daddy on the potty", and "Mamaw sleeping". He has cried for them a couple of times and repeatedly asks for them so much it is sweet. Anyway, that is the update on us for now. Please pray that I will know better how to react to Josiah and handle him through this rough time. I am going to add some pictures as I promised before. Hope you enjoy!

Time for an update!!!

2008-12-19T23:06:00.003-05:00

Well, for those of you who don't know...little Bethany Arlene Hodges was born on 12/5/2008, a few minutes before 2pm. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 7 ozs and 20 1/2 inches long. She has a head full of dark brown/black hair, and by far, the hairiest ears I have seen on a baby...ever. It's like she is growing a garden on the back of her ears! She is adorable!!!

Let me take a walk down memory lane and share a little with you all...

As I said before, Josiah's birth was not the best and left me with an experience much to be desired. The biggest things were that I wanted to remember the first time I held little Bethany, and I didn't want to wait over 12 hours to try to feed her and I wanted her with me in the recovery room. I came away from the experience ELATED! Everyone thought mostly I was just on a drug induced high, but I was feeling great and was happy about how everything turned out. Less than 24 hours after my surgery, I was able to have my catheter and IV removed and was walking around like it was nobody's business.

After the birth, Bethany was great. She nursed great from the beginning and has not skipped a beat since. The afternoon after her birth, my nurse asked to check Bethany out and while she was checking her over, she got a weird look on her face and looked at me and said that she was going to take her to the nursery for just a minute and would be right back. She did come back a few minutes later, without Bethany, and she was talking really fast and acting really nervous and told me that she was checking Bethany out and noticed that she was rapidly breathing and not calming down. The called the doctor down to check her out and he said he heard a really bad heart murmur. From there, they ordered chest xrays and an echochardiogram. They returned Bethany to me several hours later and said that they checked her out and she appeared to have three small holes in her heart. These are the types of holes that are supposed to close when the baby is born, but these have not. They checked her again the next day and she had no sign of the bad heart murmur they heard before. We are going to see a cardiologist in about a month, but the doctor thinks that there is no reason the holes will not close between now and then, and also that if they don't, they are so small no surgery should be required. I will keep everyone updated. Well, in the middle of all of this, Bethany did have a good bit of jaundice and was kept under bili lights for about 2 1/2 days. One day she was kept under the entire time and no one was able to hold her but me, and I was only able to hold her for about 30 minutes at a time to nurse her.

I was discharged from the hospital the day before Bethany was, but the hospital staff was able to let me board in a room that was not being used...with the understanding if they became busy or booked, I would have to go home. Well, that did not happen, and I was able to stay the night, and Bethany was able to stay with me in the room. The next morning Bethany was released and we all went home! We had a great morning at home and a great day in general, with all of us getting much needed naps. Josiah had come home and we were all excited to be a family together again!

Around 8pm, I sat down to feed Bethany and became really cold. I thought I was cold because I was walking around in a sleeveless shirt and pants, so I got a little more dressed. After I fed Bethany, I was shivering, so I put on a coat and got a blanket out. Eventually, I knew something was wrong when my teeth were chattering and I was shivering uncontrollably and I had three coat and two blankets on. Danny called the doctor and the doctor pretty much said wait until the morning or go to the emergency room. Through the night, I had chills on and off and blankets on and off. I was so much sicker the next morning. We headed into the OB's office and he checked me out and determined I had a severe uterine infection...to which he said I must head back to the hospital immediately for 3 or 4 days and that I needed to be on some extensive IV antibiotics. So, off to the hospital I went! My sweet sister in law, Amber came and picked up Josiah and took him back to our house so he could take a nap, my sweet mother in law came by our house to pick him up later and take him back to her house. My DH kept Bethany with him the entire time. My main concern was whether or not I could still nurse Bethany while I was in the hospital, and all of my fears were relieved, she was able to still nurse and stay with me in the hospital as long as someone stayed with me. So, the way it worked was Danny took Bethany home at night with him and gave her formula through the night. Danny then came early in the morning with Bethany and stayed with me until our cousin Miracle or Amber arrived. Miracle, Amber and Danny worked shifts on and off to keep Bethany with me all day and home at night. This was so very special to me that they would do this as they knew how much it meant to me for Bethany to feed well.

My second time around in the hospital was not as rose-y and peach-y as it sounds, though! For two days, the stat blood work that was ordered by my doctor was never done. When it was done, it wasn't done thoroughly and had to be done two more times. One of the times, a phlebotomy student came in to draw some blood. The phlebotomist teaching him stood aloof against an opposite wall as the student asked me where I would like to be poked. It was then that I looked over at the "teacher" and told him what a bad stick I was and I preferred that he do the poking [it was the student's first week!!!!]. About this time, my nurse also walked in, so I had three people hovering over me trying to find the best place to draw blood. The "teacher" poked and missed, laid the used needle on my bed sheet, and then let the nurse have a try. Well, the nurse missed too. About that time, the student picked up the used needle and poked himself pretty badly on my used needle [Oh, yeah, didn't tell you that a few minutes before they all came in, I had gotten the news that I was diagnosed with a staph infection called MRSA - it was "colonized within my nose" and not serious, but I guess it was contracted by the student now!], dripped blood on my covers and washed and dried his hands, but left his bloody paper towels in the trash can and on the floor on top of my shoes. I didn't realize there was blood everywhere for about an hour. I asked the nurse to come back in and handle the dirty sheets and trash and paper towels. The next day I had two of my three IV's "blow" because of some minor negligence on behalf of a nursing student's part. Finally, last Sunday morning, I was able to come home from the DR and I have been feeling really good since!

Danny was supposed to go back to work Monday night the 15th, but since we had not really had much time together at home since Bethany was born, he was able to get a couple of more days off, and he did not go back for the first time until last night. This gave us a few days home with Josiah and Bethany together trying to get used to our new little addition.

Josiah pretty much ignores Bethany for the most part. He has done a few funny things, for example:

the morning after we got home, we were all waking up for the morning and Bethany was crying...all of a sudden, from Josiah's room, I almost heard his wheels turning...then I heard him trying to cry like Bethany, little baby whimpers. I think he thought we would come and get him out of bed quicker if he cried like her.
He has told her no-no about many things, including sitting in her swing - he still thinks it is his!
If he sees Bethany's pacifier lying around, he will bring it to her saying "I help!" then shoves it in her face...somewhat gently...
the only thing I don't know quite how to handle so far are the fits Josiah will throw out of the blue. One minute he will be standing in the living room, the next minute he throws himself on the floor in a fit, over nothing! I guess he is trying to make sure he hasn't lost any attention. This is going to be a balancing act!!!

So, I know this is a long update, but it is over due. Danny told me tonight over dinner...you need to update the family blog, don't you? You know you are behind when your husband tells you you need to catch up on something!!!

Well, I am going to close this for now and maybe in a couple of days add some pictures. My parents are coming into town for a week, so maybe I will post again after they visit. We look forward to having them!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, visits, dinners and gifts. Your kindness is more than we could repay! We love you all!

The Hodges Family

Danny, Melanie, Josiah and Bethany

My DH Rocks!

2008-12-03T15:02:00.003-05:00

Sorry I haven't kept up with this, but it is way past time for a new entry!

For the past two weeks at least, I have felt almost perfectly helpless to do a lot around the house and also to do any lifting of Josiah, including, but not limited to, changing diapers, lifting in and out of the high chair, or big boy seat, whichever floats his boat at the time, bath time and bed time. I have really only been lifting Josiah once a day and that is out of the bed in the mornings. So, Danny has been doing it all! Here is a little of what Danny's schedule is like: He works 3rd shift, so he generally goes in to work anywhere from 10pm to midnight each day of the week except for Wednesday nights. Danny generally gets home anywhere from 5am to 7am. When he comes home, he eats a little meal, usually washes any dishes I have had to leave behind, straightens up the dining room and living room - just because he knows how important it is to me! - and then comes to bed after slipping Josiah a little morning milk and coaxing him back to sleep so mommy can sleep some more. But wait! That's not all! Danny sleeps from about 8am to 3pm - roughly - we all spend afternoon time together, doing whatever needs to be done, and Danny usually helps me with more clean up and dinner. We might slip in a hand or two of our favorite card game after dinner, but after dinner, Danny gives Josiah his bath, readies him for bed, brushes his teeth [man, is he good or what???] and then, if Danny has time, he might catch him an hour or two of a nap before work. I just don't know what I would do without such a devoted husband and father. He never complains and loves everything he does. I look forward to having our little girl and taking some of the strain off of Daddy, but you know, he won't let me do that! He will just keep chugging along, doing everything he loves to do so much! Thank you, my sweetheart, for all you have been doing and for being such a wonderful father and husband!

While having said all of this, please pray for Danny as well. I know that he is becoming extremely nervous as the date for my c-section approaches. He worries about me and the baby and it is a very rough time for him. I know he feels lost without me at home too and thinks that everything including care of Josiah and everything else will fall on him even while I am in the hospital. I have care of Josiah taken care of until we return home, then Danny has about a week off with us and then Josiah will go back to Danny's mom's house. Danny is stressed and I think he feels pulled in many different directions, so please, as you pray for me on FRiday, remember him too.

But, needless to say, MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!!

Putting all of your eggs...

2008-12-02T09:53:00.003-05:00

...in one basket...

Okay, so don't ask me how, but I seemed to have ended up with about 4 dozen eggs in my fridge and have been meaning to do something with them all for the past week or so. I bought a lot of english muffins, sausage and bacon and I am going to try to put together some muffins and freeze them. Right now I have three different little egg casseroles going on in the oven. One has ham and cheese in it...just for Amber [sorry, J/K, my dear sis - n - law!], the others are plain old egg and a little seasoning. I have learned to fluff my eggs up a little bit with milk or water to the scramble, so these are light and fluffy looking so far! So, does anyone else have some constructive ways I can cook up the rest of these eggs before I go into the hospital? I can't stay on my feet for long at all, so I am a little limited!

Josiah has been a delight this morning wanting to "help you mommy?", and I realized I still must be doing too much around the house and on my feet if my 21 month old walks around saying, "Wanna clean, mommy?"! So, while I have been cooking, and in an effort to be close to Josiah because I am sad about being away from him for a few days, I filled up the kitchen sink with water, got his potty/stool out and have been letting him "help" wash dishes. This has been his most fun thing to do in the last couple of weeks. Yes, it is messy, but sometimes I realize there is going to have to be a little mess to clean up in order for everyone to have fun, right? Plus, this will occupy him for a LOT of time and it beats just putting him in front of the "boob tube" to drain his brain! I am blessed that he does not like TV too much anyway. Every now and then when I need a break, he will sit long enough to watch a 30 minute VeggieTales movie, sometimes Elmo and sometimes Winnie the Pooh. Other than this, he could care less and would rather be doing other things! I hope it stays that way!

Well, I have taken my mandatory rest and am going to do a few more things [I will get up and do something around the house for about 10 minutes or so, then come and sit down for 30...hey, don't knock it til you've tried it! :-) ].

Playing with my blog...

2008-12-01T23:01:00.002-05:00

I have enjoyed rearranging and changing my blog this evening. I did not know that it could be this easy! I chose pink because "pink is in the air" around this part of Roanoke, Virginia! Friday 12/5 is the date that my husband, son and I should meet little Bethany Arlene. I am so excited! Of course, there is a very slight chance that Friday will be a no go, but it is so slight I am not even considering it! We have been busy here trying to get last minute things done. I have mostly been sitting and delegating as my DH is doing. Going into the hospital is like going on a vacation. I hate coming home to a messy or unorganized home and there is only so much I can do from a resting state. I like to come back home to nice smells - you know, not the kind where...oops, you forgot to empty the trash before you left... or dishes piled up at the sink waiting to be washed. I really want to come home to my haven and rest, so we are still plugging away at at few things here in our home.

Thursday is a packed day for us with three different dr appts and a presurgical appt at the hospital, so that morning, really early we are going to drop Josiah off at Grandma's house [Danny's mom...who btw...is such a great mom and grandmother! I feel great with Josiah in her care for a few days now and a few days later. She has been such a help to me/us!!!], go to all of our appts, and we even thought we might be able to throw one more quiet night in the mix for just Danny and I. This will probably consist of one of our favorite things to do...Barnes and Noble...we love to go, sit and read! I told Danny tonight that I already miss Josiah and he is not even gone! Josiah melted my heart tonight when, for the first time, unprompted, got a baby doll[okay, so it was actually a naked Barbie doll...I have no idea where it came from...], put it in the new swing we have for Bethany, and turned the music on and said her name. He has been calling Bethany "Baby Betty" which I have been working really hard on, so tonight he turned the music on and gleefully exclaimed "Bet-a-nee!", over and over again. It really did do my heart good!

So, Friday morning is fast approaching and I am excited yet really nervous about my surgery. I don't want to go into too much detail, but my c-section with Josiah was not planned, but that is what ended up happening. The surgery was very invasive and some things were not what I wanted at all. Since the surgery was so invasive, it is a very bad idea for me to have future births naturally. Trust me on this, I could go into further detail, but will spare you unless you want to talk privately. But, I hope things will be different with this delivery. With Josiah, I was not alert AT ALL. I remember only a few things because right before we decided to go ahead with the c-section, I had been given two very powerful pain medicines...stadol and something else. I was loopy! In the operating room, I remember my DH with tears in his eyes getting down in my ear and singing "Great is thy faithfulness". I remember waking myself up snoring...yes, I snored through most of the surgery... and I remember hearing Josiah screaming and trying to comfort him from where I was. Danny was able to hold him and Josiah finally stopped crying when he was held up to my face and I was able to sing to him and whisper in his ear. I don't remember anything after this. I don't remember the first time I got to hold Josiah and I don't remember the first time I got to nurse him. I know that both were very long periods of time after Josiah was born and later I was really sad about this. Anyway, I guess what I am getting at is that I am glad that I expect this surgery to go better. I can be as alert as I want as long as the anesthesiologist knows what I want. I have already talked to the L and D nurses at the hospital and I have been assured that unless there is a problem with me or the baby, I can take Bethany with me to the recovery room and hold her or nurse her as long as I want or when I want. So, I am thankful that since I have to have a c-section, it will at least go the way I want it to this time. Well, I have gone on for long enough. I mostly wanted to say I am excited about our baby and seeing pink!!!

Kids do the darndest things!!!

2008-11-25T22:38:00.004-05:00

Okay, so, I am supposed to be staying off of my feet, and most of the time I am able to accomplish that, but then there are those days...

Poor Josiah was extremely restless today and for the first time asked me over and over to "go outside and play?". I knew I couldn't do that and stay completely off of my feet because he likes to walk up and down the sidewalks in front of the houses in our neighborhood and look for dogs and cats. So, I thought today is the day I will take him to Chik-Fil-A and to play...nice alternative, and staying off my feet 75% of the time, right? Well, off we went. We had a nice lunch and I let Josiah play for almost an hour at ChikFilA while I sat and watched him and talked to other mothers. I can not tell you how many looks of sympathy I got today, but I can tell you that 4 times I heard expressions like, "Oh my goodness, you are huge!", or "Good grief, you are about to pop!". I guess people are afraid to ask when a woman is "due" anymore because what if they are wrong and the person is not really pregnant? Anyway...

My most utterly, mortifying and embarrassing moment happened when we were readying to leave. I put on my coat and I was putting on Josiah's coat as we stood beside a nice older couple eating lunch in their booth. The older man was very demonstrative in his talking and talked with his hands extensively. In the hand closest to us, the man had his fork with a forkful of food on it and was just talking to his wife. I saw Josiah's eyes following the fork, but didn't think much of it. I thought Josiah was just a little intrigued. Well, that man kept waving his fork and I didn't realize how close to Josiah he was getting, and when he stopped moving his hand, Josiah grabbed his hand and shoved the forkful of food into his own mouth! The couple thought it was adorable and I was apologizing and wanting to hide under a table when Josiah uses his best sign language and words together makes the signs for "more" and "please" and says it to the man. Then the man gave him another bite!!! He said he couldn't resist and thought he was the cutest boy ever. I can laugh about it now, but I tell you, I was mortified! I finally talked the man into letting me get him another fork as he was originally content on eating off the fork that had also been in my son's mouth...well, what can you do?

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving day with friends and family. God Bless!

Falling behind, and falling in general...

2008-11-20T22:40:00.002-05:00

I thought I would quit falling behind and update everyone on the Hodges happenings for now. We are 2 weeks and 1/2 day away from meeting our little girl. I am very ready, past ready, but also do not like the thought of having to deliver at 37 weeks as slight problems can arise. My doctor figures fewer problems can arise if I deliver 3 weeks early, so we are going with his decision. He is a very good DR and has take very good care of me, especially this pregnancy.

So, since I mentioned falling behind, the dishes sit, stacked elegantly, yet dirty, on my kitchen counters...a few on the kitchen table, and a few on the dining room table. There is a lot of laundry folded, just not put away. There is a lot of dirty laundry piling up again, but what can we say...it's only going to grow bigger, right? The living room is a maze of my son's toys, scattered here and there, and we won't even begin to talk about my bedroom! I am okay with it all though. I simply wish I had the energy I had a week, two weeks or even a month ago. Last week I was asking my mother in law what I could cook for our Thanksgiving meal and today I was telling her whatever could be bought would be what I could bring. Energy...where did it all go? It probably went away with all of the swelling that encompasses me. Yes, just like with Josiah, I am swollen again, but that is what happens though. My sister in law dropped by tonight and she was like a breath of fresh air...as she always is! Amber found me upstairs sitting in the bathroom while Josiah was vegging in the tub. He was grouchy tonight, but he seemed to be so happy in the tub that I let him sit and get prune-like. When it was time to get out, Amber did all of the honors, diapering, dressing, lifting! Whew, I was glad she came over. It seemed like she knew that I was tired and came to minister just to me...she is so sweet! Speaking of Amber, she and I were talking and I was lamenting, AGAIN, the fact that I feel HUGE and we were talking about the differences between last pregnancy and this and we were just goofing off. She remembered, when I was pregnant with Josiah, how I went on and on about how huge my nose got. All of my facial swelling really bothered me last pregnancy and all I could see out of my peripheral vision was my huge honker. Amber brought up my previous lamenting and without skipping a beat reminded me how big my nose is now! We laughed as she often makes me do!

Speaking of falling in general, about a week ago, I had three falls in one week...really abnormal for me. The first two were harmless, really, and could have been worse, but praise the Lord, they were not. The first two falls I missed the first step on my way to the bathroom upstairs and bruised my knees. The third fall I had was not so glorious. Let me start by saying, it could have been MUCH worse, so I praise the Lord for His mercy! I was getting Josiah a cup of milk and I leaned the baby gate against the buffet table in the kitchen. On my way back through the kitchen/dining room door with the cup of milk, I hit the corner of the baby gate and knew I was going down. Josiah was right in front of me, to my right was nothing but another buffet table full of glass items I had been cleaning [candle holders, glass pitcher, picture frames, etc] and I was so afraid I was going to fall on Josiah. So, as I was falling in slow motion, I was trying to decide how I was going to land to have as little impact as possible, not fall on Josiah, not hurt the baby and not break any glass, but I was not successful in all of my musings. I did not fall on Josiah, but I reached for the buffet table, knocking off a bunch of the glass pieces, scattering them and breaking them, and managed to fall mostly on my forearms, a little on my knees and my side. On my way down, as embarrassed as I am to say it, all I could get to come out of my mouth was, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!". Josiah was terrified, screaming, and through his screams asking me, "Momma, are you okay?" over and over again. I gave him his milk and made him sit where he was because of the glass all around us. He and I were both barefoot which was not good. I yelled as loud as I could for Danny to come downstairs [since he works at night, it was perfect for him to be there to help me!]. He heard me and came to my aid. I thought I broke my big toe, but it is solidly bruised only, and most of my soreness is faded away. The worst thing to come of my fall is that Josiah has picked up on a new phrase, thanks to me. "Oh, crap!" How utterly embarrassing!

Well, that is all from me for now. Please pray for me as we have a few more check ups, then on 12/5 we head to the hospital for surgery!

Please forgive me!

2008-11-12T16:28:00.002-05:00

I don't want to go into detail, but there is a reason I haven't posted lately. I am simply unable to sit in chairs without a tremendous amount of padding for a long time, so I haven't been able to spend much time on the computer. That is also kind of a good thing.

Well, to catch up a little, I have been given a tentative date for a c-section. I will go into the hospital early on 12/5/2008, Friday, and I will have an amniocentesis to make sure the baby's lungs are mature. If the test shows good maturity, a c-section will be on for around noon. If not, we will wait 1-2 weeks before scheduling a c-section. I am excited, yet still a little fearful, but I know and trust that God is in control and that is what calms my fear!

I told my husband that one thing good came from Obama being our next president...Olive Garden. Olive Garden, you ask? How on earth does Obama have anything to do with Olive Garden. Well, I am a realistically pessimistic person whereas my DH is an optimisit person, just not always realistically [I love you with all of my heart, honey!]. He was SURE that McCain would win just as I was sure Obama would win, so I smelt a bet in the works. I told Danny is McCain won, I would take him out to eat to Outback Steakhouse [one of his favorites] and if Obama won, we would go to Olive Garden [by far, my favorite and also one of Danny's]. So, tonight, to celebrate our last date night by ourselves, before the baby comes and without little Josiah, we will go to Olive Garden, Barnes & Noble and to the theater to see Fireproof. Josiah is going on an adventure of the first kind for him tonight. He has NEVER spent the night in someone else's house without mommy and/or daddy, so tonight, also to prepare for being without mommy and daddy when the new baby arrives, he will go and stay at Grandma and Grandpap's house until tomorrow afternoon. I really hope he does not give her a run for her money, but I know she knows how to handle them, so I trust everything will be well!

Well, I have sat here for as long as I possibly can. God Bless everyone!

Catching up...

2008-11-03T11:39:00.002-05:00

I am catching up from last week. We had a busy week and an even busier weekend. We had the Troy Thomas family in town for the whole weekend and for the most part, we did a lot of nothing. I have been taking it easy as I get to the end of my pregnancy and they were content to sit with me and let me take it easy! I am so thankful for friends like that! We have another family staying with us Wednesday night so I have been busy preparing for more guests...I just love having people over and keeping guests in our home...if it has been a while, you should try it more often! So, let me start by saying...MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!! Danny had the opportunity to go to the Sara Palin rally in a neighboring city and I was feeling quite cantankerous and told him he could go if he took Josiah [halfway kidding...]. The next day he told me he got the tickets and he was going to drop Josiah off at his mother's house so Grandma and Grandpap could spend some time with Josiah. I was so excited at all the things it seemed I was going to be able to get done that day. I started working long before Danny went to the rally and by the time he left, I was pooped...too pooped to do anything but sit, prop my feet up and crochet and watch movies for the rest of the night. Danny is always trying to give me some alone time and this is just another reason my husband rocks!

I will close soon, but I wanted to share the crochet project I was working on. I love to crochet, especially baby blankets! So, here is the one that I finished for our daughter who should arrive in about a month. Hope you enjoy and have a great day!

The Keeper at Home

2008-10-27T07:23:00.002-04:00

I have recently talked to or read my friends' blogs and recently realized that there are many misconceptions of the stay at home mom. Since I left the corporate world in December 2006, I have never been happier, more content and satisfied with my role as a keeper at home/stay-at-home mom. All too often though, I hear comments like these:

Boy, you sure have it easy
What I wouldn't give to be at home all day doing nothing
What do you do all day?
Oh, so you don't work?

These are just a few. To tell a couple on my husband [I love you dear, and am not upset with you anymore over your comments! :-)], one time a refrigerator repairman was coming over to look at our refrigerator. My DH works at night and sleeps during the day, so I was going to have to schedule this man in and work around him. When he asked Danny what time he should come, Danny said, "Come anytime you want, my wife doesn't work!". I thought to myself, your wife doesn't work? What does he think I do all day? And I also thought, sure! Let the man come while I have all 6 children that I babysit, better yet, since 5 out of the 6 are still in diapers, let him come when I am changing diapers or fixing lunch. Sure, come anytime, because I DON'T WORK!!! Instead of yelling at him or getting mad, I waited for him to get off the phone and I gently asked him, what do you think I do all day if you think I don't work, and better yet, what do you think three families pay me for if you think I don't work? Even as recent as last week, he made another comment, not really meaning anything by it, but we were at my OB's office for a check up. I was giving the DR my Blood sugar and Blood pressure reports [I have to check both as many as 4-5 times a daily for my health right now!] and the DR said, "Where do you find time in your day to do all of this?" And before I could answer, DH says, "Well, she's a stay at home mom!", like that meant I had all the time in the world. I didn't correct him in the office, but we got outside and I told him I knew he didn't mean anything by it, but that isn't the thing you say to any woman, especially your wife! Like I said, I know my husband didn't mean anything by his statements, he is just proud that I am able to stay at home with our son right now and he wants me to know how proud he is.

So, this has me thinking...why does America stereotype the stay at home mom as a lazy bum who can't get a job and wouldn't want one if she had one anyways? The many misconceptions of the stay at home mom has me really frustrated me since I became one myself. My DH sleeps during the day and when he wakes up, I tend to slow down a little in an effort to spend time with him. He does not see all of the things that go on while he is asleep. For example, in a typical day, especially since I still babysit an additional family of three, I am going non-stop all day long. I not only have to change diapers for two children several times a day, I have to help another one with his current potty training agenda. I also have to get breakfast, lunch and snacks ready and when I am not changing diapers or preparing food for the kids, I am menu planning, grocery list making, I wash dishes at least 3 times a day, I am paying bills, making necessary phone calls, cleaning up toys, preparing for nap time, wiping up spit-up or runny noses, I am keeping the laundry going, I am chasing down the little pup who has jumped the fence again, I am refereeing arguments between toddlers and the list goes on. No one knows or sees what goes on in my home, but typically, if you tell someone in the outside world that you are a stay at home mom, you see their red flags pop up like antennas. They automatically assume that you are a lazy bum who does nothing all day.

When I get to feeling down about how others view my working at home, I turn to the best keeper at home I know and find solace in her example and I am renewed and energized to fight the good fight and keep up the good work. Let me share her with you:

The Virtuous Woman

Proverbs 31:10-31

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

This is for all of those stay at home moms I know who have nothing to do but sit around all day! ;-)

I love my crockpots!

2008-10-25T13:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, so at the moment I am feeling another burst of glorious energy, but I sense it leaving me soon, so I am trying to get as much done as I can today. I already have Sunday's church lunch in the crockpot and tonights dinner in the crockpot and am busy cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen. What's in my crockpots? I am glad you asked!

Stew Meat w/ Rice [so super easy, and a big hit!]

1 pack of stew meat
1 can of cream of mushroom soup [I like mine w/ garlic]
1 can of french onion soup

Cook on low for 7-8 hours or cook on high for 4-5 hours until meat is cooked through.

You can serve this over rice, white or brown, egg noodles, or cous-cous! Delicious!

AND

Teriyaki Sirloin Strips w/ onions and peppers [this one is for my husband, not particularly a favorite of mine!]

4 Beef Sirloin steaks, cut into julienne strips

1 large onion, cut into julienne strips

1 large red or green pepper, cut into julienne strips

1/2 to 1 cup of honey teriyaki sauce [we like Ken's]

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

We serve this many different ways...either over cous-cous, rice, or in tortillas. Mmmm!

MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!!

2008-10-24T21:13:00.003-04:00

My husband rocks because not only did he let me go grocery shopping by myself, he encouraged it! I actually really like going grocery shopping together with him, but I was needing some "me time" and he knew it. I love my man!

Admission of Guilt

2008-10-21T09:40:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I have been wearing this one pair of shoes since I have been pregnant. They have been the most comfortable, easy and functional shoes that go with just about everything [and if they didn't go, I didn't care...I am not a shoe person!]. Well, my feet are getting a little more out of shape and swollen and I can't wear those shoes any more and it is getting to cold to wear them, so it is back to the faithful tennis shoes! I put them on this morning and did not draw the laces too tightly because they were already tight enough. I walked around for a few minutes and my feet felt terrible! I couldn't believe how bad my feet were hurting! I got my son out of bed and we walked downstairs and by this time I was hurting so bad I was wincing and trying to decide what to do as I needed to go for a Dr's appt. Well, about that time, I sat down and looked at my shoes. Wouldn't you know, the reason for my pain was something that drove my Dad nuts for years and years when I was little! I put my shoes on the wrong feet! I couldn't believe the stupidity! Well, I fixed my shoes, which by the way, my feet feel much better this morning, and I called my dad, who I knew would get a huge kick out of this. So, when I told Dad about it, he said in the most pitiful and mournful aching voice..."I thought you would NEVER put your shoes on the the right feet and it killed me!". The bad part is, I realized the reason Josiah has been taking his shoes off and bringing them back to me...yes, you guessed it, I have been putting his shoes on the wrong feet. I haven't been doing it every time, but enough that my son doesn't like it! You can call me directionally dyslexic!

My Husband Rocks!

2008-10-18T18:14:00.003-04:00

Okay, a few of my friends are doing this and I keep thinking I ought to add this to my blog; then I went to the blog of the person who came up with "My Husband Rocks, Fridays"!, then I felt really motivated to get on board as a way to build my husband up and think about all of the wonderful things he does for me on a CONSTANT basis!

My Husband Rocks, Fridays!

[yes, I know it is Saturday and I am a day behind!]

My husband ROCKS! On a daily basis, after working all night, the first thing he asks me when he wakes up in the afternoons is: "What can I do for you, honey?" Today I have been behind on what seems like everything. Here it is, after 6pm, dinner has almost another hour to cook in the oven, and my wonderful husband said it was okay that we are having dinner a little bit late because he is not all that hungry anyways. So, he packed up a bowlful of grapes and some animal crackers and said, "Why don't I take Josiah to the park for a walk and to play so you can have some time to yourself while dinner is cooking?". Isn't he thoughtful? He is constantly doing things like this for me, and that is just one reason "my husband rocks"!

Regarding that Last Blog Entry

2008-10-17T22:57:00.003-04:00

I went back and read my last entry and laughed! It seems as though I was nesting even in my mind! I would love to know how other mother's out there learned to control this nesting syndrome. I am at a point where I really need to slow down on a daily basis, but my mind and body races to the point where I get frantic over things left to be done. Please pray for me to calm down and enjoy the last little bit of time I have with just me and my little boy. I know when this little girl comes along, it will be a different world!

The Nesting Syndrome

2008-10-17T15:11:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I am roughly 6-7 wks away from having another baby and let me tell you, the nesting syndrome has kicked into overdrive with me. It is different this time around for me because with my DS, Josiah, I was put on bedrest at 32 weeks because of preeclampsia and high blood pressure. Whatever didn't get done before bedrest either didn't get done, my husband did it, or some of my dear friends and family came over and helped out to get things done while I delegated with my feet propped up. This time, so far and praise the Lord, I have not required bedrest. I tell you, though, I am going crazy. There are so many things around the house I see doing and I just don't know when I will ever get them done. Some say the "nesting syndrome" comes around because women need something to do to pass the time until the baby comes [must have been a man who said that!]. Some say it is just an indwelling desire to organize and have everything perfect. For me, I know...beyond any doubt...that I am going through the nesting syndrome because I feel like I will not be able to get ANYTHING done after this DD comes along. It is already hard enough to get much done with a beautiful toddling Josiah under my feet most of the day and I just know that it won't get any easier with # 2. So, after having shared all of this, let me share why I haven't posted in a while:

I have thoroughly cleaned the baby's room from top to bottom, including all of the baby girls clothes in drawers and organized with all of the beautiful dresses we have been given hung in the closet neatly. The drawers have been accurately labeled for the sake of my DH who may not be able to find things other wise. I have also cleaned out DS drawers and they only hold the clothes that he can wear right now and throught the winter. They have also been categorized and labeled. We took down the Thomas the Train table from DS's room and put it downstairs in what we now call the "play room". I have set up our beautiful $2 changing table that we found at a yard sale [with not a scratch or problem on it!] with a diaper changing pad I made out of my remaining Noah's Ark material, set with everything at hand for when the new baby arrives. I also have dusted/swept/mopped and rotated all of the toys and stuffed animals so DS will have "new toys" in his room to play with. We pulled up the crib mattress gave it a good cleaning with soap and water [why you ask? It just seemed important at the time!] and replaced the bumper pads and sheets. All clothes too big or too little have been stored for now by my wonderful husband. Consider the baby's room done [until next week, when I am sure I will find more to do in there!]

We set up a play room in our computer room so not all of the toys will be underfoot when you first walk in the door. We have set up the Thomas the Train Table with the tracks and the trains, several baskets of toys are accessible, the pac n play has been set up for the little girl I babysit to nap in [and it is thoroughly cleaned out! YAY!] Baby toys have been categorized and stored for at least a few months until the baby has need for them. Books have been put on a little kids shelf for reading enjoyment. All other items have been stored in the basement for now. The computer desk has been cleaned off and organized and all of my sewing materials/equipment have been stored within easy reach. Dusting/sweeping/mopping have all been taken care of!

I have gotten rid of or sold toys that are not played with or not desired by me anymore, toy box has been organized [I know, stupid idea...it already needs it again!]. Laundry Room and Diningd Room have received a thorough detailing. The kitchen is another story. I am working on that today and taking a break from it for now. At least all of the dishes are done and supper is cooking in the crockpot!

The pantry will be tackled this weekend and organized...it will take a while! The bathroom was emptied from top to bottom, scrubbed down from top to bottom and only necessary things were put back in the bathroom to be organized and straightened.

Our master bedroom, where the baby will sleep, probably for a few months at least, has been cleaned from top to bottom, organized and the baby corner has been set up for when the baby comes home.

Oh my goodness! As I write this, it seems there are so many other things that are needed to be done! I can't believe I am writing about it instead of doing it.

Well, having said that, happy cleaning/nesting or doing nothing for the rest of the week!

I got it!

2008-10-12T08:35:00.001-04:00

I got my stinkin' driver's license in the mail. Yipee.

I've been tagged...

2008-10-07T23:36:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine "tagged" me to tell 7 random things about myself then ask 7 others to do the same thing, so here it goes:

I have a terrible habit of reading the same book over and over and over again. All of the books on my shelves have probably been read about 5 times each, especially if the author is Janette Oke or Lori Wick.
I am an organization "junkie" wannabe, meaning I desire organization in every aspect of my home and life, but so often fail to suceed that I get discouraged and let things build up around me.
I love to wash/dry/fold clothes, but I hate to iron or put them away.
I also love to wash dishes, but hate putting dishes away.
I am hooked on thank-you notes. I know that sounds funny, but I send thank-you notes to everyone for everything. My husband thinks I am crazy.
I am a control freak and my husband loves me in spite of it.
I love to-do lists and have a 5 subject notebook filled with to-do lists and lists of all sorts from this year. I can't wait to start next year's notebook...pathetic, I know!

So, now you have enough information to use against me! I will tag seven other friends as well! Thanks, Christy! I enjoyed reading and sharing!

My Department of Motor Vehicles Saga

2008-10-07T17:10:00.003-04:00

Back in March of this year, Josiah and I took a trip to GA by ourselves. I don't like going by myself and just Josiah, but if I do, I always try to make as few stops as possible and get there as quickly as I can. So, I was about 2 hours from my parent's home, just inside the GA state line and I needed to stope and get gas. I decided to pay at the pump so I wouldn't have to get Josiah out of the car, but while I was pumping, I decided to open the back door to play with JoJo. I eventually got back in the car and left, got a couple of exits down and decided to get a drink at Starbuck's, when to my horror, I can not find my wallet AT ALL!! I panicked and drove as fast as I could back to my previous location to search for my wallet. We went inside at the gas station to see if anyone found it, I looked around outside and it was no where. I searched the car from top to bottom hoping beyond all hope that I dropped it inside the car, but it was no where. I had to face the facts, I must have laid my wallet on top of the car when I was playing with JoJo and then forgot about it and drove off. Even worse than this, I had to call my dad and tell him how stupid I had been. Dad was sweet about it, but I can hear the police officer wheels churning in his head thinking about all of the times he had told me to protect myself and belongings, etc., etc. Well, it gets worse. I had some business to attend to in GA and needed my birth certificate and SS Card with me to do it, and where do you think it was? It was ALL in my wallet, the dumbest place on earth for it all. I had to have my DH wire me money the next day and I had to cancel my bank cards, etc., and hear from family members about the ridiculousness of the situation. On top of that all, I had absolutely no form of identification on me whatsoever! Okay, so the next line of action was to replace the items I had lost, namely my Driver's license, SS card and Birth certificate, right? You would think it would be easy, right? Keep reading...

So, I get back home and I was told my the DMV that in order to get my license replaced I had to have two forms of ID and it could be 2 of these four things: SS Card, Birth certificate, Passport, or marriage certificate. Well, I didn't have what it took, so I turned to the SS Administration thinking I could use my marriage certificate and ss card when it was reissued. Well, at the SS Admin., they must work in conjunction with the DMV to not help people out, because in order to get my SS Card replaced, what do you think I had to have? Right...two forms of identification out of the same four listed by the DMV, which I STILL DON'T HAVE!!! So, next plan, get a copy of my birth certificate from the state of GA and use that in conjunction with my marriage certificate. Sounds easy enough, right? Think again! I ordered my birth certificate for $50 and got it in the mail in about 3 weeks, then went to pull our marriage certificate out of our strong box, where we thought we had it, but what do you think? You are right, again! It is not there. So, I write to the county court where we obtained our license and asked them to send me a duplicate copy for $5. So, a few days later this really nice lady called and said there was not a marriage certificate on file for us. WHAT?!?!? She said she saw where we had applied for a license but never sent in for the certificate. She told me she could send the license back to the preacher who married us for him to sign and validate, then she could issue the certificate to us. Dear old Uncle Jimmy signed that paper and promptly returned it for us. In the meantime, I spoke with the DMV commissioner dude who informs me that I have to have the actual birth certificate, not a duplicate copy. The SS Admin tells me the same thing. The commissioner of the DMV tells me to get the marriage license and then call him back and he would see if he could further help me then. Finally, we seemed to be getting somewhere!!! I got the marriage license and called him. He said that he has been given the authority to go ahead and file for my replacement license, then he asked me for my customer number from my driver's license. Huh??? I explained I didn't have it because my DL was lost. He tells me he can not help me with anything without my customer number and that he can not give out the number to me, it is something I have to provide to him for security. Okay, so I asked him how I could get my customer number and he said I would have to get it from my DL! I was dumbfounded at the stupidity!!! I told him I thought it was the dumbest thing I had ever heard and eventually just hung up on him. But, guess what? Yesterday I was going through some paperwork and I found a letter from the DMV that my husband had requested from them shortly after I lost my wallet. The letter was just a statement to say that I had a good record and no outstanding incidences and stuff like that. Guess what was at the top of this letter! My Customer Number!!! So, $10 and 3 minutes later, after 7 months of trying to get my DL replaced and drive as little as possible, I ordered my replacement card from the internet. The many lessons I learned are good ones. Everyone listen carefully:

Do not EVER leave your wallet on top of your car
If you do, do not drive off without picking it back up
Do not store all of your personal identification in one place! NEVER store SS Card, DL or birth certificate together and definitely do not store in your wallet
Send in for your marriage certificate as soon after you get married as possible
If your DL # on your card is different than your SS #, write it down in a safe place for incidents like this!
Listen to your parents...especially if one is a policeman who deals with this kind of crud on a regular basis!

Okay, I feel better now that I have vented and I hope you learn something from my very stupid mistake/s!

Mixtures of Joy and Sorrow...

2008-10-07T08:12:00.003-04:00

The past month truly has been mixtures of joy and sorrow with several loved ones going home to be with the Lord. I wrote about a month ago about dear sister Rhonda Jones who died suddenly leaving behind her husband and five children. Please continue to pray for the Jones family as they still grieve their mother but strive to continue on in their everyday activities.

Then, a family friend, Elmo Nester, passed away after being ill for some time. We were blessed to see his dear wife at the annual family reunion the afternoon of his death. He will be missed, but we rejoice that his suffering is ended and he is with the Lord.

Last week, a dear sister in Christ, Ruth Adams, who had been ill on and off for over a year and a half, had a joyous homegoing to be rejoiced in. A couple of days before she passed she continuously asked those around her if they were seeing the angels that she was. On the morning she passed, after several days of not being able to move her arms or legs at all, she raised her arms, cried out "praise the Lord!" and passed away. It is times like these that you can not help but feel overwhelming joy for the loved one lost.

Sadly, Sunday afternoon, our family lost a dear loved one who inspired us all in her life. Grandma, Ethel Ayers Vass, passed away in the home of her daughter, Joyce, where she had been living for a couple of years. Grandma was a wonderful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and even a great-great-grandmother! Up until about 3 weeks ago, Grandma still came to church every Sunday morning with her daughter Joyce, and was still even able to make some church meetings with Joyce on a regular basis. Grandma had a smile that could light up a room when you talked to her. She couldn't always hear you very well, but she knew you were there and that you were talking to her. My little boy Josiah would always go up to her and perch his hands on her knees while she sat in her wheelchair and would jibber-jabber to her like she was his long lost best friend. Grandma always smiled and talked back to him and loved on him. One of my personal favorite memories of Grandma was on the day after Josiah was born. Joyce brought Grandma to see us and to see Josiah. Grandma took Josiah in her arms and joyfully looked at his feet and proclaimed he was a beautiful baby! I don't think anyone told her she was looking at his feet and not his face! That day a four generation picture was taken. I was overwhelmed and in tears because I didn't know if Grandma would make it to meet our little boy. She did though! Even though she won't be here to meet the baby we are expecting now, I am so glad and overjoyed at the fact that she is no longer suffering in her body here on this earth. I rejoice to know that she is down at the feet of Jesus singing His praises and proclaiming His glory and righteousness forevermore!

We do ask for prayers for our family as we prepare to lay Grandma's body to rest this Thursday in her hometown. Even in our joy, there is of course sorrow too by all of us left behind. We will miss Grandma very much and as one grand-daughter wrote in a tribute to Grandma, she has left "her footprint on my heart".

While I'm thinking about it...

2008-10-02T23:47:00.002-04:00

My dear mother in law is notorious for telling you stuff "while she is thinking about it", so in her honor, while I have cookies in the oven, I will share some info "while I am thinking about it"!

So, most of you know we are due to have a baby in December. The official due date is 12/25, but I will have to have a c-section because of some medical problems, so if the baby is healthy and all looks well, the birth of our daughter will be around 37 wks in early December. We have pretty much decided on a name early on...at least the first name was cemented in stone, but we hemmed and hawed about the middle name and then decided about a month or two ago. I just realized we must not have told everyone the name because I think I have told everyone, then someone else pops up and asks what her name will be. We are not a couple who cares about keeping it secret until the baby is born, so we are proud to announce that we will name our baby girl Bethany Arlene. Bethany is a name that I have long loved and wanted since being married and thinking of children. Arlene is a family name that originated with my Great-grandmother Voisie Arlene Davis. I have a few, but great, memories of my great-grandma and I thought about the family legacy presented. Not only is Mamaw Davis' middle name Arlene, so is my mother's and mine. I thought my grandmother's middle name was Arlene as well, but I have since found out her's is Ann, not Arlene. So there you have it! We can't wait to welcome our daughter Bethany into the world!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

2008-10-02T23:11:00.002-04:00

Ingredients:

2 cans pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix
1/2-2 cups of water

Mix pumpkin and spice cake mix together 1st, slowly adding water, little by little until you have a nice creamy consistency. Cook for 20 minutes on 400.

If you are a Weight Watchers fan, these cookies have 1 pt. per cookie. They are great!

Just a quickie...

2008-09-28T18:38:00.002-04:00

While my DS sits and eats his dinner and watches VeggieTales, "Rack, Shack and Benny" for the millionth time, I thought I might have a few moments to write about a funny...

Yesterday was the annual Vass Family Reunion [on my husband's side of the family] so Josiah and I loaded up and made the 1 1/2 hr drive to Hillsville to be with everyone. I made a quick stop at CVS Pharmacy before meeting up with Aunt Amber so we could caravan together. I pulled up at the drive thru window and a voice came over the speaker, "Are you here for a pick-up or drop off?". Before I could say that I was picking up, my little munchkin in the backseat yells out: "Need to eat, pease!". I cracked up and so did the associate. I told her I was there for pick up while Josiah kept yelling "pease!" in the backseat. It is pretty funny because we haven't been drive-thru junkies for a long time, but Danny does go to get drinks from drive-thrus pretty often and I guess Josiah put two and two together. That was my delight for the day.

Another delight of the day was that Josiah was one of the show stealers at the family reunion. Cousin Bambi fed him...lots... so she was his best friend for the rest of the day, plus everyone else thought about how cute he was as he begged food off of nearly EVERYONE! Yeah, real cute...that's one of those habits I have been trying to break to no avail. Just because ANYONE has food, Josiah feels a certain entitlement to it. Well, overloading once a year won't hurt him too much...I don't guess.

New website!

2008-09-23T22:52:00.001-04:00

A real quick note. I was reading on a friend's blog about a Radio List Serve where you get to create your own compilation of artists that you want to hear and I love it! Go to pandora.com and create your commercial free radio stations! Thanks, Christy!

The Lord's mercies are new every morning

2008-09-23T22:13:00.002-04:00

Today Josiah returned to his former loving ways. He was happy most of the day and very loving. When he awoke, I didn't hear, "Need to eat, mommy!", but instead, I heard, "Big hug, mommy?", and it was just music to my ears. This afternoons nap was a riot. I put Josiah down at 12:30 and he usually goes right to sleep within a few minutes. Well, today, he played and played and played in his bed. I loved listening to him having a good time. After about an hour, I knew he would be really grouchy if he didn't get his nap, so I went in and loved on him for a minute and told him he had to take a nap to which he said, "Okay! Need night-night!", and he fell asleep for almost two and a half hours after that! Wow, did I get a lot of...nothing done! I sat and worked on a puzzle I have been meaning to do for years. I also did some menu planning and I watched a movie. Talk about being a bum! It was nice, though and I don't regret doing nothing all day!

On another note, I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The doctor and dietician like to tell you not to blame yourself, you've done nothing wrong, it's not your fault, and stuff like that. I do beg to differ, though, at least in my case. Here's my story: Most of you know that I am already overweight. I did lose 70 lbs before becoming pregnant with Josiah, but I was not able to get off all of my baby weight with Josiah before I became pregnant again this go around. I did do weight watchers and I did exercise on a fairly regular basis, but my eating habits have been way off. When I say my eating habits, I don't necessarily mean what I ate, but it is how I schedule my day. I HATE to eat breakfast and I always have. I noticed when I first turned to weight watchers, that was the one thing I changed that I think did the most for me. With this pregnancy, I have not wanted to eat breakfast or even think about eating until around noon or thereafter. This is a REALLY bad habit, guys. Anyone out there reading this, if you skip breakfast or wait a long time to eat after sleeping all night, you are doing your body a big disservice! So, with gestational diabetes, I have to prick my finger for blood 4 times a day and check my blood sugar levels and record them. I thought I would never be able to prick myself, but I have become an old pro. I have a really strict diet that I am to follow, consisting of 3 small meals a day and 3 small snacks in between. Did y'all know that the most important snack that you can ever have is before you go to bed at night? Haven't we been taught a little differently than that...you know, don't eat after 6pm or 8pm and things like that? Well, I have made changes mostly in my eating routines and VOILA! my blood sugar levels have been normal for the past week, without one single day of being over the recommended level. Pretty good, huh? I even ate mexican food tonight, the same dish I usually eat at the mexican restaurant, and my levels were GREAT 2 hours after my meal. So, if you are pregnant, and you want to avoid gestation diabetes, eat regular meals and snacks. Now, I know, doctors and dieticians are right to some extent...there are many factors that cause gestational diabetes, but if 75% of patients can control it with their diet, then what does that tell you? As far as other pregnancy related health problems, I did have preeclampsia with Josiah. I had high blood pressure from the end of the 1st trimester on with JoJo and so far with this pregnancy my BP has been at a borderline high. I check it about 5 times a day, get an average for the day and report it to the DR once a week. I want to avoid preeclampsia this time around, but gestational diabetes also increases the risks of preeclampsia. So, in short, please pray for me and my overall health. I feel GREAT and I am doing GREAT, I am eating well, putting my feet up several times a day and also taking a daily nap as requested by my doctor, so we will just have to see where we are when it comes time to meet our little girl. Please pray for me in the remainder of my third trimester and also for my family as they depend on a healthy wife and mommy too!

Mama Drama

2008-09-22T22:47:00.003-04:00

This may sound really weird to all of you mama's out there, but last week is the first time I really realized that Josiah's mood for the day depends on me and vice-versa. Last week my little man was the happiest, giddiest, lovingest and sweetest little boy I ever thought was. He was so happy and that made me happy and we had a GREAT week. We played a lot together, he played alone a lot and kept himself occupied. Disciplining was kept to a minimum and did not create a whiny little boy for the rest of the day when I had to discipline. All in all, I was really surprised at how we "play" off of each others moods. Today, I realized it as well. Today was a day that I would like to start over and do again. Josiah woke up screaming from his bed. He is putting more and more words together and some short sentences. His phrase of choice this morning, in between shrieking cries was, "Need to eat! Mommy! Need to eat! Gilk, Gilk! Pease!!!". It was cute at first, but got old quick. I have long learned that I need to fix Josiah's breakfast before getting him out of bed, because he is very impatient and grumpy when he is hungry and sees me fixing his food. So, I go and get him out of bed and have been greeted for the past week with a big hug and kiss, but not today, no, siree! I asked for a kiss and the mere request sent him into a temper tantrum where he threw himself back in his bed and hit his head, accounting for bruise # 1 today. We got downstairs without much further ado and he ate his breakfast somewhat cheerfully, then we got down to other business. Let me tell you, Josiah whined, cried and threw temper tantrums ALL DAY LONG! It is this that turns my day into funk city. I can't stand the constant whining and tantrums when I tell him no or correct him. At one point today, he climbed up into a chair and then fell out of it onto a little riding lion in the floor. I picked him up, checked him out and comforted him and quickly noticed bruise # 2 appearing swiftly on the forehead. He was bound and determined to show me what happened, so he got out of my lap and banged his head as hard as he could on the lion just to show me what happened. The comforting cycle began again and I noticed bruise # 3 appearing on his cheek. It was then also that I noticed a scratch and a bruise under his chin...where it came from I know not! He tried to show me what happened two or three times and then began hitting his lion as hard as he could because he was mad at it. I finally put the toy on the front porch after disciplining Josiah for his actions. This was the unforgivable. Josiah put on the biggest tantrum yet with that "my feelings are so hurt" poochie lip. I just ignored it and tried to go on about my day. He went on with this for about 15 minutes and I considered putting him back in bed for my own sanity [also, please understand, I was babysitting three other children today...one is 6 yrs, 2 yrs and 1 yr old] but decided against it. But on and on it went. Danny got up and could see that I was in a bad mood and not to be reckoned with at the moment. He was having his own problems with Josiah also. At one point, after Josiah threw himself in the floor again, banged his face, resulting now in bruise # 6, I began to cry myself. I often do not do this, but today I was broken and battered. Josiah saw me crying even though I was trying to control myself and he came over and said, "Are you okay?" which is another favorite phrase, but usually he says it when he hurts himself and someone is nearby, he will ask if they are okay. I picked him up, told him how much I loved him and informed Danny I was taking a nap. "What time do you want me to wake you up?" he asks. "Whenever you want, my dear!" It was a good nap and I woke up to my little boy crawling and climbing all over me and rubbing my head like Daddy does. Then he began to give me "kisses on the wips!" which we have been trying really hard to get him to kiss us with his lips and not just press his cheek to us. What is the point to all of this you ask? I guess in a way I am just venting, but I have been going over this day in my mind and wondering what I would do differently and there are so many things. Most importantly, I would have prayed throughout the day for guidance and patience. There are so many times I don't know how to react to Josiah's reactions and most often I do it in the wrong way, so I need guidance. Patience...I lack it so much and I think my poor little boy has gotten this lack of patience from me! He learns quickly! I have been thinking about the verse in the bible about "create in me a clean heart, oh god, and renew a right spirit within me." I know I may not have all of the words to the verse right, but this is my prayer for tomorrow! Let me say one more thing...I am so thankful to my DH because even though I was in a bad mood, he didn't let me affect him, instead, he let me take a nap and took Josiah out for a walk [even though he didn't change him out of his PJ's first...but hey, who's to know?!] which seems to be the highlight of Josiah's day. Josiah didn't come back in a much better mood, but I am praying the same prayer for him tomorrow as I pray for me. God is on His throne and is able to do above all I ever ask or plead! Thanks for listening to my whining!

Mixtures of Joy and Sorrow

2008-09-10T07:32:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I learned of the death of a dear sister in Christ, Rhonda Jones. I am extremely saddened by the loss of this family. She was such a loving wife, mother and sister at Grace Chapel PBC. As long as I have known Sister Rhonda, she has always been serving others and putting others first. I remember a few years ago when we heard she was seriously ill with a condition that could kill her, all across the country brothers and sisters in Christ, family and friends poured out prayers on her behalf and on the behalf of her family. Whenever someone passes away, I can't help but rejoice thinking about them in the presence of their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I think of the song "I Can Only Imagine" which is a popular Christian song and has been for a few years. It really makes me long to be with Jesus. Oh, Sister Rhonda, no longer do you imagine, you are living with your Saviour! Prayers and hugs to her family and loved ones!

Home again, home again, hippity-hop!

2008-09-07T22:18:00.002-04:00

When last I wrote, I was preparing for a monumental event and a little mini-vacation. A little at a time over the next few days, maybe I can share my time away with you. Let's start with going to the chapel...

Josiah and I rode with our cousin Hannah to Susanna Guess Taylor's wedding on August 23rd. We arrived a few days before the wedding and Josiah and I were able to participate in a few of the goings on of the preparations, then we promptly got out of the way! Josiah and I were able to attend the Bridal Luncheon for Susanna on Thursday afternoon after we arrived. Josiah was not meant to be a guest, but endured dramatically well for his mommy! He was the perfect little gentleman and I was happy to be able to stay for the whole luncheon. If he began to act out, I would have just left and not thought another thing about it, but he was great! All of the ladies there shared with Susanna something memorable about their wedding day and it was fun to sit back and listen to old and new stories and share with Susanna what married life was all about. After the luncheon that day, my sister in law, Wendy came and picked me up and we went shopping for the wedding. I didn't have a dress and I was upset that the only outfit that I had to wear was mostly black in color...it is hard to find plus-size maternity clothes...let me tell you! Well, I did find a dress, not too happy that it too was mostly black, but decided it would do and I would be happy with it. I was happy to know that a lot of the women at the wedding were in black and I did not feel so weird! You always think of black at weddings being a big faux paus [sp?] and I guess it has taken a turn and now is incredibly stylish and classy! Well, the wedding itself was beautiful. It was short, sweet and to the point. They had a very sweet kiss after being presented as husband and wife and Susanna was simply radiant! I was not able to get as many pictures as I wanted, but the few I did get showed their entire happiness that I am sure will only grow better with time! This wedding was on the 39th anniversary of Susanna's parents, Zack and Judy Guess and Aunt Judy was gorgeous! She had a very lovely sleeveless dress on and her hair was beautiful and she was almost as radiant as the bride! Wendy and I stayed at the wedding for a little bit of the reception but had to leave soon after because Wendy's dear husband, my brother Andrew, was keeping Josiah and their daughter Bailey at home for us so we could enjoy the wedding. It was a lot of fun without Josiah, but I would have still gone with him or not! If you are a facebook member, there are tons of wedding pictures out there for you to see, so go check them out! You will be glad you did! I will write more about our trip a little bit later!

Feeling REALLY sentimental

2008-08-15T23:45:00.003-04:00

August 23rd, 2008...this is one of the days I have prayed for and dreamed about for so long. This day has nothing to do with me...nothing at all, except for the fact that I get to be a witness and enjoy one of the weddings I have looked forward to almost more than any other in my short lifetime. This is the chosen wedding day of Susanna Guess to Aaron Taylor! Woohoo! Can you hear me shouting in Virginia??? Susanna and I go way back...let me take you there...

Susanna and I are cousins on our mother's side...to put it simply, our grandmothers are sisters. Susanna is and has always been one of my best friends. She is one of the neatest people ever with such an amazing personality that people just naturally flock to her. My earliest memory of Susanna was when we were both about 4 years old, or thereabout. I don't know when or where it was, but we were on a BIG Davis family reunion. I remember vividly that me, Susanna and Jeremy Fulmer were almost inseparable. I don't remember all of the details of that reunion, but I came back telling EVERYONE that my bestest friend was Susanna. I even named one of my favorite dolls after her.

There are so many more funny and vivid memories that stick out...I won't go into great detail about this one, so as not to re-hash too many old memories or embarrass others who were involved [namely myself!], but Susanna was there for me when I wrote my first love letter, when I was probably about 10 yrs old. She even encouraged me in my idea to spray the letter with perfume and put lipstick on and kiss the letter. She was able to provide a stamp and the address of my intended because she is such a wonderful friend [my goodness, this was over 22 years ago, and my face is still lit up like a fire! I am still SOOO embarrassed!]! Since the letter was also sent anonymously, when it was later mentioned by this poor young man, Susanna was able to identify me as the sender...girl, I am forever in your debt! Just kidding...friends to the end, right? :-)

Another wonderful memory that I have is when Susanna and I took a trip to Arkansas with Uncle Tony and Aunt Patty [her grandparents]. That was by far the most fun I think I have had on a trip! We laughed, sang, snacked in the backseat of that van...we told the most appalling secrets, I am sure. One thing that sticks out in my head was the church meeting that we went to in Arkansas. I am not sure what church it was, but Susanna and I were simply not used to singing in the manner that this church sang. Not that it wasn't beautiful, or sweet, but we never knew that it would take 30 minutes for the congregation to sing "Brethren We Have Met To Worship". We tried to sing as slow as everyone else, but we could not do it without hysterically laughing most of the way through. Sometimes, even now when I visit some country churches and this song is called out, I wonder...how slow can it go?

I was going through my sentimental box the other day...you know, we girls keep these kinds of things! There have only been a few letters/cards/gifts over the years that I have kept in a special place. I have a box of letters and cards from my DH when we were courting/engaged. I also have an ongoing box that I keep for his cards. etc., now. Susanna and I spent a lot of time writing back and forth over the years and I have kept all of her cards and notes of encouragement and silly cards just for the heck of it! I love going through those and just remembering our special friendship.

Many of you know that Susanna was my maid of honor when I got married 7 years ago. Before the wedding, she came down to help me do birdseed packs and other miscellaneous things. We stayed up until all hours of the night talking and goofing off. I don't remember much else about what we did, but this was a big time in my life and she was there for me. I remember my wedding day after I walked down the aisle, she adjusted my dress and veil for me, she held my flowers for me when it was time to speak my vows and she simply smiled through the whole ceremony [I know because I went back and watched her!]. That is one of the reasons I can't wait to go and be at her wedding next Saturday. I know I will be grinning from ear to ear and shouting on the inside!

A lot of things have changed. I have gotten married, phone calls and letters have been somewhat fewer and shorter, but before kids, and when I was working overnight, I was thrilled when my phone would ring and Susanna would be on the other end. She kept me awake all of those nights where I probably would have gone to napping and missing a few phone calls. Instead, she endured elevator hold music as I answered other lines and had to handle other calls. I always enjoy my phone calls with Susanna and I love coming home sometimes to hear that she has left a message. A few weeks ago, Susanna left a REALLY long message and my DH said, "Does she remember she is not talking to you, but to the voicemail?" We had a good laugh over that.

After 5 years of trying and praying for children, when I found out I was pregnant, Susanna was the first person I called because I simply could not contain myself [sorry for anyone else who didn't already know I called her first...let by gones be by gones !:-) ]. I remember what she said...she was making cookies for something and she said, "I can't believe you told me now when I can't scream!!!" She screamed the next day, though, I heard it all the way from Virginia! Susanna came to the baby shower my church held for us even though I told her she didn't have to...because I knew that was a long way to come! She has been such a wonderful friend and treasure to me. I simply can't wait to see this next part of her life unfold!

I know this has been a really LONG post, so forgive me, but I was feeling really sentimental and wanted to say a few things about such a wonderful friend!