Friday, December 28, 2007

Sooo in case you haven't heard...

I'm pregnant! That is right! We are expecting baby number 2. Michael opted out of telling his family during our Christmas gathering... not sure why. At first I wanted to wait to tell them because the first time we announced we were expecting their reactions were not what we were hoping for. So when I told him he could tell them whenever he wanted to, he chose to wait. He told his parents Monday on the way back home when he had to stop by to drop some stuff off and pick some stuff up.

We were going to tell my mom's family Sunday during their Christmas gathering, but my aunt Sandy, mom and their mom spent the afternoon in the ER because my grandmother has issues. She is fine, she was fine she just has the ability to time her episodes when things are planned. So we did not tell them. There was enough drama going on that day with them.

Monday, as I said in my previous post was my favorite day of our holiday gatherings with family. My great-grandma, my grandpa and step-grandma, my grandma (they all get along really well it so wonderful to see). All of their kids. All but one of their grand kids (my sister was sick) and their great grand baby (great-great grand baby for my great grandma) was there. It was a happy day! We had LOTS of food. Turkey AND lasagna!! ( A Christmas Eve tradition). We we were very happy to be able to share the wonderful news with everyone there! It was a wonderful joyous occasion!

I did email my mom on Christmas to let her know that I was expecting her second grandchild. It might seem a little cold, but we have had some stuff go on the last month or so that made me feel this was the right way to tell her. I have yet to hear anything from her since.

My daddy on the other hand is very excited and calls quite a bit to see how we are doing! He is such a great pap-paw!

Pregnancy so far has not been as nice the second time around. I am SOOO TIRED. I'm sure it has something to do that I have to dedicate a lot of energy to Miss Alli, but by the time Michael gets home from a loong day it is all I can do but crash. I have not actually thrown up (Thank you Lord), but I have had a lot of nausea. I am hoping this passes soon. I haven't found an OB yet because we want to get our insurance switched before I find one that I like and find out they are not in our network.

Well, it is getting late and Allisyn is getting cranky with her daddy so I better go see if I need to step in. Thankfully he has been off today. We had a 12-hour-day on Wednesday and a 10-hour-day yesterday. We have another 10-hour-day tomorrow. I'll be glad when the long shifts are a thing of the past!

Monday, December 24, 2007

A Busy Week!!

So last Wednesday Allisyn and I made the trip to V-town. Thankfully she slept most of the way there and was not fussy when she did wake up. We had to go down early to help Pap-paw (my dad) with his Christmas shopping. We were hopping to having more time, but he had to leave on a trip to Chicago on Thursday. Sooo we went Wednesday night to Grove and did his Christmas shopping at Wal-mart. We went and ate Chinese for dinner then went shopping and Allisyn did a lot of playing with her Pap-paw.

Thursday we were treated to breakfast from Aunt Brandi. It was only McDonalds, but hey. It was still nice to have a free meal! Then we went and did a Wal-Mart run. It is all V-town has. We got some pretty flowers for my great-grandma, then we went and saw her. We gave her her Christmas present early. We gave all grandparents pictures with their gifts. She loved them. Earlier that morning she had found out about my mom and dad. I'm not sure how she found out, but she was terribly upset. I got on to my dad for not telling her sooner. I know they want to protect her, but I'm sure she would have rather heard from him.

Then we went to see AJ's Christmas program. It was cute! Allisyn had a good time. Then we went back to Sandy's and napped. Then we had dinner with Sandy and the kids and we hung out for the rest of the night. Friday we hung around the house for most of the day. The kids got there about 530 or so. Then Randy started knocking out the dry wall and the kids hauled out pieces to the truck. Allisyn helped. She was all about getting to do her fair share. Sandy got some really cute pictures. Michael made it to Sandy's about 10 something. Allisyn was very happy to have her daddy with her.

Saturday we went to Michael's grandma's and did Christmas with his family. His parents were supposed to leave their house by 10. I called that they wouldn't leave until 1130. They left even later than that!! We didn't leave until 12 and they only got their 10 minutes before we did. We ate dinner and then we opened gifts. It was a nice time. It had started to snow while were there and we left at a good time before it got real bad. We made it back without too many problems.

My brother and SIL had a lot of problems coming from Stillwater, but it had started about 1 in the afternoon. They made it to Sandy and Randy's ok. Allisyn is quite taken with her Uncle Dustin. She sits in his lap and plays with him, whether he likes it or not! She loves him and and her aunt Rachel. It is precious. I love watching them interact together.

Saturday night was not good. Allisyn did not get to sleep until 11:25 at night and then she was up at 5:10. We tried to get her back to sleep, but that did not happen. She was tired and cranky and it was terrible. Dustin and Rachel got up around 6 and she got happy again. It was amazing. Then we all got ready and went to church, but no one was there. Sandy and AJ left early because Sandy had a headache. We left early too, because Allisyn was too tired and cranky. She was passed out before we got back into town.

We went on to Brandi's because Randy was working on the house. Allisyn and I took a nap. We were supposed to do Christmas that afternoon. We did, but minus Sandy, my mom, and their mom. They were at the ER because Wanda was constipated and couldn't feel her legs or something. She is a hypochondriac drama queen, but that is whole nother blog. So we did Christmas with out them. Then went in town to mom's. We were not happy about having to do 2 things, but we did anyway. Alli got to see her aunt katy. She had her running around chasing kitties and playing with quarters. She was more interested and giving the bows to Dustin than actually opening presents. She really wasn't into it at all this year, but that is ok.

Last night was a great night for sleep. We were out about 1030 and slept until a little before 8. Then we go up and got ready for Christmas with my Dad's family! It was a wonderful day! We had Christmas at my Uncle and Aunt's. We have never had Christmas there before. We usually have 2 different things but we combined them this year and it was really nice to have everyone under one roof! The food was great! The atmosphere was great. The people are the best! It was my favorite day of Christmas with family this year.

We had a fairly nice trip home. Allisyn slept most of the way home. We stopped at mid-way and had a bathroom break and diaper change. We put in a movie, and she watched it some and cried a little and then ended up falling back to sleep. We were glad to get home. We still have ice in our driveway so when I parked to go open up the garage door, the 4-Runner started sliding down the driveway. I was backing in, I'm sure if I had pulled in, it wouldn't have. But I got in, got the pets addressed and was able to lay down for a few minutes.

And now I am pooped and I get to go to bed while Michael stays up with Alli-bug! Hopefully they will go to sleep soon too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

No pictures

I have not got out to get any pictures because if I did a little miss Allisyn would want to go with me and that is just not a good idea. We have been blessed with electricity that runs under the ground. I did not realize just how devastating this has been until I read an article that said over 600,000 were without power in Oklahoma alone. Last night we opened our home to some friends who had gone the night before without any heat. They have a 13-month-old, and we couldn't stand for them to do it again. Little E has some sort of bug and is on antibiotics, her mom has decided they do not want to risk spreading it so they opted to stay in a hotel tonight.

Most of my family is without power. My aunt and cousin are staying with my g-ma because she has a propane heater. My mom is one of the lucky few with power in V-town. When my dad left for his trip, he still had power. My grandma M and grandpa and Uncle don't have power the last I had hear. My great uncle had to take my great grandma to his place because the assisted living place she lives at did not have power or back-up generators.

Michael has worked the past 2 days without electricity. Today they actually did some prescriptions so his day was not a total loss. He got to leave about 20 minutes ago so he should be home in a little bit. I have a crock pot of stew on that will be ready when he gets in. The roads were not bad at all today, but we only got out to drive Alli to sleep for her nap. She was so busy playing she did not want to wind down.

I am so thankful that we have been so blessed the past couple of days. My heart goes out to those who are going without power. I pray that it does not take the predicted 7-10+ days to get everyone back up and running.

Monday, December 10, 2007

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas. A white Christams. Too bad it is all ice. We went to church yesterday. Thank goodness they did not cancel morning services, because it did not even occur to us to check for closings. Attendance was down, as was to be expected. We stopped for dinner on the way home. Then I got out later to go to Wal-mart for things we needed. I thought it wouldn't be too busy, but I was sooo wrong. It was madhouse.

This morning I got out to run to the post office to mail a box off I was supposed to get off last week, and to get some stamps to mail out our Christmas cards. The worst road was the street we live on. The main roads weren't not too bad. While I was out I stopped at Wal-Greens to get some ornament hooks and little hooks to hang up stockings. Then I ran to Braum's to get milk. We only drink Braum's milk because it does not have any growth hormones. Both Braum's and Wal-Green's power was flickering while I was there. Luckily we have not lost power, though I have a few friends who have.

Michael had to leave early to go get his physical and drug test done. His appt was originally at 1:30, but they were wanting to send their employs home so he moved it up to 1230. When he left, his store in Midwest City was without power. Hopefully they will close the store and he will be able to come home early. Allisyn has been all about her daddy being home this weekend. It has been a nice break for me.

We have moved our dogs inside because it is just to nasty for them to be outside. They have been so good, and Alli-bug enjoys them being inside. We got the Christmas tree put up and now the cats think it is their place to hang out. I have candy canes on the tree as decorations, but I may have to rethink them, because Alli has already helped herself to one! It was too cute. Messy, but cute. Apparently my grandpa and uncle had lost power yesterday, but my daddy still had his when I last talked to him.

Well I am off to go try to get my kitchen cleaned up while the dogs are asleep in the living room! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm!

Friday, December 7, 2007

What? Blogging 2 days in a row?



Hmmm, wonder what is up with me?





I have been promising some pictures for quite some time so here goes. This is a picture of our Alli-bug helping her daddy move in some encyclopedias. (I'm still not real sure how I got talked into taking them, but that isn't the point.) She is such a big helper!









This is a little fuzzy, but oh well. This is Alli wit her aunt "kay-ey" at Thanksgiving. She thinks the world of her aunt Katy and will drop whatever she is doing for a chance to get to see her.





She is such a girly girl. She loves to carry around a bag. This particular bag has books in it.

























These 2 pictures were taken at the park in V-town that we played at before we went to watch my niece do her cheer leading thing. She had a good time running around and playing and it helped get out some of her energy before having to go to the game.



Here she is at the zoo. She likes being able to get close to the windows when the animals are there. She really likes the black bears because there are usually at least 1 or 2 of them close to the glass!
I think I just realized why I don't put pictures up to often. It is rather a pain. I think I need to remember to upload them all then, arrange them and describe them last. Anyway, that is all I am doing for now. Hope you enjoyed!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Not been doing very good.

Sorry about not keeping this up. I am really bad because I will check other people's blogs repeatedly to see if they have updated theirs and wonder why they haven't and here I haven't blogged in over a month. Shame on me!

Hmmm, what all has happened since my last blog? I didn't review it, so I'm not exactly sure. I'll just start with Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was wonderful. We got to spend it with my dad and his family. My grandma had all her kids and grandkids and great-granddaughter (allibug). Then we stopped by my mom's moms for a little bit. Then we went to my aunt Sandy's to see my cousin Jake who was in from Alaska and to meet his girlfriend who is from Florida (talk about long-distance relationship.) They were at a movie with her daughter and our niece. We saw them the next day.

Friday we got up and met my brother and SIL for breakfast and then went out to see my great-grandma and her new place. It is really nice! She seems to be so much happier in the assisted living house. We did not time it very well and got there not too long before her lunch so we were not able to stay long. Then we went to see mom at her house. Then it was on to see my grandpa. Then it was back to Sandy's for the evening. We stayed to late and Alli got so tired she cried all the way back to the hotel.

The next day we got up and went to Michael's grandma's. His parents were running behind schedule as usual. I think Michael finally realized that Alli gets bored at his grandma's. It was kind of sad for him to realize it, but at least he should be more understanding when she gets frustrated at being there for too long. There are a few things that are so different from our families. I think it will be better now that Michael realizes that Alli is not patient and does not enjoy staying there as long. We left as soon as she was starting to get tired and she slept all the way home! We were not expecting that at all, but we were very happy.

Hmmm, other news, Michael applied for and got offered a new job! He goes in Monday for his drug test and physical. He is going to be a staff pharmacist for OU Medical. He seems pretty excited about it other than the fact that most days he will have to be at work at 7 am. Hopefully though we will be able to get Allisyn on a better schedule that will allow us and him to be on a better schedule so it will be easier for him to get up and get to work on time. It will cut his drive time down by about 20 minutes or so and the benefits are a lot better than what we are getting now.

I'm sure there is other stuff as well, but Alli is down for a nap and I did not sleep well, so I am going to join her. I will try to put some pictures up soon.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Yet another catch-up blog

It is really to keep putting this off when you get behind! Last week was a loong week. Allisyn had a cold all week. Luckily it was Michael's Wednesday morning off so she stayed home with him while I got to go to my mom's bible study. Thursday we thought she was getting better and Friday was a good day, but then Friday night she screamed most of the night. Our poor little baby was sick. Michael was also feeling bad so Saturday we made a trip to the Urgent Care. $80 later we found out that Michael had what they were pretty sure was a form of strep. The strep A came back negative, but that is all it tested for. So it was on to Wal-greens where Michael and Allisyn got hooked up with some antibiotics. This was the first time Allisyn has had to have antibiotics. Sunday I was so tired and they were still feeling bad so we missed church in the morning. By Sunday night everyone was feeling better so we made to evening services.

Michael's parents were supposed to come up on Saturday but they pushed it back to next weekend.

This week has been better. Alli was feeling better, but her sleep schedule has been really off thanks to being sick. I actually have enjoyed it, but I think it is getting back to normal, which is ok too.

Wednesday we got to meet some of our friend newborn baby. She is sooo precious. They live up the street from us. They are really good friends with my brother and SIL and they are in our class at church. It has been nice to get back in touch with them. Their little angel was about the size of Allisyn when she was born. It is so hard for me to remember Allisyn being that small!
Allisyn proved that she will make a great big sister whenever that time comes. She was wanting to hold and kiss the baby. She and her daddy left and went to play at the mall while I stayed and visited with Kim and he mom. I got to hold E for quite a while!! It was nice, she slept the whole time.

Then we dressed Alli up and took her to see aunt Katy at work. We had hung out with Katy earlier in the afternoon rummaging around Goodwill trying to find stuff to throw together for a costume for her, but we didn't find anything. So we saw Katy and Alli fell asleep on the way back home. Michael handed out some candy, but not enough. We still have a big bowl full of junk.

Friday we got to spend the day with one of my mom friends celebrating her daughter's first birthday. She got of put it together kind of late, so we (Michael, Alli, and I) were the only ones there with them. It was nice. We had a lot of fun, and we think we might have found another family to do things with. It is nice doing stuff with Michael's friends, but they don't always take into consideration Allisyn when they ask us to do stuff. So another couple who can relate would be nice to do stuff with.

Today Alli and I made it to both services. Michael joined us for the evening worship and stayed to play basketball afterwards. Alli is doing really well in her class and doesn't cry hardly at all anymore! YAY! She is doing a lot better at behaving in worship, though she still likes to play with the people around her. Most times they don't mind, but it is still distracting.

I'm sure there was more I forgot, but I'm sure this is quite long enough. Hopefully I will do better at keeping it up! Maybe I will even but up some pictures soon!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Another Catch Up

I haven't blogged in about a week soo I will play catch up. Really, not a whole lot has been going on. So I will do little bulletins of things I remember:

-- Wednesday morning Allisyn went to the baby-sitting provided for my Young Mom's Bible
study without any fuss! She just went in and started playing! It was a big relief to me. We
then went out to eat lunch with some of the moms and their kids. It was really nice.

-- Earlier last week Dustin took my dad a bed, because my mom took them all. He also bought
him a vacuum so that he can get the house cleaned up. Their vacuum had been broken for a
while so who knows how long it had been since it was last swept. That is part of the reason we
have not been there in a while. Now he has one and he is getting a good start on getting things
cleaned up. That way we can have a place to go see him and be able to spend a while.

-- Friday my sister, Allisyn, and myself drove up to Stillwater to the walk-around at OSU. It
was OSU's homecoming and they kind of do it up big. It was nice to get to see my brother and
SIL, but it was tiring. Allisyn would let them hold her at the beginning, but in the end it could
only be mom.

--Saturday and Sunday Michael got to work his weekend shifts in Edmond so he got home
earlier. Which was nice because I got to go to a Mom's Night Out with some moms on an
online support group that I am on. We went out for coffee at Barnes and Noble. It was nice to
be able to sit and talk.

--Sunday Allisyn and I went to church. We made it to class on time and Alli went right in again
without any fussing!! YAY!! When I went to get her she was happy and enjoying herself. I
really like seeing her enjoying herself in class.



--I have a friend (the one I gave my 1st massage to in a long time) whose baby was due on the
18th and she still has not had her. She was at church and I took them some stew that I made
for dinner tonight. They are soo ready so we are praying that the baby comes soon.

Allisyn is now battling a cold. We aren't sure where she got it. She's had a runny nose for a while, but now it is a miserable cold. She has been having interrupted sleep and just all out whiny and clingy. I hate it when she feels like this. There just isn't too much that we can do. Right now she is eating a banana, which is a big improvement! Hopefully it is on its way out. Luckily Michael has the morning off tomorrow so she can stay with him while I go to bible study.

My mom is completely finished moving out and has all the animals with her now. My dad has no heat at the moment. Hopefully he will fix that soon since the weather has turned cooler. My great -grandma is doing good! I am so happy to hear that. My dad also said my grandma felt well enough to travel to Tulsa today to see my aunt and her boys. That is very good news!

Well, Alli is whiny again and Michael is trying to do something so I need to go take her.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

A trip home

Yep, we made it back to V-town this weekend. We went because AJ was doing the little cheerleader camp. We surprised her by being there. While we were there, we saw my mom's new house. It is a nice house. She doesn't have a lot of furniture right now. Well, all the rooms have beds, she took all of them and left my dad without one. Luckily Dustin and Rachel have one they need to give a home too. They are about to get another one from her family. They should be able to get to dad this week.

We also got to see my great-grandma! She is doing great! The last time we saw she was not doing well at all. When we came in this time she was out in the hall coming out from lunch! She was very happy to see us. We bring her flowers every time we go see her because she told my aunt one time that if she had the money, she would buy fresh flowers every day. So we try to make her day every time we see her. They are talking about moving her to an assisted living facility. She does not want to be in the nursing home anymore, and it looks like she really does not need to be! My grandpa and step-grandma went and looked at the assisted living facility in V-town by the hospital. Everyone I have talked to says it is really nice. I hope they can get her moved soon. She seems like she is ready.

Unfortunately, we had to miss seeing my grandma M again. She had just got out of the hospital. She has been having a rough go with her chemo and they did not want to take a chance of her catching anything. My dad said she sounded better today when he talked to her. I feel really bad that we have had to miss out on seeing her the past two visits. Hopefully next time we can see her. She has chosen not to get radiation. I am happy she has decided this. I do not know much about it, but from what she and my aunt have said it is for the best.

We went and saw my dad for a bit at my grandpa's. Allisyn really enjoys seeing her grandparents and great-grandparents. Squirt, my grandpa's dog, is a little jealous and let Allisyn know with a sharp bark. She was not happy about this. She did not understand why this doggy did not want to love on her. She got over it quickly as her pappaw and I took her for a walk around the yard. Then she came back in and played hard and flirted. She gave kisses to everyone when we left. It is just precious.

Then we stopped in Pryor to see Michael's family. They of course are not very respectful of other people's time. I'm trying to not let bother me as much, but it is hard. I still get irritated. Overall it was ok. We left, later than we wanted, as usual. Allisyn slept a little on the way. She woke up before we got to mid-way so we stopped. It is a good think we did. We caught the end of a nasty looking accident. What was left of a car was on a wrecker and they were loading up a semi onto one when we passed. Luckily Allisy slept all the way home and stayed asleep when we got home.

Today we went to church. Allisyn is getting really good in class. Today I went down a little early and caught the end of their class. It was cute. They had cloth birds on sticks and the teacher was trying to get them to fly them around. Allisyn was! It was sooo cute. Most of the other little ones were chewing on theirs. Allisyn put her bird back in the box when the teacher asked. She was happy to see me, but she did not come right to me. She played for a minute before I got her to come to me. She did good the first part of the service, but we took her to the nursery because she was starting to talk to everyone around us.

Well, it is storming like crazy here and Michael and Allisyn should be back from a run to Wal-mart soon and I need to go help them in. More to come later.

Monday, October 8, 2007

I guess it is really over.

Between my parents that is. My mom signed on her house last week and moved most of her big stuff this past weekend. There was quite the drama when they thought they had lost one of the cats. Everyone was trying to blame my dad and all he did was come home. Turns out he was not lost, he just hid really well. I feel really sorry for my daddy because now he doesn't have anyone to keep him company. He acts like he isn't going to miss the cats, but he will. Especially since my mom is not the best at taking care of their needs.

We placed membership at church yesterday. It is a good feeling to have a church home again. Michael neglected to mention that they were going to want a picture though. Luckily my hair was behaving somewhat, but I would have toatlly worn something else!

My wonderful husband is currently giving our 15-month-old a store bought sugar cookie. Just great. Why in the world he thought we needed a whole tray of sugar cookies, I have no idea, but he bought them and he gave one to Alli. This apparently is her second one this evening. He is sooo staying up with her tonight if this wires her up. Right now her mouth is black from the sugar on the sugar cookie. I am not a happy momma. Luckily she got distracted and does not want the rest of it. UGH! OK, moving on.

So I finished my first module in my at home medical transcriptionist program. I am now doing supplemental work. I have decided that I am not going to let this bother me, but rather I am going to be thankful that I picked a program that cares enough about you to spend the extra time to make sure you know what you are doing. They give you a week to complete each exercise and I finished my first one in about 8 hours. I'm praying that I did it right and that it will not be coming back to me for more work.

I am pretty sure that I had more in mind to blog about but a phone call from my sister proclaiming the Edmond was being overtaken by spiders has distracted me. We are not being attacked by spiders in our neighborhood, but my Katy is saying that they are everywhere on her side of town. Spooky.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Everyone is well again

Thank goodness. Luckily, Allisyn and I did not pick up Michael's stomach bug. He only missed the one day of work and is now feeling completely better. Thursday our screen and prjector came in. Jeremy and Natashia came over and the screen is put up, and the shelf for the prjector is up. We have to get some sort of angler thing or something. I'm not real sure. Michael has gotten 2 of the 6 speakers hung up. I'm really proud of him. He had to cut holes in the wall and he has done a good job so far!

Allisyn had her 15-month check-up on Thursday as well. She is doing great. She weighed in at 28.6 lbs. I actually think she is a little more, but she would not sit still. She kept trying to get her daddy to pick her back up so the nurse kind of guessed. She measured in at 33 inches tall and I never remember what her head circumference is. She is starting to plateau on her growth chart. She is now a hight percentage in height than weight. Her ped said she is doing well physically and developmentally!

She has been having night wakings quite a bit lately. Her ped said this is normal for this age, but I'm not sure the extent of Alli's are. Last night we were up for 3 hours. She was all happy and fine while we were outside playing with the dogs or in the kitchen playing with utensils, but when we sat down to rock, she through fits. Finally Michael got her to sleep by walking around the block with her.

Then at 630 this morning our house alarm went off! It is sooo loud. The alarm company said it was the glass-break detector, but we could find no glass anywhere. Whatever it was, I hope it doesn't happen again. Then Alli and I went and returned a stud finder we borrowed from our neighbors. Their daughter is around 7 or 8 and she was letting Alli play with her sidewalk chalk. It was cute.

Now Alli is playing and hopefully wearing herself out so we can take a nice nap this afternoon.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Sickness sucks

and it is at our house. Last night about midnight or so, Michael started loosing everything that was inside of him. Today was supposed to be his 12-hour day, but luckily they were able to find someone to go in for him. Luckily they get sick pay and Julie (his district pharmacy manager) told him to stay home until he was feeling better. I hope Allisyn and I do not catch it. I have been there and done that once with her and I REALLY don't want to do it again. I KNOW that I will have to go through it again at some point in time in her life, but I really hope it holds off until she know how to puke in a container and not all over mom and the bed.

We decided this weekend that we were going to go ahead and take the plunge and boost up our entertainment system. Can we say OUCH!?! I love that Jeremy (best man in our wedding) works at Radio Shack and knows about things, but we always end up with more than we think we are going in for. We went for a projector and a projector screen. We got those, and a stereo thing and speakers to go with it, and wires to hook things up. And we finally got Allisyn a DVD player for the car. So hopefully, our trips back to Tulsa and Vinita won't be as unbearable for her. Hopefully everything will get in soon and they can hook everything up on Thursday. It may not work out that way, but that is my hope.

I still haven't been sleeping all that well. I took 2 Bendaryl the night before last and it helped me fall asleep, but it didn't help me stay asleep. Michael was really great with helping with Allisyn that night. I think I would have slept better last night if Michael hadn't gotten up so much. Then Allisyn woke up way earlier than I was hoping for so I was up and at 'em and still feeling tired.

Well, I think Allisyn's clothes should be dry so we are off to the store to get some things I forgot while shopping yesterday. Well, they were out of her fruit chews, but I totally missed juice on my list. I know once I get it, she won't drink it, but she was sooo upset when she wanted more of a Capri Sun that her aunt Katy gave her and I didn't have any more. So hopefully it won't go to waste.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Insomnia Sucks.

I used to be able to fall asleep really quickly, sleep soundly through the night and actually wake up feeling like I had slept. I miss those days. Two nights ago I actually had a date with Mr. Clean and his magical erasers on my kitchen floor. The good news about this is it actually helped me get to sleep before 2 am! I went through the entire eraser on my floor. It started out as me just cleaning up some paint that dripped, then I went on to the grout. It was much needed, but I just wish I would not have had the need to do it starting at midnight.

I refuse to take anything because I am afraid it will knock me too much for me to hear Allisyn. I know this probably unfounded since I have tried some of Michael's sleeping aides before Alli came along and they did not help, that and Allisyn is still sleeping with us. It is like she has radar or something. Since her bed is lower, I honestly think she can tell if she does not stop at the level of our bed. Very rarely can we lay in her bed without her screaming. She usually doesn't even wake up, she just starts screaming!

Do we regret having her sleep with us? Not at all. If we were to do it all over again we wouldn't change a thing. If the next one comes along and we figure out it is easier on me to co-sleep with them while nursing, then we will. Don't get me wrong, we want Allisyn in her own bed, but we aren't going to be those parents who try to let their child "cry it out." That does not work for Allisyn, she doesn't just cry. She screams and gets herself so worked up she makes herself sick. So for now we continue to share our bed with the little bed hog named Alli.

In other news in our lives, Michael has not heard back from Wal-mart. It would be nice to hear something one way or another. Target does not have any openings at this time. I do not know for sure if he has actually called Wal-Greens or not. The other day he asked me what I though about him taking a night position at Wal-Greens, I quickly told him no. The way it works is they work 7 days straight, 7 off. Allisyn would not understand why daddy was home during the day yet not playing with her. So for now he is still putting up with the crap that his current job deals out. This is the first time since we have been together that I have seen him truly miserable..

Well, Allisyn is trying to learn to walk in my flip-flops and has one stuck on her leg. I must go rescue her.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Good-Bye Ugly

That is what I said to Allisyn's bathroom as I finished the painting in there yesterday! We had kind of gotten ourselves in a rut with the painting and it just kind of stopped. My SIL, Rachel, has described the walls as looking like someone had hurled up mixed sherbert. It was pretty bad. They had sponged on some green, pink, yellow, purple and you could see all those colors in there, but you could also see the ugly mixture it made on top of it all. It was gross. Now it is just one color of sherbert, orange. It did not really turn out the way I thought it was going to, but it still looks much better than what was on there. I think once I have the time (hahaha) to get in there and sand down all the wood work and repaint it to a less yellow cream it will look even better.

I also completed the kitchen and the dinning room! I now have 2 red walls in the kitchen! The dinning room is not how we had planned it, but we decided to go and paint all one color for now until we decide where we are going to put the chair rail that will divide the two tones we are going to use. So now I just have to go and pull down all the tape and all the painting that the average visitor will see is done! We still have the future nursery to paint. That will be my next project. I am wanting to get it done so I can set it up as a massage room for now. Then all that will be left is the upstairs guest room which we are not in any hurry at all to do, and our bathroom, but we are going to wait until we remodel to paint.

Our next big project will be our floors. I am so ready to get rid of this hideous carpet in our living room and on the stairs. It was stained enough when we moved in and new stains keep coming up. I think they had tried to clean some of them and they did not get them all the way up. So add their stains to ones our cats occasionally add and it getting pretty gross. I'd like to get rid of the carpet upstairs, but that will probably be a later project.

Today was my mom's bible study. It was nice. I didn't have Allisyn with me so I did not go to lunch. Michael took her to the zoo this morning. They had a good time. She napped on the way home, but woke up when they got here. She still hasn't taken a real nap and she really needs one. Soo now, I am hoping she just stays up and goes down a little early tonight. I wanted to go to church tonight, but I can't risk her getting crabby on her teachers. It is not fair to them or her when she gets like that.

Well, I know I had more that I was going to say, but since I have started this, we have blown bubbles twice. Gone out front for a bit, gone and seen the dogs for a little bit, and we are in the process of having a fit because we are so tired that we do not know what we want. Well, now we are done with out fit and a chasing a cat away from a bag that we have been playing with!! Ahhhh, the moodswings of an almost 15-month-old.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Good, Bad, and UGLY

That can pretty much describe our weekend!

Friday was the good. I got to go to a Pure Romance party at a friend's house and I took Natashia with me. Mom and Katy watched Allisyn and Michael went over to Jeremy's house to watch the game. Jeremy and Natashia just got a new 58" high def plasma TV so that was the place to be for the game. I think Michael is a wee bit envious, but he knows there is not one in our future for a looong while!

Allisyn was the perfect little angel for my mom and Katy! I was sooo happy. They said she did not fuss at all. Katy was kind of surprised because she has been hanging out here a lot and she knows how cranky she can get. Luckily for them, she did just fine. The party I went to was fun and interesting, you have to be a very special kind of person to sell Pure Romance stuff, and you get to learn a lot more about people's personal lives than you might care to know, but it was fun! I'm thinking about hosting one, because a lot of our mom's really wanted to go, but had stuff come up last minute and they couldn't make it.

Saturday we spent the day with Mam-maw and Katy. First we ran to the Farmer's Market and got some corn and peaches. Then the Dollar Tree and I got some picture frames. (I saw some of the same ones later at Target and they were trying to sell them 2/$5!!) Then we came back so Alli could take a nap, she needed it! Then we went out and ate at Friday's it was a nice lunch, then we went to Hobby Lobby and Target. Allisyn got an arc thing that kind of goes a long with her animal train. Aunt Katy told mam-maw about how she really wanted it one time when we were shopping and Mam-maw spoiled her a little.

Those were all good parts.

The bad parts, Allisyn has been having night wakings again and they haven't been pretty. I have also been battling my insomnia again. Friday night she woke up around 11 something and I had her back in bed around 1230 or so. Then mom and I stayed up til 3 talking. I just can't get to sleep some nights. Last night I was actually asleep by 1 am! (this is an improvement for me lately) The Alli was awake from 3:10-until after 4:30. We think her teeth and tummy maybe the cause, but we aren't sure. She has 4 new teeth. She skipped her eye and stomach teeth and went to the ones after them. It took us a few days to catch on, because we couldn't see them until one day she had her head tilted back and she was laughing and I caught a look of them starting to come up. So unfortunately we did not make it to church this morning. Michael tried to get me up while he got ready for work, but I was just too tired. Allisyn and I ended up sleeping until 10, which told me she would not have been pleasant at church if I would have woke her up and made her go.

The ugly was her attitude for this morning. She was cranky and whiny and screaming. I gave her Tylenol for her teeth and gas drops for her tummy. She kept trying to tell me she was hungry, but couldn't tell me what she wanted. We tried a hot dog, she took a bite and through it on the ground. We tried yogurt, she just played with it and ended up wearing most of it. She did not want cheese or her fruit chews. She dumped her Cheerios all over the living room floor and in her bedroom. She drank her milk and water, but didn't want more, then she did and after I poured her more, she didn't. It was a very frustrating day until we went out to lunch with Katy. Our lunch wasn't so good, but at least she was in a good mood while we were out! Luckily she slept on the way home and stayed asleep for a nap. I laid down with her and we were asleep until dad got home.

Then I ran out and did some grocery shopping and they went to the park. Michael said she was giving hugs to a little 4-year-old boy who was playing there as well. I bet it was cute! Then we came home and had dinner and she was trying to help herself off her dad's plate. It was really cute! Then she had a bath, and was not as happy with it as she usually is so it was cut short. She was still in a crabby mood when her dad put her to bed. It is now 11:09 and I am praying that she sleeps all through the night.

Other news, Katy starts orientation for her new job tomorrow! She is pretty excited and a little nervous. Mom should be getting her a car within the next week or so. I think everyone will be happy about that. Well, I could ramble on, but I need to go remove some cats from my counters.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

It has been over 2 weeks

since I weaned Allisyn and I am so thankful that it went as well as it did! We did not have any fighting from Allisyn other than that first night. I am so relieved that it went well, now if we can just get her to sleep in her own bed.... We are working on that, but it has been a slow process.

Today I attended my second "Young Moms" bible study that our church offers on Wednesday mornings. Last week Allisyn stayed hom with dad, this week she went to the childcare provided. She did ok other than making one of the girls hold her the whole time. At 29 lbs, she gets very heavy after a while. Next time I will have to tell them to go ahead and let her cry for a bit and she will probably be fine. We also got invited to go to lunch with some of the moms who are in my Sunday school class! We had a great time and it was nice to get to know some of the girls better. I have been feeling really bummed because Michael has been playing basketball with the guys so he has gotten to know them through that, but I had not had a chance to do anything with the girls other than Kim, who I have known since college.

We had great progress with Allisyn on Sunday. She got to move up in class and I think that helped a lot. She cried a little when we dropped her off, but she was smiling and playing and waving when we picked her up! It was a beautiful sight. In morning nursery we also had good results. She was patiently waiting for us to pick her up and we got smiles and not tears. Sunday night she would start crying everytime another little boy cried, but that will happen at times.

Saturday, I gave my first massage in loooong time (approaching 2 years in Decembet :-o) My friend Kim is pregnant and is due on the 18th of Oct. and I gave her a free massage as part of her shower gift. I feel it went well, she said she felt good the next day so that is good. She had called on Thursday to set it up, and from the time of the phone call until the time I finished, I kept asking myself, "what are you thinking starting out on a pregnant woman after 20 months?" Not because I think pregnant woman are more picky or anything like that, but because you have to keep them in a side-lying position and that was never a real strong point for me. Thankfully it all went well!

My mom is coming up on Friday to watch Allisyn for me. I am going to a party at a friend's house. Originally Michael was supposed to work, but due to some switiching around of the schedules, he got Friday off, so he is going to go hang out with some of his friends and watch some football. We offered to let my mom change her plans, but she is excited about getting to baby-sit.

Other positive news: Katy got a job!! She went through 2 interviews and found out last night that she has a job for a new Staples that is going to be opening up in Edmond! She is going to start at $7.15 and hour! I told her that not counting the Guard, I have never made that much in a job. I think she is getting really started. She gets started with orientation stuff this Friday. I am still helping her out with transportation, but hopefully she can get something soon.

Michael had an interview with Wal-Mart's district pharmacy manager last week. She was going to interview 2 other people this week and the let him know. He would be splitting his shifts between 2 stores here in Edmond. He would go from 40 to 36 hours, but with what we will be saving in gas and getting in benefits it equals out ok.

Well, my little angel just came in from her nap, so I must go.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Charli's Story

While I was pregnant with Allisyn I was fortunate enough to find an online support group of mothers who were due the same time I was. We have come to form a pretty tight bond over that time and I would like to share the story of one of our July babies and what she has gone through. This month is childhood cancer awareness month and her mom asked that we spread her story to help make people aware of the need for more research.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month September is

Childhood Cancer Awareness month. During this time, we are making it our duty to raise awareness to these horrid diseases that our children have to fight. We would like to preface this with saying that we are not looking for sympathy, however we are trying to get your attention to see what is actually going on. This is a world that many know nothing about.

In July of 2006 our daughter, Charli Ann Preister, was born. She was beautiful…had gorgeous eyes and defined eyebrows at birth! She was perfect, and came home a few days later. We enjoyed loving her and sharing her with our family. She lived with our two dogs who adored her.

When she was five months old, we noticed that she didn’t really want to roll over, and it seemed to make her down right mad! We thought nothing of this. We knew that we didn’t give her enough tummy time, and thought that she was just lazy to be honest!

Shortly before turning 7 months old, she started to “change” personality, or so we thought. I can remember it like it was yesterday – February 23rd she just acted different. When I picked her up from daycare she was crying, we all thought she must have been tired. This behavior continued for a few days. We tried everything. We fed her more, we fed her less, we tried to have her nap more, nap less. It got to the point were she wouldn’t eat and didn’t want to move at all. We thought she had an ear infection, we took her in “she looks great” we were told. We thought maybe she broke a bone somehow, we took her in “she looks fine” we heard. Finally, we were grasping at straws. We thought she had a twisted bowel, strep throat, pulled muscles, etc. We KNEW something was wrong, but we could not find it. After three weeks of being in and out of the doctors office, nights in the hospital, endless hours of crying (both Charli and us!) we took it a step further and took Charli to Children’s Hospital in Omaha, NE. We thought we had lost our bright and happy baby.

The morning we took Charli down, she was actually having a great day, it was March 14, 2007. Within a few minutes of being in the clinic, we were told that something was wrong with her, and that we would not be going home. I felt terrible, why did I wait so long to bring her here? We were told it was either a tumor or some sort, or spinal infection. After intensive blood work, we were able to rule out the infection. Later that day an MRI was done, showing a mass in Charli’s abdomen. We were told that it was “just a mass” and that they had an excellent neurosurgeon that would remove it and everything would be fine. It was more of a pain in the butt, than anything else. PRAISE THE LORD! We were so sad that she would need to have surgery in that delicate area, but we knew something was wrong, and thank God, it wasn’t worse. A few hours later, we got a call that the initial report was incorrect; it was most likely a cancerous tumor. We were told that our daughter had cancer, and it was probably neuroblastoma.

That evening we met with a team of doctors to discuss what would need to be done. Charli’s tumor had wrapped around her spine, and had even started to grow into her spinal canal. On March 16, Charli had her first surgery, the biopsy. We had to wait a week for the final results to come in. On March 22, we received the call. Yes, Charli does have neuroblastoma, stage III, intermediate risk. We were told that chemo would be starting the next day.

We have a great oncology team in Omaha and although we had a rocky start, we couldn’t ask for better care.

Charli had her port put in and bone marrows checked on March 23. The next day, she had her first round of chemo. This was tough weekend for Chad, Charli and I. We were learning about the relentless disease and what could be ahead of us - hearing horror stories, and absolute miracles. We finally came home the next week.

We had to take Charli in to get her blood work done twice a week, at our local hospital. They were great with her. To be honest, she was great for them too! I think she only cried once when they did her blood work…and she was poked probably close to 20 times overall in that office. She is so strong. Chad and I also had to give Charli a shot each night for about 7-12 days after each treatment. It wasn’t fun to give the shot, but it was almost an out of body experience. To be honest, the entire ordeal has been that way. We did what we needed to do.

Every three weeks we loaded up the car and headed to Omaha for the weekend, filling bags of toys, clothes, and magazines for mom and dad. We were fortunate that the doctors let us do Charli’s treatment over the weekends. This allowed Chad to work as much as possible, and allowed my adjusted work schedule to be unaffected. We would leave early Friday morning and get back Sunday evening.

The worst treatment for Charli was the second cycle of chemo. She got sick and was not herself. The week after being released from treatment, we were down in Omaha again with high temperatures. Charli received her first and only blood transfusion. After each treatment, we could see improvement. She started to want to eat again after the first treatment, but after the second, she lost the desire again. She started eating really well several weeks ago, and now she is a great eater! She lost her hair, although some people still say that she didn’t! (trust me, she did!). At the time, we felt like she was doing great. But, to look back at pictures of her during treatment – you can see it in her eyes…she was almost hallow. She looked pale, sick, and just not “Charli”. It literally breaks my heart to look at those pictures; even now, that she is doing so well. She was a different baby, and I know it was from the chemo – although that is what made her better, it made her ‘worse’ at the same time.

We were told that she would require four treatments, but would most likely need eight total. After four treatments, we were scheduled for scans (MRI) the weekend of what would have been her fifth treatment. Once getting down there, the Dr. decided that in order to be 100% of what our next move should be, we should schedule Charli for a CT scan. After doing this, we consulted with the Dr. about the results. We found out that her tumor shrunk considerably. However, the tumor was still located on her spin. At this point we did not know if it was active or not, and surgery was not an option. Chad and I had the grueling decision of what to do next. We could continue treatment hoping that it would shrink the tumor and/or pull it off her spine; maybe even enough to surgically remove the remaining tumor. However this option did not guarantee anything, it was possible that with treatment the tumor would stay the same. Or, we could do nothing. Just sit and wait? This didn’t sound like a very good option to us, to do nothing. But, after talking it over we decided that the risks of unnecessary chemo were far greater than the risks of closely monitoring her for change. As it stands we go see the doctor every six weeks for scans and/or check ups. So far, we have been beyond blessed with success. Having said that, neuroblastoma is a disease than can literally strike at anytime – and I am not sure we will ever feel safe again.

So here we are. September 2007, Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Charli is walking, crawling, rolling, falling, playing, eating, drinking, dancing, loving, and doing everything a child her age should be doing. She is amazing, and truly my hero. Even when she didn’t feel good, her desire to WANT to feel good overpowered her sickness.

I know this was a long story, but I NEED you to understand this. This isn’t just “a child” that has cancer…it is OUR child, OUR baby, OUR daughter, OUR Charli. This is someone’s granddaughter, niece, cousin, neighbor, friend, and family. This is Charli, and she has neuroblastoma. Honestly, if something is not done for our children who have cancer, our future is literally going to die before our eyes. Childhood cancer is the number one killer of children, greater than all other childhood illnesses COMBINED. And yet, there is practically no funding for it. If we can raise the awareness that it deserves, this will change. Once this happens, research can be funded and a cure found.

There are a ton of breath-taking statistics out there about the lack of funding, the enormous about of children who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and the number of children who will die because of cancer this year.

This community we have become a part of, Childhood Cancer warriors, has not had a new drug introduced for more than 20 years. Yet, there are new medicines for the common cold all the time.

On average 10 children will earn the wings, loose their battle, to cancer EACH DAY. Do you know ten children? Makes it more real, doesn’t it?

After Charli was diagnosed, I became a part of an online group for Neuroblastoma parents. It has been a wealth of knowledge, support, and help. However, each week I hear a heartbreaking story of a NB child loosing their life to this wicked disease. Can you imagine that? Childhood cancer doesn’t care where you live, what your name is, how much money you have, or what has happened in your past.

Childhood cancer does not care what color your skin is, your social status, your long-term plans, or how important you are.

I believe there is a reason that Charli has had to take this battle on. I am not 100% sure why God gave her this bridge to cross, but I know that He did it knowing that we would work as hard as we can to make a difference. This is why it is important that you not only read this…but you understand it.

Thank you for reading this story in its entirety. We cannot fully put into words what it is like to have a child with cancer, but we try to let you in on a part of our life that is not only difficult and painful, but also incredibly important for others to know about.

*for more information on Charli please visit www.brenda-chad.blogspot.com

THANK YOU!

Thank you for taking the time to read Charli's story. It is because of stories like hers that we are so thankful for what we have and what we often take for granted.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Approximately 46 hours

have passed since Allisyn last nursed! She is taking pretty well! She has asked for it a few times, but after being told no we went and found her cup of milk or water! I'm in a good amount of pain, but they say it only lasts a couple of days. I sure hope so, because I am not comfortable. Right now she actually asleep in her own bed! We are hoping she stays there awhile.

She is just growing in leaps in bounds. She is climbing up on everything. She is beginning to really enjoy sitting down and looking at books. She likes to color under close supervision of course. She loves trying to feed herself. She is getting better at being gentle with the cats. She looooves to be outside. She likes the front yard or the back yard with the dogs. She loves having her Aunt Katy around more often.

Today I got to go rescue Katy and her friend. They were at Hobby Lobby and they locked the keys in the car. I have AAA so I went up there and called to get them unlocked. I have so been there before and was very glad that I could help them out.

Michael is seriously talking about looking for a new job. He is not getting near the benefits he was getting and we are paying more for what we do get. Tie all that up with the drive and he is ready to move on.

Well, due to the discomfort I am feeling this is going to be pretty short. More to come later.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

A lot to catch up on

and I am sure that I will leave stuff out, but that is what I get for not blogging more often.

We made it Vinita a week ago today to see my great-grandma who had fallen and shattered her hip. She is now in the nursing home, the last place she really wanted to be. The day we were there she was a little out of it because they had to give her some pain medicine. She was able to talk for a little bit, but my aunt said she was not as talkative and alert as she was the last time she was down. The latest reports that I have been getting is that she is doing better. She still isn't too happy to be in a nursing home, but there isn't too much that can be done about that unfortunately.

We had to miss seeing my grandma again. I was pretty bummed about that. She was having a rough day and was not feeling well. She had recently undergone her chemo treatment and had her shot that boosts her white blood cells. That is what they think really bothers her. Hopefully we will be able to make it back to see her soon.

Katy is back in Edmond at school. It is nice having her back closer to us. I am helping her get around until she can get a car. I think this semester has gotten off to a rough start so if you wouldn't mind keeping her in your prayers, that would be great. She turned her application at Hobby Lobby and we are anxiously awaiting a call back to see if she gets to proceed in the process.

My uncle Bobby and aunt Kim came down this weekend. Mom had located 4 free tickets to the OU pounding of N. Texas. It was Bob's first OU game at OU and he was in heaven! Him, Michael, and our friend Tim and Julie went and they got into the Sooner Fan Club Tailgate Party! They said it was really nice. They had a really good time. Kim, Katy, Alli, and I went shopping and got some gelato! It was a good time.

Alli has had a snotty nose since Friday. Michael has been battling a sore throat and sinus problems. I had some sinus pressure yesterday, but nothing too bad. Allisyn is cutting some more teeth. She skipped a few and I didn't notice the new ones further back until she was screaming the other day and I was able to look in her mouth. I think this is why we had some horrible days last week. Now that I know I keep an eye out and if her gums are swelling, we give her some Tylenol to help the pain.

Our weaning took a turn for the worse. She got onto what we were doing pretty quick. Last night though I reached my breaking point. She has gotten really lazy in her latch and it HURTS. So I gave in one time last night to her crying and then she BIT me! Hard. That was about 11 something probably. She has not nursed since. We had a time getting her to sleep, but then we slept until about 3:30 and we were up until abut 5:30. She finally fell asleep in the rocking chair. Today we rocked to sleep for her nap. We got in about 2 1/2 hour nap! It was nice and much needed.

We are really enjoying our church. They had a Marriage Matters Seminar last week. I did not get to go to all of it, but the sessions I did get to go to were very good. I'm excited that they will be back in February to one of the other congregations here in Edmond. I am also very excited about a Bible Study that the church is going to provide for young mothers! It will be on Wednesday morning and they will provide low cost child care for the hour!! I am really excited about this!! It starts on the 12th.

Well, I'm sure there is more that I have left out, but I can't think of anything at the moment!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

As Promised


As promised, here are some recent pictures of Alli. Here she is eating some spaghetti. She is very much in the "I can do it all by myself" stage.






She loves it when we just let her go at it, but it sure does make for big messes!





This was a really fun snack, but she won't be eating this kind of yogurt snack again. It broke her out in a rash. Luckily it didn't affect her any. She stayed in a good mood in her bath and throughout the afternoon as it went away.
She LOOOOVES talking on the phone. Yes, she is sitting on the counter, sometimes we let her sit up there with us standing right there to eat a small snack or as the other parent prepares a meal. She thinks it is loads of fun. As soon as she starts moving around she has to get down though.




This is her and her friend M. This is at the indoor playground that they go and play at.

M is one day older than Alli. They are playing with M's socks and M has one in her mouth I believe! They do really well playing together.
Other news, Michael and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday! It was nice. We went out to IHOP for breakfast with Alli. Then we cleaned house really well (great fun!). We were getting ready for our new furniture. We are so excited to finally have furniture in our living room! Then our friends Jeremy and Natashia came over and watched Alli for us while we went out. We had dinner and then we went a bowled a game, then played a couple of games of air hockey in their arcade!! It was nice, we just went and fun.
The past two nights we have gotten Alli to sleep without nursing! This a HUGE improvement. The first night we had a LOT of resistance, last night a little less. We still nursed a bit throughout the night, but we know it won't all happen over night. We are using some tips that we got from Supernanny!
Well, I need to get up and do some laundry, but I wanted to follow through with my promise of pictures!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Soo Much Going On

these days. Allisyn is growing like a weed. She is so amazing. It seems like she is learning something new every minute. She likes to lay next to you and point out your nose, mouth, and eyes. The only bad thing is if you have your glasses on, she thinks they need to come off. I have been wearing my contacts a lot lately so she doesn't like it when I have my glasses on. Right now Michael's youngest brother Stephen is here with us. He is finishing up his mural in the playroom. It is looking really nice. I can't wait until it is done and I can post pictures. He is really talented. Allisyn really likes having him here. She climbs all over him and talks to him. It is really cute.



We have started coloring. It is really fun to watch her. She is definitely right handed. She really seems to enjoy it until she tries to eat the crayon or hits with it. Then we have to put them up. We are starting the hitting phase. I know that all little kids go through this, but why does it seem to come naturally? Michael and I have different approaches on how to handle it, and it leads to some disagreements. It is something we are having to pray about.



The weaning and getting her to sleep in her own bed campaign have come to a halt. Not sure why, I just think we are too tired to keep fighting with it. It will happen when it happens I guess.



Michael is seriously thinking about finding another job. Right now they do not have any technicians, which makes his job a lot harder. With having no help and having a 30-45 minute drive depending on traffic he is really tired of the store.



Other news, my great-grandma who is 96 is in the hospital after a bad fall. She shattered her pelvic bone. She has been living by herself up until the fall and will probably have to go to a nursing home now. She will not be happy with not being able to live in her own home. Right now she is in a lot of pain and they are keeping her pretty drugged up to try to make her comfortable. They do not think she will be able to walk again with this. She is so special to me and I hate to think of her in all that pain. She has been the glue that has held me together so many times in my life, especially when I was younger.


Well, this post has taken me a few days to post, and Michael is about to go hang out with some of his friends and Allisyn isn't happy about it. Must tend to her.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

13 month appt.

So Allisyn had her 13 month appointment. Yes, 13 month, because we got off on her check-ups and she didn't have her 9 month until 11 so we had her 12 at 13. Anyway, she is weighing in at 31 lbs 10 ounces, measuring 32 1/4 inches. She got her MMR and Chicken Pox and her Hep B vaccine. These are the shots she has fared the best with! Something I did not know is that when they have these shots, the MMR and CP, they have to stay away from individuals who have had chemo. This was nice info to receive since my grandma has received her first chemo treatment and is having a rough enough time the way it is. Alli's dr was very happy with everything and told us what we already knew about weaning and getting her to sleep in her own bed.

Other news, my parents are calling it quits....again. This time for good I think. After 30 years of not trying to work it out I think it is for the best. My mom is waiting to hear about a loan for a house she wants, then she will be moving out. It has already started to get dramatic, but I'm trying to stay out of it.
Katy will be coming back to school this month. It will be nice to have her closer to us again. I may be helping her get around a bit until she can get a car. She is wanting to find a job off campus because they usually pay more and offer more hours.
It has been really hot and it makes for looong days. We don't have much shade in the back yard so I can't let Allisyn spend too much time outside without her getting to hot and risking a sunburn.


I really thought I had more to stay when I started this blog, but I just can't seem to come with much more. Michael's pharmacy is experiencing the typical speed bumps that comes when a major transition happens in a business. It makes for him to have long days. Today was his full day off and I could tell he needed it. This is weekend to work and he is not looking forward to it. Allisyn and I were going home this weekend because my brother is going down, but I don't think that is going to happen. Our budget has been a bit stretched the last couple of months due to moves and such.

Well, I am at a road block so I will wrap it up.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

We made it!!

That's right, we finally made it to church this morning! We were running a bit behind, but luckily their classes do not start right away so it was no biggie! I called Kim last night (one of my brother's best friends from college wife) and let her know we were going to be there and she told us what class they went to. It actually turned out that Brian, her husband, was teaching our class today. Allisyn went to her class by herself and then she went back to the nursery during worship. She was not a huge fan, but there were not any major problems. We were really happy we made and can see this becoming our new church home! This evening Michael went back to play basketball with some of the guys that were in our class. He is not home yet so I am sure he is having a good time!

Yesterday, my in-laws came down for the afternoon. We went to the Omniplex for a while. It was fun. Allisyn actually went to them some, which does not happen very often. Then we came back and grilled some burgers.

This afternoon after church we met up with Jeremy and Natashia and we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was nice, but not worth the $6. Then we went and got some ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery. Soooo good.

Our mission to get Allisyn to sleep in her own room is not going very well. Last night we were so tired from the battle the night before, she slept in her room for 30 minutes before waking up and we just brought her to bed with us and that was it. We also had to get up at 3 this morning for a bath. She has been having a bit of tummy troubles and sometimes the bath helps relax her to helps her poop. All that happened last night was gas, but it allowed to go back to bed and sleep the rest of the night. Tomorrow she has her check-up and we will talk to her ped. about it.

Overall today has been a really great day! We are really happy that we made it to church and are excited about getting back into a church family!

Thursday, August 2, 2007

In a bit of a rut

with blogging right now. There is lots going on, but some stuff I can't bring myself to blog about yet.

My BIL has been here since Sunday working on Allisyn's play room. It is looking really good! He is such and amazing artist. He will be leaving us tomorrow, which is kind of sad. It has been nice having him here, and Alli really enjoys his company. He may come back in a week or so if he isn't finished. The in-laws are coming up on Satuday. I reallly need to pray about my attitude about them. I have great in-laws, I just don't enjoy spending time with them and I'm not sure why.

I'm going to a Mother's Night Out with the mom's from my mom group. We are going for coffee and ice cream at a new shop in town. I'm really looking foward to it.

I am adding my dad to our cell phone plan and it is going to save me about $40 a month! We cancelled our wireless internet card, and they were able to take that account and switch it to a line, which saved us a $175 disconnect fee!! I was soooo excited! I'm also excited that my daddy is going to be leaving the trucking life behind him. He is tired of it and he doesn't want to do it anymore. That's why I'm adding him to my plan, cause he will have to give up his phone.

Michael's store is doing their switch from Albertson's to William's tonight. He is going to stick with them to see how it goes for a while. Their pay period is from Sunday to Saturday so it will require them to do some schedule changes to make sure that they get 40 hours each week. Hopefully it won't be anything too extreme.

Well, this has been a come and go blog so I'm going to wrap it up before something else calls me away and Allisyn wakes up from her nap.

Monday, July 30, 2007

A Nice Trip Home

So Alli and I went up to stay with my family last week. We left out on Tuesday. We woke her up at 6 a.m. Well, she was wanting to comfort nurse and I wasn't getting any sleep anyway, so we woke her up so I could pack and she could spend some time with her daddy before we left. We got backed and were ready to go by 8. We tried calling my Aunt Lea who lives in Tulsa to see if we could spend some time with her and her two boys, but she was out at an appointment and we were in Vinita by the time she would have gotten home. (We missed you Lea, maybe next time!) It really was a good idea to wake her up early because she slept almost the whole way there!

We stopped in at Cable One and saw Sandy and I went to the bathroom. Then we went out to Sandy's and got unloaded and rested a bit until we went to my grandma's and spent the afternoon with her and Jordon and AJ. They were really excited to see us. I got a bit of reading done that afternoon! Then we had dinner and went to VBS. It was a good time!

Wednesday we went and spent a few hours at my great-grandma's. When we got there she was taking a nap (Allis was too!) so I put Alli back in the car and we went to my grandpa's for a bit. He went back over to grandma's with us so he could let us in if he needed to. My Aunt Kathy and cousin Trent met us at the farm and they brought some KFC. It was good stuff and my grandma ate more than she thought she was going to be able to! She was having kind of a rough day so it was really good to see her eat. She gets so excited when we come out to see her and I was very thankful for being able to actually spend some time with her. Usually we are rushed and are having to meet up with Michael's family afterwards so we don't get to stay very long. Trent entertained Allisyn for a little bit, then he went and got my laptop and found some game on there that he was playing. We got to see my Uncle Lloyd and Aunt Jeanie right as we were leaving. Then it was back to Sandy's to finish out her nap. Then over to grandma's for dinner then on to VBS.

Thursday we went and spent the day with my grandma Mozie. I was very thankful for this time. She is starting chemo tomorrow and I know that our visit meant a lot to her. I'm very sad that she is going to have to go through chemo and radiation, and they think it is because of some hormone therapy a doctor put her on. She is a strong woman and I know that she will come out fine, but it is just unfair that she has to go through this. Our visit was nice though. Allisyn was busy trying to get into everything and playing with all sorts of stuff. My grandma gave a beautiful antique corner shelf, and some of her Boyd's bears that were on it. I LOVE she shelf it is gorgeous. I also love Boyd's bears, but did not have any until now. My grandma is so cute with all her things. I think she gets a little grief from my aunts sometimes about all that she has, but I love her house and all her stuff. We also got to see my Uncle Kenny for a few minutes here and there. It was a really nice visit. I wish my family wasn't quite so far away so we could visit more often. We left when Allisyn started getting sleepy and she slept all the way home.

That evening we met my mom and sister for dinner, then went out for ice cream. Then we went to VBS and then Katy and Eva (my sister's best friend) met us out at Sandy's. This was the first time Eva has gotten to meet Allisyn. It was nice to see her again. They stayed for a while and hung out. It was nice.

Friday we slept in and hung around Sandy's. Then we went to grandma's for dinner before VBS. Then we went to our last day of VBS and Alli got her attendance certificate, which she tore, and a little bible, which she managed to tear a page in while fighting me for it. She usually does really good with books, but she got a page this time. VBS was fun but the hours of 7-9 is too long and too late for little ones. I think they should do it from 6:30 -8:00. It would be much more little kid friendly.

Saturday we spent the morning at Sandy's so the kids would help wear Alli out for our trip back. On the way back through Tulsa we picked up my youngest brother-in-law. His dad was 20 minutes late in meeting us which made Allisyn MAD. She was doing fine, but at the very end she got upset and I ended up having to drive all the way to half-way McDonald's touching her. We stopped and took a break, and I had to touch her for about half the remaining trip until she fell asleep because she was NOT happy. My arm was NOT happy for the rest of the day and part of the next.

She is starting this phase of getting upset and throwing a fit when I even try to take a step away. They say it is separatin anxiety, but I think her case is much more extreme. I'm hoping to get her into the Sonshine School and the Edmomd CoC this fall. I think it would be good for both of us!

Yesterday Alli and I met a woman I met online and her husband and grandson for lunch. I met her accidentally about 5 years ago. She and my mom's best friend Sue had the same email, except Sue's was hotmail, and Di's was yahoo. I thought Sue's was yahoo and I was emailing this lady instead! Sue was excited and we all became friends! Di's new husband is originally from the city and they were back here visiting and we met up for lunch. It was really nice to meet them after all these years of sharing emails and pictures back and forth!

The reason I picked up Steve, my BIL, from Tulsa is so he can work on the mural on Allisyn's play room wall! I'm really excited about it. He is up drawing the outline on the walls right now. Allisyn is taking a nap, thank goodness. She has been wearing her cranky pants for the past couple of days and it is wearing me out!

Well, I should take advantage of nap time and get some stuff done!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

I'm getting bummed.

Today we did not make it to church....again. I woke up with something that had me spending more time in the bathroom than I like to spend. I think it might have been we ate at On the Border last night, but whatever it was it caused us to not make it. I'm getting really frustrated because I really want to get back into church, but stuff keeps coming up. Yesterday Michael and I went out on a date! Yes, for real. We left Allisyn with our friends Jeremy and Natashia. It did not get off to a good start. We snuck out and she did fine until she noticed we were gone and then Natashia said she cried for about 45 minutes. My heart broke when she told me that. She said she was playing and walking around, and finally she let Natashia hold her and ended up falling to sleep for a while. Then Jeremy got home from work and they ate and she fussed a bit more while she played, but other than that no big problems.

We went and saw Transformers. It was pretty good. We had no idea what to expect so it was nice. They could have done without a lot of the language, but that is in just about every movie you go these days. I didn't mention what movie I went to see on Tuesday, sorry! I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. It wasn't too bad, but it was really dark. I think the reason I didn't mention it is because I didn't want to get on a soapbox. But I am going to. I really find it disturbing that parents don't research movies more before they take their children. Both movies were rated PG-13. Yet in both movies parents had very young children there. I understand that the new Harry Potter movie is all the craze and all that, but it is not anything young children should be watching in my opinion. I don't think parents spend enough time with their young children explaining the differences between what is really and what is not. I think parents need to do a better job at screening movies for their kids and paying attention to the ratings. They are there for a reason! Ok, stepping down off my soapbox now.

In other news, our house in Tucson almost closed on Friday. Yes I said almost. We are getting so frustrated with this whole ordeal and are praying that they guy gets his head on straight and goes back in on Monday and gets it finished up. He said the payments were higher than he thought they were going to be and that he had to go talk to the bank. AGGGGHHH! He was supposed to close a month ago, but things kept coming up. We really need the house to sell so we can get furniture for our living room!

Allisyn and I are probably going to be heading up to my family's for a few days this week. Michael works his long day on Tuesday and it is his weekend to work next weekend. They are also having VBS this week and I think Allisyn would enjoy it. Well, my wonderful husband is getting lunch ready and I should go help!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Yesterday

I got to go to a movie! All by myself! It is the first movie I have seen since before Allisyn was born! Michael is really great about giving me time for myself. Usually I just run out and do some required shopping, or run out for a coffee and some reading time at Barnes and Noble or something of the sort. But yesterday he said I could go to a movie! I was so excited! I was almost skipping through the mall to get to the theater! After I got my popcorn and drink (Which are outrageously priced) I was humming as I walked to the theater! I went in the middle of the afternoon so there wasn't a lot of people there. It was really nice.

Then I came home and we FINALLY got the kitchen into organized, working order. I had this way a few weeks ago and then we found a couple more kitchen boxes that required some major rearranging of things. But it is now all set up and clean, and I have space in my pantry and we can eat at the bar/counter. Everything happens in the kitchen and I like to have it in working order. We need to finish our painting in there and the dinning area. Hopefully that will happen soon.

This morning Allisyn and I went on a playdate. It was nice other than the fact the both she and Madelyn (who is 1 day older) were kind of clingy. Allisyn likes to chase little boys, it is cute, but I hope it isn't a permanent thing! LOL!

Today has been fairly productive, I've gotten the regular laundry just about caught up. I have one more basket. It is hard to do laundry with an Allisyn. She tries to help and our laundry room isn't big enough for us to both be in there without her wanting to go see the litterbox that is in there. After we get our regular laundry caught up, I have a whole pile of towels and sheets that have been in storage since December that need to be washed and put away. And there are 2 boxes marked Michael's clothes. I think I'm giong to try to go through them when he isn't home and weed out the stuff that he really doesn't need. He is really bad about letting go of clothes. Even the one's I have never seen him wear!

Well, I still have things I'd like to get done so I better wrap this up!

Monday, July 16, 2007

We didn't make it :(

to church yesterday. I am pretty bummed. As soon as I was wrapping up my last blog Allisyn started crying for me. She was having some tummy troubles. I was tired and frustrated and was trying to get her back to sleep without her nursing. I tried, Michael tried a bit, nothing was working. We gave her some gas drops, and some Tylenol. Nothing was helping. So the best thing for us to do for her is to get her fully awake. So at 2:30 in the morning she got a bath! We finally got back to bed by 3:15 or so, and I gave in and let her nurse to sleep.

I had not been to sleep at all and Michael said he didn't feel it would be a good idea for me to drive in the morning. We would have had to take both cars so he could leave for work. So he changed his alarm so Allisyn and I could go to the late service. That didn't happen either. He tried to get me to wake up and get going, but I was just too tired. We were going to go to last night's service, but they were starting VBS and we had dinner plans with Jeremy and Natashia.

The day yesterday was a long one. We did get in a nap from about 11:15 to 1:30. It was much needed because we were both tired and cranky. Then we just hung out and tried to entertain each other. It is such a wonderful thing to watch when Michael gets home. Allisyn will here the door and she will stop what she is doing and toddle over towards the gate if we are upstairs and towards the door if we are downstairs. When she hears his voice she will look at me and get a little grin. When she sees them her eyes get really big and he gets a big smile. It melts my heart everytime!

When he got home, I got a shower. Then we left for Jeremy and Natashia's. Dinner was nice. Then we played a game of spades before Allisyn started getting tired. She cried allll the way home. It was sad. I hate it when I can't hold her when she is upset. She didn't go to sleep right away, actually it was a while. I thought we were going to have a repeat of the previous night, but she finally went to sleep about 11 and didn't wake up to nurse until about 3. We slept in until just before 10. Slowly I am getting caught up on my sleep.

I think my problem is with our weaning is that I wait until I am really tired and don't have energy, and that's when I try to say ok, no nursing. That has only proven to make everyone frustrated and upset. Michael is working the morning shift, so he has tonight and tomorrow, and Wed. morning off so hopefully we can make some progress over the next couple of days.

Well, I've got a lot of stuff that needs done, so I must run. More to come later.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Getting out of the house.

So with all the rain here lately we have been getting in a rut of not getting out and doing to much. We really need to try and do better because our day goes much better if we get out and do something.

Here are some pictures of Allisyn playing at an indoor play place called Fun Stop. Here she climbing up little stepping toy. This is the first time she has took it on!




Here she is about to go down the slide. The first time I tried to get her to go down she freaked out on me. Now, I just sit her up there and she is sliding down on her own!









Here she is pushing a little car around.








Here she is just being cute! She is always cute, of course, this is just another example!! (Yes, I am biased, I'm a mom, it's my right!)



Today we got out of the house by going to a picnic with my mom's group. I found an online group to participate in play dates and mom's night outs and such. It has proved to be a great support group!


This is a before picture of Allisyn's room. This was the room of a 5-year-old. Kind of a dark color for a child's room if you ask me. This paint and boarder were horrid to work with. It took 3 coats of primer to cover it up and it still wanted to bleed through in spots.






Here is a picture of the finished product! We are going to back eventually and paint the trim, but we wanted to get her room set up. We are trying to transition her into her own room, but it is not easy. I am also working on weaning, but it isn't going well. Especially the night time. I don't think she actually nurses a whole lot at night, but she uses me as a human pacifier. I am getting very discouraged. I'm not emotionally capable of letting her "Cry it Out" as some people recommend. Prayers would be greatly appreciated. Michael tries to help, but he gives up pretty quick and says, "We'll work on it tomorrow." I know he works hard and is tired, but I am too!

It is now 12:30 in the morning and I am so tired, but I can't get to sleep because Allisyn is a bed hog and Michael is snoring! We started out with Allisyn in her bed after I got her to sleep, but it lasted maybe 25 minutes before she was crying for me. She's been in our bed with me gone for about 45 minutes. I don't understand the difference.

Anyway it is late and I am tired so I should wrap this up and try to get some sleep. We are going to try to make it the early service tomorrow, or I guess today, so Michael can go with us. We are trying to find a home congregation, I am really excited about this. I'll post more on that next time!