The Farris Four

update 9/24/09

2009-09-24T12:23:00.002-04:00

I am such a slacker. It is so hard to update this now that i am working full time. Here is a quick update.
Our lives are changing soon. We are moving back to VA at the end of OCT. I interviewed for 2 jobs at Lewis Gale in Salem and got offered both jobs, so i accepted the medical ICU job and am set to start Nov 9. We are buying a townhouse in Christiansburg and are set to close on Oct 30, so happy birthday to me!! Dave will continue to be a stay at home dad for now while building relationships with new folks while we continue to seek God in his will for us to plant a church. We are planning n taking this super slow for now to see where God is going with this and see how he wants this to look. We are stoked to move 'home' and be close to family again. I ask that you pray for us as this is a stressful time trying to get everything together and pack and move. Jeremiah just started Kindergarten here so will have to transition to a new school mid year, which may present a challenge. Pray for that please. We really feel at ease about this move and feel it is all in Gods plan. It is so funny how when things are meant to be, they just happen pretty smoothly. This has been one of those situations so far. Pray it continues like this.
That was a super quick synopsis of our lives right now, but at least it was enough to where you know what is happening and why i am so slack on the blogging.

its been so long...

2009-06-22T21:53:00.002-04:00

Wow, it has been so long since i posted. I am such a slacker. Well, not really. I am working full time now which is a lot of time sleeping and away from home and so when I am here, it is hard to justify spending the time to blog. Life has been so awesome this summer. We have been doing a lot together as a family. We up and took a trip to NC 2 weeks ago and had a fantastic time. We are going back for the 4th. I cant wait b/c my friend Chris and Jerry are coming to visit us there too. We are also going to Texas in a few weeks to visit Mackenzie and Kaylee. We borrowed our friends Kings Island passes last week and again today and had such a great time. The boys are such a great age for the water park. We have been to the aquarium. Dave has been taking the boys to the pool almost everyday. They are loving this time with Dad. We go back tomorrow for allergy testing so I am praying hard that things have improved and that we are allergic to less. More info to come after testing....

check out fyrefly

2009-04-20T00:31:00.002-04:00

check out our friends new website. We are under portfolio, then family and kids. He did a little photo shoot for us last week. I really liked the results. I cant wait to see them all.
http://fyrefly.com

our date with Ray

2009-04-20T00:07:00.002-04:00

Saturday night Dave and I had a fun date night to the celestial and to see Ray LaMontagne in concert with some friends. We had an amazing time. Dave had a big fat medium rare new york strip with lobster potatoes and a glass of pinot with orange cheesecake with gingersnap crust for sdessert. I had grilled swordfish with a maple glaze and heavenly mashed sweet potatoes with brussel sprouts. It was really good and pricey($115 with tip). The concert was really good. The girl opening had a nice voice. Her name was Jessica Mayfield. She was 19 years old. I liked her voice but her stuff all sounded the same to me. The Ray came out. He did a lot of his songs. He played about 90 minutes. It was fun. We had a blast. Korina kept the boys and they did great.

our view from the celestial
i always have to get a pic
the girls after dinner
Ray- the lighting was hard to get good pics
and again

Our double stuffed sandwich hug

2009-04-17T10:33:00.001-04:00

Jeremiah and Thomas love when we double stuff sandwich hug them!!

Nana and Granny Nana

2009-04-17T10:19:00.002-04:00

more pics from Atlanta with Granny Nana

camping pics

2009-04-17T09:41:00.003-04:00

We recently went camping. It was fun. Our original camp site that we reserved was being occupied when we showed up so we had to find another site. (luckily that snagged us another 2 free nights later for our inconvenience). It was so nice during the day but Thomas couldnt handle the cold so we left about 1030(Carolina game half time) to head home to sleep. We came back and helped pack up Sunday am and went for a walk on the beach. J loved exploring and thomas loved the sand.

J loves his daddys tools
Thomas sitting for 1/2 second
Family photo hiking
Teaching the boys to cut wood
Our cabin in the woods

ATL

2009-04-15T16:54:00.001-04:00

more pics from our trip to atlanta at the GA aquarium. Good times with nana and pop.

easter pics from Atlanta

2009-04-15T16:45:00.002-04:00

we went to atlanta for easter. We had a great time with some of Daves cousins and their kids. Jeremiah had a great time getting to know his new cousins. Nana celebrated her 83rd birthday and enjoyed having everyone there with her. Here are a few pics of us!

more kaylee pics

2009-04-15T16:38:00.000-04:00

Sweet sleeping Kaylee Grace

kaylee

2009-04-13T13:39:00.001-04:00

sweet baby kaylee is looking more and more like her daddy and not her aunty like i had hoped.
she is doing well and getting spoiled daily by her grandparents, who are still in TX.

Sweet Baby K

2009-04-09T16:17:00.002-04:00

Kenzie and Kaylee are home from the hospital and doing well. She said the dogs could care less about Kaylee. Kaylee is getting spoiled by Gail and Steve all this week and Dana and John will be coming this weekend. Mom will go next week and dad the next and they make up for lost time. We are hoping to go in July and can not wait to see and spoil her.

Welcome Kaylee

2009-04-05T22:32:00.004-04:00

My niece, Kaylee Grace Roop has decided to grace us with her presence. Mackenzie thought her water had broken on Saturday and went into the hospital, where they decided to keep her. After hours of waiting and little progress, the doctors decided to perform a C-section on Mackenzie.
She weighed in at 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Mama and baby are both doing great. Kenzie said Kaylee is nursing like a champ and she is doing well considering having had major surgery. Since this was earlier than we expected, only Adam and Brian got to be there with Kenzie and Travis. Gail and Steve, Travis' parents came down today and are with her now. Mom will go next week once she gets home and Travis' parents leave. I'll post new pics as i get them.
Your Ohio cousins can't wait to meet you Kaylee!

the boys

2009-03-30T01:38:00.002-04:00

Lately, I am particularly loving being a mom. My boys are at such great ages. Jeremiah is 5 now and he is so independent, yet he still sits close to me and loves to sleep with Dave or me and on our floor, just near us. He is so dang funny. He is so smart. He impresses me daily with the things he has learned. We have these learning cards that are Kindergarden age. They have different things like sounds/letters/time/sequence of events, etc. He is so good at them, he can pretty mcuh do them all except time and money, which we are working on. He loves to get a good job or you are so smart, he says rather modestly, "i know". He loves to read his Bible at night and pray and he always thanks God for the Holy Spirit living in us and for his family and then he prays "help me stay away from the Devil". It is so sweet. Last week he didnt feel good and he kept praying God please make my tummy better, over and over and then he fell asleep. When he woke up, he felt better and he shouted, "mom, he answered me, im all better". He is so good to Thomas. He helps him up and down off the furniture and his bed. He shares so well with him and he loves to hug on him and teach him new things.
Thomas is into everything. He is 16 months now and he runs all over the house. He loves to aggrivate his brother by grabbing what he is playing with and running. He is starting to learn words, so far, he says mama, dada, J, nightnight, baba, nana, & doggie. He loves his little doggie and has to have it to sleep. He is a fit pitcher though. He likes his way, and if you tell him no, man, he doesn't like that. He points a lot and grunts for things he wants, like crackers or snacks up in the cabinets. He loves to sit with you on the couch and will crawl up with me, Dave or Jeremiah and just sit there. His favorite thing to do is find a corner or small space and fit into it. He is so funny. He blows kisses now, too. He is a really good sleeper and sleeps from 7pm to 8 am, and then takes a nap for 2-3 hours.
He loves his big brother and watches him do everything and tries to mimic him already.
I originally thought 4 years apart may be too much but now I realize God knew what he was doing and this is perfect timing. I am really happy with my life right now and LOVE my boys like crazy!!!

aother funny christian joke

2009-03-23T23:56:00.001-04:00

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Charismatic: Only one. Hands already in the air.

Pentecostals: Ten. One to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None. Lights will go off and on at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None. Candles only.

Baptists: At least 15. One to change the light bulb and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad.

Episcopalians: Three. One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old bulb was.

Mormons: Five. One man to change the bulb and four wives to tell him how to do it.

Unitarians: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, that is fine. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Methodists: Undetermined. Whether your light bulb is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb or tulip bulb. A church-wide lighting service is planned for Sunday. Bring a bulb of your choice and a covered dish.

Nazarene: Six. One woman to replace the bulb while five men review the church lighting policy.

Lutherans: None. Lutherans don’t believe in change.

Amish: What’s a light bulb?

*Mega (any denom) Christian Church: Theres a light bulb out?

*House church(non-denom): We should all change it, who’s going first?

funny story

2009-03-23T23:42:00.000-04:00

i found this on a blog today and thought it was funny and worth sharing.

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room. He decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, he sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from family and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor passed out. He looked at the computer which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: March 2, 2009

I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!!

Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

Man, what a week...

2009-03-05T23:13:00.002-05:00

My poor husband has gotten a crash course in being a stay at home dad. Last week, Jeremiah's ear started really hurting him. It was, of course, on my day to work, so after a day of crying and a fever, Dave took him to the doctor's office. He had an ear infection and swimmers ear so he got Augmentin and antibiotic ear drops. The antibiotic is really nasty and chalky. He isn't a fan, but we do have to take it twice a day for 10 days. He takes it like a pro and chases it with sprite. It is feeling much better.
This week Thomas had a fever for a few days so after a night of having to give him medicine every couple hours to keep his fever down, Dave decided to take him to the doctor too. He also had an ear infection and is taking Amoxicillin. He is on day 2 of his antibiotic now and feeling much better.
Dave did a great job of getting the appointments, getting the kids to them, filling the prescriptions and giving the boys their medicine all while letting me sleep so I could work. I am so lucky to have such a great husband.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be 68 degrees here. I can not wait. We will put hats on these infected ears and head to the park for the day. Yay!!!

my sweet boys-feb 2009

2009-02-20T23:34:00.002-05:00

i just wanted to share my latest picture of my sweet boys.

my crazy hubby

2009-02-20T22:11:00.004-05:00

Dave is camping this weekend. He went with a bunch of guys from church. It was supposed to be in the 30s today and teens tonight and even snow tomorrow. He is crazy but he says he has the gear and will be fine so I dont worry about him. i know he needs some alone/guy time. He has been so great with the boys lately and with letting me sleep when I need to so it is the least I can do. I hope he has fun and doesnt freeze too bad!
He is such a great dad. I am so blessed to have someone who realizes how precious this time is in the boys lives and makes so much effort to make the most of it. He has so much fun playing with them. Here are a few pics of him and the boys.

Its really sucky

2009-02-20T21:57:00.006-05:00

The other week we had some winter weather so J didn't have school and Dave didn't have work. Dave gets stir crazy after a day of being inside so we decided to rearrange our living room and bedroom. We have a pretty small apartment but we manage to rearrange it at least every 3-4 months. The boys found the vacuum to be quite entertaining. Jeremiah, who loves the movie ELF, started quoting it. He would use to attachment on the vacuum and put it to his cheek or arm and say "its really sucky". It was really funny. Thomas wanted to play along but wasn't so thrilled with having his cheek sucked up in a vacuum. Here are a few pics of our good time!

my New Reality

2009-02-08T17:53:00.002-05:00

So this was my first week of full time. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurday nights 7pm-7am. I took a little nap on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday slept from about 9-3:30, and Thursday from 9-4, and Friday from 9-2. It worked out really well. I felt well rested and wasn't grumpy. Dave did a fantastic job of keeping the boys either out of the house or quiet for me. He also did a great job of housekeeping. He is actually a better housekeeper than I am. I am so thankful for him.
We went for a family swim on Friday afternoon at the gym. The pool is so warm (93degrees to be exact). Dave then swam his 20 laps and I walked 2.5 miles. I forgot that I get shin splints, it had been so long since I worked out, but my shins were absolutely killing me. I walked my first mile and then this 75+ year old man said "come on, speed up and talk to me, Im bored". So i walked and chatted another mile with him and discussed life. It was good and the time went by fast. I couldn't think about the fact that my shins were killing me b/c he was talking and walking fast non-stop.
The boys really like the childcare too, unless it is close to bedtime and they get a tad grumpy.
We are doing our 2nd hydrospin class on Monday night. We both could barely feel our legs as we got out of the water. We relaxed a little in the hot tub before we got the kids from childcare.

5K here i come...

2009-02-02T16:00:00.002-05:00

Dave and I joined the gym this weekend. It is a really nice gym and the selling point to me was that it has great childcare where food is NOT allowed! Yay!!! This was pretty much going to make or break the decision for me. I did like it and the no food thing solidified it. It is so hard with allergy kids to feel safe about leaving them, even if you are only a few feet away.
We are going for our first spin class tonight and the boys for their first childcare experience there.
I also made myself a resolution that in 3 months I want to run a 5K, in 6 months a 10K, and in Sept/Oct I want to run a half marathon. I know i can do it, if i just set my mind to it.
I want to do it to prove to myself I can, but also to lose weight. I am hoping by the half marathon to have lost 30 pounds, so we will see how that goes.
I have my 10 year reunion this year which is my main motivation.

I have this picture of me in 1997 that I keep looking at to keep me motivated. Im not sure I can get that skinny again, but I want to fit in my jeans better and be able to wear more clothes that I can not right now. I am not dead set on 30 pounds or on a certain size, just feeling better and looking better in my clothes.
Here goes nothing! Keep me accountable guys! I really want this! Today is Feb 2nd and I am starting towards my 5K goal!

what is normal?

2009-01-29T21:53:00.002-05:00

Dave and I have always wanted normalcy in our lives. We have always wanted consistency. This is my last week of being a stay at home mom. I wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. This week was as close as we have ever gotten to 'normal'. We had snow days on Tues and Wed so Dave was home all day both days. He was home every night this week, which doesnt happen often. It was nice to have a 'normal' life for once. It is rare in ministry to have Dave home 4 nights in a row. We have played canasta together after the boys have gone to bed, we have had home coked meals all week, the boys have had very consistent bedtimes. It has been 'normal' and it has been nice! I have craved more community though. I have invited 2 friends over and a couple for dinner twice this week. Unfortunately the weather hasn't permitted it.
I used to not mind being home by myself and not being around people, but God has changed that in me. I realize I need people in my life. I enjoy people in my life now. I enjoy talking to people and listenng to people. I enjoy playing games and eating meals with friends. I loved my normal life while it lasted but unfortunately next week it all goes away. I start work full time and will be gone 3 nights a week. It will be fine though. It won't be 'normal' but it will be good!

We finally got snow!

2009-01-28T11:55:00.003-05:00

We finally got a decent snow. It started Monday night and by Tuesday morning we had about 6 inches. Around noon Tuesday, it started freezing rain and continues until this morning early when it changed back to snow. We have about 8 inches now. It is pretty but a lot of people are without power so I pray we don't lose ours. That will quickly make our snow party lose its fun aspect.
Here are a few pictures of Dave and Jeremiah's walk to the store to get us more milk, since i used most of what we had to make my favorite, snowcream. Man, that is good stuff and I hadn't had any in years! It was well worth the wait!!!

Daddy daycare

2009-01-25T22:55:00.003-05:00

We are so blessed. Our life is great. We have our health, great families, great friends. I am so thankful that through this transition we are making, I am able to work to support our family despite so many people losing their jobs. I am so thankful that Dave will get quality time with our boys in these crucial years of their lives rather than a daycare. We have a great set-up for him to stay home and go to school and me work. I will only have to work 3 nights a week so we will still have plenty of time for family time and time with friends. I am not thrilled about going to work b/c I am spoiled but through this whole time of us praying about it, I havent dreaded it once. I used to dread going in to work in NC. I just feel like it is the right thing to do and God has really given me a peace about it. I put up my room darkening curtains today and they do a good job of making my room dark so hopefully sleep wont be an issue too much. The hard part for me will be not being able to do MOPS as much or do random trips to the museum or aquarium. That willl get to be Daves job now. I am praying it will all go well, that I have good nights at work, and that I will enjoy my job for the next 11 months. Please pray for this transition with me!

Random Photos

2009-01-21T22:46:00.001-05:00

The boys at the aquarium
This is one cute bump!
Me and my brother and sister

January...

2009-01-21T22:33:00.002-05:00

It has been a long time since I have written but a lot has been going on. We had a wonderful Christmas and New years. We had a great visit with our old friend Alyse. We went to Gatlinburg/Knoxville for TCTC and to visit Crossings last weekend. It was great to have a nice suite close to the convention and have no agenda. We slept in and hung out with friends and did it all on our terms with no one to supervise but our own kids, which was wonderful. Crossing was amazing and we had a really good lunch and conversation with Mark, the lead pastor and his wife Monica. This past weekend Thomas and I went to VA for Kenzie's baby shower. It was a lot of fun to be with family and see her cute belly. Dave and Jeremiah had a boys weekend and went to the movies, a monster truck show and an Air force museum. Good times!!

But one Big thing that has changed for us is that Dave and I have been praying for months about this calling we have felt to do something in Blacksburg/Christiansburg. We feel like we need to work to pursue it so Dave has dropped down to part time for the next few months and will focus on finishing his masters here and on spiritual growth to be ready for what we feel may be our next step of planting a church in the southwest VA area of Va Tech. I have accepted a full time position at work and will be working 3 nights a week now to cover our expenses. We are excited to see what God leads us to do and are open to following the calling. Dave will finish school in December and we are hoping to tentatively move back to VA and start networking and making connections and developing relationships with people. We have no big plans any time soon but will just follow Gods prompting. Please pray for our family as we transition into new work habits. It is a blessing we have this option and we are very thankful as to how God worked it all out.
We are excited! This is a fun and crazy ride we are on and we are just holding on and enjoying it!!!

Haircuts- Dec 31, 2008

2009-01-03T23:57:00.003-05:00

The boys got haircuts on our way home from NC. Our old barber Tim cut them. Thomas did great. He sat on my lap and we were both completely covered in hair, but he didnt care b/c he had his first sucker. Jeremiah wanted a fauxhawk and told Tim exactly how to do it. They look so cute!!!

Christmas

2009-01-03T23:34:00.003-05:00

we had a most excellent Christmas. It was so nice to hang out with family and be in NC and VA. We got to have a double date night with Danny and Karie and reconnect with old friends for new years. We played a lot of rock band and enjoyed our families.
Here are a few pictures of the trip.

Christmas for the farris'

2008-12-22T14:54:00.005-05:00

Here are a few photos of our Santas. They were pretty cute- well the little one was anyway!

Christmas is almost here. I cant wait to travel home. I can wait, however, to work Christmas Eve 7pm- 7 am. Oh well, thats life. We will go to my parents on Christmas Day to do presents with them and my brother and his girlfriend. Mackenzie cant come home, she has to work Christmas eve and then after Christmas. Then we head to the Farris' to do gifts that night. Friday, my parents go to the lake so we hang out with Daves parents and are going out with Danny and Karie on a date that night. Saturday is wide open but may include Macados or poker. Sunday we are going to NC to Bridges Church and lunch with our old crew from Winston. Yay- that will be fun. Then to the lake for Christmas with my cousins Sunday night. Monday is open but may include a basketball game. Tuesday we are having Christmas at the lake with my grandmother, aunts and uncles and more cousins( the other side). Then we have new years eve and day, which is unplanned as of now. Sounds like a busy trip. When we get back, Alyse is coming to visit, which we are stoked about. Yay- Christmas is fun!

Safe travels to you all and Merry Christmas!!!

we have good kids here

2008-12-14T22:25:00.002-05:00

I am so proud of our kids. We had asked them to bring $25 of their Christmas allowance to buy for a needy family in our area. They came through tonight. They brought close to $500 to buy the family of 9 outfits and toys. We had a very generous person donate $600 to fill up the oil tank at the families house so they could have heat. She also donated a huge bin of really nice clothes. Another family bought shoes for all the kids, one family bought all their socks, one bought all the underwear. That made it nice for the kids to be able to get clothes and toys. It looked so awesome to see all the presents all wrapped up for the family. They will be so excited to see all the goodies, that we hope to deliver Christmas eve.
Thanks for all the time and energy and of course the money!

Elfyourself with J's teachers

2008-12-11T12:08:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Eastside staff pics

2008-12-11T11:25:00.007-05:00

Here are some pics i took of our staff at the Christmas party!

mike lee
sandra & cameron
nancy & tom
tim & roxanne
denise & pasquale
rj & misty

jonathan & lori
craig & amy
dave & mandy
wayde & terrie
barbara & jeff
jason & tera
nathan & edie
nick & jessica
jessica & brandt

J is awesome!

2008-12-11T11:14:00.002-05:00

I am so proud of Jeremiah. He has been doing so great in school. His teachers both told me he is like a new kid. He doesn't talk back anymore, he isn't hitting or getting into trouble, he is using his manners. It is so nice to finally have a little payoff for all our hard work with him. He has been a really difficult kid and it has been hard for me. I think it is because he is so much Dave and so little me that i found him so challenging. It is just now that i really enjoy him consistantly. The past 3 years have been really difficult. He is really good with Thomas. H eplays with him and is usually gentle. He shares with him. I love it now that he gets it. A friend really complimented his behavior the other day as a few kids were being really rough and hit him and kicked him. He handled himself really well. She said she would have had a hard time blaming him if he did haul off and hit them back because they almost deserved it. He said to me "they didnt make good choices mom, but i chose to not hit them back". Finally, he gets it! That is awesome and makes Dave and I so proud. He is getting to be so grown up, which i love and hate at the same time. It makes life so much easier but then again, he will never be 5 again. I just wanted to brag a little on my sweet big boy J.

Fireproof

2008-12-08T13:20:00.003-05:00

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/main.php

I hear great things about this movie. If you or someone you know is struggling in their marriage or even if they have a great marriage, there is something to be learned from this movie. I havent seen it yet, but from the reviews, the trailor and my friends reactions, it sounds amazing. Encourage your friends to see it and/or buy it in January.
Let me know if you have read the books, fireproof or love dare, or if you have seen the movie. How was it?

crazy hair

2008-12-08T09:49:00.003-05:00

Thomas has some long hair. I do think it is cute so i havent cut it yet, since Dave begs me not to but it is getting long. That last one looks a little like Cindy-Lou-Who.

Our Christmas party

2008-12-08T09:43:00.003-05:00

Last night was our staff Christmas party for church. It was nice. I took pictures of everyone and got some good ones. Here is the one of me and Dave and the one of 4 of the staff wives who are pregnant. It is obvious the water is tainted so I am NOT drinking it!

Barbara, end of Dec, Tera, first of Jan, Jessica, mid april, Edie, mid may

Hip-T

2008-12-05T03:40:00.002-05:00

I just came across this as I internet search at work at 3:40 in the am. I think this is very neat. I like the long T-shirt or tank look but that adds another layer of clothes which sometimes adds bulkiness. These cover all that needs to be and stay covered without adding the bulk. Ingenious!
http://www.myhip-t.com/

Our Elf Movie

2008-12-03T22:11:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Trip to VA

2008-12-02T12:58:00.003-05:00

We had a great trip home for Thanksgiving. We were there a whole week. We got to see a lot of old friends we haven't seen in a long time and it was great. Thomas turned one and we had his party with family. We had 2 Thanksgiving meals in 1 day. It was a lot of fun.
On the way home, our van, which we just spent $1200 on the past few weeks started acting up again. It is so frustrating. We went to church at University Christian Church downtown this weekend because we had the weekend off and the van stalled out at every stop light on the way home. It was very scary and frustrating to us. Anyway, despite the van troubles, we have so much to be thankful for.
We will be shopping tonight for our adopted family. I cant wait. We decided this year to cut way back on what we spend for each other and our families and focus our spending on a needy family. We got our family and it is a single mom with 2 boys, 4 and 6, from a domestic abuse situation who relocated to Cincinnati recently and doesn't have a job yet. I think it will be so awesome for Jeremiah to pick out what he would like and then give it away. I kind of wish i could see him give it to the kids, but we chose to do it anonymously. I'm excited. I really want to instill a trait of giving in my kids. It is so rewarding.

Here are a few pics of them in front of the Christmas tree in their Christmas jammie's. I am a PJ-aholic if you didn't know. I love pajamas. I love buying them and dressing them in them, esp Thomas' age. I thought this may be the last year I can get Jeremiah to wear footed pj's so I jumped on these cute matching ones.

Merry Christmas to ME!!!

2008-11-22T20:01:00.002-05:00

Wow- so we just ate at City BBQ in Eastgate and i went to get Jeremiah a root beer out of the tub and saw my favorite drink EVER! Cheerwine in a glass bottle. Cheerwine is a NC thing that you can NOT get in Ohio. My family knows and keeps me stocked when they visit me, but now i have somewhere and only 5 minutes from my house. I immediately found the manager and told him this was my new favorite restaurant b/c of the cheerwine and how you cant get i anywhere in Ohio. He asked if I was from NC and said to come see him after I ate and he'd give me some to take home. So we ate and I went up to see him, the man gave me a whole case of 24 Cheerwines. I about passed out. That is the best Christmas present ever. I am so happy about this. The glass bottles are even hard to find in NC but they taste amazing. Wow- so Toby is the man and City BBQ is my new fav!!!!

Fun times at the mall!

2008-11-17T14:29:00.004-05:00

Jaya, Jeremiah, and Thomas

We went with our friend Myndee to see Santa on Sunday night. We were hoping the babies(Thomas-11months and Jaya-18months) would see Jeremiah like him and not cry. That didn't happen. Thomas and Jaya both cried big tears. They wouldn't let me take pictures so this is as good as it gets, but you get the picture.

also, here is a picture of Jeremiah and his Bday present from Dave and I. He wants to be a golfer like his daddy so we got him his first set of clubs to get him going.

5th Birthday Party

2008-11-08T21:28:00.005-05:00

Here are a few of our pictures from the party.

We had Jeremiah's 5th birthday party today and boy was it COLD. We debated last weekend or this one since his actual birthday was the 6th, but chose to do it today. Man, it was windy and cold. We had a good turn out and the kids all had fun(aside from mostly all of them crying at some point for wrecking their bikes).
We had both sets of parents in town which was a lot of fun for both the boys. Jeremiah racked up on starwars characters and especially on transformers. We(mainly Dave) have been working on them all night since the party. I hate it went so fast and we rushed through but this isn't NC and we may not be able to continue to keep the outside birthday party tradition here.

my boys

2008-11-03T22:07:00.003-05:00

School Halloween Party

2008-11-03T21:58:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah loves Oreos-especially since he couldnt have the cupcakes
Snack time- Oreos, apples and caramel and apple cider- YUM
Storytime- The Big Pumpkin- They loved this book and sang along with it. It was very cute. They had been reading it for a few weeks.
Kemar- this kid is just so darn cute. I love his hair.
2 cute little Ariel's

Jeremiah had a good time. The preschoolers paraded around the school in their costumes. It was fun to see them all so excited. Would have taken more pictures of the kids but the camera ran out of batteries, imagine that!

Halloween

2008-11-03T21:49:00.002-05:00

Jacob, Jeremiah,Thomas, Caleb, and Asher
We went to Bethel, Ohio to trick or treat with some friends of ours.
It was fun. They had all the business open and giving out candy. Our favorite was Domino's was giving out slices of pizza. The kids favorite was right next to it the Cut right Tobacco store was giving out candy cigarettes. That was very fitting.

fall fun

2008-10-27T11:49:00.004-04:00

Last night we got dressed up and went trunk or treating. I didn't get a ton of good photos so more to come Friday!

We love the pumpkin patch. Here are a few of our pictures from it.

VOTE ---->

2008-10-14T14:07:00.005-04:00

What do you all think, is Thomas getting a little too shaggy or should I wait until he is 1, or is it just fine how it is? My family thinks I should cut it and I get comments all the time about how long it is and different people he looks like(Austin Powers?!) . Dave is anti and so I am undecided. Help me decide b/c I ultimately get the final say. Vote over to the right.

Halloween fun

2008-10-08T21:01:00.003-04:00

I love halloween. We decided this year to do a halloween gingerbread house and make another pirate pumpkin. I was so excited to find this Giant pumpkin on sale at Aldi for $1.99.
Here are a few pics of it.

Jeremiah goes to school

2008-09-30T13:23:00.003-04:00

Monday was Jeremiah's 1st day of preschool

Tuesday was his first day to ride the bus

Jeremiah started preschool yesterday at our elementary school. He did great. We took him and picked him up. He loved it. His new teachers Ms. Jane and Ms. Cindy are awesome. We met his bus drivers, Mr. Harold and Ms. Lori. They were both really nice and reassured me he'd be fine. So today, he rode the bus. He is such a big boy. He just got right on and sat down and rode off. A bittersweet moment for me.

Thomas update

2008-09-28T23:07:00.006-04:00

Thomas is growing so much. He is pulling up on everything and lets go to stand alone for a second. He has started walking with the furniture and transferring between pieces of furniture. His hair has had a major growth spurt. it is cute. It curs a little at his ears. He is sleeping great, from 8 pm to 8 am. He says mama all the time now. He is really at a fun stage. He loves to play hide and seek and loves his big brother. He laughs at him all the time.
Jeremiah starts Preschool tomorrow so I will post new pics of him soon.

a little allergy info...

2008-09-11T15:30:00.001-04:00

10 Things Families with Food Allergies Want You to Know!

By Gina Clowes

Severe food allergies require a dramatic change in lifestyle, but unless these allergies have affected your immediate family, you have no idea of what goes on behind the scenes to keep these children safe. This holiday season, we’d love to spend time you, so we need your help. With no rule book or etiquette guide, we don’t always know how to ask for that help. If you really want to know what will make our season bright, here are 10 things that we allergy moms would like you to know.

Be careful with your kisses! If you’ve just eaten anything that our child is allergic to, we’d prefer that you kiss her on the top of her head or give her a hug or an “air kiss”. This is what we do! Sound extreme? We know, and that’s why we feel so funny about asking you. But trust us when we tell you that the only thing worse than seeing your child suffer an allergic reaction is knowing that you have caused that reaction.

We’d love you to wash your hands. We don’t want to ask. But we don’t know what you’ve eaten or touched and we really don’t want to risk it. We know it sounds crazy but our child has reacted to “just touching” things he is allergic to.

Use care with your baby's foods and bottles. We love your children and know that they need to eat a variety of foods. However, those foods and the milk or soy formula that they drink can cause allergic reactions in our child. Please don’t allow your toddler to walk around with a bag of cookies, goldfish or cereal while we’re together. One dropped piece could cause a problem for a child with severe food allergies.

Please, watch your pets’ and their food. Many pet foods and treats contain allergens including milk, fish and peanut, and an innocent lick can cause a reaction in allergic children.

Please don’t feed our child. Raising a child with food allergies is a whole new way of life. Allergy Moms and Dads can’t possibly expect others to keep in mind all of the nuances of where and how allergens hide. If you’d like to help, hold the baby so mom can get a bite to eat, build a block tower, read a book, or follow our toddler around for awhile to give his mom a break. There are many ways to show love that do not involve food!

Call us! If you are hosting a child who has food allergies, talk to the parents in advance. If you are setting out foods that may be safe, save all of the wrappers. Better yet, let the allergy mom or dad help you put the safe chips out. (Remember that if you touch the cookies with nuts or the shrimp, and then touch the chips, they are now cross-contaminated.)

Try not to fuss over what our child is eating. If he or she needs to have a different menu of safe foods, please don’t call attention to it. Don’t make food allergies a big topic of conversation. For example, “Well what can he eat?”

We’d be grateful if you’d confine the food to one or two areas. For example, don’t allow food into the family room, or the basement if that is where the children will be playing. That way, all the children will be safe and your house will be cleaner too!

We’d love it if you’d ask your children to wash their hands. We know that your kids are able to eat whatever they like, but children are notoriously messy eaters. You’d be doing us a great favor if you’d encourage them to wash their hands when they’re done eating. We know it’s not our place to ask this of your children but it we worry that our kids are not safe if they share toys or touch each other with food residue.

Ask for suggestions because we want to make this work for everyone. If you want to bring something to a home with a food allergic child, talk to the parents in advance for specific suggestions. Your homemade casserole or brownies may not be suitable but a bottle of wine, some fresh ground coffee, a fun board game, whole fruit, or some beautiful disposable hand towels for the powder room might be appreciated.

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AllergyMoms.com

The contents of the AllergyMoms site and newsletters are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. For medical advice, please contact your physician or other qualified healthcare professional.

9 month check up

2008-09-06T12:06:00.003-04:00

We love our mac and we love torturing our kids on it. poor baby!!

Thomas had his 9 month check up this week. He was still in the 25% for weight at 19.1 pounds.
He was up to 90% on height at 29.5 inches long and his head was still giant at 47cm. He didnt have to have any vaccines this time. They just checked his hematocrit to check for anemia, which i am assuming is normal since i didnt get a call back. It was very unevenful, which is good. We did get a new prescription for some stronger hydrocortisone cream for his eczema.
He is growing like crazy. he is very opinionated and lets you know very plainly when he isnt happy. He pulls up on everything now and lets go and stands a brief moment before he falls. His hair is so long and blonde and he has beautiful blue eyes like his brother.

our Staycation

2008-09-03T20:26:00.002-04:00

It has been awhile since I last blogged. I am sorry. We took a little staycation, which was so nice. I did, however, forget my camera so I have no pics of the week.
Dave took Wednesday and Thursday off last week and has Friday off anyway and then Monday was Labor day so we went to a hotel and stayed downtown Wednesday night. We at first got a King size bed. Jeremiah wanted to sleep with us so we tried but it was a small king so we switched to 2 doubles. Dave thought it would be fun to stay on the top floor. I am afraid of heights so it was near impossible for me to look out the window or for Jeremiah to be close to the window. We checked in and swam in the pool and jumped on the bed and all the fun hotel things. We went to the museum on Thursday and then all took a nap at the hotel and then went to the aquarium and Dewey's for dinner. It was a blast. We went back to the hotel and finally got the kids down to sleep so Dave and I watched TV for awhile and then went to sleep as well. Then at about 11 pm, the fire alarm starts to go off and an alarm saying please evacuate the building/do not use the elevators! So, Dave jumps out of bed in a panic and starts to get us all motivated to go. We grab a few things (diaper bag/milk/J's monkey) and head down 22 flights of stairs at a very quick pace. It ended up being a small fire on the 5th floor, but it was quickly contained. They let us back up to the 22nd floor before too long but had trouble getting the alarm reset so every time we got all settled back down, it went off again. I think Daves adrenaline rush had Jeremiah a little overly nervous so each time it made a noise, he jumped out of bed, in a bit of a panic. We chose to at 12:30am to head back home so that we all could sleep. They called us the next day and apologized for the fire and offered us another night for free so we asked if we could stay Sunday night. They made some room for us at the hotel so Sunday night we got to go stay again and walk down to the river and see the fireworks that are so HUGE in Cincy. They said there were 250-500 thousand people there on both sides of the Ohio river. The fireworks were really fun. it was super crowded and hot. Thomas wasnt really sure about it. It was a little too loud for him, but once it stopped he was immediately out and slept the whole way back to the room and then resettled quickly into his bed.
We also went to 2 different churches this weekend since Dave was off. Sat night we went to Crossroads, a huge church of about 10,000 or so. The nursery was actually full, which sucked for me, but I understand how it works. If you don't have the volunteers, you cant watch the kids. So we kept Thomas and Jeremiah went to class. He liked it a lot. He said afterwards to call everyone and tell them we were not coming back to Eastside, that we were staying there. That says a lot coming from him, a kid who doesn't like many churches. Sunday we went opposite end of the spectrum and went to a church plant of about 50. They had a family Sunday, that they have 4 times a year that day so kids stayed with us in the main room. It was good to hear about their vision and values. That is actually what we heard about Sat at crossroads as well, so it was nice and inspiring. It was refreshing to go somewhere else and to actually get to go to church with my husband. I enjoyed it.
Monday was very low key. We went to a friends house for a few hours to eat and hang out. It was good. Then we hit Tuesday and it is back to reality. Dave is back at work and I go back tomorrow. He starts school next week so then Mondays will be gone. I have had a great time and I love my life.
We are moving next week to a 2 bedroom apartment rather than this 3 bedroom. It saves us $150 a month, so we are selling things and packing. Fun fun fun!!!

Check this out

2008-08-26T10:40:00.004-04:00

Check out Donald Millers closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention

"Father God,

This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.

We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.

We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.

Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.

Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.

Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.

Help us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an opportunity to get a college education.

Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.

We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.

Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.

A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.

Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.

Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.

Lastly, father, unify us.

Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.

And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.

God we know that you are good.

Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.

I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.

Let Him be our example.

Amen."

Donald Miller

Zoo trip

2008-08-24T21:42:00.004-04:00

Thomas has his new Big boy shoes on. He cant crawl in them but they are cute on.
Jeremiah loves to ride on daddys shoulders

We recently went to the zoo. We love the animals. This time Jeremiah was very intersted in the snakes. He and Dave hung out there for a long time. Thomas didnt care for that much. It was really hot in the snake house.

These monkeys were our favorite. They just swang from bar to bar and were so fun to watch.

Jeremiah started out being our tour guide
This was the new giraffe exhibit.
These were asian elephants. They had small ears.

Baseball Fun!

2008-08-24T20:42:00.007-04:00

A few weeks back we went to a Reds/Brewers game. It was a lot of fun. Our friend Ray Durham plays 2nd base for the Brewers now and got us tickets. The man in the red was our usher, he wasn't very friendly so I had to take his picture. We had good seats. We sat with the friends and family members of players. We sat with Ray's girlfriend and her daughter and his 2 kids we knew from NC. He didnt get to play but did get to be a designated hitter once and got a double. We just took Jeremiah and left Thomas with a sitter.

We parked in Newport and walked across the bridge. I, being scared of heights and bridges and water, had a hard time with this, but managed.

We ate dinner in Newport at Bar Louie. It was fun. Jeremiah wanted us to make serious faces so this is what we got. He loved being an only child again.

Happy Birthday to Dave!

2008-08-23T13:41:00.002-04:00

We went out last night to celebrate my husbands 34th year of life. Before we went out, Dave had an hour long massage. We were all picking on him and his 'massage high'. We went to this German bar called the Haufbrahaus in Newport. It was so much fun. We had yummy pretzels with bier cheese and lots of yummy beer in Giant really heavy mugs. We had great friends there with us and a polka band. It was great. Two of our other friends were celebrating birthdays in a week so all the birthday boys had a shot of Jagermeister to commemorate the event. One of our friends footed the bill for the whole thing which was so unexpected and amazing. That was so generous. It was fun! (but i forgot my camera-bummer)
Now tonight Dave and I get to go to the Bengals/Saints game. I cant wait. It will be so fun and we have club seats. A friend has season tickets but has a fantasy draft tonight so we get to enjoy his tickets. Yay!
Pictures to come soon!

more pics

2008-08-05T14:54:00.002-04:00

I just thought these were so cute.

Thomas starting to pull up on his crib.

Me & Thom

I just think my hubby is daggone hot so I wanted to add this picture too.

2008-08-05T14:48:00.002-04:00

Thomas Jeremiah

They dont look alike in this one though. They have totally different shaped heads. Thomas was a little younger too in this one but still pretty different looking!

Look alike pics

2008-08-05T14:36:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah Thomas

Thomas Jeremiah

They were 7 months old then.

They do look alike at times.

This was fathers day (duh) 2004 and 2008.

park pics

2008-08-05T14:30:00.004-04:00

Another fun family outing to wouldland mound. Jeremiah got to play in the sprinker part and Thom just relaxed and watched him. He enjoyed his swinging.

Thomas Gray 8 months old

I couldnt resist a picture with my husband. We used to take pictures of us all the time but have not been doing a good job lately.

pics from awhile ago

2008-08-05T14:09:00.006-04:00

We have been really slack lately about getting pictures developed. Here are a few of our pics from the last few months.

Thomas had just mastered the art of sitting at 6 months

This day we had a picnic at Woodland Mound Park, but never actually made it to the park b/c Jeremiah decided not to cooperate with us. It was still a fun time to hang out and eat. Thomas had carrots as you can see all over his face. Jeremiah tried to show us his muscles and then climbed a tree.

You never know...

2008-08-02T12:04:00.003-04:00

You never know how or why you make connections with people sometimes, but there is always a reason.!!

Let me start by saying I am not a huge fan of middle and high school students normally. I like them as people and I respect that Dave loves them, I would just prefer not to be a part of that ministry first hand. I did a little more last year than I like to, just since we were new and I wanted to see how things were going to be. I did a camping trip and CIY last year. We had one girl come to both and Jeremiah really liked her. I liked her too. She was one of the main drama queens in our group at CIY (another reason I am not a fan of HS girls), but I still liked her. I could see past it with her. A few months after the camping trip, we found out that that girl lied to us about this other girl being her sister so she could go for free. I, of course, had to call her on it and see why she would feel like she could lie to us the first time she had ever met us. She apologized and I thought that may be the end of seeing her. She didn't come much anyway and was usually scholarshiped if she did come. She had always sent me random myspace messages since the camping trip but never came back to church. She doesn't talk to anyone else at church, but she messages me. Why? I don't know really. Today, I got a message from her saying she and her 4 brothers and sisters all had to go into foster care until her mom can get help and get them back. I about cried that she would let me know. I don't know how we connected or why, but there is this connection now. Please pray for her and her brothers and sisters with me! I'm not sure of the circumstances, but just pray that things can get better for her and that I can know what to say and stay connected with her so she knows I'm there for her.

A crazy week!

2008-07-19T22:58:00.002-04:00

I am such a slacker lately. I havent been updating the blog like I should and this week I know I won't because I will be in NC at the lake.
So, this past week I worked a 16 hour day and then a 12 hour night the next day so Dave took the boys to school and I picked them up. I dont know what it is about when I pick them up, but it seems so hectic and chaotic no matter what time I go, so that leads me to believe it is always that way. So, I go to get Thomas and there are 2 preschoolers in the baby room and about 4 outside the door with some grown man, who I think was the teachers baby daddy. Then as I was going in to get Thomas, one of the preschoolers walked out with a baby. I think they were the teachers kids but still, that is unacceptable 1st that there were kids in the room at all. I think I am overly cautious now that we have a peanut allergy, but any of those kids could have had it for lunch and then touched thomas or even on their feet. I just was about livid about that and then Jeremiah runs in and is sunburned from being outside (with no sunscreen). The kids are just having a free for all and the teachers are just hanging out talking to each other. As soon as I got in the car, I texted Dave and said thats it, Im done with the Daycare. He immediately calls me asking whats wrong, yada yada. I guess what saved them from me all along was the fact that Dave was the primary person to take and pick up, so once I got to see first hand for myself, it didnt take me long to realize, I wanted no part of that, so I out in my 2 weeks notice and paid up through July when my 2 weeks was up, like a good little girl, despite the fact that I wanted to just be done!
So, now I am very limited as to when I can work, but I am also limited as to the money I need to make since I dont have the $700 daycare to pay. So, I can work Thursday night, or Friday day or Friday night or Saturday day or Saturday night or any other night 7-11 and occassionally a 3-11pm. So, I still have choices and all I 'need' to make now is just my $300 to keep the debt snowball rolling.

We had a bonfire tonight with the CIY kids. It was fun, Danny and Karie got to come too and bring their kids going to CIY tomorrow as well. They get to come to church with us in the morning and then I am leaving to go to VA for a night and then off to the lake. I am making a stop in Winston to visit a friend and then I have a few friends coming down during the week to visit and my grandmother is coming too, so it should be a fun week.
I'll post pics when I return.

Fun weekend with mom and sis

2008-07-15T10:55:00.003-04:00

This weekend we had a great time with my mom and sister. They arrived Thurday night and stayed until Sunday morning. We went to a local festival and Jeremiah rode rides and we listened to a band and Dave played Texas Hold em. It was great fun. We swam a lot and went to a yard sale and had free lunch at Ace's. It was so bittersweet though, because it was the last time I will get to see my sister for a while. She moved on Monday to Texas. It was sad, but it will be a good thing for her to spread her wings a little and learn to live. She had 5 interviews a few weeks ago and Im sure will be back interviewing as soon as she gets settled in. Good luck Kenzie. We will miss you like crazy, but we are already saving up for a trip to Texas to see you.
Some how I only had pics of mom and the boys. Sorry Ken, somehow we didnt get pics of you. Bummer!!

peanut allergy info

2008-07-09T20:36:00.004-04:00

Ok, so today I went to get educated about Thomas' peanut allergy. I feel pretty informed on the egg allergy but I needed more info on the milk one and especially the peanut allergy.
It was really informative and quite scary.

Here is a summary of what I gathered:

1) If Thomas ever comes in contact with peanuts (nuts/candy with nuts/peanut butter), we need to give the epi pen 1st, put the dissolvable benadryl in his cheek, and call the ambulance. Even if he doesn't have a reaction at first, she says it is better safe than sorry and easier to save his airway if we do it immediately rather than wait to see if he will react. This is so very hard for me to imagine doing. With Jeremiah, we give benadryl if we see hives and watch for a more sever reaction, but all he has ever had is hives, which benadryl clears up. I cant imagine giving Thomas a shot of epinephrine and going to the ER, without him ever having a reaction. But, that is what the Doctor told me to do.
2)We have to completely rid our house of peanuts and tree nuts. Anything with them in it or made on the same equipment or in the same factory even. That means Jeremiah is no longer allowed to eat it in our house or any time he could remotely come in contact with Thomas.
Jeremiah is also now allergic to walnuts, so we can not do tree nuts as well. That includes no hand dipped ice creams, since one with nuts may have been scooped before one without and cross contaminated. No bakeries, no buffets, no sprinkles.
3)We have to work really hard to get Winnie the Pooh and our church to be a peanut free zone. If other kids eat and then play and Thomas comes in contact with peanut-butter and rubs his eyes or puts his hand in his mouth, he could react. If it is on any of Jermiah's clothes or bag or shoes and Thomas comes in contact with it, he could react. I also need to work to have them get into a habit of washing their hands and faces after eating, rather than just before, to prevent any cross contamination.
4) I am going to have to start cooking more. Peanuts and tree nuts are hidden in lots of things. It is near impossible to know for certain if what we eat out is safe, therefore we need to steer on the cautious side and not risk it. That, in and of itself will be a challenge. I will need to come up with new ideas for snacks, that don't include milk, eggs, peanuts or any other nuts. That should be fun! No more eating out Asian, for sure, as they use lots of nuts in the food and oil.
5) We have to have our epi pens, benadryl, and emergency plan ready at all times, have people know where to find them and how to use them. It will make it really hard to leave Thomas with a sitter, grandparent or daycare and feel comfortable about it.
6) We will have to hope Thomas will be as outspoken as Jeremiah about his allergy and not be shy about it. He will really need to be one to ask if things are safe to eat or come and ask me and not just eat something someone gives him. This will be really hard at gatherings where people think they are helping you out by feeding your kid. Feeding my kid could be hazardous to his health. That is scary.

We just pray that Thomas never has an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts or Jeremiah to walnuts, but you have to be safe and prepared just in case.

1 more thing- they passed a law saying that the 5 main allergens had to be labeled(milk/soy/egg/peanut/wheat) HOWEVER, if it is listed in the list of main ingredients as its main name (milk), it doesn't have to be re-listed in the BOLD list at the bottom of the ingredients. This means you have to read the entire list of ingredients, not just scan the bold list. This was new info to me. I thought if it had eggs, it would say in the bold, but if it is listed as egg white, it may or may not be re-listed as EGG in the allergy list. So, you have to be very careful!!!
Things to also avoid with an:
egg allergy: albumen, egg white, dried egg, powdered egg, egg white, mayonaise, meringue, pasta, marshmallows, nougat, lechithin
milk allergy: casein, butter, cheese, cream, custard, yogurt, phosphate, whey, sour cream, nougat, pudding, milk in all forms-condensed/dry/evaporated/malted/powder/skim/whole
peanut/tree nuts: artificial nuts, beer nuts, goobers, ground nuts, nut pieces/mixed nuts, peanut butter/ peanut flour, any asian dishes, baked goods, egg rolls

practicing trust

2008-07-08T18:57:00.002-04:00

There are just some days when I just want to scream. Today just happens to be one of those days. Not because of Jeremiah, which is usually the reason, but because of other things. I am reading ruthless trust and working on trusting that God is in control and He will fix all that ails me. It is hard, but I know He wont let me down. Pray with me please that I trust and be patient.

Our little man can crawl

2008-07-03T17:33:00.004-04:00

Thomas has been trying to crawl for a few days but hasn't gotten up the nerve, UNTIL TODAY!
He has a funny little crawl; he pulls his leg along like it doesn't work.
My life is about to be so much busier!!!

Jeremiah is a proud big brother. Thomas doesn't really like how Jeremiah hold him and thus the crying.

I got pampered!

2008-06-30T18:28:00.002-04:00

This is me, happy after an awesome day of pampering. I took the boys to daycare, then headed over to the salon. I had a manicure, pedicure, and a massage. Then I had lunch at the cheesecake factory with Dave. I had salmon and mashed potatoes with asparagus. Then we finished it off with Dulce De Leche cheesecake and I had coffee. I then got to shop by myself for a few hours. I really had no idea what to do. I love Christmas in July! Maybe I should always save a gift certificate from Christmas for the summer! What a wonderful day.

blogaholic

2008-06-25T18:50:00.006-04:00

Ok so i am very much addicted to the computer. I tracked today how many things I check on a regular basis. Here is my typical list.

http://mandyfarris.blogspot.com

http://eastsidesm.blogspot.com

http://thekarneskrew.blogspot.com

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com

http://abitoutofcontrol.blogspot.com

http://aperfectengagement.blogspot.com

http://leadingandlovingit.wordpress.com

http://jonmccormack.wordpress.com

http://brandiandboys.wordpress.com

http://withoutwax.tv/

www.moneysavingmom.com

www.hotcouponworld.com

http://truthinpolitics.contentquake.com

www.thegrocerygame.com

www.afullcup.com

www.cincymoms.com (this one i sometimes get lost in)

www.hotmail.com

www.yahoo.com

www.deadlyviper.org

www.flowerdust.net

www.facebook.com( this one i get lost in as well)

www.myspace.com

www.craigslist.com

Ok- so these are the usuals give or take a few and then on a bad day it goes on into tons more coupon sites to print them and more blogs if I get lost. Its sad , I know. Its a sickness!

6 month check-up

2008-06-25T18:41:00.002-04:00

Thomas went for his 6 month check-up today. He did great. He is almost 29 inches long (75%)and weighs 16 1/2 pounds (25%).His head was is the 75% as well. He did have to get 4 shots though. Big brother tried not to let him but he had to anyway. Here is a picture of his battle wounds. He is still being pretty good tonight despite.

J man loves to shower

2008-06-25T14:30:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah loves to shower. He asks to take one every single day. Today I was in the bathroom too so I watched him. He used about every product in there. 1st he washed his hair with my Garnier Fructis shampoo because he says it smells like green apple. Then he used conditioner, so it would be soft. Then he put shaving cream on his face, cause Daddy does it. Then he used his Johnson's & Johnson's wash cloth to clean his body (& face). Then he used this body wash of mine that has scrubbies in it, so he cleaned his feet with that so they would be soft and smell good. Then he got out and put on Dave's deodorant and lotioned his entire body up. He wanted product for his hair as well, but I wouldn't let him have that. He is so funny, but hey, at least he is clean!!!

A good weekend

2008-06-23T21:02:00.003-04:00

We had a great weekend. We were supposed to go camping with the middle school. Much to my dismay, it was cancelled since Indiana is partially under water. So, we went to the lake with some friends. They have two really nice jet skis so Dave and Jeremiah had a lot of fun with that. (I am still terrified from the time 9 years ago that Dave threw me off of one going 60 mph. It was so painful.) We ate on the way home at the Tasty Freeze. It was so greasy and so delicious. We got fried pickles, onion rings, fries, hamburgers and I got this Gianormous pork tenderloin sandwich. It was the biggest piece of meat I have ever seen on one bun. It was nice and greasy too. Then they all got ice cream to. You cant go to Tasty Freeze and not get ice cream.
Saturday we had a fun day at the pool and then at home. We went to church, too. We have issues getting Jeremiah to go to class sometimes. This weekend was no different. It started storming half way through church so Dave goes in and gets Jeremiah out of class and they go outside and sit and watch the storm. Then about 15 minutes later, he took him back to class. We all like to watch storms. It was good times.
Sunday, Dave went to church and we vegged out and didnt. We did go to youth group that night, though. It was fun.
Then, now its Monday so I worked and the boys had school. A friend told us we should try to give Jeremiah a picture of us and see if he did any better. He did. Once i got home tonight I asked him how he did. He said "better since I had your picture to see you all day." Awww, how sweet! Thomas, for me is a lay me down and let me sleep kind of boy, but at school, he cries in the crib until they pick him up and rock and then he is out. I dont get that. Why wont he let me rock him to sleep more.
Anyway, one more day of work this week and then next week they go Monday and Wednesday. I actually work Wednesday and Friday though. Monday, they go to school and I go the spa. Yay!!! I cant wait. Dave got me a certificate for Christmas that I havent used yet, but finally am using. Yay, for manicures, pedicures and massages!!! Woo hoo! I'll keep you posted.

allergy testing

2008-06-19T21:47:00.004-04:00

We went to the allergy doctor today and has some testing done. Jeremiahs did come back positive to egg yolk, egg whites, black walnuts, and corn. We eat walnuts a lot and corn very often, so those were shockers. We thought the blood test was just a false positive, but the skin test confirm it, so we are now avoiding them, as well as all other tree nuts, just in case. Next year we will recheck Jeremiah for all tree nuts and hopefully he will not be allergic to anymore nuts.
Thomas showed up allergic to milk & peanuts. I go for peanut allergy teaching with the nurse practitioner in a few weeks. He wasn't allergic to soy, wheat, or dogs. We will be slowly switching him over now to soy formula. It is nice to be able to do that since we are no longer eligible for WIC and we used our last of it in June. It is so cool to see how God works things out. The cost of soy is about 1/4 that of the Alimentum. The hypoallergenic we have been using the past 5 months are $26 for a 16 oz can and the soy can be found as low as $12 for a 32 oz can. That is awesome.

God is good! Why do we ever doubt him?!?!
Yay, we are done with testing for now!

some freebies for ya

2008-06-16T21:27:00.001-04:00

Free Schick Intuition Plus Razor and more!

Get a free Schick Intuition Plus razor here. (Make sure to check the box to request the razor.)

More freebies:

Get a free sample of Pup-Peroni here.

Get a free 30 day supply of Purina dog or cat food by calling 1-800-521-6300 (it's a simple survey and is an automated call).

See more pet freebies here.

Free Redbox movie code for today: S8U5N2

Free bowling for kids all Summer (I've posted this before, but wanted to mention it again for those who may have missed it.)

Free GE Caulk samples (Thanks, Michelle!)

Free Pull-Ups Potty Training DVD (I've heard that this is not very in-depth and mostly talks about using Pull-Ups, I've not seen it myself, though.Thanks, Rachel!)

Happy Father's Day Dave

2008-06-13T15:20:00.004-04:00

I have the best husband a girl could ask for. He is great. I created this video for him for father's day just to show him how much we love him and appreciate all he does for us.

He is pretty much the best dad EVER as well!!!

(what is hilarious to me is that I had the microphone on and you can hear me at the very beginning of the video on the phone as I was working on this-haha- who knew)

Princess Fiona and Shrek

2008-06-12T20:19:00.001-04:00

We dressed up as Princess Fiona and Shrek for our volunteer appreciation dinner a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun.

my boys being boys

2008-06-12T20:11:00.005-04:00

Jeremiah likes to pretend he is a baby too sometimes!

1st bath together and then...

2008-06-12T20:01:00.002-04:00

We attempted our first bath together. It was ok, but we had to use the Bumbo seat so Thomas floated around and wasn't really very happy! After that we went back to the sink, which was much easier.

Yay- for teeth (picture)

2008-06-12T19:59:00.003-04:00

you can barely see them. The picture is a little fuzzy as well,
but they are there: 2 bottom teeth

Fun at the Pool!

2008-06-12T19:53:00.001-04:00

New pics FINALLY

2008-06-12T19:45:00.003-04:00

here are a few of our latest pics

71% addicted

2008-06-08T16:51:00.006-04:00

http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/blog_addiction
i knew i was addicted to blogging but chose to see just how much.
71% to be exact.
Not as bad as it could be i guess!
see about yourself.

Price is WRONG

2008-06-08T14:06:00.001-04:00

this is so funny. You guys have to go watch this on youtube. Poor girl!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fheBZBuXKJc

Calm before the storm

2008-06-07T21:43:00.003-04:00

This weekend has been nice. It has been like a vacation. We came to Louisville for the weekend and stayed in a hotel. It was great fun. It is so nice not having anywhere to be or do. We just hung out and swam and went shopping with no agenda and no place to have to be. The hotel we are in just opened up 3 weeks ago. So it still smells like paint and carpet. That is nice because I am freaked out about hotels now that bedbugs are such an ordeal. I cant even imagine that. Yuck!!!
We went to church at Northside. It was fun. They have close to 5000 people. There were probably close to 800 adults in the service we went to at 4pm. Our executive Jason used to work there. It was nice. Thomas went to class but Jeremiah stayed with us in service. Imagine that!
Dave flies out in the morning to go to Dallas and then Houston. He will be gone til Friday night late. I just took off from work this week. I am just not ready to take the kids to daycare and go to work with him being out of town. So far they have just stayed with Dave while I worked. Next week though once Dave gets back, we start the daycare.
Thomas has his first swimming experience tonight. The pool here is heated. He really liked it.
He was so constipated today. I fed him prunes for dinner hoping that would help. We finally did have poop but it was hard and looked really painful. Poor guy. He is out cold now. All that swimming and pooping is hard work for a little guy. We head out in the morning back to Cincy and then a long week! I'll try to get pictures on this week.

We have teeth

2008-06-03T21:14:00.002-04:00

Thomas has his first 2 teeth. One came in over the weekend and the other came in on Monday. They are the lower 2 middle ones. I tried and tried to get a picture so when i do get one I will post it, until then just a random picture of today.

My thoughts on What about Sex- by Andy Stanley

2008-06-02T15:34:00.003-04:00

I love Andy Stanley. He is my favorite preacher. I love to hear his sermons and then to write notes on them. Here are my notes on the sermon about sex if you are interested.
What about sex- by Andy Stanley.
1Thessalonians 4:
V1- FINALLY, BROTHERS, WE INSTRUCTED YOU HOW TO LIVE IN ORDER TO PLEASE GOD, AS IN FACT YOU ARE LIVING. NOW WE ASK YOU AND URGE YOU IN THE LORD JESUS TO DO THIS MORE AND MORE.
V2-FOR YOU KNOW WHAT INSTRUCTIONS WE GAVE YOU BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS
V3-IT IS GOD'S WILL THAT YOU SHOULD BE SANCTIFIED: THAT YOU SHOULD AVOID SEXUAL IMMORALITY;
Santified =conformed to the image of Jesus Christ
Sexual sin causes you to put up a front.
What we do with people we eventually do with God.
PURITY PAVES THE WAY TO INTIMACY!
MORAL PURITY LEADS TO INTIMACY.
What you do now sets you up for your level of intimacy !
Sex outside of marriage reeks havic on your ability to enjoy true intimacy.
Sex has the ability to affect not only your body, but also your heart, mind and soul.
V4THAT EACH OF YOU SHOULD LEARN TO CONTROL HIS OWN BODY IN A WAY THAT IS HOLY AND HONORABLE, Our body deserves to be treated with respect.
It is precious! We need to control our body in a way that reflects the respect our body deserves.
Prolonged sexual sin causes us to chip away on the respect and value we should have for our body!)
Self- control comes from the holy spirit, not from self.
V5NOT IN PASSIONATE LUST LIKE THE HEATHEN, WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD;
V6- …NO ONE SHOULD WRONG HIS BROTHER OR TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIM ( trespass or wrong your brother)
I am responsible for my moral conduct as well as how I influence you in your moral conduct.
Ex: The way women dress affects the men’s santification
We should push men toward God not push them away from Him by distracting them. We have power.
If we want to attract men for the right reasons, we need to attract them to our eyes. You can see someone’s soul through their eyes.
V7- FOR GOD DID NOT CALL US TO BE IMPURE. HE INVITED US TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE.
There is a relationship between your purity and your ability to see God.
V8- …THEREFORE HE WHO REJECTS THIS INSTRUCTION DOES NOT REJECT MAN, BUT GOD WHO GIVES YOU HIS HOLY SPIRIT.
God’s will for us is our sanctification!
4 ways to get back to here God can rebuild you:

1- embrace Gods standard ( realize sex is for married people ONLY)
2- confession to God and to the people you have hurt through your immorality
3- distance yourself from those things/people that cause you to sin
4- Truth- read/memorize scripture (LOTS of it) Truth clears up confusion. Truth brings healing and healing can lead to intimacy!

2 Corinthians 10-5- we are destroying speculation and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of God.

my first real day back to work

2008-05-30T22:14:00.002-04:00

Today was my first real 12 hour day back at work. I got up at 5:45 and left the house at 6:30. I was at work by 6:40am. I just walked in the door at 7:45pm.
I asked if I could just shadow today just to get an idea of how the day would go and to observe. It was a crazy day. We had really needy, busy patients. They were sweet but always needed something and kept us running. We ended up discharging 2 patients and getting 2 new ones. One was in a lot of pain and needing pain meds often, one was pooping non stop, one was gagging and puking and coughing up blood and luckily the other was sweet and not too bad, but his wife was a talker and it was really hard to leave the room without having a conversation. It was really busy and we sat maybe 45 minutes all day. I think it was a little abnormal. I hope so anyway.
So, what a start back to work after having a year off and even at that, I had done 8 hour shifts for the year before that. I was absolutely exhausted. I could have fallen asleep at the desk when we finally did sit down. I have fought the urge to sleep since I got home and now I am giving in. Man, I think I will like my job once I get back in the swing of things, but until then, it is going to kick my tail!

It is hard too because I am constantly comparing. It is hard now being an experienced nurse. I compare everything from our IV pump, to the way they chart, to the way my preceptor does things to how my old preceptor, Tonya, did things. Tonya was perfect to me because I knew no better. Now, I do know better and she is still so much more skilled and knowledgeable than most of the people I watch and observe. I miss my Tonya! I just hope all the good habits she taught me all come back to me so that I don't develop bad habits. There are so many unsafe habits I saw today. I hope I can not become lazy and always do what I know is right even if it takes longer or is not what everyone else does. Thanks Tonya for teaching me right the first time. You were the best preceptor!!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday!!!

2008-05-28T23:50:00.004-04:00

Happy 1/2 birthday to my little Thomas!

It is so hard to believe it has already been 6 months. What a wonderful half a year it has been. You have changed so much! We love you so much little guy!

Memorial Day at the Lake

2008-05-27T18:13:00.009-04:00

What a great weekend to be at the lake. The weather was beautiful. We had a great time. Mom and Dad were there, and Kenzie and Haley, Mawmaw came and Aunt Mary visited. Robbie and Pam were there. We had fun. Here are a few pics:

This weekend for Memorial Day we went to my parents house on High. Rock. Lake. in NC. Thomas had his 1st boat ride and as you can see it put him to sleep.

Mackenzie and my new neice, Haley came and hung out with us too.

Mom and Jeremiah were watching something(one of the very few times Jeremiah was sitting and not in the water.

Thomas is 6 months old and has some cute cheeks!!

Me and Mawmaw and Thomas trying to keep shaded.

I had to make this one of mom and Jeremiah black and white since that life jacket happened to be pink. Jeremiah wasnt too happy about that.

Surprise party a success

2008-05-24T10:22:00.002-04:00

We had a surprise party for my in-laws last night. We have been planning this for a while. It is hard to plan a party in VA from OH, especially one at their own house. So, we had it all planned out that they would take Jeremiah to a movie when they got out of school. So, from then I would have a few hours to get everything ready. Danny and Karie (Daves brother and sister in law) came in and helped. Buddy and Harriet were really surprised. We had proabably 50 or so people here. YAY, one down another to go. Today I have a baby shower to throw and then we are off to Charlotte and then to the lake.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Allergy testing results

2008-05-21T23:29:00.004-04:00

We had Jeremiah and Thomas tested a few weeks ago. Jeremiah to recheck his egg allergy and Thomas to confirm his milk allergy. So here is what we found out:

Jeremiah was a high allergy to eggs now is a moderate allergy to eggs. Improvement but still allergic. But he is also low allergy to walnuts and corn.WHO KNEW! We have never had any type of reaction that we know of to these but were encouraged to steer clear.
Thomas was a high allergy to milk- like we suspected but also a moderate allergy to peanuts. WOW- This was a surprise.(a scary one). He also had a low allergy to wheat. (crazy). The great thing was he wasn't allergic to soy, although many people allergic to milk are. So we can try soy formula, which is way cheaper and easier to be able to eat if he doesn't quickly outgrow this. This was a praise for sure though.
We are still really hoping that they will both outgrow their allergies pretty quickly. We will recheck Thomas at 1 year to see if we have made improvements and to determine what he can eat at that point.
Our doctor did encourage us to get to a pediatric allergist to be under their care, and to get more epi pens, especially now that we have a peanut allergy, since it has the highest likelihood of causing an anaphylactic reaction.
Please pray that our boys outgrow these allergies and that they never experience any type of severe reaction. This is very scary for us as parents, especially leaving them in the care of others at daycare now.

I survived

2008-05-21T16:22:00.003-04:00

I had my first week back to work this week. Monday was 8 hours in a classroom, Tuesday was 8 hours in a classroom and today was 5 hours touring and doing a scavenger hunt all over the unit.
So, overall, not a very exciting week. I do think I will like the unit. The people seem really nice. The floor doesnt seem too stressful, but it is busy. I look forward to it. It is nice to be in a small hospital. It is so much different than Forsyth, and it wasnt even that big.

So, we are off to VA tomorrow after Dave's meeting at church for a busy and crazy weekend. I am excited for a break though. I know the grandparents cant wait to see Thomas. It is crazy he is almost 6 months old already. We get to go to Journey and see old friends. That will be fun, but I think we picked the worlds worst weekend to go to Charlotte, as it is race weekend. Oh well. Hopefully it will be warm, Jeremiah and G are swimming at the lake. We get to see Mawmaw too.
YAY!!!

Here we go...

2008-05-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am off to my first day back into the work world. An exciting yet bittersweet day. Please pray for me as I go. I know the boys will be fine today as they are with Dave. Here we go...

Go figure!

2008-05-16T23:28:00.001-04:00

Oh and by the way, after all that Pediasure excitement, Jeremiah doesnt even like it! Go figure!

sympathy for Maddy

2008-05-16T11:53:00.003-04:00

I just received word that Maddy passed away yesterday morning. She was only 9 years old. Her little brother who is 4 got to tell her goodbye and all the family was with her. Please continue to pray for their family as this is a very challenging time for them right now. Pray that God gives them peace and comfort. Thanks

jeremiah and his new do

2008-05-16T09:56:00.004-04:00

I have been wanting Jeremiah to get a haircut for some time now but since he thinks he is a middle schooler, he wanted to grow out his hair like a lot of them have it.
Finally, he saw this commercial for pediasure. He has been begging me for it since he saw the commercial. It is the one where the little girl is in the buggy and her mom says "we need chicken and she says I dont like chicken. We need waffles, I dont like waffles. We need broccoli, I dont think i like broccoli." Well, that must have been what struck a cord with Jeremiah because he doesnt like broccoli either so he thought he needed pediasure since he "doesnt eat healthy and eat broccoli".

So, i think this is the perfect time to use bribery. I say ok, we can get pediasure if you get a haircut, so he has been so excited, begging me to get a haircut since i mentioned it.
So yesterday we finally go to a barbershop (one i've never been to) and he get up in the chair. The man seems nice but goes ahead starting cutting without asking me what i think or how i want it to look. By the time i realize what is happening and am working to formulate a game plan to tell him to do more, he is telling Jeremiah, "this one one good looking haircut, you look great, that is a fine looking boy with his new haircut" and keeps on and on. I couldnt muster the courage to tell him i hated it. His hair was really long and all this man did was trim around the outsides and and scissor cut a little on top, and his bangs, which werent even straight.
So i paid him his $9 and was on a b-line home to 'FIX' what he had destroyed. So we ended up with a buzz which isnt what i had intended. I like it a little longer on top but not with bangs straight across. Oh well, $9 down the drain, but it could be worse I guess.
So here are before ( few weeks before) and after pics, in typical Jeremiah fashion
.

PRAY for Maddy...

2008-05-14T22:16:00.003-04:00

Please pray with me for Stephanie Hood , a fellow MOPS mom, and her family tonight. Her daughter Maddy has cerebral palsy and had a seizure a couple days ago. All this is very complicated by her CP and she is unable to tolerate meds or a transplant. She is now in liver and kidney failure and they aren't sure how much longer they have with her. They have called in all the family.
Thanks!

Im just tired...

2008-05-13T20:28:00.003-04:00

There are some days I am just spent. Today has been one of those days. I am not sure what all has lead to it, but I have absolutely NO patience today. I am tired, cranky, moody, just ready for bed. I guess part of it is getting up still at least once a night with Thomas, dealing with my oh so ornery 4 year old and trying to be super wife all day every day. It just takes its toll on me.
I have tried to not have expectations of Dave so that I don't feel disappointed. I have noticed I am a much better wife and mom if I can do that but sometimes, it is hard.
Like this weekend, it was mothers day and our anniversary. He did remember, I got a card for both, very sweet and my favorite dark chocolates but I just don't feel like that was enough. It is an expectation problem, yes, but it has lead me to be how I am feeling today as well. Dave was gone all day to church and then getting ready for his mothers day deal and didn't have a lot of time for me. He left at 8 am and got home at 9pm.I just feel a little disappointed and a little slighted and really worn out from these boys. I know he hated not being able to be with me and if he could change things he would have. He is good intentioned, It is just hard on me sometimes. Maybe Im PMSing too, I dont know. I love my husband and my boys, sometimes Im just tired.
I just needed to vent that. I feel a little better now.