Doubly Blessed

ABC's

2011-02-28T20:22:00.003-06:00

A. Age: 33 years young

B. Bed Size: California King

C. Chore You Hate: Cleaning Bathrooms

D. Dogs: Love 'em. We hope to get a dog in the next few years.

E. Essential start to your day: Cereal

F. Favorite Color: Blue

G. Gold or Silver: White Gold

H. Height: 5' 6"

I. Instruments you play: I can play the piano a little bit, but never had any lessons.

J. Job Title: Auditor

K. Kids: Like 'em alright!! Lol. LOVE my girls, Madelyn (age 6) and Meredith (age 3)

L. Live: for Jesus!

M. Mom's Name: Veronica

N. Nicknames: I don't have any in recent years. Used to be called Ape sometimes.

O. Overnight Hospital Stays: 3, I think. Had Pneumonia and Kidney infection when I was 4 for a week-long stay. Then, two children equals two more stays.

P. Pet Peeve: Slow drivers in fast lane, inconsiderate people who park in two parking places.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Sweetie, you have $#!* on your face!"--"Life as we Know it"

R. Right or Left-Handed: Leftie and PROUD of it!

S. Siblings: Holly and Kim (sisters)

T. Time you wake up: About 7:00 a.m.

U. Underwear: Commando.

V. Vegetables you dislike: Peas, eggplant

W. What makes you run late: My children

X. X-Rays you've had: Wrist, foot, elbow, arm, teeth, chest

Y. Yummy Food you make: Cereal. lol

Z. Zoo-favorite animal: Elephant

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 12

2011-02-28T09:32:00.002-06:00

Well, I've finally finished the 12-week Biggest Loser Challenge. During the Challenge, I lost 15lbs!!! That's 1.25 lbs. a week. I wish it had been a little more, but I'm still happy with these early results. I've learned over the course of my journey to not focus so much on the scale, but to be excited about the non-scale victories as well. Like the towel that goes around my body farther, like the fact that I can touch my toes, like the abs that are developing quite nicely on my body, like jeans that fit perfectly that didn't just a few weeks ago. This journey is definitely not limited to the scale. It involves the mind as well as the body. I have learned I am physically stronger than I thought I was. I have learned that a lifestyle change isn't really that hard, it just takes some dedication and will. In these 12 weeks, I have not felt deprived at all. There are times when I would have liked to eat more at a sitting just because I enjoyed the food so much, but didn't and didn't feel like I was missing out. I learned I don't need as much to feel full and of course the prospect of something chocolate for dessert that night helped curb my immediate appetite. And I can honestly say that I've had some sort of chocolate every day since I started the challenge. I've planned for it and decided early on that in order for this to be a sustainable lifestyle change, that I would have to figure in my chocolate. I can't live without chocolate!

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied. I'm not finished yet!!! I'm embarking on a new 12-week challenge tomorrow. I'm personally challenging myself to lose 1.5 lbs. a week this time. That would put me at a 33 lb. weight loss in 24 weeks. I would be within 22 lbs. of my goal. It's taking me longer to reach my goal than I had originally planned, but I'm trying to embrace that fact and look at it from a good angle considering this IS a lifestyle change and the slower I lose, statistics say the more consistent I'll be in the long term. I'm excited about the next leg of the journey!

Total Weight Lost: 15 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 40 lbs.

2 month Pictures

2011-02-24T20:19:00.007-06:00

Just a short post here. Here are the pictures from the first week I started and exactly 2 months later. I can see a small difference, I think. What do you think? Comment please. I need encouragement!!!

Total Weight Lost: 12 lbs.

Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.

Pounds to Goal: 43

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 7

2011-01-24T09:51:00.003-06:00

Ok....so I haven't blogged in 3 weeks. It all boils down to being discouraged. I have not given up on my lifestyle change, but I haven't felt like writing about it. I compare my weight loss journey too much to other's journeys and I expect mine to be just the same. That's just not going to happen. My body is my body and it's different. It's going to lose weight in it's timing. As long as I do what I'm supposed to do, then the weight will come off....in due time! That's what I've figured out in these 3 weeks of non-blogging. My weight loss has really been a roller coaster thus far. I'll recap:

Week 1: 3 lbs. lost
Week 2: 1 lb. lost
Week 3: 0 lb. lost
Week 4: 4 lb. lost
Week 5: 3 lbs. gained
Week 6: 3 lbs. lost
Week 7: 2 lbs. lost
for a total of 10 lbs. lost in 7 weeks which is 1.42 lbs. a week. Actually not a bad amount at all. It's well within the normal range of healthy weight loss. It's just been so up and down that it's been hard for me to see. Week 3 was Christmas, so the 0 lbs. weight loss seemed normal to me. Week 4 involved a stomach virus, so I believe the weight loss was skewed a bit. Week 5 was normal and the large weight loss the week before was stabilized. I must just be one of those people who lose weight sporadically. That's ok with me as long as it comes off. I have decided to not care so much about what the scale says and pay attention to how my clothes are fitting. I can see changes in my body, especially my abs and that is encouraging. I will NOT quit!!! After all, this is a lifestyle change and not a fad diet. After 7 weeks, it's all pretty normal and doesn't feel depriving at all. I took pictures at the beginning of my journey and again at the one month mark. I didn't see a big difference as of yet. Hopefully I can post pictures at the 2 month mark and we'll be able to see a difference.

Total Weight Lost since December 7th: 10 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 45 lbs.

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 4

2011-01-03T13:48:00.002-06:00

Yippee!! Finally a really good week. I lost 4 lbs. this week for a total of 8 lbs. in 4 weeks. Right on schedule!! I was really disappointed last week when the scale showed a 0 and I didn't understand Why! I was starting to think that the game was calibrated wrong or something, but I figured out that where I was looking to show my current weight each day, it was actually showing my current weight from when I officially weighed in last. That makes sense and explains the difference between my weight on there and my weight on the scale and my weight on the Wii Fit Plus. I believe we are all in line now. I can't tell you happy I was to see that 4 on the scale. I see now how the actual Biggest Loser contestants must feel when they attain a personal victory week after week.

Since I wrote in last Wednesday, I had an idea that I might actually be consuming too few calories on some days. The game says I need 1491 calories a day to lose. Some days I have been getting about 1200 and average about 1350. I haven't been hungry with those numbers, so I just figured the bigger the deficit, the better. I've done some research on it though, and I think that weight loss is a major balance of exercise and calories. I really need to try to hit my calorie target every day, not less to optimize my weight loss. That means that some days, I have had to have a chocolate treat in the evening to get to my 1491. That's not such a bad deal!! I also read that it's best to actually try to meet your weekly caloric intake in a week and not focus exactly on the daily intake. Meaning that 1491 calories x 7 days is 10, 437. So, instead of worrying so much about hitting 1491 everyday, I can mix it up a little to "confuse my metabolism and keep it in high gear." Like I could get 1491 calories one day, 1591 the next day, 1391 the next day, 1641 the next day, 1341 the next day and so on. That way, I can keep my body guessing and if I have a special occasion in there, I can get a few extra calories without the worry.

Friday, David and I went to Logan's Roadhouse again to eat for New Year's Eve. I got the same meal I got in one of my previous posts for 600 calories, but I did let loose a little more. I had two small rolls and two beers on top of that. So, it made for about a 1300 calorie meal. I really felt it in my pants too. I hadn't felt that full in a long time. I was almost miserable. I told myself right then and there that I would be working out double or triple on Saturday.

Saturday came and I slept until 12:15 p.m. Now, understand, it really wasn't all as wonderful as it sounds. I couldn't fall asleep until 5 a.m. and I woke up several times between then and noon. I woke up at noon and had terrible stomach cramps. Surprisingly, I didn't have diarrhea, but I felt like I could throw up and my stomach just hurt really badly. I went back to bed after having a small bowl of cereal around 1:15. I just tossed and turned and was doubled over with stomach pain. I guess I did doze off and woke up around 2:30 and texted David to bring me a thermometer. I felt hot and had aches all of a sudden. He brought it to me and at that moment it was 99.7. It gradually went up all afternoon till it hit 102. I felt awful! I even cried and wanted my mom. Needless to say, I didn't exercise, and hardly ate anything all day.

Sunday was much the same. I slept a lot and just rested. My stomach felt better and my fever was gone by the end of the day. I guess it was a 24-36 hour bug. That's the good thing about stomach viruses....at least they are over quickly. I hardly ate anything that day too.

I'm very happy with my first month's statistics! I started it in the hardest month of the year in my opinion to not give into temptation. I did that on purpose because I knew that I was making a lifestyle change and from now on, this would be my life every Christmas. And I NEVER felt deprived. I am a choco-holic and I can promise you that I've had my fair share of the brown stuff this month....I've just modified my usage. I have not had ANY back pain since I've started exercising. I believe my fatigue is being helped by working out too. I have averaged 6 days a week exercising since I've started. I attribute that to the game. I do something different everyday and if I can't finish an exercise one day, I'm anxious to try it the next time when I'm stronger. I'm anxious to be in a smaller size too....maybe next month. I'm going to keep working hard!

Total Weight Lost since December 7th: 8 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 47 lbs.

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 3

2010-12-29T13:09:00.002-06:00

This week was a disappointing week. I lost 0 lbs. A big, fat 0!!! It was the week of Christmas, so I guess I should be happy I didn't gain. But, I'm NOT happy. I've been working my butt off (literally it seems sometimes) and I want to see the results. Alas, today I have figured out there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. More to come on that later in the blog. First I will talk about my week.

Last Wednesday, me and the family went to Logan's Roadhouse to eat. I looked up what I wanted on their website before we went so I would be prepared. I ordered Teriyaki Chicken, a Caesar Salad, and Sauteed Mushrooms. I even had a small roll (so yummy) and all of that was only 600 calories. I was amazed. I felt very satisfied afterwards and was very proud of myself. The next night, we went out with Mom, Merritt, and Holly for Holly's birthday to Outback Steakhouse. Again, I planned out ahead of time what I would be eating. This has been my saving grace I think. Being prepared makes me feel in control and I'm not worrying if I'm underestimating the calories in something I eat(which we all do most of the time). I passed on the Alice Springs Chicken which I usually get because it had a whopping 1328 calories!!! I decided on an 8 oz. Teriyaki Sirloin Steak with sauteed mushrooms and a Caesar Salad again. This time I had a little more bread and had a few cheese fries, but much smaller portion than usual. I took some of the Steak home and the meal I ate AT the restaurant turned up to be about 800 calories. Still not bad at all for eating out at one of my favorite places and I still got to eat my favorite things.

The next day was Christmas Eve, an annual party at my mom's house with tons of yummy fixin's. I had already decided to allow myself a Coca-Cola to drink that day and it was GOOD!!! I didn't want to limit myself too much that day, but still practice restraint in the portion department. I did go over my calorie allotment, but I was ok with that. I did find out that the Coke made me crave more sugar, which I noticed immediately. I switched back to water immediately and have noticed a difference. I still LOVE Coke and will still drink it from time to time, but I have really figured out I love water too!

I believe I have a stress fracture in my foot from working out on my hard floor. David went and got me a mat to work out on, but has had to modify it a bit to keep it from being slippery, so I haven't been able to use it yet. My foot is mostly painful when I first get up in the morning, I have to limp at first to get going and then it pretty much gets ok. It doesn't cause me excruciating pain, so I just keep working out as usual. Holly told me to wrap it while I work out and then ice it afterwards. I don't want to injure it more, but I don't want to stop working out either.

Ok....back to the light at the end of the tunnel. I think the Biggest Loser Challenge game might have become uncalibrated correctly when it weighs me. This is not an excuse on my part. I noticed it last week before my weigh in. I would weigh myself sometimes through the week with my scale in my bedroom and it was always two or 3 pounds lower than the game. One day I was on the game, it figured my weight almost 5 lbs. less than the day before. What the Crap!! Then, when I did my weigh in the next day (Monday), I weighed in at my current weight. (Which is 3 1/2 lbs. more than the day before. That's the day it showed I had lost 0 pounds since the week before. Today (Wednesday) I weighed at the beginning of my workout and was one pound more than Monday's weigh-in. What the Crap again!!! I know my weight fluctuates, but not that bad!! So, I did an experiment.....today after I worked out I weighed on the scale in my bedroom and then I weighed using the Wii Fit Plus game. They were the exact same thing!!!! And they were closer to what I thought they should be after the hard work I've put in. They were 3 lbs. lower than my official game weigh in on Monday. So.....next week on Sunday, I'm gonna check to see what the Biggest Loser Challenge game says I weigh and compare it to the other two weigh-ins. If the BLC game is way different, then I will decide to use one of the two other weigh in methods. The BLC game lets you manually change your weight. So, the light at the end of the tunnel is that I believe I have lost 7lbs. since I have started, but OFFICIALLY, I have only lost 4 lbs. When I weigh in on January 3rd, I will have an official OFFICIAL weight loss number. I hope that all makes sense.

Total Weight Loss Since December 7th: 4 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 51 lbs.

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 2

2010-12-20T20:02:00.002-06:00

So, I knew when I got up this morning to do my weigh-in that it wasn't going to be the best weigh-in. I was bloated. Very bloated. Aunt Flo is supposed to come visit Wednesday so this was to be expected....I just hoped it would stay away until after my weigh-in. Alas, my weigh-in showed a 1 lb. weight loss for the week! Not horrible....I did lose, but I wanted to lose more. And I worked really hard this week. I worked out every day except for one and I followed my alloted calories to the tee. I still have not had a Coke since Sunday, December 5th. That's amazing for me! I've actually been craving more water than tea. I'm making a conscious effort to drink more water than tea even though tea is calorie free, because tea depletes my iron and I am a regular blood donor. I've even rubbed off on the girls. There has been no pop in the house for over two weeks and so they have been drinking water, tea, or milk. Madelyn even told me this morning that she really likes water. I was happy about that.

This week went well for my diet. Wednesday, my boss took our office out to eat at Ted's and I made different choices than I normally did. I still enjoyed myself, but instead of eating without reservation, I laid some boundaries. Instead of eating flour tortillas, I munched on ONE corn tortilla and mainly ate chips with salsa instead of chips with cheese sauce. Then I ordered my regular meal of Cheese Enchiladas, but I took off most of the chili sauce. It was still very filling and extremely enjoyable. It was a good lesson in how making a lifestyle change is not all about depriving yourself of all the good things....just taking the good things in moderation. I was completely satisfied.

Thursday, I had my first dealing with hunger. I had been eating normally, but I was extremely hungry that day which could have been my downfall. But I took Candy's advice and increased my water intake to make me feel full. It did the trick! I didn't give in to my hunger pangs and reach for something unhealthy.

Sunday, we went to my Grandma's for lunch and she had made a poblano pepper casserole, carrots, hot rolls, broccoli and cauliflower, and chips. I assume the casserole was fairly healthy as it contained lots of vegetables and chicken, but it had its fair amount of cheese. I made a point to eat around the cheese somewhat and filled my plate with vegetables to fill up. I did allow myself a whoe-wheat roll, but only one. I am a huge bread eater and would have loved to have a second roll, but chose not to.

This week will be a test as it contains Christmas, but I know I can succeed. I have already decided that I will allow myself a Coca-Cola at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. I'm so excited!! I will eat desserts.....I will just not gorge myself on them. I will also probably exercise a little more. I can do it!!

Total Weight Loss since December 7th: 4 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 51 lbs.

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 1

2010-12-14T22:48:00.003-06:00

December 7th was a changing day in my life. That's the day I decided it was going to be different. I have committed to a journey of weight loss and lifestyle change that I pray will benefit me in many ways.

I downloaded my calorie tracking application on December 9th. Everytime I eat, I stop and log my calories into my phone. It keeps me on the right track because I can see exactly what I'm eating. I haven't gone over my allotted daily calories once since I initiated it. I believe it will definitely be a factor in my journey.

I chose a Super Weight Loss program on the game. It's a 12 week program led by Jillian. My ultimate goal weight cannot be safely attained in 12 weeks, so I will start another one after I finish the first. I should be able to meet my goal after the second 12 week challenge. I set it up to work out 4 days a week for 40 minutes at a time to begin with. I think in a week or two, I will bump it up to 50 minutes. I plan to work out at least one more day on my own, just wanted to set small goals to start. The first week, I worked out 5 days. The workouts actually last about 49 minutes when you include the cooldown and the drink breaks. Every 5 minutes or so, the program stops for about 30 seconds for you to get a drink. I think this is very helpful and I take advantage of it every time. It helps me to drink a good amount of water throughout the day. There are several types of exercises the programs has you do. There is circuit training, boxing, yoga that I have encountered so far. I like the way it is mixed up. It doesn't get monotonous that way. Jillian is very much like herself on T.V. Because the Wii is so sensitive, she can tell if you are slowing down or not doing the exercise. She will call you on it and tell you to get back in gear. She's also very encouraging when you are working really hard! It's amazing how quickly you can see results! I'm not just talking about my body, but my strength. Tonight when I worked out, I could do two exercises from start to finish that I could not finish two days ago. That tells me I'm getting stronger!! What a motivator!

The first week went VERY well! I didn't feel deprived at all and I really can't remember a time that I even felt hungry during the day....maybe a little bit in the morning when I first get up. I have not had Coca-Cola since December 5th. That's amazing for me! I even engaged in the drinking of a beer, a couple of pieces of birthday cake, ice cream, all my favorites.....just in smaller portions! So, for the first weigh-in on December 13th:

I lost 3 pounds!!! Yippee!! I was very excited! I do know that 3 lbs. will probably NOT be the norm week after week. I'm prepared for that, but I'm going to push myself and try to lose 2 lbs./week. It will take hard work, but I'm up for it!

Total Weight Lost since December 7th: 3 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 52 lbs.

Lifestyle Change

2010-12-12T19:37:00.005-06:00

No I'm not going to the other side and trading my husband in for a wife....I mean a lifestyle change involving good food choices and exercise. My reasons for doing this are two. One is to obviously get in shape and two is to combat this new disease I have. More to come on that disease next week when I see the doctor. Anyway, David and I dropped our gym membership back in August so that we could bowl. I understand that one night of bowling is not equivalent in calorie burning to 3-5 nights at the gym. We wanted to bowl because we haven't in six years and we had really missed it. I also have always felt like if I was serious about losing weight and getting in shape, then I could make do with what I have. We have a treadmill that I do use occasionally....I just get very bored with it easily. I wish I had an elliptical. I fell in love with the elliptical when we were going to the gym on a regular basis. I want a really nice one that will last a very long time and they're NOT cheap!! So, a couple of weeks ago, I had seen the commercials for The Biggest Loser Challenge game on the Wii. It looked really fun. So I went and got it the next day. I turned it on that first night and was immediately impressed. There were tons of different things....health and lifestyle tips, activities you can just do on your own, 8-10 different programs consisting of 6, 8, or 12 week intervals. You can pick your trainer, Bob or Jillian and set it up for how many days a week you want to work out and for how long. There's a calendar for you to see what you are scheduled to do for the next week. There's a place to log your calories for the day. Many more things, but too numerous to mention. The first night I just played around on it and set up a profile. I didn't get serious about it until December the 7th! That's the day I caught the bug. I know people who have tried to lose weight over and over and over have said, "This time is different." But to me, THIS time is different. My main motivating factor is my health. I briefly mentioned this new friend I have recently been diagnosed with. It brings me extreme fatigue and joint pain as its main complications. I decided that I could combat these complications with regular exercise and changing my diet. I know that exercise releases endorphins which give you energy and makes you feel good. The fatigue sometimes brings with it mild depression which I believe will definitely be helped by the exercise and endorphins. And I'm sure the joint pain will be alleviated somewhat with the decrease in weight upon them. I have downloaded a free application for my phone which tracks my calories. Before I put anything in my mouth, I log it into my phone. Not once have I gone over my allotted calories. I believe it will be a definite asset.

I'm ready for the challenge!! I'm going to try and update my blog weekly with my progress, good or bad, on the days I weigh in, which are Mondays. I would appreciate the encouragement in my endeavor. Here we Go!!

Rhoda Family Pictures

2010-12-05T22:10:00.004-06:00

This year, we wanted to do family Christmas pictures again, so a couple of weeks ago after church, we came home and changed out of our church clothes into our jammies. We found matching jammies for the girls and David and I both got Christmas-y looking sleeping pants. We chose two pictures that we sent out, but here are some others from the day. Merry Christmas!!

Madelyn's birthday at the Fair

2010-12-05T22:00:00.003-06:00

It's a yearly tradition to go to the fair on Madelyn's birthday. Madelyn went to school and got out at 11:15. David picked her up and they went to lunch together. Then Meredith and I left work early and came home and got David and Madelyn to head to the fair. We met my dad (Grandpa Dino) out there as he is a fair junkie. We ate some junky, yummy food and the girls rode some rides. I think David and I decided that this year will be the last year that we do the fair tradition. It's so expensive and just plain nasty. Every table we came to to eat was disgusting. I couldn't even fathom sitting there. Every ride the girls got on, I was just gagging at the thought of the germs that were just sitting on those rides ready to hop on my clean girls. Gross!! All in all, it was a good day. Here are some pictures!

Madelyn's 6th Birthday party

2010-12-05T21:41:00.004-06:00

I've been terrible at updating this blog lately. I have lots to say sometimes, it's just faster and easier to post to Facebook, but I am going to try to be better at it. I have actually posted since Madelyn's birthday in September, but I'm going to go back and include it since I'm somewhat using this blog as a chronological keepsake.

This year, we decided to do a Salon/Spa party for Madelyn. I have to say it was the least stressful and funnest party we have had so far. We had it at my house and I set up stations in the living room/kitchen area. We had a station for nails, one for makeup, and one for hair. My mom, sister, stepmom, and friend Melissa helped me out by working at the stations. I let Madelyn invite one friend for each year of her age. It was a good number, not too many. My stepmom and Melissa handled nails, Mom and Holly did the makeup, and I did hair. Hair was actually really fun. All the girls wanted me to curl their hair, so I put most of their hair up in a high ponytail and curled it. They looked gorgeous. You could tell they had a good time! When they were made-over, they would prance around the house like they were princesses. And of course, they were. The time went really fast and pretty soon the party was over and parents were coming to get their kids. The girls were so happy to show their parent their new look. In their little goodie bags, they received a hairbrush with a mirror, hair ties and headbands, nail polish, and makeup. It was actually pretty inexpensive and I honestly can't wait to do it for Meredith in a few years. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Why I Chose my University Degree

2010-10-03T14:34:00.003-05:00

Another installment from my "What to Blog about" list. I guess I'll have to do a two-parter since I officially have a degree and 1/2 or to be completely accurate, I have a degree and 63/100 of another. That's the accountant coming out in me and I guess the teacher too explaining all aspects of the subject. Anyway, on to the subject.

I have a degree in Elementary Education. I received it in May 2002 from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. When I first went to college after high school, my heart wasn't in it. I put my major as nursing, although I didn't feel too strongly about it. After only lasting a semester, I dropped out. My grades were crap and I just didn't care. I was a college dropout for three and a half years. I worked during that time and knew all along I would return to college....I just didn't know when or what for. In the Fall of 1998, I got called by the local elementary school to come and substitute. From the very first time I did it, I was hooked on teaching. I decided it was time to return to college and that I was going to be a teacher. I began the process of reapplying to school. It was quite a task to undertake because I had been placed on academic probation from my grades before. I had to write a letter to the dean to tell him how much I really wanted to return to school and my mind was right this time. I had to do the same thing in order to be eligible for financial aid. My letters were well received and I was accepted for the Spring 1999 semester at SWOSU. My brother-in-law at the time was a student there at the same time and he was going to be a special education teacher, so we were enrolled in many of the same classes. We set up our schedules together and rode to and from school together everyday. I made excellent grades this time and really enjoyed my time as a student. I wanted to be a teacher because I believe God gave me some gifts that make me really good as a teacher. I am very encouraging and loving. I had always been a good student myself (except for that one terrible semester in my first college outing) and enjoyed learning and figured I could pass that on to my students. I chose to be a teacher because I liked the fact that I would have good working hours and would have my summers free. I was always patient with school kids and liked to see them learning. When I graduated in 2002, I applied at about 20 metro districts. I got called by only two of them and had only one actual interview. The school's budgets were down at that time and many districts weren't hiring and some were even firing. By the middle of August, I didn't have a teaching job and knew I had to find something else. I would look again next year for a teaching job. I got a job at a payroll place that I absolutely hated. I worked there for six months before moving to a job I really liked. I worked one other job before I got the job I have currently. I currently work as an auditor for schools and non-profit organizations. I've always liked accounting and had some background since I had helped my sister out at her accounting job several tax seasons. In August of 2006, I decided to return to school to ultimately get my CPA license. I didn't obtain a degreen in accounting basically because I didn't need one to become a CPA. Because I already had a Bachelor's Degree, I only needed 150 hours total and 45 hours in accounting. That's what I have achieved. I currently have 173 college hours, with 45 of those in accounting. I have satisfied the requirements to sit for the CPA exam. I am currently studying to take the first part of the exam(there are four). I am not too motivated at this point as my brain needed a break from the studying and I really need someone to study with to hold me accountable. It's hard to carve out time when you work full time and have two kids. I'll get it done though....I always do what I say I'm going to do. Just a little slower sometimes.

I feel I am well-suited in both Elementary Education and Accounting. Heck, maybe I'll teach Accounting someday. Then I can combine the two. For now I'm a CPA candidate and I hope to achieve that license soon.

The Story of my Most Serious Injury

2010-08-15T21:33:00.002-05:00

Several months ago, I posted a list of blog ideas and I haven't written about one until now. I thought I would start at the top of the list and just go down it.

I've not had too many serious injuries in my life. I'm not what you would call an adventurous person, so I tend to stay away from dangerous situations. The "most serious" injury I can think of at this moment was when I had a grade 3 sprain in my ankle. It was January 12, 1997. I was living in Carnegie and we had just had a pretty sizable snowstorm, which didn't happen very often. Me and Daniel's siblings, (Randy-16, Christy-14, and Michelle-6) were very excited to play in it. Daniel's dad brought out the sled, dusted it off, and tied it to the back of the tractor. After sitting on our bottoms and sliding around for a while, we got much braver and decided we were going to surf on the sled. All was going well for my first experience as a surfer when mid-surf, Randy decided to jump on with me and basically jumped ON me. I immediately heard my ankle crack and I yelled out in pain. I just knew it was broken after I heard that crack. Daniel and his mom helped me into the house and as I writhed in pain, they were able to slowly get my shoe off. I was wearing my Justin high top tennis shoes. I personally believe they were the only thing that saved my ankle from breaking by providing support all around the ankle. As we got the shoe off, the foot and ankle were already noticably swollen. We decided the best thing to do was go the ER. The ER did x-rays and decided it was not broken, but that I did sprain and tear almost all the ligaments holding my ankle together. They gave me a brace to wear and told me to ice it and keep it elevated. That would be no problem, I thought, since there was no way I could walk on it. The next day as Daniel went to work, I was slithering around on the floor on my butt to get around. He came home at lunch, saw how pitiful I was, and went back to the hospital to get me some crutches. That helped tremendously! By the second day, you couldn't even tell that I had an ankle bone from all the swelling and the bruising extended to the tips of all my toes. It looked like my foot had been crushed. I was working at the bowling alley in Yukon on weekends at the time and I got very special treatment while I worked the desk. I got a chair to sit in and I drew sympathy from everyone. It took a little over six weeks for it to completely heal. I remember on my wedding day, April 12th, three months after the accident, it was hard for me to walk in heels on that ankle. To this day, when it gets rainy outside, I will get an ache in that ankle.

Like I said, I've never had any major injuries. Praise God! The only stiches I've had are from surgeries (C-sections, Varicose vein removal, ingrown toenail removal) and I've never broken a real bone. Except for a toe, which is such a sissy bone that it doesn't really deserve the title, "bone."

Bedtime

2010-08-12T12:46:00.003-05:00

We have not had the best of luck at bedtime at the Rhoda house. I take full responsibility for that. I've never been as strict as I should be about going to bed at a certain time. When Madelyn was a baby, she would go to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 and it was good. When she was about 2 1/2, she got very sick and I brought her into bed with me for a few nights to soothe her and it was very hard to get her back in her bed. Shortly after that she started having seizures and I brought her back into bed with me again. It was mainly because I was scared to leave her alone thinking she would have a big one and I wouldn't hear her and she'd choke or fall out of bed or something else terrible. So I let her back into bed with me. And I'll admit it....I enjoy her sleeping with me! I can't sleep with David because he snores, so it's nice to have a bed buddy. And she's getting older every second and I love the fact that I can turn over anytime in the night and snuggle her or just plant a kiss on her sweet cheek. She won't be little for much longer. Granted it does put a damper on some things....like adult activities : ). It also makes it hard to watch a scary movie or any other thing a 5 year old shouldn't watch. Madelyn has become a night owl with me and so it's hard to get a free moment to myself. We've never had the traditional daycare situation and work situation where Mommy has to be at work at 8:00 and kids have to be dropped off at daycare at 7:30, so the girls have never had to be up really early on a regular basis. They've either gone to grandmas' houses around 9:30, or to Children's Day Out at 9:30 or with a babysitter at the house. So I've never made a big deal about getting them to bed really early. But now that Kindergarten is starting next week for Madelyn, I feel like it's time to get on a real schedule. Meredith was always a great sleeper until we got her out of her crib. She had all this new found freedom and wanted to party every night. So, bedtime has been a struggle with her since about December. Then it got really bad when me and the girls went to Florida in June. We all got off our routine and sleep schedules were more like whenever you fell asleep and wherever. When we got back, I tried to get them back on a schedule and then Michelle came to live with us about 3 weeks after Florida and that has screwed things up again. Michelle is sleeping in the girls' room and Meredith is in my room in the pack and play and Madelyn is in bed with me. Michelle is going to have to start sleeping on a blow up mattress in the living room this weekend because I HAVE to get those girls in a routine.

Things have worked really well the last two nights. We are starting a routine where we brush their teeth at 8 and then pick out some books and read till around 8:30 or 8:45. Last night I read to Meredith and then laid her down in my bed while I sang to her and rubbed her back. She tried to get out several times, but I wouldn't let her. I know I have to be consistent. She finally gave up the fight about 9:10 and was asleep about 5 minutes after. I made Madelyn come lay down too with every intention of letting her get back up for a little bit after Meredith went to sleep, but she fell asleep too! So, I'm hoping tonight is more of the same, maybe even a little easier. We have one week before school starts and life gets crazy again! Wish me Luck!

Funny Girls!

2010-07-12T20:53:00.002-05:00

My babies have cracked me up today several times and I wanted to write them all down so I can remember them. The girls each have their own personalities and are funny in their own ways. Madelyn is more serious, but is more silly when she's being funny. She thinks it's funny to talk about poop (Sometimes I think she might be a boy with all the poop and pee talk). She comes up with really witty, funny things that she doesn't even know is funny sometimes. Meredith is just plain goofy with a touch of orneriness mixed in. Her orneriness puts me in tears sometimes with the goofy things she does and says. Today was a red-letter day in the Rhoda house when it comes to comedians. Here's a little snippet of our day:

Madelyn---I was talking to Aunt Holly via text today telling her how proud we were of her for passing her boards. Madelyn goes and gets out her doctor's mask and comes into my room. She comes up to me as my doctor and says, "Ma'am, you're going to have to have surgery on your ribs." I ask her, "Why?" She says, "Because they are hurting you." She then says, "You will be awake the whole time, but it won't hurt much. I will hold your hand." I ask her why I can't have pain medication for the surgery and she tells me that I just don't get any. WTH!!

Later in the play with her as my doctor, I am a different patient. She comes into my room with her mask up over her eyes this time. She touches my hand and in a very sympathetic voice says, "Today is Surgery without Seeing Day!" She assures me she does it all the time and I will be okay. My face was mortified as she started doing surgery on me blindly. She worked very quickly as she repaired my "swollen goiter" (where she heard that, I don't know). Although my goiter was not in its usual place of the throat, but in my abdomen!

Meredith----The first time she made me really laugh today and beam with happiness was when she told me, "I love you SO much and You're the best guhl (girl) EVER!" Then, not 15 minutes later, she comes into my room with a bowl full of popcorn and says, "Do you want some popcorn, Mama?" I said, "No, thank you." She says, "Yes you do, Mama," as she pops a piece in her mouth. So I say, "Ok, Meredith, I'll take a piece." She proceeds to take the piece she just put in her mouth out of her mouth and sticks it in my mouth. Before I could protest, she says, "Chew real good, Mama!" I guess it wasn't a big deal to her that we were sharing spit with that piece of popcorn.

I have prayed lately for God to slow me down and help me to savor my babies' every moment. I feel like today he gave me an extra special gift with their silliness and precious laughter. What a blessing my babies are to me! Thank you God for every special day and moment.

Fun with the Webcam

2010-06-07T14:46:00.003-05:00

The girls wanted me to add something to my "dot-com", so I told them we'd take some pictures with our webcam and put them on our blog. So, here's what you get.....

Girls' Spring Program

2010-04-21T19:35:00.002-05:00

The girls had their annual spring program at their Children's Day Out program last night. It was Meredith's first year to participate and she did awesome.

Meredith's was the first class to perform and the youngest. They all came out and sat on the stage with drumsticks in their hands. The music started (Wipe Out) and the cutie little 2 year olds started playing their drums. It was absolutely precious. Meredith was quite the performer! She had a good time.

Madelyn's class was the last class to perform and the oldest. They sang "You've Got A Friend In Me" while pictures of her classmates showed on the monitors. Then they sang "J is for Jesus" with two other classes. Madelyn was one of several kids in her class that was moving on to Kindergarten. They gave them caps to wear and had them walk across the stage to receive a certificate and a Bible! She loved it!

I'm sad that Madelyn is leaving that school because it has been such a blessing, but she's on to bigger and better things. Meredith will be back there next year. Enjoy my little cuties!

-Mom-...the little blond girl to the left of Meredith is Wes Wolf's little girl, Izzy.

Easter 2010

2010-04-20T20:40:00.003-05:00

I didn't take very many pictures this year on Easter....I was diagnosed with a double inner ear infection the day before and didn't feel all that great. My sister took some pictures and without her permission, I stole some of hers from her Facebook. I know she won't mind. : )

Meredith's Easter dress was Madelyn's when she was 2 1/2. It's an absolutely gorgeous satiny white dress with pearls on it. Mom found one for Madelyn to wear with her that matched perfectly. They were almost exactly the same. They looked like they were going to a wedding. I wish Meredith had more hair so I could've done more with it. When Madelyn wore the dress for Easter 3 years ago, she had thick hair down to almost the middle of her back and it was all curled up. She truly looked like a princess. This year, Madelyn's hair was short, but I still curled it and we put a beautiful purple flower pin in it. Meredith is not about any kind of hairwear, so I tortured her by curling her hair under. It gave it some body and looked really pretty for about an hour and then the curl just fell out. It's amazing to me how different each girl's hair is.

After a wonderful church service, we went over to Mom's for lunch where she fed us yummy, yummy food. The weather was gorgeous with lots of sun and light winds. We took advantage and took the girls outside for an Easter egg hunt. Aunt Kim made up lots of eggs for the girls that contained candy and money! They had a great time. Take a look!

I have a blogging deficiency

2010-04-20T20:33:00.002-05:00

When I started this blog almost 2 years ago, I had planned on keeping it much more up to date. I have plenty to write about, including lots of funny stories with two children 5 and under, but it's hard to just take the time to sit down and put those stories into words. I need to concentrate when I'm writing and around here, concentration is a luxury! I feel like my brain is mush most of the time. I can't remember the last time I watched a show in complete silence without a question every 3.2 seconds or a cry from the little one saying, "Mommy, I need to poop!" The joys of potty-training. My babies will do this even when their very capable daddy is mere feet away not doing anything that takes concentration or quiet. There's just something about Mommy that makes it imperative that Mommy do the answering or be poop chaperone.

Alas, my babies are what give substance to this blog. I vow, as I am finishing school (Yippee!) in two weeks, to give this blog more attention and to let you in on our funny lives. At least once a day, I laugh so hard at one of my children that my heart feels like it's going to explode.

So.....on to blogging.

Puke-Fest 2010

2010-01-19T19:54:00.003-06:00

Well, Puke-Fest 2010 is finally coming to a close. We've had full capacity with all Rhoda family members participating.

It all started on Saturday, January 16th. We had gotten up early that morning, had breakfast and made it to the gym by 9:00 a.m. We got home from the gym about 10:25 and took baths and showers. We decided to feed the girls lunch a little earlier than normal because we wanted Meredith to take an early nap since we had a birthday party to go to about 1:45 and she would have missed part of her nap. By 12:00, the girls were fed and Meredith was down for her nap. I was resting in my bed watching T.V. and was dozing in and out. I started to faintly hear Meredith crying. I knew she hadn't been in bed that long and I figured David would go in and settle her back down. I actually layed there about 2 or 3 minutes while she cried and then decided to go in and check on her because I couldn't figure out why David wasn't going to her. When I got up, I realized he was in the shower, so he didn't hear her. I go into her room and was greeted with the unfavorable stench of vomit. As I got closer, I realized to my horror that she was covered in it. At first, I was undecided as to whether the crying made her throw up or if she threw up and then started crying. I grabbed her sweetness out of bed and we made our way to the bathroom where David was taking a shower. I stripped her of her clothes and handed her to him to bathe. As David finished bathing her, I rinsed all of her clothes off to put them in the washer. Up to this point, I was all excited that I had gotten a head start on my laundry the day before and only had one load left to go. Little did I know that I would literally burn the motor up on the dryer by the end of the weekend with all the laundry that the Puke-Fest created. Before we got Meredith dressed (thankfully), she threw up again and we realized she was indeed sick. We agreed that I would stay home with her while David took Madelyn to the party. David cleaned up Meredith's bed while I started the first of many loads of laundry. Before we even got the first load started, Meredith had soiled two more sets of clothes with vomit and I was on my third shirt. We decided it would behoove us to just keep her in a diaper. We pulled a large sheet out of the linen closet and layed it in the living room floor. Since she barely slept during her nap, she was very sleepy, but Bless her Heart, she couldn't sleep because she was puking every 5 minutes. Everytime she would throw up on the sheet, I would wipe it up with a paper towel and move her to a dry spot. I figured out very early that I was going to have to conserve materials or I would run out of things to sop up vomit with. I gave her water to drink, but she threw up every bit she consumed. She threw up so much, I eventually had to double up the sheet until there weren't any dry places left. She basically did this all night long, ran a low-grade fever through the night and hardly slept. David and I were up most of the night with her and doing laundry. On Sunday morning, Meredith had thrown up one last time at 5:30. By 9:00, we felt confident that the throwing up might be over. She was happy to just lay on one of us and sleep. David and I traded off giving each other naps. I went to sleep on Sunday afternoon about 1:00 and slept until 3:30 until I was abruptly woken up by the sudden urge to rush to the bathroom where I was greeted by a staggering case of diarrhea! From that moment on, I knew I had CAUGHT IT! Poor David was now charged with taking care of Meredith and me. We brought Meredith into bed with me and she and I just layed there in our misery. As time went on, the awful stomach cramps came on with a vengeance! I had never been in so much pain in my life. During this time, David was in the laundry room doing the 400 loads of laundry we had accumulated and was actually making a dent in it. Madelyn was in the extra bedroom watching a movie. Around 6:00, I heard the familiar sound of vomiting coming from the room Madelyn was in. Sure enough, she puked a load! It was all over the extra bed. More laundry--Aagghhhh!!! I really couldn't do much because I was so weak and was in the bathroom about every 5 minutes anyway. David had to give Madelyn a bath and then take the sheets off that bed to start some MORE laundry. He had such a good attitude about it!! At this point, we brought Madelyn into my room with me and Meredith since were were ALL sick at this point. We put Meredith to bed around 7:00 that night and Madelyn and I were both miserable in my bed. I felt terrible! She felt terrible! She would throw up every once in while, but thankfully made it into the bucket! I actually called my mom about 8:15 crying because I was hurting so badly! I just wanted her to come and take the pain away. I barely slept that night because I was getting up to go to the bathroom so often. Madelyn actually threw up a tiny bit in the bed one time, but at this point, I didn't rip the sheets off because I was sure this wasn't the worst of it. I was right! After I finally was able to get to sleep about 12:00 a.m., I was shaken awake by the horrible sound of projective vomit right next to me at 1:00 a.m.! Madleyn got nowhere near the bucket on this one. She couldn't help it....the only provocation she had was a burp and there it was. I hated to wake up David because he was SO tired after taking care of all of us, so Madelyn and I worked together to get the sheets off the bed and start yet another load of laundry. We remade the bed and were back in it by 1:45. I stayed awake until the first load of blankets was laundered and dried because I wanted my silky blanket back. So, I didn't go back to sleep until about 3:30 a.m. Thankfully, that was Madelyn's last time to throw up. Miraculously, by the next morning, she was pretty much her normal self. No upset tummy, no diarrhea, just a little tired. I guess her immunue system kicked into overdrive. By Monday morning, Meredith had thrown up a couple more times in the night and was still just very lethargic with a fever. I didn't feel nauseous anymore, but my stomach was cramping constantly. Me and the bathroom have become best friends! If I haven't been in the bathroom this weekend, I've been in the utility room doing laundry. Monday morning brought out the true virulence of this bug when David was overcome with it....diarrhea, fatigue, stomach cramping. Also, Monday morning as I was drying the last bit of laundry, I smelled a burning smell coming from the dryer. I felt it was safest to just turn it off and have David look at it when he felt better. David spend the majority of the day Monday sleeping. Meredith was very sleepy and was content sleeping in someone's arms. She didn't eat, but drank lots of water which made me feel better because I knew she wasn't getting dehydrated. Madelyn was her normal self....like she hadn't even been sick. I was still the same....just horrendous cramps and diarrhea after another sleepless night. My dad was off for Martin Luther King Day, so I called him and asked him to come over and be with the girls while David and I took a much needed nap. He did (Thank you so much Daddy!) and we were both able to get some rest. I decided late in the evening that we would be home again on Tuesday since Meredith and I were still running a fever, so she couldn't go to school anyway. David ended up having to stay home again too because he and the toilet had become best friends too! Thankfully, Meredith woke up her normal, jovial self. She was much better today and ate some food. I woke up with the extra special gift of Aunt Flo coming to visit which just added to my cramping and diarrhea. We just tried to rest today and get over the rest of this crap. We had to call out the repairman to come look at the dryer. We basically burned up the motor with all the 426 loads of laundry we did this weekend. He fixed it and it cost us a pretty penny. Pretty expensive illness, huh? This afternoon, David and I finally were able to clean up the house a little bit from Puke-Fest 2010. I went through the whole house with a can of Lysol spraying everything in sight! One good thing came out of this whole mess....it has certainly aided in our weight loss! : ) We are all going back to work and school tomorrow and pray for continued healing! Thank God we are at the finish line!

It's hard to be a Mommy....

2010-01-04T16:13:00.005-06:00

I've decided it's just plain hard to be a mommy. These past two weeks have really been my hardest yet, I believe. I had the week of Christmas off work and then worked from home the next week. The girls were out of school the same two weeks. While it was a blessing to get to spend some good time with them, it was also very exhausting.

I tend to hit a wall about every 4 or 5 months with everything that I do.....school, work, mom, wife, etc. Here's what happens....I'll just get very stressed and overwhelmed with every little thing all of a sudden. Usually, I just need a day or two of "me" time to refresh and restore and I'm okay. The problem this time was I hit that wall around December 14th after I had just finished finals and completed a big project for work and was heading into a slow time at work. I was looking forward to my break from school and work. But I never quite got the opportunity to refresh because the girls were on break too. Now, we all start back to work and school tomorrow and the vicious cycle starts all over again. I just can't seem to get over the hump!

Don't get me wrong, I love my girls more than anything in the whole world, but they are difficult sometimes. I'm basically the only one responsible for getting all three of us out the door every morning and 4 out of 5 days, I'm responsible for picking the girls up and getting them home. I'm really not complaining.....I chose this life and appreciate it very much because it allows us to save money and allows me to be an involved mommy. I'm just saying that it's hard sometimes.

I feel like a bad mommy when I say anything about how I'm overwhelmed. I know I'm short with the girls when I'm at the wall and I'm not as encouraging. I'm grouchy to my husband and other people. I feel like I should be able to handle every little thing that comes at me without a single complaint or sour attitude. BUT, sometimes, it's HARD!! Sometimes, I want to scream and yell and literally run away! I want to lock myself in a sound-proof room with chocolate ice cream and a T.V. I'm just saying it's hard sometimes.

I'm very aware of the situation God has blessed me with. I'm very aware of the wonderful angels God has blessed me with that help me out with the girls when I need it. I'm very aware I'm not the only Mom who gets stressed out sometimes.............I'm also VERY aware of how blessed I am to have been chosen by GOD to be Madelyn and Meredith's mommy! I thank him every day! It's just hard to be a Mommy sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for anything!

A Nice November Day

2009-11-02T17:03:00.003-06:00

Today was beautiful outside, so me and the girls went out into the backyard to enjoy it. I think it was about 70 degrees, I never actually saw the temperature. We played on the swingset and Meredith drove the little car around. Madelyn and I played "Eye doctor" one time and I (the eye doctor) asked her, "Do you see well at night?" She answered "No, not really and I can't hear very well either! Can you do ear appointments too?" What a silly girl!!

Meredith was quite the little daredevil. I caught her more than once trying to climb up the big ladder onto the swingset. Then she did start climbing up the slide, saying, "I climb!" I couldn't believe how well she did. Just a few pictures of our day.

Fall Festival

2009-10-29T12:54:00.004-05:00

Today was the Fall Festival at the girls' school. I fully expect them to come home completely high on sugar. The teachers probably laugh their hinies off as they hand them over to us. I remember a couple of years ago on Valentines Day at Madelyn's old daycare, I swear she ate sugar all day long and then when she came home, she was like a troll on heroin! Not that I've ever seen that.....I can just imagine. I wanted to strangle the teacher for letting her eat all that!!

Madelyn dressed as a 50's girl and Meredith went as a little cowgirl. I had to put Meredith's boots and ribbons in her hair twice. The little stinker....she just won't keep clothes on and her hair in a ponytail. Madelyn got dressed this morning and informed me that she didn't think she looked pretty. She was wearing a white boyish shirt and the whole 50's gear. (You'll see the pictures). The shirt wasn't all that boyish....it just certainly wasn't feminine. Now Madelyn Grace is certainly her MiMi's granddaughter. This child asks Mimi everytime she talks to her what she's wearing and when she sees her in person, she always compliments Mimi on her style. This girl likes to be very girly. The whole long hair, purse-carrying, princess dress wearing girly thing! I told her I'd make her a monogrammed "M" for her shirt like the ladies on Laverne and Shirley used to wear on their sweaters. She could wear that for actual Halloween night. She was impressed with that option since it made her outfit more girly. She wants it to be pink. I've actually enlisted Mimi for the job to do on her computer since my color cartridge is out of ink.

Meredith looked too precious!! I can't wait to go pick her up and see if she wore her clothes all day and what her freaky hair looks like! Here they are this morning before we left for school! Enjoy!

WoW! God works!

2009-10-20T12:50:00.002-05:00

I was staring at my list I posted yesterday with all the blog ideas with the intention of picking one to write about. Instead God tapped me on the shoulder and said he needed me to write about something else. He's been tapping me alot lately.

If you are a K-Love listener, this week is their pledge drive. This radio station is solely supported by listener's pledges and prayers. The first time I pledged was in March of 2006 right after Nancy died. I pledged $20 because that was all I could give at the time. That time was the worst in my life financially though, but God kept telling me he would provide and he did. I did really well for the first year faithfully sending in my pledge every month, sometimes more if I had it. Then, I just kind of fell away from it. K-Love would send me sweet letters asking me if they could pray for me and if I needed to reduce my gift since I hadn't been sending it faithfully. I would be overcome with guilt and throw the letter away. I didn't think I had the money at that time because I had credit card debt to contend with and other things to spend it on. God was talking to me about it, but I was ignoring him.

Every once in a while, I would be listening to K-Love and think, "I need to send them some money! They have such a blessed ministry!" But I never did it. This year's pledge drive started last Tuesday and God started tugging on my heart again. This time, I perked up a little more and promised myself and him that I would send $20 in the next time I sat down and paid bills which would be at the first of November. That wasn't good enough for our Mighty God. But he never yelled at me....he never got angry....he just kept gently nudging me telling me "April, I've provided for you every time in your life. What makes you think I won't this time? I'm the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow!" I had made the decision then to write the check today when I sat down to update my bills spreadsheet. Well, that still wasn't in God's plan. Yesterday as I was driving to school, I had to radio tuned to K-Love. When I first started listening, I thought that this pledge drive had been more inspiring than past ones. Lots of beautiful stories of how K-Love has touched people's lives. But none of them had moved me like the one I was about to hear. Kelly on the afternoon show started reading a letter they had received from a man named Brett. His letter read something like this: "I am not an avid K-Love listener or supporter. I rarely listen to the radio especially while I'm driving as it distracts me. This weekend, my gorgeous wife of 6 years was torn from me because of a sudden illness. I also lost my precious baby son who was due to be born on October 29th. I ran out of the hospital crying inconsolably, crying out to God and got into my car. When I got into my car, my radio was tuned to K-Love and the song, "There will be a Day" by Chris Tomlin was playing. I hadn't left my radio on when I went inside. As the song played, my heart cried out to Jesus and as he held me and consoled me like the precious Father he is, he told me to give to K-Love. That's why I'm calling you today....because K-Love was there for me in a horrendous moment in my life and every gift people give matters. I have come back to Jesus and I know I will see my beautiful wife and son in Heaven." OMG....as I heard those words being read, I choked up so badly that I almost had to pull off on the side of the road. It made my heart physically hurt for this man and what he had gone through. But what a testimony of how God meets us just how and when we need him! By the way, the writer of the song, "There will be a Day" Chris Tomlin, lost his wife also when they were newlyweds. I knew right then that all those stories I had been hearing from people about how K-Love had brought them back to Jesus or kept them from committing suicide or just encouraged them......those stories had been for me. God had been gently whispering them in my ear until that last one when he shouted it into my heart. Right then, I picked up my cell phone and called K-Love. I had then set me up with an automatic gift every month coming directly out of my checking account. It's called an EZ-Gift. To me, it's a step of faith knowing that God will provide and I can't let the devil talk me out of making the payment each month. It comes out automatically. The feeling I got for being obedient to God at that moment was awesome! I knew that I had made him happy! I give him all the Glory for the good that station brings to people and I'm so thankful he lets me be a part of it. God is So Good!!

Blog Ideas

2009-10-19T13:02:00.002-05:00

1. The Story of my most serious injury.
2. The person I admire most.
3. This will be my epitaph.
4. Why I love my hometown.
5. Why I hate my hometown.
6. Why I was a childhood bully.
7. How I shop.
8. How I choose to spend my money.
9. I wish I spent less money on this.
10. Why I'm in my current job.
11. My ideal job.
12. My high school clique.
13. My worst subject in school.
14. If I had a super-power.
15. Here's where my opinion differs from the majority.
16. Why I voted the way I did in the last election.
17. Why I don't vote.
18. The cause I really believe in.
19. Why I came to religion.
20. Why I don't believe anymore.
21. Where I find spirituality.
22. My first kiss.
23. My worst kiss.
24. The first time I had my heart broken.
25. Why I travel.
26. Why I don't travel.
27. My philosophy on raising children.
28. Why I chose my university degree.
29. My favorite place on the planet.
30. My greatest sin against the environment
31. Why I married my spouse.
32. My most hated movie.
33. The book that changed my life.
34. My unexpected mentor.
35. I couldn't live without this song.
36. If I hear this song again, radio personalities will suffer.
37. Why I believe in luck.
38. Why I don't believe in luck.
39. Where I volunteer.
40. Where I don't volunteer.
41. My favorite item of clothing growing up.
42. If this celebrity knocked on my door, I'd run away with them.
43. Why I care about celebrities.
44. Why I love this sport.
45. When I'm at my most self-indulgent
46. How to be selfless.
47. My childhood dreams, and how I've fulfilled them.
48. How I learned patience.
49. How my hard work paid off.
50. I've never been more surprised in all my life.
51. What scares the crap out of me.
52. The only thing I can teach you.

I stole these from Holly's blog. It's just a list of ideas to write about on your blog. I figure I will choose a few and write about them. Stay tuned!

Meredith and her cute little voice!

2009-09-07T12:03:00.003-05:00

Last week, Madelyn spent Thursday night with Mimi and so we had Meredith all alone. While I worked on homework on the computer, Daddy and Meredith did some reading and playing. Meredith got ahold of Madelyn's workbook and started asking Daddy, "What's that?" She asks this about everything now. It's so cute listening to her and watching her learn! Have a look!

Girls' First Day of School

2009-09-07T11:49:00.003-05:00

Madelyn and Meredith had their first day of school on Tuesday, September 1st. Madelyn is in a Pre-Kindergarten class and Meredith is in an 18-24 month class. Madelyn wanted to dress up, so I decided to dress them both up. Madelyn did really well when I took her to her class. It was all familiar to her and she had a lot of the same kids in her class. I had brought bedding for her naptime and the teacher informed me that Madelyn's class doesn't do naptime this year. I was sort of shocked, and I think Madelyn was kind of peeved. She fights going to sleep, but she's always a good sleeper. The good thing about it is that we don't have to fight her as much at night to go to bed at a decent time. Meredith did well too when I dropped her off. She has never been to any kind of formal child care in her almost 21 months, so it was very new to her. When I was ready to leave, she did follow me and cried a little bit, but not bad. I had to go back out to the car to get the girls' school supplies and when I dropped Meredith's off, I just set them outside her classroom so she wouldn't see me again. I did sneak a look in on her and she was comforting another little girl that was really upset. I have the sweetest girls!! Meredith was VERY excited to see me at the end of the day. When I came to get her, she said, "Momma!!" and ran over to me. She then started unloading her basket to me telling me, "Let's Go!" Very cute! Madelyn had a great day too and she had lots to tell me. We had brought some play clothes from home because my friend Leslie was taking them to McDonald's after school for a treat and some playtime while I finished out my workday. It was a good day!

Naughty Madelyn

2009-09-07T11:42:00.003-05:00

I posted these pictures on Facebook last week, but I wanted to add them to my blog for people that don't do Facebook like my Dad and Cindy. I came home from work a few weeks ago when my Aunt May was keeping the girls for me and this is how I found Madelyn. Meredith had been sick most of the day, so Aunt May was preoccupied with her and naughty Madelyn took advantage of Aunt May and covered herself with tattoos! I believe we counted 17 in all!! I was mortified when I saw them! When I gave her a bath that night, I nearly scrubbed her little skin off trying to get them off. We mainly concentrated on the tattoos on her face since they were the most noticeable. Here is what she looked like when I came home. Naughty Madelyn!!!

Detoxification

2009-09-07T11:39:00.003-05:00

Well, the 7-day detoxification did not work out as planned. I lasted 3 days. The main deal-breaker was the feeling like I was going to pass out on a regular basis. I could eat as much as I wanted, but I'm not a huge fan of plain vegetables and fruit, so I didn't eat enough. I did learn several fruits that I liked, so that was a good thing. I'll try it again when I'm ready to eat more.

7-day Detoxification

2009-08-17T12:55:00.002-05:00

Last week, my mom told me about this detoxification diet she had read about and suggested it to me. Now, let me tell you....my first thought was, "No Way!" as she told me I was only to eat raw fruits and vegetables. If you know me at all, then you know I don't like fruit, never have, and swore I never will. But, I thought I just might try it just to see if I could do it and try to learn to like fruit. I gave David a list of things I wanted and he went to the store on Saturday to stock up. There are lots of vegetable that I like, so that wasn't an issue. It was hard coming up with the fruits to buy though. I decided on watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, apples, and peaches. For breakfast this morning, I had pineapple, cantaloupe, and orange juice. I found this morning that I'm not a huge fan of cantaloupe, but can stomach it. I do LOVE pineapple though in spite of its stringiness (that usually grosses me out)! For lunch, I'm eating a salad with avacado, onion, mushroom, bell pepper, and light balsalmic vinegar, with lots of black pepper to taste. It's actually pretty good, although I do miss the cheese a little bit. I think I can do this for a week! The only things I'm worried about are staying full, working out while doing this diet, and getting burned out. From what I've read, I should stay full because I can have as much as I want all day long, but it takes me a lot longer to eat I've noticed just because these aren't meals I would naturally choose. I'm afraid I'll be a little lightheaded from the negative caloric intake and then try to workout. I don't want to over-do it! For supper, I plan on having a bowl of beans. I LOVE beans, so that will be something to look forward to. Beans are high in fiber and they fill you up, so that's probably a good choice to end the day on. I probably will have to take some sort of fruit snack or some broccoli to munch on though because I start class tonight which means I will have to eat supper around 4:30 and then I go to class from 5:45 to 10:15. It will definitely take some getting used to. But it's only for a week and I can do ANYTHING for a week!! Wish me Luck!!

New Earrings

2009-08-14T21:22:00.005-05:00

Madelyn has finally made it the 8 weeks to change her earrings for the first time. She's talked about it for weeks and decided a few weeks ago to go with her new ice cream earrings to coordinate with her ice cream shirt for the first change. Daddy sat down with her tonight for the big reveal. They were a little tender and she cried just a tad, but she did awesome. You'll see in the pictures that her little eyes are red from the few tears. She wants to wear her monkey earrings tomorrow, so it looks like we'll be changing them often now. Have a look!

Sally Shifter

2009-07-27T15:40:00.003-05:00

This is the name of my gear shift in my car. Why did I name my gear shift, you ask! Well, she cost me almost $500 last week, so I figured she deserved a name. She actually cost me more than Madelyn, so I guess I became the mom of three last week. She weighed in at 9 oz. and was 7 inches long. She's silver and black and quite the prissy little thang!! Here is the story of how we got her.

Last Saturday, we were coming home from the gym and David went to put the car in park and there was a CD kind of in the way. As he put it into park, he ran into some resistance from the CD, but it still went in. We didn't think anything of it until a little while later when I went to leave with the girls. I turned on the car and went to put it in reverse. I couldn't get the gear shift to move at all. The button wouldn't even push in. I hollered at David to come out and look at it. He messed with a little while, but still couldn't get it. He finally took off the handle and realized the stick that was sticking up was what was jammed. He took some pliers to hold the stick and very lightly tapped the stick with a hammer. Voila!! The stick returned to its rightful place and the shifter moved again. Alas.....it wasn't that easy! I then noticed that the gear shift would shift through all gears without needing to push the brake in first. NOT GOOD!! We finally decided we needed to have someone look at it and I decided to take David's car instead. I went to pull my keys out of the ignition and they wouldn't come out. Arrgghh!!! So, basically we disabled the safety feature of the brake and enabled the key safety feature. I didn't feel very safe at that moment thought. I felt very screwed!! Because I couldn't get the key out of the ignition, David had to disable the battery or we would have had to add that to the list to fix. On Monday, he took my car to be fixed and I was praying incessantly to God that it wouldn't be that expensive to fix...maybe $100. Yeah, I know....I live in dreamland! David called me and told me it would be $465 to fix. I immediately started bawling and was P.O.'d. We had no other choice, but to fix it. I was mad at God for about 2.3 seconds, but quickly came back to reality and praised him for being in control and that he wouldn't forsake us. Don't we have an Awesome God?

So, that is how we got Sally May Shifter. It's been quite a transition, but we will be taking visitors soon! I've got to go now, she's crying for some attention!!

Funny and Cute pictures of the Girls

2009-07-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

Madelyn was trying to kiss Meredith here and she wasn't about it.

Meredith has taken to putting on Madelyn's panties over her diapers and this day she put them on over her clothes. Mommy's gonna have to teach her to color coordinate.

Meredith looking so cute and old before church.

Sisterly Love

2009-07-13T21:08:00.004-05:00

I love to see the girls interracting together more often. They chase each other all the time and wrestle some. It's getting easier to leave them alone in their room for a very short time playing while I pick up the house or just take a breather. Meredith is at that age (19 months yesterday) where she is into EVERYTHING and always going and never in one place. It's exhausting!! But it probably helps with the weight loss. I actually said today that I ought to weigh 120 pounds with as much as I carry children around and pick up after them and chase them.

Tonight the girls were playing and Meredith trying to catch Madelyn to tickle her. You can hear Meredith in one part of the video saying "Tickle, Tickle, Tickle" in her cute little voice. I think her hair looks precious in this video. I've started putting her hair up whenever possible because her hair is so fine that it just falls in her face all the time. She usually pulls the ponytail out withing 15 minutes of me putting it in. But this time, she actually left it in for over 4 hours.

Anyway, enjoy some cute sister time!!

iMadelyn

2009-07-13T20:47:00.003-05:00

Madelyn's favorite show right now is iCarly. It's about this girl and her two friends who have their own webcast. She decided tonight that she wanted to go her own webshow, so this is her version of iMadelyn. Enjoy!!

65 Things....

2009-07-08T15:37:00.010-05:00

I was reading someone else's blog today where they wrote one listing 100 things about themselves and/or their life in honor of their 100th post. I'm not quite to 100 yet, but felt the urge to do this anyway, so you get "65 Things" in honor of 65 posts!

1. 1984--this was the year I turned seven. I remember my party particularly because this party and memory contained my Aunt Susie. My stepmom Cindy just mentioned this to me the other day. I remember my Aunt Susie got me nail polish and lipstick for my birthday. My mom was none too happy about that because of the messiness factor. When I got home with them, I don't think I saw them again because Mom came like a thief in the night and snatched them. I probably thought she was pure evil at the time, but now as a mother, I applaud her!

2. Civil War--most people that know me well know I'm a huge Civil War buff. As a matter of fact, I'm in the middle of watching North and South again for probably the 1,258th time. My love for that time period was re-awakened last week as I drove through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coming home from Florida. Just driving through the states, seeing railroad tracks, seeing the old homes, reminded me of the simpleness of life in those times. One day, God Willing, I'll be able to visit all the old Civil War sites.

3. Water--I like water to drink now so much more since I've quit smoking. When I smoked, I couldn't stand to drink water because it wouldn't get the nasty taste out of my mouth. Now when I drink it, it's so pure and tasty and it reminds me that my mouth tastes a lot better because it doesn't have a cigarette in it!

4. Girly--I, myself am NOT girly at all! But I find it funny that God gave me two girls whom I love to frill up and make princessy! I'm totally into the hair bows, dresses and shoes for the girls, but couldn't care less for myself in that department.

5. Blue--my favorite color. I have to have some sort of shade of it in anything I make or color or it doesn't look symmetrical to me.

6. Spelling--I've always been a very good speller. I won the spelling bee in my grade every year through seventh grade, where I actually won the building spelling bee. It's a special gift!!

7. Cooking--I DETEST cooking.....I'm not very good at it and just plain can't stand it. Thank God he sent me a husband who loves to cook and is awesome at it.

8. Swing Dancing--I've wanted to take Swing Dancing classes for a while now. Maybe David and I can do that next summer when I finish school and the kids are a little bigger. My dream is to go to a wedding with my Swing Dancing skills and wow the audience.

9. Messages--I've been told several times that I leave the longest voice mail messages. I guess I do, but I just try to get everything I need to tell people out in one message.

10. Conservation--Going back to leaving messages.....I'm a huge conservationist! I get on to Madelyn all the time for wasting food. I make everybody turn off the faucet while they are brushing their teeth. If I have to run errands, I'll do a quick map out in my head before starting the trip to conserve time and gas. It's actually a little OCD!!

11. Escalators--I have a mild escalator phobia when my children are involved. I'm not scared of it when I'm by myself, but I hate taking Madelyn on one. She bounces around so much and spazzes with little provocation that I'm afraid she won't be paying attention and get sucked down into it. I'm weird, I know!

12. Holes--I have two holes in each ear that I hardly ever wear earrings in. Goes back to my non-girliness I guess. I actually don't mind earrings, but a few years ago, my ears suddenly started getting very irritated no matter what kind of earrings I wore. I haven't found a pair yet that don't bother me.

13. Salt--I NEVER add salt to anything. I will eat fries that someone salts, but it's not a requirement.

14. Summer--I enjoy the long days and outdoorsyness of summer, but I can't stand the heat that goes along with it. Every year, I get more and more sensitive to the heat. By the time I'm 65, I'll have to have an air conditioner strapped to my body to leave the house. 85 is my top tolerable temperature.

15. Winter--I LOVE winter!! I seriously think I could live in Alaska and it wouldn't bother me at all. As long as I see the sun and it's not cloudy all the time, I would love it. I love the coziness of winter. Coming home from work right when it's getting dark, putting on my jammies, and curling up in my bed with hot chocolate and a bowl of beans.!! Yummy!!

16. Gray Hair---these little intruders that have been coming in since I was 25 and are getting more and more frequent are really starting to tick me off. I'm so much on the verge of coloring them, but don't want the hassle of continuing to color my hair for the rest of my life.

17. Ford Fairlane--In high school, my friend Amy Westfall had a Cherry Red 1970 Ford Fairlane. We would ride around in it everywhere and I secretly coveted it as I had a 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier Station Wagon. The wagon was cool, but that Fairlane called my name.

18. Birthdays--I'm quite seriously autistic when it comes to remembering dates, especially birthdays. I can remember the birthdays of kids I went to elementary school with. I'm like a freak show to Mike Kobriger, a buddy of Dave's, who loves to show off my ability to groups we are with.

19. Cats--think they suck and I'm allergic to them.

20. Claustrophobia--seem to have a strengthening case of this. Seems to mainly affect me when I'm in a large crowd or driving at night or on a stinking bridge with ocean on either side. Makes me feel very out-of-control!

21.Blog--I started this blog almost a year ago to chronicle the lives of the girls and our family in general. I'd like to post at least once a week, but sometimes it's hard. This will be awesome to archive and have the girls look back at when they are older.

22. Birth--I was born on April 26, 1977 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

23. Big Baby--I weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long and I was breech until a little bit before I came out. The doctor got my mom up on all fours and reached in there and turned me around before my exit. My poor Mama!!

24. Extended Family--I have one sister (Holly) and three stepsisters (Kim, Misty, and Autumn) and one stepbrother(Nick). I have one dad(Dino) and one stepdad (Merritt). I have one mom (Veronica) and one stepmom (Cindy). I have 3 nieces and 2 nephews total.

25. Mannaw--I had an awesome great-grandmother on my mom's side. Her name was Hazel, but we called her Mannaw. I had the incredible blessing of getting to know and visit my great grandmother often when I was a child. She was very feisty, but very loving. She went to be with Jesus on August 26, 2004, three weeks before my first child was born. I miss her very much!!

26. Horses--Never been a big fan of horses. When I lived in Carnegie, it was almost required to like and ride horses. I would try my hand about once a year riding a horse, but never really got it. I actually started to get it and enjoy it about 3 months before Daniel and I split up. I'll have to try again someday.

27. Daniel--Daniel was my first husband. We met at Southwestern in the fall of 1995. We dated for a year and a half before we got married. Looking back, I got married way too young and I didn't have a clue what marriage was all about. But I don't for a second regret doing it. I loved Daniel very much and he had so many good qualities. My time with him shaped me and helped me grow as a person. I only wish him happiness!

28. David--My precious, God-Given life partner. We put God first in our marriage and we seek his will in everything we do. Our marriage isn't perfect, but our committment to God and each other is firm and steady! My favorite thing about David is that whenever I feel tired or have a headache, he very selflessly just takes over for me to get a little rest! That's when I feel the most special! He makes me laugh and scream sometimes too! He gave me two precious babies and for that I am eternally grateful!!

29. Wikipedia--I'm a Wikipedia addict. I know some of the stuff you read on there is not true or completely accurate as it is updated by people who choose to update it, but it has some really good information. Sometimes when I'm bored, I can spend 2 hours looking up stuff on there and learning new things.

30--Jeopardy--I think I would do really well on Jeopardy. I know a little bit about lots of things. I get this from my dad. We are full of useless information!!

31. Mushrooms--I couldn't stand mushrooms at all until I started dating David. I tried them one time with him and got hooked. Now I crave them. My favorite way to eat them is sauteed, Outback Steakhouse style!

32. The Twirly Game--I dont' know if that's the official name for it.....well, I guess it can be since I made it up. Holly will understand this. When Holly and I were about 6 and 8 respectively, we would play this game in the living room floor when we were bored. It required a long night gown that was stretchable. The night gown wearer would stand in the middle of the floor while the other player would lay down in the floor and grasp the night gown in her hand. Then the night gown wearer would run around the person on the floor as fast as she could while the person on the floor held on for dear life all while being twirled around at warp speeds.!! Great Game!! Provided hours of entertainment, but wasn't so good for the night gowns!

33. Age--this is the age I will be on my next birthday. It's going way too fast!! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was the night gown wearer twirling my sister around.

34. Getting hurt--When we were little, my sister got hurt ALL the time. Well, she still does and she's 30. I hardly ever got hurt, probably because I was a little less daring than Holly. But I always secretly wished I would break a leg or something to get that loving attention that Holly always got when she got hurt.

35. Fractured Wrist--one of the few times I DID get hurt as a kid, I couldn't hardly get anyone to believe me that I was hurt because I never got hurt. After my wrist swelled up to the size of a watermelon, I finally got the parents attention to take me to the hospital. They just weren't expecting me to really be hurt!

36. Dad singing--I remember my dad would sing in the car when I was little and I remember thinking what a great voice he had. And I always thought he should sing at church. He did sing in the choir for a time, but never a solo. I think he told me one time that he was too embarrassed or shy to sing by himself.

37. Michelle-- when I was 7 or 8, I was going through a name difficulty. When I started second grade, I decided I didn't want to go by April anymore, but I would rather go by my middle name of Michelle. I went by that my entire second grade year and then went back to April in third grade. Second grade was my incognito year!

38. Sarah--this was the name I always wanted for myself when I played make-believe. Which is actually ironic now because when Madelyn plays make-believe, she often chooses this name for her babies or herself. Like mother, Like daughter!

39. Hallmark moments--Before I had children, I was never really a sappy person at all! I could watch those Hallmark commercials all day and never shed a tear. Now, I can cry literally at the drop of a hat. I'm just so much more emotional than I used to be.

40. Baptism--this act brings me more joy than almost anything on this earth. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved witnessing Baptisms. They are just such a blessing and such a joy to see someone joining the family of God. Just last Sunday, two children got baptized and I watched their parents' choke up talking about it and the thought entered my mind of Madelyn and Meredith coming to me one day and asking to get baptized. Just the thought of them doing that brought big, ole, alligator tears to my eyes!!

41. Singing--I think I have a pretty singing voice. When we were coming home last week from Florida, Leslie and I sang together and it was beautiful. I think my voice sounds best when I'm singing praise and worship music. I believe that I have a voice for the Lord. I'm a little like my dad though and find it very hard to get up by myself and sing. I'd love to sing in a group though!

42. Pillows--I can't have too many pillows to sleep with. Before I was ever pregnant for the first time, I was a regular back sleeper. I slept with my head on one pillow and no other pillows for support. When I was pregnant, I started needing more support for my back and between my legs and I learned to sleep on my side. This is how I sleep all the time now.

43. Baby Kicks--my favorite part of my pregnancies! I remember it felt like an alien in there moving around and the coolest thing was watching it from the outside. Seeing a butt or body roll over in there was pretty exciting. I wish I had videotaped it. I actually tried it with Meredith several times, but the stubborn little thing never would move when the camera was rolling. Guess I'll just have to have another baby...**hint, hint, David**

44. Left-handed--I'm left-handed and very proud of it. I really think Meredith is going to be my left-handed kid. She uses it consistently to color with and throw a ball.

45. Lost Babies--I lost two babies between Madelyn and Meredith. Never knew why...it just happened. God is faithful though and blessed me with Meredith. I wonder if they were boys or girls. Thank God for his promise that I will see them again in heaven!

46. Silky--I am obsessed with silky blankets. I have been as long as I can remember. I used to have this one small silky blanket that my great-grandmother got me when I was a baby that I kept at my dad's house that was my favorite. I remember taking it in the car with me to church every Sunday. Now Meredith has the same fetish too!

47. Coca-Cola--my favorite drink in the whole world. I could drink it every day all day!! But, alas, my teeth would fall out and I would weigh 400 pounds. Since I'm actively dieting right now, I really have to control myself. I usually allow myself one 20 oz. Coke a week. It's like I'm in heaven when I'm drinking it.

48. Profile--I hate my profile!! I don't have a big nose, but it looks big in my profile. And I have a jaw that doesn't jut out enough if that makes sense. If I ever wanted plastic surgery (which I will never want), I would fix my profile.

49. Marriage--David and I were married on September 27, 2003 in Piedmont, Oklahoma.

50. Madelyn--Madelyn came along less than one year later on September 22, 2004.

51. Firstborn--Madelyn Grace is my precious firstborn. She was 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. She had lots of dark hair and pretty, dark skin.

52. Meredith--Meredith Kay Louise was born on December 12, 2007, her Great-grandmother's birthday!

53. Secondborn--Meredith is my precious secondborn. She was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. She had chubby cheeks and dark hair.

54. Teacher--I am a certified teacher. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. I haven't used my degree yet and may never, but I don't regret getting it. I still have that teacher blood running through me. I know it will come in handy when the girls are in school.

55. CPA--This is what I pray I am in about a year or so. My goal is to buy out a practice and begin building my own. I already have the property picked out that I want to build my office on.

56. Days--This is the number of days (56) that have to pass between blood donations. I am an avid blood donor. I started when I was 17 and really enjoy doing it. It makes me feel like I am helping someone.

57. I Corinthians 9:24-25--This is my favorite verse in the Bible. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run? But only ONE gets the prize? Run in such a way as to GET the prize! Everone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will NOT last, but we do it to get a crown that lasts FOREVER!"

58. Jesus Christ--I believe that Jesus is the Risen Son of the Living God. I believe he the Truth and the Light and my ONE true way to Heaven. I believe that although I am not worthy, that Jesus is my REDEEMER and paid the price for my sins!

59. Cocoa Puffs--I love this cereal!! I love that it satifies a chocolate craving and a crunchy craving. I love how it makes the milk brown and chocolatey.

60. Artistic Ability--I have absolutely NONE. My ex-husband Daniel was a gifted artist. My paternal grandfather was awesome. My stepmom can draw beautifully. I can draw a stick figure, but that's about all you get.

61. Travel--My dream is to win the lottery and travel the U.S.A. Merritt (my stepdad) used to tease us that when we were grown that he and my mom were buying an RV and touring the nation and we would never be able to find them. Well, that's really what I want to do. Although I would let people find me. I would drive the state highways instead of the interstates and see all the little towns along the way. In the northeast, I would drive along the two-lane highways, stopping to antique shop and buy some fresh pecans, or maple syrup along the way. I pray I get to do this someday!

62. Music---I LOVE music. My favorite is Christian music, but is closely followed by classical. I love how music can convey just about any feeling the writer is having. Music has made me laugh, cry, remember, etc.

63. Madelyn Part II--Madelyn is such a precious gift to me. She makes me smile everyday and my heart just overflows with love for her. She is so smart and talented. Her hair is so long, down to her bottom. It is very thick and light brown. She has kinky curls framing her face. She is still a snuggler at almost 5 years old. I love that I'm her confidant and twin in silliness. I am sad that her baby years are over, but I look forward to the woman she will become.

64. Meredith Part II-- Meredith is precious gift # 2. It's amazing to me how God multiplies the love for your children when you add more instead of divides it. She is still my baby and she runs to me when she's hurt or sad. She's a lover of silky, like her momma. She has very fine, crazy hair and won't leave a ponytail holder in her hair to save her life. She loves to tickle and be tickled. I love to hold her and smell her when I'm holding her close. I look forward to the woman she will become too!

65. For Good Measure--This post will make 65 total posts. When I went to put a title to this number, God told me "For Good Measure" and then he sent me this verse....."Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38.

Trip to Florida

2009-07-08T12:43:00.016-05:00

Here's the long-awaited story about our trip to Florida...

I was driving home from work one day a couple of weeks ago and was thinking how nice it would be to get away for a while and go somewhere fun. I then remembered my aunt's gracious offer of her beach condo in Destin, Florida and decided that's where I wanted to go. And I knew I needed to go quickly because my busy season at work begins about July 15th. So, I came home and told David about my desire to go and that I really wanted to take Madelyn. We wanted to make it a whole-family vacation, but realized that David couldn't get off this time of year as it is summer and he is a warehouse manager at a Pool Supply store. So, we decided that I would go and take Madelyn and Meredith would stay behind with Daddy.

Madelyn and I left on Sunday, June 28th, with my friend Leslie with us and we drove to Dallas to stay with our friends Ken and Cindy for the night. We got up bright and early at 4:30 a.m. to leave Dallas by 5:00 a.m. As soon as the alarm went off, Madelyn shot up in bed and said she was ready to go. I was fully expecting to drag her grouchy self to the car, but I could tell she was already very excited to go. We missed all the horrific Dallas traffic by leaving that early and that was nice. It was a very L O N G trip, but actually very pleasant. Leslie and I caught up on almost 15 years of time gone by and laughed till we cried. We also sang our little hearts out and I was reminded of how well Leslie sings and that I actually have a pretty voice too. Madelyn was content with her crayons, DVD player, and other books. She whined some, you know the usual "When are going to be there?" 876 times on the way. She would get this really depressed look on her face when I would tell her "10 more hours, Sweetie!" But overall she did awesome. She was able to sleep some, but it was difficult in that carseat even though David had bought her one of those neck things people use in airplanes. We stopped and ate in Richland, Mississippi right after seeing a live chicken sitting and clucking in the middle of the road. If we were unsure where we were at that moment, that chicken assured us it must be the Deep South. We got quite a chuckle out of that. We ate at a Wendy's and I ordered Buffalo Chicken Wings. They tasted awesome, but they were so spicy hot that they burned a hole in my mouth. I can usually take spicy, but this was out of this world. I finally decided to take them with us, put them in the cooler and surely someone in our group would eat them. I then ordered a Junior burger. All was going well until I took the fourth bite out of the burger. I swear I bit down on a bullet. It's truly a wonder that I didn't break my tooth! So, at that point I was DONE with eating. It was exciting to me to drive through the south, seeing all the tall pine trees and some of the old houses being the Civil War buff I am. Whenever I would see a railroad track, I would think of people who would take the train as their only means of transportation. After eating in Richland, we were on the way to Pensacola to pick up Holly at the airport. Aren't we always picking up Holly at SOME airport?? Anyway, Leslie drove and I got to see the scenery. I liked going through Mobile, Alabama. It's right on the bay and you go down into a tunnel and drive under the bay. They have battleships right on the water. We hit a pretty heavy rainstorm here and were praying for safety. We finally arrived in Pensacola and picked up Holly. We were relieved we only had an hour or so ahead of us. Shortly after Pensacola, I had to drive over this really long bridge with no shoulder. It was raining very heavily, no shoulder, ocean on either side of me, and unfamiliar territory. I had a panic attack right there on the bridge. I got really lightheaded, sick at my stomach, and felt like I could pass out at any second. The girls kept talking to me and I was praying outloud for God to help me!! I couldn't get off the road, so I just turned on my blinker and slowed down so the driver behind me would stay off my rear. Thankfully, he did. After we got off the bridge, I was fine. I had been craving Outback Steakhouse since about Hattiesburg, Mississippi, so as we came into Destin, we found one. It hit the spot. On the way back to the condo, we stopped at Krispy Kreme and got doughnuts for the morning. We were all too happy to fall into bed that night and we slept like angels........UNTIL...........the most horrendous beeping I had ever heard in my life at 3:15 a.m. I jumped out of bed and being disoriented in a different place ran into the bathroom and was like, "Why the Crap am I in here?" I then realized where I was and ran out into the hall and met Holly with the same dumbfounded look on her face as I was sporting. We were both in like slow motion trying to figure out what that ear splitting noise was. It didn't occur to me yet that it could be the fire alarm. We both finally saw this white thing on the wall by the ceiling and realized it was the culprit. In our sleepy stupor, one of us was reaching for a pan in the kitchen to brain the thing and make it shut up. Before Holly did that, it occured to me to look outside! When I did, I saw all these other dumbfounded people in their jammies standing outside. It then hit me.......FIRE!!!! I ran back in in Mommy Mode and said, more like yelled, "We got to get out, It's a Fire!" Madelyn and Leslie sprinted out of bed and we all vacated the premises. Madelyn was very scared and shaking. We were on the fifth floor and weren't sure what to do. We didn't smell smoke or see flames, so we just kind of hung out with the other people. Finally, our ears couldn't take the screaming alarm any longer and we went and sat in my car! After the fire people came, it took about 45 minutes to get the all clear to return to our slumber. No Fire, just some dumb idiot kid probably laughing his hiney off watching all the commotion. The next morning (or should I say about 3 hours later), we began our beach vacation. Madelyn was amazed at the beach. I got her a sand castle making set and she played on the beach. I think she missed having a pal with her though cause she kept scoping out other little kids. She would go up to them, but wouldn't talk to them. So I walked over to this one little girl with her mom and made introductions. Madelyn played a little with this little girl from Kentucky. She mostly wanted an adult to take her into the ocean 500 times. Between me, Leslie, and Holly, we tried to keep her entertained. She was somewhat afraid of the waves, but loved being in them as long as she had a steady hand to hold onto. Blake and Barbie came to stay with us the next day (Tuesday night) and we went to eat at a seafood place. Leslie and I had made a pact to try some new seafood we had never had before. We both tried Mahi Mahi and Grouper. They were AWESOME!! I can't wait to go to Joe's Crabshack here in town and try something. While we were waiting for our table at the seafood place, we saw some dolphins playing in the water right off the shore. Darnit though, I didn't have my camera. Madelyn liked seeing them though. Wednesday, Madelyn was glad Blake was there. He was a big, strong guy and she felt safer with him I think. She called him, "my Buddy, Blake." Blake and I were nicely burnt by Wednesday, so we stayed in the shade more. I was so surprised about Madelyn. I put sunscreen on her, but probably not as diligently as I should have and she didn't get burned at all. Her cheeks got a little rosy, but hardly at all. I guess she has her aunt Holly's skin. Thursday morning, Holly had to fly out and my sweet friends Blake and Barbie drove her to Pensacola to catch the plane so I didn't have to drive over that freakish bridge again. While they were gone, we started cleaning up the condo, then went back to the pool for one more lay in the sun. Madelyn got pretty brave while we were there. The last day, she got in the pool without her lifejacket and actually went all the way under the water. I was so proud of her!! We left paradise about 2:15 p.m. to head for Shreveport where we were going to be staying for the night. The drive was pretty uneventful except for two overturned semis we saw on the road and one other wreck in Mississippi where a guy was laying on the side of the road covered in blood. That one almost made me lose my lunch. We would just say a prayer everytime we saw a wreck and hope they were okay. I didn't think we were ever going to make it to Shreveport. We finally did close to midnight and stayed in a hotel. We slept for about 6 hours and headed out early the next morning for home. The trip was going great save for a little July 4th traffic until we got to the Oklahoma-Texas border. We were making good time and I had just called in to David and told him we'd be home about 2:30. That was a mistake. About 10 minutes later, we were SITTING on I-35 a couple miles south of the border. We figured there must be a wreck. Oh No, when we finally made it to the scene of the bottleneck, it was only about a half mile of one lane that was causing all the confusion. Seriously people, LEARN TO DRIVE!!! I called David back and informed him it would be about 3:15 before we got home. I've never been more excited to pull into my driveway before. 15+ hours on the road was more than enough. We had an awesome time and wonderful pictures to share. I can't wait to go back!!

Visitors from Europe

2009-06-26T14:02:00.002-05:00

If you are visiting my page and you don't know me, I'm just curious as to how you came upon my page. Please share!

David's birthday

2009-06-21T20:45:00.009-05:00

Saturday was David's 39th birthday (Old Man!!). I asked him a couple weeks ago how he wanted to celebrate and he said he wanted to put Madelyn's new swing set up and cook out with some friends. So, he spent most of his birthday and Father's Day weekend cooking and building a swing set. What a guy!! He got a new grill for his birthday and Father's Day and couldn't wait to use it. We cooked out bratwurst, hot dogs, hamburgers, pork loin, and sausages. Yummy!!! The diet definitely went to poo yesterday. For dessert, we had cookies, Chocolate pudding cake, and a big birthday cookie with icing for David's birthday. I'm making David take all the leftover junk food to work tomorrow or I will eat it all week and gain back what I have lost. So, here are some pictures of our fun day!

Piercing Cry

2009-06-21T20:19:00.004-05:00

Madelyn decided in the middle of the week that she was finally ready to get her ears pierced. When I went to get her at Grandma Cindy's on Friday, I asked her if she wanted to go that night. She agreed and I told her afterwards that we would go to Walmart and get her some stuff we needed to go to the beach. We got to Claire's and picked out her birthstone earrings, a blue sapphire. Very Pretty! The lady that did it was very sweet. She was the only one there, so they weren't able to pierce both ears at once, but I told her I thought Madelyn would do fine. I had warned her before that it was going to hurt, but that is wasn't any worse than getting a shot at the doctor. And she has always handled that well......she'll cry a tiny bit, but at least I don't have to chase her around the doctor's office and hold her down. That's basically how the ear piercing went. She did cry (as expected and warranted), but I think she was a real trooper. We have to leave them in for 8 weeks and then she can try new ones. We went back to the store yesterday and got her 9 more pairs. She's very proud of them and wants to show them off to everyone. The first is the video of her getting them and the second is a picture about 15 minutes after she got them.

The Incredible Houdini Baby

2009-06-20T08:36:00.004-05:00

So, you've heard in previous posts about Meredith Kay taking off her diaper. Well, here are some shots we caught of her right after she stripped herself naked! You can't see very well in the picture, but her clothes are laying to the left of her after having been stripped from her body. I walked away for about two minutes leaving a fully diapered and clothed baby and I returned in two minutes and this is what I found. The second picture is what she does now when we tick her off by putting her in her playpen for a few minutes. I can't really leave her in it alone anymore. It's fixing to go to the attic! "So Now.....I present to you......"THE INCREDIBLE HOUDINI BABY!!"

Throwback Tuesday

2009-06-16T12:55:00.003-05:00

I was moving my pictures from my laptop to a flash drive and I came across this hilarious video we took of Madelyn in June of 2007, so she's 2 and 3/4 old. It's my very favorite one of her. Have a listen!!

Differences

2009-06-12T15:05:00.002-05:00

It's amazing to me the differences between my children. Their different cognitive abilities are already apparent. Meredith is 18 months old today and I've always said she was my little engineer. She gets into EVERYTHING and she will take things apart and put them back together. Just now, she is sitting in the floor of my office playing with legos. She has just built a lego structure that is worthy of a five year old. I say a five year old because my four year old can't do it as well as Meredith. Madelyn never builds a large enough base to keep the tower steady when she is building with legos and she gets very frustrated when it falls. The first thing Meredith did was build her sturdy base worthy of supporting a tower at least as tall as she was sitting on the floor building it. She even put all the bigger pieces toward the bottom and smaller pieces toward the top. When Madelyn builds a structure, she haphazardly throws pieces together and it inevitably falls. Poor baby! Another area where Meredith excels in comparison to Madelyn is her athletic ability. Granted, it's still very early to assess especially since Meredith has only been walking for just under 2 months. But she's already showing signs of ambidexterity with a preference for her left hand. (Yea Meredith!!) She can throw a mean ball and her balance is awesome. Madelyn on the other hand reminds me of a 90 year old woman sometimes with her athleticism. She can be walking and just fall down sometimes. Her middle name Grace fits her well in that department. Again, her epilepsy might hinder her in that department. Madelyn definitely excels in the verbal department. I bet Madelyn had 100 more words at Meredith's age. She is on the cusp of reading and she amazes me with her memory!! I love to see their gifts and talents emerge!! They are precious to me!!

Poop Party

2009-06-07T18:41:00.004-05:00

Well, the title says it all. Although, I think it was only a party for one involved here and a nightmare for the other three. It all started when David went to check on Meredith after she woke up from her nap. As he made his way down the hall, his nose cried out for relief about halfway down. He could smell the familiar smell of poop in the air and he braced himself for a big present in Meredith's diaper as he went to retrieve her. As he rounded the doorway to enter the bedroom, his eyes beheld this sweet little child with poop balls in each hand and poop all over the bed. He can't even remember what he said when he saw it....he just saw Poop.....lots and lots of Poop and it wasn't wrapped nicely in a diaper as it should have been. It's like Meredith was setting it free. "Run Poop, get as far away from here as you can!" David picked her up and held her outstretched from his body as far as she could go and he came to my room. I had been slumbering nicely when I hear, "April, I'm really going to need your help!", in a panicked voice! I came out into the hall and couldn't believe my eyes. I immediately put her into the freshly scrubbed tub for a bath. I made her relinquish the poop ball she had in her hand and I put it into the toilet. Then I started on scrubbing her. This poop was very pasty thanks to the beans from Taco Bueno Thursday I'm guessing. I scrubbed and scrubbed and it was very difficult to come off. She even had it under her fingernails. Uugghhh!!!! While I was attacking the poop player, David was facing the crib with poop strewn everywhere. I got her all cleaned up and redressed and then went to help David rinse out all the sheets and blankets before we could put them in the washer. All in all, it was about an hour job! We eventually just laughed about it, but decided strong action had to be taken to prevent this from happening again. So, as you are about to see, this is the measure we have taken to ban Poop Parties from taking place again!! Enjoy!

Madelyn's first day of soccer

2009-06-07T18:28:00.005-05:00

We put Madelyn in soccer this year for the first time. It's at the same place that she played T-ball last fall. It's an indoor league, they don't have any practices, and it's just plain chaos really! As I watched her play, I remembered why I hated to play soccer in P.E. when I was in school. I hated chasing a stupid ball up and down a field all day long and also getting kicked in the shins. Which we didn't get Madelyn (shin guards)....I'm going to go pick her up some this week. She has enough bruises as it is. She got hurt before we even started playing soccer. Before the game, she and several of her teammates were running around outside and she and another player run into each other and bumped heads. She started crying and I held my frosty drink to her head. She's so funny when she gets hurt. If you know Madelyn at all, then you know that every injury no matter the severity is cause for alarm. She is quite the drama queen about it. Well, she cracks me up because as I am calming her down and kissing on her hurt, I'll say, "Are you okay?" and she'll say, "No, I'm not!" in this most pitiful voice you ever heard. Most people say, "Yeah" when you ask them that, but not Madelyn. Silly girl!

She did well playing (running). She had to stop several times because she "lost her breath" as she said. Next week, they need to let the air out of the ball a little bit to slow that thing down. Seriously, those poor kids were just chasing a ball back and forth. Here she is in her black team shirt and some of her teammates.

I Sit Here

2009-05-28T20:55:00.002-05:00

I sit here staring at the screen with my mind screaming at me to write something down, "Get it Out!" , whatever it takes to remove this sickly feeling deep in my gut. My sister just wrote a blog about her anger. Her rightful, justifiable anger. There were some things that she wrote to some unnamed people that she wanted me to proofread to make sure they weren't too harsh. Both of these people deserved a harsh lashing. But, my reaction was different than it ever has been before. Normally, April is very forgiving, always giving second, third, and fourth chances. I am usually pretty logical about situations and try to look at situations the way God tells us to....with Love. But, all I saw as I was proofreading was "Give it all to them, They deserve it!" Now, I do realize that God is not glorified with that reaction and I have repented. But I've had to repent several times for the same feelings because they just keep seeping to the surface. I AM ANGRY! I don't have the same magnitude of anger as Holly, nor is it directed in exactly the same way, but it is, alas, sickening anger. I didn't lose my best friend like Holly, I just lost a friend. I didn't lose my soulmate like Holly, but I did lose a wonderful soul. I prayed harder for Amy to live and get well than I have ever prayed for anyone before. We had a couple of sessions at work and in my car to go work on audits when I held her precious hand in mine and prayed a prayer I didn't even think I was capable of. I wanted her to live with everything in my being and she didn't. I'm not angry at God. I know that death is part of life and we all go at different times. I fully trust God that he is not to blame. Nothing yucky comes from God. We live in a fallen world and death happens, but Praise God for the promise that it is not the end.

I believe my anger is mainly directed at the situation itself. My heart burns with sadness for my sister. I want to take it away, I want to shove it under the couch, I want to drown it in the lake. I can't stand the fact that she has to endure this. As selfish as this sounds, I miss my sister. I've only seen a genuine smile on her face maybe once or twice in the 12 days she's been home. It's like some alien has come down and stolen her essence. I want to find that alien, kick his green hiney and beat that essence right back out of him!!!!

For now, I will just continue to try to be there for my sister! And I will try with God's help to not rip anyone's head off and slowly wait for this anger to dissipate!!

Right Now.....

2009-05-06T21:30:00.002-05:00

Right Now.....I really should be studying for my Final tomorrow in Advanced Accounting. But my mind is racing with thoughts and my heart is hurting. I'm just really in need of a getaway. It doesn't even have to be an actual getaway to another city or state....it just needs to be a getaway from thoughts, hurts, fears, worries, procrastination, etc....I need a refresher. I need to regenerate. And I don't know how to do it. I feel like I can't do anything right.....as a mother, as a wife, as an employee, as a friend, as a student, as a freakin' Human Being sometimes. I'm sick of judgmental people who don't take a second to examine their own needs and desires before criticizing someone else for theirs. I expect to be taken seriously! I expect respect!! I expect tolerance to the same degree that I would offer! I expect some leeway!! Give me a break.....I'm doing all I can do....and some days I'm not so successful, but EVERYDAY I have my God at my right hand helping me through it. I am working on some things.....some things harder than I ever dreamed I would. Give me Time....Give me Reassurance....Give me a "You're Doing A Great Job, April" just because you love me, know me, and can see I need it!

Love me for me. If you REALLY know me, you'd love me! Help me when it looks like I need it. Hug me when my chest cries out for some contact! Offer an ear when I need one to chew off or just whisper in! Know that every intention I have when I set out on an endeavor is a noble, good one! I may not have thought of every obstacle I might encounter, but I'm going to trudge through it....because that's how I am! I may be sloppy in that endeavor and I may not copy your EXACT manner if you were making the same endeavor, but I'll get it done!!

Pray for me...instead of attacking me! I need fervent prayer everyday....everyone does and we are commanded by God to do it! Love me............in spite of Me!!!!

It's A Miracle....

2009-04-28T15:12:00.003-05:00

At 16 months and 16 days, Meredith Kay Louise Rhoda is finally a walker. She's been trying really hard and all her hard work finally paid off today. Paula at work has been working with her the last couple of weeks and finally got her to walk. I really wanted her to walk on my birthday for the first time, but she missed it by two days and did it on Grandma Glenda's birthday. My birthday would've been better just because I turned 32 and the whole 16 months and 16 days thing....me and my symmetry!! Enjoy!!

My attempt at a Craft Project

2009-02-25T21:13:00.003-06:00

Okay, so if you know me at all, you know I'm not a crafty person. But, every once in a while, I get a wild hair to do something creative. This is what came of that urge! We made Keepsake Boxes for the girls. I have a big box of stuff that my mom kept for me and I treasure it. I wanted something they could personalize and keep forever to put cards, letters, pictures they made in school, whatever their little hearts desire in. We're actually not completely finished yet. I told Madelyn that this weekend, we could pull out the paint and finish them. Just thought you might want a peek!

Rocker Chick!

2009-02-25T20:59:00.002-06:00

This is what Meredith looked like the morning after Valentines Day. I guess when me and her Daddy went out that night and she and her sister stayed at her Grandpa Dino and Grandma Cindy's---they must have had a party or went out to a club. I did think I smelled booze on them, but I didn't want to say anything! : ) Anyway, thank God for combs and hair spray!

Valentine Girls

2009-02-25T20:49:00.005-06:00

I haven't posted a lot lately, so I'm going to give you picture overload in the next few posts. This first one is the girls on Valentines Day wearing the matching shirts MiMi got them. We didn't do anything special for Valentines Day really. Madelyn had a party at her school and got a whole bunch of unneeded candy. Then David and I went out to dinner that night without the kids. It was nice!

Then this one was just plain precious!!

I also like this one of me and the girls. I think I'm going to have it framed!

For Aunt Holly

2009-02-13T18:09:00.003-06:00

This is for all your viewing enjoyment (all 2 0r 3 of you that read this), but it is mainly for Aunt Holly since she is away and doesn't get to see the everyday things...

Love you Sister!!!

Funny Madelyn Girl...

2009-02-10T19:16:00.002-06:00

Two funnies from the funny girl....

#1--Tonight, I was sitting here at the computer checking my email when she walked up and asked me what something was here on my desk next to me. It was a button from my new pants that I put on this morning. They were new pants and I had cut off all the tags and the extra little button they put with things in case you lose one. I had used the scissors and they were still laying there. Obviously the scissors are off limits to Madelyn and she knows I keep them in a high place. Well, out of the corner of my mommy-watching eye I see her getting ready to pick up the scissors. I immediately turn my head to her getting ready to tell her to leave them alone and take them away from her. She didn't even give me a chance to speak and says, "Leave them alone, right?" She knew I was going to tell her exactly what she said.

#2--Last night we were laying in my bed. I was studying...she was watching cartoons. She was very still, quiet. and mellow and I thought for sure she would fall asleep any second. This is how the scene went:

Backyardigans doing their singing thing and doing the hokey-pokey. Madelyn is listening intently and I am engrossed in translating foreign currency. Out of the calm quiet, Madelyn looks up at me while the Backyardigans are working the hokey-pokey and says, "Do you think I should do that with them?" (said very seriously). I just started cracking up. She's still very mellow and doesn't laugh with me. I say, "Well, if you want to." She says, "Kind of!" But she doesn't get up and hokey-pokey. She continues to lay there and falls asleep shortly after. Cutie girl!!

Look at this Video!

2009-01-23T21:11:00.003-06:00

Here is my cutie girl Meredith in all her glory! It's the funniest things that get her to giggling. I love the way she throws her head back in belly laughter. I never dreamed my kids would make me laugh so hard. They are truly little gifts that I get to reopen everyday!!

Sock Hop Day at School

2009-01-23T21:06:00.005-06:00

As promised, here are the photos of Madelyn from 50's Sock Hop day at her school. They dressed up and during Gym class, they got to hop in their socks on a little trampoline to raise money for new playground equipment. She had a fun day!

Some pictures

2009-01-23T21:01:00.003-06:00

We took these pictures last Sunday before church and I thought I'd share them with you. It was the first time I was able to put a bow in Meredith's hair and I think she looked quite cute. So for your viewing enjoyment....

It's been a While

2009-01-22T16:19:00.002-06:00

I've been bad about posting on here lately. It's just hard to get away and get on the computer sometimes when you have school, workouts, kids, and housework etc. looming over you everynight.

Well, It's been a wild month....God has really been working on the Rhoda family. He must be preparing us for something GREAT! I know we will be victorious with Him guiding us!

Madelyn started a new school on January 6th and she loves it. And so do I! I had been praying for about a year for God to provide a new school for Madelyn. This is a Children's Day Out program at a church in Edmond just down the street from my work. It's from 9:30 to 2:30. So I go get her at 2:30 and bring her back to my office while I finish working. She's done well so far! Today, they had 50's day and I dressed her up in rolled up jeans, a white button-up shirt, bobby socks, Mary Jane shoes and we put her hair up in a ponytail with a cute ribbon. I have to say she looked quite cute. I'll try to get the picture up here later.

Well, that's about all the news right now. I'll try to do better about posting on here.

Night at the Salon

2009-01-07T22:44:00.004-06:00

One night a few weeks ago I just felt like playing with Madelyn's hair. Usually she's not all that game for it, but this night I caught her being agreeable. I don't ever sit down to play with hair with a specific hair-do in mind, I tend to lean toward the wild and kind of scary. A hair do session with me usually includes braids (I think this obsession with braids comes from never getting my hair braided as a child and I always loved the look). There might be one braid, two braids, 5 braids, or too numerous to mention. They might be small, tight braids or loose, fat braids. It just depends on what my fingers start doing. I was feeling frisky this night and feeling a little out of control (in life that is) and I believe my hair do work mirrored that of my emotional state. What do you think?

What a Day!!

2008-12-15T19:04:00.002-06:00

Oh, I'm so thankful this day is almost over. It began for me in the wee hours of the morning at around 2:30 when I was awoken by David snoring over the baby monitor. I got up to check it out and he was asleep in the living room. I told him to please go back to his room and shut the door. Then as I was just about back to sleep, Meredith Kay woke up at 3:00 a.m. I went and got her and held her in my bed for about 15 minutes. She went right back to sleep, so I put her back in her crib. I laid back down about 3:20 a.m. and everytime I almost dozed off, Madelyn would steal the covers and/or kick me in the back. Nice!! Well, I almost dozed off again when I hear the familiar cries of Meredith at 4:00 a.m. AAAHHHH! I got up again and was going to try and practice Tough Love with her. I patted her back but didn't pick her up. She actually turned over for about 10 minutes like she was going to go back to sleep, but decided she better keep Mommy up a little bit longer. This time I just went and got her. I held her in my bed for about 30 minutes until about 4:30 and then put her back in her crib once more. I covered her up tightly and prayed she would sleep the rest of the night. She did, Thank God!! As David was leaving to go to work about 7:20, I was still sleeping, but he told me my mom called and to call her when I woke up. It's freezing cold today and I just figured she was telling me to drive carefully. I got up and talked to her about 8:15 and that's when the second part of my Hell-Day began. She proceeds to tell me that my sister and her roommate got into an argument and Holly's roommate physically attacked her. WTH!!! My mom had talked to her the night before and wondered if I had heard from her yet this morning. I told her No and then I went into Panic Mode. My brain is filled with "What-If's". Here is my sister in NYC, 1500 miles away from me, hasn't called in, is in close proximity to a crazy ass roommate and I was totally helpless. It made me physically ill to my stomach. I wanted to kick this person in the head that did this to my sister. I wanted to hop the next plane to NYC and take care of my sister. I didn't know for about an hour after I got the news that Holly was okay. She called me and as soon as I heard her voice I burst into tears. The kind that you cannot stop! The kind that take your breath away. The kind that take you by surprise! I was so happy to hear her voice. She needs prayer. She now has to move again after just moving like two weeks ago. She has to store her stuff by Thursday and worry about Finals all in the same week. But, Thank God she's coming home on Friday and she'll be surrounded by people who love her! The third part of my Hell-Day included Vomit. Yes, I said Vomit. I was scheduled to leave work early by 2:20 to make a 2:40 dentist appt. I got the call from Madelyn's school at 1:10 that she was crying saying her tummy and head hurt and she wanted her mommy to come get her. I had just gotten Meredith to sleep and so that sucked having to wake her up. And add to it that it was 16 degrees today with a wind chill of 2 degrees and my day was just peachy! So, I gathered Meredith up and put her in the Arctic car and set off to Yukon to pick up Madelyn. I got her and we went my our house to get her some Apple Juice to drink (her tummy has been upset the last few days because of constipation), Tylenol for her headache and a chewable Pepto-Bismol. I got her a pillow and we were on our way. My stepmother works for the dentist I go to, so she would have let Madelyn just curl up by her with her pillow while I got my teeth cleaned. We made it to about 10th Street and County Line Road and I was going to 23rd and Meridian. She said, "Mommy I need to poop and I can't wait." I said, "Honey, you're going to have to wait a little bit, Mommy can't stop yet." I felt bad, but I couldn't just pull into a gas station in 16 degree weather and drag two kids into a disgusting toilet. I figured the worst would be a little poop in the pants. No big Deal!! Boy was I wrong. We started praying asking God to help us make it to the dentist's office before she pooped her pants. About 30 seconds after the first declaration of impending poop, she said it again. She said, "I can't Wait!!!" Well, about 5 seconds after that I hear the worst sound in the world from the backseat. It was projectile vomit and I swore it wasn't going to stop. By this point, we had made it to 10th and Council. I immediately called my stepmom and told her we would not be able to make the appointment and I turned the car around and headed back to Yukon. On the very smelly drive home, I called my angel mother and asked her if she could come over and help me bathe the girls and sit with them while I tackled the daunting task of cleaning up my car and carseats. Bless her heart, she showed up about 15 minutes after we got home! I felt like a HazMat worker. I had gotten a mask that I use for mowing and my cleaning gloves to clean up the mess. Poor Madelyn, I made her strip in the 16 degree garage because I didn't want her vomit infested clothes to make it into the house. Her little teeth were chattering. We got her in the house and then into the tub for a good scrubbing. Then my angel mom showed up and she bathed Meredith while I took the vomit grub into my shower to clean. That was quite a job! I got that finished and everything into the washer and then Mom stayed while I took a shower. The only good thing about it was that 3 out of 4 of us were already bathed and in our PJ's by 4:00 p.m. Thankfully, the girls both fell asleep shortly after and I was able to catch my breath. Whew!! I'm anxious for a good night's sleep tonight and no more puke!! I know I'll laugh about this someday!

And a year goes by SO Fast....

2008-12-13T23:14:00.008-06:00

December 12th, 2008----We celebrated the day by going to the mall with Mimi and doing some Christmas shopping. Mimi and PaPa and Grandpa Dino and Grandma Cindy came over that night for Pizza and Birthday Cake. Meredith was all smiles and clapping until we all sang Happy Birthday to her and gave her her own special cake. She....Well just watch the video!! Not what we expected at all!!!! After the cake, we let her (actually Madelyn) open her presents and she enjoyed them immensely. From 8 lbs. 6oz. and 20 1/2 inches at birth to 22lbs. 4 oz. and 31 inches long at One Year. She has grown a bunch and stolen our hearts. Happy Birthday my Sweet Meredee!! I love you , my baby girl!!

And that sweet baby grows and grows....

2008-12-13T23:04:00.007-06:00

These are a few of her through her first year of life. I never dreamed I would be as blessed as I am. I have two healthy, beautiful, precious girls! Thank you Lord for these blessings!!

And to us a child is born...

2008-12-13T22:57:00.004-06:00

Meredith Kay Louise was born on December 12th, 2007 at 7:26 a.m. She weighed 8lbs. 6oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She has lots of brown hair and chubby cheeks. She looked just like her sister, except was a little chubbier. What a blessing she was to our family!!

This is how it began...

2008-12-13T22:42:00.006-06:00

A little series of pictures of Meredith Kay Louise Rhoda, the One-Year Old baby girl!!

It all started on April 10th. I was on day 27 of my cycle and was trying desperately to wait until day 28 to take a pregnancy test, but my breasts felt heavy that morning in the shower and I just KNEW I was pregnant. So at lunch, I go buy a couple of $1 tests at the Dollar Tree to take. I came back to my office and took one without anyone's knowledge. It was positive! I was in disbelief and the line was VERY light, so I started second guessing it. I took the second test I had bought and it looked the same. I didn't tell anyone, but the next day I went and bought like 5 more $1 tests. I took one again that day and it was positive, but still very light. That night I took the test over to my friend Trayce and had her look and see what she thought. She agreed it was positive, but I was still unsure. I decided I would take another one the next morning with my first pee of the day. So, I took it on April 12th and it was very obviously positive!!! Yippee!!! I was so excited!!! These are the first few pictures of my little baby Meredith Kay!!

Madelyn Grace at her best!

2008-12-13T22:27:00.002-06:00

Well, it's been a while since I've written on here and I actually had the intention of writing and putting up pictures on December 4th, but didn't because it didn't turn out to be as severe as anticipated. So now I will tell you the story. I go to pick up Madelyn from school on December 3rd and her teacher tells me that Madelyn cut her hair that day. I immediately freaked out!! She showed me the right side of her hair cut to about her shoulder and about 2 inches into her head if that makes sense. My first thought was, "Oh my goodness, we're going to have to cut it all off to even it up!" And that amounts to about 7 inches. It was a 4 year investment and even though I cursed it sometimes and swore about once a week I was cutting it off because of all the trouble it is with tangles and all, the reality of that beautiful hair coming off put me in tears. Literally! I cried all the way home. I gave her the whole speech again about how we don't ever use scissors except to cut paper. I'm not really sure if she heard me because she was trying desperately to figure out why I was crying about her hair. I made her a hair appointment the next day fulling expecting a complete new look for her. When I got there, Kimberly calmed my fears and assured me we could just taper it into her face and her length would remain intact. I was washed over with relief. It's funny now how emotional I got about her hair because just about everyone in my life would've probably bet on my kids hair being disheveled and plain when I first became a parent. Just because I'm not known to obsess about my own appearance and never have the latest hairstyle. But I think I surprised everyone with the care I take with their hair and appearance overall. When my sister and I were little, my mom enjoyed us being her little dolls. We always had the cutest dresses and pretty hair (even though we never got to have our hair long). Even my dad curled our hair for church when we were with him on the weekends. Most dads are good to run a brush through the kids' hair. So I come by it honestly. I have always been anal about dressing the girls cute and fixing their hair. It's very important to me. So I'm very thankful that the hair-cutting incident turned out like it did. Whew!!!

And the Tree Goes Up

2008-11-23T18:36:00.003-06:00

Well, we put up our Christmas tree on Friday night. Madelyn had a blast and was very into it this year. Meredith liked to look at the lights, but was oh so scared of all the stuffed animals. We have a reindeer that has big, floppy horns with bells on them. I think she would have crawled back inside of me if I had let her. Her fingernails were dug into my shoulders as far as they could go when Madelyn showed it to her. Needless to say, she doesn't bother the tree much as we have the Stuffed Animal Army guarding the front of the tree. I forgot that I don't have a tree skirt and I didn't get out to get one this weekend, so maybe I'll do that on Wednesday when I took off. So, here's some pictures of the Christmas Joy at the Rhoda house Friday night.

I feel Doubly Crappy Today

2008-11-18T16:07:00.003-06:00

I feel doubly crappy today. My sinuses are about to bust out of my head. Is that possible, Holly? Meredith has been fighting with hers for about 4 days and she so graciously shared her snottiness with me. Last night on my way home from school, I swore my head was going to explode in the car. I don't really have time to feel bad though because I have to go home tonight and finish an assignment for school that's due tomorrow and The Biggest Loser is on tonight. I never miss that.

Speaking of The Biggest Loser, does anyone here watch it besides my mom? I love that show, but hate it at the same time this season. I started watching it last season about 3/4 of the way through and got hooked on it. There were about 6 contestants left when I started watching it then. They had all lost a lot of weight at that point and most importantly they had made life-long friendships. They all rooted for each other and cried with each other. It was truly inspiring and beautiful to watch their transformations inside and out.

This season SUCKS in that department. It started out all nice and sweet, but there are a few people on there who just ruin the show in my opinion. Heba, Brady, and Vicky (Satan) are ruining the show for a lot of people. I feel like I can't even let Madelyn watch it anymore because of all the ugliness and the beeping of cusswords. She's not stupid...she knows what they are saying, to a degree. I hate their cattiness, their spitefulness, their hatred, their meanness. They are turning a show that's supposed to be about bettering yourself and attaining goals and ambitions about high school drama and bull crap! I am really rooting for Phil to come back and win the $100,000 as the person who has lost the most weight off campus (after being booted from the show). I'm rooting for Coleen to win the Grand Prize as I believe she is in it for the right reasons and she has the best heart!! So tonight, I wish for Vicky, Heba, and Brady to all gain weight.

Well, that's all the rambling I can come up with for now. See ya later!

One More thing I'm Excited About

2008-11-12T10:01:00.002-06:00

My sister brought it to my attention that I'm not excited enough about her turning 30 this year on Christmas Day. So I'm letting everyone know that I am INDEED excited about this milestone! Yea! She joins me in the 30's club! We'll do something fun, sissy!!

Yea! Yippee!! Hooray!! Hot Dog!! Whoop!! Yowza!! Holly's 30th Birthday is on Christmas!!
(Is that excited enough for you, little princess??)

10 things I'm excited about right now...

2008-11-11T18:34:00.002-06:00

1. Going to bed tonight. I know that doesn't sound all that exciting, but it is when you just want to get a good night's sleep.

2. Finishing Aleks. It's this program I had to do for my Intermediate Accounting II class that took me 32 hours and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to do. That's 50 points in the bank!

3. The OU-Texas Tech game next weekend. Although I'll have to live through a weekend with no OU football this weekend, it helps hype up the next weekend. Don't call me after 7 pm on November 22nd.

4. November 25 and 26th--Vince Vaughn's "Fred Claus" comes out on DVD on November 25th. Excited to share this PG flick with Madelyn and see Vince's cute face again. Vince Vaughn's new movie, "Four Christmases" comes out in theaters. I will taking the day off to commemorate the event with my sister Kim. I will sleep in, get up and watch Fred Claus and then go to the theater to see Four Christmases in the afternoon. Then, that night is the annual Kobriger Thanksgiving Feast. Always lots of fun there, except my sissy won't be there. :(

5. I'm excited about the 5 day weekend I get for Thanksgiving. I don't have to think about work or school for that time and I'm just going to soak in some rest and be thankful for all my blessings, especially my family!

6. December 10th--my Finals!! I've loved this semester and hated it at the same time. I've had great professors and learned a ton, but it came at a cost of family time, sleep, and mental rest. I'm just ready for my brain to not be on overdrive.

7. December 12th--my baby girl turns 1!!! I'm excited because I'm taking the day off and I'm just going to spend the day with my pumpkin. I'm excited because it's just a special day in her life. I'm sad because she's growing up SO fast, but I'm looking forward to what's to come!!

8. December 19th--MY SISSY COMES HOME!! I believe that by the time she comes home, it will be the longest I have gone in my life without seeing her. Well, maybe when she was in the womb, but that has to be it. I have lots of plans for us. One of those plans includes a day at the mall with myself and Mom. I'll have to get my game face on for the day. Somebody better be crying by the end of the trip or it will have been in vain.

9. December 25th--Jesus' Birthday! How can you not be excited about our Saviour's birth?? I will share the story of baby Jesus from the Bible with the girls and I get to see the glee in their faces on this magical day. One of my favorite parts of being a mom.

10. Since I've kind of gone in chronological order, I guess I will say January 1st. I'm not one to make resolutions, but I've always felt this day had a special significance because it seemed like a fresh start. It's the year I finish school!!!! Yippee!!! That's something to be excited about!!

Cutie Firemen

2008-10-28T18:21:00.004-05:00

Well, we had some Cute Firemen come to our house tonight. Papa John's was partnering with the Yukon Fire Department and having the Fire Dudes come out to your house when you order a pizza and check your smoke detector. If the smoke detector didn't work, the Fire Hotties would install a working one for you for free! If they tested it and it did work, they gave you a coupon for a free pizza. Pretty Good Deal! So we got home and David called in the pizza. While we waited for the pizza, we threw the girls in the tub for a bath. We hurried because we knew it wouldn't take long. Madelyn was so excited to see a Fireman. They got here as soon as we got the girls dressed and Madelyn was jumping up and down. We had a working smoke detector and got a free coupon. Yeah Rhoda's!!! The Fire Cuties went out to their truck to get some goodies for the girls and Madelyn wanted to see the Fire Truck. She got to have her picture taken in the truck with one of the Firemen. She looks all smitten in the pictures and acted so shy! It was a fun experience!! Please excuse the Christmas Jammies. I am my mother's daughter!! Got to start early to get good use out of them! It's never too early for Christmas!!

Wedding Ring Results....

2008-10-28T18:09:00.002-05:00

Well, I have bad news to share. I still cannot get my wedding ring on my finger. It's definitely not for lack of trying on my part. I do have good news though....I have lost 8 lbs. since October 1st. I guess I just haven't lost it in my fingers, which is really okay with me because that's not one of my problem areas! You know, after you have a baby(ies), your body just changes....sometimes your feet are bigger, sometimes your boobs stay big, sometimes they shrink to little molehills, and I guess sometimes your metatarsals (Is that the right bone in your finger, Holly?) just grow while pregnant and don't get smaller. That's what I'm telling myself. So the good news here outweighs the bad and that is that I'M getting smaller as a whole. I'll update with the wedding finger in the next month. Wish me Luck!!

Yes Mommie Dearest

2008-10-21T18:08:00.003-05:00

Have you all seen this movie? Great movie, but really sad. I remember watching it when I was little and my mom used to get so mad at me when I would respond to one of her requests with, "Yes Mommie Dearest." Granted my mom could rival Joan Crawford in the Clean Freak Olympics, but I don't remember any wire hangers in the house so we couldn't have gotten beat with those. We may have gotten beat with Scrubbing Bubbles, I'm not sure. JUST KIDDING!! There were NEVER any beatings at my house!!

But anyway, I was watching Mommie Dearest the other night on TV and Madelyn caught a few scenes with me. She kept asking me why little Christina's mommy was so mean to her. She told me she was glad I was a "nice mommy!" I didn't tell her that I have a wire hanger with her name on it hidden in my closet for when she's five. I just think four is too young for it yet. Again, JUST KIDDING!! Okay, so tonight Madelyn was playing with her $60 Baby Alive doll that she got for her birthday and what she did and said to that poor baby reminded me of the movie. She was getting ready to feed her baby, and had strapped her into the high chair. This baby talks, sighs, cries, whines, tells you "I love you", "I'm sleepy", and lots of other things. Well, Madelyn was having trouble strapping her baby in and it was taking her forever. The baby says, "I love you Mommy." Madelyn just ignores her while she fights with the straps. Then the baby says, "Can I have a hug, Mommy?" Madelyn looks at her with an irritated look on her face and says, "Not now, you have to eat first." Of course the baby has no reaction. Madelyn fights with the straps a few minutes longer. Yeah I know, David and I should have helped her, but we were enjoying the show. Her baby tells her again, "Can I have a hug Mommy?" This time Madelyn sighs very loudly and again says, "NOT NOW, You have to Eat First!!" David and I were cracking up!

I think I would take a mom who beat me with Scrubbing Bubbles every once in a while to a mom who withholds hugs until I eat. Mean Madelyn Dearest!!

Finally.....We have a Crawler!!!!!

2008-10-15T21:22:00.004-05:00

Look!!!! Meredith finally learned to crawl at the age of 10 months. She's been doing the army crawl for the past couple of days where she just uses her arms to pull her body along like she doesn't have the use of her legs. But she has quickly advanced to the "typical" kind of crawling. It's a miracle!! We're hoping she walks by 2!

Reminiscing

2008-10-15T21:09:00.004-05:00

It's very surreal to live in the house I grew up in. I love that my girls are getting to experience some of the same happy memories that I had growing up. The girls are sharing a bedroom that was once mine for the duration of my tenancy. Maybe one day when they are on summer break, they will invent a "hand-ball" game in the living room to pass the time. (Holly gets it). Maybe one day when my old room is Madelyn's alone, she will want to cover her walls with someone she admires like my Vince Gill once adorned my walls. Maybe, just maybe one night when it's storming outside, the girls' will go to one of their rooms and snuggle with the other while feeling safe in their sister's arms. Even as the big sister in my house, I was usually the scared one running to Holly, but I know I did feel safe with her. There's just something about sisters. She's the person I will most likely know the longest in my whole life. So in the celebration of sisters and memories of the house on Seminole Lane, here is a picture of my girls imitating one of me and my sister's favorite activities. Enjoy!!

Follow This Blog

2008-10-10T20:15:00.002-05:00

Look over to the right......Do you see where it says Follow this Blog? Go there and put in your information please. I'd like to know who is reading my blog. Thanks for reading!!

Wedding Ring

2008-10-10T20:05:00.003-05:00

Remember when I was mad because I couldn't get my wedding ring on? Well, obviously I still can't get it on, but I'm serious about losing weight and my goal is to have it completely on by Halloween. That might seem ambitious, but I really believe I only need to lose about 5-6 more pounds to get it all the way on. So, here is my before picture and I'll show you the after picture in 3 weeks.

Meredith Kay

2008-10-10T19:53:00.005-05:00

All the news has been about Madelyn lately, so I thought I'd get some pictures up of my sweet, little Meredith for you. The first one is after I had put her hair in a little ponytail on top of her head for the day and this was the remnants after I took it out. Scary, huh!! The second one was taken yesterday as she was in the middle of a cold. Her little face is chapped and her little nose was runny. She finally started feeling better today. Yeah!! I swear by my breastmilk for her little immune system. She fights every little thing off so quickly and easily. Except for trips to the doctor for immunizations and one trip for constipation, she's not been to the doctor for treatment. No antibiotics, nothing!! I think that speaks well of her immune system to be 10 months old and so healthy. Thank you Jesus!! The third one is of her and her sissy just playing around. I hadn't taken one of them lately. Meredith has a good smile, while Madelyn just can't seem to find her smile.

I think I have the cutest babies. I know every parent thinks that, but seriously mine could win a contest for sure.

Very Hollyesque

2008-10-10T19:43:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now, but just got around to it. This is Madelyn doing what she does best....play make believe. Sometimes I swear she is Holly all over again. Besides her snippy attitude sometimes (love ya, sis), she loves to play with her babies. We who knew Holly as a child knew playing with babies was her favorite pastime. And leave it to Holly and Madelyn to drag every darn baby, stuffed animal, whatever into a room for a slumber party. She went through every room of the house snatching pillows for those tired babies' heads. I had to take a picture because it made me a little nostalgic and I wanted to remember it always. Excuse the bra hanging on the chair. So for your viewing enjoyment.....

Madelynisms...Part 2

2008-10-08T21:13:00.002-05:00

Ok....so the newest funny thing by Madelyn. I was going to the bathroom and she comes along so we can have a little chat. She's in her pretend mode. This is how the conversation went:

Madelyn: "I have a husband, his name is George." (She changes husbands all the time, the first one was Bobby and then there was Sam and then I believe there was a David in there somewhere.)

Mommy: "Oh, and how is George?"

Madelyn: "Well, (insert ticked off face here) I broke up with George!"

Mommy: "How Come?"

Madelyn: "He was being mean to me."

Mommy: "Did he say something ugly to you?"

Madelyn: "Yeah, and then he smacked me!" (I didn't even know she knew the word, "smacked."

Mommy: "(Laughing) He SMACKED you?"

Mommy: "Husbands should NEVER smack their wives."

Madelyn: "Yeah, I told him that. I called the cops and they came and took him to jail."

Mommy: "Oh, I bet he won't do that to you again."

Madelyn: "Yeah, he just got out of jail and we are back together."

Mommy: "You shouldn't get back together with a husband who smacks you."

Madelyn: "But I LOVE him."

~~End of Conversation~~

I guess I'm going to have to have a talk with her about the good guys and bad guys. It cracks me up some of the things she comes up with.

What's In A Name?

2008-10-08T11:15:00.002-05:00

The name of my blog is "Doubly Blessed", but sometimes I feel "Doubly Tested!" Don't get me wrong, I love my kids more than anything else in the world. I would die for them! But, sometimes it's just plain hard to be a mom. I know you other mom's know this already and you can sympathize with me. I feel tested when I fight my four year old everynight to go to bed and go to sleep at a decent hour so she's not a complete crab in the morning. I feel tested when my 10 month old wakes up every 2-3 hours a night for 3 nights in a row and only wants her mommy. I finally figured out this morning that Meredith has a cold and is stuffy and that is why she's waking up. Poor Baby!! Believe me, I have sympathy for the both of them. It stinks to not be able to breathe when you sleep. Take it from an Afrin addict. And I remember being 4 years old and not wanting to go to sleep for fear of missing something. But, where's my sympathy? I don't consider myself to be a whiny (sp?) person. If I'm in pain or tired, I tend to just suck it up and go on. But, this time I'm whining because I'm beyond EXHAUSTED!! I'm trying to work full-time, take 6 hours of upper level accounting classes, be a mom to two adorable children, and keep up with a house. Again, not trying to pat myself on the back for all I do....Just giving the facts, just the facts Ma'am!! It's only by the grace of God that I'm able to accomplish it all. I try to tell myself sometimes that this is just a season. A season of having small children that I have to help do many things, a season of finishing school. This season will pass soon and life will flow much easier. Add to the mix that I finally have my act together to lose weight and am waking up early to work out EVERY morning and watching my diet. My brain feels like mush. (As you can probably tell by the flow of this blog.) I feel like I can't cram another thing into it and my poor little brain needs some good uninterruped sleep to regenerate some brain cells. That's my rambling for the day. I've got to go to Cost Accounting and kill some more brain cells.

Madelynisms....

2008-09-25T20:53:00.002-05:00

Just had to share one of Madelyn's many funny things she comes up with. We were just playing "Walmart", me being Walmart, course. She had been shopping and I was checking her out. We were having some small talk and I asked her if she had any children. She said, "Yes, I have two." I asked her what their names were and she said, "Zack and Alice, and they're both boys!" I had to laugh at Studly Alice's name, him being a boy and all. She then proceeded to tell me, "their last names are Jack" I said, "So their names and Zack Jack and Alice Jack?" She said,"Yes" and chuckled. Then I asked her how old they were. I said, "Are they twins?" She said, "No, but they are 4 months and 3 months!" I said, "WoW, you must have been busy!!" She said, "Yeah, that's why I need you to check out my groceries...so I can get home!"

To top it off, she didn't have her check book with her to pay for her groceries and I made her put it all back. I'm a mean Walmart. Gotta get her ready for the real world!! Lol!!

Then and Now

2008-09-25T20:35:00.004-05:00

Just a fun thing to show how Miss 4 year Old Madelyn has changed in her short life.

Then....

Now....

My, My, My....My sweet, little baby. I asked her on the day of her birthday and if she would just quit growing and if she would just turn 3 years next year instead of 5 and start going backwards. She said, "No, Mommy (as she's patting my arm)...I have to grow up so I can be a mommy!" What a cutie!!

It's been a while....

2008-09-25T19:16:00.006-05:00

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've blogged. I even got reprimanded by Tracey on her blog. Lol!! Life has been crazy busy around here. We celebrated Madelyn's birthday this past weekend and I've been meaning to get pictures of it on here, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Might not even do it tonight. I'm bad!! Well, my computer has been being wacky the last week and a half. One day, the keyboard goes stupid and part of the letters don't work and then the next second they do. Then one day, the mouse will go retarded and drag all across the screen. I've tried rebooting, turning it off and then turning it back on, kissing and hugging it, but it just won't budge. It's so stubborn. And because of all this trouble, I haven't even attempted to blog because I do all my blogging while my hooters are being sucked of all their milk and that happens at the computer desk. So if any of you loyal blog readers know the reason why my computer is going psycho, please let me know what to do to make it work correctly.

What the crap has happened to my fingers? I had to quit wearing my wedding ring about half way through my pregnancy with Meredith. And I still haven't been able to get it on!!!! I've lost about 10 lbs. since I had her and am losing well now and the darn thing still won't go on. Granted...this week Aunt Flo made her dreadful visit and that's probably not the best time to check, but oh well! I'm celebrating my 5th anniversary this weekend and I can't even wear my wedding ring.

We celebrated Madelyn's 4th birthday at a park in Yukon on Saturday, September 20th. There was a Big Toy and swings for the kids to play on and the adults just played with the kids and visited. It was pretty low key and I was glad I didn't have to clean up my house before and after the party. I do think next year we will do something like Chuck E Cheese. That whole day wore Miss Madelyn out. We had T-ball at 10:30 that morning, then her friend Matilyn Ray's birthday party at 11:30 and then Madelyn's party started at 2:00. We got back home about 3:45 and I told her she needed to lay down and take a nap. She was excited about all her toys and wanted to play with them, so it was a fight. I finally just told her she could "rest her eyes" instead of sleep. This usually quells the fight and mommy knows she really is tired and it will be a matter of minutes and she'll be asleep. Sure enough, I went to check on her 2.2 minutes later and she was sound asleep. Meredith fell asleep as well, so I was able to kind of pick up the house from the haphazardly thrown Barbie boxes and Princess toys. I would have like to sleep as well, but as they say, "There's no rest for the weary!" All in all, it was a blessed day. I can't believe I have a 4 year old child. Every day of her 4 years has made me so proud to be picked to be her mom. I am so blessed! Here's some pics to enjoy!!

Our Saturday

2008-09-13T20:21:00.004-05:00

Well, we played T-ball again today and it seemed the kids actually learned something last week. It wasn't quite so chaotic this week. Madelyn's team shirts came in. They are lime green and say Yukon T-Ball on the front. I'm putting a picture on here of her in her shirt and also a short video of her hitting the ball. I wish I had caught the time she was up prior to this one. She hit it so hard, it went to the fence!! Check it out!!

So Blessed...

2008-09-12T19:48:00.002-05:00

I've always known I was blessed, but sometimes I'm overwhelmed with how much God blesses me. One certain department in my life where my cup runneth over is childcare. First of all, I have the best job in the whole world. I mean the WHOLE WORLD!! Even when I started working for Jerry with one six month old baby (Madelyn), he was very understanding when I needed to be home with her if she was sick. Now, while I have two kids, he is even more understanding. He lets me work from home on Thursdays to save on childcare for Madelyn and just spend time with my girls. When I had Meredith, he let me borrow time to stay six weeks at home with her and THEN let me bring her to work with me everyday after I came back. He knows I work hard and his main interest is that I get my work done. I DO get my work done and I am so blessed that I get to do it knowing my baby girl is with me and that I can bring Madelyn anytime I need to also. For a woman to be able to have a career and know her babies are well taken care of at the same time is a blessing in itself.

Second of all, I have a wonderful Mother and Stepmother who switch off keeping my girls on Fridays. Besides the girls receiving an eternal gift by spending time with their grandparents every week, these two angel ladies provide me with financial savings from childcare and most importantly peace of mind knowing my girls are learning from their grandparents and are safe.

Third of all, I have two co-workers who watch Meredith for me on Mondays and Wednesday for two hours when I go to class. Again, I know she is safe and properly cared for. These are women who I have know practically my whole life and trust completely.

Fourth of all, I have other people in my life who help me out with the girls whenever I need it. My precious friend Melissa is a stay-at-home mom who has let me bring Meredith over several times when I have had to go out of town for work. She is so gracious and loving and teaches my girls about Jesus and loving like him. I also have my sister's ex-boss Mike Rhodes who watched Meredith for me for about an hour this week while I presented an audit for work. How amazing for a middle-aged man with no grandchildren of his own to want to watch my child?? He was actually excited to do it and I was so appreciative. Then in the same day, my childhood Sunday School teacher, Frances Stamper, kept Meredith for me that day while I went to class. She of course fussed over her the whole time and Meredith just ate it up.

Fifth of all, also this week, David's sister helped me out by watching both girls for me two days while Madelyn was out sick with strep throat. She couldn't go to daycare and it would have been difficult for me to take her to work. Michelle just stepped up and used that time to play with the girls and blessed me at the same time.

So, my point is that God strategically placed all these people in my life at this strategic time. He truly is omniscient and loves me so much. I am SO thankful for all these people mentioned and I know there are several that I haven't mentioned. Thank you God for putting them in my life and making my life a little easier. You all are true blessings to me!!

April

Kissy Baby

2008-09-12T19:43:00.003-05:00

Well, we have a new kisser in the family. Meredith has finally learned to kiss. Madelyn was always very generous with the tongue when she first learned to kiss, which was nice but a little messy. Meredith, as true to form, is a little more modest. She basically just leans in and puts her mouth to yours. There's hardly any tongue involved. Good Girl....maybe her dating years won't be so hard on us! Lol!

She also can consistently wave Bye-Bye. This morning as I was leaving to take the girls to my mom's, I picked up Meredith and said, "Are you ready to go Bye-Bye?" She smiled really big and started waving at me. She waved all the way to the car and then some. She's rather emphatic with her waves!

So today, as my sweet baby turns 9 months old, she officially joins the ranks of waving kissers. That sounds like a club or something. I'll try to catch a picture of her doing one or both for my sis!

Lazy Kids

2008-09-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

Tracey's video of her 5 month old son crawling (boys are supposed to be slower, they say) got me to thinking that I have lazy kids when it comes to mobility. I really thought Meredith would be my mover and shaker. She certainly was in the womb. After having a daughter (Madelyn) who didn't sit up until 7 months, didn't crawl until 9 months (even then, it was more like an army crawl), didn't walk until 15 (Wow!) months---I really thought Meredith would be faster. Aren't the second children supposed to want to keep up with their older siblings and do all the things they are doing? Well, not my baby! She did sit up a little earlier than Madelyn, maybe two weeks earlier. But she turns 9 months old this week and she's not even rocking on her fat little legs. Granted, her legs are as big as tree trunks and maybe the darn things are hard to move. Both of my girls were/have been slow to get their teeth too. Madelyn was 3 days shy of 8 months before she got her first one and Meredith was 9 days shy of 8 months when she got hers. Now, I'm not worried at all about them. If you know Madelyn, she's extremely intelligent and is fine physically, so I don't expect anything different from Meredith. I guess heredity may play a part. I don't know David's stats, but I know mine. I didn't get my first tooth until 11 months...Mom wasn't sure I had any. I think I sat up and crawled in the normal ranges, but I didn't walk either until I was 14 months old. That's pretty late. My sister was under a year, I think. Again, she was the younger sibling and maybe watching me got her to going sooner. I don't know. It will interesting to compare when Holly has children. Part of Meredith's problem may be that I don't encourage her at all to crawl or walk. There's a big part of me that is scared to death that she might be my last baby and I don't want to hurry her growing up. Is that bad??

Just a little rambling for a Tuesday! Hope everyone is having a good day!!

Precious Sleeping Baby!

2008-09-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

I took this of Meredith the other day because I wanted to remember how she slept as a baby when she's older. She's my little snuggle baby. Madelyn never needed a lovey or a pacifier, but Meredith is totally different. She actually doesn't NEED a pacifier, but she loves it when she's sleeping and she really loves her tiny blanket. It's silky on one side and so soft on the other side. She reminds me of the way my sister used to sleep when she was a baby. I don't actually remember, but I've seen pictures. Holly was a classic "butt-in-the-air" sleeper. Meredith isn't doing that in this picture, butt it is her position of choice. Did you catch the pun???? Enjoy!!

Madelyn's first day of T-ball

2008-09-06T21:17:00.000-05:00

So Madelyn started her first organized sport today....Well, I say organized, but what I really mean is controlled chaos. You see, it was 2 teams of 10, so 20 3-5 year olds running around like crazy. Most have barely heard of T-ball and after hitting the ball off the tee, run off chasing the ball instead of running to the base. It was awful cute and we got lots of pictures. Madelyn played left field and the ball never came to her, so she didn't get much action on defense, but she was quite the little hitter. She wanted to wear her "fast-running" shoes and she was the fastest kid out there. She said she had fun and I have to admit that I loved it too, but it made me a tinge sad to see my baby growing up. So, here's some pictures....

10 Things I wish I could do right now....

2008-09-04T09:06:00.000-05:00

1. Go to NYC and see my sister.

2. Win $500 on a scratch-off to aide in the prior endeavor.

3. Sleep 10 hours straight one night without waking up.

4. Lose all the weight I want in one day.

5. Understand my Cost Accounting.

6. Afford to hire a house cleaner (preferably my mom since she's the best!)

7. See or talk to someone from my past.

8. Find 4 more hours in a day.

9. Figure out a way to make babies stop growing and changing.

10. Send some people to a far-off island with no contact!!!

Madelyn in 1970

2008-09-02T20:34:00.000-05:00

Here is Madelyn in 1970

Dad and Cindy

2008-09-02T20:27:00.000-05:00

Here are my parents Dad and Cindy in 1970 and 1978. I tried getting as close to their graduation years as possible. The second two are just funny ones.

This is Dad in 1982 and Cindy in 1962.

Mom and Merritt

2008-09-02T20:21:00.000-05:00

Here are my parents Merritt in 1966 and Mom in 1972(as close to the years they graduated) to the right and a couple funny ones of the two below.

Try to guess what the years are

and I'll tell you if you are correct.

Yearbook Photos

2008-09-02T19:55:00.000-05:00

Well I found this website that you can upload a picture of yourself or whoever you want and put it with a yearbook photo from a certain year. I've laughed so hard, I've just about peed myself. So for your enjoyment and some more of my own, I've decided to put some up here. Enjoy!! To the left is me in some year that I can't remember. I guess I will have to put them up in different posts.

Laughing Baby

2008-08-27T20:35:00.000-05:00

I had to put this on here for everyone to see. David got Meredith to laughing tonight and although it's not her best laughing session, it is a good one. Enjoy!!

Poor Madelyn!

2008-08-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

This is the sad face Madelyn made because I got a picture taken of myself in my jersey instead of taking her picture. Isn't she pitiful?

Boomer Sooner!!!!

2008-08-26T18:14:00.001-05:00

Ok...So I'm SO ready for football!! David took a picture of me in my new jersey for Opening Game Day 2008. I'm still on the hunt for Madelyn's yearly game-day outfit. Meredith will be decked out in Madelyn's hand-me-downs. I'm so looking forward to the first game Saturday night. David and I are having a date night and going somewhere to watch the game together while the munchkins are getting babysat. Football season/Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is finally starting to cool off. Football every Saturday...and Sunday if you like Pro, which I do not until the playoffs. Madelyn and Meredith's birthdays coming up. And all the holidays are coming up which is exciting. The Rhoda Family plans all dates in the fall according to Sooner game days and times. The year we got married, we got married on an off day....the weekend Madelyn was born was an off day and every year since she's been born, we have celebrated her birthday on an off day. I don't know what I would do if their off day didn't always fall around Madelyn's birthday. We might have to celebrate her September birthday in November or something. Lol!! Boomer Sooner....We love Bobby Stoops!!

The hazards of Pink Eye

2008-08-22T21:10:00.000-05:00

Check out this horrific case of Pink Eye David was sporting last week....It's truly a miracle that none of the rest of us got it. We avoided him like the plague!

Introducing Madelyn and Meredith......

2008-08-22T20:39:00.000-05:00

These are my sweet girls that make me "Doubly Blessed." Not the best picture, but it's the best I have of them saved on my computer at the moment.

Madelyn (on the right) will be 4 years old on September 22nd. She can make me want to scream and make my insides burst with pride at her sweetness all in the span of 30 minutes. She is an old lady in a little girl's body. She likes to lay in bed with her Mimi and play Old Maid. She likes to put on makeup and she loves, loves, loves her little sister! She starts playing T-ball this fall and we're all so excited! She was the first to make me a mommy and she steals my heart again every day!

Meredith (on the left) is 8 months old and is my snuggle bunny. She does this cute thing in the morning when I first get her up. She will bury her head into my chest and snuggle me so hard, it's like she's trying to get back inside me. She's my second and most likely last baby. I don't try to help her crawl, walk, or pass any milestones. I want her to stay small forever. She's a chubby thing who smiles all the time. Even when I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open or am just plain cranky, she give me a reason to laugh or smile. She's got one tooth and is starting to babble all the time. She's definitely my heart walking around outside my body!

First Post

2008-08-22T20:31:00.001-05:00

Well.....here I come to blog! I hope my readers enjoy reading it! Thanks for stopping by!