Our News

Well, Sophie is home!!!! YEA. I am so glad she is out of that place. The hospital is good to the babies, but nothing beats being at home. I know Sara and Alan are glad to be back home too. It has been a rough week. Sara and I are planning a trip to Fatz soon for some much needed dessert together to relieve some stress.

Court didn't go very well at all. Just keep praying for us.

I got an update on my friend Pattie and right now they just want to watch the lesion and see what happens in the next 6 months. I am so happy for her right now. I hope that things go much better.

I wish the snow would have lasted today. It sure was "peeetty" as Addy says.

My friend Amanda B. is nearing the end of her pregnancy with her baby girl. Please pray for her and her family as they deliver their new bundle of joy. I know she is ready--to say the least.

As I close this post I have to say thanks to everyone who was here for us on Friday. Words can't express how much we appreciate it. I love you all. Mark and I are greatful to have a family and friends who are here for us when we need them. You know who you are. THANK YOU!!!!

Snow Days

Addy in the snow.

New Things

Well for those of you who haven't seen us--it is official now. See the pics below for the beautiful new addition to the family.

Bet some of you thought I meant something else. LOL!!!! Anyway, we are struggling with a few personal things right now, but they will get better.

I have ordered new ribbon to start new hairbows. I am so excited--I will have to post some of the creations. I have been so slack about posting on here.

A few things I am going to ask you to pray about. My sweet little niece Sophie is in the hospital right now with RSV. She was admitted last night and hopefully will get to go home soon. Please pray she gets better quick.

My very good friend at work Pattie Toney just found out that she has a lesion on her brain stem and will have to go to Charleston to see a specialist.

Mark goes back to court on Friday over Lynn again. Please pray this goes okay.

Addison is getting over a sinus infection and easiest term-crud. She has been on antibiotics for a week now so she is doing better. She is so into books right now. She walks all around the house saying "book, book" until she finds one and then brings it to you and insist on you reading it a hundred times. Mark and I laughed at her last night because I must have read 10 books and that still wasn't enough. He said "at least she likes to read." That's true, because I never was a reader and still am not unless it's instructions on how to make a hairbow. LOL!!

ON THE MOVE

Santa brought Addison the courage to walk. YEP she is finally walking. I think it is probably the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I was so proud and so sad all at the same time. Sad--because she is growing up and proud--because she is doing so well. I had the privilege to be home with her for almost two weeks during the holidays. I loved every minute of it. We had a ball playing with her new toys and just enjoying each other. Needless to say, she became very attached to me while we were together, but that is getting better. I will post some pictures of Christmas over the weekend. We are here at work and probably will be until maybe 10pm or so tonight. Have a wonderful weekend.

Christmas

Well, Mark is headed out west to help out with all of the people without power. Please pray that he will make it there and home safe. It is doubtful that he will be back home before Christmas, but it is okay he is doing his part to help out. Just keep him in your prayers and the rest of the crews that are there.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Addy goes back to see Santa

Mark and I went to Gatlinburg this weekend and while we were gone Grammy took Addy to see Santa. She didn't do as bad as she did when we took her, but it still wasn't one of her favorite.

Also, she did take her first few steps this weekend. Wouldn't you know she would do it while we were gone. Maybe that is why she did, because Mommy wasn't carrying her everywhere.

After Thanksgiving

Well Thanksgiving went by way too fast. We had a good time with our families and friends. I hope every one's holiday was wonderful.

Congrats to Amanda and Dray-Christian Caulder was born Sunday November 25 weighing 8.5lbs and everyone is doing good.

Here are a couple of pictures of our Thanksgiving.

Tristan and Landon

Addy at PeePaws--sorry Grandpa Mark says Addy has to call you Peepaw.

Sophie, Sam, and Addy

These girls just won't cooperate.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Well Taylor has strep throat so I doubt that they will be coming over tonight after all. I don't want Addy to get another illness nor do I want it. Anyway, I hope everyone has a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Please remember our men and women who are serving our country in various locations and all of those people who don't have family and who are having rough times right now. Be safe and happy. Don't let the holiday stress get to you. Sit back, relax and enjoy the family--after all that's what it is about. If you go shopping on Friday don't get mad or frustrated enjoy the time let the spirit of the season guide you. I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR. Especially now that I have a family of my own. Love makes all the difference!!!!!

MORE DRAMA

Okay Addy now has hand, foot and mouth disease. She looks like a walking blister. She has thousands of tiny blisters all over her. Mom kept telling me that she thought that was what it was, but I didn't think so because it was all over her. Mom and I took her to the Pediatric Night Clinic last night and that is what it is. They did give us some cream, but it still looks pretty bad. I also have two midterms to take today because we had the kids all weekend. Mark and Lynn had a discussion last night that didn't go to well. End result-we won't be getting the kids for Christmas because Greasy Bob is coming to town even though she asked last year to get to keep them for their first Christmas without them being married. That is okay though. She WON'T ever get any more favors from us.

Addy's Sick Again

Bless her heart. Yesterday the call came in around 2pm from daycare and the director told me she needed to talk to me for a minute. They said she hadn't went to the bathroom all day not even a dribble and that she had just started vomiting. Out the door I went to pick her up and take her to the doctor after 7 days of upset stomach. Conclusion: a urinary tract infection and a yeast infection probably coming from the upset stomach she has had. We are on Omnicef and Cultrelle(I don't think that is how you spell that). Hopefully we will get out of this funk soon. Happy Friday.

My Little Turkey

Well I don't know how many of you know that Addy has a hard time at school with crafts because she eats them. I know it's crazy, but she did finish a craft project yesterday and it is the VERY FIRST one that I have ever gotten. I was so PROUD of her. They did say that she did try and eat the crayons, but ended up making it to the end. Here it is:

I know that only a child's mother can TRULY appreciate their artwork and know that it is beautiful. I hope that she does get some of the family's artistic talents.

Doodle the Penguin

I know it took a long time for me to post these, but here is Doodle as a Penguin. Grammy made the costume several years ago for Breanna and I kept it and now my baby girl got to show it off. THANK YOU GRAMMY

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Just wanted to tell everyone that I hope you have a Happy Halloween. We are going to take Doodle to the daycare where she goes(Lake Bowen Baptist Church). Mark is getting home too late for us to go much of anywhere else. I will post pictures maybe tomorrow. It's the first of the month though, so we will be working late. Have fun and most importantly be safe.

I haven't posted pictures yet of our new car either. I will do that soon too.

MARCUS TURNS 37

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY

Today is Mark's 37th Birthday. Happy Birthday!!!! I hope that you have had a wonderful year and that next year is even better.

TO MY DADDY:

I just wanted to tell you that I love you. You are the best Daddy. I hope you have a good day. We have lots of adventures for next year. LOVE YOU.

It's Halloween Time

It's been a while since I have posted, but I was finishing my classwork and doing all of that fun stuff. Mark is finally over all of the surgeries and stuff. YEAH!!!!!!! We had Mark's kids this weekend and we decided to take them to the Pumpkin Patch. I was feeling a bit under the weather, but we had a good time. Here are some pictures.

We then got the pumpkins home and helped the kids clean them out. Addison thought pumpkin guts were the best thing to play in. By the time we were done she was in the tub and the rest of us were just trying to get cleaned up the best we could. It was a lot of fun.

Tragedy

I have to post some very bad news today and I want everyone to remember to pray for both families involved. One of my VERY good friends is going through a very rough time right now. I can't imagine how he feels and how the rest of the family feels. Here is the link to the story from 10/17/07 on WSPA. http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2007-10-17-0005.html


To My Friend--I want you to know that you have a team of people praying for you and your family. If you need anything please let us know.

2007 Reunion October 7, 2007

Mark's family had their reunion today and it was a lot of fun. I always enjoy getting to see his family because we don't see some of them very often. This year was a little different. Of course the biggest difference for us was that we have Addison and we lost Mark's Mom this past summer. This is only my second reunion and unlike what some people say about family reunions I enjoyed it. After the reunion we went up to the church where Vereda asked to be buried. They buried her today and then placed a very pretty headstone where she is. It was a very nice time to do that I thought, because all of her family was from Ashville so that gave them the oportunity to be there with us.

Yet another week of fun!!!

Well once again we ran into a surprise. Mark told me on Thursday that he thought he needed to go to the doctor because he wasn't feeling good. Well Thursday night we were at the hospital while he was having surgery to put a stint in. Turns out that he has 3 kidney stones which were blocking the passageway that connects the kidneys to the bladder. Well they have put this stint in that is supposed to keep that clear so that his kidneys will continue to work properly. Wednesday he will be going back to be put to sleep again and have those three stones blasted so that he can pass them. GREAT. Never surprises me these days. I just keep thinking though, IT COULD BE WORSE!!! I am sure that he isn't thinking that though. He can't wait to have it taken out. To be honest-me either. LOL!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY SWEET BABY GIRL!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Well as most of you now know my baby girl turned a year old today. To be exact she was born at 9:51pm. She has grown so much from 5lbs to a little over 20. Mommy cried on the way to work this morning thinking about this very day a year ago. Everything was fine and at lunch time in the cafeteria at work, my water broke. Scared to death and crying, Addy's work Grandma, Connie took care of me and got me to the doctor and then to the hospital. God has blessed me with a healthy, beautiful little girl. I couldn't ask for more.

Addison, Mommy loves you more than you will ever know. You have brought new things to my life and wonderful memories. A year ago today I was so scared and excited that I didn't know what to do. God blessed us with wonderful families who helped us and guided us through each step. I hope that you will know for years to come that Mommy and Daddy love you so much and are PROUD to be your parents. You are the angel Mommy dreamed about for a long time. God will bless you sweetheart. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

6 months old

Now She is ONE

Birthday Party

Saturday we had Addy's first birthday party at Lake Bowen Park. Thanks to everyone who helped me out with lots of different things. Seeing as it was my first party, I was a little slow at takeoff. Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate. I really enjoyed everything, I think Addy did too. Thank you Steven, my brother-in-law, who took the wonderful pictures. All together we had over 150 pictures, so I am not going to post them all. If we posted them all it would take days to upload. We had some wonderful pictures, but most only Mommy and Daddy would enjoy looking at over and over. Here are a few to let you see how the party went down. Just arriving on her new car.

Both of the cakes--THANK YOU CONNIE!!!!!

Addy's smash cake.

Another Big Day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM

WE LOVE U

I can't believe you are 5 years old buddy. We all love you and hope you have a GREAT day. Don't eat too many cupcakes and enjoy your dinner tonight. You will always be Aunt Stephie's favorite buddy. I hope you made some love for me!!!!!!!!

Two Beautiful Babies

Sam (5)

Sophia (1)

You've got to love his face.

And she is WAY to precious.

Sick Little Girl

Well, we believe that Addy is on the road to recovery. I tell you everytime that something like this happens I find new respects for stay at home mothers. She was very sick, very whiny, very clingy, and not very happy. She has almost stopped running a fever, but Mark had to give her some tylenol this morning. She doesn't want Mommy to put her down at all. Mommy feels like this isn't a very good idea I must add. We are tired and stessed to say the least. I have started school back (almost 4 weeks ago) and midterms are just around the corner so having time to complete work, do homework, take care of a little one, and do the everyday duties are getting to be a bit stressful for me. Needless to say I was glad and sad to come back to work today. Sad because I want to be with my baby in case she needs me, but glad to get some much needed adult time after being in the house with her for the last two days.

My sister just called to tell me that my nephew, Sam, is very sick now. I guess the cooler weather has brought out the bugs.

Sick Little Girl

Addy had to go to the doctor today after several days of running a fever and not getting better. Well they came back and said she has croop. Anyway long story short she is out of daycare at least until Friday and possibly will have to be put on steroids and breathing treatments. Right now her oxygen levels are still really good so we won't have to do that right now. Please pray that we don't--Mommy would rather not have to put her on steroids or breathing treatments.

Aye Mate

Sara had Sam and Sophie's Birthday party today, and we had a ball. She did a treasure hunt, walking the plank, and all kinds of things. I have posted the pictures for all to see. Sara, you did a wonderful job. Sam and his Pirate Ship. "walking the plank"

Sophie and her cake.

SURPRISE

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

No not me. My friend Amanda who is mother to Addison's boyfriend, Avery, is expecting a baby girl. I am so excited for her. This will be the first granddaughter on both sides. How fun. Congrats Amanda to you and your family.

Addy's Job

Yes we believe in starting them out early so that she will learn the value of a dollar. Just kidding. Addison is appearing on a website for a lady that I chat with on bow making. She requested models and I sent Addy's picture in and she decided to use her. YEAH!!! If you want to see the website is http://www.angelhugscustomboutique.com/store/WsPages.asp?ID=1. Once again Mommy's not proud at all. LOL!!!
Grammy called bright and early this morning and she is sick today so I took baby girl to daycare. Wow that was hard. She didn't want to stay at all. I had to end up walking out with no kiss or anything because she was really upset. I tried to explain to her that if I brought her to work she would have to play in a drawer and that wouldn't be much fun for 9 hours. She still didn't care.

Sophie Turns ONE

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY SOPHIE!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe it has already been a year since that beautiful baby girl was brought into this world. She is a blessing and I love that she and Addy will be so close-unless of course Sophie beats Addy up. LOL!!! I LOVE YOU SOPHIE, HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!