Ellie girl is tonsil-less

These loaded backwards, so you might want to read from the bottom up! :-)

Ellie and her friend (a neighbor) had a tea party and a birthday party for her bears at 10:00 pm after she got her tonsils out?!? She started really feeling better, so I was baking cupcakes at 10:00 at night!! I was just glad she was feeling so good!

Jeff and Ellie napping before we came home.

She told us before they took her back that she wanted sprite when she woke up.
Jeff and I went back to recovery with her and the nurses were laughing saying the first thing she said was, "Can I have some sprite?"
(and of course they went on and on about how cute she was!)
We got a video of her drinking her sprite - her eyes were closed and she was so out of it, but if that straw ever left her mouth, she opened her mouth like a little bird and started drinking again!! It was hillarious!

This was before they took her back. She did great and only acted nervous when the doctors came to get her - 2 men?!? One finally offered to carry her and she was fine after that.
I was a mess, though!

and last but not least, this is the mark Ava left on poor Ellie's back from biting her!!!?!?!?!?
They were playing, so Ava wasn't mad at her - not sure why she did it, but she did it again the next day. We had just told our babysitter that we don't spank her - but we totally ate our words. She got a pretty good little spanking plus time out both times for biting!!!

Ellie is doing great! We went to Chuck-E-Cheese last night and she ate a whole piece of pizza and played harder than she ever has! She doesn't typically like the tunnels you climb up through, then slide down, but we took a friend who is 9 and she went up with them and both girls loved it! Ellie slept until 11 this morning!!

Grand-daddy "Red" and Lista

Just wanted to put a couple of pictures up of Lista. We miss her terribly! She and Landy were such good sisters and Ellie and Ava remind me so much of them!! It will be interesting to see if they grow up to be like Lista and Landy.

We all love this picture of Lista, but I am especially fond of it because it's one of the few that I have of her holding Ellie. Sure wish my Avie could have known her.

Nannie and Grand-daddy
Ellie calls him Grand-daddy "Red"
(Red was his nickname that most people knew him as because of his red hair)

love this family picture
Christmas 2007

I got so emotional at the 4th of July parade when I saw all the antique cars!
Grand-daddy had several and boy did he love parades! He was all about the attention. He even drove Santa in some of the Christmas parades, and he loved driving the beauty queens around. It's funny because that is one of my favorite memories of being with Grand-daddy - his old cars and parades. Jeff's favorite memories of his gran-gran (one of them) is parades - he always put his horses in the parades.
Anyway, I got emotional again when we went to the Otter's game. When we walked in to the baseball game, there was a song playing from A League of Their Own, where Grand-daddy was an extra and his car was the one the teenager drove Gena Davis to the bar to warn the other girls in!! He drove the girls and me in to our wedding in their yard in that car.
I love the memories I have of my Grand-daddy and hope my girls always have special memories of their Papa and D!

July pics

Reading with Ms. Kathy - a sweet lady from our church (who happens to be our pastor's mom and our life group leader's wife, along with one of our lead teachers in children's church.) Our girls really like Ms. Kathy and she brought them this book last week.

Ellie has been reading a lot lately. One night, we read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss. I didn't catch this, but at the end of the book, she said, "They never said 'There's a wocket in my pocket!'" I'm so glad she comprehends things as well as she does! Like I said, I never even thought anything about it, but she was right, other than the title.

Our sweet, sweet girls.

all the cousins in Murray for the 4th of July

Grandkids!
These are Jeff's parents and his sister's kiddos.

runnin' on the quad

Right in the middle of campus at Murray State, there is a big open area everyone refers to as the "quad". That's where the famous shoe tree lives, only it was hit by lightening and the top is gone. If you don't know the story, when people meet at MSU and get married, they go back and nail one of each of their shoes to the "shoe tree". Jeff and I did - we'll have to find pictures to post...

Avie playing "ride a little horsey" with Nannie

Happy Birthday, Tishie!
We love you!!!
Landy laughs and says Tishie is like a cat and has 9 lives...and that she still has several left!
We sure hope so! I want my kids' kids to know my Tishie and how special she is!!!

Daddy's girls on the 4th of July

my clone :-)
Ellie has had a weird summer. She is so influenced by some of her friends in ways that I don't approve of, but when she's with us she is such an amazing kid!
I have to find a way to have some balance and continue to teacher her how to make good choices, even when everybody else doesn't.

cousins at the lake
My brother's kiddos with mine at KY Lake on the 4th.

Ellie loves to help Jeff shave!
He's nice enough to let her put the shaving cream on his face...although it doesn't always all end up on his face?!?

Ellie painting her own room!!!
She's so grown up!! My mom said, "Ellie, how many 4 year olds do you know that get to paint their own room?" Of course, my mom went back over her work with a roller to "smooth it out", but Ellie painted her little heart out!

I'll post pictures of before and after, but my mom painted the girls' bedroom pink!
It's perfect - the girls love it and so do I! They wore rags on their heads to keep the paint off their hair, but somehow ellie's hair ended up with pink highlights! :-)

another pic of my brother's kids with mine at KY Lake
my sister-in-law made all the little girls tutu's!
(and my other sister-in-law - Jeff's sister - made my girls hairbows for the 4th)

So, my sweet Avie is highly allergic to mosquito bites! She got one right between her eyes and her whole face swelled up. I laugh so hard every time I see this picture, but it wasn't funny at the time. She looks like she belongs in who-ville with Dr. Seuss. I know some people have to go to the emergency room because they can swell up so big they cut the circulation off. Thankfully, we haven't had to go through that yet. Just lots of repellant and a benadryl after bite stick.

money, money, money, money....MONEY!

I feel like we've been out a lot of extra money lately. The girls both got tubes in December and Ellie got her adenoids taken out. Sleep study for Ava in March, Ava's tonsils out in May, and this Thursday, Ellie will be getting her tonsils out bright and early in the morning. I hope all of these medical bills turn in to something where we can say...

2 sets of ear tubes = lots of money
sleep study = lots of money
tonsils out = lots of money
more tonsils out = lots of money
a good night's sleep with very healthy kiddos = PRICELESS!

Avie is 21 months!

Our Avie is growing up way too fast!! She is talking in full sentences and you can understand about 90% of what she says, she is working on potty training and will go #1 in the potty most of the time, but we're still trying to convince her to do #2 somewhere other than her diaper while she's hiding behind a chair! She and Ellie are sharing a bedroom now, so we bought bunk beds, but they choose to sleep together in a twin bed on the bottom every night. She did not like the fireworks - they were way too loud for her, she is sleeping like a champ now that she has her tonsils out, and she is allergic to mosquito bites. They swell up way bigger than normal, get super hot, then eventually ooze and scab over. We're doing as much as we can to keep the mosquitos away - spray, candles, spraying mouthwash all around?!?, and I just bought an ankle bracelet that is supposed to keep them away, so we'll see. Her favorite "chores" are laundry and dishes (woohoo!). She loves putting the laundry in the washer, then the dryer and helping with detergent and fabric softener and she always puts the silverware away - although when she's not looking, I go back and sort them because she just puts all of it in the same slot. She loves for Ellie to read books to her and she tells her "dood dob" (good job) - I guess she's heard me tell Ellie good job when she "reads" (from memory) books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years and I can't believe how blessed we are with such great girls!

outdoor beauties

Little Miss Ava Claire is growing like a weed! She talks better than most 3-year-olds and says new words every day. She loves her "Sissy" more than just about anything! Tonight, Ellie tripped and fell, so she was sitting in the floor crying. Avie said, "My help, Sissy tying (I'll help, Sissy is crying.)" and she took her a baby to make her feel better!!

Oh, how I love this picture! So innocent. Ellie has decided that she loves dancing and without any prompting, announced that when she grows up, she wants to be a dance teacher. You go girl! Dance your little heart out!

beautiful

Doesn't Ellie just look like a little doll in this picture??

pretty girls

ellie in her tumbling costume

Avie before church one day - I was so surprised she would wear that on her head!

a humming bird at my parents' house

ellie at our family reunion

avie at the family reunion - Jeff threw her in the air and she loved it. he tried to get ellie, but she didn't think that sounded fun at all?!?

HSM2

If you know Ellie, you know she loves music and movies that are musicals. Annie, The Wizard of Oz, Doodlebops, Hannah Montana, and of course, High School Musical! That is one of her favorites. Murray has a "Playhouse in the Park" and they put on some great shows. We got to take Ellie to see HSM2 with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and 2 of her cousins. Gabriella is her favorite in the movie and it was no different in the play. At the end, the "cast" was coming out taking their bows and Ellie kind of clapped, although everyone else was standing, but when Gabrielle came out, she jumped to her feet and clapped as hard as she could!!! Then, we got to get their autographs and she got her picture with what she calls "the real Gabriella!"

Tonsils

Well, I loaded my pictures backwards, but here are some pics of Ava the day she got her tonsils out. It took her a while to really wake up good, but then she did fine and was able to go home later that same afternoon. They said it would take care of the sleep apnea and it seems to have done the trick. She still doesn't sleep all night, but she is doing much better (only up once last night) and she doesn't stop breathing!

Avie

Our Avie is so funny! She's talking like crazy now and I had to share some of her phrases. This picture was of her eating her first ice cream cone. No, I'm not funny about what she eats. She has never liked ice cream - until this week. I don't know if having her tonsils out changed the way textures feel or what, but she loves it and asks for it now. OK, back to her phrases.

"Daddy a mess my dink."
(translation: Daddy, I made a mess with my drink."

"Daddy a poo-poo a potty!"
(translation: She was telling our company one evening that Daddy was going poo-poo in the potty!)

"Mommy, a Nick a Ambe a home?"
(translation: Mommy, are Nick and Amber at home?)

"Mommy, awnt my nummies!"
(translation: Mommy, I want my nummies *all food is nummies.)

She's also starting to pee in the potty and is wearing panties when we are home during the day.

Pretty good for just turning 20 months old, huh?

Tishie

This is my cousin Landy's post from facebook about her mom, my aunt Tishie.

Well, I really don't even know where to begin. It's been a long, rough few weeks and will continue to be for awhile longer. I guess I just want to say thanks for all the support, cards, prayers, etc. and to ask you to please keep them coming.

About a month ago while she was still in Little Rock, Mama suddenly got more confused than usual and she was admitted to the hospital. My dad, Nannie, aunt, and cousins were all there and she didn't know or react to any of us. She eventually became completely nonresponsive to everything- voice, touch, even pain. A team of doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, and one neurologist even told me not to get my hopes up. So we prayed and waited and one night she just looked at me and said "I just don't understand." It was one of the greatest moments of my life. We talked and I explained some of what happened that week while she was out, and we had a great talk about miracles. She knew that's what it was, and so did the doctors and nurses. It was amazing.

We met with her oncologist after about another week, and he didn't have great news for us. He said that we had 3 options. 1)Go home and enjoy our time while nature took its course. 2)Go home on maintenance chemotherapy, but he was doubtful it would help her. 3)Come home for a couple of weeks then go back to have her second stem cell transplant. He said because her cancer is so aggressive, more than a month would be too long to be gone. Mama said she's not ready to give up, and she was gonna keep on fighting. She is so brave.

We have been home for a couple of weeks now, but she got really sick on Tuesday night. I took her to the ER and her temperature went up to 103.7, so they admitted her. She has some kind of infection but they're not sure where, so today they said she would be there for about 4-5 more days. She is doing better, but we are all nervous about what this means in terms of her treatment in Little Rock. She can't have anymore chemo until the infection is completely gone or the infection might kill her. But waiting means the cancer might be growing rapidly. We have no choice but to take one day at a time, but the dr's statement about a month being too long is in the back of all of our minds.

I know people probably get tired of me always talking about mama, but I don't know what else to do. I feel so helpless so the only way I know to help is by asking for prayer. I know that's what brought her out of her coma or whatever it was, and I know it's the only thing that will help her through the next few weeks. I don't know when we will be going back to Arkansas, but I do know it's going to be a difficult time. The first transplant was rough, and they say the second one is always harder. I'm trying to have a positive attitude about all of this and I know God has plenty more miracles in store, but the nursing side of me knows what can happen.

Mama and I have had lots of talks about life lately. She is not scared of death, because the worst thing that can happen is that she gets to be reunited with Lista. And I'm not scared of her dying, because I know there's a place saved for her in Heaven. BUT I'm not ready yet and she's still willing to fight. I know she can beat this, but not without prayer and not without truly believing that God can heal her. I'm asking you to pray hard and believe that she can beat this. Also pray for strength and comfort as she fights this.

I don't know if I used my words right, or even gave you a very good update. This was just on my heart, and I wanted to ask for help and I know there are a lot of people who care about her and want to help her. She is an amazing mother and role model, and I learn more from her each day. Thank you for your support; we wouldn't make it without it. I tagged a few people but not everyone who has asked about her cause I ran out. Must mean a lot of people love her!

a sweet visit with Tishie

We had the best time visiting with Tishie and Landy yesterday. They wanted to see Ava after she had her tonsils out, so they came to our house for a little while. Ava was feeling really good, so she put on a good show!! We hope to have many more visits like this in the future!!! Keep praying for Tishie and her health.

P.S. Landy just found out she got in to RN school in the fall!!!

what we've been up to

downtown evansville

my flash went off, but the sunset was perfect

ava stands on her tiptoes all the time now

ava had fun running, but I was nervous because we were so close to the river

ellie thought the word buoys was SO funny!

right after we got home from the surgery center
I was watering the flowers and Ava enjoyed being outside

my dad's beard is always a big hit!

Avie running in her new gown.

Issy smelling Mom's flowers - she LOVES flowers!

Dizzy and her friend Cailyn with Hank

my avie and me

my ellie and me

JD - he is SO happy and well behaved!

sweet girls - my girls love their DIZ

I've tried to post this picture twice and it keeps rotating it??
oh well, it's cute

ellie loves to drive the tractor with papa

Mother's day with my sweet babies!

Ava would only ride the tractor if someone carried her on the back.

down by the river last night

Jeff's mom came to visit and we went for a walk down by the river while he was at work.