Life

Life as we know it, has been moving on, with the weather proving itself in allergy related problems in our house. Kaylie started with something at my mom's before we left, and had it for about a week after we got home, and then it disappeared. Then last week I started with some sinus mess, and it progressed, but I think peaked over the weekend, since I seem to be getting better now. Now Monday morning, Kaylie started back up with being really stopped up, nose running, etc. I know I flare up when the weather changes, and I have seen Kaylie patterning me in allergy flare ups before. Ah, as much as I love this cooler weather, I don't enjoy feeling miserable with it!

We have DSL now! I'm so enjoying the faster connection speed! Now lest you wonder how we justify the price, with Vernon in school, etc., here's our story.
Every time Bellsouth would try to sell us DSL, I always told them that unless they could lower the price to what we were paying for dial-up, I wasn't interested. So far, they've never been able to match the price. Dial-up price had gone up in the last year, but we still had a $10 discount for having unlimited long distance, so that still meant we were only paying $10........
Well, in the course of trying to get ahold of tech support for my dial-up last week, the lady I spoke with to transfer me over, started trying to give me an idea, then stopped, but later got back on and offered a package that was a Grand plan! I was tickled! Not only did it switch out our dial-up for DSL ultra, but it gave us back our caller ID and call waiting (two unimportant features we let go a long time ago, but are sure nice to have!), and we kept our unlimited long distance, all for barely $3 more per month than what we're paying now! What she did was lower our DSL price and lower our long distance price. So.......as long as everything goes according to plan, and no price changes happen after 10 months or something goofy that I wasn't told about......we're good to go! No more late night two hour+ runs for Vernon trying to finish something on here because the computer was acting slow or the speed was not helping matters.
We now have a new computer modem and DSL.......should help, don't ya think?

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Kaylie

Here are some pictures of our Lil' Munchkin. Kaylie will turn 18 months this Friday! Where HAS the time gone?!

Playing with her baby Nola--Mommy's cabbage patch kid doll from years back!
A toy Mommy found at a yard sale for $1 this past Saturday~ Putting on Mommy's chapstick, wearing Mommy's dress shoes and a dress her great-grandmother made for her mom and aunt--so it's at least 29 years old.

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No Family Bed in this house

Okay, so this morning reinforced in my mind, the decision to let our bed be a cuddle family bed, and not a sleeping family bed.
Kaylie fell out of her toddler bed about 6:30 this morning and didn't want to go back in it, and since it was the first time it had happened, I took pity on her, and brought her down to our bed. The next hour and a half were a joke getting any sleep. She finally drifted back off to sleep not long before Vernon's alarm went off at 8. For those of you who might comment that we're slackers for lying in bed that long, he didn't get home from work until almost 12:30, and if he ever has a morning to sleep in, we take full advantage of it! =]

Anyway, after the alarm went off, Kaylie was done trying to sleep. I gave up at that point, and decided I should be up anyway. I'm still amazed, that after three 'sleeps' in her new bed, she only has fallen out once, and it took her until this morning to do that--that's a long stretch, I think!

I'll quit bragging now--I'd like to hear your story!

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Changing Beds

What kind of bed does your baby/toddler/preschooler sleep in?
At what age did you switch them to another bed?

Kaylie slept in her pack-n-play for most of her almost 18 mons., though she did have a few months in a cradle.
We bought her a toddler bed, and so today, I packed her playpen up and put her in her 'big girl bed' for naptime. She never knew the difference. I just put her back down for a short nap before we go to see Daddy at work tonight, and again, no fussing there.
This is too easy. I'm still waiting for her to realize her freedom and come downstairs how many times after she's been put down.......we'll see what happens tonight.

What's been your experience with switching beds on your children?

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Books

How many of you have read Karen Kingsbury's books?
How many of you have read Even Now?
Have you read the sequel just out--Ever After?
I cried, reading it today.......I won't tell you which part was teary--you'll have to read it yourself.

As for myself, I enjoy Karen's books, though some are more romance novels than inspirational, I think. The first of these two I mentioned was one of her 'okay' books, but I enjoyed the second one more.

Off to take my husband supper at work tonight!
Blessings this week!

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Home Again, Home Again

Nothing feels better than being home after a LONG stay away.
Thanks for your prayers and thoughts while I was away. Please continue to pray for my mom--she still has a long recovery ahead to get her new knees in proper working order.

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I'm Going Home!

Thursday morning I am leaving for home! I've enjoyed being here, but alas, home is calling after 2 weeks! Please pray that our trip home will go well--I don't relish driving like I used to when I was single. Our trip up went better than I could've hoped for, so I'm asking those same angels to ride along home with us.
The only hiccup is that Kaylie woke up this morning about 2, and was too stopped up to breathe well, so upstairs we went for medicine. And it's continued all day, stuffy nose and head (I guess) and runny nose. So we may have this to deal with on the way home. Why does sickness seem to hit when you're almost done with your trip somewhere?

The good news is, I just got a call that some friends of ours are bringing supper over tonight! Elegant artichoke cups--a Pampered Chef recipe! Ever had it?

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Roses

My DEAR HUSBAND sent me roses.........one for every day I'm gone. Isn't he the sweetest man on earth?!

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Two weeks post op!

For those of you wondering, my time here at Mom's is going well. Mom is progressing well, and I push her to do as much as she can on her own. As my dad said tonight when Mom wanted help moving her one leg over, and I refused, telling her she had to do it on her own, it's called 'tough love'. She is doing a lot already by herself, but of course, there are certain things she can't do, or it takes too much 'up' time to do, more time standing or with her legs down, than she can tolerate.

The church women have been angels, bringing meals in pretty much every other day, which is a TREMENDOUS help to me. I told the deacon's wife Sunday night, I am SO thankful for the schedule made up for meals. I had come up, prepared to do some cooking, but wasn't going to turn away any meals coming in. I haven't had to cook one yet! Between laundry, dishes, Mom, Kaylie, therapy session runs, other errands once in a while, and finding time to rest, that's all I can do right now. I don't have time or energy to stand at the stove, really. Although the last two days, I've actually had some time to rest, and today I made sure I got a nap.

So for those of you praying, thanks so much for caring! Yes, it's really hard being away from Vernon for 2 1/2 weeks, and I will be glad to get home. But for now, I'm needed here, and I know Dad and Mom both really appreciate my help. Kaylie's being here is, as Mom said today, 'a spot of sunshine'. She says their names now--"Mama"(Grandmama) and "Dad-dad"(Granddad). She is doing really well with all these adjustments, and for that, I'm thankful. I realized this evening why she has been cranky some mornings--and other times of day--and I couldn't figure out why she had any reason to be fussy then. She has an eyetooth through the skin already that I hadn't even noticed yet!

Back to Mom~she started therapy today. We see the doctor on Friday, and he will hopefully remove her staples then, and then she can start water therapy, along with gym exercises. This will total 3 sessions a week, plus the CPM knee exercise machine right now that she's using at home.

So please keep praying--for all of us involved here--I felt very overwhelmed the first two days Mom was home, and shed some tears over my exhaustion, but am doing better, and making sure I take some time for myself, whether to sit and read or actually nap.
Pray for Vernon--I know he's lonely, and has made a great sacrifice. He's doing a great job being a bachelor, from what I've heard. So if any of you men feel like you can't make it on your own for 2 1/2 weeks, ask MY MAN...he's doing it and I love him for it!

God's Best to you this week!

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