Pottery

Well here is my first ever piece of painted pottery! This is what I did one night while we were on vacation. It was so relaxing and I just loved sitting and talking to the girl that does it all of the time and learning all of her secrets. They in no way do any kind of hands on to help you but they will talk you through things like "you need another coat of green so you don't see brush strokes." Looking at it now I wished she would have told me I needed more black on the "A", and that I should have spaced my dots out a little better and well there is probably not a lot she could have done to help steady my shaky hand but oh well....I know I am no Kim Wheeler but it was fun and I did it all by myself!!!

15 months old

Time flies when you are having fun and Kara Brooke is just SOOOO much fun!! Here is what she has been up too:

-She is learning to sing, Itsy Bitsy spider and does her little hands trying to do the motions.

She sing's the E I E I ohhhh part of O McDonald and it is so cute!

-She tries to repeat anything you tell her too.

-Holds up one finger when you ask her how old she is.

-Copies EVERYTHING that Kaylee does, including standing on her head.

-She now has 4 teeth.

-She says Bye so plainly while waving her little hand.

-Understand commands such as put it in the trash, where is your drink, take this to your room, give this to Daddy and so on.

-She reaches for things that she wants to eat while smacking her lips and grunting all at the same time. HILARIOUS!!

-Recognizes and makes the dog & duck sound.

-She will point to her belly, nose, ear, eye, toes, tongue and hair bow when asked.

-She has got a lot better about taking a bath. Kaylee gets in with her and they have the biggest time!

-She loves to go outside and just walk around.

-She will eat anything and eats nonstop!

It is just amazing to me how fast she is growing up, I try to make the most of everyday and enjoy it with both of my baby girls because I know, "It won't be like this for long!" They are both just a joy in our lives and CAN NOT imagine life without them!! Thank you God!

Back to the ER & first day of school

So yesterday we went school shopping but before we got started of course we had to eat at Steak n Shake. We were almost done when Kaylee went to the restroom, she came out crying saying she hit her head. We sat there a minute or two and Kaylee just kept saying her head was hurting really bad so my Mom pulled over to her, rubbed her head and her head was gushing blood. She had bent over in the restroom to fix the strap on her shoe and when she came up she caught the corner of the vanity and there you go! So we grabbed everything up and headed to the ER. Kaylee was screaming and was worried they were going to have to shave the back of her head, I was driving like a crazy lady and my Mom was trying to keep her sanity!! We got to the ER and they took her right back, I guess the gushing of blood had a lot to do with it! They got the bleeding stopped and then the Dr. came in, the SAME Dr. Kara Brooke had the week prior...SAD...even sadder....he recognized us!!! Anyway he was great and promised Kaylee that he would not shave her head. So Kaylee has two staples in the back of her head that have to stay in for twelve days.

Today was Kaylee's first day in second grade, she got Mrs. Jojo Hill this year and one of her BFF's, Gracie Beth is in her class too...poor Mrs. Hill, is all I can say!! Check out her outfit this is what SHE chose to wear. No more "cute" stuff...it has to be COOL from now on!!!

Donating blood

This blog entry is one that I have wanted to do for a long time but I just have never had the time or energy to really sit down and think of what I really want to say. I know this topic is going to be one that not a lot of you think about or really even care about. But it is something that weighs heavy on my heart.

You could have asked me 8 years and 5 months ago about giving blood and my response would have been something like, "I don't give blood, I don't know why...I'm not scared of needles, I just have never done it." Well that all changed 8 years and 2 months ago.

On June 13, 2001 Kaylee was born two weeks early but was a very healthy 8 pounds and 3 ounces, like most new moms, I was on top of the world and held her for the longest time until the nursery worker came and took her to be bathed, weighed and all of that stuff. My nurse and Dr. kept checking my blood pressure and shaking their heads. After finally asking what was going on and why I had not been moved on down to recovery and then passing out with Kris catching me around the neck thinking that I had just died and all kinds of codes being shouted {which I don't remember that part but Kris later told me all about} the Dr. told us that I had hemorrhaged and lost A LOT of blood. My blood pressure would not stabilize and the Dr's thought I might start to seize at any time. That night they gave me some kind of oral medication and just kept me comfortable for the night. The next morning I woke up to my Dr.'s voice telling me that we needed to talk. She described to me what had happened and what hemorrhaging meant and what was going to happen next. They monitored my BP the rest of the day and continue to check blood levels. That was fine with me as long as I could hold my new baby since I had not hardly got to hold her at all the night prior because I was so weak and all of the medication. That day as Kris, my mom and myself sat in that hospital room you could see my heart beating so fast and hard through my gown it was almost unreal. I had never seen anything like it before. I knew something was terribly wrong when my mom had a terrified look on her face. A couple of hours later my Dr. came back in and said, " Holli you need a blood transfusion." I said, "Ok, tell me about that. Can we test my mom or Kris to see if they are a match?" I knew nothing about what she was talking about, I was 21 years old and was clueless! The Dr. looked me dead in the eye, held my hand and said, "We DO NOT have time! Your blood will need to come from the bank." The bank, I thought...that is where I work and we have no blood there!! "The blood bank", the Dr. said. Of course I went into freak out mode { you know how I am about germs} and to think SOME ONE'S blood was going into my body!!!??!!! "What, when, how, are you sure we HAVE to do this", I asked her again. "Very sure, if we don't then your heart will not be able to pump as many times as it would need to, to keep blood flowing through your body properly, in turn, a heart attack." OK...enough said! She went on to say, "The nurse will be here in a moment to retype your blood and then we will get started." With a big hug and a huge smile my sweet Dr. left the room. I begin to cry uncontrollably and thought why in the world is this happening to me, I don't want to get a blood transfusion, I don't want some one's blood in my body, I just want to hold my baby and go home in one more day. Thankfully I was not in control, God was. Just as promised the transfusion was started and I slept while I took the blood, not so bad, didn't hurt thank goodness. After the first bag was finished that was not enough. I ended up having three transfusions. After five days in the hospital, blood pressure medicine and a beautiful baby girl I finally got to go home! Which brings me where I am today and the reason for this post. I can not tell you how grateful I am that somebody or somebodies gave their blood to me. I don't know who it was but it was an unselfish, caring and a heart of gold person that knew they would save someones life one day. That life was mine on June 14, 2001. If there had not been enough blood in the "bank" for me what would have happened??? I really don't want to know the answer to that, I just thank God there was. I can never donate blood now because I am a recipient but I encourage every one of you to just at least think about it. Think about what if you had a car wreck and was seriously injured and needed blood. There are so many things that can happen that may require you, your parent, your child or a complete stranger to have blood transfusion. You never know......

.....you just might save someone's life one day!

Soccer

Our "no where to be" break ended tonight as soccer season started back up. Kaylee LOVES soccer and is excited about moving on up into the U10 division. She knows that there is A LOT of new things that she must learn and of course she is up to the challenge! This will be her 5th year...WHAT...did I just say 5 years...Oh my she is growing up way too fast!

2 + 2 = 4

FINALLY! Kara Brooke has 4 teeth. She cut the top two in one day. Whooohooo, bless her little heart it seems like it took her forever to get them. We could see the buds for the longest time and just knew that they were going to break through at anytime but at 14 1/2 months I can say she has 4 teeth! At this rate she MIGHT have the a full set before she starts kindergarten! {ha!}

Surprise! Susan's 30th birthday

Today we pulled off a surprise 30th birthday party for my BFF Susan! You have no idea how hard it was to keep this secret from her and I felt like I was telling her so many lies {which really I was, white lies are ok right?} but I'm glad I did it, it was so worth it! This was all her parents idea and didn't let me in on it until about two weeks prior. I know it like to have killed BawBaw {Susan's mom} to tell me just because she knows how close we are and of course we sit next to each other at work and talk non stop! Anyway..it was a very fun evening...I just can't believe SHE is 30 years old! Where does the time go, we have been besties for 22 years! Good grief!

Here she is arriving!

We are asking, "Did we get ya? Did you know?"

Food line!

Birthday girl! Don't you LOVE her hat!

My little cutie pie of course!

Baby Susan!

I got her a Small Words painting by Kim Wheeler! I think she LOVED it!

Me, Susan & Ashley{preggo puff}

The beautiful Pinkston family!

Happy Birthday Susan! I hope you had a great weekend and a wonderful 30th birthday! Love ya!

Kris' 35th birthday

Kris picked Hooters this year for his birthday dinner. I am NOT a fan of this place at all and we NEVER go! But I thought well this is what he wants...so be it! The whole way over there Kris is telling me how good their food is and they have the best chicken wings ever! I didn't say anything, just sitting there thinking you know I don't even eat chicken on the bone! {ha!} Anyway my parents went with us and there was not a lot of people there at the time we went. As I looked over the menu wondering what in the world I was going to choke down just to make him happy I saw BONELESS chicken wings. I love Domino's so surly this place had better one's I thought. I must admit when the food came out.....{I hate to even say it} but it was SOOOOO good! Of course when Kris asked if I liked it, I said, "It is ok." Just kidding, I did tell him it was very good food. I still don't think it is a great place to take my girls all of the time and for sure do not want them to think it is ok to dress that way...but it was a fun afternoon never the less.

I was trying to get a picture of the 20 HOT wings and I don't know how many crab legs that my husband was putting away!

Mom told the girls that it was Kris' bday so they made him do this in front of the whole restaurant...act like a chicken! It was hilarious, I still can't believe he did it!

Kaylee said Kara Brooke looked like Popeye!

Happy Birthday honey! I hope you had a great day. Thank you for being such an awesome Daddy!

Kara Brooke's first trip to the ER

Well I knew the day would come but just didn't realize it would come at the age of 14 months. So Monday afternoon Kara Brooke and Kaylee were outside with Kris playing on the swing set. Kaylee & Kara Brooke were coming down the slide and Kara Brooke had her little Crocs on, we are not real sure what happened at that point but I am pretty for sure that her shoe got stuck and with the force of Kaylee behind her we think her little foot turned around backwards. Kara Brooke started screaming and would not put any weight on it all. I had just got dinner on the table and Kris came in telling me what happened. I knew right away that she must go get x-rays, {seeing how Kaylee has turned me into the pro with all of her broke bones}. We got to the Murfreesboro ER at 7:20 and did not leave there until 11:30. All in all Kara Brooke was really good considering she had not had anything to eat and was in pain. After three xrays and a WHOLE lot of screaming the Dr. came in to tell us that he was 98% sure there was not any broke bones but of course there could be a hairline fracture that was not visable. He went on to tell us that it is very hard to break baby bones as they are still really soft. My concern was the growth plate in her ankle {what Kaylee broke the first time} I knew what kind of damage that could cause. Bless her little heart after we got out of there she was so tired and hungry. I did have some baby food in her bag so she ate a little bit of that but was like are you kidding me I eat big girl food! We stopped at Sonic at midnight, she and I both scarfed down a hamburger. Tuesday she would not walk on it at all then yesterday and last night she was doing better, but was still limping and reaching for things to hold on too. It is so sad to watch her though sometimes she will try to crawl but that just makes her mad because she can't get there fast enough. Please keep our baby girl in your prayers that this little foot heals real soon. I tried really hard to post prints of the x-rays because they were too cute but for some reason I can't get them uploaded. Oh well you will just have to settle for this picture!

Blog Hop- Favorite photo of kids

Once again, I'm joining the hop....

This is one of my favorite pictures of the girls. Kara Brooke was 6 months and Kaylee was 7. Thanks for stopping by!