I've Been Tagged

Soltana tagged me (like a long time ago) to do the seven strange/weird facts about myself. So, here you go.

1. In my sophomore year of high school, I was picked to attend the HOBY conference. It stands for Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Conference. It was kind of cool.

2. I was born with problems with my kidneys and bladder that caused me to have LOTS of UTIs and spend quite a bit of time in the hospital. I had surgery when I was almost 3 to fix the problem.

3. I'm scared of heights and am very claustrophobic.

4. I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue.

5. I had a performance scholarship for the band in college. (I played trombone)

6. I have not missed one election (primary, general or special) since I turned 18.

7. I've taught myself how to crochet, knit and quilt (and I love to do cross stitch).

I'm not going to tag anyone as I think everyone has been tagged!!

Surgery Scheduled

Well - it's official - I'm having surgery.

It's scheduled for February 14th (what a great Valentine's Day Present!!). I was going to be off work that next week to go visit my parents, so I thought that would work best. My mom, bless her heart, is flying up from Florida to help us with Alex. Poor thing - she is going to be going from warm weather to our nasty cold.

I know I need to have this done - but I'm still a little freaked out. I was in the hospital a lot when I was little (and had surgery when I was almost 3) but obviously don't remember it. That is the only time I've had surgery. It's going to be outpatient - so it shouldn't be too bad.

So, bring on the "liquid" diet suggestions. I'm thinking: ice cream, pudding, jello, Gatorade and milkshakes. :)

WE HAVE BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!

ALEX WENT PEE PEE ON THE POTTY!!!!!

We are very excited. Alex - not so much.

(and as Jay says, it won't happen again for 3 months, but I'm still celebrating!!)

:)

What is Alex up to Now?

It's gotten so bad around here with my blogging, that Alex had to try to do some blogging himself.

Mama - it's ok to check up on everyone else, but aren't you going to tell them what I've been up to? Nobody cares about how sick you have been - geesh - that's so boring. This is supposed to be MY blog!

My aunt and uncle got me this cool Indianapolis Colts fleece - I love it.

Too bad they aren't still playing for the Super Bowl. It's all my uncle's fault. The Colts have lost every game that Uncle Chris has been at this year, and he just HAD to go to the playoff game on his birthday - thanks a lot Uncle Chris!

I can't believe that mama put this picture on here!! I'm so embarrassed!! (note from mom: Alex has been obsessed with anything "pretty" lately. The other day he got this nightie out of drawer and INSISTED on wearing it around the house. I had to cross the arms to keep him from stepping on it. I have even more pictures, and I CAN'T wait until prom night!!!)

Here I am with one of my LaLas. I LOVE my LaLas. Dada bought this for me and I love it. (note from mom: Along with his pretty obsession is anything that is Pink and Princess. He has this new nightlight and two phones with Disney Princesses on them. He calls all of it LaLa. We think he's using that to mean anything pretty. LaLa is almost taking the place of Dora for the first place in his heart!)

We were out to lunch a couple of weeks ago. I usually have some small toys in the diaper bag for him to play with. He was playing with his toys, and started pointing to the back of this sheep and saying something that Jay and I couldn't quite understand. We finally got it - he was saying "PooPoo." I thought I was going to die laughing!!!

and I have to admit - it does sort of look like poo poo. :)

Alex is trying to talk more and more and more - most of the time I can understand him as he still uses his sign language. He really likes to dance, play with his matchbox cars, stack things, knock them down and play "night-night."

A Few Shout Outs

First of all - a HUGE YEAH to Bekah and Drew (and Ben, Isa and Baby #3)

After a long and difficult process, sweet Isa is OUT OF PGN!!!! Go here and send them your good wish and congratulations.

One surprising thing about this adoption has been the amazing "friends" I'm made through blogs. There are a couple great Guat mamas that are trying to help another family. You can go to JuJu's Blog and see how you can help.

Yet Again........

......and I'm SOOO tired of it.

I'm sick again. There has to be something wrong with me. It's my tonsils again. I went to my ENT and I'm on TWO high powered antibiotics, and I think I'm going to have surgery in my future.

It's a good thing I only work three days a week - I'd be blowing through my sick time in no time flat!!!

Hopefully the antibiotics work well enough over the next couple of days that I won't have to go back in to have my tonsil drained. ;)

I have so many things I want to blog about - but just don't have the energy. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon - I would have stopped reading my blog a LONG time ago. ;)

Wierd Request

Jay just went out to the barn and found the pony laying down in the pasture. Something is wrong with one of his legs. We are waiting for our vet to get done with another emergency to get out here.

Now, the pony is very old, and we didn't expect him to live very long. And I'm not even asking for prayers for the pony at this point. (although I hope he isn't suffering)

I'm asking for prayers for Jay. Pony was his mom's horse. She showed with him A LOT when she was showing horses. When Linda got to the point where she realized that she needed to sell her horses, we agreed to take Pony so he wouldn't have to be sold. (and he has a real name, but we all just call him Pony) If something happens to Pony, I KNOW that this will be hard on Jay. (and probably his dad who is on his way down to visit us again)

Thanks!

(and you must be feeling better, Soltana! That was a great win!!!)


*****EDITED TO ADD******

The vet has been here and it wasn't what we thought it was. It could still be very bad. If Pony makes it through the next 4-6 hours he will probably be ok. If not - the vet will be back to put him down.


*****LAST EDIT*******

Pony had to be put down this morning (Sunday). Jay and his Dad are taking it pretty hard - please keep them in your prayers.

Pictures!! Finally!!

Ok - here it is - you may want to get comfortable. Here are pictures from the past month!!!

We went back to the same place as last year to get Alex's picture taken with Santa. It didn't' go as well this year as last year.

Later that night, a friend of mine had a Christmas Party. We spend most of the night hanging out singing Christmas carols. All of her friends brought their instruments. Alex had a GREAT time.

When I play piano, Alex likes to sit with me and play and sing. I love it - and we have so much fun!!!

We also took him to see Playhouse Disney Live. I think he was very overwhelmed, but he was really good. He just sat there and watched the whole thing.

Every year, before Christmas, our church does an Old Fashioned Radio Hour. It's really a glorified Talent Show and it's lots of fun. This year we decided to get all of the kids dressed up to do the nativity.

Here's Alex as we were attempting to dress him as....I guess a shepherd.

Here he is with Jay - I LOVE this picture.

So, we were sitting near the back of the church. Alex signed "read" so I gave him a Bible - it's never too early to start!!

Things went well until we tried to get all of the kids up front. You will see that Alex didn't want to be there - and if you look on the side - you will see me trying to run away.

One of the kids had these reindeer antlers and Alex actually wanted them on!!!

Santa always comes at the end. Although Alex wouldn't sit on his lap, he did get his goody bag. The cup and pencil were the biggest hit. (as was the yummies - also known as M&Ms)

Here are some pictures from Christmas Day.

Jay and I both took a nap. When I woke up, I found Alex and Jay's Dad (Papa Butch) in the Living Room. And this is what I found.

These are those bead things that you put on the form and then heat up with an iron. They were dumping them out and then putting them back in the bucket. I couldn't believe it - but Alex and Papa Butch were having a great time.

Here he is with this three Dora balls in the little Radio Flyer. He spent at least an hour going around in circles in the beads.

Here's another one of my new favorite pictures. This was taken at my friend Michelle's house on the night we went over to have Christmas with her family.

And these are from tonight. I haven't mentioned this much, but my Buckeyes are playing for the Football National Championship, AGAIN!! We play LSU (bring it on Kim and Amanda!!) I decided that it was time to start getting ready for the game (which is Monday night).

So, here's Alex sporting his OSU jammies that my bro and sis-in-law got him for Christmas last year. These are actually 2Ts and they fit pretty good.

GOOOOO BUCKS!!!!!

We hope everyone has a great weekend!!! And to all of you waiting for your Guat babies - we are praying for you. I know that there is going to be a lot of uncertainty in the upcoming months. We will be here until everyone has their children home!!

Happy New Year!!

Jay, Alex and I would like to wish your family a Safe and Happy New Year!!

We spent the night with great friends and Alex staid up to watch the ball drop!!! (Yes, Carrie, Savannah and Alex could have partied together last night!) He did great - and had a great time.

I will continue to pray for all of the families that have babies that need to come home, for safe and healthy pregnancies, and for those of us that aren't sure where our next children may be coming from!!

Here's Alex's reaction to the New Year!!