Prayer

Please take time out today to say a prayer for this family. They need to be surrounded.

www.thephillipsphamily.blogspot.com

A new tradition

Every year since I can remember my mom would go through the sequence of events of my birthday with me. I remember it as a child, but even now, she will start calling in the morning first thing and continue to call through the day to remind me what she was doing the day of my birth. I never really understood why she did that until today. I have to admit that for Annaleigh's party on Saturday I had LOADS of fun but didn't feel all that sentimental (I guess i was in hostess mode.) Well, today I have caught myself welling up with tears several times thinking about what I was doing a year ago....from the beginning stages of labor, to the 10 hours I spent in natural labor without an epidural, to finally getting the epidural, to learning I would have to have an immediate c-section for the safety of me and my baby....then to the first time I held her in my arms. It all seems like a dream now....but I know that it happened because God has blessed us with a healthy and vibrant little girl. One Year Ago

Today

With all of the above weighing heavy on my heart, I ran across a new blog of "a friend of a friend." I am sure some of you know Kory & Jayme Phillips at least by proxy. Jayme gave birth to twins the other day ...each of them weighing under 2 pounds. Please check out the web sight www.thephillipsphamily.blogspot.com and keep them in your prayers. The little girl especially is really in need of a lot of Prayer as she is fighting for her life. These babies have reminded me how precious life is today.

On to our new tradition. I decided at 5:20 (the time she was born) every year on my little girls birthday we will eat a piece of cake and blow out candles as a family if at all possible and no matter when her actual birthday party was. Here are a few pictures around the dinner table tonight
I promise I will not be so sappy and sentimental in future posts...but thank you for humoring me today and sharing in our joy.

The Birthday Party

Annaleigh's party went off without a hitch on Saturday. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Here are some pictures of the event. I have some better pictures on another camera and will try to get them uploaded today.

This weekend

I wanted to post a few pictures before the weekend just to have something new for my faithful (all three of you) readers to look at. I am excited my sister will be flying in tomorrow for a long weekend visit and my wonderful mother and father in law will be here as well. Annaleigh's party is scheduled for 12pm sharp Saturday afternoon in our backyard...but the weather is starting to look a little iffy which is making me super nervous! I am getting a contingency plan together just in case, but I admit I am crushed that all I had envisioned for her first birthday party may not come true. Oh well, It will still be fun no matter where it is!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend enjoying the spring weather with the ones you love!

Annaleigh getting into trouble I know I am not supposed to be doing this!!!!!
Having fun in the kitchen sink

An older picture of me and my little sis Rachel

Check & Check

I am happy to report that my little girl is finally feeling (nearly) 100%! It is so amazing how God made their little bodies to bounce back so quickly!

In other news, the "Spring Break" check list is slowly dwindling down. I forgot to mention I had to do our taxes (I often times mentally block that little detail out of my brain completely... I just want to give a big shout out to all of my CPA friends. You are nerds, but I admire you so much for the job you do!!) I digress. Anyway, TAXES ARE DONE AND FILED!!! One hall closet is spic and span, the garage is started, and Annaleigh and I are going to buy flowers today to plant.

Self Realization

OK. I know I am a bad mom. My little girl's first birthday soiree is in exactly 13 days and I have yet to send out invitations (by the way, if you live in the Mesquite area, you are invited.)
So...I had been looking for ideas on the Internet of concepts that I would like to do for her invitations. At least a start, right? I knew I wanted some super-cute & unique invitations but didn't want to shell out a lot of cash for them. I find myself in Hobby Lobby wondering around aimlessly and end up buying more stuff than I should resulting in invitations that aren't as cute as ones I could buy on the Internet and probably cost more. One day I will learn that my crafting ability and my imagination are not equal counterparts. (location & number has been blocked in the event there are any stalkers reading this blog.)

I did manage to get most of the decorations I needed at various places and a few cute party favors thanks to the dollar isle at Target...

I have been meaning to post a picture of our baby blessing we had at church a few weeks ago. Unfortunately we didn't get a lot of cute pictures but it was special none the less.

I am on spring break this week from class and from teaching. My goals are to, first and foremost, get my daughter feeling 100% better (she is still pretty puny), organize my hall closets, plant some flowers in the yard, & do some spring cleaning. I will let you know how it's going soon.

Double Ear Infection+Stomach Virus=NO FUN!

Bless my little girl's heart. Wednesday morning after she up-chucked her whole breakfast I started to suspect she had picked up a little stomach virus of some sort. Since she has had one or two thus far, I knew the thing to do was to watch her close and start pumping in the Pedialyte. She was really okay and played well all day Wednesday except for the stomach bug that had obviously started to kick in. Yesterday morning, I knew there was something else wrong when she woke up burning up with a fever and was completely lethargic which is NEVER my little girl. I gave some Motrin and quickly called and got in with the Dr. By the time we got her there, her fever jumped up to 103. We soon learned she had a double ear infection, which I had NO idea she had, plus some kind of stomach bug on top of it! Bless her heart! She has felt so bad the last couple of days. It is the absolute worst feeling in the world to see your children hurt. I wonder if that is the way God feels about us when HE sees us hurting. We are so blessed to have a Savior who takes our pain and our worry from us. I know that I have been stressed this week about my little girl being sick and lots of nursing exams....but I am going to try hard to let God take that from me and give Him the control. Because I just can't do it by myself.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

No, I am not talking about the book or the movie. I am talking about the most perfect pair of jeans my tush has ever worn. It all started last Christmas when my 47 year old mother decided she wanted some, in her own words, "cool jeans." We started walking around the mall where we ended up in American Eagle. Now, I would like to digress for a moment to say that I don't shop at American Eagle mainly because all the girls in the youth group either shop there or Hollister and I just don't care to show up to church with the same outfit as them...okay, so anyway, we are in American Eagle and she finds some very cute jeans. They do make her look young, but that's what she was going for. After seeing her wear them for a few times, I decide they are so cute that I want a pair too...but so does my sneaky little sister. Simultaneously, my dad makes a comment the jeans make her look too youngish so she puts them away. We go back to Texas...the next thing I know my sister calls me and tells me mom gave her the jeans. I WANTED THOSE JEANS (oh the woes of having a sister and a mother who wears the same size as me!) I was going to go and buy a pair, but now I won't on the principal that my mom gave the jeans that I wanted to my sister. A few weeks pass. My sister (who is the same size as me but also two inches taller) decides the jeans are too short for her...so she mails them to me. They arrive in the mail and I am nervous because I have never actually put these jeans on my body before. After I made such a big fuss they may not fit at all. I start to have major anxiety as I immediately strip in the living room to put them on...and they FIT LIKE A GLOVE!!! I love these jeans so much I have to make myself variate my wardrobe! Just curious, what is the item of clothing you just can't live without??

Debutante Ball

Russell and I had the opportunity to attend the Mesquite Debutante ball this weekend. One of our special MTM girls was presented to society! It was fun to see them all do their "bows" and Grand Waltz with their fathers....Here are a few pictures from the event.

Emily looked like a princess!

Me & Russell and my brother-in-law, Brad with his girlfriend Leslie. Leslie was a debutante in 2003

Russell is such a goof!

Welcome to the world little one!

I am sure y'all are all sick and tired of looking at Britney's bald head by now. Sorry I haven't been able to post anything sooner... I just got back into town last night from visiting friends in Lafayette. Louisiana. I left Russell and Annaleigh on Sunday afternoon to go and help our good friends with their 3rd baby (in 3 years!). Little Amalie (french spelling for Emily) made her appearance in the world last Thursday morning a little after 10AM weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 14oz! It was so special to be able to see her and take care of her while she was so young. Our friends kids are just like our nieces and nephews and Corey and Natalie are as close as family! We have been so blessed by their friendship and we love them all to pieces! Here are a few pics of all the kiddos!