Getting Outside

Maybe today's post should have been titled Breakfast Blues after this . . .

Oatmeal gone wrong

I was trying to thicken up my oatmeal and I guess I zapped it too many seconds.  Oh well!

As for Jase this morning, I offered to make him pancakes, waffles (the real ones, not in the toaster) and eggs.  He snubbed all those and opted for fruit and yogurt.  Oh well, at least he is eating.

I'm so glad we had our outside time yesterday after I picked them up from school, because today is yucky out.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about the rain, it just makes it hard to get out and do things and makes it very easy to be lazy!!  All 3 of us were in our pajamas until after 11:00!!  All is well now with everyone dressed and teeth brushed!

Jase worked on hitting off the tee in the backyard yesterday.  When he is paying attention and listens to instruction, then he can really connect with the ball.  Now catching is a whole other story.  His hands are so little, so squeezing the glove is pretty hard, plus he says that it hurts his pinkie finger . . . suck it up kid!  Kidding . . . sort of! ;-)  And most of the time his throws are pretty good too.  That is when he is not trying to pitch the ball or taking 100 years to throw it.  This season out to be interesting for sure!  Oh, and Shawn will be the head coach.  He originally signed up to be an assistant, but they were short on head coaches, so Shawn stepped up to the plate.  :-)  And another big announcement: we will be the Houston Astros.  Jase was excited about that.  They may not have the best record, but they are our home town team.  So family members, make sure you have an Astros shirt to wear to the games!

Allyson even hit the ball off the tee some too, left-handed.  And she would only use the purple wiffle ball, it was too cute.



Relaxing in the backyard

She went and got Mommy a chair too! So sweet!

Her little shoes were too cute all propped up on the teeter-totter

All 3 of us swinging in the backyard (yes, we need a new fence!)

Breakfast Blues

Jase will be 5 in a few months and I feed him breakfast every morning.  You would think by now that I would have this meal down to a T.  WRONG!!  I think this kid's taste buds change overnight.

He could eat a blueberry waffle every morning and I know he would love it, but I just feel bad feeding him the same thing everyday.  So, I try to change things up a bit.

A few weeks ago he talked me into buying him Oreo Cookie Pop Tarts.  It's basically a dessert for breakfast.  He ate those things right up, but after seeing his teeth (BLACK) I told him that we are going to have to find something else.  He picked out Cherry Pop Tarts the next week and loved them one day and not so much the next day.  I've bought him Lucky Charms, which he likes, but only the marshmallows . . . sorry kid, I'm not buying the cereal for the marshmallows!!  I tried honey nut Cheerios (which I love), nope.  Trix . . . not a chance.

Then about a month ago he ate Cookie Crisp cereal at his grandma's, you know the old commercial "cooookie crisp" and they chase the bad guy and lock him up in jail for stealing the cookie crisps.  That is my association with that cereal.  Anyway, Shawn told me that he thought it was the best thing ever.  I was against buying it, but I finally broke down last week and bought a box.  When I got it out yesterday before church he ate it up!!  Loved it!  I made him a bowl this morning and after he had a few bites he didn't like it.  This kid is driving me nuts!!  So, a blueberry waffle it is.

Now, he will eat yogurt and fruit, but isn't always in the mood for it.  And I have also been buying that Sara Lee Blueberry Crumble bread . . . it's so good toasted with butter on it.  He doesn't like it.  And he will not eat a piece of toast to save his life.  I did make blueberry muffins on Saturday morning and he liked those.

My goal is to make a hot breakfast for him a couple of times this week and see how that goes.  Maybe scrambled eggs, pancakes and some more muffins.

Wish me luck!!

Wishing our friends the best

This evening we went to our friends' Going Away Party. :(  They are moving to Angola, Africa in less than two weeks.  Shawn met Nate at work about 3 years ago and we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know their family.  They are such a sweet and giving family and I know this will be a great adventure for them.  We will be praying for their family as they move and live over there and we will definitely miss The Mery Family.

I totally meant to snap a picture, but it slipped my mind.  Ugh!!

Today I had a realization . . . pants are starting to get tight.  No more sucking in the gut at 13 weeks!  Haha!!  So, I guess I will be pulling out the maternity clothes bin in the next couple of days to see what will fit.  I am starting this pregnancy off a little lighter (which is great), but on the other hand I have a feeling some of those clothes, especially the pants might be a little too big at first.  We'll see.

Oh and to date, I have had 3 people give me chocolate covered almonds . . . am I pathetic or what?? Or maybe people just love me!  I'll go with the latter!

Jase's artwork

I love opening Jase's backpack when he gets home from school and seeing the little treasures that he has made during the week.  I seriously need to think about organizing a binder or bin for his work . . . I cannot keep shoving things in his baby book.  :/

I just love this one . . . and anything with his hand prints on them!

And this next one is priceless.  It is so true . . . I'm sure he does dream about them because he goes to bed talking about them and wakes up wanting to play with them.

Miss Allyson

Allyson woke up around 2 am this morning, crying in her bed. I asked Shawn to go upstairs and get her (times like this I wish I had a one story). He goes up there to get her and I hear her start throwing a fit...she will not let him touch her...what a toot!! So, upstairs I went! That plan back fired!

She was a little fussy, but after talking to her and asking her some questions, I figured out that she wanted some milk or "milky" as we call it. :) She fell asleep and we all got some rest. Then around 4 am or so, Jase came downstairs to our bed. 4 people in a queen bed is a tight fit!! Needless to say I did not get any quality sleep after that.

Ally popped up around 5 am, just a talking up a storm. Shawn got up for work shortly after that and I asked him to turn Disney Junior on for her. When he told her, she said "Oh Boy" just like Mickey Mouse would say...it is really cute!

She has never been in the living room that early by herself, but she was content watching tv for a couple of hours while Jase and I slept. She is usually my 9 am sleeper! I hope this is not a new trend.

Later, I was putting make-up on in my bed and my little side kick, Allyson, was right there with me checking it all out. She was digging in my make-up bag and pulled out my eyelash curler and said "safety scissors"!! Then she took my blush brush and went to town putting it on her face and all over her hair. She thought it was fixing her hair!! Haha




Later we got out to pick up lunch at Chick-fil-a and Jase asked me questions the entire way there!! I looked back at Ally when we were in the drive-thru and I guess 5 am had finally caught up with her!!




We went over to a friend's house and had lunch with them and Ally stayed asleep for over an hour and a half at their house. She was wore out! Our friends have a newborn baby boy and I got to hold, feed and burp him...so sweet! You forget how tiny and dependent they are when they are first born. Crazy to think in a little over 6 months I'll have another precious one to hold and snuggle with. :) I am excited!!

Strawberry Shortcake

I bought some strawberries the other day and did not want them to go to bad, so I decided to make some strawberry shortcake tonight for dessert.

I grew up eating it on angel food cake and that is good, but there is nothing like strawberry shortcake on biscuits. I was introduced to it this way at the lake house in New York with Shawn's family, they have it with warm biscuits (made out of Bisquick). They also pick fresh strawberries. :) You wouldn't think it would be good on a biscuit, but it is oh so tasty. Butter that bad boy up, put strawberries on top (that have been sitting in sugar in the fridge) and top it off with some whipping cream. Dee-lish-us!!




Now I did make the biscuits with Heart Smart Bisquick mix and fat free milk. And I tried to use Splenda instead of sugar on the strawberries, but that didn't really work out. It was not making that good sugary liquid, so I snuck a few tablespoons of sugar in there! ;)

Next time you make strawberry shortcake, try the biscuits out!

Great Surprise

This afternoon I was sitting on the couch playing with Jase and I checked my phone and had 3 texts, 1 missed call and 2 emails. Water doesn't boil if you stare at it, right? Same thing with your phone I suppose.

Anyway, one of the texts was from my best friend asking if I was home. I texted her back and said that we were and she responded with "go check your back door." I sent my messenger out to take a look. :)

He brought back in a plastic bag...I thought she had dropped off some coupons. I looked inside and lo and behold...jackpot!!!




I immediately opened them up for a taste test (and maybe a few more than just a taste) and they were delicious!! A few minutes later Jase asked me "do I like those?" Probably not, kid! LOL! He got two and two more and then two more...he found out pretty quick how addicting they are.




What a great surprise!! Thank you, Michelle! :)

Happy Anniversary Nanny & PawPaw!

Today is my mom and step-dad's 24th anniversary!! I say step-dad because he isn't my biological father; however, he has been nothing short of a father to me.  He and my mom got married when I was 7 and I have always felt loved by him and his family.

I am so thankful that he looked past the stereotype of marrying someone with a child already, because I know I would not be where I am and who I am today if it weren't for his hand on my life.  Being a single mom, I know it was hard for my mom to make ends meet financially when I was younger.  We lived with my Nana in Pasadena, my aunt in Conroe and my mom's cousin in Houston over the course of a couple of years.  I never felt unstable growing up because I was always surrounded by loved ones.  After they married we finally put roots down in Pasadena and the rest is history.  Thank you Mom and Dad for the past 24 years!! I'm looking forward to many, many more! :)  I love you both.

We celebrated their anniversary yesterday afternoon after church at Jimmy Changa's for lunch.  The food and company was delicious!!

It just wasn't my afternoon!

We signed Jase up for 5U baseball a couple of weeks ago. This will be his first year to play t-ball and we are super excited. The cut-off for 4U and 5U is that you had to be 5 by 4/30. Well, Jase's birthday is 4/28, so he made it by 2 days. Since he didn't play last year he will be a little behind in terms of experience, but size wise he should fit right in.

We opted to sell candy...World's Finest Chocolate...so yummy!!! If you do not know what I am talking about, they have the most delicious chocolate covered almonds EVER! I mean, I was so looking forward to getting my hands on a few boxes of those. Today was the day when we could pick up the goods and I was excited!!

I went with my mom and sister to get a pedicure and Shawn and the kids were off to run errands and picked up the chocolates! I was waiting for my toes to dry, so I texted Shawn and asked him if he got the good stuff and he said that he got a box of $1 chocolate bars with almonds for us to sell. We exchanged texts a few times and I totally thought he was joking!! He wasn't...I was honestly upset that we did not have any almonds! Ha! He said that he didn't ask about them and just took what they gave him.

We were right down the street, so after our pedis, we drove to see about getting some almonds...yes we did!! I walked in and asked if they were selling the chocolate covered almonds and he thought I was talking about the bars and said he could open up a box and sell me one! Haha!! Long story short they only sell the bars and not the almonds! What a let down. I told my mom and sister, "forget baseball, I wanted some chocolate covered almonds!" So, I will be on the hunt for almonds!!! Oh and to make matters worse, when we got outside I told my mom and sister that I knew that guy and mom said he looked family too. Then it hit me...it is my cousin's brother-in-law!! Haha! I'm sure I'll see him at the ball park and I will be the crazy almond lady!!

Later, Shawn and the kids met up with us and we all 6 went to lunch at Johnny Tamales. I smelt some yummy fajita meat and I had to have some. We got in and were seated right away. The waitress informed is the computers went down a few minutes ago and hopefully they would be back soon. We ordered chile con queso and our lunch. The computers came back on and our queso came right out. We ate chips and dip for over 25 minutes and started to wonder about our food. Then our waitress came out and told us that the computers went down and the cooks did not have our order and she would have to enter in our order again. Man! We cut our losses and decided we weren't going to wait around. We grabbed an ice cream cone and headed out the door. We were full from chips, but I was and still am craving those fajitas!

No chocolate covered almonds, no fajitas! What an afternoon! Haha!!

This evening made up for it though. Shawn and Jase went to the Monster Truck Rally with the boys in his family, so that left me and sister sue at home. We played a few rounds of Sesame Street memory, ate popcorn, and read 100 books. Well, not 100 books, but the same 5-6 short books that totaled 100 times! Not kidding. This girl does not mind repetition at all!






Below is Jase at the Monster Truck Rally. Shawn texted and said that Jase was loving it!!

Location:Afternoon Let Down

Baby French Bread in the Oven

Ok...so I have been waiting FOREVER to post this...we are expecting!!! I am 12 weeks today! All of us are so excited!! Jase and Allyson pray every night for this sweet baby in Mommy's tummy.  :)  We even took the little ones to the first ultrasound back in mid-December.  And what was really amazing is that the kids, especially Jase, kept it a secret and did not let it slip.  I am due August 7, 2012.

It was a big Christmas surprise for my parents.  We had Becca take pictures of us the week of Christmas and I used a picture to tell my parents I was pregnant.

Watch this to see my mom and the family's reaction!  Completely priceless!

And this one to see my dad and Cony's response.  Too funny!

Here is the picture that we put in frame for the grandparents as a surprise.  We did not get any video of Shawn's parents, because somebody (uh hum, Shawn) spilled the beans before Christmas! ;)  So, it wasn't a surprise to his parents, but the rest of his family.

It was so funny to watch some people look at this picture and they were totally confused as to why our heads were cut off...they could not get over that!  There were some other full length shots, but this one was the best with the kids and their expressions!

Of course, Jase wants a little brother and Ally wants a little sister.  Either one would be more than perfect for us!  I think a little boy would be neat because I think it would make he and Jase closer to one another.  And then a little girl would be nice because she and Allyson would be born in the same season, so reusing girl clothes would really work out.  At the end of the day, we are praying that this little one is growing to God's perfection and we know that he/she will be perfect for our family.

I went to the doctor last Wednesday (1/11/12) and heard the little baby's heart beat and that was such a relief.  His/her heart was beating 166 BPM.  When I told my mom, she said it was a boy! Haha! I haven't had any sickness with this one, and I didn't with the first two either...so thankful for this.  I gained 1 pound last month and I am hoping my weight gain stays as low as possible.  But if I keep eating fries that will not be the case.

Anyway...we are so pumped and I'm glad I am able to share it with you today!

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Psalm 127:3

Afternoon with the kiddos

This morning I did my teeth whitening again...can I tell you that baking soda is an acquired taste?!? Blah! Not sure how much whiter they are, but they definitely feel clean. And this method doesn't cause my teeth to become sensitive at all. The white strips make my teeth so sensitive, especially the bottom ones.

Me and the kiddos got out earlier and went to the library. The kids really love it there. Jase loves looking in the Easy Reader bin for Star Wars books and Allyson digs through the board book bin and likes to play with the puzzles. And we usually check out DVDs too...you can't beat a free DVD rental. Mickey Mouse and Smurfs were the picks for today. :) And this trip had an added bonus...Ally did not have a bowel movement there. It is almost like clockwork every time we are in there.

After the library, we visited one of my old school favorites...Casa Ole. Even though it is close by, we really do not eat there very often at all. Their chile con queso is so tasty and both of the kids love it. Both kids were so well-behaved and ate like champs, which hasn't been the case with Allyson lately. She has been so particular and hasn't really had much of an appetite at all. She isn't sick, but just doesn't care to eat, especially at breakfast or dinner, which makes meal time FUN! ;)

Pajama Day

We've been waiting for this day for about a week now. They are learning the letter P this week, so in celebration Jase can wear his pajamas and bring a stuffed animal to school today. He was so excited!




57 degrees outside and I could not change his mind on wearing different pj's!! These are, of course, his Lego Star Wars pj's. When I dropped him off and he walked into his class, it looked like he pulled out his imaginary light saber!! After taking Allyson to her class I stopped back by his room and told his teacher that he is over the top with Lego Star Wars lately and she just laughed. Either 7 or 8 out of 12 of the kids in her class are boys! No question as to why I pray for her! :)

Miss Allyson was being a little toot this morning (imagine that!). At first she didn't want to get out of bed and she usually pops right up when I walk in her room...not this morning. Then she told me she didn't want to wear the clothes I had picked out for her!! Whoa! Once I changed her diaper, she shook that off and got dressed just fine and was okay the rest of the morning until we got outside and she didn't want to put her jacket on!




So, she got buckled in without a jacket and that was that. We left for school and Jase prayed on the way. When I got her out of the car I asked her if she wanted her jacket on and she said "ok, Mommy" all cheery, like nothing had happened. WOW!

Step it Up

We were watching Fresh Beat Band and they were having a step competition. Jase decided to give it his best...he loves to dance!!

And hearing Ally tell him "that's cool Jase" was sweet as well!

Sticker Books

Both of the kids got sticker books for Christmas. Allyson got Sesame Street and Jase got Lego Star Wars (surprised?). They both absolutely LOVE them!! It did not take them long at all to finish them after getting started.





The pictures above were taken at breakfast, so pardon the bed head! And when one of them gets theirs out, the other one is quick to follow. We read and reread all the pages in both of their books nearly everyday. And just to be clear, Jase really thinks that he is Yoda. That is what he is doing in the above picture...using the force.





He said that he wants to be him for Halloween too. We'll see if this fad lasts this long or not. And we've tried to persuade him to be Luke Skywalker, but nope...he is sticking with Yoda.

I have to brag on my mom for a minute. I emailed her late last night asking her if she would watch the kids tonight so Shawn and I could go out to eat. She emailed back early this morning and said yes and that she could watch them at my house and give them baths. How perfect is that?!? :) Then we emailed back and forth and she said that she will bring the kids dinner. I think the latest is that she will be picking up Chick-Fil-A for Ally and Arby's for Jase. I told her that she is an overachiever and she said that's what Nannies do! The kids will be excited!

Eating Breakfast Out

This morning Shawn and Jase woke up early to attend the Men's Prayer Breakfast at church. This was Jase's first time to go and he was pretty excited.

Since the men were enjoying some good food, me and my mom decided we would eat a good meal at IHOP. I got myself and Allyson around, picked up my mom and headed to eat.

At IHOP they had a balloonist there and of sure enough he stopped at our table. He made Allyson a pink and black penguin. I had to wake her up (at 9:20), so she was not her bubbly self yet, but after he made her the penguin she was all smiles. Her and Nanny named the penguin, Penny. It was cute.





Nanny also asked him to make one for Jase...a blue and yellow penguin...Pablo from The Backyardigans. I brought it home to him and he liked it! ;)

As far as the food...not all that impressed. I am not one to usually complain about food, but for the money, the servings were relatively small and the food was warm, not hot whatsoever. Next time we go for breakfast I will keep Kelley's in mind.

Cooking with Allyson

Allyson has been quite the chef these days.  She just loves playing in her kitchen and making us her Strawberry Soup specialty or Sweet Tea!  The only down side is if you are invited to play in her kitchen, it is a commitment.  There is no leaving in 5 minutes...you better take a seat and get comfortable.  If you have to leave for something (restroom, house is burning down, anything) she gets upset and will grab your hand, tell you "no, come in my kitchen", and drag you back in there.  Shawn and I just laugh when it gets to that point and of course...back to the kitchen we go!!

Legos & Pinterest

Things have been pretty low key this week.  Monday and Wednesday the kids had school and Tuesday and Thursday we just lounged at the house, which was nice.  Shawn had his follow-up appointment yesterday and he received a full release.  Thank the Lord!  Crazy to think that just last Thursday we were coming home from the hospital.  I'm so glad he is out of pain and hopefully all of that is behind us.

Our kitchen table continues to be Lego central!  Jase just absolutely loves creating.  And Allyson, she loves just getting into it all and playing next to him.  At some point we will have to transition the Lego's, but for now he is enjoying himself and we still have enough room to eat meals at the table.

This week we also did a couple of Pinterest projects.  I was inspired by Casey to make my our laundry detergent.  I had Shawn look at the one I pinned since he works with chemicals and is definitely more familiar with their make up then I am.  He liked the one I picked so it was a go.  And he was actually excited about this project and made the list of ingredients to get at the store.  We ended up following the recipe exactly with the exception of 3 bars of Fels-Naptha.  We used 2 of those bars along with 1 bar of soap from Bath and Body Works.  It made a ton (like we are storing it in a 3 or 5 gallon bucket) and you only use 1 tablespoon per load.  I am finishing up some existing detergent that I have and after that it will be onto the homemade detergent.  It if works well, it will be a big savings and was super easy to mix up.  Thanks hubby!

We also bought the supplies to make our own dish detergent, but haven't mixed it up yet.  It is from the same source as the laundry detergent and has similar ingredients.  I bought cute little clear canisters for both detergents.  I can't wait to buy some vinyl and make some cute labels to go on the outside of the canisters! :)

And I have one last pin that I tried this morning: at home teeth whitening.  After doing it my teeth felt really clean.  I've only done it once, so I do not have any results to report, but I hope to continue doing it weekly and hopefully will see some whitening going on very soon.

GEAUX TIGERS

While we are definitely Texas Longhorn fans, we also cheer for the LSU Tigers. We have family from there, so we like to show our love for the Tigers as well!



Last night I promised Jase and Allyson kolaches if they got up and got dressed in plenty of time this morning. Hey...a little incentive to help things go smoother in the morning never hurt nobody! Both of the kids got up and got ready with no problems at all. Well, except one little problem. We picked Jase's clothes out last night and he wanted to wear his Longhorn shirt, ok no biggie. Well, this morning I remembered the LSU game is tonight and thought it would be great for the kids to wear their LSU shirts to school. To make a long story short Jase was determined to wear his Texas shirt. Shawn and I both tried to persuade him, but he wasn't having it!! We at least got a picture of him in the LSU one this morning.



Right before we left, Jase was finishing his milk and told me "next time I come here, I am not getting this milk; it stirs my tummy." We just laughed. You guessed it...poop time before we left Mornings. Sorry Jase, you got that from your mom!! Haha!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

With Shawn still eating light and recovering from his appendectomy, I decided to make homemade chicken noodle soup last night. I have to admit that this was my first time to ever attempt, but boy o' boy did it turn out delicious!

I bought some young chicken thighs from HEB and it was a huge package with like 10 thighs in there and I paid less than $5 for it. I boiled them in a big pot together and after they cooled down, Shawn and I deboned them. I even have a few cups of chicken leftover and will be making chicken salad today...excited about this!

The recipe was super easy and I followed it exactly, except I doubled it...we love leftovers! You can find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Is it Friday already?

Ok, so this week has completely flown by.  Shawn was off on Monday, so we hung out at Shawn's parent's home in the morning/early afternoon. He had family in town, so it was nice to see and visit them.  Later that evening we went to Jason's Deli...Jase always asks to go there.  It is so funny, out of all the places to eat, he will mention there and Texas Roadhouse the most.  Afterwards we went to Academy to get Jase some new running shoes.  We bought him some for Christmas, but they are just a little too big and after falling down inside the other day like 3 times, we were like "ok, they are a little too big."

Then on Tuesday, Shawn went back to work and me and the kiddos were going to do a little laundry and go to the grocery store.  I spoke to Shawn earlier in the morning and he started feeling bad.  He originally thought it was just a stomach issue, but it got worse and worse.  He ended up coming home a little before noon.  Poor guy, he could not get comfortable at all.  By this time, he was throwing up and the pain in his stomach would not go away.  I went ahead and took the kids with me to the store, thinking that maybe it would give him some peace and quiet and allow him to rest.

When I got back from the store, he was not in any better shape.  We decided to go ahead and take the kids to my sister's house and take him to the doctor (this was a little before 3:00).  We were a walk-in patient, so we waited for over 2 hours.  Hind sight, that was a waste of time, but I had no idea the level of pain he was in.  After being examined there and getting blood work done; his white blood cell count was high, meaning there was an infection, and the doctor suspected he had appendicitis.  Off to the ER we went at 5:30 pm.

The wait wasn't bad at all in the ER.  I felt so bad for Shawn, his pain was awful and he could not stop throwing up.  After a CAT Scan (and drinking literally a liter of Barium Sulfate...Shawn's company sells Barite in powder form to use while drilling wells, and he was about to drink a form of it), they identified that it was his appendix and it needed to be removed.  Once he got nausea and pain medicine in his system, he was doing much better and the pain and throwing up were finally behind us.  He stayed in the ER all night (half of the time in the hallway on a hospital bed and the rest of the time in an ER cubby room). 

The doctor came to visit early Wednesday morning around 7:30 and was ready for him in surgery.  The plan was to take the appendix via laparoscopy.  At 10:40 am the doctor called us back and told us that the appendix was pretty inflamed, but he was able to do it all laparoscopically.  That was such a blessing.  He stayed in recovery for a couple of hours because they were waiting on a room to open up.  That hospital was packed...not an empty room.  I went and picked up the kiddos from school and took them up to the hospital to see Daddy.  We spent the afternoon/evening up there with him and left around 8:15 pm.

I tucked both of the kids in their bed and I just relaxed in mine.  Then I heard Jase upstairs "Daddy come home.  Just please come home.  I don't want you to get sick anymore.  Just don't get sick again.  Just please come home.  Don't stay anywhere, come home.  I can't take it anymore."  Poor baby...he was really missing his Daddy.  Plus, there is no idea what all is going through his mind with Daddy staying in the hospital and that he just had surgery.  I went upstairs to talk and pray with him.  I stroked his little head and he finally calmed down and went to sleep.

Thursday morning we headed back up there and Shawn was released and we made it home around 2:00 pm.  Awe, to be home again with my whole family.  Shawn is doing very well and the pain is minimal, if none.  He has not had to take any pain medicine since arriving home, so that is a blessing.  It is uncomfortable when he bends or uses his stomach muscles or sneezes, which he just did and found out that it did not feel so great.

What a crazy week to say the least.  Not to mention, two funeral services, one cousin that got salmonella poisoning and another cousin that was jumped at an ATM.  I texted a friend earlier this week: "Dear Lord, keep us near."

So my "Is it Friday already?" title is the truth...this week has flown by.  We are praying for a smooth recovery for Shawn with zero infections.  We are also praying for those that have lost loved ones this past week.  May the Lord be your comfort and peace during this time.

On another note, do you ever have a hair that you need to pluck or a bump you need to pop...and when you finally pluck or pop it, you feel like a new woman??  Can I just share that is exactly how I feel?!  I have a small mole on my cheek that will grow a very coarse hair out of it every month or two and it drives me nuts every time it appears.  It's like I cannot focus on anything and am constantly feeling it and long to be in front of the mirror with my tweezers.  Call me crazy, but after it is gone I am so much more relaxed and that compulsive part of my brain is freed up.  I plucked that hair this evening, so I am in my happy place tonight!! :)

Have a great one!
Jessica

Happy New Year

What a great start to a new year!! We started off the day with our morning church service. Shawn's older sister's family joined us in the service, so that was nice. Pastor Timmy always delivers a great message. We are about to start a series on Nehemiah and I am really looking forward to it. He said it will definitely challenge you, because it has challenged him while he has been studying it.

Afterwards we went over to my mom's house and had a feast...it was like a mini Thanksgiving with all of the appetizers and side dishes. The food was delicious and of course we had cabbage, black eyes peas and new potatoes to start the year off right. I think I could eat this food every week and not have a problem with it. My Aunt Susan and her grandson, Dylan, came over, along with my mom's friend. It was really a nice time.

We laid around and watched a little football, the kiddos played and then we played some games. We played Go Fish with Jase and he loves it...especially when he wins. We are trying to teach him not to boast so much when he wins, but that is a hard trait to teach. He definitely enjoys the celebratory part of winning.

On the last game of Go Fish, Jase decided he wanted to shuffle the cards. We all laughed so hard. It was so funny watching him gather all of the cards up. Below is a YouTube video of him. It is a little over 3 minutes, but definitely worth the time to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPaeUssVMLM

Oh, and can I just say that I have been loving all the college bowl games. I have been glued to the tv. It has been a little ridiculous. I actually just looked up the schedule and saw that there are 6 games tomorrow! :) That puts a smile on this girl's face. I think my productivity around the house will increase after next week! Until then...I'll be enjoying a little football. If you need me, you know where to find me. ;)

A great start to a great year!