Is It Summer Yet?!

Three babies with cabin fever is a bad thing. A really bad thing. We are all losing our minds. Here's a little sampling of our insanity...

Elli is ready to go out and play!



















Actually, we're all ready to go out and play!




















Yummm...this window tastes really good!























Hi mom!


















Haley says peek-a-boo!


















There are no words to describe the following photos of Elli other than to say that it took everything in me to NOT pee my pants!

























































































PLEASE PRAY FOR WARM WEATHER AND SUNSHINE SO WE CAN TAKE THESE MONKEYS OUTSIDE TO PLAY!!!!!!

Men Are Wimps!

Let me repeat myself...Men Are WIMPS!!!

This is why I can say this with such conviction...

Haley woke up Saturday with a fever. She slept all morning, but when she woke up and her fever had broken, she gave us a little smile and she was good to go. We dragged her all over Greenville, then to a friend's house for dinner Saturday night. She was such a trooper! She slept most of the day on Sunday and actually slept most of Monday, too. Her pediatrician couldn't find a reason for the fever...maybe teething or a virus..who knows. Regardless, she looked horrible, but she toughed it out like such a big girl.

Fast forward to last night...2:45 am...Tyler wakes us up crying. I went in to check on him and he was laying on his belly crying his eyes out. I rubbed his back and he never even lifted his head... just laid face down and cried and cried. He calmed down, but only for a few minutes. When Jeff went in, he picked him up to see what was wrong and he was burning up...uh oh...

Thirty minutes later, still crying and absolutely pitiful, he fell asleep in Jeff's arms. It was quite an ordeal getting him to calm down. I thought Haley was pitiful...WRONG...this child took pitiful to the next level. We're talking D.R.A.M.A.

Fast forward again to 3:30 am...Elli wakes up crying...you guessed it...fever. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. We gave her some Tylenol and within 5 minutes she was back asleep. She slept a lot today, but she's doing fine. She looks like she's not feeling good, but she isn't acting sick at all.

So here's the summary...Haley has a 102 degree fever, but sucks it up and goes shopping in Greenville and to a party on Saturday night. Elli has a 101 degree fever, wakes up and tells us she needs some Tylenol and goes right back to bed. Tyler has a 100 degree fever and is so weak he can't even lift his head off the bed. He's in so much pain he needs Daddy to rock him until his fever breaks.

Let me repeat my initial statement. Men are wimps. It starts at birth. I have proof.

What A Day!!!

First Birthday Cake (before)

















Not too happy about our hats...




















































Yummy!

















Birthday Cakes (after)


















Haley is a big girl now!!!



















Elli is a big girl, too!!!






















Birthdays wear me out!!!
















We survived our first year!!! :)

Happy Birthday Haley, Elli and Tyler!!!!

What can I say? This past year has been absolutely amazing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and positively crazy!!! I've said this over and over, but Jeff and I really are SO very blessed to be the parents of these three amazing children! I put this montage together as my gift to Haley, Elli and Tyler. A thank you to them for so many things. A thank you for the early morning smiles, a thank you for the giggles when we play peek-a-boo, and thank you for just being the blessings God created them to be, and a thank you for teaching me to be the mother God created me to be.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. To me, words cannot begin to describe what these pictures represent. Sit back, turn up the volume and reminisce with us...the time goes by so fast...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Haley's Facebook Page

According to an article I read on the CNN website today, the Facebook "25 Random Things About Me" note has exploded in cyberspace. Apparently, this note has been passed over 5 million times in one week. If you don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain...

It's equivalent to one of those annoying emails you get all the time that list 25 random facts about a friend of yours that has WAAAAAY too much time on their hands. You're supposed to read their list, make one of your own, then pass it along to 25 of your friends. I asolutely HATE these things, but somehow I get suckered into the craze like everyone else and end up spending too much time contemplating random facts about myself, but I digress...

Haley, social butterfly that she is, didn't want to be left out of this latest craze. She has asked that I post her list for her, so here you have it...Haley's mini version...

10 Random Facts About Haley Rae

1. I think Huggies make my butt look really cute
2. My parents think I can't crawl
3. I love bubble baths at the end of a hectic day
4. Clowns freak me out. BIG TIME.
5. I like to be carried around the house ALL DAY (see #2)
6. I still pee the bed
7. Sippy cups give me gas
8. Broccoli gives me gas
9. Bananas give me gas
10. When I bend over, I fart and blame it on Tyler (see #7, #8, #9)

Ellison Update

We're home from her appointment and we got the best news we could hope for! While she does have a problem with one of her heart valves, the doctor felt it would most likely never affect her in her lifetime. He said it would probably not ever go away, but as long as it does not get worse (very unlikely that it will), then she will never need any sort of treatment. If she did need treatment, it would be through a catheter - and the procedure has close to 100% success rate. Great news!

Her appointment was at the Children's Hospital. Talk about a reality check. I hope and pray that we never need to go back there again. Seeing some of the other children there made us really take stock and thank God for all the blessings we have.

So in the end, Elli had a great day! The nurse gave her a sucker with the wrapper on it to play with. She ate through the wrapper. Nice little sugar high in the exam room - now THAT was fun!!!!



I hate to complain about the weather since our friends and family up north are digging out of a foot of snow, but it really is cold here...good thing we have our winter hats to keep our ears warm!!

Elli Dale

She's officially crawling - and this time she's actually moving forward!!! One night last week she woke me up in the middle of the night, which she's never done before. When I went in, she was hunched up against the end of her crib and her pacifier and lovie were at the other end. The harder she tried to crawl toward them, the further away she got from them! She was so frustrated!! The very next day, she crawled forward. That's all it took!

For the most part, Elli has been a very serious child. Jeff and I have cherished every giggle and smile from her because we always had to work so hard to get them. I always felt like she was one of those babies who didn't like being a baby. Does that make sense? Well, things have changed! Now that she's more mobile, she is the happiest in the bunch! Full of smiles and giggles all day long and perfectly content to roam around the family room and discover new things.

Elli has an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist tomorrow. She has had a heart murmur since birth, and her doctor was concerned that it might be a little worse. We went for a scan last month that was somewhat inconclusive since she was hysterical the entire time. Kinda hard to find a heartbeat in a screaming, wiggling baby. Anyhow, they don't think it's anything too serious, but suggested a specialist look at her just to be safe. Please say a prayer that her heart is healthy and she won't need any sort of treatment. I will post an update if I can tomorrow night!

OK - now for the good stuff...pictures!!! Enjoy!