Ice, Ice, Baby!

Since Monday, all of our weathermen here in Arkansas have been preparing our state for a big ice storm. My blog friends (and friends in real life) have been hit hard in the northwest part of our state, having lots of ice causing them to lose power. No power = no fun!

On Tuesday they went ahead and closed school, so Evan, Ella Grace and I literally stayed in our pajamas all day and played, played, and played some more. Derek had to work! It only rained...the kids really could have been in school but I guess better safe than sorry, and I sure enjoyed Evan having a day off. The weathermen were saying Wednesday would be horrible for us, so on the way home from work, Derek stopped by the store to get the essentials for a fun iced in kind of day...you know, chocolate chip cookies and the ingredients needed for cheese dip! We went to sleep knowing school would be closed and Derek wouldn't have to work the next day. Yeah!

I was shocked when I woke up at 8:00 this morning and went to the window to see all the ice. Instead, I saw this...

Umm, where is the ice? I don't see any, do you? I ran in the house telling Derek to get up, as he was late for work and Evan was late for school. I'm a little sad that we didn't have that family time together (especially those cookies and cheese dip), but I'm really glad we didn't have a lot of ice and a power outage!

All of you out there with no power, I hope you are staying warm and you get lights soon!

*****

Oh, and I heard that Harper went off her ventilator today and that Kelly got to feed her. More miraculous news from Tulsa! Can't wait to see an update on her blog tonight! Yeah!

Something to See

I'm sure you all have seen the gorgeous little Miss Harper with her EYES OPEN!

I am just tickled about this news, and I can't stop looking at her picture! I think she looks just like Kelly. What do y'all think???

Did y'all watch the Bachelor last night? I really think Jason is a cutie and quite a catch but this whole group date thing and his lips kissing one girl after another is kind of gross to me. I know that is just part of it, but ewwww!

Speaking of ewwww, that Shannon girl. There she was on that group date bawling and all snotty, saying she was picking her nose. Then, she was trying to go in for a kiss. I don't blame Jason for snubbing her. Ewwww! And, why in the world would she, after being "let go," announce on national television that she is going to go home and give her puppy "the biggest french kisses?" Ewwwww! She was just kind of creepy and gross. I really don't know why he kept her around that long.

Shannon - the dog french kisser

My favorite so far is Melissa.

Melissa - She seems pretty normal.

One of my very favorite shows right now is "Friday Night Lights." If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It has really good writing and all the characters are "real" and likable. It is based on a coach and his high school team but it is not all about high school football. It's about life in a small town. I've gotten Derek hooked on it as well. DTV was having a special and was running this season with no commercials on one of their channels, so we have already watched the entire season. It's so good. I think now it is on the regular schedule on NBC on Sunday nights. Really good TV.

Derek is ok with my crush on Kyle Chandler, who plays the main character on the show. Hee hee!

I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to Traci at Sweet Cheeky Designs for giving me this awesome blog layout! I absolutely love it! I found Traci through another blog friend and we bonded over autism. She recently moved to Arkansas, which I am so excited about but wish she had moved closer to me because I KNOW we would be great friends. She is the kind of person I know I would always want to hang out with. Thank goodness for blogging! If you are wanting to jazz up your blog, go visit Traci here. She is so creative, sweet, and so great to work with!

Sweet Things

How sweet is this baby? Oh, y'all, I can hardly stand it. Little Harper is just precious, and to be honest, I can not wait to get my mitts on her!

I am so thankful for all her progress and look forward to seeing pictures of Kelly getting to hold Harper soon. It has been so amazing to see God work in this entire chain of events since Harper's birth. AMAZING!

Speaking of sweet things...

Here is my niece at her 8th birthday party this weekend. I have a special place in my heart for adoption, as she was born in China. She is so sweet, beautiful, smart and funny. I just love her to pieces and CANNOT believe she is already eight years old!

She loves horses, so I had a friend of mine paint a lap tray for her. She can use it for homework or art projects or just whatever. I thought it turned out SO cute!

Me and the sweet birthday girl

Here is sweet Ella Grace in her new fairy costume. She was ecstatic about the wings. You know every Fairy Princess needs to have wings!

She informed me she was going to "fly". It just amazes me how she puts things all together at two years old. At one point, she also informed me that her "milks" were showing. OH DEAR!

Evan is going to look so sweet in his new glasses. I would show you a picture of them on his face if I could get him to wear them for more than 30 seconds. Ha!

This face will make those glasses look REALLY handsome!

These are prism glasses that are tinted. In all the research I have done about autism, there are studies that indicate the visual fields in children with autism may not be working properly. We have no indication that there is anything wrong, I just don't want to leave one stone unturned. This is kind of a trial by error thing. Usually, if the child needs it, they will really want to wear them. Evan hasn't given them much of a chance yet. Hopefully, in the next few weeks we'll know more. Right now all I know is he looks SUPER CUTE in them.

I had Derek put them in his hand to show how small they are. Oh, the are SO cute!

I made a sweet tonight. Believe it or not, I have NEVER made homemade banana bread. I don't know why. I guess I always thought is was hard or I never had bananas at the right stage. Well, tonight I made some...

and it was really good and super easy. I have recently been getting recipes from COOKS.com. I have used several of their recipes and they have all been good. You can find a recipe for anything there it seems like.

Here is my sweetie enjoying his sweet. Hee hee! He just loves it when I take his picture doing stuff like this. Ha!

On another sweet note, I am so excited because my VERY sweet friend, Traci, is redesigning my blog. I am beyond thrilled! You can check her out here at Sweet Cheeky Designs. Yay!

Lastly, I have gotten so many sweet comments on Evan's eyelashes. I came across this picture while looking through Sarah's birthday party pictures. Evan was busy on his PSP, and I couldn't help but see those lashes. He got those from his Daddy. Why is it the boys get those kind of lashes???

He really is as sweet as he looks. :)

I hope all you sweeties out there have a fantastic week!

Almost Been One Week

It has almost been one week since that precious Harper entered this world. It is still hard for me to wrap my brain around all that has transpired since her birth. It's still hard to believe that Harper is sick. Today is such a great day, as her oxygen has been decreased to 57%. I am so thankful! I continue to pray, and I know you do too, for her healing. I just believe God is going to heal her. He is already showing that! Kelly, Scott, Judy and Pastor Steve: Please know I am constanly praying for Harper. When I wake in the middle of the night, she is on my mind, so I pray then, too. We love you all!

I haven't felt much like blogging myself this week. Any computer time I have had has been used to find any updates on Kelly and Harper. With the good news today, I am feeling so much better and thought I would blog a little.

We haven't been up to that much out of the ordinary this week. Evan was out of school Monday for MLK day and we watched the inauguration events on Tuesday. By the way, EG says "President O Momma." I knew I was raising that girl right! LOL! Regardless vote preference, it was still exciting to watch and I am hopeful for what President Obama may accomplish. God already has it figured out anyway. :)

EG had her two year appointment on Wednesday. She was technically 27 months, but we are waiting on her vaccinations (because I do believe there is a link to autism) so it wasn't crucial she was there right at 24 months. She is still 95th percentile in length (I'm so worried she is going to be 5' 12" like me...not that it is a bad thing, but I just don't want her to have trouble finding clothes like me) and 50th percentile in weight. One thing I was so excited to see was our doctor's office now asks you to complete the M-CHAT. I am all too familiar with this questionaire, as it is a screen for possible autism signs. It is SO important to catch autism early. Early intervention makes all the difference in their future, so I was so pleased to see they were now doing this. I wanted to tell them to start it at the 18 month visit though. Regardless, it is wonderful to see pediatricians get on board with early testing (our pediatrician is SO supportive of our concerns and beliefs as to what caused Evan's autism). I'll get off that soap box now. :)

Today we had a play date with a friend. Why is sharing SO hard? We have been working on sharing for a while now and EG has been doing much better, but I was mortified when she laid down on the floor and stamped her feet because she had to share her baby stroller. Oh my goodness!!! I did NOT teach her THAT!

Here are a few pictures from today...

Evan is outside playing. It appears he has gotten into some donuts.

"What donuts? I don't know anything about any donuts!"
I love how he is giving me "the eye." LOL!

I did get out for a few minutes earlier to go to my hair dresser. Derek has had to work nights this week, so left him and EG playing. When I got home, I was informed by my so helpful husband that Ella Grace wasn't going to take a nap today so she would go to bed early tonight. I'm just wondering, "Did you just meet these kids?" I don't know how it is for you, but this idea always backfires around here. So, here it is almost 4:10 in the afternoon and EG is doing this...

She'll never go to bed tonight! :)

On another note...Last week I was wearing a cardigan that had a zipper that went all the way up to the neck. Well, EG zipped it up including some flesh from my neck. OUCH! It has been fine, but evidently it is not a good combo with Lever 2000 soap. It now looks like this and is on fire! The only thing that helps is Vaseline. Never a dull moment around here!

Isn't that yummy???

Now, we are waiting for one of Evan's doctors to arrive. She lives down the street, so she just comes to our house. We don't even have to go to the clinic! Isn't that such a blessing? Guess I better go...he's out there shirtless now. Like I said, never a dull moment!

Prayers for Harper

There is a new blog started called "Prayers for Harper". I'm not sure who started it, but what a great idea! Kelly and Scott will be encouraged by all the prayers and they will be able to show Harper one day how many people loved her and were praying for her. I think it is the sweetest idea, so whoever started it, THANK YOU!

You can go here to visit the blog and leave a prayer.

A Long Weekend

This weekend has been long. It has been long for me mainly for the concern I have for Harper and Kelly and the rest of their family. I have spent most of the last two days in front of the computer waiting for updates. I am so thankful Kelly got some good news today! All I know is Kelly has the kind of faith that can move mountains! What an inspiration their entire family is to me! I am really hoping I can make the trip to Tulsa to see them.

It was a bit warmer today, so Derek and the kids got to play outside. I think it did all of us good to see some sunshine. We did finally get out of the house tonight. We went to the Market Place (Evan's favorite). Before leaving, I was a bit concerned because Ella Grace had dressed herself and I had no idea how in the world I was going to convince her a sleeveless Christmas outfit with no shirt underneath with shoes and no socks and a headband worn hippy style was not going one step out of this house!

She was so proud of herself and thought she looked fantastic!
I guess if anyone could pull it off, she could. Ha!

When I showed her the new dress that matched her headband, she changed clothes with no protest at all and even wore her headband the correct way. She looked precious.

Another thing about this headband...when she puts it on hippy style she takes off running, saying, "Watch me run fast." It's like it is her uniform or something. She is SO funny!

Beautiful Baby

Harper is GORGEOUS! I just can't stop looking at her picture! Let's all keep praying!

Hillary just posted that she got news that Harper's vitals and oxygen levels are the best they have been! Praise the LORD!

If you haven't been reading Kelly's dad's blog, please jump on over there. Precious, I tell you. Just precious!

Harper

Sunday

If you haven't already, please go to Kelly's dad's blog and read his recent post. Please keep praying for Harper, Kelly, Scott and the rest of their family.

*****

Saturday

Kelly's brother, Chris, just updated. You can go here. Please keep praying!

*****

Friday

EDIT: Please pray for Kelly, Scott and sweet, precious Harper. Harper is being flown to a Children's Hospital for what they say is pneumonia. She is not doing well. My heart is breaking for them. I did talk to Kelly just briefly...long enough to hear her sweet voice and tell her I'm praying and love her. At that time, they were getting ready to go see Harper. Please join me and praying fervently for this sweet family...for Harper's healing and for Kelly and Scott. I can't even imagine what they are going through. How difficult it must be for Kelly to be left behind at the hopsital while Harper is flown to another and how difficult for Scott to leave Kelly behind recuperating until she can travel while he goes to be with Harper. I am just so sad. Please, please, please pray. You can click on the "Praying for Harper" button to the right to get a direct link to Kelly's blog for updates.


If you are like me, you have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Harper. You can go to Kelly's dad's site for an update. They are asking for prayer for both Kelly and Harper. If you haven't already, go to Kelly's site for specifics.

Looks like Harper was almost 10 lbs! I can't wait to see pictures!

Congratulations, Kelly and Scott. We are praying for you and sweet little Harper!

Behind Closed Doors

When you have a toddler and she has been out of sight for longer than 30 seconds and things are all too quiet, you might worry that (1) a plastic baby bottle has been flushed down the toilet and you need to call the plumber, (2) all toilet paper has been unrolled or (3) an entire box of Cheerios has been dumped on the floor. It's amazing how quickly a toddler can be into a lot of different things in such a short time.

Today, I was folding laundry and EG had been MIA for about a minute and awfully quiet. I go to find her and find the door to her bedroom closed.

Insert theme music from "Jaws" here.

What a sweet, pleasant surprise! She was having a little tea party. She informed me she was making "cake" for her baby (that she has appropriately named "Ella Grace") and "Baby Bird" (a very vibrant and crazy looking parrot).

It melted my heart! Oh, how I love this girl!

Future Blogger

I think Ella Grace will be a blogger, too.

Of course, you can see she is at Kelly's blog to check on the status of Harper's arrival. It also doesn't hurt that there are pictures of Dawson. She LOVES him!

I am missing her SO much! She spent the night with my mom last night (Evan wanted to stay home, which was definitely welcomed by me). As I got EG strapped in her car seat, I was telling her I hoped she had a great time and kissing her and telling her I loved her (secretly hoping she would change her mind). I no more got out, "I love you," and she said "Bye!" I watched them pull out of the driveway. She was all perched up in her seat waving to me. My heart hurt a little. I always think it is a great idea for my children to have grandma time, but I'm always sad when they ACTUALLY go. I have talked to her several times on the phone, and each time she is telling me all the fun she is having. She sounds like such a big girl. She is two and we actually have entire conversations. It's amazing!

A Movie, A Video, and a Double Rainbow

Today was the first day back at school from Christmas break. I have been SO sad! Derek was off for 20 days (the entire time Evan was out of school...I KNOW!), and we really had the best time together. I hated for it to end. I told Derek I was going to be in a bad mood today. LOL! I knew we would all be in store for a rude awakening because we have been staying up late and sleeping in (no schedule whatsoever). I was pleasantly surprised that Ella Grace popped up at 5:45 a.m. (just a few minutes before the alarm) and Evan arose at his 6:30 a.m. wake-up call with little protest. We left for school on time, but I was miserable because it was 29 degrees and raining! UGH! I was soaked by the time I got Evan into school and Ella Grace loaded back in the car. It ended up being a good day anyway. I took a nap with EG on this cold, rainy day, and it was THE best! That's what rainy days are for, right???

Just a couple of things while on our little vacation...Derek and I got to have a couple of date nights. On one of our dates, we went to see Marley and Me. It is such a good movie. It is very true to life in regards to starting a family and having a pet. Our family has yet to have a pet. We are hoping for a companion dog for Evan soon (most of them look like Marley or are Golden Retrievers...SOOOO cute), and this movie made me realize how a pet really is part of the family. I cried A LOT (and Derek cried, too, although he probably doesn't appreciate me announcing it on my blog...ha!). Derek said it reminded him of a modern day "Old Yeller," and I think he is right.

After the movie, we went to Outback and on our way out we saw a double rainbow. I haven't ever seen one before. Have you? It was so pretty and I think the most vibrant I have ever seen. next to the gray sky. How blessed we are that God reminds us of his promises in such a beautiful way!

Have you had any luck with after Christmas sales? I rarely shop sales after Christmas, but I did find a few cute things for the house that were marked down. Also, my friend Jamie is so good to let me know when one of our favorite stores in town is having a big sale. I went and bought a couple of Christmas dresses for Ella Grace for next year. They were initially 50% off, and the day I went, they were marked down further to 50% off the 50%. I couldn't pass up a deal like that. I saved around $95! Isn't that crazy?! They didn't have anything in Evan's size really, which I was kind of bummed about, but EG is set. I can't believe I bought a size 3! It's hard to believe she will be that big in short of 11 months!

If you get a chance, check out my handsome husband here playing the Star Spangled Banner on the guitar. He's going to be embarrassed I mentioned it, but he had uploaded some of his songs to YouTube and this one is definitely my favorite. He is self-taught, which amazes me. Hopefully, Evan and Ella Grace will inherit his musical talent. :)

I hope you are all off to a great week. I don't know about you, but I'm SO excited about Harper's arrival!!! I'm checking Kelly's Korner about every hour. I have a feeling I'm not the only one. :)

30 Day Shred

I don't really watch The Biggest Loser. I usually only catch the finale. It really is amazing the results that are achieved by the contestants. While at Target the other day, I picked up Jillian's 30 Day Shred.

I have three words...

OH

MY

GOODNESS!

Derek is in pretty good shape, and I asked him if he wanted to try it with me. He was like, "Sure. I'll do it." I think he was thinking it was just for girls and he wouldn't even break a sweat. You know...that he was there for my support. Hee hee! Well, I heard some panting going on over in his direction, too. After it was over, I asked him if it was harder than he expected and he said yes. I have been sore, but I have looked forward to the next workout. I would love to be able to go to the gym, but our schedule just simply doesn't allow it. This workout has three levels. I'm sure I'll be on Level One for a while, so this entire series should last me all year. Ha! Push-ups are just not my friend. They are SO hard for me, and she does A LOT of push-ups. :)

If you are looking for something to do at home, I definitely recommend this video. However, I'm not holding her to the 30 days. I'm pretty sure it will take me longer than 30 days to get "shredded". :)

A New Year

What a year this has been! I am so very thankful for my family. It's hard to believe how much my little ones have grown in just one year.

Here they are around this time last year...

Evan at Christmas last year

Ella Grace going to her first story time last year

Evan and Ella Grace are growing so fast. I don't really have any resolutions, but I do know I want to be more cognizant of being in the "now" and not worrying about the little stuff. I want to cherish the sweet times that are going by way too fast.

Happy New Year, Y'all!