Built Ford Tough

Changed... continued

2012-01-25T17:11:00.000-08:00

This sunday was... well... i'll just tell about it.

I had to teach Sunday School. Yes, the material (Changed into His Image) thats kicking my bootie had to be taught by me. Eek!

Terrilyn (my precious friend/sunday school teacher/photographer) is the one teaching our class right now and she was kind enough to 1st of all entrust this class with me and 2nd to meet up with me to go over the material so that I'd be prepared (and she'd feel comfortable leaving me in charge! ha!). We had a wonderful THREE HOUR meeting :-) I felt prepared.

So, this week was all about our own way. In other words, how is it that we each try to live life apart from God. How are each of us a rebel? Are we assertive? Do we simply refuse to comply or submit? Or are we more manipulative and quiet in our rebellion? Do we comply and go along with having the right actions/looking the right way because it gets us some sort of accolades? Some sort of attention? Or, are we the passive rebel who doesnt get involved? Who procrastinates or blames ignorance as the cause of their non-compliance? "I didnt know i should xyz", they might say.

If we're really honest with ourselves, we'll recognize some of each of these rebellious tactics in each of us. There are some areas of life that we blatantly refuse to let go of our desires and others that we find easy to let go of and submit to the Holy Spirit, because after all, our compliance gets us what we want anyways. So why buck the system?! And then some areas where we simply want to claim "i cant" or "i didnt know" or "i didnt hear you, Lord". We are all rebellious in all of these ways, but more than likely we identify with one more strongly than the rest.

For me, I'm the cooperative rebel. I tend to look pretty decent or maybe even "good" to the world. And i like it that way! I'm driven by a sense of duty and i loved it when, as a kid, i was referred to as "a good kid who never causes us any trouble". Heck, i still like it when people brag on me! I like the image I've created for myself. The mask I've made. Other people seem to like it, too, which makes me all the happier.

However, Berg states that this is "...nothing more than a lust (or obsessive desire) for winning... Surprising as it may seem, there are many of us who really try to be good, not becuase we are allowing God to work in our lives to produce His fruit, but becuase it seems that life has fewer snags when we stay out of trouble" (pg 53).

He also quotes CS Lewis and warns about the dangers of making life work by just being good:

If you have sound nerves and intelligence and health and popularity and a good upbringing, you are likely to be quite satisfied with your character as it is...A certain level of good conduct comes fairly easy to you... You are quite likely to believe that all this niceness is your own doing; and you may easily not feel the need for any better kind of goodness.

It is very different for the nasty people- the little, low, timid, warmped, thin-blooded, lonely people or the passionate, sensual, unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn, in double quick time, that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them...

Berg continues on, "If you are a nice person- if virtue comes easily to you- beware!...If you mistake for you own merits what are really God's gifts through nature, and if you are contented with simply being nice, you are still a rebel: and all those gifts will only make your fall more terrible, your corruption more complicated, your bad example more disastrous. The Devil was an archangel once; his natural gifts were as far above yours as yours are above those of a chimpanzee"... "as you can see, "being good" can be just our way of making life work without God" (pg 53, 54)

Ouch.

Is there anyone else out there who find themselves saying "oh my. thats ME!".

This statement rang so true to me that it broke my heart. It was hard to facilitate this lesson to our sunday school class without screaming "He's talking about ME! I'm the fraud who looks nice and finds it easy to be good and thats MY way of living apart from God!"

I was also on praise team this Sunday (this means i'm on stage, singing "back-up" like a doo wop girl :-) ). I was on stage, struggling with my complete unworthiness to be there, we started to sing this song (by my favorite group ever!) You Hold Me Now. You can listen to it by clicking that link...

Well, we got to the verse stating:

In this life I will stand
Through my joy and my pain
Knowing there's a greater day
There's a hope that never fails

When Your name is lifted high
And forever praises rise
For the glory of Your Name
I'm believing for the day

... and it hit me.
This struggle against my flesh... against my own desires... its never going to end. I'm never going to be perfect. The perfection that i so desperately strive for and desire is always out of reach.

Which is what makes Christ... well, sweet release. A sweet place of rest.

HE is the perfection I seek. Will i always struggle with my flesh? Yes. Until He relieves me permanently of the sin within me, i'll struggle. (dont misunderstand, we are NOT slaves to sin any longer if we've accepted Christ as our savior... but its always a struggle b/c like a cowlick, we have a natural tendency to want to go in one direction no matter how much we try to "tame" ourselves). But its in these times that i yield my desires to that of the Holy Spirit that I find the perfection for which i seek.

A taste of what's to come in eternity.

And that taste is enough to keep me fighting. To keep me wanting more.

I hope it does for you, as well.

Psalm 34:8 Oh TASTE and see that the Lord is GOOD; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.

Christmas Day

2012-01-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

SANTA CAME!!! And boy, the kids must have been good :-)

Rhyan asked for one thing... "a dollhouse. pink. okay?"

Man, i love this girl!

...Rhyan used some of her Christmas stickers on my mouth. Guess she thinks I talk a lot?

After spending the morning together as a little family of 4, we headed over to Gran and Grandad's house for Christmas dinner and gifts. And we had a surprise guest... Aunt Gaye!!!
Rhyan and Mack seriously get loaded with gifts at Christmas. They are some lucky kids. Between my family and Jeff's, our house looked like geoffrey the giraffe vomited in our living room! But they loved ALL of their gifts and play with them/wear them often :-)

Rhyan loves her uncle Jason! (why didnt I get a pic with Liz?!)

Rhyan is really loving some Thomas here lately. Which makes her daddy happy. I dont know who enjoys playing with the train set more? Its definitely a bonding experience for them!
Rhyan LOVED this huge babydoll set from Uncle Jason and Aunt Liz! She plays with it a ton!

We gave Ronni and Andy a copy of our blog book (minus the Mckinnon adventures) and I think she liked it :-)

This just might have been Rhyan's favorite gift of the night. That girl LOVES her some cookies!

What a wonderful, wonderful Christmas.
I hate to even type this because its totally NOT about me, but Hallie's short life and finding out she had passed away Christmas Eve made Christmas was very sobering for me this year. I think of how the Lord used her and Katie and Chris to begin a work in my heart and I can honestly say that Christmas 2011 was one of the most fulfilling yet. I dont have a great memory of all the gift giving (and hello, i only asked for and got one gift from Jeff... so it was NOT all about the gifts for me this year), but I have a great memory of thinking, "wow, God is doing some great things." and being grateful to share in His plan in some small way.

I hope your Christmas and the end of 2011 was as sweet for you as ours was.

Christmas Eve at Mommie's

2012-01-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

This year was different for a couple of reasons. 1. Mommie had recently had her surgery and was still in a good bit of pain. Normally, she's rushing all around getting everything ready but this year she was confined to sitting. I'm sure that was kind of hard for her. 2. I'm back to having a baby I have to hold a lot so my pictures were mostly taken by my lil cousin, Ashley (thank you!!) so they're kind of random :-) But it is what it is and I'm grateful to have any documentary pics of the night!

Mack was naked b/c he was hot. And fussy. And we hoped he was fussy b/c he was hot. Apparently that wasnt it b/c he was fussy while he was naked, too. We figured it out the next day when his first tooth came in! *lightbulb moment*

Quite the handsome Santa. A little younger than I remember, but a nice looking fella

Mama showing off her new robe

Shlaine will kill me for this pic, but aren't Mommie and Rhyan precious?!

Rhyan, always the helper

We got Mommie a vera bradley purse, "heaven is for real" book and some long johns

I LOVE Mommie's face here :-) She cracks me up!

Of course I had to get a pic of my photographer :-)

FAVORITE pic of the night!

Mam got Rhyan an easel and some coloring books. She loved it!

Tracy and Kevin

Mack was SUPER fussy and Tyler calmed him like he was the baby whisperer or something?!

The ONLY pic I got of Mommie and I. Sad. And i got NONE of Mam and I?! I told you, I have a "baby" again and I cant get good pics w/ a baby on my hip!

Rhyan's face is HILARIOUS to me here!

Shlaine and I. Or as Jeff called us, the "ho's". Ha. Ha. Very funny.

My little family. Btw, I was rockin a side ponytail b/c Jeff had demanded converse for Christmas and I told him that if he insisted to go all Napolean Dynamite on me that I was bringing back the side pony tail. But I think he actually liked that, too! lol

Ok, i HAD to post this b/c for any of my family, I want you to look at Rhyan in this pic and tell me... doesnt she look JUST LIKE ME in this pic?! Idk what it is but she looks exactly like me in my opinion here. And seeing as how i constantly get told how she looks nothing like me, I loved this!

And so typical... a pretty good pic of everyone but Rhyan is busy spreading her toes :-)

Everyone had a blast playing games and such. Except me. Remember my fussy baby? Yeah, he was pretty much on my hip the whole night. Sad for both of us!

Yesterday

2012-01-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

1st off, I'd like to say that I gain no great pleasure sharing with the cyber world all of my many imperfections. Its embarrassing to say the least. But I do so in hopes that if there is anyone who reads my blog who is also being convicted to be changed, that they can find some encouragement in knowing that they are not alone.

Yesterday was kind of big for me. Not in a typical sense, but in a "it showed me some things i needed to see" sense.

I've been reading in "Changed into His Image" about how while, yes, we are at spiritual warfare, the majority of the battle that we face is against none other than ourselves. We have to realize that, as Jim Berg puts it, there is a clone of Lucifer within us. A part of him that lives in us. That desires independence from God. That wants to have it our way.

It is commonly referred to by Paul in the New Testament as our "flesh" or our sin nature.

Back to why yesterday was so revealing for me.

I've felt a bit stuck in the house here lately. Jeff has basketball announcing and his masters degree to deal with and so there are times when I feel like it has been forever since Jeff and I or the family as a whole got out and did something. Yesterday was one of those days. I was feeling the need for us to all go somewhere and wanted to make sure the kids were ready for an outing when they got up from nap. So I wanted to give them a bath before naptime.

Mack got to coughing (we've been plagued with bad colds around here and an ear infection for Rhyan) and it initiated his gag reflex I guess and he proceeded to vomit (not just "spit up") all 6oz of his bottle, his jar of carrots and of banana/apple/pear combo. It had been in his stomach long enough to be mucousy and it was everywhere; in the freshly ran tub of water, on the toilet, the rug, the floor, my arm and neck and shirt, his jammies, the sink... you get the picture. Eww.

Meanwhile, Rhyan watched in horror as she asked, "Mommy? Mack sick? He ok? What happened?" over. and over. and over. (regardless of how many times i sweetly told her that yes, he had gotten sick but he was ok and not to worry and that I would clean it up...)

Well, i did my best to remain calm. "This is just a part of life", I told myself. "Its no big deal". "It will all clean up". Yes, I reminded myself that my children were precious and that bodily fluids were just a normal part of kids and that I should be grateful to deal with such. And that was true. And I remained calm :-)

Whew. Crisis averted. I had dealt with a not fun situation with some grace and remained poised. I didnt yell or get angry or frustrated. I just dealt with it. And I was so proud. I had restrained my emotions (for once!) :-)

I got Mack out of the bath first and proceeded to get him dressed before going back to get Rhyan. She does great at staying in conversation w/ me while I get mack ready and she's in the bath so that I dont worry and the same was true this day. We talked while I got Mack dressed. She told me she was making bubbles and i laughed. Good times.

When I went in to get Rhyan, however, I saw that she had indeed made bubbles. With an entire brand new bottle of baby soap that I had just opened last week. (btw, this was the 2nd time she's done this and I was very clear last time that playing w/ the soap is a no no).

And there went my restraint.

I proceeded to speak VERY firmly to her. And as I reminded her she KNEW better, I could feel anger rising up. I has flashes of all the vomit I had just dealt with and got frustrated about something that was done and over with all over again. I was not yelling at Rhyan, but i was on a very fine line that I could feel myself leaning over, wanting to cross.

I shut my mouth immediatly. I continued to sear in my anger and took Rhyan into her bedroom to dress her. The tiniest thing she did at that point would upset me. Touching something I had told her not to. Moving around too much. Anything.

This situation being the hot water and I being the tea bag... I was NOT liking the flavor of my own tea. I knew that, but continued to be angry!

But I continued to be quiet and dress her.

Then, I told her to sit in front of me so i could comb her hair. But she didnt obey. And I was so grateful.

Instead, she came to me and while putting her hand on my face she said "Mommy, I sorry i pray with soap. I wub you".

And I broke down crying.

I told her I was sorry for being angry with her. That Mommy was wrong and asked her to forgive me. To which she replied "Yes, mommy! it okay!"

See, what happened yesterday was what is very normal for most mom's, I'd imagine. Frustrations lead to heightened tempers, tempers lead to yelling, and it all culminates in regret.

But what I learned yesterday was kind of earth shattering for me.

Just as Jeff and I have encouraged teens in our youth group (when we were leaders) to guard their minds... that they could never erase the images they invite through movies, the words they allow to penetrate their mind... I realized that while I control pretty tightly what my kids are exposed to through tv and music and social media, I dont fully discipline myself to protect them from a much more powerful influence.

Me.

I know that my reaction to Rhyan could have been much worse. So many of you reading this may be thinking, "wow, she writing about how she's upset b/c she got angry and fussed at her kid?". But the thing is, it took every amount of effort to keep me from wanting to smack her! And besides, its not my actions that I am as concerned about... its my HEART! I was angry, friends. Angry over a bottle of soap and a happy little girl who was having fun. There are so many other ways I could have and should have dealt with this. Yes, Rhyan needs to learn to not play with soap, but if theres anything I believe about discipline, it is this: the consequence/my reaction should match the wrong that was done. A playful act of childishness did not warrant the amount of anger my heart produced.

I became more aware yesterday that this war I'm in is indeed against my own self. My selfish desires. My pride. My anger. Emphasis on MY. See, I am not a victim of Satan or of this world. I am my own worst enemy! It is my own sin nature that desires to have full control of every situation, of my kids, of my circumstances... that drives me to react the way I do.

And it is myself that I need to die to daily.

I now value, more than ever, the renewing of my mind. Because for me, I know that the image of me fussing at Rhyan over a bottle of soap is burned in my mind as who I really, really am. A self centered control freak!

And so, regardless of how ugly yesterday was for me, I am grateful for it. Grateful for my daughter's forgiveness, for my Heavenly Father's forgiveness and mostly for the Holy Spirit's ministry to me to show me, through an every day "episode of life", just how much I need Him.

So for most of you, this doesnt mean much. But for someone who may be, like me, on the verge of some big changes inside, maybe its helpful for you to know that God teaches in every day occurrences. That He is active in the little things, using them to draw us to Him. LOOK for these times and accept them as opportunities to learn and grow and change!

And if you are interested, I'd encourage you to pick up a copy of "Changed into His Image" by Jim Berg. Its a great discipleship tool and it (by using scriptures to get to the "heart of the matter") is changing me. I am so grateful that I dont have to remain the person I am today. I know that the process of changing will be a long one full of these "opportunities" that sometimes I will handle well (through the Holy Spirit only!) and sometimes I will not.

The perfectionist in me has a hard time with that truth! But the Spirit within me is excited about it! :-)

Christmas Eve Morning/Afternoon

2012-01-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas is so very busy. There are so many people we have get togethers with and of course, there's SANTA! So in trying to decide how to fit in Mommie's house, Mama's gift exchange, santa, the ford family and our own special family time, we decided to do our gift exchange on Christmas eve morning.

We also decided this year to do two gifts a piece for the kids from us. They get so much from Santa, they dont needs tons from us!

So Christmas eve morning, after Rhyan and I prepared the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (yum!), we opened gifts (while the muffins cooked).

I'm so very sad b/c in my brilliance, I had decided to use a different memory card for Christmas. But what I didnt realize is that the memory card had very little memory. So it was full after about 6 pictures. And then i proceeded to lose it :-( I tried to find it and even vowed to not post until i did, but that may never happen. So here it is, anyways.

The kids bought Daddy a shirt reflecting his new favorite pasttime... old NES games that he can play on his computer :-) And Mrs Clause gave him 4 pairs of shoes. All of which he specifically asked for, but 2 of which he took back?!Rhyan was the helper of opening ALL gifts. Hers, Macks, Daddys, Mine... She opened them all!
We gave Rhyan a pink apron with her name embroidered and a pink kids laptop. She was a happy girl! We gave mack a teether. I think its adorable but he wont have anything to do with it! Its a cow and you bite the utters and it vibrates.

When i type it out like that it sounds a little pervy :-)

And Jeff gave me a gift cert for a mani/pedi. It's seriously the only thing I asked for. I'm also getting a bike, but i'm taking my time picking it out. I want a beach cruiser with a big ole seat for my bootie and some good speeds that I can use.

We all enjoyed a few minutes together and then got down to eating some fresh, yummy muffins!

I had 2 great coupons to use at babies r us for a carseat and I knew that Andy and Ronni were giving Mack gift certificates for a carseat so even thought i didnt really want to, Rhyan, my Mom and I headed out to grab a carseat at a great deal :-) We saved so much! We got a $179 carseat and used a 20% off coupon AND a $20 off $100 or more coupon. Yipee!

When we got back, both kids napped and we got things ready to go for Christmas eve at Mommie's house. I was able to talk mama into doing our gift exchange at mommie's house this year instead of two separate places (thank you, mama!).

Funny thing... we have always said that Rhyan has "crazy hair", but this particular day, it was crazier than EVER when she got up from nap!

She looks just as surprised as we were about her hair :-)

Of course, the best toy of the day (regardless of how many we may have given her!) is the BOX the carseat came in! Wouldnt you know it. I wanted a pic of me w/ my kiddies. This is what I got!

Like I said, we were getting ready to go to Mommie's and Mack was about to get a bath when we snapped these pics. Hence, the naked bootie :-)

Christmas eve evening coming up!

Mckinnon: 7 months

2012-01-09T17:27:00.000-08:00

You do all remember that his name is Mckinnon, right?! HA! Sometimes we have to remind ourselves!

We're trying to make sure he doesnt get too many yellow veggies... he loves ALL veggies but of course I dont love the yellow nose! :-)
OH, little Mack. How i love you! Your Mama and big sister, Rhyan, are smitten by you. And your Daddy's coming around :-) (kidding... he loves you tons! he just doesnt like to show too much manly love to "a dude"! haha).

Mack and Rhyan have really started to engage lately! She loves to play peek-a-boo with him and make him laugh by doing anything silly she can think of. She often says "I wub my baby!". Scrumptious!

At 7 months (wow! am i really saying that already?!) Mack is:
-typically down to two naps a day. He's started dropping his 3rd nap. Not every night, but some nights (this seems REALLY early to me?!) He started not falling asleep for it and if he did, he'd take a long time to fall asleep at night.

-is blowing RASPBERRIES! Its hilarious!

-has started showing signs that his reflux is acting up again. He's so strong, yet he wont sit up. He arches his back most of the time and wants to lean back. He's also not been eating his bottles well and generally pretty fussy while eating. So as of Friday, Jan 6th, we upped his dosage of Prilosec from 3mL twice a day to 5mL twice a day. Hopefully, it will do the trick.

-is a MOMMA's BOY! I dont know how I feel about that. I love it mostly. I love to cuddle him (Rhyan never would and still wont cuddle... only for a few brief minutes) but he's pretty insistent. As in, he will CRY (and his crying is more like screaming) if he's in the mood to be held and I make eye contact and dont pick him up. That part, i dont like. At all. :-( So, long story short, I'm going to have to work on being more consistent with letting him cry occasionally, I think. Or offering him the swing or jumper or something.

-play's Peek-a-Boo with me by using his own arm to cover his eyes and then bring it down for me to say "peek a boo!!". He laughs and does it over and over and over! And sometimes he uses his big to do the same thing, but he has a hard time getting it off his face!

-is a SCREAMER!! Omg, he is so LOUD! Its happy screams, but he sounds like a teenage girl at a Beiber concert. I cant hear myself think when he's doing it! lol

-loves puff's! he's having a great time trying out all soft table foods and puff's got it all started!

-is drinking out of a sippy cup with a straw! he did NOT like the taste of the water the first time he got a drink, but he's starting to really like it.
-is working really hard to try to learn to pick food up and get it in his mouth. He does a great job of picking it up but cant seem to get it out of his fist!

-is ROLLING all over the place! Back to front... front to back. He's liking sleeping on his side and tummy mostly, though.And as a result of this little rolling exploration, he ended up with this lovely bruise!

-has a TOOTH! It was his Christmas present (and explains why he was soooo cranky Christmas eve!)
-took his first trip to the park! He loved the swing!!!

-is loving his jumper!!
I should note that his "naptimes" are from approximately 9-11 and 1-3 but sometimes he wakes up to a half an hour early and just lay there content until naptime is up. I'd prefer he take a full 2 hour nap, but 1.5 is good. Just not my ideal. Funny how babies dont care what Momma's "ideal" is :-)

Mack, you are scrumptious. We all think so and are so glad you're a part of our family!

Goals for 2012

2012-01-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of goals for 2012.

I'd like to work on first time obedience with Rhyan.
To find a financial adviser who we can work with.
To find time (meaning make time) to work out (some, not daily... baby steps).
To read my bible daily.
To be more objective in my parenting, loving in my discipline.
To exceed monthly my production goals at work.
To be a better wife.
To enjoy life and not sweat the small stuff.
To give my all to my family (extended included).
To dedicate and be intentional about spending time with friends.
To pursue hobbies: photography, singing/music, reading, blogging.
To travel with the kids more. Take impromptu trips.
To travel with out the kids once. Take time for Jeff and I.
To not be such a perfectionist! It is crippling for me.
To take chances. Put myself out there. Try new things and figure out what I'm good at (and what i'm not good at... and be okay with that).

The list goes on...

But in my reading of "Changed into His Image" this week, I was reminded of something vitally important.

That I, of my own doing, cannot fully change.

I can make attempts. But I will fail. I've experienced this all to well and it has hindered me from attempting change many times in my life.

But i find myself less than satisfied with who I am (otherwise, why would I have such a long list of goals?!). And there is a reason for that...

I have, in the past, put the proverbial "cart before the horse". I've desired to change my actions without ever changing my thinking. I want to not be angry with Rhyan when she disobeys, but I don't seem to really take to heart that the reason I get angry is not just her disobedience, but that it stems from my own pride and desire for control. When she disobeys, I feel that I dont have control and that makes me angry. (this is just one example... the point it to realize that all of the "undesirable" attributes I have are the result of something within ME.)

So, with all of the things i'd like to change this year, there is really only ONE worth putting the effort into; sanctification.

In 2012, I'd like to take a mental picture of my heart as of Jan. and Lord, I pray that the picture of my heart in December is almost unrecognizable!

My plan (as laid out by the book mentioned) is 3 part. 1. Taking off the old (mortification or dying to self) 2. Putting on the new (for our Heavenly FAther to be well pleased with us we must be humble, obedient and a servant) and then 3. Renewing my mind.

These are the steps of sanctification (being set apart, made holy). And it is the ONE goal I have for 2012.

Will I push those others aside completely? No. But they will not be my focus. Because i truly believe that in order to fulfill several of those aforementioned goals, I MUST be sanctified (to enjoy life fully, to parent better, to be a better wife, etc...). That as the Lord changes me through his Holy Spirit, I will find life more manageable. My focus more concise. My desire to do His will, greater.

So there you have it. My one goal.

What are YOUR goals in 2012?! (and ps. i'm fully aware that what I'm dealing with is not what everyone is dealing with so please dont hesitate to share your goals! )

Celebrating Hallie

2012-01-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

Today, I attended a memorial service for a not even 5 day old baby.

It should have been a sad, sad day.

And in some ways, it was. Thinking of the journey that my friends Katie and Chris have been on in the last 7-8 months (since the diagnosis of trisomy 13) makes my heart hurt a little. I hate to think of all of the sleepless nights and worry that is simply inevitable in these types of situations. It pains me to think of how, throughout the coming years, they will often think of how Hallie leaves their family incomplete.

But today's service was not one of grieving, but of celebrating!

Today, we celebrated Hallie.

We were led in worship to a song that was written for Hallie, appropriately titled: Halleujah. It was beautiful. Sounded like a lull-a-bye. And then the campus pastor shared followed by Katie and Chris. Another song, a message by Andy Stanley and one last song (how He loves us) and we were dismissed.

See, i can tell anyone how the service went. I can give logistics and timing and say it was great.

But it was so much more than great.

I was led in worship today. Seriously. It took all I had within me to not stand and make a spectacle of myself, raise my hands to the Lord and praise Him. It was incredible. Actually, the posture my heart truly longed to take was one of kneeling. And if it wouldnt have distracted the 500 people there from worshiping in their own hearts, I would have hit the floor on the aisle beside me (i'm sure it thrills my conservative hubby when I do the same at church ;-).

I was reminded that life is but a vapor. But not the typical "life is a vapor so live it to the fullest and live it all for the glory of God". Yes, that was a part, but a small part. I was reminded, possibly more importantly, that here on earth, our Heavenly Father pursues us. The creator of the universe pursues US and wants a realationship with us. That in the little time we have here, God uses every situation and relationship to draw us to Him.

I've known this all my life. But today, i was convinced that we are indeed worth everything to God.

Most all of us know the gospel. That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever will believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

But Christ's life and death is only a fraction of what God has done/does to grow our relationship with Him.

He uses what is seen by the world as a tragedy to show His goodness. To show His love. To show Himself. And that is just what God did through Hallie.

He drew Katie and Chris to a closer understanding of what it means to have an eternal perspective through Hallie. I dont want to presume to know what all the Lord has done in their hearts through Hallies life. But i can share what He has done in mine.

God has shown me that His ways are so far beyond my understanding. That He truly can take the most drab looking situation and use it for good. He promised this in His Word and I've always know it. Again. In my mind. My intellect. But now, it resonates in my heart. So many things that I've always known to be true have now found a place of faith in my heart, not just my head.

So Katie and Chris, I am grateful for you. I'm grateful for your obedience. The obedience the Lord asked of you was not death on a Cross as He asked his Son, but it was profound and large and required discipline, none the less.

You have shown me the reward for obedience. A life that closer reflects that of our Savior.
I've said a hundred times through all of this that I'm so honored and proud to call you my friends. And that is true. But what makes me most proud is not your strength or your courage, but in your discipline to allow the Holy Spirit to give you strength that only comes from Him. To give you courage that only He can give. To see you empty yourselves and move past an attempt to control and to give up everything... that is what I most admire. And what I most desire for myself.

There are 2 ways to learn: live through something or learn from those who have.

We would all be fools to have watched Katie and Chris (and their entire families), to have seen Hallie's sweet face, to have had the privilege to share in this journey as best we could and choose to not walk away more disciplined, just as Katie and Chris have done, to lay down our desires for those of our Heavenly Father.

He has more than proved Himself through Hallie's life. And will do the same in ours.

Brought to a Hault! :-(

2012-01-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Well, my catching-up-on-Christmas blogs are at a standstill right now.

Why?

Because i thought it'd be brilliant to use a new memory card for all Christmas pics but little did i realize, it was a rather small memory card (small in terms of amount of memory). So i had to switch out mid morning and guess what...

I've "misplaced" the other card.

So half of Christmas is missing.

And until its found, i cant make myself blog about it! I'm hoping to find it. Asap.

*sigh*

Visiting Bass Pro Santa

2012-01-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

We've taken Rhyan to the bass pro santa every year since her first Christmas. He's always been my favorite, but after reading what he did for Hallie Green made us forever loyal to him. Seriously. I'll never take her to another santa as long as this one keeps working. I dont care how long the line is!

So... a little back story first. When I started back from maternity leave with Mack, Dr Cohen allowed me to adjust my schedule a little bit to accommodate for some childcare issues. Jeff is in his masters program and has class every Tuesday night so he's unable to pick up the kids. I didnt (at the time) get off work until 5:30, putting me at Tracy's to pick up the kids around 6:15. Thats just too late! Her kids have their own activities (basketball, softball, church, etc) so it was a bit of an issue (to clarify, Tracy has been kind and kept them late for us when needed and our families have pitched in and picked Rhyan up last year during jeff's baseball season, but with two kids now, both of those options are less than ideal). So I started working Tuesday's (and as of 2012 Thursdays, also) from 7:30-4:30. I love it. I dont love getting up earlier, but when I get home I still have lots of great time with the kids.

Ok, back to the point. We decided to take the kids to see santa on a Tuesday since i get off early and i work right at discover mills. Jeff and I planned to meet at 4:45 at bass pro but when i got there he was running a little late. I went ahead and headed to get a bass pass only to learn that he was going on break in 15 min and wouldnt be back till 6pm! noooo! I called Jeff and told him to HURRY!
When he drove up, i grabbed Rhyan and the kids bag (which had their pj's in it that i wanted them to wear). We ran to the line. Well, there wasnt a line, actually. It was where a line would form but it was just us. And i started stripping her down :-) Jeff followed in shortly after and the "elves" helped me strip and dress both of our kids. Hilarious! :-)
We were worried that Rhyan would cry like last year, but I guess Jeff did a great job of prepping her and she did great! Our plan was to let Mack go 1st, then add Rhyan and then take Mack away and hope she did well alone. But Rhyan ended up being dressed first so she went ahead... and did GREAT! Well, they only let you do 2 pics (as in, they really dont even want you to take the time to take your own 3rd pic... just two) BUT, since there was no one else around, we got THREE! How sweet of them! (btw, this was the perfect time to go!)
After catching our pics, we changed Rhyan back into her clothes (she needed shoes to walk around the mall) and she enjoyed watching hte train for a while. She loves trains! Becoming quite the Thomas fan... Meanwhile, Mack did what he does... lay there and suck his thumb :-)
We headed over and let Rhyan see all the fish. She loves that! Mack didnt have a clue, but was all smiles anyways!Then we walked around the mall for a while so that Mack could fall asleep and then settled on japanese for dinner. Rhyan loved the chicken AND rice! She ate so well that we rewarded her with a ride on the "horsey" while Mack ate his dinner.
This day also happened to be the day that Mommie had her surgery on her knee (she had fallen and broken her kneecap and they had to wire it back together... ouch!). So I took Rhyan to the hospital to visit her "mayer" while Jeff took Mack on home for bed. The nurse had brought Mommie some ice chips and Rhyan took over "sharing" them with her.

We had a great time as a family. I absolutely love having two kids. Its more work, sure. But then most great things in life are :-)

Mckinnon: 6 months

2012-01-01T05:38:00.001-08:00

6 month stats (taken 12/9/11):
Height- 27.9"/89%
Weight- 18lbs 0.5oz/59%
Head Circumference 17"/32%

So, Mack is going to be 7 months old in 6 days. Its about time I did the 6 month update, right?! ;-)

IF you read my post about Mack at 5 months, you know that we were having a rough go of it. He wasnt napping well and that is an understatement.
Well, i'm proud to say that Mack has turned into a great little napper! YAY! It took two things to accomplish this 1. Letting him cry it out consistently and 2. Having him sleep on his tummy.
I cant even begin to tell you how much i stared at the video monitor when he first started sleeping on his tummy. It semi-terrified me. But he had started rolling to his tummy in the bed on his own and we noticed that the tummy naps were consistently good. So, for the sake of his sleep and our sanity, we gave in. :-)

Mack is such a JOY. He's so cuddly and happy and loveable. And a little fierce.

As in, sometimes when you're holding him he gets this odd little look in his eye and he'll grab your face with both hands and come in for a kiss. Sounds sweet, right? But its a little painful! lol
Ok, so at 6 months Mack is:

-waking between 7-7:30
-napping 9-11 and 1-3 (approximate times... we live by a slightly fluid schedule around here)
-taking a last 3rd nap from 5-6
-eating four 6 ounce bottles at 7, 11, 3 and 7pm
-eating solids! (oatmeal and prunes at 7, a fruit and veggie at 11 and whatever we're having for dinner at 6pm with a bath and bottle to finish before bed)
-rolling from back to tummy but not the other way, yet.
-using the voice God gave him. He's a loud little fella!
-can sit up in our laps with some support. Towards the end of the month all we had to do was support his legs so he didnt topple over. He has really great trunk strength!
-wearing a size 3 diapers
-wearing 9month shirts
-wearing mostly 9month pj's (there's the occasional 6 month thats made big...)
-still in 6month pants (he's "tall" but apparently the length comes in the midsection)
-passes things from one hand to another
-tries to eat everything near him
-still loves his thumb(s). he's not partial to either one.
-loves the exersaucer and now that we've sat the swing up so its not so reclined, he enjoys sitting in it and playing with toys.
-loves the tv :-( i guess its just the lights and colors but he'll break his neck to see it
-takes 3mL of prilosec twice a day and is doing great with his reflux
-has decided that green beans arent so tragic after all. now, he likes them! (this is why i'm consistent with having my kids try foods that they, at first, dont like. typically, it takes a kid 10-12 tastes of a food to truly make a decision of not liking it! so if your baby "hates" peas or something, be encouraged and keep trying!)
-basically loves ALL foods. we have yet to find something he doesnt like/wont eat.

Jeff picked up a really small food processor this month and he's been pretty much eating whatever we eat for dinner. Black eyed peas, pinto's, chili!... you name it... if its not spicy we give it to him!

Its like "where's waldo"! and yes, that would be a puff in his bed. he likes to take his snack with him for naptime ;-)

2 Christmas Miracles

2011-12-25T06:27:00.000-08:00

Well, they are miracles around here!

1. Mack rolled over (finally) from his tummy to his back. He has done so two more times since that first time yesterday (christmas eve). But only in his bed. He IS a prince, after all.

2. Rhyan has been pooping on the potty lately but only after we find her hiding in a corner telling us to "stay dere" and us reminding her she's a big girl and needs to poopie in the potty. Then the screaming begins as we carry her to the bathroom. She eventually calms down and poops in the potty, is quite proud of herself and calls everyone (and tells random strangers if there are any around). And earns herself some treats. HOWEVER, last night was a true christmas miracle. I noticed her abscence, called for her and asked what she was doing. She told me she needed to go poopie in the potty, did NOT scream and found success on her grandmothers massive potty that she has to use post-surgery (like a walker w/ a potty seat between the handles... very high up so that mommie doesnt have to bend her leg). She may have also fallen in once (hilarious) but she recovered and finished the job.

Now THOSE are christmas miracles when you have kiddo's, friends :-)

And add a THIRD!!!

3. Mack cut his first tooth today! Join in now... "all I want for christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth...". Well, you got half your wish, buddy :-)

The Meaning Of Christmas: The story of Hallie

2011-12-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Hallie Lynn Green went home to be with her savior this morning. She passed as Katie, a perfect mother for this precious baby, held her in her arms. She was and is at peace.

For anyone who didnt know, Hallie did not have eyes. And they think that she may have been deaf. So i cant help but to wonder, now that her body has been made whole and perfect, how sweet must it have been for her to see her savior with eyes that had never seen before.

Hallie's life, much like Tripp's, has changed my heart. I take that back. GOD, through these two sweet baby's lives, has changed my heart.

I feel like for the first time in my life, I've really learned to celebrate Christmas this year in a way that honors and glorifies my Savior.

I've spent the last week managing emails and comments on the Hope for Hallie page, encouraging people to do what they wanted to and only needed a venue for... to love on Hallie and her parents. We (myself and a couple of friends) have given the opportunity to give financially for the Green family's needs, to take a meal, post an encouraging pic and most of all, to pray.

I dont say any of this to say that i've done anything great, but to say that i feel like I have been a part of something supernatural. Due to the fact that I was for a while the only administrator on the HFH page, I've had the privilege of knowing just how many people have given in these ways (and trust me, its overwhelmingly a LOT). I've had emails sent by people who have brilliant ideas of ways to minister to this family.

And to say that to be a part of this has been a blessing would be an understatement.

I am honored and so incredibly PROUD to call Katie and Chris Green my friends. I told Julie (Katie's mom) a week or so ago that i pray that when my children grow up that they will be half the person that Katie and Chris are.

But Katie and Chris will tell you that they are nothing special. That they have struggled.
But i dont think the point of a trial is to come out of it without having struggled with the "why" but to come out knowing that God had it all under control the whole time. To be able to give God the glory, even when its hard.

And they have certainly done that.

So as I celebrate with my family this next couple of days, I will do so with a sense of hope because of Hallie. Hope that because it has been demonstrated for me that in dark times, it is still possible to glorify God, that I can do the same. Hope that I, too, will be able to do just as the Green's have done and be able to trust the Lord with our children in life or death. Hope, that my life might touch 1/2 the people's hearts that Hallie's has.

And I hope for you, wherever you are in life, that you will see that all things in life, good or bad, can be leveraged for Gods glory if you allow it.

(if anyone would still like to donate for hope for hallie, you may do so with the button on the right side, top of my blog. thank you)

Work Christmas Get Together

2011-12-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

I love the girls I work with. Like, legit love. I trust them and feel sure that they would do anything they could for me (and the feeling is mutual). They're supportive and kind. And while we all may get on one another's nerves while at work from time to time, we are great friends. So our Christmas get together each year is so great :-)

This year, they insisted I bring the kids. I really prefer to NOT bring them to everything b/c of the fact that they both still really neeeed naps and things like this tend to interrupt naps. In fact, the girls even said that they were so proud that i let the kids miss naps and come. For the record, its not that i'm against missing naps b/c i'm stuck on a schedule (although i do love a schedule! ha)... its because its usually not worth it. Meaning, they're boogers and are no fun.
But overall, they did well. Rhyan did great, actually! But Mack turned into a little booger after a while (i mean, he had been up for 3 hours after having 4 shots in his 6 month checkup! OUCH!)

We tried to get a group shot. It was interesting trying to get everyone set up. Mack... well...

Thank goodness he found his thumb ;-)

The funniest part about the girls I work with is their creativity! We always rag on Lydia about her daughter, Melina, being such a princess (she spoils her! haha). So when we found out that Melina would be joining us, the girls all decided to dress up since they were meeting a princess!
I skipped out on the fun (and melissa had already changed by the time i remembered to get a pic!) b/c Mommie had fallen that morning and broken her knee cap. I was terrified that it was bad but she seems ok now (after surgery and now undergoing rehab). But arent they pretty!?

I'm so grateful for these gals. Btw, Dr Cohen and his wife are jewish which is why we have our own get together w/o them. Plus, its fun to not worry about what the boss might think of your crazy shenanigans like dressing up in prom dresses to meet a princess ;-)

Wow...

2011-12-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

I'm loving that tonight i get to say:

HALLIE IS HOME!!!

The Green family is together as a family of FIVE at home tonight.
Would you pray for them as I'm sure there is some fear of not having the nurses close by?
And would you take time to thank Jesus for so many answered prayers...

And keep praying. Hallie is a fighter but what the Lord has in store, none of us know.

Thank you!!

Three Ways...

2011-12-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

There are currently three ways to help/encourage/love on the Green Family!

1. Donate through Pay Pal by clicking here

2. Sign up through Meal train to take a meal by clicking here

3. Make an encouraging sign, take a pic of yourself/family/kids holding the sign and post it to the Hope for Hallie page by clicking here

And to stay up to date with the Green family's blog, click here

We will also have awesome bracelets available this weekend (Monday at the latest) for anyone who wants one. Anyone who makes a donation of ANY amount will get one!!! If you are local, I'd be happy to meet up to get one for you. If not, i'm happy to mail one to you...

How awesome will that be to have a physical reminder of the Green Family so as to remember to pray for little Hallie?! And as a testimony so that anyone who asks about the bracelet will learn that God is ACTIVE in lives TODAY and that we KNOW it because we are watching a miracle right now.

Just as Chris and Katie have found joy in sadness, hope where there seems to be none and given God all the glory for it, we too have the opportunity to share the hope of the Gospel with others through the testimony of this family's life.

PLEASE email me if you've already donated and want a bracelet! forddygirl@yahoo.com

Thank you!!!

Lastly, for anyone who reads my blog to see about my own family (ie: our family), I'm going to try to catch up. But you know how when you see what God is doing, you realize that you better jump on if you want to see just what He is capable of? Well, that's where our little family is at right now. Wanting desperately to be a part of His plan. To love on this family. To bring glory to His name.

She's HERE!

2011-12-19T17:38:00.001-08:00

Hallie Lynn Green

4lbs 15oz

18 3/4 inches

If you'd like to take them a meal (or send a gift card!), Please sign up here!

And if you'd like to donate ANY amount to help the Green family you can do so by clicking here!

Hallie's life is so amazing already. She has a cleft palate and lip, yet has drank from a bottle! She is such a little fighter. All I know so far is that at birth her heartbeat was strong and she is breathing on her own.

No one but her creator knows what this little girl faces. What her parents and grandparents and all who love her will face. But this promise we can hold to be true:

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations" Deuteronomy 7:9

Katie and Chris

2011-12-19T07:55:00.001-08:00

Katie is in a C-section right now. Would you please partner with me and hundreds of others and pray for them?

I would ask that you ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your prayer for them.

My 1st instinct when i got the text that she was going in for a C section was "oh no... Lord, make Hallie turn!". But i quickly was convicted that God has a plan here. One that we will only have partial understanding of after the fact.

So above all, (and i know this is what Katie and Chris want, even though it is hard) I hope that we all pray for Gods will to be done in Katie, Chris and Hallie's life.

And i'll be honest, along w/ all of this concern and anxiety of the unexpected... this is also exciting, friends! God has created little Hallie and we're about to get to meet her!!!!

Stay tuned...

Pigeon Forge Trip: Day 2

2011-12-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

After a pretty decent night of sleep (except that i stayed awake way too late watching some interviews with people involved in the Casey murder... HOW did that crazy woman not get locked away forever?! I digress...) we woke up and got ready for the day. We all functioned very well together for three women trying to all get ready! It helps that Shlaine got up super early to start (since she takes the longest... beauty queen!) followed by Mommie (who just takes a long time b/c she's slooow!) and then Me (who doesnt want to get up a second before i have to!).

We spent the morning at the outlets just walking around. It was insanely packed. Like, Christmas Eve at Walmart kind of packed. Eek. But we were so lucky and got a great parking place and enjoyed walking around! Each of us found a couple of gifts and just soaked up the beautiful morning!

Then we headed to the Old Mill for lunch. I had been told that it was a must for a meal and that lunch was cheaper. So we went. We got a great seat by the window and enjoyed the water view!

The food was yummy and we were stuffed. I assumed we would head on over to Dollywood, but Mommie said going back to the hotel for a little bit to rest might be best. We were very careful all weekend to not let her over-exert herself and it was wise to do so. When all was said and done she said that she was so surprised that her back NEVER hurt her and that she felt sooo good the whole time. I really do think that taking breaks helped. And lets face it... i'm a lazy bum so i didnt mind :-)

What was meant to be a short break turned into a TWO hour nap. Oops!

We headed on over to Patriots Park to park the van and take the trolly into Dollywood around 4pm. We (again) lucked up and got a parking place. We just happened to pass my aunt/uncle Marsha and Bobby who were there celebrating their wedding anniversary and later found out that they never did get a parking place and didnt get to go to dollywood that day! At the time, we didnt realize just how lucky we were!

We grabbed a map and list of shows and figured out our itinerary. Our first stop was on the backporch theater to hear the musical stylings of these guys. They were good, but we werent thrilled. I was hoping it would get better (it also wasnt dark yet so we couldnt really appreciate all of the lights, etc at this point).
Our next stop was for the iceskating show. We got in line at 5:30pm for a 6:30 show! And I'm glad we did... it was PACKED! And was by far the BEST show there. The music/singing was so great and we loved seeing the skaters. It was a real treat. Shlaine actually stood in line while Mommie and I walked around and got some fudge and hot chocolate for each of us (including S).
So during the show we enjoyed our warm drinks and soaked it all in!

We snapped a couple of shots in front of this beautiful tree!

We continued to walk around for a bit before setting up to see the carol of the trees. I love this show!

A very nice lady took this pic for us!

We ended the evening by watching "home for the holidays". This time I stood in line while Mommie and Shlaine explored a bit :-) I met a nice guy in front of me who is a pastor of a church in NC and he and his wife have also done babywise with their children. We had a great chat :-)
(people, like Shlaine, often wonder how I find out such personal things about people in a 5 minute conversation but really... its not like i probe! its just a natural thing for me, i guess!)

We ended the night w/ a stop by the Merry Christmas sign!

We didnt freeze and really had a GREAT time. I wish we'd have gotten there a little sooner, but in all honesty, it may have been best that we got there when we did. Like i said, Mommie did great the whole time and never got to hurting and thats whats important!

Sunday morning we got up and once again enjoyed the continental breakfast before heading out. On the way home there was a lot of traffic at this one spot... turned out people were bear watching!

We joined in to see what the hype was all about. I also stopped at one point to get pics of the pretty skyline over the mountains... and the SNOW! We were shocked to see snow!
And for this pic i rolled down the window and went 10mph :-) There was no one behind us!

I am so glad we got to go on this trip with mommie. What a wonderful way to celebrate HER!

Pigeon Forge Trip: Day 1

2011-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

My Mommie turned 80 this year. I cant even begin to imagine all of the changes she's experienced in her lifetime! Dirt roads to paved, outhouses to indoor plumbing (thank you Jesus!), very little technology to computers and tv's in every home (including hers!). She's experienced a lot! And has really handled it well. I dont know if i'll grow "old" so gracefully. I already shy away from new technology and i'm just 31!!! :-)

Anyways, Shlaine and I decided to treat Mommie to a trip to Pigeon Forge for her 80th birthday. She loves all the Christmas lights in Dollywood, so we held off on the trip until the 1st weekend of December.

We left Friday morning after Rhyan, Mommie and I shared a yummy breakfast, courtesy of Mommie :-) Tracy kept the kids on Friday (and then my fabulous husband/baby daddy extraordinaire kept them the rest of the weekend, something Mommie is still impressed with!)

We grabbed a drive through lunch on the way, I used my navigation system in the van (love it!) and we arrived at the Red Roof Inn around 2:30. For a fairly inexpensive place, I thought it was pretty nice! They served a continental breakfast each morning and had the place decorated nicely, had an indoor pool and hot tub and very nice employees!

We got settled and rested up for a little bit. We discussed what our plans should be and decided that since Mommie and I were both wanting to see Breaking Dawn: Part I, that we would inclulde that in our weekend. Shlaine had already seen it but she's always up for watching any of the twilight films again (and again and again!).

We headed back out to explore the Christmas shops and had a great time looking at all the decorations.

Shlaine is now in love with my fancy DSLR camera b/c its the ONLY camera she can have her pic made with that she doesnt blink with! Beautiful!!!

Mommie even attempted to blend in with some of said decorations :-)

We headed over to the Apple Barn for some yummy food. I set up my camera on a timer in hopes of a good pic when the nice guy at the table beside us offered to snap one for us!
After dinner we headed over to the theater to lust over/watch some vampires and werewolves!

Back at the hotel, things got a little crazy. We started talking aobut our feet somehow and before I knew it we were dying laughing and taking pics of our toes. Seriously, we laughed and took pics and laughed and looked at pics for a loooong time. We were crazy. Possibly delirious :-)

And even stranger, we finished off the night with Mommie demonstrating her crazy flexibility!
Our first day/night was a BLAST!

Hope for Hallie

2011-12-15T18:48:00.001-08:00

I, like so many people, feel just blessed and honored to call Chris and Katie Green my friends.

At 12 weeks pregnant, they were told by their doctors that their little girl (this will make their third) has trisomy 13. You can read more about that here. Basically, they were told to be prepared for anything.

While it is devastating to hear this kind of news as a parent, they chose to press into the Lord and ask Him to give them joy in this heartache. You can read more of their story on their blog link above. It is amazing and it has been such an incredible journey to see how the Lord has worked in their hearts and lives. It has challenged me in my own faith (which I consider to be strong... easy to say when life is easy...) and this little girl has already changed so many hearts.

Hallie is scheduled to be born via induction next Monday, December 19th. The unknown is understandably unnerving, but Chris and Katie have chosen to trust the Lord. Seriously, I am in complete awe of the strength the Lord has given them!

Several people have sent cards to the Greens and I know that sooooo many people are praying for them, but if you're anything like me, you might want to do something practical as well. So, I've set up a paypal account for any donations that you may want to make for the Green Family.

The money will be going to do something in honor of Hallie. If you would like more details before deciding if you would like to give, feel free to email me at forddygirl@yahoo.com. And we (as in the people helping to coordinate this) are open to ideas.

In the season of advent (hopeful expectation), would you donate for a family who in the midst of heartache chooses to honor and glorify the Lord in all? I know that money is tight for all of us, but for anyone who knows Chris and Katie, you know that they are some of the most giving and loving people ever. They always think of others first and this is an opportunity for us to let them know how much we love them!

Feel free to use the link above and give as the Lord leads. Thank you!

Decorating for Christmas!

2011-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Last year, I let Rhyan pick out her own tree at Kohls. Even before she could say that "my favorite color is pink!", she picked a pink tree. Heck, i dont even think that at 20 months old she know her colors yet. But my little girl does love her pink :-) And she loves her tree!

We decorated her tree Thanksgiving evening. We started this last year so we've pretty much bought boxed ornaments so far, but i hope that through time we will make things together and let her tree really represent her interests. It'll take time, just as its taken years for my tree to be a very sentimental thing for me :-)

We also scored this great little people nativity set on sale and its my favorite thing for Rhyan to have! Its a great way to talk about what Christmas is all about... and it doesnt hurt that she totally has a soft spot for babies. In this pic she was cradling baby Jesus and saying (in a VERY dramatic, sympathetic voice) "Ohhhhhhh Baaaaaby!"

Poor Spud. He's just happy to be in the same room as other people!

And according to Rhyan, baby Jesus belongs on top of the manger, not the angel. Duh.
And the way she has it set up, it looks like one of the wise men and Mary might have a little somethin somethin going on! Blasphemous!

I love Rhyan's age. I love that she understands things better and that she is as excited as her Momma is about the Christmas season :-)

McKinnon Thanksgiving

2011-12-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness... i come from a long line of fabulous cooks. So sad that i'm not one of them :-)
I did, however, contribute a sweet potato casserole, green beans and green bean casserole in addition to making the dumplin's out of the turkey broth. YUM.

So, i cant really get good pics of Mommie and I together! Either i'm smiling and she's talking or something weird... hmm. OH well, its real life. And i love her :-) So i'll post it anyway.
Remember the tankersley thanksgiving post where it was all about Rhyan b/c Mack slept the whole time? Well, this post is full of pics of Mack and this is the only evidence that Rhyan was there! She woke up VERY snotty from nap mid-dinner and was a grump for a while...

My 1/2 sister, Elizabeth and her son, Trevor

Mack's turkey day dinner: DUMPLINS!

WARNING: You may laugh out loud... these pics are pretty funny. The many faces of Mack

Me and Shlainey

The boys watching football (they're trying to convert Mack so at least one ford will like it!)

Food: Yummy
Company: So sweet
Miracle: No fights

It was a successful Turkey day in my opinion! My only Regret: not breaking out my maternity pants!

Tankersley Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-13T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well, typical Kelly-style, I'm behind and will make an attempt this week to get caught up before Christmas. 2 Thanksgiving posts, a weekend in Pigeon Fordge, visiting Santa all to come...

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we enjoyed some Tank Family Time at the Farm. We love it there!

We started the morning by making a couple of dishes to take along: sweet potato casserole and vanilla delight. Rhyan is quite the helper in the kitchen and decided her cooking skills were needed to ensure quality dishes.

I took my camera with plans of getting great group shots like last year, but i failed to charge my battery and so the few pics you see here are all i got. This pic of Mack and his 2nd cousin Sue Ellen is the only evidence that he existed on this day. He proceeded to nap for 2 hours after the pic was taken and thus missed out on the rest of the fun. Not, however, before he enjoyed some smashed up baby lima beans and sweet potato casserole!

The absolute BEST thing about the farm is that when the weather is nice (which, oh my! it was BEAUTIFUL on this particular day!) there is so much room to roam around and explore. Thats great fun for a toddler :-) But even active toddlers need a little Daddy lovin from time to time!
Unfortunately, there was a GA game on this day so while Jeff, Rhyan and I explored (and mack napped), everyone else in the house watched the football game. No offense to the Tank clan, but we see each other once a year, typically. I hope that next year we can do it on a day that UGA's not playing so we can actually visit more!!!! Jeff and I are not big football watchers and are certainly not UGA fans (gasp!) so we missed getting to chat with everyone. BUT, we loved getting to explore and enjoy the scenery!

Hey, Rhyan... its hard to play corn hole when your bottom is blocking the hole!

Her excitement over seeing the cows!

Very interested in the cow patties :0)

I thought it'd be cute to get a pic of her on the stump... but she wasnt having it

As always, we loved our visit. The Tank Clan will be adding a new addition in May (i think?!) with Jenny and Tripp's baby. How FUN will next Thanksgiving be?!!?!?!

... and Brittlynn is here!

2011-12-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

Im SO thrilled! Brittlynn Avery Parker made her debut Tuesday, Dec 6 at 5:20pm. Emily was able to go all natural (again! my hero!!) and only pushed about 20 minutes. I'm so proud of her and for her and Zach and Kye... their new addition is BEAUTIFUL!

Hello little Britt! Happy Birthday, sweet girl. Welcome to the world :-)

EMILY'S HAVING A BABY!!!!!

2011-12-06T14:33:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited, friends. Emily is in labor!!

She chooses the all natural route (ouch!) so please be praying for her strength to stay up and for the dr and nurses to honor her preferred birth plan and for a SMOOTH delivery with a healthy baby and mom!

Camera Dump

2011-12-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

SURPRISE!

2011-11-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

Mommie turned 80 years old on Nov 4th. Now THATS something worth celebrating!
Marsha had called me back in early October with the idea of a surprise party for her and wanted to know if we could do it at our house. Of course we were more than happy to oblige!
Funny thing, though... Mommie actually said "I dont want a party for my birthday this year" on at least 2 occasions. Both after we had planned the party and invited her family and friends :-)
I'm not sure why she thinks her birthday was all about her wants, anyways... HA!

Turns out, she loved it. She thought she was just coming to our house for me to cook dinner for her (i'm sure she was terrified at the idea). So she was quite shocked to see about 30 of her family and closest friends in my kitchen, yelling "Surprise"!

I got her reaction on video, but not in a pic. But she immediatly teared up and walked back into the living room. Her brother (only living sibling) went to give her a hug and I guess she had not initially realized everyone who was there. She started crying again. It meant so much to her that he and his wife had drove so far to come!

We all enjoyed some good food and great time of just sitting around catching up.

Then, I INSISTED we get some group shots! And i'm so glad we did. The weather was perfect and lighting was great...

Mommie and her best friends, Dorothy and Nat.

One of her other great friends (and maker of the best pound cake ever), Brooksie.

The WHOLE Clan: (from L to R) lindy, shlaine, rhyan, ashley, steve, brooksie, tyler, jerry, wanda, dorothy, me, nat, gail, mommie, luke, mommie, jonathan, bobby, marsha, lydia, jeff, elijah, trevor, kevin, tracy, jack, mama, elizabeth, ethan and jon. Whew. 29 peeps.

Steve, Shlaine, Mommie, Ashley, Jack, Tyler

Wanda, Gail, Mommy, Jerry

The Cousins

The great grandbabies *minus mack who was sleeping during almost ALL of the pics :-(

Mommie and her children. Mommie and Mama were being crazy. We had joked that someone should act like they were holding Mack so we could photoshop him into the pic, so they did this. I guess they think he's gargantuan!

Mommie and Mama

Mommie, Marsha and Bobby

It was such a beautiful day... the "kids" (old and young) tossed the football around!

Rhyan "helping" Mommie open gifts

FINALLY, Mack woke up so we grabbed a family shot!

Mommie, my nephew Trevor and sister Elizabeth

We had a wonderful time celebrating Mommie and her wonderful life. I'm so grateful for her as are so many people. Her strength, even at 80, continues to amaze me.

Halloween Festivities 2011

2011-11-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

This year was so much fun! Rhyan practiced saying "trick or treat" with an added "prease" to the end and was excited for dressing up! I went to old navy the week of halloween and scored TWO great costumes, both of which i thought she'd like. I was right! The Ladybug AND the Strawberry were both hits. And both cost me under $7. Cant beat that with a stick!

We went to my Aunt Shlaine's church for a fall festival the Sat before halloween. It was held indoors in Pleasant Grove's gym and Rhyan loved it. We tried the strawberry for that night (b/c i thought it would be outside, like our church's fall festival) and she liked it just fine. I was impresed that she even left her hat on all night! And Mack made for an adorable pumpkin!

Interestingly enough, she wanted a lady bug painted on her face... cute.

Then, on Sunday, we went to our church's fall festival. It was outside. And it was chilly. So pretty poor planning on my part, but she dressed as a lady bug. And i think she was pretty darn cute :-)

She didnt stay dressed up in her whole outfit for long, though. Pretty soon, the antenna's were on Daddy and her sweater was donned. I'm telling you, once the sun started to set it was cool!
She had a BLAST jumping in the blow up houses and ate lots of junk food.

In the meanwhile, Mack and I spent some time roaming around, helping man a bounce house, etc. He did great, which didnt surprise me. The boy looooves being outside!

Rhyan, once again, wanted a lady bug painted on her face and was careful to sit still for it!

And of course most importantly, she got to spend time with the love of her life, Josh :-)

Mack did great until the very end when he projectile vomited on me. As in all over me. Ick. But it didnt seem to phase him one bit. He was smiley as ever!

Halloween day, i was called to jury duty for the first time ever! I'm not gonna lie, while I dont mind at all being a part of the judicial process and doing my part, I was not very happy about missing out on Halloween (which was also my day off!) with the kids. I had things planned!
Luckily, we were dismissed at noon for the WEEK! Yahoo!!
So i made it home in plenty of time to enjoy making cookies with Rhyan and carving a punkin!

We enjoyed a visit to Mommie's house before trick or treating, along with a short visit to the Little's house. Emily and Randy were the only ones home, so Susan and Megan missed out (and we missed them!)

Then, on Halloween, Rhyan once again transformed into a strawberry for some fun trick or treating. I dressed Mack up in his pumpkin outfit, strapped him onto me in my carrier and we headed out. We let Rhyan walk and she tired out after finishing our street :-) She did such a great job of saying "trick or treat, prease" to each person and following up with a thank you... and then proceeded to ask me to open whatever treasure she had gotten! I had to keep reminder her that we were in "collection mode", not "consumption mode". :-)

Mack was a tired boy but we managed to get one group shot of the cousins!

What FUN!

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Dexterity Issues

2011-11-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Dexterity can be an issue for lots of people for lots of reasons. I know very few men who find it easy to floss. Simply put, their fingers are just not nimble enough!

And then there are issues for the elderly: arthritis, parkinson's disease, etc...

And the oh so common broken hand or wrist or finger.

So! How can you keep your mouth (and therefore your body!) healthy in times like this? Or how can you help your family member who is suffering from debilitating arthritis take care of themselves? Here are just a couple of tips:

1. Buy an electric toothbrush. There are lots out there. In choosing one be sure of 2 things: its rechargeable and it has a built in timer. The Oral B Vitality is my favorite inexpensive brush! (around $20! and will last a couple of years!)

2. For anyone suffering with arthritis, try this cheap trick: buy a tennis ball, cut an X on opposite ends of the ball and stick your toothbrush handle through. It makes for a simple fix for someone who cant hold a thin handle!

3. Buy a water pick. A water pick will NOT remove as much plaque as flossing, but its better than nothing :-)

Nutrition next week :-) Get ready to learn how what you eat impacts your teeth/gums!

Mckinnon: 5 months

2011-11-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a month it has been.

For any of you (um, who really even reads this?!) who have read my blog for long and are tired of reading "another great month with a great baby"... well, this post should make you happy ;-)

Mack's 4th month of life has come with some big challenges. Mostly for me. But when Mama aint happy... well, you get my point. So lets get to it. What happened this month?!

SLEEP
Mack didnt. Sleep, that is. We entered the stage of the dreaded 45 min intruder that babywise speaks of. Rhyan had issues with not being able to sleep through that 45 min mark during naps around 2 months, Mack hit it at 4. Babywise states that these two times are most common, and indeed my children struggled at those points. Rhyan, however, got back to normal naps in approx 2 weeks. Mack? Well, just this week we've gotten back to normal naps. And i'd say the "bad" naps started before the 4th month started. I just didnt blog about it in last months post b/c i was crossing my fingers, hoping it was a fluke. But it wasnt.
So, pretty much every nap for the last month has been 45 min long. He woke crying (a huge sign that a baby hasnt slept long enough... starting around 3 months of age they should start waking happy) at every nap and was miserable while he was up. We tried letting him swing but that didnt help (that was our saving grace w/ rhyan).
I even took him to the Dr to make sure his reflux was under control and that he didnt have an ear infection. The Dr told me two things: 1. He's probably teething and 2. He's probably figuring out if he cries you pick him up and he's getting spoiled. :-) Great.
At first i kind of freaked out about the teething thing because as you can imagine, i was thinking "omg, he'll be teething for the next 2 years... its gonna be a looooong 2 years".
But with the support of Tracy (my sitter/cousin/bestie), we've let him CIO (cry it out) and he's back to good naps. Thank you sweet Jesus.
But this month was bad.

AND, it affected his night time sleep, too. He started waking once or twice a night. Nothing consistent. Maybe once or twice a week. But i went to bed every night on edge, wondering how much sleep we would get before we woke to Mack crying.

My back hurt. Because i would lay there, even as i slept, stiff. Anxious. Yes, i'm aware that it didnt help anything. But i couldnt help it.

Needless to say, i'm glad month 4 is over :-) I've read of such nightmares in other blogs from other friends and foolishly thought "well, my kid never did that". OH, eating crow here, peeps :-)
.

EATING
We've started SOLIDS! I honestly think that adding cereal to Mack's diet disrupted him for the first few days to a week. His stomach is so sensitive and even though rice is very gentle, he seemed to be a bit uncomfortable in the beginning. He has since adjusted and loves (and i do mean LOVES) his cereal. We've had to add prunes as his other first food to keep his tummy moving the food along, but he loves those, too!
The only "epic FAIL" has been green beans. Seriously, he hates them. Loathes, in fact!
On the other hand, he seemed to love my CFA sweet tea when he lunged for my straw and i thought he could "chew" on it... boy did he surprise me (and himself) when he got a big gulp. The good news? I think he'll do fine with a straw sippy cup :-)
He has also had homemade sweet potato's. The 1st attempt was pretty tragic. I made them too thick and on what would have been his last bite anyway, he gaged and projectile vomited all of the potato's AND formula. Eww. Lesson learned. Add more water.

We tried stretching his schedule this month. We always do an eat/play/sleep pattern but with his lack of sleep this month, we just fed on a schedule and he slept when he slept. So we tried a combo 3.5/3hour. I cant say we were "Successful" or "unsuccessful". He ate when we offered it and did fine. So he had 5-6oz at 7am, 10:30am, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm with cereal with prunes at 7am. Towards the end of the month we added "lunch" at the 2pm feeding of a veggie (green beans, sweet potatos)

PLAYING
Mack had a rough time playing by himself this month. He would cry if you walked past him b/c he wanted to be held. I mean, its sweet that he's cuddly and all... but i cant hold him all the time. And truly, i dont want to. I want him to learn to self entertain, and that needs to start early. Like, now. So, we've had some crying in that area, too. Poor guy. By the sounds of this blog post all he did was cry this month. Yep, that pretty much sums it up :-(
Pretty much the only time he's been happy this past month was when he was in his exersaucer. He absolutely loves to be in a sitting up position so he can see. He does little baby crunches all the time b/c he's trying to sit up. Amazing. He's a strong little guy!

MILESTONES
Mack is ROLLING OVER! Only from back to tummy, though. Which is odd to me b/c isnt it easier to roll from tummy to back?! Anyways, he rolls to the left only. And then fusses b/c he doesnt like tummy time. HA! Actually, that has improved drastically this month, but he's still not loving it.

He is also reaching for toys and playing with/holding toys pretty well now!

SIZES
Mack is in a size 2 diaper in the day and size 3 at night. He's moved up to 6-9 month shirts and still wears 3-6 month pants.

REFLUX
I was so concerned w/ his reflux this month. When i took him to the Dr, she assured me that his throat looked fine but changed his Rx to prilosec, anyways. I much prefer it for two reasons: 1. its WAY cheaper and 2. its a liquid so its easier to tweak the dosage according to his weight as opposed to the prevacid tablets

RANDOM
Mack is loving for me to sing "twinkle twinkle little star" and "wheels on the bus" and "itsy bitsy spider" to him. He is also loving books. Although Rhyan reminds him that we DONT eat books :-) Speaking of Rhyan... Mack got his first taste of an M&M thanks to his big sis this month. She popped one in his mouth. We got it out, of course. Cant let him start getting hooked on the "good stuff" this early!

But in all seriousness, this month has been challenging. But Mack is still just scrumptious. I adore him. Even when i think i'm going to go jump off a bridge :-) Dont you agree?!

Myrtle Beach 2011

2011-11-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

Warning: This is a super long post. It is all 4 days of myrtle beach in one post b/c i'm so far behind that i just need to get it done. I'll try to keep words to a minimum, but there are things i want to remember.

Jeff wanted to run a 1/2 marathon at the end of October in Myrtle Beach. So we used it as an excuse to take a long weekend beach vaca!

We started out thinking we would leave the kiddo's with anyone who would take them :-) And then decided that Rhyan would love the beach, even if it was a little cool, so we tacked her on. But i couldnt take Rhyan and not Mack! So we tacked him on. And then we remembered how great it was last year when we went to the beach with Jeff's mom and dad and so we just made a big family vaca out of it!

We even rode in our new van! As in, everyone. 4 adults and 2 kids. A little "Griswold-ish" of us, right?! But it was GREAT! The kids were really fantastic on the ride there and back, minus one small 5 min melt down by Rhyan. "Gran" and lorna doone cookies saved the day :-) The drive took about 6.5 hours to get there and 6 hours to get back (thanks to some improved directions from Aunt Gaye!)

We left from our house (well, Archer HS where jeff had left his wallet) around 11:15am on Friday and got there around 6pm. I didnt get any good pics of the condo we stayed in but it was HUGE. Like, bigger than our 1st house huge. 3 full bedrooms and 3 full baths. We realized pretty quickly that we could have gotten a 2 bed b/c each bathroom AND closet was HUGE and way big enough for a pack and play. Oh well. It was beautiful and we really enjoyed being able to spread out.

We ordered pizza and the boys picked it up while us girls got unpacked. (pics are coming soon, i promise). We ate and put the kiddo's to bed. Rhyan's room had 2 twin beds and we had not brought a pack and play for her (no room plus she's sleeping in a toddler bed already so we thought it would be fine). We pushed the beds together (one was a little higher than the other which made for a good "rail" for one side) and put a suitcase on the other side so she would feel it and realize it was the edge. We thought it was a decent plan. We were wrong.

I woke up around 3am to the sound of Rhyan crying. She had knocked over the suitcase and it had scared her. Make a long story short... I ended up "sleeping" on the other twin bed the rest of the night. I use the term "sleeping" loosely b/c every few minutes she would lean over to me and whisper "mommy... " and then whatever ridiculous thing she could come up with to say. For example: "mommy... onna go outside and go poopie". Yeah. So that was a great nights sleep :-)

Jeff, however, was relieved I'm sure... we were sharing a double bed. We didnt try that twice! And according to him, Mack woke around 4:30 crying but went back to sleep and then woke at 6am.

The upside to babies waking you super early? You get to see THIS!

We even saw DOLPHINS! Rhyan loved this!

We took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to walk on the beach! We got some great pics! (ps Grandad and Mack stayed inside...)

When we came back in, we found Mack reading his favorite novel to Grandad ;-)

The grounds at the Kingston Plantation were beautiful! There was a really cool splash park area that would be SO fun in the hot summer! Jeff helped out Aunt Gaye's company by participating in their volleyball tournament... he helped them pull a win!

That night, Aunt Gaye invited all of us to join her at her company's dinner provided by vendors. Our little crew is ready to go!

The food was great. Unfortunately, Mack was in his "i dont want to nap so i scream all day" mode :-( So jeff took him back to the room while the rest of us danced the night away. Grandad thought he'd get out of hitting the dance floor, but Rhyan made sure he joined in the fun!

Rhyan is quite the dancer and was showing us all how to get it done!

Our second night, Jeff and i decided it was best for our marriage if we slept in different beds. We shored up Rhyan's beds and she and Mack slept great! Jeff got up early to get ready for his 1/2er and I was hoping both kids might sleep in. Keep dreaming, right? I slept great until around 6:45am when Mack woke. Not bad, though, really! When i went to the kitchen i smelled something foul and assumed that Jeff had stunk up the bathroom before heading out for his run. I was wrong.

Rhyan had gotten an upset stomach and filled her diaper to the point of overload. She came out of her room and said "mommy, change iaper prease". So sad. She sounded pitiful.

And the whole condo stunk. Eww.

Poor mack had to wait to eat while i got rhyan cleaned up enough to get in a bath of clean water, hoping we could keep it from breaking her out. What a start to the day!

We decided to take advantage of the indoor heated pool that day!

Jeff dunked little Mack. About gave me a heart attack. But I guess Mack liked it cause he came up smiling! What a trooper!

That night, Aunt Gaye wanted us all to go to the Sea Captains House for dinner. Jeff and I were hoping it was good b/c we were wanting an all you can eat buffet (yes, we're redneck enough to love a good seafood buffet!). We were skeptical, but i left a changed woman... i have NEVER in my life had shrimp and grits or crabcakes quite as good! Mmmm.

Unfortunately, Rhyan was a little booger at dinner and Mack was sleepy from all of his "i'm not gonna sleep no matter what" so we looked like one of those crazy families trying to do anything to keep our kids under control that you feel bad for/wish they would have stayed home so they didnt ruin everyone else's dinner. :-) But the view was beautiful and food... scrumptious!

Jeff and Rhyan spent more time outside than they did in :-(

The next morning we got up and enjoyed a few more hours soaking in the view. Mack, of course, took the best nap he had taken in weeks so i eventually had to just wake him up so we could leave. Grr! :-) Its a super good thing he's cute..

We really did have a great time. It would have been so nice to have stayed one more day but then i'm pretty sure that no matter how long we stayed, i'd always feel that way!

Random Rhyan II

2011-11-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

Me: "Jeff, what is that thumping noise? It sounds like Rhyan's falling"
Jeff: "Idk" as he sits at the computer, not looking up.
Me: "well could you check" as i cook dinner
Jeff: "looks like rhyan's taking off her shirt". he goes back to the computer
Me: "why"
Jeff: "Idk".

I leave dinner to check in on Rhyan. To find this.

A week or so later, Jeff goes to pick Rhyan and Mack up from Tracy's and while he's gathering their things, Rhyan somehow manages to open and pour about half a bottle of laundry detergent on her head. Tracy (obviously) had to clean it off her face to keep it out of her eyes, but this is what she looked like when we got her home.

And finally, i just think its cute that Rhyan will randomly hold toys in front of Mack for him to look at. For about 5 seconds. And then she's bored and moves on :-) But its sweet for a moment.

The most heart warming thing she's said lately was when we were praying one night. Mack had been sick with a really bad cold and when i got done praying w/ her she said " Mommy! Pray Mack". I asked what she wanted me to pray about for mack and she said "pray mack. he sick." (btw, i know she still talks very broken right now. she knows better but still leaves out words. but i like to remember how she phrases things so i write them as she says them).

How precious is that? That my little girl is learning to have a heart for others. And whats even better is that she knows who to pray to when someone she loves is in need! That particular time was the first time she had specifically asked to pray for someone in need but she has since asked to pray for "mayer" who has a hurt back, also.

Soaking up our not so little girl!

Corndawgs: Take II

2011-11-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

For the 2nd year, we took in all the fun at Corn Dawgs in Loganville! It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed ourselves. In attendance were: Myself, Jeff, Rhyan and Mack, Mommie, Mama, Jonathan, Tyler and his girlfriend Lindsay. Tracy and her family and Lindy and her family also came and so we got to meet up with and visit with them for a short while, also!

Rhyan had a great time playing in the toddler area!

And her Daddy had fun, too :-)

Mack enjoyed some "dinner" while the guys tried to hook the rings.

Just like last year, Rhyan loved the baby zip line!

Our little animal lover loooooved the pig. She even kissed it!

Rhyan and her Daddy having fun in the hay maze while "mayer" enjoyed the swings.

If you remember the pics from last years trip, Rhyan was NOT a fan of the corn pit. She didnt like that it got stuck in her toes. And while this year it still bothered her a little, she didnt let it keep her from enjoying it!

Mack was a sleepy boy. Sweet.

Family pics!

But by far Rhyan's favorite part was the bouncing pillow!

What a great, great time! I love fall and all the fun activities we can take advantage of!

BIG DAY!

2011-11-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

Just fyi, today has been a BIG day for little Mack!

He rolled over from his back to his tummy!
He ate sweet potato's (made by me) AND applesauce (b/c he was grabbing for it at dinner... so Rhyan shared).

I know you're not supposed to offer 2 different foods in the same day. I know. I'm breaking all the rules. But our little fella is an EATER! And its so fun to offer new foods to him! So far he's had rice cereal, prunes, unsweetened applesauce in his rice, sweet potato's and tonight some regular (sweetened) applesauce. He's liked it ALL so far!

As a side note, i made some sweet potato's yesterday but i made them a little too thick (didnt add enough water) and he actually gagged really badly, which led to a projectile vomit. eww. So today, i made sure they were thinner :-) And he liked them. A lot! :-)

So, i guess we can start counting down the days till little Mack is mobile (it all starts with rolling!) and in turn, i can count down my days of rest... i have a feeling this little fella might keep us on the move!

And i love EVERY second of it!

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Whitening

2011-11-05T17:30:00.001-07:00

First off, i'm sorry for the hiatus! We've been on vacation and dealing with illness around the house. But I'll try hard (even with the holidays!) to do my best to give at least a quick tip each Sat!

Whitening... I get oh so many questions about this. Constantly.

Its interesting, the idea of whitening. 30 years ago, people were quite content with the color of their teeth, it seemed. The idea of preventative dentistry was not "new" to everyone, but in more remote areas (even like the one i grew up in) it was still something to work towards and the dental profession was making attempts to educate children in schools by offering fluoride treatments, exams, etc. Healthy mouths was the goal.

Fast forward 15 years to the mid 90's. Preventative dentistry was widely accepted and no longer was it true that people only went to the dentist when a tooth hurt. But at this point while most people were enjoying healthy smiles, their focus shifted to the appearance of their smile. Cosmetic dentistry was born. The days of whiter, brighter smiles had begun.

And to be quite honest with you, I think its gone too far. When i first started my career as a dental assistant in 1999, the average shade of peoples teeth was called "A2". On a shade guide, there were only 2 colors lighter so A2 was quite light.

Today, most people who have whitened no longer are able to be identified as a shade on a "normal" shade guide. We now have "Bleach" shade guides! So interesting.

So when people ask me "do you think my teeth are yellow", my response is always this: "unless you have whitened your teeth, i guarantee you that your teeth are yellow, as are mine, because thats the way God made them". Remember that diagram from a few weeks back? The second layer of the tooth is called "Dentin" and its yellow (or brownish or grayish). The color of the dentin shows through the enamel. How much of it shows through is dependent on the opacity of the enamel. And yes, people do have different color hue's as well. Some people have grayish teeth, or brownish, or yellowish. But we all have a color.

Ok, so onto the "how" of whitening and products to choose from. History lesson over :-)

First off, yellowish colored teeth lighten the easiest. Grayish take the longest and are the most stubborn. Often times, a grayish color is caused by taking an antibiotic called tetracycline as a child, when the teeth are forming. This was a common antibiotic offered in the 50's and 60's but is no longer given to children or pregnant women. Brownish coloration is not as common, but is more in the middle in terms of difficulty in lightening.

Products:
1. Over the Counter

Advantages: price, ease of accessability
Disadvantages: strength of whitening product is limited by FDA/ADA so efficiency is limited, comfort of product varies as it is not a custom product
Example: Crest white strips
Works best for: people who only want to lighten a little, people with very straight teeth (particularly people who have recently undergone orthodontia [braces]).

I've only tried a few otc products and Crest White Strips are by far my favorite. Having said that, i still dont like them much. Keep in mind that I'm a hygienist so i'm a bit of a "snob" when it comes to products. Anyone who has ever used custom trays are not going to like the otc products nearly as much. But that doesnt mean they arent good. You just have to have realistic expectations of the results you will get. Any otc product is going to be the same whitening ingredient as a professional whitening kit (carbomide peroxide) but at a lower concentration. Hence, it will take longer to see results, but you will see them. Eventually.

2. Professional Whitening Systems

Advantages: very effective, comfortable
Disadvantages: cost, ease of accessability
Examples: Custom Trays, 1 hour systems such as "Zoom"
Works best for: Adults (no teens), people with malalignments (crooked teeth), any color teeth

Professionally made custom trays are what I use. I prefer them, even over the "zoom" because of one thing: sensitivity. ALL whitening agents cause sensitivity, but the more intense the treatment, the more sensitivity you will experience. My teeth are already generally sensitive so there's no way i could ever do zoom. I would not make a good candidate. It is, however, very effective. Keep in mind, however, that even with the one hour whitening systems you will need to "touch up" from time to time, therefore you will still need custom trays (unless you plan to pay for and repeat the process every so often). With the custom trays, you will still experience sensitivity, but the advantage to them (as well as the otc strips) is that YOU control how sensitive they get because you can take a break. For example, in our office we recommend that you wear the custom trays nightly for 3-4 hours for approximately 2 weeks. (Of course, if your teeth are still darker than you prefer you can quit early or if they are as light as you'd like after a week, you can stop!). But if your teeth are sensitive you may want to choose to skip nights or not do tops and bottoms at the same time, etc. Its up to you. You can control how sensitive your teeth get. On the contrary, with the one hour whitening systems, your teeth will be as light as they will get when you leave the office. Unfortunately, they will probably be as sensitive as they can get, also.
I dont mean to say that zoom is bad. Not at all. Its just not for everyone. But if your teeth are not normally sensitive, or if they are pretty dark, then zoom (or another 1 hour system) may be the perfect product for you!

The best thing to do if you have questions about your specific situation is to seek a professional's opinion.

Ok, folks... feel free to ask ?'s, as always!

Rhyan: 2.5 years old!

2011-11-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

With every new stage I say the same thing: "this age is my FAVORITE!" :-) But truly, the older she gets, the more FUN she is. I love seeing her personality develop and learning more about who she is. And thought you might like to know, too!

Rhyan is still a GREAT sleeper. She gets up 7-7:30am, naps from 1-3:30/4pm and goes to bed at 8pm

She loves to eat... and is loving sweets more and more and more. We have to be really careful to not let her snack or she won't eat the "good stuff". She's become quite the smarty and will often say she's all done with her food and then say "i eat one more bite i get treat?!". Um, no. So we've had to just start saying "well, if you eat one more bite you might not be as hungry, but you're not getting a treat". That girl. She's a funny one :-)

Watching Rhyan be such a good big sister is such a sweet blessing! Just last night I told her that we need to be really sweet to Mack b/c he's sick and she said "ohhhhhhh. poor maaack! dibe him med-cine, mommy". I told her he's too little for medicine and she again responded with "ohhhh, poor sweet baby mack!". She really is quite compassionate for her age and i love seeing that!

She is certainly holding her own these days... Jeff and I used to really worry that she was too much of a push over and that she didnt stand up for herself nearly enough. However, these days, she's spending a good deal of time in "time out" for pushing her friends and taking toys. So clearly she's not so much of a push over, anymore. Now, time to dial it back girlie! We have talks almost daily about how its not nice to push your friends (to which she responds "i spank you!" or "make shelby cry! i be easy and not push. okay?"). I'm told its normal behavior but we just keep working on it.

Having said that, she can also be the sweetest most giving little girl around. With snack each day she will bring some to me or her daddy and share, even if its her last fruit snack or goldfish!

Every night she asks me to sing "You are My Sunshine" to her. I sang it with my Granny when I was little and started singing it to her when she was 1st born, hoping she would love the song and that it would be "ours". For a while i sang it every night to her until she got old enough to request her own song of choice at which time she started wanting me to sing a variety of songs. Until the last month or so when she stared asking every single night for "sunshine". It melts my heart.

She can "spread (her) toes" on her left foot but not the right. She thinks its funny. I do, too.

She loves playing w/ her babydolls, reading, carrying all kinds of stuff around in her grocery cart and watching barney. Good grief, the child is obsessed w/ barney!

She is learning that "Jesus helps people", "The bible is portant", and "God tects me". She loves church and asks at least once a week if she can "go see josh? be puggle night?".

Her Daddy and I adore her. And she loves her family. She randomly asks about her "Mayer" (grandmother), "Drammy" (my mom), "Dran" (jeff's mom) and "Daydad" (jeff's dad).

Rhyan is absolutely scrumptious. We think we'll keep her :-)

BBQ on Brooks

2011-11-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

A sunday school class at hebron baptist holds a free bbq each year down the road from us. They send out flyers in the community and have a big banner reminding everyone and each year, we're happy to oblige!

Rhyan was too little last year to do many of the activities but that wasnt the case this year!

When did my little girl get big enough for a big girl swing?!

Rhyan (and Jeff!) loved the horses!

And she was soooo excited that her best friends, Taylor and Shelby, came! These girls are so stinkin sweet and i'm so grateful that they have one another!

Mack was tuckered out by all the excitement and buried his head and took a nap... till he woke up and then this was the view i had of him... scrumptious :-)

Rhyan loved the "jumpies" and was so excited about the whole evening. They serve free bbq, cold slaw, chips, brunswick stew, drinks, cookies and hotdogs for the kids. There is live music from a couple of hebron's groups (heartland quartet being one of them... they do a great job and sing some traditional music which is always fun) and just encourage fellowship. How fun!

Stone Mountain

2011-10-27T16:33:00.001-07:00

The Fall-O-Fun continued with a trip with our sunday school class (plus Mommie and Mama) to Stone Mountain for the laser show! We went last year with our class as well and Rhyan looooved it! So you can imagine that this year was even better for her! My mom took her for a ride on the train (which, btw is waaaay overpriced to ride around and see trees... a little boring for a toddler... but she loved the start of it!) and she felt like such a big girl!

Mommie, Jeff, Mack and I watched them as they went off on the train and then headed back to our spot on the lawn. Over an hour later, after using a stranger's cell phone to call us, Jeff went and helped Mama and Rhyan find her way back to our seats. I've never seen stone mountain be sooooo crowded! Luckily we live in the days of cellphones! HA!

Mack took his nightly catnap in his car seat and was happy as he could be when he woke!

Mckenzie and her friend were loving mack. Mckenzie says when she grows up she's going to build an orphanage and take care of needy babies. Seriously, she is 6 and already holds Mack (quite the big boy!) like a champ. She even tried to help her friend hold him and when the friend said it was uncomfortable to hold her arm this one way, Mckenzie replied that "if you're gonna hold a baby you've got to hold him so he's comfortable. Even if you're not. Maybe you should just give him back to me". She is hilarious!!!

Mommie, as always, was such a big help with Mack. She loves loving on my babies!

And finally, she and Jeff had fun chilling on the blanket getting ready for the show!

Unfortunately, Mack did not particularly appreciate all the screaming going on during the laser show so I got to see all of about the first 5 minutes before I had to find my way out through the crowd and walk around for the next 45 min. It's a good thing he's cute! It was some good mommy/son bonding time :-)

We had a blast... and it didnt stop there! Check back for a post on our trip to a neighborhood bbq, corndawgs and then the BEACH!

Gwinnett County Fair!!!

2011-10-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or does the gwinnett county fair signal the official feeling of fall?! I LOVE the fair! It is for me equal to the first football game of the season for a big football fan. Just the start of a season that i love! Time with family outdoors, enjoying the beautiful weather and soaking up all the daylight before it starts getting dark at 5pm!

So, the pics are completely in reverse order (meaning the last pic's are the 1st of the night) but i'm tired of trying to re-arrange and such. So enjoy!

I'm behind!

2011-10-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

We've been to the fair last month, stone mountain a week later, a free bbq down the road 2 weeks ago and corndawgs last week.

And tomorrow (today by the time you read this) we'll be leaving for a mini beach vaca.

I'll try my best to catch up soon! We've been having a BLAST! Plus, i've been working on my 2010 blog book which is sucking my time like a leach :( But i'll get us caught up in the next week or so. So check back!

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Why teeth are sensitive!

2011-10-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Most of us have experienced the pain of going for a sip of a nice cold glass of water only to cringe as it passes over our teeth. And how many of us can actually bite into an ice cream? Not many.

The fact is, sensitivity is one of the most common complaints I hear in the dental office. People come in all the time just certain that they have a cavity because when they eat something sweet, this one tooth hurts. And while it is true that decay can be the culprit, often it is nothing more than a simple explanation with little to no treatment required.

First off, we should all understand how we feel hot and cold with our teeth.

On the diagram below, note the striated (lined) appearance of the enamel (the top layer of the tooth that we all see) and the dentin (the second layer). Teeth, under a microscope, actually have tiny channels that look similar to a honeycomb. These channels are how we "feel" with our teeth.

And as you can see, the "pulp cavity" is in the middle. The pulp is actually the part of the tooth where the nerves and blood supply live. And it is those nerves that "feel" the hot and cold that the tiny channels transmit.

So, back to why our teeth are sensitive. Our teeth actually form from the chewing surface down to the tip of the root. So the enamel forms first and then the dentin. The middle (which starts off huge and gradually shrinks as the dentin develops) is always nerves and blood supply. So the "younger" a tooth is, the less protection the nerve has from the outside world. This is why more mature (aka: older) individuals can chow down with confidence on their favorite popsicle while the less mature (aka: younger) folks do so with some hesitation :-).

The most common issue that causes sensitivity is called recession. This is where the gum has receded and the root surface is exposed. This is so incredibly common. Recession is most commonly caused by overly vigorous brushing and unfortunately, once a gum has receded, it will not grow back. Root surface is covered with cementum, a softer, very porous type of tissue that allows even more transmission of feeling. In fact, root exposures are often sensitive to even brush. These areas are also sensitive to sweets, making people think they may have a cavity.

Some toothpastes can cause sensitivity, as well. Shocking, right?! But true, none the less. Specifically, tarter control pastes and whitening pastes can be the culprit. They are both generally far more abrasive than other pastes therefore leaving the patient with some noticeable sensitivity. In general, unless a patient is a HEAVY tarter builder, i do not recommend tartar control pastes for this very reason. And just fyi, folks, whitening pastes are not going to actually whiten your teeth. They will (through heavy abrasion) remove surface stains, but they will not whiten.

Lastly, a highly acidic diet can cause sensitivity. I have patients from time to time who complain that their teeth have never been sensitive before but that "all of a sudden" they've noticed a good bit of sensitivity. Often times when we discuss their nutrition I find out that they are dieting and eating a lot of salads with vinegar based dressings.

In each of the cases we've talked about, the sensitivity can be combated with a sensitivity toothpaste. My favorite is colgate for sensitive teeth or crest for sensitive teeth (both in the "original" formula as they also both come with "Sensitivity plus whitening"... a little ironic). Sensodyne also works quite nicely, but I am a little cheap and don't want to pay for the name brand of sensodyne :-) Plus, its not my favorite in the taste department.

Fluoride is also VERY helpful in fighting off sensitivity. ACT fluoride rinse is available otc and comes in a variety of flavors for adults and kids! Very affordable, too.

And lastly, keeping plaque off of your teeth is a must when combating sensitive teeth. Plaque is very acidic and therefore causes or at least contributes to sensitive teeth.

So there you go, folks. Mystery solved :-) But in ANY case of prolonged sensitivity, please consult with your dentist to make sure that there are no more serious culprits, like decay. This is also something your hygienist can discuss with you at your regular checkups (every 6 months!) to make sure that there are no other more specific products that may be appropriate for you!

And if you dont already have a regular hygienist, i'm available :-) And would love to take care of you! You can check out the website of my dental office by clicking HERE! And as always, feel free to leave a comment with any questions or suggestions!

Mckinnon: 4 months

2011-10-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

Its shocking how much Mack and grown and changed in the last month! He is such a complete joy. Such an easy baby to care for and love. And while we would love him even if he was "challenging", we're grateful that he's not :-) Seriously, most easy going baby ever, i think!
At 4 months he is:

eating 6oz at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm
using a size 3 nipple for his avent bottles
sleeping from 7:30pm-7am
napping from 8:05-10, 11:15-1, 2:15-4 and a catnap around 5:30 in the swing
sucking his thumb (mostly the left one) to soothe to sleep
in size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night
in size 3-6 month shirts, 0-3 month pants
smiling all. the. time.
laughing a TON
taking baths in the big tub now! (he grew out of the infant tub pretty quick!)
loves following rhyan w/ his eyes and is very interested in spud
holds a toy for a short period of time
bats at the toys hanging above him in his gym
is taking 1/2 of a 15mg tablet of prevacid twice a day
talks a lot more!
the attempt to wean from the swaddle last month was not successful but this month it has been! he is sleeping at night without it at all and we will start trying naps this week.
is rolling to his side, but not all the way to his tummy yet
still protesting tummy time.
is waking up happy and waits for us to come get him, even if its 15 minutes!
is going to be starting on cereal! (already has been by the time this is posted!)

He is such a swwwweeet baby! he loves to play "rough" and one of his favorites is patty cake with his feet. He is also really loving for me to sing to him, lately. Especially "twinkle, twinkle, little star". Mack is really a very happy, content baby for the most part and now that we've (seemingly!) gotten his reflux under control, he's rarely fussy at all!

Camera Dump

2011-10-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, peeps, I dont have an iphone to have a cool "iphone dump" post. So you just get a camera dump. Its better than a human dump, right!? (yes, i went there...)

Trying out his exersaucer!

I've mentioned that he looooves his thumb, right? :-/

Matching babies

Nothing better than a clean baby right out of the tub!

Enjoying her very 1st ice cream (strawberry popsicle) from the ice cream truck!

Mack's first time trying cereal. He loves it, dont you think? HA!

Cuddling with Barney and undoubtedly, watching Barney.

Matching Jeff's in small group on Sunday

Jeff leaves the hard work for Rhyan!

"I said i'm tired of the pics mom. Tired of it!"

Seriously, Rhyan?! HA!

Loving tummy time. For probably about a second. And i'm pretty sure he puked right after this pic!

She's become such a good "mommy"

I seriously love my family. Love.

HELLO lips! My beautiful son.

Hope you enjoyed! We are one blessed little family around here :-)

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Products I love!

2011-10-08T17:15:00.001-07:00

There are a few products that help me stay in tip top smiling shape. And i thought i'd share in case anyone's interested!

First, I simply cannot live without my Oral B Triumph. I love how clean it makes my teeth feel and how I can use it while I'm preggo and not flossing (gasp! yes, i skip flossing in one of the most important times to floss... I'm sick, peeps. Give me a break!) and my gums stay in decent shape.
This brush is NOT cheap, though. It'll run well over $100 at any store! TIP: most electric toothbrushes are a little messy (they splatter toothpaste!) so i keep mine in the shower and just use it in there for the morning and then my manual (oral b crossaction) at night.
But for any patient who I feel can benefit from an electric toothbrush, I recommend the Oral B vitality. An almost equally fabulous brush, but without all the technology, therefore it is priced at a MUCH lower price point. Closer to $25. Now we're talking.
In any case, the things you want to look for in ANY electric brush would be 1. Rechargable 2. Small brush head and 3. A two minute timer. Both of these meet all of those requirements.

Next on my "must have's" list would be these little gems. Butler/GUM's softpicks. They are a flexible plastic that you use kind of like a toothpick instead of floss. Yes, i said instead of floss. Music to some of your ears, i'm sure :-) They are not quite as effective as flossing, but they are WAY better than not cleaning between your teeth at all. While I"m pregnant, these are what i try to use.

I also am in looooove with Crest Pro-Health rinse. It is equally as effective as listerine but without the burn of alcohol. (*side note: listerine's active ingredients are 4 essential oils and the alcohol is simply what keeps the oils mixed. but the alcohol itself is NOT the alcohol.) It comes in a "day" and "night" solution. TIP: they are exactly the same. EXACTLY. It's a gimmic to try to get consumers to by two bottles. (same with the pro-health toothpaste. the same exact paste in a different package). I like the night time best b/c its clear and I prefer the clear for whatever reason.

Finally, my absolute FAVORITE toothpaste is Colgate sensitive. Any sensitive toothpaste seems to work fine for me (except aquafresh sensitive, which is odd b/c aquafresh is made by glaxo-smith-kelin... the same makers of sensodyne!) so I buy whatever is most cost effective. TIP: toothpaste is not really necessary at all. So dont get caught up in which one is "best". Toothpaste is like soap. It makes you smell better and feel better. But its the actual toothbrush (washcloth) that cleans you. Find one that you like the taste of that you dont have any adverse reactions to and go for it. If your teeth are sensitive, avoid whitening toothpastes and tartar control pastes as they will increase sensitivity. Otherwise, find what you like.
Well, thats about it for my must have's. What products can you not live without?!

Some of Rhyan's Favorite Pastimes...

2011-10-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

Emailing all her friends is keeping her quite busy these days!

And of course she is still obsessed with puzzles! And she's so good at them! (i need to find some new ones but the old playskool wooden ones are hard to come by!)

And of course accepting gifts from Grammy is a fun thing... especially when the gift is a BARNEY doll!!!! (girl's obsessed!)

She's such a busy girl, as you can see! I also want to remember that at 2 years and 5 months old she can:

spell "rhyan"
say all of her abc's
recognize the #'s 2, 3, 5, 8, 9
count to 13
sing pretty much any song, although my personal favorite is "step by step, oooo baby" (yes, nkotb! HA! we like the 90s around here!)
knows almost all her colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, pink, and of course "barney purple"
can draw a circle and knows these shapes: circle, triange, square, star and heart
is still a great little eater and loves her veggies. meat is hit or miss, but i cant blame her!
knows that her name is "rhyan shwayne pord" :-) and that daddy is "jepp pord". I, however, am just "mommy"!

She is a sheer joy. I mean, sure she's a little drama queen... but we'll take her, drama and all :-)

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Getting kids to brush!

2011-10-01T17:34:00.001-07:00

My cousin, Tracy, and I decided to have a yard sale this weekend. I'd just like to say that any money we made, we EARNED! Good grief, that was rough! I'd 10x's rather clean teeth :-)

OK! So, a few of you have asked for some tips on getting your kids to brush their teeth! I love having people be concerned about their kids oral hygiene. How wonderful! However, I've not really had a lot of experience in this area. My toddler, Rhyan (who is now 2.5) looooves to brush her teeth! And she always has!

So, I turned to my friends and patients for some idea's. And i got some pretty good ones to share with you! Thank you to all of you who responded and shared your experiences.

The best advice I can give is this:

1. START EARLY! As soon as your little one starts to get his/her first tooth, use a washcloth to wipe it clean each day. This will help baby get used to having someone look around in their mouth and touch their teeth and gums. It also builds routine, which children thrive on!

2. When baby is very young, get a finger cot brush if you'd prefer. Just watch your fingers :-)

3. Make brushing FUN! Let your child pick his/her own toothbrush with their favorite characters.

4. Use training toothpaste. Its fluoride free, which is important for children who can not yet spit. But, it does taste good to them and encourages brushing/makes it tasty!

5. Use a timer to teach kids to brush for AT LEAST a minute. Hour glass timers are cheap and fun but a musical timer works great as well. This could even be your ipod with your kids favorite song! Just do what you can to keep that toothbrush in contact with the teeth as long as possible!

6. DISCLOSE! From time to time (at least once a month!) use a plaque finder of some sort. ACT makes "cool blue" mouth rinse or you can get red disclosing tablets from your dentist (warning: they stain more than just plaque so be sure to help your child!). Have your child brush first, then disclose, and then brush again to get what they missed. It can be a fun challenge!

7. Stay positive! As always, you will find more success (in general) when you encourage in a positive way with your children. I know, i know. It gets old having to remind them all. the. time. to brush! But the fact is, most kids are just forgetful. As adults, we dont understand how they forget. but they do! So be patient. Use sticky notes on their bookbags or lunchbox's or somewhere they will notice so that you dont have to verbally remind them, adding to your annoyance :-) Tell them when it looks like they've done a nice job and have been through!

8. Check your childs teeth. If they are young and still need help, help them. I tell most parents that until a kid is around 3-4 years old that parents should brush for the child first, giving them a "turn" after you. But pay attention to your child. Some children gain dexterity rather quickly and become quite adept at brushing pretty early on. If this is your child, let him/her start and you can finish up for them! But even if your child is 10 years old, an occasional spot check by mom and dad is in order. Kids get lazy. They get sloppy. And lets face it, you BOTH "pay" when kids get cavities!

9. Set a good example. Good brushing habits, along with everything else, should be modeled by the parent first. Gingivitis and gum disease and cavities are NOT genetic! They are familial, though, meaning that it is common for children of parents who have gum disease to also have gum disease because they share in this: poor hygiene. Set a good example for your child. Brush in the same bathroom, if your child seems to enjoy it.

10. Start taking your children to the dentist for regular check-up's around 3 years old, unless you have specific concerns earlier. Yes, your pediatrician will tell you to take a child at 1 year old. But trust me, your dentist will be very limited on what they can "do" to a one year old. I typically tell my patients to just bring their child with them when they come for a routine cleaning and I will look at the childs teeth using a mirror. All we check for at this age is baby bottle tooth decay (do NOT put your baby to bed w/ a bottle of ANY kind!) and that all teeth are erupting as normal (which is so very different from one child to the next). However, it IS important to start when you feel your child will tolerate a cleaning (between 3-4 at the latest!) so that their experiences with the dentist are positive and fun and not based on the idea that "we go to the dentist when our teeth hurt".

For my daughter, i've found that she really likes to be able to look in the mirror while we brush each morning and night. Especially when we first started brushing. Bottom line is this, though... you want brushing to be fun and a positive thing, but some kids are just resistant. For those, I recommend a book called "parenting the strong-willed child" HA!. But in all honesty, hygiene is a part of life. You wouldnt let your child skip a bath if they were dirty just because they didnt want a bath. Children are driven by desires, not by information. They need you, as the parent, to be wise and to require more of themselves than they want to give. So do what you can to help your children enjoy brushing, but in the end, they simply MUST brush. Before or after meals, whatever! Just get the plaque off the teeth twice a day. Believe me, it IS a battle you want to choose!

Happy brushing, peeps!

Some Fav's

2011-09-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?!

Rhyan's first official ponytail!

Um, nice smile, Rhy!... heading to awanas where she's a "puggle"!

At our church's 30 year anniversary celebration!

Rhyan looooves to "help" give Mack a bath! love my babies :-)

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Brushing (plus, send me your suggestions!)

2011-09-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to thank you all for the comments and questions. And for next week's post I'd very much like to address Kristin's request to give tips on getting a toddler/child to participate (or even let mom/dad) brush their teeth. But seeing as how each child is soooo different and all of us Mom's has had to deal with this in different ways, I'd like to hear from YOU! So would you take a moment and email me and share with me how you've gotten your kids to brush. What worked? What didnt? Are you still struggling or have you settled into a good brushing routine? You can leave a comment here but i'd prefer that you just email me your suggestions to: forddygirl@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance!!! I'll be posting on this next saturday so please try to get suggestions in by then!

Ok, my fellow flossing friends! If you're coming back each week looking to continue to improve on your oral health, I must say, I'm proud! Or if this is your first week, keep coming back. I guarantee that your hygienist will be proud at your next cleaning visit and you may even earn a trip to the treasure box or a "most improved" sticker :-)

The second most often piece of advice that i give patients is this: you must brush your gums!

As i said in the "flossing... the why" post, plaque accumulates at the gumline.

The problem is that most people bite their teeth together and make an attempt to brush both top and bottom teeth at once by scrubbing back and forth. But we dont ever really get to the gumline... so we dont remove the plaque. So, then when we head to our every six month hygiene visit and we're all proud that we've been brushing twice a day but still get "fussed at" by our hygienist, we're discouraged. And rightfully so!

I could write for days about brushing. Seriously. But i'll give the most important tip right here.

Angle your bristles towards your gumline. So for the top teeth, you'll angle the bristles just slightly up. Not straight in on your teeth and not straight up. Split the difference... approximately a 45 degree angle. Then brush in small circles focusing on brushing EACH tooth for 2-3 seconds.

Think of your gum tissue as a nice ripe tomato that you just picked from the garden. It may have a little dirt on it that you'd like to get off, but you certainly need to be gentle. But thorough. You dont want to bruise the tomato or cut the skin, but you do want to remove all the dirt. So you clean it gently and take as long as you need in order to get it clean.

Take the same care with your gums!

Brushing should take 2 minutes minimum in order to be thorough. But on average, people brush for 30-45 seconds. So, get out your ipod and play your favorite song and get to brushing. And dont stop till it does! (side note: if you're a rock and roller or heavy metal lover, make sure that your brushing doesnt reflect the style of music you choose! ha!)

Most people fall into the "fast and furious" category of brushing which leaves their gums abraded, swollen and a little tender. Slooooooowww down if this is you!

And then many others tell me that they NEVER see pink in the sink. But as I look at their gums and see how much inflamation they have, I can only come to one conclusion: they're not brushing the gums!

So, impress your hygienist and get those gums! Remember that you may see some bleeding for 7-10 days when you first start being a great brusher. But stick with it! And smile as you see results of all your diligent work!

Cutness!

2011-09-22T04:07:00.000-07:00

Looks like somebody likes their thumb!

Actually, Mack has been exploring both hands for the last couple of weeks and while I thought that he had settled on sucking his right thumb, i'm staring at him right now in the video monitor as he sleeps and sucks his left one.

Y'all may think i'm crazy, but i dont care and really, i think its CUTE! Yes, i'll have to work when he's older to break him of the habit, but if you choose the right timing and are consistent, its usually not too bad. At least lets hope not! hehe :-)

Anyhoo, thought i'd share these precious pics!

Food for the Copponex's!

2011-09-20T18:29:00.001-07:00

Hi friends! I know we're all excited to FINALLY have baby Copponex in the world! What a precious blessing!

If you would like to provide a meal for Rachael and Greg, you can sign up HERE

Recipient Last name: Copponex

Password: Brady

I know we ALL want to meet little Brady and love on the Copponex's in person, but we may want to give them a chance to get settled before we all start visiting. So if you're one of the first few to sign up, please consider a giftcard or something deliverable!

Giftcards are GREAT and keep the foods simple, please! We DO want them to eat it, right?! :-)

Thanks so much!

Kelly Ford

HE's HERE!!!!

2011-09-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Rachael had her baby!!!

A BEAUTIFUL baby Boy!!

Brady Dunham Copponex
7lbs 7oz
20 inches of PERFECT!

I dont know if I've ever been so excited for a baby to be born who is not my own :-)
What a beautiful story of Gods unyielding, unfailing, generous love. What a beautiful, perfect little life to remind us all that in the midst of heartache, God continues to bless. Abundantly.
And what a blessing that when Rachael and Greg could have chosen isolation and hopelessness, they chose to be confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. (Phil. 1:6) AND they've chosen to allow all of us to share in their journey.

Prayers for Rachael, please!!!

2011-09-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

My sweet friend, Rachael, is being induced today with her 3rd child!

You may remember that she lost her son, Tripp, to sids last June. And God has blessed them again with another precious baby.

Would you please pray with me for her and Greg as they welcome their new baby!

For a healthy baby and healthy mom
For a great delivery
For their hearts as they prepare to care for this new life!
For their families and themselves who undoubtedly are on an emotional rollercoaster

You can read more about her progress on her blog HERE. She wrote a post last night that will give you a glimpse as to where her heart is right now!

THANKS!!!

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Floss... the "why"

2011-09-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

By now, we've all had a full week to have that floss out on our counter tops and I just feel positive that we're all flossing before we brush once a day... right?! Perhaps not. But for those of you who have been, I bet you're wondering WHEN your gums are going to stop throbbing!

Well, in case my tips on how to remember to floss weren't enough to get you on board, I'm hoping that helping each of you understand why it's important will convince you... or at least get you one step closer to at least considering getting on the flossing bandwagon. :-)

Nobody likes fire ant's. Nobody. They bite and leave blistered bumps that itch and burn. They build massive mounds out of dirt or sand that kill off your beautiful lawn! And as soon as you go and knock one over (and run for dear life!), they start re-building their home. Annoying, right?!

Believe it or not, this is almost exactly what happens in our mouths regarding plaque. Lets first get an understanding of what plaque is.

In laymans terms, plaque is the sticky biofilm that allows bacteria to collect and live. It is the "hill" for the "ants". Its the bacteria's home. It is soft and usually white or yellowish (stained by the things we eat and drink) and is fairly easily removed at home, by you!

Most all of us remove a large part of the plaque from our mouths daily by brushing. I'll be giving brushing tips later (trust me, most people dont do that right, either!) but we're focusing on the plaque in between our teeth right now. The stuff that our toothbrush cant reach!

But then, when we DO decide to get in the trenches and get our hands dirty and remove that nasty plaque, our gums swell and throb and we think "to heck with this", right?

The issue is this: as long as plaque remains undisturbed, it doesnt seem to cause any problems. We dont feel any pain and therefore think that things are just fine. But what is really happening is that the bacteria (which, btw always collects at and under the gums because that is where it gets its nutrients from... your gum tissue!) is building its home and growing deeper and deeper and deeper under the edge of your gum and destroying the area that your gum attaches to your tooth. As this happens, it also starts to affect (destroy) the bone (because its literally living off that tissue... eating away at your gums and bone...). Our gums and bone are THE supporting structure for our teeth and without them, our teeth can be beautiful and cavity free but be sitting in a cup beside our bed!

So, when we floss we disrupt that "ant hill" and tick off the "ants". This sends our immune system into action. Basically what you need to know about this process is that the immune system is packed with little "pac-men" who go around eating up anything they view as a threat. Pac-men are fairly large and cant fit through the blood vessels naturally so the vessels dialate to allow room for them to get to the area of attack causing the swelling we are all too familiar with. And since the bacteria is attaching itself to our gum tissue, the pac-men engulf both the bacteria and a small amount of tissue, causing tenderness and bleeding.

BUT, there is hope! Just like any cut on our arm that takes time to heal, so as it with our gum tissue. But we MUST continue to clean the "wound" to keep the "ant hill" from re-establishing its home and starting the process all over again. None of us would expect a cut on our arm to heal if we didnt keep it clean, right? But if we do keep any wound clean, it will heal in 7-10 days on average.

Here's the kicker: plaque begins to re-build itself in less than 24 hours. Hence, our recommendation that you floss daily. Its to keep that ant hill on the move! The fact is, we will NEVER be sterile so we will ALWAYS fight bacteria in our mouths. The best we can do is to keep it on the move, limiting the damage it can do.

NOW are you convinced?! This is part of why flossing has been shown to lengthen your life by up to 3 YEARS! The other part of that is that the bacteria that is in your mouth can get into your bloodstream and the same bacteria that causes gum disease also causes HEART disease!

So, while many people say "yeah, my gums bleed, but thats normal" YOU know better! You know that while it may be COMMON, it is NOT normal. Thats like saying its "normal" to have heart disease or arthritis or diabetes. Yes, all of these conditions are common, but no one wants any of them.

Go my friends, and enjoy life. You're just 7-10 days away from the healthiest gums you can have. And may the floss be with you! :-)

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Mommy's little "helper"

2011-09-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Rhyan and I made some baked chicken (cooked in ritz crackers!).

She was kind enough to taste the crackers and make sure they were ok :-)

Brownies for dessert, anyone?!

Why, "YES PREASE!", says Rhyan... as she helps herself! LOVE That kid!

Helpful Hygiene Tips: Floss

2011-09-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start posting a few helpful hints about dental hygiene because, well, its just not done enough. Its amazing to me how many of my friends and family leave the dentist with very little information! So, i though i might share some from time to time! For those of you who dont know me personally, I am a dental hygienist. I have been for the last 8 years and the previous 5 years i spent as a dental assistant while going to school. I love helping people achieve a healthy smile and be proud to enjoy life without being self conscious of their teeth :-)

I'm completely open to questions, so feel free to post them and I'll answer them on the blog for us all to learn from one another :-) And dont worry, if you'd prefer that I not mention who asked the question, just say so!

SO... my first tip (this will be a shocker, i know, to everyone! HA!):

FLOSS is important! Everyone knows this, but most people just dont do it. Well, everyone except for my in-laws and cousin Tracy's family. They're some hardcore flossers! (hope you dont mind me bragging on you, family!).

Here's the problem: most people get in a hurry or just forget to floss because its not a part of the daily discipline of their life. Its not a habit!

So, how do we correct that?

First, leave your floss out on your cabinet! For any ocd clean freaks like me, this will be a difficult task for you because you want everything neatly tucked away in a drawer. But for most "normal" people, this is not a big deal. If anything, you may be thinking "it'll be lost in the clutter if its on the cabinet!". If so, no worries. The point is, put it somewhere that you will see it. Daily.

Second, floss BEFORE you brush. This is easily the most frequently given advice that I share with my patients. The reasoning is simple: if you floss first, your teeth still feel dirty enough that theres no way that most people will skip brushing. But if you brush first, you feel clean enough. A secondary benefit is that without the plaque filling the areas between your teeth, the fluoride from your toothpaste can reach these areas!

And seeing as how studies show that flossing adds 2-3 years to your life, its an easy way to try to improve your health and live to celebrate a golden anniversary with your spouse. (Well, lets face it, theres no amount of floss that will lengthen a marriage, but it can help to ensure that youre ALIVE to celebrate if you choose to stay married! HA!).

So, why not give it a try? Grab your 4 year old pack of floss out of the back of the drawer, dust it off and give it a go! Sure, your gums will throb tonight, and possibly for the next 12-24 hours, but if you keep it up, they will be as healthy as they can be in 7-10 days.

Stay posted on WHY it takes 7-10 days and WHY you SHOULD stick with it.

I'm expecting lots of people checking in on my blog b/c of these posts, now. YEAH RIGHT! :-) But you never know what little tidbit you may enjoy reading about! So, heres to flossing!

Shower for Baby Copponex!

2011-09-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

As everyone arrived, we introduced ourselves and shared how we know Rachael. Many people knew her from work, or her sister, or mutual friend... me? Rachael and i are internet-turned-real-life friends :-) As i said to the girls last night, some couples meet on the internet, so why not friends?! ha!

Actually, it was Katie Green who turned us onto each other's blogs because our girls were almost identical in their situation with torticollis. Same physical therapist, same surgeon, same helmet... everything! What a sad thing to have in common :-( BUT, i'm so grateful that we met, regardless the circumstances!

So, we celebrated Rachael's baby last night at Fuego's at the mall of GA. I had never been there, but um... YUM! We had a great time loving on Rachael and being excited for this baby to come!

Rachael stood to share her appreciation to all of us for supporting her... what she doesnt realize is that WE are ALL so grateful for our friendship with her! We are blessed that she allows us to share in her life... good and bad. We love her!

Let the gift opening begin! She had specifically said she didnt want gifts b/c she has "everything" already... but we disagreed :-) I mean, who cant use a few more books for your brilliant kids?! And a few people got her something "extra".

Danielle had this beautiful custom hospital gown made for Rach!

She really was super excited... we just didnt catch that moment on camera. HA!
Rachael and her sweet Momma
The curious george book is a puppet, too! Cute :-)Cute outfit from Joelle, i think!

Nice, random shot :-)
More books! Whats really cool is that Rach says she doesnt have any of the ones we gave her!

3 generations :-)

Rachael with her beautiful host's, Desiree and Stephanie (who is due around Thanksgiving!)

These ladies spoiled us all with so many appetizers that we didnt even want to order dinner! YUM!

Laura, Rachael, Chelsea and Danielle

Katie, Chelsea, Rachael and Melissa

Erika, Rachael and Joelle (work friends!)

Me and Rach... LOVE her and her sweet, sweet self :-)

Random, but who the heck can really sit comfortably on a chair with a pencil as a back?!Ok, so at the end, we wanted a group shot. A nice girl who worked there offered to do it for us and i asked her to please make sure the entire "frame" (picuture) was filled with PEOPLE, not the ceiling or floor. Well, each pic got progressively WORSE with her aiming it at the ceiling. Something got lost in translation, i guess :-( Anyways, the last one she did was this! How awful!

Luckily, one was decent enough to crop. But its still 1/2 ceiling. I mean, really, i thought i was clear?! And she took it like, 5 times! :-( Oh well, this one is ok!
I had read on Rach's blog that she was craving Desiree's cupcakes which made me secretly hope that Desiree would be bringing some. Well, she did, but they all turned over in her car and the icing was all inside the box, but no longer on the cupcakes.

Well, i helped Rachael out to her car with her gifts (along w/ a few other girls) and Desiree brought the cupcakes to Rachael for her to take home. And we all insisted that we scrape some icing out of the box and indulge ourselves. And oh. my. goodness. I'm glad we did!We had a great time celebrating and i know everyone is DYING to meet baby Copponex. Does it drive ANYONE else crazy to not know the sex of this baby?! Or is it just me :-)

COME ON BABY COPPONEX! WE ARE EXCITED TO MEET YOU!!!!

Mckinnon: 3 Months

2011-09-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Oh my word! I could eat this baby boy up :-)

"Who is this monkey?"

At 3 months old, Mack is:

eating 5.5-6oz at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 3pm and 7pm
sleeping from 7:30pm-7am (yipee!)
napping from 8-10, 11-1, 2-4 and a catnap around 5:30-6
self soothe's beautifully with NO crying when he goes down for naps or nighttime!
is in size 2 diapers
in size 3-6 month tops and jammies and 0-3 month shorts/pants
smiling a LOT
LAUGHING!!!
still loving bath time
track's objects and people really well
still loves the fan! his favorite "playmate"
was diagnosed with reflux and is now taking zantac 3x's a day
cooing
being weaned from the swaddle. one arm is out right now and the other will be this weekend!
sucking his hand's. he likes them both equally.
protesting tummy time, but is super strong so idk why!?!
being the highlight of our day, along with his big sister!

We are BLESSED!

Today... much better :-)

2011-09-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today, we started fresh. Kind of. Smelling fresh, at least :-)

Mack continues to battle with the reflux so I put a call into the dr on call at PAL (pediatric associates of lawrenceville... BEST ped's ever!). I felt bad calling on a weekend, especially with it being a holiday weekend. But i really felt i needed to, and dr sheth was on call and she's awesome about being called on the weekend so that made me feel better. Side note: once, Rhyan got croup and i had to call at around 8:30pm and it was dr sheth on call. She was GREAT... went ahead and called in a steriod for rhyan even though she had not seen her in the office b/c she said croup is that serious and then gave me her cell # and asked me to text her an update if things got worse or better, either way. Super nice!

Ok, so she said for us to start giving Mack the zantac 3 times a day and that if that still didnt work we'd move to either prilosec or something else, neither of which i want to give him b/c both are a pill form that must be cut, dissolved in water and sucked up a syringe and then given to baby. Sounds like a lot of work that would be nice to avoid if possible :-)

Point being, we started zantac 3 times a day today. Hopefully that will do the trick. He didnt puke today which is pretty great progress :-)

And to celebrate being back IN diapers (haha... how many moms say that?!), I took Rhyan with me for her very first pedicure!

Truly, it was to give Jeff some time while Mack was asleep to get some work done on his masters degree math class. Thats our excuse for our little girls date, anyways!

We finished up our little date with a trip to CFA where i, once again, "splurged" on a grilled chicken sandwich, fruit cup and water. Rhyan got a chicken nuggets kids meal and i'm not ashamed to say that i may have eaten the last bite of her last nugget when she said she was "all done". And i may have about licked out the bottom of the cardboard box that held a few crumbs.

Man, i'm in need of something fried. And something chocolate. Fried chocolate? The fair IS coming, youknow... may have to explore some options there :-)

The Start of Labor Day Weekend...

2011-09-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

was a little less than ideal.

Today started much earlier than anticipated. Mack has been waking out of habit, wanting us to come hold him and give him a paci (meaning we hold it in his mouth... otherwise it pops out, like, across the room!) and rock him for 15-30 minutes. Well, I'm tired of it and now that i feel certain that he's not waking out of discomfort from reflux, we had decided to start letting him CIO (cry it out) to get rid of this nasty habit. That was the plan as we went to bed last night.

But at 5:45am he started fussing and a glance at the way too bright video monitor showed that he had wiggled OUT of his swaddle (we dont put his feet in the miracle blanket b/c his legs are too long and it seems to bother him) and the swaddle was up around his neck. Hmmm... cant really let that go and be a responsible parent, i guess :-) So Jeff went to rescue him.

Only to return to me 5 seconds later saying he couldnt re-swaddle him b/c Mack had puked and it was sour and that his whole room WREAKED.

And it did.

So, at 5:45 am, instead of sleeping, Mack was getting one of these.... Thats how bad he smelled. Poor guy.

And he almost thought it was pretty great, except that he was still sleepy... like most normal people at 5:45am :-( Including his Momma.

Jeff started a load of laundry to take care of the sour smell. And without a swaddle blanket (the other one stays at Tracy's house for naps there), I was kind of at a loss. So i just held him. With a paci in his mouth. So it looks like he won the battle!

When Rhyan got up, she told me she wanted to go potty and wanted "panties wike Tay-yer" (panties like Taylor). OH my. Doesnt she know i'm a lazy Momma who doesnt want to deal with potty training yet?!

Apparently not. So I put her on some of these...
but she didnt "wike" them b/c they were plastic and they "hurt". Btw, i put her on regular underwear covered with the plastic stuff. So off the plastic protective cover went :-(

We had breakfast and it was time to put Mack down for a nap. His swaddle blanket still wasnt dry so i had to come up with plan B. I dont do plan b's very well. But i ended up finding a baby flannel blanket that is oversized and would wrap around him enough to make a snug swaddle blanket.

Thank goodness, it worked.

For an hour. Then he broke free 20 min. before time to eat again and lay there fussing a minute and drifting off to sleep a minute, fussing a minute, etc... until I finally went and got him at 10am to feed him.

During the amount of time that it took for me to swaddle him and lay him down, however, Rhyan had her first "Oh My Word! MESS!" moment.

Yep, she pee pee'd in her new panties. She was quite upset. I told her no big deal and we'd keep trying. She was ok with that.

By lunch there were 3 dirty panties in my sink.

Luckily, we stayed outside all morning so a jug of water washed away any "mess" :-)

Naptime. Halleujah. A diaper!

Mack and I enjoyed his 1pm bottle and time together with a few laughs, lots of smiles and some admiration of the fan and each other.

I cleaned the house before Jeff got home so he doesnt think i've done nothing all day (seriously, he wouldnt notice if a tornado came through and ripped the place apart, but i like for him to come home to a clean-ish home if i can manage it).

Mommie and Jonathan came at 3:15 to sit with the kids (who were still napping) so that Jeff and I could take the van for its 60K mile service.

Out of exhaustion, i asked him to let us waiver from our weight watchers diet and get a grilled chicken sandwich from CFA on the way home. He agreed. And then ordered NOTHING b/c he said he wont be taken down with me! grrrr. haha :-) I dont care and enjoyed my sandwich.

We got home and I headed to Target to get some thicker "training" panties.

I fed Mack, as usual, at 7pm. And right before putting him to bed, he vomited up what looked like half his bottle. The Zantac seems to be keeping him comfortable, but his puking is getting worse? How is that?! We started over with the getting ready for bed process with a new onesie, new aquaphor on all the dry spots that i just had to wipe to get the puke off.

In the meanwhile, Rhyan was peeing in another pair of panties.

I decide to hold my composure and give her yet another pair of clean panties and head outside for the rest of the evening.

As we are playing outside, she starts to come towards me with a toy in her left hand and one of these in her right...Only the one she was holding was dead. And had its guts coming out of it. When i asked her what she had she said "its sad!". And indeed it was. And gross. But apparently my compassionate little bug loving daughter didnt care that it was gross. And fyi, its quite possible that his death was at her hand. For some reason she thinks she's supposed to "STOMP IT!" on every bug but doesnt seem to put 2 and 2 together to realize that the stomp leads to the "sad" part.

Side note: one caterpillar last week got away without getting stomped. Instead she "spank him". Geez. You'd think we beat our child regularly the way she wants to spank everything. :-(

She wanted me to find it a place to live in the grass. Eww. Ok.

She peed in her panties again while i placed it in the grass. And i decided it was bedtime. Close enough. And i'm all used up :-)

So, while my hubby is off parking cars at Archer for their first homegame of the season, I'm washing some clothes with hopes for a fresh, cleaner start to tomorrow. A day that will be filled with diapers, not panties, and prayers for less puking.

And in hopes of escaping the bodily fluids from the children that i love, i picked up this on my run to target

and i plan to indulge myself in this little piece of trash for the next 30 min or so until i hit the hay... wondering what adventures tonight might bring!

Family!

2011-09-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

It all started with Aunt Gaye (Ronni's sister) who lives in South Carolina wanting to come for a visit so she could see the kids! But what started off as a very intimate get together quickly turned into a little mini family reunion... and we LOVED it!

This past Saturday we were able to host a time together with Aunt Gaye, Uncle Wayne, Aunt Cathy, Ronni and Andy and Jason and Liz at our home. Although, they made it easy for us... Ronni provided most of the food (fried chicken, cantaloupe, grapes, broccoli slaw, potato salad and rolls), Aunt Cathy brought some yummy things (sweet tea and green beans) and we provided the house and vanilla delight for dessert! YUM! (of course, Jeff and I are doing weight watchers and are training ourselves to hate food! ha!)

We got to hear from Aunt Gaye about her recent missions trip to Costa Rica and checked out her fabulous pics while she narrated :-) And it was great because we could all visit and the kids could nap as they needed while we continued to enjoy one another... we didnt feel rushed at all and just soaked up the time together!

We had a great time together and it was SO nice to see the family MORE than once a year!

LIttle Farm in a Big City!

2011-08-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago (i'm a little behind... haha!), Rhyan and I headed out to the ATL for Abbey Claire's 2nd birthday party! It was held at Katie's aunt's bed and breakfast in Grant Park area. It was amazing to see such a little piece of the country in downtown atlanta!!!

Abbey's birthday was a farm theme, so the location was awesome :-) You'll see why in the later pics!

Rhyan was stylin it!

Allison had brought a small jumpy ring and all the kids loved it!

Interesting tidbit: this little girl (super cute!) was a doll... her mom and I got to chatting and we are BOTH dental hygienists! But it was cracking me up b/c she had brought her daughter some sugar free juice while Rhyan drank the juice box and this little girl's mama wouldnt let her eat the fruit snacks in their lunch bags while Rhyan was chowing down! Guess i'm a bad hygienist/momma :-) Anyhoo, in this pic, Rhyan was showing her the turkeys.

All the kids got to feed the goats. Funny thing, the goats will NOT eat crackers/chips off the ground. You have to feed them fresh stuff or they wont have it. Um, spoiled much?! haha!

Fact: this chicken is laying an egg!

I asked Rhyan if she wanted to pet the turkey and she said "no! he bite you!" haha. I had to convince her that her that he wouldnt bite and still she would only pet it when Mrs Christy held it!

She looooved the fish!

Didnt Allison do a GREAT job on the decorations?!

The cute gifts for the kids

Rhyan, offering Abbey a cake pop. Lets just say, they were both a little shy at first!

The goats like to go for rides in the wheelbarrow :-) HA!

Katie's dad, Greg, made the jumpy into a tent of sorts for the kids... they loved it.
Gotta love a toy reinvented!

Rhyan had a BLAST!

Thank you, Allison, for letting us be a part of Abigail's special day!

McKinnon: 2 months

2011-08-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

A little late, as usual :-)

Our growing boy continues to be a little ray of sunshine. He's so smiley! And sweet! And content!

2 month stats:
Length- 24 inches (80%)
Weight- 13lbs 12.8oz (86%)
Head Circumference- 15.75 inches (48%)

At 2 months old Mack is:

-tracking objects/people really well!
-doing so well with tummy time. he tolerates (generally) about 10 min at each waketime (4x's a day).
-back on a 3 hour schedule (this works so much better for eat/play/sleep pattern thats recommended by babywise which we all know, i love :-) ). no more projectile vomiting!
-taking one middle of the night feeding between 3-4am usually
-taking 3 great naps a day and one catnap
-self-soothing without any crying (maybe a yell here or there for a few seconds when we lay him down, but nothing significant.)
-loooooving bath time. its his favorite part of the day!
-eating 25-30oz of similac alimentum ready to feed daily
-smiling anytime someone speaks to him :-)
-getting control of his arms a little more... they're not quite so wild!
-in size 2 diapers the week of his 2 month checkup
-moved up to size 3-6 months clothing a week after his checkup (probably should have done it a little sooner!)
Even though he's doing "well" with tummy time, that doesnt mean he loves it quite yet!
Rhyan still loves him so much. In the evenings when i'm feeding Mack in his room, i like to keep it quiet so she is told to stay in the living room, her room or the playroom and play. She does well with this but one day last week she came up to the door, eased it open, and whispered "here-a-go" (here you go is all one word for her! hehe). She had a paci in her hand and wanted to bring it to "Mackers". She quietly dropped it off in his bed and eased back out of the room. And if he ever cries, she says in such a motherly little voice "ohhhhhh, Mack.... it otay! it otay, mack! ohhhhhhh" and rubs his face with her little hand. She's adorable with him.

We love this little family God has blessed us with!

A Mixed Bag

2011-08-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

Today is my Daddy's birthday. He would have been 83.

I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he is in heaven with the Lord. I feel confident that upon his exit of this world, he heard the words "well done, my good and faithful servant". I know he's better off.

But man... i still cry! I still miss him. I still wish so very badly that he could have known my kids and they could have known the man who forever changed my life because of his love and generosity and willingness to raise me (along with my Mommie).

I want Mack to know the incredible man he's named after and to understand why its so special to me that he shares my Daddy's name.

And i'm grateful, really, that i know i'll see him again and hopefully my kids will get to spend eternity with him, as well.

But for today, i'm just a big mixed bag of emotions. Grateful for every second i had with him, regretful of every one that i didnt, hopeful for the time i'll spend with him again and very, very sad for the years i'll spend here without him.

I cant help but to celebrate my Daddy's birthday. But i also cant help but to miss him like crazy, no matter how many years go by.

10 Years with the Wrong Man

2011-08-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

On their anniversary, my Mommie used to sing to my Daddy "x years with the wrong man is more than a woman can stand". It was all in gest, of course, seeing as how they were married 50+ years before Daddy went home to be with Jesus. But it was funny and i like to carry on traditions, even quirky ones :-)

So this year, I've spent 10 years with the wrong man. 10 years!!!

And i love it. What have the last 10 years brought us?

Well, we've both finished college, started our careers, bought our 1st car together (and many since), bought our first home, sold it, bought our second (current) home,been on lots of great vacations, done home renovations together (and if your marriage can survive that, it can survive anything!), lost 2 babies, had two babies, grown in our communication skills and gotten comfortable enough to gain a little weight (boo). Its been a blast, and i wouldnt trade any of it, good or bad. We've lived on very little and been blessed with abundance. We are definitely different in so many ways! But its what makes us great together. After all, without Jeff (and his mom!) i never would have made it through my college math class... and without me, he NEVER would have passed ANY classes that he had to write a paper for! ha!

10 years has gotten us:

Our first born. Wow, how she changed our lives! What sheer joy!!

Our 2nd born... oh my goodness! He lights up our lives with his sweet smile!

And for all i've had to endure with the "wrong man" for the last 10 years, Jeff felt i deserved this little gem :-) In Jeff's words, "its round and white, just like Mack". Goob!

Our little family after 10 years.

I can honestly say that I love my life with Jeff. He is a wonderful husband and a fantastic father. Sure, we have our up's and down's like anyone. But there's no one i trust more or love more than my husband. He is really the gem, but i certainly dont mind the one i'm wearing around my neck, either :-)

I love you, Jeff Ford, and look forward to another 10, and another, and another....