Two down... Two to go...

Well, I am back among the blogging.... At least for today

Things have been extremely stressful and busy at the Jones house, thus the lack of entries this month. Perhaps my new year's resolution should be to try and blog more regularly.

As far as my health goes... The Jasper cardiologist sent me to another cardiologist at St. Vincents in Indy that specializes in the electrical system of the heart. I am having PAC's (premature atrial contractions) PVC's (premature ventricular contractions) and nonsustained V-tac (brief episodes of ventricular tachycardia) All that being said, it should not kill me... good to know. I am trying to tolerate a new medication. If I can tolerate it and my blood pressure does not bottom out, it may solve the problem. If I can't tolerate it, I will be scheduled for an EP study and possible ablation procedure. (type of heart catheterization designed to deaden the areas that are mis-firing) Did you get all that? Still anemic, but no internal bleeding. Yay for me.

We had our Burns family Christmas at my dad's on Saturday, and Christmas with my mom here at our house on Sunday. Everyone had a great time and we really enjoyed being together. I did not get to take near as many pictures as I would have liked. Some little blond boy has messed with my camera and I can't seem to get it working right again. Hmmmm Still ahead are The Big Christmas here Christmas morning and Christmas with Aaron's family.

Awhile back, Christy nominated my for a Fabulous blogger award. I think everyone I know has been nominated for it by now, so I am afraid it ends with me since there is no one left to nominate. But... here are my five fab addictions

1. My husband of course... he is my rock.
2. My kids... of couse....they are my life.
3. Certain foods, like fudge, rice, noodles...sometimes I simply can't stop eating
4. Texting... surprised? I doubt it
5. Reading blogs

The Jones Elves

We "elfed ourselves" last year and we must have watched it at least 1000 times and each time it got funnier. This year it's even better....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Confession...

I have a confession to make.... I have a serious tendency towards road rage.
Whew!..... there - I said it.

I know this is the Christmas season, with goodwill towards men and all, but I am sorry, some people just do not know how to drive. These people need to have that fact pointed out to them as often as possible and by whatever means necessary.

Today I put on a ridiculous display for all to see. I am waiting to make a left hand turn into the school across highway traffic, when a lady coming the other direction was making a right hand turn, also into the school. Instead of her turning and letting me turn in behind her, she STOPS! So here I am cross ways in the highway waiting for her to complete her turn and she is just sitting there staring at me. So I yell...loudly so she can hear....GO! (pause) GO! (pause) GO! (pause)GO! (pause ) Idiot! All the while waving my hands wildly in the air for dramatic effect. Mind you all this time I am watching the cars speeding towards me at 60mph.

FINALLY, she slowly turned in front of me so I could complete my turn and escape certain death. As I pull in the parking lot, cursing under my breath, I notice the line of cars waiting to pull out who were watching my ridiculous display and laughing hysterically..... oops.

Do you think this puts me on Santa's naughty list?

23 and Counting...

The countdown is on... Panic is starting to set in... 23 days till Christmas!

We had a great Thanksgiving. Everything went exactly as outlined in my Thanksgiving Eve post, much to the amazement of my sister-in-law. Last year we started a new Burns family tradition when for some stupid reason we decided to get up at 3:30 in the morning to go shopping. I guess we had forgotten how insane it was, cause we did it again this year. At 4:13, the car pulled out of dad's driveway with me, Patti, Evan, Haley, Max and Ethan headed for the "sales."

Our first stop was Elder-Beerman. The parking lot was full all the way out to the highway and all the way over to Burger King. I could not believe the number of cars, to which I shouted out in disgust... "Idiots!" Then I realized... I was one of them.

Most of us left Elder-Beerman empty handed. I didn't see any "great deals." From there we went to Goody's, where I spent a whole $48. Then on to Wal-Mart. I have to tell you, it was scary. At one point, in the electronic section, as all six of us tried to stay together and move forward, Patti and I got a little frightened. We were literally trapped. Crammed in like sardines. Could not move in any direction. Had anyone yelled "fire" we most certainly would have been trampled to death. When we finally made it to the checkouts with our few purchases, the wait was probably an hour or more. We looked at eachother, laid our stuff on the nearest shelf, and left the store empty handed.... Then it was on to Penney's and out to breakfast. Even though we didn't buy anything to speak of, we were together, and laughing (some of us more than others - HALEY!) and making great memories. I am sure we will do it again next year, but perhaps will boycott Walmart.

Here are some pics from the long weekend.

Thanksgiving Eve....

I honestly don't know where the month has gone. I have been trying really hard to slow down and take better care of myself. I have help for the business now, which is a huge relief and takes a major weight off. (thanks Christy! - LOVE YOU!) I have a few days left on the heart monitor, so that will be another big relief to get rid of all the wires and such. Will have a couple of doctor's appointments next week, so looking forward to news from those.

Today, on this Thanksgiving Eve, I have some loose ends to tie up, some orders to place, etc. Tonight, the "feel" of the holidays will finally show up. It always does as soon as we stop everything and start to prepare for tomorrow. I LOVE IT! I will hang out with Aaron and the kids and make food to to take. We will be going to Aaron's families at noon and my dad's in the evening. Not one but TWO big dinners. It has been that way for the last 20 years, so we have learned to pace ourselves.

I don't get to see my mom on Thanksgiving, and that is always a real bummer. But, I am looking VERY forward to seeing Kent and his family. Haley is home from college, so can't wait to see her. Have not seen Max for months, so can't wait to squeeze him too. Jaden is SO excited to see Abby, he can hardly stand it. I can't wait to stand in the kitchen, crowded around the cheeseball, catching up with everyone while we wait on the turkey. It's tradition.

My family has a lot of Thanksgiving traditions...we are a predictable bunch. Dad and Kent will hang out in the garage watching some ball game, Julie, Patti, and I will hang in the kitchen and talk about everything we can think of. Evan will kind of migrate between the two. Big kids will impatiently await the food (which simply cannot be eaten before at least 7:30!) Little ones will run up and down the hallway, only stopping when papaw burns catches them.

We will gather around the table, take turns telling what we are most thankful for. My grandma Burns (almost 92!) will give thanks, and dad will be all misty eyed. Then we will proceed to stuff ourselves till we can hardly move, forgetting that grandma has made pumpkin AND chocolate pie! Somehow we will all find room for a piece or two. Kent will stand (cause he is too full to sit) in the kitchen eating several pieces of the persimmon pudding I make him every year. He will invariably say "Man, Aunt P, this is excellent! (his kids call me Aunt P - long story) The rest of the evening we will just be together and anticipate the Christmas season.

Doesn't that sound like just THE most perfect Thanksgiving! I can't wait.

Andreaaaaaa......

WAKE UP!!!!

You know how sometimes you are just happily going along, life is good, and things are relatively OK... then all of the sudden something happens that is not so good and makes you sit up and take notice. The proverbial "wake up call." This week I had one.

Very long story short... my heart has been doing funny things for a couple of months now. I have played it off as being stress related. A couple of times I have jokingly said to Aaron... "I am having chest pains so if I drop over, make sure and tell the paramedics." Tuesday night at the Festival of Bands I made the same statement to Christy and laughed it off.

Wednesday the pain was increasing, as were the palpitations. I said "ok God, if this is something serious, make it clear to me I need to have it checked out." Almost immediately my mind thought of my good friend Judy.(who passed away suddenly from a heart attack - she had chest pains the night before) I took that as my confirmation it was time to go.

Aaron and I headed to Jasper, and another long story short, my heart keeps going into what they call V-Tac (ventricular tachycardia) It is a potentially dangerous situation. I was kept over night and given just about every heart test known to man. I will wear a monitor for the next 3 weeks. Someone in some other state will be watching my rhythm 24/7 and if anything happens on the strip, they will call me to see if I am symptomatic. Isn't technology fabulous!

Testing also showed extreme anemia and suggested the possibility of an internal bleed. I will be having further testing to try and figure that out. I suspect a bleeding ulcer, but we shall see.

SO... I am considering this my wake up call. This is what happens when you neglect your health and are over-worked and over-stressed, under-nourished and fatigued. Your body stages a revolt. Mine seems to be preparing for war.

I will be slowing the pace a bit, hiring some help for the business, making sure to eat and drink throughout the day (sometimes I forget to), etc. I am getting older and as you get older things start to happen. It is inevitable. My mom very kindly put it this way..."you know honey, you ARE 41..." Thanks mom.

I greatly appreciate all the prayers, texts, and phone calls I have received over the past couple of days. My favorite Farhars even came to the hospital to bring me my phone charger... it could have been potentially disastrous if my phone had gone dead! :) Aaron, as always, has been my rock. I am very fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Please continue to pray for the next few weeks that everything can get straightened out and back to normal.

No "halfs" in our family...

The following was posted on Kent's (my brother's) blog today, so I can't take credit for it. Some of you may follow his blog anyway, but he did such a good job summing up the dynamic of our family, I paraphrased a few parts and stole the rest... :)


Like so many families these days, ours has been affected by divorce. It's a slippery slope. When familes split, new dynamics are created. Children's lives and loyalties are divided. New spouses enter the picture. Sibling relationships are created out of thin air, rather than biology. Our culture hasn't done well with it. As the world becomes more "evolved", the foundation of the family as an institution is being rocked. So much dysfunction exists. Look around...how many bruised and broken families do you have in your midst? I wonder how much of this stuff has always been out there, but under the radar, vs. how much is a legitimate acceleration of our world literally going to hell in a handbasket?

Fortunately, we've managed pretty well in spite of the challenges that it presents. Our parents divorced when Kent was in college and I was in high school. They both remarried and have wonderful spouses that love and care for them. Our Dad's wife is four years younger than Kent and two years older than me, which makes for great fun when new acquaintances try to figure out who's who in our family. We have a younger brother who is now in college. He's an incredible young man who is destined for great things. Kent has two great kids from his first marriage, and a third that came along later and absolutely has blessed our family beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

People sometimes ask us how we do it. How could you possibly have anything in common with a brother so much younger than you? What's with this young step-mom situation? How does she deal with being a Grandma? Weren't Kent's two older kids jealous when the baby came along? Isn't step-parenting hard for Kent's wife? Is she always conscious that they aren't "hers"? Lots of questions.

So what is the answer? We think it's this: There are "no halfs" in our family. No half brothers. No half sisters. No step parents. It sounds like I am blowing smoke, right? Although some of these relationships are not 100% biological, we don't care. Our half brother is our brother. Kent's wife has raised his two older children and loves them like they were her own. Kent's kids and my kids call our Dad's wife Mamaw and our mom's husband Papaw. The bottom line is that although we aren't all 100% related, we have never chosen to see it that way or to give it any power in our lives. Is it always perfect? Nope. Do we have our disagreements? Yep. But we wouldn't trade places with anybody.

How does that happen? One reason is that God has placed amazing people in our family. The other is that we love each other. It's that simple. Love is a verb. Love is a choice. Love is an action.

What about you? Are there halfs in your family? There doesn't "half" to be. Think about it.

Fall Fun...

Not a lot of time to post lately... obviously.

Went on a late night toilet papering mission last night with Christy and Cole, Becky and Brandon, and my two big boys. It was your typical tp trip, we went through 108 rolls, got caught by a preacher and stopped by the cops... well ok...maybe it wasn't so typical after all, but we had a blast.

Here are some recent pics of our trip with the Farhars to the corn maze.

Have a great halloween!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Finally Friday..

Man, this has been a really long week.

Ava is much better today. Maybe things will get back to normal.

Here are some recent pics of things going on around the Jones house.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Craziness....

Those who know me well know I often refer to my life as "crazy." Christy texts me "How is your day..." my reply "Crazy." Mom calls "how are things..." my reply "crazy." Evan asks "how's the shirt business.." My reply... ? You guessed it.
CRAZY!

This past week all craziness broke loose. I took the kids to Indy to mom's for Fall break on Tuesday. I did not have the time to go away, but it is tradition for the kids so I went anyway. Ava started running a 104 Tuesday night and Wednesday was diagnosed with Pneumonia. I tried to stick it out up there, but she was too sick, so I brought her home on Thursday and left the others there....Crazy.

Friday, she was worse. The antibiotic they had put her on was obviously not working so we headed to Jasper. Dr. Krielien surmised that her pneumonia was bacterial and wanted to admit her for 3 to 4 days, to which I replied "NOOOOOOOO!" (I really did) Her response..."why not, do you have a lot going?" How is that for the understatment of the year!.... Crazy.

Thank God I am a nurse! I reasoned with her until I convinced her to try a shot of rocephin, let me take her home, and return in the morning. Which we did. Saturday morning I had her back in Jasper at 8:30, and had managed to have her well hydrated. Dr. Bies decided she was slowly turning the corner, and long story short... No hospital stay!... Crazy.

We thought three kids were crazy, but then Ava came along. We thought our business was crazy until we signed agreements with Butler and IU. We thought, well... you get the idea. I have learned that their are many levels of crazy and we just seem to keep climbing the ladder.

On the other hand...if my life were not this out of control...I would probably just be complaining I was bored... Crazy.

I've Been Tagged...

Christy tagged me.... go figure...

So now, in case you don't know how it goes, I have to list six random facts about myself... this could be difficult -

Hmmmmm...

1) Well, I grew up having debilatating migraine headaches two or three times a month starting at about age 5. After my first pregnancy, they magically disappeared. Aaron ironically grew up having the same problem, but unfortunatley, he still suffers from his. Maybe he needs to get pregnant...

2) I hold several degrees...probably because at seventeen I had NO CLUE what to do with the rest of my life. I have an AS degree in medical records, and AS degree in secretarial sciences; legal option, a BS degree in education AND I am a nurse! Yet what do I do for a living... run my own business. Good lord

3) I was a Rockette in high school. I twirled the rifle. I still have my rifle, and on some occasions, still twirl it!

4) I LOVE 80's music and movies.... oh and yes, Christy... I LOVE HSM and can't wait to go see HSM3!

5) Despite the craziness of our lives, my family sits down and has a home cooked meal together in the evening 3 or 4 times a week... believe me, that is an accomplishment.

6) Once I get Ava out of diapers, between my four kids, I will have spent about 6 years of my life changing diapers. Let's average 5 diapers a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for 6 years... that is a staggering 76,650 diapers. Divide that by an average pack of 40 diapers and you get around 1900 packs, times an average of $8 per pack and... are you ready for this $15,200... on DIAPERS! How is that for a random fact.

Now I am suppose to tag more bloggers. So Misty, Susan, Lacy and Kent... you're it!

Judy's Day

Yesterday was the first annual "Walk to Remember" for Judy Winklepleck. Judy was the school counselor at Shoals and passed away suddenly in July from a heart attack. She was 46. (see posts on 7/21 and 7/24)

The purpose of the Walk was to raise money for a scholarship to be given in her name each year to a high school senior. The event was very sucessful, raising over $3500.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day. It was spent walking, eating, listening to music and sharing memories. Those of us who were privileged enough to know and love Judy will never forget it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Family Day...

With business booming... we have very little time to spend with our kids. Yesterday we found ourselves with a "free day." The first one we have had since our Florida vacation way back in June. Ethan had won two free tickets to Holiday World at the end of the last school year through the over-achievers program, so we decided it was time to use them or lose them.

It turned out to be a fantastic day. No stress, very laid back, kids were perfect - and I am not just saying that... They were absolutely perfect. I think we were just all so glad to be out enjoying the beautiful day together, everyone was in an extra good mood. The parking lot was less than half full all day, so it was great time to go. Most we waited to ride anything was 3 or 4 minutes. Guess that's why Ethan and Alex rode the Voyage, Legend and Raven 22 times!

It was a blessed day... and we are SO SO Thankful we had the time together! Enjoy the pics!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Picture day...

Who doesn't remember picture day at school...

I can remember standing in line in the multipurpose room...holding that government issued little black comb... waiting for my turn to sit on that little stool...so I could turn my head in some awkward postition while saying "pickle"... all the while trying really hard not get teary eyed or blink at the 10,000 watt flash about to go off in my face. I did not like picture day...and my pictures were usually crappy.

Today my boys will go through this familiar ritual. I didn't have to do much to prepare them this morning. They are old enough to pick their own outfit. And even though they complained a lot about having to "look nice," they both looked great when they left. I basically just did the hair check...added a little gel... and wrote two checks for way too much money.

These days you can "pick your pose," all of which the boys thought were "stupid looking"... you can pick your color background (although that will cost you $4 extra)...and you have about 250 package options to choose from, along with the add-ons which are also way to expensive. The whole form gave me a headache.

Although it can be a pain, I guess it's all worth it when they bring the pictures home and you compare to last year and see the changes. I am really thankful to have them.

Here are a couple of my favorites...

Ethan 2nd grade 2001


Austin 1st grade 2003

Profound Moments...

Sometimes we have them and there is no mistaking it...

This morning I was thinking about people I know who are grieving... fresh grief, grief that has settled in, and long-standing grief...the kind you never fully get over.

I thought about dark times in our lives. We all have them and they are all significant in shaping us. Sometimes we go through valleys that are so deep, it is hard to believe we could ever come out on the other side.

I thought about times like these in my own life and the people who were instrumental in helping me through. I thought about times like these in the lives of those I love and how helpless I felt in trying to help them. At that moment... this song came on. How profound! It was God speaking and giving me insight and importance to what had been laid on my heart this morning.

Play the song on my playlist "Carry You to Jesus"...Take a quiet moment... and just listen...

When we are faced with someone...anyone... who is hurting or grieving,... the best thing we can do, the most important thing we can do...is carry them to Jesus.

Let there be Light!....

and tv...and internet...and microwave...and hot water...

I learned this past week I could never survive as an amish.

All the drama of the past week did distract me from the fact that my birthday was approaching... today it has arrived.

A big topic of conversation at my lunch with Evan yesterday was whether or not my blog name would change to "finding myself at 41" He said yes... I said no. He said he would leave me daily comments reminding me that I am no longer 40 so the name no longer applies... I said when I used the term "40" I was referring to the forties in general, not just one specifc year... You can see this made for facinating conversation over chicken alfredo... I love you Ev!

Another facinating conversation took place last night via text messaging. It went something like this...
kent to me "Happy Birthday Queer"
me to Kent "It's tomorrow Queer"
Kent to me "I knew that...I just wanted to be the first to say it"
Me to Kent "Whatever"
It is heartwarming for me to know that after all these 41 years we still have that wonderful,loving big brother-little sister dialouge going on.. :)

Here are some funny "old time" pics of mom...as my boys would say

4 or 5 months old


Second Christmas 1968


Christmas 1970 (note the Ker-Plunk game!)


My "Boston Tea Party" (marshmallows and red kool-aid)


Kindergarten

Fall is in the air...

Christy and I texted back and forth the other day all our favorite things about fall until we couldn't come up with any more. It is our favorite time of year.

Our group met at Tami's house this past Monday and it was so beautifully decorated and smelled so good it really put me in the fall mood.... So...my blog has gotten its fall facelift and my house is soon to follow. I have two totes of fall decorations and goodies calling my name. Unfortunately, we are so busy, the fall fairies may have to come and put it all out for me...(you know who you are) I also bought a pumpkin spice reed diffuser and some autumn spice febreeze...YUM

Right now Jaden and Ava are watching the Autumn part of Barney's 4 Seasons dvd. Jaden can't wait to "roll in the leaves...feel the cool breeze and stuff a scarecrow top to bottom...." (you mom's of barney loving tots will appreciate that little snipit)

Fall is in the air... and I love it!

God is Good...

Before...


Waiting...


Welping...


AFTER!


You are looking at the face of a happy girl! Why is she happy?... she is eating a BANANA and drinking APPLE JUICE!!! Simple pleasures are the best!

Testing went well. We gained EIGHT foods... we also lost some and added new allergies, but hey, we are thrilled to have some variety. The biggies we gained... wheat, milk, turkey, peas, apples and bananas! Believe me that is HUGE for us. We also gained back garlic and onion. The ones we lost were big too though... corn (ouch! ava LOVES her popcorn) we also lost pork, which really hurts, carrots are a no no now, as are some new ones she was tested for including blueberries, lettuce and tuna. Nuts are still lethal to her, and barley is still a close second.

Thank you all so much for the prayers. We really felt them. She had to lay still on her stomach for almost 20 minutes and she did it! She cried, but bless her heart, she didn't move. What a great relief!

Prayers for Ava...

Tomorrow is the day... Ava will have her allergy retest.

It's scary...

Last year, within 10 minutes the room was full of doctors and nurses in fear she was going into anaphylactic shock. Her poor little body was covered with quarter size hives. On that day I was given the very long list of what she couldn't eat, and the very short list of what she could.

I am trying to go into this very realistically. The best I am hoping for is to get back one or two foods, and for her reaction to be less violent. My fear is that the allergies have grown worse. Seems like no matter what she eats lately, she reacts.

So... at 11:00 tomorrow morning, as they turn her tiny little back and arms into pin cushions, any prayers you could send our way would be greatly appreciated. She is a trooper. She will probably handle it much better than I do.

IU Band Day...

Aaron and I got away for the weekend... can you believe it. Thanks to my mom, who is always willing to come stay with her babies for a day or two. (and as usual, when I got home, all my 80 loads of laundry were done!) Thanks mom!

We went to Indy and stayed at the Embassy Suites. The big printwear tradeshow always falls around our anniversary, so it is becoming tradition for us to hit that as part of our weekend away. Great tax write for the whole trip! :)

On the way home, we stopped in Bloomington to attend the IU Band Day. This was the first time for Aaron, second time for me. Last year Ed, Christy, Evan and I enjoyed it from the nosebleed section. It is really a good time. Neat to see our kids in that environment. The big time. They left the school at 1:00 and got home at 10:45. Ethan was pretty tired...but had a ball.

I did not have my camera, but managed to take these pics with Aaron's phone.

Drum Line...


Warming Up...


Love that hat Ethan...


Impressive...

Happy Anniversary

Sixteen years ago today... Way back in 1992...Aaron and I took the plunge.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. We were married at 5:30 in the evening at the Methodist Church in Shoals. There were fifteen in our wedding party. Our reception was held at the Ruritan building in Montgomery, where we had a catered meal and a live band...(no dj's for us!)It was packed and could not have been more fun! We flew out of Indy the next day for 7 days in Orlando and Clearwater. With the exception of a pretty crappy photographer...the whole experience was pretty close to perfect.

In some ways it seems like yesterday. (Maybe because I have watched the video a million times:) In other ways it seems like another lifetime. The great thing about it is... after all these years and all these kids... we would marry each other all over again.

Make a Smilebox postcard

PS... Barb, I just have to ask... do you remember how HUGE your hair was at my wedding? If not...I have photos! :)

My littlest scholar...

Man, it has been a busy week for Jaden... party all weekend, turning 5 on Monday, starting pre-school on Tuesday, fall baseball Tuesday night and Wednesday night, preschool again today... WHEW! That's a lot of activity for a little guy.

He went to preschool last year, so it wasn't a big traumatic thing. I had to laugh at some of the other mom's, standing there with tissues, reluctant to leave, hovering over their little ones. Hmmm... do I really act that way and look that ridiculous in front of everyone? Reality check... Nope... I wait till I get to the car.

Here are some pics of the big day.

Ready to go...


Waiting in the van...


Looking very grown up...


See ya later mom...

Happy Birthday Jaden!

Kent and his family were down for the weekend. Haley has started college in Utah, Max had to work, and Evan starts back to IU today so none of them were able to be there. That was kind of a bummer.

We all went to to Dad and Julie's church to surprise my grandma. She is 91 and the sweetest thing. Still cruises Jasper, and spends more time at Walmart than I do! She was thrilled to see us all there. After church we celebrated Jaden's birthday at dad's with a cookout, cake, swimming and a couple of "cornhole" tournaments. (which I had never heard of, but was so fun!) It was a beautiful day, and we had a ball.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sugar and spice...

Ava doesn't walk through the house... she doesn't run through the house... she bounces through the house. I love it!

She is always in a hurry to get where she's going. Her little feet patter on the hardwood at a fast pace...strawberry curls bouncing up and down...it is so cute.

It makes me smile when I catch a glimpse of her headed down the hall or through the kitchen. It always looks like she is on a mission. Her "missions" seem to be very important and require her full attention.

Took the above pic this morning at her request as she bounced through the room. She stopped and very matter of factly said..."mom, take my picture." So I did... and off on her mission she went. My tiny, bouncy, brown-eyed girl

Thinking Thursday...

I think this whole Obama thing is pretty scary...

I think it is wise for me not to go into my political views on my blog...:)

I think I better get my rear in gear and plan something for Jaden's birthday...

I think I am very excited to get to see mom and Greg and Kent and Patti and Abby this weekend and maybe even some cousins I haven't seen in awhile...

I think decisions regarding the upbringing of teenage boys can be extremely difficult...

I think when in doubt on such decisions, you should trust your first instincts...

I think you should pray for your kids all day every day...

I think you should make it a point to pray for the future spouses of your kids, wherever and whoever they may be...

I think the power of a praying parent is a mighty force...

I think I am really glad I don't live anywhere I could be affected by hurricanes!...

I think I hear a tiny blond boy coming up the stairs... :)

Tuesday Then and Now...

Jaden... aka Baby J (by his Uncle Kent) aka JP (by his Papaw Burns) aka Shayden (by Jaden himself- "J" sounds are tough for a little guy) aka Shade or Shady (by the rest of the us)... will be turning 5 on Labor day. How is that possible?!

We decided to go for number 3 and hope for a girl. I got pregnant in September of 2002. At first things were great, but soon every time I went to the dr., that babies heartbeat would be a little slower. I was working on OB at Jasper at the time, so one Saturday morning, I asked Dr. Beckman to check things out cause I just didn't feel right. As soon as he turned on the machine... there was no more flicker. The baby was still. It was devastating. Especially finding out at work, surrounded by laboring mothers and brand new babies.

God is good though. In December I was pregnant again. This time with my precious little Jaden. It was one of those bittersweet things. God knows best.

I was in acutal labor with him on Labor Day five years ago. He was probably the shortest labor of the four. The ease of delivery probably ranks at #2. He is such a joy... such a smart little boy... so very sweet and cute and funny. A true blessing and I am so thankful for him!

Hospital photo


First day home


TV addict age 1


Mad at Mom age 2


Quite the Jokester... age 3


Birthday #4 with BFF Levi


Today...Great Big Brother