Happy Birthday to me!

Beware the Ides of March! Mine was the last birthday in our family for a while. Nothing until July when Mary turns 5! It was a great day, even if historic tornados ripped through Atlanta the night before and the day of. We woke up early (since all three kiddos were sleeping in our room because of the storm) and Olivia made us a delicious pancake breakfast. I'm so proud of her! She did a great job! Jay went to the Men's Prayer Breakfast at church and really enjoyed himself. At noon, Mary had a soccer game - it was cold and very windy. After the game, we went home to wait out the horrendous storms that were all over town. At about 5:00 I went to church to help set up for Music for Mexico. We had popcorn, candy, drinks, and slushy drinks. It turned out really well. This was a fundraiser for our mission team that is going to Mexico this summer. Olivia sang a solo - Once Upon a December from Anastasia - and did a fabulous job! She also sang I Just Can't Wait To Be King (Queen) with several other girls. The entire team sang two Spanish songs - Levanta tu casa and Pasa por aqui. It was a great success! I was happy to see my entire family show up. I don't know if they donated any money but I hope they did. Lisa and Ashlyn came - I was grateful for their presence there!

Today, Alex made his big acting debut at church. He and three other boys performed a drama in the big Sanctuary. He did great! We were so proud! Alex said he was very nervous beforehand but he still managed to make the audience laugh when they were supposed to. Way to go Bubby!

We went to our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt today. Stacey hosted it as usual and the kids had a great time. Olivia found one of the prize eggs (bucket of chalk) and the kids had lots of snacks and candy. Fun. I came home and cleaned like a mad woman. It doesn't take much for the entire house to completely fall apart. I did multiple loads of laundry and managed to clean my room and my bathroom. They were that dirty that it took all afternoon! But they both look great now and I am happy! Tomorrow I will hit the downstairs.

It never ends!

Unity and 5th Grade Dance

I went to Unity tonight. Seems like I just went not that long ago! It was at Marcia Reese's house and Michele Hutton provided refreshments. As usual, we had a wonderful time. Sue Cates was our speaker and she gave a heartfelt talk about the Women's Ministry. We had a small group but it was very nice. Next month we will be meeting at Vicki Tyler's house.

Olivia went to her 5th grade dance today. I was a chaperone so I got to be in on all the fun. It was a very LOUD event! There was a lot of screaming, squealing, running, and general merriment. The kids behaved pretty well. I just had to keep the food and drink off the dance floor and make sure the kids didn't get too rowdy. It was pretty easy. I don't want to say too much but ... well, there is a boy...and this boy likes our girl...and our girl likes this boy...it was a scary moment when Liv shared the news with me today! Oh. My. Goodness. I'm not ready for this!

Sick

Liv is home sick today. Nothing serious - just a bad cold but I'm sure she didn't feel like sitting at school all day. She has taken her medicine (PTL) and is laying down w/ a book and a box of tissues.

I really hate it when one of my kids are sick. Thankfully *knock on wood* it doesn't happen often. I'm sure Liv will be on the mend soon.

Birthday party

Well, the birthday festivities are finally over. And I have to say this was the easiest party I have given yet.

Olivia loves to have sleepovers. She has celebrated her birthday with a sleepover since she turned 7. I convinced her that we should do something different this year. We searched and searched and finally chose a party at Pottery By You. It's a paint-your-own pottery place here in town. They had several different packages available and we chose the "Making Mosaics" party. Liv invited 8 girls and 8 girls showed up! I love 100% participation. The girls got there and our hostess told them how to choose and make their mosaics. All I had to do was sit there and chat with Tara and Dana! Love it! I made a cake - a special request from Liv. I usually buy the cakes from a bakery but for some reason, she wanted a homemade cake this time. Somehow, I pulled one together. AND I made some chocolate flower lollipops too! The colors were perfect - everything was green, brown and white. It totally looked like I planned it but I didn't - I bought the plates right before the party.



So the girls worked hard, had cake, opened presents...and went home!!! Easy peasy.

Mary was invited to spend the night with her cousin Hannah tonight. What a nice surprise! She was so excited. They were kind enough to pick her up this afternoon.

Tara and I went to the gym today. I've never gone on a Saturday before. We went upstairs to work on the treadmill - I had my best treadmill workout yet. I walked for 65 minutes (including the cooldown) which was a little over 3 miles (at a speed of 3.0 but I did jack it up to 3.5 at one point). I listened to my iPod instead of watching tv which I think made the time go much faster.

Liv and I have a SOAR meeting tomorrow. I hope it goes well and that they don't make me write any checks!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Well, our girl turned 11 years old today. What a huge milestone - I can hardly believe that I am the mother of such a young lady! I mean, she was just born yesterday!

I guess it was a little less then 12 years ago...I was working at Summit Bank at the Main Office. I went to eat Chinese food for lunch with some coworkers. It didn't sit well with me and I had an upset stomach. Well, this was the first of several "upset stomachs" that I had over the course of the next week or so. I finally took a pg test - positive. I took another pg test - positive. I think I may have even taken a third before I called my nephrologist (I was under her care for a recently diagnosed kidney disease) and requested a blood test. I took it and Dr. Hill called me back personally to congratulate me! Holy Cow! I was pregnant! It took us by surprise but we were absolutely thrilled! I had major smell aversions and morning sickness w/out the vomiting. When I told my parents they were concerned for me at first (because of the kidney thing) but then they were overjoyed at the prospect of becoming grandparents.

I was spilling a lot of protein in my urine, something that happened w/ the kidney thing but it was happening even more w/ the baby. My OB advised me to take an early leave from work at about 28 weeks, which I did and enjoyed not having to work. Things started going bad at about 34 weeks. I went tot he doctor one day and my blood pressure was elevated and my protein levels were through the roof. Dr. Ellis sent me right over to the hospital for a 3 day stay to try to control the preeclampsia. He sent me home on complete bedrest and major bp meds. I felt like a ticking bomb. My mom had me stay with her where she took excellent care of me. I made it to the first day of my 37th week and had my labor induced. I was so scared! We went to the hospital on a Monday night - my dad took me because Jay had to work (he was a cop back then). Jay came as soon as he could. I was given cervadil and told to get a good nights sleep. The next morning, they gave me pitocin. Long story short, I labored for 11 hours before the diagnosed me as "failure to progress" and scheduled me for a c-section. Still scared! My mom was at work and was a nervous wreck. She and my dad came up for the surgery and were there to see Olivia before I did. I had to be put asleep so I didn't wake up until an hour after she was born. We had long ago decided on her name - Olivia Renee - and Jay had the pleasure of announcing it to the waiting room.

When we got home, I remember my dad came over every single day to see her. We had so many visitors coming through - it was a little overwhelming! But, of course, at the time I didn't know I could say NO! I was exhausted. But it was a wonderful exhaustion. Livi was a perfect baby. She did everything the books said she should do at exactly the age she ws supposed to. How easy! I worked full time, my parents took care of her during the day. This was definitely a "honeymoon phase" of all of our lives. It was all so easy then!

We have enjoyed each milestone and welcomed her little personality developing. She is now a young woman - no longer our baby! It's hard to believe. She is so creative, she loves to read, she loves to scheme, she loves music, she loves to play, she loves gymnastics, she loves science and social studies. She is our first born. We have loved her the longest, we probably have the highest expectations of her, and the greatest hopes for her. We hope and pray that we are up to the challenge of parenting a preteen in this day and age and that we not only do an okay job but that we do an exceptional job raising her. She deserves it.

We love you Olivia! We wish you a lifetime of happiness and all of God's blessings. We love you all the way to God!

Saturday at Auntie's

This past Saturday, I took the kids to visit my aunt Hilda. It's a pretty long drive from here so we don't make it over there too often. They weren't really looking forward to it but in the end they had a really good time.

We got there and the kids immediately started climbing this magnolia tree she has in her front yard. They kept saying it was the best climbing tree ever. And it did look pretty fun! Auntie was hungry though, so we cut it short and headed over to Red Lobster for lunch. We talked my dad into going too. Liv had popcorn shrimp, Mary had clam chowder, Alex had chicken fingers - big surprise there! The food was good, everyone behaved, and we were rewarded with a trip to the toy store! The kids were excited. We don't have a Toys R Us near us so this was a treat. Alex chose a DS game, Mary a tea set, Liv a webkinz knock off. We went back to Auntie's to climb the tree some more. We played in the back yard too. She has a pool that is empty so the kids liked running around inside of it. Weird. Mary fed the birds, her and Alex threw berries in the pool, they played chase - I think it was fun! We headed back home at around 6pm. Jay was out playing golf and wasn't due home until later.

Tara called and invited me to a late movie, it worked out great since Jay didn't get home until after 9 and the movie started at 10. Lisa and I drove over there and joined Tara and Natalie - we saw Definitely Maybe. It was cute. It was more fun just being out.

All in all, a good Saturday!

Dentist

We recently switched dentist offices. We had all been going to Dr. Chartier in Decatur for years - I've been going to that office since I was a kid. Naturally, it was a day trip to take the kids for cleanings. I had to check them out super early, drive nearly an hour into town, spend the time at the appointment, and then we almost always had to wait out the traffic coming home. It was a pain. Liv had cracked a tooth so I knew that it would be a multiple visit fix. We got a referral from Lisa next door and Dr. Kohler was able to take us the very next day. We went and we just loved them. They were so kind and gentle to Liv! She has several teeth that are cracking because the permanent teeth are coming in and literally splitting them in half to make room to come out. So it was nothing to be concerned about but still weird to look at.

We decided to make cleaning appts for all three kids. It was Mary's first time to have her teeth cleaned. I know I waited longer than normal for her to go but honestly - I was not looking forward to the struggle I would have on my hands. Believe it or not, she cooperated like a champ! She opened her mouth wide for the entire time. I was very proud. Luckily, I had my camera with me so I was able to get a few shots of the big day. She felt like such a big girl because she had her teeth cleaned just like brother and sister do all the time.

My little baby is growing up!