Facelift...

For those that stop by often, I'm giving my little place a facelift. It's about time really!

I'll add some more pictures of the kiddos....change some other things around, and make it a little more "me". So check back as since I don't have a job and I'm getting bored during nap time, it should change quite a bit.

Stay Away from Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, KY...

and here's the letter I sent to them as to why:

"It is a shame that Central Baptist doesn't care about the well-being of its patients. Today I put a check in the mail of a small amount towards my bill. I happened to receive a call today as well from your company that is contracted to do billing. I informed them that I put a check in the mail this morning. When asked how much it was for, I was informed that it wasn't enough and that my account would still go to collections because I was "under the limit" of what could be accepted. It's not really my fault that due to FMLA I lost my job after I was in your hospital. I filled out financial assistance, but was told when I called that it couldn't be redone to figure in the fact that I now had no job and my bill was my bill. Any other hospital in the area at least lets a payment be a payment regardless of the size and keeps the bill out of collections. I know this as the job I lost was in the financial area of one of the aforementioned hospitals.

So now, here is a patient with a brand new baby, lost her job and is barely scraping by on the income her husband has and it doesn't matter. I can't pay what you want me to when you want me to so you'll send my bill to collections to further hurt my well-being (credit) in the future.

We don't qualify for government help because we make too much, but we can't pay our bills because we don't make enough.

I will be passing on the information of my treatment in these regards to any and everyone I know. Our family will no longer be using the facility which is a shame as there are several staff members who do everything they can to make your stay as comfortable as it can be while you are there. Unfortunately, they don't know the company that they really work for."


You need to know how they really feel about their patients....they don't feel anything.

New LO and a suprise!

I just finished this LO this morning! I'm pretty proud of it. Not very complicated, but one more done for our Disney Vacation 2007 album.



And for the surprise!

I went to open the door to let Jackson out of his room from his nap and he was standing there STARK naked! I was totally shocked. I asked him where his diaper was and he pointed over to his bed and then went and got it.....Time to start potty training maybe?!

Free Wii for Dan.

Ok guys....

Dan has been a saint with everything I put him through! I'm trying to get a Wii for him. You know, his 30th Birthday is just over a month away. If yall could please just fill out one offer on the following link I'd be thrilled.

By the way, once you do so, you'll be given a reference number yourself to work on getting one for free!

Thanks so much I appreciate it!!

Click here to help get Dan a Wii for his birthday.

An update of sorts...

Well, yes, she came home when we thought she would! My has it been a transition to have 2 small children 17 months apart. It's been great though.

Kymberlin is doing extremly well. Her dr. is VERY pleased with her growth. As of Monday she was up to 8 lbs and 10 oz. That is a growth of 15 oz. in 10 days!

I'll have more pictures to come later.

In other news:
I've been meaning to put this out there for a while. I have 3 sites that offer free things. The free offers are gift cards, savings bonds and pictures. The only thing you pay on any of them is dirt cheap shipping on the pictures. If you'd like me to send you the link for any or all of the three make a comment with your email address in it please! (If you don't want your email posted, please let me know in your comment as I moderate all comments)

Ok, so my real other news.....don't get sick if you work for a hospital! Reader's Digest version: I don't qualify for FMLA. Because I was on bedrest for 2 months before Kymberlin was born plus what would be the 6 weeks after, I no longer have a job.

Don't fret, we have found something that we are trying out to see if we can handle it as a family and I can stay home!

Ok, it's late and I really need to try and get some sleep!

It's ALMOST like having a 2nd child.

Jackson became a big brother Wednesday August 13th at 15:07. He had a little sister named Kymberlin Opal. She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz ( a small baby for me) and is 20 inches long.

We ALMOST have a 2nd child as she's been hanging out in the NICU since she was born. My darling daghter thought it might be fun to gulp amneotic fluid as she was being taken out by the doctors. That became a problem with her lungs which also brought on some reflux leading to a few small heart rate drops.

I had no clue of what was going on until my pediatrician called me while I was in recovery letting me know that he couldn't get there right away and that one of the neonatologists would be checking her. To be completly honest, I still really had no idea until the doctor came up to my room about 8pm that night as to what was happening to my daughter.

So it's ALMOST like having a 2nd child. I have the pain pills and second beginnings of a scar to prove I birthed a child. I have all of those things that they DON'T tell you that happens after childbirth, but I won't go into the yucky details. Somehow, I just don't have a child at home and I'm sleeping through the night.

Kymberlin is expected to come home Monday. I can't wait!! She'll be sleeping on a wedge for a little bit longer to help with the reflux/heart issue, but she'll be home. I'm excited to see how her big brother reacts as the only time he has seen her is when daddy carried her out of the OR.

Monday will be just as special as last Wednesday was for me. It will be an emoitional day I'm sure.

5 Days!!!

Whew...it's almost here! In less than a week I will have 2 children! I can hardly beleive it.

It's much different this time. While we are totally excited to be parents again, there's not the anxiouness that there was with Jackson. I'm sure part of it is because there is a scheduled section too. That helps.

I really think Jackson is going to do pretty well with the transition to being a big brother. I'm excited to see his reaction when he comes to the hospital with Grammie and Papa.

In other nrews, I need to get a card done (TODAY) to submit for the Cricut Demonstrator. I'm not a big card maker, so I've been stressing about it. I really just need to get it done and over with.

Once it's done and submitted I will post it here for everyone to see!

Hurry up!!! Post!!

Heh...well, I'm totally slacking in the posting arena. Good thing that since I said twice a week I still have more than 2 days left in this week.

Not a whole lot on the bedrest front. Go back to the dr. today to make sure everything is still fine and see how big this kiddo is getting. I may have to take a detour to M's and/or HL. I'm also tossing around the idea of running into FFT and stopping at Memories Ala Mode. That'll really depend on timing and how I feel though.

Besides, I need to get home and pick up a little bit as the in-laws are coming into town with my boy!!! I can't wait to see him! It seems as if he grows a foot each week that he's gone....and this time it's been 2 weeks.

We're down to 19 days!! It's going to be no time whatsoever. So far, yet so close. I can't wait though! Not to mention, I know Jackson is going to be a GREAT big brother.

Most Recent LO

I had a heck of a time trying to get this loaded. My old scanner had a stitch program with it...apparently this one does not. So I had to try and find one that was free and didn't put a watermark across the finished product. FINALLY I found one. It's called Auto stitch. So far, so good...pretty easy to use.

So without any further adieu, here is the newest LO I created for Lasting Legacy.

Keep up!

You'd think being on bedrest would make it extremly easy to stay on top of my blog. HA! fooled you...okay, well I probably didn't fool you, but I REALLY want to be better about keeping up. Posting once a month, if that, isn't really worth it. So my goal is to post twice a week. We'll see how long that lasts.

I want to be able to share my life with friends and family. I want to share my scrapping as well. With our new computer, I shold be able to do a better job about being able to share current pictures, creative endevours and life in gerneral as it goes here.

My baby turned 16 mos. almost a week ago. I can't beleive it. His Aunt Neen works for Portrait Innovations in Crestview Hills. Since Grandma had him this past week, she took him down to visit Aunt Neen. His pictures are AMAZING!!! I was so shocked to see them.

Here are the ones they got printed:

To view the rest, click HERE.

So that's what's going on for now. The doctors are VERY happy with how Jumping Bean is growing. I'll head back towards the end of the month to make sure everything is still good.

Bedrest

So I've really had intentions on keeping up better with my blog. Maybe I can now since I've been put on bedrest.

I'm going to go on full maternity leave as well. The dr. keeps saying we'll see in 2 weeks if I can go back to work. Well, there are only so many 2 weeks left before the baby is going to be here.

I have a section scheduled for Aug. 13th. We are so excited!!! It's just in time for all the weddings of our friends and family as well!!

I'm going to try and be better about updating.... and finding a focus for the blog. I need to make myself a schedule for writing.

It's been a while...

Okay. So it's been more than a while. A lot has changed since I've been here last. Not really on the outside, but looking inward. Looking at myself as a woman, a wife, and a mom. Doing those things on my own, with friends I can trust, with my husband, but most importantly with God in the center of it all.

I've wanted to write for sometime now, but nothing has seemed right to put out there. I've been drawing bounderies..lots of them. Some new, some just needed to be reconstructed. Life has seemed to be better now that it has been started.

Family life is wonderful. For those few that don't know, we are adding to our family at the end of August. Once again we are waiting on the sex...and not really sharing names.

There really has been a lot going on in the past 5-6 mos. However, like I mentioned before, most of it really hasn't had the necessity to be shared as we were working through some things as individuals and a couple.

I hope to keep up blogging...at least once a week anyway. No promises though.

OK.....here's the deal.

It's not that I'm upset about her getting married. Really, I'm happy for mom if that's what she wants. My problem is the phone call. I mean, why couldn't she tell us? She would have killed me if I called her one day and said, mom dan and I got married. Or mom, Jackson has a new sibling. It just doesn't make any sense.

Whew....what a day yesterday was.

Jackson had a check up....that meant the weather was crappy. It seems like it is always raining the day he goes in. Anyway, I can't believe he's 9 months old already. He did great. Only one shot; the first half of his flu shot. He's 29 1/2 inches long and 21.02 pounds.

So I think it's going to be a normal afternoon. We get home and there is actually some good stuff in the mail!!! YAY!! Including a gift card for dinner.

So we went to Applebee's. Then we finished Christmas shopping. Yes, I said finished. Well, almost. I have to get some pictures printed for a couple things, but then they are done.

We come home and I had forgotten my phone. Mom called and left a voicemail. She sounded devious. When I called her back, I found out why.

She informed me that she had gotten married. WTH?! You just randomly go and get married. What's that all about? So I asked if Janine knew and Aaron (his son) and grandma and grandpa. Well, our family had gotten the same phone calls that I had just received. Aaron on the other hand knew they were getting married, but didn't know when. So why couldn't we know?? AHHH!

I just don't get it sometimes.

Wow....It's Thursday.

An update in regards to my miscarriage.

The dr. finally called Friday morning. It felt like it was never going to happen. The news was that I had passed everything naturally. So, in this bad event, that was the best news I could have received.

Needless to say, it has been an emotional week. Dan and I had a come to Jesus meeting to fix somethings that had been let go on both of our sides. We really saw how each other was feeling about certain things. So that's good.

It's cold....too cold. It's weeks like this that I wish I could winter in Florida with grandma and grandpa.

So it's December 6. Christmas is almost here and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. Well, I know I'm not ready for it. I'm not ready for some of the family drama. However, I'm going to be the bigger person. We're going to Cincinnati. AND staying at my dad's. So prayers would be appreciated. :)

Get ahold of me....if you can.

I know I've been rather difficult to call lately. My phone has either been off or just plain unanswered. We've been dealing with something that is so hard....emotionally and physically.

It's kind of ironic that my last post is what it was. Especially on that day too. Why?

It was that afternoon that I learned I was miscarrying. again.

Yesterday afternoon was spent at the hospital/dr office having an ultrasound to make sure that everything had cleared as well as doing bloodwork to try and rule out the possibility of an egtopic pregnancy. I find out today what some of the levels say. From there It may mean more bloodwork on Monday. If that's the case it'll begin a series of discussions I really don't want to have. D&C. I really don't want to go there.

So yeah, if I haven't gotten your phone call...well there's a reason. If I've not responded to something...you know why.

Stop thinking.

How do you stop thinking about getting pregnant so that it actually happens? I can remember telling other women, that when you stop thinking and stressing over it that it will happen. You can't just stop thinking about it. I've learned that little tidbit recently.

We want to grow our family. It's not a one sided thing at this point. We both want to grow our family. Even though I know it's not the truth, there's a part of me that feels like it's my fault that it's not happening. My body conditions have to be right. No stress. It has to be a perfect physiological moment.

Timing may not be perfect or the right thing. However, if you wait for the right time that's like saying I'm going to wait until all the lights are green to head home from work. You'll never make it home! Not to mention some of the best things in my life have come at the "wrong time."

The other thing I have to throw out is what others say. I've had comments from everybody who thinks they know what's best for me, for Dan, for us as a whole. There's a wall that has been broken down from before so it's a brand new learning experience on how to deal with the comments. And, it's not really even dealing with them as much as not retaining them and playing them over and over until I get so angry. That in turn causes stress on the body.

It's a vicious cycle. How do you stop and put an end to it?

Fun weekend.

Before I start about the weekend I just wanted to say one thing in regards to comments. Please make the note that we are up to a count of 3 weddings for Thanksgiving.

Now onto your regualrly scheduled post. :)

We just had a great time this weekend as a family. It really doesn't get much better. Friday we spent the day out shopping. It felt like we were running all over Lexington, but hey, it was a blast. From oil change to a fill up to buying Dan a tux for the inagural ball. It was just good to spend the day together. We enjoyed lunch at BD's Mongolian Grille. YUMMY!!! Who would have thought that for $30 you could find a REALLY nice pair of tuxedo shoes to fit a size 15 foot!

Friday evening, I headed to the store for DT. It was good to be with the girls. I didn't stay too late though. Happens when you get old! ha.

Saturday we went and looked at a different tux and ended up getting it instead. It was just a better price and we couldn't pass it up. Then we just came home and napped and hung out together.

Sunday after church we hung out. About 7 my friend Athena who was moving from CA to SC came to stay with us. Oh my gosh!!! It was just a blast!! We didn't go to bed until well after midnight last night. She left this morning for her last leg of her 3 week trip. The end stop: her grandbabies! WOW! Such a journey she's taken.

Otherwise, there's not a whole lot going on around here. We're just working on getting things ready to go see my mom and grandparents and then for me to go back to work full time again.

Oh!!! P.S. a big CONGRATS goes out to Sam!!! I'm so proud of you for winning!

Holiday Weekend Weddings.

Weddings. Love 'em? or Hate 'em?

That was the icebreaker question last weekend at cg.

I LOVE a good wedding. no really LOVE weddings. I dont' know what it is, I just do. It's a very special day. It's one of the biggest decisions and days in your life. I don't take it lightly.

However, what's up with the trend now to get married on a holiday weekend? Now weekends like Memorial Day and Labor day, not so much a big deal, everyone has that time off. Not to mention the fact that those weekends are made for getting together with friends and family yet aren't exclusive to close family.

But Thanksgiving?! I mean really. Isn't that a little selfish? Not everyone gets the time off to travel that weekend. It's a time to be with your immediate family. I happen to know of not one, but 2 weddings this year Thanksgiving weekend. (and one the weekend between Christmas and New Year's)

Yes, Thanksgiving is about being with your family, but come on....are you really supposed to take everyone else way from their close, immediate family? Now, I guess I should have said, that the 2 Thanksgiving weddings I know about are a couple of brides who have always been pretty selfish. So, maybe it's the perfect weekend for them to get married.

I realize that everyone doesn't think the same way I do. Yes, I believe it's selfish to get married Thanksgiving or Christmas weeken. It's my opionion.

No Baby and headed to Frankfort.

There has been a lot emotionally going on here in our little part of the world.

First off, just like the title says, there's no baby on the way. Yes, we've been "trying" to get pregnant again. Yes, I know I'm crazy. I've heard it a million times. Yes, I realize 'how close in age' they'll be. Yes, I know I've 'just lost all that weight'. I know. Really. I know.

Neither one of my doctors are worried about it at all. Not even a little bit. So, despite what you may think about how crazy I am, it's okay. And to be perfectly honest, I really don't want to hear how crazy I am any more.
It's what we want.
Thank you. :)

Moving on from that soapbox....

Frankfort. No, we're not moving. My job is though. Having a new govenor elect means a new position for me. Don't worry, I'm not leaving Mary Kay; it's just going to be a sidebar for the time being. My new adventure??

Chief of Staff!!! Yes siree bob, I'm going to be the cheif of staff for one of the cabinet positions. I can't quite disclose which one at this point, but I have been in contact with the person for whom I'll be chief of staff. You don't just get this opportunity; especially when you are 24. So yeah, I'm a slight bit excited.

My family, that knows, is so proud of me. Heck, I am too. It's just a super opportunity.