I love old photos..

This is Mom and Daddy with me and our dog Patty, she was a Scottish Terrier.  Aren’t we all so young and cute?  

And here is Daddy (far right) with his older brother, Uncle Ervin and his  younger sister, Margaret (but we call Artie – not a clue HOW that name came up except that I guess my cousin, her niece HollyBeth couldn’t say Margaret – she’s the oldest so we can blame it all on her.)

And here is Dad, (far bottom right) with his Dad, My Poppa, GramMabel, Uncle Ervin and his wife, my Aunt Mary (tp right) and Aunt Artie.  My guess is that this is at one of the oh so exciting FAMILY REUNIONS….all I can say is Uncle Windell and Brunswick stew – oh and WHOOOOWHOOOOWHOOOOOO.

Marriage Advice….

Over on Kelly’s blog she does this “show us your life” stuff each week…show us your dining room, your bedroom, your kitchen, your whatever. 

This week it’s share your marriage advice.  Now, bless her heart, she gives her disclaimer and says she is not one to offer advice…what-eva!

I have to tell you – I think all the sentiments are sweet and all – but I really got the point I wanted to PUKE at all the sappiness.

I’m sorry.  Just being honest. 

I wanted to GAG. Totally GAG.  I had to stop reading…..

Marriage is HARD WORK.  Period.  It’s totally worth it.  I love my husband dearly.  I do.  And lord help him – he seems to love me…which I’ll admit cannot be an easy task.  We’ve been married for almost 17 years.  And we’ve been together for 19 years. 

Here’s my advice…

OR

 

Yep, that’s how we’ve made it this far!

The NICU scars……

Jessi, a mom over at  Life with Jack, wrote about the NICU and the mark that it leaves…..I’ve been thinking about it so much since I read it.

Being a NICU mom is something that never leaves you.  You might let the memories slip far into the corners of your mind… but anything can trigger “that feeling”.  A sight, a sound (especially beeping sounds, I’ll have to tell you when Pootie was in the ER following his diving accident and they had him hooked up to those damn monitors – his heart rate would drop as he would doze off and the alarm would sound and I was a nervous mess.).  News that someone else has had a preemie/micro preemie is REALLY hard.  To think there is yet another wee baby going thru so much is heart breaking.   You realize, that part of what you lived thru will never go away. 

Fade?  Yes, but slightly.

Being “there”.  Watching your baby.  Praying for you baby.  Waiting to hold your baby. Waiting to touch your baby. Crying.  Thinking. Wishing. Promising. Dreaming.

We were so fortunate to have a family that we “knew” from soccer reach out to us.  They were NICU parents with their son, Luc, who was born at 32 weeks (3 lbs 11 oz).  Luc was 7 when Bubba was born.  He had a TON of health issues.  He had horrible lungs.  (The doctors waned to remove one of his lungs!  His mom and dad knew better and actually had him moved to a different hospital.)  He had a brain bleed.  He almost died. So when Ryan came along – they were there.  Both Kerri and Marc reached out to us and listened.  And understood.  They shared their road traveled with Luc.  We were so lucky, we could see that it is possible to survive the NICU rollercoaster.  Luc is just the cutest little guy running around the soccer field, hugging and kissing on his parents…watching him gave us hope.    All the speed bumps we’ve had recently, they have been right there with us.  They are some of our best friends and I am so thankful for them.

The December after Bubba was born, Kerri’s cousin-in-law, Nicole, gave birth to a 28+ week baby girl here in town and Kerri put me in touch with them.   I was more than happy to “pay it forward”.  Carolyn was 6 months younger than Bubba and they were walking down the same road we had just walked.  Nicole and I still talk, not often because we are both busy moms.  But when something comes up, great milestones or small hurdles, we are there for each other.

Thru the different blogs I read I stumbled across a prayer request for a family that had just had a micro preemie.  I read their blog and I just cried.  Those emotions just raced back in. Even though their little guy arrived even earlier that Bubba – I knew. 

I know what it’s like to be told your babies brain has (had) a bleed, a bad one.  To wait every week for that head scan.  To be told it’s ok.  To look everyday to see if your baby has gained a % of an ounce.  Anything.  The nerves, the anxiety.  And again, the crying, thinking, wishing……My heart just breaks knowing that they are going thru what we went thru, plus some.  Oddly enough this family lives around the corner from me! Their sweet baby is in the same hospital that Bubba graduated from!  I had to reach out to them and let them know that I KNOW !  I GET IT!   I’m HERE! 

I know our scars are very mild compared to what other families have gone and will go thru.  I know Bubba is doing great.  He’s the most talkative 2 year old, EVER.  He is so smart and so strong and so determined.  Be he still has hurdles…..

Jessi is right….the NICU does leave scars….

But the NICU connects you to people who you would otherwise not be connected.  We’re the only ones that really understand what (not all) of what another NICU family is going through. 

We can all compare our scars and help each other band-aid the wounds

 

 

 

UGGGG

UGG- I’m trying out some new blog settings – so hang in there – I’m changing some things….or not, if it goes BLAH – I’ll go back to what I know.

 

very frustrating…and it’s about time I find a new design ;0) that’s my favorite part…

Happiness is….

your Sissy letting you help make brownies.  (He’ll be mad as he gets older and realizes that she put him in that pink apron of hers…)

NOTE:  The apron that Lola is wearing was GramMabel’s.  Lola loves wearing aprons while she cooks – which something that only grandmothers do.  Cracks me up.  I love that we have it and she wears it.  It would make GramMabel happy. 

Bubba Update…

Just wanted to give you a bullet point update on how the Bubba is doing now that we’ve had 4 visits with Ms. Christie, his physical therapist. 

1-She is amazing.  We knew that on the first visit.  She didn’t force herself onto him.  Christie came in, took her shoes off, and sat down on the floor and let Bubba come to her.  Smart woman.

2-He loves her.  How do I know?  Yesterday as she was leaving, he was crying “paweeze don go home Ms. Chwistie”. 

3-She brought cool toys for him to play with yesterday.  Might have added to the crying yesterday, but still.  He didn’t want her to leave.

4-She brought FISHING toys. Bubba loves fishing.  Bubba and Poppa sit in the boat and talk fishing all the time.  One day soon, they will sit on the boat IN THE WATER.  Baby steps.  For me.

5- Once she figured out he liked fishing – she went with it. The rings he needed to step in and out of, she called them ponds.  That’s a smart woman.

So it works like this, Christie comes, they play, she watches, we talk, she points out things for me (us) to work on, and then we schedule the next weeks appointment.  Sounds simple huh?  REALLY!  Cause when was the last time YOU tried to get a 2 year old to do what you want when you want it done? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

During the week between visits we are working on:

1- sitting – he’s not W sitting all the time.  His regular criss cross sitting is getting better. we tell him to fix his legs and he does. 

2- stepping – the stair step that I never use for my fat butt – perfect for him to practice up down, up down on. 

3-using his right leg more….he favors his left leg..

4-not keeping his hands in a fist when at rest.  it’s so funny because he knows he’s doing it and will say “fix ya hands” to himself.  silly boy.

5-squatting….keeping his knees over his feet instead of letting his knees fold inward….letting his knees fall inward is cheating – it’s not using his muscles……

6-stairs – like a big boy

That’s some of what we do…and he gets to play games to learn how to modify the “cheating” that he has been doing…..

He’s very smart so he is catching on quickly!

I can’t help it

I can’t.  There a couple of TV shows that I watch, I admit that I watch them.  And I LIKE watching them.  I think it’s cause I am so freaking normal in comparison.

Toddlers and Tiaras'

Really?  They say soccer mom’s are NUTS?  AHHHH no.  Not next to these crazy a pageant moms!  Even nutty are…the PAGEANT dads!!!!!  HELLO – do you think that they are gay?  And the new season that just started is proving to be just as NUTTY as the past seasons. 

I don’t get it.  WHY and HOW do these people think that spray tanning, acrylic nails, fake teeth (aka FLIPPERS) and some goofy dang clothes is NORMAL?  REALLY?  Tammy Faye Baker must be their idol – all I’ve got to say about it…

There is one girl, Macakenzie, (that’s to her facebook page) that is truly deserving of her won show.  Cause there ain’t another kid around that controls her parents and every other adult around her like this kid….go ahead, check her out, she’s a HOOT!  And the country twang on her sends even my manly boys in to the floor laughing their butts off! 

How much of WUSS her momma is is a totally different story for another day.

And yeah, I know, I’m not helping because I keep watching! 

TRAIN. WRECK.

My Strange Addiction 

Did ya watch any of those shows? 

Nutty nutty nutty.  WHO EATS LAUNDRY DETERGENT?  There have been a couple of them.  Some idiot fool man ate glass – like it was dang chips and salsa.  (Obviously the crunchy kind – let’s just take a moment to think about this….does the glass come out and does that hurt??)  The lady that had the puppet?  The girl that was addicted to tanning?  KOOKOOVILLE is calling you home honey! 

and my all time favorite

Hoarders or Buried Alive

Same show, two different networks.  Makes me feel like my house is a very clean organized homestead!  haha.  No really – this is probably the saddest of all shows because these people are just sick.  Plain and simple.  SICK. 

This is someone’s bedroom.  THEIR BEDROOM. 

And this is someone’s kitchen.

It’s just so sad.  These people’s hearts are hurting so bad from SOMETHING. 

And dang it makes for some good TV….and can also motivate the hell out of me to clean out some closets!

Nags Head 2011.

 

So – we were at the beach.  If you are a buddy on Facebook, I know, your saying DUH right now. 

Here are all the pictures….before you watch the movie, scroll down to the bottom of my blog and turn that music off so you can hear this summer’s theme songs.

Nags Head 2011

Happy Birthday Lola!

Today my sweet girl is TEN!  Amazing.  She is such a neat young lady.  I am so blessed to have her as my daughter.  She knows no stranger.  She is independent.  She is smart.  She has a kind heart (ok, for everyone besides her brothers haha).  She loves being around people.  She loves her dogs and takes such great care of them. She is a pack rat and it drives me crazy – but she is the best person to organize a pantry!  She is super sassy, super girlie, and part tomboy all rolled into one big ole hug!  I love her very much.