Recent Pics

I am attaching some recent pics. Some are from when Natalee had surgery, some from when she was in the hospital & others are just random pics. Hope you enjoy!

Halloween 2009

The night before Halloween, Terry & I took Natalee to Stewart to visit with his family, since he would have to work on Halloween, and we wanted everyone to see her in her Halloween costume. Natalee was a tiger! And a very cute tiger at that! We went to Mamaw Boatman's house for a little while & a couple of Terry's aunts stopped by to see Natalee. We went back to the Mitchell's & enjoyed dinner and visiting. Saturday, Brandi kept Natalee for a few hours while I cleaned the house & got everything ready to go to town. We met Debbie when she got off work to get Natalee & Katie Lauren dressed. Katie Lauren was a zombie cheerleader. We went to visit with Aunt Bell for a few minutes then with Mrs. Dimple. We walked down one street so Katie Lauren could get some candy. There just wasn't very many people participating in trick or treating this year. The street is usually packed but there may have been about 50 people walking down it. We then went to Immanuel Baptist for their harvest fest. We did the cake walk & won a lot of cupcakes! They also had a sweet shop. I bought Natalee some cotton candy and cookies. Needless to say she did not like the cotton candy, but loved the cookies! Afterwards, they had trunk or treating. It was fun...crowded but fun! I'll post pics as soon as I can. I'm going to try to tonight.

Catching up...

I promise I have not forgotten about you all out there! We rearranged the living room, so we moved the computer & we haven't put it back up yet. I will try my best to get caught up on pics & everything within the next week or so.

I have been busy trying to plan Natalee's birthday party & trying to get ideas for her for Christmas! I think I just about got it all figured out though! We are doing a polka dot theme for her birthday. I have designed the invites & just need to take one more picture so I can get them printed & in the mail. I hope to get them in the mail next week.

After Natalee's little stint in the hospital, we have just been busy with different things. On October 24, Terry & I went with Callaway & Dustin to watch the Arkansas Razorbacks play against Ole Miss in Oxford. Of course we were all dressed in our Arkansas gear. We sat under the jumbotron (sp?) and were surrounded by mostly Rebel fans. There were a few Razorback fans behind us & in front of us though. Needless to say Ole Miss won. Natalee stayed with my mom & Brandi. We always work the bingo at the CA harvest fest, so they worked on that. Luckily, we got back in time to go. Well I did, Terry went home to watch the MSU/Alabama game.

Of course, Oct. 31 was Natalee's first Halloween. I will write a separate post about all of that & post pics. Natalee went back to the doctor on Nov. 9. She had a runny nose & a bad cough. Luckily, she only had a sinus infection! On Nov. 7, we had Katie Lauren's 9th birthday party. It was at Roller World in Grenada. Of course Natalee can't skate, but she had fun watching the other kids. She loved the lights too! Terry's birthday was on Nov. 4. We didn't do anything big. I arranged for all of the parents to meet in Carrollton at Peppercorn Grill at 6:30. Terry didn't know anything about it & was surprised when we arrived. Brandi had bought an ice cream cake for him, & he was surprised to see it too! The next weekend, we had a secret Christmas project, we had to do. All of you parents & grandparents will find out later!! And last weekend....we were just lazy!! We did have our Thanksgiving dinner with Mrs. Delma & Mr. Roger. Mrs. Delma also asked Mamaw Boatman to join us. After dinner, we went to visit with Papaw Mitchell. Natalee wanted to play with his cat, but she was a mean kitty so we wouldn't let her. We really need to visit with everyone more often but our schedules are just hectic!

Oh...Natalee is WALKING!!! Well only when she wants to! We can put her down & she will take off sometimes, then other times, she will curl her legs up & refuse to stand! I hope she will be walking really good within the next couple of weeks...or at least by Christmas!

Well we hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! Stay safe...especially if you go shopping Friday!

Still Alive!

Yes we are still alive! We have just had so much going on I haven't had time to update. Natalee had her tubes put in a week ago last Thursday. Everything went great but she did have a slight case tonsilitis, but it wasn't too bad. We were still able to leave the hospital at 10:00. We then went to every pharmacy in Greenwood to get her medicine filled. Walgreens didn't have it & neither did any pharmacy in town. We finally had to call the doctor's office to get a different medicine. We finally made it home around 12. That afternoon Natalee was running a fever. At 4:00 it was 101.8. I gave her Tylenol, but 2 hours later it has spiked. It was then 103.3! I called Dr. Lambdin & he said he suspected it was from her tonsilitis. I stayed home with her Friday & she ran a little fever, but it never got as high as it did Thursday night. Saturday, we stayed home all day & was lazy. Her fever hit 103.1 at about 5:45. A few minutes later she threw up all over me, her, & the blanket! Terry & I decided it was time to take her to the ER. We got to the ER about 7:15. We finally got to see the doctor a little after 10. They did blood work & a chest x-ray. Everything was fine. They finally decided it was probably a blood infection. They got a urine sample & it was okay too. They said since she wasn't eating/drinking very much & wasn't having as many wet diapers, it would be best we stayed overnight. We finally got in a room about 1:30 Sunday morning. Doc came in that morning & said we would at least be there until Tuesday! Her fever never got over 102 the whole time we were there so that was a good thing! Monday night, she had a slight fever of 100.4 & they said it would be at least 24 hours after that dose of Motrin before we could go home. Doc came in Tuesday morning & said he believed she was better and we could go home. If her fever started going back up then we would have to go back to the ER. Luckily we have been home for almost a week & she hasn't had any more fever! Well, except for teething fever!
Speaking of teeth...Natalee now has 4! The top two came in over that weekend. Mom seems to think she is getting her next two teeth but I haven't felt them. Although it is kinda hard when she won't let you get your fingers in her mouth unless she decides she wants to bite them! She loves to bite! I don't know what we are going to do with her!
Friday was Natalee's last day at The Learning Tree. I never really had any problem with them so I'm actually going to miss them, but I didn't want to leave Natalee there & then have problems later down the road like everyone else has been. She started her new daycare today. She is staying in an at home daycare. The lady that is keeping her has a grandson that is best friends with my brother, so I feel safe with her there. I took her in this morning & she got down & started playing right away. Mrs. King called about 9:30/9:45 & said she was having a hard time getting her to take her bottle. She wanted to be sure she was doing things correctly to get her to take a nap because she was so sleepy. I told her to just rock her & she would eventually take her bottle. I hope she didn't have any more problems!
Saturday night, we had an engagement party for one of my sister's friends & her fiance. They got engaged on the beach while playing putt-putt back in July and will be getting married next June or July (can't remember the date!). We had a great turnout and everyone had lots of fun! I just love throwing parties! I love the decorating & food planning & making! I can't wait for Natalee's first birthday!
Speaking of birthday...I already have her theme picked, invites made (did them myself), & cake picked out! I also have the location & time planned. I just need to finish the guest list & get the invites sent. Oh, and the menu! I'm not sure what to do about food, but I'll figure it out soon enough. Right now I'm trying to find her a Halloween costume.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Well, not really, just haven't had much to blog about. Last time, we were waiting to go to the ENT to see about Natalee's ears. Well, she will be getting tubes Thursday morning! Terry went back to his old schedule working 48 hours & off for 96 hours. He has been trying to work a lot of overtime so we can have the extra money for Christmas.

I received a call Friday afternoon from the lady that was keeping Natalee at her daycare. The owner had fired her early this past week because two other women were telling lies about her, saying she was mean to the kids and never in the infant room. I know for a fact she was never mean to those kids. If she had been mean, Natalee wouldn't have loved her the way she did! She was the only lady Natalee would go to and the only one she wanted anything to do with. She also told me a bunch of other stories about that place. Needless to say, Natalee will go to daycare Monday, 1/2 day Tuesday & all day Wednesday. After that, she will be some place else. I am going to call around Monday to see if I can find her a place. If not, Ms. Pat said she would keep her in her home until we can find a place.

It has been raining horribly here for about a month. We did get a break over the past week, but it started back today. It has rained, literally non-stop today! The wind is also blowing like crazy! We still have this week for it to rain and hopefully it will be gone the next week! Well that's all I can think of to blog about today!

A Little Break from it All!

Yay! We finally had a vacation! We went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge with Terry's parents last weekend. We left early Thursday morning. We stopped in Fort Payne, Alabama at the Alabama Museum & Fan Club. We signed the wall of fans & saw all of the instruments, clothes, baby things...all the things that were special to each member of the band.

It took us about 10 hours but we finally made it! When we got to Pigeon Forge, traffic was awful! They were having a "Rod Run" (car show) and I think everyone & their mamas were there! We got the keys to our cabin & made our way to find it. It was high up the mountain. We thought we weren't gonna make it for a minute. There was this steep curve that was not fun going up when it was raining! The view from our cabin was beautiful! Those 2 lines in the pic are where the tram went across.

We went back into town to get something to eat. After we ate, we did a little exploring through town to see what we might want to do the rest of the weekend. We went back to the cabin and got settled in. Friday morning, first thing we did was Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. Here are a few pics of the different fish & sharks.

Natalee loved the jellyfish!



Look! It's Nemo!

I thought this was a really cool pic of a shark!

Gotta love the sea turtle!


We did the Ripley's Mirror Maze. A bit of advice...don't waste your money. We only did it because Natalee loves mirrors. Well...she hated it! She started crying! When we finished that, we went to find a place to sign up for a time share tour so we could get free Dixie Stampede tickets. Mrs. Delma & I did that while the guys went to get the truck. It started raining on us, so we decided to ride out to Cade's Cove. It's an 11 mile scenic one way route. If you're lucky, you may end up seeing one of these:


We were really close to it and it was the first time I had ever seen a black bear! The park ranger said he was probably between 2-4 years of age. He eventually jumped down & ran off into the woods. We also saw a buck that was in full velvet bedding down & several flocks of turkeys. On our way back into town, we stopped by to get this picture. It was a beautiful sight!

We decided to do Ripley's Believe It or Not before we headed back to the cabin. It had some really neat stuff in there. And some stuff I don't care to ever see again...although I'm sure I will.
Saturday, we did our 3.5 hours at the timeshare tour & finally got our Dixie Stampede tickets. We decided to ride into Pigeon Forge. It took us 1.5-2 hours to go 3 miles! We ate lunch at Cracker Barrell then went to the go-kart place. Terry & Mr. Roger rode the go-karts. The ladies just watched. We all played about 6 holes of mini golf before we headed back to the cabin to change & get ready for Dixie Stampede. On the way back to the cabin, Natalee started screaming. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. I happened to feel down in her car seat. It was covered with ants! We pulled over, stripped her & stripped her car seat. We still don't know where they came from. Luckily, she only got bit 3 times & it wasn't serious! We finally got ready & went back toward Pigeon Forge. We found an alternate route & luckily the traffic wasn't as crazy. Dixie Stampede was the best! Unfortunately, they didn't have any seats on the South side, so we had to be Yankees. :( It was still fun though! We were served cream of vegetable soup & biscuit. Then we got a whole rotisserie chicken, a slice of pork loin, a half a herbed potato & an ear of corn. For dessert, we had an apple turnover. The best part...no utensils! We had to eat it all with our hands! Sadly, we were not able to take pictures, so I don't have any to show how much fun we had. Sunday morning we got up & got everything packed. We went to Applebarn to eat breakfast. It was really good. We shopped at the country store in Applewood Village. Here are a few pics of the go-karts & one of Natalee.



We finally made our way home. There were a couple of wrecks on the interstate. It took us about 2 hours to move about 3-5 miles. It was awful! All in all, we had a great time! It was nice to take a break from the reality. But I am glad to be home!

Doctor Visits....

Yes, we have had more doctor visits. Last Sunday, Natalee had a high temperature (102.9) so I called & made an appointment that Monday morning. She had her 6th ear infection! We are still taking our amoxicillin. We go Friday to talk to the ENT to determine for sure if she has to have tubes. More than likely we will have to! I dread it but if it has to be done, it has to be done. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 10 oz.

I took her back this morning for her 9 month check up. Her ears have cleared up, thank goodness, but we will still have to have tubes. Everything else looks good though. She is right on track with her height & weight. This morning she weighed 16 lbs. 14 oz. She hasn't gained much but she is gaining! Natalee is now 26.5 inches long. I think she's gonna be a shorty! :) (just my personal opinion) But she may surprise us & hit a growth spurt.

We have been trying to start her on table foods. She doesn't really care for them at the moment, so doc said to give her a big spoonful of something & let her play in it every night to get her used to the texture. She will get some in her mouth & will eventually like it. If she doesn't like it after the 14th try, then she doesn't like it! He also said no fish, eggs or orange juice until one year, but said everyone gives babies eggs before then & as long as they don't have an allergic reaction then they should be fine.

I'm a Big Girl Now

Well this has past week was an interesting one! Tuesday night, Natalee finally started sitting up by herself! She has been able to sit for a while but not pull herself into the sitting position. She is now a pro at it! Thursday night we went to the PeeWee football game at CA to watch Ryan. He is in the 6th grade & this is his 2nd year to play. He never really showed interest in football until last year & he actually loves playing! I am actually very proud of him, because I never thought he would be that into sports! Needless to say, they lost, but they did a great job! When we got home that night, I put Natalee on the floor to play. Terry & I were unloading groceries, we looked up & she was trying to crawl! She has perfected that yet, but she is crawling all over the place! Saturday, she was on the floor playing again. I walked in the kitchen to clean her walker. I wasn't gone but a minute at the most. I walked around the corner & she had pulled herself up on the couch & was walking back & forth! She sure has been progressing alot lately. I'm surprised she did all of that within 4-5 days though. Granny said she never thought Debbie was going to do anything, but she sat up, crawled & walked all within 1 week, so I really shouldn't be that surprised. Oh, she has also started saying "Mamma"!!

Friday night was another home football game for Carroll! We won 32-0!! We went to Jackson Saturday afternoon. We went to Babies 'R Us to get Natalee a new "big girl" carseat. We got the pink & brown Graco My Ride 65. I absolutely love it! So does Natalee. She was starting to look big in her infant carrier, and now she looks little again! She is so cute in it though. When we went to Wal-Mart the other night, we bought Natalee a toothbrush & some "training toothpaste". We have been brushing her 2 teeth and gums with one of those fingertip brushes, but we decided it was time to get her used to a toothbrush and toothpaste. We tried it out Saturday morning & she loved it. She grinned the whole time I was brushing them & didn't mind the toothpaste either! Of course I only used a very small amount.

A Recipe A Day

I started a new blog. I am going to try my best to update it daily. After all it is called "A Recipe A Day"! Check it out & follow!!

Click on the title & it will take you right to it!!

Wordless Wednesday