My Silly Head

This is about a 4 minute video of Noah being so silly! He starts swaying and running into things/falling down when he's tired. He loves to put the camera bag around his neck all the time but when he's tired, it makes him even more unsturdy.

Noah LOVES to be chased - especially by his daddy at the end of the day. And lately, he's been trying to get Piper to chase him. So when he started doing it last night while he was already super tired, silly and with the camera bag around his neck, it was hilarious! He giggled and giggled and soon Piper caught onto what he was doing and started being silly with him.

Enjoy!

Little Sis

Today is my little sister, Kelly's 28th birthday. What a blessing that young woman is to me, my family and the children in the State of Alabama. Becoming an assistant attorney general of Alabama at 27 was so impressive. But what's more impressive is her heart for victims. Everyday, my sister rescues infants to pre-teens who have been robbed of their innocence and purity. Then she gets to find, prosecute and hand over the punishments that the sickos who harm these children will have to serve out.

There are few that I admire more than my baby sister. She certainly represents what I will always aspire to be in this earthly life; she lets the love of her Savior shine through everything she does. Kelly's testimony is long and full of struggles. But to see her where she is today makes those struggles and shortfalls so worth it. She blesses me daily - I will never be able to convey to her my gratitude and depth of love for her. So I will simply say: I love you, Koodlebug and am so proud of you. Happy birthday.

Messy Boy

This boy loves chocolate pudding! Can you tell?

Ave Maria

My beautiful Persian cat, Maria, has been in my life for years and years now. She's the most beautiful cat: solid white with silver tips and the most piercing teal blue eyes you've ever seen. She's a Chinchilla Persian so it looks like she's always wearing eyeliner. She's registered as "Ave Maria" but we've always called her Maria (I didn't choose the name; her previous owner did).

Maria's moved with me from Texas to Alabama to South Carolina to Hawaii and has been such a trooper. She turned 9 just this month and has always been healthy - always. I adopted her many years ago from a breeder who used Maria as a showcat and then as a breeding machine. She was entirely too little of a Persian to have as many kittens as she produced in her early life. So I got her fixed and brought her home with me when I was stationed in Texas.

She has loved every minute of living in Hawaii these 3 years because she has so many windows for her to lounge in the sunshine for hours on end. At 7 a.m., she's ready for her breakfast and at 5 p.m. on the nose, it is her dinner time. She often lingers around after dinner in the hopes that I will give her a little taste of milk. Maria loves to play at the most random times - usually it is in the wee hours of the morning when she jumps on my head, purrs loudly and starts meowing at the top of her lungs to get me to play with her. She loves to drink water whenever and wherever she can find it. She loves dripping water in the sink, Piper's water bowl, her own water bowl and especially any toilets that are left open.

Noah chases her from one end of this house to another and squeals in delight in the off chance that he might catch her. He says "e-ow, e-ow" and "itty, itty" over and over to her. He adores her as much as I do but she's a total "mama's girl." Never has she been a lap cat on your terms. But she loves me (and now Dan) so much that she will slip onto our laps from time to time.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I just returned from taking our overly anxious dog, Piper, and Maria to the vet for their health certification that they must recieve in order to fly. Piper goes on Continental on Sunday to arrive into Pittsburgh on Monday and Maria goes on Northwest Monday to arrive into Alabama on Tuesday. We will be separated from them for about 6-8 weeks and are very sad. But they cannot travel all over the country with us so we are very blessed to have family members willing to take care of them while we are apart and getting settled in Louisiana.

Piper got a clean bill of health and I just expected Maria would do the same. She has always weighed 5 lbs on the nose but today, she weighed about 4.7 lbs - meaning she's lost 6 ounces in less than a month... not good. But I didn't think anything of it till the vet started feeling around on her midsection and pulled out a huge mass of skin and said "What's this?" My reply was that it was just a matte - she's constantly shedding her 2 inch long coat. But the doctor made me come feel it. Well, it was her right kidney which is currently about 3-4 times bigger than the normal sized kidney she should have. Her left kidney is about the same size.

Going back to the stress levels I am already experiencing, that was more than I could bear. I held back the tears long enough to find out that Maria has renal disease and her kidneys are on the downward spiral. The doctor asked about how much water she was drinking and I told her the same thing I just wrote about - where there is water, there is Maria drinking it. She said she's doing that because her kidneys are enlarged and are putting out the water she intakes too quickly for her body to absorb any. So she's dehydrated constantly.

The vet immediately pumped her with an antibiotic and an i.v. bag of fluids. She said she would allow Maria to travel but that this will need to be her last flight. I have to take her back to the vet before she boards her flight Monday for more fluids to be pumped into her and that my mom should immediately take her to the vet for further testing on her renal system because she's at some stage right now of renal failure.

Once they took Maria out to get the i.v. and it was just me and Piper in the room, I broke down. Yes, this is just a cat. But she's MY cat and she's been MY companion for many years now - through some of the hardest years of my life when I was stationed alone in Texas while Dan was stationed in South Carolina for 3 years. And to find this all out after I paid $500 a month ago for Piper and Maria's annuals and for many antibiotics for Piper, then another $150 for more antibiotics for Piper's ears, then another $200 today for this appointment, and a total of $650 for both Maria and Piper's flights out on Sunday and Monday, I wanted to scream.

I am so sad about my little cat quite possibly near the end of her life and what lies ahead for her if her kidneys are already too damaged. And I am mad that this is something we are finding out right before we move and my life is turned upside down already. This might just be the nail in the coffin for me and the amount of stress that I can handle. I need prayer because I cannot take much more emotional and physical draining than I am already experiencing.

Happy Hump Day

I never watch You Tube videos unless they feature my child/family or my friends' children or families. However, someone sent this video to me a couple of years back and when I am having a bad day or just need a good laugh, I watch this clip. It can bring me to tears I laugh so hard. Have a Happy Hump Day and watch this clip! Hope it makes you smile ;)

Baby Toes

I know I have talked and talked about how much we have going on right now and I know that some of you out there must be sick of reading it by now. Just understand that when I complain via my blog, I am allowing myself some "venting" privileges that I don't get too much around my house these days! Unless it is my poor husband or a 16 month old, no one else is really willing to listen. So, indulge me, my blog friends!

This home is in chaos right now. There are suitcases strewn about that will not be unpacked from our Maui trip because we intend on adding to those suitcases already semi-packed since we will be "living" out of them these next several months. The dog is constantly following me around and just asking for me to put her back on Prozac for dogs; she's sensing some major changes in the air and rightly so since she's boarding a plane on Sunday for Annie and Todd's home in Pennsylvania where she will live for the next month and a half. The cat will leave Monday for Alabama for a few months with my parents in Alabama. Dan's finishing up his last work week at the Joint Intelligence Operations Center. The first set of movers come Monday to take our unaccompanied baggage and then the primary movers come Tuesday - Thursday to pack up our entire home. We ship our Camry a week from now, sign over our Pathfinder's title to our friends who bought it this weekend, and get ready to live out of those previously mentioned suitcases indefinitely!

To add anything extra to do to the mix is just out of the question.... unless it involves our Noah. This past weekend in Maui, Noah was constantly trying to rid himself of his clothes, diaper and shoes so he could enjoy the Maui sun and sand in the way God intended for him to enjoy paradise! At some point, he must of tripped and snagged his 4th toenail on his little right foot because the poor thing was ripped down to the cuticle. I mean, that nail peeled all the way back, leaving a pulpy mess of skin underneath it exposed. But it didn't come all the way off so sweet Noah kept catching that nail on everything, including his shoes. He never even whined when it happened so we aren't sure when the accident occurred (boys never cry over anything that girls would expect them to cry over!)

By last night, the toe was starting to turn really red and starting to ooze just a bit. And throughout the night last night, our boy was waking up every half hour or so in tears; it was obvious something was causing him a great deal of pain. When he woke up this morning after a fitful night of sleep, his toe was purple, oozing and twice its normal size. The baby was limping around the house - it was heartbreaking. So our pediatrician squeezed him in and got him started on some serious antibiotics: his FIRST EVER antibiotics! I was so sad to have to give him such nasty meds - he's never had more than Motrin in his baby system so this was a hard thing for me to deal with. I hate having to medicate him - that is for certain. Even our doctor couldn't stop commenting how he was one of her only patients to never have had an ear infection or something requiring antibiotics. I was thrilled to hear that!

Our doctor also discovered that what we thought was just a tiny rash was actually a fungal infection so she started him on an anti-fungal cream on his tummy and leg. She suspects that that occurred because of how much time he's been spending in his swimsuit on the beaches here in Hawaii.

I tell you all of this not to garner sympathy because it is just one more thing added to our overflowing plates but to tell you that no matter HOW busy a mom becomes, she will stop everything in its tracks to make sure her baby is 100% healthy. It is so amazing to me how I hurt when Noah hurts. I felt my toe throbbing today as he limped around the house and I couldn't help but pray that his pain could become mine. He wanted his Mama today and there was no one else that could take my place. He wrapped his arms so hard around my neck over and over and showered me with kisses. And when nap #2 time came around, he wouldn't let me go; he just wanted to be held and rocked as he fell asleep on my chest. I just allowed him to be close to me and although he couldn't say it, I know that it made him think he was feeling better.

There will be a day one day soon that I will ache to hold Noah and rock him like I did today yet he will be "too big" or it will be "gross" to him to be with his mama. I try to remind myself of that during moments like those that I had today with my baby. Never a greater feeling exists in this world than when your child wants ONLY YOU! Noah makes me feel so loved and appreciated and I would give my right arm any day, all day if it meant that he didn't have to suffer in even the slightest way.

It is amazing what an antibiotic will do when it is treating an infection. After his first dose, his toe was returning to a normal, healthy shade of pink and the oozing had slowed. I am very grateful for that. With all we have coming up, we need our boy to be as healthy and happy as possible.

Maui Videos

Here are some cute videos from our trip to Maui. The first one is my favorite - a cute little girl came up to Noah to "talk" and she let out a loud squeal in his face. It excited him so much that he ran over to a doorway and let out the most shrill squeal ever! Listen closely. Be sure to pause our music player at the very bottom of this page so you can hear the videos.

I will be adding more videos later so check back.

Maui

We had a fabulous time in Maui these past 4 days. It was a wonderful trip for our family but now we are back and into the weeds with moving. I can't tell you how much we have to do - everywhere I turn, there is something waiting to be taken care of. So this past weekend was much needed.

We left Thursday morning and landed in Maui after lunch (just a 30 minute flight). Noah was in desparate need of a nap so when I went to check in, our room wasn't going to be ready for another 2 hours. I quietly asked the lady if she could give us another ocean view room (or anything) so we could put him down. She didn't say anything and handed over the keys to a pent house condominium free of charge! We couldn't believe it. It was gorgeous and overlooked the ocean - we were thrilled.

We woke up Friday morning and went to the beach. As you can see, the beaches are amazing. In our opinion, Maui is the most beautiful of the islands and is FAR more beautiful than our island of Oahu. Don't get me wrong: Oahu is gorgeous but there is no more beautiful place in the Pacific than Maui. Noah had a great time swimming in the ocean with the technicolor "dishies" (fish) that were swimming around us.

After the beach, we took Noah to the Maui Aquarium for a few hours. He LOVED it! He was so tired but couldn't stop running around from tank to tank. He especially loved banging on the sharks' tank... not funny to me!
Friday night, we ate at a place called "Kimo's" on Front Road. We sat on the deck and I had orange glazed Leihe fish and Dan had the lobster stuffed Opah. YUMMMY. We sat right next to the Miami Heat basketball star Dwayne Wade which was really cool, too.

Saturday we had big plans to drive the Road to Hana on the northern stretch of Maui. Now, we expected to make many waterfall and garden pitstops but we had no idea what we were in for. To sum it up: the Road to Hana is absolutely stunning - our eyes were so overstimulated by the end of the day! But it is a long drive. We left at 8:30 am and finished the driving tour by 2:00 or so. HOWEVER, we didn't think it made sense to turn around to get back to our hotel via the same tiny, curvy, bumpy roads we'd just travelled so we decided to go straight. Well, we ended up in absolute no man's land. I am not kidding you: the southeast stretch of the island of Maui is exquisite but for 5 more hours, we drove one a one lane (not big enough for even our car) that was gravel and we saw no humans and no cows for hours on end. It was desolation at its finest. It was AWFUL! But so beautiful as you will see in the photos. However, if you ever drive the Road to Hana take note: TURN AROUND AND GO BACK THE WAY YOU CAME! There are no gas stations, no humans, no guard rails even at 100+ feet above the ocean, rock slides, you name the hazard and we saw/passed it!

So by the time we made it back to our glorious hotel resort, we were spent. Dan got take out, I put Noah to bed (he was exhausted from being in the car for almost 12 hours and he didn't nap because he was so overtired!), we opened a bottle of wine and some beer and watched our favorite show "Harper's Island." We were so tired!

Yesterday, we spent some time by the pool and then flew home. Everyone of us were exhausted but so happy from the weekend. We had such a memorable time. Now, we are up to our eyeballs in moving but we won't complain: life is good. We have a lot of going-away events to go to, lots of friends to say goodbye to, we ship our animals off island this weekend and we are on our way.

Dirty Boys and Doggies

This is the proof of how nasty (minus the loads of poo I have had to deal with these last 2 days) things are right now! But I made sure to put some cute pics in the mix too ;)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Take a Minute

I am having a heck of a week so far. I was just about to log on to start typing a post to let you all know how bad my past two days have been when I got this email from my dad. Wow... to say it put things in perspective is an understatment. I ask you all to take a minute to write this young man and say "thank you." I am about to go do the same.

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"Here's a guy that could use our help. He lost his arms and legs in Iraq and has been in the hospital for two years without visitors outside of his family. I am going to send him a card (that's all the family wants, no money) and express my gratitude for his service. If you would do the same and perhaps get a few others to join us, it might help his will to survive.

Sgt. Daniel Thornhill USMC
Fort Sam Houston Fisher House
3623 George C. Beach Rd
Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234"

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May we all consider ourselves blessed today.

I also have three thanksgivings that I want to share with you all. Back in December, I fell down a flight of stairs at my parent's home in Alabama while holding Noah. Thankfully, he was okay but my foot was not. I have no idea if I fractured anything because I just wanted to tough it out. It still is painful but not debilitating - I run 6 days a week on it so it hasn't been that bad.

However, about a month ago, I noticed a marble sized knot forming and growing ever bigger on top of my foot where I first injured it. It has been increasingly painful and the lump was hard to the touch. Finally, I got an appointment set up for yesterday morning to get it looked at but when I was about to get ready for the appointment, I looked down and noticed that the lump (which I was scared to learn more about) was GONE. Simply gone! There is no pain there, no swelling, no lump. So, I cancelled my doctors appointment and gave up some praise to the Lord!

Just yesterday, my dear friend Lori Herrera read some of our blog updates when she noted that I mentioned we were trying to sell our Pathfinder. Within hours, she and her husband bought our Pathfinder for her mother-in-law who is also their nanny to their girls. What an answered prayer! No more advertising that car or trying to sell it to strangers. And we can keep it till we leave island on the 27th so we don't have to worry about renting a car. That might seem like a small thing to many, but when you have to pack up your entire lives to cross back over an ocean, selling a car right away that you can't take with you is a BIG thing.

Another praise that I have concerns my dad. Back in July of 2000, I was in the officers version of basic training for 5.5 weeks at Tyndall AFB, Florida. We had no phone privileges, no internet, no connection with the outside world. I knew that my parents were in and traveling around France but I didn't know which dates they'd be flying.

Our basic trainers never announced the news to us until one day when we were in the auditorium and one of the trainers got on stage to tell us that an plane with many Americans on board had gone down in Paris. Well, sitting at attention and hearing that was very difficult for me because I knew my parents were there. I just silently prayed for their safety and waited to hear that everything was okay with them. Thankfully, it wasn't their flight - it was the last flight of the very famous, super-sonic Concorde jet.

2 weeks ago, my dad left for his annual trip around the world (mostly in Asia) with several of his employees to Troy University campuses in various locations. They were supposed to go to one of the Russian countries following their trip to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea but their flight in Dubai was delayed so my dad and his best friend, Colonel Schmidt, sent the rest of the team onto Georgia (the country) and they took a flight to Paris where they had a 1 day layover then came home to Alabama.

That was less than a week ago that they were in Paris. Just 1 1/2 days ago, an Air France jet disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean. They still haven't found it. My dad and Colonel Schmidt could have been on that flight had they been delayed a few more days.

God does answer our prayers of healing and safety. He wants us to pray for ourselves and take authority over our bodies as well as take authority in prayer over our loved ones.

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

I encourage you all to just give thanks today when you find yourselves in trying situations. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my patience and endurance has been tested beyond what I think I might be able to handle at this really stressful time in our lives.

You name it and it has happened to me and Dan in the last 48 hours (lots of poop eating, dog-sitting two very high maintenance dogs that have done more damage to our home than you could imagine, mud, water hoses brought INTO the home all while we are trying to get our lives organized and packed for Maui AND to move to Louisiana while taking a month's leave between here and Louisiana... you get my drift). But NOTHING is worth complaining about when I could use that energy to praise our Lord and thank Him for our safety, our health, our happiness.

I am so thankful for those three answered prayers today and I choose to be thankful and cast down satan and his "snares."