365 Days Ago...

We were driving the second leg of our move out to Arizona.

We had slept in the grossest motel in Van Horn, Tx. So gross that I made my children keep their shoes on at all time. Even in bed.

When we stopped for lunch, we thought we were going to be killed by an crazy drugged-out homeless guy in the Wendy's.

Luke had gotten carsick while we were driving through the hills of New Mexico and puked Disney Princess Fruities all over himself. I had to change him on the side of the 2 lane highway winding through said hills.

I had to call Alyshia in an absolute PANIC because I had gotten ahead of Jason, was about to run out of gas and there was nothing but desert and cactus as far as I could see.

We arrived in one piece at Martha and Gary's, and Romo promptly brushed up against a cactus and got a million and one needles in his belly.

But we had made. And we were there.

We were in for 6 months of laughter and tears, life and death, unbelievable heartbreak and pure joy. We couldn't have gotten there, been there and came back home without the support and prayers of so many people, to ALL of you I am eternally grateful.

As most of you know, we have had a very hard time since we got back. I thought it would be "business as usual", but our lives had changed so much going through what we did. Our priorities changed. Our view on life and death had changed. We grew up a lot and realized we were making a lot of mistakes. But, my God, how we have been struggling to get our bearings straight. We are completely worn out weighing every option, every choice we make. It can be so frustrating knowing that no matter how much you plan, life will have its way in the end.

So from here on out, we can just do what we can with what we have. And that means not flaking out on the trainer, keeping up with our FPU homework, cooking in instead of eating out, resisting going into Hobby Lobby, making time to watch House with Jas, calling my girlfriends instead of just texting them, having play dates with Nanna GG and really listening to her words of wisdom, staying positive and putting only good thoughts out into the universe, work on making our little family closer and our marriage stronger, educating ourselves on what's really going on in the world around us, and praying for wisdom and courage. We miss Gary everyday, but we now find ourselves asking, What would he do in this situation? What advice would he give? We use his wisdom and courage as a compass during this uncertain time.

So, here's to making the next 365 days "Pure".

Our Last Night Here...

Well. The day has finally come, and I am unbelievably sad believe it or not. So much has happened over these past 5 months and with every kind of emotion there is tied into it. Bottom line: Our leaving means that Gary is no longer here.

We came here to be with him and Martha during his last few months. Little did we know, we would only have 5 weeks with him once we arrived. And with all of the hard times we've had this past month, nothing will ever make me think that moving here wasn't the right thing to do. I know in my heart that he left us when he did because he knew we were here to take care of Martha, and he wouldn't go until he knew she was okay. From the day we arrived he got worse and worse- literally every day being harder and more awful than the one before. I cannot express what it was like to see that- to not know what kind of state he would be in the next day as we left their house each night. I know that everyday we were here though, especially with the kids around, we brought a little bit of joy to his nightmare of a life. I will always remember how he would wave at us and do a little clap when we walked in the door. How Luke would sit on the ottoman at his feet and just play for hours- just be close to him, and how he would just watch Luke. How he always gave us the Thumbs Up sign when we were having a conversation around him-whether or not he really knew what we were talking about is another thing- but he loved the social-ness of it, having people around him. Every time we left we would all hug and kiss him while he sat on his spot on the couch, and I alway told him how much I loved him: On the night he passed away he held my hand a second or two longer than usual and it made me stop and look in his eyes, and I think that was my good-bye from him. Everyone had their special moment with him that night, and little did we know what he was really saying to us. He had been through hell and was ready to go. And now its our turn to go. We have been through our own version of ALS hell, and it has changed us as a family. It has changed my relationship with Jason and with my kids. It has made us all realize that there is really nothing more important than family, that life is too short and illnesses are blind. Of all of the people in the world, I will never understand why Gary, but I will try my best to honor him by living the best life I can and continuing to take care of the many other people God has brought into my life for a reason. While my children may not remember him, they have been touched my his gentle, loving spirit, and I believe that even though he wasn't here when Morgan was born, she knows him. I see her laying in her crib or on our bed, smiling and coo-ing at the ceiling- I know he is over her saying, "Hey there, girl!" just like he always did to his "Miss O". She smiles like he does- with her whole face just lighting up.

So, yes, while we've had our ups and downs here, and we have made the decision to move on, this has been one of the most defining times in my life. God opened so many doors for us to get here as easily and quickly as we did, and now we will have to see what he has in store for us with his next chapter of our lives, having learned and experienced all that we have while we were here...

Being Held Accountable

I had one of those "Oh, Sweet Lord!" moments the other day. Luke was playing with the camera and accidently took a picture of me from behind and I almost fell over. I have to work out. I was given a clean bill of health last week, and was told it was okay for me to start exercising. Well. I woke up this morning and decided today was the day to start. I honestly have nothing else to do, so I have no excuse now. To make sure I keep it up, I will report on my progress. Lets hope that will keep my tush in gear...

I put MJ in the stroller (sweet Jason didn't make me take Luke) and we were off. It was actually very nice out at 7:30am, and I had tracked the main street we live off of, and from one to the other is a mile. I did one round back and forth, and consider 2 miles for the first day out to be an okay start. Gotta love Arizona though- ran into a bobcat along the way. Needless to say, it helped me pick up the pace... Nothing like being almost mauled by a wild animal to really get the heartrate up! HA!!

Please say a prayer to St. Joseph for us. We are in a housing predicament, and are just putting it in God's hands for now.

My Ostrich Child...

I think I may have told some of you this: But Luke is doing this weird thing and I don't know what to make of it!

He is a very naughty little boy. Period. But he's so stinkin' cute I have the HARDEST time getting on to him and seriously discipling him. I can't tell you how many times I have bit the insides of my cheeks til the bled so I wouldn't laugh at him while trying to get on to him about something. Now, to top it off , when I yell at him to, gee, I don't know: get out of Morgan's swing, stop marking the WHITE walls with BLACK sharpie, stop feeding the dog Play-Doh, stop shop-lifting at JoAnns...- He will stop and get very still and CLOSE HIS EYES!! I don't know if he thinks I can't see him being bad when he does this a.k.a. "I can't see you, you can't see me!" or if I have traumatized him and he's going to his "Happy Place" where he can away from his Nazi-tyrant mommy!?!?!? But I swear to you- I have to turn around and try not to shake with laughter, so he doesn't know I have lost it- ITS THE FUNNIEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN! He's becomes this little Devil-Child Statue!!! And he'll stay that way for, like, a minute! Then he'll slooowly open his eyes to see if I'm still there. Unreal.

Monkey Business

Morgan and I finally got home Sunday night around 12:30 am- no joke! The airport was a nightmare: crazy women with their Pugs, GROUPS of people cutting in line in front of me, airline counter workers who would literally stop in mid-transaction to go take a break, planes that didn't work!!!!- Let me repeat: Nightmare! But in the end, I guess all that matters is we got home safely...I had missed Jas and Bubs and O soooooooo much! And let me say: Jas is Daddy Of The Year- he kept Luke on our Nazi Nap and Bedtime routine! And its really working!!!LOVE HIM!!

So last night we are driving home from dinner and we hear Luke in the back seat talking up a storm. He keeps saying something about Mommy and then it sounded like "Morgie", which is what we sometimes call Morgan, so I just figured he was talking to her since her carseat sits next to him...Well! He kept talking... and talking... and talking- until I really stopped and listened to him because there was a little to rhythm to what he was saying and guess what I discovered! He was singing "5 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed"! He must have learned it at school- and its A-DOR-A-BLE! See for yourself!

(You might notice/ hear a marble being dropped repeatedly. There is a vase on the floor in the garage full of marbles- I had never really seen it, but always noticed that Luke would have a marble in his hand when we got in the laundry room. I always wondered where they were coming from- and then the other day when I was sitting on a stool spray-painting I saw the vase! You'd have to be 2 feet tall to see it! So funny! They are like little treasures to him!!)

Retail Therapy

Things are looking up. I spent the day throwing out ideas (thanks girls for your input!) and in the late afternoon decided I needed to get out of the house and spend some time alone and a little moo-la along the way. I took the LOONNGGEESSTT route ever to the Target up the street, and then the LOONNGGEESSTT route back down the road to the Old Navy. It was just me and Morgan and MY music. Nothing like some good tunes to make you feel better, and no one like Fiona Apple to make you feel like your life could be ALOT worse-ha! I bought some hair color, nail polish, new undies and mascara- four things that can't help but make you feel like new person... Old Navy was having a dress sale, and since that's all I wear out here, I was in discount heaven! Got a cute one to wear to the Sip N' See on Saturday, and treated myself to new flip flop sandals, too (To help me get through security at the airport faster, of course!) So! I feel a little better at least. Got to clear my head for a bit. Think about being a single mom for a little while. Trying to balance everything for everyone. I have asked for a sign. I'll keep you posted.

"If there was a better way to go than it would find me,
I can't help it the road just rolls out behind me.
Be kind to me, or treatin' me mean.
I'll make the most of it-
I'm an extraordinary machine." - Fiona Apple

seriously.

life is sucking. hard.

Random-ness With Schitkeesh Baalsh

CHECK OUT SMILEY GIRL! Sure, she's got milk dripping out of her mouth, but look! A real, full-on cheese-face SMILE!!! Who knew little balls in a big ball were sooo funny??? Speaking of balls...

When Olivia went to the dentist for her first go round of teeth misery, she got a super sticky koosh-like ball on the end of a long sticky string that you fling and it will stick to stuff- remember those? WELL! Bubs instantly gave it the ole "Mal de Ojo", and later that day they string broke and O lost interest, so she gave that ball to Luke... So started the "Schitkeesh Baalsh" love affair! He loved that thing! So much so that when Olivia got a new one at the second go-round of teeth misery (the same color, mind you), he snuck in her room and BROKE OFF THE STRING- and lo and behold, she gave him that one too because she just thought -it was first one! We were talking about these silly balls one day, and then Martha found a whole package of them in the party favor aisle of Target. We used them to bribe Luke to eat his dinner, only to find out that the kind she has bought were not sticky- but he didn't care!!! He keeps them in a red solo plastic cup and will sit and play with them for hours on end! SO RANDOM! The best part to me is how he says "sticky balls"- I got it on tape so you can hear his precious little lisp!Everytime he says it I think of that SNL skit about the "Schwety Balls"- ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so funnny!

Please say a little prayer for us: We are being Nazis about Luke's nap time and bedtime, trying to get him to a) have a nap time/ bedtime (seriously!) and b.) go to sleep by himself and with no TV. Let's just say it hasn't been a walk in the park. But it must be done. We were a strong united front about the bink, so I know we can do it. It just sucks in the meantime. UGH! On a happier note: I FINALLY got footage of Luke busting a move! I know I have been raving about his mad dancing skills for awhile now- and while it is not to the song he loves the most, it is still HILARIOUS! We are totally impressed with his musicallity! Watch for the move where he sort of slows down and moves his arms and shoulders with a "Stevie Wonder" head bob- PRICELESS! Sorry its sideways and so dark- I wasn't thinking about camera orientation and lighting when trying to "catch the moment"- I really tried, but can't figure out how to turn it...

Good Eggs and Stinky Feet

Today was Morgan's 1 month birthday! Time has totally flown by! I think back to June 24 and how long it was until July 24, the day she was born, and that seemed like it took FOR-EV-ER to arrive! Where does the time go now??? We all got up and had breakfast at the Good Egg, which was very nostalgic for Jas and I because we used to eat at the the one by our first little apartment in Scottsdale once every weekend... We then decided we needed to get out of the house for the day, so we started out to the Phoenix Science Center and about 5 minutes after we left the house, we started to think that maybe we needed to stop by Babies R Us to give in and buy a double stroller. So we get to BRU, and I know exactly which one I want (because I am Type A and researched EVERY one they carry...) and we tried to bribe the girls to just let us take the floor model and let us be on our way. No Dice. But they tell us its SOOOOOOOO super easy to put together and we can even just sit by the gift wrap area and "snap it together real quick"... HA! Are you kidding me??? These girls were MORONS! The thing had about 12 different parts you needed to screw in, and since Jas doesn't carry tools in his pocket, we packed up and headed back home...30 minutes, lots of cussing, and 2 or 3 cigarette breaks later, Jas had it put together and we were back on the road...

Then the real fun began! I sometime forget how much I love my husband and how HILARIOUS he is! Seriously. We got to the museum, and the special exhibit they had going on was called Grossology. And it was exactly what the title says: GROSS. But in such a fun-pull-my-finger- kind of way. You are greeted by this wacked-out lady robot who basically tells you that all humans do gross things and if you didn't you'd die. Lovely. Then we walk in, and I'm not kidding you: the first little science-y table activity is all about FARTING! It goes into great detail about why some farts sound the way they do, why they stink, blah, blah. blah.... Totally gross and hilarious considering it had a way for you to make these different tooty-sounds! And I am SOOOOOOOOO not a gross-stuff-is-funny kinda gal, but once you knew the science behind it, it was so interesting!! They had everything from how and why you burp, to why snot is your friend, to a smelling game where you had to figure out if you were smelling some one's mouth, foot, armpit, and dare I say it...tush! SERIOUSLY! On the way home Jas says, "Well, I can cross that one off my list: Skydiving? Check. Bull Riding? Check. Smelling some one's butt? Check!" OH, the horror! To make it even funnier, we were upstairs at another exhibit and Jas discretely calls me over and says, "I think part of the Grossology exhibit made its way up here." And I'm like, "What?" and I glance around and don't see what he's talking about. Finally he turns me in the direction of this young woman sitting at one of the activity tables, and sure enough: you can see her ENTIRE butt crack. I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard. He's so fun. Turned out the double stroller was a DREAM, and everyone was so well-behaved, considering the silly circumstances- wouldn't have been prouder! Talk around the dinner table tonight was completely inappropriate though...maaaaybeeee we should have gone for the Narnia Movie exhibit after all ...

The End Of An Era...

How I wish....

Oh, my poor mommy-heart is breaking. While I know all of my kids are getting older and they have to grow up sometime, it totally makes me sad when they do. Over the past few days I have noticed that Luke is no longer saying the baby/ "Bubbies-made-up" words he used to. For instance: We all know that he has always called Mickey Mouse "Hot Dog", and the other day he walked by the TV in the guest room that he had been watching a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD on and he pointed and said, "Oh, Mickey's on!" Whaaaaaaaaaaaa...I want Hot Dog back! And he has quit calling milk "Whop", so in turn there is no longer "Bunny Whop" (affectionately and geniusly named after the Nestle Quick bunny on the bottle...) Now he justs acts like a crack-head junkie first thing in the morning for damn "chocolate milk"! Whhhhaaaaaaaaaa- Bunny Whop was my favorite!!!! I hate this! He is talking so much, and like such a big kid that I am missing my little Bubbins. Excpet when he says precious things like, "Well, good morning Daddy!" which he did the other day and we couldn't stop laughing! Such a great way to be greeted in the morning! Luke goes to the dentist for the first time tomorrow- I'm trying to make sure an Olivia-mouth-full-of-cavities-type event doesn't happen again. She went again today for her last set of fillings. Guess who feels like turning themselves in to C.P.S.? I have never felt like a worse mother.

On a VERY VERY VERY happy note: I am coming in town with Morgan!!! My sweet Nanna offered to fly me in after hearing how homesick I am and I will be arriving on the 4th of September! I. CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Misery

Poor, poor, poor Miss O! We just got back from the dentist where she had to have a tooth pulled. She is in la-la-land, but I still feel so bad for her. She was such a little soldier, and went back there without me. It took over an hour! and I started to freak out...but everything is fine. Poor kid couldn't eat all day because of the anesthesia and is now sitting on the couch enjoying a big bowl of ice cream, so I guess thats good...

Morgan celebrated her 3 weeks on the planet by sleeping for us! She slept from, brace yourself: 11:30pm to 4:20am! Seriously!!! And of course I couldn't enjoy it because I woke up every two hours and raced to the side of the crib to make sure she was still breathing! Maybe she'll do it again tonight and I will try to make the most of it!! Sure do like catching an encore of the great primetime Olympics at 2:00am though... Random: We love that there is an Olympic mastcot named "NiNi" (even if its not the cutest one!)

TUBBY TIME!

Morgan had her two week birthday last Thursday and I totally forgot to post pics. Here she is, along with a rare "Luke being sweet to her moment." For those who don't know him well, he thinks giving someone a kiss means touching his forehead to their face. He won't use his lips: so weird!!! Some fun facts to know and tell about her are: She is the loudest-gruntiest baby I have ever seen (heard!) She literally grunts for about 5 minutes before she falls asleep every time!, she hates to be swaddled and sleeps with both arms over her head, and she always burps in sets of threes. And I know she is only 2 weeks old, but we swear she can almost smile too! Completely gifted!

I don't know what it is, but I LOVE LOVE bathing my kids- ESPECIALLY when they are little babies! So! I have been waiting and waiting for MJ's cord to fall off and finally- it came off on Saturday night- of course, in the middle of the night, after she had had her boring sponge bath that evening! So tonight I busted out the baby bath tub and got it all set up and ...SHE HATED IT! It has a little sling that didn't quite let her sit in the water, so she was pretty cold and screamed like someone was killing her. Luckily, Jas was there with me, so he filled up the other sink with water that was probably a little too hot- but as soon as we stuck her in there: Ahhhhhhh! She stop crying and got that Zen Baby look on her face: Back In The Womb!!! She loved it and just sat there and let me bathe her to my heart's content... And then, we took her out: SCREAMING again!!! I really think she wanted to stay in there all night! I got her settled and treated her to a baby massage and then just had to capture the completely adorable chub that she has goin' on! We love it: nothing cuter than a rolly-polly-chubby baby. Seriously. She was so blissed out, that by the time I wiggled her greasy little lotion-ed body into her nightgown her eyes were rolling back in her head...It was heavenly! YEA, BATHS!!!

Back To School!

Sorry I haven't written in awhile! Had a few setbacks with my recovery- but doing better now. Went to the docs today and got a clean bill of health as far as my incision goes (It had opened up- GROSS! UGH!!!) Came to realize that the ER is not the best place to go to get good women's care- the doctor there made thing worse, if you can believe it! But, I'm fine now... I can drive again! YEA! But still can't pick up anything heavy or vacuum: Oh, darn!

We spent the last week getting ready for both O and Luke to start school! Lots of shopping for school supplies and new shoes! Nothing says, "Back To School" like a brand new pair of white Keds! We went to Luke's Open House on Wednesday morning and Olivia's that afternoon. Her teacher is a complete doll- sad though because there is another Olivia in her class, so O has to be Olivia Y. BOO! There is one looney kid in her class (ADHD!?) that Jason just can't get over! So funny- the kid is nuts! We are so happy because they both had GREAT days yesterday! Luke is the teachers "Little Buddy" as she put it- he followed her around the room all morning! Luke is also Luke Y. in his class, so I asked if they would just call him "Lukie". This morning when I got him dressed he said, "Go play at Luke's school"- so I take that as a good sign...Too bad he just goes two days a week. O liked that they got to play at recess 3 times yesterday. She told us alot of kids cried, and one little girl was so nervous that she threw up and had to go home! She was excited to go this morning, so I hope we get another great report!!

Funny kid stories of the week:
We were eating Dickies BBQ last night and Olivia was sitting down at the coffee table with her dinner. Jas, Martha and I were at the kitchen table, when Olivia turned around and said, "I'm having those two little people on my shoulder and I don't know what to do!" We were like, "What in the world are you talking about???!" and she said, "You know those two little people who tell you what to do!" OH! I said, "You mean the Angel and the Devil?" and she said "Yes, I just don't know if I should eat all these pickles or not!" HA! If that is the hardest temptation she faces, we are lucky!!!

My Girls...

Olivia had been going crazy waiting for Morgan to arrive, and now that she is here, she is the best big sister ever! She loves to hold her and feed her, and every morning she asks if she can pick out what she wears, so that whatever she chooses can match what O already has on! So CUTE!!! So today we noticed that they both have orange and white striped dresses, so of course, we needed an impromptu photo shoot! I can't wait to see how they close they'll grow to be as the years go on. I know one thing- Morgan is very lucky to have O has her big sister!

ONE WEEK OLD!

Today is Morgan's One Week Old birthday- and she has already changed so much since we brought her home on Sunday! She had her first visit with precious Dr. DeLucca, and he said she was pretty much perfect (as if we didn't already know that-ha!) She has already gained back her birth weight and then some- little chunk is now over 8 pounds! She eats like a horse, so its no wonder! I know I will jinx myself by writing this, but she is a great sleeper- only waking up twice during the night- which I can totally handle! She is really perking up and its so fun to just sit there and stare at her- we are all totally in love!!
Aunt Margaret and her friend Davy stopped by yesterday on their way back from California and we all had a great time visiting and catching up! Luke (my little "mans' man") was instantly taken by Davy and stalked him to no end- even had a little meltdown when he couldn't go into the bathroom with him!! His admiration went so far as when Davy was holding Morgan, Luke told him "Make Morgan go nigh-nigh"- his way of saying "Get rid of her!" So cute and funny! He entertained everyone with his fabulous Lukie-Dancing (which I still promise to get on video and post on here soon!)

Luke had an Open House at his new preschool today, which MiMi took him to, so I'll be anxious to hear how it went when they get home. Both he and O start school next Thursday if you can believe it! So this next week will be full of organizing, back to school shopping and trying to get on some sort of a schedule after this free-for-all of a summer! We can't wait to find out who Miss O has for 1st grade- everyone say a prayer that she'll be someone nice and sweet!!!

Her Story

Well, I am still high as a kite and hope this all makes sense, but wanted to let everyone in on the story of Miss Mj's birthday.

Jas and I arrived at the hospital around 11:30am, checked in and settled into our pre-op room. As I sat there and dreaded the awful IV I knew was coming my way, we met our nice nurses- one who happened to be the head nurse of the whole unit, so I knew I was in good hands. Jas finally got to meet sweet Dr. Zhang and my anestheiologist was SO NICE!- like a friend's mom kind of nice. An hour later, we were ready to head out, and they set Jas outside the door and I went in for all of the lovely c-section prep. One nurse joked to Jas that the OR was B.Y.O.C- when they called him in, he had to choose a chair from the hallway to bring with him! And seriously, there were like 5 different kinds of chairs out there, so he really had his pick. So random!...

Morgan was born at 2:49pm and we were all in for a shocker! Not only was she breech, she had her cord wrapped around her neck TWICE! and in all of her breech-back-flipping, she had managed to tie her cord in a perfect knot! While I was dreading having to go through another c-section recovery- the nurses told me she would have been in SERIOUS danger coming out the other way- and would have had to be born via c-section anyway! Little stinker!

All of the OR docs and nurses kept trying to guess how big she'd be considering I was as big as a house coming in there. The anestheiologist said she had seen me in the hallway coming into register and thought I was carrying twins! (nice.) After they had taken Moragn out to the nursery and were working on putting me back together, I guess the suspense was killing them, and they called down to the nursery to see the final tally! But to everyone's surprise she was just 1 ounce bigger than Luke at 7 pounds, 14 ounces. She was the same length as O almost at 21 inches long. All I can really remember about seeing her for the first time was all of that fabulous black hair- JUST LIKE O! It so long in the back- almost like a newborn mullet!

I spent the next three hours in recovery waiting for my spinal to wear off, and they brought her in so we could hang out with her. I still had the shakes and really didn't to hold her until that evening though. But that was when we discovered she has one little dimple- JUST LIKE O! Too cute! My mom and dad brought the kids up once I was in my room and Martha came too. Olivia was the first one to get to see and her she was SOOOOOOO thrilled! She held her and rocked her like a professional! Poor Luke didn't know what to think and refused to look at her, and wouldn't even kiss me good-bye! We all just hung out on Friday, and Jas was able to go home and take a nap. He had to sleep in this horrible vinyl recliner (if you can call it that!) for the first two nights, so he ran home and slept every time my parents came up to sit with me! On Firday night poor Morgan billirubin numbers came in and they were kinda high, so they took her all night and all day Saturday in the nursery and kept her under the lights. It worked out well though, because my parents brought the kids back up, and I got to visit with Bubs and O without her in the room- He was totally back to his normal self! When I was making one of my mandatory laps around the unit, I spotted a cot outside someone's room who had just left and hunted down my nurse to see if Jas could have it. I was totally the best wife ever when he walked in and saw it- no more "sticky chair"! That night we had our sweet Baby Bistro dinner, and they brought up our special order on a silver tray, complete with champaign glasse and sparkling cider- it was really cute! We toasted to getting to go home the next day- I was starting to really miss my own bed!

We got the okay to come home early afternoon yesterday, and I have been religiously taking my pills and keeping my feet up. This recovery has been the easiest so far, but by no means without it share of pain. Thank goodness, I had so many TiVoed shows to catch up, so staying in bed has been nice. HA! My mom decided to stay an extra week or so, so Martha has left to go to Alabama to see her mom. She hasn't been able to travel for over a year because of Gary, so I am SO happy she is getting the chance to go visit. We are missing her already though! Luke has come around and is Very sweet to Morgan. Luckily, there are enough people here to play with him and give into his every desire, that she has't really rocked his world. He liked to peek in at her in the port-crib and treis to give her his bink when she cries. He loves to go around the room and give everyone "high 5s" (including Mo) and he stopped by her bed yesterday to make sure he gave her one too! Pretty sweet...Other than that, not much else to report: MJ goes to the doctor tomorrow for her 5 day check-up, and Auntie Margaret is coming on Wednesday- CAN'T WAIT!!!

MORGAN JANE YARBROUGH

SHE'S HERE! And we couldn't be happier! Morgan Jane arrived at 2:49 pm on Thursday, July 24th! She weighed 7 lbs. and 14 ounces and is 21 inches long. We are finally home from the hospital today, and I am beat- so I'll tell the whole story tomorrow- just wanted everyone back home to have a sneak peek! LOVE YALL!

Luke Hates Michael Jeter

SO WEIRD: Ever since Luke was little, he would completely freak out and cry when Mr. Noodle came on Elmo's World. Without fail, I would know from the other room when Sesame Street was almost over because Luke would start loosing it! What's with that creepy guy???? Well- here we are a (few-ha!) years later, and we had another Michael Jeter incident.

Olivia had been watching Air Bud in thier room and had left it running. I guess Luke had come in and started watching it where she left off. I am in my room, Olivia is playing in the guest room, and Martha is in the hallway bathroom getting ready. All of a sudden we hear the most horrific scream/ cry I have ever heard and there is total commotion from the back of the house. Luke is screaming and I hear him bust through the bathroom door to get to Martha, scaring her senseless. The poor kid is SHAKING, crying and trying to tell us something. We all run to him and love on him, trying to calm him down. I go into "What the hell happened" mode and searched his body for injuries, and went back in the room to see what could have happened. And guess who's on the tv??? Damn, Mr. Noodle- only more scary and freaky as a real made up clown in thsi movie!!! He scared the ever-living-shit out of my kid!!!! Of course, there's no way Luke knew that was the same guy- but I think that's CRAZY!!! Poor Bubbies looks at me through his teary little eyes and says, "No watch back-et-ball mo-ey!". I told him of course not- NEVER AGAIN. Poor kid. For the rest of the day, everywhere we went, he told everyone he did NOT want to watch that basketball movie in his sweet little 2 year old way. How crazy is that? There should be a warning on things: "This show may contain footage of Michael Jeter."

Lazy Town

Well- today was moving day! The guys came early this morning and moved all of our furniture from the Anthem house to a storage place down the road from us here at Martha's. I did my final packing duties, and am now OFFICIALLY lazy. (That is until Thursday, or course.) I have NOTHING to do, other than get a pedicure on Wednesday, so the doctors have nice toes and feet to look at! Martha bought new couches that just so happen to recline, so you'll know where to find me if you need anything!


HAPPY EXCITING NEWS! Morgan's husband, Kane Macklin, was born last Monday and D and Billy are doing great! I finally got a picture of the little guy today and he's darling!!! Can't wait to get home and meet him!! Morgan has the matching outfit he's pictured in, so they will both have come home from the hospital in the same things (Can't you say, "Perfect for the wedding slide show???" HA!)

...totally gross, but totally works!

Don't ask me how this all started, but we have found that the only way to get Luke to eat ANYTHING is to tell him its a character that he loves. Chicken nuggets are Barney. Pasta is Bob the Builder...and of course, fish is Nemo. You know you're desperate when you'll sit at the table and say things like, "Ooooh! Wow- Barney tastes so yummy!" or "Come on, eat Bob up!" EEWW! Well... Monday was Martha and Gary's 40th wedding anniversary, and he loved eating at Pappadeaux (which is where he had is last official meal before gave up eating real food when it became to hard to swallow without choking too). So we all decided to take one for the team and actually go out to eat with Luke. To our surprise the was an absolute ANGEL!!?!! (Which only confirms my theroy that Luke and G-Daddy hang out all day in a Sixth Sense kind of way, and he was behaving because Gary was around.) He was eating and being cute and sweet and he had about 3 bites of catfish left. So Granna picked up a piece and had it swimming towards him and said, "Here's Nemo. Yummmy! Luuu-kkke, Neemmmooo's calling!" And she put the piece on his plate. Luke looks at the fish, looks at her kind of funny, and then puts the piece of catfish to his ear and says, "Hello?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I almost fell out of my chair! We all laughed so hard I thought they were going to ask us to leave. And for some reason when I'm pregnant, and only then, if I start laughing too hard I burst into tears at the same time. Crazy hormones! So I looked like a total psycho! But, moments like that save his life. Seriously.