We're Finally Having FUN!!!

Whew!

The last two weekends have been a complete whirlwind. So much fun, so little time. Here are the highlights:

• Last Saturday (the 21st), I met up with Jessica and Amy from the OvuSoft boards. They are both just completely awesome!! We met at Jessica's house in Louisville...the kids played...us girls talked incessantly like we were childhood friends catching up from a lifetime of happenings. It's amazing how you can obtain such valid and incredible friendships from an online message board. I have found this to be true time and time again. We are planning to get together again very soon - and often!
• Also last Saturday night, Phil and I attended the Mercy Me/Audio Adrenaline/Aaron Shust concert at Rupp Arena. It was an awesome concert. Now, if you have read this blog long enough, you may know that I am a MASSIVE Audio A fan - have been since they started WAAAAAAY back about 16 years ago. Well, they are "retiring," so this was the last chance I would be able to see them. I was a bit disappointed because 2 of the band members were MIA and were replaced with IMPOSTERS, but it was still good to be able to see them one last time. And yes, I was a complete AA GEEK and cried when they sang their last song, "Goodbye." Mercy Me put on an unbelievable worship show...Aaron Shust was great - the whole thing earned two big thumbs up!
• This past Saturday night, Phil and I had the complete honor of going to see the Lion King play in Cincinnati at the Aronoff Theatre. IT.....WAS....EXTRAORDINARY!!! If you love the Lion King movie or not, I highly recommend seeing this if you ever have the opportunity. I mean, there just are not enough words to say about it. The costumes were SPECTACULAR. The singing was AWESOME. The stage set was PERFECT. I just didn't want the show to ever be over with, it was THAT GOOD.
• Yesterday, we took the girls to the Cincinnati Zoo. I hadn't been there since I was in elementary school sometime. It was a perfect day - 70's/sunny/breezy - and it was just a lot of fun. Highlights were the white tigers, the manatees and, of course, the penguins. Of course, Mackenzie was overtired and threw what was probably the BIGGEST, ugliest temper tantrum that she's ever had in her whole life, but once she was able to take a little 15 minute catnap in the shade, she was good to go.

That's about it. I have been feeling pretty decent, and I have one last big work-related event coming up tomorrow. Once that's done, I'll be FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Gosh, it's so great to look at my calendar here on my desk just to see blank, white spaces. That means nothing to do!!! (And coincidentally, can you believe that tomorrow is MAY 1ST???)

Now come the home improvement projects..... *sigh*

It's ALL OVER!!! Woohoo!

Tax season 2007 is in the bag. How thrilled am I? Let me count the ways...

• No more staying up 'til the wee hours of the morning.
• No more binge drinking of coffee in order to keep myself awake.
• No more kids screaming at my feet for attention...now I can give them the attention they deserve.
• I get to have a life again!!!

Things with me are status quo. I've still been thinking seriously about finding a new Neurologist. The more I read and hear what others have to say, the more I wonder why he refuses to perform certain tests that *could* be definitive as to a diagnosis (lumbar MRI and spinal tap). It's certainly not that I WANT those tests done, but if they can give me a definite answer, why can't we do them? I have to think, then, that it's all a money thing for them.

Anyway......

I really have been happy to be able to spend more time with my kiddos. I look at them and realize how quickly they are growing. I mean, my gosh! Maddie will be in KINDERGARTEN next year!! And my baby will be 3 soon?? It just goes by so quickly.

We've started a new nighttime routine where at bedtime, we all (me, Maddie and Mackenzie) go into Mackenzie's room, turn on only the nightlights, and we sit there and rock and sing songs. They both LOVE to sing - guess they're taking after their ol' Mom a bit. ; ) It's just so nice...such a bonding time.

Oh yeh...I have to share another "Mackie-ism" with you:

Bathing suit in "Mackese" is "baby soup." Hahahaha!

I'm SO pumped for this weekend!!!!! I'm meeting up with a few friends from the OvuSoft board - Jessica and Amy. Amy is the widow of Captain Jeff Clay who was piloting the Comair Flight 5191 that crashed in Lexington back in August of last year. I just cannot wait to meet her face to face finally. We have all talked on our board and over e-mail for quite some time now, and despite what she thinks, Amy really has been such an inspiration to us all. She's a prime example of how to continue on living despite having such a tremendous loss!

Finally, I have to give some love out to my honey. Today is the 10th anniversary of the first day that Phil and I met (and fell in love). I cannot believe that it has been 10 years already!! Time sure does fly. And 10 years later, I love him just as much, if not more than that very first day!

You know, I had all kinds of funny things that I wanted to get on here and talk about, and now I can't remember one of them. So goes my life... *SIGH*

I'm thinking that it probably had something to do with the girls because my life sure as hell ain't funny. Well, to me it is in a weird, twisted way, I suppose.

I guess you don't want to hear about how many tax returns I've done and how I'm all giddy with delight because I did my very first Trust tax return (Form 1041). Exciting! I learned stuff...and stuff. I suppose it would be boring to learn all about how my fatigue drug isn't doing much to help so far or how I'm being plagued with Vertigo at this very moment.

I do have one bit of information that may or may not be useful to you: EASTER CANDY MAKES FOR GOOD BARGAINING WITH THE KIDDOS! Did you know this? I'm learning Supernanny techniques now, and they're working! It goes like this...kids are making a mess of their rooms and are screaming loudly at one another. Mom (that's me) walks in and says, "if you don't pick up all of these toys and stop screaming at one another, you can't have a piece of candy tonight." Almost as if it were a miracle made by God, the room is spotless and the kids are hugging and singing "Kumbaya."

Now...I haven't quite figured out how to make the messes and fighting stop AFTER the candy is given. I mean, there's that period of time between when the candy is given and time to get in bed that they just go hog wild. Hmmmm...I'll have to think on that one and get back with you all.

Now if I could just make Spring come back, we'd all be happy campers! I don't know what I said or did...maybe I need more deoderant or something, but apparently I offended Spring and it just left. I mean, how else do you go from 80 degrees one day to 30 degrees WITHIN 24 HOURS?!?

End of rant for the day.........

I Think We've Got It Figured Out

So the drug saga continues. Provigil is definitely a no-go. At least it's not just me...it apparently is listed on the "Medication-No Coverage" list for my health insurance in general. (So maybe they don't think I'm a crazy lunatic afterall! I'm sure they see FAR more crazier lunatic people than me every day, but after all I've been through lately, I was fairly certain that I was a crazy lunatic, but I digress...)
So drum roll please....(as if this warrants that)...

I'm now taking AMANTADINE! Yes, this drug treats serious Influenza and Parkinson's patients, and now it's treating me! It's an anti-fatigue drug. Good. It doesn't have SO many side effects like keeping me up all night. Good. My insurance covers it. GREAT! I've only taken 3 doses so far, and I haven't been able to tell much of a difference yet. I'll move up to 2 pills a day at the end of this week, so maybe by then I'll be all smiles and happiness.

In other news...Maddie came down with an ugly stomach bug on Saturday. She threw up all day long, bless her heart. By Sunday, she was better - maybe back to 95%, but then today, again, she's sick. This time it's diarrhea. So this is one ugly bug, and I'm hoping and praying that no one else in the house comes down with it.
Tax season is very fun right now (not). I've been keeping pretty busy most every day. I have quite a few people who have called and said that they are bringing their information to me to do their taxes, but have I seen them yet? NO! Will I see them before April 10th? I'm guessing NO. Hmphf! In the meantime, I know that there are many of you out there that probably feel like I'm ignoring you...I swear I'm not! If you want to come help me get some of these tax returns done, I promise to e-mail and/or call! :)

It's 8 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is mine and Phil's anniversary - 8 years! We've officially made it past the "seven year itch." HA! Bless his heart, he must have the soul of a saint to have put up with me for this long. (Or is it the other way around??? LOL!)

This past year has been especially difficult on him...between job difficulties and dealing with a sickly (sicko?) wife, he's really had a lot handed to him. So to my husband, the father of my children and my best friend - I LOVE YOU! Happy anniversary.

Busy, Busy Week! (But a good one....)

Lots of things have happened over the last week or so...

First of all, I took the 2nd part of my CPA exam on the 24th. I feel like I did very well on it, which probably translates to complete failure. I know, I know...positive affirmations. Whatever.....

Secondly, my buddie Rhonda (aka, Ladybug Mom) came for a visit from Alaska. She came in on Friday and left Monday. We had a really great time with her, and she has a true friend for life in Maddie (and me, too, of course). Maddie misses her a lot and always asks me if we can talk to her on the computer. Heehee.... Anyway, we went to Keeneland and to Double Stink Hog Farm's pumpkin festival. She got to eat at Cracker Barrel, too, which I think she liked. Anyway, we had a great time, and I hope that we will get to see her again one day soon...after she gets her sweet baby girl from China, Sarah Lyn. : ) (Here's a picture of Miss Rhonda and her new best friend, Maddie.)Finally, we took the girls trick or treating on Tuesday night. Maddie was Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, and Mackenzie was Tinkerbell. They had a blast and got WAY too much candy. In the meantime, I've switched from my South Beach Diet/Weight Watchers mix over to the all candy, all the time diet. I can't figure out why it's not working. Here are some pictures of the little princesses (in mind only...not in action).

Maddie curtsying like a true princess. This was how she said she was going to thank people after they gave her candy. She didn't do it:
Mackenzie's costume was absolutely ADORABLE!! And she actually kept the wings on the whole time. The shoes, however, were a different story (they WERE too big, though):
The gals together...not sure what the goofy looks on their faces were about:

Unlike last year, I actually made it around the neighborhood OK. YAY for me!!! I'm hanging in there health-wise. Still have a lot of fatigue and some minor aches, pains and weakness, but the big thing is my cognitive abilities. Bad...bad...bad..... I felt like an idiot when Rhonda was in because I even have a difficult time following conversations anymore, and it seemed like I was constantly repeating myself or forgetting things that she had already told me. So...sorry Rhonda! ; )

Must work now....no motivation today....(not unlike any other day...)

Here He Is!!!!!!

Announcing the birth of baby Cameron Michael - 8 lbs., 7 oz., 20 1/2" long - born October 9th at 2:35 PM. Mommy Tabitha is doing very well, al beit sore, after her c-section, and Dad Jimmy and Big Brother Austin are very excited as well.

Here he is:

We're expecting....

....my best friend's baby to be born today! Happy BIRTH day, baby Cameron!

HA! Made you look, didnt' I!?! : ) (Sorry...I greatly enjoy my own fun and games too much sometimes.)

Seriously, though...Tabitha is heading into the operating room on or around 1:30 PM today. Little Cameron should join us very shortly after that. I'm so excited! I'm gonna be a kind-of aunt again!!!

We did nothing but birthday parties over the weekend. Maddie's best friend, Melody, had a very fun, very cool birthday party at the gymnastics center on Saturday. Guess what Maddie wants to get into now........

Yesterday was my brother-in-law's birthday party. He didn't feel like he should grace us with his presence. That's right - the JERK didn't show up for his own birthday party!!!! Can you believe that load of crap? Fine - I'll just regift his gift certificate at Christmas time to someone else. Hehehe!

Tonight, there is an open house for my grandmother's birthday. She's turning 78 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEEMAW! Just some cake and ice cream - you know, stuff I don't need.

Mom's birthday is on Friday the 13th.....mwhaaaaaaaaa!!!!

I'm very birthday partied out. *Whew*

We are buying new furniture!! Exciting as it sounds, buying new furniture is just a royal pain in the hind-quarters.

First of all, we bought new and badly needed office furniture for our home office last night. We got it at Office Max - 20% off - good deal. So we go to buy it, and they tell us that they have 4 out of 5 pieces, but they are all blocked on the loading dock by a few pallets of paper. They'll bring them to us on Wednesday - free! Fine by me. Well...they may or may not have the fifth piece available then...but maybe they will...but they may not. Hmmm....OK.

THEN, we are looking for a new family room suit to replace our poor, worn down couch and love seat that currently resides there. Do you know that me - lover of all things which is decor and furniture - cannot find a suit that I like at all! There is NOTHING out there that even remotely appeals to me. Phil found a suit that he likes, but it's too busy looking to me. I found one that I like OK, but it really won't match our new paint. *sigh* Just don't know...just don't know...

Anyway, we had Mackenzie's 2nd birthday party on Sunday - I meant, once again as I did with Maddie's party, for it to be a small "us and grandparents" party, but I ended up having 21 people there (all family except for our next-door neighbors). It was fun, though...she got a LOT of new movies, which she loves, and a lot of fun toys that Maddie has already stolen. Here are a few pictures:

My sweet baby at her 2nd birthday party:

The birthday cake - Dora!:

The girls trying on their new Halloween costumes that just came in the mail - Maddie is Sleeping Beauty, Mackenzie is Tinkerbell:

Happy Independence Day!!!!!

Hope everyone has a great July 4th!!!

Our holiday has started off with a BANG - literally! We went to our annual family Independence Day picnic at my aunts house on Saturday. She has a pool, so the kids (and me) were able to swim, and we all just had a good time eating and chatting with everyone.

Funny thing was that no one brought any fireworks except for my Uncle Steve...he bought about 7 shells that they fired off, and then he found a few of the "cheesy" fireworks in his garage from last year. I think our whole fireworks show lasted about 10 minutes if you compressed the time that was spent setting them up and lighting them. : ) That was probably a good thing, though, seeing as how someone in the family ALWAYS ends up on fire every year. LOL!!

Maddie finished up two straight weeks of Level 1 swim classes...she flunked. She refused to do a few things because "it gets (her) face and hair wet!!!" What a princess (and not in the good sense)!! So swimming isn't her forte. After her last class on Friday, she asked me if there were any more swim classes...I told her no, and her response was, "OK...when does my tap class start?" I keep telling myself that she's not going to excel at EVERYTHING...so note to self: keep her away from the pool and IN the dance studio. (Fine by me...)

Mackenzie, on the other hand, is a little FISH! I put her in the pool with me on Saturday, and she went crazy. I would put her on her belly, and she would move her arms and kick her legs in the water. She kept putting her face under the water - at 21 months old!! She's going to be the swimmer, I believe.

As far as me...I lost the use of my right hand yesterday (again). This has happened numerous times, only yesterday, I lost use of it ALL DAY. That is unusual and troublesome for me. It worried me quite a bit. Today, it still is pretty clumsy acting, but I can use it again. Otherwise, I've been tired, tired, tired....just not enough hours in the day for everything. I'm afraid of delving into another flare up with all of the stress and everything that's been going on. I see Dr. Fee again in 18 days...hopefully we'll continue further down the road to answers and a diagnosis. (Again, this vent is more for documenting purposes so that I can remember to tell the Dr.)

Phil is still searching for a new job...in the meantime, he's becoming quite the Mr. Mom. The girls are starting to go to him more for everything (except for bedtime, which Mommy is the only one they want then). It kind of warms my heart to see them so attached to him...where I was afraid that they would never adjust to not having Mom around, now I'm afraid that they won't adjust when she does come back. Well...sort of... ; )

I think that's it....I hope that you all have a wonderful, safe, and fun July 4th!!!

Maddie's a Ballet Star!

A few fun things have happened over the last week or two: Maddie's very first ballet recital and the ICHTHUS festival (will talk about in next post)!!!

Here is Maddie in her dance costume:

This is a cuter picture of her:

Phil insisted on taking pictures of the actual recital with his regular camera, so I'll post pictures from that whenever we get those back and I can scan them in.

The recital was SO cute!! They basically did everything they normally do during their class, but the funny part was that Maddie and her best friend, Melody, kept hugging each other through the whole thing. They are SO cute together, and I just love it that Maddie has a best friend.

Maddie started swim lessons yesterday (with Melody in tow, too). She absolutely LOVES it!! They are just learning basic things like how to walk down the steps into the water by themselves, how to put their face in the water, some basic strokes, etc.

Mackenzie, as always, is a mess! She's talking a LOT more now...mostly backtalking us already! Lots of NO's! Whenever she gets mad at us, she starts jabbering away in some alien language, in which I'm pretty sure she's cussing us! LOL!!! Seriously, though...she is such a sweet and loving child. I just look at her (and Maddie, too) and thank GOD for blessing us with such treasures.

Here are a couple of pictures that I love of the girls (please excuse the messy hair):

Maddie and Mackenzie

I haven't given an update on my girlies lately. They are both doing so well! I should really talk about them more here and complain less, huh? : )

MADDIE

Maddie will turn 4 in just 8 1/2 more weeks! : ( Where does the time go??? She is pretty much fully potty-trained now, with the exception of a few "LAZY" accidents here and there. She does wear a Pull-Up at night, though. We'll work on that next. She is about to graduate from her very first ballet class...recital will be on June 7th. Mommy will cry. I'll be sure to post pictures of her in her pretty, frilly costume. After that, on June 19th, she will begin swimming classes. She's very excited about it, and I'm excited that she'll be learning how to deal with being in the water...just in case.

She's very funny and inciteful! She has made up at least a dozen of her own songs, my favorite of which is "3-2-1...Blastoff...b-b-blastoff...blastoff all day!" My second favorite is "Katie's coming over today, Katie's coming over today, Katie's coming over today and we're gonna play." (Have NO idea who Katie is...) She tells me things like, "Mommy, you're making me EXASPERATED!" At church this past week, she was sitting there really bored listening to the sermon, then the communion and offering, and when the piano player started playing, she leaned over and whispered to me, "Mommy, it's going off now." (As in the credits rolling after a show - LOL!)

MACKENZIE

Mackenzie is a little monkey. She's constantly climbing, jumping, throwing (or more like FLINGING - her food)...she's a ball of energy. Loves to SCREAM at the top of her lungs. She's starting to say more lately...I'd been a bit worried about her lack of speech, but it seems she's finally beginning to say a little more now. I keep forgetting that she was a preemie...that I really have to adjust her age and remember what she should and shouldn't be doing right now. I guess taking that into consideration, she's average on her speech.

She loves to dance! Any time Maddie sings one of her songs, Mackenzie will just stomp and march and carry on along with her. And she LOVES her big sis! She's constantly hugging Maddie and loving on her...and sometimes Maddie doesn't want her to do that. I just figured out yesterday that she's addicted to her blanket. I put her down for a nap, and her usual blanket that's been in her bed with her forever wasn't there. She would NOT take any other blanket that I gave her. We finally found it, and she just hugged it and tucked it up between her shoulder and head and laid down with it. Oh boy! This should be interesting...it's kind of sweet, though.

So here's a few pictures from Easter and some other things (better late than never, huh?):
This is Maddie and her friend, Jada. Jada is Jamie's daughter, my good friend who posts here sometimes. This was the morning after we all went to see the Disney Princesses on Ice.

Here's Maddie and Mackenzie in their Easter dresses. I can't believe that Mackenzie actually left her hair bow in all day!!









Maddie kept picking the pretty blooms off of Nana and Pappy's tree, but I thought this was a cute picture of her anyway. : )

I think this is my most favorite picture of Mackenzie ever! (Actually a picture that she sat still for!) Take notice of the phone she's holding...that was my very first cell phone!!! LOL! Look how HUGE it is!

And finally, this is Maddie with her "friends!" They're actually her second cousins, Gracie (left) and Emma (right). They are the daughters of my cousin, Kathy.









Hope you enjoyed!!

I need to talk about my friend...(Long)

A lot has come out about Brian, my praise band friend who committed suicide. Actually, after hearing the information, I feel a tiny bit better about what happened, although that's just an ironic way of saying that.

Brian had been admitted to Charter Ridge, a mental health facility, a few weeks ago for his depression. He had been suffering from depression for a little while, and it was getting to the point where he just wouldn't get out of bed in the mornings. This depression started when he sold his business - a popular bicycle shop in Lexington. Apparently, he felt that he had made a big mistake by selling it. The apprehension over this just continued to double and double until it became full-fledged depression.

Never did he ever seem to be suicidal...just a guy who had turned 50 and wasn't sure where he fit in with his life. After leaving Charter Ridge, he was regularly seeing a counselor (every other day). He sought help ON HIS OWN. He knew that he was depressed, and he only wanted to find out how NOT to be depressed.

The doctor tried him on numerous medications. Exactly one week after changing his medication YET AGAIN, Brian hung himself in his home.

The day that Brian died, he had called a company about a job that he had interviewed for. He was told that he probably had the job, but the person that he talked to had to find out more information and told him that she would call him back that afternoon. She tried and tried and tried to call him back later, but no one ever answered.

The day that Brian died, he went and had a late lunch with his daughter, Kelsey...that was at 2:o0. His son, Nathan, came home at 4:00 and found him dead. He literally had only minutes to make that fatal decision.

I attended the viewing at the funeral home on Thursday night. I was completely overwhelmed to see hundreds upon hundreds of people coming through that door to pay their respects. I told my Mom, who was keeping my girls, that I would be back in "about half and hour." An hour and a half later, I left that funeral home. I stood in line for a LONG TIME to pay my respects, and I was so glad that I did. I remember saying to him in my head..."See how many people loved you? See how many people cared so much that they come in droves to stand in line for you?"

I was not able to attend the funeral because I was home by myself with the girls on Friday. I hear that it was an AWESOME funeral complete with beautiful music, which he would have loved, and a wonderful eulogy.

After the funeral, Jill, Brian's wife, told our preacher that she had found some paperwork on this last drug that Brian had been taking...it said:

"Do not leave this person unattended while taking this medication. May cause suicidal thoughts."

She. Never. Knew. No one, including the prescribing doctor, ever told her that he could not be left alone. A very tragic "mistake" (OMISSION) with horrible, horrible consequences.

Our church service on Sunday was.....I don't even know what to call it. Horrible, sad, emotionally draining, inspirational, time to heal...there aren't enough words to describe it. Marcus, our preacher, began the service asking if anyone wanted to talk about what happened. There was one couple there who somehow did not receive word of what had happened, and when told, they just broke down in tears. People talked, asked questions, got mad...and healed. We finally had some closure. Having answers helped tremendously.

I, for one, am so glad that this wasn't something that he contemplated for a long, long time, but rather it was something not right with his mind at a particular moment. I pray that God forgives him, and I pray that God will heal all of the hearts that have been broken.

Our church service went on with a discussion about how God and Jesus views grief. Then, the remaining members of our praise band got up and sang two songs, "Draw Me Close to You" and "Blessed be Your Name." We did not use microphones, we did not have drums or guitars, just the piano...we couldn't. At that moment, we let the sound of Brian's voice and his guitar play in our minds while we sang those songs. I couldn't make it through...I cried through it as most others in the whole congregation did.

We will go on...we will form another praise band, but we will always hear the sound of Brian's voice and his guitar playing on...

I Met Adrianne (and other daily ramblings...)

I've been SOOOOOOO busy lately. Meetings, deadlines, organizing, taxes, etc... Bleh, bleh, bleh!

I got to take a little break out of everything last night, though. My buddy, Adrianne, from the original online buddy group that I've been a member of for 4+ years, is in Lexington for a conference. The girls and I met up with her last night...we went to the mall to eat dinner and shop. It was REALLY nice to get to meet her. She is just as sweet and wonderful in person as she is on the board.

Of course, my children were HEINOUS acting the entire time. Maddie took quite a liking to her, though, and talked about her all night before she went to bed last night. Mackenzie did her usual song and dance - screaming at the top of her lungs every 5 seconds. Anyway, we had a fabulous time, and I hope that we get to meet again one day in the future.

The sweetest part of the night, though, was when Maddie told Adrianne, "I'm sorry I didn't get to play with your little boys," talking about her little ones, Logan and Cole, who had to stay behind in Texas. So sweet!

In the "health" department - still no word on the MRI date, and at this point, I don't think I could care any less. This whole waiting with baited breath thing is getting OLD - FAST! I'm tired of constantly questioning myself and wondering what the deal is. I'm tired of dealing with doctors and doctors' offices and health insurance and just everything in general! Why can't I just feel better and not to have to worry about any of it at all!?!

I think I've mentioned this before, but my arms have been "falling asleep" during the night no matter what position I sleep in. It actually wakes me up in the middle of the night, especially if I try to turn over or something...I can't even lift myself up, my arms are SO incredibly weak. This is getting worse and worse and worse all of the time, and it's fairly frightening.

Whenever Maddie comes into our room in the middle of the night, it takes a good couple of minutes for me to be able to help her up onto the bed. Even after that, they remain so weak and almost unusable...I don't know...

OK...that's it for now, I guess. Gotta get lots of things done this afternoon....

Here's Some Pictures...

First thing's first...I'VE LOST 5 LBS!!! YAY! I have got to get myself back in shape. I've been trying to drink more water, cut out my evening snacks (*sigh*), and I'm trying to work myself back up to working out again. It's hard since my arms and legs don't always allow me to do certain things, but I'm determined. Plus, I can't let that new home gym just sit up there, can I??

On the flip side, Phil has lost 20 lbs! He's doing far better than I am so far... ;) I'm proud of him!!
Thought I would share a couple of pictures of the girls.

This is a picture of the girls this past Saturday rooting on the UK Wildcats in their cheer-gear:

This one, I like to call, "I swear we're not eating the yellow snow!!"

In other news...STILL waiting on my MRI date!! Getting pretty aggravated about that. In the meantime, Phil and I are getting busy on getting the house fixed up. We're going to start painting our master suite tomorrow (not an easy accomplishment), followed by attempting to tackle the massive entrance/foyer. I'm not looking forward to that at all (it's a 2-story entrance). Wish I had the money to call someone to come do it for us....I'm scared of heights! I'm excited to get it all done, though. We've been in that house for 7 months now just staring at white walls, so it's time to get it done. I'll post pictures when we get it finished.

So it's going to be a FUN weekend between getting the rest of my payroll tax returns/W-2's/1099's out and painting. Weeeeeeee!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

We took Maddie and Mackenzie to the mall yesterday and had their pictures made at the Picture People and with Santa. It went pretty well, except that Mackenzie (aka, the WILD one) had no interest whatsoever in sitting still to have her picture made. She was EVERYWHERE, and half the time she would not smile - just did that crazy scrunched up nose face. When Mackenzie would smile, Maddie wouldn't. Anyhow, these are a few of my favorites from the session:

My favorite - in their "dress-up" clothes:

Another cute one where they're both actually smiling:

My favorite picture of Maddie by herself (couldn't get any with just Mackenzie - she ran around too much!):

The Christmas picture that will go on the Christmas cards:

And finally - the Santa picture:

So there we have it...*sigh*...I'm SO glad that's over with!

It's Monday...bleh!

It's been an interesting few days...

We had a very good and fun weekend. On Saturday night, we had some good friends over - Johnie, Angie, Rachel and Chris. Chris was nice enough to bring pork chops over to cook on our grill (along with the fixin's)...he made Caribbean pork chops, roasted potatoes and grilled corn on the cob. How nice is it when someone else cooks at your house!?! Anyway, we all had a good time laughing and catching up.

It's so funny because Angie, Rachel and myself all graduated high school together, but we had not seen each other since high school until recently. Johnie used to be married to my cousin many years ago (divorced for about 8 years now), but now he is engaged to Angie. Chris and Rachel have dated off and on for a few years. Phil, Johnie and Chris have all been good friends for many years and went to school together. (Is this confusing or what?) Basically, us three girls were friends in school, and those three guys have been friends for years, and now we're all married/engaged/dating! Well...you know what I mean! : )

So about 30 minutes before everyone showed up at our house, Mackenzie decided to *FINALLY* start walking!!!! Phil, Maddie and I were all sitting in the living room while I was fixing Maddie's hair, and Mackenzie just turned around and took off walking across the floor. It was so cute...she was just flailing her arms and smiling from ear to ear while she was going. She knew that she was doing something big! So now, of course, she only wants to be down walking everywhere...let the fun begin!

In "symptom" news...things have seemed to ease up a little bit. We walked around the mall yesterday for awhile, and I only had to stop to sit down one time. I figured I would be sitting every 10 minutes, so I was pleased by that! I have noticed that my depth perception is getting kind of bad...I keep pouring the milk onto the counter instead of the sippie cup whenever I'm trying to get milk for the girls. Gads! What next!?!

I Can't Believe It's November Already!!!!

Time flies when you're having fun, huh? I am in such denial that 2005 is almost over and Christmas is directly around the corner (only 55 more days for your procrastinators out there).

Yesterday was a very busy day. We took the girls Trick or Treating, and they had a lot of fun, although I am about to die today from walking around the neighborhood and carrying Mackenzie around. (OUCH!) Lord knows if I had a brain, I would have put her in her stroller...wouldn't that have made a bit more sense?? But...no brain here! Out to lunch - permanently!

OK...so let me try to post some pictures here...

This is Maddie the beautiful Princess Bride!


And this is Mackenzie the screaming butterfly....she cried virtually all night because her teeth were hurting her...


Maddie got lots of candy and was under the impression that she got to eat all of it for breakfast this morning. Boy, was she disappointed!

So that's life in a nutshell today, I guess...

My prayers for today:
Continued prayers that the Neurologist might figure me out
For my buddies who want a baby to be able to hold one of their own in their arms very soon
For safety and well-being of my family and friends
Continued pain-free wishes for my Endo buddies

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Today is Halloween. While I don't agree with the meaning of this day, I do enjoy the festivities surrounding it. (Is that wrong??) I enjoy carving the pumpkins and giving candy out to all of the sweet little ones who come to my door.

We went to the pumpkin patch for the 2nd time yesterday and got Maddie and Mackenzie a bigger pumpkin to carve. It was a lot of fun because it was something that we could all do together. I got all of the seeds out of the pumpkin and baked them with cinnamon sugar...Mmmm....so good! (No one else would eat them though. Oh well...more for me!)

Maddie is going to be a princess bride. She has a little Cinderella wedding dress that she's had for a couple of months, so she decided that she wanted to wear that...after I talked her out of being a ghost, that is...haha!! She is SO excited about going trick or treating tonight! She talked about it non-stop this morning, and she actually got really upset when I put my Halloween vest on to wear out to work today because she thought I was going trick or treating without her.

I just bought Mackenzie a little sweatsuit that has little antennae (how do you spell that anyway!) on the hood and wings on the back. She's a little too young and still is not walking 100% on her own anyway, so I guess we'll wait to go all out for her next year.

It should be fun!! I'm excited!!!!!