Christmastime in The Big Easy

Matt & I finally got our Christmas decorations out today and had fun putting up the tree and decorating. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.


Our stockings.

Our Christmas tree.

Of course DJ & Peaches have their own stockings.

Nativity.

DJ playing under the tree (notice we can't find our tree skirt).

And this is our Christmas present from Paul & Kelly!

Etsy

I have recently discovered Etsy and it is the coolest website ever! It is a website where people make homemade stuff & sell it here. And there is the CUTEST stuff on there! I have been looking at the children's stuff (duh!) and found some stuff I love. One more month until we find out what the sex of the baby is and then I'll be hitting Etsy up! I am especially loving these items...

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was the first Thanksgiving that Matt & I have ever been away from our families. It was hard, but we had a wonderful day. I woke up at 6 am to start cooking (man, do I feel like my mom or what?)! Everything went smoothly and I had finished cooking by 10:45 am and we had eaten and cleaned the entire kitchen by noon! I was pretty proud! Here's what we enjoyed for our Thanksgiving meal: Coca-cola ham (by request of the girls), homemade cornbread stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy (NOT homemade!), green beans, chocolate chip pie, pumpkin pie, and sweet potato pie. Mmmm! It was all very delicious! We only had two girls here for dinner & then one left to be with her family after dinner...so we've been hanging out with just one girl. It's been really nice and peaceful. We went to see the movie, This Christmas, after dinner & then ate at Shoney's. And when we got home tonight Matt started getting the Christmas decorations out! Joy joy! What a wonderful day it has been! We sure have a lot to be thankful for!

The Future.

The last few weeks have been extremely hard in our job. So hard, in fact, that Matt & I briefly contemplated moving back to South Carolina. After praying and discussing everything, we have decided that we are going to try to hold out here for a year (which means until June) and then see what happens. There are many changes happening in our home right now and we pray they are for the better.

Continue to pray for us as we struggle through each day with these girls.

Carolina Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend in the Carolinas last weekend and got to spend time with lots of friends and family. Here are some pictures from our visit. Next time we'll have to do better about getting more pictures of family!

The reality of it all.

I have decided that I need to be very real and raw with you all. There is no point in hiding our struggles. And by me sharing a little of them with you all, I know that I will gain support and prayers--and that is exactly what we need right now. So, let's be real.

The reality of life is that Matt & I are miserable. Our job is seriously eating at our souls. We are exhausted and burnt out and it is effecting us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We feel as if we are treading water every day and desperately gasping for any air that we can get. We feel like we are trying our best to do our job and our best is not adding up to anything.

I do not know what this means for us. I don't know what our future holds. I do know that we love this city and want to be here. And we thank God for this opportunity to serve.

Once again, I am asking for your prayers. God is the only one who can bring us through this. Pray that we will get the rest we need. Pray that we will be able to take control of our house and maintain consistency with the girls. And pray that we will find joy in our lives here.

The past few days, I have been very encouraged by two songs--"Hallelujah" by Bethany Dillon and "When the Saints" by Sara Groves. I am so thankful that God reminds us of His faithfulness through songs. Here are some of the lyrics that have especially meant a lot to me.

"Hallelujah, hallelujah
Whatever's in front of me
Help me to sing hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Whatever's in front of me
I'll choose to sing hallelujah"
-Bethany Dillon

"and when i'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought
i think of paul and silas in the prison yard
i hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
and when the Saints go marching in
i want to be one of them
lord it's all that i can't carry and cannot leave behind
it all can overwhelm me
but when i think of all who've gone before and lived a faithful life
their courage compels me"
-Sara Groves

Funny.

This video was stolen from Paul. It cracks me up because it's JUST like my Princess Peaches!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a big deal in New Orleans. It's been fun to see all the houses decorated (and I mean these people spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on decorations) and people all dressed up today. We carved and painted pumpkins at our house and it was fun. I love carving pumpkins. And I love roasted pumpkin seeds even more.

We got tickets to the New Orleans Hornets (remember when they used to be the Charlotte Hornets?) game tonight. I was pretty excited b/c it is their opening game, and being Halloween they were passing out candy and having a costume contest. Well, on our way to the game, I was just fed up with all the loud voices and yelling, so I told our girls to not talk for one minute. Of course, one of our girls says something, so I give her negative consequences (they are on a point system) and she accepts her consequences and all is well. Right after that, another girl talks, so I give her negative consequences and she just blows up--hollering and yelling and cursing. At this point I told Matt to turn the van around and take me and the girl home. When we get home the girl continues to be non-cooperative and walk around our porch cursing and yelling. Then she decides to put baby oil all over the pumpkin I carved. That kind of cracked me up b/c I guess she thought it would make me mad or something. So, here I am, at home, bored, on Halloween night. At least we have the day off tomorrow.

Actually, we had the morning off this morning. Our wonderful assistant decided to switch her schedule on Wednesday and Fridays to work from 6am-4pm instead of 12pm-8pm. That means on those days we don't have to get up at 5 am and work the morning shift before the girls go to school! Hallelujah! Just when we are ready to crash and burn, God sends a little relief our way. Thank you, Lord, for knowing exactly what we need and providing rest for us.

I know everyone has been eagerly anticipating the results from Matt's second sleep study. We finally got the results and after some confusion between Matt's doctor and the sleep study center, Matt received his CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine yesterday. Poor guy, he not only has to sleep with this machine on, but he also has to wear a chin strap to keep his mouth closed. He did pretty well with it last night, being his first night with it on. It was a little uncomfortable but he got through the entire night with it on! I was so proud of him. The only problem is that the cats like to play with the tubing from the machine to Matt's face. Guess we'll be pulling out the spray bottle again to have to discipline them. Here's a picture to give you an idea of what the face mask looks like. Poor, poor Matt. Pray that this will be a smooth transition and he will get used to wearing this machine (because he will most likely have to wear it for the rest of his life).


In other news, my morning sickness is getting much better. I actually haven't even had to take the nausea medication the doctor gave me. Today was the second morning that I haven't thrown up and my appetite is definitely getting better. I still have trouble eating meats (mostly beef and chicken), so it's been hard getting enough protein. I have been enjoying jelly biscuits from McDonald's and croissant sandwiches from the bakery across the street (I know I'm not supposed to eat much deli meat so I limit these, but it's hard because these sandwiches are SO good).

I guess this has been a long enough post. 8 more days until we're in the Carolinas!

Two weeks and counting...

Two weeks from today, Matt & I will be back in South Carolina (for 5 days)! Praise the Lord! We are counting down the days for a break from work and enjoying everything back in SC. Here's what we're looking forward to:

*Spending time with my parents & brother
*Spending time with Matt's family
*Going to Black Mountain to visit Mimi & Papa and Grandaddy & Grandmommy Parks
*Spending time with Kelly, Paul, Daniel, Jen, Grant, & Logan
*Going shopping in Pineville/Charlotte
*Getting a pumpkin spice latte with Kelly
*Going to Westminster on Sunday
*Jocelyn & Watson's wedding (and everyone we're going to see there!)
*Going to the Winthrop basketball game
*Eating at the Bistro on Main Street
*BOJANGLES! (unfortunately we don't have those in Louisiana and I have been craving Bojangles for 3 months!)
*Loving on Brogan, Kerry, & Fiona
*And hopefully spending time with lots of other friends

Oh man, I'm getting excited! Get ready South Carolina!

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Here is my husband's account on the rain/flooding yesterday in New Orleans.

So for some odd reason while the rest of the country is having rabid forest fires (south California), droughts, and back in SC water restrictions, We here in New Orleans are taking on water. I checked the weather last night to see if it was going to rain because i was going to finish my landscaping timber project today on my day off. Well it said something like "scattered showers". They lied....It began raining this morning and has not stopped since, Urban Flooding is so bad by our house that i had to walk through 1/2 ft. of water on the sidewalk going to the Circle K just down the street. Lucky for me I have my Crocs (i used to hate them when people would wear them, but they are just SOO useful). Poor Bella the dog had to go potty on the cement because all the grass had at least 3in of water on it. When i find my camera PC cord i will post a video of my walk to the circle K....Pray for the people in the city because Sarah and I live in one the highest parts of the city. Most of the girls schools have been canceled because of flooding, i guess part of the "charm of the city" is all the water we get to experience. I should get my Kayak from the storage unit and go for a "paddle"...Ahhh the joys of New Orleans.

And here are a couple pictures Matt took in front of our house. We have some videos but I can't get them to post for some reason.

Little Peanut Parks

I had my first prenatal doctor's visit today and much to my surprise, they did an ultrasound! On the first visit! I was SO excited! We got to see our sweet little peanut and see his/her heart beating. I am so glad that Matt was there with me to see this for the first time. Everything looks good so far. I am 9 weeks along and due May 21st. And for those of you who are wondering, it will be the end of December when we find out the sex of the baby. Oh, how I hope this time passes quickly. The doctor gave me some medicine for my nausea as well, praise the Lord. It has been horrendous lately. I haven't even been able to keep down Italian Ice (my favorite treat thanks to Amy!), chicken noodle soup, or even crackers. I'm definitely looking forward to not having to run down the stairs a million times a day to give the porcelain goddess a visit. Anyway, here are some pictures of our precious little peanut. That little blur in the black abyss is our baby. :)

Go Gamecocks!

Just wanted to say GO COCKS! They pulled through once again.

Busy week

*Note: I'm watching the South Carolina vs. North Carolina game so I might get a little distracted during this post.

On Wednesday morning, I took one of our girls to the Children's Hospital ER because of severe stomach pain. I was hoping that they would just tell her to take some Colace and then send us on our way. Boy, was I wrong! After sitting in the ER room for 6 hours, the doctor came in and told me that they detected I high level of glucose in her urine and wanted to do test her blood sugar. I few minutes later, a nurse came in and checked her blood sugar and it was 467!!! If you know anything about blood sugar, this is VERY high. The normal blood sugar level is anywhere between 80-120. At that point they diagnosed her with Diabetes and admitted her to the hospital to get her blood sugar down. I spent three exhausting days in the hospital with her while they pumped her full of fluid's and gain her a balanced diet. (Side note: South Carolina just scored a touchdown! Go Cocks!). Anyway, her diabetes is manageable with pills, a balanced diet, and exercise. She has to check her blood sugar four times a day. We were well-trained at the hospital and feel comfortable with all of this, but it means lots of changes for us as a house. We are so thankful that she is okay and has a very manageable form of Diabetes.

While I was at the hospital, Matt was taking care of the other 5 girls, with the help of our wonderful assistants. It was a pretty rough week for him and we are both back to get back to our "normal routine".

Well, it's football season, which also means it's State Fair season. I am sad to miss the SC State Fair this year. I cherish the memories of that fair and hope to oneday take my child(ren) to share in those experiences. I was hoping that maybe Matt & I could go to the Lousiana State Fair but I looked it up and it is 5 freakin hours away! So, I guess that's a no go. So sad. For all of you going to the fair please eat a funnel cake and corn dog for me.

Okay, I'm going to get back to this football game. Let's go Gamecocks!

Just so you know

Morning sickness is NOT my friend.

But I am so thankful that I have a husband who sacrifices, steps up when needed, and will do anything for me.

I am blessed.

Good Morning Everyone!

Good Saturday Morning! Most of you are probably still asleep or enjoying a lazy morning. Oh how I wish I could do that! One of the benefits of this job is working weekends! Let me tell you, I would much rather be in bed or watching tv or shopping right now. But here I am, sitting in our office preparing for the day (and finishing up some paperwork from yesterday). One day, I would like to have a job that has weekends off again. Oh how I miss the weekends!

Don't feel sorry for me though, because we are going to have a fabulous weekend with the girls. Two of our girls are on home pass for the weekend (praise the Lord), so we only have 4 in the house. Today we are going to Audubon Park to have a picnic, go for a walk, feed the ducks, and just have fun. We are praying the rain will hold off so we can do this.

Have you guys seen the commercials for the new Electronic Monopoly? As soon as we heard about it, Matt & I knew we were going to have to buy it. It looked like too much fun! So, we went out Thursday and bought it for the house. Matt played it with the girls last night while I was sick in bed with morning sickness. I'm sure we'll play a game today. I'll let you know just how much fun it is!

Matt & I finally got to go to Thursday night Community Group for our church. We missed the past 3 weeks because we were working (on our day off) or just exhausted. We got to see some people we had met before and also met lots of new people. It was a good time of fellowship and studying the Word.

We've had Bella the bulldog for almost a week now. We are pretty sure that her owner is just going to let us keep her. We have enjoyed having her here. She is a sweet but stubborn dog. I'll have to post some videos soon.

Well, I better get back to that paperwork I need to be doing. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Hello Bella!

When we first moved here, we noticed this cute English Bulldog that lived down the street from us. She was always sitting on the porch and we would always speak to her b/c she was just too cute to resist! Well, Matt was out working in the yard the other day and the bulldog & her owner walk by. Matt tells the owner how cute her dog is and that is his dream dog. The owner then says that she has been thinking about giving her away because she just doesn't have time for her anymore. Matt lets her know that we are VERY interested! So, last night the bulldog & her owner are on their walk and Matt is outside working again. The lady states that she is not fully ready to give her up yet, but she goes out of town a lot and would love for us to dog sit for her. So, she brings Bella by today and we are LOVING her! We're going to dog sit for a while and then hopefully get to keep her! And the best part is, she is great with cats, people, and kids! And she is trained to walk with her owner without a leash! Here are some pictures of this cutie pie that we have fallen in love with!