Our front yard

My wonderful husband has been off all week long and boy has he made our front yard look amazing. I can't believe how just putting a little bit of muclch out will make it look so much neater around your flower beds. It makes everything look so much nicer. Well, I had to post some pictures of our new front yard. They aren't that great because they were taken at night, but at least you'll get an idea. Hope you like it. Oh and yeah, Britt does this for a side job if anyone is interested. =)

Piggy Tails

Weird Dream

So last night I slept great, which is unusual for me. Normally I can't go to sleep because my mind is going crazy worrying about something all the time, and then when I finally do go to sleep it is not a deep sleep. It seems as if I toss and turn all night long. Well, last night I slept like a baby (I really don't know why people use this expression ,because as Ashley and Moriah know, young babies do not sleep ALL NIGHT LONG). Anyways I slept great and man did I have some weird dreams. One of which involves you girls from high school. I dreamed that we were in Europe traveling all over together. We stopped by to see Martijn. I guess I dreamed about him since I saw that he was on MySpace the other day. Too weird. Who would have ever thought that we would see or hear from him again? Kellie - remember when he spent Thanksgiving at my house? Poor thing! My family absolutely adored him, but they weren't around him everyday like we were to hear him talking NON-STOP. I feel kind of bad now for ousting him the way we did. He was just trying to fit in in a TOTALLY different country. Ok, off my soap box about him. We were all on top of the Eiffel Tower (like we really did in Paris) singing "Friends are Friends Forever". Who knows where this came from, or why I dreamed it, but I did and it was a really neat dream. Can you imaginie it? All of us traveling around Europe together?????? Yeah, it was definitely a dream, but a really intersting one. Where do dreams come from and what do they truly mean? I've studied it a small bit, but I would really be interested in learning more about where these odd mind creations come from.

Well girls with that said I think that it is time for another girl's night, and Meg's you have to come along this time. You girls truly are the BEST! God has blessed me with some AWESOME friends!

LOSS

A co-worker of mine was expecting a baby around the same day that Ashlyn was born. We were having a shower for the baby here at work on Wednesday afternoon. Well, the baby boy decided to come early. He got a phone call around 2:00 and his wife's water had broken. So the shower was put on hold. He was so excited, and so was everyone else. We couldn't wait to see this beautiful little baby. We never heard any news yesterday. I thought that something may have gone wrong, but then again I know after you have had a baby you just want to love and hold it. You kind of put everything else on hold.

Well, our boss came to us this morning and said that he had received a voicemail from Sidong (my co-worker) and the baby was born and alive for 10 minutes and then they lost their precious son. My heart aches for this couple. Please keep them in your prayers. I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through. I know that everything happens for a reason, and I don't like to question God, but what reason do you take the life of a newborn baby? I just have a REALLY hard time understanding why this sort of thing happens. I know that God has a plan for all of us, and this was the life that was planned for this tiny baby, but why?

It's hard to deal with the loss of anyone, but I believe that the loss of a child is the worst loss ever! I just pray for God to help them heal in this terrible time.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I was letting Rudy out to use the bathroom and this is the first sight that I saw as I opened the door. I had to capture this beautiful picture.

Mommy and Me

Any Motherly Advise?!?!?!?

OK, so Ashlyn had been doing better with the temper tantrums, but the past week has been H E double hockey sticks! Oh my goodness! I know that her pictures look adorable, but don't let that little face fool you! My does she have a temper on her. And stubborn as they come. When she starts these temper tantrums there is nothing that anyone can do to stop them. She screams as loud as possible, kicks, hits, cries; You name it, she does it! And it goes on for about 30 minutes until she wears herself out. It's awful! What do I do to stop these terrible fits? It's really kind of comical. She almost looks like the girl off of the excorcist, not really, but that's how she acts. I told Britt that when her head starts spinning I'm really going to be worried. =) Well, hopefully it's just her age! Let me tell you the whole terrible two thing is definitely true for me!

Extreme Home Makeover

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!! It was GREAT tonight. They were helping a family who had given everything that they had to try to make the little boys life as great as it possibly could be. The hospital had found a brain tumor when the little boy was 4 years old. Could you imagine getting that kind of news. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. The little boy had a lot of courage, but now enought to fight off this terrible disease. There was a quote at the end of the show that went something like this, he may be gone, but you have to keep living on through all of the memories that you have of your loved one. I cried and cried and cried!!! That show is great. It always leaves me wondering what I can do for others in our community to help make their life a little better. I always learn alot from this show, but tonight I learned a great deal about life. It just shows that even if you have a huge loss, you have to keep giving life your all and living on through the great times and memories.

I don't know why, and I guess it's pretty normal, but I have a really hard time trying to ignore the little silly "what if" thoughts. I think them every day. Sometime more than others. What if something would happen to Ashlyn?, What if something would happen to my husband, my parents, my family, my friends, etc.... I also worry about something happening to me and it just kills me to think that I may miss out on my daughter's life. Am I crazy for doing this? I know that we are supposed to live everyday as it is our last. I think that I am a worrier just like my mammaw Drum. She would worry over anything and everything. I just honestly do not know if I could handle losing a child. I think that I would literally go crazy. Life is so scary! You take what you are given and make the best of it. It's not that I'm scared of death itself. I'm scared of losing that great time with our loved ones, and just knowing that you aren't going to have any more time like that to spend with them.

You always hear everyone say that they LOVE LIFE, but you never hear anyone say that they LOVE DEATH. With death you just try to make the best out of it that's possible. Just keep living on those wonderful memories!

Ashlyn and the potty

I am so excited. We haven't even really started working with Ashlyn on potty training yet, but today after we got home from church she said that she needed to poopie. Britt took her to the potty and she poopied in the potty. Can you believe it? I am just so happy. I'm still in shock. She was so proud of herself. I just had to share our "big girl" moment. This is great news!

Before we know it she will be all grown up. I just wish we could freeze time. This age is the BEST! She is however starting the terrible two thing, but other than the temper tantrums, which by the way have gotten better (Thank You Lord!) Ashlyn is the biggest joy ever. She learns new things everyday and you really can't get mad at her when she is just learning about her own independence and how far she can push your limits. And I think that she has learned that Britt and I will not give in no matter what. I took one VERY LONG weekend, but ever since then she has been pretty good. All we have to say is "do you want a spanking?" and she'll dry those tears right up. It's just so funny that they are so young, yet so smart!

My "trouble" babies

They are definitely TROUBLE, but you just can't help but love them. I mean how can you not love those precious faces. You can see them smiling from ear to ear. These are the dogs who chewed up the trailor wires on Britt's trailor not once but twice, found some exta insulation in the shed behind our house and desroyed it ALL OVER our yard, jumped in my car when it was storming and wouldn't get out, and dug up and shredded our brand new Japanese Maple that we just planted on Monday. The list goes on and on. I honestly can't believe that Britt hasn't shot one of them by now. They are alot betther than they used to be, so that tells you how much trouble they got into when they were puppies. I am so glad that they are finally getting out of that puppy stage. I swear I think that they are worse than a child. They are a mess, but I wouldn't trade them for anything!

DRESS UP TIME!

Where do the years go?

I can't believe that it's already May. Every year seems to fly by faster and faster. Is it just a part of getting older? I remember when I was a child the day would creep by. I was always hoping that tomorrow would get here as fast as it could. Now I try to savor each day. Enjoy every moment. It just goes way too fast. I just can't believe that my baby isn't a baby anymore. She will be 2 years old next month.

She is becoming such an independent little girl. SO SMART! She can already count to 10. She is beginning to potty train herself. The list goes on and on. We are so fortunate to have such a beautiful and smart little girl. Definitely prissy. She is ALL GIRL! She has a fit whenever I put my hair up now. I put my hair up every evening because by the end of the day it is driving me insane. Well everytime I put it up now she says, "No mommy. Hair down." She will repeat herself over and over until I take it down. I have no clue why it bothers her so bad. Oh well. It's cute for now, but she will have to get use to mommy's hair being up every now and then. I can't stand it in my face all of the time. I don't know what she would do if I got it all cut off. She would probably have a fit.

Tonight she did the silliest thing. I heard her saying, "NO NO NO RUDY". I went to see what she was scolding him about, and he had pooped in the corner (but he really is housetrained lol). She knows that mommy and daddy discipline Ashlyn, so she has to discipline somebody, and it just happens to be poor Rudy. It's so cute though. She's already becoming like her mommy.

Well enough rambling about my little princess. I just can't believe how much she learns everyday. I wanted to share a little of it with everyone else.

MY KIDS