4 More Days Until... WHAT?!?!

That's what my last post should read. Forget the baby shower, I got a baby! Sweet, precious, beautiful (even though she looks nothing like me), little miracle Kaylee Gracen Hayward arrived at 3:05 am, March 22, 2009. Long story short, I thought it was Braxton Hicks. Seriously. When my "braxton hicks" were 5 minutes apart, I blamed it on riding in the car. When I grossly passed the mucous plug.. I thought I was having signs of some sort of weird infection. When Jeremy was rushing me to Saline Memorial in Benton at 1:30 am, I was planning out my speech for why I should be released ASAP because my baby shower was a short 12 hours away. When I was checked for dialation, I thought the nurse was insane for even considering the idea. When I was 9 cm dialated, I freaked out. After no epidural or pain meds, an hour and five minutes after the doctor broke my water, and 3 pushes I heard the sweetest cry i've ever heard, just for the beginning of the longest week of my life.

Kaylee was rushed to Baptist Health in Little Rock, where she still is, and will stay for another 3 to 4 weeks. She's been weaned off the ventilator, which was removed Saturday. She's been treated for a heart murmur which they weren't sure even existed. She's under jaundice lights, her levels went from a 9 to a 5 in a little under 4 days. Kaylee is a fighter and a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

I'm at Baptist Health, in the waiting room, starting my work for classes this week. Jeremy had to go back to Magnolia. This is going to be hard on all of us, but we'll make it work. I've never been away from Jeremy this long, Jeremy is away from Kaylee, and Kaylee is facing a new battle everyday. Since coming off the ventilator, she can't hold a steady breathing rate. Her doctor will not put her back on the ventilator today, but he won't take the tubes out of her belly button either. Once the tubes are out it's a pretty sure thing she won't go back on the ventilator, and also once the tubes are out, we will be able to hold our little girl.

Kaylee has a ton of prayers going out for her, and I am so thankful for them. I am so thankful for Kaylee. They aren't sure what caused her to come early, but she is is here and safe and I am thankful. I ask that you continue to pray for Kaylee, she still has a long, hard road ahead.

Oh yea, as for the baby shower.. It has been postponed. We did enjoy baby shower "birthday cake" on Sunday though...

Jeremy and I split the first "girl" piece that the spinner landed on.

4 More Days!!

4 days away!! I’m so excited, I absolutely cannot wait until my baby shower! I had another DR appointment today, all is well! I go back in 2 weeks, then I have another 2 weeks until my next one… then it’s down to every week. I now remember what I did last Monday… and how I completely forgot is beyond me. I got my hair done colored/cut, yet again. My hair is growing so fast (thanks pre-natal’s!) that I can’t keep up with it, so I’m having to go ever 3-4 weeks for it to look right. I’ll post pictures later, when I get a chance :)



Since I don't have much to say, here's something to occupy your time.

Jeremy's mom bought us this adorable bassinet, which we picked up over the weekend. While we were picking it up, there was a lady who wanted to sell some of her baby clothes (with price tags still attached) and since we bought them all... she threw in 3 packages of diapers, which are in the bassinet! (2 are seen, one is hidden underneath).

Since I don't have a "nursery" set up, I saw this at Wal-Mart and thought it'd work perfectly to store baby clothes in until I can get something else. And... haha, yes.. you see mostly pink :) The blanket was made for the baby (and it's pink too, hehee) by Jeremy's aunt as a present from his mom. Does that make any sense? If this baby is a boy, I sure hope he likes wearing pink!

If you ever think you might sell your house...

Take it from me, lesson learned. If you think you may want to sell your house, as in.. tomorrow, 10 years..whenever. Do NOT do what I did.

1) Turn your built on the back porch greenhouse into a pig pen.


2) Once the pig is gone, let chickens roost in what is left of the greenhouse.


When you do these things despite my advice, here is what you can expect.

A pile of ....grossness... being swept out the backdoor of the greenhouse, on top of a now non-existant flowerbed. Except for the one remaining plant that was too big to be covered. This is, of course, after....




All of THIS has been removed from the greenhouse. But of course, then you can expect...

A somewhat manageable greenhouse again. It needs some more work... but it's not AS bad. Yes, it was...

1) A real pig. It was just sooo cute! I couldn't let it sleep out in the cold...

2) An ALL DAY clean

3) I only took part in the picture taking.

4) I am out of rocks.

5) I got my punishment... cleaning the bath tub.

BUT... while I was outside, I did manage to take a picture of this....

The LAUNDRY ROOM!!! In fact, Barker is showing you all exactly where I was standing during the dreadful armadillo attack. If he hadn't been standing at the door watching, surely he would have chased the thing off for me, before it started chasing me. Oh, and please ignore my "stepping stones" that were left by the previous owners, and i'm too lazy to change them out.

Giving Mood..

I'm in a giving mood today... so, here's an AWARD!

Be the first one to comment, saying whatever you like, and grab this CUTE award for your blog. If you're not the first one to comment, send this award to five people whose blogs "make you smile" and then feel free to grab it for yourself, from me of course!

Time for that Update I promised!

Since I mentioned yesterday I would be updating in the “near-future” I guess I can’t leave you all waiting huh? I’d love to tell you all that the reason I haven’t posted is because I have been out fighting fires, giving CPR to hit-by-car animals, and saving the world.. but.. my only excuse is, SINUSES. Yes, it’s true. The Sinus bug hits me hard every year, and of course, the same time every year. It’s amazing that I still get surprised by the Sinus bug, it always seems to catch me in the worst moments. It has been so bad, I am beginning to believe I have lost all hearing ability in my right ear. I guess if that is the case, I won’t be able to hear all the chaos going on in my house at all times… so maybe it’s not such a bad thing. I know it has been pretty peaceful when I can walk back to the bedroom to fold clothes and hear… SILENCE. So, time for an update.



Saturday-I posted my “want to learn” blog after Jeremy’s truck wouldn’t start. I know what jumper cables are, but I barely know how to pop the hood on my car. Of course I know how to pull the little button thing on the inside for the initial “pop”, but once you gotta find that thing to move over for the lift… I have tried and tried and still can’t do it. Truth be known, I can’t even get my hand far enough in there to find the thing to move! I believe Saturday I did everything in my ability to stay at home. For once. The closest I went to leaving the house was going outside, to do laundry.



Sunday- Nothing major- sold a bird, ate at Popeyes in Texarkana (yumm), got the boys, ate again, came home, went to bed.



Monday- If I could remember I would tell, but I seriously can’t remember



Tuesday- PT conference… then I was asked to present to Tyler’s 4-H group over genetics. That was a wonderful hot dogs with chili night!



Thursday-Rested from Wednesday, took Zoey and Stormy to the vet, rested some more… after re-arranging my kitchen cabinets.



Today- Slept In.. ahhhh, the wonders of a few extra hours of sleep. In fact, it’s 11:07 and I’m still in my PJ’s.



Yes… I know I left out Wednesday. Poor Wednesday must remain a secret for a while, sorry!! I hope your feelings aren’t hurt so bad you stop reading my blog, but just know that I WILL TELL. Yes, I WILL TELL when the time is right, so keep checking back and you will know, within a month I hope!



So, on to other news. I have weekend plans that don’t involve leaving the house. I’m ready for some SPRING CLEANING!! I just hope I don’t get too wore down, too quickly which seemed to happen yesterday after I :



1. Got home from vet
2. Put supper in the oven, immediately after walking in the door.
3. Re-arranged my kitchen cabinets while supper was in oven.
4. Served and Ate lasagna, salad, and garlic bread…
5. Did dishes as soon as they hit the sink (WHAT?!?!)
6. Put dishes up while cake was baking (another WHAT?!?!)
7. Sorted laundry
8. Folded clothes that were put in the dryer 2 days ago (Opps….)
9. Put another load on
10. Pulled cake from oven
11. Fed/Watered livestock
12. Put the icing on the cake!



…all without sitting down, once. I imagine that’s why I got so wore down, being 31 weeks pregnant and all. But anyways…



Speaking of pregnancy… I am officially 31 weeks today, and my BABY SHOWER is less than 2 weeks away! It’s actually only a week and 2 days away, so you all better be getting ready!! My WONDERFUL sisters are throwing the shower for me, and I couldn’t appreciate them or the shower enough.



It’s time for a little “advertisement” I should say. I try to be a creative person, but I hate to say my sister Geri gets the “most creative” award. She not only did my baby shower invitations, she also did JoAnn’s. When I needed invitations for JoAnn’s baby shower, I simply called her, gave her very little detail of what I wanted and the rest was in her hands. Just a few short days later they were ready to go, and better than I could have imagined!





(For Privacy Reasons, I blurred some of the words/phone numbers/addresses out)

I told Geri we were having a "camo" themed shower, and i'm pretty sure that was it! JoAnn's invitations turned out ADORABLE!

So, I didn't really know what to expect when my shower invitations would be coming around. We aren't finding out what we're having, so no "pink or blue" could be incorporated. When Jeremy opened the invitation and refused to show me, I was screaming that it was a Federal Offense to open mail with someone else's name on it and if he didn't show me in 2 seconds I would report him.

Then... this is what I see.

I almost cried. They are sooo CUTE!!! Yet again, my sister Geri deserves the "Most Creative" Award.

If you need invitations for Baby Showers, Weddings, Birthday Parties, whatever.. please feel free to contact her! Geri has started her own business called GerBear Creations. She lives in Hot Springs, and her e-mail address is: gerbear.creations@gmail.com

I guess that's really all I have to say, today! I'll try to update sooner, as in tomorrow or the next day.. surely i'll have time between all my cleaning!

Don't worry

I'm still around! I know it's been a while, and though i've missed you all terribly I have been soo busy lately. I just wanted to stop in and say i'm still around, and expect a nice, long read in the near future. After a VERY busy day yesterday I am extremely exhausted, and with the "lovely" weather change, my sinuses are even worse today. So, i'm about to throw the little monster who is currently attacking my hair (zoey) in the kitchen sink for a bath and then take her for her puppy shots (3rd time) and Stormy (our rescued poodle) to have his stitches out.... at the vet of course. I hope everyone is doing good!

Things I desperately want to learn...

1) How to jump a car battery, as in, with jumper cables
2) Change a Tire
3) Pick my own clothes, shoes, and jewelry without Jeremy’s help (not that I don’t LOVE his help, but I’d like to be able to do it on my own too)
4) How to cut hair. I would drop everything to go to Cosmetology School.
5) Sign Language.
6) Knitting. Heck, even sewing with a sewing machine would work for me!
7) Read a Map. It’s true, I don’t know how to read a map. Me being in the passenger seat is total chaos, as well as me being in the driver’s seat.
8) Understand directions better, I get lost going to Texarkana still.
9) How to cook my mom’s corn casserole.
10) If there’s a way to gain common sense. People don’t see how truly smart I am, due to my lack of common sense.

That time again!!

It's that time again! I'm 30 weeks pregnant today!! I'm so excited to be this far, only 10 more weeks to go!!


Ok, Ok.... I know, this picture is more about the shirt than the belly. I found it at Motherhood Maternity the other day and just HAD TO HAVE IT!! Jeremy says it doesn't do my pregnancy justice, so he made me put on a different shirt.

Is that better? I swear these were taken on the same day, just minutes apart!!

I think I got offended... Hahaaa!!!

Compared to 18 weeks here!! Same shirt, just a "few" weeks difference!

Since we aren't finding out the sex of the baby, we are going to take a girl outfit, and a boy outfit. Well... I thought i'd share. We found the boy outfit a while back at JC Penny, but we just found the girl outfit the other day at The Children's Place. Before I put them in my suitcase (woot woot! I'm getting soo prepared!) I had to take pictures and show their cuteness!

Of course, this is the little boys! Those little frogs are just sooo cute!

And the little girl's! Ohhhh, I love this little dress!! As soon as Jeremy and I saw it we couldn't leave without it! I think the little bonnet is just adorable :)

I deserve a medal for this...

I have...

cooked supper, as in grilled chicken, rice and potatoes
fed/watered livestock
did dishes (sadly, my dishwasher is broken)
finished laundry
and even made a cherry cheesecake.... all before 7:30

woot woot! I'm so proud of myself. This is NOT normal for me.

But... I have to admit, I put the boys to bed at 7.

With the stuff I got done, though, I may do that every night from now on :)

I had no idea...

Armadillos will chase you!!! After being completely blown away by The Bachelor, smartie me decides to finally go get the socks out of the dryer. Sadly, my "laundry room" is outside. This doesn't bother me really, unless it is raining or really hot in which the red wasp come out and attack. They stay around both sides of the door and as soon as it comes open or closed, they are after the first thing moving that they see. Just in case you ever decide to stop by, you could prob. get a pretty good kick out of watching me put on a load of laundry. I stand with my basket on my hip, wasp spray in my hand, and I cautiously wait for the right time to open the door. Then the race is on, the quicker I can close the door the better... which then leaves me to face the angry swarm of wasps on the outside. Oh how I love hot weather and outside laundry rooms...

Anyways, back to my initial story. I'm waddleing out of the laundry room, basket on hip, and I hear Kitty. I say "Hey Kitty!" and then realize Kitty is on the porch...which leaves something unknown beside me. I look over and there is an armadillo. Once the armadillo and I make eye contact, I get a hiss from it and the thing starts chasing me! What?!?! I ran up them steps as fast as I could, which is quite scary. Running into the house, I asked Jeremy "Can armadillos carry rabies?!" because of course, as slow as I was running surely the thing had time to chew my leg off. What happens then? Jeremy doesn't believe me!! I just got chased down by an armadillo, the wild thing is still out there, and i'm worried I now have rabies... even though I wasn't bitten.

Yes Dad..I finally cooked the ham

That's what I can say next time I talk to my dad. He gave us a ham sometime around Christmas, and I just cooked it yesterday. Well, if cooking a ham includes frying a ham (which it does in my book) I fried ham for supper last night, and we had some good fried ham sandwiches. For breakfast this morning (what??! I cooked breakfast!) Jeremy and I had pancakes and left-over ham. We have so much ham, i'm even heatin it up for supper tonight! Woo-hoo! I can't help it i'm so lazy lately... I feel bad, sometimes. It takes all I have to get up and pre-heat the oven, much less finding something to put in the oven. Lately, we've been having chicken strips, fries, manwhich...anything that takes less than 20 min! Shame on me, someone ought to slap my hands for this, I almost feel as if i'm neglecting my husband by making him eat all this pre-cooked food, but... they boys sure love it!

So, tonight's menu consists of:

Fried ham, re-heated
Mac and cheese
Green beans
and if they are lucky... I may throw on some type of bread.

I'll be sure and remember my reviews for you all... but here is my predictions

Aidan: I don't wanna eat this
Tyler: UUggghhhh, HAM again?!?!
Jeremy: When did Monday become left-over night?
Me: Eat or go to bed hungry!!

Hehee, anyone want some fried ham? You're more than welcome to join :)

Krystal Rocks!

After my "National Step-Mothers Day" worked so well, I have also sucessfully tried "National Pregnant Woman Day", "Pregnant with Step-Children Day" and today is "Only Female in the House Day". Now, if I can only think of a caption for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday... I may just make this a weekly thing.

At my house, we do the rock system. Both boys have their names on a plastic see-through cup, and they get "rocks" for good deeds. The "rocks" are similar to fish tank marbles, just a little bigger. At the end, the child who fills their cup fastest gets the grand prize of $50 to spend however they want. This works wonders. I need trash taken out, I give a rock to whoever is willing to take it out. I can't bend over to sort laundry since there is always shirts/jeans/socks/etc. in the "towel" basket, I get a laundry sorter lined out and a rock is given. They help haul hay/feed livestock/water/put feed up, they get rewarded with... yes, you guessed it, a Rock! So, whenever I really need something done, I may say something like "Free Rocks!!! Come get your Free Rocks!!!" in which both boys come running from all directions to see what they have to do for rocks. Today... when I so cold-heartidly yelled "Krystal Rocks!!! Come running if you think Krystal Rocks!!" neither boy thought it was as funny as I did when they came running...