Isn't it strange how when certain things in life happen to you, people come out in droves to let you know how they experienced the same thing themselves. Either personally or a close friend or family member, it has affected them as well. But, it's not until you experience it do you know about it happening to others. Like, it doesn't get brought up unless others go through it? As you all know, we started off 2009 with me being on bedrest, Jacob having to be delivered by an emergency c-section and all 3 of us getting to experience the NICU. A few short days after Jacob was admitted to the NICU we had received so many phone calls, emails, and notes from friends, family members, and friends of friends that had also had experiences with the NICU. Even today, almost 10 months after Jacob was born, I still run into women all the time that have had children go through the NICU.
Each story I've heard always amazes me at how strong and resilient babies are. I still think know that the biggest force behind each of the NICU stories I've heard, is the power of prayer. We know, firsthand, how powerful prayers are and were in making sure our sweet baby was healthy, strong and thriving. That being said, I need to ask for some prayers for a friend of ours.
A very dear family at our church has two young daughters and wanted a 3rd child. Over the summer they were blessed with another pregnancy. About a month ago they were so excited to find out that baby number 3 was going to be a boy! Each time I would see the mother at church functions, I would ask how she's feeling, how the pregnancy was going, etc. She always felt great, looked great, no problems whatsoever. That was until last week when her membrane broke. She was rushed to the hospital and put on bedrest. Four days later she began contracting and they had to deliver the baby.
When she was admitted to the hospital at 23 weeks, her doctors told her that generally anything before 23 weeks was not survivable. She held on for a few more days, then the baby had to be delivered. Baby Skyler was born last week at 23 weeks 4 days along. He was born right at 1 lb 8 oz. The Dr said if he made it through the first 72 hours, things should look better. That was over a week ago. Skyler is doing fine, but, it looks like he'll be in the NICU for at least 3 or 4 months.
Please pray for baby Skyler and his family right now. The Campbell family is so wonderful and would be so appreciative of your positive thoughts, as would I! They need all the prayers, love and support they can get as they go through this difficult journey. But, through the power of prayer, I know they will all be just fine.
Here's a picture of Skyler's mom holding his foot. Thanks for your prayers!
About a month ago, I wrote a post telling you just how sweet Badi's cousin, Neda, is which you can read about here. She surprised me with The Pioneer Womancookbook! She bought it on Amazon, had it shipped to my house, and all that completely made my day. :)
Well, naturally, our next step was to show up at Borders in Dallas, the night that P-Dub would make an appearance to sign her cookbooks. PW started her book tour at the end of October and has been visiting places all over the country. I've seen from her blog that these appearances have gotten pretty insane with the amount of people lining up to meet her. Am I surprised?! Heck no, she's awesome!
Neda and I were both assuming that we would just show up around 5pm to hop in line for her 7pm appearance. We would most likely be done by around 8 or so. Just to be sure, we even brought something for dinner to eat while we were in line. (thank GOD we got that part right!) So, while I was driving to Dallas I called Neda and we both agreed that there would probably be even less people at Borders considering Dallas was experiencing a ri-DONK-ulous monsoon that day. It was pouring down rain all afternoon, freezing cold, terrible traffic. That would steer people away...right?!?!
Yeah, not so much. When we arrived (to a fairly empty parking lot, I might add) we were thrown a curveball and notified we needed a wristband to get in line. So we grabbed our wristband and I'm thinking "this place isn't that crowded...this is going to be great!" They already had Ree's table set up where she would be signing books. I saw maybe 50 people sitting around waiting.
I decided, just out of curiousity, to ask one of the Borders employees what my color wristband's group # was. "Oh, neon yellow is group #3." Oh...wow. Really?! So....how many people are in each group? "Umm...probably 100." "You can't start lining up until 6pm and we'll call everyone to the line in wristband color groups. Okay fine whatever.
So, Neda and I go find some comfy chairs in the back and talk for the next hour or so. We head back up to the front around 5:45pm and the place is PACKED. The announce the first color....gold. Gold can line up. A flood of people start to line the perimeter of the store. Twenty minutes later....red. Finally, yellow is announced. Thankfully, Neda and I shoved our way through and were like the 4th and 5th people in line for the yellow group. Honestly, the line wasn't looking that bad. Then 6:55 arrived and so did about 75 gold wristbands and about 80 reds. Which, of course, got to hop in line....right...in...front...of...us. Awesome. See at the top where it says "discussion" at the top? Yeah when Ree came in and got the mic to say hi to everyone she said right off the bat, Borders nixed that idea b/c there were so many people there who wanted to meet her there wouldn't be time.
Ree showed up a few minutes after 7pm with her kiddos and lots of family members! Everyone started squeeling and clapping.
Okay, great, now the line's really going to start moving! An hour later...still haven't moved from our spot. In fact, several people came up to us to ask what color we had and if we had moved. Once they found out we hadn't and we were like 6 groups in front of them, they bailed. Even some of the yellow banded people around us bailed around 8:30pm. I felt bad for them! Finally after 1 1/2 hrs, Ree's daughters start walking through the lines to talk to people. We snagged Paige and got her to sign our books. She was so sweet and such a DOLL! Poor thing got sucked into signing about 35 books right there.
Meanwhile, we started talking to the girls in line with us. People had driven from all over the place to come to Borders that night...some all the way from Louisiana! And, of all things the two girls behind us lived less than 5 minutes from my house, went to the same high school as me and one of them teaches kindergarten at the elementary I went to! Small world. For the entire night, these girls were CRACKING us up.
We were making fun of people, laughing at all the "stalkers" of Pioneer Woman, feeling sorry for all of the people that came in to Borders at 7pm only to get a wristband color that was like 7 groups behind ours. Seriously, there had to be at least 4,000 people in that place. In fact, at one point some alarm went off and we were thinking it was the fire marshall!
I received about 3 calls from Badi saying "are you STILL in line?" and "is all this really worth some lady's signature?!" Haha, YES! At that point, we were in it to win it! It was so much fun and I had such a great night. Around 10pm we finally got around the final corner and we were about 6 people away from getting to meet Ree. Then, OF COURSE, Ree got up from the table....and had to pee. :)
She said "I swear I'll be fast!!" Anyway, we finally got up there, we chatted for a few minutes. She's just as sweet, if not sweeter, than she seems on her blog. LOVE HER! We got a picture with her, got our cookbooks signed, and we got some cute brown PW t-shirts.
Such a fun, fun night! We got our new friends full names so we could go home and become Facebook friends because clearly, almost 5 hours in line with someone creates some serious long-lasting relationships!! :) By the way, I heard at 1:00AM she was still there, signing books, with a line around the store! I bet that was one of her most well-attended signings!!!
Thanks, Neda, for such a fun night!!! Glad we went...and stayed. Ha.
I seriously have never had so much fun waiting in line for over 4 hours.
- You are still in 12-18 month clothes. (Thank goodness we didn't buy a ton of clothes when I found out I was pregnant, our guess on sizes would have been WAY off!!)
- You say "da-da" ALL the time. We're still working on "ma-ma". :)
- You loved dressing up as Batman for Halloween! I think you could wear a cape every day and be perfectly fine.
- You are FINALLY getting some teeth. Your two bottom, front teeth started showing up last weekend. Teething is definitely not your favorite and we hope they come in very quickly! Poor guy!
- You still aren't "crawling", but, I swear, you do everything but crawl to get from Point A to Point B. You roll, scoot and push yourself backwards to get all over the place!
- You're the best sleeper. Ever. I'm convinced. Mommy and Daddy are soooo thankful! You sleep about 11 hours every night and take about 3 catnaps during the day and 1 long nap! With your 2 bottom teeth coming in, you've enjoyed sleeping even more.
- This month you got to go to your first basketball game! You went to watch your Uncle Greg's college basketball team play in Dallas! You LOVED all the loud noises and running around.
- You love people. You're just like Mommy. You love watching them, playing with them and being around them. If you know people are visiting our house or around us, you will NOT go to sleep. You fight it until you just pass out. Too cute, you just don't want to miss out on anything!
- Your hair is getting long, but, not long enough for us to cut it...yet. We love it!!!
- You love babies and other kids. When Ellie (3 1/2 yrs old) came to visit, you wanted to tackle her. Ha.
- This month you got to go to your 1st birthday party! Your friend, Emma, turned 1 on November 4th and we had a lot of fun at her birthday party!!
- One of your favorite things to play with is.....paper. You love to rip it up into tiny shreds! That's some cheap entertainment!
- You are SOOO loveable. Always smiling. Always happy. So perfect. :)
And of course we must end with the monkey picture! Here was last month's picture!
and here you are at 9 months...with the cheesiest grin! You must have wanted to make sure everyone could see your teeth coming in! :)
We love you so much and thank God every day for bringing you into our lives. XOXO
Welcome back to the next installment of Ten on Tuesday. Head over to Roots and Rings for the entire list...or to add your link to her Mr. Linky!
Here we go!
1. What are some of your family traditions? I'll mention things other than obvious holiday traditions, but, every night our family ate dinner together. Over dinner we would discuss each of our days and different things going on in our lives. Some days I was so annoyed with it, but, looking back I really think that's one of things that has made us so close over the years!
Every year, as a group, we go on a family vacation. I love that my parents put such importance on doing this. Some of my favorite memories growing up came from our trips together. We got to do so many cool things growing up. And since we didn't have tons of money, every trip was a road trip! Which, as you can imagine, made for even more memories! I'm so excited that now with 8 of us in tow, Jacob will get to experience his first big family vacation with my family in March....we're all going on a cruise to Mexico! Jacob's first real vacation...we can't wait! :)
2. Do you know how to change a flat tire?
Heck no! I know Badi will want to teach me and make sure I know how to do it. But, I'd much rather call AAA...actually, I'd much rather hope that it never happens to me! (knock on wood)
3. Do you subscribe to any magazines? What are your favorites? I get Good Housekeeping and Parents. Both of those were gifts. So, technically, I don't subscribe to anything. But, I do love ideas I get from both of those mags! Badi gets Readers Digest...that's a whole 'nother post. :)
4. What are your top three favorite office supply items? (If you don’t share the love of office supplies with me or if you are male, you may skip this question.)
Post-its!!! I love them. Different shapes. Different colors. I love writing on them and sticking them all over my office to remind me of things I need to do.
Pens. Specifically Pilot precise grip rolling ball pens. I have the multi-color pack and love writing with them. A nice writing pen can make all the difference in your day!
Outlook. Does that count? I couldn't survive the day without it. Email, my calendar, contact list, etc. Love it.
5. Are you a good public speaker? I guess I'm okay. I really don't despise it as much as I used to. I give workshops every now and then to college students at work. I actually kind of enjoy it. I'm not great, but, I don't mind it either.
6. How do you feel about acronyms? Nowadays, it's gone way overboard. Seriously, there's more acronyms than I can keep up with! Sometimes my 20 year old brother texts me and I don't understand half the crap he says with all the acronyms. And don't even get me started on "FML".
7. What’s the most creative things you’ve ever done? (Bloggers, feel free to include pictures!) Our wedding photographer didn't include parent albums in our package. Yeah, we didn't realize that until after the wedding. So, I made Shutterfly albums for both sets of parents myself. I love how they turned out and it was A LOT cheaper than paying our photographer for duplicates of our own album.
8. I’d rather jam a pen in my eye than… -sit in traffic. -eat cottage cheese. ugh...vomit. -wake up at 2am or "camp out" for Black Friday sales. -sing in front of a group anyone -go camping. outside. -give up drinking caffeine.
9. What company has the best advertising? I’ve always loved Sonic, Hillshire Farms and Orbit. But, seriously...Jack in the Box deserves some props. I think their latest commercial is awesome! (Emily, I thought of you with the bowl cuts!!)
10. When is your birthday? September 15! Celebrated my 26th about 2 months ago. :)
Every morning, for the last ELEVEN years, as I get ready for the day and drive to work (or drove to school), I listen to Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. It's such a great morning show. It's the perfect mix of funny, emotional (on mornings about Kidd's Kids), and HILAAAARIOUS bits!
One of the bits they do all the time is something called "does that make me crazy". Basically people email, tweet or call in to the show and tell the group something silly they do when they are alone and end it with asking if that makes them crazy to be determined by the morning show crew.
For example, some in the past have included: someone that thought her dishes had feelings. When she pulled plates out of the dishwasher, she had to put the recently cleaned ones at the bottom of the stack so the others wouldn't feel left out....yeah she got the crazy stamp.
A guy that had to make sound effects (like the guy from Police Academy) everytime he did something like opening a door, sees a helicopter, drives past a car, etc. (I died laughing at this one. The DJs kept saying "what about if u see a machine gun", he made the sound.
Or what about the girl that admitted that every time she uses the bathroom (at home), she has to shave her armpits. Ummmm....weird! She said she can't stand stubble so she has to shave her pits.....a lot. CRAZY! She actually made the "crazy hall of fame". Haha.
Then there's a ton of OCD ones like people that have to have intervals of anything in 5's. Or people that have aversions or odd or even numbers. A girl who has to brush her tongue until she gags or she hasn't cleaned her mouth efficiently enough.
Every time I hear this bit, it makes me think of my own idiosyncracies. This clearly makes me always think about writing a blog to hear about your own quirky habits!
So, here's the deal, I'll throw out some of my own things if you do the same! We'll decide if each other are crazy. :)
1. When I put something in the microwave, I like to open the door or cancel the time before it hits zero. Does that make me crazy?
2. Speaking of the microwave, I can't stand for there to be time left on the microwave. If Badi or someone else takes something out before the time is up, I have to go clear the timer if they don't. I prefer to see the clock rather than :14. Does that make me crazy?
3. I can't sleep with the door open. At night it has be shut, even if I'm taking a nap, the door needs to be shut. I can't fall asleep until it is. Does that make me crazy?
4. Speaking of things needing to be shut, I can't have cabinents in the kitchen or bathroom left open or even slightly cracked. They have to be shut. Does that make me crazy?
5. Okay, what does it mean that I have to have things shut?! I also have to shut our garage door when I get home. I hate for it to stay open especially if Badi isn't home and my car's the only thing in it. Dang. Does that make me crazy?
6. I like to eat the edges of a sandwich first. That way all of the best middle bites are saved for last. Same thing if I ever take a bite of Badi's food, I make him take several bites first so my one bite is the best possible from the center. Haha. Reading that back is cracking me up. Does that make me crazy?
7. Oh yeah, and about food. I hate for food that doesn't group well to touch each other. Like macaroni and corn shouldn't touch. But, it's okay if it's rice and meat do. Don't even get me started on things like ketchup crossing over to other objects...eww! Does that make me crazy?
I think that's enough of me admitting quirks to everyone for today. Trust me, there's a lot more....we'll take it in baby steps. :)
Yay, my first time to do ToT with Chelsea from Roots & Rings.
1. What gift are you most proud of giving?
This one's hard. I can't think of a material, concrete thing that doesn't sound cheesy or typical. Instead, I'll say my time. In college, I had an extra credit project for a Child Psychology class to volunteer at a nonprofit place in Denton for a semester. I had to give at least 40 hours for the semester then write a paper on my experience. I chose a place called "The Treehouse". It was an after-school daycare held inside a Baptist church. The kids that attended here had to meet specific criteria to be able to go. They all came from really bad socioeconomic situations, low-income homes and bad family situations. These kids had such an impact on me, that I ended up going every day M-F from 3-6pm for the whole semester. Once the semester was over, the paper was written and turned in, I decided to still go back for the remaining two years I was in college. All of my friends thought I got a job there I was "working" so much. I have such fond memories of those kids and still hear from the Director from time to time. It was so rewarding and I know, well I hope that they thought so, too.
2. What’s the best gift you ever received?
Becoming a wife and becoming a mother. There's nothing greater in life than loving someone unconditionally and having that love returned back to you two-fold. I'm so thankful to have found Badi and that we found each other so early in our lives. I also can't express how amazing it is to be a mother. Jacob is our little miracle and I'm amazed everyday at what God did and does for us. I have LOTS to be thankful for!
3. What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?
Hmm, I've never broken a bone. I had to get 6 stitches in my knee from an "incident" going on a slip-in-slide. I had to have my gall bladder taken out when I was 18...gall stones are incredibly painful. But, I'd say that recovering from a c-section has to be near the top of the list!!
4. They say everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Who’s 15 minutes has gone on far too long? (The Gosselins are not acceptable answers, be more creative.)
So so so many people. I’ll try to narrow it down to one two three four/five. Kevin Federline, seriously why are we still talking about him?! Pretty much the whole Lohan family. Lindsey Lohan, Michael Lohan...blah! And balloon boy's Dad.
5. You have 20 minutes and $1000. What do you buy?
Plane tickets to see my family in Virginia....and a maid. Our house is never really that dirty, but, it does take time to do little things here and there. We would much rather be doing fun stuff with Jacob than vaccuuming the house and windex'ing the coffee tables! (note to couples thinking of having a child: get rid of your glass coffee tables before the baby arrives!)
6. Tell me three blogs that I need to read.
1. June Cleaver Nirvana - Dallas mom of 3 boys. funny/cute. be sure to read her recent post about pumpkin patches. :)
3. NieNie Dialogues - A girl in Utah recovers from an almost fatal plane crash with her husband. She had over 80% of her body severely burned and was in a coma for over 4 months. She has an amazing husband, beautiful family and incredible story. Her faith, perseverance and strength are so inspiring! *Be sure to go back and read stories from before the accident...she's awesome, and was recently on Oprah!*
7. Would you rather go without pizza or ice cream for the rest of your life?
Oooo, both good. I'd have to go without the ice cream. I love pizza. Especially since a few months ago, Badi got a handle on making homemade pizzas. There's no way I could turn my back on those bad boys!!
8. Would you rather go to a beach or a snowy mountain?
Beach...alllll the way. I grew up with a beach family. Every summer we went to the beach (Outer Banks, NC to be exact). I've never been skiing in my life. The one time I did make it out to Colorado, was in the summer. I do look forward to cool weather after hot, Texas summers. But, I love love love the beach!
9. Are you a night owl or a morning person?
Night owl. Complete night owl. Although, now that I'm a mom...I find myself not being able to last much longer than 11pm. However, I still would much rather stay up late than wake up early. It takes everything I have in me to wake up for work sometimes!
10. What word do you always misspell?
Restaurant. I literally just got this one down about a year ago. Same with separate. I like to spell it "seperate". Oops! :)
Be sure to check out Chelsea's page to read other bloggers' entries...and come back next Tuesday!
As I've mentioned before and recently, y'all know I love a great deal! This morning I logged onto one of my favorite blogs for great deals and freebies and found out about a sweet Toys R Us promotion!
Right now (this week only at ToysRUs) a TON of board games are on sale from $3.99 - $9.99! On top of all of these sales, there's a rebate offer! On top of the rebate offer, there's a $10 gift card if you spend $25! Most of the games that were super cheap are the ones I grew up playing and have always envisioned playing with our own kids. Now that Jacob's here...I knew I needed to buy them. What awesome timing!
I used my lunch break to jump on over to ToysRUs, knowing this deal wouldn't last long! Thankfully I went when I did. Several games were already sold out. But, I managed to get out of there with one heck of a deal!
I bought Candy Land, Chutes & Ladders, Memory, Hi-Ho Cherry-O and Connect 4 all for $28.00. That alone saved me $39 with the sale prices....
To make things even sweeter, I was immediately given a $10 gift card to use later and a rebate form that's eligible for $11 back!
All in all, I basically get all of this.....for $7. That's right SEVEN dollars!!
I'm super excited about the great deal....more excited that now we have all these fun games to play with Jacob once he's old enough! Hopefully he loves them as much as we did growing up! I'm pretty sure this deal is good until Saturday, go snag yourself some quality kids games for next-to-nothing. If you don't have kids, they could make awesome gifts. Click here on the sales ad (top right) for more info! :)
