Peepaw is an angel now

Laurie called us on our way back to Florida yesterday, and he had passed away around 1pm. Of course, me and all my hormones, I just fell out. Justin has been pretty quiet, but I expect him to break down soon. The funeral will be in Dallas on Thursday, and we won't be able to make it. :(

I am thankful that we did get to see him while we were in Houston. You could tell that he wasn't feeling well at all. Pneumonia had set in and he was having a hard time breathing. He just looked so fragile. Falyn was able to say hi to him and give him a kiss on his forehead. I am glad that she did. You could see he was happy to see her, but now I am having a hard time explaining to her why Peepaw has gone to Heaven, and the Dr's didn't make him better at the hospital. Anyone with any suggestions on how to help her understand...PLEASE let me know. She loves her Peepaw, and this has been hard for me to help her understand. This morning as we were waiting for her bus, I think something sort of sunk in, b/c she turned to me and said.."Mommy, Peepaw is an angel now!" Bless her heart. I told her, and he's watching over you and protecting you.

I feel bad for my girls...Falyn MAY remember him, but Faith never will other than what we tell her. That breaks my heart. I am also sad that he'll never see this baby, at least in person. Ok...I have to stop...any prayers for the family are appreciated.

It just doesn't seem real. I mean, we just saw him, and granted he wasn't doing that great but it just doesn't seem real.

xoxox

Happy Turkey Day!!

We're off today to Houston todasy to spend the holiday with our families. I wish you all a very happy day, and I hope each and every one of you knows how thankful I am to have you in my life.

xoxox
+/- 33 days!!!

Just me and Falyn for the weekend.

Justin's Peepaw is pretty sick, and has been in the hospital for about a week. He has some sort of infection in his blood, a collapsed ventrical in his heart, and they are not sure what else. They can't seem to find the source of the infection. Yesterday he had an MRI, and we'll know those results soon. They also want to run some tests on his heart, but aren't sure that he's strong enough to handle them. He was only awake for about 4 hours all day yesterday. Laurie (Justin's mom) is pretty torn up, as you can imagine, and both of his aunts and her have all been there with him. Justin left at 5am this morning with Faith to go and see him...just in case. I would have gone too, but I have to work tonight. :( Please send our family your prayers and thoughts. I'm sure Justin will be a mess, and I hate that I can't be there with him. He offered to take both the girls, and let me have a w/e to myself, but at this point, I don't think he would have been able to handle both of them, and focus on Peepaw. So, Falyn and I get some quality time...and right now we're veggin' out in our jammies in bed! LOL

Anyway, Peepaw has led a long and wonderful life. I know he was in the Navy during the war, on a minesweeper ship. Justin has in the last few days told me more and more stories about the time they spent together. Just in the 6 years that I have known him, I have grown a deep respect for him. He's such a good man. He's 85(?) years old, had 4 children, countless grandchildren, Falyn and Faith make his 16th & 17th GREAT-grandchildren, and Justin and I were figuring it out the other day, he just became a GREAT-GREAT Peepaw when Justin's second cousin had a baby recently!! How amazing to live long enough to see 5 generations of your family!! Awesome!!

xoxox

Progress??? I hope!!!

Faith just came in here with PANTIES on!! All on her own!! (quiet yay!) Now, you know she'll go potty ANYWHERE but at home, so send some "potty vibes" for us today! Maybe we've made progress!!?? Letting her do it all on her own. I keep asking her if she needs to go, and that big girls pee and poop in the potty. "Ok mommy!"

XXXXXFINGERS CROSSED!!XXXXXX

+/- 40 days!!!!

Baby Shower

My baby shower here in Pensacola was this last Saturday. It was SO nice, and I had a great time hanging out with all the girls! We had it at this little dive downtown called Soiree's. The food was SOOO good!!! LOL The weird part for me was all the BLUE stuff!! I'm just not used to that yet.

I had little gifts made for each of my guests (see photo), and Angie if you read this, then you're cheating, b/c yours is in the mail. ;) I had everyone presend me their baby photo for the charm. They were a HIT, and I felt so good, b/c I wanted them all to know how special they are to me! Once again, I didn't even PICK UP my camera. (bad Gina) I brought it tho, but everyone else was snapping away, so I am hoping that I have a LOT to scrap!!



We'll be going home to Houston next week for Turkey Day, but that's it. The last trip I can make before he gets here. My Dr. gave me a dirty look, but I promised to be good, and not do anything crazy. As if I have control over when he comes. ;)

xoxox
41 days!!!!!!!

First trip to L&D

Well, after my full day yesterday, I guess my body was fed up. I was SWOL! I had NO ankels and my poor toes looked like little sausages. So, I laid down on the couch with my feet up, and we watched Extreme Makeover: Home. It was a 2 hr special last night, and for about an hour and a half I laid like that. When I sat up, my face got all tingly, like when you're foot's alseep. WEIRD! Well, I didn't think much of it at first, but it didn't go away. Add to that, more BH contractions, a lower back ache and the swelling still in my legs...I was a little concerned. I had flashbacks of my friend Christa having her oldest daugther way early b/c of pre-eclampsia. SO, I called Labor & Delivery...talked to the nurse, and then to the Dr. He wanted me to come in and have my blood pressure checked just in case. So, of we went. All hooked up to the HB monitor, and even a little u/s to peek at my little man again. He couldn't tell me why I was tingly, and my BP looked good, so...weird huh? It's gone today tho, so I'll make sure not to do anything I shouldn't. LOL

xoxoxo
49 days!!

Not ready for the Pain!

Real contractions HURT!!!!!!!!!! Ok, here's the whiney baby in me coming out, but MAN oh MAN! I've been handling the Braxton Hicks like a champ, they seem to get worse and more annoying with every child, but HOLY CRAP! The real ones that I've had HUUUU-UUURT!! I've probably had about 6 in the last week, one last night at Target and one today at the mall, but that's nothing to get excited about. They take my breath away, and they hurt, really bad!! Wa! Ready for the baby, NOT ready for the PAIN!! ;)

Went out today with my good friend Jebbye. She's also expecting, and she's due in March, so put us together and we are some crazy preggos! LOL We were going to go and see if we could find her a decor for her baby's nursery, but the store was closed. Bummer too, b/c they had some CUTE stuff in there. So we'll try and make it out there this week. She's having a boy too. :) So, we headed over to the mall, had lunch at Panera Bread (YUUUUM!!), got a MUCH needed pedicure and did some shopping. We had Faith with us, Justin and Falyn went to see Chicken Little and spend some "daddy-daughter" time together. Next is my turn before this little man gets here. Her and I need a date! Anyway, bought Faith a couple pairs of pants at Old Navy, a little sweater, a little onesie and PJ's for the baby. I could spend a fortune in that store, I swear! Justin and Falyn met up with us after that, and we walked around a little more. Now their both napping (sounds like a good idea huh?). Hoping to get my dear, sweet husband to take me to Lazy Boy later and finally get me a recliner! LOL We'll see. Maybe over to the NEX later and get some Christmas gifts for the girls.

xoxox

50 more days!!

PS> For those of you that don't know. Right down there where it says "0 comments", right there is where you can leave comments to the posts. :) Just click on it, and leave your message. OR, youc an sign the guest book. Poor Sunny...she's keeping it going for me! :)

52 days!!!

Yea...you heard me right...52 DAYS!!!!!! Sounds SOOO much easier (and shorter) than 7 weeks!! SOOO...what does that mean for you?? Well...you have 51 days till Christmas!! Haha!!

Hopefully I won't make it 52 more days, the girls were both 2 weeks early, but in the event that I do, I just thought you might like to count down with me. LOL I know, I know, I need to get in there and take some pics of the nursery for you. It's SO cute and it's coming together very nicely. Still need some more wall decorations, but for the most part, it's done.

Have a great weekend all!!
xoxox

Trick-or-Treat!!!

Happy Halloween from Dori and Nemo!! Think they got enough candy?!? Ugh! Click on the pictures to see them larger. They had a blast!!





"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." shakin' that tail! LOL

Pumpkin Carving

What fun they had getting all messy! LOL I didn't get pics of that, but they each chose the design they wanted, and I "helped" Faith, while Justin and Falyn carved hers. Not too shabby! They had fun, and that's all that counts. :)

Yes, my child would rather be naked than wear clothes all day, ANY day!! LOL


Concentrating very hard on her carving. They did good! Daddy helped with the hard parts.




All decked out for tomorrow night.

So proud!! And yes...Bunny makes it into ALL kinds of photos! :)

Faith's Baptism

FINALLY some pictures!! I've had to hound my mom and Venus (and still haven't gotten the ones from her yet), but we have some photos!! Here's is Faith, in all her cute and adorableness, when she was baptized on September 24, 2005. She was NONE too happy with the water being poured on her head. LOL These are the ones my mom and little brother took. Click on them to see them larger.

Faith's Godmother: Venus Byrd
Faith's Godfather: BJ Symons(who wasn't present)

Yes, we're aware of the killer blue eyes!!


Really...have you seen a more adorable child lately?? I think not! ;-)


Daddy looks a little drunk, huh? LOL





From Left to Right
Back row: Ariyan and Kevin Anderson, Kevin Bird
Next Row: Falyn, my mom, Brandi Anderson, brother Mikey, Jason Lemons, Karen & Tristan Bird
Next Row: Justin, me, Faith, brother Jonathan, Jeremy Byrd, Jebbye Lemons
Front: Venus, Niki and Kevin Byrd

9 weeks and counting...

But who's counting right? LOL 9 weeks till I am officially due to have this baby! Yes, that's right...you have NINE weeks till Christmas!! I am hoping I only have 7-ish more weeks till I can hold my little man, but seeing as this is a "textbook" pregnancy, I can see him holing on until the day after Christmas. Those of you that knew our boy name for the girls, already know his name, but I'm not telling if you forgot!! LOL Yes, all the aches and pains and discomforts of being 7 months preggo are setting in, and MAN my feet HURT!! I had my last wedding of the year Saturday (YAY!) and only have family sessions left, and those are cake walks! :)

We got 95% of the nursery done this weekend, and it's SO darn CUTE!! I wasn't sure what the heck to do with a boy, and now that I look at his little room, I am looking forward to all the new experiences of what having a boy will be like. I think it's finally sinking in. I'll take some pictures and post them today. The girls have all thier luxuries in their room now...so now, when they need a "time-out" they have to go to MY boring room! LOL

I also finally got some photos back from my mom of Faith's baptism, and I will post those too. She's such a cutie pie!!

I hope you all had a great weekend. Looks like I am coming down with a cold, and my throat is KILLING me!! I see the Dr on Wednesday, so hopefully he'll tell me I can take more than Halls. LOL Did I mention...I'M TIRED TOO?!?

Disney Pics

Starting with Animal Kingdom (the first day in Orlando)...we weren't very impressed with AK...we had more fun the rest of the trip. Future reference, click on the pictures and you can see them larger.

The girls in front of "The Lion King Tree"...the name of it has escaped me, I think "Living Tree", but if you look close, you can see all the carvings in it of animals...pst..it's not a real tree! ;)

Justin and Falyn on the water ride...look how SOAKED she got! LOL

Lilo and Stitch - Faith was sleeping. Falyn LOVED them!!

MAGIC KINGDOM

MGM STUDIOS


"Honey, they shrunk Falyn!"





Faify LOVES her some JoJo!

Thanks Ang!

Now you have a little music to listen to (thanks to Angie's blog). This is my current favorite song. Brings back a ton of memories for me for some reason. And for those of you that don't know...I don't even really listen to this kind of music. I am a country girl to the bone! But I LOVE this song!! Lyrics here, video all the way at the bottom.

Photograph - Nickelback

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red
And what the hell is on Joey’s head

This is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneakin’ out

And this is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice
I must’ve done it half a dozen times

I wonder if it’s too late
Should I go back and try to graduate
Life's better now than it was back then
If I was them I wouldn't let me in

Oh, god I...

Every memory of lookin’ out the back door
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It’s hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walkin’ out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was lookin’ for
It’s hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Remember the old arcade
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hangin' out
They said somebody went and burnt it down

We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we’d know
We said someday we’d find out how it feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel

Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She’s had a couple of kids since then
I haven’t seen her since God knows when

Oh, god I...

Every memory of lookin’ out the back door
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It’s hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walkin’ out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was lookin’ for
It’s hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

I miss that town, I miss the faces
You can’t erase, you can’t replace it
I miss it now, I can’t believe it
So hard to stay, too hard to leave it

If I could relive those days
I know the one thing that would never change

Every memory of lookin’ out the back door
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It’s hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walkin’ out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was lookin' for
It’s hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
Every time I do it makes me...

Maternity Portraits

Here are some photos that a fellow photographer friend of mine took of me. Maternity Portraits There are still more to come, including some of me and Falyn, so check the link again later. :)

WHOO HOO DISNEY!!!

So this past week was Fall Break here, and we went to Disney World! BLAST!! We left Saturday the 1st and came back Thursday. The girls are the perfect age!! They loved every minute of it, and Falyn is even tall enough to ride a LOT of the rides (much to my concern). She did GREAT! We were both very proud of her being such a good sport and not even thinking twice about any of them. She wanted to go!! She did get off the Test Track (think crash test dummies) and tell me, "Mom that one was a little bit scary." LOL But then she ran in circles with her arms out to show me how it turned!

TS Tammy...of course...my mom says we're magnets for these storms. Even while in Orlando, what forms off the coast, and rains on us on Wednesday a few times?? You guessed it!! A tropical storm! Good grief! She did not ruin our fun at all! It was rather warm and muggy this time of year tho, and Justin and I have decided that the week before or of Christmas is the best time to go. I just loaded up all the pics, so as soon as I have a minute (I have a wedding today) I will start putting them online for you to see. I have a CUTE one of Faith kissing Mickey on the nose and Dale too. She hugged Tigger and went bonkers over Jojo the clown! We went to storytime with Belle, and watched Cinderella be crowned a Princess. It was great!!

Pictures to follow soon! I have to get ready for work. Only one more wedding after today and I am ON MATERNITY LEAVE!!!! YAHOO!! Well, it officially starts Nov 11th, but no more weddings for the year!! :) How do YOU like hearing that there are only 11 more weeks until Christmas!?!? ;) he he I LOVE it, b/c I know that means I'll be holding my little man sometime in that time frame...EDD 12/26/05!!

xoxoxox

Faith's Baptism

Yes, FINALLY! Hush! It took so long waiting and waiting to see if my brother could be here, but he ended up not coming, so we had yet another child baptised without him present.

Faith had a GREAT day! Depsite the argument to put the dress on...my 2 yr old girl HATES dresses!!! She did great! My mom, Mikey and Jonathan came out (due to Rita) and got to enjoy the experience. She wasn't too keen on the water being poured on her head, but none-the-less she did great! For sure we won't wait as long to baptise our son! LOL After the ceremony, we went and had a nice lunch at Copeland's and then back to the house for ice cream cake. She crashed soon after.

I did NOT have my camera (yes...horrible) but Venus and Jonathan both did, so I am hoping to get some photos from one of them! I have nothing! :(

Ridiculous Hurricane Season!!

Ok, so now our family in Houston, that is normally worried sick about us here in "Hurricane Alley", are now preparing for Hurricane Rita. I worry about Oma & Opa's house and my mom & dad's houses with all those tall trees around all of them. I won't be able to stand it...guess now I know how they have felt all these times.

Say some prayers for Houston/Galveston. All those poor refugees from LA, that are now in Houston...ugh! This is ridiculous!!

This stupid storm better not cancle our plans to go to Disney World next weekend. Falyn would be devestated.

Hurricane Katrina

WOW...all I can really say at this point. Thank God that she didn't take the last second turn north that Ivan and Dennis did. Sadly, she aimed right at our dear friends Ryan and Angie's house in Slidell, LA. Please send out your prayers to them. Those of you that don't know them, (we rented their condo in San Diego) their girls are the same age as ours, and she is also exepecting her 3rd child in February. They are being allowed back into the city finally on Monday, and I am really praying that they have a house to go home to. Again, please send out your prayers to them, as well as all the victims of this horrible storm.

Another peek

We got to take another peek at our little man today. Today was the u/s at the Naval Hospital where they do all the measurements, and check the baby out. He's perfect! We saw 10 little fingers and 10 little toes, and even got to see him trying to suck on his hand! That was the SWEETEST thing I have ever seen! Brought tears to my eyes. I guess you don't really think about them doing that. Of course, you read it in all the books...they practice swallowing and sucking to be ready when they are born, but I guess I just never expected to see it. REALLY bummed that we couldn't vidoetape that. But, I did get a LOT of pictures of him, so hear are a few for you.





5 little toesies!!