Isn't she the most beautiful baby (besides Princess, of course LOL) that you've ever seen?!?! I just think she's precious. And, when I went to visit her tonight, she was wide awake for a little while!! It's so neat because she REALLY reacts to Daisy & Papa Bear's voice, always turning her head towards them when they talk...It's so sweet!!

So, I guess I didn't really share what actually happened yesterday!! LOL I didn't really have time to go into it :) But I have a few minutes right now :)

Daisy woke up around 5:30a.m. yesterday morning (the 23rd) because she thought she'd "wet" herself (she'd just read about how lax the bladder control can be in the last month, so that's why she thought it was that). She said she got up & felt a gush & said out loud, "Oh, crap!" LOL Well, after her trip to the bathroom, she said she realized it wasn't what she thought it was, so she woke Papa Bear up and they called her Dr. and they advised her to go to the hospital...So, they got to the hospital around 6:30a.m., and she was only dialated to 2 1/2-3cm...So, around 7:30a.m. they started her on Pitocin...We got a call around 7:30-8a.m. because they couldn't remember Dr. Matt's last name!! LOL When I heard King answer the phone, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, [Dr. Matt's Last Name Here]" THAT'S what really made me pay close attention!! LOL So, he comes in the bedroom & wakes me up & says, "Daisy's water broke, they're at the hospital!!" I hopped out of bed & started running around getting ready & getting a few things ready to take to the hospital with me (digi cam, video cam, baby gifts, etc...). I rushed to get there, and I realized too late I should've brought a book!! LOL I forgot in my haste to get there how much "hurry up & wait" there is to birthin' a baby!! LOL She was "checked" every hour-hour & a half, and made hardly NO progress... Katie wasn't positioning "down" either, so around 6:30p.m. they started talking very seriously about a C-section...Daisy, at this point, was just ready to get this baby OUT, so I don't think she was worried too much. She's never had surgery before, so I think that was her main worry, but they didn't have to put her under or anything. So, they took her back to the OR around 7:00ish, and Katie was born at 7:19p.m.!! Everything went very well :) And she's VERY healthy :) She weighed in at 8lbs, 8oz (7.6oz technically, but they round up...), and 20 1/2in long!! She's got REALLY long, pretty fingers, and is just adorable :)

I finally got to hold her today!! I changed a *wet* diaper while I was there and left the dirty ones to Mammy & Mommy!! LOL I guess while we were all out to dinner tonight, Papa Bear had to change his first diaper ever, and it was a VERY messy one!! LOL :)

Tonight I'm going through some of Princess's 0-3mo clothes & picking out some warmer outfits for her, since she won't need a lot of those, and only for a couple more weeks...No sense buying more, when Princess barely wore the ones she had...I have to wash them tonight, and then get ready for tomorrow...I don't know if I'm going to be much help at their house or not, but Dad & King are both going over & gonna work on it all day...There's mainly the kitchen (cleaning & painting), and then the actual moving of the "big stuff" from the little house (only a few doors down...) Anyways, an odd move, but that's just how it's gotta be...

Okay, I'd better go...I'm SO tired, and I need to get a few things done before I zonk out!! LOL

Have a great weekend!! :)

Sur-prise, Sur-prise, Sur-prise!!

My new neice is here!! I still don't have a cute nickname for her, so I'll just call her Daffodil (since her mommy is Daisy!! LOL) Anyways, she's BEAUTIFUL!! She was born last night around 8:19p.m. (after Daisy's water broke at 5:30a.m.!! They put her on pitocin around 7:30a.m., and she never did dialate, just got to 3-4cm) Anyways, around 7:30p.m. they took her to the OR & did a C-Section...She's gorgeous!! I think she's just precious...We didn't get to hold her last night (only Mommy & Daddy got to hold her, Grandparents & me & King get to hold her today!! :) ) Anyways, I just wanted to share a pic, and update you all :) I'll probably be pretty scarce here the rest of the weekend, because they are NOT ready to take the baby home to their new house!! I know King will be over there most of the weekend trying to get the place ready for them with my Dad). Anyways...I'm just so excited!! I get to hold her today!! :)

Do You Realize How Much You're Adored?!?!

So, a lot's happened since I last posted....and when I posted, I didn't share a whole lot about how I have really been under "spiritual attack" the past few weeks. I had just been feeling inadequate...unworthy...I have a pretty low opinion of myself usually (body image, self image, etc...) so it's always been hard for me to really believe that I am worthy of my Savior's love. Well, remember that Lisa Whelchel book I shared a little about last time? Yep, I'm going to share more about how much my Father spoke to me through that book.

Thursday at PT practice, when we were all done practicing, something came up about the special program we were having Sat. night. They're called "The Experience" because I don't think they really know what to call themselves, but think really rockin' praise & worship, with a few skits & then a speaker at the end, all ending with the rockin' music...Anyways, they came last year, and the speakers weren't really that great...I admit it, but the music & overall evening was so cool & such an awesome opportunity to share the gospel, that we invited them back (and, if I had all the time in the world, I would go deeper into all of that with you, but it's mostly a bunch of "inside church" stuff, if you know what I mean, and it would bore you!! LOL) Anyways, a couple of the PT members piped up about how they really weren't looking forward to this on Sat. night, and they didn't feel comfortable asking other people to come because the speakers last year weren't really great...So, I left practice more than a little defeated & discouraged than I came...I decided that I wanted a cookie from Fazoli's, so decided to run through the drive through...well, there was a line there, so I thought, "hmmm, Okay, Steak N' Shake, then..." but there was a line there, too...So, then I decided I'd go over the overpass & get 2 cookies for $.99 at Arby's (I like their cookies best, anyways, and they're cheaper than my other options, right?) Well, as I was pulling onto 202, the next light was red, but turned green, so I didn't come to a complete stop...only problem was, the car in front of me hadn't started moving yet...I had been looking down, relying on my peripheral vision, and didn't catch that traffic was stopped, still, and I slammed on my breaks, but didn't keep me from popping into the guy in front of me...No one was hurt, Praise the Lord!!, but I did some damage to his & my car. A lady in front of that guy called the police on her cell, so after the police got there, we all pulled into Wendy's parking lot...I cannot tell you how awful & like scum I felt. I still feel really bad about it, and very stupid. And, I am my worst critic...you can't call me any names I don't already believe I am, ya know? So, I'm trying to keep it all together, and I did get cited (duh, it was my fault, and I wasn't trying to cover it up), but King thinks the cop gave me a break...it was a speeding violation, and it was unsafe distant...the fine's $100, and believe me, I've had tickets in my past that were more than that...Anyways, we've got collision insurance on the van, too, so that'll get fixed, and the other cars are taken care of, too...

So, needless to say, I didn't get my cookies...Friday was spent feeling guilty & like scum some more, and let me tell you, I have never felt as unlovable as I did Friday morning/early afternoon...When Princess went down for her nap (she was NOT in the van with me, Praise the Lord, again!!), I decided I'd finish reading that Lisa Whelchel book...Do you know that the last 2-3 chapters are all about how much her Heavenly Father adores her, even though she feels like the biggest screw up in the world? I just started bawling as I read it all... I knew in my head all the times and all the words, "I love you, Mandy, I adore you, Mandy" but I just called out, "I know, but I really need to feel Your love right now!!" I think I even called out this prayer, without really even realizing it...

Okay, now, let me tell you a little something some of you might not know about me...I am really into Christian Contemporary music, but my heart is really in Southern Gospel because that's where my musical roots are. I believe listening to all that 4-part haromony at such a young age taught us (Daisy & I both) how to harmonize, and pick it out so well...Anyways, I LOVE the Gaither Vocal Band!! One of our first dates was a Gaither Homecoming at UD & I had my picture taken with Guy Penrod!! :) We always got really nosebleed kinda seats, because they're cheaper, and you do get up and walk around some...I had forgotten that the Gaither Homecoming concert was Friday night...we hadn't gotten tickets, so we weren't planning on going. Actually, King had tried to win tickets from a local radio station, but had failed, so we never really gave it another thought. Well, I didn't...King left work early (he said he was going to surprise me with that on Fri. anyway), but he decided to drive all the way to X to register to win these tickets again...

After I got done praying that prayer, King calls me on his way back to X...He says, "Mandy, I won!!" I asked, "Won what?!?!" Yep, you guessed it...He won 2 tickets to the Gaither concert that night!! He says, "And, you'll never guess where they're at!!" These were floor seats, 10 rows from the stage!! I just started bawling, and praising God!! That's when it hit me, that He adores me so much more than I'll ever really know. He cares about me so much, even when I am stupid & clumsy & unlovable!! You know, it wasn't about the tickets for me, it was that He knew just how to speak to my heart, just how to let me know how much he adores me...When we walked down the Nutter stairs to the floor seats, Jeff & Sherri Easter were singing & they were SO CLOSE, I just started crying again, because I knew my Father loved me so much, He cared so much that I knew how much he adores me...I'm such a Daddy's Girl!!

I'm crying again, as I type all this out...I don't think I can ever really find the words to express how deeply I've felt Him this past few days. How much I feel adored & loved. And, do you know that He loves you just as much? He ADORES you!! No matter what you've done, what kind of stupid, silly, serious mistakes you've made...He adores you...Read John 3:16 if you don't believe me...

Goodnight, Journal Goddesses, and all you lurkers or people who "stumbled" across this journal entry...Let me just say, you're not reading this by accident or coincidence...My Father wants you to know how much he adores, you, too :)

Hey, Everyone :) I hope you're doing well today :) I went to the gym!! :) AND, I even spent the first 15 minutes after I got up in the Word!! :) Those are a part of my "new" FlyLady routines :)

I got my books from Christian Book Distributers (VERY good prices) yesterday, and I'm almost 1/2way done with one of them already!! LOL I didn't start reading it until last night...ANYWAYS, it's "The Facts of Life, And Other Lessons My Heavenly Father Taught Me" by Lisa Whelchel (Blair from the Facts of Life...if you don't know that show, you've DEFINATELY been living under the proverbial rock!! LOL) Anyways, VERY good, and easy reading!! She's made me think about some things that I need to change in my life (there's too many to share, but the major one being spending time in the Word every day). Anyways, I highly recommend it :).

Tonight's PT practice (it is Thursday, right? I've been all mixed up this week!! LOL). I'm looking forward to it :) King's off again this Thurs. so he's keeping Princess :) That always makes practice a lot less stressful for me :)

Hmmm, let's see, what else...OH!! :) I think I'm going to start a Mom Time group!! :) Anyone interested? It's (again) a Lisa Whelchel thing, but the idea really appealed to me...It's just a couple hours a week, you eat lunch, you have a topical discussion and/or sharing time, and then you play a game!! :) Her specific group (that she hosts in her home) is geared more towards SAHM's, so they're during the day (12-2), but she says adapt the time to whatever works for your group...I've been thinking of asking a few ladies from church, but I might just wait to start it up this summer when I have a few teacher friends who are off for the summer :) They might really enjoy it, too :) And, it might keep us all from going insane!! LOL :) But, seriously, if the Lord leads (and I've been praying about it), I would love to start one soon :)

Okay, moving on...I promise I won't mention LW again this journal entry!! LOL :)

I need to get "back on the fly wagon" here...I need a schedule...if I don't have a schedule, I end up getting NOTHING done...even though I run around like a chicken with it's head cut off, you'd never notice that I'd done anything...that's partly just running after Princess, too, but, you get the drift...we need some structure, and I need to start getting up at a certain time of day, BEFORE Princess...because if I wait to get up with Princess, I seem to always be behind...Oh, well...story of my life :)

Oh, and after I check in here, I'm gonna check out Sinclair's website & see what kind of classes/schedule thing we're looking at here...I want to go into this as informed as I possibly can...

Alright, I think I'll go...I need to get a few things done while Princess is taking a nap...OH!! Funny...we went to McD's for lunch after the gym, and after we ate, Princess wanted to play in the playplace thingy...well, she doesn't climb or anything, I think she just likes to be around all the kids, and she gets soooo excited :) It's so sweet...Anyways, at our McD's in H, there's a spiral staircase that goes up to one of those tunnels that leads to the slide...She would go up a couple of stairs and say, "It too high." Well, a sweet little boy came up behind her, and heard her say that and said, "It's okay, you can do it, see? Like this." And proceeds to go up the stairs...Princess followed him almost all the way up!! She was so proud!! She didn't go to the tunnel that led to the slide, but she came the whole way back down by herself (slowly!!LOL). Anyways, as she's coming back down, the little boy sees her and says, "See!! You did it!!" He was so sweet to her :)

Okay, I'd really better go :) Have a great day, ladies!! :)

This is a pic of the bracelet my Mom got me when Princess was born. I LOVE it!! :) It's been broken for almost a year, though, something to do with where the clasp is...anyways, the lady that made it said she'd fix it for free :) Isn't that nice? She also has a pic of my bracelet on her web site :) I'll have to find the link to it and share it with you all...I REALLY love my bracelet :) And, shhhh, don't tell, Daisy's getting one from Mom when BabyBigFoot (ha-ha) gets here...Once she gets here I will DEFINATELY change her name...maybe I'll just call her AngelNeice because I'm sure that she'll love me :) LOL Anyways, I thought of my bracelet pic because King's taking it to my Mom tonight :)

So, tonight is "Remodel the Temple" night (ie. weigh in)...I think I should be back down from TOM...I had a VERY uncomfortable time with TOM this last time...bloated, retaining water, gripey, you name the PMS symptom, I had it to the extreme!! LOL Anyways, I should be back down...

I'm all excited about Sunday School right now :) I've still got to talk to a few more people, but I'm really thinking that the other ladies that share my class (we have a rotation every Sunday...mine's the last Sunday & 5th Sunday of the month)...Anyways, the attendance & bringing a friend thing is just not consistent...BUT, I thought back to what made me get up every morning for Sunday school, and I remembered...That sticker chart!! And, whoever has the most stickers at the end of the "contest" or month got a special treat or something...I'm thinking of a treasure chest kind of thing...You know, with dollar store type toys they can pick out...I'm telling you, as great as our church is, there is not a whole lot of "fun" for Sunday School...attendance for that is really pretty pathetic (and, we're to blame, too...we tend to skip Sunday School most Sunday's just because there's not a class that's just jumped out at us...) Anyways, so that's what I'm thinking...making Sunday School more like Sunday School!! LOL :) Or, more like SS how I remember it!! :) We also need to clean out & re-organize our classroom's supply thingy (it's one of those rubbermaid things with the 3 drawers...we have storage issues, because in a lot of the SS rooms, we share with our daycare, and can't touch a lot of their stuff.)

Anyways...it's confession time...I haven't been to the gym since before I got sick!! I feel so guilty!! But, I know it's just a matter of getting back there...I do miss it, it's just been hard for me to get back into the swing of it...

Well, I'd better go...I'd like to make it to the dollar store before women's group tonight, and I need to get to church early so I can make some copies of tonight's recipe :) It's the Weight Watcher's cornflake chicken that's supposed to be really good :) We'll see...I've yet to make it...Maybe I can try making it for next week's meeting...Interesting...

Okay...Talk to ya later :)

Hey, Happy Saturday!! :)

So, I've been blinkie hunting again, and check these out!! :)

Today we went to a birthday party at a VERY cute little place in Springfield called Teaberries at the Heart of Country Gift Shop...VERY girly, and very country (like how I like to do the majority of my decorating :) ) Anyways, VERY cute, and the food was very good, and not too outrageously priced...very nice for a girly luncheon kinda thing :) It was a lot of fun...and of course I bought a few little things...

Tomorrow night's the last night for our small group...I'm kinda glad...I'm thinkin' we need a break from it for a while...I've just been in the dumps lately...don't really know why...probably hormonal...Anyways, I'm just feeling a little (okay, a lot) discouraged right now at church...It's just frustrating...when people's major complaints are communication problems, the same people do everything, yada yada yada, but when someone new tries to do something, it's not met with a great response...kinda like that "That's not how we've done it in the past" kind of attitude...I'm just feeling down...and nobody realized that the problem (you know, the CORE problem) isn't the communication it's the leadership, and the role (or lack of) that leadership is playing... This is my theory...there are the "core" people who don't want to run it like an "organization" if you will, so because of this, there is no standard procedure for communication...also, there is not a whole lot of taking up of responsibility...I'm just frustrated, and I need to PRAY & GET IN THE WORD for myself before I start broaching these subjects by myself...I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, either...I'm feeling guilty because I'm griping, and I'd like to fix it, or help fix it, but I just don't know how...it's gonna take more than just me deciding things aren't working, and going to take more than other people griping about it, too...there needs to be some action, ya know?!?! Okay, I'm sorry if you all don't get what I'm trying to say...I've just needed to get that off my chest, and I didn't want to get too specific...All churches have their problems, it's not about that for me...it's about helping & trying to strive to be what we're supposed to be doing...Just keep our church in your prayers...

Okay, moving on...I think I'm going to check out Sinclair again...I've been warring with myself over where to start, WSU or Sinclair, and right now we're in Mont. county so we'd get a "cheaper" rate/credit hr. And, if I ever decided that wasn't enough, or whatever, I could always go to WSU after I've completed Sinclair. I don't know what their protocol is for that, though...I might end up somewhere else, who knows? Maybe UD (although I've heard they're very expensive)...I don't know, just keep me in your prayers with that, too. I really do miss teaching, and I think I'm ready to go back, maybe in the fall? We'll see...like I say, a lot's still gotta happen before I apply again...Maybe it'll be in the summer? Again, we'll see...I could always take gen. eds in the summer...and ease my way back into it...

Okay, that was totally just me "thinking out loud"...I'm kinda excited, kinda nervous about going back to school...I need finish something...I'm bad about starting something & not finishing it...even though I love that "finished" feeling...I think that's why I like to craft...I get that finished feeling after I complete a project like that...

Well, I'd better go...King's home tonight, and Princess is back from Mammy & Papa's, so it's family nite here!! :) I don't know what we're going to do...maybe I can talk King into ordering some pizza? YUM :)

Good Afternoon, Everyone :) I hope you all are having a great day…Ours…not so much…LOL Last night around 2:30 Princess woke up vomiting, all over her bed, her hair, the floor, it was SO gross…King washed her hair while I cleaned up her bed. Then I ran her a quick bath because she still smelled pretty gross, bless her heart, and the whole time all she wanted was to be held. Well, she fell back asleep, then around 5:30 or so she started coughing again & threw up again. King got up with her this time, and it wasn’t much, just needed to change her sheets…she laid down in bed with me while he cleaned that up…then he took her to her bed, and before he laid her down she started coughing again, and threw up again!! King said it was mostly on the blanket he used…so she laid in bed with me again, and was almost asleep, so I asked her if she wanted to go to Princess's bed…on the way back, she threw up again, and I changed her jammies again, cleaned her up, and laid her down…and we slept until around 10:30ish…She’s kept everything down this morning, so I don’t think it’s very bad…King tends to think it’s from congestion or something, so we’ll see. She’s playing & running around like she feels just fine, and she hasn’t had a fever…Time will tell, I guess :)

So, tonight’s Praise Team practice, and King's actually free tonight, so he’s going to keep Princess here at home :) It makes choir practice SO much more enjoyable when I’m not having to keep one eye on her, and concentrate on singing at the same time…I think I need the break, too :) LOL

I'm feeling the need to add to my soundtrak collection...I don't have any newer songs, and very few actually on a CD, so it's hard to do a "special" anymore...And, I don't get to the bookstore very often to look at those...There are a few songs I'd like to do, though...

Ok, I'd better go...I think Princess is FINALLY down for her nap...she's been singing & talking to herself, and I KNOW she's sleepy...just restless...weird...I feel like saying, "What's wrong with you!?! You're SO tired, just go to sleep!!" LOL :)

Blah...it's late, but I still feel like posting!! LOL :) So, here I am!! :) I really feel like this...

I went to bed last night with a headache, and woke up with it still this morning...it was the worst headache I've ever had...I might even venture to say it was a migraine...it made me nauteous (sp? And, no, I'm not pregnant). It was so bad I finally called King & asked him to come home, because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to watch Princess...once while my eyes were closed, I heard her rustling stuff on my coffee table around, and opened my eyes, and she was ON TOP of it...she climbed up there & was so proud of herself, and I flipped out because she could've really gotten hurt...yada yada yada...so King came home, and I went promptly to bed, and he gave Princess her lunch, then laid her down for a nap, then left for his dentist appt. When I got up, the headache was FINALLY gone, Praise the Lord!! :) I was especially thankful, because when I woke up it was still kinda throbbing, and I just prayed, Lord, please touch this, please heal this, and it was like it instantly lifted, like that's all He was waiting for, me to ask Him!! LOL :) I love the Lord :)

So, after I got up, actually, King was back, and he fixed me a sandwich, and I took a shower, & got ready to go to X for my hair appt. Daisy was there, and we went to Frisch's afterwards :) YUM :) I had only had that sandwich, and some toast earlier in the morning, so real food was what I was craving :) That, and Diet Vanilla Coke :) LOL I LOVE that there :)

Then, Princess & I went to Wal-Mart on our way home, and I spent way more than I intended to!! LOL Of course, when don't I when I go to Wal-Mart?!?! I was just going for some hairspray, and somehow managed to get a ton of other stuff :) Good stuff, stuff I needed, but you know how it goes...

So, tomorrow, I've gotta watch tonight's American Idol :) I've already got my favorites, do you? Paris, Lisa, Mandisa (AWESOME!!), Kelly, Taylor, Elliot (AWESOME), Ace (okay, so he's just purty LOL), & Will (yes, I like him, and I was pretty upset that David went last week...okay, not upset, but I felt bad for him...I think he was just REALLY nervous, but, oh, well, it was his time to go, I guess...it was NOT as shocking as Constantine last year, but close...) Anyways, I think those are my favorites, I feel like I'm forgetting someone...and I'm sorry I didn't get to vote tonight...I'm such a nerd, after learning that BrainTwin JJ takes notes, that was my permission to give in & do it!! LOL :) So, I've been taking notes when I'm able to vote!! LOL :)

Okay, I'd better go to bed, or I won't be worth a plug nickle in the morning...it's a lot later than I had intended on going to bed tonight, anyways...

Whew!! What a week!! But, we're all busy :) I have literally NOT been on the computer at all since the last time I posted...SO, my email inbox is pretty full, I'm sure :) I haven't even checked there, yet...

I've been in a funk this week. It's TOM time, and I've been very lethargic-feeling...I hate feeling like that, and the whole time I'm doing the bare minimum I feel guilty for not doing more, but that doesn't get me to doing more...does that make sense? I'm just having a "down" mood lately...

Nothing exciting happened this week, except for taking Princess out to blow bubbles the one day it was REALLY nice & sunny...she LOVED it!! She kept telling King, "I show you how do it..." because she actually wanted to blow instead of catch!! LOL :) So precious :) She's been extra ornery this week, too, and that's not mixed well with my PMSing!! LOL

Well, like JJ said, I just wanted to pop in here to let you know I didn't drop off the face of the planet this week, I just haven't felt like getting online...

I'm praying for you all, and still think of you guys often, too!! :)

Talk to ya later :)