2 weeks after Jeremy's back surgery...

Jeremy had back surgery on May 8. He had a ruptured disk between L4 and L5 (in his lower back). The ruptured disk was pushing on a nerve bundle and causing severe pain in his leg. The surgeon removed about 1/3 of the disk including some fragments. The surgery was a success. As soon as Jeremy came out of the recovery area, he could already tell that his leg pain was gone.

His back has been really sore and he has been limited physically for these first two weeks. He couldn't ride in a car for the first week (after the ride home from the hospital.) He hasn't been able to drive or lift anything heavier than 5 pounds for the first two weeks. His doctor okayed him to work 1/2 days during the second week so I and some coworkers have been transporting him to/from work. He has been able to walk a little more each day and he is doing much better. It has been really hard for me to get him to adhere to his doctor's guidelines.

We are so thankful that his pain is gone and that we had so many praying for us during this time.

Our Dallas Is Gone.

Dallas, our 13 year old dog, had to be put to sleep today. It is a sad day for our family. Jeremy and I got Dallas when he was about 3 months old. A coworker of mine had found him as a stray on the side of the highway one day on her way to work. When I saw him, it was love at first sight (even though his fuzzy hair was matted and he was covered in cockleburs.) I brought him home with me that day.

Over the last year, his health has been declining. His arthritis had gotten very painful and it was getting hard for him to move around. A few months ago, he developed a cough. It turned out that the cough was a side effect of an enlarged heart that was surrounded by fluid. He was put on a heart medication and a diuretic to relieve the fluid. That seemed to help for a short time, but he started to get urinary incontinence due to the diuretic. So two weeks ago, we took him off the diuretic and added a pain pill for the arthritis. Last night, he had a very hard time breathing and was coughing a lot so we decided that it was time to say goodbye.

He was a good dog and truely has been a best friend to Jeremy. He was always my protector. And, of course, Rachel thought he was great, too. He was an "inside dog" since we moved to the Memphis area in 1998 so he was definitely a member of the family. He had a scary bark and was very protective of me and Rachel, but he was actually very gentle and loving to those that he knew. He will certainly be missed.

Rachel's 4 Year Old Portraits

I took Rachel to get her 4 year old pictures taken today. I am a little late getting them done, but I've been a little preoccupied. I think that she did a great job. I included a few enhancements, too.

I was able to get this one picture of both our girls.

Rachel's 4th Birthday & Party

Rachel turned 4 on Sunday. We had been to Arkansas on Friday and Saturday, but returned home late Saturday evening so that we would be home for Rachel's birthday. She wanted to take cupcakes for her Sunday school class at church. We did that and took her to eat at Olive Garden (her favorite restaurant) after church. While she took a nap, Jeremy went to pick up her present from us...a Barbie jeep! She was a little frustrated with it at first, but it didn't take her long to figure out how to drive. She loves it. She has driven it every day except yesterday (only because it was raining.)

Since we were out of town the weekend before her birthday, we had her birthday party on Saturday, April 26. She had been talking about having a "farm with a barn" party since last August so we had a farm themed party at Kidz Kountry petting zoo/farm. She had a great time! We'd like to especially thank her Gramsy (my Mom) for her cute overalls and her Gi-Gi (my sister) for her cake and cupcakes.

Abigail's First Road Trip

Abigail is being held by her great-grandmother for the first time.

We went to Arkansas on April 18th and 19th to visit with family and attend my cousin's wedding. On Friday, we drove to Monticello to visit with Jeremy's grandparents and great-grandmother.

On Friday evening, we attended a ceremony in Woodlawn honoring my grandfather who was a superindendant there. He was being honored because he began the highschool's baseball program and coached the first team to win a championship. My Dad accepted the award in his honor. After that, we went to eat dinner at a new Mexican restaurant in White Hall with my sister's family.

This was taken as she slept thru our dinner at the Mexican restaurant.

We stayed at my Mom's Friday evening. To make a long story short...when we got to my Mom's, I was going to change my clothes for bed and realized that my entire bag that I had packed was left in Southaven. I had no clothes ~ no pajamas, nothing to wear the next day before the wedding and nothing to wear to the wedding. So on Saturday morning, I headed to Little Rock to do some shopping with my sister.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Leola to eat catfish with my Mom, Stepdad and his daughter. We went to my cousin's wedding that evening. After going to the reception for a while, we headed home so that we would be able to attend church the next morning.

Rachel with her Gramsy, Gramps and cousin, Haleigh, at the wedding.

Abigail and Daddy at the reception.

Rachel dancing with her cousins at the reception.

It's been two weeks already?

It seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital. Well, I guess that time flies when you are having fun. It's definitely been less stressful this time around. We are much more laid back than when Rachel was a newborn.





Abigail had jaundice when we brought her home. We had to take her in for a checkup two days after we brought her home (Friday). At that time, she had lost down to 7 lbs, 13 oz. The doctor told me to supplement with formula. We did that over the weekend and returned to the doctor on Monday morning to have her weighed. She was back up to 8 lbs, 5 oz. That was great progress and her jaundice was gone.

Sleeping with Daddy...you can see how yellow she was.

Look at those chubby cheeks!

She's been eating really well and sleeping pretty good at night. Yesterday, I took her to the doctor for her two week checkup. She now weighs 8 lbs, 14 oz and measures 21.75" long.



Rachel has been really great with her. She always wants to help make Abigail happy. She also enjoys holding her (as long as she isn't crying.)

Rachel was reading a book to Abigail.

Our girls.

Getting her first bath...she didn't like it.

Bringing her home...

(Just before leaving the hospital.)

We ended up staying in the hospital two days because the pediatrician wanted to watch Abigail's breathing since she swallowed some amniotic fluid at birth. She looked good this morning so we were able to come home.

We were very happy to leave of the hospital. You just can't get any rest there...LOL.

We came home to a very excited big sister! Here she was running to the garage door when she heard us coming in.

She's finally here!

Abigail was born at 9:23 a.m. on March 31. She weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and was 20.75" long.

I woke up with contractions at about 1:15 a.m. and began timing them before I woke Jeremy up just after 2:00 a.m. My contractions were 4-5 minutes apart at that time. We called the doctor and then began preparing for the big day.

Everything went pretty smoothly and I wasn't in labor very long compared to Rachel's birth. We are so grateful to have had so many people praying for us throughout my pregnancy and today.

Abigail's Baby Shower and Nursery

I was so thankful to be given a baby shower on March 1st. A lot of friends from church helped out with the shower. It was really nice. Many friends came and my Mom and sister were able to make the trip from Arkansas. I really enjoyed the food and fellowship. And, we were given many nice gifts for Abigail and her nursery.

I thought that Abigail's nursery would never get done before her arrival. Between my limited physical activity and Jeremy's back pain from a ruptured disk, we just weren't able to work on things as often or as quickly as we wanted.

First, we had to move the guestroom furniture upstairs because that room would become the nursery. Then, we had to paint my Mom's old bedroom suite for Rachel to have some new furniture since hers needed to be reused in Abigail's room. And finally, we had to paint, hang the chairrail and put up the wallpaper border in the nursery before moving in the furniture and decorating.

We finally got everything completed and I actually had time to paint an accent piece (the green side table)...

Our Pregnancy Experience

After a long and sometimes difficult nine months, the end of this pregnancy is near...

We had trouble getting pregnant this time around. We had been trying for over a year and finally decided to try Clomid. It worked the first month. We were ecstatic to be having another little blessing. I had been charting my temperature and knew exactly when I ovulated. My temperature was increasing after ovulation so I felt like I was finally pregnant. Jeremy was gone to a Promise Keepers weekend trip when I decided to test (5 days before I should have). I got a positive result the first time and of course, I had to take a few more tests to be sure...LOL. I couldn't wait to tell him when he came home. I made Rachel a shirt that read "Big sister to be" in license plate form to share the news with him. After I went to the doctor to confirm my positive result, I took pictures of Rachel wearing her shirt to share with family and friends. This is the email that I sent out.

We were on top of the world until I experienced some bleeding at 11 weeks. It turns out that I had placenta previa which means that my placenta was covering my cervix (under the baby)when it should have been to the side or above the baby. I was put on physical restriction, was watched carefully and had several ultrasounds.

When it came time to find out the sex, we had a shy baby. That was in November. We had both a boy name and a girl name picked out already. When we went back in December, we were overjoyed to find out that we were having another baby girl. We decided to share this news with family and friends by putting the announcement on our Christmas card.

Finally at my seven month checkup, we learned that my placenta had finally moved and that I no longer had placenta previa. This was great because it meant that I would no longer have to have a scheduled c-section. At the same time, we found out that I have two placental lobes which just means that there are two pieces of placenta that will have to be delivered after the baby.

In February, Jeremy and I both ended up with the flu. After getting over that, my flu symptoms turned into a bad sinus infection. I was in the middle of a round of antibiotics when all three of us had a stomach virus. It was very bad and I became very weak. I had to go back to the doctor for my sinus infection that had gotten worse after I got over the stomach virus. I was given another round of antibiotics and am still having sinus problems to this day. I have basically been sick for about two months now.

We attended a refresher infant CPR course at the end of February. We took Rachel to a sibling class at the beginning of March. She is so excited to become a big sister. Here, she is learning to change a wet diaper.

At my 36 week appointment, we learned that Abigail was breech. We were told that I would get an ultrasound at 37 weeks and that if she was still breech, I would be scheduled for a c-section the next week. Luckily, she turned on the Wednesday evening before I had my Thursday morning ultrasound.

Before my 38 week appointment, I woke up just after 3 a.m. with contractions that kept getting closer and closer together. I had a 9:20 a.m. doctor's appointment so I waited until I went there to get checked out. They ended up about 5 minutes apart. Aside from these contractions, nothing was really happening so it was determined that I was having false labor (even though it felt pretty real to me). I was sent home that day with some pain medication and was told to rest. I went to the day spa that afternoon and had a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure. It was nice to get a little pampering.

I went in for my 39 week appointment this Thursday. I woke up just before 4 a.m. with a more painful episode of false labor. When at the doctor's office, the contractions were about 7 minutes apart. When he checked me, once again nothing was happening. He scheduled me for an induction on Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m.