It's Easy To Invent a Life

Word (Or Three) Depending On Your Intrepretation

2011-04-11T10:13:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know that in this picture Abby totally looks like Sean Combs (aka P Diddy) or at least her interpretation of P Diddy.

But what she's actually saying here with all this attitude is that she really wants to be four.

Her BFF at church, Mia, turns four on Thursday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIA!) and Abby informed Jason last week that she needed to be four because being three hurt her pinky finger. If she were four, she could hold up all four fingers instead of having to hold down the one.

Makes perfect sense, right?

I'm just wondering what does that mean for me when I turn the big 3-0 in August.

Ctrl + Alt + Del

2011-03-18T18:13:00.003-04:00

If weeks like this one had a reset button, I would have pushed it way before now.

Here's a rundown of the week that the Loopers have had since my last update.

*My dad had a massive heart attack on Friday morning. He was driving to a cabinet job when he had his heart attack, passed out and totaled his van. God certainly knows what He's doing because had my dad been in his shop working, he could have fallen on a piece of equipment or lay in the floor for who-knows-how-long before someone found him. The way it happened, a lady called 911 immediately and he got attention. St. Francis is a fantastic hospital. Unfortunately they couldn't get in touch with my mom so they called me - talk about scary! - and as God would have it, Jason was off because it was my spring break and we rushed to Greenville, kids in tow, and talked to the doctor who said Daddy was lucky to be alive. He stayed in CCU overnight and then went to a regular room until Monday morning. He goes back April 18 for bypass surgery because he has some major issues going on in his heart. I'm so very thankful for a God whose thoughts are higher than mine and whose ways are better than mine.

*I went back to school on Monday to collect two sets of papers - not a big deal but one more thing to be done.

*Abby started running a very, very high fever on Wednesday afternoon (104.8) and we took her to the doctor only to be told she has the flu. We immediately sent her to quarantine and Jake to my sister-in-law's. I've been out of school and just now washed my hair for the first time since Tuesday. Jason and I are both on Tamiflu, Jake's coming home tonight, and Abby seems on the mend.

And although it's not my issue, Heidi's dissertation was due on Tuesday, which was immensely stressful for her, but she got it done, so way to go, baby sister!

The picture above is Abby this morning when she was feeling okay.

This picture is Abby about 30 minutes later after a few minutes of sitting still and some Disney Pocahontas. Okay, I know it's not exactly true to history, but a flu-ridden baby gets to watch what she wants.

Chuck E Cheese - Say Cheese!

2011-03-10T14:27:00.003-05:00

My sweet Jason decided to take today and tomorrow off to by with me and the kids for the last two days of my spring break. We had grand plans to go to Charleston to eat seafood and celebrate our anniversary which is coming up next weekend. But alas, the best laid plans - well you know the rest - succumb to poverty. :-)

Instead we opted to head to Chuck E Cheese since it is too cold and wet to go the zoo and the children's museum is too expensive and Jake can't really enjoy it anyway. And, I had a coupon for Chuck E Cheese.

Let me say, Chuck E Cheese smells like the skating rink and definitely isn't known for it's pizza. That being said, Abby had a grand time collecting tickets, which she traded in for four - yes you read that right - four rings and a bracelet.

Mommy and Daddy played skee ball and rode a questionable motion ride. Let me say something about that experience: while Abby and I were at the water shooter game, a little boy came up and asked if he could play. I of course said yes, and he then thought that we were his family. He played that game with us, and when we went to get on the questionable motion ride, he followed, climbed into my lap and rode the ride with me. Jason and I kept looking around for his mom or dad because if that were my kid and I saw him in the lap of another mom, especially one I didn't know, I would be a little upset. We never saw her, and when the ride was over, he hopped down and went on his way. I guess that's one way to not have to use your tokens for a ride.

The photo booth was a hit - even though Jake didn't know what in the world was going on.

Spring Break Means What?

2011-03-09T13:01:00.006-05:00

Yes, it is finally spring break here, but today it is pouring cats and dogs. That didn't stop me and Abby and Jake from venturing out to the library for what they call Wiggles and Giggles. My friend Kelly told us about it, so off we went.

Did I mention that both my children were up by 6:30 this morning. Yes, you read that right - 6:30. Usually they take naps about 1:30 but today when we got home at 12:30 they both went down.

So, I caught this picture of my tired little man.
Normally he looks like this in his playpen.

But I guess 6:30 in the morning will do this to a little guy.

Bandaids, Anyone?

2011-02-27T17:33:00.003-05:00

When you're three and a half, you get bandaids on your knees just because you're three and a half.

It's a good thing I get these things cheap with coupons.

My Life in a Picture

2011-02-26T18:48:00.003-05:00

Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE this crazy, wonderful life. But this is where I am right now - the struggle between work and home. Oh my!

What You'll Find on my Nook

2011-02-22T17:36:00.009-05:00

Here's the list of what I've been reading the past few months and what I hope to be reading in the very near future. (Things which don't include student writing or anything truly literary.)

This series by Joel Rosenberg:

Absolutely fantastic and thought-provoking. I burned out on the Left Behind series when it was the hottest thing several years ago, but I found that I couldn't put these books down. Well, that's not completely true. When I got to the last one - Dead Heat - I had to stop reading for a while because it was just a little too real. I highly recommend these.

When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent

I picked this up because it was mentioned by our interim pastor at church. It is insightful and moving. It helps me think about how to handle life in general.

Okay, technically this isn't on my Nook, but it's what I'm listening to:

How I've missed Phil Wickham all these years is beyond me. I actually downloaded his song You are Beautiful when I meant to download Cannons and when I realized the mistake, I had to go back and get the whole album. That's totally logical, right?

Here's what I have on my Nook and hope to read soon:

I need the crash course on parenting, I think. Since God is so gracious to me, I think that I should extend that grace to my kids.

I'm also torn between

and

What do you think?

Daddy, can you please wash my cups?

2011-02-21T08:03:00.001-05:00

Just Because He's Too Cute

2011-02-17T17:25:00.002-05:00

This guy has stolen my heart.

Can't you see why?

It's Way Past Time for a Haircut!

2011-02-17T17:16:00.001-05:00

I had finally had enough with the hair and the tangles and the crying and the tears and the food gunked up in the hair. Jason and I talked it over, and then we began to work on Abby, convincing her that a haircut would be a great thing.

So, we went from this:

To this:

Much better, huh?

A Report of the Weekly Savings

2011-02-05T14:22:00.004-05:00

As you have probably already figured out, I endeavor to save my family as much money as possible when it comes to grocery shopping and truly any other kind of shopping.

So, today, in the nasty, misty rain, I journeyed to Publix and CVS. I had gone to Ingles yesterday, and since it was naptime when we got home from Ingles, there are no pictures from that trip.

Jason says that I have to stop with the Coke. We now have about ten 2 liters and ten 12 packs of Cokes in our house. The sad thing? We'll drink them.

Here's how it all broke down:

CVS - spent $22.94, saved $39.82
Publix - spent $57.37, saved $68.94
Ingles - spent $$29.05, saved $27.34

Total spent $109.36, saved 136.10 or 55%

You'll notice there are two greeting cards in that pile. They're for my Nannie who will be 81 tomorrow. She doesn't look at this blog; heck, she's never even had her driving license, but I love her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANNIE!

The Things I Learn from Chocolate

2011-02-01T21:00:00.003-05:00

For Christmas, Jason gave me a bag of Dove Dark Chocolates. I'm amazed that we waited over a month before opening them, but today we opened them for dessert after lunch. They're the promises. You know, the ones that have pithy saying written in the wrapper. I think the first one I opened said something like, "Your smile could light up a room." Well, thanks. That makes me feel great.

The second one I opened, however, made me think. It said, "Love rules without rules."

Now, that's simply not true. Genuine love loves with rules and parameters. What kind of mom would I be if I never set any guidelines for Abby and Jake? I'd be a pretty lousy one. Jason and I institute rules because we love our children.

For example, I tell Abby she can't run in a parking lot (a rule) because I don't want her to get hurt, not because I hate her.

Somewhere along the line, our culture has bought into the lie that true love allows us to do whatever we want whenever we want. That's simply not true.

What kind of God would we serve who never told us no? If I never tell Abby no I create a brat, and the same goes for God. I'm afraid we have lots of spiritual brats running around because they refuse to believe in a God who would tell them no. Instead they create their own god who never tells them no, and thus act like spoiled brats. My God disciplines me and puts limits in my life for my good, whether I see and understand that or not.

It's kind of amazing how something as simple as a piece of chocolate can make you think.

2011-01-29T16:03:00.006-05:00

I love orchids.
I distinctly remember buying a beautiful orchid when I was in high school. I was certain i could keep the thing alive because I'm pretty good with plants, but orchids are like cats: they want to be left alone, and I've never really been a cat person. All that to say, when I bought my first orchid, I promptly killed it because I overwatered it and then underwatered it and it eventually died because of my misunderstanding of how it wanted to be handled.

Now, when Jake was born one of my best friends brought an orchid to the hospital because she, like me, loves them. She gave me instructions and told me not to kill her. I told her I would try my best.

One of the things I had to learn was that orchids will bloom forever, but when they drop their flowers, you must prune them. The flowerless stems have to be cut back in order for new flowers to come. It usually takes about a year for a new shoot to form, but when it does, it is so satisfying.

Here's the hard part. I am now nurturing 6 orchids. My second one just started blooming with new flowers about a week ago. She's lovely. In the meantime, one of my newer ones dropped her last flower, and I hesitated to cut her stem because I thought, maybe, just maybe, she'll put out a new bud. So I waited. No new stem. This morning I cut her. Down to nothing.
Why do I write this. Well, I think there's a spiritual lesson here. So many times, God prunes me: he cuts back the things in my life that he knows are dead and lifeless. And it hurts. It's never fun to have something that is a part of you taken away, but ultimately those times are for my good. God wants me to bear good fruit and to produce something beautiful. Those flowers may not come overnight. As a matter of fact hey most certainly will not. It will probably take time for God to cultivate the things in me that he wants there, but the result is more beautiful than before and much more satisfying.

What is God doing in you?

It's time for a savings post

2011-01-28T21:19:00.003-05:00

Okay, I haven't put one of these up for a while, so I thought you might like to see my haul today. I hit 3 grocery stores (which I normally don't do, but we needed milk, and when I can get Pet milk for $2.98 a gallon, I'l go wherever I need to).

Included in all of this are two large packs of chicken breasts, a Boston Butt, asparagus, lots of oatmeal and cocoa (for chocolate oatmeal cookies), cheese, frozen pizza, 3 gallons of milk and a half gallon of chocolate milk along with several other items.

I would call this a success in shopping. I have to admit, Publix is my very favorite place to shop, but today I had a wonderful little girl in Bilo who made that experience delightful.

Here are the totals:

Ingles - spent $6.95, saved $11.97 and got $5 in Catalinas
Bilo - spent $27.08, saved $17.09 and got $2 in Catalinas
Publix - spent $47.07, saved $60.41

That breaks down to a savings of 52%. Now, some of you may say, "Come on, Alicia, you brag that you can save 60% when you shop," and normally that's true but when we became a 3 gallon a week family, I'm happy to save half. All in all, I'm thrilled that I can buy the things my family needs without breaking the bank. Ultimately, that's my goal.

What I'm praying for Abby

2011-01-27T16:41:00.003-05:00

My mom gave me James Dobson's book The New Strong Willed Child , and it is a book that we desperately needed in my house.

You see, that little rocker girl has an iron will. Dobson would call her a revolutionary, and I've no doubt that she has the potential to be just that.

I started reading the book, and of course, when I read anything I have to talk it over with folks, so several weeks ago, I was talking to a wonderful friend and colleague of mine who also happens to have a strong willed child.

She gave me a wonderful prayer to pray for my Abby. You see, the strong will isn't a bad thing - it is something that God gave Abby because he knew she would need it. After all, you don't start life at 2lbs 15oz and only stay in the NICU 10 days, coming home weighing a whopping 3lbs 6oz and no be strong willed.
It was something that served her well in those early days, but left unguided and if not taught to control that will and reign it in, the results could and most certainly would be disastrous.

So, what am I praying? I'm praying that Abby will be strong willed for her Savior, that she will cling to him with an overwhelming passion. After all, aren't our children arrows in our hands, not to be broken, but to be aimed and shot into this world?

What do you pray for your children?

About Daddies

2011-01-26T16:15:00.003-05:00

Since my sister doesn't have a blog - I know, all science and no fun - I thought I would share this story with you, which turned out to be quite a lesson in the care that daddies take of their daughters.

About a year or so ago my baby sister moved into an apartment. It was her first time being truly alone and on her own, and my dad, knowing my sister, put a chain lock on her front door. Several months after she moved in, she went to visit a friend in the same complex and noticed that her door didn't have a chain on it, so she said, "You know, Katie, you really should call maintenance and tell them that you're missing the chain on your front door." To which Katie replied, "No, Heidi, your dad installed that chain on your door when you moved in. Didn't you know that?"

Well, obviously, my dad put the lock on without my sister ever knowing it - for her safety - and my sister credited it with just being a part of the apartment.

Do you see where this is going? My Daddy took care of my baby sister and she never even knew it - and wouldn't have known it had her friend not told her the truth.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was out of school on break and Jason had taken the week off after Christmas to be home with us. Jason left to go play disc golf, and I stayed at home to wash clothes. Now, we have dryer issues. Those of you have been to my house while I dry clothes will recall the horrible sound our dryer made. It was something akin to a pig being slaughtered and I couldn't dry clothes during naptime because no one could sleep through that racket. We assumed it was a felt pad that had decided to go MIA, but I realized later that it was something worse.

While Jason was gone that morning, I put a load of clothes in the dyer, turned it on and noticed that it didn't sound like it was moving. It was running, but the barrel wasn't turning. I turned it off and called Jason. By the time he got home, and I went back in the laundry room, the top of the dyer was hot to the touch and when we looked in the barrel we could see the back glowing red. Jason and my nephew pulled the dryer away from the wall and we could see burn marks on the dyer and the wall and soot was coming from the back.

Now, I tell you, we were so very close to a major catastrophe, but God - my heavenly Daddy - was taking care of me without my even knowing it. Kind of like my earthly Daddy did for my baby sister.

Scripture tells us in Matthew 7:11 -If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

That's the thing about Daddies, they take care of their children, even when they don't know it.

The Fear of the Lord

2011-01-25T17:07:00.002-05:00

I was reading this morning in Job 28, and something jumped off the page at me. It's not something that I've never heard before; in fact, it's something that I say to my students and something that I've often reminded myself over the years. I'm not sure why it had the impact that it did this morning, but it did.

Want to know what it was?

Here you go: "And he [God] said to man, 'The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28).

As I read this, I began to think - what do I fear? That something bad will happen to my family, that my husband will lose his job and we won't be able to make it financially, that I'll be diagnosed with some kind of horrible disease, that a natural disaster will destroy our home and way of life.

Most folks would look at this list and say that it is a reasonable list, things that most people fear. None of them are too far-fetched, okay, sometimes they're far-fetched if you lived in my brain, but they are all things that could happen.

So why then does God tell us that the fear of him is wisdom?

I think it's because it is much wiser to fear the one who ultimately controls the things we fear than to fear the things themselves.

For instance, I can't control whether or not I contract an incurable illness. God can control that.
I can't control whether my home is wiped out by a natural disaster: God controls the wind and the waves and orchestrates them just as He sees fit.

When I fear the one in control, knowing that He loves me with a steadfast love and always has my best interest at heart (Jeremiah 29:11), I find incredible peace (Philippians 4:6-7).

So, perhaps when I'm afraid and worried about things that are obviously beyond my control, I should remember the one who never loses control.

We did it

2011-01-24T21:04:00.005-05:00

Well, we had to bite the bullet and get a new computer, so now we're those people - Mac people.

Last week our power went out because someone hit a transformer. The next day I went to turn our computer on and got an error message. I called Jason frantic because I was sure that the machine was dead. By some small miracle, after 10 minutes of coaxing it decided to come back on. At that point we knew we had to get a new computer. We wanted something that was easy to use and durable, so we chose the basic MacBook. We've never had an Apple computer before, so we'll see how this goes, but the reality is that after we lost most of the pictures of Abby's first and second year when the old computer crashed before, we didn't want to chance it.

So, maybe the easier and faster access to pictures like the ones above will make blogging easier.

We'll see.

School's Out and I'm Back - Hopefully

2010-12-16T19:29:00.002-05:00

Well, now that school is officially out for the Christmas break, I hope to get back on top of things with the ole blog and let you know what's been happing/is happening in the Looper house.

Right now we're trying to adjust to having Mommy home all the time and not going to Nana's every day. It's been a difficult transition (both for Mommy and for Abby).

We're also preparing for Jake's first birthday, which is exactly one week from today. It's hard to imagine that this time last year I was in a panic because I realized that he was going to come into the world early. Now he's healthy (except for a runny nose and nasty cough) and pulling up and thinking about walking.

All in all, it's proving to be a hectic Christmas season, but I promise to try to make it back here often and update as much as I can.

Merry Christmas, all!

Two Deals!

2010-09-27T10:46:00.005-04:00

Here are two deals that you folks with little ones (or with houses to clean) might find helpful.

The first is from Zulily. They have ADORABLE princess costumes like the one below for only $11.99. If you use ebates, you can get 3.5% on your purchase, and if you don't already have an ebates account, you can get $5 just for signing up. I've already gotten back about $20 from using the site. On Zulily, you can also use code SNAPZU10 to get 10% off of $30. They also have a GREAT elephant costume for 12-24 months.

The other deal is on Groupon.com. Under Atlanta, you can get $20 at soap.com for $10. I did this deal last week and got some laundry detergent that you can't buy in the store as well as dryer sheets. It was shipped straight to my door. I love, love, love this deal! Go to the site, sign up, find Atlanta and get in on the deal! You can also go through ebates and get 6% cash back.

Let me know if you snag any of these.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, Anyone?

2010-09-17T14:32:00.003-04:00

Today was the weekly trip to Publix. My sweet mother-in-law came and watched Abby and Jake while I went to Easley.

The picture above was my haul. Want to guess how much I paid? The lady in line in front of me had about the same number of items in her cart (I know; it all depends on what you are getting), but she paid $143.00.

My total - $37.49.

I had $25.55 in coupons and saved $39.91 with store savings for a total of $65.46 (a savings of 64%).

You'll also notice these:

Those are crab cakes! Yay! We also eat a ton of cream cheese so there are 5 packages of those. I paid a whopping quarter each for the cream cheese.

I also had Hebrew National franks on my list; they were B1G1, but I didn't have a coupon. God is faithful because when I asked for the coupon books before I started shopping the top on had a coupon for $1/2.

I just love finding deals and steals.

Have you had any good shopping lately?

Frustrating!

2010-09-14T11:13:00.002-04:00

This morning was a little frustrating to say the least. It wasn't this way because of the obvious reasons but because I'm a tightwad and wasting money irritates me.

I left my house on time (well, on time for me, pushing it for the rest of humanity), and when I was a ways down the road, Jason called to tell me that he didn't have car seats for the kiddos because we had taken them out this weekend to go the Clemson game. That was fine. I knew I'd have to cancel my 8 o'clock class, but that's not a big deal. I can catch them up in class; trust me, I've done it before.

I turned around, got the car seats from my sister-in-law's house, went home and cuddled my babies for a few minutes. This was a highlight because they were both still in bed when I left, so I didn't mind that at all!

Got back in my car and booked it down the road to school. I knew I'd have a few extra minutes. This time I really was early, so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee. That's the practical thing to do when you're early isn't it?

I noticed that the cashier was outside smoking and talking on the phone when I pulled in, but she somehow managed to get my order when I came through the drive-thru. When I got to the window, she was diligently preparing my drink (still on the phone mind you), and I, being the optimist that I am, assumed she had washed her hands before she started working on the latte. Never assume. Bad plan.

The other two boys who work there also came in from their smoke breaks. I know because I saw them flick the butts of their cigarettes into the trash, open the door, come in and start fixing coffee for the guy behind me. No handwashing for these boys either. YUCK!

The girl handed me my drink, took my money (all still on the phone) and I drove off. Now, I know it's rude for ME to be on the phone while I'm dealing with a cashier, but I've never had the cashier be on the phone, and I know it wasn't work-related because she kept saying the word custody, and last time I checked, DD wasn't in a custody battle with anyone.

When I got to school, I took a big swig of my coffee only to find it laced with the taste of cigarettes and smoke. UGH! There went $2.80 down the drain - literally, I put it down the drain.

I sent an email to DD corporate. I hate to waste money. Someone please tell me how to be gracious in this situation because I'm struggling!

Pantry! Yay!

2010-09-10T21:50:00.003-04:00

My precious husband worked diligently for two weekends to fix this fantastic pantry for me!

You may remember from my post about our kitchen remake that we moved the fridge from one side of the room to the other, leaving a hole where the fridge was. Said hole is now filled to capacity with my stockpile.

AND, I have to add - just because it's how I am - that I bought 48 jars of Stage 2 Beechnut baby food for $5.28. That's .11 per jar for those of you who stink at math like I do.

I've Decided

2010-09-09T11:19:00.000-04:00

With regards to my previous post about Pastor Jones and the Dove World Outreach church that I will begin to fervently pray for torrents of rain on Saturday - all day, from dawn to dusk, so much rain that they couldn't even strike a match if they wanted to.

I figure, if God can pour down fire from heaven for Elijah, He can stop a little book burning in South Florida.

What do you think?

Meal Swap

2010-09-08T20:08:00.004-04:00

I wanted to share with you a little more about the meal swap that I'm a part of. Our youth minister's wife is a work-at-home mom, and she, like the rest of us who are mommies, struggled with feeding her family healthy, well-balanced meals during the week. If you're anything like I am, I used to forego a home-cooked meal because it just took too much time! It wasn't just the time I spent preparing the meal that was frustrating, it was the time I invested thinking up interesting things for my family to eat. I do enjoy cooking, but given the option, on days when I have to teach until 1:30, I'm going to opt to eat somewhere where someone other than me fixes the food and washes all the dishes used in the preparation.

This is where the meal swap comes in. Amanda mentioned back in April to me and two other friends that she read in a book about having several families come together and cook meals for one another. I thought it was a great idea (as did the other ladies), but our husbands were skeptical and some of the children (and husbands) are very picky eaters, so we weren't sure how it would all work. Well, we sat down together, recipe cards in hand, and figured out the first month's meals. I printed the calendar, posted it on my fridge, and there was no going back.

I quickly learned that one boy doesn't like corn; there's a husband who won't eat vegetables of any kind unless they are well-hidden or potatoes. I caught on that my roast is a hit, which is nice because it's the easiest thing to fix, and that cooking for 4 families really isn't that different from cooking for one.

Once I had meals delivered every night, I knew that this was the way to go. My friends bring the food practically to my door every night, and sometimes I have to throw it into the oven to heat it, but that's way better than standing over a stove for an hour cooking something.

Also, with all the couponing I've been doing, I can feed all 5 families for about $20. We only do main dishes; the sides are up to the individual families, but I can open a can - how about you? I buy meat when it is on sale and keep it in the freezer until I need it.

This really is an awesome idea. Have any of you ever been involved in anything like this?

I don't usually post things like this.

2010-09-08T09:44:00.002-04:00

And, I really don't, but those of you who are news junkies like me realize that there is something brewing in our country that needs to be addressed.

Maybe you've heard of pastor Terry Jones and his church Dove World Outreach Center. They are planning to burn the Koran this Saturday, September 11. He posits that the Koran is of the devil and blasphemous, and I agree with that completely, but the question that must be addressed is if this is the best way to make a statement against a group of people who we disagree with.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:22 that we should become all things to all men so that we may win some. I often tell my classes that alienation and degrading speech are not effective tools in argument. I can't help but think that this is what Pastor Jones is doing - degrading, tearing down.

Even the head commander David Petraeus says that this church's actions could be very detrimental to our work in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

You won't hear me ask this often, but will you go here and write a polite, thoughtful email to Pastor Jones asking him to reconsider his protest for Saturday? They may not listen, but at least we will have tried.

The Last Year

2010-09-03T09:05:00.007-04:00

I admit it. I've been distracted, overwhelmed, pulled in a million directions. Jason and I had a lazy weekend last weekend, and it was nice because as we talked, we realized that for the next month and a half, we have something important to do EVERY WEEKEND. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. We started school; my PartyLite business is going well; I'm trying to be most diligent in clipping organizing, and using my coupons. Sometimes it's too much. I'm being chased by time, and I think it might catch me.

I'm not saying this to complain. This life is a wonderful one. The babies are healthy and growing. We're surrounded by friends who love us, and God is faithful as always.

I had a birthday in the middle of August, and I always like to sit down (usually closer to my birthday than this) and reflect on what God has done in the year. Isn't it sad that today is the first day I've had to do such reflecting.

Here are a few things:

I had a beautiful baby boy December 23. While 34 weeks is a little early to come, God took care of him and me and he's ALL BOY! I'll do a separate post about that. Who knew that boys really could be that different from girls this early in life!

My sweet baby turned 3 in July. Where has all the time gone? It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home, and now she's sassy and smart and just a joy (most of the time; let's not forget she is still THREE!).

I went on load reduction at school which means that I only have to teach 4 classes every semester, which may not seem like much, but it gives me more time here, at home, where I desperately long to be.

I taught the most difficult group of students I have ever taught, AND SURVIVED! (Let me add, Jason survived too. It was questionable there for a while.)

I celebrated 5 years of marriage to a handsome, caring man.

We added two new folks to the meal swap I mentioned in an earlier post, which now means that I only have to cook one night during the week and the other four I get great food from wonderful friends. It's a WIN!

All in all, it's been a wonderful year. Please forgive me if the posts aren't as frequent as they have been in the past. I'm a little busy, but I'll be here occasionally.

Two Trips to Share

2010-08-04T11:36:00.003-04:00

Okay, friends, I have two shopping trips to share with you - one from last week and one from today. If you're really fast on reading this blog, you can still make it to Walgreens and score these sweet deals. The Friends and Family Discount (15%) expires today, but the rest of the deal will continue for the rest of the week.

Last week I went to BiLo and Publix and scored all this food! Yay! I have to say too that God works in amazing ways some times.
I've not shared this here, but for the past few months several ladies in my church and I have been swapping meals. It is AWESOME! Please feel free to steal the idea. I cook one night a week for all four families (mine included) and then the other three nights of the week, I get a hot meal from one of my friends. We recently lost our fourth and are looking to replace her. Sad day.

Anyway, we get together once a month to plan the month's meals, which makes it really easy to pick up the things that I need when they are really cheap. Since we took the month of August off, I was behind in my preparation, and I needed salsa and chips, which I must note weren't on sale anywhere last week. I simply told myself I would wait until this week and hopefully they would be one sale somewhere. (Does this show you how much of a tightwad I am). When I got home and was putting away my things, guess what I found, a HUGE bag of chips a friend had given us and a large jar of salsa. God truly is faithful!

Back to my savings, this was my trip to Publix and BiLo. I spent $53.44 at Publix and $11.50 at BiLo. I saved $64.44 at Publix and $19.35 at BiLo. That's a savings of 56% and look at all the stuff I got!

Now, this was today:

I bought 3 packs of Pampers, one large bag of Pampers wipes, a box of Pampers wipes, a box of Huggies wipes, a candy bar for filler, two boxes of Special K, and 6 Sobe Life Waters (these I got at CVS and paid .05 for all six, less than a penny for each one). I spent $26.18, used my 15% Friends and Family Discount at Walgreens, used 3 B1G1 coupons for the Sobe at CVS, saved $31.90 or 55%. That's pretty sweet shopping if you ask me.

Oh, I should probably stop showing you all the candy I buy. That might explain why I can't lose weight, huh? ;-)

You can head to the Walgreens Facebook page and print the 15% coupon. It expires today, so you better hurry!

Why I do it...

2010-07-27T15:26:00.004-04:00

I do sometimes get some flack for my obsession with couponing and deal hunting, but I've had two very satisfying experiences this weekend that affirm to me why I do what I do in the savings department.

This backpack is packed to overflowing with things I picked up at Staples. Our church works with DSS and fills backpacks for foster kids. There's nothing more satisfying than knowing that those of us who have been exceptionally blessed can bless someone else. It was also a teaching moment when I took Abby with me to the store to get the things and then filled the bag and said, "Baby, there are little boys and girls who don't have a backpack, and we're going to give one little boy or girl this one so that they'll have one." She looked up at me with those big eyes that said, "You're kidding, no backpack, crazy!" There's no time like now to learn to think outside ourselves.

And for all of you who mocked me about the Stayfree pads I picked up several weeks ago, God knew why I needed them. I put all this stuff in a bag and gave it to a lady at our church who really needed it. There's not enough money in the world to buy the feeling of humility I felt when she told me thank you. Were I buying this stuff at full retail, I NEVER would have given it away, nor would I have a stockpile of it the other room, but since God has blessed, I can bless.

And let's not forget that I also do it for these two sweet babies who call me Mommy and for the fella that calls me Honey. Proverbs 31 says that a wife of noble character is worth far more than rubies and that "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value" and that "she sees that her trading is profitable" and her children "arise and call her blessed." (v 10, 18, 28). That is my goal and why I do what I do.

How I do it

2010-07-23T14:14:00.005-04:00

I was asked on my previous post where I get my coupons from, so I thought maybe I would share how I get the deals I get. Some of you already know this stuff, so feel free to tune me out, but before I share the technical stuff, I wanted to let you know about another awesome shopping trip, this time to Publix.

I've always thought that Publix was too far from my house to shop at, and I've bought into the thinking that Publix, like CVS, is just too expense; I mean, their generic stuff looks gourmet to me, but I'm wrong. Take note, because I don't admit to being wrong often. I much prefer to be right, but this time, I've made a mistake. Publix is only about 15 minutes down the road from me, and for the awesome savings that they offer, they're not too far away.

So here's what I got:

That's 2 half gallons of Smart Balance milk, 2 Soft Scrub Scrubby Pads, 2 big boxes of Chex, and 2 bags of Chock-ful-o-nuts coffee.
I paid $11.47, saved $15.47 and used $8.50 in coupons.
The Secret Clinical was a sample of deodorant that I got in the mail today. Yesterday I got a sample of Purina dog food.

So here are a few things that I do when couponing:

First, I have store cards for my 3 favorite stores, CVS, Ingles and Bi-Lo. Publix and Walgreens do not require store cards, so that's really nice.

I use two websites to help me find the best deals: Southern Savers and Hip2Save. Southern Savers lists mainly grocery store deals and occasionally great internet deals, and Hip2Save posts mainly freebies and internet/store deals. They serve two different functions for me.

I always buy TWO Sunday papers just for the inserts. Now, I do love to catch up on the news, but I buy the Sunday paper only for the coupons, no other reason, coupons only. I pull the inserts out (sometimes I stand in line and look through the papers quickly to make sure that they actually have the inserts in them) and put the date on them in marker - big marks on the front of the insert. That way when Southern Savers references the insert, I know which one I'm looking at.

I keep my inserts in a pocket folder divided into SmartSource, Red Plum, PGBrandSaver, internet coupons, and other coupons, and before I go to the store, I go through the inserts and match the coupons with the things that I want to buy. Never, ever, ever go to the store without a list. You will spend way more money than you intended to and you won't get great deals. Keep in mind that not all inserts have the same coupons, so Southern Savers may have a coupon listed in an insert that doesn't actually show up in yours.

I know that some people clip all their coupons and put them in binders in baseball card holders, but I have two small children who constantly cry for my attention, so I don't do that. Sometimes my mom will call me and let me know of a deal, and I'll take advantage of that. I also know the products that usually have coupons on them, so if I see one on clearance, I may come home and try to find a coupon to match it with. That's the extent of that.

I also love refunding. If I see that I can submit a refund for something, I do! I've gotten $39 in rebates just in the past two weeks. Y'all, that's $40 in money that I can deposit into my checking or savings account for things that I would have bought anyway. ChaChing!

One last note, whenever I go into CVS, I go directly to the magic coupon machine (in Pickens it's right inside the door, a big red machine) and scan my EC card to see what coupons shoot out. Usually there are some good ones for things that if they're not on sale already, they will be in the next few weeks. Sometimes you even get lucky with money off a purchase. Remember, these are store coupons and can be used with a manufacter's coupon in most stores.

I've saved a lot of money doing these kinds of deals, and let me warn you, it's addictive.

Feel free to post questions/comments below.

What a Deal!

2010-07-21T13:54:00.003-04:00

You've got to take advantage of this deal if you have a baby or if you brush your teeth!

My mom called me and told me that Walgreens has Pampers wipes on sale for $2.49 and that there is a $2 off coupon in the July 6 Proctor and Gamble BrandSaver.

I had seen the deal on Southern Savers, but I hadn't thought much about it because I don't really shop at Walgreens all that much. I couldn't, however, pass up $.49 wipes. I mean, I wipe a lot of bottoms in my house.

I was worried that when I got to the store that they would all be gone, but the Walgreens in Pickens had a nice stock. I also grabbed Colgate toothpaste for $3.49 with a $1 coupon and $3.50 in RegisterRewards.

Here's what I got:

The Snickers are just filler so that I could use the RegisterRewards.

I paid $7.80, saved $16.01 and still have $3.50 in RR.

You seriously need to go to Walgreens and cash in on this. Wipes are a great baby gift!

The Checkups!

2010-07-14T16:25:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the big day - Abby had her 3 year checkup and Jake his 6 month. Now I know that Jake is almost 7 months now, but I wanted their checkups together, so I did what I had to do. Being the brilliant parent that I am, I of course scheduled said checkups right in the middle of naptime and with a doctor that I don't particularly like, but you know me, ever thoughtful!

I could have choked on my lunch when the nurse came around the corner holding a clear cup asking if Abby could give a specimen. I mean, sure, we just learned to peepee in the potty, peeing in a cup should be no problem at all. Luckily, she took one look at Abby and said, "she probably won't go in a cup, huh?" I replied, "uh, no."

Abby did, however, stand on the scale like a big girl and even let the nurse take her height measurement. She's 28lbs (6th percentile, woohoo) and 35 3/4 inches tall (28th percentile). She going to be tall and lean - yeah right! ;-)
One thing we couldn't get out of her was her blood pressure. Even though she's very practiced at taking our bp with the little cuff out of her doctor's bag (thanks, Lena) she wouldn't let the nurse near her with the real thing.

She also struggled against the gown that she had to wear. We convinced her to put it on with the promise of a prize and the observation that her gown matched Jake's diaper. Go figure. Three year olds.

The doctor asked if Abby was talking, and I swear if Jake had been able to say words, he probably would have said, "She never stops talking." I didn't know there were any three year olds who didn't talk, but I guess it happens. Abby and the doctor then had a great chat about colors and body parts. All the while, Abby clung to my neck like it was a life raft.

When it was Jake's turn, he weighed a whopping 13lbs even (1st percentile) and was 25 3/4 inches long (13th percentile). I don't know why my babies are longer than they are fat, but that's okay.

The one concern with Jake was his persistent hives. About 3 weeks ago he broke out with unexplained hives all over his body. They come and go, but the doctor said that now we get to go to a pediatric allergist to see if we can figure out what's going on. Fun days, huh? That means sticks and blood work.

Overall, it was a good checkup. They gave Jake a bazzillion (and that's not an exaggeration at all) shots. I had promised Abby NO SHOTS when we went, and they said that she could get two boosters if I wanted to. Now what parent WANTS their child to get shots? I asked if we could put it off since I promised, and I guess we'll do the boosters when we get her flu shot. I'm already dreading it.

And that's the update.

A Quick Rant

2010-07-14T10:56:00.004-04:00

Now this picture may not look like anything to you, but it's a washing machine full of wet, unwashed clothes. I went to my laundry room this morning to finish washing Jake's diapers when I noticed that the covers were exceptionally wet. I just assumed because of the way that I have to wash his diapers that the spin cycle hadn't worked very well. Mistake!

What actually happened was our washing machine decided to go to the big laundromat in the sky.

Silly me, since I thought it was just the spin cycle, put another load in the machine to wash and then noticed that it sounded a little sick, opened the washer to find that the agitator wasn't working. Luckily, the water would still drain out the machine, so I wasn't left with a drum full of water and dirty clothes. That would have been fantastic.

While I was trying to figure out what I was going to do until we could get the clothes washed, I walked in to get Jake when I found him lying in a puddle.

This is our first overnight mishap. It would happen when I don't have a washing machine. No, Jake hasn't been raptured; I shot the picture after I stripped him and ran him to his room to be cleaned up.

And this, my bloggerville friends, is my third cup of coffee. It's definitely been a full-pot kind of day already.

Grocery Shopping for $50

2010-07-13T09:04:00.003-04:00

I went to Bi-Lo and CVS last night to get the things we'll need for the week. I did pretty well.

I spent $42.88, saved $59.76, have a $10 rebate to submit and still have 5ECB.

You'll notice that I put that I shopped for $50 because I still have to buy 2 gallons of milk at Walgreens which will be about $6, so that will put me at $50. I've got some meat in the freezer that I'm cooking for dinner this week.

Overall, I think that's a pretty good haul!

One Up; One Down

2010-07-08T17:44:00.003-04:00

Most of you have realized by now that I'm becoming fairly obsessed with finding good deals, and one of the best things I've discovered (come on, humor me here) is that companies will send you samples of their products FOR FREE! It's been fun to go out to the mailbox and find little packages with samples of things in them. It's also nice to try out products before you sink a fortune into them.

That being said, I tried two new things today, and one of them was fantastic, the other left something lacking.

The first was Garnier Nutriste Triple Protection shampoo and conditioner. The conditioner was thin and the shampoo too heavy. When I dried my hair it left them a strange texture. Now that my hair's been dry a while, the texture is back to normal, but initially it was coarse and hard to brush. **And just as a side note, opening those pesky packages while your fingers are wet is super duper frustrating. I think I may need to ask forgiveness for my anger.**

Now, the second Biore's Skin Preservation Dual Fusion mosturizer with SPF 30. I normally HATE any kind of lotion that has SPF because it smells and is thick and ultimately burns my fair skin, but THIS was FANTASTIC! It was light and smelled nice and I almost can't tell that it's on. It also did the job of mostrurizing my skin. The package wasn't the easiest to open, but at least my hands were dry.

So to sum it up, Biore = two thumbs up and Garnier = one thumb up and one thumb down.

What products have you tried that you love or hate?

Jakesaurous!

2010-07-07T13:24:00.003-04:00

I think it's time to give the Jakester some love on the ole blog.

Abby had her birthday last weekend, as I'm sure you've noticed in the previous post, so sweet Jake has missed out on a lot of blog time.

He's growing, growing and he really wants to be a big boy and sit up and crawl and such, but he's just not.

Yesterday his first tooth popped through on the bottom. There's another trying to come in right beside it. I found it while he was chewing on my hand. Those suckers are sharp!

He's also learned to roll over and he loves to coo and chew on the cool teethers we bought him.

We lugged out the exersaucer this weekend, and that's a huge hit too! I think it's because he can sit up and see everything and it makes him feel like a big kid.

He naps in the morning and the afternoon and he's not a fan of rice cereal or solid foods, but we're working on it.

His six month checkup is next week, so I'll give you stats then.

Christmas Shopping in July!

2010-07-06T15:53:00.002-04:00

Last year I was a little obsessive about getting my Christmas shopping and wrapping done early because I was certain (and right I might add) that Jake would be born right at Christmastime. This year I don't have a good excuse for my obsession except that we're watching our pennies and dollars and I'm trying to make every dollar stretch as far as it will.

That being said, I use one website in particular to help alert me to great internet buys. I probably shouldn't even tell you my source because you'll probably start using it too and all the great clearance items will be snatched away even faster, but I'm too generous not to share, so here it is - Hip2Save.

The author, Colin, is my age, the mother of 3 young children, and she shares awesome deals with her readers.

I'll tell you, I've already bought Christmas presents/birthday presents (depending on when I need to use them) for Abby and Jake, my nephews, my sister-in-law and my sister. I can't tell you what I got my sister-in-law or my sister because they occasionally look at this site, and I'd hate to ruin the surprise, but for my nephews I got a sweet deal on t-shirts at American Eagle (each shirt was $5 and there was free shipping) and for the Abster and Jakester, I got a few things at Disney.com and some cute, cute leggings for Abby in the fall.

All in all, I've spent about $50 for these presents. Not to bad if you think about it, AND there's some shopping over with and I didn't even have to drag my two monster...I mean angels...out with me to do it!

Yay for Christmas in July. You won't hear that much, so you better enjoy it now!

The Weekly Trip to CVS

2010-07-06T08:33:00.003-04:00

This was a really great week of shopping at CVS because I was able to get some things that I really need - to answer the unasked question, no, we didn't NEED all the candy, but it does make great bribes for potty training, so I pick them up when I can.

I did need laundry detergent, toilet paper and most importantly makeup, so the trip was a success.

I spent $18.46 and saved $57.66. I still have 4ECB for next week, so I'd call that good shopping.

Oh, I should probably note here (since I got a few comments about it) I plan to donate about half of the Stayfree pads that I got a few weeks ago to a local women's shelter. They're not all for me! ;-)

How did you do this week.

Three!

2010-07-02T22:57:00.003-04:00

At 1:14 a.m. on July 3, 2007, everything changed. Abby Elizabeth Looper came screaming into the world 6 weeks early at 2lbs 15oz. She was whisked away to the NICU where she stayed for 10 days, but she stole her mommy and daddy's hearts the first time they looked into her sweet, blue eyes, and now she's THREE!

What a difference 3 years makes.

I love you, baby girl.

Jason's Week Off

2010-07-01T08:24:00.010-04:00

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we had quite the week last week while Jason was on vacation. I'll dedicate this post to Abby since she was the one with the biggest experience, but you'll also see another post with sweet Jake.

First, we went to the dentist where Abby got her teeth "tickled" and "glitter" put on them for her birthday this weekend. I must say she was great. She wouldn't let us finish applying the flouride at the end, but I was just impressed she got them cleaned and let the dentist actually look in her mouth. I guess everything's better when you're sitting on Daddy's lap.

Next we went to the zoo.

Here's a picture of our zoo trip right after Abby turned 1:

And here's one from this trip:

I look back at these and can't believe how much she's changed in two years. I was thinking yesterday that I no longer parent a toddler. Now she's a preschooler.

Let me mention here that it was HOT at the zoo that day. Of course, it seems that it's been HOT around here for the past month!

On Wednesday we made a stop at Clemson to eat lunch with Aunt Heidi and of course to see the stadium. We convinced Abby to have her picture made with the tiger statue. I don't know that she's actually convinced.

Lastly, we got Abby's hair cut. She's had it cut before, but this was the first time she actually got any significant length cut off, and it looks pretty good. It's kind of funny because this was more traumatic than the dentist! You'll notice, she's on Jason's lap again - see what I mean - better.

There is one final accomplishment that I should probably mention. I think we're finally POTTY TRAINED! This didn't happen last week; it actually has been ongoing for the past month, but Abby seems to have gotten it, and that's a relief. She's still in diapers at night and naptime, and occasionally when we're on a long car ride or if we're going to be, I don't know, say, at the ZOO where the bathrooms are disgusting, but other than that she understands the concept.

So that's our stay-cation. It was a fun one.

Shopping for FREE!

2010-06-29T20:46:00.002-04:00

As I said earlier, I had to make a return trip to CVS because they were out of what I was looking for. Well, here it is, my super duper, great deal from CVS.

I paid $10 and some change for this, got back 5ECB and submitted a $5 rebate for the Windex and Pledge. Now, I admit I'm not great at math, but it looks like to me that this stuff is ultimately FREE. Awesome!

Jason keeps asking if I'm going to rent a booth at the jockey lot to sell some of this stuff that I'm getting because that's the first thing I noticed when we were there last week - much of the stuff, retail-wise, that people were hocking was the stuff that I get for free at CVS. Isn't that funny!

I Get It Honest

2010-06-27T17:18:00.002-04:00

When I was a little girl, my mom had a "refunding room". This was a hot, windowless room off of our garage that smelled of must and old paper. She kept old diaper boxes full of receipts, UPCs, and labels in there. She also subscribed to a magazine called "Refunding Makes Cents", and would regularly soak the labels off of orange juice bottles so that she could send them in for refunds.

Well, I have to admit, my name is Alicia, and I'm addicted to refunding and couponing. I thought when I was little that my mom was kind of weird for doing all these things, but in the past six months, I've found that I too cut the UPCs off of items and mail them in for refunds. To be honest, the refunds these days are a bit sweeter than they were when my mom was doing it, and it's kind of a high to walk out of a store knowing that you saved more than you spent.

Here's a picture of how I did today. CVS - my favorite store!- was out of a few things that I wanted, so I've got to go back, but I did okay.

This stuff is from both Walgreens and CVS. I spent $40.61, saved $53.16, still have 2ECB to spend when I go back, and the Aveeno stuff will be sent in for a $10 rebate. That shakes out to $28.61 for this stuff. I also bought 4 Sunday papers and 1 20oz coke. Not too bad, huh?

Oh, and as a side note, for those of you who steal the inserts out of the Sunday paper without buying it, you're breaking the 9th commandment. I'm just saying. That really irritates me. 3 of the 4 papers didn't have the RedPlum insert, which is the one I needed. UGH!

Okay, how do you save?

That Paula Deen

2010-06-23T14:29:00.003-04:00

We've had a busy two days around the Looper house. Jason's on vacation this week, and since we didn't go anywhere for a formal vacation, we've been finding "adventures" to go on locally. I'll post pictures later, but so far we've been to the Greenville Zoo, the flea market/sale barn (whatever you'd like to call it), to Clemson to visit Aunt Heidi and we're going to informally celebrate birthdays with some of our very best friends tonight. To put this into perspective, I laid down with Jake on our bed last night around 8:30 just to calm him down and get him to go to sleep and Jason woke me up at midnight to tell me to go to bed. It's just too hot to be running around like this, but Abby's had a blast, so it's all good.

Anyway, the real reason for this post is to tell you about a fantastic lemonade recipe I stumbled upon. I kind of altered it, but that's what cooking is, right, a great big experiment in the kitchen?

I don't go to the flea market often, mainly because it's hot and dusty and smoky, and well you get the point, but we went this morning because it had been years since Jason or I had been. Jason said that you could have driven him out there this morning and told him he'd been transported to 1989, and he wouldn't have known the difference, and I would agree. People were still hocking junk, food, chickens, rabbits, dogs, Atari's, you get the picture.

BUT, they do sell amazing produce at the flea market, and that's where I got suckered in. We bought lemons, key limes, peppers, squash and zucchini. Tomorrow night we're feasting on roasted veggies and maybe pork chops (or chicken, whatever is on sale).

Once I got the lemons home, I had to make lemonade; that's what you do with lemons, right? Unless you're Kelly on The Real Housewives of New York then you might make lemons out of lemonade, but I digress.

I found a recipe by Paula Deen, cut it in half and added a few key limes, and let me say, it was wonderful.

Here it is. Let me know if you like it as much as we do.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup lemon juice (I used 5 lemons and 2 key limes - be sure to strain it)
1/2 gallon water (I mixed water and ice cubes to cool it down quicker)

Direction: Dissolve sugar in hot water in a half gallon pitcher. Add lemon juice. Stir until mixed. Add cold water and ice. Serve. (Yields 1/2 gallon)

Super yummy!

Father's Day Weekend and Twins?

2010-06-21T08:37:00.009-04:00

Ahhhh...has that title intrigued you?

No, we're not having twins (or any other baby right now), but we did make a trip to Hagood Mill on Saturday with a friend of ours and his two kids. Ed's little boy was born at the beginning of March (you'll remember Jake was born the end of December), and we had them both in the double stroller. We had no less than 4 people come up to us saying how sweet our twins were. I guess the real problem was that Ed's wife was working, so I was the only mom there.

Now, look at this picture and tell me that these two boys look like twins. I know they're about the same side, but Jonathan is part Navajo, and Jake is as lily-white as they come (a trait he got from me).

Abby's BEST FRIEND EVER (at that moment) Nathanael was there. They gorged on funnel cake and pig petting.

On Father's Day we had the whole family over for lunch because Jake was dedicated. I'm waiting on pictures from that because my camera didn't do a good job getting pictures.

Here's Jason's family

And this is my family.

Finally, Abby wrote her first word on my dad's Father's Day card, and it couldn't have been more appropriate.

A few pictures

2010-06-17T14:58:00.006-04:00

Now I'm a realist, and I realize that most of you don't read this blog to hear about my spiritual breakthroughs and listen to my ramblings. Instead, many of you use this as a way of keeping up with the two precious children who live in my house.

That's why for the rest of this blog, I'm not going to say anything; instead, I'm going to post some pictures of the angels and let you enjoy them.

Looking Up!

2010-06-16T15:52:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we were hit with some wicked thunderstorms in Pickens, and as I type this I hear thunder rolling again outside. I'm not a huge fan of thunderstorms. Jason and I got married in March and at the beginning of April that year we had a horrible thunderstorm/tornado come through town. I was in my car headed home after having lunch with a friend, and I've never been so scared in my life. Add to that that Jason and I lived in an old, old farmhouse when we first married, and said house was right across the street from some railroad tracks. Everytime it stormed, lightening would pop off the railroad tracks and make our whole house shake. That was the end of my love affair with thunderstorms.

I remember being a teenager and sitting, watching the lightening dance in the distance and the thunder roll through the sky. Not anymore. Now I curl up and pray for it to pass.

That being said, we were at Pizza Inn when this monster came through. My sister-in-law said that on the doppler it was purple over Pickens, and for those of you unfamiliar with WYFF4's radar system, that means we were in the midst of quite the storm. Think of poor Dorothy and Toto as their house went flying through the air. My dad said the hail was the size of softballs.

Anyway, after it was over, Jason and I had to head to the hospital to visit a family member, and as we drove, we saw trees across the roads and debris everywhere, but up in the sky was a double rainbow, almost a full arc. It was amazing. These pictures are ones that Jason took.

And you know what I realized, if I was looking up at the rainbow, I couldn't look at all the debris and trash on the roads. I wonder if that is why God placed that rainbow up so high when he put it there for Noah. Maybe Noah was overwhelmed with all the destruction that the flood had caused. Can you imagine, bodies everywhere, mud, everything that you knew gone? But when he looked up there was that beautiful, arching rainbow - God's promise.

We asked Abby what a rainbow meant, and she couldn't tell us, so I said, "A rainbow means that God will take care of us." And it's true, isn't it? God promised to never flood the earth again, and that ultimately means that he's going to care for us. He's going to bring some pretty hefty storms, but in the end there's an unfailing promise that He's going to take care of us. He'll never destroy that way again.

Praise him! Praise him.

Borrowed

2010-06-14T15:09:00.007-04:00

Well, I didn't find my camera cord, but luckily my mom had a Kodak camera that went kaput so she let me borrow her cord so that I could get my pictures onto the computer.

I'm going to start with the kitchen remodel pictures since they are the ones that are first on the camera.

The remodel took us approximately 3 weekends. It was a complete success. We're still lacking a finished pantry, but we are surviving with a gray, metal shelf and a few boxes in the floor. Hopefully Jason will finish that phase while he's on vacation next week.

A bold color, don't you think?

No cabinet doors. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do.

Much better.

This sink is cast iron and weighs approximately 500,000 lbs. Jason told me that it's not going ANYWHERE! I love it, so he may have to take it out when we leave this house, but shhhh don't tell him yet.

I was most worried about the tile, but Jason really did a great job with it.

We did this on a shoestring budget, but I am so very pleased with the end result.

Hmmm....

2010-06-10T16:53:00.002-04:00

That cord has to be around here somewhere.

If you see it, please let me know.

I'd hate to have to buy a new one because we cleaned the desk off.

Oh well - summer school finishes next week. Oh happy day! Not that I haven't enjoyed my students; they have in fact been an absolute joy.

No, I'll be happy to not have to constantly check BlackBoard and reply to emails and look at discussion boards. You get the picture.

I'm just looking forward to sleeping past 6:00 a.m. and playing with my sweet babies.

Speaking of, Abby's asking that I come paint with her. She got one of those fantastic paint books that you use water to make the colors bleed together. She loves it, and I love it because it's only water.

Well, I'm off to paint!

Some Recommendations

2010-06-05T08:36:00.009-04:00

Well, the elusive camera cord is still missing, so I thought that I would post what I've been reading lately. I suppose I could blame my lengthy absences in Bloggerville on the fact that I've been reading, but that just sounds a little weak. Regardless, since I've gotten my Nook, I've found it much easier to read.

I have to say that LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Nook. I didn't think that I would get as much use out of it as I have, but it is easy to use and best of all, I can use it while I'm feeding Jake, which isn't true for a traditional book.

Anyway, since I've gotten it, I've been reading, reading, reading, which isn't always a good thing since I'm trying to teach two summer school classes, but the distraction is blissful sometimes.

Here's what I've read - all of them good. Let me know if you've read them and what you think.

Some Girls by Jillian Lauren

I saw this author on The View one morning. She writes her memoir about the time she spent in a harem for the prince of Brunei. It is a troubling account, but well worth the read. I have to warn you that she is a secular writer so the language is often vulgar.

The Help by Katheryn Stockett

This is Stockett's first book, and it is FANTASTIC! She chronicles three women living in the South - two black maids and one white middle-class woman. She talks about the struggles of African Americans during the time. I couldn't help but think about To Kill A Mockingbird while I was reading this book. I highly recommend it.

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef

This is not a typical read for me, but I noticed it on the top 100, and I couldn't resist. It is insightful and truly helpful for understanding what is going on in the Middle East.

Last - Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

I am now addicted to this guy's writings. This particular book is about how epidemics begin. He discusses things like Sesame Street and Blues Clues and how those children's shows became so popular. He talks about why some things take off and why something flop. I think about Silly Bands every time I open the book. I fully intend to read his book Outliers next, which is about why some people are successful and others aren't. As a teacher, I've found this book most interesting.

Those are my suggestions so far. I'll let you know if I come across any other great reads.

Happy Summer!

And When I Finally Have Time

2010-05-27T19:04:00.002-04:00

So I've finally found about 30 seconds to post something on here, and wouldn't you know that I can't find the cord to connect my camera to the computer!

I've got some pictures of sweet Jake eating, our kitchen as it appears now compared to when we started, a few of Abby being Abby, and you're going to miss out on them because I can't find the stinkin' cord!

I'm sure it will show up somewhere, but then the question will be will there be another 30 seconds when Abby is engrossed in Sesame Street and Jake is sleeping soundly in his pack-n-play?

On another note, my online class is going very well! My students seem to be engaged in the discussion boards; they've completed their tests and are emailing me all the time. I'm excited to see how they finish.

My traditional class this summer is AWESOME! I've got some fantastic students who really seem to enjoy being there; although I'm completely aware that no one really likes being at school during the summer.

Anyway, as soon as I locate the disappearing cord, I'll share some pictures with you. Until then, you'll just have to wonder about how cute they are!

What I've Been Doing Lately

2010-05-21T12:21:00.003-04:00

A few of you (those who actually keep up with this blog) may have been wondering what I've been up to. If you know anything about North Greenville's schedule, you know that classes finished up a few weeks ago (Whew!) and that I've not been in the classroom until this Monday when summer school started.

Well, while it's true that technically I've been out of the classroom, I can't say that I've been free from working on my classes.

You see, I have the privelege (I say that seriously and not facitiously) of creating one of the first online classes for the English Department, and let me just insert here that it is quite a task!

I've been immersed in the world of BlackBoard, creating notes, PowerPoints, discussion boards, assignments, uploading tests, you get the picture.

Well, it's finally all (well, almost all) there and the class has begun. Now I'm fielding emails and questions about how the thing is supposed to work. It's a learning curve, but we're going to make it.

I've got one traditional class this summer session too, but that's pretty easy, something I do all the time anyway.

After last semester, this is a breeze!

So, you may not see me for a while. If you get concerned about me, come look for me in the world of online classes.

Look what I found in the laundry!

2010-05-11T13:50:00.001-04:00

Messes

2010-04-19T11:22:00.005-04:00

When I had kids people tried to warn me. I guess I was so focused on little tiny socks and soft blankets, chubby cheeks and pretty blue eyes that I didn't hear them. Experience truly is the best teacher, and unfortunately sometimes I'm a slow learner.

I say that as a preface to the story that I'm about to tell.

Abby LOVES cheese: cheese slices, shredded cheese, cheddar cheese, white cheese; it doesn't matter.

This morning I was in the kitchen trying to get things back in order after three weeks of renovating. The kitchen was a mess and Jungle Book 2 was on The Disney Channel, so I worked while Abby watched the movie. I filled her little orange bowl with shredded cheese, sent her into the living room, and I continued what I was doing.

I refilled the bowl several times (and let me insert here that vacuuming the living room rug was on the list, so I wasn't very concerned with her spilling the cheese), and on the last refill I said, "No more cheese; this is it."

After a few minutes, Abby said, "Mommy, can you help me. My cheese spilled."

Oh..my..word

Did her cheese spill. It was everywhere! The rug was orange from all the cheese she had dumped out.

I sighed, went to the closet, lugged out the vacuum cleaner and proceeded to suck up the mess.

Meanwhile, Abby ran into her room and stayed while I cleaned. When I turned the vacuum off, she ran into the living room shouting, "MOMMY, did you clean up my mess?"

That made me think. Sometimes I do that to God.

I make a huge mess and then run away while he cleans it up and then trot back in the room after a while and say, "God, did you clean up my mess?"

I didn't mind vacuuming the rug. It was on my list anyway, and I know that Abby is much too small to handle it by herself and clean up her own mess, but there was no remorse; there was no "I'm sorry for making that mess, Mommy." There was just the assumption that I would clean it up.

Do you and I make messes and then just assume that God will clean them up? He loves us, certainly, and he does clean up behind us many times, but don't we have a responsibility to repent, say we're sorry and not just presume on God's grace?

That's my thought for the day.

How'd That Happen?

2010-04-07T09:12:00.008-04:00

This, my friends, is what you would call a culprit. A culprit of what crime, you might ask. Well, the crime of causing mass chaos in the Looper house.

We knew we were going to have to get a new refrigerator when we found this:

Yes, that's the seal around the door of said refrigerator. We noticed a while back that the door wasn't closing very well, and as the weeks wore on, the gap got worse and worse until we were faced with the sad reality that we were going to have to replace the fridge.

That's not the big deal because we were planning to use some of our tax refund to replace the fridge and South Caroline just initiated the Cash for Appliances program, so this was really not a bad time to have to do this. The real problem is that when we looked at the old refrigerator we realized that it was T-I-N-Y. I mean, it was really, really small. I guess I never noticed because this is my first house, and I didn't know what I was missing.

We started looking at replacements, and we were going to have to special order a small refrigerator for the hole, so of course instead of settling for a small fridge, we just moved it from one wall to the other, which meant my dad had to come over and help us move electrical and water to the other side of the kitchen.

You can probably see now that this was a bigger project that we had originally thought. Now, since we moved the fridge from one side to the other, we had to put down new floors, right?

And if you put in new floors, you need new countertops, and then of course the paint doesn't match either the floors or the new countertops, so you have to paint. And since you're going to have the countertops out anyway, you should probably get a better sink, and you've never really like the light fixture, so that should go too. Oh, and there's a big hole where the old fridge was so that's a perfect place for a new pantry.

Sheesh!

So, here we are.

The new floors are in and the fridge is moved. Jason's working on countertops this weekend (he's attempting to tile them - I'll let you know how it goes), and next weekend we're painting. It's a real project for sure.

Nothing's been done in this kitchen since the house was built in 1994, so it is high time something changed.

And it all happened in the name of ice in the door.

Easter!

2010-04-07T08:55:00.008-04:00

Easter was extremely fun this year. Before now, Abby hasn't really gotten the concept of (or cared for that matter about) hunting eggs. So this year when she really engaged with the activity, we were in for a treat.

You may remember I told you that she WAS NOT wearing the dress we got her for Easter, so Jason and I started playing mind games with her several weeks ago to get her excited about her new dress. We told her how pretty she would look and that her friend Katie ALWAYS wears pretty dresses and that she would get to show Katie her pretty dress on Sunday.

All went well unti bathtime Sunday morning. I probably should have given her a bath Saturday night, but as you can see from my other posts, we were a little distracted Saturday. When she had to endure the trauma of a bath, she changed her tune from excited about the dress back to "I NOT WEAR THAT!"

Being the good mom that I am, I of course threatened saying, "Either you wear the dress or you go to church in your diaper." Some of you out there may think that this is silly - wouldn't all children prefer to run around in their diapers. Well, most children probably would, but not my daughter. She's modest with a capital M, and we're so very proud of her for that. Let's just hope it lasts to her teenage years, but I digress.

I knew that she would rather wear the dress than go in only her diaper, and I was right. She wore the dress, and then we couldn't get it off her. We put her in shorts and a t-shirt to take a nap in because it's been 500 degrees here in SC the past few days, but when she got up she insisted we put the dress back on to go to dinner at Aunt Debbie's.

I guess you could call that a success.

Jake just enjoyed the day sleeping and eating as usual. But let me just say, he was awfully cute while he did it.

Abby's Adventure

2010-03-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

Abby went on an adventure on Saturday with Nana and Heidi.

As with any great adventure, a backpack was necessary. My mom and sister decided they would take Abby to the annual Cat in the Hat event at McAlister Square in Greenville. For those of you unfamiliar with local, children's events, let me explain. The organization Ready 4 Reading hosts the event once a year to promote readiness for reading - thus their name. Their mission is to prepare children to read. Take a look at the statistics on their website - simply astounding.

The Cat in the Hat is an event where children can come and get 2 slightly used books and one new book and participate in fun activities that promote readiness to read.

With Jake, I didn't think it would be feasible for me to go, so I told my mom to go ahead and take Abby.

And the adventure was born.

Because we are really into Dora the Explorer right now at my house, Abby had to pack a backpack (which I found out later her Aunt Heidi hauled all over the place). All great adventurers have backpacks. And M&Ms. Did I mention that she had to have M&Ms before she would go? She is my daughter - books and chocolate - who could ask for more than that?

When they got there, Abby immediately picked out a Dora book - see what I mean, completely obsessed.

She put an alphabet puzzle together, dug in paper grass for prizes and brought home a board book and another book called The Kissing Hand.

After they finished at The Cat in the Hat, Nana and Heidi took Abby for Chick-fil-A. By the time she got home, she was completely spent. It was some outing for sure.

I wanted to share this organization and event with my friends in Bloggerville because it is important that we parents read to our children and expose them to books.

What book was your favorite as a child?

UGH! With a capital U-G!

2010-03-10T20:01:00.005-05:00

This is how I feel about Jake's apnea/heart monitor. When they sent us home with a monitor, I was relieved because it meant I didn't have to worry about Jake stopping breathing in the night. If he did this thing would scream, wake us up and we could deal with it.

As the months have worn on, I've become so frustrated and tired of this machine that I really wish I could throw it through the window.

For example, last night it went off no less than three times - not because Jake wasn't breathing, simply because his leads weren't attached well. At one point the machine was alarming and Jake was just staring at me with a look that said, "What's wrong with that thing. Make it shut up."

I've finally resorted to putting surgical tape over the leads to be sure that they don't move during the night.

I'm calling his doctors tomorrow to see how much longer we'll be tethered to the nuisance. I'm telling you; I'm seriously over it!

This is a life lesson post

2010-03-09T08:21:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, Abby got a sucker from her Sunday school teacher. Normally that's not a big deal, and we all know that Abby LOVES sugar in the form of a Dum-Dum. This wasn't just any Dum-Dum either; this was a bubblegum flavored Dum-Dum. It was pink and everything. As you can see, the temptation was just too much from the start.

On the way out to the car, Abby began to beg for the sucker. Being the good parents we are, we knew we were on our way to dinner at my parents' house, so she really didn't need the sucker right then because macaroni and cheese would be out of the question if she was hyped up on sugar.

That being said, we told her she could have the sucker as soon as dinner was over. She could hold the sucker on the way to Nana and Papa's but she couldn't eat it. Mistake.

Jason and I were engrossed in coversation in the front seat when I heard what sounded like little teeth on pink sucker. I turned around to find Abby with her eyes closed, lips wrapped around the Dum-Dum and a contented grin on her face.

I immediately yelled, "ABBY LOOPER! We said no sucker until after lunch!"

Jason took the sucker away and much crying ensued.

The picture you see above was after lunch when Abby got to finish her sucker on the way home.

I learned something on Sunday. Sometimes we think we know best; we sneak the things that we're not supposed to have, thinking that God is either too busy to notice or that he doesn't really care anyway. The reality is that he is neither. He's not too busy and he does care.

I sometimes enjoy sin the way Abby was enjoying that sucker, eyes closed, grin on my face.

It was convicting to realize how much like a little child I am in my spiritual walk.

Proverbs 9:17 talks about the call of Folly and Folly says, "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"

The reality is that though it is sweet for the moment, the consequences cause much crying and heart-break.

Something to think about.

A Real-Life Baby Doll

2010-03-08T20:15:00.004-05:00

At least that's how Abby perceives her baby brother.

I was in the kitchen the other day and Abby was very quiet - something that is never good. When I came in the living room I found this:

In case you can't tell, that's a little cup from Abby's tea set that is upside down on Jake's head, and he's got a plastic bracelet around his leg. And Abby looks so proud of her work.

Doesn't he look pretty?

I think I'll save this picture for his senior yearbook. He'll love me for that.

Let's face it. He doesn't stand a chance in this house.

Survival

2010-03-08T20:07:00.003-05:00

Those folks on Survivor have nothing on me. Give any one of them two kids - one who doesn't sleep through the night and another who does - and we'll chat about Outwit, Outlast and Outplay.

The picture above is my version of Outwit and Outlast. I'll post another of Outplay later. On this particular morning, Abby woke up around 4 a.m. and Jake of course was up for his usual feeding. I put Jake in bed with me and Jason put Abby in our bed too. After Jason got up and got ready for work, we three were left in bed.

I think after my kids are older, I may apply to appear on the show. I'll propose that instead of an island, they trap folks in a house all day with a toddler and a newborn.

Don't you think that would be a fabulous show?

We'll have the finale at Chuck E. Cheese with the characters and arcade games. It'll be an instant hit - at least among the housewives.

Bath Time!

2010-02-27T09:58:00.003-05:00

Is it bad that Jake is two months old and he'd not had a "real" bath until last Wednesday night?

As Jason pointed out, it took a long time for everything to fall off.

We washed him in the sink because the baby bathtub is still in the building, and he didn't fit in the sink as well as Abby did when she was that age. I think it's because he's got a good 4lbs on his sister. Which you can tell by that pudgy belly he has!

The other woman

2010-02-27T09:56:00.002-05:00

I was informed earlier this week that Jason has a girlfriend. Any other time this would have been devastating news, but I think I can make an exception when his girlfriend is this sweet angel.

Two months already?

2010-02-24T14:13:00.003-05:00

Jake went yesterday for his two month checkup. It's hard for me to believe that it has actually been two months. I'm sure reality will set in even more when I have to go back to school next week - we'll not discuss that here though.

Here are his measurements (for those of you who are interested):

Weight - 8lbs 2oz (2-5 percentile)
Length - 21 in. (2-5 percentile)

The doctor was very impressed with his strength and head control, and he said that if he were a term baby, he would be right in the middle of the growth chart.

My paci story

2010-02-18T14:12:00.005-05:00

This isn't the Suzie mentioned below, but you get the idea.

Since I asked all of you to post your paci stories, I thought I would post mine.

My mom tells me that when I was Abby's age I was extremely attached to my paci. My parents, much like Jason and me, knew that something had to be done because a kid can't go to a job interview with a pacifier in her mouth, so they decided to get rid of it once and for all.

Now, most families have a dog or a cat for a pet, but at my house, we had a goat named Suzie. Suzie was your average goat; there wasn't anything particularly special about her. She stayed tethered at the back of our yard and kept the kudzu from taking over everything. I think that may be the only reason my dad got her.

Most of you will probably stop at this point and chuckle at what a back-woods, hick childhood I had, but it was perfectly normal to us. As a matter of fact, I still don't think that having had a goat for a pet is anything out of the ordinary.

What does this have to do with my paci, you're wondering. Well, when I was three (maybe closer to four because I remember this vividly), my parents made me feed my paci to Suzie. I remember standing at the back fence of our yard and throwing the paci to her. I'm not sure how my parents convinced me that this was the right thing to do, but I did it anyway.

I also remember that night after the deed was done, crying and crying and crying. I must have been that night that I started to suck my thumb - a habit that is far worse than having a paci. It might have been the trauma having to throw away my paci that caused me to suck my thumb for so, so long (until I was in high school). I've heard it said that thumb-suckers are great self-soothers and that they tend to be better adjusted, but I think that it just an excuse to make us feel better about ourselves.

All in all, I'm glad that we don't have a Suzie and that Abby hasn't started sucking her thumb.

Do you remember something like this from your childhood?

It's that time again...

2010-02-18T13:58:00.005-05:00

In the Looper house, we live for the semi-annual Weecycle sale. If you're from Pickens, you probably know about, consign at, work during the Weecycle sale, but if you're from somewhere else, you may know it as Switch-a-roos, Weewear or some other cutsie name.

Around here, this is how Abby and Jake are clothed! It's an awesome sale where anybody can consign her children's clothes, and I can buy them at GREAT prices! Now, I'm not the kind of mom who has to dress her kids in name-brand stuff, but when I shop like this, I can by name-brand for cheaper-than-Walmart prices. It's almost too good to resist. We're talking shirts for $1, dresses for $4, and everything else baby and killer prices.

This is the first year that I've volunteered (and Jason got snookered into volunteering too) and consigned. I swear, I probably spent more than I'll make, but I'm kind of hoping to just break even.

My mom and I bought all of this for roughly $180.00.

If you can't tell, that's 12 pairs of pants/shorts, 13 shirts, 5 short/shirt outfits, 10 dresses, 1 pair of shoes and 2 pajamas, and that's just for Abby! I did buy a few things for Jake, but they were already in the wash by the time I took this picture. You'll also notice a Boppy (which I intend to donate to our church for all us nursing mothers to use) and a hiking backpack.

This dress I bought for Abby to wear at Easter, but when I got it home and showed it to her, she said, "I not wear that." I'm hoping to convince her by the time Easter rolls around. She's a very picky dresser.

And as if the hiking backpack weren't enough for Dad, I bought these overalls for Abby and Jake. Jason promptly said, "Game day!" when he saw them.

If you're in the area and have young kids, the sale runs until this Sunday, February 21. You can check out the website here.

Paci Detox Update

2010-02-17T13:43:00.004-05:00

It's a good thing that I waited until just now to write this post because if I had written it any earlier, I would have told you that we were completely over the paci and that it was a thing of the past forever. I would have spoken too soon because just now as I got ready to lay the princess down for her nap, you got it, she started yelling for the paci. I'm sure two things have played into the sudden regression: 1. she spotted Jake's green, NICU paci on the bookshelf (he has two, and the one not in use, she assumed to be hers) and 2. we're having a little stomach problem/sinus junk and she just doesn't feel well.

Overall though, I've been very pleased with how we've progressed. Saturday was not the happiest day in the Looper house because in short, I'm an oldest child and Jason's a youngest. What does that have to do with taking away Abby's paci you may ask. Well, I like to plan things, and Jason prefers things to be spontaneous. The paci decision was a spontaneous thing, and I wasn't ready to let go of my baby girl having the paci. It was really all about me and not about Abby at all.

Saturday was also rough because Abby REALLY WANTED her paci. She cried for it all day and at naptime. Interestingly enough, she started to ask for it at bedtime but changed her mind and slept all night without it.

On Sunday she didn't ask for it at all and took a nice long nap. At bedtime however she decided that she had to have it and cried off and on all night.

Yesterday she never mentioned wanting it and even bragged that she was a big girl and didn't need the paci.

Today, we've not had any problems until now. Wouldn't you know that when we're in the middle of all of this, she would get sick. I was certain that the runny nose, headache and stomach problems would all cause her to want it, but it really hasn't. I'm hoping that a nice nap will help her too.

This is the box that has been hiding the paci since Saturday. She's not seen them and to be honest, I don't know that we'll show them to her.

So for all you parents who are contemplating taking away the paci from your little one, I say - I have no idea. We've done it cold turkey, but who knows, maybe there's a better way.

What's your paci story?

A Shout-Out

2010-02-13T15:42:00.006-05:00

A dear, dear friend came over last week and took these pictures for us.

If you have a newborn or if you just want family pictures, please, please give her a call.

Her website is Creative Take.

She does absolutely beautiful work.

She'll do the pictures in your home or at the location of your choosing. Check her out here.

I'm an ironing machine

2010-02-13T15:42:00.004-05:00

This is what happens when I get behind in ironing Jason's work shirts.

I end up spending the afternoon ironing his shirts instead of napping.

Paci Detox

2010-02-13T15:42:00.003-05:00

Today's the day that we decided to take the paci from Abby. Isn't it pitiful?

Somehow I got hoodwinked into taking it from her. I was going to wait until she turned 3, but after spending the night with her Aunt Debbie, Daddy decided it was time.

At naptime it only took us 30 minutes for her to calm down and go to sleep. We'll see how bedtime is.

I love this picture

2010-02-12T10:03:00.002-05:00

It looks like Daddy and Jake are making the same face. No doubt, Jake's is because he is hungry. The child never stops eating, so for those of you who prayed that he would catch on, you can stop now because he's definitely got it.

Thanks!

Mommy's new routine

2010-02-12T08:42:00.006-05:00

Since Jake refuses to sleep at night (and seems to be sleeping very well during the day), I've taken to getting Abby up in the morning, putting her in my bed, turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and then I crawl in bed beside her and sleep for another hour. She loves it because she gets to watch her favorite show, and I love it because I get a few more minutes of sleep. Please understand that this all hinges on whether or not Jake will actually sleep for this hour. Most of the time he does, but sometimes we're not so fortunate and Abby simply gets to watch TV while Mommy feeds, changes and cuddles with baby Jake.
Doesn't she look like the princess of the Looper house?

This gift...

2010-02-12T08:41:00.001-05:00

I have kept alive for over a month. See, Katie, she's not dead yet!

Not to be overlooked

2010-02-03T16:57:00.006-05:00

Okay, this is my last post for the day.

I couldn't leave the baby girl out.

On Saturday, it snowed/sleeted (a real mess for sure) and we got some pictures of Abby looking at the wintry mix.

Jason and I went to see Wicked on Saturday. I was pretty upset on Friday when the storm started moving in because I was certain that we wouldn't make it to Greenville for the show, but Saturday we decided to try it, and man was it worth it! Even though our seats were on the very last row, I thought it was fantastic! When we got home, it had just started to snow again, and we took Abby outside to see it.

And here are a few of Abby just being silly.

There's something to be said for pajamas, a Sit'n'Spin and Daddy's Clemson hat. What a girl!

Typical Preemie

2010-02-03T16:46:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to post this blog for a while, but I'm just now getting to it.

One of the most interesting things about having a preemie is that they have their own quirks and mannerisms. I've been told - I wouldn't know from experience - that this is different from a full-term newborn. Jake's NICU nurse (and my cousin) told me these were the signals to watch for.

Here's a list of some of the things that both Abby and Jake did/do that is completely preemie:

1. Grunting/Squeaking - This may be a newborn thing, but preemies have a tendency to grunt/squeak A LOT! I don't know if it is their way of letting us know that they're here even though they're little or what.

2. Talk to the Hand - You'll see this in the picture below. When Jake is overwhelmed with everything going on around him or if we're messing with him too much, he'll put his hand up in a stop motion. This is his way of saying BACK OFF! I've taught Abby that if she sees this that means she needs to leave Jake alone.

3. Hiccups - Again, if he's over-stimulated, Jake will start to hiccup, another sign that he needs a break.

4. The Head Rub - This may not be a preemie thing, but it sure is interesting. Those of you who have newborns can try this the next time you feed your little one and let me know if it works for you too. If we're having a difficult time getting Jake to burp after a feeding, we rub his head and inevitably, this will cause him to burp. I've asked my sister the scientist to explain this to me, and she can't. It's strange but true. If you walk down the hall of the NICU at feeding time, you'll see the nurse using this technique. If it works for them...

If you have a preemie and have any other things you'd like to add to the list, feel free.

Growing!

2010-02-03T16:38:00.002-05:00

What does Mommy do when Nana offers to let Abby come spend the day at her house? She sleeps, watches Oprah and blogs.

Seriously though, something's up with Jake's schedule, and he simply refuses to sleep well at night. Last night we were up every hour and a half. I know he has some issues with gas, and Mylicon has become our new BFF, but seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Abby starting sleeping through the night around 6 weeks old, and I'm praying that her baby brother takes after her.

The biggest problem with his not sleeping is that Abby is sleeping great. Why's that a problem you might ask. Well, she wakes up refreshed and ready to play and I'm exhausted. You can pray about that!

Anyway, her's the skinny - or maybe I should say the fat - about Jake. We went to the doctor yesterday for a weight recheck. We went last Tuesday and he weighed 5lbs 14oz. Yesterday (his due date oddly enough) he weighed 6lbs 8oz. For those of you who are bad at math like I am, that's a full 10oz in 7 days. The doctor walked in and said, "I guess I'm just wasting your time and mine having you come back in to check his weight since he's growing so well." The doctors are only looking for him to gain a half ounce to an ounce a day, and as you can see, 10oz is more than that. We are thrilled with his progress. He'll go back to the doctor on the 23rd for his 2month checkup. Isn't that amazing! He's 6 weeks old already. Time flies!

Battle of the Bedtime

2010-01-22T21:57:00.003-05:00

When does Abby want her mommy?

That's a great question and one that until tonight I didn't have an answer for.

You see, Abby is a Daddy's Girl. I've been told by numerous parents that Abby will go through stages, that she'll want me one week and Jason the next. I've not found this to be true at all.

Abby only has eyes for her Daddy. She wants to cuddle with Daddy at bedtime, and she wants Daddy to carry her everywhere. It's Daddy she wants when we're eating (something that's not such a bad deal sometimes).

Well tonight we found a time that Abby wants me.

We laid Abby down at her normal bedtime and she began chatting with herself. The conversation went something like this:

"I can't find my duckie. It's too dark in here. I think my duckie is in my room, but I can't see it. Maybe it's in the basket. Basketball. Soccer ball. Austen plays soccer..."

Then she began screaming for her daddy, of course.

We didn't do anything until we heard the pitter patter of little feet running to her door. Luckily, she can't open the door on her own yet, so she wasn't free to roam about the house.

Jason patiently went in, picked her up, consoled her, and put her back to bed.

Pitter patter again.

Jason opened the door and (in good SuperNanny style) put her back into bed.

Pitter patter again.

Open door, back into bed.

This went on several times, and on about time eight, I heard Abby say (because I was stationed outside the door as moral support), "I WANT MY MOMMY!"

So, here's the answer: Abby wants her mommy when she thinks that Daddy has betrayed her.

I feel so very loved.

Abby meeting her brother

2010-01-22T15:03:00.003-05:00

Here's the video of Abby meeting Jake for the first time. I know the video is really dark, but Abby's comments are really what are the best. We're still saying be gentle.

Adjusting

2010-01-22T14:26:00.009-05:00

For those of you who only follow me through my blog, I should let you know that Jake came home on Sunday. I went to the hospital for my daily visit on Friday, and being the good mother that I am, I didn't even notice that his feeding tube had been removed. I knew that something was up because the social worker from the hospital had called me Friday morning about getting Jake set up with a heart and apnea monitor for when he came home (we anticipated that would be Monday), but I just assumed he had an episode during the night and that warranted the monitor.

I was wrong.

It seems that on Friday morning, a doctor had been in the room while Jake was taking his 9:00 bottle, and she saw what an anxious eater he was and decided to forgo the protocol and advance him to all bottles. Thus his feeding tube was removed and he got to jump ahead a day.

Jason and I frantically cleaned the house Saturday morning and we went to spend the night at the hospital Saturday night with Jake. I don't suppose nesting counts once the baby has already been born, but that is definitely what we were doing.

On Sunday, Jake had to pass his carseat test. That means he sat in the carseat for an hour while hooked up to a monitor. They were making sure he could endure the ride home. He passed (obviously) and then we were discharged.

I'm posting another blog with the video of Abby meeting her baby brother. It was priceless. We had talked to her so much about him that when she was actually able to see him for the first time, she was too excited.

Here are some of the pictures from Jakes final stay in the hospital and his very happy homecoming. Now we're having to adjust to having a newborn again. I forgot how little they actually sleep! It is a sort of wonderful sleep deprivation, but don't ask me any hard questions; I don't think I could answer them if I tried.

Jake's room in the NICU. Nice TV, huh?

A sweet closeup of the baby boy.

I wanna go home, but I'm such a little boy.

What a great big sister.

Five Pounds!

2010-01-13T22:00:00.004-05:00

Yesterday our little man weighed a whopping 5lbs. It's hard to believe that he's gained over a pound in the three weeks he's been in the hospital.

I am very happy to report that somewhere around Saturday, Jake "got it" and he's been taking his bottles like a trooper since then. We had a slight setback on Sunday night, but I'm happy to report that things are moving smoothly now.

Jason and I have to take a CPR class at the Red Cross tomorrow night (and pass it) before Jake comes home.

Let me just give you a quick rundown of our last CPR experience at the Red Cross. Before Abby came home from the hospital, we took such a class, and it was a Saturday Night Live skit waiting to happen. The instructor couldn't work the DVD player, there were three folks in the back trying to cheat on the test, our instructor couldn't hear and barked the instructions at us. I don't know that I could have actually performed CPR if I had needed to after that, but is has made for some great stories.

I'm hoping that within the next few posts, I'll be able to report that Jake is either on his way home or that he is actually here.

I've put some pictures up of our little 5 pounder. You can kind of get a perspective of his size in the picture with my hand.

Thank you again, praying friends!

One bottle, two bottles

2010-01-11T22:55:00.004-05:00

Well, it looks like we may be in the back stretch. It seems that something clicked with Jake over the weekend, and he's started eating. He's taken all of his bottle for the past few days, so tonight at midnight (just over an hour from now), they'll try to give him another bottle. That will take him up to two bottles a day. If he does that, they'll give him three bottles a day, and then he'll get every other bottle and then he'll take a bottle at every feeding. We're very encouraged. He's alert and fussy (something that most parents don't enjoy, but we're thankful because it means he's awake).

We're praying that he'll be home very, very soon.

Some of you may wonder what this picture is. It's a picture of Abby looking at the picture book from when she was born. I've included this because when she points at a picture of herself and says, "That's me, Mommy." I know that I serve a faithful God. He brought her home to me, and now she can drive me crazy. I know the same will be said of Jake before we know it.

Maybe???

2010-01-10T08:18:00.003-05:00

Let me start this post by saying that Jake is packing on the pounds. When we went to visit on Friday, he had gained 3oz overnight. Abby NEVER did that! She always gained an ounce or half and ounce, and she's still not up to what the average 2 and a half year old is even though she eats like a teenage boy.

Jake weighed 4lbs 11oz yesterday, down an ounce from Friday.

We were greatly encouraged yesterday because Jake took his entire bottle. We're praying fervently that he'll do the same thing today, and they'll move him up to 2 bottles a day.

On a side note, let me request prayer for another family here. In NICU 2, babies share rooms. Jake's first roommate went home earlier this week, and a set of triplets moved into the suite with him. There is one baby in the room with Jake and then the other two are in the room that adjoins his. It is essentially one big room with 4 babies in it.

Please pray for these triplets. They are all girls and were born at 29 weeks, each weighing about 2lbs. The baby in the room with Jake is doing the best; although, she still has some problems. The mother and father look very young, but they seem to be doing okay.

We'll see what today holds, and I'll be sure to let you know.

Two Quick Videos

2010-01-06T18:08:00.002-05:00

This is a video of Abby telling us hello while we were all still in the hospital.

Here's a video of Baby Jake so that Abby can know that he's a real baby and not just a picture.

Two Weeks Old

2010-01-06T15:25:00.004-05:00

I'm learning day to day in the NICU not to get my hopes up and to just take things as they come.

As I reported earlier, Jake took his bottle earlier this week, but he hasn't done that since. The nurses pay attention to his awareness and to how awake he is at feeding time, and they determine whether or not to try a bottle at that time. Several times he's seemed awake, but when they actually start the feeding he dozes off before he can finish.

I called last night really hopeful that he would have taken the entire bottle only to be told that he was just too sleepy to finish. I have to say that the frustration at that moment was overwhelming.

I'm still hoping that every day will get better, but it's difficult when we don't see consistent progress.

Some of you may be wondering why we're surprised by how this NICU stay is going when we already had Abby walk through the NICU. Here's the difference. When Abby was born, she never required a feeding tube, oxygen, or any special treatment of any sort. I was discharged from the hospital when she was about 4 days old, and we spent the last two nights of her NICU stay with her at the hospital. That means she was only at the hospital without us for about 4 days.

With Jake it has been completely different. He's two weeks old today, and we're still where we were.

Please pray boldly for us (we talked about this in Sunday school this week, and I've continued to think about it every day this week). Pray boldly that Jake will eat.

Jake is wearing newborn clothes (see below) and he now weighs 4lbs 7oz. He'll be the size of a normal baby when we bring him home, I think.

Abby's having a great time. She gets to spend her mornings with her grandma, and on special days like today, she gets to go to her "best friend ever"'s house and play. We have been so touched by all the offers to help us with Abby during this time. Many of you will never know how much that truly means to us. It is such a comfort to know that she is being taken care of while we are going back and forth. We are truly learning what it means to be a part of the body of Christ.

Thanks again for praying.

Baby Steps

2010-01-05T09:53:00.002-05:00

When we went to the hospital yesterday, Jake weighed a whopping 4lbs. 6oz. We kidded him saying that he's really packing on the pounds. It's amazing to me that he now weighs an entire pound more than Abby did when she came home from the hospital. We're realizing more and more every day that Abby was a NICU superstar. For her to be as small as she was and to go home as quickly as she did, was truly amazing. I think that some of the nurses don't believe us when we tell them how well she did.

On another exciting note, Jake has now outgrown one of his preemie sleepers. Before he was born, we went on a hunt for small preemie clothes. You wouldn't think it would be as hard as it is to find preemie clothes, but not that many people need them, and they really are hard to find - at least the really, really small ones are hard to find. When I looked into his crib and saw that it was too small, I couldn't believe it. I'm going to take things that don't have feet in them now, so maybe they'll last longer.

Jake took about 20cc of his bottle yesterday, which was pretty good. We're praying for the entire bottle today. He's 36 weeks gestationally today, so maybe things will start to click soon.

Thanks for the continued prayers!

A Couple of Things

2010-01-03T08:46:00.006-05:00

When I say that time in the NICU is a rollercoaster ride, I truly mean that. I posted yesterday that Jake had taken all of his bottle on Friday night, and we were so very excited at his progress. It was very good progress to be sure, but when we went to visit yesterday, we were told that the doctors thought it best to take Jake back to only one bottle a day instead of two. I was devastated. Luckily, the nurses in NICU are wonderful, and our nurse that day noticed I was upset and sat down to explain what was going on to us. She explained that we shouldn't look at this as a setback; instead, we should realize that Jake was probably being pushed too hard to begin with and that taking him back to one bottle a day increases his chances for success at actually taking that one bottle.

It is hard to reconcile the emotional part of me with the logical part; I know that what they are doing is best for my baby boy, but the mother in me just wants them to push and push so that he can come home. Our nurse said that we should anticipate him coming home on or around his due date (February 2) and that if he comes home before then it will be a pleasant surprise.

One of the most difficult things about NICU is that one day you can be on top of the world and the next you are discouraged because things are progressing the way you want them to.

Most everyone has told us that the light usually comes on around what would have been week 36 or 37 (a week or so from now) and that is when NICU babies usually start to eat better. We're praying it happens sooner rather than later.

Today Jake weighed 4lbs 4oz. He's really packing on the weight. He didn't take his bottle, but he did take some, so that is a good sign. He just got so tired he couldn't finish. Pray for stamina for him to finish his bottles.

Here's Jake cuddling with his daddy.

Now let me share a picture and story about Abby. The Sunday before Jake came, the preschoolers sang in church. Most of you have seen preschoolers perform in church, and you know there is always that one kid who stands in the middle of the stage and becomes the center of attention. For us, there were two of them: Abby and Naomi!

Abby just stood there and laughed and laughed her silly little laugh, and Naomi encouraged Abby to take a bow at the end of the performance. It was precious.

Progress

2010-01-02T08:53:00.003-05:00

I have to start this post by saying that God truly does answer prayers.

Yesterday we went to visit Jake and found out that he had moved from his isolette into an open crib. He had been maintaining his body temperature really well and the doctors decided he could come out into an open crib and didn't have to have help with temperature anymore. That was a great surprise.

Then last night, I called the NICU at 3:30 in the morning because I was up, and I knew that a friend of mine from kindergarten was Jake's nurse. I asked Amy how Jake was doing and she said his temperature was good and that he ate his ENTIRE BOTTLE at midnight. Praise the Lord! It's a very, very small step, but at least now we know that he can do it. We know that this doesn't mean that he will consistently eat his bottles now, but this journey is a one-step-at-a-time journey.

I know many of you want to know how you can pray for us specifically, so I'm going to list a few very specific prayer requests below. Thank you again for praying; we're seeing God's faithfulness every day.

Prayer requests:

1. That Jake will begin to eat all of his bottles consistently.
2. That Jason and I will have the energy we need to accomplish all that must be done during the day.
3. That Satan will not be able to discourage us as we wait for Jake to come home.
4. That the doctors will have wisdom in Jake's care.
5. That Abby will not feel neglected during this time.

Thank you, friends.

The Rollercoaster Ride that is NICU

2010-01-01T09:03:00.006-05:00

Jake finally got to formally meet his Aunt Debbie and his Nana this week. One of the hard parts of having a baby in NICU is that everyone wants to see him, but only a few people actually can. My mom had gone back to see Jake while he was in NICU 1, but she didn't hold him. This week, Debbie and my mom took me to the hospital and had the joy of holding the little fella.

Just like with every new mom, I have good days and bad days, but most days I'm not emotional because I'm terribly hormonal, I'm emotional because I desperately want to have Jake home with us. In my head I know that he is in the best place for him right now, but my heart doesn't want to hear it.

Earlier this week, I asked a nurse about Jake's feeding. Specifically, I wanted to get an idea about how long he would be there. She told me that when he takes all of the two bottles that he's supposed to take now for 48 hours, they'll up him to three bottles a day; he has to do that for 48 hours then he'll go to 4 bottles a day for 48 hours and so on until he's taking all his bottles. I was completely overwhelmed to hear that because right now we cannot get him to take one bottle and to hear that he has to do that for 2 days and then they'll increase him by a bottle means that he'll be there for at least 2 more weeks and that's if he starts eating well today.

Needless to say, Wednesday was a very discouraging day in the Looper house.

We know he will come home, but the waiting is excruiciating.

Pleae continue to pray, and I'll continue to update.

I've put one of my favorite pictures below.

Normalcy?

2009-12-31T16:51:00.008-05:00

It has been a huge challenge this year trying to keep things as normal as possible for Abby. Her world will be rocked enough when Jake actually comes home. We ended up celebrating Christmas with our families on Sunday night and on Monday morning after Christmas. It was a feat to make the holiday still feel like the holidays when everything was so abnormal. Thankfully, Abby is still so young she doesn't understand when things are supposed to happen, and she doesn't mind opening gifts on days that aren't Christmas. She got a computer from her Aunt Debbie and a Black & Decker plastic drill from my dad. She would sleep with both of these if we would let her. What a great girl!

On Tuesday night, we decided to make Christmas cookies as a family. Abby had a blast. At one point she dumped half a jar of sprinkles on one cookie. It really did look like a Christmas tree, so I tried to scrape up the sprinkles and spread them onto other cookies. Oh the joys of having a two and a half year old. It was a nice distraction from the busyness of everything else.

I have to say, sometimes God gives us encouragement in the greatest ways. I have a constant reminder in my house of God's faithfulnes. When I look at my sweet Abby, I am reminded that Jake won't always be in NICU and that life will return to normal soon. What a wonderful, kind God we serve.

On a final note, please pray for balance for us as we try to make sure Abby doesn't feel neglected as we travel back and forth from Greenville.

NICU 2

2009-12-28T21:49:00.005-05:00

Jason and I feel like we're becoming NICU experts. We never expected to have to do this twice, but God had different plans for us. Here's the exciting news of the day.

Things in the NICU have changed since Abby was there two and a half years ago. When Abby was there, the babies went into NICU, a large room where babies stayed at different stations. There were several rooms that more stable babies moved into. Abby quickly moved into one of these rooms, but it was all one big NICU unit.

Jake's stay has been different. There are now two NICUs. NICU 1 and NICU 2. NICU 1 is the same as it has always been, the initial place for babies to go and be cared for. NICU 2 is now the place that babies go when they become more stable. NICU 2 looks alot like a true hospital wing. It is rooms along a hall. There are usually 2 babies per room, and then there is a nurse's station in the hallway. It is really a very nice change because it is more private than NICU 1.

We knew that Jake would eventually make it to NICU 2, but we assumed he would have to be eating better to be moved there. Well, this morning, we went to visit, and they told us that he had moved to NICU 2. We were THRILLED! He's still not eating really well. He tries to take 2 bottles a day, the rest he gets by tube feeding. He's stable though, breathing on his own and not having any other problems.

We have been so touched by all the people expressing care and concern for us. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for Jake. We know that God has a plan for him and that he loves Jake more than we ever could.

We're encouraged that Jake will be home soon.

Here are a few more pics.

Jake Reece Looper

2009-12-28T07:40:00.007-05:00

Most of you have already heard by now that Jake Reece Looper made his appearance on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 9:23 p.m., but I'm going to fill you in on the details. I've been getting messages and well-wishes wanting to know what happened and how he is, so here you go.

I went to the doctor on Wednesday for an ultrasound at the specialist's office. It was a routine BPP (biophysical profile) where they look for certain reflexes and monitor certain things to make sure that baby is not in distress. One of the things they look for is breathing. Babies start to breath in utero pretty early, and by 34 weeks - where I was - they breath pretty consistently. Jake had 30 minutes to breath for 30 seconds, and he didn't do it. I laid on the table while the technician looked, and he never did it. Some of you may remember that is what got Abby a quick pass to the real world. She didn't breath either and was born that night.

That was my first clue that we might have a close-to-Christmas baby.

After that, the doctor put me on the stress-test monitor to watch his heart rate. Jake was non-reactive, another bad sign meaning he wasn't moving much, and somewhere along the line I had a contraction. I'd apparently been having contractions and didn't know it because I never had that experience with Abby. In the midst of my contraction, Jake's heartrate dropped. The doctor wasn't pleased. That was the thing that sent us to the hospital.

I was going to do a contraction stress test (sounds lovely, huh?) and it's exactly what it sounds like; the doctors induce contractions - not labor contractions they say, but I'm not convinced - and watch the baby's heartrate.

We didn't get to that point either because in the hospital room, without any impetus at all, Jake's heartrate plummeted into the 50s and stayed there for quite a while. His normal rate was in the 140s.

Then my doctor said, "enough." I was wheeled up to the OR and Jake came as soon as everything was in order.

He weighed 3lbs 12.7oz, was 16 1/2 inches long, and came out screaming!

He's in the NICU of course, but he's doing well. We're waiting on him to wake up enough to start eating consistently and then we'll be in good shape.

He has to do three things before he can come home: he has to breath on his own without any respitory distress; he has to eat enough on his own to ensure that he'll gain wieght when we come home, and he has to maintain his body temperature in the open air with just "baby clothes" on.

He's got the breathing and I don't think the temperature is going to be a problem, but the eating is the thing.

Please pray that he eats well for us and soon.

I'll post more pictures later.

Here we go again!

2009-12-15T17:05:00.002-05:00

I had a doctor's appointment today to check Baby Jake's growth. I know that he's small - the doctors established that 3 weeks ago when we had an ultrasound and he was only in the 39th percentile, but I was really hoping that he would be growing and that we wouldn't have an Abby repeat.

Unfortunately, God has different plans. We did the ultrasound today about 12:15, and were told that Jake is now in the 20th percentile for weight - somewhere around 3lbs 12oz. Now, for those of you with good memories, you'll remember that is already larger than Abby was, she weighed 2lbs 15oz when she was born. We're encouraged that he's grown some, but he hasn't grown enough.

My doctor came into the examination room and told us that he doesn't like to deliver babies this early (33 weeks), and I promptly told him that I don't like to have babies this early either.

They then sent us immediately to the Maternal Fetal Specialists group, and they did another scan for a second opinion. I was convinced that I wouldn't be leaving the hospital today, and I reprimanded myself for not having packed a bag.

Maternal Fetal Medicine told us that Jake is in the 5th percentile for weight, but that he is moving okay and that he seems okay right now; he's just small.

The plan for now is that my OB will check me once a week and MFM will check me once a week as well until things get too dangerous and Jake has to be delievered. I have a feeling this will happen at Christmas or right after.

Please pray for us as we know that Jake will not gain weight before he come most likely, and pray that we'll have peace of mind as we wait.

God is faithful, and He has prepared us for this with Abby, but that doesn't make it easier.

A Little Bit of Everything

2009-12-14T11:47:00.004-05:00

The Christmas season is in full swing at the Looper house, and I don't have enough energy to keep up with it.

On the pregnancy front, I'm now 33 weeks (an amazing feat for me since when I was this far along with Abby I was in the hospital). I've reached the point where I'm tired ALL THE TIME and no amount of sleep seems to help. The doctors have scheduled a C-Section for February 6 - my grandmother's 80th birthday - but we're all pretty sure that Baby Jake will come well before then.

On the Christmas front, we took Abby to see Santa on Friday. Jason tried using reverse psychology with her, telling her that he wouldn't let her sit in Santa's lap, in hopes that she would indeed sit on his lap and have her picture made. As you can tell by the above picture, she didn't go for it, and we ended up with a family picture with Santa. I guess it's better to get your money out of the time.

For those of you who are interested, Abby wants toys and Play-doh for Christmas. We can't get her to be specific about what kind of toys, but we're thinking just about anything will suit her.

The Christmas shopping is almost done, and the gifts are not yet wrapped. We're going to work on that tonight and tomorrow and hopefully we'll remain baby-free through the Christmas holiday.

On backing up your pictures

2009-11-19T12:30:00.006-05:00

Most of you are probably much smarter than I am. A few weeks ago our computer went kaput.

We would try to start the thing and it would work and work and work and then go off again. It was very frustrating.

When we realized that it was probably gone for good, we were more than frustrated because it dawned on us that all of our pictures, our honeymoon, Abby's birth, her first birthday, first Christmas (you get the picture), were all loaded into said dead computer.

Now, we have several computer experts at our disposal, so we arranged to get the computer to one, and we had great confidence that the pictures could and would be recovered.

Unfortunately, most of the pics are gone into cyberspace forever.

We had some pictures on our camera that had never been taken off, and we have wonderful families who take just as many pictures as we do.

When Abby was first born, we were diligent to save those onto a flash drive, but as she got older, we got lazier and the pictures never made it anywhere but onto the copmuter and occasionally here to this blog.

I've had my classes praying that perhaps we would be able to find them, but we're pretty sure that isn't going to happen.

You would think that with all the experience I've had with losing things on computer hard drives, I would know better, but I guess experience isn't the best teacher for me. Maybe this time I'll pay attention and learn something.

Looking for encouragement? I don't suggest Walmart.

2009-11-18T11:45:00.005-05:00

I've got to share this moment with all of you out in Bloggerville.

Jason and I went to Walmart on Saturday night to get a few things: diapers, milk, etc. I had mentioned earlier that day that I desperately needed to get a cheapo wedding band since my fingers have now swelled to the point where wearing mine puts it in jeopardy of being cut off at the hospital.

We stepped up to the counter to look at bands, and the lady behind the counter, who was obviously clueless about the emotional needs of pregnant women, asked if she could help.

Here's the conversation:

Me: "I'm looking for a cheap wedding band to get me to the end of my pregnancy."

"Oh, well, you probably don't have anymore than what? One month left?"

Me: "Ummm...actually I'm due the beginning of February."

"Oh, well, you're what? A size 10 at least" (Let me enter here that she wasn't talking about dress size).

Me: "My wedding band is a size 5."

"Looks like you're at least a 7 now."

Me: "No, I think the 6 will do fine."

At this point, I was slightly annoyed, but I tried on the size 7 and the size 6 ring and what do you know, the size 6 was perfect.

Conversation continues:

The Walmart lady: "Yeah, that'll probably do because I'm sure your doctor doesn't want you to gain anymore than what? 10 more pounds."

Okay, now she was really starting to irritate me. I didn't know whether to laugh or to start crying. Being the discerning woman I am, I ignored this comment and told her that we would by the ring.

I walked out of Walmart wearing my size 6, $30 wedding band.

Maybe Walmart should do sensitivity training for their staff who deal with pregnant women and jewelry. Maybe I'll suggest that.

Dragons, alligators, and getting up in the middle of the night

2009-11-15T08:19:00.002-05:00

Abby has always been a wonderful sleeper - she most definitely takes after her mother. She started sleeping through the night when she was about 6 weeks old, and she still asks to go to bed when she's tired. It's been a blessing really, but lately she's started waking up in the middle of the night screaming. These are scared screams not your average, I want attention, screams.

Here's my problem: when I ask Abby in the morning what scared her in the night she'll say various things, a dinosaur, an alligator, this morning it was a dragon. Jason does a great job of taking her into her room and scaring away whatever came in during the night.

My question is, I guess, what's normal? Is it normal for a 2 and a half year old to suddenly, out of the blue, start having nightmares?

We've never done this before, and I'm at a loss.

Any advice would be awesome.

H1N1, a sick baby, and the CDC

2009-10-30T17:02:00.002-04:00

My greatest fear these past few months has been the swine flu. I watch the news religiously, and I've seen all the reports that pregnant women are the most vulnerable to the disease. I've talked to my OB, and he says that the risks are more secondary infections than the flu itself, but I've still not felt at ease.

Let me say here that if my trying to get the vaccine is any indication of what is going to happen when the government takes over healthcare, I want NOTHING to do with it!

I've called the health department, my OB's office, my endocrinologist's office, and everywhere in between. You would think that SOMEONE would have the dumb vaccine. Unfortunately, it's been nowhere to be had.

Last Friday Abby got sick. She had a low-grade fever, a cough and was really puny (as my mother would say). Jason and I took her to the doctor. Her flu test was negative, but she had an ear infection. All clear, right? Wrong. On Tuesday she was still sick and the cough was wicked. I took her back to the doctor only to be told that a lot of the flu tests that come back negative are in fact positive. For whatever reason, doctors are seeing a lot of false negatives. Dr. Poole was pretty certain Abby did in fact have swine flu. Oh my!

That diagnosis sent me into a panic. What was I supposed to do? Now I'd been exposed to the virus. I called around and finally got a prescription for Tamiflu (not after much begging and calling and calling and begging).

On Wednesday, the day after we found out about Abby, my sister-in-law called to say that her office may be able to give me the H1N1 vaccine. All my endocrinologist asked was that I get a release from my OB's office. Not difficult, right? Wong again.

I called my OB's office and the lady said, "We're getting that vaccine in a few weeks if you want to wait."

No thanks. I'd like to have it NOW so that I know I've gotten it.

Then she said, "Is it the single dose or the multiple dose because you can't take the multiple dose one. Oh, and you're on Tamiflue, I don't know if you can get the vaccine while you're taking Tamiflu. Call the CDC and see."

Now, don't these people get paid good money to know these things, but anyway.

I called the CDC - fun for sure.

I could take the vaccine while on Tamiflu. The dosage my doctor had was the single one, so that was a go as well.

I prayed on my way to Greenville that the stars would align and I would be able to get the shot. All went well and I'm now vaccinated.

Shew! What a relief and a hassle.

Let this be a lesson, NO GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE!

Oh, and Abby's doing very well. The virus wasn't very bad for her. The cough still lingers, but in a few days that will be gone as well. Pray Jason doesn't get sick because I hear there's a shortage of Tamiflu now!

And Then I Couldn't Take The Suspense

2009-10-15T16:31:00.004-04:00

Jason and I went on Tuesday for an ultrasound of Baby Looper. This time it was just to look at the baby's thyroid and make sure that everything was okay there since I have thyroid issues. I was wondering how in the world they would find such a small organ, but the ultrasound tech explained to us that they don't exactly look at the thyroid it's more that they look at the baby's neck and make sure there are no irregularities there. There were none, so we got the all clear from that doctor. Whew! What a relief that was.

Now all I have to worry about it H1N1, but that's another post altogether.

Anyway, I really posted to let you know that I'm weak. When I was pregnant with Abby, I had no problem not finding out her sex. I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to know. We had a gazillion (is that how you spell that) ultrasounds, and it never crossed my mind to ask what she was.

This time however....

I couldn't take it. I HAD TO KNOW!

I told Jason it was for purely practical purposes - know what we're having so that we can make sure to have the right clothes, bedding, etc. You get the picture. The reality is, I just really NEEDED TO KNOW!

I called my mom, my rock, and asked her if we should find out. She's always the one who says, "No! Of course not! Don't find out." This time she said, "Whatever you want to do." No help at all!

So, we found out.

Not to keep you in suspense any longer, Baby Looper is a BOY!!! It's exciting really. We now have one of each.

Now our problem is convincing Abby that having a baby brother is a good thing since apparently she has her heart set on a baby sister. Named Super Why. Or A-B-C.

What I learned from Abby

2009-10-07T19:07:00.001-04:00

Monday morning we were rushing around, trying to get everything together to leave the house. As usual, I needed to be out by 6:40, but it was getting close to 6:50 and we weren't even close to leaving.

I had gotten Abby up and dressed, no small feat since she is very much like her parents and doesn't like to be disturbed in the morning. The worst part of the whole ordeal is brushing Abby's hair. It's a tangled mess to be sure.

Well, Monday, Abby woke up calling for her juice.

"I want juice, Mommy. I - WANT - JUICE!" She screamed, over and over.

I was in the kitchen working as fast as I could to get the juice ready when Jason called from the bathroom for Abby. He was going to brush her hair and put her hairbow in.

Abby stopped mid-scream, looked at me, turned on her heel and called over her shoulder, "Daddy calling me."

She turned and ran out of the kitchen, juice forgotten.

As I watched her go, I thought, "I wonder if that is the way I respond to my heavenly father? Do I stop in the midst of screaming for what I want and turn and run when I hear him call?"

I'm afraid that as a heavenly child, I'm not so quick to respond. It's kind of amazing what our children teach us.

May we all be quick to respond when the Father calls.

Sometimes we learn so much

2009-10-07T18:59:00.003-04:00

Our church started a new "thing" a couple of weeks ago on Sunday night called E-Groups. I wasn't really opposed to it when it was presented. Seriously, Sunday nights are just Sunday nights around here, and Jason and I had been hosting the Truth Project by Focus on the Family in our home for about 3 months on Sunday nights, so there wasn't much to be opposed to really.

Let me back up and explain E-Groups just a bit first. These are groups that our pastor and staff put together. They're "random" groupings of people of all ages and walks of life. Each group has about 10 or so people in it, and it is NOT a Bible study. Instead, we gather on Sunday night, discuss the sermon from that morning, talk about life and what we are learning in our quiet times, etc. It really should be called a life group because that's what we're doing, experiencing life together.

Well, our group is facilitated by an older gentleman whose wife is a nurse, there's an engineer in our group, a lady who works at a local hospital, a former math teacher turned PhD student, me, Jason, another nurse, you get the picture.

I wasn't sure how our group would gel, but God is faithful. It has been one of the best experiences I've ever had at church to be honest. I'm not sure if it's that Jason and I don't have a Sunday School class since we teach the college kids or if it is just that God has placed his hand on this group, but I have really, really enjoyed it.

Let me put a plug out there for any of you who go to EPBC and read this. Please, please, PLEASE get involved. You won't regret it.

Now, onto what I've learned:

1. I really need a more consistent quiet time. It's hard to share when you're not keeping up with the daily reading (kind of like withe my students, but I digress).

2. God can use unexpected people to teach us wonderful lessons.

3. Godly habits are so hard to form and easy to break, but bad habits are easy to form and hard to break. Ironic, huh?

So, I say, open your eyes and see where God is teaching you. Feel free to share.

If the baby's name were left up to Abby...

2009-09-26T09:57:00.002-04:00

Jason and I have been asking Abby whether she wants a baby brother or a baby sister. It really just depends on the day, her mood, and whether or not she's been around Naomi or Nathanael what her answer is.

Usually when she says she wants a sister (or a brother for that matter) she'll tell us she wants to name her (or him) Naomi. Let me explain. Naomi is her BEST, BEST, BEST friend. All of Abby's baby dolls are named Naomi, so it stands to reason that she would want to name her baby sister (or brother) the same.

Well, the other day, I asked Abby whether she wanted a baby brother or a baby sister, and she said emphatically, "BABY BRUDDER."

"Well, what do you want to name your baby brother," I asked.

She waited a few minutes and said, "SUPER WHY!"

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with recent PBS trends in programming, Super Why is a show about reading and exploring. I know, my heart swells at the thought too. She's a future English major.

Unfortunately, Super Why is now her name of choice for Baby Looper. I don't know that it would be appropriate to name a child after a PBS show, even if it is about reading.