The Hyder Family

Getting Settled!

2011-12-21T13:04:00.002-06:00

Hey guys!!! Hope you are ready for Christmas, it's just around the corner. All of our packages are wrapped and ready except for a few in TN. We are settling in here in FL and enjoying the sunny weather. Its been 60s and 70s almost everyday! Lots of new things to get used to, but it's going pretty smooth. We sold our house this week and we have found a wonderful townhouse over near North Lagoon area and we are less than a minute from the water. Our anticipated move in date is Jan. 10th...hopefully a little before. God is soooo good and sold it just in the right time. We are sooo excited about getting out of this resort. Parking garages, elevators, and lots of tourists are nice, but not at your house...lol. We are ready for the townhouse!

Chris' job is going well too. He has already went on his first business trip and has several more planned. He is learning alot and having fun doing it. (that's the most important thing) He works with alot of nice people, and has a wonderful view from his office. It faces the bay, which is only about 10 steps away. He saw dolphins playing one afternoon and text me to rub it in. I reminded him I was at home and could walk down to the beach anytime I wanted...lol. :)

Unfortunately, we have been doing lots and lots of school to stay on track for an early summer. The water is fairly chilly, so we just go down for walks, to read, or to play in the sand for awhile. Its really good to be down there for Bailey as much as possible. He has only gotten in 2 or 3 times though. Like I said, it's pretty chilly. He will dip his legs and then run cover up. The question everyone wants to know, "is he getting better?" Well, it's not that simple. Dr's have told us it will take his body long amounts of time to fully heal, but does he "feel" better, the answer is YES. No crying at night and aching in his sleep. His places look fairly the same which is amazing. Since we have moved here, the "new Dr." did not want to continue his light treatments. So he is missing those. This summer it shouldn't be an issue, but right now, I feel like they were helping him some. All of his medicines are the same for now, but we are hoping we can cut some out this summer. Especially the prednisolone. It is very bad for you and he has been on it a long, long time. As far as infections, he has been great. No infections or signs of any for awhile now. Say a prayer that this will stay that way. Once he gets one, it takes forever to fight it. We found that out in Sept. while we were here and he got in a pool. Needless to say, he has not touched the pool. :)

Hopefully, as the weather gets warmer, we will be able to dip him and stay out so much more and not have to worry about school so much. We should wrap up our year in April if we stay on track.

So, as far as churches go, we have found one that I think will be a keeper! www.sabc.org

St. Andrews Baptist Church in Panama City is only a 10 minute drive across the bridge, but is well worth it. They have welcomed us in with open arms and the kids love their great kids programs. Every Wednesday night is family dinner in the fellowship hall, followed by a short devo. Everyone knows, I LOVE DINNERS at church! Even though we miss our church in TN so bad.....we are really liking this new church. The kids have started AWANA and are really liking it. They have made lots of friends and so have we. :)

Well, like I said, it's almost Christmas. I hope that each and every one of you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year. Remember the "reason" for the season and keep it in your heart as you travel from party to party! Love you all!

2011-11-19T14:39:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-19T14:32:00.001-06:00

Well, today is not really Thanksgiving, but it is to us! We are celebrating with our family before we leave for Florida. We have spent this week with friends and family and today, we get to celebrate! We will even have Clint and Linli (via Skype) with us tonight to talk to all of the family. Some of the family (like aunts, cousins, and grandparents) haven't seen him or talked to him since he left, so this will be extra special. Hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving next week. I will be eating a Veggie Burger at Sharky's most likely!

Fast-Forward!

2011-11-05T04:05:00.002-05:00

Ok, so let's be honest...I didn't quite keep my promise. LOL....It's been over a month and there is lots to tell. Chris flew down and stayed with the kids and me for our last week. He had a interview at the job center (known to people at home as the employment office). Long story short, the lady loved him and gave him 3 good jobs to apply for. She also set him up an interview the next day and that company fell in love with him. After 3 more interviews and a test, he has been hired! It is an upper management job as a Special Projects Application Specialist. YAY!
Now for the super scary part. He starts Nov. 28th and we still haven't sold our house. We will be staying (more than likely unless we get a contract on it) in a furnished condo again until it sells and then we will move all our stuff. Whew! God has really got the wheels turning and this are quickly falling into place. We will be leaving soon, so we are trying to tie up all the loose ends before we leave. Please be in prayer and please be understanding if I am a total lunatic. I love you all and will see or talk to you soon!

We have arrived!

2011-09-06T21:51:00.002-05:00

Well, we made it! We are in our condo for the next month. We have moved in, cleaned and unpacked most of our junk. It's gonna be a long month without Chris. We have never been away from him for this long.....ever! I can't wait till the end of the month till we can pick him up at the airport and he can join us.
So far we are having a good time. Today we went and swam at the Jetties in the St. Andrews state park. The kids had a blast and the water was very kind to Bailey. It didn't burn much at all today. That's a blessing. Sometimes it burns as it heals his skin. We also were able to see an 8-10 ft alligator and a family of raccoons right there at the ocean. After cooking a nice dinner and touring all the pools at our resort, we headed to pier park to walk around and enjoy the evening. Please be in prayer for us for our safety and our sanity as we spend this LONG month away from "daddy". The kids are having a hard time with leaving him and miss him badly. Promise to update soon!

This post is for you, TODD!

2011-08-26T00:52:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I ran into a good ole friend a few weeks ago from Smithville (Hi Jenny). The first thing she said was that her husband was dying because I have been a lazy blogger. LOL. Well Todd, here ya go! I am gonna be blogging more in the next little bit, so stay tuned. Things in our life are changing almost daily and I know everyone is wondering what's going on. Here's the scoop!

Bailey's drs tried everything, but were not successful in getting him approved for the meds that I talked about in the last couple posts. They fought the company that manufactures the meds, then fought insurance and lost. We found a charitable org that we thought might cover it, then they denied too. So unless anyone wants to fund us about $5000.00 per month...it's just out of the question. With that being said, they are doing another biopsy (just on the off chance that something new shows up that didn't last time) and he is continuing his PUVA treatments in Mboro 2x per week. I have taken him several times this year to the beach and that helps more than anything. The salty water heals him sooooo quickly. And it's gotta be better than pumping in all the meds. So anyways, on to the main info that most are asking....yes, we are moving. So far it's all we know to do right now. We have always had a love in our hearts for Florida and we believe that God knew one day we would need that love to help make one of the hardest decisions of our lives. He feels so good there, that's just our only option at this point. Chris has been looking for work and we have looked at about 20 homes so far. We haven't made the decision on renting vs. buying yet, I guess it will depend on the current houses available at the point when we sell ours. We have lowered the price, fixed anything that needed to be, and are offering a bonus on the seller commission. If you know anyone looking, please send them our way. Chris will be around to keep the place clean for showings, but the kids and I will be in Florida until Oct. 5th. Pray that we have safe travels since we will be away from him for so long...we are sooooo gonna miss him!

So, anyways, that's just one area of our life. The kids are growing like crazy and I now have a ten yr old and an eight yr old. I feel like one old momma!!!!! LOL. They are at home again this year and we just love homeschooling. We did make the switch in our curriculum and went with switched on schoolhouse. We love, love, love it. The kids are advancing so quickly and Bailey's confidence in spelling and reading is growing daily. He has always been very intimidated by spelling and large books, but he is flourishing with this curriculum. It really makes them strive for their very best. I just love having them at home and watching them grow each day. They are such a joy and I love knowing that they learning from me. :)

My brother finally got moved, he is in Hangzhou, China. He will be living there for the next year studying, sharing his faith, and enjoying life with Linli (his fiance and my future SIL) Click here for his blog where you can read about his journeys! Please pray for him to stay safe, happy and healthy while he is gone. We miss him so much, but we are so proud of him for taking this once in a lifetime journey.

Well Todd, hope this helps! Thank you for persuading me to keep on blogging.

It's curriculum time!

2011-04-13T00:22:00.002-05:00

So I have been looking everywhere for new stuff for the up-coming school year. I have been so torn, but I think we have found it! All you homeschool moms out there check it out. It's from AOP and they have a sale right now. www.aophomeschooling.com/switched-on-schoolhouse/overview.php Seems to be really good and has awesome reviews. It's a bit pricey, but you do have to consider that the younger ones will eventually get to use it too. Our Lifepacs this year are consumable so there is no passing them down to Bailey. That's a big plus. In 2 years, I won't have to buy his curriculum anymore if we stuck with this.

Is It Really Spring Already?

2011-04-04T21:42:00.002-05:00

Today was a wonderful spring day. Windy, sunshine, then a wonderful thunderstorm and rain for the evening! I love a good storm. Time is flying by faster and faster. The kids are astounding me they are growing so fast. Kirsten turned 10 last month and Bailey is fastly approaching 8. I no longer have babies. It's starting to freak me out a little. Every since I was an adult I have had a little one. Having older kids is fun though....it definately has its benefits! They are a wonderful help to me and really keep their chores done now that we are homeschooling. They help me out with everything from cleaning to cooking to yard stuff. They are 2 great kids! We are still super busy with all our "activities", not to mention we have added violin lessons. Kirsten seems to really be enjoying her lessons and her teacher says she has never seen someone learn so fast. Bailey is the master of all things outdoors now. From snake catching to skateboarding, he has all that stuff covered. He said yesterday he is ready to get the camper up and running. (maybe in a couple weeks that will be the case) I am ready too! Those lazy weekends laying in my easy chair just outside the camper enjoying the great outdoors sounds great to me! :) Speaking of Bailey, we have gotten several messages on FB lately wanting updates on him. He is still doing treatments 2x per week in the boro and Vandy as needed. His dr in Franklin, mboro, and Vandy are working together to get him approved by the company that makes a certain medicine that they think could trick his body into stopping with the blisters. Keep your fingers crossed that they will approve this medication for him. Right now it is our only shot at something new to try. We have exhausted all avenues. God is good though....we have a much better quality of life than the past few years.

School Rocks

2010-09-02T12:07:00.003-05:00

So far, so good! This school year is going great! We really weren't sure if this was for us....homeschooling that is. We started off with a wonderful schedule, and we soon found out that this was our biggest mistake. Some days you need more than 45 min for math and some days you need much less. So we just take the amount of time that we need for each subject. It's working much better. Some days we find ourselves going way over in time, but that's ok. I would rather do too much than not enough. Some doctor days require work on the road, so that is great for us. Bailey is much less stressed out now because he is not missing school. Kirsten is having a ball with homeschooling and not missing school at all. I was afraid because she was so social, she would get sad after school started, wrong. She is doing great! We are in 2 different homeschool groups and between those, 4h, bowling day, science center days, coop days, we barely have time alone...LOL!!! They are with people all the time, not to mention girlscouts and church!

I never really imagined that homeschooling would be for me, but I really had to put that aside and see what was best for my kids! They are doing great and learning so fast. Kirsten is almost ready to move on to 5th grade math. We are only done with the first 6 weeks!! The 4th grade math is just really easy for her. We have days that we go to the library for extra books and we are currently doing unit studies for geo and history. They just love it. When we were trying to learn measurements, we just sat and measured stuff all over the house. I can't wait to see them learn everyday!

On another subject, Chris' work is really picked up these last couple of months. His customers are getting better at paying their bills and for now, I think we will be able to stay put. (sorry FLORIDA..oh how i love you!) Hopefully things will continue to get better with these automotive companies soon!

We are getting ready to do some re-modeling, so hopefully, I can get some pictures up on here soon. We are re-doing the kitchen, playroom/laundry room, patio, adding a carport, and adding decks out back. I am so excited, yet leary at the same time. Not so sure that i can handle this amount of construction at one time. LOL. Most of the house will be affected in some way. Even the LR is getting some new canister lighting. Pray for me :) Maybe I will do good and get some pics on here! (don't believe it till you see it)

So I was looking through some recipes and I found one that I am making today! I even went and bought a sundrop (gasp!) Here ya go. Thanks Melissa for all the fresh eggs!

5 whole eggs

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

2 sticks butter or margarine

1/2 cups Crisco

1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

1 tsp. lemon flavoring6 oz. Sundrop (or Squirt)
Cream sugar, butter, and Crisco. Add flour, eggs, and beat until blended. Add flavoring and Sundrop/Squirt and mix well. Bake in Teflon tube pan at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool and remove from pan to serving platter.

Oh My!

2010-06-15T23:40:00.003-05:00

Look how long it's been since my last post....crazy how time flies! Lots has been going on in the past few months. Hope I can get it all on here for an update. :)

We have been doing pretty good and making progress with Bailey's health. Between meds, treatments, and the ocean....we are feeling somewhat better. His skin looks fairly good and he feels good...maybe a little too good. LOL. His treatments will probably go up to 3 times per week in the next couple of weeks and hopefully the meds will taper off.

Kirsten is doing good and smarter than ever. She has to be an old person stuffed in the wrong body. Both kids are looking forward to the next school year at home and both are having a nice summer.

Speaking of summer...it's flying by already! The past eight weeks of spring have been a total blur. Gatlinburg, Girl Scout camps, Sleepover at Bridgestone, Florida, Bonnaroo, Lake Winnie....not much time at home. That's ok with us though..we love to be on the run! This week will be spent mostly getting re-organized, cleaning the house, and swimming.

We are still looking for work anywhere. Doesn't really matter what state, but closer to the beach is always better. Fingers crossed for Florida! The house is still on the market but not many lookers lately. Something will happen when the time is right I guess.

I'm feeling crafty this week (which is odd cause it hasn't happened in awhile..check me for a fever) I am going to attempt to make some curtains for my craft table. Each end has book shelves and always seems messy. Hoping curtains on each end will hide the mess. LOL :) Maybe I will post some pics if I get them finished!

We are on a mission to make sure that our kids are healthy and happy so we are starting the TRIM KIDS program to make sure that our kids are eating right. (Click here to read about the book ) We have always been fairly healthy eaters, but I think this program is teaching the kids all they need to know about what they are eating. I will leave my post with a yummy recipe for dinner tomorrow! Hope you have a nice week. I am promising not to go so long without posting anymore! Love you all!

Chicken Puttanesca with Whole wheat Angel Hair Pasta

The piquant sauce in this recipe originated in Naples, and was designed to be made quickly, out of pantry odds and ends. Our version uses bottled pasta sauce to make things even simpler, while adding the requisite capers, olives, and red pepper that make a puttanesca. If your capers are packed in vinegar, rinse them before adding to the sauce―this makes for a more balanced flavor.

We add olives, capers, crushed red pepper, and fresh basil to bottled pasta sauce for a quick variation on the traditional version.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta we use whole wheat
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Muir Glen Organic)
1/4 cup pitted and coarsely chopped kalamata olives
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup (1 ounce) preshredded Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh basil or basil sprigs (optional)
Preparation
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Add chicken to pan; sprinkle evenly with salt. Cook chicken 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in pasta sauce, olives, capers, and pepper; bring to a simmer. Cook 5 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring frequently. Arrange 1 cup pasta on each of 4 plates; top with 1 1/2 cups chicken mixture. Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese. Garnish with chopped basil or basil sprigs, if desired.
Nutritional Information
Calories:
530 (21% from fat)
Fat:
12.4g (sat 2.8g,mono 6.6g,poly 2g)
Protein:
51.8g
Carbohydrate:
55g
Fiber:
2.1g
Cholesterol:
104mg
Iron:
4.2mg
Sodium:
971mg
Calcium:
165mg

Slow road to recovery!

2010-03-03T00:09:00.002-06:00

Today proved just as difficult as the last few weeks, but with much better news. Immediately after my last post Bailey was sent to the hospital (he was acidotic) LOL. He comes up with some of the weirdest stuff. Leave it to him. Anyways, the next weeks have been hard with him not eating and being nauseous all the time. Last week we had an episode with chest pains/arm pains and never could figure that out. Now he is throwing up again for the last 4 days. He has to be exhausted ( I know I am). We went today and they did tons of stuff on him and it seems that maybe his system has not healed from the first round and all this not being able to eat and throwing up is a result. Thank goodness. We are keeping more fluids down him so he was not admitted this time (big YAY)! We have several meds to take and hopefully this can get behind him.
Kirsten's party is drawing nearer so I am trying to focus on that and get everything in place! I am so super excited!! I am having so much lent to me that we are not having to buy very much of anything! I have only spent around $40 so far! Almost all of the decorations and even the cake we have had help with. Mom's wonderful friend is going to help me with the cake since I don't have the right pans. She is going to bake it for me and let me do the icing and decorating!!! I am tickled to death! I can't wait to post pictures!
Here is a recipe for something to surprise your family with .........CUPCAKES!!! THEY JUST MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD!!!Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 ounces melted unsweetened baking chocolate

Chocolate Cupcake Recipe Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine all ingredients into large mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, and scrape bowl. Mix at high speed for 3 minutes.

Fill liners 1/2 to 2/3 full of batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pans then remove from pan, and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Frost when chocolate cupcakes are completely cool.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

(Medium Consistency)

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

Coupons...Stockpiling, viruses, birthdays! That's what's going on.

2010-01-27T13:01:00.003-06:00

The kids have both had the yucky stomach bug since Sat. night, so we have spent alot of time at home. We did go on Chris' birthday to Nashville to take Bailey to Vanderbilt cause we thought it was all over....wrong! Bailey started throwing up on the way to the doctor. We had to cancel his treatment and have not been able to go back yet. Maybe on Friday (which is my bday-yay). We are going to go eat down there if everyone is well.
Thankfully we have still been couponing these last couple of weeks. Last week I save $384 with my coupons in one shopping trip. I love it!!!!! We have created a nice stockpile of things so we really will just need meat and bread next week. If you would like more info on that, click on the link to the Faithful Provisions website on the sidebar.
Bailey's Doctor appt. at vandy went as expected. We are once again going to try to wean him off of some of his meds . If he does not do better, we will be forced to decide which medicine to continue with. The one that is hurting him now, or the one that causes lymphoma later in life. PLEASE pray that he can go without!!!!!!!! We do not want to have to decide this. :(
So on a happier note, school is going well for the kids so far. They are both doing wonderful. We are still considering homeschooling but have not really made the decision as to when yet. It would give us alot more time with the kids and freedom for traveling(like you know we love). Just gotta sit down and decide I guess.
Our house is still on the market, but we do have one very interested couple. Hopefully they will make an offer soon. We still are thinking about just remodeling the kitchen if we don't get one by summer. They have told the realtor that they will make a decision this week. :)
Chris and my birthdays are both this week. He is now officially half of 70 and I am just knocking on 30's door. His birthday was the day Bailey started throwing up, so maybe my birthday everyone will be well so that we can celebrate both on my day. We are also working on Kirsten's Bday (which is not until March). We are gonna have a Candyland theme for her party. So if you have any ideas, please pass them on to me. I have ordered plates and napkins and a centerpiece, but need dec. tips. I know we are making alot of fake candy pieces, but that is it.
I will post sooner next time and not wait till I have so much random news!! Here is what I wish I was having for dinner. Enjoy!!

The Ingredients:

don't freak out. I got all Deceptively Delicious and snuck in a bunch of veggies. You can be as plain as you'd like; there are no rules here.

--box of regular lasagna noodles

--jar of pasta sauce

--ricotta cheese

--package of shredded Italian cheese

--mushrooms

--chopped veggies (I used broccoli and cauliflower)

--mushrooms

--spinach

--hardboiled eggs

--meat (optional)-- I happened to use 1/2 pound of hamburger meat.

--spices you use normally when you brown ground meat (I chose onion flakes and Magic Dust)

--1/4 cup water

The Directions:

--brown meat with chosen spices in large skillet

--pour in entire jar of pasta sauce (save jar, don't rinse or throw away!)

--simmer on low for a few minutes

--put a ladle-full of sauce mixture into the bottom of your crockpot.

--top with a layer of dried lasagna noodles. You'll have to break them to fit, and little pieces will fly all over the place, much to the delight of small children and pets.

and scooba.

--smear ricotta cheese on top of lasagna noodles
--layer veggies, mushrooms, eggs and spinach on top of the ricotta cheese
--add a handful of the shredded cheese
--ladle on some more of the meat sauce
--top with more dry noodles and repeat layers until crock is to desired capacity.

--put the 1/4 cup of water into your empty pasta jar and shake. Pour tomatoey juice over the whole pile of food.

--cover and cook on low for 8 hours, high for 4.
--Check noodles an hour before serving, and push the top ones down into the liquid if they are getting too hard or are curling up.

Thankful....

2009-12-30T15:59:00.003-06:00

Today I have sat and watched the kids play and I am so thankful that they are "close" to healthy...Bailey is making improvements and I was thinking where we were two years and one month ago when we were in Vandy for over a week. I am SOOO thankful that we are making progress and that God is taking care of us!!! Click Here and you will be thankful too. Say a prayer for Bailey :)

2009-12-30T15:44:00.001-06:00

Create your own visitor map!

2009-11-22T18:27:00.001-06:00

Crockpot Chicken and Dressing is the Meal of the Day!!!

2009-11-18T11:58:00.002-06:00

1 stick margarine or butter 3-1/2-4 cups of chicken broth
1 med-large onion, chopped 1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 large skillet of cornbread 1 can of cream of celery soup
2 TBSP sage 1 chicken, boiled and torn into pieces
2 hardboiled eggs, chopped (or you can use the pre-trimmed TYSON breasts like I did)
1/2 of small loaf of velveeta cheese, cubed. ( sounds gross, but trust me)

Saute onion in margarine. Mix crumbled cornbread with onion and margarine, sage, broth, velveeta and boiled eggs. Mix soups together and put half in bottom of crock pot. Add half dressing, then chicken. Cover with remaining dressing, then remaining soup mixture. Cook on low for 3-5 hours or on high for 2 hours.
YUMMY!!!!

Shopping update!!!

2009-11-17T12:29:00.002-06:00

I went yesterday while in MBoro to Publix and utilized some of their sales and my coupons. Remember that almost all stores will take their own coupons + Manf. Coupons. This means big savings!! Here is what I got:
1 can pillsbury icing (reg price 1.09)
2 boxes wheat spaghetti ( 1.59 x 2)
1 yoplait yo plus yogurt (4 pack) (2.19)
1 Lysol all purpose cleaner (3.19)
1 lysol spray kitchen cleaner (2.99)
1 green giant Steamers bag of rice and frozen vegetables (2.39)
2 huge packs of Chinet dinner napkins (for thanksgiving) (3.99 x 2)

what would have been over $20........I GOT FOR $ 4.10 for ALL of it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Loving this weather!

2009-11-10T20:19:00.004-06:00

Well, October surely flew by quickly. I am so ready to get through the Holidays and get to warm weather and sand beneath my toes again. LOL...I hate the cold!!! And that is really an understatement.

We have not had much interest in the house lately and are almost ready to give up on selling and just remodel the kitchen and get this house paid for. I really want to move though. God must have other plans! :)

School is going good. We are not missing many days and still doing treatments. We have found out Friday that they will be cutting out his steroid, but we don't know the details yet. This is VERY scary to us. We are terrified. We have done this several times and it just really messes with him. Please keep him in your prayers.

This weekend we are planning on going camping. I am tickled to get out and enjoy some (semi) warm weather. It is suppose to be around 70 most of the weekend so we are heading to Fall Creek Falls State Park to campground A (if anyone wants to join, just come on up). I am gonna cook some chili, Grill some chicken, and cook a big ole breakfast on the fire. YAY!!! Don't you know eating is the best part of camping??? The kids are excited too, they just like to sleep in the tent. :)

Well, most of you know it's just 2 weeks until Miley Cyrus is back at Sommet Center. Kirsten and I have been tirelessly trying to win tickets...no luck! Last year we had awesome seats and Jonas Bros we had decent ones (after we moved down a little LOL-amy you know what I mean ). So she really doesn't understand what the big deal is...I just gotta find some!! Keep your fingers crossed.

On other things, I am still crock-potting it. (is that a word?) Almost every night I am cooking up a storm in that thing. Chris and the kids haven't gotten tired of it yet, and almost every meal has been different. It's just so easy!! Try it out...there is a link on the side bar to some great recipes or you can email me for more. I have also been really getting back to major coupon clipping. Check out the website. http://www.faithfulprovisions.com/ It is a CHRISTIAN site and you can get stuff almost for FREE (some things are free). All you need is a little time, a printer, and some scissors. Speaking of deals, this week I got the best ever. I got a $1000 table and chair set for the dining room from World Market for $360.....yes $360. They were having a huge sale (40% off) and then I had a coupon for 25% off (that I dumpster dove for in the recycling bin at Sam's LOL) It's probably my best deal yet!!! I have been looking for a good deal for about 6-7 years and patience has finally paid off.

Halloween was good this year. We trick-or-Treated the family and then went to Foodland parking lot for Trunk or Treat.

Bailey was "JACK" from The Nightmare Before Christmas" and Kirsten was "JESSIE" from Toy Story. They were so cute. They had fun and Bailey even got to eat some candy this year. God is good. LOL

What an eventful weekend!

2009-09-28T08:03:00.002-05:00

Not only did I take the Girl Scouts camping this weekend. I also thought for a long while that I had lost a good friend. Most of you know my friend's Wendy and Chad. Wendy has been my friend since High School and we just love them like family. Chad went on a four-wheeler ride, as he does each year, but this time it was different. While crossing a creek that they had crossed many times, he was swept away by the roaring waters. After being tossed around for over a mile, he finally was able to make it out of the water, only to be left in some of the most treacherous terrain in Tennessee and dark was upon him. He walked what rescuers believe was as much as 7 or 8 miles in the downpours that came on Saturday night through the woods of what would be very comparable to Gatlinburg. Sunday afternoon as over 100 people searched for him, he was found alive in a cemetery over 7 miles from where he first went in the water. After several news interviews and lots of explaining (everyone wanted to hear his story), we made our way down the mountain and we went for some supper. We returned home about 9pm last night as happy as could be. Please praise God this morning that he is alive and well. Instead of planning a funeral today, Wendy will spend the day with her husband at their home. He truly has been given a second chance.

Click here to watch a clip from one of the Knoxville News Stations

I am loving my crock pot!

2009-09-24T21:39:00.002-05:00

My life is pretty busy...so much going on. I am so in love with the year of crock pot cooking blog!!! I am the coolest mom at my house (ok, and the only mom). The kids are loving coming home and have a super supper every night. You know, something warm and filling. COMFORT FOOD!!! Tonight I made the best chicken ever in the crock pot and the kids and Chris were loving it!!! Here is the link to the recipe. I left it on high all day and came home at 5pm to a perfect supper. I whipped up some Annie's Mac and Cheese (organic of course) and a little rice and it was about 5 minutes till supper was ready!!! I did not put whole cloves (cause i just didn't have any) so I just used some minced garlic in the jar and added the equivalent to the 20 cloves. maybe a little less) There is enough for the boys to eat on this weekend while Kirsten and I are gone camping. (Girl Scout camping)
I have had a crock pot forever and mine just thought that it was made for roast and chili. I think that it is sitting over there smiling right now. It feels loved...really loved! So visit the site and you can cook gourmet in your crock too!!! THANKS AGAIN AMY FOR SHARING THIS!
CROCKPOT 365

So much going on...

2009-09-03T21:00:00.002-05:00

My head is spinning. School has started back and our lives are very different than last year so far. I am getting much more time out of Bailey's class and getting to help more throughout the school. I really enjoy being there. I am also getting an hour or two at home (alone) during the day too. I's giving me time to catch up on laundry, clean and do some dishes...yay!
Kirsten is loving 3rd grade and totally adores her teacher. (which makes me happy) I feel happy about our decision to stay at West so far. I think that the kids will do well. Bailey is reading and I am amazed at him everyday. He goes on like nothing is wrong. I can't say that I would be that strong. We are keeping him on the meds right now to keep him in school and not be miserable. It's not my favorite thing. I think that medicine like that is horrible, but so is the alternative. :) The Dr. visits have been pretty frequent still and we are also still doing the weekly therapy on Mondays. It is really difficult cause now we can't leave school at 12. Now we are leaving at 2:35 and speeding like a demon through 4 school zones all the way to M'boro to make it there on time.
We are still looking for work for Chris. Our Tool and Die business is really suffering right now. So slow. He is looking for anything that will pay the bills. He has even been working in maintenance at WalMart on 3rd shift. He is looking at several different options, but we don't know about anything for sure. Please pray for us because this is a very stressful time. We are trying to not let the kids know so that they won't worry, but they do know he is looking for work. He is very stressed and has been having some medical stuff too. Pray we can keep our sanity. :)
Oh yeah, it's almost fair time too. I am so excited!!! I love to go walk around out there and I really love to enter stuff in the food, clothing, and canning. I have been looking at the book, but I just can't decide what all to enter!
Speaking of food. Check out the link for the crockpot cooking. I have made dinner ( and breakfast) in my crock pot 5 days in a row now and I am loving it. So Delicious and super clean. Not so many pots and pans to wash up and no splattered stove or oven. Super healthy too cause nothing is fried or oily. Just yumm-o food!!!!
Hope you all have a great one!! Talk to you soon.

As promised

2009-08-07T16:50:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Back from the KEYS!!!!!!

2009-07-22T12:59:00.005-05:00

Chris and I had so much fun this past weekend in the Keys. It was amazing. The two of us have never been away alone and we really enjoyed the time to be a married couple. There are always so many things going on that sometimes you lose touch on making your marriage fun. We cannot even express how much fun we had. So here's the story.

I booked our trip back in April and he has had no clue about any of it. I had told him that we would be going somewhere, but he had no idea where. I printed out tons of info on where we were staying, what we would do, and how we would get there and put it in a box and wrapped it like a present. We flew out of Atlanta (cause it was almost free..LOL) and when we arrived there, the gate still didn't tell him where we were going. HA! Finally on the flight he heard the pilot say that we were headed south to Ft. Lauderdale. So he knew that much.

The flight was CRAZY! Our plane was headed into a BIG storm and was hit by lighting (which knocked out all lights on the plane for 8-10 seconds) this wouldn't have been so bad, but it also made a huge drop (about 300 ft) and scared the daylights out of us. It was dark outside so you could not see or grab onto anything.!!!! After diverting our plane out to the Bahamas and back, we were told we would land in Miami, then West Palm Beach, and then finally Ft. Lauderdale as planned !! Whew. We were never so glad to hit that runway (emergency vehicles and all)

So we proceed to get our rental, which we were now 3 hours late picking up and they were out of the economy car that I had rented (for $100), so they upgraded us to a Dodge Charger (cha-ching) we were tickled and they didn't charge us any difference from the cheapo that we had paid to rent!

Anyways, we get in the car and I give Chris the box that tells him all about where we are going and he was like a little kid. He had wanted to go there for a really long time. So we ride (windows down of course) all through the keys in the middle of the night(thanks to the airline) until we reach Key West. Our place that we stayed was really awesome. It was a little old house that was converted into a Inn. (check it out here) The room I rented was small...but was all we needed. It had a bed, a flat screen TV and bathroom. We didn't spend too much time there anyways...we are sight-seers and I got it less than $100/night. yahoo!

We went to the southernmost point, all the beaches, Hemingway's House, the lighthouse, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, Harry Truman's Beach House, Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum, Mallory Square, you name it...we did it!!!! We also went one day through all of the keys to just explore and we went to Bahia Honda State Park (which Travel Channel voted the #1 beach in the world). We also took a catamaran trip out (about 2 hours off shore) and went snorkeling. It was an amazing trip until I was being circled on like dinner by a 5ft barracuda. It was one of the most beautiful and historical places that I have ever visited. I am ready to go back and take the kids. We had heard so many different things about the area we really didn't know if it was a place for families, but it really is as long as you don't go in Oct. during Fantasy Fest.

I am posting some pictures later and will try to make a slide show for here too. Hope that everyone has a great day!!! PS- YOU CAN NOW ADD COMMENTS ON MY BLOG. I HAVE HAD IT TURNED OFF FOR ALONG TIME, BUT I THINK THAT THE CRAZIES HAVE QUIT FOLLOWING ME. LOL!!!

Holiday World, and so much more!!!!!!

2009-07-10T12:03:00.006-05:00

Well, the past few weeks have been packed in with activities. This is our busiest summer yet!! My grandmother told me the other day that "these were the happiest years of my life", and I have thought so much about that sentence. We should definately think about how sad it would be to not have the "everyday" adventures that we have with our kids...these are precious. One day we will be sitting inside watching tv all day with no one to talk to and nothing to do. No one to entertain, no one to cook for. No one to pick up after. No one to yell at for leaving the door open or the toilet seat up. How sad. Enjoy these things...even if they don't seem to fun because as my granny said..."these are the best years of your life!!!"

Geowoodstock VII

Miller's Grocery in Christiana, TN

Downtown Bell Buckle
Signal the Frog (Geocaching mascot)

Abraham Lincoln's mothers grave (lincoln city, IN)

Abe Lincoln's Boyhood home

Kirsten peeping at the animals at the Lincoln Farm

This is Chris with the owners wife..the little lady from their commercials! He had to have a picture with her. We really loved that place. Super fun and super cheap!! ( Notice him covering the Mouse!! HAHA HAHAHA)
Holiday World and Splashin Safari 2009

We are back home for a few days and Chris and I will be leaving on our "mystery" trip. Some of you know where we are going...but don't tell Chris, it's a surprise!!! It is our 10th wedding anniversary and I am taking him on a super special vacation...just the two of us!!! Watch for pictures soon!!!

Chris finally found him a truck that he wanted. He has been looking for weeks. We had to sell the jeep because of Bailey's allergies. Him and convertibles just do not mix. He has found the perfect truck though. It is a Dodge 4x4 quad cab and can finally haul a camper!!! Yay!!! So now we will be on the lookout for one of those! Hope that everyone has a wonderful week. I will upload pics from the trip soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

2009-07-01T17:04:00.006-05:00

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!

Bailey is 6 years old!!!!

Wow how the time flies by. It seems like only yesterday! You are such a big boy and getting ready for the first grade! We weren't even sure that you would get to go to school this time last year and you have exceeded all expectations. You are one strong little boy and we love you so much!!!

July 2, 2009

Tagged by Amy Eaton to do this also

ABC's of ME

A - Age: 28

B - Bed size: Full (it leaves no room for invaders in the middle of the night....hahaha)

C - Chore you hate: Emptying dishwasher

D - Dogs names: JOhn Bailey Hyder Fish

E - Essential start to your day item: cold horizon organic fat free milk and veggie sausage

F- Favorite color: black and white

G - Gold or Silver: silver

H - Height: 5ft 3 inches

I - Instruments you play: some piano(very little), flute, piccolo, some sax

J - Job title: full time momma

K - Kids: 2 (kirsten and bailey)

L - Living arrangements: own our 3rd home

M - Mom's name: Patricia (patty)

N - Nicknames: I was sparky and LULU in school

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: none

P - Pet Peeve: people leaving cabinets open and pee in a toilet

Q - Quote from a movie: "Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss."- Benjamin Button

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings:1 bro (clint)

T - Time you wake up: 7am

U - Underwear: yes thank you..bikini

V - Vegetable you dislike: like them all (love eggplant parm.)

W - What makes you run late: Not usually late (i keep my clocks fast)

X- X-ray's you've had: chest and foot

Y - Yummy food you make: Shrimp Boil, pasta salad w/ feta, mandarin salad

Z- Zoo animal:I agree with Amy...i love monkeys...big and little

Thanks Amy!

I tag patty boyd and Laura Vandiford

New Recipe is a hit!!

2009-06-19T12:33:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I went to my neighbors house for a Pampered Chef party. At the party they made this recipe and Kirsten loved it. Last night, before I hit the gym ,I thought that it looked quick and easy. I whipped it up in no time and it was GOOD!! If you don't have the covered baker, be sure to do it in the oven. A regular, uncovered baker will not work. In this case set your oven to 350 and cook about 30-45 min until bubbly. Everything is pre-cooked so you just need to warm it.

Ingredients

¼ cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese

2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1 medium onion (about 2/3 cup chopped)

1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce

12 (6-in.) corn tortillas

3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken

Additional chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

Directions:1. Chop cilantro with Chef's Knife. Place cream cheese in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30-45 seconds or until very soft. Add cilantro and 1 1/2 cups of the Monterey Jack cheese; mix well using Small Mix 'N Scraper(R). Chop onion using Food Chopper; set aside. Spread 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce over bottom of Deep Covered Baker. Pour remaining enchilada sauce into Stainless (4-qt.) Mixing Bowl; set aside.

2. To assemble lasagna, using Sauté Tongs, dip four tortillas into enchilada sauce in mixing bowl and arrange over sauce in baker overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese mixture over tortillas using Small Scoop; spread using Small Spreader. Top with 1 cup of the chicken and one-third of the onion. Repeat layers one time. Dip remaining four tortillas into sauce and arrange over second layer. Top with remaining chicken and onion. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese.

3. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 12-15 minutes or until center is hot. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chopped cilantro. Cut into squares using Utility Knife; serve using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 390, Total Fat 22 g, Saturated Fat 10 g, Cholesterol 105 mg, Carbohydrate 25 g, Protein 26 g, Sodium 710 mg, Fiber 2 gCook's Tip: This recipe can be assembled up to one night in advance. Prepare through Step 2; cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, let baker stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 21-23 minutes or until hot. Proceed as recipe directs.Shopping List:1 small bunch fresh cilantro leaves1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese1 medium onion1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce12 (6-in.) corn tortillas3 cups diced or shredded cooked chickenAdditional chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

Cook's Tip: Spicy enchilada sauce can be used for more kick.

Giveaway!!!

2009-06-10T21:02:00.001-05:00

Check out the button to the side for a link to vintage pearls for a giveaway! Her stuff is cute

How does your garden grow?

2009-06-06T08:42:00.003-05:00

Enjoying a juicy watermelon at Nanny and Poppy's house. The garden is finally coming in. I can't wait!!! I love the fresh foods from it!
Hope everything has been good with you and yours. School is out and summer is here! I am so excited. We have had a yard sale this week and got rid of tons of junk. Kirsten has been at YSI and we have spent several days swimming. Kirsten also had her recital last week and we are glad that is over! Last night was Relay for Life and we had so much fun EATING!!! Fried oreos, strawberries, nachos, you name it!!! YUM!!
Today we go to our pastor's house for a party and tonight we are taking it easy!!! I am ready to relax. Have a great DAY!!!
Recital week was fun but it wore us all out!!!!!!!!

Graduation and Awards Day!!!

2009-05-22T17:24:00.003-05:00

This week was packed! It went by really slowly too. I am glad it is a long weekend and we can do some fun things together. Today when we got out of school, Chris was waiting with the jeep (top down of course) and we took off on a ride. We went around the county and then stopped by the Warren Co. Airport for a picnic. We had chicken salad sandwiches and spinach dip and watched a plane take off. The kids loved it ! This weekend is also GEOWOODSTOCK which we are so excited to be attending. Go HERE for more info.

Here are pics from Graduation and Awards Day this week.

Have a great weekend!!

School is almost out!

2009-05-16T22:16:00.006-05:00

NEWS!!! Bailey is once again fully making white blood cells!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah! OK, on with the other stuff!

A few weeks ago we went to Manchester camping with some friends (Brooklyn, Amy, and Todd). We had a blast. We even had a shrimp boil one night. We can't wait to go again!

School is almost done for the year and we are so excited about summer. However, I am so sad to be leaving Mrs. Beth's room. I secretly have had more fun than him this year and have made a really good friend. We will both miss you next year Mrs. Beth!!! We will sneak down the hall to see you every once in awhile! Here is a picture of his Kindergarten Class. He is in the upper left of the first one with the white shirt on. :)

Bailey's Graduation is also on Tuesday for those of you that I haven't talked to lately....6pm

2009-05-02T21:36:00.002-05:00

My Crazy kids!!!! They sure can pose for a picture!! Sorry it's took me so long...life is crazy. We have had some doctor visits this week and a talent show and working like crazy on Graduation for the kindergarten. Hopefully I will do better in the future...of course that is what I always say!

Still haven't got those Easter pics on here!!!

2009-04-13T20:57:00.004-05:00

Sorry about being so slow. We are busy on Mondays because of little man's treatments. I did want to share a link with you though.Most of you know that we do the "Organic thing". It does get old driving to Whole Foods and I have been finding a few things here and there. Today I went to Toys R' Us with Bailey after his treatment and was pleasantly surprised by their new "market". They have tons of healthy, Organic foods for kids. And...as most of you also know...we love the Horizon Organic Milk and I thought that i would share a bargain. This stuff is about $20 a case for the singles at whole foods. Today at Toys R' Us I got a case for $13....yes $13. If you don't know about it, they are so convenient and way better than juice. They are also sold room temp. so that you don't have to refrigerate them...great for trips or to keep on hand and you don't have to worry about spoilage until it's been opened. Here's a link. HORIZONORGANIC.COM

Also be sure to check out our links to info on WHY ORGANIC????

2009-04-12T21:19:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter!!! I will post pictures later. We have had several dinners and egg hunts to share with everyone. Have a great Monday morning tomorrow and start your week off right!!!

Just Drifting!

2009-04-08T15:03:00.002-05:00

This is where I am today..........In my mind anyways. It somewhere in the Republic of Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Sounds good to me!!!

Bailey is sick today and we are getting ready for taxes, Kirsten's Assembly, and Easter!!! It's always something.

We haven't found out anything on Bailey yet...still waiting on Vandy to tell us something...anything.
I will keep you posted.

Julie

Busy Week!

2009-03-29T23:23:00.003-05:00

There is lots going on as usual. Pioneerette Clinic is this week each day as well as two out of town doctors appointments and Tommy's Surgery(Chris'dad). We also have church and Kirsten and I leave Friday for camp and Chris and Bailey leave for Chattanooga. Whew! It hasn't started yet and I am already worn out.
Please keep Bailey and our family in your prayers as we await our appointment on Thurs. There are some things going on that are very worry some. (did I spell that right???) Anyways, hopefully all will be ok, but we are very scared. Chris' dad is also having a very major surgery on Wed. morning in Nashville on his lungs. They will be removing part of them. (that in itself is scary)
We still are in the same house...not too many lookers. (maybe a couple a week at most...but no major offers.) We haven't really found a place that we just love yet either, so maybe the Lord is waiting on a house just for us. We would really love to move soon while the weather is warmer...I don't really want to move in the middle of the winter next year. That just doesn't sound like fun.
We have been spending some free time geocaching lately(www.geocaching.com). We found a couple and put out 4 new ones. Spare time is very rare though. We had a open house here today and school has kept us pretty busy too! Hopefully we will get to do alot this summer. We already have several trips planned out and are hoping to camp some. If you see any good deals on campers, be sure to let me know...we are looking hard. Hope that everyone has a good week!!! Ps. most of you know that I love organic food...it's just better for you.

“Twelve Foods to Eat Only if They are Organic” (ranked by how likely they are to contain pesticide residue after harvest):

1. Strawberries

2. Red and green bell peppers

3. Spinach

4. Cherries

5. Peaches

6. Nectarines

7. Celery

8. Apples

9. Pears

10. Grapes

11. Raspberries

12. Potatoes

Check out my recipe below too.

Crispy Parm-Crusted Filet-O-Fish and Buttery Bowties with Peas

Serves 4 FROM: RACHAELRAY.COM

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
3 eggs
4 filets of tilapia or sole (6 ounces each)
2 cups breadcrumbs or crushed crackers
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided
1 tablespoon thyme, finely chopped
Zest of 2 lemons, then cut into wedges, divided
1 box bow tie pasta
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
3 tablespoons butter
3 sprigs mint, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Salt and ground pepper
1 head butter lettuce, for garnish

Preparation

Pre-heat oven 250˚F.

Set up three dishes for breading the filets: In the first, combine the flour with the Old Bay. In the second, beat the eggs with a splash of water. In the third, combine the breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup Parmigiano, thyme and lemon zest. Dip each fish filet first in the flour mixture, then the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Place the coated filets on to a sheet try and reserve.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add some salt and drop the pasta. Cook to al dente, according to box directions.

While the pasta is cooking, preheat a large skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons EVOO. Add the onions and garlic to the hot skillet, and cook until tender.

Pre-heat a large skillet with about 4 tablespoons EVOO and sauté the first two fish filets until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Once the first two fish filets, place them in the hot oven to keep warm while you cook up the other two.

While you are cooking up the fish, add the peas and butter to the skillet with the onions and garlic. Ladle a spoonful of some of the pasta cooking liquid to the peas, remove from heat and toss in the mint and parsley.

When the pasta is done, drain it well and return it to the pot it was cooked in. Add the peas and sauce to the cooked bow ties then season with some a bit of salt, pepper and the remaining Parmigiano.

To serve, place 1 or 2 leaves of butter lettuce inside each serving bowl then fill the lettuce cup with some buttery bowtie pasta with peas. Plate the fish on a separate large serving platter with lemon wedges alongside.

A bunch of sickos!!!!!!!!

2009-03-16T12:13:00.003-05:00

We can't seem to get fully well. As soon as one is better, someone else is getting sick. Bailey has had a stomach thing for nearly 5 days now. Poor Kirsten had it last week too. Before that I was down with Bronchitis, strep and then pneumonia. Yikes!!! Thankfully it's Spring Break now and maybe all this stuff will die down. Kirsten spent alot of time in the playroom at making art. I tried to keep her away so that she wouldn't catch it again. She painted suncatchers and made stuff all day.

We had Kirsten's party this weekend and it went well. Chris and Bailey had to stay at home to keep from making everyone sick, so I did it alone. A big thanks to mom and dad for keeping her some and for making her outfit. Thanks also to all our friends and family that always help me so much at the parties. Cleaning up is the hardest part. She had a ball and that's what matters.

I don't think that we will get to go anywhere this week. Work is too hectic for Chris and I am not going to complain (too much). I really wanted to go camping some, but I am just thankful that he is busy at the shop. So many people are struggling right now...we just have to count our blessings. You never know when you will not have any work.

Oh yeah!! The baths will be officially completed this evening. Our friend Todd Barker and his construction company are over here today putting up our crown molding and baseboards that Chris couldn't find time to do. Thanks TODD!!!!!

We are baking!!

2009-03-11T16:03:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is Kirsten Bday at school. Her real one is Sat. We are making Hello Kitty Cupcakes for the party. Take a look!!

Bailey is sick with something and has a fever. He has been asleep since 1 o'clock. Hope it isn't much of anything. We won't make it to church tonight...but Chris will bring Kirsten. Have Fun!!!

So much is going on!

2009-03-01T10:02:00.006-06:00

Sorry about not posting in a while. We have had it tough these past couple of weeks. We have been busy!! I guess, to start off, we are loving eating normal again. I had really missed my cheese!!!! We have been out a couple of times and it is sooo handy to be able to stop and grab something. That is just great! We also had Bailey's first school party since he could eat normal. He was loving the cupcakes.
Kirsten and her daddy attended the Father Daughter Banquet at the Civic Center

This week was boxtops at school so I have spent several hours counting those and trying to recoup from being sick last week. I had a bronchitis/strep thing going on week before last and it turned into pneumonia. I was so sick...I didn't care then if I ever blogged again. :)

Chris and Bailey went last weekend to the Super cross Race in Atlanta, GA. They had a ball. Bailey has now decided he needs a motorcycle for his birthday...we will see! They stayed the night down there with Will and Jamey for a little "guys weekend". I think that I got texted every ten minutes. They had to share it all! LOL

Well, today it is snowing. We got about 4 inches or so last night. It was beautiful this morning when we woke up. Everything is just covered. The kids and Chris are still out in it. I had to get in because the cold hurts me to breathe since the pneumonia. Hope that you guys enjoy all the pictures and thanks for all the calls and emails while I was so sick. Love you all!!!

Julie

P.S.- If anyone needs Girl Scout Cookies...give me a call!!! 205-4219

Some good news!!!

2009-02-09T21:50:00.003-06:00

Well, today was not the best day in the world...but it was pretty good. The doctors didn't really come up with any more answers, but we did tons of tests. Some we got results for today, and some will be back in 2 weeks. Drum Roll Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............................................................................................................................................................................He can have normal FOOD!!!!!!!!!! He is still allergic to the nuts and a bean, but everything else is gone away. He can be a little normal. YAY!!!!
He has already had some brownies...that was his first treat. We are going slowly into this, so not everything at once. We did go to get groceries in Nashville today and we have decided to continue to go there. I like their food. I can tell you one thing though, pizza is on our list of things to eat this week!!!
Even thought that we did get this, we still also have the environmental and inhaled allergens like dust, mold, mildew, trees, grass, dog, cat, etc. This is kind of disappointing because we can't go to other peoples houses much. Most everyone we know has a dog. :(
Hopefully we will get the results pretty soon for the other tests and get some more answers on what is wrong with everything else. Why does he still continue to need this antibiotic every other week??? Why is he in pain??? Where do all the sores come from? Why does he stop breathing in the night???? He is such a mystery. We also had a PUVA treatment today and he did well at all of it. He is so patient. Thanks to all of our friends and family who continue to pray for us everyday and to God for giving us strength and all the blessings big and small. Have a blessed day!!

We had a blast!

2009-02-01T00:53:00.003-06:00

This last week was one of the best we have had. The weather was perfect, the parks were perfect and we were in FLORIDA...what can be better than that? I was so excited to crack out the old flip flops and shorts...it was really nice. Our weather was anywhere from 76-83 degrees all week. WHOO HOO! This week is going to be cold there, so we got lucky!!
The Disney chefs were wonderful too!! We all ate like kings this week an they went to extreme lengths to feed Bailey normal looking food. He felt really special. There is just something about that place that can't be put into words. It's just magical!!!

I had a wonderful birthday and thanks to everyone who sent me messages while we were gone. I can't email you all, so thank you!!!
Kirsten has now decided that she wants to fly back down on her bday now, so we are making plans for a weekend trip for her. You know that her daddy couldn't tell her no.
I will be puting some pics on here too so enjoy!! Wish you could have been there.

3 more days and counting!!

2009-01-20T14:06:00.002-06:00

Disney is almost here and things are all nutsy!! (is that a word??) Anyways, we are so excited and have had the best extended weekend. 5 days off and maybe it will be 6. Still waiting and watching the tv to see if they call it off for tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.
This week has been pretty good we are back on Bailey's zpak and things are looking good for the trip. I took them both today for a hair cut and they look spiffy. Thanks Mrs. Kristi!! We have also been filling out dietary forms for Disney, packing those suitcases, making "special bread", and I AM CAUGHT UP ON LAUNDRY! I have went around and can't find anything else to wash. YA ME!!!
I have prepared as much as possible and pray that it will be a success. We always have to be prepared for everything and I feel like I am taking the whole house. LOL! Please pray for us and I will keep my facebook updated throughout the trip, for some reason I can't get my mobile blogger to set up right. If I do, I will keep you posted on here too!! Love you all and talk to you soon!

Julie

This week is awesome!!

2009-01-10T12:43:00.004-06:00

Here is the Christmas pic I have been lazy.

So far this week has been wonderful! Bailey is doing good, we had a good week at school, and just no complaints in general. It's nice to have weeks like this every now and again. Last night we got together for my grandmothers birthday and had a dinner at our house...nothing major, just good food and of course the Wii. We played for a couple of hours. I also got Chris to put all of the Tv and stuff on our new piece of furniture. It has taken me several weeks to find something... and I finally got it all switched over. Yeah!!
We have been spending to day just organizing and getting things ready for vacation. We are going to be having an open house the week we are gone...so I needed to straighten up cabinets and such. Of course the playroom is a disaster being this close after Christmas...way too much stuff is in there. Tonight we will be starting the packing process for Disney also. It takes us awhile because we have to get back out all the summer things that have been placed up in the space bags and boxes up top. We have really small closets so we can't keep it all out. I am so excited to see my flip flops....not so much excited about the bathing suit. :(
I can't remember if I already have told everyone, but the doctors have now put him on a pro-biotic for his stomach pain and yucky poopy, and Chris and I started researching natural ways to help the immune system and came up with the Flax Seed oil with Omega 3-6-9. We started him on this also...so we don't know if that is what has made him so great this week or what...only time will tell. We have a few appointments this week. Two treatments and one at Vandy...so keep your fingers crossed. Maybe we will be on the road to better...????
I am going to get the kids started on something crafty, then I am headed for the closets...have a great one!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2008-12-30T22:31:00.005-06:00

The kid's had a huge Christmas this year, probably the biggest!!! They are really getting old enough to understand the whole thing. After many rounds of "Happy Birthday Jesus" and tons of rice milk cookies, I am happy to say that it is over!!!!!!! So many places to go and things to cook (that we can't eat may I add). I am just exhausted!! Thankfully we are on break until the 6th, so we can relax a little. We do still have one Christmas to have yet...with my extended family. My cousin Trevor has been in the hospital and is very ill. We are waiting for him to come home and get feeling a little better before we try to do anything with that group. It just wouldn't be right to do anything without him.

Bailey had to miss a couple of treatments because the place where he gets them has been shut down through the holidays. Hopefully we will get a little better when we start back up next Monday. He has really backslid this past week. He had also came off the z-pack and this was just not a good combo. His doctor did call him in something. Just not strong enough, I am afraid. We are working on a plan for Disney and are getting his doctors on it to get him on the strong stuff so that we can make it through the trip with no bad places hopefully. We called Disney and they are going to do their best to accommodate his food needs and we are able to take a big cooler with us with some food for him since it is medically necessary. They are also giving us a Sanitizing for free in our room. They said that the whole room, including air and the mattresses would be sanitized thoroughly before we arrive. The carpet will also be shampooed and the whole bath just bleached down. I can't believe that they go to such extreme lengths just to make little kids have a good time. They are also getting us the microwave along with our fridge which they don't normally do. We are so excited because we were scared to death that with all of this "new" allergy stuff, we wouldn't get to go back for a while. We will be leaving on January 23 and coming back for the 30th. This way we will get both our birthdays there. YAY!!!
They have a huge deal right now. Buy 4 nights and get 3 free. Including your tickets!! They also give you a $200 gift card, photo cert., putt putt cert.,$15 Planet Hollywood Cert., Merch. Cert., Arcade passes, personalized luggage tags, and tons of other freebies. It is really only the price of the tickets with the 3 free. You are basically not paying anything for the room. We will also get two gift cards for our birthdays because this year you get in free on your birthday. Since we are buying a package they will put the value of both days on a gift card!!! Chris' parents gave us money for Christmas and my parents gave Chris a Disney gift card for Christmas so it is paid for except our food if you include the $200 that Disney will give us when we check in and the birthday money from them. Now if I can get my famous $9 flights, we are set. ;) We are truly the epitome of CHEAP!! All of us are on cloud 9.
Well, tomorrow is New Year's Eve!! I hope that you all have tons of fun! We probably won't get to do anything. I really want to go to the church's board game thing, but I am afraid that I can't keep my eyeballs on Bailey. I guess I will watch the ball drop in my pjs. Hope that you all have a nice New Year's Day.

Whew!! Ready or not, Christmas is coming!!!!!!

2008-12-10T16:37:00.003-06:00

The trees are all up and most of the gifts are bought. Now it's just that time of year. I really love Christmas ( if it wasn't for that darn cold weather). We have been toying with the idea of going to New York a few days before Christmas, but it doesn't look like it will happen this year, maybe next time. We just got back from Gatlinburg and we need to save a little money. Disney will be coming up in a few months. I would really like to go back for Chris' and mine birthday....we'll see.
I have been such a lazy blogger lately, so sorry for that. I have got some pics on here from the trip. We went with Wendy, Chad, and little miss Emily. We had a lot of fun and I hope that we didn't drive them crazy. Bailey is back on the zpack and is doing fair. Lots of belly aches and itchies right now. We WILL MAKE IT!!! I keep telling myself this. :)

Papa Killebrew

2008-11-23T18:52:00.003-06:00

This Friday night around 9pm, Chris' Papa Killebrew passed away. We are selfishly sad for ourselves because we will really miss him, but we are also so happy that he has went to be with the Lord and Chris' granny. I truly believe that he was ready. He was a wonderful man and taught his family many things. I hope that Chris will be as good of a father and grandpa as his papa was for his family...........

We love you papa!!

http://www.mcminnvillefuneralhome.com/index.cfm

You may sign the Online Guestbook for the family. It happened so late on Fri. night, a lot of people from out of town didn't know until today.

Light Treatments...

2008-11-15T10:26:00.003-06:00

They seem to be getting a bit better. He is not AS sick after them. He is getting more used to them. They do drain him though. This week was pretty good. We went for our first light treatment of the week on Mon and then again on Thurs. He has been doing this for a couple of weeks. His little places with infection are slowly coming back again. He has been off the antibiotics for a week or so. I guess it's time. Yesterday we had a dentist appointment and he had to have a filling on two teeth. :)
This was kind of scary with him being allergic to so many things. He did great though and was out of there by 9am. Kirsten had already ran the whole thing by him ahead of time and I think that it had kind of scared him. He whined for a couple of hours cause he had bit his lip and one of his teeth was hurting a bit. But he was fine by lunch. He and I rode to Nashville to pick up some Girl Scout things and to get some more groceries from Whole Foods. It's really hard having to buy things there. It's pretty far away when you start running out.
Many of you have asked about the baths and we are getting closer. They should be done, except for the top and bottom trims by this Wed. night. I am so excited. I will definitely get pics on here when they are done. It has taken me 3 weeks to find just the right shower curtains. I never realized how picky I was until this. Usually I have to go just buy whatever is the cheapest and make do. It was fun getting to shop around. :)
Hope that you all get a good rest this weekend.
Julie

What a boring week...

2008-11-05T17:08:00.002-06:00

This week has not been as fun as we had planned. Yesterday there was no school and I was so looking forward to being at home, but we were called to go to Vanderbilt, so off we went. We left just after breakfast and were doing good to be home by 3pm. It was a total wasted day off. By the time we got home, it was time for dinner.
As for the visit, we really didn't learn much, but we met a new doctor. She was really nice and had some ideas and so did Dr. Smith. They are sending him to one more immunologist there at Vandy before they send us off to Colorado. This means that we aren't going for 2-3 more months. We have to wait to see this one. He only sees patients one day a week and the rest of the time he only does research. I guess that is a good thing in a way. But on the other hand. We have to wait until winter to see him. :( They definitely think that this is something immunological....they just have no idea what. All of his tests come back like he is super healthy and we all know that this isn't the case. His body obviously cannot fight any infections on it's own. So somethings up with that. Anyways, they did some tests to send with us when we go, but we won't know anything for awhile. We are still doing the Light things so I will keep you posted on that. They make him feel really bad and I don't know how we are going to make it through 10 weeks of this. He has always been so strong, I guess I shouldn't doubt him this time...I am SURE he will do fine. I guess that's all for now. We are about to gobble up dinner and head to church. Happy hump day!

Just Treats!!

2008-11-01T14:12:00.007-05:00

So much has been going on this week...not much time to write. So sorry!!! We had Fall Festival last Friday night and all week was crazy. We still have construction going on at the house, We had boxtops due this week and I had to count all 4166 of them, church, Book Character Day and of course, last night was Halloween.

Busy, Busy, Busy. I did take lots of pictures this week since I didn't blog that much, so check em' out.

The Fall Festival was fun!!! We did most of the activities and of course, we all helped with the set up. Kirsten and her Buddies were in Wed.'s paper. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PAPER go to PAGE 15

In the middle of the week we decided that we would make some natural soap (that Bailey could use of course) for all of our friends for Halloween instead of candy. Everyone loved it...it was really cute, and the kids had a ball.

We also started our light treatments this week. They are actually called PUVA light treatments...you can read about them here . He also went on a z-pack to see if it will be a little stronger and maybe stay in his system a little longer. So far, these treatments make him itch really bad and his sores look really funny. We don't know if it is in a good way or in a bad way yet. It 's just really strange looking. Keep your finger's crossed.

For Book Character Day at school Bailey was Mickey from Fantasia and took his little Golden Book. Kirsten dressed up like Sharpay from High School Musical when she goes to the Golf Course. She was stylin of course.

He doesn't look really happy in the pictures does he??? He had a good time..I just think that he was tired. Below is Kirsten and her Best friend Brooklyn. (She is dressed up as Gabriella from the same book)

This is Travis and Paula's kids (Tylan and Parker Smith) They were adorable in their little Toy Story costumes. We decided since Kirsten and Bailey couldn't Trick or Treat our friends and family, we just had a little party and had everyone Trick or Treat us. I served hotdogs and organic chili and homemade sweet tea for all our guests. I enjoyed seeing everyone...it was nice.

Here is Kirsten with Emily Cantrell (Chad and Wendy's) and Alexis Aramburo. Alexis was in Kindergarten with Kirsten and came with her mom and brother. I never got him in a picture...sorry. Oh yeah, please keep little Emily in your prayers. She is having some medical things going on and we are all worried about her. I will let you know more Monday when they go back to the hospital for more tests.

This is Katlyn Morgan and Kirsten. Katlyn was Hannah Montana!!! She made a good one too! That's all for this week. Got to get back to the kids!!! Hope you all have a great weekend.

I won something...

2008-10-21T19:43:00.004-05:00

The Smile Award!!!

Holly Hodges has so sweetly given me this award and I am so honored! Kirsten and her daughter Saylor were in preschool together when they were 4 and she is also in our Girl Scout troop. She is really sweet and always is thinking of others. She is really good to email and check on our little Bailey. Thanks Holly for the award!!!

These are the rules:
1. The recipient must link back the the awards creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.
Characteristics for the Smile Award:
Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)
Must love one another
Must make mistakes
Must learn from others
Must be a positive contributor to blog world
Must love life
Must love kids

Now I would like to nominate the following:
1. Melody Hyder (my sister-in-law and friend....loves her kids and family and her church)

2. Kim Cantrell (mel's sister and she is also a teacher and anyone who is a teacher full time is good with me!!!!!!! I couldn't do it all the time.)

3. Holly Sizemore (She is a teacher also and is really kind hearted)

Is it luck or what???

2008-10-15T21:14:00.003-05:00

I don't know what you want to call it, but I know ours is bad. Some people say that there is no such thing as being lucky or unlucky, but the worst things seem to weasel there way into our family. Maybe just the devil trying to shake us??? I am mad and I ain't budging!!!

Let's start off with the fact that Bailey is still sick....we are working on 3 years of this. We are still waiting to go to Colorado, still waiting for test results and still waiting for the day to "have a good day" with him. He feels horrible 99% of the time.

Number 2 on my list of the BAD is the fact that every car we buy seems to have some type of problem. The Land Rover didn't really have a Problem, it was just costly to fix anything that may have happened with the thing. You had to buy premium gas and you couldn't find anyone to even change a tire on it. Thankfully a couple of weeks ago we traded to a nice Nissan Murano. good miles, awesome shape...not a scratch. Last night on the way home from taking the kids to the Pumpkin patch in Sparta, it dies and leaves us stranded on the side of the road. Forcing my dad to come and pick me and the kids up and leave Chris behind to ride home with the Tow truck which had to carry our car back to Nashville. It is going to be a couple of days on that...but we are stretched with the money right now.

The reason for THIS is we are having our newly remodeled bath ripped out right now. There was a small weak spot in the floor and we thought that we should fix it before we sold it. Well....when they got in there, there had been a leak somewhere and you can figure out the rest. Insurance is covering alot of it. But there are some things that it won't. We have to pick up the tab for that. :) However if you are in the market for a new house. I will soon have one with completely new flooring and new baths..... :)

With all this being said, we are having to stay with my parents for several days. That in itself is hard. (no offense mom and dad) You know Chris likes to be in his underwear occasionally and we don't really eat the same things with Bailey being sick...I just feel like it's hard to be comfortable. I don't have my kitchen and my stuff. I am living out of stuff sitting in the bonus room floor. You can't bring the whole house with you, but I feel horrible for needing to bum this and that. I will owe them big time.

This week is also Fall Break. I had lots of crafts that I was planning on doing with the kids for Halloween and I also thought that we might actually go somewhere. We had talked about going camping. With all of this and the fact that his whole family is in Florida and wanted us to take care of their animals and both left work for him to do at the shop...this isn't happening. He has had to work all week and all of my plans went down the drain.

Ok....calm down....I know! I am totally going to blow a fuse. I just need a break. I am getting no sleep with Bailey (we are up several times a night). There are 3 of us in a full bed and one on the couch, Bailey is on tons of medicine and is cranky.....and the hummus is going to kill us soon. I would almost eat a whole pizza if I could just get to one. I would love to just go out to eat for a night with my husband. We can't seem to get anyone to watch Bailey and Kirsten for a night. We always used to go here and there on the weekends for a little break. Now everyone is just scared of him. They are afraid that something might happen while we are gone. At least Chris is away from us a little while out of the day. I am still having to go with him to school and so I am with him absolutely 24-7.

I know that all of this probably comes out so mean...I don't mean for it to. I just don't have any friends to vent to, so this is how I get it out. You should get that warm fuzzy feeling cause everyone reading this is my friend who can lend an ear. Thanks for being out there. I do know that God has a plan for us and maybe our "streak" will end sometime soon. Have a great one. I will let everyone know how our visit goes in the morning. We are leaving at 5am to head to Vanderbilt for an important meeting. Goodnight.

Camping Kind of Weekend!

2008-10-05T16:47:00.002-05:00

This weekend Kirsten and I was off to camp Tubb in Rock Island for a little rustic camping with our girl scout troop. We had a ball (except when trying to sleep) and look forward to the next one. Me and Mel did decide that it is easier to just camp with our troop. This one was all or most of the Warren Co. troops. So there were lots of girls and lots of work to be done. The girls had a ball and we are now in Fall camping mode. We are thinking of going with the family the 3rd weekend of the month. Next weekend we have a wedding. My cousin Tyler will be getting married. Kirsten is handing out the bubbles and I will be serving. We definitely can't miss that!!

Bailey is in one of his better spells, he just came off the anti-biotic, so he will probably get a little worse this week. When he stays on them he is in pretty good shape, he just can't do it forever though. We will also have to take another sample to M'boro this week. Maybe I can collect that stool tomorrow. It's like he knows when we need it. :)

Hope that everyone had a great weekend. Talk to you all soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen.....We have BREAD!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-01T08:20:00.004-05:00

Yes, this is a monumental week in the Hyder house. We have BREAD! I got the recipe down just right and the bread machine is on a continual cycle. I have been making loaf after loaf. Everyone is so excited. We ate a whole loaf when it came out on Sunday with jam. Organic Raspberry, of course! I have an awesome recipe if you have a machine out there.

7 1/2 ounces water

4 tablespoons rice milk

1 tsp salt

1tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons of EVOO

You can add in flax or whatever if you want more grains. It is a good white bread with a nice crispy crust. Bailey is in heaven. I even made him a sandwich. We haven't had one since the first of May. Yes... that is 5 months!!!!!!!! Of course, all that he can have is his special chicken, ham or bacon sandwiches, but we take what we can get. He is really missing the miracle whip and cheese.

In my "spare" time (I say that jokingly) I have been working on a puzzle to relieve a little stress. I got me a really hard Disney one. It is Mickey and is made up of tiny pieces of different movies to make a "mosaic" effect. It was about 1050 pieces. I thought that it would last me a couple of weeks, but I got it done this week. ( Do you think that I am too Stressed???) Anyways, I think that I may frame it and hang it in the Disney room/Office. It is about 19x26. What do ya think?

Without all of that stuff...Girl Scouts is getting started up for the year and we have been so busy. We have finally got the registration and ordering process over with...so maybe I can breathe for a day. We are taking 15 camping this weekend in tents...yes tents. That will be interesting. We have been camping a lot, but usually in cabins. :)

We are also awaiting the rest of Bailey's results on the "samples" that I took last week. I know that some at least one came back positive. They haven't told me to what yet. We have to take them another sample today or tomorrow. We also have church tonight and 2 dentist appointments. Yikes!!!

Yall have a good day!!!!

This week is flying by.....

2008-09-23T18:51:00.003-05:00

Sorry about not writing for a few days. We have been way too busy. I have been to Nashville 4 or 5 times in the past week. We are worn out!!!!! Different appointments, stool samples, and the new infection are to blame. I think that I spent almost $150 in gas going back and forth and still had an empty tank at the end of the week. To remedy part of that, I traded vehicles. I got a Nissan that gets 22+ mpg. Much better than the 12 I was getting with the Land Rover. It also can use regular gasoline, unlike the Land Rover. It required Premium. It should save us alot in maintenence bills too.

Our infection this time is scary because it came so quickly after coming off of the anti-biotics the other day. Each time that we use antibiotics, we increase the risks of MRSA again. We are thankfully watching his body take care of the most of it and are waiting to see if it can clear up on it's own. This would be a good start. We have the medicine filled and are waiting it out. So far he doesn't have a fever or anything. Just feels really bad. The puss is drying up and scabbing over. I kept him home today and we went all day without bandages to get some air on them. We tried this weekend but he was much too itchy. Today went good. I held him alot and there was no scratching. I hated to keep him out...but it is what he needed today.
He is really loving school. I know that I keep writing that, but he really does. He mostly loves his teacher!!! I think that it helps keep his mind off of things a bit.

I would love to just stay home for awhile. Things get too crazy in life sometimes and we need a breather. Me and Chris would love to just hang out at the house and not have anywhere to go. No Girl Scouts, PTO, Reading Nights, Ballgames, Dance, Dr. Appointments, Hair Appointments, errands to run....you know the drill. I love my life and the Lord is surely good to us, but sometimes we get too busy to have fun and enjoy the nice things that he gives us. Each day is such and blessing and I want a minute to enjoy my gift. It's like handing a kid a gift and then telling them to put it down and hurry off to go somewhere..."we can play with it later". I am feeling like the little kid and I want it NOW!!!!!!!

Not much else to write about...just the same ole thing. Thanks for listening to me rant and rave abit. Hope that you all have a great one!

Infection is going away!!

2008-09-06T21:56:00.003-05:00

Thankfully, Bailey's infection is not that bad. The medicine is finally starting to help some. I have noticed his wrist is drying up and not so raw. His other places are still pretty raw though. I know his feet heal the slowest. He is still hurting at night and his skin stings pretty bad....but it is getting better. He only got up 2 times last night...which is a record lately.
We went to the fair tonight to see the singing at the grandstands...he loves to walk around the village, so we did that too!! Kirsten went to walk around with her friend and her mom for a little while and get a good snack. She was craving some fair food. :) If you are in town, swing by and see my scrapbook pages in the craft sections. I didn't enter as much this year...I seem to have my hands full.
Hopefully he will go back to school Monday now that this is under control. We are going to stay home tomorrow and clean up the yard some...they are showing the house again Monday. Of course...we have to play on the monkey bars too. He stays on those things now that he has figured them out. We can't get him to come in. Kirsten just plays ladder ball in the yard. Oh well, that's what its all about. Have a great weekend. We have so far!!!!!!!!

Happy Labor Day...Summer is almost over!!!!

2008-09-02T09:21:00.001-05:00

I am sad to see the summer go, but I like the fall too. We had the whole family over last night for a Labor Day BBQ. I am not really good at that sort of thing...but I did my best. It was really good. The kids got to play in the yard and we had some yummy food.
Bailey is going today to have his arm and leg looked at. We have some infection coming on and we have to get meds. He is not happy...but he knows that it makes it better. He already takes so many...he doesn't like to add any more. We don't want to end up like last Nov. though. That was the worst he has ever been. That MRSA isn't something to play around with. After taking 6 months to beat it...we aren't taking any chances. His doctor just called me back and we will go at 2pm.
I hope that everyone has a nice Tuesday....4 day work weeks are always nice.

ps. Due to several "unwanted" comments, I will now close the comments to members of the page only. If you would like to be set up to leave comments, please email me at juliehyder@hotmail.com I do not at all want to come off as mean...but I am getting several strangers leaving comments when they dont really know our situation. At this point...we have taken the advice of our doctors and are following through with our/their plan to get our son better as quickly as they know how. This website was created for our family to keep in touch with our friends and other family who like to keep tabs on us...but it is not realistic to call everyday. Everyone is busy. If needed, we may change our site later that only those who are members will be able to view the site. Thanks for understanding and thanks to the many people that have left wonderful and uplifting comments in the past.

The Fair is coming...

2008-08-29T16:04:00.000-05:00

I always get so excited this time of year. I just love the fair...and the fall. I am looking forward to it for the kids sake. They are excited to. My grandmother has already got them some tickets. We pasted them to the fridge and they look at them every time they come into the kitchen. Bailey is excited to be feeling a little better than last year at this time. I always enter the young homemakers entries for food and crafts too. I don't win much, but it is fun.
This week has been good. No major incidents, just a normal week. I did go and talk to one of his Doctors who is helping us with the trip to Colorado to the Children's Hospital there. He is trying to get some medical scholarships to help pay for all the expenses. He says that it can be very costly. We already owe Vanderbilt a ton, so this may help. He is also working on building a case with our insurance to make sure that they will cover their part. It will be out of our network...so there is alot that they can deny. We will probably also have some repeat tests which they might deny. Anyways, we are moving forward. He has come off the mega dosage of steroid and going back down to the lower dosage, which is safer. The only thing is, he usually starts opening back up when we go down in the dosages. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
School is going great...they are both loving it now. Bailey loves Mrs. Beth and Kirsten is having a blast in her class. Let's hope that we can keep them happy. :)
Chris and I have decided to sell the Land Rover and get a 90's model Drivable camper. I am going to just buy me a small car. Camping is really the only way to do much in the summer with Bailey and the prices are reasonable now that the season is almost over for this year. I have found one on ebay I like. You people let me know if you know of one around here. With one of those, we won't have to worry about the catastrophe like that happened this summer in Florida. We will have our own place to stay, and we can go no matter how he is feeling. We will be equipped with a fridge/stove/oven and a shower. I think that this is the best. We are also selling our timeshare if anyone is interested.
That's it for now...we are going to Cookeville tonight with some friends. Hope that you all have a great weekend.

2008-08-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

Things change around our house daily. That is why I have slacked in my writing on here. I get tired of telling everyone how good we are doing...only to log on the next day and tell of the catastrophe. Anywho, this week has been aweful. I don't understand a bit of it. Bailey woke up late Sunday night not breathing and (thank the LORD) we were awake and noticed. We had to rush him to the hospital only to be left to stand there holding a child who is gagging and can't get a breathe for 20 minutes. When they did get to him....even though there was no one else there....it had slowed up and his breathing was improving on its own. They listened to his chest and said that he had croup. Now this didn't really set well with me because our hospital probably couldn't get a license to be a doggy hospital. So Monday morning...I carried him to MMC in M'boro. They determined that he must have had another anaphylactic reaction to something. Why does this keep happening????? He has suffered enough. We don't know what it could be from. We came straight home from church and gave him a bath and put him to bed. He wasn't around anything. I don't understand. We are on the way to getting enough epinephrine to make it m'boro next time. (his doctors suggestion) Please keep him in your prayers and pray that God could help him feel a little piece of relief from all of this. I hurt for him so badly..........beyond words.

Kirsten is loving the 2nd grade...she is really big now. I am staying most of the day with Bailey, so I go eat with here during her lunch period. She is my sweetie. She is really good. Bailey is liking school more than I expected. Yesterday was his first full day with the entire class present, and he had to miss....so today was like the first. They have been doing the phase in thing for the past 2 weeks. He begged to stay longer, but I don't think that my nerves could handle it. I am scared the entire time that we are there.

Hope that you all have a great week. We are trying. Hey!!! and come to REVIVAL at Cornerstone!!!!!

FLORIDA

2008-08-02T21:33:00.000-05:00

This week we are in Florida. It's been a hard one. Traveling with Bailey is hard anyways, but we had some really bad luck. We looked for a very nice (and expensive) place to stay so that we would be certain of cleanliness and the amenities that we needed. We went to the Majestic Beach Towers and they are beautiful. However, their housekeeping is not good at all and the room that was supposed to be "pet free" had definitely had dogs in it. Bailey on the second day turned into a huge ball of sores and itchy-ness. He was miserable. There wasn't a way to get our money back and everything down there was booked. I cleaned and vacuumed and called his doctor to double up on some of his meds. He also had to go on an antibiotic and back on daily steroids. He wasn't able to swim but a few days, we had to go to the jetties for that. There had been storms and the waves didn't subside the whole time we were there. They had out double red flags, even though the weather was beautiful. We tried to stay outside on the beaches most of the time to keep him out of the room. 2 people just down the road drowned while we were there...I can't imagine.

Of course those of you who know us know that we still had a good time and Chris is now actively pursuing any job that he can in the panhandle. He does it every time. :) We are staying the night near Birmingham tonight. We decided to stop because there were tornadoes in the area. Yes...I said tornadoes. Please pray that we make it home in one piece. All we need now is our car to catch on fire or something. Disaster chases us!!!

Busy, Busy Week!!

2008-07-20T23:09:00.000-05:00

First...please take time to watch this...then on with the blog. This is Bailey's Little Friend Andy Dunn. He is battling cancer.......
(Bailey is in it on the little playset) Please say a prayer for Andy today...God is good. He is doing wonders with Andy!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yLYnkrtsng

This week is already off to a busy start. Today was the set up day for VBS at church. It is going to be awesome. If someone is reading and I haven't invited your kids, please excuse me and this is your invitation. Go to our church website for directions and bring as many as you want. http://www.cornerstonemcminnville.com/

This week we also have to go to Vanderbilt for the nutritionist visit. We need to make sure that Bailey is getting everything that he needs. We are still working really hard at this and he is doing well. I have still been cooking like crazy and I feel sort of like a scientist. I am always experimenting here in the kitchen. Anyways...after the Doctor we have to go to the Whole Foods store (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/) again and get this baby some more yummy foods. He is eating it all up! Deana and Mike were nice enough to bring us some stuff during the week and it was enough to tide him over. He is loving the Rice cream. (Ice cream made from Rice) Thanks guys for picking us up some!!!!! I am really in love with this grocery store. They have really good stuff. Of course there are still alot of things there that he can't have....lots of reading of the labels.

On Saturday, we are leaving for the beach. We are headed down to the gulf with Chris' family. We are staying at the Majestic Towers. I am pretty excited. I can't wait to get Bailey back in that ocean. It feels really good to his skin. The doctors told us last time that it is really good for him. Something about the PH being close to your own PH or something. I don't know! :) Kirsten is my little brown biscuit right now. She is going to be looking like an Indian or something by the time that we get back. She is already so dark. I am JEALOUS!!! Of course I will be taking my laptop, we have wireless in the condo, so I can update everyone. I am looking forward to relaxing a little. I have bought a new book to read and I will probably post some on it too. It is about saving money everyday. You all know I am miss cheap!!! ( I like to save money whenever I can so that I can go to the beach alot!!)

School is starting in only 3 weeks. Kirsten is pumped...Bailey...not so much! She is ready because she has two good friends in her class and she knows what to expect. Bailey is scared to death. I believe that I will be staying with him alot and maybe helping out his and Kirsten's teachers. I will also eat lunch with him to make sure that he doesn't get a hold of anything that he can't have. I will be packing his food, but I am afraid that someone will give him something that he can't have. Looks like I am starting school with them. So much for the days all alone..huh? Maybe next year. I just want him to be ok and semi-normal. By-the-way, someone asked what all he was allergic to again. It is on a earlier post, but I will tell you most of the bad ones. **Chocolate, pnuts, walnuts, pecans, almond, brazil nuts,oats, strawberries, soy(soy lechitin, soybean oil, vegetable oil, soy protein), apples, pears, pineapples, orris root, ginger, black pepper, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, onions, milk (sour cream, butter, margarine, caramel colorings, dressings, cheeses), white grapes, lobster, & turkey**** These are the ones that we know, however, we have learned that they change from year to year. Some that were on his test last year were neg. and now they were positive. Thank goodness for our Epi-pen JR. It makes me feel a little better. I thinkt that I would die though if I had to stab him with it. If you are not familiar, click on the word and it will tell you all about it. For those that have been asking me what we are doing......

Number 1: LOTS OF PRAYER.....

Number 2: A diet free of all of the above foods.......

Number 3: Steroid every other day......

Number 4: Claritin and Singulair everyday (along with multivitamin).....

Number 5: Numerous cool showers (sometimes 4 or 5) a day washing with Melaleuca's GOLD BAR (http://www.melaleuca.com/) or Cetaphil's Antibacterial Bar (http://www.cetaphil.com/)......

Number 6: Immediately after shower... Freederm HC (http://www.freederm.com/)....

Number 7: Coating of Vaseline to seal the moisture and Freederm in....

Number 8: A couple of "wet wraps" a week. After the shower and coating of lotion and Vaseline, soak PJ's, socks, and gloves in hot water and put on him. Wrap him like a taco in warm towels, and wrap in dry blankets. He has to stay for an hour or two. This makes his skin heal so quickly. At one point we were doing these 3 times a day (yes, that is 6 hours a day wrapped up) Thank goodness for Netflix. :)

Pray some more and start again.

Maybe this can help someone else who may be suffering from this horrible skin disease. Thanks for reading and as always...have a great week.

House for Sale!!!

2008-07-14T00:06:00.000-05:00

Please someone buy my house!! Just joking, but if you know someone, tell them. HEHE! I am ready to move. I love my house, but we bought it with the idea to live in it a couple of years and sell. We are ready to now and need a new chapter in our lives. Something to move on to. To get this past couple of years behind us. It has been amazing how much we have learned about each other and how strong we are as a family, but I am ready to get him better and move on. Our home has provided us with something to focus on to fix it up, now that it is finished, there's nothing much left to do. We still have a bid in on the other one....my dream home. We should hear something this week. It was a foreclosure, so there is lots of paper work and red tape. Keep your fingers crossed that if that is the house that God has in mind for us, it will all work out. If not, I know he has a better one for us out there, we just haven't found it.

You know what I had tonight as a snack? A Wendy's frosty!!!! Kirsten and Bailey are staying with my parents, and Chris and I went out for a frosty. We are still starving to death. :)

Poor Bailey is hanging in there, and he really knows his stuff. He has been offered 2 things today that he knew he couldn't have, and he rejected them on his own. I am very proud. He is learning. We also went this weekend to the Whole Foods Market in Franklin and got him lots of food that he can have. He got some RiceCream (ice cream with no milk or soy), some special bread (with no milk or soy), and lots of cookies and snacks. Today I even made pizza with unlevened crusts, organic tomatoes, and rice cheese. He loved it. I will be going here often. I think that we will all be healthier from this. Food today is so disgusting if you really look at what you are eating. We are pretty much on a all organic, no soy, no preservative diet right now. The list of the things that we can't have around is growing. We had been getting the poor thing Dr. Pepper. Those of you who know us know that we have never bought soda. However, we have found out through tedious research online that dark colas have caramel color, which is derived from milk products. Bummer for him. :( He has also had a reaction to strawberries, which were negative on his allergy test. It is safe to say that he IS allergic to them. The HIVES spoke for themselves. :)

Please pray for my babies, they are doing so well with all of this stuff. They rarely complain. I think that I do enough for the both of them. Have a great week!!!! See ya at the pool!!!

Some Relief

2008-07-07T18:35:00.000-05:00

(Bailey's special cake- non-dairy with rice milk and special icing and yes, the balls were edible)

This week has been good!! Happy 4th to everyone if I didn't get to see you. We had a good one. Bailey turned 5 and he also had a party last Thursday. The theme was batman of course, and he loved it!! He came home with so much stuff. It's like Christmas!! His favorite was the sword he got from O'nanny and the Ipod from me and Chris. We put all his favorite movies on there and he is in heaven.
Thankfully, the steroid is working some and keeping him looking pretty good. We went for a check up today and she thinks that he is growing well. The poor little thing is small, but in the right proportions. His doctor said that it is the best that she has saw him in a long time. We are going to a dietitian at Vanderbilt on the 24th to help us fix him some food to eat. It is very difficult to feed him right now. We are all starving to death. For lunch today we had some sliced ham...no bread, some hummus and some tortilla chips from the world market in M'boro. That is the first chips other than fritos that we have found. Of course you can only get them there. We were down there for his visit and we can't eat out. I am not used to packing the food up yet, so that was our only choice. My soy products are not existent in the house anymore either because Bailey loves them, and he can't have them. We should all be loosing weight. :)
Several people have been asking what all he is on right now, because he looks good. For you all:
Claritin (everyday)
Singulair (everyday)
Steroid (every other day)
Benedryl (as needed)
Cetaphil anti bacterial soap (every day-multiple times)
No shampoo- just the above soap in his hair
Lubriderm sensitive
Freederm HC (http://www.freederm.com/)

It is actually the most simplest regimen yet, but it is working for now. Things change quickly around here. VBS is coming up and so is another vacation!! Yahhhh!! Check out our church website to see about the awesome VBS for this year. It is Group's power lab http://www.cornerstonemcminnville.com/

It is amazing how the good LORD works. Most of you know I was so scared and worried about being home and not having my income while we were going through all of this. Chris has been working his tail off, and got some huge jobs in the shop and making things so much easier. God knows when you need him! I am so thankful for that. He always provides for us!!!!!!!!

Cooking All the Time

2008-06-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

This week has been centered around one task!! COOKING!!!! I am so tired of my kitchen right now, I could scream. I have been spending around 6 hours a day in there. I am not liking it. Bailey is needing everything made from scratch...and that is very difficult. I am having to invent certain foods that he can't have out of other ingredients. I am exhausted. (to say the least)
He is doing pretty good though. He's hanging in there. He is back on the steroid, but for some reason or another, it isn't working this time. I am really scared. Hopefully by the weekend it will kick in. He has been on it for 5 days now with no results really. Usually we can tell by the next day. Please keep his little friend in your prayers. Andy is going through the worst of his trials right now and has lost some of his hearing due to the chemo. visit him at www.caringbridge.org/visit/andydunn
We are having a pretty good week just being at home, but I would much rather be in the pool. We only have went swimming once this week and it was too painful for Bailey. Maybe tomorrow. Have a great week everyone.

Sorry for the Delay!!!

2008-06-17T09:50:00.000-05:00

We have been home a couple of weeks now and we are doing good. We did have to go back to Vanderbilt when we got home from Florida for one more round of steroid. He finished that a couple of days ago and we are doing really good. We went last week and saw his allergist/immunologist in Franklin for some further and more invasive allergy testing than what they had done before. They found 23 different foods that he is allergic to. Unfortunately, we have to try to stay away from them all. Some were pretty severe too. There was a couple that he was tested for last year that were negative then, and positive now.

Off the top of my head...I will try to remember....I don't have the list in here.

pineapples

pears

apples

3 different nuts...including p-nuts

milk

turkey

onions

orris root

black pepper

white potatoes

sweet potatoes

green peas

lobster

I can't remember the rest...I have it pasted to the fridge!!!!! There are several others. The main ones that really hurt are potatoes, milk and onion. These are in most everything. No French Fries, No Chips, No baked goods, No pizza, No spaghetti, I can't even find a ketchup that doesn't have onions in it.

I am really hoping that this is it. Maybe this is what has been causing all this!!! He has always eaten these things and never broke out in hives or anything. I am hoping that this was his body's way of just freaking out from all of the allergens. Keep your fingers crossed. He has no active blisters right now and is doing wonderful. The only thing that we are doing differently is the diet and a new soap. I don't think that it is the soap...we have tried hundreds.

As for everyone else...we are doing good. We had so much fun at Disney. It was nice to be normal for a week. We came home and found a really cool house that we wanted...so we have a bid in on it, and we have listed ours for sale. We also have fixed every little thing in ours ...even the baths. Those of you who know me will be so proud. Our baths were very ugly. That is about it. Other than that...we are just swimming everyday!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope that you all have a great week. Thanks for all the emails and prayers.

Having Fun in Florida!

2008-05-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

We flew down to Orlando this week and Bailey is doing really good. He is seeming to heal really quickly. I expect to have to take him back down to Vanderbilt next week, maybe for another round of steroids. We went to Clearwater today near Tampa and swam in the ocean. That was everyone's favorite. It is so beautiful there. It makes Destin and PCB look like nothing. The Lifeguard said that the water is 82 degrees. Wow!! It felt great. Kirsten and Bailey were both like little fish. The have swam all day. They love it!!! We are going to try to discover some new beaches tomorrow and maybe head to Disney on Tues. We are going to go to the parks 4 days as of right now. They are tickled to death. Mickey is on their little minds constantly. Deana and Mike are using one of our weeks too, so we will be meeting up with them along the way and maybe catching some rides together. I will try to post the story of our flight down here in the next day or so.....it was a doozy!! Love you all!!!

Back Home at Last!

2008-05-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

Well, sorry for all of you that have patiently been awaiting answers. I have been so busy.
They found lots of different things that he has contact allergies to. Mostly antibiotic creams such as neosporin, polysporin, bacitracin, etc. And then something called bibucane which is in some health and beauty items and after sun items. However, they didn't find anything that would have caused or be driving our current problem. :( We left feeling really empty-handed. We know have some useful info on things that we didn't know about, but no way to really stop this. They did put him on a mega dose of steroid and I mean MEGA. It has him a bit emotional, but he is doing really good. This warm Spring weather is doing him good. They said that with the huge dose of steroid and going to Florida next week. It may get it tolerable for him. I am trying to convince Chris that we should move to Florida. :) He did put a sign in the yard last night, but I don't think that Florida is in his sights just yet. Probably back to country. Who knows with us....right?
Saturday I spent all day making a costume for the recital that is Saturday night. Come and see Kirsten dance in her ballet and jazz performance. She is so excited.
Yesterday we went to Bailey's little friend Andy's house. He is 5 now and battling cancer. When I say battling, I mean whooping!! He has done so well, it amazes the doctors. Please pray for him...he will be having a stem cell transplant this week I believe. His website is www.caringbridge.org/visit/andydunn !

Strips are off!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

Well, today the strips came off and it was really painful for him. It took all three of us to keep him on the table. The tape killed him because he is so sensitive, and then they needed to mark him up with a black light pen for one of the tests Friday, and it really burned. He was screaming till it broke my heart.

Here is a picture of how they marked where each strip was....

and here is a picture of afterwards.

Normally you don't get any results until Friday because it takes your body a while to react. However, we already know 2 things that showed up really quick. One is an allergy to a medicine that he takes sometimes, and the other is an item that is in health and beauty products. I can't pronounce it, but they will have a list for us Fri. We will go in then and see if there are any other reactions, and then they will use the black light for another skin test. At least now we know that this trip was worth it, we did find out something anyways. I am thankful for that.

As for what all we did today, we went by to see Thomas Edison's house and it was fairly disappointing. We did take him to see Speed Racer this afternoon as a reward for a job well done. The hard part is behind him now, just gotta hang around and let them look more...no more ouchies.

One last thing...Please say an extra prayer for my mom tonight. She has evidently been having heart problems and not telling anyone. She called me today to let me know that she will be going to Williamson Medical Center tomorrow for an arteriogram and possibly stints. I pray that everything goes ok, and I feel bad that I can't be there for her. Hope that you all have a great night...we are getting ready to watch some tv and just rest.

Having a little fun...

2008-05-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

~Bailey has found his favorite wall in Louisville tonight!!~
~we had a little of the make-your-own-sundae at Joe's Crab Shack~
~Kirsten was all for it when they mentioned the artist plate~
~We crossed over the Ohio River into Indiana for a trip to get postcards~

We have been trying to get out and about today to get Bailey's mind off of the patches. I think that it was fairly successful. We went to Mall St. Matthews this morning and stayed nearly 5 hours...He rode in the little car buggy that we rented and loved it...he never asked to leave. We have also done some walking downtown where we are staying and went to a little pet shop so that he could see a tarantula. He thought that he wanted one...thankfully after seeing one, he doesn't really want one at our house just yet. :)

This is a really neat town full of lots of history. We could stay a couple of weeks if we weren't going to Disney. That is the main reason that we are being really cheap and not doing a whole lot of expensive things while we are here. We have had to scrape up the money for Disney, and this wasn't really planned until after we had made the Disney arrangements. Thankfully, we have a timeshare, so our room is already paid for there....and we have some tickets from the last time we went. I also got us a flight on spirit.com for $9 there and back....I am not joking. I am Mrs. Cheap!!!! I just want the kids to be normal for a week and get to be kids, not a patient...or in Kirsten's case, a little nurse. They have both sacrificed a whole lot this last year and a half. I want to give them a little back. I will let everyone know how the appointment goes tomorrow afternoon. Have a good one.

We're Here!!

2008-05-12T15:32:00.001-05:00

~they covered his entire back with patches that contain known contact allergens~they were made him specifically to cover things that vanderbilt couldn't do~

~applying the patches~
~like the beverly hillbillies~

Finally....we are here! We are having big hopes for this place to find out the answers. We got checked in at the Doctor's office early, and they were able to take us on in. They got right down to business and got his back covered with all the patches. He was really cooperative and left smiling. He has said a couple times that it burns...but he is laying on the bed here at the hotel watching cartoons. He thinks that it is like heaven here. Our hotel is absolutely beautiful and they have cable...a luxury that we haven't had in his lifetime. :)

I guess a week of it will keep his mind off of the patches and the stuff that is under there...maybe it won't rot his mind too quickly. Tomorrow we have the day off if all goes well, and we will go back on Wed morning to get these checked on. We only have to go back tomorrow if he has some major reaction. (keep your fingers crossed)

I think that we are going to do some geocaching downtown tonight. It is really nice and shady in the downtown are because of all of the nice big buildings. Kari (brother Josh's wife) gave me a list of places to go, so we will probably check some of those out too. I will keep posting pictures throughout the trip and giving updates daily. Hope you all have a wonderful day...keep praying that the Lord has sent us here for help!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Early Mother's Day!!

Thought that I would go ahead...we are so busy getting ready for Louisville. Thanks for all the prayers! I am hoping that this will be the right thing for Bailey. He is not doing to well right now. He is starting back up and is breaking out pretty bad. I am hoping that this will be the last of tests like this. We will be down there for 5 days. (Mon-Fri)

He is a little nervous about all of this, but I have tried assuring him that they are not going to do anything really bad. Of course, he doesn't believe me. :) He will be a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't be too bad, unless he has major reactions to the materials in the tests. This is one of those things where they introduce you to things that you are probably allergic to, and wait to see what happens. I guess that is the best way to know for sure...but it has the potential to make him hurt pretty bad. His skin is really fragile right now. Thanks again for all the prayers, we will keep you updated. I will be taking the laptop with me. Talk to you all soon!!!!!!!!

Not much happening....We are thankful!

2008-05-02T23:42:00.000-05:00

This week has been really smooth. Bailey has improved somewhat over last week. I have been stripping him down and taking him for walks in the sun most of the day. I think that he has had fun being out and about. We have also swang on the swing set so much....My arm muscles are hurting. :)
We had a wonderful time last weekend with the Girl Scout camp out last weekend at Camp Nee Kah Nah. We made it with no problems...Thankfully. We have a really nice bunch of girls.
Kirsten is doing really good too. She is a little reading machine. She is reading constantly at school and at home. This is a really good thing...I think it helps her use her imagination a little more. She has always been a little too mature. :) Kirsten is going to be going with us now to Kentucky....which is only 9 more days...YAH! She was really sad about not getting to go, so I talked to her teacher and principal and they say that it will be fine. We will just take lots of her work to give her something to do.
Please say an extra prayer tonight for little Andy Dunn. He is one of Bailey's friends that is really sick if you haven't ever read this before. He was airlifted tonight back down to Vanderbilt..You can visit his page at www.caringbridge.com/visit/andydunn He needs prayers so badly.

Thank the Lord today for all that you have. Stop and enjoy things. Live like there is no tomorrow!!!!

The days get more and more interesting....

2008-04-22T22:49:00.000-05:00

The Hyder's have never been considered a "normal" bunch...but our days are never boring...there is always something brewing over here!!! Yesterday I was getting Bailey up from a 2 hour nap, and trying to prepare him for his doctor appointment, when he had a sudden allergic reaction to what we still have no idea what caused it. He puffed up and had red marks all over him like he had been beat with something and was screaming for me to do something...he couldn't breathe and was afraid that he was dying. I have never been so scared in my life!!!!!!!!! Kayla was over here visiting and I called my mom to come over. We rushed him down to M'boro with blinkers going somewhere near 90. :)
His breathing got better, but he had whelps all over him...they have no idea what could have caused it, normally a reaction like that is instant with food, drink, medicine, etc. He had been asleep for almost 2 hours, so who knows. We now have 2 epi-pens to carry with us in case this ever happens again. We just stab him in the leg and it injects medicine to stop it. It is just killing me. I have never saw fear like that in my child's eyes. Keep him in your prayers. I will be trying to get him in this week with his allergist to make sure that we are ok to wait till Louisville. As for the regular reason that I had made this appointment yesterday, he did also have the yeast infection on his skin as I suspected. We have had this a couple times before from wearing the casts so long. Thankfully, we caught it early enough that he will only need a seven-day course of meds to clear it up.
As for everyone else...we are hanging in here...trying to remain sain. Kirsten got her report card and it's official...she may be that smartest in the family!! Just kidding...I like to brag though. She has read 198 books on her reading list this year and is top of her class with all 100 averages. She also has tons of extra credit that she earns each week, but they are not allowed to put that on there anymore....I am proud!!!
My Girl Scout troop is going camping this weekend and also canoeing...extra prayers for me!!
Have a good one!!

Whew!

2008-04-21T10:10:00.001-05:00

Why can't he get a little relief? I think that Bailey has another yeast infection from wearing these casts on his arms and legs. He is so miserable and developed the same rash as last time. I will be taking him back down today to see if they can get him started on some medicine to help out. Being that itchy on top of his normal itchy is miserable!
The doctor that we will be seeing in Louisville wants his back as clear as possible when we go down there in 3 weeks. I have to try to get this cleared up because alot of the rash is on the back, chest, neck, and in the bends of his arms and legs. Keep him in your prayers!
Hope that everyone has a good day!! I will let you know what we find out.

Sorry it's been a few days.....

2008-04-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

Lots of things have been going on!! {to say the least}
I am now unemployed...I was laid off last week! Hopefully we will get called back in the fall. They said that it was temporary. Just not any work. I have to admit...days of sitting doing nothing are kind of boring. I know that Bailey needs me too, so that makes it harder. We are still going to Louisville in May...not too much longer. I am trying to keep him as well as possible. My worst fear is that all of these tests will make him so much worse. In a way, it will be good, cause we will know more about it...but how long will the effects of the testing make him sick??????? Who knows????? I've not really had time for much lately, trying to sell some of the kids stuff on Ebay, girl scouts, boxtops promotion for school, church....you know the routine. I am just exhausted. Of course it's tax season, so we just wrote a check for a ton of money to hand over to the government. On top of everything else....just not a good week. Hope that you all are ok this week....have a good one!!!!!!!!

Nickel

2008-04-08T13:38:00.000-05:00

Well, Bailey is miserable today. He had a food yesterday that was very high in Nickel. He was up most of the night fussing about hurting and he is oozing on his little sores. I really think that it is this Nickel thing that he tested negative for at Vanderbilt. He has been doing really good...until yesterday. They did a nickel skin test...but I think that it is because he is ingesting it. Unfortunately, we have to wait until May to find out for sure, but it's just a hunch. There are tons of foods that we have not been giving him due to the high nickel content. {Chocolate, Oatmeal, Nuts, canned foods, and Spagehetti O's are for some reason absolutely LOADED}

Please pray for Bailey...I hate begging for prayer, but he is so miserable. I can't stand to watch him hurt. :(

Kirsten did well yesterday. She was great at school and she went for a walk last night after supper. We walked all the way to the fountain up town. {Bailey of course rode in the wagon} It was nice to have good evening weather to get out of the house. I am so tired of watching TV. We also cooked out last night and ate on the patio. It was yummy. I just love those smells. I can't wait for summer.

I got to see John Mark Buice Sun...he is too cute. I can't wait to get my hands on him. It's been awhile since we have had really little ones in the nursery at church. I am so excited. I keep meaning to make it over there to see them, but someone is always sick. Gotta wait till everyone is better.

Disney is not coming fast enough. I need a vacation now. I have too many things in my head right now...just need some relief!!! Thankfully, nothing much is going on right now, just working this week. Next week we have tons of appointments, though most of them are in Murfreesboro. That is a good thing. I would love to go Geocaching now that the weather is warm. It is really hard to get out and hike and stuff when it is 20 degrees outside. Maybe I can get Deana, Mike and the boys out more now that it is nice outside. Deana is not much on the cold. :) Oh yeah, please be in prayer for their son, Aaron. He was taken to the hospital last night with chest pain. He is only 9...so this is scary for them. He has been having pains for about a week, and they will be seeing a cardiologist in Cookeville tomorrow afternoon. His heart is doing something funny and beating way too fast.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone has a nice day...it's almost time to head to ballet!

Tax Time is Here!

2008-04-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

I hate the week that Taxes are due!!! It makes me freak out basically. We are self-employed {Chris is} so we have to pay in each year, instead of getting that healthy refund that I am tired of hearing about. BLAH!!
This week is off to a pretty good start. Kirsten is better...she was so sick. Thursday they actually wanted her in the hospital. She was victim to a virus...and a nasty one at that. She was severely dehydrated, but is recovering fully. :)
Bailey is doing pretty good. He {so far} hasn't caught the virus and was able to play outside alot this weekend. We worked in the flowers {I worked and he played with the worms}, we mowed the yard { I mowed and he swang on the swing set} and we went fishing {we fished and he played in the mud}. It was nice to be outside a bit.
Not much longer till vacation....I need it now!!!!!!!!!
Hope you all have a nice day!!

Pray for us!

2008-03-31T12:34:00.000-05:00

Lots of things going on this week. Please keep us in your prayers. God is working right now and things are changing. :) I will keep you posted on this...I promise.

Bailey has had a pretty good weekend. He is tolerable anyways. Kirsten is good too. She is so excited about Thursday night. She is going to be in a little Fashion Show in Smithville. Studio Six Limited holds a fashion show every year, and I have thought about doing it before, but we are finally going to let her do it. I am not big on pageants and teaching them that it's all about beauty, so the fashion show appealed to me more. We don't have to buy clothes or anything. They even do her hair and stuff. It's a whole lot cheaper!!!!!! :) Click here to read about the show by STUDIO SIX LIMITED- You are all more than welcome to come and watch. She is going to be adorable!!! Have a good week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures....

2008-03-26T09:03:00.000-05:00

Everyone has been asking me what kind of pictures we are having done this spring...I have no idea. I really cherish my pictures that we had done last year...just hanging out, but I don't know what we are going to do yet. I would like something really neat....and different. Last year Stephanie Edens did them, and they were wonderful. Click here to see our slideshow.
I want something like that...just us being us.
I don't think that I ever even handed out the school pictures this year...they just weren't that good. If anyone has any ideas...let me know!!!

2008-03-25T07:50:00.000-05:00

{Ready, Set, GO!!!}
{Easter Egg Hunt}

Hope that everyone is having a good week. I am purely exhausted. I was home again with Bailey...these sleepless nights are killing me. A BIT OF GOOD NEWS!!...All of the doctors have finally had their pow-wow, and all agree to send us to Louisville, KY. The place that we have to go to is about 4.5 hours, but I can handle that. I would drive across the world at this point. I am hoping that they can help us. As of right now, we are looking at a May 12th date for going. We will have to stay that week. We may get to come home on Tues...we aren't sure yet. Anyways, they are talking to the doctors and schedulers and trying to come up with a way to work him in sometime in April, so keep your fingers crossed for us. They thought that there might be someone that they could move around. Other than that, not much has happened this week. I will keep you posted.....
...oh, one more thing....I forgot.....Kari and Josh Buice had there baby boy last Fri....they are naming him John Mark {I hope that is correct} maybe I will get a picture soon.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-19T08:18:00.000-05:00

Hope that everyone has a nice Easter weekend. I am so excited...I love Easter!!! Kirsten has the cutest dress and my little man has a cute little sweater vest. I love all of the Easter clothes and love to make pictures of the egg hunts and church stuff. And of course, the fact that Easter is proof that Christ is ALIVE!!!

I had to stay home yesterday, as most of you know. Bailey is doing ok, but we can't seem to get over this last flare. We tried to play outside yesterday, but I almost think that he may have to wear a mask to be out for long periods. We did plant a couple of flowers in the kids flower beds. We also went yesterday to hunt down more of the cast material. Just to wrap him one time is $40....yikes. I have been cutting up socks to make long gloves so that the material all can stay half way clean. I can't re-wrap them just because they might get dirty.

Kirsten is having a boring Spring Break...I feel sorry for her. I wanted her to have a fun one, and she thought that she was staying with her nanny most of it, and we were wrong. She was very disappointed. Oh well. Life just happens that way most of the time. She is having to do something different everyday.

No one seems to want to keep Bailey because they are scared of him getting hurt, or needing help throughout the day. I am trying to hang on to my job as best as I can. I love it out there and I feel like I need it right now with all of the bills. {medical} Kayla has been the best help. She would stay with him everyday if she could, but she has a new job {now that she is over her surgery} and she is having to support herself. She has gotten a small apartment and is needing more money than {obviously} I can provide. Bailey loves being with her and doesn't get nervous or scared while she is there. Which is a big deal. She takes really good care of him. Thankfully, she is working on Tues-Sat at Merle Norman, so she can still watch him on Mondays, but that leaves the whole rest of the week open with no one.

Bailey is also set to register for Kindergarten in April. I am going to go on and register him, but I am not sure that I really want to. I just don't know if he will be able to do it. Mentally, he was ready this year, but physically, he just isn't ready yet....we are not that much better. Me and Chris have discussed Home Schooling him, but who knows just yet. I am hoping to hear from Dr. Smith anytime about the trip to possibly Louisville. He was supposed to have called me on Monday, but I haven't heard anything. I emailed again yesterday, and I called again this morning. They were going to give him the message. PLEASE PRAY HE CALLS SOON!!! I may loose my sanity.

One that note.............................Have a great day...week....and Easter!!! I will keep you posted. Here is something good to read today...... Matthew 28:1-10

Louisville???? OR BUST!

2008-03-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

Well,

Our doctor in Nashville had told us that it would be a good idea to go to Dr. Tate in Franklin {our allergist and immunologist} one more time to see what he might could do for us. Then, if he couldn't do much more, we may be headed to a Dr. in Louisville, KY. They say that he is an amazing Dr., so I am excited! I called and talked to Dr. Tate{the allergist and immunologist} and he is recommending that we go on. He is not really that comfortable with a case as complicated as Bailey's. He said that he had sent much less complicated cases on to other Doctors. So I should be finding out something on Mon. from Dr. Smith on getting transferred up there. Hopefully this will be the answer to our prayers. I can't watch him suffer much more.

This past week has been a living "you know what". To watch him moan and groan in his sleep is horrible. I know that most of you can remember those sleepless nights when your little ones were sick, and you feel so scared. You don't know if you should go to the hospital, or go to walmart to get something or what....We feel this way every night. We stay up almost all night watching him and listening to him grind his little teeth and moan. It is horrible to watch your child suffer like this. A child that has good days and then mysteriously has bad ones...nothing that you can control. It is hurting my heart. I am a ball of nerves and would love to just stay in bed one day and cry. I can't even explain the feeling. He is so independent and to watch him at night turn into almost an infant is scary. You have to cuddle and rock and sooth, just like he was a newborn.

{This picture was taken awhile back...I have been trying not to make so many pictures...he is tired of it. He has casts on both legs and feet and both arms right now.}

He is still in the casts {I am thinking that this was week 9} and they are so hard to keep clean. He wants to get out and play in the day and that almost always leads to dirt and sand. I have made covers for the casts so that I can wash those, but the dirt seems to still go through. He is hard to convince to stay inside. The casts are so expensive...you can't afford to change them much more than every week. They are around $32 to put new ones on. I told him that he can't keep dirtying them up like old underwear. :)

Kirsten is 7 today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah...she is so excited. We are hoping to take her to the Drive in tonight to see "Horton Hears a Who". She loves the drive in and tonight is opening night! Pray for us that the rain doesn't stay...maybe it will move on. Her actual party is tomorrow afternoon for all of the family and her little friends. Hope to see most of you there.

{This was taken last night at our Apex Girls Night Out...Kirsten loves Deana!}

That's all for now...have a nice Rainy Day!!!!!

Back to Nashville We GO!

2008-03-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

I talked to Bailey's Doctor and let him know how he was doing. Over the past day or two, he has developed a rash, he has sores around his mouth again, and he has blisters full of fluid covering his hands. He is in shear pain! We talked about the medicines that he is on right now, and the doctor said that he would work him in today. He said that the one can be a cause for concern. {whatever that means} So we are back on our way to Nashville after lunch. They told me to discontinue his medicines for now, till we can get up there. I will keep you all posted.

Please keep Andy on your minds this week. He is back for Chemo and will probably be pretty sick. { www.caringbridge.com/visit/andydunn }

Too Good to Be True!

2008-03-07T09:23:00.000-06:00

One step forward, two steps back. That is how it seems to go. Bailey was doing wonderful, but started getting "itchy" over the weekend. He scratched at his knees a bit while he was at my parents on Sun., and guess what????? We probably have a staph infection again. He is back on antibiotics and on a stronger medicine to help him have some relief at night. It is helping him sleep better and not be in so much pain. It is a horrible medicine with many side-effects, so I am not very happy about him being on it. I have contacted some of his other doctors to get their opinions. As a bit of good news, I have contacted our allergist and immunologist and we will be seeing them on the 25th to start further testing to find our trigger. They are going to try to figure out how to stop all of this. {if possible}
I want you to keep praying for Bailey's little friend Andy. He is so sick. Most of you have seen the emails that I have sent around for Andy, but if you haven't, click HERE and you can visit his page. They go to Westwood together. {when they are able to go. Bailey hasn't been since Oct.}
He needs all of the prayers he can get. He will start the next round of chemo on Mon. {they had to move it back because of some other tests} They have given him 25% chance of making it through this round.......All we can do is pray for this little boy. If you would like to send him a card {he absolutely loves them!} Please send to:

Andy Dunn

2200 Children's Way

Nashville, TN 37235

Still Doing Good!

2008-02-27T11:34:00.000-06:00

We are still so excited. Bailey is still doing really good. I spoke with some of his doctors yesterday, and they are just thrilled. I will take him back up to Vanderbilt sometime next week. I am not sure of the date just yet. He is by no means all healed up, but he is fast on his way. We have a few places that still need some work, but for the most part, he is great.

We are trying to plan a vacation with the kids for this summer and try to get things as "normal" as possible. I know that we are far from normal, but we are trying. Kirsten's Bday is coming up quick and I have invitations ready to mail. Her birthday party will be on the 15th of March at our church. She has changed from one theme to the next. She is so indecisive. I don't know where she gets it???? First she was wanting the Girly Pirates, then Hannah Montana. Now we are thinking of the High School Musical. I have to just mail the invites and let her not think anymore. She is killing me.!!! Usually we throw a pretty big party, but we are scaling down this year. Just can't do it so fancy anymore. :)

Today the kids are out for a snow day!! {yeah for them!! I am at work} They stayed with their nanny and poppy today. They were both tickled to death. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty, but I can almost bet that there will not be any school. It can start raining hard and they call it off. Kirsten will be crushed. Her very first Field Trip was supposed to be tomorrow. They were going to see Charlotte's Web. She was so excited. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

Hope that everyone has a nice week!!

A neat place to take the kids!

2008-02-21T10:22:00.000-06:00

We were geocaching a couple of weeks ago and stumbled on the neatest place. There is an older couple in Woodbury that has what I like to call an "exotic zoo" at their house. We saw everything from chickens and goats, to zebras and a llama. The coordinates to this place are N 35° 46.081 W 086° 12.943 {for those of you who don't have a GPS, first of all, you need one to go GEOCACHING, second, here is the real address-3466 Cripple Creek Road Readyville, TN.} ....you should definately go. It is free to get in and there are donation buckets hanging around if you want to donate to their cause. They have almost every animal and they are good christian people that LOVE kids.

To read an article that can tell you a little more, visit THIS website!!

Doing a little better...

2008-02-19T11:57:00.000-06:00

Things are slowly getting better, one day at a time. Bailey's new medicine is working pretty good, so he is feeling a little better. It obviously was a yeast infection {most likely from the wet casts that he has been wearing for 5 weeks} that was really making him so itchy. We were baffled at what was aggrivating him so much, because we really thought that the MRSA was gone for once. I am glad that it was something so simple. We still are keeping him on the strict diet, and watching him very closely. This morning he was able to go with Chris to finally have his Valentine's Day party at school. {For those of you who don't live here, we had snow days and winter break, so they are just now going back today.} Chris said that he seemed to have a lot of fun. I am so thankful for that. At least one day of feeling sort of normal. He is with his nanny now. She is going to watch him until I get done at work, and with Kirsten's party this afternoon.

I took him yesterday for a checkup with his pediatrician in M'boro. She said that he was the best that she had seen him yet, and that his "mental" state was right on target too. They were afraid that all of this could be taking a serious toll on his mood and everything. She said that he was doing exceptional for a 4yr old that has had to go through what he has over the past year. She said that he was very mature for his age in understanding what was going on. All of the anxiety and emotions are completely normal. She didn't seem to think that they were anything that could hinder his healing process. Thank goodness! {That's one less thing to have to worry about}

Kirsten is doing really good. She is reading constantly and loves to sew now. My mom has been giving her little lessons, she even has her own sewing machine now too. Pray for us that she doesn't sew her finger to it. :)

Some of the long days spent at home are being spent on the house now. We have been working on patching some of the walls, installing new faucets, and a few new light fixtures. I have also touched up some of the walls that Bailey had "whacked" here and there. It feels good to get some of these things accomplished. Kirsten and I also planted a few pansies on Saturday to put in pots on the porch. We are really excited on Spring coming our way. Can't wait!!!

Hope that everyone has a wonderful week and I will post pictures on her tomorrow probably. GOD BLESS!

Thought of the Day...

2008-02-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

Maybe.....

Maybe . . . We were supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that, when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

Maybe . . . When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but, often times, we look so long at the closed door that we don't even see the new one which has been opened for us.

Maybe . . . It is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.

Maybe . . . The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Maybe . . The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; after all, you can't go on successfully in life until you let go of your past mistakes, failures and heartaches.

Maybe . . . You should dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you dream of, and want to do.

Maybe . . . There are moments in life when you miss someone -- a parent, a spouse, a love, a friend, a child -- so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real, so that once they are around you appreciate them more.

Maybe . . . The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had. Maybe ... You should always try to put yourself in their shoes. If you feel that something could hurt you, it probably will hurt the other person, too.

Maybe ... you should do something nice for someone every single day, even if it is simply to leave them alone.

Maybe . . . giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but, if it doesn't, be content that it grew in yours.

Maybe . . . Happiness waits for all those who cry, all those who hurt, all those who have searched, and all those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of all the people who have touched their lives.

Maybe... You shouldn't go for looks; they can deceive; don't go for wealth; even that fades away! Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile :-)

Maybe . . You should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, an d enough hope to make you happy.

Maybe . . . You should try to live your life to the fullest because when you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling but when you die, you can be the one who is smiling and everyone around you crying.

Maybe. . .. You should share this with those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life, to those who can and do make you smile when you really need it, to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down, and to all those whom you want to know that you appreciate them and their Friendship.

Maybe..

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-14T12:04:00.001-06:00

See my pretty flowers!! Chris and the kids sent them to me at work! How sweet.

Anyways, I took Bailey to the Dr. again yesterday, and they have put him on some other medicines to get rid of this rash. He is doing better overall, and they are still wanting to hold off on anymore tests just yet. I begged, believe me.

His little friend Andy is home for the weekend and is doing a little better. His chemo will start up again next week if his White Blood Count is high enough. You can keep up with little Andy at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andydunn

This has been one exciting week. I also had my car broken into at Church on Monday night. I was there for Girl Scouts and they got my purse {that was in the floorboard}, my wallet, and my GIFT CARDS {they were in my not-so-secret compartment}. I have been more distraught over the gift cards than anything. We have been saving them up to redo our bath for at least a year. They didn't get any money out of the accounts, but they did charge to the Chase Card. All of the accounts have been frozen and we are in the process of getting all new ones. What a mess. I could have swore that I locked my door. I almost always do, but either a door wasn't shut good or my clicker just didn't work. Who knows? If it can happen to anyone, it will me for sure!

I am hoping that my weekend will be a little better. Pray for us!! :)

My friend Dana sent this to me. I thought these were really great.

Think about the times you did these.
Natural Highs
Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one. It Does Make You Feel Good, especially the thought at the end of #44.
1. Falling in love.

2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4 No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.

9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.

10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry ).
12 A bubble bath.
13 Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15. The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19. **Midnight** phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an Inside joke with FRIENDS
24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
26. Your first kiss (the very first).
27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28. Playing with a new puppy.
29. Having someone play with your hair.
30. Sweet dreams.
31. Hot chocolate.
32. Road trips with friends.
33. Swinging on swings.
34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
35. Making chocolate chip cookies.
36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
37. Holding hands with someone you care about.
38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or
bad) never change.
39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
40. Watching the sunrise.
41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
42. Knowing that somebody misses you
43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
44. **Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think. **

*Lord, keep Your arm around my shoulder And Your hand over my mouth .

Hope that everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day! {cuddle with your sweeties!}

Just a quick Update!

2008-02-11T13:29:00.000-06:00

Bailey is doing pretty good so far this week. We are going to be taking off his casts and put new ones on tonight. He is doing really well on the new medicines and isn't scratching quite as much. I can't wait until he can do normal things again. Chris and I went to Gatlinburg over the weekend for a much-needed break. It did help our stress levels quite a bit, but it also made me wish that we could go back with the kids. This is the first year of both of their lives that they have not gotten to go in Jan/Feb to the Smokies. Maybe soon though. Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

No MRSA in his blood!!

2008-02-07T13:26:00.000-06:00

Yeah! We got the cultures back and he does not have it in his blood. I am so excited. He is feeling pretty good. He was actually able to wear clothes last night and go to church. This was a first in a very long time. Hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. I probably won't post anything tomorrow...the day is full!!!

A Piece of Good Advice

2008-02-06T10:40:00.000-06:00

My mom shared this with me and I thought that I would pass it on. I don't know the person that wrote it to begin with personally, but I am glad that they did. What a great {and cheap} way to clean. Anyone who knows me knows how hard I have been cleaning lately. I am so excited!!

3% peroxide

This was written by Becky Ransey of Indiana

'I would like to tell you of the benefits of that plain little old bottle of 3% peroxide you can get for under $1.00 at any drug store. My husband has been in the medical field for over 36 years, and most doctors don't tell you about peroxide, or they would lose thousands of dollars.'

1. Take one capful (the little white cap that comes with the bottle) and hold in your mouth for 10 m inutes daily, then spit it out. (I do it when I bathe) No more canker sores and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes. Use it instead of mouthwash. (Small print says mouth wash and gargle right on the bottle)

2. Let your tooth brushes soak in a cup of 'Peroxide' to keep them free of germs.

3. Clean your counters, table tops with peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell. Simply put a little on your dishrag when you wipe, or spray it on the counters.

4. After rinsing off your wooden cutting board, pour peroxide on it to kill salmonella and other bacteria.

5. I had fungus on my feet for years - until I sprayed a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water on them (especially the toes) every night and let dry.

6. Soak any infections or cuts in 3% peroxide for five to ten minutes several times a day. My husband has seen gangrene that would not heal with any medicine, but was healed by soaking in peroxide.

7. Fill a spray bottl e with a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water and keep it in every bathroom to disinfect without harming your septic system like bleach or most other disinfectants will.

8. Tilt your head back and spray into nostrils with your 50/50 mixture whenever you have a cold, or plugged sinuses. It will bubble and help to kill the bacteria. Hold for a few minutes then blow your nose into a tissue.

9. If you have a terrible toothache and cannot get to a dentist right away, put a capful of 3% peroxide into your mouth and hold it for ten minutes several times a day. The pain will lessen greatly.

10. And of course, if you like a natural look to your hair, spray the 50/50 solution on your wet hair after a shower and comb it through. You will not have the peroxide burnt blonde hair like the hair dye packages, but more natural highlights if your hair is a light brown, reddish, or dirty blonde. It also lightens gradually so it's not a drastic change.

11. Put half a bottle of peroxide in your bath to help rid boils, fungus, or other skin infections. 12. You can also add a cup of peroxide instead of bleach to a load of whites in your laundry to whiten them. If there is blood on clothing, pour directly on the soiled spot. Let it sit for a minute, then rub it and rinse with cold water. Repeat if necessary.

13. I use peroxide to clean my mirrors with, and there is no smearing which is why I love it so much for this.

I could go on and on.

It is a little brown bottle no home should be without!

With prices of most necessities rising, I'm glad there's a way to save tons of money in such a simple, healthy manner.

Send on to others who might need to know the benefits of 3% peroxide.

Click HERE to read more about Hydrogen Peroxide

Can it get much worse?

2008-02-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

Most of you already know, but Kirsten's little eardrum busted this weekend, and I had to carry her down to M'boro. Her doctors saw her yesterday{on Sun}, and said that it was a normal thing. It could have been caused by something during or after her surgery. She has been on antibiotics and so they aren't sure how it happened. She has been pretty healthy, no bad cold or anything. Who knows with our luck!
Bailey is doing a little better than he was on Fri. He has thrown up a couple of times though, so I am going to have to call his doctors. It has been totally random, several days in between throwing up, so it doesn't seem to be a virus. Once he throws up, he is fine. Maybe it is just something about the medicines that he is on.
Tommorrow we will get to take the casts off at home and replace them. I can't wait to see underneath them. It is kind of exciting! I hope that he looks better like he did last week. I can't wait until he doesn't have to wear them at all. He says that he wants to go swimming. I just pray that he can.
I wish that Chris and I could get a break, just for awhile. He and I are so exhausted, and very frustrated. I heard a wonderful quote though. It gave me some peace.-"When life gets too hard to stand on your feet....kneel". How wonderful!! I know that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, but I am afraid that I am getting close. If anyone knows of an extra bed at the looney bin, let me know. :) Just joking!!! Have a great Monday!

Still not heard a thing

2008-02-01T08:04:00.000-06:00

I called yesterday afternoon, and they still don't have any results on Bailey's Blood Cultures. Hopefully today we will know something.

He is feeling pretty good this morning and was excited to go to his nanny's house. He has really been enjoying staying there.{she has been letting him get outside some, in his footed pj's of course, and play in the dirt on the days that it is kind of warm.} I can't wait until next Tuesday to get those casts off again and see if we are still making progress. Hopefully, we will be able to set up some of the Patch tests to find out what his triggers are. He is still extremely itchy, but Dr. Smith's "candle" technique is working fairly well at making him aware of his scratching. He has a "reward", in this case a Power Ranger Suit and accessories. If he is good all day and evening, his candle gets to burn the whole time. If we catch him trying to rub on something or scratch through the pj's, he has to blow the candle out. Once his candle has burned all the way down, he gets his reward. This is to try to make his rubbing/scratching more concious instead of habit. He can do alot of damage by doing either one. Even if he is not touching the skin. This way if he thinks about what he is doing, he knows that there is a horrible consequence...he won't become that wonderful red power ranger. The doctor said that he is too young to understand that scratching makes it worse. So in this case, scratching leaves you with no reward. I honestly didn't think that it would make a difference, but it seems to.

I will keep you updated!

Also, please let me know if there are any ladies out there that would like to go to the Couples Gatlinburg retreat as a single....Dana Evans' husband can't go, and she would like to still go and find a roommate to split the cost. We also have some bunks in the upstairs game room area that are available at $40 for the entire weekend. These are open for men or women. Click here to see the cabin and the bunks available. Dana's room is a private room with ajoining bath, but the bunks in the gameroom are in the open so to speak. You would share a bath with the bedroom upstairs. We have a wonderful time up there! We have a couple of lessons, play board games, card games, go out to eat, and of course shop!!! {or geocache like me and chris and gary} Everyone is able to do what they please, you are not required to do anything that you don't want to. Please help us fill these spots asap. The dates are next weekend {FEB 9-10th}

Bailey's Update

2008-01-30T08:48:00.000-06:00

So sorry that I didn't update the page yesterday. As most of you know, Bailey got very sick Monday. I had to leave with him at 1:30pm to head to Vanderbilt. He had come down with a fever and Tylenol wasn't helping. He was between 102 and 104 all day and we were scared to death. Sometimes when you have MRSA and a fever like that, it can mean that the bug is in your bloodstream. We stopped on the way to Vanderbilt at the pediatrician and they checked him out to make sure that he was stable. He had been out of it in the car and his little head was just bobbing. As he laid on that big ole' table, all we could do was pray. I was terrified! He was lying there just shaking as they checked him out. They called Vanderbilt and had them waiting for us when we arrived. I think that when they asked if we felt comfortable driving was the worst part. I thought to myself, should we not feel comfortable?? Is there a reason that you are asking this?? When they got him in the ER, they checked everything, put in an IV and took some blood for blood cultures. Not long after, his temp started coming down and he was getting back to normal. He was talking like good old Bailey and was wanting something to eat. They couldn't find the source of the fever, no virus or anything, so they let us go. We made it home around 1 or so in the a.m. We should hear from the Blood cultures today or in the morning. They take a few days to grow any bacteria. Anyways, yesterday we went back to Vanderbilt and got his little casts off. They did have to put them back on, but they were able to put them on a little smaller, not so huge. He was glad of that. They also gave us what we will need for next week. We will take them off next Tuesday and put them on ourselves. {to try to save a trip up there} We do feel more than qualified by now to do this. If only I could get my degree for a physician on what I know, I could be one tomorrow I think. Sometimes I wonder if I know more than them because of all of the research that I have been doing. {just joking}
So hopefully, as long as he isn't sicker, he may get to skip a trip to Nashville for the first time in forever!!! Yeah!
Yesterday was also my birthday....Happy Birthday to me! I thought that the whole day had just been horrible. On the way home I was talking about picking up some pizza or something. Anything to keep from getting back out. {Usually Tuesday is pizza night} When we got home, the house smelled wonderful. I thought who could be cooking? It was Kirsten and Shirley {my mother-in-law}. Chris had conned them into cooking dinner for me. They had everything beautiful, the lights dimmed, wine glasses, REAL NAPKINS, the whole bit. It was wonderful. They served us and we had a wonder {and yes, vegetarian} dinner by candlelight. Chris did have Chicken cordon bleu though!! :) I still can't convert him. They had also got me fancy balloons, a cake and a huge bowl of strawberries dipped in chocolate!! Thanks guys!! I love you!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. I will keep you updated on the cultures!

Miss Emily turns 1

2008-01-28T08:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Emily!!

We were lucky enough to get to celebrate Miss Emily's 1st birthday on Sunday afternoon! This is Wendy and Chad's baby girl. Her birthday is actually tomorrow {the same day as mine}, but I wanted to go ahead and post the picture. She is so adorable!!

Happy Birthday Chris

2008-01-24T10:02:00.000-06:00

The big 33 !!! I love you and hope that you have a great birthday!!!

Send Chris and email to wish him happy birthday here.

His birthday is actually tomorrow {25th}, but I was afraid that I would forget to post it! :)

Wet Casts come off, wet casts go back on!!

2008-01-23T09:15:00.000-06:00

This is Bailey yesterday getting his new wet casts. He was so excited to get the other ones off, but devastated that they had to put new ones on. They did see some results from having them in there all week, so we are going to try one more week in some fresh ones!! I was just glad that he didn't have to be admitted. We thought that they may wrap the whold body, but thank goodness that they didn't have to. By him getting a little better. They were also able to eliminate the Auto Immune diesease that they kind of suspected. His little back is in too bad of shape to proceed with further testing, so we are having to wait until it is healed up better. He can't have any sores on there for them to test for more reactions with the patch testing. The doctors said that there are several other tests that they can preform once he is a little better healed. These casts are not a cure, but can get him feeling a little better and closer to finding out what is causing all of this.

Don't worry, they didn't hurt him. He was mostly just fed up with the situation and frustrated. He was much better once we left the doctor's office. While we were there, we stopped by to see Andy's mom. Andy is a little boy from Bailey's school who has been diagnosed with cancer this week. Please keep him in your prayers. His mom told me that there were places near his spine, stomach, kidneys, and heart. They were in surgery when I spoke with her. He will face very radical treatment that I am sure will be hard on his tiny 4 year old body.

Also while I was there, I ran into another friend that used to go to my church. She informed me that one of my stampin' buddies from stamp club was down there as well. Her 5 year old, Morgan, has been diagnosed with Leukemia. They also just found out this Mon. My heart is absolutely breaking for these babies and I pray that you will pray hard for the doctors, the parents and for them!!!!

Kirsten is doing much better now, she is tonsil { and adenoid} free!! She is eating and drinking normally and has went back to school. She was pretty pitiful for the past couple weeks. I will take her this afternoon for a checkup with her surgeon.

I also want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE NEPHEW---WILL!!!

2008-01-17T12:32:00.000-06:00

Bailey got "wet casts" yesterday at the doctor. They are a little squishy and unconfortable, but maybe they can help him heal. He has to wear them until next week. When they are removed, the doctors will let us know where to go from here!! Hope you have a great day, please pray for our little man this week!!!

Just a little blurb!

2008-01-15T10:36:00.000-06:00

I dug up an email address on Dr. Creech from a research group link on the main Vanderbilt website!!! Yeah! I contacted him and he called us right back. He was nothing but apologetic, and told us that he has not given up on us, and that he will see us at any point that we need him. Even when it may be after hours or when he is in research. I feel so much relief!!! He said that he didn't know why that had been said, but that he will make a specific message in his chart and he has notified his staff that we can be seen at anytime. Just thought that I would let everyone know. He will be seen tomorrow at the Children's Hospital by his doctors. Have a great day!!!

Back to Square One!

2008-01-14T12:05:00.000-06:00

Bailey was up Saturday morning in sad, sad shape. We can't figure out what has happened differently, but something is up. He has spots of MRSA again and seems to be fully blown up again with this stuff. Yesterday we spent most of the day at the Children's Hospital with them checking him out and assessing what is going on. They too agree that it looks like MRSA again. It could be the same strain of bacteria, but maybe was suppressed through all the antibiotics that he was on, or it could be a new bug. They basically just knocked him out and slathered him with topical antibiotics and then started him back on the Clyndamycin antibiotic. He had a fever and a cough, which could mean that it has gotten into his blood stream, but they said that his fever wasn't high enough yet. It will usually peak at 102 and then Tylenol can't even bring it down. They said to just monitor him and keep tabs of his temp every hour or so, and come straight back if it spikes again. They told me to get a check up this week with his infectious disease doctor for this week, so I called this morning to get an appointment. Guess what I was told when I called? They told me that they have done all that they know to do. {do what????} I can't understand at all. They had told me when we left the office the other day that they had a plan now in place in case this should ever happen again, and now suddenly they can't do anything??? I have called and left messages for the doctors to try to call me. I haven't heard anything back yet. He does have an appointment this week with his dermatologist this week at Vanderbilt. I am hoping that he can back us and get us help {whether it is a referral somewhere else, or treatment there}
I am so exhausted with this whole thing. How do you deal with this kind of thing? Especially when you really can't physically go to church, the one place that you need to be.
I just pray that we can all get through this in one piece. It is taking it's toll on all of us. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for your prayers!!!

We finally have a new pastor!!!

2008-01-10T08:35:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to welcome Joshua, Keri, and Karis!!!!

Please visit both Josh and Keri's websites for more info on them and their family.