Pumpkin Time!

On Saturday, October 24th, we went on our annual trip to pick out pumpkins. This is the 10th year in a row that Jonathan and I have gone together! It is a family tradition that I hope we will always continue, no matter how old we are! This year we went to Oakes Farm in Corryton, and even though it was a little chilly and windy, the kids had a blast. Here are my yummy veggies: The farm had a HUGE slide and I can't tell you how many times the kids went down it and they laughed and squealed every single time! Parker loved watching the tractor come and go and he couldn't wait to get on and take a hayride. He loved running around in the open field pointing out all of the pumpkins.Katy liked sitting on the pumpkins, and Lily and Maddy took forever trying to find the perfect pumpkin. I think they changed their mind at least 10 times.I am so thankful for my family!I am truly a very blessed wife and mommy. I have much more than I deserve! Thank you, LORD for all of your many blessings!

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians5:20

BOO!

I had so much fun helping the kids pick out their costumes this year for Halloween. Parker is his favorite ELMO: And my 3 girls are their favorite insects. Katy is a ladybug, Lily is a Monarch butterfly, and Maddy is a bumble bee:On Friday, October 23rd, we took our annual trip to the Knoxville Zoo for BOO! at the Zoo. The kids had lots of fun walking around and getting treats at the different stations.Parker joined right in:Maddy was so sweet helping her brother find his way in the dark: Parker loved snacking on all of the goodies. Here he is with his mouth covered in chocolate from M & Ms and begging me to open up his Animal crackers! "Peese...peese!" Can you believe ELMO ran into Ernie and Bert at the Zoo? At the end of the trail, we had fun listening to the Party Boys DJ and dancing to the music. I love seeing my children joyful! What a fun night!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Wonder Boy!

I wanted to give everyone an update on my sweet baby boy. On Wednesday, Oct. 14th, Parker went to see the Nurse Practitioner at Allergy & Asthma Affiliates. After thoroughly looking through all of his medical records and getting input from me, they decided that 4 major things occurred in April that could have triggered all of his infections/asthma episodes. These included switching to formula from breast milk, taking him off Reflux medication, joining the fitness center where Parker was left in childcare, and also it was Springtime. So, since Reflux can affect your respiratory system, it was suggested that he be put back on Prevacid and also to test him for food allergies. Everything came back normal, but unfortunately the histamine did not flare up like it was supposed to, so the results were inconclusive. So, we were sent to Children's Hospital for lots more testing. Parker had 3 X-rays performed: one for his chest to see if the pneumonia was gone, one to check the size of his adenoids, and one to check his sinuses. He also had more blood drawn to test the strength of his immune system and to check for allergies. And a throat culture was taken to check for strep. ALL of these tests came back with normal results! Our God is AMAZING!!! Parker was put on a strict treatment plan for the next 6 weeks which included daily doses of Prevacid, Singulair, Pulmiort (breathing treatment) and Nasonex. We go back on Dec. 2nd to get Parker reevaluated. On Monday, Oct. 19th, Parker was seen by a Pulmonologist. This was not a pleasant experience at all. But, thankfully all of the Doctors and Specialists that we have dealt with have all been wonderful, so we were due for an unpleasant experience! I received a totally different diagnosis from this Doctor, and that Parker is not suffering from Reflux and that he never had pneumonia (despite it showing up on his chest X-ray!) But I do agree with the Pulmonologist and that Parker doesn't have actual asthma (as of yet). He has what they call Viral Induced Reactive Airway Disease which means whenever he has a virus or bacterial infection that he has asthmatic symptoms. He should grow out of this by age 3, and I have noticed that the last few episodes have not been nearly as severe as they were compared to the first few. So, I am going with my "Mommy Instincts" and keeping him on the treatment plan that we were given by the Allergy & Asthma Affiliates. We have kept Parker homebound (out of any childcare situation) and he is doing amazingly well. He is eating, sleeping, and playing well. He is a very happy boy, especially if ELMO is close by, whether he is holding him, watching an ELMO's World DVD, wearing his ELMO pjs, or having an ELMO book read to him. I have to thank our wonderful Pediatrician for being so thorough and aggressive with getting a handle on what's going on with Parker and getting his little body well again. We are blessed beyond words for everyone in our life. Thank you for being a part of our life and for all of your prayers.

I will praise the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:1-3

Ooh-la-la!

*Warning...this post has a tremendous amount of pictures! (Tremendous is a fancy word for large!)

On Friday, October 9th, I hosted a party for my princesses, Lily and Maddy, in honor of their birthdays. I was so excited when they decided on Fancy Nancy for the theme and I had SO much fun planning their soiree! (That's a fancy word for party.) I designed their invitations on the computer and we sent out Fancy invites to 8 of their friends: Lily and Maddy were so excited when their special day finally arrived! They loved getting fancy for their party:Lily in her pink and black: and Maddy as Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly: We tried to fix Maddy's hair similar to Fancy Nancy: When the girls first arrived, they were sent upstairs to the Posh Boutique (Posh is a fancy word for fancy.) They got to choose a feather boa, tiara and a ring to add to their ensemble. (That's a fancy word for outfit.) Then they had their nails done by Madame Angela (my mother-in-law): And their makeup done by Madame Amy (one of my dearest friends). When they all had their accessories and makeup and nails done, we had a Fashion Show. Each girl walked one at a time through the sparkly fuchsia door fringe as their name was announced(Fuchsia is a fancy way of saying purple, which is Fancy Nancy's favorite color.) They posed for applause and a photo.

Fancy Lily:Fancy Grace: Fancy Emma: Fancy Ellie:Fancy Reagan:Fancy Madeline: Fancy Maddy: Fancy Mollie: When the fashion show was through it was craft time! The girls designed a cute little foam beaded purse with fancy foam stickers and jewels: and then they made their own body glitter. They decorated cute pink bottles with fancy stickers and then mixed tangerine smelling lotion with fuchsia and silver glitter:Then it was time to go downstairs for a special dessert! I loved decorating and making everything exquisite. (That's a fancy word for beautiful.) Here is the table where the girls dined: Each girl had their own place setting at the table: The girls each got some pink or yellow punch and a special cookie with their name on it:I love decorating my Southern Living Astoria caddy for holidays and parties!:The girls all squealed when I told them we were going to make parfaits! (That's a fancy word for ice cream sundae). I had a parfait bar set up for each girl to make their own:There was 3 kinds of ice cream: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, 2 kinds of syrup: chocolate and strawberry, and 4 toppings: M & Ms, rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chips, and gummi bears. Lily chose pink (strawberry) ice cream with pink (strawberry) syrup and rainbow sprinkles,while Maddy chose chocolate ice cream with M & Ms and chocolate chips:I put a candle in their parfaits and then the girls all sang Happy Birthday to Lily and Maddy: After parfaits Lily and Maddy opened their presents. They got some really fancy things! But the best part was spending time with their friends at their party. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this night with my girls and their sweet friends! What a blessing they all are to me!

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11