Friday, October 17, 2008

Bullfrogs & Butterflies Going out of Business


Okay, normally I would not blog about the money I spend on my children's clothes, but I got the BEST deal today, and I wanted to pass it on to those of you who are in need of clothes for your kids like I am! Bullfrogs and Butterflies is a precious children's boutique here in Hendersonville that has the cutest, most stylish clothes for kids that I have seen anywhere. The problem, you ask???? It is also the most expensive clothing store that I've seen anywhere! They get all of their clothes from New York and California, so they are also priced as if they were in NY and CA. But, we're just rednecks from Hendersonville! ha ha
Anyways, they are going out of business and everything in the whole store is at LEAST 75% off! It hasn't been made public yet and I didn't want to pass it along until I had the chance to get in there and get some things for myself (ha ha), but I'm willing to share the news now!
Okay, my "pre-discount" total was $808.00!!!! I'm not joking...I almost fainted when she told me that. But, I was relieved when she said I only owed $203.00!!! I got 13 full outfits, including a Pears and Bears coat for that much! That is unheard of!!! That rounds out to be around $15 an outfit! One of the outfits I got for Sadie was going to be $190 and it ended up being like $25. You can't even get that type of deal at Target and these are the best quality clothes you can find.
Some of the name brands that I lucked out on are:
Pears and Bears
Toni Tierney
Confetti
Miso and Sushi
3 Pommes
So, head that way and luck up on some great clothes for your kiddos. I think they're going to stay open until the end of November, but I'm sure once the word gets out, it'll be slim pickens'!
Happy Shopping!!!!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

It's another BOY!


I know a lot of you that read my blog regularly would like to know that Cayce and Bryan are having another little boy!!! They are due mid-March, but she said today that they'll probably take him via c-section (because she had a c-section w/ Steele) around March 2nd or 3rd. She's so excited to have another precious boy and she's already working on his nursery! Just wanted to pass along the exciting news!!!
The baby girls are definitely getting outnumbered in this family! There will be 10 great-grandkids once Cayce's boy is born and out of the 10, there are only 3 girls! What's up with that??? We gotta get some more girls in this fam!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Weekend Update

What a week last week was! We didn't have hardly anything going on all week, so it was pretty boring. I always like to have a few fun activities planned during the week, but for some reason we just didn't have much to do so it made for a LONG week.
Sadie is going through a phase where she has only been napping for about 30 minutes at the most. Normally, she naps for about 3 hours! So, that's been miserable, because she is so ill all afternoon from not getting enough sleep. Hopefully, it will not last much longer. (update: Sadie took great naps on Saturday and Sunday, so lets pray the "no nap" phase is officially behind us!!) Sawyer has been going through a phase for the past week where all night long, he wakes up to eat every 2 and 1/2 hours. Not fun! He spoiled me for the first couple of months because he has never woken up that often to eat. So, my children have definitely been testing my patience (and energy) for the past week. Whew! I'll be glad when things go back to normal, or at least somewhat normal. Not much is considered "normal" in our life these days. ha ha!
Friday night, Dennis and Sadie went and picked up take-out from Chilis. So yummy, as usual. Saturday, we did a fun family outing (I'm being sarcastic) to go and pick up a "McCain/Palin" sign for our yard to show our support. But Sawyer screamed the whole way there and back, Sadie pretty much whined the whole time because I think she thought we were going somewhere fun and then realized she didn't even get to get out of the car, AND the place was out of signs. So, it was a pointless trip out, but Dennis and I were able to keep our sense of humor about it and just laugh it off as an hour wasted of the day. The rest of the day we cleaned and prepared for Dennis' dad and Barbara (PawPaw and Gimmy) to come over for dinner. Dennis cut the yard, bless his heart. Although it's nice having a larger yard than we used to, it takes him forever to cut it. I wish so bad that we could afford a riding lawn mower for him. He deserves it, but they are just way too expensive! I stayed inside while the kids napped. I took this picture of Sawyer while he was sleeping today. I just thought he looked so peaceful and precious.

Saturday night, David and Barbara came out for dinner and to visit with us and Sadie and Sawyer. We had a great time! We took lots of pics, and I posted some below.






When we put Sadie to bed, we realized she had developed a HORRIBLE, SEVERE diaper rash. We had noticed it a little earlier, but we didn't think it was going to keep getting worse. It was so sad. She woke up crying around 10:30 and we had to change her diaper and put more cream on, etc. She was WAILING. It was so pitiful. I think both Dennis and I were about in tears. She's been going to the bathroom a lot lately, and we're assuming it's because she's teething, but I'm going to have to take her to the doctor tomorrow, because it has continued getting worse. The cream I've been using is supposed to be like gold, but it hasn't been doing a thing. It's called "Vusion" and it costs $100 for one small tube.
Anyways, Sadie woke up screaming again around 6:00 a.m., and Dennis went in there to discover that she needed to be changed again, etc. I rolled over and pushed the video monitor button to see how Sawyer was doing before I went in to assist Dennis, and to my surprise, I could see him screaming and knawing (sp?) on his hand...??? Why couldn't I hear him???? What in the world??? Oh! Stupid me forgot to turn the sound back on when I had come back to bed after his last feeding in the middle of the night, so who knows how long he'd been laying in there screaming. (I always turn the sound down when I go to his room to feed him in the middle of the night so that Dennis doesn't have to be woken up by our sounds while I'm in there) I could possibly be the worst mom in the whole world. So, I run down the hall to get him and calm him down, lay him on our bed while I go and help Dennis tend to Sadie who is still screaming in pain. Goodness!!! What a night!!! Luckily, Sawyer will never remember that happening, bless his heart.
We didn't go to church today because poor Sadie was still struggling and we didn't want to drop her off in the nursery for them to deal with the rash. She's so pitiful. She acts completely fine until you have to change her diaper and then you know it has to hurt worse than anything in the world because it looks absolutely horrific. We all went to the grocery store and came home and chilled all afternoon.
Sunday afternoon, Dennis' mom and stepdad (Grammy and Capt'n) came over and kept both Sadie and Sawyer so that Dennis and I could go out to a movie and dinner. I was skeptical about going because of how bad Sadie's been feeling with her diaper rash, but I knew she'd be well taken care of, and I knew how bad Dennis and I needed some time together. Right before we left, Dennis came back in the back door for something and accidentally rammed the door right into Sadie which sent her straight to the ground and she busted her bottom lip. Why Lord?????? I think at that point we both about decided to just stay home. For some reason it just seemed as though it wasn't meant for us to go. But, I think Satan was just trying to throw everything he could in our way to keep us from getting to spend that time together. We ended up leaving because Sadie seemed okay and we had the best time. We went to see "Fireproof" and it was absolutely wonderful. I could go on and on and on about it, but I'll save that for another blog. What a great movie! Every single married couple should go see it no matter what stage of marriage you're in. What a blessing it was!!! We left there and went to eat at Qdoba and we sat outside because it felt incredible. The full moon was above us and it was gorgeous. We just talked and talked and had the best time. Boy, do we need to do that more often! I can count on one hand the number of times we've had a night out together since Sadie was born 19 months ago!!! How crazy is that??? THANK YOU Grammy and Capt'n for keeping the kiddos for us for that long! It was even better to walk back in and see 2 happy faces. Ya'll are the best! Capt'n said that it was the first time he's fed a baby since his little girl was born 30 years ago! I'm glad he had the opportunity. It's a pretty sweet moment. If you're reading this, please send up a prayer for Sadie's diaper rash. Even though it may seem like it's not a big deal, it hurts her so bad, which hurts me as well.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Precious Little Elijah


I don't usually post things like this, but I want so badly for as many people to pray for this precious little boy as possible. Dawn is one of my dearest friends whom I don't get to talk with much anymore due to the busyness of our lives, kids, distance, etc. But, I still love her more than anything! I received this email from her today and I just really want everyone that reads this to send up a prayer for sweet Elijah. Here is what it says:

"Family & Friends,

I am hopeful this email finds you all in good health and spirits. Randall and I are doing well, healthy, and excited about the upcoming arrival of Elijah's little brother (I'm due on Valentines Day!). Elijah is now in the 60th percentile on the regular weight/height charts and will discontinue physical & occupational therapy around his second birthday-which means he is developmentally right on track!

I am writing to request that you pray for our little boys health. By the grace of God, a routine physical revealed a large mass on his liver. An ultrasound, CT Scan and blood work concluded that this softball sized mass is a hepatoblastoma, a form of liver cancer. The mass is too large to be removed so Elijah will undergo a biopsy to confirm the type and stage - then chemotherapy until the tumor is small enough to be removed.

Randall and I are asking our family and friends to pray that Elijah responds well to all that he is about to take on. He has already fought so hard to be with us with entering this world 14 weeks early, spending 2 1/2 months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, struggling with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and undergoing 4 surgeries all before he was able to walk. He has a difficult 4 month journey ahead of him so please lift him up and pray that the strength, joy and beautiful spirit we see in him everyday continues to carry him through."

Below is a picture of him and Sadie when they were just babies. I always loved this picture because it looks like Sadie is saying "get off me, boy!"!!!

Thank you for your prayers. God hears every single one and loves little Elijah more than anyone else.