Destin 2009

Have you ever thought, "Maybe this just wasn't meant to be?" Well, I have.

Back in February I asked mom and dad if they would go to Destin with me and the kids when Kyle got out of school. They said they would love too and Dad got online and found us a great place to stay. We decided that we would need to take two vehicles, you know, with the babies and all they require, it was gonna take two cars. Mom had just gotten a new car in February and I was on the look for one. Got mine in April. Then we waited for the weeks to pass. We were leaving on May 22. On Saturday, May 16, I called Mom that morning and asked her to come down to the house to help me get the house in order and get some of the babies stuff packed up and just help out in general. I was in the kitchen with Maggie, Allen had Matt outside. All the sudden the door swings open and Kyle has Matt and says Nana's had a wreck turning in our driveway. I got the kids and we rode to the end of the drive to see what the heck was going on. Her poor car. And how she loves that Ford Edge. The left front look terrible. I just knew it was totalled. The good thing was no one was hurt and a car can always be fixed or a new one bought. We got her back to the house and then we started talking about how she just didn't know what she would do without a car. How would we go on vacation? Dad said we will get a rental car or just go in my truck. Truck, how the heck we gonna haul all the stuff we need? Then he remember his friend had a luggage carrier. We could load it down and put it in the back. No problems. Things looking better for vacation!

Monday came and went with no trouble. 4 days til we leave for some R & R. Tuesday no troubles. Maggie had a little runny nose, but was fine. 3 days. Wednesday I had to go to Aberdeen for some bankruptcy training. Dreading it with a passion, but had to do it. When you go to the Federal Building in Aberdeen you can't take your cell phone in. I told Ms. Wanda if she needed me she would have to call the Federal Building and ask for me. I checked on the kids at lunch and all was good. Maggie just didn't feel real good, but a cold can make you feel lousey anyway. I got out of class at 3:30 and headed for the car. 1 more day til vacation!! I got my cell phone out and I had a missed call from Ms. Wanda. I called her back and she said "Missy, I think you might want to take Maggie to the doctor." I said, "Doctor?" What's going on?" She said, Maggie just isn't breathing real good. So here I am, 3:30 in the afternoon an hour and a half from Ingomar. I get to Ms. Wanda's about 4:45. I had called the pedi office on my way home and talked to the nurse and they couldn't see her until Thursday morning. I thought, this is just great!! When I got to Ms. Wanda's and saw how bad Maggie really was I knew we couldn't wait til morning. I called nurse back and she said just take her to the ER. I HATE THE ER. WAIT AND WAIT! But mom and I loaded her up and off we went. Got to ER and they took us right back. Doc came right on in and looked at her and said, "We are going to do an x-ray, swab her nose, do a breathing treatment and be prepared to stay the night, looks like she has bronchitis." STAY THE NIGHT? Ok, if we have too. They started an IV in her little foot. Drew some blood, etc. Whatever, just getting her to feeling better. She and I had a long night in the hospital. IV blew in her foot about 2 o'clock. And for those of you that know me, know I hate needles and I also hate to see my kids hurt. The nurse came in and said, "We are going to have to take her and restart the IV." So they took her, and I paced, brushed my teeth, ate some nabs, paced, and paced some more. Freaking out pretty much. They brought her back and the nurse said she did really well. Good, because her momma didn't! Doctor came around about 10 and told us we could go home with oral meds and breathing treatments. Great. I said, "Ok, we are to leave in the morning for Destin, should we or shouldn't we." He said, "I think it will be fine, just give her the meds and breathing treatments." DESTIN HERE WE COME! Friday morning at 5 a.m. we rolled out. Me waiting on that first cup of coffee to get me going since I was running on much stress and little sleep. We made it to Mederian about 8 o'clock to have breakfast. Feed the kids, gave Maggie a breathing treatment and off we went. We got to Destin about 3. And guess what, it was raining. Cats and Dogs Rain. Who the heck wants to go to the beach when it's raining. I did, I needed to get away. Got to the condo. Very nice complex. Dad and I went to check in and we saved a hundred dollars. Yeah, a little extra cash. Found the condo, unloaded in the rain, and then everyone was ready for some supper! We went to the Crab Trap. Had a wonderful meal. Saturday morning we got up to more rain. It slacked a little and I told mom that I was getting a shower and we would go to Target and Dad was taking the boys, Kyle and Dillan Speck, to the Bass Pro Shop. Got to Target raining a little, let mom and twins out at the door, parked the car, ran to the door and the dang bottom fell out, lighting, thunder the whole works. I told mom I just didn't think it was meant for us to be here. Finally about lunch time the sun was trying to shine. We had lunch and rode along the beach front. It was beautiful. Then the rain came again. We all went to supper at Jim and Nick's BBQ. It was new and the service was bad. Matt was not a happier camper, so needless to say supper wasn't too pleasant. Sunday morning raining just a little, Maggie not feeling very well and by this time I have the crud. So we all had a little breakfast and went back to bed. So nice. Nothing you really have to do. Just rest. Rain gave way to some sun and we enjoyed the pool and golf course. Had a nice supper at Landry's. Good food! Probably the best meal I had while we were there. Monday morning sun was shining. Great, we are going to the beach. Dad wasn't too crazy about taking the babies to the beach, so he said, "Missy you take the boys and mom and I will keep the twins here." Good deal. So with book in hand, tanning lotion, sunglasses and camera Kyle, Dillan and me headed to the beach. I just love it at the beach. So peaceful. So relaxing. No stress. No troubles. Stayed a couple of hours and then headed back to the pool. Supper was at the Back Porch. Another good meal. Tuesday was our last day. Needed to make the most of it. We took the twins to the beach. Dad said, "Only for a few minutes. They will blister before we know it." I rubbed them down with sunscreen, and off we went. Twins weren't too crazy about the sun nor the sand. We all stayed about an hour and decided the pool would be better. Had a great day of swimming and chilling. Kyle had supper pick and we ate at Fudpuckers. Pretty good. Not the best. Wednesday morning we packed up and headed home. Had a great trip after thinking that we would never make it to the beach. Now we are looking forward to next year. I think the twins will be just the right age for digging in some sand!

Poor baby girl.

Beautiful

Fun in the sun!

Matt and Nana chillin.

Swimming just wore them out!

Bubba helping out with little bubba.

Part of the Family

Big and Nana with their 3 favorite grandkids!

Me and the kiddos!

Matt

Mags

Mags telling Matt the plan!

The devil tempts us in so many ways. Makes us wonder why things happen to us. But as mom says, "Missy you don't need prozac, just hand it to the Lord and He will take care of things." HE took care of getting me and my family to the beach safely, allowing us to have a wonderful time, and bringing us home safely. God is good.

Catching up

Sorry it's been a while, but things have been pretty busy.

This is Jackson, my other child.

We start em young.

Dad, let me drive.

I think I can handle this.

A couple of Saturdays ago we worked really hard in the yard getting mulch out. I am so thankful that I have a personal "Gardner" in the family. Thanks dad and Kyle for all the help and mom for helping watch the children.


And then yesterday was Mother's Day. I had a great day. Matt woke up early and he and I had our time together. Then Mags woke up and the fun began. I cooked breakfast and we all sat at the table and ate together. This rarely happens. The kids had me a really pretty card with some money. And I needed that. Then it was off to church. We had lunch with my mom and dad and spent the afternoon with them and then we headed to Ms. Wanda's (mother-in-law) to spend time with her and supper. It was a great day. I thank God for my precious children.

Bath time. First time we tried this. Dad was in our way and we had no other choice. Water was everywhere!

Teenagers!

Much better! My three little angels!

Just a few little notes:

Mom: Thank you for who you are! I love you so much. You are not just my mom, but my best friend. You are my shoulder to cry on. You are listening ears for me to let my feelings out. We just take it one day at a time and you still convince me I don't need that prozac, even tho I think I do. Thanks for all you do for me and my family and for loving me. Words cannot express how grateful I am to call you my mother. You have always been so caring, hardworking, patient, & loving and I appreciate all you have done to raise our family through the years. You have done a wonderful job. I love you... Happy Mother's Day, Your daughter.



Ms. Wanda: Thank you for all you do. Thank you for making me a part of your family. Thank you for taking care of my kids everyday so I can work and not worry about them. Thank you for all your help with Matt and Maggie...I truly appreciate it! I love you...Happy Mother's Day,
Your daughter-in-law.

I hope everyone has a great week. We are counting down the last few days of school.

Miss High Maintenance

But isn't she just the cutest little thing!

Easter 2009

Here are a few pics from Easter. As you will notice, Kyle isn't in any of the pics, because you know, he is a teenager, he did stay out with his dad at a cow sale until 2 a.m. and had to get up at 6:30 a.m. for church, and did I mention he IS A TEENAGER! URG!

We had a nice Easter weekend. I was off on Good Friday and enjoyed my day with the twins. They are just changing so much and doing so many things. They are everywhere in their walkers and they are finding things they can put their hands on and touch. The plants usually get their hands spatted, because I refuse to rearrange the house just because they are now mobile, but it really doesn't faze them and they will go back to get one more tug on it. They are just sooo sweet.

Also here are a few snapshots of the twins. Maggie is the leader of the pack! If she and Matt are on the bed or flooring playing and she sees something she wants and Matt is in the way she will just climb over him and he just lays there and lets her. I can see her getting him in a lot of trouble one day. I am constantly telling her to leave him alone. I wonder how many times I will say that in years to come.

We are on the countdown now for school to be out and vacation. Did I say vacation? DESTIN here we come! I didn't get to do a vacation last year because of the pregnancy I was afraid to get too far from home. We take a vacation every year and I missed it so much last year. So we are really looking forward to some time relaxing and chilling with the kids on the beach. Mom and Dad are going with us and Kyle is taking his friend Dillen. And no, Allen isn't going. He never goes, but that's okay. As a child we took vacations every year and I wanted to make that a thing with my kids also. We have such wonderful memories of trips and still talk about them and I wanted the same thing for my kiddos.

These are pics of Matt and Maggie after a long day on Saturday. We got home around 9:30 p.m. and they were two hours pasted their bed time. They usually sleep like this every night. Must be a twin thing!

I hope everyone has a blessed day and Happy Late Easter to all!

7 months and Pray for Stellan!

The twins are 7 months old today. It seems that I waited forever for them to get here and now 7 months has already passed.

Enjoying the sunshine the the "limo"

Mom and I shopped on Saturday and we got them crocs, church sandals and tennis shoes. They are sooo cute!! Old Navy had all their baby clothes for 5 bucks!! What a deal! I racked up on clothes for Matt. Had to get Maggie a few things too, but she is pretty well taken care of with things Mollie Grace hands down.

Allen turned 37 on Monday. We had a little birthday celebration on Saturday night. Food was good, band was great, some of the folks there were a little different, but all in all, we had a great time.

Dad getting down on the "dance floor"!

Kyle can officially drive. He got his permit. He was so excited. Wanted to borrow my car and when I told him the only way he could do that was if I was with him, he changed his mind. For those of you that don't know, Kyle has been driving since he was about 6 years old. He is a very good driver. He just doesn't understand that he is not officially a licensed driver. He thinks he should be able to go where he wants with no one with him. We have been letting him drive to school since it's so close and so much easier for me, he tends to drive over to the store to work and to visit the grandparents. It's hard for me to believe that he only has 8 more weeks of school left and then I will have a 10th grader. I can remember the day he started to kindergarten. We both cried and cried. Dee Thompson was his teacher and she was so good to him. She would call me to let me know he was fine and not to worry about him. Now I don't think he needs me as much, but he is still my baby. First born. And there is just something about those first born children. He has really stepped up and helped when it comes to housework, taking care of babies, etc. He can aggravate the heck of you sometimes, but you gotta love him.

I would like to ask all of you to be in prayer for sweet little Stellan. I have a button on the left side of my blog that you can go to and read. His mother was told that he had a heart condition in the womb and would not make it. She chose to go thru with the pregnancy and Stellan was born at full term and with a healthy heart. Over the weekend Stellan got to feeling bad and MckMama took him to the ER. He was admitted to the Children's Hospital with SVT, the heart condition he had in the womb. PLEASE pray for Stellan and his family.

Little Road Trip

Saturday, March 7, 2009, Dad, Mom, the Twins and I went to Eupora to visit my great-aunt and uncle and my cousin and her family. Matt and Maggie were great riders. My great-aunt Rudell, I call her Mamaw Rudell, turned 80 on March 12. When Shane and I were small we would go to Eupora for a week in the summer and stay with them. We always had a blast and have great memories of those days.

I wish we all lived a little closer so we could visit more often. Here are a few pics of our time together.

Mamaw Rudell and Uncle Paul

Mary Lee, Matt, just a cutie pie, and Phillip

Matt, a tired little fella, and his Big

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We took the kids to the doctor last Wednesday for shots:

Matt: 19.0 lbs.

Maggie: 15.2 lbs.

They are growing by leaps and bounds! Maggie is starting to crawl and keeps us busy. Matt will roll over on his belly, but hasn't started getting up on his hands and knees yet. He thinks we should just carry him to where he needs to go. They both have been sick with the crud, but maybe we are on the downhill slope and will feel better in a day or two.

Maggie's toes polished for the first time! We just need some warm weather so we can go barefoot or wear some sandles!

Maggie not getting her way! "I don't like this car, hold me and HOLD ME NOW!"

Maggie first ponytail! I love it.

Maggie's new walker! She is on the move. We better all watch out!

Matt and his cute Jeep walker.

Matt playing with his Bubba's tractors.

Two precious little ones growing up so quickly before my eyes!!

Have a great day!