One room, play room, vroom, vroom, vroom

On Wednesday my mom came over & we decided to tackle the playroom.
My kids love Dr Seuss! So much that we have replaced Hop On Pop twice. So when it came time to paint their room I got inspiration from the wonderful author. Above are a few pics of what it looks like currently. I have ordered decals & will post pics of the finished product soon, but wanted to share what we have done so far.
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So much snow

The snow is absolutely beautiful this morning. Hopefully the kids can all get out & play in it sometime today. We are also supposed to get together with family. We will see what happens.
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It's a white Christmas!

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Santa was here!

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Peek-a-boo

Our favorite game! This is what we did on our car ride to Mamaws & Papaws.
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Christmas in Eastern NC

We just completed our 2nd of 5 Christmas get togethers. The 1st was in Castle Hayne with Grampy & Grandma. (sorry about pictures. I left my camera @ home. Amy will be sending me some soon.) We arrived there on Sunday and left for Jacksonville on Tuesday to be with Grammy & Pop. The kids have been racking up! We have probably all gained 5 lbs from all the amazing food as well.

Other good news... Bentley should be out of the hospital tomorrow! Praise the Lord! Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes and prayers. They have seemed to work. God is so good!

We will be here for another day then we are off to Biscoe/Asheboro. Christmas day is going to be @ Mamaws and Papaws. Then to the Graves for day after celebration. I love Christmas so much! I love getting to see family!
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Car is packed

We are loaded down. I guess we can leave the suitcases so we can bring home our gifts?
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Testing technology.

Bentley Update

Sorry that I did not get a chance to report about Bentley yesterday. The wedding took up all day, not to mention that I had to take Zack to Urgent Care first thing in the morning due to a double ear infection. I tried using our new phones, but quite haven't figured out how to use blogger with it.

Saturday he had a little bit of a slip. They now think that Bentley has full blown pneumonia. He did have to use more oxygen. They said that he will have to be in there for 7-10 days.

Today's update: GOOD day today! He is registering high with Jaundice, but they aren't worried about that. They had him under a light all day today and will continue tonight. They were able to take out the IVs today and he has gained 2 1/2 ozs. Stacy and Kevin were allowed to hold him today and he opened his eyes. Mom and Aunt Sharon went down this morning and arrived this evening. They left tonight to go get Aaden and take care of him. So today was a good day. Tomorrow we are hoping to see a big improvement. Stacy was originally told that day 5 they should see a huge improvement. So lets all pray that tomorrow will be a GREAT day!

Bentley Update

Bentley update: At 3pm the doctors gave him a steroid which seems to have helped. He has gone from needing 40% oxygen to 21%. That is a huge step forward. He still isn't breathing on his own yet or eating. However, they seem to think that once he learns to breathe that the eating will follow. He ended up in Jacksonville, FL. Stacy and Kevin have checked in to a Ronald McDonald house so that they can be nearby Bentley. They have ruled out pneumonia, but believe that his lungs just weren't developed. So now it is just a waiting game to help build up his lungs.

Today at 2pm (before the steroid) Stacy called and Bentley was the same as last night. She said the NICU is filled with babies. She said there were at least 30 babies lined up in the room. She was really upset and had a hard time being in there with so many other babies all hooked up to IVs, monitors, etc. They have had a very hard day, but it seems to be getting better. Hopefully Bentley's lungs will continue to get stronger and will be able to leave next week.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and please continue to cover them in prayers.

Bentley Maysonet is here!

Sometime after 2pm today Bentley came into the world and he was 5lbs. 9oz. Now there are some complications currently and I will update as I hear more. From what I know so far...
Right after he was born it appeared that he had a lot of fluids in his lungs. So Stacy or Kevin didn't get to see him, he was immediately wheeled off to the nursery so that they could work on him. At 4pm Stacy and Kevin finally got word that they believe that Bentley has pneumonia b/c they saw a spot on his lungs. He is currently going to be transported to either Jacksonville, FL or Savannah, GA so he can be put in a NICU. Stacy and Kevin want him to go to J'ville b/c it is closer for them, but the Dr. is pushing for Savannah since she used to work there. Stacy and Kevin did get a chance to see him through the glass around 4:00pm today. She said he doesn't have a tube down his throat (which is a good sign), but he is having a real hard time breathing. She told me he looked like Zack when he has his attacks, which is his chest is constantly searching for air. Bentley is currently hooked up with IVs and has been put on oxygen. He also has been given a steroid to help his lungs. Stacy is going to be discharged in the morning and go to whichever hospital that Bentley is in. Please keep the entire family in your prayers.

As I mentioned earlier, I will update the blog when i hear more.

Some Exciting News...

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I have been swamped!! Wanted to share some exciting news. Bentley (my newest nephew) seems to be on the way. Please keep Stacy in your prayers today and hope the labor and delivery goes perfect. It looks like Bentley wanted 2010 to be his first Christmas!! We are all super excited b/c if Bentley hadn't come before Christmas Stacy, Kevin, and Aaden would have to stay in GA. So again, please keep them all covered in your prayers.

I will update more later.

Luminary Picture

Week 2 of the new house...

So this is only the second week the kids and I have been in the house. I must say that I now have tremendous respect for single moms and military spouses. It has been incredibly hard to be alone with no help. So Stacy and other military wives...you are my heroes!! I don't know how you do this for months on end. I at least get to see Mike on the weekends. There is an end in sight. I only have three weeks left. And one of those weeks we will all be together for Christmas, so not much longer. Right now during the day all I do is keep the kids from killing each other or the dog. Once it is time for bed I work on Christmas gifts and pick up from the madness. I end up going to bed after midnight and then get up and do it all over again.

As far as my house goes...right now it looks like a bomb went off. There are boxes of Christmas decorations out, toys everywhere, baby clothes all in a pile (I'm trying to put up summer clothes), bowls/lids everywhere (the kids keep getting into my cabinets and pulling out my plastic containers). I'm looking forward to Michael getting here tomorrow so he can just watch the kids while I get some housework done.

This week I did get out and about twice. Once for a checkup w/ the kiddos and the other time was to shop/see Santa. Boy did they not like him. Below is the picture to prove it. I think I will cherish this picture forever!! I think the best pictures with Santa are the ones where kids don't seem to be too happy. Enjoy!!

Black Friday

I am just now recuperated from my Black Friday. Thursday night we were off to the sale at Toys R Us. They were opening their doors at 10pm Thursday. We arrived at 9:30pm. When we got there the line was already 2 miles long. I'm not exaggerating!! I wish I had a picture. We decided that our "$5" off was not worth it. We then went to WalMart. Their sale was going to start at 12am. We got all of our toys and then we were about to pay for those when we noticed that they were handing out tickets for the big ticket items that were going to go on sale at 5am. So we jumped in our lines. Mom was in the line for a laptop and I was in line for a TV. Wal-Mart wouldn't allow you to leave your line for more than 15 minutes or you forfeited the item. So...we had our reliever (dad) to come let mom out to go get some coffee, pay for the things in our cart, and use the restroom. Then mom came to relieve me for a few minutes. By 5am we got our respective items. I then headed to Radio Shack to pick up a couple of things as well. Then we three got breakfast and headed to the house where it was just in time for all the kids to wake up. After we fed them, Stacy and mom were back out while I watched the kids. I did catch a 2 hour nap once they got back.

I got my TV though. However, I was joking in line with the couple in front of me. "When I look at this TV, will I resent it? Will I hate looking at it thinking I stood in line all night for this?" However, once I got rest, I was fine and am thrilled I got a great TV for insanely cheep!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

New House

By popular request here are a few pictures of our new house. These are pictures that were taken before we moved in, with the furniture that was here before. I will take more pics once I am completely unpacked and paint a few rooms. It will probably be a good month.

Front Pic

Living Room

Den

Dining Room

Kitchen

Kitchen 2

Master Bath

Master Bath 2

Master Bed

Sitting Room

Guest Room

Backyard

My little Bunny and Duckling

Right after the twins were born, my mom made these adorable sweaters and hats. Last Sunday they were finally big enough and the weather was perfect for them. Enjoy!!










There are a few other things that were made especially for them. A few things Great-Great-Aunt Madelin made for them. I am keeping tabs on how big they need to get to be able to wear them. We will be posing in them SOON!!

Penultimate RR weekend

So we thought last weekend was going to be our last weekend in RR, but it turns out we will be back this weekend to see off some friends and spend some time with church members on Sunday.

On Saturday the 20th it was Arrie's first birthday, so we all were able to celebrate with her. It was a lot of fun!! (sorry my flash has broken on my camera, not the best pics) . Then we went back to the house to crash for the night. Sunday was church then the run. So for sure this coming weekend will be our last official weekend in RR.

FINISHED x2!!

Sunday I ran in my second 5K race. This time I ran with Sarah, who started the whole "lets do the couch potato to 5K schedule". It felt GREAT to complete our goal! I didn't quite finish in the time that I had planned, but with being with a different partner and running up some INCREDIBLE hills it wasn't but a couple of minutes off. Overall I was thrilled with our performance. Now, on to training for faster times.

Lingerie Shower

As promised here are some pics from the Lingerie I helped throw. Enjoy!!

House is packed

UPDATED PIC:

This past week has been quite crazy!! It will only continue to be crazy for the next month or more... On Friday we officially signed papers for our house in Mooresville. After we got all the paperwork done we headed to Lowes and bought a few cans of paint to paint the bedroom that will be the twins' nursery. I want to paint a few more rooms in the house, but that will come later. Friday night we had our friends Chris and Erica (they were our neighbors in RR, but moved to Shelby 1 1/2 yrs ago) come up for dinner late Friday night. After dinner Mike and I headed to A'boro for the night. The next day Crystal, mom and I headed back towards Mooresville to finish painting. We got within a few miles when I realized that Mike had the keys (yes a total April moment!!), so instead we headed to Ikea, while dad was going to come bring the keys. When we finally got into the house we finished painting the nursery, then headed back. On Sunday after lunch, Mike and I headed to RR. This is our (the kids and I) last week officially here. Yesterday we had movers come and pack everything in boxes. Our entire house was filled with boxes. It looked like this:

(PICTURE COMING SOON)
Today the movers were back to load. Tomorrow we are heading to Mooresville to meet the movers on early Friday morning. Due to goodbye parties, singing in church, and running in a 5K we have to leave LATE Friday night to come back to RR for the official last weekend in RR. I have to sing in church on Sunday and our friends are throwing us a goodbye party Saturday night. Sarah and I are running in a 5K in Cary on Sunday afternoon. Yes, I said it was going to be a crazy couple weeks. My blog is called Hectic Life for a reason!!

Once Sunday is over I'm planning on going back and forth from A'boro and M'ville until after Thanksgiving. In Dec. we have the ACC football championship in Charlotte that we are attending and then in late Dec. my cousin Samantha is getting married. I have agreed to help my mom and dad with decorating. Also, mid Dec. Mike is planning on joining us officially in Mooresville. So it is going to be a busy end to 2010. Keep praying for us!!

Showering a Cousin

This past Saturday I got to help host a lingerie shower for my cousin, Samantha. She is actually the photographer (she took all the pics of the twins' bday party). After I got everything all set up, I went to take pictures and realized my camera was in the diaper bag, which was back with Michael and the kids. So no pics from me, however, Samantha did bring her camera and took a few pics. As soon as she posts them, I'll post a few up on here.

Congratulations again Samantha, I look forward to the wedding next month!! LOVE YOU!!

Pictures from Halloween Week

I have finally got around to adding pictures from Halloween. Sorry it took me SOOOO long. I do have an excuse. We move in ONE week. I have been swamped with trying to get electric, water, etc. all hooked up in the new house. I haven't even started any packing. Everyone keep us in your prayers!!

Trick-or-Treating at Mamaw's work:

Making Halloween cupcakes:

All the Halloween pumpkins lined up:

Pumpkin Days on the 30th with Mamaw and Papaw (right before Maddie went to the hospital):

Papaw taking the boys Trick-or-Treating:

Monday morning after the boys got their haircuts: