Birthday Pictures

Long time...no blog post

I'm sorry it has taken me so long (again) to update! A lot has been going on with Thanksgiving, etc...

• We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Paul's parents here in Alabama. The kids really enjoyed having them here. It's amazing that as little as we get to see the Kelseys, the kids, even Levi, seem to pick right up where they left off. I have to admit I got a little teary-eyed when Levi didn't want them to leave!
  
• My grandmother is in the hospital in Jasper. She's had several health issues lately, including the shingles and walking pneumonia. Please pray that she'll be able to come back from whatever is causing her current problems. This was my first Thanksgiving with no grandparents around.
  
• Lila is GROWING!! I don't know what she weighs, but I know it's more! She is taking 6 ounces per feeding now! She is certainly more alert and is starting to realize when she's left alone. :-( She turned over yesterday for the first time- back to front. She has also learned to pull her pacifier out of her mouth, but of course hasn't figured out how to put it back in. This, along with the fact that she's eating two times a night again, means that I'm up and down more than I was. She will start on rice cereal after her next dr.'s visit (on December 12th), so maybe she'll sleep at night again then!! At least I'm hoping so!
  
• Addi will be turning 5 on Saturday. :-( I can't believe how big she is getting!!! We are having her birthday party here tomorrow night and I'll try to update with pictures afterwards.
  
• Jasmine is coming in the morning to watch the kids so I can go buy Addi's birthday present and pick up her cake. I don't know what I'd do without Jazz around!
  
• I still haven't found a Wii, which is basically Addi's only wish for Santa....All you shoppers out there give me a call if you run across one!!! In Christmas shopping news, I'm desperately behind!!! I'm going to the JCPenney outlet on Monday and hopefully will find some good deals! After that, it's online shopping for me to finish up...I don't want to be out and about at the last minute!

I guess that pretty much sums up this update.....I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving just a mere 2 days away, it brings to mind a song that we've sung thousands of times- Count Your Blessings. Although I can't name all my blessings "one by one" because there are too many, I would like to mention a few things that I am especially thankful for this year.

• I am truly thankful for my family. I have a loving husband and three healthy children. I am especially thankful this year for our dear Lila. She is the sweetest baby a mother could ever hope for. Just looking at her reminds me of how blessed my life is. Also, I'm thankful for my parents. They have always been there for me with love and encouraging words. I'm also thankful for my in-laws. They have always welcomed me as if I have always been a part of their family. For that, I am truly thankful. I am especially thankful on that note because they are spending Thanksgiving with us this year! They haven't been to Alabama since Levi was born, so this is truly a special Thanksgiving!
  
• I'm also thankful for my brothers and their wives. (I know this is still included in family, but my bullet was getting too long!). Although Josh and Daniel were quite annoying at times growing up, I now know what a true blessing they are. I'm also thankful that they both have Christian wives who love them. And I'm thankful for Hannah.
  
• I'm thankful for my friends. I don't know how people go through life without true friends. I am especially thankful for the other 4 members of the "fabulous five" as I have named us (Rachel, Katie, Pam, and Emily)....I love you guys!!
• This list is already getting overwhelming....I've started this list which could go on forever and I know I'm going to leave someone out!
  
• I'm also thankful for all my extended family....you know who you are!
  
• I'm also thankful for my material blessings. My warm bed and a home that I love.
  
• I'm thankful for the memories of Thanksgivings past. Even though I still physically have two of my grandparents, the grandparents of my childhood no longer exist. MaMa and PaPa Courington need your prayers. But I'm still thankful for all the happy memories I have of them.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family. Remember to count your blessings........we are all so blessed.

Christmas Pictures

Random Ramblings

Just wanted to update everyone on yesterday's events....I had my dr.'s appointment yesterday morning and was given a clean bill of health! Yea!
Addi had her ultrasound and kidney tests run yesterday and she was such a big girl!! I'm so proud of her! We won't know anything about the results until sometime next week.
I have a Levi story to tell today. First of all, Addi is always watching commercials and informing me, "I want that!!" Well, Levi has picked up on it. If there's a commercial for cars, trains, trucks, or anything that resembles a toy boys might like, Levi says, "I WANT THAT!" Well, yesterday Levi and I were watching tv and a commercial for the Bounce and Spin Zebra came on. He proceeds to yell, "I want that!!!!!" I said, "Okay, come here." I take him to his room and show him the zebra which he got for Christmas last year! He says, "OH!!!" and gets on the zebra and jumps up and down! He doesn't even know what's in his own room!!!
We all went out to eat at the Fish Market last night for Mom's birthday. It was yummy! Levi was very well behaved at supper and we all go to enjoy our meal. It was nice. Even though he still has many moments of complete chaos, I can definitely see some improvement in his behavior. He is getting to where you can reason with him somewhat and that helps. Plus, Granna gave him a fake bug which kept him completely occupied all the way through dinner.
Mom and Dad are going to buy a new HD tv. Everyone is excited about getting to watch the Iron Bowl on it next week! But I'm more excited because we are getting their hand-me-down entertainment center which is a thousand times nicer than the one we have (which is on its last leg).
Today is picture day. We are taking Addi, Levi, Hannah, and Lila to Portrait Innovations to get Christmas pictures! It should be interesting! Hopefully I'll have time tonight to post some of the pics. I am definitely already in the Christmas spirit. I don't think I mentioned it on here, but I already have my tree up! I usually like to wait until the day after T'giving, but I didn't think I would have time to do it that day, so I'm rushing the season just a bit!
Not much else going on....I desperately need to be cleaning and starting to get ready for next week. Paul's mom and dad will be coming in on Thursday and we are super excited! Addi informed me yesterday, "You know it's only 6 nights I have to sleep until Grammy and PaPa come. You know what that means? Tomorrow, it's only 5!!!"

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Eating Bon Bons....

Do you work? I always love it when someone asks me this question. My reply is usually, "Not outside the home." Because being a SAHM is work!! Anyone who has ever done it will attest to it! There's always something to do, even when there seems like there's nothing to do! So this post is in honor of all those SAHMs that read my blog!

Just an average Day In the Life of this Stay-at-home Mom:
Feed Lila
Change Lila
Fix Breakfast
Change Levi (he pees in potty! :-)
Load Dishwasher
Clean up Levi (poops in his big boy underwear)
Clean up broken Christmas ornament that Levi broke in 500 pieces!
Feed Lila
Change Lila
Make Tea
Put up Laundry
Make Lunch
More Laundry
Put Levi down for nap
Cut coupons
Feed Lila
Change Lila
Get paints out and let Addi use water colors
More Laundry
Levi gets up from nap and has to have bath because he pooped and took his diaper off!
Clean the toilet
Clean up Levi (AGAIN) because he discovers the paints still on dining room table and helps himself!
Clean dining room table!
Try to figure out Lila's new stroller so I can take it to the dr. tomorrow
Fix supper (Thank goodness Paul went to store for me) while feeding Lila and allowing Addi to "help" me fix baby pizzas.
Write this blog!!!!
And it's just supper time!!!
Is staying home worth it???? You bet!!

A new Addi story:
This morning when Addi woke up she excitedly says, "Mommy, I had a dream last night!! It was a great dream!!! I got a cell phone!! When am I getting a cell phone?"
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

One more thing: Even though Levi had a couple of "poop mishaps" today he has been to the potty three times!! And he told me- I didn't ask him. That is major progress! Go Levi!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I go back to the dr. Hopefully we'll find out that everything has healed properly and the infection is cleared up.
Addi goes to Children's hospital tomorrow for a renal ultrasound and another test (can't remember the long name) on her kidneys. These tests are fairly routine and nothing to worry about. I'm more worried about how she will handle the actual tests than the outcome of the tests! Just keep us in mind tomorrow!

One Month Stats

Lila went to the doctor today and he said she looked great! She weighs 9 pounds, 2 ounces and is 22 inches long!!! That puts her approximately in the 50th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height! Her head circumference was 37 1/2 cm. She got her second hepatitis B vaccine today. She cried for a couple of seconds and then was okay. She doesn't go back until she is two months! They'll schedule her second hip ultrasound sometime in the next couple of weeks.

One Month Old!!!

It's hard to believe that our sweet Lila is one month old today!!! She has been such a blessing to us already. She is such a content little baby. I finally figured out how to get the swing put back together and she swung for the first time today. She goes to the dr. tomorrow for her one month checkup and I'll update with her stats, etc. then! Happy Veteran's Day to you all!

Friday Update

Thank goodness it's FRIDAY!!! No, I don't go outside my home to work every day, but I still very much look forward to the weekend! Primarily because Paul is home and he helps me out so much. Plus I enjoy his company.
I guess most of you know from Paul's blog, but he didn't pass his boards this year. As Addi said, "Even though Daddy didn't win, he's still a winner to us!" I'm so proud of all the hard work that he did working toward this goal. He was only 14 points (out of 400 points) short of passing. We're confident he will pass on the next try! I'm not just proud of his work on this, I'm just proud of him in general. He works so hard so I can stay home with the kiddos. I'm grateful.
The kids are great. Addi had one last soccer game last night and THEY WON!!! Woo hoo! Levi is into everything as usual. He is such a BOY!! He comes up to me with Addi's shin guard last night and says, "Mommy, smell this!! It smells!!" He was right. It smelled.
Lila is being such a content and peaceful baby and for that I am truly thankful! She is eating 4 ounces at a time now and hardly ever spits anything back up. She only wakes up once during the night to eat which is great for a newborn. She goes back to the doctor Tuesday for her one month checkup! I can't believe she'll be a month old already!!!!!
I'll try to get some new pictures up this weekend. Have a good one!

Sad Day

It's been a sad day in the Kelsey household. Paul went out to feed the dogs before school this morning and found our little beagle Abby (or "Baby" as Addi used to say) dead in her house. It looked as though she just went to sleep and didn't wake up. We're not sure what happened. Abby was only 6 years old and appeared fine yesterday. She was our little baby before we had any real babies. We will miss her greatly.

Halloween Fun

Halloween 2007!!!!

Lila is so close to a smile!!

Getting ready to Trick-or-Treat in our neighborhood!

All the kids with Daddy!

Waiting on the neighbor to open the door

Our Sweet Hannah at Trick-or-Trunk

Gramps gets his candy ready!

Groovy Uncle Billy with Levi!

Look what I got!!!

Lila spends time with Rachel and Stephen

Bubba Addi