I wonder...

--how my kids can go from happy as little critters one minute to feet-flailing, fist-throwing, screaming, temper-showing toddlers the next minute. Sometimes we look at them as if they've lost their minds, and then we wonder if we've lost ours.

--why the kid behind the counter at Dairy Queen laughed at us when we asked what a Dilly Bar was. Was some sort of sexual inuendo that we didn't get???

--why chasing the kids around the house isn't enough exercise to make me drop a few pounds?? I feel like I never get to sit down.

--how my kids can eat up a meal at one sitting like it was the most delicious thing to ever cross their lips and then snarl their noses up the next time I fix it and disgustedly proclaim, "I don't like it!!!"

--if there's anyone that doesn't know about the TV switch that going to happen in February!

--when I see people driving new cars, wearing name brands, building huge houses, if they're going into debt to afford that lifestyle, and then I thank God that I'm not going into debt anymore, and then I pray for those people that they ARE living within their means and that they actually CAN afford those luxuries!!!

Hi/Lo Thursday...

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts.

This is my first attempt at Hi/Lo Thursday so it's taking a while to get the gears cranking. While I'm thinking, let me point you to the Riggs Family Blog and encourage you to check it out. I find myself returning just to read old posts and get the updates on their four-year old, Abby who is battling leukemia.

Okay so here goes. I think our high for the week would have to be our amazement and wonderment about how smart we think our two year old Ainslee is going to be. I know, I know, I'm biased; I'm her mother. But hear me out... on Wednesday (trash day) we were headed down the driveway, and when we got to the end, she said, "Daddy, did you take the trash out?" And he replied, "No, it's not Wednesday." (thrown off from the Monday holiday) Then all of a sudden he realized it was and we went back and got the trash can. How did she know?? See...pure genius!

And our low...I think that would have to be our daily struggle of being a family of five with only one vehicle and parents who work 20 miles apart with kids' day care in between. It's very hard to get out the door every morning by 6:30 to take Trey to work so that I can get back to my work by 7:35. We try not to complain too much about it, but it does really tire us.

It's been a while...

I have been a bad blogger lately! I haven't even gotten on to read anybody else's posts in a while. Usually even I don't post anything, I at least stay caught up on all of you! First let me say that I'm am praying for a newborn that was mentioned on Robyn's, Shannon's and MckMama's blogs. Here's the button so you can click over and pray as well.

I've really been into reading other people's blogs lately, people that I don't even know. There's a whole world out there that I wasn't aware of. Here I thought people wrote blogs for their friends and families to read, but several blogs I've looked at they've actually become a little famous, or at least very well known, simply from their blogs, and most of them became well-known because they asked for prayer and word spread. I am always amazed at the power of prayer!

Now my thoughts on my IRL (in real life) friends' blogs that I'm getting caught up on: Joanna, your boys are so funny! I love reading what they say, and I LOVE that you declared kitchen duty! Let me know how it turns out! We may have to try that too! Robyn--I actually laughed out loud at you getting on to someone else's kid at the mall (we play there too..shh)! No kidding: I am always tempted to tell kids to stop running or stop fighting at Wal-Mart. It's a just a habit I guess. Oh and I love the family pics! The girls' outfits are so cute!!! Jennifer--I am so glad you were able to come to decision. I hate that you had to spend all that money, but I pray that God give you peace about your decision. I'm glad it's every other weekend and not 1st, 3rd, and 5th. Does that mean that they'll be with you at the same time as Branden and Shyanne? I will pray for them. And as Beau's teacher, I hope that they study for their tests and don't leave their binder or AR book at their daddy's. That's what always seems to happen! Shannon--Your Ella is sooo cute! I keep looking at her pictures! I'm so glad she is healthy and all is well. Emily looks like she's going to be a great big sister! I love the baby sister gown! Too cute! Lisa--Wow! A stay-at-home-mom-to-be and foster parents! That's great! I didn't know you ever were foster parents! I guess that's what losing touch after college will do for you! I'm glad we're back in touch now, and I wish you the best of luck on your ventures! Be sure to keep us posted!

Well not much has been going on in our world lately. We spent yesterday doing a major overhaul on the overgrown eyesore landscaping that was the front of our house. We went totally bare bones on all of it and hopefully this spring beautiful plants will emerge. We also built our first fire! We really felt like country folk out there burning leaves! We decided that it was better than when we lived in the city limits and had to bag our yard waste to be hauled off by waste management.

Update on Layton's asthma

Most of you know that we have battled Layton's asthma pretty heavily over the last year. He was hospitalized twice, had numerous chest x-rays, was in the doctor's office so much that we know them all by name, and had to use his rescue inhaler more times than I could possibly even begin to count. We saw a pediatric asthma doctor over my Christmas break, and he was so wonderful.

He came in sat down and just listened to us. He asked lots of questions, and we really felt like he was listening. He spent quite a while in the room with us and then excused himself to go "make a game plan." He also said that he was going to go read the small phone book that we brought him which was Layton's medical record. (Funny story there about when Trey went to get it...There was a dad ahead of him that got his son's record; they printed it off, stapled it, and handed it to the dad. Then Trey asked for Layton's and waited at the window like the other dad did, and the receptionist told him that he might want to sit down because "it would be a while." Trey said it printed and printed and printed, and finally it stopped so he got up to get it, and the girl just loaded more paper and it just kept on printing. Then it finally stopped, she got it out, and put it in a manilla envelope and gave it to him.) So anyway the doctor took the time to actually read the medical record and came back in with our game plan.

He suspects that acid reflux might be triggering Layton's asthma, which is something that was never suggested before and that we never considered. He really beefed up his night time routine and had us raise the head of Layton's bed about 6 inches. (Not prop him up of pillows, roll up towels, or use a wedge. He said actually put blocks under the posts of the bed.) Layton takes symbicort, pulmicort, and singulair at night and symbicort in the morning. So that means that every day he takes three breathing treatments for maintenance. That's a lot, but I really think it's all working because we haven't used his rescue inhaler once since that visit.

We go back in February to see how it's all working, and he wants to do a scratch test for peanuts, tree nuts, and shell fish. Of course you know that he's allergic to peanuts as determined by a blood test, but this time it will be the traditional scratch test.

I can't even begin to explain what a relief it's been to feel like we're starting to get on top of this. It's such a helpless feeling when your child is gasping for air and using major muscles just to get air in. It's even more helpless when it's only been 30 or 45 minutes since his last breathing treatment and he still can't breathe. For the last few months since his last hospital stay, we really felt like all we were doing was delaying the next hospital stay. It was like at any time it could turn and we'd be heading to the emergency room. We felt so defeated by it. I'm so thankful to have some hope now that that's not how his entire childhood will be. Like Layton put it the other night, he's going to breathe in all this good medicine so he can run and play all the time and Mama won't have to tell him to settle down.

Continued

I think things are working out...We will stay put for a while unless God makes it clear that He has other plans for us...My sister has looked at a couple of houses but will stay with my parents for now and save some money. I really enjoy them living with my parents because that means that they're living right next to us! I love getting to spend time with her and getting to see Tyler all the time. We saw Bride Wars today, and the last line, I thought really summed up my relationship with my sister. I just love her so much.

I think she might dive into the Dave Ramsey plan as well. I am going to attempt to show her how to use the budgeting forms, but a Baptist church in town will be holding classes soon, and she might sign up for those.

Oh and on my blog roll, there's a caring bridge update for Bradie Cook. I went to high school with her dad and mom, and she is getting to come home from the hospital for a while. Please keep them in your prayers. She was born very early and weighed less than a pound. Now she's up to 3 1/2 pounds and doing well. She'll go back for surgery on the 28th and after recovery will be home for good I believe.

What to do...what to do...

(Sigh)....I just don't know what to do...I keep playing the possibilities over and over in my head, and I have no idea what we're supposed to do... I don't even know where to start because I don't want to post anyone else's business but you must know just a tiny bit of background to understand my dilemma. My sister and her husband are getting a divorce. (BTW...I am very proud of her for giving it all she had and knowing when to say enough is enough! If you're reading this, I love you!) We rent my sister's house, and although it's in her name, and she said we're fine, I still feel like we need to try to vacate so that she'll have a place to live. She's staying with my mom and dad right now, and we're living in the house that's in her name. It just doesn't seem right to me. I feel like we should be the ones put out, not her. Our plan is/was to be financially ready to build a house when Ava is either in kindergarten or 1st grade, which is 5 or 6 years down the road. I REALLY don't feel like I could put her out for 5 or 6 more years so we're at a loss for what to do for those 5 or 6 years. My parents said we could put a trailer on their land (which is totally not uncommon for our part of the world and in fact is what my sister and her husband did when they first got married and is the house that we're living in right now). However I don't want to sink a lot of money into a brand new trailer that I know will have next to no resale value plus tear up their land in the process. My friend said that her sister is wanting to sell her single-wide trailer (that is stationed on their parents' land...see...not uncommon at all!), but could we all squeeze into a single-wide for that long, plus it would cost to have it moved out here and still would tear up my parents' land? It would drop our monthly payment significantly, though, and would put us closer to our house-building dream maybe sooner than 5 years! If we didn't got the trailer route, we might could buy a small house and squeeze in. Or should we find another place to rent. Although I should mention that rental property around here is crazy priced and we couldn't afford it! Ugh! What should we do??? I wish we knew someone that just had a house that they didn't need and wanted good people living in it but not permanently. I don't know...We'll keep praying...

A Look Ahead to 2009

Trey and I were laying in bed the other night talking about where we hoped to be this time next year when we're looking back on 2009 and ahead to 2010. We listed several things that we want: We want to be well into step 2 on our Dave Ramsey plan, I want to be about 50 pounds lighter, we talked about how nice it would be to be in a place of our own instead of renting from my sister, and then I jokingly said "...and we'll still only have three children.." (Meaning that 2009 would be like 2008 in that I wouldn't get pregnant and wouldn't give birth...an inside joke because I had babies in 2005, 2006, and 2007) But then all of a sudden my mind went to our friends, little Konner's parents, who at the beginning of 2008 had no idea that their youngest child would leave this earth and go on to be with Jesus. And it struck me that we truly know nothing; we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. We're not promised another day on this earth. We're not promised another year or another day with our children or with our spouse. So what do we do with that? I don't have all the answers. I can only answer for myself for this point in my life. I hug and kiss and rock those sweet babies every chance I get, and I praise Jesus for giving me every single day that I have with them. So my New Year's Resolution is to treasure each day this year and enjoy them to the fullest. I will not wish their lives away by wishing they were more independent or wishing that they would just do this or could just do that or say that things will be easier when they can only..whatever. I will enjoy them now, at the stage where they are; I will enjoy the challenges and drink in those sweet moments that I have with my children. And when I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by their dependence on me, I will remember that the Lord is with me, and I will look above and let His presence flood my soul, and I will feel His peace.