Welcome, Finley Scott Carter!

It's been a while since I posted...but as you may know, it has been a little bit busy around here. After a little bit of drama, Leah and Hunter welcomed Finley Scott into the world on May 20th at 3:10 a.m. He was two weeks early, but at 21 1/2 inches and 7 pounds 9 ounces, Leah was a little bit happy that he didn't have the chance to get any bigger. Mommy had a few issues so he was delivered by emergency c-section and had to remain in NICU for 5 days. He is now three weeks old, 10 pounds 12 ounces and 22 inches long....so I would say he has recovered quite well!

Leah & Hunter have settled into their roles of Mommy and Daddy easily and are blessed to have a wonderful little guy who is so calm and easy going. He doesn't like his diaper or his clothes changed, but other than that, he's practically perfect...and that is an unbiased opinion from his very proud YaYa!!!

I just know that you need to see pictures of him....so, here he is......

Now that we have Finley safe and sound, we are anxious for Beck and Bella Kate to arrive. They are scheduled to be delivered on July 7th....but, I will be surprised if they wait that long!

And the adventure continues......

Everything is changing

When you have three babies coming in the spring/summer, there are always things to do. Leah and Kelsey are both busy getting things ready in their homes. Leah got her baby bed and rocking chair and baby Finley will have a beautiful room when he arrives. Kelsey has started picking out fabric for bedding and has bought a second baby bed. Maddox has been promoted to a "big girl twin bed" and seems to be adjusting to the change well. I am sure that when the little ones get here, everyone will be ready.

I am still waiting for a few more things in my nursery, but I am mostly finished with what I will be doing here to get ready for "the gang". I have now started to make a few fun things. Here are some of the bibs and burp cloths that I have been working on. The good thing about sewing for boys and a girl is that I can use any type of fabric...pink razorbacks as well as boy print. I have also done a few blankets. There is no such thing at this point as too many of anything. We need three times everything.....

Saturday, my nephew Beau and his sweet son, Kaiden, stopped by to visit with us. He and Maddox are nearly the same age (Kaiden is older by six weeks). They were so cute playing together. I definitely got a preview of how different it will be having boys in the family. Kaiden was very, very well behaved, but evidently boys just have a different way of looking at the world. Maddox has never even thought of jumping down the stairs and that is the first thing that Kaiden did. After that, Maddox decided she might need to try it too! Oh no, I think Dave might have been right.....

I don't know if everyone does this, but in our family when we get scary news this is how we handle it.....

Baskin Robbins ice cream with someone you love! We are asking that all of you keep our Mother, Granny and Great-Granny in your prayers as she makes some decisions about her health.

Maddox has an announcement....

Maddox is pleased to let everyone know that she is going to have a baby brother and a baby sister. Her mommy found out today that baby A (boy) is approximately 7 ozs. and baby B (girl) is 6 ozs. Daddy Garth is very excited about his son and I think Mommy Kelsey is equally excited about having another girl. YaYa and Poppy are happy that everything has equaled out....with Maddox that makes two girls and two boys!! We are going to have soooo much fun this summer!

Sewing, sweet boys, and Paula Deen!!!

I have been really busy the past few weeks sewing for the babies. I made bumper pads for the cribs and am waiting for the curtains and chair to arrive. I also made bumper pads for the mini crib that I will be using downstairs. I have a little more work to do on it, but I think it will be sweet for my little ones. The brown crib quilt is finished and the green one will be finished in the next week or so. I am just waiting for the twins to be named so I can finish them. As soon as I get everything finished, I'll post pictures.

I went with Kelsey to her doctor appointment last week and got to hear the heartbeats. Maddox went with us and cried when Dr. Weidower listened to the heartbeats with the "microphone". She was just worried about her mommy, I think. The ultrasound was much better and she loved seeing her "baby brother and baby sister". We will find out soon what the babies are going to be and we may have to do a little fast talking to get her mind changed about the whole brother and sister thing! Keep your fingers crossed that we get at least one little girl. I'm not sure if I can handle three little boys!

Speaking of little boys....I got to meet the sweetest little one on Saturday. Elizabeth, Rhonda, and Dave stopped by for a visit and to introduce us to Lee! As you can see from the picture, he has the sweetest little smile and is so laid back and mellow. Boys are just so much bigger than girls and I have a lot to learn about them. But, if this sweetheart is typical of all baby boys, I'm gonna love 'em!!!! Elizabeth, thanks for bringing him by for us to see!
Sunday, my sweet guy and I have dinner at Paula Deen's new restaurant in the Tunica Harrah's Casino. Last spring, Phyllis, Ann, Margie, and I went to Savannah and ate at her restaurant and I wanted to see if the food in the Tunica restaurant was as good as it had been there. Yes, it is!!! I ate hoecakes and fried green tomatoes.....Yummy! Eddie loved it too and is now a fan of Paula Deen (and Uncle Bubba, too).

Small windows of time....

I have chosen to look at the next few months in small windows of time. I can handle things better if I don't look too far down the road. When the girls both got engaged and married in the same year, that was the way I survived without losing my mind.

First up is getting my house ready for all the babies. I'm not doing a lot, but I do want to get things ready so everyone will have a place when they come to YaYa & Poppy's house that looks nice and keeps us from having to run up and down the stairs so much. I have ordered some things and they are starting to come in. Today I picked up the mini crib that I am going to use downstairs. Putting it together will be Poppy's job (we all remember how much fun he had putting Maddox's kitchen together at Christmas) and, I will be sewing the next few weeks trying to get some projects done before I move on to the next small window of time.

Garth and Kelsey had an appointment with the doctor yesterday. This was their first visit with Dr. Weidower and I think Kelsey liked her as much as Leah does. She said the twins would probably be delivered by C-Section at 37 weeks. Kelsey is not opposed to that since Maddox was born so fast and a scheduled birth is what she wanted anyway. That moves her estimated delivery date to July 8th ... 5 weeks after Leah's due date!

But, that's not in this weeks window.......

Scardy Cat

This week has been uneventful for the most part.....except for finding out about Leah & Hunter's baby boy! Eddie has been at duck camp with Gerry, Tuck, and one of their friends most of the week and I have pretty much been on my own at night. It was the perfect time for everything to go haywire.

The security system hasn't been working for a while and I couldn't arm it at night. (I found out later that I could have bypassed it and made it work, but I didn't know that then.) That had not bothered me too much until Tuesday night when I couldn't get the garage door to close. It was a little spooky having the garage door open all night, the security system not working and being home alone.

Now normally I am not a scardy cat, but a few weeks ago Eddie was out late playing cards and I had gone to bed to watch TV. Like I said before, the security system has been all screwy and the ready light has been blinking green, then red for no apparent reason a lot lately. A master panel is in my bedroom on the wall beside my TV and I could see it blinking, but didn't pay much attention to it.

My mobile phone rang and when I picked it up to answer the caller ID said.....HOME! Now tell me, how many scary movies have you watched where that exact thing happened and the killer was inside the house?! I couldn't decide whether to answer it or not, but finally timidly said "helloooooo?" Eddie said "Whatcha doing?" Still a little skeptical, I said "Nothing. Where are you?" "In my bedroom", he said.

Turns out he had forgotten his mobile phone in the truck downstairs and when he tried my door and it was locked as I do anytime he is gone, he picked up the house phone to get me to let him in. Can I say.....scared the **** out of me!

All this to say, this week I called the security people, the garage door people, and the trash compacter people while Eddie was gone. Two out of the three are now fixed and I don't think the trash compacter being broken will scare me! And...my bodyguard is now home from the duck woods to guard me at night. All is well!

Leah & Hunter are having a BOY!!!!

Leah and Hunter went to have their ultrasound done yesterday to let them know the sex of the baby.... and there will finally be a boy in the family! We would have loved, loved, loved this precious baby no matter the sex, but I'm pretty sure that somebody (Poppy) was really hoping for a boy.

Everyone is so excited! Leah came by today at lunch to bring the proof...about 12 ultrasound pictures and, may I say, it is pretty obvious that this is no girl. I thought about posting a picture of the ultrasound, but maybe that falls into the category of TMI.

Oh well, off to shop for all things BOY! I'm loving it!

Toby Keith in Biloxi

I have no comment for this picture!

Saturday I hit the road to Biloxi to attend a Toby Keith concert with my buddies, Susan and Mendy. This was a pretty quick trip, but I don't think I have laughed so much in a while. These two are real characters!!!

We did a little gambling....no one got rich, but Susan was pretty lucky! We are mostly slot girls (I said SLOT), but Mendy did play a little Let It Ride Blackjack.


The Toby Keith concert was the first in the new auditorum at the IP (Imperial Palace Casino). It was a really good concert only spoiled by a wiggly young lady sitting in front of us. She and her mother felt the need to stand and dance to every song.

Thanks, Susan and Mendy for a great girls trip. I can't wait for the next one!!!!!

Visiting GFB and meeting the doctor

On Thursday, Maddox and I ran to Clarendon for some business and stopped by to visit and have lunch with the guys at GFB Diesel. Maddox played dominos with Papo and he loved getting a chance to visit with her. Hunter kept trying to get Maddox to say Fernando ("Mr. Burrnando" was a close as she got, but Fernando thought it was cute...he has a little girl, too.) We had to cut our trip short after lunch because of some "tummy issues"!

Friday I went to Little Rock with Hunter and Leah for her doctor appointment. I was excited to meet Dr. Weidower since she will be delivering all three of my grandbabies this year. Leah loves her and I can see why. She is full of energy and seems to have a great way of putting you at ease. Leah was hoping to find out the sex of the baby, but Dr. Weidower said she was no good at that and sent her patients to someone else for that bit of information. Leah couldn't get an appointment today, but they made an appointment for next Wednesday at 3:30. We can hardly wait!!

After lunch, we sent Hunter on home so Leah and I could do a little baby furniture shopping for YaYa and some clothes shopping for Leah. I ordered a port-a-crib to have downstairs and looked at bedding and rockers. I found fabric that I think will be perfect and a lovely lady at Fabrics Etc. to make the curtains!! I think I am going to make the bedding myself (or at least try.) Leah had some Christmas gift certificates to spend at Destination Maternity and she got some great things. All in all, I think it was a very productive day.

Catching Up

I am afraid that I have not been very good at keeping this blog up to date. I really want it to be my memory of this special year ahead, so I will be making this a priority. I am afraid that the year will just be a blur if I don't have somewhere to document all the changes that will take place this year.

____________________

So, here goes...
____________________

It has become our habit to join Phyllis and Jim for dinner on sunday night at the mexican restaurant. This sunday Eddie was not feeling up to mexican, but I joined them along with Dave and Rhonda to celebrate Phyllis' birthday. Happy Birthday to a really dear friendl!! Love you!

_____________________

Monday the weather was really bizarre! It started to rain, then the rain started to freeze on the trees. I was suppose to have book club, but Phyllis made an "executive decision" to cancel rather than risk everyone driving on icy roads. I have to admit, I was relieved. My chocolate chip bundt cake stuck in the pan and was a real mess and after Phyllis' beautiful dessert last month, I was really not feeling good about the night...besides, I didn't read the book. I'm not really very good at this book club stuff.

Maddox loves her new trike and is beginning to learn to ride it. She doesn't understand the steering yet, but I am confident before all the paint is off my hall walls, she will get it!

We are beginning to slowly get back on our regular schedule around here. I keep Maddox on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while her Mom works. I love every minute of it and can't wait to see her every Tuesday morning. She usually comes in and has a little something to eat before we play and watch a little Mickey Mouse. Tuesday she had to go see the doctor, so she wasn't here much till around lunchtime. She is so hungry now that she is getting over being sick that I am having trouble keeping her fed. She "needs" chocolate milk, macaroni & cheese, nuggets (McNuggets), snacks. It is so pitiful! Hopefully, she will be back to normal soon. Kelsey and Maddox spent the night and Leah came over for dinner to visit with them.

Today my trash masher quit working and Eddie had this precious little helper working with him to try and fix it.

Granny and Poppa came to town to go to the doctor and stopped by at lunchtime to visit. They brought "nuggets" for Maddox. She entertained them with her talent for trike riding and they were impressed beyond words! Such a brilliant child!

Stomach Virus season...

Poor little Maddox had a really tough time with the stomach virus. She had a late night trip to the emergency room and looked so pitiful as she ran fever and couldn't keep anything down. On Sunday after Granny's Christmas she didn't feel good and needed to have some YaYa time so, of course, I rushed to check on my sweet baby girl.

She had on a cute little cinderella outfit that she had received from Reese and Riley and looked just adorable. We read some books and she showed me all the toys again that santa brought her. She was weak and looked so sick that I just wanted to hold her till she was well.

On Monday, Kelsey and I went to Little Rock for her doctor's appointment. She had an ultrasound and I got to hear the heartbeats and see my grandbabies for the first time. It was so exciting!!! After we ate lunch at Dixie Cafe, we went on home because Kelsey was beginning to feel sick. Later in the afternoon she called to ask me to pick up Maddox to spend the night with us because she and Garth were both sick. Yes....stomach virus.

I had promised Leah that I would help her organize her closets while Hunter was in Texas hunting so on New Years Day, we recruited Eddie to help us put two rods in her bedroom closet so she would have more room. She wants everything organized so she can work on the baby's room as soon as they find out whether they are having a boy or girl. Lots to do....not much time to do it!

After we finished that little project, Susan, Phyllis, Jane, Leah, Eddie, and I ate blackeyed peas, cabbage, and ham for new years luck and wealth. Hope it works because we are going to need lots of money and good fortune for the year ahead. Phyllis and Susan spent the night and we all stayed up late and had the best time laughing and just hanging out together. I just love girl nights!

Then Eddie got the stomach virus....

Somewhere in there was new years eve. I remember when we used to made a big deal of that...!

Christmas at Granny & Poppa's

The day after Christmas, Maddox got the stomach virus. This meant that there was no way that she could go the saturday after Christmas for Granny and Poppa's Christmas. Everyone was terribly disappointed, but there was no way that Granny & Poppa needed to be exposed to that kind of thing.

Granny had already prepared everything for a wonderful dinner when we got there. Leah and Poppa munched on the appetizers like two little kids stealing candy. (Leah had been told by her doctor to watch her salt intake and Poppa was not suppose to get into the sweets too much.) We had a great time opening gifts and then Leah, Granny and I spend the rest of the night looking at old pictures. Then.....Christmas was over!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning Eddie and I headed to Kelsey and Garth's to see what kind of haul Maddox received from Santa. She was so excited when we got there and eager to show us everything. Her favorite gift seemed to be the trampoline. She bounced and jumped with the excitement only a two year old has at 8:00 a.m. on Christmas morning! She got toys, toys, toys and has finally decided that Santa might be a pretty good ole guy.

We came home to get ready for everyone to come to our house for our gift swap and dinner. The funniest part of that day was watching Poppy put together a little kitchen for Maddox. You have to remember that it has been quite a few years since he has done this and I am sure that he forgot just how time consuming this job can be....and how stressful! After four hours he finally got it put together. Actually he put it together several times before he got it right! Needless to say he is very, very proud of that kitchen!!

The girls both went to the in-laws for other family get-togethers and in the late afternoon a very tired, pregnant mommie walked into my bathroom as I was drying my hair and asked me to please put Maddox down for her nap. (I think "Mommie" had reached the end of her rope!!) Maddox and Mommie both rested and the day got better for both of them before the rest of the family arrived.

Daddy, Julie, Granny, Poppa, Leah, Hunter, Kelsey, Garth, Maddox, as well as Eddie and I had a wonderful time together opening gifts and eating (again!). It is such a wonderful thing to have our family so close to us so we can share in all the times of our lives that mean so much. I hope that we will all be together for many years to come and look forward to have all the new little ones next year. That will be sooooo much fun!