A Little Lady.....

Our little misses......

and sweet little kisses.....

Our very own little lady.

Please pray for Alahna Mogan

*UPDATE: Baby and mother are doing well and Baby Alahna is expected to make it. She is even breathing on her own. This family has a long road ahead of them and they anticipate a lengthy stay in the hospital for the baby. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.



Alahna Morgan was born at 5:32 tonight at 5 months 3 weeks gestation. She is only 8 inches long. The doctors could not stop her mommy's labor despite many efforts and her due date was not until February. Her daddy called tonight to say that mommy and baby are okay right now but they haven't gotten to see her yet. Her big brother Preston who is only 10 months old is staying with his aunt but may be coming to stay with us some over the weekend so that his family can visit his mommy. Please pray for them all. This unexpected blessing has surprised them in so many ways already. They had a difficult time getting pregnant with Preston (about 6yrs waiting) and now they have a little girl that they've always dreamed of. May God continue to bless them and spare this sweet girl's life if it be his will. This family has already endured loss through several miscarriages and failed attempts at conception. I only hope that God has plans for her here and isn't needing her to be with him in Heaven.

A Bit Under the Weather....

Blogging has taken a backseat lately as we have all been under the weather. Scott and I even missed some work this week to care for Raegan and try to get ourselves in better shape. She has had a terrible cough since Saturday. I called the on-call doctor and they called in steroids for 2 days. It is better but still pretty scary to listen to at night so we haven't gotten much rest. During the day she is pretty active but you can tell that she is struggling to be her chipper self. I called the doctor on Monday and they said to let it run its course since she no longer has fever and they gave me instructions on some OTC meds for her to take. If she's not better by Friday... I will be calling them back.

Scott is hoping to get an available promotion at work which would mean more hours but also more pay. We are praying that he gets it and he stands a good chance. Please help us in our efforts. He is certainly qualified but so is another guy so we are hoping that it works out in our favor.

Thank you to our family and friends who have called to check on us while we've been sick and let us know we are loved. A special thank you for the delicious soup that you brought while we were so sick. From the bottom of our heart. We appreciate you so much.

My First Blog Award

Thank you Debbie for the "I Love Your Blog" award. If you haven't been over to Debbie's blog then you really should. She is truly inspirtional and her faith is contagious.



The rules are to thank the person who selected you for the award, post the rules, and then choose 7 blogs that you love. Here are some of my favorites.



1. Ashton

2. Lindsey

3. Laura

4. Angel (Blessed with 4)

5. Rebecca

6. Krista

7. Susan

I've been tagged.

I've been tagged by Ashton, so here goes.

7 Weird Things About Me

1. I am addicted to sunflower seeds and could eat them year round. Oddly though they made me sick when I was pregnant but on the other hand so did sweets, especially chocolate.

2. I am SCARED of the DARK. Yes... you read that right. I also don't like confined spaces.

3. I have an unusually keen sense of smell and always have ever since I was a child. Sometimes my family teases me about it.

4. I talk way too much! It runs in my family. I know it is an annoying habit but one that is so hard to break.

5. I am a super-planner almost to a fault but I am very flexible when things get off schedule. Occupational hazard I guess.

6. I love the smell of fresh plowed dirt and it reminds me of my childhood growing up on a farm. Now I know that the smell I love actually comes from the bacteria in dirt releasing malodors as it is being disrupted and turned with a plow. The thought of this kind of grosses me out but I still love the smell.

7. I had such an easy labor that the doctor let me deliver Raegan myself in the hospital and they let me keep the placenta and umbillical cord when they found out I was a bio teacher. Totally weird but an incredible experience.



Now, its your turn Amanda, Debbie, Krista, Angel (Blessed with 4), and Susan.

Reflections

These last few weeks have been so busy for us. I am getting back into the school routine after fall break and have started a before/afterschool tutoring program that will last for the next 6 weeks. We have had probably at least 4 or more meetings a week plus many doctor's appointments for Raegan and myself. It's that time of year!

This weekend we spent 2 days at the Bell Buckle craft show in Bell Buckle, TN. It is a crafter's paradise. About 80,000-100,000 people attend and there are streets upon streets of crafts and miscellaneous things for sell. The food is delicious. We usually go to the "World's Longest Yard Sale" but this is so much better. Everything is in one small town and you are able to just walk around. It's like Mayberry! The weather was pleasant and we all enjoyed ourselves.

I have been sewing some and have made 2 dresses recently. One is for Raegan and the other is a gift. I am getting better but I still have so much improvement to make. A friend and I are thinking about signing up for a sewing class together. She has more experience than me but still considers herself a novice. I think it will be fun!

My sweet girl is growing so fast. She is such a sweet child and I adore her sweet spirit. She is the happiest child I have ever seen. The 3 of us have a lot of fun together. I hope she remembers all these fun times when she grows up. I have so many happy childhood memories and she seems to be a girl after my own heart. She just loves LIFE. Babydolls are still her favorite toy. She even takes her baby to the doctor when we go and she takes the shots like a BIG girl so that her baby doesn't have to cry. Isn't that so sweet.

Well this started out to be a short post but ended up kind of wordy. Blogging is a time for me to reflect and I guess I had a lot of catching up to do. Have a good rest of the week.

To my daughter, I love you.

To My Daughter,

I love You

My day becomes wonderful

when I see your

pretty face smiling so sweetly.

There is such warmth and intelligence

radiating from you.

It seems that every day

you grow smarter and more beautiful.

And every day

I am more proud of you.

My sweet daughter

I love you.

---- Susan Polis Schutz

This sentiment was framed and given to me just before Raegan was born from my Daddy. Every time I read it I am reminded of his adoration for me and how that unconditional love has trickled down through me to my own little girl. Raegan you may never know just how much you are loved by your mommy but I plan to spend all of my life teaching you and reminding you that you are my precious gift from God and my very own little piece of Heaven.

Good Doctor Visit.

Today was Raegan's 15 month check-up. I was a little nervous since this was the first time to see her new doctor but it all went fine and we liked her really well. She played with Raegan a lot which impressed me that she tried to develop a repoire with her. Unfortunately, they had to give her 4 shots and then we have to go back next week for a flu shot and then again in 4 weeks for the booster. In the meantime we will be looking for a pediatric dentist for her to see since she is getting so many teeth now. Two more have appeared and are working their way through. That makes for 12 all together once these finally finish coming in.

Over all we got a good report. I was worried that she is not talking enough but the doctor said that she is actually performing above age level at appx. 19 months. She is in the 25th percentile in height and weight which is 21 lbs. 5 oz. and 29 1/2 inches. She told us that we had a movie star on our hands and that she needed to go to Hollywood. She was exceptionally spunky today. After the shots though she was exhausted and it took a while for her to bounce back. However, the doctor said we needed to cut her milk and juice intake drastically. She is getting almost double the recommended amount and they said there is a danger of depleting the iron in her blood and causing anemia. This will be a major adjustment for us because she drinks so much.

Potty Time!

Raegan used the potty for the first time tonight! She has been becoming more aware of potty issues lately. She has been pointing to her diaper and saying "Shew" when it is dirty. The other day I told her to let me check her diaper and she did then later she was checking it herself. It was so funny. Tonight she wanted to use the potty and she did it herself. We clapped, acted silly, and celebrated her accomplishment. She was so excited and proud of herself.

Tomorrow Raegan has a checkup with her new doctor. Then we have to get some things done around the house to prepare for our weekend company. I still have to get grades ready to turn in on Monday. Next weekend we are going out of town and I can't wait for that. I have been looking forward to this all year. This time of year is my favorite but it is very busy. We usually go to the pumpkin patch and we still are but it will have to wait until the end of the month this time. There's really no rush since we've already done our pumpkins. I think Raegan will enjoy so much this year since she's older. Last year she was so tiny and she really didn't know much about the holidays. We can't wait to experience them with her this year. This age is so much fun. It seems like if you blink your eyes time passes by so quickly and you miss something. I am counting my blessings and just trying to cherish every moment.

Lucky Me!

Guess what!!! I won the shoe give-away on Rebecca's blog. How exciting! I got to pick out a really cute pair of shoes on Etsy from the Gracious May shop. All of their shoes are absolutely adorable!
It was so hard to choose but I finally decided on a great pair.

Thank you to Rebecca for the give-away and to Debbie for posting about it so that I knew to enter. I know my little Raegan will love the shoes. She's all girl and shoes are her fave.

Sew Much Fun!

Sewing can be fun! I have always had a desire to learn how to sew but I have never really pursued it. When I was a little kid my great-grandmother set up her machine and helped me make simple things but I never was able to truly learn how to do it all myself. Scott asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and I told him that I wanted a sewing machine. I began looking for a user friendly machine. My mom is friends with someone who owns a sewing repair shop so she had him look for a machine for us. He called the other day and we went by to check out what he had. He had found us a reasonably priced older machine which was just what we were looking for. On the other hand, a co-worker of mine told me that she had a machine that she wanted to get rid of b/c it was just taking up space in her house and she never used it. She brought it to me today and guess what.... its almost exactly like the one the man had in his store. The whole time I was so thankful to be getting her old machine but secretly hoping it would be similar to the one that we had looked at from the shop. Wow! How lucky can a girl get?

Anyways, tonight my mom came over and helped me with the machine. She gave me some great pointers that her grandmother taught her. It was nice to spend the time with her and for us to have such a good time together. I practiced sewing a little and even threaded it myself and put a new bobbin in. Don't laugh!!!! I'm learning! I even sewed my name. I can't wait to make some things for Raegan.

Tomorrow marks the 8 year anniversary when Scott and I met and officially became a couple. My where does the time go. Two years after we started dating we were engaged, two years later married, two years later pregnant, and now here we are married a little over 4 1/2 years with a 15 month old little blessing. God has been so good to us. We are looking forward to making it to the big 50 one day.