The Prickett Family

Sophia Lynette Prickett Has Arrived!

2012-02-12T16:00:00.001-06:00

First things first. I gave Jeremiah free reign to name our last baby and he came up with Sophia Lynette all by himself. Sophia is a name that he just liked. Plus, it's Oprah Winfrey's character in one of my favorite movies, the Color Purple. In case you live under a rock, my first name is Gwendolynette. So he chopped it in half and named her after me. Since we will never have a boy, Lynette was his way of giving me a junior by naming her after me. He is so sentimental like that. So, that's the story of how the name Sophia Lynette came to be. The traditionalist in me like Sophia with a "ph" and not a "f". Anyway, here is the story of how Lynette was born.

I started having contractions Saturday evening that went through Sunday afternoon. At 4PM on Sunday, I finally called the after hours nurse and she told me to take some Tylenol and to get some rest. By Monday evening I was a little better and weened myself off of the Tylenol. My regularly scheduled ob appt was Tuesday morning and I explained to my doctor what happened over the weekend. She examined me on the spot and told me to take it easy. If the pain kept up or if I started spotting, bleeding, or leaking, I was to give her a call. After I left the doctor, I went to my parents and CRASHED. At least I felt better when I woke up. Later that night after I got home, the contractions were unbearable and I started bleeding. We called the doctor and thy said to come on in.

The doctors decided to admit me for observation because of the bleeding. Eventually, I was put on magnesium to slow the contractions and ease my discomfort. While it worked great, it tripped my body out and I felt weird the entire time I was on it. Then they gave me 2 steroid shots in my backside for the baby. Apparently, the steroid was to help develop the baby lungs in the event that she came early. When I woke up Wednesday, my personal doctor told me that she ordered a sonogram and didn't want to release me until we had that sono done. I was fine with that.

Well, the sonogram didn't happen until 5PM Thursday evening. While the tech was performing my sonogram, he asked "how many c-sections have you had?" I said "two and this baby will be number three". He said "I'll go get the doctor and he'll be be right in." The tech leaves and comes back with two doctors. I knew this wasn't good. Both doctors told Jeremiah and I that my uterus ruptured and that we needed to have an emergency c-section immediately. That was at 5:08PM. At 5:57PM Sophia Lynette was born at only 29 weeks.

Unfortunately, Jeremiah didn't document this birth with great pictures like he always does. Considering how fast everything happened, I think we're lucky to have gotten these few.

Here's my infamous sonogram. My uterus ruptured between the cursors. A portion of the baby's sac and the umbilical cord had worked their way out of my uterus.

Here I am in the middle of surgery with my barf bag. I kept feeling like I was going to vomit but I never did. I saved that for when I got back to my room. My doctor knows that Jeremiah is studying to be a nurse so she let him peek over the curtain for a little while. He was stoked at that opportunity! At one point during the surgery, my doctor told me that it is a good thing that this is our last baby. Because my uterus ruptured so severely, I'll never be able to carry another baby full term.

EVERYONE was pulling for me and saying things like "she has a friend upstairs", "the Lord is definitely on her side", " I can't believe she or the baby didn't bleed out", "I can't believe she's coherent", "she's one lucky lady because this could've ended very differently", "this is one of the most amazing cases that I've seen in my career".

Lynette arrived on 2/9/12 at 5:57PM! Here she is getting all cleaned up. I was so relieved when I heard her cry immediately. Everyone was so nice and worked so diligently!

Right before the nurse whisked Lynette off to NICU, she allowed me to give her a kiss and I immediately felt at peace about her condition. Lynette looked really good! Her color was good. Her features were good. My favorite part was seeing that she had blonde eyebrows and light brown/blonde hair! We'll have to wait and see if the color changes.

Weighing in at 3lbs and 1oz. She's underweight but the doctors believe that she just needs to put on some weight. They are slightly concerned about her puffy feet, excess skin on her neck, and the size of her hands. Blood will be drawn tomorrow to test for Turners Syndrome.

She looks worse than she actually is. The mask on her face is a CPAP to keep her lungs from collapsing. While she's breathing on her own, the CPAP is a plan b in the event Lynette forgets to breathe. If she forgets to breathe, the CPAP takes over. Jeremiah and I have had many discussions on what Lynette would like. After having a brown baby and a white baby, we now have a pink baby!

Prince Charming getting some much deserved rest.

The NICU doctors said that she looks more like she's at 32 weeks rather than 29 weeks. I think so, too. In fact, I've always felt that I was three weeks ahead of every sonogram that I had. The NICU doctors also said that we may be able to take Lynette home in about 5 weeks, yay! I'm told that when babies are premature they are kept in NICU until their due date. However, if missy continues to progress so well, she may not have to stay until April.

Thank you all for your prayers, well wishes, and positive thoughts! All of us are feeling your love and we are so lucky to have supportive family and friends in our lives. Please continue to keep our baby girl in your prayers :o)

Thelma & Louise

2012-02-05T23:48:00.000-06:00

I nicknamed the girls Thelma and Louise because they are always into something! Life has been moving pretty slow since Christmas and there haven't been many moments worth blogging about. So, I decided to go through some pictures to see what I had and I found these. Thelma and Louise up to no good, again! These were taken sometime between late September and December. As much as I love my munchkins, and as cute as they are, my hands are constantly full and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Potty training...defiantly.

Instead of trying to figure out why or how she is sleeping upside down, I ran for the camera.

Scarlett mastered the ability to climb into Savannah's crib and she was quite proud of herself. Savannah was less than pleased. Scarlett wakes Savannah all the time just to play. Now that Savannah is big enough, she gets even. Now, Savannah has no problem waking up Scarlett just to play. Gotta love it!

One day these two weren't felling well. I thought it was cute that they fell asleep in the same position.

This is the day Savannah got stuck between the toilet and the wall. Scarlett kept screaming "stuck, stuck, stuck". Naturally, I thought Scarlett was stuck. As it turned out, Savannah was the one that got stuck.

I want to know who told them that they could eat red blow pops outside the kitchen?! They're lucky that they are so darn cute together.

One day we sat down to have lunch and I told the girls "let's say our prayers." Out of nowhere, Savannah folded her arms so reverently! I believe she was eleven months. In the midst of the girls shenanigans, they do provide me with some tender moments :o)

Missy got stuck playing between the wall and the end table. I think she was trying to climb her way out because her legs were wrapped around the leg of the table.

Fully loaded diaper accompanied with the "my diaper is too full to walk in" walk.

Another tender moment. I was taking too long to get to Savannah so Scarlett jumped in my chair and finished feeding her. How sweet is that?!

One day they got into my sock drawer. At least Scarlett had enough sense to stop after they got busted. Why are the pj's halfway on? Your guess is as good as mine.

Christmas isn't Christmas if my hearth isn't destroyed by one of these bandits.

I had to include this one because everyone loves a naked baby bum, right? My parents got these foam letters for SAVANNAH for her first birthday. When they are wet, they stick to the tile and the tub. They really are cool because they are not messy or fussy. Anyway, Scarlett loved them so much that she didn't want to share with Savannah. Please notice how Scarlett is tiptoeing her hardest to put them out of Savannah's reach!

When they get bored with their toys, they move on to playing with the blinds.

This is what I'm talking about! In his efforts to help mommy out, Jeremiah taught Scarlett how to put away the silverware.

Scarlett vs. Savannah vs. the baby doll stroller. I guess Scarlett won because she's the only one still standing. You should have heard her trying to explain herself out of this one.

The Gaylord Texan

2011-12-31T21:26:00.000-06:00

There was one more order of business I needed to take care of before this holiday season came to an end. I had to take the family to the Gaylord Texan to see the holiday decorations! Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas?! I've never gone during the day and I wanted to this year. It was completely different than visiting at night. After today, I think I still prefer visiting at night, I think. Anyway, all in attendance was our family, the in-laws, nieces, and nephew. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed themselves. For your viewing pleasure, another round of a plethora of pictures!

The first thing I wanted to do was get a group picture before anyone got tired.

Holding on for dear life.

There was a meet & greet with some characters. I didn't know who this guy was or where he came from but he looked cool and I had to get a picture with him.

Scarlett spotted a snowman.

This is the reindeer Prancer. I LOVED this reindeer! Her caption read "future outlet mall manager"...or something like that. I just loved how girly and feminine she was! I think Scarlett was falling in love with her, too.

After a long day of being out and about, Scarlett wanted her daddy to read to her and he did. Then Savannah crawled in. All of them were so adorable cuddled on the sofa together :o)

Christmas Day

2011-12-27T23:04:00.001-06:00

Christmas day was so much fun this year! Every year is fun but this year has been exceedingly fun. We started the day by going to church. For me, Christmas is always more spiritual and more special when it is on a Sunday. After debating whether we should open gifts before or after church, I decided that we should open them after church. When church was over, we headed home, changed clothes, and sent the kids to the back. Then the real fun began! I was one busy elf trying to smuggle gifts in and place them under the tree. Jeremiah "helped" by volunteering to stay out of the way.

I'm just now going through the Christmas pictures and I saw this! I had no idea that he took this. He said he was appreciating my pregnancy curves. Looks like a wide load to me but if he loves it, I guess I shouldn't complain. Is any of this TMI?

I don't remember taking this one either. I probably came up for air.

All done!

Here's J marching the troops in!

And then there was one.

Savannah never needs any help ripping things open or apart. Suddenly, she needs help opening a gift?! This kid is funny.

Well well well. Mr. Man does smile on Christmas, yay! My job is done :o)

Daddy's sock mustache.

In less than 2 minutes, a friend of mine (thanks Romy) told me how to make these tutu's. I made these all by myself and they turned out great! Well, my mother-in-law sewed the ends together. The girls kept these on all day long because they loved them so much!

Look at Liz in the background gathering her gifts trying to sneak off. She couldn't wait to break into her barbie's and start reading her books.

The aftermath.

It's all fun and games until Savannah gets hungry and tired.

These two were fighting over who gets to sit on grandpa's lap. Being the peacemaker that he is, my dad accommodated both of the girls. Scarlett was happy but Savannah wasn't so sure about this sharing business.

The missionaries from church had Christmas dinner with us. Some kind of way Jeremiah got them hooked on Phase 10. As soon as dinner was over, they were at it again.

Here's JD enjoying Tangled. Between the card game, the movie, several conversations going on at the same time, the house was loud but very festive! I hope everyone had a good time.

BTW, I want to tell my mom THANK YOU for cooking all of the food!

I'm still eating the leftovers :o)

Happy 1st Birthday Savannah!

2011-12-26T23:10:00.000-06:00

So, this is a little late. Better late than never, right?

On December 12, 2010...at 1:30AM...Savannah Camille Prickett was born! Since we had her party on Saturday, I decided to have an intimate birthday celebration on her actual birthday. We presented her with a cookie and daddy helped her blow her candle out.

Once again, the Lord has shown me some mercy and blessed me with this sweet baby girl. I love everything about her! She's not perfect but she sure is as sweet as she can be...most days. One of my favorite parts of the day is first thing in the mornings. When I walk into the girls room, Savannah will start jumping up and down when she sees my face. It's the sweetest thing ever! Then, she will scream until she is fed. Then, she's fine again...until she gets tired. Then, the screaming will start all over again. She really is a diva. As long as her needs are met, she's good! We have had such a blast having this little one in our family. Her smile is to die for and her hugs completely melt your heart. Jeremiah literally thanks me everyday for giving him babies. Today, I would like to thank him for my babies, too :o)

Happy birthday sweetheart!

She has two teeth on the top and two teeth on the bottom. She put them to good use when it was cookie time!

She's not walking on her own yet. But, she is making several steps at a time and we love it! We made this video on Christmas eve. Savannah "walked" several times before I started recording and she was doing great! She was just walking and smiling and having a good time. Of course, by the time I started recording, she was done and didn't want to "walk" anymore. The best part of the video? Me not catching her. I was so excited and so busy looking through the lens that I didn't realize how close she was. Oh well. At least I have her first steps recorded. Mission accomplished!

Annual Church Christmas Party

2011-12-10T21:16:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been crazy busy for me! Two hours after Savannah's birthday party, we were off to our annual church Christmas party, yay! There was food, friends, and plenty of socializing...my favorite part :o) The choir and the primary kids performed a couple of songs and it was nice. Savannah and I even danced to Silent Night. I don't know what has gotten into Jeremiah lately but he's been more of a handful than usual. His latest stunt is remixing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". The remix: "I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus"! I shouldn't laughed but it really was funny. He just made up the lyrics as he went! I wish he would put that energy into repairing my van. I'm just sayin'!

If there were no Sis. Phillips, I'm pretty sure Jeremiah would be bishop's favorite person on earth! Seriously. These two LOVE each other to pieces. Whenever I'm around, they feed off of each other to make me nuts...ON PURPOSE!

Savannah ate way to much and couldn't even sit up straight, lol! Liz politely informed me that she was too old to take a picture with Santa so she didn't. Later I found out that she actually did.

Here we are with "Satan Claus"! According to Jeremiah, Satan Claus wants to take all the glory and reward those for doing good. Jeremiah also likes to quote scriptures. His favorite thing to say is "who said 'and let the glory be mine'. I think we know who took that role!" Apparently, Christmas wasn't much fun at the Prickett's growing up. As a result, none of his siblings really like Christmas. Except J's baby brother, Josh. He chose to rise above and actually gets excited about Christmas. I LOVE when he comes to town! Here is Jeremiah being sarcastic about Santa. This is him saying "Santa really IS real"! I hate to admit it but I was laughing so hard.

Savannah's 1st Birthday Party

2011-12-10T16:22:00.000-06:00

We gave Savannah her 1st birthday party earlier this afternoon...although she doesn't officially turn one until Dec. 12th! When she was born, I promised myself that I would do just as much for her on and around her birthday as I do the others. By any means necessary, I would not compromise her birthday just because she was born around Christmas time. As always, I kept the 1st year simple with just immediate family. The smaller the party, the smaller the stress. Plus, I can focus on the guest of honor!

I asked Jeremiah to watch Savannah while I started getting the house ready for the party and this is what he does. He stuffed Savannah in the sofa and now calls it "The Babysitter".

The worst part was that Savannah loved it!

I was wondering why the table looked so sparse. Eventually, I remembered to bring out the fruit and the bread for the chicken salad sandwiches.

I asked Jeremiah to meet me in the garage to help with Savannah's present. On my way, I heard this muffled poof sound coming from the garage. Jeremiah had taken part of the car cover off the Porsche and got inside!

According to him, it's no fun driving the Porsche in the winter because you can't ride with the top down because it's too cold. A couple of weeks ago he stored it away for the winter. I knew he missed it but I didn't know it was this bad! Being the great wife that I am, I let him have a moment with his baby. Geez!!!

I put my parents on diaper duty and my dad fell asleep! Really, daddy?!

My one and only nephew, bro-in-law, and J's mom.

At some point during the party, I noticed that Liz and her cousins weren't around. After looking for them, I found them outside. Since it was several of them, Jeremiah told them to go outside and rake the leaves...AT A BIRTHDAY PARTY!!! The worst part about it was that they LOVED doing it!

So excited to be opening presents.

Goofball! Don't you love my empty shelves? I was finally forced to moved things up so that the girls wouldn't play with them.

We got Savannah a Leap Frog Learn Around Playground. When I brought it in, Scarlett's eyes got HUGE and she bolted to this thing! She was so excited to test it out for herself.

After peeling Scarlett off, Savannah was able to enjoy it by herself.

J iced the cake for me with a big S in the middle. I thought it was sweet.

We started singing happy birthday and Savannah was like "what the heck"?!

She couldn't blow out the candle so Scarlett helped her. Afterwards, Savannah started to blow. Figures.

Once again, the mess was minimal. YAY!

And Scarlett is back!

Jeremiah has his moments and so do I. Usually, I'm slick enough to not get caught on camera. Oh well!

The perfect way to end the party.

Bethlehem Revisited

2011-12-09T23:30:00.000-06:00

Tonight we hooked up with a couple of our friends and their families and headed south to visit "Bethlehem Revisited". As y'all know, I love any and all things Christmas! Basically, Bethlehem Revisited is a historical reenactment of Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth. Many booths were set up to depict what life was like at the time of Christ birth. It was like visiting Bethlehem and being able to interact with the Artisans. I am posting a lot of pictures because I want to document our "Bethlehem Revisited" trip for our family. Here we go!

Scarlett petting the sheep. Surprisingly, she did really well and wasn't afraid.

I think this is Mary and Joesph.

J's idea of keeping an eye on Scarlett is to put her on his shoulders.

Savannah survived the cold! She started out crying but I think that's because she couldn't see from her car seat because it was attached to the stroller. We ended up taking her out and strapping her directly to the stroller and she was happy again.

Merry Christmas from the Pricketts!

The water well.

J was trying to get Scarlett to touch one of the camels but she was not having it. She was kicking and screaming and had a death grip on his head.

They were pretty cool but not cool enough to touch I guess.

Your guess is as good as mine. Then Scarlett wanted to do whatever daddy was doing.

This is the face I get when I spend a lot of money...or any amount of money for that matter!

Scarlett trying on a turban.

Liz wanted to try it, too.

Yours truly.

Smelling the rosemary. Scarlett was SO good about trying things out. I was quite proud of my little girl.

Petting the chicken.

Liz wanted NOTHING to do with the chicken until she saw Scarlett petting it.

Having so much fun! I love when she smiles on cue.

Goodbye Bethlehem. Jeremiah didn't complain once! I was such a proud wife.

Liz's Gingerbread House

2011-12-05T17:21:00.000-06:00

Liz made a gingerbread house at school and it actually turned out pretty good. Of course it only last 2-3 hours before it was devoured. For some strange reason I didn't get a pic of Scarlett or Liz. Trust me, they made sure they got their fair share.

Mmm...hmm. She takes her food seriously.

All done!

Finger lickin' good!

Boy Or Girl? It's...

2011-12-02T22:47:00.000-06:00

The Lord's will has been done.

Here's our next and final baby Prickett...ANOTHER girl!!! After checking several times, the sono tech assured me that we are indeed the proud parents of another girl. I told Jeremiah maybe we should try again for a boy. He was all for it. Then I decided against it because the next one would be a girl, too. So, we are done. If we were 30, no doubt about it we would try again. But we are not. Our baby girl is healthy and she doesn't have any abnormalities, yay. We're still working on a name and won't announce it until the baby is born.

Y'all know how we do :o)

Scarlett's 1st Haircut

2011-11-30T21:32:00.000-06:00

I finally decided to take Scarlett to get her haircut/trim. She did really well and I was very impressed with her! I wanted her hair to be shorter but I had a hard time imagining her without her baby look. So we ended up taking off only an inch or so.

She hopped in the chair like a big girl and immediately started checking out the surroundings.

Before I knew it, her eyes were watery. I assured her that everything was going to be fine and she never let one tear drop!

All done!

What started out to be a haircut turned into a simple trim. Maybe I'll be bold enough to get it cut by her 3rd birthday. Maybe.

She even received a lollipop...

...and she was still going at it when we arrived home.

Ready For Christmas!

2011-11-27T08:55:00.000-06:00

I have been DYING to start decorating for Christmas since the beginning of November. After weeks of waiting I couldn't stand it anymore. I started and finished decorating the day before Thanksgiving! Yes I did! Scarlett even helped. Jeremiah had to work the Friday after Thanksgiving so Friday was out. Saturday and Sunday were out because I do laundry and have church on those days. Dragging it out until next week was just plain foolish so that left me with Wednesday. Decorating this year was way more pleasant than last year because I'm not 37 weeks pregnant. My sister Maria "helped" move the furniture around with Jeremiah. Scarlett offered her muscles, too. I only put out a third of what I usually do because Savannah is in that touch, feel, drop, and bang stage. I would be so sad if she broke some of the fragile things. By the way, Savannah is feeling a little better. Her congestion is still around but at least she's not blowing out green snot anymore. Now, I have work on getting rid of her cough and her eternal running nose.

Every year at Christmas we have to rotate the furniture to make room for the tree. Scarlett wanted to help so she just jumped right on in to help her daddy. She was more in the way than she was helpful but she sure enjoyed herself. I loved every minute of it, too!

I'm still praying for my sister. Scarlett was more help than she was! Maria was suppose to be helping but Scarlett did more than she did! Every time I looked up, Maria was taking a break...AGAIN!

Savannah was hanging out watching all of the organized chaos.

Scarlett was such a worker bee this year. She wanted to help me decorate the tree and she got pretty good at it...

...until I saw the cluster of ornaments! She did the icecicles the same way. Surprisingly, she didn't break a single thing...yet. The season is still young!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T08:26:00.001-06:00

The Minivan Plan

2011-11-08T20:40:00.001-06:00

I've decided to cry my last cry.

There are 2 things that y'all should know about Jeremiah if you don't already. #1, he doesn't like to spend money. #2, he doesn't like to spend money unnecessarily. Having said that, this is the very reason why I was crying so hard when all of this happened. I knew deep down that he wasn't going to fix my van. Having said that, we have had many discussions regarding the damage that I caused to the Mommymobile.

His first and only option for me is to leave the van as it is. It drives straight, it doesn't look that bad, and we have higher priorities than making my van look "pretty". He also believes that if we ride it out, someone is only going to side swipe us and then they can pay for the repairs.

Obviously, I had to make a counteroffer. I asked Mr. Man what amount would the repairs have to come in at in order to repair the van. He said $500. I'm thinking "SWEET!" All I have to do is find someone to repair the van for $500 or less. I was all kind of excited! I drove my happy little self to Service King and told my "go to guy" that the estimate had to come in at $500. Guess how much the van is going to cost? Wait for it. Wait for it. $1500. I was quickly deflated :o(

I cried all the way home. At least I could see the road this time. On my way home I started thinking. Maybe Jeremiah is right. At least I have reliable transportation AND it drives straight AND maybe I should leave well enough alone. He has made it very clear that if something else happens, which might be worse than the current damage, he's not paying for another deductible.

Then he says this "I tell you what. If you can live with that door for another year, I'll buy you a new van before the end of the first quarter of 2013." While most wives would jump on the opportunity to get a new car, I don't want a new car. I love my van and I just want it fixed.

As much as it sickens me, I think I'm going to hold out for a new van. And, it better be just as nice as my current one!!! Jeremiah, you do not have to repair my van. There, I've officially put it in writing :o(

Cake Balls

2011-11-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

The girls and I made cake balls for Halloween! It wasn't difficult but it sure was time consuming. Basically, you bake a cake, crumble it up, mix it with icing and refrigerate. I decided to flex my baking muscles and the cake balls turned out pretty good. I couldn't believe I actually survived and the mess in the kitchen was at a minimal. It was fun but I doubt that I will ever do them again.

Scarlett worked so hard and took her assignment seriously.

When we were done making the balls, I told BOTH girls that they could have what was left in the bowl.

Miss. Greedy Pants ate EVERY crumb in the bowl and didn't leave much of anything for Scarlett.

Savannah wipped out on the floor a time or two. She has to get use to wearing socks now that the weather is getting cooler.

All done! I was so proud of us.

Scarlett is still looking for leftovers after Liz hogged the bowl. Guess who's hand is on the left side of the bowl? Yep, it's Liz. Really, Liz?! There is nothing left!!!

Eventually, I gave Scarlett her own HEAPED scoop! I love the look on her face. It reminds me of when you eat something really good and you start to roll your eyes because it is so good. Scarlett's happiness was restored!

Boo at the Zoo

2011-10-22T15:48:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Liberty and I took our kids to Boo at the Zoo! It was so much fun. There were games, trick-or-treating, crafts, and an animal show...we skipped that one. The more fun Scarlett had, the more fun I had! It was so exciting to see her call out and run to all of the animals that we have been reading and singing about. I don't think I thought about the van the entire time. Until it was time to go and I saw the damage again. And yes, it is still painful :o(

Playing games.

Still playing games.

I was holding Scarlett's candy and put it down to help her with a game. While we were playing, Savannah got into it. This is Scarlett retrieving what belongs to her! I don't know what Savannah is thinking but I love the expression on her face!

Trick-or-treating.

Usually, when I see alligator it is on shoes or a handbag. It was cool to see the real thing.

Scarlett and Austin looking at the fish.

Scarlett recognized the elephants right away and took off running to see them! Maybe I'll frame this one for her one day. She'll always have a memory of seeing the elephants for the very first time with mommy.

Group picture of the kids.

The giraffe's were beautiful.

Checking out the fish and ducks.

Scarlett was Little Red Riding Hood and Savannah was a lady bug.

Hangin' out.

My two goofballs.

Love this! It was huge! This guy was on top of a building entering the zoo.

I wasn't done unloading our things out of the van and Scarlett was already breaking into her candy. The little stink pot!

I took this one just because she's so darn cute!

The Mommymobile Is Broke

2011-10-18T08:39:00.000-05:00

I have completely coasted through my firsttrimester. Not one headache. Not one day of morning sickness. No nausea. Absolutely, nothing. In fact, the only confirmation I have that Iam pregnant is when I go to my ob appts and hear little Mr. Man’s heartbeat. Well, I got a little tired here and there buteven that was no big deal.

Yesterday I needed gas because I was on empty. I had two choices. Choice #1, go to Wal Mart like I always do andpay $3.39/gal. Choice #2, go across thestreet to Valero and pay $3.19/gal. Obviously, I should go to Valero because it’s cheaper, right? So I pull into Valero and try to make thissemi u-turn to pull up to the pump. Therewas a jeep wrangler pulled way out so I had to turn wide to miss it. Across from the pump I was trying to get was ahuge white van pulled way out. Seriously, how much room does a vehicle need to get gas?! I ALWAYS stop at the pump exactly where mytank is. Is it that hard for others todo, too?! Anyway, I’m u-turning and allof a sudden I stopped. So I backed up tryingnot to hit the van or the jeep. Then Ihear this bump/crunching sound. I goforward again. Can’t move. I backed up and only moved a little bit. I try to move forward again and I can’tmove. I gassed it and this time I heardmy tires screeching. I’m thinking I hitthe jeep so I hop out to assess what the noise is all about and this is what Isee?!

I was so focused trying not to hit the jeep or the vanthat I completely ran into the concrete barricade that protected the pump. The barricade is painted gray so it fadedinto the color of the pavement and I just didn’t see it. Paralyzed with fear and stupidity, I calledJeremiah balling my eyes out. Oh, it wasugly. I had to repeat several times because he didn’tunderstand a word I saying. I couldn’tunderstand him because I was crying so hard. By the end of the conversation, all I got was “make sure your eyes aredry enough so you can see and go home”. Seriously,I cried all the way home. Scarlett asked“mommy sad?” all the way home. I said “yes,mommy’s sad” all the way home. I pulledin the garage and I got Scarlett out. She was touching the damage and said “mommy, the car broke?” I replied “the car is broke.”

When Jeremiah came home, he gave me a big hug andkiss and said it's just a car. He didn’t kill me, berate me, or yell. I was waiting for it but it neverhappened. He would never do that but thefact that I hit something, I thought I had deserved it and just knew it was coming. Being the sweetheart that he is, he said there wasn't any point of doing that. He also said he’ll fix it, but not right now. The taxes are due on the house, we have theexpenses of the baby, I just had the backyard resodded, the bills are going to startcoming in from all of the tests that Savannah had last week and the list goeson and on and on. Unfortunately, rightnow we are not in a position to pay a $1000 deductible. Ouch, I know. We went this route because we RARELY get into an accident or get citations. BTW,had I gone to Wal Mart, I would have paid $60.47 for gas instead of $57.10 atValero. I should have spent the extra $3.37at Wal Mart in order to protect my van. The pumps have easier access to them, too.

Later that night, Jeremiah kept trying to cheerme up. Nothing was working. I don’t think I smiled again all night. I was sicker yesterday afternoon and lastnight than I have been during my entire first trimester. I had a headache from crying so hard and solong. I barely ate dinner. My stomach was in knots. I barely slept. I was a mess. Anyway, the girls are waking up so I bettergo. Y’all have a good one and thanks forlistening to me :o(

103.6

2011-10-14T19:01:00.000-05:00

As Jeremiah was leaving for work yesterday morning, Savannah woke up crying. I told him to give her to me and we snuggled in bed until I couldn't take it anymore. She was so hot that I decided to get up and get my day started. It wasn't long before she woke up and things started going wrong.

At 10AM, her temp was 102.1. I called J and then I called the doctor. The doctor couldn't see me until 2:15. That 4 hour wait felt like an eternity! At 1:30PM her temp was an insane 103.6! We finally make it to the doctor's office and Savannah checked out fine. Her abdomen, throat, chest, lungs, ears, and eyes didn't show any sign of an infection or injury. The doctor wanted to check for a urinary infection and that test came back negative, too. As a last resort, Savannah was given an antibiotic in both legs and some advil. Before we left the doctor's office, Savannah's temp was 99, yay! The doctor wanted to have her blood drawn to run some tests with the hopes of finding something. After being poked in both arms, the tech was finally able to draw some blood.

We went back for a follow up this afternoon and Savannah's lab results came back negative. I knew they would. One single thing couldn't be found. The doctor checked her ears one last time. The left ear is a little red but it's no big deal. As a precaution, the doctor prescribed amoxicillin to counteract whatever the red may be. After being stuck with four different needles four times, after having a catheter inserted (to collect a urine sample), after not eating much of anything all day, after sleeping most of the day, I am happy to report that Savannah's temp is holding at 99, yay! She's still not eating much but at least she's crawling, playing, crying, and laughing again. She wasn't doing a thing yesterday. Maybe she just had a 24 hour bug or something. Who knows.

My munchkin when her temp was at 103.6. She looked so pitiful and lifeless all day long. I don't know what's up her eyes but she wasn't crying.

This was around 1PM this afternoon and she is doing MUCH better! She's eating half as much as she usually does but at least she's eating...and laughing...and crying!!!

A Beautiful Day

2011-10-03T23:26:00.000-05:00

After I fed the girls breakfast this morning, I decided that it was so beautiful outside that we had to go the park. I packed up the girls, picked up my sister, and we headed for the park! It was a beautiful day and we had the park to ourselves until it was lunch time.

I've seen enough tv shows where animals attack people. For my children's sake, this is as close as I would let them get. Don't judge.

Auntie Ri Ri showing Scarlett how to feed the ducks.

Watching the ducks eat their bread.

Maybe I'll remember to comb my hair tomorrow...doubt it.

Awwww!!! Like I said, it was a beautiful day!

I Mean What I Say

2011-09-22T09:49:00.001-05:00

I'll try to make this long and very frustrated story short. Several months ago, Liz entered this phase where she wanted to do her own hair. She has some SERIOUS thick and curly hair. I showed her how she needed to take care of it and she has REFUSED to do her hair properly.

The last straw came the night before the first day of school. She asked me to flat iron it because she wanted to wear it straight for the first day. When I started her hair, I tried to part it and I couldn't even reach the scalp. Why? Because she washed her hair the night before and went to bed with wet AND tangled hair!!! Apparently, she left her hair products at her cousins house after spending the week with them. Since she didn't have any products, she decided to go to bed. She didn't even comb it out. She could have at least done that! She could've come to me for help. But nooooo! She chose to be lazy instead.

By the grace of God, I managed to work through the tangles and the flat ironing was finally over. I looked her in the eye and I told her, "if you EVER go to bed with wet and tangled hair again, I will cut it off! Don't test me. I mean what I say." Guess what? One week later, she let it happened AGAIN! Guess what else? We were off to Great Clips!!! The stylist across from us had time to give haircuts to 3 different people and Liz was still in the chair having her hair worked on. After 35 or 40 mins, we were finally done and I was quite pleased with the results.

I didn't get any "before" pictures because I was SO mad I didn't even think about it. I told her, if she goes to bed with wet and tangled hair again, I will cut it all off and she will go bald. I am happy to report that Liz has been doing her hair PROPERLY every since it has been cut. Ironically, she loves it, too! Now that it's short enough, I think she's able to manage it much better. Her hair is still pretty wet in the picture below. When it's dry, it is much shorter and very cute!

Pssst & Coot

2011-09-17T13:19:00.004-05:00

Last Wednesday night Jeremiah and Scarlett had the following conversation at the kitchen table.

Scarlett: Daddy?

J: Yes, baby?

Scarlett: Mommy's "pssst"

J: Mommy's what???

Scarlett: Mommy's "pssst"

J: Ohhh! Mommy's pissed?

Scarlett: Yes...Daddy?

J: Yes, baby?

Scarlett: Mommy's coot.

J: What?

Scarlett: Mommy's coot.

J: Ohhh! Mommy's cute?!

Scarlett: Yes.

J: So let me get this straight. Mommy's pissed and cute???

Scarlett: Yes.

I assure you that pissed is NOT in Scarlett's everyday vocabulary. In fact, I don't know where she may have heard pissed. I don't say that word and Jeremiah says "ticked" but not pissed. I'm feeling dirty just typing it!

Anyway, in my defense, Wed was a weird day for me. I felt sluggish and tired...all. Day. Long. So when Scarlett saw me unlike myself, I guess she thought that I was pissed off. I don't know where the cute came from (we do say cute on a daily basis) because I've looked a mess all week long. Maybe her mother will always look cute to her :o) I digress. Anyway, I feel fine most of the time but sometimes I get hit with a wave of tiredness. Thank the Lord I haven't had any morning sickness or nausea. Other than that, Jr. and I are just fine!

BTW, I've already decided that I am having a boy. If I profess it long and hard enough, maybe it will come to fruition. Hope springs eternal!

My coot little girl is growing up so fast!

Pregnant...Again!

2011-08-22T22:06:00.003-05:00

I have no idea where to begin! I'll just start typing and see where it goes. Where we trying to get pregnant?

Jeremiah's response: "ABSOLUTELY! If you got pregnant, we can save more than half of what we are paying for health insurance. Not only that, we owe it to the world to produce more educated, responsible, productive members of society. Lord knows there are plenty of people having babies who SHOULDN'T be having babies; and they will eventually outnumber us if we don't do our part. Plus, there are so many sweet spirits in heaven that need a good family to go to. That's us, baby!"

My response: We knew we wanted one more baby but didn't know when we wanted to start trying. We couldn't wait too long because both of us are getting older. We couldn't get pregnant too soon because Savannah is still a baby. Jeremiah wanted to try weeks after we brought Savannah home but I wasn't having any of that! Then, I thought we should try in December after Savannah turned one. I didn't like that idea because I didn't want the baby to have a September birthday and then he or she would have to sit out an entire year before starting kindergarten. Then, I had another thought in June. I thought if I got pregnant in June, the baby would be born in March...I can't have a baby in March. Jeremiah and I have birthdays in March and I'm not sharing March with ANYONE...ANYMORE...PERIOD! Anyway, I had another thought. If I got pregnant in July, baby would come in April. I can live with that. If I got pregnant in August, baby would come in May. I can live with that. I didn't want to have a baby in June, July, or August because school would be out for the summer. Which means that I can't bring cupcakes or balloons to my kids classes for everyone to enjoy. In fact, I barely gave birth to Savannah before the schools break for the Christmas holidays. Y'all know I love a good party and I can't be messing up my kids life...intentionally anyway. I digress.

Having said all of that, I had to conceive in July or Aug. To ensure that the Lord's will would be done, we (Jeremiah mostly) decided not to take any preventative measures. So, it's no surprise that we are pregnant. I have to be honest. I freaked out all day when TWO pregnancy tests came back positive. I think I was concerned about having three little ones so close together. Then again, if the good Lord felt that I could handle it, who am I to challenge Him. So there you have it. This is how the last Baby Prickett came to be. After this baby is born, we will officially be done having children.

We went to the doctor this morning for the first sonogram and the baby is due on April 8th. Now, I just have to pray that the baby is a boy AND the he won't be born on April 1st! For your viewing pleasure, here is the sonogram pic that we took this morning.

The sono tech said that I am only about 5 weeks. If you look REALLY close, you'll be able to see a teeny spot that is Baby Prickett.

For those of you with inquiring minds, Jeremiah has made it very clear that he will NOT be selling the Porsche!

Ghetto Diaper

2011-07-30T23:45:00.002-05:00

Earlier tonight I was putting a brand new diaper on Savannah after I gave her a bath. As I was pulling the tab across her tummy, the darn thing just tore off! Then the following conversation happened:

J: "let's just throw this diaper away and put on another one."

Me: "What?! You crazy!!! That's a brand new diaper! Where's the tape?!"

J: "Uh...are you serious???"

Me: "Nevermind. I'll find it myself."

J: "Look in the garage on the top of the shelf."

Usually, any Prickett by blood will try to fix anything with any kind of tape. I'm the last one to try to fix something with tape. Maybe that's why J was so surprised that I was asking for tape. Anyway, 53 seconds and 10 inches later, a ghetto diaper was in full effect!

Within 30 minutes, Savannah pooped and the ghetto diaper had to come off. I'm glad that wasn't another brand new diaper. I would have been really mad!

She looks fine to me!

Happy to be clean :o)

That was probably a $.15 diaper I saved. I would do it all over again!

American Idol Concert ROCKED!

2011-07-23T21:05:00.003-05:00

Generally, I'm a passive fan of American Idol. Generally, Jeremiah is a die hard fan of American Idol. Needless to say, Jeremiah bought concert tickets when they went on sale. Not only did he purchase tickets, he purchased the VIP package! The package included a "meet and greet" with the idols before the concert and KILLER seats! Before I knew it, I was just as excited as Jeremiah was.

We didn't take a picture with Thia Megia, Stefano Langone, or Lauren Alaina. We never liked Thia or Stefano. I heard Lauren was sick and then I heard she was hurt. Whatever the case, I was irritated that she wasn't at the meet and greet but she showed up for the concert??? Whatever. I didn't care either way and I had plenty of fun without her. I felt bad for the little girls that wanted to meet her. Then, she wouldn't touch any of the fans hands that reached out for her when she performed. She waved instead??? The other idols touched fans hands when they performed. Whatever. Anyway, here is our journey through Wed. night. It was quite a night! Thank you baby :o)

VIP Group picture.

Naima Adedapo. We went to visit her first. We didn't stay long because we wanted to make sure we had enough time to visit with everyone else.

Haley Reinhart. I don't know why, but Jeremiah loooves Haley! I was not a fan. Not even a little bit. And it isn't because he liked her. I graciously told Jeremiah I would take their picture so I did. What I really wanted to do was ask this girl where the rest of her shorts were. She was wearing some teeny tiny shorts!

Jacob Lusk. Then it was my turn. OMG! Can you tell I was a little excited? I love this guy! He was like the first cousin that everyone loves. So warm, friendly, and just good people. So, Motown week was my favorite week. I asked him if he was going to sing You're All I Need To Get By. He said he didn't know but he might. Let me tell ya, when the intro started playing, I lost my mind. I got my groove on from the beginning to the end of that song! Jeremiah graciously offered to take our picture.

Paul McDonald. His smile is just as bright in person. I told him that it is so wrong that he looks better in skinny jeans than I do! He fell out laughing and we were instant buddies! We chatted it up, too!

Casey Abrams. I still can't believe how much hair this boy has! I had to run my hands through it and he was totally cool about it! He was really sweet and humble. J LOVES him some Casey Abrams! He performed Georgia during Hollywood week and Jeremiah watched a 2 min video over and over and over again! I'm glad he was such a nice guy.

Pia Toscano. She told me I was "cute" and "sweet"! I couldn't believe how beautiful she was in person! She looked way better in person than she does on tv. And I told her so! She said that she didn't like how she looked on tv. We talked like we were old friends from college. Seriously, she made me feel like were Oprah and Gail. I loved her! Jeremiah said she felt squishy. Like hugging a grandma or something.

James Durbin.

Waiting in line to see Scotty.

Scotty McCreery. He was such a nice young man! Down to earth and everything. By the time we made it to him, we ran out of time and didn't get to talk to him much. We still got our picture, though!

We were the eighth row from the stage! Mr. Man went all out.

In our seats and waiting for the concert to start. Geez, that was a long hour to wait! A really cool couple ended up sitting next to us and we talked until the concet started. Then we ended up talking on and off throughout the evening.

The girls performed Born This Way as the opening number.

Pia performing Empire State of Mind.

Paul performing Maggie May. He did an amazing job! He is such a likable guy.

Casey and James.

James still rockin' out.

The guys performing Animal.

Casey performing Harder to Breathe. He was so entertaining.

Naima and James. This was all of the idols, except Scotty, performing Forget You by Cee Lo Green. It was a GREAT performance! It ended WAY too soon!

Here's Lauren performing If I Die Young. J loved this performance. He was walking around the house singing this song. It was cute.

I still can't believe how close we were!

Jacob performed Never Too Much and You're All I Need to Get By. He did a FANTASTIC job! I loved every second of it!

Haley performing The House of the Rising Sun.

Scotty made me like country music...only for one night :o)

My New Kitchen

2011-06-26T13:26:00.013-05:00

The week before Memorial Day I was fortunate enough to have my kitchen updated. I have been wanting a new kitchen since we moved into our house 3 years ago. I really don't know why it took so long. Actually, I do. I was either pregnant or just had a baby and could not think about not having a kitchen for a week or so.

I finally decided that it was time to update it when 2 things happened. #1, I placed a HUGE bottle of Kirkland detergent on the washer and I guess it shimmied off while the washer was on the spin cycle. It went everywhere including under the washer. It took forever to clean up. We didn't clean under the washer because it is a front loader and it is on a pedestal and it is one heavy machine to move. I became so paranoid about things growing under the washer and in the detergent. That is when I told Mr. Man that it was time to take action.

#2, Daddy Warbucks bought himself a Porsche Boxster. I was fine with this because he NEVER asks for anything. Plus, he's a great husband and father and I felt like he has truly earned it. I mostly let him have it so that I could use it as leverage! For example, I asked for a new kitchen. He said no. I said "PORSCHE!" He said "done." Two weeks later, I had a new kitchen. Like I said, leverage!

Home Depot and some other company wanted to charge us $14,000 to reface the cabinets. We quickly dismissed their proposals and opted to have the cabinets sanded and painted instead. I am so glad I did! Our favorite contractor Nacho did the work for us. I remembered to take "before" zoomed out pictures after J took the cabinet doors off.

After literally trying to decide between 14 different shades of white, I went with colonial white. I was trying to go for an antique white and I am so pleased! The kitchen is much brighter and feels so good!

Before.

After.

Part of the process was saying goodbye to the outdated hardware.

J and I decided that oil rubbed bronze hardware and hinges were the way to go.

Mr. Man wanted to save money by removing the linoleum himself. He only made it around the edges. It wasn't worth his time so we let Nacho pull it up.

New tile and trim. It's so pretty! It's so loud, too. Whenever we would scoot the chairs to and from the table, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. We ended up putting felt pads underneath each leg of all the chairs. It's much quieter.

Before.

After. Oh yeah, we didn't replace the countertops. They're still in good shape but J said he would replace them before the end of the year. If it happens, great. If not, I'm okay with that, too.

Goodbye linoleum.

Hello tile!

I use to have a ton of storage under the double oven...

...then I had to say goodbye to it so that the new double oven would fit. Now, there is just enough room for the non-stick pots and pans.

Before.

After.

Goodbye range hood and old school oven.

Ahhh! Hello new school!

Scarlett was excited about the cabinets, too!

This was the best part. Halfway through the project J called me from work and said "how would you feel if we replaced the oven?" I didn't even have to ask for it! He did the same thing with the over the range microwave, too. He's such a great guy :o)

This was the worst part. We took this clock off of the kitchen wall and leaned it against the kitchen table that we had to move into the living room. Unfortunately, J bumped into the clock and when it fell, the glass broke. Not to worry, I had a new piece of glass cut and installed in less than 48 hours.

Hodge Podge Pics

2011-06-13T15:25:00.025-05:00

As usual, I'm quite behind in blogging. I've decided to do a hodge podge post to document some our recent happenings.

One day after Scarlett woke up from her nap, I heard her screaming bloody murder. When I went to check on her, she was in the process of climbing out of her crib. She's made it out of her crib several times before. I don't know why she got stuck or scared. Maybe she never looked down and on this day she did and freaked out.

I love how she says bye bye at the end and went back to playing. BTW, the commentary you hear in the background is me on the phone with my mom.

Savannah sat up by herself for the 1st time about a month ago, yay!

Then Jeremiah showed up and she never looked my way again! Oh well.

J was in the floor playing with the girls one Saturday afternoon. I think Liz was at a friends house or something. Anyway, he decided to make one body out of Scarlett's and Savannah's bodies. Savannah was the top half and Scarlett was the bottom half. It kind of freaked me out a little to tell you the truth. I have no idea where he gets his ideas. The more the girls laugh, the less they cry and that is alright with me!

This is after J cut Savannah's nails. Love their blue eyes!

Everybody hates bedtime! Both of them were screaming and crying at the same time and it was loud!

Ah! I saved the best for last. In early May I was preparing eggs and biscuits for breakfast. In the middle of scrabbling eggs, Savannah woke up. I finished the eggs and went to get her. After changing her diaper, I called for Scarlett. She never answered me and there was this deafening silence throughout the house. As I was coming off the hall into the living room, I saw this...

...cracked eggs on the coffee table AND the floor!

I guess she saw mommy cracking eggs and she wanted to crack eggs, too. Jeremiah said he wondered if she thought they were balls. Maybe she did. The way that the eggs cracked looked as if she threw them down instead of cracking them. After I cleaned up the mess she made, I had noticed 2 or 3 cracked eggs in front of the back door...30 mins after we ate breakfast, yuck. I guess I got distracted with Savannah's crying because I don't remember putting the eggs back in the refridgerator. However, I do remember pushing them WAY back onto the counter so that she couldn't get to them. I can only assume that Scarlett is growing and her reach is getting longer.

Savannah's Milestone

2011-05-31T22:18:00.000-05:00

On May 7th, Savannah rolled over all by herself! I was sorting the dirty clothes and J said that Savannah was going to roll over. Shortly after he started recording, she rolled over from her belly to her back! We were so excited. Since then, she has learned to roll from her back to her belly. She is rolling like a pro!

My apologies for the messy living room and my appearance, ew! I was knee deep in chores. Although I was a hot mess, my house eventually was clean again!

Keeping Tabs On Mommy

2011-05-20T18:33:00.002-05:00

I put Savannah down for a nap a couple of days ago. I thought that I would use that time to try to clean up a little. In the midst of me cleaning, I could feel someone staring at me. I turned around to check on Savannah and she was staring right at me!

She wasn't asleep very long so I guess she only needed a cat nap...

...or maybe she was ticked because I woke her up!

Solid Food

2011-05-20T17:54:00.005-05:00

On April 27th Savannah tried solid for the first time. For her delight, I prepared her oatmeal mixed with formula. Naturally, she threw a fit but by the end of her meal, she was pretty calm and content.

This was after her first bite. She realized very quickly that the mush I was giving her was not mama's milk! She let me know all about it, too! Whenever she cries REALLY hard, she turns really red and splotchy. This was one of those moments.

This is toward the end of her meal. I think she realized that the oatmeal wasn't so bad.

Mother's Day E-Card

2011-05-09T22:12:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah usually send me e-cards for holidays or just because. This time was no different. For Mother's Day he sent me two e-cards and I just had to post them. The first one is my favorite. The second one isn't as funny but it still made me laugh pretty hard. I will probably watch these everyday for the next week. Jeremiah, thank you for a great Mother's Day weekend!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Another Easter Under Our Belt

2011-05-08T22:04:00.005-05:00

Just like every Easter, there were Easter egg hunts, food, church, family...and Prickett pictures! You know you love to see us in action! Anyway, here is our attempt at ANOTHER family picture. We never got a "perfect" picture but that doesn't surprise me. This Easter I resolved to just have fun and whatever pictures we took would be okay. Here we gooooo!!!

This is the first picture we took and I should have left well enough alone. But nooooo...I wanted a picture where Scarlett's hand wasn't in her face and Savannah didn't have the "what tha" look on her face. Unfortunately, this is the only family picture that Liz's entire face was included. Moving on...

Scarlett has now decided to stick her tongue out and we never saw Liz's entire face again. So we try again...

Now, my smile is crooked and Scarlett is pointing at who knows what.

What is Scarlett and Savannah looking at?! Geez!

Oh well! Like I said, I should have left well enough alone.

THE GIRLS

So then I decided that I wanted a picture of just the girls.

This is the first one we took and it's not bad. Once again, I should have left well enough alone. But nooooo...I just had to have a picture with Savannah's gummy smile.

Well, I got my smile from Savannah but now Scarlett is more interested in the grass/weeds. We've always had a nice green backyard and I still can't quite figure out why it's having issues this year. Currently, I'm letting Scotts and the lawn guy deal with it. Anyway, I digress...

Everyone is smiling and I have "THE" picture. DARN IT!!! IT'S OUT OF FOCUS!!!

We try again and Scarlett is not having it.

Scarlett is forcing her smile and Savannah is on the verge of being done. Surprisingly, Liz did pretty good at looking at the camera the whole time. Usually, she's the one looking off or looking and the younger two.

Close, but not good enough.

We try again and Scarlett just walks off! I guess that's a wrap.

PRICKETT WOMEN
I decided that it would be fun for all of the Prickett women to take a picture for Jeremiah.

I still couldn't figure out what Scartlett kept looking at.

Everyone is now smiling and Scarlett has moved on to playing with her dress. Urgh!!!

Liz has slipped backed into her old habit of looking at Scarlett during pictures.

Scarlett smiling in the wrong direction. Urgh! We were so close.

Who knows?!

Good enough and ready to move on.

MR & MRS PRICKETT

THEN, as tradition would have it, Mr. Man and I had to take a picture together. By now, we should all know where this is going...

...and he's off!

Still being goofy!

After several goofy pictures, I finally got a good one. But wait! It's out of focus, shoot!!!

Much better :o)

J & THE GIRLS

Now the fun REALLY starts! I had this brilliant idea that Jeremiah should take a picture with the girls. Without thinking about it, I just threw the kids in and started snapping. He wanted all these kids and now he's got 'em!

Doesn't he look like he is having fun?!

What's the matter J? Your hands full? I'm not sure who Scarlett was blowing kisses to but it was fun to see Mr. Man struggle for a few minutes, he he he!

I'm pretty sure he's asking me if we are done yet. My response: NOOOOO! We're just getting started...SMILE!!!

They're starting to wear him down. I think Scarlett was trying to console him. I'm pretty sure he is done.

I never got a decent picture of Jeremiah and the girls. As far as I am concerned, these are much better and totally priceless!

Misc. Pictures

I don't have many pictures of Savannah and I so I had to get one :o)

Say cheese!

Her mad face.

Her sad face.

Her now can I go play face.

Scarlett Turns 2!

2011-04-22T22:29:00.046-05:00

Scarlett turned 2 years old on April 14th! Jeremiah gave her a bowl of ice cream and we sang happy birthday to her. We had her party last weekend and I think she loved every minute of it. Enjoy the pics!

Savannah waited so patiently until it was her turn to get dressed. I have always loved the girls bed head.

In the backyard waiting for her guests to arrive.

I have no idea what she is doing but this child CRACKS me up!

Enjoying her birthday song! Oh, that reminds me. 1st, I asked J to mix the cake batter...then I got busy. Then I asked him to pour it into the cake pans...I got busy again. Next, I asked him to bake the cake...guess what?! I got busy again! By now, I've thrown in the towel and asked him to ice it. He did the cake all by himself and it was pretty good. He never once complained or gave me the evil eye. Thanks babe :o)

Partaking of daddy's goodness!

A little messier but manageable. She showed that birthday cake no mercy!

I am so glad that Scarlett is such a happy little girl.

Opening gifts...

...and more gifts.

I've decided to excercise my green thumb this year and take care of several plants. I bought some geraniums, an impatient, and some begonias. Scarlett loves to help me water the plants. My mother bought her some sunglasses and her own watering can.

I looked around and Jeremiah was taking a nap! SERIOUSLY?! I guess the cake wore him out.

Scarlett couldn't wait to use her new watering can! As always, she poured her water out BEFORE she got to the plant.

Hangin' out in the backyard with my dad. Scarlett could not keep her hands out of my dad's hair. I think both of them got a kick out of it.

Heaven forbid we leave Mama Keeton out! She came out of nowhere to be in the pictures. My parents crack me up!!!

Scarlett, Grandma Pam & Savannah.

Adia & Scarlett.

Happy 2nd birthday baby girl! We love you!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T14:02:00.001-05:00

Scarlett's Shenanigans

2011-04-04T03:07:00.014-05:00

Take 1

One morning I was going to give Scarlett some goldfish for her morning snack. Just as I put the bag on the table I guess I got distracted. I'm sure it was either the phone or Savannah. When I came back to the kitchen, this is what I found... Eventually, some of these made it to the floor. I was so focused on cleaning up the mess on the table that I didn't see the ones that made it to the floor. Needless to say, several goldfish turned into hundreds of pieces after I stepped on them.

Take 2

This may have been the same day as the goldfish...who knows. Anyway, I put missy down for a nap. The pit of my gut told me to go check on her. When I went in to check on her, she was climbing OUT of her crib! This is the 2nd time that I caught her climbing out of her crib. I was lucky enough to get a picture of it this time.

Now that she's busted, she's trying to get down. BTW, she mastered pulling her clothes off weeks ago!

Take 3

This is quite possibly the morning of the goldfish incident. Again, who knows. We had cream of wheat for breakfast. Well, I had cream of wheat. Scarlett decided to wear hers.

I hope you enjoyed my pictorial depiction of Scarlett's latest shenanigans. Can't wait to see what this week will bring!

Happy Birthday To Us!

2011-03-29T12:55:00.023-05:00

Technically, my birthday is March 11. Typically, I celebrate from March 1 through March 31. With SO much going on in my life these days, I only celebrated...wait for it...wait for it...on my actual birthday, March 11! It was quite pleasant to tell you the truth. I don't EVER remember having a birthday that was so low key.

As usual, every other year I reward myself with a new phone for my birthday. This year I chose the Samsung Eternity II Touchscreen Smartphone. It was a HUGE adjustment from my old phone that had buttons. Man, that was a GREAT phone! Oh well. Out with the old and in with the new.

My new phone!

Jeremiah took the day off to spend it with me. We ended up going to the temple and it was SO nice. The weather was perfect. My kids were with me. I even thought about our wedding day. Jeremiah took Liz to the airport b/c she was spending spring break in KS. So, we had my birthday dinner at Pappadeaux's the next night. March 11 was a good day this year! Here are our pics from the temple.

Scarlett is making sure that Savannah is picture perfect!

I have no idea what got into Scarlett...

...much better!

By now we all know what happens when J is in front of a camera.

Don't ask.

This reminds me of Rocky Balboa running up the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Scarlett decided to give Savannah kisses in the middle of the shot.

March 17 was Jeremiah's birthday! His co-workers took him to lunch and he said that he enjoyed that. He treated himself to a Sony 3D Blu-ray disc player. We don't have 3D goggles or a 3D tv. Getting the 3D option was only $10 more than another blu-ray disc player he was interested in. So, he opted for the 3D version. Just in case we ever decided to go 3D, we wouldn't have to buy another dvd player. I think he had a great day and I'm thankful for that!

Still Standing

2011-03-13T20:29:00.011-05:00

Grab a snack and get something to drink. Feb. was a LONG month and I'm about tell you all about it. I literally could not find 5 mins to blog...until now!

2/9/11
It snowed and the streets were iced over. As a result, my mother in law pipes froze and burst. J spent a good portion of the following weekend helping her get a new floor and new appliances. Not only that, I couldn't get out to pick up my pre-natal vitamins and now my hair is shedding...BAD! Oh well.

2/11/11
Our family went to Josh's (BIL) house for his surprise b-day party. It was SO much fun. Diana (SIL) and I got Josh the EXACT same gift! It was pretty funny. After eating and socializing, we ate and played Michael Jackson The Experience on their wii. That was THE most fun EVER! The night ended and we headed home.

We're on the freeway driving home around 11:45PM. We're in the far left lane and Jeremiah said "look at this jerk behind me". By the time I looked to see what he was talking about, there was a green Durango swipping the driver side of the van! Apparently, the Durango was trying to pass on the sholder. The only problem was...the shoulder was running out and he decided to squeeze between us and a concrete barrier. The next thing I knew, the Durango took off! Unfortunately, we didn't get the license plate. J said the Durango took off because they had something to hide. Maybe they were drunk, high, didn't have insurance, and/or had warrants for their arrest.

After noticing that the side mirror was flapping in the wind, I told Jeremiah to pull over so that I could see the damage. It was not pretty. Here are the pictures that he took when we got home.

This door had to be replaced.

Pardon Mr. Man's dirty car.

The pictures make the damage look minimal. Trust me, the damage was worse in person. I was a mess the entire weekend. I was mad that someone hit us AND took off. I was sad that my van looked a mess. I was glad that we didn't spin out on the freeway. I was grateful that any of us weren't hurt. Like I said, I was a mess.

All weekend J kept telling me that he would get the van fixed. Let me explain something. Pricketts (by nature) spend the least amount of money possible and make auto repairs themselves and then pocket the insurance money. Having said that, Mr. Man said that he would spend $200 on a mirror and we would pocket the insurance money. I told him ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! We are getting my van repaired! I think he was trying to make me laugh and get my mind off the van.

2/13/11

This was taken after we got home from church the day before Valentine's Day. We never got a decent smile from her. I think she was deciding whether to scream or cry...

She decided to do both! I guess she was done taking pictures and was ready for a nap.

Scarlett decided to deconstruct her Valentine's that her teachers gave her. Then she decided to decorate me with the remnants. As far as picking her nose, there is no explanation for that.

2/14/11
It's Valentines Day! Savannah had her 2 month check up and she passed with flying colors. She's in the 75th percentile for weight and height. Scarlett was in the 25th percentile for weight and height...and still is. Scarlett is going to be my shorty :)

Savannah got 4 shots and she was NOT amused by any of us. She cried loud and hard to express her discomfort. Poor baby.

A little bit after I left the doctor's office, J called me and said that we could drop the van off at Service King when he got home from work. On our way home from Service King, J said "tell you what...why don't we go to Chili's for dinner." WHAT?! WHAT?! Jeremiah Prickett is ACTUALLY going to take us out on V-Day?! SHUT UP!!! Off we went and it was a nice distraction from the van.

2/15/11
I woke up with a "lump" in my throat. It wasn't long before I developed a cough and a full blown cold. Later in the day, Scarlett developed a cough, too. Great.

2/16/11
Savannah woke up with a cold. Double great.

2/17/11
The missionaries from church called about some church business. Before we hung up, they asked if there was anything that they could do for us. I told them ABSOLUTELY! At 4:30, they came by and vaccuumed, dusted my bookshelves, coffee table, end table AND polished them, AND picked up toys! I NEVER ask for help and I was so glad that I did. Most of us were sick and my house was clean for the first time in almost 2 weeks.

2/21-ish/11
Scarlett gets promoted from her high chair to her booster chair! My baby is growing up. Now, Savannah is in the high chair.

After all of this, I am still standing. Barely. But still standing. In January I resolved to stay calm and carry on. Having said that, I checked myself into therapy. Retail therapy that is. Don't judge. I'm not sure if retail therapy is the right thing to do but I sure feel better after ebaying and/or leaving the mall. Again, don't judge. This is me carrying on!

Cookie Monster

2011-02-11T14:27:00.006-06:00

I was in the kitchen last night cooking dinner and Scarlett was playing at the table. Suddenly, she was quiet. When I turned around, Scarlett managed to open Jeremiah's brand new package of cookies. I don't know how many she had but she was too full to eat dinner. It's a good thing that the cookies were oatmeal cranberry. The little stinker!

Scarlett was enjoying her cookies so much that I don't think she noticed me taking a picture of her!

I'm glad that she didn't get into my Golden Oreo's!

Savannah's Blessing

2011-02-01T11:44:00.000-06:00

Savannah had the distinct pleasure of being blessed Sunday. Jeremiah did an awesome job once again. As usual, I wanted to get pictures of everyone after church but it just didn't happen. So, Diana (my SIL) ended up taking our pictures in our backyard when we got home.

Diana and her family came over for lunch after church. My family came over later for dinner. My mother cooked a great meal and I completely stuffed myself! Sunday was a great day and all of us are so glad to have Savannah as the newest addition to our family!

I would love to add commentary underneath each pic because each pic has a story. Unfortunately, Scarlett is climbing all over me and I don't have any time left to blog. Enjoy a glimpse of our day!

Savannah's One Month Pictures

2011-01-21T13:10:00.005-06:00

Two weeks ago Savannah took her one month pictures. She literally has been sick since the 2nd day we brought her home from the hospital. I have no idea how she caught a cold but she did. Then she gave it to Scarlett and I. Anyway, there were three or four days that she was feeling well but then she got sick again. Luckily, she took her pictures within the three to four days that she was feeling well. For the most part she did okay. Savannah doesn't love the camera as much as Scarlett does but we mananged to get some decent shots.

I sure love my munchkins!

A friend of mine (Chantelle, the photographer) took the pictures for me. If you're interested in having her take pics of you and your family. Let me know and I'll provide you with her contact info. Have a great weekend and stay warm!

More Crying

2011-01-11T08:16:00.006-06:00

On this particular day, Savannah decided to poop and spit up and it was easier to give her a bath than to wipe/rub her clean. I was SO frustrated and so was she. I wasn't happy to give her bath and she wasn't happy to get one. She was screaming bloody murder and so was I. Then I decided...if I can't beat 'em...join 'em! So I started taking pictures to document the madness.

SCREAMING once again. At least she is clean :o)

All clean! I think she is deciding that having a bath was a good idea.

Last Friday night Savannah decided to have another fit. She was dry, fed, and just woke up. I really don't know what her problem was. Maybe she just wanted to be held. I put her in the sling in hopes that I could work on dinner and satisfy her need to be held but she wasn't interested.

Everything that I tried did not make her happy.

Daddy to the rescue! I am not kidding. Within seconds of putting Savannah in the sling, she was out like a light.

Mr. Man is dancing and celebrating his success. Seriously, he really does have the magic touch. He can put these kids to sleep faster than any other man I know!

Peace at last!

Showing me how it's done.

Life With Savannah

2011-01-02T14:44:00.018-06:00

Savannah has turned out to be an interesting little thing. She makes the strangest noises and makes them loud! When she cries, she SCREAMS bloody murder. She LOVES to be held and will cry until you pick her up. When we burp her, she spits up most of the time. Scarlett almost never spat up. When Scarlett burped, air was the only thing that came out. Savannah is quite the little diva and she lets you know it! She is SO needy and demands SO much attention.

Savannah's physical attributes are amazing. Her hair is truly beautiful. It's curly and dark brown with light brown and red highlights on the ends. Her eyebrows are red and she has blue eyes like her daddy. Her fingers and toes are so boney and skinny. She is still white as snow! When she's cold, I can see her veins and blood vessels through her skin.

Anyway, here is a glimpse into what our lives have been like since Savannah has arrived!

Just arrived home from the hospital.

Scarlett holding her baby sister for the 1st time.

It was time to take the baby away and Scarlett got upset :o(

I gave Savannah back and Scarlett was happy again!

Scarlett loves giving the baby hugs and kisses.

The kisses just keep on coming!

Who knows what Scarlett is doing. BTW, I have officially packed away my mu mu's!

Super excited to be holding Savannah.

Scarlett has gotten pretty good at holding her sister.

More silliness!

Taking a much needed nap.

There's those blue eyes.

Occasionally, Scarlett will raise the bumpers in the crib to check on Savannah. I think that is the cutest thing!

I think we were just hanging out on the day Jeremiah took this one. Scarlett has come a long way from being the green eyed monster after Savannah arrived. She LOVES her baby sister and has become somewhat protective over her. When Savannah cries, Scarlett will hold her hand or give her kisses.

Napping again. She gets that habit after her daddy!

More kisses!

Then it was Christmas! Suddenly, opening presents was more important than loving on Savannah.

She couldn't wait to play with this doll.

Loving Minnie Mouse.

Liz came back from KS and life got more insane!

All in all we are doing well. I lost 15 lbs the 1st week after I had the baby. My weight got up to 155 or 156. I was at 122lbs when I got pregnant. I'm now at 140 and have a long way to go before I'm 122 again. Some days I suffer from cabin fever BAD. I stay inside because that is what is best for Savannah. Savannah got sick 2 days after she came home and is still suffering from a cold. It freaked me out and I started stressing big time. She's getting better but not fast enough...my poor little munchkin. I hope I never have a winter baby again!!!

Happy New Year!

Nativity Family Pic 2010

2011-01-01T15:37:00.001-06:00

The weekend before Savannah was born, our church had the annual nativity display. It is also that time of year where we take my mother's annual family nativity photo. Unfortunately, my brother had to work and missed the photo shoot again.

Anyway, so the moment came when my mother started stressing over how the picture was going to turn out. She started telling us the do's and do not's for the picture. That was Jeremiah's cue. I don't remember the details but what I do remember is hilarious! Jeremiah was holding a box of coins and running his hands through it...loudly. I think my mother told him several times to stop with the noise. Eventually, Jeremiah stopped...I'm certain he only stopped b/c it was part of his plan. We took our positions on the set and then it happened. At the last minute and right before the flash went off, Jeremiah ran his hand through the coins and my mother started "going off" and this is the picture she ended up with.

Once again, everyone is looking forward and smiling except my mother. Just as the flash went off, my mother started fussing at Jeremiah about the coins. Of course we all started laughing b/c Jeremiah struck again! I think all of us are to the point that we wait to see what Jeremiah is going to pull. Deep down inside, I think all of us are cheering for him! If I'm correct and I think I am, the score is Jeremiah-5 and mommy-0!

Christmas Party Pictures

2010-12-29T11:09:00.004-06:00

The Friday before Savannah was born we attended the annual Christmas party at church. I don't remember much of what I did but I'm sure it involved socializing and eating. Scarlett took a few pics with Santa, Liz didn't want to take a pic with Santa, and then we took a family pic.

I think Scarlett is trying to convince Santa that she was a good girl all year.

Giving Santa "five"!

I think this is the only pic that I took while I was pregnant with Savannah.

Another Prickett Is Born

2010-12-14T01:08:00.035-06:00

As most of you have heard or read by now, our family has a new member. Savannah Camille Prickett! The evening went fairly smooth and baby and I are doing fine. The c-section went well and Savannah didn't have to go to NICU, yay! That was my biggest fear all night...having another baby go to NICU unexpectedly. After Savannah was born, I slept all day Sunday and now I have tons of energy! So, I asked Jeremiah to bring my laptop to the hospital so that I could blog about Savannah's birth. Without further ado, here we go!

Saturday night was pretty low key. We dropped Liz off at a friends house for a slumber party and then Jeremiah, Scarlett, and I headed off to Chili's for dinner. Dinner was fine and we headed home with the hopes of turning in early. Around 9:30pm my water broke. After calling my family and packing my bag, Jeremiah and I headed off for the hospital! We checked in with triage and they decided to admit me. Apparently, I was definitely having a baby Saturday night. We checked in at 11pm and at 1:30am Savannah was born. Enjoy the pics!

Happy that Baby Prickett is on her way!

Getting prepped for surgery. Those white things on my legs is a Sequential Compression System. Basically, it is to keep my blood circulation flowing after the c-section. I hated them when I had Scarlett and I still hate them! For me, they are more of an annoyance than of assistance. After 2 hours of sleep, I usually take them off...sorry doc!

Here I am still venting about not being able to wear my Christmas socks! I was FORCED to wear the yellow socks in the pic above because I was a "at risk" patient.

J in his scrubs and ready for the O.R. Here we gooooo!

Before we knew it, Miss. Savannah was here. She wasn't this blue. The lights in the O.R. were so bright that the flash on the camera didn't go off.

My baby girl!!! I love that she has a head full of hair.

Weighing in at 7.2lbs.

Yes, I really look that crazy. Yes, Jeremiah is grinning from ear to ear. Yes, Savannah is really that white! Yes, we are all happy and doing well :o)

Mr. Man loving the latest lady in his life. He is so tired bless his heart.

Still obsessing!

Seriously, can you believe that I had a baby and my hair stayed intact?! I combed it to go to Chili's and I still haven't combed it. And it's almost been 48 hours since the baby was born! Don't take offense to the bare shoulder. We all have one. I don't know why but I really like this pic. Maybe because Savannah and I are snuggling. BTW, I honestly don't remember taking this pic. In fact, I don't remember much of the first 12 hours after missy was born.

Still floored by the contrast of our complexion.

Scarlett giving Savannah some love :o)

Scarlett giving Jeremiah the evil eye. J has been giving Savannah a lot of attention and Scarlett has noticed! I think she is putting Jeremiah on notice!

Eventually, Scarlett warmed up to Savannah. Either that or Scarlett is putting Savannah on notice!

I can't believe how much and how fast our family is growing!

My sister (Maria) and Savannah.

I thought it would be in my best interest to give Scarlett some attention before she put me on notice! We played and I let her know that she will ALWAYS be my Scarlett bear. It felt good to see her smile so big.

Still loving his ladies!

I'm glad that Jeremiah loves being a father.

Not bad for an old lady, huh?

Savannah Camille Prickett is in the house.

2010-12-12T13:16:00.004-06:00

Advisory note: Jeremiah is postig on bahalf of Gwen. The opinions expressed here do not necessary pass the strict editing requirments of Gwen. Any an all faux-pas or typos are the sole responsability of Jeremiah. Thank you.

My little "Pinky" has arrived. We are ever so excited.

Never Say Never

2010-12-04T15:18:00.013-06:00

When Jeremiah and I had our first date we discussed a lot of things: spiritual matters, how many kids each of us wanted, debt, credit scores, where we each wanted to live, financial goals, spending and saving habits, thoughts on how to discipline children, how not getting married in the temple is not an options, blah blah blah.

There are two things I strongly remember about that first date conversation. (1) He told me if we got married and I gave him children that he would take care of me...and he has. Mr. Man has done an AMAZING job as a husband and father. (2) I clearly and firmly told him that I would give him children but I will NEVER drive a minivan because I was too cool for a minivan...and I meant every word!

Well, this week has been quite interesting. To make a long story short, my parents were in the market for a car. We prayed and entertained the idea of selling them my car. Then we started entertaining buying a minivan. Now that I have kids, suddenly the idea of having a minivan doesn't seem so bad. I told Jeremiah I would drive a minivan only if it were a Honda Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna...period. If I'm going to be in a minivan, it better be nice! Mark this day, on 12/3/10, Gwen Prickett is officially the proud owner of a Honda Odyssey. We bought it used because neither one of us could justify spending over $42,000 for a new one :o)

The moral of the story, never say never. Never say what you will or will not do because the Lord will ALWAYS have his own plans for you. Most of the time his plans will be better than what you have planned for yourself. We didn't steal this car like we did my Sorento but we did get a great deal on a great car! It is super clean and looks barely used. It also has all the bells and whistles that I'm use to and then some! The Odyssey is definitely not a suv but it is nice and I still feel cool when I drive it :o)

Thank you J for looking out for our family. I also want to thank David the boss and David the co-worker for being exceedingly patient while Jeremiah took long lunches to take care of all of this car business. You guys are awesome and I sincerely thank you!

Thanksgiving & Christmas Preview 2010

2010-12-01T12:41:00.009-06:00

Seriously, I can't believe that it has been over a month since I blogged! Some days have been busy. Some days have been slow. Some days whenever I sit down to blog, Scarlett jumps in my lap and takes over the keyboard...preventing me from blogging in peace :o(

For the most part, I'm feeling good and sooooo ready to have this baby!!! On the way to church Sunday morning, Jeremiah asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him "a healthy baby that doesn't have to spend a week in the NICU". I am not in the mood to experience the NICU again. I had a sonogram Monday morning and everything seems to be on track with Baby Prickett, yay!

Thanksgiving

So last week was Thanksgiving! We did the usual...visit Jeremiah's grandmother for lunch that included tons of family and then we were off to my parents for dinner. Here's the thing. The Mon or Tue before Thanksgiving I was telling Jeremiah how physically tired I was. Out of the clear blue sky, my SIL Diana called and offered to keep Liz for a couple of days. For 4 days and 3 nights I only had to take care of Scarlett! That was WONDERFUL! Liz was SUPER excited to spend a few days with her cousins and how did she thank them? By hitting her cousin in the head with a broom that resulted in my niece getting 5 staples in her head! Nice Liz. Apparently, they were playing karate and Liz was swinging a broom and hit Jacey in the head on accident.

Here are a few random pics of Scarlett that I took the week of Thanksgiving. She cracks me up!

In the window seat just reading away.

Jeremiah took this one and I'm glad he did. Oh how I love her fat feet and chubby hands! The curls are to die for, too!

Scarlett was EXHAUSTED by the end of Thanksgiving day...poor baby.

Christmas Preview

Scarlett checking out the Christmas tree. She just woke up from a nap and she had all kinds of energy! She was so excited and it did my heart good after hearing about the Liz accident :o)

I let Scarlett play with a few ornaments so that she could get it out of her system.

Then she discovered the glass ornaments. Keep an eye on the flashlight in her left hand.

Last year Scarlett couldn't get enough of the snow. This year she hasn't touched it once! She's into the faux berries on the tree this year.

My first ornament casualty. Scarlett had a glass ornament in each hand and rammed them together! She dropped the flashlight and took off! Mr. Man cleaned it up for me.

The fireplace and mantle.

The Christmas tree! I LIVE to decorate the tree each year. The pictures do not do the tree justice.

Here's the tree without the flash on. It took me like 4 or 5 hours to decorate the tree. It NEVER has taken me that long. The only reason it took me that long is because my preggo belly kept knocking ornaments off the tree. Whenever I reached to put something back on the tree, my belly knocked something else off. It was so frustrating!!!

The very kid friendly end table.

This is where I usually post a pic with Christmas lights on my car. I told Jeremiah that he didn't have to put lights on my car this year. He was a little too happy that he didn't have to do it. Usually, the lights go on my car the day after Thanksgiving. Since I will be having the baby in 2 weeks and my car will be parked in the garage while I recover, it didn't make sense for him to go through the hassle. It's not that hard to do but I gave him the year off anyway.

Anyway, here's to a great holiday season!

Halloween Party

2010-10-29T21:04:00.008-05:00

Tonight was our Halloween party at church. There was lots of eating, socializing and candy! All of us had a blast! As usual, Liz took off once we arrived so I don't have many pics of her. Enjoy!

Getting ready for the party and Miss. Scarlett is sooooo excited! She was a devil this year.

I don't know how he did it but Jeremiah managed to find Liz. She worked one of the games.

Here's my little devil in the costume parade!

I don't know what went wrong with Scarlett but Mr. Man was having a good time!

All better now.

Family photo...I think Scarlett was ready to get back to trick-or-treating!

Back on the trick-or-treating trail. I loved her tail :o)

Look who it is! After this picture I didn't see Liz for a long time...

...when we found her again she was in a corner stuffing her face with food!

BTW, her tooth came out and she is holding it in her left hand.

Here's Chrystal! I LOVED her shirt! You can't tell in this pic but she's due in Nov.

My sweethearts :o)

Jeremiah took the girls to the car since I was talking and taking too long to leave the building. I'm sure that won't be the last time that he will do that :o)

Don't ask.

Almost Healed

2010-10-17T16:09:00.006-05:00

I've pretty much been a homebody since I hurt my knee. Being inside drove me NUTS! Especially, since the weather has been nice. I HATE being inside when it's nice outside. Anyway, I haven't had much to blog about because I haven't been anywhere since the accident. Last week I got out a little but it was to Wal Mart and Tom Thumb. That trip wore me out! Below are a few pics that you might find entertaining.

Here I am on day #8. Jeremiah came home for lunch and found me on the sofa like this. Barefoot, pregnant, with a busted knee.

Somewhere during the 2nd week of my recovery, Scarlett and I had a rough day. I think she was tired of being inside...frankly, so was I. When she woke up the next morning, she was in a much better mood and so was I!

Last Tue, we got out for the 1st time and it wore Scarlett out. I was worn out, too. All we did was go to Wal Mart and Tom Thumb. I wanted to go to the mall but my knee was beginning to bother me so we went home. Scarlett fell asleep in the car and I wanted to put her in something more comfortable so that she could finish her nap in her crib. I went to get her onesie and when I came back, she was like this.

The night before my stitches are suppose to come out.

Oct 14th (aka day #15), I finally had the stitches removed, YAY! When my knee is straight, the scar doesn't look so bad. Here's my knee as straignt as possible. The top layer of skin isn't healed completely and that gap may or may not ever close. The bottom layer of skin is about as healed as it is going to get. I still have to be careful until I am at 100% recovered. Right now, I feel like I'm at 85% healed. I still can't squat but at least I can walk without limping!

Here's my knee bent. The hole closed up pretty good except in the middle. The dr. said it may never close completely because I fell right where my knee bends. He also said that the knee is a difficult place to have a laceration healed. I'll have a scar but at least I have a knee that will work. The residue from the tape will probably take a few weeks to come off. The tape also damaged my skin. I'm glad that summer is almost over so that it can't be seen.

Wounded

2010-09-30T22:12:00.003-05:00

I survived the campout last weekend, WOO HOO! Lucky for me, it started raining around 4:40AM and we were told that if we wanted to leave we could b/c the storm was going to get worse. They didn't have to tell me twice! We were outta there! No lions, tigers, or bears got me and I am so happy that the good Lord didn't call me home :o)

For any injury that I avoided last weekend, I sure made up for it last night.

Last night we had a progressive dinner as the activity with the YW at church. At the very last house, we were on our way out and I was headed to my car that was parked on the street. Instead of taking the driveway to the street, I chose to walk across the lawn. Since the grass was wet, I then chose to take very long strides at a very fast pace. Basically, I trotted across the lawn. Just when I was about to step into the street to get into my car, I collided with one of the YW.

This young lady was parked in front of me. Apparently, she was walking around her car just as I was stepping into the street and BAM! I didn't see her and she didn't see me. It did not end pretty.

After we collided, I hit the ground pretty hard. I'm thinking that my knee hit the curve part of the curb and split it wide open. Nicole drove my car home and Jeremiah hopped in and off to the hospital we went. The hospital monitored the baby and baby is fine and my knee had to have 6 stiches.

WARNING! (In my deep voiceover voice) The images you are about to see are graphic and real. If you have a weak stomach, can't stand the sight of blood, or prefer not to look at white meat underneath skin...STOP READING NOW!!!

The girls helped me back into the house and senior Bro. Eason (who has a million years of experience in the army) cleaned out my wound and bandaged me up until I got to the hospital.

Bro. Eason's fine handy work. That bandage looked a lot worse by the time I made it to the ER.

Mr. Man was dying to see the wound. Being the good wife that I am, I showed it to him once I was comfortable in the OB triage.

Once the dr.'s were happy and comfortable with Baby Prickett's stats, I was happy to be leaving the OB triage. My knee was THROBBING by this point. Jeremiah being himself, again.

In the ER waiting for the dr.

The dr. finally came and cleaned me all up. Look how swollen my legs were. They still are by the way.

All cleaned up and ready for stitches. After this pic, the situation went from bad to worse. Since I was flinching and screaming so bad after the first stitch, a nurse had to pin down my left leg and Jeremiah had to restrain my arms.

All stitched up and ready to go. The dr. I had was awesome. He was a little comical which made things a little better...only a little. After 4 hours at the hospital, we were on our way home.

J took the day off to help me with the girls and boy did I need it. There was no way I could've watched Scarlett by myself. I woke up and my body was so sore from the neck down. Thanks to everyone who called to check on me. A special thank you to everyone who was involved last night. The girls were quite mature about the whole thing. Nobody screamed or freaked out. I was quite the proud leader :o) And a special thanks to Elaine for staying with the girls until J and I got home. Nicole, thanks for being willing to sit with me in the ER.

Well, I'm off to bed for some much needed rest :o) Can't wait to see what this weekend has in store for me!

The End Is Near

2010-09-24T14:11:00.001-05:00

I have officially entered my 3rd trimester, YAY! I had a dr.'s appt. last week and everything is going wonderfully. Of course that doesn't mean anything. I had a perfect pregnancy with Scarlett and she came into the world with more problems than we or the doctors didn't see coming.

Just so most of you know, my mental state is off the charts and my alter ego has taken over. I have no idea why I am about to blog my current feelings so openly. Here's the thing. At 5:30PM this afternoon, I will be on my way to BFE to go camping. The youth are going rock/tower climbing and I am one of the lucky leaders to go. I meant that with as much sarcasm that I could muester up. Granted, I will be back in 24 hours but that's not the point.

What if something happens to Baby Prickett or I? What if I get eaten by a lion, tiger, or bear? Who's going to raise Scarlett? Who's going to keep Liz on the right track? What will happen to my beloved Jeremiah?! Actually, I have an answer for that one. Mr. Man has already informed me that he is going to purchase a mail order bride to replace me. WTF?!?! To add injury to insult, he promised that it wouldn't be for love and that it would strictly be a business decision. I be darned if ANY woman comes into my home and attempt to fill my designer shoes!!! Truth be told, I think Jeremiah was trying to get a rise out of me. It worked.

Seriously, I'm not comfortable going into the middle of nowhere without Jeremiah. He is the ULTIMATE boy scout and I feel so vunerable knowing that he won't be by my side to kill a bug, set up a tent, or shoot the lion, tiger or bear that may attack me! I don't know how to survive in the wilderness. Jeremiah IS my survival kit!

Babe, for what it's worth, thanks for providing a good life for our family. There's food in the fridge and freezer. I bought Scarlett her fall/winter clothes the other week so she should be set for the upcoming seasons. By the time you're done mourning me, it'll be spring and you'll have to take her and Liz shopping for their spring wardrobes. BTW, thanks for my new fall handbag. I've only enjoyed it for 4 days and it has been nice. UPS delivered your ammo about an hour ago. Don't forget, if I fall off a cliff, please be sure to avenge my death by taking out that cliff!!! Shoot it, blow it up, set it on fire. I dont' care! DESTROY IT for destroying me!!!

I guess I better get going so that I can pack. If I should die, please know that I fought for my life with everything I had. Dang it. My new blender and deep fryer will be arriving next week. MAN! I'll never get to use them. Son of a gun!

Y'all take care. To my extended family, please know that I love you. To my friends, it's been a blast knowing each of you. Thank you all for enriching my life. If it's the Lord's will, I'll try to blog next week. If not, please remember the happy Gwendolynette that you knew and loved. Not the pessimistic Gwen that is writing this post. Until we meet again...

Rain Rain Go Away

2010-09-07T18:26:00.005-05:00

Scarlett and I stayed in the house today since it rained all day. I didn't have any appts. or any errands to run so it worked out perfectly. We played, hung out, ate and played some more. Before I knew it, Scarlett climbed up into the window seat to watch the rain. She was so cute!

She had a look on her face as if she was saying "rain rain go away...come again another day".

I love those thunder thighs!

Recent Happenings

2010-08-27T01:53:00.017-05:00

The Best...
Last week I had to attend a YW presidency mtg. Nicole, our YW president, had to bring her children along. After a while, she asked them to wait in the gym. Then her two oldest came in where we were and asked us to come into the gym when we were done. Apparently, they had something for us. Nicole and I get to the gym and these kids created an awards/talent show. Below are the awards that I received. Thanks Hannah and Brittany!!! Brittany is Hannah's BFF and both of them are as sweet as can be. I love you guys, too!

Best Leader Award.

Best Laugh Ever Award.

Greeting Daddy

Saturday I sent Scarlett to her room to clean it up. When Jeremiah came home, I told him to go see what his baby girl was doing. Instead of cleaning, she decided to do what she wanted to do and read. Side note: she only reads 2 or 3 pages and then moves on to the next book. Anyway, my favorite part of the video is at the :20 mark when she discovers that Jeremiah is home. Every. Single. Day. She has this exact same reaction when Jeremiah comes home. She hears the garage door and takes off to greet him. It really is one of the sweetest things that she does. I'm glad that she loves her daddy so much.

McCheap

At some point on Saturday Jeremiah's glasses broke. Scarlett had an arm in each hand and she was pulling in opposite directions as hard as she could. When I checked them, the glasses seemed fine. Then, Jeremiah discovered that the frames were cracked on the left side. Great. His solution: plastic wire ties. Honestly?!?!

Insurance won't cover new lenses or frames until Jan. It wouldn't be that much to replace the lenses and frames. Being the penny pincher he is, he decided to fix the frames himself. He took something from the garage and was able to bond the frames back together.

All proud of himself! Whatever he used is some pretty strong stuff. Back in the day he used this bonding stuff to fix something on my Rodeo. Man, I miss that suv :o( Anyway, every time J would try to talk to me, I would burst out laughing. How can ANYONE take someone looking like this seriously?! After the bonding stuff set, he took the wire ties off and his glasses are good as new again.

Back To School
Monday was the 1st day of school, YAY!!! Last week I took Liz to get a haircut. Trust me, she needed it. She wanted me to flat iron it for the 1st day and I did. She loved her hair and so did I!

All dressed and ready to go!

Our 5th grader! Go get 'em kiddo!!!

Liz came home and crashed on the sofa after school. It was the 1st day! What happened on the 1st day that would cause this kind of exhaustion?! I think she wore herself out being excited. I love how Scarlett is staring at Liz. I think Scarlett was trying to figure out what the commotion was all about.

1st Day In Nursery

2010-08-12T23:27:00.006-05:00

Sunday was Scarlett's first day in nursery at church! There was a lot of weeping, crying, stalking, tantrums, sadness, ranting and raving. Scarlett did fine...I was the one that had a hard time!!!

Once again, I have another story for you...

I was in the hallway talking and when I turned around I saw Jeremiah at the other end of the hallway. Naturally, I looked down to make sure Scarlett was with him and she wasn't. When I looked up, I realized that he was standing right next to the nursery door. I took off and flew down the hallway. In the pit of my stomach I knew he was up to something.

When I got to him, I was all business. I asked him firmly and specifically "where is my baby?" He was grinning ear to ear and said "she's in nursery." He was all proud of himself and he wouldn't let me go in! I looked through the peephole and there was my baby...in nursery!!! I stood at that peephole for 40 mins, in 3 1/4" heels, at 21 weeks pregnant & watched my baby...in nursery! People were trying to comfort me by saying how she would be okay but I wasn't interested...not even a little bit. When the bell rang and nursery was over, Scarlett ran straight toward me and peace was restored in my world again :o) She did extremely well. She played and sat in her chair when she was suppose to. I didn't expect anything else and she took nursery on like the champ that she is!

After we got home, I told Jeremiah why I think I got so emotional. You see, I had envisioned that Scarlett's 1st day in nursery would be much different. I had hoped that Jeremiah and I would give her the "you will do fine" talk and say things like "you'll make tons of friends" and "be sure to obey your teachers" and "you'll do fine" and "I'll pick you up before you know it". Generally, Scarlett does exceptionally well in any environment. I think that I honestly felt that he robbed me of giving Scarlett "the talk" and I did NOT take it well and he heard all about it!

All of this got started because Jeremiah opened the nursery door and Scarlett just walked right in and never looked back. Apparently, she was wanting to play and Jeremiah felt bad about telling her no and sushing her while he was in priesthood. So, he took her to nursery so that she could get her wiggles out. By the end of the day, I decided to let Jeremiah live and he made me some rice krispie treats with strawberry marshmellows...my favorite :o)

Scarlett's 1st picture that she colored in nursery!

Just getting home from church.

Happy as can be and seriously wired!

Nap time with daddy.

Out like a light!

Then my flash finally woke her up. She ALWAYS wake up like this. We are so blessed :o)

Girl Or Boy?

2010-08-02T21:25:00.007-05:00

We went in for our sonogram today and found out that we are having ANOTHER girl! She is completely healthy and her development is coming along quite beautifully. The doctor confirmed that there weren't any signs of birth defects. I'm sure he said that because I'm an "advance maternal age" patient. May God bless him for not saying it. If one more doctor uses that term just one more time...

Anyway, the doctor wants to see us in 4 weeks to have another look at the baby's heart. He said everything looks fine and there is no need to worry about anything. He just wants to look at the heart after it has developed some more. I'm fine with that. Here are some pics of our baby girl's photo shoot. She cooperated wonderfully!

Moment of truth. The tech asked me what I thought it was. I said "it's a girl". She said "yep!"

I'm thinking that this baby may actually turn out to look like me. See that colossal size forehead?! The pointy chin is a little tricky. I'm thinking it's me but it also could look like Jeremiah because of the wide cheek bones.

Since Jeremiah took the day off, we spent the afternoon having lunch at Pappadeaux's. He said we were there to celebrate the newest member of our family. What a sweet thing to say...that's my man :o) He also thanked me for giving him babies. In the meantime, the manager was playing peek-a-boo with Scarlett. Before I knew it, she came over to our table and we started swapping stories with each other about our children. Toward the end of our meal, our waitress brings us a dessert trio and said that it was on the house!

Needless to say, today was a good day and I am feeling exceedingly blessed!!!

Past, Present, Future & Bonus

2010-07-29T20:51:00.003-05:00

The Past
This pregnancy has been awesome! I have never suffered from morning sickness or nausea. In fact, the only confirmations that I believed in were the ultrasounds in which we could hear and see the baby's heartbeat. If it weren't for the ultrasounds, I really wouldn't believe that I was pregnant.

The Present
At 19.5 weeks I am FINALLY beginning to feel pregnant. Yesterday I felt Baby Prickett kick/punch for the first time. For me, that 1st undeniable kick/punch is always the greatest feeling. Of course Jeremiah had just left for work and missed it :o( Anyway, I laid in bed an extra 20 mins or so just enjoying the movement.

The Future
Monday, Aug 2nd, is THE day. We are finding out if Baby Prickett is a girl or boy. I'm still hoping for a boy but I just know it is a girl. I have done several calculations on various Chinese Birth Calendars and only 1 calendar said that I was having a boy. I am hanging on to that 1 calculation for dear life! If I have a boy, I may be willing to give Mr. Man another baby. Maybe I shouldn't put that in writing.

The Bonus
I found the most hilarious scale online last night and I loved it! Personally, I can't justify spending $45 for it but it gave me a good laugh!

Just Like Mommy

2010-07-13T12:06:00.006-05:00

Two weeks ago I was in Scarlett's room trying to tidy up a little. She was in her room with me but then she left. Suddenly, I heard my keys rattle. I didn't think too much of it. Then she walks in where I am looking like this...

Scarlett had my keys in one hand and my handbag on her shoulder. She was walking around the house waving and saying "bye"! It was so cute and so funny! I guess children really do as you do!

Another day, she found a pair of my old sunglasses in my nightstand. This is me busting her AGAIN for going into my nightstand. Whenever she gets busted for something, she tries to give you what she has no business touching!

She tried to put them on but kept poking herself in the eye. So I caved and put them on for her and she LOVED them!

Running from the scene of the crime...STINKER!!!

My little diva in training!!! Doesn't her smile just melt your heart?! I sure love my baby girl :o)

Father's Day

2010-06-24T09:28:00.016-05:00

We started the day by going to church. Afterwards, we came home and attempted to take a family picture. As usual, we never got a "perfect" picture but we sure had fun!

Scarlett was more interested in playing with Liz's hair.

Then Liz decided to get even by blocking out Scarlett...which didn't matter because Scarlett is now distracted by who knows what.

Then we decided to move Scarlett up front...only to not have her in the shot!

So we try again and still no Scarlett, URGH! We were so close!

And we try...AGAIN!!!

FINALLY!!! It's not perfect but it's definitely the Prickett's! At least everyone is in the shot AND smiling!

Then I couldn't leave well enough alone. I just had to have a picture of just Jeremiah and I. He granted me my wish and look what he did! To be fair, if he didn't do something silly first, he wouldn't be Jeremiah :o)

Just for me...sniff...sniff :o)

Let's get on with Father's Day. I have to take a moment to give you a little history. A few weeks ago Jeremiah and I were watching tv. While fast forwarding through the comercials, J sees a Dremel Multi-Max commercial and watched it 2 or 3 times. He was mesmerized! I knew immediately that a Dremel Multi-Max is what I was going to get him for Father's Day.

After our impromptu photo session, we had lunch and J laid down for a quick nap. We couldn't wait for him to wake up so I took it upon myself to wake him up so that we could get on with Father's Day. Liz made J a homemade Father's Day card. J loved it because we didn't spend any money to buy one. Then I presented him with his gift. When he opened it, he was quite surprised and kept saying "this is sweet" and "nice, very nice". At that moment, I knew I was wife of the year :o) Behold, the Dremel Multi-Max!!!

Not only was Sunday Father's Day, it was my parents 40th wedding anniversary. They stopped by after they were done with church for a visit. Since Scarlett was taking a nap and never woke up...they left! Then, Jeremiah randomly says "I know what I'm going to do first." The next thing I knew, Jeremiah was out of sight and I heard buzzing. Again, I knew I had scored! He didn't waste any time breaking in his new Dremel Multi-Max :o)

We ended our very busy but fun Father's Day having some fun. J and Liz gave Scarlett a few horseback rides. My favorite picture is the one below. I love how Scarlett is holding on to J's hair AND pulling his glasses off!

J loves his girls and I am so glad that he is a GREAT dad!

Skylights Update

2010-06-21T22:56:00.009-05:00

The skylights are FINALLY in and it was not an easy road. I love all of the additional light but I hate the tape and mud job. The minute that man cut into my ceiling, I KNEW that this was not going to end pretty. Deep down in the pit of my soul, I knew that my ceiling was not going to be left as perfect as the contractor found it.

In addition to the sloppy tape and mud job, Jeremiah gave the contractor BLUE paint instead of white paint to paint the ceiling! Last Oct. we repainted our bathroom a light blue color. I hated it. Jeremiah loved it. J doesn't ask for much. So when he requested the blue...against my better judgement...I let him have the blue. (For the record, I like blue. I just didn't care for this particular shade of blue). I cursed that blue then and I had the oppportunity to curse it again! Unfortunately, Jeremiah gave the contractor the blue paint thinking it was white. According to Mr. Man, "the blue looked white in the garage." Here's my issue. When the contractor saw that the paint was blue, why didn't he say something?! He waited until he was more than halfway done to say something!!!

Anyway, here's a journey through my skylight nightmare!

Originally, we were having a new roof and new gutters installed. Since the roof was being replaced, Jeremiah checked into having the skylights installed. Here are the frames for the skylights.

The tiles are going on the roof. We tried to keep everyone as hydrated as possible. It was HOT that day!

Almost done and the skylights are in! Actually, the skylights had to be installed in 2 parts. The 1st part was to install them externally via the roof. The 2nd part was to have the interior (the ceiling) cut out. I seriously wish that the inside looked as great as the outside :o(

I love Liz. But I seriously question where her mind is sometimes. I found her on the floor like this one day. I asked her what she was doing. She said she was giving herself a suntan. And she was SERIOUS! I couldn't stop laughing long enough to ask her why she was getting a suntan with a blanket wrapped around her! KIDS!!!

Here's the dreadful blue. The picture is being kind. In reality, I think I threw up in my mouth a little. I was sick to my stomach and so upset. This is not just a ceiling. This is my home. I need to mention that the contractor mixed the texture in the blue paint. Now, I have 2 textures on my ceiling...nice. I was ready to have the contractor redo everything but Jeremiah said no and that he will get our personal contractor (God bless Nacho) to come back and do it right.

Here are the completed skylights. Since Jeremiah was half responsible for the blue ceiling, I encouraged him on his road to redemption by making him repaint the ceiling white. I even went with him to Lowe's to make sure that he got WHITE paint.

If you look closely, you can see huge bumps on the ceiling around the hole. This is a fine example of a poor tape and mud job and I can't stand it. Again, this picture is being kind. I'm loving the additional light in the living room but my ceiling is giving me so much heartache. We paid Nacho good money 2 years ago to remove the popcorn ceiling and retexture it with a knockdown texture and he did a FANTASTIC job! 2 years later, someone comes along and messes it all up :o(

June 3rd

2010-06-08T17:06:00.005-05:00

June 3rd was a CRAZY day! Liz's school had an awards ceremony at 8:30AM, Scarlett had Bouncing Babies at 11:15AM and I had an OB appt at 3PM. As usual, I survived it all!

Liz received a total of 7 awards: perfect attandance, math olympiad, something citizenship, something helper, and I can't remember the rest. She has displayed them proudly on her bedroom wall. I would go look and double check for what the other awards are but everyone is playing peacefully and I do not want to interrupt the peace!

After the awards ceremony, I rushed home to feed Scarlett and get her cleaned up so that we could go to Bouncing Babies. Bouncing babies is a program for children ages birth to two years old at one of our local libraries. The library staff will do stories, rhymes, finger plays and songs with the babies. It is a lapsit program in which you get to interact with your baby. Scarlett did so well and was quite the social butterfly with some of the other babies. I really think that she had fun! I wanted to take a ton of pics but it was hard because we were so busy reading and singing. At the end, the staff member dumped a TON of toys into the middle of the floor for the babies to have some free time. I think we will add Bouncing Babies to our summer routine :o)

When my hands were finally free, this was the one and only pic that I was able to take. I think she was checking out the toys that were about to be dumped out!

After Bouncing Babies, we rushed home for lunch, a quick nap and to let Liz in the house since she was getting out early. 20 minutes after she came home, Jeremiah was walking in the door. He left work early so that he could go with me to my doctor's appt. He is so good about coming with me to all of my doctor appts. He's such a sweetie :o)

Anyway, the appt went well. Baby Prickett and I are doing just fine. I weighed in at 124lbs and I am slowly but surely losing my waistline. Baby Prickett's heartbeat was at 150 bpm and we set a date for the c-section. Baby Prickett is scheduled to arrive on 12/14/10! I didn't get early December like I wanted :o( Apparently, my doctor doesn't like to perform c-sections more than one week before the due date. She doesn't want to compromise the health of the baby. I'm fine with that and I certainly understand. So, Jeremiah and I chose 12/14 because Scarlett's b-day is 4/14. If both babies b-day's are on the 14th, maybe it will help us remember them...he he he! Not that I need help remembering my kids b-days...because we all know how much I love b-days!!!

Oh What A Night

2010-06-02T12:37:00.011-05:00

And I'm not talking about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Long story short. The only light that we have in our living room is through our backdoor. Unfortunately, we do not have any windows in our living room. Jeremiah's solution...SKYLIGHTS! This is where my journey begins!

Here's the 1st cut into my perfect roof! My excitement quickly turned into anxiety. I couldn't stand to watch my ceiling being cut so I went to check on the girls.

When I came back to check on the contractor, I had a hole in my roof! My stomach really started to turn and I left again to check the girls.

This is what I found. Scarlett had crawled under our bed! She somehow rolled her car underneath our bed and she was going after it. Pardon the chipped wood on our footboard. We have Scarlett to thank for that.

I ran back to the living room and the skylight is actually on the hole. I'm starting to think, "maybe this really will be okay". I take off once again to check on the girls.

Y'all will enjoy this one. Liz was reading to Scarlett but Scarlett lost interest and took off to play. Liz became sad because nobody was listening to her. I told Liz "I'm listening". Until she went to bed, Liz followed me reading this book...everywhere I went...almost at the top of her lungs! She had to talk loud because she wanted to make sure that I heard her over the contractor. Nice. With Liz behind me, I go back to the living room to check on the contractor.

Not one hole but two holes in my ceiling! When will this night end?! Two skylights is what we agreed to but to see it was quite overwhelming and frightening!

And where was Mr. Man during all of this? At school. When he came home, he was sooooo excited that the skylights were actually being installed. The contractor has to come back Sat. and finish it up but at least they are in. I'm still trying to recover from last night. I'll appreciate the skylights by the weekend I'm sure.

After working hard all evening and the girls were in bed, I decided to treat myself to Braums. I ordered one medium french fries and a something orange shake. I made it back home at 10:06pm and started to partake of my Braums goodness. While I was gone, Jeremiah had vacuumed the floor for me :o)

Scarlett has been fascinated with the light coming through the ceiling this morning. In the end, I think she approves of it. She cracks me up!