I miss you today

Dear Laurie,
I miss you today. I met a vehicle today I could have sworn the driver was you. I saw a lady in Walmart last week, I almost shouted your name. But I remembered you had gone home. It was about this time last year Amy and I visited you. You laughed because we almost got lost finding the hospital. You wrote my due date and Amy's wedding date on your calendar, you planned to attend both. However, you got called home before either date rolled around. Little did we know at that time Amy was pregnant too. I'm sure you would have found that hilarious, you always used to laugh at us because we were such goofballs. I miss you rolling your eyes at our silly antics. I'm sure however, you got to see it all from your new home. Amy's little Joey entered this world at almost the exact same time you left. It made for a very bittersweet day. We were sad that you were gone, but so happy you weren't in anymore pain.

Amy and I went to your funeral, both being newly post partum, the tears flowed like water. We were sad, the slideshow reminded us of the good times. They buried you in your Dallas Cowboys Jersey, just how we remembered you. You wore that thing all the time. I've never seen a girl so obsessed with Dallas Cowboys and Troy Aikman. But that made you you.

It was also bittersweet because all our old "gang" was there. We reconnected through the tears. You gave us a mini-reunion, though we wish you would have been there and we were all laughing, rather than crying.

You were too young, but I know God had a plan and wanted you home. But we miss you here. Can't wait to see you again. I wish we would have talked more in the last few years but I am glad we got to see you one last time.

Rest in peace, dear friend,
Erin

*Laurie is the one on the furtherst right. In the blue shirt. This was at my wedding shower in 2005. Laurie Criswell Kendrick lost her battle to lukemia on Sept. 8, 20008.

More Crafties

Okay , I made some more pretties, these are for me and Isaac. Though now I have all the projects I have supplies for done so I have to get house stuff caught up before I do anymore (and wait for payday!)

Here is a purse I made.



Wipes Case Cover

Crafty Mama

I made some more crafties this weekend.

Here is a homemade version of the Moby Wrap, I call it a Mommy Wrap! I made this for a cousin, not for us, Isaac is just modeling it...see how he likes it?



The back, see its reversible!



I also made me and Isaac one a few weeks ago. Here is us modeling our pretty blue one!




And I made a quilted tote bag this weekend. I was proud of it because I am such a pattern person and always have to follow a pattern, this one I made up on my own! Its for my cousin to carry her laptop in when she goes back to school in the fall!



I also got crafty with my house and finally painted my dining room...well 3/4 of it anyway.

Here is our dining room before we moved in.



Here is is now. Sorry about the mess and blue painters tape...the paint was still wet when I took this. Klay is hanging the curtains this morning and we are shampooing the carpet and then moving everything back so we can paint the other wall. Much better than paneling! I can't wait to get my pictures and stuff hung!

Technical Difficulties

Yeah..I've messed up my blog..I'm trying to get it back. Please stand by....

He Crawls

Isaac crawling. (BTW...does anyone know how to make this fit properly?)

Crafty Mama

I made some more crafties....I actually made some of these a few days ago but just now uploaded pics.

Burp Rags I made as a shower gift. These were so easy and so cute! Too bad Isaac doesnt use them anymore...I want some for ME!




Isaac's Hat Rack.
This little is accumulating hats as quickly as little girls accumulate bows so he needed somewhere to put them. Hobby Lobby ran all their unfinished wood stuff on 40% off a couple weeks ago so $3 hat rack + $1 bottle of paint + 25 cents puppy stuff=one cute and easy project!





Here is a large tote bag/purse I made for Grandma Pat. Its made from the Amy Butler "Birdie Sling" pattern. I am making my mom one that is denim. I have fabric to make me one unless I decided to switch projects with it!




Here is another lined tote bag I made for a friend. Which reminds me I need to mail it out to her! Sorry!!

A Difference of Opinion- A Book Review

I just finished reading an awesome book, so I thought I would blog about it. I've never done a book review before so bear with me. My thoughts tend to get so rambly that there is no telling where this will end up, I seem to get off little wild tangents alot, but hey, its my blog so I can do that right? See, there I go...okay back to topic!

I guess I should tell you what book it was huh? It was Difference of Opinion, by Nancy Dane. Its the second book in her Tattered Glory series. I really enjoyed this book. I totally expected it to be great but it really took me by surprise. I started and finished it in one day (and I have the unfiled files at work, dirty dishes at home, and bags under my eyes to prove it!). The first book was great, the second even better. Speaking of which, I should go back and re-read the first to just refresh my memory some...alot has happened since I read it last....anyway I'm digressing again.

I dont want to give too much away because I want you to go read the book! But, it really brought to life the fact of how the Civil War was so different from any other war because you and your next door neighbor could literally be on opposite sides. How would you handle such a thing? Your life long friends are now your enemies? I cannot fathom how that would have felt. One day you are happy-go-lucky and everything is fine, the next day they are trying to kill you, just because you have a different viewpoint from them. Not only friends, but family...literally brother against brother. In the book, the main character, Nelda, was frequently gathering information on BOTH sides, Union and Conferdate, because she had friends and family serving in both. In most wars in history it was easy to look at the enemy as such, they were an unknown force, but when the enemy had been your friend longer than enemy? Wow....

Another reason I get such a thrill out of reading these novels, is the fact that Nany is a local author. These books are centered right in this area. The twon where I work, live, the area where my family has always been. Its so much more fun to read them and hear talk of Spadra, Clarksville, Hagarville, etc. When the book is telling of such landmarks as the Methodist Church, I can truely visualize it. My mind goes back and I see Clarksville in a different era, its like being there. It gives it so much more depth and reality.

Yet another reason I enjoy these books, is the fact that Nancy is a friend of mine. I knew her before she was a famous author. She's been my Bible School teacher, Sunday School teacher, mentor, and friend. She let me read a manuscript one time years ago, just a stack of typed computer printed out pages. Now that she's 'famous' I feel special, I knew back then she had a true gift. AND all my books are personalized and signed...hehe! Are ya jealous yet? haha Seriously, she is a pretty cool person, and I really like being able to support and enjoy something coming from a friend.

The book was so filled with twists and turns....there were times I want to scream at Nelda for being dense and then there were times I want to be her friend and give her a much needed hug. Another main character, Allen, immediately won me over with his rugged, mountain charm. I could see the families described living up in the mountains. They could have easily been MY family. I found myself switching back and forth from a Union Symapthized to a Conferate Rebel on a regular basis. I could very much see both sides of the story and how hard it would be to be living in that time and making those choices. The book also brought to light the point of what the Civil War really was about to most in the South, not slavery as we are so often taught to believe, but freedom. Many of those fighting for the Confederacy were not fighting to keep slavery, many were in reality against slavery, they were fighting for the rights and freedoms of the state. I feel like that point is too often neglected. It also brought to light the fact that not all slaves were treated badly, that many, even after being granted their freedom chose to stay. I'm not saying slavery was a good thing, I think it was awful and horrendous, but too often these points are neglected.

I highly reccommend reading these books. They are fictional, but prior to their writing Nancy spent year compiling the facts and doing the research on what happened in this area with the Civil War. With this research she compiled the non-fiction documentary Tattered Glory. I have not read this one yet, however, my dear sweet mother-in-law has and it is on my "borrow list." So, even though the characters and actual dialog are fictional, the story is factual. They are actually being used as textbooks in some schools.

Okay, there's my review, my thoughts, my ramblings, all that jazz. That all being said....I can't wait for book #3!! To read more on Nancy Dane and her books...check out her website...http://www.nancydane.com

I should really write more book reviews, I should really read more books, but I am too obsessive about stuff...I start a book I MUST finish it. All life is on hold until I finish it! Which is rather hard to do these days.

Oh yeah, I wanted to throw in my 2 cents about MY civil war ancestor...My great-great-great grandfather, Isom Terry was a private in CoH 27th Arkansas Infantry in the Confederate States Army. He was a real character as I've been told. He's a hard one to track down in genealogy though, he was pretty rough and tough, married a few times, lived in several different places, and rumored to have came home early from the war and therefore was kind of in hiding for a while. I'll post the picture of him later, but it includes a dress suit, mule, pistol, and what appears to be a busted lip. Oh, to know the story behind that photo....

April Rose Scam

http://littleaprilroseisfake.blogspot.com

How sad. I just recently discovered this blog, didn't read much of it before it was "outed" and taken down. Is it REALLY a fake? Who knows, it looks that way. Its really very sad that people would scam people and mess with people's emotions and hearts that way. Why? For money? Attention? For fun? I know so many people who stayed up praying for this family. I don't think the prayers were "lost", God honors all prayers. But how many people cried and agonized over this family? How many people will become skeptical and not support real families who need help and prayer?

Additionally, as the parent of a preemie and child who was very ill at one point, I find the little scam offensive. A sick or dying child is NOT funny. I don't care who ya are. Having a sick child is heart wrenching, I know firsthand. As you all know, by my blogs, I haven't dealt with it well. I am still agonizing over it and my little one is considered "fine." And for someone to pretend and in a way poke fun of that, no matter what their motives, greatly offends me and really tees me off!

Maybe the blog was real. But to me the evidence points elsewhere. Mainly the fact that they sought out no medical intervention and help, even after the baby was defying odd and living. The baby was alive, but a baby with supposed medical problems, and that small, would have needed a neonatologist and a NICU. But the family didnt seem concerned with that? If I were told that my baby would die at birth, I would at least want medical staff to be prepared to do everything in their power to make him/her comfortable and if survival was a possibilty to try whatever was necceassary, but maybe thats just me.

Anyway, I have better things to do than worry with this but I thought it was blog worthy.

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House update: Still no definite word on the house, we countered again. Not looking hopeful for a sell.

Prayer and Praise

Alot of my bloggy online friends know since Isaac was born we've had a few financial difficulties. Not the end of the world by any means, but we've not been where we want to be and a tad more debt than we'd like. So this to say, things have changed some for us this past week.

For starters, we still owed the hospital a huge chunk of money because Isaac met his one time room and board limit with the insurance leaving us owing money to the hospital. And in case you didnt know, NICUs are EXPEN$IVE! So we applied for financial assistance, we were not hopeful because the lady I got on the phone told me very meanly (mind you I was 2 1/2 months post partum, had a baby who just came home from the hospital and was still on a heart monitor and medications and all that jazz) that unless I was "blind, permanently disable, or homeless" I would not get any help. I explained to her our situation again and said "I'm not bling, permanently disabled, or homeless so does that mean I'm screwed." and she said "I guess so." I even told her we were selling our HOME because of the bills and she said "unless you are blind, permanently disabled, or homeless we can't help you." Well I then demanded an itemized bill (which further ticked her off) and the application for assistance. Well she sent me the bill but not the application. I later found it online myself. Klay now calls and gets very nice ladies, he told one lady that they made me cry. So we filled it out and....they accepted it!! Praise the Lord!

Now...on to our house. We have it up for sale due to 1) finances and 2) we really wanted to be back in the country and not a subdivison. We got an offer!!! It was very much lower than our asking price, so we have countered. So all you praying folks, please pray for us that they accept. Their deadline is 5pm tomorrow. If it sells we will be well on our way to getting back on our feet...that will just leave the credit cards.....

Now for some Isaac news...we are working on even MORE teeth! Once he got started he's not going to stop until he has a mouth full!!

Temper

I fear my child is going to have my temper. He has started this new thing where when he gets angry, he grits his "teeth" grimaces and shakes and turns red. This morning he would do it while I was feeding him. I'd pretend to eat his cereal while saying.."Mmmmm...Mama eats Isaac's food!" And he would turn red, grimmace, and shake. But of course then he'd grin real big when I gave him a bite. Spoiled ya think? Nah...not my kid!

I also think we have outgrown our swing. Its a shame, he loves napping in that thing. What do you think?