Carlyn

well, we couldn't believe it. james called on wednesday evening as he was getting off work and said he finally had his schedule for the month and he was going to be off the next day. the next day!!! Thanksgiving!! WOW, what a surprise!! Thank you God !! what a special thanksgiving blessing :) so, he headed straight here to my parents house. i almost let luther stay up to see him but at 9pm i finally decided i better put him to bed or he might not have such a great thanksgiving (his normal bedtime is 7pm). james got here on wednesday night and got to stay until thursday around 4:30pm. it was so awesome to get to spend thanksgiving with my whole family. luther was so happy to see his daddy. he insisted that james do everything for him all day long. that was fine by me!! pearl was happy to see her daddy too! well, i just has to share my happiness.

luther, pearl and i are all at my parents house this week. poor james is at home working himself to death. i really cannot explain how horrible this new job has been for us. not only is he working about 80 hours a week, the work environment is a very differcult one. i feel so bad for him, but by the time he gets homes i end up fussing at him because i am so tired and so irritated that he is never home. it has been good to be at my parents house this week and kinda reflect on our circumstances and what i can do to make things better. james has tried to be so positive about his job but he sounded so sad last night when i talked to him. i think it seems even worse to him since that is all he is doing right now is working. he said that at least he usually has us to come home to and that to look forward to. i did make him a thanksgiving dinner before we left, so at least he has good food to come home to. everyone keeps asking me to explain his schedule, so i will try. he works 2 days that a...

aren't these the cutest pictures ever!!! i love my babies :)

so i just found out that wearing your baby in a sling or any kind of carrier that attaches to your body is actually called "babywearing" “Babywearing” simply means holding or carrying a baby or young child using a baby carrier. Holding babies is natural and universal; baby carriers make it easier and more comfortable, allowing parents and caregivers to hold or carry their children while attending to the daily tasks of living funny i have been doing this for years and did not know, but anyways. it is international babywearing week ( http://babywearinginternational.org/pages/babywearingweek.php ) so i thought i would post some pics of me "wearing" pearl. i took these last weekend. i was doing house work wearing pearl, and looked down and she was sound asleep holding her little foot. it was so cute. james was at work so i took them myself in the mirror. i kept trying different angles trying to capture the cuteness. NOTE: for you babywearers out there, i know pearl is...

i added a new link to the left. Videos of Pearl!! i have already added a few, so go check it out.

my family came up for veteran's day yesterday since everyone was off. we had a fun time together!! mom took these picture on my front steps. i thought they were so cute. we had to let luther play with candice's hat to keep him happy.

here is a link to more pictures from our beach trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068846&l=89f66&id=57504677

where is aunt vanna??? mcwane Luther, mommy, vanna & pearl- can you guess who is who?? pearl really took to aunt vanna fun at the zoo vanna, james' sister, came to visit the week of luther's bday. james had to work until midnight every night that week, so she was lots of help to me. we tried to do something fun everyday. we went to the zoo, mcwane and the splash pad. we had a blast!! luther and pearl love their aunt vanna.

Luther is 2!!! he had a great time at his choo choo birthday party. we had a big family party at our house. a lot of the family that came had not been to our new house or seen pearl before. we all had a great time. luther loved playing outside with all of his grandparent, aunts, uncles and cousins. the weather was just perfect. luther sang several songs for everyone right before he opened his presents. after the first 2 presents, he realized what was going on and just kept chanting "more presents." he opened almost every present right by himself. he got lots of fun toys and handsome clothes. i made him a choo choo train cake and he was very excited about it!! i think he said "choo choo cake" a million times that day. he was so cute swaying to the music as we all sang him happy birthday. then he blew out the candles just like a big boy!! we grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner while luther played with all of his new toys. it was such a fun tim...

i haven't posted in a while and that is unlike me. what has been going on?? well mostly i have been in denial about what has been going on in our lives in the last few weeks and didn't want to write about it, because that made it more real. here is the story. the hospital where james was doing his residency this year went bankrupt and closed. they gave the staff no notice and no pay. we were actually on our first day of vacation at my parents when it all went down. poor james was trying to find a new job over the phone. the hospital had been having some major financial problems, but at the last meeting they had the week before our vacation, the staff was told they would remain open at least until the end of the year. it is very hard to explain but finding a new residency positions is not like finding a new job. residency is part job and part training. you can't just go anywhere and there are a very limited number of spots. we have friends who have lost a residency spot and ...

luther's reaction when he caught a fish at the water table Bethany & Luther riding the cow James & Pearl playing the piano Pearl and the big white catfish this sand table at mcwane is fun!! hurricane Luther making waves luther and daddy changing a tire we have had a very fun week. james was off, so we got lot of activities in while daddy was around to help. on monday morning, pearl and i had our first mother-daughter shopping trip. james watched luther and pearl and i went to the most amazing consignment sale. we got lots of fall and winter clothes for luther . (pearl has enough hand-me-downs to last until she is 12) we also found some great baby items for our church. our church was blessed with 4 little girls with in about one month(one was pearl). so they needed several things to entertain all of these little ones. i got luther a few toys for his birthday too. then it was on to the doctor's office for pearl's 2 month appt and luther's 2 year a...

coolest dude at the park!! we have had lots of sickness over the past 3 weeks. luther started it one weekend. i got it then next weekend and then james got it then end of this past week. pearl has had it sometime in between. james started his ER rotation this week, but only made it one day before he had to call in sick. mom came for two days to help me out when i was still feeling bad and james was on call. well, james is now on the mend and there is no one else to get sick. so, hopefully this is all over with.

pearl smiling at mommy Pearl smiling at Luther my babies Pearl smiling at daddy Pearl is 6 weeks old and will be 7 weeks tomorrow. she has started smiling all of the time. she is beginning to love her swing and she loves being outside. if she is fussing and luther comes over to check on her, she will usually quiet down. she is starting to enjoy all of his attention. it doesn't seem to bother her at all that he is a little too rough. i think she is going to be a tough little girl. she is still not sleeping very well at night. she is usually up 3 or 4 times and many times stays up for several hours in a row. james and i try to trade off the long awake times. i went back on a regular diet last weekend. her poop has never cleared up. it is still full of mucous, actually really all it is is yellow mucous. i have never seen normal poop come out of the child. i did dairy free for 5 weeks and no soy for the last 3 of those weeks. i haven't seen any changes in her poop or her behavio...

My sweet baby boy will be 2 years old in just a few weeks!!! his birthday is on oct 19th. we are planning to have a family birthday party for him the day before his birthday. i think most of our family is going to be able to come. luther has told me he wants a choo choo train party, so i am going to make him a choo choo cake. i know people are going to be asking me soon what to get him for his birthday, so i thought i would make a list. i made one on Amazon. i am sure most of the items(or similar items) could be found at various stores, but it was just easy to make the list on amazon. also, he needs fall clothes. he is wearing a 2T. here is the link for the wish list: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2D52D79QWUMBQ i am not asking for everyone to get him a gift, i just wanted give ideas to anyone planning on getting him something.

pre hair cut post hair cut luther giving the tiger kisses pearl the lion pearl is getting cubby cheeks!! pearl hanging out with grandpa at the pool we went to the zoo on monday. pearl did very good and slept in the stroller most of the time. luther was a bit possessive of the animals. he thought they were all his and did not appreciate all of the other kids looking at them. he is definitely hitting the stage where he has trouble sharing. i had noticed it at playgroup last week, but the zoo animals!! my child is ridiculous. he also decided that the white tiger was hungry and wanted a hot dog. he was very upset that mommy couldn't just cook one up and give it to the tiger. on tuesday, grandpa and i took the kids to a park. the weather was so nice. it was very breezy and just felt wonderful. on wedneday, luther had his first real hair cut. i have trimmed it a few times, which really did not go well. so, i decided it was time for a professional. i held luther and the lady gave him so...

We had a busy week. Mom & Meemaw came to see us on tuesday and wednesday. james was on call on tuesday, so it was nice to have some company. they helped me with the babies, house cleaning and also canning tomatoes. on thursday i had cabinet people here working on my kitchen. there was some progress made, but there is still much to be done. on friday, james got off after lunch and we made a huge batch of fried green tomatoes. on saturday, james's dad arrived for a visit. james is off all weekend and even on monday. he will start a new rotation on tuesday. he will actually be working in a doctor's office less than a mile from our house. pearl had her best night ever last night. she went to bed at 10pm and got up at 2:30am to eat and was back asleep by 3:30am. then she slept until 6:30am. i got a full 4 hrs of sleep the first half of the night. that is the longest stretch of sleep i have had in ages. i think i deserved it, because i was up 7 times the night before. pearl ...