"EIEIO"

Yesterday, Jolee and I were sitting at the table playing with play dough and we were listening to one of her kid Cd's. We were having such a great time and all of the sudden "Old McDonald had a farm" song came on and she started dancing and singing. She was EIEIO-ing and moo-ing, it was hilarious! All I had time to grab was my cell phone and record a few seconds of it with that.

But here is the best part...I learned how to put the video on my blog, ALL BY MYSELF! So you faithful blog readers may just be in trouble, because I think I might just know how to get the video from the video camera on here as well. So you might be seeing a lot more videos from our house. Hope you enjoy, Jolee's dancing debut to "EIEIO"!

**Oh and before you watch it, I realize that she has her Christmas PJ's on and that it is January, but she has had such a growth spurt lately and that's one of the last pair of PJ's that I bought for her so they still fit. And if we are just being honest with each other, they were one of the only one's that were clean!**

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles!

So clearly, we have established that bath time with Daddy is more fun! On the weekends, Daddy does bath time, so this past Sunday all I heard coming from the bathroom was laughing, squealing and the water kept going on and off. So when I rounded the corner to see what was going on in there, there were bubbles all over the place, on Daddy's head on Jolee's head and all in the tub. It was so cute, all you could see were bubbles and a big smile on that little girls face. So you know I had to go get the camera, because it was a Kodak moment and it was Jolee's 1st bubble bath. You know being a first time parent you have to document this kind of stuff.

Within the last week, she has started coming out of her little shell and starting to "ham-it-up" for people. Her personality is hilarious, and she definitely keeps us laughing.

Look at that girl's teeth on the bottom!

I Love that little face! Her Daddy and I have come to the conclusion that she is growing up way too fast!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

Yep, you guessed it...We went to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus! I always loved going to the circus when I was younger (and I still do). I remember it always came to town around my Birthday. Well, just so happens it comes here the week of my Birthday too! I was so excited! We (Me, Silas, Granna and Pappy) loaded up and took Jolee to see her very 1st circus!
As you can tell, she loved it! Well lets start over, at the beginning of the show, she was a bit not so sure of it. It was loud and dark (and she is not one that likes things loud), she also had a death grip on my shirt and I literally thought she was going to climb over my shoulder to get out of there.

But lets just say, that not-so-sure of the circus thing didn't last very long at all. As soon as those animals started coming out and doing tricks, she started clapping, pointing, starring and saying WOW mommy! And she wanted to make sure that her Pappy, Granna and her Daddy were seeing the same thing she was, because she would get there attention and point to show them! She loved it!


This is her clown hat that came with her $17.00's worth of popcorn and cotton candy. Yep, your right, something should have came with it for that price! My thoughts exactly! I thought Daddy was going to get one or the other, but you know Daddy's and their little girls, he wanted her to have the full circus experience. And that she did and I will have to say that we all enjoyed it, immensely!
Her favorite things at the circus, were the white ponies and the dogs that did tricks! She was in awe! Clapping and Wowing!
Love this look on her, she looks so concerned and amazed that they could fit 7 motorcycles into the globe!

It was pretty amazing! I mean 7 of them were in there. This was Daddy's favorite part.

All in all, we had a wonderful time at the circus, and we cant wait till next year to go again. Sorry there were tons of pictures, but come on people. it was the greatest show on earth! And I just loved all of her facial expressions. As many times as I have been to the circus myself, watching her reactions was like seeing the circus in a whole new pair of eyes!

Trying to catch you up!

First off, let me start by saying...I'm so, so sorry about the lack of posting over the last couple of weeks or months. With all the holidays that have came and gone and all the traveling we have been doing, and all the sickness that we have overcome so far this year. So now hopefully, everything can get back on track again and I can get back in the routine of keeping the blog updated. Maybe, after seeing this cute little face, you can forgive me, Yes, I'm trying to bribe you into reading my blog again..

So I was thinking there is no way, I can possibly give updates or pictures on every little thing one post at a time, (because I'm too far behind) we have done in the past couple of months, so I'm going to try on this post to put up several pictures with little stories about them, so you might see several of these kind of post in the future.

Update on Aunt Pam, Uncle JoJo and baby Weston: Time is getting close. It seems we may get to hold our precious new nephew and cousin sooner rather than later. Weston's due date is February 22nd, but more than likely he is not going to wait that long. Aunt Pam has been on a pill that is supposed to help stop contractions (not really working) she was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, due to pre-term labor. The Dr.s are taking her off of that medicine at the end of the week since she will be 36 weeks. Please keep Aunt Pam and Uncle JoJo and Weston in your thoughts and prayers, as the time draws nearer and pray that little Weston will be healthy and the delivery will go well, when the time comes. According to the Dr. Weston is already down and ready to come out (he probably is in a hurry and so excited and ready to come out and play with his cousin, Jolee) She is ready to meet him that's for sure! Aunt Pam has been taken off of work and has gotten to that horribly uncomfortable stage of not sleeping and can't get comfortable no matter sitting, standing or lying down, (so you know she is in need of your prayers)!

Jolee rubbing and talking to Baby Weston at the baby shower the church had for her.

Uncle JoJo and Aunt Pam at the couples baby party we had for them in December!

When we were in Bama a couple of weeks ago, Pappy and Uncle JoJo took Jolee out for a ride on the golf cart around the farm and she LOVED it! She laughed and moo-ed at all the cows when they past them, every time they would slow down she would say more and do the sign for it. So to say the least she had a wonderful time at home with the Fam!

Also while we were in Bama, Jolee desperately needed a haircut. It was looking a little mullet like again. There was no way I was going to do it, so I finally talked Granna into cutting it (she kept insisting on waiting till I got back and letting Amber cut it again since she cut it the 1st time, but it was really looking rough and couldn't wait)! Granna did a great job on it, and Uncle JoJo did a great job at keeping her occupied while Granna was cutting it, he fed her a Popsicle!

This picture was taken on my Birthday last week. Granna and Pappy were down and we had a really great week all being together. I'm usually the one taking the pictures, so it was nice to have a picture taken of me and my girl together!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Jolee got tons and tons of stuff.... Dora Power Wheel, a shopping cart, a car (you know the red and yellow one), Dora table and chairs, Baby Dolls, Clothes, Blocks, all kind of toys, etc, etc! The biggest surprise was the kitchen Granna and Pappy gave her, they actually re-did my old kitchen for her (the one I had when I was little). I'm talking new doors, new paint, new sink, new oven eyes, new knobs, it also came with a toaster, coffee maker, and pots and pans, dishes and silverware. I mean when it was awesome when I had it, but now WOW!

Isn't it so modern and sleek looking? I love it! And she adores it, she plays with it all the time!

Uncle JoJo and Aunt Pam got her a Dora 4-wheeler for Christmas. When she opened it, she climbed right on it and was excited, and we were all shocked. Then she mashed the button to make it go... and she has not gotten back on it since... until last week. We had tried and tried to get her on it, but that was not happening. Pappy's 1st day here last week, she was on it within 10 minutes of him trying and talking it up to her.

She now loves it and rides it all the time! If the weather doesn't get warmer soon, my walls are going to have to be painted!

We got some hand-me-down toys recently from our cousin Abbie, that she is in love with. This is her playing with the Dora Talking House, it is really cool, and she LOVES it! Thank you Abbie!

When Granna and Pappy were down last week, we did some winter cleaning. I'm talking cleaned out closets, organized garage, pantry, cabinets, cleaned out toy room and organized, deep cleaned the house. Painted stuff. I'm talking 2 huge list that I had made, were checked off and done while they were here. Thank God, for Mom and Dad, because I literally could not have done all of that with out them.

One of the projects in the toy room was taking down all the baby toys to make room for all of her new toys we got for Christmas. We tried to do it during her naps, so she wouldn't get upset, but we got caught one day. She woke up and came in there but all she wanted to do was help us, she watches and mimics everything. So she picked up a screwdriver and started working (well kinda, you know what I mean).

I know that this was a very long post, but don't you feel a little more caught up in our lives now? Hope you enjoyed it!

**I love reading your comments, so those of you who read it and don't leave me a comment, lets start the year off right. All you have to do is click on the comment button in small print right after the post and follow the directions, make sure to put your name, so I will know who it's from) Look forward to hearing from you all!**

My Girl is Back!

Thank the Lord! Jolee is doing much better. She has turned the corner and is on her way to making a full recovery. Yesterday, she started eating again, talking to us, laughing and playing. You can not imagine how happy I felt on Friday, when she looked up at me and smiled, it actually brought tears to me eyes. She has been one sick little girl, she had not smiled, laughed, ate or played since last Sunday, so you can imagine, I was one worried Mommy.

Last Thursday the Dr. herself called me at home and told me she was going to admit her in the hospital, because she was still running a fever and pretty much lifeless, then after we talked a bit she decided that she would check her on Friday and then make a decision on whether or not to send us on in. So thank God on Thursday evening her fever finally broke. On Friday she started smiling and coming around a bit, I'm so thankful. The Dr. sent us home with strict instructions on Friday if she starts going down hill again, get her to the hospital immediately. The Dr. told me it would take a good 2 weeks for Jolee to start being her full self again, and until then she needed to rest, I needed to keep pushing fluids, and she needed to stay in and not get around people because if she picked anything else up with her immune system being weak, we would have to start all over again and that would not be good for her. She is still pale looking and tires easily.

Granna came down to help me out, because I was exhausted and nothing had been done in my house since last Sunday due to her laying pretty much lifeless in my arms from last Sunday till Friday. Granna kept Jolee last night and Silas and I actually got to get out of the house and went on a date. We had such a wonderful time, we went out to eat and then went to a movie! We missed Jolee like crazy, but oh how nice it was to eat dinner with no one in my lap and sitting through a whole movie without getting up having to get juice or change a diaper etc, etc WOW! So we had a wonderful night being out just the 2 of us!

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent up prayers for Jolee, please continue to keep her in your prayers as she continues to get better and better. Thank you also for the phone calls and emails as well. It is a wonderful feeling to have such great family and friends you can count on in a time of need.

Update on Jolee..

After seeing Jolee's Dr. yesterday, and her getting a chest X-Ray of Jolee (which they did not take at the hospital), she walked back in the room, and said Tara she has...Pneumonia! I was shocked and kept saying pneumonia, how did she get pneumonia? Why they couldn't figure that out at the CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL I don't really know, but have I mentioned I love, love, our Doctor. The Dr. told me yesterday when she saw Jolee, we have got to figure out what she has, because this baby is sick and doesn't even look like herself, and she did..she found out why my baby has been so very sick. Jolee's Dr. told me yesterday since she had just had a bag of fluids and an antibiotic the night before at the hospital, she would send me home with a stronger antibiotic to take orally, BUT, she had to drink fluids, whatever I had to do to get her to drink, she had to keep fluids in her body. She wants to check her again tomorrow to make sure she is making progress and is getting some better.

This morning she still woke up with a fever, but she ate a few bites of oatmeal this morning, which I was thrilled about, because that is more than she has eaten this whole time. My wonderful neighbor came over last night and had went to the store and got Jolee some pedialite and pedialite popsicles, and even brought over some homemade Chili for me and Silas. I'm going to cut this short, due to it is getting time for her medicine and it is complicated trying to hold her while typing. Please keep her in your prayers!

Hope your New Year's Day was better than our's...

So by looking at the above picture you have probably guessed that Jolee is...one SICK little girl. That's how come we spent our New Year's Day in the Children's Hospital. Here's a summed up version of what has been going on with her... She has been running a fever since Sunday and it has continually gotten HIGHER, even with Motrin and Tylenol. I mean yes, sometimes it would break, but then climb right back up. At one point it got up to 102.8 on Monday and then at about 5:30 AM on Tuesday it went up to 104.6, her body was steaming! She has thrown up a couple of times and started having the problem with the other end yesterday. So after finally talking to her Dr. yesterday, she said she has to be seen today, that is way to high of a fever for her to have and to have it for 3 days, get her to the ER. She has been so, so pale looking, except when her fever would spike up, and then she would have rosy red cheeks, and she has literally sat in my lap for 3 DAYS, that's all she has wanted..is just me to hold her. Flattering yes, but exhausting! She has really been one sick little girl, bless her heart.

After all the poking and prodding my baby went through yesterday at the ER, we still really don't know what is wrong with her. They did blood work and urine test and sent off the blood work to test it and watch it for 24 and 48 hours. Talk about somebody not happy yesterday, oh she screamed and screamed, people were holding her down to get urine samples, checking temps, and then had to draw blood and then put an IV in her arm. Mommy had a hard time to yesterday, I mean my poor baby was already not feeling well, but to see her go through all that on top of being extremely sick, and I know they had to do it, in order to help her and see what's causing all these high fevers, but still that's my BABY! Anyway, the only thing we know as of now is.. Her white blood cell count is elevated, so she probably has some kind of virus or bacterial infection, they gave her some fluids through an IV, and then an antibiotic (Rocefrin) through her IV. After we got her home last night, we started to see our little girl coming back around to us, she started talking more and actually played a little bit (thank the Lord). She still is running a fever and woke up with 102.5 this morning at 4:00AM. We have to go back to the Dr. today for her to be rechecked and to see if she needs more antibiotics or fluids from what I understand. So please be in prayer for Jolee, she needs it! Sorry it got a little on the long side of an update, but I figured all the family and friends would want to know. I will try to give an update when we get back this afternoon from the Dr. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

**I have tons of pictures to post of Christmas, sorry I haven't posted sooner, but with the Holidays, traveling, and Jolee being sick, well the old blog has been put on the back burner, I'll hopefully get some up soon**