Mr. Al

I took off from work today to help chaperone Emma's class as they walked from Curtis Preschool to Harding University. They got to see Mr. Al in concert. Since I teach older kids, I wasn't exactly sure who "Mr. Al" was. I have to give the man props...he was WONDERFUL!! I wish I had taken money to get a cd!! As you can see in the pics, he was dressed in tye-die. He had the kids up and down in their seats, singing and dancing!! It was wonderful. We were hoping the rain would hold off since we were walking, and it did. As I look out the window now, it just started raining...30 minutes after we returned to school!! I enjoyed spending this time with Emma and her friends. It was well worth the money. Emily, Anna Catherine, Chandler, and Emma

Emma and Alexander dancing

Mr. Al

Emma and Chandler with their feet up to put their "GROOVE" on

Best Buddies!!

Emma's birthday pics from Wal-Mart

Emma's Preschool Program

My sweet little girl before her program. The girls singing along with another group.

Emma's buddy, Job.

Emma's church buddy, McKinley

Mrs. Jonna, Emma's teacher last year.

Emma's friend, Ty.

Mrs. Cherisse, Emma's teacher, singing along with the kids.

Anna Catherine, Emily, Chandler, Emma, Emma M., and Payton singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Patiently waiting on stage for Mrs. Cherisse's SuperStars to sing.

Payton and Emma

Emma's flowers

As I said in a previous post, this year Randall and I decided to give flowers at church in honor of the kids' birthdays. This is a picture of Emma with her flowers. They were placed at the organ.

Emma's birthday 5th birthday party

Mac and Emma

Mac was still eating once the girls went to play.

Emma and Chandler outside eating cake and ice cream.

Momma bought trick candles!! This one wouldn't go out!

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Mac hanging out with the girls!!

Chandler, Emma, and her friend Emma!! They were watching "Camp Rock."

Just a few pictures from Emma's 5th birthday party.

Emma's 5th Birthday

I can't believe Emma is 5 today!! It seems like just yesterday she was born...since I didn't blog at the time, I thought I would give her birth story here, If for no other reason than just to remember it!

On the day I told Randall I was pregnant, we also got the call that he was being deployed to Iraq. The day was a little bittersweet for us to say the least. Randall spent most of the pregnancy in Ft. Hood, Texas training, and then headed to Iraq at the beginning of April. On April 24, 2004, Momma took me out shopping all day. When we got home about 5:00, I turned on the news (which I never did) and heard the news that Randall's camp in Iraq had experienced a mortar attack. There were casualites. When this happens, internet and phones are turned off until the next of kin can be contacted. I went through all of Saturday night and Sunday without knowing if he was safe or not. About 12:15 Monday morning, I woke up to a wet spot in my bed. I called Momma and Daddy and told Momma that I thought my water had broken. She asked me if I was having contractions, and I told her I wasn't. She told me to go back to bed and go back to sleep...and I did. About 3:15, I woke up to what I thought was cramping, so I took a hot bath. I called Momma and Daddy a little after 3:30 and told them I thought I needed to go to the hospital. They came over, picked me up, and we headed to WCMC. We walked all the way to Labor and Delivery, and as I rounded the corner, there stood Brandi Lindsey, a nurse at L&D. I was thrilled to see someone I knew. She put me in triage and checked me. I was dialated to 4cm. They got me into a room about 4:30. They had called down to get my epidural. A few minutes later, I told Brandi that I had to push. She told me that I didn't. After insisting that I did need to push, Brandi checked me again. She crossed my legs, looked at the other nurse and said, "Call Dr. Burns to get here NOW, and call the anetheisologist and tell him to go back home." I was dialated to 10. Emma was born at 5:26 am. Randall had tried to call me that morning at home and call my cell phone to let me know he was ok. He finally got in touch with my dad on his cell phone as Daddy was going back to the car to get my suitcase AFTER Emma was born. About 5:40, I was holding my newborn daughter and talking to my husband who was half way around the world. WHAT A DAY!! Emma weighed 7 pounds, and she was 20 inches long.

Emma talking to her daddy on the phone minutes after being born.Emma and the dozen pink roses from her daddy.

Emma's birthday cake

Emma is having a Camp Rock themed birthday party today. I couldn't find a cake anywhere, so I had her pick out a picture she liked. We took it to Sexton Food and had it scanned. I thought the caked turned out great, and Emma really liked it!!

Baptist-Health NICU Reunion

All the NICU graduates hands...this will be hung up in the unit!

Mac's flower in the "Garden of Hope."

Mac and Mrs. Sherry...he is more interested in his sucker!!

Mac's smeared handprints on his paper for the day!!

Painting Mac's hands for his paper.

In conjunction with the March of Dimes walk today, our family attended Baptist-Health's NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) reunion. I am glad that we went, but I was a little disappointed that we didn't get see any of the nurses that helped take care of our little man when he was born. We did see Mrs. Sherry, who is the nurse manager of the NICU. She rocked Mac on many occasions. She always commented on how he was such a good baby. There were other booths set up, and they also had the "Garden of Hope." The former preemies were given a "flower" with their name on it in the garden. It was very lovely. Hopefully next year we can attend this again, but next year I want to walk in the March of Dimes Walk for Preemies. This year was too hectic with today also being Emma's birthday party. I'll post that later!!

Dress Up

Emma came to the living room last week, and this is what she looked like. She had found her dance costume from last year and put it on along with her princess slippers. Is she really a princess, or is this just an act? Decide for yourself!!

Mac's New Hiding Spot

Mac has discovered that he can crawl into our built-in book case onto the bottom two shelves...as much as he likes monkeys, I think he is turning into one!!