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!!

Mud Play

This afternoon, Randall was getting the backyard clean for Emma's birthday party tomorrow. He had washed Mac's Fisher-Price car, so there was a mud puddle in the yard. I looked outside, and both kids were covered in mud. This was what they looked like.

The Wonders of Nature

Mac looking at the ladybug crawling up Emma's arm.

Look what I have!!

With this afternoon being a glorious day, Emma and Mac played in the backyard while I made strawberry freezer jam. I went out to take some pics while I was letting the jam sit. Emma had found a ladybug and was so excited. She would pick up the ladybug and let Mac look at it. After a minute or so, she would drop it and have to pick it up again. This happened several times before I finally convinced her that the ladybug needed to be let go to live outside. It was very hard for her to understand that the mere insect couldn't survive in our house. This is a hard concept for her to grasp as bringing home caterpillars is becoming a daily occurance!! She is so interested in nature. I can't wait for a free weekend soon so we can visit the zoo. It will have to wait a few weeks because this weekend is her birthday party and Mac's NICU reunion in conjunction with the March of Dimes Walk. Anyone wanted to sponsor us may click on the right side of the blog to do so.

Easter Sunday

They were saying "Cheeseburger!!"

Silly boy!!

"CHEESE!!"

Ok, it's so hard to get them to pose together and get a good picture!!

He did not want to stop long enough to get his picture made...notice the Crocs!! That's all he would wear, so I had to find a navy pair!!

My big girl!!

Emma's Easter Basket

Mac's Easter Basket

Today is Easter Sunday. We started off our day early by getting up and going to early church at 8:00. We started our Revival today with Testify bringing the music and Steve Hale preaching. This morning was wonderful. Randall's mom went to church with us today. After church, a continental breakfast was served in the Fellowship Hall. We came home and I got to work on lunch...BBQ porkchops, macaroni and cheese, salad, and potato fries baked in the oven. Apple turnovers with vanilla bean ice cream was served for dessert. I don't cook often, but this was a good meal!!

The kids loved their Easter baskets. Emma got High School Musical 3 and a princess plate and bowl. Mac got Handy Manny and a Lightning McQueen plate and bowl. They both got fruit snacks (I found HSM3 for Emma!!) and a little candy.

AWWWW!!

Do you see his "Get It" blanket? It's laying to the right of him!! We don't go to bed without it!! We actually have 2 so one can be washed and we still have another!!

Isn't he precious?

Don't you just love a sleeping baby?! I do. I could sit and watch Emma and Mac sleep forever. Right now Randall and Emma are fishing, and Mac is taking a late nap. We had a busy morning, so his nap was delayed a little. We spent the morning playing outside for while, then we headed out to get Emma new flip-flops. We had lunch at Frozen Delite (YUMMY!!) and went to the Fish Bowl. Emma begged for a new puppy (they had the most adorable Boston Terriers!!), but she settled for 5 Neon Tetra fish! Now I am just waiting on this precious little boy to wake up so we can go outside and play!!

I just couldn't resist...

posting this pic of my little man...Sunday after the birthday party, we had to take his clothes off to spray the red icing...he wanted his diaper off, so we decided to try big boy underwear. He looks even smaller with them on!!

Camp and Cash's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday, Cash!!

Happy Birthday, Camp!!(the first born twin)

Emma on the jump house slide!!

Mac getting ready to slide!

Today we enjoyed a great afternoon by attending Camp and Cash's birthday party. I met Camp and Cash's mom, Amy, at a playdate at McDonald's last year, and we hit it off...maybe that's because we had so much in common. Her twins are also preemies who were delivered at Baptist and were in the NICU. Mac was already home by the time they were born, but it's nice to have a friend who has been through the same ups and downs and knows about having a preemie. Camp and Cash were born at 29 or 30 weeks (Sorry, Amy, don't remember exactly which!!). They both weighed a little more than Mac (he weighed 2 pounds, 8 ounces!) Camp, Cash, and Mac are all miracle babies who were sent here by God!! I am so glad they are getting the chance to become great friends!!

First Softball Practice

Emma is old enough to play t-ball this year, and today was her first practice. Her team is Diamond Girls. Her coaches are Melanie and Mitchell Kiinhl and Greg Butts. When we got to practice, Emma was very clingy and wouldn't let go of my leg. Randall was working so I had both kids out there trying to help Emma. Eventually she went with Mrs. Melanie, and I think she has a new friend!! She started trying everything they asked her to do. We have a lot of work to do with her at home, but I think she really enjoyed softball once she got over her shyness this afternoon!!