From a day of love to Emmy live

*WARNING: This is going to be a very unorganized post with random things going on! And Laurie, just in case I've never said anything, I hope it doesn't bother you that I don't use correct grammar/syntax considering your journalism background! I think about that every time I write! There are also some weird spaces that keep showing up afterI change something. Ugh!! This is annoying, but I'm tired of fixing it! I also didn't proof-read well so if something doesn't make sense, just ask! lol*

Wow! Life has been crazy these past couple of weeks! I'm sorry that I've been a horrible blogger! I will try my best to be better.

Where to begin...

Valentines Day was wonderful! I know that people say that V-Day is a silly holiday, but I think it's great. I love the idea of having a specific day to celebrate love! Life is CRAZY, so to have a time set aside to celebrate who you love, why you love, with the people you love is very special to me.

Tim had to work, so me and the girls went to meet him for lunch. We made him two pictures. One with a heart with Emmy's hand prints that says "My hands will touch your heart" and the other with Addy's footprints that says "I'll leave footprints in your heart". I got him a little cookie cake and we had a heart-shaped pizza for lunch. It was very cute and a very sweet time.

Tim with 2/3 of his Valentine's!

Mommy and Addy

Tim w/ his pictures

Cookie cake

Heart-shaped pizza!

That night, Hannah kept Emmy and Tim and I (plus Addy because we weren't sure how long the wait would be and I'm nursing) went to one of our favorite restaurant's, Carrabba's. When we got there at 8:30, the wait was 3 hours! Fortunately, we waited for a while and kept an eye on the first come, first serve bar area that overlooks the cooks. It was so much fun! We even got free samples! Yummy! We had a very good time and enjoyed having a date night!

Let's not forget the nice new pair of tennis shoes, work-out clothes, (I joined an awesome new women's faith-based gym here recently) and the Blackberry Flip cell-phone Tim got me for V-Day. Although, I just got surprised with the phone today, so I think it's more of an "I love you" gift. I love you too, Babe! You're the best!

Sunday, Tim got his hair cut! PRAISE THE LORD! I've been trying to be a good wife and not say anything because I did'nt want to nag him (I used to have/have a problem with that :-]) or make him think I judged his appearance all the time. Sorry, I don't have a picture! (I know this isn't that important to y'all, but it was monumental to me!)

Hannah turned 18 Monday. I can't believe it! Since I'm her sister, it's bittersweet. I'm sad that she's an "adult", but so excited to see what God has in store for her in the next few years. She and her friends went out with my Dad, Vickie, Thomas and Trish-my brother and his girlfriend. I was so sad that I didn't get to go, but made it up to her by taking her and our BFF, Whitney, to a Japanese Steakhouse Tuesday afternoon for lunch while Tim stayed at home with Emmy. We all had Sushi and I had Filet! Yummy!

Hannah, and her BFF's before their dinner

Sunday night Emmy started acting sick. I knew something wasn't right at about 4:00ish, so I went ahead and let everyone at church know that we wouldn't be there. Tim was gone doing school work at his parents house (where it's quiet) and I was at the house with the girls. That evening, Emmy started throwing up along with other stomach virus symptoms that I won't mention :-(! After that was over with at about 11:00pm, she was still acting sick, but with other symptoms. Monday, she was PITIFUL. All day long she literally laid out on the living room floor on a little pallet that I made her so that she could watch TV. If you know Emmy, you know that in order for her to lay down I need to drug her! Ha! I'm j/k, but seriously, that is SO not Emmy. I was pretty much watching her all day thinking that I was gonna be in the ER that night-if not sooner. Her fever never got that high, but because she was so lethargic, I decided to take her to the doctor Tuesday morning. Her diagnosis? Bronchitis! Who knew??? She wasn't showing hardly any symptoms for that! The doctor said there was wheezing in her lungs and if that hadn't have been there, he would have narrowed it down to a viral infection where I would not have gotten an antibiotic. Thankfully, Emmy is doing much better today. They gave her what's typically known to adults as a Z-PAC, but it's in liquid form. It works miracles! She HATES the taste, though :-(!

I've been having such a hard time with Emmy the past several weeks/months. I truly think that the Lord gave me "Monday" with her to realize how thankful I should be to have a healthy, wild, beautiful, disobedient, fun loving, talkative 3 year old. Some mommy's have sick children and pray for their child to do all of those things-even the frustrating one's.

Some pray to be mommy's in general...

Speaking of that, I got a call from my brother, Andrew, last night. Here is the conversation:

Me: Hello?

Andrew: Hey!

Me: How are you?

Andrew: Good! Are you sitting down?

Me: Well, yes. Why?

Andrew: Well, we just got a call and we are going to be adopting a baby boy!

Me: Oh my goodness! When?

Andrew: Thursday!

Me: THIS Thursday? What in the world?

Andrew: Yep! The birth mother's rights were terminated yesterday. They called a few hours ago.

Me: So, let me get this straight. You got a call a few HOURS ago that there is a baby that you didn't even know existed until a few HOURS ago and now you guys will be his parents on Thursday?

Andrew: Yep! Y'all can come to the placement ceremony in Knoxville on Thursday and meet him!

(We didn't hang up here, but I figured I would just tell you the rest)

Andrew and Valerie are unable to have a biological child on their own due to a condition that Val has. Back in October, a birth-mother chose them to adopt the baby girl she was carrying. They were THRILLED, and so were we, to say the least. When the baby was born, the birth-mom took a couple of days, then decided to parent the baby herself. It was heartbreaking. I know that the past several months have been so very hard considering the nursery was finished, they had little pink clothes, blankets and all things girly. However, because I serve a God who is sovereign, this precious baby boy is about to enter their lives. He knew all along His perfect plan. I am going to get to hold him for the first time in Knoxville tomorrow-I CAN'T WAIT! (I'll post pictures, don't worry!) Thank you, Lord for this gift!

Andrew and Valerie @ their wedding in May '06

Tonight, Emmy was feeling much better so she got to sing in church with her little choir. It was so cute, but I know that she does much better when they're just in the classroom or she's at home. Take a look at my little star!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

I'm so glad that during this hectic season, God has had an on-going plan. He knew that good and bad things were going to happen. His plan ALWAYS provides hope, because in the end, I'll be with Him.