Commercial Break

One of my closest friends, Miranda (see her blog link over to the side), is starting a photography business. While we were in Fayetteville over Thanksgiving, she took some pictures of Kendall for us. She did an AMAZING job!!! I just wanted to share my sweet friend's talent and put a plug in for her. If you are in the NWA area and are looking for someone to photograph your family, get in touch with her! You will be very pleased with the end results.

Hope you enjoy looking at her work! These are just a few of the pictures of Kendall at 4 weeks. I also threw in some pics Miranda took for some of our other really good friends, Brian and Kendra, just because they turned out well and because they have a pretty family! (Battlefield Park in Prairie Grove is where the Hester's shots were taken.)

Connection group girls-Kellye, Kendall and Mommy, Rachel and Mya, Miranda and Aly

(We have all been pregnant within the same year-Kellye is due in June. I hope she has a girl, then we would have all had girls together!)

Happy Girl! So sweet!
This could also be a commercial for Besty C.'s jewelry! Besty is also a NWA gal who makes awesome jewelry. I bought this turquoise piece from her last year and love it; I wear it all the time! Everyone at JO Kelly Middle School sports her pretty jewelry!
Look at my big, pretty eyes!
I love this picture. Evan (like any typical man) was NOT really wanting to have pictures made. He was making goofy faces at Kendall!

The Hester Family-Kendra, Asher, Kadyn, and Brian...We love you guys!!!
Pretty family!
How fun...I can just hear Kadyn squealing!
Mommy loving on Kendall!
Our family One of my favorites
I love this one, too, just because Evan loves to blow on her belly! She doesn't appreciate it too much now, but I know as she gets older, she will love it!
Our sweet baby girl!
Mommy's angel!
Daddy's darling!

Snowbaby!

Fun Kendall!!!

Kendall is getting more fun by the minute! We try to get good pictures of her smiling and laughing, but apparently she is a little camera shy. Every time we get the camera out, she turns a little stiff!!

We are having a ball with her...this video was last night before bed time. We are trying to get somewhat of a bedtime routine established-bathe, eat, play/read a litte bit, then bed. (MOST of the time, she will even go to bed awake and put herself to sleep! YAY!!!) Apparently our play-time was not long enough for Miss Kendall last night. When we got ready to put her in bed, she was M-A-D!!!! Evan and I decided it was because she was having such a good time and then all of a sudden the fun stopped!!! After an extra feeding and a diaper change, she FINALLY went to sleep. I think we've decided we just can't give her that much stimuli right before bed anymore!!!

Thumbsucker!!!

I think Kendall is going to be a thumb-sucker. We are TRYING our HARDEST to stick the pacifier in her mouth anytime she starts putting her hands in her mouth but I'm not sure we are going to be successful. As cute as thumb-suckers are as babies, when you see a 16 year old walking around with her thumb in her mouth, it's not so cute. (Seriously, I tutor a 16 year old that CONSTANTLY sucks her thumb.) Anyway, Kendall LOVES the back of her hand and tries her hardest to get her thumb in her mouth.

When I got home from the grocery store yesterday, I went in her room to check on her. This is how I found her. (Well, she was a little more asleep than this picture shows. By the time I got my camera, she was waking up.)

Yes, she wiggled herself around in her swaddling to get her thumb in her mouth and was SOUND asleep like this!!!! As precious as she looked, all I could think was "UGGGHHH...what a habit we will have to break!!!"

Leah Update

Leah's procedure went fine this morning and we are all back at the house now. The doctor said there appeared to be some residual pieces of embryotic membrane that hadn't flushed out during delivery like they should have. He feels pretty confident that what he did this morning will take care of everything.
Leah should be back up and around tomorrow.

Fall 2007 Final Grade Report

I don't really like the idea of "tooting my own horn", but considering how jacked up my grades were at Henderson and OBU, I'm pretty proud of this one. Hopefully, I can do it again this Spring.

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed my classes this Fall. I'm really looking forward to classes starting back up in January.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for Leah and me

(The Cooperative Program Class was graded on a Pass/Fail basis and didn't count for any credit. Hence, the "P" and zeros.)

O Christmas Tree...

So, I think I said in another post that I didn't get a whole lot of my Christmas decor out this year, but after moving it a couple of times and re-doing the ribbon and tulle twice, I did manage to get the tree up! In the past, our tree has been all gold--gold ornaments, gold tulle, gold ting-ting, etc. I always thought the gold tree turned out very pretty, but this year I wanted to do something different. With lots of change for us this year-the move, Evan's school, Kendall's birth, etc, I thought I would be a little nostalgic with our tree. Let me explain.

Every year, my sister and I get brand new Christmas ornaments for our trees. These ornaments are not your regular Hobby-Lobby ornaments; they are Hallmark collector series ornaments. This tradition was started by my mom when my sister was born in 1978, and has carried through to all the grand-kids. Kendall received her first Hallmark ornament this year, a Baby's First Christmas ornament. Next year we will start a series for her. I actually have two complete series-a set of trains and a set of hearts that open up and have a scene inside. I am currently working on my third series, a collection of Madame Alexander dolls. My sister has a set of Charlie Brown "globe" type ornaments and a set of neat houses/buildings. (Her series has been going on forever-like 20+ years. It's a really neat set!) My collection of ornaments are all still in there original boxes (as I am sure my sister's are too), and we've heard that Hallmark ornaments somewhat appreciate in value if you still have the original boxes. We bought my mom a book years and years ago with this information, but I'm not sure if she still has it or if the information is accurate now.

When Evan and I married, my mom boxed up all my ornaments and gave them to me, but I haven't used them until this year. My idea was to someday have several trees with different themes-- a "Hallmark" tree being one of those. (Obviously, we would need a MUCH larger space for that idea to become reality!) I really wanted to get all new ribbon and accessories for my tree this year (I wanted to use red tulle and candy-cane striped ribbon, with red and silver accessories), but financially that wasn't an option. I did get some new ribbon; it's red with plaid edges (although you can't see the plaid in the pictures). Since the ribbon had a little bit of gold sparkle in it, I still used all my gold accessories, and used the Hallmark ornaments along with a few other "fun" ornaments given to me by friends in recent years.

Evan likes to call our tree the "Charlie Brown" tree since it is so skinny. When it isn't decorated, it definitely looks Charlie Brown-ish, but once all the decor is on, it doesn't look half bad!

Using these ornaments really brought back a lot of my childhood Christmas memories. As a little girl, I remember Christmas being a big deal at our house. Not because of gifts, really, but just lots of tradition. My mom always decorated big-time. We had greenery and lights everywhere in our house! The Original Snow Village was something that my mom collected, and I loved putting out all those pieces. As we created our little "village," I would create a story in my head of all that was going on in that town! My mom also has BEAUTIFUL Christmas china (which will someday be mine) and every Christmas morning my grandparents came over after we opened our gifts and we ate "Christmas Eggs" off the Christmas china and drank our OJ out of crystal goblets. I am smiling just thinking about it! I loved getting to show my grandparents all my Christmas goodies! Looking back now, my favorite Christmas tradition was the one that is the most important. My parents made sure that we remembered the Christmas season was really all about Jesus' Birthday, not the other "stuff." Every Christmas Eve, after we put on our new pajamas and before we went to bed, we read the story of Jesus' birth from Luke chapter 2. Then we would pray together as a family.

One year, we gave my Mimi a wreath for Christmas that said "Happy Birthday, Jesus." I remember going to her house WAY after Christmas was over and that wreath was still hanging up. I said, "Mimi, you should take that wreath down, Christmas has been over for a long time!" She replied with, "I want to leave it up so I will remember to celebrate Jesus' birthday all year long."

So true. While I am glad we have a season to focus on Christ's birth, we really should remember His birthday all year long. He is our Savior. What an amazing gift to the world!!! I hope each of you will take time to "celebrate" this Christmas and throughout 2008!!!

Christmas Tree 2007
(notice there are no presents under the tree!)

One of the Madame Alexander ornaments

A train from my first series

Hearts with a Christmas scene
(a short-lived series-I think there are only 5 or 6 of these)

Update

1.) We got the 4-Runner back today. Even though the repairs were pricey, we are thankful that it was fixed quickly. Thanks to the Hawkins family for letting us use their Expedition for a day, so kind of them!

2.) My mom is doing okay. Since Monday, they have removed 11 pounds of fluid. They are now just trying to get her medicine regulated. My dad said she should still get to go home on Friday or Saturday.

3.) My sister made it through her surgery just fine and her family is all taken care of.

Even when things get overwhelming, I still see God's hand at work. I am so thankful. We are so blessed.

Another Prayer Request

My mom is in the hospital in Nashville. She went for her usual three month check-up (lung disease) and kind-of thought they would keep her and they did. She has retained a lot of fluid again and they need to get it off.

Anyway, my dad called this morning and she is in the Critical Care Unit, mainly b/c that is where they needed to put her. Her doctor said she is "serious" but not necessarily "critical." They did a heart cath this morning and her levels were high. They will put some kind of temporary line in to get the fluid off her more quickly than just lasics. She will probably be there until Friday.

Also, my sister is having surgery in Jonesboro tomorrow. Pray that will go okay, too.

Lots of needs for us right now, but we KNOW that God is faithful!!!

Truck update

Well, I just got off the phone with Mike in the Toyota service department and it appears my truck has blown a head gasket. That's not as bad as a completely blown engine I guess, but it isn't going to be cheap to fix either. On the bright side, he said he thought they might be able to have it fixed by tomorrow (assuming they don't have to have the heads milled).

We have had several friends (and even a few folks we don't know) offer to give Leah rides to and from work, or to let us borrow a vehicle. A couple in our Sunday School class is letting us borrow one of their vehicles for a few days until we get our truck out of the shop. So we are taken care of for now. Once again God is proving that He is faithful to meet our needs if we will trust Him.

Thanks so much to everyone who has offered to help us out. Even though we couldn't take all of you up on your offers, please know that just by offering to help God used you to minister to us!

Prayers needed

Please pray for our car. Leah called me a little while ago to tell me that she had to pull in at at a restraunt on her way to work because the engine temperature guage had shot all the way up as high as it would go. When she got stopped the engine was smoking.

The engine had been leaking a little bit of oil since before our trip home. I had checked the oil level every time we stopped for gas on the way home and it was fine, but I hadn't checked in a couple of days, so I'm scared we may have just blown the engine.

Anyway, I contacted a mechanic and we're going to have it towed in this afternoon or tomorrow morning for them to look at it. It's our only vehicle, so needless to say we really need it be able to be fixed quickly and as inexpensively as possible.

I just talked to Leah a minute ago and she said now we really are a typical seminary family! Ha!
:-)

Thoughts on our trip home

First, I wanted to tell all of our friends and family how great it was to see you all when we were at home. We really enjoyed our visit and our only regret is that we didn't get to spend more time with each of you and express our thanks for your support and encouragement. It never ceases to amaze and humble us how God uses you guys to minister to us just when we need it most.

Second, I didn't kill a deer while we were in Arkansas and I'm pretty bummed about it. It certainly wasn't for lack of trying. I spent as much time as I could in the woods while we were home. I did have the opportunity to shoot a big doe the last day I went, but it was about 9:30 a.m. at the time and I was still holding out for a buck. Oh well, there's always next year. A special thanks to Cuz, Scottie, Brandon & Jonathan, Matt and Uncle Ford for taking me hunting while I was in town. Even though I didn't see much of anything, I had a blast!

Sunday School Christmas Party

Saturday was a fun day. Our friends, Adam and Holly Brown came over to hang out Saturday afternoon. (We met Adam and Holly at orientation this summer and are now in the same SS class together. They are expecting their first baby in April and it's a little girl. We have enjoyed getting to know The Browns and I am glad Kendall will have a new friend soon!) Then, Saturday evening we all went to the SS Christmas party. The party was a lot of fun. Several of us came early to decorate tables. I meant to get a picture of ALL the tables, (they looked really pretty) but just as I was getting my camera, a few of the tables were cleared for games! Anyway, we ate a lot of great food and played some fun games. One of the games was where you and your spouse had to wrap a gift (bow and all) only using one hand a piece. It was pretty funny. (You can see the product of mine and Evan's present wrapping skills below.) Another game was a team game, where you had to make one of the members look like Santa Claus using tissue paper. This was just hysterical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dusti Brister, who is pregnant and due any day, was used for one of the Santas since she had a belly. Ben Roberts was pretty funny as Santa, too, because he's a really tall and skinny guy!

Kendall is very well behaved in public. Hopefully, this will continue FOREVER!!!! :) She actually stayed awake for quite a bit of the party and just looked around and smiled at people. She also went to Sunday School and church today and did really well. She fell asleep about halfway through Sunday School and then woke up about 15 minutes before the church service was over. Tonight was the Christmas Cantata, and she did great through it, too. She slept through most of it and I gave her a bottle towards the end. I got really nervous, though, that she would burp really loud when it got quiet. Luckily, she waited until the music started both times so nobody heard!!!

It's 11:30...Kendall is in bed, Evan is in bed (he now has our cold!) and I am headed to bed. I am starting to tutor again tomorrow for a few hours. I'm actually looking forward to being out of the apartment a little bit. I have about 11 hours scheduled for this week, so I don't think that will be too overwhelming. Since Evan works from home, Kendall will stay here with him, which makes going back to a job a lot easier!

Evan, Kendall and me before the party
Kendall and me
All the Santas

(Dusti is second from left and Ben is the one in the middle)
Another fun game!!!
Our present-nice bow, huh?!?!?!

Church Dress

Mrs. Ann-these pictures are for you!!!

Kendall received MANY beautiful "church" dresses from friends and family while we were in Arkansas. She wore one of them to church today, and of course, she was "pretty in pink!" Even her daddy commented on how pretty Kendall looked as he was putting her in the car seat. Evan and I tell Kendall how pretty she is all the time...we might need to stop doing that. My mom tells the story about how she and my dad told my sister, Kara, how pretty she was when she was little and they caught her in the bathroom mirror stroking her hair saying, "I so pretty" over and over again!!!

Sleeping Beauty
Happy Girl!!!
Look at her blue eyes!!!
Showin' some personality!!!

Cute Kendall!!!!

Isn't she just getting cuter by the minute?!?!?!?!?

Just wanted to share a few REALLY cute pictures of Kendall. She got sort-of happy late last night, so I started shooting some pictures! Can you tell which one was at the end?!?!?

She has been back to her normal self today, so yesterday must have been a growth-spurt day. Those days are hard, but I guess they are normal!!!

Kendall has slept 8+ hours two nights this week. Woo Hoo!!! After she ate this morning, Evan and I were sitting on the couch talking to her and she was just smiling like crazy. Evan started making some cooing sounds at her and she repeated them! I wish I had the video on so you guys could see it--SO CUTE!!!


Evan ran to the store and Kendall is sleeping, hence the reason I get to play on the computer for a minute! He's making our dinner tonight and we are going to watch Christmas Vacation together.

Happy Friday to all!!!

Kendall Pictures

I took these last night. She seems to be getting a lot more interactive the past week or so. It's pretty fun trying to make her laugh.

Anyway, Leah wanted me to tell everyone that she took Kendall in for a checkup yesterday and the doctor said everything looks fine. She's up just over 9 pounds and is 21 inches tall.

Also, Leah thinks its important that I let everyone know that I fed Kendall from a bottle yesterday evening and this evening. Kendall doesn't seem to mind where the milk's coming from, as long as it ends up in her tummy. :-)

Kendall's Parties

Lots of people wanted to see Kendall while we were home! We spent the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Ponds. This was the day of showers! My girlfriends from high school and their moms hosted a shower for Kendall and me in the morning, then we all gave my friend, Robin, a wedding shower that afternoon. Kendall got lots of "pretties" at this party. Many of the gifts came from "Too Cute," a children's store in Stuttgart that is owned by my sister's good friend, Natalie Maynard. She has some darling things there and hopefully sometime I can go shopping at her store. I had a blast catching up with my friends, and also got to see a couple of families that I babysat while growing up! Whitney Nolan, one of the girls I babysat through junior high and high school, is now a senior at UCA!!! Hard for me to believe!!!

On Monday, my mom invited some friends from church over for lunch. I failed to take pictures for some reason, but we had a great time and my mom made lots of yummy treats for the day. She even had personalized chocolate bar covers with Kendall's name and birthday! Kyleigh Hickman also came over that afternoon and visited. It was great see her and visit for a while. It was a fun day and Kendall enjoyed all the attention.

This past Saturday, my Aunt Judy graciously hosted a Sip-N-See in Little Rock. I got to see some very special people at this party, too. Jill Scherm came and spent the day with us, and I was glad to have a chance to visit with her a little longer. I also got to see one of my closest friends from college, Heather Easley. She is beautiful and sweet as always and I was glad to catch up with her. Dana Hayes, my Chi-O little sis, came, too. I loved getting to see her as well. Dana is a labor and delivery nurse at Doctor's Hospital in LR, so of course she loved all over Kendall! Lots of other people came that I was glad to see- Mimi, Aunt Elsie, Aimee Green, Aunt Marva, Laura and Tatumn, Vivi, Gwen and Gunner, Mrs. Marcia Freemyer, Mrs. Jeanie, Faith (who was sooo good with Kendall!), and Kendall's Aunt Meredith! Another fun day with lots of good food and company! Thank you, again, Aunt Judy!

Here are some pictures from the parties!

Sarah, Robin, and Winston
Vivi, Gwen, Aunt Marva, and Kendall
My sweet Mimi Joyce with Kendall and me
Kendall and "Auntie" Jill
Tatumn checking out her "Granna" with another baby!


Kendall's "church dress" from The Ponds
Me with Mary Caroline and Whitney Nolan-beautiful girls!!!
Mrs. Michele Kennedy and Kendall


(I babysat all her kiddos, too!)
Sarah with one of Kendall's cute new gowns!

Thanksgiving

Here are a few pictures from our Arkansas trip. We spent Thanksgiving week with The Smith side of the family and our friends in Fayetteville. Time there was way too short for me! We did get to visit lots of folks and of course, everyone loved getting to see Kendall. I told Evan before we ever got into Fayetteville that I would cry when we left. I did pretty well; I only cried from Barry and Sheila's driveway to Double Springs Road. That's not too far!!! Click on The Eisele Family link for details of Thanksgiving day; cooking was somewhat of an ordeal. Thank goodness I got my Oreo truffles and corn casserole fixed up before Justin got in the kitchen! It was his stuffing that prolonged our meal! He is known with us for his "experimental" cooking! :) Anyone ever eaten mashed turnips? That's a story for another time. J/K, Justin...we LOVE you and your yummy food!!!! You can do the stuffing every year. It was delicious!

On Friday, we headed south to spend some time with the Henderson side. Evan made a stop in Carlisle for the weekend to deer hunt with Matt, while I went on to my parents. (I'm sure he will post later about his hunting excursions.) The week with my family was a VERY BUSY week! Since we moved in the summer, we didn't have time to do any baby showers with friends and family in that area, so Kendall and I spent the week partying! (I'll post some pictures from her parties separately.) We also got to spend some time with my nephews, which is always fun, busy, and exhausting! Coby and Jackson are FULL of energy! Jackson will not call Kendall by ANYTHING but her full name-Kendall Grace and also thinks she is his baby sister, not cousin. He's something else!

Needless to say, we had a great holiday and are so thankful for our time in Arkansas!

Coby, Jackson, and Kendall
Mammaw and Kendall
Kendall looks like she's yelling at Thomas!!!
Pappaw and Kendall
Pop and Kendall sleeping

Cute Cousins!
Evan carving the turkey
Evan, Nana, and Kendall
Uncle Larry and Aunt Loretta with Kendall
Uncle Robert with Kendall

We Made It!!!

We are home in Louisville!!!

We made it in about 8:15 last night. Kendall did great on the trip, except for the last 30 minutes. She started crying and spitting up like crazy, which is so unlike her. Do babies get carsick? We were kind-of wondering if that's what was going on!!! Once we got home, she was fine and slept from 10:30 until 4:30 this morning. When I put her back down, she slept until 7:30. I am so happy she's a good sleeper already. I hope it stays that way!

We had a great Arkansas trip and were both a little sad to leave, but it is always nice to be back in your own space, sleep in your own bed, and get back to somewhat of a routine!

I will post some pictures sometime this week of our travels. Right now, I'm not sure where to find the camera! I am now off to unpack all of Kendall's new goodies (we laughed and said we looked like a band of gypsies driving down the road our car was so loaded down) and do some laundry!