dates, screams, and things

As you know, Baby K had some visitors this past weekend! His Lolly and Pop paid him a visit. As they rolled into town, Captain J and I rolled out for a date night that was a long time comin’. I can’t tell you how wonderful it felt to have conversation in the car. I couldn’t possibly describe to you how fantastic it was to hold my husband’s hand as we strolled into the theatre (instead of being attached to the car seat and diaper bag!). It was a much appreciated reprieve and some time we needed to re-connect. By the movie’s end, though, we were ready to get back to our sweet boy. We canceled our dinner plans and headed home to snuggle with him.

We found out later that our little man screamed the.entire.time.

Bless his heart. (More on this later)

Anyway, what movie did we see you might ask? Well, Breaking Dawn, of course! It pained me to have to wait so long to see it, but that’s how it goes when you’ve got a child. I couldn’t go gallivanting off to the midnight premier like we did with Harry Potter. I must say, I felt just fine seeing it at 4ish in the afternoon. I must be getting old.

The movie was pretty good. The first part was too lovey-dovey-pukey for my likin’, but it got better as the movie progressed. I love where they ended it! The books will always have my allegiance, though–much better than the movies as per usual.

Look! I got my picture made with Edward!

And I’ll quit talking about the Twilight series now because I know many of you do not give a hoot about my thoughts on the matter.

Let’s talk of K Baby, shall we? I told you he screamed all night while his Lolly and Pop watched him. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Sure, he has good days, but most of them are bad for him. He screams out in pain. He cries. He fusses. But sometimes he is completely inconsolable. 😥 It breaks my heart.

Today I went to PWOC and the ladies in my small group witnessed first-hand what the doctors were calling colic. They assured me that it wasn’t colic- that it was a scream of pain. We ended up taking Baby K back to the doctor (4th time!) and finally got a different answer, along with some medication. I really hope it works. Remember those guilt notes I talked about? Go ahead and tack on feeling bad about not standing up for him more when I knew something was wrong. I just accepted their answer of colic and let him cry. 😦

I’m hoping his reflux is remedied by the medicine now. We should see a difference in a couple of days.

That’s all I’ve got for ya. I’m exhausted!

Next time I post, I’ll be back with the winners of my latest giveaway!

Love you, mean it.

-Mrs. K

“Finding the Good” Part 2

If you missed the first part of this story, you can catch up here.

Thanksgiving Day I woke up in a foul mood. Despite having the perfect little boy to spend my day with and a husband who is safely in country, I had my lame face on. Baby K was fussy and I desperately wanted some space, but I also wanted to be around J and K on this day. I was very back and forth and missing family back in Tennessee somethin’ awful.

We decided to go for a walk, then I decided to go for a run, just to get away and have my cry.

I turned on “Lady Gaga Radio” on Pandora and quickly realized how ancient I am because not only did I not know the songs that were playing, but I also only averaged 12 minute miles.

After the run, I sat in the car and felt sorry for myself that I wasn’t going to be eating turkey with my family on Thanksgiving Day.

Hubby and I had plans for Pizza Hut.

I started thinking about Thanksgivings past and I realized how completely absurd it was to categorize this year as a bad year. I have so so much to be thankful for. At the very tippy top of that list is the health of my sweet almost four month old!

Later on that weekend, J’s parents paid us a visit in Cajun Country. By Saturday evening, we had a Cajun flavored fried turkey on the table, along with mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, green bean casserole, gravy, bread, apple pie, and chocolate cobbler (I’m sure I’m missing something, too)! And wouldn’t you know it…Mama got to eat! Baby K was an angel all throughout our meal–and wide awake, too. It felt so wonderful to have my expanding family all at the table.

Of course, I missed my family, but it was so nice to spend the day with his.

My blessings are abundant and I’ve got pictures to prove it!

Cookin’ the bird

My In-Laws

Lazy, rainy Saturday celebration

Psalm 75:1 “We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!
For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.”

“Finding the Good” Part 1

I know you’re all itching to know how my Thanksgiving went, but I’d like to share something else first…

My senior year in high school marked the beginning of my negative feelings toward this holiday. Prior to this year, Thanksgiving was easily my favorite time of year. This particular year, though, a terrible accident happened and it made me look at Thanksgiving with sadness. A well-loved former high school alum was killed in a car accident, forever altering my view of my carefree, little world.

Sara was an exemplary person, one who many of our small town’s youth looked up to. Her death was tragic for everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her. You can read more about her here.

Then, my senior year in college, I heard word of another accident. I’ll never forget. It was the day I had to give my thesis proposal to my peers and professors. My nerves were already elevated, but when I got word of the wreck there was only one thought in my mind and it had nothing to do with the success of my paper. Would my cousin live? Is he going to make it?

His friend (and mine) had already died instantly in the crash-

More heartache felt like more than I could bear. More than I wanted my family to bear. Still, he passed away on Thanksgiving Day.

Trey was 25 when he died. Younger than I am now. It still seems so wrong. But some place deep inside me, I know God is in control of us. I trust in Him. That’s all I can do. Trey’s sister (Laura Lefler Herzog) wrote this about him. I hope you’ll read it because her words say far more than I could ever write and she encapsulates the beauty of Thanksgiving:

Last Thanksgiving, my life changed forever.

My younger brother and only sibling, Trey, was in a very serious car accident and after several days in the hospital he died from his injuries. It was Thanksgiving Day.

There is no doubt that Thanksgiving, and life in general, will never be the same for those that loved Trey, but I believe the timing of his death was significant. It forced us to approach even our darkest day with a spirit of gratitude.

Trey and I both worked for Senator Lamar Alexander for years, and you can’t work or even be around Sen. Alexander for very long without hearing him quote his friend Alex Haley who said, “Find the good and praise it.”

For me, part of “the good” came when we learned that Trey would die the same way he lived, by loving and giving. I like to say that Trey, more than anyone else I know, tried to live his life according to our Lord’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. As a natural extension of his generous spirit he had chosen to be an organ and tissue donor and because of his loving choice at least five people were given new life: two single mothers in their 40s, a 56-year-old mother of two who had been married for 28 years, a 36-year-old gentleman who enjoyed fishing (one of Trey’s favorite pastimes), and a 62-year-old physician and father of four who had been on the transplant list for two years.

My family has learned a lot about organ donation in the year since Trey’s death. In particular, we’ve experienced firsthand that while marking “yes” to organ donation is critical, it’s just as important to share your wishes with family members. As the Tennessee Donor Services Web site states: “A discussion with family now will mean a life-affirming decision later.”

According to Tennessee Donor Services (TDS), Trey renewed his driver’s license at a kiosk in Nashville on May 14, 2007, and marked “yes” to organ and tissue donation. His girlfriend, Jane, also recalled a conversation with Trey just a few weeks before his death indicating his wish to donate “everything.” She remembers him saying, “I’ll be with the Big Guy. Give it all.” As we sat in the hospital waiting room, I struggled with the decision to donate his eyes. It seemed so invasive. But they were not my eyes to give. They were Trey’s, he didn’t need them in heaven, and he had made it very clear to “give it all.”

Many people find talk of organ donation uncomfortable and maybe even morbid. And many people believe organ donation is a good thing, but just put off doing something about it for another day. According to TDS, a survey conducted by the National Coalition on Donation found that 91 percent of respondents support donation, and yet 29 percent have taken no action to indicate their wishes via their driver’s license, donor card, living will, or by simply telling their family. That was me. I’m embarrassed to say that I signed my driver’s license the day that Trey died. I’m so thankful that my responsible brother was not part of that 29 percent like I was.

Because of his decision to be an organ donor, Trey’s story became a resurrection story. Out of death and despair came new life, and our Thanksgiving became an Easter. Through our tears we rejoiced knowing that five families had gotten a call on Thanksgiving Day with news that their loved one would be receiving a life-giving organ. What an incredible Thanksgiving for them!

True story: On my mother’s birthday last March she was having dinner with my stepfather at a restaurant in their hometown, 250 miles from the site of Trey’s hospitalization, when a gentleman approached her and thanked her for the very special gift her son had given him. It was the 62-year-old physician and the keeper of one of Trey’s kidneys. The gift – the good – had come full circle.

Because of his example, I’m a donor now, too.

Every year, around this time especially, my thoughts are with these three individuals who have shown me so much.

There was plenty of good to be found this year. I’ll be sure to share all that with you next time I write. Thanks for listening.

Love,

Mrs. K

Real Talk

I’ve mentioned before that I read that Moms as a collective group are pretty hard on one another. What about bloggers? What about other Mom Bloggers? I was reading one of the blogs that I subscribe to and she mentioned that instead of talking about how our kids take a lot out of us, we should be thankful that we even have them. Of course! But my blog is my space on the internet and I don’t hold back when I write. Besides, I don’t think there are enough people who write honestly about the stresses and trials that parenting can bring. I don’t think this lady meant anything by it and I’m not upset if she did, but it just made me think about the message mothers are sending out about life as a parent.

Is it too cookie cutter? Do we make it seem easy breezy?

Research suggests that couples with young kids often report much lower levels of happiness than couples who do not have any kids (See this evidenced here). Some parents are quick to tell everyone how great their children make them feel on a daily basis, but they are really feeling quite unhappy. Don’t hate the messenger, folks…it’s just what research seems to show over and over. I thought a lot about this while I was pregnant and I wrote some freelance articles on the topic, but I wanted to bring it here, too.

My blog is a place that I never want to misrepresent myself. My relationship with God is lacking, although I talk about Him and the goodness He has showered over my life. My marriage is far from perfect, too although I tend to gush about the love I have for my husband quite frequently. And parenthood is hard. I’ve never hidden that from all of you who read my blog. There are some days that I feel like I’m barely functioning in my role as a mother. Other days are blissfully sweet and easy. It changes every single day. My love for Baby K does not, though. I love him more than anything in this world and that is something that will be lifelong.

But I think it’s important to talk about what stresses me out, how hard parenting can be at times, AND the joys of raising a baby.

This is my blog and it is a good representation of my daily life. I’m not sugarcoating anything.

Baby K has given me a purpose in this world when I didn’t seem to have one. I’m incredibly grateful that God chose me to be his earthly parent. I wanted him more than any of you all know. I didn’t write much about our struggle to get pregnant here because there are some things that my husband and I agree will not be discussed on the Internet. That’s just our personal decision. You can talk about whatever you want on your blog. It’s your place! But I don’t think I have to tell you how much my sweet little boy is loved. He is my life.

But I do have my struggles. That’s what makes me human.

And I have good news, too! Apparently, the more children you have, the happier you are as you grow older (See Reference Here). This is excellent news for me because Captain J wants about five kids! I think I’ve talked him down to three, though 😉 It doesn’t matter how we get these bundles of joy whether it’s adoption or natural, our children will be loved and cared for more than anything in this world. My life has changed so completely since the birth of Baby K and I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.

And that’s real talk.

Christmas Craft

If you like my page on facebook, you probably already know that I’ve been Christmas crafting! I become a giddy little school girl at the mention of Christmas and all its possibility. Throw in pinterest and I’m in Heaven. I saw several pins with ideas to repurpose old wine bottles. You know I’ve got lots of those! I found some cutesy stuff, but nothing really inspired me. I had so much fun creating these for Halloween-

that I knew I wanted to paint more wine bottles for the most wonderful time of the year. Because nothing says Christmas like old booze. I’m kidding.

Anywho…

I thought it’d be funny to stuff Santa head first into a chimney:

…so that’s what I did. I’m no artist, but I had fun creating 🙂

More Christmas cheer to come.

XOXO,

Mrs. K

Thankfulness

I always treasured the old hymn that says, “Count your many blessings see what God has done.” It’s a practice that should last all the year long, not just on the fourth Thursday every November. God has blessed and enriched my life in so many ways that it would be difficult and lengthy to display in this small space. I’ll list a few, though…

* He gave me an amazing blended family. When my parents divorced, it seemed like the worst thing in my little life. But now, as they have re-married other truly awesome individuals, I recognize how God blessed us even in times of trouble. I consider my additional family members part of my true family, too. I am thankful for my stepmom, Julie, and my stepdad, Joe. Thank you both for making my parents so happy! I’m forever grateful and I love you both.

*God also gave me the most beautiful, wonderful family of my own, too. I’m thankful for J’s parents who raised him to be the man he is today. I’m especially eternally grateful to God for allowing me to raise my angel, Baby K. I love my little family so much; my heart overflows.

*He provides, too doesn’t He? I’m thankful for the promise evidenced in Matthew 6:31-32:

“Therefore, do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

I’m thankful for Him providing my husband a job that allows us to have food on the table every night, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs. I’m thankful and proud that his job is with the Army, too because there are many opportunities for me to miss him and have him return to me-That way, I can fall a little more in love with him each time.

*I’m thankful to be born in the greatest country in the world where I am free to practice my faith in God the Father Almighty.

*I’m also thankful for cookie dough. Mention of this will open a whole other can of worms, though so I’ll just stop right there 😉

*Thank you, dear readers, for sharing in my life with me!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

I know what you’re thinking- slow down, Mrs. K…tomorrow is Thanksgiving, not Christmas! But we’re a military family (and a broke one at that!) and we can’t afford to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Furthermore, we leave our home to head to our real home in Tennessee so early in December that there’s not much time to enjoy all the festive decor. Besides, last Thanksgiving we were on a boat eating cafeteria food somewhere around Alaska and Canada. This year? We have plans to order a pizza tomorrow. So perhaps that’s why my mind is elsewhere! Either way, I’m still very, very thankful for so many blessings in my life. Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you alllll about it!

Merry Thanksgiving Eve.

Giveaway- My Memories Suite 2

Oh, gosh. I think I’m in love.

Look how cute this is?

It took me about 5 minutes to do. This was literally the first time I sat down to try out this product and I love it already. I love scrapbooking, but I told my mom the other day that I have no idea how people find the time to do it after they have kids. I haven’t even attempted scrapbooking in the three and half months Baby K has been in this world. I don’t know where I’d squeeze in the time. I never tried digital scrapbooking, though. Until today.

Y’all, it is so easy! And you can save your progress and come back to your project whenever you have the time. I think that’s the best thing about it for me- no mess of paper, scissors, stickers, and adhesives to clean up! I can’t wait to try out some of their templates and to create other fun pages from fresh.

What is this awesome product, you ask? It’s a digital scrapbooking software called My Memories Suite. There are so many ways to use this product. As you can see, I’ve already started playing around with it for my blog layout! I’m also excited to get to work on the copious amounts of pictures we took on our trip across America because I have yet to do anything with those either. I was nervous at first when I downloaded the program because I thought it might be too techie for me. I’m not so good around a computer. It was really simple, though!

Because you all are so awesome for sharing in my life with me, commenting when I’m down, rejoicing in my happy times with me, and supporting me and my writing, I want to reward ya. The winner of this giveaway will receive their very own My Memories Suite program that retails at $39.97….FOR FREE!

That’s not all that’s awesome about this giveaway. If you don’t win and still want to buy this, you can use the following code for $10 off your purchase of My Memories Suite  AND a coupon of $10 off to spend at MyMemories.com online store. That’s a total of a $20 dollar value- All you need to do is copy and paste this code when you’re checking out 🙂

STMMMS1331

Every time you use this code, it helps me out and it helps you. Win, win!

Here’s how you enter the giveaway.

Rules:

Mandatory:  Visit their website and leave me a comment telling me your favorite digital paper pack or layout.

For additional entries (optional), you may:

1. Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you do.

2. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you do.

3. Follow My Memories Suite on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you do.

4. Follow My Memories Suite on Twitter and leave me a comment telling me you do.

That’s it, folks. You have until Dec. 1st to enter. Good luck!

My Monday Ramblings

It’s Monday and that can mean only one thing. We’ve survived another week around here! Thank you for listening to me whine, sharing in my joys in life, and being all-around good bloggy readers. Y’all are fantastic. And you know what? I want to show my appreciation! That’s why I’m hosting another giveaway very soon. You’ll want to get in on this. The retail price of the mysterious item is around 40 bucks. Get excited, people! I’ll tell you more about it soon.

Today I have plans to do laundry, go to the grocery, clean, continue decorating for the most wonderful time of the year, and loving on my sweet fam! I might even wrap gifts. Whoa. Ambitious, eh?

For now, I’ll leave you with a pic of my cute little gift from God-

Happy Monday to ya.

Welcome to the Army (and Motherhood)

Every time I sit down to write, Baby K starts his wailin’. I think he hates my blog. Or productivity, as my school work has come to a complete hault.

It’s okay, though because now I know I’m not a completely terrible parent. Doc says he’s got a touch of colic. Without going into too much detail about K’s eating habits (you’re welcome, Dave), I will say that he is eating way too fast and it’s causing the spit up, gas pains, and the like. I’m going to start working on different techniques, but honestly…

I didn’t come here to talk about my son today. I’m exhausted. Drained. Emotional. Drained. Drained. Drained.

Hubby is back from a stint in the field (finally) but it matters very little because he is working on his Master’s, too so when he comes home he has to do that. My relief comes when I get Baby K to sleep at night. I love my little man so much but he is quite needy (my sweet little id) and after doing this by myself a lot lately, I need a break. I need to go some place I won’t be summoned by screaming cries. I need to put on makeup and feel pretty again. I need to enjoy a meal instead of just scarfing something down while bouncing the baby on my hip. Mama needs, too.

I knew this was going to be hard- raising a child. But never in my wildest dreams did I picture myself being a parent in a military family, away from family who could provide a break if need be. Today was just another day that I thought to myself again, “Welcome to the Army”. Everything seems to be harder here.