Thankful

What a day it has been. I guess I will start by saying that today my oldest is 7 years old, officially. Happy birthday Haleigh! Where oh where does the time go?

As I reflect back to the day she was born, I can remember everything like it was yesterday. I was so young(23 years old), so scared, so naive, and oh so blessed. I had experienced several problems through this pregnancy but at 24 weeks my life came to a screeching halt. Due to complications of an unknown placenta previa I went into labor. It was awful...without getting too graphic; it looked like a crime scene in my bedroom. Thanks to some amazing medications and amazing doctors, Haleigh held on until 31 weeks.

Haleigh was born a fighter, born with a will to live and survive. This is a trait that remains strong in Haleigh still today. I can remember holding her just days after she came into this world, her tiny 3.5lb body just got lost in my arms. She was born a whole 4lbs 3oz and 16 inches long. Due to the calories it takes for survival, the tiny babies drop weight fairly easily. I can remember one day in particular I walked in and saw her just as swollen as could be. Her tiny face was a perfect circle, her eyes were swollen almost shut. On this day Haleigh had experienced some kidney problems, and was treated with Lasix to help with the fluid retention.  Lasix was successful, and she grew and grew until she was ready to come home.

That day, the day she experienced her kidney problems, is significant as we spent her 7th birthday at the pediatric urologist. We are still dealing with Haleigh's kidneys. She was found to have bilateral kidney reflux at the age of 18 months. Things were going good the past few years but we seem to be experiencing some set backs. So, my big girl must undergo the gammett of tests again next month. My anxiety has already reared it's ugly head. These are not easy procedures, they are fairly invasive.  We will need lots of prayers on this day.

Haleigh has blossomed into a beautiful and smart social butterfly. She loves school. She loves everything about school from riding the bus to P.E to learning. Haleigh reads exceptionally well. That is her strong point, if you will. She also loves to write. Haleigh is also a rule follower and needs a detailed plan on everything she does or is going to do. This can get quite frustrating in such a busy house, but we do our best! I frequently have to remind Haleigh that I am the mother, and I have everything under control. I love her so much.

Now, the craziest part of the day started at about 4:00am. My middle child, Kendall, appearantly spiked an out of control fever in the middle of the night and starting hallucinating. SCARY. I was petrified. I was expecting to witness a febrile seizure for the first time in my life. Thank God it didn't get to that point. I'm no novice here, this is definately not my first rodeo but I was scared. The shakin' in my boots kind of scared. Oh, did I mention I was scared?!

Kendall explained to me, cool as a cucumber that there were "green goopy things" coming out. She said one tried to give her a kiss. Then she saw "snakies" everywhere, and didn't want to put her feet down. There were bubbles everywhere and watched a bouncy ball bounce in the kitchen. She also saw lights behind the pillow. These were not just quick bursts of these visions...she had full blown conversations with us, narrating her visions as she saw them.

Long story short (because I am low on sleep right now) the Motrin/Tylenol regiment combined with cold rags on the forehead was successful. Weird thing is, this morning after she was snapped out of everything and had some sleep under her belt, she asked me about the "green goopy things". She wanted to know why they came out and what they were doing. She also wanted to why the light was behind the pillow lastnight. She remembered everything.

I am really hoping for a hallucination free night tonight. Daddy promised her that he would not let the "green goopy things" come out tonight.

Little Boy Blue

Haleigh's 7th Bday Party

We celebrated Haleigh's 7th birthday party this weekend. She had a Justin Bieber party. I cannot believe that I actually supported such a theme but it makes the girl happy. I am still in shock that I have a child old enough to even know who Justin Bieber is. Whoa!

So, along with the JB theme we had a big water slide and the kids swam in our pool. They were all shivering. It was so cold their lips appeared to be tinted blue. Oh wait, that was the purple dye from the icing I made...but it was cold.

I chose to make Haleigh's cake. FYI: Wal-Mart does not make JB themed cakes. As hugely popular as this kid is I feel they should think about doing so. My thinking was that if Wal-Mart doesn't make JB cakes, nobody would have one. So, instead of wasting my time trying to find someone to make a JB cake I was off to Hobby Lobby for purple dye and silver stars.

Prior to everyones arrival Haleigh opened her presents from us and my mom. I think Haleigh is the only kid in the world who gets so super excited over getting school and office supplies for her birthday. My mom got her a big bag full of supplies. A binder, tape, White-Out, pens, folders, copy paper and a calander. Haleigh was in heaven. 

My mom also scored with "A Yard of Bubblegum".

Haleigh had been wanting a pink camera for quite a while so that's what Cody and I got her.  She was ecstatic. She couldn't refrain from immediately snapping pictures. Wonder where she gets that from??! She also adored the JB diary we got her. The girl does love to write.

For the record: Haleigh got 2 camera's for her birthday. My grandma gave her one also. Haleigh opened the present much too fast for me to get my camera. She is one special girl!

The waterslide was hit!

Cake and present time!

What's wrong with this picture?! I really am about to cut the cake!

We had such a great time! We are so thankful for such great friends and family.

Friday Faves

This time I am posting pictures of my experiments with my new Photoshop Elements 9.0. I have downloaded some free action sets and have started playing with them. It took me a while to figure out how to install them, and even longer to understand how to use them. I had to learn new terms such as "flatten" and there are more but my brain hurts right now. No, flatten doesn't mean "to make flat". It means "combine and make into one". I think someone should write an Elements dictionary.

Here are my first edits.

SOOC
(straight out of the camera)

End of Season

Well, sadly, it's that time...softball season is coming to an end. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE watching the girls play. But that's the thing. I have been able to watch a total of 2 games due to a very busy little boy. I mostly end up just chasing him and removing things from his mouth. I do try my best to be there cheering the girls on when it's their time to bat.

My mom watched Caden for this particular game so I was able to have a little fun with my camera. I thoroughly enjoyed snapping away at all the girls. I did catch some great moments. I even caught one little girl picking her nose. HAHAHA! That's going down in the "blackmail" file!

I find that I really notice a lot more of the little things when I am playing "photographer". That's part of the reason I enjoy having the camera in my hands. In photographer mode I find myself really watching and studying people and their surroundings, just waiting for that perfect shot. I really feel that it makes me "slow down" so-to-speak. Anyhow... off my soap box and on with the pictures of the girls.

Haleigh, #7, is up first.

Batting practice.

Now on to the game...



On base, watching for her next move.



Enjoying nacho's in the dug out...the perks of being first in the line-up.

 

Oh so close...but she was safe.

Not really sure what this is. It's just funny.

And here's Kendall #1...

Game on...

Kendall plays catcher most of the time.

She loves playing catcher. Even in all that hot gear.