Just So You Know...

Wii is dangerous...specifically the bowling, which I am CHAMPION at in our house. Last night, somehow, I pulled a muscle in my rear while bowling. Yes, my gluteus maximus. Now, today, I've done my best to walk without a limp to save myself the agony of having to explain how I injured my butt playing bowling on Wii. I mean who really admits to that? Well, I guess I do now. Anyway, I'm recovering and following my own advice in staying away from Wii for a few days...if I can manage it. It's a bit adictive. And I was realllllly looking forward to a tournament with Aiden. Oh well...maybe in three days!

Yoga with the girls

So I'm a closet yoga fan. I've been doing it for years and really don't even use a video of anything anymore because I get annoyed by all the 'namaste' of it all...I just like the way it makes you feel to be really limber and streched out. It's great before bedtime. In the past few months, the girls have finally started paying attention to Mommy's 'essersize.'

She's got pretty good form, eh?

Santa, Oh Santa...He Cometh and The Loot is Plentiful at the Self/Flowers' House

On Christmas Eve, everyone got to open 1 gift.

Cam, Aiden and Carsen all got a Movie. The girls' both got Barbie movies and Aiden got Kung Fun Panda!

Neener got a NEW Pipka Santa!Papaw got a new MICROWAVE from the Flowers' Family, since we have sufficiently worn their old one out during our two year stay with them!A Big, Wide View of the LOOT!
Camden's

Barbie Car #1

Barbie Car # 2

Carsen's

Mommy and Daddy's....I mean the Family's Wii ROCK BAND setup!!!
Aiden's

Aiden's Tonka Mat

Girl's Tinker Bell Dress-Up Trunk

More for Aiden

MSU Mr. Potato Head!

Ah, the Hulk action figure he asked Santa for!

My favorite gift for the girls'! They both got Doll Cradles with 'Snug as a Bug in a Rug' on the side, which is what we always say when we tuck them in each night. I hope they take care of these and pass them down to their girls. I broke the spindles on mine when I was little and it got thrown away :(

Personalized Dolly Blanket, Bedding, and Diaper Bags handmade by my dear cousin Judy Bridges in Prentiss, MS. I am SO proud of these and the girls' LOVED them! She put their names on ALL of it! It's just beautiful and the handiwork is so lovingly done. I am just amazed!

Aiden made it up first, even through his fever and sickness! He got a good adrenaline rush that pepped him up in anticipation for the loot! Here if you look close, you can see how red his back is. He's not hot...that's the Scarlet Fever rash. It's all over him in this picture, but you can only see his poor little back. He was up at 4am with high fever so we shed the shirt considering it was only about 60 degrees out, if that low.
And here his sisters, barely awake, are taking it all in!

Carsen notices her bed (which, if you'll look closely, actualy says 'SUNG as a bug in a rug' and prompted a 11am call to PBK on Christmas Eve to complain. They are sening a corrected one!)
Carsen LOVING the Barbie, which she asked Santa for, BTW!

Carsen checking out her Tink stuff

Neener and Papaw helping Cam get into her Barbie car!

Aiden checking out his Imaginext Jungle setup (IMAGINEXT may just be the best thing in YEARS for little boys his age. VERY user friendly and imagination building. LOVE THEM!)

Carsen taking her baby it's bottle

Aiden opening his MegaBloks Spiderman/Thor set. I got this from Amazon to match the Spiderman/Wolverine set I got from Ross last year. He LOVES these!

Aiden loving the cowboy outfit he got (LOVE the sales on Halloween costumes after Halloween-great gift ideas!)

And finally, the biggest kid enjoying his new game! He has gotten really good at rocking out to RockBand. Seriously, Wii has been the most fun! And the kids LOVE Wii Sports. Aiden legitimately has beated Anthony at bowling at least one. The kid has skills!

We kept reminding the kids that they got these toys for Jesus' birthday, and they kept referring to baby Jesus's birthday party all week, so I think they get it for now. Next year, I'm hoping they're all old enough to take it to another level and possible go to a shelter and give toys to children in need. I want them to understand how blessed we are as early as possible. It's very important to me that they are involved in community service and giving to others. I can't wait to volunteer with them one day! How do you inforce the idea of giving to others to your children? Please share!

We love you and hope Santa was good to you and yours! I encourage all my sisters in blog to share their Santa Experience as well as any answers to the question above. Oh! And thanks for your prayers for Aiden! His fever broke the morning after my post!!! GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD! I also prayed my mom's broken cd player into working yesterday, but that's another post :)

Love,

Mandye

Merry Christmas, Please Pray for Aiden

First off, Merry Christmas!

Update on the house: We have not closed yet. We will not be moved in by New Years. We hope to close right after New Years. We Hope. Did I mention that WE HOPE. More on that soon.

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL! Ashley and Kenny had a wonderful day surrounded by family and friends before heading to a nightmare start of a honeymoon. They flew Jackson to Atlanta, Atlanta to Jamaica and Jamaica to Antigua-set to arrive in Antigua on Sunday night. Well, when they arrived in Atlanta they were told that their Delta flight was having communications errors, or something like that that sounds equally fishy and scary, so they were delayed. When they arrived in Jamaica, they had missed their Antigua connection. The folks at the desk basically told them they were on their own to re-book and get a hotel. This was totally wrong on them because it was Delta's fault. Luckily, after lots of calls and prayers, they were finally able to get to Antigua TUESDAY NIGHT! They are flying back in tomorrow night. They almost decided to call it quits and come home on Monday. I was ready for them to. My sister said their hotel didn't have phones in the rooms. I am just glad they're alive and well....That said, I am looking forward to hearing about the adventure tomorrow night!

Now onto Christmas...We had NO PLANS on Christmas Eve, which actually worked out perfect because Aiden was very sick. His first doctor visit was on Tuesday and they said that though his strep culture was negative, they still felt like he had strep. He was throwing up, running high fever, had a rash all over his chest and felt awful. I had to work so Anthony and mom took him in. I didn't think it was strep because Carsen had it the week before and all three kids were put on antibiotics for preventative measures. So much for that...Omnicef obviously doesn't cover strep for Aiden. So, they put him on Biaxin (Clindamiacyn sp?) and after three doses by Wednesday at 10am he was worse still, so I took him back and we got a Rocephin (sp?) shot. I hated it for him because they are SO painful, but I just knew it would make him feel better. And it did seem to make him feel better and give him an energy burst, but the poor baby is still eating nothing, gagging from wanting to throw up and running high fever and the rash has spread. When his fever is down, he plays and has fun, but still generally feels bad all the time. They called in phenergan for nausea and I just gave him some tonight because he feels the need to throw up, but there's nothing on his stomach. He's drinking really good, like a little fish, or else we're probably be needing a drip. I just don't know at what point to stop worrying about him. He's just not getting better. I may take him back tomorrow for another blood count to make sure his white count is going down. If not...I'm headed for Batson. Something just doesn't feel right here. The rash is just pitiful...I mean it's just ugly and awful on m beautiful little boy. I hate to see him in pain. Please pray he's ok. I know I'm probably over reacting, but I've never had one sick for this long before with fever this high. I'd appreciate your prayers and mommy support! Christmas Day Santa came with lots of loot and Aiden and the girls were very happy. I have pictures that I'll post later. Anthony took the girls to his granny's for lunch and then I took them to my mamaw's for dinner. Aiden did not get to go, but, in his words, "I don't feel much like going anywhere today." He's such a little man. He's been a trooper. Pray. Just please pray.

I'll keep you posted!

Love,

Mandye

Jakob Thomas Isaacson

Please pray for Jakob Thomas Isaacson's family throughout the holidays. His mommy and daddy thought they'd have Christmas with their new baby...I can't imagine. Please remember them in your prayers. I don't know them, but when I came across their story, I felt led to share it with others.

Love,
Mandye

Tashy Self Stubblefield

This is my sister's wedding. I don't have my own pictures because I lost my camera but I stole these from my friends on facebook :)

View Album

Get your own

My Camden

Camden-As promised MONTHS ago!!! I didn't forget, it just took a while for her. She's a complex gal, I tell you! :)

Yes, my Camden is a momma's girl. This once independent child now has switched personalities with her needy sister (who, coincidentally is now a daddy's girl) and can always be recognized by her lizard tongue, which she loves to use to lick odd things, and her use of the word "wonchu," as in, "MOMMY, I WONCHU!" She loves all things chocolate, just like her mommy, and also has a penchant for stickers. She can often be found removing stickers from places that don't need the stickers removed, like tags in stores and labels from any of everything you can think of, including medicine bottles (hello? Why does she have these anyway??) and canned food (which makes it quite difficult to tell what in the world it us without opening it!). And if a toy comes with cute little stickers on it, I give her 10 seconds to discover and dismantle those bad boys. Yep…they're coming off, whether you tell her no or not. Which leads me to my sweet girl's other issue: She has an impulse control problem. If you tell her not to touch something, not to sit on something, and especially not to lick something…you can just about bet that it's going to happen anyway. You can seriously see her brain working, trying so hard not to do whatever it is you've forbidden her to do, but she just can't help it. She's GOT TO DO IT! She wants to be good, this you can tell from the angelic expression on her face and the pride when she actually does resist the temptation, which is rare. It almost makes you feel sorry for her, because who hasn't been there, ya know? I mean which of us has not gone back for one last bite, though we don't need it?? For the most part, it's pretty funny to watch and easy to correct her on, but I fear that one day it's going to be a major calamity when she's about to touch fire or some other equally dangerous surface and I can't get to her fast enough. So we're working on her impulse control one step at a time. If anyone has a 12 step program for toddlers, I'm up for recommendations. Speaking of steps, and all other things balance related....

Yes, this is a picture of Camden falling out of the swing. I didn't plan it, I swear. I actually wanted a pic of all my kids swinging, but poor Cam's luck was no good. My poor little girl. I mean, she can be walking across the room and fall without even tripping over anything but her two feet so I should have known it'd be her to fall out of the swing. She was fine, by the way. She brushed herself off and got right back in, only to fall again before calling it quits. That's my little Grace! Camden is just so funny to listen to and watch. She started out life on the quiet side, always sitting back and taking it all in while Carsen and Aiden have always been more demanding. Well, she's making up for lost time now, which is great if you ask me. She's found her voice and she's finally started taking up for herself. Personally, I'm proud of her. It took my 24 years to find my voice. When I had Aiden, I became ferocious, like a lioness. Ha! Now don't get me wrong, Cam's still very quiet at times, but she's much more outgoing now and is quite often the loudest kid in the room! Never in a million years would I have pegged her for the loud one. Oh well. I love suprises and these kids just keep them coming everyday! Now it was no surprise to me that Camden it TOTALLY a little mommy. The other day I heard her telling "Its-A-Boy" (her infamous doll) that he needed to get in his bed and close his eyes and GO TO SLEEP! I wonder where she's heard that before? She's also pretty bossy to the other kids. If I'm getting onto Aiden or Carsen, Cam is right there behind me pointing her finger at the them and echoing my every word. You have no idea how hard it is to keep a straight face while trying to discipline a child with a 2 y/o standing there parroting your every word. It's pretty hilarious at times. Here's some of my favorite Cam M'Dam (as I call her sometimes) pics:

Camden after dressing herself in several things from the laudry basket that I was trying to fold. This won her the title, "Laundry Basket Queen!"
Tuckered out after last year's attempt at a Christmas Card photo shoot. So darn cute and snuggly!

Mid-Meltdown! My emotional girl! I can just hear "Mommy, I WONCHU!"

My pretty princess. She loves dress-up and can often be found with her crown on her head. :)

I love you, My Sweet Camden. You are my special princess and you own a third of my heart....

Love,

Mommy

THE BLOG FROG

I just wanted to take a sec to plug a great new blogospheric product: http://www.theblogfrog.com/
You probably already noticed my very cool widget to the right siting who visits my blog. This awesome addition came from BlogFrog. Rustin, the creator, is very cool and user-friendly. If you have any problems or questions concerning the site, Rustin will be the one who takes care of you. Blogfrog is also a great way to connect with your friends from high school, church, college or just around your neighborhood, not to mention your friends and family, by using their seach engine. It works in your favor if you recommend your friends because you end up linked to lots of other fun blogs that you didn't know existed! Check it out! :) Tell him Mandye sent ya!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Caption This

Carsen Loves Hot Wheels

Carsen has way more fun with Aiden's new hot wheels set than he does. The yell you here is not Aiden, it's HER! It's so funny! She loves it!

A Few Pics to Tide You Over

We close on the house on Dec. 23 and Ashley's wedding is the 20th!!! Not to mention I've got Joint Commission Survey at work this week (for those in the medical field, pray me up cause you know my pain!). Anywho...not much time to blog. Please forgive my absence and enjoy my silly kids. Aiden will be FOUR this weekend, so that's bittersweet. Love that he's big, hate that his feet almost drag the ground when I hold him. My poor babies with the short mommy! He's also finally got the stomach bug that we've all passed around, so pray for him. He was the last to get it! The girls are great! I've got a primo story about Carsen, a tampon and a microphone, but that will have to wait. Must. Get. Rest. Now.

I'll try and post house pics when I can at night.

Love to all!!!

-Mandye