Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Baby Ethan

Bonnie and Ethan
 (Bonnie with baby Ethan)
Kerry and Ethan
(Kerry with baby Ethan)



     (baby Ethan today-9/23/2009)

Lately, I have had a little bit of a hard time, emotionally. Things that are not usually draining are now seeming very laborious to me. I have had a lot on my mind...

On Sunday, September 13, we marked the anniversary of Charlie's death. It has been 3 years now but doesn't seem to be any easier. On the Thursday prior to that anniversary, my cousin, Bonnie, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She named him Ethan. Bonnie endured a long and difficult labor but afterwards, things seemed to be ok. About 4 hours after he was born, Ethan began to have problems breathing. It appeared that he needed some assistance with his breathing. Later that night, he was transferred from Dothan to UAB Respiratory NICU via medical jet. Ethan continued to worsen and eventually developed pneumonia. He has been in the NICU for the past 12 days. I am telling you this because I am hoping that you can send some prayers his way. He has made some serious improvements over the past couple of days and we are hoping that he continues to move in a positive direction at the rate that the doctors are wanting. If you want to follow Ethan's story, you can click on this link:


I am hoping and praying that Bonnie and Kerry don't have to deal with the loss of a child like Jesse and I did. Although we lost Charlie in utero, I can still relate to the highs and lows that they are experiencing in praying that they don't lose their precious baby boy. My hope is that they can have a peaceful resolve to the entire situation and that Ethan will be healed and discharged in a speedy fashion!

I am sure that things will get better for me. This is just a difficult time of year. Hopefully, these problems will pass, baby Ethan will get better and we will all go on with our lives. Please, please pray for Ethan-he can use all the prayers he can get.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Store brand versus brand name and other product reviews


I strongly prefer the Target brand Chicken Vegetable and Rice bake to the Stouffer's brand. Target's brand is much creamier, not as dry, has more white meat chicken and more bread crumb topping. Not to mention that it is almost $2 cheaper! Ceci also prefers the Target brand. She won't even touch the Stouffer's brand, although I am not sure why. It actually has less sodium but you don't have to add salt after cooking-it is already seasoned to taste!


On another note, I was given "your baby can read" for my birthday (at my request) and Ceci recognizes almost 20 words off of the introductory video! She is a genius! We will watch it for 3 more weeks and then move on to the first level video. I have been showing her the Leap Frog Letter Factory videos as well. She will watch them for a few minutes but not like she will the "your baby can read" dvd's. I think the infomercial was right when it said the dvd's would captivate children's attention! I am very happy with this gift!! Totally worth it in my opinion!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

two recipes-easy and cheap


Fried Chicken Potato Soup recipe: 

Add to large stock pot: 2 boxes of Chicken broth cut up 8 large red potatoes 1/2 white onion to mixture add 2 cups of milk add cut up 10 chicken fingers (from grocery store deli) dissolve 1 tsp of cornstarch in 1 cup of milk and add to mixture (it thickens the mixture) simmer mixture for about 25 minutes serve w/cheese sprinkled on top salt/pepper and italian seasoning to taste


Dinner tonight: 

saute the following: 1/2 green bell pepper 1/2 red bell pepper 1/2 yellow bell pepper 1/2 white onion 2 tbsp olive oil 1 lb lean ground beef 2 cans of mexicorn add 3/4 cup water and 1 packet of taco seasoning boil water and cook 1 box of mini penne pasta Mix in the pasta with the meat mixture from above Cook down until the water is gone (about 10 minutes) serve with Mexican Mixed Cheese on top

Monday, September 7, 2009

Labor Day

Today, we haven't really done anything special. In fact, we haven't really done much all weekend. It has been kind of nice to be able to sit around and not have to worry about being on a schedule or where I have to be and when. We have watched a lot of TV this weekend. I have been sewing up a storm. I even picked my smocking projects back up and finished a couple of unmade outfits that I hadn't put together yet. Relaxation has been they key to this weekend. I am now ready to go back to work tomorrow and finish getting my lists ready for the AHSGE (Alabama High School Graduation Exam) that will be administered in 2 weeks. This is a short week and Friday, I won't be in the office-Fall Counselor Workshop for all JEFCOED counselors! I can't wait to see my other counselor friends and catch up with them. It has been too long.

Hoping to post some pictures of my embroidery and sewing projects later. If you need any gifts or cute kids clothing, just let me know! I can also do other things like make headboards for your bed, make pillows, bedding or curtains.

Videos of my baby girl

I am going to try to post some videos of Ceci that I took this summer.

Ceci playing in the condo at the beach

Ceci feeding herself with a fork

Ceci playing on the porch-PART 1

Ceci playing on the porch-PART 2

Sunday, September 6, 2009

I guess it's time...


This is a picture from the evening following her first birthday celebration. More photos later.

so, I guess it is time for me to update this blog since I haven't done so in almost a year. Things are good with us. Jesse and I are still working at our same jobs, stock broker with Ameriprise Financial and Guidance Counselor at Minor High School, respectively. Ceci is going to be 17 months old next week, just 2 days before my 31 year old birthday. We are still living in the same old house in Roebuck. We put contracts on 3 different houses this summer, only to lose them for various reasons. We took our house off the market a few weeks ago to kind of take a break from the whole thing. Having your house on the market is VERY stressful. School started back for me and things are going pretty well. Much better than they were last year. I did get to move my office to a different part of the building, so that has helped a great deal. No longer around such negative influences/attitudes. This move has made getting up and going to work much easier as well.

Ceci is growing and is such a big girl now. She had her most recent checkup about 2 weeks ago and she got 4 shots. If you know me at all, you know I am not a fan of mandatory immunizations. I only make her get the ones that are absolutely required and we have delayed them as long as possible to try to minimize the possible side effects of them. She was sick for about 2 weeks following the administration of these shots. Again, The only reason she got them was so that she could go to Mother's Day Out 2 days a week, giving my mother-in-law a bit of a break. She was weighed at this visit and she was somewhere in the 80th percentile for weight-25 lbs 12 ounces and was in the 50 something percentile for height-30 1/2 inches. She is wearing 2T clothing now and is running and playing and talking up a storm. She has about 20 words that she can say that we understand. She loves to watch The Wiggles, Blue's Clues and pretty much anything on Noggin. She has a great attention span and can watch an entire 30 minute show without flinching. She loves to dance and I can't wait until she is big enough to take a dance class. I think that it will definitely help to get out some of her energy. Personality is developing and she is a very happy little girl most of the time. She gets along with other kids and enjoys playing with anyone who will give her the time of day. She has white blonde hair that is starting to curl and now has 10 teeth (with 2 more about to emerge). She loves to cuddle and is a true momma's girl.

So, I guess that is the big update. I am hoping to start updating more regularly, especially since we are finally in a routine. I will also post some pictures so that you can all see what we have been doing over the past year.

Chaio