A New Post!!!

I know it is sad that all my posts seem to start with an apology for my lack of posting.....but oh well....I just can't get around to it these days! So, for those of you who still happen to stop by, here's a rundown on what's going on with the Kays!

Matthew~ He became general manager over both co-ops in St. Clair County. He is still located at Pell City, but is now over both stores. I am SO proud of him!
~ He discovered he had a ruptured disc in his back and had a great deal of pain. He tried to avoid surgery, and had an epidural on the Thurs. before Labor Day. We went with some friends to the beach that weekend ( had a blast!!) and Matthew was feeling a lot better. We got home on Monday (Labor Day) and he started having really bad pain. By Tuesday it was unbearable, but he was somehow bearing it. We were suppose to take him to the doctor Wed. morning, but he was to the point that he could not move and I knew I couldn't get him in the car. (Even if I could have I don't think he could have handled the ride there!!) So, we had to call an ambulance! It was awful and I NEVER want to see ANYONE go through that kind of pain again! Anyway, after seeing his doctor the decision was made that he needed surgery as soon as they could get him in. That ended up being the next Monday (thank goodness for percocet). Everything went well with the surgery, the disc was shattered and that is why he was have such extreme pain. He has felt so much better and hopefully will continue to feel good!!

Avery~ She is in Awana Cubbies at church. She LOVES it! We go over a couple of verses a week and then she has to recite them for her teacher. When she says them for her teacher she earns patches to put on her Cubbies vest! She usually learns 2-3 verses a week. This is my first experience with Awana. She really enjoys it. I told her that by memorizing these verses she is hiding God's Word in her heart. There are times throughout the day when she will bring up verses she has learned and she really enjoys talking about them and what they mean.
~She is 2 weeks away from being 4 years old! She acts so grown-y!! She wants a princess birthday party and after going back and forth with what kind of "princess party" (I know.....I know...) She told me "I changed my mind again....." and has finally decided on a "Disney Princess" party. At first she wanted dragons, and princesses, and princes and castles.....Now she just wants Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, and Snow White, and Ariel.....you know. I'll be honest and tell you that I am kinda glad. It is easier on me to do a theme that you can go to the store and everything has already been made....is that bad of me??

Raegan~She is officially 2 1/2 yrs old! On the 4th she was 2 yrs 6 months old!!
~ She had her first boo boo that required stitches the weekend before Matthew had his surgery. Aunt Franci and Dooby just so happened to be going to the beach that weekend and they offered to take Avery and Raegan (at the time we didn't know when Matthew would be having surgery). Keep in mind they have never been away with anyone before. They spend the night with them all the time, but I always see them the next day. They were leaving on Thurs. morning and we decided for them to go with them Wed. evening. It was a lot for me to take in in a VERY short time! (Especially after the day we had...with the ambulance and all!) I knew that they would have more fun with them than sitting around with us. They left Thurs. morning as planned and that evening I got the call.......They were taking Raegan to the ER because she had fallen and busted her chin. I handled the situation really well as far as Raegan goes. Bless her heart, I do hate that it happened, but the poor girl is so accident prone, I knew it was only a matter of time. I did feel bad for Franci and Jerry though!! I just wish it hadn't happened when they had her. I hate that she had to go through holding Raegan down while she got the stitches (4 of them) and all!! Raegan never acted like her chin was even sore after that.

Chayse~ She is growing!! Last Wednesday she weighed 12 lbs 11 oz. She is still so small, but that is double what she was when she was born!! And if you consider that she got down to 5lbs 10 oz. , she has gained 7 pounds! She is almost 15 weeks old now. I still hold her most of the time!! Why not?? I did buy something called a Sleepy Wrap and I highly recommend it!! It is a type of baby carrier that you are actually wearing the baby! I love it and Chayse does too! I can wear her all day long and it doesn't hurt my back and I have both hands free to do other stuff! It can be used from preemies to 50lbs!!

Me~ I can tell you what I haven't been doing and that is blogging! I have been taking care of these girls! They keep me busy. I love it though! I just can't think of anything about me other than that.....

I wanted to add that I registered to win FREE groceries and you can too!! Just follow this link to register:
http://www.itpaystoeatpasta.com/ip.cfm?u=82CC4A33-27CF-4E48-9569-D7333DE10320

Maybe it won't be SO long until my next post, but I'm not making any promises!

An update before housework.....

I have REALLY been doing bad at keeping this thing updated lately! I had a few minutes and thought I would try to get something on here now.....

We are doing really good around here. Avery and Raegan are still in LOVE with Chayse. (bless her heart, they DO NOT leave her alone) I took Chayse yesterday to have her weighed and she was 8 lbs. even. It is funny to me that she will be 5 weeks old tomorrow and she still hasn't reached the weight either one of them were when they were born! She is growing now though, and I can tell just by holding her (which I do ALL the time!! How can I not??)!

It is hard to believe the pain I was in just 5 weeks ago! I started hurting pretty bad at around 34 weeks and it just got worse from there! I remember wondering how in the world that pain was going to get better just by having her. I seriously thought something was wrong other than just pressure from the baby! I remember that I was in pain, and that I was in tears from the pain almost every morning! I remember not being able to walk fast (or even at a normal pace), or just stop and turn around if I decided to go in the other direction. I had to do everything so slow and so careful! I even remember right before she was born actually thinking "Am I cut out to do this another time"............BUT, I said all that (not to scare anyone away from pregnancy) to say this.....I bet she was less than a week old and I had already forgotten about the pain! I know I was hurting....I know I was....but, I catch myself saying, "It couldn't have been that bad!" or "What did it feel like again?"....It is so CRAZY to me that we can go through that and then do it again! That is God's way of us not all being only children! HA! I had such an easy recovery! I feel great and have since about a week after she was born!

Avery and Raegan have been so great with her! They really love her! Avery asked me earlier today when Chayse is going to start talking. And then she said "When she gets bigger she will have to get spankings, right?" They both want to hold her all the time and they sing to her and talk to her and tell her they love her. It really melts my heart! Right now having 3 isn't much different from having 2. I know that will all change when Chayse starts getting around! I try not to think too far into the future.....like one day we will have 3 teenage girls.....oh my!! I am just enjoying every minute!!

Well, I just got Chayse to sleep, and Avery and Raegan are playing in their room, so I am going to run and do something productive!! I don't know how long I have before they need me..........

It's A(nother) Girl!!

Chayse Lindsay was born on June 26th at 5:31 a.m. She weighed 6lbs 5oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. She is SO TINY!! I will post more later, I had a few minutes and wanted to post a picture and let everyone know she is here and we are all doing great!

Tick Tock Tick Tock.......

Time is flying by! I am 38 weeks today, and I really CAN'T believe it! I am getting SO close to meeting this little baby! We have been working around the house trying to get some stuff finished before the BIG day! Matthew is in the middle of his end-of-year stuff at work. He will be done with that on the afternoon of June 30th (next Tuesday). He said anytime after that is fine to have the baby....hahaha. I am about to get the kids out for the afternoon, but I just want to give a quick update!

A full week ahead that is sure to speed up whatever time I have left!!

Everything has been going good around here! I am really getting to the end of this pregnancy! I feel like I am VERY close to the end actually. I went to the doctor yesterday and had a sonogram that showed everything is going good. The baby measured 7 lbs 7oz (sonograms can be off by a pound one way or the other), but if that is an accurate measurement and I make it to my due date, I guess we are looking at another 8 pounder.....which is fine, because I can't imagine handling and changing a TINY baby. One downside to having (not huge) but bigger babies is that they don't seem to stay little long enough!!

The next week or so is so full that I know it is going to fly by!

Saturday~ The kids will be with my sister, so, Matthew and I are going to do some stuff around the house that I would like to have done before the baby gets here.

Sunday~ We are scheduled to take breakfast for our Life Group, Matthew is teaching our class, and I am teaching the girls' class.....then we will head to my daddy's house for lunch. We don't have church this Sunday night, so, I am sure we will do more stuff around the house Sunday evening.

Monday~The girls and I are going to visit my granddaddy with my mother and sister.

Tuesday~ I haven't decided yet if we are going to try to make it to the movie at the mall at 10:00 and then Terrific Kid Tuesday after, but we are planning on meeting some friends at the Stone Center on JSU's campus for the children's theater. It is at 2:00 and they are going to be performing The Tortoise and the Hare. We went last year and the kids LOVED IT!! It was Little Red Reading Hood...yes, that isn't a typo it was "Reading Hood" The story is geared toward making kids interested in reading....I am assuming this year will do that too...(this year the dates are June 23-27 @ 2....tickets are $5 for anyone who is interested....I highly recommend it)

Wednesday~ Matthew's sister-in-law and our nieces and nephews are going to be in town and we are going to go spend some time with them and Matthew's mother and grandaddy.

Thursday~ I have another doctor appt. I will be 38 wks 2 days!!!

Friday~ I don't think there is anything specific that we have planned, but I am sure I will still be "nesting" and I will probably have a million things to do around the house! I may try to get the kids to Oxford Lake to play in the water at some point.

That is about as far as the plans go! I know it may not seem like too much each day, but just trying to do one thing or go one place is pretty exhausting right now! I really want to fit all I can in for the girls because I know there will be a while that we are "stuck" at home!

It has been a while since my last post and we have added yet ANOTHER addition to our family! We got a puppy! He is a Blue Heeler and we have had him a couple weeks now. We haven't really named him yet. Avery said his name is Luke (sorry Crystal.....we got him right after Luke's birthday party) But now she is saying his name is Buddy, but when she is calling him she just says "Come here New Puppy". Raegan calls him Baby Puppy. So.......poor thing isn't going to know what his name is! The first couple days....well, really nights, with "New Puppy" was pretty rough....it was like we had brought a newborn home! Matthew had to get up with him because he was whining. He has been outside for about a week now and I like him alot more! hahaha.....

I can't really think of anything else to add right now and I need to go fold some laundry before Avery tells someone again, "We have 2 couches.....one for us to sit on and the other is for laundry." (atleast it was just my sister she said that to.....but, now I am telling all of you...oh well)

I will try to post again before the baby is born.....but judging the timing of my last couple of posts, it doesn't look promising!!

~Donna K!!

"Somebody hide the brownies", "It is almost THAT time", and a Saturday adventure at a local department store.....

Lately I want brownies....lots and lots of brownies!! Usually we don't keep many sweets in the house because, well.... if you don't have them....you don't eat them, right?? I have found that to be a pretty good way to keep us from eating so much junk food by just not buying it. Makes pretty good sense, huh? Anyway, lately I find that every time we are at a grocery store somehow a box of chewy fudge brownies makes it's way into our cart and then magically a nice batch of brownies appear cooling on my stove top. When that happens I am like a crazy woman who can't get enough!! Currently we are out of brownies and I find myself looking for an excuse to go to the store (that actually means "send Matthew to the store") for something else and ask him "while he is there anyway" to pick up a box of brownies........and that is as if I didn't just finish off the last brownie right before I started typing this post!! *sigh* I can hold off.....atleast until tomorrow, right? (we'll see....)

I feel like something has happened in the last few days. It has really gotten harder for me to walk without that "pregnancy waddle"! I can't sit straight up because my belly is too big and my legs start pushing into it. I have ALOT of pelvic pressure too!! I still have six weeks left of this pregnancy and I don't think the baby would drop that early and I think only your first baby drops weeks before labor ( I know there are exceptions to that rule!). I don't know what happened, but something did!! I even had a man comment to me today that I "look miserable" .......I smiled and politely said "thanks"....ok, that word politely should probably be replaced with sarcastically, but anywho.......

My sister and I got the bright idea to go to Old Navy for the "one day $1 flip flop sale"....actually it was my idea and I asked her to go with me.....Ok, let me start from the beginning....I thought this was going to be a run-in-get-the-goods-check-out-run-out kind of operation! We did plan on getting there when they opened, but only because I thought through out the day they would run out of my size.....I HAD NO IDEA that it was a get there 2 hours before the store opens kind of sale!! (I think this is a good time to mention that the REGULAR price of the flippin' flip flops is $2.50/pair when you buy 2 or more.....) Anyway, I am SO glad she went, because we got there at about 9:15 and the line to check-out was already to the back of the store and the flip flops were nearly ALL GONE!!!! It was CRAZY!! I did manage to get my sister and myself one pair each of flip flops in our size (nevermind that I had to pick them up from a puddle of coke that someone had spilled on the floor!!!) They had a few colors left in Avery's size too. We scraped up what little merchandise we felt like we couldn't live without and headed for the check-out line that by that time was not only to the back of the store, but wrapped around to the other side! We were probably in line for a good hour and a half!! Avery and Raegan were with us during this whole ordeal and they are kinda like their mama when it comes to crowds....We aren't too fond of them. So, needless to say, they both wanted to be held the whole time (which in all honesty, I am pretty sure I would rather stand there tired from holding my kid than have to worry about them running off and getting into everything if they were down on the floor) I would have never been able to make it through if my sister hadn't been there....not to mention that we had two bathroom visits while we were in line and if she hadn't been there I probably would have lost my place. We found out when we were about 3 people from the register that it was a 5 pair per person maximum(seems kinda low to me), which we didn't have anyway, but, I was glad I didn't hold 20 pairs of flip flops in my arms for over an hour just to get up there and only be able to purchase 5. (I don't think they were holding people to that number though because there were people with ARMLOADS when we first got there....Apparently they didn't know about the 5 pair max. either) So, I guess I will be going back in a few days (when they restock) and spend FULL PRICE for me some fip flops........oh well.....

Oooh, I just found out..... on Old Navy's website you can get flip flops for $1.65 a pair.....hmmmm......I may go that route!!!

I'm still here.... I'm just a bad blogger.....

Ok....well.....lately I have been TERRIBLE at updating this thing! There isn't really a good excuse, I just haven't gotten around to it!

Alot has happened since my last post! Avery had periorbital cellulitis in her right eye and was in the hospital for 6 days. She looked like we had punched her in the eye. It was pitiful. I had never even heard of that before....apparently it can be pretty serious! I am just glad I got her to the doctor when I did! She is back to her old self now! The day after she got out of the hospital was my 28th birthday! I had a great day and got to go enjoy a delicious meal at Olive Garden!! While we were there Raegan got us to take her to the bathroom about 8 times!! (and she really used it about 6 times...so, you have to take her word for having to go....) Don't you just LOVE potty training?? I know I do !! I feel like we spend all our time in the bathroom!! With Avery having to go atleast once wherever we are, Raegan wanting to go a million times, and me having someone using my bladder as a trampoline, we are sure to visit every bathroom we come within 100 yards of!! I can't wait to see what it is like to visit a public bathroom with 3 little ones in tow!! *YAY* ....let's see...what else has happened.....oh yeah, I can't believe I almost forgot to mention that WE GOT A MINI-VAN!!! I am SO relieved that we got that behind us! I was getting worried! We got a Chrysler Town and Country and we all LOVE it!! I can hardly get the kids out of it! Avery asks me everyday where we are going so we can ride in the "vini-van"!! I have to admit I am SO glad I don't have to deal with an all manual car anymore!! I can just push a button and things happen!! I am going to be SO spoiled...well, I already am after only a week! So, now, I guess we are really "ready" for this baby.....as much as we can be I guess....I am 32 weeks and 2 days and time is still flying with this pregnancy! I have really started having sciatic nerve pain on my right side and my left hip is sore from sleeping on 2 toddler beds that are pushed together....(I know...this is another post in itself....I am trying to get Raegan to STAY in her room at night...so, I have fallen asleep in there the last couple of nights when Matthew gets up in the morning he comes and REMOVES me from the girls' beds. It has been rough on my left hip to say the least!! I can't figure out how I can wake up in the morning hurting so bad, but that pain doesn't wake me up sometime during the night so I can go to MY bed...) Anyway, other than that I have been feeling pretty good.

Well, maybe this is enough to hold you all over until my next post....I know you were all on the edge of your seat waiting for this one! I will TRY to post again soon!

I heart Nexium!!!!.....(and FINALLY a belly pic!!.....and an update)

I have had acid reflux for several years now (pregnant or not). I have taken medicine for it in the past. When I am pregnant it is worse and lately it had been to the point where I was having to sleep sitting up and it was still bad. I asked my doctor at my last visit if he could prescribe me something for it. He gave me nexium. After the first dose I am here to tell you that it was GONE!! I can actually sleep LYING down and only using one pillow!! It is WONDERFUL!!

A couple weeks ago I went out to dinner with a couple of my friends, we always make goofy pictures of ourselves, but I got Sandy to take a "belly shot" so, I could post it on here. I was exactly 6 months the day this pic was taken.
Today I am 29 weeks.....only 11 weeks to go.....77 days......oh my!! We still haven't gotten a mini van! I told Matthew that I was going to be in the hospital having the baby and he is going to be out buying a van if we don't hurry up!

I had to take Raegan to the doctor last Tuesday. She had ear infections in both ears. She was pitiful!! Avery had a cough, but it is almost gone now. I have been battling allergies myself....but, I think we are all getting better now!! We made it all through the winter without having to go to the doctor, so, I figured it had to be coming! I hope that is the only time I have to take one of them!!

No good name for this one....I am just glad I got around to blogging!!

Sometimes I wonder just how old Avery is with some of the things that come out of her mouth!! I was telling her not to do something the other day (it was something that she could get hurt doing, I might add) and she ran to her room yelling, "You don't let me do ANYTHING!!"

Raegan's birthday is Saturday and she will be 2. So far she has pretty much refused to say "2" when you ask her. She is the world's best at ignoring!!! Anyway, Sunday night when we were pulling out of the parking lot leaving church, I turned around and asked her (like I do hundreds of times a day, I'm sure....probably why she ignores me....) "How old are you going to be, Raegan?" She rolled her eyes up and said..."ummmmmm.....thirty." I don't know why she would say thirty or how she even knows thirty is an age. hahaha......So, now when you ask her how old she is of course, because of the laughter it causes she says "30". We were trying to get her to say "30" to my uncle the other night and when he asked her she held her fingers up and said, "2".....She's a MESS!! She also says her name is Avery. She has not and will not say Raegan. So, apparently for now I have two Avery's.

Avery has always loved to cook. That is definitely one of her things! The other night she made her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich from start to finish!! (I know that is not "cooking" exactly, but come on now....that is pretty good!) She was so proud, you could just see her beaming. Of course Raegan made one with a little assistance.

Today I am 26 weeks. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. I know I say that everytime I say how far along I am, but I mean it every time!! It is FLYING!! Tomorrow is APRIL people....APRIL....how did that happen? It was just Christmas and New Years and now we are less than 2 weeks from Easter!! My goodness. The baby is growing, therefore so am I!! I have started feeling the baby when he/she hiccups which is really cute and sweet...the first hundred times. I really do enjoy feeling that though, because if I go any amount of time not feeling something I start trying to poke around to get the baby to move.

I have a question for everybody. Have you ever made Amish friendship bread (it is really more like cake...it is SO good)? It is the bread that you get a ziploc bag with the "starter kit" in it and you knead it for a few days and then you add some stuff, and then you knead it a few more days and then on day 10 you bake the bread and you end up with 3 "starter kits" to give to friends.......although, I think it is one of those things that people don't really enjoy getting, because once you get it it never really goes away...hahaha. My friend Pam has been doing it for a couple of rounds now and I finally gave in and took some. Friday is my bake day and if anyone close to me is someone who really likes to make it, or would like to give it a try, please let me know!! I will get it to you!! It isn't so much that it is a hard process making it.....it is really easy. It is the finding someone to take it that causes problems! Because then you (or I) have a hard time throwing it away and it just multiplies!! I just thought I would get the word out in "blogger world" just in case there are any takers....I think the "friendship" part comes in by who takes it!! Someone is really your friend when they take one off your hands!! hahaha.....

Oh, these kids..........

~Avery wrote a song the other day.......

She said it was called....of all things....."What the heck?" I have no idea why she would write a song with that name. She got her microphone and began singing it with her "band from the church".....again....I don't know......It went something like this....."What the heck, what the heck? WHAT THE HECK????" It was a really proud moment for me. Matthew told her she needed to write that down so she wouldn't forget it. So, she did. She got a piece of paper and a pen and began writing. She told us it was going to take her 8 hours to write it all down. (A lot of writing for saying the same thing over and over again!!)



~Avery was coloring and said:

"God is in my heart keeping it beeping so I can color. God wants me to color. "

Then she paused and turned to me and said......

"........and He wants me to play with scissors."




~I came in the dining room the other day and had one of those moments when you don't even want to breathe let alone scream the scream that is building up inside! Raegan was balancing on the BACK of one of our dining room chairs. She was sitting on it and her little legs were tucked so tight to hold her up. I don't know HOW she got up there, or HOW IN THE WORLD it didn't fall over!!! She was saying (ever so calmly, I might add) "Help, help." I just floated over there and grabbed her, I was afraid any wrong move would be disastrous!!



~I walked into the kitchen yesterday and found Raegan squatting over the dog's water bowl. I knew exactly what was happening, but asked anyway. "What are you doing??" She just looked at me and said, "Peepee"................poor Pepper!!

Red Envelope Day

I copied the following from my facebook page. A friend sent me an invite to this event. Please participate and send this to everyone you know!!


http://www.RedEnvelopeDay.com



50 million unborn babies were aborted in the U.S. last year!


On March 31st mail a red envelope addressed to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500


On the back, write the following message:

This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.


My prayer is one red envelope for every child that was aborted last year in the U.S. will be mailed to the President on March 31st. And that President Obama would not turn a deaf ear to this issue any longer. These children did not have a choice and this issue has been a problem for far too long. Please help in this attempt to make our voices heard as people of the United States and as followers of Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s word says in Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..”.

God has a plan for each of his children. Let’s come together as His people and make sure His children get to carry out His plan.

I did this earlier on facebook and I wanted to post it on here for people that wouldn't see it on there! (Thanks Jennifer!!!)


Interview with Avery age 3

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
"no"

2. What makes mommy happy?
"me"

3. What makes mommy sad?
"me" (haha)

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
"like this...." (then she started laughing!! lol)

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
"me" (this is true!! I looked just like she does!)

6. How old is your mommy?
"8" (haha)

7. How tall is your mommy?
"Big"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
"clean up" (WHAT????)

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
"clean up" (haha)

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
"I don't know" (she didn't understand this question even when I asked it differently)

11. What is your mommy really good at?
"cleaning up" ( I said "is that all??" and she said "it must be!")

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
"I don't have no ideas" (she thinks I am good at everything!!! :) )

13. What does your mommy do for a job?
"clean the baby off" (.......I have NO idea what this means......)

14.What is your mommy's favorite food?
"macaroni" (I hardly ever eat macaroni!!)

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
"I don't know" (another question that was over her head)

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"Spongebob"

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
"play"

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
"we look the same"

19. How are you and your mommy different?
"I'm little, you're big"

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
"I just know you love me" (she just knows!!! I love that!!)

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
"because you're married" (haha!)

22. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?
"here" (home)


I thought this was SO funny and I would love to know what Raegan's answers would be if she could talk better!! hahaha.....there's just NO telling!

Finally a NEW look and a little laugh from Avery!!

I think the new look is pretty good! I will probably leave this blog like this for a LONG time. I just don't like doing that!! But I am glad it is different than it was!!

Something funny that Avery said.....

I heard her telling Matthew about the boo boo on her foot:

"Daddy, the boo boo on my foot is feeling better......Feel it."


I remember that she has done that before. It is so funny to me that she really thinks we can "feel" that her boo boo is better!!

By the way.....

You can still see my pregnancy counter if you scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Since I changed the layout it won't let me put it at the top anymore.....oh well.....

A question for everyone and a poll!!

Ok, so, my blog's look is getting very boring to me and I want to change the layout......but, I don't know how. I mean, I know how to change it to one of the other 15 they have to choose from on here. But, all my blogging friends have such pretty ones all the time. I want one like that!! Can some of you give me some tips. I am just not that up on these things and I don't really have time to figure it out on my own. I would really appreciate anyone's input on this!!


I also wanted to point out that I added a poll over on my sidebar for everyone to guess the gender of our new baby. I think this will be fun!! Don't forget to make a guess before you leave!!

I can't come up with a name for this post....If I was Raegan I would probably name it "Boy"

We just got back from a night at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. The co-op had it's annual meeting there, so the girls and I got to tag along. So, we got a yummy steak dinner and a night at the hotel. Avery and Raegan really had fun. Avery was so excited that the mall was at the hotel. They enjoyed riding the glass elevator that takes you from the 1st to the 2nd floor of the Galleria(I think we did that about 10 times). We went to Build-A-Bear and they LOVED it. Last time we went Avery didn't really get into it and Raegan was too little to care. Avery got a pink bear that she had been talking about ever since I told her we were going (she would say..."do you think they have a pink bear??") and Raegan got a panda (she seems to be drawn to black and white things). Of course Raegan named hers Boy....that is what she names EVERYTHING! Avery named her bear the names we have picked out for the baby(to be announced on here at a later date... :) ) ...the boy name and the girl name...together....so, it is like a first name and a middle name for her bear. She is SO funny. They also rode the carousel and LOVED it too. Avery had to ride on a white horse, so, luckily since Raegan is still too young to care about which one, we just put her on whatever was next to Avery. I hope she stays so laid back! She just doesn't care! They are SO different! After we left there we had a few errands to run on the way home. It took about 2 hours and they both slept the whole way! They were both out as soon as we got them buckled in and they were out until we pulled in our driveway. Well, except for the 10 seconds Avery "woke" up to tell me that Raegan had a wet diaper. Bless her heart...she must dream about stuff like that. She worries about everything. That reminds me, when we left the hotel she kept asking if we got everything...she was naming stuff to make sure we hadn't forgot anything. One of the things she asked about was her "home slippers"...that cracks me up, that is what she calls her slippers, or her house shoes!! I love it.

Well, I feel as if I am rambling....so, I guess I will go for now.....oh, but before I do I wanted to mention a blogger friend that is in China right now on a journey of a lifetime!! Her and her husband are adopting a little girl there. They have a travel blog and it is SO exciting to keep up with. Check it out here. Please keep them in your prayers. The little girl is 3 years old and we really need to ask God to prepare her heart for the transition that is about to take place! They have been loving her for so long, but at the same time she doesn't really "know" that yet....just pray for a smooth transition!! Feb. 11th is the day they will get to hold her in their arms for the first time. It has been a long time coming and they have an amazing story!! Anyway, I know they would appreciate your prayers!!

I hope everyone has a SUPER day!
~Donna K!

I wonder if any of you miss me when I am gone......

I think I have a few people that keep up with this blog (at least I like to think I do) and I didn't want the WHOLE month of January to get by and not have a single post on here....so, I thought I better get busy!

We have been doing good around here. I am starting to grow in the mid-section!! It is exciting to finally start having moments that I actually look pregnant. Sometimes throughout the day it actually slips my mind that I am pregnant! I have a feeling it won't be long my stomach will remind me constantly! I woke up during the night last night and couldn't get comfortable again (it was one of the parts of pregnancy that I have known before, but apparently had put out of my mind until that moment). Raegan wants to lay on me and the pressure of her on my stomach, and the baby on my other organs is starting to make cuddling with her a challenge!

My next dr. appt. is on Feb. 17th. I will be 20 weeks and that is the day they are going to do the BIG sonogram!! I am starting to think I will be okay with not finding out what we are having. By now with the other pregnancies I was DYING to find out! This time I am kinda looking forward to the excitement of finding out in the delivery room. I have started feeling more movement from the little one and that is making this whole thing seem real! It is funny to me because it seems like by the third time I would be okay with the fact that there is actually a person in there. But it seems like it has gotten more weird each time. (I hope that doesn't sound mean!) I mean, don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant and feeling my baby move around in there and all, but sometimes I get caught off guard and realize just what is going on in my body and to be honest it kind of freaks me out a little!! I don't see how someone can see just what a miracle the whole process of a human being forming the way it does and they can still say they don't believe in God!! How could something like that just happen?

On another note, the last day of deer season is Saturday and I am pretty happy about that. Matthew is thinking he will be done around the middle of February!! The season has seemed to go pretty fast, but we will all be glad for it to be over!!

Well, I just wanted everyone to know that we are doing good and I haven't totally fell off the face of the blogging earth.....until next time.....

DonnaK!