Still here...

Yes, I'm still here- after a much longer than expected recuperation period. I'm still not 100%, maybe 80 on a good day. Every day is better though.


What happened you ask?? Well it seems when you have 5 babies in 3.5 years you can do some major damage to your body. Yep. major. What was thought to be a quarter sized hernia repair turned out to be major vertical and horizontal rips in my abdomen. OUCH!! (although, it really didn't hurt too often... but hurts a lot now.) Anyway, my doctor realized during surgery that this was more extensive than he originally thought but he was able to patch me up as best as he could. So think of me as your friendly Frankenstein mommy or humpty-dumpty.



At least I'm walking quicker than the granny pace I kept for a few days. :)


Hubby has been great helping out and man, do I have the best-est friends!!! My girls have been fabulous helping out!!! My mom and sister too... I have appreciated the help so, so much!

So now I'm 3 weeks out past surgery and trying to will myself better and praying a lot. (Thanks for the prayers from all of you too!!)


The Monkeys have their 3rd birthday (YIKES! How is that possible!?) in 3 days and I have soooo much to do!!

I also have several orders to fill- I haven't forgotten about you! I hope to well enough to get those started/finished next week.

So I better hop to it! (Ha! Yeah- right!)

I will share a couple of pics though... I know you have missed seeing these little faces!

Super Bud!

Wild Thang... AKA DAISY

Monkey See and Monkey Do


Puddin, Monkey See and Monkey Do writing on their new chalkboard wall.



Puddin and Daisy having a heart to heart on the swing set.
My precious girls!

So, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things but it may be next week before I'm back to regular posts.

Thanks for checking on me and thanks again for the prayers!

Blessed

** Warning- long post, full of pictures!! Proceed with caution!**

One of my favorite songs kind of sums of how I feel right now... what a great weekend!

Blessed - Martina McBride
I get kissed by the sun
Each morning
Put my feet on a hardwood floor
I get to hear my children laughing
Down the hall through the
Bedroom door
Sometimes I sit on my
Front porch swing
Just soaking up the day
I think to myself, I think to myself
This world is a beautiful place

I have been blessed
And I feel like I’ve found my way
I thank God for all I’ve been given

At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones
That love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed

Across a crowded room,
I know you know what I’m thinking
By the way I look at you
And when we’re lying in the quiet and
No words have to be said
I think to myself, I think to myself
This love is a beautiful gift

This week was fantastic! My husband celebrated his birthday and had lots of fun. It was nice to see him relaxing and soaking up some time with the kiddos on his special day.

Hubby and his favorite birthday cake... chocolate, chocolate chip! Puddin said, "YUMMMM!"

We grilled out for his birthday dinner and just had a relaxing- chore free day. Price*less!

Hubby and co. relaxing in the pool!

blowing out his candle and making a wish

Monkey See digging in...

Monkey Do cheesin for the camera- again!

Bud and hubby before opening presents!

Bud decided he loves ice cream!

Daisy said she'll stick with the chocolate cake!

Today was a whirlwind, but good kind of day too.
After church we raced home to prepare the kids for a babysitter. Puddin had her annual dance recital today so we had to drive to Nashville, and be on time.
Thankfully, we made it! The other kids were excited to spend time with the babysitter too!!!
Puddin danced so beautifully! And, Hubby even danced too! What a special Father's day gift! The school decided to have the girls and daddies have a special dance in the recital, it was so, so precious! They danced to My Girl.

How appropriate!
And yes, I cried.

It was so special to me, I can only imagine how special it made Puddin feel!!

Just the look on her face when she saw her daddy heading on to the stage was worth a million dollars!

warming up before the show...

one last practice!

My Girl

March of the Daddies!

**tears**

The big lift!

2nd number~ Rockin Robin!... very cute!

curtain call

I also got to spend some time with my step dad since he spent his Father's day at a dance recital in Nashville- God love him!

And I was able to talk to my daddy on the phone. Not as good as in person but I was so grateful that I was able to spend a little time with him last weekend instead.

Now, my sweet family is sleeping and I just feel BLESSED beyond measure.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17

Special Day!

I am so blessed to have found you.

You are everything I could have ever asked for ;)

I love you dearly.

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!

May this birthday be the best ever and the year full of blessings!!

Favorite Pics of the week

There are so many things I could blog about tonight- and probable will eventually- but I'm tired. When I say it's been a LONG day today- I seriously mean it!

But, this is going to sound crazy- even though it's been a long day, the kids have been great...really great! And, the big ones haven't napped all week! CRAZY!!

Puddin is on spring break this week and it's been nice...really nice.

It's just been a long day because I'm a grown up, with grown up stuff going on.

Anyway- here are some of my favorite pictures from last week that would have each received their own blog post. And since I know the Nana's and the Papa's, and the aunts and uncles, and cousins are all wanting to see more pics of the Fabulous Five I decided to devote this post to them... with some of their favorite faces!

Puddin and Hubby... having a situation. Apparently, she didn't think it was funny! :)

MC Monkey Do jamming to "Cows on the Farm". His own remix of Old McDonald.

LOVE it!

Baby Bud and Big Bro Monkey See just cruising around the strip.

Are they not ADORABLE???

This picture just makes my heart flutter!!

(BTW-Bud is our baby with a capital B... in no way, shape or form can he ride his scooter yet. But, at 1 year old Monkey See could ride the very same scooter.

So I propped Bud up there to see if he could "run with the big dogs".

Sadly, he could not.:(

baby Bud got a boo-boo!

This is the after shot of BeatupbabyBud with his busted head that he got when his Fantastic momma propped him up on a scooter he couldn't ride so she could take a great picture of her sweet baby and urge him to try something new and then turned away to then put the camera down and he fell on his head and got a boo-boo. :( Motherhood is not for wimps. **sigh**

Also pictured are Momma and Monkey Do. We were consoling Baby Bud and entertaining him with the camera.

What's for dinner??

Baby Daisy cooking up something yummy!

She can not walk yet either, but that doesn't stop her!

There you have it! Some of my favorite faces.

Happy Wednesday!

Status Update for 2/15/09

If you follow Facebook you know things have been changing lately.
One week it's "throw back" week, the next it's "sibling week" etc.
So this week, in honor of Valentines day, was

"how long have you and your hubby been together" week.

So, here was my status for today:

7 years ago today hubby and I went on our 1st date. We were engaged on July 23, 2003 and married on Dec. 6, 2003. 7 years and 5 babies later we're still in love! ♥

And here is the pic I included....

This was pre-digital so pardon the blur... getting these pics transferred to something I can use is a challenge I'm not ready to take.

(Even with the blur you can see I was tanner, thinner and blonder. 5 babies can wreak havoc on a girl!)

Yes, 7 years ago tonight this wonderful journey started! Who knew it would be this great?!? We might be sleepy and stained with some baby related something, but we're happy and that's what matters.

Love you hubby! I can't wait to see what the next 7 years holds in store for us!!!

Big Bad Wolf Pinata

**Test**
Thank you Hubby for helping me turn this...



Into this...


I love you!