A Time to Laugh

Submit to whaaaaa?

2012-02-20T14:13:00.000-06:00

If you follow my blog, and you're a coworker of mine, sorry- you're getting a double dose of this message. Let me explain to the rest of you though.

I had to catch up on some sermons from my church, because we had to take JM into the doctor yesterday morning, and we were out of town two Sundays ago. So, I decided I would watch them today to catch up on what I'd missed. Wow. We've started a new series called "Running with the Giants," and God is speaking some necessary truths through this series! But for today's blog post, I will only focus on yesterday's sermon... it was focused on David, but the jist of the message is submitting to authority. Allow me to dig deeper though.

This isn't my first rodeo on the subject of authority. God has been speaking to me about this for a LONNNNNNNNG time. So, am I just hard-headed and not listening? Not really. I learn a new truth about submission each time. But let's be honest, my flesh is pretty powerful at times and likes to rear its ugly head trying to make me forget the truths that I have learned. I don't pretend to be perfect, nor do I pretend to know everything there is to know about submission. I'm just walking it out- crying, fist pumping, and stomping my feet along the way- but I'm walking it out.

Starting out, I thought that submitting to authority was what we were supposed to do, no matter what the circumstances. But I'm slowly learning that there is more to it: the four tests of submission is what I believe it was called in yesterday's sermon. After watching it this morning (you can watch it here), I started thinking about how it relates to my life. And the Lord opened the floodgates. I was getting revelation about authority, but also some MAJOR revelations about other things I'm dealing with. I laugh when I think about how the Lord must be saying, "Well, Kay, when you finally do sit down to talk to me about these things, I need to cover alot of ground, because I never know when we'll get the opportunity again." I realize that's sad, but I've come a long way, and I also realize that He gets so excited when I even glance in His direction too. I just love the talks that we've been having lately, and it has been such a sweet time- I wonder why I don't make time for it everyday. But, I'm working on it. Again, not perfect, just walking it out.

So, here's what I know. Submitting to authority is a necessity if I want to walk closely with Him. After all, the authority He has placed me under on earth was appointed by God anyway. And if I am supposed to work in everything as if I am working for the Lord and not man, then by not submitting to my earthly authority means that I am not submitting to Him either. And I don't want to be rebellious, because rebellion was instituted by the enemy. So, everyday, I am given a choice: A. I will listen to the Lord's voice, and submit even when it's uncomfortable (note: I didn't say that I would submit to all out abuse, and there's a difference- watch the sermon). B. I will listen to the enemy's voice, and rebel against authority, because of course I know better, and of course I'm right, and of course I'm more experienced in these matters than they are.

I learned today that the reason I may be more experienced in something than my authority is because the Lord wants me to use it to SERVE my authority. Kay's motto, enter stage left: I am only here to serve. I'm not here to make a name for myself, or to advance some invisible ladder. I am only here to serve.

I went through a situation one time that I thought was just going to be the death of me. I remember thinking, "If ______ happens, I'm done. I can't do it anymore, Lord." And then it happened. I felt defeated, small, unworthy of the Lord's favor, and second rate. But somehow in the middle of it, I saw this little bitty glimmer of light. And out of nowhere I told the Lord, "Okay, let's do this. Let's get through this. I don't want to keep learning this lesson over and over again. If I get out of this situation, I'll most likely run into it again in a different form, so Lord, do the work in me that you have to do for me to get through this and come out on the other side victoriously." And guess what... He did. I can't explain it other than the fact that sometimes the Lord does a work in us that is supernatural- and things that bothered us about a person, or things that were unforgiveable, or situations that made us come unglued- no longer have any power over us anymore. The only thing I can tell you is that when I started repeating my little motto of servanthood to myself, something within me started believing it. It wasn't that my life no longer had purpose- it was that my life had the biggest purpose of all. I am not in this life to make a name for myself, or to be better than anyone, or to be the best _____ of all time, or to be anything other than a servant. Jesus said that we must first become servants. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. So, it's okay if I never get recognition for something great; it's okay if people think I'm stupid, or not good enough to be this or that; it's okay if nobody EVER knows my name.

I am only great because of the One who made me. Not because of what I've done, but because of what He did for me. I am a servant to that fact. I will walk it out in whatever ways He wants me to. I joke at work and tell people that my job title is janitor. It used to be that I resented having to clean up messes, or fix things that were broken, or take a project that nobody else wanted. But I realize today that the title of janitor is an honor. It's the ultimate position of servanthood, and I will bear it proudly. I might get promoted, or have some sort of "Manager" title after my name, but I will remind myself every morning that I am a servant. I am not here to make a name for myself, or to advance the invisible ladder. I am a servant.

Do yourself a favor... watch the sermon.

A Picture of Trust

2012-02-15T22:34:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those days where I felt like I was drowning. Michael currently has walking pneumonia, John Michael is teething (and hopefully not catching walking pneumonia) which makes him wake up at all hours of the night crying inconsolably. Work is EXTREMELY busy, and when I say that it's EXTREMELY busy, that's an understatement. I'm drowning under an insane amount of work to the point that sometimes I feel like just completely throwing my hands in the air and giving up. I got an email from our initial mortgage company today saying that I'm a possible target of identity theft due to a security breach in their system. Just typing all of this is making my chest tighten.

But there was one sliver of light from the Lord today: my dear sweet friend, Cindy Hopkins. Cindy is a coworker of mine, who works in our Northern Virginia office. She is a gem. After talking about some confusing database issues today, I just started stuttering to her something along the lines of, "I just don't know- I just- I- I have no idea- I just don't know." Cindy, taking the hint that I was suffering from a mind meltdown, shared with me something that the Lord showed her this week.

He showed her a picture of trust- someone who is skydiving with the trained skydiver attached to their back. One of Cindy's friends recently went skydiving, and as Cindy watched the video with her, she noticed how nervous her friend was before the jump- but after jumping, she was smiling and free the whole way down. Cindy reminded me that God is an experienced jumper, and He will open the parachute. All we have to do is enjoy the ride, and smile. This simple word hit me like a ton of bricks. My circumstances look a little gloomy, but I trust Him to open the chute for me. I trust Him to be the experienced jumper, so I'm just going to enjoy the ride.

Enjoy the ride today my friends. Life is seriously too short.

Oh alright.

2012-02-14T20:52:00.000-06:00

After much deliberation within my own neurotic thoughts, I'm going back to a public blog. There are several reasons I have come to this decision:

1. Going through extra steps to write a blog post made me not want to blog at all anymore.
2. After thinking that my blog posts weren't interesting, Stuart Smalley reminded me that I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and people like me. After repeating that to myself in the mirror three times, I laughed my behind off and ate some sweet rolls. What does that have to do with my blog? Nothing.
3. I've decided that life is too short to try to live in my own little private world. So, hey world! Welcome to my life, and welcome to my blog. If I'm going to type it, I better be prepared for anyone to read it.

So, after much ado, and not a lot of blog posts, I'm back. I hope to bring you interesting thoughts- link you to other interesting blogs- and maybe even be a little vulnerable. I may not be interesting all the time, but I don't care. If you don't like it, don't read it. But I won't quit writing- because it's therapy, it's documentation of my life, and it's fun. I do promise to be honest, and I will from time to time share what I think the Lord has been speaking to me.

Now that I've gotten through my disclaimer, let's make some MAGIC! (Note: read with the genie from Aladdin voice)

My last post was in December after John Michael's birthday party. What I didn't have on hand at the time was this PRECIOUS video of JM and Foster (who is the son of our sweet sweet friends, Woody and Kristen). Y'all... if you don't know Woody and Kristen, you should. And if you have no idea how to get to know them, well, read Kristen's blog. Their son is at the top of my "favorite kids of all time" list. And these two together crack me up. I only wish we lived closer to each other so that Kristen and I could laugh at them all the time.

Yep, that's right. Kristen and I are laughing at Foster's rocking wedgie. We do that. Cause we're cool. And we can't wait to show the boys this video when they're 18. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

A Time to PARTY!!!!

2011-12-11T21:48:00.003-06:00

Well, it has officially been one year since our sweet baby boy came into this world and completely turned our world upside down... and we have been blessed BEYOND belief! I wanted to make his first birthday party special, but I also wanted to make most of it myself. I've been pinning things on Pinterest for months and months. I actually started planning his party this summer, because I knew I'd have to do things as I had time- and that is not too often with this working mom. I decided on a bumble bee theme, and got started... and here are some pictures from John Michael's "Bee Day."

The food table

Balloon garland with bee hive

These little bee cake pops turned out great!

The favors

They were mason jars filled with goldfish- gotta keep it kid-friendly!

The bee stamp on the top was my favorite part

I made JM a little Happy Birthday banner for the mantle

The throne

JM's little bee hive smash cake

The birthday boy!

JM's girlfriend, Mia

They're trying to act like they don't see each other

For awhile, he wouldn't leave dad's legs

His little shirt had a bee and his name, with matching pants
*Made by Sissy and Bubba Boutique*

A sweet moment with Kristen

Opening presents

Surveying the loot

Helping clean up the paper

Big cousin Bradford was such a great little helper!

Counting Foster's teeth

Not sure about all this singing and staring

Dig into that hive!

Cake is GREAT!

Happy family

Happy Birthday to me!

A Time to be Thankful

2011-11-29T19:21:00.000-06:00

Before everyone jumps on the Christmas bandwagon... oh who am I kidding, I've been singing Christmas carols since July... I wanted to recap our Thanksgiving in Birmingham!

Michael had to work Thanksgiving morning, so we decided to host a Sanford/King Thanksgiving at our house this year. I had everyone agree to bring a dish or two (or five- haha), and we did the turkey and ham. In addition, Michael "Paula Deen" Sanford made an amazing pumpkin cheesecake, and I added in a little turkey cake ball dessert as well.

I was very excited to finally get to use all of the china we got for wedding presents!

And everyone had their own little placecards.

On the dessert plates, everyone had a smiling turkey cake ball.

Well... maybe it was just a smirking turkey. John Michael was in a weird napping mood, and decided that he wanted to take a nap from 8:30am until 11:00am, when we finally woke him up. But, he soon got into the Thanksgiving spirit while he rocked on his snail.

Even dad got in on the action.

But most of all, there was a lot of love. And, somehow I failed to get a picture of the whole family together, but I thought this one was sweet. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Time for TheCall

2011-11-27T08:07:00.000-06:00

On 11.11.11, I went to Detroit with several coworkers to TheCall Detroit. If you haven't heard of TheCall, it's a group that gathers in a different location each time to have 24 hours of solemn prayer and fasting- all to cry out to God on behalf of our nation. It's no secret that our nation is going down the drain. I used to think that it was just a perception thing, and that as I got older and things became more important to me, that I was just more knowledgeable of the problems we face. But the Word says that we will see a moral decline before the return of Jesus, so I think that it'll just get worse and worse each year until He comes back. I know that sounds bad, but, it's actually quite exciting... you know, except for the moral decline part. :)

If you don't know what I do for a living, let me give you a little history about why this event in Detroit was especially meaningful for me...

7 years ago, I was in the crossroads of learning what it means to have the Holy Spirit as a real part of my life. Of course, I said that I had a personal relationship with Christ, but I don't know that I truly understood that relationship until the Holy Spirit was made real to me. I will always thank the Lord for bringing people like Cherry Russell, Jere Yeager, and Bob and Ann Armstrong into my life. I was just "walking out life" and they were always there to lend a listening ear, some kind advice, and point me to the scripture for my current question of the hour.

I had always been "in the grey area" about the topic of abortion. And before you go hit the "x" button, at least hear me out. It had always been my opinion that women should be allowed to do whatever they wanted involving their own bodies, including abortion if they felt it necessary. After all, what about pregnancies that resulted from rape? Well, it was during that time that I was getting to know the Lord, that I went on a little trip to North Carolina where I came to know a man named Lou Engle. Lou had started this group called Bound4Life, and they started TheCall. It was at a conference in North Carolina where I was dramatically impacted on the topic of abortion. Up until this time, I'm not even sure that I knew what an actual abortion involved. But, once the procedure itself was revealed to me (I'll spare you the details- if you don't know though, I'm happy to explain... or there's always google), I was mortified that I had ever considered it "no big deal." And not only that, but I learned that less than 1% of rapes end in pregnancy. And since then, I have met people who were children of rape victims, and I have to say that not only do I admire their mothers, but I'm so glad that they're alive! Needless to say, my views on abortion had changed. And God had used Lou Engle to do it.

Fast forward 3 years. I got a job at Care Net as the donor relations assistant. Care Net is an umbrella organization which supports a network of pregnancy centers across the nation and Canada. God opened a door for us to be a part of this year's event in Detroit for TheCall, and so we went. During one of our meetings before the event, I realized that it had been 7 years since I had become pro-life. The number 7 means completion, so I felt like the Lord was bringing me full circle to where He had first begun this work in me. I know that there is so much in store that I have no idea about... but I'm excited to see what He's going to do through all of this.

If you've made it this far, and you disagree with my stance on the life issue, that's okay. I didn't write this to change any minds, nor do I try to push the issue on anyone. That never did anything to change my mind in the past either. It was the Lord who changed my mind- using the facts- and I wasn't knowledgeable about it before. But I am now. And there's one other part to this... if you've had an abortion and you're still thinking about it, or maybe you feel guilty about it, or maybe you just can't shake the memory of it- there is healing for that. I know for a fact that God wants to heal you. And I'm going out on a limb here by even writing this post, so I'll go a little bit further. If you need someone to talk to, I am willing to be a listening ear, or I can put you in touch with someone who can help. Or, if you want it to be completely anonymous, you can call 1-800-395-HELP and they can help you as well. Or, you can also pass that number along to anyone you know who might need it.

Not trying to be a commercial here- I have just really had this on my heart lately. Maybe you've never experienced this, and you're reading this thinking "what a weird post." But if there's only one person who needed to read this today, then it was totally worth it.

Random

2011-11-09T08:00:00.001-06:00

Sooooooo, you all know how horrible I am at actually posting things in a timely manner. Well, I found all of these pictures from recent events.... and instead of making a blog post for each one individually, I thought I'd just group them all together into one. So, here are some random pictures from the last month or so.

The first one is one I like to call, "Mom hasn't done laundry in awhile, so I'm wearing completely mismatched pj's- and showing them off (I might add)."

The next set is from Foster's 1st Birthday party. We discovered straws on this day. This was also before he started walking (so we're taking a little trip down memory lane), but he would just stand and clap- it was so cute.

The next set is from a recent bath time. JM hasn't really been a bath time "player" in that he sort of just played with one toy and was good. Not so much anymore. It starts out with an amazement of the water filling up the tub...

And then while this picture doesn't really show it too well, he's all over that tub playing with every single toy in there, plus the cup, plus he wants to stand up and talk to Max, plus he wants to stand up and check out the faucet, and then pull down the soap bottle... it's really fun. No, really.

And then, I'll leave you with one last picture. This is a picture I like to call, "Mom and Dad are trying to save money by giving me 'home hair cuts' but because I'm so crazy when the clippers get near my head or feet (or legs, or tail), they only did 50% of my hair, and now I look like an overgrown and overweight Chinese Crested."

You can't really tell in this picture either, but believe me... there's a mane and some serious issues happening around the legs here.

Baby, it's cold outside

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing interesting here. I just really think this outfit is cute. He could have easily won "baby hiker of the year" for this.

Painted Pumpkins

2011-10-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

Let's just be honest, this year I didn't feel like carving pumpkins. I have little to no free time on my hands, and how I even pulled off this year's pumpkins is still a mystery to me. However, I decided that since Alabama weather is so unpredictable... and carved pumpkins can get a little dicey in hotter weather... paint was my best option. So, I just walked out in the garage to see what I had on hand, and found some gold and black spray paint left over from when I "crackle" painted a lamp once. I say "once" because it was right after we moved into this house. No telling how old that paint was. But... I digress.

After failing miserably at a silver paint pen endeavor (I didn't take into account that I was working with a round canvas)...

I decided that masking tape and spray paint were my best options for pumpkin #1.

The end result looked like this:

For pumpkin #2, I took the gold spray paint route. After Michael looked sideways at it, I decided I needed something extra on it to "bling it up." Who knew that puff paint was more useful than just on a sweatshirt for grandma?

The end result looked like this:

And then for pumpkin #3, I decided to get all personalized with it. I had so much fun with the puff paint, that I decided to go with a big S, and some decor around it. The end result looked like this:

So there you have it. Sanford pumpkins 2011. Happy Fall y'all!

Pet-a-palooza

2011-10-29T23:49:00.000-05:00

I have had more fun saying that all day today. Pet-a-palooza. Say it- it's fun. Haha, you just said it didn't you? Well, for a couple of weeks now, I've been promising our dear sweet Max that I would do something special for him. He's such a good dog... sometimes. But he really has been so good with John Michael, so I wanted to treat him.

And then I saw the ad for Pet-a-palooza, a day at the park devoted entirely to pets! After a little research, I decided that this was the perfect way to treat Max.

So, this morning after our usual morning routine, we all packed up for the park. Max put on his new costume and modeled it for me in the kitchen. He's such a natural, right?

And we went out to Veteran's Park on Valleydale to join in the festivities. There were many vendors with tents, bouncy castles, and lots of other dogs. Everyone in the family was busy checking things out.

Like I said, lots of other dogs... big and small.

But Max was busy checking out the dog in the "other yellow costume."

Check out that banana! There was also a gypsy (whose owner either dressed up like that too, or that's really how she dressed), a cheerleader, a hotdog, a princess, and my favorite was one who looked like part of a chariot with a little gladiator on his back.

John Michael even did a couple of double takes.

It was so much fun though- a good time really was had by all. By the time we got back in the car, Max was pooped... which is a pretty big deal.

Oh Happy Babe...

2011-10-27T21:43:00.000-05:00

There is nothing more fun to me at this point than making John Michael laugh. I NEVER get tired of hearing him laugh- so I constantly try to do things that I think will start it rolling. However, almost always to my surprise, the things that I think will make him laugh, don't. And he'll laugh at some things that I would have never expected. Tonight that thing was the sound of Michael and me making barking noises. Michael was playing with John Michael and we heard Max barking at the back door. Michael started imitating Max by barking himself, and John Michael thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. After letting Max in, Michael grabbed the video camera and the rest is history.

WARNING: You will have to endure an entire video of me barking... but I think the incredible baby laughs will make up for it.

A Time for Independence

2011-10-23T19:52:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, John Michael started taking steps by himself. It's so scary, wonderful, and every other emotion you can think of. Thank goodness diapers are padded though, because that's the direction he falls almost every time. You know when you take a short deep breath whenever something startles you? Well, I'm thinking that I probably take about 1200 of those a day now. It seems like every time I turn around, he's doing something that looks like it's about to end in disaster- but 99% of the time, it's fine. It's just that 1% of the time when he falls and hits his head on our hardwood floor, or the leg of the dining room table, or the side table, or the bookcase, or the...

I have to say though, it's such a cool thing to watch your child discover the world. The things that interest him are so funny to me. JM is really into hinges and wheels. He loves to study things to try and figure out how they work. Cabinets are by far the coolest things ever, along with doors. I could sit in a room with him while he opens and closes a door for hours. And anything that has wheels is super cool at this point. If it has wheels, he'll turn it upside down and study how it turns. We might have a little engineer on our hands, but at any rate, it brings me joy to watch him grow and discover this great new world around him. Granted, it's just our living room, or kitchen, or bedroom- but it's kind of fun getting down on his level and looking at things through his eyes.

Here's a little video I put together of John Michael's first attempts at walking (and then threw in some recent clips too since I'm so late getting this out). Enjoy!

You can also view it on Vimeo here.

A Time to "Walk the Line"

2011-10-03T22:23:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. It has been FOREVER since my last blog post. Sorry- things have been a little busy. Work has been hectic as we just had our conference in Orlando last week. While I was gone, my mom came up and stayed with Michael and John Michael. When I returned, they all came to pick me up at the airport- and I was beyond excited to see my little growing weed!!!

My mom bought JM a new toy while I was away, and boy does he love it! Michael and I thought we'd put together a little video to illustrate JM's new talent... in true Sanford fashion... please put your hands together for Johnny Cash!!!

If for some reason you are unable to view the video within the blog, you can watch it here on Vimeo.

Sleepy Time- 8.5 months

2011-08-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our bedtime routine is one of the most important (and sometimes most enjoyable) parts of the day. Lately, John Michael has been getting upset if he's still awake and he sees you leave the room. It used to be so easy- I would put him down in his crib, and even if he was still awake, he would just play until he fell asleep on his own.

As much as I long for those days on some nights, the Lord has shown me how to be grateful in the latter as well.

Michael has an uncanny ability to put John Michael to sleep. I think it's because he radiates heat like an electric blanket. At any rate, he can get John Michael to sleep in a matter of minutes, whereas it would take me 30 minutes to an hour to achieve the same result.

After my third attempt to put John Michael to sleep the other night, I sent in the big guns. Not too long after, I went in to find the sweetest scene. And the Lord reminded me that I would have missed out on this if JM had gone right to sleep. So, I decided that I would put on my photographer hat again (after a long break and using mainly camera phones) to document this sweetness. Enjoy!

(Is it me, or do Michael's legs look 20 feet long in this picture?)

A Time for Jorts and a Baby Wife Beater

2011-08-13T12:33:00.000-05:00

So, for all those who caught the funny story on Facebook, I apologize, I'm about to rehash it. However, the long awaited pictures are here! But first the story...

I went to Target last weekend for my usual grocery shopping. They have a 5% off debit card now, so all of my purchase, plus coupons, is 5% off! But that's not why I'm writing this. In addition to the usual groceries, I needed to pick up some plain white onesies in a larger size. John Michael has a lot of little overalls, and mostly wears them without anything underneath, but a couple of them are scratchy, so I throw a little white onesie underneath and go. So, I picked up a package of 9mo size white onesies, and made sure to do a little price checking to see which brand I liked best, but also which one was cheaper (I mean, it's white onesies folks- and we eat alot of sweet potatoes).

So, I got home and threw the package on top of the washing machine to add to JM's laundry load the next day. When the time came to do laundry, I opened the package, threw in the onesies, and went about my day. Not until I pulled the laundry out of the dryer did I realize the fantastic surprise. I had inadvertently bought my son his first set of baby wife beaters. I joked about it on Facebook, saying that all I needed was a pair of cutoff jorts, a tractor hat, and a crawfish boil to seal the deal. Well, I don't have cutoffs but I do have baby jorts. The other things are all missing as well, but I snapped a few model shots this morning of the lovely sight.

Keep in mind now that John Michael is a paid equity model. He gets paid in sweet potato puffs.

He and "Bubba" stopped to watch a little tv...

Here's his "casual look."

Look at those teef!

I asked him to show me his "thinking about long lost toys while drooling" look.

For some reason I can't look at this one without thinking he looks like he has a flat top crew cut! This one is titled "morning sun entice."

He's working on his pouty lip look. Here's a nice standing shot.

I hope you've enjoyed our latest modeling shoot. We're on our way to find the local crawfish boil, and then maybe we'll stop by Tractor Supply and look for that hat. Have a great day!

A Time to be Vulnerable

2011-08-09T22:12:00.000-05:00

WARNING: Deep thoughts by Kay- prepare yourselves.

There are days when we pretend that we have it all together, and then there are days like today. And let's just be honest- none of us really have it all together, so let's just stop pretending. I'm serious- aren't we doing each other a disservice by pretending? We all want so desperately to know that we're not the only ones who feel a certain way. So, I'm not going to pretend. I don't have it all together, and I don't care. And I hope that my honesty helps someone else who may be feeling this same way.

It all started with one of those "long on the eyes" days at work. I had several meetings (which were all fine), but looming underneath my to-do list was the one thing that I desperately want to procrastinate on, but can't because I'm up against deadlines that have come and gone. I'm working on two spreadsheets that total 90,000 records, of which I'm preparing and manipulating to be imported into our database. It would have been one spreadsheet, but all you excel nerds know you can't put 90,000 of anything in one spreadsheet. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about up to this point, don't worry- I don't either. It's just my job.

Needless to say, by the time I was "off the clock," my mind was spent. Now, let me start this next section off with a little background information. My husband works really stinking hard everyday- out in the sun- in this ridiculous heat. And this season is especially busy for him, so he's not able to help out as much at night with bath time, bed time, etc. He more than makes up for it on the weekends- and not getting to spend as much time with JM is really hard on him. So, don't mistake this as me playing the "I wish my husband would do more" card. He's awesome.

So, in this section John Michael enters the scene, stage left. He has been battling ear infections since March, and we have a consultation for ear tubes next Thursday. However, I don't think we're going to make it until next Thursday. We all might die before then. Just kidding, we won't die... I hope. Now, on top of the ear infections, we have hit some major milestones lately. He is crawling like a madman, pulling up on anything and everything, and I kid you not, this child is trying to walk. However, as exciting as that may sound, it is presenting some challenges for me in the bath and bedtime routines. He won't sit in the bathtub anymore... he insists on pulling up on the side to stand up. I tell him no, and make him sit back down on his behind, and then we start all over again. I finally get frustrated, and just take him out of the bathtub, dry him off, and then dread what I know is coming next. The changing table.

The changing table used to be JM's favorite place, but now it is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. He refuses to stay on his back, which makes it super easy to change a diaper or dress him. I started strapping him in, and believe you me, the whole neighborhood now knows how much he loves to be strapped to the changing table. So, I rush through trying to change him, put his pj's on, and then I usually end up crying in the chair while I feed him his nighttime bottle. Like I said, I know I don't have it all together, and I don't care. I tell you without reservation that by this point of the night, I am at my wit's end.

I say all of this to tell you about the breakthrough that I had tonight. After going through the extremely frustrating cycle of bedtime, I found myself laying in my own bed, crying out of desperation. I call out to God on a regular basis throughout the bedtime routine to help me, but I somehow still feel so helpless at the end of it all. Enter the Duggars, stage right. I don't care if you do or don't- I like the Duggars. If you don't know who I'm talking about, then just take a quick trip over to google and find out. Well, these people have 19 kids, and little ol' Michelle Duggar is the cutest, sweetest thing- and you just watch her and think "she's got 19 kids, but she still has hair, and doesn't break down into tears at every turn- how on earth?" Well, I happened across something she wrote which really helped put things into perspective for me. She was talking about how she was up at 1am doing laundry one night, and she just broke down into tears because she was so overwhelmed with it all. And she was crying out to the Lord to help her- that she felt so inadequate and unable to do it all. And she said that a still small voice said, "Michelle, it's easy to praise me when things are going good, but are you willing to praise me now?" And she started singing "The joy of the Lord is my strength," and experienced a release of that heaviness she felt. And days later, while sitting through the kids' piano lessons, the piano teacher asked her if she was okay (because she kept dozing off). Michelle explained that she had been up late doing laundry, and the piano teacher told her that she LOVED doing laundry, and has been helping her do the laundry ever since!

So, fast forward back to my night tonight- I'm crying, asking the Lord to help me, and I was reminded of that story. So, I started singing praises to the Lord- and I was thinking of songs I haven't heard in years and years. And it was like this incredible release happened. Now, I don't think that I won't have these same challenges tomorrow, but I AM willing to praise Him during those times. And for some reason that I cannot explain, I have comfort in that. There's comfort in knowing that even the people I think have it all together- don't. There's comfort that I'm not supposed to have it all together- or else I wouldn't need Him. And there's comfort in the fact that this dream we all have of skipping through a daisy field life without any challenges is just that... a dream. And I'm finally thankful that I realize that dream would present no growth in my life.

So, here I am. Living a real life. Breaking down like a crazy woman over things that can't be helped. But coming out of it on the other side with a tiny bit more growth each time. And if that's where you are today too, rest in the fact that you're not alone. I'm right there too- but most of all, the Lord's there.

Workin Nine to Five... What a way to make a livin...

2011-07-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

And now that you have that song in your mind (you are absolutely welcome), that pretty much sums up why it has been so long since the last blog post. Not just work work... although since I now work at home, I sort of feel like it has been all work work (in case you're wondering, that's what I call my real job). But it has also been just plain work... around the house, cooking (cough cough- just kidding, not really cooking), baby proofing the house, sick baby, sick dog... you name it, I feel like it has happened.

Let's see, where did I leave off? Father's Day you say? Wow, it HAS been a long time. Well, let's back up a tad then. John Michael has been trying to crawl for what seems like forever. But the inevitable happened, and he started to crawl exactly one week and two days ago. Here's how it all went down:

Saturday morning- John Michael simultaneously moved the arms and legs, propelling him forward
Saturday late morning- I decided that it was probably time to baby proof the house
Saturday noon- Got home and John Michael napped, while we did a little baby proofing
Saturday evening- The kid was crawling everywhere... and FAST!

Now you see him...

So, I did what any normal parent would do... I sent him back to daycare. No, just kidding. But he did go back on Monday so that he could learn some new tricks. Also on Monday, Maxwell vonSeeberg Schnauzer Sanford got into something which made him so sick that he collapsed. I rushed him to the vet and thought several times on the way that I had lost him. It was absolutely horrible- he had to stay at the vet overnight, and I couldn't stop crying the whole night. He came home on Tuesday, and we're still unsure of what it was that he got into, but we did find a black widow in our backyard this weekend- sweet. (For some reason that just made me think of staying at a Holiday Inn Express- you too?)

So, naturally, John Michael decided on Wednesday that he needed a double ear infection to top things off.

Bless his heart!

But sadly, that didn't top things off. Michael went and got himself sick too- not sure what yet, but his throat looks really bad. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, we had the BEST time on Saturday with my very best friend in the world, Amy Clarke "the performer" Davis, and her family. John Michael spent some time with his future girlfriend, Mia. And I realized how incredibly white we are next to the tan-ness that is Mia.

Such a cute couple

In other news, exactly one week after he started crawling, John Michael pulled himself up to a standing position. I can't even describe the mix of emotions over that one. I'm so excited, yet so scared... all at the same time!

What?!

But,it's only Monday, so I have no idea what this week holds... but I can guarantee you that it will be cool in some shape, form or fashion. And I'm making a mental note right now that I will do better and blog on a more consistent basis... and then I won't have to catch you up on everything in one post that's full of writing and pictures. Have a great week!!!

Father's Day... I love this man

2011-06-21T08:47:00.000-05:00

It was Michael's first Father's Day, so John Michael and I tried to make it special! In my mind, I thought, "I'll get up early and set out his gifts and keep John Michael occupied so that he can sleep in."

Well... he actually woke up well before I did, and kept John Michael occupied while I slept in. Oops. By the time I got up, I had to make him go to another part of the house so that I could set out his stuff. I had good intentions...

Anyway, John Michael (that crafty little fellow) had already given Daddy his present on Friday. He made this little box for Michael at school. Is that the sweetest picture ever of him? Props to Amy for capturing some sweet pics of our boy!

I wanted to do something sentimental for Michael, so I set out on Photoshop to create a magazine, designed and written about Michael and John Michael's times together. It turned out really cute... here are some shots of the newly released "Fathers" magazine.

I think he really liked it too- I heard him joking with his dad on the phone about how it was "the best magazine ever... cause it's all about me!" hahahahahahha- I love it!

John Michael got this onesie and said he wanted to wear it to church on Father's Day... but Michael was a little embarrassed.

John Michael watched very closely as Dad checked out his treasures.

And then they had some Father/Son time.

And then there was some Father/SonS time... you know he gets jealous.

Happy Father's Day to all new dads out there... but especially to our new dad. We love you Michael!

It was a "flip flops in the airport" kinda mornin

2011-06-14T21:49:00.000-05:00

If you don't know about the flip flops in the airport story, then you seriously don't know me at all. No really, it's hilarious! Read it here.

Now that you've refreshed yourself on the calamities that follow me in any given situation... that's sort of like what my morning was like today. I woke up at 4:45 to the sound of my husband's phone alarm going off, but there was no husband to be found. Turns out he fell asleep watching tv/reading on the couch last night. So, I went and woke him up (why yes, I am nice- anyone else need a personal wake up call at 4:45am?) to let him know that his alarm was going off. So, I took his phone to him so that he could snooze a little longer. About 5am, his alarm clock on the side table went off. So, I turned it off too. About that time, John Michael started stirring, so I went ahead and fixed a bottle and went in to feed him.

Baby fed... check. Baby back in bed... check. Was my bed still looking appealing at this point? You bet your sweet potatoes it was.

I crawled back into bed as Michael finished getting ready, kissed me goodbye, and left. It was about five minutes later when Max jumped off the bed, and I heard him start throwing up under the bed. I always love it when he throws up UNDER the bed. It's so easy to clean up under there.

Dog outside... check. Throw up cleaned up... check. Did I want to throw up at this point? You bet your sweet and sour sauce I did.

Michael called to say that he had forgotten his cell phone, and asked if I could drop it by on my way in. No problem... I pass right by there. So, I got ready for work (because I actually had to go into the office today- boss in town) and went to wake up John Michael to get him ready as well. Too late- he was already up and crying because he'd wet the bed. Wet the bed you ask? Yes, wet the bed. He likes to sleep on his stomach now, and I don't care what kind of diaper you are, you ain't holding that baby's tinkle without leaking. He was super upset about wetting the bed. I told him that it was okay- that I used to wet the bed all the time too. Bless his heart.

Got him ready to go- he was looking so cute. Walked to the dining room to put him in his carrier and BLAM, he threw up all over me.

Second outfit of the day before 7:00am... check. Baby who managed to miss himself completely... check. Did I want to cry at this point? You bet your sweet tea I did.

I loaded up the babe and set out for daycare. My cell rang about the time I got to 280... crap- I forgot Michael's cell phone. So, I turned around to go back to the house to get it. Little did I know that Maude in front of me had eggs in the car- she could only go 12 mph. Bless her heart. I finally got home, and low and behold... I couldn't find the cell phone anywhere! Seriously, I thought Michael ate it on the way out the door, because that cell phone was gone!

So, I left again for daycare- clearly later than my planned departure. So, I called my buddy Polly to let her know that I was running late. I'm sure my boss who flew in to meet with me today thought it was cool. No seriously, he's like the nicest man on earth. He understood. But, you guessed it... got behind Ethel on the way back, and yes, she had eggs in the car too.

Baby at daycare... check. Office cleaned out and boss met with... check. Was I tired by the time my boss left for the airport? You bet your sweet baby pickes I was.

Oh and Michael's phone? Yeah, he found it in our closet when he got home from work today. Ha.... Ha.... Ha.... what a day.

Jumpin' Jack Flash...

2011-06-12T21:19:00.000-05:00

Is the gas, gas, gas! I LOVED that song when I was little... mainly because the word "gas" was in it. My brother and I used to sing that song, and then we'd laugh and laugh and laugh about the gas part. Okay, that was really three days ago, but the point is, it's still one of my favorites to this day!

So, naturally, when I wanted to put together a little movie action of JM in his bouncy excersaucer, I thought, "What better song than Jumping Jack Flash could I use?!"

You've seen "Piano Man," now put your hands together for the one... the only... JUMPIN' JACK FLASH!

(I promise it's worth watching the whole thing- the end is classic)

(Tip: Expand to full screen so that you can read the subtitles)

Jumpin' Jack Flash from Kay Sanford on Vimeo.

6 months, a wedding, and more...

2011-06-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

Wondering where I've been?! Well... let me try to recap what all has happened since my last post. My best friend from Selma got married on April 30th! (Okay, technically this happened before my last post, but to be fair, I meant for this to be in the last post- it just didn't make sense with Teacher Appreciation Week) Mrs. Clay Fuller Ziegler married Mr. Bryan Ziegler, and I have to say... that was one GREAT wedding. She was the most beautiful bride, and of course in true "Byrd" fashion, it was laid back and turned out to be one of the most enjoyable weddings I've ever been a part of. In fact, I enjoyed myself so much, that I forgot to take pictures during any part of the weekend except for the Bridesmaid Luncheon.

Here's Byrd with some of her lovely bridesmaids.

The lunch was outside at Suzie Q Kirkpatrick's house- what a great hostess. It was actually her birthday, so the bride had a sweet little surprise for her.

We had our own table out front with these awesome lunch boxes.

Since the wedding, we have been full-swing in ear infections. I actually think that John Michael has had the same ear infection since early April. Almost every weekend, we're either at the open doctor's office, or we're praying and counting down the hours until 8am Monday morning. This past month alone, John Michael has had an ear infection, the stomach bug (which he passed around to all of us, including Michael's sister Beth who came to help us), and bronchiolitis. We're talking about getting tubes, but we're trying to hold out until the fall so that JM can make it through two winters with them in.

But that sweet little guy doesn't let sickness hold him down. Even in the midst of having the stomach bug, he would throw up all over me and then look at me and smile. And not in a mischievous way- it was a sweet smile like he was saying, "I'm okay Momma."

He's a little over 6 months now, so we're now really getting into the solid foods. He's been eating solids for a couple of months, but I think now he's just discovered how much he loves food. And he'll eat anything- vegetable, fruit... not sure about the meats just yet though. He reaches for his bottle and pulls it toward his mouth- two nights ago, I let go of it and he fed himself for about 2 minutes... and then dropped it. He rolls everywhere, is trying to crawl (although he hasn't figured out to work the legs and arms at the same time), is somewhat steady sitting up by himself, and he LOVES to bounce in his excersaucer- more on that in the next post.

We noticed how much he loved the bouncy seat at daycare, so we got him his own "recliner" for home. (Warning: picture quality from here on out is terrible... haven't had the camera handy)

He's also sitting up straight in his high chair now, and will throw his ball down while I'm fixing his dinner... sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for that game to begin- you know that game- I'll throw it down and you pick it up 12,000 times... yeah, seriously, the suspense is killing me.

He's in size 2 dipes, wears anywhere between 6-9 month clothes, smiles, laughs, plays with his feet ALL THE TIME, and stares and smiles at Max (and sometimes gets his hands on the whiskers and holds on tight- Max has been WONDERFUL with him though).

He pushes up all the way on his arms while on his tummy, has a funny quirk of tapping one foot on the other leg while taking a bottle, crosses his feet at the ankles while sleeping/swinging/carseat riding/anything, puts everything in his mouth, sucks on one of his washcloths in the bathtub, sucks his thumb, loves any and all blankets, and is one perceptive little guy. We even went on our first outing to the pool... he loves "fimmin in the waddie," although we only got a picture in our fimmin trunks.

In the middle of being sick every other week, I'd say he's one happy fella. And boy do we love him!

I'll let you end on a little video I like to call "Piano Man." The next post will feature "Jumpin Jack Flash."

Piano Man from Kay Sanford on Vimeo.

It's Teacher Appreciation Week!

2011-05-04T22:38:00.000-05:00

Last week when I picked up John Michael from daycare, there was a note on his daily sheet about this week being Teacher Appreciation Week. After I consulted the daycare calendar for May, I discovered that each day included something different for John Michael to do for his teachers. (Side note: If any of JM's teachers are reading this and it's not Thursday yet, go away and come back tomorrow. You don't want to ruin your surprise do you?)

So, back to the calendar...

Tuesday's project was for John Michael to make a homemade card for his teacher. Well, JM has three teachers. He would have made his own cards, but Monday really wore him out. So, I helped. :)

Each teacher got something different inside, specific to them.

John Michael felt that cards would go really well with a banner, so we did one of those too. :)

Wednesday's project was for John Michael to bring a snack/treat for his teacher. Since the ingredients for our snack/treat of choice don't come in packages of three, we made enough for all the teachers, helpers, and I think even the owners got to take one home.

If you can't read the back, it's just instructions on how to make their yummy treat.

Thursday's project is for John Michael to bring a flower to his teacher. Well... I thought about this one for awhile... and then I thought about it some more. And I finally decided that I didn't want to give a flower that would most likely not even make it through the whole day. So, I googled how to make a fabric flower. Let's just say that I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand to make it their way. So, I improvised.

A couple of bamboo skewers, some fabric, and a little bit of Mod Podge later, we had some flowers.

Yeah, I'm super fancy with my Momma G's cup as a vase.

Friday, we get to stay a bit and have a muffin in the morning to celebrate Mother's Day. I can't wait! Have you thanked a teacher this week?

He Is Risen Indeed!

2011-04-24T23:04:00.000-05:00

In preparation for the Resurrection, John Michael wore his "First Easter (bunnies on the feet)" outfit to daycare last week. Thanks Aunt B! He was a hit!

We decided to spend Easter in Selma, and Kalee and I have been trying to get together for some time now, so we thought Easter weekend would be perfect. Turns out, it was Hottie's birthday, so we had a cookout- JM had a blast (and so did we)!

We spent Saturday with Nana, Paw Paw, Stephen, Rebecca, and Bradford- and had our first Easter egg hunt. JM had fun with his one egg. :)

But he had even more fun with his cousin, Bradford.

Then Easter Sunday came, and we were excited!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

A Time for Firsts

2011-04-09T18:29:00.000-05:00

It's so funny how people tell you how kids grow so fast, and you hear them, but it doesn't really sink in until you watch your own. It seemed like one morning we woke up, and John Michael had grown SO MUCH overnight. We have experienced so many "firsts" recently, so I thought I'd share.

This isn't really a first, but it was too cute not to include. He loves looking at the baby in the mirror.

He started playing on his excersaucer. When I picked him up from daycare one day, he was playing in one there, so I got ours out, and put him in it. He seems to really enjoy it.

But his feet don't really touch yet.

He had his first solids as well. We started out on carrots. Gotta love the big orange mess.

Today we took our first trip to the park, and he took his first ride in a big boy swing. I noticed him checking out some older women to the side...

And then they swooned. He's already a chick magnet.

But then they left and we were sad.

But he's too cool for them anyway.

Other updates: he's rolling from his back to stomach, he's enjoying his stroller because he gets to ride facing forward now, and our last appointments with all doctors went really well. He laughs alot now, and I love acting silly just to get a cute little smile or laugh out of him. I'll let you end on some really cute ones.

Daycare, Sickness, and the Like

2011-03-29T19:29:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I haven't posted this yet, but JM started daycare two weeks ago. I really wasn't sure how I was going to respond leaving him in the hands of people that I don't know that well. But, surprisingly, it went really well. Plus, I was so busy at work that I really didn't have that much time to sit and think about it. He still has a lot of doctors' appointments, so I've been getting him to daycare very early so that I can get into work and make up my time (since maternity leave depleted ALL of my personal days).

Here he is on his first "commute" into daycare. Cracks me up how he is such an observer. Don't worry, I was at a red light.

Once we got to daycare, I was sort of relieved to leave him with Mrs. Amy. She's so nice, and she seems to love John Michael. She says that she takes him outside to watch the big kids play, and tells me how he watches all the other babies in the nursery. I think he really likes her too, although you can't really tell from this picture.

She was just telling me yesterday about how funny he is when the other babies are being loud. For instance, he doesn't like it if he's eating and another baby starts crying. He'll stop and look around at the baby as if to say, "Do you mind? I'm eating here."

All I know is that he's exhausted by the time he gets home, so he must be having a big time! He got his first snot and ear infection after the first week though. I was curious how long it would take for that to show up, and it only took a week. He got his four month shots today, and was such a big boy. Our pediatrician said that we can start introducing fruits and vegetables now, since he's already been doing the rice cereal for reflux.

We go to the GI doctor and back to see the surgeon next week. Hopefully we'll get good reports at both!

My Inspiration Today

2011-03-25T09:07:00.000-05:00

I'm really into prints today. Like this one for example, from A Cup of Jo.

And if I can just figure out a creative way to use this picture I snapped in NYC, I'll be set!

These are a few of my favorite things!

2011-03-19T20:42:00.001-05:00

All of the updates lately have been medically related, and I haven't updated on John Michael's milestones. Michael and I were talking about this last night, because it seems like all of the milestones have appeared all in a matter of a couple of days- and we think it's because he's making up for lost time from being in the hospital, and having to spend a lot of time in his bed/swing/makeshift hospital bed.

So, I wanted to take some time to talk about the things that he has started to do. Now, at 14 weeks old, he very easily rolls over from stomach to back- when we first saw this a long time ago, we thought we were making it up, but he's definitely doing it. He's working on rolling over from back to stomach- which I'll be honest- kind of scares me. I go in to get him in the mornings, and he is all over that crib! I haven't found him on his stomach yet, but I did find him on his side this morning- and he was turned sideways.

JM really enjoys playtime now too. He's able to grab things, and is already starting to put some things in his mouth. His hands are the main mouth inhabitants right now. He also likes to experiment with his voice- loudly. It can quickly turn to a cry though, so we have to be on our toes. He has also taken an interest in the tv. And this is one of those things that I used to say I would not do. But I'll be honest- I ate those words quickly. With all of the colic, reflux, and post operative care... I'm doing alot of things that I said I wouldn't before.

He loves bath time! He's starting to splash around with his feet, and we play games with the washcloth.

He loves his Bubba! Max still runs his "suicides" as I call them. JM will watch him run back and forth, back and forth. Max kisses his head, and sometimes I catch JM looking at Max and smiling.

He loves visits. We had a great visit with Sherri and Jessica today- and he looks forward to getting to hang with Aunt Jessi more in the future.

He loves hangin with Dad. I took a much needed nap this afternoon, and woke up to JM and Dad in their "recliners."

And what's my favorite thing right now? These little things!!!

Eeeeeeeeeee! Are these not the cutest little things you've ever seen?!! Oh, I could just kiss his little feet all day. And when you get a response like this, how could you refuse?

13 Weeks and Catching Up!

2011-03-13T23:10:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since my last blog post, but I think after reading this, you'll know why.
When John Michael was born, he had a mass on his behind- literally almost blocking his rectum. The doctors all seemed baffled, so they called Children's Hospital to get a surgeon over to look at him. That surgeon was Dr. Beierle, who has become one of the greatest people Michael and I know. She said that she thought it was a hemangioma, and that we would keep an eye on it to see what it did- thinking that it would go away on its own. After many visits to Children's Hospital, we started noticing that it was getting bigger. Dr. Beierle said that there was a treatment for hemangiomas- basically treating JM with beta blockers- which would reduce it and make it go away. So, we had to have a biopsy done in order to make 100% sure that's what it was, and then we would continue with the treatment. At that time, the biopsy was going to be the hardest part, because it would involve anesthesia, surgery, and alot of post-op care because of where the mass was.
After the biopsy, we went home and JM slept the majority of those first two days. But when he woke up, the screaming began. I think Michael and I took him to the doctor twice that week because we just couldn't console him. But nobody had an answer for what was wrong with him- everyone pointed to everyone else.
A week went by and we had not heard the biopsy results, so we called. They told us that the pathologist wanted to send it off to another lab for more stains, and that the results would be another week. Cue worry, stage left.
After the second week went by, Dr. Beierle called to give us the results. It wasn't a hemangioma after all. It was a rhabdomyoma- or benign tumor. However, there are only two cases in the English speaking world of this showing up where it did. So unfortunately, medicine wasn't going to make it go away. We would have to schedule him for surgery.
By this point, I was getting closer and closer to the time that I had to go back to work. We scheduled his surgery for the Thursday before I was to return to work (my first day back would be a Wednesday). We arrived at Children's Hospital at 6am, and sometime mid-morning, they took him back. He had only been allowed pedialyte from midnight until 4am, and we were trying to prepare ourselves for the days to come as he wouldn't be allowed anything for at least 48 hours after the surgery (as to reduce bowel movements). We stayed at Children's until Sunday when we were allowed to go home. The first three days were hard but blessed, because we had the BEST nurse on the planet, Nina. Our last day was pretty bad. He threw up everywhere, and our nurse that day was less than helpful. Michael and I were nervous about taking him home, but we bit the bullet and decided that we had to. I mean, really, we had to- what else were we going to do?
Monday and Tuesday were usual post-op days. Michael and I spent our time figuring out all of the new meds that JM was going to have to take. I tried to write out as much as I could because we would have family coming to keep JM starting Wednesday (when I started back at work). Wednesday was fine. I didn't know how I would be my first day back at work, but I did surprisingly well. Thursday was when it all started again. My mom was keeping JM and she and I had noticed blood in his diaper that morning. After calling back and forth with the surgeon, we took him in. Turns out his stitches had busted loose, but there really was no way to stitch him back up again. So we were given instructions to keep the area as clean as humanly possible- which would now include at least two baths a day. I worked from home so that I could be here to help, instead of just handing him off to family members.
And that brings us to tonight. He is currently in and out of sleep in his crib- I think the time change messed him up. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning to see if he's healed up at all. The plan right now is to probably keep him out of daycare for another week and let family keep him at home. But, we'll see what the doctor says in the morning.
This post has probably jumped all around, and if so, I apologize. At this point, keeping a thought straight is like being in a one-legged kick starting contest. Here are some pictures of our journey through the hospital.

Before he went back for surgery

After surgery- very swollen

With Nina, the best nurse and friend!

The day we got home from the hospital

His makeshift hospital bed at home

A Time for a Baptism

2011-02-21T15:34:00.000-06:00

John Michael was baptized on Sunday, February 20. And... he slept through the night for the first time the night before his baptism!!! He makes lots of noises through the night as he sleeps, so I didn't freak out when I woke up at 6am after putting him to bed at 9pm the night before. But, here's what the week was like before this wonderful marked occasion.

Michael and I didn't really do anything for Valentine's Day on Monday. We're not big celebrators of the day to begin with- but add a colicky, one week out from minor surgery infant to the mix- you forget that it's anything other than "survive through this day so that we can sleep" day. Plus, Michael came home from work saying that he didn't really feel that well. He was achy, and although he forced down some chicken pot pie that I made, I knew he wasn't hungry.

Tuesday morning... stomach virus elite arrived. I say it that way because Michael wasn't the only one who was sick. No, no, no... our little bug was spared. But Max on the other hand had left several presents on the rug in the living room. Our rug is light blue with ivory and brown looking "branches" on it. Needless to say, these presents blended in with the brown branches on the rug. So... while Michael thought that he had cleaned up all of the presents, I found several more as the day went on.

I quarantined Michael and Max in the guest bedroom together, and that's where they stayed all week long. Michael had a balanced diet of Saltines and Gatorade... and Max was fine after Tuesday, but he pretended to be sick just so that he could stay with dad all week.

John Michael on the other hand, decided that this was the week to cry the hardest he's ever cried! After taking him to the pediatrician for the 8,547th time, and being told something different for the 8,547th time, I was a basket case. Plus, with the crying being the worst it had been, and having Michael quarantined and not able to help at all... I thought I was going to die. But, we made it through the week, and we were all still alive by Saturday, so we packed up and headed to Selma.

Michael took off with John Michael, and my parents and I headed to Orrville to visit a sweet, dear family who just suffered the loss of a family member. Once we all got back, Paw Paw and Nana played with John Michael- and he was doing so well. In fact, it was the least amount of crying I had ever seen from him (Paw Paw insists that this is because of him). JM got a bath and went down to sleep in a crib that my mom has in the back bedroom of their house. And, he slept all night!

We got up at 6am Sunday morning, had breakfast, and all got ready for the baptism. John Michael wore the Christening gown that my brother and I both wore, as well as my nephew Bradford. You can see my earlier post of embroidering that gown here. He did so well, and only cried a little bit. Here are some pictures from the day.

John Michael with mom and dad

with Bishop Chuck Jones

And with Father Craig Stull

JM slept through the night last night once we got back to Birmingham too! And since last weekend, it's been all smiles and playtime. Here's our sweet baby boy at 10 weeks old.

Trying our hand at the Bumbo seat- not quite ready yet

On the changing table, my favorite place to be!

Mom's so funny!

Playing on my activity mat- I love these hanging things!

We're doing much better, to say the least. We have a week of outings planned so that we can take full advantage of this amazing weather before I have to go back to work. I hope that this all means that one day soon I can say, "The colic came quickly into our lives, and it left as quick as it came."

A Time to Organize- Part 2

2011-02-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

And here's the more ~~OCD-ness~~ particular-ness (is that a word?) of my "day of organization" documentation. This is actually something I've been doing for awhile, but I just decided to document it during my organizational scamper.

For any of you out there who don't know this, Dr. Brown's bottles are the BEST for babies who have stomach/gas issues. There are a lot of parts to these bottles though. I've found that in the middle of the night, when JM is waking up hungry and the crying is getting more intense... making a bottle in record time is a MUST! So, here's my lineup.

The kitchen island serves as a bottle making/medicine dispensing station. Over to the right, we have nursery water and rice cereal. In the middle is a pre-made bottle with the proper amount of water in it. Then over to the left is the formula powder, medicine, measuring spoons, and my handy dandy little dispenser.

We have to use Gentlease for JM's tummy, plus he gets reflux medicine twice a day.

Since we have to add rice cereal to all of JM's bottles, it is impossible to make a bottle in a timely fashion, and more than that, I can't add the cereal without spilling it everywhere (the tablespoon is bigger than the top of the bottle, so it ALWAYS spills). So, I pre-mix the formula and rice cereal in this little dispenser, so that when it's time to make the bottle, all I do is pour. Shout out to Mary Ann for this little purchase!

When my bottles are all dry from hand washing...

I pre-fill them with the proper amount of water and then set them out just so.

Then I attach the other parts and set them up on the drying rack so that I can grab them quickly WHILE I'm shaking the bottle to mix the water and formula together.

And there you have it. I admit that I have a problem. But, it sure does make things easier... especially at 3am when my eyes are barely open to put everything together AND get to JM in a timely fashion. Try it- seriously- try it and see if it doesn't shave some time off of your bottle making. Or maybe there's something else that you do that is slightly OCD... but maybe you're too embarrassed to admit it. Don't be embarrassed! Embrace your extreme organization! And that, my friends, is me making myself feel better. :)

A Time to Organize- Part 1

2011-02-09T09:00:00.001-06:00

OCD Kay is baaaaaaack! There are some slight ~~OCD~~ "particular" tendencies that never left, but I just finally felt the need to organize the kitchen. Maybe it's all the time I have at home. Maybe it's the fact that JM took a day off from crying to allow me to do something else. Maybe it's the fact that I felt like if I didn't do something soon, that I'd end up on an episode of Hoarders. Whatever the reason, it's done. And now, I'm taking bets on how long you think it'll last. :)

First thing that HAD to be done before I could do anything else was cleaning, purging, and organizing the end of our kitchen counter. Here are some before pictures.

I've decided as the first course of action that I'm going to put "Return to Sender" on all credit card applications that come to me from now on. I may even do that with all junk mail from now on. I'm sick of it! Half the reason we have so much stuff on the end of the counter is because of all the junk mail that I feel the need to shred because I don't like throwing away anything with my name and address on it. And the decision to return all junk mail feels quite liberating to me. So, there you have it.

Second course of action was to come up with something to put all of my coupons together in one place. I want to save money, especially on things like formula and baby items, so I needed to find something- luckily I had an old check box in the office, so I made that into my coupon box. I know, I'm super fancy.

I threw a BUNCH of stuff away, shredded a ton of mail, and moved some things around (like putting the recipe books and box up on the upper counter, and scooting the canisters down). After all was said and done, this was the new end of the kitchen counter!

Look at that open countertop! It actually has one less item on it now, as I ended up using that side canister in the pantry. Oh, and speaking of the pantry, I organized that too. Exceeeeeeept, I forgot to take before pictures. So, just imagine the most unorganized and messy looking pantry. And then here are the after shots.

I may even add labels if I ever get around to it. Ahhhhhhhh... I'm tired now. Stay tuned for Part 2, which is a tad more OCD and a little less organizational.

A Time for Creativity

2011-02-07T09:55:00.000-06:00

Oh, the creative juices are flowing! I can't help it, I'm just so stinking creative. Okay, just kidding. I don't know if losing brain cells during pregnancy and childbirth also goes for losing your creativity too, but lately, I've been struggling to even get a shower everyday... much less be creative! Buuuuuuuuuut, I do know some people who are EXTREMELY creative. Okay, that's a lie too. I don't actually know them. I follow their blog, so I guess you could say I stalk them? Well, maybe it's not that severe. A LOT of people follow this blog, and I can totally see why. Um, it's because they're AMAZING! Yes, I'm using a lot of CAPS in this post.
Anyway, shout out to John and Sherry Petersik, the authors of Young House Love- my favorite blog. They are serious DIY'ers and just reading their blog makes me feel somewhat empowered to tackle any job around my house- and to jump in feet first and make something myself. So, with that being said... what do these items all have in common?

They're the ingredients to the new mobile I put up in John Michael's nursery. I never bought a mobile because the ones I thought were reasonable in price just weren't my style. My style is more along the lines of the ones that have a hefty price tag.
But that's when I saw the mobile that John and Sherry made to go in their daughter Clara's room. They also posted instructions on how to make your own version. So, with a little 1, 2, 3... I made two to go up in JM's nursery. And, I decided to hang them from the air vent in his room in hopes that our air/heater might stir up a little action for them. Well, probably not. I think it's more the fact that I have some unreasonable fear of putting holes in the wall/ceiling/cabinet. I'm getting better about it, but in the meantime, I'm just going to tie them to the air vent. They do have a nice twirling action going on though. Here's my final product!

And here's my trusty assistant, Maxwell vonSeeberg Schnauzer Sanford, posing with the finished product. He held the ladder while I hung them. You should comment on how nice you think his new haircut looks- seriously- he got his feelings hurt because he thought nobody liked his new do. Nana had to Skype him last night just to make him feel better.

Mine don't look as cool as the Petersik's, and I could only get two done- which I know goes against all decorating rules (hang/organize things in odd numbers). Who cares- I'm a decorating REBEL! Or I have a baby with colic... whichever one you want to go with.
But I think it'd be cool to chill in my crib and look up at this view.

Stay tuned as I share in my next post about getting organized... and my OCD tendencies. But, let's not call it OCD. Let's just call it... particular.

A Time for Friends!

2011-02-03T11:19:00.000-06:00

John Michael is 8 weeks old today, and he's really starting to come out of his shell. He loves playing on his activity mat with his daddy. They just play and JM smiles and gets praised every time he touches the rattle. He's rolling over which is insane to me- but I put him down on his stomach the other day, and walked over to the other side of the room to get a rattle- and when I turned around he was on his back! Maybe Max has been helping him with that. :) It has happened several times though. But he's holding his head up alot, and we're able to get him to stay on his tummy for longer periods of time.

Last weekend, we were so blessed to get to spend some time with our friends Woody and Kristen. They brought their adorable son Foster along, who is a couple of months older than John Michael. I think JM was a little jealous of how much hair Foster had.

Foster is such a cutie! I got tickled at one point because JM had been in a cranky mood, so he was swinging in his little swing (which is usually the only thing we can do to calm him down). We were playing with Foster, and I looked over at JM, who looked like he was in time-out over in the swing. It was really funny. After daddy fed him though, he was a little more sociable.

Somehow I caught Foster making some really funny expressions- he looks a little nervous in the one above. And then this one cracked me up so much, I just had to share...

It was so nice to be with friends and get to hang out a little, share stories, and just catch up. We had not had a chance to meet Foster yet because I was SOOOOO pregnant when he was born, and then he was still so new when JM was born. So needless to say, this was a welcomed visit for us all.

One other thing that has been happening this past week has been the mysterious "changing of the sounds" from JM's sleep sheep. He loves his sleep sheep, so much so that we have two of them... one for the crib and one for traveling. But we usually set the sheep on "rain" and it goes off by itself within a certain period of time. Michael and I laugh at the "heartbeat" and "whale" settings, but we don't ever use those unless we're playing a joke on each other. However, the other day, JM was swinging with his sleep sheep set on "rain" as usual. All of a sudden the rain stopped, and I heard whales speaking and singing in our den. After I busted out laughing, I changed it back to rain. But, it has happened several times now, so either JM really likes the whales and is changing the sounds himself, or we need to sprinkle some holy water on ol' sleep sheep #2. Regardless, I found JM petting sleep sheep yesterday, and it was so cute!

Next week's post will hopefully include a little nursery project I've been thinking about. Stay tuned...

7 weeks

2011-01-27T20:57:00.000-06:00

I got a surprise in the mail today! I ordered some pictures to put in frames around the house. If you're not on Facebook, then you probably haven't seen the professional pictures that the amazingly talented Jessica Wright took of our sweet boy.
And if you are on Facebook, well, you get to see them again. :) Can't post them all because that would take FOREVER- well, not really forever- but every moment is gold in this house until JM starts crying again. So, I'll start with the ones I ordered for the house- and then add in a few more of my faves. These were all taken when he was just a wee two weeks old. What a handsome lil fella!

Documenting the big stuff (or the little stuff)

2011-01-26T10:43:00.002-06:00

For those of you who follow this blog, I need to back up and explain something. I realize that I never explained my purpose for this blog, although I was thinking it in my head. Since John Michael's arrival, I have been documenting each week with him, talking about the good and the bad, in hopes that I'll be able to look back at this one day and remember it all. I may even print all of these posts out one day and put them in his baby book. But I want to remember everything- not just the good things. So, I plan to be brutally honest in this blog- as if I wasn't before. :) But, I don't want you to get the feeling that I am complaining, or whining, or anything else for that matter. I am simply documenting every thought, feeling, moment, and event. Some things will be interesting for others- some may only be interesting to me. So, with that all being said, here are a couple of things I want to remember that I have forgotten to blog:

January 13, 2011- 4:00am feeding

I went into the nursery for our usual feeding time, and everything was just as it always was. However, this particular feeding was exciting to me because it was the first time that I changed JM's diaper in the dark without turning on his lamp. This was a big deal to me because turning on the lamp inevitably made JM want to get up for the day, and I would have a hard time getting him back to sleep. When I returned to bed, Michael asked if everything went okay, and thus one of the funniest conversations occurred.
Michael: Was everything okay?
Me: I successfully changed his diaper in the dark.
Michael: Really? How did you do that?
Me: I didn't turn any lights on.
PAUSE
Michael: Really Kay? I feel like I'm in the movie Airplane right now.

January 26, 2011- 7:00am

This was actually this morning, but I felt like putting the date above it anyway to keep things looking uniform (OCD much?).
I fed JM at 6:00am, and put him down to go back to sleep around 6:30. Somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30, I heard him starting to stir. Normally, he starts to stir and it immediately turns into crying, and I will go get him and either feed him (if it's time for that), or soothe him, give him his pacifier, etc. But today was different. After the stirring, he started to coo. It was the cutest thing, because it was like for the first time, he discovered his voice and was starting to have fun with it. I stayed in bed, listening to this in the monitor for about 15 to 20 minutes, as his "AHHHHH" changed inflection, going from low to high pitch and back down. Or the "Ooooooooo, ugh." Or a loud "AH!" After about 15-20 minutes, it started to turn into a cry, but it still wasn't a full cry. I have to say it was the cutest thing I've ever heard. Even as I sit here typing, he's doing it again from his swing. Except this time he has the hiccups- so the cooing gets interrupted every now and then.

That's all I can remember today that I wanted to make sure I got down in print before it left me again. :)

6 weeks

2011-01-23T14:18:00.001-06:00

John Michael turned 6 weeks old last Thursday, and it's amazing how much he has already changed. The colic is in full swing now... (our doctor said it would peak between 6 and 8 weeks). We've had three pretty rough days in a row, and I think it's safe to assume that Gripe Water makes our son gripe, instead of taking it away. Everytime we've used it, the crying has gone from bad to worse- so I think we're going to put it away for good.
He has started smiling alot more though, so that makes the good times even better. He's so cute when he smiles- I could just eat him up. We're starting to have a little more fun with his clothes too. He's already wearing three month onesies- and this kid is SO TALL. I know, I know- I have no idea where he gets that from.
When we went to the doctor last Wednesday, he weighed 10 lbs, 4 oz. And they sprung his first set of shots on me. We were set to get those in February, but they decided to go ahead and do them since we were already there. I think it was better that way, because I didn't have time to worry. I also don't know if I handled it well because I'm just so used to the crying, or what. But, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. He didn't really cry that long, and he slept alot when we got home. That was nice.
JM is really starting to enjoy his activity mat alot more- which is great because it's one trick in the bag that we use for fussiness. Other tricks are the swing, walking around the house, singing Barbra's greatest hits, Beatles lullabies, classical lullabies, car rides, sleep sheep, the fan, and so on and so on. Seriously, anything that we can think of, we will try.
But, we're hoping that things will get better soon in that department. In the meantime, here are some recent pictures that make me smile.

A Time for Firsts

2011-01-17T00:13:00.000-06:00

I'm sure there will be many more firsts, but today we took our first stroll around the neighborhood in the stroller. John Michael slept the whole time, and then woke up just as soon as we hit the garage. But, it was worth it just to get out and get a little exercise.

As an update from the last post, we went to the pediatrician's office last week hoping for some relief. We were told that JM has colic and reflux, and now we have a prescription for zantac and we're adding rice cereal to his bottles. He still gets fussy, but I'm thinking that maybe things are getting better. I don't want to speak too soon because every time I think it's getting better we have a really bad day. But, he seems to be sleeping better- and for longer periods of time. This picture is horrible in quality, but it just shows that sometimes we don't even make it all the way through our bottle before dozing off.

He's just the sweetest little guy though. We've gotten over our dislike of outfits going over the head. I figured we needed to get used to that since he can't wear snap down the front onesies forever. :( He's also starting to smile alot more. Not at me though- just random things, like the blinds, or the fan. It's still really cute though. And he LOVES his daddy! Something about Michael just seems to calm him (and me for that matter). I love watching them together, and seeing how small John Michael looks in comparison to Michael's hand, or face. It's incredible really. I think I'm still in awe that JM is our child- that we're parents- that God has entrusted us with this precious life. The past five weeks have been crazy and wonderful all at the same time. I can't believe he's already going to be six weeks old this Thursday. Well, I'll leave you with another really bad quality picture, but a cute one all the same. (He loves sleeping with those arms up- and will Houdini his arms out of the sleep sack) Night night!

4 weeks!

2011-01-07T15:37:00.000-06:00

How did four weeks already go by? I guess in the midst of midnight feedings, Christmas, New Years, and doctors' appointments... it just flew by! There's so much to report on, but for fear that I will make this post eons long, I'll try to stick to just a couple of subjects.

First of all, we've had to change formula three times! We started out on just the regular newborn formula, and then had to switch to gentlease because of fussiness. Then we had to switch to soy because the gentlease wasn't helping. Then the soy caused some digestion issues, so we switched again to nutramigen. This has helped with the digestion- however, the fussiness is still in full swing. BUT, we have some good times too, so we're not crazy just yet.

As far as I can tell for the first month, here are some of John Michael's likes and dislikes:

Likes
The picture of Chicago above the couch
Any and all fans in the house
His swing
His sleep sheep
Eating
Strategically peeing on mom and dad while changing- and catching the wall in the stream if possible
When mom sings Barbra's "The Way We Were"
The changing table
Car rides
Classical music
Max

Dislikes
His back rubbed
Going to sleep sometimes
Afternoons
Any outfit that goes over his head
Initially getting into the carseat

We're exhausted... but he's such a cutie, so it really is worth it! Here's a picture of him at 4 weeks.

John Michael- A Birth Story

2010-12-18T21:58:00.001-06:00

If you've known me for any length of time, you'll know that there is always a story. So, why would John Michael's arrival be any different? I held onto the hopes that the labor and delivery would be smooth- but I think that in the back of my mind, I knew that wouldn't be the case. And so it begins...

Wednesday, December 8th, was my due date. I had been to the doctor on Tuesday, only to find out that there was no progression, and that I would have to wait another week. But on Wednesday, I thought things were taking a different turn. I woke up with contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart. I called Michael and told him that he needed to come home, and that I was going to call the doctor's office. They wanted me to come into the office first so that they could check me- so I did. And guess what? No dilation. The doctor told me I was in pre-labor and sent me back home. He said that we could walk around the mall and try to "walk him out." My parents were already on the way to Birmingham, so I just told them to meet us at Brookwood mall. We had lunch and proceeded to walk around the mall- all the while I'm having contractions and stopping every so often to deal with the pain. After about an hour of walking, nothing had changed, so I decided to give up and go home.

Once we got back home, the contractions were getting stronger and more unbearable, so we called the doctor back. He told us to meet him at labor and delivery, so off we went. I was admitted, even though there was still no dilation. They said they would give me something for pain so that I could sleep peacefully through the night and be "fresh and ready" for labor the following day. So, I got a shot of morphine around 7pm, and tried to settle in for the night. The nurse told my parents to go on home, as she was sure that labor wouldn't really begin until the following morning... "after dawn" she said. So, they went home. Around 11pm, the contractions were getting pretty bad so I asked Michael to go find the nurse. My original nurse had gone down the hall to help deliver another baby, so I had another nurse come in. She asked if I wanted a pill, and I told her that I would take whatever she would give me. Well, it was an ambien. At the time, I really didn't think about it- I mean, ambien is supposed to help you sleep, so maybe I could then sleep through the pain. Not so.

Around midnight, I was making so much noise in our room that I told Michael the people next to us were going to think I was having a natural delivery. My original nurse finally came in and asked if anyone had checked me since her last check on me at 6pm. I told her no, she checked me, and informed me that I was 5cm dilated. As she rushed out to get the materials for an epidural, my water broke. When the anesthesiologist showed up, I finally got my epidural. That was the least amount of pain the whole night. At this point in the evening, Michael had now called my parents (who had just gotten into bed) to tell them that I was 5cm, water broken, getting an epidural. They got dressed and got back in the car for yet another drive.

It seemed like the next thing I knew, my nurse was saying something about me passing 9cm- and that it was time to push. I have no idea how long that lasted, but I do remember getting an oxygen mask at some point because they were concerned about John Michael's heart rate. In between pushing, they told me to breathe deeply in the oxygen mask and rest. Problem was... I kept falling asleep because of the ambien. Michael kept waking me up, but I couldn't stop. The morphine and ambien were just too much for me.

Finally, I realized that John Michael was not moving past a certain point, because everyone seemed concerned. My doctor told me that we had a couple of options... he could use the forceps and if John Michael didn't come with the next push, that we were going to have to get a c-section. I told him to do whatever he needed to do, so out came the forceps. Luckily, the next push did the trick, but as John Michael made his debut, the doctor realized that he was wrapped three times in the umbilical cord. Once around the neck, once around the waist, and once around the leg. However, because of the Lord's amazing grace, he was fine. He was born on Thursday, December 9th at 4:20am- and he was 7lbs, 6oz, and 22 inches long.

So here we are a little over a week later, and we have a beautiful baby boy who is an absolute joy! Michael and I are beyond blessed, and can't believe that the Lord would bless us with such an amazing gift. So, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to John Michael Sanford.

One day short of a due date

2010-12-07T08:15:00.000-06:00

It's Tuesday morning, and I'm on my favorite perch these days... the couch. I started having contractions last Thursday morning, and have been working from home since Friday. My sweet mom came up on Saturday to bring some food for the freezer (gotta love stocked meals). I was feeling good for once and really wanted to get out of the house to do anything at all, so we went up to the outlet mall down the street and did a little Christmas shopping. I kept hoping that a little walking might urge John Michael to get a move on- but I think it just lulled him back to sleep. Sunday was quite a bit more painful- not sure if it had anything to do with the walking or not, but the contractions went away... then they came back... then they went away... and so on.
I woke up at 3:30 this morning to some painful contractions, and decided to start timing them. They were coming anywhere between 4 and 7 minutes... until 4:45 when I went to go wake Michael up. Then as you can guess, they stopped again. They're pretty sporadic now- and I have a doctor's appointment today anyway, so I figure I'll just wait until then.
IF I'm dilated at all today, we'll hopefully be scheduled this week- but if not, they'll wait and schedule something next week. John Michael has definitely made it to his due date (tomorrow). I wasn't sure if he'd be a late comer or an early arrival... the jury is still out until later today on whether or not he'll be a late comer. His daddy likes to take his time too, so with any luck, he'll be laid back like Michael.
So... there may or may not be any new blog posts for a little while. But, you can be sure that there will be TONS of pictures if I have anything to do with it! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!

Time for a Finished Nursery!

2010-12-01T08:00:00.005-06:00

It really is about time I finished it. After all, today marks 39 weeks. And, we'll find out if I have progressed at all in this afternoon's appointment. Up until this point, I have tried to keep my hopes down, because when I hear that there is absolutely no progression at all, I get really disappointed. But, that's not the point for today's blog post! Onward to the nursery!!!

Let's start off with a huge shout out to Alison Peak for the fantastic job she did on doing John Michael's name for me. I had seen some really cute stuff she did for Evelyn, and just had to have her do something for John Michael too. I love how it turned out... not too baby looking. I don't know why I'm so dead set on his nursery not looking too babyish, but anyway. Here's the finished product as it sits over the crib.

Directly across from the crib is the changing table with my three paintings I did. You can see close ups of them in this post. This is the changing table that my mom, cousin and I found on our scavenger hunt to find a changing table that wasn't really a changing table. I love how it turned out. And, we have storage below for diapers and such, as well as a wipe warmer (which conveniently also serves as a nightlight).

And yes, the diaper genie was one of those things that I heard mixed reviews about. However, the more Michael and I thought about it, the more we realized that we needed something super secure to keep our curious schnauzer out of the dirty diaper hunt. We're saving ourselves a lot of heartache, I'm sure. Over by the crib, Michael put up a shelf, which holds some sentimental items, and currently John Michael's going home outfit. This shelf is awesome because our video monitor sits up there as well, and points directly down into the crib. Michael and I have already had some fun playing with that monitor. We just can't get over how it has night vision. Yeah, it's the little things. :)

On the other side of the crib sits our fun find from IKEA. We love this chair and matching ottoman. The blanket over the back is a sweet gift from Haley Justice Gardiner (which just so happened to match the room perfectly- and I'm pretty sure she didn't know that).

And speaking of IKEA, here's the rug I found there that I'm in love with. The only thing that bothers me about it is that I can't get it to stop sliding around and puckering up. We've tried the rug tape, which failed miserably... anyone have any other ideas?

Michael's dresser that he grew up using sits in the other corner of the room. It has TONS of space in the drawers, and it doesn't hurt that it's also a sentimental piece for John Michael to now get to use it.

And, we're ready to start reading to him... as Michael and I both LOVE to read. We can't wait to pass that trait along. (Notice the IKEA lamp I snagged- that was another item that I really struggled with was finding a lamp that was more modern and less baby). And I love the cute hamper too.

And now to show a little bit of my embarrassing OCD nature. But mainly to brag on my sister-in-laws Rebecca and Meg, who are absolutely the most INCREDIBLE sister-in-laws on the planet! Yes, it's a closet. And yes, alot of the hanging clothes are clothes that we got at showers (although the majority of his clothes are in the dresser drawers).

But, if you look above the hanging clothes, you'll notice the bins labeled with different sizes. Yep, that would be the hand-me-downs from Rebecca and Meg. I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to have these two women in our lives. We don't have a shortage of boys in our family, but I have just been beyond amazed at the generosity. And, not only that, but Stephen and Rebecca have just poured out the generosity with things like a swing, vibrating seat, and anything else that they thought we could use- they have sent our way. So, here's my little teary-eyed thanks to family for being so incredible!!!

And, since Santa himself is coming soon, John Michael is definitely ready to show his Christmas spirit just weeks after his own arrival... (thanks to Rebecca Tidwell and Cindy Hopkins)

I realize that this has been a long post, but it's been awhile in the making. So, I'll leave you with one wide shot of the nursery view from the door. Thanks to everyone who has helped us, been generous to us, prayed for us, put things together with and for us (shout out to Paw Paw), prepared food for us (shout out to our moms)... we can't for you all to meet John Michael in person! WE can't wait to meet John Michael in person! Have a great week- maybe the next post will be his introduction. Pray, people, pray!

38 Weeks and Swollen

2010-11-23T15:01:00.000-06:00

It's not like I haven't been dealing with swelling before now... but for some reason today, I was possessed to take a picture of my feet and legs at work... because when I try to point my feet, I can feel the skin stretching. And it's not just my feet and legs. Oh no, my hands are feeling it too! Luckily I removed my wedding band long ago, as I knew that I would not be passed over by the swelling fairy.

Other good feelings this week include no sleep (although Benadryl helps), complete absentmindedness (which is especially fun at work when you're trying to maintain a level of professionalism), and a hunger that simply won't quit (which is great for my hopes of ever looking normal again). And I said I was going to be one of those women who DIDN'T complain about pregnancy in the end days. Well, that has gone down the drain. I'm crabby, and I don't care who knows it! Come on, John Michael! It's got to be getting crowded in there! There's so much space out here!

Well, at least others can laugh at me at this point. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

A Time to Make Peggy Raybon Proud

2010-11-15T22:01:00.000-06:00

I'm now within the last month of my pregnancy, and my doctor has told me that I am to "take it easy and keep my feet propped up." He realizes that I work, so basically I'm supposed to work and go home and that's pretty much it. I don't know if it's because of my swelling or what- but if you know me, you know that it's not easy for me to just sit around all day and do nothing. Well, maybe it's not that hard. :)

So, since I have all of this time on my hands, I decided to do something creative and useful while sitting on the couch. Enter the christening gown that my brother and I wore when we were baptized.

Our names are embroidered on the front bottom left panels, along with the dates we were baptized. Look at how beautiful this is...

So, naturally when my nephew Bradford was born a little over a year ago, he wore this same gown for his baptism. Wanting his name to be added to the embroidering, my sister-in-law took the gown to a woman in her hometown. However, nobody wanted to touch the gown because they said that the fabric was too thin. One woman said that she could do the embroidery by hand, but that it would take over a year. Well, by that time, I was going to need the gown for John Michael's baptism. So, after consulting the brilliant Brenda Keith, I gained the confidence I needed to tackle this whole embroidery thing myself. I knew that I couldn't do as fabulous a job as my own Godmother had done on our names, but I decided that I would try anyway.

I bought some embroidery thread, and after two nights of sewing, I finished Bradford's full name and baptism date.

No, it's not perfect. But, I never said I was a professional seamstress either. However, I really enjoyed doing this. Now all I have to do is John Michael's name, and I'll leave the baptism date for later to add on. In the meantime, I'm really proud of myself. I think I would have made my 8th grade home-ec teacher, Peggy Raybon, proud as well. The only thing she ever saw me sew was a button- and I didn't do that great a job with the button!

I'll end with one more shot of my handiwork. This is Kay, signing out at 37 weeks pregnant, and obviously bored.

Somewhere between 34 and 37 weeks

2010-10-31T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well, it finally happened. I officially got to the point where I voiced that I was tired of being pregnant. It was last Tuesday to be exact. Don't get me wrong- I'm super excited about what's happening with John Michael... I still love to feel him moving around and all. But there are some things that are just starting to get to me. Take for instance the head banging he's doing "down there." I apologize if this is too much information for some people, but it seriously brings tears to my eyes and makes me double over in pain. Or how about the lower back pain that comes from... well, anything. Or the fact that I can wear one pair of flip flops, and sometimes my tennis shoes- and that's about it.

But, on the bright side, I was 34 weeks last Wednesday... and when I went to the doctor, I was measuring 37 weeks. Wait, is that a bright side? I was wondering when the nurse told me that didn't necessarily mean that he was coming early- just that he's big. Well, the bright side of it was that up until that doctor's appointment, I was starting to wonder if I had a toddler sized baby, because NONE of the doctors would tell me what I was measuring. Only three weeks ahead of schedule- whew. Can you hear the sarcasm as I'm typing? :)

I will say this- I was totally blessed two weekends ago with a baby shower at my cousin's house. One of my best friends (whom I usually only get to see once a year) helped host the shower- my partner in crime, Amy. And my little sis was there, along with family and friends to make it truly special. I got a car seat/ carrier- so at least now I know I can bring John Michael home from the hospital! And we got some very needed things like bath time goodies, onesies, sleepers, the whole nine yards. Here are some pics from the day:

My sister, Jessica, and me

All of my sweet hostesses

I'll go ahead and say this too while I'm at it (I don't seem to be holding anything else back today)... there was a time in my early stages of pregnancy where I actually said to myself, "Maybe you will be one of those lucky girls who doesn't blow up like the marshmallow man in your last trimester." Not so, dear friends, not so. I've come to terms with it though, so it's cool.

Now, I will roll myself off of this couch and go find something else to eat in the kitchen. :) Have a great week!

First baby shower

2010-10-01T20:02:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind on this post- but it has been a busy week here in the Sanford household. My sweet friends Catherine Gilmer and Harriette Jones gave me a baby shower last Sunday, and it was so sweet and wonderful. I enjoyed catching up, hugging necks, and getting some wonderful gifts for John Michael!
The weekend was pretty busy though- Michael's brother Owen flew in from Austin to surprise Lois for her birthday (which was Saturday). I was singing in a wedding Saturday evening, so I stuck around Birmingham while the boys went ahead to Selma. I got to Selma Saturday night, about halfway through the Auburn game. The whole Sanford clan gathered around the tv to cheer them on, and I was in and out of falling asleep on the couch after the long day.
But, on Sunday, my sweet friends hosted a wonderful baby shower for me, and I wanted to share just some of the pictures. Here's my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew- my nephew Bradford is always the life of the party, so Stephen brought him for a cameo appearance, as many people had asked to see him. :)

Lauren was a lifesaver! She wrote down all of my gifts for me- and as always, I LOVED catching up with her!!!!

My mom and my "other mom"- Mrs. Kay. She came all the way from Auburn for my shower! I was so surprised!!!!

We had ice cream in these little mason jars, with wonderful toppings and cookies. It was great!

So, after a long and exciting weekend, we came back to Birmingham, Owen went back to Austin, and then we got hardwood floors in our house. Yep, that's right. More on that in the next post...

Let the 3rd Trimester Begin

2010-09-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

As of Wednesday, I'm now in the third trimester... and I have alot to catch everyone up on. First and foremost, we have decided on a name! We will be naming our little boy John Michael Sanford, and we'll call him John Michael. We're very excited to not have to revisit that discussion again, as we were both getting tired of trying to decide. It's such a big decision though!

I had a work conference last week in Grapevine, Texas, which was wonderful but very exhausting. Michael flew in and we drove down to Austin to visit Owen and Michelle (Michael's brother and his wife). It was great getting to catch up with them and just hang out- plus I got to catch up on some sleep in their super comfy guest bed. AND... they're always wonderful hosts... they fed us well!

While at conference, my coworkers surprised me with a baby shower- which was really funny actually, because I had been planning a wedding shower for my coworker Shannon, and didn't know that all the while it was a shower for us both!

We had a cake that was half wedding and half baby- and they said they had to convince the cake bakers that it was not a shotgun wedding. haha! It was great though.

John Michael got the cutest little outfit, which will be perfect for days with dad out on the golf course. He even got a little newsboy cap, which was the cutest thing I've ever seen! They also gave us a gift card to Babies R Us, and Michael and I couldn't be more excited!!!

Sleeping is getting to be a challenge these days. My left side is hating me for spending so much time on it. And my back is starting to turn on me as well. Swelling has been persistent, but it usually goes down in a couple of days or so. John Michael does a lot of moving around, and Michael has finally been able to feel it too! My constant craving has been Dr Pepper (did you know that there's no period in Dr Pepper? I didn't). Other than that- anything put in front of me is appetizing, so I can't tell if there's one thing that I like more than another.

Three more months to go, and we'll be meeting our baby boy face to face!

Baby Art!

2010-09-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

After a long and arduous search for art to put up in the nursery, I was at a complete loss. Nothing really stood out to me as my style- as I'm not a big fan of the alphabet or of cartoon characters. And no, I'm not judging if you are- I just couldn't find anything that I liked. Until one day, I ran across these really cool modern paintings that weren't too babyish, but they were just baby enough. Does that even make sense? But the only problem was, I could order them at $75 a piece- and I really liked three of them! Being the DIY cheapskate that I am, I decided that I was going to paint my own version of these gems. But then I got nervous- and wasn't really all that comfortable with my freehand skills on these particular paintings.

So... I bought myself some canvases, along with the paint colors I liked, and then went and found some graphite paper so that I could trace the pictures onto my canvases. It reminded me of paint by numbers, and that made me really excited. Except I could decide what colors I wanted to go with! So... without further ado, here are the lovely lovelies that will soon be hanging on the wall above the changing table in Baby Sanford's room.

I think the elephant is my favorite- but the other two are really cute!!! I can't wait to do some more tidying, hanging, sorting, etc in there- but in the meantime... just knowing that these will soon adorn the walls makes me happy!

Time for Shrimp!

2010-08-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

Michael and I received this really cute lobster serving bowl as a wedding gift four years ago.

I've used it a couple of times, but I've always wished that I had a really good reason for pulling it out to use it. Well, that very occasion was tonight! After our beach trip a couple of weeks ago, we have had two pounds of shrimp just waiting for a shrimp boil. So, we threw some corn, potatoes, shrimp, and some awesome seasoning together in a big pot, and went to boiling. Just look at that yummy goodness cooking:

So, as I'm sure you've put two and two together, I served it all from the lobster bowl, which I thought was rather appropriate. :)

And you can't forget the best part... making your own homemade cocktail sauce!

Needless to say, Baby Sanford is extremely excited about tonight's dinner choice. He's been dancing all night!

Life's a Beach

2010-08-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

It's funny, but that's always the phrase I see on every t-shirt, hugger, etc when I go to the beach. We just got back from a trip to the beach with my parents, and it was wonderful! We went for my birthday, and as always, it just didn't seem long enough. I'm now recovering from the onset of depression that always sets in after a wonderfully relaxing trip.

But, I thought I'd share some of the pictures from the morning that we took the dogs out onto the beach. It was really early because we didn't want them to chase people and bark the whole time. So, here are the highlights...

Pedro, enjoying the sand and surf.

Bailey, who was content just watching the waves.

And then there was Max.

It was wonderful. I'll post soon about some of the amazing pregnancy symptoms I'm now facing. :)

23 weeks

2010-08-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

It just so happens that I have an updated picture of me at 23 weeks. I know, I know... I'm so slim. It's the pre-natal water aerobics. :) haha- I just snorted.

And here are my sweet guys doing what they do best. One of them is beyond excited about having a new baby boy in the family.

And the other one... well, let's just say that his expression was a little different than what I expected when I asked him, "How do you feel about having a baby brother?"

Maybe he'll get used to the idea before December. Right now he's more interested in chasing lasers, chewing on bones, and barking at anything that moves. Well... we have about four months to break him into the idea. :)

Bedding is HERE!

2010-08-08T20:02:00.000-05:00

The bedding finally came in, and after spending some time washing everything yesterday, the crib is now finally set up! So... I will now post pictures of the crib AND the bedding together. Believe me, it was worth the wait. Well, it was to me anyway.

My mom gave us that sweet blanket, and it matches perfectly! As you can tell, I'm really excited about the bedding. :)

On another note, Michael I went to Babies-R-Us this afternoon to register. Um... we were a bunch of bumbling idiots. Our wedding registry was hard, but it was so much easier because it was all stuff that we would be using for ourselves. This was totally different, because it's stuff that we'll be using for someone else- and why does there have to be eight different brands for every single thing! Our conversation consisted of, "What do you think we should get for this? I don't know." "What brand of these should we get? I don't know." "How many of these do you think we'll need? I don't know." So, if any of you happen across our registry in the future and think to yourselves, "Oh my gosh, Kay and Michael are so weird- why do they have so much stuff on their registry?" The answer is, "We don't know." We're totally clueless, and as soon as I post this, I'm about to go back to the online registry and see what all we actually registered for- because we would scan one thing- and then ten minutes later we'd see something that we liked better- so we'd scan it too! Sigh- I'm not a fan of registering to begin with... but I tell you what... by the time we finished, I was starving, my back hurt, and my sentences were starting to sound funny. So, we went to Wings and stuffed ourselves with cheese fries and wings to take the edge off. It was wonderful.

Now... I'm going to put my pj's on, lie in my comfortable bed, and start reading a book on breastfeeding. This outta be humorous. :)

The Transition... Part One

2010-07-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

Two weekends ago was exciting and tiring, all rolled up into one! My mom came to Birmingham on Saturday, and she, my cousin, and I went on a search for baby furniture. We were on the lookout for a non-traditional changing table, as well as a crib that would match the dresser we already have in the room. While my mom was on the way to Birmingham, I figured I would waste no time and hit up some yard sales around the area. I was really looking for a table that I could transform into a changing table, but what I ended up getting was even better. While there was nothing that matched my "changing table wish list," I did score a pack-and-play, as well as a stroller for a little bit of nothing. And they are both in really great shape, so I'm beyond excited about my new (to me) purchases.

Once my mom arrived, she and I hit up a couple of other yard sales, as well as a local furniture store before picking up my cousin to do the most important thing of the day: eat lunch. After loading up on some really great Mexican food, we set out in search for this "in my mind changing table that doesn't really exist." After one store, we thought we'd found the perfect piece. It was antique, painted mint green, and was really cute. However, I felt that we should go to another store just to shop around first. I'm so glad we did! We found this table, and I love it! I'm going to repaint, hopefully in the same hue, only because of the chipped paint places.

You should have seen us riding through Birmingham with this table hanging half out of my trunk, strapped in with some twine that I had leftover from our Christmas tree purchase- and padded with a hoodie that always lives in my trunk. If we didn't look like the Clampett's, I don't know who did.

After dropping off the table at my house, and switching vehicles with Michael, we headed on the search for the crib. I had done some online searching for cribs, and knew the style that I wanted, so it was an easy decision for me once we saw one similar to the one I had painted in my mind. But, I'm going to leave you in suspense for the crib pic, because I want to get the mattress and bedding put on before the great reveal. But that's where we'll end this post- Saturday afternoon, with a changing table and a crib in tow, a great time with my mom and cousin under my belt, and excitement for the day that lay ahead.

Stay tuned...

Oh Boy!

2010-07-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

We found out last Thursday that we're having a boy! Michael and I were both really shocked- not because we didn't want a boy, but because we both (along with most of our family members) thought we were having a girl. There was no scientific reasoning behind this... just a feeling. And apparently, it was an incorrect feeling.

So, we were all set with a girl name, but since we've been discussing boy names for five months with no conclusion, we're going to have to really ramp up the efforts. We have agreed on one name, but I'll wait to post it because if you know us at all, there's a strong chance we'll change our minds. Hopefully not though- because I really like this one.

Anyway, I've been looking at bedding for several months now, and had already decided that I wanted to do a green/white/brown color scheme- if it was a boy or a girl. I finally settled on one that I just kept coming back to. I think it's really clean and fresh, and not too baby-ish. Check it out!

Now all I have to do is figure out how I want to decorate. But that's the fun part. Nursery pictures are coming soon. I may wait until I have something more substantial before I post pictures though.

Have a great week!

The Hushamok

2010-07-12T18:33:00.000-05:00

I like to find new items that I've never heard of before- especially when it comes to baby items (right now, at least). So, imagine my interest in this cool baby hammock.

It's called the Hushamok. I get blog updates from Project Nursery, and the Hushamok is this week's giveaway prize. It's designed to snuggle baby in a smooth rocking motion that helps baby feel like he/she did when in the womb. There are also numerous health benefits to the Hushamok. I really like the name... and I'm having even more fun typing it.

Anyway, if you would like to win a Hushamok, visit their website and then share your thoughts about it with Project Nursery by commenting here.

I think it's kinda cool- and just thought I'd share with you interested preggies!

Wednesday Update... oh wait, it's Thursday

2010-07-08T17:23:00.000-05:00

I have been so off this week on my time, because Monday was a holiday... all day long I was thinking that it was Wednesday. Well, anyway. I have a couple of updates. First, a sad update to those of you who didn't see my Facebook... sweet Bayler went to be in Heaven. I didn't have words to say then, and I still don't now. So, the best thing I thought I could do would be to link you to Teal's blog. She put it all so well.

Second update is that yesterday marked 18 weeks pregnant for me! Yay! I'm still doing really well. Just started to notice that I am out of breath ALOT easier and faster these days. I realize that's only going to get worse, but seriously- a phone call made me short of breath today. I can't seem to find a way to sit in my chair at work comfortably either- I always feel like I'm cutting off some blood supply somewhere.

Michael and I will find out whether we're having a boy or a girl next Thursday! So, that's really exciting! I'm going to spend a little time this weekend working on cleaning out the office and guest bedroom so that we can get cracking on a nursery. I think I'm going to stick to neutral colors no matter what though. I've never really been into the whole entire room being pink or blue- don't take offense if you disagree- I'm not saying that's bad... it's just not my style.

And the third and final update is that I'm finally going to share a baby bump picture with you. Some people are getting just downright upset that I haven't done this yet. And, since I'm staying late at work today (because we're meeting friends for dinner close to the office, and it's pointless to go all the way home just to come all the way back- you get the picture), I took a picture with my phone in the office bathroom.

That's right folks, SaniFresh handsoap and all! Don't you love our gorgeous ladies room wallpaper too? And for those sticklers out there, no- I'm not wasting company time just to update you on my baby bump. I'm just chilling here after hours so that I don't have to waste gas by driving around Hoover for an hour. And yes, thank you for noticing, I DID get my hair cut.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

"All the Pregnant Ladies..."

2010-07-01T17:00:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, I traveled to Auburn/Opelika to spend some time with one of my favorite people in the whole wide world- my friend Shea. Shea has always been like a big sister to me, helping me torment my brother, taking me out when I was (according to my brother) too young to go out, and she even did my flowers for my wedding back in 2006. She's a gem- and while she is in a hilarious feud with my husband currently over something that happened in 10th grade- she's always been a part of my family.

Shea's sister Haley tied the knot last Saturday, so I got to spend some really good quality time with the Fords, the Justices, the Gardiners (who I didn't know before last weekend, but adore!), and some Selma folks whom I'd not seen in a really long time. I was already signed up to sing in the wedding, so I decided to go over a little early and help Shea with the flowers, the kids, and anything else that needed doing.

Shea's two sister-in-laws, Heather and Amy, are also pregnant- and they're AWESOME! I had so much fun hanging out with them, and Shea kept singing Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" with the word "pregnant" instead of "single." I know we're all still singing it in our heads... thanks Shea.

But all in all, it was a GORGEOUS wedding, and I had a blast hanging out with this crew! The only thing that was missing was a reprise of "Respect" on stage with Figure 8. I'm still bummed that I didn't get Shea up there to sing it. Oh well, maybe the next wedding!

They say it's your BIRTHDAY!

2010-06-30T20:29:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's right... yesterday was Max's 2nd birthday! I was home sick yesterday, so as Max and I were laying in bed watching bad tv, my phone alarm went off reminding me that it was Max's birthday. I had completely forgotten. So, I called Michael and told him the news. His response was, "Okay, I'll stop and get him something on my way home." And I thought to myself... Michael is going to be a really great father. If he treats our dog this well, I can only imagine how great he's going to be with baby Sanford.

So, amidst the Tylenol, chicken soup, and twelve hours of sleep, I managed to take some pictures of Max's birthday goodies.

He got a box of Milk Bone snacks, an Ol' Roy Munchy Bone, a big yellow pig that oinks when you squeeze it, a long grey something (I still haven't figured out what that thing is), and a Toy Story 3 birthday cup.

Here he is playing with piggy and crazy grey thing.

And eating out of the cool Toy Story 3 Birthday cup!

We love our little Max!

Sweet Bayler

2010-06-24T12:12:00.001-05:00

If you know me, then you've probably heard me talk about my friend "Teal" from time to time. Her name is really Brittany, but when we met at Camp Hollymont, there were too many Brittany's so I called her Teal, which is her last name. Anyway, Teal has been like a sister to me for the past 8 years (oh my gosh, I didn't realize it had been that long). Her brother and sister-in-law have two little boys, Bayler and Bridges. Bayler is 7 and Bridges is 5. If you had to have two little boys that were cute and funny, all in the same family, then you would only wish for these two!

Bayler has been battling a form of cancer for the past two years, called Neuroblastoma. And for the past two years, we've been following this battle through CaringBridge updates, texts from Teal, and Facebook updates. I was driving to work this morning when I received a text update from Teal. We'd known for a couple of weeks now that the doctors felt like there was really nothing else to do, as the cancer had spread too much to treat. At that point, the status was that the family would try to keep Bayler as comfortable as possible. Well, this morning's text was an answer to the Teal Family prayers for mercy. Bayler was taken to Children's Hospital around 3am, and they are giving him morphine to keep him comfortable until the time that the Lord decides to take him home.

I immediately called Teal to offer my prayers, a shoulder, anything. But what do you say in a situation like this? I wrestled with the Lord the rest of my commute- "Lord, why do things like this have to happen to children? There are people in this world who are bad, but Bayler is not one of those people." However, I am reminded that Bayler has affected more people, touched their lives, and probably brought some to Christ in the past two years- probably more than I have done in my lifetime! I know that the Lord has a plan, and that He is sovereign. I may not understand what I see today as unfair, but one day, when I see Bayler in Heaven, I'm sure it'll all be made clear.

Teal said that Bridges looked at Bayler the other day and said, "Bayler, you do know that when you get to Heaven, you'll still be able to watch wrestling there right?" Bayler said, "Yeah, I know." If we could all have such child-like faith... that's what I pray for. So, please keep the Teal family in your prayers. Bayler's parents' names are Rob and Risha. I will be praying for peace and comfort, and for God to show Himself in an even mightier way this week to Bayler, Rob, and Risha.

You can view Bayler's Caring Bridge site here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/baylerteal

16 weeks

2010-06-23T20:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I am officially 16 weeks today. I realize that I haven't posted any pictures, but it just seems like such a hassle to get the camera out, try to take a pic of myself, and then download it, etc. I know, I'm a slacker. So.... since I don't have any pictures, I will touch on some subjects that don't involve pictures.
First, we found out recently that we will find out the sex of the baby on July 15th! I can hardly wait. I'm looking at nursery decorations and bedding, but won't decide for sure until we know. But that also brings me to the subject of names. So far, we have decided on two girl names:

Chappell Mae Sanford
Mary Owen Sanford

The boy names, however, have us stumped. We have talked about this off and on, but have pretty much left the conversation until we find out whether we're having a boy or a girl. I think we both secretly think that we'll just wait to see if it's going to be a boy before we have to decide on a name. So far though, we have talked about the following boy names:

Robert
Thomas
Gabriel
Or any combination of the above

I think we'll wait to worry about it until we know for sure. Other than that, things are going really well. I have had some pretty rough headaches, and some serious heartburn, but if that's all I have to worry about, I think I'm doing pretty well!
In about a week and a half, I'll get to see my very best friend in Grove Hill! She is pregnant with baby #2 (another girl), and I absolutely cannot wait to see her! Her husband laughed and said, "Well, looks like we'll have two hot pregnant women... and I don't mean sexy!" haha! I love it! It should be a weekend of lots of fun, swimming, and strawberry cake. What can be better than that?!

What I've Learned about Pregnancy Body Pillows

2010-06-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

The Boppy Total Body Pillow... doesn't she look comfy? I researched pregnancy body pillows because I was reading everywhere about how I should be sleeping on my side already. Well, I have bursitis in my shoulders, so sleeping on my side isn't exactly my idea of fun. So, I went out in search of the perfect body pillow to take the weight off my shoulders.

The first night was interesting. I woke up several times wondering what I should do with the arm I was laying on. I finally decided to tuck it under me, but that ended up putting too much weight on my chest. Didn't get much sleep that night.

The second night was better. I tucked that sucker around my back, and that seemed to work much better, and I slept better. However, I'm not sure that it was helpful to Michael since this pillow now took up so much space, and Max thought he had a new doggie bed.

So, after all of this research- finding the pillow, learning how to sleep with the pillow... I went to the doctor today. He told me that there's too much unnecessary hype about sleeping on your side- that I don't even have to really think about that until I'm about 28 weeks. Ha! And even then, I don't have to sleep totally on my side. I can just prop something under my back and lay tilted to the side. In the meantime, I'm free to sleep on my back, my stomach- any way that I want to.

I kind of like this new pillow though... I think I'll find some other uses for it until 28 weeks gets here. It's kind of nice on the couch to wrap around me while I read a magazine... or eat... or nap.

Another Traveling Story- Gullible's Travels... Again

2010-06-12T15:29:00.002-05:00

The south office of Care Net traveled to the north office this week for our staff retreat. We left early Monday morning, had our staff retreat on Tuesday and Wednesday, meetings on Thursday, and traveled home on Friday.

The trip up to DC was pretty uneventful. Our first flight was late, and we thought we were going to miss our connection, but luckily, we made it on time. The trip home was a little interesting though. We got on our first flight (we had a connection in Atlanta) and Polly let me have the aisle seat. She says that I get special treatment now because I'm pregnant, so I guess I better take advantage of it while it lasts. :)

However the aisle seat didn't make a difference in my comfort. As I sat in my seat, people watching- because I LOVE to watch people put their luggage in the overhead bins, all of a sudden I felt someone's bag strike me in the head. Polly said, "Whoa, that bag came so close to hitting you in the head!" As I told her that it had indeed hit me in the head, I turned my head to find the culprit. I got as far as seeing the man's stomach in my face before all of his crap fell out of his bag onto me. I prepared myself to give a sincere, "That's okay" when he apologized, but the apology never did come. As he grabbed all of his items, all he said was, "Well, that didn't turn out like I hoped it would." I wanted to say "Me neither," but I resisted.

After getting over that incident, I looked around to realize that we were completely surrounded by children. Now, I'm sure that as a pregnant mother-to-be, one would assume that I would be looking lovingly at all of these kids, thinking about how cute they were- or how cute my little one will be. Not so. The two kids in front of us included a never-stop-talking/yelling/questioning little cutie, and a never-stop-sneezing from the moment we board till the moment we land adorable guy. I'm not usually a germ freak, but after last week's cold, my immune system isn't dependable, so I tried to fashion my hoodie into a mask that resembled one seen in the SARS outbreak.

The one little girl sitting to the right of my seat was indeed adorable. But, I found myself wishing that she would quit talking altogether because one of the three kids sitting behind me repeated everything she said. Between that and kicking the back of the seat, I was feeling really patient.

When our flight finally landed in Atlanta, I thought we were in the clear. Well, our connecting flight had been cancelled, and the next flight was slated for three hours later. We figured we had a while to leisurely walk around, but there's just not that much you really want to do in an airport. When we made it to our gate, the estimated departure time (which was initially supposed to be 1:00) said 1:01. I realize that doesn't seem like a big deal, but that extra minute usually indicates that there is more delay to come. By the time 12:30 rolled around (keep in mind, we landed at 9:30), the departure time changed to 1:21. Then 2:00. Then 2:30. By the time it was all said and done, we had a five hour layover. However, the trip back to Birmingham was short and sweet and I was home before 2:30 Central time.

After a long week, I took a five hour nap on the couch, and then slept another full eight hours last night in the bed. It was wonderful.

Tonight Michael and I will be venturing to a little restaurant named Fire to celebrate our anniversary which was two days ago.

PS... I think I felt the baby move on Wednesday while standing in the middle of Pottery Barn. Like my friend Kristen Jones, I thought it was my cell phone in my hoodie pocket, but when I pulled the phone out, it wasn't ringing. Weird...

Speaking of cats in bags

2010-06-06T08:02:00.002-05:00

Michael and I found out around the end of March that we are expecting a baby! We waited to tell friends and family until a couple of weeks ago, because we wanted to be extra sure that things would be okay through the first trimester. I am now 13 weeks and 4 days, and our estimated due date is December 8th. So far, things have been progressing along well. I thought for sure that I would experience morning sickness at its worst, but a little nausea here and there when I would wait too long to eat was about the worst of it. I have had a cold for the past week, and that has been interesting just trying to breathe. I'm feeling better now, so hopefully I'm coming out of the woods.

So far, the fun parts have been:

-Telling friends and family

-The first maternity shopping experience

-Browsing the web for cute bedding and nursery items

-Eating

-Thinking of names (I'll post more on that later)

The only not-so-fun parts have been:

-This cold

-Breathing at night with this cold

-Nausea

-Not being able to figure out what I WANT to eat

I'm very excited about this adventure, and can't wait to share more, as I'm sure there will be stories that come! Stay tuned...

Last Post on September 29?!

2010-03-04T22:01:00.003-06:00

Well, I have been a slacker! Not that anyone has really noticed though. :) But just in case you are following my blog, I will use this post to announce that I am surprising Michael for his birthday this year... with what, you ask? I'm taking him on a surprise trip to a faraway land. I can't say where because he doesn't even know yet- and I don't want anyone letting the cat out of the bag!

So, I won't promise that I'll post on here where we are while we're there... okay, I'll just tell you that I won't be doing that. :) But, I WILL try to post pictures when we get back!

All In God's Time

2009-09-29T17:00:00.001-05:00

Last week I posted a couple of "thoughts" I guess you could say- just about what I'm learning, hearing, seeing, etc. Today's message is a bit more... um... well, I'm not sure what today's message is. I'm still reading in Zechariah- the end- Chapters 12, 13, and 14. Let's just say that it's probably a good thing that I'm not a Bible Scholar... because days like today would make it really interesting- and confusing for others I think! :)

The introduction to this reading was about who we consider to be strong characters in the Bible. Well, I would have said "Samson, David, or Joshua." But really if you think about it, some of the strongest men (physically) were some of the weakest men. What about Daniel, who sat quietly in the corner of a lion's den? What about Timothy who was young, had poor health, and a timid temperament? Sort of gives us hope after all! It's not necessarily about all the big things- the physical strength- or even recognition.

I'll just be honest... the past couple of weeks have been terrible. I'm struggling in so many areas of my life, and constantly feel like I'm just frantically treading water- but just enough of my head is above water so that I can still breathe. I'm constantly asking the Lord what His Will is in all of this- what I'm supposed to be doing- what steps to take- what words to speak.

But I'm reminded that my strength isn't in and of myself- it's in the Lord. And just knowing that I don't have to ever be alone is enough to get me through one more day of uncertainty. I still don't know the answers, but I'm comforted in the fact that I'm His and He is mine. He does care, and He will show me eventually- when the time is right. Of course, I've been told that I'm the only person in the world who prays with my datebook in hand... "Okay Lord, when are we going to do this? I'm open on the 5th- what's your schedule look like?" haha- I know that's a little extreme, but I think we all sort of pray like this at one point in time or another. We want things in our time, when it's good for us.

News flash: it's not about us! It's not about our timing, or what we think will work out just right. I'm learning this now as we speak... and oh it's such a hard lesson for me. I'm so prideful- and I'm starting to see just how prideful when it comes to thinking that I know better than the Lord. And what's worse- that pride can spread so quickly- and it's that pride that brought down Samson and Daniel. I don't want to be like that! I want to be quiet in the corner of the lion's den, so to speak (Lord, please don't put me in a real lion's den!).

In times like these, I feel like I'm in the lion's den though- except instead of sitting quietly, I'm trying to fight the lion because 'I know better'!!! And I tell myself things like "Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world" and while that's true, maybe the lesson I need to learn is what it looks like to sit quietly in the corner. Maybe this a fight that I don't need to fight. Maybe the uncomfortable quiet corner is where I'll finally hear His voice.

Maybe I'm completely off my rocker- but it's an honest assessment of where I am. More to come as I learn...

Return to me, and I will return to you

2009-09-23T08:45:00.002-05:00

The Temple was built, but the enthusiasm waned. Years later, the only movement in the Temple was the wind. Zechariah, a younger contemporary of Haggai, was an encourager. Instead of just giving him the words to speak to the people, the Lord actually gave Zechariah many visions...and really cool visions at that! First he saw an angel on a red horse, with three horses and riders behind- who were "the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol the earth." (Zech 1:10) The Lord tells the angel that He has returned to show mercy to Jerusalem, and that the Temple will be rebuilt.
Then Zechariah looks up and sees four animal horns, which are representatives of the world powers that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
Then he sees four blacksmiths, who have come to terrify the four horns that scattered and humbled Judah.
Lastly, he sees a man with measuring tape, who is going to measure how wide and long Jerusalem is. Another angel appears with the good news that Jerusalem will one day be so full of people that it won't have enough room for everyone- and even those who live outside the walls will be protected!
The Lord says that He will live among them, that Jerusalem will be His own city. And my favorite verse, "Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for He is springing into action from His holy dwelling." (Zech 2:13)

How does that relate to today? Well, I keep hearing statements like, "The Lord has removed His hand from us because our nation has moved so far away from His will." And that may very well be the case. But I take my feelings about the direction of our nation, and I think about the people of Jerusalem, who also saw their land go through complete destruction. In the end, the Lord restored it back to them, and He "sprung into action from His holy dwelling" by sending Jesus, the Messiah Himself, to be housed in the Temple. The Lord calls us to return to Him, and He will return to us. If we want Him to return to us, we must first return to Him. Think about yesterday's message- priorities. Our priority is to put Him first, thus returning to Him. And we can live in His peace knowing that He will live among us- He has chosen us- He is passionately in love with us! And that is the hope that can withstand seeing destruction- that will still stand when nothing else has- that will keep us in the palm of His hand. We are His, and even when everything else falls, He will stand- and we will stand because he dwells within us.

Priorities

2009-09-22T10:45:00.004-05:00

So, who has ever really read the Book of Haggai? I'll be honest- I'm not even sure how to pronounce it. But that's where I found myself this morning... all two chapters of Haggai. That whole book is about setting priorities, so of course it rubbed me the wrong way. I'm all about flying by the seat of my pants; priorities, schmiorities. But it really spoke to me by the time I finished reading.
Here's the setup: following the Babylonian exile, the people are returning to Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the city, including what was once Solomon's Temple. So they start working on building the Temple back- but opposition arises. (Enter Haggai, the prophet who tells it to you straight)
The Lord gives a message to Haggai that the people are more interested in themselves and their luxurious houses, than rebuilding his Temple (which by the way looks like a pile of rocks). Haggai doesn't sugar-coat it; He tells it to them straight... put the first things first. He asks them to remember it the way it was, and to take courage and work, for the Lord is with them. After the encouragement from the Lord, the people respond by completing the Temple- and clearing a place for God in their hearts.

Alright so no- it's not exactly like that in my everyday life- it's not about physically rebuilding anything at all. But spiritually, it's exactly where I am. Think about it: there are 168 hours in a week. So how is it that some people get so much done, and I feel like I get nothing done? Priorities! The people finished building the Temple in the midst of opposition because that was their number one priority. And that got me to thinking- and those of you who know me know that's a scary situation. What are my priorities? Well, looking back over the last week, my priorities have been sleep, food, visiting family because I have a new nephew, catching up on work from being out, sleep and food. But what about the Lord? I mean, if I really think about it, what do I want to look back on when I reach the age of 40, 55, 70? My job? The stress that's causing me to worry all the time? NO! I want to know more about the Word of God; I want to have a consistent prayer life; I want to have a family who is walking with the Lord alongside me. So, as much as I hate to admit that I'm wrong about anything- my priorities are out of whack! My first priority should be first and foremost the Lord and my relationship with Him. He says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. THEN all these things shall be added unto you." Everything falls into the correct place when you're top priority is God.

Haggai, you can slap me in the face and call me wrong. This is the time for getting our priorities straight. Yes, there's opposition all around us- but the reward comes when we stay the course. We build the Temple of the Lord (which is our bodies) to house Him. Then the other stuff can happen. You can have all the power, fame, riches, nice houses, nice cars, and nice clothes because of "what you have accomplished for yourselves"- but where does that leave you? I am nothing unless I'm His daughter first. If He is honored first, all that other stuff can come and go, but it won't affect my stability which is in Christ.

So, how's that for today's lesson? Pretty good I think. I'm off to prioritize my day... which has already tried to take on a life of it's own.

A time for babies- and no, I'm not pregnant!

2009-09-15T20:23:00.004-05:00

May I introduce you to my new nephew... William Bradford? He will go by Bradford. Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen? After two hours of pushing, he finally decided to give his mom a break and make his grand entrance! It was a wonderful day, and I've never seen my brother that happy. I can't wait to see who this little guy becomes. He's already gotten everyone smitten over him. Plus, he's bound to look good- between his parents' good looks, and their style- he's going to be one good looking baby.

To see more pictures, you can visit my website at:

http://web.me.com/kaysanford/Site/My_Albums/Pages/Bradford.html

Enjoy!

Dananananana- They say it's your BIRTHDAY!

2009-06-17T14:57:00.008-05:00

Ok, ok, I realize that I have been a slacker on the blogging- so I'm going to start with today, and then my following posts will move backward into things I've been up to. But, for the sake of sharing Debbie's birthday pictures with everyone today, I'll start here...

We had a Birthday Beach party for Debbie today- bless her heart- she's 29 and doesn't look a day over 20. We furnished the conference room with beach towels, paper lanterns (not shown), a lovely pink flamingo (perched in a bucket of sand), lai's, and a sun hat for Debbie. Clearly I should have checked the package labeling on the grass skirt I bought- because Polly was the only one able to fit into the 'child size' skirt.

Yes, that's a flower bra. It came with the 'child size' skirt. Debbie received a bubble machine, a heartfelt card, and a new pair of aqua flip flops (which so nicely matched her attire today).

After a lunch of chicken salad, canteloupe, crackers, and birthday cake ice cream- it was time to catch some rays. Those flourescent lights really bring out my tan.

Happy Birthday Debbie! I hope you had a wonderful lunch- and I hope your birthday continues to get better and better! We love you!

A time to help

2009-05-03T15:44:00.003-05:00

I was encountered with a tragedy about 5 years ago now that I had either never known existed, or just chosen to ignore. Remember the drought we experienced here in the southeast last summer? I do. I remember not really being all that affected because I myself didn't own a home, and it seemed that the only ones affected were those who had yards to water. Well, that wasn't the case. Some cities and towns were having their water rationed- they were having to reuse bath water over and over- having to keep water in a cup for brushing their teeth. I'm sure it seemed inconvenient at the time. Take that same drought and place yourself in Meto, Kenya. The difference is, they don't care about watering their yards, or even about water for taking a bath. They didn't have water to drink. Their cows had all been dying off- one by one- for the past two years. They had to walk MILES just to find water for themselves and their children. These are women who were trying to nurse their dehydrated babies when they were dehydrated themselves. What if you had to walk 15 miles one way just to get water to drink?

And what if that was the same water that people bathed in, and washer their clothes in? And then you had to haul only what you could carry 15 miles back? It sort of puts our life here in a new perspective doesn't it? Well, the good thing about this is that there is a group now who is dedicated to drilling wells for these communities to have fresh, clean water- and it's right underneath them! Integrity Worldwide has already drilled one well in Meto, Kenya- which will be enough for 6,000 people! This not only saves their lives... having clean water. This helps them to break free from poverty through the businesses of livestock and cash crops. And there are so many more communities in Africa that need this help! I guess before for me- it wasn't something that I was encountered with everyday, so I just didn't think about it. Well, out of sight should not be a good enough reason for something to be out of mind. People are dying. So- here's what I've done. I have pledged to Integrity Worldwide that I would raise $100 from my friends and family in one week to go toward this project. Look- $100 is nothing. That's $5 from 20 people. And if you're asking yourself what I've given to Integrity, and why I can't just give- I have given and will continue to give. But what good is it if I'm the only one who knows about this? What will change if I don't spread the word?What I'm hoping is that I will actually exceed this goal that I have set. Please- you have $5. The economy stinks, and I know that everyone is being hit really hard right now. But what is being hit hard? Our comfort? Even in our worst times, we have it so much better than the people in Africa who HAVE NO WATER! Even in our worst times, we can turn on the water hose or the sink and get all the fresh water we want. It's $5. That's all I'm asking. If you can do more, I will eternally be grateful. Click here to help: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/fundraising_pledges/69564?m=120b508f

A time for Expression!

2009-05-01T19:33:00.009-05:00

I pulled out my point and shoot today because I needed to take a quick shot of something for my mom (which didn't need my serious camera)- and low and behold- I found some pictures and video clips from my trip to Denver. My best friend Byrd lives in Denver, and I am usually in my element when I am around two people- Byrd and Amy. As you can see from the following video clips, I enjoy hanging out with Byrd.

This video is what I like to call "The set up." I have now set up the scene for what is to come.

Now, before you view the next scene, please keep in mind that I am just expressing my right to be free- in a public place- just as this man is also expressing his freedom.

This video is called "Expression!"

As you can tell, Byrd is a professional videographer. Why else would I have asked her to capture one of the most important moments of expression in my life?

And then, there is the final scene. This video is called "Did I seriously just do that and you didn't get it on video?"

Byrd- my long time friend.

Maybe one day we'll find the video of our roller blading routine. Now, that would be a SERIOUS blog post!

Stop in the name of love...

2009-04-30T16:44:00.003-05:00

Before you contract an STD?

Yes, that is the opening line of the song I am singing tonight at a pregnancy center volunteer appreciation banquet.
Yep, that's right. I'm not lying to you!

This is what I do- I take songs that are already out there, and change the words to fit whatever group I'm singing to. I did something similar at our National Conference last year for a coworker who was getting married. That one was more of an 80s theme though.

Tonight... is Motown. And I'll be videoing it. So, if I can ever figure out how to post video (which I've been unsuccessful at in the past), I'll post it on here so you can all see it.

Until then, this is Diana Ross- signing out. Or Martha (from the Vandellas) or one of the Temptations. You get the idea. :)

How do you honor your mother?

2009-04-29T13:57:00.002-05:00

Mother's Day- it used to be a day that I forgot about until the Saturday before- and then I scrambled to get my mom something nice. Of course, something nice usually ended up being a useless trinket that she would never use, or flowers that would die the next day, or the only card left at the grocery store because everyone else had done their shopping already and picked out all the good ones.
I just recently starting pondering the appreciation of my mother- which isn't hard to do because I've got a good one. She's always there to help- sometimes when I don't even ask for help- but she's there.
I know that there are people out there who don't have the best moms in the world, but there is one thing that your mom gave you, whether or not you've realized it already or not. That thing is LIFE. I mean, I really like my life. And I really like my mom for giving me the life that I really like. Of course, I realize that dads have a part in this too, but there's another day for that- it's called Father's Day- and this post is on Mother's Day.
So, I got to thinking... what is it that I could give my mom to show her how much I appreciate her? Yes, a card would be nice, especially if I wrote it myself, or planned ahead to find one that hadn't been picked over by the "responsible Mother's Day shoppers." But what about the gift she gave me?
I'm 100% positive that I haven't always been easy to deal with. I'm sure that if my mom could have seen into the future, she might have seen what troublesome times she would have had with me through my teen years. But I'm also sure that she still would have chosen to bring me into this world. Because even through the hard times, the long hours she worked as a single mom to raise my brother and me, the tears she cried when she couldn't give us something that we wanted- she loves us. And she'll be the first to tell you that she would lay her life down for us. Now, how could she have known that she would feel that way now? She couldn't have- and she didn't. She didn't know how things would have turned out, but she chose to have us all the same. I will forever be grateful to my mom for that.
And because of that, this year I will be donating money to an organization that helps women choose life- in honor of my mom. It's the only way that I can think of to thank her for giving me life- to help someone else give life in hopes that their child will come to appreciate the sacrifices that were made by their own mother.
To all mothers everywhere- I'm starting early this year- but THANK YOU!
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=78269817870&h=Gc28b&u=J26wi&ref=nf

Twitter for Twits

2009-04-28T14:47:00.002-05:00

So, I sat in on a nonprofit911 call today about Twitter and it's uses for fundraising. Very interesting stuff. I have been hesitant to start a twitter account because I really just wasn't very sure what it was or how to do it. But after this call today, I was informed of all the different methods, uses, etc. So, I took the plunge. You're now looking at the newest member of Twitter. @kaysanford
Comments, suggestions, etc- they're all welcome! Are you using Twitter? What are your favorite things about it? Dislikes? Do you use it for personal updates, or for work? I'm curious to see the general consensus here.

It's "Bring your kids to work day!"

2009-04-23T16:10:00.017-05:00

Last week during an all-staff meeting, I was informed that our north office in Virginia had planned a day for kids to come to work with their parents. Since our office is really small, and everyone else has grown kids in college, we only had one lonely kid show up to work at our office. However, I think that he really enjoyed his time with us, and that he will definitely sleep well tonight. So, I've put together a little comparison study of what the kids in the north office might have been doing while our kid was doing his little activities. Hope you enjoy!

1. While the north office kids were learning everyone's job descriptions,

Max was learning phone manners.

2. While the north office kids were doing arts and crafts,

Max was doing his own art.

3. While the north office kids were running around laughing and playing,

Max was practicing his Darth Vader voice into the fan.

4. When the north office kids took a lunch break,

Max was enjoying his snack time.

5. When the north office kids had nap time after lunch,

Max also took advantage of nap time.

6. While the north office kids were tye-dying t-shirts,

Max was just modeling his t-shirt.

7. While the north office kids were playing hide and seek,

So was Max!

8. When the north office kids were playing "House,"

Max was playing "Cops and Robbers."

9. While the north office kids were playing "Mother May I?",

Max was playing "Red Light, Green Light."

10. And finally when the north office kids settled down to watch a movie together,

Max watched a movie too!

All in all, it was a great day having Max at work with us. He's such a polite young man, and I know that I speak for all of us when I say that he is welcome here with us anytime. Who knows... maybe when he grows up, he'll want to work for Care Net too!

Purple Envelope Project

2009-04-17T11:04:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know of a grassroots movement that has begun. As you all know, I work for Care Net in Donor Relations, but what happened yesterday was nothing short of a miracle. I talked to a stay at home mom named Lauren who, in her words, "just wanted to help." She has started a project called the Purple Envelope Project to help support pregnancy centers. The idea was sparked from how much attention and response was generated through the Red Envelope Campaign. Lauren mentioned that she heard people say "we SHOULD have generated response and support for the actual pregnancy centers" so she said, "well, why don't we?" Thus sparked the Purple Envelope Project.
Lauren's blog is www.purpleenvelopeproject.blogspot.com which will give more information about how to participate. The idea is to send one dollar in a purple envelope to either Care Net or Heartbeat to help support pregnancy centers. I have already developed a plan in house here at Care Net so that we can track how many come in here.
I have to say that I am deeply blessed by the actions of one person who just wanted to make a difference. I pray that this project is a HUGE success!

Humble pie

2009-03-11T22:00:00.003-05:00

So, my friend Julie had this post on her blog about wrestling with humility. She asked if anyone else wrestled with it, so I thought I should post a blog on my WWF wrestling with humility. Let's just say that it's of course not in my nature to be humble. I mean, let's face the facts here- I AM WONDERFUL! No, really- humility is a hard lesson to learn. So, while reading Julie's post, I started asking myself, "Where has the Lord taught me humility lately?" And I immediately thought of this one lady who I'll call Stacy. Stacy is a regular donor for the company that I work for. She calls me every month- she says I'm her buddy. At first she called to sign up to become a monthly donor, and then the next month she called to change her bank account number, and then the next month it happened again, and again, until she finally just cancelled the monthly donations. I was starting to think that she was stealing bank account numbers every month, because it just seemed a little too ironic for her to change the information EVERY month. Well, I get tickled everytime she calls because:

A. She has the greatest accent ever. She sounds like Barbara in Funny Girl.

B. The way she says her name just cracks me up. She repeats her first name twice and then

says her last name.

Let's just face the facts here. I was tickled by Stacy's calls, but they were starting to get a little annoying. I mean, how many times can one woman change bank accounts?

Then it happened. She left me six voicemails in one day- progressively letting me know throughout these voicemails that she was in the hospital. I had no idea why, but she just kept calling. Then she called and I was able to answer my phone. It turned out that her sisters and niece "are very jealous, and I cut them off, and they committed me to the 7th floor." I didn't have the heart to ask her what the 7th floor was, but anything with the words commit and hospital- can't be good.

So, then I thought, well she's just losing it- and then Cindy reminded me that I should really be praying for this woman. And it hit me. Who am I? What, am I perfect Kay who never does anything wrong, or who never acts in a way that makes others think I'm crazy? Am I so perfect that I have a right to disrespect this woman with my words? No! I am pond scum. And no matter what is going on with this woman, she deserves my utmost respect.

So, I've been eating humble pie on that one lately. God is showing me compassion through this woman in ways that I never thought I'd see it. It's awesome.

So there- Julie- you're not alone. I'm the first to admit that I think I'm great, and then I sit for a minute and remember that I'm nothing at all without Christ.

It's raining, it's snowing, the old man is... going?

2009-03-02T21:44:00.006-06:00

Well, it happened. It stormed like nobody's business on Friday, and then rained all day on Saturday. But it was all worth it- because it snowed on Sunday!!!! Yay! It never snows here, and when it does, I'm always conveniently out of town. So, needless to say- I was thrilled- and you might as well have been watching two kids to watch how Michael and I responded. WE WERE SOOOOOO EXCITED!

And, it was Max's first experience in the snow! I took some pictures of him early that morning when we went outside... but the best part of the

day was when Michael took us (me and Max) to the golf course to play in the biggest yard in Birmingham! I was a little nervous at first, because we r

eally haven't had the chance to let Max just run and play without his leash. But he did really well. He ran and ran and ran- and then he ran some more. He ran so much that little snow balls started sticking to his legs- it was really funny. He actually ran so much that all I was able to get were action shots. So here are some shots we were able to get...

More pictures

2009-02-24T18:17:00.006-06:00

A time for a haircut- our first to be exact

2009-02-24T17:53:00.005-06:00

Well, it has taken quite a few trips to the vet to get acclimated to the groomer, but we finally got Max's hair cut today! This has been an eventful experience, as every time I would take him to get his hair cut, I would come in to pick him up, and he would be all fluffy from a bath, but no hair cut. "He just does NOT like the clippers!" they would say. Well, blessings to Vonda who after two visits and a willing spirit to "work" with Max to make him see that hair cuts are good, was able to cut Max's hair today! She was so excited... as was I. His hair was getting so long that I was really having a hard time keeping it from getting all matted up.

So, here are some pictures of our new do...

Maxwell von Schnauzer

2008-11-25T21:06:00.005-06:00

Meet Max. He's our new baby. He's about 4 months old (we think), and we brought him home today! He is very smart and loves to play with his toys (as any dog does- except Pedro). I wanted to post some pictures of him so you could meet the new addition to our family!

Max with his toys...

First headshot...

After his first bath with us...

He's a sweetheart! We're so excited! Maxwell von Schnauzer will accomplish great things, just you wait and see.

My feelings today- while they may include aftereffects of NyQuil

2008-11-05T10:58:00.002-06:00

I have been on my knees in prayer about this election- praying that God would have mercy on our nation. This nation has succumbed to going against everything that the Lord stands for. I have to say that I have been grieved to hear Christians talk about being pro-choice. And the reason I'm grieved about it isn't because I think I'm right and they're wrong... it's because I was once pro-choice. Growing up in the city, family, lifestyle that I did, I was never faced with abortion- so I didn't really know what it was. I can remember receiving coaching for beauty pageant interviews, and I was faced with figuring out my platform. I was told that if I wasn't prepared to dig in deep in a fight on abortion- that should NOT be my platform. And it wasn't- because I didn't really have a clue what abortions entailed. Well, now I do. Now I know what the procedures include- what happens in each and every different procedure that can be performed. And I have to say that knowing what I know, I cannot imagine being for something like that. The only reason I walked around as a young woman saying, "You know, I think that women should be able to do whatever they feel necessary," is because I was uninformed. If I had been faced with an unintended pregnancy, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have had an abortion. And that's why I do what I do now. I want young women in that situation to know that they actually have a choice. Because you see, having a choice doesn't just mean having the option to have an abortion- it means having the choice to not have an abortion. And there are pregnancy centers who offer the other choice- not having an abortion, receiving help in your pregnancy, receiving parenting classes, having the option to place your child up for adoption. If we're all about helping women, then we should really be helping women. I've met so many women who have had abortions- and their stories are amazing- but all of them wish they had not gone through with it. I've yet to meet one woman who has not been tormented by that "choice."
So, my point to all of this is- if we are all going to stand for protecting women, then let's do it. And I realize that you can look at my point of view and say, "Well, I want to protect women from those pregnancy centers who will guilt women into not having abortions." I can tell you confidently that the pregnancy centers I am affiliated with do not use guilt- they simply use the words of Jesus Christ. Guilt comes from Satan. And how dare these pregnancy centers try to help women with compassion and care!
So, yes, I am upset about the way that the election went. But, nothing- NOTHING can overcome the power of Jesus Christ. All this election does is make me more dedicated to the cause. And yes, I know that things aren't going to go the way that I think they should- but thank goodness. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I got everything I wanted. And whether or not I like it, Obama is the President of the United States. Whether or not I like his policies, he has been placed in this authoritative position. I applaud him for his victory, and will continue- just as I always have- to pray for the President of our nation. But I will also continue to pray that eyes will be opened to the holocaust of the unborn.
If you're interested in learning more about the pro-life values, I recommend Randy Alcorn's book, "Why Pro-Life?" To read his comments click this link:
http://vitalsignsblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-to-say-to-christians-who-are-pro.html

He offers answers to widely asked questions. Plus, he offers the book "Why Pro-Life?" in a downloadable format. Please take the time to check this out. Please take the time to find the answers. And please stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.

Wedding Season

2008-10-26T22:51:00.005-05:00

My co-worker Polly got married yesterday, and she asked me to take pictures at the wedding. Well, I was fine until Friday, and then for some reason I started getting all nervous! Anyway, the wedding was a huge success, and I got some really great pics. I'm going to wait to post them until after I can do some editing, but for now, here's a sneak peak...

These are the beginning and the end of the pictures I took. I think there were 500-something pictures when I loaded them all today. I'll post more as they get edited. :)

A Time for McKenzie

2008-09-10T14:58:00.013-05:00

The one, the only, McKenzie King! I had so much fun taking pictures of McKenzie this past weekend, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites!

She had so much fun playing with that frog statue- and then a real frog started croaking, and she thought it was the statue! It was priceless.

FORE!

2008-09-01T10:54:00.007-05:00

Michael and I went to Greystone yesterday to hit some range balls, and ended up playing a couple of holes of golf while we were there. I couldn't resist taking some pictures while we were there though. So, here are some of the beautiful scenes from Greystone...

We had a wonderful time!!!

It's my BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-08-15T15:02:00.007-05:00

I have to say this- I have never felt so loved on a birthday in all my life! I woke up this morning to Michael calling me to wish me a Happy Birthday (he works REALLY early on Fridays). Then my mom called to wish me a good one, and since then I've heard from my family and friends- some really funny singing messages, some funny regular messages, and some really sweet messages- all have been GREAT!

When I got to work this morning, Cindy had brought in these FANTASTIC cinnamon rolls, which I immediately ate one. I got back to my desk where Polly had already put flowers on my desk.

Then, after taking some funny conference t-shirt pictures, Polly, Cindy, and Bob sang Happy Birthday to me as they presented me with my fun mini-cake! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Then, while I was on the phone with Michael, a delivery guy came in with some really gorgeous flowers that he had sent! Talk about perfect timing!

Then, while I was finishing up some work, I heard my name, so I walked up to the front of the office, only to see this!

The company that I work with on fundraising, Grizzard, sent me an edible arrangement! Thanks Todd, Claudia, and Bianca!!!! I tell you, I'm on cloud 9 right now. Michael's parents are coming tonight to take me out to dinner, and then my mom is coming to spend the day tomorrow.

This has been the best birthday! I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Gullible's Travels, Part 2

2008-08-08T18:25:00.002-05:00

So, I don't have any pictures to go along with this one, but I just got back from yet another trip. This one was not as eventful as Gullible's Travels Part 1, but nonetheless, I thought you should know.
The trip to DC was one really long delay. Not eventful though.
The trip back was eventful.
I hitched a ride with Todd and Claudia back to the airport, and was glad that Claudia was flying US Air like me! However, when we got to the ticket counter to print our boarding passes, mine was having trouble (imagine that). I asked the guy behind the counter why it wouldn't print, and he said, "Oh that's because you're flying United."
Now, correct me if I'm wrong here, but if you make your flight arrangements through US Air, shouldn't you be safe to assume that US Air would give you your ticket? The reason I ask is because the line of people at the United counter made me want to scream. But I didn't. (Read Gullible's Travels part 1 and note the people's response to me)
After waiting in line for 40 minutes, I printed out my pass and headed to the security line to wait for another 20 minutes.
I got to my gate at the time that we were supposed to board, and the sign said that our flight was delayed an hour. So, I thought, "Great, I'll go grab some dinner." So, I went to Wendy's, waited in line FOREVER and then took my food back to the gate to eat. When I got back to the gate, they were just finishing up boarding my flight. I made it onto the plane, but thought about all of the other people who, like me, thought they had more time.
So, the lady I sat next to was nice. She talked alot though. But it was ok.
All of a sudden, cool breeze walked onto the plane, sat his bag down in the seat in front of me, started rummaging through his bag, and then looked at me and said, "Of course, out of all the people on this plane, YOU would be the one to have Wendy's."
I'm wondering if this is a fat joke, but thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt here.
I looked around and said, "Um, I'm pretty sure there are some other people on this plane with Wendy's."
He sat down across the aisle from me, and made some comment about how I should share my Wendy's with the rest of the plane. I laughed and thought to myself, "If you say one more word, I'm gonna show you my dinner, you butt head."
But I didn't say anything, just continued to eat my fries. Then, I started on my nuggets, and thought, "You know, I'm not really going to finish these fries, so I guess cool breeze may get his wish after all."
So, I leaned over and said, "Hey, I'm not going to finish these fries, you want em?"
As God is my witness, he looked at me and said, "My dog wouldn't even eat those, you think I'm going to?" I was about to grab his arm and say, "Look here Dorkus McDorkson, you're gonna give me grief about sharing my Wendy's with the whole plane, and then act like it's beneath you when I actually offer you some?"
But I didn't.
Instead, I continued to eat my nuggets and forget about Marky Mark sitting across the aisle.
Then, he had the audacity to ask me for a piece of gum. I said, "Sure," and handed him the pack. Then he proceeded to offer MY GUM to everyone else on the plane. After that I was done. I put in my ipod and turned on ignore.
So, that was the beginning. Then, I realized that someone near me had SEVERE B-O! And the air vent was just circulating it. So, I put my head down, tried to forget about the nausea, and finally the plane landed.
I sat in the Philadelphia airport for quite a while as my connecting flight was ALSO delayed. So, I got home around 12:30-1:00 in the morning...but hey, I had shoes intact, my suitcase didn't explode and I made it home safely. What more could a girl ask for?

A Time to Read

2008-08-01T22:56:00.005-05:00

If you know me at all, or if you have had a recent conversation with me, you will know about my love for the works of Francine Rivers! I think that she is absolutely amazing, and I had the privaledge of meeting her in person last year at our conference. She is such an amazing author, and her books are giving me a greater love for the Word!

So, this is my first so-called "book review," except that it is a "series review."

The series is called the Mark of the Lion Series, and it consists of three books, "A Voice in the Wind," "An Echo in the Darkness," and "As Sure as the Dawn." Following the story of Haddassah throughout her journey was the highpoint of my day. Michael is now reading the series, and I'm trying so hard not to reveal anything to him. He asks me very pointed questions, and I just have to tell him that he will have to wait and see.

Definitely a must read...all three! Of course, you won't be able to stop after the first book! My #1 favorite book of all time is "Redeeming Love," also by Francine. And I'm currently starting on her series called, "Lineage of Grace." I can't wait to see how these turn out!

A time to laugh until you're on the floor about to pee your pants from laughing so hard...

2008-07-27T21:49:00.007-05:00

Ummmm......

All I can say is,

Michael got a little shorter this weekend.

These new coke bottles gave us the feeling that we were really small people in a world of giants who had the regular coke bottles. However, those "regular" coke bottles were now huge to we "small people" and we had to drink them with two hands now. And well, we just couldn't resist the urge...

Yes, we're twelve years old, but we were seriously on the floor laughing when we looked at these pictures after taking them. I could never have this much fun with any other man. The Lord knew exactly what I was going to need when he chose Michael for me. And that is another twelve year old to play with. :)

Time for a NEW TABLE!

2008-07-27T21:39:00.003-05:00

We got a new table! Yay! My mom found this great antique table and had it refinished, and then my cousin Carolyn gave us three of the chairs and my mom found the fourth. All four look like they are absolute matches...but only we know that they're not. Well, and now you know because you're reading this. Crap.

Anyway, I got a great deal on some decor and spruced it up. It's actually going to be fun to "eat at the table" now! I think I will actually use some serving dishes and decorations that I've had stowed away. And then after a week I'll be tired of that, and we'll go back to just serving our plates from the pots and pans in the kitchen. But hey, it'll be fun for a week right?

Or maybe we could start having people over to play cards on this fun new table. That sounds like a good idea. Now all I have to do is learn how to play "cards."

It most definitely WILL NOT be used for one thing though. And that is that it will not be used as a place to put the mail when we get home in the afternoons. It's right by the door, so I know it's easy to do. But, we won't do it.

Check back in a week. The serving plates will all be stowed away again and there will be mail on the table.

Sigh...

So much for dreaming though. It can be fun while it lasts.

A Time to Paint

2008-07-24T18:31:00.003-05:00

It was a rainy Saturday, and there was nothing to do. All of a sudden, I had the bright idea to go to PaintedByU, and paint some pottery. Luckily, Katie wanted to go too, so I had some wonderful company! Katie and I both painted plates, and this was my finished product. All in all, it was a great time, and I got to spend some good quality time with Katie before she leaves Birmingham. We'll miss you Katie!

Check out my new digs

2008-06-27T17:07:00.004-05:00

So, the office signed a new lease which didn't include my current office. However, that means that I get to move into a larger, more exciting office! Here are a couple of shots of my new digs- all spruced up!

Of course, this means I got almost nothing done today except the move- and I'm completely exhausted!

But it was definitely worth the effort, and the tiredness. Because check out my new digs!!!

A time to Mourn

2008-06-20T11:23:00.002-05:00

It was with great sadness that I learned about the death of one of the finest teachers I have ever known, Marshall Schavland Knudsen. Mr. Knudsen taught at my high school, and taught the subjects of English, French, and Creative Writing. I had him for English in the ninth grade, but that class taught me more than just the language.
Mr. Knudsen was an avid historian, which was well known in his hometown of Marion, AL, where he served as the president of the Perry County Historical Society. But the most important thing that you can have as a historian, is excellent story-telling skills, which Mr. Knudsen most definitely had. He would tell us stories of events long-ago, which would peak the interest of students who normally didn't care about history. His cousin, Winston, wrote the internationally acclaimed Forrest Gump, and Mr. Knudsen could tell you anything you wanted to know about it. I do believe that he even helped Winston put his family Scandanavian history into the preface of the book...I could be wrong about that though.
Mr. Knudsen kept a poster board on the wall, which listed numerically the things that he would not permit in his classroom. I remember one being "talking to classmates," but the one I will never forget was #4- Innattention. The reason I remember it so well, is because that was the one I always received... "Tidwell, #4."
Knudsen taught us the correct pronunciation of words, as well as manners that would help us at least seem like decent human beings. We kept notebooks that were called "Commonplace books," in which we wrote down the lessons he taught us. I think that if I look hard enough, I will find that I still have mine.
Long after graduation, I would still run into Mr. Knudsen. When I substituted at my old high school, he was still there. I can remember one time after substituting, I left after school to go work out at the gym. I ran into Mr. Knudsen and jokingly said, "Well, Mr. Knudsen. I do believe you're following me." He looked me straight in the face and said, "Not on your life, Tidwell."
On another occasion, Mr. Knudsen came to my house to bring me a wedding present. I thought it odd when the doorbell rang, because noone ever came to the front door and rang the doorbell. But Mr. Knudsen would have only done the proper thing, and that was it. As I opened the door, I was so excited to see him. "Mr. Knudsen!" I said.
"I came by to bring you all a wedding present," he said.
I immediately turned on the manners.
"Well, won't you come in and have some tea, Mr. Knudsen?" I asked. What? I don't even know where that came from, but it seemed appropriate.
"Oh no, no no no," he said. "Astrid is waiting."
Astrid, his wife, was at home waiting for him, and they had an event to attend.

A gentleman, a hilarious teacher, a historian, a friend to all. He will indeed be missed.

Katie's Birthday!

2008-06-11T12:50:00.005-05:00

June 10th was the date...Care Net South was the place! It was Katie's birthday, and she got fabulous gifts and prizes! Among her prizes were some beautiful flowers, a 3-pack of her favorite melon mint Orbitz gum, a pack of fun straws (in the shape of flip-flops), a big diet sunkist, and a hoops and yoyo card!

Happy Birthday Katie! I hope it was a great day!