Ms. MoLLy

is the most precious puppy on the face of the earth! she is growing up way too fast! i never knew we would be so attached to an animal! over the last couple of weeks she has lost 2 teeth, or at least thats all we have found. she has had one hair cut, and already needs another one. she has learned to sit! of course she is still totally potty trained to her puppy pads and to my knowledge has never used the bathroom outside. she is now sleeping in the bed with us because we love her way too much, but if you make her get in her bed she will. she has completely destroyed 2 stuffed animals by ripping their eyeballs off and gutting them. i bought her a rubbery fish toy and when you made him sqeak his tongue would stick out...she tore his tongue off the first day. when she sees herself in a mirror, window, or the tv she goes crazy! she is scared of her shadow and its really funny! she jumps on and off of anything and everything!! it's amazing! there is no way to describe how she jumps...you have to see it for yourself! i guess its cause she has long legs and is as light as a feather! she kind of takes after her mommy. long legs and kind of scrawny. she can stand up like a human forever...she looks like a small child. the cutest thing about her is that one ear stands straight up and one is still floppy. it makes her very unique. every now and then both of them will stand straight up. i am her cuddle buddy and daddy is her crazy play buddy. anytime she wants to lay down or just be a lap dog she is with me! even in the car...whether im driving or riding she is in my lap. she's like her aunt suzy...a car ride puts her to sleep. raw hide is her best friend...she will chew on a piece of raw hide, no matter what shape or form it is, for hours until it is all gone!

when we are sitting in our recliners in the living room watching tv, she stands right in the middle facing us like she is going to put on some sort of show. she will sit there forever just looking back and forth at us. she also loves to watch tv...especially cartoons! its really cute!

she LOVES our new house! she loves to play outside! she chases every bird, bug, butterfly, etc she sees. she loves to go down to the pier with her daddy to fish! luckily she has only jumped off the pier once and it was when the water was low so she didnt drown. she loves her daddy and he adores her more than you could imagine! she loves our neighbors dog buddy. he is a springer spaniel and he loves molly too. he just rolls over on his back and lets molly jump on him. supposedly buddy doesnt like any of the other dogs in the neighborhood.

she loves living close to nana and papa because they babysit her when we work. although we miss her terribly after working 3 nights and not seeing her! she loves going to their house and playing, or i guess a better word would be 'harrassing' their yorkie, allie. i think they spoil her worse than we do. she also loves going to visit her aunt bella. my in-laws westhighland terrier. of course she is about 3 or 4 times bigger than molly, but they play till they drop!! they are fun to watch until they start getting too rough! molly is tougher than she looks!

she will be 6 months old this month! time is flying by way too fast! we will be having her fixed soon! how we are going to keep her calm and from jumping all over the place i have no idea! we will need a tranquilizer!

we love her soooooo much! she is our baby and we treat her like one. she was the best decision ever! she makes us smile constantly. its really hard to discipline her! i cant imagine what its gonna be like when we have kids one day! i guess thats enough molly updates for now. if i think of anything else i will add it on!

life lately........

has been VERY busy and somewhat stressful!! it has been wayyy to long since i last blogged! we finally got our internet working at home, but the charger for my computer doesnt work half the time. hopefully we can get a new one soon! we are actually in excel alabama right now at my in-laws house! it's a nice get-away from all the business and craziness back home. i debated on whether coming or not due to my grandmother being sick.

she has been having a hard time for about the last 2 months now. she cant seem to get back on track and stay on track. it's really hard on my mom, who i wish i could be with 24/7 to help her out. my mom, grandmother, and i are all really close and we all want whats best for each other, but sometimes its hard not to be selfish and want whats best for ourselves! my mom thought she wanted to move maw-maw into her house and take care of her by herself. here's where the selfish part comes in...if she did that, i would practically lose my mom too! it would be a 24 hour a day job and it would be way to gruelling for her to do alone. i think we have decided and finally talked maw-maw into trying assisted living first while she is still capable of doing some things on her own. she is a precious and very grateful lady and she deserves the best care in the world!

it is the HARDEST thing in the world to see someone you love soooooo much be sick, and not be able to take care of themselves. the whole situation is like deja-vu all over again. we took care of my dads parents for 2 years while they were sick until Jesus decided to take them home! it was the hardest, most exhausting, BUT also the most rewarding 2 years of my life. of course it is my nature to want to be with them and do everything for them all of the time. i get that from my mom and dad. the hard part is that i, along with the rest of my family, work. i feel the same way my mom does, i wish i could just quit my job and take care of her, but that is not the right thing for us to do.

it is my wish for her to be able to go into assisted living and really enjoy the remaining years of her life. if she's happy there then we can visit whenever possible, which will probably be all the time, and really enjoy the time we spend with her. we wont be tired from trying to take care of her 24 hours a day. needless to say...the whole situation has been turned over to the Man upstairs and He is in total control! what's best for her and our family will be! i guess thats enough spilling for now! thanx for reading and understanding! please pray we will do the right thing!

home sweet home...

i LOVE home!! i never want to leave my house for anything! the drive to work is tiring but it is sooo worth the drive to go home to a beautiful house and a magnificent view of God's creation! i cant wait to go home every morning when i get off work! wanna know something crazy?? i have ALWAYS hated to clean. i do love for my house to be clean but i just dont like doing it! i have hard core cleaned my house twice in less than 2 weeks. i also do laundry more often! it's amazing! i guess it may wear off after the newness of everything wears off but i hope not. i actually enjoy cleaning our new house and that excites me! nicholas does a great job of helping me too! he is great at keeping the yard mowed and picked up...it looks great! i had never seen him mow grass before last week...he's really cute when he does it! we are having soo much fun!

jamie and jeff came by last sunday...it was great getting to see them! and its exciting that jeff is home for good now! we are ready for company so come see us anytime!

nicholas did very good today! he mowed the grass, cooked dinner, but more importantly he sold 2 bedroom suits, a tv, and a few other things to a guy in birmingham. he made us some money!! we were really excited to get rid of some things! maybe now i can park my car in the garage!!! mom and dad came over for dinner before i went to work. nicholas grilled fish, asparagus, and corn on the cob. it was delicious! mom brought me the cutest planter with gerber daisies in it! flowers make me very happy!

im kinda sad (really jealous) because my mom and dad are going to my sisters tomorrow. she and her husband live in louisiana! i really wish we were going with them. we have to work the beginning of next week and they arent coming back till wednesday.

the reason i havent been updating more frequently is because our internet isnt hooked up yet. hopefully they will come do it soon and i can update more! the last few times (including this time) i have been at work. i guess i should go feed my baby now!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!

smooth move!!

wow...it has been way too long since i last updated! a lot has happened and we couldnt be happier or more excited! we closed on our house march 25...my bday and had a celebration dinner at the courtyard with my parents that night. we were really tired after working the night before though! we spent that night in our house for the first time! even though none of our stuff was there yet...it definitely felt like home! no apartment or townhouse has ever felt like home! we headed back to birmingham on thursday to finish packing...thankfully my parents came down that night and helped us out!

friday morning we hit the ground running! my parents were there with their yorkie, we of course were there with molly, and nicholas' parents were there with their westhighland terrier. do i even have to mention...it was a ZOO! our wonderful friend steven came to help load the truck too! we could not have done it without all of their help! we did not realize how much stuff/crap we had till we started trying to fit it on a the biggest moving truch we could find. it's crazy that two 24 year olds have that much stuff! i guess i should say "we are blessed".!! we finished loading the truck around 3:00 pm and headed to rainbow city (our new home)! it didnt take very long to unload everything. we basically put it all in the garage for now. we did put my bedroom suit in our middle bedroom. after unloading the guys headed to my parents house to unload a few things and my mom and i went to get dinner. after dinner nicholas finally got to take the truch back about 8:30 pm. it was a VERY VERY long day!

nicholas' parents spent the night with us friday night. his mom helped me out tremendously on saturday by washing and folding clothes and helping me put them away. nicholas and his dad put up our new mailbox and piddled around outside. they left after lunch and headed back to excel. my parents came later that afternoon and my mom and i tackled the kitchen. she is the most organized perfectionist in the world! we got a whole lot done on saturday!

sunday we slept late, went to see maw-maw, and made our first trip to lowes. it has been sooooo much fun putting our stuff in the house and making it our own! i loved being able to pick out flowers to go on our porches. it was also fun getting rid of all the fake flowers in the house and putting real ones in. i have always HATED fake flowers/plants because in my opinion all they do is collect dust. the house was full of them! i got rid of all of them very quickly! there were also birds everywhere! we are slowly getting rid of them too. i love the duck and fish decor but NOT birds...i dont know why.

we could not be a happier couple! we are soooooo blessed! we only work 3 days a week so the other 4 we are able to stay at home and enjoy our beautiful, cozy new house! i actually enjoyed cleaning house monday morning while nicholas mowed the grass...i have NEVER in my life enjoyed cleaning! i feel like our lives are complete for now. there is nothing else in this world we could ever want or need. wednesday was a great day!! i slept late first of all then got up and played outside all day! i layed out on the patio for a little while, watched nicholas plant tomato plants, played with molly, fished, sat on the back porch and started reading my new book, cooked a roast for dinner, had mom and dad over to for dinner...life could not be better! neither one of us wanted to leave and come to work yesterday evening! i guess we had to come back to the real world sooner or later.

i know i am totally rambling but so much has happened over the past week. im sure i am leaving lots of stuff out! i did get a little sunburnt on wednesday and i did wear sunscreen! it's gonna be hard controlling my sun exposure now! i am going to want to be outside all the time! molly absolutely loves her new home! she has gotten to play outside a whole lot since we moved! although...we took her down to the pier wednesday while we were fishing. she usually is very well behaved, but her curiosity got to her and she jumped off the pier. my heart sank to my feet! luckily...the water is on the low side right now and she jumped where there is no water, but she did run right under the pier down to the water to check it out. i always have my eyes on her but i turned around for a second and when i turned back around she was gone. of course i ran and jumped right off the pier behind her like any mommy would do. needless to say she got a spankin and a good talkin to. she is way too brave!! that night was the first time she has ever smelt like a dog! she got a good bath after playing outside all day! it has been real stormy here and like i said...we are both working tonight, so dad came and got molly before we left for work and took her to their house. i think they may actually babysit her all weekend, so we can get some rest during the day. i actually shed a tear after he took her because she has never spent the night away from home before. i know you all think i am absolutely ridiculous but she is our baby!! i know they will take very good care of her. she loves her nana and papa and allie too (my parents dog). allie just doesnt care too much for molly. i am going to miss her. i might have to see her before sunday gets here.

our neighbors and friends have been so kind and wonderful! fweida (my best friends mom) brought us homemade butterfinger icecream on sunday...my favorite! i have pretty much eaten it all by myself! im sad because it's almost gone! two other neighbors have brought us goodies too! its encouraging and comforting to know we have such nice people around us. they told us all about everyone that lives on our street. everyone sounds like great people. there is a rainbow city policeman that lives a few doors down but we havent met him yet. i honestly feel safe where we are! i have never felt that way living in birmingham and my parents are only 10 minutes away, so i think i'll be okay when i am home by myself.

we dont have internet at the house yet or i would have posted sooner. i know i have left out lots of lovely details but i just dont have the time right now to get them all in. i promise i will try to do better from now on! i just want everyone to know that everything went very smoothly with the move and we couldnt be happier! i guess i should get back to work now! my babies need me!

i hope you have a very safe and blessed weekend!

closing wednesday...moving friday!!

wow...i havent updated in a while! we have been very busy! last week my grandmother got put in the hospital so we rushed home last thursday so i could stay with her and give my mom a break. she is still in the hospital but is doing better and will hopefully get out soon!

BIG NEWS!! we close on our house this wednesday...my birthday!! we are VERY excited. although...we both have to work tuesday night...im just not looking forward to being tired all day. im trying to find someone to work part of the shift for me! we are doing a walk through at the house at 1:00 pm and we will close at 2:00. we plan on taking some of my dishes and a few other things and staying in the house wednesday night. we will come back to bham on thursday to finish packing up and then move everything on friday! nicholas' parents will be coming up to help us! we will be ready for company on saturday!!!

it has been fun thinking about what colors we want to paint a couple of the bedrooms and shopping for outdoor stuff. we bought some tiki torches the other day to put down along the river bank. just pray that its pretty this weekend...i think there's a chance of rain!

i have been a horrible friend lately. we have been sooo busy and i have been sooo tired i havent even talked to any of my friends. i am going to try to do better. work has kicked my butt the past couple of weeks! i had the worst night ever at work last wednesday night. i had a very very sick baby who didnt make it. it was a very long week! i came in to work early tonight for a friend, so pray that i make it till 8:00 am. i guess i should get back to work. i will try to post again soon! we are going to have a busy week!

i hope everyone has a BLESSED week!

another night in the rnicu!

ahhhh...finally a quiet night in the regional neonatal intensive care! after a very intense night thursday, i requested to go into our isolation room all by myself and have 2 babies. our acuity is VERY high right now! its like a zoo around here! when people think about the neonatal intensive care they automatically think of premature babies that fit in the palm of your hand, which is the majority of what we see. here at uab we have lots of cardiac babies as well! we actually get all of the cardiac babies here! they are usually bigger babies and for the most part term babies...they just have different heart defects and usually need surgery/surgeries. we also see lots of random/rare things around here! anything from conjoined twins, lots of multiple births (no octuplets though), major chromosomal defects, babies born with missing limbs or organs, lots of downs syndrome babies (they usually have a heart defect too), etc...just to name a few. my favorite are usually the preemies, although i have gotten very attached to several heart babies in the past. there was baby gabe who had a rare heart/lung defect! we became very attached. he passed away in december. baby luke was my first attachment in the rnicu! he was a heart baby and he passed away in june 2008. they both fought with all they had, but our great GOD was ready to take them home and make them perfect little angels! there have been lots of preemies! parker and madison come to mind first! they were both tiny little bundles of joy!



there is no way on earth to describe what my job is like! you have to come and see it for yourself! we see babies come and go so often. sometimes the situation is heartbreaking and unbearable to think about, but there are joyous times as well...when you get to see them go home with their mommy's and daddy's. i have the most rewarding job anyone could ask for! people make fun of me around here because i am so nice and talkative to my families and they all love me. i could not imagine being a parent and having a baby up here. it is soooo stressful!

there is no greater feeling knowing that a mom and dad can sleep at night because they know you are taking great care of their most precious gift.i absolutely love what i do even though at times it is extremely mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting all at the same time!

i think with every person and every job, you have those horrific/nightmare nights or days and you think to yourself...nights like that make me want to quit my job. i have had several, but after a little griping and complaining i put on my big girl panties and come right back into work the next night and fall in love with my job all over again.

i knew since i was 13 years old that i wanted to be a neonatal nurse. God placed a set of premature twin boys into my care, and i totally fell in love with them. i was blessed to have such clarity and assurance in what God wanted me to do with my life! i am also blessed to have such amazing parents who made my dream possible and put me through school. my mom, dad, and sister were my number one cheerleaders too! they heard a whole lot of complaining, crying, yelling, and the exhaustion in my voice. they never gave up on me and i never gave up on myself!

i am sitting here now looking at my two sick little babies wishing i could miraculously make them all better, so they could go home where they belong. no baby deserves to suffer and go through what they have to endure, BUT like me...GOD has a huge plan for their lives! i do not know how any family could survive this place and not have faith in my Jesus! He is the Great Physician!

like i said earlier...preemies are my favorite. babies are considered premature from 22 weeks to usually 36 weeks. we have to go to ALL high risk deliveries here. if they come as early as 22-24 weeks their eyes are usually still fused, their skin is gelatinous, and you can see every little vein in their body. they are sooo fragile! everything about them is premature. their lungs, heart, eyes, ears, skin, kidneys, liver, EVERYTHING! we are their lifeline...we breath for them, keep their tiny little hearts beating, keep their bellies from dying, keep them warm and moist, give them nutrition through an iv, etc...i could go on for hours. i have had babies as small as 12 ounces...they fit in the palm of my hand. all i can do is pray that God will grow and heal their bodies. i LOVE my babies! but we not only take care of the babies, we take care of their families and sometimes that is the hardest part!



i guess the point is...i love my job! God has put me here for a very special reason and He is using me in a very special way! that thought makes me very excited!

a pedicure makes everything better!!

i had a great pedicure today! although the massage chair bout threw me in the floor a few times! it also kept squeezing the devil out of my rear end...i couldnt figure out how to make it stop, so i just sucked it up and dealt with it. it was kinda funny! my toes look much better! it's amazing how much better i feel after sleeping till 1:00 pm today, doing a lil shopping by myself, and a nice pedicure! nicholas played golf with some of his buddies, so i decided i would do something that i enjoy doing!

i found a great shop in cahaba heights called 'the nesting place'. they have the cutest home decor! i could have gone crazy but i did good! i bought 3 beach mats that were 50% off! i can use them on our pier and whenever we go to the beach! they had soooo much stuff that would look cute at our new house! we are excited about buying stuff for the outdoors! we are looking for adirondack chairs for the pier, tiki torches, plants, etc. its sooo much fun! we dont really have a yard where we are now and the AHA takes care of the lawn and stuff. we are excited about playing outside all the time!

we are going to the beach with my family the end of june!! my parents, suz and heath, and me n nicholas. we are very excited about it!! i have been to the beach with his family a couple of times but he has never been with mine! he's in for a treat! we always have the best time!

i started doing some packing tonight! it made me even more excited for some reason! i guess because it makes it "for real". i really didnt do much...i just started with picture frames and all of the pictures that were hanging on the walls. most of what we will be taking is kitchen stuff and furniture. so its mostly big things. its getting closer! bout 2 weeks away!!

thats enough for now...i gotta go fold clothes (my most favorite chore)!! have a good one!