Playing Outside

Mallory and I enjoyed playing with some of her toys outside. It's so pretty today!

Update on our house!

I haven't posted too much on our new house lately, mainly because I haven't had the chance! But, we are closing next Friday, May 4th, on our new house! Though we'll be in Washington County TN (our current county), we'll be leaving the Johnson City limits and moving to a smaller town called Gray, where taxes are lower and life moves a tad slower. Patrick will shave off about 15 minutes from his commute up to Kingsport, which we're thankful for.

The house we're purchasing is 4BD 3 BA, where one BD, BA and Den are in the basement. We have pretty mountain views, though we're PRAYING that the new construction being built behind us won't obstruct them! We don't think it will, but there's always the possibility! Our living room is really big and our Master BD is just heavenly! My kitchen has beautiful 42" cabinets with granite countertops. I haven't seen the countertops yet installed, but that will be tomorrow at our final walkthrough!!! We'll have PLENTY of space for visitors, so I hope that you plan on coming up to see us!!!

We have to be out of our rental on May 14, so we have 10 days to have all our stuff moved. Our movers will come on Thurs, May 10th (the day before my b-day!!!), so it will be fun to wake up on my 29th b-day in my new house. FUN FUN!!!

I'll post some pics tomorrow after our walkthrough. All the pics I have now are of unfinished sections of the house and it would be better to show you all the final products...

Please pray for us over the next few weeks as we'll be dealing with closing, packing, moving, travel (Patrick's back in FL May 6-9!!!), painting, lack of rest, etc. The Lord will give us strength to do all things!

Where we've been...

This past week, Patrick has been down in Orlando, FL for management training with his company. He was able to see one of his old college buddies, but other than that, the entire trip was full of business lectures, lunches, and dinners. He arrived home last night around midnight. It was REALLY good to see him!

While he was gone, Mallory and I visited my parents down in GA. I really wanted a chance to have some rest before our lives become crazy again with yet another move. We enjoyed seeing Grandma and Grandpa, taking walks, playing in the yard, and eating pizza EVERY DAY!!! I even had a chance to read a book and get a pedicure. Thanks SOO MUCH to my parents for helping me feel refreshed and ready to tackle these next 3 weeks as we're about to be moving again...

Playing with Grandma and Cayman




















Fishing with Dad!!! I really enjoy quiet mornings on the lake and there's nothing like feeling the pull of a bass. Thanks for taking me, Dad!

Mallory's Birthday Party!

On Saturday of last week, we had Mallory's 1st birthday party at Willow Springs Park here in Johnson City. Gram and Pops came and so did Grandma. We had 5 other little kids from Mallory's playgroup come, along with their parents, in addition to our dear friends, Josh and Rosanna, who the Lord has TRULY blessed us with!

I had a fun time planning her party and watching the little kids arrive with their mommies and daddies in honor of my daughter's birthday. I know she's not going to really remember the day, but it was absolutely perfect. We had a bright sunny day - the first after a series of very cold days - the kids were anxious to be out and playing.

Thanks to my family for helping me with such a special event. We had such great memories that we'll treasure always!

Willow Springs Picnic Shelter













Mallory on the slide with Grandma



















Party Favors (Sandbox toys)













Birthday Cake (Yummy!!!)















Mallory enjoying her birthday cake

Mallory's Birthday

On Mallory's birthday, we spent the majority of the day as a family. We met Patrick up in Kingsport for lunch at McAlisters and we was proud to show her off at his office. That evening, we had dinner at our Pastor's house and enjoyed a "potluck" of homemade pizza, salad and cookies. It was nice to be able to visit with them, establish more of a relationship, and invest a little more time in each other's lives. Their kids (12 and 6) really enjoyed playing with Mallory!!! Since she's still pretty shy around strangers, it was nice to see her start warming up to them.

We had a nice birthday evening! Mallory even had her first taste of chocolate chip cookie. Did she like it? Hm...

Mallory's 1st birthday!

One year ago today about this time there was major chaos in the delivery room. I was feeling the urge to push, now that my contractions were very close together, but my doctor and nurses informed me that their shifts were over and I would be getting a new nursing staff and doctor. The doctor that was on call when I came to the hospital was my primary OB that I had seen the majority of the time and I really hoped he would deliver Mallory. But, the doctor who was coming in at 7am was another doctor I really like and was OK with him. When he peaked his head in the door and the nurse (who knows what nurse!) told him I felt like pushing, I remember him saying, "OK, let me change and I'll be right in". I'm sure that clothes change was a bit rushed.

When Dr. Moore checked me, I was 9.5 cm and only part of my water had broken. He said I couldn't push until my water was completely broken, so he went ahead and broke the rest of the water. When he did, he realized that Mallory had passed her first meconium, which meant there were some special issues with her delivery. He paged a few respiratory specialists and I think a pediatrician and everybody scurried a little bit more. At this point, I remember the pain, but I was more focused on that I knew I wasn't going to hold her immediately after she was delivered because she needed to be checked that she didn't inhale the fluids.

The next 45 minutes/hour were a blur of pushing (at one point with no doctor OR nurse in the room!), chaos, and pain. Luckily, Mallory didn't take that long to come out of the birth canal and about 8:01am, she was born.

Though you would like to hear a baby scream when they come out, we were hoping for a quiet baby because the doctor wanted to suction the fluid away from her face, but she came out screaming. She was immediately taken from me and was under a bunch of lights with people surrounding her, making sure she was OK. Meanwhile, my doctor was repairing some of my damage, which is when I finally asked for a narchotic to help ease the pain! We were told about 25 mintues later that Mallory needed to be taken down to the ICN (Intensive Care Nursery) for monitoring, since her breathing wasn't what they wanted it to be. I had a breif look at her before she went away. What a crazy morning, which I'll continue in a later post. My birthday girl is currently stirring and we're about to welcome her to her first day as a "big girl". :-)

So, I told you my mom had the SLR and was in charge of taking pics! I remember her grabbing the camera while Mallory was being weighed, turning it on, and holding it like a regular digital camera, watching the LCD for a picture to display. I remember telling her that she had to actually look through the eye piece! She took some good pictures, but we were all kind of stunned at what was going on, we only have a handful.

Mallory first born - 7bls 1oz, 20.5 in long













I'm being told by the nurse that Mallory is going down to ICN.

A year ago today, our lives changed forever!

Around 7pm on April 18, 2006 I felt my first contraction while standing outside talking to our neighbors. I was 4 days overdue and very uncomfortable. Let me start at the beginning of the day...

Early that morning, I had let the dog out to play in the backyard and she immediately ran to the fence and jumped over it. I watched her run away in dismay, knowing that I couldn't chase her because of my *great* physical condition. I made my way to the car, drove around to the back of our neighborhood where there is a big field, and just hollered as loud as I could for Cayman. By God's grace, she actually came to me! I was so thankful that I found her because the Lord knew I didn't need to worry about her during this time in our lives. My concern was, though, that I couldn't constantly watch her outside after the baby came, so Patrick came home a few hours later with a "no-jump" harness for me to try out.

My mom called shortly after Cayman came back and said that she was on her way to come and keep me company, which I was so thankful for! I was in great need of a distraction and wanted her opinion on what to do with Cayman. We figured out this "no-jump" contraption and put it on Cayman. What it did was hinder her back legs from movement, so as she walked or ran, she had an extremely short gait which made her look histerical. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard than on that morning.

Mom and I spent the day shopping and literally brainstorming ideas on how to keep Cayman confined. She designed another contraption that she sewed to attach toto Cayman's harness. Again, it was the silliest thing I ever saw and laughed so hard that I couldn't stand. About 2 hours later, I went into labor.

My contractions quickly went from 10 minutes apart to 7 minutes apart and they also kept getting longer. I planted myself on my birthing ball (you know, those big exercise balls people do crunches on?) and bounced as much as I could to help progress labor. I called my dear friend, Kristin, who is a midwife assistant and lactation consultant in Jacksonville and I remember her telling me to rest during these "little ones". I about jumped off the ball and through the phone! Little ones?!?!?!? You mean, it's gonna hurt more that what I was feeling at that moment? Geez, I was in for a long night! I tried my hardest to rest, but I was in so much pain and by midnight, my contractions were 5 minutes apart and about 10 seconds long. I was in the bathtub a few times trying to find relief, but after a few persistant words from Patrick, we called the doctor, explained my situation, and he told us to come on down to the hospital.

We left for the hospital around 1:30 or 2am and Patrick drove REALLY carefully the whole way. I was so thankful for little traffic and easy access to the hospital. We knew exactly where to go (thanks to the tour we had a few weeks earlier) and I was whisked to triage to determine if I was really in labor (I could've told them that!!!!)

I was 6cm when I arrived and by the looks of my progression and the baby's fetal stats, they gave me permission to get into the tub. Oh, the whirlpool tub was very relaxing! But, the water got cool quick and I was only in the tub for maybe 20 minutes before I was uncomfortable. I was hooked back up to the monitor and decided to stay in bed since I was so tired. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart and 80 seconds long and I did my best to relax between them, thanks to the help of Patrick and mom who both took turns rubbing my back the WHOLE time I was in bed.

The only funny story I really have regarding my labor is that Patrick was wearing wind pants that made a "deafening" swishing noise that annoyed the mess out of me. I told him that he needed to STOP SWISHING! Needless to say, he quickly changed into some shorts.

I guess I'll stop there for now. There's a lot I remember about 2 hours before Mallory was born and I'll pick that up tomorrow. I'll leave with this comment...

This is the last picture that was taken before we left the house to go to the hospital:

I would have you guess the significance of this picture, but I'm not going to do that to you! While I was breathing my way through contractions, my mother realized that she arrived at my house with a camera bag but no camera. Yikes! The only camera I had was my SLR that is, for some reason, very intimidating to people who don't know how to use them. I gave my mom a quick "point and shoot" lesson and this is the picture she took. I was a little concerned that we'd have no pictures in the delivery room because she *sometimes* forgets how to use "new technology", but mom pulled through! Again, I'll share that in my next post. But, I have to tell you I chuckle whenever I see this photo and remember what I felt when my mom said she forgot her camera!

Remembering past times, in honor of VA Tech

This week, I have been cherishing sweet memories of my final pregnancy days leading up to the moment we met our first child. It was a year ago today that I went into labor, but I'll share that story in a later post. My friend Kelly made a post regarding her memories of when significant tragedies struck our nation and the world and I figured I'd walk down memory lane to see if I can recall where I was and what I was feeling. I'll begin with the most vivid memories...

Which means that I'll start with when I heard about the VA Tech shootings. I was at home, but since I don't usually turn on the TV until after 4pm, I read a headline on Yahoo about a shooting at VA Tech where at least 2 people were dead. I regret to say I passed over the headline and didn't even click the link to read the developing story. It wasn't until I saw the headline a few hours later that at least 22 were dead that I read it, called Patrick, and turned on the TV to watch the news. How sad. How tragic. Those families have been in my thoughts and prayers.

On September 11, I was at work at Duke when a friend sent me an email saying that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I immediately went to CNN.com, which did not load because I'm guessing it was bogged down with Internet traffic. I asked one of my coworkers if he'd heard the news and he hadn't. We both went down to the cafeteria to watch the news. We were there watching while the first tower fell and a chorus of gasps were heard on the news and across the cafeteria. We were told to evacuate the city and I headed home, called my folks, and then spent the afternoon at a friends house. I remember seeing another friend of my mine that day whose dad had passed away the day before. She had asked me to pick something up for the funeral (a video, I think) and we exchanged hugs over what occured during these traumatic few days. I could imagine the horror she felt at both events in her life and ached for her loss. I make sure I call her every year to remind her that I think of her (Love ya, C!).

I heard about the Tsunami at church. Our pastor asked us to remember to pray for those in Indonesia. I remember him saying that our God is powerful enough to make such an enormous wave with a simple flick of His finger. We don't know why or how, but he's sovereign in the midst of tradgedies.

I heard about the shuttle Columbia exploding while driving to my then "soon-to-be" house to look at the fridge, which I was planning on purchasing. I called my roomie at the time to let her know about it because a friend of hers worked for NASA in Houston.

Though this tragedy is more local, I was about 12 when the 1990 Gainesville murders took place. Man, that was scary. I remember my first baby sitting job was a few days after that took place and though my parents and the children's parents were only around the corner at a bible study, I remember being really scared. When I lived in Gainesville, there was a graffiti wall near campus that was constantly changing. But, a memorial was painted in the center of the wall and no one ever painted over it. I wonder if it's still there.

I was at work when Katrina hit New Orleans. I watched the weather radar as the eye moved over the city. While I was sitting in my cubicle with all the lights on and AC blasting cool air, I was thinking about all those people either evacuating or stuck in the city scared to death. I ached for them.

I don't remember the details of where I was when Columbine, The OK City bombings, the first WTC bombings, when Princess Diana was killed or even when the Challenger exploded (I think I was at Stephen Foster Elementary in G-ville watching it on TV, but I don't really recall). It's amazing how these tragic events change your life. When I heard about VA Tech, I looked at Mallory and wondered if I could ever let her out of my sight, but my role as a mother is not about that. It's training her to become the woman God has called her to be, to be an example for her, and to equip her to the best of my ability to be independent of me yet totally dependent on God. God knows where her footsteps will take her and I have to trust in his sovereign hand. I hope that she never has to personally endure a tragic event as the ones I've mentioned.

Like Kelly, I will ask the question, what are your memories?

Currently...

It's snowing. HARD. But, the snow will probably not stick because the ground is so wet. It's a pretty sight to see, though. All I can say is that I'm glad Patrick encouraged me to go to the grocery store earlier than later. I walked in the door about 10 minutes ago...right before the rain turned to snow!

Our Easter and Mallory's 1st Birthday Celebration

Well, we've been so busy lately enjoying celebrations with our family. We spent last weekend at my folk's house down in Georgia to spend Easter and celebrate Mallory's 1st birthday with Grandma, Grandpa, Gram, Pops, Aunt Amanda and Uncle David. We had a full house and we really enjoyed being together all weekend. Mallory was a bit overwhelmed by all the attention and barely left my lap while we were around everyone. When I went out of eyesight, she screamed for a few minutes and eventually played with her toys, though bregrudgingly and with some tears. It was a challenge for me to visit with everyone, since Mallory was center of attention and I was frequently shooed from the room so she would be willing to go to someone other than me! She was SOOO clingy and we're still working on it, eventhough we've been home for 3 days.

Anyway, we arrived on Friday afternoon, along with Patrick's parents, and enjoyed a pizza dinner after Mallory retired for the night. The next day was spent celebrating her birthday. She wore a special birthday girl outfit, provided by Gram, and she was definitely "Queen of Sheba" for the day. We ate lunch at Papa's Pizza To-Go and Mallory couldn't get enough pizza, though she cried whenever I left her side to get more! She also enjoyed sucking on a chicken wing bone (Sharon L. would be proud!!!). She was pretty wiped out afterwards, but she didn't take a very long nap. I think she was ready for presents!!! And, oh my gosh, there were TONS of presents! She received so many toys and clothes!!! She didn't really know what to play with first and kept going from toy to toy!

We ate cake after dinner, which she really didn't know what to think of. She kept stroking the cake as if she was petting a dog, though she doesn't really know how to pet a dog! She never took a really big bite of cake, so that wasn't too exciting. I didn't get any pictures on my camera of that because my family members had their own cameras and Patrick had the camcorder. I'm looking forward to seeing the video!

We enjoyed attending church together the next day in celebration of our Lord's Resurrection. We had a big Italian lunch afterwards, which was quickly followed by the departure of my sister and Patrick's parents. Once the "crowd" dwindled, Mallory was much better at venturing away from my lap! We "hunted" Easter eggs with Grandma and Grandpa, a tradition my sister and I fondly remember as kids. Mallory wasn't too interested, but it was fun carrying her around and filling her basket with the eggs. Patrick and I were able to get some relaxing in before we headed back home on Monday. It was a nice trip and I'm glad we were all able to be together.

My days now have been filled with packing (which I'll have to write another post about), planning Mallory's birthday party here, making appointments for choosing things for the new house, and resting at the opportune times. God has blessed us and though we're anticipating some incredibly busy weeks ahead, we're looking forward to the outcome of our efforts!

The Birthday Girl!















Eating pizza at Papa's Pizza To-Go with Grandma and Grandpa



















Sucking on a Chicken Wing!














Opening presents














Mallory's first "tatto" (Thanks Grandma!)



















Easter picture of the Moss Family



















Easter Picture with Gram and Pop












Bunny Ears from Mallory's Easter Basket

Guiliani on the Republican ticket? God help us!

I came across this article today about Guiliani's stance on abortion. It's very disheartening to know that this man could be the Republican candidate in the '08 presidential race.

How 'bout them Gators?!?!?!?!?

Oh, it was so exciting to watch Florida pull off a 2-peat in the National Championship game against Ohio State! I'm so proud of my home-town team.

Go Gators!!!

Seeing our new little one!

Patrick, Mallory and I went to the OB's office today to get a peek at our precious little one. My heart's prayer was that we would see the baby's heartbeat and our prayers were answered! The baby's heart was beating fast - 164 - and it was so beautiful! The baby is measuring at my original calculations, only off by a few days. So, my due date will remain at November 7th, which means I'm about 8 1/2 weeks along. Praise the Lord for the good news!