toward the beginning

Domestic Diva

2010-02-25T16:36:00.003-05:00

Well I think we have a future martha stewart on our hands - cleaning, cooking, cooking while cleaning, we have the works. Seriously - Landrum has a very serious relationship with her vacuum (she calls it a backune)... i heard her hugging and kissing it goodbye the other day in fact :) Yesterday she whipped out her vacuum for a quick clean while still wearing her chef's hat - she was a busy girl that day!

Today we tackled brownies together. I have always imagined I would cook with my little girl - it is something I love to do and let me tell you the apple has not fallen far from the tree. Landrum loves to "cook it" which really just means stir it. Landrum was a huge help with the brownies and I am so glad she likes doing these things together!

This weekend our project is potty training. Landrum is obsessed with the potty and refuses to keep her pants or diaper on right now so i am hoping these are good signs that she is ready! we'll see how it goes :)

Landrum's New Dress

2010-02-16T16:03:00.003-05:00

I am starting to work on Spring clothes - here is Landrum's new dress...

Let it Snow!!!

2010-02-14T13:05:00.002-05:00

We got a rare treat - Snow - and lots of it! We woke up Friday to a winter wonderland as you can see - it was so beautiful! Landrum kept saying "play snowing, play snowing" so after breakfast we put Luke down for a nap and went out to "play snowing" with Landrum. She LOVED it! We suited her up in every bit of winter ware we could find and the result was that she was unable to put her arms down by her side - they just kept popping up! It was hilarious! Today is Sunday and it is sadly melting away... but we are so glad we got to enjoy it!

We're Back!

2010-02-14T12:41:00.003-05:00

Ok - I won't even go into all the reasons I have not updated my blog in ages - let's just start a fresh with a new year and go from here - shall we?!

Of course lots has changed and the kids have grown - so I will be sure to include as many pics as possible. 2010 is a new year for us and sure to hold many exciting opportunities, adventures and surely a few challenges, but hopefully not as many as 2009!

We just got home from a great week of vacation in Atlanta where we visited some great friends - who are really family - you know the kind.. We had lots of adventures there - including the aquarium which Landrum adored! We were so excited to share this experience with her - we went when it was not crowded at all so Landrum got to get up close and personal with all the fish! Her favorite was petting the sting rays - she was practically in the pool with them!

We came home and a week later had a very big snow for Mississippi (especially in February) and really enjoyed that - I hope you like those photos - it was so beautiful and such a treat to see the Lord's magnificent creation in this way!

Luke is 5 months old now and growing so big - he is such a joy to our family and his sister ADORES him. They really love each other and can always make one another smile and laugh!

I am not making any real promises but will try to do better about updating the blog with our comings and goings!

Pumpkin Patchin it Up

2009-11-03T10:07:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning in Dallas was a beautiful day and we headed to a fabulous pumpkin patch not far from my sister's house. Landrum had her first experience in a bounce house - she was not sure exactly what to do once inside, fortunately it was not super crowded and she was not trampled! She also got to ride a 'train' with daddy, shout at the horses and explore the pumpkins - she loved it!

Trick or Treat Texas Style

2009-11-03T09:41:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we went to Dallas to see my sister and her family. Landrum needed some cousin time and everyone wanted to meet Luke. We had such a fun weekend. I laughed and called it Jared's "Man-Sports" weekend as he had a fun filled time. He played golf with an old friend on Friday at a very nice course and had a great round although he has not picked up his clubs in a year and a half! (we are a little busy around here). Then Sunday he and Luke, my brother in law, trucked on over to the new Cowboys stadium with 60,000+ other fans, and experienced the Cowboys beating the Seahawks. Of course we could only afford standing room tickets since all other tickets are so outrageous because they have to pay for that monstrocity! Anyway - he had a GREAT time doing all his 'man' activities. We all had a great time too playing with cousins and trying to do a little shopping (although it is very difficult to accomplish much with 4 kids 3 and under!). Saturday night everyone dressed up and we headed out to trick our treat. This was Landrum's first experience with trick or treating and she loved it! She was a little overwhelmed by all the costumes and got somewhat sidetracked. She kept swing her pumpkin bucket so hard that we lost a good bit of the candy we collected! She really did not care about the candy though. She was one dang cute Pink Poodle!

Fall is Here

2009-10-05T09:28:00.004-05:00

Well, atleast technically fall is here. In Mississippi we don't actually have much of a 'real fall' but when the temps are in the 70's I declare it is fall! We went to the pumpkin patch with my parents on Saturday and had such a fun time. It is actually much more than just a pumpkin patch, there is a hayride with lots of stops a long the way to look at various animals - including a Zedonk - yes a zebra donkey mix - really one of a kind! There were performing goats and giant catfish as well as your run of the mill cows, donkeys, chickens and pigs. We all got to pick out our own pumpkins which Landrum loved! I carried Luke in the sling the whole time and he did great!

The Babies

2009-10-04T16:43:00.003-05:00

We had a sweet friend come and take some pictures of the kids. She is just starting her own photography business and needed some new born photos so it worked out perfectly. We had fun and the children cooperated for the most part. Here are some of my favorites from that day!

Update

2009-09-22T17:37:00.002-05:00

We are alive! Things are starting to settle into some sort of routine around here. I am at home on my own with the children during the day now.. while I will be honest by about 2:30 we are staring at the clock waiting for Jared to walk through the door!

We took Luke to his 2 week check up with our pediatrician yesterday and had a great visit. He is 6lbs on the dot - we were thrilled! He has really done well with his weight gain and the doctor was very pleased.. all this to say he is still only in the 5th percentile for his weight!! Developmentally he is right on track and looks great! We will have to go back each week for a weight check between now and his 2 month check up, just to make sure he is continuing to gain on track. He does have some problems with reflux that have kept us up during the night, in fact he and i spend most of our night on the couch together.. we started some medicine today and we are hoping that is going to clear up some of our problems..

I will put some more pictures up soon - promise!

This Week

2009-09-13T20:18:00.004-05:00

Well, we knew the transition from one to two was going to be both challenging and exciting... but I am not sure we were quite prepared.. and I suppose it really would not be that bad except that Jared has been sick since we have been home. Turns out, we are pretty sure he has a stomach ulcer. It is terrible - he is so uncomfortable and not able to really do much at all. He feels terrible and I feel terrible for him. On top of him not feeling well, I am of course recovering from surgery, we are trying to tend to a newborn, and attempting to help sweet Landrum transition from being an 'only' to a big sister - a role she is a little unsure of I might add! Really, Landrum seems to like Luke okay - she is always anxious to see 'baby' as she calls him and to know what he is doing. She likes to help give him the pacifier, which usually ends up smashed in his eye, she likes to give lots of kisses, and pats and pull his hat off. If he is in the bouncy seat, she loves to help 'rock, rock' the baby.. we had to nip that in the bud pretty quickly lest he go catapulting across the room from the love of his sister!

Luke is eating well and sleeping most all the time. He is doing okay at night and I am starting to feel like we are getting into somewhat of a norm. He is such a good eater and I am so pleased as we are trying to fatten him up a little! He is so so tiny! We did get a good report when we went back to the hospital for his weight check, he was back at his birth weight (5lb 9oz) at less than a week old - they were pleased and we were thrilled!
Jared has seen a doctor and is taking some medicine, however, the pain seems to come and go. He will seem to be better and then take a turn for the worse and be out for the count. It has been a trial for sure.
I managed to get some sweet pictures of Landrum and Luke today when she got home from church - she went with her grandparents. Thank goodness my parents live here as they have been lifesavers for us throughout this experience.

More Pics of Baby Luke

2009-09-07T15:18:00.004-05:00

We are still in the hospital as Jayme and Luke needed an extra day of care. Luke woke with a low temp this morning and Jayme fought a spinal headache all night so each of their respected Drs recommended them getting one more night of hospital care. Both of them are having a good day - Jayme got her headache taken care of and Luke is wrapped in 18 blankets with the room temp at 80 degrees so if he is still cold, the only solution is more meat on his bones. So as long as things are normal in the morning, we will all get to go home tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers during this up and down, but joyous occasion. Here's some more pics of Luke's friends and family.

Luke Hamilton Yates

2009-09-06T08:19:00.007-05:00

Luke is here! He was born on Friday, September 4th at 12:56 pm. As many of you know we were expecting to have a planned c-section on September 9th, however, that was not the Lord's plan I guess! Last week I (Jayme) started having higher blood pressure readings and so they were keeping an eye on those. Thursday evening, she started having some regular contractions and those combined with high blood pressure found us in the doctors office Friday morning checking things out. The doctor on call decided that it was probably best for us to go ahead and deliver Friday afternoon. We had a wonderful experience with our c-section and both Luke and I came through beautifully. Luke weighed in at 5lb 9oz and was 19 1/2 inches long, very tiny! He had some difficulty transitioning into the world over the next 12-24 hours or so but since then has been doing great. He has been eating well, is eager to look all around and check out his surroundings and loves to be held! We don't have tons of pictures to post yet as we were not able to see him that much at first - but we'll get plenty more in the coming days.

Landrum and Luke had a wonderful first meeting. She was curious and attempted plenty of poking and prodding to see if he was real or a doll. Going home with an addition to the family will be an adjustment to all of us but I am sure she will enjoy her role as the big sister. Thanks for continuing to lift us up in prayer during this joyous time and we look forward to introducing Luke to you soon.

Our Life is about to Change!

2009-08-27T13:52:00.004-05:00

Well as most of you know we are expecting baby number two - Luke Hamilton - to be called Luke. He is set to arrive in two weeks! I can't believe it. We are having a c-section on the 9th of September, it is hard to believe that the time has already arrived. Life is about to change. For the past 16 months we have been a family of three and have really gotten into a routine of things - all that is about to be turned upside down with an infant! We are so excited about his arrival. Landrum really loves babies so I think she will like him, sometimes she just loves them too much - there is such a thing. When she was around her 12 week old cousin last month we had to really supervise her visitation - she would have catapulted her out of the bouncy seat or swing with her vigerous helping! I know she will be such a sweet big sister, it is just hard to imagine loving another baby as much as I love her. I know that I will, every other mom I know tells me it just happens - your ability to love grows! I am looking forward to that. Here are a few shots of Landrum lately - she is changing so much every day. She is learning new words and using them all the time! She is a non stop talker! She loves to play with her friends, go to church, do ANYTHING with daddy, ride in her wagon, and read books. She is such a joy in our life and makes us laugh all the time. I have really been enjoying sewing for her lately and have had some free time in which to do that - I know that will slow down once Luke arrives, but hopefully when we get back into the swing of things I will get back into it.. for now enjoy!

Landrum enjoying birthday cupcakes at her cousins 1st birthday party!

Landrum and her Mimi at her Mimi's birthday party!

Stewardship

2009-08-18T20:56:00.003-05:00

So we have been having a sermon series at church about stewardship which has been great and I have thought some about this idea as of late.. how can I be a good steward of our resources and make them go as far as possible. Well one area that we always seem to go over budget is groceries - isn't that the case for almost everyone though? I just realize that every little trip we make to Kroger/Wal-Mart during the week adds up - you just can't go and spend less than $20 or $30 a pop. So I thought about how I could reduce our budget and stop these mid-week expenditures... I decided I would only shop once a week - buy all that we need and when we run out - we are out, until I go again. I thought that was a good plan but I was still researching ways to do even better. And so... I have joined The Grocery Game. Some of you may have heard about it - but if not, it is a very inexpensive program you can join online that does almost all the work for you (if they did all the work the groceries would just magically appear in my cabinet!). Anyway - each Sunday I go online to the website and download the "list" for my grocery store(s) and all of the sales are already organized. The company knows exactly what is on sale and if it is at it's lowest price, it tells you precisely what coupons to use and when. The idea behind the program is to stockpile items when they are at their lowest price instead of paying premium price for goods. The point of the program is to drastically reduce your grocery budget. Several acquaintances of mine with families of at least 4 have budgets low as $60 a week when using the game! So if you are interested you can read about it at http://www.thegrocerygame.com/. It really does not take that much work and there is a four week free trial! I am excited to be able to save money this way for our family. This past Sunday night I went shopping at my local Kroger, I got $120 worth of groceries for $60!!! Yeah!

Quick Update

2009-08-02T19:11:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to update that we got good results from Jared's mom's biopsy. She had the bone marrow biopsy on Thursday and Friday we found out that the leukemia is gone. This is great news and exactly what we prayed for. However, we ask that you continue to pray for her. She is at her lowest point and having very bad days right now. They are continuously fighting fever and cannot get her white count to rise or her platelets. She has received platelets every day for the past week but her body is rejecting them. Please pray that her body will start accepting the platelets and making their own. Please pray for her comfort and strength as she is very weak and feeling awful with many side effects from the chemo this time. Thank you for faithfully praying for our family.

Fair Pictures

2009-07-26T16:27:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from our first weekend at the fair.

Fair Friends! Our fair neighbor Anna Scott loves Landrum and is a huge helper!

Landrum and I are so proud of Jared! Great job on the triathalon!

Quick story: Landrum was exhausted Friday night after playing hard at the fair. We put her down around 7 and didn't hear a word from her. Jared went up to check on her around 8 and this is what he found! She had reached onto the ledge above her crib and found Jared's wallet. She then proceeded to empty all of its contents and spread them all around her crib. I found a $10 under her!

Loving the sawdust!

Update

2009-07-26T09:24:00.002-05:00

Jared's mom finished up her chemo last night. She handled it really well all through the week and is only starting to feel some of the effects today. Her fever has gone up and her white count is very low. This is all expected and part of the process. She is starting to have some body aches and a bad head ache but otherwise is still doing well. She will have her biopsy this Friday and we will know more after that. Please pray for early remission and a clear biopsy so that we can move forward in this process.

We spent this weekend at the Neshoba County Fair and will head back up on Monday afternoon after my doctors appointment. We missed Debbie desperately as the fair is not really the fair without her! She is the life of our cabin! We still had a good and fairly relaxing weekend. Jared knocked the Heart of Dixie triathalon out and I was so proud of him! He completed the triathalon in a lot better time than he expected and felt great afterwards! He said he really enjoyed doing it and I am so glad that he was able to do it this year - the 30th running of the triathalon! Landrum and I were so so proud to cheer him on at the finish line!

Tonight is a really special night for us as well - Jared is being ordained as a minister. Another reason we have to be so proud of him! He and our good friend Craig Curtis (who was in Turkey with his wife Katie while were there) are both being ordained at Pinelake tonight and we are looking forward to a very special time with our family, church family and friends!

Pictures are soon to follow I promise!

Jared's Mom

2009-07-17T20:21:00.002-05:00

Well it is hard to write this post, at least I did not think I would be writing it so soon. Jared's mom's cancer has returned. We found out today. She went in for her regular monthly check up and her counts were off. The doctor went ahead and orderd a bone marrow biopsy for today and checked her into the hospital. We received the results this evening while we were up at the hospital with her. The leukemia is back. She will begin 7 days of 24 hour chemotherapy tomorrow morning. They will do a follow up bone marrow biopsy in about 2 weeks and if it is clean they will begin building her counts back up so that she will be ready for a stem cell transplant in 6-7 weeks. She has already had her healthy stem cells harvested so they are ready whenever her body can handle the transplant. Unfortunately, she will not be able to have this transplant done here in Jackson and will have to go to UAB (in Birmingham) to have her transplant.

Please keep our family in your prayers as we battle this together. We know that the Lord is control of every one of our steps and has each of us in His arms. Please pray for Debbie, for strength, comfort, peace and for the ability to fight this disease. Pleae pray for Stan, that he will be able to offer her the comfort she needs and that he will have peace and strength as he battles with Debbie. Thanks so much for your support and prayers.

First Tooth

2009-07-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

Yes you read that correctly. Landrum is 15 months today and is JUST NOW cutting her first tooth. Well one has cut through the gum completely and is slowly working it's way in, a second is close to follow I think. Can you believe it has taken this long? You have no idea how many times I was convinced she was teething over the past 15 months.. and now when she is really teething she has none of the classic symptoms! So that is pretty great... the doctor kept saying.."as long as she gets them by 18 months"... but would not ever say what would happen if they did not come in by then.... baby dentures? Ah well, not to worry - she is getting her teeth.

Otherwise - we are doing well. I am now 30 weeks pregnant - Landrum makes sure I go to bed each night completely exhausted. I feel great and am progressing well I guess. We will meet our son 9 weeks from today... hard to believe! I would post pictures of his nursery... if he had one. That is my next project... so there will be pictures one day soon!

Visiting the Cousins

2009-06-24T18:45:00.004-05:00

Landrum and I went on our first solo road trip last week. We drove to Dallas last Sunday to spend a week with my older sister Erin and her family. Erin just had her third baby, Olivia, in April and this was our first time to meet her! We had a great time. I was a little nervous about the trip over as it is about 7 hours driving. I tend to get really sleepy in the car and Landrum tends to get fussy after about an hour of riding. Well the Lord heard my prayers and we had a great trip. Landrum slept all the way past shreveport - wonderful! I was so sleepy until Monroe when I remembered I had several sermons in the car, I love listening to sermons while driving - focusing keeps me awake.. so Chip and the Word saved our lives! We had such fun even though it was unbearably hot each and every day. Landrum adores her cousins and did not want to nap or even sleep at night as she was convinced she was missing out on all the fun. I made Landrum and Rylie matching dresses to wear to a picnic/outdoor childrens concert that we went to one night and they were both thrilled! We can't wait for them to come and visit us in August, along with Bethany, David and Pace! What fun!

Not so sure about the apron!

Playing dress up

Fun at the picnic/concert

Cooling off!

Week 2 (Savannah and Tybee Island)

2009-06-02T13:19:00.005-05:00

Please read the previous post for a recap of our fabulous two week vacation. Enjoy the pictures from the second week!

Exhausted after a hard two weeks of playing!!!

Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun (Week 1 Pics)

2009-06-02T12:18:00.004-05:00

We just got home from two weeks of fun filled vacationing! We started out down on the emerald coast in Seagrove Beach, Florida with my parents for a week of relaxation at the beach. Although we dealt with some strange weather while there it did not deter us from having a great time. There was a freak cool front the weekend we left (56 degrees the first morning we were there!) followed by a week of sunshine, mixed with gale force winds, and finally followed by a tropical storm/depression! Each day there was sun time though so we trucked down to the beach, lugging everything under the sun and had a great time. Landrum adored the sand (especially to eat) and was not the least bit afraid of the water. In fact she would be pleased to just crawl on out to see if you turned your back for a second! On Memorial Day we drove 7 hours to Savannah, Georgia to meet Jared's family. We stayed just outside of Savannah on Tybee Island. Jared's mom has always wanted to go to Savannah and since we are celebrating her remission for Leukemia we all jumped on board! We stayed right on the beach, which was a very different looking beach from Florida and spent several mornings playing in the sand and water. Most afternoons we went into town to tour Savannah and eat some of the best food in the world! In fact one restaurant was so good we ate there twice in the week for lunch. The first day we waited 30 minutes in line and the second time we waited an hour!!! I am telling you it was delicious! All in all it was a great two weeks with both families and we felt very relaxed! The 10 1/2 hour drive home Saturday was tough and as you can see at the end Landrum was exhausted - but she did great! Enjoy the pictures from week 1 - i will post another with pictures from week 2!

Fun Day at the Zoo

2009-04-23T19:46:00.002-05:00

Wednesday was Earth Day and so to celebrate we went to the zoo with friends. We weren't really celebrating Earth Day it just happened to fall on the day we planned to go to the zoo but I did think it was fitting. We met up with our friends Melissa and Will and Jennifer and Ava for a fun filled day of animal sighting and picnicking. The Jackson Zoo - while not one of the top US zoos is really quite good. However, the way they have the exhibits - or habitats - or whatever you call them set up it is very difficult for the babies to see the animals from their strollers. Therefore our favorite animals were the giraffes and the elephants - those that could be viewed no matter what because of their height. We had a fun picnic and called it a day after half of the zoo - that is about all the kiddos could do. Unfortunately none of the kids would look at the camera at the same time but you can get an idea of our fun day!

Happy Easter

2009-04-14T08:06:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Savior! What a glorious day of worship and fellowship! Landrum had a great day and looked adorable in her new dress from Bebe and Grandaddy. She had fun opening three rounds of Easter goodies and we managed a few good pictures in the yard before the rain came and flooded us out!

Fun with cousin Pace after lunch! Jayme's sister, Bethany, her husband David and cousin Pace are moving to Aurora, Colorado next week. David is a JAG lawyer with the US Airforce and they will be stationed there for atleast the next 3 years. We are so so sad to see them go. Landrum and Pace are four months apart and have so much fun playing together (although Landrum is sort of a bully right now!)

Birthday Party Bash!

2009-04-13T15:17:00.003-05:00

We rang in Landrum's first year in style! We had a wonderful backyard party with family and some close friends. Landrum adored having so many people come over to play and loved being outside. She got lots and lots of fun presents and even a baby duck! She approached her cake with some trepidition and was really more interested in the icing than the cake. I finally dug into the cake with a fork and she took a big bite - but did not seem to be too enthusiastic about her first taste of real sugar. (That is fine with me!). We are so thankful to everyone who came and helped us celebrate our baby girls first year! She is such a joy!

Happy Birthday Landrum!!

2009-04-09T13:44:00.003-05:00

Well, I have to say I cannot believe that a year has passed since our baby girl was born. We remember her 'birth' day so vividly - as if it were yesterday.. and now here we are celebrating her one year birthday! She has had a wonderful day and woke up to lots of "happy birthdays" from mama and daddy. She had a pancake for breakfast and then headed out to play with her cousin Pace for the morning. We are going to have her party on Saturday so I will post more pictures then. Today we took several on the front lawn so I have a few to share.

Landrum is such a wonderful, happy, and friendly baby. She loves to meet new people and her favorite word right now is "hi!" combined with a wave. Also, for those of you who know her - you know that for the first part of her short life she did not like to be held, cuddled, etc.. but that has all changed recently and she is the best hugger! She loves to lay her head on your shoulder and pat your back - she loves to give hugs and kisses - even to your feet! She is so sweet to all of her toys and animals and hugs on them all day. She is so loving and happy - we are so blessed to have her in our lives.

She still has no teeth and I am not sure she is getting any anytime soon! That does not stop her from trying all sorts of new foods though. She is not walking but is a mean crawler and can pull up on anything - I don't think we have long before she is off and running.

Our New Project

2009-04-01T10:39:00.002-05:00

So we decided to build a garden this summer. We have been really wanting to grow some of our own veggies, especially tomatoes for the summer. So we scoped our backyard - which for the past year has just been an endless field of nothingness... with the exception of a terrible dog pen that was left so graciously by the homes' previous owners. We finally decided to rip out the dog pen and build our garden there. The grass was already torn up under the dog pen so it was an ideal place to build our raised bed. Jared did a lot of hard work to build us our bed and it looks AWESOME! Landrum and I went to our favorite Old Fannin Farmers Market to buy our new plants. We have 9 tomato plants, 2 basil plants, 3 cucumber plants, 1 bell pepper plant and 1 peppermint plant. We are so excited about it and can't wait for our harvest come June/July!

Here is our new raised bed garden!

Baby Chin-ups

2009-02-24T17:37:00.004-05:00

When they are this age you just can't help but doing fun stuff with your children, just to see how they will respond.

Landrum Crawling

2009-02-17T08:38:00.003-05:00

Landrum just turned 10 months and started crawling a few days ago even though we had asked her not to. I guess we'll have to go ahead and baby-proof the house now. As you'll see she is also quite vocal - she may look like her dad, but she definitely has some of mom's traits too.

News

2009-01-23T08:54:00.003-05:00

Landrum has some news to share

That's right, in September, Landrum will be a big sister!

Straight A Student

2009-01-12T17:27:00.003-05:00

Jared's dad made Landrum the most adorable little pink desk for Christmas - it is fantastic! And best of all, she loves it. She loves to sit in the little chair, which is shaped like a teddy bear, and read her books. I am not kidding. Here is the proof:

The Holidays

2009-01-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

I love 'the holidays' you know - the two weeks you get of Christmas and then New Years - anyway I guess that is what folks mean by the holidays.. I am sure some people might even lump Thanksgiving in there too.. But I mean I love these last two weeks of the year. This year our Christmas week was sort of hectic. Jared had lots of work to do, Landrum had RSV, I had lots of wrapping etc to do and we just sort of got caught up in it all. Plus now that Jared is on staff at church we have to be at our church for Christmas Eve service so we had to come up with a new family schedule this year. It all worked out and we were able to be with both families on Christmas day. Jared's mom spent all day Christmas Eve in the emergency room with a high fever. She was fortunately able to be home on Christmas day but went right back in the day after Christmas unexpectedly and had to stay in the hospital for a week. So that was no fun! But she is doing well and feeling great. Landrum had a wonderful Christmas and was showered with gifts. She loved playing peekaboo with the tissue paper the most I think! We started on Christmas eve morning with opening her stocking where she got several goodies and it just went on from there. She LOVES her new toys (thank you everyone!).

We really have had a wonderful two weeks filled with family time and worship time and just time to celebrate our Savior and his birth. We are so blessed. We had such a great year last year with so many blessings poured out upon us. The birth of our daughter, Jared's mom being healed of her cancer, new work, new house, new friends and the list continues. Our Father is truely our Jehovah - Jirah, our provider! We look forward to all that 2009 holds!

Here are a few pictures from the holidays:

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T21:57:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. We will be spending time with both our families over the next few days and are really looking forward to all the time together. We are excited about Landrum's first experience and watching her enjoy all the wrapping paper!

Treatment

2008-12-18T15:58:00.004-05:00

Here is Landrum getting her treatment... she is getting better about taking it. A sweet friend lent us some Baby Einstein dvds and so as a treat Landrum gets to watch them during her treatments. It really does help her forget she is wearing a mask and makes the 8 minutes go a lot smoother!

The Dreaded RSV etc...

2008-12-15T14:15:00.004-05:00

Landrum has RSV - she has actually had it all week. We found out she had the virus last Monday but she was really rather well - no real symptoms, so the doctor just told us to watch her closely to see if her status changed. Over the next few days she slowly got worse and worse until now she sounds like she has been a chain smoker for 30 years. Nice stuff. So Jared stayed home with her this morning and took her back in to the doctor. She now has to have breathing treatments every 4 hours -even in the middle of the night - for the next 24 hours. Then we will keep up a 4 a day regimen for the next 5-8 days... and she is also on an antibiotic for secondary bacteria. Good grief. Needless to say we will remain shut in the house a little longer. We might go crazy before this is all over.

On another note - Jared's mom went back into the hospital at Baptist this morning for her second round of chemo. This starts what they call the consolidation therapy. She will have chemo today, wednesday and friday and then will get to go home on friday. She should be home for 6 weeks before she has to come back into the hospital again. She was feeling well but not looking forward to a week in the hospital! you can also keep up with her progress at her caring bridge site. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/debbieyates

Here are some other tidbits of information I have learned as of late: 1. There is a house in our neighborhood that has lots and lots of lights and apparently they are coordinated with the music on 107. 1 (or something) on the radio... we will have to check this out sometime this week. 2. There is a really great santa (with free photo and loads of activities for the kiddies) at Bass Pro - we made our first visit to the outdoor wonderland this past week for Landrums first photo with Santa.

Can't really think of anything else that needs updating at this point...

Lately

2008-12-10T16:17:00.004-05:00

Well lately I have felt so busy.. with what I am not sure. I have gone back to mothers morning out after my 3 week hiatus while Jared's mom was in the hospital; so I guess that fills some time (6 hours a week!). I have been attempting to get my house decorated for Christmas - apparently in stages. The first stage - get everything out, wait 3-4 days before commencing with stage two, stage two - buy a tree and decorate said tree, stage three - place other items around house.. we have been in stage three for about 2 weeks now. I still have one lone nativity sitting on my dining room table because I don't know where to place it... otherwise mostly everything is finished. I have also been busy sewing lately. Mostly for other people, I have launched a little business - The Everyday Baby and I even have a website - see link at right, and business cards too! I feel so professional. I enjoy sewing a lot and need to get on the ball making more things for miss Landrum - I have only actually made her two outfits..

I am including a Christmas picture of Landrum in front of our tree - she is very excited about her first Christmas :)

Great News!

2008-12-01T10:46:00.002-05:00

Mom got a great report today - her counts have been improving over the past few days, so she is getting one more blood transfusion today and then going home tomorrow! 4 weeks in the hospital is a long time and so she is very excited about getting back to Philadelphia and completing recovery there. She will most likely be back in a few weeks for another week of chemo but will hopefully be back home before Christmas. We can't thank you enough for the tremendous outpouring of love and encouragement. We really believe it was through your prayers that the LORD healed her and it was because of your support through cards, gifts and encouraging responses on CaringBridge that kept her spirits up. We owe you and Him a great debt of gratitude. I know He will bless you for being a blessing to us.

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-27T20:54:00.003-05:00

Wow - we have so much to be thankful for today. Not only are we praising God that he has healed Debbie of the cancer cells in her body, but today her counts finally began to rise!! We have been expecting her counts to rise all week; however instead she had to have platelet transfusions almost every day, has run fever almost daily, and her white counts have stayed at the bottom. But today, Thanksgiving morning, she received word that her platelets are on the rise, her red and white cells are also rising, and they are doing this on their own! YEAH! She is really on the road to recovery and as soon as her numbers get a little higher she will get to go home!

We spent the day in Philadelphia with Jared's grandparents, brothers, and cousins. We had a good day and everyone enjoyed some time with Landrum! We came home via the hospital to bring Thanksgiving dinner up to Stan and Debbie.

We have had a great day today and tomorrow we will do it all over again with my family! Gotta love the holidays :)

Tuesday - Day 21

2008-11-25T20:54:00.003-05:00

Mom had another so-so day. Her counts went up a little and she got more platelets. If she can get her counts up a little more the doctor says she can go home soon, which may be where she needs to be to get completely well. That 10x12 hospital room is getting smaller and smaller. So please continue to pray that she improves enough in the next few days so that she can come on home. It would make for an even greater Thanksgiving.

Sunday - Day Nineteen

2008-11-23T21:33:00.003-05:00

Debbie was not feeling well again today. However, she was not running fever today thankfully and her white count rose every so slightly. She received two units of blood and another platelet transfusion today. Hopefully these will give her a much needed boost as she was very weak today when we visited. Because her platelet counts are so low she has developed very large blood blisters in her mouth, thankfully they are painless. She did not have much of an appetite today, so we are praying she will eat more tomorrow. She still is in good spirits and knows that her body is on the mend slowly but surely! Thank you for continuing to encourage our family during this time. Please remember to send her an encouraging note this week as she is in the hospital over the holiday. We have so much to be thankful for this week!

Saturday Day Eighteen

2008-11-22T21:33:00.002-05:00

Debbie did not feel that well today and we did not even go and visit. Her counts were down again today and she had yet another platelet transfusion. She was also running fever again today. The doctors told us that sometimes it takes people longer to start building up their counts and that it looks like it will be slow going with Debbie. Please pray that her body will start to make platelets and her white counts will start going up. We will go and visit tomorrow after church.

Thanksgiving Garb

2008-11-22T14:56:00.004-05:00

Here is a cute little outfit I fixed up for Landrum for Thanksgiving. She had to wear brown pants under the skirt this day because it was freezing cold outside. Normally she just wears the cute little skirt with her fat little knees!!! Here she is watching tv with her cousin - just chillin!

Friday - Day Seventeen

2008-11-21T17:44:00.003-05:00

Sorry I did not post yesterday. Debbie is feeling well, she is on the upward side of this hospital stay. She is regaining her strength and rebuilding her counts. Our goal is for her counts to return to normal so she can go home. Her platelets are still very low and she received a transfusion yesterday and another one today. Her white counts are on the rise, slowly but surely as are her red blood cells.

We found out more information concerning the consolidation therapy or follow up therapy that they will do to ensure the leukemia does not return. When she is released from the hospital she will go home for two weeks. Then she will come back to the hospital for a week and receive three days (MWF) of 24 hour chemo drip. She will then go home for around 6 weeks and come back again for the same routine (MWF drip). She will have 4 rounds of this therapy over the next 6 months. Each week she will come to Jackson from Philadelphia to have her blood drawn and counts taken. We still have a ways to go but praise the Lord he is faithful to the end! He never leaves us nor forsakes us!

Picture Update

2008-11-19T22:41:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our hospital visit today. Debbie went ahead and had her hair cut really short yesterday. It is beginning to fall out slowly, since she has such thick wonderful hair you can't really tell yet. She still feels well and received two units of blood and platelets today.

Hallalujah Wednesday - Day 15

2008-11-19T10:49:00.002-05:00

Praise the Lord! Debbie is in complete remission and has no leukemia cells in her body. Glory to God! He has answered the prayers lifted up on Debbie's behalf. She had a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and we received the results this morning from the doctor that there were no leukemic cells in her bone marrow! What wonderful news. She will still be in the hospital for another week or two as she builds her cells back up. They will be giving her daily shots to help build her white cells back up. She is going to receive another blood and platelet transfusion today as well. She is really feeling well and still has a good appetite.

Once her counts are good she will go home for two to three weeks and then will come back into the hospital for another round of 24 hour chemotherapy. We are not sure what her maintenance treatment will look like yet but she will be on some sort of regimen for a while.

We are rejoicing in God's faithfulness - his promises are true, he never leaves nor forsakes us. He has held us up during this trial and will continue to lift us up. There are still more hard days ahead - but praise the Lord that he is faithful!

We can never thank you enough for your prayers, cards, encouragement and giving. Please continue to lift Debbie up in prayer that she would not have any infections, her fever would stay down and her counts would go up!

Tuesday - Day Fourteen

2008-11-18T20:57:00.003-05:00

We are still waiting on results from the bone marrow biopsy, hopefully we will hear tomorrow. Debbie had another good day although they had some trouble with her IV today. They removed her picc line yesterday because the doctor felt the site could be infected. They will probably put it back in tomorrow though. She continues to run a fever and they are still administering a variety of antibiotics.

She went ahead and had her hair cut very short today; however her hair has not started falling out yet. She continues to feel mostly well during the day although tired. We will report as soon as we know the results from the biopsy.

Monday - Day Thirteen

2008-11-17T21:06:00.003-05:00

Debbie had her bone marrow biopsy today around 11:15. It went well, however, it was rather painful. She was able to rest some afterwards. We are now waiting for those results, we should get them either tomorrow or Wednesday. Please pray that the test will show that she does not have any more leukemia cells.

She continues to fight a fever, but her rash is clearing up. She is still feeling fairly well and has not lost her hair. She also has not experienced any mouth or throat sores. We are so thankful that the Lord has provided this comfort for her.

The walls of her room are COVERED with cards - and the lady who delivered the cards today said that in all of the 23 years she had delivered mail at Baptist Hospital she had never seen anyone get so many cards! Thank you for letting her know you are praying for her.

Sunday - Day Twelve

2008-11-16T21:40:00.003-05:00

Debbie's white cell count continued to fall and was down to 600 this morning. Again, the doctor said it should bottom out somewhere around 100-200. We expect this to happen in the next couple of days. We are not sure how long we will stay down, but the doctor told us that somewhere between day 17 and 21 her counts will start to go back up. For the past few days Debbie has had a low grade fever. It climbed a little higher today and they drew more blood for a culture and did a chest xray to find out what is driving the fever. They are treating her mysterious rash with an antibiotic just in case it is a staph infection. Currently she is on two antibiotics and saline through her IV.

She felt pretty well for most of the day although her appetite is waning. She was eating some veggie soup for supper when I talked to her this evening. She was able to rest most of today which is good because tomorrow is a big day. She will have her bone marrow biopsy sometime tomorrow late morning or early afternoon. The biopsy is quite painful - so please pray for her comfort through the procedure. But most importantly please pray for a good report from this biopsy. We are praying for complete remission! We know that God is in control of this.

Pray for peace of mind tonight as she rests. Pray for us as we wait for the results of the biopsy. We should have the results within 24-48 hours.

Thank you for praying with us on this journey and for sending her encouragement through cards and letters. She can feel the prayers lifted on her behalf!

Saturday - Day Eleven

2008-11-15T21:41:00.002-05:00

I am glad to be able to report that Debbie had another good day. She had a blood and platelet transfusion last night that had her feeling much better by this morning. Her white count fell again today and was at 1300. She has developed a rash and we are not sure if it is an allergic reaction to some of her meds or something else. She is still on the antibiotic and continues to run a low fever.

Today we had a very special time of prayer for Debbie with the elders from our church. It was such a sweet time of obedience to the Word. In James it says that if anyone is sick he should call for the elders to come and anoint him with oil and pray over him. That is what happened today and it was such a special time with our family and with the elders.

We are praying for a full day of rest for Debbie tomorrow. Monday she will have her bone marrow biopsy and that will be a tiring day as it is a painful procedure. Please pray for continued comfort and rest for Debbie.

Friday - Day Ten

2008-11-14T22:26:00.002-05:00

Well I actually got up to the hospital early so that I could be there when Dr. Shumaker made her rounds. It was good to be there and ask a few questions that Jared and I have wanted answered. Debbie's white cell count was coming down, it is at 2700 and should bottom out around 100-200 towards the end of this week. She is extremely susceptible to infection during this time. Her platelets were down to 10,000 and so she received a platelet transfusion today. Her red blood cell count was okay but because she has been so tired and a little whoozy the past two days the doctor went ahead and ordered her a blood transfusion as well. For the past two days Debbie has been running a low grade fever and so yesterday immediately after discovering the fever they began her on an antibiotic. She now has to wear a mask any time there is a visitor in the room and only immediate family are allowed to visit at this point. This week will be a more difficult week for her phsyically but the Lord is in control and we are asking him to grant her comfort each day and rest through the night. Please join us! She is loving the cards and really feels everyones prayers offered on her behalf. The Holy Spirit is working inside her - we know it!

In the book of James, chapter five, we are told that if anyone is sick they should have the elders come and pray over them. The elders of our church will be coming in the morning to pray over Debbie and Stan. We will be praying for divine healing, for comfort, and for the Lord to be glorified. Although you may not be present please join us in praying for her at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

We visited this afternoon while she was getting her transfusions and she was feeling somewhat better. She has continued to have an appetite and has eaten some at each of her meals - what a praise! She is still sitting up for some of each day and trying to get short walks in. This is a battle that we have to fight in prayer and she is fighting as well - her faith is so strong and she knows her Savior well - she is leaning on him completely in this time!

Landrum's Dedication

2008-11-13T21:48:00.004-05:00

We had Landrum's dedication tonight at Pinelake. We were so happy to have several family members there and some good friends video taped it to show it to Jared's mom. We were so pleased to dedicate Landrum to the Lord and pledge to raise her in a manner that will bring glory to the Father. There were 40 babies dedicated tonight and we were the last to go - amazingly Landrum did pretty well and did not make too much noise! It was well past her bed time when we got home and she finally ate and got in bed. She is such a trooper!

Landrum's cousin, Pace Walker (Bethany's son) was also dedicated tonight and so that made it extra special!

Thursday - Day Nine

2008-11-13T21:39:00.003-05:00

Debbie did not need blood or platelets again today which was good. However, her white cell count went up a little and the doctor said she may be fighting an infection. In fact, she had a slight fever today and they immediately began her on an antibiotic. We knew that this was a possibility as her cells are being depleted by the chemo. We will know more when they do her blood lab work in the morning. She felt good and had a good appetite for most of the day although she was more tired today.

Please pray that her body will fight this infection and that the medicine will continue to work in her body.

Wednesday - Day Eight

2008-11-12T22:11:00.003-05:00

Last day of chemo - yeah!!! The chemo drip stopped a little before noon today, we are so thankful to have the medicine in and working and be off that drip. Debbie had another good day today. Her counts did not drop significantly so she did not need a transfusion again today, praise the Lord. She rested much of today and had a few visitors. We managed to snap a few pictures today and you can see how great Debbie looks!

She will have a bone marrow biopsy on Monday to see if there are any leukemia cells remaining in her body. If not (which is what we are praying for) she will be declared in remission and will be able to go home once her blood counts return to normal. She will then undergo some form of maintenance chemo for a period of time. If there are still leukemia cells she will have to go through this phase of chemo again. Please join us in praying that all of these leukemia cells have been destroyed and that her body is healthy! We know that God is in control and is the Healer.

Thank you for your cards, we attached a picture of the cards that we have put up on her wall. What an encouragement. Every time a new nurse or aid walks in they can't believe how many cards, gifts, and decorations she has in her room! How wonderful!

Cousins

2008-11-12T08:48:00.002-05:00

Tuesday - Day Seven

2008-11-11T21:03:00.004-05:00

Today was another great day filled with lots of visitors and answered prayers. Debbie felt great and her counts were good, so good that she didn't need a blood transfusion. However, there is a good chance that she will need blood and maybe platelets tomorrow. She was getting tired by dinner time and didn't have much of an appetite but that is to be expected as she finishes with her last bag of chemo. Yeah! Over the next few days her white blood cell count will continue to drop which will make her more susceptible to infection and fever. Because of this, she will only be allowed limited visitations (call Stan before you come), so she will have to rely more and more on the cards that you continue to send. They currently decorate one wall and the nurses have encouraged her to take over the room and hang the cards from every open spot. Thank you again for your prayers, they have certainly carried her this far and she will need them more than ever over the next few days and weeks.

Monday - Day Six

2008-11-10T22:25:00.007-05:00

Another day of treatment down, another day of answered prayers. Debbie continues to feel well, she is not tired and she has a good appetite. Today she received around 40 letters and cards - how incredible! She is definitely feeling the prayers of the faithful that are being lifted up on her behalf! Also, a friend went to give blood on her behalf today at MS Blood Services, when she arrived she started to say that she wanted to give blood for Debbie Yates but before she could even get the last name out the worker said "Oh I know Debbie Yates"! There were already 15 names on the list of people that had given blood on Debbie's behalf! That is so great and encouraging! Thank you for wanting to help and for giving blood so that she can have the transfusions she needs.

Her counts were good today and had really not changed significantly from yesterday. She will probably receive both a blood and platelet transfusion tomorrow.

This week please pray that Debbie would continue to feel well, strong, encouraged and have a good appetite. We can only attribute these things to the Lord's grace in her life. He is wrapping his arms around her and comforting her during this time - thank you for praying with us. We are praising him for hearing our prayers and pouring out his blessings on us!

We found out that Landrum has the Roseola Virus... or had it I should say. All that is left now is a nasty rash that is all over her body. I feel so sorry for her even though the doctor said it does not really bother her. I just feel like it does and therefore feel sad for her. She apparently had the virus this past week, but we are so thankful that she did not have the normal high fevers with the virus. She will not be able to go up to the hospital to see her Mimi until Wednesday or Thursday.

Sunday

2008-11-09T21:29:00.004-05:00

Another good day to report. Although Debbie's red blood cell count and platelet count are dropping, her spirits are still up! She is still feeling well and has a great appetite thus far. The doctor told her this morning that she will probably have to have another blood transfusion and probably a platelet transfusion tomorrow. Please pray for these to go smoothely and that they will have enough 0 negative blood.

We did not go to the hospital today since Landrum had a fever last night. It was a good day of rest for everyone I think. Landrum has not had a fever today so we should be going back to visit tomorrow.

We are praising the Lord that Debbie has not experienced any side effects from the drugs at this point.

Saturday

2008-11-08T20:42:00.004-05:00

We are praising the Lord for another great day! This morning Debbie's white blood cell count was down which was great and her other counts looked good. She continues to feel well and this afternoon finished her third and final round of one of the chemo drugs. She continues to receive the other chemo drug continuously through an IV drip. The doctor told her this morning that she may not need another transfusion until Monday or Tuesday and is still a few days away from needing a platelet transfusion. We are just so thrilled that she continues to feel so well. She had several visitors today and that was a lot of fun. The ladies of her Sunday school class came to visit after attending a women's conference in town and it was like Christmas with all the gifts and excitement! Please continue to pray for her comfort, peace, rest and HEALING! We KNOW God is at work inside of her body to fully restore her.

On another note, Landrum has a low grade fever. I discovered it when we got home from the hospital tonight. We will not be able to go up and visit until she is fever free for a full 24 hours. I think it might be teething - but who knows.. the girl has to get some teeth one of these days!

I was able to get to Mistletoe Marketplace twice this year - I was making up for missing for the past two years. I love to go and it always gets me in the Christmas mood. It is as fun to people watch as it is to shop.

Well that is all from us tonight. I will update on Mrs. Debbie tomorrow - praying and expecting another GREAT day tomorrow!

Day Three

2008-11-07T21:06:00.005-05:00

Praise the Lord Debbie is still feeling well! What an answer to prayer. They gave her a second chemo drug last night. She will receive this treatment three times, last night, tonight and tomorrow night. This is a stronger drug and the nurse warned of possible immediate side effects - we are praising the Lord that she has not experienced that yet!
She received two units of blood last night and so her counts were good this morning. Her doctor actually told her that all these prayers are helping her! Keep them coming! Also, please remember to lift up her doctor during this process.
There is a blood drive in Philadelphia at First Baptist Church on November 17th from 10-3. She still needs folks to donate blood at MS Blood Services - please be sure to give her name when you do. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and support us all during this process. We know the Lord will be glorified through everything. She received a lot of encouraging notes and cards in the mail today - thank you for sending those! What an uplifting thing to receive each day. Since she can't have flowers or plants in the room, the cards go a long way to lifting her spirit.

Day Two

2008-11-06T21:23:00.003-05:00

Another good day to report! Debbie had a good appetite today and felt well all day long. She received a different chemo drug this evening. She will receive this drug for the next three days. This is the drug that could cause some more side effects (nausea, mouth sores etc..) So we are praying she will feel well through tonight and won't experience these effects.

Debbie needed a blood tranfusion today, however, they are short on 0 negative blood and she still had not received the transfusion when we left this evening. They were bringing some in from Meridian but we desperately need anyone with 0 neg blood to donate at MS Blood Services and give Debbie's name. It is imperitive that she have blood available for transfusions each day.

Again, please send cards and notes to encourage Debbie. She cannot receive flowers or plants at this time. Her address is:
Baptist Health Systems 1225 N. State Street Jackson, MS 39202 Attn: Debbie Yates 5119

Day One

2008-11-05T20:47:00.004-05:00

Jared's mom Debbie was admitted to the hospital this morning and they put a picc line in to administer her chemo and medicine. She is in good spirits today and feels well. We visited with her for several hours this afternoon and decorated her room with lots of pictures, posters and cards - but we would love to have more to put up! The nurse was beginning her first round of chemo as we left. She will have one chemo drug in a drip 24 hours a day for 7 straight days and one other drug administered every few days for three hours at a time. They will stop the chemo in 7 days and on day 12 or 14 they will check her bone marrow again. If the leukemic cells are gone, they will wait until her blood counts are good, call it remission and send her home - this is our prayer! She will still have to take chemo after that but not so intensive. If the numbers are not where the doctor wants them to be, she will do all of this intensive chemo again and will be in the hospital for 6 weeks. We believe that the Lord will heal her and that she will be home in a month. We will go back in the morning to visit again.

Jared's Mom

2008-11-05T13:47:00.003-05:00

With a heavy heart I write this post, it will be one of many to come in the following weeks, I am sure. Jared's mom, Debbie, has been diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow and it is very aggressive. She was diagnosed on Monday and checked into the hospital today for three weeks. She will begin a very intensive round of chemotherapy immediately and then they will test her bone marrow again. Praise our Lord she is a believer and she knows that He is capable of all things. Please petition our Father with us on her behalf for her COMPLETE healing! She is at Baptist hospital however, she is only allowed limited visitors during her stay due to her need for a sanitary environment. If you feel led to send her a note of encouragement, prayer, or scripture please do. You can mail it here, to our house and we will deliver it. Please let me know if you would like our address. I will update her progress as often as possible. Thank you for your prayers.

chicken little

2008-11-03T14:54:00.002-05:00

Here she is - her debut halloween costume:

Landrum Meets Tight Knot

2008-10-22T15:15:00.003-05:00

On our way home from the beach we decided to tack on an impromptu visit to Philaldelphia to see Jared's family. It was a short but great visit and we are so glad we made the detour! We had several wonderful meals and Landrum loved visiting her Mimi and Pop and Bebe and Grandaddy! She also made a new friend while we were there. Landrum met Tight Knot the horse for the first time and it seems they liked one another. Tight Knot was very patient with Landrum even when she stuck her fingers up his nose! Here are a few pictures from Philadelphia and Landrum's first encounter with a horse!

more beach shots

2008-10-22T15:01:00.003-05:00

The Beach

2008-10-22T14:26:00.002-05:00

With much excitement and anticipation we packed just about everything we own and headed down to Seagrove Beach Florida last weekend for a fun filled family vacation. We went with my (Jayme's) whole family, sisters, babies, parents, and grandmother included. We had a big house rented right on the beach for a week and everyone was really looking forward to it. The week did not dissapoint. The weather was perfect, the beach - nearly empty, the water - warm, the house - huge, and the family time was wonderful. Landrum had a wonderful time and is definitely a 'beach -girl', much to her parents delight! The week was a fashion show of swimsuits for her as she has 4. She is 6 months old with 4 swimsuits.. good grief. Each morning we loaded everything up (with 4 family units and 4 small children it was no small feat to set up our 'beach camp' each morning - tent included) and headed down to the water for the day. Landrum had a little floating 'boat' that she could sit in and play in the sand with her cousins or go for a dip in the water. She loved sitting in the surf and letting the waves come up on her legs! She also adored the swimming pool even though the water was about 50 degrees.. she would just float all around lounging in her little boat. It was hilarious! Here are several good shots from the first of many family beach vacations!

Family Picnic

2008-10-03T16:58:00.005-05:00

The weather has gotten so beautiful that we thought it would be a good day for our first family picnic. There is a nice park around the corner, so we packed Landrum along with our lunch and headed out. Here are a few shots of our outing. I think Landrum enjoyed the swing more than the slide. Also included is a video of her making bird calls in the Landrum Leaper.

Could there be anyone cuter?

2008-09-30T14:54:00.006-05:00

Helping with the laundry!

Landrum sleeps with a small farm, two pigs and one sheep - all her friends. Before her nap she lays in bed telling them all about her day then cries out for her pacifier and quickly falls asleep!

Yes it is a cow outfit - I could not resist!

Landrum's 5 month tricks

2008-09-19T17:37:00.010-05:00

First ER Visit

2008-09-19T17:37:00.009-05:00

Well, what an eventful night we had last night. Actually, it was an awful night. The kind you hope never happens to you.

Yesterday Landrum just seemed sort of off - when she was ready to eat she would just cry and cry. It was very difficult to console her, she was clearly upset about something. But after she calmed down and ate she was fine. So last night was the first time I decided to try solids with Landrum. I spent the afternoon steaming and pureeing carrots for her first 'real' food. I mixed up a tasty treat of carrots and rice cereal. She ate like a champ, I was so proud of her!

Well last night my mom and I had an open house to go to and Jared was at a a small group meeting so my sweet dad agreed to watch baby girl. I called on our way home to check on how their time was going and he told me that she had thrown up. She has never thrown up before but she does spit up a lot so I assumed that is what he meant.. but when I got home I discovered that she really had thrown up. She was still upset when I got home so I held her and loved on her a little bit, but she started throwing up repeatedly. Thankfully my parents were there to help me clean her up and try and calm her down. She got so worked up, crying, gagging and throwing up that she choked and stopped breathing. It was the single scariest moment of my life. I couldn't do anything, I was frozen with fear. My dad was there and turned her upside down and beat on her back until she started breathing again. Meanwhile my mom called 911. By the time the paramedics got there she was breathing again but still throwing up and gagging.. They checked her and thought she looked okay. They told me to go ahead and try and nurse her and she should be fine. Well she would not eat, her color was terrible and she was so exhausted she was limp. She slept a little and we tried feeding her again. She was still gagging and throwing up so with the advice of a pediatric nurse friend we took her into the ER. We were there until almost 1 a.m. She checked out fine after both a heel prick and a terrible chest XRay where they put her in a clear plastic tube with her arms stuck above her head.. she did not like that.

She finally ate around 4 this morning - just a little and has since eaten a little every 2 or 3 hours.. we did take her in to see her pediatrician this morning and she told us that there is a violent stomach bug going around which is probably what sweet girl caught. We are just watching her closely today - she seems to be on the mend. We are having a big sleepover in our room, we put our mattress on the floor and she sleeps right next to us in her little bouncy seat. I think she will be closer to 100% tomorrow.

What a scary and horrible ordeal. We did manage to take a picture in the ER on jared's phone (of course always time for a photo) but we can't get it to transfer.. If I can figure it out we will surely attach it.

I know this is not our last experience with the throw up sickness... but please please let it be our last experience with not breathing...and maybe even the ER.

I suppose we will try food again later this week... but I am not really in a rush.

Carrots, yummy yummy

2008-09-19T17:37:00.007-05:00

Here are a few shots of Landrum and the carrots (pre stomach bug)! She really did enjoy them.

September

2008-09-17T14:55:00.011-05:00

Landrum is 5 months old and it is so hard to believe. She changes so quickly now and is really getting to be a big girl! She loves rolling over, talking, singing and grabbing her toes.. She goes to church three mornings a week while I work at mothers morning out and really loves her teachers! I think there will be a tooth making an appearance sometime soon as she loves to gnaw on anything she can get her hands on.

The weather has been so wonderful this week so I am trying to get her outside more - especially since the rain has finally subsided for a while. She has had to sport a sweater for the first time since it is so chilly in the mornings.

Last night, we decided we would walk over to flowood park so I could do my jogging there on the track, then we would walk to El Sombrero for a little mexican supper, yum yum, and then swing by babies r us and walk home. We felt we were back in turkey walking so much! While on our walk to the park, Jared was pushing the stroller and I was walking alongside him, he was sort of weaving back and forth and so I was getting pushed into the gutter a little bit.. not watching where I was going until I almost stepped right onto a huge snake! In our neighborhood! We live in suburban America and are having some serious snake issues. This snake was atleast 3 feet long and a fatty - it had just eating something we could see it bulging in its belly. At first we weren't sure if it was dead or alive.. we stood a few feet away throwing gravel pebbles at it while cars drove past I am sure thinking we were crazy... turns out it was dead.. Jared also recently had to chop a snake up in the lawnmower in the back yard and a few weeks ago we had one curled up in our garage by the back door.. not dead. good grief! I did not have this many snake encounters when I lived in Africa! I wish I had a picture of the boa constrictor that nearly attacked me last night on our walk but I venture to say it is probably gone by now.. so just take my word. I am sure it was poisonous!

Enjoy the new pics of big girl!

All in the Family

2008-08-26T12:18:00.003-05:00

Well last weekend was a big family weekend as Erin, Luke, Rylie and Jack came from Dallas to meet Pace for the first time. We spent a lot of time out in Clinton with my family and all the cousins got to spend some quality time together. It was a lot of fun, very loud, and always exciting with two infants and two VERY helpful older cousins! We had a great time as Landrum loves her cousins!

Caving In

2008-08-26T12:01:00.004-05:00

So I have been very determined that I did not want to start Landrum on rice cereal until around 6 months. I don't want her to grow up so fast, and I know that she is getting every bit of nutrient she needs by nursing. Breastmilk is so amazingly efficient in providing for infants needs that they can technically go their entire first year just nursing.. I was not going to be that hardcore, but I really wanted to wait until 6 months to start anything. That would be in compliance with what the American Pediatric people say anyway... so all that said, we started rice cereal this week and no she is not 6 months yet! I know - I caved. She is 4 1/2 months and I am trying rice cereal for one week. Why you ask? Because I am so tired! She was doing GREAT about sleeping through the night - 9pm-5am at least... but suddenly it all came to a crashing halt! She was getting up 3-4 times a night.. not always to eat but sometimes she was hungry. I have just started working three mornings a week and it is extra hard to be out the door at 7:45 when you have been up 3-4 times during the night! So at many peoples suggestion, including our pediatrician, we are giving rice cereal a try. So the first night was Saturday night. Did it work you ask? absolutely not! She was still up during the night and ate at 4 a.m. So I am going to stick with it for a week and see what it does -if it doesn't help with the sleeping we are going to put the spoons, bowls and cereal away for another month or so. If it does start helping, great. She does seem to really like it though - which is helpful. We don't really have to force it down her throat. I think the only real problem is we don't get it in her mouth fast enough. She gets this from her father. When Jared was a baby his parents could not feed him fast enough so they had to get what is called an infant feeder which is basically a big syringe so they could shoot the food in his mouth... i don't think we will have to go that far with baby girl! Here are a few shots from her first experience with 'solid' food.

Crying it Out

2008-08-18T20:57:00.003-05:00

So we are in that phase - crying it out. It is absolutely horrid and I can't stand it. Friday night we let her cry it out - she started at 3:22 and went solid until 4:45 and then was silent for 15 minutes.. we sighed in relief.. until 5 a.m. when she cranked up again. She is not really crying as much as just yelling. It is very difficult and I really prayed asking the Lord to just let her sleep.. and last night He answered! She slept straight 10 to 5. Thank you! And of course - it was an ideal to get back into that routine since today was my first real day at work. I was very pleased. Of course I still woke up several times during the night just because I am used to that.

On another note - Landrum did much better today at MMO than she did last week, yeah! Another answered prayer.

I've Got the Fever

2008-08-11T20:04:00.002-05:00

Olympic Fever - I love the Olympics.. I was totally into that cheesy countdown to 8/8/08 - looking forward to the opening ceremonies, wanting to have some sort of party, surprised when I would find out that people actually had other plans on Friday night the 8th. I, along with my parents who were equally eager to catch every moment of spectacular-ness sat captivated for 3+ hours as we watched the amazing show China put on - and then my favorite part - when every nation walks in -it is all so exciting.. so.. well so 'Olympic'. And somehow, I don't know how really, all the great stuff is coming on during primetime - how fortunate for us! And if I happen to fall asleep (as I seem to easily these days) I can watch the recap in the morning.. so great! What a great two weeks this will be!

On another note - I am going back to work tomorrow.. well sort of. I am going to start working at Mothers Morning Out at our church two days a week and doing Bible Study Childcare one other day.. so in all I will be at 'work' three mornings a week and Landrum will go to her own class. We start tomorrow and I am a little nervous about how this is all going to work out. I mean timing feedings just right so hopefully she won't get hungry while she is there since she hates bottles (I am sending one with her don't worry), and me being apart from her for three hours - three days a week. I hope she does not try anything new while she is away from me!

Welcome Pace Walker!

2008-08-04T17:04:00.002-05:00

Jayme's sister Bethany and her husband David welcomed their firstborn, a son, on Friday morning at 10 a.m. A healthy 9lb boy, William "Pace" Walker. He is an absolutely beautiful baby and we are so excited for this addition to our family! Her parents now have 4 grandchildren and we have three neices and nephews! We are so blessed to extend our family! Welcome Pace!

We Survived The Neshoba County Fair!

2008-08-04T16:07:00.003-05:00

Neshoba County Fair 2008

Well, we successfully survived 9 of the summer's hottest days at the Neshoba County Fair last week. For those of you readers who are unfamiliar with this phenomenon, check out the link to the right. It was hot, crowded, dusty, and oh so much fun! We really had such a great time sitting on the porch, visiting friends, eating delicious food, and playing games. Landrum did great and thinks she likes the fair! In fact, she has had a hard time adjusting back to our normal life at home! There was so much for her to look at and take in while she was at the fair, she couldn't get enough of it. When the temperatures crept over the 100 mark we stuck her bumbo in a bucket of cold water so she could relax! We had a good week, but now I feel like I need another vacation to recover from the Fair!

Cooling Off!

Relaxing with daddy

My favorite spot - right in front of the fan!

New Adventures

2008-07-20T14:31:00.004-05:00

Landrum has been up to all sorts of new things lately, most importantly - growing. While we were in Dallas she went through a growth spurt - since then she has been packing on the pounds! Jared weighed her last week and we think she is at least 13 lbs! What a big girl! She is also sitting in her bumbo now, reading books in her chair, and doing plenty of tummy time! It is hard to believe our baby is growing so fast! In fact, last Sunday I sent her to the nursery at church for the first time - she did GREAT, my stomach hurt the entire service!! I sent her back again today - she really enjoys Sunday School!

On another note we are headed to the Neshoba County Fair next week. We will be there for an entire week. Landrum is really geared up for her first fair! More to come on those adventures!

A Series of Firsts

2008-07-10T13:45:00.005-05:00

Well Landrum has made her first big trip - we took her to Dallas for the fourth of July - another first, her first Independence Day! She did great in the car although the usual 6 hour trip turned into an 8 hour trip; lots of stops along the way! She had a wonderful time playing with her cousins, Jack and Rylie and got to do lots of fun things. She even went for her first swim! We went to a pool party on the fourth and baby girl took a few dips in the pool - she loved it! She also went to her first fireworks show - thankfully we were far enough away that they weren't too noisy, and I think she slept through most of it anyway! However, the evening was not without excitement. While we were in the parking lot waiting for the shuttle to take us to the fireworks extravaganza baby girl had a serious blow out - I mean shooting down her leg onto the pavement - we had to act fast. There was thankfully a city truck nearby and we threw down the tailgate whipped out her mat and sprang into action!
The plan was for baby and I to drive home on Wednesday by ourselves, Jared flew home Saturday; however, thankfully Erin and the kids decided to come along for the ride! I was so thankful for the company and the extra hands with baby!

What has Landrum been up to lately?

2008-06-23T09:00:00.004-05:00

Well Landrum has been awfully busy over the past few weeks - she is doing all sorts of new tricks as you can see in the pictures below! We recently borrowed a play gym mat from some friends and she loves "being in the gym"! She laughs and giggles the whole time as she stares at herself in the little mirror! When she is not chillin in the gym she is lifting weights with her handy rattle! We love to make her hold on to it - but instead of shaking it and hearing the sound she usually ends up hitting herself in the head with it!

I have also recently discovered the wonders of Craigslist here in Jackson - I mean I have heard all about Craigslist and others using it - but I have never experienced the greatness.. Where else can you trade a miniature horse for a 1990 Buick LeSabre!? Last week we bought a jogging stroller on Craigslist for Landrum to cruise in. She is a little tiny as she sits in the big ol' stroller but she will grow into it!

Two weeks ago, Landrum spent some quality time with her cousin, Rylie - they love playing together and Rylie can really make Landrum smile!

Finally - while Landrum is doing so much better about sleeping longer at night - there are still those mornings when both Mom and Baby have been up a few too many times in the night and are having to catch up on some extra sleep. This is what Jared caught us doing the other day!

The Love of a Father

2008-06-03T14:04:00.002-05:00

As I was having some quiet time on the porch this morning in the rocking chair with Landrum beside me in her bouncy seat, I thought about the love we have for our children and how that resembles the love God has for us. I couldn't help but wonder if he ever wishes we could truly know how much he loves us just like I wish Landrum knew how much I love her. I try to express that to her, but she's not able to fully comprehend the emotions I feel when I express my love to her. As we get older we love our parents more and more, but never quite like we love our children. As I get older, my love for my heavenly Father grows deeper, but it will never match the love he has for me, his child. I was challenged by Proverbs 25:2 where it says that, "it is the glory of God to conceal things..." and I think it shows a reciprocating love on our part to seek those hidden things out. We may never find them, whatever they may be, but the journey will bring us closer to realizing the love he so freely gives us.

Glory Glory Hallelujah

2008-06-03T13:50:00.002-05:00

Last night as we were putting Landrum down for the night and I prayed that God would help her to sleep through the night. Knowing this was a big request as she had only been sleeping in 4 hour stretches, I knew Jayme needed it just as bad if not more than Landrum did. And hot dang, if she didn't make it from 10pm til 5am. She stirred around at 3 and again at 4, but she hung in there and gave Jayme the best sleep she's had in two months. We had heard other friends say how their babies were sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and we were at 7 weeks 6 days thinking, "We won't get to that point anytime soon." Thank you Jesus. Don't think I won't be praying the same prayer tonight hoping it wasn't a one time occurence.

A Day at the Spa

2008-05-24T07:57:00.008-05:00

Landrum has taken to her bath times as if she was at the day spa. Unfortunately she has a tendency to get a little too comfy in the warm water and thus has a hard time controlling her bowels. This is not fun for parents or baby because we feel the need to change out her water and she hates getting out of the water, no matter how dirty it is. Being the smart parents we are, we thought we would trick her and let her sit in some warm water in the sink for a few seconds and do her business and then transfer her to the bath. She knew something was up and did not want to have any part in this trickery. Not only would she not do her thing in the sink, but she wouldn't even sit in it. She arched her back so much that only her feet were in the water. I don't know what the difference was, but she obviously did.

Landrum's Many Poses

2008-05-19T20:37:00.005-05:00

Here are some recent shots of our little girl - she is growing so fast! We had to go to the pediatrician last week due to some stomach trouble she is having - turns out it is reflux :( sad for her! While there they weighed her and she was 9 lbs - yeah!!! She is changing so much and smiles a lot now - she also talks to us all the time! It is so fun to watch her change and develop!

Family Picture

2008-05-10T15:23:00.004-05:00

We have just entered into the second month of Landrum's life - it is hard to believe that she is already a month old - time is flying by! She is growing much taller and is definitely getting some of those much desired chubby legs!! She is obviously eating well and starting to get the hang of sleeping at night. In fact, we moved her out of her bassinet and into her own bed in her own room - such a big girl! She has made several outings including 2 trips to church, the grocery store, a few restaurants, nana and poppy's house and most recently to her uncle David's law school graduation. She is a baby on the go!

Here is a recent family picture. Enjoy!

Landrum's Favorite Things

2008-04-30T15:46:00.003-05:00

Today is Landrum's 3 week birthday - right now we are celebrating weekly birthdays. She is growing and doing all the things she should be doing - eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom! She has a few favorite things; her Daddy - he has a special ability to calm her down when she gets worked up; her Bouncy Seat - a wonderful vibrating, singing seat that can put her to sleep in a flash; her Bath - she has had three full fledged baths in her tub and each time she likes it more and more; her Friends - she recently met the 4 Speed children who were quite taken with Baby Landrum! Here are some pictures of her favorite things!

More Pics...

2008-04-12T18:49:00.008-05:00

Here are a few more pics of Landrum and her family.

Her Mimi

Her Nanna

Her Uncle Jesse

Her namesake - Jean Landrum Yates

Her Poppy

Her Pop

Her Uncle, Aunt and Cousins

Meet Baby Landrum!

2008-04-11T19:26:00.005-05:00

After much anticipation and excitement (and a scare or two) Landrum Elizabeth was born on April 9th at 11:29am. She is healthy and well and so is mama. Jayme was doing great during labor, but Landrum wasn't and as Jayme continued contracting, Landrum's cord continued to tighten around her neck. Her heart rate was dropping too significantly and even though Jayme was at 7cm, Landrum couldn't wait. The doctors and nurses briskly took Jayme to surgery and had little Landrum out within minutes. It was more than a little traumatic since we didn't know what was going on, but we trusted the doctors, and knew that God was in control. We have been in good care at the hospital for 3 days now and are headed home tomorrow. We are excited to begin our family time together with this great blessing and miracle of life. It's hard to not give God thanks when He displays His power through His creation in a magnificent and beautiful way.

Our Spring Chicken is Almost Here!

2008-03-16T12:15:00.004-05:00

Well - It is true - we are on the countdown... I am 36 weeks and very reluctant to post this picture but I will - for those who are overseas and cannot see me in my current state.... Also a few pictures of the baby's room.. it is almost finished. Thanks to mom for the FABULOUS bedding which I love.. we have painted, sanded, kilz'd, and repainted almost everything that is standing still in that room - but we are happy with where we are. We don't have much on the walls as that will try to be a little more gender specific.... so now it is the waiting game. I am going to the doctor every week. Next week we should learn if this little chicken has turned itself around..at our last sonogram about 6 weeks ago (oh how i miss those every doctor sonograms from Turkey) the baby was breech.. so let's pray it has straightened itself out by now!!!

Everything else is going well - we are really feeling settled in the house and continuing to do the final touches. We are hosting Easter here for both our families - am I crazy? It will be fun and a great motivating factor to get everything ready in the house.

Okay - we promise to update with pics as SOON as the baby arrives.. hopefully between now and then we will keep you updated with the progress!

Pictures, as Promised

2008-02-20T16:51:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures, as promised. The first is of our new house. We officially close on the 29th but everything is a go - isn't it cute?

The next is of me - 7+ months pregnant... I have less than 8 weeks to go and I am not sure I have much more room to grow!!!

Long Overdue Update

2008-02-18T09:58:00.003-05:00

Well, I have to apologize for being such a bad blogger.. Jared was really great about updating while we were in Turkey.. and now the burden falls to me. You would think that I would have all the time in the world to update since I am a stay at home "soon to be mom".. but somehow my days fill up and I don't make it to the computer. So here I am - I don't have any pictures, but promise to post some THIS WEEK! I am not sure I really want my expanding belly to be broadcast over outerspace but oh well!

So what is new with us? Well lots! We have found a house and are set to close on the 29th of February, thanks for all who prayed with us for that. It is a really cute house set on a cul de sac and does not need much work - just some paint I think. We hope to move in right after we close.

Jared started work - yeah! He is the new Singles Pastor at Pinelake Church, our home church, in Brandon, MS. He loves it and is so excited to be working with such a great group of staff out there. He is learning a lot and meeting tons of new people but enjoying each moment so far! I am so proud for him!

The baby is doing great. Growing daily I think. When we first arrived home I had high blood pressure and a few other complications but with some close watching by the doctor everything has worked itself out and I am healthy as can be! I am definitely getting more uncomfortable by the day but for the most part feel great. We are anxious to meet our new baby and have less than 8 weeks to go! Thank you for praying for us as we await the arrival of our new addition.

Generally - we are getting adjusted to life back in the states and have loved being around family and friends and feeling their love and support. God has been so gracious to us to provide for us during every step in this process.

Check back soon for pics!

Baby Update

2008-01-08T16:54:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to give a quick baby update. We had our first doctors appointment here at home on the 2nd of January and were pleased to have a sonogram. The baby is growing, weighing in at 2 lbs right now and looking very healthy. There are a few things the doctor is concerned about with me, but we are running some more tests and I am resting as much as possible. I feel good and am healthy so there is nothing really to worry about, just some precautions I think. We will keep you posted as the time get's closer!!!

Nothing Says Welcome Home like the Wyndham

2008-01-08T16:40:00.000-05:00

We began our 24 hour trek home at 4 o'clock in the morning on Sunday, December 30th. Our sweet friends the Varners took us to the airport and bid us farewell. We saw that all of our 7 bags were checked through to Jackson and we were each lugging two very overweight and oversized carryons as we left Adana one last time. Unfortunately, our flight over the water was an hour late leaving Istanbul as they had to check everyone's passports three different times, empty each of our carryons and a few unlucky individuals got the full pat down behind the curtain! The pilot was unable to make up any time and we landed in Chicago an hour late. We knew we would be cutting our connection close under the best of circumstances so needless to say our late arrival had us a little worried. After politely asking folks in front of us to let us off the plane first, and throwing a small child or two out of the way we were first in line at the Immigration Desk. Only to be greeted by Mr. No Manners and Mr. I Take My Job Too Seriously. (let me just say for those of you who have traveled out of the country for any lengthy amount of time - you always imagine that the immigration officer will say something polite like "Welcome home Mrs. Yates" and you will feel all proud to be an American and so glad you are home.... but this never seems to happen.. no one cares that you have been gone a long time and are so glad to be standing on US soil - why do I continue to expect it??) Anyway - we speed through immigration and get our three luggage carts situated right next to the carousel ready to accept our 7 bags. We wait for a while, then a while longer.. as the time goes by we realize that we are probably not going to make our connecting flight to Atlanta. A few bags come, of course not ours, then we wait some more... in all we waited an hour for our bags to be unloaded off the airplane. Thankfully all seven bags did come off the carousel at 3:45, our connecting flight left at 3:30. So now the fun begins, after going back and forth between the domestic and international terminals, the Delta desk and the Turkish Airlines desk, we realize that we will be staying the night in Chicago... there is no way to get out of Chicago that night. So that brings us to the Wyndham. Fortunately, along with our free night stay we got food vouchers for room service. Let me just say that we used every penny of those vouchers and ordered 3 entrees, two desserts, a fruit plate and two big glasses of milk. By 8 pm I was comotose and could not move, not to mention my feet had swelled so much from all of the walking between the terminals.

We were up and out the door before 4 a.m. the next morning to catch the first flight out to Atlanta. Our plan was to be in Jackson by 10:30. We left an hour late from Chicago as we had to wait for the (one and only) de-icing truck to refill it's fluid. We arrived late in Atlanta and I tried to keep up with Jared as he sprinted through the airport to our next gate (2 terminals over). We made it to the gate and found out our flight had been delayed 30 minutes - I was SO THANFUL.. until 30 minutes turned into 3 hours! We sat in the Atlanta airport waiting with all the masses as almost every flight was delayed.
We finally made it home on December 31st and 1pm, 41 hours after we left Adana. Only the fun did not stop there.. instead of 7 bags waiting for us - there were 2. Two bags full of summer clothes and books. We waited four days until the rest of the luggage arrived - but we are so thankful to say that it all arrived safe and sound!
We are so glad to be home and are floating between my parents and Jared's parents as we figure some things out. Please continue to pray for us!

Where in the World... Part 2

2008-01-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

Okay okay.. so I am sure you thought we would never finish our where in the world series.. but here you go. So we left you hanging in Venice and I am sure you are dying to know where we went next. We got up Christmas Eve day and drove through Lake Como (always on the look out for the Night Fox) and stopped for a great lunch at a quaint family owned Italian place. We drove on and stayed the night in Luzern, Switzerland. It was a beautiful town right on the river and completely decorated for Christmas. Unfortunately almost everything closed early on Christmas eve, but we managed to find a great seafood restaurant for supper. We also stumbled upon an English speaking protestant church that had a midnight service. We had a wonderful Christmas eve and woke up to a great buffet at the Best Western :)! We ate our Christmas day feast courtesy of McDonalds and hit the road about noon headed to Germany. Our last major stop was Fussen, Germany, the home of two of King Ludwig II's castles. The larger of the castle is the model for the Disney Cinderella Castle. We toured the castle on the 26th along with 5,000 other tourists. We spent our last night in Munich where we tried to catch a movie but to no avail... however we did find a Subway and devoured a couple of six inch subs and some cookies! It was a great vacation, a once in a lifetime opportunity for sure, but it definitely wiped out our travel budget for a good while!
Check back soon and I will post pictures as soon as I find our camera!

Where in the World...Part 1

2007-12-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well - the question might really be where haven't we been... in the past 11 days we have traveled to 6 cities in 4 different countries. We have had a wonderful Christmas vacation in Europe - definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. We started out this vacation with the first half planned - a week in a chateau in the Austrian Alps. Craig and Jared had a great time skiing while Katie and I shopped and kept house. Despite the temperatures that never went above freezing - we were warm and cozy in our chalet. From Austria we decided to go to Italy, we could not be that close and forego such a romantic destination. Our original plan was to go to Milan, the closest big city, for at least one night. One the road however, spontaneity got the better of us and we switched routes at the last minute and ended up in Venice!

While we all knew it was a city built on the water, we were a bit surprised that you could not even take your car into the city.. you had to go in by boat. Well, we had no reservations and did not even know where to begin looking for a hotel. So after speaking with the lady in the tourist office at the parking garage we decided to just head in to the city and find a place for the night. The only problem was - our luggage - we had too much! We were not really prepared for our spontaneous change of plans and therefore had not bothered to simplify our packing.. so there were were on the 10th floor of a parking garage in Venice with all of our clothes strewn about as we tried to consolidate our things into one bag per couple. Things were touch and go for a few minutes as the wives were not too excited about consolidating on such short notice in the below freezing temps.. not to mention in the middle of a parking garage. But after a little work we were on our way. We hopped on the water bus and headed for St. Marco's square. We found a great little hotel right off the square and hit the town for some much anticipated Italian cuisine. We were not dissapointed!

The next day we wandered through all the little alleys, markets and shops. We did museums, churches and palaces. We stopped for pictures and pizza and of course... gelato - Italian Ice Cream. Even though it was freezing outside, this proved to be one of our favorite treats. Venice was amazing - although a little on the pricey side - every restaurant charged us for the use of the silverware, needless to say this was not something we had anticipated in the vacation budget! We had a great time and are so glad we made the last minute detour (although it was painful for Jayme to break away from the pre-prepared maps and plans).. as this is a spot we may never get to see again.

So where did we go next - you'll have to wait until we can post it to find out.

Cold, Christian, Christmas Vacation

2007-12-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

For the holidays this year we decided that we would like to go somewhere cold and somewhere that celebrated Christmas as a Christian holiday. So we came to where it all began. Sunday we flew to Munich, Germany and drove down to a beautiful ski resort in Kitzbühel, Austria. We realized quickly that we had taken car of the cold part as the temperature hovers between 15 and 28*F, with snow everywhere. We also took care of the Christian and Christmas aspect as well as there are churches everywhere along with Christmas decorations and shopping markets in every little town. Craig and I plan to hit the slopes everyday while Jayme and Katie check out the markets and the shops. After losing our friends Craig and Katie to the island life, it has been nice to spend some time with them before we head back to the states. It is also a good time to get in some R&R as we will hit the ground running once we get home. When we leave Austria on Saturday, we hope to make stops in Italy and Switzerland before returning back to Germany to do some sightseeing. And then it’s back to Adana, where we will have 2 days to finish packing and saying our goodbyes before making the flight back over the water to the homeland.

Turkey, We Will Miss You

2007-12-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

We have certainly enjoyed our last 12 months in Turkey and will be sad to leave, but we recently realized that God was leading us in a new direction. And just as it was hard to leave home and come here, it is just as hard to leave here and come home. But we realize it is our responsibility to be obedient, no matter how hard it may be or whether He is calling us to leave home or return to it. We know that this earth is only our temporary home anyway.
We have had several weeks to reflect on our time in Turkey and have compliled a list of things we will miss, along with a few that we won't.

We will miss

Adana Kebap
Food (mainly Jared) and yes Adana Kebap is food, but it deserves it on classification
Warmth of the People
The Van Man (Our friend Remze who sells the freshest fruit and veggies out of his van)
Full Service Gas Stations
Our Wonderful Turkish Friends
Intermission during movies
Free food from neighbors at anytime day or night
Çay with every meal
Helpfulness of the people
Our A-team
Special attention at hospitals and doctors office
Bargaining

We won't miss

The drummer during Ramadan making his 3am rounds
Adana drivers
The bullhorn (Turkey's favorite advertising method)
The blazing summer heat
The ATM (i.e. full-service banking)
Hanging our clothes out to dry
No central heat/AC
The call to prayer

Turkey, you've been good to us over the past year and we will certainly remember all the incredible things we got to see and experience within your great walls. Thank you for taking care of us and providing a wonderful home away from home. Türkiye'yi özleyeceğim!

Not Meant To Be

2007-12-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

You know sometimes when you are in the middle of something and you get the feeling that, "it's just not meant to be." Well, I had that feeling several times this afternoon, but as always, I pressed on to see if it was true. It was.

Last night we asked our neighbors if they wanted to go to a movie with us tonight. They had relatives in town and couldn't go until next week. We opted to go anyway and it was a bad decision. The main reason we wanted to go today is because our cellphone company has a 2-for-1 program at the theater on M & Th's. You must text message the company to get a special code that is required by the cinema. On the way, we texted several times but never received our code. We knew we were going to be pushed for time, and possibly miss the best part; the Previews. So we rushed to the counter and asked the lady to help us. After several more failed attempts to get the code, she told us the tricky (and new) fact that we had to have over 100 prepaid minutes on our phone; we only had 88. So, we ran to find a Turkcell store and up our minutes. Granted, it may have been easier, faster and cheaper if we had just bought 2 tickets and not worried about the "deal", but we were determined. After reloading the phone, we raced back, bought the tickets, stopped to buy a Coke and M&M's; only to find out they cost more than the movie ticket itself. No go on the M&M's. Finally, sitting in our seats, we caught the last preview before the movie started. We made it five minutes into the movie, when everything went dark. And the inside of a movie theater is very dark. Turns out the power in the entire mall went out and after waiting in the pitch-black for 15 minutes, they informed us they would not be restarting the movie. Remarkably, we got a rain check and will try again another day. On our way home we realized that we might have been waiting for hours as power to half the city was out.

Turkey in Turkey

2007-11-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

Holidays in a foreign country aren't quite the same, but we always do our best to make it feel like home. Thanksgiving, even though it is strictly an American holiday, was no different. Jayme, Jessica and Melissa (and Chris and John) went all out to prepare a feast the pilgrims and Squanto would have been proud of. With this being our first turkey we were a little apprehensive as we put the 14lb, $40 bird in the oven. However, three hours later, he was crispy and brown on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. After dinner we feasted on the usual pies and football. All and all it was a great day.

In keeping with tradition, Friday was a wonderful day of leftovers and more football. Fortunately, through a Thanksgiving miracle, we were able to see MSU create a miracle of their own and beat Ole Miss in the final seconds. Even though we weren't with our families at home, we enjoyed spending time with our Turkey family.