An Answered Prayer

If you have read this blog for almost a year, then you may remember this, our nightmare with Jaggar's ear. I was thinking how quickly we are approaching a year on that mess. I reread that blog as I put this picture on here and thought how thankful I am for this lady. This is Dr. Dela Cruz, the kids' new and IMPROVED pediatrician. She is what a pediatrician should be, and my only regret on her is that I haven't used her since Sage's birth. She and her entire office have revolutionized my thoughts on pediatricians. They are kind and...*gasp*...actually LIKE children. I didn't really realize how most of the staff in their previous doctor's office was predominately rude until I came here. Their doctor himself was nice, when he was there, but he was pretty much in and out. My kids are both so comfortable with Dr. Dela Cruz. Sage told me today that she loved her after the check-up. :) The neat thing is, the Dr told me that she loved US after giving us a hug when we left today. Granted, we met her through close friends, the Dizons, but I feel she treats all of her patients with genuine kindness, not that I'm opposed to favoritism when it's in my favor (and it usually is, wink wink).

While I resolved the issues (as much as they could be) with my kids' previous doctor, meaning Travis and I both had an hour and half sit down with him 3 months after the surgery to tell him face to face what actually happened, I had no desire to be in that environment again. They made a mistake that was not affordable on my part: my child. While I certainly appreciate the doctor stepping up and doing the right thing in that situation, it made the shutting of the door on them peaceful rather than bitter. But the door had to be shut.

This picture is from today at Sage's well check-up. Sage weighed 38 lbs and was 45 inches tall. This was Sage's first appointment with her, but Jaggar has seen her for months now (speaking of such, he's due to go back NOW). She even checked Jaggar's ears today just because. :) He loved it and kept wanting her to recheck them. He kept handing her the otoscope back and leaning his head over, and when she walked out for a minute, he went with her. Sweet.

Jaggar isn't miserable here, just mid-blink.

Refreshed!!

This has been the BEST week! Travis just finished a house from hell, and that's an understatement. He left every day before we even woke up and got home when we were ready for bed. Oh, and it took like 12 weeks and was about 45 minutes away one way. We have spent the entire week together doing whatever we wanted! It was bliss. He is currently in Georgia preparing to shoot the B52s concert tomorrow. Love Shack, anyone? :)

I will post pictures (if we're facebook friends, it's redundant) of when we went to the museum. I was feeling so happy that I ate at Top O' The River voluntarily. We all had such a great time. Jaggar is currently cutting about 4 teeth all at once, so that's fun. Fun like a root canal. I'm also branching out and have been going to church on Wednesdays taking a school of the Spirit class by our Pastor that has been fantastic! I am so proud of myself for taking the kids even if Travis was working (which he has 2 of the 3 times so far). I am learning so much and am so excited about the future.

Speaking of facebook (remember that comment about us being fb friends)....okay, I SWORE to myself that I wouldn't do this. Because it's not going to make any sense to anyone, and I'm going to sound like those rednecks that post those mean statuses obviously intended TOWARDS someone but they're never direct. Do you know what I'm saying? I'm going to go redneck for a second though because this is my blog, and I apparently need to put out a disclaimer...okay, wait I need to set it up first. I like facebook. I really do. I like to keep up with you. You keep up with me. I pray for you. You pray for me. I encourage you. You encourage me. I get to see pictures of the food you're eating. Love that, right? This is good stuff, right? HOWEVER, someone very recently used a facebook status of mine that was SO light (I really don't post anything so personal that it would be considered anything but) and made a judgment call that wasn't their's to make about ME. Here's the deal: if you want to get in my "bidness," then please, PLEASE let me know that you're doing it so that you can at least get it accurately. Because if you're going in, you should go all in. Okay! PHEW! So sorry. I'm back on the high road again.

Now take a listen to my favorite. Because something has to take the edge off that. But I'm glad I got that out. ;) Also, more importantly, please continue to pray for my friend, Linda Noe. We are still believing for her complete restoration, but right now, she's on a hard road. I want a supernatural healing for her that takes the ugly load off of her and her family. How 'bout it?

The Lovely Couple

There was a professional photographer at the Father/Daughter dance, and Sage already brought her pictures home today. The quality of this isn't great because I took it with my phone, but it is precious in person. It's a great picture of both of them. Cuties.

Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

Today is Valentine's Day, but we actually gave the kids their Valentines last night because Sage had school today. I hated to give them their things and then shove her in the car, and since I didn't have to sing yesterday, we had the day to ourselves. Here's some pics of them receiving their Valentines.

I am SO sad that this picture is blurry. SO sad, but I posted it anyway because you can still see how cute they are. This is them waiting on the steps for me to bring them their things.I am in love with this picture. What faces! They are doing that over....

...this balloon! Isn't this awesome??? For some reason, I have always had a thing for a cute cartoon looking octopus (the real ones look nothing like this--ever noticed?). One of my favorite dresses when Sage was a baby was a blue sundress with bubbles and a big orange octopus that looked similar to this one on the bottom. I hit like 5 people in the head with this thing at walmart and for that, I apologize. But it was worth it to see those faces in that picture above this one.

They each got a heart box of candy and a miniature bubblegum machine. I've failed to mention that the precious Santa gift of the Hello Kitty bubblegum machine from the Christmas before last has now become a nightmare as Jaggar is now obsessed with gum. He thinks he is supposed to chew a piece every time he walks by Sage's room and screams, "Uh, gum! Uh, Gum!" (He also says, "Uh" before everything he says. We think it's short for, "I want.") An almost 21 month old chewing gum, you ask? Well, I can give you two guesses who started that. HINT: It was NOT me. He actually does really well with it. He doesn't swallow it, and generally it goes in the trash when he's done. Generally. Only some of it is on my comforter right now. NOT that I'm bitter. Anyway, I knew these little gum machines would thrill them, and I was right.

I don't know if I convey it well on here, but to me, Jaggar is the funniest kid ever. For whatever reason, as soon as he got his candy, he went upstairs to his room as fast as possible. I think he had planned on eating it all at once but soon realized that he couldn't open it alone. He returned very shortly thereafter handing it to us to open.

My valentine. I don't have a picture of it on here because he actually gave it to me today, but Travis got me a beautiful heart charm for my Pandora bracelet.

Looking at his prized possession

They also got "A Charlie Brown Valentine," of course! You know how we feel about Charlie Brown. I think we now have every seasonal one that they make. Jaggar is again showing us his gum. Actually, he was probably demanding more pieces. I think he ate about 15 that night.

And the awesome balloon. :) I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day filled with love with the ones they love!

Valentine Party

On Saturday night, Nick and Emily hosted a Valentine Party for the kids. It was so cute. Emily had cupcakes, cookies, chips and dip. She's like me in that she got sucked into all of the themed items that Target offers: heart cups, balloons, plates, napkins, and even a Valentine banner. It was adorable, and the kids had a blast. They had snacks, exchanged Valentines and then made their own Valentine. Sage was the last one working on her's. She loves anything artsy. Jaggar loved the food. :) We stayed really late because Travis was working in Birmingham, and I loved the company. We had a great time.

Jaggar and Parker
Seeing Jaggar sit at this table reminded me that he isn't an infant anymore. I forget that because he doesn't talk a whole lot, that he is not a tiny baby. Sage with Maggie, Morgan and Grayson.
She won't let me forget that she's not a baby. :)

Notice all of the other kids are gone. They were exchanging Valentines. Not Jaggar. He climbed up in Mawmaw's lap and decided he'd continue eating with her. He's not the least bit shy.

Exchanging Valentines

Then he thought he'd come over and see if he could swipe some candy.

Father/Daughter Dance

The reason that we didn't go out to celebrate Travis's birthday was because he had a date that night, and she was the most beautiful date he could have had. Her name is Sage. :) Her school had a father/daughter dance that just happened to fall on his birthday. It also happened to fall right in the middle of the shoot that he was doing in Birmingham, but I was like, "You cannot miss this. This is something she will always remember, and she is SO excited." So, of course, he found a replacement for himself for that night and came home for this dance. She told me the night before, "I've got a busy day tomorrow. I've got looots of places I've got to be." I curled her hair and she was so proud of herself. I have to say that she looked so beautiful.

Their tickets

I just love this picture. What a beautiful girl. She asked if she could wear lipstick. :)Have to say that I sure love this one too. It's one where they are both looking at the camera, which is amazing in itself.

Daddy and his date

Beautiful couple

Then Jaggar and I had to crash. Look at his face. :)

Here's a few that Travis took at the dance.

Sage and her friend, Raven

Doing the limbo

She told me about this arch later and how pretty it was.

Sage and her friend, Kylie

Dancing with another friend, Callie

The happy couple. The next morning, I asked Sage about it again, and she said, "It was A-MA-ZING." And it was.

Happy Birthday, Travis

Yesterday was Travis's birthday, and he turned 25, so he said. :) He had been doing a shoot in Birmingham but took off Friday and came home that afternoon. The kids and I had a cake, presents and a balloon that they'd picked out the night before.

Look at Jaggar's face. How cute is that?And Jaggar just had to have a taste. He'd been asking for a piece of that cookie all day, so to have it right in front of him was just too great of a temptation.

Sage made Travis a card the night before.

She couldn't find her paper, so she ripped off the cover of one of her coloring books and wrote on the back of it.

I guess I don't have a picture of the actual gift, but Sage had spotted these flowers the week before. As soon as she saw them, she said that she wanted to get Daddy one for his birthday. They sway back and forth when they are in the sun.

And, of course, he got a gift card to the movies--his favorite place to be.

Blowing out the candle

Travis and me (Sage took this and the following picture. Not bad, huh?)

Jaggar finally got his cookie. :)

Proud Mommy

When I was looking through Sage's folder this evening and praying that she didn't have any homework, I came across this note from her teacher. First, I have to say how proud I am of Sage. I honestly expect nothing less from her. She is better than I deserve as a daughter, and I really can't take credit (okay, I take some) for how sweet she is. I learn from HER daily on how to be kinder and more loving. Secondly, I am grateful for the teacher that God placed in her life to be encouraging and nurturing towards my daughter. I really appreciate her taking the time out to send something like this home.

MY girl. So proud of her.

My Main Man

Jaggar and I had some fun. Then he found some chalk...and well, you'll see.He's saying, "Cheeeseee."

Ha! Look at that face!

Gotta love the chalk that's still on his face.

My favorite boy