My sun bathing beauty!

Here is sweet Lauren soaking up some rays by the pool reading her American doll magazine. I can only imagine what life will be like in a few years with her. Laying out by the pool, working on a tan in her bikini, and reading her Teen magazine. I am sure daddy will be close by to make sure no boys are around!
I love this time with her. She is growing up way to fast!

Loving Life!

I can't begin to tell you what a great feeling it is to see this little boy so happy at Miss Heather's school. (what Landry calls it) When I was given the opportunity to go back to nursing part time I really hesitated because of one thing, Landry. With his allergy what would I do with him? He is my last child so should I stay home with him full time? I decided that if this is something God wanted me to do then I would wait and let him show me what to do with my sweet boy. Things quickly fell into place (thanks to a beautiful friend)and looking back I see God's hand in every part of it. He led the way. Landry couldn't be any happier at this place. He has the best time and is surrounded by some beautiful girls! This is Landry and Camy. They are two peas in a pod from what I hear.
He is one lucky kid. Haddie, Landry, and Lucy
I truly thank God for this time in my life on getting to be a nurse and a stay at home mom.
Here is my little ray of sunshine!

Subject: Hair removal

TRY & PUT YOURSELF IN HER SHOES, THIS IS HYSTERICAL!(I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but....WHAT A HOOT!) I normally would not post something so out there but since most of the people who read my blog are women I thought you would get a kick out of this! (warning: a little graphic)

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax. Read on......... My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!)I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skinextraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY .......!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand, into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!* I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bot tom of the tub....in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bot tom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter. 'So,my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bot tom of the tub!' There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?' She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor .. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY .......!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. IT WORKS!! It works !!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point. Next week I'm going to try hair color......

I can't believe it has almost been 2 years.....

since Landry's allergic reaction to antibiotics. This had to be the hardest thing Casey and I have ever gone through. I remember it like yesterday. It started off with a simple strep throat. A doctor gave him penicillin to help him get well. We met our Arkansas friends in Dallas for the weekend. He developed "bug bite" bumps on his face and then they spread to the trunk of his body. We went to the ER in Dallas only to be told it was a bug bite. I knew in my heart it was something else. After a phone call to the pediatrician on call he told us to go to the Waco ER. They said it was a simple penicillin allergy, gave us some different meds, and sent us home. That night he was so swollen. He was leaking fluid out of his skin everywhere. Another trip back to the hospital they said it was Erythema Multiforme which is a severe allergic reaction. One more time we were sent home with another antibiotic. The nurse in me was determined this was not right. There was more to this. Why is he not getting better? He was getting worse. Temperature was 105 and the hives were traveling (eyes, throat, bottom of his feet, etc.) Baseball size bruising all over his body. By now we were on our 4th antibiotic. He couldn't bend his little fingers because they were so swollen and leaking. He was in severe pain, crying, hungry, and tired. Casey and I were scared to death. We prayed and everyone we knew was praying for him. Finally our pediatrician was back from vacation. He called us in after he heard about Landry and was shocked at what he saw. Landry's body was shutting down. His kidneys were not working. They put him in the hospital. He had Steven Johnson Syndrome (the worst allergic reaction). They had the hardest time getting an IV on him and talked about doing his neck vein instead. The POWER of prayer was all over Landry that day. They got it on the last attempt. After several days in the hospital we now know he is allergic to ALL antibiotics. The more antibiotics he was given the more his body hated it.

Here are a few pictures of what happens to Landry if he takes antibiotics. These are not even the worst ones.

Since going through this, we have been to several Immunologist and Allergist on what to do if he ever needs an antibiotic. Their answer? They don't know. This is so rare. They want us to be admitted to the hospital if he gets sick to where he needs an antibiotic so they can "try" ideas on him. This is something he will not out grow. We have done the testing, invited to be part of research, and taking the precautions to prevent illness ( had tubes put in his ears so he will never have to take antibiotics for ear infections). Landry does not go to preschool because of the amount of sick kids he would be exposed to. He goes to a sweet lady who keeps 3 other kids. Fall and winter times he doesn't go to church. Casey and I take turns staying home with him. He stays home!

So why is two years such a big deal to me? Two years of a HEALTHY Landry! God has covered this little boy with so much protection over the past two years. I can't begin to express how that feels. With tears in my eyes, I am so grateful for Landry being so healthy. Thank you Lord! I know there will come a day when we will have to face the next challenge on this and make some hard, hard decision. I know God will lead us through that too!