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!

Prayers for Texas

Praying for all of those being hit by Ike right now. My heart just breaks to think about what this is doing to the state I love so much. It just looks awful from what we see on TV. We are supposed to get some of this around noon today. The winds are picking up and you can tell a storm is on its way. Join me in prayer for Texas today and the wonderful people in it.

Our baby dolls were ready..........

for precious Haddie coming over to play this morning, but.... Haddie wanted to play cars. Landry was thrilled. This is his kind of Girl!
I could have watched these two play all day long. They giggled, squealed, and just about ran the wheels off the little cars. They were having so much fun. I love a house filled with the sound of kids having fun. I am soaking this in because I know one day all 3L's will be in school all day.
Landry was pretty smitten with Haddie. I caught him acting like he was reading a book to her.
Then Haddie giving him some love. Landry's first kiss! Careful Landry she will melt your heart. She is soooo sweet.

Giving RoRo some love!
They had the best time today and I got to get in some little girl lovin too. Oh, I miss Lauren being this age. Thanks Mindy for sharing her with us today. She is just simply precious. A picture for Lauren. Thanks for letting us play with your pet shops La-La!

"This is the best day ever Mom"..........

are the words I heard from Landry as we sat and counted porto-potties. (thank you Jeanne and Saxon family for letting us know about this place). As you can see we made a special trip to porto-potty heaven this morning. I now have officially lost my mind! haha. I must say that Landry can count to 60 by himself now and can tell you the difference in turquoise blue and navy blue. So maybe this wasn't such a crazy idea after all? I just hope that when he hits kindergarten in a couple of years that he does not spill the beans on how his mommy helped him learn to count and know his colors.


We found a special potty with a flag on the side. As I drove by, Landry said "Mommy there was someone in there!" I turned around and sure enough there was. Someone at the porto-potty place has a sense of humor. There was a dummy sitting in there. Now try to explaining this to a 3 year old. Oh my?!?
As if our day wasn't complete after our fun morning, look what we saw on the way home. A potty in the sky. Landry was sooooo amazed at this.
So there you have it. Our porto-potty book is complete (for mom it is). We had to hurry home before we had to stop and use one of these. haha!

Landry has a new obsession.....

Porta-potties! Every since we have had a porta-potty in our driveway (for the workers building the pool) he has become obsessed with finding other porta-potties around town. And did you know they come in different colors? This kid is cracking me up! It has now become a game to him when we drive around town as to how many he can find and what color are they. The way I look at it is "Hey, that is one way to reinforce his color learning." I shouldn't put all the blame on the porta-potty in the driveway because I think I am only encouraging him. I admit to taking detours to where I need to be going only to help him find a certain color potty. Landry and the driveway potty. (on the front of the door it says taking care of business. ha!)

He now ask for me to take pictures of them so we can print them off for his porta-potty book. Yep, you heard right.........hey, I will do anything to encourage learning. I can't count the weird looks I get from workers around a site watching me take a picture of a potty! Oh, the things you will do for your child.

Future Vice President????

Today I was getting ready to sedate my patient for surgery when she asked me if she could tell me something funny. She said I look like Sara Palin the Vice President candidate for McCain. I thought it was funny. Then the mailman dropped off the new time magazine at work with Sara Palin on it. Before I knew it I was being passed from OR to OR to compare. I still thought it was funny. UNTIL, I called my mom to tell her about my funny day when she stopped me to tell me "Hey, you look like Sara." Oh my! Do I really look like her? I do like her and thought she did an awesome speech at the Republican convention. I guess if I do share some kind of comparison to her I am honored! I am not sure.....do I look like her?

Go Cowboys!!

Go Cowboys!! (Silly like their daddy)

Yeah! It's time.......

Time to fill the pool up that is. The Reeds are excited! 8 plus weeks of a backyard full of dirt, loud noises, and 3 children asking when can we swim is just about over. Wow, I never knew it would be such a headache to put in a pool. Oh, and don't forget the lovely port-a-potty in the driveway. (This is another post in itself. Watch for this one. ha!) This morning after the workers left from plastering the pool, we turned on the hoses to fill her up. There is no telling what our water bill will be like this month. The 3L's just couldn't wait to get in (so we did!) We still have more to do but I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fun times ahead! Come on over and let's swim!

Childhood Songs

One of these days a police officer is going to pull me over for driving erratically. He will probably be thinking I am driving while intoxicated, but he will be wrong. In fact, I will be driving while being a little teapot. Lately I am often a little teapot while driving. Let me explain......this is because my three year old has fell in love with the song (thanks to a silly kids song cd) "I am a little teapot short and stout, etc." You get it don't you? So if I am driving and Landry is singing and notices I am using my arms for some crazy activity such as steering, he will repeat "Mommy do it!" I can, in fact steer with my forehead, but visibility is a problem. JK! I am also forced to do the Hokey-pokey and making the itsy bitsy spider go up the water spout. But, the worst song from a driving stand point is "Where is thumpkin?" I do not recommend attempting this song while driving. This can create a confusion with other cars when it comes to "Tall man."

Today I found myself listening to the cd only to realize Landry was asleep in the back. ha!

Oh, the fun things we do as moms for our children. Good times!

Brave Lauren

I have to brag on my sweet Lauren, she had gum graft surgery today. She was a brave little girl and I am just amazed at how well she did.
Lauren's adult bottom tooth came in so crooked that it pushed her gum way back. So far back that the root of the tooth was getting close to being exposed. This put her at great risk for possibly loosing one of her adult front teeth. Today she was supposed to be given some Versed (sleeping medicine) to help her before surgery relax. When we got there there was a miscommunication and it was not ordered. We could either cancel the surgery for another time (it took us 3 month to get into this guy) or proceed with the surgery with her awake. I let Lauren make the call on this. She wanted to go ahead. What a brave little girl! The doctor was even nice enough to let me scrub in to hold her hand during the surgery.

Before surgery picture.

She was amazing I tell you! We giggled and cracked jokes until it was time for surgery. Through the tears they numbed her mouth up as best as they could. Then they cut a dime size piece out of the top of her palate. He then sutured in her graft with 8 stitches. All along she held my hand with her eyes set on me. I talked to her and tried to calm her. Wow, being a mom is a hard job some days. She trusted me and together we made it through it. (Inside I just wanted to bawl watching her) I am soooo not a good nurse to my own children. I just wanted to cry for her or jump up on the table and do it for her. All in all my precious Lauren did great. Look at this smile after the surgery. Oh how I love this girl!
The boys and I had made a special trip to the Webkinz store today to surprise her with "chip" the chipmunk.

Tonight she is tucked in her bed after taking some pain medicine. Tomorrow might be a tender day for her but I am truly grateful for a little girl who is so brave. I am so proud of you Lauren! Hope you feel better soon. Love you~Mom

The First of Many

Luke brought home his very first homework assignment today. He had to find three things that start with the letter L, cut out and glue them to the paper, and practice his letter L. He didn't really know that the kindergarten teacher chose this letter because it is one of the easiest letters to learn to write. Instead, he thought the teacher chose the letter L because she liked him a lot.**smile**

I thought this was a moment to remember. His very first homework and I am sure many more to come over the years. I took the same pictures of Lauren when she was in kindergarten. Time is flying by! Look at him concentrate. ha!


He was so proud of himself when he finished. Great job Luke!

The 3L's in August 2008

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Saying prayers for my oldest brother Brett and his family

Things aren't looking so good for my family in New Orleans right now. My oldest brother and his family live in Mandeville which is right next to New Orleans. Hurricane Gustav is headed their direction. They are trying to decide which way to evacuate before the storm hits. The roads are already congested and if he comes my way it could literally take forever to get here. (last time people were stranded on the roads to here for 2 days) It is hard to imagine them going through this again after going through Katrina three years ago. Just when things were being rebuilt, morale was up, and people were starting to move past all of the damage that was done. Here we go again. Our hearts and prayers are with all of these people during this scary time. Here is a picture of my two brothers, Chad and Brett.

Excuse the no makeup here. ha! This was taken early Christmas morning last year.

I have come to realize that I really only have one good picture of Brett! He is the jokester of the family. Bless Julie's heart. ha!

These two together can bring some serious trouble (in a good way).

My precious nephew and niece who we miss sooooo much!

Kyndall, Brett, and Griff

Kyndall is not only Lauren's cousin but one of her best friends. These two girls together brings lots of girl talk, giggling, and secrets in each others ears.

Praying for you guys~