Puppy needs a home!

So today at school I was minding my own business, grading papers (this was about 3:25 after school) and then one of the teachers makes an announcement that there is a box of puppies at the school because someone dropped off a whole box of them. I was like "Ohhhh...I have to see what they look like." I went to go see and I almost started crying! They were adorable! There were 9 of them and they are so little! The guy who found them said that he was driving down the road when he noticed this box turned over and 2 puppies walking around it. He pulled over and looked inside and saw a bunch of eyes staring back at him! Can you imagine!??! How cruel for someone to leave these beautiful dogs! I held one of them and all of the teachers were like "you have to take him....he needs you!" They were all boys except for one of them. The one I had was a boy. Well....that's right....there is a puppy in my kitchen right now. Dixie, our other dog, cannot get over him! I think she scared the poor puppy, we are calling him Rebel, to death. I would have taken the whole box, but Michael is about to kill me for taking just one! I think this is the cutest dog, but I don't know if we will keep him. If anyone is interested in a cute little puppy let me know! I have no idea what kind of dog it is, but he is a cutie!
I also posted some pictures of the girls on our days off with the ice! We had a lot of fun!

Here's little "Rebel"!

Kate doesn't know what to think!

I went to get something and came back and found Kate doing this!

Dixie's ball was stuck in the ice!

Saturday...Girls Day

We had a lot of visitors today. Michael had to work ALL day so I was happy to have people over! My mom came over for a little bit this morning. After lunch and a nap my aunts Margie and Tami came over and also my cousin Laura. They brought Selah along with them. Margie's son, my cousin, Cory is Selah's dad. So I guess that makes Abby and Kate, Selah's 2nd cousin???? I'm not quite sure how that works. They stayed for a bit and we got the girls pictures together. They are about 4 months apart. Then Michael's parents came by and got Abby. Abby was going to spend the evening with them. So, it was just Kate and me! We ran to Target and then came back for a bottle. Later on, we went out to dinner with my parents and then we went back to Target! ha I love Target.

I also meant to tell everyone that Kate had her eye appointment yesterday to check on any problems from the JXG. Nothing wrong. Her eyes are perfect, as you can tell from her BIG blues in the pictures below! Let me just tell you though that trying to get a 7 month old to hold still while someone is trying to look through their dilated eyes is NOT very much fun! I'm just so very thankful that God has kept her healthy and safe! We are so very blessed and lucky!
"God is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine." Ephesians 3:20

If you still haven't check out the pioneer woman's website...it's a must! I'm going to try out one of her pasta receipes next week. I'll let everyone know how it turns out!

This is what I saw when I walked into Kate's room after her nap! Isn't she precious. Wake up times are a favorite of mine.

"Kate" jump up

Love the smile!

This is the mound of hair that I wake up to every morning. Abby and I argue about 2 things...brushing her hair and brushing her hair some more. Oh the price we pay for long hair!

But then we make up after it's been combed!

Selah and Kate

Patty Cake!

Who is this Pioneer Woman???

So I was reading my friend's, Laurie, blog and she kept talking about this "pioneer woman". Everytime she would mention it I would just let out a laugh because it sounded soooo funny! So I was thinking "Who is this Pioneer Woman???". I scrolled down on Laurie's blog, which is what I should have done in the first place, and she gives the website. So I get on this thing and I'm hooked. This woman does it ALL!!! Her receipe's are AMAZING and her stories are a HOOT! She calls her husand "Marlboro Man" and it cracks me up. She tells the story of how they met. If you get a chance you have got to check out her website http://thepioneerwoman.com/. The girls have been in bed since 8:00 and Michael checked in early so I have been on there reading and reading for the past couple of hours. You have to check it out because she is hysterical!

LOST and Chicken Tacos

O.K....I'm a HUGE fan of Lost! Tonight was the premiere and I was soooo looking forward to it all day. At dinner Michael and I were discussing possible things that could happen. I was telling him my theory on how the island will be going back in time (thanks to Jenny). Well...he thought I was cRaZy! If any of you saw the show tonight, then you know who was right! ha I love the show and I love how it makes me go hummm..... I also made a new receipe tonight...chicken tacos. I found this on the internet. I wanted to make something in the crockpot for tonight and this was super easy.
Put a can of chicken broth and a package of taco seasoning in the crockpot. Mix it together. Add your thawed chicken (however much you want...I used 2 BIG pieces of chicken breasts for Michael, Abby and me) I put mine in at 7:30 this morning and left it on low. When I got home around 4:00 I pulled the chicken apart (with 2 forks) and let it continue to cook until we ate. We ate it on soft taco shells with all of the fix ins! This is a new favorite. When we were eating Abby patted me on the arm and said Momma this is so good I think I'll have another. She is so funny. So in all we had a very eventful night. LOST and Chicken Tacos....what a great Wednesday!

Stressful Weekend!

I've been meaning to get on here and post the lastest on Kate, but I haven't had a chance. On Monday we got a call from the dermatologist. She said that they got the results back on the tumor they removed from Kate's arm. She said that it was JXG. I was upset when I heard, but the doctor didn't seem very concerned. She sent an order to get blood work done (JXG can be the result of some frightening things) and told us to keep the eye appointment that we already have scheduled. So...on Friday we went to the doctor's office and they had to take blood from Kate's arm. I hate having to put Kate through all of this. It's no fun having to keep holding your child down while people cut stuff off of her arm and draw blood out. Michael couldn't get off of work so mom came with me. While they were trying to put the needle in I was down kissing Kate and talking to her. I looked over to see if it was over and they hadn't even gotten any blood out!!! They said her veins kept rolling and they couldn't get the needle in. Finally....the got the needle in and they got the blood. Since it was Friday they wouldn't get the blood work back until Monday (today). It was a very LONG weekend waiting for the blood test. For those of you who know me well know that I research EVERYTHING. The more I kept reading about JXG on the internet, the more I kept crying. Michael told me to quit reading stuff about it and that everything would be fine. So...this morning we get the call from the doctor. Everything came back normal and healthy! Praise the Lord! I feel that a huge weight has been lifted. We have the eye appointment at the end of the month, but I'm not to concerned about that.

I am enjoying my day off with my family and I am looking forward to a 4 day work week!

Here are some new pictures of the girls.

Kate LOVES her Jenny Jump Up!

I had to grab my camera when I saw this. She couldn't put her arms down!

Abby was so proud of her puzzle she put together!

Abby's Ballet Class

Abby's ballet class always has a "Visitor's Night." I got to go in and see her with her class. She is quite the little dancer. She loves ballet. Her love for it grew even stronger when she had her ballet recital last year. Last year they put on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Her little class were squirrels. She LOVED getting up on the stage to perform. This year they will be doing "Beauty and the Beast." Her ballet and tap class will be "flowers in the royal garden." The neat thing about her ballet class is that her teacher, Mrs. Penny, was one of my ballet teachers when I was younger. I hope that Abby continues to love dance because it is so much fun watching her!

I tried FOREVER to rotate this video. I've had to rotate videos before and for some reason I can't figure out how to rotate this one. If you don't get a crick in your neck....Abby's the one in the skirt!

Update on Kate...

That rhymes...how cute!
After doing lots and lots of reading and talking with others, Michael and I decieded to reschedule Kate's appointment with the surgeon. I did NOT feel comfortable with her going in for surgery to remove this from her arm. Everything that I have read has said, that if it is JXG, it goes away on its own and that surgery is NOT recommened! So, I did some research and found another dermatologist that is also in pediatrics. I found one and made an appointment to get a 2nd opinion.
Well, we had our appointment with the 2nd dermatologist today. I have been talking to several friends about this whole situation with Kate and her arm and I found out that 2 of my friends use the dermatologist that we made our new appointment with! They couldn't say enough good things about her! They have a website so I was able to read about the doctors and about their practice. I was very impressed. First they took a picture of Kate's bump on her shoulder. The doctor came in and looked at it and then proceeded to talk to us about it. She said it looked like to her that it was pilomatricoma (which is NOT what the 1st dr. told us). I told her about our 1st appointment and how that dr. said it was JXG. She said that it was a possiblity, but that she has seen lots of JXG and she didn't think that is what it was. She said that she could take it off today and send it off to the lab. I said "really?!?!" because that is one of the reasons why we wanted a 2nd opinion because the other dr. said he wanted her to have surgery. Her jaw dropped open and she said "What?!" She said there was no reason what so ever to do that. When I also told her that the other dr. thought that it was JXG but wasn't to sure because he has seen only 1 other case her jaw almost dropped again. She couldn't believe that we went to a doctor who had no idea what this was. She said that yes she could remove it today and that she has done this countless times on children. Sooo.....IT'S GONE!!!! She has 3 stiches though :( Kate was not happy about the shot (local anesthesia) but we got it off. When she was removing it there was a cyst underneath it and that pretty much confirms her diagnosis of pilomatricoma (benign skin tumor derived from the hair follicle). All the stuff that we were seeing was it calcifying. It is being sent off to the lab to get the real diagnosis, but I feel MUCH better. I am so glad that we got a 2nd opinion. It also shows us how faithful our God is. We have been praying for Kate and believe that he has answered our prayers. As my pastor Gary would say "GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!"
I will be posting some pictures soon!

Our First Christmas as a Family of 4

We had a very good Christmas. This was Kate's 1st Christmas and Abby's 6th Christamas. They both had a wonderful time and enjoyed visiting with family. In all we had 5 Christmas celebrations in 3 days! I know that Kate had to think that we were all crazy. The girls are very excited about all of their gifts and also very thankful!
Enjoy!

Pretty Smile!

I love this picture!

Kate's new blocks.

Pretty blues!

Abby loved her walker. I know Kate will too!

Abby's Christmas present from Grandma "Linker".

Here we are!

I just thought this was a funny picture because they are all making a different kind of face!

Sisters!

Abby and her horses.

Pretty smile!

Kate is playing with her fishbowl!

Abby wanted a "techer set" for Christmas. Santa granted her wish!

Kate loves her "guitar"!

Here is Abby's "My Puppy Grows".

Here are both the girls with their Santa gifts.

Michael and Kate. Very cute!

Here is Kate with her "guitar".

Abby loves Barbies and Horses!

This is the horse set she was just opening.

Isn't she cute?!?!

Kate is trying to see what present she got next!

She is VERY excited!