It's official...

Two days before Jack turns 8 months old he's crawling with a vengeance. Sigh... Sniff... Sadness...

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Selling Arbonne at half off this month! (You too can help me take my family to Cancun next October!!!) Call or e-mail me for your FABULOSO deal of the CENTURY!!!!


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I've been at home the past few days with a nasty virus (think flu like). It's been nice to sleep, drink my detox tea and catch a snippet of Regis and Kelly. I also realized that The View is one of the most useless wastes of time EVER. Seriously, it's super bad, vulgar, ridiculous... Need I go on?

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Hadlee is very much into potty training. It's not so bad now... as long as we get her ON the potty before she lets go. :) She's all about showing her "big girl-ness" and distinguishing herself as the older sibling. Now... if only I can get her to unload the dishwasher and put the clean clothes away. Any suggestions? :)

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This just in... 5 months, 3 days and 1 hour until retirement officially begins! Whoo~hoo!!

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Jack and Hadlee's Christmas pictures are in. To see them all go to Dana's Website, at the bottom go to the Christmas 2007 link and look for Mae Anne Hale. It was a rough 30 minutes, but she does a great job and is fabulous w/ photoshoping!

Seriously!

In a memo from our principal: "If you are receiving unwanted pornographic pictures or texts on your cell phones from students take your phone immediately to administration."

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One of my students proudly brought a picture to me today of him at 8 years old and his older brother, 10 at the time. They are ecstatically standing on the hearth bearing AK47's; one's a semi-automatic and the other is an automatic. I promise.

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Brandon and I are coaching Upward Basketball at our church. We've been blessed with 7 rambunctious 1st and 2nd grade boys. One, who's name is Pete, is going to be my heap of learning to be more like Job. He was roughly 3 inches from my face jumping straight up and down saying, "Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo!" I was saying, "Pete, join the other boys who are waiting their turn to shoot the ball." "Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo!" "Pete, kangaroo's don't play Upwards basketball. Go sit with your mother." "Look, I'm a basketball player! Look, I'm not a kangaroo!"

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Hadlee at Brandon's birthday dinner the other night: "Happy Biwfday, Daddy! Mommy, Daddy's OWD!"

This just in....

Potty training sux.


Also in the news, I now am among the 50 billion other people who have a myspace.


And, only 18 days and 1 hour left until Christmas Break! Whooo~hoo!!!!!!!!


Putting up holiday decor w/ an eager two year old when you are a bit on the OCD side is very trying to the OCDedness. However, when that little two year old stops, listens to the Christmas carols playing and says, "Dance with me my mommy!" and then squeals with glee when her mommy scoops her up and twirls around the living room it makes the trying moments very precious memories.

Pictures just for you, SG!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse playing before heading out to visit the grandparents on Halloween.

Does she really need a caption? :) My Little Ms. Personality, My way or no way, look at me I'm so cute, can I give you kisses? Let me see that, Here my mommy, Play with me, Carry me, Carry me! Cute as a button little curly haired carbon copy of her mommy. Love her. Don't know what I'd do with out her.

Jack on the beach over Fall Break. We went to one of my favorite places in the world, Santa Rosa, FL! Poor Jack had an upper respiratory infection so he was on meds and slept most of the time. Laid back Jack, let me just watch and laugh, coo with me, sing to me and I'm a happy little boy who loves everyone, especially my big sister.

Late September at a local pumpkin farm... It was really cute, but there was a rather frightening dude there w/ his family carrying a staff w/ a snake head on top and trying to hypnotize the chickens. I WISH I was kidding!

Minnie trying to find "Bobby Joe" her favorite cat at Tita and Papi's house... Just for your viewing pleassure. I had no idea our accent was so thick, is that sad?!?!?!?

It's Turkey Time in Tennessee!

Seriously, it's been 6 months since I posted something? Man, just call me a slacker w/a capital S!

Hmm, things happening in Hale... Hadlee is 2, and VERY much like her momma, and well, I guess that just about explains that. The other day she was lying on the couch, looked at me and said, "Mommy, I need to wash my hands with soap and watah. They have geuhms." Really, at 2 she's concerned about germs. Then a day or so later we were getting dressed to leave for the day and she said, "My Mommy I can't weauh vees pants. They don't match my shurt." She cracks me up. Right now she's in the play room talking to her puzzles and babies and telling each one where it can sit and who is next in line. Too funny!

Jack is 7 months old and growing incredibly too fast. Really, I cry about it on a near regular basis. In the last 2 weeks he's cut his two lower front teeth, sat up and begun crawling backwards. I REALLY do not like it at all! Brandon keeps laughing about my very delicate feelings towards this and finally asked why I was so upset about it. When I told him that as long as we had a baby in the house I wouldn't have baby fever he suddenly got it. Man, if I could have had a picture of his face at that moment!

I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving week! We have the entire week off from school, so I get to be at home with the babies and play, organize and relax for several days, LOVE IT!

I recently discovered the absolute JOY of Super Suppers. It's INCREDIBLE!!!

Many of you who I've "known" for a while received an e-mail about getting holiday shopping discounts for Arbonne products. I am so in love with the products this company puts out and will be able to stay at home with my precious babies after this school year because of everything Arbonne has done and is doing for our family. Help me stay at home, get great products at a fabulous discount and allow me to shop, wrap and deliver (or Fed Ex) your gifts to you. Contact me via e-mail to take advantage of this great offer!

End of commercial. It's time to enjoy lunch with my very entertaining two year old girl. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Tootles blog world!

Baby mine

Today my sweet Jack-Jack (as his sister so lovingly has dubbed him) is one month old. How quickly the time has flown by! It seems like the first month of Hadlee's life I just sat around, held her and studied every tiny move she made. With Jack I usually only sit to feed him and if his sister is awake I'm usually reading a book to her or trying to keep her from drowning him b/c she's so excited to "help out". Ah, life w/ a toddler and a new born... what have we learned in the past 30 days?

1. Cover the stuff at all times.

2. Keep your mouth closed and be as quick as possible when changing diapers.

3. She's daddy's little girl and he's momma's boy.

4. He can't run from my kisses... yet!

5. God knew we needed a mellow child and BOY did He deliver!

6. If you need to feel loved and needed cuddle a sleeping baby.

7. His sister LOVES him!

8. We can survive. We can survive. We can survive!

9. All things are possible to those who believe.

Jackson McCullough Hale,

You, my sweet son, are such an incredible blessing from God. Mommy, Daddy, Hadlee and everyone who loves you are so excited that you are a part of our lives. I know that you are meant to be an awesome son, brother and eventually a man and that God has planned out a life for you that will bless so many. My prayer for you is that Daddy and I will be able to show you His plan, guide you in His ways, allow you to be who you naturally are and love you with all of our hearts. I cannot express enough how blessed we are to have you in our lives. You and your sister are the most precious gifts Daddy and I have ever been given. I hope you know this and allow it to penetrate your soul... especially during tough times and those angry adolescent days. Thank you for being my baby.

Always,

Mommy

Sometimes life is sad.

One of my students decided to skip football practice Tuesday afternoon and take a ride on his dirt bike. He was going down the street and a car pulled out in front of him. He lost his life at 15 years old. His parents lost their youngest son and our community lost a very sweet, funny young man. Life is just sad at times. I don't understand things. Tonight I will go to the funeral home w/ my colleagues and let his parents know that he was a cherished student (who didn't necessarily enjoy reading... but not everyone does!).

I pray that you didn't suffer Cody and that you are now sitting w/ our King and can safely ride, hunt and play all that your heart desires. Hugs, Mrs. Hale

Sweet Jack is finally here...

Jackson McCullough Hale

Born: Monday, April 16, 2007

@ 9:52 am

Weight: 6 lbs. 7 oz.

Length: 19 inches

Thank you for you well wishes! We're adjusting to life, small spurts of sleep, setting boundaries w/ a VERY eager big sister who is MORE than willing to help out, and learning what life is like as a family of 4. Life is good, Jack is healthy, Hadlee is ecstatic, Mommy is enjoying life via perscriptions and Daddy is mowing the yard while both babies nap.

T minus 44 hours and counting...

We check in to the hospital on Monday morning around 7:00. Dr. M said that Jackson would be out, cleaned and ready to love on by 10:00. Funny, on Thursday that was a comforting thought. Today, it's a bit overwhelming! I'm trying to spend as much one-on-one, quality time w/ Hadlee as is humanly possible before I'm away and she's being schlepped around by "Amma" and "Tita" while her Daddy and I try to get over a surgery and welcome our son. Heavy, heavy thoughts...

Sooooo, in other news... Brandon closed on his first property Thursday afternoon! Yea, honey!!! We're so proud of you and the family you represented ~ it was great getting to live vicariously through them as they purchased their first home. You are an incredible, caring and honest man and we are all blessed to have you in our lives. I love you.

My hands are shaking and my palms are sweating... I'm really nervous about things. Having time to think about them during the baby's nap time isn't really fun. So I'm gonna end here and look at your lives and try to forget the whole "life changing thing" for a few minutes. Please keep us in your prayers! I'll attempt to post pictures late next week, not sure how long we'll be in the hospital (hoping to leave Wed. and counting on it Thur.).

Tootles and blessings,
Signed: Overwhelmed (very incredibly near) future mother of two under two.

Bring on the old wives' tails (tales? I know it's not tells....)! Can you tell my brain cells are incredibly depleted?

I am SOOOO stinkin' ready to have Jack here in person. TWICE we've been to the hospital and TWICE they've sent us home (at 4:30 and 5:00 in the AM. Seriously, you can't let us sleep until 7:00?). I'm researching ways to induce labor, but have yet to find any new info. Tomorrow B and I are going to Carabba's to eat egg plant parmesan. Today I've had a boat load of chocolate and caffeine and well... I really have zero desire to drink caster oil. Come on fellow bloggies ~ share your ideas and let me know what's worked for you, other wise I'm miserable unitl 7:00 next Monday morning!

In Hadlee medical news.... all is clear and she's doing well. She's finally sleeping and eating regular meals. Hearing her ask for specific foods is wonderful. Unfortunately the antibiotics are having an awful effect on her tummy which is causing a horrid diaper rash, but we can deal w/ that any day over seizures and a catatonic baby! The doc called today and said her urine culture was completely clear. We don't know what the source of the infection was, but thank the good Lord above it is completely gone!

Terrified beyond belief

Last night was a horrowing experience that I pray we never have to live through ever again. Hadlee has been teething for going on three weeks. When she teeths she cuts a minimum of 4 teeth, sometimes gets an ear infection and always runs a fever, and it lasts for what seems to be ever! I was in the Boro at an Arbonne training and got a text from B asking me to call him. HAH wasn't feeling well when I left, slight fever, but doing ok. When I talked to him he was concerned and on his way to my parents w/ her ~ temp 99, snoring w/ eyes open, in and out of it and then sleeping very soundly. I told him not to worry, everything sounded normal, she'd had a rough day, etc. Fast forward to 12:41am. We're all sleeping after the tornadic winds and storms came through (all's well 'cept for one little magnolia). I'm in bed w/ all of my pillows (6 to be exact) and B and HAH are in the living room on the couch and big chair / ottoman. I hear Hadlee making a choking type noise and ask B if she's ok. We both race to her and she's having a febrile seizure ~ complete convulsions, eyes rolled back into head, no color, non responsive, fever (102.7) ~ SCARRY. It's litterally the most freightening thing we've ever seen in our short time as a family. I call 911 while he dresses to see what we should do. The operator is doing her best to calm me down and get me to make the decision to either wait for an ambulance or for us to take her to the hospital... HELLO! I'm 28 years old, 37 weeks pregnant and my 19 month old is having seizures, white as a ghost, and completely unresponsive ~ can you PLEASE make the decision for me???? We get in the Expedition and head off, closest hospital is 5 miles away... not the best care, but still, it's a hospital. B is actually DOING THE SPEED LIMIT!! GO FASTER! I call my parents (did I tell you I'd been having regular contractions for several hours and that Jack's bag is packed? They finally stopped around 4:30 this morning.) who come and pray, sing, and help pacify Hadlee.
We are all there for a little less than 3 hours. It takes Hadlee a while to respond to anything... finally they do a Tylenol enema and that makes her cry.... THANK YOU LORD!!! MY BABY IS CRYING! They do numerous tests, x-rays, poking, prodding, and give an overall thorough exam. Doc says it's an ear infection and gives her a shot and anitbiotic and we go home. Follow up w/ pediatrition this morning who does much more testing... including a cathetor ~ not Hadlee's favorite thing and gives us more statistics than we ever imagined. He was great. HAH does NOT have an ear infection, but white counts are high, must follow up on Friday morning. Give us a NEW antibiotic and tells us to throw the other one away and to keep a close eye on her and to treat fever immediately w/ meds. (I'm just not sure I could do the Tyelnol enem thing. )Turns out B and his mom both had seizures as well and it's definitely an inherited gene. She has a 33% chance of having another one. They are not know to cause any brain damage or affect children in any developmental way and will stop sometime b/t the ages of 5 and 7.
All the clothes an objects that entered the hospital have been through the washer or diswasher and HAH is playing downstairs w/ her Daddy. We've all had a rough day and are trying to re-coup. Keep us in your prayers!

ThE eNd Is NeAr!

Jackson will be here is just under 13 days. Monday, April 16 around 7:45 a.m. I will NO LONGER BE PREGNANT... just a mother of two children under 20 months. Ain't no thang... right??!??!!!

The emotional roller coaster (along w/ losing brains cells everytime I blink) is alive and well. If I can actually go for more than 12 hours w/out crying it's fabulous!

My daughter is so stinkin' funny. Last week B was in some other state, oh wait, just Memphis (which for those of you who are not aware is directly above the geographical center point of Hell), and HAH slept through the night in her own big girl bed for the first time EVER!!!! (She's been in it since the week of Christmas). Mommy decided that sleeping was more than worthy of a strawberry sundae from Sonic and a trip to the park. My friend Tricia pulled up in front of us and decided to join in on the celebration. We were happily playing in Toddler Town when Hadlee looked over at the zip line where a few big kids were playing and of course asked "THE" question, "Momma, z'at?" My ever lowering braind cells could not put together the words "zip line" so I said, "I don't know Hadlee, it's just a play thing." and waved my hands at it. At this precise moment Hadlee gave me a Mae Anne look (chin down, eyebrows together, mouth in a slight pout, hands on hips, head cocked at a slight angle) and then ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!!!! What the heck??!?!?!?! This child is 19 months old ~ SERIOUSLY???? Tricia was just rolling. That CAN NOT be a learned behavior, it's definitely a genetically predisposed tick of some sort... at least that's what I'm telling myself, just to feel better. :)

Ok, nap time is coming to and end and my blatter is being used as a trampoline so I'll end here. Keep us in your prayers! I am supposed to stop taking my Terbuteline (the med that stops labour) on Thursday so JMH could be here earlier than expected... but that just isn't going to happen. Mommy has plans! :)

Have you hugged your ribs today?

Appreciate your body people!

Wednesday morning I was getting ready for work. Everything was going according to schedule. I was drying my hair and as any woman w/ fine hair can tell you, I had my head turned upside down to try to add body. When I sat up I heard "crack, crack" and thought I was going to pass out and die from pain. My ears started ringing, I was sweating profusely and had tunnel vision. I called for B to help (like 5 times b/c I have larengitis, he was sleeping and I was in INCREDIBLE pain!) and after dropping HAH off at Gramma and BooPaPa's went to the closest ER... note to self. Don't do that again, go further down the road and try not to get there at shift change. After filling out the paperwork and sitting for what seemed to be years we were finally granted an ultrasound of the rib cage (cuz pregnant women can't have x-rays). I have a hairline fracture in one of my ribs and it is crazy how much pain that causes! The ER "doctor" wouldn't do anything for me other than tell me to follow up w/ my OB. She gave me Tylenol w/ Codine. I love her. Codine is my new BFF! I've also got a "highly contageous virus" so I get to go through a z pack and take cough medicine w/ something in it that makes me very sleepy.

Functioning in life has taken on a whole new meaning. I've only worked one day this week and plan on going back next week to finish up the quarter and get grades posted. Then I believe my maternity leave will officially begin a couple of weeks early!

Please, hug your ribs and enjoy being able to go to the bathroom w/ out having to take pain medicine before hand!

Love,
Your broken and bandaged bloggin buddy.

43 days and counting...

Until Jackson McCullough Hale arrives. Yup, we're near the finish line!

Earlier this evening B, Hadlee and I went to Target and registered for "duh behba" as HAH says. So, feel free to buy my son and little sumthin' if you wanna. :)

We were out of school Monday and Tuesday for the flu so I took advantage of the days off and painted Jack's room. Well, technically, just the bottom third of the walls, but it's beautiful if I do say so myself. We still have to get chair rail to put up but it's coming along! I'll post pictures... maybe one day.

I am nearly positive that I have either a broken or severly bruised rib. I've had a horrid cough for the past 2 1/2 weeks and can constantly feel one rib in particular. What the heck??!?!!??!!? It's bad when you can injure yourself w/ out rhyme or reason!

This week my principal and I found someone to take over my position during my maternity leave. I couldn't be happier w/ the decision. Holly did her student teaching w/ us back in the fall and I asked her then if she was interested but she was planning on being in grad school full time. Her aunt is the lead reading teacher and we were talking the other day when I found out that her plans had changed. I'm SO glad she's going to be in my classroom while I'm out. My goal is to make it until Spring Break (the first week of April) and be off until next "fall" (July 30). Keep your fingers crossed for us, huh?

B and I are in the market for a full sized 4 door truck. Got a favorite? I think he's leaning more towards the Dodge Ram than any other. I don't really have an opinion, I'm just ready for the purchase to be made and over with.

I was looking through a test prep book at work the other day and one section is actually entitled "Fixing Punctuation". Is TN the only state where "fixing" would be in a grammar and reading test prep book put out by the state testing agency? :)

Ok, my feet are hurting cuz I'm standing at B's laptop in the kitchen on tile floors so I'm gonna end for now.

Happy weekend.

So, like, there's a "new" blogger?

Ok, it's really been a while since I posted. Things are flowing here in the Hale house hold. Hadlee will be 18 months on Wednesday and we have 9 weeks and counting (or maybe even less) until Jack makes his appearance into this world.

This pregnancy has been less than ideal... I was on bus duty a few weeks ago w/ contractions that were 3 minutes apart. Two doc's visits, tests and a couple of days of bed rest later and pre-term labor was ruled out. So I just have to get through the Braxton Hicks (Hix?) and live w/ the constant pressure, pain and uncomfortable state of things for 63 more days. Have any of you had to live through the FFN test(the test which determines if I'll go into labor in the next two weeks)? I've had it twice and get to endure it for the next two or three visits. Frankly, I'm miserable and on the verge of asking to go part time at work... Lord willing the wallet will allow for such a luxury!

Enough complainaniting. Got any advice on getting your nearly 18 month old to sleep through the night in her own bed? She was doing a fabulous job until a few weeks ago when we encountered her first ear infection (first time on antibiotics and the whole shebang). Since then she's good to go until about 2:00 and then one of us sleeps w/ her (usually B, b/c I just can't do it during the week). We haven't a clue as to what to do to get back into that beatiful 9:00 to 7:00 routine. Believe me, we're wide open to suggestions!

Jack's room is coming along. I got a beautiful steal on his bedding when Pottery Barn Kids put last year's designs on clearance. I got everything for $125!!!! Happiness exudes!

I reckon that's 'bout it for now. I'll try to go less than 2 months b/t updates. Happy Valentine's Day bloggies! (And just for your viewing pleasure... Hadlee's first major hair milestone ~ pigtails!!!!!)