Thankful Tuesday......

Today I am thankful for my nephew Robert Lee. We call him Lee. He is 12 years old today. Happy Birthday Lee. He has changed so much and his voice is getting deeper. It seems like yesterday that I was holding him for the first time. He lives out of state so I don't get to see him much. The picture below is with his dog Mija (spanish for daugher). My brother named her. Isn't Lee cuuuute?

I am also thankful for antibiotics. I have an upper respiratory infection and pharyngitis (sore throat). I have started on antibiotics and hope to feel better real soon.

Tomorrow we will be going to church for game night. It is always so much fun.

Jocelyn's First Christmas.....

Finally I remembered to post pictures of our Christmas tree. Jocelyn and I made one of the four paper chains on the tree. She got bored after we got one done so mama did the other 3 and put them on the tree. I know you can't see it real well but the white heart ornament between the 2 chains is a rememberance ornament for my dad who passed away in June of 2007. I know he was there with us.

Christmas Eve after Jocelyn had gone to bed I brought up the presents from their hiding place downstairs and put them under the tree.

We decided to open one present on Christmas Eve and Jocelyn opened one of the presents she got from Aunt Betty and Uncle Phil. It is a doll that coos and fusses until you feed it from it's bottle or put the pacifier in her mouth. Jocelyn LOVES it. She has been giving her kisses, hugs, and rocking her. She doesn't let her out of her site for very long. She is such a good mama.

Here we are Christmas morning at 6 am. Yes 6 am. Jocelyn decided to wake up at 5:30. We have a tradition at our house that we eat breakfast before opening presents and we usually have cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. Sorry this picture isn't the best.

After we read the Christmas story from the Bible we then open our stockings. We use decorated Christmas sacks. Jocelyn loves goldfish so we made sure that we had some of those in her stockings.

Jocelyn loved tearing the wrapping paper off. Of course she put it in a neat pile next to her. Who she learned that from I don't know. It definitely wasn't me.

I got a Little People Barn. Whoo-Hoo!!

More presents to unwrap. She had more fun ripping the wrapping paper off the presents than what the present was.

I got the best present of all. Just look below.

What a busy day we had. Jocelyn fell asleep in her highchair while we were eating lunch. She was exhausted. She slept for 2 hours.

My mom is the best that there ever was. She looked for about 4 months for a special gift for Jocelyn from her Grandpa Bob. My dad always talked about how he thought Jocelyn would have long, straight, and black hair that could be braided or put in pony tails. So my mom bought Jocelyn a sterling silver comb, brush and mirror set. She had her initials engraved on each piece. She then bought a card for a grandaughter and said how happy he was that she was here and how much he wanted to meet her but that when he knew that he wouldn't live long enough he asked Grandma to make sure that she got the set and let her know that her Grandpa Bob loves her and always will. I cried for about 5 minutes and am crying as I type this. Praise God for my wonderful family.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Thankful Tuesday....

Today I am thankful that I am off work for the rest of the week and so is my mom. We will be able to enjoy the holiday as a "family" of 3 this year. Of course we have some errands to run tomorrow but that is ok as we will be able to go at our own pace and not be stressed.

I am also thankful that I will be celebrating my first Christmas as a mama. I still have to pinch myself when I say that to make sure that I am not dreaming.

I hope you all have a safe and happy and healthy holiday season.

Mommy's Bra.......

As you can tell by the title of the post Jocelyn found my bra one day and decided that she needed to wear it for a while. She kept putting the straps over her head and taking it off. She did this for quite a while and it was so cute that I had to take at least a couple of pictures. (Blackmail for later you know). She would get so upset if she couldn't get the straps over her head. I had to help her a couple times.

What a workout. I need to sit down and relax. Maybe push the buttons on the toy next to me and listen to some music and just chill.

By the way happy belated 9 month gotcha day anniversary to all of travel group 132.

Please pray for us tomorrow as the weather here is freezing rain and the temperatures are below freezing so the travel to and from work tomorrow will be dicey. Please pray for the safety of all of the people who venture out and for Jocelyn and I.

Thankful Tuesday...

Today I am thankful for Jocelyn's and my safety. It was snowing heavy and bitterly cold outside today. Traveling to work was scary and very stressful. The roads were slick and some of them hadn't been treated with sand and snow before I went to work so I was sliding in some places. To drop Jocelyn off at Dee's I have to go up 2 big hills and 1 small hill. Let me tell you that I was praying the whole way there. I was able to navigate my way to Dee's house with a minimum of sliding.

The trip home was just as bad although they had treated some of the roads by then. I ended up driving most of the way home going 40 miles per hour when ususally I am able to go 65 to 70 mph. I ended up having to go down to the next street and back tracking to get to Dee's house. We arrived home safely. Praise God!!!!

Jocelyn's first snow....

Last Tuesday (the day of my mom's surgery) it started snowing when we left the doctor's office and snowed most of the day. It was quite a mess on the roadways later that day, but it sure made the landscape beautiful with everything having a layer of white covering it. The first thing we did after I got home from picking up Jocelyn from the babysitter is to play, play, play outside. She wasn't sure what to make of the snow at first. She touched it with her bare hand and it was cold. Then we put her glove on and she tried touching it and that was better. She just kept running around and smiling.

Unfortunately the snow was mostly melted when we got home the next day. We only got to play that one time and as you can tell by her rosy cheeks it was COLD!!!!

Can you tell my favorite color is purple??? By the way my winter coat is PURPLE too.

20 months old today....

Jocelyn is 20 months old today. It can't believe how fast she is growing up. We are still working on the tree as tonight we had the final choir practice for our church Christmas Cantata that we are performing this coming Sunday. Jocelyn was able to stay in the nursery with Aunt Betty and Mrs. Linda. She had so much fun playing.

Aunt Betty has a Christmas tree in Jocelyn's Sunday School room and last week she was able to help decorate the tree. She loved it. She kept trying to put all of her ornaments in the same place though. Here she is getting an ornament that had fallen off after we had put it on. Thank you Aunt Betty for letting me help decorate the tree.

Thank you Betty for taking and sending me the wonderful pictures you took of her last Sunday.

Thankful Tuesday.....

Today I am thankful that my mom's surgery went really well. They only had to take one specimen and it was all clear so she then went back and had to have 13 stitches put in. They way that her skin cancer grew made the doctor have to make a larger incision so he had to take so many stitches to make a skin flap which will leave a smaller scar. Thank you all for your prayers. She is in some pain but the Tylenol is helping reduce that.

We have put up our Christmas tree tonight and have started decorating it. We have a small prelit tree that we have put some red and silver shatterproof bulbs on. We have also put some M & M ornaments on the tree. Since our last name sounds like M & M and a lot of people pronouce it that way I buy the tubes of candy with the character on top and we then keep these and use them for ornaments. Since they are plastic they are ok to put on the tree with Jocelyn around. I will post pictures when Jocelyn and I are finished decorating it.

Dressing Myself ??????

A week ago today we went to a party at my moms work for the children and grandchildren of the employees of the hospital. This is the picture that we took just before she went in. She was able to decorate a sugar cookie, glue a snowman on a placemat, play some games and win prizes.

After we got home she needed her diaper changed. Since it was so close to bed time I decided not to put her jeans back on. She found them while I was disposing of the diaper. I had to run and get the camera. I couldn't stop laughing. As you can see she is putting them on backwards. She was getting frustrated that she couldn't pull them up.

Maybe if I stand up I can finish pulling them up. Probably not since I am standing on the jeans.

Maybe this is as far as they were supposed to go. I think that I will quit and watch some television. It sure is a lot easier than dressing myself.

A praise. Jocelyn has not thrown a real temper tantrum for 2 days now. It has been wonderful. Thank you for all of your prayers. I'm sure that I will need to call upon my prayer warriors again.

Compassion and Love...

Yesterday at around 3 pm central time I started getting sick. I ended up having a case of food poisioning. I threw up 5 times and finally quite at midnight and also had some diarrhea. Jocelyn came in the bathroom with me and patted my arm and gave me kisses. I ended up laying on the bathroom floor for a while and she came up to me and shoved her blankie under my head for a pillow. My mom ended up watching her for most of the day so I could go lay down and rest. I have the best daughter and mother alive.

I am feeling much better (still tired) tonight.

Tonight we had our holiday/20 year anniversary dinner at church. There were people there that I hadn't seen for more than 5 years. They loved Jocelyn and were so happy for me. I loved being able to say when I was asked who she was that this is MY DAUGHTER. It felt fantastic.

Please pray for my mom. She has an area on her cheek that has been found to be skin cancer. We are going on Tuesday the 9th for surgery to have it removed.

This and that.....

Jocelyn has learned some new words in the last few days. od grl (good girl), it (sit) this is said as she is pointing to our dogs. She has also learned to point to things or people when we name them such as mama (she will point to me) grandma (she will point to my mom) and we can do this with our dogs also. Two days ago my mom said piano and she went and pointed her finger at the piano. We then said tv and she went and pointed to the tv. She soaks up everything like a dry sponge that is in a swimming pool.

We are still throwing the temper tantrums every day now so please be in prayer that my nerves can hold out and that my patience can be quadrupled for the next "little" (I hope) while. Also pray that I can find the right way to handle the tantrums that she and I will be happy with.

My mom talked to my grandma yesterday and she stated that the memorial service for my grandfather was the family sitting in the living room telling stories and reliving memories of my grandfather. My grandmother stated that they were able to even laugh at a few of the memories. We have started the process of healing. Thank you again for all of your prayers.

Bathtime and Tantrums.....

"Not more bathtime photos mama PLEASE." I can't resist though. It is the only time when her hair isn't sticking straight in the air. She is so adorable and smells so good after her bath.

Jocelyn doesn't like to have her hair (what few hairs that there are) washed. She is finally starting to make the shampoo lather after I put it on her head. This only lasts about 5 seconds. Progress I know.

Jocelyn has had some pretty good temper tantrums the last 2 days. We have had to use many time outs. I think she has hit the terrible twos early as she won't be two until April 10. I was hoping for later rather than earlier. Maybe this means I will be done with the terrible twos early (Well I can dream can't I).

I can sleep standing up....

I snapped these pictures last night around 8:30 pm. I didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until I went to the kitchen to get a drink. She had been watching the tv and I thought that is why she was so still.

A different angle.

Isn't this the cutest picture you have ever seen? I sure think so but I may be prejudice.

A closeup. Of course the blankie is never far away.

Thank you for all of your prayers during the recent loss of my grandfather this week. I found out that they are going to have a private family memorial on Tuesday 12/02/08 at my uncles home in California.

Jocelyn's First Thanksgiving...

Jocelyn wanted to play with her puzzle this morning. She is getting better at finding which pieces go where but she gives up real quick and mama has to help.

Here is the spread that we put on. Doesn't it look yummy? Let me tell you it was!!!!!

Jocelyn is anticipating the great food. I love her smile in this picture.

As you can see we are letting her feed herself more and more. She seems to get the hang of it most of the time but she still uses her fingers sometimes as it is much quicker.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I am most thankful today that God gave me the gift of being Jocelyn's mama.

Pray for us .....

Update:
My grandfather passed away 11/26/08 at 11 pm central time. He is going to be cremated and his services are still pending. Please continue to pray for my family at this time as we deal with the loss of a loved one.


We just found out yesterday that my Grandfather (my fathers dad) has been put in the hospital in intensive care and he is not expected to live much longer. He has liver failure and stomach infection. This means that my Grandmother will have lost her oldest son in 2007 and her husband in 2008. Please pray for my grandmother and their 7 living children and their families. I will keep you updated as I find out anything new.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Potty Training on the Horizon.....

Yesterday Jocelyn came to me and patted me on the arm and then patted herself on the butt and said "poopy". She did this twice yesterday. I believe that we may be potty training soooon. I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Dishwashers and Old Man Winter....

Jocelyn has decided that she is suppoed to help me unload the dishwasher. I have allowed her (after I take the sharp knives out) to unload the silverware and put it away. She thinks that this is fun. Just wait until you are older Jocelyn and see how fun you think it is when it is one of your responsibilities. As you can see below she is unloading the silverware.

Here she is "putting it away". Actually she just dumps all of it in the drawer and I then seperate it into the right compartments. She can just barely "put the silverware away".

Now on to Old Man Winter. Here in Missouri the temperatures are in the 30's and it is COLD. I have had to break out Jocelyn's hat and gloves within the last week to a week and a half. She does not like the hat and cries when I put it on her but after a while she is ok with it until we get inside then it is to come off. I snapped this picture tonight at Wal-mart. She was buckled in and couldn't try to put her face to the camera as is usual for her. I think she is ADORABLE in her hat. Don't you?????

Grandma's Birthday ..

Today is my mom's (Jocelyn's grandma) birthday. We have had a few days of celebration. First "Aunt Betty" and "Uncle Phil" took us out for dinner last night at Cracker Barrel. We had a great time. We had good conversation and Jocelyn had many moments that made us laugh. She sure does love her "Aunt Betty" and "Uncle Phil" and I know the opposite is true as well. Then this morning before I went to work and Jocelyn went to Mrs. Dee's I had Jocelyn give her the card from her. My mom thought it was so cute. Then I gave her my present (a set of light blue Frosty the Snowman fleece pajamas). Tonight my Aunt Helen and Uncle Gary visited from Springfield, MO, ( about 3.5 to 4 hours south of us) and we went and picked up some Church's Chicken and again enjoyed some great conversation. Jocelyn and aunt Helen played ball for quite some time and Jocelyn laughed the whole time.

Happy Birthday Mom and Grandma.

Happy 8 Month Gotcha Day Anniversary...

Today is the 8 month anniversary of Jocelyn's Gothca Day. It is hard to belive that 8 months ago today I held my daughter for the first time. I got to hear her laugh for the first time. I got to hear her cry for the first time. I fell in love for a lifetime. She has changed so much in those eight months. I have changed so much in those eight months. She was in 12 month clothes at that time now she is in 24 month clothes. I was having to carry her everywhere at that time and how she walks (make that runs) everywhere. It seems like yesterday and in other ways it seems a lifetime ago. As one of my travel to China sisters Kimberly said "I would not trade these last eight months for anything"

Now on to some "funny business". A couple of days ago I stated how Jocelyn was pulling her pants down at daycare. Last night at home she started doing that again. Of course I ran to get the camera and take pictures. Maybe I should have got on to her instead but it was so funny I couldn't help it. Here is is standing up after she tried to pull up her pants. As you can see she hasn't quite mastered that task yet. I also noticed in the picture that her Mongolian spot is starting to fade away. The doctors said it should be completely gone by the time she is 3 to 5.

She decided that the task of pulling up her pants was hard work and she needed to take a siesta. As you can see the blankie is never far away.

Happy 8 Month Gotcha Day Anniversary to all in Travel Group 132.

Not feeling well...

Last night Jocelyn started coughing and started having a runny nose. Dee said that it ran like a faucet today. Poor thing her nose is so red she could be mistaken for Rudolph. She is cranky and easily upset. I know that it is because she is sick. She seems to have lost some of her appetite, although she will drink anything you put in front of her which is good as she needs to take the fluids. So please pray that this is just a cold and will run its course quickly.


Jocelyn learned how to say baee (baby) today. She is so smart!!!!

Pants down Wednesday...

Today when I picked up Jocelyn from Mrs. Dee she told me that Jocelyn has learned a new trick. I said "Great what is it?". She stated that Jocelyn is pulling her pants down and trying to take her diaper off. When she saw her doing this she told her to pull her pants back up. Which she did immediately. Dee turned her head for just a minute and when she turned back around Jocelyn had pulled her pants back down. She did this three times. I had to laugh at the picture that came to mind when Dee told me this. She has also learned how to unzip things. After her bath when I put her in her footed pajamas she will have them unzipped by the time she stands up after lying down while she is being dressed. She learns things so quickly that it is scary sometimes. I am going to have to pay much more attention to what I do and say when she is around me so that she doesn't pick up my bad habits.

God is good. My travel to China sister Jen D's daughter Lilli has been diagnosed with chicken pox and it is a very mild case. Hooray! Prayers have been answered.

Thankful Tuesday...

Today I am thankful for my mom. She is the best mom in the world. She is loving, understanding, has a good sense of humor, Baptist, and patient just to name a few of her many great qualities. She has backed my decision to adopt 100% and has never waivered in her support. I have come to rely on her guidance with any questions that I have about being a first time mother. She will offer advice but leaves the final decision up to me. We have had a tough year and a half since we lost my dad to pancreatic cancer June 15, 2007. We have come out the other side and are able to smile and laugh again. We can also now talk about my dad and smile or chuckle at the memories that brings back.

I couldn't ask for a more loving and wonderful Grandmother for Jocelyn than the one she has. When you ask Jocelyn where her Grandma is she will run to her when she sees her. Jocelyn LOVES her Grandma.

Yesterday Jocelyn was 19 months old. I will post a new picture of mamas China doll to reflect her becoming a month older soon.

Please remember to thank God for your parents. They can be gone at any moment. Remember to tell them what they mean to you and how much you love them as often as you can. You never know when it will be the last time.

Jocelyn has learned a new word today. Buba (bubble). She is learning new words so fast.

So much fun in so little time.....

Friday was game night at our church "New Covenant Baptist Church". We had a great time playing games and having a good time of fellowship. I was able to show mama who Aunt Betty and Uncle Phil were. She was so proud of me. Jocelyn loves her "blankie". We don't go anywhere without it. Isn't she adorable?

Grandma is playing Skipbo with other church members. Jocelyn had to go and check on Grandma a few times during the night just to make sure she was still there are doing ok. What can I play with over here?

Today Jocelyn and I went to a 1st birthday party for a little girl that is in her daycare by the name of Elizabeth. We had a good time and isn't she adorable?

Jocelyn is intently watching Elizabeth open presents to she what she could play with.

Jocelyn fell asleep in the car as soon as we left and slept all the way home. She played hard while we were there.

Guess what? We did more Christmas shopping today. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. We are close to being done though. She has also added a few new words to her vocabulary. She now says petty peez (pretty please) , ba (ball), a don (all gone), and uppy (cuppie). She is learning new words daily it seems.

A size bigger and Baby's 1st Christmas...

Jocelyn is growing up so fast. Today I had to exchange a package of diapers for the next bigger size. I knew that eventually I would have to get a bigger size (but not this soooooon). She now wears size 4 diapers.



We did some more Christmas shopping today. Let me clarify I did some Christmas shopping and my mom tagged along. I was able to withdraw the money that I had in my Christmas club at work today. There is a tradition that I wanted to start where Jocelyn will get to pick out (when she is older) a Hallmark Ornament that shows what her interests are. I started that tradition with this ornament below. Isn't is cute as a button as the bottom of the ornament states. Now I know that this is not technically Jocelyn's first Christmas but it is the first one with me as her mama.

Thankful Tuedsays....

Today I am thankful for hugs and kisses. Jocelyn is much more willing lately to give mama and Grandma hugs and kisses than she was before. I think that she is really secure that she is going to be loved and cared for. She is also more willing to hug and kiss mama or Grandma in front of other people too. She is becoming much more affectionate such as wanting to sit on our laps, wanting to sit next to us on the couch (and stay there for more than 5 seconds). It is a joy and an honor to be her mama. I wouldn't want or have it any other way.

Where's Mine?.....

We have 3 dogs. Their names are Tarragon (the black Lhasa Apso), Nutmeg (the white and buff colored Cocker Spaniel) and Sage (the Golden Retriever/Lab mix). Notice a theme? Nutmeg, Sage, and Tarragon. Spices. We could call them the spice girls except Tarragon is the only girl. When they come in from doing their business outside we give them a treat. They know that when we go to and open one certain drawer that they are going to get a treat. Jocelyn has also learned that if she goes and "sits" she will also get a treat. A cookie or raisins from the pantry at the other end of the kitchen. She has now done this for about a week and it is so funny. We had to get pictures!!!!

Nutmeg is making sure that Jocelyn is sitting so that she can have her treat.

She sure can make a bad day easy to forget with the laughter and joy she brings into my life. I love her to pieces and will FOREVER.

Don' t forget to excercise your right and vote tomorrow.

Jocelyn's First Halloween...

Here we are at home leaving to go to Antioch Bible Baptist's Church's Trunk or Treat. It was perfect weather.

We are now walking to get our place in line at Trunk or Treat. There were so many people !!!

Don't I look cute in my antenna's? I can't get them to stick straight up though.

Grandma and me. She is trying to make me smile or laugh for the picture by sticking out her tongue but I was too busy checking out all the other costumes. Mine was the best.

Mama was able to get one picture of most of my costume without me having my blankie or crying. I have to make mama happy once in a while. Don't I?

I got alot of candy and had a lot of fun. We went out to eat at Perkin's before I could have any candy though. I might try Trunk or Treat again next year.