Boogs Survived The Lithotripsy!!

Well, we spent a total of 7 hours at the hospital for boogs to get his kidney stones blasted. All went well and boogs survived and today he is doing much better.
Sorry it took me a day to update. I was really tired by the time we got home and then it was back to work.

So glad it's Friday!!!!!

Way To Go God!!! Harper and Brayden are doing great. Still in the hospital but not on any tubes except oxigen.

A Lithotrypsy!!!! YAY!!!!

My hubby will be going in tomorrow for this procedure to get rid of several kidney stones. He has one large one and several small ones. So me and my faithful mother in law will be bringing our books, cards and conversation to spend the day while hubby get his stones blasted.

Fortunately he has not had any kidney pains that usually come with stones so he has been very lucky for that (and so have I!!!). So if you would say a little prayer that all will go well I would really appreciate it.

Hope everyone has a great day.

It's A Surprise!!!!

That's what I thought when I found out I was pregnant with my 3rd and last child, Victoria Leigh Taylor. I had thought I was done having babies. April was 12 and Ashley was 10. Well that's not what our Heavenly Father had in mind. I think he had in mind that I needed a little action in my life!! Oh Tori was probably the best baby overall as far as being easy. She slept really good. Loved her crib and then hated her toddler bed. At toddler age the little tantrums started coming on!! She was not only spoiled by her daddy but her 2 older sisters too!!! I wouldn't have dared spoiled a child!!!Anyway, Tori (as a lot of my family calls her) is 10 years old now and my most challenging daughter. I love her to death. She and I butt heads everyday of our life. I mean our personality's just don't jive. But one things for sure she is also the one that is keeping me on my toes. But I know one thing I don't know what I would do without her.

Her passion in life is babies, small children and making me crazy!! (Just kidding) Anyway, when she was about 2 santa brought her her first doll. This doll was kinda real like and she immediately fell in love with it. From then on she would only play with life like dolls. So you can imagine the money santa had to spend on dolls. She would get a new one each Christmas from santa. I loved that about her because neither one of my older daughters would play with dolls. Tori would go all out. I mean she had the decked out strollers, baby beds, clothes (not doll clothes either, they had to be real baby clothes from the baby dept.) bottles and all other baby "stuff". Other than dolls she really wasn't interested in much else. Her attention span wouldn't go past a 30 minute movie.

She loves to help her oldest sister babysit. Anything that has to do with "real" babies she is ready and johnny on the spot.

I can't wait to see what God has planned for her and what kind of young lady she will be one day. So you can imagine that she is just as excited as I am about her new nephew coming in July. I told her the other day that she was gonna have to be my little helper. She lit up like a Christmas tree.

Tori, mama loves you. Don't ever forget that. You are a special little lady and I am so very proud of you.

It's A MeMe Game!!

Patrice @ Blessings Amid Chaos gave me the letter "A" to play along with this fun meme game. You have to use the letter that I assign you then write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. So if you would like to play along, leave me a comment on this post and I will assign you a letter. BEWARE!!! This could get a little difficult depending on the letter I assign you! When people comment on your post assign them a letter and it continues. How Fun!!!

10 Things I love that start with the letter "A"

Annette I love myself (most of the time)
April of course how could I not love this girl
Ashley and this girl
Appetite HeHe!! Me and Patrice had a big one tonight
Always I love me some hubby
Apples I love to eat apples with caramel dip! YUM
Answer I love when I get an answer to prayer
American Idol I love to watch this show
Amazing This is how I feel about being a MeMe
Awesome I have an awesome family

THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!

I want to shout out a big "Thank You Jesus"!!!!!!! Baby Harper and Baby Brayden are almost there. Harper is only on 57% oxygen and Brayden parents got to hold him!!! He even had his eyes open. Praise The Lord Guys!!!!

Please keep these sweet families and all other sick babies in your prayers.

Lucas Tuff Alford!!!!!!!!!!

It's A Boy!!!!! Yep, I'm having me a grandson. Wow! Won't even know how to act beings I have all girls and I have 2 sisters and no brothers!! The only boy we have in the family are my nephew which is now 18 and a great nephew who will be 2 next month. So I haven't really had any "boy" raising experience but not to worry I learn really fast!!

Here is Lucas Tuff Alford's first debut!!!!

Randomness!!!

Well, I haven't posted in a few days. Just because I feel like I have had nothing worthy to talk about.

I have been really praying for baby Harper and baby Brayden. These families have been on my heart since last Friday. I know all of you bloggers have been anticipating the birth of these sweet babies and now we wait in anticipation for them to go home with their mommy and daddy's healed and healthy. I know my God answers prayers and I feel in my heart that these two precious babies will be healed by our God. So let's keep the prayers coming!!!

We have been out of school since last Friday due to icy roads and snow. If you saw the little bit of snow we actually have you would probably laugh. But truth be told us Tennesseans really are not equipped to drive in these "minor" conditions. So we will be out again tomorrow and I will enjoy another day at home.

Today our new president was sworn into office and so that meant a day filled with news on t.v. So we will see how our country benefits from our new president. The economy is so bad right now and it is affecting everyone so I am sure everyone is looking for positive changes.

So who is watching the Bachelor???? Who is your favorite. I am leaning towards Stephanie and Melissa right now. But who knows, I may change my mind later on.

God Is Good!!!

Praise God!!! Keep the up with the prayers.... Baby Harper may not to have the bypass after all. She is doing good with the treatment they are doing so we will have to pray and see.

Our God is so Good!!!!

Prayer Request

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner had her baby Harper tonight and prayers are needed. Harper was having trouble breathing and they took her to the NICU to run tests and Kelly lost alot of blood during delivery so her blood pressure is really low. Please have this family in your prayers as they await news on little Harper.

13 and 14 weeks!!

Baby Alford Due July 15, 2009

Grandbaby Alford at 14 weeks!!

Introducing Grandbaby Alford at 13 weeks!!

I think I got the pics backwards but you get the idea. So I am going to try and post weekly pics on here so we can have a journel of the wonderful journey that we are so blessed to be on. I hope everyone will join in on our journey with me. We will find out if we are having a granddaughter or grandson on Feb. 12, 2009 (pending cooperation of course).

The Day My Whole World Changed!!!

On August 20, 1984, my first child April came into this world with a sneeze and wide blue eyes looking around the delivery room while her daddy held her for the first time. I will always remember that day. I had endured 22 hours of hard labor (had 2 epidurals and neither worked) and in the end it was all worth it. Not until she was a few years old did I really realize that she was going to be very outgoing and independant. Not scared to go for what she wanted. She has not stopped reaching for her goals (and obtaining some of them) as of this date.

April you are my loving, sweet, God loving, outgoing, happy all the time daughter. She was always active in school, president of her class, active in church, never afraid of hard work. She keeps us all laughing with her funny personality. April is the one that I don't worry about near as much. She is strongwilled and eager to get out into the world and live it the way she always intended to. She puts 100% into anything that is put in front of her.

I just want you to know April, that I love you just as much today as I did the day God gave you to us as our daughter to raise and love. You are an inspiration to us and you have made us proud. You will be a great mother someday (hopefully soon) and I can't wait to see what God has in store for your family. You have always been strong and you were the one, that one day a long time ago that reached into my heart and told me where we belonged without having to come right out and tell me.

So thank you April, with the sweet spirit, God loving heart, and your strong will, I will love you always.

Love Mother

YaYa Banner Game For Me!!! Woo to the Hoo!!!!

Tonight I went to Patrice's for a night of YaYa and we had a blast. I was doing terrible by losing the first 2 games then the 3rd I won and the by the 4th I had my game on!!!! My all time high score was 2785. Can I hear a big Woo to the Hoo??????!!!!! I was so proud of myself!

Well, I haven't been doing much the past few days. Just working and enjoying my saturday at home. Sometimes it seems that I have a pretty boring life but I do enjoy just being at home and relaxing. My job keeps me going and I stay busy all day so on the weekends I usually don't feel like doing much of anything. I work in a school cafeteria and I love my job and love the ladies that I work with. We all get along really good and we have a good time. We are always laughing and making everyone else laugh right along with us. You never know what we cafeteria ladies are gonna be up to.

This just seems like a post that is all over the place but, it's my blog and I guess that's okay. Anyway, boogs went to the dr. about a week ago and found he has kidney stones in both kidneys and they are around the 4mm size. So he will be going to see a Urologist sometime soon. Hope he doesn't start having pain because I have heard that it's worse than having a baby. And of course he doesn't do pain very well.

My daughter April and her hubby Brandon are in Hawaii this week and they have been having a blast. You can check out her pics on her blog at livetolove.blogspot.com. I am so happy that she and Brandon are able to take this vacation so young in their lives. They are such a sweet couple and I couldn't have asked for a better husband for my daughter. Anyway, don't want to go to far on that because I will have a post coming soon about my first born.

So stay tuned......

A First MeMe Thing!!!

Well today was pretty great. My daughter Ashley and Jordan (her fiance) gave me this beautiful necklace that says "MeMe" on the charm (pictures soon). It is so overwhelming to me that I am being given this chance to be a MeMe. I don't really feel old enough to have grandchildren even though I have been ready for a few years. Maybe I am needing that feeling of unconditional love that you get from babies, maybe it's that I love babies, maybe I want to see boogs loving on a baby since it has been 10 1/2 years since we've had a baby around, or maybe it's I know that my daughters are going to be amazing mothers. Whatever it is, all I know is that I am just estatic that this is happening to me.

I know you are all probably tired of hearing me blog about becoming a MeMe, but this baby is why I wanted to start this blog. I want to have some kind of journel for my children and grandchildren and I decided how fun it would be to also share it with others. So I hope everyone will keep up with me as I start a new chapter in my life.

A Big Piece of My Heart!!

The day Ashley (my second to oldest daughter) was born a big piece of my heart was taken up. You see, she has a sweetness about her that is just impossible to miss. She has a giving and loving heart. Ashley has been the one that has always "needed" me. She leans on me more than my other girls. I love that about her because a mother always wants her children to need them. She makes me feel like I am a great mom and never fails to show me. I never imagined with all that she went through as a child that she would really and truly trust me, lean on me, and love me the way she does.

She is one that doesn't hold back when something is on her mind. She has always been one to tell you the truth and not skirt around it. There have been times in the past 3 or 4 years that I have leaned on her more than I probably should have but she is the one who would tell me to pick myself up and move on and stop worrying. But She has also had the compassion that I have needed these past fews year to get through some of the toughest times in my life. I also worry about her more than I probably should and she makes no secret in telling me "Mom don't worry, I'm an adult and I will be fine so you don't have to worry." But, the worry wart in me just comes out a little stronger with her.

So now, she is going to be a mother herself!!! And I will tell you that I AM SO EXCITED to be a MeMe for the first time. I know Ashley will be a great mom. I pray that I am the MeMe that Ashley will be proud to have for her child. I pray that she will have patient and also have fun because being a parent can be overwhelming at some point.

So To My Ashley, with a big heart, sweet smile, and soon to be mommy!!!

I love you more than I can ever put into words. You are and have always been A Big Piece of My Heart!!!!!!

Love, Mother

Rebel Without a Cause or Maybe Now With a Cause???

Our little Rebel is actually our 18 year old daughter who came to be a part of our family a little over a year ago. Like I said in one of my previous posts, she has been so easy for us to love. She came into our lives one day when she was 16 years old (almost 17) not knowing what would be in store for her and her future. Breeann is a free spirit with a lot curiosity about life. We call her our Rebel because, well, she has no fear....(on the outside). Because you know we all have some kind of fear about something inside of us. We have tried to show her all the love that she deserves and that we tried to show our other children.

So we (me and my cuz Patrice over at blessingsamidchaos) left on a Monday morning at 6:00 am and arrived at her house at 6:00pm that evening to retrieve a child that we had no idea what to expect of her. We had only been around her a few times in the past year and she was always a sweet and fun girl to be around. But we had no idea how things would go when she was out of her comfort zone of her home that she grew up in. Well did she ever surprise us!!!!! After we packed her things (and her dog) into my van and headed down the road, I could tell she was nervous. So I handed her my cell and told her to call her friends that she didn't get to say goodbye to and tell them to meet us at a restruant that was on our way out of town. That's when she started talking and hasn't stopped since!! We made this trip in 22 hours (straight there and straight back). I had this feeling we were going to be able to love her instantly. Of course my boogs (her daddy) has always loved her but was never given the chance to show her. So this was the start of a new chapter in our lives.

She was enrolled in the local high school and within a few days had made friends, and seemed to be adjusting well. I could tell it was going to take a while for her to trust us. To learn the love of a daddy and his little girl. To learn that she had a stepmother that had love and compassion for a stepdaughter who had been through so much in her 16 years. I feel like we have formed a bond like most mother and daughters. Where the daughter can come to her mother with anything whether it's good or bad and we can work through it. Even if I don't agree with her decisions and actions I hope she has come to trust that I am here for her through the good and bad. We can rejoice over the good and work through the bad without judgement.

Things by no means have been perfect, but we have been through a few trials and I think after a little over a year our Rebel has become to love and trust us. Rebel is 18 now and that is one thing that she has looked forward to for a long, long time. Not once has she threw it in our face that she is 18 and can do what she wants (to a point). We are well aware of the fact that she is 18 and can walk out that door anytime she wants. We just hope that she wants to stay awhile and soak up some more love from a family that has longed for her for years.

So this post is for my Rebel with a sweet spirit, a beautiful heart and the most beautiful voice you have ever heard. (At least we think so)

A Cup Of Coffee and MiMi's Cafe

Well, I'm off to eat a yummy breakfast with my daughter April. She called and asked if I would like to go to breakfast for my birthday and of course I said yes. So I am up early this morning having a cup of coffee before I head out. I MUST have my coffee in the mornings....and in the afternoons if I am gonna be worth anything. So, yes I am an avid coffee drinker. I love to sit and drink a cup of coffee with my boogs, my cuz, my kids, but most of all I love to have coffee with my mom. I don't get to sit and have coffee with her very much because she lives 9 hours away. So I do think about my mom often when I am having my daily coffee and think about how much I love and admire her. She has been and always will be my HERO in life.

Do you drink coffee and what is your favorite?