Todays Pic...

Sunday was a good day, Zack had the day off and actually got to spend the whole day at home with us from the time we got up until the time we went to bed (very rare). In the evening after churchtime, lunchtime, naptime and Cheifs football time- we decided to go for a walk... and I just had to post this picture of him... with a baby on his chest and a toddler in the push truck- and that means my hands were free!!! My poor back needs a break from carrying that big ball of love around!

Blessings,
TeReSa

Progress!

Hailey finally let me clip her toenails!!! I can imagine what some of you might be thinking, but let me tell you this little girl HATES to have her toes touched or clipped. The last time I got a good trimming done I had to have my mom hold her down whille she thrashed and screamed and I did the best I could to trim the jagged toenails that were flying past my head. Well, the other night she decided that she wanted her toenails painted like mommies... and I told her she had to let me trim them first. Would you belive she sat there and let me trim her toenails, and fingernails and then paint them both!!! Yay! Oh, and by the way I have to give Zack credit for this quirky little toe thing because he too cannot stand for someone to mess with or trim his toenails... it's a Wright thing I guess. So, here is a picture of her pretty toes! She was so excited... and so was I! I don't have to give her a tranquilizer or take her to the dog groomer to get her claws cut!!!

Picture of the day...

Today I went back to finish up taking some family pictures for Bridget while Jay was off work. It was fun, got alot of good shots. I couldn't pick just one favorite, and so here are two to check out... none of Stan-the-Man though.. but don't you remember? these pictures are Christmas gifts for the grandparents. But it won't hurt to sneak in a shot or two of his mommy and daddy!

Pic of the day~ My favorite things....

...one is snuggly pajama's. I just love pajama's. Two is bedtime stories, my grandma started reading to me at bedtime when I was six months old and I started reading to Hailey when she was two months old... Three is these precious babies... they are truly my heart and soul. And so, I had to share this picture I took tonight that includes all three... my sweet angel babies all clean and lotioned up, in their new snuggly pajama's reading bedtime stories together...aaahhh, my cup runeth over!

Love and Blessings,
Teresa

Please pray....

God puts us right where he wants us, right when he wants us there... regardless of our protests, our whining or our questioning. Almost a year ago when it became apparent that the Lord wanted Zack and I to move our family to Galesburg I was surprised and a bit resistant.. And though I questioned him then, I am praising him now. I have been, and my whole family has been so blessed by us moving closer to the Burnett family.(they are right across the road) Debbie and Jesse have become like another set of parents to Zack and I and grandparents to my children. Zack and Dave have been best friends for many years, and so Debbie and Jesse had taken him in years ago like he was their son, and when me and the kids came along, they just took us in too (as they do most all other strays :~) It has been a blessing to us, and has been a blessing to them... you see Jesse got sick a few years ago with a disease called Devics Syndrome- and due to that he is paralyzed from the waist down. He went from a working, farming healthy man, to being bound to a chair.(motorized of course) He has undergone so many medical procedures, hospitalizations, medications, testing, traveling to other hospitals, even other states. I cannot even begin to tell you, mainly because I don't even know all that he and Debbie have endured and done along the way these last few years, but I do know that it has not been easy- for either of them. Jesse sits in his chair everyday looking out at his animals and farm equipment and at all the things that need to be done, and all the things that need to be fixed, and yet all he can do is sit and watch and wish he could get up to do it himself. Dave helps allot to keep the farm going. And Zack helps also when needed, they are building fence right now, working on vehicles when they break, and before that it was building a corral, and vaccinating cows, and on and on... Deb (along with her three jobs) researches new medicines, new procedures and prays prays prays for a miracle, for healing and for him to not give up hope. Of all the things I don't know, I do know that this disease is a cousin to MS, and it could very well spread up his body. He has terrible mucsle spasms, and pain everyday. He has to take quite a mix of daily medication and feels sick allot, but these things I only know becuase mom (Deb) tells me, I have never heard him complain, never seen him appear to be sick. He wouldn't let on...he is a man's man, doesn't want to draw attention to himself, ask for or even need special treatment.

So, now for the prayer needs- they are going back to Mayo Clinic (in Minnesota) this Sunday. They are going up there to see if he could possibly be a candidate for a stem cell transplant. This will be their second trip, as they went about a year and a half ago or so. They were supposed to be up there for a week last time, and ended up being there for a month. For this trip, they have no idea how long they will stay- could be a day if he is not a good candidate for stem cell. Could be weeks or longer if he is and they go through with the processes and procedures that are involved. I am going over tommorrow to help mom prepare the house by cleaning and get the van packed up (yes, they are driving), we will be helping to take care of the house and the pets (6 dogs, 5 cats, 2 goats, 2 donkeys, 1 miniature horse, chickens and cows) along with Dave/Gina and Kyra/Marc. We will all have our assigned duties while mom and dad are away.

I am asking that you pray for their trip, travel mercies so that they arrive safe and sound without incident or delays. I pray for their spirits as they face the unknown, and as they leave their home for an unknown amount of time. I pray for progress, for healing, for a miracle for Jesse. I know that our God who healed so many sick while he walked this earth, still heals today, and I pray that Jesse would recieve that truth, that his hope would be renewed and his spirit lifted to a place where in faith he could reach up and ask and believe God for healing, and know that even if God does not heal him in his earthly body, he will be healed in heaven, and will walk again..with his Father. Please pray also for Debbie to have strength and peace as she prepares for the journey and this unknown time of waiting and hoping. She is having a really hard time at the thought of leaving her family, her babies. I pray for her spirit to be renewed as well, she has grown weary, as we all would when dealing with such a disease and such a dramatic lifestyle change as they have undergone in the past few years. And I know there are so many other needs that I am missing- as I am no prayer warrior yet- but I just ask that you pray that the Lord our God will fullfill their every need as their Father, protector, healer, comforter, teacher, provider, their hope, their salvation, their victory!

Thank you for lifting up these two who are so dear to us.
In His name,
Teresa

Ok, just one more picture...

I don't think there are many (if any) pictures of the four of us together as a family since Hayden has been born and so, until we get some family portraits done...here is a quick snapshot of us... Hayden waving his arms like a wildman, Hailey refusing to look at the camera, Zack in his work uniform... yep- thats us...and its as good as it gets. :~)

Picture of the day...

Hailey adores her uncle Tyler to say the least- and when he had his laptop out working on school work she had to go get hers so that she could get some of her 'work' done as well. How precious!

Teething...Training... and Teenagers... OH MY!

Today is a day to record in the baby books- for both Hayden and Hailey! I found something new in Hayden's mouth today as he sucked on my finger from the backseat while I was driving.... his first tooth! Yes, he has finally broke through his gums with one little razor sharp tooth. He has been working so hard these last three to four months, what with all the drooling, and chewing and drooling and chewing and drooling, that poor baby was due for a sign of progress and we got it today! So Yay for Hayden!!! He has been requiring at least three to four shirt/outfit changes a day due to the soaking of his clothes with drool, and the bibs just delay the inevitalbe costume change...poor baby has had a rash on his chest and under his neck from the constant moisture- the only thing I can think of to remedy the situation is to hang him upside down, but don't think that is really an option! So maybe now he will get a bit of a break before the next one comes in..

Next item on the list for the day is a potty training update: Hailey wore her 'big girl panties' all day after naptime today and did not make one mess!!! NO ACCIDENTS all day, and after her bath tonight she said she wanted to try to sleep in her panties and not put a diaper on...(I am wondering what we will wake up to in the morning.) She is very proud of herself (and loving the M&M's she gets for a prize each time). So Yay for Hailey! What a big day for both my growing little ones... and on Mommy and Daddy's wedding anniversary at that.

I tel you what, it's a good thing Tyler is mostly house trained and has all his teeth, I don't think I can handle much more excitement in one day! :~) Oh, but there is one thing... I just about forgot... he is grounded from his computer :~( for his grades and lack of 'doing and turning in homework' skills. He is experiencing some tough love right now, but he's doing alright with it.... he knew the rules and the consequences for not taking care of his school work... he is really doing well overall though, he only had two classes that he needs to really work on and it really boils down to applying himself more. I am proud of him, he has made alot of changes in his life lately, and is trying to sort out who he is and what he wants which is a pretty big job for anyone, much less a 16 year old boy. So, please keep him in your prayers as he continues to adjust and search for what his 'truth' is. (And pray for me that I don't choke him when he doesn't flush the toilet, or leaves the kitchen cabinet doors open ) :~)

Love to all,
Teresa

Picture of the day...

There are precious moments like this one that make me smile from the inside out some days with these two precious babies... Today while I was cleaning the house, Hayden was playing in his Excersaucer and Hailey was flitting around the house doing a bit of everything. Hayden was getting a little upset and wanting a change of scenery, or to be held. And so, Hailey, being the big sister she is, went and got her chair and a book (my favorite, You Are My I Love You) and she pulled her little chair up in front of him and started to read to him! Of course I had to grab the camera, because moments like these are ones that I don't want to forget.

9 Years ago today....

...I met my husband. Nothing romantic about the meeting, no blind date, or anything else along those lines, but the night I met him I knew I would marry him. He surprised me tonight by giving me a card and roses for our 'anniversary' of the nine years we have been 'together' eventhough our seven year wedding anniversary is on Monday. I think it is the first time since we have been married that he has done anything to celebrate this anniversary. I have joked and told him that I am going to be getting him Benedryl for this year as a gift, just in case he has any problems with the 'seven year itch'...but I don't think I have to worry about that. I am a lucky girl, I have been blessed with a very good man, and let me tell you, those are few and far between! So please bear with me this post as I get all mushy on you about love and marriage and all that....I just really love this man!

~Mrs. Wright~

Conversations via blogspot :)

So...how are you today? What's going on with you? How are the kids? the job? the weather? How you feeling? ......................
My real quesiton is: How do you have a one sided conversation? That is what I am struggling with... I have been wanting to post something, but I am having a hard time figuring out what, and I just figured out the reason why...blogging is like having a one sided conversation. You are basically typing about things that you would normally say to someone else if 1) they were to ask, and 2) give you the opportunity to answer fully .... but even though you get the chance to answer in one great big windy, run on answer... you can't ask any questions of them...you can't inquire into their life, their thoughts, their view. You can't pick up on body language as they hear your stories, or facial features, or tone in their voice. You don't know if they are laughing, crying, bored, indifferent, or even reading it at all.... there is no true communication... it is all one sided, lop sided, 'my sided' and that's kind of weird. It is just unnatural! MUST HAVE FEEDBACK!! And so I thought that today I will ramble a bit about nothing really, because well, that is the beauty of a blog is that you can...without interuption, without anyone really being able to send you any clues whatsoever that they have no interest whatsoever in what you are saying..... So, go ahead, roll your eyes, get up for a drink or snack, scan the blog for important content and then move on when you see none... that's fine with me,really, after all it is just me sitting here typing right?..... and everyone else sleeps.....


I wanna talk about procrastination - because there are allot of things I am putting off right now as I sit here in front of the enticing glow of my pc monitor...first there is the laundry that I realized just today is so out of hand that it just might mutate and eat my whole family in the middle of the night if I don't get it seperated and in the dreaded assembly line also known as 'wash week' (cause with a baby, toddler and teenager 'wash day' just won't cut it!). So, the dryer is running...... The second thing I am avoiding is the dinner dishes.... meatloaf night, it was yummy!.... but the smell coming from the kitchen of the caked on grease in the meatloaf pan is truly tormenting me and I HAVE to get it scrubbed and clean before I go off to bed....but here I sit, stalling........ Number three on the list of things I need to be doing right this minute is my bible study homework. We have homework every night for five nights total per week, and I am about three and a half days through and bible study is @ 9 am tomorrow...yeah, need to get busy on that. Okay, what else is there to do.... planning for our 1st annual family Halloween party.. (wanna come?).... or maybe I could be working on web design for the All About You website I am currently 'webmastering' (check it out allaboutyou7.com).... or wake up my husband who is asleep on the couch and carry him to bed and tuck him in :).......
yeah I am a bit of a mess tonight with too much to do and no motivation to do it!! ever have those days? those nights? surely not! Ever left the dinner dishes? (Mom, I know your answer is no... you don't count!), ever forgot wet clothes in the washer? ever think that just having everyone fed, bathed, content and asleep is enough of a task in itself and therefore you should get a 'pass' on everything else? Well I do, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way...cause if I don't do it, nobody else is gonna do it... and I don't want to wake up tomorrow to a 'meat loaf kitchen nightmare', and wrinkled clothes...
And so, I guess I will hit the power button, and go have a one sided conversation with the dishwasher, then do the laundry shuffle quick talk, and then off to a very sleepy, rushed 'quiet time' with my bible homework (Lord forgive me for my unwillingness to obey and get up early and meet you at my kitchen table for coffee... I am working on it!) .... So Goodnight and until next time~
Love and Blessings,
TeReSa

Stanley Gunner

Ok...so I can't post pictures from yesterday when I got to go and play with Stanley :( his mommy told me so..... those pictures are going to be Christmas presents...so they are under lock and key. But I just wanted to share one because Bridget got all prettied up and she looked GREAT! And you can just see in the pictures how happy she is, how she glows with love for her baby boy. I am honored that she asked me to take pictures for her...(someone needs to tell her that I am not a 'real' photographer, only pretend! :~) So, here is one that won't spoil anyone's Christmas present, and won't get me in trouble!

~Teresa

My Best Friend

"As we pass through the phases of our lives, we lose certain friends along the way. But those who travel with us, sharing our personal journeys, reveling in our private growth, are much more than friends. They are our sisters."

Well...enough said. And I could just stop there. That quote, says pretty much what I am saying, but I just can't help it, I have to expound on it a bit. I have to brag a bit and share my blessings and my joy they have brought me. You see I have this friend, and she's my best friend. She and I have been best friends for almost twenty years (yeah girl...it has been that long) . In that twenty years time we have only lived in the same place for about three years, but those three years seemed to last a lifetime and gave us a lifetime of memories. Since then we have been about as far away from each other in distance as we can get, I was in Missouri and she was in Germany, then in Iraq, and Iraq is always as far as one can get from the ones they love! But no matter how long since our last talk (sometimes months, and months) no matter how far away (sometimes thousands of miles), we always pick back up right where we left off. We don't miss a beat. Like no time has passed and no miles have crossed. In the recent year I have had the joy of getting her back in my life ...and we have grown closer and are enjoying this time in our lives where we get the opportunity to be mommies together. She is an hour away (which is still too far), and always just a phone call away, a text, an email, a MS message... And I appreciate and love her even more these recent days because I have realized the true value of a true friend. There is no replacement, no substitutions, no imitation. She is my girl- let me tell you a bit about her: She shoots it straight from the hip, but straight from the heart. She's a no nonsense kind of girl, no drama, no jealousy, no competition, no betrayal-ever. She is a mans woman just like me, 'lets just skip over the petty stuff and get on with real life and real relationships', and I LOVE her for it! She knows me at my worst, and sees me always at my best, or what my best can be. She rants with me when I need to rant, cries with me when I need to cry, she dreams my dreams with me and tells me I can have them. She'd fight for me, she'd fight beside me, but in twenty years I can not remember a time that we fought each other. She keeps me accountable, she's no pushover. She is the person that with one call would come get me in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, in the middle of my worst day, without explanation, without question she would be there, even if she was on her last tank of gas, down to her last dollar. She would offer me her shirt, her shoes, her home, her shoulder... And she knows that I would be there for her just the same. And there have just been allot of moments lately that I have been reminded of why she is my best friend! We are getting into a new area of our friendship, we now share in the experience of motherhood, which for some reason neither one of us ever thought we would share...why I don't know. maybe because I was married so long before she settled down, maybe because our lives seemed at times to be going in total opposite directions...and yet here we are with two little boys that are three and a half months apart and we are just sure that they are going to be best friends too, whether they like it or not! Ha Ha :~) Just one more thing we get to experience together and share in the joys togehter... Yes, she is my best friend, she is my sister and I am so glad to have her back within my reach and in my everyday life again! Love you Bridge~ looking forward to the next twenty years of laughs, tears and friendship with you. And birthday parties and playdates with our babies.

Love~Teresa

Hayden's 6 mo photos

Hey just a quick note to anyone who hasn't seen the proofs of Hayden's 6 mo photo session yet: you can do so by going to creationswithgrace.com and clicking on clients, set up an account (you will use this to view proofs and order) and then you can view Hayden's pictures. They turned out great, we will be heading back over to get family pictures done within the next few months for Christmas time.


TeReSa

Adventures in potty training and solid foods...

Our most recent adventures... trying to get Hailey out of diapers, and going on the 'big girl potty' and trying to get Hayden to eat baby food and give his poor nursing mother a break!!! Needless to say, its messy at our house these days! We will start with the messiest part... house training Hailey! Our landlords said NO PETS, they had just put in all new carpet and flooring after the last tenants and so they were not going to chance any more pet problems...and the last couple of days I have wondered if a potty training two year old falls under that category! Bless her heart, she really is doing a very good job, she gets to the potty more often than she doesn't, but the times she gets busy watching cartoons or playing... she leaves puppy puddles. And she hollers at me from right where she is standing, pee trickling down her skinny little legs, and says "Mommy! Me PEE!" ( and the laundry multiplies!) So I brought out the reinforcements, Hershey's chocolate kisses for her special 'prize' when she goes! and then the kicker, I unpacked the singing potty chair! It has a motion sensor and sings a Ta-Da tune when anything passes through. So, today she has been peeing in the kitchen, in her potty chair of course. I am wondering if I need to use it like puppy pads, you know start moving it closer and closer to the bathroom and sit it next to the BIG toilet?.. Heck I don't know, this is my first rodeo with big girl panties and celebrating with the pee pee dance! I am used to being able to rub their nose in it and throw them outside (real puppies of course) and I am just not sure that will get the job done with this house training... wish us luck!

Now for Hayden... he is hungry, growing boy, that grabs at all food and drink in anyone elses hand. He eyeballs it, reaches for it, and will even put it in his mouth. But as soon as he realizes it doesn't taste quite like momma milk... he's done. So we have been working on (wasting) the baby food. And he is messy!! He is finally letting me get some in his mouth without clamping his jaws shut after the first bite! But the thing is that he wants to do it himself, and he really does a pretty good job considering he is only six months. Yesterday we tried peaches for the first time, I have posted a picture of him right before I put him in the kitchen sink. The best part of the day is that while I am trying to get him cleaned up and wash the peaches out of his ears, hair, and everywhere else, Hailey needs to potty, and needs a clean pair of panties, and wants to potty again because she wants another chocolate kiss, and I am up to my eyeballs in baby food, and pee and kids hollerin and crying and needing cleaned up and...wow! Sounds like time to start trying for number three!!! Ha Ha, just kidding, not funny.... FORGET IT! Stick a fork in this momma, I am done. But I am loving every minute... even through the chaos, it is great fun. The next adventure we have planned for sometime this week is finger painting! I will let you know how it goes.



Love and Blessings

Teresa

Hailey's MRI results and surgery update

Hailey had an MRI on July 21st at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. The purpose was to check her shoulder and make sure that the joint was healthy and not dislocating, causing her to be unable to raise her arm above 90 degrees. So after about five or six weeks, I finally got an answer from the surgeon (well his nurse), and they said the MRI results were normal, which means she is a candidate for the 'muscle transfer' surgery. It has a long, complicated medical name but I can't even begin to tell you what it is, and if I could say it, I sure wouldn't be able to spell it! Anyway, they will take a muscle from the back, underneath of her right arm and reattach it to the top of the shoulder to give her, hopefully 30 degrees or so, more range of motion in moving her arm up above her head and out to the side. She has healed well over the last two years in terms of her Brachial Plexus injury as a whole- she averted nerve grafting surgery due to the nerves regenerating and healing on their own (we all know God healed her) and so we dodged that bullet. This surgery I have expected for at least the last year. With all the therapy, and all the exercises, and all we have tried, she just has not been able to build up the strength to bring that arm up past her shoulder. I know it is because her body is physically unable, she wills it to move allot, compensates for it allot, and if it was a matter of determination and work, she would have been raising her hands high above her head praising Jesus a long time ago... oh yeah, that's one of her newest adorable, heart melting 'Haileyisms'- at church during worship she will just lift her hands up and sing and praise him and it just melts my heart every time! So, we have a 'tentative' date for the first part of November for surgery and an appointment to talk to the surgeon face to face and get all the facts and information we need before going ahead and setting the date in stone. And that apt is scheduled for the 16th of October. After the surgery I believe he said he would probably have her stay in the hospital in KC for a couple of days, and then her recovery time with a brace/cast will be six LONG weeks!! All that being said, please pray for her and us through this... I have known it would probably happen, but as we get closer I am dreading it more and more, the thought of them cutting my baby open, and the pain she will be in, and the fear and confusion she will experience, it makes me wish I could go in her place. But she is strong, and so am I, and where we are weak our Lord will pick up the slack. I will give more updates after the October apt when we have some more definant answers.

Love and Blessings,
Teresa

Hailey pic: 2006 (7 months old)