The Giants win the Super Bowl!

and for that I am happy.

I didn't get to watch much of the Super Bowl, but I'm glad the Giants won. I know a lot of people were wanting the Patriots to be the second team to win all season and the super bowl, yada yada yada. I just like the Manning brothers - seem to be good, upstanding, All-American guys. Someone you'd want your kids to look up to as a role model.

So there you go. I don't have any deep-rooted loyalties to any particular team, much less football. And I always seem to like the underdog which in my opinion was the Giants going into today. I watch football on Sundays by default because it's what's on in my living room or my in-law's living room.

So yay for the Giants!

sick children 2

Julia's test came back negative, but I didn't get to talk to the doctor so I'm not sure what this means. She still sounds horrible - getting better about doing the nebulizer treatments, still NOT liking the prelone. I know we're not dealing with the common cold - that's for sure!

Tyler had a brief hospital stay - he is home with his mom now.

Thanks for your thoughts, advice, and prayers! I'll keep you posted!

Oh, and Julia finally ate Grandma's oatmeal cookies today while watching, what else? Curious George. :)

Sick children...

I sit here trying to finish up some paperwork while I listen to Julia breathe. She's asleep in the playpen to my left (as several of you know, she refuses to sleep in the crib - only our bed or the playpen). I'm relieved that she is sleeping peacefully at the moment. Our family doctor, a wonderful man named Aydrian Thomas, believes she has RSV. I will know for certain when he calls me back in the morning to tell me so.

In the meantime, I listen to Julia wheeze, and strain to catch her breath, then breathe like she's run a race, and listen to the deep, crackly cough that takes my baby's breath from her. It's treatable at home, but it sounds serious and can be serious stuff. I just pray that it doesn't turn into anything more like pneumonia and that she does not become dehydrated. I'm having a really hard time getting her to eat or drink. She'd lost 1.25 lbs. today from last wednesday and went 26 hours without eating - we're talking not even Grandma's oatmeal raisin cookies that she was scarfing down like no tomorrow on Saturday!

I hope that she gets well soon - this certainly hasn't taken her spunk away. Even as bad as she felt this morning in the doctor's office she was very friendly,waving hello and saying hey, to people in the waiting room and at the front desk.

I just hope that you all would keep Julia in your prayers this week that she gets better instead of worse. I have been told it will get worse before it gets better. And that we're out of commission on activities and playdates for 2 weeks because we might make her little friends sick and we wouldn't want that!

Also, if you would, keep Mallory's brother, Tyler, in your prayers too. He also has RSV and pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital today. I love this little guy and hate that he's feeling so rotten right now. I'm fairly certain that Julia got this from him - not upset - just hope he gets well soon too.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I hope that Julia does not get to the going in the hospital point and that we fiend this off at home. I also hope Tyler gets to come home soon and get back to being a normal, rowdy boy.

Take care!

Sometimes I want to say something...

and don't know how to express my feelings.
And then I hear a song that says it exactly.
I purchased Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight this past week. I'm a fan of some pretty dark sounding music - not sure why I like it - I just do. Anyhoo... I was listening in the car while I drove to Shelby, NC for work and track 7 just really hit me hard. I had tears come to my eyes as I listened because it explained all that I've felt about our nation's current situation with the military and the war. All that I've not been able to explain, all that I have tried to explain that only made others mad was encompassed in 2 verses. It was refreshing to know that someone out there was feeling the same and angry too at the situation.

Here are the lyrics (FYI - the f- word is used a few times) :

Hands Held High by Linkin Park

turn my mic up louder i got to say something

lightweights step it aside when we come in

feel it in your chest/the syllables get pumping

people on the street they panic and start running

words on loose leaf sheet complete coming

i jump in my mind and summon the rhyme i'm dumping

healing the blind i promise to let the sun in

sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and

jump when they tell us they want to see jumping

fuck that/i wanna see some fists pumping

risk something/take back what's yours

say something you know they might attack you for

cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before

like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for

like this war's really just a new brand of war

like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon the poor

like they understand you in the back of the jet/when you

can't put gas in your tank/and these fuckers are laughing

their way to the bank/cashing the check

asking you to have compassion/have respect

for a leader so nervous in an obvious way

stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

and the rest of the world watching at the end of the day

in their living room laughing like

what did he say?


in my living room watching/i am not laughing/'cause

when it gets tense i know what might happen

the world is cold/the bold men make action

have to react or get blown into fractions

ten years old/it's something to see/another

kid my age drug under a jeep

taken and bound/and found later under a tree

i wonder if he had thought the next one could be me

do you see/the soldiers/they're out today they

brush the dust from bulletproof vests away

it's ironic/at times like this you pray

but a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday

there's bombs in the busses/bikes/roads

inside your market/your shops/your clothes/my dad

he's got a lot of fear i know

but enough pride inside not to let that show

my brother had a book he would hold with pride

a little red cover with a broken spine

on the back/he had wrote a quote inside:

"when the rich wage war it's the poor who die"

and meanwhile/the leader just talks away

stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

the rest of the world watching at the end of the day

both scared and angry like

what did he say?


with hands held high into a sky so blue

as the ocean opens up to swallow you

You guys enjoy your snow!!

I'm a little jealous of your snow. For once it actually snows, and not that icy junk, and we have to be out of town. I know that by the time I get back home, it will be really yucky. Julia has yet to see her first real snow. I'm a little disappointed we missed this one.

On a lighter note, we have had a good time visiting with my parents. My dad is home for the day again. He worked half a day yesterday and his knee hurt so bad he stayed home after lunch. Today he went outside and it was wet, cold, and rainy. He slipped a little trying to get to his car and he said heck with it! and stayed home. It's good that he's not being stubborn and staying home off of it some. I really hope it clears up soon and there's not anything else wrong with it. I'm just not used to seeing him hurt like this and not be able to move around normally. Julia is certainly enjoying her extra Grandpa time and Grandpa is enjoying the extra Julia time.

I hope you guys all have fun today with your no school day. Julia and her diaper call (Grandpa has trouble getting in the floor to do that!). Take care!

Julia's Squeaker Sneakers

Julia has these really neat shoes called Squeaker Sneakers. Grandma and Grandpa bought them after seeing another 16 month old wearing them and thought "Julia HAS to have those!".

They are really great - she loves wearing them and they're actually beneficial for her to wear! They are supposed to help kids walk correctly and when they do, the shoes squeak with each step.

I was trying to capture her with them on with her pajamas this morning (hence the baby finger in the camera). She's had to have them back on her feet as soon as she awakens each day! They even make them in actual sneakers, sandals, and dress shoes for boys and girls! It's a family business - you should check out their website. It is: http://www.squeakersneakers.net/ . We love them!

a few pics from this week.

Julia even has her own special travel bag for this joint. Imagine that - Traveling to Grandma's!

Still asleep. If you look closely, you'll see the blue marks from the washable crayon she kept putting to her lips. She kept waiting for Grandma to say "no,no,no" and she'd laugh, pull it away and put it back - waiting for her to say it again. There were red crayon marks by her ear, but she's lying on them.

Julia asleep in Grandpa's lap - I told you we couldn't keep her away from Grandpa!!

Alligator on the bank behind my parents house - far right by the tall rushes.