Thank You

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the love, support, and prayers last week during my miscarriage. It was a very emotionally draining time and a very sad time for us here. However, I was able to get through it with the help of my family and friends. I just want each of you to know how much I appreciate it.

To my parents for coming down to stay with us and cheer me up. To my Aunt Bo and Mike for offering to come and for sending the beautiful roses. To Anne and Joe for keeping Ava, checking on me, and hanging out.

For the phone calls from Monica, my Nanny, Stacy, Sara, Carla, Libby, and Kellie. To Ms. Cheryl for the warm cookies you brought over. To Dan and his family for the candle. To Ms. Luanne for the beautiful rose. To my school for the plant and kind words. To my fellow teachers for the thoughtful card. To Stacy for coming over to keep me company. To my friends on myspace for the comments and prayers. To Licia for the comment here. To Ginny for the e-mail. To the wonderful nurses at Baptist Memorial Hospital and Dr. Cameron, you all were so wonderful. Mel, my anesthesiologist, was just so awesome! And to all of you all who gave me a pat on the back or words of encouragement this past week, or even thought about us or prayed for us. Words cannot express my gratitude to you all.

To my husband for wiping away a million tears almost everyday and being understanding.

Most of all to my precious Ava. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you this week. You brighten my world and make my life so much better.

Last Friday I received an e-mail from a daily quote site that sends me e-mails. Most days I just delete them, but on Saturday when I checked my e-mail the title was "On Sadness" and I opened this one up. This one quote caught my eye -

"When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left."
-- Sufi epigram

This week I have tried to focus on what I have left and the love that I have. You, my friends and family, have made that so much easier. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you all.

Love, Tiffany

P.S. If I have left anybody off, I am sorry. Chalk that up to my roller coasters emotions...

Here are a few pics of Ava playing with Gramps

Too Much TV... and other stuff

Since the fall TV season is in full swing, much of my time has been spent watching all my new shows and catching up with those ones that I call dear old friends. I have been super busy this week taking a ton of pictures of Ava so you can expect some new pictures popping up. This was our last week at school before Fall Break, so I am glad to have the next two weeks off. I love having these breaks every 9 weeks to get refreshed and powered up.

I am happy that it is October (my favorite month) and I am looking forward to some fun activities with Ava. Be on the lookout this month for some fun Halloween and Fall stuff. I am about to head to bed, but here are some recent photos of Ava. She loves playing with her dolls and covering them with "Blank-e-lets." She also thinks that bibs make good blankelets and will have them all over the house.

My Bathtime Girl

Here are some pictures of Ava that I have been meaning to post. She loves bathtime up until it is time to wash her hair. That is when we usually have a disagreement. Ever since Ava started watching The Little Mermaid she has wanted to swim like a mermaid. This has translated into swimming in the bathtub and saying, "Look Mommy! I a Mermaid!"

Update

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers over the last few days. We did lose the baby and I had a missed miscarriage. The baby stopped developing at 7 weeks and yet my body didn't realize it. I went in the hospital this morning to have a D&C and was released to go home at around 10.

Thank you to our family and friends for your love, support, kindness, and prayers. Please continue to remember us in your prayers.

Love,
Tiff

Depot Days 2008

Depot Days started out soggy and rainy, but eventually cleared off into a beautiful day. We got up early to attend the pancake breakfast and just made it into Mom's before the rain started. There is just something about these pancakes that I look forward to every year. They have just a hint of vanilla and they are my favorite pancakes in the world. Joe helps cook them every year and says it is just a mix, but goodness, I love them!

Since it was raining we headed home to wait out the rain and hope for clearer skies. There is typically a parade, but with the rain it was cancelled. But then it was back on and we watched a parade that consisted of a cop car, a golf cart, two trucks, a 4 wheeler, a million tractors, and 3 motorcycles. Ava did enjoy the tractors and loved holding the umbrella while we watched it.

Finally the clouds cleared a little and though it was still sprinkling, we decided to go downtown. I was pleasantly surprised about the amount of things to do because there seemed to be more geared to younger kids than last year. Ava enjoyed the duck pond, Daddy throwing darts, a basketball game, visiting with a pirate, and riding the tractor. Our church had a booth this year and we stayed there for a little while visiting. We even did the cake walk, but we didn't win. After a quick trip to the library we headed home.

Even though it is a small town festival, Depot Days is an event that I look forward to all year long. I love the sense of community it brings out here in Newbern. It is great to see so many people out supporting our town.

Even though he gave her a gold coin, she is still not too sure about him!

Supporting My Daddy

Here are some pics that Anne took of Ava out posing and playing around Bradley's yard signs. Bradley is running for Alderman of our town and Ava recognizes his signs when she sees them.

On another topic, tomorrow is Newbern's Depot Days and I have so been looking forward to it. However, tonight it is rainy and I am worried that tomorrow will be a dreary day as well. I am hoping it will clear off and be pretty in the morning so we can go.

Getting the Wiggles Out

We took this video tonight of Ava doing a dance to Yo, Gabba, Gabba. Please excuse her appearance. This was right before bathtime.

You'll have to turn the music player on the right off to hear this video. Enjoy!

We're Glad that Ike is Gone!

Whew! What a windstorm! I am so glad that Ike has moved on out of here. He woke me up yesterday morning with horrible winds and things being blown all around the house. I couldn't even go back to sleep because of the racket. True to form, Bradley was glued to the TV watching all the coverage and keeping an eye on the storm. We lost power 4 times but just for a few seconds each time. We also had a lot of limbs down in our yard and things that had blown into the yard.

I know we had it much easier than a lot of people, it was just so unexpected for us to see that kind of wind from a hurricane all the way up here. Usually we get some rain and then it has passed and you never really knew it was leftovers from a hurricane.

I am thankful for this cool weather we are having now. I don't know if it is in relation to the hurricane or if we were expecting cool weather already, but it feels so chilly outside and now we have some great weather to enjoy in the afternoons. With that said, here are some pictures that Nana took of Ava last week. It was sweltering hot and they had been outside when Ava decided to play in Pop's hat. What a sweaty girl!

Also, if you check out the right hand column, I have finally got Twitter working. I can send little updates about what is happening on my cell phone. So you can check there and see what little tidbits we are up to!

And because I thought this was funny, I found it for you. Here is one of the images that had me laughing on the news the other night. Even when the situation is bad, I love when people put a twist of humor on it.

Dressing up to travel

Ava loves dressing up and putting on clothes, jewelry, and shoes. Last weekend I bought her a pair of cowgirl boots at a yard sale. They are a size 11 and she only wears close to a 7, but I thought they would be fun to play in. I was right! She wears them with everything! As we were getting ready to head to KY last weekend Ava was wearing a cute little summer outfit, these brown boots, and a pearl necklace. She had to check herself out in the mirror and true to form said, "I so cute!"

Check out the Baby Countdown

If you look over to the right side of the blog you should see a little widget to count down to our Baby 2009's arrival.

This week I am 8 weeks along and the baby is about the size of a kidney bean. It is amazing how fast it is growing every week.

Ava has decided it is a boy and says she wants a brother.

Black Patch in KY

Last weekend Bradley, Ava, and I went up to KY for Princeton's Black Patch Festival. Black Patch is a festival that celebrates the harvest of tobacco. We didn't get there as early as I would have liked (because I am married to Bradley and we are never on time), so it was really toasty once we got to Princeton.

For Black Patch the Main Street is blocked off and people have booths of food, games, crafts, and other odds and ends. In the few years since I have been to Black Patch, the amount of people and booths has significantly decreased. There is nowhere near what there used to be. It is just a small example of small town America and its celebrations.

Bradley and Ava had never been so I thought it would be a fun family activity. We started off at Black Patch with Bo and Mike and went through most of the street in just a few minutes. Of course you ended up seeing people you know and haven't seen in forever, so every once in a while we would stop to chat. The best new addition to Black Patch was a little petting zoo for the kids. Ava thoroughly enjoyed that and in the course of a few minutes had kissed a pig and licked a goat. Disgusting kid! Trayton eventually made it to Black Patch and he and Ava went through the petting zoo again and played at the Rubber Duck Pond.

But after a trip up and down the street twice, we were hot and ready to go. We topped of the day with a visit with Mammaw and Nanny and dinner at my parents' house.

Cholesterol Test

Ava had to go to the dr. today for a cholesterol test. At her 2 year check up she was screened for high cholesterol due to high risk factors. The screening came back a little high so after fasting since midnight, Ava went in to get blood drawn. It was not as bad as I had anticipated. I felt so sorry for the little squirt. It took me holding her, a nurse holding her arm, Nana sitting in front of her, and the blood taker lady. Of course she cried through the whole thing starting with when they put the tourniquet on her arm, but once she put her big purple bandage on, she was good. Also I am sure she was starving and thirsty, so once she got her milk she was in great shape.

As far as the cholesterol goes, her is what the doctor said: They are testing to see the ratio between the good cholesterol and the bad. They have to test every year to get baseline readings because at age 10 if it has been consistently high she will have to take medication. At this point we need to monitor her diet and watch fried foods and fatty ones. They want her eating Fat Free Cheese and Fat Free Milk. So monitor the diet is the answer. Seems like some pointless pain just to tell me to watch what she eats. But it is over now and barring any sickness, she doesn't go back until Feb.

(all photos taken by Nana)