Eden's Dress

This is the dress little Eden will be wearing for her mommies wedding in April. She looks so sweet. We just need to buy her some white shoes and some little leotards and she will be ready. We're still debating on what to do with her hair and what to put in it. She doesn't seem to like having things in there.

She is growing like a weed.

Happy 24th Birthday AARON!!

Happy 24th Birthday Aaron Keith LaFollette!! 24 years ago you made your entrance into the world on Presidents Day. You have filled our lives with tons of laughter and entertainment not to mention many trips to the emergency room. We've survived a cancer scare when you were a baby and a surgery later to take care of it. Football, wrestling and more football have filled your life with tons of fun and entertainment.

Sharing Penn State and Joe Paterno with you has been too much fun. I enjoyed our trip to Penn State. It was nice to do something together that we both LOVE!! And watching them win was an added bonus.

You are a loving and kind individual. You treat everyone with lots of respect.

I'm sure glad you were born. And I'm glad your my Penn State buddy.

Love you,

MOM

Stress

Well, Ashley called Sunday night to talk. She apologized for her words. It all boils down to stress. Stress of work and working overtime to make the bills meet. Stress of taking a full load of classes this semester. Stress of taking her Lstats and waiting for a good score to see if she can get a scholarship for Law School. Knowing that she might have to move if she is going to go to law school. The two schools are in Jacksonville and Gainesville. Stress about her wedding and planning it. We're getting down to 2 months and things are starting to get hectic in the planning. We had some problems with her dress last week and waiting for the bridal store to make it right. And most importantly stress that she never gets to spend time with Eden. It all seems so much for her. She's extremely tired and burning the candle at both ends. And she knows she has some big decisions coming up and it's all getting to be a lot to handle.

So everything is fine with us. We talked for over an hour. Please pray for her. Pray that she will hear God and what He is trying to tell her. Pray that she will come back to a relationship with Him. Pray that she will get through all of it. And pray for us as we watch her go through it. I think as a parent it's the toughest thing in the world to do. We pray and we listen. And we ache because of the decsions, but through it all we LOVE her. I think that's the most important of it all. I know God has her in His hands.

OUCH!

Well, princess Eden has decided that at 7 1/2 months she doesn't want to just crawl. She would like to walk. So she pulls herself up on anything and everything. She has to be standing. So this weekend she was with mommy and daddy and pulled herself up on the couch and decided to let go and took two steps and face planted into the coffee table. Thus producing not one, but two lovely black eyes. I just thought I'd show you all the pictures because it obviously hasn't stopped her from standing up. She is growing up to be such a big girl. She loves to sing with us. We've gotten her a couple of music CD's and Video's and she loves to watch them and sing. When we're driving in the car I'll put one on and she will sing and kick her little feet. She also likes to play our piano. I don't know if she will be musically inclined or not, but she loves music.

Ok, now this is totally a grandma and grandpa thing. But she is trying so hard to say words. It so cracks us up. She talks about the kitty cat. And it actually sounds like she is saying kitty. She says guhpah for Dean and of course I'm maamah. And we're all trying to figure out what she is saying when she whispers "buh, buh, buh" We all have our thoughts on it, but what do you guys think?

We hung up a baby gate yesterday and put plug protectors on the outlets. Wow, didn't think I'd have to do that again either. Did I mention I'm too young to be a granny. LOL

Joy an d Frustration

Eden pulling herself up at the couch



must be 4:30 playtime with gupah


maama and Eden looking at the phonebook


Maama trying to find a phone number and Eden helping by ripping the pages


Eden loves Friday when gupah works from home. She likes to play on his lap or desk. It's always nice to have a 5 minute break with Eden.

We love having Eden here to play with us. She is an amazing little girl and gets bigger and smarter everyday. She is now crawling all over the place. She loves to go after Tessa the cat. She squeals in her high pitched sqeal k,k,k,k. She has started getting her second tooth. So she's been a little cuddly today. She likes trying new foods. She loves the sauce on macaroni and cheese. And she is costantly pulling herself up on everything. She likes to hold on to your fingers and walk. She walks with her tongue on her lips. And when she is sitting with my mom, she climbs up her to be able to look for me and she calls out Maama, ( sounding like grandma). Well... yesterday I told Ashley when she came that that is what Eden calls me and I was playing with Eden and I guess I made Ashley mad. I didn't know it until later last night. She sent her dad a text message that said I'm to stop letting her call me mama. She isn't calling me mama, she is calling me maama. Which is grandma to a new little girl learning how to talk. She even threatend to take her to another daycare. I told her to think carefully and to let me know. I never wanted to be a mom again. I don't consider myself Eden's mom. We talk about her mama all the time. I am with her from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm Monday-Friday. I know going to school full time and working full time is hard and planning a wedding on top of it. Dean and I knew she would start to crumble. I just don't want to be her target for her crumbling. I'm doing her a favor not vice versa. I've given up a lot and changed my life around to help her out. She needs to see that my plans changed when she had her daughter. Her life is the exact same. She hasn't given up anything. I try not to be angry with her and her decisions because I promised God that I would love and help take care of the baby for Him. But I don't want to be taken advantage of and that's how I feel. The only awesome thing is I get to love this beautiful baby girl and watch her grow each day.

Pray for us.

Divorce

I've got to tell you Divorce is tough. Not just on the people going through it at the time, but for a lifetime. You may think that it just involves a decision about what you are thinking and going through, but it affects you, your spouse, your families and your future.

We have a beautiful grandson who we love dearly. He's been a part of our life since he was three years old. He loves to come to our house because we keep toys and books here for him. Also because when he's here we make sure he's the center of our attention. We want him to always know that he is loved here.

He is now 6 years old. He'll be 7 next month. And he is caught in the middle of his mother's hatred of his daddy. She uses him to get back at Travis. The things he says aren't thoughts that he has but things his mom has put into his head. He worries about things a 6 year old shouldn't have to worry about. And to that end, I don't think he gets much discipline in his life either. He has an aggressive behavior. He doesn't have much social skills. And he doesn't like being held and cuddled. All because of a divorce.

I've got to tell you, it's tough being a step grandparent. I try to let him know he's loved but that his behavior is not alright. Travis says I should give him a spanking when he's acting out, but he's not mine to spank. And we have the threat that his mom won't let him visit if we do. Life is tough. And on top of it all he is being treated for OCD and Terrets Syndrom. I have to believe it's all part of the divorce and being caught in the middle. Please join us in praying for this wonderful little boy.

JULLIAN is a sweet kid who needs all the love he can get.

Weight Loss?

Well, you know it was so much easier to gain the weight than it is losing it.
In your 20's you can eat whatever you want because you have that fast metabalism but it begins that nice slow down in your 30's and when you hit your 40's that metabalism is lost somewhere in the fat and all those peanut M&M's. (YUM!!)
Well, in an all out effort to get healthy, I have joined weight watchers again. (third time I think). And now since we have the screen porch up we have our weight bench, treadmill, and new bike out on it. I also have my jump rope and my balancing ball. Dean and I both get up about 5:15 AM every morning and are trying to exercise for 30 minutes a morning. I walk 3 miles and he rides the bike and then we both do the sit ups and weights. What joy.
But trying to be somewhat uh.... how do I say this nicely..... NOT SO FAT for Ashley's wedding in April.
Dean has lost 10 lbs. Since January and I have lost 8lbs.
Hopefully, we can make this a lifestyle change.