OIL CHANGE

I am sitting in the "Customer Service Lobby" at Toyota waiting for them to change the oil. Behind me is old fashion popcorn popping, coffee, big flat screen TV AND comptures lined up with internet! You guessed where I am sitting, at the computer. Getting your oil changed has come along ways! Today Katie is doing her Dolia trainning. For those of you who don't know what a "Dolia" is, it's the old fashion word from our days called a "labor coach". Helping the birthing mom concentrate on her wonderful pains of birthing a baby. It's an all day course today and tomorrow. So the boys and I took Jessalyn to school and they are with me watching a cartoon.
I went to Skip's client yesterday about some new hearing aids. She was so sweet and so helpful. When she did the hearing test she was so amazed with how I could hear with barely any hearing in each ear! I told her sometimes I wonder too! Skip had been telling her about me for about 3 years and she kept encouraging me to come and see her. I have had such bad experiences with them hearing aid shops that I have ordered from a company by mail for about 15 years. Both of my hearing aids are much needed to be replaced so we thought we would be fair and give her a try. The first thing I noticed was, her office was bare nesseity. I am not against having a nice office and all but not at my expense! Hearing aids are very very pricey. Her business is to reach the local community with the best prices of the same hearing aid you get on the other side of town for thousands and I mean THOUSANDS of dollars MORE! We immediently had a "connection.....see what we come up with next week. The one thing that thrilled my heart was how much she loved Skip! She couldn't praise him enough for his hard work! Good job Skippy!
We got a "help" call from Skip as we were leaving, Jessica locked herself out of the house so her and Molly were stuck in the van. I happen to have a spare key so Papa and Nana came to the rescue....do you think we minded!! We had some sweet Molly time.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

This morning I woke up with my heart very heavy. I am forever reminded of my weakness in "dwelling" upon the things that are heavy on my heart and not taking them to the Lord. As I began to pray about those things God reminded me of one of my favorite verses.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

I am thankful I have a mighty God who does know the plan for not only my life but for my family and friends whom I faithfully pray for.
I am thankful that a number of years ago I made the desicison to surrender my LIFE to Christ. By doing that I knew I needed to know Jesus personally. To know HIM personally I had to acknowledge that I was a sinner, Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I needed to ask God for forgiveness of my sins, IJohn 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrightetousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his work is not in us. I have acknowledge my sins and asked forgiveness and understand that Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 10:9,10&13
because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confessand is saved.
After asking Christ into my life I was changed forever. As I said at the beginning my weakness sometimes is my faith in HIM and wanting to do things myself. I am so thankful myself doesn't save me but my Lord does.

Please Pray for ELAINE

Years ago when I was little we had a family that lived across the street from us and their names where the Woody's. Gerald and Ruth were the mom and dad and their kids were Ronnie and Elaine. They were 6 and 4 years older than me and Elaine took care of me and my sister Tracy alot. Our families became very good friends and remained close even up to this day. When I was about 14 Elaine came to live with us and go to Beauty College. During that time she became my big sister and my parents "favorite Red head". She learned her beauty lessons quite well at all of ours expenses! While living with us she met her wonderful husband Gary and they had two sons. Ryan who is Katie's age 33 and Russell 31 (close to Skip's age). In 1982 she was diagnoised with breast cancer and has beat it up to now. I am asking special prayer for her as they found some cancer on the liver. They say the cancer doesn't usually start on the liver but somewhere else. They are doing a bone scan on Friday to find out where the cancer is located. After crying together long distance (she's in California) she admitted she has peace about it all and was ready to "fight". This month has been a very trying time for her as they put her mama in a home. She is a wonderful mom and trying to be there for her sons as well as her faithful best friend, Gary and then her dad who is dealing with Ruth. Please pray that she can beat this cancer and get on with whatever the Lord has for her.

In my box on the right where I have Friends and Family blog is Skip's blog. He has posted some pictures. I am sure once he get's things in order he will be more faithful to posting. So just click it and it will take you to his blog.

A Day With Nana

It is hard to believe that Molly will be two weeks old tomorrow. After several rough evenings with a colicy baby I asked Skip and Jess if Molly could come and spend a few hours with me. Jessica was so sweet about it and they knew she was in good hands. After feeding her and packing her little bag we were off to go and spend a little time with Aunt Katie and her cousins. They waited a long time for Molly to be able to come over. Jessalyn is so in love with her and Katie and I think they are going to be very close.
I was trying to burp Molly and Maggie was having a fit because she couldn't understand why that "thing" was crying. She jumped into my lap to smell her hand.





She is a little doll.....so good for her Nana.

No new pictures at this point. I did get up early yesterday morning and head over to see Molly. She had a real fussy day on Sunday and gave Mommy and Daddy a run....
We had some snuggle time and she kept her eyes on Nana for awhile. After her feeding I swaddled her with her passy and put her in her swing. She was very content not being held UNTIL her daddy walked in the door. As soon as she heard his voice she started making her noises. Just as I thought, he washed his hands and was heading to her swing to pick her up! Jess and I had just talked about Miss Molly "controlling" her daddy! We had a good laugh and when she realized he wasn't coming she headed off to sleep.
After leaving Skip and Jess's house I headed over to Katie's for afternoon Nana duty. She had some grocery shopping to do and wanted to do it without her 3 kids. I can't blame her! Well her husband called her on her way out and found out she didn't have the kids! He sways her in getting side tracked and going to lunch with him. So two hours later she barely got anything done! That was okay with me because I had a good time with the kids. We watched a movie and then Jessalyn and Nana spent some time coloring.
Those are the days I like, being useful!
Today I am off to my 3 stores with my boss. We are taking down the Valentine's and putting up Easter. And on my way home I am going to squeeze a few minutes to see Molly.

DAWSON

The other night Jessalyn came and told Katie what Dawson was doing and this is what we found! We are going to have to keep an eye on him in the future when Molly is sleeping in her bed which not long ago was his. It was so funny to hear Skip tell the story about the other night when Katie was feeding Molly he was sitting on the footstool in front of where she was, patiently watching this baby drink from a bottle that was just like the one mommy recently took away and she makes the mistake of saying, "you want a babba?". All of a sudden he goes to grab the bottle from Molly and Mommy scolls him and it went down hill after that! We all laughed so hard. Poor little guy, life just isn't fair!

Mommy and Daddy's First Week with Molly Anna

On Friday night Papa and Nana babysat Molly while Skip and Jess went out for belated Valentine's. Aunt Katie came over too so she could have baby time without her kids or anyone else. We really had a nice Family Night.

Aunt Katie showing Mommy and Daddy how to bathe Molly until her belly button cord falls off. She did so good and only whimmered a little bit. We were all quite proud

"Hum, Mommy don't I smell so good"

Molly and her "Luvies" This is her favorite sleeping boppy

Daddy and his baby girl

Mommy and Daddy and Molly (they are so content)

What Molly was doing while Mommy and Daddy were catching up on much needed sleep

Lucy in her favorite spot while Mommy and Daddy catch up on some much needed sleep and Nana holds the Fort. Lucy has done really good since she has been their baby for 4 years. Every now and then she comes and sniffs to check her out. I think she has finally realized this "thing" has come to stay. It is kind of funny but when Molly get's mad (rarely) she runs and hides and then comes back and checks things out.

One Week Ago Today

It was one week ago today that Audy and I became grandparents to our #4 Molly Anna Newman. In someways it is quite overwhelming as we go to the top of the line beginning with Bryson who is 7. He is our reminder of my mom and dad. It was because of his upcoming birth that mom decided to do chemo. After she found out she had colon cancer Katie found out she was preg. Mom wanted to live to see her first greatgrand child and she did. Jessalyn is 5 and she also reminds us of mom and dad because she is mama's namesake JESS-for Jessie LYNN after Nana and MAE was Jessie Mae. Mom would have enjoyed this little girl but she would have stole her Papa Wayne's heart forsure! Dawson is 2-1/2 and he would have been mom's little buddy because he's such a tease. After a long day at work mom would be sitting in her chair reading the newspaper and Katie would come and "steal" her house shoe right off her foot! I can see Dawson doing that! Then there is Molly....she has stolen all of our hearts! Mom and dad would have loved her too and would have agreed she looks just like Katie and Skip as babies!!! Thank you LORD for our 4 wonderful little people. It's our prayer that they grow up to love you Lord and serve you with all their hearts. And that we have an opportunity to be a part of their lives for many years! Thank you Katie and Skip for blessing your mom and dad (of course James and Jessica too;-)

I can't hardly believe she is almost a week old already! After staying with the kids for a couple of nights I actually went home last night and was back here early this morning. Right now they are at the doctors getting an updated blood test on her jaundance so I thought I would tell you about the blessings of her delivery.
Well since they had that fire next door Jessica hadn't been able to sleep very well so on Thursday after having contractions off and on we got ahold of the doctor and I took her in that afternoon. Well of course they contractions stopped and he checked her and she was no where near showing signs of laboring. She told him about her not sleeping so he ordered her some sleeping pills. WELL that night she took one and an hour later 11:30p.m. she woke up to this horrible pain. She was like "what in the world!". I got a phone call from Skip sometime after midnight with a voice of lack of sleep and like "here we go again". They were 5min apart regularly. We got in touch with Katie and we all agreed she needed to head to the hospital. All of our thoughts were, they would send her home to labor and none of us prepared for anything. We all got to the hospital and she was still doing wonderful breathing out each pain and all. Well the shocker was when the doc checked her she was 8 cen.!!!!! I about croaked! They knew they had a baby coming on their hands but NO ROOM IN THE INN....they put her in the recovery room where they put the c-sections mom's in. Doc came back asked her if she wanted her eperideral and she said, YES! By this time she was 9cen....and they had no birthing room. (I am stressed thinking about it all over again!)She got a room....oops lost that room! By this time she's had her ep so she's doing good and it is now 7a.m. So to make a LOOOONG story short they held her off until she got her room about NOON!!! The nurses prepared her for delivery and doc was in between deliveries and a c-section after Molly....And then because they ran out of ROOMS for the rest of her stay she had to stay in the laboring room until 10p.m that night. It was a ZOO......sooooo for their inconvience they were presented with a SUITE for a room!!!! When I walked in I thought I was in a docotrs apartment of some sort!!! It had a livingroom, small dining area and a huge bedroom!!!
The whole labor and birth experience was drawn out but honestly Jess did a wonderful job and Skip was awesome as well! We are now blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
When I came in this morning they all looked rested and are ALL in love!

4 DAYS IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!

My goodness how the time has passed me by already! I thought I would post some tibits of what's going on around here before Molly is up, which will be soon.
I still have the whole story of the day she was born to share and I promise I will share those wonderful blessings real soon!
On Sunday when they were doing Molly's final checkup they found out she had jaundace which is not uncommon in newborns. They really thought she wasn't going to get to come home that night but I am telling you they had the most awesome nurse named Elle who literally moved mountains for them. I wouldn't be suprised "if" and "when" they ever have another baby girl they don't name her Elle because they had an awesome Elle in labor as well. We finally got them home about 7:30p.m. with Katie's little family and some precious friends waiting to Welcome the Newman's home. I heard Skip telling a friend yesterday about Jessalyn saying to Aunt Jess within the 30 seconds they walked in the door, "Aunt Jess I washed my hands can I hold her?". That little girl was the most excited little thing. She had told her mom she wanted to wear her "Big Sister" shirt (from Dawson's birth). We had the best time visiting.
She didn't do too bad that first night but I must say last night (Monday) was wonderful. Skip and Jess have been so wonderful in tending to their baby girl while Nana has had the priviledge of sitting on the sidelines cheering them on.
The jaundace is under control and the doctor says she is very healthy and we are all Praising God for that news. Thank you dear friends and family who have held us high in your prayers.
Until later....
p.s. Audy had a wonderfu)l first day at his job...God blessed us again, medical starts in 30 days.....TO GOD BE THE GLORY (thank you my special friend who has faithfully reminded me that......

MOLLY ANNA NEWMAN

Molly Anna Newman arrived this afternoon around 3p.m. She weighed 8#1oz 21"
Mommy, Daddy and Molly are doing wonderful. I have many blessings to share but at this point we have been up almost 2 days and little sleep. I couldn't go to bed without announcing the wonderful blessing of God's little child.....

UPDATE

Jessica finally heard from the doctor about 3p.m. and said for her to come to the office. Skippy had to go back to work to finish out his day so I end up taking her to her doctors appt. Her contractions actually stopped about 1p.m. but we really thought she had progressed. After they checked her in she came back to the lobby and got me because the ultrasound techican was going to do an ultrasound. They got a new piece of equipment in and she got permisson from the doctor to "play" with the machine. It took 3-D pictures and it was so cool. We watched her play with her toes and make funny and mean faces to the camera. We could see the rolls on her and they est. her to be close to 8 1/2lbs. She was so adorable. The doctor checked her and she shows no signs of labor after all. The doc did give her some medication to help her sleep as she hasn't been able to sleep well since the fire.
Before I forget I want to let you know that Audy starts at PSI on Monday morning from 7am.-3p.m. I am so excited for him as he gets to do what he loves best learn new equipment and be a techican.

NO BABY

We aren't sure if it's "false" labor or if she is in the real thing. We are waiting for a call back from the doctor. She is defiently progressing. After we know what the doctor says we are going to go and do some walking at the mall. She is feeling pretty good with contractions still roughly 10 min apart. Skippy is home for lunch putting together Molly's papasan swing. I will keep you posted as I can.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKIPPY

Today is Skip's 29th birthday. I spent the day working with American Greetings and Audy sat with Jessica today and helped out where he was needed. I am heading to bed but at this time Jessica is in labor 7-10min a part. So I should get some rest while it is possible. We all know it could be a very short night or it could be a long one. Them first time babies do their own thing!
Will post soon as possible

VEGGIE TALE'S

Auntie Rhonda gave the kids some Veggie Tale's shirts and I dropped them off one night. Bryson wasn't home so that's why he's not in the picture. Sissy's favorite color is pink so she was happy. And she is just like her Nana and Mama, she had another set of pj's on and she went up stairs and changed them to match her shirt with some pj bottoms! Dawson on the other hand wanted his shirt on even over his blanket sleeper pj's. When it was time to go to bed he wouldn't take it off!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA

Well today is two wonderful events. One is Jessica's birthday and my mom's 7th anniversary with the Lord. Today was a very sad day for Skip and Jessica's neighbors. They were woken up quite early say 5ish with their house in flames. I am not sure the details on how Skip and Jess were woken up, maybe with sirens and etc. They had to take Lucy (their golden retreiver) and sit in the van while they watched these poor people loose their entire posessions. When Audy answered the phone around 6ish Skip first sentence was "no we're not in labor". They got back into their house in time to quickly wash up and get ready for her doctors appt.
Please pray for this family, Carlos and Helena. Skip and Jess went and got a couple of dozen of donuts and offered them shelter from the rain in their home and they declined but they know Skip and Jess will be there when they need something. They had several little miniture pincher dogs (like our Sadie). They were lost in the fire as well. The sad thing is 5 firemen were injured and because of that the firemen had to neglect putting out the fire to be able to pull their men out from a fallen roof. Thank God for his protection of their lives.
Well Skip and Jess did make it to her doctors appt. Miss Molly continues to be toasty and connected to her mama. If she doesn't come on her own this week she will be forced to evacuate her cocoon early next week. Jess still looks wonderful and shows no sign of labor ahead. The email I got this a.m was she was resting and Skippy took the day off and went back to bed! I can't say I blame him.

IT'S FEBRUARY

It's amazing how fast the year 2008 is going with January behind us. As most of you know February is a sweet month with Valentine's Day in 13 days but also it's Jessica birthday 4th and Skip's 6th and several good friends birthdays as well. It is also when Molly will be arriving. My mom will be home with the Lord 7 years on Monday and dad 6 years on the 24th. I look at those as happy times because they are in a better place!!
I have lots of news and I will begin with ME. I started training for American Greetings and really enjoyed it. I have a large section in Ingel's grocery store, Dollar Tree and Rite Aid. These 3 store will keep me busy for awhile.
I am handing this over to Audy to share HIS NEWS:
I had a good visit with a company called PSI Group Inc. which is a subsidiary of Pitney Bowes. This facility sorts large quantities of mail and prints a five or eleven digit barcode on the bottom of the envelope which is used by the Post Office to identify the zip the mail is to be sent to. They process 1 million to 1.5 million pieces of mail a day. The sorting machines, computers, printers, and packing units are what I will be repairing. The facility works 24/7 and has 3 shifts. I will be one of 5 technicians to be onsite to repair and do maintenance on the equipment. I think I will be starting on mids or 3rd shift. Looking forward to going back to work. Though the last couple of months off have been very restful and enjoyable.
His interview was at 11a.m. and when I hadn't heard from him about 1pm. I was getting rather worried. He finally called me about 1:30 to tell me he was on his way to the hospital to take a DRUG TEST for the job! I was in shock as he only had one interview! Well when he set up the interview he mentioned to the secretary that he summitted his resume on the web for the job. She hadn't gotten around to printing it out yet. For him to come in and fill out an application. They had 24 hour notice to review his reume so they knew the background and the experience he had to offer before he even walked through the door. One of the PLUS to this interview he recognized one of the printers they used and happen to mention he worked on them at his last job. The guy told him they had to "send that printer out to be repaired". The benifits are wonderful too. He will get 2 1/2 weeks paid vacation and good medical benifits. So OUR prayer warriors out there keep us in your prayers that he really does get this job. We have asked God to close doors that he doesn't want to be opened. He closed that door on that management position in Greenville. He got an email yesterday that they hired another manager for the position.