WE SURVIVED...

Car makes a cute soldier!

Ian wanted a picture of his daddy on his cake! :) Too sweet!

Ella enjoys a "conversation" with Auburn!

For all of those inquiring minds who were wondering if the Wonder Pets "SAVED THE DAY" and helped us survive our journey to Columbia today, I am glad to say that we made it back home safely! Our trip to Columbia started off pretty smoothly. When we were 10 miles outside of Columbia, we ran into stand still traffic!!!!! Carson had to potty, and Ella was beginning to wake up because the car was stopped. I tried to convince Carson to unbuckle and use the bathroom in a milk carton. He refused, and just kept asking how much longer! Then the whining began. I am not a very nice mommy when he gets into whine mode. Anyway, after about 30 minutes we began moving at a pretty good speed. We got off the exit and Ella begins screaming! Carson was getting frustrated and trying to "make" her take the passy she didn't want. I was just hoping the seven miles we were supposed to be driving to their neighborhood would quickly pass by. We made it, unloaded our "house", and joined the party. Ella of course was hungry, and it was time for me to pump again. I fed her, made more bottles, and finally joined the party. Carson was having a great time with his friend Ian and the new friends he made. Ella was pretty content for about two hours. Then she began SCREAMING again. After trying Baby Orajel and everything else I knew to try I fed her again. I rocked her to sleep, and placed her in Auburn's crib for awhile. As soon as she woke up the SCREAMING began again. I immediately jumped to "she must be hungry again!". I decided to be safe, I would just make an "all formula" bottle! Ella would have NO part of that!!!!!!!!!!! She screamed and refused the bottle. So, I thought maybe it was too cold. So, I heated that up in my much-t0o-slow bottle warmer. Nope, that didn't work either. SCREAMS!!!! SCREAMS!!!! Mommy's blood pressure rising... So, now I took out the last bottle of mommy milk and used the way-t00-slow warmer again to heat that up. In the meantime, I spilled a big glass of Pepsi all over Nicole's counter, spilled milk in the floor, and was about to cry!!!!! Warm mommy milk was the answer! I fed Ella, quickly loaded her up, fought with a little boy who didn't want to leave, and got back on the road to HOME! The ride home was great! Both of my precious children were angels on the way home!

The Petty family are dear friends of ours. Carson used to stay with their son at Ms. Lynn's. Nicole and I found out we were pregnant at the same time! Our due dates were exactly the same. I ended up delivering two days before Nicole! :) I received a call from Nicole several months ago saying that Zane had received a job promotion, and they would be moving to Columbia. They lived in an apartment while their "BIG" beautiful new home was being built. When they finally moved into their home, Zane received his "orders". He would be leaving within a few days to report to New Jersey for training, then off to Iraq. Nicole is such a STRONG person. Zane was serving in Kuwait during Ian's entire first year of life. Now, he has been called to serve again, just after the birth of Auburn. Please pray for this family as they prepare for a year or more of separation! Pray for Zane's safety and for Nicole's strength. Ian is having difficult times, so please pray for him also.