gameday.

I made another Pinterest inspired food last night to take to a party today....GO VOLS!

Just Catching Up.

Well, September is half way gone and I barely noticed! I was really feeling super on top of my schedule and productive and then whoosh, 2-3 weeks go by and I have not done anything worthwhile. But I have. I have been making a sweet precious baby girl:)

I finally got a tad of laundry done and a few of my "stacks" under controls. *sidenote: I call them stacks because that is a neater word than piles. as in pile of crap that i don't want to deal with. they are everywhere and i like to shuffle them around. every once in a while i will get a few gone and narrow down a couple but then they spring back up. oh well.

Another thing I have started using is Pinterest. it is a website where you "pin" things you like onto a "board" and it is completely addictive! I did feel like a slacker when I started seeing people actually DO the items they pinned so one morning, I made these eggs that I had seen on there and they turned out really good...

The set-up

cooking in the pan

just flipped and almost done

Breakfast is ready! I should've made some toast too...

I want to get this rug for our keeping area. I may go back next week...

A photo idea I got from Pinterest. But the girl on there had this awesome chalkboard, not a sheet of paper taped to her mirror...

A friend sent us this HOW CUTE?!? it's 18 months and I cannot wait for her to wear it!

Well that is all for the past week or two! We are going to a friend's tomorrow for the Vols v. Gators game and I will be sure to post pics!

XOXO,
Dannis

Bill

Bill is Michael's mom, Debbie's husband. They got married at the courthouse on April Fool's Day. Michael remembers it, he was in 4th or 5th grade. When I moved here in 2006, he was driving, working around the house and always cutting up and asking about my family.

Then he started having problems. Dropping things, forgetting things, leaving things out...He was diagnosed with "Alzheimers with atypical presentation." He had problems doing simple puzzles or drawing what he had just seen and they said he had tremendous brain shrinkage on one lobe. There have been many times when Bill became very disoriented and there have been many time when he has been carrying on conversations like he never had any problems. It has been a roller coaster.

About 2 weeks ago, his doctor suggested he be tested for Lou Gehrig's/ALS. The testing was expensive and not covered by his insurance, but after 5 years of not really knowing what was happening, they decided to have the tests. And his doctor said he did have ALS.

What is ALS?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

Since the diagnoses, Bill has rapidly declined. Hospice of Chattanooga was called in for an evaluation on Friday August 26, at this appointment he spoke with the nurse, answered questions and even tried to make jokes. Debbie had a rough weekend with Bill and Monday the nurse suggested a hospital bed since she didn't want to send him to a home. When I came last Tuesday, August 30, Bill saw me and asked about our baby's name. I told him AdaReece and I were here, and we were fine, and told him how much she weighed at the doctor the day before and she was kicking up a storm. He even reached for my stomach and squeezed my hand. That night he could speak and answer questions. Wednesday, he was a little worse and could not respond to questions. Since then, he has not opened his eyes or responded to any questions. He struggles to breathe and has tremors and coughing spells. The hospice nurses have been here 20-22 hours of each day. They don't expect him to live many more days. His oxygen and his blood pressure is low, his pulse is high. They say there is a process that the body goes through and he has gone through this process fairly rapidly. He is getting lots of medicine to keep him comfortable. Michael and Debbie both have been shown how to give him the injections into the lines he has if he needs it when the nurse is not here.

I will always remember Bill as a lover of the Tennessee Volunteers, Mayfield ice cream, and key lime pie. He was always nice and asked about my mom and how she was doing. He took care of her dog Domino, a few times when I was staying here. He was convinced my niece Kayla was going to play basketball at UT Knoxville. He loved to fish.

Debbie has been working and taking care of him for a long time. He told her last weekend when she was cleaning him up after an accident that she was an angel. I agree. I know she'll say she is no saint, but she has done more for him that anyone else and is probably the reason he was able to function so long.

Here are some pictures of Bill from our wedding, October 2009. The trip to Destin really affected him and he did not do well while we were there.

but I know he has always supported us and been proud of all Michael has done.
Rest in peace Bill, we will miss you but we know we will see you again.
Love, Dannis

A little birdie told me...

Carter telling me a secret- she's sitting on the back of my moms couch:)



I spent a great morning and afternoon with my dad and a fun night with my mom. Now time for bed!

{xo}
dannis
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Flower Power

Tonight I had a much needed de-stressing girls night! We went to Grafe Studio in Chattanooga and I will go back FOR SURE. They were very informative and I learned a few things tonight, and I came home with a HUGE beautiful arrangement that I made all by myself:)

Also, my sweet friend Stephanie's mom made me these ADORABLE flip-flops and I am in love with them. HOW CUTE ARE THEY!?!

Now, time for bed!!!
XXOO,
Dannis

the help

"you is kind. you is smart. you is important." ~the help

if you haven't read this book, go read it. i think it's on sale at target for $10 right now. I read it when we went to myrtle beach and I could not put it down. I laughed out loud and cried in front of strangers at the beach.

Tonight, i went with a bunch of ladies to watch it. after getting a formal invitation in the mail, i went to my friends house after work and she had mint juleps, sweet tea, fried chicken, slaw, beans, cornbread AND chocolate pie:) most girls wore their pearls and lilly pulitzer dresses:) I cried my eyes out throughout the whole movie. It was great.

I have been sad this week. Stressed. Ill. Irritated. Short. My right eyelid has been twitching. Last night, I slept on the couch because I got mad at Michael for emailing on his bright ass laptop from bed. I needed a good cry.

My memory verse this week has been: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ~Psalm 34:18.

I believe this verse, I only pray that I could live it right now. I can't explain how elated I am to be pregnant, to have such a great family, job, friends, REALLY. I have an awesomely blessed life. But I can't shake this unrest this week. I feel like a failure. scared that I'm going to let somebody everybody down. One friend at work told me to get used to the weepy feeling because it will last a least the next few years. perfect. Maybe I will go see that movie again, just to get some more tears out...AdaReece sure does love the kiddie combo:)

Good nights,
Dannis

sunny saturday morning

This morning, I decided it was time to get up and go for a walk. The puppies and I suited up and went for about 30 minutes through the neighborhood. The weather was so nice. And. We had 15 geese at the pond! So I brought out some bread and snapped some pics of them, trying out my big lens. I really need to study some photography websites but I haven't made time for that yet. The geese were a smidge boring so I brought the pups out on the front porch for their own photoshoot. They yawned through it. But they were much cuter than the geese, don't you think?

happy weekends!!
dannis