Lindsey's 16 Month Pictures

I had Lindsey's 16 month studio pictures taken last Tuesday on May 22 at JC Penney's. I just gained online access to them this morning. She did not want to cooperate in getting her picture taken and it didn't help that she was afraid of the photographer, but we were able to get a few good ones. I ended up choosing a full view picture even though it wasn't the best smile because her 1 yr old picture was a close up. The book that she is holding in a couple of the pictures was actually given to her for her birthday from Aunt Belinda and her family. I always get the smiles by wire option where I am able download the wallet size for memories sake. Where did the baby go? I now have a lively toddler that keeps me busy every second of the day. I love her so much and don't know what I ever did without her.

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Lindsey's 16 month pics 5-22-07

Memorial Day Weekend Events

Hello to all! I hope each of you had a wonderful, long, enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend! Saturday, Kimberly Easley graduated from Gods Bible School and College with a double degree. Congratulations, Kim, we are proud of you! We wish you great success. We did not go to the graduation, but we did go down to Kevin and Rachel Easley's house around 2 p.m. for a barbecue (party). We were able to spend some fun time with quite a few of our relatives on Jonathan's side of the family. After we left their house, Ralph, Belinda, Lizzi, & Noah Burke went with us down to Newport on the Levee. We had a great time. We first walked across the Purple People Bridge, walked along the river on Serpentine Wall and all the way back to Newport. While on Serpentine Wall there was a group of about 20 or more kids all dressed up for prom evening and they wanted their picture taken in a group. They asked us and I obliged. It was fun and really neat to get to do that. Jonathan took a picture from the top so I don't have a good picture of the group. I took pictures with 11 cameras. After getting back over to Newport we went to eat at Clauddaugh's and had awesome fish and chips. I do believe they have the very best. We ate there twice last year on Memorial Day weekend and once last September. We like to eat outside on the deck and look out over the river at the beautiful skyline as the sun sets. We ended up not leaving down there until 11 p.m. and then the Burke's still had to travel 2 hours home. Thanks for the great time guys. We love you all and had an awesome time getting to be with you. We'll have to get together again real soon and have some more fun! Lindsey started coughing really bad Saturday night real late so we ended up not going to church Sunday morning in hopes that Lindsey would get some quality sleep instead of having to wake her up for church. She still has her cough, but I am hoping that it isn't anything too major. She started a runny nose 1 1/2 weeks ago and started the cough in just the last few days. She is cutting her 1 year molars, so maybe that's what it is. We went to GBS camp meeting Sunday night for church. Lindsey was in rare form and not in a good mood at all. She maxed out her mommy's patience really quick and I can say that just never happens. We ended up not staying in church very long and just letting her run around outside. We went back over to Kevin and Rachel's after church and stayed for a couple of hours and had a fun time visiting and eating a snack. Lindsey slept the whole time we were there (thank goodness). I was able to let my blood pressure drop back down :). Monday we did almost NOTHING. We had a completely relaxing day. Brian, Janella, and kids came down and we grilled out here at the house. We started out playing croquet in the backyard around 4 p.m. After a few games the guys moved it to across the street in a big flat field and made it game regulation size. They ended up playing till 9 p.m. Lindsey took a long nap (2 1/2 hours) and I took a shorter one (1 1/2 hours). After the croquet games we came inside and had strawberries and ice cream to wrap up the FUN and RELAXING day. Mom did a great job of preparing the food and making it a very un-stressful day - thanks! Today it was catch up on sleep day and back to trying to finish the landscaping in Mom and Dad's front yard. I have planted a bunch more flowers and am almost done. I have just a few more to plant and then the mulching to do. I will post pictures when I am done. While we were outside Lindsey played in the water for just a few minutes, but I didn't keep her in those wet clothes very long because of her being sick. I hope all of you have a great rest of the week. Hope you enjoy all the pics. I am posting two different links of pictures below. One from this Memorial Day Weekend (2007) and one from last year Memorial Day Weekend (2006).

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Memorial Day Weekend 2007

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Memorial Day Weekend 2006

Recent & Reminiscent

I had a few new pics I wanted to share with you, but I found a bunch of old ones as well.

My friend Sandy, from my old work place before I had Lindsey, stopped by Wednesday evening. I hadn't seen her since last November. I also didn't know she had ordered a new sports car. It is a Pontiac Solstice and she's had it about two months. I really liked it and so did Lindsey as you will notice in the pictures. It was fun getting to chat for a little while and catch up on some news.

Wednesday afternoon I talked Dad into going to Lowe's to get flowers and Mom went along with us. They bought about 120 flowering plants. Most of them (114) were the 6 pack of annual flowers. They already have tons of perennials (return each year) so we just needed to add the color. I started working on it Wednesday evening and was hoping to finish it Thursday, but no such luck. I have almost used all of those flowers and now we need to go back and buy a few more. I have done all of the planting, but Dad has helped me with the weeding and cleaning up the ground in the flower beds. I LOVE doing this type of work, but company is also nice so it has been nice just having him outside with me. Lindsey of course has been outside with me for a lot of the time as well. She is definetely an out doors girl. Besides the flower bed planting, Dad and I also planted flowers in 7 hanging baskets, 3 of which are for my house. I will be sure and post pictures when we are done, but not until the mulch is down. Wow, what mulch does for a flower bed and in my opinion has to be the brick red color. If you use the black mulch it just looks like more dirt or at least I think so :). I will hopefully complete the project on Friday, if I have time after the house cleaning gets done, because we may be having company spend the night.

I went down memory lane in my picture files and found a bunch I wanted to share. Most are from when Lindsey was about 4 months old - May 2006. There are quite a few from the weekend when Noah was born last May. He is so cute and has grown into such a cute little toddling boy - I love him so much!

HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

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Recent & Reminiscing

FUN TIMES!!

We came home Sunday night from my in-laws in Indiana. We had a great time. We were able to spend 2 great days with them. Saturday evening was Noah's 1 year birthday party. We wish we could see them much more often, but it sure doesn't help the situation when gas prices just jumped up again to $3.49. I got lots of great pics of our weekend.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO NOAH JOHANN BURKE~Tuesday, May 22!!
You are the absolute cutest nephew - I love you to pieces. You are full of laughs, giggles, and smiles. I hope you have many, many more happy birthdays :) I LOVE YOU!
(Sorry this was posted a day late.)

Monday evening, Lindsey and I went to Concert on the Lawn at GBS. Afterwards we stood around talking to fellow bloggers :) I got some cute pics of Nancy Lambeth's children. Nancy's youngest is only 3 days older than Katrin, Jenn's daughter, and Lindsey is only 3 months older than the two of them. It was fun to watch them play together.

Tuesday, May 22, Lindsey turned 16 months old. I had her picture taken at JCPenney's and Mom went with me. Lindsey did not cooperate with the whole photo shoot thing. She was scared of the photographer and would hardly smile or take her fingers out of her mouth. The one I did end up choosing wasn't the best smile in the world, but it was decent and a full shot, which is what I wanted. Katrin also had her picture taken at a place near our house so we decided to meet up with Jenn and Katrin for a little bit. Katrin had already changed out of her picture clothes, but I forgot to bring extras for Lindsey. I was able to get some cute pictures of them together though.

Well, that's all I have for now. Enjoy the pics :)

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May pics

Hello from Indy :)

We are at my in-laws this weekend. Jonathan had his first Saturday off since March yesterday, so we were able to come late Friday night. We actually arrived at 2:20 a.m. early Saturday morning. We are having a great time. Noah's 1 year birthday party was yesterday evening. I have taken lots of pics and will post them when we get home. I hope all of you are having a nice relaxing weekend with this beautiful weather. Later!

New Van

Wow, what a week. It has been very busy. In some ways it was a really long week and in others it was really short. I shopped extensively the beginning of this week online. I was doing all the main research and phone dealing because of Jonathan's odd work hours. We left 7 p.m. Tuesday evening for Nathan and Myranda Weavers, in Massillon, OH. We arrived to their new beautiful home a little after 10 p.m. We stayed up talking for a couple of hours till a little after midnight. Then we got up early on Wednesday morning so that the kids could spend a few hours playing together before we had to leave to go pick up the van. We left their house just before 1 p.m. On the way to go pick up the van we found out there was some work that needed to be done to the van. It made me very ill to think we had driven all that way and then it might not work out. God knew what he was doing all along and I am thankful that we have him looking out for our best interest. They ended up fixing the problem at no charge to us, which was a really big deal. The problem it had is very common on those vans and now we don't have to worry about it happening in a few months and having to worry about the money coming out of our pocket book. Because of us having travelled so far to get it they made the dealing very easy and there were no hassles. They came back to the office and told us it would be ready by 6 p.m. at no extra charge. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. God knew that if we had known about the problem before we left home that we wouldn't have ended up with that van because of the cost to fix it. We purchased the van in Medina, OH, which is about 3 hours away. It is a 1999 Chevrolet Venture. It is exactly what we wanted. We wanted and got the leather interior, the extended version to give us more luggage room behind the rear seat, captain/quad seats for easy access to the rear bench, cd player, power sliding door on passenger rear side, etc. etc. :) While we were waiting for the repairs to be done we drove 35 minutes to Cleveland, OH to let Lindsey see Lake Erie and for us to eat at a nice seafood restaurant. Lindsey loved getting to see the seagulls. We did end up finding a really nice restaurant and with some neat history behind it. It has been there for 70 years. I had Atlantic cod and it was scrumptious. That was a neat little detour to our trip and made it a little more fun and eventful. Even though the van is far from new it is in excellent condition and I have to be the happiest van owner in Cincinnati right now. Now I have a van, which I have wanted ever since Lindsey was born :). We are making our first trip in it this weekend. We are going to Jonathan's parents for Noah's 1 year birthday party. I have posted just a few pics of the exterior for all of you who are wondering why I haven't already posted pics. Sorry for the delay.

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Exterior of new van

Our trip to get our van

More info on my Dad

He is being released from the hospital this evening. They are now wondering if what caused the low pulse rate was due to dehydration while he was up at camp and causing there to be a higher level of the medicine in his body that is supposed to slow his heart rate down. They don't know this for sure, but that is what they are thinking that it maybe was. He has been taken off 2 of the 3 medications for his heart. He will have his heart shocked again in a month and see if it helps. This is good news, but I just hope we see some improvement in his strength. For almost 2 or 3 months he's hardly been able to do anything without getting completely exhausted. Please continue to pray for him.

p.s. We are headed this evening to buy our very first mini-van - Yeah! I am so excited. :) We are going to stay at our friends house, Nathan and Myranda Weaver, in Massillon, OH and then pick the van up tomorrow morning in Medina, OH. We have been without our own vehicle since 4/22 when Jonathan was hit and it totalled our car.

Update on my Dad

Well, he had the Electrical cardioversion done this morning and it didn't work. They used the paddles on him twice. Each time it put his heart back into the right rythm and then went right back into the irregular heart beat. So, they scheduled a Nuclear Stress Test and that has also already been completed this morning. He has been and is very short of breath and they aren't sure why. The stress test came back ok and doesn't look like there are any signs of heart problems/heart attack and the lungs are fine as well. They are taking him off of two of the three medications that he is on for his heart. They are leaving him on the medicine that they just put him back on for the Atrial Fibrillation. I'm not sure what their next step is going to be, but I will post another update as soon as we hear something. Thanks for the comments you have left and for your concern and prayers.

Please pray for my Dad

My Dad is still not doing good. Sunday night his heart rate went down into the 20's some. He is still in the hospital and they are doing the following procedure on him Tuesday morning. It is scary, but necessary. He is on too much medication and they need to try a different route. He will still be on some medication, but we are not sure exactly what at this point. He had this same treatment done about 10 years ago as well.

Electrical cardioversion
A patient under light anesthesia receives an electrical shock through paddles or patches on the chest. The shock stops the heart's electrical activity for a split second. When the heart's electrical activity resumes, the rhythm may be normal.
Cardioversion is not always effective. It may successfully restore regular heart rhythm in over 95 percent of patients, but more than half eventually go back into atrial fibrillation. In many instances, anti-arrhythmic medications are needed indefinitely.

Please pray for my Dad and I will try to post an update as soon as possible.

From Dad & Mom on ...

Happy Mothers Day!

A day late or actually just a couple of hours since it's 1 a.m. something. I have a good excuse though.... My Dad went to the emergency room Sunday afternoon and was admitted. We went to see him and didn't get home till near midnight. I have said before how he hasn't been doing well with his heart, but he has been abnormally bad this weekend and short of breath after having gone to work up at camp for 1 1/2 days. There are a lot more details, but we decided the best way to get real action and for him to get the proper care he needed was to go to the er. So, that's just what they did. The problem diagnosis at this point is that his pulse is wayyyy toooo lowwww, like in the 30's. NOT GOOD. They are working with his 3 different heart medications and can hopefully get it figured out. Please help pray for my Dad. We need him to have a good heart and stick around for a whole lot longer. We need him and he is very special and loved greatly by all of us. Dad, Get Better Real Soon!

Now for honoring my Mothers ~

I have a wonderful mother who I love very much and think the world of. She is one of my very best friends and I know that I could never live without her. She is a priceless, very loving, caring, fun, Godly mother and I wouldn't trade her for anything. Thank You for always being there for me. Now if I can just hope to be to as good of a mother to Lindsey as you have been to me. Happy Mother's Day! I Love You!

I also have a wonderful Mother-in-law! We love her very much! I appreciate her for being a great mother to my husband and raising him in a Godly home. She is a very loving, fun, and caring Mother. I certaily would never trade her for anything in this world either. Happy Mother's Day! I Love You!

Happy Mother's Day to me as well. There isn't anything more in life that I enjoy more than being a Mommy to my precious Lindsey! I dreamed of being a Mother for so long and for a few years it was one of the hardest days out of the year when I thought that I may never become a Mommy. Then we received ou miracle child and I am now celebrating my 2nd Mothers Day. I love you Lindsey ~ for you are the one who calls me Mama ~ music to my ears!

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Mother's Day Weekend

Cincinnat Reds Baseball Game

We were given free $30. awesome seat tickets to the Reds game for Tuesday, May 8. Jonathan wasn't able to go because of work, but Lindsey and I went and met Johnny Cheatham, Jonathan's first cousin who lives here in Cincinnati. He is definitely the one you want to go with if your as ignorant about baseball as I am. I know the basics and thats it. I said I wouldn't have known if they had won or last every game this season so far. Thankfully Johnny didn't mind giving me a full commentary on all the terminology and players etc. The Reds put up a good fight and it was a good game, but unfortunately they didn't win. I took quite a few pictures, so enjoy. Please be sure and read the picture captions for more details. Yes, Griffey Jr. had a home run during the game for us to enjoy and one other person also got a homerun. Overall we had a nice time.

We sat in section 132 L. It is the one by the letter b at the end of where it says Diamond Club by first base.

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Cincinnati Reds Baseball Game 5-8-07

!! Happy 67th Birthday ~ Dad !!

Happy Birthday, Dad! Today - Monday, May 7, 2007 - is my Dad's 67th Birthday. We Love You Very Much! You are the best Dad and Bahbah (aka - Grandpa) anyone could ever ask for. You mean the world to me. I hope you have a wonderful day and many more happy years to come. Happy Birthday! All of us were at Mom & Dad's for dinner on Sunday and celebrated his birthday with cake and gifts.

I have posted some pictures from over the weekend. These include pictures of celebrating Dad's birthday, some pics after church on Sunday night, some pics of Friday evening of Lindsey and Jenna, and some pics down memory lane, which I love to do. Enjoy!

P.S. I hope you like my new color scheme. I loved my old one, but decided I needed something a little funner for the summer months.

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Happy Birthday Dad & Misc Pics

Welcome~new blogger~JANELLA

Another one has broken down and joined the growing crowd. My sister-in-law Janella, Brian's wife, has started her very own blog. I'm putting a plug in for her and giving some free advertising. Her blog address is: http://justlovinourlife.blogspot.com/ Enjoy! Just click directly on the link and it will take you there.(But don't desert me in the process - just kidd'n.)

GBS Messiah Oratorio

Mom, Lindsey, and I went to the GBS Oratorio Thursday evening. It was at the Covenant-First Presbyterian Church in downtown Cincinnati. We met Jenn and Katrin Eckert there. It was good and fun to see friends. Here are a few pics of the evening.

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GBS Oratorio 5-3-07

Too C-U-T-E

This was taken on 5/21/06 at G & G Pitcher's house. One of my favorites.

A few tidbits...

Hello! I have no great news to tell, but here I am to say hello to all. I've put some pictures on my blog recently of some specific events, but I went through some recent miscellaneous pics and have posted them for you to see.

I love the one of Lindsey playing with her doll house. It was about a week ago and I had just given her a bath. She received the doll house for Christmas but never really played with it. She went behind the couch by the back door to where a lot of her toys are and started trying to pick it up and pull it out by herself. I came to the rescue and helped her get it out. She absolutely loves it. She sat there for a good while all by herself playing with it. It is so fun to watch her develop and see her gaining new skills in life. She was babbling little sounds and having what appeared to be a great imagination with the Little People that go with the doll house. Soooo funn to watch her grow and develop into my little toddler girl. I also like the pics of Katrin and Lindsey playing with the refrigerator.

Please pray for my mother-in-law, Brinda. She is having very major ear surgery this Friday. It will be very extensive and she will be off work for three weeks.

I haven't mentioned my Mom in a while, but she still has not recovered from her shoulder replacement surgery she had on February 2nd. She can not lift her arm above her waist under her own strength at all. She went to the doctor last week for another follow up. He said that he would have an EMG, nerve test, done on it in a month if there is still no more improvement. The problems could be from the nerve block she had for pain, but we don't know that at this point for sure. It is her deltoid muscle that is not working at all. He did give her the hope that she could still see some drastic improvement in the 6, 8, 12 month post op time period. Right now she is 3 months post op. Please remember her in your prayers as well.

Good news! My Dad went back to the cardiologist on Wednesday and he is officially back on Amiodarone, the medicine that will help with his Atrial Fibrillation. This is a common heart rhythm problem. During atrial fibrillation, the heart's two upper chambers (the atria) beat irregularly or out of coordination with the two lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. He has had this problem for nearly 10 years and had it under control with medication. Earlier this year his previous cardiologist took him off of the medicine. He went to another cardiologist and had to go through a blood thinning process before he could go back on the medicine that he was removed from. He has basically been out of commission for two months, but we hope this is light at the end of the tunnel.

Until next time... Enjoy the pics!
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Misc April pics