Extreme Makeover Home Edition

I am so excited for the McFarland family and my Estridge friends. What an amazing opportunity to be a part of Extreme Makeover Home Edition! I'm not sure when it will actually air but if my sources are correct I think it might be the last episode in May. You can find updates on www.estridge.com. This link is just to the right if you want to check it out now. They have some cool pics to check out and a profile of the family. I am so bummed that I wasn't able to help out. My untimely ankle injury prevented me from being able to volunteer. Oh well, they had plenty of volunteers anyway. I can't wait to see my friends on tv. Even more, I can't wait to see the reaction of this family. Very exciting! 

Sweet Miya

Updated pics of Miya w/ Grammy and Grandpa. She is so adorable! 

Florida Excitement

Well, I'm back from an exciting trip to Florida. Mike wanted to go down for bike week so I decided to tag along so I could see Miya and the rest of the family. I'll post some pics from bike week later. Mike has them on his laptop. We had the best time people watching on Saturday. There were some interesting sights. We tried to go Friday but I had a clumsy moment and had to make a trip to the ER instead. I'm fine but not very graceful. We thought it was broken but it's just a sprained ankle. While in the ER, it was quite entertaining. The woman across from us was no doubt on something. She confessed to 2 beers and 8 shots but didn't mention any drugs. They were testing her for it anyway and someone on the staff commented that they were already sure of the results. This was all before 4:00pm. She came in because her boyfriend beat her up. It was like watching an episode of Cops. She was crazy!!! I felt so bad for the doctor. She is evidently a regular. She was refusing treatment and stealing wheelchairs from other people saying she was going home. She must have been paralyzed from the thigh down because she was crawling around everywhere but had no control of the bottom half of her legs. She was smearing blood from her knees everywhere. It was so gross but we couldn't stop laughing. Carol, Melissa and Miya were with me. Two cops eventually escorted her out of the ER. We saw her again, along with the officers, as we were leaving though. She was far enough away from me and one of the officers so I started laughing again as I waited for the car to come around. She was so erratic. The officer noticed me trying not to laugh and he ended up laughing along with me. He said he never has a boring day. I didn't doubt it.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hopefully all of you are able to spend some quality time with your sweethearts today. It's a great time to remember all the things we appreciate about them. Below is a short list of things that make me smile when I think of my husband. 

• His smile...I love that it's just a little bit crooked. It's like a cute little smirk. Very sexy! I wish he'd show it in pictures more. 
• I love that he genuinely appreciates me. He always makes me feel beautiful, even when I know I could look better.
• I love how important family is to him. Family is everything! Nothing else matters without it.
• His generous heart...He enjoys helping people down on their luck but doesn't want praise for it. He would prefer they never knew it was him at all. 
• He's smart...I love listening to his perspective on things.
• His humor...He's always making up jokes and they're actually really funny. I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. We both enjoy sarcasm. lol
• He's passionate...He stands up for what he believes in, even when it's against the grain. I admire and respect him for that. 
• He's protective...He will do whatever he needs to do to protect his family. He'll be a wonderful dad someday.
• He's always happy to see me when he gets home. Especially lately! hehe
• And, even though I could go on and on, I love that he longs for a child as much as I do but is very level headed about the process. He keeps us both grounded.

I love him, always and forever!

Renewed love of reading

Does anyone have any good books they can recommend? I don't know what got into me but I have a renewed love for reading lately. It's probably because I actually have the time to do it now without neglecting other things I want to do. I've already read all of the Twilight books. Of course, I liked them enough to read them all over again. I especially liked the last two books, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. If some of you haven't read these books yet, I definitely recommend them. The Left Behind series is good too. Anyway, I'd appreciate any good suggestions. Thanks! 

Kyla, Autumn and Maddison

Here is a more updated picture of Kyla and Autumn. This picture was at Maddy and Autumn's birthday party at Chucky Cheese this past August. It's hard to believe that Maddison and little Autumn are the same age. They're only 2 days apart. Kyla, the one in the middle, is about year older. Maddison loves these girls! 

Thoughtful Friend

I am so grateful to have such thoughtful friends. It almost makes me feel guilty because I'm not sure I would even think to do some of the thoughtful things some of them have. Jess called me the other day and invited me to go along with her to her sonogram appointment. She is almost 31 weeks pregnant now and she thought I might want to see what it was like since it is an experience I won't have with adoption. She's been here with me through all the up and down emotions I've had during my fertility treatments so she knew the things I mourned. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first. I warned her that I wasn't sure what my reaction might be. I wanted to be excited and happy but I was terrified that I'd just start crying remembering my last sonogram. It was actually quite exciting to see. They used the new 4D technology and it was amazing how clear everything was. You could see every feature. He or maybe she has her daddy's feet. They are keeping the sex of the baby a surprise so we just had pictures of the babies face, hands and feet. I was so relieved that it wasn't painful. It was a great experience that I'm glad she shared with me. This is actually baby number 4 for Bill and Jess. Their kids are beautiful! Attached is a picture of them with the first two, Kyla and Autumn. That pic is a few years old now so the girls are a bit older than they are in this picture. The second pic is of Delaney. She is the youngest. I took this pic of her at the Indianapolis Children's Museum this past fall. She's the cutest little crab!