Emma

Just a quick note about what happened yesterday with Emma (our oldest, 7 years old). She had a seizure around 6pm which lasted about 3 minutes, we called paramedics (we thought this had never happened to her before). She was awake but could not speak, her right side was twitching/jerking affecting from her chest upward (chest, arm, neck, cheek, and eye). After about 30 minutes her arm and chest were still numb but regaining feeling. Paramedics checked her out and she was fine, so we refused ambulance transport. They sent us to a local childrens urgent care where they in turn sent us to a local childrens hospital. They did a CT scan at the hospital and everything was normal. Around 10pm they sent us home with diastat in case she has another seizure lasting longer this time, stronger or affecting additional parts of her body. We are to call the neurologist this morning to schedule an EEG so we can hopefully figure out the cause of the seizures. We have also discovered she had her first seizure at school last week that (she just told us about). Please continue to pray for her! Thank you for all your prayers, messages and texts of encouragement. We'll keep you updated.

This is for my Mom & Dad, to show them how my toe is doing...

This was 8 days after breaking my pinky toe on my left foot.  As you can see the swelling has gone down considerably and mainly bruising is left.  

Still can't get a "real" shoe on, but hopefully in the next few days!!!  Click here for my original toe post :)  

Wordless Wednesday...I LOVE donuts

A spring/summer favorite

I'm not sure when Chick-Fil-A came out with their parfaits, but the Yogurt Parfait with Oreos & Strawberries is super yummy!  Our family loves them, but they are around $2 each, so we don't get to get them very often!  There are only 3 ingredients, vanilla yogurt, strawberries and Oreos and I thought why haven't I made these before?

For my version, I use my Pampered Chef 1 cup glass bowls, one large container of yogurt, a couple sliced strawberries, a couple crushed Oreos and start layering!  

These are a definite hit for The Livingston Family!  What are some of your favorite spring/summer treats?

Q & A: Random

Here are the last of the questions you asked, so we'll call these Random :)

1. What are some things that you did at SH that you are changing at KFBC or some things you are glad you did at SH and are going to do again at KFBC?

This is a hard question, every group is made up of different people and has different dynamics!  Our goal in student ministry is to first reach them with the Gospel of Christ, partner with parents to give them a solid biblical foundation and Christian worldview, help our students live boldly for Christ, provide opportunities for fellowship, encouragement, and accountability and to be transparent and real in front of them!  Love God, Love People :)

2. What has been one of your most embarrassing moments?

Probably recently when I broke my toe at church.  Not only did I break it in front of a bunch of students and adult leaders, but in the middle of our youth service!  I could not put any pressure on it, so I had to use a wheelchair and the elevator to get me to the car, we were up 3 flights of stairs and across 2 buildings in the youth room!  Having to explain my clumsiness story to the urgent care staff (receptionist, nurse, doctor, x-ray tech), then again to the orthopaedic staff (receptionist, nurse, doctor, x-ray tech, doctors assistant) was awesome too :/  And the fact that I have crutches and a foot boot for a broken toe!

3.What is a dream of yours that you want to pursue? What's holding you back from it if you haven't started yet? If you have started pursuing it, where do you want to go with it next?
Wow, what a question!  I'd have to say I eventually want to go back to school and finish my degree.  Jody and I got married just before our third year in college.  I had decided to take a semester off and never went back :( Although I definitely see the importance of a college education in our society today, I'm not planning on going back to work once I do finish my college education.  My greatest impact at this point in my life is on our kiddos and we feel it is very important for me to stay at home with them now, to teach and grow them :)  Jody and I are planning on me staying home with our kiddos until they are much older, maybe then I'll go back to work with my degree?!  I know it is a privilege for me to be able to stay at home with them and am very thankful that I am able to do so :)

Q & A: Marriage

These are answers to the questions you asked concerning marriage, read here from my original post!  My answers are shorter, is that a bad thing?!

1. How did you and Jody meet?

Jody and I met at a Judgement House (Youngsville, NC) in October of 1998.  He was attending college (SEBTC), and I had a friend who was attending the same college.  She was asked to go to the Judgement House with a group of friends from school, she didn't know them really well and asked me to go with her.  We were in a group of about 20 people that night.  We talked on the phone, Instant Messenger and group dated/hung out for a few months, we actually started dating in March 1999 :)  We were engaged in February 2000 and 6 months later (August) we were married!!! 

2. How did your brothers like Jody when the two of you started dating?
I guess they liked him ok, never heard anything bad, my parents liked him right away too, in fact everyone loved Jody instantly:)

3. What is your favorite thing about being married?
Probably knowing that there is always someone there to love you no matter what, (despite the fact that you don't look the same and things have shifted a bit ;), to encourage you and to push you when you need it, even when you don't want to!

It's just a toe...

So I was moving a chair Sunday night at church (heavy & bulky) and went to step around it and caught my left pinky toe. I am naturally clumsy and have broken toes in the past, so I knew from the intense pain it was probably broken. Since we were still in our youth service I just sat down in my seat and tried really hard not to cry. I took my sandal off, looked at my toe and knew something wasn't right (the first picture).

Now, as you can see from the next picture this is how my right foot and toes look.  When the service was done I asked Jody to come over and help me, he came over, I told him I "stubbed" my toes, he looked down and said we probably need to go have that looked at.  I agreed and to make a long story short I ended up at urgent care.  They took a number of x-rays and in fact my toe was broken (I "stubbed" the toe next to it as well and thought I may have done something to my foot, thus all the x-rays).  Basically it was a large fracture (almost completely across) very close to the joint that joins your toe to your foot in my left pinky toe and that's why my toe was bent outward.  They numbed up my toe/joint/foot and the doctor pushed it back in place (set it) then took more x-rays to make sure it was set properly.  The doctor wasn't confident that the bone would stay in place because of the way it was broken and because it was my pinky toe.  So he referred me to an orthopaedic doctor to ensure I didn't need a pin to keep it in place.  They buddy taped 3 of my toes together, put a boot on my foot and gave me crutches.  I was told to be extremely careful until I saw the orthopaedic to ensure it stayed set, absolutely no walking without my crutches and the boot had to stay on!  Since I'm allergic to Ibuprofen they gave me vicodin (not a big fan because of all the side effects) for pain.  I had an appointment the very next morning with the orthopaedic where they took even more x-rays.  The Orthopaedic thought it did not require a pin at this time, but I had to keep it taped for the next 3-4 weeks.  I am to wear the foot boot as well as use the crutches for a while, crutches until I felt comfortable walking and wasn't really painful!  They will take more x-rays to ensure it has healed properly at my appointment in 4 weeks.

I tell this story to say that even though I've broken a few bones before (my other pinky toe a few times, a finger and a thumb), it's always good to go to the doctor to make sure it isn't more serious!  Although it's very frustrating having to use my crutches to get around and having to rely on others so much for our everyday life, I am very thankful that my injured toe wasn't more serious and especially that it did not require surgery and a pin!!!

Q & A: Kiddos

These are answers to the questions you asked about children from my original post :)

1. How does it feel to know that you are done having babies? Do you wish you would have more?

Well, since we wanted 4, I knew there was an end in sight (pregnancy-wise).  I love my kiddos, but I did NOT love being pregnant.  I had a difficult pregnancy with Emma, was on complete bedrest for the last few weeks due to pre-eclampsia.  I had a miscarriage (at 9 weeks) after Emma, my next 2 pregnancies weren't too bad, pretty normal.  My pregnancy with Jack was also difficult, I started having contractions pretty early (20 something weeks), had an abnormal amount of back & hip pain (we found out later because he was turned funny and putting pressure on those areas) and was absolutely miserable at the end.  I knew at that point we were done having any more biological children!  Jody & I are open to the possibility of more children in the future, but as long as I don't have to birth them :)  I believe my body has said enough after 5 pregnancies!!!  With every pregnancy I was sicker longer.  I was sick with Jack until almost 18 weeks and then the sickness came back towards the end :(  One thing I do miss about being pregnant is feeling the baby move and kick, I was always sad after having each baby when that feeling was gone :(

 2. What made you want to have 4 children?

Jody & I talked about kiddos when we were dating, we both wanted 4. Even in high school I wanted 4 children, I don't really know why the magic number was 4, I guess we wanted an even number so everyone always had someone to play with?!  We both like larger familes and I have always loved kiddos (I babysat constantly when I was younger) and I knew I wanted more than 2 :)  I am the oldest of 3 and Jody has a half brother (15 years younger than him).  My dad has a large family and we just love the dynamics of a big family, always something going on and you stay busy!

3. What is the most difficult thing about having 4 kids? Easiest?

The hardest thing about having 4 kiddos is probably dividing my time and spending enough quality time with each child, but I believe every Mom has this problem!  The easiest thing about having 4 kiddos is there is always a "helper" around! 

4. How on earth do you keep up with all the laundry? What is your system for staying on top of it?

Laundry.  I very much mind doing laundry.  It is one of my least favorite duties as a Mom!  Each bedroom has a laundry basket, plus Jody & I have a separate one in each of our closets.  On Mondays I have the girls get all the dirty laundry from all the baskets upstairs, they love to throw it down the stairs!  I sort it and start.  I try hard to get all the laundry done that day.  Then I keep up with it throughout the week.  I do not do laundry on the weekends unless I absolutely have to.  Since I'm home majority of weekdays I prefer to get any and all housework done during the week and not when Jody is off work or Emma is home from school.  Generally I do all the folding, separating and putting away.  We are working hard to get the girls to put their laundry away by themselves, but it either ends up in the dirty clothes, in a pile on top of their dressers or shoved in a corner! 

Wordless Wednesday...Jodys Handy Work :)

Q&A time...

A friend of mine did this a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd try it out too :)  
Here's your chance to ask me any question and I'll answer them!  
About kiddos, pregnancies, being a youth pastor's wife, being a stay-at-home mom, moving to Georgia, etc.!  
Just leave your question as a comment and in a few days I'll answer them!!!  
This won't be any fun if you don't ask any questions, I won't have anything to answer... So ask away!!!

Sisters

Jody snapped these pictures a few days ago of the girls. Emma wanted to go outside and draw and of course the sisters had to come along too :) This bench is in the front yard, in our flower bed, it has become a favorite seat for the girls!!!

Outside

Since we've been outside so much lately I thought I'd share our outside space! I do believe I forgot to add the outside pictures to my original posts about the house, so here's the backyard!

Look closely and you can see my "mini" vegetable garden! I was afraid that Jake would dig up all my veggies if I planted a garden in the ground :) We planted green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. My dad is starting some basil, rosemary and other herbs for me to grow next time they come visit! I can't wait to eat all my fresh veggies!!!

Back deck directly behind the kitchen, my table and chairs fit perfectly here!!! Oh and i can't forget our Hummingbird feeder...

Mom and I planted this flower box full of flowers when they were here a week or so ago! You can see it from our kitchen window :)

This is the view from my vegetable garden of the screened in part of the back deck.

From the backyard looking at the gazeebo, which is attached to the screened in porch through a doorway. This is our favorite outside space! There are even lights on the inside of the gazeebo and we strung up some porch lights along the inside of the screened in porch :) I wish I could show you this at night!!!

And this is the view from the side of the house walking towards the back deck! There were tons of leaves plastered to the ground, hence the spotty grass, we are hoping to seed the yard this week :)

And the way backyard, a ton of ivy and leaves cover the ground, the front took us days to get the leaves, twigs and sticks up, so we decided to leave them alone for now!

What are your favorite places to be outside?

Re-purposing, my FAVORITE

I've had these picture frames for years. I kept them thinking we could use them somewhere sometime so I kept them...Jody and I have been out looking for artwork for our dining room, but it was so expensive for just one piece! I had an aha moment and thought what about all those pictures!!! Well, the pictures didn't match anything in the dining room, so I took out the pictures and painted the frames with some black paint I already had. We had bought a large mirror at Ross a few months back for another room (great deal), decided to use it in the dining room instead and it was in a black frame too :) A few weeks ago Snapfish & Walgreens were running specials on prints and posters, perfect timing! I took some recent pictures of the kiddos, transferred them to black & white and blew them up! Instant artwork!!! Here are the finished pieces arranged together in a collage since none of the frames were the same size! I'm not a great photographer and the pictures I took make the artwork look crooked on the wall, I promise we used a level :)

And this one is a 16 x 20 print on another wall :)

We also took a dresser we weren't using and painted the handles black to match the rest of the dining room decor :) We bought 2 lamps at WalMart to go on the "dresser" for lighting and a rug to go underneath the dining room table (since it's brand new carpet) at a place here called Garden Ridge, great stuff at low prices, and voila a complete dining room :) I'm so happy with the way it turned out!!! I love re-purposing, thanks to a friend who showed me how easy and fun!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Easter 2010: Part 4

These are the last pictures of Easter 2010! I woke up during the night (Easter morning) very sick with either food poisoning or a virus (still not sure what I had). Jody had the sunrise service, 8:30 service, sunday school and the regular 11:00 service so it was a good thing my parents were here! They got all the kiddos up, fed and dressed for church. I got up just in time to get a shower and get to church. Here are some of the pictures my parents took of the kiddos before church!

When we got home from church I went straight back to bed while my parents and Jody fixed Easter dinner. I came downstairs once that afternoon and ended up back upstairs only to wake up at 7am Monday morning! I am so very thankful for my parents being here, they helped us out a ton!!! Here are some pictures of them and Jack at the hunt...

Thanks Mom & Dad!!!