Alex's New Toy Story Bedroom

Hey Guys--This is going to mainly just be pics for the grandparents to see the progress on Alex's new Toy Story big boy bedroom!! It's not complete, but it is getting there finally :p Enjoy the pics :) Lindz

Alex is standing on his big boy bed to show you Buzz and Woody!! He was sooooo excited.

This is Alex with his Kohl's stuffed Woody, Buzz, and Rex (they were only $5 each--I love a good deal)!! Yes, above him are educational posters--sorry I can't just stop being a teacher.

This is just to show you the decals above the window and the tent and poster. No one was in the mood to pose--we were all hungry :)

Little man's patio table and chairs (Izzie seems to like them too :)

Can we say happy daddy?!?!

It's Been a While

Hello again. I was looking back over my blog and noticed that I haven't posted anything in a while. No, I did not finish the Christmas Challenge. Let me explain why. I had a beautiful baby girl on Aug 3, 2009. After a few months, I didn't want to admit it, but I knew that something was wrong with me. I wasn't feeling quite right--not sleeping well, no appetite one day and a huge one the next, no energy, anxious a lot, stressed out all the time, and really sad thoughts. I finally decided that I needed to go talk to a counselor at church because in my mind I was just not happy. I thought that I was doing something wrong and making myself this way. I got an appointment and went and spoke with an awesome lady. She basically reassured me that I was normal, but that I really needed to go see a psychiatrist or my obgyn. She couldn't officially diagnose me with anything since she is a lay counselor, but she thought that I had post partum depression and anxiety.

Well, all of this really hit the fan around Thanksgiving. Little man had pneumonia and a fever for 2 weeks--the week before Thanksgiving and the week of Thanksgiving. I was going stir crazy having to stay home, and it didn't help my situation. Around Dec. 11 is when we found out about the diagnosis. I started on zoloft a few days later. I don't know, I guess I thought it would be some kind of magic pill, and I would wake up feeling magically better about myself, my kids, and my situation. Sadly, that did not happen. I went through several weeks of horrible side effects--physically shaking, severe anxiety, deep sadness, thoughts of wanting to die, etc.

At the beginning of January, I was able to get in with an awesome doctor at Emory University. She specializes in post partum depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental illnesses like these. She has formally diagnosed me with post partum depression, anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and OCD. Let me just say, when she told me all of that I nearly fell on the floor crying. Why am I so messed up? What have I done wrong? Why can't I fix this? I will never be able to fix all of this. The hundreds of questions that I didn't have answers for kept running through my head. Though I now had a diagnosis, I didn't really know where to go from here. I wasn't sure how to "cure" all of these things. During all of that time, I had continued to speak with my church counselor weekly, take an anti-depressant daily, and take anti-anxiety pills as needed.

I would love to say that I am writing this today (2 months later) and things are peachy, but that's not the case. Yes, things are on the up and up, but I am still struggling. January was extremely rough. My beyond wonderful husband had to take 1/3 of his vacation days in January just to stay home and take care of our kids and me because I was not able too. He also had to work from home several days to just be there in case I needed him. Words can not express how amazing he is and continues to be. He is my rock and my safe place. Thank you Lord for giving me to him and him to me. I also had the help of my loving mom. She would drive over from Alabama and help out during the week with the kids, house chores, and me. I know that many of my other friends have helped too, and we wouldn't have survived without them.

As for today, I am still having several panic attacks a week, but thank the Lord they are getting fewer. I have still not conquered my feelings of being overwhelmed to the point of feeling paralyzed sometimes. This is the thing that frustrates me the most. If you know me personally, then you know that I am a very driven person. I like to make to-do lists and get things done. Basically, what I have come to realize is that I am not perfect and nor will I ever be perfect. My house is not perfect nor will it ever be perfect. I can not live up to the insane expectations that I have in my head for myself. I have to take things one day, one hour, one minute at a time.

While I have been going through all of this, I have realized one extremely important fact. I am not alone. Yes, I have James and my family, but I don't mean that. I mean even when I have felt alone or isolated I haven't been. God has always been there to listen and take care of me even when I didn't acknowledge Him. The poem below perfectly describes my situation.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,

that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."

Mary Stevenson

I would love to say that throughout all of this I have put my faith in the Lord and let Him guide me. I have not always turned to Him during this time, but He has never left my side or forsaken me. He has taught me more about Himself and who He wants me to become from this trial in my life. This journey is far from over, and thank you Father for carrying me this far.

Lindsey

Challenge #2 Finally Completed!!

Woohoo!! I have finally completed challenge #2!! When I started this challenge, I did not think that it would take me this long to complete it. Here was the email that I received.

Today we will test your craftiness. Please visit http://cubeecraft.com/genre/pop-culture/

There, you will find several pages of paper craft designs, with over 240 options ranging from Indiana Jones to Storm Troopers to characters from the Princess Bride. You need to find at least 3 of these designs that you like and build them. Your progress and final results should be photographed and chronicled on your blog.

I completed the first character in 1 night as shown in the picture below.



Then I got busy preparing for a friend's baby shower. Tonight I was able to make the other two. So my question to you is....

Who would win in a celebrity death match between
John Locke from Lost,
Brain from Pinky and the Brain,
or
Dwight from The Office?

My money is on Dwight!!

Challenge #4

Well, I have completed and passed challenge #4!! Woohoo!!! Here are the details of the challenge. I was to find a box that was at least 4 inches x 3 inches x 8 inches. I had 1 day (Friday) to hide the box somewhere in the house, and James had 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) to locate the box. He looked and looked and looked with no luck. When he finally decided that he couldn't find it, I told him where it was.

So where do you think I hid it? .....







Any guesses? .....







It was in the dryer wrapped in a t-shirt!!! Go Lindsey, Go Lindsey!! This was a fun challenge because it gave James and I something to do together. We had a good time taunting each other about who was gonna win. Well, I have received Challenge #5, and I am starting to work on it. Wish me luck!!

Christmas Pics for 2009

I wanted to share this year's Christmas pics. Enjoy!!

My sweet little man.

My beautiful little girl.

Too sweet!!

Peek-a-boo

So serious :(

There's our happy girl :)

Daddy and Little Girl

Wow!! We are all actually looking good. No weird faces.

Me and Little Man

Little Man and Daddy

The Whole Family

Challenge #3

Well, I am still working on Challenge #2. It is a little more difficult. Here were the directions that I received for Challenge #2.

Today we will test your craftiness. Please visit:

http://cubeecraft.com/genre/pop-culture/

There, you will find several pages of papercraft designs, with over 240 options ranging from Indiana Jones to Storm Troopers to characters from the Princess Bride. You need to find at least 3 of these designs that you like and build them.

Your progress and final results should be photographed and chronicled on your blog.

Back to my post :) So I have made one of the dolls. It took me a while to cut it out and to assemble. You will have to come back to my blog to see what 3 I picked. That's a little cliff hanger for ya!! I have already completed Challenge 3 though. They sent me the following email:

Black Lily,

Decode the attached barcode to complete Challenge #3.

Good luck!

The barcode to the left was attached to the email. It wasn't a normal UPC code. After a lot of research, I found out that it is a 2-d barcode called a QR barcode. I found a website that would decode it for me. Once it was decoded, it gave me a web address to go to. Here is what I found at the web address.

I will post again once I have completed Challenge 2. Have a great day.

Where do I begin?

Well, this is my first ever blog and post. I am excited to see where this will lead. I started the blog because my husband signed me up for something called the "Christmas Challenge 2009." I got an email tonight that told me the following:

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Congratulations! You have been nominated and selected as a participant in the 2009 Christmas Challenge.

Over the next 25 days, you will complete 25 daily challenges of varying difficulty. With every successful challenge, you will be one step closer to reaching the end. However, with every failed challenge will come both a replacement challenge and a penalty task, both of which will have to be completed to continue.

You are not competing against anyone else in the Christmas Challenge. Instead, your opponents will be the challenges themselves, and you will find that some (such as today's) are trivial, while others are far from it.

At the end of the Christmas Challenge, you will be evaluated and given a score. This score will be based on both objective and subjective factors such as accuracy, speed, creativity, obedience to the rules, etc. With this score you can judge how well you performed in this year's challenge, and, should you be selected for future challenges, gauge this year's performance against future challenges as well.

So, without further ado, let us begin.

**Rules**

First, we must establish a few rules:

-- All rules, once given, are in effect throughout the challenge unless otherwise stated.

-- You may not question anyone about the Christmas Challenge.

-- You may not question anyone about their or anyone else's involvement in or knowledge of the Christmas Challenge.

**Task #1**

Your first task is a simple one. You must sign-up for and create a blog.

All of your challenge-related activities must be documented in your blog. If it isn't documented, it does not count. Obviously, the more detail, the better.

Good luck, and congratulations again on beginning your journey!

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So--as you can see I had to start a blog in order to complete my first mission. It has taken me a while to get the blog started and now I am about to fall asleep so I am heading to bed. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings and what mission awaits me!! Until tomorrow this is the Black Lily signing off. (Black Lily is my code name for the missions :)