4/22 Allison Makes HHS Cheerleading!

I don't have any pictures of this because:

1. It was closed tryouts.

2. We were in Nashville with Ella Kate for her procedure.

3. Mom, I just don't want you to take a picture.

Anyway, Allison is now an official Hopkinsville High School Cheerleader for the 2009-2010 year! She's following in my footsteps! I'll be sure to post tons of pictures once the football season starts in August. It will be here before you know it.

Also, the HHS cheer squad has been invited to perform at halftime of the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day! How exciting! It looks like we may be spending New Year's in Jacksonville! I'll update more on that when I find out more.

4/22 Ella Kate's Stints Are Removed at Vanderbilt

Ella Kate had the stints that were implanted during her surgery in February removed. The procedure went well, but she had a hard time waking up after surgery. I found out that redheads are harder to put to sleep, harder to wake up, and bleed more. Who knew?? Also, when they do wake up they are MEAN!! Luckily, Ella Kate was not too bad. She just wanted something to drink because she had gone about 17 hours without anything to eat or drink. She goes back on May 20th for another check-up and hopefully that will be our last visit for a while. She's not crying in the photo below because she's at the hospital. She's crying because she wanted my camera. I have quite a few pictures like this all of a sudden! Love Puppy is waiting for her to wake up!

4/18 Happy First Birthday, Mia Emerson!

Ella Kate and I helped her little friend, Mia Emerson, celebrate her first birthday. Mia was a little overwhelmed but soon dove into her birthday cake which was the cutest thing ever! Mia has an older sister who is 14 days younger than Allison and Mia is 18 days younger than Ella Kate. The party was a big hit and Ella Kate had a great time!

4/12 We spent Easter with a sick baby girl!

Our Easter this year was spent at home with a very sick baby girl. Ella Kate had a viral infection with a very high fever. She missed out on all the Easter egg hunts, family gatherings, and church. The above picture is the 2nd day she ran a fever. I know, you should leave sick babies in their pajamas, but I just couldn't. I had been so excited about her wearing her new "Easter" outfits that I just had to put them on her. The below picture is the weekend before she got sick.

The below picture was taken on Good Friday, the day we took her to the Dr. the first time. Bless her heart she felt terrible.

The day before Easter I went to my mom & dad's with Kyle & Allison while Scott stayed home with Ella Kate. Here is my brother, Bobby, Kyle, Kyle's girlfriend, Leslie-Ann, and my nephew playing with my brother's new cornhole game.

Here are my sister Jennifer's 3 children, Emma, Ethan, & Eli getting ready to hunt Easter eggs and Nannie and Grunt's (my parents).

Kyle, Bobby, and my dad hit golf balls while the kids were hunting eggs and every now and then one of them would pick up a golf ball and think it was an egg.

Allison's Easter basket

Ella Kate's Easter basket.

Kyle & Leslie-Ann's Easter baskets.

Here Allison and Ella Kate are looking through their Easter baskets. Ella Kate was born 3 days before Easter last year, but was in the NICU. So this is the first time she has really gotten to celebrate Easter and then she got sick. Bless her heart.

Allison and Scott on Easter morning. I stayed home with Ella Kate while they went to church and then over to Scott's parents. Scott is the music director at church so he had to be there. Don't they look nice?

Kyle & Leslie-Ann

Allison, Ella Kate, and Kyle

Allison & Kyle

This is what Ella Kate would have worn if she had gotten to go on Easter Sunday and not been sick. Let me tell you about the deal I got on this dress. This dress is from Strasburg and it is in stores now for well over $100.00! I got this dress on ebay for $35.00!! It was new without tags and is gorgeous! I was very lucky to find such a deal.

3/31 CATS Recognition

Allison received 2 Distinguised and 2 Proficient scores on her state accredited CATS testing last spring. This is a huge test and Hopkinsville Middle School makes a big deal out of it. She received a medal and a certificate. She also received points that she can add to a final grade at the end of the 9 weeks. We are very proud of you Allison!! Here is Allison with two of her friends, Shelby S. & Lexie B. They did really good too! Congratulations girls!

3/30 Ella Kate's Post-Surgery Check-Up and a visit to the Easter Bunny

Ella Kate had her post-surgery check-up with Dr. Brock on 3/30/09. We got an excellent report and she had her stints removed on 4/22/09. Since we were in the area, we decided to take Ella Kate to Cool Springs Galleria in Franklin, TN and have her picture made with the Easter Bunny. Of course, they wouldn't let you take pictures with your own camera so this is a picture afterwards. I paid $30.00 for about 8 pictures. They really know what a sucker I am for pictures. She loved the Easter Bunny!

3/22 Happy Birthday, Nannie Lois!

We had a wonderful lunch (as always) at Scott's aunt and uncle's house to celebrate his grandmother's birthday. Ella Kate, cousin McKenzi, and Jessica enjoyed the ball pit. We had great food and watched the NCAA basketball tournament.