I have no title for this blog.....

First and foremost, I know I should not complain! I am "with child" so therefore I am beyond blessed. And I totally realize that. However, that doesn't mean that I feel normal nor do I even remember what normal feels like, even after a few days of not feeling so well. So, with that being said, if you don't want to hear me whine a little, read no more. But, I do want to record this in hopes of one day when I feel NORMAL again, I can look back at this and say, "Really? I don't remember feeling like that or acting that way"................

#1. This first trimester exhaustion is KILLING me. With the first child, when I felt tired, all I had to do was crawl in bed after a long day at work and do NOTHING for the next 12 hours. And while I have a great husband who helps out more than he probably cares to admit, I'm still a mom to 2 boys who require a lot of attention. Between baths, dinner, and bedtime, I'm overwhelmed in the evenings lately due to tiredness. I just want to crawl in bed before the sun goes down and stay there until further notice.

#2. I thought I was dodging the whole "morning" sickness thing, but alas, it has paid me a visit within the past couple of days and it's showing no mercy. I've managed to down one Ensure and about a can and a half of chicken noodle soup in the past 2 days. And I've also almost drank a 2 liter of Sprite in the past 24 hours. My coworker/friend, Elaine, told me about something called Sea-Bands that you can wear for nausea. Once I wore them right, they have totally helped, but still the thought of food makes me want to hurl one of the few noodles I have eaten.

#3. It's funny how a woman's stomach has a sort of memory as to how it stretches. I don't look so big in the mornings, but by the end of the day everyday, my stomach has a baby bump that is a little big considering I'm not that far along. My bump at the end of each day is equivalent to the bump I had when I was about 4 or 5 months along with Brennan.

#4. I am hell to live with these days. If I'm not yelling about how messy the house is, then I'm having a crying spell over being so tired and having "no one who cares how I feel". Okay, yes, I admit. I can be a drama queen. What female isn't? And yes, Chad is probably reading this and nodding his head in agreement. OKAY, Chad I admit it. But that doesn't mean I feel just fine and dandy. I'm tired, I'm grumpy, I'm sick, and I'm carrying YOUR child. Were you going to say something?

#5. I mustered enough energy to bathe AND wash my hair this morning. However, I could still only manage to halfway dry my hair before pulling it back in a ponytail. If for some reason I should venture out in public within the next few days, don't judge me.

#6. I can't wait for my nesting instincts to kick in in a few months. Everybody better watch out. This house is getting shed of anything that this pregnant chick deems "junk" (whether anyone agrees with me or not) and it is going to be a happy, jolly, CLEAN home. My family better be ready.

The Military Park and "learning" experience.....

I know, I know. It's been FOREVER since I blogged, but there has been so much going on and quite frankly, I have been in bed no later than 8:30 every night for the past week.

So, last week was Spring Break for the kids around these parts. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had to work so we didn't have anything fun planned. On Thursday my friend Kelly and I decided to take our kids to eat and to the park just to get out of the house. Then we had this GENIUS idea to take them to the military park in Vicksburg on Friday. They were pretty much over it the first 10 minutes we were there. But, overall, we had a good time and the weather was beautiful. We had a picnic in the park and the kids wore themselves slap out. All in all it was a good day. Exhausting, but a good day.

Making our first trek up one of the first hills. One out of a THOUSAND. Towards the end, we just decided to drive on by all those hills......

Olivia, Allie, Brennan, and Sadie. Ethan would not cooperate for this picture. He hates the camera.

In case you can't read all of the back of his shirt, it says: WARNING: Adult Supervision Required.

Never has a truer statement been spoken.

Ethan and Brennan.

One of 5,000 trips back to the van.

Sadie and Allie.

Ethan and Sadie.

Brennan.

Brotherly love.

Kelly and Olivia and Allie.

Some of the sights.

Sadie was tired at this point. She was pouting at the bottom of the steps.

The U.S.S. Cairo---- very interesting.

Sadie must have been telling Brennan something very important from the look on her face..... I'm just not sure what she was saying.

Some pieces from the U.S.S. Cairo museum.

The cemetery of unknown soldiers.

They (ESPECIALLY my child) wanted Mrs. Kelly to read every word to EVERY sign. I think she summed it up this way: The north and the south fought and after the war everyone got along.

We broke the rules and probably the law. What sign? I didn't see the sign that said "Please fasten your seatbelts". I was just trying to keep the kids quiet without bashing my head against against the window in agony. Who cares if there were 5 kids piled up in the front of my van? I was so over it.

Again, we had fun, and I would really like to go back at some point and actually a learn a few things. I find the Civil War era to be one of the most fascinating parts about American history. I love reading and learning about things from that time period. However, there was NO learning anything other than patience on this particular day.

And moving on...... On a little side note, for the few that may not be on Facebook (but I think most are) Chad and I are expecting Miller baby #3. Yes, I know what causes that, and yes, I probably have lost part of my sanity. Chad is already talking about having a 4th. REALLY???!!!

In the midst of chaos, God still has a sense of humor....

Yes. I said it in the title........... In the midst of chaos, God still reminds us that He has a sense of humor. So, what's with those 2 pictures of our car and the broken light about you ask? Let me enlighten you to the BEGINNING of the story before I share the REST of the story.....

We've had "Goldie" for 9 years (almost). We purchased her (and no, I don't normally name my cars OR give them a gender, but for this blog entry's sake, I will) 4 months after our marriage. She was the champion of all of our married fights before and since. Chad has never spent a full night on the couch due to any fighting. However, the day this car was purchased, he spent the night on the couch and I cried because I had married such a mean man (okay, I'm over it, he's not really that mean anymore). Goldie was purchased in my immature, irresponsible, financially unsound days. I HATED Chad's T-Bird. I mean, the odometer had even quit working for crying out loud. Anyway, I will move on.... this has nothing to do with anything relating to the pictures....

So, a year after we purchased the car, I rear-ended someone in the ONLY collision I have ever been in. I ran into the back of a green Cadillac, and it caused so little damage that we didn't even call the police to report it. It just cracked the front right parking light and didn't even scuff the Caddy. So, for SEVEN, count 'em, SEVEN years I drove around with a cracked light that slowly kept cracking more with each bump I hit. We never had it repaired. However, when we got our van, Chad started driving the Camry as his main car (this was before his current job and company vehicle) so it drove him NUTS to drive around with a cracked headlight. By the way, I drove around SEVEN years with a cracked light. But Chad in all his O.C.D. ways, was determined to have the light replaced because he just couldn't STAND it!

LESS than a year ago, we paid over some serious cash to have the front light replaced. Then Chad cleaned the headlights and made Goldie look like she had when we drove her off the lot 9 years ago. Let me rephrase that............ when I drove Goldie off the lot 9 years ago. (By the way, Chad loves this car even more than I do, and I love her a lot which is why she has 225,000 miles on it and we treat her like I gave birth to her.) So, again, less than a year ago we paid some serious cash to replace the light.

Here is where God's sense of humor comes in....... Chad was craving a hamburger so decided to drive to Byram, 20 minutes down the road, for a burger. On his way home, a deer ran out in front of him. Chad slammed on the brakes, and lo and behold........... the deer caught the front right light of Goldie. Of all places. Of all things to have damage. The VERY light that I drove broken and falling apart for SEVEN years (did I mention that already?). The VERY light Chad spent money on to have replaced just a few months ago. Good money. Hard earned, cold cash. Now, I did put things into perspective. Chad wasn't hurt, there was no other body damage done, and Bambi's mom survived. After I sat and thought about it for awhile, Chad and I both had a good laugh. I really think somehow God is using this humorous situation in my life.........

Life for my family and even outside of my family's has been chaotic. Chaos has literally reigned for several weeks, and while I have been seeking God's purpose, and trying to hand it all to Him, I am still a high-strung individual. It seems like EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY around me is falling apart, and situations are occurring that have been devastating and stressful, yet God allowed Chad and I to see that in the midst of it all, God can still speak to us very AUDIBLY and show us that He has a sense of humor, and we should at least try to have one too. Because after all, God is still in control and eventually the end of the story is going to turn out just fine and everyone (who has a heart that belongs to God) will live happily ever after.

I am going to switch gears from my last few posts, and post what I stole from a friend off of Facebook. It is politically involved, but it is 100% truth. Supposedly this doctor that wrote this is from Jackson, but I'm not sure how truthful that is. Anyway, here it is:

Dear Mr. President :

During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive
shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive
brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone . While glancing over her
patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed
me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer .
And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the
result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly
acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or , heaven forbid , purchase health insurance.
It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me" .
Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care
difficulties will disappear .

Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD