The day it all changed

I have been waiting until I had a good 15 minutes of typing time before I got into it about my sweet daughter. The younger kids are napping and the older kids are watching a movie. I'm hoping they will go to sleep as well. We have been outside all day and everyone needs a nap. Anyway I am wasting my time...go figure.

Right after Janessa turned 4, she became very sick. Within six weeks she had been through 3 rounds of antibiotics, 2 penicilin shots and douced with many other drugs. The doctors said she had just a cold, then the flu, then an intestinal virus. She had strep throat for 3 weeks straight. She was drinking all the time (strep..they said), wetting the bed all of a sudden (because she was drinking all the time because her throat hurt...they said) and had major mood/behavior swings. I was 8 months pregnant with Carson and we were going on a min-vacation. I took her to the doctor and they gave her the second shot of pencilin. She was so sick.... She was OK the first two days of the trip, but then was barely able to hold her head up. We came home from the trip and Vernon took her to the doctor the next day. I had to go to work, because I had missed so much.

Vernon was waiting at the door when the staff arrived for the day. He insisted that they take Janessa right back and figure out what was wrong. He was explaining it all to a nurse (rather loudly I'm sure) when another nurse was walking by. That nurse suggested a blood check. Janessa's blood sugar was over 500 (normal is 80-150) and we had our answer. Janessa was diagnosed with type 1 Juvenile diabetes and our whole world turned upside down.

Janessa was rushed to the hospital. By the time she go there, her blood sugar was close to 800. They said if we had waited much longer then she probably wouldn't have made it. She was so sick, but with one shot of insulin you could tell she felt better. We both cried the first time I gave her a shot and I had to ask the nurse to leave. I just held her and rocked her and we both balled our eyes out. Boy, have we come a long way.

Well, I have to go dry up my tears...more later.

Smiles and blessings,
Tina

Our "son"

So, it has been brought to our attention that some of Vernon's family are having a hard time with the fact that we call Anthony our son....

A little background - Anthony was living with his grandparents and got kicked out. His biological mom called Vernon to come get him and helped him pack his stuff. Vernon picked him up and brought him home. We sat him down and told him that if he was going to be a part of this family, it was going to be all the way. There would be no getting out. He would be given certain responsibilities and privelages and we would expect him to withhold his end of the deal and behave as a member of this family. He would be on the same level as our other children and he would treat us with the upmost respect. After we obtained full legal custody, (His dad signed over custody and he was emancipated from his mom and then he declared Vernon and I as his legal guardians) we sat him down again. We told him that now that he was a member of this family, he was in it for good. He could never do anything bad enough to get "kicked" out and we would love him unconditionally. But he would be expected to act like a member of this family and be someone the younger ones could look-up too (The model of good behavior).

Well, I feel as if we deserve to be considered more than Aunt and Uncle. Aunts and Uncles don't normally provide their nephews with a roof over their heads, food on their plates, water to bathe with and heat or AC to stay warm or cool everyday. They don't teach them to drive, take them for their licenses and then let them drive the only family transportation that holds the whole family. They don't hold them when they are close to tears after totaling out the truck and help them get their own vehicle. They don't put their name on the insurance policy and pray for the best. Aunts and Uncles are usually not the only ones to sit through long awards ceremonies, but know it's worth it when his named is called. They're not the ones to break bad news or hold them when they cry over deaths in the family. Aunts and Uncles usually don't see their nephews off to prom and slip them money for dinner. They're not the ones to stay up late most nights waiting for their nephew to get home from work and worrying when he is a little late. They don't sit down with an Army recruiter and watch as their nephew makes a huge commitment that will effect his whole future and Aunts and Uncles are usually not required to sign too. They don't pay all their school dues and pay for their cap and gown. They don't see them off to graduation and have him come home to them. Aunts and Uncles are not the only ones to show up to see him off to boot camp where noone will see him for 9 weeks. And Aunts and Uncles are not the only ones planning a trip to see him graduate from boot camp and become of a member of the United States Army...

We are much more than just an Aunt and Uncle, but we are not his bioloigical parents. Whatever he wants to call us if fine, but don't get mad at me if I refer to him as my son.

Summer vacation thus far.

Wow, what a busy summer. We have been running and running. This week I decided we would take it easy, but we still ended up at the free movies today and then had lunch at Burger King. This is the third movie trip, plus we have frequented the library and Newnan Utilities Park (we love the sprinklers). We have also done Backyard Bible Study with our church and Vacation Bible School at a friend's church. The kids are having a blast, but I'm ready to slow it down a bit. We do have this huge yard, trampoline, play pools, swingset and a lake....... I am making a resolution to enjoy some more "home" time this summer!!!

Letters in the mail

We got another letter in the mail today from Anthony. It is so weird to anxiously wait for mail these days. I am so use to getting instant gratification when I want to hear from someone by picking up the phone and calling. Or at the least, using email. I hardly ever am anticipating mail like I am now. We are constantly waiting for letters from Anthony and now from Janessa too. She is at Girl Scout horse camp this week.

The letter said he is doing well. He actually seems to enjoy some of the training he is doing. Or at least he's trying to convince us he's enjoying it. I haven't quite figured it all out yet. He is graduating from boot camp on August 1st and we are planning a vacation around it. I am excited to see him. After graduation, we wont be able to see him again until December, but he will be able to talk on the phone more then.

His address is listed below if anyone wants to write him.
Anthony Garner
ACO 2nd BN
39th INF 4th PLT
10402 Hampton Parkway
Ft. Jackson, SC 29207

Write a #4 on the back of the envelope to speed up the sorting process.

Smiles and blessings,
Tina

From the beginning....

So this is what I was orignially trying to write in the "about me" section....

Hi! I am first and formost, Tina. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that I do exist outside of being someone's wife or mother...

But I am married to a wonderful husband and the best father in the world. We are actually about to celebrate ten years!!! Vernon works so hard to take care of us, so I can stay home. He loves us with all his heart and I love watching him be a father to our children. He blesses me daily.

Together we have 3 children. We also adopted our nephew as our child two years ago. I will start with him, because I think it is so important that everyone realizes how much he is a part of this family. Anthony is almost 19. He joined the Army during his Senior year of High School and left for Boot Camp 6 days after graduation. We miss him terribly, but are so proud of him. We also have Janessa, our one and only daughter. She is 9 years old and is our beacon of light (especially with all that white-blond hair.) We also have two younger sons. Carson is 4, almost 5 and Brayden is 3. They are only 15 months apart. After Janessa was born, we wanted another baby right away. After 1 miscarriage, I couldn't get pregnant again. After trying two years and finally going on ovulation-type drugs, we had Carson. Boy was he a pray answered. Just a few months later, we found out we were pregnant again. What a pleasant shocker! He is our constant reminder that God is in control of lives, not us and that we work on His time, not ours. And we really prefer it that way. We thought Brayden was the perfect completion of our family, but God had other plans. We usually jokingly tell people that Janessa is our honeymoon baby, Carson is our fertility drugs baby, Brayden is our "God showing us he's in control" baby and Anthony chose us. But really it is all true and we are so very thankful that Anthony did choose us!

Well, I have spent way too much time on the computer this morning and I am going to go play with my kids.

Smiles and Blessings,
Tina

Where it all begins.....

So, I'm finally getting on the bandwagon. It seems that so many I know are starting blogs. So, here I go.

Actually, I'm really excited to start a blog. I'm hoping this turns out to be a great way to document all the going on's in our daily lives that we tend to forget, but are so important.

We will see how things go......