Sunday, May 31, 2009

Quick Slideshow of our girls

Out on the Farm from Mike Shelton on Vimeo.



Mike took the girls out to a Watermark family's ranch and took some pictures with our new camera while they were out there. Enjoy :) He's the best cause I sat inside in the AC for 5 hours by myself yesterday! You can get a lot done in a couple of hours with no kiddos...... What a sweet hubby!
-Holly

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Bed Bugs.... Yuck!

I just saw this on Yahoo and thought how scary and yucky. Mike and I are both really grossed out by thought of them and we are kind of picky about where we stay in Hotels. It is different if we are in a third world country, but in the U.S. you just wouldn't think we would have a resurgence of them. Hope you don't dream of bedbugs tonight!!


The biggest bedbug outbreak since World War II has sent a collective shudder among apartment dwellers, college students and business travelers across the nation.
The bugs — reddish brown, flat and about the size of a grain of rice — suck human blood. They resist many pesticides and spread quickly in certain mattress-heavy buildings, such as hotels, dormitories and apartment complexes.
Two shelters have closed temporarily in Charlotte, N.C. , because of bedbugs, a Yahoo chat group dedicates itself to sufferers and countless bedbug blogs provide forums for news, tips and commiseration. State inspectors say that more emphasis may be needed to tackle the creatures.
Federal officials have taken notice of the resurgence. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency held its first-ever bedbug summit, and now a North Carolina congressman wants to take on the insect.
Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield just introduced legislation that would authorize $50 million that's already in the Department of Commerce budget to train health inspectors how to recognize signs of the insects.
The Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009 also would require public housing agencies to submit bedbug inspection plans to the federal government. It would add bedbugs to a rodent and cockroach program in the Department of Health and Human Services . It also would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research bedbugs' impact on public mental health.
Butterfield's letter to congressional colleagues about the legislation attracted lots of attention: It was topped with a full-color picture of the insect sitting on human skin.
"Unfortunately, in recent years, the United States has seen a resurgence in bedbugs," the letter reads. "That's right — they're back in the sack — and biting."
Bedbugs have hit hotels and homes in every state. The creatures are amazing hitchhikers, experts say, and easily travel in suitcases, boxes or packages. They can live for up to a year without food.
Apparently no state has a central reporting system for bedbugs, according to Butterfield's office, and since the bug carries no known diseases, many health departments don't consider it a public health threat.
That leaves the critters falling through the cracks among regulators, said Michael Potter , an entomologist at the University of Kentucky and one of the country's bedbug experts.
"Most health departments say, 'Hey, we don't deal with bedbugs,' " Potter said.
Those who've suffered outbreaks say that the anxiety it induces can be debilitating. Potter said many sufferers tossed out furniture and could spend thousands of dollars on repeated treatments from pesticide companies. They call him about anxiety, insomnia, shame and the incessant annoyance of itchy red welts on their skin.
"They're, like, ready to blow their brains out," Potter said. "It's emotionally distressing. Anyone that has never had a bedbug problem is not one to judge whether we're dealing with a medical, emotional public health issue."
In Congress , Butterfield first introduced his bill a year ago after hearing from a constituent who'd brought bedbugs into her home from a hotel trip. The bill died in committee last year, but Butterfield aides say they hope that higher attention will help the measure this year.
The co-sponsors include Reps. Don Young , R- Alaska , Ben Chandler , D- Ky. , Bobby L. Rush , D- Ill. , Betty McCollum , D- Minn. , Corrine Brown , D- Fla. , Steve Cohen , D- Tenn. , Brad Miller , D- N.C. , and Eddie Bernice Johnson , D- Texas .
Butterfield also has received support from the National Pest Management Association , which says that bedbug calls to pest control companies are up 70 percent in the past five years.
Greg Baumann , a Raleigh, N.C. , pest control expert and the vice president of technical services for the National Pest Management Association , said that a decade ago few pest control companies dealt routinely with bedbugs.
"Now it's everyone today," he said.
Baumann said companies could use pesticides on the bugs but that they also tried such alternatives as extreme heat, freezing and isolating the insects through mattress covers.
Since the EPA restricted the use of several effective pesticides in the 1980s, bedbugs have built resistance to the chemicals that now are on the market, said Potter, the University of Kentucky entomologist. Public education is important, he said, but the industry also needs a good insecticide.
"Whether that bill is going to solve the problem — certainly it's a start," he said.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Breech Baby....

I got to see our baby girl today on a sonogram cause she decided to move to the breech position. The doctor could tell just by feeling my stomach and then he did a sonogram to just confirm. Her feet are for sure down and her head is on my right side. My question is have any of you had a breech baby? Did the baby turn prior to delivery?
My options are:
Do these exercises every night and hope gravity will help her turn (we shall see cause she is lazy baby and very calm).
C-Section if she does not move most likely in the 38-39 week mark. I am 36 weeks today.
The doctor can manually move the baby. I know he could probably do it cause he is incredible and been in practice for 30 years. However, it will HURT and there is no way to know for sure that it will work or that she will stay in the head-down position. I was very excited about my quick 3rd child delivery! We'll just have to wait and see.

I also have a BIG baby girl this time. The sono showed that she weighed 6 lbs. 8oz. and this is 4 weeks from my due date! Ellie and Anna were both 7 lbs. at birth. I really don't think I will last till June 10th or that he would let me unless I want to have a 10 lb. baby girl! Wow... if you could see my stomach you would believe it!!! I might be brave to post one picture soon. Anyways, please let me know if you have any experience cause I don't know anyone who has done the manual turn of the baby? Thanks!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day 2009 and One Month To Go......








I am so blessed today by my awesome husband and two amazing little girls. We've had a great weekend and I am so thankful for my family! Mike and I went out for dinner on Thursday night cause we traded off with someone on baby-sitting. We used a Cheesecake Factory gift card and it was so yummy. We didn't even have Cheesecake cause we were so full which is very rare for us! Mike served me all weekend by crossing things off a "honey-do" list! The main one was getting our garage clean and organized. After, we did the tile it just got really dirty and crazy out there! It looks amazing now and I am so thankful. Today, I got to sleep in a little later than normal and when I woke up there was a balloon, flower, and snoopy card from the girls. Anna thought it was my birthday and kept asking me if I was going to get cake. It was also really sweet cause they both gave me big hugs and said "Happy Mothers Day". They've kept saying it most of the day. It was so sweet and was really the best present. We had an awesome service at Watermark and it reminded me that I have the best job in the world. I can't believe our third little girl is due in one month. I go this week for my 36 wk. appointment and we will have to see what the doctor says about when he thinks she might make her arrival. I am doing pretty good, but if I don't get enough rest I really start to get sore and exhausted. We have a lot going on until May 21st and then life slows down which will be good timing for this momma! Mike took these pictures today in our yard. Ellie loves to get her picture made, but Anna is not a fan! Happy Mother's Day to all my amazing friends and my mom and mother-in-law! Love you all!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Don't they look happy to be there?.......



I forgot I had this picture on our desktop. It is Anna's preschool class picture. They look so excited huh? I actually forgot it was class picture day and didn't dress Anna up to "cute". She also does not like having her picture taken along with her friend Grayson. He has the paci and blankie. His mom LeeAnn and I are good friends and she teaches with me. We always laugh cause most of the day Anna and Grayson are enjoying their blankie! We LOVE Anna's teacher so much and I will always have great memories of her first school experience!