I am sitting in bed waiting like a kid at Christmas for Dave to get home. The baseball season is so long! You would think after so many years, I would probably be used to this, but it never gets easier being apart. I actually think it's super fun for about a week or so, but then it gets hard. That's where God kicks in to give me supernatural powers to keep my head above water. If you are without your hubby, I am sure you can relate if you still have little people in the house! It's mayhem! I should seriously be doing so many other things, but my brain is just so full I wanted to sit down and write!  I love writing and putting my thoughts onto paper(well a computer screen), it really causes me to stop for however long it takes me to type on a computer (with a missing o no less) and relive each little thought and blessing in my life here in the now! The past few weeks have been so crazy I haven't been able to stop and breathe. I have worked at the pharmacy a little more than normal, been working on Matilda Jane orders in my sleep,  my sister had a baby, and started homeschooling the girls again. I thought I hated homeschooling for awhile, but it was the devil haha. I keep telling myself that anyways. When we found out last year how long Dave would be gone into the fall, we tried to withdraw the girls from school and we had already signed a years contract, so that was a little complicated. We sent them to school and that lasted a whole 2 days. I knew it wasn't what God wanted for my family. I never had a peace about it.  We talked to the school and were able to withdraw them after all... So, in perfect timing both girls came to me and said, "mom, we really miss being home schooled, and seeing daddy.." and I said, well perfect because today was your last day of school. It was easy as that. I thought they would be so sad, but I swear I have some pretty awesome kids. People say that kids need stability. There is a fine line there... Kids do need structure and stability, but where their family is there home is. I love the flexibility of homeschooling and being able to go back and forth where ever Dave is. This week was our first week and they started a homeschool program called Veritas Academy. They go on Mondays from 9-12 for math and science, and then Thursdays 9-2 for history, Bible, Latin, and phonics. I have the curriculum at home and the teachers let me know what has to be accomplished for the week. It's easy peasy. Now all we have to do, is do it! The girls have many friends in the program so they are happy as can be! This will work great so we can go down to Florida when we want to see Dave, and when it's the off season, he will actually have 6 months or so of time with them, every day, all day. Since I will have a husband all winter, school for us will kick into full gear and we will stay busy. We are known to slack while he's away. It's hard to balance it all. So when you see us out doing stuff while kids should be at school, rest assured, we get it all in, some way or another! =) and really, every day is a teachable day in some way or another for us. Today, I think we seriously could take off the rest of the year because they learned so much! =))) We have a food pantry in our town where you can volunteer to come in, help get the food bagged, and call the people out by name and walk them to their car with a weeks worth of groceries. This presents an awesome 10 minutes or so of one on one time to hear others struggles. I had all 3 girls with me and it was AMAZING. I seriously thought there was no way I would survive with Kyndall, but it was easy. She carried the bread and was the one to actually put all of their food in the car. Katie and Kylie took turns asking them if there was anything we could pray for them about, and then my sweet Katie insisted on leading us in prayer each time. Now if that doesn't make a mama happy then I don't know what will!! I cried every time hearing her pray for these people's requests and I know it had to be equally as touching to these sweet people who have fallen on hard times. It was the absolute highlight of my 8 years of being a mother. My dream for my kids is definitely that they will see that there is more to this little world we live in and be able to go outside of our bubble and serve others, and do it with great joy. If this is all I ever teach them, I think I am ok with that.

Ok one last thing..

 Can you tell we were slightly excited?

 Addison Claire Wilson Born August 21 at 11 something am. 6lbs 12 oz

She has the biggest hairbows, and the longest toes you have seen on a tiny 6 lb baby! I am in love all over again. I held her tonight and I swear, I wanted to nurse her. I felt like she was mine! I know that's probably kind of gross, but my sister and I are really close =) I kept telling my sister, I think my milk is coming in! HAHAHA. She is just precious! Keep my sis in your prayers as she learns to navigate through sleepless nights with a toddler in the house, and also that her c-section incision will heal well!! If you want to bring them dinner any time in the next coming weeks let me know. I am trying to arrange a little dinner schedule to help her out in these next few weeks!

who gets shingles when they are 32?

ME! What the heck. I knew there was a reason I felt like I had the flu..then it got worse. For about 4 days straight I had chest pain and a throbbing headache and this burning/itching on my left side. Dave kept telling me that I was working out too much and shouldn't be doing oblique exercises that they were irritating me. haha. Then, the rash/blisters appeared. Between the ridiculous amount of itching and the deep chest pain, I decided it was time to go to the Dr. Oh, and not being able to sleep for 2 nights was another indication I might need some medical attention.  Being a pharmacist, I just like to diagnose myself and I my husband thinks I am nuts=)  So I went to the doctor for like the 3rd time in my adult life and sure enough, I have shingles.  The adult form of chicken pox. FUN stuff! I probably waited too long since I have blisters on my sides already, but since the Dr. insisted I take an anti-viral I didn't argue =) I wanted to tell him so badly that studies show that if 72 hours has lapsed from the time  of the rash appearing, antivirals don't really work well. But he didn't ask, so I just kept that little tid bit of info to myself.  After all, I did make a deal with husband that I would actually go to the doctor and not diagnose myself for once. If it so happens it shortens this itching by a day then that is one less day of torture!  


So, my mom and Jill asked me... UM, don't only old people get that?? I would have normally thought the same thing, but Dave had shingles LAST summer. (That means we really are soul mates!) hahaha. 


This is what happens in case you are curious how a 30 year old gets shingles.  Skip to the bottom where it says love chelley if you don't care about the details! =)  After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus that caused the illness does not completely go away; it lies dormant in the nerve cells that run parallel to the spine. For reasons not fully understood, maybe stress... but who doesn't have some kind of stress??  the virus can become reactivated after a long period, sometimes decades. When this happens, you've got shingles, also called herpes zoster.  The biggest risk factors for reactivation are increasing age and a weakened immune system, which explains why the disease is most commonly seen in older people. However, plenty of younger people come down with shingles when -- for sometimes no apparent reason -- their immunity is low, or they are under extreme stress. I also wonder if the chicken pox vaccine is causing a higher incidence in younger adults now. I have read that it can benefit a person to be exposed to the virus throughout their life to be immune to getting this as an adult, but since no one ever has chicken pox anymore, thus the increase in young people getting it. Obviously, that's a guess on my part, but it's just a something to think about =)  Anyways, when the virus reactivates, it damages nerve cells (which is what creates the pain), then travels to the skin's surface and produces a rash and lovely blisters that itch and burn like crrrrraaazzy.  Please know, while I am kidding about how miserable I am right now, I could have something much more horrible!!! I do realize how blessed I am, with just shingles. 

I am SO lucky that Nana and Grandaddy took Kyndall to grandparent camp and it just so happens that the big girls have gymnastics camp this weekend from 9-330. So I spent the day ironing , I mean relaxing mom =) Tomorrow I will do the same, and since Dave is off I will make sure that I play up my sickness big time and take advantage of him waiting on me and helping me clean up the house. I mean, what are the chances of this ever happening again? I might as well milk it! I think God allows mom's to get sick every once in awhile because they never stop to take time to rest and sometimes it has to be a forced thing! If you get a second though, please pray this clears up quick. I am way too busy to be slowed down! Going to Indiana next week for my first Matilda Jane conference and Nakitta is coming down to watch the girls for me while I am gone, followed by Don & Sue (Gram & Pop Pop) and then... on July 28th the girls and I head back to Georgia for school. This summer has flown by.

Well, I finally have a blog that doesn't make you dizzy. The last one gave me a headache looking at it and I just couldn't figure out how to make it look all cute for the life of me! So, I enlisted a super sweet girl at Designer Blogs and she hooked me up! Now if only I had a recent family photo, it would be even better. I am not sure that is a possibility until this off season! I came up with the name of my blog through my friend Jill. It's hard to keep up with us if you don't talk to me everyday....or more like every second haha. When Dave "retired" from playing we just had no idea what was in store for our family. I wanted to work and run my own pharmacy, but the Lord quickly showed me that was not His plan! I knew deep down that Dave's heart was in baseball and that was the Lord's purpose for him. Before we knew it, he had an interview with the Toronto Blue Jays and he was offered a job as the rookie league pitching coach. We do not love the distance that separates us from one another, but we sure do feel like we are doing what we are meant to do! He absolutely loves the position he is in, and his happiness and seeing him do what he's meant to do, is very fulfilling for me if that makes sense.  When I made the tagline for my blog "joyfully living for His glory" it was very intentional. I have to remind myself to consider life and the trials pure joy.  Although happiness and joy can be present at the same time, happiness is based on material things or events, and joy, on the other hand, is from God and runs deeper.  If I teach my kids anything in life, it's to be joyful in all circumstances. The ONLY way I can teach them this is by example, so I have to be on my best behavior =))  So for now, if you are keeping up with us, the girls and I are in Florida with Dave and will be back at the beginning of August for school and work. I am going to continue working a tiny bit at Thomas Drugs and working a lot as a Matilda Jane trunk keeper!! So excited to be a trunk keeper this year for such an adorable company!!! =))) Not to mention at the end of the month I am going to be an aunt again to a sweet little girl I cannot wait to meet named Addie!! (note..I don't screen my blog for grammatical errors.. I just think and write haha.). I can't wait to love on her and of course, dress her up in some obnoxious hair bows and matilda jane.