Must be a new waitress

I absolutely MUST share tonight's restaurant experience with you! We all laughed so hard that our faces were red enough to hide our embarrassment.

My parents met us out at Denny's for dinner tonight. We go there about once a week so we pretty much know most of the waitresses. Some friends of ours at a table nearby mentioned that the service was a little bit slow tonight for whatever reason.

Our girl greeted our table, took our drink order, but took several minutes to get our order. (much longer time span than we are used to at Denny's) and my mother mentioned in a whisper "She must be a new waitress."

My mom and I have both been waitresses before so we completely understand how stressful it can be.

Here is my how my 4 year old reacted:

Jenna yells for the waitress to come over to the table, points to her grandma, and says in the loudest voice "My Grandma says you must be new! You're new! Grandma says you're new"..... it seemed like she would NEVER hush....my mom was blushing and I could see in her eyes she simply wanted to crawl under the table and hide.

Luckily- my dad was quick to dig us out of the hole. He explains "we eat here regularly and had never had you as our waitress before, so we told Jenna you must be new".

The waitress smiled and said, "yes, i'm new"...laughed and walked away.

WHAT am I going to do with that Jenna Jade??? ha ha! I love that child! She just seems to make an adventure out of everything- even dinner at Denny's.

I stand corrected!

Sooooo - my daughter and husband corrected my last post.

She was Hulk Hogan, not the green guy I was thinking of. Jenna says "i'm not green mom, i'm a world champion".

::sigh:: - so she is still Jenna "The Hulk" Hogan- she's just NOT the green guy.

ha ha! shows what I know I guess!

Jenna "The Hulk" Jade

Jenna had to go to the doctor yesterday for her 4 year old shots. Before going- apparently daddy and her were pretending to be one of their favorite super heroes - The Hulk.

When my little girl gets to the doctor's office- she is so happy to be 4 years old and getting her "big kid" shots that she announces it as soon as Dr. Harris came in the room. "I'm 4! I get my big kid shots!"

Taken back by Jenna's enthusiasm, Dr. Harris explains to her that it might hurt a little bit and that she has to get 4 shots. To which Jenna replies "Gotta hulk up!", and then Jenna proceeds to pretend she's turning into the big green strong guy we all know as the hulk.

Jenna got all 4 shots and never flinched once. After the last one, she said "ha ha! that all you got?" (her daddy encouraged her to say that part). Dr. Harris asked her "Did the shots hurt at all Jenna?". Jenna's reply was simply "Nope! Don't hurt when you're the Hulk!"

And Jenna "The Hulk" Jade left the doctor's and nurses at Palmetto Family Health to laugh amongst themselves at the little girl who was capable of "hulking up" for shots.

ha ha! And to think, mommy worried all day at work that her little girl would be upset. I guess I won't have to worry about that anymore!

Happy 4th Birthday Jenna Jade!

Jenna Jade turned 4 years old on March 20, 2009 and we celebrated with a party at the park today! She had a great turn out- she had friends from both her kindergarten class, her day care, and friends she knows because of who their parents are...lol. And I made the cake! ...well, Betty Crocker and I made it...but this was my first attempt at decorating a cake in my life...and that grayish green around the sides of the cake...well that's my failed attempt at purple. But... I learned a lot and will definately try again for the next birthday! ha ha! Despite the colors of the icing not being exactly what I was after, everyone did seem to enjoy eating the cake. So I'm glad everyone liked it!

We got an amazing amount of Littlest PetShop animals- and what was even more amazing, was that we don't have a SINGLE duplicate at all. She also got a couple of My Little Pony's and a couple of cute dresses. She had so much fun and was so sad when it was all over. Her cousins Bradley and Tori, and her Aunt Brandi and Uncle Mark, drove up all the way from Cayce, SC just for her birthday and it absolutely made her day just that much more special!

Thank you everyone for being there for Jenna!

Check out the pics at www.dropshots.com/pilkentonpearls

99 Balloons

I watched the most amazing video today. It put into words everything I learned from Riley...and from the children that I know and love that are alive today. We should not only appreciate the birthdays that celebrate a full year of life...but we should praise God and thank him for every single day he gives us. How many days were you blessed with? This sweet baby- was blessed with 99 days of life...and he celebrated a birthday - complete with cake and a birthday photo- every single day.

After you watch the video- please say a prayer for my nephew, Bradley Cade. He's fighting something that doctors still fail to recognize...and he's been fighting for 3 years...Bradley is strong, he's a fighter, but even the strongest need our prayers. Please pray for Bradley and for all the people who are caring for him...and for his mom and dad and the rest of our family- who all love him so very much. Bradley says he sees Jesus. Personally, I see this as a beautiful sign from God.
You see, I've known people that have gone on to Heaven, and all of them saw angels coming to carry them home. Riley saw his Papa, my grandmother saw her family...but a best friend of mine was the only one who saw Jesus- she saw him whenever she went to surgery, and she's not only a survivor of epilepsy, but she's got 2 healthy children of her own now. So, my Faith tells me that Jesus comes to heal, and that Jesus is with Bradley to heal him. Jesus is there to guide the hands of the doctors. Jesus is there to help us get through. So keep praying! Prayer works!

God is awesome!

Remember - to better enjoy the video, pause the music at the bottom of the page.

Shiann Elliana Summer

God, Thank you so much for this healthy, sweet baby...and thank you for giving me such a wonderful sister in Christ- Samantha Summer. I love her more than she knows and I thank you for putting her in my life! Amen!!

I felt that this blog needed to start off with a prayer, because tonight I witnessed one of God's greatest miracles of all. The perserverence of a mother, the first breath of life, and the first cries of a newborn baby. I was blessed with the opportunity to film the moment, and I got to stand right by momma and count with her as she pushed, and watch as God breathed life into this precious baby girl. My first thought was MY GOD she is beautiful! Not just the baby, momma too- How BEAUTIFUL it was to watch a mother give birth, and even more beautiful, those sparkles in mom's eyes as she holds her gorgeous new bundle! Simply Breath-taking!

In case you are wondering how I got such an honorable invite- Samantha's mom was sick, and stayed home with Sam's sick little boy, and couldn't be there for the birth, and so Samantha asked me to be in the room with her, since her mother couldn't make it. Let me tell you I have never felt so honored! This is absolutely the coolest experience and I feel so blessed by it!

And I found myself remembering Jenna Jade's first cry, and Lexie's first cry-- though I was lying on a table in the operating room, and didn't get to witness their birth as I did tonight with Shiann... those first cry's are the most precious sounds in the entire world! And not a moment of the birth was too much for me- I really feel maybe I should go back to school and be a midwife or doula... because I can't express to you how cool it is to watch a baby be born... to stand back, and observe the moment- take it all in... watch as God breathes life into someone that two people created out of love....

I have two children of my own, I've been in the moment- but I've never witnessed the moment, I've never watched the child take its first breath...and I was singing praises to God and skipping all the way back out to my car after getting to do so! My cheeks are sore from my smile being so big, and the fact that I couldn't stop smiling... And I admit, I got in my car...and I cried. It was such a happy cry, a joyful cry... I couldn't help but say Thank you to our Lord... I only wish I could put into words how remarkable it was to be in the room when a mother has her baby...and I will never ever forget it- and I will always cherish that moment as one of the best moments of my life, one of the moments where I witnessed with my own eyes....a miracle!

Congratulations Samantha and Shane Summer! And Sidney- you're a big brother now!!! I'm so very happy for all of you, and I can't thank you enough for the invitation to be a part of the birth of your beautiful new baby girl - Shiann Elliana Summer.

Shiann Elliana Summer

weight: 7lb 5.4oz

length: 20 inches

Godmother and Witness of Birth: YOURS TRUELY!!!!!

Fun with Lexie Noelle

Lexie was in a giggly, fun mood tonight. And she sure had a lot to say too! This video is so cute - its 3 minutes long...and at the end, she really gets going with her cooing and her "oohs" and "ahhs"... sooo much fun!

And below that, I had to post my baby's funny face pic....ha ha! you will have to go to dropshots to see the other two videos...she was so funny tonight! www.dropshots.com/pilkentonpearls

Scroll down first and pause the music player so you can better enjoy Lexie's chatter. :)

First Snow for Greenville, SC - 2009

The biggest, most beautiful flakes of snow began falling at our house around 4pm today. It didn't take a full hour for the ground to be covered in a thick, white blanket of snow! We all bundled up and took the dogs (and the cat, she followed ha ha!) and we went across the street to sled in the woods. I took some pictures of our neighbors beautiful garden lamp in the snow. It's so pretty outside! We bundled Jenna up and let her make a few snow angels and she even attempted to sled down the hill in front of our house!

The weather forcast says it will continue to snow like this until tomorrow morning-- maybe tomorrow we can teach Jenna how to build a snowman!

Enjoy the pics! more at www.dropshots.com/pilkentonpearls