Blog Stalking

So.... it has come to the point that I feel the need to discuss this topic. What is Blog Stalking you ask? Blog Stalking is when you read someone's blog without them knowing it. How do they not know? Well, in the blog world there is a gadget called the Blog List, which is where you are supposed to list the blogs you visit/read. I visit way more blogs than I list on my blog list, which means I am stalking the unlisted blogs.
I really don't know how it happens. It is almost crazy at times!!! I will go on a blog of one of my friends, and then all of a sudden I am on some random person's blog who I don't even know. It has gotten to the point where I know these people who I really don't know. I feel the need to visit their blogs daily in order to find out what is going on in their daily lives. I really think I have a problem. Some people I stalk are people I actually know, but I am not close to them. I even stalk people who I used to not like and now I love them (I know I am a crazy person). One day, I am going to get up enough nerve and post the blogs I visit on a daily basis.....that way my two readers (Abs and Meg) can join me in stalking them as well. Anyways, I had to get that off my chest....have a wonderful day!!!!

Brayden Smiling

As most of you know, I went back to work this week. It has been okay. I miss Brayden so much. My grandma came to stay for the next two weeks because Justin went out of town. She is so great with Brayden. She talks to him all of the time. He is just now starting to smile. Above is a picture she took of him smiling. How precious is he?!?!?!

The Doggett Family Update

It has been a long time since I have blogged. I am going to try to keep up with it, but we will see about that. Anyways, we have had a major change in our life so here goes nothing.

Finding out about our little miracle
One day in July of last year, I felt really funny all day. I went to sleep the night before around 9 and slept until 11 the next morning. I should have been well rested, but for some reason I still felt exhausted. I don't know what made me do this, but I decided to just take a pregnancy test. I did not even think I was pregnant, but had one and thought I would just use it up. I have been told most of my life by doctors that more than likely I will not be able to get pregnant without help from fertility drugs. To my amazement, I looked at the stick and I was pregnant. What?!?!?! I could not believe it. I called Justin and his reply was, "Are you kidding me?" I said, "Yes, I am kidding you...I just thought hey let me call Justin and play a joke on him....NO!!! I am not kidding you!" To be on the safe side, Justin made me take 2 more tests (we didn't want to get our hopes up for nothing). Both of those tests showed positive as well. Yay!!! We are pregnant....it was such an amazing feeling. We chose Dr. Kara Brantley to be our doctor...she is amazing! We had our first sonogram at 6 weeks and heard the heart beat and from that moment on, we were in love. The baby's due date was supposed to be March 29 (I will get to why I said supposed to be later on in this post).

1st Trimester
My first trimester was not too bad. I did not get morning sickness, but I was exhausted all of the time. When a pregnant woman tells you how exhausted she is, this is what she means....try to imagine taking 6 Benadryl and trying to function during the day. The first trimester is over before I even knew it.

2nd Trimester
During my second trimester, my exhaustion got better, but I started getting migraine headaches. The migraine headaches lead to me being very nauseated a lot! I ran to the bathroom so many times. I even threw up in my office....couldn't make it to the bathroom in time.
My favorite part about the 2nd trimester was finding out what we were having. We were so nervous that day. Our sonographer asked Justin what he thought we were having. Justin said, "A girl." The sonographer circled an object on the screen and asked, "Do girls have this?" He shouted, "It's a boy?!?!?!" We were thrilled. We couldn't believe it. We decided to name him Brayden, but Justin was in charge of the middle name. He wanted to keep it a secret. All I knew was that it was between Erik (Justin's middle name) or Everett (Justin's dad's, brother's, grandfather's, and so on down line middle name). By the 20th week, I was showing big time!

3rd Trimester
I thought the first trimester was exhausting, but I was very wrong. The third trimester is the worst trimester of all. I was a whale! I not only had gained 40 something pounds, but I was so swollen. By the third trimester, the only thing you can think of is when is this baby going to get here. I was constantly counting down the days. Rolling over in bed or walking down the hall took more effort than I was willing to give. To make matters worse, Brayden was sitting on my bladder so I had to get up every hour to use the restroom.
On March 4th, I had a doctor's appointment (beginning in March I was supposed to see the doctor once a week). That day my blood pressure was really high. They sent me down to the lab to get some blood work taken. The doctor decided that I needed to be admitted into the hospital. I was monitored and had to urinate in a bottle for 12 hours to determine how much protein was in my specimen. That night I was allowed to go home, but I had to return with the specimen the next day. On March 5th at 3:00 pm, the doctor called to tell me that I had preeclampsia and I needed to have Brayden early. The next week, Brayden was going to be 37 weeks so she said that would be a good time. She wanted me to come to the hospital on March 9th and I would be induced on March 10th.

The Big Day
Justin had to work on March 9th (it was busy season...poor thing) so I drove myself to the hospital and arrived at 3 pm. They admitted me and the fun (sarcasm) began. I can honestly say that one of the worst parts about labor and delivery (for me) was the IV. The nurse couldn't find my vein so she had to dig and dig and dig. I started crying because I thought if I can't handle this...how will I make it through tomorrow. They immediately start you on fluids to keep you hydrated and they continue those fluids until well after you have had the baby. My friend, Jamie, came to stay with me until Justin got off work. After Jamie got there, Dr. Brantley came in and inserted a balloon to help me dialate because at this point I had still not dialated or thinned out at all. She also gave me cervadil to help start the thinning process. I started having contractions. They were not too bad at first, but after so many they start to get very old. I asked for a pain reliever to help me sleep so they gave me Stadol. The only thing that medicine did was make me nauseous...it did not help me sleep at all.
Around 6 the next morning, the nurse came in to wake me, but she didn't have to do much awaking because I had not slept at all that night. She asked me if I wanted to get an enema and I chose to have one. It was not bad at all...I worried but I recommend it to anyone. She then isntructed me to take a shower and wash with this certain type of soap that prevents infections. After my bath, the nurse started me on pitocin. I was very nervous, because I thought I was going to immediately start having bad contractions. I was wrong. I just kept having the same ones from the night before. Dr. Brantley got there around 7:30. She checked me and discovered that I was 3.5 centimeters dialated. Woo hoo!!! Next, she broke my water around 8 am. I was nervous about this but it is not bad either. It is just very warm and wet. About 30 minutes after my water was broke, I felt it....my first bad contraction. I was fourth in line for an epidural. After five very bad contractions, I asked for Stadol. The stadol did not help so I don't know why I even bothered. In fact, all it did was make me very loopy. Finally, the doctor came in to give me my epidural. He made me lay in a fetal position and before I know it...I felt zero pain. It was not bad at all! A little before 10 am (yes 10:30 am...woo hoo not a long labor at all), the nurse checked me and I was at 8.5 centimeters. She said that it is time to push. I couldn't believe it. My mom was in labor for 23 hours and I have only been in labor for less than 3. I start pushing and around 11 she called Dr. Brantley down. By the time Dr. Brantley got there, Brayden had moved back down and my pushing went from being great to nonexistent. The funny part was that my nurses would say, "You are doing a great job....keep it up...." then they would look at each other (as if I couldn't hear) and say, "She is not even pushing." After 30 minutes of pushing, Dr. Brantley made the executive decision to CUT OFF my epidural. What? Cut it off? I panicked....I started begging her to just vacuum him out. I was so scared. Thankfully, she didn't listen to me about the vacuum thing. They turned off my epidural and the second I felt pain we started pushing. I pushed and within minutes Brayden was crowning. It was the worst feeling in the world at that point....then I find out I have to hold off on my pushing until Dr. Brantley could come down. When you don't have the epidural, you feel this extreme pressure and feeling of pushing....it is not a great feeling when you have to force yourself to not push. I was screaming telling them to hurry and that I can't hold it anymore....I have to push....I have to push....I can't hold it. I know this is graphic, but I was definitely feeling the ring of fire!!! Dr. Brantley finally arrived and one push later, my precious angel popped out. That was the best feeling of relief in the world. Brayden Everett Doggett born at 12:27 pm (only 4 hours and 27 minutes of labor). I remember being stitched up and hearing Justin say his middle name. I yelled, "Did you say Everett?"...it was so cool to finally know his full name.

My Gift from God
The first time I laid eyes on Brayden was amazing. He was so beautiful. He had looked at me and my heart melted. I could not believe that Justin and I had made him. It is an instant love and bond that no other person can share. He is the apple of my eye. I can't imagine my life without him it. Being a mommy is the best gift God could ever give someone. I love the way he smells, the sucking noise he makes with his mouth, the way his mouth moves when he has his paci in it, his eyes, his feet and toes, the way his hair fuzzes up in the back, his fingers espcecially his thumb, his smile, his lips, his kissable chubby cheeks, his little booty, the way he looks when I turn him over during bath time (so funny), how he makes every outfit the cutest outfit in the world, the way his eyes slowly open and close while he is feeding, okay I love everything about him to say the least.

My Husband
Justin has been the most amazing husband and daddy through this whole experience. While I was on maternity leave, he took turns with me getting up with Brayden. I was off work and could take naps during the day and he couldn't but he chose to still help me. Brayden got colic at 3 weeks old. He would start fussing around 5 pm everyday and then around 9 pm he started his blood curtaling cry and did not stop until 1:30 or 2 am. This can make a sane person go insane. When I would be at my wits end, Justin was always there for me. He would take Brayden and calm me down. I cried a lot and Justin would always make me feel better. I couldn't have done this without him. This experience has brought us so close. My favorite thing in the world is to watch Justin hold Brayden. You can see the love and amazement in his eyes. Many times Justin is the only one that can get Brayden to calm down. This makes Justin very happy. There is nothing in the world that is more precious than a daddy and his little boy.

Well that pretty much wraps things up. Nowadays, we are busy cleaning bottles, changing diapers, and enjoying watching Brayden change before our eyes. He is two months now and he has started to smile a lot. I can't wait to see what the future holds for our little family.

You say tomato and I say.....

I thought I would share with y'all our tomatoes!!! They are so yummy! I am very proud of us for being able to grow so many...especially because this is our first time. Funny story about our very first tomato....Justin picked the first tomato and it was not quite ripe enough. He placed it in the window in our green room. Well, for those of you who do not know, this room is Belle's favorite room. The sun shines through the window to make it warm and cozy for our little angel....not to mention the fact that the window is short enough for her to view the neighbors outside. Anyways, getting back on track...Justin and I let Belle roam in the mornings while we stay in bed. Usually, she will roam for a few minutes, then come and whine for us to let her back in the bed. This particular morning, she did not whine at all. Why you ask....well our little angel got a hold of mommy's first tomato and ate half of it. Now, every time I eat a tomato, she is in my face sniffing and begging for a slice. She is so cute and such a healthy eater!!!

Softball Tournament

Justin's softball team played in a tournament this weekend and won!!! They played five games and won all of them. Here are some softball pictures to enjoy (these were taken by a photographer).

More New Furniture

Our ottoman came in on Wednesday! It was so big that we had to do some rearranging in our living room. We really like the new look of our living room. We also put a table in the green room to make it even more comfy.

Our New Furniture

Recent Pictures of Belle

The Doggett Household Update

It has been a while since I posted, but at least it is not as long as last time. So many great things have happened to us over the past few weeks. FYI: These are in order of occurrence. First, we bought a new car! It is a 2009 Silver Altima, and it is so nice. It has bluetooth capabilities, XM radio, six-disc CD changer, dual air control, leather/heated seats....okay you get the idea. It is the nicest car we both have ever owned. Although this is our car, I conveniently get to take it to work all of the time.

The next exciting thing that occurred is that I got recommended by a coworker to join a distance learning training committee. This committee is kind of like having a part-time job, because I get paid for all of the work I do....So what exactly will I be doing?!?!? I will be creating online training classes using HTML and CSS code to train online instructors on how to teach online courses effectively for Mississippi State Board for Community and Junior Colleges. State Board controls all of the community and junior colleges around the state of Mississippi so this is a great opportunity. In addition to creating the courses, I will also be facilitating some of the courses. I will be working with some great people and this will be great experience in my line of work.

Also, we have been wanting to get new living room furniture for a while, but we wanted to wait for the right opportunity/deal. Miskelly's had a Memorial Day sale so we decided to go see what they have. (Side note: If you want to see our previous furniture, go to past blogs to view pictures......and of course the new ones are up above) We ended up finding a couch, love seat, ottoman, and recliner. We decided to purchase all of them, and make these purchases be our anniversary gift to each other. We have a unique living room with too many entrance ways so our love seat ended up not fitting. This was no big deal, because we needed something for our "Christmas Tree Room/Green Room/Belle's Sunroom." The furniture looks so good, and our home is finally complete! The ottoman was on backorder so we should be getting it by the end of this month. Justin's recliner may not be the prettiest piece of furniture (I think it looks like a gorilla's hand), but it sure is the most comfortable chair we have ever seen. Belle even loves it...when I can't find her, I look at her daddy's chair first and 9 times out of 10 she is curled up on it.

Last but certainly not the least, Justin passed the CPA exam!!!! He got his final test score in on Saturday and we were both thrilled! He passed the exam within the given timeline, which means instead of him having to pay money and retake exams he already passed....he now gets a bonus, pay increase, possible promotion, the thrill of not having to study ever again, and CPA after his name.....Justin Erik Doggett, CPA....it looks so good next to his name!!! I am so proud of him! We were already planning on grilling out, but after the great news, we decided to add a few more mouths to feed. We fed Mike, Sarah, Chris, Brittany, and Josh. Our menu consisted of barbecue chicken and pork chops, sweet potatoe casserole, corn casserole, baked beans, and garlic bread. We ate, congregated, the guys watched basketball, then Mike, Sarah, Justin, and I played Guitar Hero. Justin was on drums, Mike and Sarah switched between guitar and bass, and I sang (surprisingly...no windows broke while I sang).

Some minor/fun things that are going on in our life.....Justin's obsession with Lost has finally convinced me to start watching it and now I am obsessed (hence why I am still up blogging at this hour), Justin is playing in a softball tournament this Saturday (this really is neither minor or fun but Justin had tendenitous in his foot but it is starting to get better), the girls in our small group have started having "Girl's Night" so the girls came over our house tonight to watch the Bachelorette, and Belle is just as cute as ever...she is growing up right before our eyes and she loves being outside. She got a kiss from a huge black lab (Jack, Mike and Sarah's dog) and she had a playdate with Annabelle (W.L. and Candace's 8 week old dachsund).

Justin and I were talking last night, and we feel that God has been so great to us over the past year. Without him in our life, we would be lost. Things just keep getting better for us. Just when we get an opportunity to be worried about something, he gives us a reason not to worry. Well....I am headed to bed so goodnight and have a wonderful week!

GSJ

This Sunday my little brother will graduate from high school. This upcoming event has brought back some great memories of watching him grow up. Therefore, I decided to blog about some of the memories so they can be shared with others.

Before Greg was even conceived, I would pray every night for a little brother. I did not want a sister...just a baby brother. My prayers were answered on October 4th, 1990, when my mom gave birth to Gregory Stuart Jones. Gregory came from a Tennessee football player (my dad's choice) and Stuart came from the doctor who delivered both Greg and me, Dr. Mary Stuart. He was such a precious baby! He was jaundice so the doctor told mom to put him in INDIRECT sunlight. Well, mom thought she said in DIRECT sunlight so Greg got his first sunburn at a few days old. I remember being told that I could only hold my brother sitting down. This upset me, because I wanted to hold him standing up and walk around with him. With that said, every time Greg laid down for a nap, I would sneak into his room and hold him standing up. He was such a happy baby and he loved his pappy and blanky.

As he got a little bit older, he started acquiring some unique qualities. One of these unique qualities was his love for vacuum cleaners. Yes, you heard me right....vacuum cleaners. If we went to someone's house, his first question was if he could see their vacuum cleaner. He even got two vacuum cleaners from Santa one year. He couldn't pronounce his "SM" sounds so the word "smoke" sounded like "foke" when he said it and "smart" was "fart" to him. He loved riding in the car! When he got into the car he wouldn't make a sound. He would just look at all of the scenery and take everything in his little head. When it came time for soccer and T-ball, Greg was more interested in day dreaming or pulling up his socks than he was actually playing sports.

Now, my little brother is growing up, and while one chapter in his life is closing, another one is opening. He is graduating with great grades even though he had a full time job all through high school. He has a great head on his shoulders, and is an amazing chef....I hope he opens his own restaurant one day. I am so proud of him...he has accomplished so much in such a short time. I will end with a list of things about my thoughts of my brother.

Moments when Greg made me:

• Proud- when he got his Eagle Scout. That is a major honor and I am so proud of him for staying with it and accomplishing this great goal.
  
• Happy- when he came to visit me at my new house in Brandon. He did not get to stay as long as we would've hoped but he is coming back!!!
  
• Impressed- when he owned his own business and when he cooked for mom and me
  
• Feel loved- when he cried about me getting married and leaving for our home for good
  
• Sad- when he left my house in Brandon
  
• Mad :-)- when he is being stubborn
  
• Honored- when he was in my wedding...he had some major roles and he did them so well.
• Helpful- when he wanted me to help him learn his vocabulary words for a final exam in English
• Laugh- when we mess with Dave....especially when he starts telling his stories and Greg acts like he is falling asleep
• Scared- a few nights before my wedding when we went to Hart's Bridge Road
• Relaxed/Content- riding in his truck listening to music
• Stressed- when he backed into my father-in-law's truck at Thanksgiving
• Blessed- when I think of how great of a brother I have and how blessed to have so many great memories together.

I love you, Gregory Stuart! Congratulations on graduating!