Pumpkin Patch

Here are pictures from our FHE outing to the Pumpkin Patch!

Fashion Update

Hello All! Here is Bowen in his stylin Sunday outfit...we call this one...Preppy Bowen! He didn't really like being in this chair. He didn't cry, but you can see above, he did "yell" at me.

Long Time No Blog

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Things here are moving right along. I am 10 1/2 wks preg according to Dr. Gower. I really thinks it's further than that, but whatever.

It's rainy here today so everyone's kind of in a yucky mood. It is really cold outside. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 80's. Go figure.

Well, I thought I'd also post some pics since everyone else is. Here are our babies.

P. Diddy Bowen

Yo! Yo! Yo! Bowen was pimped out for church today! We nick named this outfit, "The P. Diddy Baby Blue Striped Pimped Up Suit". Doesn't he look ready to attend the Hip Hop Awards here in the ATL? Hey even gangstas cry!

Oma & Opa had a farm....

E I E I O!

Here are some pictures of the girls helping Oma and Opa plant their winter garden. They had a blast planting the starter plants and playing in the dirt. They also liked helping Opa use the tiller! Thanks Mom and Dad for making our stay so memorable for the girls!

Jessica Stinks...I mean Sphinx

Here are some pictures Maria took of the kids with Jessica after we went to her play. Notice there are none of TJ...that is because he would have NOTHING to do with Jessica in her "get-up". Not even when she took off her wig! It was funny. I esp. love the one of Bowen...he looks like he is being tortured....what caption would YOU put for that picture...add your comment below!

More Cotton!

Here are a few more...

High Cotton in Aiken

Here are some pictures I took of the kids in the cotton field across from the Lynes house!

THE "Cake"

Here is the darling"cake" Mom and Jessica made for Kate's b-day. It is SO cute and was a huge hit! Now Kate wants me to make one for her to take to pre-school! Too bad I don't have the talents Oma has! :) It might look more like a moth than a butterfly!

Kate is FIVE!

Hello All! Here are a few pictures from Kate's big 5th Birthday breakfast in bed! She is really taking this "Queen for the Day" very literally! One of her favorite surprises was Aunt Jessica! She knew Jessica was coming today, but she didn't know she would be here when she woke up! Thanks Jessica for helping make her birthday special!

Smiling Bowen

I finally got a picture of Bowen smiling!

Smiling "Bright" Grandchildren

Here are the kids (Kate, Clair, and TJ)...what large yellow smiling craniums they have!

TJ & the towel

TJ after a day at the Oma spa!

Oma works her magic!

Here are a few pics of the girls with fancy hair a la Oma! Of course, after rest time they both looked like Medusa...look out Jessica! Also here is one of Little Man Bowen chillin' on Oma's lap and throwing down some gang signs!

I'm OK You're OK

Well sorry for the commotion yesterday. Thanks so much to everyone who came to see us. Dinner was fabulous. I still can't believe all y'all drove all this way to see us. I really appreciate it more than you know.

Everything is fabulous and I'm feeling better today. I think a lot of what I was feeling yesterday was worry. Dr. Miller even said that he didn't see any collection of blood in my uterus so that's a good thing. This means that the red blood (spotting) from yesterday was probably from irrirtation from my progesterone suppositories. ICK...I know TMI!

Well, I'm off to work for 12 more minutes before I go home. Have a good week everyone.

Thanks for the pictures of Bowen, I can't believe how much he's changed. I can't wait to see him and the girls at the end of this week. Below is a copy of the letter I sent to everyone concerning the TOFW assignments for the picnic lunch.

OK girls TOFW is not far Oct. 7th. Betsy please call Beth and see if she would like to come with us, let me know what she says. If she can't use this ticket then girls it's up for grabs. The price is $32.00. Let me know if you know of someone who would like a ticket. Below is a list of the things for our picnic lunch. As you look over this list check to see if we have everything covered. Let me know if you feel we need something else added to this menu. There should be about 10 to 12 people in our group. Maria - home made chicken salad and cookies.
Rhonda - luncheon meats.
Angela - bread any kind, we are to make sandwiches so whatever works for you will work for us.
Katie - plates, napkins, utensils & maybe a paper table cloth for each table, if possible.(Katie will Nicole be sharing this assignment with you?)
Rosalind - sweets and something salty and her picnic table.
Jessica - cheese. whatever works for you works for us.
Charleen - picnic table & water in a cooler.
Ida & Kara - veggies and dip & salsa.
Betsy - drinks & grapes.
I am looking forward to seeing all of you that day, I am hopeful that this will be an inspiring day.
See Ya on the 7th of October.Charleen

Lady's Man

Big Boy Bowen

We went to the doc yesterday and found out two things...
1. Bowen is up 12 oz from last week...what a porker! :)
2. Bowen has "silent" reflux...reflux minus the projectile vomiting! :(
Here are a few pictures from our beautiful afternoon outside yesterday. Bowen enjoyed looking up at the blue clear sky!

Idea

Hey family. Since my email is still not working I can only communicate on the blog. Someone asked for ideas on what to get Kate for her birthday in three weeks. Stephen & I are getting her a Leap Pad learning system…so getting her a book to go with this would work. (I got her the dinosaur one.) Here is the website so you can see what the books look like…
http://www.leapfrog.com/do/environment?environment=leappad&ageGroupKey=preschoolSo So this or really anything (games, art stuff, workbooks, books)…she’s pretty easy to please!

Post-er Child

Am I the only one who posts anymore? Where are you people?

Well, we're going to Aiken this weekend. That will be fun especially since I get free clothes (thanks, Maria).

The pregnancy is going well. I found out my friend Lauren Wright (Leeth) is also pregnant (with her 3rd) and a friend from high school Kim Georgen is also preg w/ her 2nd. It'll be nice to be preg w/ a friend. Since all y'all siblings left me in the dust. By all y'all I mean Maria and Rosalind.

Ok............so work is just so-so. I can't wait for the new building. It is really coming along nicely and I can't wait until I'm upstairs away from commotion so I can think! These quarters are too tight!

email issues

hey all....I am having big time issues with my email, so blogging will have to do for now. So don't even bother emailing me anything for a while. I'll keep you posted. Love ya!

little man

little mvp

Newest Clemson Tiger

Wednesday Bloody Wednesday

Well I had more bloodwork on Wednesday. My HcG level (in case you're wondering what that magic 140 number was last week) is 1770 this week. Wooo-hooo! We go in two weeks for the first ultraound. And we see the end of the tunnel for medications. I'm so excited for the day that the only pills I'll take are prenatal vitamins and folic acid.

WHY-OH-MING

Well, it is true. We are officially leaving the South, for the time being. It is kind of sad, because ALL of you are here and we will miss being able to get to you when we want. BUT it does give you all a reason to take a vacation. Believe it or not we are very excited about the move. Tyler and I feel that this move is a great thing. Who knows we might get out there and LOVE it (I doubt it), but you never know. Tyler has had a feeling that while he is working with the Reserve Unit he will meet one of the reservist who will offer him a job. WHO KNOWS????? Anyhooo I want you to all know that we expect visits and we will truly miss you all. I tear up just thinking about all the missed family events. But I am a big girl (I mean a BIG girl) and I can deal with it. If we are in Cheyenne for Thanksgiving we already have plans for dinner. We will be home for Christmas, we just might need a ride home from the Airport.

Love to you all

Maria, Tyler, and the TJ-man

Katie's Monday Post 8/28/06

This Wednesday we will find out if Alphonse and/or Berta have found a snuggly home. The preg test is at 8:15a on Wed. I’m so nervous. Everyone keeps telling me that I should take a home test the morning of, but I don’t think I will. I’m thinking since they’re doing a blood test that the pee test may not be accurate and I could either (a) get my hopes up or (b) be disappointed……both for no reason. So, if you think about it, say a little prayer for us on Wednesday morning.

In other news, some of you may know about the “water in the crawlspace” issue we’ve been dealing with for the past year. We got some quotes together since our builder agreed to pay for it to be fixed. To have the crawlspace fixed and the landscaping redone, it was coming out to almost $7,000. We had a phone call with him last week and he has reviewed the quotes and has agreed to pay for EVERYTHING! We were nervous b/c we thought the quotes were a little high (especially the one from B-Dry to fix the crawlspace – it was almost $5,000). We are so grateful that he’s agreed to pay for it!!!

Well, I’m off to work…..or at least pretend like it. Have a great week!

2 Out of 11 Ain't Bad

Well that's all we got. 2 embryos. I heard from Dr. Forstein today and the other two didn't make it. So all we've got is the two that have been transferred. Dr. Miller called them Alphonse and Berta. He said "you can change their names later." LOL!

We are praying for smooth sailing tomorrow for Bowen to join our family. We are excited for him to finally be here. I'm sure he was just staying w/ Alphonse and Berta until they got safely to earth. Then he was ready to join us. Thanks Bowen!

Love you all.........

Looks like we made it...

Bowen decided to not come while Stephen was gone. Stephen got home today, and mom and dad left about 15 minutes later. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and babysitting me! :)

KT, we are still keeping you in our prayers! (My parents have put your name on the temple prayer rolls a couple times in the last week as well!) We feel really good about this! Keep your head up!

Maria, there are worse places than Wyoming! Plus, the church is pretty strong there. I feel sure we can totally work out the Christmas thing! So, don't get too worried about it. I am kind of excited for you guys. Moving is stressful, but there is something refreshing about a new start! I always kind of enjoy moving...sick but true!

It looks like we will make it to the scheduled date, Aug. 22nd. So, less than a week now! Love you all!

TOMORROW!

Well tomorrow is the day of extraction. Creighton gave me the hCG shot last night (in my upper-right-cheek-area). I'm a teensy bit sore there today. I couldn't sleep on my back all night. It's only 3:00pm and I wish the day would hurry up and be over. It has been nice to not have to take any shots today. I don't have any today or tomorrow. Then we start a whole new round of shots on Wednesday.

Friday is the really big day. Transfer! Then we wait 12 days. So we won't know for sure if it took until the pregnancy test on the 30th. Pray really hard for us, OK? We want this to happen. I'm 32 for Pete's sake!

I am really sad to hear the news about Maria and Tyler, but since there is a Target and a Wal-Mart right outside the base in Why-oh-why-oh-why-oh-me-Wyoming, I find this acceptable and approve of the move. Hehehehe!

Good luck Rozzie with keepin' that kid in until Stephen gets home. I know he'll wait for his Daddy to be there!

Love you all!

PS - found out who the new RS Pres. is and she's super cool. I'm gonna have fun working with her. :)

No News is Good News.... I guess

At least that is what they say (who is THEY by the way?). Anyhoo.... I don't know if all of you know and this is probably a real CRAPPY way to break the news, but Tyler has been in for a reassignment to Wyoming, yes folks that is not a typo WYOMING. The great state of ..... well RODEOS? I guess. Well, we haven't heard anything yet, so I guess that is good. I don't know. We are having real mixed emotions about the whole thing. I think we are both excited to venture out and try life on our own, but then again it sure is nice to have dependable babysitters at the touch of a button (Ros, you know what I mean). I do know that Heavenly Father will send us wherever we are needed. We do love Charleston, but we have both found ourselves getting very frustrated here, not only with Tyler's job, but with our ward. We know the church is true, but buddy these people in Charleston can sure drive you BONKERS!!!! We won't know anything about Wyoming for at least another week. Just keep us in your prayers and know that we will miss you all, if we go. Oh, I forgot to mention the tiny ity bity bit about when we would actually need to be there, (if you have a weak stomach you may want to stop reading now) we would have to be there in Decemeber. So for now Christmas is in the air. We love you all.

Love,
The Franklin Family

Fasting for KT and Creighton

Hello Family,

I will also send this out on email...I know we don't all check the BLOG (shame shame). I know we are all aware that this is going on, but I wanted to suggest that we all fast and/or pray for KT and Creighton this Sunday. It looks like things are a go for this weekend. Even if for same reason they don't happen this weekend, it might be a good idea to fast and pray that they will be able to happen soon and successfully! I have talked with KT about this (fasting) before, but didn't mention it recently. However, I feel sure they would not object to prayers on their behalf! There is power in numbers! So, this Sunday, let's all fast & pray for KT and Creighton and success in the invitro procedure!

Love,
Rosalind

Calm Before the Storm

Hello all! I have been feeling fabulous the past three days. I am pretty sure this is the calm before the storm. I am still a little tired, but I seem to be sleeping better and feeling better than I have in over a month. Full moon on August 9th...so maybe! If I don't have the baby this week, then I will just have to wait for the date the doc scheduled, because as most of you know, Stephen HAS to go to G'ville Aug 14-16 for work. So, thank goodness for mom and dad...they will come and "baby-sit" me and the girls! Anyway, hope you are all well. KT, you need to tell those ovaries to knock it off and behave! :) Love to you all!

Ain't No Misbehavin'

Welcome to another edition of “Katie’s Misbehaving Ovaries.” Today we will be delving into why they think it’s a good idea to form huge cysts and what Dr. Miller has to do to drain them.

Yes, folks, that’s right….last week I had a cyst aspirated off of my right ovary. 32cc’s of fluid removed. It was a successful procedure and we are moving forward with this round of in vitro drugs.

We started Gonal-F and Repronex on Saturday (the 5th). I go in for blood work tomorrow at 8:15am, so we’ll see how things are looking then. I just don’t see any difference or feel any different than last time so I’m keeping an optimistic outlook but if it’s not good news I won’t get too upset. So if y’all aren’t busy tomorrow around 8:15 pray for me to get good results, ok.

In other news….our entire RS Presidency is getting released except for me. Well, I guess technically I’m getting released and recalled into the same calling. I don’t know who the new president is, but I’m sure it will be fun to get to know someone else. I’m just sad that Susan and I only got to work together for nine months. :)

JCL and I went to the temple on Saturday and it was great. We barely made it to the 3:00 session and it was almost empty so it was nice that it wasn’t crowded. We stopped afterward and got a burger at one of our favorite places in Cola and then we headed home. All in all, it was a great day!

Better run…..as Chris Hawton likes to say “work hollers!”