Goldylocks Restore

Before:

After:

Most of the time, this little beauties just need a delicate wash and the clothes to be gently soaked in OxyClean. I love making them pretty again!

 

The neatest find on Ebay so far this year was an original Nancy Ann chaise for 9.99!

It also needed a small bath and re-sold for over 100.00!

I love that my hobby brings me joy and can help support my family!

Karsey's Sick Again

Karsen took another turn for the worse last Sunday. She was doing so well after rebounding from her last bout. But on Sunday, following the Super Bowl she started throwing up pretty badly. She did this all night and by the time she was seen at the Dr.'s office on Monday morning, she was very dehydrated.

She was admitted into the hospital once again and was given IV fluids.

She ended up having Norovirus and by the time she was released from the hospital late Tuesday afternoon, our entire family had contracted it.

It was a rough week and finally we are starting to all feel better!

So Sick

Tuesday was a busy day. We had an appointment at the Social Security offices, Ashton had dance class and Karsen had a 6pm doctors appointment.

It was her 3rd appointment in less than a month.

She has felt terrible lately but not running any fever. Her ears have been fine, and we were told her lungs were clear.

What was bothering me were her eyes. They were always so red and bruised looking. And she wasn't sleeping well. I knew something was wrong.

At her appointment, her Dr. said everything seemed to be fine and maybe try a different antibiotic. I wanted more done so I asked for him to order a CBC blood test and I wanted her chest x-rayed. We were sent to the ER since the labs at the office were already closed.

We sat in the ER for what seemed like hours. Finally, they did the chest Xray and took blood. No easy feat. Karsen was not having that. Another hour passed and then I was told she had swelling in her lungs and would need to be transported to a children's hospital about 30 miles away.

My heart sank. My worst fears were coming true. I immediately prayed for her. John met us at the ER. By this time it was already midnight. The ambulance got her ready and off we went to Cabell Huntington.

The ambulance ride was slow. We weren't in any danger. She was breathing ok. We got to the hospital and immediately was sent to the children's ICU floor. More blood was taken. More prayers were said.

We didn't sleep much. She wouldn't go near the crib. She laid on me and slept and I stayed up and just prayed. In the morning the Dr told me that she had the x-rays re-read and they thought they looked fine. More x-rays were taken just to be sure. She was going to be ok. She probably had a viral infection that was causing her so much pain. Thank you God. I was so overwhelmed with joy.

We were discharged that morning and they let her keep her hospital gown.

It felt so good to be back at home. She is still coughing and not sleeping well and has another follow up appointment tomorrow. We are praying it goes away and our little Karsey gets back to being herself again!

Little One @ 17 months!

 

17 months?

How in the world has it been 17 months since you brightened my world?

Brightened is an understatement. What you bring to our lives is a miracle in itself. The grief that washed over us after the deaths of two beloved family members was devastating. But we had you to look forward to and with your arrival, you brought back the joy that had been absent for so long.

It pains me to know that you will never meet your Papa Bud or Pawpaw Hanson. Those two men were the best Grandpa's around. I will do everything in my power to make sure you know as much about them as possible.

This month you have learned so many things.

My favorites are:

You know everything now! If we say, "Go get your toothbrush" you go get it. "Go get the hairbrush", "Throw this away", "Go get your Elmo toy"...you know all of these things!

You are so smart!

You hate hairbo's. You pull them out faster than I can put one on you.

You love to wear shoes still.

 You love to go bye bye too.

If we tell you to "cross your arms" you will. Its your favorite pouting stance!

You are very bossy. Very. If we don't do what you say, you scream. Really loud.

You will also take our hand and lead us to where you want to play at and then you pat the ground so we sit exactly where you want us.

You LOVE McDonald's french fries.

You LOVE lotions. You like to put them on.

My only complaint about this month has been your health. You have felt HORRIBLE all month. We have been to the dr. several times now and have tried different medicines. Your little eyes stay red and bruised looking and you are cranky. I am a little nervous it could be something more serious so we are heading back to the dr. this afternoon and I am going to make them run some blood work. I am praying everything will be ok. 


You are an amazing gift, Karsey. We all love you!

PS. You still won't say mommy!

Karsen's little red eyes. We don't know what is causing this.

So Sweet, Nancy Ann's

Dreaming of Him

 

I had the most wonderful dream of Papa Bud last night.

In it, me & the kids were visiting Mama Jo and we were getting ready to leave. 

We were outside packing up my min van and my mom told me I should go and tell Papa Bud goodbye. "You're right" I said and I go inside. 

At the doorway I am met by my Uncle Clyde, who died suddenly in March of 2003. 

He is standing at the door --just like he always would do when he was alive, just watching us all pile into the car to leave. 

He gives me a big hug and in his voice he tells me to "be safe" and he loves me. 

I go into the kitchen and there is Papa Bud. He is sitting in his chair at the kitchen table. I lean over him and hug him tightly. It is him. I smell his cologne. I kiss his cheek. His face is scratchy where he needs to shave. He tells me in his voice "I love you". I hold onto him tightly. In my dream I can hear myself thinking "this could be the last time you hug him so make it count".  I can tell I am about to make him cry so I stop hugging him and I pick up a few of my sons crayons on the table and get ready to leave.

I go into the living room and think to myself I am going to leave him a note (we used to leave each other notes). I write him a note with one of the crayons and I go to lay it on his table beside his recliner and I see he has written me a note. 

It simply says "1 John 1:4".  Even though this is a dream, the handwriting is his.

I tear it off the paper it is on and stick it in my pocket and leave.

This is where I wake up. I instantly googled 1 John 1:4.

We write this to make our joy complete. 

Wow. A message from Papa from Heaven.

The part before verse 4 is this:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 

 And these things write we unto you, 

that your joy may be full.

I am walking on air today.

I miss him so much. I don't know what God allows from Heaven. I think Heaven is so complete that our loved ones who are there don't see the pain and agony we are left to deal with. But I do feel God sends us signs, wonderful signs from our loved ones. And this was my sign from Papa and Clyde.

Thank you God for a message from heaven.

Repairing my Nancy Ann's

I was never a big doll collector growing up. My dolls consisted mainly of my Barbie's and See Wee dolls. My sister Raini loved collecting dolls. She liked the Hamilton Collection dolls and every Christmas would get a new one.

It wasn't until 2007 when I fell in love with Nancy Ann's.

My first Nancy Ann was #157, Queen of Hearts. And she stole mine. I loved her sweet little pouty face and her beautiful dress. I started buying as many as I could afford on Ebay.

I soon discovered the Nancy Ann's I liked most were not the frozen leg ones I had been buying, but the more expensive (and rarer) jointed leg dolls.

My budget is often limited to what dolls I can buy, but sometimes I find a real bargain. often, she needs to be restrung and cleaned and over the last couple of years I have developed a really good knack into fixing them up.

It is sort of sweet therapy for me to get a dirty and limb missing doll in from the mail and begin her restoration.

When all is said and done, and she is a beauty again, I feel very accomplished.

Certain rules must be followed....you never, ever iron a Nancy Ann Dress. Ever. The fabric is so delicate that it will ruin the garment. Mohair wigs cannot be brushed. They will fall apart if you do. And the restringing of arms and legs is tedious. Tweezers are a must!

My jointed collection has grown. Every now and then I resale a doll to buy one I want more. I have also bought and resold for extra money such as Christmas & birthdays. I hate reselling the rare ones. It always depresses me but my family must come first.

here are a couple restores I did:

Before (Summer)

 

After

Before (Cinderella)                                                  

After (Cinderella)

It's becoming addictive buying the broken dolls and restoring them! It's like a hobby within it's own hobby!

Happy 2012!

I have been MIA lately. Christmas, along with a quick trip to NC and a touch of some bad colds has kept me away!

Here are some pics of our holiday.