The Fight for Leah

As most of you know, my cousin Leah died in 2005 due to a complications from child birth. These complications could have been avoided if she was given the proper medical care, but sadly she did not.

For the past 10 days, a trial was taking place in Washington County for a lawsuit that our family filed against the Parkhill Clinic doctors. Without going into too much details, Leah suffered from high blood pressure at the end of her pregnancy, was not admitted for delivery and finally, when she was admited 3 days later and after almost 15 hours of labor, gave birth to Kinly Diane. Leah was then discharged from Willow Creek without ever beening seen by a doctor. Two days later she collapsed and never regained consciousnes.

For the past 10 days our family was in the courtroom reliving the nightmare of her death. We cried, we laughed and were holding onto hope for justice. Yesterday the verdict was announced and it was not in our favor.

As you can imagine we were devestated but the family put up a good fight. I wanted to thank everybody who was sending prayers up for us. Now all we can do is make a plea to every expecting mother in Northwest Arkansas to carefully consider their doctors. Do your research and know the history of your doctor. Oh and by the way, Leah's doctor was Robert Hix. We do not want this happening to any other family.

Leah, I love you so much and miss you terribly, especially now that I am planning my wedding. Just like I was a bridesmaid in your wedding, you would have been one in mine. Kinley is growing up to be just like her mama- sassy as ever. We love her and are so blessed to have a living piece of you with us. I can't wait to see you again someday and hope you are having a very Merry Christmas with the angels!

200 Days and Counting!

I got a reminder today: It is 200 days until your wedding!

When I talk to people about their engagement, the first thing they always tell me is that it FLYS by. I didn't really belive them until now. I can't believe that we have been engaged for almost 6 months and we are half way there.

On Sunday, Ryan said: "Do you need me to be doing anything for the wedding?" Isn't he great!!

Below is a list of things that are done:

• Church reserved
• Reception site reserved
• Caterer hired
• Florist hired
• Photographer hired
• Wedding dress purchased
• Wedding shoes purchased
• Wedding party secured
• Bridesmaids dresses picked out and ordered
• Wedding day Hair Stylist booked
• Ryan's wedding ring purchased
• Registeries made

And here is the list of things that I am currenlty working on:

• Getting addresses organized
• Invitations
• Save the Dates - Ok I'm not really working on this, my bridesmaid Kelsey is. She and her husband decided as a wedding gift that they are going to design our save the dates for us - they rock!
• Rsearching and meeting with DJs
• Getting price quotes on blocks of hotel rooms
• Shopping for the "perfect" head piece to wear at the reception
• Reserving reception "get away" car
• picking out tuxes
• In negotiations with Videographer
• Bridesmaids Gifts
• Engagement Announcement for local papers
• And the scariest thing of all...I am preparing for my "Wedding Bootcamp" diet and workout regimine that will begin in January. My dad is going to be my personal trainer and I am slightly scared of what he has planned.

I'll keep you updated with more wedding info throughout the next 6 months. Until then, hope everybody is having a great holiday season!

His Wedding Band - Check

There is a local jewelery store in Fayetteville that is shutting its doors. Ryan told me we should go there and look at wedding bands so yesterday we did just that. We got there and to our delight, all the male wedding bands were 50% off. Score! He found one that he really liked, and I did too, so I bought it right then and there. They were even able to size it so it fits perfectly.

While we were checking out, the nice man helping us said we get to pop a ballon and get an additional savings. He said every ballaon had at least a 10% off coupon in it. So I carefully examined my options of all the ballons around the store and I chose the lone purple ballon which happend to be right by the wedding band case. POP! I got another 20% off!! Wahoo!!

Even though that was just one thing on my list of thousands surrounding the wedding, it feels good to mark that one off the list. Now I am on the move to tackle the next item - reserving blocks of hotel rooms. Wish me luck.

Getting a Little Creative

This big blank wall in my bedroom has been driving me nuts ever since I moved in. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to hang on the way so it has just been blank for months. Once I got my engagement pictures back I figured out the perfect solution. I decided to get all different kinds of frams and make a collage out of them on the wall. I killed 2 birds with one stone - display our engagment pics and fill the space on that wall. I am pretty proud of it. Hope you like it as well (and yes I realize that some of the frames are croocked - I have already fixed them.)