Well hello, and I'm so glad you asked! Laynee's blog is definitely worth keeping up with, so I don't blame them for wanting to get notified of updates! (I have it in my Google Reader so I don't miss a post!)
For the email widget I have on my blogs, it's FeedBurner. You can go to http://feedburner.google.com and set up an account with your Google account login info (same as logging in for Blogger). Then you add it to the layout of your blog with the code they provide. It's fairly self-explanatory, but if you need help (it's still confusing for many!), I'd be more than happy to set it up and help you with it. Email me at braskasmom at gmail dot com anytime.
And for what it's worth, I'd love to do a background for you for Laynee's blog if you'd like a custom one done (it's just the cosmetic parts, like are on my blogs) with favorite colors or for a season, and we can incorporate favorite pictures as well... it would be my pleasure to contribute that to her beautiful images and your very precious stories and thoughts. So if you're interested, let me know.
Lastly, we're in the St. Louis metro, not all *that* far from you, and if you're ever in our area, please do let me know, if you feel up to it, and Braska would be happy to exchange some squeezes with you. :) Open invitation...
Still praying for your peace and comfort...