how could it be any better than this?

10 months

2012-01-26T20:03:00.002-06:00

He doesn't like to sit for too long anymore...

I don't know who gave him the necklace to play with, but I'll admit I put the skirt on him... I just couldn't resist how well the red matched his shirt and his rosy cheeks!
This boy lights up our days and brings us all lots of laughter and joy. He is such a cuddly and sweet boy. I just can't say enough about what a gift from God he is to us.

Laney-Lou is THREE!

2012-01-21T14:08:00.007-06:00

Laney turned THREE last week.

We had all the family meet at Chuy's, her favorite restaurant, for lunch. Then everyone came over to our house for cake and ice cream. She was not in the greatest mood. She naturally has a shy, timid personality. I have learned if I rehearse things with her before they happen, she generally does better, but that is not always the case. So she cried when everyone sang happy birthday to her... I think that is mostly because she doesn't like having everyone's attention on her. She would much rather be a wallflower than be the center of attention. She wouldn't blow out the candles, even though I had practiced with her beforehand. But her sissies were happy to help her out with that. She wouldn't open her presents, but again, her sissies were more than happy to tear into them. The theme was Rapunzel and she got her own stuffed Rapunzel and some fun princess things. She also got some new books and a big girl booster seat for the car, which she loves!

When I took her to the doctor for her 3-year old checkup, he found that she has a double ear infection and a lot of fluid in her ears! She never complained that her ears hurt and I never saw any signs of it, except for her less-than-pleasant mood. The doctor said he would expect a child with that bad of an infection to be writhing around in pain... guess she has a pretty high pain tolerance. So we started an antibiotic on Tuesday and I can already tell she is feeling better. She is still in the 95th percentile for height and the 75th for weight at her age.

We had a wonderful Christmas, although it flew by too fast! I can barely believe it's already been almost a month since we celebrated. A few of the highlights were...

Avery's own camera

Tatum's Rapunzel wig

and Laney's Rapunzel dress (and cool shades)

We got to spend some time in San Antonio with all of my family. It was nice to just unpack and relax there for most of a week and visit with childhood friends and my family. We also celebrated in Houston with Brian's family. The kids enjoyed lots of play time with their cousins, Tara and Matthew.

Matty & Bo lookin pretty cute in their coon-skin caps!

They have been getting a lot of enjoyment out of their new John Deere. I am glad to have something fun that they can all ride in together. Don't worry - I walk right next to it when Bodie is in it so I can rescue him if he decides he wants out. He is usually pretty happy to sit back there in someone's lap.

We loaded it up and took it to Bear Creek Park on MLK day... they had so much fun driving like maniacs all over those fields. Lots of wide open space is good when teaching a 3-year old how to steer a vehicle. Avery & Tatum took to it right away, but Laney with her timid personality, was very reluctant to even ride in it at first, much less try to drive it herself. But finally right before we were going to load it up and go home, she slid over to the driver seat and with one hand holding mine and the other hand holding the steering wheel, she stepped on the pedal and started zooming along. After a few minutes of helping her steer, she got the hang of it and loved it.
Bodie loves to swing. His little face lights up and he starts kicking his legs and just giggles the whole time.
This little one is definitely a mama's girl, and I absolutely love that about her. She always wants to be within five feet of me wherever we are.
And this one is getting so tall and strong. She is so smart and such a hard worker. And she is still the sunshine that brightens our day.

I look at these faces and I can't thank God enough for these gifts.

We are making some big decisions right now, particularly about our kids' education. It's funny how God gently leads us small step by small step to places we would never have dreamed about just a few steps before. But when you trust Him for one thing, it becomes easier to trust Him for another and another and so on.

I was a working mom just 8 short months ago... I mean a "working outside the home" mom... because honestly I am more of a "working" mom now than I have ever been. Anyway, God opened the door and led us to step out in faith at just the right time and for me to resign and stay home full time. That was a major leap of faith for us. Amazingly, it has worked. It hasn't been easy... we've had to sacrifice things that we still miss terribly and I feel like I deserve a degree in accounting with all the time I spend tweaking our budget to make it work. But we have had the privilege of watching God come through for us over and over and over. Things have just worked out. That's the only way I know how to say it because on paper it makes no sense.

Anyway, now we are feeling like God may be gently nudging us to take another major leap of faith, something we never truly considered and quite honestly terrified me until just recently... homeschooling. Did i really just type that? It still looks a little intimidating to me. But it also looks like the salve that God just might use to heal some aches and discomforts in our family. And I'm getting pretty excited to begin the journey.

Christmas parties and 9 months for Bo

2011-12-22T09:40:00.010-06:00

What a full December we have had! I am thankful that most of my Christmas shopping was done during October and November, so by the time December got here, I was pretty much done with shopping and I could relax and enjoy all the fun events we've been a part of... Christmas parties at the girls' schools, Christmas programs, Craft night, looking at Christmas lights, baking and giving edible gifts to people, collecting donations for the needy in Houston, playing with friends we don't get to see very much, etc.

Tatum & Laney were very excited to celebrate Christmas at their little preschool. Laney's class had made special reindeer shirts with their footprint and two handprints. She looked so precious in her little handmade shirt!

Tatum loved getting to meet Santa. She gave him a big hug and told him what she wanted for Christmas.

Laney was terrified of him. This was about as close as her teacher could get her to Santa. Notice all the kids standing around looking at him and Laney clinging to her teacher for dear life. Her teacher had specifically asked us not to "rescue" our kids if they started crying, but to let the teachers try to calm them down. So I stood there with my camera and tried really hard not to laugh as I watched Mrs. Martin try to pry Laney's fingers off her clothes. In the end, Laney's class did get their picture taken with Santa, but she was sitting in Mrs. Martin's lap, a very safe distance away from Santa.

Tatum did a great job painting her Christmas tree ornament.

Laney calmed down once lunch arrived and enjoyed her pretzels and pizza.

They each got a new book in their party bags as well as gifts from their teachers and art work they had done.

I love this excited look on Laney's face when she pulled out these two presents from her party bag. One was from her to us for Christmas and one was for her from her teachers.
We got this pumpkin costume in one of the boxes of hand-me-downs we just received. Tatum was all over it, even though it was a size 12-24 months, Tatum strapped the whole costume on and wore it most of one day. I don't want to post immodest pictures of my girls, which is why I am only posting the headshot below, but just for humor sake, picture long, bare-legged Tatum with a baby's pumpkin costume strapped on, prancing around the house. This girl knows she is cute and funny, and makes the most of every opportunity to make us laugh.

Avery with the see-saw statue in front of her school

Avery loves Mrs. Van Pelt... she has been such a blessing to Avery and our family. This was at her school Christmas program... she is wearing the beautiful dress my mom made for her two Christmasas ago, which was a little big for her then, but fits her beautifully now. She looked like a Christmas present!
Tatum can entertain herself forever with puzzles, legos, blocks, etc. She came up with this idea of making lots of little Christmas trees with her blocks and she was very proud to show me her beautiful project.
Bodie just couldn't handle playing Groovy Girls any longer, so he passed out right in the middle of the floor amongst them. Poor guy, he is destined to spend much of his childhood surrounded with pink, baby dolls, dress up dolls, and all things princess.
The girls in their head coverings acting out the Christmas story, starring Tatum as Mary, Laney as "Jofis" (as Laney calls him) and Avery as the angel Gabriel.

Yesterday our little man turned 9 months! This first year of his life is flying by too fast! He is still in the 90th percentile for his size, measuring 29.75 inches and 23.5 pounds.
Back when Tatum was a baby, Brian's Grandma Kratky sent us this elf costume from NY... each year, one of the kids is just the right size to wear it, so this year it's Bodie's turn.

I am in love with his new toothy smile... one on the top, two on the bottom and many more all over his mouth seem to be very close to surfacing.

He looks angry, but he's actually laughing really hard here...

Such a precious, funny, cuddly little boy

The boys in the family sure are growing up! Matty (our nephew) turned ONE on Sunday and this was at his birthday party. Bodie is 9 months and Tyson is 8 months. We all just gather around and watch these 3 little boys play together... right now they all just sit (Matthew can crawl, but he is still pretty easy to keep in one place).. but next Christmas will probably be quite different with the three of them running around together.
This week we are enjoying lots of together time, which has also been an opportunity for our sanctification. But we are thankful for the ways God has gently led us and taught us and how even now He is revealing hidden things to us as we seek Him in all the details of our lives.

I've been studying Daniel lately, so I'll close with Daniel's song of worship after God revealed to him King Neb's dream and it's interpretation:

"Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever.
He knows all, does all: He changes the seasons and guides history,
He raises up kings and also brings them down,
He provides both intelligence and discernment,
He opens up the depths, tells secrets,
sees in the dark - light spills out of Him!
God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise!
You made me wise and strong.
And now you've shown us what we asked for.
You've solved the king's mystery."

May our Sovereign God reveal hidden things to you this Christmas!

Bodie - 8 (and a half) months

2011-12-09T17:09:00.005-06:00

Here's our 8 month old... now already half way to being 9 months!

The adoring sisters are always wanting to entertain him and make him laugh...
he is a blessed little guy, for sure. Laney likes to call him "Bodie Lukey" and he always gives them the biggest smile when they say any form of his name.

At 8.5 months, Bo, you are cutting two bottom teeth and at least one top tooth... I think the other top one is coming very soon too. You are wanting to crawl so bad, but right now you only get up on all fours and rock back & forth, then bellyflop to the ground again. Thankfully you have a pretty long reach and can grab things way farther away than I would expect. You can also roll around to get across the room and you also like to scoot backwards to get places. Your hair is growing longer so it doesn't stick up anymore :( and your eyes have turned into a very pretty shade of blueish-brown. You have become a great sleeper the past few weeks (finally!)... you go to bed around 8 and wake up around 6:30 - 7. You still take a short morning nap, about 1 hour, but you take a LONG afternoon nap, which is wonderful. Yesterday it was 4 hours! But usually it's around 3 hours. You wear 18 month clothes because you are such a tall boy already. Your little face and eyes light up when your daddy gets home from work. You and he already have some deep manly understanding of each other. It's precious. But when you are upset or hungry or tired or just bored, you are so happy to see your mama walk in the room. The crying stops, you get a big grin on your face, and you start to flap your arms like you're trying to fly up to meet me. You have started singing in the car with the rest of the choir... sometimes we all go silent so we can hear your beautiful grunts and ga-gas. You are eating 3 meals a day, although not always with the rest of us. Some of your favorites are carrots, yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, pears, squash and bananas. You are loving the new-found freedom of finger foods, and we are loving it too. You are a joy to our family and we all think you are the sweetest little boy ever.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-22T14:22:00.004-06:00

Last Sunday was a special day for our family. All four grandparents - Papa & Nana and Grandad & Gigi - and Uncle Brandon & Aunt Adriana joined us at our church for Avery's baptism. Brian was so excited that morning. He and Avery both could hardly wait for church to start. I didn't get a picture of the actual baptism because I was video-taping, but here they are right before church started.
We all enjoyed Chuy's for lunch that day. Papa & Nana gave Avery a new Bible cover with little tabs to put on the pages so she can find the books easier. She loves carrying her Bible around and flipping through her Bible so easily with the tabs, highlighting all her favorite verses with her new highlighters. Gigi & Grandad gave her a beautiful James Avery cross necklace engraved with AEK, 10-26-11 (the day she accepted Christ) and John 3:16 (her favorite verse). She has worn it every day since she got it.

I'm very late to post some pics of my cuties on Halloween. We decided to "light the night" from our driveway this year. It was the best Halloween we've had. Brian carved "God Listens" into one of our pumpkins and we taped stickers to all our candy that said "Taste and see that the Lord is good." The girls played in the driveway all evening while we visited with neighbors. It was such a great night. Praise God for taking back an evil holiday to bring glory to His name. Hallowed be Thy Name!

Here's the two Buzz Lightyears

Minnie Mouse

Our table we set up on our driveway with our pumpkins, the "Pumpkin Gospel" book and our candy. The girls also used the table to paint with their water colors. Brian gets credit for the sign! :)

Here's Cinderella, Jessie, Buzz and Minnie Mouse

Cinderella & Minnie painting on the driveway.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family!
We hope to see lots of you over this holiday season!

Pumpkin Patch, Avery & Answered prayer

2011-10-28T19:15:00.011-05:00

Bodie turned 7 months last week. Here's our little cutie. I am having lots of fun putting him in cute boy shoes now that it is cooler outside.

Peace out: Avery and her BFF Rylin on 60's day at school

The Bode-ster at the pumpkin patch last weekend

The girls with cousin Tara...
it was such a beautiful day and this pumpkin patch was just right for our group.

The boys... Brian & Bodie, along with Uncle Brent and Grandad

Future model... Tatum is always up for a challenge and she very determinedly tried until she got her little pumpkin to balance on her head

My sweet hubby knows my love language... it's chocolate chip M&M cookie cake. I had a great 33rd birthday. Eight little munchkins sung Happy Birthday (it was tuesday so we had our friends there) and we had three desserts... I had made a rainbow cake for myself since I knew we were staying in that night, then my sweet friend Bethany made us a pumpkin pie, along with a yummy dinner to feed all the kids that night so I didn't have to cook on my birthday, then Brian brought home this yummy cookie cake. So we all went back for seconds (and thirds) on dessert.

We went to see Team Impact at our church last week. After all the feats of strength, one of the men gave his testimony then asked anyone who wanted to, to say the sinner's prayer with him. Afterwards, when he asked for people to raise their hand if they prayed the prayer, Avery's little hand shot up in the air. So Brian stayed in our seats with the three little ones and I went with her up to the front with everyone else who had prayed the prayer and went to a room with counselors. One of our friends ended up coming over to counsel Avery. He talked her through her decision. I tried to keep my mouth closed to let this play out however God wanted it to play out without me interrupting. It was a moment I don't think I'll ever forget... hearing her answer the questions in her sweet little voice. Hearing the truth coming from her mouth. Knowing that this child God entrusted to us believes in Jesus and is choosing for herself to give her heart to Him.

So even though Avery prayed the prayer with me about a year ago, I don't think she really understood it until Wednesday. She was excited and beaming and so convinced of her answers to the questions. So we believe Avery gave her heart to Jesus and was saved on Oct. 26, 2011. When we got in the car to go to church that Wednesday night, we were just going because we thought our kids would enjoy watching some big strong guys break baseball bats and chop cinder blocks in half. We had no idea God had arranged to draw His child, our child Avery, into His family, once and for all in that place.

She was very excited when our children's pastor called the next day to ask if she wants to be baptized. We were planning for her to be baptized in church today, but found out a few days ago that after Brian is ordained as a deacon on Wednesday, he will be allowed to baptize her himself! So we are planning for Brian to baptize Avery in church in two weeks! I can honestly say I would never have dreamed that would happen, but I am so thankful for God's faithfulness to our family.

Just today, God answered three very specific prayers I've been praying. It's so exciting serving a God that listens and comes to the rescue.

First, I am supposed to give a talk at our women's retreat in a couple weeks, just a 30 minute breakout session. God already showed me what He wants me to talk about, but I haven't been able to actually write the talk and every time I sit down to get my thoughts together, I feel like my mind turns to mush. Literally, I feel like my brain is mashed potatoes. Finally I realized that that is the enemy and God is not a God of confusion or mush. So I stayed home from church this morning with Bodie, who has been sick, so it was a good morning to stay home from church. And I prayed specifically that God would let Bodie take a long morning nap and that He would give my brain clarity and focus so I could write my talk. He totally did. When Brian & the girls got home around lunchtime, Bodie was still asleep and I had just finished writing my closing thoughts. Answered prayer.

My brother and his girlfriend came by to visit us today. I love my brother and was so glad he would finally get to meet Bodie. He has been living in Washington DC and hasn't made it here since Bo was born. So I was very excited to have Matthew & Tracie come visit. We had such a great time catching up. Answered prayer.

Uncle Matt & Bo

We are paying out of pocket for Avery's learning center fees... long story short, it's expensive and we're tight as it is, so I wasn't exactly sure how we were going to pay for November. I've been praying for God to provide and give us wisdom with our money. So tonight I received a check from someone who told me that I had taught her something. That instead of using the money to buy a "fishers of men" themed gift, she wanted to use that money to put "fishers of men" into action. So she gave us the price of the gift she was going to buy, which was the exact amount we need to pay for November. Answered prayer.

This has been an encouraging day. God has reminded me over and over that life is not about the mountain top experiences. It's about living out the daily task, the mundane, the everyday stuff with a Christlike attitude. Doing the next thing, however small, makes me feel His presence with me, sometimes with even more authenticity than those "high" times.

Hodge Podge

2011-10-11T10:08:00.006-05:00

We had Bodie's parent-child commitment at church on Sunday. I think there were about 21 of us there with babies ... when we first starting coming to church here I think the nursery caregiver had less than 5 babies regularly coming each Sunday. She was pretty sad there were so few babies coming to church. Well in the past year, there has been a baby boom at our church ... such a blessing to have the nursery packed with babies and needing to expand.

Bodie means "shelter" and Luke means "bringer of light." Brian heard the name Bodie while I was pregnant and it quickly became his favorite. I really liked it too, but it took me a while to be sure that was the one. We have both always liked the name Luke, so it was pretty easy to decide what his middle name would be. And yes, we know "Bo" and "Luke" are the names of the Dukes of Hazard, and that's okay with us. He is a gift from God and we are enjoying our gift so much!

Three little girls having fun trying out all the ATV's and boats at Bass Pro.

A neighbor down the street put this wagon out in their front yard with a sign that said "I'm free to a good home." The girls were so excited to get out of the car and pull the wagon all the way back to our house. Avery got dish towels and cleaned it up, then they played with it all afternoon. The people who live in that house have no idea how much their old wagon is loved now!

Little man in the princess coupe

I am starting BSF this week. I've been hungry to be in a Bible study again, but hadn't heard of any that would work for our schedule, or they were already full when I looked into them. Anyway, a friend invited me to try BSF last week and it turns out they have a spot for me and for Bodie! I've always heard great things about it, but never had a chance to try it myself. So I am eager to jump in and start digging into Acts this year!

I made my first batch of homemade baby food yesterday. I don't know why I never tried it before, but it turned out to be really easy. I made three separate batches of sweet potatoes, squash and carrots... I steamed it, pureed it in the magic bullet, then froze it in ice cube trays. For a very small price, I now have three freezer bags filled with ice cube shaped baby food. It was so gratifying to feed Bo his first bowl of homemade carrot baby food, and he loved it! I'm excited to try some more foods next week.

Brian was invited to be a deacon starting in January. He had his first meeting on Sunday and found out several other guys that we are friends with are going through the process with him. He will be ordained in November then serve three years on and one year off. It's so neat that God opened this door for him to have a specific place in our church to serve.

That's about it for now. Happy Fall, Y'all!

Half a year!

2011-09-22T21:42:00.003-05:00

Look who is a sitter now!

I just can't get enough of this boy. In some ways, these 6 months with him have gone by really fast, but in other ways, I feel like he has been a part of our family forever. All I know is, I already can't wait until I get to hold him again in the morning.

Soccer, Volleyball & Answers

2011-09-19T10:18:00.006-05:00

A few of the many things that have been going on in our lives/family lately:

*Brian's Grandpa in New York has been having some health issues lately. His heart is starting to fail and he has been passing out alot. We are praying for him to come to know Jesus in these last days of his life.

*Avery's screening test at school revealed that she is very bright, but she is having trouble with auditory processing. This is not a surprise, in fact it's pretty much what I thought, so it was good have it confirmed by professionals. Auditory processing disorders tend to mimic ADD, which is the other thing I thought it might be. She's not quite old enough to be tested for ADD, but we will probably need to look into that in the next year or two. For now, she is going to be getting one on one time twice a week with a special teacher who will work with her on speed, focusing, listening and transition skills. Our main goal is for her to love school again and feel successful in the classroom. I am so proud of how hard she is working and her efforts, and I can't wait to see the progress she will make in the next few months.

*I am working as a caregiver at church every other Sunday. I keep the young two's (Laney's not in my class) on Sunday and I also take care of the babies/toddlers during our Wednesday night Awana and Thursday morning women's Bible study. It's quite a leap from teaching high school, but God is using this time of my life to teach me simplicity and patience. I hope I am learning what He wants me to learn. I have found that taking care of little ones is physically demanding. I mean, I am definitely tired from taking care of my own kids, but keeping a nursery for 3-4 hours, 3 days a week, is exhausting. But it's a blessing to bring my kids to work with me and take care of them while I'm taking care of the sweet little ones in our church.

*Brian is enjoying being an AP so far, but he a lot busier than he expected. Some days he doesn't get to sit down to eat his lunch until 2. He already busted a kid for selling drugs at school and another kid for threatening to bring a gun to school. The mother of that kid was pretty mad that Brian sent her kid to alternative school so she called him "Mr. Crappy." Ha!

*Our crazy, hyper, sweet dog Belle is starting to have some heart problems. We started her on a very inexpensive heart medication a few weeks ago, and we're praying it works to shrink her heart back down to normal size so she will live a few more years. I got very emotional about it when the vet first told me she may only have a year left. She & Bandit were our first "kids." We got Bandit right after we were married and we got Belle about a year later. They are such a great dogs, and it's hard to imagine not having Belle around. We are going in for another checkup next week, so hopefully Belle' heart is responding to the medicine.

*We went to the Third Day concert on Saturday. They are always great, but I really loved the opening act, Matthew West. He is one of my new favorites now. I especially love "Strong Enough."

I know I’m not strong enough to be

Everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up, I’m not strong enough
Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?
Lord, right now I’m asking You to be
Strong enough, strong enough
For the both of us

*Avery started volleyball and Tatum started soccer at the Y last weekend. We have been doing a lot of practicing in the backyard on both sports and they are both improving so much. It was so much fun to go to their games on Saturday. I told Brian I would love it if we always had some sports game to go to on the weekends. It's just fun to me. It was a nice day to be at the Y. It was freezing in the gym during Avery's v-ball game, then we went outside for Tatum's soccer game and it was hot, but with a nice breeze. Just fun.

Avery's team "Crush" is made up of 6/7 year old girls, most have never played volleyball before. Brian is coaching the team, along with a sweet high school girl. Avery got four serves over the net during the first game! Here's my little server below:

Tatum's team "New York" is co-ed four year olds. She has never played before, but she got the hang of it pretty quick. No picking flowers for this girl, she chased the ball down and even got to throw it in once.

Brian giving her some instructions during the water break. And her team meeting at the end of the game. I think they tied 1-1, but I'm pretty sure both goals were accidental.

And these two were great cheerleaders.

Yesterday, Avery received her first real Bible along with all the 1st graders at church. It is so cool and has the best pictures. She has not put it down once since she got it yesterday.

Here's our sweet girl, who always looks like she's just been in a fight. You can see the scars - one between her eyes and one beside her left eye. She always tries to do everything as quickly as possible and sometimes things like coffee tables or metal chairs just get in the way.

Brian will be 34 on Thursday and Bodie will be 6 months on Wednesday! I can't believe we've had him for half a year already! He is sitting up now, blowing raspberries, grabbing everything within his reach (which is why I got my hair cut short!), eating everything I put on a spoon, throwing a few fits too, but such a joy to all of us.

Aggieland

2011-09-07T10:55:00.009-05:00

Bodie's first trip to Aggieland

We went to march-in on Sunday afternoon with our friends, the Kopp's. It was so fun to be back in Aggieland, even if it was just for a few hours. We didn't have tickets to the game, but we thought it would be fun to let the kids watch all the football players, band, and Corps march into Kyle Field. It was fun to see our kids experience some of the fun and excitement of being an Aggie. When the band marched by, I looked over at our girls and they were all mesmerized. Their eyes were huge and their little mouths were open. I've always loved the Aggie band, honestly that is my favorite part of the football games. So it was fun to watch the girls reaction to the band and all the Corps of Cadets marching by. Of course, they loved seeing Reveille walk by too. I realized after they marched by that I probably should've covered Bodie's ears, poor guy, but he seemed to really enjoy all the activity and noise.

After everyone went into Kyle Field, we walked back through the Quad and let our kids run around campus for a few minutes before heading to Layne's for dinner. We sat around and talked and watched the game on TV for a couple hours before driving back home.

Here's our crew with Morgan & Mason

I don't think we've had a good family picture taken of all of us since Bodie was born. So here we are with our little future Aggies. We look forward to the days when we can take them all to the games and enjoy the whole day here, but for this stage of life, this was just about right. All the way home, we heard occasional "whooping" coming from the backseat and we smiled,

Good start to the season too. We came out with a big win. Gig em!

Tatum & Laney started preschool last week and here they are on the first day of school. Tatum's teacher told me at the end of the day she had already fallen in love with Tatum. Laney's teacher didn't say anything like that. :)

My friend Bethany works every Tuesday, so she has entrusted me to keep her four little ones every Tuesday while she goes to work. Tuesday is everyone's new favorite day of the week. My girls ask me every day when is it going to be Tuesday again. We have thoroughly enjoyed having the Spenn kids at our house and getting to play with them all day. Yes. you counted correctly, that is 8 kids watching a movie after eating dinner and getting a shower.

Avery & Rylin don't get home from school until around 4 and Brian tries to get home from work around 5, so it is crazy at times, but overall, it is just alot of fun.

Somewhere in the busyness of last month I forgot to post Bodie's 5 month picture. He's half-way to being 6 months now!
Tatum has been teaching herself how to write her letters, with a little help from Avery or me. I was so proud of her when she showed me this coloring sheet where had written the names of everyone in our family. Tatum is so driven, very internally motivated and determined. It excites me to think of all that she can do when she puts her mind to it.

And here's our little guy using his exersaucer for the first time. He loved it! I probably could've pulled it out of the attic a month ago, but now that it's out, he is a jumping pro.

This season of life is hard. I've started several different posts lately trying to put words to it, but I just don't know how to say it. I feel discouraged. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels, working my tail off, but not getting anywhere. Everyone has been asking me, "so how do you like staying home?" My short answer: "It's the hardest thing I've ever done." God is using it to show me lots of things, mostly humility.

Avery needs a lot of help right now. Within the first two weeks of 1st grade, it became very apparent she wasn't keeping up. Her teacher recommended testing her at the learning center. So we are starting the process. It's not at all a surprise, but it is hard on this mama's heart. Last year, she didn't keep up, but she didn't know it. This year she knows. We're praying for her teachers to have patience with her and to show her grace. We're praying that somehow she will get the help she needs so that she will love school again and feel successful.

There are so many little things that I can see God chipping away at in me. I am trying to be thankful. This is a season.

Avery's first day of 1st grade

2011-08-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

just a few giggles

2011-08-12T22:07:00.003-05:00

bodie sporting a tiara above and the culprits below

bekah and i have been friends ever since we were babies. our moms were good friends and when we were born, we just kept the friendship going. bekah, her mom rhonda, and her sweet little aubrey came to visit us last week. we had so much fun talking and catching up, and my girls had so much fun getting to have aubrey play with them.

i have known these sweet girls my entire life (except aubrey :)), and i am so excited for bekah to be welcoming baby #2 in january. i can't wait to find out if aubrey is getting a baby brother or sister!

photography by avery: tatum waking up from nap

bodie loving his johnny jump up

avery & laney playing dress up

me & bo having our nap in the recliner... i LOVE this time of day. i usually have an hour or so while laney is napping and avery & tatum play quietly in the gameroom. laney comes down after her nap and usually snuggles with me for a few minutes before she goes about her business.

sweet happy smile

so excited it's time for rice cereal

avery starts 1st grade on tuesday. i am excited for her, but i will miss her so much around the house during the day. i met her teacher last night and i am sure she is just the right one for avery, an answer to prayer.

tatum has had several run-ins with tables and chairs lately, causing two big scars on her head. she is a hard worker and has an amazing drive to win, so i guess those things are just going to happen when you are a busy, determined 4-year old.

laney is potty trained! wahoo! she has put up the biggest fight of all the girls, but we have finally arrived and i am so thankful. with panties instead of diapers on, she can also fit into her clothes that had been getting too tight. an added blessing!

bodie is sleeping better (we had a very rough time a couple weeks ago with him waking up all night), getting up around 4am to eat, then sleeping until 7 or so. he is the happiest little guy, always smiling and laughing. he is eating rice cereal and getting a big bottle of formula at night to help him sleep longer. he is rolling from back to tummy, but he can't get back to his back, so he just cries until we turn him back over. he is reaching for things and he puts his arms around your neck when you hold him, like he's giving you a hug. his hair is still spiky and we get lots of comments on it. at his 4 month check up, our doctor estimated him to have a growth potential of 6'2", which made brian very happy. there is alot of sweet bonding between he and the girls and it is a blessing to my heart.

brian has been back to work several weeks. he is enjoying it, very busy with lots of new responsibilities, but very happy and content there.

i am super happy to not be going back to work next week, but honestly sad to not be meeting a whole new group of students. that's always the best part of teaching, getting to meet all your sweet new babies each year. the first couple weeks of school they are angelic. i have been thinking alot about all the students i've taught over the years and what a privilege it was to be a part of their lives. God is so good and i am so grateful He doesn't always give me what i want, but He gives me what is best for me. so i am rejoicing that this is what is best for me right now!

Happy 4 Months Bo

2011-07-21T22:10:00.004-05:00

My favorite!

You are such a big 4 month old! Almost everyone who meets you can't believe you are only 4 months old. You outgrew all your 6 month clothes a long time ago and now your 9 month clothes are starting to get tight. Your cheeks are getting fuller and your thighs are so squishy, I love them! You are still a very happy baby. However, you are starting to get a little harder to please. We move you from your swing, to your bouncy seat, to your playmat, to your bumbo to our arms about 5 times every day. You are not as happy in your bouncy seat or swing as you used to be. You prefer your playmat because you can roll around and touch your toes and look at yourself in the mirror, which is pretty hilarious. I stopped swaddling you at night about a week ago and you are doing really well sleeping through the night. I am happily surprised at how you took to it so quickly. In fact, you got kinda mad at me today when I tried to wrap a blanket around your arms during your nap. You really wanted your arms to be free, so I freed them and you slept great. I guess it's the first step of letting you find your wings.

Although I have forgiven you, you've ruined several of your very cutest outfits with this crazy phenomena where your poo goes straight up your back. Baby girls don't do that, so it has been stumping me. How on earth can you be sitting up in your bumbo and all the sudden there is poo all the way up to your neck. All I know to do is put you in the bath and oxi-clean the daylights out of those clothes. Some have been saved, others have not. I need some boy-mama advice on this one... is there any diaper that can withstand this? It's happened in at least two different brands of diapers.

We have started having to go into a quiet place to nurse because if you hear your sisters in the room, you will not focus on the task. You will strain your eyes as far as you can to see what they are doing. You definitely want to be a part of the fun.

You are getting on a fairly regular nap & sleep routine. You go to bed when the girls do, around 8 - 8:30. You get to attend family prayer time before bed now and your sissies all want to hold your hands or feet while we pray. You wake up anytime betwen 5 - 6:30 am. Wish that was more regular, but hopefully once we start solids, you will get more consistent. You usually doze off once in the early morning after we're all downstairs, then I put you in your crib for a nap around mid-morning and you sleep for about an hour or so. Then after lunch you go back in your crib and you sleep for 2-3 hours, which makes your mama feel like a new person. You doze off again around supper time for a few minutes, and that is about it. You still eat every 2.5 - 3 hours, except at night and during that long afternoon nap, you can go 4-4.5 hours.

So far, some of your nicknames include: Bo-bee, Bo-sephus, Bo-Bo, but usually just Bo.

You are so precious and so loveable. Your smile and laughter makes me light up inside. We are all so thankful and happy to have you be a part of our family.

Our Texas Vacation

2011-07-17T23:02:00.010-05:00

We just got off a very fun and busy week of VBS at our church. Round Up was the theme this year and we had fun wearing pigtails and cowboy boots with our VBS shirts all week. I got to work in Tatum's room this year and we had a wonderful group of 4-year olds. I loved all of them, and am missing them now that it's over. I love that our church places such a huge emphasis on kids and goes all out for kids events like VBS. We had over 1500 kids come and 285 trusted in Christ for the first time!

The week before VBS was our little Texas vacation... We went to SA for a few days, Corpus Christi for a few days and Austin for a few days. Avery & Tatum also got to have Gramps Camp with my parents in SA for a few days, which is the highlight of their summer. This was Bodie's first road trip and he did so well. Thankfully, he loves to sleep in the car so most of the time we drove, he just napped.

We spent July 4th in SA with my parents and my brother Martin. We all lined up for their neighborhood parade, and it was so fun to see all the dogs and all the people, young and old, all decked out in their red, white and blue. We all just sat around and relaxed that afternoon, then we went to see Cars 2 that night. We also got to spend some time visiting with Paw Paw.

Paw Paw was born March 17, 1922. Bodie was born March 21, 2011.
Only 89 years difference between them!

Nana with Laney & Tatum waiting for the 4th of July parade to start!

Avery was so proud to get to hold Tex's leash during the parade.
Tex truly stole the show.

My brother Martin with Avery & Tex

I don't have too many of these two sisters together, don't know why,
but that makes me love this one even more! You can kinda see why people often ask me if they are twins.

Papa & Tatum are the two speed-walkers in the family. They got way ahead of us and had to wait for the rest of us to catch up.

On our way to Corpus on Tuesday, we stopped by Lane's store to say hi and she had a funny surprise for me! She had ordered me this book about Bodie. So here we are, two Aggies, that just named our son the same name as baby Bevo! Nice! We had no idea that was part of the Longhorn legend. We will just have to work extra hard to raise him up right! :)

Our first night in Corpus, we walked out on the beach and saw a ton of jellyfish. They are such pretty and amazing little creatures.

Tatum & Bodie excited about our day at the beach!

Our hotel overlooked the USS Lexington, which you can see below. It was fun to look out and see that massive aircraft carrier just sitting there with a helicopter and lots of airplanes on the deck.

We spent most of one day in North Padre on Malaquite Beach. When we got there around 9:30 that morning, we were one of the only families there. Slowly, more people came throughout the day, but it never got crowded. The girls made sand castles (with real sand, not the gravel we have in Galveston) and played with the tiny fish in the tide. They loved going out in the waves with their noodles. Brian took them for a long walk down the beach and they caught a blue crab. It amazes me how unafraid of animals the girls are... Avery was picking it up and playing with it, when she lost her grip and it pinched her on the thumb. She screamed and threw it back in the bucket. We set Bodie up under an umbrella in his swing and he did really well. I must've dipped his paci in ice water a hundred times. He loved that. Brian and I took turns playing in the waves with the girls and sitting back at the table with Bodie. It was so enjoyable to sit back and listen to the waves, the seagulls, and the happy squeals.

Bodie's first visit to the beach and he had a great time!

We finished reading The Little House on the Prairie while we were there.

The girls had plenty of pillow fights and wrestling competitions on the hotel beds.

We went by the USS Lexington that night after we ate dinner at Red Lobster. The next day, we got to visit my friend, Carin, who used to teach with me before she got married. Now she and her husband live in Corpus and have two little girls. It was fun getting to catch up with her and let our girls play together.

The big anchor from the Lexington

One of the torpedos

On Thursday, we drove back up to SA, dropped off Avery & Tatum for Gramps Camp, and Brian, Laney, Bodie and I kept on going up to Austin to spend a couple days with Brent, Jenn & Tara. I have to say, it was a lot of fun having just our two little ones for a couple days. We got to ride the train in Zilker park and play at a fun splash park. One night, Brent & Jenn babysat so Brian & I go out on a date, which was so nice. We mostly just enjoyed relaxing at their house and watching the three little ones interact. Tara was so cute helping us out with Bodie's paci. She loved to put it in his mouth and watch him suck on it then she would take it right back out. It's so fun to see these little cousins beginning to enjoy each other's friendships.

Tara & Laney waiting for our train ride

Riding with Aunt Jenn

Bodie playing at the splash park

Tara was such a sweet little mama to Bo

Matching cousins!

Papa & Bodie

Nana & Bodie

We had a great time driving around, visiting family & friends and spending time together. It was so nice to get out of our regular routine and just relax... no dishes to wash, no cleaning or cooking to do. Our families took great care of us, fed us, entertained us and helped us have a memorable summer vacation!

Father's Day and 3 months!

2011-06-22T22:30:00.003-05:00

Just a few pictures today...
Last Sunday, Father's Day, was declared Hawaiian day at our church, so everyone wore shorts and flowery shirts to church. Here's the girls and Bodie sporting their Hawaiian duds.

Here's Brian with the kids on Father's Day. The girls and I got up early and made him blueberry muffins, then brought him breakfast in bed with his cards. It was fun to pamper him a little bit. We also got some Pappadeaux for supper, his favorite, and it was delicious!

Here's Laney and Bodie hanging out during his 3 month photo shoot. It's fun to think these two will walk through alot of life together through school and other activities since they are only two years apart. They are officially called "the little ones," while Avery & Tatum are called "the big girls."

Bodie Luke, we are all crazy about you! I can't believe how fast you are growing up! You smile all the time, especially when we get close to your face and talk to you. The other night, you laughed the cutest laugh when Daddy was kissing your feet. You are so laid back and easy to please. You love your paci and you love to play on your playmat. You love to talk to yourself in the mirror and the cuteness of it almost brings me to tears. Your hair sticks straight up on your head and you are getting more of it each day. When I come in your room in the mornings, the first thing you do when I unswaddle you, is stretch your cute little arms up over your head like Superman and give me a huge smile. I adore the feeling of picking you up out of your crib and holding you for the first time each day. The "newness" of you being a boy has not worn off. I still am thrilled to put you in your cute little boyish outfits and I think you are the most handsome little boy in the whole world. Your big sisters adore you. They love to help make you happy by holding you, covering you up when you're cold, or giving you your paci when it falls out. I am so happy to get to take care of you and try to make you happy. I am so thankful I get to be your mama.

Here's our 3 MONTH OLD!

If the Father's Day pictures above looked familiar, it's because they wore the same dresses last year about the same time. Here's the three girls last summer. I can't believe how much they have changed... Avery still had baby teeth & long hair, Tatum had short hair and no bangs, and Laney was just a baby! And we had no idea that God would bless us with a baby boy to add to the mix!

The Latest

2011-06-09T22:03:00.005-05:00

I can't believe we've already been on summer break for a week! It has gone by fast and it has been wonderful! We have enjoyed our time at home so much... we've done some fun arts & crafts, some school work each morning for avery & tatum, played outside alot, and just enjoyed being together. It is a blessing from the Lord to have weeks like this one where there's not much on the calendar and we can pretty much go where the wind takes us.

Here's my four little blessings. I have alot of pictures of the side of Laney's head, she hasn't quite fallen in love with the camera like the older two. And notice Avery is sitting in the bumbo seat... it's so funny how you put something away then get it out again a year later and it is the most exciting thing in the world again.

We have been working hard on potty training this week. It's been very frusterating. There have been many times over the past few weeks when I just have to remind myself, "Laney is two." That's the only explanation you can give sometimes. She's old enough and smart enough to "get" potty training, but she just refuses to put it in the potty. Today we went to the resale store and bought a cute little potty chair that she can sit on. Is that gross to buy a used potty? I'm wiping it down with clorox wipes before I let her use it. Anyway, I thought maybe she is afraid to sit on our big potty with the little potty ring you put in it, maybe she will feel more comfortable with her feet on the ground and her hiney on her own little potty chair. So tomorrow we will try that.

Bed, Bath & Beyond advertised a miniature chocolate fountain in their last mail-out, and I had a great coupon so I took the plunge and got us our own chocolate fountain. It was so worth it! It was funny to watch the girls... at first they politely used the little toothpicks I gave them to dip the strawberries, bananas, marshmellows & pretzels in the chocolate. But after a few minutes Tatum just started dipping her whole hand in the chocolate and shoving it in her mouth to get all the chocolate off. Needless to say, it was a hit and I already can't wait to use it again.

Bodie's first time to sit in the bumbo... not quite ready to be left alone in it, but he did enjoy sitting in it when I supported his head.
Last week I said goodbye to my students, my teacher friends, my classroom and my career. It was emotional and exhausting, but wonderful and fulfilling at the same time. It was alot of work packing up my classroom, so I brought the crew with me and let them watch movies in my classroom while I worked. They enjoyed sitting in my big desks and watching movies on my big screen.

It was hard to say goodbye to my U.S. History team, Carol, Deb, Michelle & Joey. They have been so supportive and helpful to me over the past 7 years. Even though I was part-time and never attended the team meetings because they were in the afternoons, they never made me feel bad about it, in fact, they made my life so easy by giving me so much help with lesson plans, answer keys, advice and just being there whenever I needed them. I will miss each of them so much.

I will also miss the students that came through my door over the years. The fighters who have been given nothing for free, who have fought for every dime they have, they live only 10 minutes away from my neighborhood, but live in a whole different world. Who wear blue jeans that are 6 inches too short because they can't afford to buy new ones, who wear the same sweater almost every day because it's the only one they have, who wear stained or torn clothes, not to be cool, but because it's either that or nothing. I would've liked to buy all of them nice clothes and take care of them and show compassion to them, but it's too big of a job for just me. So I had to turn my heart off a little bit and not let myself feel that. But I have been able to listen to them, to smile at them, to ask them questions about themselves, to hopefully bring some happiness to their life by making my classroom environment a happy place for 50 minutes.

I am relieved to be leaving the thugs, the disrespectful, violent, troublemakers, who regardless of what cards they've been dealt in life, have chosen to hate, to steal and to destroy. They are the ones who make high schools scary and unsafe. They are the ones who I was afraid to deal with because I knew I needed to be firm and strict, but I was afraid they might retaliate and I have four kids I want to live to raise up, so they often got away with whatever they wanted because of my fears. I will not miss them one bit. I am relieved to be done with them at least for now.

I will miss my FCA club. I have seen many students come and go over the past five years, through times when we had 70 kids coming each week to times when we were lucky to have 12 show up. It has truly been the highlight of my career, getting to lead these leaders, trying to give them refuge in the dark place God has placed them. I have often said, "I would never let my kids to go school where I teach." However, I feel compassion on these kids... I feel like they are my kids and God has chosen them to be a light in this place, and without them, there would be no hope. I am so proud of them for standing up for Him and for truth, even when it is so unpopular. I hope and pray my children will be bold and unashamed of the Lord like these students are. I balled my eyes out saying goodbye to them. I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about them. I feel so honored God gave me the privilege of being there for them.

I will not miss waking up at 5:00 am every morning, nursing Bodie, getting dressed and ready, pumping for Bodie, then getting to work by 6:45 am. I will not miss juggling our kids around between my mom, Brian's mom and sweet friends. I like having them home with me. I will not miss having to plan my lessons for the next day after I am already exhausted from doing the dishes and getting them in bed. I'm not complaining, I am extremely grateful for the job God gave me to do while we've begun our family. God has taught me humility, priorities, and faith. He has helped me conquer fears and trust in Him alone. I am excited to see what He has planned for this next chapter of our lives.

Right after school let out, our dear friends the Kindle's, came for a visit! It was the best thing I could've asked for after a crazy emotional week. Jennifer and I stayed up until midnight catching up on life and our kids loved getting to play together.

Here's Brett & Parker meeting Bodie

Here's the Kindle's & Kratky's after a fun morning on the waterslide:
Kate, Laney, Avery, Brett, Parker, Bodie, Tatum & Crew

We always look forward to our yearly visits with the Kindle's. Jennifer & I always seem to pick up right where we left off and she always leaves me feeling encouraged, happy and challenged. I love her friendship so much. She has three boys and one girl, we have three girls and one boy... there's got to be a marriage in the works somewhere in that mix!!!

So we went to the mall in hopes of getting a picture of all four of the kids and an individual one of Bodie, since he is 10 weeks now. It was a disaster to say the least. We learned some valuable lessons, though, which I am still too frusterated to explain right now. So after the disastrous photo session, we put the kids on a bench in the mall and here's what we got:

This was in the photo session. The photographer left us right in the middle of the shoot for a five minute phone call. Seriously? With four young children and a baby on the lap of a 6 year old? Really? Yeah, so I pulled out my own camera and decided to take advantage of the cute pose. Nothing to frame, but it does show their personalities.

In these pics, you can see Tatum's new bangs really well. Last week she came to me in the kitchen to tell me something and I was taken aback by the short hair in the front of her head. I grabbed her and started examining it and wondering what on earth I was going to do to salvage it. I asked her why she cut her hair and her answer was perfect: "It was hanging in my face so I cut it off." Makes perfect sense, huh? So after a little trimming, I got her bangs semi-even. I actually think she looks pretty cute with bangs. My brother Martin cut my hair when I was about her age and it is bringing back memories of the pictures I've seen of me after that tragedy.

I did end up buying a couple, so it wasn't a complete loss. Next time, we plan to make a trip to San Antonio so my sister-in-law Dominique can take some pictures of them.

So a few other updates: Brian got a new job! He will be an Assistant Principal at a middle school that is very close to where Avery will be going to school next year. It is awesome to see God's hand in it all. He is also working as an AP for summer school starting next week, so he is excited to get an idea of what it will be like.

We also celebrated our 10 year anniversary on June 2! I am so grateful for all the many ways God has blessed our marriage over the years. We have both changed so much and sharpened each other. We enjoy our life together, we enjoy putting our heads together and getting done all the things that raising four kids require, we enjoy sitting in the backyard and watching our girls run around and play, we enjoy walking through each day knowing that we're in this together. This is the life God has given us and we love it. I am excited and thankful to picture my future next to him, going through the ups and downs and knowing that he is my partner and we will both try our hardest not to let each other down. I pray that when I wake up each morning, my goal will be to do him good and not harm all the days of his life.

Sweet 4 year old

2011-05-22T14:59:00.007-05:00

Brian made this sweet card and hung it above Tatum's chair before breakfast on her birthday. One of the many reasons I love my man is because he does stuff like this for our girls. He is such a sweet daddy.
Tatum turned 4 on May 16. She has been looking forward to this day for so long. All our kids birthdays are within 5 months of each other and Tatum's is the last of the birthdays, so she has to be very patient to wait for her big day.

We took her to Build-A-Bear and she got to make and dress her own puppy,"Sophia." We've never been there before, but I thought it would be fun to try it with Tatum, and we had so much fun! We will definitely be back for more outfits and more cute stuffed animals.

Then we went to Tatum's favorite restaurant, Casa Ole! She loves it because her kids meal comes with a bowl of chocolate pudding. I reminded her that Chuy's has push pops for dessert, but she wasn't swayed, so Casa Ole it was. Here's our Tate being honored with the Chimichanga birthday song and a big bowl of sopapilla ice cream!

And her second present... her first bike!

I mentioned in a previous post... for Avery's kindergarten graduation, we got her a T.Bear just like the one her class had all year. I had it in the car when I picked her up on the last day of school. She was so excited! It was a great surprise! I thought she might want to come up with an original name, but she has decided it will be called T. Bear just like her class bear.

We also had Tatum's first dance recital this weekend. She did a tap dance to "Three little fishies" and danced ballet to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." All the tiny little dancers in her class stole the show! It was so cute!

After the show, we gave our dancer some pretty daisies.

Dance was extra fun this season because Tatum got to dance with her friend Brooke, whose parents are our good friends, Brian & Erica. Their older daughter Brea and Avery had so much fun playing and running around together. Here's our two families together after the recital. My Brian and Brian & Erica all went to high school together, so they are friends that go way back!

Here's Brian and Brian with their beautiful dancing daughters!

I caught my two men watching SportsCenter together and it was just too cute not to photograph.

Our Bodie was two months old yesterday! Here's his two month old photo shoot.

Gig 'Em Aggies

Laughing at mama

Trying to hold his head up all by himself

This smile melts me into mush

Sweet little Bo, we have enjoyed every minute of these two months with you. You are so easy going and happy. You smile all the time now. You have even laughed a couple times. You are never more happy then when you are right in the middle of all of us talking and laughing with each other. You are a reward from God and a dream come true in my life. I am so thankful God let me be your mama!

kindergarten, birthdays and smiles

2011-05-14T12:58:00.010-05:00

Bodie and his two cousins are already becoming good pals. I'm so happy for Bo that he will have these two boys to play with as he grows up.

These pictures were a couple weeks ago... Matthew at 4 months, Bodie at 5 weeks and Tyson at 2 weeks old. Matt, Bo & Ty will have all kinds of fun together and probably get into a little trouble too. Such a cute little trio of boys, which is kinda fun and refreshing after all the girls before them!

We went to a free KSBJ brown bag concert at Chick-Fil-A with our friends, the Spenn's, a couple weeks ago. We heard Laura Story sing her song "Blessings" ("what if His blessings come through raindrops, what if His healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near...") Such a good song. Here's Bethany and her boys, Noah & Carson, holding Bodie. That was such a fun event, I love that KSBJ and Chick-Fil-A team up to offer such fun family events that are FREE!

Tatum got to celebrate her birthday at school a little early since her birthday is the same day as the super summer send-off. Here she is wearing her birthday crown, birthday medal and big sister medal she got at chapel that day.

Avery turned 6 on April 29 and all she wanted for her birthday was a real Jessie costume, the one in the Disney store. So here she is in all her glory. It's cute that she looks up to Jessie so much, and I think Jessie is a pretty noble character, but I must admit, I will be really excited when she moves on to another hero. I'm a little tired of the Toy Story gang.

Laney had her splash day at school last week. They had some very creative water activities set up for these little ones. Her favorite thing was using a paintbrush and water to paint the side of the church.
Oops, this picture was supposed to be with the other concert picture. Rylin wanted a turn to hold Bodie too, since her brothers got to hold him, so here's Rylin, Avery's BFF, holding Bo.
And the birthday party. It was such a fun day. Beautiful weather, lots of sweet friends, wonderful helpful family, wet little kids squealing everywhere you looked.

They wanted a cookie cake this year instead of a regular cake, which was fine with me! They wanted it to have the Toy Story characters, of course, but since they cookie place can't do copyrighted characters, we decided on a cowboy hat & boot. I can't believe these two are six and four years old! Happy Birthday Avery & Tatum!

I love that Martin & Dominique are Texans again! They have been in Michigan for 10 years, so we haven't gotten to have them be a part of our little parties and gatherings... until now! They drove in from San Antonio with my parents for the party and took over the photography job for the party, and did a way better job than I ever would have done, by the way. I love these two!

So we thought this would be Brian's last baseball game ever, but it looks like God has other plans. The AP job he was promised, fell through, so it looks like he will be back for another year of baseball! We don't see the big picture like God does, but we trust that He will provide for us and put Brian right where He wants him. That is the truth and we believe it. Anyway, here's Brian taking a quick break between innings to give the girls some love.

We do enjoy these baseball games, even though the season is long and exhausting for all of us. Part of me is glad we will be back next year for some more Eagle baseball. Hopefully we will get a few more "W"'s next season!

Avery officially graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. I can't believe her name and 1st grade are in the same sentence now. It seems like this year has flown by so fast. Here she is with her class singing "I am a promise." She is front and center.

She loved all her teachers, but Mrs. Joiner definitely had a special place in Avery's heart. She brought out the best in Avery and took a special interest in her and it meant the world to us.

Cake and punch after graduation

Blurry picture, but here is Avery with her Kindergarten diploma, along with Mrs. Young, the lead Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kunz, her computer teacher and Mrs. Joiner, her math teacher.

And it pays to be last sometimes. Avery was the last in line, when Mrs. Young told the kids to all turn around and walk the other way, which made Avery first in line! Which meant she got to hold T. Bear, the very special class bear and lead her class out of the sanctuary.

Tatum holding the gigantic "4" balloon from their party.

I love this little smile. When I put him on his changing table and lean over him and talk to him, he just smiles and coos and tries to talk to me. We just moved him up to size 2 diapers. His 0-3 month clothes are getting too tight, so he is already wearing a few of his 3-6 month clothes. He has a tiny bit of peach fuzz on the top of his head and some light brown hair on the back of his head. His eyes are still blue. He is about to outgrow his swaddlers and I'm not ready to un-swaddle him at night, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that one. I guess I need to buy the next size up. He goes to bed about 10 pm and wakes up about 5 am. He loves his paci. In two days, he will be 8 weeks old. I still almost have to pinch myself when I dress him in all his blue sportsy stuff. We are all so smitten with him.

We had award night at Awana last week and Avery finished her first Hang Glider handbook so she got a book award and ribbon. I'm so proud of all she has learned in Sparks this year. Next year she will still be in Sparks, Tatum will get to start Cubbies and Laney will be in Puggles!

I started back to work about two weeks ago. God has been so good to give me strength and grace to cover all the bases during this last crazy month before school is out. My mom is driving in every week to keep the kids for two days, my mother-in-law keeps them for two days and I have a couple sweet friends who are keeping Bodie one day a week while I'm at work. It has been exhausting, for all of them and for me, but I am so thankful for our moms and friends who love us enough to help us make it through these challenging times.

Two and a half weeks left!

One month with Bodie

2011-04-21T20:22:00.008-05:00

Our little Bodie is one month old today! I can't even describe how much I love him, and how happy I am that he is our little boy. I love his cute little smile that accidentally happens sometimes when I kiss him. I can't wait until he smiles at me on purpose! I love that he is getting stronger and sturdier and that he is awake more often during the day. I love that he calms down when he hears my voice. I love his big blue eyes. I love that the girls hold his hands as they walk along beside the stroller, and I'm pretty sure he loves that too.

I had to take Laney to the doctor today for an ear infection and the nurse offered to weigh Bodie while we were there... at one month old, he weighs 10 lbs, 9 oz.! Brian said, "that's my Big boy!" He goes to bed around 9-10 pm and usually wakes up around 3:30 or 4 am to eat, but after I feed him, he sleeps until 7:30 or 8 am. When he is up for the day, he likes to sit in his bouncy seat, or lay on his playmat and listen to Mozart. Of course, his favorite thing is just being in my arms, roaming around the house or backyard or wherever we all are.

Bodie went to his first baseball game on Saturday to see the Cy-Falls Eagles. Sadly, it wasn't a win, but it was the first game we've been able to attend since Bodie arrived, so we enjoyed it! He slept most of the game while the girls got their sidewalk chalk and drew Rapunzel all over the ground behind the dugout. He got to meet all the moms of the boys and a special teacher friend, Evelyn, who has been so sweet to all of us.

Here's Brian & Bodie next to the Cy-Falls Wall of Fame (Brian's name is on the 1996 column).
It's bittersweet that this is Brian's last season coaching baseball at Cy-Falls. It has been a blessing in many ways and alot of fun for him over the past few years. The girls have grown up going to baseball games and cheering for the Eagles. We will still be cheering for the Eagles, but Brian will play a different role next year, which we are very excited about. More on that later.

Tate and Bo, my sweet little blondies

Brian's Aunt Shelia & Uncle Terry came in town last week to welcome their new grandson, Tyson David, who was born on Monday the 11th. Melissa's water broke almost a month before her due date, and Tyson arrived. Thankfully he is very healty, despite some jaundice, and we are very excited that Bodie will have a little cousin only 3 weeks younger than him. They will be good buddies I'm sure. Here's Shelia & Bodie...

Avery got to bring T.Bear home from Kindergarten last weekend, which always makes life extra exciting. She is very sweet about sharing him with Tatum & Laney. They all enjoy dressing him up and playing with him. We've never owned a Build-A-Bear, but after seeing how much Avery loves this class bear, we decided to buy her one just like it for her Kindergarten graduation present. Don't tell her... it's a surprise!

Here's our almost 6 year old with T.Bear!

It was her turn to lead her class through their daily calendar routine, so I went to school to watch her do it. If she doesn't end up as a teacher one day, I will be very surprised. She loves to get up in front of the class and call on her classmates to answer her questions. Sometimes while she's playing at home, she will invite me to attend her "Bible study," where she has lined up all her stuffed animals on the couch and is sitting in front of them with a Bible teaching them. Anyway, she did a great job leading her class through "calendar." I am very proud of her progress this year in Kindergarten.
Speaking of teaching, I officially resigned for next year. We have prayed and talked about it alot and both felt this is the right time for me to stay home. We're going to try it for a year and see how it goes. My feelings are extreme joy, mingled with a little bit of worry, not that I won't like it, but that it will cause more financial stress than we are prepared for, or that I will end up having to find some other part time work to make things work out. But mostly I am excited. For so many reasons. I am thankful that the Lord's timing is perfect... He knew this wouldn't have worked at any other time, but at this time all the pieces fall into place just right. It almost feels surreal.

But I do have to finish this school year and I'm trying not to go down the road of depression just thinking about it. I start back to work one week from tomorrow. It's only about 4 weeks until we're out for summer, and I want to finish well. I want to love my teacher friends and my students and my FCA kids, and I want the Lord to be pleased with me and the difference I've made at Cy-Springs. Now that I'm at the end of my career there, at least for now, my mind is flooded with all the great, amazing, wonderful memories and people God has blessed me with over the past 7 years. All this to say, I am eager to finish the year well and complete the work God has given me, but I'm also stressed about getting Bodie to take a bottle and pumping for him and figuring out a schedule for him and for the girls. I thank the Lord He has it all under control and He will carry us through May, just the way He always has carried us through.

Update on Bodie

2011-04-08T16:11:00.004-05:00

I finally convinced Avery (and Brian) to let me try to cut her hair short for the summer. One of her friends at school just got her hair cut, so Avery was open to the idea. Up until now, she has always wanted her hair long. I reminded Brian that hair does grow back and he said it was okay, so I took her in the kitchen and started chopping. I didn't take a before and after picture, but the one above was the day after we cut it. She loves it short now and I do too! Easier to wash, easier to brush, easier to fix, just plain easy!

Brian put them in their matching pajamas and they came downstairs holding hands to show me that they matched. So of course, we had to get a picture of them looking cute and matching.

Then of course, I had to add our little guy in his blue...

Bodie has been such a good baby! He is sleeping between 5-6 hours at night now and usually goes right to sleep when we put him to bed at night. That did not happen with our girls, so I don't really know what we've done differently, maybe it's just him, but either way, we are very grateful that we are getting pretty good sleep for having a 2.5 week old. He is alert more during the day and I can tell he loves to be in the same room as the rest of the crew. He likes to hear all of our voices around him. Even though those voices are sometimes very loud and silly.

At his 2-week checkup on Monday, he weighed 8 lbs and 14 oz and had grown to 21.5 inches! So he is definitely growing and thriving. We also found out he does in fact have duarte galactosemia, which is the same genetic disorder Avery & Tatum were born with. I took the news alot better this time, partly because I expected it this time, and partly because I am planning to keep on breastfeeding him, even though we're not 100% sure it's best. The (very limited) research recently has shown that there are no significant delays in DG (duarte Galactosemic) kids who are breastfed vs. kids that had galactose-restricted diets. I wish I knew that back when Avery & Tatum were infants... they both had to be weaned immediately and put on soy formula, which was heartbreaking for me. I remember the news being so devastating back then, finding out there is something not "normal" about your child, and then being told what you are trying to do to nourish your child, breastfeeding, is actually a toxin to their little bodies and could damage them permanently.

All this to say, Bodie does have duarte galactosemia, but thankfully, he is thriving on breastmilk and we are planning to continue, unless God or the doctors tells us otherwise. The fact is DG kids do sometimes have delays, whether their diet is restricted or not. So regardless of whether I switched him to soy formula or breastfeed him, it is possible that he could struggle in certain areas, just like Avery & Tatum might struggle in certain areas... whether it's a result of being DG or it's just the way they are, we will never know. But we are so thankful for our kids good health and we know that they are beautifully and wonderfully made by our loving Creator.

Laney, by the way, is just a carrier of galactosemia, but doesn't actually have the disorder. Here she is at her teddy bear picnic at school last week. She has become a very interested and affectionate big sister in the past week. When she sees Avery or Tatum having a turn holding Bodie in their lap, she wants a turn too. So I put him in her lap and she kisses his head and hugs him sometimes a little too tight, but she definitely thinks he's lovable and sweet.

Tatum got a special day with Brian this past week. Her class had a field trip to Dewberry Farm, our favorite little pumpkin/christmas tree farm, and Brian took the day off work to take her. They had a great time together and she loved having her daddy there with her. Here she is in the bluebonnets.

Tatum & Brian on the hayride

More pictures of Bodie coming soon...

Feeling so Blessed

2011-03-30T11:16:00.006-05:00

This was me (and Bodie) 11 days ago. I can't believe our boy is already 9 days old. Here's a little bit about our time so far with Bo...

My labor and delivery was quick and a little crazy at times. When I got to the hospital I was dilated to 3 cm and not in labor. My doctor broke my water first thing, which hurt like crazy. Apparently I have a very tough amniotic sac. That might have been the most painful part of the whole day. Anyway, we started the pitocin around 8:00 am and Brian & I had time to just sit and talk, read and text people. Around 9:30 am, the contractions were pretty painful, so I asked for the epidural. The nurse checked me and I was 5 cm, so I got the epidural around 9:45 am.

I casually mentioned to her that with my last baby I went from 6 to 10 cm really quickly. She asked me how long I pushed for my last baby and I told her probably around 15 minutes or less. Her eyes got a little bit big and she started moving around our room kinda quickly. She then mentioned that they didn't have the lab orders for the cord blood sample that was supposed to be taken at the birth of our baby to check for galactosemia. Apparently they hadn't received a fax from my doctors office with the specifics of which color tube and how much blood to draw.

So around 10:00 am I was around 6 cm, and still no orders. At 10:30 I was dilated to 8-9 cm and I finally offered to get on my laptop and pull up the orders for them to look at from my email. Which we did. Thankfully everything worked out at the last minute and they were ready to take the blood sample from the cord. At 10:45 I was complete, but of course, my doctor wasn't there because he didn't expect me to be ready to push until after noon. So I had to wait about 10 minutes for my doctor to get there, feeling like our baby was about to pop out on his own. I was so happy when he finally walked in the door. I pushed through about 3 contractions and finally at 11:10 am, Bodie was born! I later found out he had to use the vacuum to help Bodie come out because he was such a big boy! That's why he has a little cone head.

I was so happy when I heard "It's a boy!" Bodie was the biggest of our kids at birth, weighing in at 8 lbs 11.5 oz. Tatum was second at 8 lbs 8 oz. Laney was 8 lbs even and Avery was 7 lbs 10 oz.

He came out screaming and wailed through the entire cleaning/weighing/footprinting process. When they finally put him in my arms, he got completely quiet. It was one of those memories I will always cherish. I just talked to him and he just stared at me, and I was completely in love.

Brian is so good at helping me through every step of the childbirth process. He is so calm and reassuring to me. At one point when I was dilating quickly, I got the chills so bad I asked for more blankets. He came over and held my hand and the warmth of his hand helped me relax and feel so much better. I am so happy for Brian to have a son. He will be such a great dad for Bodie. I know he will teach him about the Lord and fishing and baseball and how to be a good man. And deep down inside I'm pretty sure he is hoping he will fight and rough-house and knock things over.

Here we are... our first family photo with all six of us!

Grandad and Bodie

Nana, Papa & Bodie

Papa, Avery & Bodie

Nana, Papa and the whole crew

Gigi, Aunt Adriana and Bodie

The girls got to watch The Little Mermaid in our hospital room that night. My mom was so sweet to come stay with us and help take care of the girls so I could focus on getting used to Bodie. We appreciated her help so much and the girls loved having Nana all to themselves.

Avery is CRAZY about her baby brother. Here is the first time she got to hold him.

My sweet friend Bethany came to meet Bodie in the hospital. Also, our pastors Stephen and Matt came to meet Bodie and pray for him while we were there. Bodie also got to meet all his grandparents while he was in the hospital. We were very thankful to be released about 24 hours after Bodie was born. We were very ready to get home and get settled in. Here's Brian & Bodie with his stork in our front yard.

Bodie Luke - one day old

Three clean pajama girls so glad their baby brother is finally here!

Uncle Brent, Aunt Jenn & Tara came to meet Bodie this past weekend. Brian had games on both Friday and Saturday, so it was nice having Brent & Jenn there to help me out. They kept the girls entertained and we enjoyed just hanging out and visiting with them. Bodie also got to meet the Cavazos family and Uncle Brandon and baby Matthew during his first weekend.

Aunt Jenn & Bodie

Uncle Brent & Bodie

Tatum getting some sweet kisses from Bo

Bodie - three days old

The other day Avery said, "When I first heard 'bodie' I thought 'oh, that's okay', but now I think bodie is the cutest name in the whole world!" I must say, I agree with her!
When she gets home from school each day, the first thing she wants to do is hold Bodie. And he is so content in her arms. She talks to him and kisses him and occasionally squeals and says "I can't believe he's finally here!" These two have already bonded and it makes me so happy!
Tatum loves to kiss his head and put his paci in. Ever since we found out I was pregnant, Tatum has been praying and asking God for a "brother with blond hair." When we found out it was indeed a brother, she was very excited that God had answered that part with a "yes." And apparently He has answered the "blond" part too because Bodie's hair is a lot like Tatum's when she was a baby. So unless it falls out and grows in dark, we really think he will probably be a blond like Tate. She is so very happy to have another blond in our family.

Laney has done really well with Bodie. I was worried she would be jealous and it would break my heart to have to choose him over her, if they both were crying. But so far, she has been fine. Mostly she just ignores him, which is fine with me for now. But she does like to kiss his head and point to him and say "Bo-bee."

We are so thankful that Bodie's first newborn screening for galactosemia came back normal! We are still waiting for more tests to find out if he might have a minor case of it ("duarte", which is what Avery & Tatum had) or if he is just a carrier of it, like Laney. We have seen God answer our specific prayers so many times and we are so amazed and grateful!

Welcome Bodie Luke

2011-03-26T20:21:00.003-05:00

Bodie Luke
Born 3/21/2011 at 11:10 am
20 inches long
8 lbs, 11.5 oz
We are all so thankful for this gift from God!

Bo, your sisters adore you and love to kiss your sweet forehead and cover you up with blankies and put your paci in when you cry. You are your daddy's "little buddy" and he could not be more excited to have a son. You and he have a big job taking care of all us girls! Your mama can't get enough of you. I just can't kiss you enough or tell you I'm crazy about you enough.

There are many more pics and stories and words coming soon...

Bluebonnets 2011

2011-03-19T14:50:00.004-05:00

We were definitely a week or two early this year, but since we are welcoming our little guy in about 2 days, we decided this was the best chance to get our annual bluebonnet pictures with the girls. If you look real carefully, you can see about six bluebonnets in the field behind them.

The girls had a good time walking around in their pretty new dresses and pretending like we were in a field full of bluebonnets. I can't wait until next year's pictures when there's a little boy in the bluebonnet pictures with these three princesses.

We've had to pack a week worth of spring break into about two or three days lately since Brian was swamped with baseball at the beginning of the week. While he's been busy with baseball, the girls and I had a fun day at Copper Lakes feeding the ducks and birds and playing at the park. We also did some shopping for those last few things we need for our baby brother. And we did a lot of playing outside and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. So yesterday since Brian was finally on break, we walked the mall several times and wore the girls out completely. None of them got a nap the whole day, which worked perfectly into our plans... We put them to bed around 7:30 and went out on a date, while a friend of ours sat at our house for us. We saw a movie and ate dinner and it was so much fun. Might be the last date we get to go on for awhile, so we definitely enjoyed every minute of it.

Some fun we had over the past week... Tatum flying her kite while riding her scooter. And below, showing her "back teeth," which for some reason she is very proud of.

Laney's entertainment throughout the Girl Scout ceremony was this little plastic frog. So glad I let her pick it up off the ground and bring it into the ceremony!

Daisy troop 17547 had their official investiture ceremony yesterday and our little Girl Scout did a great job. Her job was to tell about the red petal on their vest, which stands for being strong and courageous. They have been working since September to earn these vests and all the petals on them. I am very happy Avery has had the opportunity to be a Girl Scout this year.

Next time I post, it will have pictures of a cute little baby boy it it, and I am so eager to find out what those pictures will look like! I keep trying to picture him in my head with all the different possible combinations of hair, eyes, skin, nose, mouth, etc. that he could have. It's so neat to know that God already knows every detail of this little boy growing inside me and I will finally get to find out in two days or less! Monday morning we are going in to be induced, and we would greatly appreciate the prayers of all our friends and loved ones!

Cowgirl up!

2011-03-03T21:01:00.005-06:00

My poor Laney had a bad fall yesterday morning down the stairs. She hit her upper gum on the wooden part on the side of the stairs and it looks really gross. There is skin flapping around and all mangled in her upper gum and blood was dripping down into her teeth all day. It was gross. I debated whether I should take her to the doctor, I was pretty sure they wouldn't stitch it up in her mouth and we called the dentist, who told us to just keep ice on it all day. Right.

But she has been such a trooper. She really is a tough kid. She played all day like it wasn't a big deal and let us look at it and put medicine in her mouth. It's still pretty yucky today, but at least the bleeding has stopped. It's just a dark purple mangled yucky mess up there. But I am very grateful it none of her teeth seem to have been harmed. I know God protected her because it could've been much worse.

These overalls she wore for western day today have been lovingly worn by all the girls now. I have pictures of both Avery & Tatum wearing these overalls when they were her size. It's fun to see Laney's little body in them and think how big I thought Avery was when she wore them!

Tatum is going through a tough time lately, mostly jealousy and mostly of Laney. She hears all the time how big Laney is getting, and I know she is longing to be told how big she is and what an accomplished 3.5 year old she is. She knows she and Laney share alot of the same clothes, socks & shoes because they really do fit both of them. Tatum is taller, but Laney is built larger. Tatum also sees when Laney falls and gets a cut or an ant bite or her mouth gets mangled, and Tatum immediately makes up some pretend wound she has or reminds us of a wound she got a long time ago so she can get some attention. It's shameless. When Laney wants to be held or sit in my lap, Tatum all the sudden wants to be held or sit in my lap. It's such a struggle for me because I am crazy about all my kids, but for some reason I have a special sympathy for Tatum being the middle girl and I try really hard to give her extra attention and praise. But she still acts so jealous! For example, tonight when I took Laney downstairs to give her some tylenol for her mouth, Tatum immediately said, "mama, I think I have a sore throat." And when I ask Avery how her elbow is feeling (she got a bad strawberry a few days ago), Tatum says, "mama, remember when I fell and skinned my knee and there was blood running down my leg?" (which happened over a year ago). I wish she would just believe me when I tell her how special she is and how much we all adore her, and not try so hard to take recognition away from her sisters.

I am so crazy about my little Tates. She has such a gentle and sensitive nature. I long for her understand and feel secure in how much she is loved. I just can't get enough of this little cowgirl.

So Avery has been wanting a Jessie costume from Toy Story 3 ever since Christmas. We couldn't pull it off at Christmas, but I found this little shirt and hat on Amazon last week, and knowing that this was rodeo week and she had nothing western to wear, I sprung for it. Her reaction when she opened the package was so worth it! She told me thankyou about 20 times and touched it like it was gold. When she put it on, she just stared at herself in the mirror. This morning she asked me to wake her up early and put a braid in her hair, like Jessie, with a yellow ribbon. Here's my little Jessie at the rodeo today at school slinging a snake around.

Avery and her buddies, Chloe & Mia.

They got to see a horse demonstration, and this horse was so beautiful! I loved watching it gallop around the lawn. Here's Jessie and Bullseye.
The other day while we were playing on the driveway, Tatum asked me how to draw an Aggie. She knows how to write her own name really well now, so since aTm has letters from her name in it, I knew she could write it. So as I was helping Tatum write aTm, Avery ran and copied our idea herself, only she got the "a" and the "m" mixed up. I was going to correct her, but I thought this would be such a good "typical Aggie" picture for her if she grows up to be an Aggie one day, that I decided I really like her version better. Gig 'Em little Ags!

My sweet friends, Bethany, Devon & Jeannine, threw me a "boy" shower last weekend and it was so much fun for me! I really didn't think I needed that much because I have been given some wonderful hand-me-downs and I figured alot of the stuff I had for the girls will be fine for a boy... he won't care if he gets bathed with a pink towel or washcloth and he will never know if i use a pink burpcloth to clean up his spit or a pink blanket to cover him up occasionally. But I must admit, I didn't realize how fun it would be to have cute dinosaur, baseball and firetruck blankets, washcloths and clothes for him to wear. I am thrilled to have such adorable boy stuff to use now. When I first met these girls, Jeannine had one baby and the rest of us were pregnant with our first. So one baby between the four of us. Now, there are (almost) 16 kids between the four of us!!! As you can imagine, playdates have become a little crazier, but I feel so blessed to have these friends and for the friendships my kids have with their kids.

I have a little more than two weeks to go until my due date. I have a little over one week to go until spring break, which means I am done working for at least 6 weeks. This is one of those times when I am SOOO looking forward to the future that it is sometimes hard to enjoy the moment and the days we are in right now. But in the back of my mind is the lingering reminder that once our baby boy comes, which we are thrilled about, it will change the times and opportunities I have to do fun things with my girls. So yesterday, even though I am gigantic and every day is an effort to just find a shirt that covers me, I did something I have never done with the girls, but will definitely do again - we went to Jamba Juice after we picked Avery up from school. We ordered our smoothies and a bowl of oatmeal (I know that is weird, but their oatmeal is really good!) and we sat at a little table and we just hung out. We stayed there for so long that the lady at the counter brought us out a cut up orange to eat and offered us more oatmeal. Since there were no other customers at the time, I let Avery & Tatum go to the bathroom all by themselves... I have never done that in a public place, but they did a good job. Avery was very careful to make sure they both did "ducktails" while the other used the potty, then she lifted Tatum up to help her wash her hands when they were done. They make me very proud at how much they can do by themselves. I picture us girls 10 years from now, Avery almost 16, Tatum almost 14, Laney 12 and me about 42 (yikes!) sitting at a Jamba Juice drinking our smoothies and talking all kinds of girl talk (Brian and baby boy will have all kinds of fun boy things to do together I'm sure). I hope and pray we are all still the best of friends with each other. I feel so blessed to be a "girl mom," and while I am so very thankful for our son growing inside of me and I cannot wait to get to know him, I feel a little uneasy and nervous about how I'm going to do as a "boy mom" and how having a boy in the mix is going to change all our girl times. But God is so good to us and I believe He has created this little guy to fit perfectly into our family and He has created me as the right mama for this little man child. I can't wait!

February Fun

2011-02-24T10:52:00.004-06:00

Avery celebrated "100 day" last week at school, meaning she has completed 100 days of Kindergarten! She had to do a 100 day project, where she had to come up with a collection of 100 things, count them and group them either by 10's or 20's and take them to school. We decided to do tea party stuff and God is so good to me... when we started counting the different items, I kid you not, we had exactly 20 teacups, 20 utensils, 20 plates/bowls, so then we just decided to add a stack of 20 pink napkins and 20 straws... there's our 100 items! The picture above is of Avery with our 100 day project and below with her 100 crown and 100 cupcake!

Laney loves her pretzels!

Avery and Lucas... she is struggling with the decision of whether or not to marry Lucas. He has already asked her to marry him (notice they are holding hands in this picture), but there is another little boy in her class that she likes too. I told her that most people don't have to decide in Kindergarten who they are going to marry, so she should be able to hold off on that decision for a few more years. This was at Lucas' birthday party. As we were walking out, his mom ran over to me and said "Wait! Lucas really wants to get his picture taken with Avery before you leave!" So, here it is...

I can't believe our baby boy is going to be here in less than a month! We are completely ready for his arrival so he can come anytime he decides to now. My doctor said Tuesday that I am 1 cm dilated and his head has already dropped, so we are making progress. I have been having alot more contractions with him than I had with my girls, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up that he will come early. The girls were all induced, so I'm guessing we might need to force him out too, but I've also heard boys are different from Day 1... so I guess we will see what happens.

Avery took this picture of me at her Mom & Me Valentines Tea last week. I'm wearing the corsage she made for me.

Here's the beautiful delicious dessert she helped prepare for me.

I got to go to Tatum's Valentine party at school too, and here she is dancing with her friend Jade.
This girl loves her cookies with sprinkles! She also likes to remind me daily that she has "back teeth" and she likes to tell me which foods are good for her back teeth and which foods hurt her back teeth. I think she decided the cookies were good for them. Tatum is constant entertainment.
Here's Laney reading with her sweet teacher on Valentines' Day. She didn't really have a party this year, but she did get to bring home a bag full of treats from her friends!
Baseball season is in full swing, and so far the Eagles are doing pretty well. They have tournaments for the next 3 weekends, then they start district games. I can't say my attitude has been drastically better this season, in fact, at times it's definitely been worse, but I do feel encouraged that he is where he should be for now and we are trusting God that He will move him in His time. We are praying for an AP (assistant principal) job next year for Brian and a year off work for me! We are called to a life of faith but how can we practice that if we never step out in acts of faith? So we're praying and seeking God's will for our jobs next year. It will be exciting to see what He does.