I love this picture. It's an engagement picture.

I remember the day we took it.

We had an appointment with a photographer. He stood us up.

Scott's Aunt Sue said..."no, problem. I know someone."

Her friend who came was Dutch dairy farmer's wife with a hobby. Photography.

She was amazing and caught this shot. It's not a good picture. It's not very flattering...but it's overflowing with emotion. I'd started laughing. I couldn't quit. Then Scott started laughing. Then I held on tight and let go...all at the same time. Perfection. A perfect moment in our lives. Caught on camera.

The absurdity of it all. Trying so hard for the perfect picture. Planning to be in a studio with artificial light, fake background, and smiles that we'd held for too long..didn't happen.

Instead we stood outside, in front of Aunt Sue's house, with perfect lighting and caught a perfect moment.

If I'd only known then that just a few years later I'd wake up on a lazy Thrusday morning listening to the rain outside my window mix with the sound of my baby boy breathing and my husband softly snoring. Well, I probably wouldn't have been able to stand the feeling of my heart filled with all that love and mushiness! :)

Something big is happening...

I can sense it.

I can feel it.

It's there...it's coming...

But I don't know what it is.

Do you ever feel this way?

I feel like God is getting ready to move...or move me...or move us...or do SOMETHING!!! But what..when...where...and when it finally gets here...when it finally happens...I know I'll be asking why.

I want to talk about it.

I want others to feel it.

But they don't hear me. They don't feel it.

That's ok.

I think it's in my heart.

I think it's happening there.

I think it's big. I think...it's going to change everything.

But right now...I want to be like Mary.

Mary pondered a lot of things in her heart.

Check it out...read Luke...it's there.

How she kept all that inside of her...how she didn't explode from the feeling of it. I don't know.

But I have to try.

An ode to Honey Wheat

Dear World,

This is my Honey Wheat.

She loves me.

I love her.

When I was very little, she stayed up late at night with me so my mommy could sleep.

My mommy loves her.

Now, when I see her, she helps mommy take care of me. She changes my diapers. Even when they are stinky. And I can make some VERY stinky diapers now that I am a big boy.

Thank you Honey Wheat!

Love,
Sam

(My mom did the typing)

A long road, a tired but happy momma, and one fist fight

Sam and I made it to my parents house. All in all, he did good in the truck, especially since he didn't feel the greatest.

We only had to stop twice. Once at MacDonalds, where we took advantage of the play area to stretch our legs. He loved the baby slide they had.

After we left MacDonalds, Sam did well for another hour and a half, but then he needed some time out of the car seat. So, I stopped at a convenience store. Scott and I have stopped at this store before, so I knew it was clean and safe.

Just as I got into the backseat to hold and play with Sam for a few minutes a car came screaming into the parking lot with another car following close behind.

These two baffoons jump out of their cars and start cursing and swearing and FIGHTING! They were mad!

I was scared.

I was trapped in the truck with Sam...to get into the store I'd have to walk through the fight.

So...I immediately crawled back into the drivers seat and got my keys ready. Why? I don't know.

Remember, I was scared.

The police showed up about 5 minutes into the fight.

This was a small, Oklahoma town.

The police officer had a striking resemblance to this....



LOL! I'm literally laughing out loud right now.

I hope you are, too.

Anyway, regardless of what he looked like, he broke up the fight and we were able to leave the store.

And the rest of the trip was uneventful. :)

Rollercoasters

Today has been....a ROLLERCOASTER!

Just when I think I'm in control of things, I find out that I'm not.

I had a to do list...I had a schedule....I had a plan.

God had another plan.

Sam has some chest congestion. Not terrible, but I had to stay home from work with him.

I called the dr this morning to get an appointment...I'm suppose to travel to Oklahoma this weekend with Sam (it will be our FIRST road trip alone...Scott has to stay home). I wanted to make sure that we weren't dealing with an ear infection before we left.

Before we went to the dr...Scott was helping me get ready. He was filling the bottles, when our dispenser ran out of water. SO...he went to get a replacement.

The replacement is a jug filled with 5 gallons of water.

It was wet.

Wet=slippery.

He dropped it.

It busted.

I cried.

Water was EVERYWHERE!!! Sam immediately took off to help Daddy and promptly fell on his bottom.

He screamed.

It was loud.

I cried.

We managed to get most of it soaked up.

I tried to finish getting ready. I couldn't find my makeup. I looked everywhere. I felt frustrated.

I cried.

It didn't help. I had to go without makeup.

Luckily, Sam doesn't wear makeup and he could care less whether I had any on or not.

We left for the doctor's office.

We spent almost an hour at the doctor's office. Sam is going to be fine.

When we got back into the truck after the appointment, I found my makeup. It was in my purse. The same purse I had checked twice that morning. AHAHHAHAH!

It feels like I'm spinning my wheels today and getting nothing done. I do not like this feeling.

And I haven't handled things well.

First, I cried.

Three times...remember?

Second, I got angry.

Then, I remembered my quest to be a more spiritual woman.

When the 5 gallons of water were all over my floor I was not thinking about being spiritual.

But, I realize now that if I will just take time to remember Psalms 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God."

Then...I will see the blessings in today.

1) I have an amazing husband who helps me and Sam get ready and out the door in the morning.

2) Sam is feeling better and taking his breathing treatments like a champ! He didn't even cry when I got out the inhaler this morning.

3) Sam was great at the doctor's office. He sat still and was wonderful....even though we had to be there for almost an hour!

4) Sam and I got to play as we cleaned up the mess that is our house this afternoon. This play included singing and dancing.

The list could go on and on and on....

So...now that I've taken time to stop. To breath. Now I see that this rollercoaster isn't so scary.

Maybe I could stop fighting it so hard and just start enjoying the ride.

Return to Cow Town

There are about a million things I need to be doing right now.

Fold the laundry.
Clean the kitchen.
Get Scott's lunch ready for tomorrow.
Paint my toes.

You get the idea.

But I'm avoiding all of them. And I'm thinking about cows. I wanted to share with you one last fact about the stock show.

If you're a true blue Texan, you may already know this information.

If you're not...read on.

One of the primary purposes of the stock show is to sell and trade animals. We have an interest in the cows. So, when we get to go to the show we always stay for the sale. We are actually suckers for auctions...just wait until the Ducks Unlimited Banquet in a few weeks. But, I digress.

The stock show.

The sale.

We're back on topic now.

There are many steps involved with the sale.

First, we have to inspect the cattle.



Sam wasn't so sure about being this close. He held on tightly to Daddy.



Just as he was starting to get brave, the cow decided to get close. (Actually, this might be a heifer...I'll save cattle terminology for another post. I can sense the excitment from my readers.)





Ok, for the sale you have to have two things. Well, three if you count the cows.

You have to have a ring with fake grass...and an auctioneer.







Then, you have to have a brave soul willing to lead the animal into the ring. I would NEVER volunteer for this job.





Especially...since this is my worst fear. This poor girl was almost knocked to the ground. That was one mama cow that just didn't want to be sold. I feel badly...I laughed. Outloud. I was the only one laughing. But it was hilarious...I promise.






Good thing my baby was safely watching from behind the glass. :)

Helping with laundry and other things...

Sam is turning into a big helper. I first noticed this with the laundry.

During the day I try to teach Sam about God's word. I want him to be hearing God's word and learning what it means.

So...yesterday we were talking about Proverbs 6:6-9

"Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?"

Ok...back to the laundry.

I do a lot of laundry.

A LOT of laundry.

When I tell Sam we need to do our work he will walk over to the dryer.

And then he helps.

First, he trys to remove the dryer balls. Then I realized yesterday that he was putting dirty clothes...mostly socks....right into the dryer as I was putting the wet clothes from the washer. :) When I caught him...the little toot started laughing. He started laughing!

The thing I notice most about Sam's helping is that he does it with everything that he has. He will see a piece of lint on the floor...carefully bend down and pick it up and then bring it to me as if it's the most precious thing in the world. He works so very hard at helping.

I love this little guy...but the first time he brings me a bug or frog or some other creepy crawly thing to me...I'm going to pass out.

Hellllooooooo!

I'm stealing this from Sister. :)

This is Callie. She belongs to my sister.

I love Callie.

And I LOVE this picture.

It makes me laugh...every time.

Cow Town

I know...two posts in one day. You're on the edge of your seat with excitement. Well, I have no choice. I have to tell you about our trip to Cow Town this weekend.

We went to the stock show in Fort Worth and had so much fun. We met our friends, Dwight and Michelle, there and Michelle got to meet Sam for the first time. They instantly took to each other.

Sam also got to see a cow up close and personal for the first time. He was such a trooper and did great, despite the long day.

Here he is meeting Elsie. She's the Borden Milk mascot. Sam thought he was hot stuff since he could walk right up to her.


Sam LOVES tractors. I think he and Scott posed for pictures with about 100 different tractors. I wish I could accurately capture the look on his face.



Stopping for a picture in the exhibt hall. Cross your fingers..We have a 1 in 250,000 chance of winning the truck behind us!


One last picture with Daddy. :)

First haircut

Our baby is growing up. He got his first big boy haircut today! (Insert sob here...) We took about a million pictures.. here are a few.

Here he is with Daddy before the big event. It was definitely time for a haircut.


We took Sam to an old timey barber shop. He had a great time watching the older boys get their haircut, but he wasn't sure about things when it was his time.

Despite the hesitations, he was all smiles afterwards. Doesn't he look handsome? :)

Aunt Jodie and Uncle Bear

I'm feeling the love today...lots of love. And when I'm thinking about love I always think about these two people....

Aunt Jodie and Uncle Bear.

They know how to love.

They also know how to act silly....

I knew I loved them. But then I got to see them love Sam.

They love Sam.

Uncle Bear discovered Sam's love for puppies. And someday he'll teach Sam how to throw a mean spiral.

And Aunt Jodie. When I think of how she loves Sam...it's in a GINORMOUS way! I knew that as soon as I saw the "little" red wagon she got for him...

We love you, Aunt Jodie and Uncle Bear!

I LOVE this boy!

I was looking through some pictures trying to get inspiration and I ran across this too cute picture. Sam was about 4 weeks old at the time and he was on his first visit to Oklahoma.

And here's that same heartbreaker at 10 months. I love that smile!

This was not his toy...it was his cousin, Tanner's. However, when Tanner was a little hesitant to jump on, Sam took the opportunity to pose for this picture.

I LOVE this boy!

It's all for the ducks

My husband is a hunter. Specifically, he's a duck hunter.


Sometimes people misassume that he's a quiet kinda guy. But just ask him one question about guns, hunting, or ducks and you'll have an instant conversation.

I have a confession to make.

I don't understand duck hunters.

They get up before dawn...usually around 3:30 a.m. They drag themselves out to the lake or pool of water they are calling a lake. They set out the decoys. They get the guns ready. They position themselves in the best location.

Then they call.

Have you ever heard a man on a duck call? It ain't purty....it's loud...it's obnoxious...

And my husband loves it.

I've been reading about being a godly wife lately. And I've been thinking.

And I realize that loving my husband has a lot to do with duck hunting.

You see, I sometimes get annoyed at the process.

First...he rolls out of bed way TOO early. I like to put my always cold feet under his always warm feet when we sleep. But on duck hunting mornings...my feet stay cold.

Second...Samuel wakes up at 5 a.m. without fail for a bottle. Usually this is daddy time..but on duck hunting mornings...I wake up.

Third...I miss him. Usually we hang out around the house on Saturday and make breakfast together and talk. But on duck hunting mornings...he's not there.

But...loving my husband in a godly way, I think, means loving the ducks. Knowing that his time with friends is important. It means understanding that those relationships provide things for him that I can't. And having something that he's passionate about is important.



So...it's all for the ducks.



(By the way...these are not ducks in the picture above. These are expensive decoys. Scott, if you're reading this...God has made it very clear to me that being a godly wife does not mean that I have to support buying any more guns or decoys. :)

And...many apologies to any PETA members reading my blog. :)

Pure Joy

We love bath time!

Christmas 2007

Sam had a great Christmas. We all had so much fun watching him get excited by the lights and festivities. We spent a week in Oklahoma with Honey, Papa Tom, Aunt Jodie and Uncle Bear. Then we returned home and Pops and Nana came for a visit. It was so relaxing to be with our families and fun to see Sam get excited with all of the Christmas festivities.

Here are a few pictures from our break...

Sam got new work boots from Uncle Bear....Now he's ready to help Daddy at the barn!



















One of my favorite things now is watching Scott love Sam. The unconditional love...the bond they share is so sweet. I didn't realize that having a child would mean that I would fall in love with my husband again...and again..and again. He's such a great Dad!














Playing with Papa Tom...













Ok...this is one of my favorites. I love this smile!














Taking after the Santa presents...he was on the move!

Here we go!

It's time to do this...I've been reading others blogs for long enough! :)

So...welcome to our little place in the blog world. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep friends and family updated on what's happening...especially with Sam.

I can do this.

I can do this.

I can do this!