New post

Testing to see if I can do a new post.

Big Girl Bed

Reagan is now in a big girl bed! We turned her crib into a toddler bed and she's slept the last two nights in it without incident. Each night she has gotten out once to come check to see if it really was time to go to bed, but with one reassuring command she's gone back in and slept the night away!!!! Yeah!!!!

I am so proud of her! She's quickly turning into a little girl.

Sam update - February 2011

Samuel is a mover and shaker! He started preschool in January and his writing is getting so much better. He can write out his first and last name and the numbers 1-10. Sam is really into drawing and coloring right now. Often, he will bring us a picture that he's drawn of our family. He's also saying the funniest things.

The other night I caught him jumping on the bed singing..."like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!"

I asked him at dinner last night..."what does God look like?" His response..."Can you go get my Bible so I can look at His picture?"

Sam loves going to Sunday School and asks most mornings if it's a church day. I wish this was reflective of his deep desire for spiritual truths...but really he just loves the crafts and games!!!! :) Last week they studied about Noah and the ark and I walked in to Sam singing songs while he sprayed his classmates with a squirt bottle of water! He was obviously the rain in the storm.

Sam turns 4 in just a few days. Every single day for the past two weeks the first thing he asks me..."is it my birthday, yet?" This may be the first year that he has really got the whole birthday excitement thing. I can't believe that he's 4. This kids brings us so much joy. He continues to by his Dad's shadow. On Friday mornings Scott takes Sam for pancakes and guy time. Sam wears his boots and cowboy hat and tells me that he is going to "work." If Scott wears a green shirt, Sam wants a green shirt. He watches every move his Daddy makes. I'm so thankful they are close.

Reagan Update - February 2011

Reagan is 90% potty-trained!!!! It's hard to believe that our baby is growing up this fast. She still has the cutest curls in town and is now talking up a storm. She continues to have a sweet disposition and goes to bed so much easier than Sam ever did...BUT....don't let that smile fool you. When Reagan wants something she knows how to tell us. She's got a bit of a stubborn streak in her and already wants to pick out her clothes...her food...her toys...well, you get the picture. She's my little independent one. I have no doubt that when the time comes she will want to walk by herself into kindergarten!

Reagan is also attached to her two best friends. Her paci and her taggy blanket. Every night before bed she watches one cartoon - usually Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Her two friends have to be there. I'm not exactly sure how we are going to give up the paci habit and since Reagan is my baby...I'm not too concerned about it, honestly. :)

Family Pictures 2010

Halloween 2010

Books and Rodeos

We had a busy, busy weekend around our house.

Scott was busy renewing his concealed carrier permit on Friday and Saturday, so the kids and I roughed it alone. Saturday we had a birthday party for some sweet friends and then hit the rodeo.

Going to the rodeo is just about the best thing in the world to a 3 year old boy. Sam loved it!!! He got all dressed up in his little wrangers, sparkly belt, boots. He was wide eyed the entire time, which was pretty amazing considering the rodeo started at 8 and he had been up all day.

The highlight of the show was the calf scramble. About halfway through the rodeo the announcer called all the kids 12 and under to the arena floor. Scott and I looked at each other and quickly decided that Sam was too little. However, when it registered with Sam that all the other kids were going...he declared that he was big enough. So, away Scott and Sam went.

Sam ran out to the middle of the arena with the other kids and they let two calves loose. The objective was to rip off the ribbon tied around the calves necks. Sam didn't get close enough to grab any ribbons, but he also didn't get trampled by a calf or another kid. I quickly declared him the cutest little cowboy in the group and thanked God that he wasn't hurt!

We spent Sunday at Huntsville State Park with Nana and Pops. They are camping there right now, so we went over for the day to play. We fished and hiked and ate food cooked over a campfire. Every one was exhausted last night and woke up this morning with hangovers from all the fun!

We've also been reading a lot lately and stumbled on some great books from our church library. They are part of a series called Building Christian Character. We are working to build foundations of theology with Sam, but sometimes things go awry.

For example....

Sam: "Mom, I have a tummy bug today."
Me: "Oh Sam, I'm sorry that your tummy is hurting."
Sam: "Mom, I think my tummy bug may eat Jesus up in my heart."

Sam: "Dad, did you know that God killed Jesus?"
Scott: long pause
Sam: "Yep, he killed him . Isn't that great?"

Sam: "Mom, Jesus lives in my heart."
Me: long pause
Sam: "Now he can't live in your heart anymore"

You can see our stellar parent skills on display in these moments!

Updates

It's July 15th, 2010. Summer if flying by too quickly.

Lots of thoughts today.

Too many to write.

Instead, a kid update.

Reagan is rocking along. She loves to play with Sam and is expressing herself more and more. Her verbal skills are improving, but she understand much more than she can say so we've been seeing the "terrible 2's" tantrums start. I'm wiser this time around and much more patient than I was with Sam. She is maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. She still has Shirley Temple ringlets and random people seem insistent on touching her curls. I've perfected my "get your hands off my baby or I'm going to punch you in the face" look.
Reagan loves Scott. Both kids will yell "DAADDDDYYYY" as soon as they hear the garage door go up at night and they run to him. Reagan also loves to read. Gosse and Gerti is our current favorite.

Sam is our little cowboy. He has a new behavior chart and is working hard to earn his magnets each day. He is a smart little cookie and constantly amazes us with the things he picks up. This week he was playing and all of the sudden he broke out into tears. When asked what was wrong he said "I don't have a cow to rope and that makes me sad." Poor little guy, but hooray for emotional development. :)

Sam's favorite thing to do is work with daddy or pretend to shoot birds in the backyard. He might be a lawyer with all of the negotiating skills he's learning. An example...

Me: "Sam, it's time to go to bed."
Sam: "But, Mom. This is the choice. I stay up and watch a cartoon or I stay up and watch a cartoon. ok, ok, OK?"

And stay up he would...Sam is a night owl. Reagan goes to bed at 8 or she falls asleep wherever she is at 9. Sam would stay up until midnight if we let him. And truthfully, sometimes I do. Some of my favorite memories with him this summer include staying up late watching a movie together after Dad and Sister have gone to bed. Good, times.

It's hot in Texas right now. Blistering hot. We are surviving, but I'm already dreaming of fall.

I hope it's not fall when I do my next post!

Summer Fun

Caged

This morning my pastor encouraged us to pick up a copy of Mark Batterson’s book “Wild Goose Chase” and return in the evening for the beginning of a study on the Holy Spirit and so I bought the book and took it home to read.

Scott and I spent the better part of an hour reading the book. I felt the Spirit move in my heart as I was challenged to think outside the cage of church. I felt challenged. I couldn’t wait for the study to begin.

We arrived and quickly discovered that we were outnumbered. We were outnumbered by old people. It was Sunday evening at 5:30 and these faithful followers of Christ were reporting for duty. We saw one other couple in the crowd that perhaps was under 40. Undeterred, I got my book and journal out. The Spirit was going to move. I was sure of it.

But then something tragic happened.

The doors were shut. The cage closed.

The service started.

The music minister did what he was supposed to do. He led us in 3 songs and told two bad jokes. He encouraged us once to think about God as we sang and then prepared the crowd that at our next meeting we would be learning a new song. Change can be hard, I guess.

Then the minister in charge of teaching for the night got up.

I’m not sure he got the right book. He talked about time management skills and making priorities for things in life that are important. He talked about schedules and how to budget our time. He provided 4 copies of some self help book on controlling urgency in our lives.

My husband yawned.

That afternoon when we were reading we couldn’t stop. We talked about scripture. We prayed.

As I realized that the minister was nearing the end of his time, I felt sad. We missed it. Again, we missed it. I wanted to scream out that time management is the very antithesis of the Holy Spirit. I wanted to demand to know when we would stop setting for milk and cry out for the meat of scripture.

I realized that in many ways Batterson has it right.

Church can cage in Christians in the same ways that guilt, fear, failure, responsibility, and assumptions can.

I want out of the cage.

Bathing in the Backyard

Oh, how I wish I had stopped to snap some photos last night. But when you are running around the backyard with your 3 year old it's tough to remember things like that!

Last night Scott was able to come home from work early. We had dinner and then spent some time working in the garden. We trimmed our tomato plant, which is MASSIVE and watered newly planted squash and eggplant. Then we decided for a walk around the neighborhood.

Sam loves to ride his John Deer tractor, so he took the lead as our official "line leader." Being the line leader means that you get to be super bossy with the rest of the family making sure no one tries any funny business....like cutting. It's serious work.

We made it home which is a miracle in and of itself. Reagan usually becomes bored with riding at the halfway point and chooses to walk by herself. When you are 1 year old everything is big and exciting. Every rock. Every dirt pile. Every neighbor. You get the idea.

When we got home it was still warm outside and I was thinking about baths. So, despite protests from my husband, I stripped the kids and got out the water hose in the backyard. They ran around the yard and I hit them with the water, soaped them up, and rinsed. Reagan has too much Scott in her and decided this was no fun at all. So, she and Scott snuggled while Sam and I played. Sam has a little of his momma running through his veins. He loved the silliness. He ran around for almost 45 minutes. Part of that time he took the hose and in the end we both ended up soaked from head to toe.

I wish all that running meant that he fell right asleep, but no one was that lucky. I wasn't in the mood to fight bedtime so I opted for a camp out instead. We used the kitchen chairs to build our tent and then slept underneath it together. Of couse we didn't have to worry about bugs or wild animals...Sam had his trusted lantern on ALL NIGHT to keep them at bay!

What a great start to Mother's Day weekend!

Adventures with farms and ice cream

Today the kids and I loaded up for some "mommy and me" fun. We headed over to Brenham to visit a local farmer who sells organic meats. Our grocery budget allowed us to only buy pastured eggs. The meats are just too expensive. But, I love these eggs. They seem to taste so much better than the ones I can find at the store. And really since I pay three times as much for them...they should be better for us!!!!

Sam put on his overalls and "work" boots for the trip. It's a long way to the farm though. He and Reagan watched a movie in the truck while we traveled. Once we got thre, they were thrilled to see all the animals and meet the "farmer."

When we finished it was about 15 till 11. I knew that the Blue Bell Creamery did tours during weekdays and we were close enough to try and make the 11:00 tour. We hurried and made it just in time! Both kids did great. Sam was especially good with listening and following my instructions. He's getting to be such a big kid.

We got to watch a short film. Thankfully, a VERY short film. I was very nervous about how long I could keep Reagan entertained during that!!! We also got to tour the factory. Ok, tour is a very loose sense of the word. We looked at three rooms, but we did get to see them making homemade vanilla (our favorite!!). It was interesting to see how all of the machines worked.

At the end of the tour we got to sample some ice cream. I got a rainbow sherbert and mint chocolate chip. I thought that Sam might like all the rainbow colors and maybe sherbert is a little better for you than full-fat ice cream. But no. He quickly figured out which one was best and proudly declared to the room that he would be eating the mint chocolate chip. Reagan was just in heaven getting to share with us!

On the way back home, I let the kids eat PB&J in the car. This was a horribly messy idea, but they loved it. Once home we cleaned up and napped.

I've been waking Sam up early from nap to help with evening routines. So, an hour later we were all up and headed to the park. We met Madison and her dad there and played for two very fast hours.

As we were leaving the park, Sam yelled out to Maddie. "I have something for you." He had found a stick that was apparently the treasure of the moment and he asked Jared to break it in half for Maddie and him. This moment started off so sweet. Sharing what's yours (I guess...) with a friend. Then at just the right moment...

"wait, Maddie. I need the bigger one." Sam made sure that he had the bigger of the two pieces of stick.

Today we...

...went to the grocery store and save 20 dollars using coupons.
...hit Walmart to score some laundry detergent for cheap. Ok, this was maybe the low point!
...went to Lowes to buy rakes for the kids to use on the yard. Sam's excitement was too much!
...cleaned the house
...did the laundry
...weeded the garden
...kissed lots of boo boos
...played in the playroom
...decided not to take a nap
...weeeded the garden
...ate dinner with dad who got to come home at 6! Yeah!
...bathed two kids
...had adult conversation

What a great day!

Private

Well, I feel a little bipolar making my blog private again. This time I am leaving it private.

Moment of total honesty ahead.

I just discovered a blog where someone who knows my family was writing some very personal and altogether awful things. I get that not everyone loves my family. That's ok. Writing horrible things about us in a public forum...not ok.

So, I have been reminded of how public this blog really is. I don't want everyone in creation having access to pictures of my kids or reading about our struggles and joys as a family.

And I need to remember that being kind to others is the right thing to do. I need to be careful of how I talk and how I allow my children to talk (ok....Sam...Reagan is still working on putting two words together!!!:)

New Beginnings

How come new beginnings in the Lord always seem to come with tests? Oh yeah, the prunning of the bad stuff.

I'm believing today that God is great and His plan is better. It's better when things are going smoothly and it's better when things are getting rough.

In all things, we will give God praise.

Potty and pacifier

I walk into the front bathroom to find both children trying to stand on the potty. Already this is not a good situation.

I pick up Reagan. Her hands are wet. I assume she's been playing in the potty.

Sam says "No, mama she was not in the potty."

I smile with relief.

Sam says "But her paci was."

"I pee pee Mama and I get some on the seat. So, I clean it off, but the pacy fell in the potty. Don't worry Mama I washed it off. See."

He then shows me how he took the paci, climbs up to the sink, and rinsed it off.

What a thoughtful big brother he is!

Run to CJane

I love blogs.

I love to read. Blogs allow me to read some great stuff in a short period of time.

This is crucial when you are mostly reading when clients no-show appointments or between putting kids to sleep and passing out yourself.

I've been reading CJane and I love it. It's a thought creating kind of blog. Every day I snuggle up to my computer and I invite CJane on in for a moment.

Today she writes some wonderful stuff. I love her thoughts on womanhood...to me it's a beautiful summary of all things woman.

Don't walk...run on over to CJane Blog so that you can partake in this wonder. Be forwarned though...it's not for the weak. It will cause you to think. It might cause you to question. Like I said, it's the best kind of writing I know. I love it.

(I've added a button to my blog to help you find it)

31

In my head I am stuck at 28. When someone asks me my age, I immediately think "I'm 28." I have no idea how this happened, but it's true. In my imaginary world I will always be 28. But in the real world...the one with wrinkles and mineral based make up...I'm 31.

I am 31.

Wow and weird. Birthdays are times of reflection and I love to reflect. So, here's my life recap.

At 31 I feel like I am getting older. Like...I FEEL like I am getting older. I have wrinkles on my face, my hands look older, my butt is not in the right place and I've breastfed two babies which should tell you that nothing is in the right place anymore. I've been pregnant 4 times and carried two babies to term. My body feels tired at times and I think I know why.

At the same time I feel stronger. I feel more secure. Gone are the days of wondering who I am. Now, I know. I'm not sure that I always like that person, but at least I know who she is. I feel more confident. I have wonderful friendships with women that I talk to almost daily and some that I go months without talking to. I've become secure enough to end friendships that are not healthy and explore new ones.

I've grown to understand that some of the best things in life come from the most ugly circumstances. I've learned not to expect everything to work out.

I am a mother, but this is not my highest calling. I'm starting to get that now. Understanding that motherhood is not the "be all, end all" has helped me be a better mother. I love Sam and Reagan with all that I am.

I live in Texas. We talk about guns. A week or so ago a friend asked me if I could really shoot someone who might be trying to break into my home. My response was to ask if my babies were home. In her hypothetical situation she said yes. Without hesitation...yes...I would shoot someone. I would shoot someone; I would attempt to stop a moving bus; I would give my life. Literally, I would die for my children. Sobering to think about, but honest and real. Having children has given me a great understanding of God's love for me. No, motherhood is not my highest calling, but I feel so blessed to be called mom.

I am a wife. I once thought that I couldn't be a wife. The first time I tried it I let pride get in the way of choosing a husband. I had a legal certificate for marriage, but I didn't have a husband. My marriage to Scott has been healing for me in many ways, not the least of which is allowing me to move past the place of defining myself by my past. Scott encourages me to have the confidence to be bold and he challenges me to be authentic.

Sam planned a birthday party for me on Sunday. He was so excited and it was by far my happiest to date.

And I'm happy to report that my candles didn't set off the fire alarm. Here's hoping I have the same luck with 32.

Today

"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup and have made my lot secure." Psalm 16:5

At the Park with Momma