Home Grown

Week 1 Demolition

2011-05-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Monday May 16th was day one! They started at 8:00 in the morning and by 10:00 the carpets were ripped up and the kitchen was completly gutted. In order for us to have an open floor plan we had to have them reconstruct the support up in the attic so the kitchen walls could come down. The next two days involved building temporary walls around the original studs and reconstructing the support up in the attic. Which meant exposing the ceiling and no AC for the rest of the week, but do you know what, the Lord gave us such wonderful weather that opening the windows was all that was needed and being outside was so nice. Day 3 and 4 was quite a mess while they built up walls and tore them down again. We really couldn't go into the interior of the house but our bedroom has been the hangout and sleeping quaters for the whole family. Friday they repaired the ceiling and Monday will texture it. We can really get a good picture of how things will look. I love being able to see to every room in the house! Can't wait for the finished product!

Preparing for the Remodel

2011-05-20T20:30:00.001-07:00

Here are a few snap shots of what we have done to prepare for the remodel. I have tried to make our life as normal as possible and make things easy for us while we work around a mess.

Making some chicken spaghetti to freeze and eat later!
Titus' closet became the storage room for the dishes so I didn't have to pack up everything.
Thankfully we have a sink and refridgerator in the laundry room so I set us up a little kitchen and used the closet as our pantry.

Leigh was a big help! She used a play tea cart to take all the pantry items to the laundry room closet.

A New Project

2011-05-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

To say that it has been a long time is an understatement. Its not that I don't like to blog, its just that I like to read others blogs more. By the end of the day I am too tired to think about writing so I just sit down to read everyone elses! And I am very faithful about that :).

The thing that has brought me back is the desire to document the new project going on in our home right now. We are having our kitchen remodeled and changing all the floors in the house except the bedrooms. We changed out the carpet in the bedrooms when we moved in 4 years ago so those are staying. We are very excited about this project that has been brewing for awhile now. We (I) have talked and thought and talked and thought about this and what it would look like for about 2 years and I can't believe that we are finally here!

First, before anything I have to say how very blessed we are! The Lord has been so gracious to our family and at times Ricky and I find ourselves very overwhelmed with the bounty of God's goodness on our family when we see others hurting or struggling. It is in those times that our hearts together are full to the brim with thankfulness as we just give a soft whisper of "thank you" to God as we hug each other. But they ache at the same time for those we know and don't know whose circumstances are very different. I have been very humbled through this first phase of picking and choosing colors and flooring and countertops. The options I have when others have none. There are many times that we take His blessings for grant it and go about our lives. We pray that we are always mindful of them and that we may always make our children aware of how blessed they are as well. Through this deciding process, the Lord has given me a great desire to give back, to look for ways to teach my children more about God's goodness, and to seek ways to help whether that be in my home or outside my home. We do not need this remodel to help us live better lives but the Lord has given us this opportunity and we pray that through this project He might receive all the glory before, during, and after it is done. That He may use our home for His purposes and that our family and our home might be a blessing to others!

A wonderful man, builder and friend from our church is doing the remodeling and I'll have to say that I am beyond thrilled because the whole process has been great! I mean, to know someone in this kind of business and know they do great work is a good feeling! So much of the time you don't really know what you're getting in to.
The whole point of this remodel is to open up our kitchen to the rest of the house so that I can see what is going on :). I want my home to feel very open and welcoming for my family to gather and our friends to enjoy!
I am very excited and want to remember and share the whole process. It will take about 8 weeks and I want to embrace all 8 weeks of it - the demo and mess and inconvenience, I want to enjoy it and make the most of it and be creative with our time. I also want my response to the mess to be joyful and grateful and not complaining and dreadful so that the end result will be so worth the wait! I'm sure I will fail and grumble but I really want to look back and say "that wasn't so bad" - we'll see right?!

So here is a before picture of our kitchen when we moved in the house:

Here is what we did to spruce it up:

This picture shows the entrance into the dining room (where the panties-only-bike- riding duo is headed- do you like how Titus is cheering them on!?)

(Just so you know, we do not encourage bike riding in the house but this was taken as we were packing up for the remodel knowing the floors would come up :)

This picture taken from the front door. The kitchen is in the middle of the house right behind that wall. You are seeing the living room to the right.

Taken from sitting room, kitchen behind the wall, dining room to the left.
After the remodel the sitting room will become the dining room and the dining room shown will become apart of the kitchen with a big walk in pantry. Yeah!

Taken from living room, kitchen behind wall, sitting room to the left where Avery is speeding by.

My goal is to document the whole process from beginning to end with pictures of the progress and how we are living in the midst of it! My next post will be getting ready and pictures of my little helpers!

Flower Girls

2010-10-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend Leigh and Avery were in a wedding. A sweet girl from Ricky's work wanted them to be her flower girls since she began planning her wedding two years ago. She just loves the girls and we were honored to have them in her wedding! They did not have very far to walk so that was good and they were supposed to drop rose petals along the way. Leigh did well dropping hers but Avery only dropped hers by accident (a few people sitting by the aisle told me she said, "Uh Oh, I dropped 'em". I guess I didn't clarify :)

Suess on the Loose and Titus turns One!

2010-10-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great Dr. Suess celebration for Titus' 1st birthday and we actually had a visit from the Cat in the Hat himself!

We love you Titus and have enjoyed who you have become so much! Your sisters love you and take care of you in small ways that I cherish like when you are crying Avery says, I'm wight here titus, I'm wight here" even if she is across the room, and Leigh likes to make you laugh by putting on her vampire teeth and when you do she does it over and over! You love your Daddy hands down and I think I love it the most when he comes home and you walk to him with your arms stretched out above your head saying, "Daee, Daee, Daee!" We love you little man!

We had Titus tested for food allergies and found out he is allegic to milk, eggs, and bananas. His celiac test came back normal but I'm still not convinced that he doesn't have a gluten intolerance so we are working on eating glutten free to see if there might be a difference in his sleeping. We'll let you know :)

OUR LITTLE LORENA LEOPARD

2010-08-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Leigh started kindergaten! She is loving every minute of it! Last week she got the reward for the "Best Rester" (they have a short rest time)! And this week she got to take home Franklin the turtle stuffed animal, the movie, and the book for the night! You should have seen her face when she got in the car and told me what was in the yellow school bus bag! This girl was made for kindergarten!

A new phase

2010-08-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Oh how behind I am on keeping the blog thing going! I think I am going to blame it on my 11month old who still doesn't sleep through the night, do you think that is good enough excuse? So much has taken place this summer, so many fun things with fun pictures but of course they are either just sitting nicely in a file labeld "my pictures" in the computer or in my camera. Here is a run down on what we have been up to with intentions of getting pictures to match that I may or may not get to. ( I really don't like being this way, totally goes against my wanting-to-accomplish-things nature, but it is what it is these days :)

-Got kids room switched, painted, decorated! I love them!
-Celebrated our big 4th of July tradition at our house again this year! Always fun! The fireworks show was best ever!
-We went to Pine Cove Family camp in Tyler, Tx for the second summer in a row! Loved it even better than last year, look forward to next year!
-Had 3rd annual girls weekend in Dallas! (All girls 18 yrs and older on my dads side of the family gettogether) What a blast! Saw great musical Granbury Live, in Granbury, TX. A must see if you are in the area.
-Leigh celebrated her 5th birthday with a treat to Build-A-Bear with her cousin Bailey and then an all girl swim party at our house. My little girl is growing up!
-My dad is working in San Antonio so my family and my sister and her family took a trip to Sea World. We all got a surprise visit from my brother who has been in Afghanistan for 6 months. He was waiting at the hotel for us when we got back from Sea World that evening. It was such a sweet time, we were not expecting him for another week!
-Spent the next week in Duncanville with my family and spending time with my brother!
He looks so good and slim! What a handsome man!
-LEIGH STARTED KINDERGARTEN THE NEXT WEEK! I can't believe it but she is in her second week of K! She loves it! I wasn't really sad or emotional to drop her off. I knew she would love it, I just felt really good about it. She has a great teacher and it has been nothing but great since the first day! I did get a little emotional though when I picked her up through the line and when she hopped in the car she looked at me and said with a hugh smile on her face, "don't cry momma kindergarten is cool!" I just knew she was in her element and it made me happy that she was so happy! It has been nice to have time with Avery and Titus too!
-The next weekend we went back to Dallas because Ricky's brother and his wife had their first baby, a little girl name Rachel Beth! What a tiny little bundle of sweetness! His cousin and highschool friend of mine who lives there had their first baby too, a little boy name Reid Aaron! They were two doors down from each other. It was a baby weekend!

I am enjoying the school routine and structure for now! Mother's Day Out starts tomorrow for Avery and Titus! Avery has been asking when she can go to school so I know she will love her "school" too! I look forward to getting alot of things done and accomplished ( like getting my hair done :) and finishing projects, maybe even keep up with the blog :)!!

Titus and 10 months!

2010-07-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

I thought I might give an update on Titus because as I was reading through some of my posts and I realized that there were really not very many happy posts of the T-man lately. To be honest I didn't really have any happy updates just more of the same. I did find out on my own that he has a milk intolerance (a horrilbe weekend of Graduates Lil' Crunchies with whey in them gave it away). I kind of had a feeling any way and stayed away from dairy and we switched to a hypoallergenic formula. He has definetly responded to the formula. He is a wonderful, happy, smiley, active, sweet, loveable, on and on, little boy during the day, I just want to eat him up! He even takes good naps but at night I wanted to pull my hair out. For months I was getting up 3-4 times a night and it was evident that his stomach was always upset at night, burping, gas, crying, oh the crying! I was constantly trying to find some consistent thing that was causing him pain but never could. Finally we went to the GI specialist after making the appointment two months ago. After talking to the docter about Titus' symptoms (fussiness at night, gassy, coughing, congestion during the day) he still felt we were dealing with Reflux which we tried to treat when he was 3-4 months old to no avail. He did think that Titus has a milk intolerance that will probably go away after a year old and brought to my attention that when we tried the reflux medicine he was not on the hypoallergenic formula. In other words we were only treating part of the problem. Which totally makes since. He wanted us to try the reflux med again for a couple more months. We have now been treating the milk intolerance and relux for two weeks and it really does seem to be helping. He has slept all night 2 nights out of the week and only getting up once the other nights. A huge improvement! And I am beginning to feel human again, I have even been to the "Y" (YMCA)!I feel that we are on our way to good things! These past 10 months have been some of the hardest ever but I could not love this guy any less! I have loved you everyone of your 10 months T-Man!

We take our eyes off for one second and what does he find? MUD!

What? I'm not supposed to play in the mud?

Please!?!

A few Updates!

2010-06-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

We are doing well, just busy! The summer is full and hot! Here are few of our sweet little moments and highlights of the summer!

Avery and Leigh started Gymnastics for the summer and this is Avery's first time. I think she was too excited because she could hardly sit still and I chased her all over the place.

We couldn't start the summer off without Avery taking another trip to get stitches (the clinic this time) after an encounter with the corner of the couch. It's Avery in our family, who is it in yours?
Titus is as active as ever! He just tonight let go and stood for a few seconds on his own - I feel the nightmare of me just running forever after my kids coming on! You know, the one where you run like crazy to catch your kids but you can never catch them and they are just laughing at you? - you never have those? I guess its just me! :)
These are my most favorite moments!
My precious neice Bailey had her 6th birthday at my house. She had a Tinkerbelle birthday and my sister made it so sweet and special! All her kiddos were at my house that week for VBS! It was a fun week!
Aren't these cupcakes so cute! Andrea made them and the kids loved them! The girls couldn't stop talking about which one they were going to eat.
Silly little cousins! They just love each other!
The crew of little ones, minus Titus! Bo, Ben, Bailey, Brady, Leigh, and Avery
We went to celebrate the Baptism of little Pahten, my sister and her husband's foster baby. They have cared for her and loved her since she was 2 weeks old. She is now 4 months and the sweetest best baby!
The boy cousins. Aren't they handsome! Ben, Brady, Bo, and Titus.
The whole gang and sweet Emma in the middle!
The family at the Baptism minus my brother Mitchell who is in Afghanistan. Love you and miss you Mitch!
We are now getting ready for our big fourth of July weekend! Then we are off to Pine Cove! Have a fun summer and I hope to be back soon!

Whoa Boy!

2010-05-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

He is 7 months old, has been crawling since he was 5 1/2 months, before he could even sit up on his own. In one day he:

Learned to sit up,

Get on his knees,

One knee,

And pull himself up!

At this rate, we will be walking before the summer is over and then we can officially declare me having a any kind of life outside of my little lovies-OVER! So if you see this dazed and confused, sloppy, not matching, wrinkled, worn out mommy please just disregard but please still be my friend! :)

Bumps and Bruises

2010-05-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

We have had a rough month of bumps and scrapes. First Avery slipped in the kitchen and cut open the skin just above her eye. (word to the wise, don't go to the emergency room unless it is absolutely an emergency. We thought she needed stitches but they just glued her up and said it would have probably been fine to heal on its own - Great! You wouldn't believe how much it cost!)

Leigh decided to ride her bike with a very heavy bag of rocks she collected so off she went but she didn't get far before the rocks pulled her down and she kissed the concrete. Results: bloody scraped faced, busted lips, bloddy nose, and a chipped tooth.

My poor girls! I can only imagine what Titus will get himself into.

Volcano Newsletter

2010-04-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

I get these emails from Shepherd Press every now and then and honestly I rarely read them, but tonight I thought I would check this one out. What a wonderful reminder to stop and reflect on the glory of God and all His splendor! I love, truely love, our theology and our doctrine that God is the maker and creator of all things and that nothing escapes His hand. All thing work together for our good! It is a truth that brings me peace and joy, fills me to overflowing, steadys my feet and makes me see clearly even in the midst of hardship. But when life becomes too cloudy, please Lord, wipe the ash from our hearts remind us again that You are Mighty and Purposeful! Enjoy!

Shepherd Press
Newsletter 89
April 19,2010

A Volcano and Intended Consequences

Humans have problems seeing the implications of their own actions. We frequently try to solve one problem and inadvertently create other, unintended problems. One classic example is the introduction of Kudzu vines in the South to combat erosion. Today, over two million acres of forested land in the Southern states are covered with the Japanese import. The University of Florida says that “Kudzu will grow over anything in its path (other plants, buildings, road signs) and eventually kill other plants it covers because it blocks out sunlight. Kudzu will also girdle stems and tree trunks, break branches, and uproot trees and shrubs through the masses of vegetation produced. Kudzu has been reported to grow roughly one foot per day once established.” This certainly qualifies as an unexpected consequence! This is what humans, with good intentions often do.
God, however, is different. There are no unexpected consequences to his actions. There are no random happenings. He has no "oops" moments. So, when God purposed for a volcano in Iceland to begin a series of eruptions this month, he was not at all surprised or chagrined that the ash clouds billowing upward from the volcano would disrupt travel in Northern Europe and America. Indeed, thousands of travelers have been stranded, business appointments delayed, and weddings rescheduled. The finely pulverized ash not only diminishes visibility, but also can damage jet engines. Air traffic was scheduled to begin being restored Tuesday, April 20, but today’s eruptions have put those plans in doubt.
You may recall that in an earlier newsletter this winter we looked at Job 37:5-7:
God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,'
and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'
So that all men he has made may know his work,
he stops every man from his labor.
While this volcanic event is not snow, the voice of God is certainly thundering. The power unleashed is beyond our comprehension. And like the snow, this volcanic ash falls to the ground, disrupting travel. Many who made what they thought to be definite plans have been frustrated and forced to take refuge in airports. God has once again stopped a large cross section of humanity from its labor.
The question still remains, what will we learn from God’s intended consequences? So far this year God has used huge snowfalls, earthquakes and one little-thought-of volcano to bring man’s labors to a halt. As the hurricane season approaches, there is a real possibility that just one moderately large storm could dramatically alter life on the East Coast of the United States. Imagine a series of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes all occurring within days of each other. Such a combination would disrupt life and work for millions.
How do you think people would react to such catastrophic events? Would you expect the news networks to call for people to consider the glory of God and his awesome power as the reason for such events? Might we perhaps consider repentance, instead of only crying out for relief, as an appropriate response to the power of these events?
No, I don’t think we would expect such a response from the news channels. But how about such a response from the church? Surely, God’s people would see such a string of events for what they were? Or would we? God has called us, his church, to be salt and light in a dark world. We live in a world that continues to believe that it can do as it pleases, disregarding the Living God of the Bible. If we are to have an impact for Christ, we must have the highest regard for God—for who he is. It is his voice that thunders from the volcano, from the storm and from the earthquake.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Weekend in the Bluebonnets

2010-04-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

And some of today, dancing to Hi-5!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Avery decided to take her diaper off while her and Leigh were playing outside so then off went Leigh's clothes (all but panties)!

Yummy Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte Recipe from the food network

Mommy and T-Man at bounce house!

Sad to say right now there are no Easter Sunday pics. What a day that was! The kids were so cranky. I think we all just came home and took a nap. We didn't even hunt eggs but the girls were fine with that, they just ate candy. We are definetly going to put the Easter colthes back on at some point because even though it was a rough day, we all looked so cute (well the kids certainlly did) in green and purple! Inspite of all that, Most importantly is CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS ALIVE TODAY! He lived, died, and rose from the grave and though we have days like our Easter sunday that remind us of the imperfect world we live in and the sin that seems to hop from mommy to daddy to sister to brother to sister, we can know He lives to redeem us over and over everyday.

Our fun trip to Austin!

2010-03-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last saturday we took a family day trip to Austin! We have been looking forward to this for a few weeks now and had all the places we were to visit planned out. Ricky's sister (Tia) and brother-n-law (Tio)came with us. This was Avery's and Titus' first trip to Austin, Leigh of course was born there but had not been back since she was 9 months old. First we left the house at 8:30am and went to Daddy's race which started at 11:00am. He did great and got 7th over all. He is really getting good at cycling. Then we went to the CoOp or the University book store and got a few new fun things (we can't make a trip to Austin and not come back with some longhorn accessories) Then we went to the UT campus (Daddy's old stompin' ground) and walked around. We showed the girls (well really Leigh was the only one interested) the UT tower. We sat by the turtle pond and rested awhile, this was a big hit, tons of turtles. We ate at Texadelphia, one of mine and Ricky's favorite places to eat on campus. And last but not least, a huge highlight for Leigh was to see the hospital where she was born. Avery and Titus were born at different hospitals in Waco and every time we pass by one of them she will point out that "that's Avery's hospital" or "that's Titus' hospital" and then says she wishes she could see her hospital. So that is exactly where we went, with pictures of course. We also showed her the appartment that we brought her home to. It was a great fun filled day! Boy did we wear them out! Austin is so mich fun to visit but we are so glad we come home to good old Lorena!

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5 months old

2010-03-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

Titus was 5 months on Feb. 29. Even though his first few months have seemed to drag because we want him to get better, other times I don't know where the time has gone. Out little Titus is doing better than he ever has been but I feel we are still guessing about some things especially now that we are starting cereal. He still seems to have tummy issue sometimes.
He is a very smiley baby and rolls over quite well. As soon as you lay him down on his back he flips to his tummy which makes diaper changing difficult at times. He loves to watch his sisters from his bouncy seat but he would prefer to be held at all times if I could. He is on reflux medicine which seems to help him be more content and he is sleeping well at night. We love our T-man!

My big sister Avery colored my head with marker!

This picture screams "I have two big sisters!"

Do you like my hat?

This is my usual pose when I drink my bottle, please do not disturb me!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2010-02-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

Wow! I don't think I have ever seen so much snow fall in all my life in Texas. We were home all day so it was so fun to watch it start and then cover the ground and then some by the end of the day. The girls and I made a snowman but when daddy got home he made our snow family! Go Dad! I am glad that it is gone though, maybe all the cold days melted along with it! I am in desperate need of summer days. Call me crazy but I would much rather be tan and sit by the pool in 100 degree weather!

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Buddies

2010-02-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

Titus has a buddy! He may not know it yet but he already has a great friend. How neat to have a buddy that you will not ever remember not knowing. This is Titus and our neighbors little boy Nash. We have such dear friends next door. The Lord blessed us when they moved in. I told Kim I was pregnant and she told me 3 weeks later she was expecting too! We shared our pregnant woes and now baby woes (although Nash is a really good boy so she just hears my woes now). It will be fun to watch them grow!

Some Rough Days

2010-02-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

Leigh got a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago that resulted in throwing up once and then running to the bathroom multiple times a day for about a week. She was fine other than numerous potty breaks. We thought maybe all would be clear of this yucky bug, thats when Avery came down with it. Poor girl still wears a diaper so now she's got an awful rash. This is some kind of bug to be lasting a week with no other symptoms but the obvious. In the midst of all this we took Titus to the doctor for his 4 month, he's doing fine but I still informed her of his fussiness that we constantly deal with. She prescibed him zantac for possible reflux even though he doesn't spit up tons she said he could have "silent reflux". We tried the medicine for a week and things got progressively worse so after a horrible night of screaming and crying with no way to console him, I called the doctor to inform her this is not working. She told me to stop the zantac and prescribed me previcin (I think thats how you spell it). It has only been one day so we will see. He has also let us know that he does not like the carseat nor riding in the car. He screams from the time we leave until we get out and I feel oh so bad for Leigh and Avery riding right next to him. Yesterday was a really bad day. Avery was not able to go to MDO because she is still having yucky diapers so Titus, Avery and I went to pick Leigh up for school. As soon as I got home I began to feel really cold and then the chills set in and I was freezing with no way to get warm. I then stared shivering, like teeth chattering shivering. I began to feel weak and achy all over with a terrible headache. I could not even stand. I was supposed to get us ready to go to Leigh's basketball performance at half time of the Baylor Basketball game. Ricky's parents were coming down to watch and we were going to take them out for his dads birthday. Instead they had to come to the house and get the kids which meant not having time for dinner and I missed Leigh's performance. I stayed home in bed and now have the stomach bug.

Ricky got a picture of her giving the sic'em bears!

God's goodness through it all:
-Leigh had a great time and Ricky got it on video.
-Ricky's parents were with him to help with the kids so he wasn't by himself.
-Ricky got a good taste of how difficult my days are with Titus (a sore subject with us and me not feeling alot of support). He came home and truely apologized for not understanding and said he can see why I want to pull my hair out at times. This was a good time of forgiveness. He called a friend to see if their babysitter could come help me some during the week.
-I got some much need rest, even if it came in the form of sickness.
-I am feeling much better.
-Titus slept good last night.
-Ricky took off work today to help me with the kids and let me rest some more.

It was so nice to have him home. I love my husband and it made me wish he was around more often, we all enjoy his company.

Also, inspite of our rough days with T-man, my girls continue to show love towards him and each other. Leigh holds the pacifier in his mouth in the car if he will let her, she holds the bottle for him and talks to him. Avery takes the paci away sometimes but she always says at least 3 times in the car "wud a madder Tidus". Poor girls, I am so glad that God made kids so resilient.
I am thankful that all in all I do have a healthy baby and the only issue we may be dealing with right now is reflux but I will be glad when we can sigh a sigh of relief after this first year.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

How was your Day? We celebrated on sat. because Ricky's sister and brother-n-law came to visit and kept the kids for us! What a blessing! We went to On The Border, one of oue favorites! (If you like guacamole you should try their Gaucamole Live, they make it right in front of you and its scumptious.) I had flowers delivered at two different times. My brother, Sgt. Mitchell C. Bentley who is stationed in Afghanistan right now sent these to me.

And my sweet husband had these sent to me. I loved how simple and sweet they were!

Aren't these just ADORABLE! My mom made these tutu shirts for the girls. She is taking orders for easter and any other holiday or birthday you would like, just let me know!

Leigh's Valentine party was last thursday and she was so excited that I was coming. I don't usually get to go to her school parties because they are usually on fridays and Avery is not at MDO and having a two year old running around and a baby is almost impossible.
I hung up all the valentine papers she did at school in the kitchen on a ribbon like a clothes line and when she came home and found them this is what she said, "OH MOMMY THANK YOU, I LOVE IT. ITS BEAUTIFUL! I ALWAYS WANTED A VALENTINE STRING!" Needless to say she was excited. I never know with that girl! We then worked on her valentine cards.

Mrs. Dunlap and her class.

A little something for the girls on V. day.

Avery's love of Shoes!

2010-02-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Actually, thats a bit contradicting. Avery doesn't like to where shoes or socks if we are going any where or if we are riding in the car. She takes them off so fast that I have learned to just wait until we arrive at our destination to put them on her. BUT, if we are at home, one of her favorite things to do is try on any and everybodys shoes matching or not and walk around saying "wook". And of course 99% of the time they are on the wrong feet. So, I have managed to capture a few pictures to remember these tiny little memories that make up a small part of Avery's life that are worth so much, if only to me :)!

Even Daddys socks!

and Titus'!

A few recent photos...

2010-01-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

I had just layed Titus on his new bedding from Target, Love it!, and the girls couldn't resist laying next to him! (oh, and this picture totally captures the personalities of my children right now!)

I received my Project Life kit and I am excited to get started!

What a sweet,handsome boy!

My Sweet girls!

Leigh was playing in my closet.

One morning before school.

Playing while Leigh was away at school.

Playing outside on a very nice day! Can't wait for those days again!

Wonderful Weekends

2010-01-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is saturday and I am so glad! Weekends mean Ricky is home and we try to get some productive things done around the house. Yall should see my closet, i don't think it has ever been worse so that is on the to do list. We are also planning to go to Chick-fil-a, our familys favorite place to eat and play! I don't know if I am going to be good and get a salad or just spluge and get the #1 meal? It has been awhile since we have gone so I just might slip up :) but I will definetly be having a diet dr. pepper! Hopefully my next post will be sharing what we accomplished this weekend.

Also, I am waiting on my Becky Higgins Project Life package to come in! I can't wait to get that started. It is such a great way to record your everyday while not taking all the time of scrapbooking, lets face it I just don't have the time these days! Check it out!

I will post pictures of some new fun pillows that I couldn't resist from Target and my new collections of dishes in progress soon!

Little Women

2010-01-15T20:00:00.001-08:00

Most nights you will find me up late by myself either feeding, rocking, walking, or holding Titus. I am either watching HGTV, Food Network, or on the computer while I am holding him. (Avery has been put to bed and Ricky lays down with Leigh and 9 times out of 10 falls asleep for a couple hours with her so that is why I am up by myself, but I don't mind) Titus is getting so much better but still a little unsettled. We are in the process of switching his formula to soy in great hopes of settling his stomach. A few nights ago I sat in the living room flipping channels and came across the movie Little Women. I have never seen the movie though I have read the book at least 3 times. I only missed a few minutes but knew exactly what was happening so I really didn't miss anything. Oh how I love that story! I finally decided to lay Titus down even though he had long fallen asleep and finish the movie. I sat there and cried when sweet Beth got sick and then later died (sorry if you have not read or watched Little women but shame on you if you have not). I really do think that I was born in the wrong time period. I would have so loved to have worn those plain long dresses and kneaded my own bread, talked their language and just lived in those simple times. I relate to Jo more and her personality. As I have gotten older I have learned to hold my tongue a little better but I used to be just like her. I guess there is still a little Jo in me still. Anyways, I recorded the movie and have watched it twice since and I don't think I could ever grow tired of it. Leigh watched some of it with me and loved the dresses she even loved the part where Amy fell in the ice and wanted me to rewind it so she could watch it again and again. She kept asking me why she fell in that water. I told Ricky to please not erase it so I can watch it whenever I want. I sure hope my girls love each other the way those sisters did! Is there a movie of Little Men? If there is I would love to watch it.
I shall strive to make our comings and goings a bit more simpler in our home until we meet again :)!

A sad day for the Longhorns (and Ricky)

2010-01-11T13:38:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was the College Football National Championship game between Alabama and Ricky's beloved Texas Longhorns. We were all very excited about it and prepared all day for the big game. I dressed the girls and Titus in their Texas gear, Ricky's request. The girls and I made signs to surprise him when he got home and our dear sweet neighbors made his favorite pumpkin pie. Those of you that know him know what a big fan he is.

We watched all the pregame and were excited to watch the big game. The Longhorns were the underdog but came out fighting and scored very quickly after the game started. Now, I really do enjoy college football ecspecially Texas football but not as much as Ricky does. Sometimes it is more fun for me to watch him react to the game than the game itself. He is not one of those fans who scream and shout and make outbursts but more of an introverted diehard fan. He takes his longhorns seriously. You can just see the intensity on his face and when the game goes to commercial he gets up off the floor or the couch (see he goes back and forth) and paces around the house until the game is back on. He makes me laugh! :)
Well, as you probably guessed from the title of this post,the longhorns lost. We were leading and playing so well and then in about the first 5 minutes of the game our star quater back got hit and hurt his throwing arm and was never able to return. The freshman backup who never played a college game in his life had to play the rest of the game. We hung in there but with a rookie QB we just couldn't come out with the win. The QB who got hurt (Colt McCoy)is a beilever and always has such class as he is interviewed and thanks God and praises the other team. I have always been impressed with him and when he was interviewed after this last game (his last college game ever) He said, "I would have given anything to be out there with my team but I don't question why things happen, God is in control of my life. It's disappointing but I am still standing on the Rock! Congratulations to Alabama, they played a great game!" You just don't hear those kind of things from our athletes these days and I know that God is using that young man in great ways! Ricky was very sad but life goes on.

I took these pictures during the not so fun parts of the game.

"T- Man"

2010-01-06T20:13:00.000-08:00

I love this picture! Every time Avery sees Titus she calls him "T-Man" and loves to give kisses.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Christmas in Duncanville this year. We missed my sister and her family as they spent Christmas in Arizona this year and we missed my brother who is in Afghanistan. We also missed Ricky's sister and her husband as they spent Christmas in Spain but we got to see all the J girls (Ricky's cousins) and their spouses who are all spread out over the country. We got some fun baby news from family, 4 girls on Ricky's side are all expecting this next year - not us, thank goodness, we will let some others have all the attention for a while! The girls and Titus got some fun things this year. The girls got matching clothes which is always fun and a new kitchen to share as well as a doll house to share! Ricky's parents gave Titus Ricky's old wooden rocking horse from when he was a little boy. They had it refinished and will be such a treasure to keep in the family! Granny made my girls their very own quilt for their first Christmas and so I was so hoping she would make one for Titus and she did! I was thrilled, it will be something that will mean so much to them one day! While we had a good time, it was a bit stressful for me having to pack for us all and then keep up with all our stuff and care for three little ones. We decided that next year we will enjoy Christmas at our home, at least not be gone so long.

Just the three of us

2009-12-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

We huddled them altogether on the couch before church yesterday and by some miracle they did great! The other miracle was that we still made it on time for church!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-13T13:46:00.001-08:00

We just got a new computer and have not transfered our pictures yet but I did get our Christmas pictures downloaded from the cd to share. I just love them!

This outfit and blanket were Ricky's when he was a baby. I wish his eyes were open but he was a sleepy boy.

What a great day!

2009-12-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been nothing but God's goodness to me! I know you are probably wondering what has happened that has been so good but I don't have any one particular thing or a sweet story to share. I just finally feel like our family has some solid ground to stand on and that we are finally conforming to a family of 5. The last 10 almost 11 weeks have been nothing short of choas and disorder and if I am really honest with you (and myself)I have to say I do not work well with choas and disorder. We love our sweet little Titus but the beginning of his days were not so sweet. Not only does just adding a third child complicate things by itself but a very fussy, very cholic baby takes it to a whole new level. He ate every 2-2 1/2 hrs around the clock and cried inconsolibly every night and most mornings for about 2-3hrs. I was exhausted and weary. But in all of this I could not love him any more than I do today, now is that not God's doing or what? Ricky said the other day that we just have this bond (Tius and I) and I really do feel like we have from day one. Maybe because he hasn't left my side since he was put in my arms. He loves me and I can tell that he does when he looks at me and stares straight into my eyes. He will be 11 weeks old on Tuesday and I feel like I am just introducing you to him. He was born Sept 29 at 2:19pm and was 7 lbs. 15 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Our shortest out of the three (that has Ricky just a tad worried :). At 6 weeks old we began to supplement breast milk and formula and no kidding yall, the very next day we saw improvment in his crying fits. Within a week it was night and day difference. I just think the poor little guy was hungry, even though I nursed him about every 2 - 2 1/2 hours I just don't think I was enough. Eventually I quit nursing and he is now totally on formula and a very happy very sweet loveable little man who warms my heart with his cooing and smiles. He is sleeping about 8 hrs at a time at night, thank the good Lord! The girls just love him and even though I have the most Titus time and Ricky takes on the girls most of the time, he loves his little "T-man" bunches! Today Ricky was changing Titus' diaper on the floor and Titus was not happy about it so I watched as Leigh and Avery gathered around him and Leigh said,"what's a matter Titus" and then Avery said, "what a maner Titus?" So sweet! Avery also likes to give him is pacifier but in the process almost shoves the whole thing in his mouth so we have to watch her a bit. Things are still rocky and every day brings on more challenges but God has been good to us! I prayed a few days ago as I was sitting one late night in the recliner feeding him, all was quiet and I just prayed that God would help me to be happy and content right where I was and to enjoy these days even in the hard moments. I was feeling so frustrated with just about everything. I prayed he would help my stressful and uptight ugly heart to love this calling in my life. This has been probably the hardest time in my life, totally sacrificing myself and my agenda, (and a clean house now lets just be honest!)I prayed that instead of resenting the fact that it is not about me at all right now I would embrace it and love this time in my life. The next two days we did not get out of our pajamas, I got lots of overdue piles picked up, Titus and Avery napped very well, I felt rested, our neighbor picked up Leigh from school to play for the day, and I cooked dinner the last 2 nights. God was good to us in the very simpliest ways! It is still down right hard managing 3 little ones and I'm not about to say we have a handle on it, but God has given me grace the last two days to keep on going! What a great God we serve, I just wish I was a better servant but isn't that why WE HAVE THE CROSS! God Bless you this Sunday and hopefully I can blog more!

Why Not?

2009-08-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a little glimpse of what a great guy and dad Ricky is. This picture was actually taken about early May when it still wasn't quite time to swim and the cover was still on. I remembered it and thought I would share it with you. The neighbors and cousins were over at our house and they all wanted to go swimming so bad so Ricky let everyone get down to there "skivies" (spelling? his translation)and take a dip in the pool. Of course they all just love Uncle Rick, Mr. Rick, and daddy! He is so great with the kids and includes them in all his little endeavors!

Waffles!

2009-08-02T20:39:00.001-07:00

Leigh accompanied us in church again today. This has not been the easiest transition but to be honest transitions or change are never easy with Leigh. She will be 4 in 8 days so she has been trying to sit in church with us because for one she does not want to go in the nursery class anymore (that has always been a big fight) and we think that its probably time to learn to sit with us. This morning did not go over well which resulted in a spanking after church because of her disobedience but there was one funny moment in the middle of losing our patience. I leaned over and whispered to Leigh that this was the time that we needed to sit still and be quiet while we learn about Jesus and this is what she said to me:

Leigh: "momma did you have waffles for breakfast?"
Me: "no"
Leigh: "because you smell like waffles."

(Avery had a waffle with syrup this morning that I fed to her so apparently I smelled like waffles.)
I had to just laugh then I leaned over and told Ricky and he laughed too.
Thank goodness for their sweet little interuptions every now and then or I think I would totally lose my cool!

Growing Up and Dressing Up!

2009-07-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

It has been so fun for me lately to watch the girls play together. Avery is getting bigger and Leigh and her are interacting so much more. They have enjoyed playing dress up. Leigh usually tells Avery what to wear but Avery's favorite thing are the dress up shoes. She is definetly my shoe girl.

New Bedding

2009-07-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

I just had to post some pictures of my new bedding because, well, for one I just love it but mostly because my mom made it!!!! Didn't she do an amazing job?! I was inspired by some very outrageously expensive bedding that I saw at a fun shop here in Waco called "Spice" (one of my favorite shops) so I went to different fabric stores, mostly just JoAnn's and got scraps to coordinate for pillows and the velvety brown fabric you see for the duvet cover! I wish I could say that I made it but it is more fun for me to design it and then give all the kudos to my wonderfully talented semstress mother!! I love it Mom thanks!

Jennifer Garner?

2009-07-31T20:12:00.000-07:00

I put sweet little Avery's hair back in a pony tail for the first time the other day and when Ricky saw her he said she looked like Jennifer Garner the actress. Now when I put it back he says "hi Jennifer". I think she looks so sweet with her little pony tail so I wanted to share some pictures. You can decide for yourself if she resembles a very young version ofJennifer Garner.

Here is a sweet one of Leigh too! I love my Girls!

Proud of my Hubby!

2009-07-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have to brag on Ricky. He has always enjoyed riding his bike but now he is officially a true cyclist! He has been training very hard to compete in races and is loving it. Its kind of fun for us to be apart of this with him. The only down fall is that now that he is the real deal he has to shave his legs :(. All the guys do it, its just a cycling thing. Our last trip to visit family in Duncanville, the girls and I drove up on Wed. and he rode his bike to Duncanville on the following sat. morning! Can you believe that - 5 hours and 107 miles later! He left just before 6am in the morning and arrived at my parents house at 11:30am. He has been training and riding about 60-75 miles at a time so this was just a little longer stretch. We were very proud of him. Here are a couple pictures of him at a race Leigh and I got to attend!

2009-07-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some summer pictures!
Look at our new sand box that daddy rigged up for us!

Leigh is now floaty free since this picture was taken. She really is a fish in the water!

My mom made these cute shirts for the grandgirls!

Where has the time gone?

2009-07-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is the middle of July and I have not posted since April. Honestly I contemplate keeping up my blog since I really can't seem to keep it updated, then I read all of yours and think, ok I can do this. But you all are really much better than I am.
I am now 28 weeks and can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. I only have about 10 weeks left and to say it that way does not seem very long. This pregnancy has certainly been different from the other two, mostly because we do not know what we are having. This little one does not have an identity from our perspective yet anyways but we know God has already established this child in His heavens long before the world began. We have two names ready but honestly do not feel strongly one way or the other. I am so excited to be surprised and I can't wait to welcome a little Ricky or another little girl! Everything has been so different. Usually I am in a dither at this time trying to get the baby room ready, trying to figure out how our family will change or the car situation but I haven't done a thing. I think along with our decision to not find out that the Lord has given me a peace about all the new changes. I just want to accept this new little one with love and patience and love my girls and their difficulties of adjusting if that may be the case. I really do not want to rush and I realize how much time I have to get the room ready and move Leigh and Avery in the same room to share after the baby comes. We really want Leigh and Avery to grow closer even though they are 28 months apart. I think sharing a room will be great for them! Leigh will also start preschool on August 20 and go 5 days a week from 8:30-11:30 with extended days on tues and thurs until 2:30 when Avery goes to Mothers DAy Out. I think this will help the girls have their own thing and keep some consistency with the new baby. I will post pictures of the girls room when they do begin to share because I got some fun new bedding for them awhile back just waiting to get out!
We still have a busy summer yet. I am excited about our annual girls weekend with all the women relatives on my dad's side of the family. That is the second weekend in August and then our family (Ricky, myself, Leigh, and Avery) will be spending Aug 9-15 at Pine Cove Christian Family Camp in Tyler, Texas! We can't wait!! Even though I will be 8 months pregnant and it will be hotter than hot it will be such a relaxing vacation! It is totally a place that we will be ministered to and our children will be cared for and I will not have to prepare any meals! I can't wait to share about our time there! Hopefully I will not stay away so long next time.

Much Better!

2009-04-20T17:55:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! I apologize for my absence! I have been doing much better it has just been difficult finding the time to get to my blog. I am 16 weeks now and feeling great! The girls are doing great although I think a cold is trying to creep up on us. We had a great Easter with my family and got some cute pictures that I will hopefully post soon. Ricky and I also went to a marraige conference with my sister and her husband as well as my cousin and her husband! It was at Park Cities Prebyterian Church in Dallas and the speaker was Paul Tripp who is a wonderful gifted speaker. He wrote "Sheppherding a Child's Heart" along with his brother and has other amazing books as well. It was such a great conference and a heart changing time for myself. I would also love to post some of my notes as well. Hopefully I can get back soon! God's greatest blessings!

A little tired these days...

2009-03-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
I thought I would just pop in to say what is going on with us these days. I know I have been slow to update but when I tell you why you will understand, maybe, or the mommies will! We are expecting child #3! I am about 10 weeks and smack dab in the middle of the sooooo tired, no energy, everything is moving in slow motion, can't think clearly, can't think beyond just taking a shower, no make-up, who knows whats for dinner, laundry yeah right, movies alot for the other two ,bad mood, just trying to stay afloat time of the pregnancy. I don't remember being this tired with the other two pregnancys but maybe its just because now I have two to chase around. Seriously, all I want to do is crawl up in my bed and sleep. I even dream about sleeping and I try to catch a nap anytime I can. We are excited about baby number 3 and we have agreed to not find out the sex of the baby, especially after a bet involving money that my father-in-law offered up. I am excited but sometimes I do think that maybe we are crazy, I mean Avery won't even be 2. All I seam to think about right now is the negative and the hard times like, no sleep again, no social life, more laundry, more stuff, being out numbered, going to the grocery store - yuk! I know I am just complaining right now so please excuse me, give me a few more weeks and maybe that glow they are talking about will find its way to this mommy and give me some cheer! Until then, heres to a litle more sleep!

The Polar Express!

2009-02-01T18:38:00.001-08:00

I meant to post some pictures from our trip to see The Polar Express in Imax over Christmas. We met at the train station and then we rode the train to the theater. I had never seen a movie in an Imax theater so it was quite an experience! I think the adults had just as much if not more fun than the children! I love these times when you can, just for a moment, revisit your childhood and dream big!!

2009-01-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having a great Lord's day!
I was just trying out my signiture :)

Give me a skirt and a t-shirt!

2009-01-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Leigh's choice of clothing everyday is a skirt and a short sleeve shirt. It doesn't matter if it is 80 degrees or 30 degrees, after breakfast she goes in her room and finds what she is looking for. I've kind of come to love it because she is totally expressing herself. I usually have to tell her she can wear it until its time to leave if we are going out , but if we are staying in for the day, it's give me a skirt and a t-shirt!

Happy Birthday Avery!

2009-01-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

December was a crazy month for us but we couldn't forget Avery's 1st Birthday. There was little planning on my part, really zero, other than deciding to pick up 4 blueberry muffins at Walmart for breakfast and ordering pizza for the party. It was just family but it was so nice. The morning of her birthday, the 3 of us (Ricky, Leigh, and myself) sang Happy Birthday to her and sat her in her high chair with a party hat and a big muffin. We had the video going and took some great pictures. We even used the self timer on our new camera (please forgive the pajamas and no makeup pictue of me and the 4 of us! yuk!)
Her actual party was so layed back and relaxing. My sweet mother-in-law made the cupcakes and most of Ricky's immediate family was there to celebrate! We didn't do anything special just enjoyed Avery and it really was the nicest time. She turned one December 10th but I thought I should go ahead and share some of the pictures with you. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Washington D.C.

2009-01-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be appropriate to share some photos of our trip to D.C. because of the upcoming inauguration. We had a great time and walked the same steps that so many will in a couple days. We also stayed in a hotel that was one only a few blocks from the White House. One of the highlights was the Arlington cemetery and the changing of the guard. Its was a great relaxing time for Ricky and I and it was great to see family at Jon and Kelly's wedding!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy New Year!

2009-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

I am finally sitting down to update my blog. I feel like it has taken us a little while to get back to a normal routine after the holidays. The holidays, boy were they busy for us! Ricky and I both feel as if we had never been busier. The first week in December, Ricky and I took a trip to Washington D.C. One of his cousins got married and we decided to stay a few extra days to tour the city! It was my first trip to D.C. and it was just a great realxing time! My sweet mother kept the girls at our house and we spent 5 days walking and touring and taking pictures (on our new camera)!

The next event was a Christmas brunch at our church which was so fun to plan with friends and turned out to be such a wonderful event. The theme was "Emmanuel - God with us" and we focused on how God is with us always, at Christmas and throughout the whole year. We had wonderful speakers share what Emmanuel means to them.

We had a great time with family in Duncanville and are so greatful that all of our family is so close that we can see them all! Ricky and I are thinking, though, when to establish our own family traditions with our children and what that will look like. While visiting family, we got to see Polar Express in the IMAX theater. We went with my sister and her family, my brother who is in the Army and has been stationed in Italy, and my parents! We rode the train to the theater and we all had a great time! Santa came early for the girls since we spent Christmas Eve and the week following Christmas at Grandma's house. He left a note by a brand new trampoline that said, "Leigh and Avery, I heard you were spending Christmas at MeMaw and PaPaw's house so I brought your gift early so you could play with it! Merry Christmas, Santa" Leigh has had more fun on that trampoline and I'll have to say so have I :)!

My prayer lately has been to simplify our lives and make things less hectic. I want to slow down and make my home a pleasant and peaceful place for my children and my husband. I believe alot of that responsibility as a wife and mother is mine. I think the first place to start is in my own heart.

I wanted to recomend a great movie. Last night we watched Peaceful Warrior and it is by far one of the best and most soul stirring movies I have ever seen! It really is a must see and probably more than once! It will cause you to examine your own heart and life!

I plan to show pictures of our trip to D.C. soon!

Happy New Year and God Bless!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Another one...

2008-11-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ok seriously, I have to get up from this chair. My back hurts from sitting so long, I need to put the wet clothes in the dryer and fold the dry ones, make lunches for the girls and husband tomorrow, and try to get in bed at a decent hour but I keep finding great blogs! And do you know what is so discouraging - I know I haven't even explored the half of them :)!
I was blog hunting again and found this one, A Soft Place To Land. It was a great reminder to me of my calling as a wife and mother, it was actually very convicting after a hard frustrating day with my 3 year old. She is also very creative! Love the table cloth! Enjoy!

New Favorite

2008-11-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share this great site that I found tonight. (Oh and by the way, I apologize that in an earlier post the links didn't work.) I enjoyed browsing through Free Hand Scraps. She has kits every month that you can buy and I think it is very reasonable for what you get! Also, what put the icing on the cake was clicking on her picture and reading more about her "Heidi", the creator of the website. I really like to know people's background and a little of where they came from. I think its is interesting and gives you an insight into their heart and passions. Not only did I like the site just by what I saw but knowing that she is a sister in Christ made it all the better! Praise God for the gifts and talents He gives us! Have a good one!

Projects!

2008-11-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of the latest crafty things! Ricky and I had fun putting up this bulletin board/display board thingy in the play room. We got all the supplies at Home Depo and used a staple gun to assemble it before securing it to the wall! The total cost was probably $15. I think I may even cover the wood with fun scrapbook paper! Leigh loves to display her papers and art from school and now we have a place to put it!

Also, I made this little hanging pillow on a whim Sat. night. I had the itch to get out my sewing machine and play around with it! The front has a cross I very unprofessionaly sewed on and the back is burlap (I love burlap)! It makes me want to do more, I need the practice!

I love blogs!

2008-11-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

One of my new favorite things to do is sit at the computer and surf through blogs. I go from one to the next and click on links from each one! There are so many creative and inspiring people out there! It makes me want to be one :)! I have some fun ideas for Christmas this year so maybe I will get around to them!

Here is one of my favorites: Today's Creative Blog

Check this out! I love the felt board craft! It is very doable and the choices of printouts are fun! I think this will be a homemade gift to the girls from mom!

Another favorite is: Ali Edwards

Enjoy and happy blog surfing!

Fall Fun!

2008-11-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat!
This year we stayed home and went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood! It was lots of fun and Leigh loved it! You should see the candy! My mom's birthday is also on Halloween so we got to celebrate her birthday and have her with us to roam the street! Have a look at our little ladybugs!

Our front door.

Carving the pumpkins!

Halloween Party Day at school! Leigh came home with lots of goodies!

The highlight of Leigh's week is gymnastics and this week they had a parade at the beginning of class and everyone got to where their costume over their leotard! It was too cute!

These are the "pumpkin heads" (Leigh's words) that were at our neighbors house across the street!

Last week

2008-11-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun and alot going on this past week. I saw an idea on Ali Edwards blog, www.aliedwards.typepad.com, to capture and record what a week looks like in your life. She calls it "A week in the life" so I started Monday taking pictures of our daily routine and recording what we did at the end of the day. By the end of the week it did get a little difficult but I was determined to finish and it will be fun putting it together. It was a good week because it was full with my mom visiting and being here for Halloween and getting lots of pictures of the ladybugs, I mean the girls! My dad also came and remodeled out little half bathroom (which will look awesome after I paint it, my dad can do anything) and Ricky went hunting but sadly came back empty handed :(. Oh, and the Longhorns had a terrible weekend as they lost to the Tech Raiders (what a crazy game).
Some projects I hope to get finished before Christmas are painting the half bathroom (lots of painting involved) and re-painting and decorating our master bathroom! I will post pictures when I'm finished.

Fun at the Fair

2008-10-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the Waco Fair this year. It was pretty good considering Ricky and I grew up in Dallas and always went to the State Fair so we had that to compare it to. Leigh enjoyed it and Avery just watched!

She was waiting her turn to ride the bull and was so intently looking at what she was getting herself into. But she didn't turn back - Ride on Cowgirl!

We all enjoyed the candy apples!

What?

2008-10-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

I don't know what this is all about but I thought it was so funny how I captured them both with the same blank expression! Is it just a foreshadow of many blank looks at their mother?

Lots of Laugh's

2008-10-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Lately the girls have been so much fun to watch! They have started to play more together and laugh alot together! It makes our hearts sing to see them already having so much fun together! We are discovering that Avery is quite funny and she knows she is too which makes it more fun. She laughs at Leigh and Leigh laughs at her! It is fun to think of them growing up as sisters together!

They had a blast with a balloon one night! This one of them laughing is my favorite!

Leigh now drives Avery around in her jeep and Avery has recently learned to clap her hands when we say "Yea"!

Jump-to-my-lou!

2008-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Leigh was given this mini trampoline last year from Grandma and Grandpa and there has been no other toy that has gotten more use than this one! It was also a life saver for us the parents to use up all of her energy! Now Avery can climb aboard and likes, for now, to just sit on it. Whats funny is that she gets up there but can't get down.

Hook 'em Horns!

2008-10-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Ricky had the great privelege to go to the big Red River Shoot Out. The rivel game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. It was a quick trip to Dallas but well worth it since we went home with the "W"! We got some pictures in support of our Longhorns!

Just a swingin'

2008-09-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

The girls love to swing and now that the weather is getting a little cooler we're swinging a lot more. Its more fun now that Avery can sit and swing too! She loves it!

Avery 9 months old

2008-09-07T18:11:00.001-07:00

Catching up

2008-09-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

What has happened since I last posted? We had a really fun girls weekend at my mom's house(all girls from my dad's side of the family have started a tradition of all girls family reunion once a year!), Leigh turned 3years old August 10th, Avery got her first tooth and then her second, Avery is crawling everywhere, Mother's Day Out started back up, and Ricky's brother Ryan and his bride Joanna got married August 30th (which Ricky, Leigh and myself were apart of - crazy but fun!)
Alot for one month so I thought I would just brief ya and then post some fun pictures!! Hope all is well!

Crafty!

2008-07-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share that my mom and I have opened a booth at the Craft Gallery in Waco. Its a fun place to buy or sell your own things. We are having lots of fun with it, coming up with cutesie things for baby and home decor. We just started so we are little by little stocking it. Here are a few of the things. My so creative mom has made these sweet onesies. They display fun treats like cupcakes or icecream cones with the verses, "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus", "Jesus is the sweetest name I know", Delight thyself in the Lord". I just had to have my little sweetie model! They also come in the oh so cute boxes! The small boxes just have a onesie and they are $24 and the larger boxes have a onesie and a blanket to match and they are $34. So if you need a gift just stop on by ! Ha!

2008-07-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great 4th of July! We had a blast with our 4th of July Troop! It was another great year and another great firework display!

Here are some funny pictures of Avery. We are finally interested in baby food!

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I love Momma Tray and Momma Tray loves me!

The girls were playing together sweetly! I had to capture the moment!

Old but New cabinets!

2008-06-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

We had fun painting our cabinets! I am pleased with the result! We just need to get the hardware on.

2008-06-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

I love this one of Daddy and the girls! It was not staged which is why I love it so much, I don't think we could get the girls to pose like that again if we tried!! lol!

2008-06-26T20:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of our family!

Where have I been?

2008-06-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have not been a very good blogger!! We have been busy with lots! Well, namely a new baby and just lots of projects around the house. But thats no excuse right! Lets see how I can catch us up.

I can't believe that Avery will be 7months on July 10!! She is just the sweetest thing! We have been so blessed by her calm and sweet demenor. She really just smiles all the time. What a good baby! She is not sitting up yet but she is getting close and she still has no desire to be spoon fed. I try but she could care less. She is certainly not lacking anything with all the rolls and those chubby thighs, I love it!! She just loves Leigh and just watches every move she makes in awe! Leigh is a sweet sister most of the time but there is that occasional poke in the eye, pinch, or biting of the fingers when I'm not looking. Avery still seems to love her, Oh the bond and love of sisters!

Summer has begun and I can't believe next week is July. Ricky has begun to take over the duties of the pool and is doing a very good job. I was a little nervous seeing that he has never taken care of a pool and he seems to take on big things like this with gusto as if he knows excactly what to do. He always seems to come through though, I really shouldn't doubt him he's very smart. So we have been swimming alot and Leigh is a little berry just tan as can be.

We had wonderful neighbors move in next door this past October and we have really been enjoying them. They have a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old little girl who Leigh loves to play with. The kids go back and forth and I am really excited for the kids to grow up next door to each other! They have been swimming too.

Our 4th of July party will be at our house again this year and it is always so fun to see all our friends! We are packed to the hilt at our house with every room filled with guests, even our little laundry room has a twin blow up mattress for someone to sleep! Its so fun and so far there is no burn ban so we can shoot off fire works again!!

We have found a fun activity to do that Leigh loves and we get to have fun with other families and that is the "Bounce House"! Its really called "Jumping Party" but we call it the bounce house and that is a huge ware house here in Waco filled with blow up jumping things. The kids love it and us adults just get to hang out and talk while the kids are running around and jumping on inflatables!!

Ricky and I will be married 5 years coming up this July 26th! I can't believe that! We have certainly had our ups and downs but God has been so faithful to us. We are learning more and more about our own depravity and the condition of our hearts!! We are reading this great book (great for newly weds or wherever you are in marriage) called "When Sinners Say "I Do" by Dave Harvey. Its a great book on understanding our sin and how it effects every area of our life especially marriage. My favorite quote is "I am my biggest marital problem"! If each spouse truley felt that way and understood that their own sin was the biggest problem then it leaves no room for false expectations or pointing fingers. It has truely been a remarkable heart changing book for me!! I recommend it to all!

We also have painted our cabinets in the kitchen and that took quite a while just because it was a slow process with children around. We still need to put new hardware on and that will be done by next tues, before the guests come of course)!

Well, I need to get busy getting busy! This is my new beginning on keeping up my blog!! See you back soon!

My sweet Avery Jane!

2008-02-19T20:14:00.001-08:00

She has stole my heart!

Days Gone By

2008-02-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I certainly thought I would be better at this and I truely do want to be, in fact that is the theme of this post tonight.
Avery is now 10 weeks, I can't beleive that, but I am acting like I should be a pro at this (managing my kids, my house, and myself.) I know we are still adjusting but why do I think there should be a steady flow of life right now? Why do I get so frustrated when there seems to be disorder around me? Someone looking in on the outside would probably think that I'm doing a pretty good job. I was asking myself these questions today and its funny how you can't escape being honest with yourself. I try to keep things perfect and all together because you know what, I deep down do want to be perfect. I realized that yes I do want perfection in myself. I aspire to have order and like the feeling of accomplishing tasks with ease. I don't in others, in fact I find that I am truely forgiving and accepting of others and am drawn to those who are honest with themselves. I find that I think of others through out the day and pray for those who are having a hard time. The truth and the problem is I just want control and that is just flat out sin. It is exactly what sent Adam and Eve out of the garden and what we (me) continue to struggle with today. It is nothing short of just wanting to be God and control what we do and what we feel. Even knowing this I still struggle with it. Thankfully it is our Lord that truely is in control and that He loves us inspite of ourselves. I wish I was so good at relaxing and enjoying my children and husband and shrug off the fact that the laundry isn't done, the kitchen isn't totally clean, the playroom is a mess, I didn't put on my make up today and pick up the house for my husband before he got home (isn't that silly), but I'm not. All I can say is that I am so thankful that the Lord chose me, that He forgives me and that tomorrow is another day of sanctifying.
This is my favorite verse: "He is before all things and in Him, all things hold together." Colossians 1:17
There is my problem, I am trying to hold things together outside of Him.
Sorry for going on and on, it seems you got trapped in my thoughts tonight. Thanks goodness for prayer!

Sweet Girls!

2008-02-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

Avery at 7 weeks!

We are enjoying our girls so much! Leigh is the best little helper and Avery is all smiles (most of the time!)

Avery Jane Jespersen!

2007-12-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

We are so proud to announce the new addition of the Jespersen family! Avery Jane was born Monday December 10 at 12:28pm. She weighed 8lbs 6oz. and 21 inches long. It was a wonderful day as we went in for induction at 6:00 that morning and had a safe and blessed delivery! We were so surprised by her weight and her full head of dark black hair! We also discovered by some of her little expressions that she has dimples. We are home and enjoying our girls so much! Leigh is so sweet to Avery and loves to love on her but the text book behavior of disobedience and acting out are certainly manifesting themselves in big sister, but I'm sure they will pass soon. It was a great day and so fun to have all of our visitors and friends come see us and pray for us! Thankyou everyone for loving on and praying for our family. We are so blessed! May God bless you for blessing us!

Baby Day!

2007-12-05T12:28:00.001-08:00

Well, we are still waiting. I sure thought that we would have a baby by now because I have been dialated to 3cm for a month now but she's just not ready to come. We are going to induce on Monday Dec. 10th in the morning so we know she will be here in 5 days! I can't beleive the time has come! I think that we are getting Leigh's sleeping habits back on track, for now anyways. It sure was hard there for awhile but we are making her stay in her bed and rewarding her if she does and it seems to be working - now after Avery comes that may be a different story, I don't know. I'm all set and ready, I think. I'm trying to keep the house clean and our bags are packed just in case! I look forward to updating everyone on our new addition very soon. We will post the news and pictures right here! Stay tuned!!

2007-11-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yea!, last night Leigh slept all night!! She has been waking up 3-4 times a night for the last month and a half and usually ends up sleeping on the floor in our room. She then is awake about 6:15. I've heard this could be normal for her age but it sure has been difficult for us all. Maybe the Lord is preparing us for the new baby. Her bahavior has been effected during the day because she is so tired and we have been disiplining alot more lately! Maybe she sences some change? This has just been a difficult season and I'm afraid we are just getting started! I pray that the Lord will give me patience and all of us rest! I hope to report soon some baby news! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving - I am so thankful that in spite of our lack of sleep we are all healthy and blessed! Thanks be to God for all His goodness to us!

Avery's Room!

2007-11-15T16:46:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share a few pictures of the nursery! I love how things turned out! I'm not quite finished but we'll get there!! My mom helped me with the bedding and I found a great vintage dresser at a fun store here in Waco that was already painted the turqoise color. I also just recovered the bulletin board with some left over fabric from the bedding! How fun! I can't believe that the day is drawing near. I have already started dialating so she could come any day!!

Making music & a mess!

2007-10-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

I had to capture this! After cleaning the toilets this morning, I decided I would sit and watch Regis and Kelley for a few minutes. I turned around when I heard little feet coming back and forth and saw Leigh setting up band practice. She went and got each dish and pan one by one until the cabinet was empty and then proceeded to "sing a song"! I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I wanna make a mess, mommy!"

Sorry, its been awhile

2007-09-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have not been very good this month keeping up with my blog. Shame on me! I have been more tired than normal this month and have picked up a cold in the last week. I will do much better! I do have a new "what she says" quote from Leigh! She has been waking up way too early lately and Ricky has been taking her back to bed until it is time to get up. He was putting her back to bed the other morning and she said, "Daddy it's dark." Daddy said, "I know Leigh, what do we do when it is dark?" Instead of getting the answer he thought he would like, "we sleep, or go night night," She said, "turn the light on." Yes, I guess we do turn lights on when it's dark, but Oh how I wish she would just sleep in a little later!! I'll be back with more interesting things to say later!!

Leigh's 1st day MDO 2007

2007-09-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

CHEESE!

"what she says"

2007-09-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's true kids really do say the darndist(?) things.
I was singing a song to myself while finishing up a scrapbook page, Leigh comes in the room with her hand out and says, "Momma stop." I say, "stop what Leigh?" She says, "da moosic." Did she really just tell me to stop singing? Well, blow me away!
Silly Girl!

John Piper's Bedtime Song

2007-08-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight I visited one of my favorite sites posted on my blog under "Favorites" - www.desiringgod.org. I found that John Piper too has a blog that you can access from his website and I came across one of his acticles he wrote called "Talitha's Bedtime Song". John Piper sings this song to his only daughter every night. I enjoyed very much reading the short article and listening to the bedtime song! I love the words and was very much inspired to learn the tune and memorize the words so that I too can sing this song to my children. I can only imagine the wisdom and love for the Lord and for His word he has instilled in his children. I think he has much to offer for parents raising children and wanted to share this. He says, "I think we need to build in our children an absolute fearless confidence that God is for them when they trust in Him."
Click on BEDTIME to read and listen:
BEDTIME
It really reminded me that my purpose in raising my children is to guide them and direct them to know, to love and to desire God.

Flip Flop!

2007-08-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last week was a great week! My sweet sister kept Leigh for 3 days (along with her 4 other children, God bless her) and I was able to get so much done!! She suggested we switch out our girls for the week and let them play. She had Leigh Mon - Wed and I had Bailey Thur - Sat.
I had big plans for those three days to be as productive as I could. I honestly didn't know what to do with myself as I usually only have 2 hours during the day while Leigh takes a nap to be productive. That is if I don't take a nap myself or try to tackle the laundry. I was able to get my scrapbooking supplies organized and got a great headstart on Leigh's scrapbook! Yea!! My goal is to have her first year done before the baby comes, maybe more!!
In the mean time at my sister's house... Oh my little busy bee! Andrea had lots of stories to tell me every night as I checked up on her. Now, my Leigh is not a spiteful, mean, hateful little girl but if you take your eye off of her for much length of time that girl can make a mess in less time than it takes to say, "have yall seen Leigh?" I think my sister experienced this first hand. She poured sand from the sand box in her and Bailey's hair, she turned the water hose on and drenched herself with her clothes on, she dumped all the books out of the basket onto the floor multiple times (a regular occurance and my house), and she took all of Bailey's clothes out of her drawers! There's more but I can't remember them all. But I do know why we don't have a sand box! For the most part I think Leigh had a great time at Aunt Andie's house!
My turn was much less stressful I believe. I definetly have the better end of the deal. Bailey was a perfect little angel all three days, just so well behaved and she sits still at the table and she'll watch a movie. Bailey is 14 months older than Leigh and wow, is that a huge difference! They play great together but I sure hope that in a year Leigh can use up a little of that energy. It was a little more difficult with the two just because I couldn't keep my eye on Leigh the whole time. I think I am going to have my hands full when the baby comes! My mother says that I am paying for my raising but asures me that it will get easier.
Well, my week was great but now I'm back on duty 'keepin a look out' on my sweet little busy bee. But I already failed as I found her today under the table drinking more than half of my diet dr. pepper that I had just gotten at Sonic. Oh, the stories we'll tell!!

Leigh's 2nd Birthday!

2007-08-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

Leigh turned two August 10th! Now we are trying to teach her that she is just two, not "two August", or "two a little bit", or "two Friday", but "two years old!" She had a Curious George party or "Monkey George" as he is known in our house. Monkey George is definetly the favorite right now so of course he had to be the theme! She had a great birthday with lots of friends and family to surround her and spoil her with fun new toys! It was a full day of swimming, food and family! One of her favorite gifts is a tricycle given by Memaw and PaPa. She is getting better everyday trying to push the pedals without them getting away from her!

New Additions!

2007-08-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, we found out! We had another sonogram that confirmed the baby's gender. We are having another girl and are absolutely thrilled! Her name is Avery Jane. It has been fun talking to Leigh and telling her who is in Mommy's tummy and that she has a sister. She of course does not quite understand but I think by December she will. Ricky and I have enjoyed entertaining the thought of another girl and how Leigh and Avery will be as sisters. One of the bedrooms in our house is somewhat bigger than the others with a bathroom so we foresee Leigh and Avery sharing that room together one day. I wonder if she will be as spunky as Leigh, maybe she will be my cuddle bug? Ricky was feeling a little outnumbered with soon to be four girls to one boy living in our house, (Mommy, Leigh, Avery, and our dog Campbell - then there is Daddy) so we went to Austin last week and got a new golden retriever puppy. His name is Bogey. Now Daddy has a companion, but I think he really likes having all his girls!

It's a ...?

2007-07-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ricky and I are thrilled about our upcoming baby due December 14th! Since finding out we were expecting, we went back and forth deciding whether or not to find out the sex of our baby. I was fine not knowing. The thought of being suprised on delivery day was very exciting to me, but Ricky wimped out on me and said he couldn't stand to wait. So we made the decision to find out. Since we set our hearts on finding out, the closer the day came the more excited I got. Well, we went to have the big ultrasound yesterday to determine the sex of the baby but much to our dismay we left undetermined. They could not be certain enough to confidently make the call. What a downer! We left with such an empty feeling. Our doctor did not perform the ultrasound, we went to the radiology clinic. When I saw my doctor this morning he could not make the call just by looking at the pictures but he is going to be gracious and let us do another ultrasound in the office my next visit - IN A MONTH, AH! We got home and Ricky says, "so should we just not find out now"?, and I without hesitation reply, "what? No! Now I have to know." What just happened here? I'm confused, my hormones cannot handle all this indecisivness! I'll get a grip and be patient and check back in a month with hopfully - It's a boy!, or It's a girl! Until next time, It's a Baby!

"what she says"

2007-07-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

July~ Ask Leigh how old she is and she will simply reply, "two August."
Ask Leigh what her name is and she will simply reply"two August."
Say hello to Leigh and she will greet you with, "two August!"
Needless to say Leigh will be two August 10th!

"Planting Tulips"

2007-07-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Let me share with you. I do not have a garden. I've never actually planted tulips, nor do I even know if I have a green thumb. What I do know is that I aspire to always be "planting tulips" in every area of my life. In work or play, with family or friends, in marriage or raising my children, I pray the tulips will always be blooming. TULIP is an acronym for the Doctrines of Grace. They are five points supported by the scriptures to explain who God is and who I am in Him.

"These five points are still at the heart of Biblical theology. They are not unimportant. Where we stand on these things deeply affects our view of God, man, salvation, the atonement, regeneration, assurance, worship, and missions... 1. We experience first our depravity and need of salvation. 2. Then we experience the irresistable grace of God leading us toward faith. 3. Then we trust the sufficiency of the atoning death of Christ for our sins. 4. Then we discover that behind the work of God to atone for our sins and bring us to faith was the unconditional election of God. 5. And finally we rest in His electing grace to give us the strength and will to persevere to the end." - John Piper (see http://www.desiringgod.org/ Resource Library, Article by Date - 1985)

By God's grace and His soverignty, I am called. Because of this I pray to always praise Him and make Him known, giving Him glory through my relationships, raising my children, daily activities, and in my own heart. So if I am cleaning, scrapbooking, shopping, cooking, spending time with family and friends, or disiplining my children, may I always be planting tulips!