Life on Purpose

funny story

2012-01-26T18:59:00.002-06:00

but I don't have time to tell it, so instead you can see the video of H singing "Ice, Ice Baby". It all started when he started calling Popsicles "ice" and I might have taught him to sing that anytime he wanted one....

In other news H is cracking me up everyday. This week he used the words "either" and "belong" appropriately in sentences. When he sees me get ready in the morning he always tells me "Woah! Mommy beautiful!". Melt my heart. Will try and post some more pictures soon.

crafternoon

2012-01-20T16:19:00.009-06:00

I got busy over the Christmas break finally sewing some things and tackling projects I purchased supplies for YEARS ago. The project I am the most excited about is tackling the new curtains for the playroom. The curtains in there came with the house and the room used to be a dining room so they were pretty formal looking and not playroomish at all. Here's the before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER

I wanted a faux roman shade look and got some ideas online and came up with my own pattern. I've never attempted curtains before, but they turned out pretty good!

I bought fabric years ago to make Christmas place mats and I finally got around to that too!

I used a book I got with embroidery stitches and figured out how to applique the little people onto the other side of the place mats. They turned out pretty cute.

I also finally completed one of my pinterest projects I've been wanting to do. I got a basket at the dollar store and got some jute and glued it around the inside and outside of the basket.

So, three projects down, 93 to go!

Stuff for New Moms

2012-01-13T18:39:00.007-06:00

Since my sister is having her first baby in March and I am having some emotional ‘baby fever’… however, on an intellectual level I am acutely aware that we are not ready for another child. So, to placate myself I came up with a list of things that are a new mom’s best friend.
Sleep deprivation is part of the territory so some tools to help you not look like the mess you feel are:
Benefit’s eye bright pencil. It works small miracles in making you look awake even when you don’t feel that way at all!

Some other life saving beauty products are dry shampoo and tinted moisturizer. It was a rude awakening when suddenly I couldn’t take a shower when I wanted to (or needed to) and so using dry shampoo saved me more than once. If you have dark hair, the best kind that I have found is this:
Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo Spray

Not only does it absorb the grease but it adds volume to your hair so it doesn’t look so flat.

What makes tinted moisturizer so great is that when you don’t have time to really apply make up you can still rub this on real quick and it evens out your skin tone and also provides SPF protection. My favorite kind is this
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 – Illuminating

As someone who has always been in school full time or worked full time (currently doing both), it was a hard adjustment for me to stay at home. I liked being busy and the tangible feeling of accomplishing something. While taking care of a baby keeps you pretty busy, it can be easy to feel like your life is a circle of diapers and feedings and things are never really finished. Once we got into a kind of routine, I decided I wanted to start tackling some projects, and that is when I learned to sew and knit and started re-doing some furniture. Finding these kinds of hobbies helped me gain that sense of accomplishment that I had missed and just provided an outlet for me to use up some energy. There are tons of great resources out there if you want to learn to sew or knit, some of the books I have used are:
One – Yard Wonders

What was cool about this book is that it included 100 patterns for all kinds of things you can make with only one yard of fabric. This book along with some online tutorials were what I used to learn to sew.
I had a friend who showed me the basics of knitting, but when I wanted to learn more about how make patterns I used this book. Stitch N Bitch

What was cool about this book is that it spelled things out for me really clearly. I’m just now learning how to use patterns, but this has been a good book so far. I have also referred to several youtube videos when reading doesn’t make sense and I need to see someone cast off or add a new ball of yarn, etc.
I don’t have a lot of other wisdom or products that will make motherhood any easier - just give yourself a lot of grace and try to remember that it really is just a stage and before you know it your baby will be doing something else you were totally unprepared for!
One of the classes I’m taking this semester is developmental psychology and we are learning all about psychological development from infancy to adulthood. We are only in infancy right now and one of the reoccurring themes is that our children teach us how to be parents. We carry around this weighty responsibility of taking care of them, providing for them, teaching them, etc. and all along at every stage of development, they are actually teaching us how to respond to their needs and be good parents. We just need to pay attention, be responsive and take care of each other. Take time for yourself to do the things that re-energize you, whether it is shopping, spending time with friends, reading, whatever it is… when you feel burnt out, give yourself permission to take a break – you will be a better parent for it. My son is only 2 and 2 months, so I still have no idea what I’m doing most of the time, but being his mom has been one of the greatest privileges of my life (preceded only by being Jeff’s wife and being a daughter of the King). Motherhood isn’t as glamorous as I thought it would be and I’m certainly not one of those parents that make it look effortless … but real life is so much better than perfection =)

Books Read in 2011

2012-01-08T12:59:00.017-06:00

Here's my book list for last year (minus texbooks - blah):

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by: Syrie James

This was the second book I read by this author and I really enjoyed it. Even though I didn't remember much of Jane Eyre and wasn't familiar with Bronte's other works, it was still a funny, engaging, portrayal of what Bronte's life could have been like and I'm now convinced it was not fiction but rather a really entertaining biography.

The Hunger Games by:Suzanne Collins

I read this book on the recommendation of the angst filled teenagers that I work with. I gotta say, I was not disappointed. It was just the right combination of thrilling plot, endearing characters, evil villans, heroic lovestory and yet it didn't leave me with a bit of cringe in my mouth like some of the other teenage literature out there. (coughtvampirescough)

Catching Fire by: Suzanne Collins

I had to immediately begin the second book after the first cause I just.couldn't.wait. Fortunately, I bought them all in a bundle from Amazon. Whew, that was a close one. I can't pick a favorite book from this trilogy, they were all so good!

The Love Dare by: Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick

This was a great book I hope to re-read at least every 5 years. Every married couple should read this book at least a few times a decade to gain some fresh perspective on loving your spouse and some practical ideas and challenges. Jeff & I didn't read this book together, which I think was actually better - makes things more surprising for the other person. Now I can't wait for Jeff to read it... =0)

Leota's Garden by: Francine Rivers

I heart Francine, and so when this book came up for free on Kindle I decided to download it to my phone and read it. Turns out I love reading books on my phone. Since I sleep with my phone by my bed it is like having a built in book light. Even though it was a little slow at times, I totally cried and fell in love with these characters.

The Heart of the Matter by: Emily Giffin

I love this author and loved this book. I also read this book on my phone and definitely stayed up past my bed time and read it on my lunch break. What I loved and hated about this book was that it all seemed so life like and real. I can appreciate a story without a perfect ending, so that made this book more endearing to me.

Mockingjay by: Suzanne Collins

Things got pretty intense in book 2 of the Hunger Games Trilogy, so after a brief hiatus I was ready to come back and finish it up. I will totally read these books to H when he gets older... and he will LOVE them! I can't wait for the movies to come out!

Happiest Toddler on the Block by: Dr. Harvey Karp

While I liked this book, I can't say that the discipline behaviors in it worked for us. I didn't find it overly helpful in that area, but it did give some really good ideas for providing positive feedback for your children and reinforcing good behaviors. Other than that, I wouldn't recommend this book.

The Help by: Kathryn Stockett

I also read this book on my phone and love, love, loved it! I finished it just in time to see the movie, which I actually really liked. Usually after reading such a good book the movie is a disappointment, but both were done really well! Great read!

Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage by: Madeline L'Engle

L'Engle is one of my favorite authors and it was so fascinating to read her account of her courtship and marriage. This is not only a terrific love story, it is a great account of the sacredness of marriage and the grief of loss. While saddening at times, it was very inspiring and of course beautifully written.

Stress-Free Potty Training: A Commonsense Guide to Finding the Right Approach for Your Child by: Dr. Peter Stavinoah

While I can't say potty training has been stress FREE, this book certainly helped give me some practical direction. I bought this as a .99 download for Kindle, and while I wouldn't read this book again, it was certainly worth what I paid for it!

As a Sunday School Class we read a book on Managing Money in your Marriage, but I can't find it on Amazon. I also seem to have misplaced the book. However, it came at a good time in our marriage (after just purchasing our first house) and has helped us make some better choices.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by: David Platt

This was the next book we read with our Sunday School Class and I loved it. It was very challenging and even though some of the theology in the book was pretty deep stuff, he managed to make it very understandable without watering it down or making excuses. I enjoyed his somewhat in your face style and appreciated the experience he was bringing to the table, as opposed to just telling you how to live. Christians, read this book. You will probably like it, hate it, and believe it is the Truth.

Searching for Meredith Love by:Julie Christensen

I read this book post finals because it was a free Kindle download and I wanted something to read on my break. Overall, I would give this book 3.5 stars. It took me a while to get into it and sometimes the writing style was a bit distracting from the plot, but I did end up caring about the characters and wanting a happy ending. Not bad for a free book!

The Devotional I started reading this year (in July so I'm not finished yet) is Jesus Calling by: Sarah Young

Although I'm not finished yet, I have so loved this book. I got the journaling one with places to journal each day and it has been really good for me. Honestly, I usually find devotionals to be kind of cookie cutter, slightly cheesy and I quit doing them because I just don't feel like it is encouraging me at all. This one is different. I find it to be challenging but uplifting and I like that it is written from the perspective of Jesus.

So, that's what I read last year. What should I read this year?

Christmas so far

2011-12-23T11:25:00.013-06:00

Week 1 of Christmas vacation has been glorious! Lots of good family time, hanging out with friends, sewing, cooking and nap taking! Can I get an Amen?!

We've had lots of good time with our cuddle bug who loves to be in the middle of whatever is going on!y

I made some quilted Christmas coasters for my mom with the leftover Christmas fabric from the bows I made for our tree last year. They turned out pretty cute. And I found some chocolate wine to go with them.... I don't know if it is any good, but it sounds good! I'm in the process of now making Christmas placemats with the fabric I bought to make them 2 years ago.

We did Christmas early with my mom because she is traveling to PA to be with my sister and bro-in-law for Christmas this year. H sure had a lot of fun opening his presents!

We took H and his friend E from church to Jumping Monkeys this week to play on all of the inflatable toys. It was a lot of fun! We were both sore afterwards from the obstacle course - totally getting old....

H's favorite parts of the outing were the ball pit and dancing with E and Santa Claus before we left. It was so much fun. Both kiddos were in tears when we had to leave. Enjoy the dancing video below and Merry Christmas!!

We made it!

2011-12-18T07:22:00.010-06:00

I've been waiting for this day for several weeks now, and it is finally here! I'm off work for 2 weeks and 1 day and I have no school for almost a month. I've been waiting to update the blog, and sleep in, and take a nap, and catch up on my sewing projects, and I have lots of activities planned for H and I! We are all desperately in need of a break!

Here are some pics of us getting ready for Christmas

H had a lot of fun helping us decorate the tree this year. It has been fun to see him get excited about Christmas and understand a little more about it. He's had several opportunities to meet Santa and until recently it did not go well. He recognizes Santa and points him out anytime he sees him on TV or in decorations, but at Jeff's Dad's Christmas party Santa showed up and gave each child there a present. For the first time H actually sat on his lap and after he opened his present he went back and told Santa, "Tank You" - it was adorable!

H's daycare had a Christmas pageant this year and H's class was supposed to shake bells and sing jingle bells. We've been practicing jingle bells for weeks now and H's teacher tells me that he is always the loudest singer, so I was hoping to capture him singing sweetly... instead....

Here he is before the song started and before he spotted us in the crowd, and after...

He spent the entire song wresting with the teacher to run away and crying. Poor kid, maybe next year.

Jeff and I got a group together from our church this year to go to a local homeless shelter and host a Christmas party. I didn't get any pictures of it, but we had such a good time singing Christmas Carols, sharing the hope of Jesus, and passing out presents to the residents. While we were there one of the residents had a gift he wanted to give us and he sang, O Holy Night, and he had the most incredible voice - it was truly a gift to worship with him. As we were leaving Jeff & I were talking to a man who told us that another homeless person had just been shot and killed at a bus station just a few blocks away and he was telling us his story of how he ended up in the shelter and how grateful he was to be there. It is always so humbling to hear the stories of others and such a blessing to see how God chooses to provide for them and the joy and hope they have in spite of really difficult circumstances. It was so much better than a white elephant gift exchange and I think we started a new tradition at our church!

We went to Jeff's company Christmas party last night and took a picture together before we went. Sadly, we realized the last picture we took of the two of us was our anniversary last year. oops

Merry Christmas Friends! Wishing you a season full of Joy in Jesus and opportunities to share his glory and greatness!

Thankful

2011-11-27T08:01:00.010-06:00

This is a little late, but I figure belated gratefulness is better than no gratefulness at all right? We have SO much to be thankful for this year. It is amazing how much has changed over the last year. In the last year we both started new jobs, H got into the daycare we'd been on the waiting list for, bought our first house, got a new (used) car (did I blog about my new minivan?), I started grad school, we started a small group at our church, Jeff was ordained a deacon at that church, our baby turned 2 and we had enough vacation time to visit our friends and family a few times.
We hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house and minus the fried turkey juice in Jeff's eye and me dropping an entire pie all over the floor, it was a pretty good day! I was reading the other day about how God loves to give good gifts to his children and as a parent I totally get that. I am constantly buying H random stuff just because I know it will make him happy and how much more does the Father know how to give good gifts to His children? Not that the year has been without its challenges and hard times, but I'm so grateful for the ways that I feel like so many things we have been praying for and waiting for have come to fruition over this past year. God is good indeed, in spite of our circumstances, in spite of our feelings even, God is so good to us.
Here's what's been going on since I last blogged.

Family picture fail from when Papa Bill visited for H's 2nd birthday. H has the greatest grandparents ever, seriously!

We went to a wedding of some good friends in Waco. It was so fun to get to spend time with so many of our friends and we feel so lucky to have such an incredible group of people who we totally love.

Elyse and I celebrated our 28th birthday on the day before our actual birthday (Thanksgiving) and H totally thought the party was all about him.

It was so wonderful to have Elyse & Stephen down for Thanksgiving. H totally adores his Eese & Seeven. Aaaaaand you might notice that Elyse is carrying her own bundle of joy that will arrive in March! Yay!!!!

Christmas should be a blast this year as H is totally into the Christmas spirit this year. It has been fun to see him get all excited and to talk with him more about why we celebrate Christmas. He has his own nativity set and likes to take turns putting the animals and "Bebe Cheesus" on the roof.

Turning 2

2011-11-06T13:08:00.016-06:00

Turning 2 is so much fun! I know not because I remember, but because when Elyse & I turned 2 my parents rented a video camera to take a video of our birthday party and when we were growing up we used to watch that video all the time (being that it was the only video of us in existence). I planned a special choo-choo birthday for H since trains are his favorite toy in the world right now (other than lamby of course. It was such a fun party and we had so many friends and family come celebrate with us - we are truly blessed! Here are some pics of the event

Here's all the present action. Man, did this kid get some cool stuff! I still remember that awesome cabbage patch piano we got for our 2nd birthday!

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet H, you are so loved!

Halloweening

2011-11-04T21:28:00.007-05:00

We successfully got H to wear his Halloween costume before school (he took it off as I was collecting our things to walk out the door) and then we put it back on for the Noah's Ark Party at church. He didn't wear the Mickey Mouse ears long... but I wasn't really counting on that.

Here are the ears before Halloween

Mickey Mouse and Bama (what H calls both of Jeff's parents. Pronounced Bamaw)

H even got to ride on a pony!

Enjoy the video below of H enjoying the petting zoo.

Pumpkin patch

2011-10-16T19:37:00.012-05:00

I still don't have pictures of our house all put together, but I have pictures of my adorable almost 2 year old playing in our house... so, that will have to do for now. I would write more of an update, but it goes something like this:

H is potty training, he is doing awesome!
work, school, homework, repeat. I survived my first round of tests (not without some tears and talk of dropping out)
H is using sentences and starting to sing songs and "read" his books with us (he knows at least the last word on every page)
Can't believe his 2nd birthday is almost here....then again, it feels like he's been with us forever. He blesses us so much everyday and we feel so lucky to have such a great kid!

So, on to the pictures. We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend. H was supposed to be wearing his Halloween costume like he was in our pictures last year. However, we had a screaming wrestling match to get him into his Mickey Mouse outfit... guess who won?

We decided to paint our pumpkins instead of carving them since the ones we carved last year were all moldy and disgusting by the next week!

Somehow we digressed into pedicures...

Here are some cute pictures of our big boy from the last month (in which I have been terrible at updating the blog)

Here's H helping do the dishes one night. He is becoming quite the helper. He loves to be the in the middle of whatever we are doing... ALL the time =)

Going down the big twirly slide at what will be his future elementary school. He is fearless. He slid right down this all by himself and then went another 20 times.

Life is a Dance

2011-09-10T20:46:00.005-05:00

I was hoping to have time to sit down and tell stories or post pictures of how great our house looks... clearly, we are not there yet. Right now I'm uploading a video I took tonight on youtube while I hurriedly read through my next 2 chapters of statistics and I'm surrounded by boxes in our office that will likely remain untouched this weekend.
So, while I do my crazy zydeco band dance that is my life right now, please enjoy this video of H doing his Mickey Mouse dance for you. You can even kind of see his new room - with nothing hanging on the wall, that stuff is all still in the boxes. Go figure.

H during his bath tonight. He was lining up his letters on the wall and counting "one, two, three" or at least his version of that.

H climbing up Daddy tonight. He kept yelling "ME TOP, ME TOP!" This kid says stuff everyday I didn't even knew he understood. it totally blows my mind and of course I think he is a genius.

Oh, uploads ready! Here he is..

These Days

2011-08-31T20:06:00.006-05:00

I started grad school this week, so the new normal now looks something like this:

Playing with my bebe in the morning while we do the 'get ready shuffle', some mornings are more successful than others. This morning H went to school wearing eye shadow on one eye....

Work. This is the kids second week back at school and I feel like they've been back for months already! It is going to be a busy, busy year - but I really enjoy my job.

Then on Mondays I leave work a little early to get to class and I'm in class until 9:30. It feels soooo long. Tuesday I'm in class until 7 so I at least get to put H to bed. When I dropped him off at daycare on Monday I totally got in my car and cried because I knew I wouldn't see him until the next day. It is going to be a difficult 2 years going to school, but I am excited about the classes I am taking and getting my Masters in Clinical Psychology.

The rest of the week I get to pick H up from school and play with him until bedtime and then study, study! So, I will try to keep up with posting, but I'm warning you now that they will likely get fewer and farther between. We are moving into our new house this weekend! Pictures to come...eventually!

Recovery

2011-08-12T20:21:00.011-05:00

Yikes! I've been meaning to post this for 2 weeks now! How long does it take to recover from vacation? Approximately as long as the vacation it seems. I'm not sure how old your kids have to be before traveling/vacation is relaxing again... Three? Five? Please not older than five!

We went to Pennsylvania at the end of July to visit my sister and brother in law and celebrate Stephen's 30th birthday. Here are the highlights!

We went to the Philadelphia zoo! It was H's first trip to the zoo and it was so fun! H really loved the giraffes and even went to a petting zoo to pet the lambs and goats.

H loved riding on the choo-choo with Uncle Stephen

H's favorite part of the outlet mall - by far!

Stephen's 30th birthday party at the Philies game! It was fabulous!

Still young at heart, even if he is 30!

Sarah came up for the festivities! Best friends since 7th grade

The uh-mazing cake... I mean seriously, it was incredible!

We had such a great time! Happy Birthday Stephen!

Vacation!

2011-07-20T11:07:00.010-05:00

I have 3 weeks off this summer - I can't believe it is half over already! Sob! It has been such a good time to spend with family and get some projects scratched off my 'to do' list. We spent the first part of our vacation visiting Papa Bill & Jo Jo in New Orleans. We had a great time!

Eating 'Yay Yays' at Cafe Du Mond, MMmmmmm. I apologize for the picture quality, it was about 3 days into the trip before I realized my lens was foggy...oops.

Eating snow cones! Yummy!

Fortunately, H wasn't big enough to cruise this around the block... I'm not ready for that!

We went swimming at least twice a day everyday we were there, it was so nice! H really warmed up to the pool and thought it was hilarious that Molly (notice dog in background) always jumped in the pool with us.

My 16 year old dog, DJ! It is kind of amazing that she is still alive. She seems significantly older every time I see her, I guess that's what happens when one year is actually 7.

When we got home we got busy doing a lot of the things I have wanted to to but haven't been able to do when I am working. We went to the library and checked out a bunch of books. H LOVES to read. I wanted to make him a bag where he could keep all of his library books and also need to make myself a book bag for school next fall. So, I was experimenting with making a tote bag and didn't want to purchase fabric in case I totally botched the pattern so I deconstructed an old pair of capris to make this bag

It turned out better than expected, but I wish I had made it with a liner. I've been busy working on my sewing projects, I even got a jump start on some Christmas projects I want to make for gifts. Still no guarantee they will be finished by Christmas though.

The other big development is that we started looking at houses a few weeks ago and just signed the contract on our first home yesterday! We are really excited and hope that everything works out for us to close on this house at the end of August.

We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to live in a house like this! It is an incredible home in a great location next to really good schools. It is easy to imagine kids growing up in a house like this!

Looking forward to living up my final week of vacation and going to Pennsylvania to visit Elyse & Stephen and celebrate the big 30 with Stephen! I heart you vacation!

Motherhood

2011-07-14T07:32:00.003-05:00

Becoming a mother has changed me, in some ways the change seemed immediate, in others it has happened gradually. H and I just returned from spending 5 days visiting Papa Bill & Jo Jo in Louisiana. We had such a good time and got lots of quality bonding time together. It was my first time to travel alone with H and I was so proud of him. He did such a good job and on every flight we were on someone would stop me and tell me what a sweet boy he was or how he did such a good job. Everyone we sat next to H tried to share his snacks with and gave them stickers and toys to play with. People are always telling me how beautiful H is and are so charmed when he just talks and talks to them. I was thinking over this trip about all of the things that I used to inwardly cringe at before becoming a Mommy... things like never getting to eat or drink anything without a child appearing and wanting whatever you had, kids waking up before dawn and running around the house screaming, not being able to complete a task without some kind of interruption, toddlers crawling all over you and being your constant shadow, stinky diapers and projectile vomit, the list could continue, but I think you get the idea. Not that I always gracefully embrace all of these things now, but I certainly don't cringe the way I did before becoming Mommy.

At night in Louisiana H and I would cuddle in bed together and I would sing songs of Truth to him until he fell asleep. I couldn't help thinking about our Heavenly Father and the pride and joy He feels when we want to draw close to Him and let Him sing over us His peace, hope for our futures and His unending love. Being H's Mommy has helped me to grasp just a little bit of what it means to love unconditionally. It has also helped me to embrace life's joys and sorrows knowing that I cannot control the outcomes of either. It has changed my relationship with God in that I have put away some of my 'performance anxiety' trying to earn approval and love. H and I can have a terrible day where everything seems to go wrong and I'm totally frustrated, but I don't love him any less on those days than I do on the days where everything goes according to schedule. How much more perfect is God's love towards His children? It does not waver or fluctuate depending on how much we are trusting Him or the number of good deeds we have accomplished. It just is - now that is a miracle.

A few weeks ago I posted about baby James and his battle with a cancerous brain tumor. I have continued to follow his progress and have not stopped thinking about this family and praying urgently for them. I even dreamt about little James last night. James's tumor has come back full force and yesterday his parents took him home under the care of hospice to spend their final days or weeks showing him just how much they love him. I have cried many tears for this family and have cradled H longer, kissed him more and told God how grateful I am for every single day that I get to be H's mommy. I think part of why this has been so emotional for me is that H is just one year older than little James. It could just as easily be H fighting this battle. Our children are gifts given to us by God, they are not possessions to hoard, lives to control, or even promises of bright futures. They are blessings from the Father and He can use them to pour out his blessing in whatever way He chooses.

So, embrace your children today. Embrace your Mommy or Daddy journey wherever it has led you. Embrace the Heavenly Father who is the giver of all good and perfect gifts. Pray, pray for the Sikes family as they care for little James. Pray for all of the Mommies and Daddies who are struggling to care for their children, struggling to conceive children, and those fighting alongside their sick children. And let us give thanks to God.

99 Things About Me

2011-07-06T20:55:00.003-05:00

The instructions with this are to bold the ones you’ve done, and leave the others in normal type. So here goes.

1. Started your own blog (x2)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (land twice, not world)
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (does the shower count?)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (very stupid...)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Oklahoma! Native Americans!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling, not scuba diving)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (right wrist in 6th grade)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (you couldn't pay me to do this)
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (thanks Elyse)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (several times in fact)

There are still several things on this list I want to do... maybe I'll look back at this in 10 years and see more to bold. What's your 99? I'm tagging Amy, Kasey and Jen

Pray for James

2011-06-30T22:04:00.005-05:00

Last Thursday, the Sikes Family found out that their almost 8 month old son had a brain tumor. He has since gone through 3 brain surgeries and most recently has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. I graduated college with Kara, we met Freshman year and had a few classes together over the years. This is James

I remember clearly what it was like to sit with parents in Iraq who's children were facing life threatening illnesses and undergoing risky surgical procedures. I don't know if anything can make a parent feel more helpless or scared. Please pray for this family. James will soon begin a year of chemotherapy treatments and has been given a 50/50 chance of survival. You can read their story here and continue to pray for James through his battle with cancer.

give a 1 year old a camera...

2011-06-24T10:42:00.005-05:00

and you will get pictures like these

foot!

cup!

this is his leg

And here are some recent Mommy taken pictures

Playing by the kiddie pool

Look Mom! I put on all my bibs!

Ty

2011-06-17T10:26:00.004-05:00

I never had the chance to meet Ty, he left the daycare center before we got there... but we sure talk about Ty A LOT. Poor kid really gets a bad rap and nobody even got to meet him. You see, whenever someone in H's class at school spills something, drops food on the floor, or generally makes a big mess, the teacher jokingly says "Uh-oh, who did that? Was it Ty?"

The first time I heard about this I was having lunch with H at school (see emergency room incident) and when one of the kids spilled their milk the teacher asked if Ty did it and all the kids yelled "yeah! Ty!". I noticed a few days later that H kept saying what I thought was "uh-oh, die" when he would drop something, but didn't put two and tow together until dropping H off a few days later and the kids were already eating breakfast. When I set him in his chair his shoe hit the table and knocked his cereal on the floor, H quickly said "uh-oh, Ty!". I looked at the teacher and she laughed and said "Ty didn't do that, he isn't even at the center anymore!" That's when I realized he had been blaming Ty for everything that he spilled.

A month later he still blames Ty when things spill on the floor, but at least now he goes to get the broom and clean up! That Ty sure is a clumsy kid! See for yourself below.

feely goup

2011-06-11T15:46:00.007-05:00

I have Fridays off this summer so H and I are going to be doing some more art projects. Yesterday, we made feely goup. I found the recipe in a book a I got a month ago. The book is and it has some really great ideas!

Feely goup is cool because there are only 2 ingredients and it is super easy to clean up. Not to mention this provided my 1.5 year old with almost an hour of entertainment! For such a short attention span, this stuff is pretty cool! It starts off as a liquid and then hardens into a crumbly, clayish substance. H's favorite part of the liquid stage was putting food coloring in and then stirring it with spoons to watch it change colors. He didn't like to feel it with his hands when it was wet, but once it dried he thought it was pretty cool. I didn't get any pictures of the wet stage because my hands were covered... but here is the dried stuff.

To make your own feely goup all you need is:

2 Cups cornstarch
1 Cup water
optional: food coloring

Mommy & Me

2011-06-11T15:39:00.003-05:00

I've been looking for a local Mommy & Me gymnastics class to take H to and I finally found one this week! We went for the first time this morning and while the structure was a little much for a 19 month old, he had a lot of fun running down the tumble track and doing rolls on the mats. We might wait till he is a little older to go back, but it was still fun! There's a short clip of us doing handstands down the tumble track below.

Thankfully Daddy came too, cause I was sure sweating trying to keep up with this little one!

18 months!

2011-05-28T12:09:00.007-05:00

I wanted to post this about 3 weeks ago...but, now that I'm so late there is so much more to say!
I can't believe H is already a year and half old, he is just so big! He is fully a toddler now and doing things I didn't know he could EVERY day. Here are the highlights of 18 months:

weight: 26.5 lbs
height: 34.5 inches, he is almost 3 feet tall!
shoe size: 7 wide! kid has monster feet!

New words: He can now answer yes, no questions with a "yeah", "noooo". Right now he says yeah more than no. He just started making fish faces when you ask him what fish says and says "ohhh ohhh eeee eeee" when you ask him what a monkey says. He says "ooowwww" for what a kitty says. He loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the mornings and will yell "Oh Toodles!" with Mickey. He also started saying "Oh Dear", and "Let's Go!" He's getting to be a pretty good mimicker and started calling Grandpa by his first name, saying "Hi Jon". He starting calling his lovely, "mammy" instead of lamby. He also started sharing his juice and snacks with lamby and pretending to feed him.

He's getting so good at putting things together, stacking and using his pincher fingers

He also wants to help with EVERYTHING

He likes to cuddle on my lap and watch Elmo's World or Thomas the Train. He is starting to understand the humor in some of the kids shows and laughs when they do something funny.

We also had our first emergency room visit this month when H swallowed part of a wood chip at daycare and it got stuck way in the back of his throat. He is fine, we just had to see a few doctors and wait for several hours for them to get it out and confirm that he didn't have anything else in his lungs. The next day he was back to his normal self. I have a feeling that won't be our last trip to the ER. H is so adventurous and has already figured out how to climb up on all the beds by himself! He wants to jump SO bad, he's just not quite there yet, maybe next month.

babies!

2011-05-15T19:27:00.005-05:00

Not mine...but, I've had fun making blankets for my friend's babies. Now that my friends have seen the blankets I can post pictures on here. Well, Chels has seen pictures of the blanket, it isn't done yet. The miniature version is done, but I was not going for miniature when I started making it.

The first blanket I made was for my dear friends Bobby & Tyra who have been in the process of adopting a baby from Ethiopia for MANY months. It was such such good news to hear that baby Desta was finally coming home last month.

I love the little buntings that have been all over craft blogs lately and couldn't wait to make a blanket using them. It reminded me of the verse in Song of Songs that says "He brought me to his banquet table, and His banner over me is Love."

I used minky fabric on the other side of the blanket because it is the perfect weight for babies.

The 'work in progress' blanket for my sweet friend Chelsea's baby Carter (due in July) was my first attempt at piecing fabric for a quilted look.

It is minky squares on one side and flannel on the other. It will look a little different once it is actually finished instead of pinned together... but you get the idea.

Congratulations friends on your sweet baby girls!

budding artist

2011-05-13T20:14:00.010-05:00

Here is my little budding artist at work

He loves getting dirty about as much as he does the actual art project...

our first finger painting experience

The cake he decorated for me for mother's day, complete with hand print and finger smooshes.

And face painting! okay... cake eating.

The cake was a surprise from Jeff to celebrate my getting into grad school! I'm starting a Master's program in the Fall for clinical psychology. I'm nervous, but really excited!

Looking forward to more toddler art projects this summer!

He is Risen!

2011-04-24T20:09:00.012-05:00

We had an eventful Resurrection weekend! I wasn't sure we were going to make it through it at first! I started coming down with a cold on Thursday. Thursday night Papa Bill & JoJo came down to stay with us for the weekend. Sometime in the middle of the night Thursday Jeff started throwing up and had a fever. The next day he was pretty much toast. Friday night I started feeling bad and thought I had what Jeff had and his fever went way up again. By Saturday we were mostly better except my cold had become a sinus infection. Fortunately we didn't seem to infect our guests and we still managed to have some enjoyable quality time together!

Here we are dying eggs

H liked to throw the egg into the dye

H kind of lost interest in the egg hunt after about 6 eggs, but he did a good job finding them!

There's chocolate in this one!

Easter Stickers!

Ready for Church

Thanks for coming to visit Papa Bill & JoJo! We had so much fun with you!!

Lovely

2011-04-17T19:42:00.010-05:00

H is very attached to his lovely. It started somewhere around 3 months. My mom gave him a little lamb that was perfect for babies because it didn't have eyes or a nose that could come loose because they were stitched in. That's how H got "lamby".
Lamby goes to bed with him every night and comes out of the crib with him every morning. He goes to daycare about 3 days a week and sometimes eats lunch and dinner with him. This weekend his affection went to a whole new level when he insisted on BATHING with lamby! We might own 3 lambys, just in case.

This was the first picture I could find of him with lamby. That's him over on the left.

For his first Halloween we even picked a lamb costume because of how much he loved his lamby.

Here is H snuggling with his lamby & Aunt Elyse on his birthday.

One day he found 2 lambys. It didn't seem to phase him, he will take any lamby.

H and lamby going down the slide together

H and lamby eating dinner together.

And bath time...

We love you lamby.

Weekend projects

2011-04-10T15:36:00.007-05:00

I've had a fun weekend of sewing, hot gluing, ironing, craft shopping, Easter basket shopping and LOADS of playing with H. Next week at his school is a special week where they focus on young children and do all sorts of fun activities and have a different dress up day each day. Tomorrow is crazy sock/hat day. Since H won't keep a hat on his head I decided to make him some crazy socks.

Aren't they fun? My model is Mr. Quackers. Technically, he is for Easter. But, H saw him at the grocery store and LOVED him. Especially because when you push his beak he quacks. H carries him around yelling "Quack Quack Quack!" It is pretty adorable.

He had outfits for most of the other days, except Hawaiian shirt day (never a good idea), but he will be having surgery that day. He didn't have anything for Rock and Roll day, so I found some cute iron on stuff and made him a shirt.

Thanks again Mr. Quackers!

I also made a pillow for H's rocking chair. We recently got a great antique rocking chair for his room from Jeff's grandfather and while it is very roomy, it can get kind of hard when you are holding an extra 25 pounds on your lap. I love this fabric!

He likes it!

I finished a baby blanket I've been working on and started making some other gifts, but I'll wait to post those pictures until they have been gifted. =)

What did you make this weekend?

The verdict is in

2011-04-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

H needs tubes in his ears. He has had over a dozen ear infections since November and I'm glad that after our second visit to a specialist he decided that tubes were the way to go. If you are interested you can see a sideshow of the procedure here or read about it here. We go to meet the doctor who will do the surgery tomorrow and then Tuesday morning is the actual procedure. Honestly, I think the worst part will be not being able to give him anything to eat or drink for 12 + hours!

best nap ever!

2011-04-02T22:47:00.007-05:00

H woke up from the best nap ever this morning. Because while he was sleeping, his Daddy and Grandpa were working hard to put together his first outdoor climbing toy! He had so much fun playing on it when he woke up.

It was a toss up who was more excited, father or son? I took a video of H playing and saying his animal sounds too!

Toddler art work display

2011-04-02T22:18:00.008-05:00

H has been making some artwork at daycare and enjoying coloring at home. I wanted a place to display his artwork and since he likes to rip everything off the fridge, that is not an option. I saw a frame that a friend had made using picture hanging wire a while ago and thought I could run with that. I found a frame at Salvation Army, got a little can of spray paint and everything else I had on hand. Here's how to make your own art work display:

Here are the supplies you will need

frame, small can of spray paint, sand paper, picture hanging wire, clothes pins, (not pictured - acrylic paints used later).

First thing is to sand the frame and wipe down. I didn't do a good job of documenting the boring parts. Next, apply the first coat of spray paint. This was my first foray into the spray painting world and it was pretty easy!

Don't mind the starfish... just another windy day in South Texas.

While your frame is drying, get out some paint you have on hand, I used acrylic and paint some clothes pins. Since H's room is primary colors, I wanted to make some bright, fun ones.

After the frame was dry I used my picture hanging wire and strung it across the back and wrapped it around the staples that were still in the frame from where I removed the ugly artwork that had previously been in it.

clip on your painted clothespins and WAH-LA!

When I hung it up in H's room he was so excited to see his artwork hung up. He wanted me to hang EVERYthing on there! =)

Super easy, cheap, and it looks super cute in his room! Success!

Spring Break!

2011-03-20T16:41:00.013-05:00

What a great week! These little breaks were a big reason that I changed jobs last December. We started out the week going to Oklahoma for my cousin's wedding. It was so fun to see my family and such a beautiful wedding. Here's H in his 3 piece suit =)

So fun to see Aunt Elyse and Uncle Stephen!

We were a little worried about H on the plane since he does NOT sit still well these days, but he did SO great! He didn't really play with the tray cover I made him, but I still thought it was cool. He ate his first happy meal at the airport and loved playing in this cool play area at DFW.

When we got home we spent a relaxing week catching up on some projects, doing a little work, and playing with new toys! H's favorite new things are blowing bubbles and waving at big trucks.

H had a lot of fun playing with the balloons I used to make a birthday wreath for Jeff's birthday next week.

We've been enjoying the sun and blew up H's new pool today! It was so fun!

We also got to go to Jeff's family reunion this weekend and see most of his family members. It was fun to see H with the older kids. He sure loves to play with everyone! Here is a pic of H and his dad, grandpa and great grandpa from when he was 4 months old

And 1 year later...

wow! He's getting so big!

God is Good

2011-03-19T09:16:00.003-05:00

I didn't want this week to go by without publicly praising God for this anniversary of sorts. 2 years ago this week we were in Iraq and were struggling to come to terms with the loss of our first pregnancy. I thought that was the end of our story... but God had a different ending. Two weeks later we would see the heart beat of our baby and find out that we had been pregnant with twins but still had a healthy baby. As I was watching H laugh and play this week I remembered those weeks 2 years ago and what God did in my heart through that time. Even if the story had ended as I expected instead of with a baby, God would still be just as good.
He has been showing me this again in new ways, that he has a Father's heart and longs to give us good things. In the same way that I love to make H happy and do things with him and for him that bring him delight, God has a heart even more like that towards each of His children. As I have been praying for other loved ones in my life who are going through difficult things, I have felt the need to pray that they would experience anew the Father's heart of goodness. The way that God enjoys each of us and longs to do good to us can get lost sometimes when we are in really painful circumstances. I don't claim to understand why God gives and takes away the things He does, but I am certain of His goodness towards us. So, today I just wanted to say, Thank you, Lord. Thank you, for your goodness to us 2 years ago when we were deep in grief and thank you, for your goodness to us today as we delight in H daily.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7: 9-11

91%

2011-02-27T21:45:00.007-06:00

I recently took H to his 15 month appointment and he is one big boy! Particularly in terms of height, he is almost 3 feet tall and in the 91st percentile for height! His head width is in the 86th percentile and in weight he is in the 63rd percentile! What a big boy. Recently, I find myself staring at him in disbelief that he is so big already! Here are some pics of him I've taken this week.

Cuddling with Daddy

He's been sticking out his tongue a lot lately.

H's first taco night. Venison tacos no less! He loved them.

I love this kid...

What a climber! He can already reach the table and counter tops!

Weekend Review

2011-02-27T21:05:00.007-06:00

We've had a super fun and relaxing(ish) weekend! I chaperoned my first high school event and it was actually kind of AWESOME! I took a small group of girls to the It's A Girl Thing Conference Friday night and all day Saturday.

I invited some of the girls on my caseload, so it was really good to spend some time with them outside of school talking about things that are important to them and giving them God's perspective on things like sex and self esteem. One of my girls told me after the event was over, "This was the most fun I have ever had!". I feel really blessed to get to love and encourage these girls in their academics and in their lives.
The worship leader was Jami Smith and her new album is straight from scripture. It so blessed my heart to worship with her this weekend! You need this CD!

I've also been working on some crafting projects that I wrapped up this weekend. We are going to my cousin's wedding in Oklahoma in a couple weeks and so I wanted to make H something to try and keep him seated and happy for an hour or so. I saw this awesome tutorial over at Serving Pink Lemonade and was like "PEEEERFECT!" That is why I so love my fellow bloggers. You all are so talented and have such great ideas that I don't need to have any original ones, I just copy yours!

Here's my take on the airplane tray cover!

Complete with peek-a-boo door, zipper, ball to throw, crinkle heart, car and road! I'm hiding it from him until our trip, so let's hope this keeps him in his seat and not screaming!

I've also been wanting to make a wreath for Spring. I've combined a couple of other people's great ideas to make my own. I LOVE the yarn wreath look like this one from my friend Melissa and I also came across this felt flower tutorial that I LOVED. So I combined the two to make my own spring wreath.

The flowers turned out really pretty! Jeff says I can't wear them in my hair though...they are a little large.

Belated V-Day!

2011-02-16T20:46:00.005-06:00

I took pictures to post on Valentine's Day... I even took them the day before... but here I am just now posting them.

H had his first Valentine's Day party at school! It was fun to make little pink cupcakes for his class!

My sweet husband got my car detailed for V-day (it is what I wanted) so no more cheerios and trash - for at least a week or so? And to top it off he let me buy a way too expensive purse! The Kate Spade sample sale is going on this week and they are having huge sales!! I haven't bought a purse since before we moved to Iraq so I really wanted to get a new one. This was obviously more than my monthly 'allowance' (I use quotes because I tend to spend more than 'allowed'), but hubs agreed to let me pay it off in installments and won't even charge me interest. Right, hubs? He was a little vague on that point... =)

Isn't it beautiful? Happy Valentine's Day to me. I got hubs some socks... he really wanted them? I know... he wins, or do I? I like to think of it as a win win.

First Words

2011-01-29T08:47:00.000-06:00

Here's our busy boy talking away!

Finally...projects

2011-01-17T09:31:00.009-06:00

Here are some Christmas/birthday presents that I'm finally finishing up!

Subway Art for H's room

I made this using the Cricut that husband got me for Christmas! =)

Here is a shirt I made for my friend for Christmas

It was really easy! I cut the sleeves to make 3/4 sleeves and then used the cut sleeves to make the ruffles. You can read about how to make the ruffles here

This was supposed to be H's birthday present... it didn't get finished until after Christmas... he really likes it though! I found this great tutorial and decided H needed a floor cushion. I used a heavy weight knit fabric, which makes it really soft, but it doesn't hold it's shape as well as an upholstery fabric would.

Also in the works, baby shower gifts!! So excited for all of my pregnant pals! And now I have an excuse to practice sewing baby things!!!

Growing Up

2011-01-02T20:08:00.006-06:00

It has been wonderful to have 2 weeks off work to spend with H... but let me tell you, we are entering a a much more 'challenging' stage of parenting. It is really fun to see him growing up and developing more of a personality, but I guess I thought we had longer before the disobedience and limit testing... adventures in parenting here we come!
In other news, I registered to take the GRE in February. I decided (with some sister
persuasion) that there really is no good time to go back to school and that if it really is what I want then I just have to do it. So, here goes nothing!

H's first meeting with Santa Claus. It went about as well as expected...

My new favorite picture of our little man and all of his 11 teeth!

After several attempts...this was the best Christmas picture we were gonna get.

Playing at Grandma & Grandpa's house!

H looooves to be outside. He goes to the door about 20 times a day and tries to open it - fortunately he can only reach the handle, he can't turn it yet. Happy New Year every one!

Opening the first present

2010-12-25T21:33:00.000-06:00

New Jobs!

2010-12-11T16:17:00.003-06:00

I'm a little late with this regarding Jeff's new job. He started 3 weeks ago! He is now the Warehouse Coordinator with Cameron and works about 55 hours a week and almost NO weekends. Yay! WE love this new job!
My new job starts Monday! It happened really fast, I just got the offer last Wednesday and my last day was yesterday, so 2 days notice did not make me the most popular person... but it was an offer I just couldn't refuse! I get to work for 1 week and then get 2 weeks of paid vacation for Christmas!
I'm going back to my old High School! I still can't really believe it. I will be working with Communities in Schools at King High School. I was sad to leave my old job, I really enjoyed the work I was doing, but I am super pumped about getting 9 weeks of paid vacation to spend with my little boy! That was really the motivating factor behind getting a new job. So, that's what's new with us. What is new with H? How about 6 teeth!? He is doubling his current teeth and is not thrilled about it.

Look what a happy guy he is!

Haircut!

2010-12-04T17:06:00.005-06:00

H got his first haircut today! He did pretty good. He wasn't happy about it, but there was no crying so I count it a success!

here's the before

The After Shot!

What a handsome little man!

And here's my after shot

H's first birthday!

2010-11-09T19:55:00.009-06:00

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating H's first birthday! Aunt Elyse and Papa Bill came to the party and couldn't believe how big our 'baby' is. I think he is now toddler material....woah! Here are some pics of the weekend!

Opening presents! He was so excited about this toy - Thanks Agi!

The morning of his party - this kid cracks me up!

H's "ice cream" cakes

Here's a close up of one of them

H eating his cupcake... ummm.. he wasn't that interested...

H's friend B, pushing him around on his new Thomas the Train toy! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!! These boys sure had fun playing together, it was so cute!

Thanks for coming to see me Aunt Elyse, I love you!

Thanks for coming to see me Papa Bill and thank you for my birthday presents Jo Jo & Papa Bill!

It was a really fun weekend celebrating our 1 year old blessing!

Internet!!!

2010-10-31T19:58:00.005-05:00

We finally got internet at our house, so I will try to be more in the loop now. H had a great first Halloween, he was a little lamb and we went to our church's Noah's Ark Party.

Isn't that the sweetest lamb you've ever seen?!

I can't believe my little H is almost 1 year old! Friday is his first birthday and I'm so excited because my dad and sister are coming to help us celebrate! H is getting pretty good at walking (even though his nickname at day care is 'clumsy'). He has also started to point at things and knows where things go. Yesterday, he was pulling clothes off of his shelves and putting them in the dirty clothes basket. He also took a bath tonight while drinking from his his sippy cup the entire time - he is so funny! It has been such an amazing year and I feel so blessed to get to be H's mom. He is pretty incredible. Enjoy the video below of him playing with Daddy last night. It is pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen.

He's Walking!

2010-10-21T18:33:00.000-05:00

you can see for yourself here

still here

2010-10-09T14:32:00.003-05:00

Well... I'd love to post some pictures of the excitement that has been going down - but, I seem to have misplaced my camera cord in the move. So, more motivation to finish unpacking...

We finally moved a couple weeks ago. Pictures to come (hopefully). Jeff has had 1 day off in the last month. We have taken H to the doctor 8 times in the last 6 weeks - looks like we might be doing that again tomorrow. H is now 11 months old... where does the time go? He is taking about 4 steps at a time now and standing by himself for brief periods. He has also mastered 'ma ma', 'da da', 'ba ba' and 'eesh' ... I don't know what essh is though?

We also don't have internet yet... but hopefully before his birthday we will be back up and running! Happy Saturday!

Happy Grandparents Day!

2010-09-11T18:42:00.006-05:00

Sunday is Grandparent's Day and I wanted to take a minute to say how AMAZING Haydn's grandparents are. I mean seriously, this kid is so lucky to have such wonderful, loving, fun, involved grandparents. Jeff & I are so grateful for the ways you love H and the special things each of you do and will do with him.

Grandpa, thank you for always playing with me and letting me cuddle with you! I am always so happy when I see you! I love you.

Agi, thank you for singing to me and letting me jump all over you! You take such good care of me and I love you lots.

Papa Bill & JoJo are the coolest! JoJo, thank you for always thinking of me when you go shopping and for making special time for me. PaPa Bill, thank you for coming to see me and for letting me get you really dirty! I love you both and can't wait to see you again!

Grandma, thank you for always being willing to entertain me and play fun games with me! I love to go to your house and play with all of your toys! You are so special, I love you.

Happy Grandparents Day to the most amazing Grandparents around. You are such a blessing to our family

clothes!

2010-09-06T19:55:00.007-05:00

I've started making some clothes...I still have pretty much no idea what I am doing. Here are my first few attempts

I made this cute skirt for Sofia for her birthday out of a bandanna and made a matching flower for the top.

Here's a close up of the flower

It was really easy to make and I hear she looks pretty adorable in it!

This is the first item I made for myself... it was supposed to be a dress, now it is a long shirt.

I used one of the left over bandannas to sew onto one of H's onsies. This isn't the best picture of it, but it looks super cute on him!

Funny Hunny

2010-09-05T20:35:00.005-05:00

Here's some pictures of H we took this weekend. He's developing such a fun personality! He is so funny to watch. He loves to examine things and figure out how to take them apart. He also loves to climb on people (and other children) and cuddle. He loves being chased and playing outside.

And here's a video I took tonight of him playing and talking. I sure love my funny hunny

my little jumping bean

2010-08-23T20:15:00.003-05:00

H has learned how to cruise from one piece of furniture to another, taking a a couple steps in between....everyone keeps telling me he is going to be walking in no time - yikes! His new favorite thing to do however, is jump! He can't keep his balance yet, but with me supporting his weight he can jump and jump and jump, until my arms get tired! Below is a video of the action.

H has been sick for the last couple weeks. He is finally on the up and up - after 2 doctor's appointments and finally a prescription, he seems to be mostly back to normal. He will be starting a new day care tomorrow, so please pray for him and his transition! Jeff has been enjoying his job, just working lots of long hours and not getting too many days off.

I'm getting adjusted to working full time and really enjoying my job. It has been really amazing and humbling to have the opportunity to work with dozens of homeless individuals in the community. I have heard so many stories from grieving husbands, young mothers, children who ran away from home and never got back on their feet, people who were injured and lost their jobs and on and on. So many people who never thought they would find themselves in this place and feel so defeated and unable to get out of it. I'm helping move some clients into an apartment this week and I'm so excited about it! I really love my job and love the work I'm doing.

I will try to take some more recent pictures of H. I've totally started slacking on my mom picture taking duty.

crawling in the dishwasher

2010-08-08T19:26:00.002-05:00

not only has H managed to crawl ALL the way up the stairs by himself (don't worry he was being closely supervised) but he is now crawling his way onto and into the furniture and appliances! Here's a video from this weekend of H crawling into the dishwasher. The angle is way too close on this one, but I was trying to take the video and hold on to him at the same time. He hasn't learned yet not to dive head first off of things.

New Video!

2010-08-01T20:52:00.002-05:00

I hear you, I hear you. You want more videos of the cutest baby ever. So, here you go. Here is H playing with the camera. He even shows you a glimpse of his new teeth! He is crawling all over the place and has even started crawling up the stairs... time to get a gate!

I'll try to get some more pics up this week. Jeff starts his job tomorrow and H starts daycare in the mornings! Yikes! I'm sure he will do great, I'll be the one crying all the way to work.

Praise the Lord!

2010-07-19T21:39:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the posting delay... things have been pretty crazy since I started working.

H started spending the days with his Grandmas - he is doing GREAT! His Grandmas are taking such great care of him!

I spent last week in all sorts of trainings: CPR, First aid, suicide & homicide detection/prevention, Intellectual/developmental delays, Prevention and management of aggressive behaviors, crisis intervention, documentation, deaf/hard of hearing services, a day and a half of computer classes... I can't remember what else.

I've started meeting with clients and visiting shelters and hospitals so it has been nice to get to interact with clients and see more of the community we are working with.

H got 3 teeth in the course of about 5 days - yikes! I think he is still teething and expect to see some more pop through any day now.

We went to San Antonio for a wedding last weekend and got to spend some time with Elyse & Stephen which was sooooo fun!

And I saved the BEST FOR LAST.... Jeff got offered a job today!!! Yay! I am so proud of him and we are both very grateful. He will be working for Cameron in their shop and starts in 2 weeks. Due to the current ban on drilling the hours are pretty out of control right now - like 80 hours a week! So, you can be praying for us as we make that big transition to Jeff being gone and working so much.

I have a ton of pictures and videos that need uploading... but, this is all I've got energy for now. I'll try again later this week!

Yay Jeff! Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and provision for us!

Hilarious video

2010-07-06T20:41:00.002-05:00

we got this great video of H laughing hysterically at a ball rolling back and forth. I could watch this 1000 times. It will totally cheer you up, check it out

Playful Day

2010-07-05T21:46:00.006-05:00

We took some cute pics of H playing today. He has been really playful lately and it is so fun to watch him have so much fun. I will post a video soon of him laughing hysterically at a ball rolling back and forth. haha!

H in his new big boy shoes! I can't believe how big his feet are! These are 5.5 and they are NOT too big... oh my.

Eating his new favorite snack. They are called Crunchies. They make him smell like cheetos.

Playing in his saucer. He LOVES it so much right now. Thanks Aunt Elyse & Uncle Stephen!

Can you believe how cute these jammies are?

It was a great day with my boys before I start my new job tomorrow. Praying for a smooth transition this week!

sew ruffles!

2010-07-03T15:35:00.008-05:00

I found this great tutorial (of course) over at Bramblewood Fashion and decided to try my first sewing project with clothing. I went to Goodwill and found a couple long sleeve shirts that I liked in coordinating colors because I wanted to mix it up a bit. Here is the first ruffle shirt

This one is so easy (even for me)! All you do is fold the shirt in half so the seams match up, cut the sleeves off around the elbow (about 13 inches for me) then I opened up the seams on one of the sleeves I cut off. I cut that into strips, sewed down the middle of each strip and pulled on the ends of the string to make my ruffle. Tip: don't use cheap thread. It will break when you pull on it for your ruffle....that was annoying. Check out Bramblewood's link for the complete tutorial.

Here's a close up of the ruffles

On the next shirt I decided to mix it up a bit. This one had a little more of a scoop neck to begin with so I measured 1 inch around the neck in the front and cut it to make it a little lower, then I attached my ruffles around the collar instead of in rows.

And I used my left over pink sleeve to make a flower!!

I cut the open sleeve in half long ways then cut it in half. Then I folded the cut section in half again long ways and sewed it along the open seams. Then I cut out little petal patterns along the fold. Then I layered them on top of each other and hand stitched them together until I had a flower. Then I hand sewed the flower to the shirt. It sounds more complicated than it actually was, this shirt took longer, but not that much longer than the first.

forgive the blurry (bad) photos... maybe photography should be my next hobby!

I can't wait to go ruffle some more things! Think Jeff would notice if I ruffled H's clothes? Hummmm...

Painting and news...

2010-07-01T12:09:00.005-05:00

I finished my weathered bird silhouette painting and I'm so excited! Rarely, do I picture something in my head, try to create it, and have it come out exactly like I pictured it. Initially, I was just going to leave it black and white, but then I came across this tutorial at Lil Blue Boo (major blog love for her) and decided to try out this weathering technique. I wanted the picture to look like it was painted on old wood. Here's the painting before the sanding and embellishments

And here it is after

I just cut out cardboard circles and fabric covered them and then found some old buttons I had and glued them on when I was done painting.

A close up of one of the branches. I don't know where I'm going to hang this yet, but it probably won't be too long before we get a house because... I GOT A JOB!

I just accepted an offer today for a job in Corpus with MHMR working with the homeless population here. I start Tuesday so I'm a little overwhelmed with getting ready to go back to work and trying to find a day care we feel comfortable with. Luckily, our moms have the summer off and can watch H until August, so we have a few weeks to find somewhere. It has been quite an adventure to get to this place, but Jeff & I feel good about where we are right now and are now praying for all of our transitions as we go back to work and H starts going to day care. Please pray with us that we would find a place that has room for him and is a good fit for our family. Thank you all for your support and encouragement during this difficult transition.

He Crawls!

2010-06-28T20:31:00.003-05:00

Here is a video I took today of H crawling! He is quite the mover these days. Today he crawled under the dining room table, over to my make up bag where he dumped it out, and then he crawled over to his bag of dirty diapers and tried to take them out ... ewww. It is fun to see how determined he is and how much he loves to be able to get what it is that he wants.

Enjoy Papa Bill & JoJo and Aunt Elyse & Uncle Stephen. Notice H is wearing his Aunt shirt and his red shorts for you both. Aunt Amy, H is sleeping with this spot dog every night now - he loves it!

Recent Projects

2010-06-28T19:48:00.008-05:00

Here are my latest sewing creations. I'm going a little craft crazy right now. Currently, these are the projects I have in the works:

- refinishing a coffee table
- painting a weathered looking silhouette/fabric picture
- knitting a scarf
- making fabric flowers
- Christmas place mats with matching napkins
- Christmas bows for our tree
- aprons made out of kitchen towels
- beach bag
- new pincushion

That's all I have materials for right now. The project list in my head (and in my bookmarks on the computer) is endless!

After I made those cute beanbags for my friend's daughter, I decided to make some for H.

They turned out really cute and H really likes to chew on them. Maybe someday they will help with spelling... and maybe I'll get around the rest of the alphabet.

I also started making some reusable grocery bags. I was inspired by all of the crafty blogs I read where people go to Goodwill and find hum drum things and make them into awesome new things! So, a couple weeks ago I went and got some sheets, pillowcases and a kitchen valance and took the seams out to turn them into fabric for grocery bags! Here are the first two I made.

This bag is made out of a kitchen valance

This bag is made out of a sheet and a pillowcase.

I used this tutorial to make the bags. The directions were a little murky and I didn't follow them exactly, but I really like that this is basically a regular grocery bag but fabric instead of plastic.

I'll post the rest of my creations as I finish them. Happy crafting!

And we're back

2010-06-23T18:15:00.007-05:00

After two trips to Austin and one to Waco we are back to Corpus just in time for Jeff to have 2 more job interviews! So, the job update is that we are most likely going to be staying in Corpus. Jeff has a pretty promising lead on a job and had a good interview yesterday so we'll see. I LOVE the job I interviewed for in Austin, it is basically my dream job - but, I think if Jeff gets this job in Corpus that saying here will be the best move for our family - in which case I will probably not go back to work right now.

Here are some pics of late:

H had so much fun with his favorite Sissy. As soon as he saw her he reached out of my arms for her! Thanks for playing with H Sissy, H loves you and I love this picture of you.

It was so fun to see Megan and meet baby Clara. I think H must be very empathetic because he cries anytime other babies are crying. I know it has only been 7 months, but I could hardly remember what it was like to have a baby that little sleeping on you.

H got behind the wheel with me on our road trip and LOVED it!

Here was our Father's Day celebration. The DAD banner was my first sewing project!

Here is a close up of the bunting. It is made out of 3 deconstructed ties from Goodwill. I found this project over at my new favorite blog - Dollar Store Crafts.

That's what we've been up to lately!

Prayer Update

2010-06-18T10:30:00.002-05:00

I call this a prayer update because that is where we are right now, just praying and believing God for his provision. I really believed that by the time we should have gotten our next paycheck that Jeff would have a job and we wouldn't "go without" so to speak, but it hasn't turned out that way. God has certainly been faithful, and we have seen his provision in very real ways as we are entering 7 months of unemployment ... but honestly, I had very different expectations of what God was going to provide.

So, here we are now at a cross roads of sorts. We just returned from a trip to Austin where Jeff & I both had job interviews and we will be returning on Sunday for Jeff's second round of interviews with this company. It is an all day interview - it makes me tired just thinking about that. When we first decided to remain stateside, we wanted to be in Waco and when that didn't work out we started looking at jobs in Corpus, and now that hasn't really panned out we began to look in Austin. I think I just expected to have some strong sense of what was next, and instead I feel like the more time that passes the more questions I have.

The job I interviewed for is basically my dream job. It is at a pregnancy center in Austin doing what I love. The big decision for me is whether I should go back to work full or part time. This job is a part time position with the hopes that it will be full time by January, but I could go full time immediately if I job shared the receptionist position. I feel so torn as I know for our family right now I really need to go back to work and am excited about beginning a career that I know I will love, but at the same time I am going to miss being with H SOOOOOOO much! It would be great to start out part time and work my way up to full time, but if Jeff doesn't end up liking this job (he's pretty unsure about it right now) or needs more time to find something else, moving to Austin on a part time salary seems kind of crazy! On top of all this I found out on our way back yesterday that I'm one of the top 3 candidates for a full time job I interviewed for in Corpus last week. I had basically dismissed it because I didn't think I got it and now I know that I'm still in the running and really, I just don't know what to do. I haven't been offered either job yet, but If I do - I don't know what I'm going to say.

Please pray for us over the next week as we go back to Austin for Jeff's interview and I hear back about my interviews and we make important decisions about our future.

Beanbags!

2010-06-15T11:16:00.006-05:00

I'm so excited about my 3rd sewing project! Never mind that my seams are a little out of control, my letters crooked and my bags different sizes... I love these bean bags! I found this tutorial over at Lil Blue Boo and had to try it!
She gives an awesome tutorial, so I'll just tell you the changes I made to mine and let her tutorial be your guide. You need to check out her blog - it is fabulous!

Here they are! They have uppercase letters on one side and lowercase on the other side. I couldn't find freezer paper so I just free handed my letters and used puff fabric paint and thinned it out with a paint brush. This is the biggest change to Ashley's tutorial. If you can find freezer paper, then your letters will turn out a lot more equal in size than mine did.

Here are the lower case letters

And the upper case letters

The other big change I made was that I did a zig zag stitch for the top stitch instead of a straight stitch. In hindsight, that was not the greatest idea. It is cute, but since you have to leave an opening to stick the beans in it is really hard to go back and match up your zig zags correctly. I ended up having to straight stitch over the zags (or the zigs) to close them securely ... and this ended up looking kind of messy instead of cute. But since I made these for my friend's daughter who is turning 2 - she probably won't notice.

Here is a close up my favorite letter

Yay for sewing! What should I make next?

headbands!

2010-06-10T21:59:00.005-05:00

Sewing project number 2 (number 1 was for Father's Day, so that one will have to wait) was these awesome braided headbands I saw over at Cakies. I don't really have many original ideas because everyone else is making such awesome stuff already.

Seriously, this is like the ultimate instant gratification craft project. It takes like 20 minutes tops and then bam - awesome new headband!

H helped me model my headbands

Even Jeff got in on the action... but he insists they are sweatbands

You can check out the great and simple tutorial for these here

For Elyse

2010-06-08T17:24:00.005-05:00

I made a present for my one and only twin sister. I saw it over at MaryJanes and Galoshes and knew that I had to make one. Since we are currently 'homeless' so to speak and Jeff has requested that I quit making/purchasing things for our future home, I thought this would look great in Elyse & Stephen's bedroom. Stephen probably isn't as wild about the butterflies as I am ... but he's a good sport.
This is made entirely out of paper! My mom is bringing it when she goes to visit next week but here are some pics until then.

It's a good thing I'm in love with this wreath, cause I might have given myself a few 2nd degree burns making this. Hope you like it Leesey.

Puff the magic cereal like substance

2010-06-04T08:35:00.004-05:00

H has a new favorite food, Puffs

These magical little cereal puffs are a somewhat nutritious finger food that dissolve quickly in their mouths so they can feed themselves. H doesn't quite have the fine motor skills to feed himself yet, he can pick these up with his palm but rarely does he make it to his mouth. Anyway, he could eat these things all day long if we let him. I saw a movie trailer for a new Katherine Heigl movie coming out this summer about a baby that looks hilarious (the movie not the baby). Watch it below and notice the part where the guy pours the mountain of puffs in front of the baby and her face lights up - because it is so true!

Here are some pics of H eating his puffs yesterday

7 months

2010-06-03T13:13:00.006-05:00

H will be 7 months old in just a couple days! Time sure flies! He is sitting up really well and beginning to army crawl. Gone are the days of leaving him in a room on the floor so I can go do something quickly and coming back to find him in the same place. This week I've found him under the coffee table twice, under his swing and against the entertainment center. He can sure move! Here are some recent pictures of him.

He's sitting up and sucking his thumb. I think he might be a lefty, he has been showing some left hand dominance lately.

Thanks Aunt Elyse for the cute outfit!

His new favorite place to sit - somewhere on Daddy's head or shoulders

Cuddling with Mommy after nap time.

In other news, I found out yesterday that I didn't get that job I interviewed for. I was pretty sure that I got it, so I was/am really disappointed. I just feel kind of confused now about where I should be looking, if now is the right time to go back to work, etc. Keep praying for Jeff & I in our job hunts - I know God has something for us, it is just hard to be patient right now.

job update

2010-05-27T10:16:00.002-05:00

The interview seemed to go really well. It is always kind of hard to tell, I mean most of the time people seem like they like you? It was an interview with 3 people and they all asked me different questions which I fortunately was able to answer while only saying a couple stupid things. The stupidest thing I said was in reference to a question about how I handle stress. I was talking about prayer and how Jesus helps me deal with difficult things. Then I made a comment about 'not losing my mind' ... I'm interviewing with a mental health organization. Woops... I didn't know how to recover from that, so I just quit talking.
The HR department has called me twice to follow up on paperwork and such that needs to be submitted and both times has said that they want to 'get things rolling on me' and 'should be calling me soon'. So, to me all of these things sound positive, but I guess we'll see.
It has been kind of bittersweet these last few days with H. I didn't think I would be going back to work so soon and while I'm excited about that possibility, it makes me sad to think about not getting our play times together and not seeing his big smile when I go pick him up after his naps.
In other news, I decided to learn to sew. I tried once in college and forgot everything I 'learned'. So, I got my machine out of storage and spent an hour this morning figuring out how to thread it and such. Then I tried a few practice stitches and my fabric got sucked down into the bottom...there weren't instructions for that. So, I turned it off and decided to wait until my mom gets home to fix it. My first project is Jeff's father's day present. I'm super excited about it, so hopefully I will get my act together and not break my machine before June 20th gets here.
Well, I'm going to enjoy the rest of H's morning nap...by taking one of my own. Soaking up all that remains of stay at home momness. I'll keep you posted about the job.

One step closer

2010-05-24T21:44:00.004-05:00

to going fishing! H's grandpa has a big fishing tournament every year with his job and H scored this cute shirt!

Thanks for my shirt Grandpa!

In other non-related news. I (Erin... like Jeff actually posts on here) have a job interview tomorrow! It all happened kind of suddenly, we just started talking about me looking for a job last week and initially I was only looking for a part time job, but I found an open case worker position and it sounds like it might be right up my alley. So, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave H and go back to work, but after going on 6 months of unemployment - staying home might be a luxury for right now. I don't know if you are ever ready to leave your child and go back to work, but at least if I get a job this summer both grandmas can watch H while I'm at work and Jeff is job hunting. So, please pray for me tomorrow and for for our family as we are hopefully transitioning out of unemployment soon. I'll keep you posted.

old things new

2010-05-18T08:07:00.004-05:00

I've been saving H's old wipe boxes to turn into toy boxes. H has a bunch of little toys - rattles, teethers, keys, links, etc. and I figured they needed a better home than strewn across the living room floor. So, here's what I did:

First, I soaked the boxes in hot soapy water to get rid of the wipe smell.

Then, I traced the sides of the box and made a pattern for the sides and top.

Then, I traced the pattern on the back of a sheet of scrapbook paper and cut it out.

Then, I applied the paper to the box using a layer of Mod Podge and let it dry.

After it was dry, I put a layer of glossy Mod Podge over all of the paper and once it dried I applied a second layer.

And Viola! new toy boxes instead of old wipe boxes. H has already figured out that all of his toys are in there and loves to take his toys out and put them back in... or at least try.

Also, stay tuned for another furniture project. I found a GREAT coffee table at the Salvation Army. It is just desperately in need of some paint, or a stain... I can't decide which. I've never stained anything and it seems kind of complicated?

blaaaah

2010-05-11T09:32:00.006-05:00

That's kind of how life has been around here the last few days. I am taking H to the doctor today because I can't figure out what is wrong with him. He got his 6 month shots last Thursday and was running a really high fever Friday and Saturday. I was going to take him into the doctor Sunday morning, but then his fever dropped and he seemed to be his normal self. Then yesterday he started sounding kind of stuffy and now today he has a full blown coughing, sneezing, snotty faced cold.
I feel so bad for him, he clearly doesn't feel good. Hopefully, the doctor will say something besides "It's just a cold, wait it out." He's been waking up for hours in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. He went to bed at 6 pm last night but then was up from 10-11 pm. and 2:30-4:30 am.
Oh, and about the meat eating pictures...well, I got them about 3 seconds before he threw up. I'm not sure if it was the texture of the meat or if it really was that gross. I'll be waiting a couple weeks before I try that one again.

Looking forward to better days (and nights) ahead.

Blowing bubbles

2010-05-07T08:33:00.002-05:00

Here's a video of H talking, blowing raspberries (his new favorite sound), and squealing after lunch one day.

The doctor said that he is the size of a 9 month old! He's going to be a BIG boy, in the 90% percentile. Everything looks good though and we got the green light for all kids of food, so I'll take some pictures of him eating meat in a couple days. Until then, enjoy!

Happy Half Birthday

2010-05-05T08:58:00.002-05:00

Today is H's half birthday! I can't believe he is 6 months old already! To celebrate he wore his m&m socks from grandma... well, he wore them for about 10 minutes before he figured out how to pull them off.

new toys!

2010-05-04T10:32:00.000-05:00

Here is H playing with some stacking cups. He cracks me up how excited he gets about new toys. It is really fun to see him so engaged with the world around him these days. Enjoy!

I'm a big kid now

2010-05-03T15:17:00.004-05:00

I didn't expect this transition to happen so fast...seemingly overnight almost, from a happy, little baby to an opinionated, LOUD, big boy. Yesterday, he started refusing his bottle. He has been eating cereal but we've been holding off on other baby foods until his 6 month appointment (this Thursday) to get the go ahead from the pediatrician to start him on solid foods. Well, not only has he quit taking a bottle, but he only wants what we are eating and has started to scream when he wants something or doesn't want something. So, we started baby food a few days early and he is now drinking out of a sippy cup! When did my little baby get to be such a big boy?

Here he is 'eating' an apple slice. Not pictured: him screaming every time he dropped it.

First baby food! Can you guess what it is? He REALLY liked it!

Big boy chair

2010-04-28T19:25:00.003-05:00

H is getting so big. He just graduated from his baby bouncy seat to his big boy highchair. His grandparents got him this chair for Christmas and I can't believe he is ready to sit in it already! I think he had fun though!

Travel update

2010-04-22T21:31:00.010-05:00

We've been having a great time visiting friends and family over the last week. We have been to Waco, Dallas, Houston and now we are in New Orleans. H has been such a great traveler! (minus the MAJOR diaper explosion moments before take off).
Here are some pictures of our adventures so far:

Here is H meeting his Great Grandfather. He had a great time playing with Big and his Great Uncle George. Big even played 'You are my sunshine' on his harmonica for him - he loved it!

H was so happy to get to see and play with his Aunt Amy again!

H has had a great time in New Orleans with Papa Bill and JoJo. Here they are in the French Quarter.

H has had so much fun playing outside at Papa Bill & JoJo's new house! He even stuck his feet in the pool today. Maybe we will swim if it warms up a little more.

H's new friend Molly. She is such a sweet dog and always wants to lay with or in this case on top of H. Fortunately he thinks it is really funny and just laughs when Molly walks across him or lays on him.

H got to meet his cousin Cooper the other night! It was fun to see the babies together and will be even more fun when they are bigger and all the boy cousins (4 of them, 3 within 6 weeks of each other)get to play together!

We have had a great time so far! We are looking forward to the weekend here and then back home again on Monday. Jeff has another phone interview tomorrow so if you read this, pray for him around 10 am tomorrow. Thanks!

Ta-Daa!

2010-04-12T21:40:00.005-05:00

We finally finished H's new dresser. You can read the first post about the project here

Jeff helped me a lot with the finishing of this project. It took more work than I was anticipating. I had to starch the fabric twice and then it still wasn't sticking very well so I went to Lowe's and described what I needed and they recommended a clear sealer for me to use. After that Jeff cut holes in the fabric and drilled new holes for the new hardware. Then we had to cut off the excess fabric on the edges with a really sharp exacto knife. The final step was using beeswax to wax the drawers so they would open and close easier. And here is the finished product...

It didn't turn out exactly like I had pictured, but I still really like it!

Johnny Jump Up

2010-04-08T21:47:00.002-05:00

H started wanting to stand up a few weeks ago and that has quickly progressed to jumping. His favorite thing to do these days is jump, unfortunately, his motor skills have not caught up with him yet so it involves a lot of sore muscles after helping him jump. Here's a video of him in his Johnny Jump up! He can't quite figure out how to jump yet, but he really likes to swing and stand and turn in it. Sorry about the sideways ending... my camera skills suffer...

fear?

2010-04-05T21:23:00.002-05:00

So, I've been thinking about how being a mom has changed me - in particular the instinct I feel to protect my baby. I know some of this is natural and that all moms feel this way, I guess it is just really different from the ways that I used to feel. Here's the most recent example.

We have been living with my mom since we returned from Iraq while Jeff looks for a job. She lives in a good neighborhood right down the street from an elementary school on the good side of town. Early Saturday morning, about 2:30 am to be exact, I was awakened by a VERY loud CLACK CLACK CLACK! CLACK CLACK! I sat straight up and knew it was gunfire. It sounded like it was right outside the window. Jeff told me not to go outside because he was sure it was gunfire too. Fortunately, it didn't wake H up and so we just looked out the window and waited and sure enough a few minutes later several police cars showed up. After a while the crime van showed up and Jeff decided to go out and ask the cops what had happened. They confirmed that it was a drive by shooting at the next door neighbor's house. One man was shot and taken to the hospital but they expected him to be fine.

As the story unfolded, we figured out that the people living next door (they moved in a couple weeks ago while we were in PA) were strippers (the house is for sale) and the realty company just put someone in the house to make it look like the house was being lived in. Anyway, an ex boyfriend followed one of the girls home from work and he is the one who fired the shots. Last I heard they hadn't found him yet. There are always several people at this house and the girls I've seen there have at least 2 young children. Anyway, the point of this story is that my first instinct was - get these people out of here! I don't want them to live anywhere near me or my family.

Since this incident we've heard one of the girls outside screaming obscenities at someone and there have been several huge tatooed dudes hanging around. I was praying yesterday for these girls and this family and I just realized... that's as close as I want to get. I want to pray for them, but I don't want to go over there, I don't want to meet them and I definitely don't want to take my baby over there. Really, I just want them to go away so that I don't have to worry about some crazy ex boyfriend coming around my house with a gun again.

I didn't used to feel this way. I didn't really feel afraid when we were in Iraq, and I used to spend time with people who were homeless or prostitutes and I wasn't afraid. I guess I just feel like I don't know how to balance these new instincts that I feel with the Gospel. I know in my head that fear is just a lack of trust in God and His character and I know that safety is only an illusion and that whatever God allows my family to endure he will give us the grace to be okay and that it will be okay. I know that even if the worst thing happened, that God would still be good and we would still be okay, but I still feel this inward cringing when I think about the other night and my sleeping baby upstairs.

I don't know if this makes sense or if other parents resonate with these feelings... I just wanted to be honest about how I'm feeling and what I'm praying about right now. So, pray with me for our next door neighbors, for their children, and for our role in all of this. I want to be willing to go over there... but right now, I'm just not.

Advertising

2010-04-02T21:01:00.004-05:00

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I am apparently, very susceptible to advertising. Jeff finds this rather boggling because he claims that he isn't at all. He actually wrote a paper in college about how advertising doesn't work and is just a waste of money. Then he married me. I see a Red Lobster commercial and I want to go there for months. I read a product review in a magazine and I then I have to try this new moisturizer or mascara. A well placed coupon in the Target ad, and then I have to go there next week. Anyway, I'm a sucker for the various forms of advertising. They have been showing this Easter commercial for Rice Krispies with a mom and her kids making these Rice Krispie Treat eggs together. I've been all excited about starting new traditions for our family so I thought I'd give these a try. H had nothing to do with the tradition this year, I had to wait for him to go to sleep just so that I could make them. They turned out just as cute as in the commercial though, so maybe we'll try these again next year when H can actually contribute something.

Aren't these the cutest? Yummy too!

Thanks Rice Krispie commercial!

Easter Basket

2010-03-31T21:23:00.005-05:00

Aunt Elyse & Uncle Stephen got H his first Easter basket and we took some pictures of him with it today for them. He sure liked to chew on it and roll it.

Thanks Bealers! H will love it for his future egg hunts.

Rolling Over

2010-03-30T19:22:00.002-05:00

This month H has started rolling over. He started rolling from back to front at the beginning of the month and then took a break in the middle. Last week he started rolling again and now can roll from front to back and back to front. Now we get to wrestle at diaper and clothes changing time because he wants to roll everywhere. Oh, mobility, we are one step closer. Here's H in action

Eternal life

2010-03-25T09:38:00.002-05:00

I read this poem this morning and found it to be especially comforting and inspiring so I thought I would share:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love -
Where there is injury, pardon -
Where there is doubt, faith -
Where there is despair, hope -
Where there is darkness, light -
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled - as to console,
to be understood - as to understand,
to be loved - as to love,
For
It is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

- St. Francis of Assisi

4 Generations

2010-03-22T22:02:00.007-05:00

H got to meet his Great Grandparents today! He is the first Priour boy of his generation, so Papa was very excited that the Priour name would be carried on for another generation. So, here are some pictures of 4 generations of Priours together!

Belated St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-19T08:53:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures for you Daddy. We've had a good trip so far - H has been amazing. On the plane he did SO well, he spent most of the time like this

And here is H on St. Patrick's Day wearing his green

And finally, H playing with his cousin Barney. He has decided that Barney is really funny! He laughs out loud when Barney gets really excited or when he jumps on people's laps.

We miss you Daddy! See you soon!

Taking Flight!

2010-03-15T22:42:00.004-05:00

Hey Friends! H and I are heading to Pennsylvania tomorrow to visit Aunt Elyse and Uncle Stephen. If you think about it, please pray for our travels. Pray that H would be peaceful and able to be calm and get some rest during the journey. Pray for my mom and I as we travel with H that we would be able to have lots of patience and comfort to give little H during our trip. Looking forward to this week and will try and post some pictures of our trip.
Also, Jeff is heading to Waco while we are away to do some job hunting. Please continue to pray for him and for the Lord's provision for our family. Pray for interview opportunities and for refreshing and encouraging time with friends. Thanks, we appreciate your prayers!

cute video

2010-03-13T17:43:00.001-06:00

Here's a cute video we took today of H laughing while playing with his new favorite toy. He has just entered a ticklish stage and it is super cute!

big crib

2010-03-13T17:13:00.001-06:00

We are getting ready to transition H out of our room and into his own room. This also means transitioning him from his cradle to his big crib. We have been putting him in his crib every day so that he can get used to spending some time in there. My mom picked out the cute bedding for it and got all of the stuffed animals. There are some special pics at the end of H with his blue puppy from Aunt Amy. He loves to cuddle with that doggie!

H's new dresser!

2010-03-09T20:05:00.006-06:00

Well, it has taken me longer than I wanted to get my final project finished.... so I thought I'd show you my progress. I decided I wanted to cover the front of the dresser drawers with fun fabrics so brighten up the room a little. Since the dresser had 1 smaller drawer and the bottom 3 were the same, I picked 2 coordinating fabrics.

Here's the before picture

First I had to sand the dresser so I could paint it. I found a pretty brown Ooops paint at Lowes that was just $1.

After I sanded it I painted it, but I didn't take a picture of that part.

Because this dresser had grooves in it I had to fill them with putty so that the fronts of the drawers would be flat. Oh, and I took the hardware of the dresser and bought some new hardware to replace it so I also filled those holes with putty.

Then I had to sand the drawers so that there would be a little texture to the drawer fronts. Then I cut my fabric panels to be about 1/2 inch on all sides of the drawer.

Then it was time to soak the fabric panels in liquid starch. After they were soaked through I put the panel on the top of the drawer and smoothed out all of the bubbles using a wallpaper smoother.

They will dry overnight and then I'll cut the excess fabric off and cut holes in the fabric for the new hardware. I plan to have this finished by the end of the week. So, after pictures to come!

My favorite things right now

2010-03-05T12:59:00.007-06:00

Here are some of the things that I'm loving right now

This is a primer/skin brightener made by Benefit cosmetics. I totally love it. It helps even out skin and makes my skin look brighter and in turn makes me not look so tired! A lot of days I wear this and don't put any make up on and there's not much of a difference.

H LOVES Baby Einstein. He is riveted any time that it is on. When he is fussy and won't go to sleep or eat and is clean and nothing seems to help, I put on a little Baby Beethoven or Mozart and he's happy.

My mom got me this recently and as much as you can love a toothbrush - I totally love this toothbrush. It somehow has turned a mundane activity into two minutes of relaxation. Not to mention that it makes my mouth feel amazing. I'm totally converted to the electric toothbrush.

This swing is made by Fisher Price and H LOVES it. He is not a very good napper but he will stay asleep longer in his swing and loves to talk to the fishes when he wakes up.

This Paul Mitchell super skinny serum is great! It helps smooth out my hair without being greasy and adds moisture to the ends so it doesn't get frizzy. I almost never dry my hair these days, so it helps my hair a lot!

I couldn't find a picture of this, but I found these Hershey's Dark Chocolate pieces last week and mmmmm they are good. Like Reese's pices except with dark chocolate - a winner for sure.

What are some of your favorites right now?

Little giggles

2010-03-02T22:44:00.002-06:00

H is usually the most happy and chatty when he first wakes up in the morning and right before bath time. He is so his father's son when it comes to being chatty in the morning, it takes at least 5 oz of coffee before I can talk to anyone. Here is H before bath time laughing with daddy. I had to run downstairs to get the camera so I missed the best giggles, but you can still hear him trying to laugh. He just started laughing like this a couple weeks ago and only does it before his bath. I love it so much! It is so cute to hear him experiment with laughing. He still scares himself sometimes with his own voice.

Bumbo

2010-02-26T15:17:00.006-06:00

H has been doing such a good job of sitting up lately, so we decided to try out his new Bumbo seat today. He seems to really like it... well, at least for a while. He is still getting used to this new perspective of the world.

ooops, eyes closed... let's try again

There we go!

I saw this picture and thought... 'woah, he looks just like me!'

Playing Games

2010-02-24T21:11:00.002-06:00

H has a new favorite game - it is called 'kick the blanket off'. He loves to kick his blanket off when he is in his swing, stroller, or carseat. He can now successfully remove it when we cover his head too! Jeff took this video of him talking and playing his favorite game while swinging in his swing. He is sure talking a lot these days! And H even left a surprise for you at the end of the video!

DIY Project 2

2010-02-17T18:31:00.007-06:00

I found this TV stand at Goodwill and decided for $15 I could dress it up and make it work!

Here is the before, it is just a wooden stand with 1 shelf and a leather top on wheels.

First we sanded all the sides and then started painting everything. Since our paint color was light it ended up taking 3 coats. Then we took the wheels off and painted some feet for it and put the feet on and wallah!

Here is the After. I cleaned the leather and polished the brass sides, but you can't really tell.

This was an easy and inexpensive fix and I really like it...now we just need a living room to put it in.

I heart my aunts

2010-02-16T21:04:00.004-06:00

H got to enjoy some special gifts from his aunts this weekend and I wanted to post some pictures for them. Aunt Amy gave H some precious little doggie slippers and he wore them the other night after his bath, he even went to sleep in them and managed to keep one of them on all night!

He loves his puppy slippers! Thanks Aunt Amy!!

And here is H in his special onsie that Aunt Elyse made for him. I can't believe how fast he is growing out of all of these clothes, but he at least got one wear out of it!

H is so lucky to have such great Aunts! Love to you both!

Project 1

2010-02-13T13:23:00.003-06:00

The first of 4 DIY projects is complete and I love it! I made a decorative mirror for our living room. Here's how you can do it to. You will need:

24 X 24 thin piece of plywood

3 sheets of 12 X 12 glass tiles

12 X 12 mirror

mirror glue

clear drying silicone adhesive caulk

paint color of your choice ( I used a light khaki)

Step 1: paint the plywood with 2 coats, make sure to paint the edges also as they will be seen.

You don't need a gallon of paint obviously, but we found this in the ooops paint section at home depot and it was only $5.

Step 2: cut the tiles to the desired size. I forgot to take a picture of the tiles. But they come in sheets and you can cut them in half into 6 inch pieces if you are only going to use 1 color. I chose to use 2 colors and so I cut mine into 3 inch squares and alternated the colors.

Step 3: using the caulk glue the tiles to the board. I put glue on the back of each small square so that not much leaked out onto the board.

Step 4: glue mirror to the center of the board with mirror glue

allow everything at least 12 hours to dry. Then use some sturdy picture hangers to attach to the back and you are ready to hang your mirror! Here's the finished product.

Coming up next... taking a TV stand from drab to fab!

DIY projects

2010-02-09T19:14:00.004-06:00

Coming up, an installment of DIY projects. I'm on a fix-it-up kick and have 4 projects I'm going to be working on.

First, I'm making a mirror for our living room. I can't claim this idea, I saw it in a Lowe's Creative Idea magazine and decided I could do it. I started it tonight and will take pictures and post the how to when it is finished.

Second, I'm re-doing a dresser for H's room. This project should be the most labor intensive, but I'm pretty excited about it. I'm refinishing a dresser and then taking out the drawers and covering them with fun fabrics and putting on new hardware.

Third, I got some ribbon on sale and I'm going to decorate a lampshade for H's room. I'm still looking for the lamp and the shade. But it's going to be cuuuuute.

Fourth, I found a TV stand today at Goodwill for $16! I'm going to re-paint it and clean it up... I'm thinking of painting it green right now... maybe something like this?

what do you think? the mirror I'm making has browns and greens in it and so does our couch. The other furniture in the room is a dark brown.

before and after

2010-02-08T12:31:00.004-06:00

Jeff reminded me that we had a Baby Einstein DVD that H is now old enough to watch. H loves music anyway. He was totally dancing to the halftime show last night...sidenote...the who? what?
Anyway, this morning we put on Baby Beethoven for H and I have never seen him so happy. He squealed and laughed and danced and then he cried when it was over. Here's the action

And here's the aftermath. He cried when it was over and fell asleep on Jeff's shoulder about 3 minutes later and then looked like this.

I love this book!

2010-02-06T22:08:00.003-06:00

Aunt Elyse & Uncle Stephen got this Bible for H for Christmas. My friend Anna Beth had recommended it to me and it is so fabulous. Every night I can't wait to read it to H before bed. He is still learning to like reading. He is getting better though, he used to cry as soon as I sat down with a book, even when he had previously been perfectly happy. Now he will let me get through a few stories before he starts to cry. I sure hope he likes to read, I know his aunts do too!
Anyhow, this Bible paraphrases the major stories of the Bible and at the end of each story shows how it points to Jesus and God's plan for redemption. The illustrations are amazing and I find myself being impacted through reading these stories to H. I'm hoping he too will grow up to love these stories and see God's redemptive purposes throughout history.

3 months old!

2010-02-05T21:22:00.002-06:00

It seems like 3 years and 3 days at the same time? I found the first video I ever took of H when he was just 3 days old and had the hiccups. I was incredibly sleep deprived so ignore the dialog and just enjoy the precious little baby! What a great 3 months, H is the sweetest, most adorable baby ever... or at least we think so.

Sweet faces

2010-02-03T19:08:00.005-06:00

This has been a really fun stage with H recently. He smiles when we come to pick him up and loves to 'talk' to us. Here are some cute pictures Jeff took today.

This was during H's kick my blanket off game. He kept kicking it off and then smiling really big when we could put it back on him.