Bouncing Baby Balls!

I'm 4 Weeks Old Today!

2012-02-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

This precious baby girl has stolen my heart....

I cannot believe four weeks have already flown by since this sweetie joined our family! I refuse to call her 1 Month yet since the actual date (12th) is not until Sunday... so until then, she is "4 Weeks old"! Haha!

She is doing really well, falling into a more predictable eating and sleeping pattern. She consistently eats every 2-3 hours during the day and for the past three nights in a row has gone 4 to 4 & 1/2 hours during the night! I'll take that! ;-)

I heard what I thought was a coo several days ago, but I thought it must have been a fluke. Well, she did it again tonight while I was talking to her and it was obviously a coo. And I've read a few things that say babies begin cooing at around 4 weeks, so I guess she really is starting to get vocal. It is the most precious little sound! She has also given us a few smiles over the past week or so... I can't wait till she gets this trick down because she has the sweetest smile and I'm dying to see more of it!!!

It's too much fun getting to experience and look forward to all these "firsts" again.... omg, we're sooooo blessed!!!!!

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Settling In to Our New "Normal"

2012-01-27T14:27:00.001-08:00

(Disclaimer: please forgive the poor photo quality... these were all taken from my phone... it's just more convenient since it's always with me!) ;-)

Daddy went back to work this week, so it was my first official week by myself on the "new job" and I have to say, it went pretty well! He did take the kids to school on Monday and Tuesday morning to help me out, but I picked them up every afternoon. Next week, I will be back to morning drop off AND afternoon pick up... yikes!!! I'll report back next week with how many mornings we were late to school! Ha! :-)

Here's a picture of Madi and I on our first morning home together alone... I was pretty happy to have her all to myself! She's a sweetie!

On Tuesday afternoon, we played dress up. I was trying to get some pretty shots of her for her birth announcement, so I got her undressed down to her diaper and got a few different areas set up for some shots (different blankets for backdrops, even a basket to put her in). I had everything ready so I could work quickly before she got fussy. I snapped my first shot and my camera said "Card Full." Ugh. I tried my two backup memory cards and, I kid you not, they were both full too! So, needless to say, we've had to delay the photo shoot until sometime this weekend. But, here is a cute one I captured on my phone camera... she is a DOLL (if I do say so myself!) ;-)

Wednesday evening, she had her first submersion bath (since her umbilical stump had fallen off a few days before). She liked this much better than the sponge baths she had been getting - probably because she stayed warmer - but I just thought it was adorable that she fit in my bathroom sink!

And finally, Thursday morning she had her 2-week checkup. Her pediatrician was pleased with how she is growing... she was up to 7 lbs., 14 oz. so she has surpassed her birth weight and had already grown an inch since birth, up to 20 inches from 19 inches!

So, that's this week's update. We are really enjoying her. So far, she's a very sweet, content baby who soothes easily and we seem to be learning her cues and cries, which helps keep her, and everyone, happy! ;-)

Big brother and big sister adore her too... I still can't believe I have three kids, holy moly!!! They have been great helpers and they're growing up so much, taking more responsibility and have been getting better at following our directions/requests.

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She's Here!

2012-01-23T11:03:00.000-08:00

Madison Grace
7 lbs., 12 oz.
19 inches

Our little beauty arrived on Thursday, January 12 at 10:49 pm! She is precious and sweet and we have been enjoying getting to know her over the past week and a half as we transition to a family of 5.

All dressed and ready for our big trip HOME! What a blessing to have a full-term baby this time and get to take her home from the hospital... wow. God is so good!

Madi at 3 days old - she's an angel, I could just eat her up!

We are happy and blessed and our family is now COMPLETE!!! :-)

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Making Room for Baby...

2012-01-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Our "nesting" got off to a very late start this time around! Just 4 short weeks ago, the baby's room looked like this:
Daddy started putting the crib together the first week of December and here's how it sat as we waited for the bedding I ordered to arrive. We had planned to hold off on painting the room until later in the spring once we decided what color to go with for the walls.

But, after finding inspiration from this nursery that used the same line of fabrics for their bedding, along came my sweet friend Roni, who insisted it be done ahead of time. So, the week of Christmas, she graciously came over and gave of her time to help paint the room!
And, I have to say, I am sooooo glad we went ahead and painted now instead of later! It is so nice to have it out of the way... it looks 110% better than the builder beige walls! And, my husband agreed to let me order the tree decal that I had found in that inspiration photo and it really makes the room!

Both the bedding and the decal surprised me with an earlier-than-expected arrival a few days before Christmas! So, on Christmas Day, my sweet brother and hubby worked on installing the decal for me and it all came together at once! It was a great Christmas gift. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out... it's probably my favorite room in the house now!

Here are some more pics of the room:
We have been very blessed not to have to purchase any furniture this time (with the exception of the glider/ottoman). This changing dresser was given to us by friends and I embellished it with new drawer pulls and backed all the glass-front drawers with the different fabrics in the bedding to give it a custom feel. It turned out really cute. I found the blue changing table topper at a garage sale for $10 and, after living with it for awhile, think I would still like to paint it white to match the dresser. Don't know when I'll get to that project though! ;)

Here is the glider and ottoman I bought at a garage sale for... wait for it... $75!!!!!! It is supposedly a $900 set from Magic Moon, a high-dollar baby boutique with stores in the Southlake and Dallas areas. It had some slight staining so I had originally planned to get it reupholstered or slip-covered. However, once I started getting quotes for that, I soon realized that was out of the question for now and just borrowed a friend's upholstery cleaner and got it as clean as I could with a couple of cleaning sessions. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a lot better than it was when I bought it and with a blanket and pillow covering it, it helps to hide some of those imperfections. We will most likely have it recovered once it is finished being used in the nursery with a nice neutral/kid-friendly fabric to be used upstairs in the kids' playroom.

So, that's a tour of little Maddie's room.
Now, all we're missing is a beautiful baby girl in that crib!
(and some curtains for the windows... I'm just kind of stuck on that project, not sure whether to get panels made from one of the bedding fabrics or go with a solid)

38 Weeks and counting... won't be long now!

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Merry Christmas from Our Family To Yours!

2011-12-25T17:46:00.000-08:00

And now, I leave you with Tori's rendition of Jingle Bells:

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fine it is to ride in a one-oh ho-fen flay!" ~Tori

I kindly explained to her that it is actually "oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh" but to no avail... she prefers her version and, quite frankly, it cracks me up every time!

Hope everyone has had a very blessed and fun Christmas!

“For to us a child is born, to us a savior is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

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Dear Santa...

2011-12-15T08:40:00.001-08:00

This morning, as I was cleaning out the kids' school folders, I found some letters to Santa that they worked on at school yesterday.... they were too cute not to share!

Dear Santa,
I would like some Star Wars legos, a train set, trains, Star Wars costumes, and lots of Star Wars toys. Bring Mommy a book and Daddy a bathtub. Bring my sister a babydoll.

Love,
Tanner

Dear Santa,
Bring me a diaper changing thingy and a baby. I want a snuggly pillow pet, paper and glitter. Bring my brother Tanner i-Cars. Bring my Daddy a cartoon for the TVs in his car. My mom wants a lot of necklaces.

Love,
Tori

They crack me up! Tanner: "Bring Daddy a bathtub"?!?!! HA! and Tori: "Bring Daddy cartoons for his TVs in his car"!!!! (yes, so YOU can watch them! HA!)

So cute to see what their little minds are dreaming up! Can't believe Christmas is next week!

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WHOA.... November flew by!

2011-12-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

So... wow. It's already December! I cannot believe how quickly November flew by. I will catch you up on a few highlights from the month:

We started out the first weekend with a sweet baby shower that some girlfriends of mine threw for me and Baby M. It also happened to be my birthday weekend, so it turned out to be one of the best weekends I've had in a long time, as I got to spend it surrounded by lots of my favorite people!

My sweet hostesses and I (L to R: Roni, myself, Sarah & Sadie)

Three generations

Big sister was such an eager helper with gifts... she is getting so excited!

Then, after continuing to have several dreams about delivering an adorable baby boy with lots of dark, spiky hair, we decided to go have a 3D sonogram (since I am not scheduled to have any more with my doctor). This was such a NEAT experience, I'm so glad we did it. And, for the record, it's still a girl! ;)

Big brother and big sister, along with Grammy, were in attendance, which made for a memorable family event!

We had a hard time getting a shot of her face straight on, but here's the best one we got of her face. She's sucking on her arm.

And here's the sweet little grin she gave us after her daddy played some music on my belly to try to get her to move.

So, after seeing her in 3D, we're thinking she looks like her big sister... only 6 more weeks to go and we'll find out for sure!

And then it was Thanksgiving...

We had a great couple of days off, which were spent relaxing down at our family ranch with my dad and stepmom. The highlight of the trip had to be Tanner's excitement on his first duck hunting adventure with the big-boys! He had a blast!

He is all boy... here is my sweet little boy, holding a dead duck by the neck, excitedly saying, "Mom, Mom, you wanna touch it? Touch it, Mom, it's fluffy!" as he pets it on the head for the picture. LOL! gross...

Being silly with Daddy and Josh (Uncle Chris's friend and pro hunter / hunting guide)

He was so excited to get to be the helper and hold all the ducks they shot... 6 in all. He even came home with duck blood on his neck and pants... oy!

Well, what a great month it was! Now we're in the full swing of the Christmas holidays. I absolutely cannot believe Christmas is already upon us in the next couple of weeks because that means that shortly after that is BABY TIME... it will be here before we know it! I will be 34 weeks this week, so only 6 weeks (or less!) to go! Better get my hospital bag packed... :-)

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Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great time tonight... here are some pictures of the cuties:

All excited and ready for a fun night!

Goofy Luke Skywalker

Beautiful Tinkerbell

With Mom and our 2-1/2-pound "Pumpkin" ;)

And here's a couple we took over the weekend that I thought were fun:
28 Weeks/7 Months!
The big brother and big sister are getting excited!! Tori keeps saying, "It's taking a long time, Mom!" Ha!

Yep, and let's pray it takes MANY more weeks (at least 10 or 11 more)!

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Sibling Class

2011-10-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Grammy & I took the kids downtown to Baylor All Saints Hospital (where I'll be delivering this time) for the Sibling Class, where Tanner & Tori got to learn all about new babies and how to be a good, helpful big brother and big sister. They had a blast!

Here they are on the elevator on the way into the hospital... just a little excited!

We found our classroom, met our fabulous instructor Mrs. Diane, put on our name tags and waited for all the kids to arrive. Once everyone arrived, she had them each choose a baby doll from the middle of the room.

After some introductions in which each child shared their name and whether they were having a baby brother or baby sister, they began their first task of learning how to diaper the babies:

Tori is hard at work... Tanner is already getting distracted :-/
The class busily works on their diapers as Mrs. Diane tries to get Tanner going on his...

After diapers, they worked on dressing their babies in a t-shirt:

And learned how to pick the baby up properly by supporting its head... awwww:

Little Mommy was soooo into this!

Tori listened so intently to everything the teacher said and just soaked it all in... it was adorable!

Next, they worked on swaddling the babies:

And practiced picking them up properly again:

After a short story about what to expect when the baby comes home...

they played a very clever game in which they learned what types of toys are acceptable to have around the baby and what types are not... this was a great teaching tool!
The instructor passed around a bag of toys and asked each child to choose one, then passed around an empty toilet paper roll. If the toy fit through the cardboard roll, it was too small to have around the baby. They talked about what types of toys would be good to play around the baby (stuffed animals, soft balls, books) and what types of activities (sing a song, tickle, read a book) would be good to do with their new brother or sister. Of course, Tanner was into this activity because he got to choose a race car (although he learned that it was too small to have around the baby)!

Next on the agenda, they moved to the art table to make cards for their baby siblings:
Tori was all over this project!

Tanner... not so much:
At this point, he was bored and kept saying he was tired and hungry... ha!

While the other kids finished up their artwork, I convinced Tanner to let me help him swaddle his baby doll and practice picking it up since he had not participated with the rest of class during that part. He obliged... and did a great job!

About the time we were finished swaddling Tanner's baby, it was time to line up for the grand finale... the hospital tour! All the kids excitedly lined up with their babies for the tour:

Mrs. Diane led us to the Labor & Delivery wing downstairs where we got to see a delivery room. After that, we headed upstairs to the Antepartum wing to see a Recovery room and then on to the nursery to see some new babies (all the rooms were very nice and spacious, with top notch amenities!). We were disappointed when we got to the nursery window and saw no babies, but as she was about to end the tour, in walked a nurse with a beautiful new baby in her arms! She came over to the window to show all the kids the beautiful, swaddled baby boy. He was precious, with a head full of dark hair and a beautiful complexion! I couldn't help but think, "Wow, this will be US in just a couple of months!"

As luck would have it, during the course of the tour, Tanner had hit it off with another little boy and they were having a grand old time together! Once we got back downstairs, they ran together back to the classroom, giggling and cutting up all the way.

Once back to the classroom, we ended the morning with light refreshments and by this time, Tanner and his new buddy were BFFs and he was having so much fun he didn't want to leave! Go figure. The other little boy was giving us his address and asking Tanner to come over to his house... we practically had to drag him out of there! LOL
It was cute.

All in all, I think this was a GREAT class to bring the kids to, they learned a lot and were able to see firsthand where Mom will be when the baby comes. I really appreciated the hands-on approach with the dolls and the tour and I think it was a great experience for them!

This girl is definitely ready... she cracks me up:

Now, hopefully we can make it through the next couple of months without the daily question, "When is our baby coming?" Only 86 more days to go... !!!

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Random Updates

2011-10-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

I'm 26 Weeks now... baby girl is really growing (and flip-flopping all around, might I add)!

This past Saturday night I went to Dallas for a little "reunion" dinner with some friends from college. Can't believe it's been 8 years since graduation... wow, I feel old!!! Here's a shot of our group:

And one of the ladies (3 of us are pregnant right now!):
It was a fun night... fun to catch up with everyone and see where life has taken us all.

And here are just a couple of random recent photos that I thought were cute:

Watching cartoons before school... Tanner looks thrilled. ;)
They're getting so big!

And here's my pretty girl at a friend's tee ball game a couple of weekends ago.

With Halloween just around the corner, I'm sure we'll be back with fun pictures of our Tinkerbell and Luke Skywalker... stay tuned!

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Halfway already?!?!?!!

2011-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

5 Months! I'm 20 weeks pregnant today.... I absolutely CANNOT believe I'm at the halfway mark already!!

I'm feeling more and more little twitches and kicks as the days go by, although I'm not feeling as much movement as I would've expected to at this point. I don't really know what is the appropriate amount for one baby, so it's hard to say if this is all "normal." Sure, I had eight limbs flailing around in there last time as opposed to "just" four this time ; ), so maybe that's the difference.

Anyway, I find myself looking forward to the evenings after I get the kids tucked into bed, when I can sit still and try to feel all her little movements. It's neat to have a totally different experience this time... almost makes it seem like the first time again, like I'm learning everything all over again (that, and the fact that it's been 4 years!)!

So, just a little over four more months to go! And, with the holidays, I'm sure it will FLY!!!! Hope we're ready for this! ; )

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Weeds

2011-08-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

We took the kids for their 4-year checkups on Friday and let's just say, they're still growing like.... weeds!

As we awaited our turn, I had to get a picture of this:

Because it reminded me so much of this:

My, how we've grown since our 1-year checkups!!!!

They did great for their checkups and even the shots. Once they learned they were getting shots, we had to prep them and pep talk them a bit. Daddy may or may not have "bribed" them with new toys if they could successfully get through them with no tears. ;) So he did, and it worked! Tanner put on such a brave face and went first with two shots in each thigh. He turned a little red in the face trying to keep his composure, but he was determined to earn that new toy and he did it! His Daddy took him to Target to pick out a new toy after the appointment.

Then came Tori's turn. She had been talking a big talk all up until the moment of truth, saying she would be the bravest one and go first. Well, when the nurse came in with the container of syringes, she retreated behind the nearest chair and got very nervous and sweaty... Ha! So, Dad took her out of the room while Tanner got his shots. When it was time to put her up on the bed, she tensed up all her muscles and the nurse was concerned it would hurt much worse if we couldn't get her to relax her thigh muscles. We tried for a couple of minutes to get her to take a deep breath and relax to no avail... every little muscle in her legs was hard as a rock! So, the nurse went ahead and administered the shots into those tense little legs, poor thing! She turned red in the face and began to whimper and fuss, but never cried and before she knew it, she was finished! She rode with me after the appointment and we went to McDonald's for an ice cream cone and then on to Target to let her pick a new toy (As if we needed any more toys... sheesh! These kids just had a birthday, I could've strangled their Daddy!!!).

So anyway, that was our adventure of the double 4-year checkups. No more shots until age 11! And, for those interested, here are their stats from the checkup:

Tanner - 41.4 lbs, 44.5 inches tall (this puts him in the 84th-percentile for weight and 99th-percentile for height!!)

Tori - 40.8 lbs, 43.75 inches tall (this puts her in the 83rd-percentile for weight and 98th-percentile for height!!)

So yep, we've got a couple of "Weeds" on our hands!

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It's a............

2011-08-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

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We had our big mid-pregnancy sonogram last Monday morning. The kids were thrilled to get to come along with us to see the baby and even more thrilled to find out they're having a sister!

Daddy & Tanner waiting anxiously...

This one cracks me up. They were, of course, fascinated with all the models of the different stages of pregnancy. Tori immediately pointed to the one with two babies and said, "Look Mommy! That's like me and Tanner!"

Several of our neighbors have been anxious to find out the baby's gender too, so we thought it would be fun to do a little "reveal party." In the days prior to our sonogram, we had the neighbors vote on what they thought would be the gender of Ball Baby #3... the overwhelming majority actually voted girl!

Two of our neighbors were most excited and had been planning their outfits all afternoon, decked out in head-to-toe pink. Here is Tori with "Team Pink" before the big reveal:

So, to reveal our news, I had stopped by a bakery earlier that afternoon and picked up a few pink cupcakes. I wrapped one of the cupcakes in a white box with pink tissue paper and lots of little cutouts of pink footprints inside. We let one of the most enthusiastic girls open the box to reveal either a blue or pink cupcake, as I had explained to them before she opened the box.

Now watch as they go crazy over the news... definitely the liveliest response we got from anyone! I felt like we were at a pep rally! It was crazy!

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Later that evening, we did the same thing with cupcakes to announce the news to Brad's dad, brother, sister-in-law and our niece and nephew. They were very excited as well, as my sister-in-law had been hoping for another baby girl!

We feel very blessed and look forward to meeting our beautiful new daughter in January!

Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

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And then they were FOUR!!!

2011-08-13T17:44:00.001-07:00

Well it's true... we officially have a couple of crazy four-year-olds under our roof:

We had a great celebration last weekend... all the kids seemed to have a blast at our "Backyard Carnival!" I originally thought maybe we were completely crazy planning an outdoor event in August, but it turned out to be not as miserable as I had anticipated, for which I was very thankful!

We started off the festivities with our very own clown... "Sugarlump" came to get the party started:

She had the kids doing all sorts of silly things:

After the clown show, it was on to the waterslide:

Then it was time for cake:

Make a wish!

Sweet four-year-olds... where has the time gone?

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Checking in...

2011-07-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post... I'm really slacking at this blogging thing!

To catch everyone up, I'm am now in my 14th week of pregnancy and here's a comparison of how I looked at this point last time with how I look now:

Here is last time - 14 weeks with twins:

And this time - 14 weeks with one:
Ummmm... yikes! I'd say "things" fell right back into place this time and remembered just what to do! I guess the two photos are fairly similar, but I just feel like I'm already showing more than I should be. Or maybe it's that I'm still in denial that we're actually having another baby! heehee ;)

Everything is going great though. I've been so blessed with an uneventful pregnancy so far; no nausea, no weird symptoms, aches, pains... it's almost like I'm not even pregnant! So thankful!!! Except for the gigantic appetite and feeling more tired early on (I've been feeling more energetic this past week as I'm entering my second trimester), I really don't feel any different this time around.

We have some exciting few weeks coming up! First of all, my "babies" will be FOUR in just over a WEEK! OMG, I can't even believe it. I might cry. Then, just a week after their birthday, we have our big sonogram and get to find out who our little "tie-breaker" baby will be! Will the boys outnumber the girls or the girls outnumber the boys? We will find out August 15th...... BUT, don't hold your breath, because we're not sure when we will officially announce the news. We're trying to come up with some creative ideas on how to break the news and may have a "gender reveal party" so we'll have to see when all that takes place.

People have been asking me if I have a preference on gender this time around or what I "think" the baby is. I honestly don't have a preference on gender at all, just personality! HA! It's kinda cool already having a boy and a girl, so I will be thrilled with whatever we end up with. There are wonderful qualities about both genders! The personality thing is where I have a BIG "wish list" for God... hope He delivers! ;) I've made it very clear to Him that I want this baby to be the most laid-back, easy-going, sweet, docile, jewel of a child the world has ever known! That's not too much to ask.... right? ;)

As far as what I "think" the baby is, with the twins I would try to imagine two girls or two boys and I just kept going back to the feeling that it was a boy and a girl, I just always felt that it would be. So that was very thrilling to discover, at 17 weeks, that those feelings were accurate. This time, I really don't have that "gut" feeling either way. I've had a couple of dreams recently that also don't really help in my own guessing.

The first dream I had about a baby was just after I found out I was pregnant. I was with Brad, Tanner & Tori at Disney World wearing a baby sling and I looked down to see the most gorgeous baby girl in my sling with a head full of dark hair... she was beautiful! And why we were at Disney World with an infant, I have no. idea. crazy!
The next dream I had was just a couple of weeks ago. This time, I was at the hospital having to be checked for something and while the nurse was examining me she said, "Oh, let's just do a sono real quick." When she placed the scanner on my belly, instead of the typical black and white, fuzzy, blurry image, it was clear as day, in color, as if we were looking into a glass aquarium. I could see the baby clearly and it was a CUTE baby boy. He had a head full of dark hair that was spiked straight up and he looked just like his Daddy! He was so adorable!!! So, I can't put any stock into my dreams, except maybe for the head full of dark hair! LOL :)

Well, hope you all enjoyed my update for the month... ha! I'll be in touch in a few weeks with photos from the kids' birthday party and hopefully sono pictures and a big announcement!

Stay cool everyone, (seriously, is it hot enough?!?!?!!)

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Farewell, Firstborn...

2011-06-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our last weekend with our beloved dog, Murphy, of almost 7 years. A few months ago, we made the extremely difficult decision to begin trying to find him a new home. After a couple of dead ends in the search, my Mom found a couple that has three other schnauzers and had actually been looking to add another to their family!

So, although it is very bittersweet, we know it is what is best for our family and for Murphy, too! He deserves more attention and care than we had been giving him for the past few years and having other dogs to play with will be an added bonus for him! And with another baby on the way, we know our household will only be getting more busy and chaotic, so it was time to make a change for everyone.

We will surely miss him and it will take some getting used to, but we are confident he will be so happy with his new family! We enjoyed him while we had him and will always cherish the memories we made with him, our sweet four-legged "firstborn."

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Fun in Seaside!

2011-06-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

We had a great week in Seaside last week. This is the beautiful view we got to enjoy every day as we walked to the beach:

In a huge contrast to last summer, Mr. Tanner decided he LOVED the waves!

Tori, as always, enjoyed playing in the sand.

Tanner got a kick out of laying at the edge of the water and being tossed around in the surf!

I captured a sweet little Daddy-Daughter moment on the beach:

One evening after dinner, we enjoyed popsicles...

...followed by a walk on the beach. We grabbed our buckets with the intention of looking for seashells.

But we soon discovered that evenings were perfect for catching CRABS!

So, this became our evening tradition. After dinner, we went to the beach to chase crabs. It was so much fun!

As the week went on, the ocean got more and more green. We learned from one of the locals this is called "June grass." I think it typically comes later in June, but it decided to come in early this year, so here is what the water looked like later in the week... Yuck:

Mommy & Daughter, having a great time. Is it just me, or do I have a little bump already?!?!!

Daddy buried Tanner & Tori in the sand... they thought this was BIG fun!

And of course, no trip would be complete without the family photo! Here we are on our last night:

And a close-up of Tori's adorable fish dress that Brad's Aunt Sally made for the trip:

We had an absolutely fabulous, relaxing and refreshing time away! It was a great way to kick off our summer!

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Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!!

2011-06-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog material, to bring you this special announcement on location at the beach:

Tanner & Tori want you to know they will soon be the Big Brother & Big Sister!

That's right, folks! We got a major shock last week when we found out we are expecting a sweet surprise next January! Ball Baby #3 is due January 21! Yikes! Three kids!

Let me take you back to last week, just a couple of days after I found out, to the moment I dropped the bombshell on the Daddy-to-be:

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So, this was definitely not part of our plan and came as a total surprise, but we ultimately trust God and His plan for our family, so we are trying to get used to the idea of another little blessing on the way! We're so thankful God gives us 9 months to prepare... ha!!

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A Day Out With Thomas 2011

2011-05-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

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Easter 2011

2011-05-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

Easter morning, Mom came over to help me get the kids ready for church and to take some photos of us all dressed in our Easter best... the kids were sooooo stinking adorable:

Meanwhile, Brad was already at Turning Point Church in Burleson painting for their three Easter services. I didn't get a picture of his first painting somehow, but here is the one he did in the second service:

Here he is in action during the third service:

Here is the finished product:

and the kids with Daddy's painting after service:

When we got home from church, the kids had a nice nap and when they woke up, there were eggs to be hunted!

We had a an awesome Easter... I am always in awe of what Jesus did for us on the cross and getting the opportunity to celebrate it every year is a blessing that does not escape me! We are so blessed in this country to still have the freedom to celebrate!

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Snow Days (& Days & Days & Days!)

2011-02-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, we had the unexpected blessing of a week off when local schools were canceled for a record 4 days in a row due to an uncommonly strong winter storm that rolled into our area and camped out for a few days.

I LOVED the extended time we had at home; getting to hang out and have uninterrupted quality time with the kids, doing art projects, baking, and getting some much needed organization accomplished. It was a wonderful break from the ordinary weekly grind.

(I will say, however, that it was poorly timed for my job though, as the first week of every month is always busiest with billing and balancing the books, so I played a lot of catch up last week and into this week as a result.)

But, other than that, it was wonderful. It only got a little old on Thursday late afternoon when the kids had had enough and were practically climbing the walls. So, we headed outside for some fresh air and averted meltdowns by inviting the neighbors over for dinner that night to change things up a bit. On the fourth day, we awoke to several inches of beautiful snow, so that was a very welcome sight after only looking at the treacherous ice for the previous three days. That was the best day by far! We skipped nap time that day and played outside with friends, sledding and snowball-fighting all day long. Literally, we were out for about 5, possibly 6 hours that day, it was so much fun!

Here are some of my favorite pics from our play days:

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A Magical Disney Christmas!!!

2010-12-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

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A Day In Seaside

2010-12-16T18:48:00.000-08:00

We arrived after dark last night to the small community of Seaside, Florida, where we have enjoyed the day today on our way to Disney tomorrow. We were thrilled because the forecast for today was calling for upper 60's/low 70's and sunshine and we thought we just might get a good family photo on the beach to use for our Christmas cards (yes, we're super late getting cards out this year!). Well, that was not quite the weather we ended up with - it was more of a cloudy/super-windy/slightly chilly/massive waves crashing/storm blowing in kind of day - but we had a great time anyway!

Here are some of my favorite photos of our wild adventure down to the beach before the rainstorm this afternoon:

Absolutely. Thrilled.

Mommy and her little man
Tori explores drawing shapes in the sand with her finger...
Then she decides she needs to get her feet wet.
So we count to Three and decide to "jump" over the edge of the wave...
JUMP!
Splash!
Meanwhile, Tanner sees all the fun we're having and decides he needs to join us. So he calls for me and reaches out his hand for me to come get him... soooo sweet!
He is so happy!
So we all go out together, hand in hand.

The water was FREEZING!!!
I love how this photo depicts their personalities so well.... she is my wild child, up for any adventure and is totally loving the thrill of this moment, hence the huge smile on her face... and Tanner, although I will say I am impressed that he even wanted to get near the water, is instantly not liking this situation the very moment his feet hit the cold water and he begins to cry and get this very concerned, upset look on his face! Haha, poor buddy!

So, that was a bit of our day. The adventure continues tomorrow as we travel on to Disney World! It's the kids' first trip AND we will be with 18 other family members, so it will be a Christmas we will never forget... needless to say, we are beyond THRILLED!!!

I will try to update over the next few days as time allows... stay tuned!

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Our 1st Christmas Program!

2010-12-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a fun and relaxing extended (as in 5 days long!) Thanksgiving weekend this year! On Thanksgiving Day, we drove to Granbury to have lunch and a brief visit with Brad's family. Then on Friday morning, we picked up my brother and headed South to the family farm to visit with my uncle and cousins for the day.

Upon arriving, the kids were amazed at the amount of leaves that had fallen in the yard around the house and immediately wanted to play in them. So, my cousin Gus stepped right up as the DLR (Designated Leaf Raker) to keep these two entertained while Brad and I got everything unloaded and settled.

Here's a cute video of them in action:

After a late lunch, it was football time!
LOVE this shot of Miss Thang trying to be "one of the boys" (same stance and everything, ha!)
Great action shot!

And of course, no 4C Thanksgiving would be complete without a shot of the whole group!

After a peaceful night at the farm, it was on to San Marcos to meet my mom and her two friends for lunch before heading into Wimberley for the weekend. Mom rented a great cabin this year and it was soooooo relaxing and wonderful! We stayed from Saturday to Tuesday and enjoyed nature walks, playing by the river, shopping in town and we even got to take the kids to a wonderful Festival of Lights that started that weekend... what fun!
I tried to get a good shot of Grammy and her grandtwins by the river... too bright! Squint, squint!

That's a little better... aww!! (Tori refused to part with her crayons for the picture though, so what you see is what you get!)

After playing by the river each day, throwing rocks in and making splashes, Tanner got a brave streak on our last day at the cabin and decided to experiment with throwing himself in too! Or maybe it was a bored streak... whatever it was, he sure spiced things up a bit and gave his mom a heart attack! I thought I was going to have to jump in after him a couple of times... but he had so much fun:

(The water was FREEZING!!!)

Soaking. Wet.
He is ALL BOY!

Hope you and yours had a blessed Thanksgiving too! We're looking forward to a wonderful Christmas season!

Smart Preschoolers

2010-10-25T21:04:00.001-07:00

The kids are having a great year in preschool this year. It has been so much fun to watch them just taking off in their learning! I am amazed almost daily at what they are picking up; new vocabulary, the things they recite and songs they're singing after they've been at school... they are like little sponges!

Here is the latest thing they've been working on:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I was so impressed! The only part Tanner left out was the "under God" part and then he says, "... with justice-y and justice for all," but other than that, he was spot on! It's funny to see the difference in their learning styles already. Tori has been working on the Pledge for a week or so now, but Tanner would just sit back and stay really quiet when she said it, so I was thinking he just didn't know it yet. Well, he just started saying it out of nowhere the other day and it came out so clearly and perfectly, that I knew I had to grab the camera! She will dive right in and try things, even if she makes mistakes, but Tanner prefers to take it all in and observe. What's interesting is that, by doing so, he usually learns things correctly and will recite something almost perfectly from the first try.

Tori is my little singer and can be heard making up all sorts of songs all throughout the day. It is precious! She picks up lyrics really quickly and easily, like her mom, so she comes home singing a different song almost every time I pick her up. One of her neighbor friends recently got a toy microphone and the two of them fought over it one evening while playing outside. I remembered an old computer microphone I had laying around that I never use, so I cut the cord off of it and gave it to her, and she's been a little performer ever since... ha!!! She likes to line up all their play chairs up in the playroom and then stand on top of the play table as a stage and make us all sit and watch her as she dances around and sings... it is a HOOT! She had all of us up there for a performance this past Saturday (Brad, Tanner & myself), I'm sure it was a sight to see. I will have to catch this on video soon! But I'll have to be sneaky... she tends to be a little camera shy!

That's all for now, just wanted to document this fun time before I forget it!

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Fall Time!

2010-10-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

We are LOVING the beautiful Fall weather we've been experiencing over the past couple of weeks as the seasons are beginning to change once again. I thought it was about time for some updated photos of the kids, so I loaded them up yesterday morning and headed to Bear Creek park for a nature walk and photo shoot. Here are some of the highlights:

I can't believe these are our kids.... they look soooo grown up! They are such a joy and a blessing to us and we are very much enjoying the "threes" so far...

Happy Fall, everyone!

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Fun in South Padre

2010-09-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from our fun trip to South Padre last month:

Stepping into the ocean for the first time!

The kids had so much fun playing on this frog slide at the hotel pool, but when it came time to sliding....
This girl
definitely
marches
to the beat
of a different drummer! She cracks me up!

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Just Beachy!

2010-08-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

We've just returned from a wonderful 6-day family getaway to San Antonio and South Padre. Sorry to tease you with only one photo but I've got oodles of laundry and sleep to catch up on! I will get a full update posted in the next few days....

Stay tuned!

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Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

2010-08-09T18:32:00.001-07:00

Wow, we have two three-year-olds... I can hardly believe it! What an exciting, busy and fun weekend we had celebrating Tanner & Tori's 3rd birthday. Here are some pictures of the festivities:

We woke up early Saturday morning and gave the kids their birthday gifts from us.
Tanner walked right by his new set of golf clubs and was thrilled to have more cars and a car showroom! The boy is still obsessed with cars... it's so adorable!

Tori was so excited about her new kitchen! It's been so neat to watch both their creativity and pretend play start to explode with an interactive/imaginative toy like this!

Here's Tanner giving his new chopper a test drive... he didn't want to try the pedals so he just "walked" it around the living room. Again, it has wheels so he was in LOVE... this guy is easy to please!

Before we left for the party, we tried to get a picture of the birthday kids together with their cute Dora & Diego birthday shirts...

Birthday Hugs

Sweet birthday kisses... they just melt me!

Daddy and Tori waiting to jump... here they are showing off their matching arm bands. Tori was so excited to go in and could hardly wait to play!

My TALL three-year-old... too tall to play in the Sesame Street jumper already?!?!?!

Tanner, Tori and Lexi having a bouncy blast!

Our cutie nephews, Jaden (4) & Dylan (8)

Tanner and his cousin Hunter playing on the slide

Peekaboo! Our niece Kaleigh (11)

Birthday boy sliding...

Birthday girl sliding...

Daddy sliding...

Lexi and Tori on the slide

My sweet girl having a blast!

They even got Mommy to play!

The Peanut Gallery: Uncle Chris, Aunt Kat & Uncle Andy, observing the kiddie mayhem!

Smith Ladies: Aunt Mary, Traci & Mom

Hunter & Dylan

Uncle Chris trying to teach Tanner how to hold up "three"... isn't that sweet?!?! My bubba is such a sweet uncle!

The party group - 15 hot, sweaty kids ready for some "happy cake"!!!!!

YUMMM... the Dora "happy cakes" (as Tori called them)

Party time!

Tanner enjoyed his happy cake...

...and Tori was still savoring every last bite. My girl ADORES a good "happy cake"!!!

My precious THREE-year-olds in the birthday seat at the end of the party... just can't believe they're 3 already!

It simply amazes me how fast they're growing and how swiftly the years are going by! I don't want to get all sappy, but it really is bittersweet. It's such a mix of emotions, actually. It's exciting because they're growing and gaining more and more independence, but it's bittersweet because they will never be this small again. I've got to get some video soon of them talking, because I don't ever want to forget how cute their voices sound and how they pronounce certain words. I've tried recently to record them and, every time they see the camera, they stop what they are doing, so I will have to do a "hidden camera" recording soon!

So, now that we have two "official" three-year-olds, the question we get more than ever now is, "When is number three coming?" We both feel very settled that our family is complete. I wavered a bit for awhile, but I'm now fully able to see how full my plate is and I just don't think I could handle three children. That sounds like so many kids to me! I'm so enjoying our little family of four - it feels perfect! So, there you have it, no more Ball babies.

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY, TANNER & TORI!
Your Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever comprehend! xoxoxo

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"Don't Make Me Turn This Car Around...!!!"

2010-07-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

We had a great time away last week... lots of driving, driving and more driving. We arrived at KCU (Kentucky Christian University) in Grayson, Kentucky two Sundays ago (6/27) and had so much fun hanging out with Brad at the camp for a couple of days while he painted and hung out with all the high school kids. Tanner (aka "Mr. Social") just ate. it. up. He is such an outgoing people person, it was so much fun to watch!

Last Tuesday morning (6/29), the kids and I left Brad in Kentucky to finish out the week at camp while we drove to Maryland to spend the rest of the week with Brad's Uncle Daniel, Aunt Holly and cousins Zoe (11) and twins Ally & Kassy (9).

Our drive to Maryland went pretty well, but was a bit more tricky since I was alone with the kids. It was hard to explain to them that I couldn't just hand them their blanket, pillow, Magnadoodle, sippy cup, etc., but the biggest challenge was not being able to break up their backseat scuffles since I was the one driving.

Well, we were driving right along, everything was peaceful. I was enjoying the gorgeous scenery, Tori was quietly watching a DVD and Tanner was napping. And by napping, I mean the boy was OUT. Sawing logs, drooling, head drooped over in his car seat... the kid was having a seriously good nap. The next thing I know, Tanner is screaming at the top of his lungs! Startled out of my blissful daydream, I crank my rear view mirror down to see whatintheworld is going on. Tori had reached over, grabbed his hand, and was chomping down on his fingers!!! I was furious!!! And trying to get on to her and get her to stop with my arm flailing behind me into the backseat while barreling down the freeway at 70 mph was not working. Luck was on my side though, as I looked up to see a sign for a Rest Area in 1 mile.... thank you, Lord!

So, still fuming, I pulled off the Interstate and was surprised to see a winding, uphill drive to get to the rest area. I followed the drive all the way up to the top of the steep hill, pulled around to the parking lot and looked for the nearest space I could find so I could throw the truck into Park, grab my naughty daughter out of the backseat and administer some much needed discipline. Well, as I pulled into the parking space, I literally gasped as I looked ahead of me and saw this:

The picture does it no justice at all, but it was the most beautiful, refreshing panoramic view of rolling hills, gorgeous green trees and a huge lake with boats dancing across the water. I was taken aback and was a bit speechless for a moment. I just sat there in awe of the scene.

But don't worry, Tori did get her much needed discipline, we all had a potty break and stretched our legs a bit, Mommy separated the car seats so the kids couldn't reach each other and then, I did what any sensible mother would do... I busted out the digital camera and took full advantage of this great photo op:

(it would definitely be greater if there were no cars in the picture!)

I can't decide if it's funnier that the heated situation turned into a "Rest Stop Photo Op" or that just 30 seconds before this photo was taken, the kids were screaming at each other, Tanner was crying from having his hand bitten, but in the photo they look so loving, like best buddies!?!?!?!!!

Or maybe the irony is that I was so fuming mad that my daughter was hurting my son and couldn't pull over fast enough and God totally wowed me... stopped me in my tracks with his beautiful creation and caused me to take a step back and "Breeeeaaaathe!"

I guess it was really Mom that needed to "chill" all along! Ha!

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Happy Birthday USA!!!

2010-07-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

Take 1...

Take 12...

Take 20...

HAPPY 234th BIRTHDAY, USA!!!

On our drive from Kentucky to Maryland, I saw a church marquee that said it best:
"America, bless God!"

God has already blessed America immensely for generations, but we've turned away from the very core beliefs and principles this nation was founded upon... we need to collectively turn back to God and acknowledge Him as King of this nation once again, lest He remove His hand of protection and blessing from us. No human government will ever have the answers, they are found in Christ alone!

"...from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam... GOD BLESS AMERICA, my home, sweet HOME!!!!!!!"

P.S. Look how much everyone has grown....
Our last visit to Maryland was two summers ago, Summer 2008 (Tanner & Tori were 11 months old, Zoe was 9 and Kassy & Ally were 7)

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Busy, busy, busy.... TOO BUSY!!!

2010-06-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

We've been keeping very busy over the past several months but I just wanted to pop in today so everyone would know we're still alive, we're still around.... we've just been busy...

building a house...
(here's Tanner & Tori checking out the front yard a few weeks before the house was complete... no grass yet)

enjoying the house...
(lots of nesting going on around here lately!)

getting back into our routines...
(kids cuddling with Daddy on the couch on a Saturday morning!)

and shopping for a breakfast table...
(here is the "fancy" card table we used for the first month!)

This is just a glimpse of what we've been up to lately. We are THOROUGHLY enjoying our new home and feel sooooooo blessed to have it. I will sit down soon and do a "proper" post with some substance, but until then this will have to suffice!

We leave this Saturday for our annual trip to Kentucky and Maryland and will return after the 4th, so there are sure to be lots of new pictures to post from our road trip adventures! I will do my best to make time to post as we go along on our trip!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far...

Hugs,

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Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! Please forgive my lack of blog posts lately... things have been busy around here as we're getting ready for our big MOVE!!!!! Our new house is completed and we are all set to move in this coming Friday after it is inspected and cleaned. We are sooooooo excited and cannot wait to have a place of our own again!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and am feeling so blessed and LOVED today! Let me tell you about the fabulous day I had.....

First of all, the kids decided to be ANGELS and sleep in until 8:30!!!!! GOD BLESS THEM!!! It was wonderful! After we were all up and dressed, Brad took the kids and I to IHOP for a fabulous pancake breakfast. The kids were thrilled to get their very own Funny Face pancakes and I was thrilled to have breakfast just the four of us, and someone else cooked it (not that I usually cook breakfast on the weekends - that's Brad's specialty - but it was nice, and actually relaxing!)!

Then, we came back to the house to hang out until it was time to start cooking lunch. Brad grilled the steaks (another one of his specialties), while I made the mashed potatoes, asparagus and veggies. My brother and his friend joined us as well as my mom's friend Sherry, so we had a nice lunch crowd and a great lunch! Later in the afternoon, mom, Sherry and I went to get pedicures together. That was probably the highlight.... sooooo relaxing!

So, it was a wonderful day! I am so blessed to get to be the Mom of these two:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

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March for Babies 2010: Walking for William

2010-04-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

First, here's an update on Baby William as posted on Facebook by his mom today.... God is working huge miracles in him!

Dear Friends, Family, Believers, Prayer Partners, and People who are loving Will,

Praises:
William had all of his tests re-run in the last week. After 7 weeks at Cook's which included; cardiac arrest at birth, abdominal surgery on 2nd day of life, peritoneal dialysis catheter 2 weeks later, and 2 weeks after that pyloric stenosis repair and g-button insertion-- we are getting ready to bring William home!!!

They used the word "normal" to describe his EEG and "healing" to describe the MRI. It's hypothesized that Will may have some fine motor development challenges, but early intervention and therapy may be able to head those off. His ability to think, make a joke, and have a career someday are totally intact and we expect great things from him.

He is moving up on his dialysis fill volume and handling it well. We should be able to move to an automated pump shortly which will make it possible for us to come home.
He is taking bottles and breast feeding like a champ and last night gained baby weight for the first time.

Today he smiled at me for the first time.
Daddy, Grandma, and Pop fed Will for the first time this week.
I got some needed naps this weekend and feel rested.
We started the home overhaul to welcome our boy home.
Every good thing comes from Father and He deserves all of the credit.

Prayers:
That there will be no more surprises.
That the transition from manual to pump dialysis will be seamless and with no problems.
That Will would gain weight each night so that his weight is not what postpones our discharge,
That my interview with SSI and Medicare for Kidney patients would go well so we have access to every program possible to help Will with his kidneys.
That the coordination of services through Cook's would be as easy as possible.
That we would be thorough and fast learners about dialysis at home and all it entails.
That Will, Chuck and I would be given the time and privacy we need when we get home to bond, get to know each other, and relax.
And for the surgeries to come. Although they will be necessary, I'll be nervous to return to a place where we were stressed for so long (56 days so far)

Much love to you all. Hug somebody. Kiss your babies. And know that God does answer prayer. It is not our story to have all of our problems taken away. But I an keenly aware that God took the hardest part (Will's brain) and ransomed a miracle on our behalf. We will just have to keep trusting in Him. Isn't that what we all do anyway? Keep trusting? Loving my son is loving me. And God must love us both beyond measure. "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word."

How AWESOME is our God!!!!

And now, some pictures from yesterday's walk:

March for Babies 2010 was a BIG success. Our team was able to exceed its fund raising goal of $500.... we actually raised $788!!!!! How awesome is that?!?!?!!! (our sidebar only reflects $505, we had some technical difficulties trying to get it to update correctly!)

I have to brag for a moment on our awesome nephew, Hunter. He had $8 of his Christmas or birthday money left over and came to his mom one day and said he wanted to give it to Tanner and Tori for the March for Babies walk!!! So, that's where the odd amount of $788 comes from... $8 was from Hunter. If that doesn't warm your heart, your heart must not be beating! He is a sweetie and we are so proud of him!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of our supporters! You knocked our socks off this year!!! Please know that every dollar you gave will be put to good use by the March of Dimes to help save the lives of preemies and offer much-needed support and education to their families!

Baby William is LIVING PROOF!!!

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Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you and yours had a wonderful time celebrating our Risen Savior yesterday! Brad was invited to paint at Turning Point Church in Burleson during the worship time at both their Easter services, so we were honored to get to attend there yesterday. Here are some favorite photos of our day:

Look at my sweet little Easter eggs!!! I just wanted to eat them up yesterday!

My pretty little Easter Lily... she was beyond thrilled to get to wear a big, special, twirly dress! And she would not part with her new white shoes the rest of the day... that's my girl!!! ;)

Here is Brad's painting from the first service (we joined him for the second service, so we missed seeing this one in action, but it turned out beautifully).

Here is a shot of Brad in action during the second service!

And here is the finished product... beautiful job, Babe!

Family photo after the service. The kids had a great time in their kids' church!

In other news, Brad's art site (bradballart.com) has been revamped and can be found by clicking HERE. Turning Point was thrilled to have him yesterday and thought it went so well, they were already talking about having him back for Christmas! What a blessing! One of our goals for this year was to promote his art and get him more painting gigs throughout the year, so this is great start!

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Walking for William Shirts!

2010-03-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Brad worked on an awesome design for our March for Babies team t-shirts and I am pleased to introduce you to this years' t-shirt! We will be sporting these "babies" at the walk in just 3 weeks!

Here is the Front:

And the Back with our tribute to Baby William:

Baby William is proving to be quite a fighter! He has had plenty of ups and downs since his birth, but things are finally looking up and words like "future" and "care plan" are coming into play, which is such great news. What a miracle!

William's mom Katie had a healthy, uneventful pregnancy (much like my own) when her water broke unexpectedly (same thing as me). However, come to find out, William was born with a case of undiagnosed Vasa Previa. If you are not familiar with this condition, take a brief moment to read the description HERE. This condition has a high infant mortality rate, so it's truly amazing to see little William fighting through it! Continue to pray for this family as he is not quite out of the woods yet and let's continue to raise awareness for Vasa Previa and prematurity by supporting great organizations like the March of Dimes!

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A Day Out With Thomas!

2010-03-15T12:31:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. We definitely had a super fun, enjoyable weekend ourselves! The weather was amazing, so we spent the better part of the day outside on Saturday. The kids and I went to the zoo with a friend while Brad played a golf tournament (if you haven't been to the Fort Worth Zoo yet since they opened the new MOLA last weekend - Museum of Living Art - you've got to go check it out... so cool!). Then we spent the afternoon outside playing on the driveway and taking walks around the neighborhood... just an all-around lovely day.

But Sunday was the biggest day of all! Brad and I, along with Grammy, took the kids out to Grapevine to see Thomas the Train, one of Tanner's favorite characters! I knew there would be lots to do but, until we arrived, I had no idea just how big of an event this was! There was a petting zoo, model train exhibit, and tent with train tables and art projects for kids to do, a Thomas bounce house and slide, a giant sand pit, childrens' musical entertainment and all the carnival food you could ever hope to make yourself sick on! You know, funnel cakes, giant corn dogs, nachos.... YUMMM!!!

Before we left, I just had to get a picture of them in their new zoo shirts from Saturday. They have just about outgrown their shirts from last year, but they always ask to wear them (Tori asks, just about daily, to wear her "ee-mool" (animal) shirt), so it was time for a new pair and they were thrilled!

Okay, so on to the festival...

Here we are in front of Thomas - even though this photo turned out a little blurry (most likely the sun), I just LOVE his expression and HUGE smile here.... this is what he looked like the entire time we were there, just completely thrilled and elated!

Next, we went to check out a tent where an impressive display of model trains was set up... Tanner was mesmerized, of course, and would have been perfectly happy watching them buzz around the tracks all day:
Some of them even produced real smoke!

After visiting the animals in the petting zoo, jumping in the bounce house, playing with the train tables and making artwork, we ate a quick lunch and then headed over to get in line for our ride with Thomas.

Here comes Thomas!
Tanner and Tori waited patiently (but eagerly!) in line for their turn to get on the train.

Once on board, we were all smiles!

Happy Boy!
Cheeeeeese!
Hi Tanner!
Grammy, Mommy and a sleepy Tori
Daddy and a sleepy Tanner

Here's a cute video of the kids enjoying the music during the train ride:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After our fun train ride, Tanner had to see Thomas one more time before we left.
How cute is this? Tanner and his Daddy smile in front of Thomas.

He rode on his Daddy's shoulders, giggling all the way back to the car.

As soon as we put them in the car, they were out! It was hard work having so much fun!

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Combined for Charity!

2010-03-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

After my last post on March of Dimes, I was contacted by HotelsCombined.com, which is a hotel price comparison search engine based in Australia that also happens to have a great charity program. They will send a donation of $20 to the charity of your choice for a blog mention and $10 for a Tweet about them. I just helped raise $30 by doing both!

Check out the Combined for Charity Program by clicking HERE.

Alright y'all, get busy Blogging and Tweeting and let's raise some money!

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March for Babies 2010

2010-03-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's that time again... can you believe it?!?!?!!

As many of you know, our family has been involved with March of Dimes for a number of years, but the organization holds an even greater place in our hearts since the premature birth of our twins 2 and a half years ago. Participating in the March for Babies walk has become our way to give back and show our gratitude for such a great organization, but also to help spread the word and raise awareness about prematurity, which is on the rise in our nation.

In fact, just last week, we learned of a friend of a friend who delivered her baby boy about 5-6 weeks early. He is currently in the NICU and has been struggling since the day of his birth. We are praying hard for Baby William and would like to walk in honor of him this year! Please say a prayer for Baby William and, God willing, he will be "walking" in next year's March for Babies too!

Click to read my past years' March for Babies posts:
2009
2008

Don't forget to click on my fund raising link at the top right side of the page to support our walk... we've set a goal of $500 this year! We have 45 days until the Fort Worth walk... can we make it???

Thank you in advance for your generous support and say a special prayer tonight for Baby William!

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Jenny

2010-02-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

Loss. Pain. Devastation. Heartache. Sickness. Disease. Hurt. Death. Unfortunately, these are things that we all have to go through in this life. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be, but we live in a fallen world where conditions are far from perfect. I long for the day when Jesus steps in to wipe all the tears from our eyes and redeem all that Satan has attempted to steal from us! What a glorious day that will be!

Two and a half weeks ago, I learned through Facebook that a friend of ours from our old church had been admitted to a local ICU after struggling with the flu for almost a week. We were involved in the same home group as she and her husband and, although we did not get to know them too well personally in the short time we were involved, we know enough about them to know they are a wonderful Christian family with a beautiful nine-year-old daughter and a passion to see kids come to Christ.

Unfortunately, her flu had advanced to the point of pneumonia and she began to have all sorts of complications because of it. Her family quickly started a Care Pages website for her to get the word out and build a massive army of prayer warriors on her behalf. Within just a couple of weeks, her site had grown to almost 10,000 visitors! People from all over the nation and world have been praying for this precious woman... it has been absolutely awe-inspiring to watch. Without going into all the unpleasant details of her trial, God did some amazing, unexplainable things during her courageous fight.

This past Monday, after two and a half weeks of fighting, the Lord called her home... the gruesome battle was over and she could finally rest with her Savior. Jenny was only 31, with a bright future still ahead of her, leaving behind a wonderful, loving husband and nine-year-old daughter, not to mention an awesome family and countless friends that loved her dearly. I cannot begin to imagine that kind of grief. A man left a widower in the prime of his life. A precious girl facing a future without her mommy. It breaks my heart in two!

It boggles my mind to think that just two-and-a-half weeks ago, she was at home with the flu, having to miss a day of subbing. How fragile and fleeting life is!!!

Tomorrow, we will gather to celebrate Jenny's beautiful life and grieve alongside her family and friends. I'm sure it will be hard but I know it will also be beautiful because she loved the Lord with everything and her life touched so many. Please pray for the Bizaillion family as they face the long road ahead.

One of her closest friends said this week on Facebook that one of the last times she prayed with Jenny, she remembers her expressing her longing for heaven and eternity. Sounds like Jenny really lived out this verse: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

I want to live that way. Thank you for your example, Jenny.

(Jenny and her family have no medical insurance. If you feel led to help this precious family, please go to www.greggpearson.org and make a donation. So far, more than $51,000 has been raised! The Gregg Pearson Foundation is a 501C3. Please contact your tax advisor about deductibility.)

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Say What???

2010-02-18T19:23:00.001-08:00

I wanted a way to document all the cute ways Tanner & Tori say certain things and their pronunciations at this stage, so I figured what better way to preserve them than to put them here, on their blog!

I've been meaning to write this post for months now and just haven't gotten around to it. But I must do it now before I forget all these cute things because these two are growing up so fast!!!

(The following may not be interesting to anyone else, it is just for my memory's sake!)

I was listening to them talk tonight and was in awe as I realized how clear their pronunciation has become over just the past month! Most of the following pronunciations are long gone now, but I don't want to forget some of my favorites:

"Hairpane" = Airplane (Tori)
"Muck" = Milk (Tanner)
"Ongage" = Orange (Tori)
"Nina" = Banana (Tanner)
"Nonny" = Banana (Tori)
"Hold You" = Hold Me (Tanner & Tori)
"Come out" = Come in (Tanner & Tori)
"Tar" = Star (Tanner)
"Yips an' Yotion" = Lips & Lotion (Tori; it is not uncommon to hear her asking for "yips and yotion" on a daily basis!)
"Yook" = Look (Tanner & Tori)
"Bandain" = Bandaid (Tori)
"Buh-bain" = Bandaid (Tanner)
"Bubble Bass" = Bubble Bath (Tanner & Tori)
"Eh-funt" = Elephant (Tanner)
"Ee Yunch" = Eat Lunch (Tanner)
"Eat Unch" = Eat Lunch (Tori)
"Pa-pack" ('a' as in at) = Backpack (Tori)
"Keri-Net" = Keri & Annette (Tanner & Tori; this is how they say their teachers' names)
"Ma-mat" ('a' as in at) = Nap mat (Tanner & Tori)
"Ee-mool" = Animal (Tori)
"Beh-yee" = Belly (Tori)
"No" = Snow (Tanner & Tori)
"No-man" = Snowman (Tanner & Tori)

They are the light of my life and they fascinate me every day! Love these two to bits!!!

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Snow Much Fun!

2010-02-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

Thursday afternoon, after a great Valentine's party at school and a full day of falling snow, we headed home to change into our snow gear and have some FUN playing in the snow!

Tori got to work right away gathering snowballs for a snowman.

Brother would NOT leave gloves on to save his life! (Pay close attention, this becomes a theme!)

Here's a quick little video of our fun...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tori was in awe of the falling snowflakes... what a sweet moment to catch!

Tori built a snowman all by herself!

And we even built a snow house! This snow was so much fun to play with because it was so dense and stuck together so perfectly (it reminded me of the consistency of a snow cone).

As we went inside for dinner on Thursday, the snowfall was picking up and continued all through the evening and into the wee hours of Friday morning...

Then, Friday morning, we awoke to more snow... LOTS MORE SNOW!!!

We watched as Daddy cleaned his car off and cleared a path out of the snow so he could leave for work.

A Beautiful Winter Wonderland... so magical!!!

Mommy's first snowman-thing (yes, I'm 30... yes, it's pitiful... cut me some slack, I'm a rookie here!)

Sledding! We had planned to sled down to the neighborhood ponds to see the ducks, but had to turn back because they wouldn't keep their gloves out of the slushy, melting snow. Hence, very cold, very wet little hands = two unhappy campers!

Tanner just couldn't resist eating the snow, despite me telling him to stop about 456 times!

Case in point... Tanner was miserable by this point, his red little hands in excruciating pain! Alright guys, time to go in!

We had a blast enjoying this rare snowfall and were so thankful that our power stayed on. So many friends of ours were without power around the metroplex (thank you, Lord!!!). It probably wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if we had to sleep in a cold house!

So, after it was all said and done, the official snowfall total at DFW airport was a record 12.5 inches, which set a new record for snowfall in a 24-hour period! It hasn't snowed this much in one day since the 12.1 inches in 1964... pretty cool, huh?

So there you have it, folks. It snowed in Texas. A lot. And in just a few months, it will be in the 100s again.... I LOVE TEXAS!!!

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Be My Valentine

2010-02-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite bloggers, MckMama, featured a post last week by a guest blogger. Her guest gave the cutest recipe idea for Valentine's Day and, as it turns out, they were really easy and fun to make! I was a little intimidated at first, but got a wild hair tonight and decided to try making these Valentine Petit Fours as treats for the kids' teachers and Brad's employees. Check out the original recipe HERE.

Here's how my batch turned out:
Although they weren't as artfully and beautifully decorated as Amanda's petit fours (I couldn't quite get the food coloring down for matching pinks), I thought they turned out pretty cute! And did I mention how EASY they were to make?!?!! I promise, anyone can do this!

The kid's were having a Valentine's party at school on Thursday so Thursday morning, we woke up to beautiful SNOW and got ready for school. We gathered up our treats to take for the party...

Gifts for our teachers... check!

Valentine's for our friends... check!

Adorable Valentine's outfit... check! (this was the best photo I could get of him... he was NOT in the mood for pictures! In case you can't tell, his shirt says "Mama's Boy"... too cute and soooo true!)

Pretty Party girl, complete with matching purse and bracelet... check! (She looks so grown up in this pic, I about fainted!)

They had a great time at school and got lots of goodies and Valentine's from their buddies. After school, we got to come home and play in all the SNOW that had continued to fall all day long!

Snow pics are next... stay tuned!

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Sundae Sunday!

2010-02-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed dinner and sundaes with our friends, Matt & Wendy last night. They were in town from Colorado for the weekend and it was great that they were able to spend a couple of hours with us between family visits.

Fun times!

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Yeehaw!!! It's Rodeo time, folks!

2010-01-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed the day at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo today with the kids and our sis-in-law, Kathryn. One of Brad's business clients had given him box seat tickets, so we were spoiled with a front row view for the kids' very first rodeo! It was great fun!

We left early so we would have plenty of time to walk around and see all the animals before the rodeo. They enjoyed it all, but I think the biggest hit was all the tractors! I think Tanner sat on almost every one of them... it was this little boy's dream-come-true!
He was BEAMING!!!

Sister's turn!

He ran around from one machine to the next, finger pointing at each one, yelling, "Yook, yook! Yook at dat one!" It was too precious!

Look at the concentration on his face! He must really think he's about to drive off in that thing!

He really could have done this all day long!

After seeing lots of horses, cows, pigs, bunnies, chickens, sheep, and plenty of tractors, we made our way over to the colliseum where we enjoyed our giant corn dogs before the rodeo started:
The corn dog was just about as big as him.... and he ate ALL of it! We were shocked! I guess all that tractor driving had worked up a big appetite!
Aunt Kathryn helped with mustard dipping so we wouldn't make too much of a mess!
Tanner gettin' some love from Aunt Kat

Oh boy! It's time for the rodeo!
We had fun waving at all the horses during the Grand Entrance!
We got to give high-fives to our Fort Worth police officers as they passed by...
We even high-fived the clowns!

Tori enjoyed her first taste of cotton candy...
I think it was a HIT!
We all got sticky fingers!

Tori enjoyed the bulls and clowns at the end...
Such a cutie!

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Friday Fun at the Zoo

2010-01-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a trip to the zoo with friends on Friday. It was an absolutely perfect, beautiful day... so nice to be outside enjoying the fresh air and sunshine!

Getting a picture of six adorable kiddos isn't easy, you know... here's Take 1:

Nobody seems to know where the camera is (except baby Collin!). And, Take 2:

How cute is this?!?!!
Miles holding Tanner & Tori's hands as they explore the zoo together

Check out these crazy, pink birds Mom!

Tanner just about jumped in with them!

All the excitement wore baby Collin out.... look at this precious, sleeping angel boy! *Sigh*
Tori was completely infatuated with baby Collin... when asked what her favorite part of the zoo was, her reply to me was, "Baby Collin!" She loved giving him kisses, touching his nose, playing with his hands and just gazing at his cuteness. When her Daddy got home from work that evening, she told him, "Daddy, I want a baby!" Uh oh, somebody's got the big sister bug!

Time for a snack!

Here's our attempt at five kids with the kangaroo statue... again, not so successful, but funny! Take 1:

Take 2:

Tori was liking the kangaroo and started hamming it up for us, so she got her own photo with him!

Cheeeeeeeeese!

What a great day! We'll be seeing a lot more of the zoo this spring and summer - we got a membership while we were there, so hopefully we'll be best friends with the gorillas and elephants by the end of the year!

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Family Ski Trip : Crested Butte 2010

2010-01-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

Crested Butte is unbelievably beautiful in Winter! The panoramic views were incredible everywhere we looked... I think it's safe to say, I was not ready to come home! We had a BALL! Here's the proof:

This picture almost looks fake, like a little snow village!

The kids had a great time navigating through all the snow!

I got to hit the slopes with my hubby a couple of times during the trip, thanks to David and Sally watching the little ones back at the condo for us! They are too sweet... thanks, guys!

Meet Brad, snowboarding extraordinaire (who knew?)... see next pic:

Mr. Ball went all X-Games on me... he was tearing up the slopes and having a great time and, as you can see, ventured out to try some crazy jumps! I love that he still has some kid in him... we have fun together!

Frank and Sally on the bunny slope lift, during one of her ski lessons

Brad and Hilaire snowboarding

Tanner really bonded with Uncle David! He loved to climb up on him and look through the pictures on his camera.

Here he is trying to walk in Uncle David's shoes!

On the last day, I took the kids down to the base to watch the skiers and see Daddy and Grampa. Here they are waving at Daddy as he gets strapped up to get on the ski lift (you can see Brad through the balcony rails down on the snow).

Farewell, Colorado! Can't wait to be back next year!

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New Year's with Nana & Papa!

2010-01-13T11:25:00.001-08:00

We had an absolutely fabulous week away in Colorado over New Year's! We left town early December 30th with Brad's Dad and headed to Denver to spend a few days with "Nana & Papa," followed by 5 days in Crested Butte with Brad's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin from Shreveport.

Here are some of my favorite pics from our time in Denver:

Tanner & Tori enjoyed Papa's sleigh rides around the yard (and I think Papa enjoyed it too)!

I love how Tori is grinning up at my Dad in this one.... so sweet!

Tori loved helping Nana clean the table... she felt so big!

Time for Christmas gifts... Tanner got a "big rig"; a red one, just like the one Papa drives!

He was thrilled and wanted it opened right away! He calls it his "wi-wig".... too cute!

Tori and Nana at "Parade of Lights"

Tori with Aunt Mary, Uncle Aaron and Papa at Parade of Lights

Tanner all bundled up, sitting by one of the tractors... he was disappointed that he couldn't get on it and sit in the real seat! Poor bubba.

Too bad we couldn't get them to look at the camera for this shot, it would have been a cute pic! They were too interested in everything else around.

We had such a great two-and-a-half days hanging out with Nana and Papa and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed having their grand twins around too! ;)

Up next, our trip to Crested Butte! Stay tuned...

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Galleria Girl Day!

2009-12-29T20:21:00.001-08:00

I forgot how much I LOVE the Galleria! On Monday morning, Tori and I dropped Tanner off at his Aunt and Uncle's house to have "boy day" with his cousin Hunter while the girls (Tori, Kaleigh and I) trekked out to Dallas for a fun girl day! It was Kaleigh's very first trip to the Galleria, so I could hardly wait to get there and show her around. I especially couldn't wait for her to see the GIGANTIC, three-story Christmas tree in the middle of the ice skating rink!

After a quick stop for cookies and hot cocoa, we went all the way to the top floor to see the Christmas tree and observe the ice skaters below. I wanted her to get a sense of how tall the tree was. We were on the fourth floor and the tree was still taller!

(Disclaimer: Photo quality will not be as good as usual... I just took my little snapshot camera so I wouldn't have to keep up with my huge Canon. Would hate to break that on the ice!)

Here's Kaleigh with the tree:

Tori with the tree:

Next, we headed downstairs to the ice skating area. Here are the girls in front of the tree on the (almost) bottom floor (the ice skating rink is actually the bottom level):

My little ice princess:

Kaleigh caught on quickly and was a pro in no time!

Mommy and Tori enjoying the ice:

How sweet is this?!!

This is FUN!

The beautiful Christmas tree... look how many ornaments are on it! That must take weeks to decorate!

Lunchtime at Genghis Grill... Tori felt like BIG STUFF getting to hang out with Kaleigh all day! Just look at that GRIN!

We've already decided we need to go again when we have more time to skate. We were having so much fun but we all got hungry and lunchtime got in the way. Next time, we'll skate till we drop! And I could definitely shop till I drop out there.... great stores!

I had such a fun day with my two favorite girls!!!

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In Loving Memory...

2009-12-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of my Maw Maw's homecoming. We sure do miss her down here but rejoice in knowing where she is! I can only imagine what she's been up to over the past year; likely catching up with loved ones, enjoying her new and perfected body, and adoring Jesus, of course! I also love knowing that she is finally reunited with Paw Paw, her four grandchildren and two daughters.... so neat to dream about what's going on in heaven today!

She was such a wonderful woman... I can't wait to see her again!!!!!!!!!!

(Maw Maw and Tori at our big First Birthday Bash... she was so proud of her great-grandbabies!)

In Loving Memory
Josephine Earle Connell
December 15, 1919 - December 29, 2008

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Christmas Day 2009: A Wondrous White Christmas!!!

2009-12-29T11:57:00.000-08:00

Our eager little elves were so excited to come out and see what Santa had left!

Santa came for Tanner and Tori!!!

Santa brought Tanner his very own set of golf clubs! Daddy showed him how to use the iron.

Santa brought Tori her very own purse with her name embroidered on it and it was filled with lots of fun, girlie goodies!

Princess Bedhead... love it!

Mommy helped Tanner open his new trucks from Uncle Chris!

Happy faces... a tad overwhelmed, but full of joy and smiles all day long!

Oh! One more present... we almost forgot to open our gifts from Gee-Gee (Mom's sweet neighbor... remember from Halloween?). Notice her boots on the wrong feet.... priceless!

Tori got a flat wooden dress-up doll. She came with magnetic clothing (dresses, pants, shoes) that you can mix and match on the doll. Very cute and she LOVES it!!!

Tanner got a set of wooden tools, complete with screws, nuts and bolts, a hammer and wooden screwdriver!

After gift opening, we bundled up and headed outside to play in the Texas SNOW!!!
So disappointed this pic turned out blurry, but what a DOLL!

We eventually had to add a hat and mittens to the ensemble because the boy would NOT come inside... he was having a blast!

Can't wait to take them to the "real" snow tomorrow! We leave for Colorado in the morning with Brad's Dad. The first leg of our trip is in Denver to visit Nana & Papa (aka my Dad and Stepmom) for a couple of days, followed by 5 days in Crested Butte for some family skiing, snowmobiling and just plain fun with Brad's Aunt Sally, Uncle David and cousin Hilaire from Shreveport, who will be meeting us there!

CANNOT WAIT!!!

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Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-28T18:56:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed a VERY nice surprise on Christmas Eve when it began snowing... and snowing... and SNOWING! What a wonderful blessing it was to have our very first White Christmas in Texas! It truly made Christmas so special.

Here's a picture taken from Frank's balcony before the sun went down. It doesn't really show much, just a glimpse of the gorgeous, white backdrop to our family Christmas celebration.

Here are some pictures from our Ball Family evening on Christmas Eve at Grampa's house:

The kids had a great time and while we were inside enjoying the warmth and company, it continued to snow. We went home that evening with several inches of snow on the ground and woke up on Christmas morning to a Winter Wonderland!

Up next, Christmas morning!!!

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ICE! 2009 at the Gaylord Texan

2009-12-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great family outing to the Gaylord on Tuesday evening! It was certainly crowded, but no less magical or enjoyable as always. On our way to the Ice area, we took our time checking out all the trains in the atrium and took a few fun photos along the way.

Mommy and her cuties in a one-horse, open sleigh

My buddy was mesmerized with all the trains!

Cheeeeeeese!

Cutest little engine captain in Grapevine!

"All Aboooooard!"

And now, for our Ice-ey fun!

All bundled up, ready for the COLD!

Cute Cousins!

Mom trying to keep her little penguins in line (pun intended! They did their best with the hour long wait in line but, they're only two, so it was a bit of struggle at times!) ;)

Case in point - This was hilarious! Tanner would lay down on the floor periodically for a little nap... it was hard work waiting so long! HA!

We're finally in... and it's SNOWING!!! (I love this picture, she was absolutely drowning in her coat, it was too cute!)

Taking it all in... They weren't too sure what to think at first, and then came the squeals as we got further along! So fun!

Here's the whole group, minus Brad (taking the photo) and Chris & Katrina.

Grampa and his boys!

The nativity scene was GORGEOUS!

My two cute guys!

After Ice, we went for a great (& late!) Mexican dinner at El Fenix. The kids slept HARD that night! (It's always a good night after they've played with their cousins... and I'm sure the excitement of the Gaylord helped too!)

Up next, CHRISTMAS!!!

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Helicopter Santa!

2009-12-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

We had an exciting morning last Saturday when we got to see Santa arrive in a helicopter at Bank of Texas in Hurst!

As we waited and cheered his arrival with the elves and helpers,

we enjoyed a little morning treat (Donuts!)!

Finally, the helicopters began to appear off in the distance as we cheered their approach. There were three helicopters; one with Santa and Mrs. Claus, one with Rudolph and one with Frosty the Snowman.

The elves cheered as the excitement began to build! Here comes Santa!

There's Santa, waving from the helicopter!

Santa and Mrs. Claus are escorted from the chopper...

Tori waved at Santa as he made his way down the line of people to say hello.

Santa stops by to say hello to the Ball Family!

After seeing Santa, we got to go over and check out the helicopters...

Tanner even got to sit in the cockpit!

Then, we found some motorcycles that he was fascinated with and the owner gave Tanner permission to sit on it... the boy was THRILLED!!!

Of course, sister had to join him for a picture too!

We had a great time and the kids talked about this event for the rest of the weekend! They were very animated as they recapped all of the details to us, over and over again. Tori was particularly hilarious to listen to as she excitedly told us about, "Seeta, and heh-copper, and mor-cycle, and DONUT!" while hardly taking a breath! She wasn't going to forget about that donut... she's a hoot!

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Santa 2009: Third Time's A Charm?

2009-12-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Before I unveil this year's photo, let's take a look back... you know, just for fun!

Santa 2007: My sweet four-month-olds were oblivious....

And how could we forget last year? Santa 2008....

To prep for this year's photo, we have been reading books about Santa at home and I had even taken the kids to the mall twice over the past couple of weeks for a Santa "walk-by," just to see him and observe from a distance. The first time we went to the mall, Tori was a little nervous but nothing too bad. Tanner was terrified and clung to me and would not so much as even look in Santa's direction. Santa had just finished with a child and had a break with no kids in line, so he came over to say hello and bring Tanner & Tori a lollipop and stickers. I thought he had won them over... they smiled, said "Thank you!," and even gave him high-fives!

At our second visit to the mall, we were with a couple of my girlfriends and, as soon as we rounded the corner to the Santa area, Tori ran up squealing with excitement! She even let my friend, Sadie, take her through the line for a lollipop and a story with Santa. Tanner clung to me, once again, and refused to look at Santa. Even the promise of lollipops and stickers would not persuade him that day! So, at this point, I just resolved to the fact that we wouldn't be getting a Santa picture this year. I didn't want to traumatize them unnecessarily, so we had just planned on skipping it this year, much to my disappointment.

Well, you can imagine my shock this morning when they woke up asking to, "Go see Santa!" "Are you suuuure?," I asked them, over and over. They assured me excitedly that they indeed wanted to go see Santa. So, I dressed them up in the nice outfits I had purchased just for this occasion and off we went to the mall.

So, without further ado, here is our 2009 Santa photo....

They COMPLETELY threw me for a loop and did a complete role reversal at the last minute! I just KNEW Tanner would be the cryer, but he held it together and SHE fell apart!!! During our wait in line, Tori had been waving at Santa and saying, "Cheeeeese!" as she showed us the cheesy grin she planned to use so Santa would give her a lollipop. Tanner was mostly stoic, quiet and just had a look of concern as we waited. Granted, he looks like he's working so hard not to cry, but he did it! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!

So, we got our Santa picture after all.... can you believe how BIG they are?!?!! When you compare all three of these photos, it looks like we skipped a year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Deck The Halls With The Balls

2009-12-14T19:09:00.001-08:00

Wow, it's been since Thanksgiving since my last post. Sorry for such a long delay! We've been busy enjoying the fun December festivities around here and getting ready for Christmas.... and, I've been in a bit of a blogging funk lately too, truth be told.

Here are some cute pictures of the kids helping Grammy with the tree a couple of weekends ago:
She is so proud of herself!

Big kids!

Reach up high!

Mommy helping Tanner put an ornament up high

They were so proud of their work and felt so big that they got to help decorate the tree! I have to admit, I was dreading putting up a tree this year because of the ~~destructive~~ curious stage they're in right now, but they have really done well with the tree, a lot better than I expected. Sure, they've broken a couple of ornaments and knocked a couple off the tree, but it hasn't been the constant touching, telling them "No" over and over that I expected it to be, like with my Mom's TV setup... now, that's a nightmare! Her TV sits low to the floor, so they are constantly touching the screen (the fingerprints are out of control!) and her components (DVD, etc.) are exposed on a low shelf. So, it has been a daily battle to keep them from touching buttons, volume knobs and ruining the DVD tray as they cram it in and out, sometimes with a DVD hanging halfway out of it! YIKES!

So, I think the Christmas tree has been a big success so far compared with that! HA!

And here they are today, with the finished product:
(The only way I could get them both to stand for a picture in front of the tree was to say, "Hold Santa's hand!" They went for it! And yes, that's a doll baby bottle in Tanner's mouth... he wouldn't part with it for the picture!)

We're gearing up for our Christmas celebrations next week and looking forward to seeing family and friends... only 10 more days to go!

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Thanksgiving 2009, Part II: The Wonders of Wimberley!

2009-12-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

So, to continue where I left off in my last post, as soon as we got on the road to Wimberley on Friday, the kids were OUT like lights! They were so tired from all that wonderful playing... looks like we'll be moving to the farm! Just kidding... but seriously, it was great for them to be able to get ALLLLL THAT ENERGY out!

We arrived in Wimberley around 3:00 Friday afternoon, where we met up with Grammy (my mom) and Uncle Chris (my brother). Our cabin was great! Brad and I slept downstairs with the kids in a room with a king bed and there was a bunk room upstairs with four twin beds. Every morning and evening, we got to watch the deer come up and graze near our front porch. It was such a thrill... even for the big kids! ;)
Brad captured these beautiful shots right outside our window!

And they're OFF! They are certainly very cautious creatures!

There were creatures everywhere...
We even found a hawk perched on a stump, hunting for his lunch!

These next two pictures crack me up! We had quite a time keeping the kids off of the spiral staircase in the cabin. We had it blocked with a chair most of the time, except when someone had run upstairs to get something and would be right back. My mom had just gone up the stairs when Tori sneaked over, and I caught the following "innocent" look from her:
"Nope, not me! I'm not doing anything Mom!"
And here's the look she gave after realizing she'd been caught! Hahahaha, she's such a trip!!!

Enjoying a morning stroll with Daddy

The Fall colors were GORGEOUS!!

Tanner goes "off road" to check out the tall grass

Mom and Chris walking

We stopped for a photo opp at a tree stump after Tori asked to climb up on it. Does she not look like she's on a parade float here?!?!! What a HOOT!
Princess Tori waving to her adoring public

Then, of course, wouldn't you know, her brother had to have a turn too!

And, just for good measure, we had to get one of them together!

Well, that concludes our fun Thanksgiving weekend. Hope everyone had a good one!

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Thanksgiving 2009, Part I: Family Fun at the 4C Ranch!

2009-12-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed our time at the family farm for Thanksgiving Day! We left town early Thursday morning and arrived before noon, just in time to feed the kids lunch and help out with the big feast that was scheduled for later that afternoon. Nana and Papa (my stepmom and Dad), had arrived earlier in the week to get everything ready for the big group on Thursday.

Nana and Papa recently adopted another Yorkie pup, Allie, and let's just say... the kids were ENAMORED with them!!!
Kids chasing the puppies, Allie and Remi

Tanner wanted to hold a puppy... here's Daddy helping him do it properly ;)

After lunch, the kids stayed very busy! They skipped their nap and just played outside to their hearts content until it was time to DRAG them back inside. (And that's literally what we had to do when it was time for Thanksgiving dinner... they LOVED it out there and I loved that they had plenty of wide open space to play!)

They enjoyed climbing on the fence together

This reminds me so much of me as a kid at the farm, always climbing the fence

The boys enjoying a little pasture-golfing
How stinkin' cute is this little golferboy?!?!!!

Daddy is already coaching!

Uncle Aaron helping Tanner with his swing

Tori and Aunt Mary were buddies for the day... they had so much fun together! (Aaron and Mary were married last September and this was her very first visit to the farm... it was so great that they were able to come for Thanksgiving!)

The guys built a GREAT bonfire this year! The Thanksgiving bonfire has become a tradition for our family over the past 10 years... it's something we all look forward to!

And here's the bonfire in action later that night with our crazy fire-jumpers... "Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, and See No Evil" Silly boys...

Daddy and Tori taking a walk the next morning
Somebody looks sleepy!

After lots more playing on Friday morning after breakfast, fishing with Nana and playing with the puppies, we hit the road around lunchtime and headed for the second stop on our Thanksgiving road trip..... Wimberley, Texas!

(to be continued...)

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Thankful...

2009-11-23T12:41:00.001-08:00

With Thanksgiving just days away, I thought I would reflect on all the things in my life I have to be thankful for.

I am THANKFUL for and BLESSED to have.......

...a relationship with my Heavenly Father, who gets me through life

...my wonderful, loving and supportive husband (not to mention, HANDSOME!!!)
(me with my HOT date before we left for the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Dinner last weekend)

...my husband's job that supports all of us (many people have lost work this year and I am very blessed not to HAVE to work outside the home!)

...our two healthy and precious children
(this is what an after-bath dance party on Grammy's bed looks like!)

...a roof over our heads

...three meals a day (this is a luxury in some parts of the world and I don't ever want to take it for granted)

...my own life and health

...my Mom (she is such a help, support and blessing to us! For one thing, we're so spoiled that she helps out with the kids so much and secondly, we're all living with her right now... bless her heart!!!)

...the freedoms and liberties I have as an American citizen (freedom of speech, religious freedom, etc... another thing I never want to take for granted!)

...my Dad and Stepmom (they are traveling down from Colorado to spend some time with all of us this week and we are thankful for that!)

...great friends (we have so many great, supportive, encouraging and loving friends in our lives to be grateful for!)

...our upcoming trips (we are looking forward to spending some time away this week for Thanksgiving with both sides of the family and then an upcoming ski trip in January!!!)

...and LASTLY, I am thankful for Thanksgiving itself, because it causes us to pause each year and reflect on the many BLESSINGS we have in our lives! There might be plenty of things going wrong in your life and a handful of negative things or situations, but if we can step back from it all and look at only the positives and the blessings, I think we can all find many things to be THANKFUL for!

What are you THANKFUL for this year?

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Fabulous Fall!

2009-11-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

This has GOT to be one of the most beautiful Fall seasons I have ever seen in North Texas!!! (Can I get an "Amen" from my Texas readers?)
Just look at this... GORGEOUS!!!

We have had huge amounts of rainfall this year which has produced the most colorful trees I have ever seen here before. So, we've been out enjoying the scenery and awesome Fall weather as much as possible. This past Sunday, the kids enjoyed an impromptu playdate with their cousins at a local park.

Awww, I love this boy! (Daddy captured a sweet Mommy-son moment!)

Cousins pushing cousins... so cute!

We discovered that we capture the best smiles at the bottom of the slide!
Peekaboo, Happy Girl! This girl squeals all the way down, she loves to slide! (you can almost "hear" her in this picture, can't you?)

Hello, Happy Boy!

Kaleigh and Hunter introduced them to the JOY of playing in the leaves. Hunter found a pile of leaves and showed Tanner how to jump in them. He was giggling and having the best time. Then, the girls joined in and Kaleigh and Hunter started throwing the leaves up to fall on Tanner and Tori.

It was sheer elation!

Look at the thrill on his face!

What a fun day! I LOVE FALL!!!

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Creative Solutions For Small Spaces

2009-11-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

Living in a smaller space temporarily (aka Grammy's 1700-ish square foot house) has presented some wonderful organizing challenges for me. I always love a good organization puzzle to challenge my brain! I know, I'm a dork. ;)

My first challenge has been keeping things off the floor so the house stays as tidy as possible. After installing 3M Command Hooks in just about every nook and cranny of the house (I think we're up to 8 so far!), my next pressing project was to provide some sort of privacy to the front room that Brad and I are calling home right now. We are sleeping in her front sitting room/study that has french doors with glass panes.

So, I had a crazy idea one day and decided to give it a try...

Here are the doors Before... there's our cozy king size bed tucked into the little study!

I found some pretty scrapbooking papers at Hobby Lobby that matched the warm colors of Mom's decor throughout the house. I borrowed a cutting board and cut each 12" X 12" sheet in half (each of the 30 glass panes measures 12 1/8" X 6 1/8"), creating 6" X 12" sheets.

Using removable adhesive dots, I placed a dot on each of the four corners of the paper....

... and mounted the sheets on the inside of the doors facing out.
Here's the finished product... what do you think? It ended up looking like a cozy quilt and it definitely serves its purpose! After the fact, I wondered if I should have picked my favorite pattern and used it for all the panes, but this look works for now.

I think paper was a great temporary fix, but for something more permanent, you could try fabric, wallpaper samples, frosted or faux stained glass privacy window adhesives or even create a photo collage display.... the sky's the limit!

Now, go do something creative today!

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Livin' It Up At Grammy's!

2009-11-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take the time today to let everyone know how we're doing over at Grammy's house now that we've been settled in for a little over a week now.

Being 30, married with two kids and a dog, moving in with my mom was not something that was ever on my radar but, like I shared before, we were hitting walls left and right in our search for homes and rental properties. So, my dear, sweet, wonderful Mom invited us to stay with her in the interim and, I have to say, it's working out great for everyone! Mom and I are the best of friends and were already used to seeing each other multiple times a week and talking multiple times a day, so this is not too terribly much different.

The kids are LOVING being here and I know Grammy is eating it up too! I think this time at Mom's will prove to be a special time that we can look back on with fondness one day.

It is such a blessing that Mom offered her home to us. I know it was a sacrifice of her privacy, routine, etc., but we are truly thankful and hope that these next few months will draw us even closer as a family as we get to share our "everydays" together!

There are actually many American families nowadays that are adopting this more European living arrangement, where generations live together under one roof. It's actually pretty smart when you think about it. Do you or anyone you know live this way? What works/doesn't work about it? Please share your thoughts and ideas with me!

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The Story of My Life: Ode To My Twenties

2009-11-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

As I sit here on the eve of my 30th birthday, I can't help but reflect on the life I've lived thus far, reminisce about the past and dream about the future.

This being the very last day of my twenties, I've already been reflecting on my prior twenty-nine years all day and, I have to say, it's been a beautiful ride so far! As I thought about how I could sum up all these years into one line, I thought, "If I had to give the story of my life a title, it would be: How Blessed Can One Person Possibly Be?" That is truly how I feel about my life!

Sure, it's had its ups and downs, good days and bad, glimpses of tragedy and moments of heartache. But I cannot, even for one second, deny that I didn't see God in each of those instances and clearly hear His voice in every circumstance. You see, God uses each experience in our lives; the good, bad and the ugly to reveal Himself to us, to teach us about who He is, how much He loves and cares for us, even in the tiniest details of the everyday mundane. God is so AWESOME and He is the true and only meaning to life! Seriously, folks. That's the only reason we're all here. It's to love God and love people. Nothing else matters. It's taken me awhile to figure that out. I'm still figuring that out. I try to get better at it every day, but it's a long process!

Tonight, I have chosen a handful of my most impactful life moments to share with you and how each one has impacted who I am and my view on God.

Born in 1979, my parents divorced when I was only three, my brother one-and-a-half. While I was too young to remember my parents together, it still impacted my life throughout my childhood. Since God knew I needed a good example in my life of a strong and Godly marriage, my grandparents filled this void and were very involved in my life. They are a big part of who I have become and I owe so much to them. I miss them both so much. My Paw Paw passed away in 2002, just a few months before my wedding (I was 22) and my Maw Maw passed away just last December. They were wonderful people!

It was my grandparents who also played a big role in my learning about God from an early age and were so thrilled when, at the age of 12, I came home from children's camp and announced that I had given my heart to Christ. That was a big defining moment in my life for sure and I would love to say that I went out and took on the world for Christ at that time but rather, it was just the beginning of a transformation that is actually still taking place in my heart to this day, 18 years later, and it likely will be until the day I take my last breath on this earth.

My senior year in high school was a very defining and life altering year for me. On October 17, 1997, four of my cousins were killed in a car accident on their way home from a Friday night football game when they were hit head on by a drunk driver. They were ages 19, 17, 13 and 11... this was undoubtedly devastating and rocked our family to the core! These were some of my best friends growing up, my favorite people that I looked forward to seeing every summer at my grandparents' ranch. Laurel, the driver, who was 17 at the time, was also a senior in high school that year so it really hit home for me. I could dedicate an entire post to just this one event and the countless ways that God was in it, but just know that He was in every detail of this awful tragedy and He met every one of us in our grief. Although this is not the way I would've ever wanted to learn this lesson, it forced me to grapple with the very serious life and death questions at an early age and become eternally minded early on. I have never viewed death the same since.

Nearing the end of my high school years, after a few bad choices and stupid decisions, I found myself at a youth conference in Austin during the last semester of my senior year (just months after my cousins' deaths), broken and humbled in the most authentic and passionate worship service I'd ever been a part of. It was during that weekend that God radically stirred my heart and deposited a calling on my life that altered the course that I had chosen for myself. You see, I had already been accepted to Texas A&M Corpus Christi to pursue my childhood fantasy of becoming a marine biologist and to work at Sea World as a dolphin trainer. Now, while that would have been a really cool job and all, God had other plans and I am forever thankful that I heard His voice, listened and obeyed. As I glanced up at the worship platform one evening and saw two awesome women of God - one of them was Christy Nockels - the Lord very specifically, almost audibly, said to me, "You see those women up there worshiping, leading these people into my presence? That is what I have for you."

I have to admit, I almost laughed! You know, since I already had my own future planned out and all. But I knew so deeply within my heart that God was speaking to me, there was never a doubt in my mind. So, after returning home from that life-changing weekend, I denied my acceptance to A&M and started praying hard about where I was to enroll to study... gulp... MUSIC?!?!! Yes, I had loved music all my life and had been involved in piano lessons and band from a young age, but I had never sung (except for in the shower) or been in choir (other than our small youth group choir), so I was kinda wondering how I was going to be a worship leader.

Long story short, I dove right in, finding a voice teacher immediately and beginning to get involved on different worship teams in the area. I graduated from Dallas Baptist University with my Bachelor of Church Music 6 years ago (WOW, 6 years already?!?!!) in December 2003. Although I have yet to find an actual paying job in this field, I have been blessed to lead worship for the past 10 years and have enjoyed being a part of some great worship teams in the area! It has been a very fulfilling journey and, although I am currently entering my sixth month of sabbatical from worship leading, I know my journey is far from over. At the end of May, I felt the Lord calling me take a step back and reevaluate some things in my life. It has been a difficult process, but again, I know the Lord is in it so I'm continually listening and waiting on Him in this area.

(Okay, if you've made it this far, God bless you! I didn't intend on being this long winded, but I have just two more things to share with you so go grab a cup of coffee, splash your face with cold water and keep trucking with me!)

Alright, so the next awesome thing I want to talk about is my husband! I had dated a few duds in high school and just wasn't sure that there were amazing, God-fearing men out there anymore, especially not for me! After a few disappointing letdown dates in college, I made a firm decision that I was DONE DATING. DONE! I realized that it was pointless and just began to pray to God about my future husband and for my future husband. I prayed that God would prepare his heart for me, my heart for him and bring him into my life at just the right time. And get this, I even made an actual list of all the qualities I desired in a husband. I know that may sound ridiculous to most people, but I had heard of several women who had done the same thing and prayed over their list and God honored it. So, fast-forward a year (that's right, I didn't date for a year!), when Brad entered my life and we started dating, as I got to know him more, I kid you not, I could've gone down that "list" of qualities and checked off EVERY LAST LINE. Literally. No exaggeration. I was floored! Come to find out, Brad had not a physical list but more of a mental list of what he desired in a wife, and I fit every one of his qualities. Isn't God awesome!?!?!! I share this life detail as an encouragement that God is truly in the details and also, if you are single and have a desire to be married one day, don't settle for less than God's best! God has the perfect* mate already chosen for you. Just ask Him and He will show you... I promise!

*(Now, by perfect, I certainly don't mean the person is "perfect"... that's a whole 'nother topic, hee hee!)

Lastly, one of the more recent life events that God was all over was our journey to becoming parents. At Christmas 2005, Brad announced to me that he was ready to start a family. I was thrilled, overjoyed, elated... you get the idea! So, we began "trying" (Ewwww, sorry, that's so descriptive!) the very next month, in January 2006. Anyway, Fertile Myrtle here conceived the very first month and we were, to say the least, shocked. Totally didn't see that one coming at all. Nevertheless, we were happy and began to get more excited about it as the days went by. Once we saw the baby's heartbeat, we announced the big news to the grandparents-to-be and it was official! I ended up miscarrying in my ninth or tenth week of pregnancy and had to undergo a D&C. I was crushed. Devastated. Even to my own surprise! In just a few short weeks, I had already grown to love this little child and had begun keeping a journal of prayers for the baby. Looking back now, it was such a blessing to have that journal because it has become a treasure and the only record we have of our first little one's existence. That was a very difficult and emotional time in my life, almost unexplainable, but God graced me with a strength I didn't know I had to walk through it.

I'll never forget that weekend (when we were to find out for sure on Monday whether my hormone levels had indeed decreased, confirming the loss), I was scheduled to lead worship at church and I, quite honestly, didn't feel like it. I was heartbroken. But I really felt like I was supposed to, so I did. I felt strongly like God was telling me, "I'm still worthy of praise." Well, on the set list that weekend, was a song called Blessed Be Your Name. The bridge of the song says, "You Give And Take Away, You Give And Take Away, My Heart Will Choose To Say, Lord Blessed Be Your Name." I couldn't get through those lyrics without crying that weekend, but I knew that was God speaking to me and honoring me for fulfilling that commitment. Wow, that still gives me chills. That was no coincidence!

10 months later, I conceived again and we were over-the-moon thrilled (and a bit terrified!) to discover that I was having TWINS! It was such a sweet blessing that, after losing our first child, God was now blessing us with TWO! It felt like a hug from heaven!

Many of you know the rest of the story.... my pregnancy was picture-perfect, no problems whatsoever (another huge blessing!) with a surprise ending. My due date wasn't until October, but my water broke at the beginning of August and the babies were born ten weeks early. I was worried and terrified, but again, there was a peace that sustained me. Praise God, the babies were born perfectly healthy with no complications, just too early and very small.

They spent six looooong weeks in the NICU and, although there were many days I ached to have them with me and cried that I couldn't bring my babies home, God deposited a peace and strength for that season that I didn't know was in me. When I think about it now, I don't know how I made it through that time, but He gave me the grace I needed to get through it and I've been enjoying and relishing in the joys of mommyhood ever since! Well, most days! ;) haha!

So, as I close the books on my twenties, I enter my thirties with a renewed confidence that God has every single day of my life in His hands, they are each numbered and ordained by Him and I can rest in knowing that He is truly always with me! I hope that God has used my life story to touch yours in some way tonight. He loves each of you and has an awesome plan for your life!

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you so much for blessing me with thirty wonderful years of life! Life is challenging at times, but I would not trade any of the tough times, for those are the experiences that have provided invaluable life lessons! I also wouldn't trade any of the blessings You've brought into my life and the moments of pure JOY I've experienced simply in being alive... life is truly a GIFT!

Your grateful daughter,

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Halloween 2009: Meet the Dino-twins!!!

2009-11-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we survived the big move last week! Just to catch everyone up briefly, the whole house search went south pretty quickly for us, unfortunately. After we received an offer on our house, we checked in on our top 3 houses only to discover they all had contracts on them by that time. So, we began to search for apartments and rent homes to live in temporarily while we waited for the right house to come along. We couldn't find any decent rentals that would rent for less than a year so, after much discussion, we were invited to stay with my mom while we wait it out or decide to build something. So, here we are. The kids are adjusting well and are thoroughly enjoying being at Grammy's house (I'm just hoping I won't have too much spoiling to undo once we move out!).

So needless to say, after all the hard work last week, we were ready for some fun family time!

Tannersaurus and TyranoTori had such a fun night last night! They LOVED their costumes and enjoyed surprising people with their dinosaur sounds. You never knew when to expect a big, "RARRRRRR!" from one of them... it was too funny!!!

I just couldn't resist getting a shot of their tails as they walked with Daddy to the first stop of the night.... Gigi's house!
Linda, aka "Gigi," is one of my mom's neighbors who has older grand kids but loves to spoil little ones like they are her own! She is precious!
Here's Gigi passing out treats to two very eager dinosaurs!

After Gigi's, we made one more stop at our Realtor, Diane's house for more treats and a family photo in her beautiful backyard.

Then, it was off to a Fall Festival at a local church, where we:
Enjoyed our first petting zoo! (Tori adored the bunnies!)
Looked adorable... what a Dino-cutie!
Collected lots of treats for ~~our bags~~ Mommy's sweet tooth!

Once we arrived back home, we stood at the front door and watched the last few trick-or-treaters walk by....

....and enjoyed some of the evening's loot!

After our treats, a quick bath, and a good brushing of the teeth, we were more than ready for some sweet dreaming with our fun Halloween blankets and pillows!
Sleepy girl!
Sleepy little man

We had such a fun night with our little dinosaurs! We've already started trying to come up with ideas for next year's costumes. We're thinking maybe Dr. Seuss' "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" or maybe a family theme like, The Flintstones. If you think of any other ideas, send them our way!

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