The Chamberlain Family

Our First Pets!

2011-07-30T06:02:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to find opportunities to say yes to things that I can say yes to lately, because as a parent of small children I feel like I'm always saying no. So when Tucker asked if we could get a fish, I happily said yes!

Patrick took the kids to the pet store and brought home "Shu Todoroki" (named after a car in Cars 2) & "Rapunzel". Clearly, they were so excited! So glad we said yes....

Happy 1st Birthday Carter Jackson!

2011-06-07T20:29:00.011-05:00

Precious Baby Carter,

You are amazing! I admit I was a little shaken up when we realized you were coming -- Presley was only about 8 months old! -- but you are living proof that God is in control, that His timing is always perfect, and that He desires to bless us beyond our wildest comprehensions! We could not love you any more or be more happy that you are here with us.

Your first year has been amazing. When you surprised us by coming to be with us so soon and starting out so tiny, I had no idea what to expect. But right away you were at home being the baby of the family in more ways than one. We have all loved you and catered to you right from the start, and in return you've been patient and happy to just hang out until I could get to you. Tucker and Presley have adored you from the first mention of you, and they love to be with you. Tucker likes that he finally has a brother to rough house with, and with you being such a tank he's been able to do that a lot lately. Presley thinks of you as her baby, and she loves to be with you at all times. When you were smaller she liked to rock you and sing rock-a-bye to you, but now she loves to wrestle you and pull you around and smother you, and you love every minute of it! The two of you are little buddies, and I'm praying that special closeness will always remain.

You are the perfect baby, Carter Jackson. You are sweet and cuddly -- something your mommy has been waiting for -- a cuddler! You are definately a mommy's boy, but you are very friendly and are willing to go to almost anyone. You love MeMe and all of her kids, and you light up at the sight of her. You love Nana and Papi, and have already figured out a lot of Papi's silly games! Whenever he says something to you, you know which game is coming and you start to laugh. It's precious. You love to eat! You love your sweet blue elephant. You're doing great with a sippy cup, though I want to keep you a baby a little bit longer.

Carter, my prayer for you is that you will fall in love with Jesus and radiate His perfect love to all who encounter you. You are already doing that with us. I pray that you and I will always have a closeness between us, and that Bubba and Sissy will be your lifelong best friends. I know that being the third is going to be tough sometimes -- like when you grow up and realize you don't have very many pictures of your childhood or posts on this blog dedicated just to you. Adding you to the mix has made my time vanish, but please know that being my baby gives you a very special place in my heart that my other babies can't touch. I love you so much I think my heart may really burst. Being mommy to you and your brother and sister is the most incredible gift I've ever received. I adore you, my precious baby boy.

Happy 1st birthday little one. I'm looking forward to every minute with you.

Love always,

Mommy

Rub-a-dub-dub, three Chamberlains fill our tub

2011-05-08T18:28:00.001-05:00

Rodeo Day!

2011-04-22T15:30:00.003-05:00

Today was Rodeo Day at school and Tucker had a great time! They've been learning all about our great state and today they rotated through Texas-themed learning stations in each kinder classroom.

I have been so unbelievably happy with Tucker's kindergarten experience. Mrs. Linthicum couldn't have been a better fit for our Bear. She truly loves him unconditionally, and we love her right back! The kinder team here at Boals works crazy hard to ensure each child is learning and loved, and we just couldn't be any happier. It's been a great year!

Happy Trails :o)

To Presley Dallas on her 2nd Birthday...

2011-03-06T14:59:00.005-06:00

Dearest Presley,

Happy birthday, my precious girl! You are so very loved. The last 730 days with you have been anything but boring. You are so very grown up. You do things so much faster than your brother did that it's hard to believe this time that you are still so little. You've been talking really well for I guess about six months now. For the most part I think anyone can understand you (but I treasure the times only your family members can decode for you! It reminds the world you belong to us.) I love it when only Bubba can understand you, like yesterday in the car you were saying 'Mama serus, Mama serus' and Bubba said, "Mommy, she's saying 'Mama, serious? Serious?'" You are a handful, little girl, but I wouldn't change you a bit!!

Right now you like everything Bubba likes, mainly Cars & Thomas. You also like "Bobbie" (Barbie) movies, and you love your 'Miss Pattycake' movie most of all. You'd sit and watch it all day if I'd let you. You still eat everything (except garlic hummus) and you just dropped your two 2-hour naps in favor of one 3-hour nap this week. You go to bed at 7:00 and sleep 12-13 hours. No one sleeps like you Baby Girl!!

You are a complete Daddy's Girl. When Daddy is anywhere near you you say "Daddy hold you!" When he's working late or early, you cry for him and say "I want Daddy back!" It's heartbreaking. Daddy spoils you absolutley rotten. Bubba does too, for the most part, but the sibling bickering is definately beginning, mostly on Bubba's part. I am of course the disciplinarian, and I've given you your first spanking and your first timeout. I so wish I could be 'good cop'! But always know I only want to protect you and train you up in the way you should go.

You have brought us such joy, Presley Dallas. You are high-spirited, energetic, adventureous, shy, charming, demanding, independent, loving, exhausting, & precious. You love your brothers to pieces. You love your MeMe and ask for her everyday. You love NanaPoppy, Jacob, and all of your friends. You are a talking machine!! You love to dance and play and sing and read. You are treasured above all.

Happiest birthday my sweet girl. Every day with you is the best yet.

All my love,

Mommy

Out of the Mouths of (Smaller) Babes....

2011-02-20T18:55:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to blog this, even if it's just for a mother's memories...

The other night we were sitting down to dinner, and Tucker was saying the blessing. I guess halfway through he peeked over at Pres and noticed she didn't have her prayer hands, so he interrupted himself to reminder her. "Sissy, pray'" he commanded to which she responded...
"Dear God, I love you. Amen"

Probably some of the sweetest words this Mama's ever heard. (Though it may have sounded more like 'Dr Gd, ah yut you. A-Men' to a bystander...which may be even sweeter!)

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

2011-02-18T13:36:00.002-06:00

In Kindergarten, Tucker's class is beginning to learn about the heart. Mrs. Linthicum gathered the class on the carpet and opened the lesson by asking the kids what they already knew about their heart and what they could tell her about it.

She said Tucker was the first to raise his hand and confidently answered, "It's where Jesus lives."

Thank You, Jesus, for taking hold of Tucker at such a young age. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you will continue to guide us in training up Tucker in the way he should go, so that when he is older he will not depart from You.
Amen

Celina Nuggets

2011-02-04T07:43:00.006-06:00

Basketball will never be the same...Tucker has joined a team!

Tucker's first team sport was T-ball. I so hoped he would love it. He didn't! In his defense, He was barely three and still in pull-ups!! Also, he had a great coach that loved the kids and allowed them to just be three, but practices weren't exactly as this teacher/mommy would have set them up. Lots of waiting in line and standing around. (Regardless, we still thought the coach was awesome!)

But now Tucker has the best coach of all -- his daddy! Patrick is coaching the Celina Nuggets (I'm sure you're all wondering who got to choose the team name....!) and he is doing an AMAZING job!! I swear I am falling in love with my husband in another way I didn't know possible! He is so good with the kids, though anyone who is breathing and has met Patrick before will not be surprised to hear this! Before the first practice he dedicatedly created a schedule of drills and activities, being sure that he had something to switch to every 5-10 minutes. Every kid gets a ball during practice so nobody is waiting around. And in the games he's great about encouraging each of them specifically and by name, as well as rotating them through with equal playing time and in equal ability. In short, I can see a 'daddy is my coach' precedint that will probably follow us for a long, long time!

Tucker is hilarious with basketball. He loves the practices more than the game. I think it's because we do a lot of different things in practice but in the games its just a lot of running back and forth. There are six kids on our team including Tucker, and we've come to enjoy each of them and their parents. Tucker always says he misses his team as soon as we leave the gym each week. Tucker doesn't like to dribble for fear of someone taking the ball. He likes to shoot and is becoming a good passer. He's getting the basics of offense and defense down, and enjoys just being part of a team. The season is 8 games in 6 weeks and I really wish it would last longer. It has been a great experience!!! Nothing like the horror stories I have heard about competitive team sports so common in our area.

Games are 4 eight minute periods with a bible story at half-time. (My parents came to one of his games and my mom said, "The games are so much fun. Too bad for that waist of time in the middle. They look bored." Awesome, Nana!! ha ha ha) Tucker, whom has played with trains most of his life and isn't as active as maybe he should be, pushes hard to complete the games and has surprised us with his endurance, thought we're not totally surprised! (That probably makes him sound more sluggish than he is, but we really didn't know what to expect!)

We are midway through the season and enjoying every minute! I am really going to miss this little team in a couple of weeks. Next sports we'll probably try are soccer this spring, hopefully t-ball again, and then football in the fall!! (Though this one I'm still debating...I'm not sure if I'm ready to give my little baby over to the preditors of football!!)

Until then, go Celina Nuggets!!!

(PS--I am the team mom, which doesn't mean very much at this point, but I can tell that will be a title of my calling...I love it!!! If only I had a blinged out shirt that shouted this out.....)

Six Unbelievable Years...

2011-01-28T21:44:00.011-06:00

'Twas the night before Tucker's birthday....

Waking up...I'm 6!

Birthday day at school -- morning assembly

Poppy & Daddy were WatchDOGS...showing off their moves!

Birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese after school...

Dearest Tucker Bear,

Happiest 6th birthday!! I truly cannot believe you are six. The years have gone by so incredibly fast!! Looking at pictures yesterday when you were Carter's age, I can't believe the little man you've become. My life started six years ago....

I am so proud of the precious little boy you've become. You are kind-hearted, compassionate, loving, funny, and respectful. You are a great friend to all, a treasured son, and the best big brother a kid could have! You love Sissy and Carkey more than we ever thought you could -- you get along well and are patient (most of the time!) You share with them and take care of them like you're a little daddy. (You've told us you want to be a daddy some day to a little boy of your own, whom you'll name 'Piggy Address Chamberlain'!)

You have your moments of stubbornness and you like things to go your way. (This is the Benitez side! ha ha ha) When you play a game, winning is the only thing that matters to you, even if it means changing the rules at the last minute so you can be the victor. (This has to stop!) You sass your dad and listen to your mom. You love your dad the most, but seem to have developed a soft-spot for me. You are our pride and joy and our heart walking around outside our bodies.

You love school and you try hard to follow the rules and to set a good example. You are becoming a great reader and mathmetician. You don't write stories as much as you used to, but they are still in you. You love your teacher and want her to be pleased with you. We talk a lot about honoring God by honoring her and you try your best. She boasts that you are a good example and a great student. We are not surprised.

Most of your personality is silly. You love a good laugh, and are often the cause of our families fits of funny! You hate to be in trouble, but thankfully don't spend much time in timeout. You haven't needed much sassy juice lately, (though Daddy should probably use it with you more often!!)

You still love your trains most of all, and spend hours building tracks and making stories. I won't be surprised if you're some sort of engineer or architect some day, but will love you regardless of your career choice. You've become interested in Legos, as most of your friends are, and I won't be surprised if this is just an extention of your enjoyment of building things. You don't watch much TV, but when you do, you still like Thomas most of all. (I used to say I wouldn't be sad when you outgrew Thomas, but he's become so much a part of you and our family dynamic that I think I will miss him terribly.)

I love you so much Tucker. I love that you love Jesus. I love that you love your family. I love that you love your friends, and any stranger you meet on the road. You are so very precious, my Tucker Bear. Your value is immeasureable to the family that loves you and to the God that Saves you. Be blessed, my son, and be a blessing to others.

All my love,

Mommy

SNOW DAY!!

2011-01-13T10:53:00.008-06:00

It snowed this past weekend...the first snowfall of 2011! (It's so funny saying 'the first snow' since it really doesn't usually snow in Texas!! But don't tell Tucker that, since it's seemed to snow every year since he was born!) I've stopped saying it won't snow again since I'm always wrong it seems!

We had so much fun playing in the snow. The kids were so excited as we watched it start to come down. (I just adore those first two or so pictures, by the way.) By the time we found anything that looked warm to wrap the kids up in, it was really coming down. Tucker immediately bound out to play while Presley was a little more reserved. She didn't really love that it was so cold, and chose to spend most of the time tucked safely away in the garage. Tucker and Daddy made a snowman (read: 'daddy made a snowman') and then we made some tracks in our yard. After we came in and warmed up, Patrick and Tucker headed right back up with our little neighbor & they went down to the hill by our pond and went sledding. That would be Texas sledding since most everyone was sledding on pool floats and bucket lids!!

I'm so glad we've had the opportunity to experience snow these last few years! It's been so much fun to see it through the eyes of my little ones. I can only hope that it will keep coming down year after year so little Carter Man can experience it for himself too!

Best Gift Ever!

2011-01-11T10:45:00.003-06:00

This is absolutely the best gift I've ever received! It's from my Tucker Bear. At our school the kindergarteners learn to tie by making these wreaths each year. For the past 5+ years I have watched little kindergarteners proudly parade out of our school for Christmas Break with these in hand, and I have always loved them! So when Tucker started school this fall I knew I'd be getting one in December, and I cleared this space in preparation for my awaited wreath! I adore it!! I'm leaving it out all year long, so if you're ever at my house you'll see it. I. LOVE. IT.!

Carkey...7 Months Old

2011-01-11T10:38:00.002-06:00

Love this guy! Could you just eat him up?

Holidays

2011-01-03T13:39:00.007-06:00

Happy New Year!!

We hope this post finds you and yours well! We had such a great Christmas vacation. (This post is a little backwards...sorry!) For New Year's we had a "family party" and we had a pizza picnic in our living room. I bought the kids balloons and they thought that was just the coolest thing ever! After our picnic we rented Toy Story 3 & all crawled into our bed to watch it. Presley actually made it a good 30 minutes before she got fidgity! It was such a cute night...a definate new tradition! Maybe in a few years I'll let them stay up to watch the ball drop...a feat even I haven't been able to do for a while! It's hard to stay up to midnight when you know there are babies that will need you early in the morning. :o) Maybe someday... LOL

For Christmas I was a total slacker on picture taking. I don't even know why because it wasn't a crazy Christmas. We did "patient Christmas" where we only opened one present at a time. It was lovely! Even Tucker & Presley seemed to enjoy watching others open their gifts and see what was inside. My parents and my sister came over at 6 am & had just missed Tucker waking up to see that Santa had arrived! My brother and his wife had spent the night so they got to experience Christmas morning with little ones first hand -- it's just so magical when they're little!

Tucker was ecstatic to see that Santa brought him the 2 Thomas sets he had wanted and a set of Thomas puzzles. Santa brought Sissy a shopping cart like the one at MeMe's and a little "chacha" puppy. Carter got a bopping penguin that is a hit with all three kids!

Just a couple of pics of our big guy :o)

Happy New Year!

Gingerbread Night & Winter Party

2010-12-17T15:55:00.005-06:00

(Viewer Note...You have to see the pictures from the bottom to the top to make them go in order!)
Merry Christmas!!

A Day at the Park

2010-12-14T13:28:00.009-06:00

We had the BEST time as a family at the Dinosaur Museum at Fair Park on Saturday. Tucker's cute little friend had a birthday party out there...what a great idea! It was a total trek and the trip to Downtown Dallas took a little while, but the kids did great in the car and it was so worth it! During the party the kids got to do a dinosaur dig and then walk around the animatronic dinosaurs, which were a big hit. It was cute that Tucker's friends were there for him to explore with...and it meant that Patrick and I had a more even ratio with the babies!! Tucker loved the animatronic dinosaurs, and he and his friend Liam kept trying to 'attack' them with their cool dinosaur hats! Carter and Presley proved to be really brave too and they never cried. In fact, Presley kept laughing every time they roared, and she would say "ha ha ha...Cha Cha!" which is what she calls my sister's tiny little pug!! Every dinosaur and every roar was "Cha Cha!"

When we got the kids home and bathed at the end of the night, Presley kept us all in stitches as she ran around the living room, crouched down like a dinosaur, roaring at all of us! It was the funniest thing, and I'm so mad at myself for not getting it on video. So, so funny, and a great family memory.

After the Dinosaur Museum part of the party, we went downstairs to the Children's Museum, and that was so much fun as well! There were all kinds of things for the kids to do like make giant bubbles, see a tornado, and experience an interactive play area. Presley "drove" the fire truck the whole time, and did not want to get out at all. It makes me want to get her some sort of car -- she just loved "driving!"

I had include this picture of what she looked like the next morning...she had taken her jammies off during the night and thrown them on the floor. Good thing she didn't take her diaper off!!

And if you can ignore the laundry that was in the process of being folded, you can see my little BFF's laying in my bed watching "The Polar Express" on Saturday morning. It was so cute -- the first time they've ever laid in bed and watched a movie, alone or together. Even Presley was entertained by the 'choo choo movie'. Glad to have captured the first of many movie watches together :o)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

2010-12-07T09:57:00.004-06:00

Yea! It's Christmas time! I love this time of year, even more so since I've become a mom. I had fun decorating the house and the tree for the season (yes, I had fun...I don't allow the little ones to help! LOL I like it to look nice and neat! I know I need to let this go!)

Notice how many dang stockings we have this year! Our family has grown from three to five in such a short time.

And the lights that I wrapped around each branch since the prelit tree's lights went out, have started to go out as well! It's just not my year for the tree I guess.

And here's our 2010 Christmas card, on it's way to a mailbox near you! I stinking love how great they came out.

Can't wait to post all the fun things Christmas time brings. Merry Christmas!

Carter...Finally!

2010-11-29T11:06:00.012-06:00

Finally...a post that is all things Carter! I can't believe I have totally neglected my perfect third child on my blog, in pictures, and all those things I did with Tucker & Presley that I just haven't done with poor Carter! (I had vowed to not make these mistakes with my third, since I myself am a third and have almost no pictures from my childhood! LOL)

Carter Jackson will be six months old in six days, and we have loved every second with him! He is truly the perfect baby. He is so laid back, so easy, and so sweet. He sleeps about 13 hours at night and takes three long naps during the day. He just started eating food four nights ago; he's enjoyed sweet potatoes and suffered through peas. Developmentally he's still 5 weeks behind, so he hasn't been able to eat until now, and he has been starving! He is almost 20 pounds -- he's our tank! -- and we are all glad he's finally getting some real food in his tummy. He has jumped from the bottom of the charts (at or less than 10) to the top (in the 80s) in height, weight, and head size.

Carter just rolled over for the first time a couple of days ago, which I had looked over just in time to see.

My sweet dad came over this weekend and painted Carter's room, so he spent his first night in his bedroom last night. He did okay, but we heard him up on the monitor a lot. We never went in to check on him, and this morning when I went to get him he was like an ice cube! Poor little guy -- his room was so cold!

We are so lucky to have our little tank! He is just so loved by all of us (especially Presley), and we all fight for enough time to get to hold him. We are just so thankful that our little NICU baby is doing so well.

WatchDOGS

2010-11-02T08:45:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was a special day because Daddy was on campus being the daily Watchdog! What's that you ask? Our school is participating in a national program called WatchDOGS (Dads of Great Students). We are trying to have a greater male presence on campus, having a dad/uncle/grandpa/etc every day. Yesterday was Patrick's day, and it was adorable! Patrick helped with getting kids out of cars, was on the morning announcements, was in Tucker's room for an hour, went to lunch/recess/computers with Tucker's class, spent time in the art room with 4th grade, and in PE with 2nd grade, helped a 2nd grade class learn about the election process, and listened to stories read in a 3rd grade class. It was such a fun day! (He was wiped out by lunch!) My student teacher is in her total-teach window, so I was able to hang out with the fam for the day :) What a great day at school!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T08:39:00.010-05:00

Happy Halloween everybody! We had a another great year at the Chamberlain house. My parents and my sister came up to help celebrate which added to the fun. Tucker had decided to be an army man after a week of community helpers lessons at school, and Sissy was a princess (Belle from Beauty and the Beast). She's recently started to enjoy dressing up, but as it goes, she wasn't loving her costume! I think it itched her, so we remedied it by letting her wear a onesie underneath. Carter wore Tucker's 1st Halloween costume and was pretty much the cutest cow you've ever seen! We didn't get a ton of pictures unfortunately.

We walked the neighborhood with our sweet neighbors and their kids, Grant (5), and Sean (3). The boys ran fast and furiously from house to house, while Sissy took her time toddling along. Once she went to the first house and discovered she got candy she wanted to hit every door! (She also insisted on having a piece of candy in her mouth at all times!) After about an hour of walking the streets Tucker got tired and wanted to ride in the double stroller. When we would get to a house he would say, "Grant, Sean, just ask for an extra piece for me!" Can you say Lazy Bones! I told him if he wanted to get candy he wasn't gonna have to do the work himself! ha (He was happy to oblige). At the end of the night, when we ran out of candy, Tucker insisted we give away some of his candy to the trick-or-treaters. What a sweet boy!

Happy Halloween!

Brotherly Love

2010-10-27T11:44:00.003-05:00

Better Late than Never

2010-10-25T14:46:00.006-05:00

Okay, my plan is to do some major updating to this blog over the next few weeks! There's so much to report on since school has started. I thought I'd start today with an update on Presley. These pictures were taken in September at a birthday party at a splash park. I have loved, LOVED her swimsuit this year...who wouldn't!

Presley is growing up so fast! She is high maintenance, and all attitude, but we adore her! She is starting to talk more clearly now, and as of this weekend she's been stringing together two word phrases like "Carkey baba" (translated: Carter's bottle) and Muh cky ("more cookie). I've tried to write down all the words she says now, just for a mother's memory :o) At 19 months, Presley says:
Bow
Bonk (when she's hurt)
Bib
Baby (her lovey)
Bibbet (her other lovey, Ribbet)
Bag
Baba (bottle)
Bubba
Ock (rock)

Bite (she loves to share food!)
Carkey (Carter)
Mama
Daddy
Nana
Poppy
Pan (bread in Spanish)
Paypay (pacifer)
Shuss (shoes)
Shoks (socks)
Geeps (grapes)
Ckies (cookies)
Muh (more)
WoeWoe (her car she rides)
MiMi (her babysitter, Miss Melinda)
NaNight
Cup
Nack (snack)
Dass (dance)
Go
Bye
Choo Choo
Trsh (trash)
Peepee (she loves a clean diapy!)
Dat (that)
Dn (down)
Uh oh
Ck (cook)
eat
ChaCha (my sister's dog, Sasha)

We love this girl! She is growing up so quickly and I'm not ready! I love this age...so much discovery! She definately keeps things moving at home, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-23T20:43:00.007-05:00

Well, we did it...we survived the first day of kindergarten! Mommy made it through with very little tears, and I was the only one in the family that cried at all! Tucker absolutely had a great day! I went in to work early, and Patrick dropped off Carter & Presley so he could take Tucker in on his own. As soon as we got there we saw our sweet friends and that got Tucker even more excited. Patrick took him to his room and he settled right in.

I was lucky to see him quite a few times in the hall, (so I got in extra hugs and kisses!), and I was also able to have lunch with him while my kids were at recess. Every time I saw him in the halls or in the building he seemed to be in a good mood. I gathered this about his day...
--His friend from the babysitter, Liam, sits at his table
--The girl next to him is named Alex, like his favorite character from "Wizards of Waverly Place"
--He puts his red folder in the yellow basket in the morning and takes it out at the end of the day
--In art they read a book called "Incredible Ned" about a boy who thinks things to life
--He was able to do "even the hard stuff"
--Mrs. Linthicum has a rug that has animals that are letters; the T is a tiger
--Mrs. Linthicum taught him not to "shout at Mommy if I see you in the hall" and that he can "give me a finger wave" (I'm pretty sure Mommy needed this lesson too!)
--At recess he played lots of things
--He played with the Color Tiles & Teddy Bear counters math tubs
--He forgot he had a snack but thankfully had some left over lunch (Mommy had packed the snack safely in his backpack, just FYI1)
--The soap in the bathroom was easy to pump
--Mrs. Linthicum is "great"
--Naptime was awesome because it was really short (probably because it's not really naptime!)
--He got a sticker on his tens-frame
--He got a smiley face in his folder
--He had "the best day" and he "loves this school!"

Can you ask for anything more??! What a precious gift to not only Tucker, but to Patrick and I to know he had so much fun in such a huge new environment. It is also so special for him to be at school with me because my sweet colleagues shower him with extra love and attention.

I have to include one more thing...my sweet friend Hollie works at our school (Carter's namesake) and her two boys Christian (4th grade) and Colby (3rd grade) are there too. Tucker knows Christian and Colby and thinks they are just the coolest kids ever. Well, it was the two of them that Tucker first saw at Boals this morning and he was so excited. After school Christian found Tucker right away and asked him all about his day, and the sweetest thing was that Christian responded genuinely and enthusiastically to Tucker, which made Tucker feel so important. Christian asked Tucker how his day was and Tucker said, "It was awesome! You should be in kindergarten too!" Christian was so cute to say, "You're right -- I remember really liking kindergarten." It was just precious to see him take Tucker under his wing like that.

So all in all, I'd say we had a great first day! Only 176 more to go...

From Birth to 5 Years in a Flash

2010-08-22T17:11:00.010-05:00

Believe it or not, our Tucker Bear is starting his first day of school tomorrow morning. It is amazing how these days have been long, but the years have flown by. Where has the time gone? One minute he's Carter's age, and the next he's off to school.

I feel like the luckiest woman in the world being mom to this little boy. As each day passes I am overwhelmed by my love for him and for what a precious, precious treasure he is to me. How could I be so lucky?

If you're reading this blog, please take a minute to say a quick prayer for Tucker and the world that awaits him. I am so looking forward to seeing who he will become, and soaking up every minute of the ride.

My sweet, sweet Tucker Bear,
Tomorrow you start the beginning of the rest of your life. Each day will bring new adventures, new joys, new friends, and new experiences. Not all of them will be great, but you can make all of them what you will, and I know you will make them great. I am so proud to be your mommy. From the moment I found out you were coming I have loved you. Regardless of what the calendar says, you will always be my little boy. I will always want to hold you and kiss you, I'll always want to bind up your wounds and your brokenheart. I'll always want to laugh with you, and sit with you, and simply be in your presence. You are my heart walking around outside my body.

I pray tonight, my sweet boy, that you would dress each day in the full armor of our mighty God. I pray, in the name of Jesus, the Helmet of Salvation securely fastened on your head. I pray that you safely live by your Breastplate of Righteousness. I pray you hold firmly your Shield of Faith, and that you tighten each day your Belt of Truth. Be protected and prepared by the Sword of the Spirit, and walk in peace my Son with your feet always in the Gospel. In the name of Jesus I pray a hedge of protection around you. I ask our Father in Heaven to allow compassion and kindness always to greet you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, my Tucker Bear. There is no one like you. You're the one whom Jesus loves!!

Tonight I sit with tearful eyes and a full heart, so happy to have been a part of yesterday, and looking forward to tomorrow. Sleep well, my firstborn, and I'll see you at school in the morning!

All my love,
Mommy

Two Months Old

2010-08-07T09:29:00.005-05:00

Today my Carter is two months old. (This picture is old but I love it! I'll be updating with current pictures soon.) We've had him for eight weeks and five days, and each one has been treasured. It's amazing the difference in the way you feel with your third child versus your first. Not in the love of course, I could never love either of my children more than the other, no not in the love but in the ease of self. I am so relaxed taking care of Carter. I remember with Tucker, and even some with Presley, how I would stress out when they would cry. The few minutes between them waking up, changing their diapers, and getting them fed would send my nerves through the roof as I listened to them scream. But with Carter, I'm able to just take it in stride, speak soothingly to him, and get done what needs to get done. With my third it's like I've realized I've done this all before (and not half bad, if I might add!) and I know what I'm doing. It's freed me to enjoy Carter all the more.

At two months old Carter weighs exactly 12lbs, so he has doubled his 5lb 14oz birth weight, and then some. Yesterday I put him in an outfit that says "3-6 months" and the next time I buy diapers I am bumping him up from size 1s to size 2s. He is growing so well! I can't believe my little NICU baby is doing so well. He is a great sleeper, sleeping in three to four hour cycles during the day and some five hour stretches at night. (I think if I let him cry a little more at night he may just fall back asleep...I'm thinking of trying it.) He eats really well, clearly, and he's started having a little more wake time between his naps.

Presley and Tucker are just enamored with him. Presley likes to "hold" him whenever he wakes up. She insists on sitting on the floor and we kinda put him in front of her and she'll wrap him in a hug...for about three seconds; then she's ready to move on her way! But she's gotta get her Carter-snuggle in before she's off :o) Tucker always hugs and kisses him whenever he first wakes up and is just as loving as he ever was with Baby Girl.

In two more weeks I'll go back to work and Presley and Carter will go to our fabulous babysitter. (I swear, if it couldn't be me at home with the kids, Melinda's is the absolute best place to be. I LOVE her! And she loves my kids. And her kids love my kids. I am SO blessed to have her.) I am so thankful that God allowed Carter to come as early as he did so I would be able to be at home with him that much longer. If he had come at 38 weeks as was planned I would be going back to work when he was only 8 weeks old, instead of 11 like he will be now. What a HUGE blessing. (For those of you that are wondering, yes, I could technically take maternity leave until about Thanksgiving time actually, but my Tucker Bear is starting Kindergarten in two weeks, and I just can't miss it! He's coming to school with me this year.)

We love you Carter Jackson! You are such a huge blessing to each of us.

Crazy House!

2010-07-30T14:40:00.004-05:00

For a rare, rare moment, all three of my kids are sleeping. I can't even begin to express how challenging (but wonderful!) my days are. I can't imagine how people with multiples get anything done! I am constantly, constantly on the move....changing diapers, making snacks, finding bottles, washing dishes, washing clothes, picking up toys, nursing, pumping...the list goes on. Three is proving to be so much more work than two! Anyway, just wanted to post a few things even just for my own recollections...

*Tucker and I had a date and bought school supplies. Tucker was totally blase' about the whole thing, which is so Tucker! If it ain't his idea it's not really his thing!
*Presley got her first shoes, and boy are they sassy! They're silver with subtle pink and gold polka dots. She loves to wear them.

*Speaking of things Presley loves, every morning and after each nap the first thing my little girl asks for is a bow. She pats her head and says "bow, bow, bow" until I get one on her. She is all-girl...and I love it!
*Carter is up to ten pounds, almost double his birth weight. He is a GREAT sleeper and he already only wakes up just one time at night, around 3:30. He sleeps in four to five hour stretches during the day and has wake time in the early-to-late afternoon. He's an angel, truly.
*I've taken the kids out by myself just a handful of times, each time just as crazy as could be! I'm just so outnumbered :o)

Anyway, if you were wondering, I'm still here. Just wanted you to know ;o)

FINALLY Walking!

2010-07-08T09:30:00.005-05:00

Finally! Presley started walking on Monday, July 5th, one day shy of her 16-month birthday! (Tucker started walking on his 15-month birthday, so we're expecting Carter to walk on his 17-month birthday! ha)

Walking is absolutley tiring out Little Miss! Presley normally wakes at 8 and naps from 10-12 & 2-4. Well since she's been walking, on Tuesday she slept until 11 am, then took a three hour nap from 1:30-4:30. Wednesday she slept until 10 and took a three-and-a-half our nap from 2-5:30. Today she woke up at her normal 8:00, but couldn't make it to her typical 10:00 nap time...she went back down at 9!

Until now, Presley has "walked" on her knees. Not crawled, not scooted, but walked on her knees! She has huge, red, scratched, bumpy knees, and the tops of her toes often blistered and bled from rug burn! (SO glad she's walking now, but I'm wishing I had captured her knee walk on video. Hopefully there's still time!)

Yea for you Baby Girl! We're so proud of you!

One Month Old

2010-07-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

So Carter is one month old today, and I've decided to use this Bevo as his "growth marker". Pretty tough to get a good pic since he was lopping over this way and that! I'm kicking myself though for not getting one of him when we first brought him home. Oh well :o)

Family Pictures

2010-07-06T16:00:00.006-05:00

My friends Casey and Connie came to our house a couple of weeks ago with their sons to hang out. Casey was gracious enough to snap some photos of our new family, and Connie kept the kids smiling and occupied. Needless to say, it was a zoo here, but so much fun. These are just a few pics Casey snapped...

Carter's First Four Weeks

2010-07-05T19:24:00.009-05:00

Four-weeks-old

Dreaming of Longhorns :o)

Playing trains with Bubba

Father's Day

First day at church with Baby Buddy Gibson

So we've had our Carter now for four whole weeks. Funny how his official due date wasn't until eight days from now! The whole family has embraced our Little Man, and Patrick, Tucker, Presley, and I couldn't be more smitten with him. Tucker of course is the best big brother ever, but it's our Presley Girl that has surprised us the most. Patrick and I were convinced she was going to be a holy terror once Carter arrived since Patrick and Tucker have created quite the little princess, but she has been absolutly adorable with her little brother! She always asks for him immediately when she wakes up in the morning or from naps, saying "CarCar" all day long. She loves to give him sugars and "pet" him (as Tucker says). I've realized in the past couple of days we should have never worried -- she is a great big sister because she's always been loved on by a great big brother.

In the past four weeks Carter has grown in length and weight. I'm not sure what he is officially right now, but at his two week check up he had already grown two inches and put on 12 oz. I think he's probably about 7-7.5 maybe 8lbs. He's close to growing out of his newborn clothes, though I think he'll still be in a newborn-sized diaper for a little while longer. Here is a picture of him in one of the only outfits I had that fit him when we had him, take at one-week-old and today at four-weeks-old.

Not only has our family loved on Baby Carter, but our family has been loved on by a lot of friends! We've been blessed to have meals brought to us over the past few weeks, and we've had lots of loving visitors come by to meet Mr. Carter or to lend us a hand. Sometimes it really does take a village to raise a child!

Carter Man, Daddy, Bubba, Sissy & I are loving loving you! And you are loved as well by family and friends! You are one blessed little boy!

Carter Jackson Chamberlain

2010-07-03T10:36:00.004-05:00

Our sweet Carter made his debut five weeks early on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 8:21 pm. He was 18 inches long and weighed 5lbs, 14oz. He was in the NICU on a breathing tube and feeding tube for two days. I wish I had gotten pictures of him like that. Not because it was a good thing, but because I think I'll always want him to know what a little fighter he was right from the start. He was released from the NICU after only 48 hours and all the nurses and doctors were impressed by his progress.

The whole experience was a whirlwind! I had only finished the school year 48 hours prior to his arrival! Looking back, I'm pretty convinced that my labor started on Thursday, June 3rd as I was having a lot of tightness and shortness of breath starting then. I was also incredibly emotional and pretty much flew off the handle over anything and everything! On Monday, Patrick was heading out for a job interview after several months of unemployment, and we had even talked that morning about what I should do to reach him should something happen with my pregnancy. Not that either of us thought that was a possibility -- I had never gone into labor with Presley or Tucker, I was induced and scheduled for both of them. Patrick had told me to text him 911 if something were to happen. Well he headed out for the interview at about 3:30. At 4:00 Presley woke up from her nap & I got her up, changed her, and made her a snack. I made myself a snack and went to sit down in the living room, when it happened...my water broke! It totally caught me by surprise as this had never happened before, and though I was 99% sure that this is what had happened, a part of me had no idea what happened! I called the doctor's office & they told me to come in, but I had one small problem...Patrick was in town with the carseats! Unfortunately, I totally forgot to text Patrick 911 & I kept calling him...and he kept ignoring my calls since he was interviewing and I didn't text 911! I paniced for a minute but was luckily able to get a hold of my sweet friend Keelie who happened to be heading my way anyway. She came by & picked up the kids and I and drove us to the hospital. Patrick met us there and my sister and mom picked up my kids. By 7:30 pm I was prepped and ready for a c-section! Carter was on his way! There was a little concern from my doctor and nurses that he would be born at 34 weeks, 6 days, but they opted to deliver him anyway since my water had broken. They were prepping me to expect Carter to be in the NICU for at least a week, if not until his July 13 due date, so you can imagine our complete surprise when he was released to come home with us on Friday, June 11th!

For those of you that don't know (most of you do) Carter was a baby that we hadn't planned on. When we found out we were pregnant and little Presley was only about 6 or 7 months old, we totally paniced. But now that he's here, I can only praise God that He's in charge of my life. I can't imagine not having my little Carter Man! He is so precious and so easy to love. And as a veteran mom now, I'm really enjoying him and feeling comfortable taking care of him and loving on him. I'm so, so thankful that he's here and he's healthy, and that I have another chance to be a mom. This past year has been one of our toughest ever, but God is good. He blesses us in the biggest ways when we feel crushed on every side. All praise and glory to His name!

Carter Jackson Chamberlain, you have my heart. I loved you yesterday, I love you today, I'll love you more tomorrow. Today I pray that you'll have healthy bones and a heart that loves the Lord. I can't wait to spend every day of the rest of my life loving you. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you.
With love forever,
Mommy

Track Master

2010-07-03T10:26:00.004-05:00

Tucker is certainly our future engineer! He spends the majority of his day in his room, pouring his creativity into designing and building new tracks for his Thomas trains. Sometimes the tracks coincide with a story he's seen, and sometimes he makes tracks for stories he makes up on his own. He spends hours building tracks, telling stories, and then tearing them down to build new tracks. He also builds sheds, turntables, junctions, bridges...the possibilities are endless!

I love seeing the creations his little mind thinks up. Maybe it's parental bias, but Patrick and I are really impressed with the tracks he comes up with. It's not easy to build a track and have it actually connect on both ends! It takes a lot of trial and error and stick-to-it-ness from a five-year-old. He's so going to be a math-and-science kid in school this year!

Pool Time

2010-07-03T10:21:00.004-05:00

These are just a few pool pictures taken before Mr. Carter made his debut :o)
PS--Don't you just love Presley's swimsuit? :o) (Tucker's new suit, on the other hand was too big, so we're still in last year's!)

Updates coming Soon...I hope!

2010-06-29T13:45:00.002-05:00
So my computer has been competely wiped out by a virus, but I have much to post! Most importantly being...our Carter arrived 5 weeks ahead of schedule on Monday, June 7, 2010! He weighed 5lbs 14 oz and was 18 inches long. He was in the NICU for two days but praise God he came home with us on Friday, June 11th. I'll post more as soon as I find a computer that works!

Where does he come up with this stuff?!

2010-06-03T10:39:00.002-05:00
So yesterday we went to the mall as a family and as we were walking in Tucker looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you're pretty. I'm gonna call you a pretty girl." My heart was just melting, when in the next moment, we saw three cute high-school-aged blondes approach the escalator, and Tucker looked at Patrick and said, "Hey dude -- those are my girlfriends."

WHAT!!! Oh my stars...

Quotes from My Favorite 5--Year-Old...

2010-05-17T10:41:00.003-05:00
I absolutely love the random things that come out of Tucker's mouth! Where he comes up with this stuff I'll never know...

Daddy: "Mommy said we can't watch that movie right now."
Tucker: "I can't believe we let Mommy play us like that."

At a birthday party this weekend the birthday boy had a hunting cake, complete with deer and hunter figurines. Upon seeing the cake the hostess commented how the birthday boy must like to hunt.
Tucker: "I like to hunt too! I like to hunt eggs."

LOVE my Bear!!

Freshly Devloped Allergies!

2010-05-13T15:14:00.003-05:00

So this spring has been absolute torture on Tucker for some reason. My never-had-an-allergy-symptom-in-my-life little boy has suddenly become tormented by the great outdoors. About a month ago Tucker started having a hard time breathing after being outside too long, and he's had to since be on an inhaler and nebulizer as needed ever since due to something his lungs have developed an allergy too.

Well, yesterday Patrick took the kids to the park for 30 minutes, and when they got home Tucker came to him and said "Daddy. my eye really hurts" and these pictures show what we saw! We were both taken aback with how gross his eye looked. Truely the pictures don't even do the total grossness justice! In the first picture he's holding his eye open, so you can't really even tell that he could hardly see out of it. And there was a pocket of fluid on his eyeball that literally was coming out over the eyelids and looked like it needed to pop. Even though both of our instincts told us it was probably just allergies, we went ahead and took him to Urgent Care to have him checked out. Allergies indeed they are -- he's now on a liquid steroid, prescription eyedrops, and hefty doses of Benedryl! The doctor said he'll probably have to go on a daily allergy pill if he wants to go outside any more.

Poor Bear! He never gets sick, and this year he's had pneumonia, the swine flu, asthma, and I've-never-seen-them-worse allergy eyes! Please, Mother Nature, give the kid a break!

Mornings with "Albert Felinestein"

2010-05-11T10:32:00.005-05:00

Every morning for about the last month a neighborhood cat has been showing up on our doorstep. Tucker has taken to him and named him "Albert Felinestein". He's the black and white kitty here in the picture. Lately Albert has taken to bringing a friend, whom Tucker has named Whiskers. Whiskers is less faithful to his morning visit then Albert, but Tucker loves them both. ;o)

Each morning Patrick lets Tucker put out a bowl of milk, and Tucker strokes Albert's fur and talks to him about the upcoming day while Albert laps from his bowl. It really is so sweet! Albert frequently comes back throughout the day to say hello and snuggle up to his buddy. Thank goodness for Patrick's asthma or I fear we would currently have a pet! Albert doesn't have a collar so we're not sure if he belongs to someone or if he's a stray. But rest assured, pet-people, these non-pet-people will be sure that Albert is properly taken care of! At least, the littlest of us will :o)

Best Friends

2010-04-29T15:57:00.005-05:00

Just a few shots of these best buds! Tucker and Presley are so cute together...Tucker is so protective of her and Baby Girl absolutely wants to be wherever her Bubba is!

Easter...almost one month later!

2010-04-29T15:38:00.006-05:00

So our computer has contracted a nasty virus and I am freaking out because every picture I have ever taken of my sweet babies for the last five years is on that computer!! Praying that I'll be able to recover them. So I haven't been able to blog for a while...I'm currently blogging at work (after hours of course)!

Anyway, Easter was almost a month ago, but I still wanted to post some pictures, just for Mommy anyway! (There not very good, but they are what we got!) This season has been so crazy for us so we didn't get to see the mall Easter Bunny, but thankfully our community had an egg hunt and the bunny made an appearance. :o) (My novice camera taking abilities have proven clear as I focused more on the background than my kids with the bunny! Oh well, lesson learned!) Easter Day was sweet as Tucker awoke to the bunny having had come. He had wanted him to bring him a Zhu Zhu Pet (it's a hamster) so he immediately looked for his Easter basket. (I didn't realize the Easter Bunny brought toys, but apparently Patrick knew of this strange practice!) Once he found his basket, he discovered his pet and had absolutely no interest in finding any eggs...which were pretty easy to spot! That's just the way Tucker is, we're discovering. Baby Girl woke up later and was interested in the things in her basket, and a little interested in the eggs. Overall, I think the bunny could have not come and the kids would've been fine with it! ha ha

We didn't make it to church but spent the day with my family which was really nice and relaxing. Next year I'm going to do Easter the justice it deserves! I just didn't have it in me this year :o) Since it will be our first Easter with Baby Carter it's something to look forward to even more.

Hallelujah, the Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Great Debater

2010-04-10T20:04:00.003-05:00

So I had this loaf of French bread in the kitchen that Tucker was begging me for a piece of all morning. I kept telling him no because the bread was for dinner. He kept asking, I kept saying no. Finally he said to me, "But Mommy, if we eat this bread won't we remember that Jesus died on the cross for us?" How could I argue with that! We got out his bible, read about the Last Supper, and Tucker enjoyed a piece of bread. He certainly knows how to get to me! Out of the mouths of babes...

Presley & the Pink Bear...1 year later

2010-04-07T10:42:00.004-05:00

You can imagine how much joy our little ham brings us! We love you Presley!

Just a couple of pictures...

2010-03-28T07:57:00.005-05:00

Patrick and I are so blessed to be called "Mommy" and "Daddy" by these two. They've brought us so much joy, especially in the hum-drum of life. So thankful for them today...just had to share :o)

One More for Team Jesus!

2010-03-22T20:23:00.002-05:00
I had a very 'Baptist' moment with my firstborn tonight, but what a sweet moment it was! I was putting Tucker to bed this evening, and we were reading our nighttime bible stories, and Tucker's favorite is "Jesus Dies on the Cross". Mid-reading, he started asking me questions about Jesus, one being 'where does he live?' I told him that Jesus lives in heaven and in the heart of everyone that loves Him and asks Him to live in his heart. Tucker: "Does He live in my heart yet?"
Mommy: "Well, have you asked Him?"
T: "Not yet."
M: "Do you want to?"
T: "Yes."
M: "Do you want some help?"
T: "Yes."
M: "Just tell Him that sometimes you make bad choices and that you need His help, and ask Him to come live in your heart."
T: "Jesus, sometimes I make bad choices. Can you help me? Will you live in my heart? Amen"

May it be a sweet, sweet sound in His ear! Praising God for my sweet Bear tonight! If you're reading this, say a prayer for our Tucker too!

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14

Happy 1st Birthday Presley Dallas!

2010-03-07T17:07:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was Baby Girl's first birthday. I can hardly believe one full year has gone by since we brought her into this world. Presley has filled our life with a love and laughter no one else could bring. Most people know I had two miscarriages between Tucker and Presley, and for a time I wasn't sure if we would ever have any more kids. I found myself praising God yesterday for the way our life turned out. I would have never had four kids, meaning, without the way things were our sweet girl wouldn't be here. Isn't it funny how something you could've never imagined turning into a good thing turns into a good thing? Praise God.

We had a small party celebrating Presley's first year with family and friends. (I can't get the pictures my friend took to download, so that's why there's only one!) It was precious, however, she did have a "wardrobe malfuction"...against my better judgement I put Presley in this darling onesie I had made especially for her birthday before her nap. The onesie had a cupcake on it made out of zebra and pink fabric, which matched the tutu I bought her, and it had her name monogrammed on it and one candle monogrammed on the cupcake. Well, as it would go, when we went to get Presley Girl up from her nap for the party, she had a major blowout and had gotten poop all over her custom-made, tutu-matching birthday onesie! I was totally bummed! Oh well :o) I was so thankful that the weather was beautiful. All the kids ate outside and played in the backyard to their hearts content. It was a sweet day for a sweet girl.

Presley Dallas, you have the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. You are observant and already compassionate. You are laid-back and content in most situations. Daddy, Tucker, and I love you with a love that makes our hearts want to burst. The three of us love to stare at you, play with you, talk with you, and just squeeze you with everything we have. We love hearing each of our names come from your lips...'Mama', 'Dada', 'Bubba'. We love your dance moves and your giggles. For so long Daddy and I wondered how we would be able to love another child like we love your brother, and now we know we've just grown extra hearts. You bring us so much joy, sweet girl. We are praying that the God that made you will reveal Himself to you in mighty ways, and that you find your self-worth in the One that loves you more than life. You are the one Jesus loves, Sweet Presley! We are honored that we were chosen to be your parents. God bless you on your first birthday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T10:50:00.006-06:00

This year I decided I wanted to start making Valentine's really special for my two little valentine's. I want this to be a new tradition that my kids will remember when they're older. So last night I decorated the kitchen, and Tucker was so excited when he got up this morning! He came into our room at 5:30 and whispered in my ear, "Mommy, it's Valentine's Day! Come look at the table!" I worked to override my exhaustion and got up to see the table (really to see Tucker see the table!) Then I went down the street to the donut shop and picked up pink and white donuts -- they were a hit :o) I'm planning on heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch and a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's for dinner, which will be served in the dining room via candlelight :o)

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

Snow Days!

2010-02-14T10:38:00.005-06:00

Here are a few pictures from the biggest snowstorm in DFW record books! We got a whopping 7 inches in our yard! I couldn't believe it...and neither could Tucker!

Quotes from our 5-Year-Old

2010-02-12T15:07:00.002-06:00
On stating the facts...
Daddy: "Tucker you need to help clean this mess up and pick up these toys."
Tucker: "'BTW'--I didn't get them out."

On dishing out conviction:
As mommy was nagging/getting on to daddy about something...
Tucker: "Mommy, can I talk to Daddy like that?"
OUCH!!! That one hurt! LOL

11 Months Old (and one day)

2010-02-07T16:34:00.004-06:00

I can't believe in only one month Presley Dallas will be celebrating her first birthday! She is growing up so fast! In this past month Presley has completely abandoned baby food in favor of whatever we happen to be eating! She's enjoyed Nana's spaghetti, lasagna, carrots, mac 'n cheese, tuna fish with all the fixings, cereal, yogurt, bananas...she's in heaven! We're starting her on milk once we run out of formula, probably within the next few days. No more baby stuff for our baby girl!

In the past month Presley has started cruising the furnature too. She loves to be up on her little legs, and is quite the explorer. She's into everything, much to the chagrin of the rest of her family! Every square inch of our house seems to be baracaded at the moment in an attempt to keep Miss Presley contained :o) All of her crawling and exploring must wear her out because she still sleeps about 18 hours a day!

Presley continues to bring the three of us so much joy. This stage is truly my favorite and I am savoring every minute. Thankfully we know we'll get to do it all over again really soon! We love you Presley Girl!

5 Years Old

2010-01-28T14:50:00.016-06:00

Our first born turned five years old today, and I simply cannot believe it. Where has five years gone? He'll start Kindergarten in about seven months...seven months! I have so loved being mommy to my sweet Tucker Bear. Everyday brings new excitement and new adventures with our big boy.

Tucker has continued to grow to be outgoing, friendly, trusting, compassionate, energetic, inquisitive, well-mannered, sweet-natured and very loving. He still enjoys Thomas the trains as much as he did at 23 months! He's starting to get into Hot Wheels and he enjoys playing games with the family like Yahtzee, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Cranium Hullabaloo. He favorite TV shows are "Wizards of Waverly Place", "The Suite Life on Deck", "Jonas", and "Phineas and Ferb". His favorite movies are "Princess Protection Program" and any of his "Thomas" videos. He has his first crush on Selena Gomez, the actress who plays 'Carter Mason' on Princess Protection Program, and 'Alex Russo' on Wizards of Waverly Place. He scares easily and we are very careful about what he watches in his programs. (Or at least Mommy is very careful...Daddy thinks we need to toughen him up! ha)

Tucker is still a very picky eater, but I've chosen to give up this fight completely. I've convinced myself that he'll grow into being a more adventurous eater, and if he doesn't, it won't be the end of the world. We have gotten him to drink water more willingly now and he doesn't have juice very often. He loves grapes, yogurt, mac n cheese, peanut butter and jelly, Nana's spaghetti, bread, waffles, pancakes, cheese, chicken, ham (which we call chicken), and turkey (which we call chicken!) His favorite kind of cake is chocolate. He still doesn't like ketchup, though on rare occasion (maybe twice) he's eaten it voluntarily. He LOVES ranch, and calls it "hidden valley ranch" and not just ranch!

When it comes to friends, Tucker likes to be the leader. We're working on that! He's very creative and he's always thinking of new games. When he and his friend Haley get together there is major imagination involved! I adore watching him interact with his friends, because generally he is very kind.

We're slowly preparing for kindergarten, and poor Tucker has to allow me to put my teacher hat on with him at home sometimes! Tucker can recognize his name and spell it for you, but he can't quite write it yet. He can count to thirteen with one-to-one correspondence. He recognizes most of his letters and can tell you what sounds they make. He can take the onset off of a rime, which I'm really happy about. He's recognizing sounds in words and is always curious about words in general. I'm sure I'm already bugging our kindergarten team here at Boals because I'm always asking them, what should he be able to do/read/write, etc! I don't stress too much because I know he'll do great. It's just going to be here so quickly!

While Tucker has learned much over the past year and past five years, I'm certain I've learned more. Tucker made me a mom and changed my life forever. It's like there's this whole other side of living I never knew about until I had someone to love and be loved like that by. I've found that I'm much more compassionate and sensitive to others since becoming a mom (though I still have a ways to go!) I'm always looking at the world from a new perspective, a different set of lenses than I did before. I'm slower to judge and quicker to put myself in another person's shoes. I have a deep desire for the world to be a better place, truly. I can't really put into words the difference being a mom makes, I just know I'm not who I was. And I have Tucker Ewing to thank for that.

As a son, there's none better. As a brother, he's top-notch. Happy birthday to the most loved little boy in the world! We love you Tucker Bear!

10 Months Old

2010-01-08T15:59:00.005-06:00

Presley Dallas is 10 months old! I can hardly believe that in 8 weeks our little girl will be one year old. The expression "time flies" has never been more real to me since I became a mom.

Sweet Presley has grown leaps and bounds in this month. She started crawling and she is pulling up onto her feet. I think she'll be cruising soon, and maybe she'll be an early walker. She's cut four teeth, so she has two on the bottom and two on the top. However, her left tooth cut way before the right one did, so she's a little lopsided on the top! She likes to grind and click her teeth which is the worst sound I've ever heard! I'm still trying to get her to take a pacifier, and I attempt it most when she is clicking her teeth! She is signing "more" and "eat" and recognizes "all done" and "milk", and we're working on "please". She loves to laugh, and it's the most angelic thing I've ever heard.

Tucker lights up Presley's world! She's always looking for him and grabbing him and just wanting to be around him all the time. Tucker is the absolute best big brother he can be! He loves Presley and he loves to play with her and experience her new adventures. He gets down on his knees and crawls around with her, and she thinks that's wildly hilarious. He lets her put her fingers in his mouth, and then he "spits" them out, and she always lets out a huge belly laugh.

Presley seems to always be hungry. but she never lets you know. You just figure it out when you sit down to feed her and she never wants to stop! (Great mom, I know!) She's been introduced to so many more things than we ever would have allowed Tucker to have so young. She had major junk-ified sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving (complete with milk, brown sugar, and maple syrup, to name a few!), birthday cake at Christmas, and a few french fries on our last trip to McDonald's. It's amazing what you'll let the second one do! Ha She's now moving on from puffs to Cheerios, and she's starting to eat more vegetables without complaining.

We are amazed at how very quickly the time has gone by since we welcomed Sweet Presley into our lives, and we are savoring every minute!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T17:39:00.003-06:00

Christmas Day has come and gone, and the time was treasured. It was fun to celebrate Jesus birthday for the first time with Presley, but each year Christmas has been more and more fun as we experience it with our precious Tucker Bear. Christmas is such a magical time for him! (This year he asked Santa for Gator Golf and Hungry, Hungry Hippos, and he asked Santa to bring a Ball Popper for Baby Girl.)

Christmas Eve he was so thoughtful in the cookies he picked out for Santa -- he only wanted the best of the batch! And then, oh the excitement, it was Christmas Day! I had woken up just a few minutes before Tucker, and I could hear the tiny footsteps coming around the hall to our room, and I have to admit I could barely keep my eyes closed to pretend I was asleep! I was so excited for Tucker! He came into my room and said, "Mommy! Santa came and gave me Gator Golf and Hungry, Hungry Hippos!" ("Santa and Mrs. Claus" were up very late putting Christmas together, and in our house Santa doesn't wrap, so the Santa gifts are always out, opened, in front of the tree.) I woke up Patrick and we jumped out of bed to see what Santa had done. He had in fact left the two games Tucker had asked for, along with Baby Girl's ball popper, as well as a huge fire station (Patrick would want me to tell yall "it's not a doll house!"). But as it goes with Tucker, he really only wants the things he asks for. So the big fire station, as well as all the other gifts he got, he was completely interested in! He just wanted to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Gator Golf. Oh, when will we learn! ha

The rest of the day we spent with my family as everyone congregates at our house, and we just enjoyed the kids and our time together. I wish I had take a ton more pictures -- I only snapped a few. (I especially regret not getting a picture of Tucker and Presley together in their jammies. We may have to do a Christmas-take-two photo shoot before I take the tree down!) Thankfully, my memory is very long. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

9 Months Old

2009-12-06T17:32:00.005-06:00

Nine months we waited for her arrival, and nine months have past since she came into our lives. Nine months of waiting took an eternity; nine months of enjoying have flown by. Nine months of wondering how we could love another child; nine months wondering how we ever lived without her. Our sweet Presley Girl.

Today at nine months Presley is just as sweet and as easy as she could be. She continues to sleep between 17 - 18 hours a day. No joke! She is never fussy, rarely cries, and is content to just hang out. She loves Tucker Bear, baths, puffs, and her Elmo table. I've successfully kept her from crawling yet as I pull her up off the floor whenever she looks like she may make a move! I remember how busy I was when Tucker started crawling! I'll happily push that off as long as possible. Patrick insists she's said "dada" but I'm not totally convinced yet. She cut her first teeth on the bottom, painlessly, or at least, with minimal pain. She is by far the easiest baby I've ever been around. We always bragged how easy Tucker was, and Presley makes Tucker seem like a bear in comparison! Ha. We're definately spoiled.

We couldn't be happier that God gave us not one, but two precious, precious gifts. We love you sweet Presley Girl!

8 Months Old

2009-11-06T10:48:00.013-06:00

Our sweet Sissy is 8 months old today. What a joy she has been! I can't even remember life without her.

She has really come into her own this month! Her little personality and discoveries have been darling to watch bloom. She is babbling a lot now -- we all swear she's said "Mama, Dada, and Bubba" at least once...even though we know they've never been said on purpose! She laughs and lights up when she sees Patrick, Tucker, me, and her Nana and Poppy. She smiles a big smile when any of the five of us show up, and she'll kick her legs for added excitement :o) It's precious.

Presley loves to play with toys now, and is really enjoying her play kitchen, her cube of shapes, and her lovies. She also loves watching Tucker play, and is completely mezmorized by his motorized Thomas trains when they're going around the track.

Presley Dallas is eating food twice a day now, for lunch and dinner, and she loves fruit and oatmeal. Vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes will do, but she hates green veggies and squash. She will turn up her nose at the thought of us offering these "undesireables" to her! She also loves, LOVES her puffs, or "poofs" as we call them. She sits with us at mealtimes and likes to be included in the conversations.

Presley is still has her baby blues. They are so light blue in nature and don't have a speck of brown in them that we're feeling confident that she'll keep them. Her hair has grown a lot in the past two months--her bald spot in the back is completely covered, and the hair on the top of her head is very long and wavy. She's been able to wear a bow with out a headband for quite some time now.

Presley is very social and still happily goes to all people. I think Tucker was the same until about nine months, so we'll see if that changes any time soon. Everyone that meets her and holds her instantly falls in love with our sweet girl.

Time is passing so quickly! I'm trying to savor each minute of the baby phase because I know it's gone before you know it. Knowing that she's our last baby and that this is our last baby-phase makes it all the more special. We love, love, LOVE our Presley Girl!

Best Friends

2009-11-04T10:06:00.010-06:00

Tucker continues to absolutely adores his baby sister, and Presley lights up at the sight of Tucker Bear. I had Baby Girl sitting in on the floor of her room when I was folding laundry the other day, and Tucker wasn't home. Presley kept looking across the hall to his room and smiling, expecting him to be there. She seems to always be loooking for him. And when she gets up from her naps, Tucker races to see her.

Their bond is so precious to me. I am praying that they will continue to be the best of friends as they grow up together. What a joy they are to each other, and especially to Patrick and I. Watching them together is literally a dream come true for me. How great is our God to want to bless me this way!

Presley's Big Day

2009-11-03T17:35:00.008-06:00

On Sunday we had Presley Girl baptized. It was a long anticipated moment, as we had decided around late March that we wanted to wait to have her baptized until our new church, Restoration Anglican, was established.

Our dear friends Jed and Stacy agreed to be her godparents, so it was special that Presley's godfather is also the one who baptized her.

It was a sweet service with family and friends, and Presley was great. She was dancing with the best of them every time the praise team got going, and when Jed baptized her she didn't make any fuss at all. My mom bought her the most beautiful dress -- she looked precious!

We love you to pieces Presley Dallas! We are praying that the Lord will help us 'train you up in the way you should go, so when you are older you will not depart from it.' All God's love and blessings to you, my sweet, sweet girl.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T09:37:00.009-06:00

We had such a great Halloween this year! My mom, my sister, my brother and his new wife, all came to our house to spend the day together. Tucker was so excited he could hardly stand it, and everyone really enjoyed being with the kids. Uncle Paul's coveted spot as number one in Tucker's life may be threatened, however, by new Aunt Stefanie! Which means poor Poppy has been bumped down to number three, an unbearable spot for him! :o)

Tucker had wanted for some time to be a fireman for Halloween, so I had gotten him a "Fireman Sam" costume that he was really excited about. However, on Halloween morning he said, "Mommy, I really like my Fireman Sam costume, but my Thomas one is still my favorite." So we returned the fireman costume, and Tucker was Thomas for the second year in a row! Presley Girl was supposed to be a princess, but we didn't have any luck finding a 9 month princess costume, so her daddy just dressed her up in her UT cheerleader gear, and she was set!

During the day Aunt Stefanie and Uncle Paul brought fruit to "dress for their Halloween party", so we all disguised our apples and melons in dress up. My melon was Michael Jackson, complete with black and white face. (I thought it very fitting that the white side of MJ's face fell off by the next morning!)

My MJ...

Aunt Stefanie's spider web...

Tucker's "Spooky" creation...

I still love Halloween like I loved it as a kid. Experiencing it through Tucker's eyes is a precious thing. I love being a mom to these sweet babies!

Happy Halloween!

Presley & Pink Bear - 7 Months

2009-10-10T06:51:00.002-05:00

H1N1 Rears it's Ugly Head

2009-10-09T21:44:00.008-05:00
So our little Tucker Bear hasn't been himself the last couple of days. One day his throat hurt, yesterday he had a headache, and at 5:00 this morning he had a 101.8 degree fever. So we took him to the doctor today and found out our sweet boy has the swine flu. Oh the irony. My child has the swine flu. My child, who first of all, never gets sick, and second of all, is home everyday with Patrick and Presley, and pretty much hasn't been out of the house in the last couple of weeks, has swine flu.

At first diagnosis, I found the irony humorous and laughed it off. But then it really started to turn over in my mommy-head... the swine flu. And even though I'm sure Bear is going to be fine, I had a moment of meltdown! I mean our guy really never gets sick, so it's odd to see him not feeling well. He's had three ear infections between about ages 6 months to three years, and one of those times he threw up. That's been our extent of sickness with Tucker! So today's been a little unsettling.

At the end of the day though, I've realized today, difficultly, that Tucker is God's child, and that the Father loves him even more than Patrick and I do. And while I have been more blessed than I deserve by being mommy to my precious, precious little Bear, I realize he's just on loan to me.

Heavenly Father,
Abba You stitched our Tucker Bear together before any of us knew he would come to be. You know the number of hairs on his head and every dream in his heart. You are crazy about him -- He is Your pride and joy! We praise You because he is fearfully and wonderfully made, and we thank you for letting him abide in the shadow of Your wings.
Amen

Sister Sassy - Seven Months

2009-10-05T21:29:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe, but our little Presley is now seven months old! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this age. Gone are the sleepless nights and stretches of time when they really don't do much of anything, and in come the days of discovery! I can tell Presley Dallas is just soaking in the world around her. She has recently become a little outdoorsy girl...clearly she didn't get that from her mother! My dad, Presley's Poppy, takes her out on long walks when she's getting restless, and it always calms her down. She likes to reach out and grab the tree leaves and bushes and feel her way around this whole new world.

In the last month Presley's little personality continues to emerge. She is happy and tenderhearted. She takes things in stride. She loves fruits and isn't so impressed with vegetables. She stinkin' LOVES to sleep, and continues to take three good naps a day. Her days fall into this pattern:
8:30 am Rise and Shine!
10:00 am Back to sleep
12:00 pm Rise and Shine!
1:30 pm Back to sleep
3:30 or 4 pm Rise and Shine
5:30 pm Back to sleep
6:30 pm Dinner time!
7:30 pm Good night world!

I know--I'm spoiled! She's up so little during the day that Tucker doesn't really see that much of her! When she is up, a favorite game for both kids is chase. Patrick scoops Presley up in her arms, and chases Tucker around the house. Presley reaches her arms out in front of her and grabs a hold of Tucker whenever she gets close enough. This throws Tucker into fits of laughter, which then throws Presley into fits of laughter. It really is the most precious sight.

I wish I could bottle up these moments and play them back for my children when they're too old to remember how much they adored each other. Each little laughter is etched into the folds of my memory, and I'm praying that little glimpses of the precious days will be stored away on the hearts of my children too.

Lady in Red

2009-09-28T21:52:00.003-05:00

Hook 'Em!

2009-09-27T15:55:00.002-05:00

Presley & Pink Bear (6 Months)

2009-09-15T20:13:00.002-05:00

Six Months Old

2009-09-07T21:43:00.004-05:00
Can you believe it? Our sweet girl is six-months-old. Happy Half-Birthday Presley Dallas!

Sweet Presley turned half-a-year old on her Uncle Paul's wedding day. If I'm honest, I really don't even know what to update here. I've been back at work the past month, and the beginning of the year is always long and hectic, so I haven't spent much time with her lately. I can tell you, however, that her Daddy has spoiled her rotten! She likes to be held all day now because Patrick can't seem to put her down! She is definately a Daddy's girl, but still loves her number one guy, Tucker Bear.

At six months, she's taken her first long car trip to Austin. It was a nightmare going there only because she barely slept...and the entire trip, from leaving our house, dropping off the car at the shop, searching three stores to get a cord for the DVD player, and Labor Day traffic took us SEVEN hours to get there! She held it together though, and even though she only napped for about 30 minutes in the car, she didn't lose it until we were about 20 or 30 minutes outside of Austin. She did much better on the way home. (It probably helped that we literally got home in HALF the time!)

At six months old she has found her tongue, and she is always sticking it out. Her favorite place to be, other than her Daddy's arms, is her excersaucer, for sure! She stands really firmly on her legs. She's also sitting up completely on her own, though she's still a little wobbly.

I can't believe in this much time again we'll have a one-year-old. Time is flying!

First Ponytail

2009-08-27T21:03:00.004-05:00

...and notice she's found her tongue too :o)

Mommy Games

2009-08-22T10:59:00.003-05:00

Tucker calls doing things like folding laundry, putting away dishes, cleaning up the house, etc. "playing Mommy Games". Well, today he wanted to play cars together, but I told him I had to play a Mommy Game first. He was like, "Okay Mommy, we'll play your game today instead." I was pretty surprised because he usually just says no and goes and does his own thing. So today we played that super-fun game called "Sorting and Folding Laundry". :o)

Tucker actually had a fun time!! He's so funny. First we made one huge laundry pile and he had to seperate the Tucker & Presley things from the "non-Tucker & Presley things". Then from those piles we sorted the Tucker & Presley things into their own baskets. Then we played "make a prediction about who's shirt it is" for the shirts that were inside out. We'd turn them right-side out and see if we were right. :o) We also played a "I-spy" type game, where I would give him hints about a piece of laundry that I was looking at, like "I'm thinking of something that we use after a shower that's soft and white." He was SO proud of himself when he would "read my mind!"

The funny part is, I had fun too! I realized if I let go of having to do things a certain way I could be having a lot more time with my kids! Once again Tucker has reminded me about how even our mundane routines can be made fun if we're just willing to look at things through the eyes of a child. I just love that kid!

Presley and the Pink Bear--5 mos.

2009-08-19T20:56:00.004-05:00

These shots weren't great, but after the third picture Sissy toppled over, so that was the end of that! (I'm pretty sure she looks extremely annoyed in the first picture, and drunk in the bottom one...okay, maybe I will be giving this a second go!)

Mystery Photographer...

2009-08-16T23:50:00.007-05:00
I went to upload some new pictures off my camera and discovered a mystery photographer had gotten a hold of my camera and took 109 total pictures on it.

He took the next one too. That's the only one we knew he took :o) Not bad, if you ask me, for a Mystery Photographer! :o)

My Favorite Part of the Day

2009-08-16T11:42:00.004-05:00

My favorite part of the day comes and goes quickly, and I know the opportunities to savor them are fleeting. It happens when my first born groggily emerges from his bedroom after his nap (yes, at 4.5 years old Tucker still takes a 1-2 hour nap!), and he comes up to me to snuggle. If any of yall know Tucker, you know he is all boy all the time...not much of a snuggler. But in the five sweet minutes after his nap, he crawls into my lap, usually with his "Bayboo" and duck blankie, and he lets me love on him.

As I'm typing this entry, I'm getting very teary-eyed. My little Bear is growing up so fast, and I know that by this time next year, naps will probably be a thing of the past, and with them will go my very favorite part of the day. These precious, irreplaceable five minutes of the day I will always cherish, and I'm willing the memories to be stored in my heart forever. Soon my favorite part of the day will become a "when you were little" story. As for today, I'm trying to soak in the moment with all my senses...how Bear felt cuddled close to me, so big, yet so small; how he sounded, breathing still and calm; how his head still smells like baby shampoo. What a wonder he is!

Thank You Lord, for my precious first born. What a gift you've given me! I'm overjoyed to be his Mommy. May these moments be encased in my heart's long memory forever. Amen

Quote of the Day

2009-08-14T09:22:00.002-05:00

Tucker: "Daddy, stop being unrespectfulable!"

The "Hopskopch" Kid

2009-08-09T08:43:00.005-05:00

Right around the beginning of the month Tucker discovered hopscotch...or "hopskopch" as he calls it. I had taken him outside to play with chalk and I made him a hopscotch board, just like we had seen on 'Special Agent Oso'. Tucker was instantly hooked! He absolutely wants to play every chance he gets, so much so that he didn't want to go to our swim playdate because he preferred to stay home and play hopscotch! I had to bring chalk with us and make a hopscotch board that went into the pool!

I love how Tucker breathes new life and excitement into the humdrumness of life. Oh the joys of childhood!!

The next few pictures are of the chalk drawings Patrick made for Tucker. They are all pictures of his favorite movies and stories that Patrick and Tucker make up. What a good Daddy! (By the way...Patrick dressed Tucker on this day, hence the red-on-red! ha ha)

Six Years and Going Strong

2009-08-08T20:08:00.003-05:00
Today Patrick and I are celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary. How far we've come in six years! We've endured much, but we've grown even more in our faith and love for our Lord.

Our good friend Keelie was supposed to keep our kids for the night, but her poor little girl has been sick, so we just decided to doll up the kids and take them out to dinner with us! We all got dressed up and headed out to Texas Land & Cattle. Everyone looked so cute, although Tucker was missing one thing...shoes!! (Can you guess that Patrick was in charge of getting him ready? ha ha) I had every intention of getting the waiter to take a family picture, but I forgot! You can take my word for it--we all looked crazy good! :o)

About halfway through our meal I noticed that only a few tables down my good friend from work was there eating dinner with her husband. I stopped to chat for a minute and went back to my seat, and my friend and her husband left a few minutes later. We finished our meal a short time after that and asked for our check...only to find out that Chris and Hollie had paid for our meal!! As you can imagine, we were overwhelmed with gratefulness. What a blessing this was for us.

Since Patrick has lost his job, God has continuously reminded us that He is always with us and ever mindful of us through the generosity of good friends. First our Small Group and now Hollie and Chris have made us feel like the Lord Himself is tightly wrapping His arms around us and allowing us to wait out Patrick's next job in complete peace. I'm just so moved.

So today I'm thankful for good friends, celebrating an amazing husband, and overwhelmed by a faithful God. What more do we need?

Happy 6th Anniversary Schmoopie! (No your Schmoopie!)

Five Months Old

2009-08-07T19:14:00.008-05:00

I can't believe our little girl is now five months old! It's suddenly flying by! This month she has really grown and changed a lot. In our opinion, she is suddenly really starting to look like Patrick! This has taken us both by surprise. She still has crystal clear blue eyes and we are hoping they will stay that way. I've noticed that, while Tucker had deep blue eyes until he was six months old, in old pictures of him his eyes look brown. But in Sister's pictures they are bluer than blue, so who knows? The nurse at our doctor's office said she thought they'd stay, so we're hopeful!

This month Presley Dallas started eating baby food. We were supposed to start with rice cereal, but who really needs that stuff, right? We went straight to the veggies!! So far she has eaten and enjoyed squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas. (One night when we were out of baby food I did make her rice cereal and she liked that too!) She seems to have a zest for eating...not sure where she gets that from! ha ha She likes to talk when she's eating, so we have to be prepared for the food to spray all over! It's quite messy, but absolutely precious. She also started to be able to hold her own bottle!! She still needs a little help if it falls, but if she's wanting to, she'll hold it for us, which is great for us!! Last week we also started her on formula, so she's having bottles all the time now, and that has been an easy transition for her. I feel pretty good about making it five months of breastfeeding, though I did eight with Tucker. Hopefully it will be enough to give her the great immune system our Tucker Bear has. Time will tell... :o)

Presley has really taken to her excersaucer. She spends tons of time in it, and she is very intrigued by it. She loves to be sitting up and seeing what's around her. She still likes her gym and she likes to lay on the ground with toys, but she does NOT like to be on her tummy! She loves her baby doll that Tucker got her. We're hoping it will become her "Bayboo". (Most of you know, but for those who don't, "Bayboo" is Tucker's blue bear that he's toted around since he was Presley Girl's age.)

Presley loves to laugh and continues to think her brother hung the moon. She is also loving Patrick being home and eating up her time with him. I'm a little nervous about going back to work next week because while she's fine to be with Patrick she seems to be getting a little anxious around strangers. It's kinda a blessing that Patrick will be the one taking care of her for at least a short time to transition me back to work.

Five months will soon be six, and then 12, and before I know it she'll be four like Tucker. It just goes so fast!!

Do They Get Any Cuter??

2009-07-30T13:40:00.005-05:00

I'm thinking no!

My Wonderful Husband

2009-07-28T16:29:00.003-05:00
I just felt the need to brag on my husband. Some of you don't know that my husband has worked tirelessly for the last 15 months opening a brand new golf club in the area. Patrick passionately and dedicatedly worked day and literally night to put this new club on the map. He was in charge of absolutely everything, though that was not explained to him when he took the job. He didn't care. He's a hard worker and a good man. He did everything from order the necessary office supplies like pens, papers, and rubber bands, to decorating the clubhouse, to hiring/training/releasing employees, and anything and everything in between. He got to work early and stayed at work late, and when the pipes froze in the ceiling and ruined the security alarm system, my husband even slept at that club every night for two straight weeks, with the exception of Christmas Eve but including Christmas night, to be on Fire Watch and be sure the club wasn't broken into or damaged. He did all of this at the expense of seeing and spending time with his family and friends, to the extreme of not being able to bring me and Baby Presley home from the hospital because his bosses were in town, and he did it all without complaining. Patrick's work ethic is second to none. To say as an employee that he is dedicated, passionate, and willing to go the extra mile would be an understatement.

But compare Patrick's work ethic to his love for his family and that all looks like nothing! My husband is encouraging, accepting, loving at all costs, funny, and friendlier than anyone I know. As a father, none (well, except for mine of course!) could be better. He adores his kids. He loves them more than life itself. Regardless of the stress he endures, when he walks into our home and he is with our kids, all is right with the world. He doesn't even need "a minute to himself" when he gets home--he goes straight to playing with the kids and helping out with them. When Patrick is home, I can truly put my feet up and relax.

Due to a bad economy and a boss' need to secure his own job (that's a wife's assessment!) Patrick lost his job two weeks ago. I hate this for him. Not because he nor I desired him to put in the long hours that he did, but because he loved what he was doing, regardless of the powers-that-be. This job loss has been bittersweet, because while we did lose a position Patrick enjoyed, Tucker, Presley and I got our beloved Daddy and husband back! I can honestly say I didn't even realize the toll this job was taking on him, because since he's been home I'm seeing a side of him I haven't seen in a long time. He's laughing again. There's so much laughter. A strained relationship between Tucker and Patrick brought on by such an absence of presence has been rapidly restored. As for our marriage--who knew how much communication could be lost when a spouse works so much! It's not that we stopped talking to each other, but that we didn't really have time, and I don't think we even realized it until these last two weeks that he's been home. I love my husband! I really, really do. He is, without a doubt, my best friend.

I'm so blessed to have a God that cares for me. God planned Patrick and I to be perfect for each other. And though times are stressful right now, I know that He's going to provide for us, and while I cling to Jesus, I'm overwhelmed to have Patrick by my side. He is the love of my life.

I just had to brag...

Presley & the Pink Bear

2009-07-20T16:16:00.002-05:00

When Tucker was a baby my friend Carrie gave me the suggestion of taking a picture with him once a year with the same stuffed animal to see how much he grows. It was a really cute idea...that we've been really bad about. BUT, my friend Heather just gave me the idea to do it with Presley every month since they change so much the first year. So I've decided to try that, (and I'm determined to be better about taking Tucker's annual picture too!) and so here is Presley at four-months-old with her Pink Bear.

Off for "boy time"...

2009-07-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

(Too bad the stinkin' camera took a fuzzy picture! Oh well!) :o)

Tucker's 4-Year and Presley's 4-Month Well Visit

2009-07-12T17:58:00.004-05:00

We took both Tucker and Presley for their respective 4-year and 4-month check ups. (Yeah, that's right. We were six months late for the 4-year appointment!) Anyway, things went really well. Tucker walked confidently into the doctor's office, greeting everyone along the way. He hopped right up on the scale, let them measure him without fuss, answered the obligatory questions about what he eats (almost nothing of variety) and if he still wears diapers (no). The nice nurses came in at the end and asked him to lay on the table. He obliged. And then...they stuck him! Double whammy--a shot in each leg. Poor, poor baby! He just cried and cried--he never saw it coming! I hate that! He was supposed to get four vaccines that day, but ever since his first doctor's appointment Patrick and I have had a no-more-than-two-vaccines-at-a-time policy. So lucky for him he didn't have to get stuck again, but unlucky for him he'll have to make up those last two shots at his five year check up. But then, no more shots until he's eleven! Phew ;o)

Baby Girl also did really well. She got her two instead of four shots and she didn't like them, but I always nurse her right away and she calms down really fast. Unfortunately her little owies swelled up a little and she didn't really feel well or nap well the rest of the day. She was back to normal the next day.

Tucker weighed in at 38 lbs, which is exactly what he weighed a year-and-a-half ago at his three year check up, and he grew four inches. (Can we say 'active boy'?!) These stats makes him average for both weight and height. Presley on the other hand is now 15 lbs, 14 oz, and 24.25 inches long, which puts her at average for height and in the 90th percentile for weight! Oh, Sissy Girl! She's our little chunky monkey...which I just love! The doctor said we could start her on rice cereal and then on to vegetables. I think you only do rice cereal with the first baby, right? ha ha ha We decided to skip it and go straight for the veggies. We've started with yellow squash, which she seemed to like. We waited until night right before her last feeding, hoping it would help her sleep through the night. No such luck. So tonight we're going to mix in the rice cereal with the squash to see if that helps with Mission: Uninterrupted Sleep. I'll keep you posted...

Quote of the Day...

2009-07-11T18:01:00.000-05:00
I just spilled my water on the carpet and Tucker said, "UGH, Mommy! You have ruined this world!"

Four Months Old

2009-07-06T14:41:00.010-05:00

Today Presley Dallas is four months old! Tucker, Presley and I were at a playdate at our friend's the Roseberry's house today. As I was talking to Stacy about being a month late getting Presley's picture taken and needing to get that done, the best photographer disguised as a stay-at-home mom whipped out her camera and got this great shot!

What a lot of changes we've seen in Sissy in one month's time. For one thing, she has grown to adore her brother! Tucker is the one we can count on to always make her smile. And his adoration has grown stronger for her each day as well. My prayer for them is that they will be best friends for the rest of their lives!

She is still sleeping in our closet (gasp! I know!) but I have a feeling she'll be in her own room soon. We're waiting for her to start sleeping through the night. Last week she slept through the night four days in a row (T, W, Th, and F). On the fifth day (Saturday) we said if she slept through the night again we'd put her in her room the next day. Well, she must have overheard us because that night she woke up twice!! We were really frustrated yesterday, until we realized later in the day we think she woke up because we she's cutting her first tooth! I can't believe that! Tucker didn't cut teeth until he was 8 months old, so we never even thought to consider that she was teething. But last night we put our fingers in her mouth and you can just barely feel a top tooth cutting through. So unless our fingers are decieving us, top teeth are on their way!

While she's not in her room yet, she is out of the swing for naptimes. She still enjoys swinging, but her naps are lasting just as long now that she is in bed and not in the swing. She also enjoys her Bumbo seat, her baby Papazan chair, and her activity gym, and on a few occasions we've put her in her excersaucer which she is curious about. (She's still a little too small for it, but she seems to like the colors.) She also likes to just lay on the floor and play with a few rings and her duck, Mr. Waddles.

As you know from my previous post, this month she rolled over for the first time. Also, as from a previous post, she went to the pool for the first time this month, and she really likes the water. She's very calm when she's in the pool, and she just takes in all the sights and sounds around her. In general, she likes to be outside. She is also just beginning to laugh real, hearty belly laughs, mostly with Patrick, and also when you tickle her tummy. I think there's no greater sound in the world. :o)

For the life of me, I cannot get this girl to like her paci! She does like to suck on her hand a lot, and I am doing everything I can to keep her from becoming a thumb-sucker! Now that she seems to be teething she does seem to like the hospital paci again, at least way better than the Nuk brand (which was Tucker's favorite). I'm so hoping she'll start to like it--pacifiers were a life-saver with Tucker. Anytime he was fussy or upset I could just pop in his paci and life could go on!! Not so much with Presley Girl!

Today my kids are four-years-old and four-months-old. It's amazing that in just four years time my Bear went from doing all these little bitty things like Presley is doing to doing major big kid things. It just remindes me how fast it all goes by. What a treasure it is just to be a part of it!

July 4, 2009

2009-07-05T16:33:00.005-05:00

We're usually in Denver for the 4th with Patrick's family, but this year we weren't able to go with Patrick's work schedule and Presley's apparent inability to sleep anywhere but at home! Thankfully my sweet friend Keelie invited us up to Gunter to come to their town festivities. Patrick stayed at home to spend time with Presley and put her to bed before a breakdown.

The event was precious! It was very "small town", so you know I just loved every minute. There was a big slide and snow cones, cotton candy, a fire truck (which Bear loved!).... It kinda reminded me of when Coppell, my hometown, was still small...though Gunter's much smaller than even Coppell was when I was little. One thing that reminded me a lot of growing up was from those second and third pictures--that was the "Cowplop Contest"! That's right--for all of you that are unfamiliar with this practice, someone builds a little corral, then paints a grid on the grass, and a cow is released. If the cow "does his business" in the square you picked, you're a winner, buddy! Woo hoo!! Good times ;o)

Tucker and his buddy Jonah were really funny during the fireworks. While we were waiting for them to start, some people were setting off a few tiny ones in the parking lot. Tucker and Jonah absolutely screeched with delight over these little fireworks, but when the big display began, they were almost completely silent! I'm assuming it was just a lot to take in :o)

By the way, earlier in the day I had Tucker and Presley in matching 4th of July-type outfits--they were so cute!! Unfortunately, Presley Dallas pooped all over her clothes before anyone got to see them or I had the chance to take a picture of them. I guess I'll only have that picture in my heart :o)

This is how Presley feels about Tucker...

2009-07-02T20:44:00.004-05:00

All I ever have to do to get Presley to smile is bring Tucker into the room. She never takes her eyes off him!! Just recently we could tell that she was starting to recognize him and enjoy him, and now she absolutely adores her big brother :o)

Presley Rolled Over Tonight!

2009-07-01T20:34:00.002-05:00
By the grace of God, I am home with Presley right now until school starts. I love it. I am with her for every minute of the day, unless on rare occasions she’s with my parents. In fact, I’d say that since she was born four months ago I have been away from her for literally less than ten hours.

Patrick, on the other hand, has probably only been WITH Presley for less than ten hours since she was born. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but opening a new golf course has him working harder and longer than he ever has before. In fact, I worry that once Presley starts sleeping through the night, Patrick could literally go days without seeing her, because she’s asleep both when he leaves in the morning and when he gets home at night. Today he put in almost a 15-hour day, and that’s not unusual.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been expressing to Patrick a little bit of concern that some of my friends with babies her age have started rolling over, and Presley hasn’t really ever even tried to roll to her side. So Patrick came home from work tonight at almost 8 pm, and I happen to still have Presley up. Patrick, Tucker, and I all sat down by the blanket Presley was laying on and we were just watching her and talking about our days. I left the room for literally less than a minute, and Patrick calls out, “Valerie, come here quick!” When I returned to the room, you guessed it, Presley Dallas had rolled over onto her belly for the very first time…and I had missed it!! I still can't believe it. I mean, how is it that Patrick, who is never with Presley, happened to be here at just the right moment to witness this “first”, while I, on the other hand, who is always by this child’s side, is away for the 60-second period in which this first happened?! Seriously!

Anyway, Presley rolled over today! Yea Presley! :o)

Quote of the Day

2009-06-29T18:14:00.005-05:00
If you know how many hours my precious husband puts in at work each week, you'll appreciate this quote from dinner tonight, just me and Tucker...

Tucker: "Mommy, what does 'Heavenly Father' mean?

Me: "It means 'our Daddy that lives in Heaven'."

Tucker: "Who's that?"

Me: "God"

Tucker: "Where's our other daddy?"

Me: "He's AT WORK!!"

Patrick, come home!! We're forgetting what you look like!

Another First for Tucker: Learning to Swim

2009-06-26T21:16:00.007-05:00

Day One--Monday, June 15th
Tucker meets his new swim teacher Mrs. Elizabeth and her assistant Katie. He is very hesitant to go beyond the stairs. I make the mistake of saying he'll be fine to go under the water, and on attempt three he's crying really hard. At the end of the lesson he is more than ready to go!

Day Two--Tuesday, June 16th
Tucker pretty much spends the whole lesson on the top step just splashing and playing with Mrs. Elizabeth. Trust begins creeping in Tucker's heart and a positive relationship is established...

Day Three--Wednesday, June 17th
I had to miss this lesson, so Poppy (my dad) stepped in to take Tucker. At the first sign of upsettedness, Poppy turns and leaves the backyard without a word said. Good job Poppy! Mrs. Elizabeth assures me that Tucker did a good job.

Day Four--Thursday, June 18th
Lesson begins with splashing and playing on the step. Mid-lesson, Tucker is brave enough to hold on to Mrs. Elizabeth's leg only. Quote of the day: (Tucker to Mrs. Elizabeth) "Now don't panic!" He learns to go under the water and spring up from the bottom into Mrs. Elizabeth's arms. He does much better today and is rewarded by being allowed to watch a new video I had bought on Monday.

Day Five--Friday, June 19th
Lesson begins slowly. Tucker is hesitant as he is brought into the water with Mrs. Elizabeth. They practice the spring up move for quite some time. Tucker shows signs of slight trepidation, but is otherwise trusting his teacher. Mid-lesson I'm thinking I'm glad we signed up for a two-week session b/c it's obvious my boy is just not getting it. AND THEN...A MIRACLE! Tucker is practicing his spring up move when he just takes off swimming. It clicks, and my sweet boy is swimming, and loving every minute of it! "It's 'a-quarium', he declares, as if he's invented this whole swimming thing and already given it a new name! A sudden burst of bravery comes over him and he asks "again, again, again"--he wants to keep swimming--I mean, "'quariuming"! Yea Tucker! My heart is overjoyed.

Days 6-9
By the following Tuesday he's actually DIVING for rings at the bottom of the pool, and getting them! I still can't believe it. The child that arrived on Day 1 is now completely unrecognizable to any of us.

I told Mrs. Elizabeth that watching Tucker learn to swim was just as exciting as seeing him first crawl, watching him take his first step, and hearing his first sweet word, "mama". In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch for me to say it was even more precious to me. The other firsts were all part of a natural progression, but to learn to swim my Tucker had to combat his fear and trust a perfect stranger to keep him safe.

I know it's no coincidence that during this time he was also attending Vacation Bible School, where this year's theme was "Fear Not!" I love the way God orchastrates every tiny moment in our lives, because He is a God of details!

My heartfelt thanks goes out to Mrs. Elizabeth for listening to God's call on her life to teach little ones to swim with such love and compassion, and to Katie for being such an encourager and loving person to my son. And to my precious Bear--fear not! The Lord is with you! You've already proven that with Christ you can do all things! We're so proud of you :o)

VBS '09: Crocodile Dock

2009-06-25T15:47:00.003-05:00

This has been Tucker's first year to attend VBS in a real classroom, (he's always been in the church nursery for the volunteers kids in the past), and let me just tell you, he is loving it!! I'm amazed at how much he is absorbing it up--his heart is like a sponge! Our theme is "Crocodile Dock: Where Fearless Kids Shine God's Light!" My heart is just overjoyed as I watch little seeds getting planted in my precious boy's heart about not ever having to be afraid because God is Always With Us. And they're already taking root--today at nap time Tucker said, "I don't have to be scared in my room because God is with me." :o)

The first three days they studied Moses, and my Tucker Bear knows that story like the back of his hand! He retells it in the exact way I'm assuming his teachers are saying it to him. ("And Moses said, 'Let my people go!' Can everyone say, 'Let my people go?' And pharoh said, 'NO!' Can everyone say, 'NO!'") He's hilarious! His favorite part is the burning bush. ;o) Today they learned about Jesus dying on the cross and rising up again...God Gives Us Life! He told me about the nails they drove into His hands and feet and how He was layed behind a BIG rock and then He came out again. Precious :o)

I've asked him what his favorite part of the day is, and he told me it's the dancing. (Well his mama IS on the music team!) I wish you could all see him jam out to "I get down, He lifts me up, I get down, He lifts me up!" It's priceless!

As a mom, I'm so thankful for this experience. I've done VBS for four years now, and this is the first time I'm experiencing it as a mom with a child attending. I never thought it would have such a huge impact on his little heart already. Thanks to all at Christ Church that have made it possible!!

Tucker's Quote of the Day...

2009-06-20T20:17:00.001-05:00
Tucker: "Mommy can you play with me."

Me: "Yes, but first I'm gonna get some coffee, make breakfast, and do the laundry."

Tucker: "Okay, but when you're done playing those mommy-games can you play with me?"

Another First for my First Baby

2009-06-16T20:48:00.007-05:00

This week we experienced a first with Tucker that I hadn't been expecting to come so soon. On Saturday afternoon my doorbell rang, and on the other side stood our little neighbor. He wanted to know if Tucker could play.

That was it. A little boy on the other side of my front door ringing my bell wanting to know if my precious baby boy could play. I was caught completely off guard. "Can Tucker play?" No he can't play--he's not big enough to play. Wait? Is he? Are we here already? I could hardly believe how much this struck me. I love my Bear so much. He's my baby regardless of what the calendar says. I'm a mommy because he came into this world four short years ago. Can he come play? No! He's mine. Am I ready to share him like this? I should still have a little more time of just scheduled play dates, more "mommy and me" type activities, right? "Can Tucker play?" Well I don't know. I feel like I'm not ready to give him wings yet; the roots seem too shallow in the soil. (In the end, I didn't let him go, but I did invite the neighbor in to play with us.)

My precious Tucker is four-years-old. He's not a baby any more, and his great adventure is just getting started. If letting him go play is this difficult for me, I can only imagine what future firsts will feel like.

Brother and Sister

2009-06-15T21:04:00.005-05:00

Just caught a glimpse of what Saturday mornings will probably look like in the future...

God is Bigger

2009-06-11T21:40:00.003-05:00
A few months ago Tucker had his eye on this bracelet that Patrick has. It's kinda like those "LiveStrong" Lance Armstrong bracelets, but this one is white and it glows in the dark. Patrick gave it to Tucker one night when he was scared of a bad dream, and Patrick told him it would help him not have any more dreams. (Yes, I completely disagreed with this tactic, but the reasoning just eluded my husband...). Anyway, since then Tucker has had to have this bracelet on every night at bedtime, and tonight was no different. What was different, however, was what Patrick encountered later this evening when he went to check on Bear.

Tucker had gotten out of his bed and was putting the bracelet on the dresser beside his light. Patrick said, "Are you not going to wear that tonight?" And brave Tucker answered, "No Daddy. I don't need it anymore. God is with me." Then he folded his little hands and said, "I love you, God."

I guess hearing the story of Daniel and the Lions Den a million times lately has set in the message that God is always with us, and he's bigger than any harm we can imagine! Thank You, Lord, for my sweet boy!

Time with Presley, Time with Tucker

2009-06-09T10:10:00.005-05:00

So here's little Presley Girl hanging out for the first time in her exersaucer. She didn't last very long, but she likes it! She was very curious about the flowers and the teapot that decorated her table. :o) I saw this exersaucer at WalMart when I was about six or seven months pregnant, and I just thought it was too cute! I couldn't wait to see my Baby Girl in it. We had a precious one for Tucker that our sweet friends Jamie and Angie bought him that was a race car. (I'm trying to find those photos and upload them.) I absolutely loved it for Bear, but I couldn't wait to get a pink one for our daughter, and oh is it cute!

So anyway, yesterday I decided that I would take Tucker on a "date" to our pool and let Daddy stay home with Sissy. Can I just tell you how much I adore my son? He is growing to be such a sweet, precious little boy. I know he has his moments, but overall he is such a good kid! We had so much fun at the pool, and Tucker is just so outgoing. My little heart just melts at how kind he is to other kids, and how he declares all of them to be "his friends". I watched him twice walk up to other little boys and say, "What's your name? Hi, I'm Tucker." Of course, my mommy heart holds it's breath each time, saying a little prayer that the other kid will be nice back to him, and his sweet feelings will be spared. Now that he's four I so wish the whole world was kind! Now that he has to interact with other kids, I wish feelings would never get hurt.

Heavenly Father,
I praise you that Tucker and Presley are fearfully and wonderfully made. I thank you for stitching them lovingly together while I carried each of them. Thank You for loving them so much You know the number of hairs on each of their sweet heads and each of their days before they came to be. Lord Jesus, teach Tucker and Presley to be loving and compassionate to all they meet, being Your eyes, hands, and heart here on Earth. May that find all the love they need in You alone.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

First Pool Trip

2009-06-08T14:53:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we took Tucker and Presley to the pool for Presley's first swim. She really seemed to like the water. Patrick and I took turns just holding her and she never once complained. She loves the outdoors and just soaked in all the excitement around her. (Thanks to Miss Keelie for buying this cute suit and hat for Presley Girl! I got it at my shower and have literally been waiting for months to see my little girl in it! So sassy!)

Tucker was so excited we were going swimming. "That means summer is here," he happily declared. He was so excited when we got to the neighborhood pool. It really is quite cute with a pirate/lagoon type theme. He's quite the little fish...too bad I still haven't gotten him swim lessons! (He starts next week.) So I'm thinking this summer (and probably next) will probably be a little hectic for Patrick and I when it comes to pool time...definately requires man-on-man defense!
(As I'm posting this I'm realizing what a bad mom I've become...ever since Presley came along I've been forgetting to take pictures of just Tucker! Poor Bear!)

Fun in the Sun!

2009-06-01T21:39:00.003-05:00

We had a great play date at our sweet friends The Roseberry's house today. Stacy and Jed just completely overhauled their backyard, and today Tucker enjoyed playing with his friends in their new sandbox (even though sandboxes make me cringe!) and running through the sprinklers. The weather was perfect, the company even better, and the memories made priceless. Bring on the summer!

Twelve Weeks Old

2009-05-29T09:59:00.009-05:00

It's been twelve weeks since we first met our Presley Dallas, and let me tell you she has completely stolen our hearts! Each day is better than the last. She's doing better on her sleep, though she's not completely sleeping through the night. She gets to bed at about 7:30 and sleeps until between 2 -4. Then she's back to sleep until about 8:00 or so. One night, however, she slept a full twelve hours!! 7:30 - 7:30...it was lovely!!! So I know she'll be sleeping through the night soon. She's dropped her third nap so she's now taking two naps, each about 2 - 4 hours long. Sometimes her morning nap is not as long, but she always makes up for it!

Tucker is still enamored by his little sister. He rushes in to see her each time she wakes up, and he covers her in sugars! He's just so good with her. His favorite thing to do is snuggle in his bed with her.

Presley and I enjoy girl time on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Tucker is at school. She helps me around the house and sometimes we go shopping. Taking Tucker and Presley out together is still a little stressful for me, but I'm getting better. :o) Patrick is working so many hours right now (it's just getting to be busy season at the golf course) so we do a lot without him. When he is home it makes such a difference! Man-to-man defense is so much easier ;o)

I'm just loving every minute with my sweet girl, and even though it's the hardest job ever, being a mom is such a huge blessing. Lucky me!

Jon and Kate Plus Frustration!

2009-05-25T21:28:00.006-05:00
Okay, so I usually don't blog about TV shows, but I promise I can tie this back into our lives! Tonight's premiere episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 was so hard to watch! Here are strong believers walking dangerously near the D-I-V-O-R-C-E path. Their book, Multiple Blessings came out only in December and the whole thing is their testimony to God's faithfulness to them, and how He has overcome their hardships and blessed them with everything that they have in their lives. And suddenly now He's not big enough to fix this bump in the road?

It made me remember no matter how strong our faith we'll always be tested and tempted this side of heaven. I know we've been. I'm in total recognition that this could be Patrick and me at any moment if we're not careful. Here is this husband and wife, (who not that long ago were very happy), sitting in different rooms, hardly able to be together for five minutes, talking about possible divorce. It made me remember that we need to be vigilantly praying over our marriage. It always stuns me how quickly we can fall into a pit of "unhappiness." We can totally slip at any minute. It amazes me at how swiftly the enemy can beat us down and cause us to forget all that God has done for us or that He has a plan for us. And how quickly our flesh wants to throw in the towel! A season or two of unhappiness is just a blip on the radar of eternity, but oh, how it seems like there's no end in sight and no making it better when you're in the middle of it. Believe you me, I know all this is true!

So I'm staring at this woman going, you're going to regret this. Don't let this happen. Getting a divorce is not the answer. They keep saying how they do everything for their kids, and I'm thinking, what could be better for your kids than fixing your marriage? The other side will be so much better and stronger.

Anyway, as I was watching tonight's show I've been convicted of the following...
--That too often counting our difficulties seems easier than counting our blessings

--That God calls me to respect my husband, especially around others

--That every marriage is going to experience bumps in the road, but the patchwork makes them stronger

--That marital problems are never solely one spouse's fault, no matter how much we want to think we're innocent

--That if we are in covenant with our spouse through Jesus, we can't walk away from that commitment

--That the world says if you're unhappy, it's not right; but God says, if you're unhappy, I can make it right

--That having a solid marriage is the best thing I can do for my kids

I'm have to admit to you that I am praying for this couple and family, and I am hoping that they can use their nationally televised show to say "we can only attest the saving of our marriage to Jesus Christ." What a victory that will be!

Heavenly Father,
I thank you today for my unbelievable husband. I thank you for having him in mind for me even when you created the world. Father, cover me in the blood that covers a multitude of sins and love me through Patrick. Let us genuinely delight in honoring each other. Let me see Patrick as You see him, value him as You value him, and love him through me. When times are tough, be our Rock and fortress; in good times, be the center of our joy. Thank you for the gifts of Tucker and Presley. Help us to build up our marriage with Christ at the center so that we can model to our children what a godly husband and godly wife should look like. May our marriage be a blessing to you.

In Jesus' name,
Amen

Play Time of Epic Proportions

2009-05-25T09:10:00.004-05:00
Today Tucker and I were playing in the backyard when he decided he wanted to play Moses and The King. (Moe and the Big Exit is his favorite VeggieTales right now.) :o)

So Tucker told me he would be Moses, I was Pharoh, his dump trucks became the Isrealites, and a weed became the Burning Bush! Before I knew it, the weed was telling Tucker to tell Mommy that God told him to let the dump trucks go! But no, I said, I will not let your people go. Let my people go! No, said mommy. Let my people go! No, said Mommy. Finally, God sent all of the first born "Iptyian" boys "up the river." (Did God really do that, Mommy? Yes, sweet boy.) Finally, Mommy let the dump trucks go. Unfortunately, Tucker did not want to cross the Red Sea (the backyard) so he just let the dump trucks go.

I think this was my favorite telling of this bible story!

I'm Getting Old...

2009-05-16T13:11:00.006-05:00
For those of you who don't know, I am just a couple of months shy of my 30th birthday. (I know, I know, I can't believe it either! ha) Honestly this doesn't really bother me at all, but for the first time today I felt like I was getting old, and I have to blame it on Beverly Hills, 90210.

I sat down to nurse Presley Girl today and turned on a rerun of one of my favorite shows. Oh, how I used to love this show. It was in middle school that my devotion to this brew began, and my sister and I used to actually tape the episodes on our Beta (yeah baby!) and watch them over and over again throughout the week, analyzing every line, until we could wait no more. And then, thank you Aaron Spelling, another spellbinding episode would come on just as promised! Oh how things were hot at The Beverly Hills Beach Club! Well today was a good one too. Way before "The Peach Pit" became "The Peach Pit After Dark" or Brandon and Steve tried to run "The Beverly Beat". No way, Jose, this one was from the early days, where David Silver pumped up the jam live from West Beverly Hills High.

In today's episode, we found our favorite West Beverly juniors in a tizzy over the impending SATs. Poor AHN-drea was in such a pickle to get an edge on the test that she begged, of all others, Mullet-tastic Steve Sanders, son of the former star of "The Hartley House", to share his notes from an exclusive test prep class and study with her! Desperate she must have been, because after their study session, they mugged down in classic Steve Sanders "I8A4RE"-license-plate-bearing style. Oy vey!

Earlier that day Brenda, Kelly, and Donna were being silly and responsible at the same time--they decided to check their breasts for cancerous lumps during their afternoon of fun. Well, low and behold, 16-year-old Brenda found a small lump in her breast. (Don't tell Dad!)

Why, besides the obvious, did this make me feel old? It wasn't the sentimental feelings stirred up just at the sight of my favorite fraternal twin brother and sister act. No, it was all because of Cindy Walsh. Yes, today for the first time, instead of feeling an emotional connection to the highly-dramatic-younger-twin-by-four-minutes Brenda, I felt it only for faithful caregiver Cindy. Yes, I actually teared up when Cindy caught a tender moment between her son and daughter. And when Brenda got the call that she would be all right, it was Cindy Walsh's reaction of relieved mother that actually made me shed a tear. I realized that where I used to get mushy over the fact that Dylan skipped a day of most righteous surfing to search five hospitals to bring his beloved a bouquet of get well flowers (she didn't even tell him what hospital she'd be at!), I now got mushy instead at the plight of poor Cindy Walsh and her "is-my-daughter-going-to-be-okay" dilemma.

Is this what 30 is going to be like? Oy vey, indeed!

Family Fridays

2009-05-12T15:14:00.004-05:00

In the last six or so weeks we've started having lunch every Friday with Patrick at the club. It's quickly become something we really look forward to. I just wish I had had my camera about five minutes before we took this picture, because Patrick had just turned his back for a minute when Tucker decided to drop his drawers and pee right there on the driving range! Thank goodness it was a slow day!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2009-05-07T18:46:00.004-05:00
So today I went to pick Tucker up from the sitter's house and Tucker was playing with a little doll. (I know, Patrick, but it's fine!) Melinda said he had been taking care of the doll, and that she could tell he had been watching me take care of Presley because he had put the dolly on it's tummy and was saying "Tummy Time! Tummy Time Baby!" What was just lovely, though, was when he said, "Oh he's crying. I have to feed him." and he proceeded to lift up his shirt and "feed" the baby! Nice :o)

That's What I Love About Sundays...

2009-05-03T10:51:00.008-05:00

I've said it a thousand times before...Sundays are my favorite day of the week. They mean that Patrick is home, and we have a true family day. It usually starts with lounging in our jammies and then pancakes or kolaches . Then it's on to see our church family (or at least it will be again when the new church plant starts up in the fall!) and we almost always end up at the mall for lunch and the good ol' Barnes and Noble "Thomas" table. (You know...the same one we have at home, only somehow the B&N one is so much better!) We usually skip naptime for Tucker since it's the only day Daddy is home all day, which means we do dinner, bath, and bed all before 7:00. Then Patrick and I settle in with Baby Girl and watch some good Sunday night TV. I wish every day could be Sundays!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Eight Weeks Old

2009-05-01T09:42:00.008-05:00

Today our Presley Girl is eight weeks old, and I can honestly say I have savored every moment with her and with our new family. I can't believe how much babies really change so dramatically day-by-day in the beginning. When I posted "Four Great Weeks" Presley pretty much slept, pooped, and ate, and four weeks later, she's doing so much more.

Presley is now a whopping twelve pounds, which I can't believe. She is stretching out length wise as well and I've noticed that her sleepers are fitting her exactly right. She'll be out of them soon enough! For as much as we play dress up there are still so many clothes to be worn! I'll have to start changing her more often during the days :o)

In the last four weeks Presley has started staying awake more and has put herself on a pretty natural schedule--eat, wake, sleep. She loves her swing, and I must admit I'm committing the cardinal sin of letting her take all her naps in it! She'll sleep anywhere from two to four hours in that thing, as opposed to the hour/hour-and-a-half in the bassinet. Speaking of the bassinet, Presley has been sleeping in her bassinet in her own "room" for the past four weeks...that would be our closet! You may think we're crazy, but it's the perfect solution for tired parents that want their babies close but don't want to hear all their little noises at night!

In the past four weeks Presley has started cooing, which is probably the most precious sound in the world! She's also started really focusing on people's faces, and she loves to look at her Daddy and her Poppy especially. She's also smiling, and Patrick can make her beam like no one else! I almost never get a smile, which of course is a mother's curse. Right now I'm here every moment of every day with her, meeting all her needs, and she never smiles at me. Patrick, on the other hand, is only home on Sundays and late evenings, and the very sound of his voice when he enters the house can make her smile!

In the past four weeks we've also seen a brand new Big Brother get sweeter by the day. Anytime Tucker hears Presley crying he shows genuine compassion and concern. He'll find her and say "Don't cry Presley Girl, Big Brother's here." I am so proud that he so easily has slipped into his new role. When my parents watched both of the kids for the first time, Tucker was a true helper. And when it's just the three of us at home I can ask him to get me the Boppy or a burp cloth or a paci or whatever Presley needs and he'll bring it to me right away. He just loves to help. When Presley gets upset, Tucker will smile and say to me, "Mommy, what are we going to do with Presley Girl?!" He also loves to say "Baby Girl, don't you go drivin' that Fuss Bus!" when he's trying to calm her down (he cracks himself up!) He's also a champ at giving her her pacifier in the car when she's crying, which is most pleasing to Mommy and Daddy! I'm so glad God timed the two of them four years apart. For as much as I wouldn't have planned it that way myself, now I wouldn't have it any other way!