Random Cuteness

I thought you might all like to see the cuteness we endure every day. Zoey and Henry are now 4 months old and have come into their personalities. They are super sweet, super cuddly kittens and everyone in the house loves them. Even Macy is learning to tolerate them pretty well. Greta, of course, wants to lick them to death and they don't stick around for it, but they get along surprisingly well. Anyway, on to the pics.



Apparently Henry thought Greta's bone looked pretty tasty.


Doesn't it look like Henry is smiling? Too sweet!

Pictures don't lie

Okay - Here's the answer...



Yup - that'd be over 6 inches we cut off sweet Emma's hair. I was going to trim it, and mentioned to her that if we cut it a little more, her bangs (that we started growing out over a year ago) would be the same length. She loved the idea of cutting it shorter - took me completely by surprise. I was all for it. We have had a bit of trouble teaching Emma that her identity isn't in her hair. She always got so much attention for it that I was ready for her to just be Emma. Not the girl with the really long hair. We'll see if she keeps it shorter or grows it back out.

What do you all think?

Any Guesses?

Can anyone guess what this is a picture of?

First Day of School!

I literally got to live out that infamous scene in Finding Nemo. Emma and Jackson woke up and came downstairs into our bedroom to wake us up. They were both soooo excited. It was adorable.
Emma is in second grade now and growing up really fast. She's starting to branch out into a few different activities as well. After her season of dance last year, she was honored by being asked to join their competition team for this year. We are very excited for her to try this out and see if it's something she really wants to invest her time and energy into. She'll take ballet, tap, and jazz on Friday afternoons for two hours. She starts tomorrow and is really looking forward to it. This afternoon we also visited one of our town's gymnastics gym. Emma has been begging us to take gymnastics, and we finally caved. They let her take the class today to see if she liked it. She was sooo overjoyed the entire class there was no way I could deny that joy. It was great to see her try stuff that would normally scare her, but she was determined to try everything and do her best. I think it will actually be a great source of self-esteem for her. Busy busy girl though. We've decided (I think) to forgo her doing fall soccer since she's already in two other time-consuming activities. Maybe we'll let her do spring soccer. We'll see.

Jackson did amazingly well on his first day. Not a fear, tear, or worry from this little man. He was so confident and social, as always. He really takes pride in his reading, and was showing off a little reading his book in the hallway (what they do waiting for the bell to ring in the a.m.). It was funny to see the looks from other parents watching him read that book without my help. I was probably a little prideful myself, but I'm still in that blown-away mindset that this kid taught himself how to read. He just amazes me. Jack also starts dance class tomorrow. Now before you envision him in a tutu, let me clarify. He is taking an all-boys hip hop class. We're trying to give him some cool points for later in life. Actually, it's just because this kid loves to move, and loves music. So hopefully it will be a good fit. He will also be playing soccer, both fall and spring most likely.

Brian did not do well yesterday with the kids gone. We went over to Heather's house to play with Allie and her daycare kids. It took B almost 30 minutes to finally let go of me and go play. He was so sad yesterday. He actually cried on my shoulder for 5 minutes in the morning when I told him they were gone. He was almost unconsolable. But he did much better today. We ran a few errands, and played with the kittens. He even played by himself for a little bit. I think he'll be fine once the routine sets in.

I've been off blogging for a while, and we had some fun during that time. It was amazing to see Jennifer and her girls. Made me realize just how much I've missed that girl. We lived together for over a year before we had kids. Dave even said having her here was the most natural house guest we've ever had. It took no time at all to feel like no time had passed and the only thing different was the 5 noisy children running around. I miss them terribly and will definitely not let 4 years go by before seeing them again. Hopefully next time we can get Scott and Dave together. They would get along really well I think.

Okay, enough babbling. I know there's lots more I forgot to post about, but I'm tired and needing sleep.

Not much going on

Hey everyone...didn't want to leave you all wondering what we've been up to, just not much to blog about. The kids have been somewhat trying the last few days. I think they're bored with summer already. I understand it to a point, it's been so hot that they haven't felt like playing outside much. I went back to work a few nights last week and today is Dave's last day for a week. We'll spend some time around the house organizing (it's in major need of an overhaul) and do some fun stuff with the kids. We were going to see about taking the kids to "A Day Out with Thomas" but it's too cost prohibitive right now. We'll try to do it when it's back in town around the boys' birthdays. Dave and I have a weekend in Asheville planned next weekend to see Steven Curtis Chapman play at the Biltmore. We're going with Jeff and Heather and it will be a great time. I'm not sure how well we'll handle the concert, as I hear the few concerts he's done so far have been quite emotional (understandably). But it will be fun nonetheless. And the kids will stay at my folk's house. We'll pick them up on Sunday and also pick up Jennifer and her two girls. I am unbelievably excited to see them - it's been over 4 years since I've seen Jenn. Considering we used to be inseparable as teenagers, I'm sure it will be an entertaining reunion. So I'll be neglecting the blog for a little bit, and when I come back I'll have lots of pictures to share.

So what do you think about the new background? (Aside from hating how long it takes to load?) I wish I knew how to do creative layouts and siggies, but I don't even know where to start. Luckily for me, there's free stuff out there so I don't have to learn!

See you in a couple weeks!

New Babies!!!

We finally have our last two babies to complete our family for a good long time. Here they are!



Introducing Henry and Zoey...

Woof.

What a shit-tacular day yesterday (sorry Dad). But it deserves that title. The day started out fine, other than being a Monday. I had a few things on my checklist to get done, but other than that it was a pretty easy day. I won't give you every detail of what went wrong, but let's say a lot. I'll just share the biggest ones. First I received a phone call from the neighborhood HOA mgmt. group. Turns out our pool opened last weekend and we knew nothing about it. And they weren't sorry about that either. I suggested they find a better way of communicating with the residents, which went unacknowledged. So she tells me she needs us to sign a liability waiver in order to get a key (there's no lifegaurd). Fine, so she emails it to me. Only, she didn't. She did, however, email me jpegs of all the city and county logos (most likely what's on their letterhead) and a copy of the pool rules. Thanks for that...however we can't get a key until we get and sign the waiver. So I emailed them back and I'm still waiting for a response. The kids are sad because they know the pool is open (hard to deny when you drive by and there's a slew of people in it) and these little delays are frustrating. The thing of it is, had we known about the pool opening, we could have gotten the waiver signed and gotten our key before the actual opening, like so many of our neighbors did. We could have used it the entire weekend. But, oh well. I could be there right now if they'd send me the stupid waiver. Grrr.
Okay, so while that is annoying, it's not a big deal in grand scheme of things. I understand that. Just frustrating. Even more frustrating was the next phone call I received - all of 5 minutes after the last one. It was the pediatrician's office. We had taken Emma a few weeks back to check on her growth. They wanted her to go see a specialist since she had fallen further off the charts. They were going to set up her appt for me but warned me it would be September before she got in. That stunk, but what can you do. They said they'd call us with the date in a few days, and if we didn't hear from them to give them a call. Well we left for TN before they called and I fully expected a message on our machine when we got home. Nada. So I called them - last Tuesday. They called me back - yesterday. The girl who does it was on vacation. Anyhow, she says that Emma's request must have been put in the wrong folder because she hadn't seen it until that morning. Greeaaat. She said she got her appt., but the first available was for OCTOBER 7th!!!! So because of their stupid mistakes we have to wait another whole month to get in. Total crap. This leaves me feeling very defeated. Not sure yet what we're going to do about it, but we're thinking. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share.
And the last, and by far the worst thing that happened yesterday. I have joined Facebook (it's awesome btw - a great way to reconnect with long-lost friends...) and with that I have been able to reconnect with some great people. Unfortunately, while chatting with a friend, I was informed that a good friend of ours from "back in the day" had committed suicide just a few weeks ago. Bryan Graham, a sweet soul, quiet, introspective, insanely creative, genuinely kind. At least that's how I remember him. He always gave me the funniest birthday presents - and they never cost a dime...he would just gather up random fun stuff from around and put it in a shoe box and give it to me. I remember for my 16th birthday, he gave me a "Rules of the road" handbook and a brick so I could drive fast. He was kidding of course, and there were a few other random things in that box, but I don't remember them all. He was in Jeff and Heather's wedding. We went to Jeff's lakehouse together as a group and had a bunch of fun. I'm just sad. I realize we had completely lost touch after college, but I still considered him a friend. I told Jeff and Heather about it last night and Heather said "don't you wish you could just rewind life to before that point and stop it from happening?" I couldn't agree more. I would do it for Bryan, and I'd do it for Blair. It really sucks that at such a young age we've already lost friends. But I hang on to my current favorite verse - We also glory in tribulations,knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

Me, Jeff, and Bryan at the lakehouse.

Please pray for Bryan's family. His parents and his brother and sister have got to be hurting and trying to understand why. Pray hard.

Like I said - a crappy day

Long overdue

I know I'm long overdue for an update. It's been one crazy summer so far. We got our new playground and the kids have been loving that. Then Emma's birthday. Then we had a family reunion in Pigeon Forge, TN with some of my wonderful cousins and aunts/uncles. And now the neighborhood pool just opened up. Next week my mom is coming for a short visit and to attend a baby shower for our friend Shannon on Saturday. This weekend, aside from the 4th, we are working on the kids rooms trying to make them look more lived in by adding paint and wall decor. They are enjoying picking stuff out. It's sad that we've been here for 18 months and still haven't accomplished that much. But I'm definitely in project mode, so as long as the funds are available, I will start tackling small projects here and there.

Like I said, we've been pretty busy so far, and it's going to be busy pretty much until school starts on Aug. 20th. We'll have a week here or there without much going on, but mainly we'll be on the go. So forgive me if I don't post as often over the next several weeks.

The reunion was wonderful. I had a great time and it was nice to get to see people I hadn't seen in at least a decade. I'm glad we'll be able to keep up the reunions and maintain some connection with family. It felt weird for me during the reunion because I didn't really "know" anyone. Having spent what felt like soooo much time with all of them as a kid, I realized that we all grew up and went our own ways - understandably. But I just remember so vividly spending time with all of my cousins when we'd visit Iowa, which seemed like we did often. And my cousin Maria and I used to spend a week at each other's house in the summer. Life was fun back then and I enjoyed having a big family. I think that's part of why I wanted more than two kids. I wanted my kids to have people to play with at home and at family gatherings too. I think we accomplished that! Now that Dave's sister is adding to the cousin count, we'll have more family to play with.

Anyway, I'll leave with a few pics. Too many over the last few weeks to post them all, but I'll pic the good ones.

Special Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!!!

You are such a blessing to our family and we're so thankful for you! You are an absolute joy and such a sweet "little" girl! I can't say little anymore now that you're 7! Time has surely flown by and I cannot wait to see how much you change next year.

Emma's ballet recital

I finally was able to download video from the recital. Sorry if it takes a while...

4 days down!!!!

I am proud to report that Brian has been paci-free for four full days! And he's halfway through day five. On Friday when I put Brian down for his nap, I just never gave it to him. And he never asked for it. He talked for a few minutes and then fell asleep without incident. And the same thing happened again at bedtime. So I told Dave not to give it to him on Saturday at nap while I was at work. Not a problem. In fact the first time he asked for it was yesterday. It was while I was changing him and I'll admit, I panicked at first, not sure what to tell him. But I just said he didn't need it anymore, and he said "I'm big boy?" Yes, sir, you are. When he went to bed, he didn't even mention it.

I think I'd call that successful, wouldn't you?

We already had a plan in place. We were going to "forget" them at Grandma's house after our visit next week. I thought it was going to work just fine, and was looking forward to it. But, alas, he's one step ahead of me. I think I should get used to that!

The Girl Does It Again...

Found out last night at Emma's art show that she had been chosen to receive this award. The breakfast/ceremony was this morning. Oops. But nonetheless, this girl is awesome! This award is different than the "terrific kid" award. This award only goes to one student in the class who has displayed the key characteristics throughout the year. I tell you what - this girl is setting the bar high! Way to go Emma!!!

Lots of pictures!!!

I have a couple things to update you all about. I apologize it's taken me so long to post these, but the passing of SCC's daughter took a bit of priority. I still cannot imagine what they're all going through, but I'm sure they're trying to regain some sense of normalcy - if that's even possible.

Anyhow, after my post about all of the big things changing with Brian, we started by moving him to the big boy bed. So I'll post a few (ok, a lot) of pictures of that transition.

And I only have a couple pictures of Emma after her ballet recital because they wouldn't allow any flash photography during the performances. I did take video, and as soon as I figure out how to load it on the computer and then onto the blog I'll post it here. She did a fabulous job, and was such a beautiful ballerina. My heart swelled watching her on stage, and at that moment I decided that I would keep her in ballet for as long as she'd allow it. I won't force her to keep doing it if she hates it, but even though it was expensive and time consuming, it was so worth every minute. I am a super-proud momma!

Okay, enough rambling...here's the pics.








Isn't she just so beautiful? (And no, I'm not biased!)


That is Emma's 1st grade class. I was lucky enough (and yes, there is some sarcasm there) to go with her on a field trip to the botanical gardens. I took some really neat pictures while I was there, but can't figure out how to mark them so they're not copied. I'll post them when I figure that out.

I couldn't finish a post without a picture of Jackson! See that scrape on his lip? He took a major tumble a few days prior and was gushing blood everywhere. It looks worlds better here, but we probably should have had it stitched up. We didn't even take him to the dr. I am currently putting Mederma on it because it has left a scar on his face - and let's face it - his face is just too pretty to have a scar on it! Okay, too handsome. Totally worth $18 to make it less noticeable.

So how is everyone else out there?

Happy Anniversry...

to us! Today we celebrated 11 years. It was a great day.

Dave, I love you with all my heart. Thank you for loving me.

Unimaginable Tragedy

Maria Sue Chapman

I read the saddest thing this morning...Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter was killed in an accident yesterday evening. You can read the story at www.stevencurtischapman.com or most news sites.

For those of you that don't know, SCC's music has played a major part in my life. I've been listening to him since the late 80's and have always been able to gain something from his lyrics. This is a horrible tragedy, and while I do not know them personally, it feels very close to home.

Please pray for the family, their son especially, and anyone close to them. This has got to be a parent's worst nightmare. I know their strength is in the Lord and He will see them through, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt for a long time.

Wanna come play?

So, in just a few short weeks, anyone that wants to come play on this...



...just give us a call. We'd love to have you!

Crossroads

Brian is growing up way too fast for me. We're at this major crossroad with him in a few different areas. Three major changes are coming and I don't know which one to do first. He's already moved into his big boy car seat, as you can see in the post below. Now we have to 1)move to the big boy bed, 2)take away the paci, and 3) potty train. Seriously - why are we running into these all at the same time for him? I really don't know which one we should do first. And to be quite honest, I don't really want to do any of them because that's just one step closer to not having a "baby" anymore. Don't get me wrong, I know Brian is far from a baby, but he's our last and I'm just sad to let go of these last glimpses of babyhood. I still struggle from time to time at that thought, but God is slowly giving me peace about it all, thankfully. So now as I look back at what I wrote, I think I should go in that order...bed, paci, potty. What do you think?

And of course I can't post about Brian without leaving you with a super-cute picture of him!