Everything Changes

Being sneaky

2010-08-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

One of the songs we've sang to Judah since he was born is "I love you Judah" and it has calmed him down almost instantly. Eli LOVES singing it too but every time I try to record him he gets all shy or crazy. So... on the way home from the park I thought I would try and hide the camera between the seat and the head rest to film Eli. The only problem is that I was driving and couldn't see what I was filming... so you get to hear it but not see it. Hope it doesn't make you have motion sickness ;) It's really really sweet though.

Oh! And the first part Eli is singing "I love you Ebony" who's our dog. precious precious.

I'm pretty sure...

2010-08-17T21:01:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure I haven't been on in a good while! Yikes! So, here are 9 things that have happened that I can't wait to tell you about!

1. I have a new job! I'm going to be an elementary school counselor!

2. My car has been breaking down continually! As in, I would be driving down the road and it would literally STOP. Turn off. Not move. Completely die... while I was driving! I can't think of many things that are more dangerous than that.

3. Eli and Judah are growing like crazy! Judah is 8 months now and Eli is 2 years and 8 months!

4. I finally got to go on vacation with my family! Wes has been traveling all summer and had a little bit of time off and got to have some family time!

5. My sister graduated from college! SO proud of you Amy!

6. I took my first "bridal" shots for Meredith. It's a weird feeling taking someone else's picture and displaying them for people to see, but it was awesome overall!

7. I went to my 10 year high school reunion!

8. We got to spend some fun time with dear friends and their kids! Thank you Allen for having a FREE spray park!

9. I actually played tennis again. I wasn't terrible. But I defffffffinitely wasn't great! I need to get out there more often.

So... I'm going to try and be back! I missed you guys!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T18:34:00.000-05:00

¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " ⁸Then they remembered his words.

⁹When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.¹¹But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Luke 24:1-12

Babies, Tigers, and Hives Oh my!

2010-04-03T10:45:00.000-05:00

Well it has been an eventful few weeks. We've gone through strep. We've gone through RSV. We've gone through colds. We've gone through allergies. Lots of little sickly things. I think everyone is on the mend now and hopefully will stay that way!

Judah turned 4 months old yesterday! I cannot believe it. He is almost rolling over from back to front (he's been doing front to back for awhile now) and has THE most adorable little laugh! Today I thought he was going to do a full on push up because he was in the midst of our beloved tummy time and he went into his own version of a yoga seal pose! Arms were straight and everything! He is such a strong baby! And he did not get sick one single time (thank you God!). I'm so in love with him! We go to his 4 month check up this week. I can't wait to go show him off!

My dad is the principal of Commerce High School and their mascot is a tiger. They had some sort of gathering and he got all painted up to show off his over the top school spirit. Eli was a little taken back at first but then he just wanted to stare at "tiger" Gramps! When dad washed his face off Eli kept saying, "where'd tiger go?" haha... so cute!

Now these dang hives are making me CRAZY! Eli had them the first time when he was around a year old I think and has had them a couple of times since then, but they have never been to this extreme. It's been like 8 straight days now. The first 5 were at least this bad but after we saw the allergist and he's been on 3 doses of different antihistamines every day they are no where near this extent.

We have no idea what the cause is and we may never know. They don't hurt him or itch so that is definitely a praise! But I can't stand them. Hopefully we can get this batch under control and figure out a way to keep them gone!

Forced Family Time

2010-03-21T18:41:00.001-05:00

**Hey friends! Last night after my husband's band played their gig in Houston, they went to eat. While they were eating their van was broken into and all of their bags were stolen (laptops, ipods, some wallets, you know... all that personal information!!) Anyways, please just say a little prayer that they get what is necessary to replace what was lost! Thanks guys!**

When we were growing up we ate pretty much all of our dinners together at home. Mom would cook and then Josh and I would take turns cleaning the kitchen... and I don't think we did that great of a job now that I think back on it. Well when we got into junior high and high school, we spent more and more time away from home doing whatever so when we were home, my parents established what I like to refer to as "forced family time."

I remember being in my room, minding my own business, Josh would be in his room, minding his own business, and I'm not sure where Amy was... but anyway, we would be in our various corners of the house and it would get close to around 7:00 I would hear my dad yell, "AMANDA! JOSH! Get in here!" And then after that happened a couple of times, Josh and I would drag ourselves out of our rooms and go sit in the living room.

That's it.

We would have to go sit in the living room with my parents and watch them watch TV. I would get so annoyed at this. I could not believe that they would make me leave the comforts of my favorite room and come literally SIT in the same room with them just to do nothing! *I would always just pretend that I didn't like whatever they were watching even though I really did, and would just sit with this look of disgust on my face. haha...*

My parents just wanted us to be in the same room as them because they loved us. So forced family time it was.

Well now I'm all grown up (haha) and make Eli and Judah come sit with me all the time and I know that I will continue to do that for many years to come!

So my parents invite Wes and I to dinner at their house with Amy and her boyfriend. They tell us they are cooking out and they have a fun activity planned for us. oh great...what in the world could this possible be?? We are always up for a free meal and hanging out with my folks so we went over there not having any idea what this "activity" was going to be.

We eat a delicious meal, have crazy good dessert, and then it's time for the activity to commence. My dad tells us that it is a game and that he is the MC. I roll my eyes thinking, oh no... this game will last forever!! haha... We make our way into the living room and my parents read us the rules. It's a game about how much we know about our family. You know, like random facts, where people were born, who they worked for, favorite colors, stuff like that. I LOVE this whole idea and I am beyond excited! It's Wes and I against Amy and Eric and we get $1 for every correct answer. Brilliant!

Amy and Eric get $4 to start off with because Eric hasn't been around that long and so they thought it wasn't fair to them. whatever :)

The game goes on, it is so much fun, dad asks really good questions and then some ridiculous questions and then it ends with my team with $10 and Amy's with $13 (let's not forget their $4 head start).

After that there is a part 2. A treasure hunt with 5 clues leading up to a prize. If any of you know my father, who wrote the clues, he is kind of long winded... especially in writing. So clue after clue was prefaced with about 3 sentences of encouragement and big words before you actually made it to the actual clue.

It was an absolute blast and ended with a gift card to the movies (YES!) and my parents house being slightly destroyed due to my sister's aggressiveness. :)

I loved every minute of it. It was the best "forced family time" yet. We missed you Josh!

Getting defensive and getting Judah to sleep

2010-03-20T20:48:00.002-05:00

My mom would always quickly rush to my brother's defense in almost every situation that she felt he was being criticized by me. In my immaturity I would usually throw out some comment like "he's your favorite" or "Josh doesn't ever do anything wrong" or ridiculous things like that. To be honest, I was mostly kidding, but there were a few hidden truths to those statements in my mind. Probably because I did plenty of things wrong and felt like I was in trouble more than not! oops! Sorry mom and dad! :)

But I'm entering into this whole new world of having 2 kids and it is bringing out all of these things in me that I didn't even know existed. Judah and Eli are completely different. Eli didn't mind his car seat, Judah hates it. Eli would fall asleep eating, Judah has to be put to sleep *more on that in a minute*. Eli had to have his diaper changed every 5 seconds it seemed like, Judah can handle much longer than that. Eli hated to be on his tummy, Judah almost exclusively sleeps on his. Eli was hardly ever burped and never spit up, Judah spits up all the time. The list truly can go on and on, but the biggest difference is that Eli did not cry much as a baby and Judah does.

Please hear me. Judah cries when he is tired, hungry, or needs to burp (which is frequent), but I know several friends who had babies that their crying almost seemed nonstop. I'm not trying to put myself in their category because I know their stress level in that area was much higher than mine and I don't want to make it seem like Judah never stops crying, but compared to Eli, he does cry much more.

With that said, Judah is darling. I'm getting all teary eyed just thinking about this. He is so strong, so advanced in so many areas, and completely beautiful. Babies cry. Judah cries. And when people make comments about Judah crying I get all defensive and it makes me want to scratch their eyes out. That's not a healthy response (the scratch their eyes out thing anyway) but I totally do get so defensive when it's brought up, especially in comparison to Eli. No one is meaning any harm by it. No one is judging my baby. They are just merely making an out loud observation. I get that. I do...on the surface anyway. But within me, I just want to scream that there is nothing wrong with him and babies cry!

That whole Mama Bear thing is for real y'all! And I need to reign that in a bit! :) So, just as some therapy for me, I am admitting that yes Judah does cry more than Eli did. Yes, it can be more stressful to be around than Eli was at this age. And knowing that I have no control over what people say (and being very aware that they are not meaning it in any kind of hurtful way) I just need to have better control over the reaction it brings out in me.

So I get it mom. Thanks for defending Josh when I was being a bratty sister. He deserves it. :)

As I mentioned earlier, Judah has to be put to sleep. We have a variety of things we go through and one of them will eventually work.

We do the walk about: which is just holding him in a cradle position and walk kind of fast all over the house never making eye contact with him. haha...

We do the rocking chair: which is trying every position possible while rocking and trying to get him from squirming out of our arms.

We do the basketball drills: which is putting him on his tummy and patting his back hundreds of times (literally) until he is finally dead asleep

And on many occasions we do all 3! Most of the time we just have to do one for a couple of minutes and then he is out. Easy breezy. Most of the time...

Well yesterday afternoon he was being all squirmy and rubbing his eyes and he was completely exhausted. I tried my gamete of tricks and nothing was working. I really didn't know what to do. My giant 3 month old is getting super heavy and I couldn't walk him around anymore, rocking wasn't working, bouncing him wasn't working so I just let him lay in his crib and cry. Gasp!

I walked out of the room, opened my computer, went to Dr. Sears' website (that I adore!) , checked the clock, and started reading all of their articles on sleeping. I told myself I was going to let him cry for 5 minutes. My heart was racing. I hated every single second of those 5 minutes. I read the articles, calmed down, told myself he was fine, and let the 5 minutes pass.

After time was up, I went back in there, picked up my angel with a renewed sense of determination, walked around with him for like 1 minute and he was out. Whew!

I have no judgement towards parents that let their babies "cry it out" in bed. I just am not one of them. I think it might do more damage to my psyche than the baby's but I still just can't do it. Those 5 minutes were good for me to see that Judah was still fine (although upset) and that sometimes I might just need to refresh with a nice little article sometimes and then go back to parenting my baby to sleep.

And... I am almost positive he's teething. He chews on everything nonstop. He's drooling more than he is spitting up (is that even possible??) and I can see a little white speck at the front of his bottom gum. Why is he trying to grow up so fast? :)

I asked, and continue to ask, God to refine me. To teach me discipline. To give me patience. To learn to love like He does. I feel like He uses many moments with me trying to get Judah to sleep to do those things. I love that. I love that instead of using something else, I am being refined by such a sweet and fantastically wonderful baby.

And on a completely random note, does anyone know what plant this is? Sorry it's kind of fuzzy but I was driving by this house and took a picture. I felt like a huge creeper so I didn't get out of the car to take the pic but I really would love to know what this is. :)

People get ready

2010-03-16T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been over a month since I was last on here! Y'all, when Wes is gone it is so hard for me to get stuff done! And he's been gone a lot!

Ok, so people get ready. Here we go:

Today we're just trying out potty training with Eli. He's pretty much obsessed with potties but we've never really started anything with him about it. He is all about sitting on the potty (as of this posting he has been sitting there for about 18 minutes, and my son does not sit for anything!) and so we're making the most of it and seeing what happens!

I am fine with potty humor and stuff but constantly talking about pee pee and poo poo is already getting old. Uh oh. Today is only day 1! I've heard a million suggestions on how to make this all go down but honestly, who the heck knows! What works for one might not work for another! (hmm... he just got up and moved to Judah's bumbo seat... sigh...)

The most appealing advice to me was to just relax, not pressure him, and just take it as it comes. I can do that. It's Spring Break so we thought we might as well give it a shot!

Judah turned 3 months old this month! He is well into his 3-6 month clothes and I highly doubt he'll make it to 6 months in those clothes! He is so big y'all! I can't wait for his 4 month check up to see how much he has grown because it really seems like a lot!

We did experience the worst night of our entire lives last Wednesday. I don't think it was until Sunday evening that Wes and I finally got over it. I had been taking a nap with Judah on my bed. I woke up, left him in there (in the middle of course on his blanket) and went to play with Wes and Eli in the living room.

Every 10 minutes or so one of us goes and checks on Judah. Well we had heard him start to wake up and start talking a little bit so I got up to go get him. I walked in the door, the lights were off, it was dark, and then all of a sudden I hear the worst cry from Judah I had ever heard. I run over to the bed and he isn't there. He is laying on the floor screaming. Right as I walked in, Judah fell off of our very tall bed (at least 3 feet) and landed on our hard floor. I screamed and picked him up as fast as I could. Wes heard me, we flipped on the light, and saw 2 huge bumps on my sweet baby's head. One in front. One in back. He had hit his head twice. Sickening.

Wes called 911 and within a matter of minutes the ambulance was at our house and we were loading our 3 month old into his car seat and strapping him into the ambulance to go to the ER.

All the signs were good. He cried immediately. The bumps were hard and they were sticking out instead of not crying and his head being sunken in. They put ice on his head on the way to the hospital and he had calmed down. When we arrived, the bumps were almost completely gone and Judah was acting totally normal. The ER doctor said that he wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with him if we had just walked in from the street.

We learned many lessons that night. The most important being that our 3 month old rolls over. We put him on his tummy to sleep (it's pretty much the only way he will sleep) and he can scoot and roll now. Wes and I put him on him tummy and within a minute Judah flipped himself over.

I know God spared my eyes from actually seeing Judah fall from our bed. I don't think you can forget images like that and seeing him on the floor was bad enough. He is totally fine. Thank God he will not have to ever remember that, and Wes and I had upset stomachs for several days after that incident. Every once in awhile we would just look at him and start crying. Worst night ever.

Rachel got to come to town for a concert she was in and so we got to spend some time with her and Ellie! It was so much fun! It is kind of crazy how alike our kids are! From the way they say things, to their mannerisms, and their little attitudes they are so similar! We loved it!

And I also got to meet Ashley!! She came to town to visit her bestie and we all met up for breakfast! She is just as fantastic in person as she is on her blog and I loved it! She took a picture so when I get it it will be posted!

In other news, I'm still slowly losing weight, which is awesome. I'm getting back on my Chalean Extreme bandwagon this week since I fell off when Wes left. Look Like Heaven on Seven One Seven is still going!

Jello, Why I hate oatmeal, and Why I love chocolate milk

2010-02-02T15:18:00.002-06:00

I have a lot of different associations with jello. Good... and very very bad.

After having both of my c-sections, my mid section is a lot like jello. very very bad

After doing my Chalean Extreme workouts (which by the way, I have been doing consistently and giving them my all! ...except for quitting 7 minutes early on my workout today. ugh...), anyways, after doing those workouts, my arms and legs feel like jello. Good!

When I was in like the fourth or fifth grade, my family and I were taking a trip. We always drove, so we spent many quality hours in the car. I'm pretty sure we ate at Luby's (which I still love... don't judge) and my sister ate some green jello. We get back in the car to continue our journey and as she did many more times, Amy got car sick. My always prepared mother had some clear big plastic bags that she keeps in her purse so we can all share popcorn at the movies and gave it to Amy to, well, you know, throw up in. I just remember looking over to see a bag full of thrown up green jello slime. very very bad

Because I'm no longer eating my emotions and not constantly baking cookies or brownies anymore, I wanted to tame my sweet tooth with something that wasn't too over the top. So Wes and I not buy those Jello Mousse Temptations which are delicious! I can't lie and say that are filling, but they do at least make me feel like I can have something sweet. Good!

I've never had oatmeal before until I got married. Wes eats it almsot every morning and finally convinced me to try it. I had Apples and Cinnamon Quaker Oatmeal and actually, it was really good! We pretty much take care of our own bowls by rinsing them out and putting them in the sink (or dishwasher... sometimes...). Well Eli has really wanted to start doing basically everything that Wes does, which as mentioned, includes eating oatmeal! So we make it just like we make ours, piping hot! I mix it up with just a little water so he doesn't drip it all over the place. Well the problem with Eli eating oatmeal is that he takes his sweet time, telling us how good every bite is, and it just gets colder and colder, and stickier and stickier. By the time he is finished eating, the oatmeal has basically glued itself to the bowl... which is why I hate oatmeal. I literally am chipping it away with a butter knife, cursing in my head how much I ate oatmeal. I would just fill up the bowl with water and let it soak off, but seeing bowls filled with water and floating particles in the sink literally makes my stomach churn.

But. I LOVE chocolate milk. I probably drink at least 3 full classes of chocolate milk every single day. Do you? Don't you love it?? I can't get enough of it. mmmm... I think I need to make some right now. I love chocolate milk because it's so good! And that's about it :)

Last night we went and picked up Meredith's wedding dress! She looks FANTASTIC in this dress! It is beyond beautiful by itself and when she puts it on it is radiant! I can't wait for the wedding day! Love you Mere!

Oh and did I mention that just the other day my sister put her foot right through my parents' ceiling?

Meanwhile...

2010-01-31T14:49:00.001-06:00

I got a call from my friend Jennifer who had some devastating news. We used to work with Coach R. Coach R and his wife have an older child and then they had twins in December, a boy and a girl. His wife went back to work and their children went off to the babysitter's house. I don't know all of the details, only the horrific ending. The baby girl twin died somehow. I can't believe it. I can't imagine it. Please be praying for this family.

meanwhile...

There were many families from all over with their applications in to Haiti for adopting Haitian orphans. As many of you may have heard on the news I'm sure, those families that were in the later stages of the adoption process were given the green light to finalize the adoptions and get their sweet children and bring them home. Many many children were allowed to leave Haiti and run into the loving arms of their incredible new families. Well, much of that has changed now thanks to UNICEF. As the Howerton family so clearly tells it, UNICEF has added ridiculous steps to slow the process down and many many more children are suffering because of UNICEF's outrageous ways of making themselves first and these children a very distant second. The Livesay's who are in Haiti, have given some first hand accounts of UNICEF's selfish ways. Please be praying for these children and these families.

meanwhile...

Matt Chandler is still battling stage 3 brain cancer and undergoing daily radiation and chemo. He still gives his weekly updates through videos and here is the latest article written about him that I've seen. God is being read about and talked about all over the world because one man has brain cancer. It's incredible. So many other people battling probably every type of cancer under the sun are being prayed over and loved on because they are making themselves known all because Matt has brain cancer. I have no idea what it's like to be so sick and so strong. God has truly been powerful and loving and people are getting to see that and believe that and feel that through Matt's story, and the stories of so many others. Please be praying for the Chandlers and the countless people making the daily drives for treatment to beat this disease.

meanwhile...

My husband and the band are driving back from Florida today. They have to drive all day and all night. They are on the road right now so please be praying for their safety. I start back to work tomorrow and so the boys will be home with one extremely exhausted daddy. :)

meanwhile...

After I finished my Master's this past summer I took a nice long semester break to give my brain a rest I guess! Not to mention get everything ready for Judah to be born. But now I've been kind of bored. Not bored like I have nothing to do, because that is almost laughably not the case. But bored like I need to be learning something new. So, I've decided to really learn about photography. I have an awesome camera, an awesome lens (thanks to my brother Josh), and a love for all things artistic. I have no idea where to start, or what to do, but that's what I'm going to do.

One of Wes' new year's resolutions was to love discipline, and 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, or love, and of self-discipline."

I have to admit that I'm one of those people who backs out of or gives up on things when I think that I can't do them. It's so silly. I act all confident about almost everything I do, but that's because I usually only do what I'm confident in! But that's not why we were created and that's not what we were given. So because of that, I'm going to learn about my camera and figure out this whole photography thing. Any of you amazing photographers out there, feel free to pass on some tips!!

Oh, and I finally gave Ebony a bath. You're welcome.

Love you friends!

Time to get extreme?

2010-01-26T13:17:00.000-06:00

So we've started our workout program which is called Chalean Extreme . Ever heard of it? I really thought she may have changed her name to ChaLEAN just for this program, but her real name is Chalene. Only changed the spelling :) It's a 90 day program broken up into 3, 30 day segments. I just completed day 5 of the first 30 days. It's hard. Of course, everything is hard to me considering I literally can't remember the last time I worked out before I got pregnant.

I'm working out. I'm doing everything she tells me to do (with the exception of this crazy push up thing... haven't been able to do that ...yet). I took those completely humiliating "before" pictures and hope to see some sort of improvement every 30 days. I'm really really sore but I refuse to stop. I really want to finish this thing! I'll keep you posted. :)

completely random: I'm watching America's Funniest Home Videos and just saw one of the best proposals ever! It was a bunch of friends out on a boat and the guys went diving. The girls were all on the boat and when the guys came up they said they found a little treasure chest at the bottom of the lake! They brought it up and the girls were freaking out. One guy opened it up next to his girlfriend and she started freaking out because she saw a diamond ring in there not even realizing what was happening! She picked it up and he started to go down on one knee and everyone started screaming! ...now that's a GREAT story!

The final season of LOST comes on soon. ughh... I hate that LOST is ending.

Oh! We found out that the little boy we sponsor in Haiti is ok! There are many sad stories out there, but we were overjoyed to hear that he and his family are safe. If you are interested in sponsoring a child from Haiti, please check out New Missions . Such an incredible gift!

Eli turned 2 on December 18. I just wanted to post his 1 year picture and his 2 year picture. SO sweet :)

One more week

2010-01-25T16:22:00.000-06:00

Well, my internet is back! hooray! I love it when Verizon tells me to use their website for troubleshooting and I can't get to the website because my internet was down! (sigh) But, we're back in business!

So on Wednesday, Judah is going to be 8 weeks old. I'm not counting him 2 months old until his official February 2 two month old birthday. I absolutely think things are flying by with Judah so much faster than they did with Eli. I look at him and just can't even believe that he has grown so much! He still only smiles at the fan every once in awhile BUT today I got a big ole smile right at ME! It just melts my heart!

Judah is so good at tummy time. He will stay down there a long time as long as that paci is close by. :) Lately he's been napping on his tummy under my watchful eye. I probably am annoying him beyond belief because I check on him like every 5 minutes!

Eli is of course growing like crazy and we are loving it! He is talking a lot... A LOT!! And I'm pretty amazed every day that he picks up on stuff as fast as he does! We're leading him out of his baby talk words like "yo yo" for "yogurt" and "atch" for "applesauce" and getting him to say the actual words. We kind of hesitate before we ask him to say the full word because it's just one more reminder that he is growing up. He is so precious. :)

So I have one more week here at home before I go back to work. I'm not really letting my mind go there completely yet, but I will say only working 1/2 a day is already making it much better for my mental preparation. I won't be gone too long and I'm looking forward to seeing my students and my coworkers! ...but my heart still breaks thinking of being gone from the boys again. Wait! I'm not going there yet! ...moving on...

I have more to discuss but my oldest child has been talking in his crib after his nap and it's getting into that high pitched squeal voice which means he is beyond ready to get up! ha! I'll be back tomorrow!

Eli's first and last haircut

2010-01-15T16:15:00.001-06:00

...kidding... sort of :)

We finally went and had Eli's hair cut by our dear friend Lindey . She did a fantastic job and I am SO glad that we went to her because she's a mom of a two year old too so she understands the extreme emotional turmoil that I was going through! haha...

I think she did a great job but I miss his long hair so much! ...ugh... but without further ado...

He sobbed the entire time, I held strong. I lost it when I got in the car and looked at him. Obviously in the grand scheme of things this isn't that big of a deal, but ugh! He's my baby!

Thank you Lindey! You were so sweet to endure this with us!

Week 2

2010-01-12T18:03:00.001-06:00

So today is the beginning of Look Like Heaven on Seven One Seven: Week 2. I lost 2.5 pounds last week (whoo hoo!!) and I am very happy with that. Still a good long way to go, but I am willing to be patient ...as long as it's off by Meredith's wedding! :)

I had my doctor's appointment today to see how I am healing. Everything looks good! I'm released to start exercising and my incision looks great. C-sections... blah. But, at least I'm not sore anymore!

Eli is changing so much. He used to say "atch" for applesauce but now he just plainly says "applesauce." His "r" sounds are coming along and he's even saying "Gramps!" I can't remember if I wrote this before but my dad wanted to be called Gramps. Forever Eli called him "Josh" and then it was "Peach!" (which we have NO idea where that came from) and then it was "Virdie" (since that's his name and what my mom calls him) and then "Dad" (which is what I call him). Actually he still calls him all of those, except Josh.

After the Christmas Eve service Eli came to all of us in the house and shook our hands and said, "How ah you?" haha... so random! gosh I love that kid!

He's also started to want hugs all the time and will say "I uh you mama" I love you too baby!

But a lot of my favorite things about him are still alive and active. He still sings as loud as he can. He dances to every single bit of music he hears no matter how short it is. And he can spot a star, a cow, or a horse from a mile away. Precious precious!

Judah hasn't smiled since the double smile the other day. That's ok though. He can be serious for a little while longer :)

The Biggest Loser comes on tonight! Are you watching???

:) times 2!

2010-01-10T16:16:00.000-06:00

aaahhh!! What a great day! Does it matter that I was spit up on 4 times? NO! Does it matter that I still smell like spit up after repeated attempts to find where it's coming from? NO! Why? Because...

Judah smiled today! REAL smiles! Two of them! Melt my heart! He is fantastic... I love seeing all of his little firsts!

On top of that I just saw that 3 of my sweet friends, Caanon , Jamie , and Eryn , are all pregnant with their second babies! I am overjoyed for them and their growing new additions, but it's also really a selfish happiness for me as well. Honestly, sometimes Wes and I feel kind of out of place. We don't have that many friends who are married with kids, much less two of them now. Obviously everyone's life plays out in it's own way, but it really does make me feel a little bit more normal to know that other people out there are doing the same thing. Does that make any sense? Anyways, congratulations girls! We are all so excited for you!

The boys

2010-01-09T18:10:00.000-06:00

The boys are great! Judah is already a month old! I definitely think time flies faster with the second one. Wes and I are learning our footing and it's becoming easier and easier to have two! Judah slept for like 6 hours last night and of course that helps!

Eli: just bouncing around doing his thing! He is actively leaving toddlerhood and becoming a preschooler! Every time I look at him I am shocked at how much he has grown. He'll say phrases or do things I didn't even know he knew! It's pretty incredible. And my friend Jennifer was telling me about how she finally realized that we are creating our kids' childhoods- what they will look back on and remember just like we do. That kind of floored me. She's right! I hadn't really thought about it in that way and it actually made me feel really old! Two kids? Two childhoods? what?! But actually it's pretty awesome!

Judah: he is very different than Eli was as a baby! He spits up, he's gassy, he seems so much bigger, and he's looking less and less like me every day! ha! He doesn't mind a wet or dirty diaper for a while whereas Eli (annoyingly) had to be changed that very second a speck of anything hit his diaper! He's learning to use his little voice with some gurgles and goos every once in awhile. I'm still waiting on that first real smile! He loves loves loves to be held and walked around- it's probably his very favorite thing! precious precious! I will say he's fussier than Eli so the walking around thing calms him, but I'm using it as a perfect opportunity to burn some calories! Glass half full! :)

Wes: he's a GREAT dad. He has been busy traveling, working at home, and balancing me, Eli, and Judah. I truly cannot imagine doing any of this without him! I love you babe!

Me: this time around I'm much more present. With Eli I was under that postpartum depression spell for a good while. It was just the regular baby blues with Judah, thank you God!! We've been out and about, I've already lost a little weight, and I feel like I'm doing the best I can at taking care of myself and the boys. It's not near as overwhelming as I thought it might be. But those first 4 weeks were definitely hard. C-sections are super annoying. I could not have done it without constant help from Wes, my sister, and especially my mom. Truly lifesavers!!

My friend Meredith is getting married on July 17, which just happens to also be my anniversary! So, of course she's wanting to drop a few pounds as many brides are, and hello... of course so am I! So, last Tuesday we started the Look Like Heaven on Seven One Seven (7-17) weight loss/lifestyle change plan. Basically we name everything we do together so that's our latest endeavor. We weigh in every Tuesday (because that's the night Biggest Loser is on) and we aren't eating any fried foods (which I accidentally ate chips tonight because I forgot they were fried, and once I realized it, I ate like 10 more! yikes!) or any sweets since that is my biggest downfall. It's worked for us in the past so hopefully it works again!

On top of changing our terrible eating, we'll also be working out. I'll let you know once that starts for me. And I'm taking those humiliating "before" pictures so once I start getting some results I'll post those. We haven't started that part yet. baby steps people :)

Anyway! I've missed this blog. I think about it every single day. Now that I don't feel like my world is swirling around me hopefully I'll be better about posting. Love you guys!

Judah Miles Martin

2009-12-04T05:12:00.000-06:00

Born on December 2, 2009 at 7:58 am. He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long! He is PERFECT!

Forget the rest of the story

2009-11-20T06:30:00.000-06:00

Well, the week ended kind of crazy with Eli waking up and being completely covered in poop and my parents giving us one of the best Christmas presents ever (which I will take pictures of as soon as our house is done!) but let's not get into that now.

Today is Friday! Today is my LAST day of work until February. Today we get to wear jeans to work! Today is my girl's night/baby shower that my friend's are throwing for me! Today my friend Rachel who I never get to see comes in town! Today I'm 38 weeks pregnant! Today I get to wrap some Christmas presents (which I LOVE to do)! And today, well today rocks no matter how you look at it!

Happy Friday!!!

Where to begin...

2009-11-16T05:29:00.000-06:00

Thursday, Nov. 5

My sister came in town that weekend because she didn't have class on Friday! (ugh! Don't you remember how awesome that was when you had those days in college??) And so Wes and I took that opportunity to have Amy and my mom babysit while we went to see Michael Jackson's This Is It movie. INCREDIBLE! Have you seen it?? I know there is controversy that swirled all about that man, but the movie has nothing to do with that. It is just him, being truly in his element, and I don't know how you could walk out of that theatre not being completely impressed by him. LOVED it!

We picked up Eli, came home, put him to bed, and by this point it's like 9:00. I decided to check my work email and I had a new email from our campus secretary! She sent an email to the entire school that read something like, "The Allen Events Center has given our school some Reba McEntire tickets to thank us for the use of their facility and for us to preview the facility before graduation. First come first serve." I was like WHAT?! Reba McEntire??? Now friends I don't know how you feel about Reba, but I love love love her and have from the time I first heard her years ago. I asked for 4 tickets and got them! YES!

Friday, Nov. 6

So Friday night Wes, Jeff, Amy, and I all met in Allen to go eat and go to her fantastic concert. We walk in and our seats were awesome! We were on the floor, in the center, and could clearly see her and all of her greatness! ha! (Thank you Mom for watching Eli again that night!)

The majority of the crowd was probably in the upper half of their life which made it such a chill and relaxed concert. Reba sang some of her new stuff and plenty of her old songs that made her. I don't think it lasted that long, but everyone there was so excited and the four of us were dying that we were actually there!

She looks exactly like she does on TV in real life. Completely cute and tiny and perfect looking skin, and her voice is flawless.

And at the end of the night, she walks off stage, hasn't played Fancy yet and so we all knew it would be her encore. Everyone is screaming and getting excited and then Reba rises up from the back of the stage in that red dress and everyone went crazy! hahaha... y'all. It was SO fun.

Saturday, Nov. 7 and Sunday, Nov. 8

Not too much happened over the weekend. Wes was busy playing guitar and I was feeling so sick with a cold or something so I laid low.

Monday, Nov. 9

Monday was a really busy day. As soon as I got home from work and got to eat lunch with Wes and Eli, I had to drive to Dallas for my doctor's appointment, you know the one where I got "checked." Nothing crazy to report. Everything was looking good. Judah's heartbeat was good, his movement seemed great, and my doctor thinks he was head down but kind of off to the side. Surprise surprise... I'm feeling more and more relaxed that I just went ahead and booked that c-section.

Then Wes had to leave as soon as I got back for the afternoon. So I took a really long nap while Eli was sleeping and then when we both got up it was time for supper! Jourdan was coming over for dinner! I wasn't feeling that great, but she is so sweet and made the drive all the way out here instead of meeting somewhere, so it turned out to be so fun, as always... We love us some Jourdan!

Wednesday, Nov. 10

What is there to say about this day really. Wes was working so I dropped Eli off at his babysitter's house (which he LOVES by the way) and off to work I went. I picked him up as usual, brought him home as usual, and fed him some lunch... as usual.

We played for awhile and then it was time to go "night night" which means climb up on our bed, get in your sleep clothes, and read books before nap time. He was acting tired, everything was normal, and after "night night" I put him in his bed and I went to lay down in mine.

My child never went to sleep! Two hours later (almost) he is still just playing around in his bed, talking, laughing, just whatever. I finally just go get him out and he thinks that is the best thing ever and is laughing just running all around the house. Please remember that I am feeling horrible still and really really wanted to take that nap that obviously was never going to happen.

All I remember is that I was laying on the couch watching him literally spin in circles laughing when he tells me that he is going to go get some chips. Great, go get 'em kid. He comes back in with a full bag of chips that we had opened the day before but never ate. He's just bouncing a long carrying the bag and I notice that he's carrying it upside down. No chips are falling. I did an excellent job of rolling up the chip bag, but I'm starting to panic so I get up as fast as I could (ha...) and right when I reach for the bag it opens and the entire bag of little tortilla chips spill ALL over my living room floor.

Some of you might be thinking (if you've made it this far... haha...) "aw man! That stinks! Well pick them up lady!" I on the other hand lost it. I'm sure it was the tiredness, the sickness, the end of pregnancy hormones, the fact that I am huge and can barely bend over to reach anything, the Wes isn't home, the Eli didn't take a nap part of me that kicked in but I started SOBBING. And I'm not talking just that constant flow of pretty tears, I'm talking hysterically crying.

I scared Eli half to death probably because he got teary eyed and started saying "sawyee sawyee" and that made me cry even more because I wasn't mad at him obviously, and so I just hugged him and had him help me pick up some of the chips and sent him playing. I, on the other hand, just sat in the floor and cried.... over spilled chips! I was a HUGE mess.

Meredith called, could tell immediately something was wrong, I started telling her and just cried the entire time. Then Wes called, same story, asked if he should come home, told him no. Then my mom called, and was on her way home and so she just decided to come over.

Retelling this story makes me sound crazy. And I guess I was that day. But I just could not control myself! haha... Jeff said it would make for an awesome youtube video if that scene had been recorded. I would have been famous! haha...

But, the chips are cleaned up (thanks to Ebony) and I got my haircut that night with Meredith, so I was much better by the end of the night. sheesh...

...more to come about the rest of the week later...

Sick.

2009-11-09T06:42:00.002-06:00

Still here. Not in labor. Just had a busy few days and now I feel sick! :( booo.... Going to the doctor today.

The update and Chicken Satay Wraps

2009-11-04T20:27:00.001-06:00

Ok! Well I didn't get "checked" at yesterday's appointment, but that was fine with me! I did end up scheduling my remaining appointments though, which there are only 4 left!! So, I go back on Monday and he said that's when he'll start taking a look at things and seeing how Judah is progressing. SO exciting!

The baby shower yesterday was so much fun! All of the hostesses were so sweet to put it together for me and I was really overwhelmed with how amazing my friends are! The shower was a diaper/book shower, which is so adorable, and we came home with diapers of all different sizes and some of the cutest little books I have ever seen!

I had a lot of fun, ate one of the best cupcakes I have ever had, and loved every minute of it. Thank you so much sweet friends!!!

Judah's room still isn't completed decoration wise. In fact, I haven't done a single thing more to it! I know it doesn't really matter and he wouldn't know the difference anyway, but just getting it done before he arrives would be nice so that would be one less thing to worry about when he gets here. Sheesh.

Wes has been a trooper. He has taken on so much stuff around the house and with Eli, which is kind of hard to do considering he did so much already! He still isn't feeling 100% yet. Last week he went to the doctor and was tested for the flu. He'd already had the seasonal flu shot, and tested negative for that, but the doctor didn't rule out swine flu. So... we really don't know if he had it or not. Eli and I seem to be fine (other than a little cold Eli has had for a few days) but I feel so bad for Wes! He's done his round of Tamiflu and hopefully now it's just some sinus thing or something. Say a little prayer for him. :)

Now on to the recipe for today! Ok, so when I first read this one, I was thinking... ew. But! As long as it's chicken, Wes and I will try pretty much anything! So if you are thinking "ew" at first, you might just go ahead and give this one a shot. My friend from high school used this recipe and he said that his boyfriend loved it and they make it all the time! It takes no time at all (like 15 minutes total!) and is delish! I hope you enjoy!

Chicken Satay Wraps

prep/total time: 15 minutes

ok, this one is super easy and fast!

This is like an Indonesian appetizer that is yummy!! You can serve the chicken on skewers and dip it in the sauce or you can make it in a wrap. We ate it as a wrap and for a meal.

2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. creamy peanut butter
2 green onions chopped
1 tsp. soy sauce (I actually put about 2-3 in mine)
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups sliced cooked chicken (I just put a little oil in a pan, sliced up some mostly thawed chicken breasts and cooked them in the pan with a bit of salt and pepper)
1 cup coleslaw mix (I don't really like coleslaw mix that much so I did like 1/4 cup coleslaw and the rest chopped up lettuce)
some flour tortillas (we did like some whole grain ones, but any flavor would be good I bet!)

So, in a bowl you just whisk the oil, peanut butter, onions, soy sauce, and pepper until combined. I did this before I cooked up my chicken so the flavors could sit together longer.

Then you just add the chicken and toss it around to coat.

Put some lettuce/coleslaw mix on a warm tortilla, top with chicken, roll up, and they are ready to eat!

I served this with some rice and made a salad from leftover lettuce. YUM!

Let's revisit my last 36 week appointment

2009-11-03T06:31:00.001-06:00

So, here is what I had to say with Eli's 36 weeks appointment in 2007. Today I am going to Judah's. Please note that my child was HEAD DOWN... and I ended up with a breech baby. Y'all. My dreams are for real! More to come later today with updates and baby shower pics! I like to put things from the past in italics... like a flash back or a dream. Let's just thank Wayne's World for that.

So, I went to the doctor on Monday. My 36 week appointment was MUCH different than my regular check ups that I have been going to. Oh we started with the regular, weight, blood pressure, urine sample. But then there was a sheet on the exam table, and you know what that means...this time the exam would be much more in depth.

Eli's progress:

Well first of all his heartbeat is loud and strong. I still LOVE hearing that! That has been my favorite part of this whole experience when I'm at the doctor's office!
He is head DOWN! whoo hoo!! I, for some reason, had it in my head that he was breech. And even last night I had a dream that he was transverse (laying across me) and that I could feel his ear...haha...who knows. So, I'm very happy about that!
I didn't get any possible weight or length measurements, but I'm measuring right on track so I'm assuming Eli is as well.
I haven't started dilating yet, and he said that was normal to not be dilating at 36 weeks.
And that I am also 50% effaced and Eli has already dropped and is in position! :)

Have gnome, will travel

2009-11-02T06:50:00.001-06:00

Hey guys! Well we have been gone for the past several days traveling with Wes and the Jeff Johnson Band to Shawnee, OK! We wanted to get in one more family "vacation" before Judah is born.

It was a really fun and sometimes difficult trip. Wes might have possibly (or might possibly) have the swine flu. I am almost 36 weeks pregnant, which equals to uncomfortable, complaining, tired, in a significant amount of pain, over emotional me. And then we have our 22 1/2 month old who has a little cold but pretty great for the most part!

So, when you mix up a tired flu feeling dad with an all of those things me, we didn't have some of our best moments. But! I will say that Wes and I have pretty much mastered the art of seeing that the root of the thing is never the thing, and chalked most of our moments up to being tired and not feeling good. And, truly, they were only moments so most of the time we were having SO much fun! Eli and I LOVE traveling with them and getting to hang out with the band, our family.

What made it even more fun is that all the band wives were there (Sarah! Jouleen!) and Mandy was there who basically runs everything behind the scenes and makes everyone's life so much easier. AND Drew Worsham , one of our very close friends was there doing his illusions for the kids. He is precious!

And then there is Afhsin and Meredith Ziafat. What's crazy is that when I was like a sophomore or junior in high school, our youth minister Michael brought in this guy named Afshin Ziafat to speak to the youth. I'd never heard a name like before (if you've been to Levelland you can see why... just small town, West Texas, just... different). Anyways, I remember him speaking about how he became a Christian. He was raised a Muslim (first time I had ever heard of that... obviously pre 9-11) and become a Christian and then of course was ousted from his family.

What's so crazy is that I remember that story completely changing so many things about how I thought about thing. It really truly gave me a more global perspective of Christ. Anyways, here I am, 10, 11 years older and Afshin (and his fantastic wife Meredith) are now friends of the band and me! It's so crazy! His story is beautiful and hard and honest and if you ever get a chance to go see him, or Jeff Johnson, or Drew Worsham then do it! You won't be disappointed!!

Now sweet Jeff is super giving and last year bought Eli his Halloween costume, that adorable little black spider. Do you remember that?

Well a month or two ago, Jeff showed me this picture of this garden gnome Halloween costume and we thought it was one of THE cutest things we had ever seen! So we go to Oklahoma, and Mandy and Jeff pull out this little garden gnome costume and I about died! So, that evening for the fall festival at the church on Halloween, we had a perfect little gnome (aka a 22 month old smooshed into a 2T costume that almost didn't fit, which actually made it cuter!) who was dancing and playing the drums and running around all night. Thank you Jeff!!!

We had a really fun time and I love that band and friends so much. They truly are part of our family.

Southwestern Skillet Burgers and Ghost Brownies

2009-10-28T06:31:00.000-05:00

Can we all stop a minute and pray for Stellan?

Now I didn't take that picture, but that really is what they end up looking like! This is a Taste of Home recipe that Wes and I love!

Southwestern Skillet Burgers

ok. This recipe makes well over 6 servings, so I cut it in half and it feeds 3 people plenty!

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes with onions and garlic
some shredded cheddar cheese

You just combine all the beef and bread crumbs and taco seasoning in a bowl and shape them into thick burger patties.

Throw them in a medium heated skillet and cook them for a few minutes on each side until they are browned, then drain any sick juices.

Add the tomatoes into the skillet with the patties that you put back in there and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover it up, and let it simmer until all the pink is gone from the patties... around 10 min or less.

Sprinkle them with plenty of cheese, cover them up again and watch until the cheese is melted.

Then serve them up! They are GOOD!!! ** now the real recipe calls for a can of bean and bacon soup also. I hate that stuff so I didn't put it in there and it was still delicious! suit yourself :) **

Ok, the Ghost Brownies come from Brittnye. Brittnye is like this cake genius that makes all of these adorable cake designs and has all of these cute ideas. Well, she normally doesn't share her secrets because I'm pretty sure she sells most of her stuff (who could blame her!) but she did spill the beans on this one!

Now this picture is of the actual ghost brownies that Brittnye made. Aren't they adorable?! They reminded me of something you would make Yomaida!

Ghost Brownies

1 box of your favorite brownie mix
1 jar of white icing
1 package of giant marshmallows
1 tube of black decorating icing

It's really easy. You just make your brownies like the box tells you to.

After they have cooled, just cut them up in little squares and put them on whatever you want to serve them on and place a giant marshmallow on each brownie.

Melt some of your icing in the microwave. I would melt in something with a spout so that when it pours, it's an actual pour and not like a spill over so you can control it.

Now watch your icing. You don't want to pour it when it's completely runny melted because it will make a big mess all over your brownie. You want to pour it when it's a little thick so it will pour over the marshmallow and stick and not run off.

The icing will thicken and cool quickly, so you might even want to have a few practice sessions with the "ghosts" before doing it on the brownie.

After you've made your ghosts it's time to add their little faces! Just put on their tiny eyes and mouths and your ghosts are complete! So fun!

In print

2009-10-27T06:58:00.000-05:00

Some of my super adorably sweet friends from work (Leny, Liz, Julie, and Tiffany) are throwing me a cute little diapers and books baby shower next week. So far they've only had one person who was invited say, "oh. Is this a 2nd baby shower?" haha... YES! It is! :) Anyways, they delivered me my invitation and it is SO precious!

I love every word on the invitation, especially seeing my sweet baby's name in print! It was the firs time Wes and I had seen Judah Miles Martin written out on something and it made us all teary! Thank you so much girlies for having this little party for me! I cannot wait!

Completely off topic, but I really do not need to watch that Unwrapped show, even though it makes me so happy, because, I am SO hungry when I see it! sigh...

Yesterday it was raining and cold in the morning. I do realize that many people (oh gosh... what is the word??! not migrate... not travel... not transfer... ugghhh!! what is that dang word?! oh! got it!) commute to work with long tedious drives. However, that is not me. I'm from small town West Texas, I love being a part of a community, I actually do like seeing my students around town since that is how I grew up, and so I only work like 7 or 8 minutes from my job depending on which lights I hit.

Well, when it rains in Dallas it seems like people completely forget how to drive. Like one of my teacher friend's was saying yesterday morning, it's like they either drive 30 mph faster or almost stop driving all the car which causes all kinds of wrecks.

We have this light in front of our school that's a pretty big intersection for our area and when there are wrecks there, it's pretty bad. That's what happened yesterday. I don't know what happened to those poor people in the wreck, since I was so far back, but it took me 35 minutes to get to work. You know, I don't think I even have a point to this story. Y'all. This pregnancy... sorry for wasting a few moments of your life! ha! But I did include a picture! I could have sworn I had something to say about this...

So the leaves are ever so slightly starting to change on the trees. Can you see it? Wes and I are out of town again this weekend and I'm so excited because we're going to Oklahoma! Everyone keeps talking about how beautifully the trees change there so it will be so fun to show Eli and see them for myself!

I kind of was in shock at work yesterday because I was trying to finalize my syllabus for next 6 weeks and I noticed that after this week, I only have 3 weeks left before Thanksgiving and maternity leave! yikes! 3 weeks?! Obviously part of me is really excited to have a break, meet my baby, and spend some good time with our new little family, but it really does kind of bother me to leave my school kiddos for so long with someone I don't really know. They are really awesome and will be fine, but I really actually like them and will miss them!

Did you watch the Jon and Kate Plus 8 question and answer session last night? I know a lot of people are sick of them and all of that, but I have watched their show since their early specials before they were a series and still watch them! Anyways, I still think it's sad, for everyone involved. But I liked watching the episode because their earlier Q&A episodes are some of my favorites. :) So much has changed... it was just a little over a year ago that they renewed their vows in Hawaii. What I take from all of this is how important it is to invest in your marriage. I have no idea obviously what went on really with them, but it's just a great reminder to me to pay attention. It's one of those things where I don't think anyone is immune to distance creeping in to your relationships, no matter what kind of relationship it is. And for us, our marriage is top priority and we have to actively work at keeping it that way, especially when Wes travels so much. I don't know. Many times when I hear about them or see them in a magazine, I just try to say a prayer for them and then remember to say a prayer for us. I really need to be more diligent in that as well.

Love you friends!

"BUG!!" (says my screaming child)

2009-10-26T07:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, well, about 10 minutes of yesterday, was terrible. Eli and I just got home from getting groceries and I was letting Ebony out and he always to go with her. So, out the back door they went. I can see Eli through the kitchen windows and he was doing his usual thing of finding random outdoor toys and playing with them. As I was putting the groceries away I heard Eli crying! I looked out the window and then I heard him screaming!

I ran out there as fast as I could and he was holding his hand screaming "BUG!" It was awful! I looked at his finger and there was a stinger on the side of his pointer. I scooped him up, ran inside, sat him on the counter and took out the stinger so I wouldn't lose it. He just kept screaming and crying "mama, MAMA!" and I just kept trying not to panic.

I washed his hands, gave him some Motrin and called Kelli (nurse) who is married to Justin (pharmacist) to see what I was supposed to do! By this point (probably 10 minutes after the sting) Eli is already running around the house, playing drums of course, and is no longer crying. He just would kind of whimper when he would hit his finger or try to use it. Kelli and Justin gave me the scoop and all was fine with Eli.

I tried to find what stung him but I couldn't. What does it look like to you? A bee? A wasp? I have never been stung by anything besides an ant before so I have no idea. Y'all it was terrible. Just seeing him in pain like that!! (shudders) It totally freaked me out. But, he is fine, thank you God, and apparently wasn't allergic to whatever hurt him.

We aren't completely done decorating Judah's nursery yet, but my mom found the most adorably precious wall art at Kirkland's on sale and thought they would be perfect for his room! I can't wait to get it all done! She also found some blackout curtains for a good price on Amazon, so hopefully we'll be able to get those too! Eli and Judah's rooms face the sun at all times it feels like! It's great to have fun bright rooms but really annoying when the light doesn't chill out!

I am continuously getting bigger and bigger. I feel full term. I walk full term. I complain full term (sorry Wes). But, I am not full term. More than the frustrations and uncomfortableness of being pregnant, I just truly long to see my new son. I can't wait to see him, smell him, hold him, kiss him, and be near him (without that whole him living inside my body thing). Five and a half more weeks...

Wes and I have really been good at trying to stay connected and intentional about spending time together as a family, which was one of our reasons for eating at home more often. Well, in August I started the good ole family calendar for the fridge where I can plan meals, write down when Wes will be gone, when I have appointments, when we have dates, just whatever. It's actually been really nice because it's seeing both of our calendars on one central location, but it has also opened our eyes to how much we plan in our lives. Each month starts off kind of empty and then more and more things come our way, we say yes to most of them, and the calendar begins to fill.

I think Wes and I both love being with our friends, seeing our family, working, stuff like that. But sometimes, we just feel like we're missing out on each other or our family of 3 time. I'm going to be better at scheduling those times for us on our calendar, and not just scheduling time for everyone else.

The Faith Flu?

2009-10-25T13:52:00.000-05:00

I have to start off by saying that sometimes sermon series titles kind of kill me. I understand the value of them, I appreciate the visual it can give people (including me!), but sometimes I just laugh in my head at what pastors come up with. Knowing me, I would have probably been one of those people laughing at Jesus' titles of his parables when He was speaking too. (God forgive me.)

Today at church our pastor started talking about the swine flu. Obviously pretty much everyone knows someone with it, or has had it, or at least has a clue as to what it is. He listed some symptoms of the virus and then began talking about the "Faith Flu" and what you would look like if you had it. He was using Psalm 78:4b-7, and showing how our symptoms of having the faith flu would be 1. confidence in God, 2. gratitude to God, and 3. obedience to God.

He went on to explain them and said that if we don't have these symptoms, then we don't have the disease.

It really made me think a lot about myself. Not what I want to believe about myself, but about what is really me. I feel like I have become prideful and arrogant in so many ways. I go days without listening to God. I go hours without talking to God. (I was extremely moved by what Lauren had to say.) And sure, I'm "busy" and have a lot on my plate and am tired, but who doesn't? Did Jesus literally not have the entire weight of the world on His shoulders when He decided to die for us? Did He not ask God if there could be another way, listened, and continued to be obedient? And obviously I haven't faced anything near as heavy as that, but I have made decisions not only for me, but for my family, without consulting the One who loves me more than anyone else.

I want to teach my sons and show my sons the goodness that is Jesus. Steve, the pastor, said that to do that we need to be doing every day life together, we need to make time for it, and we must do it with integrity. If you don't have the swine flu, you can cough and sneeze on your family all you want, but you're not giving them the swine flu. Same thing here. If faith really isn't in me, if I'm not living a life of integrity, then my boys won't catch it from me. I think Summer has a lot of good points if you have a moment to check it out.

I just want to be authentic in every way. Even changing "fitness" to "faith" in my blog title. That's more authentically me. I would love to know more about fitness, I would love for it to be a real priority to me, but at the moment, it's not. When it is... well, then maybe I can add it back. :)

The Faith Flu. As silly as I thought that title was, I totally get it now. I hope we all catch it.

Photo Fun

2009-10-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

Just being a little sentimental tonight (yes Wes, it is possible for me to be sentimental at times) and going through some of Eli's baby pictures. It's probably not the best idea considering I'm always teetering on an emotional train wreck but I decided to do it none the less.

I can't believe how fast he has grown! He is 22 months now. What?! How is that even possible?? But, it's true!

Things he is up to lately:

- only wanting to feed himself: Mr. Independent
- used to call my dad (who wants to be called Gramps), Josh, but now calls my dad Peach (which in 22 month old pronunciation sounds a lot like a certain b word)
- says "tane koo mommy" (thank you) to almost everything I do
- repeats every action and word that comes from Wes
- still loves Yo Gabba Gabba more than I can stand and frequently requests "Jack Back" from the episode that Jack Black was on. geez...
- has changed my dog's name (Ebony) to Taffy, which is my sister's dog's name and I refuse to call her Taffy
- will fall down on purpose and say "awyuh ok" over and over until I finally ask him if he's ok :)
- completely obsessed with the drums and plays them almost all day long. He wants to hit everything with a drumstick. We tell him "Eli, you only hit the drums with the drumsticks" and so he just points to what he just hit (your leg, the furniture, the wall, whatever) and says, "drum" uggh....
- when he finds random sippy cups around the house he calls them "ole nilk" (old milk) haha...
- loves to lay on my belly and say "hi Judah!"
- refuses to say the word "outside" and instead just says "nah" and points to the door
- can recognize E and 5 almost anywhere and will tell you over and over that he sees them
- practices jumping every day
- loves loves LOVES his "tutle" and "monkey" stuffed animals and will ask them if they want milk and tries to feed them crackers (adorable!!)
- if one person gives him a high five in a group, he makes everyone give him a high five
- has broken almost every lamp in the house playing the drums on them
- knows what "time out" is and hates being there, but did put himself in there one day for no reason at all
- and he still loves to be held and cuddled (on his own time of course) and loves Wes and I to pieces, just like we love him

I really never knew it would be this way.

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone

Fall Festival Friday! ...or not

2009-10-23T21:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight we are going to the Fall Festival at Lake Pointe! Are you? I love love LOVE doing things with Wes and Eli and so we will be enjoying the free festivities this evening. :) I'll be back later to post some pictures! Happy Fall Festival Friday!

Ok- so we didn't end up going to the Fall Festival. I was SO sad because it looked like so much fun but Wes' allergies were killing him and being outside right now would not have been the smartest choice. So, Wes decides that we should go on a date! I of course am all for that but it was super last minute and I wasn't sure if my mom had plans or not. We called her up and she graciously said she would keep Eli for us.

Whoo hoo! Spontaneous date night!

We pack Eli up in his super cute new shirt from Target (I'll have to take a pic later... adorable!) and take him to meet my mom and sister at our new Chick-fil-A (yes!!) and off we go to... P.F. Chang's! I have never been there before and I was beyond excited to a) go on a date with Wes and b) eat there!

We pulled up, parked in the front row, and checked in for our reservation. We had such a great time being a couple! We did talk about our kids, our debt, our future, but all of it was good because it's just really wonderful to be able to connect with my husband.

The service was excellent, the food was great, and Wes had made us an online reservation and told them it was a day to celebrate our upcoming baby and they gave us a free dessert! Way to go P.F. Chang's! Thank you!

And, Amy and my mom had a great time with Eli (of course) and I always love getting a "good report." I don't know if I've ever had a "bad" report on Eli but, it just makes me happy to hear that other people get to share in the joy that we get by having him around!

We'll try to hit up that Fall Festival next year! I'm sure it will be just as fun!

Eli did request a "sheto" (aka: cheeto) yesterday so I put a few on the table for him. What I did not do however, was put the bag in a place that he couldn't reach. It's like I forget how big my son is getting! So, he told me he was going to go get a "sheto" and I said ok, and... well... he definitely did get one!

yikes. Poor picture quality! Sorry about that. :)

If you have some extra time this weekend and want to be challenged, moved, and blessed, please check out this blog: Kisses from Katie

I cannot get through a single post of hers without weeping and being completely humbled at what God is doing in her life and the lives of those sweet sweet children. If you don't have time for it this weekend, mark it on your page and go back to it later. Hope is written all over that place.

Love you friends!

Free from not having a plan

2009-10-22T06:55:00.006-05:00

Debt is a topic that Wes and I could (and sometime do) talk about every single day. For the most part, we have been pretty good with our money. When we first got married and bought a house, we were shocked that we could afford a brick house! (sigh... we were so young ;) We were experiencing paying bills and keeping up with all the money as a couple for the very first time so we were really careful! We didn't think we could afford cable, so we didn't have it. We didn't think we could afford high speed internet, so we bought NetZero. Both of our cars were paid off. And I remember when I needed to buy clothes for my brand new job straight out of college that we wanted to be so careful in how much we spent.

Each year of marriage (it's almost been 5 1/2 now) we have added new things. We ended up getting cable with internet in a package. We even have a DVR now! :) We ended up buying a new car because before Eli was born I just refused to put my newborn in that car. Which now seems so ridiculous to me, but I really am so thankful that we were able to get a "new" car. We've bought new things for the house. We've painted rooms. I went to Europe! (with plenty of help from my parents, thanks mom and dad!) I started and completed my Masters, which we paid off as I was taking it. We've had a baby, with a c-section, and paid for that.

We look back on all the times God has provided endless amounts of support, both financially and emotionally, and it brings us to our knees. But for all the times that we have paid off things we bought or paid for them in cash, we still have the weight of debt looming over us.

Now I loved my college experience. I loved being at Hardin-Simmons and getting my degree from there. However, that school was dang expensive! And we still have to pay off those loans, which people to refer to as "good debt" all the time, but good debt and bad debt feel the same to us.

We have a credit card that we have had to use since I have been only working half time. Wes is an incredible money manager and it's a 0% interest card, but it's still debt. Romans 13:8 says, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law."

We have debt that is outstanding. We have to, and want to, pay it off.

So, Wes and I have developed a plan that is radical (to us) and will change a lot of things about where we work, where some of our time is spent, and refocuses us on the charge that we are given as Christians to do. Luke 16:13 says, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." And although the context of that is different than where we our in our lives, we have felt that we have been a slave to money due to our debt. We have thought so many times, "ugh, if we didn't have this debt we could do this, give that, go here, help with that" and those are things we would not be saying, if we did not have debt.

Well my friends. We are changing that. It can't change right now, and we've prayed over that, cried over that, and mulled over that time and time again... even last night. But, it will change soon and we'll be going over our plan when we've finished it.

For now, I'm ordering this book that I'm a little scared to read! But I need all the encouragement I can get, and I hear that reading this will do the trick :)

Those of you who have debt, how are you dealing with your debt? (you obviously don't have to answer that by the way) Does it take a toll on you? Can you even imagine the freedom you would have without it?

Did anyone try the orange citrus chicken yet? It was delicious!

Orange Citrus Chicken greatness

2009-10-21T06:18:00.001-05:00

For several reasons, Wes and I have been diligently working on not eating out and cooking at home. I was kind of scared about this at first, but then I found this Taste of Home cookbook at WalMart called Simple and Delicious and fell in love with cooking! Now, I'm not that "come up with my own recipe" type cook yet. But, I can read! So I can follow pretty much any recipe that I come across!

I've learned several things throughout our 3ish months of cooking at home (for the most part).

1. No matter how many different ways I cook or flavor pork chops, I just don't like them. I've tried over and over!

2. The back part of my oven cooks things way faster than the front part of my oven.

3. There is a difference between the cheap cookie sheets and the more expensive cookie sheets.

4. Wes doesn't trust any meat in leftovers except for chicken. ???

5. Making your own salad is ten times better than buying the salad in a bag.

6. If you share your recipes, people will share with you. (hint hint...)

7. I'm not good at trying to cut a recipe in half to feed just the two of us. I seem to cut some parts of the recipe in half but not others. who knows...

8. Fresh garlic and pre-minced garlic in a jar cook at much different rates... I keep burning the pre-minced kind.

9. Sometimes nothing is better than a really good baked potato.

10. And cooking crescent rolls to go along with the meal makes anything taste good.

So I'm always looking for new recipes, well, really always wanting people to recommend recipes that they have really enjoyed. So please feel free to pass some along! I have a whole little folder on my gmail account for them (amandam dot blog at gmail dot com).

One of my all time favorite recipes is from my sweet friend Rachel. It's an orange citrus chicken recipe that she has come up with by combining some of her favorite orange chicken recipes. You will LOVE it! So, I'm cooking this tonight if all goes as planned. My mouth is watering already...

Ingredients:

- 3-5 chicken breasts (however many you need to feed your family)

- olive oil

- 1 tbs butter

- 1 tbs minced garlic

- 3 cups of orange juice

- 3/4 cup of brown sugar

- 1 tbs of balsamic vinegar

- ginger spice

Do you have those ingredients? Ok, here's what to do next, from the chef herself...

1. Cut 4-5 chicken breasts (1/2 frozen they are easier to cut) at a diaganal angle so they cuts are very thin (kind of like pei wei chicken would be) and about one inch wide apeice.

2. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and add in one tablespoon of butter ( I use the heart smart kind).

3. Add in garlic (you can use fresh, but i keep a jar of minced garlic in my fridge and I probably addded one tablespoon of minced garlic and sauteed it in the butter)

4. Then saute the chicken until it is all yummy and golden brown around the edges. THen take out the chicken and put on a plate to the side. (It took me about 8-9 minutes to get the chicken nice and "dry" and sauteed)

5. Add in about 3 cups of orange juice into the same skillet you have been using. Then add about 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar to the mix (never said this was all light weight or anything ...ha!).

6. Add about a tablespoon of balsalmic vinegar, and a GOOD sprinkle of ginger spice ( you can again use fresh, but our ghetto athens walmart doesn't carry it)

7. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken you have already cooked into the mixture and let it boil at a low pace until the sauce becomes thicker and more like a marinade. I let mine boil prob about 8-10 minutes. You will know when it has begun caramalizing and looking good.

8. I heated up two bags of uncle ben's instant rice and served the orange chicken over a bed of rice.

9. For a side, I did fresh snapped green beans (boiled in water with a little garlic salt until tender).

You will not be disappointed! (I hope!) It is super yummy and doesn't take that long.

Now... feel free to post, comment, or email me some deliciously great recipes of your own! and... maybe skip the ones that involve pork :)

Lend me your ears

2009-10-20T12:41:00.009-05:00

First of all I want to start by congratulating Jen and Coby on their new beautiful baby boy, Crew! Her first born, Camren, just turned one year old a bit ago and now they have a new baby! So exciting! You need to read her post about finding out she was pregnant again, too great! Congratulations friends! We love you!

So Eli had this rash type thing on his leg. mmm, more like his upper thighs and little butt cheeks. Anyway, I noticed it yesterday after lunch when Wes and I were getting him up from his nap. It completely freaked me out... again. He has had this once before when Mere and I were playing in the park with him. I thought it was poison ivy but he makes no reaction to it. He doesn't even know it's there! I took him to the doctor at one of those clinics since it was a Saturday (and by the time we got there it was completely gone and I probably looked crazy) and he said it was probably a food allergy.

Well circumstances were totally different than the last time he had the rash, but it looked exactly the same! He basically eats the same type stuff every day, so I still have no idea what caused it! I gave him some Zyrtec and it was gone pretty much right away when the medicine kicked in. But seriously, what the heck is happening? Friends! Tell me! :) (the pictures are kind of hard to see, but it is there!)

Now, three of my sweet friends offered to throw me a second baby shower. I've heard all kinds of things from that you shouldn't do that, it's tacky, it's rude, blah blah blah. But! I didn't ask them to throw a shower for me! They just offered! So, maybe it's just a way of the past not to have a second shower? What about you moms with more than one kid? Did you have more than one shower?? Well, I am completely excited about it! We really don't need any of the big stuff, so I don't feel bad about the showers because it's all the little fun stuff that people like to buy anyway that I registered for. Plus, who doesn't like to get together and have a little party? A big thank you to Liz, Leny, and Jourdan! I can't wait!

OH! And my department head at work mentioned that she thinks there should be another wedding shower for married couples at like 10 years or something! I mean, hello! Stuff breaks! Stuff goes out of style! And well, getting new stuff is fun! Let's all start that tradition. Who's up first? :)

Nothing but the truth

2009-10-19T14:45:00.003-05:00

Well, hello dear friends! I have missed you SO much! And I mean that! I have no good excuse for my absence. I just didn't feel up to writing and so I didn't. But I have been reading so much great stuff lately that I feel inspired to start up again and to read all about your sweet lives.

I needed a fresh start, hence the new name. I also needed some structure because being 33 weeks pregnant now (yikes!) I feel completely disorganized and crazy for the lack of a better term, and need some focus. So, I'm going to try and get myself back in the game with using each day of the week as a different topic.

Monday: Family

Tuesday: Friends

Wednesday: Food

Thursday: Free

Friday: Friday! (whatever that means)

Saturday: Fun

Sunday: Fitness

All of those things are important to me and I really want to talk about them! :)

So, here's to Monday and Family!

Ok, so I'm having a BOY! And... not only am I having a boy, I'm having him in about 6 1/2 weeks! We went ahead and scheduled a c-section for December 2, which is about 39 1/2 weeks. So, if I go into labor before then, so be it :) We'll just make sure and immediately check to see if this little guy is head down or not so we don't have to go through all of that like we did with Eli.

We are naming him Judah Miles Martin! We don't have any special meanings to our kids' names except that we love love love their names and well, that's about it! But, they are special to us! There have been several people, family members included, who don't like the name Judah. It doesn't hurt my feelings at all. They got to name their kids, we get to name ours! Fair enough? :)

We (as in Wes) have been working on Judah's room. We have a couple more decorations to go up and then I'll post some pictures.!

Eli is busy being Eli! He's 22 months now and seems pretty excited about this Judah person, although there is definitely no real connections being made yet that Judah is an actual person! haha... I cannot wait to see him as a big brother! Eli is very much into anything that has to do with drums. It's kind of an obsession, and I am in no way exaggerating. He is so big now and seems to never stop growing and never stop learning! He fascinates us all the time! I can't wait to post some pictures of him!

I haven't cut his hair yet... (sorry Mom) and still haven't decided when that would happen. My mom says I said something about cutting his hair around his 2nd birthday. But... I think she may have dreamt that ;) We will see. (I know, I know... pictures would help so much)

Wes is doing great! He's just working on building up his in home studio, traveling with the band, and seriously being the most incredible husband and dad ever. I feel so helpless most of the time now because I am HUGE and uncomfortable and have become a complainer! ew! So, he has taken over so much of every day life that I really feel so lost when he's gone!

I am still teaching 1/2 days at the high school and I love it! My kids are incredible and I learn from them all the time! I will definitely miss them during maternity leave.

Obviously I could go on and on since it's been so long since I've written but I'll pace myself so you will keep returning instead of having to read a book each time! Love you friends!

It's hot out here!

2009-07-03T16:05:00.004-05:00

Any chance of some sun vitamins are only being soaked in early in the morning for me and Eli. It is SO HOT! As soon as we go outside, Eli starts going "hot! hot!"

Do you see that little hippo pool in the background? Well, my mom and dad got him that because he loves water, in fact, he says "water" all the time! But... he hates it. He does like filling it up with water though! So not all is lost.

This has been such a great week. Last weekend if you remember I was so sad and tired of everyone being gone, but I haven't felt that at all this week! God definitely hears our cries! And the guys come home early next week and then we get to find out if our sweet little one is a boy or girl!

This little baby is a mover. Just like Eli was!

Today Eli was watching his favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba, and there was this guy on there that was beat boxing. Eli picks up his little microphone and starts trying to do it! I was freaking out! I loved it! Maybe I have a professional drummer/beat boxer on my hands! I hope so!

Eli and I have been having so much fun lately. Yesterday, well the early morning hours we were fighting, but then he got super cuddly and really funny. Sometimes when I sit on the couch, he'll sit on the floor underneath me and I'll grab his head and kind of pull it back on the couch and kiss him. Well yesterday he was sitting on the couch, and I was sitting underneath him and he pulled my head back and kissed me! hahaha... I was laughing so hard! So, of course he kept doing it... anything for a laugh that kid!

Anyways, it's been a great week. My mom came home from Europe last night and dad comes home from Boston tomorrow. Hope your week has been great too!

Summer Lovin

2009-07-01T17:28:00.003-05:00

Meredith and I went to visit one of our besties, Rachel, and her beautiful baby girl, Ellie! We laughed a lot, ate some really good food (thanks Rach!!) and watched the kids be kids! Here are some highlights!

18 month check up

2009-06-29T19:25:00.002-05:00

Today was Dr. visit day! I loved this one though because no shots were involved. It did kind of freak me out though because his next visit is his 2 year. We went ahead and scheduled it and I remember thinking, "oh my gosh... by his 2 year we will have another baby!" AAGGHHH!! (sigh) Surely we can do that, right?! :)

He remains on the growth plan he has from the beginning! He's 29 pounds and 34 inches tall! A big boy!!

I love going to those appointments because I always feel some sense of accomplishment because he always can do all the things on those checklists. He's a healthy happy baby... well... not a baby (waaahhh!!) but toddler. Gosh. He is incredible.

This stage is really fun though because he knows how to make me laugh. He's totally picked up on all the things that I think are funny so he spends plenty of time trying to entertain me! haha.. I love it!

In other news... have I mentioned that my dad is in Boston? My mom and sister are in Spain with my brother, and will be returning to London tomorrow. Wes is gone. And I am here... Now I, like most people I think, am definitely not meant to spend that much time alone. Eli definitely fills the time, but part of my love language is to have quality time socially. Going days and days without someone hugging me or rubbing my back or anything like that basically sucks the life out of me. I start feeling sad and depressed like. I not only want and crave some serious friend/family time, I truly need it. That's the worst thing about this point of the summer. People are busy, people are gone... it's just hard.

I had a slight emotional breakdown this weekend. :) I'm just not one of those people who enjoys this much time without hanging out for a substantial amount of time. After this week is over we'll get to have a family vacation which I am just aching for. Three days of nothing but people!!! I cannot wait.

Tonight Meredith is coming over to stay (thank you Jesus!!) and tomorrow we're taking a day trip to Athens to visit Rachel and Ellie! (Eli's betrothed) Other things are happening this week so I've pretty much filled up my week. And I get to do it all with Eli, which I also love because he is so great and makes things so much fun!

Grease 2 is on. I must go watch!

Spitting out apple

2009-06-28T10:22:00.005-05:00

Eli's newest clear word is "apple". He talks all the time with tons of words I may or may not understand. But this morning apple was crystal clear! So, he wants to "eat" the apple, and I say that loosely because what he really wants to do is chew it up, spit it out, and get another piece. Gross.

I have evidence of his wonderful word and the spitting of the apple in this video. Enjoy! :)

Eli is back to his awesome schedule now... paci included. He takes a great nap, sleeps from 7:00 pm to almost 8:00 am and it's great. I will definitely wait to deal with that until Wes gets home for good.

In baby #2 news, I'm feeling that sweet baby move several times a day and I LOVE it! Such an incredible feeling...

Ahhhh the paci...

2009-06-26T12:13:00.000-05:00

***new update*** It's nap time. It's been an hour and he wouldn't sleep. So... I caved. I'm too weak! Plus Wes justified my actions by saying to wait until he is home so we can do this together and not put it all on me. I love my husband. :)

***update*** So Eli woke up at 4:47 crying "mama!" I let him cry for about 3 minutes and decided to go in there. I knew that he probably woke up, couldn't find his paci, and wasn't sure how to go back to sleep.

I tell him to lay back down, he does, and I stand by him for about 15 minutes. He is definitely not asleep. He's rolling around, kicking his legs, clapping... haha... things like that.

Long story short, I leave, he cries for 10 minutes, go back in, sit for about 5, he's still playing around. I put him in my bed for 10 more minutes, he turns it into a jungle gym, I put him back in bed with a blanket and a teddy bear (5:58 am), and he goes back to sleep until 7:47. (sigh...) I guess that's not too bad for the official night 1 without the paci, right??

Here is the an old picture of Eli when we would let him have his paci at any moment.

For the past several months he could only have his paci at nap time and at bedtime. Which was completely fine because he really didn't want it the other times anyway.

So this past Sunday when we went with Wes to camp I had made a list of everything I needed to take. (I love making lists!!) So after I made my all inclusive list a little son of mine got ahold of it... I tried to keep my eyes on it but it disappeared. (Eli's newest word is "trash" so many things that we need end up in the trash now...). And on that list was the paci, so without the list I totally forgot it!

Now, obviously we were prepared for Eli's sleeping to be a little crazy since he wasn't in his own bed, but eventually he did go to sleep... without the paci. Perfect!

We are home and I decided that we'll just keep on going without the paci. As soon as I laid him in bed for his nap, his hand went straight to his side and he started feeling around for his paci. It wasn't there. I told him "goodnight" and left the room. I did have to go back in since he started screaming and crying. I just told him to lay down, rubbed his back, and asleep he went. Tonight was the basically the same story. So...

Let it be known... the paci is gone! I'm going to stick to it (ahem... you too Wes :) 18 months is plenty of paci time, right?

My nose is a little too awesome

2009-06-24T23:20:00.004-05:00

So tonight was the night Eli and I planned to leave camp and drive home. Remember... I loathe I-35 and driving that far with Eli alone during the day. Wes and I get everything packed up, loaded in the car (thanks band for helping out!) and we left after we listened to them play for awhile... around 8:00.

We're an hour past Eli's bed time, which who knows when that even is since he slept for 4 hours today!!!! But, I knew he'd get tired eventually... my plan in action! So, we'd been driving for about 20 minutes and he starts crying and saying "down! down! down!" and I start thinking... oh no... is he not tired? He already wants out of the car?? Well then his face gets really red and obviously he is having a little poopy action. No problem! Let's get this over with now while it's daylight still! We pull over at a nice little Wendy's, change the diaper, get back in the car, on the road. Eli is doing great!

The sun goes down, Eli starts getting really tired and is getting a little fussy. He starts saying "dadda! night night! dadda! night night!" which is crazy sweet since he's obviously thinking about Wes but so sad because I know he already misses him! I sing him a few of his favorite songs, tell him I love him, and put my hand on his leg. As soon as our skin meets his eyelids drop and he's out!

Not too long after that I could swear that I still smell that poopy diaper! I keep running the thoughts through my head: I clean him off. I threw it away. I washed my hands. I washed his hands. WHERE IS THAT SMELL COMING FROM? I truly had myself convinced that I must be by these ninja cow pastures that were smelling up all of Texas!

Every once in awhile I would smell my hand. My arm. My shirt. Nothing. All clean.

We arrived home, Eli is completely knocked out sleeping, and I smell it even stronger. He had another poopy diaper! And I made him sit in it! For like 2 hours!!! No wonder he was having trouble sleeping! uggghhhh...... I quickly got him out, changed his diaper, told him I was sorry like a million times, and put him to bed. (all while he was sleeping I might add) I love that kid.

Home sweet home. :)

A day of frustration

2009-06-23T21:12:00.005-05:00

Today was one of those days where everything I tried with Eli failed. We're at camp with Wes and so of course Eli's sleeping patterns are who knows where and he is pushing every possible limit. Eli really needed to take his 11:00 or 12:00 nap... and the time was about 2:30. He was out of control. Crying, screaming, nose running, tears flowing... the works. Finally he laid down by me and I thought we were going to have a breakthrough! Then he decides to stick his fingers down his throat over and over again and made himself throw up... all over him... all over the sheets... and all over my shoulder... awesome. I was so mad. I didn't know what to do. I got him up, cleaned us off, he starts crying. Again.

I keep thinking, who is this child?? My child isn't like this! He takes his naps. He hardly ever cries. He barely screams. Who are you?? Oh. Wait. You're an 18 month old who woke up at 6:00 am and haven't had a nap all day. Ohhh... that's who you are.

Wes gets back, we load Eli in the car and before we're off the campus he is asleep. sigh...

After the nap he was a whole new person! Still not completely back to his charming little self but much better. We went to the beginning of the evening service, he rocked out on the drums (thanks Jason!), and flirted with basically everyone and then it was time to get him to bed.

As soon as we pulled up to the apartment I hear a train. I thought, YES! This will be so fun! I hurried and yanked him out of the car, sat on the curb, and watched my beautiful son's eyes light up as the train went by. My eyes filled with tears. All of the annoyance, the frustration, the impatience that I had been feeling all day just melted away. God, thank you. Thank you so much for my son.

We came inside, got our pjs on, played around a little, turned off the lights, and I laid down on the mattress. I told myself I didn't care what he did, in a good way. When he was ready, he could lay down and go to sleep. What did Eli do? He came right in, laid down, and went to sleep. I love him so much.

And, I'm 17 weeks pregnant today! I'm definitely feeling those sweet little baby flutters! No name ideas yet, no guesses as to what I'm having... but lots of love for this little bundle growing! We have our next appointment on July 8 where we'll have our sonogram and find out what sex our baby is! I cannot wait!

A few more Eli words

2009-05-29T14:36:00.003-05:00

I wish I had remembered more words to ask him!! But I think you'll enjoy these!!

Pregnancy: Round 2

2009-05-29T12:12:00.002-05:00

This pregnancy has been very similar to my pregnancy with Eli, but also really different. I don't know how to explain it in words, but here goes...

With Eli, (by the way I'm a little over 13 weeks right now... I should probably get one of those ticker things) by this point I'd gained like 8 or 9 pounds. I never looked at the scale with him after the first trimester. I just didn't want to know. And I never knew how much I had gained until my doctor's appointment with this pregnancy. A different doctor was filling in for my doctor and ended up telling me that I gained around 50 pounds!!!! what?!?! ... see... that's why I didn't want to know.

I lost all but 4 of those pounds.

This time, I've only gained between 1 pound and 1.5 pounds. I'm eating plenty and all of that, but that's a huge difference to me than the last time.

With Eli I was never sick just really tired. This time I haven't been sick but I can't stand anything that smells, even if it smells good. I just don't want to smell anything ever. Food used to taste a lot like cardboard with this pregnancy, but now it tastes good again. I've been really really tired with this baby also. But I just feel different somehow. I really don't know why or how exactly, I just do.

So my next appointment is June 11 and then I go for my next sono (where we can find out the sex) on July 8!!! SO exciting! We don't care what we have; we just want a healthy baby! It's already determined anyway!

I refuse to let 2 months go by!

2009-05-28T19:45:00.002-05:00

I know... I'm terrible. Truly. But thank you for not forgetting me!! So, I'm not updating much right now. Truly there isn't much to say. But I wanted to share Eli's newest trick! Love you guys!

happy happy

2009-04-07T13:20:00.004-05:00

Ok! Today I'm being much happier. Did you know if you make yourself smile, it can trick your mind into releasing serotonin that makes you feel happier? So... smiling I can do! ...the hair... not so much... Not fake. Don't worry... I'm really truly feeling happier today. Still achy, still tired, but much better. Thank you for your words of encouragement!

So, you know how I'm starting a new website (I just had to retype that word 3 times because I kept typing wesbite... hmm...)? Well, I haven't been able to work on it too much yet, but I DID get a Canon 40D which just happens to be one of the most incredible cameras EVER! I'm learning how to use it and how to edit pictures... slowly... but I'm so excited about it! I'm not becoming a professional photographer so when my site gets something on it, keep that in mind. But I'm hoping that by the end of the summer I'll have enough stuff on there to share it with everyone and people can start using it! yay!

At work we have to give out awards to our top students in our classes. If you teach 100 kids or less, which I do, you can only choose 3 people to give an award to. ugghh... I hate choosing! There are always way more than 3 people who deserve the award. And then after the ceremony, the other kids in your class will hear who got the award and I'm sure some of them feel kind of strange as to why they didn't get chosen. Honestly I'm sure it's much more of an emotional strain on me than them, but I just would never want any of them to feel any like I didn't want to give them an award. I'm really not playing into that whole mindset of "everyone's a winner!" but there truly are A LOT of my students who work really hard that deserve to be recognized publicly. hmm... I love those kids.

feelings

2009-04-06T20:42:00.002-05:00

Y'all.

This pregnancy is different. This pregnancy...

Well, I feel really achy pretty much all the time. In fact, there were two days when I felt totally ok and took another pregnancy test to make sure I was still pregnant.

I feel like I am not being the best mom or wife right now. I'm always a little tired. I'm always a little achy. I feel like there isn't enough of me to go around.

Today I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. Today I'm feeling like, how can I ever do this with two kids?

After Eli was born I definitely had postpartum depression. God please rescue me from that again. What if I have that again? But this time I'll already have a child who needs his mom to be the best she can be?

I think I just feel really really tired, which makes me feel really really overwhelmed. I wish I would blog more, it helps my mind get some sort of structure but friends I have just been so tired.

I miss you guys. :)

Eli's word list

2009-04-01T19:01:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging... this pregnancy is tiring!!!

Here's where we're at:

momma

dada

ooce (juice)

eeoy (Ebony)

nana (banana)

ball

dah (dog)

down

bye bye

hehoh (hello)

gigi

mo (more)

psss (please... which is a rare word)

buh (book)

oyeessis (opposites... which is his FAVORITE book that we read 50 times a day, it's called God loves opposites)

ba (bath)

tiss (this)

dang... I thought there were two more that I counted but I can't remember them!

His latest thing is taking his own diapers to the trash. It is awesome!! This child understands pretty much everything you say. kind of scary...

"The details" (as requested)

2009-03-24T19:36:00.004-05:00

So as I've mentioned, we decided that this was the month we wanted to start trying. Our main reason was because Wes travels basically the entire summer and even though it would be great to have the baby during the summer for a teacher schedule, I just don't want to have a 2 year old a newborn by myself.

The baby (as far as the internet tells me) is going to be due December 4. Which is the second reason we wanted to get pregnant this month. If I can have our sweet new baby at a little past 38 weeks like we did with Eli, then the baby will be born the weekend before Thanksgiving which gives me a whole other week to count towards leave without using any of my almost nonexistent days! yay!

When we got pregnant with Eli we weren't planning or anything like that. So this was a new experience for us. We feel overwhelmingly blessed that we got pregnant the first month because people have told us that it doesn't often happen that way. But, we believe that God's timing is sovereign for everyone so whenever it happens that's when it's supposed to happen!

I knew that yesterday was the first day I could take one of those early response tests. So, I jump out of bed at 6:29 (you know... the whole wake up a minute before your alarm goes off kind of thing) and grab the test and head to the bathroom! I think I almost pulled out every single eyelash (which is what I do when I'm anxious) waiting for those eternal 3 minutes to pass! Then... hour glass flashing... hour glass flashing... hour glass flashing... PREGNANT! YAY!!!

So. I'm basically 3 weeks a long. It's still a teeny tiny little sac that's about to start growing a placenta. Incredible.

You guys are so awesome. Thank you for your sweet sweet wishes! I love sharing this with you!

Hello friends!

2009-03-23T19:30:00.000-05:00

15 month check up

2009-03-20T14:31:00.002-05:00

Well. He's still growing!

Weight: 27 pounds

Height: 33 inches

Everything is right on track. He even started walking backwards some this week, which I didn't even know was a little milestone but it is! Now the only thing left to conquer is the night time bottle. (gulp)

We are in our backyard right now playing in the sun. He's so big. I love him.

It's a great day to be frustrated

2009-03-17T13:18:00.002-05:00

Today I'm frustrated because my camera is broken and I still haven't sent it to be fixed.

Today I'm frustrated because I'm starting this website, which require pictures, which turn out horrible because of my broken camera.

Today I'm frustrated because I just am basically ignorant when it comes to starting a website.

Today I'm frustrated because I can't always convey my vision into words... or a website for that matter.

Today I'm frustrated because I've been trying to figure out how to change my CNAME (whatever that is) to match my mobileme account so my personal domain and my mobileme will be a match.

Today I'm frustrated because I packed up my "A Girl's Guide to Starting Her Own Business" book and have no idea which box it is in.

But it's a fantastic day to be frustrated because it is gorgeous outside and so all of those frustrations seem so small. (until I come back inside and try to work on them again... haha...) I better go back out there and bask in the Vitamin D.

Cotton Candy Day

2009-03-16T13:57:00.007-05:00

Today is a cotton candy day. I love cotton candy. I seriously could eat that stuff almost all day long! It's fluffy, it's fun, it's magical (I mean, sugar + air + swirl = cottony goodness!), and you can't get enough of it. That's kind of how I see today. Y'all it is beyond beautiful outside. Eli and I spent the morning with Sarah and some of her neighborhood buddies at the Arboretum. You give me a free pass somewhere and I will use it! It was crazy crowded out there but the Arboretum is huge so there was still plenty of room for the kids to run around!

It was kind of cold in the morning but then by noon it was nice and warm and fantastic! Wes came and picked me up not too long after that so we could grab some lunch and get Eli home for a nap. I'm sure we'll take him to the park or something later on because when you get a cotton candy day, you cannot stay indoors!

Now, I love my camera. It's taken some great pictures for me, but it's broken as I've mentioned to where I cannot see what I'm taking pictures of. Sometimes that works out ok and I still get a cute shot, but sometimes I get this:

Sorry Wes. I must have zoomed in at some point (why... I have no idea. I literally cannot see anything I'm trying to take a picture of) and not zoomed back out when I was taking some pics of Eli watching Wes rehearse. So... I guess I need to use some of my time this week and take it to a camera repair shop to get an estimate. ugh.

I am loving this week already. Thank you Spring Break for being so wonderful.

On another great note, I got to see my dear friend Rosa last night at church! I was walking towards the back to meet Jouleen's dad and I was kind of scanning the crowd and I see Rosa sitting there, with her beautiful smiling face and everything! I think I may have even pushed some people out of my way to get to her! (kidding... I think) We only were able to speak for a minute but we will have to catch up soon!

Eli is not friends with the nursery

2009-03-15T12:05:00.003-05:00

Well here we are. Eli is going to be 15 months in 3 days. We go to the 9:30 service, which is the first service, at our church since Wes plays at both and Eli's nap is typically around when the 2nd service is over. He goes to the same room each time, New Creations, Day 5. There are usually different people in there almost each time, and maybe that has something to do with it, but not much. What I'm talking about is his almost constant crying as soon as I leave him.

I go in. I hang his bag up. I sit down with him, we look at some toys, the nursery worker comes over to say hi and meet Eli. I stand up, he starts screaming, I kiss him and tell him I love him and walk away. I don't know if there is a point that I will stop being bothered by this, but I still hate it. I hate seeing him cry like that.

When I go to pick him up, his eyes are all puffy, his face is red, and he has tears and snot dried all over his face. I ask, "how was he?" They say, "he was good, he cried on and off, but did get down to play a little." hmm...

I've been reading all kinds of books about raising sons. They are all really similar and based off of compatible research. It seems that for many boys, the separation anxiety phase is a bit more severe than for girls. I have no idea because I only have one son, but he definitely fits that description. Looking around the room at all the cute kiddos, there were only 2 other boys and lots of little girls running around playing... and not crying.

I'm doing my part. I'm taking him as often as I can, going with a good attitude, talking to him a lot, being brief but loving in my departure... now I guess I'll just wait on nature to do it's part and Eli to feel a little more secure when I leave.

Until then...

Boys boys boys

2009-03-13T20:33:00.005-05:00

Yesterday after work I went over to Jen's house and played for a little while! She has a little boy that's 3 years old and she was also watching her brother's son, who is also 3 years old! They are SO cute!! It was absolutely adorable watching them play together! Eli wasn't so sure how to play with them but he loved watching them play and just walking around... haha... and taking the occasional toy and putting it in his bag... do I have a little kleptomaniac on my hands?

Well Spring Break started for us today! Yay! I will have to be honest and say that I was not as

looking forward to it as I have been in the past. I think the reason is that working half a day at school has really allowed me not to be as crazy exhausted as in the past. Our family has been hugely blessed by this opportunity and I am still so thankful for it!

I had student video projects due in class yesterday and today and they turned out fantastic! I am so proud of my kiddos! I love the students I have. I've had awesome students in the past but this is the first year that every single student is incredible. Encourage your kids to be their quirky little selves because if they can hold on to that, in high school their teachers will love them! Or at least I will! All of those dry sense of humors, those one liners, those funny speech patterns... I just love them! I can't imagine anyone not wanting to teach high school. They are fantastic!

This is the first month we were consciously trying to have a baby. haha... does that make sense? I still don't get the whole ovulation cycle. Don't feel like you need to teach me unless you just want to. In fact, I actually teach it to my class but there are always exceptions and there are always babies born when ovulation didn't even seem to be happening. I looked at about 3 or 4 different websites and they all gave me about the same window... sort of... So who knows! I guess I'll find out at the beginning of April!

Amazing Jakes

2009-03-12T12:54:00.004-05:00

Last night we had our birthday bash with some of our sweet friends! We met for dinner at the buffet, I got to finally meet Andrea, Jourdan's sister, and it was SO much fun! Meeting with friends is seriously one of my most favorite things to do! I love you guys!

Lindey and I on the go carts--- we got first place ;)

Lizzalicious and I

one of the cutest couples ever, Mere and Tyler

happy birthday to us!

that guy in the background went up to Jourdan and Andrea and asked them if they were lesbians and would not go away. Jourdan had to ask him to leave.

the girls!

Liz! Amanda! Jourdan!

haha... Wes on the bumper cars

enjoying the buffet

this was us trying to wait out the neverending rain in the car

Thanks for coming guys!!!

The smell of rain

2009-03-10T19:11:00.009-05:00

As I sit here and type I can smell and hear the rain! (I can also hear my son screaming in his crib... which... isn't so pleasant...) And I'm thankful for the rain for many reasons but mainly because I was slacking on watering my baby flowers in the front yard and now they are getting a nice drink!

ok... I'll be right back. I can't focus with Eli crying.

grr... this wretched daylight savings time!! It might as well be bright as day in his room! We are definitely fixing that before tomorrow night. Poor thing...

Ok y'all. I got my report card from my graduate school and I got all A's! yay!! Too bad I wasn't this good of a student in high school and college! So next week I start my pre-practicum class, but since I have already passed the test I just have to do some case studies and then I can start logging hours for practicum! I will graduate in August! Yes!!

It has been so beautiful outside lately! We have loved playing around at different parks, which is actually the reason I haven't been blogging on this site much lately. I kind of feel like I'm cheating on this blog due to this "great idea" I have for a website I'm starting. More on that when I have something...

I finally used my mani/pedi gift certificate that Jeff got the girls for Christmas! Thanks Jeffy! Jouleen and I went yesterday and it was so awesome! sorry for the randomness of the photos... the screen on my camera is still broken so we can't see what we are taking a picture of!

The "baby-ness" of my son is basically gone... which makes me question why he is still getting a bottle and paci in bed!? (sigh...) I'm gearing up for that battle ahem, right honey?? He pretty much understands everything we say to him. He is full of opinions which he expresses with his own little jibberish language. He's still not saying that many words and he's becoming less interested in books. He used to want to look at every page and now he'll bring over 4 or 5 and he might look at two pages each!

He's getting taller. He's getting cuter! If that is even possible... And he's just getting to be so big. Now the hitting has stopped thank goodness, due to me thumping his hand when he would hit me. He does still turn into a werewolf (spelling anyone?) when he gets tired and the one year old violence ensues, but we just put him to bed and he's fine. I just still stare at him as much as possible. I love looking at him. He is incredible.

My dad and I went to the henna ceremony of one of our former students on Sunday night. I had never been to one before and Fatima looked SO beautiful! Her wedding is tomorrow and I so wish I could be there but I can't! :( She graduated last year and she is marrying a guy that was arranged for her by their families. Apparently he's a really great guy! He's tall, cute, some sort of doctor, but they move to London where he lives at the end of the month. It will be so sad not to have her around... but there is always facebook! :)

Goin to the chapel

2009-03-06T20:04:00.002-06:00

My cousin Susan got married! Yay!! It was a lot of fun and we are so happy for the happy couple!

Love you Susan and Mason!

The day of my birth

2009-03-04T20:18:00.005-06:00

Today I am 27 years old! Wow. What a fun age I can already tell! I have no problem getting older... yet... :)

Wes' mom is in town and I took her to the Dallas Arboretum and we had SO much fun! It was a perfect day!

What I learned in counseling today

2009-03-03T20:00:00.003-06:00

1. Sometimes you can't just be tolerant of the situation, you actually have to genuinely support it.

2. Being over-controlling of how things go with your baby may not be the most productive thing but it's all part of the process and is normal to go through.

3. It's interesting how you can want to hit someone, feel sorry for them, and really like them all at the same time.

4. It's hard to be encouraging to your spouse (even though it might be easy to do so for others) because sometimes we're not encouraging to ourselves. (there was actually a lot more to that... but kind of hard to convey right now while I am typing for some reason)

5. ... oh great... there was something else that I can't remember... uh oh.

Twins!

2009-03-02T20:05:00.004-06:00

Why does my camera have to be broken? :(

Do not fret friends! I am no longer Debbie Downer! Yay! Thanks for all of your sweet words! I haven't forgotten my commitments to be a more faithful blogger for myself and this week is kind of different because Wes is gone and his mom Carol is staying with me to take care of Eli! Yay!

Today at school Padme the guinea pig had a surprise for everyone. On Friday everyone was saying that she was really fat and Adam, the owner/science teacher, was worried that she had tumors. This morning we came in and there were two guinea pig babies with her!!! Twins! How adorable is that?! Y'all those are the cutest little babies I have ever seen! (insert adorable picture of guinea pig babies here!)

Ok guys... I think Wes and I have decided to maybe start trying this month or next! We'll see!

Debbie Downer

2009-02-24T20:53:00.002-06:00

That's me right now. Debbie Downer. I really am not sure why I'm choosing to be this way right now when there are so many fantastic celebrations going on! For example:

1. I just finished my very LAST exam for my Masters Degree! Now all I have to do is log some hours, pay for those classes and you can call me Master Amanda! haha... kidding.

2. My dear friend Leny finally joined us in our wonderful world of blogs. And, her family is from India so that already makes her fascinating! Check her out!

3. Although my house is a complete disaster right now, it is showing some small signs of improvement. My camera is broken (gasp!!) so I'm probably going to use my birthday money to get it fixed - my birthday hasn't happened yet - because I need you guys to SEE my life too!

4. Eli says banana all the time now in the form of "nana!" and he also says please now in the form of "psss"!

But even with all of those wonderful things I am still kind of blue. I think I've worn myself to the ground lately. Maybe being a little over committed or a little over involved, but mainly just because all of my schedules seem to be crashing into each other and I have had not one ounce of peaceful me time in what seems to be ages. Wes assures me that will change soon, and I hope so. I would like to go back to being Amanda Martin instead of Double D.

That was cheerful huh.

Oh! and #5 would have to be Hugh Jackman's fabulous performance at the Oscars! He was truly great!

what a great time to sell a house

2009-02-22T15:26:00.002-06:00

so... Wes and I have decided to try and sell our house. WHAT? yes. ARE YOU SERIOUS? mmm hmm... basically our decision is based on the fact that we found a beautiful house we would love to buy. We like it so much that we decided to be a little crazy and get our house ready to be put on the market. If it doesn't sell, then we made our house as beautiful as possible and we get to enjoy it! If it does sell, then WHOO HOO!!! We get to move across town! I'm telling you we are so excited and tired. Really tired actually. I'll have to post some pics soon!

I've made some new commitments, one of which is to blog more faithfully. Not only because I miss reading about your precious lives but also it has been such a great sense of therapy to have some me time and talk about my day.

Tomorrow and Tuesday are my final exams for my last two grad classes for my School Counseling Masters. After that, all that is left is my pre-practicum and practicum! WHOO HOO! So... I'm off to play with Eli until study time. Love you guys!!

In mourning

2009-02-13T15:00:00.002-06:00

Today our school is grieving. This morning, before school started, a senior male student had a wreck on his motorcycle in the school parking lot. He did not make it. There were many witnesses and he had many friends. We spent the morning and early afternoon contacting parents and counseling students. Please keep our students, teachers, and his family in your thoughts and prayers. It was a horrible day.

He's almost 14 months.

2009-02-12T14:58:00.006-06:00

Here's a little Eli update for you :)

He will be 14 months on the 18th. He's definitely much more of a little boy now than a baby. He basically runs everywhere leading with his big ole belly and his arms behind him to keep his balance. :) He's one of the tallest one year olds I have ever seen! My sweet friend Jaclynn watched him yesterday and today and she has a daughter who is two months older than he is. Her daughter is just to tiny compared to my giant child!

He loves to babble all the time... His favorite words are "mama!" "dada" "dog" "no (while shaking his head, and most of the time no means yes...)" "ooce (juice)" "mo (more)" and I think he's been trying to say several other words that I just can't make out quite yet. He's still into reading, especially reading to himself. His favorite book is God Loves Opposites which he throws at you so you will read it to him... thanks Jen... :)

He still goes to bed at like 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30 in the morning. We haven't stopped his night time bottle yet, but I'm sure that will come soon. If he's not going to sleep we give him his sippy cup. hmm... what else. He loves eating almost anything but he's not really allowed to have an

y sugar because it completely messes up his system and we have to deal with the messy aftermath... and what one year old needs sugar anyway.

His favorite things to do would include going outside, pushing any button anywhere at any time, playing the drums, chasing Ebony, pointing at the fan or any light, climbing stairs, getting off the couch, shaking his head no, dancing, singing, and playing on the computer.

We love him so much and have so much fun with him! We're thinking of adding to the family sometime soon... don't worry... I'll let you know when! And we are completely thankful for his spunky little self!

The Inauguration

2009-02-10T13:14:00.007-06:00

The Inauguration was incredible. I have said on here before that I didn't vote for our President but of course I am an American and I will always support our country. That being said, I would not have missed Obama's inauguration for anything. Truly! It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever witnessed! Ever! We had to wake up very very early each morning and didn't get home until late each night but it was well worth it.Monday, Jan. 19: We (20 students and 3 other sponsors) met up at the school at 3:30 in the morning. We went to DFW, had plenty of time to go through security and make our flight, and arrived in DC around 10:30. It was extremely cold there and we were all SO excited to be in the District. Monday was a full day of going to Smithsonians, walking around the National Mall, and letting the kids get the feel of the area. We watched as they started preparing the grounds and putting up the giant screens for the festivities to come. You hear on tv all the time that people can "feel" the excitement and I never really understood what that meant until we were there. You could literally feel the energy. Everyone was happy, street vendors making a profit on Obama's name and face were all over the place, and the crisp air carried with it a feeling of hope. Exactly what you hear about on the news.

Tuesday, Jan. 20: We were up again at like 4 am to get some breakfast and load onto the bus. We had been told we couldn't bring any bags or anything like that, only what could fit into your pockets for security. We really had no idea what to expect. Saying that you will be standing in millions of people compared to actually standing with millions of people are two different stories. It was still dark out when we reached DC and the sidewalks were already full of streams of people walking towards the capitol. There were A LOT of frustrations happening with our tour guide, which I won't waste time on going over, but we were trying to remain positive. Each time our bus would pass through a street, they would close it off and then a sea of people would fill it. All of the major roads running into the heart of the district were closed to vehicles and open to humans. People were EVERYWHERE. People were selling things, cheering, clapping, singing, chanting... it was like a rock concert with no music. And we were there 3-4 hours early before anything was happening and that's how the people were like.

There were no security checks where we went to. We were far far from the capitol, at the base of the Washington Monument, but since they had those huge screens, we could see everything up close and clear. Basically while you were warm and cozy at home or work or wherever you were while watching the inauguration on tv, I was cold and stiff and standing also watching it on tv :) Of course Bryan (one of the sponsors) and I decide to go get some coffee and snack before it started and we started parting our way through the people (you could literally see nothing but blue skies, some tree tops, and people at this point) and when we got to the snack stand, the wait was 2-3 hours. So, we turned around to go back to find our group, got separated from each other, and ended up watching the inauguration with total strangers. awesome.

Anyways, people were cheering Obama, booing Bush, his mom, his dad, his wife... which personally I thought, "the man is going to be President for another 30 minutes, can you cut him a break?" but... they apparently couldn't. When Obama spoke, the crowd silenced. They listened to every word he said. People were crying, cheering, clapping, raising their hands... truly, it was such an incredible energy to be a part of that day. I don't remember a time where I have ever felt so cold, but standing with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands and not being afraid, and not feeling alone was fantastic.

Cell service was cut off in the area around the capitol. There were snipers everywhere. There were plain-clothed secret service everywhere from what we heard. There were men in fatigues with binoculars near all the screens. The air was being kept clear by different types of helicopters. We spoke to policeman from all over the country that were sent there to help out. There were zero arrests the entire day of the inauguration, which makes complete sense to me because if anything had gone wrong, like a fight or something in the crowd, there was not a single thing a policeman could do. Y'all the crowd of people was overwhelming. Our kids had an amazing time but trying to stay together even in small groups was extremely difficult. The police had no idea what to do with us most of the time, which probably wasn't their fault, but we usually just saw them standing on top of buses or sitting on porch steps. The crowd was felt just like the ocean. If one part of the "current" started moving, you had to move where they were going. You had no choice. But no one was angry with each other, no one was pushing or shoving or cussing or anything. Everyone was feeling the same sense of annoyance with the police for not telling us where to go, but the tree people (civilians who had climbed the trees to watch the inauguration) were very helpful in looking out to see which group was moving which way. So, thank you tree people. :)

Not one of "those" bloggers

2009-02-10T07:41:00.002-06:00

Friends! Thank you for checking up on me and seeing how I'm doing! The answer to that is/was "overwhelmed" but after today I think I'll be back on track! After the Inauguration things got crazy!! I went to Lubbock, then to DC, then back here to two grad classes full of tests and homework that was not yet done, to Eli getting the flu, to Wes traveling a lot, to taking my exit level test for School Counseling. I know your lives are crazy busy too but I just couldn't keep up with everything!

More to come!

I have another test tonight! Prayers please!!!

Love you guys!

one year olds

2009-01-10T07:53:00.003-06:00

One year olds are much different than babies. I'm sure most of you know that. :) But seriously! They are sneaky! They are smart! They are creative! They have opinions! and so much more...

Hold on to those stones before you throw them at Wes because this is a funny story.

Yesterday I get my daily little Eli update email from Wes and he had quite a tale of the morning's events. He said that all the gates were up, the doors were shut, everything was in its place, and Eli was playing with some of his toys. Wes decides to lay down on the couch while Eli

was playing. Somehow the peacefulness of the morning, Wes dozes off to sleep. He said he woke up every few minutes and would look at what Eli was doing and then go back to his nap. Eli was very busy while Wes was sleeping. Wes said he was laying there asleep and could feel someone looking at him. He opens his eyes to find Eli staring at him just inches from his face, holding the remote control, and kind of had a smirk on his face. uh oh. what happened? Wes takes the remote to see what Eli decided to watch on TV. Eli knows how to work the DVD player so Wes thought he was playing a movie or something. He noticed that it looked different so he goes to see what Eli was watching... Eli had ordered a movie from On Demand! An actual movie! Which means he had to go to On Demand, choose a movie, hit watch now, and purchase now! and he did!! He chose Fly Me to the Moon somehow, which was one of the top choices when you hit the On Demand button but definitely not the first one! So, Eli cost us 5 bucks while Wes was sleeping. :)

Eli also loves our cell phones. He's called a lot of our friends and family members before. Last night I was telling Wes that Eli did something caused the clock to stay lit up on my phone all the time when it was closed. Then I looked down again and it said the word "browser" on it! I immediately opened my phone and Eli had connected it to the internet... which we don't pay for so we won't get on the internet on our phone... so apparently he submitted ok for that service for our plan now and we have to call and cancel that. again.

Eli. It's a good thing we love you. :)

stranger danger

2009-01-08T06:26:00.005-06:00

I don't know why it has been so hard to get back into the swing of things! Work is going really well and I've had a great week with my kids! Home is going great also- Eli is this little walking machine that makes us laugh all the time! His latest thing is to laugh when everyone else is laughing, which is absolutely adorable! And, he's also entered into the wonderful world of separation anxiety.

Separation anxiety is really interesting. I got my little babycenter.com update a few weeks ago saying that it would be happening and it definitely is. I hear "mama!!!" more now than ever. I'm doing a good job at telling him what I'm doing when I leave one room to go to the next, which has been a little helpful in easing his stress but tears usually follow.

Yesterday Wes and I went to see that James Bond movie. I'm sure it's been out for awhile now, but when you don't get to see movies that often you kind of lose track of those things. The showing times were 10 am, 4 pm, and 10 pm. hmm... 4 pm it is! So, I asked my spunky little friend Sarah if she could watch Eli when she got home from work! She said yes so off we went. We did the quick but definite goodbye with Eli, Sarah said he got a little sniffly but was fine... she just couldn't really take him by the front door or he would get sad again! hahaa.. how cute! (thanks for lovin on him Rah Rah!)

So, we're trying to do what we need to do to make Eli feel supported but still allow him to know that he is ok even though mom or dad isn't right in the room with him.

I love every single stage that he has gone through. He has been such an easy and fantastic baby that it makes me kind of nervous about the next one. (I'm not pregnant by the way)

seriously

2009-01-04T11:05:00.001-06:00

Let me say that I really don't get sick that often. I just don't. I never have really. But this week made up for it! So, I last left you with the virus, which never when away, which I think turned into an infection because I started taking antibiotics anyway and felt a little better. Then I got the stomach bug... but it was only for like 12 hours, which is way better than the horror stories I've heard lately.

But today, today I am well. I'm still not really eating anything because my tummy just kind of doesn't really feel up to that yet, but I don't feel sick. Whoo hoo!

Thanks a lot sickness for ruining my last week of vacation.

Back to work tomorrow!! Missed you friends!

Movies, ringworm, a virus, and the chicken

2008-12-27T11:01:00.005-06:00

On Christmas Day my family decided that we would go see Marley & Me. It's pretty much tradition for us to go see a movie that day and we hold to it! So, the big difference this year is that Wes and I have a one year old, named Eli... I'm sure I've mentioned him before :) and he has never been to a movie. We load up, drive to the theatre, and get settled for the 5:05 showing of Marley & Me. Eli is doing good, he's eating crackers and fruit but you could tell that he's getting really sleepy. He still takes two naps. Once the movie begins he is passed from my aunt down the row until he gets to me. Yep, he's really tired and keeps crashing his head into my shoulder trying to go to sleep. After a few minutes of this, it's just not going to happen. Wes, being the incredible husband and father that he is, says that I don't need to worry, just sit and watch the movie and he'll take Eli.

Wes packs up Eli's stuff, takes him to the car. From texts I get throughout the movie, Wes played some jazz for him, changed a poopy diaper, fed him the rest of the crackers, Wes ate the last cracker, sang some songs, drove him around, and then finally Eli went to sleep. Thanks honey. I love you!

Eli has these spots on his back every once in awhile that feel really rough. They are the same color of his skin and basically they are just little dry patches. He started getting one on his lower back after Thanksgiving but I didn't think too much about it and just put extra lotion on it. After time went on, it started getting a little red, and then it started looking like a faint little circle... now I was getting concerned obviously. We ended up taking him to the doctor and we all pretty much agreed that it was probably ringworm and to put antifungal cream on that spot everyday. ew. ringworm?? are you serious? where in the world would he get that?! so... gross. My child has a fungus. His doctor said it's pretty common and there is no way to tell where he got it and it's not that big of a deal. but still. ew.

Wes, my sister Amy, and my brother Josh (who is home from London for awhile. yay!) and I all drove back home from Austin yesterday. I woke up with a little sore throat and wasn't feeling that great but was in "go mode" and wanted to get home. So after the drive, which was awesome because there was no traffic on 35!!!, and once the car was unloaded I started feeling way worse. I went to the family clinic by our house and my strep test was negative so the doc said it is probably a virus and that's that. boo on that.

Last night we were feeding Eli some sort of chicken/veggie/pasta something and I noticed that Eli was holding a little pack of food in his left cheek. The more I fed him the more I could tell that he was segregating the chicken from rest of the food and just holding it there! After a few more bites he spits out all of the chicken onto his shirt and wanted more food. I fed him some more, he did his chipmunk thing and stored some chicken off to the side and well... just take a look...

Catch up

2008-12-26T12:46:00.000-06:00

Eli met Santa

We took Eli to see Santa at the Gaylord Texan. It was SO fun and he loved it!! He did so good! I know the picture lady was just trying to get the stock "smiling facing forward" picture but there were so many cute ones that she missed! Like Eli pointing at Santa and smiling or sitting in his lap and just looking up at him like he was a giant toy. She only took three pictures and didn't get the best shot, but it's ok. He had such a fun time! Yay for Santa!

Whole milk and Facing forward

Yes, Eli is drinking the real deal now. I put it in his bottle (which we're trying to get off of by the way... we found those Nuby sippy cups that have the spout the same texture as a bottle nipple for transition. love them!!) and he took a drink, looked at it, looked at me, and then kept on drinking! so sweet... and we were finally able to turn his seat around. Thank goodness because his long legs were all crunched up against the seat the other way! So... he's really one now. I have to believe it.

Master Jennifer

My sweet friend Jennifer (who starter her Master's after me... ahem...) graduated with her Master's to be a Diagnostician. We couldn't make it to her actual ceremony, so Sarah had the idea to throw her a celebration dinner! I said great, I'll bring the salad and cake (which turned out to be pie) and you do everything else. Perfect! So, we did that and had so much fun! Sarah's daughter (who is 2 by the way) took pictures of us and they are really good!! impressed? Congratulations Jennifer!! We are so proud of you!

Christmastime

2008-12-25T10:52:00.003-06:00

I love Christmas. I love that Jesus came. I love that He loved us so much that He died for us. I love that He was a baby and grew and walked and ate and drank and was human. Getting together for the holidays is so much fun and we love getting to see both sides of our family, but sometimes I just need a minute (actually more) to sit back and soak in what I am actually celebrating. I feel like as I'm typing this, I'm in the midst of that minute. Thank you Jesus. I love you.

Merry Christmas dear friends!

Par-tay!

2008-12-21T11:52:00.004-06:00

Oh my gosh.. Eli's birthday was SO fun!! We had such a joyful time celebrating his first year! Thank you so much dear friends for coming!! I know it meant so much to us and Eli loves you all! He got the perfect gifts! lots of books, some bath toys, some guitars, some clothes, some Toms, some pajamas and a piano! Isn't that so awesome?! Eli did so great and partied like a rockstar until 9:30 pm! whoa!!! :) Thank you for all of your birthday wishes guys! He will love seeing this stuff someday!

Happy 1st Birthday Eli!

2008-12-18T07:53:00.005-06:00

I seriously cannot believe it's here. Eli's first birthday. I feel so many things right now! I'm so excited, I'm so proud, I'm so in love, I'm so humbled, I'm so shocked, and I'm a little sad to know that one whole year has passed by. It's about 8 am right now and this is when I got the call that they wanted me to come into the hospital at 12:00 noon to start the induction. I go in at noon, get hooked up to IVs after getting settled and they start the process. About 3 hours later I wake up to starting to feel just some minor contractions, the put in some light pain medication and say the next time I wake up I'll need an epidural. They were right.

I wake up probably 3 more hours later to some more intense pain... still not that bad and I say, let's go ahead and do this epidural thing. Epidural in, and it's time to go back to sleep. :) About 4 hours later, the nurses have been a little concerned that Eli's heart rate had been dropping (remember that you saw that too Kelli?) and they were about to put an internal monitor on his head to see what's going on. My doctor just happened to be there to check on me (it's almost 10:00 pm at this point) and so he himself got ready to put the monitor on Eli, he's goes to check me and says those words "hmm. You know Amanda I don't think that is his head." I said, "really?" He said, "let's get a sonogram done." So, they wheeled in the machine, I got to see my sweet baby again, and sure enough, he was breech. I said, "So what does that mean? When am I going to have him?" He said, "in about 30 minutes" and they prepped me for surgery. At 10:39, he was born! It was so exciting, and such a blur...

Tonight is his party. Of course there will be pictures!

We love you Eli.

we can cook again

2008-12-17T16:59:00.006-06:00

The kitchen is finally done! Meaning... it's been painted, new countertops, new sink and faucet, new backsplash and I love it! We still haven't been able to put everything back together (as you can see in the pictures, but it is so nice for everything not to be leaking or torn up or anything! yay!

Before

After

Before

After

We only ran into a few minor problems during the process:

1. The countertop installation workers probably showed up high to our house

2. They cut the hole for the sink too big even though Wes gave them the template, which they refused to use

3. We found this out when Wes and my dad tried to put the sink in and all 115 lbs of it almost fell completely through

4. They got fired after that snafu

5. New people came and brought us a new countertop

6. The tile guys came and took a really long time getting it done, even though I think it was more than they thought it would be... they had to rebuild some walls

7. We didn't look at how much space was needed to put in the microvent and turns out we had them put the tile up too high

8. My dad had to learn to drill through tile

9. My dad had to go back to Home Depot to get a better drill bit and some how caught my house on fire in the process

10. My mom and I put out the fire and had to leave because of the smoke

11. My sink started leaking today

But! All in all it turned out great! Do you like it?

An imaginary friend?

2008-12-09T21:40:00.007-06:00

Does Eli have an imaginary friend? An imaginary friend that is a bully?? Today Wes and I went to Target to get a present and I noticed something on Eli's ear as I was running him into the store since it is FREEZING outside! When I got him in and all settled I looked closer and his ear was cut! Wes was finishing his lunch in the car so when he came in I showed him and he was shocked! What I think happened is that Eli cut his ear with his nails. I have to cut his nails all the time and sometimes they end up with sharp corners. His nails are so tiny! It's hard to get it all! His ear kind of looked like it was sliced open. Since Eli loves to pull on his ears and hair I am thinking that's what happened.

I really don't know but it totally freaked me out... I don't like not knowing what happened! When I gave him a bath tonight I was cleaning the wound and he didn't even flinch. Then when I started to dry him off it starts bleeding

everywhere... which I know is because it's near the head and those always seem to bleed the worse. But... I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach.

Then! Wes and I were playing with Eli on the floor and I noticed his toe! It seems that his

pointer toe (I have no idea what the right name is) but his pointer toe is damaged!! Part of his toenail is gone and the tip of his toe is all red! What is happening?????? This story is out of order, because I cleaned that really well also in the bath and he didn't seem to care. Strange... and annoying.

Eli's newest adventure is reaching as high as he can. He loves sitting by the back door and playing in that little area for some reason. Now, he has a new idea. He tries to reach the door knob, which he can, and messes with the lock. He can't quite reach it as well as he would like so he now climbs on top of the fire place and attempts to lean over to the door knob to reach it. awesome.

And to end this lovely post, I would like you to view a video. Eli really loves books, which is funny because he doesn't really like to sit and read with you, he just really likes to read all by himself with you near him. He's so sweet. Now, many one year olds (or almost one year olds) know several words. That is all well and good, but my son knows a whole different language. Jealous? Well, you should be. ... now if we can only figure out which language it is...

the kitchen mess

2008-12-08T12:53:00.010-06:00

**before I begin, you must go over to Sarah's blog and see the pictures that Jeff took of her daughter Sydney! Jeff is the same guy that took Eli's pumpkin patch picture! They are fantastic!!

***oh! AND I just saw a commercial for chia pets on TV! Did you guys know they sell those, and still advertise for those??

So yesterday my dad and mom came over to help destroy our kitchen. We took (we meaning my dad) took the countertops off and started to bust out the tile (Eli was a lot of help as you can see). My dad took the sink out, the disposer (which for the life of me I thought it was "disposal") came with it, and so now we have to buy a new one. Then we had to have a plumber out because of the craziness that was happening with the plumbing by the sink. Right now our kitchen is a disaster. Our new "kitchen" is our guest bathroom and please don't get me started on how sick I think that is. oh the spoiledness I embody...

The upside is tomorrow the countertop guy comes to put in a new one. The sink will be delivered to the house and my dad will put that in. Then on Wednesday our dear friend Ben will have one of his guys come out and put in tile. Kitchen complete! We are SO excited!

And tomorrow the gift I got my mom and dad comes in and I can't wait to see it!!!

In other news, I also went to a dear friend's baby shower and had a blast there! Not only was the food delicious but I had the best wassle I ever had in my life! I'll get the recipe and post it! It was SO good!! Anyways, Leny got some really sweet gifts and we all had so much fun! Leny's one of those naturally gorgeous people... you know the type... She's due with sweet little Jayna in the middle of January and we are so excited!! Hurry up little Jayna!

The many faces of RSV

2008-12-07T07:48:00.005-06:00

RSV is really annoying. Praise God it hasn't become worse and I'm hoping that it won't. I just tortured him again by sucking out his nose again, which is HORRIBLE! ugghh... restraining your child should never have to be something you have to do! It's awful! But his doctor said that we have to do it, so we do...

I don't think that it has spread to his ears or chest. I'm going to take him back to the doctor this upcoming week to check in with her again and make sure that it's not getting worse. Honestly I think it's getting much better! The snot secretions have become a lot less... though his cough seems worse. But it's one of those phlegmy coughs from drainage and not a wheezy cough from his chest. His birthday party is on his birthday (the 18th) and we don't want him to be sick then!

I took these pictures a little while ago of his sick little self. He's so precious.

I think we're alone now

2008-12-04T17:12:00.006-06:00

So I can put my freshly wrapped gifts under the tree for as long as needed... until Eli wakes up. :)

I LOVE Christmas shopping! If we had good money, I would buy everyone I know tons of presents! I love it!! Sometimes when it's time to open them on Christmas I get a little anxious because for some reason I completely forget what we bought the person! strange?

Anyways, before I got married my side of the family's Christmas tradition was (and still is for them) to allow all the kids to open one present on Christmas Eve Eve! We celebrate Christmas with our whole family... all the aunts, uncles, cousins... the works. We thought that was so cool! The only downside was the parents got to pick the present, and usually it was Christmas pajamas or socks or something. bummer. :)

Then on Christmas Eve we would all go to the Christmas Eve service which is my absolute favorite service of the whole year! It would be beautiful! Candles everywhere, everyone dressed all warm and cozy, and we would get to hear the story of when Jesus was born and sing Christmas songs. I love that service. After church we would go home and my grandpa, Pa, would make his delicious chili. We would eat chili, eat dessert, and everyone would go into the living room and a kid would get to be "Santa" and pass out presents from under the tree to everyone. It always started out as going "one at a time" so everyone could see you open your gift but by the end "Santa" would get annoyed and ready to go and just started shelling them out to people.

After that, usually my uncle John has been picking up all the paper during the openings, and so we all get ready for bed. The little kids would all go to bed after setting out milk and cookies, and the big people would stay up to help Santa.

Christmas morning we all rush to the tree to see what Santa brought. We had so much fun! We would eat the same meal that we do on Thanksgiving on Christmas and after lunch we open up stocking stuffers.

I love Christmas! Do you have any traditions?

Now... I know Eli isn't quite yet 12 months old... and I know that he's not saying that many words, but y'all I promise this kid is trying so hard! Please tell me you hear him trying to say real words here! The dang battery died at the end...

"You know I'm going to blog this"

2008-12-03T17:02:00.004-06:00

Have you ever seen that Seinfeld episode where Elaine is stuck in the bathroom stall, without toilet paper, and begging the lady next to her for even one square or one ply of a two ply square and the lady wouldn't give it to her.

Although I've been in that embarrassing situation before, that's not what happened today.

Today Wes and I took Eli to the doctor (more on that in a second) and afterwards went to Linen N Things to check out their going out of business

sale. I've been wanting these certain kind of white sheets that are the softest I have ever felt but they only had a California king size :( Anyways... afterwards Wes wanted to stop by Taco Bueno for some food. He orders his favorite, a muchaco and a party burrito. They give us our food and Wes is extremely excited about his muchaco. It was steaming hot, just the way he wants it, and he was very ready to eat it up! Ok... now, I do know that asking someone for a bite is sort of annoying. But have you ever seen a muchaco? They aren't small! right?? So I asked him for a bite.

He said "no."

I said, "what?!"

He said, "no."

I said, "Can you spare on bite? Even ONE bite?"

He said, "no."

I said, "Half a bite?? A really small bite???"

He said, "no, if this was any regular ole muchaco I would say yes, but this is the perfect muchaco."

I said, "you know I'm going to blog this."

hahaha... he later offered me a bite, but I said "no." women...

Ok, so I've mentioned that Eli has had a cold for the last week. Well today I just couldn't stand it anymore and took him to the doctor. They came in, swabbed his nose to test for RSV and then our doctor came in and chatted with us. His ears are great, his lungs sound good, but he did test positive for RSV. My heart sank. She basically said right now, we just have to continue to bulb his nose, listen to his breathing and his chest and watch it to see if it spreads to his lungs. It makes me sick. I hate this. Please say prayers that this doesn't spread and that this will just go away. I hate this.

Fluffing the tree

2008-12-02T16:29:00.007-06:00

So my mom is the master at fluffing trees. Even Charlie Brown's tree would be no challenge to her. I... however... well, not so great yet. But, I gave it my all this year. Usually half way through the tree I'm so tired of fluffing branches I quit. Not this year friends! I was in the mood to get that tree fluffed and I did what I could! Don't you think it looks pretty good?

Eli loves to get into everything so we were pretty nervous about this tree situation. My mom said when I was little she literally had to tie the tree to the wall so I wouldn't pull it down. Eli

so far hasn't been that interested. He's looked at some of the ornaments but that's basically it! Of course, it has only been day one of the tree, so who knows...

I found some prelit garland at Walmart for a steal so I bought some to put on top of our mantel. While I was putting it up there I knocked off one of the stocking holders, it fell off, hit the brick fireplace and broke! :( All I could think was "thank you Jesus for Eli not being under here!" He was way on the other side of the room destroying a plant my mom arranged for us. So, this said little Santa Snowman is broke, but it's heavy enough to at least hold the stocking up there. poor snowman...

I absolutely love Christmas. I love the feeling, what it means, the music, the decorations, everything! I am SO excited about what we are getting our parents this year! I can't wait to show it to you guys... after Christmas of course :)

Y'all Eli still has this cold! It started last Wednesday. He's only had one other cold this first year of life and it lasted about a week and a half. Hopefully by the end of the week he'll be better. In the meantime, I guess our house will continue to be covered in snot. eww...

I cleaned my kitchen for this

2008-12-01T15:37:00.008-06:00

Well, I'm not sure if you remember this, but earlier this year Wes and I had this amazing plan to redo a room a month. hmm... obviously that didn't happen, but we are getting to work on it now. And when I say "we" I really mean my parents. They are getting us new countertops, a new faucet, a new microwave, and possibly backsplash for our kitchen. Is your mouth hitting the floor? Mine still is. They are way too generous and my mom loves redoing rooms so I'm reaping the benefit of that obsession! No more making fun of her for watching HGTV all the time. :)

My folks woke up at like 4:30 Friday morning to get some good deals. (that's the sink Wes and I bought yesterday) This faucet was advertised at Lowes for half off and they got one! We love it!

Here are our current countertops. They are fine and are in pretty good condition but my mom found a really great deal with her friend from work so we get to upgrade! We are super excited!

Our microwaved belonged to my grandparents. It's seen much better days and sometimes it's a struggle to get it to work. We were going to buy a new one someday soon and my parents surprised us by getting us a microvent so we will get a new vent too! Isn't that awesome?? We were thinking of putting that shiny stuff up but we might be getting a steal on this tile we are looking at so I'm not sure yet.

Wes and I bought a new sink (you can see it up top). We found one we really liked and would last hopefully forever but it wasn't going to come in until January from Lowes! yikes! So, I went home and looked online at Home Depot and it was on sale like crazy until today! I snatched that up and hopefully it will be delivered this week!

Congratulations to Ashley and Conn!! She had sweet baby Cash this morning! He is precious!! I am so excited for you guys!!

I need to do this

2008-11-30T18:02:00.005-06:00

so I will start blogging again. I guess since we had a week of holiday I took a holiday from everything! So... here I am friends! Here are the highlights:

- Eli had a cold all week. neat.

- Eli threw up all over Wes after his bottle one night. also neat.

- I ruined my Christmas surprises from my parents. they thought that was neat.

- I got to see all my family!

- I had a lot of really good food!

- I loved being with Wes and Eli so much!

- Ebony ran away but then Wes caught her.

- Liz started a blog!

- We got our check in from the contest! yay!

- Wes traveled from Arkansas, to Louisiana, to Dallas, to Abilene, to Austin, and back to Dallas.

- Eli is doing really great on walking on and off.

I know... it's not my best work, but I'm so glad to be home and can't wait to catch up with you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!

yes, I do realize there are more important things

2008-11-18T16:17:00.002-06:00

...however... I just wanted to do have just a brief moment to vent. Is it constructive? probably not... Is it positive? definitely not... but I just want to get it out there.

I made the most amazing strawberry cake to take with me when I went to visit Sarah and Jennifer. We ate some at our little party and then Sarah kept some and then what I took home was basically half of what used to be the whole cake. Great! I knew I could take it up to school on Monday and everyone would love it!

So, I take it to school, put it in the fridge, and am so excited about taking it out during lunch time. The third period bell rings, class is over, and I basically am skipping along (in my head people... haha... I do work at a high school remember) so excited to take out the delicious cake to share with my co-workers.

I go to the fridge, take out the cake, set it on the table, and I go and get some small plates. I get the small ones because remember, it is only half of a cake and there is a decent group of the lunch bunch, like up to 10 people sometimes, and small plates plus the fact that there is ONLY half a cake there, should clue people in to take a small portion. do you see where this is going??

In comes Person A. Now Person A has only eaten with us like maybe 5 times this entire year. I have no problem with Person A spying the cake and wanting a piece because seriously, who could resist such a beautiful specimen? I am open to sharing this goodness with all who walk through that door. In comes Person B. Person B is a regular lunchie and eats a good share of whatever is brought every time. I set out the little plates, cut the cake into small slices so everyone can clearly see that only small portions should be taken.

Well Person A grabs a plate (remember... SMALL plate...) and proceeds to take his slice of cake. Only Person A seems to think that his slice of cake is HALF OF THE CAKE!!!! And please don't think that I am exaggerating! I have witnesses! Person A takes HALF OF THE CAKE!!!! and scoops it all onto this tiny little plate which is now overflowing with cake!

I wish you could have seen me fighting my sin nature. My mouth dropped open and almost hit the floor. Well, Person B turns around from the computer, notices that Person A took HALF THE CAKE!!!! and I kid you not, takes two giantly fast steps to the cake (please keep in mind that lunch has not even started yet... the bell has yet to ring and no one has even finished warming up their food...) and grabs a mini plate and takes HALF of what is left of the cake!!!!!!

This time, my mouth dropped open and actually hit the floor and REMAINED OPEN the entire time Persons A and B (who didn't even eat their lunch first, because they were scarfing down the cake!!!) were eating their cake! I was looking straight at them just wishing and hoping that they would look up at me staring at them with my mouth open to the floor in complete shock that before the lunch bell even rings, 3/4 of my already half a cake is gone!!!!!!!!!!!!

no one looked up. But I think they knew.

Person A gets up after eating half of my delicious cake, throws his plate away, and leaves.

Person B eats his cake, doesn't throw his plate away, and goes to heat up his food.

By this time the majority of the group is there fighting back the laughter they are holding in because of how I was staring at A and B with my mouth open and also because they too thought this was ridiculous feeding frenzy for Persons A and B.

I mean, really?? Really???? You come in, notice half a cake, notice miniature plates, notice miniature precut pieces and then STILL take all that food? Do you really not have any etiquette at all????

wow.

So, Person A was long gone and not too much after that, Person B went back to the computer. The rest of the group took the smallest slivers of cake I have ever seen. The type that can literally be eaten in one bite. They ate their bite of cake, said thank you, and laughed deep down at what we had all just witnessed.

There are so many lunch stories... I need to be writing these all down. They could be a best seller someday.

the rat

2008-11-17T07:22:00.009-06:00

Here's a quick update:

Wednesday: Wes was home so we hung out with Eli! Doesn't he look so cute in his new pjs? I went to Target and bought him about 4 new sets because that child is continuously growing and was wearing out his old ones!

Thursday: I went and tried on my bridesmaid dress for my sweet cousin Susan's wedding in February. She had about 8 different styles we could choose from but only wanted like 2 of each style to show up so I wanted to go early to get pick of the litter :) They were all really pretty but most definitely not all pretty on me! haha... there was a really sweet girl helping me out and we narrowed it down to three, then to two, and then we were stuck for a while. I ended up getting the one that made me look a little slimmer than taller, rather than the one that made me look shorter and wider. Saying it like that sounds like a no brainer but if my torso had been even an inch taller that second dress would have been perfect! I tried walking around as tall as I could but had a reality check moment and knew I couldn't do that the entire wedding so I went with the other one. :) It's really pretty though!

Friday: Friday was my "study for my final day" and I always do my studying with Julie because we always take the same classes together. My lovely mother was on her way to pick up Eli to watch him so Julie and I could study. She called me to tell me that she was getting close so I could be sure to have Eli ready. I hung up the phone and Eli was playing with this drawer by the TV and slammed his fingers in the drawer and of course, started screaming and crying. I

snatched him up and was headed outside and then my cell phone started ringing. It was Wes. Then my home phone started ringing at the same time. Eli is still crying so I bypass the phones, take him outside with Ebony so he can calm down. We get outside and I see Ebony kind of sniffing around more than usual. Eli is starting to be ok and I start looking around. I turn towards my house and that's when

I see it. The rat. The sick disgusting rat (who proba

bly lives in the field behind my house) that is now literally about 4 inches from my back door. I really don't want Ebony to see him because that is a bloodbath I could not stomach at the moment so I make Ebony go back

inside, put Eli in the house with a snack, and of course come back out to take a picture for you guys! ewwwww!

Saturday: I woke up bright and early, went and picked up Julie, dropped of Eli, and went and took my final in Dysfunctional Psychology. I did awesome!! She had the key

up at the front so we could check our answers after we turned in the test and I'm pretty sure I only missed 3 out of 50, so whoo

hoo for me! That night I went to Sarah's house to hang out with her and Jennifer and it was really fun! We ate pizza, salad, and a lot of cake and the kids just ran around and played!

Sunday: My parents went to church in town so I decided to go with them. The guys were playing in Arkansas and Oklahoma and got home last night right before church at Fellowship. We took Eli to the nursery and went to "big church" and after it was over of course went to get him. He was screaming and crying and the nursery worker was holding him. The other kids were playing and having fun... not Eli... I'm sure they hear this all the time, but Eli is not like that! He seriously isn't! But, he wasn't feeling that great

yesterday and it was close to nap time... I guess... I don't know. I just hate that! It makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Last night we met the guys at church and Eli did great! He loves being around everyone because he gets to play and everyone hangs out with him and tickles him.

Happy Veteran's Day!

2008-11-11T13:10:00.010-06:00

Today at school we had our annual Veteran's Day celebration! It's actually really cool because we have a really big AFJROTC and so they do a formal pass infront of all the veterans that come to the program. They announce all

the different wars, then play the specific songs of each brand of military and the veterans stand to be applauded. It's really cool. Our students probably don't really appreciate it as much a

s they should. Although there is real live war going on right now in their lifetime, they don't see it as high school students during WWI or WWII or even Vietnam would see it. It's interesting and sometimes frustrating at some of their behavior, but overall they get that they should be respectful and do what they can... for the most part.

Two of the younger schools came and they were so adorable! One of the elementary schools all had little American flags that they were waving and it was really sweet!

The only downside of the day was that since it has been raining all morning everything was wet! They had wiped down the bleachers as much as possible (don't you worry... I brought towels just in

case!) but our pant legs were soaked! I sat with Katie, Liz, and Adam and was laughing so hard because Liz's pant legs were really wet and she was getting cold! She wrapped up in one of the towels and tried to wrap me up with h

er but I wasn't having that! haha.. she was like, "aren't you cold?!" and I said, "not cold enough to wrap up in a blanket!" haha.. yeah, you had to be there huh. :)

As we were walking in, there was a group of emo kids (I know some of them and love them! They are so funny!) but they were being very emo at the time and not wanting to go into the program. Liz said, "let's go guys, it's hard to be emo on Veteran's day." Hahahaha... uh oh. Is this another you had to be there moment? dang. Anyways, it was really funny. The emo kids, staying true to form, didn't laugh. shocking.

Let me set the scene.

2008-11-10T07:17:00.003-06:00

I put Eli in his flying skull sweater tonight for church and of course brought along my camera to take pics of his adorable self in it. side note: blogger has been kind of ticking me off today with not allowing me to post pictures! I'll have to post some more on here when it will let me! grrrr!!!! So, we're at church, he's crawling around everywhere, of course, and I'm following behind him taking pictures. Well after church, Eli is in the room saying hi to everyone and I told Jeff to have him play the piano because Eli loves music! So, I take a few pics of him doing that. We move on to the stage so Eli can play drums with Jason, stay there a while. Then everyone was coming up to congratulate us on Eli winning so I took that as a perfect opportunity to show Eli off. He has been doing SO good at walking with us holding his hands and now he's getting pretty good at walking while we are holding one of his hands.

We sit down on the floor and Jeff is holding one of Eli's hands and Eli lets go and takes one step. I thought, oh my gosh. I think he's about to walk! Where is Wes?? So, we stop Eli from doing anything else and finally Wes comes in. We sit down again, we let Eli practice walking one more time by holding one hand and then he gets set to take some serious steps on his own. Jouleen gets my camera so she can film this beautiful moment that we all know is about to happen! We are all clapping and cheering for Eli, and now, everytime you say "yay!" Eli starts clapping, so that's where this clip begins!

Isn't that SO cool????? Of course, tears filled my eyes, we kissed him all over, and then made him do it again! By the third or fourth time he just sits down and crawls away but we were all truly amazed by his sweet, perfect, magnificent steps! Eli! We LOVE you!

I have to be truthful and tell you that half of me was so amazed and happy at that moment and the other half just wanted to cry tears of sadness! Yes yes yes... I know... he's healthy and happy and doing awesome! But I still remember those early days and miss them! But obviously life moves on and we get to go to new and wonderfully special things!

What a great night... thank you God for such an incredible son.

The 24 hour toy

2008-11-09T10:07:00.003-06:00

Eli, like most 10 month old's I'm sure, loves to play with musical toys, loves to beat his hands on anything and everything, and loves it when he hears music. Wes has a studio set up in our guest bedroom (sorry guests) and Eli is fascinated by the big keyboard that is in there! Being the thoughtful mother that I am, I saw this little keyboard that was really inexpensive and looked so fun! So, on my way home from counseling (more on that in a minute) I stopped by, picked it up, and had it all on and ready for him when I walked in the door. I knew how much he was going to love it and so Wes and I were really excited about this!

I bring in the mini keyboard, set it on the ground, Eli immediately starts playing it, smiling, and of course starts hitting it and banging on it and loving every second. Wes and I on the other hand are staring at each other in disbelief. This toy. This keyboard. This monster of a thing is the LOUDEST THING I have ever heard! I kept thinking, this must be damaging Eli's hearing! This is out of control! We pushed the "volume" arrows which sounded like shrill shreaks until it went as low as it would go. But really, only the shreaks got lower, the actual key tones did not!! I am not exaggerating, this toy is insanely, eardrum breakingly, ridiculously LOUD! So, I'm taking it back. :)

goodbye mini keyboard. we will not miss you.

I went to counseling yesterday morning and I just cannot express to you enough how much I love counseling! And, I am not just saying that because I'm working on being a counselor. I really do mean it! If any of you in the DFW area need a fantastic counselor, let me know!

I was given a new book to read by a sweet friend at church last Sunday. I had never heard of it, but I might be the only one because when she brought them into the room everyone was so excited! I'm starting to read it today! Haven't read a word yet, but I'll let you know!

I can't believe I wasn't able to go to Jourdan's CD release concert. But I listen to her CD nearly every single day and every word is so beautiful to me. She has gone through so much this last year and I love to think back on her journey at this point because she has worked so hard to get this far! Please go visit her new, wonderful website. She is one of those girls who your flesh might want to dislike because she is so incredibly beautiful, but the moment she opens her mouth and talks to you, you fall head over heels for her because she is so wonderful! I love you Jourdan!

Are you freaking out right now???

2008-11-07T12:46:00.004-06:00

I AM! As so many of your sweet comments have said, ELI WON the contest!!! And of course, this would not be possible without you guys! literally!!! Thank you SO much!!!

Please go check out his sweet winning picture one more time!

Thanks KISS FM for hosting this freaking sweet contest!

Staying home with Eli

2008-11-06T15:06:00.008-06:00

Well, yesterday we didn't have anyone to watch Eli. Mainly because I was late in asking people and that is rude of me! So, I took a day off of work so my child wouldn't be an orphan for a day. :) It was really fun, but I did miss my kids at work. I had a really good sub yesterday though so that made me happy. You may or not know this but really good subs are hard to find...

Today is the last day to vote for Eli. The website says the winner is announced tomorrow. I guess all I can do is wait! I know I'm super emotional... but, I get so teary when all of you sweet friends tell me you are voting for him! Thank you so much! Those words don't really describe the gratitude I feel! We definitely feel loved!

Eli is finally saying "mama" but

it's not in his sweet voice he uses when he says "dadda". It's more like "MAMMA!!!!!!!" and he's screaming it because he's mad about something. great...

Now we have a new President! well... I guess not officially until January, but you know what I mean. I am so excited to be going to that historic day! yay for me! haha...

I didn't vote for Obama but I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm more interested in our Senators and our Supreme Court. I do feel that he has a ton of weight on his shoulders for promises he won't be able to fulfill, which he alluded to in his speech, but hopefully he'll pick good people to help support him in leading the country. It's pretty cool that his future people will be shadowing and getting ready for transition into their new roles. ...the beauty of democracy...

Y'all I have a paper and an interview due TOMORROW. This class has turned into a beating. We've already taken 3 tests which consisted of 70+ multiple choice/true false questions, 4 essays and a page long application question each! We've read the book cover to cover and now we have to do these two things. I don't like it when my kids question my syllabus but I'm now doing that to her... is that called being a hypocrite? uh oh...

By the way... that broccoli, carrots, and cheese is the sickest thing ever. Eli spit it out, covered his mouth, and started crying... haha... it smells horrible.

That's right. It's November 4th.

2008-11-04T07:04:00.004-06:00

Today is the real deal. It's the actual Voting Day! To all of you who didn't partake in the glorious early voting, hopefully you will fight your impatience and stand in those lines to vote! Wes and I voted about a week and a half ago and it was awesome! It took all of 2 minutes total! Whoo hoo!

AND I've kept my sticker for this exact day, so be very impressed by this! hahaha...

Have I mentioned yet that I get to go to the Presidential Inauguration in January??? Well I do! We are taking about 20 students to Washington DC for the historic moment and I am beyond excited! I LOVE DC. I mean that. I love every single thing about that place. If I were forced to live somewhere else of my choosing, I just live there. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! So, to be there on such an important day (and my passionate love for history) will be so awesome. I'm so excited!

We're doing a mock election at my school and I think the results will be shown today. I'm so ready for it to be over because I'm really tired of hearing the kids arguing about the election. I'm also tired of hearing their "argument" and thinking... hmm... didn't I just read that in an email forward? hahaha...

oh well.

Happy Voting Day! And while you're in the voting mindset, please don't forget to vote for Eli!

Is laughter really the best medicine?

2008-11-03T15:17:00.000-06:00

So the other day Wes and I were in a fight. Who knows about what... probably something selfish or insignificant since I can't even remember what it was... Anyways, we were trying to get over it and move on with our lives. That day we had our couch and carpet cleaned and so our carpet was still way too wet to walk (or crawl) on so I called mom and asked her if we could just go to her house. She was hanging out with a friend that night, so we wouldn't get to se her but we would get to be on dry ground! yay!

So, we load up Eli (wearing a long sleeved shirt and a diaper), Wes (wearing house shoes, sweat pants, and a long sleeved shirt, Ebony (wearing a collar), and me (no makeup due to my OCD tendencies of pulling off all of my mascara and sweat pants and a long sleeved shirt and flip flops). ...just hang with me with the attire... I tell Wes to throw Eli's jeans in the car and I went back to get Ebony's leash. We ha

ve everything we need so we head off to my mom and dad's.

On the way there we decide we'll just grab something to eat and take it over there. We were passing by the new Sprouts that had opened and I said, "hey! That new Sprouts just opened. Maybe we could go in and grab something healthy for dinner." Wes said, "sure." and we crossed three lanes of "traffic" and turned into the Sprouts parking lot. Great! Easy, breezy, no fighting, a little bit of tension, but doing good so far.

Wes parks the car and I get out to get Eli out of the car. It's kind of cold out so I asked Wes to come around to that side and help me put Eli's jeans on him. He comes over, holds Eli's jeans out and I start trying to put Eli in those dangling pants. Meanwhile, Ebony, the miniature pinscher spastic dog that we have, is literally bouncing all over the car and going nuts. We ignore her craziness and continue to attempt to dress our son in the worst way possible.

Please take a moment to remember that this Sprouts has just opened in the past couple of days at this point and it's like 6:30 pm so there are a TON of people everywhere!

We almost have both of Eli's legs in the jeans when Ebony jumps out of the car and starts running around the parking lot!! Wes drops the jeans and starts yelling at Ebony to come back and starts walking after her.

Now... this was the first time that I had experienced Ebony running away when it's cold outside, we are in crowded parking lot, and my child is half dressed. I seriously did not know what to do! Isn't that odd? I wasn't panicked, I wasn't scared, I was just completely stumped on what my next move should be! I couldn't run after her holding Eli half dressed and I couldn't just put Eli back in the car, shut the door, and go after her, so I decided I would put Eli's pants on him myself. :)

I go around to the other side of the car, lay Eli in the seat, put his jeans on him, grab the leash and start looking for Wes.

All I see is Wes' head bobbing in and out of cars all over the lot and I can tell he is getting SO mad... of course! I start

walking towards Sprouts and then I see Wes walking back to the car. He comes around the side of a car that was blocking my view of him and yes, he has Ebony in his arms bringing her back to the car. Let me say that Wes is a very gentle man and would never purposely hurt Ebony... haha... until that moment. He was basically holding her as tight as he could with one arm around her body and one hand around her neck. ...poor Ebony :) He throws her in the car, slams the door, and just stands there.

I start laughing hysterically because I am way over whatever fight we were in by this point and I think this whole situation is one of the funniest things that has happened in a good while! Wes at the moment, does not think the situation is that funny, and is starting to get even more mad because I'm laughing so hard! I think at one point he makes a comment that will be edited for this program, but it was along the lines of being so mad that he might want to harm himself in some way. oh man.... tears are streaming down my face because I'm laughing so hard. We walk into Sprouts, literally walk all the way around the perimeter of the store, leave Sprouts, walk back to our car, and drive to Whataburger.

hahaha... I'm still laughing.

I love you Wes.

Eli made TOP 5!!!!

2008-11-03T07:14:00.003-06:00

Y'all!!!! Eli made Top 5 in the 106.1 KISS FM's Most Kissable Baby Contest!!! I am freaking out!!!

The voting is today, tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. PLEASE VOTE!!!

And more than voting, please tell other people to vote! You can even post it on your blog! (hint hint) haha... Thanks Christine!!

Spread the word friends! Thank you!!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T06:48:00.008-06:00

Hello friends! How was your Halloween?? Ours was really fun! After work Wes and I took Eli and his spidey self to the Arboretum for some giant spider pictures! He was SO cute! He's in jeans because we didn't have any black pants and didn't have time to get them... oh well :)

It is a miracle that he kept that spider hat on! Wes and I just kept dancing around eve

ry time he tried to take it off! haha... sorry Arboretum that you had to see that! But isn't Eli standing up SO well??! He's not taking any steps

on his own still, but I think he'll get the hang of it sometime soon. I am 100% ok with him not walking yet! That third bottom tooth is pretty much in now but I feel so

me bulges on top so the teething saga will continue I'm sure... but he's been doing great lately!

We find out if Eli made top

5 o

n tonight at 12:01! I really hope he did! Seriously, thank you guys so much for voting!!!

Last night we went to Sarah and Jimmy's wedding, our sweet friends and Jimmy is the bass player in the band! The wedding was SO much fun and all of our friends were there! We had a great time,

my parents took care of Eli for us (thank you!!), and we got to hang out with everyone! I loved it!

Jeff finally bought a house! Getting that loan was a beating due to the financial mess that's going on, but he closed on his house on Friday and we got to go see it again! Yay Jeff! We are so happy for you!!

Did everyone remember to turn back the clock so we could gain a hour of sleep? Eli didn't! :)

$5,000

2008-10-30T07:48:00.002-05:00

That's how much money we will win if Eli wins this contest!! Today's the last day to vote for this round! Yikes!

I'm running late (meaning: I'm in my pjs and I need to leave for work in 10 minutes!!!) but I just wanted to say thank you for all the bottle stories! It's good to know there are other bottles out there and good to know I'm not alone! And, I have been trying to get Eli to drink his formula out of a sippy cup so thank you friends!!

I also have a great story to tell you about my first experience with Sprouts, which is new to our little community. But, I have to go, so I'll be back!!

Have a great day!

Dear Avent, why do you hate me?

2008-10-26T11:30:00.004-05:00

So... Eli is teething again. He's getting his top two teeth in (I think... that's what it feels like anyway) and is drooling and chewing on everything again! I feel so bad for him!

Friday night I had a test due at midnight... turned it in at about 11:50 p.m. I hate cutting things close like that. Hopefully I did ok.

We find out if Eli made Round 3 of the contest tonight at midnight... This would be the top 25 so we shall see!

I have to figure out how to get a video from our video camera on here. The other night Eli was playing with my by the couch before bedtime and Wes was in the kitchen getting things cleaned up. I said, "Eli, say hi dadda!" and Eli goes, "hi dadda!!" and Wes and I freaked out!!! He said it like 3 more times and we got it all on video! so so sweet... We loved it.

Eli is not quite in the "cruising" stage but he has his moments. He loves to stand up all by himself now, he's just barely trying to take some steps by himself while holding on to stuff. gosh I love him.

Also, I'm growing an intense desire to smash all of my Avent bottles into the wall. Does anyone else have a small (or big) hatred of Avent bottles???? It seems like when we first started using them we loved them and never had a problem. But for a while now I have dreaded using them because they LEAK!!!! Does Avent think I have time to clean up and retighten leaky bottles? The answer to that is NO! Bottles are expensive and that is the reason I haven't literally smashed them into the wall. uggh... anyone have any similar problems? or does anyone know of any bottles that don't leak????

I've been sad with my blog because I haven't been able to blog much lately but also that it has been pictureless for the past few blogs! :( Don't you worry, I'll start snapping some super cute pics again and post them soon!

Only one paper, one interview, one more homework page, and one more final exam to do before this fall session is over! geez...

Happy Sunday friends!

Moving right along...

2008-10-22T16:24:00.002-05:00

So.

Monday I was sick. Didn't go to work. blah...

Tuesday I felt much better. Went to work. Around 4:00 I got a headache that seriously did not go away until today. just a little blah...

Today I felt horrible!!! I felt sick to my stomach along with the headache. blah...

Right now I am feeling much better. I've been taking my medicine still, I've eating about half a sleeve of crackers, and I think that's it!

Hopefully whatever this was is gone and I can move on!

Speaking of... I really hope Eli makes it to the next round! Tomorrow is the last day... I'm kind of nervous, once again. :)

I hope your day was much better than mine! It's getting cold over here!

Update

2008-10-20T17:42:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm sick. I have some sort of cold that is bacteria based, which is good since I can take some medicine. But, it's super annoying being sick!

Eli made the top 100! Thank you SO much for voting for him in Round 1! Can you please vote again for Round 2?

Round 2 starts today and lasts until 11:59 on Thursday! Then it's narrowed to the top 25!

Thanks friends! Hopefully these meds will kick in soon...

being a teacher is hilarious

2008-10-15T13:21:00.003-05:00

I am fully aware that telling stories over a blog is kind of hard and when you don't know the kids personally, it is even more difficult to convey their sweet personalities, but I'm going to try.

I teach AP Psychology and we just started the sensation section, which is one of my favorites. Well today we were talking about our vision sense and the different parts of the eye and things like that. I was telling them how we see, like how it literally all works and how it all connects to the brain. We talked about transduction (converting one type of energy into another basically) and how that is what happens in our eyes. We take in light energy through the various parts of our eyes to be picked up by the various receptor cells, etc.

All of that was going well and we were trucking along until we got to color. There are different color theories, two of which we discuss in class, but they both deal with the same thing: how we see color.

I showed them a picture of a red cartoon dragon. I posed the question, "what color is the dragon?" Of course they said "red" and then my annoyingly accurate response was "we see the red that is reflecting off of the dragon, but the dragon itself encompasses all the wave lengths except the red one." I went on to tell them that actually, the light energy has no real color, and the color that they are "seeing" is from their minds, and not on the actual surface.

It was at this point where my kids starting putting their hands on their faces, on their heads, up in the air, and looking at me like I was crazy. Comments were being made like "Mrs. Martin! You are blowing my mind!" and "Everything I have ever thought is wrong!" and "Did my Kindergarten teachers lie to me?"

hahaha... oh my gosh. Seriously. High school kids are so funny. I love their over the top dramatics... seriously. I really do.

Do I really need to say "vote for Eli" again? yes, yes I do :) Thanks friends!

video killed the radio star

2008-10-14T12:37:00.007-05:00

and the radio almost hurt my child!

we have this stereo which I've had probably since high school and we never use it so we definitely don't need it. But... we've had it in the living room forever and used during random things. Well, it is no longer in the living room and I'm impressed that it hasn't been smashed to pieces by my husband after what happened today...

Eli is getting really strong, really brave, and really, well, everywhere! He's messing with things I never even thought to childproof, which brings us to the stereo...

Eli pulled down on it today and it fell on him! Wes said it fell on his left arm and Eli was screaming! Wes checked him out, took him outside, Eli recovered and it totally fine. But Wes was scared to death! as I'm sure any of us

would be!

So now we're basically obviously getting rid of that poor stereo and the spot that it used to live because Eli is much stronger than that as well.

Eli and Ebony both love playing with tennis balls and it's so sweet that Ebony act

ually thinks Eli is playing with her! They are so cute!

oh! I had a teacher tell me at school today that Eli wasn't going to win! how rude! let's please prove him wrong!

Click Here!

what a day

2008-10-13T19:47:00.002-05:00

Hello friends! Are you enjoying my multiple posts due to a crazy day with KISS FM? Well, apparently there were many cute kiddos left of the poll so they are starting all the votes tomorrow (Oct. 14) and extending the voting one more day, so here is the new schedule:

Voting schedule is as follows:
Round 1 - October 14, 2008 voting opens at 12:01 am - voting ends at 11:59pm October 17, 2008; Round 1 will narrow it down to the Top 100

Round 2 - Top 100 - October 20, 2008 voting opens at 12:01am - voting ends at 11:59pm October 23, 2008; Round 2 will narrow it down to the Top 25

Round 3 - Top 25 - October 27, 2008 voting opens at 12:01am - voting ends at 11:59pm October 30, 2008; Round 3 will narrow it down to the Top 5

Round 4- Top 5 - November 3, 2008 voting opens at 12:01 am - voting ends at 5pm November 6, 2008 Winner announced on November 7, 2008

You will be allowed to vote once per email address, per day, per poll, per computer.

Thank you for voting today! and... may I please ask you to vote again tomorrow (and well, every day?!) Thanks friends!

106.1 KISS FM Most Kissable Baby Contest!

2008-10-13T11:42:00.003-05:00

Ok friends! They were super quick in responding and they have added Eli to the baby contest!! (he just tried to eat a lizard by the way)

So, here's what you do:

1. click on the link

2. vote for Eli Martin (he's on the first page)

3. put your email address at the bottom and validate your email

4. vote everyday from every email!

Thanks friends! Here's the link. We can win this!