Houston Pictures

Hunting eggs indoors

Reading books with Great-grandma Glenda
Posing with Great-grandma Glenda and Great-grandpa Roy

Riding the Bob the Builder bulldozer at Chuck E. Cheese's

Riding the Barney train
One of the only useable pictures I got of Will on the carousel :)
His favorite part of the night...climbing to the top of the tunnels to look out of the race car! (Notice Uncle Kendall behind him!) :)

Week in Review

Wow, what a week. Last Saturday we woke up to quite wintery weather in Big Spring. We thought our 10:40 flight was delayed until about 1:00, but when we got to the airport at 10:30, they were actually starting to board. The flight from earlier that day was combined with ours and we had to board the plane from the tarmac, which was interesting considering I am pregnant with a two-year-old and a stroller; plus, the steps up to the plane were very icy. Eek! We proceeded to sit on the unbearably hot plane for almost an hour while they de-iced it. We finally took off around 11:45 and made it to Houston at about 1:15. We also had to get off the plane on the tarmac...this time the steps weren't icy, but it was raining. Ah, the fun of it. I was very fortuante to be sitting next to a lovely lady that helped me out tremendously. We became fast friends.

Saturday was a very long day to say the least. Sunday, we enjoyed a nice Easter service at church despite the chilly weather outside. Will did his egg-hunting indoors since the ground was still rather wet. My mom's family joined us for Easter lunch (which was absolutely delicious!) and we enjoyed getting to see one another.

The week-days were somewhat monotonous for Will and I, since both my parents had to work during the day. We did a little TV-watching and made our way to a little playground not far from the house most mornings. I got to meet up with several friends from the past (and present!), so that was really great. Tuesday night I got to eat out with my friend Emily, who will be a bride in May, so it was fun talking wedding with her. Wednesday, I went to Babies-R-Us with Kelly and her son Keynan and we checked out strollers and baby girl bedding. On Thursday, Kathy and her son Patrick joined us for some swimming in my parents' pool. And on Friday, Heather and her children, Melanie and Marshall went to the playground with us and later that afternoon another friend Emily and her kids Sheree and Owen came to play. It was so good to see all of them! I hadn't seen the second Emily in about 5 years, so that was especially a treat.

Last night, Mom, Kendall, his fiancee Staci, and their friend Christa took Will and I to Chuck E. Cheese. Will had a wonderful time. He loved riding the mechanical cars and the little carousel. Kendall was nice enough to take him up into the big tunnels where they have a car that the kids can look out (he was too small to go through by himself). Kendall, Staci, and Christa earned enough tickets to get Will a cool prize, too.

Today, our plan is to take Will to the zoo this afternoon and maybe do a little shopping before we have to leave tomorrow. I have some pictures I'd like to share, but I'll have to wait till I get home to load them onto the computer (I don't have a card-reader here). So, be looking for pictures to go along with this story on Sunday or Monday!

It's been a great week, but both Mama and Will miss Daddy and will be very glad to see him when we get home. We have tried to talk to him every night and he is doing well, doing all his handy-man jobs around the house! I can't wait to see when I get back!

A Few Belly Shots

It came to my attention that I rarely include my face in my belly pics, so I tried to get one today. I still think I look pretty bad, but oh well. I took these pictures myself, so that is why the angles might look a little funny.

In other news, Will and I will be traveling again, this time to Houston. We wanted to be able to fly Will one more time while he is free :) Hopefully this crazy cold front won't interfere with our flight plans tomorrow. We will be at my parents house for a week and Scott will stay home and hopefully do some handy-man things around the house! I will still have Internet access there, so I won't be completely out of pocket. We are looking forward to our visit!

Two Bellies

Last week I was blessed to be able to see my good friend Kara and her family! Will and I had good trips to and from Carlsbad, even though we got stuck behind a lot of slow traffic :)

The kids enjoyed playing together and it was amusing watching them learn to share. They did pretty well. We didn't do anything spectacular; we just enjoyed catching up and being goofy again. Here are a couple of shots of the two of us and our pregnant bellies. Kara is 34 weeks (she's almost done!) and I am almost 24 weeks in the pictures.

C-bad

Tomorrow morning, Will and I are headed to the great metropolis of Carlsbad, New Mexico! Although I really dislike driving (especially by myself and then on top of that, being by myself with Will), I am really looking forward to it. We are going to visit my dear friend Kara who will soon be adding another little boy to her precious family. She is scheduled to have him on May 3rd, so I wanted to see her and visit before he gets here and things start to get crazy. I haven't seen Kara since September, so our visit is long overdue. Please pray for us as we travel...I tend to be a nervous driver sometimes.

In case you are wondering, my foot is feeling pretty good, unless I have to wear shoes. I went to Wal-Mart on Tuesday morning and put shoes (flip-flops) on for the first time since Sunday after church and it just about killed me walking around because the straps were wide enough that they were rubbing right against the top of my bruise. So, I splurged on a pair with super-skinny straps for all of $4.88.

For the last two days, Will has decided that naps are not his thing. Yesterday he slept for about 20 or 30 minutes. Today when I picked him up from school, his little info sheet said "I slept," and then the times the teacher wrote were "from 12:50 to 1:15." I thought, "that ain't sleep." I tried with no avail to get him to nap when we got home. So, we've had a very tired little boy on our hands at bedtime, which I guess is sort of good. Will is also doing great with his new bed. He can get up on it and down off of it by himself and we haven't found him sleeping on the floor in several days. I'm so glad that he decided that the bed was a good place to sleep :)

This will probably be my last post for the month of March, so happy weekend and check back with me in April :)

Ouch!

Yesterday morning while I was getting dressed in my closet, I somehow mananged to hit a metal box that was precariously sitting on a shelf above my clothes and it fell on top of my foot. Let me tell you, I really thought it was broken for a while. It hurt REALLY bad. I screamed for about 15 seconds. Of course, Will was standing right next to me, so I probably scared the living daylights out of him, but he doesn't seem to be permanently scarred in any way. I didn't make him cry, so that was good. This picture isn't great, but you can sort of see the discoloration on the top of my foot. I've got a pretty good bruise. I spent the rest of the day with my foot elevated and iced. Fun!

And here is my bad-mother-of-the-day story. I was unloading the dishwasher this afternoon and Will was hanging around near me, playing with cars and such. He was driving the cars on the open door and I was just working away. Then something made my ears perk up. He said, "Mmm, good." I looked down to find him licking his finger and putting it back into the the leftover dishwashing liquid in the little flap on the door. I didn't really "freak out," but it did scare me. I of course told him not to do that anymore and read the back of the bottle. It said to call the poison control center or a medical professional right away. So, I made my first ever call to the poison control center of Texas. The man I spoke with was very nice and told me that Will would most likely be fine, if anything he might have some burning in his mouth or possibly vomitting and nausea. Well, thankfully, none of that happened...he probably only put a 1/32 of a teaspoon full (if that) in his mouth. The man said to just make sure he drank plenty of water. What an experience that was!

So, there ya go...my two crazy stories for the day. Hope you enjoyed. I will leave you with a couple more random pictures from the last few days.

Will in his own little lawn chair

Livin' (or sleepin') on the edge...Will likes to get in our bed in the wee hours of the morning and force us over to one side, giving us about 10 inches of our king size bed to sleep on. Am I sure I like the idea of him being able to get out of bed by himself?

A Little Update

I think it is so funny how many people I know that use ointment for horses on their children's bottoms. Since I have told that Corona story, I have had so many people tell me that they use it! My only question is, how come I'd never heard of it before? Will is doing 99% better since we started using it on Tuesday. I'm so glad. It tortures us as much as it tortures him to wipe that sore booty of his! Onto other things besides rear-ends...

Will is completely moved into his new room! We got a set of box springs and a bed rail on Friday and I think it is going to work out really well. Last night when we went to check on him around 11:30, he was either still in his bed or he had gotten back into it instead of falling asleep on the floor. I think that is the first time since we transitioned him out of the crib that he hasn't been on the floor when we looked in on him. I think he really likes his bed, he just has to get used to it. He's really doing well with the whole transition, though.

In order to get Will moved in, I had to clean out the closet that was to become his. This was a major undertaking since it was the "catch-all" closet of the house. It had seasonal decorations, old Master Follies cosutmes, gift-wrapping supplies, camping supplies...you name it, it was in there. It has taken a while, but I got everything out of there that really had to come out (the camping supplies stayed). So, now the end of my hallway and a whole corner of my living room is filled with garage sale stuff. If you didn't know us and just walked in the house, you'd probably think we are moving because there is just stuff everywhere. I really really really need to have that garage sale I've been talking about having for almost a year now!

Not much else is happening...we are just hanging out, living life. I have had a few people ask me about names for Baby Girl. I am not sure I am quite ready to announce my current pick to all of blogworld yet, but if you would like to make your suggestions, feel free. Maybe you've come up with something that I've never thought of and would be just perfect for our little one.

Spring has Sprung!

On this first day of spring, it certainly looks as if spring has arrived around here...trees and flowers are abloom and sunshine is in the air. We've had a string of beautiful weather lately and have been taking advantage by letting Will play outside and taking evening walks. Will looks like a true little boy now because he has scrapes on both knees and elbows. He never cries when he falls, so I just end up finding them later...hopefully they don't sting too bad :) Here is a picture of our pretty purple tree in the backyard, which is only pretty and purple for a couple of weeks out of the year (it will turn into leaves).

In other news, I know that we just converted Will's crib into a toddler bed last week, but last night we decided to try him in his new room with the twin bed. He seemed really excited about it until we actually left him in there to sleep. Then he wasn't too thrilled. But he eventually fell asleep and stayed in the bed for couple of hours until he rolled out onto the pillows on the floor (I hope to get a guard rail soon, but we need box springs for that). Anyway, he didn't make an appearance into our room this morning until about 7:15, so that was good. We'll see how tonight goes.

I will end with a funny story about Will. Yesterday, we went to the pharmacy to pick up some Corona horse ointment that you can use for diaper rash cream because Will's booty has still not recovered from last week's illness. When the pharmacist put it in the white pharmacy bag, Will said, "Chicken! More!" I guess that tells you that he is used to going out and getting chicken that comes out of white paper bags...hmmm...

Waxing Gibbous

"Waxing gibbous" is the term our preacher likes to use for us pregnant ladies. So here I am "waxing gibbous" at 21 weeks and 4 days.

Hope everyone has had a happy St. Patty's Day :)

In the Middle of the Night

On Tuesday night, we converted Will's crib into a toddler bed, hoping it would help him transition to a "real" bed (which we already have set up for him in another room). The past few nights have gone a little better than expected, but still, it has been interesting. We have been closing his door all the way when we put him in bed so he can't just come out of the room, but before we go to bed, we open the door so he can get to us in the morning and what-not. When we opened the door last night, this is what we found:

We decided to go ahead and put him in the bed (just so you don't think we made him sleep on the floor all night!). It has been interesting waking up in the mornings to a little voice at the foot of the bed instead of over the monitor. The past two mornings it has been an exclamation of "Daddy!" that has woken me out of my peaceful slumber and into sheer panic. It's just not what I expect to wake up to! Yesterday morning, he was kind and woke us up a little after 8:00. Today it was before 7:00. Hmm...I'm not so sure I like this whole gaining independence thing.

Weekend Madness

Oh, what a weekend! Will became sick on Saturday with bad poops. Oh, how I hate poop! This did not make for a very good weekend. Scott had to preach at another congregation in town on Sunday and we also had the fun task of getting all of our tax stuff ready by Monday. Ahh! Will and I didn't make it to church services at all on Sunday, neither at our home church or the one at which Scott was guest-preaching. Oh well. It rained all day long on Sunday which was nice because it helped me get some much needed sleep.

Will had decided to get up at 5:00 Sunday morning and since he didn't have any intentions of going back to sleep, he and I went out in the rain to get breakfast at McDonald's at 6:30. I thought that would be a quick little trip there and back, but no. We waited in the drive through for what seemed like about 30 minutes. Maybe it was really closer to twenty. However, it was a ridiculous amount of time. Each person in front of me took so long to order that I thought they must all be ordering for an army or at least their entire Sunday school class. When I finally pulled up to the little ordering box, I saw that all the person in front of me had ordered was a deluxe breakfast. I was amazed. It took me maybe 30 seconds to order. Then, when I got to the window, the man told me the credit card machine was down. I had only brought my debit card and my driver's license with me. Thank goodness Scott had a stash of quarters in my car, so I had to count out $4.32 in change to pay. Crazy!

Today, Will seems to be feeling a lot better. He was in such a foul mood (I know it was because he felt so awful) all weekend that it was good to have my sweet boy back again this morning. This week is spring break (for the entire world, I think!) for Scott, so he doesn't have to make the trip to ACU tomorrow--yea! Wednesdays are always a little bit insane because of that. It's nice to have him just a phone call away.

I don't have any new pictures right now on account of my camera's batteries died and I have been too lazy to find new ones to replace them. Hopefully soon I will get some pictures up of Will's new room (still unfinished) and my lovely baby bump. Speaking of my lovely baby--she is doing quite well, it seems. She is my little acrobat. It feels like she is constantly doing somersaults and kicking and punching away. Maybe she will be a little gymnast or a karate champ when she gets older :)

Pink Anxiety

Okay, I have a question for all you moms out there who have little girls. When you went for your sonogram and the technician said (without guarantee, of course), "it looks like a girl," did you have anxiety about them being wrong? Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it's hard for me to be really excited about having a girl because I am so afraid that I will have everything for a little girl and she will come out a boy! Not that I wouldn't love having another little boy, but do you know what I mean? Am I nuts? I guess I am just worried becuase she said that there was an 80% chance it was a girl and to save my receipts if I go nuts buying pink. Well, like I said, we did not see a "turlte," and it looked like two lines to me, but I'm still weird about all this. So, my question is, did you all just accept that you were having a girl without question, or did you worry too?

Baby #2 is a...

...girl! Well, at least there is an 80% chance that it's a girl. I'm still kind of scared to believe it myself. I wish they could be a little more definite. However, I definitely did not see a "turtle," and it did look much more like girl parts than boy parts. We are excited! I now have to do a lot of looking at all the wonderfully cute girl items out there to choose what I want for the nursery. There are just too many things to choose from, if you ask me! I've been doing some surfing on eBay today already.


In other news, we got Will's new big boy room painted this weekend and somewhat put together. His new bed is good to go and valances are hung. We do need to do a few touch-ups around the room, though. We are still waiting on a rug I ordered that will hopefully look really cute and pull it together. Thanks, Mom, for all your help. We really enjoyed having you here!

Certifiable

Well, not that kind of certifiable, but I am now certified for pregnancy Medicaid. This is a huge blessing for us. We do have individual insurance coverage, but no individual plans offer coverage for maternity. You can only get that through a group. So, this pregnancy was going to have to be completely out of pocket on our part. With some help from the hospital business office, we were put in touch with the Texas Dept. of Health and now are covered by Medicaid. This came at a great time because our very expensive "big" sonogram is coming up on Monday. Whew!

Anyway, that's what's happening with us today. My mom is coming this weekend and is going to be helping us paint and put together Will's new big boy room. She is bringing the old twin bed that my brother and I used as kids for him. So exciting! She is also bringing him an outdoor play structure that you can climb on and slide down. He will love that because he is really into playing outside lately. Now we just have to be really diligent about picking up doggy doo.

Have a great weekend :)

Beth Moore Live! (Via Satellite) :)

I was asked by a friend to post about the Beth Moore simulcast I went to today. It was, of course, awesome. They said that they were reaching around 100-150,000 people today, which is pretty amazing. Over 500 different places were doing simulcasts. It was a blessing to be a part of it.

The worship leader was really good; I thought he would have done really well on Broadway. He had one of those Broadway-type voices--big, beautiful, lots of verbratto, able to hold really long notes, etc. His name is Travis Cottrell. The rest of the worship team was excellent, too. They sang a lot of songs I didn't know, but I did know a few or was able to catch on.

I went by myself, so at first I sat by myself. At our site, there were only about 70 people (quick background--the First Baptist Church in our area recently went through a pretty devastating split; they lost about 250 members, including their pastor, youth minister, and two other staff members. So, attendance was low, I think because of this) so it was pretty obvious I was by myself. A teacher from the high school where I used to work had me come and sit with her, so that was nice; I didn't have to sit alone. The only bad part about today was that the wind here was HORRIBLE (with gusts up to 62 mph). I had to put that in all caps and bold so I could really convey how bad it was. The sky was brown. Even if you closed your mouth when walking outside, you still got dirt in it. This is how bad it was. Anyway, because of the wind, the satellite feed wasn't so good. At one point, right after Beth got up to speak, the lights went out and the feed went completely off. Thankfully, she was still doing intro-type stuff. After lunch (which I'm sure everyone fervently prayed during lunch for God to calm the winds), the feed was much better and hardly acted up at all. Yea!

Beth Moore is just an incredible speaker. She can make you laugh (for those of you who know about her "hair ministry," she did quite a lot of that at the beginning), she can make you feel like she is speaking directly to you and about you, and she can definitely make you shed tears, whether of joy, appreciation, heartache, or pain. It was a really great experience for me. She was teaching on deliverance and letting God deliver us out of our respective "pits." I'm sure her book is awesome (titled "Get Out of That Pit"), and I hope to get it, maybe when it comes out in paperback or I can get it used. I just don't have the bucks to spend on it right now, but I would really love to read it someday. Today's simulcast made me really want to go and hear her speak live; God really can use this woman to speak to people--it's really just awesome. I recommend you go and see her if you ever get the chance, or go to a simulcast. I think you would really enjoy it.

As for the rest of our day, it was great, even though the weather was quite hellish! Will spent the better part of the day with one of his former Bible-class teachers and had a good time. Scott was busy getting ready for a scavenger hunt with the youth tonight. The hunt ended up at a restaurant where we met him for dinner with the kids. It was fun even though we didn't get our food until after 8:15! I feel like I just got home even though I've been home for almost an hour now. I hope everyone else's Saturday was as blessed as mine has been. Have a good Sunday!

Okay, so I really don't have anything to say, but I figured, why not blog?


For those who do not know (which is probably most of you), I am taking a leave of absence/hiatus from my job for a while. I am really tired and it is a good time to lay low in-between busy times. So, for the last four days, I have been back to being a stay-at-home-mom and I am loving it. It is so nice to have a pretty much constantly picked-up house, clean dishes/sink; I even mopped my floors today--a major accomplishment! So, I am pretty proud of my Susie Homemaker skills. Sorry to toot my own horn, but for those who know me well, you understand why I am so pumped about this.

Pregnancy related news: the baby is most definitely moving around in there. I have a little acrobat on my hands. It's so much fun to feel it move! I always thought that was pretty much the coolest thing about being pregnant (other than the fact that you are helping to bring another life into the world, that is). On the flip side, I think my pregnancy is affecting my eyesight. I remember reading somewhere when I was pregnant with Will that the fluid levels (or something like that) can change in your eyes or behind them and cause temporary changes to your vision. Well, let me tell you, this is really annoying because I have had a constant headache for about a week now, and I am ready for it to go away! If it is still persistant by my next appointment, I'll have to ask for medical advice. "They" say you shouldn't get a prescription change while you're pregnant because it could be just a temporary change, but what do I do in the meantime...just suffer? Anyway, just thought I'd share my weird eye problems.

This weekend the First Baptist Church in town is hosting a Beth Moore simulcast. She'll be speaking based on her new book, "Get Out of That Pit." I'm planning on going and I'm excited about it. We've been doing her "Patriarchs" Bible study on Wednesday nights at church and I have really enjoyed it, so this should be really great, too. [By the way, Lubbock friends, in case you didn't know, I hear that one of the churches up there is doing a simulcast as well; if you are interested in attending.]

Next weekend, my mom is coming and I'm really excited. We had to postpone her trip for about 3 weeks because of our unexpected trip to Florida, but now she is able to come and will even be here for my big sonogram on the 5th. I'm looking forward to seeing her.

I guess that's about all I have for now...I hope everyone has a great weekend!

***Okay, just in case it happens again, I have no idea why blogger insists on making this whole thing one paragraph. Sorry if this is confusing to you! I did try to fix it!***

A Friendly Weekend

I got a special treat this weekend. One of my best friends from college came to pay me a visit! Jen lives in Lubbock, so you'd think we would see each other pretty often, but we don't. I haven't seen her since Labor Day. So this was a fun weekend just to catch up, relax and have fun.

Me and Jen after church this morning

Being silly

I don't have much else to report right now...you can look at my other blog for new pictures of the bump and Will. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Happy Valentine's Day

If I never hear the word "Valentine" again, I might die a happy woman. No, I'm kidding. But seriously, when you work in the floral industry, it is rare that your Valentine's Day is happy. Not that it's horrible, or sad, it's just stressful! The past two days at the shop have been absolutely insane. The phone rings non-stop (I can still hear it ringing in my head!), there is never not someone needing help, there are constant orders to be typed and filled...ahh! I'm just glad another February 14th has come and gone. I don't think I ate lunch until after 2:00 today and then I barely scarfed it down. But, I did log in almost 12 hours today--good for my bank account :) That does make me happy.




Anywho...my V-day gift was plugged in and waiting for me on the kitchen counter this morning. I am the proud owner of a brand-new microwave! Yea! The one we had was one that Scott had won at his project graduation in 1996 and it was really starting to bite the dust. It would take forever to heat up food. So, I am super excited about my new appliance.





Our trip to Florida was pretty good, under the circumstances. Flying out of Midland at 7:30 AM on Thursday wasn't the best, and landing in Midland on Monday night at 11:00 wasn't either, but other than that, it was a pretty good trip. It was really nice to see all of Scott's brothers together again. I have only met his oldest brother, Patrick, and his family one other time, so it was nice to get to know them a little better. I had also only met my sister-in-law, Monica (wife of another brother), and her kids one other time, so it was really nice to see them again, too. I think that everyone enjoyed getting to spend time together. Thank you again to all of you who have been praying for Scott and his family. It has meant a lot to all of us.





I am including a picture of Scott with his brothers and another of his parents, brothers, their wives and all the kids. Big family!

Patrick, Corey, Scott, and Trey

(From left to right--sort of:) Brett, Monica, Brandon, Kayla, Corey, Tristan, Harvey, Lauren, Will, LaDon, Scott, Becca, Trey, Liz, Abby, Amber, Patrick, Rachel, Michelle, and Andrew

16 Week Baby Update

Well, in less than a month we will (hopefully) find out whether the newest addition to our family is a boy or a girl. I went to the doctor today for my monthly check-up and everything seems to be going just fine. We heard the baby's heartbeat and I had my triple-screen blood test. All in all, not a too exciting appointment, but next month's will be.

In other baby news, I am about 99% positive I have felt the baby move. It feels just the same as when I first felt Will move, so it just has to be. Even though it's early, I think I am feeling it just because I know what to "look" for. It's pretty cool!

Not much else is happening. We are getting ready to head out on Thursday and as soon as I get back next week, I will be thrust into the fire at work because it will be Valentine's Day! It is always super-crazy, so it should be interesting when I get back. Tonight I am going to have a girls' night with Harmony and some other friends of ours. Harmony's family is out of town, so she is having a little get-together at her place. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow, I get my hair cut. That's always fun. I really just like it because they wash your hair and it feels so good :)

I'm not sure that I will post again until after I get back from Florida, so everyone have a safe and happy weekend and Happy Valentine's Day :)

No Follies/Reunion for Us

I just thought I'd let all our LCU buds know that we won't be at Follies, etc., next weekend. We will miss you all and wish we could be there. However, we will be in Florida for Scott's brother's service next weekend. We will be blessed to have the entire family there. Scott's third oldest brother, Corey, has been in Kuwait for about a month in the service. He was granted bereavement leave and is on his way back to the States. The oldest brother, Patrick, and his family just returned to the States from a five (-ish) year mission in the Ukraine. I know it will help the family to heal to be all together again. All five boys had not been together at the same time since Christmas of 1998. I know it is a harsh reality that all 5 will never be able to be together again, but at least the remaining four will be for a few days next week. Two of Scott's brothers have never met Will, so that will be nice, too. Thank you to everyone who has offered us your condolences and prayers. We appreciate you all.

A Sad Day

It is always quite a shock when you get a call and find out that one of your family members has passed away. Today, I got one of those calls. Scott's second oldest brother, Bryan, has passed away. He was 39. Bryan had had diabetes Type I since he was two years old, so we believe that it was complications due to the disease, although we do not know for sure. Since the death was unattended, an autopsy will be performed. We do not yet know when or where services will be held. I am asking that you please keep Scott and his family, especially his mother, LaDon, and Bryan's daughter, Rebecca, in your prayers during this time. A lot of questions are unanswered, and I know many people are going to feel guilty about the circumstances surrounding this death, even though no one is to blame. The picture of Bryan above was taken this past October. He is with one of his loves--motorcycles. We will miss him.

My Bump--My Lovely Baby Bump

Here I am at 14 (almost 15) weeks. It's getting bigger!

This weekend was spent in Ruidoso, New Mexico, at Mountain View Christian Camp for a youth retreat. We had a good time up at the camp seeing fellow youth ministers and gleaning from the word. Scott Jarvis and his son, Tyler, were the speakers, and from what I hear (since Will kept me from most of the sessions), it was amazing. Of course...would we expect anything less from Jarvis?

The camp was covered in about 6 - 8 inches of snow, so that was really fun for all the west Texas kids who came. They had numerous snowball fights and built snowmen. The funniest thing, however, was the fact that all the church vans and buses got stuck in the snow. One of the youth ministers brought his own pick-up, which thankfully had 4-wheel drive, so he pulled all the vans and buses up the hill onto the highway on Sunday morning. Fun was had by all :)

Unfortunately, I don't think we got any pictures of the snow. Oh well, we were a little busy.

Anyway, now that we are home, there is plenty to do. This will be my first full week of the morning schedule, so hopefully I will be productive in the afternoons. I don't think I will today, though, I am really tired. Will decided not to sleep much this weekend, so we didn't sleep much either. I might just lie down and take a little nap...

Books and Such

Well, I did it. I got up and got to work semi-on-time this morning. A great feat for me. I am so sleepy now, but at least I woke up and got ready! I am really going to have to train myself to go to bed earlier. But, the good thing about working in the morning is that I can do my Internet stuff in the afternoon instead of after Will goes to bed at night. That should really help.

Also, I finally finished my mammoth of a book last night, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, by Diana Gabaldon. I think I've talked about this series before, but really...if you love a great story-teller, nail-biting adventures, love, mystery, and really thick books...this series is for you. This book is the most recent in the series (6 total)--the Outlander series. If you love to read, you should really check these out. The genre is hard to place, even the author doesn't really even know what it is. I found one of the books in the science-fiction section of the library, but I wouldn't call it that. Some say it's fantasy, others say it's romance. But the author just likes the simple "fiction" genre. You may find it in any one of these sections of your bookstore :) So, there's my little sales pitch--ha!

As for other news, Scott and I are going on a retreat this weekend to Ruidoso. It was supposed to be a youth retreat (we are joining forces with a few other churches), but our one kid who signed up has backed out. But Scott is a cell-group leader, etc, so he still has to go. So, we're going with him as moral support, I guess :) It may be a nice little getaway--although it will be quite cold there, I imagine!

Well, I suppose that's I all I have for today. Y'all have a great Thursday and weekend if I don't get around to it tomorrow!

Changes

Things are changing, once again. But not in a bad way. I am going to start working in the mornings at Dakota's instead of the afternoons. I think this will work out a lot better than our current schedule. Scott is even more of a non-morning person than I am, and he is just more productive in the afternoons. I think this will be better for all of us. I start this new schedule tomorrow.

Scott and Will both went back to school today (ACU and Children's Day Out, respectively) for the first time since before Christmas. CDO started back up two weeks ago, but Will had that bad poop/diaper rash thing going on and then last week we were iced/snowed in. So, here we are. Scott has been working for the last two weeks on his car (it has taken him so long because of the weather) and he was supposed to take it to ACU today, but when I just went outside to check the mail, I noticed the car out front and the church van was gone. So, I guess it wasn't fixed enough quite yet. Maybe he can get it right before next Wednesday.

I really don't have anything interesting to say. On the pregnancy front, I am in that awkward stage where my regular clothes do not really fit and yet, neither do my maternity clothes. Finding things to wear has proven quite interesting lately. My morning sickness stuff seems to completely left me now; yea! I am hungry almost constantly. I have been wanting fruit (especially apples and grapes), orange juice, cheetos, cheese, bagels, burritos, and Nestle Drumstick ice cream cones. It's amazing the things you want when you're pregnant. With Will, I couldn't get enough oranges and Nutter Butter cookies. I guess that's about all. Maybe I'll have something interesting later in the week :)

Until next time...

Why I Love Thursday

I love Thursdays. Not because anything particularly wonderful happens, but because it is a great line-up of comedy on NBC. You get My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock all in one night! It's amazing! If none of those shows make you laugh, there really might be something seriously wrong with you. But we can still be friends. Of them all, though, I have to say I look forward to 30 Rock the most. I love Tina Fey. She is hilarious. I so miss her on SNL, but her creating and being on 30 Rock is worth it. And Alec Baldwin, although I don't really like him "in real life," is just a riot. If you haven't watched this yet, you should. It's really for your own good. :)

Anyway...back to the real world. Not much is happening here other than it is supposed to get nasty here again tomorrow. I am so cold! I think my toes might fall off if I take off my shoes!

Happy Thursday to everyone and have a great, safe, warm weekend if I don't get around to posting tomorrow. (Aren't you all proud of me??? Three days in a row!!!)

Wednesday Report

I would like to thank everyone for their congratulatory comments on our new bun in the oven :) We are so excited and we are so thankful for all your prayers and well wishes. It seems like now that I have announced this, so many other people are turning up pregnant, too! Congrats to all my fellow expectant-mom blogging buddies out there! We will have to compare stories.

Today we woke up to a beautiful, peaceful white blanket of snow. I think this snowfall was a little heavier than the snowfall we had in November. It was colder and and the sun didn't come out til much later, so it stuck around longer, too. Scott was supposed to go to school at ACU today (his first day of class), but we didn't want him to risk driving there and back, so he called his professor and said that he would not be coming. ACU had already delayed their first day of the spring semester by one day. When Scott got off the phone with ACU, we got an interesting phone call from the LCU Alumni Relations office. The main A.R. lady went to camp with Scott back in the day. She was calling to tell us that there was an LCU student who was stranded in Big Spring because of the weather. This student had taken a bus to get back to Lubbock and ended up in a motel in Big Spring last night and didn't have enough money for another night's stay. Would we take her in? Of course, we said. So we have spent the day getting to know Sarah, a senior psychology major. She had started her travels last Thursday from Wisconsin and got stuck for 3 days in Dallas--sleeping in the Greyhound station--and finally ended up here. At first, we thought she might not get back to Lubbock til tomorrow (Thursday), but there is a bus running at midnight tonight. I hope that she gets back home safely and can finally relax. What an experience!!

Speaking of good ol' LCU, we are planning on attending the festivities during Master Follies weekend. This year is our five year reunion, so we are planning on attending that function, club breakfasts, chapel, the afternoon show, and a couple of receptions for past big time award winners like Scott (that's sort of a joke--Scott was Mr. LCU and recieved a special award from the Bible Dept. his senior year). Anywho, we look forward to seeing all of our friends in February!

I really can't think of anything else to report right now, so I'm signing off. Have a great Thursday :)

Back from the Dead

Literally! Our computer finally died a couple of weeks ago, so that is why I haven't been blogging (not like I did it constantly before, but, hey...I read other people's!). So, if any of my friends out there still stop by to see if I just might have posted something, I have returned. We purchased a new computer with our Christmas money and it arrived this afternoon! Yea!!!

On to other things! It is freakishly cold here. So cold and treacherous, even, that our church services were cancelled on Sunday. I didn't think any amount of precipitation could cause our church to close it's doors, but lo and behold. I think most of the churches in our area cancelled; and I think it was a wise decision. You know some people (I'm mainly thinking of the elderly) will get out in whatever conditions to get to church. I'm thankful that they decided to just cancel so those people and the ones that live miles and miles away would just stay in rather than risk it. Anyway, it's been very icy and tonight it snowed! We have had a fire in our fireplace (not nonstop) for the last four days. It's been great! I looked at Scott at one point on Sunday afternoon, while reading my novel in front of the fireplace, wrapped up in my fleece blanket, and told him, "This is great!" And it was.

Our family was ill last week. We got "the bug" that has been going around. I got it Tuesday night and missed work on Wednesday and part of Thursday. Scott got it on Wednesday night. Will was also sick, but his was a sinus infection and then his antibiotic gave him bad poops. He had a horrid diaper rash, too. But, we are all much much better now!

Although computers crashing, ice and snow, and sickness is all very interesting and newsworthy, believe it or not, I have bigger news. At the end of July, Will is going to be a big brother! That's right, I am pregnant! We are very excited. Last week (Tuesday as a matter of fact), we saw the baby's heart beat and it was moving all around. When Scott can scan the sonogram pictures at work, I will post them for all to see.

This pregnancy has been quite different from my first. I was quite a bit more nauseous this time and it lasted much longer. With Will, I was nauseous about two times. This time, it was more like every day, all day. But, I never did loose my breakfast, so that was nice. I am now about 12 or 13 weeks along, so hopefully all of that is about over with. In fact, I have been really hungry the last few days. I have been eating quite a lot. Also, my "bump" is starting to grow. I have to rubberband my jeans. I did put all of my maternity clothes in my closet, but it will probably still be a while before I can wear most of them. It was just a good weekend to clean and do things like that :) Scott is laughing at me because I start the whole "nesting" thing really early. I feel like I have to get organized! Now! It's kind of important, though, because we are going to try to get Will into a big bed soon. However, we kind of need to know the sex of the new baby before we start really getting his room together. If the new baby is a girl, she will go in the guest room because it is painted pink. But, if the new baby is a boy, he will take Will's room and Will will get the guest room (repainted, of course!). So, until the beginning of March, it's just a waiting game.

Well, I have probably rambled on much too long. I have missed all of you and hope to hear from you that you haven't given up on me :) Love to all~~

Surprise!

I'm here! We are now in the Sunshine State of Florida visiting Scott's family. On Dec. 22, Scott 29th birthday, we drove to Katy and spent 3 days there. 2 of those days were really spent in Spring and Beaumont, but we were with my family the whole time. Will enjoyed his Christmas. Santa brought him a tricycle and he didn't really want to stop riding on it to open any other presents :) It was fun. I also finally got to meet my brother's girlfriend, Staci, and she is really nice and friendly. She seems to be a good match for Kendall.

On Christmas night, we stayed in a bed and breakfast in Orange, Texas, which is almost in Louisiana. It was really nice. The best surprise of the B&B was that the lady had turned on the electric blankets on the beds so they were nice and toasty when we got in. It was really nice. It was also great to wake up the next morning and only have to drive 8 hours to FL instead of 10.

Anyway, things are going really well with us and we plan to be back home the night of January 1st. I will go back to work on the 3rd. I am definitely looking forward to that day of rest between driving and working :)

Merry Christmas and love to all!

I know....I know....

Okay, yes, I realize it's been forever and a day since I posted, but!! I have a good reason. Our Internet was screwy. Our DSL was acting all weird and the guy came yesterday to fix it. Also, we have been SUPER busy. This past weekend we had a mother/daughter retreat for our youth group girls and it was so much fun! We had a great time doing "retreat-type" things, like making s'mores, eating junkfood, watching a chick-flick, playing games, and of course, learning more about the God who calls us "daughter." Scott was literally the odd man out, but it was great. He taught the moms' lessons and I taught the daughters.

Other than that we have been busy Christmas shopping, visiting doctors, studying for finals (Scott), working, and sleeping when we get the chance. Right now, I really need to be working on my Christmas cards, but they're already so late, who cares now? My goal is to get them out by Friday.

I do have some pictures to post, but I cannot find my card-reader. My house is an absolute wreck and therefore this desk is so piled with stuff that I cannot even see if it is hidden anywhere. So, I will just have to ask Scott when he gets home if he has seen it and we will go from there.

To close, I will share a little Christmas survey:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer paper, but sometimes you just gotta use a bag :)

2. Real tree or artificial? I use the fake ones

3. When do you put up the tree? it depends on when I can get around to it. Sometimes I'm ready before Thanksgiving, but usually right after.

4. When do you take the tree down? I take the tree down after New Years Day

5. Do you like eggnog? Negatory, Ghost Rider. Pattern is full.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? One Christmas I got all kinds of Barbie stuff--the house, the car, the furniture...it was great!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I have a figurine of Mary, Joseph and Jesus

8. Hardest person to buy for? the grandparents

9. Easiest person to buy for? Scott

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't think of one

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I love Christmas movies!! White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Home Alone--these are all staples at Christmas time

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? as soon as I think about it

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I have no idea...don't think so

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? my Grandma's candied pecans

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? even though I prefer white, I have colored ones on my tree. I have another tree that I have not put up yet (don't know if I'll get around to it or not!) that has white lights

17. Favorite Christmas song? Again, I love Christmas songs...Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, O Holy Night, Jingle Bell Rock...

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We usually end up travelling at some point.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph (although it has been reported that Donner was supposed to be Dunder and Blitzen was supposed to be Blixum...but who really knows??)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I like stars, myself.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Open one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? the crazy-busy stores!!

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

...But the fire is so delightful! Today was the coldest day we've had all year. It got down into the twenties, but felt as if it were in the teens. It snowed and we, like the good Texans we are, were enthralled by it. We see it so rarely, that you have to get excited about it. It's just the rule. So, we took pictures and bundled Will up to play in it. We made hot potato soup and built a fire. If I hadn't had to go to work today, it would have been the most perfect day ever :)

Here are a few of the photos we snapped on our wintery, blustery day:

The front of our house.

Our backyard.

Will in the backyard in front of the snow-covered lawn mower and leaf blower.

Will walking in the snow on the side of the house.

The beautiful roaring fire that Scott made.

Thankful

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the food--turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes (or yams), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce...it's all so yummy. And how could I forget the pumpkin and pecan pie?

We had a great trip...it was much too short, but it was good. We enjoyed seeing family and it was nice to see a few family members that we hadn't seen in a long time. Good news is spreading...my youngest cousin is graduating high school this year and has chosen a university, another cousin is having a baby in the spring, and yet another is getting married in June. What blessings to be thankful for.

I love this time of year when we get to reflect on the blessings God has given us and spend time with those we love most. Somehow, life just seems better.

I have two trees up and one to go at my house. Then I have to put all the boxes away...ugh. That's the worst thing about decorating...finding something to do with the boxes for a month and then packing it all away. But we won't think about that for now. Bring on the season!

November 20th Update

Oh, goodness, I know it's been forever. Sorry! Life has just gotten quite busy. I was really busy at the shop this last week or so because our Christmas Open House was this past Sunday. We were busy getting the finishing touches completed and cleaning really well. We had a great turn-out; I think about 200 people ended up coming through.




We have all been slightly sick the past couple of weeks, too. I had a UTI (if you know what that means, great, if not, I'm not going to explain it here!), then the very next week, an ear infection. Not fun! Scott has tonsilitis and Will has been complaining of an earache (which means he points to his ear and says, "Hurt"). Scott took him to the doctor today and he wasn't really sick enough to give him antibiotics, but if it gets worse, she did give us a perscription.


Other events of note: my in-laws came through almost two weeks ago. We had a good visit. Will had lots of fun with them and quickly started calling them Papa and Granny/Grammy. It was sad when they left, he kept asking for them. Now, if we say anything that remotely sounds like the word "papa," Will begins repeating it and looking around. It's really very cute. They were able to stay with us for about 3 days or so, and it was really good to see them. We will see them again at Christmas-time.



Last Friday, Scott's uncle came through town. He drives a truck and sometimes comes through on I-20. Many times, it's in the middle of the night, but this time was right in time for dinner. It was good to see him again, too. He brought Will a flight jacket that is so adorable. I will have to post a picture of him in it soon.


This week, we'll be spending Thanksgiving with my parents and grandmother in San Antonio. We hope to leave early Wed. morning and make it there by the afternoon. We have tried to come up with lots of things with which to entertain Will, so hopefully it will be a very successful trip!


For, now, that is all the news I have. I leave you with a few pictures of the shop...Happy Thanksgiving!

Santa Claus--isn't he gorgeous? He is so huge!!

Scott and Will dropped me off at work on Sudany, so we got a couple of pictures of him with the trees. This one is my favorite.

The "Western" section. I just love all the stars and such. Aren't those cool cowboy boot stockings?

Mi Vida Loca

Well, I have no idea how November got here so fast. Wasn't it just Labor Day? Ahh! Christmas is almost here and I have yet to buy a single gift. Good grief. The holidays are just coming to fast for me this year. I have been so busy in the last week, yet I can't pinpoint what has made me so busy! It seems like there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things I want to get done. I know you all feel the same way, too!

Actually, I guess you could say that we have bought a gift. For ourselves. Scott decided that this year, he was going to combine our presents to each other and his birthday present into one present and get this: Yes, Friends, it's the U2 special edition iPod. I do have pictures of the actual iPod, but they aren't very good, so we'll settle with the box. It's a neat little gadget. We have already downloaded lots of pictures, music, videos, and backed up our computer hard-drive. It's amazing what these little things can do.

On Thursday, my in-laws will arrive. It will be nice to see them and I know Will will be so excited to have people constantly giving him attention. We are also having a garage sale this weekend. It is long overdue. We should have done it months ago! But here we are, just now getting around to it. It was one of those things where I just said, "Okay, we're doing it this weekend. It's now or never!" I have had a box of garage sale stuff in the corner of my living room for waaaaaaaaayyyy too long. So, be praying for good weather this weekend!

Harmony, Abby and I went to Midland last Friday night. We went out to eat at Fazoli's and then saw The Prestige. Whoa, that movie was stinkin' awesome. It kept us talking the whole way back to Big Spring (about a 40 mile drive). If you like mysteries, somewhat super-natural type stuff, go see this movie!

That's all for now. On a patriotic note, I hope everyone voted today! It's our right and we should take advantage of being able to elect our own government leaders. Do you think Kinky will win?

Sweet Treats for Halloween

The sweetest treat of all~~

Will the Puppy!!

More sweet treats...

Sadie the Snow Princess and Colton as Dracula

Malaki the Cowboy

Raylee the Ladybug

Ryland the Pirate