Saturday, October 29, 2011

14 weeks along with #4!





When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a mommy. I wanted to get married and have six kids. I honestly can say I am content with the thought of having four. I like even numbers and as silly as that sounds to some people, it makes sense to me. Everyone has someone to sit with and ride rides with. They never have to be alone. I like that Kaleb and Kami are so close in age and have a great relationship. They are best buds.(on most days)I am hoping for the same thing for Keagan and his sibling.

I am 14 weeks and one day along. This pregnancy has been completely different for so many reasons. 1. I think is because I already have my hands full and 2. is I had the worst morning sickness. (all day sickness) Homeschooling was hard sometimes because I felt bad and was so sleepy. Thankfully, I am feeling better most days and praying I regain some energy soon as well. I have had two appts and one sonogram. So far everything looks great. They thought I was a week behind due to the measurements on the baby but we are sticking with my due date and just noting I have small babies. I am excited and scared all at the same time. I hope I can handle homeschooling, a toddler, and a newborn. We are already working really hard this year to finish our school before the baby comes in late April.

Kami is praying so hard for a girl and Kaleb wants another brother to play baseball with. Tim and I just want a healthy baby. We are probably not going to find out what this one is. It's soooo hard not to but so fun for the Dr. to say, "It's a.....!" We did that with Kami and it was so exciting. Most of our family and friends want it to be a girl too so we will have 2 of each. I think deep down I would like another girl too but a boy would be convenient since we kept all of Keagan's things. Either way, it's just so exciting to have a new baby in the house and see how different they all are from each other.

Well, that's all for now....update you all later!

Keagan is one!



My sweet Keagan turned one!! I can hardly believe it! He is such a fun and silly little guy. He makes us laugh all the time. He has grown so much in the past few months. His little baby face is disappearing and he finally started walking right before his birthday. I now have a toddling toddler on my hands. I am really excited to see how he continues to grow and change over this next year. And, the thought of him being a big brother in 6 months is a bit overwhelming, but we are glad he will have a sibling to grow up with.





We had a great first birthday party for Keagan on Saturday the 22nd. We just had a few close friends and family here at the house to celebrate the day. Tim cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill and we had a really cute cake made for the birthday boy! He loved squishing the icing in between his fingers. He took a few bites, but was ready to be done pretty quickly. After a bath, he was enjoying all his fun new toys he got. I think it was a great party and glad we got to share it with those closest to us.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Give thanks in all circumstances....

I Thessalonians 5:18 says,"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." I have to say I have completely failed at this the last couple of weeks since Tim lost his job. The first week seemed easy to stay optimistic and faithful. Then, the next week I started to wavier in my faith a little and doubt God. Now that is has been 21 days since we've had a job, I am angry, bitter, and scared. I keep getting renewed faith from friends, families, and scriptures I run across. But they seem to be short lived. I look at the check book and start getting scared. Our savings account is nearly gone. We have so many bills left and no money to look forward to or even a payday in sight. We have had several interviews and even more follow-ups. The hiring process is so slow. I can't hardly make it through a whole day without worrying. I know that the Bible says, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Phil. 4:6 I lay it all down before His feet and find myself picking it all up again and again. Everyone keeps saying, "It's going to be ok!" And, I know it will, but when you're in the doubt cloud, it's hard to see the other side. I lack patience as well lately. I can't seem to wait on God's timing and wonder if He's even listening. I know He is and won't give us more than we can handle, but geeez, I wish we didn't trust us sooo much!! I know God is using this experience to strengthen our faith and relationships with Him and each other....sometimes the devil gets the better of me. I will continue to cling to the verses, "The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." I look forward to writing another blog and telling you how God used this situation to make us more faithful to Him.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Birthday Fun!






Everyone knows we have always done the kid's birthday parties together every year. Well, this year was no different. We did the party at Jump-n-Jungle and it was such a great party. The kids really enjoyed jumping on the bouncers and running around like crazy. I love not having to clean up after all these crazy kids! We surprised the kids with the most awesome cake. I had a friend make an angry birds cake and she did an amazing job. The kids were so surprised, but so happy I found someone to make it. I am having a hard time excepting the fact my kids are 9 and 7 now. I feel like just yesterday I had them. I wish I could slow time just a little bit.

The best gift of all...

Friday, August the 26th, Tim and I celebrated our 11 yr. anniversary. What a joy to still say how madly in love I am with the man God choose for me. He is amazing! I love him more everyday. He makes me a better person and I couldn't imagine life with out him. He is a wonderful father and is so good with the kids. He is my best friend and I look forward to growing old with him. God not only blessed us with a great anniversary, but also decided to bless us with baby #4. I found out I was pregnant that morning and I wrote him a little poem to share the news.
Roses are Red.
Violets I adore.
We are finally pregnant
with #4!
I am excited and scared all at the same time. We feel like now our little family can finally be complete. I look forward to updating you on all our fun baby news!

Special Blessings




Sunday, May 15th, 2011 will always be a day I remember! Not one blessing, but two happened that day. After Kambree accepted Jesus as her saviour, she was anxious to be baptized. Bro. Danny Henderson said the words as Tim baptized her. That made it all the more special for our family. We had several family members come in for the weekend to share the special day. It felt so good to have them all there to see her take the next step of faith. We also dedicated Keagan to the Lord that day. We promised to raise him in a home where he would come to know God as his saviour and live a life praising Him. I love that Bro. David Wilson prays over us and Keagan and promises to do his part to lead him to God. We had a great lunch after church and spent the rest of the day rejoicing over God's goodness!


Sunday, May 1, 2011

April Vacation



This year for our vacation we decided to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge and to Lego land. We also decided not to tell them where we were going. We thought it would make a great surprise! The first nite we had dinner with some friends from Wylie, which was bitter sweet since he was leaving for boot camp the next day, but it was great to catch up and see how their kids have grown. Easter Sunday, we went to our old church and enjoyed lunch with some more dear friends from Wylie. It was so awesome to spend another holiday with this amazing couple who has kept in touch with us. Then it was off to Great Wolf. The kids could hardly stand the suspense by now! We pulled in the parking lot and they were ecstatic. It was great seeing their faces and hearing their squeals of excitement! We couldn't get checked in fast enough. They upgraded our room since our reserved room wasn't available and believe me it was sooo awesome. The kids had a secluded bunk bed room that looked like a mini log cabin. And the rest of the room was quite cozy as well. We finally headed down to the pool area and were so overwhelmed by it we didn't know where to start! The big boys headed for the slides and Kami, Keagan and I headed for the kiddie area. It was nice they had a designated kiddie area and even a toddler area. Keagan enjoyed the water for a while but then he was ready for a nap. We had to practically drag the older two out. That evening we decided to do the magi quest. It is a magical scavenger hunt with clues on all 8 floors. It was really fun but exhausting! Kaleb and Kami really enjoyed it! We finally convinced them to go to bed so we could get up and do it all again. After a quick breakfast, we were in the water again. Keagan and I went shopping in the gift shop and found some neat stuff. After that, the kids wanted to finish their scavenger hunt. We finally left to go check into our next hotel for the last portion of our surprise trip. We were able to eat dinner with some more friends at the Rain Forest Cafe. We loved being able to see so many friends on one trip!













The next day was just as exciting! We took the kids to Lego land in the Grapevine Mills Mall. We played there for hours. They had a factory setting to show you how legos are made, rides and a movie. They also had a play area and an area to build lego race cars. Kaleb LOVED it! We of course had to buy some lego kits on the way out in the big lego store. Even Keagan got some duplo blocks! That evening we went to see Rio at the movie theatre. We really enjoyed it and were able to eat dinner during the movie, which was awesome! We are excited to get a movie similar to that here in Lubbock soon too. Finally, it was time to head home the next day, but not before stopping in Abilene to see one of my best friends. We had dinner with her and one of her boys and finally made it home in time to sleep in our own beds. Awww....it was a great trip and would highly recommend all of these neat places to families looking for something fun to do this summer!




Thursday, April 14, 2011

Oh happy day!!!


My heart is SOOO happy! My baby girl, Kami, prayed Monday and asked Jesus to come live in her heart. She has been asking a LOT of questions lately and has been learning about being saved in church and at AWANAS. So, Monday we sat down and had a long conversation about what that means and I asked her several questions to make sure she was ready. She completely understands what it means so we prayed together to Jesus. There is no greater moment than leading your child to Christ. I remember when Kaleb did the same thing back in August of 2008. It was almost like you could hear the angels singing. God is soo good!! Now she is anxious to get baptised. I will post pics of that soon!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Family Updates!



Well, I am behind on blogging AGAIN. I had a few posts from a while back that wouldn't publish last time I was on so they were published today. Anyways, lets see....Keagan is 5 1/2 months old. He is rolling over and trying to sit up. He has a tooth trying to break thru and finally sleeping thru the night now. We had such a hard time with him gaining weight in the beginning so we started supplementing with formula a few feedings a day and that really helped. That was of course after all the tummy aches and constant crying until we figured out he was lactose intolerant and needed soy formula. Apparently, I only make skim breast milk by the way!...lol. He is doing much better now and we are trying baby food. Baby cereal just seem to upset his tummy to much. I sure hope that is not a sign of trouble to come! He was not a good sleeper in the beginning either. He had to wake up and nurse every 2 hours for the first few months. It slowly started to get better. He is so much fun right now with his laughing and cooing. I just have to say I love being a mom!


Kami is doing well in school and is finally reading. She loves school and is anxious to learn something new each day. She is taking gymnastics and really seems to enjoy it. She comes home and practices after class. She is also doing really well in AWANAS. Her memorization's skills have improved drastically. She is really into arts and crafts and loves to play outside.


Kaleb is also doing well in school. He amazes me how quickly he picks up on new things. He doesn't like writing in cursive though. He is playing machine pitch baseball again this year and Tim is the coach. He likes playing pitcher or short stop. We are really working on good sportsmanship this year. That is such a hard concept for him. Kaleb really loves riding his bike and reading library books. He just finished up his bear badge for boy scouts as well.


Tim is working alot as usual and been out of town a lot this year training new managers in the area. He has finally gotten his store running smoothly so he doesn't have to worry about them while he is gone. He is such a hard worker and I am so proud of him. He still manages to come home and be a good dad and husband too. God has truly blessed me with a great man.

As for me, I went to weight watchers to lose my baby weight and then some and I am proud to say as of today I have lost 20.2 lbs and am training for another 5K in May. I still have another 40-50 lbs left to lose and am excited to say I feel I have found a program that that goal is actually attainable! God has reminded me I can take care of myself too and still be a good mom. Please keep me in your prayers as I fight hard to reach my goal!


I am excited that at the end of the month we will be taking our spring break/vacation to Grapevine. We are going to the Legoland Discovery Center and the Great Wolf Lodge. We are also going to take the kids to eat at the Rain forest Cafe and go back to Wylie and visit our old church and friends there. I can hardly wait. We were going to a Rangers game too but I feel that would be hard with Keagan. So, maybe next year!

Baby Keagan is finally here!!!!



Children are an inheritance from the LORD. They are a reward from him. Ps 127:3

Our little blessing from God is finally here. Keagan Andrew was born October 18, 2010 @ 4:26 a.m. He was 6lbs. 6oz. and 19 1/2in. long. I went into labor that evening and had the worst back pain EVER!! I tried staying at home as long as I could stand it! We dropped the kids off with my friend Nicole and headed for the hospital around 3 in the morning. We checked in and it wasn't long before we had a beautiful baby boy. I was able to have him without the epidural like I had hoped and only had to stay in the hospital for 2 days. It was an easy birth...it only took 3 pushes! (Praise the Lord) I was so grateful that Grammy Carol could come down and help for the week. Having 3 kids is a little harder than I imagined. And, homeschooling them on top of that is even harder with a newborn! Kaleb and Kami were so excited to finally have their baby brother. They both have been such good helpers. And, Tim loves the thought of another baseball player! He is one proud papa! We are already thinking of another one....LOL. Keagan will need a sibling to grow up with and I hate odd numbers! If that's God's will of course!!




Baby Shower and New house!


I have so much to update! I have been slacking off on blogging, but hope to do better this year. Let me start with the great baby shower I had. On September 18, Grammie Carol and my friends came together to make a beautiful shower for Keagan. I received so many great things and the decorations were adorable! And, Aunt Debbie was so gracious to let us have it at her house!








On September 30, we closed on our house. We were able to save enough money for closing costs and have the carpets cleaned. I am so thankful for our new home. It needs some work, but it is so nice to be able to say it's "ours"!! We moved in all weekend and Tim painted the kids rooms. We tried to put the crib together but somehow are missing 2 major pieces. Which is fine for now. We have a great backyard for the kids to play and a room for school. The boys bedroom is big enough for all their things and thankfully so is their closet.


I will have more to update as soon as baby Keagan is here!!!