2010

Here in the final hours of 2010, I am reminded of all the great things this year has brought.  My daughter (ok technically she was 2009, but it was for less than 2 weeks and she really didn't do much! :) ), my son has really blossomed and we have been blessed to find a wonderful occupational therapist that is working wonders for him, Toby's eyes have finally remained stable for a whole year, we have a great family, wonderful friends, nice house and cars, and we finally found a church that we love.  It has been a great year and I cannot wait to see what 2011 brings.

2010 overview

Jan. Maddie is a month old and starting to smile!

Feb We had a huge snowstorm in North Texas.  We got 14 inches of snow.

March We had a great spring break and lots of fun with Daddy.  We also had our landscaping redone.

April Maddie's first Easter, and our first trip to Main Street Arts Festival.

May Noah's 3rd birthday party at the zoo.  My mom graduated from TWU, and we had the kids dedicated at church.

June Our summer was off to a great start with lots of fun activities with Daddy home.

July  We started using cloth diapers and went on our first real vacation in a while to the beach.

August We end our vacation.  Toby started teaching a new subject. 

Sept.  Maddie is crawling all over the place now.  Noah starts seeing Schel our wonderful OT.

Oct. Maddie's first Halloween.

Nov.  Noah spent a couple of days in the hospital.  Maddie's first Thanksgiving was very eventful with her taking her first steps.

Dec.  Maddie's 1st birthday and a wonderful Christmas!  Maddie is walking everywhere now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

My awful picture experience

Here is a review I wrote of the Portrait innovations in Colleyville.


Let me start by saying that I have gone to the same portrait innovations for 3 years and we have never had a problem, but today was awful.  We went for my daughter's first birthday and Christmas pictures of my two kids.  The photographer was awful.  She was not good with the kids and we only got a couple were they were even smiling.  Then she kept rushing us.  At one point she said they were done with Christmas shots and I had to tell her to take some of the kids by themselves.  Then we took my daughter's pictures with a smash cake for her birthday.  After we were done, I went to clean her up and came back to find she was having trouble loading the pics on the comp.  She finally got them loaded only to find that she had lost over half of the pictures of my daughter with the cake.  I was upset and her response was excuse after excuse.  She decided to give me 15 free birthday cards.  I left and was not happy, as I can never get that back.  We waited 15 mins longer than they told us and then came back for our pictures and found out it was going to be another 15 mins, b/c the photographer had messed up the color splash.  When I told them I was unhappy with what had happened that day, I got more and more excuses.  I asked to speak to a manager, who very rudely told me that we only lost 10 pictures and made it sound like ti was not a big deal.  Almost all the pictures of her and the cake were gone and the ones we got were awful.  I told the manager that I did not think 15 free cards really made up for what had happened.  After more rudeness and more excuses, she finally agreed to refund half of the money.  Then when we got home we found that some of the pictures had a big white stripe down the side and the cd would only load some of the pictures that were supposed to be there.  I will never go back to the Colleyville, Tx location, as it was the worst experience I have ever had.

Happy birthday sweet girl

Dear Maddie,

I cannot believe that you are one today.  It seems like only yesterday we were welcoming you into the world and our family.  I cannot imagine life without you.  You have completed our family in such a wonderful way.  I was so excited when I found out you were a girl (now I have a match set!!!).  Having a daughter is a whole different world.  It meant frills and pink and hairbows.  I have loved every minute of it!  You have added such a joy to our lives.  You have the sweetest laugh, and nothing is better than hearing you laugh in the backseat with your brother.  It can make any bad day good.  I love the way that you love to shop.  It always makes me laugh when I see your little hands dart out of the cart or stroller to grab a new pair of clothes or shoes.  I love waking up every morning to your happy smiling face and then to your exuberant banging of the headboard!  Nothing is better than watching you dance up and down to the beats that you are making on the wall.  I cannot wait to see what type of girl you will grow into.  I look at you and wonder if you will be a tomboy or a princess or a little of both.  I am so blessed to be your mommy.  Happy birthday sweet girl.
Love,


Mommy

Weekend

We had a great weekend in regards to sports.  The Rangers are in the World Series for the first time ever.  Texas A&M won, texas lost, TCU won, and OU lost.  Whoop!!  But we really didn't get to enjoy it too much.  I spent most of Friday and Saturday in bed with what felt like the flu.  Today it was Toby's turn.  UGH!  I hope we all start feeling better soon.  Luckily the kids haven't caught it (fingers crossed that they won't), and they have had fun playing all weekend.  Here are some of our pictures from the past few months of them playing.

When you are not looking

When you are not looking your babies start growing up too fast.  One minute I had this tiny baby boy who was completely dependent upon me for everything.  Now I have this little man.  He calls me mom instead of mommy, wants to wear "big boy clothes" like daddy (mainly belts and hats- he thinks they are for big boys), he know how to spell and read several words, and he has best friends.  He is no longer my little baby.  And then my little baby girl is growing too fast too.  She used to need me for everything, but now she can get what she wants, and she is eating big people food.  She is standing up and cruising around.  In just a few short months she will be 1.  Where has the time gone?  I want to freeze time and let them be little forever.  I want to savor every moment with my two miracles.   But time marches on, and my babies become a little less baby everyday.  I really realized this today after the photo session.  I was looking at a picture of Noah and he looks like a big boy.  I just couldn't get over it.  Here are some pics from today.

promises, promises

I keep promising myself that I am going to keep up with this, and then life gets in the way.  I am helping Toby's school with their yearbook, so that has kept me very busy.  Toby has circus going on right now which is insane.  He has barely been home since Thurs.  I am ready for this to be over!!  Noah has also started OT every Thurs.  so that has kept us even more busy.  But in between all of that, we have been having a good start to the school year.  Noah is quite the comedian now.  He is always telling me a joke, or making up a silly song to make me or Maddie laugh.  Maddie is in to everything.  She is crawling all around and loves to talk!!  Not that she says anything, but she thinks she is having a very important conversation!    Noah liked her a whole lot more, before she could get into his stuff.  Now he is not so sure about her!!  We are getting ready for Halloween.  Noah is going to be Curious George (and Toby is going to be the man in the yellow hat).  And Maddie is going to be a ladybug.  Their costumes are so cute.  My mom made both of them.  I can't wait to have their pictures made this week.  That is all from here for now.  I will post some pics when I get them, but right now I hear a little one moving all around in my bed, so I better go see what she is up to!

It has been a while...

This summer has been crazy busy!!  We took a trip in July to the coast with my parents and grandparents and the kids.  Fun times with 8 people in a 2 bedroom house!!  But Noah loved the beach and that made everything worth it.  We have spent this month getting Toby ready for school to start and finishing up his grad classes.  I am so ready to get back in the regular swing of things.  School starts tomorrow and I am ready.  I will miss having Toby here to come to our activities with us, and I hate hearing Noah talk about how much he misses Daddy and there is nothing I can do about it.  But I like my structured routine.  Everything is very scheduled which makes life with Noah easier.  Maddie doesn't really follow a schedule, so we will see if this has any effect on her now that she is older.  I can't believe she is already 8 months.  She is army crawling now and cutting her 3rd and 4th teeth.  Noah is almost 3 1/2 and he is so smart.  He is starting to write his letters and he can read a few words.  He amazes me everyday.  Now if we could just get Maddie to sleep I may not lose my mind!! :)

I changed my blog to a fall background.   I am willing fall to come!  I am so tired of the hot Texas summer.  I am ready for fall.   It is my favorite season. Hopefully this one will be as cool as this summer has been hot.  I don't know how much more heat I can take, before I pack our stuff and head north!

American Honey

Have you ever had a song that just spoke to you? Right now that song is American Honey. It reminds me of times long gone and a simpler life. I guess I have had the best of both worlds. I grew up all over Texas, but before I moved to Fort Worth I spent the majority of my childhood in the very small East Texas town of White Oak. When I lived there WO had maybe 5,000 people total. We had 100 people in our class. Everyone knew everyone. It is the kind of place that everyone should live in at least for a while. This song makes me think so much of that time in my life, especially the summers. Summers to me have always been magical, no matter where I was. But there was something about that place. Small towns just have a feeling. I can't explain it in words. It is just a feeling inside, that sometimes I ache for. As I listen to the song, I can feel things from those times. I can smell the chlorine from the community pool, and I can feel it still in my hair later that day as I pull my hair back and put on my softball cap to go play my game in the little field nestled among towering pine trees. You can feel summer there under the bright lights as the June bugs fly around and little kids run around carefree grasping at their snow cones. I can taste the blackberries that grew wild and we would pick and eat with a little sugar on them. I still smell the honeysuckle that grew on the vines close to my house. I remember the feel of my Sunday clothes all hot and sticky with sweat every Sunday as we went to church in the little log cabin church, and I can taste the juice from Vacation Bible School. It is the only place that I have ever had that kind of juice and it is so distinctive that it has stuck with me all these years. Oh how I long for those days. The simple times. The carefree days. I know that every time I hear certain songs or catch a whiff of honeysuckle, the same feeling will catch me. I will feel that same longing for my children to have that same experience. I will be grateful that I have had the experience to live in such a place.

Where does the time go?

Maddie is 6 months old. I can't believe that it has been six months already. She is growing so fast. She is sitting up and eating baby food and sleeping in her own crib. She has the cutest little personality. She loves to be held and tickled, she loves her big brother, and she loves to play with anything she can put in her mouth. We are going to try to use cloth diapers with her. We will see how that goes. We bought a gDiaper for her today. I hope it works, because it will be so much cheaper.
Noah has started potty training and is doing remarkably well. He had one accident today while he was awake and one while he was asleep. He also used the potty while we were out today. This resulted in having lunch in only a pull up and an emergency run to Carters. Not that I am ever upset about having to go there!. He is such a funny guy. I love hanging out with him and hearing what he is going to come up with next.

Kind of a short post today, because while Maddie is sleeping in her crib, she is up all the time crying so Toby and I are exhausted!

My dearest Noah

I meant to write you this letter last week on your birthday, but with all of the craziness the day slipped away before I could get my thoughts down. You have taught me so much in your short three years. You have shown me how much love I have. It is more than I ever thought possible. We tried so hard for so long just to have you. When you entered our world with all of the trials and tribulations that you had, you changed us, me especially. I knew that I was a strong person, but I had no idea how strong I was until I had you. I also learned that I don't always have to be the strong one, sometimes it is okay to lean on those around you. And that's what I did. Your daddy was my rock and I leaned on him. I let go of feeling like I had to be strong all the time, and let myself show my emotions and my vulnerability. When everything happened with my job and staying home with you, you taught me that it is okay to not have everything planned out. Sometimes it is okay to just roll with what life deals you. You taught me that I don't have to have a classroom to be a teacher. You showed me that my classroom is the backyard, and the grocery store, and the car. You taught me to enjoy the little things. You taught me to enjoy life and not worry so much about what anyone else thinks. You taught me to enjoy every second and make it memorable. Whether we are running through the sprinklers in our best clothes or jamming out to your favorite Barney song in the car, every moment is special. You have challenged me to be better and you have tested me sometimes beyond what I thought possible. You love the way only a child does, completely and wonderfully. You love your family and friends. I love seeing the relationship you are building with your sister. You love to make her laugh, and you are always there to comfort her when she needs it. You make me laugh everyday. You are the funniest guy I know. I love watching you and the way you look at the world and find the humor in it. I love that you always want to make sure everyone around you is happy. And if they are not, I love that you are always ready to offer a hug to make them happy. You have a kind heart and a loving soul. I feel blessed to be your mommy. I cannot wait to see what your future holds. I can't wait to have more adventures with you. I love you more than words can say. You are my sweet, loving Noah Bear. I love you more each and every day!

Love always,
Mommy

Mother's Day

I have reflected a lot today on motherhood. I used to wonder if I would ever celebrate this day. For years, we struggled with infertility due to my PCOS. Now I celebrate this day with my two special blessings.
I remember mother’s day three years ago. I thought I had another 3 months before my first little blessing was coming and then there he was about 2 weeks later. It was like being thrown into motherhood and all of its challenges all at once. I know every mother worries about their children from the second they are born. But these are normal fears. There are fears about childhood illnesses and what their future will hold. And these are very real fears. My fears with my first little blessing were brain bleeds, feeding tubes, and over stimulating his tiny nervous system. My fear was not about how I was going to be able to handle dealing with a three day old baby at home, it was wondering how I was going to deal with going home in three days to an empty house. The ride down the hallway, holding my special bundle all tucked neatly into his car seat on our way home was replaced with my sobs as I made that ride alone. It was watching the window where his isolette was positioned getting further and further away as we drove off. I was told when and for how long I could hold my child. We had a checklist of tasks that had to be accomplished before we could take him home. I kept that in my mind constantly and asked everyday, praying there was another check in our column. When we brought him home, we were in for a whole new set of challenges. We saw specialists and had weekly weight checks. We watched carefully for any signs of developmental delays. And we prayed everyday for him to be okay. Now almost three years later, we have this little bundle of energy. He has grown into an awesome little boy. It amazes me how much has changed in just three short years.
Now I have my second blessing. I had the normal experience with her, and it was so different. I was totally amazed at all the things that I didn’t deal with when we had Noah. I remember worrying about Maddie’s little cord. By the time Noah got home, it was long gone. I had no idea what to do with that. Maddie was the typical newborn baby, a phase that was not really there with Noah. He was still very little when we brought him home, but being in the NICU had given him a set schedule, not something we had with Maddie. My fears for Maddie are different than my fears for Noah where. At almost 5 months I was concerned with milestones and eating and sleeping. Maybe it is because she is my second or maybe because she was not a preemie, I don’t worry about that stuff as much. Sure I hope she sleeps through the night, and I watch for her milestones, but I don’t obsess like I did with Noah. I know she will get there when she’s ready, not when the books say she should. I just put together her first photo album. I was looking at pictures from her first few weeks, and she has changed so much. She has such a cute little personality. She loves to smile and be cuddled. And she loves her big brother. Nothing is sweeter than watching Noah jump up and down to make her laugh. And when she does, he laughs right along with her. It is the music of our lives. And no sound could be sweeter.
So today, I thought about all of this and so much more. We had them dedicated at our new church today. I teared up when they read the little description I had written. It made me so thankful that I have these two wonderful little people in my life. So happy mother’s day to all of you mommies out there. And for any of you still waiting, be patient and have faith. It may take a long time and maybe your path to motherhood will not come they way you expect, but just have faith that you will get there.

My kids

I am so blessed to have my kids.  Not only because I thought I may never be able to have kids, but because they are two of the sweetest, cutest, smartest kids I know. (I'm not biased or anything! :) )  I was so worried with Noah that he would be jealous of Maddie.  I think he is sometimes, but most of the time he just wants to love on her. 

He always lets me know when she needs something.  He will run and tell me if her binky fell out.  He tells me "Mommy, baby sister back a binky please!" 

He loves to help give her baths. (He pours water on her feet.)  I cannot tell you the number of times he has said to me "Mommy, baby sister beautiful."  It is so wonderful to watch him with her.  I hope they grow up to have a close relationship. 

things I am loving right now:
-singing songs with my son
-Tuesday story time
-having pretend picnics on the floor of the playroom 

-watching my daughter look up and grin and coo at me
-spending every moment I can with my kids while they are young

-my parents and grandparents relationship with my kids (Noah cannot get enough of his Granna, Gramps, Nana, and Papa)
-the rare nights out with my husband (I am very glad that we still have things to talk about besides the kids and still enjoy just hanging out together)
-having great friends and watching Noah making friends
-games of peek a boo

 

-watching my son love on my daughter and knowing how blessed I am

 

 
 

snow day

We had a record snow day in Feb.  We got 14 inches at our house.  Noah loved playing in the snow, and asked Toby to take him outside all the time.  Although as soon as he feel down in the snow, he was done.  He did not like that at all!  We took Maddie out just for a little bit to take her picture, but she in not a fan of the cold or the wind, so she didn't last long.  She has had two snowstorms in her short life: Christmas and this one.  We had a lot of fun that day.  Here are some pictures.

 

  

  

Toby, Noah and Maddie in the snow.

  

Noah measuring the snow.

 

Finally

I have finally made my blog private. I have been wanting to share pictures of our lives, but I did not feel comfortable posting them on here for everyone to see.

Maddie had her two month appt. She is 11 lbs 13 oz and 22 inches long. She is our little chunky monkey, which Noah loves calling her. I have always said I wanted a baby that has those really chunky thighs with rolls. Now I do! Her legs are adorable.

She is smiling and cooing all of the time now. I can't believe she is growing up so fast.



Noah is also growing like a weed. He is in 3T clothes now, which is amazing that he has finally caught up. He is so smart he amazes me. He knows how to count to 20, most of the time he gets the numbers, count to 3 in spanish, say his abc's, reads his name, etc. And he cracks me up all the time. He is constantly saying funny things or doing funny things. Like when he is thinking about something he taps his finger to his chin like he is thinking really hard. So cute!! I can't believe he is going to be three so soon!

MIA

I not felt like blogging in a while, and I am still working on making my blog private. We have been having a great time since I blogged last. Maddie is growing into such a cutie. She has finally started to smile and her little dimples are adorable! Noah is so in love with his baby sister. We recently were at our friend's house and her daughter was patting on Maddie. I thought Noah was going to flip out on her. Now I don't know if it was out of love for Maddie or irritation that his friend might like Maddie better. It was still cute!! We went to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo yesterday with my parents. Noah got a new pair of boots and a new hat from his Gramps. He loves them and has not taken them off since we got home (except to sleep thank goodness!). We moved Noah to a twin bed and he has a new cowboy room. We still have to paint it and add a few more touches, but it is really cute so far. I also started selling Uppercase Living. They are cute things to put on your walls or make crafts out of. They are really nice. I got my first few pieces the other day, and it has really made a nice impact on our walls. Toby made his own using a quote he liked for his classroom. I am very excited, and I hope this allows me to bring in a little extra money. That is about it for now.




Noah's new bed



We had this picture made at the Stock Show.




Noah and Gramps



Uppercase living in her room




Uppercase Living in our living room

Updates and changes

Madeline is a month old today. She is growing like a weed and is already in 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. She is sleeping longer at one time, and I am hoping that she will sleep through the night at an early age. Noah was 8 months old before he slept through the night! We have her one month dr appt today. I can't wait to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. Noah is quite the little chatterbox lately. He talks all the time, and he is so in love with his baby sister. I went out with my mom, Nana, Aunt Judy, and Aunt Cathy on Monday to do some shopping, and Noah was not happy that I was taking his baby sister out of the house without him. I am so blessed!!

Changes~ I am going to be changing my blog to be private. I will be doing this soon and will send an email to my followers and then anyone who wants to follow it can email me and I will send you the link. I want to be able to post pictures, and there have been people accessing my blog that I don't want to share things with. I want to know who is reading this and feel free to share my life, thoughts, and pictures with. So be looking for an email or feel free to email me!

Madeline

I have not posted in a while, because I have been adjusting to life as a mommy of two. I had no idea how much a second child would change everything! Everything is a little more difficult, because I am chasing after Noah while holding my tiny girl! I also didn't know it was possible to have so much love. While I was pregnant, I always wondered how I would have enough love for two kids. I love Noah so much that I didn't know how I could have room for that much love times two! But I am reminded of what I have heard the Duggars say, love doesn't divide it multiplies. That is so true! I feel so blessed to have these two wonderful little people in my life.

Birth story:
It was the day after my birthday, and I wasn't feeling normal. I felt out of breath and like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I called the on call dr, and he advised me to head down to the hospital for observation. I called my parents (b/c Toby cannot drive with the kids in the car), they came and picked us up and we headed down for the second time (I had already had one false alarm the week before with braxton hicks contractions). We got downtown and headed into the hospital. My blood pressure was elevated and the protein in my urine was higher than it was earlier in the week at my ob. The on call dr came to the hospital and said he was more than likely going to deliver me that evening. At that point my blood pressure went pretty high (I think b/c I realized that she was going to be born that night and this wasn't my dr). So after watching me for about a half hour, the dr said that we were going for a c section right away. I headed back at around 5pm. The last time, my c section was an awful experience (which is one reason I switched drs and hospitals). I was really nervous, b/c I love my new dr and I had never met this on call dr, but he was wonderful! The anesthesiologist got my epidural in on the first try (last time I was poked at least ten times). I had no idea that they had even started my c section until they told Toby and I that the baby was about to be pulled out. She came out screaming. They held her up over the curtain and she was beautiful! Toby went with them as they cleaned her up, weighed her, and got her APGAR scores (which were both 9). She was a perfect little peanut! She was smaller than we thought she was going to be at 6 lbs 5 oz. But she was perfect! They closed me up, and I got to hold her on the way back to l&d. The dr said at first that I would have to go on mag sulfate, which is awful. But he decided to just watch me and then make a decision. Luckily, he decided against it. I was able to have Madeline with me the entire time I was in the hospital. Such a change from Noah! We were able to go home after two days. We stayed with my parents until after Christmas. It was wonderful to be at their house and have the extra help while I recovered. Toby also took off from work for the first week back to stay at home and help (which is very nice, since I am not allowed to pick up Noah). We are starting to adjust to having two kiddos. Noah is so in love with his baby sister, but he is very clingy b/c he doesn't like that we are not completely focused on him. I am hoping that gets better soon!

Anyway, we had a great Christmas with our new bundle of joy and our wonderful 2 year old who is so smart that he constantly amazes us! We were very blessed this year. I would post some pictures, but we had an issue with someone taking pictures of Madeline from my mom's site over Christmas, and it has made me a little more cautious about putting their pictures out there. If you are not my friend on facebook, friend request me and you can see the pictures there. Well, I hear my little one crying in the next room, and we have to go to the store, so that is all for now. Hopefully, I will find some time to blog soon, but who knows with two kids! :)