The adrenaline has run out

I'm pretty sure I was running on pure adrenaline the first two weeks of Jonas's life. I'm so glad I was able to enjoy those two weeks as much as I did.

But the sleep deprivation has now kicked in. I won't drone on and on about it, because it just comes with the territory, and I know that.

John and I are working together to develop and sharpen our zone defense strategy, 3 on 2, and most days come away feeling somewhat successful. We even made it to church on time all by ourselves this past Sunday! Not only that, but I dropped John off at the building early for worship team rehearsal and all three kids and I went to Starbucks. I was not about to give up that weekly treat! Plus Kreg had given me a Starbucks card for my birthday, and it really needed to be used.

John and I are officially in Danny's band, "Group Therapy." We're learning to play the congas and it's a little intimidating, but a whole lot of fun! We'll be at KE Cellars Saturday night from 6-9 pm for anyone that wants to check us out. As I've said before, I'm thankful that John and I have this outlet that we can enjoy as a couple.

And now I'll leave you with my three favorite pictures from the past week.

My sleeping sweetness!

Johnathan--the angelic look.

... and Kalleigh's sad face. I couldn't resist. :)

Reflections after four days

I just wanted to jot down some thoughts before I forget what's been running through my mind during this precious time ...

I love the newborn phase. It's amazing how quickly it goes by! I'm really trying to enjoy every second. Every squirm, squished up face, squeak and squirt! Watching his face as he studies the new world around him. His legs all tucked up under him when he sleeps or when I hold him, because that's how he had been for the last several months. The wrinkles on his head. The "little old man" hair on the back of his head. The arms that he has no idea what to do with. The "pecking" when he's hungry. The trembling of his chin when he cries. The tiny hands and feet and everything else.

Nursing--what an amazing thing to be able to sustain the life of this infant. There is no other bonding like it! The sweet noises he makes when he eats. The full-body crunch when he latches on. The wide eyes when getting a big gulp of milk for the first time. The way he looks up at me. The feet tickling when he's falling asleep. The midnight gassy grins that only I see. The drunken milk face when he's all full. Even the bags of frozen milk in the freezer. This newborn phase is the only time I'll see that!

That's all for now. I just want to remember.

My boys. :)

Surprise! Jonas Dean is here!

Jonas Dean Hodges
Born: August 5, 2008
Weight: 9 lbs, 10 oz
Length: 21 3/8 in
Head circumference: 14 cm

The story:

Tuesday morning, August 5--our 8th anniversary. We were still in bed just before 8 am. I rolled over and said, "Happy Anniversary!" and wondered where we would go eat that night while the kids were at VBS. John got up first and then I rolled back over and--POP! It felt like Jonas had just kicked really hard, except it was down low, so it couldn't have been his feet. And then I felt my legs getting wet. Oh boy. As I got up and waddled to the bathroom, amniotic fluid continued to run down my legs! "Towels! My water broke! We're having a baby today!" I yelled to John as I climbed in the tub (the one I had just cleaned while nesting last weekend). No contractions yet.

I called my midwife and told her that my water had broken, and yes I was sure. She said that she would head to the birth center and get the jaccuzi started, since I wanted a water birth. She also said that I had ten hours to go into labor on my own. Otherwise, I would need to go to the hospital and be induced due to the risk of infection. I was to call her when the contractions started.

The phone calls started. I was just sure Mom would be able to make this one since I hadn't even started contracting. She left work immediately, ran home and packed for a week and was on the road by 9am.

Danny came by the house around 9:15 bearing gifts of donuts and milk to wish us good luck. I figured it was my last chance to eat whatever I wanted.

Then at 9:30 the contractions started. I could still talk through them, though, but they were progressing. Yea! I was going into labor!

I let my midwife know and she said that I could come on in whenver I felt like it. I told her that we'd take our time getting our stuff together, since the contractions still weren't too bad, and then we'd come on in after dropping the kids off at J.C. and Terry's. We dropped Johnathan and Kalleigh off at 11 am and headed to the birth center.

I had talked to my good friend, Chelsea just the day before (we had taken our kids swimming) about the possibility of her being there at the birth center with me whever I went into labor, at least until Mom got there. Well, here it was, the next day, so she met us there with gifts and camera in tow.

I was at 5 cm when my midwife, Vicky, checked me around 11:15. We agreed that it woulc be best to wait to get in the water until I was a little further along so the contractions wouldn't slow down. At that point, my contractions were coming every five minutes and growing steadily stronger, but still not totally unbearable ... until about 12:40. Then there was a significant change in the intensity and duration of each contraction. I wanted to be checked again because I wanted to get in that water ASAP! Sure enough I was at "at 8, maybe a 9," and I headed to the pool.

The water was perfect and it felt wonderful. I was in the pool about five minutes before I said, "I need to push!" Vicky said, "Great! Let's do it!" And I started pushing. Whew, that was hard work! But the end was so close! And I just kept on pushing! His head was hard for me to get out, partly because his right fist was up by his cheek, but finally, oh finally, he came on out of there. I pulled him up to me and was overwhelmed with emotions of love, pride, relief and sheer bliss! John cut cord and we just relaxed for awhile before I got out of that wonderful water.

I didn't need any stitches, I didn't have any IV, I got to go home 3 1/2 hours later. I LOVED this whole experience!! If we have another, and that's the plan at this point, I will definitely do it that way again, assuming everything goes well, of course.

Chelsea got some great pictures, so enjoy the slide show! (Some pics are sideways. Just didn't have time to edit them ALL!)

Progress and otherwise

I went in today for an appointment, and I'm at a 3! I knew those Braxton Hicks were doing something! He's still pretty high, or at least he swam back up for the appointment. All that to say, I have no idea when he'll decide to enter the world. My official due date is still the 22nd, but at the sonogram back in April, he was measuring 10 days ahead of schedule, which would be next Tuesday, the 12th. That would be a fine day for me. :)

On the other hand, I broke my pinky toe today! I ran into the wall rounding a corner. I heard the crack. And now it's black. Of course, you can't tell that it's swollen any worse than the rest of my toes, but it is not pretty. Isn't that just what I need when I weigh the most I've ever weighed in my life?!

A bit of nesting

I'm totally in "accomplish mode" these days. This timing seems to be about right, if I remember correctly. While pregnant with Johnathan my poor husband and I painted three rooms in one weekend, including his "all-out" Peter Rabbit nursery. With Kalleigh it was baking. From about 37 weeks until the day I went into labor I couldn't stop baking pies.

This weekend I made 2 framed quotes for Ladies Bible Class (which begins the Tuesday after my due date), boxed, labeled and had John put away Johnathan's and Kalleigh's clothes that they had outgrown, wrote thank you cards for the first round of my "bassinet shower" from church, created a design that has the names of God on it that will go on a 4 x 4 tile to give to all the Ladies Bible Class leaders in a couple of weeks, organized my scrap stuff and got it all put away, hung an iron decoration in our bathroom, cleaned out the wax that was in our garden tub from when a candle exploded nearby, cleaned the rest of the bathroom (no easy feat), put Jonas's car seat in the van and moved the other car seats around as needed, purged the kids' toys and got the ones that "made the cut" reorganized, gave myself a French manicure, and then just did some general picking up around the house. I intend to sleep well tonight. We'll see how that goes!

These are the framed quotes I made. I was pleased with how they turned out! The smaller quote says, "I've been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no other place to go. -- Abraham Lincoln. These quotes will sit at our service project table and our prayer reqest table.

I had made a fresh cherry cobbler earlier this week, but I learned the hard way that it needed to be refrigerated. *sniff* What's wrong with my brain? I should've known that.

Next week is VBS, so that should be fun. No, I'm not in charge of anything! And Tuesday is our 8 year anniversary. Crazy!

Needless to say, it's a good day, and I'm feeling well. I'm grateful for days like this!

Top Ten: Your feet might be swollen if ...

10. There are no recognizable bones in them.

9. You are nervous about walking across the stiff grass because anything too sharp might just make them pop.

8. They resemble baby feet--taller than they are wide.

7. You laugh at high heels and wonder why any woman would subject herself to such torture.

6. Your toes look more like "Lil' Smokies" sausages than actual human digits.

5. They retain impression marks better than memory foam.

4. You look back at the floor where you have just walked and are thankful that there are not puddles of water than have squished out of your feet like a wet sponge.

3. The vericose veins on your ankles actually improve due to the extra support of the swelling of your feet.

2. You rest your foot on the floor and your toes do not touch the floor.

1. Your CROCS are tight.


Any others I've forgotten?

Oh, I would've posted a picture of my feet, but I would've had to wash the dirt off of them first, and that is just not worth the effort right now.

When email is down ...

I've been without email since 10 am yesterday, and I had no idea how crippling it would be! People have called and fussed at me for not returning their emails, or called to make sure I was okay. Two people even told me that they thought I had gone into labor since I hadn't returned their emails!

So, if you're one of those people who has sent an email since 10 am yesterday, don't panic. I'm right here and I'm fine and I'm not purposefully ignoring you. As my email company says, "Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused!"

What did we do without email?!

Austin

John went to the National Worship Leaders Conference in Austin this past week and the kids and I got to go just for fun! One of the biggest reasons for John going was to meet with the VP of CCLI to discuss some copyright issues regarding the reformatting and displaying of notes on a screen in a worship service setting. The meeting went better than we could've imagined and was worth the whole trip!

Meanwhile, the kids and I did whatever we wanted. We swam in the hotel pool, went to the Austin Children's Museum, watched the famous thousands of Austin bats make their nightly departure from under the Congress bridge, walked all over downtown, and of course got some good shopping in as well! It was so nice to be able to spend that time with Johnathan and Kalleigh before Jonas arrives with no "to-do" list weighing me down as it would have had we stayed home. I actually just got to enjoy my children for a while! They're really sweet kids!

On Tuesday evening we ate dinner with my aunt and uncle, Shawn and Britney, and their two beautiful little girls. Addie and Kalleigh especially had fun playing together. We ate some yummy steak and enjoyed catching up with them.

We're really home now until Jonas is born. I was so sad to miss our Curtis family reunion that was this weekend in Searcy, but since I'm officially 36 weeks (and 2 days, but who's counting?), I'm really not supposed to travel more than an hour away from home. Thanks to those who have continued to pray for my Papaw. I talked to Mom on Friday who said that he's doing pretty well and planned on being there for part of the reunion! Yea! I'm eager to read my cousins' blogs about how everything went and hopefully see some good pictures! (Hint, hint, Deb, Liz, Tiff & Rach!)

Now life is all about waiting for Jonas ... tick, tick, tick, tick ....

What happens on a typical drive anywhere over an hour away:

Events the past two (well, now three) weeks, Part 3: our stay in AR

The short version is that we had a great time in AR. You can scan the pictures below or if you really want all the details, feel free to keep reading!

Sunday morning after the concert we went to early service at Woodmont (with the 26 other people who go to early service!) and then hit the road back to AR where I was going to stay the following week while John, Danny and Stefanie headed on home.

When we got to Searcy, we all went over to the hospital and sang a few songs for Mamaw and Papaw, which was really special. Thanks again, to John, Danny and Stef for delaying your trip home another 30 minutes!

Sunday night, Mom and I went to see "Star Spangled Girl" put on by the Searcy Summer Dinner Theater and directed by Craig Jones. It was a fun show, and even more fun to see my cousin, Logan, perform so well in it!

The kids were still at John's mother's house, so Mom just took me over there after the show to spend the night. It was so good to see the kids again! Mom took the whole week off, so she came to pick us up the next morning, since John had our van! The rest of the day was basically spent recovering from the crazy trip, and I was so thankful for the rest. I did get to spend a little time with Papaw, too, which was so good.


Mom giving Johnathan his b-day present: An Indiana Jones Hat and whip! So cool!

Tuesday we headed to Mt. View where "the girls" and their families were there with Grammie and Papaw at Jack's. If you know "Jack's" you know what I'm talking about. If not, don't worry about it. :) We spent the day shopping and finding wonderful treasures and things we liked "a lot!" My children even did relatively well with lots of help from Mom, Grammie, Aunt Karla, Aunt Jina, Claire, Alissa and Rebekah! We ate at the "Drug Store," and I had their fresh lemonade with my lunch. Mmm, mmm ... there's just nothin' better!


Aunt Karla and "The Hat."

I had a chance to visit with Aunt Jina more about her water birth experience with Rebekah (her fourth), since that's what I'm leaning toward with Jonas. The most compelling thing she said was that she would've had all her other children that way if she had known how wonderful it was! Mostly, I was grateful for her listening ear and encouragement as I get closer to my due date!

Before we left to head back to Searcy, Aunt Karla and Aunt Jina gave me a distressed antique white wagon wheel wall decoration for the nursery, since I'm doing a cowboy theme. It is so cute! I have already painted Jonas's letters red and attached them to the wheel and have it hanging in the nursery! I'll put up pictures of that in a later post.

Wednesday, we met Mamaw for lunch at Mazzio's. It just wouldn't be a true Searcy visit without Mazzio's! After lunch, I spent about 4 hours up at the hospital while Mom put the kids down for a nap. Yea, Mom! Mamaw and I had some good conversation, and Papaw joined in from time to time. It also was good to see familiar faces that came to visit Papaw!


Story time with Nana--always a favorite!

That evening was Home Bible Study that Mom has been hosting in the summers for 15 years now! I'm so thankful for that wonderful group and what it has meant to Mom through the years.

Thursday Daisha and her two sweet children came over for a playdate. Johnathan and Gideon and fun being boys, Kalleigh had fun trying to keep up with the boys, and Naomi just smiled most of the time! I'm so glad Daisha and I just happened to be in Searcy the same week and that we got to catch up for a little bit!


Gideon and Johnathan doing their best to hold their little sisters!


Could Naomi be any cuter? I don't think so.

Thursday afternoon we shopped Searcy! Mom got some fun jewelry for my birthday, and I am now cool because of it. :) I found a diaper bag for Jonas and got Mom a "Nana" bracelet that has the birthstones of her grandchildren on it! I went ahead and got an August stone for Jonas, so he had better wait until then! My due date is the 22nd, so surely that won't be an issue.

Friday morning, we stopped back by the hospital to see Mamaw and Papaw once more before we left town. Papaw was having a good day and was sitting up in a chair when we got there! Kalleigh had her beloved bear with her when she came in, and decided to share it with Papaw! It was if she could sense that Papaw needed some comfort, and knowing that her bear gave her a lot of comfort, she thought Papaw might want to hold her bear for a while, too! Saying goodbye is always hard, especially since I'm not going to be able to make it for for the reunion this cmoing weekend, but I promised Papaw that after Jonas Dean is born that I would bring him up to meet his namesake!

From there we headed down to Little Rock and shopped a little more, ate at Pei Wei (YUM) and met John around 2:30. We loaded up in our own van and headed back to Tyler while Mom stayed in LR a little longer and I believe did a bit more damage.

All in all, a wonderful week in AR. Time for Mom to spend with two grandkids before there are three, and time for me to put my feet up a little! Good time spent with Mamaw and Papaw. But it's always good to be home again, especially with John!

Events the past two weeks, Part 2: The Real Group

It started Friday evening, July 4th, when Clearly Vocal (well, 4 out of 5--Our bass is the director out at Camp Deer Run, so he couldn't be there) sang for a party at a local country club. From there, all four of us picked up our children and drove to Searcy where we dropped the kids off at John's mother's house and picked up my mom. This was about 3:30 am!

Fueled with adrenaline, we drove on to Nashville and enjoyed a big breakfast at Crackel Barrel. Then we went to see if our hotel rooms were available in Franklin--a long shot, I know, since check-in wasn't until 3pm. Thankfully, one was, so we (which is now Mom, Stefanie, Danny, John and I) all piled in and crashed for a while, taking turns getting cleaned up. We were still in our performance outfits from the night before!

Around noon we headed downtown to grab a bite before the concert. "What concert?" you might ask. Oh. THE concert. We had driven overnight so we could see The Real Group in concert in the United States for the first time in around 10 years! So, after lunch at Panera, we were finally headed to the concert. For the rest of the story, read what John wrote!

Truly a dream come true!

Events the past two weeks, Part 1: Birthday

I don't know about you, but when a lot of exciting things happen all at once and I don't have time to blog about them, I tend to put if off and then do it all at once. So, here's part one of three of my last two weeks.

My birthday was fabulous. John made pancakes from scratch (not even Bisquick!) for breakfast. He made a giant pancake for me and put a candle in the center. When I finally crawled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen, there was a Bed, Bath, & Beyond gift bag on the table. In it was a giant bath towel (that I had asked for!) as well as a super sweet card. Two points for John!

Then I was off to get a pedicure! These are especially nice these days since I can no longer do it myself.

After lunch, we took the kids to see Wall-E, which was cute! Johnathan loved it and did great. Kalleigh did great for about an hour, and John spent the rest of the movie letting Kalleigh run around in the entrance to the theater. She escaped to the very front only once, shrieking with glee at her victory. :)

We took the kids home and then I ran to get my hair trimmed, probably the last trim before Jonas arrives. I LOVE letting someone else fix my hair!

We dropped the kids off with our wonderful friends', the Deans, and we hit another movie! This time we saw Hancock, the superhero movie with Will Smith. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but it turned out to be really good!

Then John took me to one of the nicest restaurants in Smith County, Kiepersol! Neither of us had been there before, but people had raved about it. I had the filet mignon, which just melted in my mouth. I had ordered a spinach salad, but since they forgot to bring it out, they gave us a free desssert--their famous chocolate cake. It was served with vanilla ice cream and the middle of the cake gushed with chocolate. Oh my.

I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband and beautiful children for making the day so memorable!

Update 7-16: This is the cake that our friend Danny (tenor in Clearly Vocal) got for Stefanie (soprano in Clearly Vocal) and me since our birthdays are just a couple of days apart. He said he got a good deal on the cake since "Bill" never showed up to pick up his cake. :)

Time passer for those prone to procrastinate ... like me.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

1. Demonstrating toe touches at cheerleading camp in Denver.

2. Getting ready to run the sports at pre-teen camp in Buena Vista, CO.

3. Working part-time for my friends at the tennis center in Colorado Springs.

4. Living with those same friends while waiting to close on our 2nd house.

5. Unaware that I was pregnant and that I would miscarry.

What are 5 things on your To-Do list today?

1. Take John to work -- check.

2. Take kids to Discovery Science Place -- check.

3. Eat lunch with John and kids at Double Dave's -- check.

4. Shower while kids are napping -- right after I finish this.

5. Apply temporary tattoos at church Celebration of Freedom tonight.

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

1. Oreos

2. Chocolate Chip Pop Tarts

3. Chex Mix

4. Cashews

5. Snickers protein bars -- seriously, they're good for you!

What are 5 things you'd do if you were a Billionaire?

1. Owe nothing

2. Give to my favorite non-profits

3. Set aside money for kids' college

4. Hire a housekeeper

5. Own a working ranch and ride a good horse everyday

What are 5 of your bad habits?

1. procrastinating (big surprise)

2. short cutting to "make things do," as in, "That'll do."

3. loosing my temper

4. staying up too late playing the Wii or watching tv (but at least John and I do it together!)

5. not being open to a change of my plans

What are 5 jobs that you've had?

1. Harding Admissions office slave

2. Historical house tour guide

3. Preschool teacher

4. Basketball and cheerleading coach

5. Mommy

Name 5 places where you have lived.

1. Ft. Worth, TX

2. Memphis, TN

3. Searcy, AR

4. Colorado Springs, CO

5. Tyler, TX

Preggo mind story

Something like this happens nearly everyday, so I thought I'd write one down so I don't forget it later.

I was in the kitchen starting to fold laundry when I though, "Boy, some music would be nice. I think I'll turn on Pandora."

So I headed over to the computer (less than 20 ft away) and sat down and saw the recipe I had just pulled up for supper before starting to fold the clothes. I had no idea why I had just sat down at the computer.

My mind wandered a bit and I decided to look up another recipe for dessert while I was there. I found one I liked and headed back into the kitchen to make sure I had all the ingredients.

After doing that I saw the pile of clothes and remembered that I was folding clothes and needed to finish the pile. I picked up a shirt and thought, "Boy, some music would be nice. I think I'll ... oh, good grief."

The rest of the story is that I have yet to turn on Pandora and am blogging about the whole deal instead.

"Boy, some music ......."

Praying for Papaw

Hi blogger friends. Join me in praying for my Papaw like we did last summer when he went through his first chemo treatments. The cancer has been acting up again and these new 3-day treatments are pretty hard on his system, but seem to be working. He's been on tubal feeding for a few weeks now, so pray that he'll be able to eat on his own again soon. This is day two of his second 3-day treatment since the beginning of June. I visited with him some this morning, and he sounded pretty good! He said he was feeling better today, so we're grateful for that! I'll get to spend about a week in Searcy after the 4th of July, so I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with Mamaw and Papaw!

Thanks everybody. God is faithful!

Four years old

Happy birthday, my oldest son! It's been an exciting four years!

June 20, 2004 - 8 lbs, 4 oz - 20 1/2 in
June 20, 2008 - 38 lbs - 39 in

The Diego cake he asked for.

I'm four!

The Larry Boy cake he also asked for--made by Terry Dean!

I can't get him to take this off!

Singing tonight!

It's a little late notice for today, but if you're around town and free tonight, John and I are singing tonight with Danny at KE Cellars, right across from the mall!

Some wedding pics

Here are just a few pictures from the wedding weekend:

Yet another Johnathan funny

"Mommy, Uncle Kreg is hilarious. That's Spanish for 'really funny.'"

Can you guess what song this is?

Elizabeth had a funny blog about Ashlyn singing and it inspired me to post one of Kalleigh's songs ... in her words of course. Do any of you speak Toddler?

Itto, itto, itto tah
Ah wah wuh wuh wuh wuh wah.
Up pup pup pup wuh wuh high.
Yop pup dah pup pup pup sigh.
Itto, itto, itto tah
Ah wah wuh wuh wuh wuh wah.

I have yet to capture this on video, for of course she sings it all day long, but clams up when I bring out the camera!

We moved Kalleigh in with Johnathan since we've been back from CO. While there, she and Johnathan shared a room and she slept on a twin bed, so I figured that even if she's a little young, now would be a good time to do it since she was already out of the crib routine. So far, they both have done really well! And now I can work on that nursery!!

The wedding weekend

Well, it's official. They're Mr. and Mrs. Kreg Kell. What a beautiful wedding, too! Beautiful people inside and out, beautiful chapel, beautiful music, beautiful dresses, beautiful flowers ... oh so beautiful!

We stayed with our friends, John and Kisti, while we were there. It was so fun to get to see them (a little!) and catch up. They are some of those friends where you pick up right where you left off. I think it had been almost three years since we had seen them! Thank goodness for blogger land! Kisti was amazing and cooked really yummy breakfasts for us each morning and they even helped with our kids when we needed! Thanks again, Kisti, for being such a wonderful hostess!

Danny came with us to play at the wedding and reception, so with three drivers, we figured we could drive through the night. We left at 10pm Wednesday night and got in around 11am (mountain time) the next morning. The kids did great, and we drivers survived. :)

The weekend was jam-packed with luncheons, dress fittings, last-minute errands (i.e. getting John a suit to wear since he was the officiant!), general "beautifying", eating (and eating and eating), partying, rehearsing, setting up for the reception and trying to keep the kids on some sort of schedule so they wouldn't be absolute monsters at the wedding! We were all honored by having various roles in the wedding. As mentioned before, Danny played the piano as well as being the emcee for the reception, John officiated and sang the song for their first dance, I was a bridesmaid and got to sing a song with Kristi at the wedding as well as some other songs at the reception, Johnathan was the ring bearer (though I don't think he actually carried anything!), and Kalleigh was a flower girl. The children did just fine, minus a little meltdown when they got down to the front, but at least they did make it down the incredibly long aisle holding hands and bow in place.

And Keleigh was absolutely stunning! Of course, you didn't even have to see her to know that. All you had to do was to look at Kreg's face!

The quote of the trip, though, came from Johnathan as we were coming out of Raton pass and caught our first glimpse of snow-capped mountains (said with much volume and enthusiasm): "Colorado! We're comin' to ya!"

So, yes, it's official. I have the best sister-in-law in the whole world!

Father, bless Kreg and Keleigh in their journey together. Show them how to love like you love us. Help them to continue to seek you and long for you more than they long for each other. Make their paths straight and keep them strong and continue to shower them with blessings their whole lives! Through Jesus, Amen.

Thoughts as the third trimester begins.

Hooray! I passed my gestational diabetes test today!

Bummer. I've already gained all the weight I'm supposed to ... for the whole pregnancy.

Hooray! Less than three months to go!

Bummer. Everyone else I know who is pregnant will have their babies before I do.

Hooray! I have the whole summer to spend quality time with only two kids!

Bummer. I have absolutely zero energy to do anything.

Hooray! The pools are opening around here this week!

Bummer. That maternity swim suit just is not flattering one bit.

Hooray! I'm sleeping great these days!

Hooray! I have everything I need for the cute cowboy nursery!

Hooray! The baby is very active and seems to be totally healthy!

Hooray! I will hold this little boy in my arms before the summer is over!


Okay, good. There are more hoorays than bummers. It's good to remind myself of that every now and then. :)

A week from now ...

... my baby brother will be married!

I still remember when ...

... Mom told me that we were going to have another baby and asking me if that was okay! (I said yes.)
... Kristi and I went to the hospital to see our new baby brother.
... I caught him sitting on the counter (18 mo?) stuffing two more chocolate oatmeal cookies into his already full and chocolate-covered mouth.
... he yelled "Cowabunga Dude!" before 'flying' off the monkey bars at preschool--because he truly believed he could fly--and coming home with a broken arm.
... our family would go to soccer games to watch Kreg dribble the ball down and score every time w while all the other little boys would just try to keep up.
... he got third degree burns trying to walk the dog too close to the grill.
... he walked into a swinging baseball bat.
... he fell down an elevator shaft and had staples put in his head.
... he would keep up with me when I was in high school going on several mile jogs ... and he was still in elementary school
.... Papaw Kell baptized him at College Church.
... he told me about his first kiss.
... he helped his football team win the state championship by throwing the winning touchdown.
... he changed my son's diaper.
... he became the second in our immediate family to be a long jump state champion.
... I told him about a cute little girl that I had coached in CO who would be coming to Harding and that they should at least meet.
... we took his senior trip to Destin and all had a time to preach at him. I told him that the woman he married needed to be someone that we actually liked. ;)
... he told me on April 10, 2007 that this Keleigh Good girl might really be "the one!"
... he sent me a message on June 12, 2007 with a picture of the ring he intended to buy.
... he called right after the surprise proposal.

I also remember when ...
... I was told about this family moving to Colorado Springs who had three daughters and they thought that they might play basketball.
... I met Keleigh and how I thought how polite and mature she was for being just 14 (15?).
... Keleigh led her team with unquenchable spirit and sacrificial commitment, and then found out after the season that she had probably had mono the whole season.
... John and I talked about how we wanted to do parenting like the Goods did.
... I showed her a picture of my "little brother."
... I found out she was going to Harding, and I told her to at least meet Kreg and just make the connection between us.
... Kevin (Keleigh's dad) agreed to be my assistant coach in basketball--yea!
... Kevin told me that Keleigh had told him that Kreg had opened the Bible building door for her and not realized it was her.
... Kevin told me that Keleigh had told him that she had to crawl over Kreg at church to get to her seat ... and he didn't realize it was her.

And now we're one week out. What a precious couple! I thank God for bringing Kreg and Keleigh together! I couldn't have hand-picked any better!

The gash

It's one of those times where you have to make the call ... do I go or do I stay? If I go, is to the ER or the doctor? And if I go, what 12 things have to be done before I can just drop everything and go? It's a logistical nightmare. Oh, plus your child's head is bleeding. Quick! Make a decision!

We decided to stay, and I think it was the right choice. Here's the story:

On Tuesday, Johnathan was taking his afternoon nap. Well, he was supposed to be sleeping, but that's another story. Kalleigh had already woken up from hers and was playing nicely on her own. I was at the kitchen table going through the mail. I heard her climb up on the little stool in their bathroom and say, "Boo!" over and over. I went in to check on her and she was playing "Peek-a-boo" with herself in the mirror. Pretty cute. I smiled to myself and headed back to the kitchen.

A few more "Boo!"s and then I heard the stool move suddenly, then a THUD, then much screaming. "Aww, that'll leave a nice bump," I thought.

When I got in there, her poor little feet were still propped up on the stool and she was lying on her back on the floor with her head against the wall. I scooped her up and immediately felt for the knot. Good, there it was. Better out than in. :) We got the "Boo Bunny" (the washcloth that is shaped to look like a bunny that wraps around a piece of ice to put on the "boo-boo") and I held that against the knot for awhile.

I noticed that her diaper was soaked, so I took her into her room to change her. As I laid her down on the changing table, I noticed that there was some blood on my hand and arm and a little smudged on her leg, too. "What in the world?" I thought. I hadn't seen any blood in the bathroom. Maybe she bit her lip? But no; that wasn't it. I didn't see anything else immediately, so I finished changing her.

When I picked her up, there was a nice approximately 4"x 2" area of blood where her head had been. Yikes! I turned her around, and sure enough, there on the back of her head was a nice big area of matted hair that had mixed with the blood, but had all but stopped the bleeding. I took her in and tried to wash the blood out of her hair so I could see the wound better.

And there it was. The gash was open about an eighth of an inch and was close to 3/4 of an inch long. I even measured it with a ruler! There was no way I would be able to keep that together with all that hair. But again, the bleeding had almost stopped and I couldn't see the skull or anything, plus she was starting to calm down and her pupils were normal--no concussion.

We had come to the decision point. To go or not to go. What do you do? Call Mom! Mom has had a few experiences with head wounds, mostly Kreg's. From him walking into a swinging baseball bat to falling down an elevator shaft and needing staples, Mom was the one to call. In an attempt to avoid sounding panicked, I unnaturally calmly explained the situation. We agreed that if I took her in, they would probably put a couple of stitches in, but that the trauma of the whole ordeal probably would have been worse than the trauma of having a scar on the back of her head. Mom talked a little to Kalleigh on the phone, which helped her calm down a little, too. Yea for Nana!

Kalleigh has been an absolute trooper through this whole mess. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to bother her one bit, and she's doing totally fine.

Here's a picture of the wound about 28 hours after it happened.



I never found any blood in the bathroom, which seemed strange to me. The wall by the bathtub sticks out a bit, so I think she must've hit her head on the shoe molding that comes to a point the corner of that wall. But still, no blood? Weird.

Another crazy day in the life of a toddler!

The summer is here

Johnathan's last day of preschool was today. He has learned so much this year! They had a little picnic lunch and then played some games. His teacher handed out little certificates to all of them and then they had some yummy snacks. Where was my camera? At home, of course. I amaze myself.

But it's starting to get pretty hot. Too hot for picnics outside, that's for sure! And though the actual beginning of summer isn't for another month, it's summer here in Tyler.

I'm off to get a refill of ice water ... again ... followed shortly thereafter by a run to potty ... again, as I'm pretty sure Jonas is turning head down these days. Just three more months ... Three more hot, sticky, humid ......... can we say POOL PLEASE?!?

Mothers ... Part 2

Thanks to Mom for such a wonderful comment! And thanks to so many of you who commented as well and showed you love for my mom!

The other part of Mother's Day I wanted to share was the questionnaire that Johnathan did at school. Not bad, Son!

(Johnathan's answers in bold.)

My mother is as pretty as a rainbow.
My mother is 16 years old.
My mother weighs 60 pounds.
My mother's favorite color is pink.
My mother's favorite food is cereal and eggs.
My mother's favorite drink is orange juice.
My mother's favorite TV show is Veggie Tales.
My mother's favorite store is Wal-Mart.
My mother's favorite animal is a dog.
My mother's favorite restaurant is Sonic.
My mother is special to me because she helps me.

I love my mom!

Mom entered a new phase of life this week: KID-FREE! An exciting time, of course. A time of self-redefinition. A time for new opportunities. A time not to have to provide for anyone else.

And just like any season of change ... I'm sure it's hard! I mean, she's been doing this parenting thing for 29 years without a break! And for that season to be over? I've been doing the parenting thing for almost four years, and it's so hard to try to imagine a season beyond that!

And just like any season of change ... she enters it with grace and determination. I think she's going to wear "empty nest" just beautifully! This season isn't going to change, so we might as well look pretty. :)

And just like any season of change ... she walks through it with God as her guide. Many unknowns out there! Questions such as, "What now?" are not weighted down with worry and self-pity, but are directed to God with faith that He gives answers!

Thank you, God, for my mom! And thank you, Mom, for being you! I love you!

Curls

Oh, her precious curls!

Sometimes he knows just what to say

So I went to pick up the kids after praise team rehearsal last night. I walked in the room and both kids yell, "Mommy!" and head my direction.

Then Johnathan turns to the babysitter and says, "See? It's Mommy! Isn't she pretty?"

My son could do no wrong the rest of the evening.

It's probably time ...

... for a belly shot. Clearly Vocal took new pictures the other day, mostly to get some good head shots, but we got a few full shots, too. Here are Jonas and me--about 5 1/2 months. :)

To see the new CV head shots, just click here!

April summary

It's hard to believe that April is over already. We packed it to the limit with fun activities! It's been too overwhelming to blog about, as I saw that I used my only three April blogs to get away from our hectic month! But as some are interested, I'll make a nice, clean list of the things that demanded our time.

• We added a fifth person to Clearly Vocal. Don is a super second bass and doing a great job. We sing tomorrow night for the first time as a five-person group, so we've been rehearsing once or twice a week all month to get ready for that. We also recorded a few sound clips for our Clearly Vocal website. You can also click on the player on this blog to hear them! We're hoping to take some group and individual shots tomorrow night when we sing to update the website pics, too.
• The spring Children's Clothing Consignment Sale was the second weekend in April, so I spent a lot of time gathering together things to sell and going through the painful process of rummaging through the attic to gather up things to sell and then ironing, safety-pinning, tagging and labeling each of these items. The fantastic part is that you just drop the stuff off and you never have to think about it again! If it doesn't sell, you can either go pick it back up or if you don't, they'll donate it to Goodwill! We get 70% of the selling price, and I received my check in the mail just this past weekend. :)
• Kreg and Keleigh came to visit that same weekend, so we got together with Danny and worked on some of their wedding music. We also got to get out and ride the horses a little bit as well as enjoy a yummy dinner and Danny's entertainment at Pico de Gallo! We're excited to head back to CO for their wedding in just a month!
• John finished up the taxes--yea, Honey!--and we got that refund deposited into our account just recently. I'm mostly excited because that finished up our saving up money for paying for the baby delivery! It's going to be so great to bring little Jonas home and not owe a dime for it!
• Our last Ladies' Bible Class meeting was on the 15th. Our study focused on the bride of Christ relationship, so we had a wedding ceremony of sorts with a reception to follow, complete with vows, a unity candle, "the kiss" (okay, it was a Hershey's kiss), punch, cake and finger foods. I made three cakes, but they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. They sure tasted good, though!
• A friend from church owns a weight-loss center and hired me to scrap and frame 5 12x12 layouts featuring her top five before and after pictures of her clients. She wanted to put them on her main wall in her clinic and title it "Wall of Success," so of course, she also wanted me to scrap and frame a title to go over the other 5 frames. This was a bigger job than I expected, but I really enjoyed stretching my creative limits and thought that the project turned out well. Apparently, she liked them, because she hired me again to scrap two poster-sized layouts of before and after pictures so that she could set them on easels and take them to conventions with her! Those were "due" the day after the Ladies' Bible Class last day!
• Our praise team had a Vocal Aerobics seminar on a Friday night and Saturday morning, the 18th and 19th. It's exactly as it sounds: exercises for the voice! We learned a lot about the different ranges and how best to sing in each range, how to find your different lifts and a great way to determine voice part. It was great! Our dear friends, JC and Terry kept our children overnight for us, so after the seminar Friday night, John and I caught a late movie!
• Johnathan's school had Rodeo Roundup, the annual two-day event where we celebrate Texas and all the western stuff that goes with it. I was in charge of getting the petting zoo and pony rides there and making sure we had plenty of volunteers to man the stations. No problem. Then, as I did last year, I made a PowerPoint thanking all of our sponsors and ran it on a continuous loop throughout the event. Thanks to John for helping me set up the projector! As if that wasn't enough excitement, on day two, the gym started smelling like smoke so badly that we had to evacuate and call the fire department! Thankfully, there was never any smoke or fire. The firemen said it had something to do with overworked heaters, but that there was no threat of a fire. And the day went on as planned.
• And we had a ladies' night out that night and laughed and laughed until my already stretched tummy tendons were hurting!
• The youth group's annual auction was just this past Sunday, and I was on the decorating committee. So we met once to divide out responsibilities, and basically mine was to get the appropriate announcements in the bulletin and to help decorate on the Saturday before. I succeeded at taking care of the announcements, but failed miserably on the decorating part, which leads me to the next activity ...
• Last weekend, John and I went to the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. The kids stayed at Dad's house and had fun while John and I were able to enjoy the festival kid-free! There were some amazing groups that performed and some beautiful artwork from jewelry to pottery to watercolors to photography. I walked over to a pottery booth and out of instinct picked up a pitcher. The potter grinned and said, "Now you look like you need ANOTHER pitcher to add to your collection!" He totally hit the nail on the head! I reluctantly, but stubbornly put the pitcher down and picked up a pie plate instead! I have it on display in my kitchen. :) While in Dallas, we were able to take home my new nursery bedding that I had won on eBay and that Dad had picked up for me! I can't wait to set it all up, but I think we're going to have to wait until sometime this summer before we kick Kalleigh out, I mean, move her into her big girl bed and share a room with Johnathan!
• My most recent project was a diaper cake that I made for one of my good friend's baby shower coming up the Sunday. Now you know I really wanted to do that project, since it is already done. Otherwise, I would have probably stayed up all night the night before. Hooray for doing ONE of the projects this month ahead of time!

Okay, the list was not as neat as I intended, but as you can see, we did have a few thing going on. In no way am I complaining about having too much to do! I agreed to or volunteered for each of these, and it's been a really fulfilling month! No, I wouldn't want every month to be quite that crazy, but every now and then, it's nice to know you're still alive. :)

Here comes May ... !

"That doesn't match."

So we're at the dinner table eating together as a family. Here's how the conversation went between my son and me:

Johnathan, looking at the platter full of steak: Mommy, is that a bull?
Me: Well, yeah, maybe ... or a cow. It's either a bull or a cow.
Johnathan, now looking at me as if I had just said something completely ridiculous: What? That doesn't match.
Me: What are you talking about?
Johnathan: Like is it a bull or a plate?
Me: Oooohhhhh! A BOWL!
(much laughter from John and me)
Johnathan: Yeah, a bull! (at least that's what it sounded like)
Me: Son, it's a platter. The steak is on a platter. It's neither a bowl nor a plate.
Johnathan: Yeah, that matches.

John and I got so tickled about this conversation later that we were just howling with laughter! Johnathan must have thought I had totally lost my mind! He heard, "It's either a bowl or a cow!" No wonder he gave me such a funny look!

One Word

This was on Sandi's blog, and looked fun. Feel free to copy and paste with your own one-word descriptions!

1. Where is your cell phone? close
2. Your significant other? thorough
3. Your hair? pony-tail
4. Your mother? strong
5. Your father? giving
6. Your favorite thing? offspring
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
9. Your goal or dream? Create
10. The room you're in? Bedroom
11. Your kids? Energetic
12. Your fear? Snakes
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Non-pregnant
14. Where were you last night? Church
15. What you're not? Non-pregnant
16. Muffins? Butavan
17. One of your wish list items? Manicure
18. Where you grew up? Searcy
19. The last thing you did ? Email
20. What are you wearing? Maternity
21. Your TV? On
22. Your pets? Pugs
23. Your computer? On
24. Your life? Changing
25. Your mood? Optimistic
26. Missing someone? Family
27. Your car? Mini-van
28. Something you're not wearing? Watch
29. Favorite Store? Scrap
30. Your summer? Pregnant
31. Like someone? John
32. Your favorite color? Red
33. When is the last time you laughed? Supper
34. Last time you cried? Forgot
35. The person who sent this to you? Sandi
36. Who will/would resend this? Unimportant
37. A good book? Sudoku ;)
38. A good movie? Shawshank
39. A good song? Bubbly
40. One word to share? Rejoice

Okay, okay ... 7 random things

Two "7 Random Things" tags later ... here they are:

1. I get a headache after wearing my hair straight, but not curly.
2. I've just discovered Pandora, and love it.
3. I like to complete projects, but always manage to put them off until the last minute.
4. Dublin Dr. Pepper will always be my drink of choice.
5. I usually don't want to "go out and do something," but am almost always glad I did.
6. I've never been satisfied with a cake I've decorated, but I keep volunteering--why?
7. I'd rather actually clean than just put things away. Unfortunately, it's difficult to do the former without the latter. :)

It's been an incredibly busy month. I'll have to tell you about it later (see #3) ... maybe.

Pretty shoes

Kalleigh is truly my daughter. She's entering a new stage where she is fascinated with her own shoes. She likes to change her shoes throughout the day. She likes to go up to other people and point down at her shoes and say, "Shoes?" as if to say, "See my pretty shoes?"

So here she is showing Daddy her newest ... as in most recently put on ... pair of shoes. :)

Weekend wrap-up

We made a quick trip to Searcy this past weekend for Spring Sing. John's sister, Laurie, and her daughter, Brenna, came up from Atlanta. It had been over a year since we'd seen them last! We stayed with John's mother, and so did they, so it was good to have some catch-up time with them.

The hosts and hostesses were fantastic, and perhaps I'm a little biased since Logan, my second cousin, was one of the hosts. He did an outstanding job!

We did get to eat one meal out at the farm. There were 14 people around the table including Mamaw and Papaw, Mom, Aunt Donna, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kathy, Pat and Deborah's family and also our family. It was so good to be together, even if just for a short while! I wish I had remembered to take pictures of our lunch!

John and I hung out a little while at Mom's house after the show Friday night and got to spend some time with Kreg and Keleigh there, too.

The slide show below is from Easter Sunday as well as some pictures from Searcy, thanks to Laurie!

Easter '08 slide show

We're pulling out the blue again!

That's right. We're having another boy! His name is Jonas Dean, after Papaw Curtis, and he was measuring about 10 days ahead of schedule. The sonographer said that he didn't' think I'd make it to my original due date, which is convenient for me since going into labor early was my plan all along. :)

I don't have any pictures, but we did get a VHS recording. I've commissioned John to magically get it on the computer so I can post it, for those who want to see.

Hooray! Now the fun planning and shopping can begin!

Sleepin' Superman

I guess even Superman gets tuckered out from time to time. :)

Proof of snow

Yes, we get snow in Tyler ... occasionally. This is the first time all winter that the snow has actually stuck to the ground. It's SO wet and heavy! Good for snowmen, if it's still on the ground when Johnathan gets home from school. Yes, they had school. The roads are fine.

We let Johnathan enjoy the snow this morning before we left for school. Notice the matching yellow boots ... uh, bags. :)




Catching snowflakes on his tongue.

Kalleigh picture update

Belle enjoys Kalleigh's playing.


Hard at work.


Precious little hands!


A view from the keys.


Setting the ball.


CRACK!


"Did you see that, Mom?!"


Proud of her 4-inch hit!


We've been enjoying the scattered pretty days outside!

Shannon Etheridge Conference ... and Ms. Joan

This past weekend I went to a women's conference/retreat at Pine Cove, a local camp. The guest speaker was Shannon Etheridge, author of the best-selling Every Woman's Battle series. This conference was about her newest book entitled Completely His: Loving Jesus without Limits, which focuses on the bride of Christ/bridegroom relationship we have with Jesus. Our Ladies' Bible Class is studying this book this semester.

Five ladies from Glenwood went: four of us in our 20's & 30's, and then one lady who is 77, Joan. We younger ladies were hoping that Ms. Joan would feel comfortable with us, but none of us had ever really gotten to know her very well. It could be awkward or great. Well, let me tell you that Ms. Joan was hilarious and fit right in! She reminds me of Mamaw, though (as I told Mamaw on the phone this morning) she opted out of the zipline, and I knew Mamaw would've gone on it with me! But she is quick witted, adventurous, and none of us had any idea that she was 77. I was thinking maybe mid-60's? Boy was I wrong! And you know what she and her husband do for a living? Lecture on cruise ships. Now how awesome is that?

The weekend was outstanding, but I think most of all I'm thankful that I got to know Ms. Joan better. I look forward to spending more time with her in the future!