See More Seymore's

San Antonio Bound

2012-02-03T22:51:00.003-06:00

First I want to show you all the sweet new additions to my family! This first sweet girl is my chosen family. Her name is Landry and she belongs to April, one of my very best friends in the world. She was born on 2/1/12. Isn't she a doll baby? Maybe I'm just a tiny bit jealous that she got a pink baby and I have all these blue ones...not that I would trade them for the world! I am anxious to go love on this sweet bundle very soon.

This handsome little devil is my darling new nephew Carson! He belongs to my sister-in-love, Tobey...Jon's sister...one of his many! He was born on 1/18/12. He was itty bitty. I believe he weighed in at exactly 6lbs and he was about a month early. Isn't that the cutest head of hair ever? I'm so sad that I have hardly gotten to see him yet because I have been basically working non-stop then coming home tending boys and going to bed. I can't wait to get some real bonding time with him.

However, loving on these two sweet babies is going to have to wait at least 5 days because first thing in the morning we are headed out to San Antonio for a company party/trip. I can not wait. I feel like a get-a-way is much needed to help relieve some of my stress. I can feel it in my shoulders and neck y'all! We are going for 5 days and staying at the beautiful JW Marriott Resort.

I found these pictures online so I will try my very best to take my own pictures and actually get them posted on here soon. Did I mention that I am excited? I love most all of my work family and I can't wait to spend 5 relaxing days with them. It could be that most of them are from around my home town or they are friends of friends or friends of family. It makes hanging out with them super easy!

I am a little anxious about leaving the boys. I think that this is the longest that we've gone anywhere since Braxton was born. Lucas is excited because his Gimme & PaPaw are coming to stay with him (my mom & stepdad). Braxton though is feeling puny today and has been running a fever. I think it's pink eye because he woke up with his eye matted together and the daycare sent him home because he showed signs of having it. I pray that my little ones will be good and not have any issues while we are away.

More pictures to come...I would try to post while we are on vacation but I don't know how to do all of that from my cell phone so we will have to wait until I am back at this computer!!

Reflections

2011-12-31T22:08:00.005-06:00

It's New Years Eve again and I find myself at home reflecting on the past year...or even years past. This year has certainly been a full one!

Braxton has kept us on our toes all year it seems. He hit so many milestones. We prayed he would walk on "time" and now we wish he would slow down. We wished he would start talking and now we sometimes pray for a little quiet! He celebrated his 1st birthday in style with his cousin Brooklynn. You may as well jump on the bandwagon with everyone else who thinks that they are twins (not because they look alike but because they are so close in age, always together and their names apparently sound like something you would call twins). He enjoyed his first "real" Christmas and was certainly taught by his big brother how you properly open all of your presents...like a tornado! He has most definitely been a little blessing after a long road on our attempts to have a larger family.

Lucas has become so much like Jon & I both that it's hard to tell where Jon starts and I stop. Not totally true. He starts with Jon because well he looks just like him - I mean to a T. They share the same love of baseball, video games, sweets, hunting (this is new) and torturing mommy! He would do absolutely anything if he saw his father doing it. I can already tell you that my 7 year old will wind up a Red Raider one day because well...that's what Daddy did. He will want a Ford Mustang one day because that's what Daddy had. The parts of me that he inherited was for certain my stubborn side...boy he hates to be wrong. Like his Mommy, he has rarely met a stranger that he is unwilling to become the best of friends with. Like me he could also live in the best of both worlds, the outside or the inside. He loves to be around people and laugh/play but he is totally fine with sitting alone in a room with a book (or maybe a video game rather). Lucas FOR SURE suffers from Mommy's OCD...like me he kinda freaks if you move something around! The thing I know for certain is that he is the greatest little role model for his little brother already.

This time of year also makes me a little reflective, a little sad and puts all of the important things in perspective for me. I can hardly believe that we buried our sweet little angel, Logan, 3 years ago today. The two most painful days of my life have been the day that we realized we had lost him (Dec 27th) and the day we laid his tiny body to rest (Dec 31st). I can honestly say that if I had known then what I know now, I would have handled those two days differently. I had never known anyone who had gone through something like that. I didn't know I could hold that sweet angel for as long as I wanted (I was told only a few minutes - incorrectly), I didn't know that I could have photos taken (HUGE regret), I didn't know that I could dress him myself for the service, I didn't know that I could rock him (not that I could have after my c-section), I didn't know that the wrong thing for me to do was to shut myself off from the outside world and I certainly didn't realize that he would leave this tiny angel sized hole in me that time and more children will never completely fill. It has gotten easier as time moves on but there is never a day that I don't think of him and wonder.

Would he be a blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned, mild mannered child like my other two? Would he love his Momma the same way that my other two do? I know that he was taken for necessary purposes or else he would still be with us. I am a firm believer in the fact that our God doesn't take innocent, precious, tiny souls unless he needs them! Still, that doesn't stop me from wondering...and missing him! I believe he would have been all of those things and so much more.

My very talented, soon-t0-be, sister-in-law sketched me this wonderful drawing for my Christmas present. I can't even tell you what it meant to me and what a temporary basket case I wanted to be when I opened it. She took his real footprints from the hospital (one of the only things we have of him) and the quote that we placed on the service program and the back of his headstone and this is what she came up with. Isn't it amazing?!! I can't tell you the kind of inner peace just looking at this brings to me.

I am a blessed mother of three little boys and I bet the middle one looks down on us daily and laughs at the jokes his big brother tells, smiles at the milestones his little brother hits, gets excited when he hears his Daddy talk about him and knows he is still so very, very loved when his Mommy thinks of him daily. I can also just about guarantee that he is in the best of company!

Lucas tells people about his "brother who died in his moms tummy" or his "brother who had a kink in his cord" all the time. I mean ALL THE TIME yall. In the most bizarre and uncomfortable places! If someone in the checkout line of the store asks him a question about his brother "Braxton" then he will proceed to also tell him about his brother "Logan". My sweet hearted big boy loves to write messages to Logan on balloons with a sharpee and release them regularly. I can't tell you how this makes my heart smile!

I am a blessed Mommy alright and I will go to bed tonight with a full heart!

Where has the year gone?

2011-10-06T16:26:00.003-05:00

I have been MIA again for the past few weeks, I know. I have started countless posts only for my pictures not to upload or for my phone to ring and then I lose track!

We have just celebrated Braxton's 1st birthday last weekend...how crazy is that? I have loads of pictures to post but I think I will wait a few days on that.

Right now, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite pictures that Marie Q took of Braxton during his newborn photo session. Keep in mind that he didn't even weigh 4 1/2 pounds in these pictures...WOW!

These precious boys just about make up my entire world! I'm not sure how I became lucky enough to be this blessed but I am thankful each & every day to be the mommy of these two pretty creatures! Yep, I'm tearing up just thinking about it!

Looking Backwards

2011-09-16T16:05:00.002-05:00

This week has flown right by because of how busy we've been...which is good. Y'all won't believe this but I COOKED 3 times this week. I'm going to try to keep that up...maybe even go a step better than that. We shall see.

I found these old pictures of my Lucas and had to share!

{I promise I am not responsible for this look...it was some of Jon's friends.}

{How could you NOT love this baby here? Man he was cute...IS cute!}

{No. I wasn't wearing any makeup but can we discuss how long his hair was?}

{This has always been one of my favorites!}

I can't wait to see how much Braxton looks like Lucas as he grows!

Have a great weekend!!

Yippee...

2011-09-09T16:44:00.002-05:00

...it's the WEEKEND!! After a stressful week (a short one at that) I can say that I am absolutely thrilled to be walking out of this office in just a short bit! The weekend is looking like it holds only great things in store for me. Of course, maybe that's wishful thinking.

Tonight my MIL in keeping Braxton while Jon & Lucas take in a Rangers game. I am going to have dinner with two of my girlfriends, April & Kindra (Chelley, you will be missed!!!) and I plan to enjoy it to the fullest! We aren't going far, just up the road to the Outback Steakhouse but that is good enough for me.

Saturday we have no real plans...hallelujah! I do have to make a grocery store run and I do think that we are having some family over to cook some of the yummy fish that Jon caught this summer. I think the kids (and this mommy) will try to get in a little bit of pool time too. Is it not sad we spent all of that money to put a pool into our back yard only for me to swim in it less than 5 times this summer...that is no lie!! Shame!

Sunday afternoon Jon says that he will not be moving from his spot on the couch so that he can take in all that the NFL has to offer! He is such a guy. Little does he know that I am going to try to sneak away and leave the boys with him and take in a movie. I have no idea what I'm going to go see and I have no idea if anyone is going with me but I fully intend to sit in the darkness, peace & quiet and relax!! Gosh I hope that something good is showing. Here is a small Texas fact: the best pickles are at movie theaters in our state! When Jon & I lived all over the country working and we would go to the movies, I would be so sorely disappointed to find that there were ZERO pickles. Some of yall may think I've lost my mind but this is my favorite movie treat...forget the dang popcorn and give me the pickle!!

I hope yall have a great one too!

Knoxville Trip

2011-09-08T16:41:00.002-05:00

Today has been one of those days that I would just like to fast forward right on through. It's been chaotic, stressful, blah, enlightening and many more. I am so excited to get out of this office in a few minutes and let my two sweet boys take my cares away!

I thought I would share a few pictures from our short Labor Day trip to Knoxville, TN to visit Ryan, Ashley & Brooklynn (my brother, SIL & beautiful baby niece)! It went by WAY too fast but we had a ball.

{Ryan & Braxton. He ADORES my boys!}

{My cousin Lee teaching Lucas how to wake board & wake surf.}
{I had to share this since B looks like he was blindsighted by Brooklynn!}

{Braxton & Brooklynn...aren't they sweet?}

{Lucas & his daddy getting ready to RACE!!}

{At the aquarium...apparently I shouldn't wear ponytails...makes me look even bigger!}

{Brooklynn...isn't she a doll?}

{The only thing I'm missing is my Braxton!}

{Waiting for Bubba & Daddy to stop racing!}

That's all I have to give you today! I'm going to try again tomorrow and see if I can be 3 for 3!!

Where I've been

2011-09-07T16:28:00.005-05:00

It just really doesn't matter how much I promise to be a better blogger, it just never works. I'm going to stop promising things that I know full well that I can't deliver on! It has been a crazy few months in Seymore Land! I feel as though we have been blowing non-stop.

Since you've last heard from me (if anyone is out there that is!!), here are the highlights of what we've been doing:

1. I celebrated my 31st birthday.
2. We went on summer vacation to Surfside Beach so Jon could fish & we could relax.
3. We celebrated Lucas' 7th birthday. Man do I feel old!
4. We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary...it feels more like the 15 years that we've been together but you get the point!
5. We celebrated Jon's 34th birthday...now I don't feel quite that old!!
6. I have worked non-stop it feels like.
7. We have endured unreasonably high temperatures outside, causing us to have zero energy for activities!
8. We have taken a small rest from Lucas' baseball games but have had practices weekly anyway.
9. We have put Braxton into daycare and out of nanny care. It's been a good move so far!
10. We have started Lucas back to school...2nd grade...look out!

Whew! I'm tired just typing about it!

{one of those ball practices I was speaking of}
{my sweet baby enjoying the park}

{realizing how much Braxton looks like my family}

{7...really?}

{the "stink face" we grew to love over the summer}

{partying at Pump It Up...Thank Goodness for A/C}

{Transformers cake...again! They did a great job on it.}

{My two biggest boys!}

See y'all next time! Hopefully sooner than later!

Latest & greatest...

2011-06-09T13:56:00.003-05:00

So, here are a few happening around our house...

We got Lucas new ~~big boy~~ bigger boy furniture. He wanted to go with a baseball theme, which of course Jon was just all too happy to agree with. It's actually really cool and it has a trundle too so he can fit 3 in his room instead of just 2.

We repainted his walls this blue color and then decided it would be really cool for Lucas to have a vintage scoreboard in his room. I looked and looked everywhere for one online. Either you find a peel & stick one that is totally generic or you find a really cool canvas that costs a fortune that shows only a piece of it. One of our family friends came over to the house and painted this scoreboard on his wall for us. It's not totally done in this picture but close enough. Isn't it cool?

My sweet babies...I'm even claiming my little niece as mine because that's how much I miss her. They came home during Memorial Day weekend and Lucas was just dying to hold both of them at once. This just shows me how big they are all getting...and attitudes...let me tell you about them!

Bad picture quality but isn't little dude cute? He all of the sudden LOVES his Jumperoo. Maybe it's because his feet finally reach the ground!

That's all for today folk!

End of my rope today...

2011-06-09T13:32:00.003-05:00

Do you all ever have weeks, months, years where you just feel like you can't catch up? I'm swamped at work, swamped in life, swamped in everything. I always have all these high expectations for the list of things that I plan to get done and NEVER do I get to the bottom of the list.

It's overwhelming sometimes. Today I came to work and wanted to pull my hair right out because it instantly was one problem after another, one negative phone call after another and one more task piled on top of another. However, I decided to leave for 10 minutes and run through the drive thru at Taco Casa and on my drive decided to "Put on my BIG girl panties and deal with it". So now, at least my attitude towards that is better.

At home is another story. My laundry ~~pile~~ piles are bigger than both my children it feels like. I haven't been to the grocery store in ages. My closet is a glorified mess, which only tells me that I need to get rid of some things. You know what? I just don't feel like doing any of it when I get home from work...which is why it still sits there today!

Irritations and overwhelms aside, I don't forget how blessed my life it. I complain and then realize how many people have been looking for work for ages. I complain and then realize how many people don't have clothes that could pile up dirty and still have more to wear. I complain and then realize that some people don't have a home that could have a dirty closet.

It's just nice to blurt out some of those things to really help put things in a better perspective sometimes. I will make it my "mission" for the next few blogs to be about nothing but POSITIVE things!!

Photo Worthy

2011-05-04T18:23:00.004-05:00

There is absolutely nothing exciting going on, but I thought I'd share some of my favorite new pictures with you!

Life has been busy as usual. I feel like all I ever do these days is work. I've been to Omaha more times than I'd like to admit lately. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the people that I get to visit with & work with while there but I miss my little family so much when I'm gone. I would love to be a stay-at-home-mom but I think I would miss the day to day involvement in the business.

We went to College Station this weekend for a softball tournament that Jon played in. They didn't do very hot but I enjoyed relaxing in a hotel room for two days. My mom & Dan came with...or followed us down. The first night we stopped for dinner and his big, nice truck broke down. We had to get it towed, rent a car and they are JUST driving back tomorrow to pick his truck back up.

I think that I might be a shopaholic. Not really, but possibly. I've been trying not to spend quite so much money lately. However, apparently in my mind, if I shop for the kids then it's not so bad. Since I don't have a little girl, I go crazy buying stuff for Brooklynn too. On our way back from College Station we stopped in Hillsboro at the outlets. I got enough stuff for the boys and Brooklynn to last all stinking summer. Braxton & Lucas have both been sick. They have URI's & Bronchitis. We have done chest xray's of B twice now to make sure that he doesn't have pnuemonia. They sent us home with a little treatment/inhaler to use until the end of the week. Lucas is getting better; Braxton still has quite the cough. Hopefully by weekend my house is well!

Braxton is trying to crawl. He is army crawling right now. I figure that given a few weeks, he will be completely mobile. I'm I the only one that this news freaks out??

Gosh, Lucas is getting so big. What a personality he has on him. You have to be on your toes at all times when out in public with him. There is ZERO telling what will come out of his mouth. Most people who are in contact with this cute little man either have sore tummy muscles from laughing so hard or they leave beet red from being embarrassed at the things he said to them. Basically...no filter.

Y'all, I guess when kids have a 7th birthday they start really caring about what kind of party they have. Lucas doesn't turn 7 until July but he is weekly telling Jon & me the how, when, where and who of it all. It's pretty funny! You must be pretty special if you make his list because he's cutting family every time they look at him funny!

I missed all but one of his ball games last season that he played because either I was on bed rest, in the hospital, visiting the NICU or recovering. It's amazing how much difference 6 months can make. He is so much better and having so much more fun now. Jon thinks it's because he understands it all now. Maybe, but I just know that it's getting more & more fun to watch. I need to find a babysitter here in Waxahachie for weekends & date nights. I have a fabulous lady that keeps Braxton during the days but I need someone when Jon & I just need to take a breather...which is NOW! The problem is that I can't think of a single person. If any of you know of a good one, I'm totally open to suggestions!

Okay, enough of my book! Just thought I'd fill you in. Maybe in 2 weeks when I post again I'll have something more exciting to tell you all about...maybe I'll be able to post a video of my crawling little man!

Storm Central

2011-04-11T20:00:00.003-05:00

First let me just say that I adore these two little boys of mine. Did I mention that I have been incredibly blessed to have two babies that sleep through the night? By that I mean from 8:30-7:30 or later if allowed. Wonder why it is that I'm still so tired all the time then? I am biased, but aren't they beautiful? We had some work done to our landscape on Saturday. I do NOT possess a green thumb so the likelihood of all this living for more than a month or so is slim to none. You totally can't tell from this picture but we have the prettiest Double Knockout Roses. This is actually something that we've had survive for the past few years. They bloom so full and pretty. However on the flip side of their beauty, they attract all things that fly, buzz & sting. You pair these roses (which I was ignorant enough to pot around the pool) with the actual swimming pool and we have what feels like infestations of wasps, bees, hornets, etc. No judging the planters...they are not exactly what I want there. It needs color! I wanted something different for this area this year. This is the one area on the front porch that is 99% shaded some things die on me quickly. The men who did the landscaping told me that they put like 3 different things in there with vining plants so I'm hoping that they grow super long and drape down during the summer. I love, love, love my green log bench. I found it right before we moved into the house at a store called Antiks on Knox. The store had the coolest things but it closed down since then. You see those Christmas tree looking things to each side of it? They are some kind of Holly tree. Apparently they can withstand anything...even my green thumb. We shall see. I want something to go above the window where the bench is. I have no idea what. Maybe some kind of long metal artwork (Canton?) or a rustic wooden sign? Any ideas? I was worried that all the work I had done was going to be "blown" to smithereens (not sure how you begin to spell that word) in the storms last night. However it all remained in tack. I have never been so scared in my life as I was last night during the storms and without my husband in town. I had the boys in the tub and cried about the whole time. A special thanks to Mary for letting me know that it was safe to come out of hiding!! We have a bit of damage to our neighborhood but luckily the worst we got was to Lucas' swing.

Queen of Procrastination

2011-04-09T20:53:00.005-05:00

Wow! How terrible am I? I have the best of intentions when it comes to this blog of mine but I can't quite seem to get it together for long enough to actually put a post together. What's sad is the number of things that we have done since my last post and go figure, none of it has been documented!! I am going to have to work semi backwards since my pictures posted that way!! We are crazy busy at work right now. For those of you who don't know, we (Jon & I) both work for my Dad. Our business is a roofing business and we pretty much chase hail, hurricanes and wind storms to work with the insurance companies to repair the damage. I have been working these ridiculous hours lately and traveling much more than I would really like to. We have undergone some intense changes in the past few months to get better prepared for "storm season". I had hoped for a small breather but storm season came earlier than expected and we have opened 5 new locations in the past 2 weeks and it looks like we will get some more storms possibly this weekend. This means that Jon is out traveling too...makes working, having a Tball player and a 6 month old difficult some days. Jon & I did finally take a mini-vacation during February. We went to The Atlantis in the Bahamas. We had a blast but our trip was nowhere near long enough. We spent two full days traveling and two full days enjoying everything. We will be going back once Lucas is big enough to ride all the water slides (he needs to grow 1/2 inch more)! The views were beautiful and the weather was wonderful. My Lucas is getting so big! He is almost 7 years old and just about done with the 1st grade. We really lucked out this year again with his teacher. She happens to be the mom of some of my old friends from high school. He adores her. Lucas spends the majority of his time these days at ball practice, games or playing some handheld device! I sometimes wish I made him spend more time doing crafts, reading or things like that but he seems happy and secure enough just the way he is.

This super sweet little angel is Brooklynn Marie Haight. She belongs to my brother and sister-in-law, Ryan & Ashley. She was born 17 days after Braxton. She absolutely has the sweetest personality I've ever seen. She loves to cuddle and smile and coo...she is also a nosey little thing. About a month or so ago Ryan, Ashley & Brooklynn bought the house caddy-corner from us. I was a little apprehensive at first at having family so super close but I love it. However, they also work for Dad but they travel for months at a time. They left this week to go to Kansas City to work...who knows how long they will be gone but this sweet little angel girl is no longer in my backyard for my daily hugs & kisses. It makes an Aunt Gigi so sad!! (For the record, I'm only Aunt Gigi b/c when Rye was little he couldn't say my name and he reduced it to Gigi!)

This little guy, or rather big guy now, is Braxton Ray Seymore. He was born September 28th and came 2 months earlier than anticipated! He weighed in at a whopping 4lb 3oz's. He stayed for 18 days in the NICU before we got to bring him home. After our last few problematic pregnancies, I was so incredibly full of fear that we wouldn't get to bring him home with us. Lucky for us he did just fine and is now 6 months old and weighing in at 16lbs! I can't even put into words how much I love this sweet boy!

Lucas is the best big brother. Braxton started off looking just like Lucas did when he was a baby but has started to look more like me as he's getting bigger. He is a doll baby. He sleeps through the night, hardly ever fusses and loves attention!

I'm a lucky girl!

It's gonna be a long one...

2010-06-15T22:38:00.002-05:00

...post that is! It's been far too long and I admit that I'm a T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E blogger but I fully expect to get better...or maybe I just aspire to!! Let me fill you few readers in on things around here...

1. Just call me MEDUSA. Yep, you read right. This evening we were taking a dip in the pool...wish I had pictures...and I had been sitting in the grotto/cave for about 20 minutes. I moved to the edge of the pool and was smoothing down my wet hair. I kept hitting a tangle and finally submerged myself to wet it down again. Guess what? Jon & Lucas start hollering "snake" and sure enough a baby grass snake, of about 5 inches came slithering out. Can we please discuss my distress. I realize that it was a harmless, tiny, baby snake but it was still a S-N-A-K-E. I made Jon kill it after promptly jumping OUT of the pool. Then Lucas freaked right out on me because I had Jon kill it. WOW!

2. "We need to talk about S-E-X"...is what my almost 6 year old told Jon & I last night. Can you picture me almost spitting out a drink or having a mini heart-attack? When confronting him about where he learned that he said he saw it on the movie Pearl Harbor...Jon & I were watching it recently. We asked him what it meant and he said, "it's where you kiss all the time. I know because 6 years ago you kissed all the time and then you had me." Um, yeah, if anyone knows how you respond to that, be sure to let me know. I'm just going to keep on letting him think he's right for the moment and pray that he doesn't talk of this topic in public any time soon!

3. Non-domestic...that's me. I tried cooking dinner last week (yes, that's even more frequent than normal) and had a minor accident. I used a steak knife to open a package of hamburger meat and laid the knife on the bar. A bit later I felt a pain in the top of my foot. Guess what? I somehow managed to knock the knife off the counter and it landed UPRIGHT IN my foot. Luckily it only bled for a little bit and a bandage cured it. However, Jon got the greatest pleasure out of it! He reminds me regularly that this is why we eat out!!

4. Baby Update. I am finally nearing the middle of my pregnancy. It's been interesting and different. I am ready to find out if this baby is a boy or girl and even so far as to try two weeks ago. However, Jon had a different idea. He informed my doctor that he was NOT to tell me at any point. He has his heart set on this baby being a surprise. He said that since we had "help" getting pregnant it was somewhat expected and that since we will have a scheduled c-section that that part won't be a surprise either. I guess I see him point but really, you'd think that after 14 years together he would know that I am OCD and need this information to proceed on with this pregnancy. I mean, how are you supposed to decorate and purchase outfits if you don't know whether to buy pink or blue?? Jon says that we can decorate the first month after the baby while it sleeps in a bassinet in our room and that we have loads of family and friends who would think it was "cool" to go buy outfits on the way to the hospital. Yeah, OKAY...I think I may kill him...God forgive me!! My closest friend has put in my head that my shower will not be quite as "fun" either but what do you do? If any of you can convince my husband to change his mind...I'll owe you one.

I have lots more funnies or updates I could give you, but I think I'll call it a night here and maybe, just maybe, give myself something to post about in the next few days. You believe me right? Heck, I wouldn't!! :)

Sure sign of my OCD behaviors...

2010-03-18T09:14:00.003-05:00

...one is never enough for me. It doesn't matter whether it's positive or negative...I always spend a fortune on these babies. This picture doesn't even do it justice since I took 3 more at home two days later. That's right, there were a total of NINE sticks peed on. My husband gets frustrated with me, my friends think I'm crazy and well, my family, they know I've lost my mind!

But, here's the proof that God works and provides miracles every day! Even when blood tests come back showing that there was no sign of ovulation and no sign of fertility cocktails working...you get NINE of these responses!!

I state again...I know I'm OCD and a little crazy but it's something that I've gotten used to!! Here's a quick peek into my minds logic. I needed multiple brands of tests...just incase there was some flaw in the brand making it give me false positives. Idiotic, I know. I was just too excited and scared to believe it the first EIGHT times!!!

Never stops amazing me...

2010-03-11T09:17:00.002-06:00

Lucas is so full of spunk & fire these days. He's incredibly independent and he is definitely a jokester. Did I mention he is a sweetheart too? I need to have a spiral or fat book in my purse at all times so that I can write down the silly things he says and does so that I might not forget. I know that I should put them here but heck, I forget all about my own blog sometimes!

Here's a little does of my child...

Last night we were driving home from Cedar Hill and Lucas was in the backseat of the truck watching some movie with his head phones on. Y'all know how kids talk super loudly when they have those on? Well, we passed through a "skunky" area and it stench was pretty bad. Lucas hollers, "Dad, it's smelling a little bit DIFFICULT in here. It smells like bad breath or dirty britches...MOM is it YOU"!!! Yes, that's really what he said, much to my dismay and much to Jon's delight. I'm pretty sure that we both laughed the rest of the way home.

Now, Jon is still working for Dad but in a different position. He will be traveling for a large portion of each month. Well, somehow, while Jon was preparing Lucas for the fact that he would be gone, he led him to believe something that just isn't true. There is a bed, a Pirate Ship bed, at Pottery Barn that my little boy is just desperate to have. Now, I might would consider buying it if he actually slept in his own bed. I know, I know...I need to get him in it but I kind of like him being close to me at night!

Well, Jon tells Lucas that he has to get a new job so that he may "afford" to buy Lucas his new Pirate bed. Really? You're going to tell our 5 year old that you got a new job because of him and that this way you can buy him something special? Now Lucas thinks that he's getting this bed regardless.

Here's the funny part.

On Monday night I was asking Lucas if he'd be okay if Daddy had to stay gone a few more nights. I fully expected a fit to be thrown. There were zero fits. Instead, he looks at me with a straight face and says, "Mommy, if Daddy doesn't come home yet it sure will cost you a lot of money." I asked him what he meant by that. His response, "Well, you will be the one buying me that Pirate bed, okay?"

Again, really?

Outside looking in

2010-02-09T16:14:00.005-06:00

I am on my final day of my first round of Clomid. I haven't experience near the side effects that I have heard others complain about. I have not had any crying fits or any mood swings. Hopefully those won't come after today either. I have however experienced some serious hot flashes! I thought this cartoon was cute and fitting!

Then there is the ever present dizziness and light headed feelings. Those I do have since taking this. I can be rocking along just fine and then BAM I see stars! Not really, but you get the point. It's almost like I'm outside myself looking in...if that makes any sense. I told Nicole today that I almost ran clear off the road today while driving to work and I was WATCHING WHERE I WAS GOING!!! It's like I was having delayed reactions!

Oh, and this is the worst I think...cotton mouth. I can not get enough water to save my life! I know I'm hurting the environment with all the bottles of water I am going through right now. Here's my major malfunction (at least Jon thinks it is): I only like Dasani bottled water. Can y'all taste the difference in bottled waters? Jon says you can't but I certainly can. If I'm stopping at a gas station or store and I'm going to grab a bottle of water, it will be this brand every time...if they are out...Dr. Pepper here I come!

The first two days I had some jitters...like I was taking speed up my heart pills...or at least what I imagine those to feel like. All in all, not too bad! We are praying that this first month works and that not only do these cause ovulation but that maybe this first month will do the trick and us be expecting. I know that may be a lot to ask, but people, patience is not a trait I was blessed with. I steadily work on trying to get better at it and while I know that everything will happen in God's time...I would just like to think that He knows me well enough to decide MY time and HIS time coincide!!!

Side note...Lasik is still the greatest thing ever! My vision is getting so much better every day. However, my right eye is a little bit more sore than I expected. I'm pretty sure that it's because I left my eye drops at home today on accident. Smart, right? I go back Thursday for another follow up and I'm hoping that it's better before then so he can't yell at me!!

Lasik, Clomid and 1099's

2010-02-05T21:22:00.002-06:00

So, I'm obviously not doing any better about my blogging. Every time I think I'm going to sit down and type something into this little box a phone rings, my son calls out, my husband wants to eat...well, maybe the TV calls my name too!

I got Lasik surgery yesterday!!! Randomly I had scheduled an appointment for Wednesday to see if I was even a candidate and as it turns out, I was. When I was leaving they told me that the doctor would call me after reviewing my charts to make certain that I could do the procedure. Good Golly, but it was only about an hour later when they called to see if I could come in on Thursday for my final consultation and my Lasik. I think it was for the best to do it that quickly...as I'm prone to backing out of things as fear takes over!! I went in yesterday and waited in the waiting room for over an hour and a half to be called back. Can I please just tell all of you (2 people) that still read this blog that I about left then. I finally got to the back, met the doctor, got a few more "measurements" done and then it was laser time. I am pretty sure that I almost forgot to breathe...in fact, they kept having to remind me "in through the nose and out through the mouth"!! It is a little freaky if you want to know the truth! However, freak outs and strangeness aside, it may have been the best money that I've ever spent. I can't tell you how fabulous it is to be sitting here typing while not wearing glasses that fall down from my face or contacts that cloud up from too much wear and grit! Woo Hoo...y'all should do it too if you haven't already!

I also finally got around to going back to my OBGYN on Monday. I had been having some really strange, really long cycles...I'm talking like anywhere from 40-50 days at a time in between. Then when I would get them it would be not nearly the same as usual. Several of my family and close friends had been on me to go to the doctor but I've gotta tell you that the thought of visiting his office again after last year was a bit more than I thought I could take. Obviously I proved myself wrong as I'm sitting here now. I did however have a few crying fits in his office as cute little preggos girls walked in and out and newborns came with mommies for followup appointments! I don't begrudge anyone who is pregnant, it was just super hard for me in there considering how my last visit ended. However, I was slightly even more dishearted when this young girl walked in with a belly-out-to-there, reaking of smoke, looking like she hasn't bathed in weeks, while her boyfriend talked about partying over the weekend. I mean really? They make it look so easy!!

My incredibly sweet doctor started by walking in the door and telling me how glad he was that I was willing to come see him again and that he intended to do everything in his power to make this next time that I left his office much happier for me. We did determine that I have stopped ovulating...no clue why. I suspect it's fairly common though. The good doctor decided to put me on a Prover/Clomid cocktail for the next 3 months while doing blood work on the 21st day to see if ovulation actually occured. He says that if these meds do actually induce an ovulatory cycle that "IF" I am "ACTIVE" during the "PEAK" times that I would have like a 75-80% chance of getting pregnant in the next 3 months. I was supposed to take the Provera for 10 days first but apparently my body responded faster as my cycle began just 2 days after on the Provera. I began the Clomid today. Here's to hoping that it works and that it doesn't turn me into the basket case that it has several of my family & friends! We will go to the specialist if in 3 months ovulation hasn't occurred.

Lastly, I can't tell y'all how stressful January was for me. I have the unfortunate responsibility of getting all of the 1099's out for our entire company. I wound up having to make LOADS of corrections to entries in the bookkeeping and then went on to print about 1200 1099's and about 15 W2's. Thankfully I had some help from two of my newer "helpers" making sure that the addresses, socials and tax ID #'s were correct. Hopefully we won't get many calls this year from people who think they should have made "less" money this year!!

I'm going to charge my camera folks so maybe I can have it ready week after next for our trip to Puerto Rico. Maybe I'll actually have pictures to SHARE!!!

A lesson in letter sounds...

2010-01-09T21:54:00.002-06:00

So my 5yr old is learning the sounds of all his letters in school and also learning to read. You would not BELIEVE what he just told me. He told me that I made a mistake when I named him and that I'm not saying it right. If y'all don't know, his name is Lucas. However, we are true Southern Hicks in my house and we say it "Luke - S" or "Luc - ehs". He squickly told me that the A should say aaa (or however you would do the symbols above that) and that from now on I am to pronounce it Luke Ass.

I mean, what do you think his teacher will think on Monday morning when she is doing roll call and calls him Luc-ehs and he promptly tells her that it's Luke Ass? I'm thinking I'll be getting a phone call!!!

Only in my house...

Dream Career

2010-01-09T18:10:00.002-06:00

I don't know how many of you out there know what your dream job would be, but I know what mine is...and unfortunately it's not the one I'm currently working! That being said, I do love my job. It's a family business folks and while I have the choice of whether to work there or not...it's not like I'll probably ever leave it. It pays well, provides stability and if I'm being honest...it's totally flexible. The downside is that it's totally stressful. There are some days that are a piece of cake and others, well not so much. It's also hard working with family. It's hard to know where to draw the line, hard to know where work stops and family starts...you get the picture. Might I also add that Jon works in the office right next to mine, my aunts is two doors down, my dads is four doors down and for the winter, my SIL is where ever she can find a free chair! Ha!

All of this leads me to fantasizing about what I would do if I were wealthy enough to just walk away and leave it all behind. I have two careers that call out to me regularly. The first is a book editor or publisher...don't really care which. I would LOVE to just sit around reading all those drafts. Reading is definitely my favorite hobby! I love getting lost in a good book.

The second though is what I REALLY would like to do with my life. I have thought very seriously of trying to do it part-time. I think it would be fun to do it with a really good girlfriend or family member. This way I could keep my day job and still be able to do this as well. In my dream world I am a wedding/special events coordinator. I am so OCD that I think it would be like my calling in life. For those of you who know me well know how crazy I am about invitations and all those types of things. I spend my free time browsing the Internet and catalogs in search of the perfect everything. I sometimes wish that Jon would remarry me once a year so I could do it all over again. Of course, this could all be because at the last minute I chose to get married in Las Vegas and forgo the large wedding!! I like doing parties too. Anything involving in depth planning and decorating calls out to me.

Strange right, to sit at a job that you know you will NEVER leave and dream about a job that you've wanted forever. Maybe one day the right opportunity will present itself and I will get my shot at it!

What brings all this up now you ask? I have 3 people very close to my heart planning to wed this year and it's all I can do not to BEG all of them to let me plan them! Of course, I throw out ideas to them but I would never dream of stepping on any planning toes!!

Maybe one day I will get to plan someones wedding, shower, party, event! Until then, I will be content sitting in my cozy office and continue surfing the Net in hopes of finding the PERFECT everything for someones special occasion!!!

***Um, it was also a TERRIBLE week at work...this is probably the REAL reason to be dreaming of the PERFECT job!!***

2010, really?

2010-01-03T12:46:00.002-06:00

I seriously can not believe that it is already January...and the year 2010. How do you say that anyway? Two Thousand and Ten, O'ten, Ten? Just curious! I'm fairly certain that I no longer have any viewers of this blog since I quit posting things back in July...not that I was a good blogger to begin with.

What a year! Is it safe to say that I'm incredibly glad it's over? I'm ready for a new chapter, new book, new beginnings and just about new everything...although I think I'll keep those people who are important in my life...family, friends, coworkers, etc.

I'm staring at my little man, playing on the living room floor, and I'm amazed by how big he is getting. It kind of breaks my heart. I don't know that breaks my heart is the right phrase. I mean, honestly, I'm glad he's growing and learning and changing, but when I happen to glance at him and realize that he's just passed a stage in his life or grown another inch..it makes my heart stop momentarily. That is time that I'll never see again with him. He is such a good boy y'all!

Christmas was the same this year as it is just about any other year. We had a million places to go (big families) and a short time to do it in. I felt like I had a little hole in my heart during all the festivities, but I made it through it and honestly...it was easier than I expected it to be. Of course, I had my husband standing beside me and my good friends calling constantly to check in! Thanks y'all!

In this New Year there are loads of things that I want to do...resolutions if you will...but since I've never seen a resolution all the way through, maybe I'll just call them goals.

Get healthy (lose weight, eat right/better, exercise more)
Budget (I am wanting to see just how much money we can save this year and where we can cut back)
Get domestic (don't laugh y'all, but I want to cook as much as possible and make sure that 4 or 5 nights a week we all sit down to the table together...not just the bar stools)
Be a better mommy (I guess we probably all wish at times that we had more to give our children)
Have a baby (get pregnant again at least...seems this one never changes)
Make more time for me (I'll go into further detail on this one later)

I hope all of you had a fabulous Christmas and New Years. I hope that this year brings an abundant amount of time for each and every one of you to fulfill the dreams, goals and resolutions that you set for yourselves!!

New Post & Pictures

2009-07-15T23:53:00.002-05:00

Finally I have updated this thing and actually posted pictures. I think that there are 4 or 5 posts below that actually have some attached! Breathe Michelle...I know it's shocking!!! :)

We leave for vacation on Friday. I'm so ready to get out of dodge! We aren't going far, just to the coast, down near Galveston, for a week. It used to be a tradition for Jon's entire family. They would go each and every year for a week. With him having 6 siblings, I think that schedules began conflicting and so on. The past two years it's started trickling down to hardly anyone, but regardless, it's rest, relaxation, sun and water! What more could I ask for??

F-A-M-I-L-Y

2009-07-15T23:22:00.004-05:00

Okay, so these are just totally random pictures that I stumbled onto when I was uploading from my camera to my computer. Of course my family is GIGANTIC, but I thought I'd share a few with you. Maybe I can get pictures of everyone in mine & Jon's families and post pictures...like a family tree...only it would quite possibly be like 100 pictures!!!

Me and my sweetest boy. I think that we were in Round Rock visiting Ryan & Ashley here.

Totally random, but this is what you get when you let your little one play with your camera...a picture of yourself with hardly any makeup, a chunky chin (you know, wher it looks like a babies butt) and ROOTS!!!
Lucas, Fayth & Ella in Salado. These are Abby's babies...aren't they beautiful? I so wish that Julianna (Jon's baby) were in this one too.

Abby and Fayth. Don't you think they look alike? I wish that I had hair like Abs. Random I know, but I'm pretty sure that she didn't even have to dry it!!

Ryan and Lucas. He loves his Uncle Rye-Rye! And yes...I know some of you are thinking it...Ryan looks just like Dad.

My Daddy. I made him let me take a picture of him in the office the other day. I just love him.

This is a 5 generation picture that we snapped not too long ago. My Granny standing up, my mom, my great-grandma Nell, Lucas and me. Crazy huh? I'm pretty sure you can see that I resemble my mom and Granny...

Same 5 generation picture but my Uncle Dude subbed in for my mom. We were lucky to get this picture. Can you believe that we have 5 gens here? I mean, I'm pretty sure that everyone but me had kids super young. My grandma Nell can out shop anyone I know!!

Keith Urban

2009-07-15T23:00:00.002-05:00

Can I please start by saying that I haven't got the slightest clue how long it's been since I went to a concert...well, until Saturday night that is. One of my friends, Nicole Barron, got tickets for Valentine's Day to the Jason Aldean/Keith Urban concert. Of course her husband opted out of the concert in favor of going fishing with Jon...so I tagged along. We had great seats, but had VERY interesting seat companions. Let's just say that we were surrounded by all sorts of people...with different preferences than we had. I can't begin to tell you how many times Nicole and I got hit in the back of the head.

We started our day off with a Girls Pool Party hosted by Laura Barnard. I think that we had a good time. Lord knows I got plenty of sun!! I hope we can do it again soon. Then Nicole and I had dinner a Pei-Wei and then moved on to the concert. Thanks Nic...I had fun!

isn't he a cutie??

Ladies Night Out #1

2009-07-15T21:27:00.002-05:00

I say #1 because I'm hoping that there will be plenty more where this one came from. Most of the ladies from our Bible study group met up for dinner and a little fun one night...ummm, maybe in May?? You see how behind I am? April came into town for the night to join us. The food was yummy and the company was even better.

April & I. I don't get to see her often enough...even though she's only in Dallas.

Gretta and Natalie posing! Aren't they cute? Can you believe that they've both just had little ones in less than a year?
Laura and Hillary...I'm diggin on both necklaces!

Carrie, me, April, Nicole, Kerrah, Laura, Hillary, Gretta and Natalie...the others were greatly missed!!

Tball Season

2009-07-15T21:10:00.002-05:00

I can hardly believe that Tball season has came and went for Lucas. It's crazy to me that he is old enough to play, but he enjoyed just about every minute of it. I, of course, thought he was adorable while doing it!! He played for the Boston Red Sox this year. Somehow Jon wound up assisting the team. Here's a few pictures. I unfortunately didn't have my good camera with me, so I didn't get the best pictures.

Of course he thinks he needs to be like the big boys...sliding into home!!

He and Jon in DEEP discussion about something...who knows what!!

Lucas and Rylan (his brother from another mother...kidding). Aren't they adorable. Look at the peepers on those two!

and this folks...is my beautiful baby boy...though he can hardly be classified as such anymore.

Aww rats...

2009-07-06T22:35:00.002-05:00

not literally, but figuratively anyway. I have been hoping for a few months now that Jon & I would once again get pregnant...notice how I include Jon in the actual pregnancy part! I know it's soon after losing Logan, but I so want another little one and I was unfortunately not blessed with the whole patience thing. We "tried" really working on the every other day schedule this past month...which obviously didn't work so well this time around.

***BTW, this is probably TMI for most, so feel free to come read my next post instead another day!!***

Let me start from Saturday the 27th. I was taking a shower, Jon was not home but Lucas was, and I had shampoo in my hair when L ran in and asked if he could answer the door. I tell him NO thinking that if someone was knocking on my door on a Saturday morning that it was probably FedEx or UPS and that they could leave it at the door. I proceed on to trying to shave...about 5 minutes later L says that they are still BANGIN on the door. I try to rinse off, dry off, wrap up my hair and look for a robe...only to find no robe. So, I wrap another towel around me and head to the door, only to find a super young delivery boy with some beautiful flowers for me. I was so embarrased when I had to ask him if I hid behind the door if he could put them on the bar in the kitchen...poor guy turned bright red. I wondered what the flowers were for...even though my sweet husband sends me flowers every 27th for the past month. That's when I realize that it has been exactly six months since we lost him.

So, my thoughts lead to that and then they lead to wondering if I could be pregnant or not. I, being the strange person that I am, get online and go to the due date predictor and plug in what would be my LMP if I happen to be preggos. Imagine my shock when I see that this "wishful-thinking-totally-hypothetical-baby" would share the exact same due date as Logan had. I was beyond weirded out. Then the more I thought about it, the more excited I was thinking that things would have seemed to come full circle if that happened.

Yes...for those of you who don't know me...I generally get WAY ahead of myself when I am pregnant or trying to be. It's again, another one of my quirks.

To add insult to injury, I wind up spotting for 5 days...really lightly, which is what I did when I was pregnant with my miscarraige and with Logan. I start honest to goodness believing that I am pregnant...only to finally wake up in the middle of the night on the 5th to find that I have super bad cramps and a heavy flow. YUCK and BOO!

Now, I realize that all things happen in Gods timing and don't think I'm not praying for patience on this...but as I've mentioned before, patience is not a virtue of mine. I can hardly believe that 6 months has passed me right by when I thought that time would literally stop after I lost Logan. Some days I feel incredibly guilty for wanting another little one so soon and then other days I can hardly keep the excitement of trying out of my head.

For those of you who don't know Jon & I, we are way too laid back for our own good. We don't do schedules or anything like that, so being on a "knock-me-up" schedule is not exactly FUN for us...isn't that strange?

Here's to hoping that this month with be our last of scheduling out intamacy!!

"To-Do LIST"

2009-06-24T11:03:00.002-05:00

1. Update my blog. Add pictures. Find a new background. Write/type about something FUN and HAPPY!!

2. Put pictures on my Facebook page that aren't from 15 years ago!!

3. Schedule an appointment to get family pictures taken. I have the outfits carefully chosen, now I just need to figure out who to use and make the phone call.

4. Return all my emails and voicemail messages from the past month...sorry folks if you were one of those emails or calls that I haven't had a chance to respond to.

5. Start working out again. Lose weight! Eat better. Cut out the caffiene that my system so desires.

6. Touch up my highlights and lowlights so I don't look like a "chipmunk" as my 4yr old states!

7. Send out invitations to my 4yr olds 5th Bday party...OH WAIT...I would need invitations to do this. Call the bank and have a charge from an online invitation company sent back since I ordered a month ago, have been charged but never recieved the product. Nor have they returned my calls and emails. Am I a sucker or what?

8. Call the pool builder back. I think we have decided to go ahead and wait until winter to put the pool in.

9. Go get a new title for Jon's truck since we sold it two days ago...and I seem to have misplaced it somewhere in my home or office!

10. Take a semi-permanent vacation!! Wait, maybe this isn't even possible, but a vacation sounds nice. Any of you ladies up for a "no husband/no kids" get-away? Just a short weekend would work too!

11. The list just goes on & on...but you get the point!

Godspeed...

2009-06-17T14:27:00.003-05:00

Okay, so to begin with, today is my birthday! Yea me!! Now, that being said, I got this email today that was a "44 odd questions about yourself" type of email. The very last question was "What song would you like played at your funeral?"...come on now...really? Well, of course that got me thinking about Logan and I turned to the side and saw my personalized calendar that has a picture of his footprints...so, there I was beginning to be a big ole baby on my special (NOT) day! I decided then that I would listen to some music on the radio and...this song comes on.

I think that this may just be one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard, but it made me start bawling. I mean, listen to the words...if you know me very well, it will have you in tears too! It makes me happy and sad all at the exact same time.

As I said, sappy I know, but now I'm moving on to more exciting things for the day!! Like WORK!! Sheesh!

Catching up...

2009-06-07T19:38:00.003-05:00

I didn't actually realize until just now that it's been over two weeks since I've blogged. Life around here is chaotic, as usual. Here's a brief run down...for those interested!

1. Memorial Day we went and got me a new SUV! Woohoo! I was very excited and we got a terrific deal...or as terrific as you can imagine a dealership giving you. My little man doesn't much care for it but then he wanted me to get a white Tahoe to match his aunts.

2. Luke started his real Tball practices during the past two weeks so we've been doing that two nights a week. His first game is this coming up Tuesday. He's one of the oldest on his team. Did I mention that his team consists of kids 2-5? Crazy right? I will have to take TONS of pictures on Tuesday and a little bit of footage on the Flip for all to see!

3. It's "Storm Season" for us at work. This mean it's the season that hail storms hit the midwest and surrounding areas. These are the best states for us to do business in. We have/are setting up 4 new locations in the past two weeks and are anticipating a few more in the weeks to come. Work is busy, that's for sure. My desk looks like a train hit it and I've got about a billion emails and voicemails to respond to but no time!

4. Our nephew has been staying with us since last Saturday. His parents went on a cruise for their anniversary. Fun! He is such an easy-going kiddo that he hasn't been any problem. It's just amazing how one extra kid for nine days can make your life that much more chaotic. It was our first time to actually have a designated time to have someone dropped off and picked up from school. As well as a manditory bedtime...I know that ya'll are thinking we should have had all of these things with Luke but nope...he comes and goes from school as he pleases (Pre-K) and he will lay in bed for hours without going to sleep. Anyway, we had Austin's awards and graduation program this week also. I can't believe he will be in 6th grade and Luke will be a Kindergartener.

5. Jon had a softball tournament Saturday in Mesquite. We decided we'd go spend the day up there with him. During a 4 hour break we went to eat lunch at Roadhouse and then took the boys to play at Celebration Station. We road the go carts and bumper boats. Umm, did everyone besides me know that bumper boats squirted water? They boys got me on one...not knowing I was about to be drenched...and then I became the moving target for everyone operating a boat during that time. Needless to say, I was not the happiest or prettiest looking camper when I finally got out of the boat. Why did I waste all that time fixing my hair and makeup that morning?

6. Today we spend all day out at my dads house. We had such a great time. My dad had the three younger kids (8, 9 & 14) and the Ryan and Ashley came...as well as my aunt and then my uncle and his family. It was nice and super relaxing. We played in both the pools and then I laid out to make an attempt to get a tan on my Casper looking skin. The boys rode on the Ranger and fished in one of the stocked ponds. You know it's been a good day when your near-5yr-old smells like a wet puppy and wants to go to bed at 7pm!! Yippie!

Anyway...there you have it...a peek into my life for the past two weeks! Hopefully I will have some great pictures to post during this week of Tball and other fun little things.

Show Us Where You Live Friday - DINING ROOMS

2009-05-21T23:29:00.005-05:00

It's Friday again, well technically it will be in 21 minutes, and it's time for us to browse around other folks homes! I love this part of the week. My favorite time of year is during the holidays when our little town has it's annual "Tour of Homes"...so fun. Anyway, head on over to Kelly's blog if you want to participate!

Here is a picture of my dining room from the entry area of our home. This is my favorite room in my home and it is unfortunately the least used! Once again you will see me rustic, Texas style! This mirror I got from a boutique in town before it closed down, it was 1/2 price and my favorite part is that it's made of rough barnwood. This is a view from my kitchen. Again, the window treatment is mostly leather, but I absolutely love this one!
This is my antique cabinet/table and glasses that I found at a store in Dallas. It's so pretty and the doors are leather.
My favorite thing in this room is the actual table. I found this at the same antique store as the piece above. The tabletop is supposed to be real copper...who knows if it really is or not and I was really drawn to the pattern on the chairs. I found this centerpiece (which you can't see all of) from First Monday at Canton.
Come back by next Friday and maybe you'll get a peek at the little ones room...if it's clean enough...which is asking a LOT!!!

I scream, you scream...

2009-05-21T23:10:00.004-05:00

We all scream for ice cream!

Lucas after the ice cream truck came down the beach. See how it's all over him? It was super hot and it melted super fast!

Luke definitely is Jon made over. He was pretending to surf-fish like Jon does every year. He is not at all afraid of the waves and water...which ultimately terrifies me.
I think this is from when he was building a sand castle. He has fun. You can see here that the seaweed is in right now...but despite that, it was still nice to have a little R&R at the beach last weekend.

Socks

2009-05-20T09:08:00.003-05:00

Lucas had his first Tball practice yesterday. I say that but really it was nothing more than a "meet and greet" for the kids to get to know each other and to meet our coach. It's funny because living in the town that we grew up in you always find someone on one of your kids sports teams that you went to school with. This year it just happens to be our new coach! Do you guys remember Cole Sellers? He has got two cute little boys under the age of 3 and one more kiddo on the way. So sweet!

Here's where socks fit in. They got into the huddle at the end of practice and Cole said "Oh yeah, we are the Red Socks". All the kids look totally confused. This one cute little boy looked down at his feet and said, "Nuh, uh, my socks are WHITE"!! All the parents died laughing! So Cole asks the kids if they like the Red Socks and ALL of them told him that they only had white socks and didn't have any red ones. Only kids that age!!

It made me laugh anyway!!

Not Me! Monday

2009-05-18T16:56:00.004-05:00

In keeping with MckMama's Not Me Monday Carnival...here we go.

Friday I did not realize that my house payment was about to be late and call the bank to have the money transfered over immediately. I did not get online to pay it the week before and then get side tracked while looking at blogs and shopping for clothes that I do not need. Let's not tell the husband this one!!

Saturday while we were at the beach I certainly did not let my little one get sunburned. I would never have forgotten to reapply it to his creamy skin after being at the beach and in the water for 2 hours. I was not so involved in reading my new book that I didn't take notice that his skin was turning a light shade of pink...which the next morning was red as a fire engine. Not I!!

This morning, I did not have a near meltdown when my dad & one of my siblings were trying to play a small trick on me. I did not lose my temper and nearly start crying when my dad told me that my brother was trying to set him up with a MUCH younger woman...who is only about 25. I wouldn't have thrown such a fit and then realized that they were only telling me that to see what kind of reaction that they could get out of me. Nope, not me!

Oh yeah, I most certainly did not shop online today for cute summer dresses while I was supposed to be working through my lunch break. I did not purchase 3 of them and have them rush delivered because I wanted to try them on so quickly.

On my block...

2009-05-12T15:13:00.002-05:00

You would not BELIEVE what my kid said to me last night. It was getting late and it was time for bed. I was sitting on the couch and Jon was in one of the recliners while Lucas was running around. I told Lucas that it was time for us to go get PJ's on and get into bed. He told me "No, I don't want to" then he proceeded to climb onto Jon's lap. So, what did I do? I repeat myself and tell him that it is time for bed and that we need to go now...

Lucas then says, plain as day, "Mommy, I am not on your BLOCK anymore so I don't have to listen to you"...what??? He repeats himself telling me that since he is in his Daddy's lap that he minds his Daddy and that he is not on my block anymore.

Yeah, I asked him where he heard that and he said he saw it on The Fast & The Furious. I looked...yep, it's there. Two of the guys were getting into a fight and one said "Hey, we're not on your block anymore."

Only my son...

Show us where you live - Friday

2009-05-08T20:45:00.008-05:00

LIVING ROOM SHOWCASE

For those of you who don't follow Kelly's Korner, she has a linky Friday where everyone who wants to participate links pictures of a specific room in there home for the world to see. It is so much fun browsing through all of the hundreds or thousands of photographs to see everyones decorating style and to get ideas for yourself.

Here is a view from one of my hallway doors. I suppose you'll notice that we have a rustic, Texas decor going on here. Plus I really enjoyed the red when I found this couch!

Here is a view of our entertainment center. It actually has a corner piece for each side but it didn't fit...BOO. We used one corner in the master bedroom and one to be shown later. If you can see the knick-knacks you will see that stars are a primary part of this room.
Leather window treatments. These really are leather...whether that is good or bad! I just love them and they suit the room so well.
One of the matching recliners and side tables. These chairs feel like butter...I am in them all the time. I love my lamps. I got them at a Texas antique store, but would you believe that my home builder didn't put any outlets in the floor? I can't even plug them in!!
Here is one of the corner pieces I was telling you about early that belongs with my entertainment center. It's a perfect fit here though.

I love this mirror and this picture does not do it justice. This shelf/accent piece we got from The Bombay Store before it closed down. I'm so sad that store isn't around anymore.

Here is my fireplace. I am a Texan (obviously) and this is what made us fall in love with this house. You may not be able to see it well, but there is a star stoned into the brick. Love it!!

For better or worse, here that is my living room! I hope you enjoyed the mini-tour and I can't wait to see all of yours. Happy Friday!

Something new...

2009-05-05T15:03:00.004-05:00

I decided it was time for something new in the hair department. I used to change my hairstyles and color almost as often as I changed my purses! I have been sporting my natural (believe me it's true) color for almost 2 years now. First, I can't believe that I ever let it get that dark and second, I can't believe that I kept it for that long. I have been trying to grow my hair back out after impulsively cutting it off to just below my chin last year.

I have used the same hair dresser, Doyce, for years. My niece has been begging me to let her do mine for a while now. She cuts hair in the evening and on weekends. I decided that I would give in and let her have a go at it.

I love this cut on Jessica Simpson. I like the layering, the bangs, etc. This is the cut I'm going to go for.
Now, this is the color I'm going to try to have her do. I'm going to lighten the locks up some for summer. I actually like my hair dark but it's time for a change. On a side note, I actually had my hair cut exactly like this about 2 years ago. I loved it! If my hair were about 3 inches longer I would do this all over again.

We'll see how the after product looks. I will try to make myself post some pictures up on here afterwards...

**Umm, I wouldn't mind looking like either of them too!!**

Unlikely Source

2009-05-05T08:17:00.002-05:00

If any of you read my Not Me! Monday post below this then you would know about the tattoos that were all over my sons arms and legs. You would also know that I had tried soap and a washrag, GermX and a few other solutions to get it off. They just would NOT come off of that child. I kept him out of school yesterday since I didn't figure that his Christian Preschool would appreciate me sending him covered in those!

I called several people and asked what I should use to get them off, everyone that I talked to didn't have any other suggestions that what I had already tried. I was beginning to think that maybe Lucas had snuck out of the house and driven his powerwheel down to the local tattoo parlor and that maybe they were actually real!!

Yesterday afternoon my dad was sitting in my office talking to the little one. I was complaining about those silly tats and how I couldn't get them off. He says, "All you have to use is Nail Polish Remover." WHAT?? Where did that come from. It occurs to me instantly that he is right and that this would have to work if it will take off polish that is caked on for months!! He apparently saw the shock on my face and quickly reminded me that I have 2 sisters under the age of 9 who love body art and a brother who is 14 that used to love it!! Oh yeah, still, never would have gone to Daddy with that one!!

Last night we got out the cotton balls and remover. Lucas enjoyed helping me. It took literally about 3 minutes to remove them all...I had only spent about 20 minutes that morning and the night before trying to get them off.

Thanks Dad!!!

Not Me! Monday

2009-05-04T11:27:00.006-05:00

MckMama is doing a Not Me! Monday on her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. I would link to this but I'm not certain how!! I was reading through some of the other folks attachments and they were hilarious. I thought I would do it too! **Oh, I figured it out!!**

Last week I did not go through 4 pregnancy tests to see if the answer changed on them? I did not get negative results all 4 times and continue to hope that they were all wrong. I was not so silly as to forget to realize that being on antibiotics for 10 days could delay ones "flo". I also did not inform my husband that he would be on the strictest of schedules until he "knocked me up" again!

Saturday I did not forget to bring Lucas' swim trunks to the cookout. I did not have to drive all the way back home to get one for him. I was not tempted to allow my child swim in a little girls bikini bottoms and just look as though it were a speedo. No sir, not me, it never crossed my mind!

Saturday night I did not allow my grown niece, who is a hair dresser, to "play" with my hair for almost 30 minutes while I relaxed. I did not have her do this while I realized that she was bored to tears. I did not have her do this after she had spent the entire day in the salon doing peoples hair. I most certainly did not feel guilty!

Sunday my family did not take 5 month late Christmas presents to some friends of ours. Those gifts have not been sitting in my home office for 5 months. I am definitely more "with it" than that...I so wouldn't allow that to happen!

This morning I did not keep my near 4yr old out of preschool because he was covered in body tattoos that I could not get to come off. I was not so embarrased by all the art work that I brought him to work with me. I am not blaming it on being afraid of the Swine Flu instead of being honest about the body art!!!

Oh Lucas...

2009-05-03T20:11:00.002-05:00

whatever will I do with him? Isn't it funny the things kids say and do? I will never understand where he comes up with some of these things.

Yesterday afternoon we went over to The Gilbert's home for a fajita cookout and an all around good time with about six other couples. It was so much fun. Everyone brought their children or their pregnant bellies. At some point during the afternoon one of the kiddos came down hollering "Lucas' mom, Lucas' mom, Lucas and Molly are married, really married!" I proceed to go upstairs to find Lucas and Molly sitting in her play house and Luke immediately says, "Mommy, we're just pretending we are married so it's no big deal really." What? I was just waiting for Phillip to head up the stairs for an off with Luke's head moment!! He takes pride in the protective daddy business!!

Last night we had some late night visitors who brought over their little girl. Jon was watching the boxing match on PPV. This morning I passed by his bedroom and almost had a heart attack. There was not ONE single inch of space not occupied by a toy, book or game. They must have dumped every toy bin out. So I hollered for him and asked what in the world happened. His response: "Mom, a bomb must have exploded in here!" Ummm, where did he learn about a bomb?

Also last night when the above mentioned family were leaving our home we had another surprise. The kids had been playing in his room (obviously) and had gotten pretty quiet. Lucas comes barrelling into the living room with tattoos all up and down his arm and legs. He had no less than 10 tats on his little body. He definitely had help with these. I asked him what he was thinking and his response: "Because I decided to. And mom, they are SO bad...and that means cool." Well, just so I know!

Tonight we met up with Ryan and Ashley for an early dinner. Ryan is always asking Lucas if he wants to come spend the night with them. Now the problem is that they were leaving to go back to Austin to work right after dinner. Lucas said yes. I reminded him that it would be for one whole week, 5 nights. He changed his tune real quick. Now, as we are driving off he says, "Mommy, why is Uncle Rye-Rye, your brother so awful?"...huh? What? Jon & I ask him what he's talking about. Here is the answer: "Well, he is ALWAYS trying to steal me away from you and Daddy and that's awful." Hehehe, I guess he's not actually old enough for those week long sleepovers!!

Unbelievable

2009-04-27T20:33:00.002-05:00

I can not seem to catch a break to save my life! This will make some of you laugh and others, well, those of you who know me best will understand my frustration. Michelle has been on my case for MONTHS about posting new pictures on here. Pictures of Lucas, pictures of our family, pictures of Maggie (our Boxer) and so many more wonderful moments. As I was sitting here watching One Tree Hill I decided that I would bring the laptop over to the couch and upload pictures from my camera during commercial breaks. Here's how it went:

Problem #1 ~ The cords that I found that attach the camera to the computer...well those were apparently to another camera. I'm not sure exactly which camera it belongs to since we have like 8 around the house...all of which are DEAD since I can't find the chargers to any of them.

Problem #2 ~ I looked down at my laptop and remember that after Christmas I took out the memory card and that my laptop has a place for it to go into to. I take the memory card out, punch it into the hole...oops, it doesn't fit. I try to get it back out...it just sinks further into the computer. Where it is currently still sitting now. I plan to see if Jon can get it out but that would require me telling on myself and I can't swing that right now. So, how do you ask did that memory card fit last time? It must have come out of one of the other 8 dead cameras around here.

I'm telling you that I shouldn't have a blog. I should be banned from my camera. Oh gosh, what if Jon can't get the memory card out? There are hundreds of pictures on it!!! Man oh man!

Horrah for Antibiotics!!

2009-04-22T17:01:00.002-05:00

Well, the doctor said that my diagnosis was strep throat and a mild ear infection in my right ear. I'm not sure what "mild" means when it sure doesn't feel mild. I started both of the antibiotics last night so hopefully they will be kicking in soon! Jon was kind enough to keep Lucas occupied for the evening last night so I could do nothing but sleep. With the help of an Ambien, prescribed after Logan, I slept from 9pm - 8:30am without any movement. Yea!

I don't feel much better but I think the rest will help. The plan is to be back at work tomorrow.

No Better

2009-04-21T08:14:00.002-05:00

Don't you hate getting sick? I was just sure that I could head this yuckiness off with some OTC drugs. That SO hasn't been working for me. I did make it through the day yesterday here at the office but I didn't get much further than that. I layed up most of the night last night. You know how you can never seem to get comfortable at night or get a decent nights sleep when you are feeling puny?

I took everything under the sun yesterday. Robitussin, Benadryl, Tylenol...nada. The problem now is that not only does my throat still hurt but now both of my ears are as well. Not like a mild ringing or discomfort. The left one hurts only a little while the right ear is throbbing. I feel so sorry for our little ones who get anything wrong with their ears. Here I am a grown woman and can hardly tolerate it. Goodness.

I did schedule a doctors appointment for this afternoon. Hopefully they will tell me that it's something that antibiotics will cure IMMEDIATELY!!

Woe is me...

2009-04-20T09:34:00.002-05:00

My throat hurts. I seem to continue to get sick. I would like to blame this on allergies or drainage but I have had neither of the above recently. It honestly feels like someone has taken their claws and scratched them down the inside of my throat. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

I wish that I were able to head back home and climb under the covers today. No such luck...my desk looks like a WAR zone!! :)

Friday, Friday

2009-04-17T15:35:00.003-05:00

TGIF!!! I need a breather from the madness that is my office. Irate salesmen, crews that I can not communicate with, suppliers that have no clue, plus much more! I think that I am being taken to the movies by my two boys...however I think that I've been convinced to see Fast & Furious. Which, if Vin Diesel is still as hot as he used to then maybe I can deal with seeing it. I don't know if it's his voice or the fact that he may have the best upper body out there?? Hmm...I'll stop now.

I'm trying to determine if I am going to lounge around the house tomorrow and relax or if I'm going to get out and do something. I need to go in search of some new tables for beside my bed. Maybe I can take a picture of it tonight and send all of you ladies on a hunt for the perfect tables for me. I don't like the ones that I have. My bed came from Horchow and of course when we ordered the 2 end tables only one of them came in. One of them has been on back order for several YEARS now. Not that it matters because they wouldn't have fit right anyway. The ones that I have now I bought really cheap as "fill ins" until I could find new ones. They actually TIP OVER if you hit them wrong. No joke!!

Okay, so I also should spend the weekend cleaning out my closet. It is broken, literally broken. My very bottom rack has totally detached from the wall, it has come out of the wall, the screws/nails have come out of the wall stud. My cleaning ladies were trying to organize and put EVERY pair of jeans I own on the SAME rack. I have somewhere near 40-50 pairs of jeans. Can you imagine the weight of that? Jon was so incredibly mad at me. He told me that he wouldn't have it fixed until I clean out my closet...by that he means going through all of my clothes and getting rid of them. I think that I will just buy some tubs instead to keep at the top of my closet. I never know what size I'm going to fit in on any given week...SO...what would be the point in getting rid of them??

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2009-04-17T10:36:00.002-05:00

come back once I can get inside the security of my own home. I LOVE the rain. Just as long as I am inside my own house and don't have to get out in it. I detest being wet from the rain. It's like I'm going to melt or something (joke)! I'm sitting here at my desk at the office just listening to it. Isn't it funny how you can have a love/hate relationship with something like the rain? I love the sound of thunderstorms, but they scare me. If Jon's not home you can bet I'm on my way to my parents house or to my sis-in-laws. I don't do thunderstorms at night alone. Nope, not happening! I'm telling you that in high school and during the first few years back home from Tech when I was living with my mom & stepdad they had a cot that they kept in the corner of the bedroom. If there was a thunderstorm, a random noise or a scary movie I plopped right down on that cot in their room. It's an ongoing joke with them that they had their grown daughter sharing their bed through her teens...apparently they think that the fact that Lucas refuses to leave our bed is my payback!!

Closure?

2009-04-16T10:02:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Jon & I got an email from the monument company. It had pictures of Logan's finished headstone on it. While we were looking at the pictures we realized that they had already taken it out to the cemetery. I don't expect anyone to understand my rationalization here but let me give it to you. I was heartbroken. Not because of our loss because it is always around. No, it was because I was just certain that they would call me before they took it out there. I wanted to be there and be front and center while they put it out. I can't explain why it was such a big deal to me but it was. I can understand that probably they don't call the families just so they can avoid hysterical mommies like me!!

I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to go out there yesterday. I did. Lucas was with me. He usually chooses to stay in the car but yesterday he must have sensed something was up. He told me that he was going to get out and talk to his baby too..."Mommy, I miss him too" is what he told me. Some of these things are like pouring salt on a healing wound. We didn't get the opportunity to stay for very long since Lucas was all over the place, but it was nice. They did a terrific job on the headstone.

It's so strange because I wanted to take pictures. I don't know if this is normal behavior or not. Actually, I don't know what normal even is anymore. I thought it was so pretty out there that I wanted to take pictures to share with the world, however, I'm not sure that the world is ready for those pictures.

The part that is the hardest for me is that the headstone getting put out there was the very last thing that we had to do in association with losing Logan. I think that is why it was so important to me to be there. It was our final deed to him as his parents. Of course we will forever talk to him, visit him, cherish him and love him but there are no other "chores" to be done on his behalf. That in itself just breaks my heart. That's why I tagged this closure. It isn't really, but in a way I think it will take us to the next level in the process of healing.

This morning I have called our favorite florist to tell them to have an arrangement ready for me to pick up at noon. I plan to go take those beautiful flowers out to my beautiful baby boy and make his resting place that much more beautiful. I think that it is nothing short of what he deserves...as I realize that even though this experience has showered me with more pain that I ever thought possible, he has made my own life that much more beautiful because he was a part of it and me.

Random Pictures #3

2009-04-16T09:44:00.004-05:00

Last ones...for now.

This is so typical my kid. He feels the need to show the world his food, such a boy. This beauty next to him is Molly Gilbert.

I love this because his happiness is so obvious. He is with his cousin, Rylan here. We are all on our boat 2 summers ago.
This is his 2nd birthday. We were living in Florida and couldn't make it home. It was a sad little party of about 6 people but he didn't know the difference.

Mr. Macho. We were meeting The Vaughn's at Disney World here. I think we were playing in the lobby waiting for them to come down here.

Again, isn't he just like his Daddy? He strives to be just like him.

Playing with a baby snake...need I say more? Eww Gross.

NanaNanaBooBoo. I believe is what he was saying here.

Random Pictures #2

2009-04-16T09:21:00.004-05:00

Here are some more pictures from my computer search.

Christmas 2004. He truely looks like an elf the way his ears are flipping out of that hat!!NO...I promise we didn't do this to him often. Our friend had the sweatband and I couldn't help myself!
I just adore this picture. Doesn't he look like an old toothless man? I was testing out the hawk!

If Luke had been looking at the camera this may have been my all-time favorite. He looks so much like his Daddy, it's unbelievable.

He was 3 months old here. What was I thinking getting him a fish costume? Maybe I let Jon talk me into it?

I just wanted to share this one because SERIOUSLY, doesn't the onesie say it all?

Random Pictures #1

2009-04-15T16:05:00.005-05:00

I was browsing in my picture files on my office computer and found all of these super old pictures of Lucas. I thought I'd share a few with you all. I will post more tomorrow when I get another chance to look through them.

Wasn't his long, curly hair so cute??

Lucas

2009-04-15T15:17:00.006-05:00

So, we went to the doctor yesterday so we could "catch up" on a few shots. It was a miserable experience that I will not even bore you with. However, this appointment did enable us to sign up early for Kindergarten yesterday. I can not believe how crazy it is that he will be starting Kindergarten in just a few more months. Let me just tell you what a mess I will be. I had hoped that we would be able to attend Marvin Elementary, but we are zoned to go to Shackelford Elementary. I suppose that the upside is that he will be with these same children for all of school starting now.

Yesterday Lucas weighed in a 40lbs even and 41 1/2 inches tall. The growth chart says that he is falling in the 37th percentile in height and the 52nd percentile in weight. He has just begun to hit a growth spurt...is it wrong of me to hope that he gets his height from my Dad & Ryan? I told the boys that yesterday and they asked if what I meant was that I wanted a tall & fat son. I personally think that my little, big brother and dad are adorable!

Have I mentioned that Lucas will turn 5 in July? Scary!!

Yuck, yuck, yuck

2009-04-06T22:06:00.002-05:00

Please, oh please, let me make all of you laugh...at my expense of course. As many of you know we recently got a new puppy...a Boxer. Let me set this up for you. Tonight Jon had a softball game. I am sitting on the couch with Lucas and the puppy as he leaves for the game. I get up and let the dog out in the back yard. I let the dog back in and put her in her crate while I do a couple of things.

I am in the bathroom for all of a minute when Lucas comes to the door yelling, "Oooh, nasty diarrhea poop". No, he is NOT talking about me. I quickly realize that he is talking about the puppy. I hurry and exit the safety of my quiet bathroom and head for the puppy.

I enter the puppies room...better known as the laundry room. Please envision that since we originally had bought two puppies her crate is gigantic, like probably 50 lbs and incredibly bulky. What I see is, in fact, nasty puppy diarrhea poop. I'm talking loads of the stuff. Not only that but the sweet, little puppy of mine has decided that she will stomp all through it and roll around in it.

As I'm standing in the doorway trying to figure out exactly how to get the crate and dog outside on my own, I start hearing a gagging sound. Lucas is coming down the hall, catches a whiff, and begins puking all over the hallway. As he is doing so, he starts yelling something about a spider...he runs...while puking...back down the hallway. Yep, weak stomach for one, scared of a spider about 1/2 the size of a dime. I'm talking puke everywhere. Should I mention that he had just eaten chicken nuggets and a Ding-Dong (as previously mentioned in the last post)???

Now I'm still trying to figure out what to do. I kill a spider, make Lucas stand still, call Jon...who dies laughing...maneuver and huge crate onto the back porch, get Lucas into the bathtub, clean up vomit, throw away the towel b/c it just grosses me out to think of it in the washer, let the dog out of the cage, stand outside in the cold for 10 minutes hosing down the crate, realize that the dog needs to be cleaned, realize that the hose water is too cold, go inside to put warm water in the mop bucket, open the garage door as the puppy rushes in through my legs making the mop bucket spill all over me and my floor, clean up the water, refill the bucket, dunk the dog into it, realize I'm gonna have to use my bare hands to clean her, dry out the crate, maneuver it back inside, put her back into it, call April to vent...who dies laughing...call my mom...who dies laughing, I realize Jon's game has been over for an hour and he still isn't home, call him to have him tell me that he didn't want to rush right home to diarrhea dog, vomitting kid and irritated wife. Do you blame him? Do you blame me?

I am sitting here typing this...waiting for him to come home so he can check the laundry room to make sure that the incident hasn't repeated itself. Because let's be honest here...I don't have it in me to go check myself. I'm afraid that if I do...I might just lose it!!

Yuck, yuck, yuck!!!

Life in the fast lane...

2009-04-06T21:57:00.004-05:00

My life is nothing these days if not chaotic. I can't seem to keep my head screwed on straight to save my life. It seems that just as I am finishing up one task, another beckons out to me. Oh yeah, there are STILL no pictures to be posted because I thought I had found the right camera charger to realize that it belongs to my old camera. This new computer of mine doesn't have the little slot to put the memory card into. Ho hum.

Friday my dad had to have surgery on his back. I drove to Waco to get to the hospital in time...only to get severely lost because my navigation system is apparently not "with it" enough to recognize the newer roads. Hello...it's like 2 years old...or maybe it's already 3? His surgery went well. They had to remove some bad areas that were about the size of his thumb...says the doctor. His L3 & L4 were pinching his sciatic nerve, causing him LOADS of pain. He is home, still in pain, but thankfully from the surgery and not the before cause. However, while I was at the hospital, I went up to the nurses station to ask about visiting hours for some other family members and when the nurse looked up it was someone we had gone to high school with. Random!!

Saturday Dad got out of the hospital, finally...he thought 24hrs there was super long. One of our nephews came over to stay the night with Lucas. We tried to go to one of the Jon's games...softball tournament...go figure...and in the club house I ran into someone else that we went to high school with. It is apparently the time for catching up!!

Sunday afternoon as I was trying to take a nap Lucas comes in and says, "Mom, I am hungry for a Ding-Dong. Get your shoes on and go to the store to get me some." You don't think that he's heard his Daddy one too many times do you? Needless to say, I am an enabler...I put my shoes on and went to buy Ding-Dongs. Of course, it was only because I wanted to get out of the house...NOT because my 4 year old runs things! Ha!

New Page

2009-03-25T16:36:00.005-05:00

I know, I still haven't posted pictures as Michelle reminded me. I really will try to do that from home tonight. I don't have much else going on with the rain.

I have been meaning to refresh my blogging background for a good while now. When I saw the quote on the top of this one...I knew that I just had to have it. This quote makes perfect sense to me and it's pretty much my mantra lately. It's thinking like this that helps me get through each day.

I have had so many days lately that I get down on myself and then someone (usually mom) reminds me of just how lucky I really am. I see all the devastation on the news with the economy, the murders and all those things do is depress me. I get especially choked up when I see something about babies and children being slain or mistreated by family/parents. Don't those people know how many others there are out there that would give up everything they've got to have a chance at a family? I blessed enough to already have a family and the ability to expand mine...regardless of past circumstances. I don't fear that my house will be taken from me or that I will not be able to feed my Lucas. I do complain about gas prices fluctuating but at least I can put gas in my car. I have much to smile about!

Hence, the smile quote!

Soapbox anyone?

Isn't it just my...

2009-03-23T08:34:00.003-05:00

LUCK...I brought my camera to the office today so I could post some pictures of the boys from our fun weekend away. I plug it into my computer to transfer the new pictures only to find that my camera is dead! I knew that I should have done this last night while I had the time and was at home. Argh!

I suppose I will try again tonight after Zumba, training appointment and Jon's softball game. Oh yeah...back to reality!!

Hump Day...

2009-03-18T08:33:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness, I woke up this morning and thought it was Thursday. Little did I know that I was getting ahead of myself! I am SO tired this morning but it's by my own doing. I couldn't seem to close my eyes last night so I lay in bed watching some random TV shows (18 kids & counting, Kids by the Dozen, etc) until almost 1:30 this morning. I know, I've lost it!

Jon & I decided that we wouldn't do anything super fun until Friday. Friday we are taking Lucas and his cousin to San Antonio. We know that we are going to brave SeaWorld on Saturday but I'm not sure what we will do Friday afternoon. I had thought maybe Fiesta Texas but it just won't work...I want to ride the rides, not the kids! I got so frustrated last night looking for a hotel that I just gave up. The ones I wanted were booked, the ones that were available didn't have very good reviews. I mean seriously, the decisions...do we stay by the Riverwalk, by SeaWorld, near Fiesta Texas??? What happened to times that you just could get in the car and drive and there would be availability at every hotel you passed on the way?

Monday...Monday...

2009-03-16T08:59:00.002-05:00

Today Lucas is at his Aunt Aha's house! He was thrilled to be going over there for the day. He used to be at their house regularly but lately we haven't seen them as much. I think that life has just kind of gotten in the way for everyone around us! Plus...it could be the fact that my family has been infected by the flu, ear infections, parvo (pups), etc.

It's spring break for all of the schools here in town and since Lucas goes to a private preschool, he doesn't really get a spring break. There is no curriculum of course, but he still can go. We thought we'd keep him out on Monday & Friday and have him go 1/2 days the rest of the week. We would like to take him to do fun activities some days of the week. I have a list of possibilities which include the zoo, Dallas World Aquarium, Chuck E Cheese's, Amazing Jakes, Six Flags and many more. I guess we will decide the day of which one we are doing. I'm guessing Six Flags will be much too crowded and we will never make that one!

Hopefully I will have my camera handy when we do these activities so I can get some pictures posted on here of my little man having some fun!

Weekend Recap...

2009-03-16T08:42:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that I am saying this but I am so glad it's Monday. We had what I like to call a good weekend in our house. I think that I am so eager for a full week of normalcy and zero sickness that I've been looking forward to today!

Friday night Lucas had his cousin Rylan spend the night with him. We picked them up and took them to play games at Dave & Busters for a few hours. It was a treat because he never has anyone over. He seems to be getting at the age where he wants that to happen. He thinks he should be spending the night at Aunt Tobey's next...but without her making him wear a pull-up to bed. Lucas hasn't worn a pull-up to bed in well over a year. One night he spent the night at Tobey's and she wasn't sure about it so she had him wear a pull-up to bed. He came home so MAD at her! It was hilarious!!

Saturday I woke up with what I think was food poisoning. I felt awful from about 2am to 10am. Then I began feeling absolutely normal. I think it was the shrimp from D&B's. We had a pretty unproductive day. We ran errands as a family, checked out the new Best Buy in Waxahachie and went to see The Barron's new house!! We are excited to have them closer by. The Barron's and The Gilbert's came over for dinner and to watch the basketball game. Again, Lucas was so excited to get to play with Molly!

Sunday I drove to Corinth to see The Vaughn family and to meet their newest addition, Kate Elizabeth. Since I don't have a baby girl of my own, I'm a little obsessed with buying Kate frilly little girl stuff! To be honest it was just a super soft blanket and a couple of outfits from The Plaid Donkey & Elements of Style. I took Brody a GeoTrax Train and Mack the truck from Cars. Brody plays with them when he is at our house and I figured that Kate was probably getting so many goodies from everyone that it well deserved that Bro got some too! He is the sweetest little child. He makes me smile every time I think about him. Lucas & Jon adore him too. Michelle looked a little sore but not nearly as tired as I had expected her to. She is such a good mommy! Kate was beautiful and was a serene little thing while I was holding her. I hear from her family that she has quite the set of lungs too! She was a perfect little angel while I was there. Justin was definitely a proud daddy. He is such a good man. I have always been thankful that Michelle & Justin found each other! I like to fictitiously take credit for that...so not my doing but definitely God's! Vaughn's...I am so happy and proud of your new family of four!!

Update

2009-03-10T19:20:00.002-05:00

We got Maggie, our boxer, back from the vet this evening. They seem to think that she will be just fine. Yea! Lucas was super excited to get her home. They are playing in the floor as I type. She is a handful and a big-ole baby.

Lucas is still sick. He's on his 4th day of antibiotic. He continues to have a fever but it does go down. It seems that once I think we are home free...up it rises! Jon & I have been switching out since Friday with who stays at home with him. Tomorrow is mine but I brought quite a large stack of work home with me. I'm hoping to blow through it in the morning so I can spend the afternoon playing with Lucas and Maggie.

I was back on the workout track yesterday. I'm hoping to make Zumba tomorrow afternoon...IF all goes well. Jon is back to playing softball 3 nights a week...SO my schedule revolves around when his games are. I'm hoping for an 8pm game.

Blessings

2009-03-08T17:06:00.002-05:00

I thought that maybe after running rampant with all the negatives in our house (below post) that it was time to put some positives out there. Here are just a few things that I am thankful for.

1. Lucas is beginning to feel better and has enough energy to play in his bedroom today.
2. Even with all of the craziness this weekend I still got to spend some time with my Mom, Ryan and Ashley.
3. My husband bought me some goodies today from Lowe's. He got me two of the most adorable, huge boot planters for either side of my front door...he even planted lilies in them this afternoon.
4. I hear my son giggling right now as he watches Beverly Hills Chihuahua for the 2nd time today.
5. I'm so anxious for Kate Elizabeth Vaughn's arrival that I can hardly sit still. Logan's crib looks like it threw up baby girl clothes!!
6. Nicole & Jamey are almost back in Waxahachie! A week left! Yea!
7. The Snocone stand opened back up for the season. Man am I craving a Purple Passion snowcone!
8. That I am, despite everything, happy, healthy and loved!
9. I am blessed by tons of wonderful friends who make me smile daily with their funny blogs, facebook posts, quirky emails, interesting texts and time consuming phone calls.
10. I have a car to drive, a roof over my head, food in my fridge and a bed that will be calling my name soon!!!
11. That Jon & I can begin trying again this month if it strikes our fancy!! Decisions, decisions...for which I am thankful to get the opportunity to make.

I know that there are PLENTY more, but there are my top 11 for the day!

Dang it, dang it, dang it...

2009-03-08T16:41:00.005-05:00

I'm telling you that every time we take a step forward in this house we take two giant jumps backwards. It has been a ridiculous few weeks. Please, oh please, let me break it down for you.

LUCAS: Went to the doctor on Feb 25th for the flu. He took his meds like he was supposed to and five days later felt fine. He went back to school. I pick him up on Thursday to the look of sad/sick eyes. His fever was up so we gave him Motrin and kept him out of school on Friday. Here I am thinking that he is probably just trying to get the rest of the flu out of his system. I don't take him to the dr. Saturday morning he wakes up to a fever of 102.5 degrees. I can't take him to the dr because of *** to be noted in the next point, so I call on his Uncle Rye-Rye to take him. (On a side note, I am thankful for that special relationship all the time.) We find out that he has double ear infections again and is still trying to fight off the flu. I pick him up from Ryan, take him into HEB for literally 10 minutes to get his antibiotic, more Motrin, Gatorade, etc...all the necessities of a sickly child. He progressively looks worse and by the time I get him home 10 minutes later his fever has skyrocketed to a whopping 103.4. It did, thankfully, finally come back down. He is feeling much better this morning thanks to the meds and Motrin/Tylenol switching! Let's hope once his 10 days of antibiotics are up that we will be a healthy household.

PUPPIES: Our first mistake was buying them from Canton. Jon took the puppies to the vet on Tuesday the 3rd...all is fine. The lab stops eating and begins throwing up and diarrhea on Wednesday. Thursday night we call the vet (Jon & I are thinking Parvo) and they tell us that if they are moving around to bring them in on Friday. Friday we call the vet (remember Lucas is home sick too) and our regular vet is "unable to see us today, but here is the number of 5 other vets. Make sure Mrs. Seymore that they get seen immediately because it could be serious". After 7 phone calls I find a place who will see them in Midlothian. We are in and out in 10 minutes. Vet says that they are just FINE and here is some meds to help stop the labs vomit/diarrhea...you should give it to the Boxer just in case too. We do. Friday night at MIDNIGHT I have to call my mom to come over to the house to stay with Lucas and the Boxer while Jon & I drive the Lab to the I-20 vet in Arlington. They find that she does have severe Parvo. She has lost over 4lbs since the Tuesday visit and has something that resembles seizures while she is in the vets office. Needless to say, we lost one of the dogs. Just to be safe we decide it was necessary for us to get the Boxer into the vet immediately on Saturday since at I-20 they tell us that there is a 100% possibility that she will have Parvo. I wake up at 7:30 am (did I mention that Jon & I got back home at 3:30am?) and start calling the vet. Ours again says that he can't see her today but it's dire that she goes somewhere. I find a place in DeSoto for her to go. The only time that they can see her is at 12:20pm so I take it. (This is where Ryan taking Lucas to the dr comes in since his appt was at 12:15 in Hatch.) The vet does a test on Maggie and thinks it probably is Parvo. She is still at that vet getting IV's and fluids. If all goes well, she will get to come home on Wednesday or Thursday.

HOUSE: If Maggie comes home, everything in the house must be sterilized first. Not just your normal weekly cleaning. They want me to have all of the rugs, carpet and couch shampooed. I need to use a bleach type cleaner on all of the other areas within my house. I must throw away all of the toys, beds, leash, etc that we have already spent the money on and buy new. I mean seriously.

FITNESS: Is non-existent right now since I've been at home caring for sick puppies and Lucas. I'm hoping that I can go to my session tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Did I mention that I am tired??? Ya think? Oh yeah, if it has crossed any of your minds as to where Jon was all day Saturday...he was in Carrollton playing in a softball tournament. In his defense, he felt terrible about it. The team wouldn't have had enough players if he didn't go. I think that he felt even worse when he got home last night to our puny little man who was at the time down from the 103+ to a minor 102.6 fever.

Lastly...can I have my hour of sleep back please???? You can take it from me next weekend!!!

Miscellaneous Ramblings...

2009-03-03T08:44:00.003-06:00

I'm at the office trying my best to get some work done this morning and my server has decided that it doesn't like my password this morning. I'm on hold until the IT guy resets me. Fun stuff!

I don't know if I mentioned that the flu bug has finally left my house. Thank You Lord! I hate seeing my little man feeling bad. It just drags everyone else in my house right down with him.

Jon & I took Lucas to get a puppy over the weekend and came home with two instead. I know...we have SO totally lost our marbles. The good news is that our fence will be complete at the end of the week and they will be big enough dogs to be outside while we are at work and then in their crates at bedtime. Lucas got a boxer puppy that he named Maggie and a Chocolate Lab that he named Sadie. I will try to snap a few pictures tonight of him with the pups so I can post them here. They are good puppies but then it's only been 4 days.

I have muscles that are aching that I forgot even existed. I met with my trainer yesterday and she had me do several different sets that I hadn't done before. I'm pretty sure that I have never attempted to work out my back. Plus I told her that besides my belly I want to work super hard on my inner thighs. I shouldn't have said that as now it hurts to take a step for they are so tight! Don't you just wish that you worked out once and were perfected? Wishful thinking I suppose!

Oh yeah...this will blow your minds. I up until last night thought that I was already preggos again. I mean, we've been pretty careful but you just never know. The doctor wanted me to wait until at least March to begin trying again and I toss back and forth whether to wait even longer for myself to get back in better shape physically. Anyhow, I don't seem to be...so I guess that's a good thing. I will never understand how you can feel relief and disappointment all at one time. Only a woman!

Hmmm...

2009-02-26T08:21:00.002-06:00

I'm at the office this morning since I had to finish pushing out payroll for the week. I feel like I should be the one home with Lucas instead of Jon...however, we are blessed that Jon is such an amazing father and is more than well equipped to handle whatever situations are thrown his way. That being said, I don't feel so hot myself. I am having a little bit of nausea and my body is slightly achy. I'm hoping it's from lack of sleep and not because I'm trying to get this. We had to sleep with the ceiling fan on high and the A/C on last night. Yeah, it's because Lucas was so hot that it felt like I was sleeping in the Sahara. I can only imagine how he must have been feeling. His fever continued up & down most of the evening and into this morning. Thank goodness for Motrin.

On a different note...I have a training session this evening that I'm hoping that I can attend still. I would love to exercise the possibility of this bug right on out of me!! Plus, I don't want to many down days since it'll get me out of the habit. I was so sad to miss the Zumba class last night. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do it on Saturday but I guess we'll have to see what happens!!

Flu

2009-02-25T17:09:00.002-06:00

is beginning to invade our house. We took Lucas to preschool this morning and he seemed just perfect. I got a phone call from the nurse at 10am that he was running 101.6 fever without them adding to it. Of course I hightailed it to the school to pick him up. We made a pit stop at the doctor's office afterwards. After some tests they determined it's the flu. He hadn't shown any symptoms that I had noticed so I was greatly shocked. I asked him if there were any other symptoms I could expect. Dr. Henry said that sometimes there is vomit but not always. After a quick prayer upwards that we wouldn't be dealing with that...Lucas starts throwing up. OH YUCK!!!

The doctor said it will take between 7-10 days for it to fully run it's course and that he shouldn't return to the preschool until next Wednesday at the earliest. Goodness gracious that's a long time. Thankfully, Jon & I have super flexible schedules since we work for Dad. I think that we will be switching out who stays home with him for the next two days and then we will see next week. I hope that Jon & I don't get it!! We have not had the flu shot in our house. I'm full of regrets over that now.

Keep my puny little one in your thoughts...he's pitiful!

Did a tornado come to my house?

2009-02-25T08:01:00.004-06:00

So, I think that I got my "pity-me" day out yesterday. I think that everywhere I was turning yesterday was leading me to Logan. I'm cool-er now!! For those of you that actually read & put up with my "soap box"...thanks!

My poor house. It looks like a tornado came and landed straight upon it. Doing zero damage to the outside but tremendous damage to the inside! What I need is a cleaning fairy! My lady comes once every two weeks but sometimes I think she should come much more often. I have had something going on everyday for the past week or so and haven't had any time to devote to my home. Maybe tonight after Zumba? The cleaning lady will be here Friday but I am obsessed with cleaning BEFORE she comes to clean. I wish I could make myself stop that!

Our yard looks ridiculous too. They are at the house right now pouring concrete to extend our driveway. The driveway is covered with dirt and I think that Jon said we aren't supposed to park on it for like 2 weeks. When they leveled out the area, they left us like a 6 foot tall by 6 foot wide pile of earth. Um, hopefully we can get one of the young men out of work to come haul it away...soon! They always need some work.

We have weeds galore right now too! Thankfully the fertilizer/weed killer people are coming on Friday. How nice it will be if we can actually have GREEN grass this year instead of the typical greenish/brown kind that we had last year. Maybe our flowerbeds will decide to stay weedless this year too? Fat chance, right?

Finally, we are putting up our fence next week. I am so angry about the whole fence issue. I wanted vinyl but all of the sudden our HOA says it's iron only. I mean seriously...how bout some privacy folks? I would like to put in a pool soon. I'm pretty sure that you won't catch me sunbathing if you can see through my fence! Maybe if I looked like Jessica Alba or something. The HOA said that we can just plant tall shrubs around the fence. I wonder where they think those thousands of dollars will come from? Maybe they will come plant a money tree in my back yard!!

Skinny

2009-02-24T09:06:00.002-06:00

So, I told Lucas the other day that I was going to the gym to workout. He asked me what that meant so I told him that I was going to try to get skinny. He seems pacified by my answer and I never questioned what he thought skinny meant. About an hour later, he turned to Ryan and Ashley and told them that mommy was going to the gym so that they could take my skin off of me. What? Where did he get that from? I laughed so hard!!

One of those days...

2009-02-24T08:31:00.003-06:00

It seems to be one of those days already. You know the kind...I'm sort of happy and sort of sad all at the same time. I just feel kinda mentally blah. I actually woke up in a terrific mood (except that my quads & calves are killing me) and on the drive to work I hear some sappy song and it does me in. I think that I like to pretend I'm a stronger person that I actually am and that I have learned how to completely cope with our loss, but it's just not true.

It has been almost 9 weeks since we lost Logan and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about, analyze it or rehash it in some way or another. I believe that everyone has had a broken heart before but this is sometimes more than I think I can take. I think that maybe it's because I don't feel like I have gotten any form of closure on the situation. I don't know if all of you realize that when I went back to the doctor for my 6 week follow up, the pathologist report told a different story than what I was originally led to believe. However, the report still didn't give us any conclusive answers so my doctor is still consulting with a perinatologist and the pathologist in hopes of figuring it out. We do know that my placenta was less than 1/2 the size it was supposed to be. We do know that my cord was hypercoiled in several places due to blood clots...however this is about all we know. It was a shock to my system to have to relive that day with my doctor.

I have so many people tell me the stories about their c-sections when they ask questions about what happened to me, but sometimes what I really want to ask them is if they had to leave the hospital empty handed. I mean really, that's what it all boils down to, right? I arrived with something in by belly and left with nothing in my arms. My sweet little man will always be center in my heart and mind but not in my arms. Logan has a mommy, a daddy and a big brother who were anxiously waiting for him to get here and now we will be anxiously waiting to get to where he is!

Lucas asks about Logan often. It's amazing what the little mind can come up with. Last night we were laying in bed and Lucas says, "Mom. When I was in your tummy I didn't lay on your tube. Logan did because his eyes were closed but mine were open and I was looking where I was going." Where does my little 4 year old come up with these things? Lucas is my blankie boy. When we buried Logan, his big brother gave him one of his most special blankets to sleep with in the casket. A few days after all of this happened we received in the mail the blanket that I had ordered for Logan with his name on it. Lucas now thinks that Logan sent that one to him special so that they would both have each others blankets. It is so special to Lucas and by far one of his most favorite things. I will never tell!!

The monument place called to tell us that his headstone came in. I need to go by there and approve the layout to be etched onto it. I keep putting it off for some reason. Maybe it's because this feels like the final task that I will be able to do for Logan. Not that it's not real, but it just makes it seem that much more real. I have a hard time deciding what to put onto the stone. His name and date just don't seem like enough for the world to know what he already meant to us. Maybe we could put "Our Littlest Angel" but then I'm not sure I like that either. Who knows...maybe this is why I keep putting it off. My goal is to have this done by Friday.

I am so afraid to try to get pregnant again. I want to desperately but I am so scared. There are so many what-if's and uncertainties that it makes it difficult. I have been praying that my doctors would come up with specific answers so I could rest easier and be better monitored next time around. It doesn't seem that it is quite that simple. I'm still going to hold out hope though. Miracles happen every day, right?

Want to know my biggest secret? I think on most days that I am a bad mommy to Logan. Even now. In the first month after we lost him I would sit in his room for hours looking at and holding his things. Especially his blanket with his footprints and the tiny crocheted beanie that they had him in at the hospital. I loved that time. Now, it's getting harder and harder for me to go in there. I feel like I don't spend enough alone time with my thoughts and memories of him anymore. Strange isn't it?

So there you have it...random ramblings by yours truly!

Action Packed Weekend

2009-02-22T17:56:00.002-06:00

I think that for a while I had hoped to have full weekends so I didn't have much "think" time. Now I pray for weekends that we don't have anything going on. I don't know when the last time was that we just sat around! All in all, it was a great weekend though.

We started it off by meeting The Barron's for dinner Friday night at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummy! We love hanging out with them and Lucas adores Nicole. He tends to flirt with her from time to time!

Saturday Lucas had a 9am basketball game followed by my first session with the personal trainer at 10am. It was a revelation to me just how out of shape I am. Here I thought I just needed to lose some weight. I had no idea (whatever!!) just how physically out of shape I am!! We then had to go to Saltgrass in Cedar Hill for a tri-birthday party. My brother (Ryan), my sister (Hannah) and my uncle (Kenneth) all share the same birthday. To keep things simple we had a joint party this year. We then went to see a movie to end the night. I will be so thrilled when the new cinema opens in Waxahachie. I just can't handle when a movie I'm seeing happens to be in one of the 4 older theaters at the current one. No room, no cushion...yuck!

Today we went out to my Dad's ranch and drove around for a few hours. We went in hopes of getting some pictures of the beautiful doe that they just purchased & had delivered. They got 20 that are all preggos. Very neat! Once we got home I met Micah & Natalie for a Zumba class. I had never been and very much appreciated the invitation. It was so fun and a super workout. I never imagined it to be that. I ache in places that I forgot I had!!! I will look forward to attending another.

I think that I will end my night watching the Oscars on TV...unless Brothers & Sisters comes on!

Crochet

2009-02-20T09:16:00.003-06:00

I almost forgot. In deciding to take up new hobbies, I went to the store last night and bought yarn, crochet needles and a how-to book. Can we please discuss the look on Jon's face last night when I was sitting in my recliner, needle/hook in hand with some yarn wrapped around my fingers? In his defense, it probably was a funny site to see! I'm not sure what led me to think of crocheting other than I find some of the prettiest baby blankets and afgans are crocheted. Maybe I'll find that I am actually good at this and can make some cutesie's for everyone?? I will have to take pictures of my "projects" once I begin them! Right now though, I'm only on lesson 5 out of the book. Ha!

Ouch, I hurt...

2009-02-20T08:58:00.003-06:00

...just thinking of working out. I am so incredibly embarrassed to admit this, but I haven't had more than a few 30 minute trips on the treadmill in about the last 5 years. It's no wonder I have all of this excess weight. After everything happened with Logan, Jon & I decided that I needed to throw myself into something positive. I decided that it would be exercise. There was a point in my life...say 10 years ago...that I had something that resembled will-power. Not these days. I can find any excuse not to do the whole workout thing, but not this time. I am finally at my 8 week marker and can now go full fledged into an exercise program.

This being said, I have hired a personal trainer. I think that I have like 12 sessions with her, 3/week for the next month. I'm hoping that I can develop a good habit of working out during that month. However, I am SO scared! Hehehe, I told Jon that I'm afraid she is going to make me throw up. I hate doing that but can you imagine someone who hasn't had any form of exercise in this long in their first training session? I can and it doesn't look pretty...from my imagination anyway!

My first session is Saturday right after Lucas' basketball game. Did I say yet how much I already want to back out? I'm going to see it through though...otherwise I'll have to listen to Jon. Plus, who doesn't want several bags of potatoes dropped from their figure?? A girl can dream right?

I think that I'm going to give myself a reward for all of my hardwork at the end of the month. Yes, besides losing some weight & feeling great (hopefully)! Now I just need some reward ideas! Maybe a new purse??? Yea!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T11:43:00.004-06:00

was uneventful in our household! Lucas had basketball that morning, Jon had a softball tournament all day and I went to see Mother Load with my sisters-in-law and MIL. We thought of going out to dinner that night but seriously I could do without the crowds!

My wonderful husband sent me flowers on Friday. I have had SO many arrangements from him in the past 13 years but these were my favorites. They are making my house smell amazing! I think it's the white roses with the lilies, but I'm not certain!

Oh yes, you see the rest of the Valentine's sacks/junk arround the flowers? This is all stuff that Lucas brought home from school.

Viva Las Vegas

2009-02-17T10:26:00.004-06:00

We had such a good, relaxing trip to Vegas. We stayed at the Bellagio, which was very nice. We certainly didn't win anything but we didn't lose near what I thought we would. I was trying to post these pictures in a particular order but that didn't happen. I'll give you a brief rundown of them though.

The hotel had animals that were crafted out of the shrubs. This is the bull.
This is the panda done the same way. How cool is this??

This is a picture of The Paris from our hotel. This is actually where Jon & I got married!

Here is a picture from one of our windows in the room...it's of The Paris again.

Again, pretty much the same picture but during the daytime hours.

Jon's favorite part...he likes the the bottom toilet though he would never use it!

The bedroom area!

Us with Jamey & Nicole Barron who were out there at the same time!

Basketball

2009-02-17T10:09:00.002-06:00

My little man is playing basketball right now through the YMCA. His team is named The Frogs! Hence the green jerseys. He fought us tooth & nail during his first practice and now he loves it! It is the funniest thing to watch. He loves playing defense...he's actually semi-aggressive with his little arms up in the air guarding! He loves to dribble but he doesn't shoot often. He tells Jon & I that he likes to pass the ball to the 2 kids that ALWAYS make the shot! My little assister!

Bedding

2009-02-17T09:58:00.004-06:00

I had been meaning to post pictures of the bedding that I had made for Logan. The young lady that put it together did a terrific job! I'm hoping that our next little one is a boy so I can put it to use!

Logan's Garden...

2009-02-17T09:08:00.004-06:00

or something like that. I thought I would post some of the beautiful arrangements and plants that friends and family sent for Logan's memorial service. I would have loved to post them all but I had 34 arrangements in my house...not including what we left at the cemetery. It was and still is overwhelming...the love and support from our family and friends. I am going to post a few of my favorites here. Please don't laugh but you will see some dead leaves and such on the plant. I want (and am trying super hard) to keep these alive for years but I am not blessed with a green thumb! I remember to water them, with Jon's help, but I'm not sure how much light they should get and things of that nature. Here you go though!

Can I do it?

2009-02-16T08:28:00.003-06:00

I brought my new camera to work in hopes of uploading some pictures onto this thing! It's in my purse now. I have to get through some of the paperwork on my desk first, but then...maybe? It's been quite some time since I've posted any real pictures!!

My Inspiration

2009-02-04T09:43:00.002-06:00

I thought of another less known fact about myself. I am completely obsessed with quotations, scriptures, poems...anything that makes me feel good or lights my way! I only remember one other person being quite so "quote involved" as I am...Mary Katherine! Do you remember in high school when you (and I for that matter) would have quotes all over pieces of paper, book covers, etc? Wow, talk about a flash back. Anyway, I am feeling reflective today with all of the sad, hard things going on around us, so I thought that I would share some of my favorites with you all.

1. "Let go, and let God"

2. "Sometimes God calms the storm; Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child"

3. "God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain"

4. "When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will by taught to fly"

5. "Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out"

6. "Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night"

7. Philippians 4:6-7 "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Do this and you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

**On a side note, #7 is a scripture that I have read over & over again since I was in high school. It is one of my favorites because of how true it has been in my life. If I turn my worries, fears and anxieties over to God, he will take them all on himself and relieves me of all my undue burdens. Peace is good, God is good!!

I am...

2009-01-27T14:21:00.003-06:00

...hereby LOSING IT!! My mind is going a million miles an hour and there are not nearly enough hours in the day to get everything done that I need to. I need several extensions of myself to help me get through the week. Here is my to-do list:

1. 2008 Taxes out for Haight Construction
2. 2008 Supplier Statements reconciled for issues/past dues
3. Clean up of all QuickBooks account through current
4. Find birth certificates for passports
5. Go try to get passports
6. Pack Jon & I for Vegas
7. Pack Lucas for Disneyland, CA (yep, he's going without us)
8. Clean my house & do laundry
9. Pay personal bills
10. Process payroll

There are so many other things but these are all the things that I really have to get done before the end of the weekend. I will be THRILLED for Vegas to get here already!! If it weren't for Lucas being with my Dad & Tina while we are away, I might be convinced to never come back. Ha!

Tattoo

2009-01-26T08:31:00.007-06:00

NO...this tattoo is NOT on my body.

Laugh if you will but I want a tattoo. I have zero markings on my body...unless you count stretch marks. I have only one hole pierced in each ear. I am what I would call plain!! I used to want a tattoo in high school but my Daddy threatened to cut off my allowance & college fund if I got a tattoo. I had no choice but to listen!

Jon is much like my dad. He will hear nothing of me getting a tattoo or another piercing. I don't want another piercing...I'm just making a point. He seems to like that fact that I am simple!

When all of this happened with Logan I decided that I wanted to get a tattoo as a daily reminder of him. Not that I don't have plenty of reminders...things around the house, his gravesite, etc. I just really wanted his feet tattooed on me. It seems that his feet are the most precious thing to me. I suppose it's because what I have left of him are pictures & real prints of his feet.

I thought that if my husband ever agrees to it that I would either put it on my back, right shoulder or on my inner, left wrist. I realize that it is not really an option for me right now if I want to keep the peace in my house...but one day maybe! Here is what I was thinking but on a much SMALLER scale than you see up above. I really want the heart with wings that is in the first picture. However, I would substitute the lock in the center for Logan's little feet below.

For those of you who were at his service & got a memorial booklet, maybe you will understand. The quote that Jon & I picked out for Logan was:

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go,

Some stay awile and leave footprints on our hearts.

And we are never, ever the same."

I thought that this tattoo would be fitting. Oh well. I guess a girl can dream!!

25 things about me...

2009-01-23T13:36:00.003-06:00

I am stealing this from an email I got today from my sister-in-law, but I thought it was a great way to look for the positives about yourself. I hope that all of you will do this to...it made me feel good afterwards.

1. I consider myself to be honest, intellegent, funloving, kind and sincere.
2. I have been given the greatest of lifes blessing...my boys...whether for a brief minute or years...they are mine!
3. I am lucky enough to have a husband who treats me better than I ever dreamed.
4. I love life and all of the things that we are met with...I feel it makes us stronger as humans.
5. I am a workaholic but I enjoy my work.
6. I am a perfectionist and have limited patience for anything less.
7. I am cursed with what my husband and closest friends would call Obessive Compulsive Disorder...but I don't think I'm that bad!
8. I love my friends and think that I am a good one in return.
9. I love to read, read, read!
10. Music helps lift me through anything...sad mood, bad mood, you name it!
11. My extended family is HUGE!!
12. I have now lived through my biggest fear in life, losing a child.
13. Purple Passion snowcones from the stand in Waxahachie are my absolute favorite treat.
14. I am addicted to purses and have more than I can count at the present.
15. I am also addicted to sunglasses, the bigger the better!
16. I love sunny days that make you wish you were driving a convertable with the top down.
17. I love the ocean...from a distance...I detest getting in that murky water!
18. I have just realized that I want to have 2 more children for a total of 3 living in my house.
19. I have a strong desire to go back to school and do something that I LOVE!
20. I am quiet at first and then you can not get me to be quiet.
21. I have a strong faith and believe that it has gotten me through some very tough things.
22. My brother, Ryan, is someone I wish I were more like...he has the biggest heart of anyone I know, lives life to its fullest every day and doesn't hold back.
23. I show fewer emotions to those who aren't closest to me.
24. I am a mother hen to all of those I love.
25. I would do anything for an of you!!

Date Night

2009-01-23T08:44:00.002-06:00

Ha! Jon & I decided to enlist my mom last night to keep Lucas while we went "out"...it's about time for some one on one time. We thought that we'd be leaving at 5:30 or so and of course we didn't make it out the door until almost 6:30 for one reason or another. No exciting movie & dinner here! We went to Lowe's to pick out stain/varnish for our cedar pillars & ceiling on our front & back porch. Then of course we needed to find the right paint brushes and such. (We have a young guy needing some work & this is what we found for him to do.)

We did go to Outback afterwards...but the food wasn't all that great. Needless to say we were back home by 8:45 and in bed before 10.

Aren't we the fun couple? Hehehe! Maybe next time!!

Argh...

2009-01-23T08:38:00.002-06:00

I am so fedup with tax-prep already. It's one of my many jobs here to process the tax information. You would think that it wouldn't be such a problem but then what in life has been easy lately? Our office is the "corporate" for about 25 other offices that are either active or in shut-down mode. This means I have a QuickBooks account for each of those plus the 2 corporate accounts. Therefore, I have to process 1099's & W2's for each vendor & employee in all of those accounts. Last year I did about 150 1099's but this year I'm thinking it's going to be closer to 250 and then the W2's. That still wouldn't be a big deal if all the entries in QuickBooks were correct. Unfortunately there are multiple people, in multiple offices that access the accounts daily to make entries & changes. The really terrifing part is that they are correct but not in the correct format for the tax docs. Long story short, I (with Jon's help) have to go through all of those accounts, make the corrections, verify all employee info and then FINALLY print the forms. I am only about 1/2 way done with the corrections and I have to have the darn things stamped by next Saturday. Oh the stress!!

I am going to celebrate when all of this is done until next

Blame Michelle...

2009-01-22T15:48:00.002-06:00

...if you haven't been able to get me by phone, email or text the past few days. Michelle has been trying to convince me to read the Twilight series since before Christmas. I was certain that I could never be talked of reading about vampires & warewolves!! She kept insisting that they were more of a love story than anything else and that I should jump on board. I was going absolutely stir crazy at home so I decided to give in. I downloaded the first book onto my Kindle on Saturday morning. I was so utterly obsessed after the first few chapters that I couldn't stand to put it down. I seriously finished all 4 books by Wednesday night...no lie. Ask the hubby who kept getting irritated at me for not coming to bed until midnight!! I was taking the darn thing everywhere with me! I can't remember a better love story that I've read about in years. Thanks M, but seriously...now that I'm done, what am I supposed to read now??? Ha!

Seymore Update

2009-01-16T21:45:00.004-06:00

It's been 4 weeks since we lost our sweet Logan. It's been a challenge to say the least. My little family is doing as well as can be expected. We roll along as only we know how. We have our share of ups and downs. It's very difficult to put into words what we are going through or to describe how we feel from day to day. That being said, we have had some good days and nights. I realize that this is something that one does not get past it's something that you just learn to live with.

Jon & I have some very good friends to say the least. There are some of you who have stood firmly beside us every step of the way through this. We appreciate you greatly. Many of you sent cards, emails, meals or flowers...we thank you for that also. Your words have been comforting.

I'll let you all in on a fear of ours. We worry that the outside world will now only classify us as "that family/couple that lost the baby" and that our "friends" will no longer be comfortable around us because they don't what to say or how to act. I pray that this is not the case. Jon & I are the same people that we always were...we just have a little more on our minds and a little heaviness on our hearts. I have no doubt we will get through this and I pray that all of our family & friends will continue to stand beside us.

Jon & I decided that events to look forward to were the best, most positive, medicine right now. That being said, we are leaving to go to Las Vegas on February 5th and coming home on the 8th. We are so very excited. We haven't been to Vegas since our wedding...for those of you who didn't know...we did in fact get married there at The Paris. The whole wedding planning stress was too much for me to take!! Our next "event" will be during spring break when we go to Cancun with my family (Dad) for 8 days. I am seriously considering a personal trainer until then to help whip me into some form of "beach shape". Jon says to just make the phone call but as you see...I have yet to do it! Any suggestions Waxahachie folks?

Thanks again to all of you for your thoughts and prayers for our family! I can assure you that they are a blessing and are a tremendous help!!

Are you kidding me...

2009-01-16T21:39:00.002-06:00

The other day I was trying to update my blog...or more accurately, edit one of my posts. I guess that I wasn't exactly paying attention to what I was doing and hit the delete button instead of the edit button. That is how my blog came to be with any posts. I tried to undo it but all of my posts are in fact gone. Oops!

I'm hoping to be much better at this whole blogging thing this year. I got two fun presents for Christmas this year. Jon bought me a new touchscreen camera (it's super cool) and Mom & Dan bought me a Flip Ultra (it's super, super cool)! I have taken a few pictures & videos of Luke's first basketball game & practice. I will have to post some of them if I can figure out how to work them!!