Brother or Sister? *UPDATE

Today's the day...what will Jacob and Lia be getting?  Baby Brother or Baby Sister?

We're home from my appointment and everything looks great!!  A HEALTHY baby!  "Firecracker" did cooperate and we do know the gender now, but we're not making a public announcement until tomorrow.  David and I want to be together when we tell Jacob and that can't happen until tomorrow.  Lia knows, but doesn't really understand the significance of today so we're not worried about her spilling the beans.  I was so nervous before the appt as I have yet to start feeling Firecracker move but I found out today that the placenta is between him/her and me so he/she has to kick through that for me to feel it.  He/She was VERY active today.  AAAAND he/she is already giving an Aggie Gig'em sign!!  Smart little Firecracker! 

Remembering

It's February 16th again.  I guess that's pretty obvious.  What's not so obvious is its significance to me.  This year isn't as hard as last year - and I'm guessing next year won't be as hard as this year.  Each year will get easier, but I'll never forget.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched, but are felt in the heart."

Helen Keller

Happy Valentine's Day...and a New Love

Please, don't faint! Yes, I'm actually putting up a post on my blog. What a concept! Does anyone even look at this anymore? So, today is Valentine's Day...happy Valentine's Day and yadda yadda yadda.

Jacob had his Valentine's party at school this morning and I brought him home with me after it was over.

Then our little family went out for a special lunch. 

And, as an extra special treat, we got to see my brother since he was in town for the afternoon!

We LOVE our "Scooter"!

On to our "New Love". We're expecting another baby the 4th of July. What.a.surprise to us! I'm half way through this pregnancy now. For the first 18 weeks I was sick as a dog. Nausea all.day.long. Urking multiple times a day almost every.single.day. Extreme exhaustion. No fun. But some kind of switch got flipped and I'm like a new person now! I'm so, so thankful for that! I have not started feeling our little Firecracker moving yet. Since I'm over 20 weeks now I should be so I'm a bit concerned about that. No little "butterflies", no little flutters, no nothing. Nada. But I have borrowed a doppler from a friend of mine and can listen to Firecracker's heart beat any time I want. It's beating strong so I find comfort in that. But still. I’m hoping the explanation for this is that Firecracker is frank breech.  Jacob was and I never once felt him move during my entire pregnancy.  Call me crazy, but it’s true.  My next appointment is next Wed. and if Firecracker cooperates we will find out if Jacob and Lia will be getting a brother or a sister! Both kids say they want a sister and are convinced it’s a girl. Somehow I think the wishing and the convincing go hand in hand. ;)  David and I just want him/her to be healthy!



I have so many other things I could share but right now those things feel either A.) to frivolous or B.) to personal.  So I’ll end this now and publish this post before another month (or two) goes by without a peep from me!  Thanks to those of you who still check in on me from time to time!

Heart Wrinkle

Recently I had an enlightening conversation about heart break and "heart wrinkle" with Jacob.  Heart wrinkle is not a term that's ever been used in our house so I was quite intrigued when he used it.  Our conversation got started in a rather random way.  But the end of the conversation made me fall a little more in love with my son.  "Mom, the other day someone said something mean to Brooke at recess and it broke her heart.  And it gave me a heart wrinkle."  I pray he always keeps his tender little heart.  Though sometimes tenderness sure does hurt.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Alaska

Nooo...David and I did not get to go to Alaska.  But my brother and sis-in-law did.  We got to keep their kids a few days while they were gone!  We spend quite a bit of time outside - something about having 5 kids 5 and under will make you decide to do that!  I did have help too - a couple of the ladies who live close to us came over and gave me a hand during the day.  Maybe I should specify - they cam over and held Tay!  Bud I didn't mind - that meant I got to actually play with the other kids and not have to worry about Tay putting something in her mouth when I wasn't looking!

Tay did, of course, get lots of attention from Lia.  She even got a few toe kisses.  Lia is in looove with "My Tay".  Sweet girls - they're going to be great friends when they get older.  I just know it.

The 4 Big Amigos having a great time out in the back yard.

Princess Tay and her Court Jesters.

Just to make you go "awww".

The oldest and the youngest.  The first and the last.  The sweet to the other three's spicy.  And all five make our world's go 'round.

And now for a little something you didn't know  you didn't know...David and I were going to take a cruise to Alaska for my 30th birthday.  We had an 8 day old baby boy instead.  The cruise would have been less expensive - but the baby has brought us more joy than any trip would.

Celebrations

The month of September is FULL of birthdays for our family.  Labor Day weekend we had a birthday bash at my parent's place to celebrate.  Well, we had several small bashes actually.  Friday night we celebrated Trace and Trevin's birthday.  They were turning 4.  Just in case you couldn't count the candles or see Lia holding up 4 fingers. ;)

What a cute little group of kids!  Oh my!

Sunday we celebrated Lia's 3rd birthday.

Lia in all her glory.  Cute little monkey cake - pretty appropriate for her!

You can see in the top R photo Adam got to join us by then.

Lia LOVED her gifts from Aunt Lesha and Scooter (Uncle Brad).  Aunt Lesha always gives the BEST gifts!  Adam and Jacob enjoyed a dip in the pool.

Pinata time!  This was part of Trace & Trevin's celebration - but we waited until Sunday night to do it so Adam could participate too.  The kids thought this was the best thing ever!  We did over fill the pinata so Scooter and Papa had to do a little improvising when they hung it.  The kids sure didn't complain about all that candy!

Monday was cousin Dennis' birthday so we had to celebrate his birthday with a cake too!  In our family we believe in cakes on THE day.  Even if you've already had a cake earlier, you get one on the actual day.  It's almost a part of our religion.  Except not really - but it IS pretty important.

Just look at this sweet little family would ya.

My Babies

Sooo...in my last post 2 (!) months ago I said I'd be posting some "official" 3 year photos of Lia. I just didn't make any promises as to when that would be. ;) And at the time I really had no intention of it taking this long to get done. However, I've felt a bit "computered out" lately and just didn't have the heart for updating. And for those of you whose blogs I used to comment on regularly. So sorry I haven't been around. I promise to get back in the swing of things. ;) I get kind of bogged down sometimes looking at everyone else's posts. Many of you write much better than I do. You have such interesting things to say and a beautiful way of saying them. And I feel like I say "here are pictures of my kids", "here are more pictures of my kids", "and in case you were wondering, here are more pictures of my kids". But then I snap back to reality - I started this blog as a way for our family and friends in FL to keep up with us and watch the kids grow. So, I guess I'm being true to what I really want out of this. In the mean time I've been fortunate enough to "meet" new people, make new friends, and learn a lot from you. And I LOVE to look back through old posts and see how my kids have grown and remember when they were much more babies than they are now. This is my little on-line journal of our family, it's ups and down, it's twists and turns. And I'm glad that there are still a few of you who are kind enough to comment, pat me on the back, and encourage me. Thank you! ;)

Without further ado....here are more pictures of my kids. ;)

Lia's official 3 year portrait.
I will be hanging a large canvas of this somewhere in my house - probably in our bedroom.

There's something that just speaks to my soul when I look at this. I see pure beauty.  It takes my breath away that I get to call this little lady my daughter.

But just so you know...not ALL of the photos did she cooperate so well!  She's at an age where she prefers to NOT have her picture taken thankyouverymuch.  Unless, of course, she can ham it up.  And I don't mind.  I get some pretty cute shots that way.  But sometimes I want to pull my hair out because could we PLEASE cooperate for 10 seconds.  The answer is usually no.

You didn't think I'd do a shoot with just Lia did you?  No.  I had to get my sweet little Mr. Jacob in there too.  He's old enough now he usually cooperates for a little while.  He's my Mr. GQ.  I could be just a wee bit biased since I'm his Mom and all...but I do think he's one of the most handsome little boys I've ever seen.

And now for the two of them together - this is what I get mostly.  They make me laugh. 

But then somewhere in my pile of photos I can find some gems.  And it makes all the hoopla worth while.  I will be having these three portraits printed large and hung in my home also.

And this just makes me melt.

Ohhh...

I am sore displeased.  Dissapointed.  Distressed.  Depressed.  Disheartened.  Dismayed.  Downcast.  Dispirited.  Why?

As a reward to the fist person who checks this blog and can tell me why I'm feeling all those lovely feelings, you get a $5 gift card card.

Happy Birthday Lia!

There are no words to describe what this little girl means to me.  

I had no idea 3 years ago today how much joy that tiny little bundle would bring into our lives.

Nor did I realize how much of myself I would see in her.

She'll never know how much I love her.

And thou shalt in thy daughter see,
This picture, once, resembled thee.
~Ambrose Philips

(These are not her "official" photos, those have yet to be taken - these are some I captured the other day on a whim.  They capture her personality perfectly.)

I Bequeath To You One Grown Man...

(By Victor Buono.  The origional poem can be read here.  Tweaked by me.)

Dear World:  I bequeath to you today one grown man...in a clean blue shirt...with two brown eyes...
And a sweet smile that makes his wife's heart melt, and a bald head that used to have hair as curly as his son's and daughter's.
I trust you'll treat him well.
He's slipping out of our driveway today and driving down the street to his first day of school at XYZ University.
Gone will be the daddy and husband who comes home from work and have nothing to do but spend time with his family. 
The daddy and husband who spends 8 hours away from home helping other people when they are sick, hurt, dying; he is physically, mentally, emotionally spent, yet always has enough left to give to us.
Now, he'll learn even more about helping people when they are sick, hurt, and dying.
He will learn what it is to be a student again after many years. 
He will learn what it is to have to study when he has two children wanting to play with him.
He will learn how to deal with the pressures of not only school and work, but the pressures of school and work with a wife and kids at home relying on him to take care of them financially.
And his daughter and I will stand in the driveway and blow kisses to him and pray that his dreams come true.
So world,  I bequeath to you today one grown man...in a clean blue shirt...with two brown eyes...
And a sweet smile that makes his wife's heart melt, and a bald head that used to have hair as curly as his son's and daughter's.
I trust you'll treat him well.

I Bequeath To You One Little Boy...

Dear World: I bequeath to you today one little boy in a clean green shirt . . . with two brown  eyes. . .
And a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of curly brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when he runs.
I trust you'll treat him well.
He's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off down the street to his first day of school.
And never again will he be completely mine. . .
Prim and proud, he'll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say goodbye and walk with big-boy steps to the nearby schoolhouse. . .
Gone will be the chattering little boy who lived only for play, and gone will be the delightful little man who roamed the yard like a proud prince with nary a care in his little world.
Now, he will learn to stand in lines. . . and wait by the alphabet for his name to be called. . .
He will learn to tune his little-boy ears for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines. . .
He will learn to giggle and gossip. . .
And to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little girl across the aisle sticks out her tongue.
Now he will learn to be jealous. . . and now he will learn how it is to feel hurt inside. . . and now he will learn how not to cry. . .
No longer will he have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk. . .
Or will he have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to catch tree frogs in the morning dew. . .
Now he will worry about important things. . . like grades. . . and what to wear. . . and whose best friend is whose. . .
Now he will worry about the little girl who ignores him at recess time. . . and staying after school. . . and which little girls like which little boys. . .
And the magic of books and knowledge will soon take the place of the magic of his trucks and tractors.
And he will find new heroes. . .
For five full years I've been his sage and Santa Claus. . . his pal and playmate . . . his mother and his friend. . .
Now, alas, he'll learn to share his worship and adoration with his teachers (which is only right). . .
And no longer will I be the smartest, greatest woman in the world. . .
Today, when the first school bell rings, he'll learn how it is to be a member of the group. . . with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages, too.
He will learn in time that polite young men do not laugh out loud. . . or kiss dogs. . . or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms. . . or watch ants scurry across the cracks in a summer sidewalk. . .
Today, he will begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at him are not his friends. . . That "the group" can be a demanding mistress. . .
And I'll stand on the porch and watch him start out on the long, long journey to becoming a man. . .
So World, I bequeath to you today one little boy in a clean green shirt and two brwon eyes. . .
And a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of curly brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when he runs.
I trust you'll treat him well.

(I did not write this poem...I found it on the internet but I don't know who to give credit to for writing it.)

June

I think June can best be summed up like  this...

swimming at Papa & Nana's pool

swimming lessons from Miss Madison

just getting Jacob's head in the water was a big deal at first

it didn't take long until he was swimming like a fish though

 learning how to jump off the diving board

with lots of encouragement from his friend Stone

who never did get his courage up to jump

he was just there for moral support ;)

and Miss Lia was plenty happy to just sit at the edge and play with the toys

thankyouverymuch!

by the end she did enjoy being in the water - but she would NOT put her face in the water 

thank you Miss Madison!

we hope to see you next summer 

(and you'll be VERY impressed with how far they've come since spending countless hours at Papa & Nana's!)

this one is for you Papa

love, your two best girls

up next: July

and here's a hint - it looks a whole lot like June!

Build A Bear

When Jacob was just a wee babe my parents came out to visit us as we were living in FL at the time.  During one of Mom and I's shopping excursions with that new born bundle of sweet baby boy Mom told me once Jacob got to be old enough she would like to treat him to a Build-A-Bear experience.  Five years (and a 1,000 mile move) later she got her wish.  After one of Jacob's t-ball games, just a few days after his 5th birthday, she got to do just that.  He had so much fun picking out his "bear" - which happens to be a puppy actually. 

 Jacob helps stuff the puppy,

he kisses the heart and makes a wish,

he places it in the puppy's chest,

and puppy gets sewn up.

Puppy then gets new clothes (soccer outfit), a name (Tom), and brought home by a little boy who is in love and so proud.  His Momma *may have been proud of him too.

Spring Baseball

Baseball has always been my favorite sport.  Not that I'm REALLY into sports, but for some reason baseball peaks my interest more than others do.  As you can imagine it made me pretty happy when Jacob asked to play baseball this summer.  It was quite a learning experience.  He'd played 2 seasons of soccer so the whole "having a kid involved in organized sports" wasn't new.  But a new coach, an entirely different group of boys, and a new game to learn shook things up a bit.  That, and practices 3X per week plus game day left me less than thrilled by the time it was over.  I thought that was a bit much for the 3-5 year old group.  I realize as they get older practices will require more time and I'll be expecting it, but for this year, I wasn't any to pleased.  Needless to say we didn't make it to every.single.practice.  BUT Jacob thought it was great and had a blast playing - that's all I was really wanting.  Mission accomplished.  Here's my little player - I might be a smidgen bit biased, but I think he's the cutest little thing I've ever seen in a baseball uniform.