2521 Reunion '08

My roommates from my last year at A&M are some of my very dearest friends. I can't even begin to tell you how much that I love each and every one of them. But, I'll try:

Cindy - Cindy and I met in Jr. High. I remember her as being really quiet when we were that age. My, how time has changed us! Cindy is super outgoing and probably the funniest person that I have ever met. Her sense of humor totally cracks me up! She is also one of those people that is really good at building you up. She is always positive and always makes me feel better about myself. Just a sweet little ray of sunshine - that's my Cindy.

Halie - I have known Halie since the second grade. She is absolutely beautiful - inside and out! She has a tender heart and is really sensitive to the needs of others. She is a first grade teacher and I can only imagine how wonderful she is at her job. Halie is one of my oldest (meaning that I have known her the longest, of course) friends. I could tell her anything and I know that she would keep it in the strictest of confidence. I just adore the girl...

Katie - Where do I start with my sweet Katie?!?!? This girl has a heart for the Lord that you would not believe. She is very involved in Young Life. She pours herself into those high school kids and devotes a lot of her time to their spiritual growth. Aside from all of her inner qualities - Katie is super trendy! She has a really cool sense of fashion and an eye for what looks good. I wish that I had just a tiny bit of her cool factor. :) She is also a teacher - kindergarten. I pray that Clayton will have teachers like Halie and Katie. They are the salt of the earth!

Laura - Laura and I never officially lived together. She moved into my room when I left to move in with my current roommate (aka my hubby). I wish that I had gotten more time with her in college. She is a military wife now and the mother to two sweet kiddos. I totally admire her for all of the sacrifices that she and her family make for our country. She is laid back and totally flexible - qualities that I definitely do not have! I wish that she lived closer to me. I could learn so much from her! She is a great Mom and I know that we would hang out a lot together. If only she didn't live half way across the country...

Traci - Traci has a heart for missions. She has been all over the world telling others about Christ. She has been all over the US, to Africa, Asia, South America, etc. She loves other cultures and is able to dive right in and make others feel welcome. She is warm and loving - an instant burst of energy. She is up for anything - even intramural badminton! HA! I wish that I had her sense of adventure and her willingness to try anything.

That's my girls! Our time at 2521 Ashford was a year that I will never forget. They are all the kind of friends that I know would be there in a heartbeat if I needed them. I have been so blessed my these girls and thank the Lord that He placed each of them in my life. We try to get together a couple of times a year. We get together for a fondue dinner around Christmas time and we started an annual summer reunion last summer. This summer we opted for my house as the location of Roommate Reunion '08. We had a ball together! We talked, ate (we had Mexican food 3 times in 3 days!), shopped, got manicures/pedicures, and played at the pool. Clayton and Baby John (Laura's baby) came along for it all. Halie, Cindy, Katie, and Traci were really sweet to help Laura and I with our kids. Thanks girls! Here is a recap of our weekend through pictures!

Clayton soaking in some Halie time while we were shopping.

Dinner at Christina's

Clayton lovin' on Katie...

Katie was teaching Clayton how to relax while getting a pedicure (hence the squinted shut eyes - being still and quiet is hard for a 3 year old little boy!).

The pedicure group

Cindy opted for a manicure - she always has to be different...



Clayton had more fun with the fake hands that the manicurists practice on. This kid is ALL boy!

The only group shot with all 6 of us! (Make that 7 - Clayton just had to be included.)

Clayton begged to hold Baby John on multiple occasions. I hope that he is this sweet to his baby brother. :)

Clayton was practicing his yoga with Traci on the Wii Fit. This is the Half Moon pose.


Love you girls! Can't wait to see you again at fondue...

Destin for Greatness!!!

We just got back from a family trip to Destin, Florida! We had so much fun!!! Destin is a great family-friendly place to visit - I'd highly recommend it for families with small children. There are parks, playgrounds, pools, tree houses, etc. hidden all over the city. Lots of places to explore for busy little munchkins. We went with Wade's mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and our nieces. All three kids (as well as the adults) had a blast!

We bit the bullet and decided to make the drive (12 hours) in my little Honda. We saved A LOT on gas, and it went much better than I expected. We were able to fit in all of our stuff (including Wade's golf clubs) and everyone was comfortable. I was certain that Clayton was going to be a holy terror in the car for that long. Much to my surprise, he was an absolute angel. There was one little melt down on the way home after his 5:30am wake up call. (To be honest, I felt a bit like crying myself, though.) Other than that, he sat and watched movies, talked, sang, played I Spy, and was very pleasant to be around. I could just kiss the person who invented the car DVD player! He definitely exceeded the 1.5 hour maximum of TV a day that is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but it sure did make our lives easier!

Here is a synopsis of our trip. WARNING: You are about to embark on a huge mess of pictures!!!

Saturday, June 14th:

We spent all morning in the car. Towards the end, Wade and I were both complaining. He was upset about the traffic and I was tired of the heat and humidity. Immediately following our whining session, we looked back to see Clayton relaxing with his hands folded behind his head. He looked at me and said, "I love the 'cation!" Kinda puts you in your place...

We stopped in Alabama to tour the USS Alabama.

Wade & Clayton with a fighter jet.

We finally made it to the Sunshine State!!!

Sunday, June 15th:

We went to Baytowne Wharf to walk around, shop, and play. There was a really cool tree house that we found for the kids. I, of course, coerced my boys into a family picture. :)

Monday, June 16th:

The little ones were very anxious to hit the beach! They played in the ocean, built sandcastles, and buried each other in the sand. They were all a little confused by the white sand. Makinley, my 7 year-old niece said, "Mom, I didn't know that it snowed in the summer in Florida!!!" I asked Clayton if he thought that the sand looked like sugar. He replied, "I think it looks more like flour!" A good (and gritty) time was had by all!

Tuesday, June 17th:

Tuesday was a big play day. We went to Fudpucker's restaurant for lunch. They have a ton of live alligators! You can buy little pieces of food, rig them up on these poles, and feed the gators. The gators weren't really very hungry, but it was cool, nonetheless. The best part of the day for all three of the kids was when they got to hold a live alligator and get their picture taken. Clayton was especially thrilled! He turned the gator around so that he could see his face and said, "Mommy, why is there tape on his mouth?!?!" Maybe he will be the next Crocodile Hunter.... Lord, I hope not!

After visiting the gators, we went on a dolphin cruise. We did get to see some dolphins, but Morgan and Clayton were more excited about their chance to drive the boat. Of course, Clayton jerked the wheel to the right as soon as he got into the captain's chair - no surprise there! Luckily, it is a huge boat and we were going very slow.

Wednesday, June 18th:

We took the kids to a little amusement park on the strip. They had several rides for smaller children, go carts, bumper cars, bumper boats, and mini golf. We stuck to the little rides. Clayton's favorite was the airplanes.

Thursday, June 19th:

We went to the Gulfarium. They had shows with dolphins, seals, otters, etc. They also had exhibits of sharks, penguins, stingrays, sea turtles, and tropical birds. The kids liked getting to see the animals do their tricks up close. The neatest trick was at the dolphin show. One of the trainers stood out on a platform and put a raw fish in her mouth (GROSS!). One of the dolphins jumped up and took the fish right out of her mouth. Crazy!

Clayton got to hold a real starfish. He had talked for weeks about wanting to see a starfish. So... this was one of the highlights of his trip!

Friday, June 20th:

Most of our crew went shark fishing in the morning. My brother-in-law, Corey, caught a 70 lb. shark! Everyone else caught mackerel. My mother-in-law, Marsha, and I took Clayton & Morgan to play at the park and then for one last swim in the pool across from our bungalow. To top off the trip, we went to the beach at sunset for one last photo op. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE pictures. I was really excited about getting some good pictures on the beach. We all had coordinating clothing - we had done some serious planning for this picture. Of course, five minutes before we left, Clayton busted his nose playing on the fold-out bed. He had a huge bleeding gash right across the bridge of his nose. Just my luck! Thank goodness for Photoshop!

Now we are home sweet home. Vacation was great, but it was sure nice to sleep in my own bed last night! I'll spend the next few days trying to reprogram my off-schedule, over-sugared, rotten child. Oh my....

Doctors' Orders

At Clayton's 3 year-old well child check (back in March) we saw a new pediatrician. Apparently, this particular doctor is really big into nutrition. I feel like Clayton eats a relatively well-rounded diet, but he did give me some good pointers. Some of it wasn't practical - he suggested meat and eggs for breakfast each morning. (Yeah, right - like I have time for that!) I understood his point, though. He wanted a breakfast that would tide him over so that he wouldn't need a morning snack.

Fastforward to this weekend: Wade's mom made Clayton some macaroni and cheese last night for dinner. He took one look at the bowl and said, "Grammie, my doctor says that I need more protein." What 3 year-old says that?!?!?

Imagination Station

Clayton's imagination is growing and is in full force around our house. He is constantly telling me stories and coming up with crazy rhymes. He is funnier than ever! Most of his stories start with "Once Upon a Time" and end with "The End." They are usually about dinosaurs, superheros (his new favorite things), or spiders (random - I know). Being that I am not super creative, my stories are usually based on Bible stories, movies, or books.

The other day I walked in the living room to find that he had built a "train." He had lined up various household items (dog leash, shoes, coasters, coins, my makeup bag, my sunglasses) and toys into a perfect line. He was so happy with his creation.

He has also become REALLY into action figures. This is something that I know absolutely nothing about. Wade bought him a set of dive sticks that look like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash Gordon. I didn't even know who Flash Gordon was! I was trying to educate myself (and be a cool mom) the other day, so I let him watch an episode of Batman that happened to be on TV. It was seemed way too violent and scary to me. I have since decided that there will be no more of those shows in our house for quite awhile (at least until he is a few years older). So, I went to the Christian book store to try to find an alternative. They had some really neat Bible hero action figures (Biblequest was the brand). They were, however, really expensive ($15-20 a piece - over a hundred dollars for the collection of 6). So... what's a girl to do? Any ideas?

Another Funny Clayton Story: Last week Clayton asked me, "Mommy, when you went to see Diego, did you see Baby Jaguar too?" It took me a second to process... Then I realized that all this time he has thought that we went to "see Diego" when we went to "San Diego." Bless his heart - I am sure that he has spent the last two months thinking that we went to see his favorite TV star without him!

Finally, here is a picture of my little guy this morning before church (one is with his beloved new dive sticks). He was emphatic this morning that he wanted to dress "fancy" for church. He insisted upon a tie and leather belt. He just looked too darn cute not to snap a few photos. Is that kid the spitting image of Wade or what?!?!

Happy 100th Post to Us!!!

Well, it took almost a year, but we finally reached our 100th post! Yeah, yeah, I can see all you veteran bloggers rolling your eyes. :) But, for a girl that wasn't sure that she could stick with it, this is a big accomplishment.

Wow - how our lives have changed over the last year - two moves, job changes, potty training, raising a toddler/preschooler, and our second pregnancy! Thanks for taking the time to read our ramblings and anecdotes from our daily lives. I am so glad that I kept up with this blog. It is fun to read back through old posts and to look at old pictures with just the touch of a button (rather than lugging down all of my photo albums!). I am sure that there will be many more posts to come. Thanks for taking part in our lives! Stay tuned for more adventures...

Baby Updates

When I was pregnant with Clayton, I got a couple of those little pregnancy journals for you to jot down things that you would want to remember. I never filled out a single page in any of them. I now, of course, wish that I had. I am going to try to do a better job of that sort of thing this go 'round. :)

* First of all, I have gotten a lot of questions about why I do all the optional prenatal tests (for Down's, trisomy 13, trisomy 18, CF, etc). Of course, if any of those tests came back positive, it would not change anything about this pregnancy or how blessed I feel by this baby. It would, however, change where I would deliver. If I knew, for example, that this baby was going to have a congenital heart defect. I would be emphatic about delivering him closer to a pediatric hospital. I would want for him to be transferred immediately after birth to a children's hospital for evaluation by a pediatric cardiac surgeon. I would also want to make sure that the hospital would be equipped with ECMO capabilities and a state of the art PICU. In our case, that would mean delivering at St. Paul so that we would be close to Children's Dallas. So, I hope that clears up some confusion. There really is a method to my madness. :)

* I subscribe to the website babycenter.com. They send me a weekly email update about the baby's fetal development, size, etc. They always compare the baby to food items. So far, this little guy has been a poppy seed, sesame seed, grape, lime, lemon, jumbo shrimp, avocado, and it currently the size of a bell pepper. Since we have not yet decided on a name, we have resorted to calling him by the food that represents him that particular week. Wade called yesterday and asked, "How's my little bell pepper today?"

* I have already washed, hung up, and folded all of the clothes that Clayton wore for his first year of life. Isn't that bizarre?!?!? I am only 18 weeks, so I have 4 1/2 more months to do all of that. But, for some reason, it became a mission for me to complete that project last week. It made me so happy to pull out all of those sweet little outfits that Clayton wore. I can't wait to have another sweet little peanut to dress again. :) It did make me a little sad, though, because this baby will probably never get to wear most of it. Clayton was born in March and this baby will be born in October - exactly opposite seasons. Bummer, dude! Oh well, it just means that I'll have to buy new cute little outfits. I went to Grapevine Mills yesterday to begin the shopping process. (Wade, if you are reading this, I didn't go crazy. Just a couple of things - all on sale. Love you!)

* This pregnancy has been soooo much easier than when I was pregnant with Clayton. I have two theories on why that is. First, it took so long to get pregnant this time that I really do appreciate the fact that I get to be a mom again. I now realize that pregnancy is a true gift from God. I am so grateful He has allowed us this opportunity. Secondly, I am no longer working full-time night shift. I had no idea how hard night shift was on my body until I quit. I was so crabby for 5 years - and that was compounded by the hormones of pregnancy. I was not fun to be around while I was pregnant with Clayton. I hope that is not the case this time.

Here are some pictures of my early attempts at getting ready for baby #2.

Onesies, burpies, blankets, bibs, and sleepers waiting to be organized into drawers

Baby (insert name here)'s closet The newborn-3 month stuff is in the bottom right, 3-6 month is to the left of that, 6-9 is on the top left, and 9-12 is on the top right. My recent purchases. I have learned that cute boy stuff is really hard to find. If you fall in love with something, buy it immediately. I especially love the blue and brown newborn outfit from Carter's. I just couldn't resist it...

13 Years Ago...

On June 2nd, 1995 I started dating my first boyfriend. He was 16 years old, blond, blue-eyed, tall, and thin. He drove a candy apple red 1969 Mustang. I had known him since the 4th grade - his father was my junior high principal. And I was totally smitten...

Little did I know then that 13 years later I would be married to that tall skinny guy. We have been through A LOT together - homecomings, proms, millions of movies and dinner dates, 2 breakups, dating other people, 2 reconciliations, deaths of loved ones, births of loved ones, almost 8 years of marriage, the birth of our first child, infertility issues, the much anticipated pregnancy with our second child, the list goes on and on... We've come a long way, baby! There's no one else that I would want by my side through the joys and sorrows of life.

Here are a few pictures from our journey together. They start from 4th grade children's' choir (where we first met) and continue through April of this year. My, how we've changed!

FBC Carrollton Christmas Pageant 1989 - The song that we were in was about the children of the world. I was representing Russia (red dress with white apron) and Wade was Holland (yellow pants and red vest).

Senior Portraits - May 1997
Before Les Miserables - July 1997
Before an Aggie football game (this is the only picture that you will ever see of my hubby in A&M paraphernalia - this is when I knew that he really loved me) :)
ASC Shindig 1999
At our wedding reception - June 24, 2000
The day after our first sweet baby boy was born - March 14, 2005

In San Diego celebrating our second pregnancy - April 2008

I love you, Babe!!!