Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Here's a preview of tomorrow night...we had our church's fall festival last night so it was Jbird's first interaction with his outfit. He wasn't too fond of it... especially the hat! We did catch a few pictures before he completely broke down.


One of the few smiles from last night!




Daddy showing Jbird what he looks like in the mirror.



Here Jbird stopped in the middle of his tantrum to pose for the camera! It was too funny!

The most important things

My heart swelled with joy and excitement at lunchtime today. We changed two routines lately now that Jbird is older and can start participating - 1) mealtime prayers and 2) nighttime family devotions/prayer. At lunch today, I asked if he was ready to pray and he immediately put his little hands together without any assistance from me and smiled. He's getting it... each meal and every night he sits quietly while we talk to God. While we want him to know words and other skills, a love and respect for God is what is most important for us to teach him. It's a small step, but it made this mama's heart swell. A definite moment I will treasure for years to come.

Gotta love the Backyardigans

One sure-fire way to keep two boys from pushing each other over the edge: the Backyardigans. These two boys don't know what will hit them this winter as they each welcome a new sibling...they think sharing is hard now! Thank you, Backyardigans creators.

Who needs a sit and spin?

My son surely doesn't...he created his own with his hand, feet, and our wooden kitchen floor. He spent about 10 minutes yesterday turning himself in a circle making sound effects and everything! It was too cute...and he kept coming back for more! And yes, I did capture it on video!

Smart or too much TV?

So this morning as Jbird is watching Meet Blue's Baby Brother, I noticed his eyes moving to the next character that would sing before they would start singing. My first thought was "Wow, he remembers what happens next!". Then I realized it may simply be because he has watched this episode a lot... maybe too much! Just another thing I said I would never do/allow before I became a mom that hasn't proven true... there are moments The Backyardigans and Meet Blue's Baby Brother are the only way either of us keep our sanity!

Book recommendation

May I recommend a good read? God at Your Wits' End by Marilyn Meberg. If you are at your wits' end with life or a certain circumstance, if you have ever been there or think you might ever be...you need to read this book. I wish this book had been out during our infertility struggle or other tough times, but now I feel much more prepared to face my next wits' end experience. The book confronts faulty thinking and how that affects our faith. Marilyn does a great job of relating truth with humor and grace. If you can't read the whole thing, at least take an hour to go to Barnes & Noble and read the last two chapters!

Benefit of illness

Jbird was sick a few weeks ago (ear infection and some kind of virus)... it was a long week for all of us and I think "detox" after illness may be worse than the actual illness. However, I have discovered one benefit to his illness: he transitioned down to one nap a day without fuss. I hesitated saying something too soon for fear it wouldn't stick, but for over two weeks now he has been taking one long nap after lunch. I know many other mothers and children who battle this transition for weeks; but thanks to his illness, we made this transition smoothly and quickly. So, my perspective has changed on illnesses...there is always the possibility of a few benefits!

Her first pictures

Here are our little girl's first pictures... we think she is beautiful.

It appears she has more my face shape than Clay's along with my big feet so she may favor me like Jbird favors his dad...

her profile

Her face
(tilt your head to the right to look her face to face)

Making things a bit more even

Come February our home will be a little more even... 2 boys to 2 girls!

Yep, we're having a GIRL!!!!

We are quite excited... and she's already been given a pair of shoes - black patten leather Mary Janes complete with bows! I plan to post her first pictures soon so keep checking.

I think she's already wrapping her daddy around her little finger... heaven help us all!

The Texas State Fair

We had much more success at the State Fair barnyard area than we did the zoo. Jbird did seem to have more fun playing with the shovels intended for feeding the animals than looking at them - as you can see by the pictures below. I made him touch a camel and that didn't go over well. He was really just excited to hang on to the gates and take it all in - he is a definite people watcher!

This picture we took at the end in the designated "picture spot" shows his excitement over the entire adventure. My expanding belly is hidden a bit in this picture, but rest assured - it is getting bigger!












This is my favorite shot, I think... we are looking at the goats... then I had to post the pic with the "do not feed fingers to the animals" sign...too funny!














Even with a goat right beside him, Jbird enjoyed watching a little girl fill the shovel with feed! I'm still not sure if he ever saw the goat! What a great day!

The zoo with Mimi and Grandaddy

I'm sorry for the long lapse in posts...Mimi and Grandaddy came to visit and then Jbird got sick after they left - an ear infection AND a virus. We are now in "detox" from the illness...Jbird doesn't quite get why he isn't getting whatever makes him happy now that he is feeling better. He's developed a new scream and his temper tantrums are now grade A. We are just thankful to be back among the healthy.

During Mimi and Grandaddy's visit, we made Jbird's first trip to the zoo. He was not as interested as we had hoped. It ended up being the hottest day we had in over a week by 15-20 degrees so the animals weren't moving much. Jbird was much more interested in the water flowing through the exhibits. We did catch a few pictures before he fell asleep...

Notice that his eyes are focused down (on water) while his dad's are higher (on the animals). He did get a little intrigued with the gorillas at one point or maybe he was just excited he could stand on the rocks!

Christmas came in September

Christmas 2005 finally came - in September 2006! Last Christmas I asked for a new kitchen faucet (ours leaked unless you held your mouth just right), and my sweet husband threw in a whole new kitchen sink. We decided to wait to get it until after the holiday season since I had no real idea what I wanted. I finally picked it out in April or so, but long story short we ended up not buying it (and we ended up getting a different model anyway) until June. It sat in our garage for over 2 months as we had a busy July and a surprise pregnancy. Finally, he and a friend installed my WONDERFUL new sink in early/mid September. Isn't it beautiful? I just love it!!! Clay thinks I'm odd that something so practical excites me like it does, but none-the-less...I smile when I see this shiny new sink. Christmas is great any time of the year! Now, we need to work on the pink countertops!