Thanks for the Prayers!

Just wanted to thank everyone for your prayers! We've made it through the first trimester! We find out the gender on January 8th. We really don't have a preference as long as it's healthy. Alex thinks it's a "brudda", but it seems like everyone else thinks it's a girl. I'm not going to guess. I did that with Alex and turned out to be wrong, which I guess is why he kicked me so hard up until I quit calling him a girl. Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated as much as possible. Thank you again for all your prayers!

Surprise!

Again, I have been away from a computer for way to long. We are home for about a week though, so I have a lot of catching up to do! I want to go ahead and give everyone the great news...we're expecting again! I'm only about 8 weeks along though, so I would appreciate all the prayers I can get for the first trimester. I'm having sickness and a LOT more fatigue with this one than I did with Alex. Plus, we always welcome prayers for the baby's health throughout the pregnancy. The estimated due date is June 5, 2009. Interestingly, Alex will turn 3 that day... Yep, this one's due date is Alex's birthday. Hopefully we can talk the doctor into the week early inducement since we had to do that with Alex. Anyway, I'll update as I can. Hopefully, I will get to see some of you this week while we're at home!

Just a Quick Note...

I just wanted everyone to know that, starting tomorrow, I won't have the internet for about 2 months. I'll be able to check my email every now and then. The problem is, the RV parks we'll be staying at for the next two months don't have Wi-Fi. So, for me to get anything posted or to check anything, I'll have to go to an internet cafe (if I can find one). With Alex, that will be a very rare thing. So, I just hope that everyone will continue to do well and I can't wait to have the internet again so that I can start posting and keep in touch. We're going to be in Sheffield, AL until September and then we'll be back in Port Gibson, MS, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Brandon. I may be able to come back and actually get to see some of you. I hope so anyway. I'll try to keep in contact as much as possible. Blessings to everyone!

Sorry everyone!

Thanks to Danielle, I realized that my blog did not have a place to post comments. I'm not quite sure how it got that way, but I believe that it's fixed now. Thanks again Danielle! Hope everyone is doing well!

Fun with Crayola!

What child doesn't love to color? Alex certainly does. And what mom doesn't love Crayola for coming up with Colorwonder Markers that only mark on special ColorWonder paper? I certainly do! I'm very blessed to get to watch and participate in his artistic side! LOL. With as many pictures as I have, I'll probably have to start a museum in his name. Haha. Oh well, at least I won't have any blank wall or refrigerator space! Nor will I have to pay for pictures to fill in gaps!

Our Anniversary - Part 2!

Ok, first of all, sorry for all the pics. I'm a huge camera person and I couldn't pick which ones to put up because I thought they were all good ones! If you can believe this I actually have about 10 -15 more pics like these, but I resisted posting them also. So, for our anniversary, we went to eat at Iron Skillet and then came back home and roasted marshmallows (which you can see). Alex had never had a marshmallow so I decided to break off a small portion and give it to him. As soon as it touched his tongue he began laughing, starting clapping and saying "Yay, yay, yay!" I was quite in shock as to how much he liked them. Anyway, we had a really good time just being together as a family and enjoying a nice cool summer night in Kansas City!

Our Anniversary!

Well, today is mine and Chip's anniversary! Yay! I thought I would include a little "This Day in History" information (only the positive things) to make this blog more interesting (mainly because it's only 6:20 am, so it's not like we've actually celebrated). So, here goes:
-Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born
-Beatrix Potter (one of my favorites) was born
-So was Jim Davis (cartoonist for Garfield), Sally Struthers, Afroman, and Elizabeth Berkley!
-14th ammendment (guaranteeing equal protection of the laws for former slaves) was declared in effect in 1868!
- Miami, FL was incorporated in 1896.
-Nine coal miners were rescued in Somerset, PA after being trapped underground for 77 hours in 2002.
-Lance Armstrong won his 4th straight Tour de France in 2002.

Interesting, huh? I hope you've enjoyed the history lesson and I'll post later tonight about what we actually did to celebrate!

A Question for all the Moms & Teachers

Hey everybody. I've been trying to work with Alex on his language skills and extend his vocabulary but he seems to just want to stick to the same words. We're also working on his ABC's and numbers (more the ABC's though). He's picking up on some of the letters but when it comes to new words he just still wants to point instead of telling me what the item is. I've tried music, constantly talking and also not giving him the item (within reason, of course) unless he told me what he wanted. I was wondering if any of my dear friends could give me some suggestions that I could try or if any of you have been in the same situation. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you.

Our Exciting Family Fun!

We had a terrific time while we were in Mississippi! We got to go plenty of great places with our family. Alex, me, Papaw, Nana, and Uncy Brian all went to the National Science museum. That is one of Alex's favorite places to go when we're there. The museum is having a Dinosaur exhibition where they have animatronic dinosaur models. If any of your kids like dinosaurs, I would recommend it. Although, it may be kind of scary for some of them. Alex did well with it and seemed interested though. His favorite part of the museum is the aquarium portion. We got to watch divers feed some of the fish and they definitely played it up for the kids. It is an inexpensive, cool way to spend a Saturday. And it's definitely educational which is a great plus! Nana, Papaw, and Uncy Brian had a great time helping chase him all around the museum and watching him interact with the other kids that were there. They love taking him there and I love going along too. Our visit wasn't long enough and we miss our family and friends there very much!

The Mississippi Group!

We had the best time when we were back home in Mississippi. Our families were so excited to see us (almost as much as we were to see them). We also got to see lots of our friends who we had missed terribly! So we were really busy the majority of the time we were there. I got to spend a day with all my best friends. My friends, Natalie and her twin brother, Nathan, were home and we got to spend some time with them. I also got to spend the day with Ashley...and we hadn't gotten into any "trouble" in a while. So we figured we needed to go shopping. Ha ha! Then Alex got to get together with one of his partners in crime. Noah and he had a great time watching Noah's fish and trying to play with it. I figure the whole idea of trying to "play" with the fish was my son's idea. After all, I asked Carla if Noah had ever tried to get the fish out and she said that he hadn't. So, that only leaves one mastermind to the potentially dangerous (for the fish I mean) plan. Anyway, the fish ended up living through the ordeal and everyone got to spend time with each other. The boys played, me and Carla got to talk and Chip and Wes got to talk. We had a great time with everyone and we miss them very much!

We got to Mr. Charlie & Mrs. Becky's house on the 4th and got to spend some time shooting a few fireworks and watching Pop Goes the Fourth! We had a really good time even as tired as we were. Alex hadn't seen "Big Daddy" in a long time so he had to make up for all the hugs that had been missed.

Mississippi Bound

Back at the beginning of July, we came back home to Mississippi. It was quite a trip and a lot of fun for just about everyone. On our way back, we stopped at Lambert's Cafe ... aka The Home of the Throwed Rolls! That was the first time I had ever been and it was amazing how much food we got. Chip and I both caught a roll, but the difference was that Chip's was thrown from across the room. Mine on the other hand, was just thrown across an aisle. We all had a great time and Alex loved it because he got his favorite veggies! I'm also obsessed with scenery so I took a good bit of pictures on the way back. It rained at one point, but only for about 30 seconds. I'm not kidding, it started to rain, and then it completely stopped. I had never seen such a short rain! We also stopped in Columbia, MO to see one of Chip's childhood friends, Adam. They hadn't seen each other in 12 years! We went to the Tackle Shop that Adam owns. When we walked in Adam looked over and said "Hey, how are yall?" - typical store greeting. Then shortly after, Chip walked up and said "You know, I think you're missing..." Before he could finish the statement, Adam's jaw dropped and he said "What the heck are you doing here?" So then they talked for a good 45 minutes or so and made plans to get together this fall for a hunting get together. It was so great to see Chip that happy and to finally meet his infamous friend from so long ago! The picture at the top with the cows in it, has reminded me every time I've driven by it that the children of God own the "cattle on a thousand hills." I love the view and hope that God speaks to you through it as much as He did me.

Mmmmm....Lunch!

I have finally found a food that Alex has never refused to eat for lunch.... Hot dogs. Luckily, he also loves vegetables and fruits so it balances out nutritionally. He can't get enough of hot dogs though. I just have to watch Lady though because she tries to steal his lunch (or mine) whenever she thinks we're not looking. I thought these pictures were too cute not to post. Enjoy!

The Latest Adventure

Ok, so here's our latest adventure. We rode over to St. Louis, MO for Chip to sign the books for that union. When we got there it was 4:00 and the receptionist told Chip that they didn't allow people to sign after 3:30. So, of all things, we had to stay overnight. We found a place very close to where he had to go in the morning, but we had Lady (our jack russell) with us. I, being the person, who hates to break or bend rules in any sort of way, did not like the idea of smuggling her in, but we really didn't have a choice. We were 3 1/2 hours from our RV park and there was no way we were driving back just for Chip to get up the next morning and head back to St. Louis. So, I sucked it up and took just about everything out of Alex's diaper bag and put Lady down in it. I then put Patrick (Alex's favorite stuffed dog) on top of her and prayed that she wouldn't bark as we went up the back way to our room. We got in the room fine and then came a night full of paranoia for me. She barked once while we were in the room, but luckily the "Shaggy Dog" movie was on Disney channel. I turned the volume up and remarked in a rather loud voice, "Alex, that sure was a silly dog on the TV wasn't it?" I'm sure most of you are laughing your heads off right now and looking back on it, I think it's rather funny too. At the time, I was terrified. So, we made it through the night and got out the next morning without being caught. I felt awful though. If the cameras got a picture of my face at any time, they could probably read "guilty" all over it! Ha ha. Oh well, it was an experience I'll never forget. I have pics of our trip home that we took the week of the 4th that I will be posting later (as soon as I get the pics added). I know I'm getting behind again, but thanks for being patient with me!

Ahhh...Relaxation

I thought these were too funny! He was watching Curious George on PBS. I can't remember ever looking that relaxed. Of course, I'm sure that at some point I did. I bet my parents remember those days! Ha ha! Maybe from looking at the pictures we can all remember to slow down and enjoy our day, rather than rushing through it. Our children seem to be a daily reminder of how fast time goes and how we need to embrace every minute that God gives us!