Kerri's Korner

Sweetie Pie Bakery Felt Cake GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-08-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

This blog has some REALLY COOL stuff! I first discovered when looking for Bo Peep and her Sheep for the girls for Halloween. Shabby Apple has lots of cool stuff and I could get in a lot of trouble easily with her stuff. Check it out...it's way fun!! I'm trying to win a felt cake to add to my playroom!!

Sweetie Pie Bakery Felt Cake GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-07-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

Wow...so I think my blog is a reflection of my life with 2 kids. I agree with all of those mommies who told me that there is A BIGGGG difference between 1 kid and 2...yes there is!!! I did want to take some time to update on our summer and post some pics of the kiddos! We went to Panama City Beach, FL last week. It was a WONDERFUL trip and the girls did almost perfect. We enjoyed time with grandparents and great grandparents and the beach was BEAUTIFUL!! We are taking Kate to Schlitterbahn this weekend with Aunt Kristi, Uncle Jerrod and Cohen. Kate says that Cohen is her "best friend" and they are like 2 peas in a pod. It should be a fun day! Josh starts law school in just 3 weeks and I am hoping the Lord will just provide for our already CRAZY lives during the next 3 years. We've enjoyed his last 4 months at home between being employed and starting school and we are all very spoiled by daddy being around so much. It will be a big change for us, but no doubt where God has us! Elle is 6 months old today and is sitting up (some) and beginning to almost roll over. She is so precious and it just the best baby we could have ever asked for. Kate loves being a big sister still and is turning into such a girly girl. She LOVES dress up and shoes and beads. She talks constantly about nothing but we love all the funny things she says.

Ok...pictures later...they aren't loading because they are too big and I have to resize, resave and reupload...no time for that now!

Giving Back...

2009-06-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our church, Lakepointe, here in Rockwall is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this weekend. Its crazy that a church that started out with only 8 families has grown into thousands and thousands of people. They have organized several mission projects for the church members to get involved in throughout the weekend in celebration of the big event. Our ABF (sunday school class) participated in a food drive. The goal is to get 30,000lbs. of food together to donate to the local food pantry. We went door to door and asked people to donate a few items. It was a hot morning, but very productive. We tried to be intentional about explaining to Kate that not everyone has food at home and we have to help others and share with people who need food. I think she got it, because she got really excited each time someone would hand us a few cans. We enjoyed the opportunity to teach Kate about helping others and serving God at the same time. Here are a few pictures...

Oh...the BIG GOOSE EGG on Kate's forhead was from when she fell out of the stroller (OUCH!!) and the red cart in the back of the truck was our contribution...YAY for the "Canton Cart!!"

New Hobby...

2009-06-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

So I am thinking about taking up photography. I witness so many precious moments throughout the day with my girls and I would love to be able to capture it all on more than just a point and shoot type of camera. I am looking into purchasing a nicer digital camera. Anybody have any suggestions? Does anyone know where to look for advice on this topic or follow any photographers?

Let me know if you have any info. that might help me out!

2009-05-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Whitnee called at 11pm last night asking for prayer for Baby Lydia. Whitnee is a good friend of mine from Seminary and she had her first baby last Thursday via c-section. They have determined that she was born with a virus in her spinal fluid that caused her to stop breathing just after she was born. Whitnee was recovering at Baylor and they moved her baby to Cooks NICU. She has been in a whirlwind of emotion as she is overcoming the surgery, emotionally overwhelmed by Lydia's condition, and having to be sepearated for a few days inbetween. She has since been released and able to interact with Lydia some. She was told yesterday that once this virus passes Lydia should be ok, but might have a learning delay. They were in high spirits until last night when the hospital called to tell them that she had taken a turn for the worse and was struggling to breathe again. They had taken off the respirator, but were forced to put her back on and were concerned about her brain swelling. They suggested that Whitnee and her husband come back to the hospital due to the brain swelling and the fear that she may not make it through the night if that continued. I have not heard from her today to see what has happened, but I wanted to ask you all to continue to be in prayer with Josh and me for Whitnee and John and Baby Lydia. I know God is mighty, please pray for Baby Lydia’s health to be restored if it is His will, and for the Mills family. Also, hold you sweet baby even closer tonight and praise the Lord for the miracle of a healthy child.

Little Mama...

2009-04-06T11:41:00.001-07:00

Kate is totally into her baby sister. Sometimes she thinks she is Elle's mommy too. It's sweet when she runs to give her a passy when she's crying or pats her and says "it's ok baby, it's ok baby..." over and over until Elle stops crying. I've see some jealousy, but for the most part Kate really LOVES her sister and tells people that Elle is her baby when they ask. Here are some sweet sister pics...

When she's not being Elle's mommy, Kate likes to mommy her baby dolls as well. She tucks them into bed, puts them in time out, and I even caught her nursing one the other day. I had to grab my camera and start clicking as soon as I saw her sit down with my boppy and her baby...I knew where this was going. She is too fun!!!

My Productive Day...

2009-03-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Thoughts from today...

After a fun morning of snuggling on the couch to watch Mickey, reading about our ABC's, playing dollhouse, and too many trips to the potty to even count I put Kate down for her nap at noon. The house is so quiet. I love this time of the day because I finally get to hold Elle without interruption from big sister. As I lay with my sweet baby, my mind begins to race with all the "to-do's" of the day. This is the list that I usually try to get done while Kate is sleeping. My list looks like this:

A sink full of dishes
A dryer full of clothes
A backseat full of cheerios that Kate dumped out 3 days ago
Clothes to hang up piled on my dresser
Trash to collect and take out before trash day
Pictures to upload and blog about
Bills to pay
Kate's toy room looks like a tornado hit it

But the longer I lay there, the more I realize how sweet these moments of holding Elle are. I realize that my baby feels so good agains my chest and I just don't want to move and give up this sweet time together. The dishes, clothes, cheerios, trash, blogging, bills, and toys will all be there for years to come, but my little Elle won't always be in this phase. I decide that the "to-do's" can wait and spend the majority of Kate's nap just enjoying my Elle...and I feel like it was one of the most productive days I've had in a while!

Update

2009-03-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

WOW...it's been almost a month since my last post! That just shows how busy and sleep deprived I've been over the past 5 weeks! Elle will officially be 6 weeks old on Thursday (in 2 days) and she is doing great. She is growing and growing which means eating and eating! She had been doing EXCELLENT at only waking up once during the night for the past 10 days or so and then last night we were up at 11pm, 1am, 3am and 5am. Tuesdays are my 12 hour work days so I'm feeling a little buzzed on coffee at the moment, and I hope this caffeine high doesn't crash anytime soon! So here are a few fun things going on in our lives:

1. Josh has been awarded a GREAT scholarship to SMU Law School (almost 2/3) and he will hear back about other scholarships in April!!

2. Kate has started to show some signs of jealousy with an occasional pinch or push on baby Elle. I can't say that I blame her...it would be hard to go from being the one and only to sharing that spot. I would like to pinch or push people sometimes too...isn't that normal to some degree?!?

3. I am back working 15 hours a week. One of my stay at home mom friends keeps Elle on Tuesdays and Kate is still doing MDO! I enjoy being back at work and using the other side of my brain! Mommy world is a blast, but it's nice to do something different during the week!

4. I am beginning to feel a little more "normal." It takes a few weeks after a c-section to "get back up on your feet" and I think I'm getting there!

5. I started Weight Watchers on Sat. There is a meeting at 7am right by my house and I figured since I'm already up, I might as well go! I have about 30lbs. to lose but I realize it took 9 months to gain and may not come off for 9 more months!

6. My good friend Joce (my spiritual mentor from when I was a teenager) came and stayed with us for 3 days to help with the girls! She is WONDERFUL x 10 and I loved having her here to help! Kate LOVES her and keeps asking when she's coming back! What a blessing!

7. Kate keeps asking to sit on the potty! This is exciting but takes a lot of work and committment that I'm not sure I'm up for at this point in my life. I feel like I need to follow her lead on this so on Monday she work "big girl undies" all morning and used the potty. We put a diaper on for her nap and today she is wearing panties over her diaper (which was a compromise to avoid a melt down this am). Needless to say, I think we are beginning to potty train. I tried to do this before Elle came, but of coarse, we waited until Mommy had a 5 week old and is exhausted to decide it was time. Figures!

So that's our latest! I will try to get pictures up of Kate and Elle soon! I just love having 2 girls and I keep looking at their latest pictures and thinking about how sweet this sister bond will be for them one day, but that's material for a whole different post!

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Elle Pics and Law School...

2009-02-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures of our sweet little Elle. She is growing so much and last week at the dr. she was almost back to her birth weight of 7.1. She loves to snuggle and be close and just seems to sleep all the time. This is SUCH an enjoyable stage and I just love to hold her all day long when I get the chance. I am learning that being a mom of 2 is VERY different than just one, and I feel very blesses to have my two beautiful girls everyday!

Another VERY EXCITING thing in our lives is that Josh was officially accepted to SMU's Dedman School of Law. Only a select group get into the early admission group and he was one of them. He has applied for scholarships but will not hear back until later this month for one and in April for the other. I am so proud of him and we look forward to him going back to school in August as a full time law student.

Needless to say, we have a lot excitement in the Pearson home and feel so blessed to see how the Lord continues to provide for our future! Now if only He could multiply those 2 hour intervals of sleep I am getting to feel more like 8!

Elle is HERE!!

2009-01-25T15:36:00.001-08:00

Wow...what an amazing past couple of days. Elle Suzanne was born at 9:25 am on Thursday morning and weighted 7 lbs. 1oz. She was 19.5 inches long and is absolutely precious. I was so excited to discover her red/strawberry blondish hair. My heart has totally stretched in ways that I never imagined and I am completely amazed at how in love I am with both of my sweet little girls. My heart is just so full! We are tired and recovering, but I wanted to get a few pictures up to show you Elle and big sister Kate.

13 Hours...

2009-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

Wow...just 13 more hours until we get to see our sweet little Elle. I'm so excited and so nervious all at the same time. It feels like Christmas again! My friend Courtney and I went and got Pedi's today and mexican food. We both got pink toes in honor of Elle. Then I had to go for my pre-op where they make you sign every piece of paper you can imagine that basically lets the hospital off the hook if you die for some strange reason.

I can't wait to hear that sweet little cry and hold our beautiful new baby girl for the first time. I just want kiss her all over and I WILL...so soon!!

Say a little prayer tomorrow at at 7:30...that's what time we go into the OR and she should be here by 8am. I don't think I am going to be able to sleep tonight...

2 More Days...

2009-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

So I guess we are as ready as we can get. The house "to-do's" are done, the last minute things are purchased, and now it's just getting through the next 2 days of anticipation! Josh and I went out Friday night for our 7th Anniversary...our real anniversary is Jan. 26th, but we knew that day/night would not work for a date night. We ate at Terilli's off of Greenville and then went to Al Bernauts for dessert. We had a wonderful time and appreciated my mom watching Kate. It was nice to go out and enjoy eachother before life as we know it gets a little more hectic.

So as promised...here are some belly pics and a few pictures of Elle's nursery. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law helped me make all of the bedding/curtains and Josh did a FANTASTIC job of painting. He is such a good daddy!!

Honest Scrap

2009-01-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

My friend, Jennifer Watkins (Kohl), whom I've known since 2nd grade tagged me for a game called Honest Scrap. I figured this was a good way to pass time while Kate is napping and it is FREEZING outside...what better thing to do than blog?!? Really I can think of about 100 other things I could be doing, but blogging is a wonderful way to procrastinate when you have "real" stuff you need to be doing!

Here are the rules: you have to list 10 random things about yourself that are true and then tag 7 other people to do the same. So onto the game:

1. I eat one thing at a time on my plate...like all my beans, then all my potatoes, then all my meat, unless I'm having Mexican food (like to combine my rice and beans). I usually eat my meats last and veggies first. I also don't drink anything until I'm done with my plate, unless the food is just really spicy.

2. I LOVE Kate's Monday nap time because I lay on the sofa and watch my tivo'ed Desperate Housewives from the night before...such a fun little treat for me every Monday!

3. I am constantly adding, multiplying, and dividing numbers. My good friend Lauren (from DTS) used to make fun of me because I constantly had math problems along the edges of my notes from class. I also remember numbers really well...I have most of our account numbers memorized without even making an effort to do so...they just stick with me.

4. I HATE terminix. I have had many an argument with them over the phone for double charging me over and over. I can't even see a Terminix commercial on tv without feeling hate towards them. NEVER use them...they are not a good company to work with AT ALL!!

5. I am a news Junky...I LOVE to watch the news and read up on the latest events online. From the Today show at 7am to the 10:00 news...I'm totally going to be one of those old people who just watches the news in my rocking chair all day.

6. I love to clean out my ears, Josh's ears, Kate's ears and whoever else will let me. I even used to check our dog/cat's ears to see if they needed cleaning.

7. I am addicted to coffee in the am. I can't function without it and will go to great lengths to get it. I feel pretty agitated when it's not made correctly (too weak) and will do whatever it takes to get a good cup EVERY morning. When I'm not prego I ALWAYS have 2 cups.

8. I love to watch the Food Network. I want Paula Dean to come cook for me one day!

9. I'm excited about not being pregnant for the next 3-4 years so that I can "get my body back." Not that I'll ever have my high school/college body after having 2 kids, but I just want to be able to work out and not feel like it's all in vain because I'm just going to get pregnant again! I will miss eating whatever, whenever...but the trade off and better self confidence will be worth it!

10. I got a tattoo on my hip while living in Australia during college. I was there for 3 months on a mission trip and called home to ask permission after the deed was already done. My mom said "no" but it was too late! Most of my friends are SHOCKED if they accidentally see it, but I didn't get it for everyone to see...that's why I chose my hip and not my arms or legs. I figured that wouldn't look good for job interviews or for my profession later on in life.

So there you have it...my Honest Scraps! I now tag:

Courtney Warren
Amy Tyner
Katie Brittain
Jami Smith
Lauren Smith
Tracy Howard
Allison McNeely

Alrighty...get going!!!

6 more days...

2009-01-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

So last night it hit me...Kate is not going to be my only baby in a week. I've known this as a literal fact, but the emotional impact of it was really hard to take in. For the past 2 years she has been our baby girl and everything we do rotates around what is best for her. I can't imagine her having to share that pedistool with anyone else, but maybe it's time she did. She gets so much of my undivided attention and I'm afraid that she will start to feel like #2 when Elle gets here. Josh was super supportive of my crying, snotty (i have a real snot problem when I start crying...I can put away almost an entire box of Kleenex), meltdown that I had last night, and talked about ways we can be sure to show Kate that she is still our top priority, but that Elle is too. Have I said what a wonderful man he is...he really is the best husband in the world!

I have heard my friends talk about the fear of not being able to love your second like your first and I am now experienceing that for myself. I know that when she gets here I'll be so completely in love with her (that's how we felt with Kate), but it's hard RIGHT now because I can't wrap my mind around how I will love 2 the same.

I guess I'm having fear and anxiety at this point. I think it's normal, I think it means the reality of all of this is finally setting in for the first time, and I know that the Lord is faithful and will get me through this.

The countdown continues...

7 More Days...

2009-01-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

We are officially going in to have Baby Elle on Thursday, January 22, at 7:30am. It is SO NICE to have a date and be able to count down until the big day. It's very different from when we had Kate because we had NO IDEA we would end up in the OR with a c-section. Going in for a scheduled c-section is a little bit scary, but I know I'll be just fine! Its good that I know what to expect and what the actually surgery/recovery is like.

I will get belly pics up soon, Allena...but I'm not putting how much weight I've gained like you did! Two weeks ago at our sonogram she was measuring 7lbs. and he said she can gain .5-1 pound per week. I am thinking this baby is going to be big because she takes up SO MUCH room inside my belly. I really can feel her wrapped around all the way to my hip bones (I guess those are still in there somewhere), and sometimes beyond. I keep wondering if shes going to make it into my back before next week.

Ok...off to do some more cleaning...I only have 7 more days to knock out my "to-do" list around the house!

Final Count Down

2009-01-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

Wow...I haven't blogged in quite a while...I guess that just represents how busy things have been and how tired I've felt during my down time. I am 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant today! My doctor has decided to move up my c-section to NEXT WEEK...either Thursday or Friday. I'm trying to take it in that this is my last full week before life gets really crazy again!

Things I'm being intentional about this week:

Spending lots of time with Kate...just that fun one-on-one mommy/Kate time that we are both so spoiled with...she's so fun and makes my days so bright!

Soaking in what it feels like to be pregnant, or at least the positives of being pregnant. I'm not one that LOVES pregnancy, but even I can appreciate the miracle of having those tiny elbows and feet rolling around inside of me. I won't feel this again for a long time, and maybe not ever again, so I want to be sure I don't take it for granted.

Spending quality time with my wonderful hubby and going on dates. I remember that after Kate was born we were both so worn out that our marriage sort of went back burner for about 8 weeks. We are normally great communicators, but with rotating shifts around the baby's schedule we were on opposite schedules for several weeks. We know that we just have to give ourselves some grace those first 8-10 weeks and be secure in our marriage, knowing that this difficult season will pass, and we will spend quality couple time together again one day!

Appreciating a full night's sleep. My sleep may not be perfect right now, seeing as how I can't get comfortable and my legs go numb, but at least I'm not up every 2-3 hours for a hour at the time. I am going to soak up the night of 6-8 hours of deep sleep that I get right now!

Lastly, I am taking FULL ADVANTAGE of this nesting feeling! I know I won't be this motivated to clean out all the junk drawers, organize all the piles in the office, and sort through my t-shirt drawers once Elle arrives! I am in a place right now where cleaning out stuff feels exciting and I almost can't help myself...this is SO not the normal me. I plan to use this "gift" to the fullest over the next 2 weeks...after all, she can't possibly come into a home with junky drawers and piles of old magazines, right?!?

So we're in the home stretch...I can see the light at the end, and I'm really excited about holding my sweet baby girl in less than 2 weeks! It's going to be SO DIFFERENT having 2, but I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead!

New Lessons

2008-12-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Wow...it's been an entire MONTH since my last post, I guess things are pretty busy around the Pearson home! I wanted to take a minute to list a few reflections from the past 31 weeks of pregnancy.

The first trimester is EXHAUSTING and even more so when you are a pregnant mommy who stays home most days with an active 18-24 month old. What happen to the days of napping in the afternoon or sleeping in? Will those days ever happen again?
My maternity clothes from only 2 years ago are so "last year" at this point. I feel super untrendy, but don't care enough to spend the money on a new maternity wardrobe. I don't plan on being prego again in the next 2 years so even if I did get clothes, they would be out of style by the time I get ready for baby #3.
The second trimester "high" was great because I felt like I could do any and everything. With this pregnancy I did LOTS of sewing and feel good about most of my projects. Lots of my home "to-do" items have been taken care of.
Kate has finally started pointing at my tummy and saying "Baby Elle!" She even hugged and kissed my tummy last week when I was holding her...and I didn't even tell her to do that. She is going to be a sweet big sister. She also pointed to Josh's tummy and said "Baby Jesus!" Needless to say he has purchased a workout machine to put in the garage...
My belly is getting so LARGE that I feel like I can't breathe, it's hard to sleep, I can't sit Kate on my lap to tie her shoes, and when I pick Kate up to give her a hug, her feet stick strait out from my belly.
Baby Elle is much rougher than Kate...she kicks HARD and much more often. Wonder what that will mean?
This third trimester has been noticeably more tiring. I wear out easily and feel like I need to sit and get a glass of water a few times a day. Also my brain has gone to mush and I can't remember ANYTHING or concentrate for very long. I'm having a hard time even making small decisions. I heard on the radio that your brain shrinks during pregnancy and doesn't go back to normal for 12 after birth...I can testify to that! I feel it!

So there ya have it! I am ready for my sweet baby to get here soon. I can't wait to hold her and see what she looks like. It will be fun to see Kate interact with her and to watch them grow up as good friends (I hope). I am thankful for a healthy pregnancy, but I am honestly ready to not be pregnant anymore. Only 9 more weeks to go!!!

Pics from Fall

2008-11-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

So here are some pictures from the Pumpkin Patch at the Dallas Arboretum, the Belton Pumpkin patch, and our church's fall festival. We trick-or-treated with a group of friends...but mommy forgot her camera. Kate loves fall and yells "PUMPKIN" everytime we drive past our Rockwall Pumpkin Patch. She was "Little Red Riding Hood" but refused to keep the hood on, so she just looked like a german waitress for the most part. She doesn't really know who Little Red Riding Hood is, but it as one of the cutest costumes in the $15 section at Target, so this practicle mommy decided to go with it!! Her dress said "2T" but it lied...it was much smaller, but we made due as to avoid spending anymore money on this crazy holiday. Enjoy our fall pictures...

This was fall festival at our church...she loved the pony ride the best!

Here she is at the Belton Pumpkin Patch where she painted a pumpkin and played in the hay with her cousins Carter, Garrett, and Gavin!

Love this face...these are from the arboretum. We went there with Cousin Cohen and fam!

Hope your fall season was as blessed as ours. I am excited about moving into Thanksgiving and all the yummo food that comes with it!! This pregnant girl takes full advantage of the "eat for two" mentality!!

LSAT Scores are in...

2008-10-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

After a LONG wait of about 4 weeks and then a LONG day on Friday as we awaited the posting of the scores, they are FINALLY in!! Josh took it this summer and scored a 165 out of 180 which put him in the 92% nationwide. That means that only 8% of people did better than him. Not bad, not bad. But, my competitive hubby couldn't sit with that and immediately registered to take it again this fall with confidence that he could do the same or better, given a second chance.

Well, he was RIGHT...he did much BETTER! Friday night he found out that he scored a 170 out of 180 and is now in the top 98% nationwide. That means that only 2% of applicants did better than him which puts him in a great position (we hope) for scholarship opportunities. I am so proud of him and all of his hard work! I know that this is just the beginning of his law school journey, but I'm looking forward to what's ahead. He will get his application into SMU along with all the papers he has to write, and will hear back in January about acceptance. They accept about 20% of applicants (so 80%) get turned down...ouch! He is also applying for scholarships at the school and privately funded opportunities as well and will know something by February on those. He turns 30 in Feb. so we keep joking that a full ride to SMU would be a GREAT birthday gift to celebrate the big 3-0!

Way to go Babe! You are so amazing and I am so proud of you and your hard work!

Kate...

2008-10-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted very many pictures of Kate here lately so here a few to show you what she's been up to...besides being the CUTEST TODDLER EVER!! This is Kate at her Gymnastics Class every Thursday night...she started this about a month ago! Her daddy takes her since since mommy works on those nights! She LOVES it and she now jumps off of EVERYTHING and is constantly trying to do forward rolls....I see a little cheerleader in our future!!

This was Kate's first day of school or MDO. She was at a preschool until she was old enough for me to move her to MDO. Now I get to take her to work with me and go see her if I have a break! She LOVES it and her teachers call her the "head of the class." In the second pic she is playing "ashes, ashes we all fall down" with her lunch and backpack...she's got quite the imagination!

Just a cute Picture...

Kate playing with her friend Judah at the playground...they are in the same MDO class and Judah's mommy is one of my good friends! I love the slide picture!

Helping Daddy Cook....

Kisses for Prego Mommy...I love my baby girl SO MUCH!!

CRAZY bathtub hair...

Fun at Amazing Jakes in Plano...

So there's a little bit about Kate...sorry for the delay on getting pictures up!! I'll try to do better!

LSAT Update

2008-10-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your prayers...the LSAT went GREAT!! Josh felt really good coming out of it and is hopeful that this score will be higher than his previous one from June! It's all in the Lord's hands at this point so we will just turn in all the necessary paperwork and see what happens with scholarships and acceptance to law school. I think he finally feels that he can take a deep breath and not worry about having to study every spare second.

YAY for having the LSAT over!!!

PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!

2008-10-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

As most of you know by now, Josh is re-taking the LSAT tomorrow morning here in Dallas. I just wanted to put up one final post asking for prayers. He will sit for the test tomorrow morning at 8:30, but will bein there until probably 1:00. So, any prayers you want to throw upwardon his behalf tomorrow during that time would be greatly appreciated.He is feeling really good about the test this time. He feels like a lotof the work he did preparing for the June test has stuck with him andwe're both confident of his abilities going into tomorrow. It helps that on his last practice test (hopefully the last practice EVER) last night he scored a 176, which is his highest ever and would place him in the 99% nationwide. So, no pressure, but if he can tap into that tomorrow morning he'll be in really, really good shape.Thank you all for your prayers up to this point and thank you for taking some time out to say a word or two tomorrow morning.

By the way...on the June LSAT he got a 165 which put in the top 92% nationwide. This was a GREAT score, but he decided to take it again since he can't even apply to Law School until the beginning of November anyways. He is also applying for scholarships/grants so the higher his score the better. His previous score takes A LOT of pressure off of this test, but the LSAT is just difficult, pressure or not. Thanks again for your prayers, Ill keep you posted on the results in about 4 weeks!!

You Can't Be Serious....

2008-09-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

As I was rushing out of the grocery store yesterday I caught this out of the corner of my eye:

I got in my car and just had to laugh...was that written by a man or what?? From the perspective of a woman who has a toddler and is pregnant, I can testify that Sarah has NO DESIRE to have a boyfriend. Sarah Palin JUST had baby Trig in 2008 and so she too has been pregnant or with a small child (much less her 3 other teens) since having Piper in 2001. I would just love to find a pregnant woman with 4 other kids who even desires to have an affair...you can't be serious! It takes all the energy you've got just to keep up with own life at this stage! Also, apart from all the family excitement in her life over the past 20 years...she was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996 and mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. She was elected Governor of Alaska in November 2006 by defeating the incumbent governor in the Republican primary and a former two-term Democratic governor in the general election.

So she has been the Governor of Alaska over the past 2 years, and been with child, raising 4 other kids, giving birth to her special needs infant, and still somewhere had time, energy, and desire to have an affair...I'm not buying this one National Enquirer.

I feel really defensive of her...mabye it's because I feel like she is one of my friends, but I just couldn't let this one pass and not speak up! They also made claims that her son (now SERVING OUR COUNTRY IN WAR) is addicted to OxyContin and that he used Cocaine...they ought to be ashamed or at least move out of America. What a bunch of jerks! Ok...I'll stop, but part of me hopes with all of the economic crisis we are in, that the National Enquirer will go out of business...who buys it anyways (besides my friend Allena...and I hope she stops after seeing this trash)?!?

Digital Scrapbooking 101

2008-09-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

I did a scrapbook for Kate's baby book and her first year book. She officially has 2 completed scrapbooks so I am beginning to feel the pressure to get back on the "scrap wagon" for baby #2. I thought about trying digital scrapbooking for this baby so save on $ and give me a few more options. This is my first page ever, with no official training. I just downloaded a kit for free and went to work in photoshop. One page down...about 19 more to go! Whew!

Am I Brave or Crazy?

2008-09-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

So in my nesting phase I have started to work on about 4 rooms all at the same time! We need to put the chair rail up in the powder room, the curtains/pillows need to be sewn for the living room, Kate's room needs to be painted, and baby girl's room needs to be painted/decorated. Meanwhile, our office (first room you see when you come in) is in HORRIBLE need of a makeover, but this tired momma doesn't quite have the time or energy to mess with it right now.

I have started reseaching all of the design shows like Divine Design, Design on a Dime, ect. and found out that you basically have to live in CA to get on any HGTV show. So I flipped to TLC's selection of shows that help people overhaul rooms and learned that Trading Spaces is looking for people, so I totally applied!!! My luck I'll end up with Heidi or Doug (both of whom I don't so much care for their taste), but I'm willing to risk it! That is, if we even make the cut!! I submitted our office and my friend Angie's playroom. We live a few blocks apart, but in the same neighborhood. I threw in there that we are both pregnant, I guess in hopes that we can score a few sympathy votes or something. I would never have Trading Spaces redo my bedroom because they always take our the ceiling fan and that is a MUST in Texas summers!

I LOVE This Woman!

2008-09-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how many of you watched Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention last week, but it was AWESOME!! I wasn't sure how to take her and all that the media had put out there about her, but by the time she finished her speech...which was so good...I just wanted to stand up and yell AMEN!! She seems like someone I would have as a girlfriend and do lunch or have her over for dinner. I even find myself getting defensive for her when the media trys to insult her or her record now. I love that she is a "go getter" and not afraid to stand up for what she believes in, even if it's not the most popular thing. I also like that she professes her faith in God and that she understands what being a mother is all about. I liked John McCain before, but I like him a lot better now that he has Palin as his running mate! She will be a great Vice President!!

The Results are In....

2008-09-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Pearson family is officially seeing...

PINK!!!

Or at least the sonographer was 90% sure. I've never had that number before so I sure hope he's right. We are VERY excited and Kate (and baby sister) will love having eachother. My sister and I have such a special and one-of-a-kind relationship that you just can't understand unless you have a sister. I can't wait for my girls to have that as well!!

She was very active, which we think is the sign of a healthy baby. She was moving all over and measured at about 19 weeks (which is correct) and in the 60th precentile. Kate was always in the 90th after she was born so I'm sure we'll see this baby grow a lot. My sister likes to say that "we grow um' big," and she's right!

Josh is a little scared of future weddings and plans to do lots of shotgun cleaning while they are in the dating years. He can't wait to have another little "princess" in the family!!

We just feel incredibly blessed and can't wait make our home even more girly!! Bring on the PINK!!

Quick Update for the Week

2008-09-05T05:32:00.000-07:00

This week has been a fun week of home projects. I finally had my wallpaper put up in our powder bath room and I also finally purchased all of the fabric I need to make my curtains and throw pillows for my living room. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance. The nesting has begun!! I plan to take full advantage of the nesting stage as I get SO MUCH DONE when I feel like this! I wish there was a nesting pill we could take when we aren't pregnant!

Kate also started MDO this week and did GREAT!! We have a dr. appt. today (Friday at 12:30) to find out what we are having...I'll update later today with either a pink or blue message!!!

What a fun week we've had!!!

This Mom is Strong on Crime!

2008-08-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Kate and I ran into Target yesterday to look at a floor rug that I am considering for our living room. She was full of energy and wanted "down, down, down" out of the stroller from the minute we walked into the store. I promised her we would go back to the toy section as soon as I got done with the rugs.

Soon we were in the toys and playing on the doll isle. At this Target, all of the toy isles back up to one main isle where they keep board game and bikes. I was sitting on the floor playing with Kate when a VERY strange man walked past our isle and looked at me with a chilling glare. My mommy danger meter IMMEDIATELY went off, but I decided to keep playing with Kate, and would just keep an eye out for this joker. About 10 minutes later he walked back back by but this time he looked at Kate and then me, as if to see if I was looking at him. I gave him a direct stare back to let him know that I saw him look at my child, and this time followed him into the main isle and said, "Can I help you find something, because you can stop looking at my daughter." He turned and looked at me and then ran over to the book section located just across from toys. I was FURIOUS at this point because he responded with such guilt to my suspicion that he was a danger to my child and me. He never said ONE word to me, just took off. I then went back and got Kate back in the stroller and went over to books where I told him, "You have NO RIGHT TO BE IN TOYS!! I'm getting a manager." I think I sort of yelled at him, but I just HATE all of those stories of children abducted, raped, and killed by sickos like this guy. I just knew in the pit of my stomach that he was danger. I saw him looking at another girl before I began my confrontation with him. After I informed him of my plan to get a manager, he bolted out of the store. I informed the manager that someone needs to be watching the toy section for predators like this man or Target is going to have a kidnapping one day.

I know what I did was not the safest, now that I look back on it, but in the moment I could not help myself. The moment he looked at my Kate something in me went into attack mode. Not sure if it's the pregnancy hormones, or just the over all disgust that I have towards people who hurt kids, but either way I felt justified by his guilty reaction. I think if more mom's were "strong on crime" we could do a lot to save our kids and other kids in situations like these. I have no problem confronting a suspicios person (obviously) at the store, at the park, or anywhere kids play. I make eye contact with strangers at the playground all the time who seem to be there with no children, just to let them know that I am aware of their presence. I just wanted to blog on this topic to remind all of you mom's out there to watch your surroundings and don't be afraid to act if you feel that someone is out of place. You don't have to yell at them, like I did...but at least get a manger or call the police. It's time we moms stopped worrying so much about offending people who seem dangerous, and started risking it to protect our children.

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Bye Bye Passy

2008-08-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

Kate has been a faithful passy lover since the beginning. She LOVED it as an infant and then we started trying to only use it at nap/bedtimes when she turned one. This lasted for a few months, but in the past 4 months or so she has wanted it CONSTANTLY. I, being the loving mommy that I am, usually give in and allow her to have it. Finally after a lot of dicussion between me and her daddy, we have decided it's time to stop the passy use outside of bedtime. Let's just say it's been a traumatic 4 days of no passy. My sister always says that girls are drama and boys are distruction and she is exactly right on this one. Kate is VERY dramatic in whining for the "pass" as she calls it. She just sits and says it over and over in this really whiny voice. It goes like this:

Kate: "Paaaaaasssssss"
Mommy: "No, passy...all done passy...we can only have it at night night time."
Kate: (louder) "Paaaaaaassssssss Peeezzzzzz"
Mommy: "You're very sweet to say please, but no no passy right now"
Kate: the high pitch fake cry begins and I try hard to redirect her to a toy, her baby, food...anything.

She usually stops after about a minute and is perfectly happy and content until about an hour later and we repeat the cycle. I just want her to learn at this age that when mommy and daddy say "no" we mean it. It's very hard on me to not give in, but the last thing I want is a teenager who doesn't know what "no" means.

I love the passy and I will probably see if our next baby will take it, but it's the breaking of the passy that is not my friend. Maybe next time we will try a little earlier to break the baby of the pass.

j

Josh on the Big Screen

2008-08-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

Josh was asked to help make a video for our church. We are doing a sermon series called "Heart Attack" that discusses things that attack our hearts...like greed, jealousy, guilt, ect. He got to make the jealousy video, and you get the privilege of viewing the sneak peak right here on my blog!!

They shot this in our driveway and on our street, and Kate was very afraid of the motorcycle and all the noise it was making. Josh could win an Oscar for his acting abilities here, or he might have actually been a little jealous of the Harley so little acting was needed. This video will be shown this weekend to 10,000 of our closest friends! He did great and it will be fun to see Josh up on the big screens! Way to go Babe!!

Catch up

2008-08-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Playing catch up...that is what I feel like life is about these days. I realize that I was SO tired during the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy that I did NOTHING extra in order to conserve energy for my developing baby and what was left went to Kate and Josh. I am now at 15 weeks and I realize there are little piles of stuff all around my house that need to be gone through and either put up or thown away, my hair is in terrible need of a cut/color, my makeup is to that point where it's either crumbled or I'm scraping the bottom, my car is so messy with toys, cups, kate's shoes, ect., we've been eating the same 4 meals or cereal every week...or just ordering pizza (I'm tired of pizza), and I have over 500 unchecked emails in my hotmail account because I just haven't taken the time to do them.
All that to say I am catching up! The house was gone through this weekend and my cleaning lady (who I love, love, love) is coming on Wednesday, the car is being washed tomorrow, the hair is being cut later this week, and makeup will be purchased as well. We sat down and made a menu of all new dinners (and pizza was not on the list) yesterday and went to the store to get all of the stuff. I feel like I am beginning to get back on top of my life after my 12 week sleepy phase! I haven't attemped to go through email yet, but I'll get there!
That is where I am at the moment. I hope I'm not the only one who goes through these hard spells. It's funny that you can't identify it exactly until you are coming out of it. I appreicate all of my friends not saying anything about my hair, my house, my car, or my lack of email replys...thanks for having grace! My life really is so blessed, and I feel funny that I base my progress on all those material things around me, but I guess I just see them as a extention of what is going on inside of me. I feel so much better now and I hope I can get everything else around me caught up! Here we go!!

Big Girl Furniture

2008-08-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

So here is some of the stuff we have ordered for Kate's big girl bed! We got everything on sale...which is always good. We plan to paint her room purple to match her bedding! I can't believe my baby is becoming a "big girl!" Here are all the big girl goodies:

Big Girl Bed: Big Girl Dresser: Big Girl Bedding:

I'm making the curtains based on an idea I saw...I'll post pics when they are done! The bed and dresser will be here on Sat. 8-23 and then we will begin the transition. I'm hoping it goes well (or at least better than the potty training) so that mommy and daddy don't miss too many hours of sleep at night!

Never Too Old to Cheer!!!

2008-08-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I got an email from one of our youth pastors asking if I could help out the youth group by putting together a stomp routine for them to do for promotion weekend this weekend. The cheerleader within me got really excited and then I rememberd that I'm in my late 20's and 4 months pregnant and too old to still be doing this stuff!

Needless to say, I went for it anyways and put together a really fun routine. I spent 3 hours on Sunday teaching 20 youth all the steps and putting it all together. The coolest part was how excited they all were about it and how fun it was to see them think that something I made up at this stage in my life is still cool.

Tonight they will do it for a youth leader meeting as a practice and then the big show will be this weekend. They get to do it on Sat. night and Sun. morning for both youth services.

I'll let you know how it goes...Josh, Kate and I will be there tonight to check it out!!

PS. Jennifer Kohl...if you read this can you leave me your blog address...I can't find it and keep wanting to check on you guys!!

Update and Rant

2008-08-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Just to update...the day of potty training was a bust! She sat on the potty first thing and then we did the pull up and set the timer for 30 min. About 15 min. into she came running up to me saying "pee pee" and so we ran to the potty and pulled down her britches and sat her down to go. Unfortunaely, her pull up was wet, so I think she was telling me "pee pee" as she was going. We got a fresh pull up and started over and about 30 min. in she started yelling "poo poo" and sure enough, she had just gone in her pull up. I decided to keep putting her on the potty and explaining that it goes in there, but she got real tired of the potty and had one of those arch the back fits when I wanted her to sit on it. Needless to say, we put a diaper on about mid-afternoon and set all the potty stuff aside until a later date. I had a feeling she wasn't quite ready, so that was confirmed. I am still reading a lot and learning about it and she continues to tell me everytime she is going in her diaper, but that's all.

Last Friday I had a dr. appt. and we found out that we will have our sono to discover the gender on Sept. 5th! We are so excited! This weekend we went and bought all of Kate's "big girl" furniture so that we can begin transitioning her out of the nursery to make room for baby. We are going to paint her room purple and her furiture is white. It will be way girly and fun...I LOVE having a little girl to do this for! I'll post pics as it happens!

One last rant...last Friday I had TWO incidents where conplete strangers were just giving me (and the world) way too much information. First in a bridal store (where I was helping my sister in law pick a bridesmaid dress) a woman came in and needed some jeans taken up. She looked at me as i was minding my own business and said "These are $300 jeans and just my size...a size 2...but they are just too long." I wondered why she needed to tell me that...was it because I am 4 months prego and OBVIOUSLY not a size 2, was it because I look like I can't afford $300 jeans in my maternity jump suite and pony tail...not sure. Maybe people just need to feel validated or important sometimes, even if it's by a stranger. Whatever the goal, I just smiled and said "We'll it's a good thing you can get them taken up then," and then tired to busy myself. Later in the doctors office waiting room a woman answered her cell phone and proceeded to have an all out conversation about how her company is a multi billion dollar company and she only will talk to CFO's of other mulit billion dollar companies and blah, blah, blah about how important she is. I wanted to go grab her phone and slam it shut and walk off. Not sure it that is the hormones, or just that it had been a long day, but again I wondered why people have to share so publically in order to feel special. Also, do we really care if someone works for a billion dollar company or stays home with kids? If someone's jeans are $300 or from Kohls? I don't think I even care...it really is just people's hearts that mean the most to me and sharing all that stuff shows me a lot about where their heart is. That might be judgmental or opinionated, but it's my opinion and this is my blog! Just kidding.

One last thing...I think it's stupid to spend $300 on a pair of jeans!

Time to Potty Train

2008-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Let the FUN begin! Kate and I offically went and purchased the "big girl potty," "big girl" undies, Pull-Ups, Skittles, and some stickers yesterday. I'm going to pick a day next week and try using the potty all day. She LOVES to sit on it now (just like her daddy...haha), but I never pull her diaper down and let her go in it. She just sits for a minute and then likes to flush about 3 times...we'll work on water conservation next. I'm just going to sit her on the potty every 30 minutes all day long the first day while wearing the pull up and if it goes good, we'll try the undies the next day. I can't believe we're getting into all of this "big girl" stuff with my BABY!! She'll always be my baby no matter what! Last night I pulled out her new fun undies with monkeys all over them and Josh just walked out of the room and said he couldn't bear to look. She has just grown up too fast and this is yet another milestone! Wish me luck!!!

Fun Baby Gift...

2008-07-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

A therapist I work with recently had a baby girl and I decided to make her some fun girly things to celebrate her new arrival. She has 2 boys and therefore has NOTHING pink or girly in her stash of old baby supplies. I sewed her 2 burp cloths and made 2 girly onesies using some iron on sparkly things that I found at Hobby Lobby! Every girls needs a little pink and little bling in her wardrobe! Girls are so fun!!

Kate's Newest Hobby

2008-07-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Kate's Pappy and Meme bought her new craft table last week and she LOVES it! She has really taken an interest in coloring (well, scribbling) and painting so we thought it was time to get her her very own craft station. Here she is enjoying all the fun. Her FAV is the finger paint and we got a magnet board to hang all of her little "Masterpieces" on. She walks her paintings over to the board when she is done and then say's "more" and "sit" as she walks back to her table.

She is so fun to paint/color with, but the clean up is a big effort! I think I might try watercolors this week to see if that cuts down on the mess. Either way, she is enjoying her new found creative side!

The Beach and The 4th...

2008-07-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

The post is me playing "catch up" after losing my chord that plugs my camera into my computer. For father's day we gave Josh a new "office" room in the house and in moving the computer desk and all the gear the cable was misplaced. I finally found it last night after a pretty intense search effort...YAY...now I can post the beach and the 4th of July!!

We took a family vacation this summer to the beach. This was our first official vacation since Kate was born 20 months ago. We figured we better get a move on before we have another new born next summer. We went down to Galveston and rented a house along with my sister and Jerrod and Cohen (their son). It was A BLAST...we did a lot, but had a lot of time to relax and take naps, thanks to having 2 toddlers along for the trip. We hit the beach every morning and the kids played 2-3 hours in the water and sand. Kate loved the sand, but wasn't too excited about the water. We went to Schlitterbahn one afternoon and the aquarium the next afternoon post naps...those are a MUST!! The house we rented was just from a google search, but it turned out PERFECT and we enjoyed watching the waves crashing in from the balcony of our sweet little find! Here are some pictures of our trip:

Now on the the 4th of July! We were invited down to Josh's parents to ride in the Belton City Parade in honor of his dad who is on the City Council. It was really fun and Kate enjoyed waving and saying "HI!" to everyone we passed by. She also was in a little parade at her school the day before we left. She got to march and shake a maraca (or an Ozarka bottle with beads in it). We had a fun trip. I didn't get any pictures of us watching the fireworks, but we went out to Fort Hood and sat very close to the cannon. It was GREAT and Kate officially fell asleep during all of the excitement. She wasn't too happy about the noise to begin with. It's amazing to me that my child can sleep through actual cannons booming near by, but I can't even wash the dishes when she is napping without waking her up...so strange! Here are pics of the 4th:

The LSAT Scores are in

2008-07-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

So as I have been posting about in the past, Josh took the LSAT in June and we have been waiting to get his scores in. He finally heard back last week and he scored a 165!!! This is in the top 92% nation wide, and gives him a great chance of landing a partial scholarship to SMU's Law School here in Dallas. I am so proud of him and his hard work. He is a little perfectionistic (in case you didn't know about his OCD side) and plans to take it one more time in October just to see if he can get an even better score. He can't even apply to SMU until Nov. 1 so he might as well try since we have nothing to lose at this point.

This test was a blessing because it really confirmed for us that this is the right direction to go in. He has been very prayerful about God's direction for his life and this score seemed to be the confirmation we needed to let us know that intellicually he will have what it takes to make it in this competitive field. He is SUPER SMART (I've said that from the beginning), but now we know that he has the analytical brains that every great attorney needs to succeed. Way to GO BABE!!! I am so proud of my super intelligent, super good looking, LSAT butt kickin' hubby!!

Spreading the News...

2008-06-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

So here's the story on how I told Josh we were expecting baby #2. To begin you have to have the background of our first baby experience. We were not trying and were totally caught off guard when I took a test and got a positive result. I cried, he cried, and we were both in utter shock. I promised myself that on baby #2 I would do a better job at telling him in a "fun" way! This time around, it was fun and just as surprising...

I found out on a Tuesday and had NOBODY to tell, except Kate. I couldn't tell my sister before Josh and I wanted him to be the first to know out of our families. I finally cracked and told my friend Courtney and she helped me pick out a "big sister" tshirt for Kate to wear when we were going to surprise her daddy with the news. I worked out a plan with his boss at D Magazine to call a fake meeting with him on that Thursday and discuss the "vacation policy." This meant that I had to keep the news for 2 days and nights without letting it slip. It was so hard and I felt like I couldn't really even have a conversation with him so we just watched lots of TV and went to bed early each night. Finally the big day came and it couldn't have gone better! He met with his boss and was told that due to a new "policy" he would have to work all the major holidays...Memorial day, Labor day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. But because of his hard work those days he would have a week off in February since that is an "off peak" time (even though the web is never off peak), but he bought it! Then his boss said that they needed to step into his office so he could check on which week Josh would get off, and that is where Kate and I sat waiting. He was so confused when he walked in and we were in there. I took the story from there and it went like this:

Me: So you get a week off in February?
Josh: That's what I hear...
Me: Well maybe it's because Kate will need your help in February when she becomes a big sister (and I held her up for dramatic effect).
Josh: ..............(no words, but turned a deep red color and laughted)
Me: SURPRISE!

So there it is! Afterwards we went and ate at Chuys (one of my FAVS) and talked about all the thoughts I had been keeping if for the past 2 days. We went down that weekend to tell our parents. We went out to dinner with all 4 of them together. Midway through dinner, Josh took Kate to "change her diaper" and brought her back with the "I'm a big sister shirt." It took the grandmas about 5 minutes to notice, but they were so excited and it was really fun to get to share our big news with them. My mom is already picking out names and Josh's mom has started on the "Meme Blanket" that she makes for the grandbabies. Kate is attached to her's so we knew we'd need a new one for the next baby.

I am beginning to feel a little better and I think the antibiotics are helping me a lot. Still going to bed by 9pm every night, but I will take advantage of all the extra sleep I can get before February!

Sleep Please?!?

2008-06-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have had such great intentions to post the pictures from when I surprised Josh with the news of our new baby and then when we told our parents, but I am SO TIRED!!! I really don't think I was THIS tired with Kate...this is REAL TIRED! At least a couple of times during the week I go to bed at like 7:30 or 8 and sleep about 10-12 hours only to wake up...tired! I can't get away from it. I remember with Kate I had a few "tired days" and that was about it. I worked 2 jobs and was fine. Now, that is not the case at all. There is no way I could do that now.

I'm just praying this goes away in a few more weeks. I am 8 weeks and 2 days so I am slowly getting to the 12 week mark. Today we have our first sono so I will try real hard to strike up the energy to share on how it goes.

Also, I am not meaning to whine or complain...it is a big blessing to be pregnant and I keep reminding myself of that. It really is a miracle and I can't thank God enough, but my body is just feeling the fatigue even though my heart is delighted!

Pass the OJ

2008-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to post some really EXCITING news on my blog, but I think it's due time. Josh and I are PREGNANT and HAVING A BABY in January. We are so excited, but I am a little scared about managing 2. They will be 2 years and 2 months apart so that might be interesting at times. We had a dr. visit last week and she confirmed that there is just one in there and we will go back for a sono next week. She said we will do the c-section on January 19th if all goes well. That's the great part about being a c-section pregnancy is that we have a for sure deadline! I am feeling good, just so tired and craving orange juice constantly. With Kate all I wanted was cheese eggs and that sounds really nasty right now. I guess it's true that all pregnancies are different. I'll keep my blog updated along the way so stay tuned for more info. on Pearson baby #2!

Let the prayers begin...

2008-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Josh takes the LSAT TODAY!!! Please be in prayer for him this afternoon. He will be in the testing center from about 12:30-5:30 so if you happen to see this between those times please lift him up! He is very focused and confident this morning. He just keeps relying on the Lord's plan for this and not falling into worry. His wife on the other hand is super worried and stressed. I keep trying to pray and give it over to the Lord, but then I get the belly ache and nervious gitter feeling. I guess if one of us had to feel this way, it's better for it to be me. Maybe pray for me too if you want!

Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart!

2008-06-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Today is a WONDERFUL DAY! My new cleaning lady starts!!!

I'm so excited about going home tonight and seeing how clean everything is. I totally tilted Kate's highchair forward on my way out the door and shook it so that all the old food and crumbs would fall out and onto the floor. This lady is going to think we are disgusting from the looks of what spilled out. I figured that she's seen it all so I'm not going to worry about it.

I really thought I'd be a little mifted when I had to write a check out to someone else to clean my house, but I wrote with much joy in my heart this morning!

Such a great day!

LSAT or Bust

2008-06-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

So we are on the "home stretch" of the LSAT. Next Monday, June 16th there will be thousands of hopeful future attorney's taking the LSAT. They only offer this a few times a year and Josh is having to drive all the way to College Station just to get the chance to take it now. He tried all testing centers within 100 miles of Dallas and Austin (where our parents live) but they were all full...and that was 2 months ago!

He has been studying and practicing and if the Lord blesses his efforts accordingly, he should do really well. His goal is a 170 or better, but if it's between 165-170 he will take it and run!! He has done several practice exams and he used to score 166-169 pretty consistantly but most recently he has been getting between 170-175! The highest score that a person can get is a 180 and to get 170 or better means that you are in the top 1% nationwide so universities are willing to offer some great scholarships to these individuals. This is motivation for wanting to do so well...he needs a scholarship.

Josh is SUPER intelligent and has been very diligent to put his all into this while trying to keep it all in perspective with God's plan. He is really going into this with the attitude that he will do his best and leave it up to the Lord on where He will lead. Josh's dad offered some great counsel to him a few weeks back that has really stuck with him. He basically said to be careful of making this an idol and basing his value off of it. Josh is doing good at basing his value in Christ and not this test. I'm just so proud of him and how he is handling it all!

I'll keep you updated on how he does, but please keep him in your prayers, especially next Monday!

What's on your mind?

2008-06-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

So one of my friends (Courtney) posted on her blog about random thoughts that stick in our heads. Thinks like:

the 50 states in Alphabetical order

"Friends, Romans, Country men, led me your ear...."

The electric guitar intro to 90210

Oldschool Amy Grant/NKOTB/Bon Jovi/Kiss

Or how about this one..

Now this is the story all about how My life got flipped, turned upside down And I’d like to take a minute just sit right there I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called bel-air In west philadelfia born and raised On the playground where I spent most of my days Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school When a couple of guys said "we’re up in no good" Started making trouble in my neighbourhood I got in one little fight and my mom got scared And said "you’re moving with your aunte and uncle in bel-air"

I whistled for a cab and when it came near the Licensplate said "fresh" and had a dice in the mirror If anything I could say that this cab was rare But I thought now forget it, yo home to bel-air I pulled up to a house about seven or eight And I yelled to the cabby "yo, home smell you later" Looked at my kingdom I was finally thereTo settle my throne as the prince of bel-air

So do you ever get old random thing stuck in your head. How do our brains retain so much useless info. and then we can't remember what all we needed from the grocery store when we just checked few hours earlier. Can our brain become full? What random things do have sitting in your brain?

Fun with Friends!

2008-05-29T19:51:00.001-07:00

Last weekend the some of our friends came over and we had a little "jam session" with Guitar hero. Joel and Courtney are great fun, and Judah (their son) is the same age as Kate. Judah and Kate shared a few kisses, but we couldn't get one on camera...this was the closest that we got! They played so good together and had a blast with the Ukulele of all things.

Here are the proud mommies with their sweet babies...

Joel and Josh"rockin out." They were actually really good together. They might go on tour something next year...The J Band...or maybe not!

And here is the best part yet...mommies turned "Rocker Chicks." We only did one song so we didn't put the guys to shame or since it made our forearms burn. I don't know how the guys play so long...ouch!

It was a fun evening and the kids both lasted until about 9:30 which was WAY past their bedtimes! We'll have to do it again soon!

Memorial Day

2008-05-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

Memorial day was a blast! We enjoyed getting the day off work and getting to spend time being lazy and hanging out with friends! We spend the weekend cleaning (really cleaning) the house, working in the yard, and we got the cars both detailed (which is SO NICE). This left us with nothing to do but enjoy the day on Monday. We started the day off right with breakfast at La Madeline. I LOVE their coffee and french toast and Josh loves the omlet. Kate enjoyed taking little bites off of our plates and dipping her bread in the jelly...that free bread is the best for kiddos! When we left Kate decided she would like to try driving her daddy's car and even picked up the phone and started saying "hello? hello?," which we both had to laugh at. Not sure if that's funny or sad...i'll take it as funny for now!

Next we went to the park and played for a full hour on the slide and swings. She was running all over the park (probably had something to do that syrup and jelly she ate at breakfast). Then we went home and she napped and Josh took a practice LSAT. He scored a 168 which is good, but he'd like to be at 170 for the real thing in 2 weeks!

After she woke up and Josh finished we headed off to our friends, Joe and Celia, house to swim and cook out. Kate played in the pool for a full 2 hours and was so hungry when she finally got out. She loved using the baby slide into the pool. We had to keep her ear plungs in and that really attactive "aqua band" on since we just got the tubes in. She also kept wanting to take her shirt off so we let her, but we hope she outgrows that in time. I'm trying to tell her to look at the camara in this picture (i'm not working on my disco dancing skills...in case you were wondering).

At the end of the day Kate was DONE! This picture says it all...she's precious!

Some Excitement

2008-05-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Ok...after "yeses" all around the board, I'm going to take the plunge and call this week for a cleaning lady! I have 2 friends who have told me about their person and I'm going to call both.

This weekend I worked a lot in my front flower bed! I love to garden and put together fun beds, and I like to change them with the season. Sometimes I just watch for the entrance of our neighborhood to change and I know it's time to change mine. I also watch what they put in the beds around the city to see what will grow good this time of year...I'm not a wiz at this stuff, but I'm learning!

One bit of excitement...on Saturday while enjoying some relaxing gardening, I looked down to find a snake coiled up right next to my leg! I jumped up so fast and when running and screaming. It was bad. Real bad. So bad, that people in cars driving by had to stop and ask if I was ok. One minivan full of women instruced me to go inside and get my husband to kill it. They came back by about 10 min. later to check on me. I'm still a little traumatized over it when I think about it. YUCK!!

So here are some picutes from my front bed (snake not included). It's not a lot, but a little color is good!

Someone to clean my house!

2008-05-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about getting a cleaning person to come clean our house every other week. I have really struggled with this in the past because I hate to pay someone to do something that I am pretty good at myself. It just hit me today when I was leaving work that I am tired, really tired, and the last thing I want to do is go and clean my house. I can keep up with dishes and laundry, but it's the real cleaning that is the issue. I've worked on keeping it simple, like rotating floors and bathrooms everyother week but it's just not working. As crazy as our schedules are at this stage I would just perfer someone else come clean for me. Even though I'm a good cleaner, I'm just tired and would rather spend my time at home enjoying Kate and Josh. Has anyone else ever felt guilty over hiring a cleaning lady? Is that normal?

Craft Time 101

2008-05-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Kate and I thought it would be fun to do a little craft project together for the grandmothers for mother's day. We got some pots at hobby lobby, spray painted them, sanded them, and painted their names on them. We topped them off with Kate's little handprint and VIOLA...the grandma pots were complete! She really enjoyed crafting with me and I'm so excited because I love to craft! She and I will have so much fun in the years to come doing little projects. My friend Amy has a little craft table set up next to her's for her daughter, Leah...oh, my dream come true!! I can hardly wait!! Not only did we have so much fun making them, the grandmothers both loved them. I would say this project was a success!!

On being a Mommy...

2008-05-09T19:59:00.001-07:00

As we head into Mother's Day weekend I can't help but feel so special be a MOMMY!!! Having Kate awakened a side to me I never knew existed. She evokes a joy and a love within me that I can't even begin to explain. I love to spend time playing with her, making her laugh, shopping, running errands, sharing a snack (I think I share all of my food with her), or just rocking her to sleep. She has always fit so perfectly in my arms from the time I first held her at the hospital to this very day. I love to pray over her as she sleeps and kiss her sweet little face before laying her in her bed. She really is one of my best friends and she's only 18 months old.
To all of you Mom's out there, I hope that you will enjoy celebrating the wonderful gift of Motherhood. It is a true blessing from the Lord to be called "mom." Have a great weekend!!

AI SHOCK!!

2008-05-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

I was so shocked (much like this little money) that Jason got "voted off" last night on AI. I thought he took it with such grace, unlike some previous contestants. It was great when he said that "he shot the tambourine man." He sort of did! He was so honest about his "inexperience" showing through at this stage, and I thought it showed some humility to admit that. I feel like its going to come down to the 2 Davids in the end! I'm waiting to see if there is any kind of community welcome home rally for Castro...if there is, we are SO there!!

Jason Mania!!!

2008-05-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

So if you are an American Idol fan, which we at the Pearson household are, you know all about Jason Castro. He is from Rockwall and has been a part of the worship team at Lakepointe (our church and my place of employment) for years! Rockwall has had LOTS of Jason hype over the past several weeks and if he makes it into the top 3 he will be coming home and we are having a BIG rally in his honor. You can check out the details here. Josh, Kate, and I are SO THERE!!! GO JASON!!!

Fun Find!

2008-05-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to pass along a great site I found through my friend Heidi's blog. It's a blog designer named Jenny who does really cute custom blog designs for cheap! You can check her out here. I am going to have her do my blog...or at least my background since I could never get it to work! Her designs are only $23 so you can afford to have it done and re-do it later when you get tired of it! She really is SUPER talented! It's so fun to have a personalized blog...hope you'll check her out!

BIG JUMP!!!

2008-05-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just had to post these precious pics of Kate jumping from her plastic slide to her Daddy! I remember doing this same thing with my Daddy 20+ years ago. She just giggled and giggled and then finally would jump off into Daddy's arms. It was so special for me to watch her and remember those times with my dad. Just had to share!

The LSAT

2008-05-04T10:14:00.001-07:00

So as I mentioned in an earlier blog (I think), Josh is planning to start Law School next August (2009). He has been really hitting the books hard in preparation for the LSAT, which he will take on June 16th. The top score for the LSAT is 182 and if he can score in the top 10% of test takers he will have the opportunity to get a partial or even full scholarship to the places he applies. His goal is to attend SMU with at least a partial scholarship so he is really throwing himself into this exam. He is super smart (and I'm not just saying that about him since he's my hubby...he really is) and I have complete confidence in his abilities. The test is a lot of brain puzzles/games and he LOVES that kind of thing...I get tired head every time I try to work a problem. But again...he's the brain of the family!

So just to keep you updated on his progess...he took a practice LSAT last week and scored a 170!! I am just so proud of him and he still has month and half to go. He is going to try to take one practice test per week to keep himself in practice with the timing and format of the test. That score is in the top 96% and would definately get him some aid for school. We are excited to see where the Lord takes this and I'll keep you updated on his progress up until the BIG DAY!! Way to go Joshy!!!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

2008-04-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Last night Josh's softball team brought home the Championship trophy! It is our ABF team that is coordinated by Matt Johnson (who does an excellent job)! This was their second season to play and last year they lost several games due to being a new team. This year they returned to the field and kicked some softball tail!! They were undefeated for the entire season until the last game last night. They lost to another team that had also only lost one game and had to play a 2 games, making it a double header. They won the second game 13 to 7!! Congrats to the "Fire Ants" (that's their team name)...you guys are AWESOME!!
We are going to celebrate at Cici's next Monday night in true softball league form! We are so proud of our guys!!!

April Catch Up...

2008-04-25T12:29:00.001-07:00

WOW! It's been a busy month! I had no idea how adding a work night to my week and Josh beginning his class would make our busy schedules feel so much busier! I haven't blogged in FOREVER so this blog is to catch everyone up on what we have been up to this month of April!

First...as promised here is a picture of my kitchen table leg that Kate so elegantly painted (you can read about his in an earlier post):

It is still on there since I have had NO free time to get on my knees and scrub! I'm hoping when I finally get around to it, that it will come off! If not, it's hardly noticable unless you know about it. Hopefully none of my friends will get down under my table any time soon. That might be strange anyways...

Next, Josh has been giving Kate golf lessons. He went to Target and got here this nurf golf set and her very own golf shirt(not pictured here)! She loves to hit the balls, but doesn't quite get it just yet.

We also went out and played 9 holes with Jerrod, Kristi, and Cohen a few weeks ago and Kate did great! She rode the cart and got down every hole to play with the tee markers! We had a wonderful day out playing golf and plan to do it again soon! Josh also cut down an old putter of his and re-gripped it with a hot pink grip! It's so fun and Kate LOVES it! He is such a good daddy and she is such a daddy's girl! We might have a little Tiger Woods on our hands before long!

Mommy's Shoes!!! Kate loves to wear my shoes. She goes into my cloest thoughtout the day and selects random shoes to wear.

She comes out wearing them and then clicks them all around on the tile. She seems to pick out matching ones for the most part. I have a true girl on my hands...she LOVES shoes! I keep telling Josh that we are going to be in for it when she's gets a little older. As my sister says, "She is a true Miss Thang!"

We went to our first Rangers game of 2008 a couple of weeks ago. We had the suite (the only way to go with child in tow). We went with a group of friends and all of their kiddos! It was great weather and free ice cream day! Kate had so much fun playing with the cabinets in the suite. Her and friend, Rylee, kept laying in the shelves and saying "Night, Night!" It was so funny! Never mind the bag full of toys we brought to entertain them. Cabinets...that's all they wanted! Kate loved the ballpark music and danced to "Deep in the Heart of Texas" like I have never seen anyone dance! That song is so funny to watch her "bust a move" with...I'll have to take the camera next time!

Check out these HOT mama's! Yes...everyone in this picture is PREGO (except me!)!!

This is Kate's fav. way to watch Elmo! She flips her chair backwards and stands on the back. I think this means that she's creative, or it could just be that she's not sure how a chair works yet. I just think it's funny because she does this everytime she goes to watch a show!

Kate loves to help me cook...she especially loves to be our "Taste tester." She said this one was "yummy!" I agreed!

Lastly, A HERO'S WELCOME!!! Today we went to help welcome home a friend's husband. We met Melissa and her daughter Hailey (who is Kate's age) in the park and have played with them several times. Kate and Hailey have so much fun together. Her husband has been gone for about a year to Iraq serving our country and today he come home for good! The elementary schools were there to greet him as well as our neighborhood. The Mayor greeted him and we all applauded his service to our country. It was pretty emotional and I hardly even know him. It was a special event to be a part of! Kate liked the fire truck and all the lights! We had a great time!

Ok...so that's April in nutshell! I hope to stay up on my blogging so that I don't have to play catch up next month!

Kate's poor pointer...

2008-04-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Kate is definitely in that exploration phase of life right now. She wants to get her hands on everything...well, more specifically, just her right pointer finger. She reaches out her sweet little finger and touches flowers and bugs, or sometimes just pokes it right through her grilled cheese sandwich to watch it come out the other side. The problem occurs when she begins touching things that are harmful. Yesterday she reached out on her changing table and touched the light bulb, I had just turned it on, but it was hot and her finger turned red. We ran it under cold water and kissed several times and then it was all better. Today she stuck that same index finger in a door at school and the door shut with her finger caught inside. I got a call at work to come look at it ASAP because it looked pretty bad. We then went to the dr's office and sat in the waiting area of AN HOUR before being seen (and a lady in the waiting area told me that Kate was too old to have a passy...can you imagine saying that to a stranger in the waiting room...oh, the nerve). The x-ray came back perfect so the doctor said that it was not fractured or broken, just really bruised. Her poor little pointer is now burned and bruised and swollen...it breaks my heart! I plan to keep an VERY close eye on her in the next several weeks as I feel that we are entering the era of exploration and more dangers. It's just so hard to be a curious little one sometimes!

Splatter Paint...

2008-04-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time for my Kate to have a little touch up on her pedi from a few weeks ago! She was sitting in her high chair so I snuck off to my bathroom and selected a nice bottle of HOT PINK polish to make her little toes twinkle with girly glamour! I started off on her right foot and decided that I wasn't a fan of this color on her after all, and ran back to my bathroom to get the polish remover, when I heard it...a loud crash (like glass breaking). I ran back into the kitchen to discover that not only were her toenails shiny with this "over-pink pink" but our brand new tile floors, kitchen table, and chairs were now all covered in it! I left the closed bottle of polish on her high chair (mommy mistake #872) and she thought she would practice her softball skill and throw it off! After an entire bottle of polish remover and a VERY SMELLY house (that smelled for days) I think I got it off of most everything. The pedistool leg of my new table still wears the art work of our little Picasso, but I think it's going to take some paint to just paint over it in time. All that to say, don't give an 18 month old a bottle of paint...even if it's closed! And I totally didn't think to get a picture for my blog...I'll try to get one of my table leg for a later post!

Pearson family's latest adventure...

2008-04-01T18:10:00.001-07:00

Josh and I have really been praying about what direction to go in professionally. As most of you know, he is the web developer for D Magazine here in Dallas, and has been a part of the web world since entering the "real" work force back in 2001. This has been a wonderful profession for him because it requires intelligence and creativity, and he's got it all! It has also been great to get me through seminary and off to my career, but now he is feeling the Lord lead him in a new and exciting direction.

He has spent the last several months using his 45 minute drive in to work as a prayer time. He keeps the radio off and just prays and listens to God most days. In seeking Him, he has really felt a nudge to pursue a law degree with the goal of becoming an attorney. He has begun looking at different law school and is preparing to take the LSAT in June. He started an 8 week class that meets every Tuesday from 6-9 at SMU tonight. I got this text message at 6:35, "Not sure about this whole class thing, 35 minutes in and I could already tell you that there are 77 tiles in the ceiling and that the prof had written 239 words on the board before class." As you can see, he is not the "sit in class" type (which would explain some of that skipping class he did in college), but I am confident that with the Lord's help (and maybe some Adderall) he will make it!

I'm very proud of him for going after this and I know that he will succeed because he is super intelligent and he is being obedient to the Lord. If you all can begin praying now for the LSAT in June that would be great. He needs to do well on this one in order to apply this August to start in August 2009. If not he may not get to apply for another year since they only offer the LSAT a few times a year, and that would mean not starting school until August 2010. It's a 4 year program once he gets started. At this rate, Kate will be 7 when Josh graduates (she's 18 months now). This is going to be a long road, but I'm excited to see what the Lord does with it.

My Lucky Day...

2008-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Miss Mary Adams from the Ivory Coast just sent me an email to inform me that she wants to share her inheritance of 7.8 Million dollars with me. I was a little jealous when my friend Courtney got a similar email but now we can be millionaires together and we can both have person grape assistance (those people who follow us around and feed us grapes)! Here is the full story:

I AM MISS MARY ADAMS FROM IVORY COAST AND I AM CONTACTING YOU BECAUSE I NEED YOUR HELP IN THE MANAGEMENT OF A SUM OF MONEY THAT MY DEAD FATHER LEFT FOR ME BEFORE HE DIED.THIS MONEY IS USD 7.8 MILLION AMERICAN DOLLARS AND THE MONEY IS IN A PRIVATE BANK HERE IN ABIDJAN. MY FATHER WAS A VERY RICH COCOA FARMER AND HE WAS POISONED BY HIS BUSINESS COLLEAGUES AND NOW I WANT YOU TO STAND AS MY GUIDIAN AND APPOINTED BENEFICIARY AND RECEIVE THE MONEY IN YOUR COUNTRY SINCE I AM ONLY 21 YEARS AND WITHOUT MOTHER OR FATHER. PLEASE I WILL LIKE YOU TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL SO THAT I WILL TELL YOU ALL THE INFORMATION SO THAT THIS MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO YOU SO THAT YOU WILL GET ME PAPERS TO TRAVEL TO YOUR COUNTRY TO CONTINUE MY EDUCATION THERE.WAITING FOR YOUR URGENT RESPONSE.

Gotta run...she's waiting for my urgent reply!

My Sick Baby...

2008-03-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

So back to my last blog about my sweet baby girl who was throwing fits. On Friday she woke up with 101 fever and I took her to the Doc who said that she has an upper respiratory infection. He gave her some anti-biotics and she is still fighting it pretty hard. We saw all hours of the night last night, except for 3am, and I sort of feel like I've been hit by a bus. I just worry over her so much when she's sick...I guess that is another part of being a mom that I have learned a lot about. All that to say, that maybe she wasn't feeling well on Thurs. and that's why she was being so difficult. I know I get pretty grumpy when I'm sick. Hopefully my precious baby girl will be feeling better soon. I just hate it when she's sick!

Is this just a phase?

2008-03-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

So my sweet little angel has started throwing these fits when she doesn't get her way. For example, yesterday when we were leaving the park she walked over to another car (that looks nothing like our car) and wanted to get in it. When I told her we couldn't do that and picked her up to go to our car she busted out crying and screaming like I had just ruined her for life! Is she trying to tell me that she doesn't like my car? Was she just tired? Is this normal for an 18 month old? I'm not sure what it all means!

While we were playing at the park she wanted to put a piece of mulch in her mouth and I wouldn't let her do that either. She threw one of those fits, and I looked at another mom (who was sort of starring at us) and told her in a friendly way, "We're in that phase where were cry if we don't get our way," and she said, "I hate to tell you, but it's not phase...that's a girl for ya!" Is this true? I know teenage girls do that sort of thing, but I guess I didn't think she would start that until she was 12!

I do the regular "mom thing" and justify it with ideas like, "she's teething" or "she's tired" or "she's hungry," but is it possible that she's just 18 months old (almost) and they just do this! I know parenting is all about learning as you go and I am a student with this child right now.

Any parenting advice from those of you who have gone thru this? I'm a little nervious that people will say..."nope! Kate's just got an attitude!" but I'm willing to throw it out there and see if this is normal.

Kate's Pretty Piggy's

2008-03-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Check out Kate's first Pedicure here!!!

Easter!

2008-03-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

This was the first official Easter that Kate could really get into. She had 2 egg hunts and in both she called the eggs "ball" and she wanted to sit and take a breather after about 4 eggs. We will have to do some egg hunt endurance training before next year!

We went to visit my grandmother, her great grandmother on Friday and had a little hunt there with her cousin Cohen. On Saturday we opened her Easter basket and went to Church. She loved going through all of her easter goodies and especially loved her new bubble blowing machine. She loves "BOBBULLS!" She wore a white linen capri pants outfit that acutally remained spot free ALL day. We went to a friends birthday party before church, but she did great to not get anything on herself.

On Sunday we had 13 of Kate's friends come over and had a hunt in our back yard. We back up to a park and it was a great place for the kids to play and then hunt eggs! Afterwards we endulged in cupcakes and cookies and played with everyone. Kate was worn out! She walked up to me in the grass where I was sitting, climbed in my lap, put her head on my chest and said "night, night!" Her daddy went and laid her down and her friends kept right on playing! It was great Easter and as part of a new tradition, we asked all of her friends to bring new toys for the kids at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. They always need toys to give to children in the hospital who are scared or have a birthday but no family. We wanted to start a tradition of giving since Easter is really about the ultimate gift, Christ's life for our sins. I hope that we will grow in the tradition and keep the true meaning of the celebration in the spotlight. Kate and I plan to deliver the toys on Thursday!

The Longest Night EVER!

2008-03-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

Kate and I went down to Georgetown this past weekend to visit my mom along with my sister and Cohen. It was a good trip until we were just north of Georgetown and Kate started vomiting all over herself and the backseat. We had to pull off the highway and because that area of road is scarce on gas stations we just pulled onto the shoulder of the access road to begin the clean up. My sister was able to get most of it out of her car seat using a package of baby wipes and I had a towel in the back to clean her off. I stripped her down to only her diaper on the side of the highway. I am officially that lady with the naked child on the side of the road...it was so crazy. Kate just laughed and obviously felt much better after she got all of that out. I'm still not sure why she threw up, but she's been congested and I gave her some milk so it might have been a bad combo in her little tummy. Needless to say we made it my mom's, began the baths, did a load of laundry and fabreezed the back seat of the Tahoe. Then I finally put her down at about 10:30...about 3 hours past her usual bed time. I felt like my head had just hit the pillow when Kate began crying. We share a room at my mom's so it's never good when they an see you across the room. I tried until 4:30 to get her back down with NO luck. She just cried because she wanted to play and not sleep. I finally decided to just load her up in the car and go somewhere. We ended up at the Georgetown Starbucks where we went in at 5am and had a muffin and some hot tea. We were both in our PJ's and house shoes. We got back to the house around 6am and my little angel FINALLY went back to sleep, but left her mommy feeling very exhausted. It was honestly the LONGEST night ever and I hope we never have another one like that. I think she is just at a challenging age right now (16 months) and I just try to stay creative and positive when she is being difficult. Hopefully she will out grow this stage sooner than later or I might drive her back down to grandmas house and leave her!

A thought on Marriage...

2008-03-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

Because of my job at Lakepointe, I do a lot of marrige counseling. It is very challenging and yet very inspiring to me all at the same time. Something that the Lord has been showing me lately is how much he uses marriage to refine us in our relationship with Him. I have started a group for women who's husbands struggle with sex addiction, and this thought began there. Marriage is God's institution, He created it, and I think he did that for us to have companionship...yes, but also to draw us closer to Him. It's easy to look into those marriages and see how these women are able to draw near to God in the midst of their bitter betrayal, but I think He works this way in ALL marriges. Even losing your patience with your husband's annoying habits, or being prideful about your children or marriage need to be refined, and will be refined by God. He uses that union to get down to our core and He makes our weak areas appearant to us and our spouse. Hopefully, your marriage is a safe one and these flaws can be gently nudged toward postive change and not thrown back at you to push you down even further. All in all, I am growing in my understanding of marriage and God's purpose for it. Ultimately it is to glorify God and to draw us close to Him. We recieved a book when we got married that said "God uses marriage not to make us happier, but to make us Holier." I know we can't reach holiness on this side of heaven, but that quote is beginning to make sense as I walk with people through their marriages and also reflect on my own.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-03-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my 28th birthday, and it just feels a whole lot like 27...pretty uneventful. The age might be boring, but my day was FAR FROM boring! Here are a few pics to show you some of my festivities:

Josh woke me up with a brand new pair of my favorite house shoes. I've blogged about these shoes in the past (that is HOW GREAT they are) and I have worn out my first pair until it's just embarrassing. They have no padding, a hole in the toe, and they sort of smell like gym shoes. Here I am bright and early with my new house shoes:

Next we got all ready and met Josh's fam at La Madeline for breakfast. Here is Kate all ready to leave (new backpack in tow) and also a pic of all of us girls hanging out!

Then we came back to the house with the Howards, Meme, Pappy, and Jess/Eli to play at the park. Josh baked me a cake and Kate helped him decorate it. She was also our official taste tester...she gave it 2 sticky thumbs up!!

Kate got a little carried away playing in the dirt and I had to get a picture...she loves to play in dirt. Maybe she will grow up to be a landscaper...she can start with my yard!

After all that dirt playin she was worn and took a good nap. Josh and I napped as well, which is a rare treat for us! When we all woke up, Josh and I took her to the park where we were suppose to meet my sister and Jerrod and Cohen to play. Needless to say they didn't show up and just said that they would meet up at our house to play instead. When we arrived home, Josh and I walked in to our house and "SURPRISE!!!!" our friends jumped out of all corners and I stood there shocked. It was my very own surprise party full of snacks, pizza, drinks, and 10 couple friends! We had SO MUCH FUN and I didn't even take ONE picture. Everyone hung out for a few hours and then they headed out and we put our very tired baby down for the night. She was worn out for our very eventful and exciting birthday day!! Josh and my sister did a GREAT job at planning my party and most importantly, keeping it a secret ALL WEEK!! It was so much fun and probably my best birthday party ever!

Josh's cake was the most delicious thing ever. It was strawberry (my favorite) with homemade butter cream icing. All of our friends were as impressed as I was at his mad cake baking skills and thought it was delicious. I am still eating on it today, but it's almost all gone and then I will have to wait until next year for another one. He made my birthday super special and I feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful and caring hubby...that's the best birthday gift of them all!

Hold your baby...

2008-03-07T12:14:00.001-08:00

We have some friends of friends who lost their baby this week to SIDS. Her name is Lilly and she was just over 3 months old. I am blogging on this becaues I am just so sad for the family as I can not even begin to imagine losing a baby. They just got her and now they are having to give her back to the Lord so suddenly. It really just breaks my heart. Here is Baby Lilly's Blog if you would like to see how beautiful she was and how proud her mom and dad were of her. It seems like Kate was just that age.
Since finding out about her death it has just reminded me how precious our children are and how we can take the time we have with them for granted. Kate was sick last week so got a little spoiled with being rocked to sleep, and we are having a difficult time transitioning her back into just going down without being rocked. This has all made it even more difficult because I just want to rock her. I hold her so close and just rock until she's sleeping soundly. Then I just pray over her and just enjoying being in that sweet moment with my little angel in my arms. They are just such a precious gift from heaven and in the hecticness of our schedules it is very east to forget to enjoy each little moment. This has all been a big reminder to hold them a little bit longer and soak up that moment whether it's a long snuggle, a short hug, or those sweet little slobbery kisses, they are all so special.

I just emailed OPRAH

2008-03-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

My sister and I have been planning an Easter Egg hunt for Easter Sunday this year. We thought this would be a fun tradition to start with Kate and Cohen and their friends. I have really been looking forward to all the planning of this event, but I just got even more excited about it after watching Oprah's BIG GIVE from Sunday night. If you didn't get to see it, it comes on every Sunday and is SO GOOD! I had to send her an email!

Email that I just sent to Oprah:
"I am super inspiried to GIVE BIG! My sister and I have been planning an easter egg hunt for Sunday, March 23, 2008. After watching Oprah's BIG GIVE I am now determined to turn this into more than just an easter egg hunt. I am contacting local organizations that work with children in poverty to findout what needs we can meet. My plan is to have families who attend our easter egg hunt bring childrens shoes, clothes, books, ect. to donate to local shelters or hospitals. My vision for this hunt is for it to grow and grow into an event that is used to bless others and give back. This is our first year and with over 25 families planning to attend I am excited to see where it goes. We are going to have lots of children and over 500 eggs, but my true hope is that we are able to give back in a way that we can not even measure! I just wanted to say Thank You for inspiring me to GIVE BIG!!"

Also, (one of our pastors at Lakepointe) Wes Hamilton was challenging everyone to start an easter tradition and I think this could be a great one! Easter is about giving because it is the celebration of the ultimate gift ever given...Christ life. I want Kate and Cohen and their friends to have a fun tradition that is centered around giving when it comes to easter. I think this is a neat place to start! I'm so excited!

Feed the Birds...

2008-03-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Josh and I took Kate to feed the ducks last weekend with his parents in Belton. We have had lots of visits with Meme and Pappy here lately...honestly, we're getting a little spoiled with it! Here are some pictures of our outing. At one point a goose came right up to me and Kate! She enjoyed watching the ducks and luckily didn't realize that we got to witness a baby duck being made...right in front of us and God and everyone! That poor girl duck was under water FORVER and the male kept poking her head back under when she would come up for air...what a jerk! Josh threw rocks at him to try to get him to leave her alone, but it didn't seem to distract him. It was quite an adventure!

I've been TAGGED!!!

2008-02-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

So I just got "Meme"ed and now I am being "Tagged" by 2 different people. This blogging stuff is like chain letter central or something. But I enjoy reading everyone elses so I will play along. If you would like to read who tagged me you can look at my friend Courtney who I met at church here in Rockwall or my friend Lauren who I went to seminary with. Courtney and Lauren are actually a lot a like in that they are VERY girly and love Celebrity Bakery! Here we go!

10 Years Ago:
10 years ago was 1998 and I was about to graduate from High School. I drove a 1992 Ford Thunderbird and loved hanging out with my best friends Allena, Whitney, and Janice. I still keep up with all of those girls to this day!

Things on my to-do list today:
1. Take car to discount tire to purchase a new tire (we had a flat yesterday).-done
2. Get caught up on charting at my office-done
3. Watch American Idol-will do
4. Cook dinner (chicken rice cassarole)-done
5. Pick up car from tire place-done

If I were a billionaire:
I'd give each of you 5 Million Dollars and still be loaded...I think I would keep my job and work part time because I really love it and I don't do it for the money. I would keep my house but I might splurge on a new Lexus for me and a BMW for Josh!

3 Bad Habits:
Grind my teeth
drink too much diet coke
text while I drive sometimes

5 Jobs I've had:
-Target Worker (fun discount)
-Biology Department Admin at UMHB
-Cheer Coach at CTCS...GO LIONS!
-counselor and File Sorter/shredder (with Lauren)
-Family Therapist at Lakepointe (current)

5 Things people don't know about me:

I only paint by big toe and the one next to that sometimes because that's all you see in my open toed shoes.
I bite my nails when I am driving. I didn't realise i did this until Josh started finding nail bits in the floor board after I drove his car. I bite them and then put them down there for some reason without even realizing i do that.
I am addicted to reading blogs...it's such an escape for me...I'm glad it's not illegal!
I can make my eyes look in opposite directions
I was in band in high school...i played the xylephone

Ok! There it is! Ummm...I tag Beth Ward and Amy Tyner! GO!!

Every Girl Needs Fun Jewelry

2008-02-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law came to visit a couple of weekends ago and brought Kate a ladybug jewelry box FULL of fun plastic jewelry. Kate is super into jewelry and won't even let me get out of the house with bracelets or necklaces on most of the time because she takes them off of me to play with. She spots jewelry on nursery workers, grandmas, and my friends. She will sit for several minutes and play with whatever sparkling or shiny treasures that she can get her hands on...that's a long time for a an almost 16 month old who is into EVERYTHING! Last week I took her to the doctor for her shots and when I had to get her down to only her diaper she did not want me to take off her necklaces and bracelets. You should have seen her walking around in only her diaper and plastic jewels, she got a lot of smiles. When we left they gave her even more bracelets to add to her collection for being such a good sport about her shots. Here are few pictures of her playing with the jewelry from Meme...she's so happy!

Josh's Birthday

2008-02-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Sunday was Josh's birthday...he is offically 29 and creeping closer and closer to that "point of no return" that we call "30"!! We had a really fun morning with the fam and enjoyed getting to relax and take it easy as well! Josh's family came up and spent the weekend and kept Kate while Josh and I went to dinner on Sat. night! On Sunday we had a good breakfast and relaxing day. Here are some pictures of our celebration:

We started off going out to eat for breakfast at The Original Pancake House in Plano. This was SO GOOD and was perfect for a group that requires 3 high chairs and 2 boosters!

After breakfast we came home and Kate slept for almost 3 hours and Josh got to play his X-Box "Call of Duty" game. This is one of his FAVORITE activites here lately. He didn't just play it, he pushed our loveseat up right in front of the tv, poured a big Dr. Pepper and propped his feet up. It was much more like an event! After Kate woke up, we took her to the park and I made spagetti and bread for dinner.

Kate enjoyed our Spagetti dinner and afterwards got the opportunity to dig into a vanilla cupcake with cream cheese icing (her daddy's favorite!)

That required a GOOD bath to get all of that spagetti sauce and icing out of her hair, but it was worth it to watch her enjoy the celebration! This girl LOVES food!!!

It was a fun day as we love to celebrate our Josh because he is such a WONDERFUL husband and daddy! He takes care of his girls everyday and it was fun to get to celebrate him! Kate got him these flowers and we made him these cupcakes...

What a fun day! Josh is a year "wiser" and the most amazing guy that I know! I am the luckiest girl in the world that I get to grow old with him! I look forward to many more birthdays...beyond our 20's and even 80's...when we have false teeth and a steel rod in our hip. That makes edging up to 30 not see that old afterall!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!!

The Valentines Great Escape...

2008-02-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Josh and I decided to try out a new restaurant in celebrations of Valentines...that's never a good idea! We made a reservation at this "diner looking" place that is near downtown Rockwall. We picked it because it looked casual and cheap...2 good things for us! We thought it was cute that they had run an ad in the Rockwall magazine about "making reservations" so we called ahead and booked a spot! We arrived about 10 minutes early and made our way inside. Needless to say it was VERY FORMAL and we are VERY underdressed! This place looks just average from the outside, but is extremely classy on the inside. They showed us to our table and brought us the menu, which showed each part of the pre-planned 5 course meal. At the bottom it said $40 per plate...that's right...2 Jeffersons...PER PLATE!!! That doesn't even include drink, tip, ect. So just to recap, this place is neither casual or cheap, and we were now trying to decide what excuse we could give the waiter so that we could leave. We finally decided on making something up about Kate and quickly made our way to the nearest exit! We ended up at a little Italian restaurant just down the road (that we have been to in the past), and it ended up being a lot of fun! Our total bill with wine and tip was only $28.00!! So there's a valentines that will go down in history for us!

FUTURE DISHWASHER

2008-02-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Kate loves to help me do the dishes. The only problem is that I load them and she sits on the door and unloads them onto the floor. Sometimes she takes the silverware and places it in the top rack to free up some space for me in the silverware holder. It doesn't matter what she is doing, she stops and comes running into the kitchen whenever she hears the water running and dishes clanking. I hope she's that excited to do dishes later on...that would sure make life easy! She also checks the dishwasher and tries to open it up every time she passes by. She even went over to our dishwasher at church the other day and was pulling on it to open. She really LOVES playing in dishwashers...not sure what that means about her future, but if she grows up to be a dishwasher maybe Josh and I can eat for free. Either way, it's really cute right now!

Getting Older...

2008-02-08T07:51:00.001-08:00

We recently redid our life insurance policies now that we have stuff and we have a kiddo. In 2 weeks we are meeting with an attorney to do our wills in the event that we die young and unexpectantly. All of this planning for an unwanted event makes me feel sort of sad and like a real grown up. I know we have to plan ahead for the sake of Kate, but it's still hard to think about all that would go into making sure she is taken care of. I feel confident that our families would make sure that she never goes without, but I just can't imagine not being the one that does that in her life. All in all I guess this preplanning is just making me feel more grown up than ever and coming to grips with the fact that we just don't know the future. I would hate to leave her with our debts and no nest egg for the future, that would be terrible for her. At least this way we can have a peace that no matter what the Lord has in store, she is going to be fine.

MEME

2008-02-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by my friend AMY to do a MEME...this is where I have to tell 6 random things about myself and then tag someone else. So here we go:

1. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheery diet coke from sonic with easy ice. I go there at least 3 times a week during "happy hour" to purchase one for $0.92...that's cheaper than a bottle coke at my office...and it's SO much better. I recommend trying out this drink, especially if you like Cherry Coke Zero. Very Yummy!

2. I HATE unloading the dish washer. This has become my sweet husband's job for the most part because he knows how much I hate it. I'm not sure why, but I just do. I don't mind washing dishes or loading the thing up, its just unloading.

3. I HAVE to drink 2 cups of coffee every morning or I feel as though I can't function. I have 3 favorite coffee cups that I rotate and hand wash on a regular basis, even though we have an entire cabinet full of clean coffee cups. I make my coffee first thing and either drink it on the way to work, or on the days I am home I drink one while I play with Kate and the second after she goes down for her morning nap. My morning coffee is like an event for me, and I have to have it. While in seminary I studied what makes up an addiction and i concluded that I might be an addict when it comes to this area of my life.

4. I have a pair of houseshoes that I wear every single day of the year, summer, spring, fall, or winter. They are holey and horrible looking, but they are my favorite. My mom gave them to me 3 years ago for Christmas. They are the Brookstone houseshoes that are navy blue...they are pure heaven.

5. I love to read and find myself reading several books at one time on a regular basis. I thinks its because I recommend so many books to others so I am always trying to find good stuff...so if you know of any please let me know!

6. I like to grocery shop and create a menu every two weeks. I enjoy this for 2 main reasons. First, we only have to make one massive Wal-Mart run every 2 weeks, and second, on nights when Josh say's "what do we have to eat for dinner?" I can just go to the list on the fridge and read off what's left on the menu. I can't assign meals to each day because I am too much a rebel and won't eat what's assigned (I guess that's another quirk), so I just list it all and we mark off meals as we go. Super easy and efficient! Also, it helps with our new budget which would make Dave so proud!

Ok...now that we are all feeling a little closer I would like to tag Courtney and Heidi. I'm doing 2 instead of 1, there I go breaking the rules again (there's that rebel side).

Future Millionaire...maybe!?!

2008-02-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

So Josh and I have been attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (online that is). Josh's parents are true believers and have offered on several occasions to "put us through the school of Dave" and we finally decided to take them up on it. I think we put it off because we assumed it would be a total beating and make us feel completely poor and helpless, but it acually has done the opposite. We've realized that we have made a lot of common mistakes but nothing is irreversible in the world of money. So today I am telling you that according to ol' Dave, Josh and I can be MILLIONAIRS by the time we are 70! I know that sounds like it's just in time for us to need knee surgery, false teeth, and hearing aids, but at least we will be able to make a better future for our children and their children. So here's the deal...if you put $100 a month into a 12% return investment, after 40 years you will have $1,176,000.00. That's right OVER a million dollars...isn't that crazy! It just takes DISCIPLINE and CONSISTENCY according to Dave, but I think it just takes setting up an automatic draft. The crazy thing is that most of us have that extra money each month, it's just failing to plan what to do with it. So tomorrow starts today and when we are 70 we will be living "high on the hog" for not much effort on our part! Thanks Dave and if you haven't ever done his stuff I recommend it. We are doing the 14 week FPU class online. It's well worth the $100 and if we all do it, we can all be millionairs together...how fun would that be!

Confession Time...

2008-01-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

I have to confess that sometimes it takes me a minute to figure out which shoe to put on the correct foot for Kate. I have to use clues like "the velcrow goes on the outside" instead of just looking at the shoe and immediately being able to decide. I don't want to be one of those parents that puts my kids shoes on the wrong foot and they walk around with their toes pointing out like a penguin all day! AHHHH...could you imagine?!?

Does anyone else ever have this problem?

Where to Eat?

2008-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

So Josh and my 6 year anniversary is this Saturday and we can't decide where to go eat! We did Restaurant Lola last year and the year before that we did 3 Forks...both of these were AMAZING. Here is how we are going to decide this year. We are following the advise of strangers! Check it out...

http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2008/01/22/dishers-help-this-lost-soul/

Happy Eating!

Wanting to be Her...

2008-01-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

So I am reading 2 books at the same time right now...boy can that be confusing! One is "Wanting to be Her" by Michelle Graham and the other is "Transparent" by Sarah Davis. Both have to do with being real with who you are and who God made you. I love how one of them describes that if Barbie were a real person she would have been between 6-7 feet tall, she would be minus 2 ribs, minus major organs (including her uterus), and the author thinks the gap between her thighs is a sign of a major bone deformity in her hips (and I agree). All in all she goes from being the "perfect rolemodel for girls" (according to her website) to being a freak! We all want to be her at some point in our childhood, and I think that we all fall into the Barbie mentality a lot, even as adults. Its easy to want to be "her" and that means something different for all of us. "Her" can be just an ideal person that we've made up in our minds or someone that we know, like a friend or a family member. The book by Sarah Davis is so refreshing about being honest with who you are and who you want to be, without the pressure to try to be "her". I've always stayed away from those girls who want to give other people "the wants" because I think its great when people are secure in who they are. This book speaks to that mentality...it's very refreshing.

Ok...one final point! In reading all of this I am feeling even more protective of my girly little Kate. I want her to want to be Kate, not "her." I want her to see herself as beautiful as I see her and to feel secure in who the Lord has made her, not others, to be. I don't want her to be like her friends, or even me...I want her to be her. I am going to start praying now for all of this in her life since I can testify that it is a lifelong struggle to find security and not want to be "her." Being a woman is an incredible gift...I wouldn't trade if I could, but it sure does bring it's big bag of insecurities and struggles. I only hope that I can help foster a since of security in her and teach her how to love herself...I know that example starts in me, so maybe I need to pray for me too!

My Girly Girl...

2008-01-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

Just wanted you all to share in my excitement about my very girly little girl. As I mentioned in an earlier post she loves to snag and wear my bracelets...I now just put them in my purse until I get to work to avoid a conflict. Well, today she was playing in her playroom and I went in there and she had 2 of my bracelets on her wrist, and she was holding her baby purse up on her shoulder as she played. I just had to stop and praise the Lord for my sweet girly girl. I love that she is into being girly. No offense to the tomboy's of the world, but I was never one and hoped she would be like me...since I did carry her and give birth to her.

One other fun bit of info...the other day she took and wore my bracelet to school. I got to work and realized I was missing 2 of my 3 bracelets, and when Josh went to pick her up, they were snug around her bicep. She is so sneaky, but so so cute!

An attempt at being domestic...

2008-01-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

Ok...so I'm super inspired right now to make new curtains and pillows for my living room! I have been looking at lots of fun fabric lately and althought I am not an expert sewer, I think this is a project I can take on with my new fancy sewing machine that I got from my inlaws for Christmas! I have in mind what I want it to look like, but I've got to figure out how to piece it all together! There's just some crazy rush that comes from walking around and looking at fabric and dreaming about projects you can make! I totally sound like "Susy Homemaker" with that comment, but I'm serious (who's Susy?)!

The main reason I want to blog about this is so that I actually follow thru with it. I have a tendancy to dream up projects that NEVER get completed! I am the queen of great ideas and that's as far as they ever go...just ideas! Maybe I can set a goal to have this done by the summer...maybe!

Boys...

2008-01-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

So my husband is wonderful, but here lately he is completely obsessed with this X-box game where he is fighting in a war. He wears this head set and talks to other people that are also online playing on his team...so random! One day I was at my sisters house and he was on playing with my brother-in-law and I grabbed the headset just to chat with him for a minute...that part was sort of fun!

Anyways, we were in the park this weekend and a group of middle school aged boys were playing a pretend war game in the park. They were throwing pretend grenades, shooting pretend guns and hiding behind trees and hills. They even made pretend sound effects when the grenades would have exploded… it was sort of funny! My husband just stopped and watched them and I had 2 thoughts. First, boys NEVER outgrow that adventure side. He is still doing this war thing, just in the comfort of our living room and with more sophisticated equipment. Second, I hope we have a boy one day because I could tell by looking at his eyes that he got a since of joy from seeing those boys do what he used to do. Sort of like I do when I think about Kate loving her cabbage patch dolls or wanting to carry a fancy purse full of pointless things just to fill it up. I think that we relate with our same sex children a little bit by remembering how certain toys or events made us feel.

I know that God's plan is the ultimate goal, and he may not have it in the cards for us to have a boy. I just hope we aren't 5 girls into it when we finally decide to surrender the idea of having a boy. Could you imagine all of those weddings?!?

Mommy's Forever Friend

2008-01-10T06:53:00.001-08:00

So my sweet little 14 month old is getting to the point where she wants to hold, drink, eat, touch, and play with EVERYTHING I pick up. I can't have my own anything anymore! I don't mind sharing everything I have with her (afterall, we did share a body for 9 months), but somethings are not baby safe. Things like a hot cup of coffee or a spicy burrito would not be pleasant for her, but you can't explain that to a crying baby who just wants a part of whatever mommy has. I've found myself hiding food, cell phones, remote controls, and more from her just to avoid an episode. I'm not sure if that makes me a bad mom, but either way it works! The "want game" can get a little tiring, but it became precious when I realized that one day I will not have anybody around who is begging to share my ice tea or bowl of cereal. One day nobody will care about playing with my cell phone or want to snag my bracelets and roll them up to her bicep. She is such a sweet little friend and I know that in her eyes all of mommy's "toys" seem extra cool. I really don't think I have anybody else in my life who looks at me the way she does and I shouldn't take that for granted. She is my sweet little doll and I know that everything about her, right down to her little attitude, is a blessing from the Lord.

Marriage 101

2008-01-03T19:25:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned in the "About Me" section I do a lot of marriage counseling through my job. This was a newer area for me but I really enjoy it and feel like the Lord has given me lots of insights into how to help people begin to clean up their marriages and find a new identity in Christ. I wanted to share a 3 main areas that God has shown me are very important in maintaining a good marriage:

#1. We have to be built on the solid rock of Christ. In Matthew we are given the parable about the wise man who built his house on the rock and when the storms came his house did not fall. God says "when" the storms come, not "if." We will have struggles in our marriages so don't feel alone if you do...everyone does or will at some point. We just have be rooted in the solid rock of God and we do that by being in his Word and in prayer as a family. I love "Night Light" by James Dobson...we both think some of the devotionals in there are a little corney, but the conversation it evokes is wonderful. Being in church together and doing a couples devotional is very good for a marriage.

#2. Communication. This means being able to talk openly and honestly without feeling like the things you say will be thrown back at you. Being able to put Kate to bed, turn off the tv, sit on the couch together and talk...it's such a wonderful time. It's good to talk about everything from how you are feeling to how your day was...just talk. Another part of communication is conflict resolution...being able to talk about issues without having to argue or hurt feelings. This one is more difficult, but good to try.

#3 Love Buttons. I think that we all have ways that we feel loved (some of you have read the love language book). I have made Josh and I come up with 5 "love buttons" for eachother so that we are intentional about pushing those buttons on a regular basis (I know...poor Josh has to put up with being married to the therapist.) Love buttons are things that make us feel really loved or appreciated. One person I knew felt loved when their wife matched all of their socks before putting them up. Josh really likes when the house is clean and I get one of my love buttons pushed when Josh lays on my side of the bed while I am getting ready for bed so that it's all warm when I get in...he's so sweet! We all have several of those little things that make us feel loved! Its good to know what your mate's love buttons are, and to push them as much as possible!

So these are just a few things that I feel are important in a marriage. I remember when we were in pre-marital counseling and the minister said "marriage is hard work" and I thought to myself "maybe yours, but not mine!" He was right...it is work if we want it to be good! Even if you marry your best friend, you still have to work to keep the relationship nurished and healthy. So here's to happy marriages!!!

New Years Resolution

2008-01-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

For my resolution for 2008 I am planning to be more intentional about small details. I have been in a whirlwind over the past year with trying to learn how to take care of Kate and the move. I feel like the dust if finally settling and I am inspired to do life a little differently. I want to take time to wrap presents for people I love, instead of just throwing it in a bag from my gift closet. I want to keep up a trendy haircut and buy makeup from somewhere besides Wal-Mart. I want to put laundry up right out of the dryer instead of piling it up on the guest bed. I want to keep my car cleaner and pick up all of the toys and food on a regular basis. I want Josh and I to go on a regular date night and be more intentional about getting out without Kate. I want to do better in my quiet time with the Lord...more prayer time and more time in the Word.

All in all, our lives were totally changed when we had Kate and I have really been neglecting myself and just doing things to get by. I want to do more than just get by and make life a little extra special. I'm not sure what all it means to make life "extra special" but I have a few ideas. I guess I just want my friends, family, Josh, Kate, and myself to be treated with more than just a "get by" attitude. I know there will be days that I just need to get by, but I'm hoping for the most part I can approach life with a new vision!

I'm a blogger (maybe)...

2008-01-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

So for 2008 I am going to try this whole blogging thing. It sort of reminds me of when email started getting big my freshman year in college (1998). I wasn't sure if I was for me, but now I can't imagine life without it! It seems like a great way to keep a journal, set goals, and get feedback from good friends. I can't make any promises on how it will go, but I'm willing to give it a shot!! Here we go!!