4 Years

Brian and I have been married for four years today. He jokingly mentioned this the other day and said that I am the longest relationship that he has ever had...Congrats to me ; )

All joking aside. I am so happy to be married to such a wonderful man. He understands me better than anyone else. He is a better dad than I could have imagined. He is so hardworking, kind, funny and brave. I love him so much and I cannot wait to grow old together.

Here are some things that we have done in the last four years:

-Brian became a paramedic

-I graduated from OSU

-We got married

-Went to Breckenridge, Telluride, Galveston, Branson, Eureka Springs, Mount Magazine, New -Orleans and Dallas

-I traveled to Chicago and Tennessee/Georgia for work

-Bought a house

-Had a beautiful baby boy named Lucas

-I quit my job to stay home

-Moved, moved, moved

-Met new friends

-Brian became a Coweta Fire Fighter and is now a Driver

-Had another beautiful boy named Samuel

-Went on picnics

-Brian started a small business

-Brian became an instructor at Oklahoma State Fire School

-We (along with the Dentons) started a Bible Study for young families at our church

-We were sad to see Brian's family move

-Got a jeep

-Learned to decorate cakes

-Went to the beach

-Welcomed some new family members (beautiful nieces and an awesome brother-in-law)

-Went camping and fishing

-I joined a book club

-Brian joined the Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society

-Had our first crawfish boil

We have created some great memories from the last four years and we have some lofty goals for the next four years. May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us in all that we do as a married couple.

Happy Anniversary

Faulty Fuse

Most of you know that I hate my car. Why? Well, it looks like a wonderful car from the outside. In fact, the inside is pretty nice too if someone would just vacuum those darn cheerios. So, here is our car history...

After we found out that we were pregnant with Lucas we decided it was time to get rid of my cute two-door Ford (a rear-facing car seat would have been hard to fit in there.) Brian was using his truck for roofing so trading cars was not really an option. So, we bought the vehicle that I learned to drive in. That's right, a 1990-something GMC safari van. I have many memories from high school in that van. After about 6 months of toting Lucas around in the van and a few large repairs later we decided to look for something with a little better gas mileage that was a little newer. So, we sold the blue car, the van, and a third vehicle that we had acquired as payment for some handyman work and we bought our 2004 Chrysler Pacifica. We felt secure in our purchase and safe that it was going to get us far. It was going to get us to at least three kids before we had to upgrade.

I will spare you the nasty details about how much money we have poured into our "nice" car to keep it running and how much more money is on the waiting list of things to get fixed. But yesturday topped the cake of car troubles.

First, I want to say that I am so greatful to have a car that runs, and one that has air conditioning. We are blessed to be able to have a car at all. Second, I want to say "Thank you Lord" for not letting my children have to experience what happened yesterday.

I went to an automatic car wash to give my car a good wash. I drove up, paid, rolled the window back up and drove in. Soap cycle...rinse cycle..."Whats that noise?"...another rinse cycle..."AHHHHHH!"

My rear passenger window was down and would not go up! Water was everywhere! Let me tell you. An automatic car wash is a powerful thing. It looked like a waterfall was being dumped into my car. I pulled out fast and tried to get my window to go up. I guess that there is some sort of faulty fuse. It was going up and down all by itself.

I am just so grateful that Lucas was not sitting in that seat. It would have scarred him for life.

What an awesome day!!!

Today was a great day. Every morning I wake up and think that this day will be different. I think "I will not talk on the phone or be on the computer all day. I will not get irritated easily. I will be patient. I will remember what is important." But, usually it only takes a few minutes before I have messed up my positive attitude or I have gotten too caught up in chores. Today was not like that. There were no distractions today. There is a large load of laundry waiting but I just had a quiet day with my kiddos. The boys slept at different times all day. So, I had alone time with each of them. It was so nice.

Here are some of the little things that I enjoyed about today.

Shark pajamas from Aunt Paulette. They are "Jaw some!"

Samuel learning how to turn on the light from his crib. Is this a hazard? This is the look he gave me when I found him flipping the switch this morning. He is say "What? What did I do?"

Houses made of boxes.

Cute overalls on a cute boy.

And my new favorite thing...homemade popsicles!

Lucas and I made these last night. They are so simple and good for you too. All I did was puree fruit with a little bit of honey, layered the different fruits in a cup with some greek yogurt and froze them. Mmmmm. We can't keep our hands off of them.

Samuel was like a little hungry birdy when I took one out this afternoon. He sat there with his mouth open trying to get more and making a lot of noise until he did. I couldn't get it to him fast enough. It was so funny. And, I'm getting Lucas to eat more fruit than I ever have. We used canteloupe, mango, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and bananas. Next time I want to get some pineapple too.

26 Years

I celebrated my 26th birthday last weekend. It was wonderful. Saturday Brian's parents came. We got to spend some quality time together with and without the kids (thanks to Lindsey and Melissa.) Sunday was a great day with my parents and sisters. We had a great lunch and some girl time at the mall. Thank you all so much for making it a special birthday. Things have been so crazy lately. It was so nice to "get away" from it all.

This was the first thing that I saw when I woke up on my birthday. It was a great way to start the day. A slobbery, stinky, hungry baby at 6am is a blessing (even if you forget that at the time.)

Daddy and Samuel taking their time to wake up.

Our pet pony.

Lucas and Samuel sitting like big boys while Mamaw and Pawpaw were visiting.

Opening up my gifts. That cute fabric is my awesome apron. I'm a little tired of finding grease stains on my clothes. Now that I am trying to discontinue my sweat wearing days, grease stains are a little more traumatic.

Watch Out!

Are you ready for this? Watch this mom...
I'm a big boy! I can stand by myself!! Not for long, but I am getting more brave every day. Watch out. I'm going to be walking before you know it.

Samuel is 9 months!

Samuel is 9 Months old today! Where has time gone?

At nine months old he:

-has been weened from nursing (more sad for me than him.)

-is eating some finger foods (he loves loves loves puffs)

-is cruising around on furniture

-throwing his blankie and passie out of the crib and waits for us to retrieve them

-has two teeth on bottom, two on top, and is working on a third on top

-follows Lucas around and wants to do everything that Lucas does

-says Dadda (he is the strong silent type except for the high pitch screeching when he is happy)

-learned to climb the stairs at Grandma's house

-claps for everything

-had his first jeep ride

Happy 9 Month Birthday Samuel! We love you so much!

Lucas is Listening

Lucas has such an easy going attitude all of the time. Sometimes he reacts so little to what is happening that I wonder if he is paying attention at all. But, he always ends up letting me know somehow that he is listening and taking it all in. For example: Lucas has been telling Samuel to "Stop that fussing." He also says "no whining!"

A new thing he has been doing lately is saying "wait!" He always wants to be first. So, if we are heading out of the door he runs to get in front of me so that he can open it. He will run and yell "wait!" until he has accomplished his goal.

Yesterday we had to go wake him up at 8:15 for church and Brian said. "You slept for 12 hours Lucas!" Lucas' reply was "I think so."

He has also been saying phrases such as "Awesome, I'm so proud of you, cool, and Oh man!"

Last night he was Rapunzel from Tangled. He had his hooded bath towel over his head and was running around with his long hair. Last night we had to sing to Rapunzel. But, sometimes we sing to Doggie, Kitty Cat, Suzie, Max, Lion, Bear, or Simba. I love to see his imagination flourish.