Finally Ready

Darrell and I were woken up this morning by our sweet little girl who came into our room and proudly announced, "Daddy I'm ready".

For what you ask?

Well the last 3 or 4 days the conversation in our home has consisted of a mixture of Lianna complaining about her loose tooth bothering her, and Darrell teasing her about pulling it out. However, we promised that we wouldn't do it until she was ready.

So with a proud smile, she climbed into our bed, tissue paper in hand, and waited for Daddy to begin. He reached for some floss and quickly realized it would be difficult to maneuver it around the base of Lianna's tiny tooth. I (the ever resourceful mommy) start digging in my sewing kit for some thread. I suddenly hear Lianna exclaim, "oh!" I turn around and sure enough Darrell has a tooth wrapped in tissue paper in his hand and Lianna proudly displays the new window in her smile.

Of course, I took pictures!

Expanding Horizons

Even at 31 years old I am still learning new things everyday. Yesterday I had a profound food breakthrough. But before I explain you need some previous history.

See D and I have been trying to eat lighter, healthier, low calorie meals. So we've been trying new recipes and have recently realized that fish purchased in the freezer section at the grocery is not half bad and much more affordable than the market. So a few months ago we tried fiery fish tacos. So Yummy! Except for the key ingredient that I was unable to find. I replaced it with cabbage (I had extra and was trying to use it up), yuck big mistake.

I kept wondering what jicama (was pronouncing it jikahmuh) was and weeks later found myself in Arlington at On The Border. Low and behold there was a salad with salsa that included raw jicama. I ordered it and loved it. I had heard it was much like a cross between an apple and a water chestnut and sure enough... crunch and mildly sweet. Yum!

Fast forward to last weekend when D and I are planning our weekly menu. His parents are coming into town for the long weekend coming up and we wanted to plan some fun things to eat. Fish tacos! That's different. BUT what about the jicama? D is unable to locate it at our nearest Kroger so yesterday I took all three kids to the only other Kroger in town and sure enough right next to the ginger root is a selection of jicamas. Score! I am somewhat surprised by the roundness of this food but trust that it is labeled correctly, purchase my other items and head home. I do of course call Darrell and my MIL to celebrate my find.

Once home I realize I have no idea how to prepare this thing. So I turn to the laptop computer and google it. No less than 47,000 hits. Really? Lots of people know about this thing? Sure enough I locate a video. Perfect! I'm a visual learner. A chef with a strong accent walks me through the process and now I'm set. Saturday we're having fiery fish tacos with jicama. Oh and according to the chef lady I've been pronouncing it wrong all along. It sounds more like 'heekumah'. Oh well.

Easter - long overdue

Okay, so Easter was like three weeks ago or something and I'm just now updating my blog with pictures. I'm sorry it's been so neglected. No excuses.

We spent the long weekend in Mississippi with D's Grandmother and Aunts and Uncle. It was lots of fun. The kids L-O-V-E riding the four-wheelers!

Enjoy!

Little Ballerinas

For those who don't know, Lianna started taking ballet with Gobel's School of Dance in January. For those who know we are on baby step 2 please have no fear... it was important to Lianna's Gram that she got involved in different sports, activities and such when she was old enough. :) Please feel free to hold us accountable though. Anyway, I thought some of you might enjoy seeing our little ballerina practice her dance for the recital they'll be performing in May.

Lianna was actually commenting to me before this class, that she didn't want to go because they were learning a dance and it was hard. :) I explained that if she kept going it was get easier and easier and soon it would be SO easy! She agreed to go, and after class said it was easier. I love having such an agreeable child. God has spoiled me rotten. I know, but then again, I AM his favorite. :D

I believe the teacher called this a jete'

Attitude maybe? Ah! Can't remember them all.

First position
And again the jete'

Mommy.... mommy.... mommy

I'm sure we all went through this stage, I vaguely remember Lianna doing this for a while, but now Brooks has started into it as well. Ugh! My dad used to say, Allison, you sound like a broken record. Well, my kids don't even know what a record is, but seriously... they sound just like one! The other day in the car went like this:

Brooks: Mommy...

Me: Brooks?

Brooks: Mommy...

Me: Yes sir?

Brooks: Mommy...

Me: I'm listening

Brooks: Mommy...

Me: Is there something you want to tell me Brooks?

Brooks: Mommy...

[pause] (by now I'd just given up)

Brooks: Mommy...

[pause]

Brooks: Mommy...

Canaan likes to play the game too.

One day we'll carry on real conversations with our kids right? At first I think, yeah, that'll be great, but then I remember it'll be conversations about why she can't wear the bikini to the pool party or why he can't smoke stogies until he's 18 or have a motorcycle.

Edited to add images of the kids from the same night this was written. We went out to play just as it was getting dark. It was last minute, so some were dressed more appropriately than other. :)

Notice his fancy belt he borrowed from Lianna, and his socks, but no shoes. Those socks were filthy by the time we came inside.

And My Favorite! He wanted to ride his sisters bike, I told him if he put on some shoes the pedals wouldn't hurt his feet. So... he brought me his boots. No socks or pants! Ha! Like any other momma, I put them on for him, then ran to get the camera.

So Blessed!

D and I decided the bunk beds my brothers grew up on just wouldn't work for our boys. It was not a set that we could separate out into twins, and even though Canaan was ready for a big boy bed, Brooks was not ready to be on a top bunk. Our wonderful friends blessed us today with these hand-me-down beds and chest of drawers that match the room perfectly. Check it out!


Notice the step stool for Canaan to climb into his big boy bed. And yes, he fell out of it after laying down for maybe 10 min. As I type, D is in the garage piecing together a guard rail.


Pay no attention to the two big kids hiding under the bed. I told them to get out of the picture... this was their solution.

Bummer

So Lianna didn't get into the Charter school. I really thought, given her personality, and her abilities so far, that she'd do very well there. Alas, God apparently has other plans. Sooo.... unless someone wants to fork over $250 a month for her to attend private school here, she'll be attending the public elementary we are zoned for. D and I were both raised in the public school system. I'm not really knocking our education, but I was hoping to protect my daughter from some of the things we struggled with. I guess, I just want to keep her safe in a little bubble for as long as possible. Is that bad? Is she really ready to face the world, the pressures of fitting in, and the realization that not everyone loves Jesus, at 5 years old?

Uneventful Saturday *Update*

According to my sweet Mother In Law, this sort of activity runs in D's family as well. Apparently when he was young, he once pushed the emergency exit door open while shopping with his mother at a department store. Hehe! Oh the joy that must have brought!


Given my new goal of not posting without a picture, I dug up an image of my MIL and Brooks when he was a newborn at the hospital. I was trying to find a picture of Darrell as a boy, but no luck this time.

An Uneventful Saturday... until...

D was starting to get a little stir crazy, as he often does on Saturday afternoons when we have nothing planned. As I am transitioning Thornton Photography from online ordering to in-person ordering, I've been ordering sample images and told D I needed a large art portfolio bag to carry them in. So off to Hobby Lobby we went. All of us.

On our way there, we drove past our old brown truck. (yes, the one we've been trying to sell for FOREVER). It's now parked in front of Excel Car wash where many drivers by can see it. As we pass it, Lianna pipes up, "Look, there's our truck. It's for sale, but nobody wants it." Ha! She really is a bright girl.

We pull into Hobby Lobby and unload all three kiddos with no problem. As we enter the 'foyer' area Canaan of course hollers "Ah!" a couple of times so he can hear the echo. I grab him as we go through the second set of doors and make a bee line for the shopping carts. Our kids stay as confined as possible in Hobby Lobby. There are just too many breakable objects within reach. Well, as I'm lifting Canaan into the cart I hear Darrell in a panicked voice, "No Brooks! Don't touch that!" Then... Flashing lights and loud noises and of course, tears.

That's right, Brooks had pulled the fire alarm. My little 3 year old, who hates loud noises will never again go near one of the red pull boxes. The manager, thankfully was able to call off the fire department before the trucks arrived. The alarm continued to sound for a good 10 minutes before he was able to enter the correct code to shut it off. My sweet son, apologized most sincerely, and though the manager could have been a bit more forgiving, we'll cut him some slack. I'm pretty sure half the store patrons left within those 10 minutes the alarm was going off. :/

I didn't think it'd be appropriate for me to pull out my camera and photograph the experience, nor was that even in the back of my mind, but I will share a recent image of my baby, who barely escaped a police record. Thank goodness he pulled it at Hobby Lobby and not his Jr. High like his uncle AJ did. :P

Anyone want to share my gum?

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

We didn't do the 'trick or treat' thing this year. Last year Lianna helped pass out candy to the other children, before she went out herself, and there were many very scary costumes. Some so scary, that she didn't want to answer the door anymore.

This year we played it safe and attended our church "Harvest Fest". There was a bounce house, hay ride, cake walk, bean bag toss and more. The kids had lots of fun, and collected a cookie jar full of candy. They're set for the next few months now. Here's a picture of our babies just before the fun got started.

Wet Noodles

My sweet sister in law recently broke out the wet noodles. The whippin' didn't really hurt (wet noodles hardly can) but the message was clear. More pictures of my niece and nephews. :) Well Carrie these are for you (and Nanna, Gram, Nene, Gina, Janie, GGrandmaT, GGrandmaS, and anyone else who loves my children).

We were outside playing today after naps. Please disregard the no pants no shoes look. We were in the backyard out of the view of the general public.

If you ever have trouble getting natural smiles out of a young child, here's my strategy. Start asking them to make silly faces. Growl, Frown, Cry, Scared etc and pretty soon they're cracking up at them selves and making real smiles instead of forced ones. Here's a snap of Lianna's scary face.

Here Brooks is after stealing Canaan's special blanket. See that mischievous playful grin? Does that look familiar to anyone?

Survival of the locationist?

So hurricane Ike was no dud like Gustav. He hit hard, and the strength of his winds were felt all the way up here and into north Texas. Thankfully he didn't bring too much rain, but many homes have been damaged from trees being blown over onto houses, car ports, power lines, even cows. That's right... D was telling me a cow on his lease needed to be put down after having a tree fall on it.

D and I fared very well. We had no damage to our home or vehicles, and the debris strewn about our yard was nothing 3-4 rakers and a couple hours couldn't handle. We lost power again, but only for... drum roll please... 18 hours! We spent one night without AC and lost none of our food. Our neighbors across the street (and I mean literally) didn't fair so well. They suffered no damage to property, but were without power for 7 days.

Darrell and I did our best to share the electric wealth. My friend from the other side of the street came over to blow dry her hair, another friend came to use the hot water in our shower, we became a store house for 2+ families' of food, and we had anywhere from 1-3 extra families over for dinner for several nights. It was actually fun to cook with friends and visit with neighbors. I was glad to have some quiet nights when all was over, but really enjoyed the fellowship as well.

The good thing that came out of all of this for me was that I realized I'd been relying on the TV way too much. Since the hurricane my children have been sitting in front of the box much less, and have been outside or playing with toys more often. I never was big on allowing them a lot of TV time, but had started relying on Sesame Street to occupy everyone while I tried to dress myself, and the boys.

On a different note: Brooks has bounced back from his surgery completely. He actually GAINED 5 pounds in the first two weeks afterward, and is trying desperately to eat us out of house and home. Doesn't he know we're on a budget?! Oh, I probably neglected to mention that as well, D and I have now been 'Gazelle Intense' for 1 month! Thanks Dave Ramsey!

Hurricane a Commin'!

We really got away well when Gustav came through. He watered our grass pretty well and cooled things off for a bit. Two days before we, and the rest of our small town, stocked up on water, batteries, and propane. We didn't end up needing any of it. Our lights never even flickered. Now our neighbors across the street lost their power for a few hours, but we were good to go.

Now Hurricane Ike is bearing down on the gulf coast of Texas and all of SE Houston has been evacuated. Schools and businesses are all closed from the coast all the way up to I20 apparently. Lianna doesn't have school in the morning, and all the public schools are closed as well. Many of the evacuees have headed this way and are taking shelter in churches and schools in town.

D said he should be home tomorrow after lunch. Wow! Thanks for the 1/2 day off work Ike! :D

However, there seems to be a bit more panic this time around too. There was a line at the gas stations today around lunch time... it was 6+ cars long by 6:00 this evening. Glad I filled up this morning before things got so hairy.

I wasn't as fortunate with the grocery shopping though. We always do our shopping on Thursdays. I have been going in the mornings while Lianna is at school, but today I was caring for my friend's 8 week old daughter and decided to wait to shop this afternoon. BIG mistake! The whole town was at Kroger this evening. I drove by at 5:00 and the parking lot was FULL. Um, did all 30,000 people decide to go grocery shopping at the same time? I dropped of the kids, and went by myself to get groceries at 6:15. I was in awe as I grabbed one of only two carts left and looked up to notice the line of people waiting to check out. WOW! The line was literally 25+ people long and all lanes were open. I put my cart back, turned around and walked out. I still have not groceries, but am going to go back late tonight, or early in the morning.
What disturbs me is that I may have to go to Walmart simply because they're more likely to be better stocked after experiencing a 'run on the store'.

Glad I found a sitter for the morning... looks like I'll have one more stop to make. Ugh!

Flying Colors

Well Brooks came out of surgery wonderfully. We arrived at the hospital right at 6:15 a.m. Lianna and Canaan spent the night across the street with their friends. Justin and Heather... Thank you so much for making this way easier on D and I. We are so blessed to have you two for neighbors.
After checking in at the nurses station, Brooks was weighed and measured, then we were shown to a patient room. Here we changed him into his hospital gown (he really didn't want to, but with a little coaxing we got it on). Not long after that a nurse checked his blood pressure and temperature, brought us a little bag of 'goodies' for him to play with, and then we waited. I guess at about 7:00 a nurse came in, gave Brooks a sedative and showed us to the OR holding area.
This is where my stress level and anxiety spiked. I actually had to excuse myself to the ladies room. Brooks was a champ though. We waited there for about an hour. The sedative made him kinda loopy. His eyes were very droopy and he was off balance. A sweet nurse came in and gave him the mouth piece for the anesthesia. It smelled like bubblegum and she explained to Brooks that they'd use it to blow up a balloon. Somehow he got that mixed up and kept talking about blowing bubbles with it. :)
I'm so thankful God brought many familiar faces by that morning. A friend and neighbor from church is a nurse anethesist and happened by while we were in holding. Our next door neighbor's son is a nurse as well, and he actually was the one to carry Brooks off to the OR. The president of the hospital came by as well. His daughter recently graduated high school and was in my bible study for 6 years. We also saw some sweet friends that apparently came by the hospital just to check on us. She was so thoughtful to offer to bring us dinner that night(and it was delicious!)
We waited in the OR waiting for about 30 minutes before the doctor came to give us a report. Everything went smoothly and Brooks was a champ. He said his adenoids were actually growing into his nasal cavity because they were so large. We waited maybe 20 minutes more before a nurse called and said Brooks was calling for me. Imagine me now, bolt out of my chair, leaving purse and bag behind and walk, Speedy Gonzales like, down the hall. I was so glad the nurse chose a quick pace as well (cause I didn't know where I was going).
When I walked in Brooks was crying and coughing and gaging and trying to crawl out of the hospital bed. I scooped him up in my arms, grabbed his blankey from the edge of his bed and sat in the chair a nurse brought for me. I spent the next ten minutes rocking and singing lullabies. Praise God he was consolable. He would cry and pull at his IV at times, but then he'd settle down into my chest and suck his thumb. When he 10 minutes were up, I carried him out of the Recovery Room where I met Darrell (carrying purse and bag... way to go D!) and we went back to the original Patient Room. There, I laid in bed with Brooks, we gave him a sippy cup of water/juice and he downed 1/2 of it in no time. The nurse then said she'd be right back to take out the IV. We hung out there for an hour, watching TV and calling friends and family while Brooks dozed off an on. Then we took our baby home.
He's been eating well and is staying hydrated. After these first two days, the pain should improve and I wont need to wake up at 1:30 a.m. to give him pain meds any more. Please pray he will continue to eat and drink and that I will be creative in finding yummy soft foods he can eat, and that I will be able to find quiet, easy fun things to do to keep him busy during the day. They don't want him running and jumping or over exerting himself for 2 weeks! Yikes! Don't they know what 2 year old kids are like?

You think we should... what?

My middle child, for as long as I can remember, has always gotten sick so much more easily than his sister and brother and always had really high temps when he was sick. I remember one year, he wasn't even a year old yet, and he started running 105 while we were in Houston visiting family. We took him to an emergency clinic and they couldn't find anything wrong. Ears and throat looked perfectly normal. In the last couple of months Brooks has been to the doctor at least once a month for 'something'. Most recently it was for another fever above 103.5 and some random low grade (101/102) temps off an on for 2-3 weeks. Does that make sense? I mean, he'd run a temp one day, and then be fine, and have a fever again 4 days later. This went on for about 2-3 weeks. His pediatrician noted his large tonsils, and swollen glands and mentioned that she'd made note of similar things happening earlier in the year. But still ears were fine, and no strep in his throat. Another unexplained high temp. Ugh

Well finally, we decided it was time to see an ENT. Don't you love it when nurses and doctors use adjectives? As parents we only ever see our own kids, so we don't have anything really to compare things against. So when we first walked into the nurses office/exam area and she noted that Brooks's tonsils were 'practically kissing back there' I thought... ooooh... that isn't good. We didn't have to wait long for the doctor to come in and give Brooks a once over. While discussing symptoms and asking questions the doctor described Brooks's adenoids using the word 'monstrous'. By this time, it was not a surprise to me that he thought we should have them taken out.

Brooks is 2.5 years old, but he is scheduled for his first surgery on Wednesday, September 3rd at 7:30 a.m. I'm sure if you're a mother, I don't have to tell you how incredibly nervous I am. This perfectly qualified anesthesiologist is going to put Brooks under, they will give him an IV, and then our new ENT is going to go down my son's throat and cut out pieces of his body. Then when he wakes up, I've been told to be prepared for some freaking out, screaming, and a child that cant be consoled. My guess is screaming and crying after throat surgery isn't a good thing, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for all of this ahead of time.

What scares me the most, is putting myself into his shoes. How do you explain to a 2.5 year old that this doctor is going to take you away into a strange room and give you some silly air to breathe, then cut things out while you're asleep, and I'll be right by his side when you wake up. He's never been to this hospital... he's only seen this doctor and his nurse once, and I'm just not sure what I can do to make anything go more smoothly.

In the end, I know he'll be better for it. If I wasn't certain of that, we wouldn't have scheduled the surgery. He'll be healthier, eat better, probably fill out more, and have more energy after all this is over. Mommy just has to make it through Wednesday morning.

Last Firsts

We've been experiencing a lot of these with Canaan. Because he is our last child, I've been trying to make a point to really enjoy all of his accomplishments. When he first smiled, I realized that was the last "first smile" we'd ever have. The same when he first sat up, or rolled over (but not in that order). Well Wednesday was a very special day. We experienced our last set of first steps. Canaan finally found the confidence he needed to take his first steps. Any other time we'd tried to encourage this landmark ability, he'd just sit his little bottom down.

Darrell had the grand idea to stand Canaan up about 2-3 feet away, but facing the couch. When he let go of Canaan, instead of sitting, our little boy took 2-3 steps and reached the couch! It was a monumental moment with lots of cheering. We did it several times so Lianna and Brooks could experience it with us. We're all excited, but no one as much as Lianna. She knew we were waiting for Canaan to start walking before we take our family camping trip. It has therefore been scheduled for mid-October, and she cant wait. :D

Will add pictures or video as soon as I can capture this new skill on tape/CF card/or whatever.

Salt and Pepper

Is your marriage FireProof? D and I has an awesome privilege with a handful of Grace Bible Church ministry leaders to view a special pre-screening of the movie FireProof. It stars Kirk Cameron... remember him?... and was created by this mega church in Georgia and thousands of volunteers. Did you see Facing the Giants? Same church.

FireProof is going to be an awesome outreach tool, and an awesome way to open the door to conversations with friends and neighbors about Christ and his design for marriage. I'm so stoked about this... it's a great movie, the acting, well... there's been better, but it's great given ALL the cast were volunteers. All time favorite quote from the movie goes something like this... Being fireproof doesn't mean you'll never experience a fire, but that you'll be prepared for it when it comes.

This movie really does a great job on touching on real problems people experience, real sins people have to work through and real variety of advice you get from friends, both good and bad. It's a fight, but it is SO worth fighting! And this movie is SO worth seeing! It opens in theatres on September 26th.

What does this movie have to do with salt and pepper? You'll have to watch it to see. :D

Duplicate

I posted these on my business blog because, technically it was a 'shoot'. However, the client never paid, and the little girl photographed is mine. (wait, can I be my own client?) :) I took Lianna out Saturday morning because I wanted to remember her at 4 years old. I think I'm going to try to do this with all my kids. For every birthday we'll go somewhere fun and funky and try something new or just be together and take pictures. Just me and her/him. Well I dressed Lianna in a fun sassy outfit, and we went to the SFA parking garage! Ha! Like I said... something different. :D

My apologies to those who frequent my photog blog as well... these will be a repeat for you.

Now back to watching the olympics! I'm SO addicted.

New Additions

I'm so thrilled to announce that today, my brother and sister-in-law are in the hospital. :D Seems like an odd thing to say, but they're due to have their first child, a girl, within a few hours. This will be my very first neice (I have no nephews either) so I'm excited to be an aunt, and excited that Lianna, Brooks, and Canaan will have a cousin! They do however live in California, so we wont be seeing them much this year, but, there has been much talk of a move to Texas within the next year. Congratulations AJ and Stephanie, and welcome Audrey Marcella!

Open Mouth Insert Foot

For once, I'm not the one with the foot hanging out, but have been the recipient of a mouth+foot moment. Tonight D and I dressed up a little and went to church for the SOS Banquet. We enjoyed a crazy weekend where 8+ young men camped out on our living room floor for two nights. Lianna L-O-V-E-D it! I think she felt like the miraculously adopted 8+ big brothers. :D

Anyway, they closed the weekend with a banquet. D put on a nice button up collared shirt and I donned my most favorite baby doll dress. I call it that because it's very fitted around the chest, with lots of roushing (ok, have no idea how to spell that word but that's not the point) but it gives me a lovely full chested look. ;) The skirt poofs a little and hits me just below the knee, to hide a bit of a post baby pooch I'm still carrying.

An acquaintance approaches me (I really don't even know her name) at a table where I'm trying to keep my children occupied while we wait for dinner to be served and congratulates me. Um... thanks? She asks, is there something I should be congratulating you for? I say, um... no. Don't think so. Her response? Well... congratulations on looking so cute in that pretty dress. OMG! That conversation didn't just happen did it? I'm so mortified!

Wait... it gets worse.

Thirty minutes later, I'm waiting in line to get food for the children and a better acquaintance. One whose name I DO know, greets me in line and asks how I've been feeling. Confused, I say I've been great. Then she reaches out... oh yeah... you know where this is going... and pats my stomach and says she didn't know I was expecting. AAAAaaaaahhhh! I'm Not!

The rest of the evening is a depressing blur of replaying events over and over in my head, and snapping at my children for most anything. Ugh! I don't think I can ever wear my favorite dress again.

For a visual: I SO do NOT look pregnant!