Oh Blessed Christmas Morn

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register.
 
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
  “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

What a gift that was given to us!  I only pray that my heart can truly come to understand the depth of His great love for us.  I pray that you and your family take extra time out today to reflect on the beauty of this day.

Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
            Amen and Amen.  (Psalms 72:18-19)

6 Years & Counting!!

Happy Anniversary Tim!

You are the cheese to my macaroni. 
You are the horizon to my sky. 
You are the bacon to my eggs. 
You are the laces to my sneakers. 
You are the jelly to my peanut butter. 
You are the smile to my face. 
You are the gravy to my mashed potatoes.
You are the bubbles to my bath.
You are the milk to my cookie.
You are the ink to my pen.
You are the ketchup to my french fries.
You are the water to my ocean.
You are the icing on my cupcake.

Seriously though!  You are an amazing man!  I'm SO thankful I have you as my husband!  I can't wait till you get back and I look forward to the many more years we get to spend growing together!  I truly feel blessed to have your love!

Would you like a cookie with those sprinkles?

 Yeah...there are cookies under that red mountain of sprinkles.  See...I thought it would be safe to give Colin the sprinkles with the little holes on the lid opposed to the one without.

I was SOOOOO wrong!

Have You Ever Seen Anything Cuter???

Just look how handsome he is....

Man..he's so stinkin' cute!  Makes me want to eat him up!

Whit's End

Last weekend my mom and I took the boys to Focus on the Family.  We didn't do a tour or anything.  We just went to Whit's End where there is a small indoor play place and an indoor three/four story slide.  I have been a few times before but this was a first for the boys.  The day we went they had a Civil War display and a Santa available to take pictures with.  Ryan didn't care to see Santa and Colin was a little shy, so this is what we got....

After that we headed downstairs.  Ryan and Colin really liked the airplane they had down there.  We walked around for a bit before the slide opened up.  They had costumes, puppets, models, etc that make Whit's End come to life.  Of course, my boys are a little young for Odyssey Adventures, so they didn't fully understand the fun in it.  They also had a room where you could walk through the wardrobe into Narnia. 

After a bit I took Ryan up to try the big slide while Grandma watched Colin on the little slide.  I wasn't sure if Ryan was going to be timid about it or not.  I was pleased when he went down without any issues.  It probably helped to see all the other boys in front of him doing it too.  They have you put your feet in a potato sack and if your are wearing a short sleeve shirt they give you cut up socks to slide on so you won't get any burns from the slide. 

Later the boys got a special treat in Whit's Soda Shop.  Grandma got them chocolate ice cream and a cookie.  At 10 AM!!!!  My mom said this is one of the differences between being a mom and a grandma.  She said she NEVER would have given us kids ice cream and cookies at 10 in the morning. 

It was nice to get the boys out for a bit and it wasn't horribly crowded either.

Chocolate Thief!

Three days ago I found a small secret stash of chocolate in the kitchen at my parents house.  (Yeah for hidden chocolate!!!) 

Two days ago I gave Colin a piece of chocolate from this secret stash.

Yesterday, Colin decided to help himself to the secret stash of chocolate while I was getting dressed.

I had heard him go upstairs while I was getting dressed and I heard a cabinet close.  I knew exactly what he was doing.  By the time I got upstairs I think he was on his third piece.  Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out that there are TWO wrappers on the mini Reeces cups.  I'm pretty sure he ate the inside wrapper.  Thankfully he only had one of those.

Cold Weather

Well we made it to our next destination and the temperature is about 30 degrees lower.  Coats, hats, gloves...all required.  Surprisingly enough it didn't stop the boys from wanting to go outside and hang out with Grandpa for a little bit. 

This is out in the gazebo my dad built in his backyard.  (All those benches will fold down into a big bed.  And the opposite wall is lined with them too.  Not in the picture is the little charcoal fire they had going to help keep them warm.

One Month Old

Blaine turned one month on Thanksgiving.  It's been a rough first month and I can only pray it gets better.  Blaine has been difficult since day one.  He likes to be held 24/7.  He's gotten a little better about sleeping on his own, as long as he's on his belly.  When he's awake though, he's very unsettled.  He doesn't stay satisfied for more than five minutes if put down.  I've been thankful to have my mom's and Tim's mom's help to juggle him and the boys, but I am still a little nervous about how I'm I'm going to handle it on my own.  Especially if his demeanour doesn't change much.  We have some theory's and plan on "experimenting" the next week or so.  I love my little man to death, but sometimes I just don't know what to do with him. 

In other first month news....Blaine got a really bad diaper rash and with the help of Tim's mom we finally conquered it.  Blaine has sprayed me more in the last month than both Ryan & Colin put together ever did.  Last, but not least. he weighed right around 13 lbs on his one month birthday. 

Back in Oklahoma

About two weeks ago, Tim's mom took the train down to come drive the boys and me back up to her house for a few days.  I'm not sure how I would have made it without her!!  I probably would have turned a 6 hour drive into 10.  Things were crazy around our house the previous week so I was glad for the break and the help.  The boys enjoyed seeing their cousins and running around the farm.  Papa even saddles up Cisco and took them for a ride. 

Elijah showing off his smile...with two less teeth!

Colin loved sitting on the "tractor"...

We also got to meet Baylee....

I Made It!!!!

I just completed the first week with three kiddos, 24/7, by myself!!! 

I don't know if I should shout for joy or cry.  Crying sound right just about now.  I'm exhausted.  I definitely won't claim to have made it through the week gracefully.  It has been a crazy week.  It has been non-stop busy.  I think it's partly been extra chaotic with other events that are coming up so I've been rushing around trying to get everything in it's place and ready to go.  I'm ready for Wednesday to be here and hopefully things will slow down a bit.  Greatful to have made it thru and looking forward to the less chaotic days in the future where I can continue to learn this whole mom of three thing.

Two Weeks!

In Blaine's first two weeks we were at the hospital not only for his birth, but three other times as well.  We had to go back for a 2-day, and 2 week check up which are both normal, but we also ended up going when he was 9 days old.  There were two major occurrences where we noticed that Blaine's feet turned purple in color.  The first time I tried not to be too concerned, but after it happened again I figured it was time to call the doctor.  The pediatrician assured us that it's quite normal, but she checked him over again and specifically listened to make sure he didn't develop a heart murmur.  So we came to find out it's called acrocyanosis.  The doctor said it's not necessarily a problem with the circulation system, but rather the circulation system isn't fully developed yet.  They say it's quite normal in newborns and it can persist anywhere between 3 to 6 months of age.  She also said it can occur 3 to 4 times a day, and that's still normal.  I still don't particularly care to see his feet/legs turn purple but it's good to know that he's not in pain and that nothing is really wrong.  So I don't always put socks on him, 'cause I like to be able to see the color of his feet.  If they do go purple I just gently massage his feet and legs and the color comes right back. 

I also managed to get a few "official" newborn pics in two days prior to him turning 2 weeks.  It is so hard to get those pics done that quick!!!  I don't think I got around to Colin's till he was a month old.  I even considered taking him somewhere to have them done, but I didn't want to pay the money.  They say the first two weeks is the prime time because they still obtain that curled up baby shape.  Even at a few days prior to 2 weeks, you could tell Blaine already lost some of his.  I really wanted to get one of him sleeping with his head propped up by his hands (I think these are the absolute cutest!!!), but he has been a very much "hold me" type of baby.  Just about anytime we put him down he woke up.  (Not completely remedied yet, but still working on it!)  He only cooperated for about three/four minutes, but it was perfect timing.  He let out the biggest grin and I was SO excited to catch it on camera.  We tried again the next day to get a few more, but he wasn't cooperating, so I'm sticking with what I got.

Other little details...At his 2 week appointment he was 9 lbs 4 oz and still 21 in.  He seems to be leaning toward being a belly sleeper (this would be my first).  Since it's so highly frowned upon I've been trying just about every other little trick/sleeping position possible.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  A few times in the evening I've laid him on his belly on the couch next to me so I can keep an eye on him and he sleeps so well!  He is already very strong and he loves to hold his head up and look around.

Praise the Lord for Moms!!

Tim flew out Tuesday morning and my mom flew in late Tuesday night.  I am so thankful my mom was willing and able to come down and help me out for a week.  There were tons of errands I had to run to get Blaine registered within the Army's system, get birth certificates, two or three other doctor appointments, problem with the van, the Commissary, etc.  It was a blessing to be able to do those without having to take all the boys with me.  I don't think my mom even made it out into the real world until Saturday.  She did the laundry for me, cleaned my bathrooms, sheets/blankets, dishes, took out the trash, gave the boys baths, got up early with the boys, fed the boys, etc, etc, etc.  I was even able to take just Ryan and Colin to the park for a bit while mom stayed at home with Blaine.  Not sure how I would have been able to get all that done without her help.

Last Days with Tim

Monday, November 1st, was our last full day with Tim.  It started out kind of rough as I had to go to the hospital to follow up on some things and that took up three hours of our morning.  I already felt like I had lost time with him since I was in the hospital for pratically three days with Blaine.  I was stressed, disapointed, and frustrated that it was Tim's last day and I was spending it sitting in the hospital.  Not exactly what I had in mind for our "last" day together.  Tim's R&R went by SO quick.  It was a crazy two weeks.  Sometimes, unless for the pictures, I forget that he was actually home recently.  Two weeks just isn't enough.

 

This was Tuesday morning right before we drove Tim to the airport.

I love you Tim!  Thanks for working so hard to provide for us and making the trip home to see us.  We can't wait to have you home for more than two weeks!

Trunk or Treat

Tim and I aren't big Halloween-ers.  Never have been.  The church we go to though was hosting a Trunk or Treat. We had never heard of Trunk or Treat before but it was definitely an exciting/safe way to dress up and collect candy.  I had an old dinosaur costume Ryan wore a few years back that I figured would fit Colin, and I decided to wait till Tim got home, and what our schedule would be like before I went and bought Ryan anything.  Sunday afternoon rolled around and we were still trying to figure it out.  We fell back on the good 'ol cowboy costume for Ryan.  Tim was working on getting Colin in the dragon costume, but it was smaller that I thought.  Oops!  So Tim put him back in his regular clothes, and we figured we'd try and stop by the Dollar Store to see if they had anything we could make work.  I didn't find anything for Colin, but I did pick up a little Sheriff badge and gun to go with Ryan's outfit.  So after that plan failed Tim just said if anyone asks, just tell them that Colin was a Baseball Scout.  (My husband is brilliant!!!)   

I'm glad we got there when we did 'cause the line got pretty long.  The boys seemed really confused at first.  Understandable considering we've never trick-or-treated before.  It didn't take them too long to figure it out though.  Our Connection Group (AKA Sunday School) chose to do a Medieval Times Theme this year.  This is Adam and Mina's trunk.  She made the costumes and everything!  They tied for first in the decorating contest.

This was Matt and Sarah's car.  Ryan helping himself, of course, to the candy of his preference.

I'm looking forward to next year when we can hopefully participate more.  Our Connection Group has already started brain-storming about themes.

Visit from Tim's Parents



On Thursday, October 28th, Tim's parents drove down for about a day. 

 

That night we decided to play some Wii.  Bowling was the game of choice. 

 

Colin practicing his bowling swing for the day we let him play.



There were a few times we thought he was going to take out our TV.  He was really getting into it.  It paid off.  By the second game he had gotten a hang of it and crushed us all.