June 30, 2007

Drew holding Addison when she was five days old. I just love this picture!

The night before Addison was born. The boys were so ready to meet their little sister!

Moments after she was born. She was as beautiful as I knew she would be. It was love at first sight for me!

Looking at her sweet, sweet face.

Bryson was a very proud "big, big brother."

Jackson was an equally proud "big brother."

Addie on her first birthday.

Addie on her second birthday.

When I first found out I was pregnant with my third baby I

was in shock. I wanted another one. We had be trying for a year and nothing was happening. We had decided to stay in our house for several more years if we were to have a third child. Since it wasn't happening for us, we sold our house and bought a bigger one. We were to live with Drew's mom for six weeks until our house was ready.

After we were there a week I wasn't feeling right. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive! This really put a kink in our plans. We were going to have a baby AND a bigger house payment. Drew's first reaction was, "Oh, my gosh, I am going to have to get a second job!" (I have cleaned up his language for my grandparent's sake!)

We would have two kids in daycare for two years. We were really going to have to learn to stretch things. We knew deep down that we would be fine and that God would provide. We knew there would be some lean times, but also knew that we would make it.

We moved into our house in December 2006 when I was about 10 weeks pregnant. In January, Drew was given the opportunity to coach. Coaching meant extra money for our family. I was somewhat against him coaching, at first, but then decided it would be a great opportunity. He loves it and really enjoys the guys he works with, so it has turned out great!

I was due on July 13, 2007. My pregnancy went pretty smoothly. Each time I have had blood pressure concerns, but this one was nothing out of the ordinary. In March we found out we were having a baby girl. I was so happy! Drew wasn't as happy. He really thought we would have another boy. I had had a name picked out for years (since I was pregnant with Bryson). I knew that if I ever had a girl her name would be Addison Elizabeth. I just loved the name Addison and Elizabeth was my sister's middle name. I also planned on calling her Addie or Addie Beth, which I do.

I continued to exercise five days a week and gained my standard 35 pounds. I was put on partial bed rest at the very end of May, but I was able to finish out the school year. I spent the next couple of weeks enjoying the summer and resting for the new baby. My boys were each born about a month early so in my mind this is when Addison would decide to make her entrance. Boy, was I wrong! She wasn't budging. I ended up being induced on June 30, thirteen days before my due date. I was never so ready to not be pregnant any more! I was HUGE and miserable. I was uncomfortable and cranky (just ask Drew!).

On the day of my induction, I was so nervous. I had been through birth before, but never one that I had planned. The boys both came unexpectedly and fairly quickly. They started the induction process at about 8:00 in the morning and things went pretty fast. Addison was born at 1:38 pm. She weighed 8 pounds, six ounces and was 20" long and she was just beautiful. She was my largest baby by about two pounds. Bryson weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and Jackson weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces.

I will never forget the first time Bryson saw Addison. He looked at her, then at me, and said, "Mom, I am going to cry because she is so beautiful." He started crying and so did I! He has loved her from the moment he saw her. Jackson has, too.

They have been great brothers to her. She adores them and the place she wants to be most is where ever they are. She loves to play "egos" (Legos) with them and can hold her own in a sword fight. She loves to watch "owboys" (cowboys) with them. She loves to play fight, wrestle and can make gun sounds with the best of them. She is feisty and soft at the same time. She is a princess (and will tell you she is). She has been everything I had imagined a little girl could be.

Drew thinks he is immune to the power a little girl has over her daddy. He just doesn't see, yet, how she effects him! He is so sweet with her and sings to her all the time. He had taught her so many songs. I love to watch them together. Her eyes light up when he walks in the door. I am thankful that he will get to experience her softness as she loves on her daddy.

I can't believe my baby is two. I can't believe how fast the past two years has gone by. There are times I want it to slow down and times I am anxious to see what the future holds for her and my two sweet boys. Happy birthday, Addison. We love you and you are our little princess!

June 28, 1997

Happy 12th anniversary!

Today is our twelfth wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been twelve years since the young couple pictured above agreed to love each other for the rest of their lives. Oh, how young we were! I will never forget that day and some of the funny things that happened. Some we have shared, and some we have kept to ourselves.

Drew and I met on August 30, 1995. He was working as a PE assistant and an elementary school. I was a student teacher. My student teaching assignment had been changed that morning at the last minute. I ended up at the school where Drew was working. I'll never forget that first day when I walked in the gym. Later that day, Drew told the teacher I was student teaching with that he was going to marry me. (I found this out later.)

Drew and I became fast friends and got along well. I was dating someone at the time, but Drew kept telling me he could treat me better than I was being treated. I thought that was just his "line."

After I moved on to my next student teaching assignment, Drew kept in touch with me. About once a month he would call and find out how I was doing. He never failed to ask if I was still dating my boyfriend. When I would answer "yes" he would let me go. This went on for about six months. One month he called and asked the same question, "Are you still dating him?" When I answered "no" he said he would be right over. Nothing like taking full advantage of the moment!

Drew has remained by my side ever since. Through the good, the bad and the ugly. (And there was a lot of ugly at times!)

Almost a year from the day we met, I asked Drew if he would marry me. We were in his car going somewhere to spend some quality time together, I'm sure. It was very romantic and went something like this:

Me: Hey, you want to get married?

Drew: Alright.

Me: Alright.

Pretty romantic, huh?

This is kind of the way our relationship has been from the beginning. We do what feel right at the time. We don't really worry about what looks right according to other people. We do what feel right to us. We don't have your typical marriage with defined roles. We do what we need to do to make the other person happy. We work at our marriage and take nothing for granted. We are not perfect. We mess up. But, we know that we are in this forever and nothing will ever change that.

Drew is a wonderful husband. He gives completely. He always thinks about my happiness before making decisions. He cooks. He cleans. He does anything and everything to keep us going. What do I do? I do my part. I help him. He does not "rule the roost" or "wear the pants in the family." We both do. We definitely feel that we are equal partners. We make mistakes and we mess up, but we have learned to apologize and move on. (I sometimes still need work on this!)

Drew and I have been through many good times and trials in the past eleven years:

• Drew completed school after we were married and went on to earn his master's degree. We have gone through a miscarriage together. He was so understanding and caring during that time.
• We bought and fixed up our first house. I loved that little house. We spent so much time together painting, sawing, hammering, caring for each little room.
• We have had three kids together.
• We endured the death of my mother together. Drew was so supportive and understanding during that time. He lost his dad in 1994 and knew what I was going through. Although the circumstances were different, he understood what I was dealing with.
• We bought our current, and hopefully, last house and have begun making it feel like our home.

Those of you who know Drew know what a wonderful person he is. He is the reason we have been happily married for twelve years. He is the reason I can be who I am. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband. There is so much more I could say, but I won't. I will keep some of it to myself.

Not Fun!

Let me just say that today was NOT FUN! This was one of those days that I would have rather been working than being at home. I had to wake the kids up this morning so I could make it to the gym for an athletic training class. Yes, I know I could have let them sleep, but I really look forward to this class and it is only once a week. From the moment their feet hit the floor I knew it was going to be a bad day. They were whiny, argumentative and just down right mean to each other. They wouldn't share, they talked rudely to each other and they seemed to go out of their way to make someone else miserable. After the gym I tried to have some fun with them before lunch. We had gone to the library yesterday and checked out several books. One of them was a paper airplane book. I was helping them make airplanes and that even turned into an argument.

"Mine flies farther."

"No, mine does."

"Mine flies higher."

"No, mine does."

"Liar."

"You're a liar."

You get the idea.

We had so much to do today when Drew got home from summer school, also. We had to go to Sam's and Walmart to get stuff for Addison's birthday party on Saturday. This took a while and Bryson HATES to shop and he makes everyone else as miserable as he is. Plus, this heat makes things seem even worse.

Our day ended with both boys getting spankings. Jackson got one because he threw something (I could never understand what he threw since he was crying so much.) and hit Bryson in the mouth. Yes, his lip started bleeding and I was so worried that he had messed it up barely a week after getting it fixed. Bryson got a spanking for being a royal pain in the butt (I said rear when I was talking to him.) the entire day. I know they were both tired because they were asleep about five minutes after they got in bed.

There were several other incidents that happened today, but I will spare you the details. Plus, I don't really want to relive this day! I would rather just forget it altogether! Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day.

Wordless Wednesday

Before and After

Bryson before his stitches were removed...




and after.



He was tired of me taking pictures!


Bryson got his stitches out today. I didn't go~ I had a hair appointment that I had already changed once. Drew took him. He said it was a little dramatic getting them out, but they survived! The doctor was pleased with the way Bryson's lip looks. It will take several weeks for the swelling to go down and for the final result to show, but we think it looks good.

We went swimming for a little while this afternoon since Bryson hasn't been able to go in a week.

I just wanted to send out an update for those who have been asking. I/We really appreciate all the prayers, thoughts and concern over the past week. I am blessed to have such great friends and family.

Tender Moment

I need to preface this story with a little background information.

My boys like to watch movies. They have watched every kid movie made in the past 10 years. They watch them so much they can act them out and quote them. They pick phrases out of movies and use them at appropriate times. They know names, places, events, etc, from these movies. (Yes, I know adults do the same thing!) Since I am not a movie person (topic for another post) I just don't get it. How can a person watch the same movie over and over? If you know what is going to happen, why do you still want to watch it? Anyway, they boys watched Kung Fu Panda when it first came out. They would use their kung fu moves on each other, act out the movie and quote some of the characters. Evidently, one of the characters uses the term "my tenders" to describe his private boy parts. (This is important information. Stay with me.)

One day Jackson was in the garage with Drew trying to load some water balloon-filled buckets into the back of Drew's Suburban. Jack didn't realize they would be so heavy and tried to pick up one of the buckets. When he tried to lift the bucket he couldn't and said, "Oh, my tenders!" Apparently, everything in the body is connected in some form or fashion! This has become his word of choice for describing or talking about that specific area of his body! I think this is fine because I would rather hear that word than some other well-known words that are usually used for that area.

Last night we were having dinner and Drew had some music playing from the speaker thing that his ipod sits on. (I'm really not a music person, either. I use my ipod ~ well, before it was stolen~ to watch Lifetime movies. Stop laughing! Yes, I need to get some culture as an ex-boyfriend once told me. Again, a topic for a future post!) Drew has every type of music imaginable on that thing~ Beastie Boys, Beethoven, Josh Grobin, Radio Disney, Christian, Rap, Christmas. This variety is amazing. Anyway, last night some country music came on. Who? I have no idea. But the lyrics said something about touching someone tenderly. Jackson stopped eating, looked up and said, "Touch my tenders?" I can only imagine the mental image going through his mind at that moment!

I didn't want to forget the moment, so I had to document it!

Wordless Wednesday

Third time's the charm

Bryson right after his iv was put in. He was so brave! He was watching Charlotte's Web on the DVD player.



Last picture with his "old lip." He really was in a good mood, it just doesn't look like it!




Party hat! Once the happy juice started flowing he was grinning and acting silly!





In recovery. He had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia. He cried and cried, but eventually he calmed down enough so we could go home.





Very swollen. It will take several days for the swelling to go down, but he is feeling good. He keeps thinking of things to eat. We have told him he can eat anything he can fit into his mouth and he is trying to do just that!



Today is the day I have been dreading and looking forward to at the same time. I have been dreading the fact that Bryson is going to experience pain and discomfort. I have been looking forward to "fixing" something that we have been dealing with for over nine years.

When Bryson was born and we discovered his "imperfection," I thought it would be a quick and easy thing to fix. (BTW, I know we all have imperfections, his was just more obvious than most.) I naively thought right after he was born that they could fix his lip before we left the hospital. How wrong I was! We had to wait for him to reach 10 pounds and 3 months of age. Then the doctor opted to fix one side at a time. That meant a second surgery at 6 months of age. I wanted both sides fixed at the same time. I didn't want to wait three more months. Again, how naive I was. I now know the doctor knows what he is doing so much better than I do! He is cautious in his approach. He would rather perform two separate surgeries than risk having a lip that is too tight and stretched.


After the second surgery, again I thought that would be the end of it, the doctor said that Bryson would need a revision as he got older. I was not happy with this news. I was ready to put it behind me once and for all.


Before Bryson started kindergarten I had Drew take him back to the doctor to see if that was a good time to have his final surgery. He wanted him to grow a little more.

Fast forward to this spring when Bryson told me that some kids had been making fun of him. (This had happened in the past, but it never seemed to bother him as much as it did this year.) I asked Drew if we could take him back to the doctor and see if now would be a good time to do it. I prepared myself to wait a little longer, but the doctor said now would be a good time. We set a date. Bryson was happy and I was happy knowing that he would finally be able to put this behind us.


At our pre-op appointment yesterday, the doctor mentioned the possibility that he would only be able to fix one side of Bryson's lip. He said he didn't want to compromise the integrity of the blood supply. If there was a question about it, he would be cautious and leave the other side alone. He could then have a fourth procedure right before school starts. I didn't want to have a fourth surgery for various reasons~ some financial, some just because I am impatient and want it done NOW, but I was prepared for this possibility. In fact, I expected it.


When the doctor came out to the waiting room after the surgery, he said that he was able to do both sides. He said it looked good and thought the blood supply was fine. He did say that if we wanted/needed to we could go back in a year and touch it up a bit. I think we have to come to the point that we need to acknowledge that Bryson's lip is never going to be perfect. I have told him that his lip will always be unique to only him and nobody else in the world will ever have a lip like his. I think we could drive ourselves crazy if we keep trying to "touch up" our imperfections. (Yes, Drew, I am speaking to myself, too!)


I think this will be his last surgery. If he decides one day (when he is paying for his own insurance) that he would like to have something else done, he can make that call. As for my feelings, I want to try to teach him to be happy with who he is and how he looks. God made him unique and wonderful. He is a handsome little boy and should be happy with his lip. I love my son and want to do the best thing for him. Constantly trying to "fix" his appearance is not in his best interest. I believe he needed this surgery to take out some extra skin that was left from his first two surgeries. I believe we have done what we can and anything else would just be unnecessary.


I hope I am making sense. I am rambling, but I have thought a lot about this. How much is too much? How much is not enough? How much emphasis do we, as parents, put on appearances? I struggle with my own flaws and physical imperfections and I don't want to pass this on to my kids, but I do want to do everything in my power as a parent to help my kids in any way I can. Can you tell I am torn?


If you have made it this far through this post, I am thankful! I just needed to get my feelings about this out and this is a good place to do it! It is my blog after all!

Anyway, thanks for the prayers and good thoughts today. We really appreciate it and felt every one! (By the way, Bryson is trying to say his lip is the reason he shouldn't have to brush his teeth tonight!)

Take me out ot the ballgame...

or at least to practice!

We signed Jackson up for YMCA summer baseball back in March. We waited and waited to hear from his coach and never did. Drew called at the beginning of this week because we knew he should be starting practice soon. They had placed him on a 3-4 year old tee ball team because he was four when Drew filled out the registration. Evidently, they didn't bother to look at the box with his birth date in it. Drew kindly told the guy that Jackson is now five and needs to be on an older team. Drew said he would give him until this Sunday to fix the problem and if he didn't he was going to come get his money back. (They then had a discussion about it taking 2-3 weeks to get a refund even though they have had Drew's money for over 2 months and haven't notified us of the status of the team. Drew wasn't too kind during this part of the "conversation.") He said he would take care of it.

We got an e-mail later in the day saying that the team doesn't have a coach yet for the 3-4 year old team. What? Drew sent a reply to that e-mail saying that Jackson is five and needs to be on another team. (I am explaining all of this for effect!)

This morning Drew's mom came over to spend some time with the kids and Drew and I were deciding where we were going to go have breakfast together, just the two of us. We had grand plans for out 5 hours together. Around 8:00 I turned on the computer and noticed a few new e-mails. One was from a guy about baseball. Jackson was scheduled to have practice on June 13th at 10:00. He needed a glove, helmet and bat. All of our grand plans quickly faded away.

Drew was in the middle of making breakfast and had to hurry to get Jackson to Academy to purchase the necessary equipment. I headed to the gym for a kickboxing class and then made it out to his practice. I wanted to get pictures of his first practice. I was worried that he would be so far behind the other kids since I was certain they had already played for a couple of years. I was wrong. He did great. There was one kid who obviously had some experience, but Jackson was one of the better ones. He needs work catching, but his throwing and batting skills are pretty good.

The practice lasted for over an hour and it was HOT out there. Jackson started getting tired toward the end, but I think he did great for his first time.

After practice we went to Home Depot to pick out paint for Jackson's room. We are going to separate the boys into their own rooms this summer, so I let him pick out his color. I talked him out of red and we settled on a nice blue color. I will start painting tomorrow, so we will see how it goes.

Thanks, Cheryl, for being there to watch Bryson and Addison for us today! We really appreciate it!

My grandparents are coming tomorrow evening to help us with the kids while Bryson is recovering from his surgery on Tuesday. I really haven't even mentioned it to him, so I don't know how he is feeling about it. We have a pre-op appointment on Monday and we will have him at the surgery center at 6:oo Tuesday morning. Would you say a little prayer for him on that day? Maybe throw one in for his Mommy, too, since I know I will be a nervous wreck!

Headstrong, a definition

headstrong
Adjective
determined to do something in one's own way and ignoring the advice of others

Addison pinched Jackson real hard this morning. I insisted that she apologize to him and give him a hug. She refused. She received a spanking and was told to apologize to him. Again, she refused. I told her that if she didn't say sorry she was going to spend some time in her room, alone. I knew this would work because it has been raining like crazy here and the thunder has scared her. She refused to apologize. I calmly told her to stay in her room and I closed her door. She screamed and cried for a good 10 minutes while she sat by her closed door. Then, like magic, silence. I peeked in and found this. (Yes, she is wearing her Easter shoes. She insisted and I didn't see the harm in that!)

Word-full Wednesday

Okay, this is how my morning started. We were driving to the gym when it started raining~ slightly.

Jackson: It's raining.

Bryson: No, it's sprinkling.

Jackson: No, it's raining.

Bryson: No, it's sprinkling.

Jackson: No, it's raining.

Bryson: No, it's sprinkling.

Me: Shut Up! (Yes, I said it and immediately felt sorry that I did. Although, they did shut up!)

Wordless Wednesday

Vacation Week

Addison and me playing in the water at Galveston.




Ready for the Riverwalk boat ride. (They were NOT impressed!)




Bryson and Jackson at the Texas Ranger Museum. Addison slept in her stroller the entire time!





Our little family on the Riverwalk, right outside our hotel.





Kecia and me being goofy while waiting to see Shamu.





at Sea World. Can you tell the boys had on their fake smiles?

At the Alamo. Again, they were not impressed.

Breon

Drew following suit.

The kids were great all week. They got along so well and made some great memories together.

Wow, where do I begin? We had such are great week on vacation. Our good friends, Breon and Kecia and their girls, went on vacation with us. We headed down to San Antonio for the week.

Our first stop was in Round Rock. We went to Round Rock Donuts. They are home to the TWO pound donut! I had a lemon-filled donut and it was oh so good!

Once in San Antonio we ate dinner at County Line Barbecue. It was so yummy! The next day we went to the San Antonio Children's Museum. It was all hands-on. Drew and Breon even got in on the fun! (see the pictures with the cow!)

We then headed over to the Alamo. You would have thought we were torturing the kids. They definitely didn't appreciate the history of the place. They did have fun in the gift shop, though!

After that, we went to El Mercado and had lunch at Mi Tierra. The food was great, but the service was not. We had fun walking around el mercado and buying some souvenirs. That evening we went swimming in the pool at the hotel. We may have eaten dinner someplace, I don't remember!

The next day was Sea World. The kids rode some rides and we saw a couple of shows. Then some thunderstorms rolled in and they closed all the shows and rides. We took the opportunity to go feed the dolfins. This was a lot of fun touching and feeding the dolfins. We spent some time seeing the sharks, also. Breon ordered pizza for dinner and we just hung around the hotel.

On our last full day, we kind of did our own thing. After a yummy breakfast at a little hole in the wall place, we took the boys to the Texas Ranger Museum. It is located inside the Buckhorn Saloon which is the oldest saloon in Texas. The boys enjoyed walking around looking at all the "cowboy" stuff and looking at all the animals that were hung on the walls. After the museum we took the boat tour on the riverwalk. Drew and I enjoyed it. The boys were hot and tired and didn't fail to let us know about it the entire ride! We went back to the hotel to cool off in the pool. For dinner that night, we went back to the restaurant that we had breakfast at that morning. Kids eat free at dinner, so how could we resist?! After a wonderfully home cooked meal, we all splurged for dessert. They had wonderful pies and cakes there. Addison and I had the best chocolate pie I think I have ever eaten!

The next morning we ate breakfast at the Guenther House. The man who owned the Pioneer Flour Mill once owned that house. It is right next to the flour mill. They had wonderful pancakes, waffles and the best cinnamon roll I have ever eaten. Yes, even better than Cinnabon! We even got one to go! While we were waiting for our food, a man approached us and complimented us on how well our kids behaved during the long wait. This always makes me feel proud when people go out of their way to compliment our kids.

Once in Houston, we stayed at my dad's house. He made some yummy fajitas for dinner that night. We planned on going to Galveston the next day.

The kids had a great time in Galveston. I wasn't sure how Addison would do, but she did great. She enjoyed playing in the sand and water. She even floated in her little floatie for a little while. The boys had fun finding sea shells, catching jelly fish and playing with a little hermit crab I found. We stayed about five hours and decided to go back. Drew go a ticket on the way back to dad's for an expired inspection sticker. (I just had to throw that in!)

Dad grilled chicken that night and we had a yummy dinner. We left the next morning. We stopped in Bryan to see my cousin, Damon, and my Aunt Pat. We ate lunch in Hearne at the Dixie House Cafe. We stopped at the Nike store in Hillsboro and Drew even let me buy a few (or 10) things! We got home around 4:00 that afternoon.

We had a great trip with great friends and great food! Could you tell I really enjoyed the food? I only gained 1/2 a pound. I was able to run 5 of the 7 days we were gone, so it could have been worse!

Now we are ready to get into the swing of summer. I plan on playing with my kids and enjoying my time off. Drew is teaching summer school, but he will have fun with us when he gets home each day!

Bryson is scheduled to have surgery on his lip next Tuesday, June 16th, so please keep him and us in your prayers. Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day!