Amazing Christmas!

I will download pictures soon!
Our Christmas 2009 was amazing!
Top 4 things im grateful for:

1.) This year, we celebrated Christmas in OUR new home! I think this is what made it the best one ever! The snow covered SOLD sign that is still in our front yard makes my eyes tear up. We are so blessed.

2.) My kids, are happy, and healthy. We are approaching Karters 4th year of being seizure free. Gavin is a completely healthy talkative 2 year old. Scott and I are in great health.

3.) We have the best friends and family ever. My phone was going crazy christmas morning with texts from friends wishing us a merry christmas. We have amazing friends and such a supportive family.

4.) We have each other, we are getting ready to celebrate 4 years of marriage! I cant beleive how time flies!

2009 was a hard year for many of our friends, many have lost parents or other loved ones, or have experienced heartache beyond belief. Our prayer list has never been so big. We continue to hold these people in our hearts.

Walkin in a winter wonderland!

Pictures from the first big snow fall this winter!

Ol Dan Tucker

Last night a conversation went on like this....
Gav- "mommy sing me ol dan tucker"
me- "okay baby ready..

"old dan tucker was a fine old man

washed his face in a frying pan

combed his hair with a wagon wheel

died with a toothache in his heal

CHORUS:

get out the way for ol dan tucker

hes too late, to get his supper

suppers over and dinners cookin

old dan tucker just stands there looking

old dan tucker he went to school '

there he learned the golden rule

reading writing arithmatic

all that learning just made him sick

chorus

ol dan tucker he went to town

grabbed the girls and he spun em around

gave a kiss to his favorite one

never had he had so much fun

chorus

ol dan tucker, he got drunk

fell in the the fire and he went kerplunk

chunk of the coal got caught in his shoe

oh my mercy how the ashes flew

chorus"

Gav- "i wuv you mommy soo much"
Me- "i love you too gav!"

Of all the lullabys i remember singing with my mom and grandma, this is one of the ones i remember most, the pictures in my head of ol dan tucker, being a awkward, crooked man are still with me today.

christmas cards

heres what our christmas cards look like this year!

HOLY MOLY I HAVE MISSED THIS BLOG!

I cant believe it has been 3 months since blogging!
We JUST got internet this week, and now im back for good!
So much has happened... heres a little peak (BIG peak is coming soon i promise!)

We went the the bank and we signed our names lots of times for THESE keys

THIS wonderfull, amazing, most helpful women was there every step of the way

The keys opened THIS house

and we got to work

and worked and worked and worked and worked

and worked and worked and worked and worked

and then we moved inand crashed!

Love, B

First Day of School!!!

My Baby started preschool yesterday....
I cant believe it. It seems to me that he has grown up so much in the last year. He is SO STINKIN FUNNY! Tonight he told me " I call you babe tuz daddy not here to do it."

Karter you had a great first day of preschool!

This is our last first day of school picture in front of our old house!

Your brother was sad to see you go this year. I think he thought he was going to go to preschool with you. He cried and cried on the way home from dropping you off. "I miss my broder" "I miss my Karter" He waits for you by the door to come out of school and often sits by our door while you are in school and says "go pick up my karter(or my brother) now??"


I baked cookies for your class for your first day, you were really worried if your friends would "love them" You were happy to report that they did indeed "love them" I am so happy for you!

I can not believe how much older you look today on your first day of preschool. You are becoming such a kid and not a toddler any more. Its still cool to run out of preschool yelling MOOMMMMMYYYY!!!! which makes me smile. I am so proud of you!

My not me monday.....

packing

I hate packing. I wish i could just take my favorite things over to the new house and leave the rest here. We have WAY to much junk here. I need to go through it all and only move what is important... I have NO motivation today or this week and I DONT want to wait until the week before to start moving. I need to get it done...



I am reading FLYLADY.com about moving, anyone else have any moving tips? http://flylady.net/pages/Flying_MovingTips.asp

New House colors!

We are MOVING!!!!!!!!
we FINALLY bought a new house! We get to close on the 25th of August and will be moving the 5th of September(Labor Day Weekend!!!)
I am working on picking out colors. We are on a budget, so I am going to have to do each room one by one, but I am getting things sorted out in my mind!



Here goes

LAUNDRY AREA!

The main hallway has main floor laundry, this is the shower curtain, that i am going to use as a curtain to hide the laundry area. (found at Kohls)The walls in the hallway are this same aqua and I am planning on using other colors in the curtain throughout the house. I am buying 2 of these to cover the space then using hoop hangers to hang on the rod. I am going to hoop 3 -5 hoops together though, to the the length I need for the space!

THE BOYS ROOM!

The boys are going to share a room for now, we think that will be best. Scott and I are pretty sure that they are not ready for bunk beds right now, so we are just going to let them share a full size bed. (maybe then they wont come crawl in bed with us.... just maybe?!?!) I love this bed set, (found at Kohls) It really looks like my boys! I have an orange curtain we are going to use in the room. I am thinking of painting the walls an oatmeal color like that's on the trim of this room!

OUR BEDROOM!

Since this will be the first time in... well like almost forever, Scott and I will have "OUR OWN ROOM" We are going for a little more grown up theme. I am thinking this red and khaki color in our bedroom. Painting the walls khaki, and then using these for the curtains. Add a Crimson comforter to our bed and using a few chocolate and maybe aqua accents here and there!

MASTER BATH!!!

I love this shower curtain! (found at Kohls)These are going to be the colors in our master bathroom. I was thinking of painting the walls this chocolate color, or the aqua blue , the shower is the color of the khaki in the curtain.

THE FAMILY BATHROOM!!!

I just found this curtain today when I was looking for something a little bit more fun to put in the main/family bathroom. I found it at walmart.com and really like it! I am still thinking for a color paint for this bathroom, probably something neutral.




I love being able to think about decorating our new home. Decorating is really the last priority.
Here's the REAL important stuff:

• Put in new septic system


• re-plumb the basement


• take out moldy sheet rock from bank leaving water in basement causing mold


• buy a new water heater


• buy a stove


• take down cat crossing in living room


• replace counter tops


• buy toilet seats, shower curtains, shower curtain pools, light bulbs, closet rods


• replace disgusting carpets with laminate hardwood flooring


• clean! clean! clean!


• "kilz" the walls

Things I am PRAISING GOD we don't have to do

• Take out a dead cat that was in the house the first day we looked at it


• Clean up all the trash that was in it the first day we looked at it


• Clean up all the trash that was still there the 3rd time we looked at it


• mow a yard taller than our children

Things that we are PRAYING for:

• The furnace and the AC work and work well when we get in


• The things we need are found on sale so we are able to do & finish the projects we need to


• That everyone is kept safe, no one is hurt.


• That Scott and I still like each other when we are done!


• That we still like the house when we are done!


• That our children have a smooth transition into our new home.


• That we can get the home rolled over into the FHA loan sooner than we think


• That all projects go as smoothly as possible.
  

Happy Birthday K!

Happy 4th Birthday Karter!

Karter is 4 today! I love this age! You are more independent, comical and caring about others than ever! I can't believe its been 4 years since you came into this world. You are a very compassionate "old soul" You love to watch people and have a knack for knowing when someone needs to just be cuddled. Your speech has grown so much, which i think is why you and i can communicate so much better. You and I are a lot alike, using our humor to try to help stressful situations. You are still shy but are more likely to do more out going things, you love soccer, tumbling, swimming and golf, Your favorite things to watch on TV is NASCAR, WipeOut and Americas Funniest Home Videos. You turn anything you can find into an instrument.(you don't get this from me) You love your guitar, and have good rhythm on drums. You are still a snuggler, it melts my heart when you say "mommy tum(come) hold me puhweese?"

We have had another uneventful year this year with you. In March we celebrated 3 years of being seizure free! You had an MRI and an EEG this spring to check your lesion in your brain. Everything came back with no change from your original scans--which is great news! You were a trooper for both tests. You are so brave.

You are still a picky eater. You don't like much but are more apt to try something than ever before.

At your 4 year check you weighed 46.5 lbs and were 43 inches tall.

You want to drive a firetruck when you get big, You are obsessed with hurt people and taking people to the Dr, and rescuing people.

My big 4 year old

KARTER 9 MONTHS

FIRST TIME MEETING NEW BROTHER GAVIN

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

BEST FRIENDS

Two Years Ago...

Baby Bee chose to grace us with his presence. Today I was telling Scott's Aunt Peg, who's daughter is due with a baby girl next week, how I was dilated to a 3.5 for almost 4 weeks before Baby Bee was born. From the time we knew we were pregnant in June, i wanted to have him on fathers day weekend. On fathers day we had been up eating in dm and on the way home i was having contractions every 5 minutes. I convinced Scott that I had to at least go home and shave my legs before I went to the hospital because I didn't want anyone seeing my hairy legs. Well we got home and I took a bath to shave, and by the time I got out of the shower the contractions had stopped. I pitch a royal 23 year old sized fit and was bawling on the bed. Scott did his best to comfort me, patting my back and telling me that baby butterscotch was going to be here when God was ready for him. I quickly snapped back "don't you DARE bring God into this" lol. oh the joys of pregnancy.

On June 22, 4 days before my due date, i woke up in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable. I made Scott stay home with me that day so we could sleep because I knew my body was getting ready to labor. After an uneventful day, I called my friend to come and get Karter so he could spend the night there in case we went into labor in the night. Sure enough at 1:00am on June 23, i woke up with the real contractions. I woke up Scott, we loaded our trunk load of crap and we made it to the hospital (in 22 minutes).

My labor was great, i was doing well with the pain in the triage room, walking and breathing, and listening to Scott complain about the uncomfortable chair they give the dads to sit on in there. Baby butterscotch looked good, but my blood pressure started to climb a little. To this day, I am certain it was because the cuff was for a skinny persons arm and i needed a larger cuff. The nurse, who had had a mom stroke out the weekend before wouldn't hear any of it, and made me lay on my side. I decided if i was going to have to lay here, i was just going to get the epidural. (i was going to try to go as long as i could without it)

We slept, and woke up again around 6 in the morning and called my mom and dad. We were bored. I felt great and my mom and dad were on their way up to dm anyway. They stopped in to visit us, and bring Scott some magazines. My mom kept asking the nurse if i really was in labor because i was talking and looked great. I was. They broke my water sometime in the morning. After my mom and dad hung out for a while, my dad and my sister left for the auction while my mom stayed at the hospital to make phone calls. (my mom was set on NOT being in the delivery room when you were born because she didn't want to see the pain) When my mom went out of the room my Dr came in to check me. Even though i didn't feel like pushing yet she checked. I will never forget the look on her face when she looked up at me and then to the nurse and said "um we need to get the carts in here I have his head in my hand" We called Mandy from upstairs (she was working at blanks PICU unit) my mom came in on accident and got stuck in there, within seconds they had the delivery team in there and i was getting ready to push. You come out in 3 big pushes, mostly because i was laughing at my mom and the fact that i had NO FEELING in my leg, and as i laughed you just slid out. You came out and they placed you on my chest. Love.

Baby Bee's first birthday party 2008

Had I known that your fast entrance into this world was a precursor to your fast ways, I would have slept a little longer the day before you came.

And now to today June 23, 2009

At 2 years old:

• You wear size 5 diapers- although i bought you a box of 6's last week and they fit fine


• You have decided to potty train. You are "housebroke" as we call it, but are getting better about going when we are out and about


• You wear size 2T clothes


• You love to be a big boy, anything your brother does, you love to try to do it better


• You will eat almost anything, you love guacamole, meat, and love to dip everything


• You love money. We have to watch when we leave a tip at a restaurant because you will swipe it from the table and put it in your pocket. You must love to hear the jingle because there always seems to be change in your pockets.


• You weigh 30 pounds and are 34 inches tall!
  
• You have a large vocab and love to scream.


• You sleep most of the night, if not all of it in your crib. You have climbed out twice but don't like to land


• You love your Paw, you are always concerned about where he is and what he is doing.


• You love motorcycles you call them mo-cy-cles


• You are Klutzy. You are always black and blue, or scratched up. You like to tell people that a cat scratched you but we don't have a cat. Last weekend you fell down our concrete steps outside the kitchen you barely cried. You are a tough cookie. When you split your eyebrow open you barely cried either, in fact you wanted to play in the elevator in the ER while we waited to get you glued shut. They say you get this from your dad.


• You are fast and quiet... like a ninja.
• You need to sleep with your pillow, your blankie, and your Geoffry(your giraffe)
  
  
  

ER visit...

Baby Bee, was running and fell at a friends house today. He smacked his forhead right above his eyebrow on her coffee table, he cried for all of 30 seconds. The cut wouldnt stop bleeding and needed glued shut. We got in the car and drove to the ER(it was after clinic hours). The whole way there, you held the paper towel on your eye... you were a champ. We waited in the waiting room for almost an hour, during which you were trying to play in the elevator. When we finally got into the room, the dr came in first and glued you shut. Then we had to wait for a nurse so we could get checked in and checked out.
When the nurse came in she asked if you fell often.... as she turned around to look at me, you fell backwards off the stool you were standing on. She laughed and said "I think he is going to be a frequent flyer around here!"

Even now, in June 2009, you have a scar above your left eyebrow....

Karter's MRI

Karter's MRI went off without a hitch yesterday. He did such a great job and Scott and I are so proud of him.

I will write more, when I have time. :)

Rain vs Storms

One of my favorite quotes I have ever heard is "Don't pray when it rains, if you don't pray when the sun shines." I feel like I am going through a little bit of rain this week. God is comforting me about Karter's MRI. I feel at peace. I am working hard today to block out the negative voices in my head I know that they are not of God. Im listening to this song right now, I love it. I know that my little bit of rain is nothing compared to the storms other people are facing, the natural disasters others are facing. But I am praising God today, though my rain.

Please pray for my in real life friend, as her family prepares for some gigantic changes soon, her husband is going over seas to protect our country. She stays home with their 4 children, including twins. Please pray for protection for him as well as comfort and strength for the entire family.

Also, please pray for baby Stellan and his family, especially his mommy.



Praise you in this storm Lyrics
Artist(Band):Casting Crowns

I was sure by now,God,
that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again,
I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear
You whisper through the rain, "I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls I raise my hands
and praise the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus: And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone
how can I carry on if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain "I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth Chorus

a catch up..

I should have posted Monday, March 19th, but I was sick. I had some nasty allergy, grossness. But it was an important day for our family. March 16th marked Karter's 3 year
"seizure-versary" It's been 3 years since Karter had his last seizure. We always have a little party for him. This year, we went to HyVee, picked up a cake with a firetruck on it (angelfood). We sang him a little song and ate cake together as a family. Oh, and we grilled hamburgers too! I am so grateful to God, that Karter is a "normal" 3 &1/2 year old. He is happy and he is healthy. He finds the humor in everything, and loves to watch people. He is shy, but observant, very left brained and mechanical. He thinks like his daddy, and laughs like his mommy. He is my cuddlier, a people pleas-er, and has great bed side manor. He seems to be athletic and seems to remember everything.
Getting a seizure diagnosis, was a defining moment in my life. (to be clear, we were diagnosed August 25, 2005- last seizure was March 16, 2006) It was a defining moment in Scott and I's relationship. Between having Karter-(a long post for another day)--and then finding out about his seizures, we had went through a lot in just 18 months of being together. One night in the hospital, he told me that if we could get through this, we would get through anything together, and we set a wedding date. We leaned on each other, when there wasn't any way we could hold ourselves up on our own.
Speaking of leaning, My mom was holding me up on the other side. My mom dropped everything she was doing, and came and sat vigil in a hospital room when Karter was being diagnosed with his seizures. Scott had to keep working because he had no vacation so she stayed with me for every single test, blood draw and dr. visit. She gave up the comfort of her own bed at home to sleep in a hospital crib every night for 2 weeks. She didn’t have to, she chose to. She was there beside me, when we faced complete uncertainty, encouraging me, taking care of me, praying for me. I never would have made it through that without her. I think I cried every day for 2 weeks, it was a horrible experience but I am so grateful she was there. I never asked her to be; she just showed up and took control when I needed her to the most.

Karter is scheduled for an MRI this thursday. Just to check on things. He has an EEG on May 4th. The whole thing has brought up tons of old "ghosts" for me. It is just taking my brain a lot of work to process everything. I'm scared, I'm hopeful, I'm nervous, and I am praying. God is really working on me about my control issues, I am in constant prayer that things go well.

oops nap time is over. i will write more later!

Please Pray...

please pray for MckMama and her baby Stellan. Heres the link

Baby Shower

Today is a cold and rainy day. Today is also a baby shower for Jennifer and her new baby Sarah Elizabeth, who will make her debut the end of the month.

Shannon and I at the Shower!

I love baby showers. They are my favorite partys to plan. I love greeting a new baby with a party, the sweet onsies, socks and supplies. I love diaper cakes. Here is the one i made for Baby Sarah.




We had Jens shower at Bistro 211. A sweet little cafe here in town. I used to work for the owner David when i was in high school at his floral shop. The place is beautiful. And the food was fantastic! We had Chicken Salad silver dollar sandwiches, fruit and chips.

Sarah's Monogramed Cake

Jen and Sarah recieved tons of beautiful baby things! We made a twist to traditional baby shower tradition we added this to the invites:

Just One last request
and we hope its not hard

Please bring a book for Baby Sarah,

Instead of a card

By signing your book,

she will remember and share,

Your special gift,

Even when you're not there.

So it was nice, because Jen got a book from everyone to build Sarahs library! I cant wait to meet baby Sarah at the end of the month (or sooner)

Shannon got Sarah the book Itsy Bitsy Spider-- its super cute!

Jen's Baby Bump!
Im guessing Sarah weighs 8lbs 9oz...

Heres a few more pics of today!

Sarah's Baby Book

The Gifts!

The Rattle on the Diaper Cake

Grandma Karen playing the Sock Game!