Climb Aboard the Faris Wheel

FIRST SOCCER GAME...GO BANDITS!!

2011-09-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

Before the game

Logan, Beckham, and Tyler

Logan and Beckham keeping themselves entertained on the sidelines

He looks like he's having FUN

Go Beckham GO!!

Reaction after the first BANDIT goal

Handsome little Soccer Player

First Day of PRE K!

2011-09-02T23:48:00.002-05:00

Beckham started Pre-K this year, and I can hardly believe that I only have 1 more year with him at home! He has become such an amazing little guy, full of personality. He has a sweet heart and a kind spirit. He is also the LOUDEST child I have ever met, and he's all boy!

This year he's attending a school closer to home, leaving the comfort of his grandparent's church, where everyone knew him. I am praying it's a great year blessed with lots of new friends, new experiences, and LOTS of learning...both academic and social.

This is the attitude I get a lot these day.

This is our babysitter, Mandy's little boy...COLLIN. He and Beckham are BFF's. I am so thankful they have eachother in class this year.

Walking to class....When did he get so BIG?

Ms. Sherry

Ms. Kelly

He pretty much decided at this point he didn't need me anymore...I was replace by some very fun mystery play dough substance.

Check it out

2011-06-25T22:25:00.000-05:00

I am back to my photography again...finally. And I am having a blast! I have had some really fun shoots lately. Check out my new photography blog:
angelafarisphotography.blogspot.com

Easter 2010

2010-04-10T23:19:00.005-05:00

Just a few pics from Easter...

Way over due post....

2010-04-02T16:46:00.012-05:00

Well, life has been busy, but not overwhelmingly exciting. The holidays came and went way too quickly. The winter was REALLY long, REALLY cold, and REALLY dreary! We all had cabin fever often. It's not much fun when we can't get outside and run and play. And with the flu the way it was this winter, the indoor play places were not visited as often as we would have liked. BUT the blessing is that both kiddos stayed relatively healthy. Beckham had his first bout with strep throat and then the following week had some sort of flu, but he handled both like a champ!

We celebrated Beckham's 3rd birthday! Where did the time go? He's SO big! And WAY smarter than I give him credit for most of the time. Pretend has become a big deal to him. He loves to dress up and play characters alot. 3 is challenge...he's so independant! I love him SO much!

Christmas Pics....I told you it's a WAY overdue post!

The winter had its FUN moments though. We had 3 good snows! Here are a few pics of all of us having fun in the snow!

She did NOT like making snow angels!!

These were taken less than a week after the 11 1/2 inches of snow!!

Then we celebrated Kerrington's 1st Birthday! It was a fun day with lots of family. I can't believe my baby is a year old already! She is crawling everywhere, and walks with her walking toys really well. At her 1 year check up she was 20.1 pounds (40th percentile) and 26 inches (15th percentile). She gets more and more personality everyday and is just a little angel!

Kerrington and her cousin Jayden...their birthdays are 3 weeks apart.

Of course, Beckham had to help her open her presents.

She loves reading books!

She loves her baby! She hugs her and kisses her! SO cute!!

She loves riding the Hobby Horse...who, by the way, Beckham has named "Toronado."

And then...it snowed again!

So we are back to warm weather, and we are loving it! We love being able to play outside again! And just today...Beckham accidentally found his gift from the Easter Bunny! We had hidden it in the back of Josh's car, and while we were doing yard work, the little stinker spotted it! He walked around the car trying to get a better look, and finally he asked about it. So we had to give it to him and told him the Easter Bunny must have dropped it off a little early because he was so busy. A 3 year old will believe anything! He loves the bike! Pics soon to follow...

Side by Side

2009-10-27T05:21:00.003-05:00

I took Amy's suggestion and dug up Beckham's monkey pics....

BECKHAM

KERRINGTON

Sometimes I am even a little amazed how much they look alike!!

And...

2009-10-25T21:41:00.001-05:00

Of course, Kerrington looked adorable too. This is the same costume Beckham wore for his 1st Halloween, only I had to "girly" it up a little with a pink bow. She gets cuter everyday! She's "talking" ALL the time these days. She's reaching, grabbing and holding onto to everything she can reach. She shows no interest in crawling yet, but I am ok with that! Beckham crawled at 7 months and life was never the same. I am completely ok with Kerrington taking her own sweet time.

She finally decided she would try solid foods. She still is not a big fan, but she can at least swallow them without choking. So far she has had bananas (not a fan), peaches, apples, green beans, squash , and sweet potatoes. She refuses to eat cereal prepared any way. She goes back to the Dr. in a month and hopefully she will be gaining and growing appropriately. I'll keep ya posted.

Party like a ROCK STAR!!

2009-10-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

Our small group Halloween Party was this weekend. Thanks to the Colemans for hosting! It was SO fun seeing all the kiddos dressed up. Beckham is so in to guitars these days, so we decided to make him a rock star. He LOVED it!!! And I have to say, I did too! He was the most adorable rock star I have ever seen!! We'll do it all again for Halloween next week. Another great photo op!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

2009-10-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

What's going on....

2009-07-13T22:21:00.004-05:00

It's been a time of adjustment yet again at the the Faris house. It seems just when we get adjusted to one routine, it's time to begin another one. I was on maternity leave for a full 4 months. It was AWESOME!! The first few weeks were a little crazy, but just about the time I was really getting in a groove, and feeling like a stay-at-home mom, it was time to go back to work. BUMMER!! The blessings are that if I have to be a working mom, which is a necessity right now, I only work 3 days a week, I enjoy my "away-from-home" job, and we have AMAZING childcare that makes it easier to leave in the mornings. GOD IS GOOD!!

The kids are adjusting relatively well. Beckham's routine hasn't changed much. He is still with my mother in law 2 days a week, but we have a new babysitter. My dear friend, Britney is keeping both kids on Tues. and Kerrington on Wed. Then both go to my mother in law's in Thurs. Kerrington is having a few issues with taking a bottle. She seems to do ok one day and not so great the next. The Dr. said the only way to truly fix that is to quit nursing, and I am not quite ready to do that yet. So, hopefully with time and a little patience, she will learn to take a bottle better...SOON!!

Speaking of Kerrington..
She's getting SO fun these days! She "talks" all the time, she's grasping toys, she's laughing.....SO FUN!!! And she gets prettier everyday!! She had her 4 month ck up last week. 4 MONTHS!!! I can't believe it!!! Here are the stats:
Weight: 13.9 lbs (50-75%)
Height: 24 inches (50-75%)
Head: 16 inches (90th % !!)
She's different from Beckham at this age. She sleeps better than he did. She is much more stingy with her laughs that he was. She's cuddly, but not as cuddly. But over all, she's been an easy baby (so far) just like Beckham. We are in LOVE!!

Beckham is still the SWEETEST boy in the world!! 2 1/2, though it is challenging, is SO much fun! He's a great talker, he loves music, he loves books, he loves playing outside (even when it's 100 degrees!), and he loves his mommy and daddy! What a little blessing he is! We have had some weight-gaining issues with him, but we weighed him at Kerrington's appt and he weighs 27 pounds!!! Just a little history...
4 months: 14.6 lbs
6 months: 18.4 lbs
12 months 20.1lbs
2 yrs: 22lbs. (That's 2 lbs in a whole year!)
2 1/2 yrs: 27 lbs (That's 5 lbs in 6 months!)
Finally....!!!

Josh is busy, busy, busy with work. He travels often, but fortunately it's usually just overnight trips. I am still adjusting to that as well, although each trip gets a little easier. But he hasn't had to leave sonce I have been back at work. That may be a little tougher.

I am still learning how to juggle all the new things in life. I am looking at life in a new way. While I was in maternity leave, I had a conversation that blessed me so much. A friend and I were talking at dinner about husbands and wives and being a mom, etc... And I confess, I was venting to her about some frustrations I was having about the responsibilities of being a wife and mom, and how they seem unequal and unfair between husbands and wives. I said something like, "He (meaning Josh) will never know what it is like to get up 3 times a night to feed a baby, he'll never know what it's like to be home all the time 24/7 with children and how "crazy" that can be, and blah, blah blah...." She looked right at me said "You're right, he won't. And he's not suppose to." I had never thought of it like that. God has given husbands and wives different roles in marriage and in parenthood. And if we accept those roles, and view them as a blessing, and trust that HIS way is the perfect way, then it makes it easier to live our role out. At least it has been for me. Now, I don't want to take anything away from Josh and make it seem like he's not a wonderful husband and COMPLETELY involved father. Our children could not be more blessed! But it is different. The other thing my friend said was to remember that my home and my family are my "career" and the job I go to 3 days a week is just a place to earn money to help my family. That has helped my attitude toward my home in general.

So there ya have it...so to have rambled so long! Here are some pics....

We have learned she can sleep anywhere

I mean anywhere!!

I love a BIG bow...don't judge me!

This was a craft project we did today. I am doing anything to keep Beckham busy and indoors at the same time!! If you are looking to things to do, MICHAELS is have a sale in little craft things like this...all for $1.00 or less!!!

An old shirt of Josh's made a great smock...he looked too cute!!

"Playing" Guitar Hero with Dad

Gotta LOVE a giveaway!!!

2009-06-16T22:45:00.003-05:00

Ok, I found this on a Becky's blog. Check out this website...you could be a winner!!

The lazy days of SUMMER!

2009-06-14T22:05:00.005-05:00

Summer has hit here in Dallas, and it is HOT!! But that doesn't stop a 2 year old from wanting to be outside all the time! So that's what we do. We play on the fort, we color with sidewalk chalk and, we play with Buddy. I know I have said it before, but I LOVE this age with Beckham!! He is SO full of joy and fun, he keeps us laughing all the time.

When we are not outside, his favorite indoor activity is "playing" his guitar. We recorded the finale of American Idol, and he loves to watch Kris Allen and Keith Urban sing. We watch it at least 10 times a day! It's HYSTERICAL to watch him sing and dance around! I also can't keep him out of the pantry and refrigerator. He never really wants to eat, but occasionally I will catch him sitting on the floor eating chips. Too funny!

Kerrington is growing too fast, as usual. Why do babies have to do that? She is smiling alot, cooing a little and batting at all of her little toys. I am going back to work in a week, so I have been trying to get her to take a bottle. She is FINALLY getting the hang of it, after trying every bottle on the market! I am really sad that I have to go back to work, but the Lord has blessed us once again with great childcare! Thank you, LORD!

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of Kerrington's room. It's still needs some work done, but here are a few pics.

Just a couple more

2009-06-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

KERRINGTON

2009-06-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

LOVE YOU FOREVER

2009-04-24T23:13:00.004-05:00

I have loved this book since my senior year in high school when my English teacher read it to our class. I love that it is a story about a mother and a son. I have given it as a gift numerous times over the years, and the day I found out I was having a boy when I was pregnant with Beckham, I bought this book.

Every night before Beckham goes to bed, we have reading time. Usually it's book like "THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR" or some sort of Elmo book. Well much to my delight, a few days ago, he pulled out "Love You Forever." Normally, he is not interested much in the story, but as we read it for the first time, he hung on every word. He even asked to read it a second time. And now it is a regular part of our night time routine. I have noticed there is one part that he pay particular attention to. He always goes back several times to the picture where the son is holding his aging mother. I always ask him if he will hold me like that when he's big and strong and I am old. He usually says a little "yea" and flips the page.

Well, tonight we were reading along and he kept flipping back to that page. So I asked him my usual question, expecting the same usual answer. But tonight he cuddled up next to me, gave me HUGE hug and held on to me and said "Hold you, mommy, hold you."

Oh man, it's those moments that make all the frustrating moments of the day melt away.

Sweet Baby K!

2009-04-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

Kerrington is 7 weeks old now. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. She's getting to that age where she's focusing really well and tracking voices with her eyes. She hasn't given us a "real" smile yet (even though it looks like it in these pics), but I bet it will be any day now. She's been a really good baby. She's sleeps pretty much all day. She's giving me about 4-5 hours between feedings at night. And she's pretty content the rest of the time. Beckham LOVES her, and I can see a little twinkle in her eyes when she sees him. I think things will be really fun when she begins to smile and laugh at him. So many FUN things to look forward to!! She has her 2 month check-up next week. I am anxious to see how much she weighs. I'll post her stats then.

Spring Time!!

2009-04-23T23:18:00.007-05:00

I am LOVING the weather lately!! Beckham is REALLY loving the weather lately! I knew that 2 year little boys liked playing outside, but I never knew that meant ALL DAY LONG! Seriously, Beckham could be outside from the time he wakes up in the morning until the time he goes to sleep at night. And it doesn't have to be doing much, just being outside is enough.

But this week, Josh gave him something to do outside....

He built him a sandbox!! And let me tell ya, Beckham hasn't been out of it since! That's why I LOVE my husband! He loves to do little projects like this for the kids. He's a wonderful Dad!!

Anyway, I loaded it up with toys from the DOLLARSPOT at Target, and it's hours o'fun for Beckham. I slather on the sunblock and send him on his way. Have I said I love this age? I love that I can open the back door and leave it open and watch him from the kitchen. I love seeing his little imagination working as he plays. He is SOOOOOO fun right now!

Here are a few other pics of the outdoor fun...

Kerrington is growing way too big way too fast! She's had a little bit of a cold lately, so she's been a pretty congested. But she's a trooper. She's starting to stay awake a little more lately, focus on things more, turning her head to see the person attached to the voice she hears, and I am betting she's gonna start smiling soon. She's at a fun age too. I love it when they start to get more interactive. I can't wait for that first real smile!!

By the way, we had some professional photos taken of the kids a few weeks ago. Here's a sample of what we got.

http://emilythurmondphotographyblog.com/beckham-2-kerrington-1month-frisco-childrens-and-baby-photographer/

2 weeks

2009-03-18T00:04:00.004-05:00

Yep, that's right...I have been the mom of 2 for 2 full weeks now. I can't believe how fast time is going already. I wish the LORD had issued pause buttons for times like this. Just to pause time temporarily and take it all in, moment by moment. Beckham is SO much fun right now, and I had forgotten how precious these newborn days are. I find myself thanking the LORD many times a day for how sweet life is right now. HE is so good, so faithful, so loving.

We had Kerrington's 2 week appt. today. She is now 19 3/4 inches (18 1/4 at birth) and 6lbs 12oz (6 lbs 10 oz at birth and 6lbs 1 oz and her smallest). So needless to say, she is growing!! Beckham is easing into being a big brother. He's still a little jealous and wants "his" time alone with us, but overall, he's very sweet and loving with Kerrington. I have been VERY proud of him!

Beckham is really into playing with cars these days. I love to hear him make his cars sounds. Such a little boy thing to do!

CARS is one of his favorite movies and he loves playing with the character cars from the movie. Here he is playing with "Mack."

Playing outside on a sunny day requires shades these days.

She's Here!!!

2009-03-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

KERRINGTON ELIZABETH HAS ARRIVED! SHE WAS BORN MARCH 3RD AT 7:53AM. 6LBS 10 OZ 18 1/4 INCHES.
WE ARE ALL DOING WELL. BECKHAM IS ADJUSTING AS WELL AS A 2 YEAR CAN TO NOT BEING THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. HE LOVES TO HUG AND KISS HER. SHE HAS BEEN A GREAT BABY. JUST WANTED TO SHARE OUR LATEST BLESSING WITH YOU. MORE LATER!!

Our Life....in pictures

2008-12-21T21:12:00.008-06:00

The goings-on of the holidays can be a little hectic, as we all know. So the easiest way to update is to tell the story in photos...So here we go....

We had our cell group Christmas party. Yummy food at Cantina Loredo and great company. We are really enjoy our cell group, even though I think we have only been there once (due to all the Nov sickness). The people are great and we look forward to starting up again after the holidays.

Brad and Britney

Kamara and Aubrey

Here's our tree and mantle. I really like how they turned out this year.

Beckham and I made a cake for Josh...Me looking more preggo than EVER!!!

We had my family Christmas celebration this past Saturday. We go with the "total mayhem" approach, meaning we pass our gifts and let the kids go CRAZY!! It's always really loud, really chaotic, but REALLY FUN!!!

Here's Papa showing Beckham how to work his new tools

Beckham tinkering with all his new stuff

Daddy and Beckham

All the kids waiting for the presents to be passed out

Kyleigh, Cameryn, Marin and Beckham

And here are some cute ones of Beckham taking a bubble bath...

So there ya have it. We are ready for Christmas for sure!! I can't wait to see Beckham on Christmas morning!! I am looking forward to spending time with family, and I am REALLY ready for some time off!!

We hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Blessings to everyone!!

Where has the time gone???

2008-12-08T21:17:00.007-06:00

I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted anything. November was an eventful month, and not for all good reasons. Let's back up a bit...

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Surprisingly, Beckham really got into it this year. We went to a "trunk or treat" at my in-laws' church then trick-or-treating on Halloween night. He went up to every house and knocked on the doors, said "trick or treat" and "thank you" to every person. I was such a proud Mommy!!

Then we had a Halloween party at the Coleman's house. It was so fun to see all the kids in costumes, and Leslie did an awesome job as hostess!! As you can tell, Beckham was having a little fun. I love this picture of all the kids and moms!! Too FUN!!

Then...the sickness hit, and hit hard!! Beckham was first. He started out with the yucky nose and fever. I took him to the Dr. on Monday, and he said it was viral and gave him nothing. Well by Thursday he was no better, so I took him to the Acute Kids Care and sure enough, he had his very first ear infection. I am not complaining, we made it almost 2 years before the first one, so I think that is pretty good. As you can tell by the pictures, he was pretty pathetic, but still pretty cute!

After some antibiotics and ear drops, Beckham was back to his sweet playful self. Josh got it the following weekend, and I shortly followed. After a week of antibiotics, and a little rest, I was ready for Turkey Day!! Josh was feeling better, but sadly relapsed the Friday after Thanksgiving...cough, fever, runny nose, etc... the day before we were going to celebrate Beckham's 2nd birthday. Bummer!

But life goes on, and we celebrated Beckham's birthday anyway. I know, his birthday isn't for another month, but both of our whole families were in town for Thanksgiving, so we decided to celebrate a little early. Plus, December 29th is a really bad birthday. We may make a Thanksgiving birthday party a tradition.

Sunday after Thanksgiving, we decided to drag out all of the Christmas stuff. We haven't put a tree for 2 years, so I was anxious to get it all out and bring a little Christmas cheer to our house. I had forgotten how much stuff I have!! Plus we bought a new pre-lit tree when we moved into our house 3 years ago, so this is only our second time to put it up. I LOVE THE PRE-LIT TREE!!! It was SO easy!

So after the decorating hubbub, Josh took a little trip to the ER. Turns out he had a case of pink-eye on top of the other crud. Great...I wonder when Beckham will get it?? Well, about 4 days later is the answer to that. Actually, we took him back to the Acute Kids place Wed night, and the Dr. said it was a sinus infection that was going up into his tear ducts. So another round of STRONGER antibiotics and we were on our way again. The pink-eye showed up Saturday. That meant antibiotic eyedrops were added to our list of medicines. Have you ever tried to put eye drops in a 2 year old's eyes 3 times a day??? Let me tell, pray you don't ever have to. He HATES it!!

And now we are caught up to today... a few of us moms took our kiddos to see Santa Claus. We have planned this for months. So we all met at Northpark Mall, because they have the BEST Santa there, and wouldn't you know it...Santa was SICK!! Does Santa get sick? I guess so. So, they were nice enough to let us use the set to take some photos. It wasn't the same, but it was something. Then we headed over to the Galleria to see Santa there. As I predicted, Beckham thru a wall-eyed fit!! So not the cutest picture with Santa, but oh well, it's a memory. I will try to post that later.

So there ya have it, the latest with us. As far as baby news goes, all is well. I am measuring exactly where I should, and so far, no complications. I am praying it stays that way!! I am so excited for March so I can meet Kerrington, but I am savoring every moment with Beckham right now before my time is divided between 2 kiddos.

Getting political

2008-10-28T21:40:00.003-05:00

Folks, we are 1 week away from may be the most historical and important election most of us will see. I am one of "those people" who has always seen voting as a privaledge and a responsibilty. So even if I disagree with the candidate you choose, VOTE!!!

Now, if you are on the fence or undecided, PLEASE visit this link. I hope it helps you make a good, informed decision.

Name and Bedding

2008-10-21T20:22:00.003-05:00

SO, being that we have had several weeks of 90% chance of having a girl, we have been talking names and nursery a bit. I tried my hardest to look at little boy stuff as much as I looked at little girl stuff, but honestly, it wasn't even close. I always seemed to end up on the pages with pink WAY more than the pages with blue. But I figure I have had 2 years with blue, a little wishful thinking pink never hurt, right?

We also discussed a few names, but we always came back to the same one, so our little girl's name will be...KERRINGTON ELIZABETH!!!

We have also picked out bedding. I wanted something that was shabby chic-ish. Pink and girly. I love old looking things, and I have planned for YEARS to use my old china tea cups, saucers, plates, and tea sets. I just love the thought of it! Josh likes the more modern looks, the pink and brown, clean lines, new. So after looking at ALOT of photos on line, we chose this one. I think it's a good compromise.

Her colors really are BLUSH AND BASHFUL!!!

2008-10-20T15:07:00.003-05:00

Yep, the Dr. confirmed it today...WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!! And she looked perfect on the sono! What a huge blessing and a BIG sigh of relief!! Not the girl part, the healthy part. But I am SO thrilled it's a girl! I can't wait to meet her!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!

2008-10-17T19:40:00.004-05:00

Please, if you are planning on voting for Barack Obama, or if you are undecided on who to vote for, listen to this conversation with Dr. James Dobson and his guest today on Focus on the Family. I hope it will make the impact on you that it did on me.

Happy Anniversary!!

2008-10-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

October 9th Josh and I celebrated 4 wonderful years together. We waited until the weekend to do the actual celebrating part, but it was worth the wait! Our plan was to go to an afternoon movie, then to dinner, and home early enough to put Beckham to bed. Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad! We missed our movie because I, as usual these days, was running late. Pregnancy has made me so scattered brain, I am late all the time now! At least that's what I like to blame it on.

So instead we did a little shopping around town, then dinner. We went to our FAVORITE restraunt, THE SILVER FOX. If you haven't been there yet, I can't say enough good things about it to convince you to go!! The atmosphere is great, the service is wonderful and the food is to die for!!! It is owned by the same guy who owns III Forks (also really good), but I like the atmosphere better. We only go once a year for our anniversary, so we go all out...lobster tail, filet mignon, and the BEST macaroni-n-cheese in the world!!! GO, go now! And we were home early enough to put Beckham to bed! Thanks to Aunt Amy for babysitting!!!

I know I said last time that I would have Fair pictures, but pregnancy brain strikes again, and I accidentally deleted all of our pictures. I am REALLY bummed by this! But we had a great time. We intended on eating our way thru the Fair, as everyone does, but we ate 1 corny dog each, and we were full. But we did have the fresh lemonade and the root beer on tap. YUMMY!!

In baby news...we have our appt on Mon to see whether we are having a boy or girl. I am still hoping for a little girl, but I am ok with a little boy too. I am just thankful that this pregnancy has been so great. Yah, I was super sick at the beginning, but I have carried this pregnancy for 18 weeks, and so far everything has been really good. I am feeling really good lately, still tired, but what's new? I haven't gained any weight yet, but I starting to show for sure now. I still feel little flutters, but still get fearful in between appts, so for peace of mind, I have rented a fetal doppler so I can listen to the heartbeat between appts. It's probably being TOTALLY paranoid, but I am ok with that. My peace of mind is worth it. So, I will post more when we, hopefully, know for sure what we are having!! THINK PINK!!

Thank you

2008-09-27T21:43:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all of you who gave me such great advice and words of "experienced" wisdom on the whole crib-vs-toddler bed debate. We have decided to go ahead and make the jump to the toddler bed in a few months when Beckham turns 2. We thought economically it would be the best,(we can use it for the new baby when the time comes too), and if we do it around his birthday it should give us a few months to get him acclamated to the new bed. That is our prayer anyway.

This whole process is another one of those bittersweet times when you are so excited that your child has reached another milestone in growing up, and yet it makes you a little sad that they are growing up so fast. I know I say it all the time, but Beckham just get's bigger and bigger everyday. Not in size, we are still going on for weight checks, but everyday is something new. Talking, understanding, playing, etc....I LOVE watching it!

NEW BABY UPDATE: All is well. I go in for another sono in 3 weeks and we should have a definite on the gender of this little one. I am starting to feel little tiny movememts, but I think if this were my first pregnancy I would have no idea that's what I was feeling. Still haven't gained any weight, but I starting to show a little bit. Regular pants definetly don't fit anymore!! More in 3 weeks...

And STATE FAIR pics soon to follow.

POLL

2008-09-22T20:48:00.004-05:00

So as Beckham gets older, I often ask myself "who does he look like more?" I see so much of Josh in him, but when I look old pictures of myself, he looks alot like me too. So, take a peek at the pictures and decide for yourself. There's no right or wrong, but I would love to know what y'all think.

OK...

2008-09-17T21:20:00.002-05:00

Experienced moms, I need your help. Josh and I are trying to decide whether we should buy a Beckham a "big boy bed" and use the crib we have for the new baby, or buy another crib and keep Beckham in his crib as long as possible.

My initial thought is to buy a bed for Beckham and use the crib for the new baby. It's probably the most cost effective thing to do, and part of me thinks having 2 cribs is a little unnecessary. On the other hand, Beckham has never crawled out of his crib, and with as short as he is, I really don't think he will be able to crawl out for awhile. So by putting him a big bed, I am afraid, will only allow him to get out in the middle of the night and come in our room to wake us up. NOT FUN!! He will only be 26 months when the new baby is born, so I also feel like he will have plenty of time before he has to be out of a crib.

SO has anyone else been here? I don't think I would buy a brand new crib, I would try to find one at a consignment sale/store. And if I could find a convertible crib at a reasonable price, then both kids would have cribs that would eventually be toddler beds then big beds. But is have 2 cribs dumb? HELP!!

My Little Sickie

2008-09-16T20:59:00.003-05:00

So Friday morning, Beckham woke up with a runny nose and a sneeze. He seemed to feel ok, but runny none the less. We hung out for a while with my Mom and sister, went home ate dinner, all the usuals. He was in bed by his normal bedtime, and it seemed to be shaping up for a great evening to spend some time with my hubby watching a movie. Well, not 2 hours later, and probably 30 minutes into the movie, we heard screams coming from Beckham's bedroom. Not what any parent ever wants to hear, especially while trying to snuggle on the couch.So we got him out of his bed and sure enough, he had that "I don't feel so great" look on his face. So, after a dose of Tylenol, we did like any parents trained well by their child would do, we put him in bed with us, and we all retired for the night. Saturday morning he woke up (after I got barely any sleep after kicked all night long) and he still wasn't looking like he felt so hot. No fever, snot was clear, so nothing major, but still yucky. So we settled in for a relaxing morning of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I had to take some pictures because he looked like SUCH a big boy!! He laid on the couch covered up with his blankie, and quietly watched TV. It was too cute!! Even Buddy climbed up and took a little snooze with him.

When did my son get SO grown up?? I am TOTALLY loving this age, but everyday I realize a little more that he's growing up so fast right in front of me. These are days I will never get back, so I am trying to take them all in as much as possible. He's almost 21 months old. That is SO close to 2. We have been working on "how old are you Beckham?" and now he's already saying "2!" It breaks my heart a little more everytime he says it! I don't want to be reminded of it. And with the new baby coming, I am beginning to feel a little guilty that he won't be getting 100% of our attention. I know parents go thru this ALL the time, and kids adjust alot easier than we usually give them credit for, but I can't help it.

New Baby update: I am 14 weeks today, and I am starting to feel normal again. I am only a little nauseous when I wake up in the morning, but that is usually gone in an hour or so. I am getting my energy back too! I even felt so good today, we all went on a family walk in the beautiful weather after work. I go in 2 weeks for a regular check-up and back to the high risk Dr. on Oct 20th for the definitive ultrasound on whether it's a boy or a girl. I CAN'T WAIT! I am going witht the 90% chance right now, but have this feeling that the 10% chance it's a boy is going to be the reality. I guess we'll see in a few weeks...

PLEASE PRAY

2008-09-15T19:47:00.003-05:00

PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS LITTLE BOY. HE IS THE NEPHEW OF ONE OF JOSH'S CO-WORKERS/FRIEND. I DON'T KNOW THE LATEST, BUT PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS BABY AND HIS FAMILY.

http://jkpdclark.blogspot.com/

Her Colors Are BLUSH AND BASHFUL!!!

2008-09-05T20:12:00.002-05:00

Can you name that movie?? It's my favorite movie of all time (followed by a close second, THE WIZARD OF OZ).

So we went to the Perinatologist today for an NT screening test. This is the sonogram they ck for things like Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, and 2 other genetic abnormalities. She said the baby is looking PERFECT! Everything is measuring exactly like it should. The only thing she couldn't tell at this point was whether the baby has a 2 vessel umbilical cord like Beckham did. So that means I go back at 18-20 weeks and she will be able to tell then. Not that it is a really big deal, just something to keep an eye on. Hopefully all will come back good with that too.

So, while she was peaking around at things I asked her if she could tell us whether she thought the baby was a boy or girl. I knew it would just be a guess, but I couldn't wait! At first the baby was not cooperating at all. She wasn't gonna say what she thought because she couldn't get a good enough view. But then the baby moved a little bit, and she was able to zoom in a little. She said she would only go with a 90% guess, but she thinks it's a GIRL!! Now I know it's really early to tell, and there's still a chance that something may "pop out" at any time, but I'll take a 90% guess for now. We aren't going out and buying any pink yet, but I have to say, I am REALLY excited!!! I am just SO thankful that everything looks healthy. PRAISE GOD!!

Morning sickness is still hangin around. I feel ok some days, but most days I have at least a little bit of nausea. I am ready for that to be over. Hopefully just another couple of weeks.

Just an update

2008-09-01T21:30:00.003-05:00

I am officially 12 weeks pregnant! I went to the Dr. on Friday for a sonogram and visit. This was my 3rd sono for this pregnancy. I had a small hematoma they were watching, but PRAISE THE LORD it is gone. I don't see my regular Dr. for 4 weeks. I will see the high-risk Dr. for the routine 1st trimester screening in 2 weeks. The sono they do is a level 2 sono, so they can see a little more than a regular sono. This screening checks for things like spina bifida, down's syndrome, and other potential "problems." Part of me wonders why I even choose to do this. It won't change a single thing if it comes back for anything, but I guess it's a way to be "prepared." I am praying all is well.

Being I have had 3 sonos in 12 weeks, I have seen the little peanut grow from a little dot on the screen to an actual baby! It still amazes me. GOD in HIS creation is SO perfect! I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl, but I really think I saw "boy parts" on the sono on Fri. The lady said it was too vague, but I won't be even a little surprised if it's a boy. STILL PRAYING FOR A GIRL THOUGH!! Either way, healthy is all I really want.

Well, that's it. Still having morning sickness almost all day, and many other fun things that revistited me from my last pregnancy. (Those of you who I have shared with know exactly what I am talking about.) I am ready for the 2nd trimester to start feeling a little better.

Sweet story

2008-08-24T14:48:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we were able to get together with my family for my birthday dinner. When we all get together, we make a pretty big, pretty loud bunch, so we try to gather in places that can deal with those 2 things. This year that meant LOVERS PIZZA in Dallas. It's a really great little Italian restaraunt that's usually yummy and not too expensive. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, onto the sweet story. My niece, Cameryn, is 6 , and she has grown up to be a sweet, precious little girl. She's very tender hearted, and tends to be like a little mother to other kids around her. SO, in my birthday card, my sis-n-law told me to pay attention especially to what Cameryn wrote. She had no idea that I am pregnant, and in the card she wrote "I wish you would want another baby." I think she meant that she wishes I would have another baby. So after reading it, I pulled her over to me and asked what she meant by what she wrote in my card. She said "I want you to have another baby." So I told her her wish came true, that I am going to have another baby. I wish I had a camera on her face when I said that! Her little mouth dropped open and she threw her arms around me and gave me the BEST Cameryn hug EVER!! It made me cry. I don't know if my brother and sis-n-law had told her about the miscarriages or not, but somehow she knew something. Her excitement was so genuine, the kind only a child can have. It was just so sweet and precious. I won't soon forget it.

Thank you sweet Cameryn for you tender little heart. I pray THE LORD continues to bless you with that gift, and uses you to touch people the way you touched me on my birthday. I love you, sweet girl!!

More fun Pictures

2008-08-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more photos of Beckham.

He loves to put his feet in our shoes these days. It's pretty funny to watch him try to walk in them.
I love this shirt too, Josh got it for him. It says "I watch ESPN with my Mommy."

Daddy and Beckham at the SUPERHERO party.

Fun at PUMP IT UP!

He's is screaming with excitement after going down the slide by himself...
well Josh may have given him a little "nugde" down the slide.

What have we been up to??

2008-08-19T21:20:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been a busy few weeks. First, Henry Mullins dropped by to play for a while. He and Beckham had so much fun. It was so cute to see the 2 little guys playing. Henry isn't as mobile as Beckham yet, but Beckham made sure he always had a good toy to play with.

Here are the boys playing with their "cars."

Then my nephew Cannon turned 5 and had a SUPERHERO birthday party. Josh found Beckham some BATMAN pj's, and we figured they made a great little costume.

Beckham as BATMAN! Scary, huh?

Daddy and BATMAN!

And finally, we went to Makayla and Brynley Pitts' birthday party at PUMP IT UP! Beckham had a great time. He bounced and slid down the slide, ate a little pizza, and slept VERY well that night!

Sliding at PUMP IT UP.

That is pretty much it. Beckham had his 18 month check up, and he's doing great. The only thing they are concerned about is he's a little too thin. He's not gaining enough weight in the right amount of time. SO we have him on the "anything he wants to eat diet." If he wants animal crackers for breakfast, he gets them! We have to take him in for a weight check in 4 weeks and if he hasn't gained anything, then they are going to test him for CELIAC disease. I don't really think he has celiac, but if the Dr says do it, we do it.

Well, that pretty much catches us up. Oh...and I am pregnant!!

BIG BOY!!

2008-08-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

SUMMER DAYS!!!

2008-07-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, we had 2 of our nieces and our nephew spend the night with us. It was SO fun!!Beckham LOVED playing with his cousins! You could tell by the look on his face, he thought he was such a big boy playing with BIG kids (I'll post some pics of that later). Saturday afternoon we hooked up the slip-n-slide, the sprinkler and filled up the baby pool. The kids ran from one thing to the next. They had BLAST!!

We learned a valuable lesson that day....don't mow the lawn right before doing water activities outside. They were COVERED in grass from all the clippings in yard!! But it was still fun! I love being an aunt and since having Beckham, I feel like I have slacked a lot in that department. So it was really great to be an aunt for a while again!

Cannon playing in the pool.

Marin on the slip-n-slide.

Cameryn in the pool. All of that grass ended up in her hair! GROSS!!

Yes, that's all grass!!

SUMMER!!!

2008-06-05T19:23:00.002-05:00

It's this time of the year that I ask myself "Why didn't I go into teaching???" I am SO jealous of all of my teacher friends who get to spend the next 3 months sleeping late and playing with their babies and laying out, and lunching with friends, and on and on and on....

But really....CONGRATS to ALL the teachers who made it thru another year!!!

Sick weekend!

2008-06-02T10:15:00.002-05:00

And I don't mean "sick" in a good way. We all had the "crud" all weekend, and I, for some reason, am holding on to it for dear life. I think it is more allergies now than a cold, but either way, it's no fun!

So that's it. Just wanted to vent.

THAT FACE....

2008-05-27T22:27:00.000-05:00

MELTS MY HEART!!!

My Son!

2008-05-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

Beckham is getting so tall! Tall enough that he managed to get this box of TEDDY GRAHAMS off the dining room table and went to eating really quickly before they were taken away. But I had to get a few pics first, of course!

This is a box that a set of Baby Einstein DVD's came in. He got his tiny hiny stuck in it, and of course I had couldn't pass up this photo op!

These are his new curls that have grown in the last few weeks. TOO CUTE!!

And this is Beckham looking under the gate at something he really wants, but can't quite figure out how to get underneath the gate to get it.

Memorial Day!!!

2008-05-27T22:18:00.000-05:00

First let me start by saying a BIG thanks to all the service men and women. Without them, we couldn't celebrate the freedom we enjoy in the great USA!

So there's not many things that beat a 3 day weekend, especially when I get to spend it with my hubby and son. We started out by taking Beckham to PETER PIPER PIZZA in Friday. Each time we do something like this, we realize that he is still a little to young for most of the games, but he still has fun walking around and eating pizza, so it's worth it. Then Saturday, Josh worked on the lawn most of the afternoon while Beckham and I played. Then we went to church that night. Afterward we got to enjoy an awesome CHEESECAKE FACTORY dinner with the Mullins and the Galyeans! I love it when I can go out to eat with friends AND my son is so well behaved! Being it was about 2 hours past his bedtime when we left, Beckham was a champ! FUN!!!

Then we just lounged around and relaxed. BUT Sunday night Josh and I decided we would camp out in the backyard!

Here's our tent. We had never used it before, and it was such a great night we figured why not?? Well, we got the tent all up, put Beckham to bed and headed out to the backyard for the night. We took the portable DVD player out there and watched a movie. The breeze was great, not too hot, not too cold. About 20 minutes after being outside Buddy started barking and we couldn't figure out why, until we looked up in the sky. There were FIREWORKS!! Yep, there was a concert going on about 2 miles down the road complete with a fireworks show! We had a PERFECT view. It was so fun. But the fun was over pretty quickly. I didn't realize that our backyard is really noisy at night! SO I lasted in the "great outdoors" until 12:30am and then went inside to the peace and quiet of my house. Josh and Buddy soon followed. I think we will save camping for the real great outdoors.

Monday, Josh's family came over and we played with Beckham and hung out a little a bit before starting another long work week. Overall all rating...I give it a 10!!

Here a couple pics of Beckham. He get's more and more fun as the days go on. He is saying so many new words. Today's word was "bike." My mother-n-law takes him for bike rides when he is with her, and he LOVES it! He told me all about it when I picked him up today. I love that little face!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

2008-05-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

Well, this Mother's Day was great! Josh had his last day at his old job on Thursday (praise the Lord!) so that left Friday wide open for me to spend with my 2 favorite boys in the whole world!! We went to run errands all morning. Then we ate lunch at GATTI TOWN in Frisco. Beckham had a blast!! He loves pizza and even though most of the games were still a little big for him, he loved the carousel and all the noise and lights of the arcade. I can't wait to take him when he's a little older. Then we went to the mall and walked around a little bit. Then we went to look at a couple of model homes. No, we aren't moving any time soon, we were just curious about this new neighborhood being built, so we stopped. Then Beckham and I went home. Beckham napped while Josh went to get him a little pool for the backyard. When he woke up....well the pictures explain it all!

Beckham can now open the doors in our house. It's his favorite new game!

Sliding down the slide in the pool!

Dont' adjust the color on your monitor, folks. Yes, he's THAT pale!! Poor baby!

Saturday we spent the day with my family in Ft. Worth. My nephew, Cal, is turning 8 years old on Tuesday, so we had the family b-day party. Then we all went to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom. It's great to be able to spend time with family. We were missing my sister and her family in Tennesse, so it wasn't quite complete, but we still had fun. Sunday was church , then a few errands, then lunch with my son and husband for Mother's Day. Overall, a WONDERFUL weekend!!

My sweet husband didn't disappoint on the gifts either. He bought a new lens for my camera, which ROCKS, and a gift card to Bath and Bodyworks. My mother-n-law surprised me by getting Beckham's picture taken a few weeks ago, and gave me the prints as my gift. PERFECT GIFT!!!

So Mother's day 2008 was great! I am mindful of all the mom's celebrating their first Mother's day and also those mom's who have lost children this year. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

SHEER ELATION

2008-05-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

This is another hand-me-down from my niece. Josh hung it up this afternoon and Beckham was more than happy to take it for a spin! Have you ever seen a happier little face??

Beckham in ACTION!!!

2008-05-04T21:02:00.000-05:00

The great outdoors!!

2008-05-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, my sister gave Beckham a slide/swing combo thing for the backyard. It was my nieces and she had out grown it. It's really great to be the last one in the family to have kids. The hand-me-downs ROCK!! Well, needless to say Beckham LOVES it!! He is all over it. Thanks Aunt Jacque!

CHECK IT OUT!!

2008-04-28T20:15:00.002-05:00

Check out my new blog design for my photography blog. Thanks to Jennifer at PINK ARMCHAIR DESIGNS for the make over. Check out her website......VERY talented!!!

Read this blog

2008-04-27T21:03:00.003-05:00

All I can say is click here. But just a warning, you will cry. But it is an amazing story of a family's faith and trust in the LORD's sovereignty.

WANNA SEE SOMETHING REALLY CUTE???

2008-04-25T13:09:00.001-05:00

Click HERE

This is a link to the MURRAY quads. 4 BOYS!!! Can you even imagine?? They are so stinkin cute!!

Kacey Rose

2008-04-21T09:03:00.005-05:00

This little 3 year old girl and her family REALLY need your prayers right now. Kacey is probably in her final stages of leukemia. Hospice has been called and they are trying to keep her out of pain. Here is a post from her daddy. WARNING....it is gut wrenching to read. I can't imagine what this family is going thru. Hug your babies tighter today. Kiss a little more today. And say a prayer for this mom and dad who must be experiencing the worst pain ever.

let me fill you in....We left Yale yesterday afternoon. We are attempting to keep Kacey comfortable at home. We were met by the VNA and Hospice and have some sort of plan which we will modify as needed.Kacey gave up eating and drinking 5 days ago and is currently receiving IV nutrition (TPN) for 12 hours a day. She continues with 103 degree fevers every 4 hours or so and has a bad cough. The cough caused her to vomit many times last night all over herself and bedding. Needless to say, last night was rough and I have been up for 26 of the last 27 hours, so far. BUT we would not even complain if it meant that our little monkey was going to be alright.I will be taking some time off with the intentions of taking Kacey on a few day trips to the aquarium, butterfly garden, zoo, etc. I hope she is stable enough to enjoy these trips.Saturday morning was absolutely beautiful outside, sunny and in the 70's - the first real spring day. As everyone was enjoying the weather my wife was doing something no parent should ever have to do - she went to pick out cemetery plots. We purchased 4 so we will all be together. She picked out a wonderful spot where you can see our house and backyard from and in turn, we will be able to see from our backyard and bedroom window. In some way, we believe it will comfort us to know that she is close and watching over us.Needless to say, we should have gone together but one of us had to stay with Kacey at the hospital.Again and please - be VERY grateful for what you have and do not complain about what you don't. Know that you are blessed and that you did not spend this past Saturday selecting a cemetery plot for you child.Kris and Kacey are still sleeping, hopefully she will feel up to a small road trip today - we will let you know how it goes.

Beckham's new trick...

2008-04-18T10:00:00.002-05:00

Beckham has been going up Grandma and Grandpa's stairs for a while now, but recently he's learned how to go back down them.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Lately whenever I say we are going somewhere, he tries to grab my purse or his diaper bag. I guess he's figured out whenever we leave, I grab some sort of thing to throw over my shoulder. So Josh bought him his very own backpack the other day. He wheeled it around everywhere he went. He wants to hold it in the car. It's really funny when I look in the rearview mirror and all I can see is his little face with this big backpack covering up the rest of him.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
On a slightly crazier note, our house was kinda struck by lightning last night...we think. There was a big POP, and all the power went out. Josh was on the computer and got a wave of electricity sent up his hand and arm. Everything else was ok, except it fried our master bedroom outlets, and we can't get the circuit breaker to flip on. CRAZY!!! Any electricians out there in blog world know how to fix that??

Going home....

2008-04-11T23:57:00.003-05:00

Please lift the Powell family up in prayer today. They are having Ethan's "going home celebration" (as they call it) today. And if it is on your heart, where blue today in honor of Ethan.

Invite a Friend!

2008-04-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went to LITTLE GYM with Beckham's babysitter, Mandy, and her little girl, Carly. Beckham had a BLAST!!! He LOVED it! He loved the music, the climbing, being around other kids....you name it, he loved it! Here are a few pics to show off the great time we had!!

Clapping and dancing to the music

More clapping

WOW!! Where should I go next?

BUBBLES!!!!

Sorry...

2008-04-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

I have struggled whether or not to post today. Being so many of my posts have been sad lately, I didn't want to be a big bummer again. But my heart is just too heavy not to get some feelings down. SO here's your chance to exit out of here and just skip this post all together.

Saturday I came home from Maggie's birthday party to read that Ethan Powell had passed away. I had been reading for several days about his declining situation, so in my brain, I was not shocked by the news, but in my spirit, I truly believed that the LORD would honor the amazing faith of Ethan's parents, Ben and Becky, and grant them the miracle they so faithfully prayed for for so many months. And He didn't. At least not here in the flesh on this earth. Again, in some way I can rationalize the precious blessing that Ethan is whole and in Heaven with the Creator and that is ultimately where we all long to be...someday. But I still don't get, and probably never will, why He allows things like cancer in a 2 months old baby to happen in the first place!

Ethan's story caught me immediately the day I heard about him, and for months I have read daily about his progress and setbacks. I guess it touched me so much because Ethan and Beckham are only 24 days apart in age. I would read about this courageous family and be in awe of their faith. I was amazed at how the word spread like wildfire about Ethan and couldn't wrap my brain around how many prayers were being sent to the Father for him. Bone marrow drives were set up in honor of Ethan all over, in hopes that there would be a match for him. There was never a match for Ethan, but I think about how many lives may be saved because of Ethan in the future because there are so many new donors. The faith the Powells displayed thru such a horrible situation, I believe, could be compared to Job. Never, not once, did they show a wavering in their faith. And even since Ethan has passed, they have given glory to the LORD and His sovereignty. I am not sure I could have been as strong and unwavering as they have been.

I guess we all have those times and things in our lives that just hit us, and for whatever reason, change us a little. Ethan has done that for me. I am now a bone marrow donor. I pray that I get a phone call some day and I am able to donate. I will proudly say that's it's because of a little boy named Ethan. I see my son differently today than I did 3 days ago. Those times when I would tend to get frustrated, I remember that Ben and Becky won't experience that today, or ever. When I am selfish and tired and don't feel like doing the simplest of things like giving Beckham a bath because I am too lazy, I remember that Ben and Becky would give anything to give Ethan a bath tonight. Confession time...I love my son, more than anything, I love my son. But lately I have allowed myself to be selfish, lazy and put myself ahead of him at times. Now of course he's fed and bathed and all the basics, but I don't always WANT to do some of those things. I don't want to read him another book. I don't want to watch "MickeyMouse Clubhouse", I...I...I.... Well, no more. I will treasure everyday and every moment. It will no longer be about me, but about that precious, wonderful, sweet, rambunctious, little red-head that God has entrusted to me.

In the post on Ethan's website tonight, Ben says that Ethan lived up to his name: Ethan Isaiah
Ethan=mighty warrior/Isaiah=messenger of GOD. I couldn't agree more. Please continue to pray for the Powell family. On the website, if you feel led, there is fund established at their home church in Louisiana. I can't even begin to imagine picking up life at home after 14 months of being away, but I am sure there are some financial obstacles that may arise. And the Powells are also asking for continued prayers for Ethan's friends still at St. Jude. Ben always closes his posts: BeLIeVe...PRAYER WORKS!! The little "e's" are in honor of Ethan.

(Thank you if you are still reading this, for allowing me to vent!)

Bumper Sticker

2008-04-06T12:47:00.003-05:00

Ok, I know my posts lately have been a little bit "Debbie Downer-esque." But yesterday I saw a bumper sticker that made me laugh out loud. It was a white sticker with the pink breast-cancer awareness ribbon on it and it said "Save the Ta Ta's." Ok, I have no idea if it is a real awareness sticker, and hopefully I haven't offended anyone by posting it, but I thought it was really funny!

Ethan Powell

2008-04-05T14:29:00.002-05:00

Several months ago I posted about a courageous little boy and his family and their fight againt leukemia. Ethan was diagnosed at his 2 month check-up with leukemia, and has gone home to be with Jesus this morning. He was 16 months old today. You can click in his blog on the right. PLEASE lift this family up in your prayers.

The Farley Family

2008-04-04T10:21:00.004-05:00

If you haven't been following the Farley family, ck out this video. I love reading Boothe's blog, even though I have never met her. She is SO transparent in her emotions. Raw emotion that we all feel, but too ashamed to admit, or perhaps not as eloquent to express it. I encourage you to read her blog from the beginning. You will become part of an amazing journey that God has this family on, and you will be touched in ways you can't imagine.

You can read their blog here.

Did you see Oprah??

2008-04-03T21:33:00.003-05:00

Yes, I record Oprah everyday. I watch it strictly for entertainment purposes, and if she has a topic, and many times she does, that I feel is crossing some boundaries and contradicts any of my personal beliefs or my faith, I immediately erase that episode without watching it. All that being said, if you missed yesterdays episode, you should try to find it online somewhere, or wait for it to rerun in the summer.

Her guests for the day were 2 families whose daughters were in car accident together. Thru a number of strange circumstances, the girls identities were mixed up. 1 girl lived and 1 girl died. The family of the girl who really died ended up caring for a girl who wasn't their daughter for 5 weeks in the hospital before the mix up was cleared up. I know that sounds REALLY confusing. Ultimately the girl who survived the accident and her family were reunited and the family of the girl who died had to come to grips with the reality that their little girl was gone.

The great thing about the story is that both families are Christians, and because of their faith in the Lord, they are friends and have seen the glory of GOD in the whole thing. The families met on the 1 year anniversary of the accident and the mother of the girl who survived told the other family that she felt guilty because they got the "happy ending" and the father of the girl who died replied "so did we, we just haven't seen it all, yet." It is a WONDERFUL story of faith and mercy. The best part of the show was when Oprah asked the father of the girl who survived why he thought they have been able to make it thru and he TOTALLY preached the gospel of Jesus on Oprah's stage!!! He said that because of the forgiveness that we have been given thru Christ on the cross, they have been able to forgive and heal. It was so great!! I love it when God chooses to use such a secular forum to have the Truth spoken. When Oprah asked the father of the girl who died why they didn't file a lawsuit, here was his reply:
Don says his family was not interested in filing a lawsuit then or now. "I just didn't see what that would gain for us. Over the years, I've learned that forgiveness and love is healthier than bitterness and vengeance," he says. "One of my favorite verses in the Bible says, 'What has the Lord required of you? To act justly. To love mercy. And to walk humbly with your God.' That one phrase—'to love mercy'—you don't see a lot of that today." ( from Oprah.com)

So if you have a chance to catch the show, do. If you are totally, 100% against anything that Oprah Winfrey says or does, then the families have written a book together about their story called "Mistaken Identity." It really is a bittersweet story, but I think worth reading.

My new favorite...

2008-03-31T09:45:00.002-05:00

My favorite new discovery is the Zip Loc Zip n Steam Bags. Have ya'll used these yet? They are awesome!! Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like to cook. And since I try to feed Beckham a little more healthy that what Josh and I eat, these little bags have come in handy. I made my own baby food for a while and it was really easy and much less expensive than buying jarred food. But I was using a steaming basket, which technically still counts as cooking to me. I didn't mind doing it that way, but I wish I had discovered the steam bags sooner. Now I chop up all of Beckham's veggies for the week and put them in baggies and store them in the fridge. Then when it's meal time, I just take out the amount I need, throw them in a steam bag
and microwave them according to the cooking time on the bag. SO EASY!!! I have even started taking the raw veggies to the babysitter along with a steamer bag for Beckham's lunch. It's just as easy as packing anything else. The food tastes so yummy too. Beckham loves his carrots, squash, zucchini, and broccoli. And by steaming them, it leaves most of the nutrients in the food to. They even have recipes to create entire meals in the steam bags. I haven't tried any yet, but I plan to. The only down side is the are a little pricey. But I have started to use 1 bag per day. That way I don't feel like I am wasting them. So, if you hate to cook as much as I do, or just don't have a lot of time to cook, try these bags. They are GREAT!!!

If I were on American Idol...

2008-03-28T15:19:00.002-05:00

First of all, the only way I would make it on American Idol is on the reject shows with William Houng and all the other delusional people who think they can sing, but I was inspired by Britney to google the songs from the year I was born and I discovered that 1974 was a REALLY good year for music. I also discovered that many of them are now on the games "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero." I am not sure if that's such a good thing or not. It makes me feel really old.

Anyway, here are a few of my favs from 1974...

Cat's in the Cradle-Harry Chapin
Sweet Home Alabama-Lynard Skynard WHAT A CLASSIC!!
Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe-Barry White
Piano Man-Billy Joel ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVS!!
The Joker-Steve Miller Band
Bennie and the Jets-Elton John

I love all of the songs!! Who knew 1974 was such great year for music??

"Gone and More!"

2008-03-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

Beckham has started saying "gone" when he is finished with something. Like when he takes a bite he says "gone!" It's too cute! And his babysitter, Mandy, has been working with him on signing "more", the 14th month old version, anyway. She called on Friday so excited "I forgot to tell you that Beckham signed 'more' !" It's pretty funny, it TOTALLY caught me by surprise the first time he did it! So I got it on video today and thought I would share. Enjoy!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Easter Fun Weekend!

2008-03-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it was a FUN weekend! Josh took Friday off so we were able to spend the whole day as a family together. Josh worked on the yard in the morning, then we went to the park for a little while. The evening was spent watching I AM LEGEND and a lot of NCAA basketball. (By the way, I am dead last in my bracket with Josh's family. Go Ang!)

Saturday we went to my Mom's house where we ate too much and hunted alot of eggs with all of Beckham's cousins. They all had a great time. Beckham grasped the concept really quickly of hunting and putting everything in his bag. (I made all the kids bags because the Easter Bunny had not brought them their baskets yet. ) Then we went home just long enough for Beckham to get a little nap, change clothes and we were off to church. After church we attempted to have a nice dinner with Kelli and Joe Dan, but Beckham had reached his limit for the day. He was no longer going to sit still in a high chair and be his normal, well-behaved self. (Sorry Galyeans!) So we left quickly and he was asleep in the car in about 2 minutes! Figures.

Then Sunday we cleaned house getting ready for Josh's family to have lunch with us. Josh made a great batch of fajitas! Grandma and Grandpa Faris brought lots of fun Easter goodies, too! It was a fun weekend. I was not ready for Monday morning to arrive! Hope everyone has a great week!

Just a few photos!

2008-03-17T15:45:00.000-05:00

I was able to get a few pics of Beckham this weekend, and when I say a few, I mean a few. He's WAY too fast for me these days to catch him sitting still, so I just basically chase him around hoping he looks up occasionally. But I love the candid shots too. I think they capture his personality. Just wanted to show off my boy! Enjoy!

That Crazy Texas Weather!

2008-03-14T14:56:00.000-05:00

These pictures were taken on March 6th.

These were taken on March 12th!

So crazy!! I am loving the warmer weather. And as you can see, Beckham is too. He loves to get outside and "play ball" with Buddy. Basically he just carries the ball around and never gives it to Buddy, but it sure is fun...for Beckham, not so much for Buddy. Wehave also been to the park a couple of time. He LOVES the swings and the slide. I thought he might be little scared of going down the slide at first, but no, he's a dare devil and loves it! I am hoping to get some "real" pictures this weekend since it's suppose to be nice weather. I'll post more later.

Also, I had my follow-up appt with the Dr. this morning. She confirmed that all was normal with the results from the surgery. Praise the Lord!! We are still waiting on the genetic testing we had done, but so far all good news. She did say we could some other testing to see if there is medical reason for me having "recurrent miscarriages." I am not sure if we will do that or not. She did suggest some things that I will be starting right away, and hopefully they will help. I am just praying that this chapter of my life is over and done, and when we are able to start trying again, that everything goes well. Thank you again to all of you who have prayed for us, who have called and checked on us, who have left sweet and encouraging comments, it is such a blessing to us!

It's a sad day.

2008-03-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

Since the miscarriage and surgery, I have judged my days by "happy days" and "sad days." Thankfully, most have been happy days. I have a amazing husband and the cutest son, wonderful family and friends and lots of things to keep my mind busy. SO overall, it hasn't been as terrible as I thought it might be. But today is a sad day. I woke up sad, I am sad now, and chances are I will lay my head down tonight sad. I keep trying to rationalize my feelings by telling myself it could be so much worse. My family is healthy, we have a home, and "things" so many others don't have. I tell myself that it would be so much harder if I lost the pregnancy later after I had seen the heartbeat, and really had a big tummy. But I still feel the loss. I miss morning sickness! I miss the feeling of being pregnant. I miss never knowing what my baby will look like this side of Heaven. When I went in for my surgery, I had this wonderful nurse, Nancy, and she shared with me the her own experience with a miscarriage. She told me that her Dr. told her that GOD has a special place for babies like mine, and in Heaven they are whole and healthy. I believe that! I know that when that blessed day comes, I will see my precious one and we will know each other as mother and child. I cling to that, whether anyone else chooses to believe that or not.

I pray that soon enough I will be able to "feel" those feelings again. We tried for almost a year for Beckham, and my heart literally ached for a child. I am not sure everyone can grasp that, but it was literally a physical desire to have a child. Well, since Beckham was born, that ache had gone away. Until this miscarriage. The ache is back. The desire is so visceral, it's hard to explain. But I am trying to trust in the Lord.

I go in Friday for my post-op appt and we are suppose to get the final results from the pathologist at that time. I praying everything of ok. The preliminary reports looked ok, but I am still nervous that she's gonna spring something on me. I will post when I know more. (Sorry to be such a downer. )

MORE FUN PICS...

2008-03-04T20:57:00.000-06:00

He loves his Mickey Mouse

Look!! It's my first snow ball!!

Even Buddy LOVED the snow!

MMM, yummy snow!!

Joy, Sadness, Joy...

2008-03-04T20:50:00.000-06:00

JOY!!!
This is my JOY!! Is he the cutest thing you have ever seen or what?? It snowed today and actually stayed around long enough for Josh to get a few pics of Beckham playing in the what could possibly the only snow he sees at his own house ever! He had fun. He is sick right now, so Josh stayed home and played Mr. Mom today. (Thanks, Josh!) I just love his little face! It brings a smile to face and to my heart every time I see him. I never could have imagined that being a mommy could be SO fulfilling, but everyday gets better. I love to see him play with toys and learn new things. I love to have him sit in my lap and let me sing songs to him. I love to hear him breathe on the monitor at night. I just LOVE him!! JOY....

SADNESS...
Since my last post, we have had some not so fun things going on. Most of the 4 people who actually read this blog know, but in case there's a new reader, here's the story. In December Josh and I found out that we were pregnant. Very surprised and very excited, we went to the Dr. at 6 weeks for our first visit and sonogram. We could tell very quickly something was not right on the sono. There was no baby where a baby should have been, only an empty space. The miscarriage followed shortly. It was hard, but the Lord provided good distraction with Christmas and Beckham's first birthday. Well, about 5 weeks later, SURPRISE, we find out we are pregnant again. Excited, but very nervous, I began going in for blood work immediately. The 2nd round of blood work looked a little suspicious, so they put me on some medicine and moved up my sonogram appt. Again we could tell something wasn't right. Where a little flicker of a heartbeat should have been, nothing. It also looked "abnormal." So last Tuesday I had a surgery to "take care of" the pregnancy. This time, my heart was truly broken. No distractions, no baby, just gone. Even though I had justified in my mind that there was no life inside my tummy, my body still felt pregnant until the surgery. Everyday I woke up with morning sickness, everyday I felt the fatigue of the first trimester. Everyday I was reminded that there should be a baby where there wasn't one, and then...gone. I don't think I have felt such deep sorrow in my life. And then to add to that, the Dr. said there was a chance that it could be a MOLAR PREGNANCY. (you can Google if you really want to know) Ultimately what that would mean is waiting 6 months to a year to try to get pregnant again. Well, as I told the LORD repeatedly, that is just not in my time frame. So for the last 2 weeks, it's been pretty depressing.

JOY...
Today I got the pathology results back from my surgery. The preliminary report says everything looks NORMAL!! Now I know that a miscarriage isn't "normal" but it wasn't a MOLAR PREGNANCY, and that is the main thing. I go back to the Dr. in a couple of weeks and I will know more about what that means for future pregnancies, but I am praying that this chapter is closed and I will never have to deal with another miscarriage again. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us. You have prayed the words I have not been able to pray, and for that I am so grateful.

SAME OL' STORY, DIFFERENT BLOG...

2008-02-01T16:34:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess it's the our turn to report sickness in our house. Beckham has had a cold all week and we have sucked snot out of his nose too many times to count. Oh, does he HATE it!!! But the great and precious thing about kids is they hold no grudges. Immediately afterwards he just wants a big mommy hug and for me to comfort him. Strange, huh? As adults we would never immediately embrace the person we felt was "hurting" us, whether it was for our own good or not.

And now Josh has some sort of junk. He went to the Dr. yesterday and they said it wasn't the flu. They said it was some sort of upper respiratory and ear infection. YUCK!! He's been sniffly and coughy and fevery. So I am praying I don't get it! I really can't afford to be sick. And I am also praying Beckham doesn't get the fever and other junk too.

On a more fun note...Beckham is SO much fun right now. He's learning animal noises. Amoung his favs are lion, parrot, elephant, cow and sleeping polar bear (from a book). I have a little video I will try to post later. It's REALLY cute!

Oh what a beautiful morning....

2008-01-21T15:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, not so much. Last night me and some of the girls went to see "27 Dresses" (Cute flick, by the way), and decided it was too early to go home and we were having so much fun, we should go get a beverage of the adult variety at On the Border. We had a great time. I have really been craving some good girl talk, so it was great!

Well, this morning I get a phone call at 7:45am from my mother-n-law. She asked me if she had her days confused about keeping Beckham for me. I FORGOT I HAD TO WORK THIS MORNING!!!! Now, I don't usually work on Mondays, so it's not completely surprising, but still a pretty dumb thing to do.

I threw myself out of bed so fast, put Beckham in his crib, grabbed some scrubs that didn't match, brushed my teeth, grabbed some food for Beckham and my makeup bag, loaded Beck in the car, and headed out the door. I left my house at 7:54 and was at work at 8:25!! Praise the Lord it was a holiday, otherwise I may still be in traffic right now! We were able to reschedule my 8:00 patient to later on in the day, and thankfully she was SO understanding. This was the 3rd time I have had to reschedule her!

So there's my morning. I was actually nauseous after the adrenaline wore off and I was able to settle down. Ever done anything this stupid before??

Fun fun fun!

2008-01-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

Another one of Beckham's favorite things to do is to take as many DVD's off the shelf as possible in one sitting. Yesterday he did a pretty good job. I just let him do it. Even though he has every toy a little 1 year old boy could ever want that he could be playing with, I figure he's not hurting anything, so what the heck. Pick your battles, right?

On a less happy note, Beckham had his first "real" sickness this week. The dreaded HAND FOOT AND MOUTH. Poor guy. Thursday he ran a fever all day, his first fever ever, and stayed in my lap pretty much all day. He took 3 LONG naps and still went to bed fairly early. Friday I took him to the Dr. and he said there's really nothing you do for it, just let it run it's coarse. As the Dr. said, it's a right of passage. Pretty much every little one gets it eventually. By Friday morning he was pretty much back to feeling better. Today he ran a little fever, but it hasn't slowed him down a bit. Eating is a little challenging. He has little blisters in his mouth so cool, soft things are best. I am sure he will back to normal by the middle of the week.

We have TOYS R' US in our Living room!

2008-01-19T19:27:00.000-06:00

Being that Beckham was born just 4 days after Christmas, we were double whammied with gifts this year during the holidays. We are SO thankful to all of our families for giving our son something to do in his spare time. I think he likes them! How about you? Last Monday morning I stepped out of the living room for a couple of minutes, and this is what I came back to. As you can see, he had pretty much taken every toy out of every bin! He was having a blast, so we didn't bother cleaning it all up until nap time.

Random Thoughts...And praises!

2008-01-15T21:15:00.000-06:00

First and foremost, I must praise our LORD and FATHER for the wonderful news the Kerley's got today about Baby Eli. All is well, and I join many friends in the real and blog worlds celebrating their joy!!

Next... American Idol. I say every year I am not going to watch and every year I am sucked in by the, pardon the expression, WEIRDOS, who end up auditioning!! Enough said.

Last, I went to Target tonight to pick up a few things, and as usual, a few became many. But, if you haven't been to Target this week, it's a great time to go. Especially if you need baby stuff. It seems like everyone I know is pregnant right now!! (It is SO fun to have a whole new crop of babies!!) Baby wipes are on sale 2 for $10, and there are LOTS of baby gear items on sale. I saw the same exersaucers (yes, we have 2. I don't know why.) we have on clearance for really good prices. Lots of little items like diaper bags, bottles, bibs, blankets, pj's, socks, and clothes are all on clearance. SO if you or someone you know is having or has a baby, get to Target soon!

2008-01-15T13:41:00.000-06:00

PROUD WIFE!!

This year at The Branch (our church) the men are taking on the feat of reading the Bible in 90 days. Yep, that's right 90 DAYS cover to cover!!! There is actually a Bible laid out in this format. Basically it breaks down to 12 pages a day. Well, Josh decided to participate in this, and I have been SO proud of him for doing it. Reading the Bible cover to cover in any time frame is hard, but 90 days takes a commitment. Now, he's a few days behind, but he's really trying.

My favorite part is the conversations that we have after he's been reading. There is NOTHING more attractive to me than to hear my husband talk about he LORD and His Word! I love it! And it is challenging me to dig out some cob webs in my own head about what he's reading.

So I just wanted to say how proud I am of my sweet husband, for many things, but especially for this. I love you, Josh!!!

2008-01-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

1st Birthday Video!!

Don't worry, it's the 2 minute short version. I can't believe he's ONE!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

2008-01-06T21:25:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!

Well, I can't believe the holidays have come and gone so quickly! It seems I say that every year. I had a patient tell me once that getting old is like a roll a of toilet paper...the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes! She's in her 80's and it made me laugh, but I can see her point. The older I get, the faster the years seem to go by. Especially 2007! Watching Beckham this year has been amazing! What a precious blessing for Josh and I.

Our holidays were just as hectic as everyone's, but they were WONDERFUL! My sister and her family were in town from Tennessee, so that alone made it a blast. We were able to spend a lot of time with them, but of coarse, it wasn't enough. Christmas Eve was spent at my sister's house in Dallas. We had the usual mass chaos of opening gifts. When you have 10 kids opening presents ALL AT ONCE, it can get really LOUD!! But, as always we had fun. Beckham really didn't get any of it. He wasn't even interested in tearing any paper. Next year I am sure will be a different story. Christmas morning we went to my in-laws house. Santa left Beckham's gifts there this year. My mom and step-dad came over to see the Santa festivities. We all had a yummy breakfast together, opened presents, and the rest of the day was spent watching Beckham play with all of his new stuff. FUN!! Josh and I both had to work on Wed. Then on Friday we had a birthday party for all of the Dec/Jan birthdays in my family. For some reason it seems we like to have babies this time of year. Here's the list...Dec 29-Beckham, Dec 30-Darrell (brother), Jan 3-Marin and Cameryn (nieces), Jan 20-Kylie (niece), Jan 21-Zachary (nephew), Jan 22-Shelby (niece). CRAZY! So my sister rented a bounce house, a cotton candy machine, and a sno cone machine for the day. The kids had a great time. Then Sat was Beckham's real birthday and we had everyone over to our house for the party. It was TOO CUTE! He loved his cake and having all of his family at his house.

All in all we had a wonderful time. We were definetly ready for a few days of relaxation! New Year's Eve, Josh went to his brother's house for a party, while I stayed home with Beckham. And New Year's day was reserved for what else...football!

Here's a slide show of a few pics from Christmas with my family and Beckham's birthday. I didn't take a single picture on Christmas morning with my camera, so I need to get them from my family. Later for those.

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2007-12-02T22:08:00.000-06:00

He's getting TOO big!!

Well, we are 26 days and counting until Beckham's first birthday. Can you believe it!?!?!?!? I can hardly believe my sweet baby boy is going to be 1 year old! The year has gone by WAY too fast! Everyone told me it would, but you really can't understand it until you are in the middle of it.

So currently, Beckham is standing a few seconds on his own, and each time gets longer and longer. He will take a couple of steps on his own with our encouragement, but he still thinks crawling is way faster. Which is totally ok with me. He's mobile enough on his knees! I am pretty sure he's about to cut a whole slew of teeth. He hasn't had any since he was 7 months old, so it wouldn't surprise me. Plus he's drooling all the time! We haven't weighed him lately, but at last check he was 20 lbs. But he was 20 lbs at his 9 month ck up too. He's getting taller too. He can reach so many things he couldn't just a couple of weeks ago. He jibber jabbers all the time and will say "ba ba" for ball, book and Buddy. And he says MAMA all the time! I love it! He throws a DADA in there too every now and then.

We are SO looking forward to Christmas. We know he has no idea of who Santa is, or what a gift is, but we can't wait to see him play with all the wrapping paper and bows rather than the toys Santa brought him. Someone said the other day that they were planning on getting their child a bunch of bags with tissue paper because they knew they would like it better than the actual gifts. It kinda sounds like a good idea, huh?

Well, here are a few new pics. As you can see, he sticks his tongue out alot these days too.

2007-11-05T19:47:00.000-06:00

The news isn't good...

One reason why I love the "blog world" is that I can count on at least one or two people reading the nonsense I post, and hopefully taking something away from it, even if it's just saying my son is cute or something. And I also love it because I know my friends and family who read it are also mighty prayer warriors, and I can ask them to pray, and they will. I ask that favor of you again.

For those of you who don't know, Dr. Ogle, my boss, his son has a rare form of cancer he has been battling for 10+ years. His name is Kyle and many of you have joined so many others in prayer for Kyle over the years. Well, he had surgery today, and it wasn't promising. Just a little reminder, in addition to chemo, Kyle has had NUMEROUS surgeries, one even being to remove his shoulder and arm. Today's surgery was to remove some tumors that had grown during the past few months while he was on an experimental chemo. They were able to remove one tumor that was near his heart, part of his diaphragm, and his spleen. Unfortunately, there is another good size tumor they were not able to get because they will need to remove some ribs to get to it, and they just didn't think he was up to it today. As far as they know right now, all chemo options have been exhausted. From what I know, the plan is to let him recover from today's surgery, and then go back in in a few weeks to attack again.

Kyle is an AMAZING man. And he has an AMAZING family and an unwavering faith in the LORD. To read the full story about this amazing man, you can click on his link on the right side of my blog. But I wanted to include his latest post here...

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 04, 2007 11:37 PM, CST
Kyle posting here.

What do you say at a time like this? You hug your kids extra tight while tucking them in, and make sure they are looking in your eyes when you say I love you. Then you tell them again, just in case.

You wonder is the last time I will see them? Do they know how much I love them? Could they ever know? Have I left things “in order”?

So many things run through your mind. It is a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

Have I made a difference? Did I run the race well? If things don’t go as planned, who will be late to my funeral?

So what do you do?

You hold tight to His promises. You cling to your salvation. You take a deep breath, relax, and remind yourself that this is just temporary. One day (hopefully later than sooner) there will be no more pain, no more tears, and no more fear. That some day you will stand in His presence, that you will actually sing and no one will turn around and stare because you won’t be tone deaf anymore. You will talk to King David, hug your grandparents, and even fly (hopefully some of us will get an arm back so we don’t go in circles).

You remind yourself that your kids and wife are not really yours. They belong to Him. He just left them in your keeping to love and care for. He knows what is best.

So you head in to battle, steadfast, unwavering. You kiss your wife good-bye. Tell her you will see her in recovery. And like John Wayne in True Grit, Put the reins in your teeth, guns in both hands (ok, so one hand), spur your horse, and charge those cancer cells screaming “Fill your hands you son-of-a-#{%@#!”

SO I AM CALLING ALL PRAYER WARRIORS.....

2007-11-04T15:03:00.000-06:00

The GREAT STATE FAIR OF TEXAS!!!

Ok, I know I am like a month behind for this post, but better late than never! We decided to go to the Fair the last weekend it was open. We got there when the gates opened and we were gone by 1:30. Neither of us are really "ride" people, so the fair loses some of it's appeal on us. I did ride one ride and promptly realized I am WAY TOO OLD to be doing that!! Especially since everyone else in my car was not above the age of 15!! Our first stop was at the root beer stand. You know the one with the fresh, ice cold REAL root beer. YUMMY!!! Then our next stop was, of course, the corny dog stand. I know it was 10:00am, but state fair corny dogs know no time boundaries! But sadly while Josh was getting our corny dogs, I was "attacked" by a bunch of bees after my root beer!! Some nice guy stopped and helped me try to shew them away with his ball cap, but to no avail. The root beer was thrown away, and bye bye bees!

We walked around a little more, wasted some $ on a game or 2, then went to the one attraction EVERYONE loves....THE CARS!!!! The fair is a great place to look at cars because every make and model is available to peruse. BUT, one word of caution....it will give you the bug to buy a new car. And that's exactly what we did. (Not at the fair, of course) We went straight to the Honda dealership and traded in our Jetta for a shiny, new Honda CRV! It just made more sense than the Jetta for our growing family. (No, we aren't growing currently, but we like to plan ahead.)

So all in all, the fair was FUN!! Beckham loved looking around and seeing all the sights. He even enjoyed some of our corny dogs. Here are a few pics...

Me and Beckham at the front gate

Josh and Beckham at the Midway

Josh and "Bumble Bee" from TRANSFORMERS

Beckham sleeping thru the LOUDEST place on earth!!

2007-10-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

THE BIG RIDE...

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know what my brother, Darrell, is going to be doing for the next 9 days. He and 4 other guys are riding bikes ACROSS TEXAS! Yes, that's right. They are riding from the Rio Grande to the Red River starting tomorrow. It is to benefit a village in Sri Lanka effected by the tsunami a few years ago. They are riding to help send bikes to the village.

I am SO very proud of my brother. I have felt for my whole life he is an incredible guy, but watching him be a husband and father, and seeeing his heart for others just confirms that even more. So, PLEASE say a prayer for strength and endurance for these guys over the next few days. My sister n law is planning on documenting the ride on her blog. You can go here to get the updates.

Darrell, we are praying for you and WE LOVE YOU!!!

2007-10-07T22:03:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY!!

Josh and I will be married 3 years on Tuesday. We celebrated this weekend and had an AMAZING time! Beckham spent the night with his Grandma and Grandpa, the the whole day and night was ours! It was Beckham's first night to spend away from us. It felt pretty strange not having him around.

So the day started off with me dropping Beckham off and going to the spa. (See the previous post for all the fun details!) I then came home to a CLEAN house! And better yet, a CLEAN closet!! Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not the tidiest person to live with. And anyone who knows Josh knows that it drives him NUTS!! Our closet has been a source of contention for pretty much all 3 years of our marriage, admittedly my fault. So when I got home, I had a clean and organized closet! Yea JOSH! I also had this sweet little "love note" on the bed, too. We went to dinner that night at the SILVER FOX. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! If you are a steak lover and willing to dish out a little $, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this place!! We treated ourselves to steak and lobster tail and wine and chocolate cake! YUMMY!! Then we came home and wrapped up the night with a movie at home. A PERFECT day! Thank you to my precious husband who always makes me feel special and loved!

Love note on the bed. For those of you who don't know, Josh did something similar to this when he proposed and on our wedding day.

MY CLEAN CLOSET!!!!

Australian Lobster Tail

Happy Anniversary! It's been a blessed 3 years. I can't wait for a lifetime more!

2007-10-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

SPA DAY!!!!

For my birthday/anniversary, Josh bought me a spa package!! What an AMAZING husband I have!!! He knows how I LOVE to get massages, so he just ran with it and gave me the works!! I had a 1 hour relaxation massage, a 1 hour facial, a 1 hour manicure and 1 hour pedicure. It was SO fun and relaxing! I felt like a noodle when I left the spa. I have never had a day at a spa before, so you know me, I took my camera to document the occasion.

This is me after my massage with the massage therapist. Sorry, no makeup!

This is during the pedicure. They soaked my feet in a rose petal bath.

This is one of the hot rocks used to massage my hands, and an empty glass that once held a yummy mimosa!

These are my feet with a "cooling mint mask" on them.

Needless to say, I had a great time. It was SO thoughtful of Josh. I love him!

2007-10-01T20:01:00.000-05:00

Random Thoughts...

Ya know, the "blogging world" is truely a strange place. I have so loved having a blog for the past year and some odd months. I love that friends and family from all over can peek into my life a little and keep up with me and my family. I get to share my greatest joys, my husband and son, my passion for photography, my daily insand outs of life, and even random thoughts that may or may not interest a single person. But it is an outlet to express myself in a way I haven't before. I also love that several of my friends have blogs too, so when we don't see eachother very often, I can keep up with them and their families and their random thoughts. But my favorite part about blogging is the people I get to "meet" in the cyber world of blogging. Probably people I never would have any contact with if Blogger didn't exist. I usually "meet" these people thru posts or comments on other people's blogs.

Last night I read the most heart-wrench, touching, and glorifying of the LORD blog I think I have found yet. A family in Nashville has recently sent their precious newborn daughter to be with Jesus. They found out during the pregnancy that Copeland was sick and wouldn't be with them for long. I was so incredibly touched at how this mother and father poured their hearts out for all of cyberspace to read, and every word not only expressed their grief and their questioning, but also their AMAZING faith that carried them, literally, thru this unbearably sad time. They lived their lives for all to read about, so transparent. You can read about them here. ( I recommend reading from the very first post. You will be in awe of the LORD'S love, grace and mercy.)

I have kept up with the Powell family who I posted about in my last post. Their amazing testimony during this journey is an insperation. They are like cheerleaders for GOD. Read their blog and you will know what I mean.

I have loved reading the joy of a family I don't even know having quadruplets! Again, they have shared their experience and given GOD all the glory along the way. You can read about them here.

I have loved seeing my friends children grow up "before my eyes" and learn new things about them with every post. All of them make me laugh, make me cry, and make me thankful that I have friends who are willing to share their lives.

So all of that to say, I love the blogging world. I know...random, right?

2007-09-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

ETHAN POWELL UPDATE...

Several months ago I posted about a Ethan. He's a little boy at St. Jude in Memphis who is a month older than Beckham. At 2 months old, he was diagnosed with leukemia and it has been a fight ever since. Several weeks ago Ethan went thru a stem cell transplant with stem cells donated by his Daddy. Evidentally, it's a pretty rough thing for donor and recipient to go thru. Well, for a while now, we thought Ethan was thru the worst part, but the latest update on his blog is not good news. Here it is...

It's official, the "abnormal" cells are leukemia cells. We expected that to be the case. It's the same kind of leukemia he had when he was diagnosed, so it has not mutated into something different. Ben went and donated his cells today. They are waiting for Ben's blood tests to come back to make sure all is clear before they give Ethan the infusion. PLEASE PRAY for Ben's blood tests to be okay so that they can give Ethan the cells. If there is a problem on his tests, they would probably start preparing Ethan for another transplant.
So if they give Ethan the cells tomorrow, we'll wait a couple of weeks and have another bone marrow asperate done (unless they started seeing blasts aka leukemia cells in the blood before then.) If the leukemia cells go down or stay the same, they would probably continue to give him a boost of Ben's cells every so often until the leukemia cells are gone. If the leukemia cells increase, we would be forced to start chemo and preparing for another transplant. If they did another one, they would probably use me. We DO NOT want it to come to another transplant. PLEASE PRAY harder than you've ever prayed, that Ethan will be able to receive the cells tomorrow and that those cells will go destroy the leukemia cells!! I wish this wasn't so critical, but it is. We desperately need your prayers. KEEP PRAYING! BELIEVE! PRAYER WORKS!!

It's time to fire up the prayers again! PLEASE pray for this family. You can visit his blog here.

2007-09-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

New Pictures...
I realized I didn't have any of Daddy and Son together since Beckham was 3 months old. These are just a few I snapped in the front yard. Aren't my boys handsome?

2007-09-04T22:14:00.000-05:00

8 MONTHS OLD AND CRAWLING!!!

Yes, we are off and going these days. Beckham has been "army crawling" for a few weeks now, but this weekend he took off in a full fledge crawl. And he discovered there are other rooms in the house besides the living room, and wants to explore them all! This is often how I find him, down the hall ready to go into another room. He's a quick little booger! When I call his name (and by the way, I have mysteriously somehow turned into my mother....I am using his full name! BECKHAM JEFFREY!) He looks back at me like "what, Mom, I'm busy." And he finds all sorts of things to get into. Looks like we have a little baby-proofing to do.

2007-08-27T23:23:00.000-05:00

MORE BATHTIME WITH BECKHAM!

These were just too cute no to share. The first one you can really see why I say he looks like The Count from Sesame Street!

2007-08-27T23:09:00.000-05:00

MONDAY, MOLARS, MELTDOWNS, AND A MIGRAINE

That pretty much explains our day today. As you can tell, Beckham was not his usual happy self. In fact, he's been a little cranky for the past couple of days. I couldn't figure out why until I felt in the back of his mouth, and sure enough, he's getting his 1st year molars in. Poor baby. So the Tylenol will be our best friend until they decide to poke all thru all the way.

If you look way in the back on the left, you can see that little molar trying to poke thru.

After all the fussing he would do, he would flash me one of these sweet faces, and all was forgotten. Well not really, but could you stay mad at that face?

And as luck would have it, I ended up with a migraine at the end of the day. Can't imagine why, right? So Josh came home and took over for me, and let me rest. Praise the Lord for my wonderful husband!

2007-08-25T10:56:00.000-05:00

8 Random Things...

Ok, I've been tagged. Here it goes....

Here are the rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I hate green food! That includes avacado/guacamole, lima beans, peas, canned green beans, green jello, pistachio anything, and all green colored drinks. It does not include green leafy things like lettuce and broccoli. I just think green colored food it gross looking! I have never tasted an avacado, but I am certain it is totally digusting just by it's appearance.

2. Until I was well into junior high, I thought when people talked about our "forefathers" that they were talking about the 4 men whose faces are on Mount Rushmore. That's a little embarassing to admit!

3. I LOVE teeny bopper reality TV. Mostly the trashy MTV shows like REALWORLD, THE HILLS, and LAGUNA BEACH. But also Big Brother, Survivor, American Idol, and many more. I'm an addict!

4. I only wash my hair once, maybe twice, a week. Unless I am working out, which is not often these days. (SADLY) I know a bunch of you are saying EW GROSS, but my hair doesn't get oily, doesn't get stanky, and you can rarely tell whether it's day 1 or day 4. I have VERY thick hair and it takes FOREVER for it dry! Plus I wear my hair up in a pony tail everyday for work, so I see no point to going thru a bunch of trouble for a ponytail. If I had a job that I didn't have to wear a pony tail, I would defintely wash it more.

5. My best friend of more than 10 years have never had an argument. And that's even when at one point when we were in college we lived together, we worked together, we went to church together, we had most of our classes together, etc.... we were pretty much together 24/7. But I really feel the Lord use all that time to strengthen our friendship. Even now, we can be completely open and honest with eachother, and say the really tough things, and know the other will not get mad.

6. I am pretty much the most disorganized person you'll ever meet, and the messiest too. My husband, and anyone else who has ever lived with me will agree. BUT there is one place in my house that is always organized. THE TOWEL CLOSET! I am very anal about the way my towels are folded and placed on the shelves. If they aren't exactly right, it totally bugs me! My husband wishes this would carry over into other parts of my life, but so far, no such luck. Sorry, babe!

7. I have never seen Star Wars. Yes, I know, how un-American, right? Well, I have never seen 5 of the 6 episodes. The only one I have ever seen in it's entirety is the last one, oops, I mean the 3rd one. Crap, I can't keep them straight. I've seen the 3rd one of the newest ones. The one where Aniken turns into DarthVader. And that was enough. I don't feel the need to ever see any of the others.

8. I love to play SCENE IT! Actually , I just love playing games, but SCENE IT is my fav. I love movie SCENE IT, tv SCENE IT, and even have "FRIENDS" SCENE IT, and love playing them all!

Ok, I am not going to tag anyone. I know this totally breaks the rules that started this whole random post, but I hope some of you do it anyway. It's pretty fun to read everyone's quirky things.

2007-08-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

Ready for Halloween!

Ok, I know it's early, but Josh made a trip to Babies r Us yesterday to stock up on "baby-proofing" items, so while he was there he saw this monkey costume and couldn't resist. So I guess Beckham is going as a monkey for Halloween. Well of course I had to see what it looked like, so I put his face through the little hole and this is the face he made! I have NEVER seen him make this face before, but he hasn't stopped making it since I put the costume on him. I have no idea where it came from!! But it is TOO funny to watch. I can't wait for Trick r Treat!!

2007-08-20T12:15:00.000-05:00

The latest....
Here are the latest pictures of the little man. As you can tell by his hair, we were having a bit of a rough day! In fact I only started to take these because he was so fussy, and it worked as a distraction. I was laying on my tummy as he crawled toward me. His own version of chase, I guess. But even in his fussy moods, he's still pretty cute! He now has 4 teeth, the 2 lower front teeth, and the 2 teeth on either side of the front teeth on top. he kinda looks like the Count from Sesame Street when he smiles really big. Too funny!

2007-08-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

BATHTIME WITH BECKHAM....

Here are a few pictures I took after Beckham's bath one night. Do you think he will want to kill me one day for posting his naked tush on the WORLD WIDE WEB??? Hope not...it's SO cute! I couldn't resist sharing!

2007-08-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

Cal, Cameryn and Cannon...

This weekend, Josh and I kept my brother's 3 kiddos. They are SO cute! I have missed not hanging out with them. Since being pregant and having Beckham, I haven't had much time with them, and I have REALLY missed it. So Friday was spent at my work putting sealants on new permanent teeth. Then Friday night we took them to PETER PIPER PIZZA (which I highly recommend for parents. Fairly inexpensive, fun games for even little ones, but not so great pizza). Then the boys came home and played XBOX while Camerym and I did a little girly shopping. Then we all watched a movie and ate popcorn and went to bed! EXHAUSTED! Then Saturday morning we played, ate doughnuts, and then braved the really nasty heat and took a few pictures. SO FUN!!! They are such great kids!

2007-07-25T20:43:00.000-05:00

OH, THE THINGS I HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO....

Being the mom of a little boy, there are things I never even thought about until now. Like potty training. Now I know Beckham is only 6 (almost 7) months old, but it's things like this that worry me. I am not a boy, I have no idea how to tinkle like a boy, so how in the world am I suppose to teach my son how to potty in the "big boy potty?" So I am sharing this with my co-worker, Marcy, the other day and she tells me this story.

She and her 3 year old grandson, Hayden, were at her house and he is recently potty trained. When he was finished in the bathroom they had this conversation:

Marcy: "Hayden, did you go big boy poop in the potty?"

Hayden: "No, I went DINOSAUR poop in the potty!"

So the next day when he finished his business...

Marcy: "Hayden, did you go dinosaur poop in the potty?"

Hayden: "Uh-huh, T-REX!!!"

2007-07-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

OK, I am out of my Guitar Hero addiction, at least for a littlw while. Here are the latest of Beckham. He gets more and more fun everyday! He had his 6 month check up this week, and praise the LORD, he's healthy! And when I say healthy, I mean it. He is tipping the scales at 18lbs 4oz!! He's "talking" a ton, rolling all over, getting up on his knees a little, sitting up all on his own, and so much more! Everyday is something new. This morning I actually teared up when I saw how close he is to crawling. Time is going too quickly. But I love this age!

2007-07-11T14:27:00.000-05:00

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

Guitar Hero is going to make me need anger management classes! I never knew I could get SO blasted mad at a game, but I sure do. And what makes me so mad is that my husband is so stinkin good at it! It just goes to show, I have NO musical abilities in my body at all...not even the computer generated kind! And I am not so sure it would be a good idea for me to ever play against somebody. I can see the headlines now: "Woman arrested for assault with a Guitar Hero guitar!" Ok, I'm not that bad....maybe?

2007-07-10T07:39:00.000-05:00

GHA: GUITAR HERO ANONYMOUS

Hi, my name is Angela and I am a GUITAR HERO ADDICT!! Ok step one is admitting that I have a problem, right? Well, I do. Yesterday I bought Josh Guitar Hero to play. It is the most FUN game ever!! And I do not play video games! I truly don't see the point of video games, but this one ROCKS!!! (no pun intended) We stayed up until 11:00 playing, and if you know me, it takes alot to get me to stay up past 10 on a work night! I only stopped at 11 because I couldn't make it thru one song, and the competitive side of me got totally mad and quit! It's such an ugly side of me. But it was such a blast! I see it now....Josh is going to some home on Mondays and Fridays, and there I'll be, still in my PJ's, Beckham will be unchanged and starving, Buddy will be begging to go outside, and I'll be on the couch, on a GUITAR HERO high for the past 8 hours!! Just kidding....but it truly is addictive!! Maybe I'll post a video later of us playing. It's pretty hysterical how mad I can get at a stupid game!!

2007-07-09T16:26:00.000-05:00

Hey I have started new blog to post some of the pictures, not of Beckham, that I have taken. Kind of an online portfolio. Here's the address in case you want to check it out.

http://www.angelafarisphotography.blogspot.com/

2007-07-05T21:05:00.000-05:00

Pictures...

Just a few extra pictures. These were taken in his crib. I had put him in there for just a minute while I ran and id something really quickly, and when I peaked around the corner, he was looking over the top of his crib at me. I could barely see his little face. I just had to take a picture. The others I thought were just sweet.

2007-07-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it???

Ok, anyone who knows me even a little bit will probably know that there is one thing in this world I absolutley REFUSE to eat... AVACADO!! I can't explain it. I have never tasted an avacado or anything made with avacado, but the mere thought of putting that green , squishy, slimy thing in my mouth completely repulses me. I am THAT passionate about my dislike for avacado. So you can imagine my dismay when reading my baby food book I came across the fact that avacados are one of the best things you can feed a baby. Yes, it's true. I even went to internet to find conflicting information, and all the websites agree. Some even say that it has been argued that humans could live for a significant amount of time on avacados alone due to their high nutrional content. UGH!!! I couldn't believe it!!! BUT not only do I want my son to be healthy and eat foods that are good for him, I just as importantly do not want him to be the type of picky eater that Josh and I are. I want him to at least try everything before he decides he doesn't like it. Unlike his mother! My brother's kids eat all sorts of things that kids normally don't like. Olives, tomatoes, etc... In fact, one of their favorite snacks is cherry tomatoes!

So in light of all of that, I fed Beckham avacado yesterday. I truly did not like doing it at all, but I did it. I mashed it up, mixed it with a little formula, heated it up just a tiche, and fed it to my son. And of course, he liked it! SO for all of you who have tried for years to get me to eat avacados, I hope this will be a little sweet justice for you. And I still don't ever plan on eating avacados.

Here are a few pictures marking this momentous occasion.

Here is the nasty avacado on the spoon. YUCK!

Here's the first bite. YUCK!!

Not quite sure if I like this or not.

Hey, that stuff is pretty yummy. More please.