Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Mommy Lunch & Play Date

Yesterday we went over to the Ancel's for a Mommy Lunch/Play Date. I really love these times! I love taking pictures of all the kids. It will be so neat to look back on these pictures over time and see how all these little guys have grown up. I hope they all stay sweet little friends! We had a great turn-out. I think there were 9 mommies and 12 kids.

Shelley's back yard was great for the kids to play in. They had a blast!


Hannah loved the swing!

Lincoln and Madeleine loved the slide.


Paul was ready to go for a ride!

Ella, Hannah, Ethan, & Madeleine eating lunch on the picnic table.

Getting in some much needed mommy talk!


Elijah looking so sweet! It was good to see he and his mommy! It had been a while!

Precious little Carter smiles so easy!

Lincoln saw Carter rolling around on the floor and decided he wanted to do it too along with kicking Carter in the head!

Mr. Giggles! I love how you can see his loooonng eyelashes!

Here are some sleepy eyes! Both of the kids were worn out, fell asleep in the car on the way home, and slept for a while longer after we got home! What a fun day!!!

Weekend Pictures

This past weekend, Jeff, the kids, and I went home to Texarkana. Kris stayed here to work on a presentation for his class on Monday night. It is always so good to go home. I wish we could have stayed longer. Lincoln really learned how to say Mimi and Pappaw while we were there. Mimi comes out like Mama and Pappaw sounds like BaBa. So cute.
My mom got these cute little bity ice cream cones. Here is Hannah enjoying one. She has only just recently decided she likes ice cream!

Of course, we always have to go down to the farm--soon to be NEW HOUSE! My parents have decided to build a new house down on their farm which is a mile or so away from their current house. They have lived in their current house since right after I was born so for like 30 years. I think it will be kind of hard seeing them leave that house, but I am excited for them to get a new house!

Can you see the emu in the background behind the fence in this picture? The neighbors have an emu. My dad used to raise them several years ago. They are these big, funny-looking birds. We used to have them in our backyard! Ask me and I'll tell you all about them! Ha!

Here's a close-up of the emu.

I decided to put Lincoln down and let him walk around. What was the first thing he did? Fell down right into a cow pattie--luckily a dry one! But still--gross!

Getting all washed-up!

My parents have a big garden this year. I'm looking forward to getting to eat some of the yummy veggies soon!

The strawberry patch! Can't wait to have some delicious strawberries!


Here is my Dad and Lincoln beside his new truck. He is very proud of it!

Finally, we went to visit my grandmother, Mama Cille, in the nursing home. She had just gotten out of the hospital. She is such a frail little thing. I was so glad to get to see her and made sure I got some pictures with her and the kids.

Friday, April 25, 2008

He strikes again!

I guess he really wanted a gum ball!!!!!


Thursday, April 24, 2008

Lincoln is 15 months old and wearing me out!!!!

Lincoln went to the doctor today for his 15 month check-up. He weighed 25 lbs 13 oz. (70%) and was 31 1/2 inches tall (60%). I was kind of surprised that he was only in the 60th percent for height because people are always telling me he seems tall. Oh well! He is a very healthy boy!

He got two vaccines today--the Hib and DTaP. I was very proud of myself. I told Dr. Byrum that I wanted to wait till Lincoln was at least 18 months before getting his MMR. He was fine with that. He didn't make me feel bad or anything. I REALLY like Dr. Byrum. He explained to me that by not getting the MMR now, Lincoln would be at risk for Mumps more so than Measles or Rubella. He said that he hadn't seen a case for Measles or Rubella in a long time, but that he had seen Mumps. He also said that Mumps had the potential to make a male sterile if it affected their testacles. Weird. I guess he felt like he needed to tell me what the risks were. I feel like he really takes the time to talk to me and explain things to me and I appreciate this alot--even if some of it is a little over my head.

He also told me that the MMR has been linked to arthritis. He said that it normally doesn't affect the wrist (Hannah's problem area), but shows up in the hips maybe. He said that many times the type of arthritis that the MMR causes is a temporary arthritis that goes away. While he said it could be possible that the MMR had something to do with Hannah's arthritis (we'll never really know for sure), arthritis is genetic. It came from her parents. This all fascinates me. I'd like to do more research on it myself, but honestly, I am a little scared to because of all that you can find on the internet. You just really don't know how much to believe. Anyway, it was an interesting doctor visit.

Now, more about the real subject of this post--the little boy who is wearing his momma out!!! Today after we got home from the doctor, I sat down in the living room and called Kris to tell him about the appointment. Lincoln was in the kitchen. I heard him in there but didn't think too much of it. After I hung up the phone, I found him standing on the door to the dishwasher with a knife in his hand!!!!! YIKES! Scared me to death! Honestly, I'd have loved to get a picture of this, but my first instinct was to run and take the knife away and get him down. So, now I've got to figure out a way to keep him out of the dishwasher. The other day, he pulled the oven open--while it was on. Luckily I was standing right there to catch him. He can pull open the silverware drawer too. So, I have to make sure he doesn't grab a knife. I'm telling you, he wears me out!!! I guess I've got to do a lot more Lincoln proofing.

Back to some normal things about Lincoln right now, he has 14 teeth. He could get the last 2 eye teeth anytime now. He loves to go outside and play. Many times, he will cry when it's time to come in. He has learned the word NO and says it alot, especially to Hannah. He is hitting people now. He gets in trouble for this. He still loves to look at books. He also loves to stand on them. He gets out the photo albums and stands on them so he can see the coffee table better. Silly boy. Lincoln enjoys bathtime alot. He'll scream when he knows he's going to get one. He is sleeping really well. He is ready for bed by 7:30 or 8:00 and usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00. Most days he still takes 2 naps.

Linc is completely weaned from nursing. Sunday was my last night. It was sad, but he is doing fine with it and I guess I am too. Lincoln is still a pretty good eater. Some of his favorites right now are strawberries, pretzels, popcorn, homemade french fries, and juice. The other night he ate a whole sloppy joe. He loved it!

Look at my big boy eating in a big boy chair yesterday! Lincoln is turning into quite the little bully. I kept Jack yesterday for a little while and I don't think Jack appreciated Lincoln taking toys away from him too much. We've got to work on waiting our turn and not just taking what we want.


I'm not kidding. Lincoln gets at least one bump/bruise on his head every week. Here's one from this week.


Even though he is REALLY wearing me out, I just could eat him up! I love this little guy SO much.



Isn't he precious falling asleep today at lunch in his chair?

Hannah the Hairdresser, Photographer, & Doctor

Hannah is multi-talented!! I've posted pictures of her fixing other people's hair before. Here are some pictures of MY hair after Hannah fixed it!

Here she told me she was going to put it in FIVE pony tails!!!


You may be wondering who took these totally awesome pictures! Well, it was Hannah, of course! She got the biggest kick out of being able to use my camera.

This Sunday in her Bible class they talked about Job and how he had bumps all over him. They got to take home their own doctor kits complete with all kinds of band-aids, first-aid tape, and cotton balls. She LOVED this! As soon as she got home that day, she immediately went to her room to "doctor" her baby. Poor baby! She must have been hurt really bad to need so many band-aids!!!

Have I mentioned how much fun this little girl is!!!!!


Friday, April 18, 2008

I did it!!!!

Kris has been giving Hannah her shot of Methotrexate every Thursday night since August. I have not wanted to do it. I don't like needles and have never been able to watch a shot being given. Since Kris will be taking a class this summer that meets on Thursday nights, it was decided that I MUST learn how to give Hannah her weekly shot. He's been trying to get me to do it for some time now, but I have always managed to put him off. Last night, I got brave!!! It really wasn't as bad as I had imagined it to be. Hannah does EXTREMELY well taking the shot. She was calmer than I was! Anyway, I was really proud of myself! This was a big deal for me!!!!

Getting ready to do it!


I love how we both are piercing our lips and bracing ourselves!

I'm going to add a few random pictures to this post from this past week. Jennifer and Benson spent Sunday afternoon with us. Hannah asked Jennifer if she could fix her hair. Jennifer is like me and rather likes having someone play with her hair. However, Hannah can get a little rough when she tries to put a pony-tail holder in it!!!
Later on she went back to her room and came back in the living room all dressed up! So cute!
Here are some pictures of the kids trying to do somersaults!


Thursday, April 17, 2008

Story Telling and Singing

Here are a couple of cute videos of Hannah. The first one is from about a month ago. I just now took the time to figure out how to upload the videos from our new video camera to my computer.

Hannah loves Disney movies. Some of her favorites are Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. She watched Snow White for the first time a few weeks ago and got scared of the mean queen and started crying. She also loves to talk. She has always been a big talker. I love it when she tries to talk so big. She is so cute in this video because of the way she pronounces some of the names of the characters from Cinderella. She is such a mess!





This second video is from yesterday. We were playing in her room when she just broke out singing this song. It was the first time I had ever heard her sing it. I know she learned it in Bible Class. I made her sing it again for me so I could get it on video. It is lovely!



Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Silly Uncle Wes!

My brother, Wes, came and stayed from Friday to Tuesday with us. We don't get to see him too often, so it was good to have him come spend several days with us. He lives in Dallas and is studying to take his Engineering licensing test on Friday. So, while he was here he studied quite a bit, but was able to take a little time out to be his silly self with the kids. They loved it!

Pillow fight!!!!


I zoomed in on one of the pictures so you could really see the silly faces he was making as he chased the kids down the hall. We had a really good laugh at the pictures after I took them!


We love you Uncle Wes! Good luck on your test Friday!!!!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids from Sunday. I thought Lincoln looked adorable in his blue outfit with the hat! Look at those big ole brown eyes!

Hannah LOVES her Sunday morning Bible class with Ms Trudy! She always comes home with the neatest things! This week they talked about Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. So, she came home with the coolest tool belt!!!

Friday, April 4, 2008

What a night!!!

I HATE tornado warnings---especially when the sirens go off. We had some severe thunderstorms come through here last night around 9:30. I think at about 10:00 or so we decided to get the kids up and put them in the bathtub to take shelter. There had been a tornado spotted in Benton/Bryant and it was coming our way. After a few minutes of being in the tub, Lincoln woke up, got really excited, and wanted to play. Kris told everyone at his work today that I "cowered" in the tub with the kids. Okay, so I guess I did. I am TERRIFIED of tornadoes!!! When I hear that there is one spotted somewhere, especially if it could come near me, I FREAK OUT!! I can start to feel the adrenaline start pumping--seriously! I go into this mode of--I've got to get out the mattress and get ready cause it could be here any minute. Kris always gives me the most reassuring look when I get like this---NOT!!!!! He looks at me like I'm crazy and then proceeds to go outside and look at the sky over and over again while I'm in the house trying not to start crying in front of the kids. I actually composed myself last night. They never had a clue what was going on. Hannah, surprisingly never asked why we were in the bathtub with pillows all around us in the middle of the night.

Anyway, things finally blew over. We weren't hit here, but some of our friends had some close calls in Benton. The kids actually were able to go back to sleep fairly easily. It was a scary night for me. I stayed up until 12:30 watching the weather just to make sure everything was going to be okay before I went to bed. Kris was snoring on the couch by 11:00.

I'm mainly telling this so people can get a good laugh in. I know I'm silly about this stuff sometimes, but I really am scared of tornadoes.