'Tis the Season for the Flu

    The first part of our Christmas day was great and I'll post about it later. Lots of people have been asking what happened with Harris, so I thought I'd post the re-cap. He went to the dr Thursday and we thought he had croup. Still not sure if he did or didn't, but he got a dose of steroids and seemed basically fine Thursday and most of Friday. He woke up Christmas morning with a fever and clearly not feeling well, but was still playing and eating. He was breathing faster than normal, but the dr we had seen said to expect that with croup. After he woke up from his nap Christmas day, everything had changed. He was burning up, very lethargic, and was working to breathe. When we got to the ER, they were WONDERFUL. They immediately got him in a room, had a doctor and respiratory therapist looking at him, and got him going on a breathing treatment. That helped but not nearly enough. He needed more steroids and longer breathing treatments and was diagnosed with the flu. Yes, he had a flu shot but that's not 100% effective. He didn't have any other flu symptoms, just a fever and the breathing. He'd been on breathing treatments as an infant but thankfully he hasn't had any problems since then. Our pediatrician hasn't diagnosed him with asthma, but said he may have these problems when he gets sick and may outgrow it. So we'll see. For now, he's home and doing great. We're just trying to keep him calm........but that's a challenge.
     I cannot possibly say enough good things about Methodist Children's Hospital. They were great from the second we got there. I was by myself, in a hurry, and the parking lot was PACKED. They have a valet at the front so all I had to do was slam on the brakes and get Harris out of the car. Then the staff saw he needed attention so we skipped all paperwork, height, weight, etc, and went straight to an exam room. People were waiting to help by the time we got there. They were quick and thorough but took time to talk to Harris, using words he could understand, so he wouldn't be scared. Even drawing blood and putting in an IV was not the ordeal you would expect. They had a system so he never saw a needle and had people distracting him so he couldn't really tell what was happening. Once we got settled, they found a show for him to watch while he was doing an hour long breathing treatment and brought him a Christmas present to open. It was 12 Hot Wheels cars in a carrying box, so he able to play with them while sitting still for his treatment. The ER staff was so nice to Harris and patient with Tom and me. They had great attitudes, even after giving up their Christmas with their families.  Our experience in the actual hospital was just as good. The nurses were so patient. Harris was a TROOPER and had a great attitude but it definitely helped that everyone treated him respectfully. For example, when he needed to breath out of a tube, the therapist could have just put it over his face and he would have inhaled it and been done, even if it scared him. Instead, she let him feel the tube, demonstrated on herself what was going to happen, and then he did it with no problems. It took longer for her but was so much easier on him. And the gifts just kept coming. Here are just a FEW of the things he was given.

 There was also a football, puzzles, a few more cars, a NERF thing, and a gift sack with candy and little activities. This was SUCH a blessing to us!!! I would never have understood how helpful these things would be if we hadn't been in this situation. Especially in the ER, where we came rushed and unprepared to be someplace for hours, but in the hospital too. Harris was exhausted since you can't sleep well in there, and getting pretty sick of being messed with. The excitement of opening a gift and having new things to play with made his day (and ours) so much better. One nurse brought a gift bag of crayons, Buzz Lightyear playing cards, candy, coloring books, and some other things. Someone had given it to her 8 year old son and he wanted it to go to a sick child on Christmas. Bless his heart. I hope Tom and I can instill that kind of compassion in our kids. We used that candy for rewards all day long. Harris had two pieces of chocolate before noon, which is a personal best for him.
     The staff did absolutely everything in their power to make a bad situation as good as they could. Between that and all the support from our friends and family, we were so touched. Thank you all for checking on us, praying for us, and offering to help in any way you could. It means so much. This was emotionally and physically exhausting, and Harris was only in the hospital for 24 hours!!!! AND my parents and brother were here, so we had plenty of help! I cannot imagine how someone with a chronically ill child functions. But Harris is back in business now. Thank you again :)

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Christmas Eve!

       I've been anticipating Christmas since October and almost don't want it to actually get here. It's so fun to sing Christmas carols, get cards in the mail, and just enjoy the general excitement at this time of year.  I think my all time favorite thing about the past couple of weeks has been singing (loudly and off key) to a Christmas cd. It's been worship for me, and it's such a contrast to all the years prior when it's just been words. The songs are so much more powerful when they MEAN something.
     And I love getting all the cards in the mail. If you left me off your list, please add me back in :) I know I'm not alone in this Christmas card obsession. Someone was telling me that she felt it had become impersonal for her and this person decided to pray over each card she sent out. I'm doing that next year. What better gift could you give someone? Love it.
     Tonight I went to a friend's house for Christmas Eve Eve dinner and she and her husband had an AWESOME meal. I am not a foodie. At all. Before Tom and I got married (and, to be honest, several months after) I had cereal or a ham sandwich for literally every meal. I'm not exaggerating. I would still do that, if it were an option. So when people say they have cooked a great meal, I just don't tend to get excited about that, because I'm not into it and I'd much rather just snack anyway. Oh my gosh. This meal was so good. I don't know what exactly it was, but pasta and some sort of delicious sauce, followed by ridiculously good desserts.

     But as good as the food was, the best part was spending time with good friends. I love that they included us in their celebration and I'm so thankful that we have such wonderful people in our lives. No, Tom's not there. Harris sort of has croup. I say sort of because he had two croupy coughs first thing this morning and has been completely fine otherwise. But there's no mistaking that cough, and our baby-sitter situation didn't happen, so he stayed home. Don't worry, Tom got a nice plate of a little bit of everything.
     Oh my goodness, since I knew there'd be some less than healthy options tonight I was determined to get a workout in today. The last 10 minutes or so, Harris was awake. I tried to get him to do the video with me or at least cheer me on but he chose to critique me instead. There were some jumping lunges at the end and I was exhausted, so I did a hop/drag maneuver instead of the full-on jumps that the perky girls in the video were doing. He kept telling me "Mommy, that is NOT RIGHT! Your legs are NOT RIGHT!" Bless his heart. Even a 3 year old could see my form was NOT RIGHT. I'll think of his concern every time I get to that part.
    Oh, and I took Harris to the dr this morning, because he was on breathing treatments forever as an infant and any breathing thing scares me with him. So, we went to the adult minor emergency clinic, thinking it would be faster. We had a disastrous experience there before but gave it another chance since he's older. I read Harris a book about what the dr would do, look in his mouth, that sort of thing. He kept telling me the dr would NOT do that to him. Awesome.  I was completely dreading the showdown. He ended up being a total champ! He got his blood pressure taken, got weighed, temperature, ears, throat, the whole thing. When it came time to listen to his chest he even raised his shirt to be helpful! Seriously???? I have no idea what changed between the book reading and the office visit, but I'll take it.  He got an apple juice slush to celebrate.
Another funny thing that happened with week is he got attached to Tom's tie again. We went to the zoo and he wore it there, slept in it, then insisted on wearing it to a Christmas event our PRECIOUS babysitter took him to. Here is the evidence.

 Look at that grin! And why shouldn't be be beaming? He rode on a bus (while drinking Starbucks milk), saw snow in San Antonio, decorated a cookie, and had Miss Jessica all to himself.  While wearing a tie. It was good to be Harris Goolsby that day.
     Anyway, my parents and brother are coming in town tomorrow. We've had different combinations of people in different places for the past several years, so we don't have any real traditions. We're baking Jesus a birthday cake, for sure, and I think we're going to read the Christmas story after breakfast and before ripping into gifts. I'd love to hear what everyone else does and I can't promise that I won't steal your ideas.  
  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

"Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

Par-TY Par-TY!

Our weekend was one big celebration. Friday night was our neighbors party, which I didn't make it to but Tom brought me some cookies :) I was bummed to miss and it sounded fun. She bakes homemade cookies for DAYS and they have a fun gift exchange. Next year.....
Saturday morning was the Tom's company party for the kids. This is AWESOME. They have a performance by Magik Theater  and tons of carnival games. It could not be cuter. Unfortunately, Walker was not appreciative of the arts. This is what he did while Tom and Harris enjoyed the show.

Yup, he preferred to run around an empty room. After they were done we hit the "midway."

There were games literally as far as you could see. Crazy. Harris liked the games but he REALLY liked the candy/stickers/toys that they gave no matter what level of success you had with the game. Once he figured out the system he was ready to try anything. And I should have gotten a picture but there were people dressed as nutcrackers that were on stilts. The older kids thought that was awesome and most of the younger kids looked like they were trying to avoid them completely. There was also a string quartet in the middle of the madness. It's so nice of that company to do this for the employees and their families. It is total chaos though.

Saturday afternoon was a baby shower for my friend who's having a boy soon! Cannot wait to meet their little man! And I need to go through our boys clothes and find all the OU gear, because they're transplanted Sooners too.  Walker wore them but since Harris was in daycare as an infant, I never would put him in OU things to go there. I was just afraid any Longhorn employees would resent him and not be quite as nice. Hopefully that was an unfounded suspicion but I wasn't taking any chances. I think the workers were probably a little irritated with me anyway because I went every single day at lunch. The first week or so they were friendly but when it hadn't stopped by month FIVE it probably got old. Regardless, we have Sooner clothes for another sweet baby to use.

Sunday morning was FAMILY CHRISTMAS!!!  Our church is so great. Every Christmas, they read the Christmas story and incorporate giving things to families as part of the story. People got plane tickets to see family, mattresses, tires, gift cards, etc. The list goes on and on. The part of the day that I had been waiting for was a wedding!! My sweet friend never had a proper wedding, so the church organized it, brought in family, flowers the whole thing. She had a wedding dress, her kids were flower girls and her son was the best man. It was awesome. They got to have a honeymoon at Westin La Cantera and just have some time to themselves.

Isn't the dress GORGEOUS!! She made a BEAUTIFUL bride :)

There were Christmas carolers when you walked in the door, Buddy The Elf and over 1,000 homemade Christmas cookies! There was kettle corn, hot chocolate, and tons of donated toys to give to those in need.

Will Ferrall makes me crazy, so I tuned out when Elf was on but apparently the spaghetti concoction above is from the movie. Everyone else seemed to get a kick out of that. Here is one of the Buddy's and Santa. The other Buddy stood outside in the cold and helped with the parking.

There was also a gorgeous rendition of Little Drummer Boy, which I totally think should become a Gateway Fellowship Christmas Tradition. It was just such a good day. I was excited about the whole thing and completely knocked a thing of kettle corn out of someone's hand. There were kids all over the place and I literally didn't see any of them do that. Whoops.

Chris Tomlin concert tonight! Excited to hear some Christmas music from such a talented guy :)



Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Big Kids

Tom and I are going to be "big kids" for the first time. We both feel like it's time to step up and take a leadership role in our church. Up to this point, we've been very involved but as participants only. Our role will start early next year. As this year is winding down, reality is setting in that we'll be leading our own small group soon and I cannot begin to say how much this terrifies me!! We LOVE our small group. That cannot be said too many times. Love them all to pieces. Being a part of this has been so good for us. We've grown so much in the past two years but we have so far to go. The thought of trying to do for others what our group has done for us is intimidating. We went to an event the other night and were surrounded by people I admire and if I'd had time to reflect, instead of disciplining/wrangling our children, I would have felt very unqualified to be in that room. In one way, it's good to realize we are completely unequipped to do this, because we'll be dependent on the Lord. I've definitely been guilty of being too confident in myself and and that's not a good place to be. Of all the problems we might have with this, being too self confident will not be an issue this time. That's been weighing on my heart lately, but in a good way. As I was writing this, a sweet friend just called and was so encouraging about this exact issue. God is so nice to me.

Anyway, I never posted about our Christmas tree. We have a pre-lit tree, so I can usually put it up in no time. Well, this year only one strand of lights lit up. Tom and I started going through the lights and tons of bulbs were burnt out. We decided it would be easier just to strip the lights off and put new ones on rather than try and get every single light. We also debated just getting a new tree but thought better of it. So, I started stripping the lights off......has anyone else done this? There were 1200 lights on this darn tree and EVERY.SINGLE.ONE was clamped onto the branch.

That's what it looked like. 1200 of these things. I was digging in there with wire cutters, wearing a headlamp so I could see those little green things. It was ridiculous! That tree will be up in our house until it's just a sad piles of branches, you better believe it. I should have taken a pic of the entire mess, for posterity, but I was cleaning up as I went along. This gives you the idea though.

That's just a fraction of the tangle of lights that had to be unclamped. Crazy. Here's the finished product. Please make a huge fuss about it.

I also dragged that entire decorated tree from one room to the next till I found a spot for it.  It has been just a pain this year. But it's totally worth it because I love seeing it all lit up and so does Harris. He's inherited my love for all things Christmas.

On a totally unrelated note, does anyone have a recommendation for a fruit/veggie dish I could take to a brunch this week? It's for all women and needs to be awesome. I forgot about it and dropped the ball last time so I need to redeem myself. SOMEONE (and I know you're reading this!!!) stole the show with homemade bread. With yeast and everything. So I can't show up with some sliced grapes or something, has to be a decent attempt. So give me ideas, ladies!

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."  1 Cor. 1:25

Harris is THREE!

     I cannot believe our little man is three already! It feels like yesterday that I found I was pregnant, but it seems like such a different life when we didn't have kids that I barely remember it. Tom is the oldest of 5, so he was a pro at diaper changing/baby soothing/bottle making. I had literally never held a baby. Never. And had no desire to before it was my own. The first diaper I changed was when Harris was a day or so old. It was our first time alone, still in the hospital, and I thought I'd brave it by myself. Disaster. Harris and I both had to change our clothes and I had to call the nurse for more linens for the bassinet. Rookie mistakes. :)  
      Tom took 2 weeks off work when Harris was born and we lived in a bubble. All we did was huddle up in the house and talk about how wonderful our baby was. We were literally mesmerized by his every move. When he got older and was smiling, I remember specific one time in HEB. I had just stopped in my tracks to watch him grin and marvel at his cuteness and a lady pushed her buggy right past me, glancing at Harris and then rushing by. I was shocked that she could look at him and not stop in awe. I was SUCH a stereotypical new mom, but seriously, look at that face??  He was only 4 months old in this picture. Yes, 4 months. He weighed what Walker weighs at 14 months!

There's a quote along the lines of "Motherhood is like walking around with your heart outside of your body." That is SO TRUE. I anticipated that being a mother would be difficult but never imagined how wonderful it would be. That sweet boy is a constant source of happiness to me and I am so grateful that Tom and I were chosen to be his parents. This year has been exciting because he's able to say anything he wants to now and I love to hear his thoughts. He's a toddler, so of course there's selfishness and all those actions, but his heart is so pure. He will give Walker a toy when he's crying "to make him feel better." And he prays for his friends and the people he loves, which is precious, because it's completely unfiltered. He's at a wonderful age where he can express himself but isn't self conscious enough to censor anything. What you see is what you get. He is loving and compassionate, just like his daddy. I have enjoyed the first 3 years so much, I can't wait to see what the future holds. Here's a few pics of him as he's grown.

He's 1 here. Still gets that really tickled look on his face.

He's pushing 2, just a few weeks after Walker was born.

Love the enthusiasm he has! When he loves something, he REALLY loves it.
I told him tonight that his friends were going to come over and eat cake. He said "How about I eat all my friends cake??" Love it. He just wants himself some cake.  And he's so ignorant of calories. Must be nice.



Psalm 127: 3-5
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Thanksgiving.......

     This year has been such a poignant time for me. I think this year has hit me especially hard because I'm starting to realize that I did not make this life for myself. Nothing Tom or I did, no decision we made, no intelligent move on our part, gave us the marriage and family that we have. Literally, EVERYTHING we have has been a gift from the Lord. We try to keep Christ as the center of our home and marriage, and the change has revolutionized our home. We by no means have the perfect marriage/family (10 days on the road together illustrated that, believe me) but with a Christ focused outlook, our lives have changed. I am hesitant to even publish this because there's such an opportunity to appear hypocritical. And I know there are times when I haven't lived out my faith. I know it and it makes me cringe. But I hope that anyone reading this will realize that those flaws are mine alone and not those of "the church" and certainly not those of the God I try to serve.  But realizing what's been done for me has made me very thankful for all the blessings in my life.
   There is another reason this year has been so special. It's the first time I've every been able to focus almost exclusively on my family.
                                                        These three people.

My days are centered on their care and I love it more than I ever could have imagined.

So, let me sum up our trip. TEARS.

     This little darling was not a happy camper. I think we finally figured out why. He's allergic to dogs.  Almost every place we stayed had a dog. His nose would be running, he was coughing and sneezing. But as soon as we would move someplace without a dog, all of it would stop. Granted, he probably would have been a little grouchy anyway because he had a cold (and found out yesterday he had an ear infection) but the difference in the nose and coughing was dramatic. This is a bummer. He's an animal lover and we assumed we'd get another dog when the boys are older. I realize it's not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but it's disappointing for him.  When he's 2 we'll get him tested to confirm and see what else is going on but for now at least we know about it.
     Even with Walker's drama, the trip was good. We got to spend good time with our family. It is such an undertaking to in new places with little ones but I'm glad we made the effort. Things will be low-key around here while we recover. We got home Sunday afternoon and by Sun night, everything was unpacked and put away and almost all the laundry was done. It was an unpacking/cleaning/folding FRENZY. But now we're settling back in our little routine and it's so nice.

"Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people." 1 Chronicles 16:8

Finally. Mission Accomplished.

   This past Sunday was the half marathon I'd been training for. I FINALLY finished it!  With NO walking.  This had been a goal of mine for so long that it was really bothering me not to have done it. I didn't particularly even want to run one anymore, I just wanted to do it because it was an uncompleted goal. I got hooked, though. I remembered why I had enjoyed running in the past and loved the race day experience. The crowd and volunteers were awesome and it was fun to run with a good friend.  Tom was a trooper to watch the boys while I was running, then let me take a nap that afternoon b/c I'd gotten next to no sleep. I'm doing another one next weekend in Tulsa and should be able to run it faster, and training for one at the end of January with a goal of  2 hours. That's a stretch for me. I mean, a HUGE stretch. We'll see. Anyway, I cannot believe we didn't get a pic of the 3 of us that went. Darn. You could get your pic taken at the end of the race but since I still felt like vomiting, I chose to stagger through the food line and try to settle my stomach. Free beer was an option. I have no idea how someone could drink a beer after running 13.1 miles. Or worse, 26.2. I saw a shirt that said "I thought this was 2.62 miles!" Cute. There was also one that said "If you can read this, I'm not last." I need that one. One of the signs someone was holding said "Run like Tiger's wife is chasing you." I feel sorry for that poor woman but the sign was funny. There were several cheerleading teams along the route and a marching band. All the distraction definitely helped.

   Saturday was awesome. Our friends are adopting two kids from the Caribbean. They hosted a thanksgiving lunch for us in a gorgeous house on the river and all the food was Caribbean themed. The weather was absolutely perfect so we spent all afternoon outside. The older kids played on the canoes and Walker took a long nap so Tom and I could relax a little and enjoy the day. Harris was thoroughly occupied with his partner in crime.

I probably shouldn't say partner in crime, it was more like victim that day. They were playing in a sandbox and Carter started crying, and said Harris tried to push him. Harris immediately said "IN THE WATER" (as in he was tryting to push Carter IN THE WATER) and then put his hand over his bottom in preparation for the spanking he knew he deserved. There were a couple of incidents that afternoon. Not his finest hour. In his defense, he missed a nap, but still knew what he was doing was unacceptable.

The picture below is so funny to me, because that's what the girls decided to do while we relaxed. All the pics of the guys are of them playing washers or hitting wiffle balls and we felt the need to find a spot and pose.  But I love this pic because I LOVE these women!

It was such a treat to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather with good friends. Living so far from family, I'm incredibly thankful to have people in our lives that we can depend on. And every Monday, I'm so thankful that I'm able to stay home with our kids. Harris is on a kick of asking me if we can do things together. And I love that it's ME he's asking to read books or work puzzles. Walker played pretty independantly this morning while I was in the kitchen, but randomly came in to be picked up for awhile, then was content to go do his own thing again. I do not take for granted that I'm the one that gets to hold him when he wants some affection. But I'm always excited for naptime, don't get me wrong :)  Anyway, I'm clearly in the mode of Thanksgiving. I hope you notice things to be thankful for today. And my spell check doesn't seem to be working, so when it starts functioning again I'll be even MORE thnakful. I just spent a couple of minutes trying to spell definitely. And I still don't know if it's right.

"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."  2 Corinthians 5:20



This is all over the place

     I don't really have much to say. But apparently I'm not going to let that stop me. This morning I asked Harris to give me a kiss. He sweetly replied, "No tank you." He might as well have been turning down seconds on dinner, rather that crushing my heart. At least Walker has started giving kisses now. It's super sweet but he has had a runny nose for a week. I mean, really runny. So he goes in for the kiss with snot just dripping. Sometimes motherhood is gross but there is no way I'm denying that little boy a kiss from his mommy. Especially when I see how fast things change! Walker seems like a full-on toddler lately. He's trying his hardest to do every thing Harris does. Spinning in a circle, saying no, climbing on things, you name it. It's fun but he is all over the place. One of his favorite things to do right now is put his hands over his face and wait for you to say "Where's Walker?" It just cracks him up. Every.Time. He imitates you saying. "There he is!" It's so funny to me how big of a kick he gets out of it.
     Harris totally has the concept down of gifts and his birthday. We've only been to a few parties lately but I guess that's all it took. He's been looking through catalogs and pointing out things he wants. He even took one to Target with him and read it while we were getting groceries. He also has a sense of ownership about his birthday party invitations. He saw someone with one and demanded it back. With all the hype about gifts, Tom and I want to be sensitive with how Christmas is handled. I think we're going to give 3 gifts, as the 3 wise men did.  Something to wear, something to read and something to play with. We both want him to understand that Christmas is about Jesus and that is more than enough reason to celebrate. Maybe with his birthday so close, we should have a birthday party for Jesus too? Maybe I'm over thinking what an almost 3 year old can comprehend. I think he is starting to understand that baby Jesus is not like baby Walker. For awhile he was extremely suspicious of any talk of baby Jesus. Let there be no doubt that he is not ready to be a big brother again.
    We have been SO BUSY lately and I'm over it. Usually, we really aren't all that busy and that's perfect with me. Our weeknight things should slow down soon. That will help. Last night I went roller skating. It had been 13 years since I'd done it and it was so much harder than I remembered! But fun. There were some people there that were roller derby professionals, I'm pretty sure. They were more graceful on skates than I am on shoes. Even some little kids were whizzing around, totally fearless. And the roller rink was decorated for Christmas already, complete with a tree stacked in cinder blocks. I am not making that up. My decorations are mostly up too, no cinder blocks involved. Yet. I'd post pics but Walker's awake and from the sounds of it he's ready to eat.

The verse below is a reality check for me because I'm a planner to the Nth degree. It's not about me and my plans. I forget that SO FAST.

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Proverbs 27:1

Halloween

We had a racecar driver and a monkey for Halloween. The monkey didn't even make it out of the gate though.

I'm so glad I  had this pic from a few weeks ago.

It's not the greatest but it commemorates the event. His picture from last year was outstanding.

So was Harris'. He had that pose for a nanosecond and I was so happy my camera got it.

Anyway, Walker ended up staying home with Tom and handing out candy. I took his costume off pretty quickly but he never really got over his irritation. So Harris had the ladies all to himself.

Here he is with our neighbor, Minnie Mouse, who is happy about the festivities.

And here he is with another neighbor who just hid her head when he came up to make his move. He had his arm around her for a minute, but she wasn't into it. Harris didn't let that get in the way of his candy grabbing though. He was front and center at every door and had to be reminded a couple of times that it's not acceptable to just grab a fistful from the bowl. Since he never eats candy, he really didn't know what he was getting. I put the bucket up where he can't see it and he's never asked for it, so I guess he hasn't missed it.
Typing that reminded me of the candy stash so I just took a quick break to see what we had in there. Yum.
Oh, here are two things I found in the candy bucket.

I shouldn't be surprised, because we found a Sonic mint in an Easter egg at the neighborhood Easter party. Seriously.

Anyway, our weekend was pretty busy but all with fun things. We had pictures taken Saturday morning at the Corn Maize in Hondo. There were some cute places for pics there. I was dying for some on this old red tractor but the boys just weren't into that. The corn maize was fun but I think it will be more fun when I'm not pushing a double stroller through the dust, while doling out kettle corn and sweating in the 80+ heat. I was relieved to see the end and we skipped "Phase 2" entirely. There were a few things for toddlers to play on and a little tractor ride, so it was a fun morning. Here's a preview.....

MAKES.ME.MELT. 

Harris has been asking for a belt to wear, so we got him one. Threading a belt through the loops on a squirming two year old is just what I wanted to do each day, but it looks so cute on him. This was on the way to church. I would have loved to have Walker in the picture but I was choosing to pick my battles that day. Moments after this Harris somehow knocked a pretty big picture frame off the wall. I'm just glad it didn't hit anyone in the head. 





He immediately started telling me it was an accident. I was only a few feet away when it fell but I didn't see what caused it. I have doubts about it being an accident......I think he learned his lesson though.

I've started planning a birthday party for Harris. I am anti-extravagant parties for kids, so I'm trying to only do things that Harris would enjoy and not random things that I think are cute. Definitely staying away from Etsy.  I feel pretty confident that personalized water bottle labels will not make Harris' day any more fun. Even though they're super cute. Anyway, hope everyone is having a good week! In my book, it is officially the holdiay season! Yay for the best time of the year!

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.”
– Haggai 1:7

Getting Sick.....

This is not good. I got sick on the way home from a roadtrip a couple of weeks ago and thought I had shaken it. I don't think I have and it's getting worse. The problem with that is I have a half marathon to run in 16 days! I am still doing my training but it is just not pretty. If I have to cough and crawl to finish that thing, I will, because this is the THIRD one I have trained and paid for! The first one, I was 7 weeks pregnant with Harris. My OB very obnoxiously told me, "Go for it, Mama!" While she has 3 kids herself she clearly did not deal with morning sickness. There was absolutely no way I could have made it. The last long run I did was 10 miles, so the training part was basically done but no reward of actually finishing the race. BUMMER. The 2nd time, Harris was about 8 months old and still in daycare. I gave up on my training because he was on breathing treatments around the clock. He wasn't sleeping through the night anyway but then having to get up every couple of hours and give him breathing treatments in addition to bottles, then go try and be productive at work was just too much to handle. I only got up to 7 miles or so that time. However, I paid for all 3 of them. The first one was in Oklahoma City so I paid for the race AND the flights back. I also helped give a baby shower that weekend so it wasn't a wasted trip, but still. I'm doing a run this evening, maybe it will go well and I won't have anything to worry about.

Harris-isms
Since I don't scrapbook or journal, I want have these entries printed into a book eventually. So I want to remember these random things Harris has done. There are several, so feel free to skip this section.

He was playing with some tools and I asked him if he wanted a snack. He told me, "No thank you, I've got some work to do."

Janee asked him what letter his name started with and he told her "FOUR!"

We were in the car and he randomly told me "I'm doing such a great job."

I was putting him down for a nap and he asked for his Volkswagon. Couldn't find it. He asked me to get a different car. Couldn't find that one either. He finally asked for some water and called out. "It's in my highchair!"

After a particularly long day,  he made a man out of play-doh, then sent him to time out for whining.

When we were reading potty training books, he would consistently say "Harris not do that." Finally one day he said he was done with diapers. (2 1/2)

His prayer one day was: Dear God, Bless your heart.

I shouldn't leave Walker out. He's been working on his poker game.

Here's his poker face. It's good, right? You have no idea what he's holding. Play the opponent Walker, not the cards.

Anyway, our weekend should be fun. We are going to yet ANOTHER pumpkin patch, hahaha, and this time we're getting family pics made. It has more than just pumpkins so hopefully we'll get some cute pics. My friend taking them mentioned a cute idea for a pic, but it involved both boys sitting still by themselves. Ummmm.. we'll see how that goes. If anyone has any tips for family pics with two active little boys, please share.

"So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." Zechariah 4:6

Nurseries!

This is linked up to Kelly's Korner to show your nurseries. I haven't done one of these but couldn't resist this one!

I LOVED decorating these nurseries. Harris' looks so different now and I'm glad I took pics before it became a toddler territory. His bedding is toile, but the print is children playing baseball. There are red corduroy and black plaid accents. The name above his bed is scrapbook paper with letters glued on. Hanging 6 things straight was not an easy task. I'm sure some would have used a level, but I went with the trial and error method of putting 200 nail holes in the wall. It's time to take these down, actually, but I know what's under there so we're leaving it for now.

The mobile plays Boomer Sooner. Even if we're in Texas we are starting our boys off on the right path.

That chair is now in Walker's room and looks a little worse for the wear. Countless hours were spent in that thing. And the diaper genie is gone and didn't come back for nursery #2. I think they just make the room stink but maybe we weren't using it right.

 The toy bag above and the frame below were made by my sister. Didn't she do a great job???

 As Harris got older, he would stand in his crib and point out the different things on his shelf. He loves to get the train down and play with it.

I put these pics together. I don't have a crafty bone in my body, so I'm happy with how they turned out. 

Here's little Walker's room. It's totally different but I think it's just as cute.

The sign above the bed was painted by my sister. She was a lifesaver on both nurseries!

 The prints above his changing table are the vinyl wall decals, but I thought they would look better framed.

 I wanted to do something above the closet doors and couldn't think of anything. I found these a few days before he was born and went with it to get it done. 

These shadow boxes were supposed to be really simple, but since I am in no way crafty they turned into an ordeal. But they're cute now, as long as no one touches them. They're not the most stable creation. The back is a cereal box lid that's covered in fabric and jammed into the box,

Here's a closer pic of his bedding. I loved the blue/white giraffe print.

 Another frame my sister painted. With a super cute little boy in it.  :)  He was 2 weeks old here. Love that sweet sleeping smile.

This pic is not the best but shows the cute animals on either side of the window. Just a disclaimer, both valances have been taken and replaced with blackout shades. That and a sound machine are must haves for good long afternoon naps.

Hope you enjoyed these rooms!

"See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern; and humbly obey your God."  Micah 6:8

I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

Pumpkin patch, you will NOT defeat me! Ok, ever since I found out I was pregnant I was looking forward to taking our kids to the pumpkin patch. I thought it looked so fun and Tom and I could enjoy watching out little ones run around with excitement and check out all the pumpkins, while occasionally stopping to sweetly smile at the camera. I  had really been anticipating this outing. So, the first year, Harris was 10 months old and completely freaked out by the whole thing. This is what he did.

I always forgot what an enormous baby he was until I see those pics. Anyway, the 2nd year he was pushing 2 and did a little bit better.

Not much enthusiasm but better than tears.  He enjoyed himself that day, sort of.  Poor Walker was only a few weeks old the first time we took him. Of course he didn't like what we did to him.



But today was our day. I just knew it. Harris has been excited about pumpkin sightings for weeks and Walker is totally fearless, so I thought these boys would love the pumpkin patch. Didn't really pan out. The first 30 min or so Harris kept requesting to "PLEASE GO HOME" while Walker would start to cry if I even acted like I was going to set him down. They finally calmed down and dealt with the situation, but neither one of them loved it. They did like snack time.

And they enjoyed the garbage truck that drove by.

Harris got a pumpkin painted on his hand. He wanted to do that for awhile, so we would go over and he would tell me he changed his mind. He ended up being brave and doing it, but requested that I wash it off as soon as we got home.

Not sure what Walker was doing here.

Here's the best I could get of the two of them.

I do realize neither is looking at the camera, but at least they aren't screaming. My expectations are low. After all that, we got in the car and Harris told me "What a fun punkin patch!" You just never know what they're thinking.

Anyway, this weekend Tom was out of town, so I went to spend the weekend with my friend Aimee, since he husband was gone with Tom. So fun! We got brave and took all 4 kids to a farm type thing. I had no idea what all we were getting ourselves into. They had goats, petting zoo, duck races, trains, tractors, bounce things, pumpkin carving, food, toddler playground, hay swings, climbing fort, and I'm sure I'm leaving things out. We ran out of steam before we ran out of things to do. Here's a few pics from that.

Jack and Harris

Harris intent on the duck races. His duck actually stalled out and had to be picked up and moved, but he didn't mind.



Harris has ALWAYS loved Aimee and here's a good example of why. She picked him up to pet that horse even with her baby in a carrier. That was beyond the call of duty.




Aimee and Ms. Landry.




Harris is only smiling because Jack was behind me hamming it up.


It was a super fast trip, but a good one. We watched some football Sat night while the boys did what boys do.

Landry was sitting and playing nicely with a toy through all of the mayhem. What a sweet baby!

Thanks for having us! Hope we didn't tear anything up.

"He must become greater, I must become less." John 3:30