Some pics of Harrison

Here are some of the pics I took yesterday at the hospital. Tessa looks so cute in her "big sister" shirt. She was so excited about her little brother being here. The one with mom and Tessa at the window was a priceless picture! Harrison had just peed all over the window and the nurse washing him. Tessa's face was so funny as she watched pee shoot right on the window. She didn't know what to think about it. Mom and I cracked up laughing. Luckily I had my camera out right at that moment. He's so precious. We're going to visit him again a little later today. I'll be sure to get lots more pictures. I can't wait!

Baby Harrison is finally here!

Amanda had Harrison today at 12:11pm. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, 19 1/2 inches long and has light brown hair. He looks just about exactly as Tessa did when she was born. His upper lip is a little bigger and he has a slight difference in the nose than Tessa. He is so adorable! I am so excited to be an aunt again. Amanda did awesome! She had a spinal instead of an epidural this time and she liked it much better. Shorter recovery was the biggest plus. After the medicine wore off she became nauseated though, but other than that she looked fantastic and felt great. Thanks for the prayers for this safe delivery. I'll post pictures soon.
P.S. Allison, I'll try to get to that tag challenge as soon as I can. :) I'm sorry you've not been feeling well. All kinds of crazy stuff going around right now. Let's take a zoo trip soon.

Long time...

It's been forever since I posted anything. So much has happened this month. I had my computer worked on since it was infected with viruses and I couldn't check any email or anything for about a week. That week sure seemed like forever! So, I'm finally catching back up with my posts.
I'll start with Isabella and what a big girl she is becoming. She's trying so hard to use a spoon and fork at meals. Of course it's the messiest meals when we let her try, but she really tries so hard to get the food on the spoon. She's also talking a lot! She's saying "oh boy", "bailey" (the neighbor's dog), "out", and mocking me when I make silly sounds. She is so much fun and she is such a good little girl.

Well, Amanda and I wanted so much for Mom to have a special, wonderful 50th Birthday party. We planned a surprise party at StoneyRiver in Nashville the week before her birthday. Some friends of her asked her to dinner and we were all there waiting for her arrival. I had butterflies in my stomach waiting for her to get there. I'd never planned a party quite that exciting and it was so much fun to do for her. She so deserves to be celebrated and loved on. I sure hope you had a wonderful birthday Mom. I love you.

These are some of the pictures we put on her slideshow of her life. So sweet! I just loved that part of her party. It was fun to look at all those pictures. Here's two of her as a baby and another one as a teenager with her and her best friend Lana. She and Lana are still the best of friends today. The last picture is a pretty recent one of her and Lana.

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend has been pretty busy. Stephanie and the girls came in town this weekend so we spent most of it with them. We don't see them often so when they're here I try to let the girls spend as much time with Isabella as they can. We went to The Streets of Indian Hills and did some shopping and playing at the water fountain. Isabella still doesn't care to get in it. She just stands back and watches as the other kids play. You can hear a giggle or two as she watches. We went to the Children's Place and they had a ton of sales going on for fall clothes. Then we went to eat at Mimi's cafe. It was really great food! It's a very loud restaurant so it worked out for my little squealer and all the kids.

Saturday was another baby shower for Amanda and Harrison at my dad's house. We had a great time. The kids had fun together. Tessa was at home with daddy so she didn't come to this one. Isabella was mostly concerned with how much tissue paper she could pull out of every present. So silly.

Sunday we went swimming at Aunt Kim's and grilled hot dogs. Then this morning I couldn't help take pictures of Isabella in her pajamas sitting in her doll cradle. She sits down in there with all her stuffed animals and plays and laughs. She's laughing at Peter being silly.


Later today we plan to visit Mikayla. Leshia and I have been wanting to get the girls together for a while now. Since Mikayla and Isabella are in the same class at church we wanted them to get to know each other better and play together. I'll post some pictures of that play time too.

On another note, all I'm hearing about on the news is Hurricane Gustav. Let's pray for these families. You know they are reliving Katrina in their minds as they evacuate. Shawn (my brother-in-law) is also in Texas workingclose to L.A. so this is a family concern of mine as well. Hope everyone has had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

The Caring Tongue

I don't usually post introspective thoughts, but I felt compelled to share this with you. Many of you don't know that Peter and I left our former church and are now attending a new church. As our new pastor was preaching weeks ago he mentioned a book he had read entitled "The Family Blessing" by Rolf Garborg. I love to read and during the service I jotted this title down thinking I may get this book one day. Well, that day came and I purchased it (on half.com for $4.00 if you're interested). I received the book in the mail and it literally lay beside my bed for weeks unopened. I didn't know why I hadn't started reading it because usually I dive right into them, but this time I didn't. Weeks go by and I found myself with a little time on my hands which is unusual. I had picked up Isabella from mom's house and she took a nap right when I got home. That left me with a little free time to find something to do. (wash clothes, do dishes, clean up my bedroom, etc.) Among all those things to do I picked a few and realized she was still asleep when I got done! So, since I rarely have extra time left over I thought this would be a good time to sit down and spend some time with Jesus. I don't why I didn't first, but I guess it doesn't matter now. I absolutely love my study/prayer time with Jesus once I'm settled enough in His presence. With me it's taken a long time to "be still" before the Lord and hear His voice, but I'm trying to do better. So, I had no idea what to read in His word. I just flip through the proverbs and came across a title on the side bar "The Caring Tongue". It listed scriptures about how Christians ought to speak. As I've learned many times before "The tongue can bring life or death, and you will eat the fruit thereof." Proverbs 18:21. I wrote down the Scriptures that pertained to things we should speak.

• Proverbs 10:32 The godly speak words that are helpful....
• Proverbs 12:18 ..the words of the wise bring healing
• Proverbs 12:25 ..an encouraging word cheers a person up
• Proverbs 15:23 Everyone enjoys a fitting reply, It is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time.
• Proverbs 16:24 Kind words are like honey..sweet to the soul and healthy to the body.
• Proverbs 25:15 Soft speech can crush strong opposition.
• Proverbs 27:9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume & incense.

I couldn't help myself but to think "Why do I say the things I say, good or bad?" "What am I speaking that brings life into other people?" "Am I harming them by my words, or am I speaking things that are positive and helpful into their life or situation?"

Why do we say the things we say? Is it because of stress, thoughtless chatter, anger, frustration, or just selfishness? After all, we're only human.

Amanda and I have actually had this conversation before last year. Do we speak just to be heard or do we really carefully plan our words and make them count? I've never forgotten that conversation. She really made me stop and think about this in my own life. Thanks sis, I needed your words of wisdom that day!

So, back to the book I purchased. As I was studying the Word, the Lord reminded me of that book. I went and got it and lo and behold it was all about speaking blessings over your family and your children's life! What perfect timing God has to work everything out for our good.

I realized not only did I want to speak words that are meaningful and helpful to others, but I also wanted to use my words to bless Isabella and her life. The book talks about not just thinking about words, but actually speaking them into existence. Once spoken, as Galborg puts it, the words have a life of their own. (for good or evil) I hope Peter and I will learn how to bless Isabella every night with spoken blessings. I know those blessings spoken over her will show up in her own character and personality one day. The blessings can never be retracted. Once spoken, that's it. I want my words to count in my life. God never fails us. May He bless your family too!

Fun times w/ Tessa

I'm so glad mom keeps Isabella. Let me rephrase that, I'm so blessed and so very thankful that mom keeps Isabella! One of the highlights I get to hear about is how she and Tessa get to play together all the time. At Amanda's shower for Harrison they both wanted in the double stroller. All they wanted to do was ride around in circles in the house. Isabella was ready for bed as you can tell. They are so cute playing together. One follows the other and then they take turns who's the leader. Usually Isabella follows Tessa everywhere. I'm so glad they're close in age. I know they'll be best buddies as they get bigger.

While mom kept her yesterday she got to eat oreos. One of my favorite cookies! Peter and I both love them. I guess she's a chocolate lover like me. Here's a before and after picture before mom had to give her a nice long bath and wash all the cookie off her. Thanks mom for taking such good care of my baby! I love you!

So Busy!!

As most of you know I teach Kindergarten. So, the reason I haven't posted in a while is I'm back to work! Oh how busy I've been. You can't even imagine how much work goes into preparing my classroom, meeting the little ones, and beginning a new year with Kindergartners. I feel like I haven't been able to think straight lately. I knew this was coming though. I told Peter as soon as I started back to work my mind would constantly be on overdrive until next May. And I really meant it! :) I love my job though. Since I do have to work I couldn't think of a better job to have than the one I'm doing. It took me a while and a lot of student loans to get here, but I did. Those kids are so precious. Even the ones that I have to fine tune during the year, figuratively speaking. They usually end up teaching me something through their sweet personalities. I meet some awesome parents too. I still have great friendships with parents whose children I had 3 years ago. It's just been such a great experience these last three years. This year I'm finally tenure! No more observations for a while. Yay! Anyway, while I was working last week Peter brought Isabella to my classroom after my kids left. She had fun playing in my loft and walking around the room. Here's some pictures of that:

You can see her and Peter peeking through the wood of the loft. There's a kitchen in there with pots and pans. She could have played in there all day.

Peter and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary at the Titans pre-season game. Peter also sent roses to the school and it was a total surprise for me. I loved them. It was nice to get out for a while with him and my sis. She and Greg were celebrating their 9th wedding anniversary too. The night was so beautiful and the game was fun. We took some silly pictures of each other and then some normal ones. We had a good time. Happy 7 years together honey! I love you! What goobers we are.

Last Saturday was our step-niece's birthday party. Alyssa turned 5. She had a fun swim party at mom's. All the kids had a great time in the pool and eating cake. Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Here's a few pictures of Isabella in the nursery. She looked too cute sitting at the table, so I had to take a few pictures of her with her friends. Revin (Lori & Ben Sugg's son)was her buddy in class that day. He was so cute with her.

Today was Amanda's baby shower for Harrison! He'll be here in at least 5 1/2 weeks. She's already having a lot of braxton hicks contractions. She's doing really well though. We had the shower in baby blue and khaki. It looks so different with blue everywhere. We're so used to our girlie girls. Amanda got a lot of great gifts for him. Tessa and Isabella had fun playing together as usual. Isabella was very whiny off and on the whole shower. But you'd never guess it by some of these faces. Teeth coming maybe? Never know. She talks ALL the time, I just sometimes wish I could understand her especially when she's not acting herself. It's hard when you don't know what's wrong with your baby. But she ended up having a better time as the night carried on. Amanda, you look so beautiful! I can't wait to meet my precious nephew! Love you!