The Wright Five

Spelunking

2010-03-16T08:59:00.001-07:00

We have recently rediscovered a backyard treasure. Palo Duro Canyon is only about 40 minutes from our house, but I could count on one hand the number of times Kev and I have been in the last eleven years. Not so anymore! The past 2 Saturdays the weather has been fabulous and we have loaded up a picinic lunch, kiddos, backpacks, hiking shoes, and sunscreen and headed out for adventure!

Week 1: there has been way more water than we have seen in the canyon before, probably because we've had so much snow around here. We had a great lunch, then set off on a leisurely hike. We stumbled across a little beaver dam and the kids had a blast throwing rocks into the stream....until Boaz pooped in his pants and we decided to call it a day!

Picinic Fun

The water was all the way over the road

On the trail

Funny B

The little dam and stream

Hey there Bo!

Babies LOVE dirt!

Having a blast!

After the Great Poop Disaster...next time I'll know to bring extra clothes!

Take Two: Notice we are sans-Holland this week. The trail was a little rougher, but the big kids were tough and did awesome!

Gearing up after lunch

B conquering the mini-mountain

Little boy, big cliff

The mouth of the big cave

Journey to the center of the Earth...okay not really

Very cool!

Tight squeeze

Made it out!

View from the top

My crew

She's glad to be at the bottom!

Time to cool off...for real. That water was chilly!

River Rats

Proud Papa

A Few Tonsillectomy Factoids....

2010-02-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

In the unlikely event that someone out there in the wide blue internet yonder is like me and googles something like, "What to expect after an adult tonsillectomy" the day before their surgery is scheduled, I want to put this out *there*.

First of all, yes it does TOTALLY SUCK. The first few days were not all that bad, though. As long as you have good drugs anyway. And if you have 3 kids, farm them out to whoever will take them, for as long as they will take them!!! Around day 5, when the disgusting white scabs start to slither their way down to your otherwise completely empty stomach, you will start to get horribly nauseated (especially if your mother has tried to force feed you vanilla Ensure) and you will begin puking your toenails up. I say your toenails because the Ensure will have long since disappeared having been gobbled up by your famished system and there will be ABSOLUTELY NOTHING else for your stomach to offer...other than said toenails. Oh yeah, and the pain from the acid accompanying the toenails will be pretty much unbearable on your ravaged throat.

On day 6, you will sob uncontrollably to your husband because the pain is bad, but worse is how UNBELIEVABLY STARVING you are...in between the bouts of nausea anyway. You will crave chips and queso like crazy, but will barely be able to swallow one spoonful of jello. You will also have absolutely ZERO energy for anything except thinking about food.

On day 7, you will have to somehow manage to get into the shower to wash the vomit out of your hair because you have to go see the Sadist who did this to you. I recommend putting a stool in the shower so that you can sit down because not only will the heat make you incredibly dizzy, it will take at least 45 minutes for you to wash your hair. Oh, and you better start early because after the marathon shower you will have to lie down for about an hour and a half. If you have long hair like me, it will probably still be wet and you will need your mother to dry it for you. Keep the stool handy! Your mother is probably shorter than you so you'll have to sit on it! Have your husband drive you because there is NO WAY IN HELL you should operate anything more complicated than a toilet with how many drugs you've been on. Oh, he'll most likely have to dress you as well.

When you are sitting in the waiting room at the Sadist's office, try not to be discouraged by the 2 year old running around the place. You know, the 2 year old who had her surgery a hour before you had yours. Just remember that oh so UNhelpful sage wisdome, "It's much harder on adults than it is on kids."

And when you step on the scale, try real hard not to cry when you find out you've lost 12 pounds and now weigh less than you did in middle school. If your heart rate is 140 bpm, just remember it's because you are knocking on death's door with your dehydrated, starving, pathetically weak body.

Also, try not to cry too hard in front of the Sadist. Especially when he asks you to open up "a little wider" so that he can use the frightening metal vacuum to scrape some of the thick white horriblness from your throat. "It will help you feel better".

Only 3 more LONG days until day 10, when inexplicably you are actually able to hold a toothbrush! And your baby comes home! And while you can't pick her up, you can at least follow her around from room to room. Because while you were feeling like absolute S**T, she decided to learn how to walk for the first time. And at this point, you will probably be able to go 5 hours without the narcotics. IF you can do that, you might even be able to start pooping again! Assuming you can now manage the whole cup of jello instead of just one spoonful and there is actually something TO poop.

By week 2, you should feel a little more normal. But I'm here to tell you what no one else told me, it's a whole new normal! You will pretty much have to relearn how to swallow. Otherwise, whatever liquid you were attempting will most certainly come out your nose. Not so bad if its water. Anything else and it will feel like battery acid in your sinuses. But I'm getting ahead of myself! You won't be drinking anything except water for the next few weeks at least! Just a tip...don't try wine. You also may experience a lisp. And anything sweet will taste completely bland. And don't even attempt to blow up a balloon for your kids...it's impossible.

If you happen to be a fitness instructor or you work out on a regular basis, you may think before surgery, "oh, I bet I'll be back in about 2 weeks". You won't. It will be at least a month before any exercise beyond walking to the refrigerator is even an option. But the good news is, you'll be making that walk quite a bit! Because at this point, you'll be eating every 20 minutes! And those 12 pounds you lost? They'll be back in no time! They may even bring a few friends along :)

Girl Time!

2010-02-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Bronwyn and I had a fantastic weekend spending time with each other and hanging out with our dear friends who moved to Houston. The Newcombs lived right behind us up until a year and a half ago, and they were the BEST neighbors you could ever hope for. Lisa and I became friends right away, and while my then 2 year old Miss B loves all three of their children, she and their middle child Landon are like little soul mates. I have never once heard them even bicker. Now, he is 2 years older than her, but they get along wonderfully and they play hard together. Kevin has joked that we need to draw up an arranged marriage contract! Not a bad idea. You'll see in the pics he's quite a cutey!

On the plane. This is the first plane ride she remembers.

Bosom Buddies!

This is at the Chilren's Museum. It was AMAZING! There was a whole exhibit called "Kidtropolis" which mimicked a little city. Here is B in the forensics lab.

In the back of the squad car...uh oh, I don't like this trend!

On the climbing wall.

News Room

This was a HUGE robot made entirely of telephone!

The Scientist

On Sunday the weather was SUPERB, so we headed to Galveston for some beach fun. This was the first time for Bronwyn to see the ocean!

The hunt for seashells was ON!

Beach Babes

She had such a blast...and was such a MESS!

Squishy

It just so happened to be the Sunday before Fat Tuesday...which is apparently a really big deal in Galveston. So we were parked in the perfect spot to see a Dog Parade and a Children's Parade. You cannot believe how many Mardi Gras beads we came home with!

What the??

My girl!

"We want some BEADS!!"

Counting the Loot

Creepy!!

All in all it was a fabulous weekend! I got some much needed one on one with my B, and loved every minute with my dear friends. Thanks Newcombs...we miss you!!!

What the heck, it's February??

2010-02-10T07:15:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I missed over a month on here! Lots of goings on the in the Wright Fam. Here's a little catch up.

Lately a favorite past time around here has been showers. I guess maybe because they are warm! It's been snowy and chilly in these parts and there's not a whole lot to do outside except bundle up to play in the snow. This is how the kids, Boaz especially, like to warm up afterward. Holland decided to join him here.

How could I have forgotten to post Christmas pics?! Here is 'the Night before' at our house.

Ha-Hay got a baby that tasted yummy apparently.

Happy boy. This was a light saber.

Even 6 year olds love to play with the wrapping.

Christmas Morn.

He matches his gator!

Little cash register.

After presents and blueberry pancakes, the perfect Christmas Day includes some serious snow play.

Testing out the new ride.

So, it was one of the best Christmases I can ever remember. We had a fabulous time with our family and there was snow on the ground. My dad came in town a few days later and we went out for our tradition of an incredible meal, grown ups only, and also had another Christmas for the kids. Unfortunately, such a great Holiday was follwed by tonsillectomy HELL for me! I had my horribly diseased tonsils removed on December 30th. Oh yeah, THAT's why I haven't blogged in FOREVER!!

A glimpse of the grossness that was my throat. This is as far as I could possibly open my mouth, otherwise I would have gotten a better shot of the full horror. Thank you God for our families and our Tribe!! There is NO WAY I could have gotten through those first couple of weeks without them!!!

And of course, my wonderful husband was a brave soul and found fun things like ice skating to do with the kiddos while I was either drugged up asleep on the couch or crying from the pain of puking my guts up. Good times.

My first 'meal' out came a few weeks later. I had been craving chips and queso like mad, so we hit Ruby Tequilas for kids eat free night. I managed a couple of chips, but ate an entire enhilada. Go me!

It's really hard to get 3 kids to pose!

The biggest thing I missed during my recovery is that Holland finally decided to walk! Figures. Look at her go!!

The end of January brought us a whole foot of snow!! WOO HOO!!! School cancelled for 2 days and the fun was on! Chile, sledding, movies, and one extremely dirty house!

It takes about 15 minutes to get him completely bundled up and he lasts about 5 minutes outside. Boy does NOT like to be cold!

He much prefers to run around in his underwear in the warm house. Just one of the many interesting ways he finds to entertain himself.

Don't think we'll be using our shop for awhile! That might be there til June!

Bronwyn is our little Polar Bear. She can stay outside in the snow for literally HOURS! She's gonna make an awesome snow boarder!

My favorite shot. Well, hello middle of February! There's still snow on the ground!

Happy Birthday Boaz!!

2009-12-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

Well, my little man is 3!! Sorry this post is belated, but the birthday party was Dino-riffic! Our family came over for dinner and cake to celebrate the third year of our adventure raising a son. He got lots of good "boy" presents including swords, a gun, cars, and a robot. Christmas always comes a little early to the Wright House....15 days to be exact! Enjoy the pics!

Palatial Pumpkin

2009-11-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Like just about everyone else north of the equator, this is by far my favorite time of the year. I love the weather, the anticipation, and especially the food! I thought I'd share my favorite pumpkin recipes I'm enjoying right now. And if anyone has one for a fabulous pumpkin pie, I'd love to try my hand at it.

Pumpkin Pancakes

In a large bowl mix:

2c flour (unbromated of course :)
1 tbsp backing powder
1/2 tsp ginger
12 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon

In a small bowl mix:

2 slightly beaten egg whites
1 1/2 c milk
2 tbsp oil
1/2 c canned pumpkin

Add small bowl mixture to large bowl. Stir until just moistened. Heat griddle, brush lightly with oil. Pour batter by 1/4 cup onto hot griddle. Makes about 16 small pancakes.

Pumpkin Soup (this is a Jamie Oliver recipe and it is AMAZING!)

2 large butternur squash
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 dried chilies (unless you are a wimp, b/c they really do make it spicy)
olive oil
10 slices pancetta, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
a bunch of fresh sage
11 oz of chestnuts (could not find these ANYWHERE, so I used pine nuts)
1 onion, finely chopped
about 1 1/2 liters chicken stock
4 tbsps sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds, reserving these for later. Grind the chilis until fine and sprinkle over the squash. Drizzle with some olive oil and roast in hot oven until soft (about 30 minutes).
Heat a little oil in a large pan and fry the pancetta with half the sage leaves. Add the nuts and the oinion and fry gently for about 15 minutes. Spoon the squash out into the pan, leaving the skin behind. Cover with the stock and bring to a boil. Remove half the mixture and blend until smooth, then pour back into the pan.
Take the rest of the sage leaves and the reserved squash seeds and fry them in a little oil until crisp. Serve hot* with some sour cream spooned on top and sprinkle with a little of the crisp sage and seeds.

*it makes a lot, so we had some for the next few days heated up. I think it was even better after a few days.

Pumpkin Cobbler

3 eggs, beaten
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 c sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 yellow cake mix
2 cups melted butter*
1 c chopped nuts

In a bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Melt 1 cup* of the butter and drizzle over the top of the cake mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the nuts over the top and drizzle with remaining cup* of butter. Bake 15 more minutes.

*Okay, I do NOT use this much butter, but its totally up to you. I half what the recipe calls for and only use 1 cup. It's SO good...and don't even ask how many calories!

ENJOY!!!

Fall is a Blast!

2009-11-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am prefacing this post by telling you that my husband is a lousy picture taker. He thinks he's good, but he tries to do like all candid shots with no flash and they turn out blurry and stupid. So, he's fired.

These are the TWO decent shots he got after taking the girls to the pumpkin farm. Do you see any pumpkins??? Yeah, me neither. Boaz had a fever that day so I stayed home and took care of him. I guess daddy should get some points for just attempting an outing.

These are from Halloween. Our church has a little party they call Jesus Jam. Here's my little alien nephew....so cute!

And a little fairy who had already consumed 3 rice crispy treats by 7 o'clock.

Bobbing for apples. Never really thought about how UNsanitary this is!

And that is IT from Halloween. BOO Kevin!

These, however, were taken by my cousin. This is from a gas line EXPLOSION that occured at 1am Thursday morning about a half a mile from our house. We woke up STUNNED to see a literal wall of fire out our bedroom windows. Shortly after, we had woken up our sleepy babies and evacuated along with the rest of our neighborhood. FREAKY! Fortunately, no one was killed and miraculously only one house was destroyed. The flames shown in these pics were 700 feet high! YIKES!

Needless to say, we are feeling very thankful and blessed for the safety of our family and home as we rapidly approach Thanksgiving! Please pray for the the family who is recovering from such devastation right now.

Nutrition Info

2009-10-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged about this at all because, frankly, it's boring. But I'm realizing more and more that it would be helpful if more people knew about this, so here goes.

When Holland was about 6 months old I noticed an enlargement in my throat. I asked Kev if he could feel it, but he thought I was nuts. Also at that time, I took Holland for her well visit. I was still exclusively breastfeeding her, and at the appointment I learned that she had not gained ANY weight from her 4 month visit. So, I changed my diet, added a lot more good fats and started her on solids. It wasn't until a couple of months later that I put the two things, my throat issue and her lack of weight gain, together.

Memorial Day weekend I told Kevin it felt like I had something stuck in my throat. This time I asked him to feel my neck and he pulled his hand back in horror (okay a bit exaggerated). He said, "I think you should have that looked at." Tuesday morning I called an internal medicine doctor who is a family friend. I was told he was out of the country, so I called my OB. He got me in almost immediately on Thursday. When I went for the appointment and his nurse took my vitals my resting heart rate was 130. He walked in, took one look at me and said, "You have Post Partum Thyrioditis and you are in a hyper thyroid state. I'm going to refer you to an endocrinologist and they will most likely take your thyroid out within a year."

Now, I love my OB doc. But I'm only 30 years old, and I kinda think I should probably try to hold onto all my major organs for as long as possible. Long story short, I saw the endocrinologist the next week. He confirmed the PPT diagnoses but basically said the only treatment available to me was a beta blocker to control my heart rate. Blindly, I agreed and started taking Labetalol. Not only did it not help control my heart rate, the insomnia I had experienced for months worsened. Yet another drug was prescribed to help with that. To be fair, the endo doc did want to run a specific test on me to confirm I was in a "hyper" state (apparently the ridiculously out of whack lab work I had already gotten wasn't quite enough). But the test makes you radioactive, that's right radioactive, and you can't do it while you are breastfeeding.

So, here I am bawling my eyes out pretty much daily because I felt like total crap. I couldn't sleep, I could barely write or do anything fine motor because the tremors in my hand were so bad, and emotionally I was on a roller coaster from hell. Then, a light at the end of a dark tunnel. My sis has been having health issues of her own. Her search led her in the direction of a Natropath here in Amarillo. I decided to give this lady a shot (by the way, she's also a Nurse Practitioner and a Physical Therapist and operates under her father, a well respected pediatrician).

The Natropath, Marian, looked at my lab work and talked with me about all my symptoms for almost an hour. Her clinic takes no insurance, and her fee is $90 an hour, but since I was with her only 45 minutes I was only charged $60. The endo doc spent like 5 minutes with me and I got a bill for $165! Compared with him, she seems like a bargain.

Anyway, she ordered a slew of other lab work. She said in her experience it's rarely just the thyroid hormone levels that are off. One of the tests was a 24 hour urine collection that would measure the amount of iodine my body would consume if given a loading dose of iodine. It was the same principle as the radioactive test the endo doc wanted to do, except obviously a lot safer.

The results of the test showed that I was extremely iodine deficient...most likely from the fact that I've been pregnant or nursing for 3 and a half years. And this brings me to the point: we think that we get the nutrients we need from our food, but we don't. In the case of iodine, since we are a developed country and it is added to much of the foods we eat, you'd think we'd have plenty. And we probably do. But iodine has a competitor that is also added to a lot of the foods we eat...specifically breads and cokes. The competitor is called "potassium bromide", and is also found in hot tubs and car interiors. It looks a lot like iodine to our cells, so they gobble it up instead of the real deal. If you are not iodine deficient, then your body can recognize the difference and detox the bromides naturally. But if you get a little wiped out of this essential nutrient like I did, then the bromides can take over and pretty much get rid of any iodine you do manage to consume. And potassium bromides are toxic, carcinogenic little boogers.

Sooo....Marian's plan for me was to first take an iodine supplement. I am currently taking 20,000% of the recommended daily allowance by the FDA. I know that sounds like a lot, but our RDA is only like 150mg whereas Japan's is like 15,000mg a day. Incidentally, Japan also has one of the lowest rates of cancer in the world.

The other thing she said to do is limit bromides in my diet. Which basically meant avoiding all breads unless made with unbromated flour or spouted grains like the Ezekial bread products. And that's been a lot harder than you might think. I LOVE grains and have always tried to eat whole wheat breads and pastas. Eliminating them has been hard, especially when you go out to eat. So, I've been making my own baked goods with unbromated flour. There is a brand called King Arthur that I've been using. But I got some good news today! I found an article that says that organic flour, by law, cannot contain potassium bromides! I feel like this opens up a whole new world of bread, cereals, and cookies to me and I am SO excited!

I hope that writing all this will help somebody out there who stumbles across it. I know that researching with the web can be overwhelming and intimidating, and it's nice to hear about people who have dealt with thyroid issues first had.

I'm about to retake the iodine test to see if my body is responding to this course of treatment. It's been a long road, and I'm ready to open a new chapter. Wish me luck!

Photo Study

2009-10-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

I know this is a bit late, but I wanted to post the pics from Holland's post helmet appointment. She has now been helmet free for 3 months! And we continue to see improvement in her head shape. I wish we could go back and have these pics done again just so we could see how much her ear alignment has straightened and the left side of her head has filled in simply from growth.
Also, the torticollis in her neck is almost completely resolved. We had a consultation around the first of July with a wonderful doctor here in town that does Botox for tort. We seriously considered going that route because it seemed that even though we were taking her to PT every week and doing neck stretched daily at home, the tightness had just plataued and we were seeing no improvement. It was like one step forward, two steps back. But around that same time, we switched chiropractors. The Botox doctor encouraged us to pursue that non-invasive route first, and if after a month we did not see any results we could revisit doing Botox. Our new chiropractor started doing what he called B.E.S.T on Holland. That stands for Body Energy Sychronization Therapy. Within a month our physical therapist said we could drop down our appointments with her to every other week! She still has just a "touch" of the tort left. We are planning to do some kinesio-taping on her neck next week to hopefully help completely resolve the tightness.
Anyway, the pics on the left are the "before" that were taken of Holland's head in March. The ones on the right are her "after" 5 months of wearing her helmet. The last series is the most dramatic. By the way, her head went from being 18mm assymetrical to only 6mm!

You can still see a bit of head "tilt" in this one.

WOW!!

Milestones In Progress

2009-10-09T09:23:00.001-07:00

Big things have been going on at our house. Reading, pottying, and weaning to name a few. Bronwyn is making huge strides in the book department. She has a brilliant mind and is creative beyond measure...thinking outside the box is her specialty, and she's now in classes to further develope those gifts and talents. Thinking inside the box, however, not so much. While she hasn't been at the bottom of the barrel as far as reading goes, she's been pretty darn close. But I am totally blessed that she has not one but TWO aunts whose area of expertise is reading. They are keeping an eye on her and giving her some extra attention in this department and she is going to be reading Harry Potter before I know it (just kidding...maybe Junie B though).

And Boaz is an EXCELLENT little pottier! We had a rough start at the first of last week. Lots of poop in the garage and daddy's studio (don't ask), but he's doing awesome now! Yesterday he wore the same pair of jeans AND undies ALL day long! I was so proud. He even got up in the middle of the night last night, took off his jammies and diaper (still sleeping in one) and went potty all by himself! Of course, he got back in bed naked and woke up with damp sheets this morning, but hey it's a great start.

The only one really backsliding is Miss Holland. At the first of this week, I had her down to 2 feedings a day...once in the morning and once at night. That lasted all of 2 days. By Wednesday at noon I had already nursed her 4 times. I blame the emerging 4 teeth and the insidious ear infection that her ped found at her well visit yesterday. Oh, thats why she's been waking up in the middle of the night screaming! Good to know! Well, maybe next week will be better.

And I can't post without including some pics. Here's some from our Fall Festival at B's school last weekend.

Happy 1st Holland!

2009-10-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

On Thursday we celebrated our family's last first birthday. What a year! Oh how I love this little girl! You can't be around Holland for long before you have either caught her infectious grin or been slobbered on by a sloppy wet kiss. She is quite simply the world's happiest baby. Here are some pics from her big day!

Me and my Hazelnut Crunch

That funny little smile.

Truly the yummiest cake ever!

Holland agrees.

See Boaz eying her present.

All in all a great end to a great year. And do you realize that I will now have two toddlers? This should be interesting!

Mourn with those who mourn...

2009-09-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

Connor Charles Neagle was born yesterday afternoon weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. He died shortly after heroic attempts by the NICU staff to ventilate and revive him. His little brain went to sleep and his mommy and daddy made the heartbreaking decision that it was better to let his fragile body go than put it through any more. Please pray for this sweet family, Stacey and Matt and their almost 3 year old little girl Taylor. Matt is my brother in law Michael's brother. They are obviously shocked and devastated.

Grown Up Girl

2009-09-11T10:34:00.001-07:00

Well as you can see, I have one very grown up little girl on my hands. I have to remind her pretty much daily, you're only six! I won't go into all the drama around our house these days and the attitude bigger than Texas. Here are some pics of the better moments over the past few weeks :)

The FIRST day of the FIRST grade! I feel like I have a "real" big kid now.

Apparently lost teeth are a status symbol amongst kindergarteners. Bronwyn has been practically devastated for the last several months that none of hers would even wiggle. And then voila, out of the blue one was loose. This pic is of me trying to pull it with dental floss after she had been messing with it non stop for about a week. She begged me to do this by the way. I got no pics of the tears that resulted from my failed attempt.

TA DA!!!!

And the tooth fairy disguised as Dada (Kev's dad) gave her 5 bucks. FIVE BUCKS! I used to get like a dime! She wrote a story about the whole thing complete with drawings and took it along with the tooth to school on Tuesday. When I picked her up that afternoon I asked if everyone was excited about her show and tell. She said, "Not really. Grayson brought a tarantula, so nobody cared." Oh the disappointment of youth!

Back With a Vengence

2009-08-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, summer is almost over! It has been very busy around here for the last month. Here's a recap: a miserable, miserable, miserable bout with strep throat (me); followed almost immediately by a trip with Kev's fam to OKC; a short jaunt to Dallas where we learned Holland is officially DONE with the helmet; another miserable, miserable bout with strep (Bronwyn); followed immediately by a party with our family to celebrate no helmet (did I mention we are DONE?); then a fabulous week in beautiful Angel Fire; a LONG drive home; hot/windy/rainy weather here; and trying to get ready for school to start while squeezing in our last few days at the pool. Whew!!! Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? Well, here's not quite a thousand pics :)

This is the picture we turned in at the clinic on our last day there. Hopefully it will make it into the Doc Band calender they do!

B, Boaz, and part of cousin Christian posing at the science museum in OKC (which is awesome by the way).

B riding the "Segue" at the museum.

I have always wanted to ride one too!

Bo playing the drums in the sound section.

About to race go carts!

Ahh, Angel Fire and the glorious lake by our cabin. Note the jacket I am wearing...love it!

And Holland spent most of the time there in this pack as you will see in the pics to follow.

Kev took B horseback riding because, of course, she's a little girl and horses are little girls most favorite things in the world. This one's name was Copper. I know that because she's been telling anyone who will listen that she got a horse named Copper.

Want to know what I was doing while they were on the ride? I was walking around the lake with Holland (on my back) and my mom when all of a sudden my mom grabbed my arm and said, "There's a BEAR!" Sure enough, a 300 pound brown bear was frolicking not 30 yards from us...yikes!!

On one of about a hundred hikes with my girls.

Say cheese Holland!

In Red River.

Boaz's most favorite thing about the entire week was throwing rocks the rivers and lakes.

B's first fish! And one of only 2 we caught all week I might add.

Hanging out with Darni on the deck.

Holland loves picnics!

River rats.

Wish you could see the pretty little waterfall behind us...or Holland behind me for that matter!

Again with the rock throwing. This time cousin Ephraim and Aunt Rae Rae are assisting.

All worn out.

Goofy girl.

Bros.

This was the view from our deck. Amazing!

Lots of good hang out time spent out here.

The world's happiest baby.

This was in the courtyard of the most awesome little toy store in Taos.

I swear I think we spent like 2 hours here. And that's despite the fact that one of the first things we saw when we walked in was a woman sitting about where Boaz is in this pic, totally bare breasted feeding her 3 year old kid! The kid pulled off and was like, "I want to go play now mommy". Ever heard of a water bottle lady???

Finally back at home and all tuckered out :)

Snake Fun

2009-07-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Kev and I went to Dallas this weekend for Holland's sppointment at the clinic. I forgot to ever make our flight, so rather than fork over 300 bucks for a ticket, we opted to take a road trip instead. Of course, I didn't take any pics, but we had fun and turned it into a date.

Bronwyn had a blast without us. She stayed with my sister and her BFF cousin India. My sis and her husband own a small ranch about 20 minutes north of where we live. They go out there all the time to hike and ride four wheelers. Rattlesnakes are a pretty frequent find, but not ones quite as impressive as the one they found IN THEIR BARN on Monday. The barn that MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN IN AND OUT OF THE WHOLE DAY BEFORE!!!! It was five feet long and as big around as my thigh! And my awesome sister, the consumate educator, let the kids and their friends dissect it. Not only that, they deep fried it and had it for dinner as well!!! B said it tastes like squid. I'll take your word for it honey.

The dissection.

The skinning.

The meat.

The trophy.

Holland Hazel

2009-06-19T18:55:00.001-07:00

These are from our latest shoot with the fabulous Lezlie Andrew. Love her stuff!!! She also did some of me nursing her. They are gorgeous!

Weekend Fun

2009-06-15T14:06:00.001-07:00

We had a great weekend. First buzz, first big bath, first pony ride, and first campfire of the summer. Bronwyn's not in many of these because it was also her first weekend away with a friend. Here are the pics!

Daddy's turn first...

Goodbye curls!

He looks like such a big boy now :(

Lady bug infestation! If you look closely there are HUNDREDS of them on this tree. They are ALL over the back yard.

Sword fight?

Splish splash we were takin a bath!

Big girl!

Riding the pony at cousin Caylee's birthday party

Hangin out with cousin George (who is getting baby practice for his new little one due in 2 weeks!)

wow, he's sitting so still!

Rawr!

One of the best things about living where we do is the storms.

Nothin like tending a fire in your jammies!

Smores in the driveway :)

A little trashy, but still really fun!

My 30 Year Old Heart is Full

2009-06-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

Another week, another milestone....I am officially a thirty-something. To be honest, I was a little depressed on my birthday last Thursday. Not because I'm no longer in my twenties, though. I've been saying lately that it seems like I should have been thirty a long time ago! The last decade has been incredibly eventful. Marriage, college completion, a "career" of sorts, and of course becoming a mother to the 3 most amazing kids ever made.
No, I definitely wasn't depressed about turning 30. I was depressed because my birthday was spent in airports, airplanes, and the clinic in Dallas among strangers who didn't even know it was a big day for me...despite the fact that I had to show my driver's license to at least six of them (except my dad of course, who was awesome to be our chauffeur yet again and give me even more awesome birthday $$). And as I have explained in detail in a previous post, our bi-monthly trips are far less than enjoyable. When I got home I crawled into bed and attempted a nap. I didn't even see the rest of my family until late that afternoon. Rachael called and asked if we wanted to go eat, and we did. Despite a tornado warning and a sick Boaz. I needed a beer!
Then off to work on Friday and a lazy, order pizza kind of Friday evening. We made plans earlier in the week to go eat at my favorite restaurant Saturday night with my mom, Rachael and Michael. After lining up babysitters, we were all set. Rachael called Saturday afternoon to see if we could just swing by and pick them up so that we'd all be in one car. When Kev and I pulled up to the house, I wondered why the blinds in the kitchen window were closed. I opened the door and saw Michael on the chair in the front room texting. He got up and said, you guys ready? In the next second I noticed a bunch of food on the dining room table behind him and then..

SURPRISE!!!

And all my favorite people (minus 2 babies) jumped out and just about gave me a heart attack!! Even Bronwyn was there! It was absolutely fantastic! The BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! I don't know how they all pulled it off, but I was beyond shocked. I took me like 10 minutes just to stop shaking. What's truly AMAZING is that Kev did not spill the beans. He is terrible at any kind of secrets. And he had told B like 2 days before, but neither one of them gave anything away. Of course, he could not have done any of it without my AWESOME sisters, mom, and brother in law. Rachael, Michael, and mom worked like dogs to get the house ready for people. The last time I had been over there, which was like a week and a half ago, it looked like a bomb had gone off from the Neagles moving in. But last night, the inside was perfect and the backyard looked like something out of a movie! Such a wonderful evening with people I dearly love! Thank you SO much everyone for giving me a warm welcome into the next decade. Rachael and Michael, mom, Samantha and Whitt, Natalie and Nick, Tara and Jason, Shelly and Kevin, Wendy and Daryl, Eden and Todd, Becky and Lyndal, Amber and Matt, Line and Lambert, Luke, Tony, and of course my amazing husband...I love all of you SO much! Oh yeah, and happy birthday Kev too! Thank you for letting me have my own birthday for once :)

My awesome sis and Nat

The Gonzalezes

Matt, Amber, and Line

Mom, Todd, and Eden

Michael and Matt

Samantha, Rachael, and Whitt

the amazing overnight bag that Amber MADE me...this pic doesn't do it justice!

I LOVE this man!

The Graduate

2009-06-02T07:08:00.001-07:00

Wow, last week was a busy one! Bronwyn is officially a kindergarten graduate. We attended commencement on Wednesday. The theme was Charlotte's Web and they played the little graduation music as all the soon to be first graders filed in. How cute is that!

And then another big event...

They sure do grow up fast!

Didn't see this one coming

2009-05-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I took Holland to Dallas this morning for what I thought would be one of our last 3 or 4 visits. I'm SO looking forward to getting these trips over with. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is mentally and physically wearing me and Holland out. I usually wake up around 4am and make some coffee, take a quick shower, and have a little breakfast before I wake Holland up 45 minutes later. I nurse her, then get us both dressed and out the door by 5:30 and try really hard not to forget anything...like diapers...or the helmet because that would be VERY bad! We check in at the airport ticket counter where they have to print out a boarding pass for her. She's known as the "Thursday Baby" and no matter how much she's yawning or rubbing her eyes, she generously doles out huge smiles for everyone.
If you've never travelled with a baby by yourself let me just tell you it is NOT glamorous. I need about 6 extra arms to hold my boarding passes while taking off my shoes, getting her out of her carseat to go through security (even if she's asleep mind you), and fold up the stroller to put through the little x-ray thingy. Then we have to do the whole process in reverse on the other side of the metal detector. And that's only phase one! We then proceed to the gate to get her stroller tagged and all the while I'm praying that it's not a full flight so I can take the car seat on. Because you see, the downside to having a "babywise" baby is that she very rarely will go to sleep in my arms. Unless I'm nursing her of course, in which case it never fails that some creepy old man sits next to me and wants to chat it up. So, I like to have the car seat in the seat next to me. She fusses (or screams) about it until we start down the runway, and once the jets get to going it's usually lights out. Until the loud ass flight attendant or pilot comes on jabbering about tray tables and altitude and she pretty much bolts awake. I mean, does anyone even listen to them?! Thankfully the flight is only 55 minutes and she does relatively well with the 20 minute cat nap. As we make our decent into Love Field, which usually feels like it takes 30 minutes, I go ahead and nurse her again so she stays happy. We land, I put her back in the carseat, she cries until it's finally my turn to disembark, we wait another 10 minutes for them to bring the stroller up, and we make our way to my Dad or his wife who are picking us up. At this point I begin to sweat. Literally. Because in Amarillo the humidity is normally around 10%. And in Dallas it's around 100%. As soon as we get Holland buckled in and the stroller loaded, I crank up the AC and freeze my driver out. My stepmother told me today that she wears warm clothes when she's going to be picking me up.
And off to the clinic. It's not very far from the airport, but then we have to wait anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to be seen. We go back to the room, our therapist takes some measurements, they shave a little off the inside of the helmet, and we are on our way again.
Well, today was a bit different. For one thing, our PT Sue went with us. What a blessing! Not only did I have an extra pair of hands, but she stayed with Holland while I went to the bathroom! And I actually had some company. But on a sad note, our therapist in Dallas is leaving. She's moving to California. And on an even sadder note (and now I finally come to the point), she told me today that she thinks Holland may need a second helmet. What??? Not only would that mean shelling out another 3600 bucks, but as I just described, this traveling thing has been no picnic! But she thinks the most we could get out of the current helmet is 4 weeks. And she doesn't think that is going to give her head enough time to fully correct. So, we've got some praying and thinking to do.
On the one hand, her head is SOOO much better. I really don't think that it will be very noticeable when her hair grows out. Her face is almost totally symmetrical, and as I mentioned before her ears are much more aligned. But this wasn't all about cosmetics from the beginning. Kids with plagio can turn into adults with TMJ, migraines, and ear problems because of the jaw and ear misalignment. So, while it is a million times better, that may not be enough. And though the thought of stretching this journey out even further makes my stomach turn, I ultimately want to do the absolute right thing for my baby girl. So, pray for us if you think about it that we would have wisdom and provision. I'll keep you posted.

The Usual

2009-05-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well I don't really have anything interesting to post. I just wanted my "Swine Flu" blog to drop off everyone's page :) We've just been up to the usual. That's all about to change of course in 3, no wait 2 and a half, weeks when school is out. I must admit, I'm slightly frightened. I've never had 3 kids at home ALL day long before for more than a week! But hooray for the pool, snow cone stands, and VBS!

Holland is doing super fantastic in her helmet. The difference it has made not only in her head shape, but also her facial features and ear alignment is amazing. And she has just been such a little champ through all of this. Last week was our first week off from going to Dallas in 2 months. It was a MUCH needed break! Back on for this Thursday though. And good news from our physical therapist, who after the last 4 months has practically become a part of our family. She said today that if Holland's neck keeps improving at the rate it is then she will "graduate" soon! Yea!!! Our good friend Lezlie is taking some pics of her next week, so maybe she will be sweet and let me post some.

Boaz is ornery as ever. I picked him up from "school" today and the director said, "I think he was actually pretty sweet today. I didn't even see him in time out at all." So, that's him in a nut shell. Except any bad report is usually followed by something along the lines of, "But he's soooo cute!" Bronwyn is just awesome. I'm nervous that she's going to be really bored this summer. She absolutely loves school and is definitley going to miss her friends. And I cannot believe that I will have a first grader next year!

Anyway here are some pics of our "usual".

Swine Flu

2009-04-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

My dad just called me. He said he wanted me to go to Walgreens or somewhere to buy some surgical masks for me and Holland for our flight tomorrow (a side note, I guess he forgot I work in the surgery department at the hospital!). I was like, "do you really think it's that bad?" Because to be honest with you, I've been rolling my eyes at this whole media wolf cry. But then he told me that one of his customers came down with it, and I read the headline about the little girl who became the first death in the US from it...in Houston...not very far away at all. My dad and his wife even cancelled a trip they have been planning for months to South Padre Island next weekend. He said they're not going anywhere near Mexico.

So, I called Kev and asked him what he thought. He said there was no harm in taking precautions. I told him I thought I'd look like an idiot with a mask on and one taped to my baby. He said I probably won't be the only one.

And then, as I got off the phone with him, I felt fear starting to well up in me. What if Bronwyn is exposed at school? Are some of our dear friends who live in Houston safe? What if , what if, what if???? And I feel the Lord very strongly saying to me, "...a thousand may fall at your right hand, and ten thousand at your left, but it will not come near you..." That, of course, is from Psalm 91, where we are given promises of protection for those who "dwell in the secret place of the Most High...under the shadow of His wings..."

So I just encourage you believers, let's not fear. Let's pray. Pray for the sick, pray for the lost, pray for the scared. But do not fear.

Better late than never...right???

2009-04-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been determined to post this before May. I mean, her birthday was April 3rd so a whole month should be enough time!

My baby is 6! Make that 6 going on 26. If you don't know Bronwyn, you are truly missing out. She is seriously one of the coolest chicks I know. Not only is she extremely beautiful (like sometimes she comes up to me outside to ask a question and the sun hits her eyes just right, and my breath is literally taken away for a second!), but she is hilarious, brilliant, compassionate, curious, thoughtful, well spoken, athletic, adventurous....the absolute total package. Of course, you are also left with an independent free thinker who can already weild a pretty fearsome and argumentative tounge, but life with her is certainly never dull! Because with Bronwyn, you'd just as soon get the girl who is digging up her daddy's flower bed in search of worms to dissect as you would get the girl who is searching for the perfect flowers to braid into her hair for dress up time. And she is just so interesting to talk to. She loves to hear all our stories from our childhoods, but there have been so many nights that she and Kevin have stayed up late discussing the mysteries of the universe and the depths of God's love. And I'm not even close to exaggerating!

Anyway, she wanted to have a "football cheerleader party at the same place she had it last year, which was a cheerleader school that Kev built. It's got bouncy floors, lots of trampolines, and a big foam pit. It's basically just the perfect place to get kids good and worn out!

The rope swing.

The big foam pit you drop into from the swing.

He looks like he's up to something.

Yep, that's me on the big rope swing! They send the grown ups almost all the way to the ceiling. It's half the reason I let her have her party there!

A rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose has just been interrupted by the birthday girl's crazy daddy!

Cake!

Presents!

After the cheerleader school, we headed back home for her "family" party and pizza.

More cake!

More presents!

We even had half naked boys!

It's About Freaking Time!

2009-04-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

I was just watching the LOTR trilogy on cable for like the millioneth time. Okay, "watching" might be too strong of a word, but it's been on for awhile as I've been doing Saturday chores (a side note here: Bronwyn and Boaz haven't been home for 24 hours! They went to the circus with Kev's folks last night and have been there all day!).

Anyway, a commercial came on for a new "drama" starring Jada Pinkett Smith...a medical drama. I was rolling my eyes thinking, oh no...not another one! (just so you know, my hospital is absolutely nothing like Grey's Anatomy) I'm so sick of doctor shows! You've got ones in the hospital, out of the hospital, medical school, medical jerks...it's endless!

But this one is called Hawthorne, and at the last second of the commercial I caught the emphasis on RN in the title. What??? They are actually going to try this from the nurse's perspective?!! I am so excited! I wrote a paper in nursing school about how nurses are portrayed in the media. Now, granted this was like 8 years ago, but I had started out writing about another topic and when I did an "internet search" (this was before the days of Google people!), almost every single topic returned was porn! I thought, is this really how I'm going to be represented in the world?

Do you remember when ER started? Way back when I mean. The nurse, Julianna something or other, was a very strong, smart woman. Who was a nurse. Who ended up going to medical school to become a doctor. That's great and all, but why couldn't they have just left the character a nurse? What was wrong with her that way? It certainly made the show a bit more "authentic" (I use that term loosely), because I don't know when the last time you were in an emergency room, but the doctors do NOT outnumber the nurses 25 to 1!

Or what about "Meet the Parents". Such I funny movie, but half the time they were making fun of Ben Stiller's character being a "male nurse". And the only time he was given legitmacy for making the choice to be a nurse was when everyone learned that his MCAT scores were good, and he really could have been a doctor if he'd wanted to.

Well, all that to say, I'm really excited about this new show. I'm sure it won't be completely realistic, and I hope that it will not be a total soap opera where nurses are making out with patients in the bathrooms or something. I will actually be surprised if I even have time to watch it on any kind of regular basis. But I hope that it helps the rest of the world to see that nurses are not merely women who decided they couldn't cut medical school and ended up emptying bedpans. I hope that RN's are portrayed the way they should be: female or male, smart, strong, caring, willing and able to be the voice for many people who cannot speak up for themselves.

Happy Half Birthday Holland!

2009-04-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it...Holland was 6 months old yesterday! Cliche I know, but it's crazy how time flies. To celebrate, we gave her a cake! Okay not really. But she did have her first solid food, rice cereal mixed with mama milk...mmm. The big kids had ice cream and sang "Go Holland go!" in unison the whole time I was trying to feed her. Despite their enthusiastic encouragement, she was not impressed. Here's the big event!

Had to include these. What could be better to a little boy that jumping in the mud with his cowboy boots on? Not to mention a diaper hanging to his knees!

And Bronwyn's birthday is tomorrow. I'll post pics from party central!

Bargains Baby!

2009-03-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

This is just an FYI for those of you with kiddos, especially baby girls. Gymboree is having a sale, up to 60% off and it's actually really cute stuff. Sometimes they only put the not cute stuff on sale, but not this time! The start of a new season is always expensive for me. I have to get everybody outfitted in weather appropriate attire because they have all outgrown everything from the previous year. So I love a bargain!

Oh, and thanks to my good friend Amy, my new obsession is Etsy. Certainly not always a bargain, but so stinkin cute it doesn't even matter!

Okay, that's all I got. I'm off to shower :)

Tulips and Snow

2009-03-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics! I got Holland's helmet all decorated. I decided to do tulips since it is spring and also because Holland is famous for it's tulips. I also wanted to include some shots from post blizzard. Enjoy!

March Madness

2009-03-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

No, this isn't about basketball. It's about CRAZY spring weather! We've been praying for a big snowstorm all winter. This morning we woke up to a BLIZZARD! Better late than never!

Yes, Boaz's pants are purple. Poor kid is wearing his big sis' hand me downs.

This is after almost an hour digging snow tunnels. They look like astronauts or something.

Boaz didn't last that long. He stayed outside maybe 5 minutes. Playing with legos by the fire is way more fun (for me anyway!).

Had to include this one! I thought he was trying to do the "tree pose", but he says he was being Captain Morgan.

"Uh, Look..."

2009-03-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

I wasn't home until late yesterday evening because I had to work in the healing rooms at our church, so I didn't get to see the President's press conference. Kev had Bronwyn and Boaz at home. I have no idea how he managed to talk them out of Thomas to turn it on (maybe I should take lessons). Anyway, he told me that as they were all three snuggled on the couch watching, Bronwyn said, "He sure says 'Uh' a lot." Kev snickered and then replied, "Honey, we don't have to watch this if you don't want to. Do you not like listening to him?" She said, "No. Because I think he should know what he's going to say when those people ask him a question. He shouldn't have to say 'Uh' all the time. I don't think he knows what he's talking about."

Oh the wisdom of children ;)

Updates Galore!

2009-03-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is over...woo hoo!!! No, I'm kidding. It was a good week, just very busy having all 3 kids here all week. I'm used to Bronwyn being in school all day and Boaz having Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I love my kids, but we get along much better when we have mini-breaks from each other. It actually went by a lot faster than I thought it would. Anyway, I realized that my last several posts have been about Holland, so I wanted to share a bit about what the other two have been doing.

Well, the first day of the Break featured a wonderful little snow storm. I left work that day giddy as a, well kid, and let big fat snow flakes land on my tongue as I walked to my car. We snuggled in that night with a fire, very likely our last of the season. By noon the next day all the evidence of snow, or moisture for that matter, was evaporated. And to my great shame I got no pictures of the kids playing in it :(

I had a half hearted goal of keeping the TV off this week. I mostly succeeded.

Kev made the big mistake of falling asleep on the couch. I don't know if you can tell, but his face is covered in glittery play make up.

The things I did not get pics of (other than the snow) include the mostly summer like weather we had for the rest of the week. We played out side for most of the day every day. Bronwyn had some friends over Monday and went to my sister's ranch with her cousins on Tuesday, where she found arrowheads, a cow skull, and was stung by a wasp (how exciting!). She and Boaz each had turns spending the night with grandparents and generally wearing everyone around them out. Boaz fought a fever for the next 2 days. I think he's getting some molars. Thursday they spent with Darni while Ha Hay and I were in Dallas. On Friday I took the kids (my myself!) to Dalhart to see my good friend Haley and her precious little red head Holden. I scared myself half to death on the trip home by forgetting to get gas. I was on E by the time I left Channing and was in no man's land. I stopped at the little store in Vale de Oro that has the ancient gas pumps only to find they both had equally ancient padlocks on them and the price of per gallon was under a dollar. Apparently they haven't sold gas in qutie some time. So, back in the car and pray, pray, pray! I don't know how, but I managed to make it home. We had more friends out for dinner that night, a lazy Saturday the next day, Kev led worship at church on Sunday, and last night we all fell into an exhausted slumber. Well, almost all of us. We put B in bed at 8 but I don't think she went to sleep until after 10. Oh, it was a rude awakening this morning! A preview of weeks to come I guess...summer is just around the corner!

This Is a Quickie

2009-03-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have absolutely no time to blog right now, but of course I'm doing it anyway. Pardon the forthcoming typos! Those of you who are "friends" of mine on facebook have already seen these, but I wanted to post some quick pics of Holland's helmet, or "band"! SHe is doing really well with it PRAISE GOD!!! Of course, we'are only on day 2. We went to Dallas yesterday for the fitting. She was a trooper for sure. SHe slept all night last night, but that could be because she was exhausted. Here are the pics. I havn'et had a chance to decorate it yet, but I will post more when a do!

This is at the clinic.

It was a LONG flight home!

Just Call me Mrs. Jumbo

2009-03-05T07:01:00.001-08:00

You want the good news or the bad news first? Okay, the good news is our trip to the Doc Band clinic in Dallas was successful. Holland was a trooper in spite of only 15 minutes of sleep here and there. We left our house at 5 am and got back to our house at 2 pm! We better get used to it, though, because the bad news is we will be going back EVERY week!!! The orthotist, Lisa, said that because Holland is so young, they will need to make adjustments on her band weekly instead of bi-weekly like I had thought at first. The other bad news is that her plagiocephaly began in-utero (they can tell from the shape) and that that type usually takes longer to fix. Lisa estimated 10 weeks in the first band, followed by the possibility of a second band after that (at another $3300 I might add). The reason for that is again, Holland's age. Babies' heads grow so much between 5 and 7 months that the first band would not fit properly after that. So, obviously, we are praying that the first band does the trick.

The clinic was nice, though. Everyone was very sweet and helpful. First they took measurements of her head with some calipers. If you were to make an X on your head (from your right temple to the left back part of your head and vice versa) the two distances should be somewhat equal. A difference of 2-3 mm is normal. Holland's difference is 18 mm! I had read somewhere that 8mm is considered pretty bad. While Lisa said 18 is not the worst number they have seen, she would consider Holland's plagio severe. Next, they took us to a room to do the "DSi Scan". Have you ever seen the behind the scenes features of a movie where they used CGI? That's sort of what this reminded me of. They put a white pantyhose sock over her head and face and set her on a stool. There were six cameras all around and above the stool that took simultaneous pictures. Those pics then became a 3D model on the computer screen. The tech turned the 3D pic green and took out all the facial features. This is the model they will use to fabricate her band. I asked for a copy of it, but they said the file was too big for them to burn to a disk. You can see another kid's scan here to see what I'm talking about.

She did so good. She looked like a little bank robber with the pantyhose on her face, but she barely even wimpered about it! After that, they took some regular pics for her "before" file. She did have a mini meltdown at that point.

So, all in all, it was a long day. At the airport on the way home, people kept peeking at her and saying "Oh, how cute!" Despite her lack of sleep, she'd reward them all with a huge Holland grin, to which they would exclaim "Oh!" again. I couldn't help but think about what the looks will be on our next return trip, after we actually have the band on. Will people peek in to the car seat to see the baby and then draw back? Will they stare? Will they do double takes? I imagined myself as Dumbo's mommy, Mrs. Jumbo. I pictured the scene where the children are making fun of her baby's ears and she picks one of them up and spanks them with her trunk. Of course, then they tie her up and lock her away, so maybe I'll have to come up with a different reaction. But I know the feeling in my heart will be the same. Can't you see my beautiful little girl under there?

We make the return trip for the fitting in 2 weeks. After that it will be weekly. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming please!

FYI

2009-03-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

I have posted a few times about Holland and the Torticollis and Plagiocephaly. I've become a quasi-expert on this subject and have realized that I throw around these terms without explaining them very well. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I found some that will show you what we are dealing with:Sketch, note the ear misalignment.

Same thing. Holland is actually the opposite of this, though. The bulge on her head is on the right side like the pic below. This pic is the more common plagio.

Before.

This is a pic of the Doc Band on their website. This is what Holland's band will basically look like. You can decorate them with paint or stickers.

After. This is what we are hoping to accomplish.

Hope that helps. Keep us in your prayers as I take her to Dallas* on Wednesday. They will be doing the initial consult, measurements, and scans in order to make her band. Our flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning and we will be back that same afternoon, so it will be pretty fast and furious. We will probably return the next week or so to get the actual band. I'll post updates then!

*I just realized that on my last post about this I said I would be getting a band here in town. After a tremendous amount of research, prayer, and driving my husband crazy with all my mind changes and pro/con lists, I decided the one in Dallas is the better choice for Holland.

Coco Cabana

2009-02-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

You know, that song? Okay, got it in your head? That's the tune we sing this to:

Holland, she's bumbo-licious
Holland, she's bumbo-squishious

It actually started with Boaz because he was so dang chubby he practically spilled out of the Bumbo. But look at this pic and tell me if it's not just totally true for little Ha Hay (or Howand Hazol as Boaz says), too!

Old Friends

2009-02-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

I had a little bit of an organizational spurt last weekend. I still haven't tackled our junk drawer, but I did manage to arrange our 3 cd drawers. It was such a mess. Not even pre-Holland nesting could force me to attempt it. But I had bought some plastic boxes at Wal Mart like 3 months ago and they've just been sitting on top of my dryer ever since. I wanted to finally find a place for them, so I just had to bite the bullet and do it. I wish I had taken a picture. I threw away about 500 broken jewel cases and about a hundred CDRs and/or ones Kevin had bought when he was in his weird techno phase. I put all the discs that were loose in either an intact case or a big travel case. Now, I didn't get so far as putting the discs in the correct cases, but it was better than nothing. At least the drawers open and close now.

By chance, that same day Kevin had let Boaz play in my car. I never do this as the boy is notorious for reprogramming electronics. But this time, he only managed to take all my current music selections out of my disc changer (something Kevin can't even do by himself, I might add). I've been in a music rut lately. Slot 1 was Ryan Adams, 2 was The Pop a Wheelies, 3- Ryan Adams, 4-Ryan Adams, 5-Ryan Adams, 6- Coldplay. You see what I mean.

But while I was cleaning out the drawers, I ran across some old friends. Albums I loved once upon a time and listened to non-stop at various points in my life. So, I decided out with the new and in with the old. And very much like old friends, some of the relationships have been difficult. With some friends you can pick right up where you left off, and with others you find you just don't click anymore. Here are my old pals:

#1- Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Still a great buddy, but I can only take just a little at a time.
#2- Don Chaffer (they guy from Waterdeep). I don't remember the name of this album. I can't find the sleeve anywhere. But it's just as well, because this friend is boring and depressed.
#3- 100 Portaits, don't remember the name of this either (I told you these were old!). Still very interesting, though. I'm wading back in.
#4-Misty Edwards, Always On His Mind. I am so glad that I can listen to this again. I made the mistake of listening to it while I was very first pregnant with Boaz. After that, anytime I heard any of the songs I was instantly nauseous. But I love it. It's a friend that inspires my in my walk with God and fills my heart with love and longing.
#5-Shane&Shane, Carry Away. A very comfortable pal to be with, that brings back wonderful memories. When Bronwyn was little bity there was a cd player on top of the armoir in her room. Every time I would nurse her I would listen to this album (or Radio Reader on NPR). Listening to it now reminds me of those sweet moments as a brand new mom with my first born. She's so grown up now, I like to think about when she was still so new and helpless, and I was the love of her life.
#6-Heather Clark, Undivided Focus. Umm, not so much. I haven't really figured out why I hung out with this one. Maybe we werent as good of friends as I remembered.

I wonder when Ryan Adams will become and old friend instead of a current passion? Probably never :)

Snip Snip

2009-02-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

Well, Kev got "fixed" Friday. No more babies for us! He handled it pretty well. He was extremely nervous going into it, but afterwards he had to admit it wasn't that bad. It was an in office procedure and they gave him something to help him relax a bit. I think the whole thing took about 20 minutes. I for one was chuckling almost the entire time. It's not every day you get to see your husband's legs up in stirrups :) The funniest part was when I ran out to the car to inhale my breakfast croissant (hey, it was supposed to be at 8:30 and it wasn't until 11, I was STARVING). In the hall I passed another one of the uroligists talking with a medical student. When I came back into the room Kevin said, "They asked me if a medical student could watch and I told them I guessed so." To which my reply was, "Oh yeah, I saw her, she's really cute." His look was priceless!!!

As for me, this whole thing is bittersweet. I mean, I don't want any more kids. Three is plenty for us. Our quiver is full. I don't want to be pregnant again, have ridiculous sleep deprivation again, get any more stretch marks, etc... I want to be able to pour everything I have into these children I have been blessed with. I really don't think I could even be an adequate mom to more than 3. I'm just not that good at it!! But I will miss that sweet, new baby smell. That completely floppy little body, and that helpless, almost cute tiny cry. I will sort of miss the feeling of those first little butterfly movements in my belly, and the triumphant feeling after just giving birth. But not enough to do it all again!!

Dead Dog

2009-02-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

Just kidding. But the ol' girl is going on 10! This is exactly how she slept as a puppy. She's about 30 pounds overweight and has terrible hips. But somehow this is comfy. Go figure.

If you pray...

2009-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Please pray for Dakota Sharp. He is an 18 year old young man that works for Kev. Yesterday he fell 15 foot off a scissor lift onto concrete...on his head. He had surgery yesterday to remove a "bone flap" from his skull in order to let the brain swell without the obstacle of bone. He is now in a coma. He is so sweet and is really trying to make something of his life. Please just lift him up in your thoughts and prayers. He could really use some good vibes about now.

Just Curious...

2009-02-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

So, it's pretty obvious that this lady in California who had the octuplets has created quite a stir. I was just reading an article online about the costs invloved. I'm just curious what people think of all this. People I know. What is your opinion? If you don't want to comment on here, email me at kevlex_wright@yahoo.com.

I, for one, am totally fascinated by people who have large families. I guess lots of other people are, too, otherwise we wouldn't have shows like Jon and Kate Plus 8. Our children's pastor at church and his wife are expecting baby boy #6. I talked to another lady last week who just had baby #7 and still wants one more. I really like my kids and all, but 3 is our absolute limit! Maybe for some people the more kids you have, the more patience you inherit. Not me. I find my fuse a bit shorter with each kiddo, unfortunately. When that lady told me it was her seventh child by jaw dropped. She probably thought I was so rude, but I just kept asking her questions! I couldn't help it. I want to know how you feed, clothe, bathe, and do laundry for that many people. Or how you read to, tickle, play with, and discipline them. Not to mention pay to have them. It seems like a lot of folks who have several children are in ministry or non-profit vocations. We are basically self employed and it is all but impossible to get any kind of maternity insurance in these types of jobs. Fortunately for us, if you pay cash upfront our OB doc and our hospital give discounts. That was still $12,000 bucks in 2 years for 2 babies. How do you afford that for 7? I mean, if you're not Brangelina? I'm not trying to be cheeky, I really do want to know what the options out there are. Home birth? Great! Seriously, that's great. But surely that's not free. Right?

As for this California lady, I truly feel sorry for her. Raising 14 children would be extremely difficult for any couple, but how much more for a single mom? I absolutely do not agree with her choices. I think she was selfish, irresponsible, and needs serious mental evaluation. (On a side note, I think it's ironic she is in the mental health field!) But none of that is really relevant now. Now she's in it. Alone. And it's the kids who will pay the price for that. I don't think that punishing her is going to help them out any.

So anyway, what do you think?

Holland Update

2009-02-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for and checked up on Holland. We are blessed to have such amazing friends. The good news is that the Tortocollis is nearly resolved. That means that Holland's neck has loosened up considerably and her head is nearly aligned. She has great range of motion to the right and we will hopefully be able to start lengthening the time between physical therapy appointments. She is in the bouncy seat next to me as I wright this and she is trying to sit up! She is rolling over from her back to her tummy and vice versa. Overall, she is an extremely happy, healthy baby who is developmentally right on track. Praise God!

However, though the Tortocollis is much better, the focus has now shifted to Plagiocephaly...aka smushed head. As I mentioned in the previous blog about this, because she looked left for so long her lead flattened out on that side. Lots of people have funny shaped heads, but with plagiocephaly the facial features can be affected. In Holland's case, her ears are not even with each other and her right eye and cheek are bigger than the right ones. It's not that noticeable on first glance. But if you look at her closely it becomes pretty obvious. The PT and I were joking about how once you know what to look for, you start to see it everywhere! I was watching the red carpet for some award show the other day and an actress they were interviewing totally had plagiocephaly! Now, the actress was still incredibly beautiful, but it was pretty obvious.

All that to say, we are getting Holland's head fixed. We have an appointment later today for a CT scan of her head to confirm bone placement and later in the week we will be getting her fitted for a helmet. Now, I was dead set against this course of treatment at the beginning of all this. But I see now that this is really the least invasive method in the long run. The good news is there is a place in town who will do it. We had originally thought we would have to go to a clinic in Dallas for treatment, which would require trips every two weeks for adjustments. Our wonderful pediatrician has assured us that the place here in town will do just as good of a job, and will obviously be TONS more convenient. We've already decided we will decorate her helmet with flowers or something and she will be the cutest little thing ever in it! So, keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I'll post pics of my little helmet head soon!

To The Pure, All Things Are Pure

2009-02-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me just say that yes, I know this is very wrong. But it's still pretty darn funny ;) In case you didn't know, one of Thomas the Train's sidekick pals is named Percy.

Operation Dallas Trip: Successful

2009-01-26T09:29:00.001-08:00

We're back! The trip was good. No one was injured our lost in the 4 days we were gone. Well, not technically lost anyway. There was one episode in which Boaz got on the elevator by himself. Our room was on the 5th floor. One time we were coming back from the pool and I thought he was right behind me. I sometimes use the "okay, I'm leaving you" tactic to get him to follow me. It usually works. This time, however, he just decided to go for a little joyride. It was a glass elevator, and you could see all the way to to downstairs lobby and into the elevator from the upper levels. That's probably why I didn't have a panic attack. I yelled down to some cowboys who were having a drink that my son was on the elevator. They heard me after about the 4th time. I couldn't find the staircase! Oh, and did I mention I had left Holland screaming in our room? Kevin and B were still at the pool. Thankfully the cowboys rescued him and waited for me on the 2nd floor. When the elevator finally got me from floor 5 and delivered me to them there were about 10 other people waiting for me. They all said, "There she is!" when the doors opened up. Boaz just grinned. No tears, no fear of being with strangers. Just, "mommy!". We had to go down to the ground level before we could go back up. Kev and B were there at that point. Kev just looked at me like, "what are you doing? I thought you were going upstairs?"

Other than that it was a great trip. We got there Thursday evening, had dinner then headed to the pool. Friday the weather was gorgeous and we trekked to the Fort Worth zoo. We hung in that night for more pool time. Saturday we went to the Dallas world Aquarium with what felt like all the other children in Dallas. It was a chilly 35 degrees that day and guess who forgot our coats?! That afternoon we went to the Galleria so Bronwyn could ice skate. My dad treated us to Sushi Saturday night and the kids were surprisingly well behaved. More pool time on Sunday morning and then we headed home. I forgot to take any pics at the hotel, but here are some from everywhere else:

The Childress Dairy Queen on the drive down.

The Zoo:Boaz, looking at the inappropriate Monkey.

I think Pachyderm is a funny name.

Kevin likes to take pictures of me while I'm in the middle of saying something.

DWA:

Hit the Road Jack...

2009-01-21T12:26:00.001-08:00

Well, us country folk are headed to the Big City tomorrow. We're taking the kiddos and going on a little mini-vacation to Dallas. I wanted to go to Santa Fe, but I was over ruled. Wish us luck with a 6 hour car ride (minimum), 3 kids in a hotel room, and trying to squeeze everything into 4 days. I'll post pics of our adventure when we return!

My Husband...The Nerd

2009-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows Kev knows that he is a bit...odd. I mean that in a good way, of course. He is a good mix of overly goofy and down right serious. It can be a bit Bipolar at times, though. Here's a couple of examples:

Serious Kevin: Way back, probably 9 years ago, we went to see Les Miserables with my sister Rachael and her husband Michael. Being the penny-pinching newlyweds we all were, we had sneaked in our own peanut M&Ms. I think I had gotten up to go to the bathroom during intermission when a lady sitting in front of us turned around and started talking to Kev. Rachael overheard the lady asking something along the lines of "How's it going." Kevin proceeding to tell her how "deeply" prophetic the play is; how the priest is such an example of love and the power of unconditional forgiveness or something. The lady then says, in my sister's best nasally rendition, "Oh. Well, I thought I smelled chocolate." So, so classic Kevin.

Silly Kevin:
Like I said, he's a good mix. Well, the other thing about Kevin is his "phases". Again, anyone who knows him very well knows all about these. Like, I just said we had gone to see Les Miserables. We also rented the movie version, the one with Liam Neeson (Yeah, we had the musical sound track and everything. I used to blast it while I was cleaning the house. I'll take this moment to admit that I am a huge dork as well.)We subsequently had to rent every single movie Liam Neeson ever made. From Star Wars to Nell. We, for obvious reasons, refer to this as the Liam Neeson Phase.

There have been other "phases" as well. I remember one in particular had to do with quantum physics and the space time continuum.

Well, now it's talk radio. (Or the car shredder, but I'll save that one for a seperate blog). Now, this is a man that I, in the past, have had to explain genocide in Sudan and the history of Iran Contra to. Now he comes home telling me about Israel bombing th snot out of Gaza or Obama's political appointees. It's down right spooky. This morning he asked me if I thought we could order Fox News from our sattelite company and have it in time for tonight's premiere of Glen Beck's new show. "He's going to be interviewing Sarah Palin you know." What??? This from the guy who I had to practically command to go vote last November.

I think it started because of Boaz. Around 6 months ago, Kevin let Bo play in his truck while he was cleaning out the garage. Our little guy has a particular talent for destruction. In his short little life he has been able to reprogram not only 2 of our phones, but my in-law's as well. And their TV. Actually, I can't remember now if it was him or Bronwyn that set the alarm on their TV to come on every morning at 4am. Anyway, while Boaz was playing in the truck he somehow short circuited all electrical components of the cab. No dome lights, no clock, no radio, no CD player. Bad timing, too, because shortly afterwards Kev started a job in Perryton which meant 2 hours of driving in the morning and 2 hours home. He had to come home, you see, because I had just had Holland a few weeks before and I would have lost my mind if he hadn't. Well, when we got the van I relinquished my keys to the 4-runner to him. I think he was so ecstatic to have a radio again that he's gone a little nuts with it. I mean, come on. AM talk radio? Don't you have to be a little crazy to go there?

Ah well. As with Liam Neeson and the theory of relativity I just tell myself, this too shall pass.

Get Some Sleep--Part Two

2009-01-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, so no hate mail...yet. Mostly I was either ignored or politely referenced. You can read the whole exchange here. But in case you don't want to mess with it, here is a portion:

mommyof_2_Bs_1H (That's me...I couldn't come up with anything better) -- From day 1 you use babywise? And that's when you use CIO?

As the crazy lady that's done crazy things to get a sleeping baby, I'm always interested in new methods. What's the gist of Babywise?

My problem with my kiddos is that they DON'T put themselves to sleep. Doesn't matter how drowsy or sleepy or ready to sleep they are, they don't put themselves to sleep. I figure that most sleep training won't work until they're older and can CIO since they can't fall asleep on their own.

P.S. My son is sleeping right now in the bouncy seat in the master bath with the fan on, just like his sister did. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! (But at least I didn't have to nurse him while hunched over the bouncy trying to balance--knock on wood. . .)

Here's my response:

Kris~ I use it from about the second week. Before that they sleep almost 24-7 anyway and I'm lucky to get my teeth brushed. The gist of Babywise is Parent Directed Feeding, or PDF. Basically that just means you start parenting right away...you don't demand feed but you also don't go strictly by the clock. If you're baby is hungry, obviously feed them, but don't just assume that every time they make a noise they are hungry. Also, you make sure they don't just snack. This is especially true for breastfed babies. You know how they fall asleep after like 5 minutes? Well, you try to keep them awake by getting them naked or rubbing their feet or whatever. If they get a "full" feeding you are almost guaranteed that they will sleep well. However, you don't put them down right after they eat. You keep them awake for a period of time. For a newborn this is like 2 minutes. For an older baby it's longer. So, at first your whole day revolves around 2 1/2 or 3 hour cycles. Feed, wake, sleep. Right now my baby is 3 and a half months old. She wakes up, I feed her and she's up for about an hour and a half (including feeding time). Then I lay her down and she sleeps for about an hour and a half. Sometimes longer. But she's the 3rd kid so we are always running around. There are lots of times she falls asleep in her car seat and that's fine. I'll just try to get home so she can take her next nap in bed. It's actually very flexible, but you are in a routine, too. So, with a clock fed baby there is just no room for any flexibility. With a demand fed baby there is no room for routine. Dr. Ezzo describes it as a rubber band. When you pull a rubber band it is able to stretch, but it always goes back to it's original shape. In other words, for flexibility to exist, there has to be a routine, or something to flex back to.

But yes, sometimes this process involves crying it out. Like I said earlier, the most I'd let a little baby cry is 15 minutes. But if they are fed, changed, burped and you know nothing is wrong with them, then a little bit of crying can actually be good for them. It's the only way they have to relieve stress. The only way they have to "vent". And I think being a little helpless infant would be stressful!

There's nothing better than a happy baby. And one of the only ways, in my opinion, to have a happy baby is to have one that gets plenty of sleep. The other way to have a happy baby is to have a mama that is relaxed and getting enough sleep. Sure, this varies. We don't need 12 hours of sleep (can you imagine!?), but a consecutive 5 makes you feel like a new woman! It's also really nice to get your baby on a semi-routine so that you can get on with life. You can go out to lunch with friends or to a play group without being worried how long your baby will sleep or what hoops you'll have to jump through to get them to sleep at all. My guess is there is not a master bath, bouncy seat, or exhaust fan at your local restaurant. I'm sure that there are lots of sleep methods out there that work. Babywise just happened to work well for us.

Get Some Sleep!

2009-01-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

I was checking my email this morning and came across one from Babycenter.com. Most moms know this is a website that sends you updates on your kids development and article of interest. One forum on the site caught my attention. The question posted was, "What's the craziest thing you do to get your kids to sleep?" So I read it. And let me tell you, people do some crazy things! One mom was talking about driving her kid around for 5 to 6 hours in the car! Do you know how much gas that wastes?! Another one was talking about learning how to nurse her's in the bouncy seat so that she didn't have to touch her and cause her to start screaming. That same mom described rocking her daughter for half an hour, then spending another half hour lowering her into bed, then keeping a hand on the kid for another 15 minutes while slowly withdrawing. If ther is one false move and she wakes up they have to start the process all over again. And this was when the child was 2 and the mom was 9 months pregnant with another one! Good Lord, I would never have the energy! So, I thought if anyone else who happens across my blog is having the same problems I'd post the two cents I gave to the forum. Hopefully I won't get any hate mail.

Wow! I can't believe y'all have the patience and the energy to do all that! Especially those of you who have other small kids or are pregnant. We did Babywise with all of our kids. Our 5 year old daughter started sleeping through the night when she was about 9 weeks old. By through the night I mean I'd put her down at 8, wake her back up and feed her at 11 or so and she'd sleep until about 7 or 8. By 3 months I dropped the 11 o'clock feeding and she slept 12 hours. She also took at least 3 long naps a day until she was about 6 months and then just 2 long naps (1 and a half or two hours). Oh, and she was born 4 weeks early and I breastfed her until she was 14 months. I add that because most people say that preemies for breastfed babies will always wake up every 2 hours. My son is now 2. Same thing, except when he was about 6 months to 8 months old he'd wake up once in the middle of the night and I'd feed him. He'd go right back to sleep though. He was a lot bigger than my daughter and I think he just needed more to eat. I nursed him until he was 12 months old. Now he sleeps from about 7:30 at night until 8 or so in the morning. Our baby was born October 1st. I did things a little different with her and would put her down at 8, but would not get her back up at 11. I was just too tired with 3 kids and was crashing myself at about 9! I've been just getting up with her at abut 3 or 4 in the morning. She goes right back to sleep after I feed her, though. For the last 3 nights she has been going down at 8 and waking up at 7. Knock on wood! And she's still exclusively breastfed.

Some people will try to tell you that we were just lucky, but that is not the case at all. Our kids are all pretty high maintenance and VERY energetic. We had to train our kids to sleep just like you have to train them to use the pott,y or not hit other kids, and share their toys. Some people will tell you that Babywise is terrible because you make babies cry. I can tell you the most I've ever let a little baby cry is about 15 minutes. I can't stand it. The main thing I never do is feed a baby to sleep or rock them to sleep. I put them down in their beds and they are usually happy and smiling. I don't wait until they are fussy and overtired to try to put them down. If they cry it's usually about 30 seconds. They teach themselves how to go to sleep. I'm telling you it works!

Now, that's not to say we had no pitfalls, or "sleep props" as Babywise calls them, along the way. I said our first took 3 long naps a day but I failed to mention that until she was 8 months old most of those were taken in her car seat. And she had a pacifier, or "bop", until she was 3! We learned from our mistake with our son, but not until he was 3 weeks old. We were in survival mode and kept a hair dryer running all night because he liked the noise. That changed when we got our electric bill! Hopefully we've learned our lessons in time for baby number 3.

What I love most about all our kids going to bed at 7:30 or 8 (and staying there!) is the time my husband and I get to spend together. Our routine is bath, book, prayers, and bed. About 30 minutes all together. Then we get to hang out!

I encourage anyone who is curious to check out the book "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo. It's worth the read I promise! Or check out this site, www.babywisemom.blogspot.com. And get some sleep for goodness sake!

And how, you may ask, have I had time to type all of this this morning? My babies are still asleep :)

The Breastfeeding Excuse...Works Every Time

2009-01-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

I got pulled over the other day. After Kev got home that afternoon I ran into town to run a few quick errands. I needed to be back no later than six to feed Holland so I was in a rush. There is construction on the main road that leads to our neighborhood and the speed limit recently changed from 60 to 45 while workers are there...or so I thought. I came cruising down the road at 5:59 at 55 mph. There was a sheriff's car parked in the parking lot of the high school, which is not at all unusual. Since we are in the quasi-country there are no police. Just the randomly circulating sheriffs that do everything from patrolling football games to picking up stray dogs. I even gave the deputy a little "Bushland wave" as I passed, which basically consists of lifting a finger off the steering wheel in salutation. After about a quarter mile I saw him pull out behind me. There was a cycler in front of me, so I had already slowed way down because the road is, for now, only 2 lanes. I pulled into our neighborhood and he turned on his lights. There I am, on the busiest main road of our development at 6 o'clock in the evening when all of my neighbors are pulling in from work. I was so thankful that I have a new car instead of my instantly recognizable 4-runner! So, the deputy strolls up to the van and I rolled down my window. He was all of about 19 years old. He got my license and registration and as he was turning to walk back to his patrol car I said, "Is there any possible way that you could hurry? I'm trying to get home to feed my baby. You know, feed my baby," while gesturing to my chest. The wave of realization and then panic was only slightly visible in his expression. He came back to the car with his revenge. As he handed me my warning (thank you God it was just a warning!), he said, "And can I get your approximate weight, mam?" What the??
I've never been asked my weight when I've gotten pulled over before! Are you freaking kidding me?? HELLO! I just told you I just had a baby! I should have just started crying right then and there. But he may have decided to take me to the crazy house for some mandatory post-partum treatment....which, let's face it, would probably be kind of like a nice vacation. Instead I gave him my "approximate" weight, which translats my real weight minus 5 pounds, and thanked him kindly for my warning. Then I came home and fed my baby.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

2009-01-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

Friday was mine and Kev's 10th wedding anniversary. Can you believe we've been married 10 years??? I can't. That's a decade, a tenth of a century. It's a third of my life so far. And I can honestly say that I am more in love with him now than I was when I was 19, or have ever been for that matter. I'm certainly not going to advocate getting married as young as I did. But there is something really wonderful about growing up with someone and then growing old with them too.

So, I just have to share how special this anniversary was to me. Let me just start by telling you that my husband is good at lots of things, but surprises are not one of them. In fact he's terrible at them. In fact he's been pretty terrible about special occasions ever since we've been married, with a few notable examples. Unfortunately (for me anyway), we have the same birthday. And as some of you know, I also have a twin sister so I have never had my "own" birthday. On our first mutual birthday as a married couple, I pulled from the back of the closet the gift I had purchased and excitedly gave it to him first thing that morning. His response? "Oh, I'm not really a birthday kind of guy. They're just not that big of a deal to me." And I am stuck sharing mine with this person!!!

To be honest, I've always placed my birthday higher on the totum pole than my anniversary. There haven't been that many memorable ones out of the ten, except I think one year we went snowboarding and one year we ordered a $75 bottle of wine (on accident!). But this one I will remember. I guess you always think that for your 10th you'll be going on a really cool trip or something. But with a 3 month old baby, that we would have to take with us for nutritional purposes, that was not going to happen. Even if we could afford it. Which we can't after buying a new car and shelling out over 12, 000 dollars in the last two years to have babies (praise God right now if you have maternity insurance!). So, maybe for our 20th that will be a possibility, but not right now. And since I'm the one who usually plans things I told Kev that I'd handle the babysitters if he 'd take care of everything else. I got my mom to keep the girls and his mom to keep Boaz. He told me reservations were at 7. We gave each other a $25 budget for gifts and exchanged them before we left the house, mostly because Bronwyn loves presents and was dying to open them for us. I got him 3 pairs of socks and a down coat that I got 75% off at American Eagle. He gave me 2 Ryan Adams CDs and a book. Very sweet and thoughtful. We had sushi for dinner (yum!) and picked Holland up by 9 and headed home. Now, in the chaos of trying to get out the door with all the kids and overnight bags I was just trying to make sure we didn't forget any special blankets or stuffed animals (or children). And Kev is going behind me tidying up! So not like him! Well, when we got home I realized why. I opened the door to a path of rose petals. Not a trail, a path! They went from the garage door all the way through the hall, living room, long hall, short hall, and into the bedroom where the trail divided and one went to the bed and up onto it and the other led to the bathroom and up to the ledge of the tub. Around the tub and bathroom were about 50 lit candles. The tub was full of hot water and bubbles and my favorite wine was sitting on the counter. Oh yeah, and a fire was lit in the living room. My jaw was on the floor! I was just impressed that he got me CDs! I just kept going what? How? All props to our good friends (and fellow Blackhawks) Eden and Todd who live in our neighborhood. Apparently Kev had gathered everything, including candles, wine and 100 roses, during the week and had enlisted their help to pull it all off. Right before we left the restaurant he said he had to go to the bathroom and that's when he phoned them with the green light. And amazingly Holland went right back to sleep when we got home.

I'm telling you right now that if you have ever thought the cliche roses and candlelight would come off as cheesy, I'm here to tell you it absolutely doesn't! It was so sweet and beautiful. The best part about it was knowing that people I love had conspired to make me happy. Thank you Coldirons! And thank you Kevin, for a beautiful night and an amazing 10 year adventure. I'm looking forward to the next 40.

Damn Straight--A Praise Report

2009-01-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

I took Holland to the Healing Rooms at our church Monday night. She has Tortocollis, which even though I am a nurse I had never heard of. All it basically means is that one side of her neck is tighter and pulls her head out of alignment. In Holland's case, it's the right side that is tight. So tight, in fact, that at the time the doctor caught it she could only turn her head left which had made the left side of her head flat. If left untreated, she could end up with a smushed head and "asymmetrical" features. Not a huge deal at all and almost purely cosmetic. But you don't want anything to be wrong with your helpless little baby.

So, the pediatrician wanted her to be evaluated by a physical therapist. Our first appointment was the Monday before Christmas. The PTs name is Sue and she is super sweet. She's been a therapist for almost 30 years, so we feel like we are in good hands. Sue decided that, based on how tight her neck was and the degree of smushed head, Holland needed to come into therapy once a week for an undetermined amount of time. Therapy mostly involves stretching out the neck muscles (which we have to do several times a day at home). Might not sound like much, but Holland HATES it. I hate it too. I usually have to leave the room at least once. If the soft tissues don't respond to the PT, the next step is Botox injections at the site. If her head stays smushed she would have to be in a helmet (which would require many, many trips to Dallas for adjustments and what not). So, obviously, we are motivated to pray the therapy works.

Back to Monday night. I took her to the Healing Rooms to have her prayed for by people who are just trusting God to do what he said he would: heal the sick. A team of three people (all whom I know and dearly love) prayed for her. One of them was a pastor at our church. When they were finished praying for Holland he started praying for me. He said the funniest thing anyone has ever said to me while I was being prayed for. He said, "Alexis, I just feel like I'm supposed to tell you that you are a damn good wife, and a damn good mother. You may just be going through the motions everyday, but God has not forgotten you and He is so enamored with you." Well, that may seem kind of strange, or maybe even kind of stupid, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. Sometimes with 3 kids I just feel so incredibly pulled in all kinds of directions. So much so that I could not possibly be doing any of the 9 million things well. I am so thankful that the Lord is with me, even in the mundane tasks of daily life.

The next day I took Holland back to therapy for her weekly appointment. Sue said she looked MUCH better! She said that Holland's alignment is so straight now that were it not for the smushed head she would never have even known she had had Tortocollis. Praise God! Now, just join me in believing for a round, helmet free noggin!

Row, Row , Row Your Boat

2008-12-31T13:26:00.000-08:00

Leave it to a five year old to have me ponder a nursery rhyme in depth. You know how I said Bronwyn is a realist? Well, my mom got Holland this decorative wall art for Christmas. I hadn't had time to put it up yet so it was just hanging on the closet door knob in the baby's room. B realized pretty quickly that if you push a button on the side it plays "Row, row, row your boat." Much to my disgrace, Bronwyn does not know all the words to that song. She was singing something like "like is color green", and then she saw that I was singing something else. I told her it says "life is but a dream", words to which I have never even given a second thought. But Bronwyn has to analyze it to death!

"Life is butt a dream? Butt's a bad word." "No honey, but like I want ice cream BUT I don't want sprinkles." "Ohhh, but. Life is but a dream?" "Or you could say, life is just a dream." "But life's not just a dream. Life is really real. That's a dumb song."

Oh, but "life is color green" makes so much more sense.

Good Read

2008-12-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
As the proud owner of 2 of the best labs ever I could really relate to this book as far as the process of getting them to be great dogs goes. We got bone 9 years ago and Barkley shortly after. When we first got Bone, who is a yellow lab like Marley, he was about as wild as a dog can get! In fact, he was 9 months old when he came to live with us after first being owned be my sister. She had 2 babies at the time and he would run them over in excitement any time they attempted to enter the back yard. So, we inherited him. This was before we had kids, so we had the patience to deal with his exuberance. I could completely remember all the walks, trips to ponds for swim time, and endless ball throwing, In fact, we had a path of bare grass in our yard that stretch into the neighbor's from all the games of fetch. He was never really a chewer, but he LOVED to dig. Dig under the fences or just dig for the pleasure of it he didn't care. He is also extremely neurotic. When we first got him he was terrified of our wood floors. We had to put down towels for him to walk on just to get him to his food. He is also very claustrophobic. We invested in an igloo shaped dog house that he never entered even when bribed with steak scraps. To this day he wont even walk between the vacuum cleaner and say a chair for instance. Of the 3 times he has ever ridden in the back of my husband's truck he jumped out all 3 times. He also has seizures when he gets scared. And Marley's thunderstorm phobia is also familiar territory for us. One year we went to a Labor Day fireworks show and as we were looking for a spot to spread out our blanket the first ones popped off. Bone literally dragged me into a crowd of seated onlookers!

Contrast all that with Barkley who is the mellowist dog ever made. I don't even remember having to house break her, she just knew not to go inside. She has never torn anything up, and the only holes she has ever dug were to stay cool in the summer. By the time she was just a few months old we didn't even have to put a leash on her. Bone's "choker" had dull spikes all the way around it that would press into his flesh when he strained the leash. Did that stop him? No way! Now, I will say Barkley's one flaw is her incredible stench. That dog can clear a room with one fart!

So, I am grateful to this book for reminding me of how much I love my dogs. We are now busy with 3 kids(who the dogs are beyond gentle and forgiving with), and since the dogs are old and content now it's easy to just leave them hanging out in the back yard during the day. I am now determined to show them how much I love them. Thank you Mr. Grogan! Can't wait to see the movie!

View all my reviews.

Bummed.

2008-12-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

So, like I said before, I'm getting a van. I found it online, but it's in Dallas. My dad, who is a car guy type, went and checked it out for me and said it was great and all that so we bought it sight unseen (by us anyway). Well, one of the deal breakers we had was that the guy absolutely HAD to put leather in. Which he did. A week and a half later. So, my dad was all set to drive up here the day after Christmas anyway, so we decided he would just drive our van up and his wife would follow him in their car. Well, like I said, the leather took forever to get installed, what with Christmas and all. So, the guy told me he would try to get it ready by Friday at noon. Well, Kev and I were supposed to be in Dalhart Friday by 11. With rushing around getting everybody ready and out the dor by 9:30, I sort of forgot to call my dad or the dealer. No prob, I'll just call from my cell on the way. Wouldn't you know it, my cell was dead. And wouldn't you know it, the dealers number was in my phone and I tried every combination imaginable to remember it to no avail. I finally got a hold of my dad at 10:45 and they were already heading out of town. Then I finally got the dealers number at 2. Guess what he told me. The van was ready at 10:15! Bummer. Now I have to fly down to Dallas on Tuesday and drive it back up. Only there is a 3 month old baby still attached at the, well you know (not hip!) and so Kev has to take off work to go down with me. Oh well, we'll make it into a date. We already have yard work dates, laundry folding dates, and fall-into-the-couch-exhausted-after-the-kids-are- asleep-to-watch-The-Office-dates. Why not a-fly-to-Dallas-and-drive-our-new-van- back-to-Amarillo-in-6-hours-date. Sounds like a party.

Okay, I've vented. I feel better.

It's beginning to look a lot like...well you know

2008-12-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Here's some shots from around our house this season.

These are from us foolishly trying to capture the perfect Christmas card picture. Not gonna happen with 3 kids!

This is our first snow dusting of the season. Hey, pathetic is better than nothing!

Boaz is obsessed with trains so we got this "Christmas Train" this year. It's been super glued 3 times so far.

The kid tree. This is where we put all of their homemade ornaments to give them a special place. It's also a real tree we get every year so that we can still have that experience.

Stockings hung by the chimney with care.

One of my absolute favorite things about Christmas is the cards we get from all over the country. It's one of the few times a year that getting the mail is a treat!

The grown up tree ;)

The nativity.

This is the first year we have done a gingerbread house. Bronwyn is so proud!

This is also the first year we have done an advent calender. Our friends Aina and Caleb created some little cards with scriptures on them to place behind the little doors. I love that these are shaped like presents. A subtle reminder of what a gift the Word is.

The booty. This is hidden under lock and key in the basement. Since Boaz deposited a spoon and a half eaten graham cracker in a gift bag last year I'm not taking any chances!

Edamame

2008-12-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

Edamame is perhaps my family's absolute, hands, down, everyone loves it, favorite. The other night I was out doing some Christmas shopping (by myself!) and I picked up some to go from Pei Wei. I also got some fortune cookies and chocolate, but little green soy beans is what they were clamoring for more of!

The Claus Conundrum

2008-12-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas is, like most people, my favorite time of year. I love the cold, the anticipation of snow, the decorations, the music, the parties, the shopping, the wrapping, and of course being with my family and celebrating the birth of our Savior (even if He was probably born in April!). What does not thrill me about this season is Santa Claus. At least, this has been the case since I have had children.

Now, I know that most people immensely enjoy hiding presents under the tree Christmas morning, and look forward with great pleasure to the look on their kid's faces when they see all the gifts and the crumbs left behind by the elusive St. Nick. I too, LOVE giving my children their little hearts' desire Christmas morning. But, I don't like lying to them. That's what it feels like to me, anyway. Especially when you have a kid like Bronwyn. She is extremely curious and imaginative, but she's also a realist. Ever since the Christmas she was two she has been asking if Santa is "really real". Up until now we had managed to be pretty evasive. We've never emphasized him or really said anything one way or the other. I guess we sort of left it up to the world to tell her about Santa. Last year I did end up saying that he is real in your heart. That generously giving is a very real and good thing. But what happens when she asks the same thing about Jesus? "Mom, is Jesus really real? Isn't He just in my heart?"

Plus, on a selfish note, it took a lot of time and energy to shop for and put together that kitchen, that wagon, that dollhouse, etc. I'd like some friggin credit! Or at least a thank you!

On the other hand, Santa is fun, relatively harmless, and nearly impossible to avoid.

So, this year, she pinned me down. "Is Santa real?" "No, sweetie. He's not. He's just make believe." But then the kicker: "Please don't tell any of your friends at school. If they still believe in Santa then let them."

Well, yesterday in the car after I picked her up she started talking about how "every last one" of her friends all believe in Santa and one of the teachers at school said she even knows him personally and calls him on the phone. But like I said, the kid's a realist. She said, "Mrs. Blalock must just be calling someone who says he's Santa." Then she turned to me and said, "I wish I was just like everybody else. I wish you hadn't told me the secret."

Of course that just about broke my heart! But then I thought of how many times I must have said that same thing to God. Why do a I have to be different? I still don't really know the answer. I just know that we are "strangers in this land". That we who believe are "set apart". Now, I'm not saying that the kids who still believe in Santa aren't. It just hit me yesterday that this was of my firstborns first experiences in being not of this world. And it was hard. For both of us. Which will make the picture below extremely ironic, but darn cute! Can't I just learn from my mistakes??

Never thought I'd say this, but....

2008-12-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

Yea, I'm getting a van!!!

Now I just have to come up with a name for her. Any suggestions??

Happy Birthday Boaz!

2008-12-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

Well, my little man is 2! It's absolutely amazing how much a person changes in two short years. The whole first year of Boaz's life he was the most laid back , easy going baby. What a difference a year makes! This kid is non-stop action now. He goes from one destructive activity to the next. This morning I found him on top of Bronwyn's 4 foot tall dresser getting ready to throw down her musical carousels. It's not a matter of if he's going to break something today, it's a matter of what the unfortunate object will be! But he's also the CUTEST little boy ever with a big heart and a love of cuddling. I can't ever seem to get enough kisses planted on his bouncy little cheeks each day. Right now he's obsessed with all trains, and pretty much anything else with wheels. He also loves, loves, loves his big sis and follows her around like a little puppy when she gets home from school. At one time my place was secure as the love of his life, but now all day long its, "Whey daddy go." But he still needs his mama for all the bonks and bruises.

Here's some pics from his party the other night. Happy birthday buddy!

New Photo Shoot

2008-12-09T07:52:00.001-08:00

Fab photographer Lezlie Andrew came to our house when Holland was about a month old and took some pics of the kiddos. I have to say, it is most impressive when you can actually take some great shots of 3 kids at the same time! Here are some of the results she was kind enough to let me post:

Check out more of her great work on her blog link at the left of my page. Thank you Lezlie!

The Nutcracker...Pun Intended

2008-12-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

We have a traditional nutcracker sitting on the shelf of a curio cabinet in the corner of our dining room. The kids really like to play with it because it has a removable sword, so it was not unusual to see it sitting out on the table the other day. What I did not expect was this:

Kevin swears he didn't do it.

Blood of Jesus Force Field

2008-12-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

I have no idea when this started...probably months ago. Kev playing the role of "tickle monster" or something and Bronwyn running through the house screaming "Blood of Jesus force field!!" at the top of her little lungs. Basically, that's the magic phrase to neutralize the Daddy monster. Now Boaz has jumped in on the action and trails, only slightly, behind his big sis saying something like "Buda Jisis fa fa".

Not too long after Bronwyn realized the Blood of Jesus takes away the power of funny monsters, she had the revelation that the scary monsters would have to obey her command as well. Now whenever we tuck her into bed and turn out the lights (well, not all the lights) and she asks one of us to stay because she's scared, a gentle reminder of the Power of the Blood removes all the fear that dimly lit room produces.

What a reminder for my own life, my own fears. Blood of Jesus force field over the health of my children, over their lives, over my marriage, over my finances, over my own vulnerable heart.

Thank you Father, for sending your Son to this world as a helpless baby. That He grew up a spotless Lamb. That He gave his Life and spilled His Blood so that we would have power over the Enemy. Thank You God, for the Blood of Jesus Force Field!

On another note, I walked into B's room as Kev was praying for her last night at bedtime. I overheard him praying for her husband, asking the Lord to make him a man after God's heart; a man that loves God and loves his bride. Then I heard Bronwyn say, "Yeah, cause if I married a devil-boy I'd break up with him for sure!" Funny B.

Kindergarten Wisdom

2008-11-20T11:37:00.001-08:00

Out of the blue yesterday Bronwyn said, "You know, the kids at school were saying, 'That grasshopper is the greatest thing ever!' And I told them, 'You think that grasshopper is the greatest thing ever! God is the greatest thing ever. That grasshopper is stupid.' Right mommy?"

Ummm, yes.

What's so funny?

2008-11-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

I have begun to notice a very strange trend amongst some of my phone pals. When the conversation is coming to a close, we say our usual, "Okay, have a good rest of the day. I'll talk to you later", but the weird thing is that they begin to giggle. It's, as I said, weird. I didn't say anything witty or funny (trust me!) and yet three of the gals I talk to most on the phone (no Rach, not you) go, "Hhmm, hhmm, okay byyee."

What's going on here? Do they just feel like in order for it to have been a successful chat there has to be laughing involved? Is it just plain old fake-ness? Should I just say, "Um, why are you snickering? What's so funny?"

Well, that's all. Hmm, hmm, okay! Byyee!

Date Day

2008-11-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Well, the baby turned 6 weeks old last week, so Kev and I decided to have a date. This is no small feat for a family of five. In case you didn't know, it's a lot harder to get someone to babysit 3 kids than one (or even two) little rugrats...for free that is. So, Darni to the rescue! That's my mom. She's brave, plus she recruited my almost 12 year old niece to help. And we made things even easier on her by deciding on a late afternoon/early evening dinner. We were supposed to drop the kids off at her house at 3, but that turned into 3:55 by the time we got everyone dressed, accounted for, and loaded...not to mention all our stuff. And I say all our stuff because we thought it would be fun to get a hotel room for the night here in town. We aren't brave enough yet to try a full on vacation with all of us, but a night away from home sounded like fun. So, in the back of the 4-runner went a suitcase, toiletry bag, swim bag, bouncy seat, 2 diaper bags, and a pack and play. All for one night.

So, we dropped the kids off at Darni's and gave her some instructions that went something like this: thaw out the baggies of milk for Holland and give her a bottle around 5:30, and make sure Boaz doesn't kill the kitten.

Yea! Finally we are alone! We realized at this point that this is the first time it has been just the two of us since the night we headed out for the hospital. We decided to go to our favorite little Asian fusion place downtown and I'm super excited to have some seared tuna. Uh oh...it doesn't open on Saturdays until 5. Oh well, there is our favorite little bistro around the corner that has the most wonderful elk tenderloin...crap! It doesn't open until 5:30. Okay...what now? I really don't want to have date day at Golden Corral or Chili's. Napolis! It is a really good Italian place. And yea! They are open. We sat down and were looking at the menu when we started to notice a trend in the sparsely populated restaurant: all the other couples were old people! We had wanted to go in the afternoon so that we didn't fall asleep in our plates, and at that moment we realized the over 60 crowd had the same idea!

Dinner was great. Afterwards we went and checked into the hotel and had a little more alone time. The Kev left to go pick up the kids and I got to read a whole chapter in my book!

Bronwyn and Boaz had a blast at the hotel. It could have been in New York City for all they cared, they had so much fun jumping on the beds and tearing down the halls. Everyone except me and Holland slept through the night, and we even all made it to church on time the next morning. So, all in all, date day was a great success!

The Octopus In the Room

2008-11-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

So, the other day I picked up Bronwyn from school and as we were headed home she asks this question: "Mom, what are tentacles?" My response: "The arms on an octopus." Bronwyn: "No, I meant, what are testicles?" My response: "Hehehehe!"

Now, this conversation is my fault. I know all the experts say that you are supposed to teach your kids the correct names for all their parts. But I have a bit of a hard time calling what she has a, you know, and the boy stuff just honestly hadn't come up yet (no pun intended). So, of course, my next response is: "Where did you hear that word?" Her response, of course, is: "At school. Carli says it means, uh uh no way. Is that what it means?"

What??? Carli clearly has some whacked out information, so now it's up to me to set the record straight. But how do you describe to a five year old what the heck testicles are? Fortunately, she does have a younger brother that takes baths with her. So, my wonderfully vivid description goes something like this: "You know how Boaz's private bottom had a little stick part and a round part? Well, the round part is the testicles."

Wow. I hope I don't get any hate mail from other kindergarten parents. It's times like these I wish we lived on a farm. I don't think farm parents have to have these types of conversations with farm kids.

An Introduction: Ode to Thomas the Train

2008-11-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I've jumped on the bandwagon and will now commence blogging! I can't promise my entries will be witty or interesting, but I will try my hardest to spell everything correctly. So, without further ado, let me introduce our crazy family:

Boaz: he's the cheeky one,

Bronwyn's great and lots of fun!

Mommy, pulls the mail on time

Daddy, thunders down the line!

Holland, really knows her stuff

Barkley, toots and huffs and puffs...

Bone, loves to help and share...

Lulu, well let's say she's square...

Okay, Lulu is the cat and I can't find a picture of her. Just know she's a cranky Siamese and that she and I don't get along. Anyway, that's us! If you've never heard the Thomas the Train theme, you might be a bit lost. That's okay. I'm sure you can download it on iTunes ;)