1 month from today...it's so hard to contain my excitement!!!

Create Twilight and New Moon pictures.

Edward, I am so looking forward to our date on June 30th.

XOXO, me

My precious son...

Monkey, I love you soooooooooooo much.  I know you love me just as much because you tell me several times a day.  "Momma, I love you...Momma, I love helping you...Momma, want can I do?...Momma, will you play with me?"  I love our Mommy-Campy days, I love that you like to have dates at Starbucks with me.  I love that you love to sing as much as I do and even if you don't know the words, you mumble until you come along the words you do know.  I love that you rub my back when you are sitting next to me.  I love that you almost always have good manners, you showed them today when I fixed your lunch and put it in front of you (Thank you Momma!).  I love that you open doors for me at four years old because I told you how much girls like for boys to open doors for them because it makes them feel special.  I love that you enjoy cooking and helping me make things.  I love that you have your Daddy's long legs and that you love to dance!  I love that I have another year with you before you start kindergarten...what am I going to do then?  I love that you like to shop (just like your Daddy!) and that you enjoy getting new clothes!  I love that you are so funny and clever and that you don't even realize it because you are only four.  I love that you miss your big sister when she has to go to her dad's every other weekend.  I love that you call your sisters little pet names instead of their real names.  I love peeking in on you when you are asleep and kissing your mouth.  I love looking into your happy blue eyes, they remind me of Daddy's and someday all these silly little girls will be as crazy about them as I am.  I love that when you smile it is this HUGE smile that shows every tooth in your mouth. 

I love that I get to be your mom, Camden...you are such a blessing, the icing on our family's cake!    

What did you do today?

Camden and I went for a walk this morning with our neighbors/friends, Shanna and Haven, after that we came home and decided to plant Chayce's cucumber plant she had grown from a wee little sprout in her science class at school. She is super excited about it, as am I but I'm not sure how to maintain vegetables. I do good with keeping my flowers alive so if you would, say a prayer for Chayce's plant to sprout a few cucumbers, heck, just pray for it to live...the cucumbers would be a bonus! It could be the start of a garden for our family, waaaaaaaaaaaay in the future. Who knows, it's a nice thought right?




Blessings to you dear cucumber plant!



Camden's version of 'moshing.'

Camden chose pancakes for breakfast this morning so I fixed them for him. Twenty minutes later, he then tells me that was not what he requested. I told him that he could not watch t.v. until he ate his pancakes. After several crying spells...because as you know, it's much easier to just cry about the situation than to just eat your pancakes so you can watch t.v. IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTROL!!! This punishment became a blessing. He decided that he wanted to dance to a Kids BOP CD, so I allowed that, after all, it wasn't t.v.! After that, he wanted to sing karaoke so we got Chan's microphone out...he soon tired of that and then asked that he and I have a band. He would play the guitar and I would be the singer. Oh what fun we had without the t.v. as a distraction...good times!


This boy is a karaoke singing fool!

Two days of waterpark fun...

The church that Camden and Channing played spring sports through this year had their end of season parties on Monday and Tuesday...it was an amazing gift: free admission for the child and their immediate family to a local water park. NOT a cheap gift I might add...the tickets they handed us to get inside the park had a price of $19.99 on them. On Monday, there were 5 of us that went for Camden's night and on Tuesday there were 4 of us that went. You are looking at $180.00, this was the gift they gave my children for simply playing t-ball and soccer for their team. What a blessing it was to our family because this is somewhere we don't normally go due to cost and my kids got to go two nights in a row.


I had a nice talk with Channing's head coach, he was telling me that Channing was a great little player. He said she works hard is did an amazing job at the goalie position...he said they would love to have her back. I'm so proud of her, she's normally kind of a diva at home but she switches gears and becomes a tough girl out on the field. She took one to the face in her last game because she was trying to block a point, she was playing goalie, the other team didn't score. She can be tough...she just chooses when she wants to be I guess.

Camden is still working on his t-ball skills...he loves to play catch and by next season, I'm sure he'll be a pro, at t-ball that is!


Daddy missed out on all the fun...those were Camden's words. He told his Paw Paw the same thing! Our summers are kind of hard with Daddy having to work so much, he doesn't get to do much of the fun stuff with us but if he didn't work so hard, I don't know where we'd be. I love you honey...so much!! Your sacrifice and hard work do not go unnoticed. We miss not having you here much over the summer but it's all for the benefit of our family...thank you is simply not enough.

We had a wonderful time at the water park, it was a great start to a wonderful summer yet!

Toothless

Yes, that's blood splattered in the sink...

Our Chan lost her first "top" tooth on Sunday night. My dad, the official "tooth extractor" of our family tugged on it to see how loose it was and out it came. He pulled my teeth, my brothers' teeth, Chayce's teeth and now onto Chan's, it's like his official job...Pops the tooth puller! Chan was so giddy and nervous that after it came out she couldn't stop laughing, it was then quite hysterical to me. I grabbed my camera and started snapping pics. Chayce had to help Chan rinse her mouth out because she couldn't bare the site of her own blood so she kept her eyes covered while big sister let her sip on water to rinse with.




The tooth fairy came and brought her $5.00...she informed me that she had lost a total of four teeth so that meant that she has earned a total of 20 bucks from the tooth fairy.

She looks so grown-up now with that top baby tooth gone, it's like she changed a little overnight, another milestone...another little one growing up.

The day I became a mom

13 years ago today at 3:00 in the morning, my water broke. I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom and when I got back in bed, I heard this little 'pop' and I instantly knew my water had broke. I pushed with my pelvic muscles and I felt this warm liquid roll over the inside of my thighs....I thought "I am going to have a baby today!"

I got back out of bed, called my doctor, woke my mom up (David was there during all this I am just choosing to leave him out of the story, after all this is MY birth story.) and then I decided to take a bath because my doctor told me I didn't have to be in any hurry to get to the hospital. I now know that you aren't supposed to take baths once your water breaks, showers are the appropriate thing to do.

At approximately 4:00 a.m., I am headed to the hospital, no pain, no contractions...just driving to the hospital while it's still dark outside...my mom was following in the car behind me. We get to the hospital and get all checked in and settled into a L & D room. I get into the bed but I keep having cramps and upset stomach...I am going to the bathroom pretty often and all I could think to myself was I hope this stops before the baby gets here...I couldn't imagine having to say "Excuse me but I really need to go to the bathroom" in the middle of pushing. Little did I know, I was in ACTIVE labor, this was no upset stomach. Once I started having contractions, the nurses told me that I might want to walk around, that sometimes it relieves the pain so off we went strolling in the hallways. Um, excuse me but walking makes it hurt WORSE...anymore suggestions? How about a rocking chair...oh yeah, that was nice and boy did I have a rhythm going when my contractions got hard. I didn't find it very amusing that my mom and some of David's relatives were watching my contractions on the monitor and letting me know that I was having "a big one".

I didn't want to get my epidural too early because all I kept remembering was that my mom had said that an epidural could slow the whole process down. I didn't want that, I wanted to get this done and over with. I remember trying to tolerate the pain and hold off on the pain meds until I couldn't take it any longer. The pain never got intense but boy was my epidural a little slice of heaven. After that, I could rest and all I could hear was the sound of my baby's heartbeat on the monitor. I remember being checked by the nurses a few times and them telling me that once I got to a certain centimeter that they would call my doctor, Dr. Monti.

Soon after I got my epidural, I dilated really quickly and they wanted me to start pushing. I got concerned because Dr. Monti wasn't there yet and I really wanted her there, after all, she was my doctor. Everything started happening so fast, the baby's heart rate kept going down with each push...the next thing I know they are cleaning me off and they have called for "Special care". There was a male and a female doctor putting their scrub jackets and pulling out the stir-ups, still no Dr. Monti but many nurses joined us in the room.

I pushed and squealed and pushed and squealed...I remember being tired and frustrated because I was pushing so hard and it seemed like nothing was happening. I remember feeling a burning sensation, later I found out that they had to cut me. I was so dumb...the oxygen mask on my face wouldn't fit right and I held onto it the whole time...here I am trying to have a baby and I am so worried about the way this oxygen mask felt on my face.

Once I had pushed for what seemed like an eternity, they told me to stop. Later I watched the video of the birth and see that I was making no progress because the umbilical cord was wrapped twice around the baby's neck. Each time I would push, the cord would literally be choking her causing her heart rate to fluctuate and therefore she was basically stuck in the birth canal. Still no Dr. Monti, they ended up doing a forceps delivery and out she came. They immediately took her over to check her out to make sure she was okay. They measured and weighed her, cleaned her up and, after what seemed like an eternity, brought her over to me.

Chayce Jordyn , 8 lbs. 2 oz., 20 inches long...a precious, fat, pink little girl born at 8:19 a.m. on on beautiful day in May. The nurses kept talking about how chubby she was and I remember her crying sounding like a baby kitten. It wasn't loud, just a tiny little cry. My mom recorded the whole thing on video and went over to see her first grand baby...each time she would rub on Chayce and talk to her, she would stop crying. It was almost as though she recognized my mom's voice.

They brought her over to me and all I could think was I can't believe this baby is mine. I know she's mine because I felt her grow inside me for 9 months, I felt her kick me and lie on my bladder. I remember seeing her tiny face on the sonogram each time I would go to the doctor...I gained 41 lbs! I was in shock, such awe...scared, excited, nervous...every emotion one person could muster up came out of me that day...the day I became a mom.

I love you so much, Chayce. I am so thankful that God chose me to be your mom. You have a beautiful spirit and old soul...great things are in store for you, all part of His plan for your life. I look forward to watching you grow into a amazing young woman. Love always, Mom

Friends and good times...

No alcohol involved, just a bunch of silly girls letting go and cutting loose. I work with an amazing group of ladies at Mother's Day Out. Denise, our fearless leader treated us all to a teacher appreciation party. Bowling, pizza and karoake...we had a really good time, we just don't get to get out much, especially all of us as a group. It's so nice to know that we can have good clean fun and just BE. We are all normally just passing one another in the hallway exchanging hellos or good-byes while checking on kids in the bathroom or walking them to playscape. Wednesday night was no kids, no work and definitely all play...I hope we can all do it again soon!


Gazing into one another's eys while showing of our flowers.


My sweet friend, neighbor, walking partner and pool buddy, Shanna.


Laura, Tiffany and me (oh, Edward is in the picture too...can you find him?!)


More friends...


Sarah showing us how it's done! LOL!!!

My greatest subjects...

I love taking pictures...I love taking pictures of my kids...they are gracious enough to let me take them, most of the time...


This is Chayce at the Needtobreathe concert she and I went to back in March...we had a great girls night...even more fun because it was a school night and she got to stay out late! HA!


This photograph needs no words...he melts my heart.


Watching t.v. in your underwear...does it get any better than that?


Chan playing dress up...



Posing by our magnolia tree: new dress couresty of mimi, hair by mom

Happy times...

Ok, so I'm a slacker...

Not really, HA! It seems I can't keep up with myself. I really have no good excuse: three kids, a husband, two part time jobs, kid's sports activities, dinner, lunches, laundry...ok, I'll spare you every single detail.

SO much has happened since I last wrote! I've been at Rockwall Salons since February 27th and business is getting better! I have slow days and then I have days where I'm really busy...for these days I am extremely thankful! When I first began, I was so nervous and worried. My self-doubt and insecurities were eating me alive, it wasn't good. Keeping me up at night, having panic attacks if I had a color the next day. I can honestly say that I am settled and at peace. I know it may sound so trivial but this is something I've wanted to do my whole life and I want to be the very best that I can be. I am in a good place now and I only have God to thank for that.

Camden and Channing started spring sports...t-ball and soccer and as chaotic it can be getting them to and from practice, it truly is a joy to watch them grow and excel in sports. They didn't get their talent from me in that area...it's all James! Channing just keeps getting better, I love to watch her, she stays with the ball that girl does! And Camden, he's getting it, he's a fierce 1st baseman and that boy can run those bases...he truly loves it!


Channing turned seven waaaay back in February! My parents just recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary, not an easy feat I might add, not in this day and time. I'm currently planning our vacation to the beach, not the beach I really wanted but I'm trying to let go of my selfishness and realize that my kids will be thrilled just to be setting foot on sand and what a bonus to have an ocean right next to it. I know that this is the first vacation of many to come. I really want to give that to my children...vacations and good times to look back on. I want to hear "Hey mom, remember that year when we went _______ and we did _____, that was one of the best times I've ever had!" Music to my ears that would be, blocking out all the bickering and whining that seems to be a regular sound around our house.





Chayce was in her school's production of Grease this weekend. She was in the chorus aka singing and dancing. It was so fun to see her up on stage again, she said it made her miss being in dance. That girl glows when she's on stage, she has a comfort up there that I never experienced. I look up to her for that, her willingness to be vulnerable and the center of attention. I loved being on stage but never truly felt comfortable...awkward is more like it. We had a great heart-to-heart Saturday night, it was one of those moments that are so sweet and rare but I relish times like that with her. We are one, I feel, in moments like that...when she's listening to me. Her ears and heart are all open and taking in all I have to say...makes me happy to be a mom in those moments. Makes me think bout that Taylor Swift song she wrote to her mom...only I'm the one singing it to Chayce.

I have turned into a TOTAL Twilight FREAK! As my family can tell you...Camden hasn't even seen the movies but he can recognize that characters! I think Robert Pattinson is a beautiful man and I can watch the movies 500 times and never get tired of them. I read the last two books because I had to know how it all ended and yes, I've already bought my ticket to the midnight screening of the third movie "Eclipse".

Yes, I am PROUDLY sporting my Edward shirt in this picture!

Well, enough for tonight I guess. I can't sit here for another two hours to get caught up like I need to. My pillow is calling my name! Sweet dreams...