Living 2015 in a Positive and Encouraging Manner; Glorifying God

Living 2015 in a Positive and Encouraging Manner; Glorifying God

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

34 days and counting

Wow it is hard to imagine that in 34 days our lives will change forever! Our precious little Evan will be placed in our hands for the first time. God has truly blesses our family and we are just so excited for Evans arrival. I cant wait to see Luke's reaction the first time he gets to see Evan. Luke is a pretty smart boy and seems to understand more about Evan's arrival than he probably should. The other day he asked me if he was going to get to go to the doctor when Evan comes out. He is starting to get a bit more clinging when i leave the house and I think he may be nervous that he will miss something or that we will go to see Doctor Robins, as Luke calls him, without him. I guess it is getting close enough, that I should make some plans on how this will all work. Does anyone have suggestions on whether I should have Luke brought to hospital with us or later in the day? I am having a scheduled C-section so We could do this either way.

Speaking of Luke, he is going to be so disappointed because I am keeping him home from puggles tonight. He was sick last night and none of us really got much sleep! He seems to be feeling better now according to his Grandma, which I am so thankful for. Before Luke started getting sick, he helpednme put up all of Evans clothes, then he proceeded to dig out all of the toys I have hidden under the crib. Luke loves to go sit in Evans room and often times, we find Luke sitting in the rocker or in Evans little bouncer. I can just imagine Luke sitting there watching over his baby brother.

Well anyhow, my break is about over so I suppose I will get back to the joys of special Ed. Paperwork and look forward to the arrival of my next group of angels who will be more than eager to learn. By the way, please pray for all the student and teachers for next few weeks as testing begins. It is a stressful time for all those involved.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Random pic

Luke on his slide, sporting his cardinal wear!

















Jeff and His father roofing the house. It looks amazing now!!!
















Luke "working on things." He is my
personal handy man!





















Luke thinking he is so big!!


Luke loves to work with his Pa!!

These kiddos are gonna hate pictures like this when they grow up. They are so precious and have so many fun times ahead of them, together!

Luke letting a girl drive him around. The kid is girl crazy already!!


I know it is from Christmas but these two boys are too cute in their bibs!!

Here's a pic of my little armadillo hunter on Christmas morning!!

Monday, March 21, 2011

An Amazing Shower

Wow I had an amazing shower. My sister-in-law ordered an awesome cake that was honestly nicer than my wedding cake. And then to top it off, she also made the cutest diaper cake ever. I got so many wonderful things and I cant wait to see Evan in all of the precious little outfits he received. Just as I had anticipated, the shower made me more excited to hold my precious little baby. Luke had so much fun going through all of the things Evan got. He actually took over the rubber duck that Matt and Becky got Evan. I guess that is okay, Evan will have to learn to share also (lol)! I go back to the doctor on Wednesday and I start spring break that day as well. Luke and I have alot of work to do to get ready for Evan. Thanks again to everyone who made the shower and for all the wonderful gifts and a special thanks to Steph for all your hard work and planning!!!






Thursday, March 10, 2011

Just a little scare

Well what a day yesterday turned out to be!!! I am 31 weeks pregnant and being the worry wart that I am, my poor doctor may regret that he gave me his cell number. No really, I have tried very hard to just relax about all the weird things that happen to you when you are pregnant and so yesterday morning, when I started having some issues, I tried to relax and thought "hey I will call the doctor at the office and just let him know whats going on and he will tell me that everything is fine!" Well instead, his nurse scared the tar out of me. She told me to go to hospital and have some blood work done to " make sure my pregnancy was still a healthy one!" Of course, I got a bit emotional about this but my good senses provailed. I knew that Evan had been moving all morning so he must be okay. To make certain, I used that handy little cell phone number the doc gave me. He as I planned on hearing in the first place, assured me everything was fine. He had me come in and he exammed me and Evan was doing great. He had a good heart rate and I had not progressed toward any signs of labor. Thank God!!!!!!!!

So, after a quick lunch with my wonderful husband and brother-in-law, I went back to work. I realized when I got back to work and began doing some paperwork in between teaching my classes, that I am so forgetful this pregancy. I am almost embarrased to say it but I want to remember just how silly pregancy makes me....I honestly could not remember if I dreamed up something about a student or if my boss really did talk to me yesterday. I know that is horrible, but it was just one of those days. After a busy day at work, I went back to MT. Home again for an eye appointment. Let me just say that every since Kindergarten, I have had the same eye doctor and now, at the age of 29 I had to see someone new. I always feel nervous and pressured at the eye doctor like I am taking a test that I know I can not pass. It is truely horrible!! Anyhow, I am getting new glasses and contacts.

After the eye doctor, it was off to to pick up supper and head to the house to feed my family before Luke and I had to go to Puggles. I was so tired by the time I got home and I knew that I probably should just stay at home and rest after such a crazy day; however, Luke loves Puggles. He knows exactly what days are church days and all he could say when I got home is that he wanted his jeans and puggle's shirt on. How can you resist such devotion to God and learning about him? Well, I couldn't...so Luke ate quickly (partially on the way to church and back) and we packed up and went. It cracks me up how Luke acts so different in Puggles (with me there) and how he acts on Sundays (when I am not in class with him). He is so wild in Puggles and I spend most of my time trying to get him to calm down but I know he is learning because on the way to church I ask him about God. He told me that God made him and Maddie. Then, he went through all his friends at church. I told him that Ms. Lindsay would be there and his response was "and Landon?" I told him that Landon wasnt coming tonight and he was so concerned. He said, "Landon sick?" I told him that he was getting better. Then Luke said, "He with Mr. Wance?" I am amazed how he knows who belongs to what family. Anyhow, back to how Luke behaves...When I pick him up on Sundays, everyone always tells me how good he was and how polite he is (guess we are doing something right).

Well, I must close. My little angels are here and read to learn how to read some new words. I love teaching this group of kiddos because you can always see so much imporvement in them. God Bless!!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Armadillos

Just wanted to share something funny that Luke has been doing lately. A few weeks ago, jeff and Luke went to the farm and I am not sure whether they actually shot armadillos or just pretended but ever since, Luke has been pretending to do so. This weekend, he was riding his wheeler and stopped suddenly, got off, picked up a stick, then got back on. He began driving again and pretending to shoot armadillos all over the yard. A few minutes ago, he just told me he needed to shoot an armadillo in our house. I love this kiddo and I am amazed at how he can so easily put me in a good mood after a rough day at work!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Show us Your Families

This is a first for me. I am going to participate in Kelly's Show Us your Life.

My Dad is an amazing man! He was born in Canada and as a child his family moved to California. After graduating college, my dad had to decide whether to wait to be drafted or pick an armed force, so he joined the Navy. He spent his required time in the Navy and when he got out and came home, he found that his family had moved to Arkansas. So he too, made his way to Arkansas. His family built a beautiful home in which my grandparents lived in until my grandmother passed away. Dad met my mom a little over 30 years ago (They hated each other, LOL). Anyhow, somehow through all the dislike for one another they fell in love and got married. Since that time my dad has spent his life working as much as possible so that he could provide for his family. My dad did not want my mom to work while us kiddos were growing up so he worked extra hard and we made alot of sacrifices. Even though my father was not a Christian while I was growing up, he always encouraged me to go to church and demanded that I act in a Christian manner. He may not have had the fear of God in himself but he certainly made sure us kiddos did. I remember asking my dad most Sunday's if he wanted to go to church this week and his response was always the same, "not yet, or maybe next week." Well about two years ago my mom and dad starting going to a little church (Bruno Baptist) and my dad found Christ. I am not sure most kids get to see their dad be baptized but I would say that it ranks up there with meeting my husband and giving birth as the best day of my life.

My mom grew up in a military family and they moved everywhere. To be honest, I know very little about her father other than he went to church and loved his recliner. Her mother; however, put up with my grandfather and pretty much raised 5 children on her own. My mom always grew up in church. As a mother, she struggled hard to ensure that us kiddos had everything we needed to go to school, play ball, etc (even if that meant being late on a bill or two). My best childhood memories of her would be when I would come home from school and she would be in the kitchen making homemade tortilla shells. I did not even know you could by shells in a store until I was well into my teen years. She never missed one of our ballgames and I remember her checking herself out of the hospital after having surgery so that she could make it to my ballgame. This women was crazy about being in attendance to every activity at school or in my life. (Let me tell you that I could not get away with anything, even if I would have tried!!) It is probably her active involvement in my life and her high expectations of me that drove me to stay on track and avoid most teenage troubles.

I have three siblings: An older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother.

My oldest brother was born from my mother's first marriage. He lived with us off and on throughout my life. I always thought he was the coolest person in the world and I just looked forward to every time he would come home. As I grew older, I started to realize the struggles he was enduring coming from a split home. He struggled to know where he fit in, where he wanted to live, and how he should live. I remember as a teen talking with my older brother and trying to answer his questions about God. I am pretty certain that my answers were not sufficient based on many of the choices he has made. He has three girls, one of which my wonderful parents are attempting to raise. Please keep my brother in your prayers!!

My younger sister has always been the shy child. I have kinda secretly looked up to her because she has never worried about what the outside world thought of her looks, attitude, success, or anything else. She just lives for her family and God. She has always been very smart and it made me so mad in school that she never had to try. When she was 18, she married her one and only boyfriend. He is an amazing man and serves as a youth minister at Bruno Baptist. They have two children: a boy named Ethan and a girl named Maci.

My younger brother is very adventurous to say the least. As child, we were always heading to the hospital to get him sowed up or casted up. I honestly dont think it was that he was accident prone, he just pushed everything to limit (lOl). He was probably the most athletic of us all! I guess it is coming up on two years since we nearly lost him. My brother was going on with his normal adventurous life. Right out of high-school, he went straight to work with my dad. My brother loves to make money and was not willing to wait on college to pan out (lol). He met a wonderful girl named Cheryl. They found out they were expecting a child and we were so excited (you see my sister and I were both pregnant also). Then it was like the world came to a stop!!!!!!!! I remember that I was on my way to drop Luke off at the sitters (funny that I cant remember were I was going). My mom called and said that I needed to get to the house now and that Adam had a dirt bike wreck and they were airlifting him out. I dont remember much about my drive only that it was quick and panicked. When I got there, Adam was already in the ambulance and they were about to take him to meet the helicopter. Once Jeff got tot he house, we went and picked up my sister and took off for Springfield. When we got to St. Johns, Adam was sleeping and honestly looked fine. We took turns sitting with him and were later told they were going to move him up to ICU just for observation but everything looked good (sweet relief, right?) Jeff and I decided we would go get food for everyone (especially Cheryl who was like 8 months pregnant at this point). While sitting in the drive through, I received a panicked phone call from my sister (remember she is the shy one). All she said is get here now, mom passed out and they are rushing Adam to surgery. Wow!!!!!! Anyhow, to make this story as short as possible, the amazing doctors at St. John's saved my brothers life. They told us that they almost lost him and for two to three days it would be touch and go. From that point on, we were warned that it may take a long while (6 months or more) for Adam to talk, walk, or do much of anything normal. We were told that he might have to be in the hospital for months, a rehabilitation center for a year (I suppose it is their job to prepare us for the worst). Well I am glad to report that Adam amazed all of his doctors and was moved from St.JOhns after about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks. He was then moved to Mt. Home to their rehabilitation floor. He spent about a week there and was ready to go home. He was walking and talking (not always saying what he should). It was not an easy road once he got home. He struggled with his memory, with not being allowed to work, with understanding and dealing with his child being born. I am so happy to say that he has come a long way since his accident. He and Cheryl are getting married on June 18th (after a long road), Adam is back to work, and their wonderful, beautiful baby girl is amazing!!! Adam was saved as a young boy and I am certain that his accident and the things he experienced being so close to death will continue to remind him daily of God's amazing power!!

Well that is my family!! As Kelly stated, my husband's family is amazing and I am so blessed to have them in my life!!!

I will try to attach a picture of my family tonight!