The Chisholm Family

Technical Difficulties

2011-03-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

I know everyone in the blogosphere has been waiting anxiously for my next post of our house progress---uh NOT!--but I've been having problems uploading pictures. Everytime I try to upload a window comes up and says the web address cannot be found. Some kind of HTTP Error 400 or something. So no pics.

We have made great progress on the house though. The floors are completely done, and they look incredible! A new shower surround is in, plus new sparkling toilets too! Niiiice! (We got a great deal on the toilets on craigslist--both for $200, when one retails for about $260!) The most beautiful appliances in the world are also installed! I am seriously in love with the new range!!! I cannot wait to fire that thing up. We also have blinds in all of the windows on the front of the house and all of the newly painted cabinet doors and drawers in.

Some items still to do are tiling the backsplash in the kitchen, putting in the vent hood and microwave, doing some tiling in the master bath, putting bars up in the master closet, putting down baseboards and shoe moulding in some rooms, and lots of touching up and finishing off.

Our ETA at this point is exactly 9 days from now appropriately on Brian and mine 5th Wedding Anniversary! What a present--I mean who else has ever gotten a house for their anniversary! I am a blessed woman for sure! The house won't be in pristine condition at that point, a few of those to do's will be done after the big move in, but I'm excited that 1. WE'LL ALL BE TOGETHER AGAIN!!!!! 2. Our house will be 99% done and move in ready meaning Brian can take a break and 3. I can be there TO HELP!!!! I'll get to do some painting and assisting and maybe even some cutting with the chop saw???? :) Ok, maybe not that last one, having all my limbs is pretty important to me. But I will get to do a few fun things, plus get to live with and be with and cook for my entire family again! I can't wait!

As far as pictures on this here blog go...I'll keep trying. I have some good ones of the outside of the house rarin' to go.

We Have Floors!!!

2011-03-12T20:18:00.000-06:00

My dad and I went to Starkville to help Brian today and it was great getting to see the house! Brian already had the living/dining room floor done, so I got a great view of what the wood looked like in the rest of the house. He did a great job and I'm in love with the way it all looks!

Workin hard.

Dad used one saw to cut the baseboards and shoe moulding, while Brian used the other to cut the floorboards to fit. They got a ton done! I, on the other hand, helped here and there and took some great pictures. :)

Brian laying the floor.

Brian also had the foyer done when we got there. Lookin' goooood!

I helped Brian do the playroom floor. I love how the floor makes the rooms look so finished!

And here's the living room lookin' great!

The next things on Brian's list are laying the floor in the bedrooms, finishing the baseboards and shoe moulding, and putting the shower surround in. After that there's a little tiling, some more painting, and switching out of faucets and lights, some finish work and we're DONE! Can't wait!

Floor Plan and Our To-do list

2011-03-10T14:40:00.001-06:00

I thought it would be fun to post the floor plan of our house so that the most-likely confusing descriptions I wrote in the before tour would be straightened out.

Keep in mind this is a ROUGH floor plan and I made it in Paint, so it's not very high-tech.

I also wanted to post our exhaustive to-do list of "we wish we could one day do all of this" things for the house:

Already done:
CLEAN
Patch cracks in walls
Paint EVERYTHING inside
Fix attic ladder
Clean gutters
Take out wall pantry and make into shelves
Get pan for water heater
Build closet around water heater
Trim countertop and/or furr out wall to make room for refrigerator
Cut off desk
Paint fireplace brick
Get flu cap for fireplace
Enclose "drive through window"
Insulate interior walls
Rework electrical
Take nasty wall cabinets out of bathrooms and laundry room
Replace cabinet in laundry room
Rip out nasty carpet and linoleum
Lay tile in kitchen and laundry room

To be done before we move in:
Install new appliances
Replace master bath shower surround
Level living/dining room floor
Trim hedges
Replace cabinet hardware
Replace some lights
Install mantel
Replace switchplates
Do something to kitchen counters
Replace faucets throughout
Install laminate wood in rest of the house

To be done one day:
Build mudroom bench in laundry room closet
Install recessed lighting
Enclose carport
Paint exterior brick (maybe tan or light gray)
Paint shutters, trim, and outer doors(front door red, shutters and other doors dark charcoal gray, and trim crisp white)
Build privacy fence around backyard
Build a desk where the old one was
Build built in shelving in play room

That's a HUGE list! And I know that there are a few things that I've left off for sure!

As of last night Brian has started installing the wood floors, and though the start was a little rough, it got better as he went, so he'll be working on it the next few days. Also, I'm sooo excited because my dad and I are going to Starkville Saturday to help Brian. So not only do I get to see my hubbie and my house that is newly painted, but I get to HELP!!!! I can't wait! I'll be sure to get some pics--maybe even some action shots. :)

During Part 3: BIG CHANGES!!!

2011-03-08T09:06:00.012-06:00

Unbelieveably this is my FOURTH post in two days! I guess I'm on a roll. Actually, the kids have been playing really well--Jack is building and rebuilding forts, Ali Grace is taking her baby to the doctor for a shot, and Kate is taking a nap--so I'm using the time I have to get this done while I'm excited about it.

Let me say a little bit about paint here: IT IS HARD TO PICK!!! Seriously, I've always thought of myself as pretty decisive (Brian is rolling his eyes and laughing at me right now) at least when it comes to design choices. I just knew that I'd be the type to pick out all of the colors in one fail swoop, hand them over to Brian way before he needed them, and move on. BUT NO! I did find great colors, got samples, painted squares of posterboard, and brought them to the house on closing day fully prepared to love them and that would be it. BUT they all looked awful and my confidence in picking paint colors was shattered! SO dramatic and tramatic I know!

So I picked myself up off the floor and started over. What really helped was that I found the paint colors that several of the bloggers I love used in their homes, looked at their pictures, and then did a google images search of those colors and some similar. I was looking for a gray/blue/little bit green color and shades similar to that for most of the house and one blogger in particular (nester.com) had those very colors in her house!!! So I went to Sherwin-Williams to find the colors she had, and lo and behold they were perfect! So that's the long story of how I finally found my colors. Look online and then find the swatches in the stores--that's my new method.

So then two weekends ago Brian stayed in Starkville to get the house painted, and thanks to his hard work and the help of our great friends--Thanks Butch, Danny, Kane, and Hayden!!!--he got it all done in about 2 1/2 days! WOW! I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of the colors!

The kitchen color is Sea Salt by Sherwin-Williams. It is the lightest color we used, and it is just what I wanted--something airy and bright, but not too baby blue.

The cabinet/trim/door color in the whole house is Gypsum by Olympic at Lowes. I wanted a creamy white without too much yellow, and Brian said the paint mixer put verrry little tint in it--he had to check that it even mixed right because it looked so similar to the base color. It looks so clean and fresh to me! I absolutely adore white kitchens and I'm so excited about having one!

Brian really wanted a dark gray for the living room, but all of my previous choices were way too blue (I was still sorta trying for a gray-blue) but once I just went all gray and found this color it looked much better. The color is Gray Matters by SW. I love the contrast of the gray and white, especially with the fireplace which looks 100000000% better!

Here's another wall. I was scared that the gray would be too dark, but once we get all of our furniture in here I think it will look great!
By the way, we're going to use this room as the living room and dining room. The back part in front of the fireplace will have our new white slipcovered sofa, TV, and eventually 2 chairs, while the front of the room under the chandelier will be the dining area.

The "front room" as we've been calling this is going to be our playroom/craft room/homeschooling room. I want to have some shelving for storage, a craft table, a huge chalkboard, a small sofa, and a children's table in here. I'm super excited about this room!!! I've always wanted a devoted craft/school room!
The color in here is one shade darker than the kitchen color, it's Comfort Gray by SW.
In the middle of the room you can see our new dining room chairs--we got a GRRREAT deal on these babies! They are wood country style with upholstered seats and used to be at the Walt Disney World Carribean Resort. We found them on Craigslist for $25 each! SCORE! We're going to paint them white.

The hall is the same gray as the living/dining room.

Jack's room was a little shocking for me--a little bright. :) But I'm rolling with it and I have plans for it that might help a little. The color is Acapulco Cliffs by Olympic.

The girls' room is a light pink called Irish Lace by Olympic. Very subtle and sweet.

Our Master bedroom color is the darkest shade we used on the same swatch as the kitchen and playroom colors called Oyster Bay by SW.

And this, my friends, is the brand-spanking new tile floor in the kitchen! Brian and Butch tiled it Friday night. Butch stuck it out until almost midnight, and Brian finished at around dawn Saturday morning. We chose a really dark charcoal color with some copper, blue and green accents in it. It looks incredible!

That is what the house looks like as of today. I am blown away by the progress that Brian has made in such a short time! (We closed on January 21, and today, March 8, we are almost done!!!!) All that is left to do is install laminate wood floors in the rest of the house, do some tiling, and replace things like faucets and blinds. Then we can move in!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

Thanks for sticking with me through these crazy long posts! I'm just so excited and want to document each step of this awesome tranformation and all of Brian's great work!

During Part 2: Reconstruction

2011-03-08T07:48:00.008-06:00

After getting all of the ripping out done, we had to decide what to build back and what to leave for later. It has been a challenge balancing what we want done with what HAS to be done so we can move in. Especially after being apart for so long (it's been almost 10 months as of today) we wanted to make sure we wouldn't be getting in over our heads and have too many complicated projects going, making the renovation last waaay too long.
So Brian and I sat down and wrote down every.single.thing. we ever wanted done to the house and then we scaled back and prioritized the most crucial and less extensive projects to be done now. We decided that painting the outside of the house, enclosing the carport, and replacing all of the panelling in the house were all things that we could do one day while insulating interior walls, changing some electrical, painting, and new flooring were all things that were more necessary right now. And so the reconstruction started.

I have to take a minute here to brag a little on my wonderful husband. He is talented in so many ways, and he has single-handedly done demo, electrical, sheetrock, insulation, cleaning, building, plumbing, painting, tiling, and probably a ton more that I don't even know about! I am so thankful for him and all of the effort he has put into this house for us! He works hard all day and then goes to the house and works until late at night every day, even sacrificing some weekends seeing us so that he can get things done. He keeps his eyes on the goal of getting our family back together as soon as possible, and works at it as hard as possible no matter what. I love him and boy I can't wait to live with him again! :) :) :)

So here's some of that talent in concrete form:

The living room in a little chaos.

The drive-through window is GONE!!! Though the trend today is to open rooms as much as possible, we decided that this opening was too odd and poorly done to keep. It looks much more complete and polished without it.

We also decided to put more of a doorway and less of an opening between the kitchen and living room so we could use two different paint colors and make it match the rest of the house. (The opening here was the only one of its kind in the whole house.)

Here it is with the paneling up.

Once the wall oven was gone we weren't sure what to do with the huge hole in the cabinetry. When we decided to get rid of the microwave that served as the vent hood, we decided to get a counter microwave and put in where the oven had been. Brian built a shelf for it, and the lower part will stay open for some display space.

Here's the kitchen side of where the drive-through was. Once it was closed we had to decide what to put below the teeny cabinet that had been over it--rip it out? leave it? build something? We finally decided to build a shelf below it to make it even with the rest of the wall cabinets. More display space for some pretties. The refrigerator will be to the right of the shelf on the way out of the kitchen.

In the laundry room we needed to enclose the water heater so that "someone" *cough-AliGrace-cough* wouldn't maybe blow up the house or something one day when she wanted to play with the water heater. Of course none of our angel children would do that. :)

So Brian built a closet.

And here is the mater bathroom with some added insulation. The other side of this back wall is the living room and there wasn't anything between there, so a little added sound insulation was a nice addition. He also insulated the other bathroom, and between the bedrooms. Being able to hear less noise is always welcome in a house with noisy babies and kids.

With the reconstruction done (this all took a few weeks) all of us were super eager to paint and see some dramatic change happening! I'll post some pictures of the painted rooms in all their glory soon.

During Part 1: DEMO!!!!

2011-03-07T19:40:00.007-06:00

The first order of business was of course to get rid of as much of the 70's as possible! Brian ripped out, took off, and tore up everything that we didn't want, starting with the carpet.

After finding out that the lovely wall oven didn't work, the glass on the oven door was cracked, and the dishwasher was going to have to come out to paint we decided to take them all out and start over.

I am using the word "we" very loosely, since Brian has done 99.99999% of everything in the house. :) However, a couple of weeks into the demo my dad and I were able to go up to help Brian clean and clear up all of the debris. We also got to wash down all of the walls and cabinets to get ready for painting.

Originally I wanted the desk just chopped off even with the wall behind it, but once Brian got started cutting there was no way any of it would work so now the whole thing is gone. And it looks so much better now.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh No more carpet! And no more disgusting 30-year-old drapes.

The drive through window is on it's way out.
.

The front room lost its lovely drapes too.

Here's the master bathroom after taking down a huge 3 part medicine cabinet framed in gaudy goldish metal. We're thinking about keeping the light fixture, it is an antique after all....um, nevermind.

We had to take all of the shower wall tile because a lot of it had leaked behind to the sheetrock. This is all that's left.

Next post I'll put up pictures of some of the new construction, and that will get us almost to what it looks like now.

The New and Soon to be Improved Chisholm Casa

2011-03-07T11:22:00.009-06:00

It's been a loooonnng time since I've posted anything, and I have a good excuse! This whole living with my parents/apart from Brian/not having our own house and space/trying to sell our house/buy a new house/etc... thing has been a little distracting and made me very unfocused to say the least. But I realized today that we'll be moving into our new house in a matter of weeks and I'll probably be even more scatter-brained once we're there, at least for a while. So I got together all of the before pics of our new house to show you, and hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll post a couple of batches of "during" pics, and then ultimately the !!!we're moved in!!! celebration "after" pics.

The funny thing about this house is that the first time we looked at it we were dead set on buying another house, so I wasn't too fond of this one, and didn't pay close attention to it. Then later when the other house didn't work out this one came back on our radar and we ended up buying it before I even saw it in person again. Needless to say, there was a little nervousness--and a LOT of questions on my part ("Was this the one with the leaky roof and the weird door to nowhere?" "No?, OK good.") but I trust Brian completely, and when he gave me his seal of approval I was all in! And now that improvements are under-way I think this house is THE PERFECT ONE for us!

Without further ado....Our new casa...(minus pics of the exterior, we don't have any yet)...

The carport door(on the left) opens into the kitchen, this will probably be the door we use the most. The house came with beeeautiful avocado appliances, brown vinyl tile, and chipped white painted cabinets in the kitchen. Niiiice!

The door on the right leads to the backyard, and the tiny sliver of a doorway you can see behind the open carport door leads to the laundry room.

The other side of the kitchen. Loooove the fun "drive-thru" window looking into the living room! The doorway to the right is into the dining room, that we call the front room, and the one straight ahead is to the living room. That island/peninsula/desk extension gave me hives as soon as I saw it! It has to GO! :)
I really love the space in the kitchen, and can't wait to use it without that hideous desk sticking out into the middle of it! It feels very homey to me, and it has good flow with the laundry room on one side and the living room on the other and access the to front room too. I also really like the exterior doors in here, I have been imagining the kids running in and out through here as I cook and watch them out of the window over the sink.

Laundry room. Avocado and Harvest gold live on! Or at least they will for a little bit longer!

Blog friends, meet hideous thirty-year-old lime green carpet. Carpet, meet friends. Don't you love it? Don't you want some? I know you're jealous. It's ok. :)
Yeah this stuff covers about 80% of the floors in the house. Another case of love and first sight for sure.
Oh yeah, that's the living room. I love how big it is--lots of potential--great fireplace, french doors, and nice big windows. The back part of the room past the beam thing in the middle was an addition, and I'm so glad it's there, it makes this room!

Another view of the living room. The door straight ahead goes the the hallway and there is a doorway leading the the foyer just the the right of the hall door.

The view from the living room into the kitchen. The "drive thru" again and the other end of the weird desk thing.

The front room. I think they used itas the dining room, but it's a HUGE room, something like 23X12, so we'll probably use it differently. This is the view when you're standing in the kitchen right next to the desk.

The other end of the front room opens into the foyer, so it's the first room you see when you come in the front door. Lots of room! I can't go on without commenting on the curtains in here. I mean I thought the avocado/harvest gold combo was bad, but this lime green/dusty pink takes the cake for sure!

The smallish foyer. One of the oddities of this house is that the door on the front of the house is a double door, so you expect a big foyer, but when you get inside you realize that one side is a faux door and you get this entrance. I was a little confused the first time we walked through here. But I really like the double doors on the outside, and I'm glad we're not wasting too much square footage on a foyer we probably wouldn't use, so it's win-win.

The hall/kids bathroom is on the left side of the hall. It's small, but actually bigger than the one in our last house with much more counter space and storage.

The first bedroom on the right with lovely linoleum and scalloped roller shades.

The second, and last, bedroom on the right with the ever-present lime green carpet and another roller shade.

And finally the master bedroom, carpet again, odd and ugly window treatments. Niiice! It does have a large-for-this-era walkin closet and a master bath, but I don't have pics of those yet. It gets a fair amount of light though it doesn't have the nice big windows that the front of the house has and I think there will be enough roon for our king bed. We'll see! :)

So that's our house--or it was our house--it has undergone several changes since these were taken a month and a half ago. Sadly, most of the rooms actually looked better stripped down and torn apart. I'll make a very big effort to have some "during" pics posted soon so you can see the vast improvement concrete, bare windows and stud walls are on 70's decor! I know you can't wait!

Happy Birthday Ali Grace!!!

2010-09-10T06:03:00.004-05:00

Ali Grace turns TWO today!!! Can you believe it???

Our Ali Grace.

We love this little girl so so much! She is our wild and adventurous girl. Our "let's go here" and "let's try this" girl. She's our "let's cuddle for hours" girl and two seconds later our "let me go explore" girl. She's all girl.

She has huge inquisitive, expressive, draw you in, beautiful, sweet blue eyes that she uses to let you know what she thinks and how she's feeling without restraint. In fact, she is totally without restraint in all that she does. She is determined and persistent whether she's trying her hardest to get into something she's not supposed to touch, or she's hugging and kissing on you.

And as she's getting into everything all at once, she somehow manages to fall down 10 times more than anyone else one earth! We named her Grace, and yet she did not get much grace at all. She is not dainty! HA HA! Instead she lumbers and bounces around. I think she's going to be a tomboy.

She enchants everyone that meets her. She has magical hugs and kisses and smiles that light up everyone around her.

We love love love love love her!

Happy birthday our Ali Grace!

This and That

2010-08-16T12:54:00.004-05:00

Lots and Lots of pictures...sorry, I'm not too good at editing. :) Enjoy.

The Perfect Summer Afternoon

2010-08-11T17:59:00.005-05:00

The kids had a great afternoon today! Nana took Jack and Ali Grace out in the backyard for a Frosty (from Wendy's) picnic that led to playing in the sprinkler, which then led to a fun picnic on a blanket in the yard. (Kate joined in the picnic and had some fun talking to Nana, then she conked out.) Could a kid ask for anything more?

Long Time, No Post

2010-08-10T13:13:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've had the time/desire to get on and post. As most of you know things around here have been pretty crazy! Yet we have been so incredibly blessed in all the craziness! Brian started a new and fabulous job June first and since then he has been living in Starkville while the kids and I live in Madison with my parents all the while waiting for our house in Arkansas to sell. So it's been hectic to say the least! Brian is now working for the Catch-A-Dream Foundation on campus at MSU and loves it! He plans all of the details of hunting and fishing trips given to terminally ill children and their families all over the country. To say that the job is rewarding and fun and encouraging and challenging would be an understatement! It is all of those things and more and I am so proud and happy for him! And incredibly grateful to OUR LORD for putting this all together for us! Because He sooooo did! A year ago we were praying for a way back to Mississippi and never ever thought we'd be here today!

So...in the midst of all of this we're doing good and God is stretching us big time! Being apart is hard, especially for Brian who misses the kids sooo much! But we've been able to take a step back from the day-to-day together and really look at some things we want to do/change/improve in our family life when we are all under the same roof again! And that has been such a blessing! Also, I was able to do a Bible study with my Mom and a group of women here that was sooo great and encouraging--it was a Deeper Still study with Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shierer, and Beth Moore--if you have a chance to do one go for it! It showed me where I've let myself get in my spiritual life, and what I need to do more than anything--get into God's WORD!!! Plus we've been exceptionally blessed by some of our dear friends and family who have given us advice, a place to stay free, fellowship, help, and much needed prayers during this time! You know who you are and we are soooo incredibly thankful and grateful and touched by your love for us!

So....here's what's been going on with the kids....

Improptu haircuts.

Doesn't he look different? It took a while to get used to it! :)

Fun on the Coast for the Fourth of July!

Spending time with family. Ali Grace is Papa's girl! He will do anything she wants and it is hilarious!

Sleeping. Sweet time with Daddy! :)

Playing ouside.

Mostly digging up Nana and Papa's front yard. haha

Cleaning? while rocking the baby???? She's creative!

And of course being super duper cute!!!!!

The kids have been having tons of fun staying at Nana and Papa's house!

Ali Grace had made things challenging at times though---the girl gets into EVERYTHING! So far she has gotten into and eaten some of my Mom's prescriptions (we called poison control and everything was fine), been elbow deep playing in the toilet, poured rubbing alcohol over her head and face (yes in her eyes too--called poison control again and took her to the doctor and everything was fine after some eyedrops), put play-doh up her nose, and came to me with both hands filthy after putting them in her dirty diaper. FUN TIMES! Thank the Lord she's tough! She's also absolutely hilarious--and she knows it! The girl has a personality the size of Texas! She's starting to really love playing with her dolls and she imitates all of the things I do with Kate. She puts them in the baby rocker, the swing, on the floor mat. It's so sweet until she starts swinging them around or throwing and hitting them--those she's not imitating! :)

Jack is FINALLY potty-trained! After trying and trying and trying to get him to tell us before he had to go I just declared it Potty Boot Camp Week and he had no diapers unless it was nap or bed time. We had a few accidents and he's still getting the hang of it, but he is doing grrrreat! I'm even considering going with no diapers at night now which is wonderful! He's obsessed with watching shows like Monster Fish, River Monsters, and Whale Wars--Brian and my Dad's influence there. And he likes to "go spick-sploring" (exploring) and "go help someone in trouble" and "go on adventures." His favorite toys right now are a flashlight, stick, and caribeener.

Kate is getting so big! She's filling out and getting those Chisholm cheeks that both Jack and Ali had. She talks and cooes and squeals all the time. And she rolled over twice for the first time today!!!! We don't think she has reflux anymore--if she ever did--because we haven't given her any medicine in about a week and a half and she's fine! YEAH! But now she's teething so that's tough on our sweet girl! We're about to start putting her in a pack and play to sleep, she's been sleeping in a swing for about 2 1/2 months and loves it. And we're looking into getting some physical therapy for her soon--she has a condition called torticullis that means that she holds her head in one position all the time and the muscles on one side of her neck aren't stretching and developing as they should. We've been doing excersises with her and not seeing much improvement, plus she screams through them every time which is sooo hard to deal with! She's such a sweet heart! She smiles and laughs at you when you talk to her. I love getting her out of her swing when she wakes up, she's so happy and smiley and warm and cuddly! We love our Baby Kate as J and A call her!

We're hoping for an offer or two on our house, and we've found a lead on a possible house in Starkville, so hopefully our family will all be together again soon! God has been so good through this whole process and it's so amazing to look back and see how He has worked! We are truly blessed!

Baby Kate

2010-05-05T20:52:00.005-05:00

Here are some more pictures of our sweet little Kate. We're all home now, and doing well. She's been nursing and sleeping great! Last night, our first night home, was pretty rough though. Kate wouldn't sleep unless we held her, Ali Grace woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep, and Jack woke up several times. But we made it through and we're hoping tonight will be better.

Jack and Ali Grace are funny about Kate. Jack wants to touch her and see what she's doing all the time. Ali Grace just watches her and says "bobby" "bobby" over and over. She usually won't say Kate, she just calls her "bobby"--that's how she says baby! So funny!

My Mom and Dad are here for the week to help and they have been invaluable! I never realized how big and fast and loud and all over the place Jack and Ali are!!!! Of course I am comparing them to Kate now. She is so sweet and calm! Maybe she'll be our calm and quiet child.

Baby Kate is Here!!

2010-05-03T19:42:00.002-05:00

God gave us little Katherine Elizabeth Chisholm (we're going to call her Kate) this morning at 11:34. She weighed 8 pounds 0.4 ounces and was 20 inches long and could not be any prettier, but, of course, I am a little biased about my girls. This is my first attempt at posting on the blog. Christina told me how to do it earlier over the phone. Her mom is staying with her in the hospital tonight. We thought it would be best for me to stay at home with the kids since their world is about to be changed enough as it is without mommy and daddy both being gone over night. Anyway, little Kate and Mama are both doing great and should be discharged sometime tomorrow. Then Christina will be back to fix whatever I mess up on the blog. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us, the Lord has certainly been gracious.

39 weeks

2010-05-01T19:37:00.003-05:00

I'm now officially 39 weeks along, and in less than 2 days, Lord willing, we will have a sweet baby girl or baby boy! We totally did not expect this, but we're excited none-the-less.

Two and a half weeks ago when I went to the doctor I was dilated 1 cm and the baby was really low. She said that I would probably go into labor in the next couple weeks. So we started kicking it into high gear around here to get ready. We had to move beds around, organize baby stuff, wash tons of clothes, and get it all ready. Then we just waited and waited, analyzing every twinge of pain I had.

Then this past Wednesday when I went again my doctor said that I was dilated 3 cm and 70% to 80% effaced. I was freaking out! I expected to go into labor at any second! She also told me that she would be going out of town in a week for an extended vacation and wanted to know if I wanted to be induced before she left. Well, Brian and I had talked about induction before, and really didn't want to do it. So we had to reassess and decide what to do--be induced and have Dr. Cahill, who we trust and really like--or wait and go into labor on my own and risk having a doctor we've never seen delivering. So we prayed and talked and really thought about it.

We ultimately decided to trust my doctor and go ahead and induce, while we continue to pray that I'll go into labor naturally before I get to the hospital. So here we are, Saturday night, and we're scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:30 Monday morning. My parents and sister are here, which is such a comfort. Now whenever I go into labor, or to the hospital, they will be here to take care of the kids.

We're still hoping that I'll go into labor naturally, (honestly, we absolutely expected to have had this baby by now) but if I don't that's ok, and our sweet little one will arrive Monday as planned. It seems like my feelings about it change from minute to minute from excited to scared to expectant to nervous to grateful to excited again.

Here I am with the belly. It's HUGE!!!

They are SO Different!!!

2010-04-30T15:20:00.003-05:00

I've always heard that each child in a family will most likely be totally different from all the rest, and though I've seen that even in how different my brother, sister, and I are, I still didn't expect my kids to be SOOOOO different!

But WOW they are!

Jack: The Oldest--Careful, sensitive, cautious, weary of new things, take charge, laid back but also very into structure and routine.
Ali Grace had made a HUGE mess as usual, and when we started laughing at her Jack joined in putting just a little bit on his face!

Ali Grace: The Second Child--The "wild one", daring, not afraid of anything, loud, attention seeking, dramatic, and a little too distracted by getting into everything to care about routine or structure.
This picture could have been taken at any of the meals that we eat each day. Ali makes a mess of anything she can at the table and loves it! And she doesn't do any of it just a little bit--she's all or nothing!

The funniest thing about the personalities of Jack and Ali Grace is that they are so similar to my sister and I when we were little. I was the scaredy cat that wouldn't stay at school without Mom, wouldn't climb on the monkey bars, who went to our aunt with a little smudge of mud on my arm complaining that "I'm dirty!!!", who always wanted to play it safe and have peace. I cried A LOT--like ridiculous amounts--until I was in middle or even high, school. Elizabeth was daring and brave! She climbed up trees, poles, ladders, and anything else that would stay still long enough. She would go out to play and come back covered from head to toe in mud carrying a lizard or minnow she had just caught, happy as can be!

Of course we changed a TON as we grew, and I am not a prissy 'fraidy cat now, and she's not a hardened adreneline junkie either. hahahaha. But it's very interesting to see our early personalities mirrored so much in my kids. But I know that they're going to turn out just fine--they're going to be wonderful people and wonderful friends! I would say I can't wait to see what they are like--but I know better--I can and will wait! I'm enjoying this stage and this day with them too much! Praise God for this day and these little ones!

Watch Out Starkville! Here We Come!

2010-04-26T15:10:00.005-05:00

We are moving to Starkville!!!!

It's been a long process of praying, waiting, trusting God, talking, talking, talking, praying, praying, praying, waiting on the Lord, getting really impatient, getting really discouraged, getting really scared, being encouraged, seeing God "show Himself strong on our behalf", learning a TON about God, ourselves, and eachother, and more praying. But we have finally arrived at the point where we are excitedly announcing our news to one and all! We are moving!

We have a lot going on right now--preparing to move, selling our house (hopefully very quickly), waiting for the baby to arrive any day now, and telling all of our friends here about our news. At times it's been overwhelming, and sometimes I feel like I'm having deja vu' because we did a lot of these same things exactly three years ago! It is such a blessing to look back on that time and see how we got through it and how much God has taught, changed, challenged, and blessed us since then! Now we will have three kids and all of their stuff to move instead of one, we have a house to sell, and we have ties to a place and people that we didn't have back then. But God is so merciful, and he has truly made this time so much smoother and easier than I thought possible! A little at a time, we're getting things done, checking them off my many many lists, and moving forward.

Some verses that have encouraged and anchored us during this time are:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God..." James 1:5
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalms 36:1
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9
"In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." Psalms 94:19

We are all very excited about what God will do throughout the rest of this process and as we settle into a new life in Starkville. For now, we're praying that our house will sell very fast and we're praying for a healthy, beautiful baby soon! I can't wait to meet our little one!!!!!

Lately

2010-04-23T08:59:00.004-05:00

We haven't been doing very much lately (that I can write about yet anyway *wink wink*). We've been playing outside when Mommy is up to it, watching movies, playing with random stuff around the house, going to my Dr. appointments every week, and just hanging around.

The kids have been changing almost daily and getting so big! Ali Grace is so hilarious! She keeps us laughing with her mischevious personality, and now that Jack is so vocal he is hilarious with the things he comes out with!

A couple of weeks ago Jack and I were talking about the new baby coming, and right after that he made this playground "just for the new baby" as he said. So SWEET! He and Ali Grace had a blast with their new playground. I love how they play together now. A lot of it invloves chasing, hiding, and a TON of laughing! Hearing them really laugh at eachother is one of the best things about parenthood!

Here they are playing and laughing together.

My sister gave Ali this couch for Christmas and it's been fantastic! Both of the kids like sitting on it, and as you can see, Ali likes to lounge and watch Curious George in the mornings. Funny girl. And oh so lady-like.

Jack doing some crafts. His drawings and paintings are still just lines and circles and shapes that don't look much like anything, but he will tell you ALLLLL about what he's drawing in detail. It's so interesting to see his mind and abilities develop over time.

Last Thursday Jack started talking about marshmallows out of nowhere. He wanted some marshmallows BAD, so I told him that we could have some Friday night after we had our pizza night. Brian is such a sweet Daddy, and wanted to make it special, so he built a little fire so Jack could roast his first marshmallows. Jack was excited about the fire, and had a good time roasting his ONE marshmallow. And then he was done and wanted to play. It was cute and funny!

(Unrelated Sidenote: I've been making Pioneer Woman's Barbeque Chicken Pizza a lot lately and it is a HUGE HIT!!!! It's based on California Pizza Kitchen's recipe and is really easy. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT as do Brian and the kids. It's on her site and it is INCREDIBLE!!!!!)

We all love to swing!

Jack has been getting used to not swinging in the baby swing. For some reason he really likes it. I think he feels really secure in it. He mostly swings in the glider thing now. Last week I was swinging he and Ali next to eachother and he fell off. He was fine, but it really upset him, and he reeeeeally wanted to get in the baby swing then, and pretty much never get on the glider again. But the next time we went out, he did get on the glider and did great. It's hard growing up, isn't it!

To update ya'll on the pregnancy, everything is going well. I'm going to the Dr. every week now and I'm almost 38 weeks--I think I'll be at 38 on Sunday or Monday. Two weeks ago when i was checked I was at 1 cm, and this past Wednesday I was a little over 1, so things are happening, just not fast at all! The baby is really low which is making things uncomfortable for me. Too much walking or sitting on the floor kills my back and legs after a while. But I'm trying not to complain and not to be too impatient. I can't decide whether I'm ready for the baby to come like NOW! or not. I guess it's a good thing that I have no control over it--Praise God for that! I'm so glad that He in all of His infinite wisdom knows exactly when this little one will be here, and everything else about him/her too! What a comfort! So the status is that I could go into labor at any time. My due date isn't for 2 weeks, and I don't think it'll take that long, but we'll see. I'm still getting the feeling that we're having a boy, if it is his name will be Bodin Mark--and I think we're going to try and call him Bodin, instead of Bo. If it's a girl her name will be Katherine Elizabeth--Kate.

Jack's Big Boy Bed

2010-04-06T08:12:00.009-05:00

With the arrival of our new little one getting closer, Brian and I knew we had to get Jack a new bed and rearrange the cribs some. So a couple months ago we found some bed plans on Knockoff Wood and Brian got started. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that he can build furniture, and that he loves to do it. He has built a few pieces for our house, and this one was going to be extra special because it was for Jack. It took a few weeks of working in his spare time, and some tweaking to the plans, but Brian really enjoyed it. He is quite the perfectionist when it comes to his carpentry, and he worked really hard filling seams and holes and getting it just right.

Jack received a mattress set and a comforter set for his birthday, so as soon as we got home from Jackson and his b-day party weekend Brian and Jack got to work setting up his new bed. Jack LOVES helping his Daddy with anything, but especially building. Brian let him hold up the rails, play with the drill, hold and use the screwdriver, and double-check all of the screws.

The bed has been a BIG HIT!!! Jack loves climbing into it and "sliding" out of it as he says. He sleeps really well in it, and likes playing in it too--and so does Ali Grace of course. Since this first completed photo we've moved the crib mattress and replaced it with another rail so our very active sleeper doesn't fall between the wall and bed; and we've put his new comforter set on. It all looks so cute--and BIG!

Jack's 3rd Birthday Party!!!

2010-04-06T06:49:00.008-05:00

This weekend we went to Jackson for Jack's 3rd birthday party! Brian's sister and brother-in-law (Amanda and Chris) had the party at their house and they did such a great job making it special and fun for all of us--especially Jack!

The decorations were fantastic! The theme was Curious George and there were lots of fun banners, signs, and balloons! One of my favorite things was that she used bunches of bananas on the table as balloon anchors! So CUTE! Amanda even dressed in yellow and brown to match the party! She is incredible!

Chris, being the great uncle he is, thought to record a couple of Curious George episodes for us to watch during the party! Jack and Ali Grace loved that! Jack chilled out on the couch with his balloon for a while, and then Ali Grace and Grandpa joined in too.

We all ate yummy food and the kids had a blast playing with the CG goody bags Amanda and Chris got for them. Even Uncle Michael played with some play-doh!

Jack had a good time opening presents. He got clothes, which he hugged to show how much he liked them, a HUGE bag of craft supplies, some CG DVDs, a rocket, a bulldozer, and a mattress set and comforter set for his new big boy bed!

We all had a blast (hehe) playing with the rocket outside! I think Brian had more fun with it than Jack did--not really--Jack loved it! They had fun stomping on the foot "thing" and making it take off. And really loved shooting everybody with the rockets once pointing it straight up wasn't as exciting anymore.

Ali Grace eventually grabbed the foot "thing" and turned it into her phone! This girl looooves to talk on the phone, and as you can see, she can make anything into one. So funny!

Then the kids hunted for easter eggs and found some fun candy.

Check out the belly in this pic above!!! It is definitely getting huge!!!! :)

Cake time!!! Jack LOVED his Curious George cake! My Mom and I like making their cakes ourselves, and though sometimes it makes for some interesting situations (VERY MESSY), they always turn out great! It looked so cute, and it tasted delicious!!!

After eating cake we were all pretty worn out, so we just sat around and relaxed a while. Jack and Ali Grace were waaaay overdue for a nap, so Ali took advantage of Papa and was out! Sweet little one.

It was a fun day and everything went so perfectly! We are so very blessed to have family that loves us so much and will do so much for us! We had a fantastic time, and Jack loved every minute! He even went up to Amanda, gave her a hug, and told her "This is FUN!" Our precious, sweet, BIG BOY!

BIG THANKS TO AUNT AMANDA AND UNCLE CHRIS!!!! WE LOVE YOU!

Adventures in Eating

2010-03-30T07:56:00.005-05:00

Just a few funny pics of the kids eating and making BIG messes lately. We just moved Ali Grace to a booster chair at the table with us, and Jack to a chair with no booster, so we're sure to have more and more adventures at every meal!

Preparations

2010-03-25T08:26:00.003-05:00

Today I finally started making some preparations for our upcoming baby's arrival. I went through some of the "gender neutral" clothes that I had put away and looking at several of the pieces brought back so many sweet memories!

Since we've never found out before-hand if we were having a girl or a boy, we have lots of white, yellow, and green outfits and onsies that both of our kids wore when they were teeny tiny.

These onsies were worn by both Jack and Ali Grace and they have the spit-up stains to prove it! Oh they are so little! I remember receiving all of them as gifts from great friends too, which makes it even sweeter. The little green outfit with turtles on it we got from Danny and Becky Gardner who we love and miss so much! The others we received from various people, or made spur-of-the-moment trips to Wal-Mart frantic because all his shirts were dirty!!!

Of all the things I found today this one is the most sentimental for me. It's just a plain Winnie-the-Pooh hat, but both Jack and Ali Grace wore it home from the hospital, and I remember it being so big on them both. Sweet babies! It's hard to believe they were that little.

And then there is this huge pile of swaddling blankets. We used these to wrap Jack for a lonnnnggg time! Ali Grace was swaddled too, but she broke out of them a lot more than Jack, so we didn't do it as long--we should have seen that as a sign of things to come. :)

Brian and I are expert swaddlers now--I hope the new baby likes it, because it's so sweet to see them all wrapped up!

As we patiently await the arrival of our third little bundle of blessings, it's been so great to look back at what our two seemingly big kids were like when they were so tiny! I can't wait to see whether we'll have a little brother or a little sister!!!! It almost makes me anxious for him/her to be here. ALMOST--I'm pretty feeling pretty patient about it right now--we're not quite ready for that yet. Not long to go though!!! About 6 1/2 weeks!

A Visit

2010-03-24T07:58:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago my parents and sister came to stay with us while Brian was out of town. The kids were sooooo excited about them coming! Ali Grace was excited to see Papa--she looks at a picture of him all the time. And Jack was ready to help Papa set up the TV they were bringing to us. So from the time that they arrived the kids were pretty much in heaven. As were my parents and Elizabeth.

We hung out, ate a lot, went to Little Rock, and did some fun craft projects. (And they all spoiled the kids to no end!) It was really fun! I wish we lived closer so we could do this more often!

One of Ali's favorite things--reading. Those cheeks and lips are too cute!

Papa got anything and everything that Ali Grace wanted. Here he's getting her dressed to go outside. He got her pants on and then realized that the shirt I had out for her was a onesie--hahaha--he griped about it a little, but did it all in the end. ANYTHING for Ali Grace! She seriously has him wrapped around her finger--bad!

Jack goofing off--not wanting to take pictures.

Another of Ali Grace's favorite things is swinging. She could do this for hours.

Sweet girl.

What a face! This girl can reeeealllly give some looks. She can even raise one eyebrow and look at you like you're crazy. She gave my Mom a look like that and my Mom just about died laughing! She couldn't believe it! I don't know where she gets it from!!!

Jack in his tower. So cute!

Play play play.

Jack is so funny--he'll climb up here all by himself, but he REFUSES to go down the slide. I think it still scares him. Ali Grace, however, has no problem at all with it, she'll do it again and again. It constantly amazes me how different they are!

Ali Grace and Papa again. These two were together a lot over the weekend. They are so sweet!

While my parents were here we went to Little Rock on Saturday to do a little shopping. There is a semi-annual event called Rhea Lana there and my sister and I went to get some great deals on clothes for the kids. If you've never heard of it, you should definitely check out Rhea Lana--I know they have them all over Arkansas, and there's one in South haven, MS. It's a HUGE consignment event that women from all over the area bring clothes, furniture, baby items, toys, and all kids of things to. Their items are in great condition and are very well organized! I went to one in the Fall and this was my second one. It took me 2 hours by myself the first time, and only one with my sister helping this time, to navigate through all the clothes, get some good deals, and check out. Both times I've spent around $100 and bought both kids several core pieces for the season (about 20 items in all that would have cost me at least 3 times that retail). Some of the items I bought even still had tags on them. Anyway...all that to say, if you have one near you I highly recommend Rhea Lana!

Jack is THREE!!!!!

2010-03-23T08:42:00.006-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!!!

I can't believe it, but our baby boy is THREE YEARS OLD!!!! His birthday was yesterday and we did a few little things to make it special.

I think he had a great day!

His Birthday banner. He was surprised when he woke up and this was on the wall in the living room.

Silly boy acts like he doesn't like taking pictures.

The kids helped me make and decorate the cake which was an adventure. Not many pictures of the process b/c it's HARD controlling them and taking pics too! Imagine! :)

They LOVED it!!! Especially the frosting! YUM!

The finished cake on our family birthday plate {crooked--oh well!} :)

Birthday boy enjoying his special supper--hot dogs, french fries, and pickles.

THREE Candles.

Blowing out his candles.

Jack was very excited about the inside of his cake. He picked the colors blue and green and we split the cake batter, dyed it, and then poured it all in to bake. It came out really cool.

YUMMMMMMMY CAKE!!!!!

Ali Grace agrees!!!

More cake eating.

Our birthday boy!

He's getting so big! It seems like he's changed a lot just in the last few weeks. He really enjoyed all of the birthday calls he received--he got to talk to lots of people he loves and that love love love him! (And you better believe that Ali Grace talked to every one of them too! The girl already loves to talk on the phone!)

We love this big boy! And we're so thankful that God blessed us with him as a son!

Making Progress

2010-02-24T16:51:00.004-06:00

Get ready for lots of pictures!!!

Last weekend my Mom, sister, and I went on a little "junking" girl getaway and I picked up a ton of loot! Now, usually, said loot will sit around unpacked for a while, then gradually drift into random piles around the house and in the laundry room, and eventually maybe if it's lucky get worked on halfheartedly for a little while. Usually my loot doesn't see the light of day in the way I envisioned it at the store--but lately I have been DETERMINED!!!! Determined to turn this builder's beige box into something I like, and maybe even love, and do it somewhat inexpensively. So here are my first bits of progress. And I must say I really really like how it's coming out so far.

The Loot:
Lots of candles, a basket, an old lamp, some metal medallion things, a knob and some coatsters from Anthropologie, a bucket, a pitcher, and some fabric to cover the tons of pillows that my Mom dug up for me. I also got 3 quarts of paint, a "priceless" side table, and a few other little things. It was all pretty disjointed and random.

Below is the "priceless" table. I bought it at a flea market on Hwy.49, the type with different booths. My mom and I found it and each assumed that the other examined it closely, when neither of us actually did. So as we loaded it into our car we noticed how cheap/shabby/not worth the money I paid for it, it was, but it was too late. So I had a lot of buyer's remorse, and Brian has ragged me A LOT about it, but oh well. We now have a cheap/shabby/too expensive/but now sorta cute side table. I painted it a greenish-blueish color that was BAAAAD as you can see below. It was very early-nineties seafoam green! UGH! Then I repainted in white, and now it's pretty cute.

And here are all of the afters: Some things are still in progress. I want to put something in the bucket on the side table, but I'm not sure what. I want to add something to the painting over the shelves, again, I don't know what. And the window treatment is OK--I just used leftover fabric from the pillows and some ribbon I had, it'll do for now.

I'm really happy with the progress I've made in the past couple weeks, and I hope I'll be able to make more in the next few weeks. If anybody has any suggestions about what to put in the bucket or to add to the painting let me know.

Some projects I am looking forward to are putting some iron on letters and designs on the canvas pillows and painting something to go between our front door and the window. We're also going to start looking for a new couch and chairs. Maybe a dark brown couch--I think the pillows will go well with that.

Building

2010-02-22T19:37:00.004-06:00

We've been doing all kinds of building around here.

First Jack, Ali Grace and I built the world's most awesome castle. Jack was very proud of it, and couldn't wait to show his Daddy! Ali mostly tried to destroy it--but we managed to keep intact for most of the day which was no small feat.

Then Brian caught the building bug and has been working on a new big boy bed for Jack. Jack has been helping here and there. Tonight Brian brought the headboard and footboard into the kitchen so Jack could help fill the nail holes. They had fun. We got the plans for the bed from Anna at knockoffwood.blogspot.com. I've posted about her and her amazing plans before. Brian has modified her plans a little and the bed is coming out great! More pictures of that to come.

My First Pigtails

2010-02-12T08:23:00.001-06:00

LOVE THIS GIRL!!!!!

So I'll Remember

2010-02-09T15:29:00.004-06:00

It amazes me how much I've forgotten from when Jack, and even Ali Grace, was teeny. So in an effort to keep track of what they are like and who they are at each little stage, I want to post more about those little things--and big things that they do everyday. That is one of the main reasons I started this blog anyway.

Our big boy is busier than ever! He is changing daily into more and more of a boy and less of a baby! (Yes, I know he's almost three! THREE!!!) He is adamant that he is NOT a baby--but a big boy! He loves to play with his trucks, cars, and train set. He also pretends a lot--mostly having to do with hunting and crashing cars and other "boy things". It is hilarious how no matter what he's playing with--a torn up tortilla or broken crayons or actual bought toys-- crashes, bangs, and general mayhem always breaks out! He is such a little boy! He's starting to take on the big brother role too--as far as picking on Ali Grace goes anyway. He picks, pinches, pulls, and aggravates her like crazy. He's getting more independent too. He always wants to "do it by myself".

His likes: Screaming, running, guns, movies, going to church, yogurt, fruit, crackers, sausage, baths, watching hunting with Daddy, dancing wildly, laughing.

His dislikes: Going to the potty, sleeping, eating veggies, having his toys messed up by Ali, sharing.

Some of his latest catch phrases are:
Using "we" instead of "our"-- "Let's say we prayers." or "That's we house."
"I want to help toooo Mommy!"
"That mine!"
"How was your day, Daddy?"
"I's fine."
"That's my baby sister."
"Thank you Mommy for...cleaning up, cooking..." SO SWEET!
"I wanna watch Spiritathawild" (Spirit of the Wild)
"I sit wit you Mommy."
"Let's shide from Daddy!" (hide)
"I's a fast runner Mommy!" Yes Jack you ARE!

As far as milestones go, we're still slowly working on potty training. He'll go when we put him on the potty, but he will not tell us he has to go, or say yes when we ask if he needs to. We're hoping to get him to wearing diapers only at nap time and at night by thte time the new baby arrives.

LOVE HIM!

This little girl is one of a kind and we are all just smitten with her. It seems like her little personality just gets bigger and bigger every day! She will we 17 months old tomorrow, and I can't imagine our life without her in it. She is hilarious!!!!! Drama is always right around the corner with her--crying, thrashing on the floor, pouting, screaming--all of it can start one second and then be over and done the next. She is definitely a girl! She loves to read! He favorite book has been a "My first Dictionary" for some time now. She loves the pictures, and wants to know "what's dat" through the whole book--and the whole day for that matter. She's very smart too--she can say a TON of words, and will name things in books like helicopter, baby, hat, bear... She is quite demanding and LOUD!!! If she's in her crib awake for too long she will yell, "Come ON!" She's just starting to play on her own some and it is sooo precious! I love just watching he when she doesn't know it. Earlier today she sat down on the floor, put a basket on her head and proceeded to feed her stuffed dog from a pot and cup. I was dying! She also has become a big copy cat--when the mood strickes her (usually during meal times) she does EVERYTHING that Jack does--finger up her nose, banging on her tray, shaking her head...etc.

Her current catch phrases are:
"I want....Daddy, Jack, Mommy, to draw, cracker, milk, TV, and everything else you can imagine."
"NO!"
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
"What's dat!!!?"
"Dogs!" She loves to look for the neighborhood pack out the front window.
"Papa!" She looks at a picture with him in it all the time.
"I talk! I talk!" When I'm on the phone she always has to talk.
"O Kaaaaay Mommy/Daddy."
Saying no when she means yes--such a girl!

Her likes: Copying Jack, being loud, her pacifiers, fruit, yogurt, crackers, drawing, dogs, babies, talking, reading, running,talking on the phone, baths, being dramatic, dancing in Mommy's or Daddy's arms.

Her dislikes: Being told no.

She has hit a bunch of major milestones in the last few months--walking, talking, all that big stuff. She's running and making little sentences now. Who knows what will come next with her!!! Our funny girl!

I am very very very interested to see, first whether we're having a boy or girl, and also, how he or she will fit into the craziness that happens here every day. I honestly don't know how the baby will EVER sleep b/c these 2 are soooo loud! It's going to be interesting for sure! :)

What We've Been Up To

2010-01-30T09:41:00.005-06:00

I am sooooooooo ready for it to get warm again so that we can get out of the house!!!!!!! We've been trying to keep busy by watching movies, doing lots of crafts, and playing playing playing.

I found the idea for a "Letter of the week" from the blog notimeforflashcards.com and we've been doing sort of a "Letter of every 2 weeks or so." One thing she does is lots of crafts making the letters into animals or things that start with that letter. So far we've done an alligator and an astronaut for A and a bumblebee for B. Jack really likes doing them, and has learned a lot. I also get together a box full of things starting with that letter and we go through it together, and we read books about things starting with that letter. It's been lots of fun for all of us, even Ali Grace gets in on it, and it's a grrrreat time-filler on these long cold days.

This is Jack painting a garden for the bumblebee we made.

Ali Grace loves to draw! She'll say "I want draw" over and over and over until you let her and then she announces "I drawing! I drawing!" as she draws. So sweet.

Here's our B for Bumblebee craft. It came out so cute.

We started doing a couple of early Valentine's Day crafts too. Jack looooooves to glue! He pours so much glue on his paper, that it takes days to dry completely.

I made a new place to display all of our new art work on the back door in the dining room. Jack and Ali love being able to see their drawings and they really like showing them to Brian when he gets home.

Some of his projects go in his room too. You can see the alligator and the astronaut that we did for the letter A.

One day last week it finally got sunny and warm enough to go outside! I was thrilled and the kids were so excited when I told them we were going for a walk. Jack enjoyed the puddles as usual.

He had to bring his new gun. Before we got outside he excitedly said, "I can shoot up all the trees with my new gun!"

Ali Grace enjoyed the time out too. I thought about letting her walk, but decided that I'm not quite ready for that yet. She would be running around everywhere, putting rocks and sticks in her mouth, and sitting in puddles. So she stayed in the stroller, I'm not sure when I'll be ready to let her loose--maybe when she's about 10???

I've been letting Jack--and Ali a little too--help me cook lately. The other day I made this coating for oven-fried chicken and had some left over. Jack played and played and played with it, stirring and moving and feeling it! The boy can have fun with the oddest things sometimes, which I love about him.

That's about all we've been up to lately. Just trying to fill the days with something other than TV, and waiting anxiously for spring to arrive.

Ali Grace's Room

2010-01-30T08:59:00.004-06:00

I recently realized that I have posted a ton of pictures of Jack's room, but I don't think I've ever shown any of Ali Grace's. So now since it might be changing a good bit in the future--we're still not sure how we're going to situate the kids when the new baby comes--I'm going to show it to ya'll.

My dad made this for Ali Grace's door.

Her room is also our guest room, so we have a queen size bed in here. I love this bedding, it's a matlesse' comforter that my former boss at Simply Home gave us as a wedding present. I got the three frames above it at Dillards, and painted some branch and bird silhouettes to go in them. I've wanted to do something else on this wall, but haven't figured out what yet. I want to make an upholstered headboard for the bed, so that would help. Maybe one day.

Since we didn't find our whether Ali was a girl or boy when I was expecting, we couldn't get gender-specfic bedding. So we just got a white bumper and when she was born I did a little appliquing of some bird shapes and ribbon on it in pink, green, and white. You can't see it very well anymore because she has squished it down so much, but it's really cute. The paper flowers are from Martha Stewart. My cousin, Emily had a few of them hanging in her room and she gave me the ones she didn't need anymore. Ali likes to look at them. It probably won't be too long before she can reach them, so that will be interesting.

My grandparents gave us this dresser not long after we moved to Rison. I think it's supposed to be a sideboard, but it has been great as Ali Grace's dresser, though the drawers creak and squeak reeeeally bad. I'm thinking about switching this dresser and Jack's sometime in the future--maybe when we move the beds around. The painting leaning against the wall was painted by my Mom at Easely Amused, a paint party place where my sister works. I've been meaning to hang it for a while. I think I want it on the wall it's leaning against, but I'm not sure.

These shelves I found at a garage sale for about 10 dollars. The green ones were already green, but the larger one was blue, so I just slapped some pink paint on it and it was perfect. I orinally had two decorative paper-covered boxes up here, but one refuses to stay up...so.

I have come to really like this room. We don't spend that much time in here because there's not much room to play, but it's been a great room for Ali Grace so far. There are still a few things I want to do in there, but I'm happy with it for now.

Knock off Wood and Another Quick Craft

2010-01-23T21:17:00.003-06:00

I've been blog-surfing A LOT lately thanks to my sister who sent me a HUGE list of her favorite haunts. A blog that I ran across a couple of days ago that I'm in looooove with is knockoffwood.blogspot.com!!!! The author, Ana, gets the measurements for furniture pieces from Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, and tons of other retailers, figures out how to build them, and them makes step by step plans for anyone to use to build them FOR FREE! I have about 20 pieces that I want to build (have Brian build) right now including a bed for Jack, an activity table and chairs for the kids, and several entertainment centers--I can't pick just one. She has plans for all styles, but mostly the Pottery Barn look, which I LOVE! Hopefully we (Brian) will be able to build Jack a new bed before the new baby arrives, and we might use some of her plans, I'll keep ya'll posted either way! But I'm in LOVE with this site! She's so talented, and is even applying for HGTV's Design Star! SO check her out!

Also, another super-quick craft I did last week was this necklace hanger for myself. I have gotten tired of hunting all over my jewelry box for necklaces, only to find them in a huge tangle! So I had two shutters, and decided to use one of them. I had already painted it blue, hoping to hang it in the living room, but that fell through, so I went for it. All I did was buy a few small screw-in hooks (not the really name at all, but you get it) and after nailing a hole in the shutter, kinda like a pre-drilled hole, I just screwed them in. Then I hammered a picture hook hanger thingy on the back and hung it on the wall. I have already filled it up as you can see--but I might have to evict some of the less-pretty necklaces if I get any new ones soon. I love it!

P.S.-I tried soooo hard to do this all by myself without Brian's help--just because I wanted to--but I hammered the hanger on the back of the shutter so crookedly that he had to step in to get it to hang right. HAHA. I'm pretty scatter-brianed when it comes to getting things level, straight, plumb...whatever. Brian just shakes his head and laughs.

Recycled Cutting Board

2010-01-23T20:48:00.003-06:00

The crafting/nesting bug has hit me again! I've been making lists and, thanks to my great in-laws, getting new craft supplies, and having a blast trying to make a few things. A few weeks ago I noticed that my largest wooden cuttingboard had a black spot in the middle of it--maybe mold or something. So I put it aside, thinking I could use it for something later. Then I saw a post at thenester.com about signs at dayspring that are sooo cute and decided to make my own.

First I painted the board with several coats of white paint.

Then I used my old ghetto laptop to find a font I liked and trace it off the screen. I've done this a few times, and though it takes a while--in this case a LONG while b/c I traced several fonts and sizes before finding the perfect one--it's a pretty easy and cheap way to do it. You can also just print out the words you want, but our printer is out of ink....although I did get Brian to print one thing out at work.

Turn your font over and color the back of the paper with pencil as dark as you can. Make sure to get the back of all of the letters covered well. Also, remember that if you used pencil on the front, to put it face-down on something you don't mind getting writing on b/c it will transfer.

Then I turned the paper back over and traced around the letters which transferred them onto the wood, and painted them in. Brian helped me a ton by drawing a straight line for me across the wood as a guide for the letters. He's really good at measuring and getting things level and straight, whereas I can't draw a straight line with a ruler.

This is the end result. After the blue paint dried I did the same stencil process with the scripture passage. I had planned to paint it dark brown, but there was no way I was going to be able to paint those thin letters--so I just went over it with pencil. I may change it later, I'm not sure. I think it needs to be darker. I was also thinking of antiquing the whole thing. I don't know.

I really like how it turned out. Right now I have it on my kitchen counter next to the stove in a plate holder. It may stay there, or it may go on the wall--we'll see. I have some other ideas taking shape that I'll try to post about in the next couple weeks, and I am ECSTATIC about my girls weekend with my Mom and sister in a few weeks!!! We're going to raid every thrift/junk store from Jackson to Hattiesburg and back and I know I'll have TONS of projects after that! Let's hear it for the nesting instict!!!!!

Growin' up

2010-01-19T07:34:00.002-06:00

Every once in a while we measure Jack's height to see how much he's grown. We've been doing this since he was about a year-and-a-half-old. It's been so great to see how much he has grown! We just measured Ali Grace and took a couple pictures.

Brian measures and marks their height on the door trim in our dining room. We've decided that if we ever move we'll just take the trim piece with us. Hopefully there will be enough room on the trim for all of the measurements of all of our kiddos.

Our little babies are really growing up too fast.

Ali Grace Girl

2010-01-15T20:30:00.004-06:00

Jack Man

2010-01-15T20:25:00.002-06:00

Startin' Them Young

2010-01-15T20:19:00.005-06:00

GO DAWGS!!!!

One day last week I decided at the last minute to take a few pictures of the kids in their MSU finery. Nevermind that they were a little hyper, needed baths, had bed-head, and didn't want to even put the MSU clothes on at first. But oh well. We got some funny and cute pictures.

Me and the Kids

2010-01-14T06:38:00.003-06:00

Here's a belly pic that Brian took last night. I'm at about 24 weeks, I think. I keep losing track. I'm feeling really good. I haven't been sick for a while now, and I definitely have more energy, although my naps make a huge difference. In the last few days I've realized that I HAVE to monitor how much I'm eating at each meal. I'm letting myself get too hungry and then I eat way too much, and a couple hours later I feel like a beached whale plus indigestion and heartburn! FUN! So now Brian is my official food monitor. :) The baby is moving a lot now, which is so much fun to feel. I can't wait for the movements to get even bigger so that Jack and Ali Grace can feel them. I'm wondering what they'll think.

And here are me and our sweet ones reading a book before bedtime last night. We are so thankful that they both looooove to read! We read A LOT! Ali Grace is especially adamant about reading to her. She bring books to me several times a day, and if I don't read them RIGHT AWAY the drama starts! :) We're still watching too much TV at times, but I'm getting better about it. Prayers are definitely needed in this area. The book we're reading was a Christmas gift from my brother, Michael. The kids love it--especially Jack. It's about two cows driving a truck, which Jack thinks is hilarious. :)

New Look for Our Blog

2010-01-13T07:38:00.002-06:00

You may have noticed the cute cute cute new layout for our blog. I LOVE it! My sweet sister won a free blog design, and then decided she really didn't need it, and that we could have it! The designers at designerblogs.com did a great job and I love the new look! Hopefully it will inspire me to keep up with my blogging. I have plans to post some belly pics soon. And of course some more pics of the kids too. :)

New Years / Christmas #2

2010-01-12T10:32:00.004-06:00

We went to Yazoo City for our Chisholm/Merkle holiday get together on New Year's Eve this year. We had our 2nd extended family Christmas there. Jack got a new gun!!! He was very excited and was "shooting" everyone and everything in sight.

He also got a coon-skin hat to wear when he hunts. He's not to fond of it right now, but I think he'll warm up to it. He also got a MSU tricycle!

Ali Grace got a phone--perfect for her--and a tea set. She also got a tu-tu from Aunt Amanda that is precious!

Fishing in the den. He had a blast with his fishing new fishing pole.

He loves to draw, so Grandmama gladly let him sit on her lap and draw away.

Brian's aunt and uncle got Jack this box that opens and makes a ramp for his cars. He loved it and liked sitting and playing with Great-Grandmama.

Each year going to Yazoo City gets more and more fun. This year our entertainment was the Jack and Ali Grace show that played almost non-stop. Great-Grandmama really enjoyed seeing them and getting to play with them and watch them play and run. It got a little loud and crazy at times, but it was great!

Christmas Morning!!!

2010-01-12T10:10:00.006-06:00

We had a relaxing Christmas morning that was great! I was soooo eager to get up and open presents, so I was ready to go at 6:00, but we had to wait for the kids to wake up. Jack got up around 6:30 and Ali Grace at around 7:00 I think, so we just sat around and Brian started making pancakes.

Brian's Mom and Dad got the kids this awesome kitchen. It has been a BIG hit! Aren't they cute with their matching pj's and hats!

Ali's favorite part of the kitchen is the phone--the girl already loves to chatter away on it.

Yummy blueberry pancakes. Brian made them in fun shapes--crosses, christmas trees, stars--for the kids. He's such a sweet daddy!

Jack got a gingerbread man and a tree. Yumm.

Finally we opened presents! Ali Grace had fun ripping and tearing!

Yeah, the pictures got out of order....Here's Brian napping. So peaceful until one of the kids spots him.

Jack reeeeally likes opening presents now! We had to work hard to keep him from opening all of Ali's.
One of Jack's favorites was this wodden train set. He wanted it set up RIGHT AWAY! And he laid down on his floor and played with it for hours. Brian played with him too. And once I walked past Jack's room and Brian was in there by himself playing with it. haha. It was a hit!

Jack also got a football to go with his MSU uniform and helmet. He and Ali Grace throw it aroud a little bit. Luckily they can't throw hard yet.

One of our neighbors gave them each a Disney character--Mickey and Pooh--that they really liked.

Opening presents this year was really different from years before--lots more chaos and fun! We gave the kids just a few fun toys and some books. And we had a great time being together just us on Christmas.

Santa's Visit

2010-01-12T10:03:00.002-06:00

One of our good friends, Kenneth, really wanted to dress up as Santa and bring the kids some presents, so he came over on Christmas Eve.

They were both a little bit wary, but eventually they got excited and curious. Ali Grace tested out his beard. (Yes Jack has on shorts on Christmas Eve--it's what HE wanted to wear...so...oh well.)

And they got some fun presents--a dump truck for Jack--always a good choice.

And a baby doll for Ali. She liked it too.

Deep conversation with Santa. Our curious girl.

Baking Crazed

2010-01-11T22:00:00.003-06:00

Around Christmas time get baking-crazed and want to bake every single cookie, cake, pie, and roll recipe I can find. I didn't get to them all this year--like I ever have or will--but we did bake a few yummies. Jack, Ali, and I baked gingerbread cookies and chocolate chip cookies together. They really liked the baking, but they LOVED the cookies which lasted a while. They really started looking forward to their once daily cookie snack.

Ali Grace was our supervisor. She runs a tight ship, and expects to be paid in cookies.
Jack was our head pastry chef. He worked so hard, and has the flour on his clothes--and counter--and floor--and face-- to prove it.

OOOOOHHHH I want some more of these! Every year I bake up something to give to our neighbors and friends. I've done banana nut bread and assorted cookies in the past. This year I took a page out of Pioneer Woman's book (literally) and make these delicious delicacies!!!!! I was very intimidated at first, but after making 2 batches of her recipe (that's 14 pans of 6 to 8 rolls each if you're counting), I am an expert! I really enjoyed making these and if I could somehow justify it to myself, I would be making them right this second, and again tomorrow and the next day....etc. If you've never made any of PW's recipes--YOU SHOULD! These rolls are scrumptious, her Pot Roast is incredible, and her Penne ala Betsy is to die for--believe me.

Look at the gooiness!!!!!

Anway....I wrapped them up pretty, put a salt dough ornament on top, and delivered them around Rison. Everyone I talked to said they were really good. And judging by the huge 9X13 pan I made for our family (me and Brian) yes---I must say they were VERRRRY GOOOD!

Christmas #1

2010-01-11T21:39:00.002-06:00

The weekend before Christmas, my parents and sister came to celebrate with us. We relaxed, cooked, ate, opened presents, did crafts, made ornaments, and had a great time around the house. Jack got a ton of MSu garb from my parents! He looks soooo cute in it. GO DAWGS!

Papa always manages to sneak in a nap. Although around here napping on the couch can be hazardous, and will definitely be short. A few minutes after this Jack caught sight of Papa snoring, and started yelling, "Wake up Papa!!!! Wake up Papa!" hehe

Brian and I were able to go out on a date one night while they were here, which was grrrrrrreat! All I have to say is that I LOVE P.F. Chang's! YUM!

Anyway...while we were gone they dressed the kids up in matching pj's and had a photo shoot. They got some some cute pics!

Papa and the kids. So sweet. He loves these little ones!

Ali reeeeallllly wanted to try on the helmet. Of course once it was on she reeeallllly wanted it off--again, such a girl! haha. She's a nut.

Brian tried it on too. I think it's a little bit snug baby! :)

My sister gave Ali Grace this precious little couch which she looooves! She sits and reads on it, climbs all over it, plops down on it, sprawls out on it, and even jumps on it. We haven't founf her sleeping on it yet, but I'm sure it's coming. We do have to be careful where we put it though. If it's too close to the bookshelf when she plops down on it, she hits her head; and if it's too close to the chairs, ottoman, or couch she uses it to climb on the furniture and them stands up and walks around. She has no fear!

We so loved having then come! It was great to sit around and relax and not be rushing to do anything. We made some adorable ornaments that I can't wait to use for years and years! My faves have to be the handprint ornaments I made of the kids' hands. They are precious!!!! (No pictures---I've got to get better at that!)

Our Christmas Decor

2010-01-11T20:56:00.004-06:00

Decorating the tree this year was so much fun since Jack was able to help. He had a great time putting all of the little ornaments and jingle bells on the bottom of the tree. You could tell where he did the decorating, because there were several balls hung on one branch. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of that, I wixh I would have! It was so sweet sharing this tradition with Jack for the first time. It made our tree so much more special.

I enjoy decorating for Christmas more and more each year. This year I did it a little at a time and I like how it turned out. I wanted to do something for an advent calendar, but I wanted it to be as simple as possible. I finally came up with hanging these fabric bags on our garland and putting a piece of paper in each one with a verse on it. We only did 8 of them, and the rest I let Jack hang on the tree. We did most of them, and it was a cute, fun way to do it.

The top of our bookcase. My sister gave me this Nativity Set this year for Christmas. I've been wanting one for a while, and I love it! The details and the colors on it are great, though you can't see it well now. I did the scripture passage, because the blue birds that were up there didn't quite look right to me--not too Christmasey.

Our Christmas cards. I have put these a different place every year, and I decided to tape them around this mirror above our couch this year. It worked pretty well until we ran out of room, which is a good problem to have! I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting Christmas cards! And I like how this looked, I may just do it again next year.

We don't have a fireplace, so I've done our stockings differently each year too. We didn't use them this year, but they were cute here. Although the 2 at the bottom were tucked in beside the TV most of the time so they didn't block the screen. haha :)

Another little Nativity Set and a ceramic tree I got a couple years ago at a garage sale for 5 bucks. I put these on our dining room table.

This was dubbed the "toilet seat wreath" by Brian. I made it out of, not a toilet seat, but a wire coat hanger and paper towel rolls covered with red velvet fabric. The first couple versions were weird looking, but once I added the greenery, pine cones, and ribbon, it looked pretty good. Brian still isn't crazy about it, but I like it.

I think I took some pictures of the outside of our house, but I don't know what happened to them. Or maybe I just imagined that I took them.

Our Christmas Pictures

2010-01-05T21:21:00.005-06:00

Two fussy, squirmy kids + Two desperate adults +Gotta get these pics taken ASAP = Hilarity.

Luckily Brian and I were both laughing through it all. Ali Grace was thrashing around and crying hysterically while we tried to get in position, and as soon as the light started flashing on the camera she would freeze and smile so pretty! Drama drama drama. And Jack was trying to get away the whole time. I was almost crying I was laughing so hard. Such a funny memory to have!

Too Big Too Fast

2010-01-05T20:54:00.002-06:00

Do they really have to grow up so fast?

These two like to watch hunting. Jack's favorite show is "Spirit of the Wild" with Ted Nugent. He is hilarious! "I want to watch Spirit of the Wild Daddy!" he says all the time. And he's tricky too, he wants to watch it soooo bad just when it's time to go to bed. Silly boy!These next pictures were taken at my grandparents' house at Thanksgiving. Ali Grace chased their dog around and around and around the yard and would not give up. This girl is something else!!!

She's saying "NO NO NO NO NO" to the dog. She does this to Jack sometimes. She's sassy for sure.

Hanging our with the fam. Our family is great! They all love Jack and Ali Grace and play with them like crazy. Our kids are so loved!

Big boy. Seriously, do they have to get so big so fast? It's just not suposed to go this fast!

Halloween

2010-01-05T20:35:00.002-06:00

Our church has Trunk or Treat for Halloween and we decided to do matching costumes this year. We got most of our costume stuff at Goodwill, and after a little tweaking I think they look great. We were pirates and Ali Grace was our parrot.

Our friends the Bowlins always go all out for Halloween. Jimmy was the tooth fairy last year, and caused quite a sensation. This year his wife JJ got in on it and they were smurfs, which was great.

Ali Grace's Birthday!!!

2010-01-05T19:59:00.005-06:00

A few months late, but hey, better late than never.

Our sweet girl turned one on September 10th, and we had her birthday party at my parents' house in October. We had a great time celebrating her first year with us. And I think she had a pretty good time too.

Ali Grace on her birthday. Look at those leg rolls!!! I could eat her up!Birthday girl in her birthday dress.

Hugs from big brother.

Her sweet flower cake. We had so much fun making her cake for her.

Yummmmm!

Jack agrees.

She got a purse, a stroller, some cute MSU outfits, and lots of fun stuff.

Our wild little girl is either laughing her head off, or crying it off--it's a second-by-second thing for her. She is such a girl!

One of my faves!

Sweet little momma.

Out of the mouths of babes

2009-10-20T09:28:00.002-05:00

Instead of pictures, I thought I'd share some funny quotes from Jack. He's full of hilarious lines these days!

After seeing a deer eating grass on the side of the road: "Wooooow! I want to shoot it!"
--That's Brian's boy alright.

When Ali Grace had her one-year check up and was going to get shots I explained to him what was giong to happen. A couple minutes later he says, "Da nurse going to come in and shoot Ali Gace."

When we were at my parents a few weeks ago my Mom observed this scene-- The baby he was playing with was bad so he turned her over, spanked her and then hugged her, told her he loved her, and quoted 'his verse' to her (exactly the way he says it): "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, this for right. Ephesians 6:1." This is how we discipline, and I think he's gotten it down pretty good. Sweet boy.

On the way out of town in the car Ali was crying so Jack started singing the "sleepy song" as I've named it (It's the "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep my sweet baby" song): He's sweetly looking at Ali Grace and singing, "La la la, la la laaaa..." My heart burst! He'll also rub a baby doll's back and sing this. Ali has started doing this too but her singing is more like grunting. This is how we put them to bed--rubbing their back and singing for just a minute. I think they like it.

Yesterday morning--"I'm a tiger! ROOOOAR!!!! Tigers eat grapes and get big and strong like Papa!"

This morning when Ali and I went in his room to get him out of bed-- "ROOOOAR!!! I'm a tiger! MOOOOO!!! HOO HOO HOO! Gobble Gobble! I'm a turkey!"

He loooooooves to "go shooting" around the house and when asked what he's shooting he says, "Lots of animals."--I think he's going to be a hunter.

For months and months whenever we asked him what he dreamed about he would say, "The water and the rain." After going to a Rison football game his response is now, "The water and the rain, and the football players."

Every once-in-a-while I talk to the kids about the baby in Mommy's belly and let them touch my belly and look at it. And I'll ask Jack what he thinks the baby will be--a baby girl, or a baby boy. His only response to this and any other questions about it is, "Name him Bo-wen." I think he's saying Bodin which is the name we're thinking of if it's a boy. I guess he's heard us talking about it a good bit. And he's adamant!!! So he must think we're having a boy. :) If it's a girl we're thinking Katherine Elizabeth and call her Kate. We're all about the nicknames!

Also at my parent's house a few weeks ago my Mom and Dad had Jack and Ali Grace sitting on the kitchen counter watching Papa make breakfast. My Mom was laughing saying that one day there would be a bunch of kids all lined up on the counter watching. Then she said we'd have Bo sitting there, or Katherine. And Jack very seriously said, "No Katherine, don't want Katherine, Katherine is UCKY!!!" (yucky)

There are SOOOO many more funny little things that Jack says, most I can't think of right now. Suffice it to say that the boy keeps us laughing with his wit and wisdom. And we looooove him!

Computer Troubles :(

2009-10-15T09:57:00.002-05:00

Sorry there haven't been any posts lately...I actually have a ton of pictures to put up--of the kids playing and of Ali's birthday party. But...our computers are MESSED UP! Our laptop won't come on. I think it died, it's been threatening to for a while. And our laptop has ZERO disk space, even though we've cleaned it out several times, so no pics can be uploaded at all. :( SAD! Hopefully we'll get a new computer for Christmas! It would be incredible!!!!

Ali Grace is ONE year old!!!

2009-09-10T14:12:00.005-05:00

Jack and I sang Happy Birthday to Ali when she woke up. Jack's version is "Hasty Birstay" over and over , and it's adorable!

The Birthday Girl!

One of the many phone calls from loving family, wishing Ali a happy birthday!

Her flower cake! And we got to use our family plate for the first time!

She liked her cake a lot!

Yummmmmmy!

If there's one thing this girl can do, it's make a mess!!!! I had to give her a bath when she was done eating.

This adorable boy liked the cake a lot too. He kept saying "birstday cake for meee!"

He had to have a bath too. He loves putting food in his hair lately--yesterday it was ketchup, today cake and icing. :)

Happy Birthday Ali Grace!!!

2009-09-10T06:31:00.003-05:00

One year ago today, at 10:28 a.m. our sweet little girl was born . And today she will be one whole year old! We are so very blessed by our Ali Grace and all of her funniness and silliness and sweetness! We love her more than words can express!

Praise the Lord for Our Ali Grace!

Pictures of today to come later.

TV is Back

2009-09-02T14:21:00.002-05:00

BUT IT IS ON PROBATION! As the TV Nazi, I can't just let everyone watch whatever, whenever, what kind of a Nazi would that make me? :)

Really though, we are allowed to watch TV again. But we've learned so much by not watching it for a month that we don't want to let it take over again! We learned things like: that it IS possible to entertain our kids without the TV, and that we get so much more done with it off, and the house is so much more peaceful without it, and that limiting our TV viewing really does help us with thoughts and clutter in our heads, and leaves more room for the right things.

I'd say the biggest lesson we learned is that taking out TV has left room for the good and right things in all areas of life. Dinner at the table together, reading to the kids more, playing with the kids more, reading our Bibles more, talking more. So what we've decided to do with all of this knowledge is to severely limit TV from now on. I've decided that we won't turn it on AT ALL during the day until Friday--that will be our lazy/pajama/TV day (and that doesn't mean all day either). Also, we won't watch TV until the kids go to bed in the evenings, and honestly I have little desire to watch much then. It truly disturbs me at times--it just seems so loud, so disruptive, and so uncontrollable, you know? Anyway...that's what we've learned, and what we're planning on. I'm sure there will be times when we get back into that TV rut, but I hope that we'll have enough sense to back up and get back to where we need to be again.

Family Trips Part 3--The Fishing Camp

2009-09-01T19:41:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we drove to Mississippi to spend the weekend with the Chisholms at the fishing camp. Brian and his Dad look forward to this time fishing all year--and so do the rest of us. We had so much fun relaxing, eating, talking, playing, and fishing. And to make this year even better Jack got to fish for the very first time! We were all sooo hoping that he would catch his first fish this year with Brian and Grandpa there. Grandpa was not there when Brian caught his first fish, so we really wanted him to be there for Jack's. So early Saturday morning Brian, Grandpa, and Jack got up and started fishing from the bank. I was still asleep, but Brian said Jack did very well!

And then HE CAUGHT HIS FIRST FISH!!!!!! Brian woke me up with the fish in my face and was smiling ear-to-ear! Our big boy is a great fisherman!A lot of time was spent just like this. Fishing Fishing Fishing. Brian and Grandpa took the boat out fishing a lot too.
Three Generations of Chisholm men--and fishermen.

Jack pretended to be out on the water. He loved playing in the boat. Grandmama, Ali Grace, and I spent most of our time eating, relaxing, and playing. I think Grandmama had fun getting some quality time with little Ali Grace and Jack too.

Saturday Aunt Amanda (Brian's sister) and Uncle Chris came for lunch and to play with the kids. They had a blast! Jack and Ali Grace loved seeing them! As you can see they love their aunt.

Addition and Multiplication

2009-09-01T10:33:00.002-05:00

and

Baby Chisholm #3 who is on the way!

We found out Sunday that I am pregnant with our third child!!! We are so excited and can't wait to meet the little one!!! I'm only 2 or 3 weeks along and I haven't been to the doctor yet, but we think he or she will be due in May. We are terrible at keeping secrets, so we are already telling everyone! We are so blessed and humbled by God's incredible gift of children to
us! God is so good!

This reminds me of a quote I've heard a few times....A man who had several children was asked how he divided his love between all of them, and he answered back that when you have children, they multiply the love in your life, not divide it. And we know that to be so true! Praise the Lord for seeing fit to multiply our blessings!

Ali Grace Faces

2009-08-28T21:04:00.003-05:00

This girl! Oh this girl! She is a charmer, a schemer, a sweetie, a fireball, and a dare devil all in one. And she's very very very expressive! I love it all!

Goofy girl!

I can't decide if this is a sweet smile, or a mischevious one...I think it's mischevious! She's gonna be the mastermind of all of the mischeif I just know it.

That's soooo funny Mommy!!! You're soooo funny all the time!!!

I mean....just look at her. When she gets in trouble, this is the face she gives us. And then we melt onto the floor, and then she gets away with everything. No, not really, but she does get us! This face is followed by a stuck out lip and a beet-red face and big crocidile tears. It's funny too--but I turn away to laugh--as a good mother should.

Funny Face!

Can you tell she just woke up? Was it what I call the "crazy hair" or the sleepy eyes, or the adorable rosy cheeks? I could eat her!

Who me?

Jack Faces

2009-08-28T20:47:00.003-05:00

Jelly with toast for breakfast. Yummy! He could eat his weight in this and scrambled eggs! It's his favorite brekfast...well and sausage, and pancakes, and yogurt, and fruit, and cereal...I guess he likes it all really. :)

Graham crackers and milk for a snack. He loves "digging" as he calls it, his crackers in milk like Mommy and Daddy.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture! He is so precious! And he looks so big! We went to the fishing camp last weekend with the Chisholms, and our big boy slept in a real big boy bed all by himself for the first time. Well, a couple hours after he'd been asleep Brian looked in on him and Jack was in the center of the bed fast asleep with his little booty in the air! UH I wanted to grab him and hug him and kiss him and never let go! Sometimes he seems like such a big boy that I forget how little he still is. He's getting so big, but he's still our little boy!

Brian took these pictures of Jack playing by the water at the fishing camp. I'll be posting more pics of the trip once I get some of a BIG event that took place. :)

Talking. And using his hands when he talks. So funny!

This is one of his many sassy looks. The boy can cut those eyes! And it is hilarious! There are many many times when Brian and I are struggling to hold back laughter as we discipline him for his sassiness.

Yesterday

2009-08-26T12:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I , for some insane reason, decided to give the kids their first bath together without Brian's help. I now know that I seriously undersetimated our children and their potential slipperiness, hyper-ness, and funniness. It was hilarious--and I got a couple cute pics!

Clothes off of two squirmy kids......check.Display of attitude by both kids......check.

Diapers off both kids.....well I got them off, but it was interesting. I was able to get Jack's off with no probems, and let him stand in the bathroom while I got AG's off. Well, he peed on the floor, so I put him in the hall and cleaned the floor really quick. Then he peed on the carpet. No biggie, moved him back to the bathroom and cleaned it up. Took AG's diaper off (hoping it wasn't dirty , b/c I didn't have wipes handy--and it wasn't dirty! YAH!) Stood her up next to Jack and got a few pictures of their super-precious booties!!!! : ) Awwwwwwwwwwww!

Put Jack in tub.....check.

Put AG in tub....well when I turned to pick her up something--uhh--well--happened...she pooped on the floor...........A LOT! Right there! I was shocked! And she was.....about to be stepping in it!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! So I finally cleaned her up and got her in the tub. After that everything went pretty well. And lots of splashing, squealing, trying to stand up in the tub, and water all over everything later they were clean and even though it was only 6:30 they went to bed--because Mommy was DONE!!!! hahahahaha.

Just look at those innocent faces! :)

Another couple fun things happened yesterday too--Jack poured rice all over the laptop's keyboard, and some of it got under the keys and has made it a little challenging to type. And when we got home from LR, in my distracted haste to unload kids and pottery and groceries I actually locked Jack inside the house alone along with my purse, keys, and cell phone. He was only in there about 15 minutes and sat by the front window the whole time watching as I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. Our kind neighbor got me in with his credit card (that's comforting) and we all laughed at my mommy-brain-ness! So that was our yesterday....what wi happen today I wonder???? :)

Girl Time

2009-08-26T12:25:00.004-05:00

A couple of weekends ago my parents and sister came up to see us. On Saturday us girls and the kids went garage-saling and the guys went golfing, then we met up for lunch and the guys took the kids. So us girls got to have some girl time! We shopped a little, and then we went to a place called Firefly Studio in LR where you paint your own pottery. My sister had done this several times, but my Mom and I never had. It was SO much fun! We painted a bunch of stuff and really enjoyed it. Well, yesterday I went back to LR to pick up our fired and finished pieces. And here they are. This is a big platter I painted to be our official Birthday cake plate. It came out OK, I did feel a little rushed, but I think it's sweet, and hopefully it will be a fun and special tradition for our family. The bottom part says "We are so glad you were born"--a phrase borrowed from our dear friend Crystal who always tells us that on our birthdays! :)

These are actually two spare canister tops, but since I'm a junker at heart, I decided to paint them and hang them on the wall. The girl that works at the studio showed me this really cool process where you lay a piece of lace on top and then put this thick white gloop on top of it and when you pull the lace off, the pattern is left. ( I might try this on canvas with paint.)

Ali Grace's initials done to match her room.
My Mom had the HARDEST time deciding what piece of pottery to choose and then what to paint. I think she did FANTASTIC! She painted this the colors of her room, and I think it came out really good.

My sister did this pendant with another neat process the girl showed us. You mix paint, a little water, and soap (like Dawn) together and make bubbles, you apply the bubbles to the piece and let them pop, and it leaves behind a cool bubble design. Elizabeth did it with tiny bubbles, but you can use big bubbles too.

Elizabeth painted this one too. I LOVE it! These are some of my favorite colors! She did a great job!

Another TV Update

2009-08-14T13:21:00.002-05:00

We're almost half-way through the month and we're doing great! Brian and I watched a little bit of TV last night--I caught up on Design Star, and he got his golf fix--but other than that there has been NO TV viewing at all. I am actually very proud of us, because these last two weeks have been challenging! First I got a cold, then Jack got it, then Ali Grace, and now Brian has the BAD mutant form of it. So at a time when we would normally turn on the TV and veg out, we've been forced to find other ways to get through it, and though it has been a challenge at times, it hasn't been that hard. We've all been reading a lot of books, and been playing things like pretend with the kids more, which has been great. Brian and I have gooten to work on some projects that we never really had time for before, and my favorite thing has been that we have both lunch and supper together at the table, instead of sometimes in front of the TV. I LOVE THAT! It just feels good to be more engaged in eachother's lives.

Of course, now that I said all that, since this weekend my parents and sister are coming for a visit, TV will be allowed. We don't want to torture them! (Plus, Brian wants to watch a golf tournament) so......I'm determined to not watch much TV at all, and once the weekend is over, it's back OFF!!!!!!!!!! And, yes, my husband does call me the TV Nazi. Really, he does. :)

Our Big Boy

2009-08-06T20:09:00.003-05:00

This month Jack will be 2 1/2--and again, where has time gone? I know that he's he same little bitty boy that we brought home from the hospital, but he's just getting sooo big that it's hard to believe that! Is that just a Mommy thing, or what? Jack loves to play outside, loves to play with his "play-no" (play-doh), loves to play with cars, trucks, tractors, tools, blocks, and so much more. He's starting to imagine and pretend more, which I LOVE to watch. Today his belt was a snake that was playing on the floor, sleeping, crying, sick, taking medicine, and who knows what else. He loves his sister, and though she sometimes drives his crazy (already!!!) he's still so sweet with her! He's our big boy! and WE LOVE HIM!

We went walking on our street the other day after it had rained and Jack had a blast running through the puddles.

Last weekend we took the crib rail down and put this temporary rial up on Jack's bed. He has done so well with it. He loves that he can climb in his bed by himself. And we love that he hasn't figured out how to climb out yet. So it's great!

Brother and Sister playing! So cute!
Jack likes to glue and so I cut out all kinds of shapes for him. I cut out a trian, car, truck, and plane the other day and instead of gluing them, he just played with them. There were lots of "shraaaash"es (crashes) and he had fun.
We went for a walk this afternoon and Jack HAD to take his gun. He had a good time shooting everything in sight. He looks so intense in this picture! All we need is some cowby showdown music and we'll be set.

Go ahead punk, make my day.

And then after a hard thirty minutes shooting he was tired of his gun, so this was my solution. You might be a redneck...if you have a gun rack on your baby stroller! :)

Our Sweet Girl

2009-08-06T19:53:00.003-05:00

Ali Grace will be ELEVEN months old on Monday! This past year has flown! I can't believe that this time last year we didn't even know if she was going to be a girl or a boy! She is such a blessing to us! She loves to snuggle, loves to smile, loves to eat! She has such a funny little personality that is coming out so much lately. She's curious and silly, but also serious and sensitive, and boy does she have a temper! Ooooo weeee! We love love love her to pieces and can't imagine our lives without her!

She's growing so fast and to prove it she passed another milestone today and took her first THREE steps! It was sooo great! Brian, me, Jack, and Ali Grace were all playing in Jack's room and Brian started teasing Ali with a toy to get her to walk--and then she did it! We laughed and cheered and clapped. We're so proud of our little girl! YEAH ALI GRACE!

Happy girl.
Curious girl.

Still curious girl. :)

Hungry girl.
Makes Mommy's heart melt girl. :)

TV update

2009-08-05T09:09:00.002-05:00

Thanks so much for your encouragement and suggestions! We're doing really good. We watched our Food Network/Design Star episodes Sunday night, but since then we haven't turned the TV on. I has been difficult at times though. I actually called Brian this morning to ask permission to turn it on. :) I have a cold, and it's so easy to just sit and rest while the kids watvh TV, and I confess that is what I wanted to do. Brian laughed at me and said that I could do it, if my conscience would let me. Well, I didn't turn it on! Instead Jack and I sat at the front window and watched as a storn came in. He loved the lightning and the trees whipping around in the wind. I think God is teaching me a lesson about taking the easy way out. If I would have/could have turned on the TV I would have missed out on watching Jack have a blast just watching a storm, and telling him about how God made it. Why would I want to trade the priceless for the meaningless and worthless? I do this in other parts of my life too. I'll watch TV, or get online instead of reading God's word, or sitting and talking with Brian. Trading the priceless things in life, for the easier and worthless things. Thank you Lord for showing me my sin and giving me the way out of it!

No TV??????

2009-08-01T20:26:00.002-05:00

As I have shared here before, I (and we) love some TV, and it gets really ridiculous at times, so....after some talking and thinking and sweating, we decided to go the entire month of August with NO TV! And since today is August 1st it was our very first day without it. And though it was good, it was HARD too--and I'm so ashamed to admit that.

It has become way too easy to just turn it on for a minute while I'm folding clothes, or nursing, or breathing. :) Plus, we've been letting the kids watch way too much too. So, sadly, there was a little bit of withdrawl going on. But Jack only asked maybe twice to watch TV, so that was HUGE!!! I was definitely nervous about him getting whiney about it. So that just confirms that it is really Brian and I--not Jack--he doesn't need/want it as much as we think he does.

Though it may be hard at times, I'm really excited about using our time more wisely and about getting creative when it comes to entertaining the kids and myself. Plus, we've already been doing more reading together which is so great!

{All that said, there will be a couple of exceptions to the no TV rule--tomorrow night we will watch Next Food Network Star Finale, and Thursday night we will watch Burn Notice Finale...we've also been toying with having a "TV night" ONE night a week after the kids go to bed...but as I'm typing this I'm feeling very guilty/uncommited/waffley about that...so we'll see.}

I"ll try to keep ya'll updated. For now, it's ONE day down, THIRTY to go.

Pray for us! :)

Just Playing Around

2009-07-29T10:03:00.003-05:00

It won't be long 'til Ali Grace is running around the house right along side Jack. She's been pulling up on everything for a while, and then she started cruising and letting go without a care! She would fall and tumble and roll and then get right back up without a sound. And now she's doing this:

Pushing Jack's dump truck around like a pro. I have to help her turn around and get out of corners, but she's cruisin' along behind the truck like she's been doing it for years. Ali gets the dump truck and Jack gets the "Mater truck." It makes for great entertainment when they get tangled up, or when Ali Grace decides she wants Mater. Jack is sooo in for it when she starts walking. She already follows him around and gets into all of his stuff, but she's going to be a terror! :) I love it!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' along!

Posing for a picture--finally. I took about 5 pics of his back before this one.

He still loves his rocking horse that Papa built for him. Ali Grace likes it too.

Smiling Girl! Those cheeks look familiar. I don't know why. :)

Jack's Big Boy Room

2009-07-29T09:30:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to make Jack's room more of a big boy room and less of a baby's room for a while now. Since he loves anything that is motorized I thought a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles theme--or travel--or something along those lines would be great. We finally got around to hanging everything this weekend.I found this picture online at pottery barn kids for about $100. Of course I was not about to spend that on Jack's room, so I copied it with a few changes to make it my own. I had a BLAST painting it, and I think it came out great. I used a large canvas I bought months ago for about $15, and painted it with paint pens and acrylic craft paint I already had. I really like how it looks.

I bought the license plates at a antique shop in North AR on our trip for about $4 each. I like the colors with the map.

Here's the map a little closer.

I wanted to make a place to display some of Jack's artwork that would be easy to change, and that he would be able to help put up. Brian put three picture hanging hooks in the wall and we tied jute twine to them, clipped the art on with clothes pins, and Wah-La! Jack loves to point out his pictures and talk about them.

My Dad made these letters for Jack a while back. I had them painted white and hung with cute striped ribbon on the wall. I wanted to use them, but wasn't sure how, so I decided to paint the side of the letters different colors, but leave the front white. Well, some of them got kinda messy, so I started smearing the paint on the front and liked the way it looked. I did it to all of them and I think it looks cute now. The little car, truck, and plane are stuck on the wall with mounting putty, which I thought was clever, UNTIL Jack came in, saw them and immediately started whining for them. I had those things down in seconds--we were not gonna deal with that! :)

I put some more of Jack's artwork over his crib. The one in the center is the first crayon drawing he ever did. I still think it's worthy of museum display--but I may be biased. :) The others are canvases he painted.

I have a few more things I want to do in there, but I really like how it's coming out. We're now starting the transition to a big boy bed. I just took his bumper pad out and next is to take the side rail off. I think he'll do fine, we're going to have to reeeeealllly work on teaching him to stay in bed and not get up and play. I know some people have done it, we'll see if we can. We're also going to start getting serious about potty training. I'm scared! :)

Family Trips Part 2--DESTIN

2009-07-24T13:58:00.008-05:00

Last week we went to Destin with my side of the family for a few days of relaxation, sun, and sooo much fun! We stayed in a HUGE beach house, which we needed because there were 14 of us! It was such a blessing to be able to go and spend some great quality time with my aunts, uncles, and grandparents--not to mention my parents and siblings! We did a lot of relaxing, EATING, joking around, and sunbathing and some swimming, fishing, shopping and beachcombing too.

The picture above was taken from the deck behind the house the first night we were there! It was gorgeous!

Here we are before leaving Jackson and heading south to the BEACH!!!
Sleeping in the car...so nice! (For him and for us.)

Ali Grace gets zoned out like this just before she goes to sleep.

On our way out of Jackson.The Mobile Tunnel. Jack enjoyed this, I think we "choo-chooed" our way through it. He still loves trains!

Skip ahead about 8 or 10 hours (the traffic was insane in Mobile and Ft. Walton) and we were pulling into Destin!

Cap'n Jack Chisholm

My Uncle Tim and Aunt Lisa have a big fishing boat that Jack loved! Here he is taking us for a cruise around Destin(not really).

Catching a BIG fish!

I am in love with this picture of my PawPaw and Ali Grace! He is such a big teddy bear especially when it comes to his great-grandkids!

I love this one of Ali Grace and my MawMaw too! They were so sweet together.

MawMaw held Ali whenever it was time to feed her baby food. I think she enjoyed it.

"We goin' the beach!" as Jack says.

I don't know who was more excited, Jack or Brian and I. :)

Testing out the water.

Both Jack and Ali Grace really liked the water and the waves.

They both like the sand too--but in different ways.

Jack wanted to dig in it. Ali wanted to eat it.

Happy girl!

One of the guys.

Papa (my Dad) had a blast playing with Jack.

One of the girls.

It was so awesome seeing them experience the beach for the first time.

One afternoon we all piled on the boat and took a cruise around the bay. It was so pretty!

There's my sister and Mom in the crow's nest waaaay up at the top of the boat. I wasn't going that high.

Michael and Jack chillin' in the back of the boat.

We ate breakfast one morning at the cutest little diner called Camelia's or something like that. It has long curved lunch counter-like seating and we were all able to sit down together. They had some incredible omelettes!

Jack liked the chocolate milk.

And Ali reeeeally liked the bits of waffle I gave her. The girl gets downright bossy when it comes to feeding her!

Cap'n Jack again, this time in full costume. He loved his sword--he even slept with it.Baby Pirate.

And Daddy Pirate.

Getting ready to get in the pool. Poor kid, we could barely see him.

Loungin' in the pool.

After this we loosened up a little, took the vest off, and let him float in a little tube. He was so funny! He was completely relaxed just floating along humming.

Our trip was Fantastic!!! We were constantly talking and joking about staying in Destin forever, we really didn't want to leave. There's just something about being on the water--I think it's the "Coast Rat" coming out of Brian and I.

The best part was spending time with family. Letting them see and get to know Jack and Ali Grace a little was priceless. We're planning to make this an annual event!

Jack Pictures

2009-07-11T16:23:00.005-05:00

Some of these are from a few months ago, and even in that short amount of time Jack has changed so much! He looks more and more like a little boy each day! We love this silly boy!

10 Months Old!

2009-07-10T20:27:00.005-05:00

Ali Grace is 10 months old today! Time has FLOWN! Her personality is coming out more and more every day and she is hilarious and so happy! She crawls all over the house following us around, squeals like a mad-woman, and she is the cuddliest little thing ever! We all love her sooooo much and we are so thankful for our little Ali girl!

This last picture is the most recent one, I think it was taken about a week ago. Ali Grace always sticks her arm out like this and "points" to what she wants. Sometimes if you're really lucky she'll shake her arm or wave at you. She waves at Brian all the time, it is the sweetest thing!

Jack's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-07-09T14:38:00.005-05:00

I've been going through the 800 pictures that are on one of our memory cards, and finally putting them on the computer, so I thought I'd post some longggg overdue pictures finally. Starting with Jack's birthday party (which was in March oops).

We had his party at my parents' house in Madison so that no one would have to travel far and a lot of our family could be there. The theme was the movie Cars and we all had a blast!!!
My Mom and I made Jack's cake. It was so much fun decorating it, and it came out great. His name is made of Starbursts, the grass is coconut dyed green, and the track is crushed Oreos. He really liked it!
Happy Birthday my sweet boy! I can't believe you're TWO! (Actually over two now, but oh well.)
Wearing his Mater shirt. He LOVES Cars! It's our go-to movie when we're traveling, he loves all of the characters, and we can all probably recite the whole thing--even Ali Grace.

We made a little cake too, so we could put Mater on it. Mater is his FAVORITE!

Opening presents. He got a bunch of Cars stuff and started playing with everything right away. I had to finish opening everything because he was so into the presents he'd already opened.

My brother got him a huge pack of water guns that, as you can see, went over well. Jack loves guns, and we "go shooting all the time." My brother and some others started a big water fight later in the party--in my parents' living room! My Maw Maw and Jack were even in the fight! We all got soaked.

Then Jack got a haircut. This is my sweet Aunt Lisa. She used to cut my hair when I was little, and now she's cut Jack's too. :)

Ali Grace got in on the action too. Smiley girl.

My great friend Mary Evelyn, her husband, Jason, and their darling little girl, Brinkley all came to the party. Brinkley is just adorable! And she's about to be a big sister!!!

The party was a ton of fun! We'll be having a 1st Birthday party in just a couple of months for our Ali girl! Hard to believe.

Family Trips Part 1

2009-07-08T13:16:00.007-05:00

The Stinson family--Kenneth, Jamie, and Magan--and our family took a road trip in April together that was so much fun! Kenneth is a truck driver and has driven through the winding mountain roads of North Arkansas probably a thousand times, but has never been able to stop and explore the little towns and sites along the way. So he and Brian started talking about all of us going on a driving tour of North AR sometime. We finally go to go in late April and it was great to explore AR and to see the gorgeous views in the mountains. Our trip took us to Mammoth Springs, AR on the border of AR and MO, then to Eureka Springs, farther west, to Fayetteville home of the Hogs University of AR, and then back down to Rison. It took us from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, and we spent A LOT of time in the car, but it was really fun!

Our first stop--the spring in Mammoth Springs. It bubbles up and creates a lake that feeds into a river with a dam and waterfall that was all so pretty. You can sorta see the color of the water in the picture, it was bright turquoise like tropical water. And it was COLD!!!

This is Kenneth, Jamie, and Magan. They are the sweetest family. Magan is 14, and she is not at all like a typical teenager. She is so nice and polite and she carried Jack around the whole time. They love Jack, and he loves them back!

This is a nutria rat we saw in the lake--yuck, I know! But Jack loved seeing it, and he still talks about it now, 2 months later. He tells us how it was "swimmin' in the wah-er" and "eatin' the grass."

Here's where Jack's train obession began! You should have seen his face! PRICELESS! After this we saw a bunch more trains go by our motel room balcony. Every time one came by Jack was enthralled.
The second day we went to a park where you could look at these deep ravines and walk down into some caves. This cavern type thingy was down a steep flight of 119 stairs. It might not sound like much, but I was carrying Ali Grace and she got HEAVY! Brian had Jack and I know he was heavy too! We were all huffing and puffing on the way up--going down wasn't too bad--but it was so peaceful and pretty down there.

Friday night we were in Eureka Springs. They have a passion play that we heard was incredible, but we weren't able to go because of the kids being so tired. We did go to the park where they do the play and there is this Jesus statue there. It was huge!

Slacker.

2009-07-06T14:30:00.005-05:00

Yeah, that's me. Sorry for the lonnnnnggg absence. :)

I hope you're ready for a few pictures, cause here they come, along with some Chisholm family updates. :)

This is a favorite spot for both Jack and Ali Grace--behind the chair looking out the window. Sometimes they just look outside, other times they play with cars on the window sill. And you should see the window sill! The thing has more dents in it than poor old bullseye used too! They love it in this spot. Jack is pretty good about sharing it with Ali Grace, and I think it will be the site of many hours of play and plotting for a while to come.

Another favorite spot is the bookshelf. Most of the kids' books are on the lowest shelves and Ali Grace's absolute favorite thing to do is to pull as many books as she can off the shelves, look at them, and get mad at them when they don't do whatever it is that she wants them to do. This involves a lot of squealing which the girl is a pro at!!!This is AG's first bath in the big tub! This was a few weeks ago and she's an old pro at it now. She loves the water and is FEARLESS! She tries to crawl around and stand up and chase the toys.
Sweet girl! We haven't tried giving Jack and AG a bath together yet....I"m a little nervous about that one! Maybe in a few more years. ha

Here's the little one getting all dried off. We have a picture a lot like this of Jack when he was tiny. Im going to have to find that one and frame them together I think. AG is very expressive with her faces (and her voice too) and I love her big bright blue eyes! This girl just melts me. She's so darling!Dirty boy playing in what once was my herb garden until I forgot to water it for like a whole summer! :) This kid is ALL BOY! Give him dirt, sand, water, mud, bugs, grass, tools, guns, dogs, outdoors, and anything that makes noise and hes happy as can be! This day he was FILTHY dirty with black potting soil all over him! I love it!
If you can even see this picture, it's an idea I got off the blog: filthwizardry.blogspot.com. You draw a town on a shower curtain liner, tape it to the floor and let the kids drive their trucks/cars/trains...on it. Jack and AG really enjoyed it. You can also let them color it, I'm saving that for another day though.
Cars, trucks, trains, planes, tractors, anything that goes Vroom Vroom is Jack's favorite things too. Ever since we saw some trains up close in North AR he LOVES them. Also, I'm slowly redecorating his room with a planes, trains, and automobiles theme, I'll post some pics of that progess later.

AG liked the town too, but she's not quite as into transportation as Jack is.

And here's what the kids are up these days:

Jack:

*Talking a mile a minute and putting sentences together so well!

*Singing all the time. He can sing his ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, and Old MacDonald. He loves being sung too, especially before bed.

*Playing in the pool. He loves water!

*Getting mad when Ali Grace gets in his things.

*Getting sassier! He gave me a dirty look the other day that was incredible! I was about to "snatch him right up" but Brian took care of it.

*Being just as social as ever. He loves going to church and asks to go daily. He has a great time with all of the other kids. There are a ton of little boys about his age and they have a blast!

*Getting so excited about the beach. Whenever he sees a picture of the beach he gets really excited! He talks all about the sand and the water and all of the fun he's going to have.

*Being such a sweetie! He's doing great with his pleases and thank yous, and we're working on changing "yeah" to "yes ma'am/sir"

Ali Grace:

*Getting more mobile by the day. She crawls soooo fast and she is pulling up on everything in reach and starting to cruise. She crawls after Jack wherever he goes and wants to be just like him.

*Babbling and talking all the time too! "dadadada" is one of her faves and she says "mamamama" when she's upset and wants me. And somethings similar to "ahh-good-ahh-good-ahh" is one she says too.

*SQUEALING!!!! Oh the girl has a good set of lungs! When she gets going it is hilarious! The other day she was around a teeny baby and she got so excited every time she saw her--just squealing and talking--that poor little girl was probably scared to death.

*Being fearless! She pulls up on the furniture and just lets go, tumbling all over the place, and she bumps into things constantly but it doesn't phase her. She just keeps on going.

*Being the cutest and cuddliest little thing! Oh this girl and her big eyes, smiles, and hugs just gets me!!!

So....we're all doing great. We have a ton of trips planned this summer and I'm going to try to keep the posting up MUCH better! I'll try and post sometime soon!

Easter Pictures

2009-04-10T10:57:00.007-05:00

While we were in Madison for my Mom's birthday, we had the kids' portraits taken, and I love the way they turned out! It was pretty hectic, and at the time I just knew they didn't get any good shots, but they DID! We sure do love these little ones! Praise God for them!

My favorites are of course the ones of them together and the seperate ones of them in the white chairs. I also love the close ups of Jack with the black background, and the bathtub ones of Ali Grace!

The last one of Jack was taken to match a picture of my dad taken when he was about 2, they look a lot alike, and we're going to have the pictures framed together.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

2009-03-27T13:51:00.004-05:00

If you have never seen/heard of the Discovery Channel's series "Planet Earth", you have got to see it! We just recently saw a few of the episodes at my parents' house, and we are hooked! They are re-airing on the Discovery Channel at 8:00 Sunday nights and we've been recording them.

Basically, each episode highlights a different zone or feature of the planet, like Mountains, Jungles, Caves, etc. The animals, plants, histories, and other interesting facts about that place are featured and it is AMAZING! My only problem with it is that they talk about evolution, and things that are millions and billions of years old....but if you set that aside, and just watch in awe of the incredible array of totally unique and amazing plants, animals, landscapes, and places that God created it is such a wonderful series.

Something that struck me as I watched the "Caves" episode, was that this certain cave in New Mexico wasn't discovered until 1986! And the formations in this cave were unbelieveable and beautiful and rare and so unique to anything else on earth....but humans didn't even know about them for a very very long time. So in my human-centered little bubble I thought, "Why did God make them if we didn't know about them?"----and God showed me the answer! WOW He made them because He wanted to, He could, for His glory and His pleasure. It wasn't about US--it was, and is about HIM! And so is everything else, whether we see it, or know about it, or whether it's buried in a cave, or at the bottom of the ocean, or hidden by God--IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM! NOT US!

God is so big and so great and so all-knowing and able to do anything. And "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, He created all of the unbelieveable things that I've gooten to see on "Planet Earth" and so many other unimaginable things, and He created ME!

Here are some pictures I found of some things that stuck out from the episodes I've seen:

These are the cave formations I was talking about.

This is the largest living thing on Earth it is the General Sherman redwood tree in California. It is 249 feet tall I think.

And the blue whale, the largest mammal. We humans still don't know much about it. But God sure does.

Chisholm Family Update

2009-03-27T09:05:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the absence of pictures, but I have a wonderful new camera that must be installed on our computer and I haven't had the time (or the real desire) to do it, so....no pics, just words.

We have lots of changes going on around here! Our kiddos are growing like crazy and changing drastically every time we blink.

Jack:
~HE IS ACTUALLY TWO YEARS OLD NOW!!!!
~Talking much clearer and in sentences now.
~Favorite phrase "I don't want to"--many spankings to come
~Continued obsession with cars, trucks, and the movie Cars esp. Mater
~Loves music, esp. making it by banging on "drums"
~Loves being outside
~Just got rid of one (of the two) paci that he sleeps with, we're giving him a little break before going for the last one
~Is about to embark on potty training time! Fun fun
~Thinks that Ali Grace is the funniest thing ever! He laughs and laughs and laughs at her, and she just stares at him--he's doing it right now and I LOVE IT
~Likes giving Ali Grace a guitar (golf club) or a gun (golf club) so she can play with him--also likes to snatch said toy away from her (we're working on it)
~Loves yogurt, cereal, chicken nuggets, "fishies" (Goldfish crackers), cheese, fruit and "chee-chup" (ketchup)
~He's starting to look more and more like a little boy every day! He's so big!

Ali Grace:
~SHE IS 6 MONTHS OLD!
~She is sleeping really well, some nights she wakes up at 2 and then 5, sometimes she makes it all the way to 4 or 5 before waking up
~We just started weaning her from being swaddled and rocked to sleep which has been hard--she's been crying it out--plus I miss wrapping her up and rocking her--but it is time :(
~Likes to have lots of attention, she will grunt, growl, cough and squeal until you look at her--so funny
~Her hair is getting longer on top and is almost long enough for a bow, and it sticks straight up, we decided she looks like a Cupie Doll
~She still will not take a bottle--now she just plays with it, I'm ok with it
~I still think she's going to be our wild one! We'll see.

Brian and I:
~We're both working hard at our respective jobs and trying to figure out how to fit it all in each day
~Brian's job has been really busy, and very stressful lately--I don't know how he does it--he works so hard to provide for us and we appreciate it so much!
~I'm still trying to find a way to get the housework all done each week, any suggestions?
~We're looking at a busy busy summer--Brian's guys weekend, going to the beach, spending time with both sides of the family, going to Memphis, and lots more--and we're looking forward to it
~We may also be doing some home improvements like putting up gutters and possibly painting a few rooms and I am itching to get more stuff up on the walls, we've lived here for almost 2 years and the house is still pretty bare

All in all we're doing great! We miss being closer to friends and family, but we like our little town. We are seeing God's grace in new ways all the time through our kids and we're both learning a lot. God is good and He is here and we're trying to walk with Him daily in faith.

This Mommy I've Become

2009-02-06T14:03:00.003-06:00

I have noticed that I have changed a lot since becoming a Mommy, and as I sit here thinking about that, I'm wondering what exactly made those changes???? Like what minute actions and occurences have made me into the Mommy that I PROUDLY am today?

Here are some I can think of off the top of my head:

-Not being able to bathe whenever and for however long i want to
-Not being able to go to the bathroom alone
-Finding myself sitting on the potty while stretching out a hand to rock a crying baby and singing "twinkle twinkle little star"
-Witnessing my son's and my daughters' first moments/breaths/cries/smiles/laughs/rolls/crawls/steps/burps/bites of food/etc...
-Not being able to sleep whenever and for however long i want to
-Doing the Mommy lick-my-finger-and-wipe-something-off-kids-face-thing
-Panicking that I'm not doing anything right as a parent
-watching my babies sleep/play/cry/fall down/get up/make friends/sit in my parents' and grandparents' laps
-trying to get them to make semi-decent faces for the Christmas picture
-BREASTFEEDING---one of the most selfless things EVER!!!
-holding them while they sleep/eat/cry/laugh/read a book/talk/bounce
-watching Brian with Jack and then watching him with Ali Grace--so different, yet still the same too
-disciplining Jack---UGH it's hard
-Letting God be in control--even of MY CHILDREN
-Praying for them before they were born, as they were being born, and afterward too, and for the future of them both
-Letting Jack cry it out----HEART WRENCHING
-Freaking out when I don't know what to do
-Laughing at them
-Taking care of them when they are sick (and telling Brian a thousand times that Yes, they are OK, they're going to be OK)
-Hurting with them
-Actually seeing them grow and learn
-Realizing that Brian and I are responsible for 2 little bodies and hearts and souls--and how would we ever do this without Jesus? WE CAN'T!!!
-Seeing our parents be so in love with our children
-AND LEARNING TO LOVE MORE THAN I HAVE EVER LOVED BEFORE

I LOVE BEING THIS MOMMY THAT I'VE BECOME! THANK YOU LORD!

My New Year's Goals

2009-02-04T14:49:00.003-06:00

Though it is February, I'm just now making my lists of goals and to-do's. I've been really brainstorming and praying about what I need to rearrange, reorganize, and delete from my everyday life. And I thought that sharing them with all of you would give me some encouragement and some accountability too!

So, some of my daily goals are:
1. Get up early, read my Bible and pray, take a shower and get dressed before the kids get up
2. Read a chapter of the Bible to the kids after breakfast
3. Spend an hour a day one-on-one with each of the kids
4. WATCH LESS TV
5. Get cleaning chores done
6. Spend time with Brian

So far I'm doing pretty good. #1 hasn't happened quite right yet, I have been reading and I get to take a shower at some point during the day, though it might be at 8:00 at night. I'm not too discouraged though because Ali Grace is still waking up every 3 hours to eat at night, so I think I'm doing alright. :)

I have been reading to the kids though, and on days that I've forgotten it's been so amazing because Jack has actually reminded me! He has 2 small New Testaments, and every once in a while he'll ask for one, and that reminds me, so that has been a huge blessing!

Spending more one-on-one time with the kids hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. And it's been sooo much fun! Jack is verrry into playing with his cars and trucks, so we've been doing a lot of that. And Ali Grace is so much fun to roll around with and bounce on my lap! They are a blast!

The TV thing is a struggle for me. I just want it on! It's such an idol for me, and I'm reeeeally working on it. I am doing better, and I've cut out a couple of shows that I felt convicted about watching--the verse that God showed me that has helped tremendously is Psalms 119:37, "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in your way."

Cleaning the house has gone by the wayside BIG time since Ali was born, and I finally made a new cleaning schedule and it's going OK--I pretty much have to force myself to do it most days, but so far the house is looking better, and I feel better. It really affects me when things get too disorganized and dirty around here.

And last but certainly not least, though things are crazier than ever around here (this past week Brian worked at least 25 hours overtime b/c of the ice storm in North AR) we are setting a side a little time each day just to be together and laugh and talk and vent about whatever. I love Brian so much and he's been so great and supportive as I've made my lists of goals and to-do's. I've really missed him as he's been working more, but I'm seeing that God is using it to stretch me and to make me rely on Him more. Plus it has shown me how VERY much Brian helps around the house and with the kids, and just how blessed I am to have a husband like him!

So, lots of changes are happening around the Chisholm house. God is working in me and in our family tremendously! Another verse that God gave me for this time is Psalms 51:23, "Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God." That has encouraged me soooo much! I have a few more lists of goals and to-do's, but this post is long enough, so I'll spare you, but please pray for us and for God to continue to teach us to order our conduct aright.

And he's such a boy!

2009-01-30T16:19:00.002-06:00

Jack has such an imagination! Though we got him a play gun and play guitar for Christmas, he still uses his golf clubs to shoot or to jam out as the mood strikes him. I'm sure as he gets older, he'll play more with the "real" play things, but for now he's good with his golf clubs. There are a few presents that have been BIG hits though:

Jack loves his tools, but he reeeeally LOVES his flashlight. Here he's demonstrating how to turn it on.

Brian's aunt and uncle gave him a bunch of Hot Wheels and he plays with them constantly! This window sill in our living room has always been a favorite spot of his, and now he loves to line his cars up on it, drive them on it, and crash them together. He usually has about 20 of them lined up.

Brian's parents gave him this desk and stool and he loves sitting at it to draw. Every night I move it into his room, just to clean up the living room, and every morning he wants it back out again.

He looks like a little boy now. :) :(

Such a girl already!

2009-01-30T15:57:00.003-06:00

This girl likes to move! She will get focused on something and want it sooo bad--you can just see the determination in her face and her whole body. She likes rolling on the floor, but only for a certain amount of time, then she's DONE and it's on to something else--and she'll let you know when she's done too. :) She's such a girl already!

She likes chewing on her glow-worm's face, and listening to it play music.

This curly-cue thing is her favorite! She will roll all the way across the room to get to it! I love watching her try to reach it, she looks like a cat pawing at a toy.

Another of her favorites is a tower of rings that lights up and plays music, she really knocks it around!

These pictures are of Ali's first encounters with rice cereal. She did not love it. The faces she made were priceless! She did Ok even though most of the cereal came right back out of her mouth. As you can see the girl is not malnourished. She loves to eat!
Those cheeks!

She prefers her chubby fingers.

We put her in the excersaucer for the first time today, and she was pretty happy in it. Again, once she was done, she was DONE.

Trying to get those fingers again.

No, my baby girl does not have a mohawk, she just has really fuzzy hair and apparently this is how it shows up in pictures now. :)

A Chisholm Wedding

2009-01-24T19:37:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Brian's sister, Amanda got married in Gulfport. She married her high school sweetheart Chris! They dated for NINE years!!!!! It was a beautiful wedding and a really fun reception. Amanda was the most gorgeous bride I've ever seen! Her dress was perfect, so was her hair and makeup. She just glowed the whole day. Chris was very handsome too. I think they had a lot of fun and really enjoyed themselves. We had a great time being part of their day. Brian, Jack and I were all in the wedding--Jack was the ring bearer and he wore a tux just like Brian's. He was ADORABLE!!!!! And he did so well walking down the aisle with the flower girl. At the reception he danced like crazy! His favorite song was the chicken dance. We've done it a few times since we got home, and he's pretty good at it.

Ali Grace wore a dress that my aunt made for her that matches my dress and she was SO CUTE! She did great all day. She even danced a little with her Daddy.

These were the only pictures we were able to take, because it was a pretty crazy (though fun) day. I can't wait to see the professional pictures, and see all of us.

Our New Year

2009-01-23T20:21:00.002-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

(Yes I realize that it's been 2009 for almost a month now.)

I always feel like I'm a few months behind, but lately I really am! We have been travelling all over and having a great time spending time with family. But all of the going going going has made me feel waaaay behind.

So now that we're at home for a while I'm starting lists of New Years tasks and goals and all that jazz.

Some kid-related ones are getting rid of Jack's pacifiers, and starting on potty training (both a little scary) and starting Ali Grace on rice cereal and putting her in her own room sometime soon. All big steps for us!

I also have tons of things I want to clean and organize and decorate, but the MAIN THING I want to do is use my time more wisely. I've been starting to brainstorm about how I can do this, and I have a few ideas, but I would love any suggestions from anyone! More on all this later, but for now, please pray that God would show me what HIS priorities for me are.Here are two priorities right here! Aren't they cute! Jack likes to lay down with Ali Grace and give her toys to play with. He uses these golf clubs as guns, he wanted to show Ali how to use them, so he gave her one to shoot with too. He's a sweetie.

I think Jack looks JUST like my Paw Paw in this picture! HAHA

And here's our little man fast asleep in his high chair. We laugh and laugh when he does this.

Also, we went to the doctor this week for Ali Grace's 4 month check-up and Jack tagged along b/c he had a cough we wanted to check out.

So the new stats are:

Jack weighs 28 pounds (and he just has a cold)

and

Ali Grace weighs 14.1 pounds and is 23.5 inches long (and now she, and I, also have a cold)

We're Rolling Along

2009-01-23T20:09:00.003-06:00

The Saturday after Christmas we went to our friends' the Stinsons house. They have a school bus!!!! And since Jack is in love with school buses we had to go take a ride! We rode all around town and he loved it! He was so excited when we first got on that he couldn't stop laughing! Unfortunately, he hadn't had a good nap that day, so half way through the ride he conked out! When we stopped and woke him up he was not happy! And of course that's when we remembered to take a picture. :)

Ali Grace rolled over for the first time while we were in Yazoo City for New Years. It was great because Brian's mom got to see it. Since then Ali has been rolling like crazy!!! She rolls all over the room now and is already trying to scoot around! This girl is going to be a mover!

Christmas Morning

2009-01-23T19:51:00.002-06:00

We had a lot of fun on Christmas morning! I love being at our house alone as a family on Christmas morning and just hanging out together. Jack was much more into it this year, and it was Grrreat seeing him react to his presents. My favorite moment was when he opened his rifle (it's a toy) his face lit up like I've never seen it before! It was wonderful! :)

Jack is becoming a little boy's boy! Not only did he get a rifle, but he got a tool set, a guitar, and a ton of trucks. Needless to say, Brian has a blast shopping for Jack and he's had so much fun playing with him too.

Ali Grace got a doll, some clothes, and a couple of little things. She had a good time watching everything that was going on.

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-23T19:40:00.003-06:00

One of our friends here, Brooke took these pictures for us! I LOVE them and can't wait for her to take more for us!

Welcome to the world Baby Boy!

2008-12-28T19:43:00.002-06:00

Our great friends the Overstreets were blessed yesterday to welcome a son, Paxton Michael Overstreet to the world! He has a wonderful dad, mom, and big brother Camp--plus a ton of friends--who already love him!

Welcome Baby Paxton!