My Book Report :)

I don't know why I feel compelled to tell you but I have read two GREAT books recently. The first, Multiple Blessings by Jon and Kate Gosselin. I am obsessed with the show, Jon and Kate Plus 8, so Jeff bought me the book as one of my birthday presents. I really enjoyed it. I love big families and thought it would be entertaining. It begins when they got married and follows thru the birth of their twins and then sextuplets and the hard pregnancy it entailed.

The second, another big family, is The Duggars 20 and Counting. They also have a TLC show but I have only caught a few episodes of that. Yes, they have 17 kids and she is due to deliver #18 in January. Also begins when they got married but they face many more hard times the past 25+ years and have an amazing faith. They live their lives different than most of us but really, probably better.. you read and judge for yourself.

Both of these books have a theme of "look at all God has pulled us through and let us show us how He provided for us", which I love. They are families who sometimes had to have blind faith (although I believe all faith is blind) to survive and thrive thru many difficult, testing times by falling at His feet and admitting "I am nothing with You". Read and let me know what you think but I think you will be blessed thru the words that have written.

Just a little update

First of all, I CANNOT believe Christmas time is already here. And.. no, I have not Christmas shopped. I like waiting for the hustle and bustle of being in stores in December. Just doesn't feel like Christmas time to me without the crowded stores and being out seing all the decorations. Princess Brylee and I got up early and did a little shopping this morning at 6:30. It was fun and little Happy is SUCH a good shopper. She always looks around and "talks" to everybody.. not one cry. She is an angel, like her sister (who, on the other hand, is not an early bird, and was home sleeping safe and warm with Daddy.) We spent Thanksgiving with both families this year.. lunch in Fort Worth and dinner in Abilene. Exhausting day but very fun and the girls were perfect at the meals and in the car.
My 25th BIRTHDAY is a little over a week away and I am in shock! I never thought I would be 25! Eeek! But birthdays are always a celebration for me.. I have accomplished a lot in the past few years including a college degree, getting married and having two kids.. ALL IN TWO YEARS! WOW! I feel like I need to take a deep breath after even typing that! My besties, Chris and Kristie are coming down to spend birthday weekend with us and I am so anxious for them to be here.
Braelyn, Brylee and Dylan are growing like weeds and most days, keeping me laugh and screaming all the same time. Brylee is crawling, waving bye-bye, saying mama, dada, byebye and hi (& lots of little things you cant understand). She has become a really good baby. She crawls around and plays until she is tired or hungry. Braelyn is potty-trained, saying everything (and I mean everything.. it's like having a conversation with a 4 year old) and loving having her cousin, Dylan, here to be her BFF. She is such a gentle spirit and very in tune with feelings. Dylan keeps me on my toes. Dylan is the ultimate teacher of tough love.. he's stubborn and strong willed but hilarious and gentle. He loves to be held and played with. SUCH a boy! I love, love, love spending my days with these kids, even though at the end of some days I feel like I got beat up!! And of course, I am so thankful for Jeff, who is my best friend. There is nothing better in the world than sitting at home with Jeff playing with the kids. We are so blessed.
I hope everyone is happy & healthy. Enjoy the holiday season! I would love updates from all of you.. hint, hint.

By the way, I update my myspace or facebook a lot more than this.. so add me on there for better updates ;)

Happy- SIX MONTHS OLD?!?

I sat last night at the doctors office with Happy (Brylee) waiting forever and there was a lady sitting across from me with her very newborn son. He was so little and cute. I thought about newborns and how funny they are. They sleep all the time, yet they are so hard to deal with because their schedules are so backwards. I was thinking how tired that mommy must be because I have been there twice. My eyes filled with tears, literally, thinking about my babies being that small and how Happy had changed and grown so much already. My Happy is supposed to be the baby forever! Sitting in that waiting room thinking, I had a strange realization. My Happy would be six months old tomorrow. We are already half way to her first birthday! What?! She was just born the other day and the past six months, though difficult and busy, had just flown right by. Newborns are so content just being held. That's all they want.. to sleep, be fed, changed and held. Sounds easy enough, right? My girls will never be that little again or look like sweet little newborns do but I will always have the memories of them being that small and innocent.
We came home, went to bed and Happy woke up a lot last night (I think because she is beginning to teethe) and I was so tired and frustrated. I tried everything from feeding, swinging, bouncing, etc. When I thought she is just going to have to scream for a little bit, I had an idea. Maybe she will just let me hold her! I wrapped her up like a burrito (my kids both loved it) and held her close to my side and she instantly fell asleep. That's all she wanted. She was having trouble sleeping and I could "fix" her entire world by just holding her close. She wanted her mommy. I fell asleep with her next to me thinking God did that on purpose, to brighten my thoughts on six months old! I think He was reminding me that even though my girls will continue to grow, they will always need their mom, just the ways in which they need me will change thru the years. And Happy isn't an independent two year old yet, so maybe every now and then I can still sneak in a good cuddle or two. :)

Where did 2 years go?

Sometimes I get this feeling, it’s kinda in my stomach. Like when you think about something bad that has happened or something that has been stressing you out and you’re stomach kinda drops. Sometimes my mind works too fast and I’ll think about something, my stomach drops and then I’m like “what the heck did I just think about that made me upset.” Please tell me I’m not the only one in the world who does this?!? LOL

Well I have had that feeling so much the past few weeks. On top of all the normal stressors of life I kept thinking about Braelyn. My Braelyn. My Braelyn turning two years old. It just doesn’t seem right. My Braelyn was just born the other day. I brought her home from the hospital and she was sleepy and then grumpy. HA. We just had my Braelyn’s first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, first crawls and steps and her FIRST birthday. Two years later and my Braelyn is saying everything, potty training, learning to sleep in her big girl bed (yes, Braelyn has never slept alone in her life and that’s the way we like it. She sleeps with someone every night of her life and has never slept in a crib cause babies don’t sleep in cages at my house, they sleep with mommy and daddy LOL!!), she’s riding tricycles, learning colors and numbers, singing her ABC’s, jumping off everything and being a two year old.. Sigh. But what an amazing two years it has been. Braelyn Grace has forever changed our lives for the better. She’s hilarious and gorgeous. She’s shy at rare times and wild at others. She’s a fun big sister and entertainer of the family. I’m not one of those moms who wishes their kids were older very often. I like them little and sweet. I like them where I can hold them in my arms until they fall asleep but even I would take things slower if I could turn back the hands of time.
So here we are. I survived the 2nd birthday bash and all the planning and fun. I have a two year old and what an amazing little person she is. And here we go again… Brylee Faith, just grow slow so mommy can catch up :)

I'll take my screamers..

My kids. I couldn’t love them any more but sometimes… they stress me out! :) When I was pregnant with Brylee I read an article in a baby magazine about a lady who said she had a colicky firstborn and while pregnant with her second everyone told her that her second would be so good because no one would have TWO fussy babies!! She went on to tell that yes, her second baby was colicky as well and how shocked she was!

July 27, 2006, meet my firstborn, Braelyn Grace.. So pretty and sweet. 8 lbs 2 oz.. healthy and gorgeous. What a blessing! Braelyn quickly went from sleepy and sweet to screaming and mad.. ALL day long.. Whew! Colicky? YES! I was exhausted and stressed.. I felt like I was doing something wrong but the tables turned and she really was a happy baby in the later months of her first year. Sometimes I think she probably wasn’t even that bad and most of the crying and stress was just me being a first time mom with no clue what to expect. 20 short months later.. Enter Brylee Faith. My sweet second baby. After a really hard and stressful pregnancy, what a joy to finally be holding a second healthy baby. 7 lbs 13 oz and over 2 weeks early, Brylee was healthy and here safe! I knew she would be good because, you know, who has TWO fussy babies… well let me tell you.. Brylee Faith broke the mold! She is one passionate kid and hard to please. Colicky? Again, YES! And more exhausting with a 1 year to chase, as well. I sleep little and bounce all day long. In her defense, most of Brylee’s screaming is due to a really bad case of acid reflux and the pain that goes a long with it. So probably half colicky and half hurting.. My poor baby screams a lot!

But one day:
I will yearn for their little bitty hands to wrap around my neck and hug me or for the best kisses in the world from those teeny, tiny lips.
I wont be able to “fix” their entire world just by picking them up and holding them or bouncing them thru the house for hours on end.
They wont depend on me for every single need in their life.
Those screaming, awful, LOUD cries will just be a memory.
I’m going to blink and these fussy babies are going to be moving out of the house and I am going to long for the days I could rock them so sleep or comfort them with just my touch.
They wont love their mommy and daddy more than anyone else in this world.
I will sit in a church with giant tears in my eyes and watch them give their lives to another.
I will watch them become mommy’s and learn all the things I learned from them.
And one day, they will probably take care of ME!

The author of that article went on to say that she has read research that babies that cry all day long are actually more intelligent and alert than those who do not because they are more in tuned, even at such a young age, at what they want! I’m not sure if I really believe that or not since I know smart kids who were good babies too but it makes me feel a little better on the days when the screaming has pushed me to the edge! My kids DO know what they want and are very in tune with their desires! :)

So for now I am going to push through trying to soak in every moment and try to not blink so I don’t miss anything. I will try not to wish away these super stressful infant days and enjoy them small as much as I can. These kids are my life and screaming or not, I will love them more everyday.. I’ll just wish I had some mommy ears plugs.. :)

What a weekend..

We had a great weekend around our house. Friday, we went to dinner at Abuelo's with Jeff's family for his mom's birthday. It was really good and Brylee slept thru dinner so we didnt have to take turns eating.. it was so nice! She is SLOWLY improving on the fussiness and hopefully this new med is helping her reflux some so she wont be feeling so bad :(

Saturday, Jeff and I took the girls shopping at Old Navy and we all got something.. the kids got shirts for the 4th of July too.. very cute ;) Then we took them to the Abilene Country Club with Jeff's sister and her husband and kids to go swim. It was fun. Braelyn really enjoyed going down the slide with her Uncle James and Brylee even got in with me. She didnt like it too much though cause the water was a little cool. We had fun and Brylee got to come home earlier and spend some alone time with her daddy and Braelyn got to stay and swim with me. It's always cool when we get to focus on one kid and enjoy JUST them for a little bit. Saturday night we all stayed home and watched a movie.. me and the girls only made it thru about 10 minutes though and then we fell asleep! :)

Today, we just hung out at home. Jeff and Brylee went to his parents for a little bit and Braelyn and I played at home. It was fun.. she wanted to play in the bath forever and since I didnt have another baby to watch.. I just sat and let her play :) Not doing anything tonight, I guess, just sitting around the house.

It was a good weekend.. really enjoy spending time with my girls and hearing everything funny Braelyn has to say ;)

Some pics from swimming..

What a life..

Well.. I am married to Jeff (over two years) and we have two sweet babies girls, who you will probably read about the most. Braelyn was born July 27, 2006 and changed our lives forever.. of course, for the better! ;) I also have two cool (and really big) dogs that I love! My brother, James, moved to Abilene with us back in December 07 and shortly after, we had our second baby, Brylee ("Happy") on March 26th. My kids are amazing and crazy and I know I am so blessed! I love living in Texas and really enjoy the 100 degree weather, weird? I know! I love REAL people, not those who are stuck up or only care about themselves and what they have. I love my big family (and Jeff's) and I have the world's greatest nieces and nephews and I am so proud of them.. most of the time.. lol just kidding! I graduated from ACU in 2007 with my Bachelor's Degree in Family Studies and still don't have a job (side note: Abilene job market suuuucks!) so I am currently home with the two brats until a door opens ;) I've been through some really tough things in my life and you'll probably read about that some too. Don't know what else to tell you to introduce myself but I hope that maybe one day I will write something on here that helps you out.. and until then.. meet my family.... :)