Photo Blog #2

Here are some good pictures from our quick trip to Lubbock:

Hanging out on the hammock with Pappy.

Fishing with Daddy - with my new fishing pole! She came in the house later and said, "Well, I didn't catch anything today!" (Like she goes every day or something)

We got to meet sweet Charlie! Kaitlyn kept calling him a her, but she loved him anyway. She played Peek-a-boo with him and made him laugh. It was good to see the Bowmans!

Fun time at the water park! What?! You've never seen anyone down a drumstick in 3.7 seconds before?

At the ripe age of 3, my daughter got in trouble by the life guard for going down the slide every way but the right way. She has to make things as dangerous as possible.

Yikes!

Finally, the slide got kind of boring - so she would stop herself at the end, stand up and jump face first into the water. It's much more fun that way obviously.

Going down the big slide with Mommy! That was fun!

She was hilarious at this place. She wanted to do everything by herself. When we got in the lazy river she just looked at my mom and I and said, "You get out, and you get out. I'll go by myself." Right....

She would have done this huge slide by herself without a moment's hesitation. I had to literally run to catch up with her on the stairs.

Photo Blog #1

Here are some pictures from Kaitlyn's birthday party:

Riding her new bike for the first time. (Still a little on the sleepy side)

Getting the safety gear on!

She wasn't much into the knee and elbow pads that Pappy wanted her to wear. But she won't ride anywhere without her helmet on.

She loved the bounce house that we rented for the day... Some of the grown ups enjoyed it too!

Trying to sneak some cake. Actually, there was no "trying" about it. She successfully swiped her finger more than once!

Not too sure about everyone singing Happy Birthday to her. (Even though she had been singing to herself for about 2 weeks)

She loved getting to see James' parents - Nana and Papaw!

My sweet 3 year old at the end of a long, but fun day!

Happy Birthday sweet Kaitlyn...

This post is a little over due - her birthday was Monday. I've been waiting for blogger to be cooperative w/ pictures, but still no luck. Maybe tonight....

Has it really been three years? It is so hard to believe that my little girl is 3, already "turning to be four" as she says. Where did the time go? We had a blast celebrating her birthday on Saturday with lots of friends and family. It was so hot outside, so we just had the pool filled up and the slip n slide turned on. We also rented a bounce house, which was a huge hit with the kids (and James).

Her real birthday was yesterday. She got to take cupcakes, or "pupcakes" to school and all her friends sang to her again. Teacher Joy sent her home with lots of treats at the end of the day.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Kaitlyn:

She is absolutely hilarious. Listening to her talk and sing just makes me smile. She makes up songs all the time. When she gets really tired, she gets REALLY talkative. She will jump from subject to subject and talk so fast.

She is beautiful. She is starting to look so much like a little girl and not a baby/toddler anymore. Her soft curls are getting blonder and her eyes are so dark, but they seem so bright. I love her dimples and the few freckles she has on her nose.

She still likes to cuddle at night. She loves just sitting right next to me or James when she is watching a video or if we are reading to her. She wants her tummy and her backed rubbed every night before we leave the room.

She is potty trained! This happened a few weeks ago, I just never blogged about it. She has done so great!

She's a social butterfly. She loves hanging out with her friends, especially our neighbor Kelly. Everytime she comes over she says, "Do you want to stay at my house forever?" She rarely complains about going to school everyday, but it most times excited to see all her friends. She loves James' and I's friends too and always asks about them.

She's so smart. I feel like she does something new every day. She is getting good at writing her letters and recognizing words. She remembers everything you tell her (which comes back to bite me quite often).

She's so tender hearted. She loves ALL animals, little babies, and elderly people. Sounds funny, but so true. She loves taking care of things. I think she will be a great big sister! (By the way if you ask her if she has a brother his name is Chim, and a sister would be Kim.) Hilarious.

There are so many things I love about her. I'm just so thankful God chose me to be her Mom.

Babies and Fathers

This is a HILARIOUS Father's Day video. Enjoy!

Finally!

We finally bought a new camera. Ours broke over Easter weekend. I'm more than excited to be able to take pictures again. Just in time for Kaitlyn's birthday party on Saturday! I can't believe she is about to be 3. I'll write more about this on her actual birthday.

Things with us are going good. Nothing big going on - just our normal day-to-day routine of work and hanging out in the evenings. I have been trying to walk at night as much as I can. This has helped me feel SO much better.

My parents came through town last weekend and picked up Kaitlyn on their way to Ft. Worth. James and I did not know what to do with ourselves! The World Cup started, so Saturday he went and watched a game or two with some friends while I enjoyed two paperview movies on my couch! I watched Rumor Has It (weird, but okay), and The Family Stone. That afternoon while James worked in the yard, I went out and did some Father's Day shopping and enjoyed spending time with my friend Felicia before they move away!

Saturday night we went on a dinner and a movie date to Texas Roadhouse and to see The Break Up. Not a fan of the ending, but it was a pretty funny movie over all.

Sunday it was awesome taking our time getting ready for church and being able to sleep an extra 30 minutes! We had a nice, 2 hour lunch with friends at the Olive Garden which would not be possible with our precious toddler present. We took long naps before welcoming Kaitlyn home early Sunday evening!

Thanks Mamaw and Pappy for making Kaitlyn's weekend a blast and ours relaxing!

Here are a few pictures I've taken the past few days:

More Exciting News!!

I get to go see Kelly Clarkson in Dallas on July 28th!! This makes me way too excited. I'm sure I will blog about it again before the actual day gets here. Just thought I would share!

The One

This morning I got up at 5:45 to go to a men's breakfast. Normally this would be passed up because of the early presence. Mike Cope was going to be leading this meeting and future meetings.

I like Mike Cope, he's got a good head on his shoulders and he is approachable. His wisdom is wise and I feel there is no situation I have been in that he couldn't relate to.

So we talked about stuff guys talk about. I can't give away that part of the meeting because then you girls wouldn't be a curious about what really goes on at these breakfasts. I would say it is similar to your book clubs.

He then asked us to do something today that I haven't ever done. It’s easy and simple and makes plain sense but being a guy if it's not in front of my face I can't find it.

Tell your wife that she is THE ONE.

She is the one. I knew on July 4th, 2000. She knows I knew on that date because I told her later on in our relationship. She doesn't know that I still feel that way today. I usually say I love you or that she looks attractive but I don't think I tell her she is still the one.

Maybe she doesn't think about it as she gets in one of her moods and decides to clean the whole house top to bottom after doing so several days earlier.

Maybe she loses sight that I think she's the one when I don't take out the trash the second it’s filled.

Maybe when I help her with the dishes she thinks that I'm just being nice and feel obligated to do it since she cooked a wonderful supper, not because I think she's the one.

But she is the one.
She is the one who chose me over any other.
She is the one who said I do
She is the one who makes this marriage work
She is the one who gave birth to our child
She is the one who challenges me to be a better man
She is the one who gives of herself for others so much that I sometimes get frustrated
She is the one who makes sure that we know how special God is to us, our relationship, our marriage and our children
She is the one I love and will love forever

Mike said it’s important for us to make sure that we let our wives know that with all the struggles we have, we need others to support each other and not go into any battle alone (in believe this is from Proverbs 4). We should all pray for each others marriage to be successful. I still support my earlier statement that Mike is bright man. I also pray for his marriage to be successful for the next 28 years.

However, the one marriage that is on my heart all the time is mine. I know that with time some things tend to get overlooked and sooner or later you realize that maybe more effort needs to contributed here or there or this hasn’t been addressed in a while. But I will try to not let those things go too long without being fixed.

Leslie is the one and no amount of metaphors or limericks will ever change how special she is to me and how blessed I am to have her as a friend, wife, spiritual partner and beautiful mother.

Fun in the Sun

We finally had a weekend where all three of us were at home together! Saturday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast out, followed by a long trip to the park - before the day got too hot! Saturday night we watched with much excitement as the Mavs beat the Suns to go to the Finals!!! Can't wait until Thursday! Bring on the Heat!

Sunday after church Kaitlyn and I went with some other girls and a few other kids to swim. It was SO hot outside, and it felt so good to swim in water deeper than our plastic backyard pool! Kaitlyn had a blast. Slip those floaties on and she is good to go! She jumped off the diving board and went down the slide without hesitation. Somebody put some fear in my child!

Here are a few pics: Once again, blogger is not on my side - so we'll try again later for the rest.

The One I've Been Waiting For.......

I have been waiting to create this blog for a long while now! I wish I could think of some creative way to write about it, but I can't so - without further hesitation...

We are expecting baby #2!!!!

We are more than thrilled about this - and have been wanting this to be real for so long. I'm just almost 10 weeks along, and feeling every minute of it. I wasn't sick at all with Kaitlyn, and it's a daily thing with this one. Must be a boy.

My doctor gave us a "scare" at the beginning - telling me he was almost sure it was twins. My hormone level went from 350 to over 3000 in about 4 days. Yikes! So, a couple weeks later we had a sonogram and just saw one tiny heart beating!! We go again a week from today to double check though. Maybe I shouldn't say double check.

Anyway, I am so excited that the cat is out of the bag and I am able to share the news. My official due date is January fourth, but I let the doctor know that December would be preferred! January sounds so much further away than December. I mean, let's face it. It's a whole other year!