It is Clean, She is Sleeping, and Whatnot

First of all let me say that the previous post can be figured out by googling, so have at it. Let me just say that there is a whole different type of woman out there than I will EVER be.

Well on to bigger and better things, or at least my real life. I am proud of me and my hubby. You see his mom is coming today and his dad will be here tomorrow which we are overjoyed about. There just comes this moment before they arrive that I freak out because my house will not be clean enough, I might not have the right food, the guest room bed is too small, you get the idea. I tend to stress a bit about the small stuff and it's all small stuff (isn't that right daddy?). Last night as I survived a few more hours of a freakishly whiny and clingy child I somehow got everything vaccummed and straightened. Allan, the saint that he is, cleaned bathrooms, mirrors, took out garbage, started laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. I LOVE that man something fierce. We work very well as a team.

I am working on letting Claire fall asleep on her own AGAIN. This seems to be a never ending battle for me. I know that there are people out there who are great at tuning out their baby's cries once the schedule says bedtime, but not me. It does NOT get easier for me, no matter how many people tell me that it will. I also know that my princess cannot rely on me and my bosom for the rest of her life so that puts me at a bit of a crossroads. Since I don't believe in turning off the monitor I am finding other ways to cope with what seems like endless tears on the second floor like dance on bubble wrap with my ipod on (just kidding). Yesterday I laid on my bed with a pillow over my head and cried, but today I took a different approach I actually took a shower which killed two birds with one stone I am clean and pruny and Claire is asleep and it only took THIRTY SEVEN MINUTES. Well speaking of Little Miss Sunshine she is calling my name- yeah for an hour of sleep, she needed it!!!

Did I mention that I really like the movie Juno? The soundtrack is super cool too, you just need to skip one song.

Can You Guess

I was popping around on the bloggy giveaway carnival sites and found this product. Can you guess what it is? I will give you a hint...I have never been more grossed out in all of my life.

Toilet Paper

Somehow when I was growing up I missed my opportunity to go Toilet paper anyone's house. I know that this is kind of a rite of passage, I am sad to say that I will never know the thrill of it. Claire somehow has figured out that this is a skill she should practice from early on so that when her opportunity comes as a teenager she will be ready.
Yesterday she quietly disappeared while I was trying to do a few things in the living room and a few minutes later she had just as quietly reappeared by my side. She is usually not a sly little thing, when she is doing something that she really enjoys or knows that she should not be doing she is typically laughing or squealing which tips me off to run and check on her. Skip on to last night after she was being put down for the night by my sweet hubby...I walked into the bathroom and what do I find? That my floor had disappeared underneath a soft white pile of Cottonelle. I mean the ENTIRE roll was either on the floor, draped over the toilet seat, or filling up the trashcan. It was hilarious. After I cleaned it all up I thought man, that would have been a good thing to take a picture of.

Keeps Coming Up

Holy Toledo!!! Over the last few days the topic of living simply and thinking of the bigger picture keeps being thrown in my face, especially when it comes to raising my kiddo. Here a few examples:
At our small group there was a lady that was telling me about what they did for Christmas. She has elementary age kids and they opened all their presents on Christmas Eve and then went and fed the homeless on Christmas Day. This was her daughters idea because they had also done it at Thanksgiving and had such a great time. I love that she and her husband are modeling what is really important to their children.
At church this last weekend the pastor was talking about the top seven things a man needs to be and/or do. One of the the points that stood out like a neon sign was when he said that you need to lead your family into having a purpose.
I had a very meaningful conversation with a friend of mine yesterday. She was saying that she and her husband truly desire that their kids feel thankful and about life, find pleasure in the small things, and not feel a sense of entitlement to all the stuff that bombards us daily. They have chosen to work on this from the very beginning and that meant setting boundaries for themselves as parents and boundaries for family members that may have a tendency to spoil the kiddos (even though the spoiling is totally out of love). These boundaries are thought to be too strict by the average person, the average American. I was so inspired by what she had to say.
When I got home this afternoon there was a post on another friends blog about how she wants to simplify life and wants to teach her children how to enjoy the little things like playing outside, baking cookies, things tat don't include electronics, you get the idea. This is also something that I really desire for my daughter. I do not want her to be someone that cannot figure out how to entertain herself without a television or computer.
I do not think that Allan and I purposefully spoil Claire, but I know that we have to a certain degree. I do however think that we have not discouraged the spoiling by others in her life. She is too young to realize it at the moment, but it will not be too long beofore she just expects to be given anything that she may have wished for and that is something that we would love to nip in the bud. We need to set boundaries for ourselves and for others in her life, but that will be incredibly hard and uncomfortable. I am not sure how to go about that at the moment, but we will be brainstorming where our boundaries will be placed in the very near future I am sure. We also want Claire to be someone that thinks of others. I have prayed that she would be a girl filled with joy and full of compassion since the day she was born. Boy howdy do we have our work cut out for us, but I think that this is a task that I am really looking forward to! I am both overwhelmed and overjoyed that God decided to give Allan and I the chance to help mold Claire into the woman she was vreated to be...wish us luck!

I would love to open the floor to hearing your stories of how you have simplified your life and the lives of your kiddos, how you are helping them have an OUTWARD focus, if you want to share.

SO SAD!!!

I am stunned at the whole Heath Ledger being found dead in his apartment thing. It is not that I was a huge fan of his or that I kept up with his life. I think what makes me sad is the fact that he was my age with a daughter not much older than Claire and now she will never know her daddy. I mean how many memories do you have from when you were two? I think that I will try and remember to pray for little Matilda every once in awhile. I know that without a miracle she was probably already going to be a bit screwed up because of the parents she was given, but this could crush her little life before it ever gets started and that is devastating.
So this may be weird to be blogging about Hollywood people that I will never know, but it was on my mind so why not share it right? Isn't that the wonder of blogging- random thoughts pouring out of your head onto a keyboard and spreading through cyber space?

Things That Make Me Happy

I was looking at my friend Adrianna's blog and she had a great post. She wrote about the "Secret of Life" and finished off with a list of the top ten things that make her happy at this moment in her life. She then encouraged her blog readers to make a list of their own and I thought that it was a great idea. One thing I am trying to do this year is find things in my life that are positive to dwell on and just live in a happier more peaceful place than last year. So feel free to steal this idea for your own blog or life in general- think of at least ten (big or little) things that make you happy at this moment in your life.

1. Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings and then after I wake up I lay in bed and listen to Claire and Allan laugh and play together in the living room for awhile before I go join them
2. Laughing, not just a giggle, really hard laughter (this usually only happens with my family)
3. When Allan rubs my feet, scratches my head, or tickles my back
4. Hearing Claire's laughter
5. Watching a GOOD movie (at the theater)
6. When Allan cleans the kitchen and living room
7. Reading blogs
8. Going to mine and Claire's playgroup so I can get some fun adult time with my friends (aka The Mommies)
9. Singing at church
10. Baskin Robbins Rocky Road Ice Cream (1 scoop on a sugar cone)

I LOVE These Winners!!!

Well we just finished another season of The Amazing Race and we were not disappointed. It took a couple of weeks for us to find our favorites, for some reason this season was filled with wackos. We finally settled on TK and Rachel and are thrilled to see that they pulled in out in the end. We loved that they never lost their cool with each other and seemed to just enjoy all the amazing opportunities they were getting to have ( they were total hippies- peace, love, and all that jazz). We are sad to see this show go.

I think that if we were not smack in the middle of parenthood we would ABSOLUTELY try out for the next season. Maybe this show will stick around for many more seasons and we will get our chance one day.

What a Nice Weekend!

I am so sad that it is Sunday night already. This has been such a great weekend. Allan and I tend to overschedule ourselves, so when we get to do a whole lot of nothin' it is FANTASTIC!!! Allan let me sleep in both mornings which is always a good thing. We FINALLY started the painting of our bedroom (a project that may take a month to finish since only one of us can work at a time) and we both LOVE the color. We went to story time at Barnes and Noble, but Claire was more interested in the trains than singing "Puff the Magic Dragon". We made a palett by the fire after Claire went to bed and watched a movie. We went to church for the first time in a month and it was so great. I got to see a movie with Amy and another friend (by the way I loved Juno). We had friends over for burgers and football watching. Now we are watching the finale to my all time favorite tv show, Amazing Race. FYI-I think that Allan and I would be so great on this show.

Trying to listen to a story about dragons, but getting bored rather quickly

Much better...playing with Thomas and Friends

She Loves Her Pops

What can I say, my girl knows a good thing when she tastes it. Claire is really into suckers, or as she calls them "pops". She asks for them many many times a day. She has found where I hide the stash and is becoming a bit obsessed. At least now I have a safety net when it comes to having something to bribe her with =)

Now if I could just get her to be as obsessed with brushing her teeth- ha.

"Thank you Mimi, Allie, Jack, and Cooper for my get well pops. I carried all four of them around like a treasure all afternoon (but my mean mommy only let me eat two of them)."

We Made It

We headed out for the surgery center early this morning and everything went so smoothly. Claire stayed asleep all the way to the hospital and when she woke up she was very happy. She only asked for her "bup" (cup) a few times but we were able to easily distract her. We had to wait for about thirty minutes before they took us back but she stayed entertained with all the people watching and the fish tank. I was amazed how busy this place was, it was like a little kid day surgery assembly line, a well oiled machine.
Once we made it to the first holding pen Claire was not thrilled with getting the bracelet on her foot or the ladies trying to get her vitals. She quickly recovered when we pulled out the stickers (thank you Randi). The funniest part of our morning was when they gave her the "giggle juice" I am pretty sure it was straight vodka. She started acting drunk within a few minutes and it was so hysterical. She would just laugh at me saying hi. She had a ball playing with her paci as well. There was no stress when the nurse took her back and much to my suprise the doctor was standing in front of us telling us how great everything went about five minutes after we sat down in the waiting area. It sounds like she may be a new woman now that all the fluid and puss is off her eardrums. I cannot wait to see the difference over the next few days.
When we went back to see her in recovery it was a little sad, but not as bad as I thought it might be. She seemed a little out of it and was crying, but not hysterical (that was a huge answer to prayer). She sat cuddled in my lap for awhile and even ate a popsicle. We were back in the car less than two hours after arriving at the facility. It is amazing to me how fast it all went and how well she did.
We stopped and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and now she is just about acting normal prancing around the house with a purse on her shoulder and a blue bracelet on her wrist. I think that I will try and put her down really soon and hopefully I will catch a little shut eye as well. I think that I am more tired than she is, but hopefully a little of the anestesia is still in her and she will sleep for longer than twenty minutes. Thank you all so much for your prayers over the last few days. I believe they truly made a difference in how smoothly and peaceful today has gone.

Not loving the jewlery the nurses gave her for her short stay

Decorating herself with stickers

Loving life post giggle juice

Who knew that sitting on a bed could be so funny

I have never been more happy to cuddle my baby girl

Life is always better with a popsicle, even if you are a bit dazed and confused

Fun Pictures

***I cannot figure out how to get the slideshow into my post, so I just provided a link if you want to go look at all the cute pictures, sorry

This has been a fun week it started with a little cousin time then Claire and Allan had a cheetos picnic in the living room, we went to playgroup at the mall play area, Claire's friend Caroline came over for a little while and they danced to the Wiggles and played dress up, and she also showed off some of her new gymnastic moves for us. Here are a few of the pictures from this week. This is my first slideshow experience, hope you like it.
http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh250/kavelke/?action=view&current=fcccbdd6.pbw

I Have Been Blessed...Again!

I love my friends! Sometimes I fell a bit alone in this world which is silly. All I need to do is think of days like today. First of all Claire and I had playgroup today and one of the first things that my new friend Randi asked me was how we were doing with the whole tube thing coming up tomorrow and then while we were at lunch she gave Claire Bear a little gift for her big day. it was a simple gift, but it really meant a lot that she would think of her. Thank you Randi for being so thoughtful. You are quickly becoming one of my favorite people (and not just because of your sweet gifts).
The other thing that just made my day was when I got home from playgroup two of my other friends were waiting outside my house. Sarah and Theresa brought dinner to us so we would have one less thing to think about tonight. The food was delicious but one of my favorite things is that they hung out for awhile and Claire got to play with two of her other friends for a bit and I got to get some more friend time of my own.
I know that tubes are VERY common and I am actually feeling really great about the whole thing. It just meant SO much to me that my friends stepped up to the plate and went out of their way to let us know that we are on their minds throughout this whole ordeal. Thank you for the tangible things, but mostly thank you for your sweet hearts! You guys are the greatest. Thank you also to those of you have commented and emailed to let us know that you are praying for us, we appreciate every one of them very very much!!!

Ears Update #1

We will be heading to the sugery center early in the morning- thank the Lord. we have to be there at 6:45 and the procedure will take place about an hour later. I will let you all know how it goes as soon as I can. We are feeling really good about the choice we have made for our daughter. I am sure that we went with the right doctor(s) as well. I just recieved a phone call from the anestesiologist that will be working with Claire in the morning. he just called to answer any questions we might have and tell me what to expect. How sweet is that?!?!? I was so impressed- it wasn't his nurse, it was the actual doctor. I think that Claire will do alright without the whole food and drink thing since we will take her straight out of her bed to the car in the morning and then things will be busy from there on out. They said she can have some juice as soon s she wakes up.
Thanks for praying for us. We really appreciate all of you!

Finding Comfort

Claire Bear has never wanted anything other than her mommy when she is sad or sleepy and this has been something that I have loved. There are times however that it would be nice to get a little break from being her only source of comfort and in those times I wish that I would have started giving her a paci early on or something like that. As I mentioned in the previous post Sara has helped save the day with the whole bedtime routine and one of things involved is giving her a blankie and a soft bunny to hold. I have tried doing this in the past and she would have none of it, but the tides are a changing. I love that she is finding a way to comfort herself when I am not around. I think that she looks SO cute tucking her blankie and bunny under her chin. I LOVE how sweet and childlike she looks after I lay her down and she is still cuddling with her two new "friends". I could sit and watch her sleep for hours (although she typically doesn't sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time). She is a dream come true in my life and I am so thankful for her! I wish that I could get a picture of her with her blankie and bunny bit truth be told I am too scared of waking her up, so you will have to use your imagination.

Look Mom, No Boobs

As you all know my weaning weekend a month ago was a TOTAL bust and I have felt really discouraged about the whole thing. I am so ready for this portion of my mother/daughter relationship to be over. Anyway...I have to report that I have successfully put my daughter down for bedtime and naptime without the use of my boobs WOOHOO!!!! You truly have NO idea what an accomplishment that is for me. My plan is to keep that up and within the next week or so I will get rid of that selfish "EARLY morning PLEASE go back to sleep so I don't DIE" feeding. Who knows maybe the light is at the end of the never ending tunnel.
I think that my sister Sara was the straw that broke the camel's back with Claire Bear. She kept her for a few days last weekend and kind of established a routine for bedtime and we are sticking to it. Allan tested it out first and he could totally tell a difference in how quickly and easily she calmed down so I decided to try it out last night and again this afternoon. I only had to endure a mild beating that luckily didn't include earsplitting screams before she gave into the idea of just cuddling her mommy and dozing off. Who knows maybe there is still a chance for me to convince her that I get to make the rules- haha. Once this INCREDIBLE CHALLENGE is conquered we will move on to eating in a highchair for an entire meal...baby steps right?!?!?!?
for now I will celebrate my two victories over my boob obsessed child as if I had won the Super Bowl- watch out for flying champagne corks "I'm going to Disney World!"

Ears and Ooze

Today we had our get to know you/Pre-Op with an ENT to talk about my girl's ears. She has had at least nine ear infections in the last 14 months. We started off with a hearing test that proved Claire's ears are not so great, she was well below the "normal" line of hearing. They are pretty sure that tubes will correct that aspect of her life almost immediately. We are definately going to go through with this procedure and feel confident that this is the right choice. The only real shock is how soon they can get her in. We will be taking Claire Bear to the pediatric surgery center near our home THIS Friday.
Feel free to offer up a few prayers for us in the next couple of days. I would say that the biggest thing at the moment is the time of day the surgery will take place. The surgery center makes the schedule the day before so there is no guarantee that we can get first thing in the morning which would be ideal since there is no eating or drinking before the big event. I cannot imagine not feeding Claire or giving her anything to drink for an extended time throughout the day. She is a big snacker so she would not be too happy with me saying no to the pantry (her favorite place in the house these days). The other thing that I am a little nervous about is when she is coming out of anesthesia. The doctor said to expect her to be pretty upset with no way of consoling her for up to an hour. That would be beyond hard on this mommy's heart. Pplease please ray that she is unusually peaceful.
I will definately update you once we know when the surgery will be and how she (and I) make it through.

More Quads

As most of you know (and most of you do) I stalk a few blogs of people I don't really know. I feel like I know them which is a little weird. There are those that I am insoired by and those that make me laugh and those that make me thankful that I am not them...this is one of those. I have been following this couple since they found out they were expecting quads they are around my age and I cannot imagine what their life must be like. I feel TOTALLY overwhelmed with my one at times, but I know nothing of what they are fixing to encounter and I am thankful for that.
Their names are Rob and Casey Grewer and they will be delivering their four little ones tomorrow due to some complications with two of the babies. I am sure that they are scared, excited, and overwhelmed all at the same time. Please pray for them as they enter into this crazy stage of life. Casey has been in the hospital for weeks fighting her body to keep these four babes inside her as long as possible. They seem like a great couple and need a ton of support at the moment. They have mentioned loving to get encouraging comments on their blog (even from people they will never meet).
Just thought some of you fellow blog stalkers would be interested.
http://gerwerbabies.blogspot.com/

The BIGGEST Thank You Ever!!!

AS previously mentioned Allan and I got to have a great anniversary celebration weekend all by ourselves. This was made possible by my family members since they came into town to help out with Claire. Sara came into town on Thursday and graciously took care of Claire and her son Asher on Friday while we were in NM. I was blown away by her patience, it is not all that easy to take care of two one and a half year olds when you are not used to it and she did it with class and love. On Saturday morning my parents came into town to help her out with the two little ones. They had a very eventful and exhausting day gowing to basketball games, shopping, and eating out. I think they were beyond ready to crash by the time nighttime rolled around. We got back this afternoon and I was so blessed to see my sweet daughter so full of joy and loving her family. It was so wonderful to know that while we were getting our much needed time away we could relax knowing that Claire was getting such amazing care and love from her Sassy, Poppie, and Gibbie. Thank you so much for loving my little bear and taking such amazing care of her. I think that we will all be better for it!!!! I love you guys SO SO SO much!!!!!

Bloggy Shoutout

When we had my family in town over the Christmas break a couple of them helped out around the house when it came time to clean up at the end of the day. After everyone had left Allan opened up our silverware drawer and was thrilled with what he saw. All of our silverware actually fit into the holder. We decided to start the investigation of who reorganized the drawer and we finally found the winner of our bloggy shout out.....Mom AND Beau!!!! Thank you both for helping out with the dishes but more importantly thank you for doing the little things like stopping the chaos of our kitchen drawers. We also wanted to thank Adrielle for figuring out a new way for our silverware holder to fit in the dishwasher. You all have helped simplify our lives and Lord knows we need it.

A FANTASTIC Weekend!!!

We had an amazing weekend celebrating our anniversary. Our festivities started on Friday EARLY in the morning. Allan took the day off and we took the 7:30am flight out to Albuquerque, NM where we rented a car and headed to Santa Fe for a day of skiing. We were so surprised with how great the snow was. We had SO much fun just hanging out with each other all alone doing one of our favorite activities. It was really cold and beautiful and perfect. We had dinner at a great resteraunt in Santa Fe called Maria's and then drove back down to catch the last flight back to Dallas. I am so lucky to have a hubby that works for an airline so we can have these opportunities. I feel like it was a great way to start our weekend of celebrating our marriage and reconnecting in a way that did not include being parents. It kind of seemed like old times when we would just decide at the last minute to do a fun day trip.

On Saturday we left just after lunch and went to the movies. We saw National Treasure 2 and really enjoyed it. Afterwards we were off to the Gaylord for the night. It is such a cool place. We had a FANTASTIC dinner at the steakhouse there and then met up with some of our new friends to go watch the disco band Le Freak. That band is a hoot! Let's just say that there are those who should wear spandex....oh wait a minute no nobody should ever wear spandex. We had a really good time hanging out like real adults and not just parents ;) Our anniversary weekend came to a realxing close with a massage and some more hang out time. I highly recommend staying at this hotel, it was really a special time for Allan and I.

At dinner we talked about some of our favorite things from this last year and some things that we wish would have been different. We also talked about things that we look forward to in year number four: events that will be fun, ways we hope to improve our relationship with each other and as a family. We both really feel that although this last year wasn't FUN it was a year that brought us closer and we became better at communication. We look forward to not just surviving this next year, but thriving. We look forward to having FUN with each other on a regular basis. We are committed to improving our relationship everyday and putting our marriage first, even before parenthood (which will be easier said than done). I think that starting to date each other again will not only improve our marriage but also our relationship with our daughter. I look forward to writing a year from now about how fantastic our marriage and our life as mommy and daddy are going...woohoo!!!

Led Zeppelin With Class

Last night we went on our first grown up date. I mean we left Claire with a nonrelative babysitter and were gone through bedtime (thank you Mollie for being able to get Claire to go to sleep!!!). We headed to the Meyrson Symphony Center and watched the Dallas Symphony Orchestra play Led Zeppelin music. Initially I thought this was a great idea because Allan loves that kind of music and how bad could it be if it were being played by violins and flutes. WEEEELLLLLL, let's just say it was a bit louder than I am used to. There was a live Zeppeln cover band that played and yelled (I mean sang) and the orchestra backed them up. We had fantastic seats and it was a fun experience, it was just a little different than both Allan and I had expected. I was really impressed with the drummer and electric guitar player. Even though it isn't my first choice of music they were VERY talented. I like doing new things, we used to do random things all the time before our little bundle of joy arrived, so I am looking at this experience as a blast from oour past. I would say that overall I am glad we went, I just have to wait for my eardrums to stop bleeding. There are a few other concerts we want to go to this next year. The DSO is linking up with Chris Botti and Willie Nelson which should be way cool.
It was a great anniversary night just to get some alone time with my hubby. What is even more fun is that we have a few more celebrations of marriage coming up this weekend...skiing on Friday, staying at the Gaylord on Saturday, and a few other little things throughout the weekend that will be fun. My fantastic sister, Sara, is coming in to watch Claire for the weekend so Allan and I can get out and have a little fun. She of course will be getting a little help from Amy and my parents are coming in on Saturday to help out as well. Thank you all in advance for helping us out!!

First Gymnastics Class

Claire and I went to our first gymnastics class this morning. It was so fun. This is something that I have been looking forward to since before I had a kiddo. We joined a parent/child class at the gym I worked at seven years ago. I think that this is going to be great for both of us. Claire gets to get some energy out and learn how to interact with others and I get to have a break from just being home with her all day, all alone. I will have to post pictures sometime later, I didn't take any today.
Claire loved the slide, trampoline, bubbles, and balls. She HATED the parachute.
I definately have to get better at getting out of the house in the morning. I am not known for being the most organized and that was proven today. We slept in until about twenty minutes before the class started and so we were in a huge rush. I left without food for Claire or a diaper bag (it wouldn't have been a big deal except we had plans to be out and about until after lunch). Thankfully we were near Target so afterwards we headed over there and I got her a snack, some apple juice, and some wipes (there was one diaper in the car). She did great until she spilled almost all the juice all over her right before our lunch date (so she also got a new outfit). I guess the lessons for a first time mommy never end. Next week I will have food, drinks, diapers, wipes, and an extra outfit just in case =)

Three Years!!!!

 

Today is mine and Allan's three year anniversary. This has been a very eventful marriage that I am thrilled to be experiencing with the man of my dreams. We have lived in two states, four homes, three jobs (for Allan), had a baby (and survived), traveled a lot, figured out what it takes to be a part of the Selke and Kavalich families (gotta love in laws), had our first fights, are learning how to communicate, fallen deeper in love, and a whole lot more.
Since this is my blog I will take this opportunity to brag about my man. He is AMAZING! To say that I have been on an emotional roller coaster since having a baby would be an understatment and Allan has held on for dear life at times. He has supported me and encouraged me. He listens to me and gives great advice. He holds me accountable. He makes me laugh and cry (the good kind). I cannot think of a time that he has spoken hurtful words towards me (I am not kidding). I am blessed beyond belief by my husband. He is practically perfect...he helps me clean and cook, he is an amazing help when it comes to parenting our daughter. I love watching him be a daddy, he is so good at it which is incredibly sexy. He is such a great provider for our family. I could go on and on.
I will say this I LOVE ALLAN JOSEPH KAVALICH with all my heart. I trust him with my heart. Although I may not always show it or say it, he is the greatest gift God has given me. I cannot imagine life without him.

The short version of our love story:
Allan and I met at our friend's wedding (Sarah and Karl). Allan was a groomsman and I was a bridesmaid. We both noticed each other but didn't think to much of it. I was going to Baylor and he was taking a job in DC. I ended up taking him to the airport the day after the wedding and we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. He called a few days later and we had a blast talking to each other. Our calls became more regular and gre longer and longer. A few weeks later he asked if he could come back out to TX to spend the Fourth of July. On that trip we decided that we would try out long distance dating and it worked. We dated for almost two years before he proposed and we were married about eight months later. We lived in CA for our first year of marriage and those are days that we will always look back on with pure joy. It was in Mission Viejo that we made some really close friends, traveled all the time, found out we were expecting our daughter, and pretty much just lived life footloose and fancy free. We spent the next nine months in Austin (where we planned on being for a very long time). Allan got a great job, we built a home, and that is where our girl was born. We have now been in Flower Mound for just over a year and although life isn't always "fun" we wouldn't change it for anything. We have found a great church, I am slowly finding friends (we are still on the lookout for couple friends anyone interested haha), and we are learning how to put our marriage before parenting.

I think that this next year is going to be fantastic. I believe that we are in a phase of life that we are choosing to grow deeper in love with each other and have our relationship grow stronger with every passing day. It is a weird feeling to move out of the "newlywed" phase and into the "rest of our lives" phase. We have been stretched and are continuing to learn how to live happily ever after. I am excited to see what the fourth year of marriage has in store for us.

My Artist

 

 

 

 

Claire had a creative moment this afternoon. She seems to be getting the whole fingerpainting thing a little more in her old age. I decided to not try ad direct her creativity and just let her do whatever came to mind (I did have to draw the line when she wanted to paint her tongue). She ended up with paint on the paper, made a detour to color her belly button blue, and ended with a bit of knee color as well. I think that she even said the word green which new and exciting. I think that she had almost as fun in the tub afterwards. I filled it up with a lot of bubbles and she splashed and kicked for a while. She did get a little freaked out when she tried to blow bubbles and came up with a soapy mustache. I thought it was pretty darn funny though.

Proud and Blessed

My mother in law is a very special woman for many reasons. She goes above and beyond to bless her family and let us all know how special we are to her. The first time I ever met her we sat and talked for a couple of hours and just spent time trying to get to know each other (I have no doubt that I was being interviewed to see if I was good enough for her son, but she did it in a very sweet nonthreatening manner- I guess I passed).
Anyway, Gig is a woman that doesn't desire to be the center of attention, she is more than happy to blend in. She will love and give extravagantly but try to do it as secretly as possible. I really respect that about her. A few months ago she was approached by the director of women's ministries and asked to be the speaker at their Christmas Tea. It took a little persuasion, but she finally agreed. This was so far out of her comfort zone and she was really nervous. She felt very strongly that God had called her to do this so she went through with it. I just recieved the link and I am so proud of her. She did a fantastic job! If you have a little bit of time and want to hear an amazing testimony feel free to watch this video of her little talk.
http://www.trinityonline.org/cgi-bin/MediaList.cgi?section=women&recordID=348&fileType=video_file3

Skyler Scare and Kiddo Love

This morning we were hanging out with Coby, Adrielle, and Skyler (my brother and his family). It was just a laid back morning sitting around in PJs with the plan of doing a whole lot of nothing all day. I was excited about this since we seem to have been going nonstop since we left for CA over a week ago. Allan laid down on the living room floor and then asked me if we had had the teething tablets out for Claire. He handed me a small handful of little white pills. They were not teething tablets. Adrielle came and looked at them and quickly realized that they were her dogs antiseizure pills. When Adrielle asked Skyler (her two and a half year old) if she had put any in her mouth she matter of factly said yes she ate two and so did her baby doll. We still were not sure if she was telling the truth but it is better to be safe than sorry. We went into action. Adrielle was on the phone with poison control who informed her that she needed to get to the ER as quickly as possible. We all threw on clothes and were off (Allan stayed home with Claire). We got to Baylor Grapevine and I have to say I was really impressed with how quickly she was being cared for. After a sad blood draw it was time to sit and wait. The nurse said that we would be sitting in this tiny room for six hours which none of us were too thrilled about, but you do what you have to do. Skyler continued to act normal she just stayed cuddled in my lap for a couple of hours. Thank the Lord the doctor came in about two hours into the ordeal and said that her blood work was totally clean (she must have been pretending that she took the medicine) and that with how good she was acting he didn't think that there was anything to be concerned about and sent us on our way.

Skyler and Claire hanging out after the trip to the hospital today

As I sat there and held my sweet niece I thought about how blessed I am to have such special little people in my life. I deeply love my nieces and nephews. I do not know what I would do if anything serious happened to them. As parents, aunts/uncles, grandparents, etc. we are given such a huge resposibility to care for these kiddos that God graciously placed in our lives. I am so very very grateful that this was a false alarm, but it was also a good reminder for me to make the most of the moments I get to spend with these kids and to make sure they know how very special they are to me. I think that since I became a mommy I have not done as well as I used to at being an aunt. I know that things change, but I hope that they never have to doubt how much I love them.

Happy New Year

Our sorority smiles



It is 2008!!! Can you believe it? We had a very low key get together, but it was fun. Our friends Sarah and Karl joined us for a little while until their sweet Caroline needed to get to bed. That left my brother, sister, and their families to party hard our last few hours of the year. We played a couple of games, watched football (what a shocker), watched a crazy man jump the length of a football field on a motorcycle, and toasted the New Year in with the East Coast. There are not too many of us that are used to staying up past ten o'clock- haha.
An interesting football watching positionCooper was SO excited that the motorcycle guy made the jump

***for the record I know that this next part is random, but I just can't help myself***

I have to say that seeing and hearing Dick Clark on TV last night brought a tear to my eye. That is weird I know, but he is an icon and I thought he was pretty much out of the picture after his stroke. As I listened to him speak I kept picturing my Pap who never recovered from his stroke. I know how incredibly hard he had to work to be able to speak clearly enough to be on national television and I am just proud of him.

We did have one "unamed guest" that partied a little hard. She passed out while making shadow puppets with her Magic Tree House flashlight. I have to respect my guests privacy, so you will have to figure this one out on your own ;)

A Little More Christmas

I guess you can never really have enough Christmas. We had two more sessions of opening gifts this last weekend. We had our small family one on Saturday morning and then had the Selke Extravaganza on Sunday. Claire loved her piano that Santa brought and she recieved the cutest rocking horse from my parents. I think that my parents won the award of most spectacular and emotional gifts given of the holiday season. Allan scored a ticket to the Nascar race in April which he will enjoy with my dad, Coby, and Corey (Beau couldn't get off of work so that was sad).

The most special gift of the weekend was given to me, my sisters, and my sister in law. After my granny passed away a little over a year ago she had two rings (her wedding ring and an anniversary ring) which my mom and aunt each recieved. My mom didn't really care for the design of the ring she was given so she had the ring broken up and had a new ring made for herself with three of the diamonds. As we were opening gifts they gave all four of us girls our gifts to open at the same time. When we opened them up there was a diamond solitare necklace for each of us made from the remaining diamonds. Needless to say we were all in tears and somewhat speechless. It is just so special to have a piece of something that meant so much to someone who meant so much to all of us. I truly am so thankful for this gift and it will be ard to ever take it off.

Everyone enjoyed lots of food, Guitar Hero, cousins playing chase, a few board games, and even a sing along on the Wii to High School Musical. Allan and I were happy to be able to host the whole crazy gang once again.

It was a good Christmas. I love my family even in the chaos and stress that comes along with having them all around. I am glad that we can still find times to laugh hard and just be thankful that we have each other through good times and in bad.

Merry Christmas...until next year