Day 14

I could not see myself without my little family. It's way better than I could imagine and I would give anything in the world for them. God has truly blessed me with an awesome husband who is an awesome daddy and a little boy who makes everything brighter.

Day 13

I don't have a favorite Artist or band, I don't think? I have favorite songs that change from time to time. My favorite song right now is by Josh Abbott Band called O'Tonight. Every time we get in my car I turn this song on. I am sure it will change next month though:)

I grab your hand and you say, "wait"

I say "no girl it's way to late."

We've been playing games for week

Now I am ready to play for keeps

Oh, tonight, we're gonna set the world on fire

I am gonna set aside my pride

Not gonna be the one to say "goodbye"

Neither am I, Oh' tonight

So go on kiss me on the mouth

You know you want to; you should've done it by now

Girl you don't know how long I've tried

Been fighting feelings deep inside

So tell me what you want me to do

Oh, it's to late baby I've already fallen in love with you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99M6HyGzeic&feature=related

Day 12

A picture of something I LOVE would be bubble baths. I am talking long hot bubble baths. There is nothing more relaxing than laying in the dark in a hot pool of water chillaxin!

Day 11

I HATE LITTLE GREEN MEN!!!!!!

I was just going to leave this post with what I hate and the pic but I figured if someone came across this blog they would wonder, "why? That's ridiculous!"

I guess I hate dreams, my dreams. I have the weirdest most messed up dreams EVER! Cody and I used to stay at Nannies' house when we were in town until I dreamed of a little green man......we haven't stayed there since. I have always hated night time and going to bed. I always had a scared feeling and my dreams never helped the situation. The night I dreamed of this guy was the night hurricane Katrina hit. We had stayed up late spotlighting and then stayed up late watching the weather channel. I was super scared that night of going to sleep so I talked Cody into sleeping on the couch in the living room while I slept on the other couch. Our couches faced each other. Around 4 ish I woke up and my eyes were on Cody. Standing beside the couch was a little green man. He was about 3 ft, blonde hair, chili bowl haircut, dressed all in green and had a big knife hanging from his pocket and a green hat on. He wasn't a midget, he was just a short mature man. I immediately freeze, bug-eyed and all. Green man looks at me, then does a hokey-poky type thing to Cody's head. I close my eyes, open them and he is gone. I then hear him running behind the couch and I think he is going to jump over and attack me. I reach for the remote to turn the TV on to get some light and I hear him run down the hall. I am in full cardiac arrest and just sit there in shock, with the TV on till morning! When Cody wakes up I tell him this story, he laughs, thinks I am CRAZY then tells everyone at lunch time what I had told him. Daddo tells everyone that a little man used to live in the house that they torn down when they built their house and he used to have a picture. He tried to find the pic, but never found it. This story comes up sometimes in conversation. It's funny now but I will NEVER forget the feeling I had that night. The feeling of being so frightened you can't move or breath. It's not fun and I HATE the little green man for ruining my nights at Nannie's!

Day 10

The person I have done the most ***** up stuff with. Well I have never done any **** up things. That's kind of sad. I don't have that one epic story to tell that would shock everybody. I have a lot of rolling on the floor crazy stories that involve a few of my girlfriends. I have 2 girls that I have probably acted the craziest with, Elizabeth and Melissa. I became friends first with Melissa. Her and Elizabeth were roommates and they eventually talked me into moving into a house with them. We had a lot of fun. They are both very outgoing, loud, life of the party type girls and I was still shy and quiet with my occasionally burst of energy that surprised everyone. Cody gave Melissa the nickname yapper because she likes to talk, lol and Elizabeth always had a way of making us all laugh with her care free personality and her dance moves :). I would say I was definitely more care-free and did a few crazy things in my younger days with these girls!

Day 9

The person who has gotten me through the most would be Cody. We have only known each other 8 years, but I have been through more in the last 8 years than I have my whole life. I know I can always count on him for anything. Before I met him I never really depended on anybody else, kept my feelings to myself, dealt with my own problems and kept a high wall up. It wasn't long after we met that my wall finally came down and I learned that I could count on him for anything, pour my heart out to him, tell him all my secrets and fears and still be loved unconditionally. I always wished we would have married sooner but God definitely knew what he was doing. We got married at just the right time. The only thing good that came that year was our wedding. If it wasn't for that I probably would have fallen to pieces.

Cody, you are my love, my life and everything good.

Day 8

I have enjoyed going through all 100,000 of my pictures lately! Out of the 100,000 about 50,000 make me laugh. It was hard to pick just one.



When Nannie and Dado dug a huge 28 acre lake in front of their house we had a little fun while it was filling up. Right before this picture was taken Cody almost knocked me out cold! We were having a mud fight and while he picked up a huge pile of mud to throw at me, it had a rock in it. It hurt at the time but I laugh so hard now every time I see this pic! Every time I look at our Honeymoon pics I laugh. For 2 reasons. The first, on the second day we stayed on the beach all day. I can't go under water without holding my nose and a little scared of deep water and more scared of the ocean. On that day the waves were pretty high and Cody was body surfing to shore. He finally talked me into joining him and showed me how to go under when a wave came in so it would just go over me and wouldn't take me back to shore. Sometimes a wave would hit us before it broke and we could just jump and it would pass us. Well I was trying to hold my nose, go under last minute or jump up and nervous all at the same time. I see a huge wave coming and I figured I could just jump to let it pass but at the last minute it broke over me and pulled me under and threw me to the bottom of the ocean floor face first. Luckily, the huge wave carried me back to shore and I was sprawled out on the beach for awhile with my nose throbbing. The ocean floor took 2 little chunks out of my nose.....Ouch! But it's super funny now. My nose hasn't looked the same since. The second, during our wedding my girls kept borrowing my lip gloss and someone didn't put my makeup bag back in my luggage. I didn't notice until our first night there when I was trying to get ready for dinner. I went a la naturale the whole week!

The funniest picture I have is when we cut our Wedding cake. I had issues with my caterer because she didn't tell me she was selling out when I set up a date. She wasn't very helpful when we picked out the flavor. It was my fault because I should have sampled it before the final say. We had Italian Cream Cake as the flavor. I just remembered my grandma's ICC and remembered it being soooo GOOD! So that is what I chose. It was not good in the wedding cake! We tried to hide it but our photographer caught the moment! It was full of nuts and Cody doesn't like nuts in cake....Ooops

Day 7

My most treasured item would be a box that we call our "Lucky Box." We started this lucky box right after we met. It currently has every poem, love letter, note, movie stub, concert stub, special pictures, birthday cards to each other,anniversary cards and every other card you can think of and everything else that is meaningful to us. It is literally a Lucky box. It's an old tin lunch box looking thing that Cody got as a gift with Lucky perfume in it. The tin box was so cute we turned into a keepsake box. Every now and then I look through our Lucky Box and read all the poems Cody as written me over the years. Having something that can instantly take you back to a time of young love and sweetness is healthy for the heart!

Day 6

I had a hard time with this post. Who would I like to trade places with for a day? I was thinking that my life was pretty great and I wouldn't want to give up a day for anyone elses day! But, since this is what if and it would NEVER happen I would trade places with Faith Hill.

She is married to Tim Mcgraw! :)

The End

Day 5

My favorite memory of all time is the night we got engaged, 8-26-05. Cody put so much thought and effort into this night and it was absolutely perfect. I lived in Tyler and he lived in Nacogdoches and we had done the long distance thing the whole time we dated. He would come home every weekend to see me and we would spend it in Van. He brought me back to my country roots and would dress me up in camo and take me hunting and I would drag him to Tyler and get pedicures, so we were both happy! Most of the time was spent out at Nannie and Dado's house hanging with family and going spotlighting till 3:00 a.m every morning or playing in the mud on the 4-wheelers and just acting like kids again. There is a pasture we all call the North Meadow that is special to a few of us. It's the best place to look at the stars and a pretty romantic pasture! Cody also had game camera's out all over the place to see what kind of animal was roaming around at night or during the day that we would check often.



The night we got engaged was the last Friday before we both had to go back to school and we had planned for a few weeks to go to Dallas for date night. Cody's whole family was in for "birthday's" so I thought, and I kept asking Cody why we were going to Dallas while his family was in. He said it wasn't a biggie to them that we could go on our date then come back to Nannies' for birthdays. After I got off work that Friday I went home and got dressed then headed to Nannie's to meet Cody. By the time I got there his whole family was already there. It was very awkward when I got there because everyone was all about me and I was center of attention. I HATE being center of attention and I had no idea why everyone was acting weird! Mark and Sheila lived in Houston at the time and had come in and I still didn't know Sheila that well and she was being the weirdest to me. She was sitting at the bar at Nannie's smiling ear to ear and staring at me the whole time people were talking to me and she would chime in with a random question too:) After we left to go to Dallas I made the comment to Cody that his family was acting really weird and was way to excited about us going to Dallas for date night. I told him I bet they were really upset we were leaving while the whole family was down and they were trying to hide the fact that they were probably annoyed they would have to wait for us to do birthdays. He reassured me they weren't acting weird and t was fine that we left and we went on our way.



We had an amazing dinner! Everyone should go eat at the YO Ranch Steakhouse at least once. During dinner the thought of him proposing crossed my mind. He was a little fidgety and I still couldn't help but wonder why his family was being weird. After dinner, the check came and still no proposal so I put that thought in the back of my mind and realized it wasn't going to happen. We were close to the West End when we left and they have carriage rides you can take around Downtown. I asked Cody if we could take a ride and he said he didn't have any cash. I said I did and he said his family was waiting for us. I was thinking we needed to redo date night again so we wouldn't be so rushed and why on earth if we were going to be SO rushed did he want to come to Dallas so bad. Of course I didn't say anything but I was thinking some things:)



When we get back to Van I asked if we could stop by his house so I could grab some comfy clothes. I was just going to change at his house but he insisted I just grab them and change at Nannies so I did. A proposal crossed my mind again. I was wondering if he had a ring in his pocket or if I was just imagining things. As we are walking out the door I reach around his waist close to his pocket and he immediately turns around so my hand won't touch his pocket and kisses me. I just smiled and went with it.



We pull into Nannie and Dado's driveway and Cody grabs his spotlight. He says lets make a round and see if we see anything. Of course, I said sure but I am thinking, "You have been in a hurry ALL night because we had to get back to your family and now you want tot go spotlighting!" Then the whole proposal thing went back out of my mind. I'm not paying attention to where he is shining this huge spotlight he has but he says, "hmm what is that?" I look and he has the spotlight on this tree with a huge bag of long stem roses hanging from it. We stop and he says, "Go get it." I am in stiletto heels and not sure if I can walk through the pasture to get my roses so I ask him to help. He gets them down for me and says there are 29 roses for the 29 months we have known each other. My heart melts. We get back in the truck and continue to spotlight. I tell him this would be easier if I had changed clothes and took off my heels:) He makes the comment, "let's see what else we will find tonight!" So I start paying attention to where he is shining the light. We go a little ways down the road and hanging from a corn feeder is another present. It's a picture of us together that he had framed. We get back in the truck and continue spotlighting and there is another present hanging from a game camera. We get out and walk around the camera to not set it off and I grab the present. I open it and it's a poem he had written me sometime in the first year we dated. He rewrote it on pretty paper and framed it. I was confused because I had already read this poem before. He tells me to read it out loud. I'm still confused because I know what it already says. I start reading it and the closer I get to the bottom of the poem the closer he is guiding me into the view of the game camera. On the old poem who wrote me the last line read, "Hopefully one day soon you will be my wife!" on this poem he changed it to "Karen, will you please be my wife?" As I read the bottom line he got down on one knee and gave me the most beautiful ring ever! He was so nervous that he didn't walk me far enough in the camera view so it didn't take a picture the first time. So after we dried our tears we reenacted it so the camera would go off while he was down on one knee. I CAN'T FIND THAT PIC :( Here is the other pic it took.
It was the best night. We get back to Nannie's to celebrate and to show off my bling! I was then finally able to change into my comfy clothes:)

And we had the most beautiful wedding ever!

Day 4

If I had to write this blog 7 weeks ago it would be totally different! Our nights used to consist of cooking dinner and relaxing on the couch with foot rubs and catching up on each others day or going out to dinner and riding around on the ranch or hanging out with friends and going dancing. Hour long bubble baths, a good magazine to read or more foot rubs:) Now it totally revolves around an adorable chubby 7 week old that melts our hearts and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Jones has a fussy time and it usually starts when daddy gets home. It's not a colic fuss just a, "I need lots of love and attention and cuddles and lots of food fuss!" Which usually has me sitting in a rocking chair nursing for 4 hours with a few 20 minutes break in between. In those 20 minutes throughout the night I can hand Jones to Cody for some snuggle time. It gives me a little break to do what I need to do but usually I just sit there and stare at my two wonderful boys.

Jones loves loves loves his baths and gets one every other night and on the off nights we dunk him in the water because he loves it so much. Jones also likes his quiet time at nights too. We usually keep the lights dim and talk soft to him and not get him all wired up playing or tickling him like we do during the day. I am pretty sure this helps him not get his nights and days mixed up and sleep 7 hours for momma! We still have time for foot rubs just not as often. We still get dinner cooked but maybe not as gourmet or fancy as it used to be. We still take our drives around the ranch when it's not so cold out. We still get to go out and eat but maybe not at our quiet fancy place. And we will still be able to go hang out with friends and go dancing when he gets a little bit older. Really, our nights haven't changed that much except now we have a lil' buddy to join us and more love to share. This has been the hardest job we have ever had but it's so worth it. Soon Jones will be older and not need or depend on us as much as he does now. That's sad to think about so we are just taking it all in and enjoying every minute of it.

Day 3

Isn't this everybody's favorite show!?! I didn't start watching this show till college. It became my favorite fast! I have all seasons on DVD and Cody and I have watched every episode at least 5 times! When we are hanging out with Cody's cousins, almost always the conversation ends with, "like that one time on Friends when....."



I remember the first episode that came on TV. My family watched it that night and we never watched it again. I remember it being funny but mom said we were to young to watch it. I just never understood because I didn't think it was bad. It's not bad, but now that I am older I get the jokes:)

Day 2

I can't just put one person I have known the longest. I have to put all three of these girls! We all met at the Olive Garden 10 years ago. I was the first to get a job there and it was pretty lonely at first. I just graduated from high school, moved to Tyler and just experienced my first broken heart. These were also my very first really good girlfriends I had. I didn't enjoy HS much and wasn't close to any of the girls and only had guyfriends. When I first started working at the OG everybody there was on drugs pretty much and I was this little sheltered girl that no one wanted to corrupt. After a few months all the druggy's eventually left and they started hiring pretty great people and I have made a lot of friends from that place!



Brandi was the first to come along (Far right). I am pretty shy and kept to myself and Brandi was very outgoing and very talkative. We didn't talk much at first until one day she just blurted out, "why do you walk like that?" I was a little shocked, a little embarrassed and didn't know how I walked. She started laughing and said she was trying to imitate it because she thought it was cute. We have been friends ever since! After I had my second surgery on my leg, my little strut dissapeared, I think she was dissapointed.



A few months later along came Bethany (Far left). Bethany is very outgoing, bubbly, super friendly and makes friends easy. EVERYONE loved her!



A few months after that along came Crystal. She was the very cute country girl that everyone fell in love with.



I am so glad I met each of these girls. Although, we don't see each other much we keep up with each other on FB. Brandi helped me come out of my shyness. She helped me be more outgoing and lured me out of my shelteredness somewhat:) Bethany helped me grow up. She was so mature for her age, had a fiance already and was momma goose to us all. She was a lot of fun and her sweet husband would let me drag her dancing A LOT and to all the Pat Green concerts around East Texas. Crystal was the one who helped me appreciate my country roots! All three of these girls are very special to me and had a huge impact on my life!

Day 1

1. I found the love of my life

2. I always wanted to be a mother, the thought of it actually happening always scared me, now that it's here I have no idea why I was so scared.

3. After 27 years I have finally stopped biting my nails

4. I am a hopeless romantic

5. I LOVE sushi and could eat it everyday for every meal and I would if I could

6. I have realized in the last year I have a lot of patience

7. I love country music and dancing. I dream of being spun around on the dance floor a lot

8. I love living on a ranch in the middle of nowhere

9. My little family makes my day so much better

10. I don't care much going to the movie theater to watch a movie. I feel like I can't sit still that long. Watching a movie at home I can at least get up and walk around and do stuff while watching a movie

30 Days of Me......

I stole this from a friend who blogs and thought this was a great idea! I kind of slacked in the blogging department last year and this will help me blog more. More things other than deer, Cody and Jones! ) For the next 30 days I will be blogging the following:

Day 1- A Picture of yourself with 10 facts
Day 2- A picture of you with the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 3- A picture of the cast of your favorite show
Day 4- A picture of your night
Day 5- A picture of your favorite memory
Day 6-A picture of the person you would like to trade places with for a day
Day 7- A picture of your most treasured item
Day 8- A picture that makes you laugh
Day 9- A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
Day 10- A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with
Day 11- A picture of something you hate
Day 12- A picture of something you love
Day 13- A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14- A picture of someone you cannot imagine your life without
Day 15- A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16- A picture of someone who inspires you
Day 17- A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
Day 18- A picture of your biggest insecurity
Day 19- A picture and a letter
Day 20- A picture of somewhere you would love to travel
Day 21- A picture of something you wish you could forget
Day 22- A picture of something you wish you were better at
Day 23- A picture of your favorite book
Day 24- A picture of something that you wish you could change
Day 25- A picture of your day
Day 26- A picture of something that means a lot to you
Day 27- A picture of yourself with a family member
Day 28- A picture of something you are afraid of
Day 29- A picture that always makes you smile
Day 30- A picture of someone you miss
Day 31- A picture of yourself

Christen and Angie, feel free to join so I can read your blogs everyday :)

I will start later tonight or tomorrow:) Jones is crying for me!

A Few First....

I have been going stir crazy in this house the last 6 weeks. It's hard to get a newborn out when the highs during the day are in the teens! I have made it to the grocery store a few times while Cody waits in the car with Jones and we have taken him to town several times but we just keep him in the car though. Well yesterday it warmed up a tidbit and Cody was super busy and we needed groceries. I decided to venture on out with him by myself. I fed him before we left and It was smooth sailing. He was in awe of Walmart. He was snoozing good until we passed by the frozen section and I guess he got a chill and he was wide-eyed the rest of the shopping trip! He was a champ! He only got fussy once waiting in the LONG line that is walmart checkout! I just scooped him up and he was good to go! Made it home in one piece, and had all the groceries put away before he got fussy again and wanted to eat.

Cody went hunting last night while me and Jones took a nap. When we woke up I did not feel like cooking. I figured since I had him out today by myself, why not take him out to eat for his very first date night with his mommy and daddy! He was a champ again! I fed him right before we left and he was a happy camper till we got home! I think the only reason I get nervous taking him out right now is I don't feel comfortable nursing in public. I am stocking up with the liquid gold before our trip to Texas so I won't have to worry about that when we go out.

Today after lunch it was pretty nice outside and Cody took us out on the ranch for a ride. We bundled him up and as soon as we hit the bumpy roads in the ranch he was out cold! Since we were on the ranch I just held him and we got some good cuddle time in while momma enjoyed some fresh air!

Lazy Snow Days

We woke up to a complete white out this morning! We thought the snow had passed but at 10 this morning it started snowing again hard and didn't stop till this afternoon. I would guess we got about 4 inches. It's beautiful!

Cody actually came home at lunch and stayed in most of the day. Lucky us! I got to rest and get a little break and the boys had some much needed "guy" time! The low tonight is supposed to be 6 degrees and the high in the teens......burrrrr!

Jones is taking his pacifier more and more but we have to tease him. You have to hold him like he is nursing and then he ATTACKS it! His hair is getting lighter too. I was hoping for dark locks like his daddy but he is a cutie either way!

Cousin Hannah

I am so glad Nawna brought my cousin Hannah all this way to meet me this weekend! We had a fun time! You sure are funny Hannah and I love to snuggle with ya! See you again in a few weeks!

Love, Jones

1 month Already!

Jones hit his first growth spurt at the end of week three and wore me out. One day he ate for 8 hours and would not let me put him down. It lasted 5 days and we both made it! Papa Jones, Grammy and Kristen came to visit this weekend and we had a great time. Jones likes to cluster feed at night a lot and I was tired and wanted to visit with everybody so I MADE him take his pacifier.......he was not to pleased with it, but took it anyways. Week 3 I gave him his pacifier for the first time and he attacked it for 2 days and I thought we created a pacifier monster, then he wouldn't have anything to do with it again until this night. Look at the hand gesture....he is not too thrilled with it, lol!
We also gave him his first bottle this weekend....of breast milk of course! He had 3 bottles this weekend, the first did not go to well and he was confused, haha. The second one went smooth and this last one Kristen gave him he wanted nothing to do with it!

It was sad to see everybody leave........

He was so excited Papa Jones and Grammy drove all that way to see him and he was happy to finally meet his Aunt Kristen!

After everyone left we loaded up and went to town to get out of the house for awhile! We are so glad you love your car seat! That trip home to Texas will go a lot smoother since you love it so much!

Little one we can't believe you are a month old today................

You still eat every 2-3 hours during the day and 4-6 at night

Your not too thrilled about that pacifier

Your holding your head up so good

You smile a lot more

We can't wait till you bust out with a giggle for us

We still haven't had to give you formula!!!

You had your first Christmas

Your first New Years