Day 30

A picture of someone I miss

I think we all miss Granny and Papa.  Jones always has such a serious facial expression and we didn't know where he got it from....I think that came from papa.  Granny was always smiling.  I don't think I ever saw her without a smile on her face.  They were my Granny and Papa from the first time I met them.  Papa would always ask questions and drill Cody and always had great advice and making sure he was doing what he was supposed to be doing and he treated me the same way.  As soon as you stepped into their house you felt at home.  You couldn't leave without eating or drinking something and Granny would make sure you were as full as a tick on a dog before you left her house!

Papa passed away in 2006 soon after our wedding.  This picture was taken at our wedding and Granny was all smiles.  We were in Georgia for a job interview and the plane ride home was the longest 2 hours of our life.  Granny was a tough little cookie and seeing her so strong made it a little easier on everyone else.  She passed away soon after.....I think from a broken heart.

Granny would always grab my face when we would leave from visiting them and say, "just love each other always."  I will always remember that and definitely not let her down on that.  Strawberries and Dr. Pepper will always taste a little bit sweeter because of Granny.

Day 29

A picture that always makes me smile

I was one hot mess at our wedding.  I cried more that day than I had in my whole life, everyone was rushing us along, Cody was rushing me (he was ready to go:)!  I wanted to elope and he wanted the huge fancy shindig.  I finally had to remind him that he wanted this and to stop rushing me!  When it was time to throw my bouquet, I climbed up on a chair and just chunked it backwards.  In all the excitement and loud commotion I realized the DJ guy was still talking and was like.....WAIT NOT YET.....to late.  The photographer caught my reaction in mid, "I am so sorry! I wasn't listening:)"

My sister caught my flowers.  Of course!  She ALWAYS catches the bouquet.  I bet she has about 20 in her closet....she fights for those sucker.  At Terre's wedding...we were probably 8 and 10 or 7 and 9 at the time.  Kristen caught her bouquets too then and one of Terre's friends grab it out of her hand after she caught it.  I'm pretty sure Kristen fought back for it.  In this pic Kristen's face is priceless!  She's like  hahah suckers!  It's ALL mine!

Then there is my niece Ashlyn.  She went after the bouquet too, Kristen taught her well, and her very expensive dress ripped!  The strap on both shoulders snapped and she shined everyone.  Luckily she was only like 10 at the time and not 20:)  She was so embarrassed.

Day 28

A picture of something I am afraid of.  I don't know how to put this in a picture.  I am not afraid of the dark but afraid of staying in a house at night by myself.  It's about 9:00 tonight and Cody isn't home yet and I feel a little anxious.  Not sure why I have this feeling.  I have always had this feeling.

Growing up I couldn't sleep by myself.  My room was all the way on the other side of the house and I hated it.  I would have to bribe Kristen every night to let me stay in her room.  Some nights she would be nice and let me sleep in her bed...other nights I had to sleep on the floor.  She is 2 years older than me and when she left for college I thought I was going to die.  I am not sure how I  managed those 2 years before I left to for college.

I always had roommates in an apartment and was fine.  One year I decided to get an apartment by myself...It lasted 6 months and I probably stayed there.......5 times total by myself.  I always stayed at a friends house where I eventually moved into.

First year of marriage, when we were in Georgia, Cody had to do a little traveling.  I begged my mom to come stay with me.  She would fly up and stay when Cody was away.  When we lived in Van I always stayed at Cody's parents house when he was away.

The thought of sleeping in a house alone gives me the willy's!

Day 27

A picture of me and a family member

I can't pick one sis and not the other.

Meet Terre and Kristen

This picture cracks me up.  Typical picture usually involves me being goofy, Terre posing and Kristen being classy and sweet looking.  This pic is the complete opposite.  Kristen is being goofy.  Terre looks sweet.  I am posing!  I have this pic sitting on a book shelf and a few people who have seen it always think mom is the 4th sister!

Terre is 11 years older than me.  I remember when she was in college and would come visit, me and Kristen would cry our little eyes out every time she left.  When we would stay with Terre in Dallas and we would go out people always asked one of 2 questions.  Are these your kids? (talking about me and Kris) or are you half black?  She always had a dark tan.  It always surprised me people would actually ask a person that!

We had pictures made for mom for Mother's Day one year...2003?

We rented a house in Florida for Christmas in 2003 and Cody came along with us.  It was the worst trip alive.  It poured down rain the whole time, a hurricane hit and we were all stuck in a house for 4 days.  Cody says we could have our own reality TV show and be more entertaining than Keeping up with the Kardashians......he has a good point there!

Kris lives in Dallas and Terre lives in Allen.  I wish I lived closer to them.......some days:)

Day 26

A picture of something that means a lot to me.



I have never been a big animal person.  Every year at the DU banquet in Nacogdoches they always have a white lab up for auction.  The cutest little puppy ever!  My first year to go with Cody I was able to hold that puppy and cuddle him and kiss him up before he was auctioned off and found a home.  That year I think that puppy went for about 1900 dollars!  I was a little in shock.  The next year they had another one and I wanted him SO bad!  I was hooked! Of course, I didn't want to pay 2,000 dollars for a puppy so I waited, and waited and waited some more.  One day we passed a sign that read lab puppies for sale and off we went to find the house!  They had 2 left.  I fell instantly in love with one and Cody chose the other one.....the smaller one....the runt the owner called  him.  She gave us a deal on the runt and we took him home.  I was madly in love by that night.

We named him Duke....he looked like a Duke...King Duke!

He would sit in my lap while I drove.  Go spotlighting with me and Cody, ride the 4-wheeler with us, the tractor and sit between us in Cody's truck.  He was a great puppy.....a little hyper..... and an even better dog!  He now weighs in at 95 pounds...he is huge, not fat.....just huge!  Not sure why the lady called him the runt!

A year later Marley and Me came out and I had to go see it.  The book was by far better than the movie.  It had more stories and told more about the couple who bought him.  We could relate to about 75% of them all.  I cried my little eyes out at the movies and will cry my little eyes out when we lose our big ole' tub of love.  The funniest part of the whole movie is Marley was supposedly the runt too and they called him their little "clearance" puppy!

We eventually got Duke a playmate, we love him too, but........he isn't Duke!

I can't wait for Jones to be old enough to enjoy him as much as we have enjoyed him.

Day 25

A picture of my day!

I took this pic on the day I was supposed to write this blog.  This is the day Jones got sick and I did not have time to finish blogging last week.  Papa Jones gave lil' man his first calf!  When he was born he had a perfect star on his forehead.  You can still make out the star but it's more distorted now that he is growing.  His number is 27.  27 will probably be Jones' lucky number.  2 is the day he was born and 7 is the day Papa Jones was born.  This is a pretty special little cow if you ask me!  We had to take Jones to meet him while we were in Edgewood last week!

Texas Trip

We finally took little man to Texas to meet the rest of the family.  We took 10 day off that way we would have plenty of time to see and visit with everyone we wanted to.  We rotated between Van, Edgewood and Wylie.  Our 4th day there Jones wasn't feeling up to par.  I figured he was worn out being passed around, not getting his naps in good and just being away from routine.  During our days in Wylie he had a little cough and wouldn't keep anything down.  After 12 hours of not having a wet diaper I was concerned and called his pediatrician here in Woodward.......never got a call back!  I googled a pediatrician in Wylie and took him in.  Everything looked good to her and his lungs sounded good.  She was worried too about not keeping enough fluids down and no wet diapers for 12 hours so she sent us to Children's in Plano.  He was a little dehydrated and by the time we go to Children's you could tell he wasn't feeling good.  He just layed in my lap and buried his head and fell asleep.  He never cried while they put his IV in and got a urine sample.  After they started giving him fluids he lit up and smiled the whole time.  He started keeping food down and they sent us home after 24 hours.  They think he had a little virus:(  I woke up sick Sunday, Cody woke up sick Monday but we were both so ready to be home.  We traveled all day Valentine's day.  All 3 coughing our lungs off.  A 6 1/2 hour drive took 9 hours.  We all slept like a baby though when we got home.

Our first trip home did not turn out as planned at all!  So glad Jones is feeling better though.  I didn't take hardly any pics either:(

I will continue with my 30 days of blogging too!

Day 23

This is my favorite book of all time. My Aunt suggested this book to me and when I went to Barnes and Noble to pick it up and realized it was about 30,000 pages, I almost didn't read it. Usually when I start a book, and it's good, I cant put it down till I finish it. Since this book was so thick I knew I couldn't sit and read the whole thing in one day. I got it anyways.

It took me 3 days to read it. I bawled like a baby. It's one of those "make you feel good books." I have read the whole thing 3 times. I read it once to Cody:) I asked Cody if he would read it before we got married. He agreed:) He started reading it one night and an hour into the book he was only on page 5. I was thinking it was going to take him 2 years to finish it. He got frustrated because the print is really small, the book is fat, and he is not a speed reader like me. I was half way joking when I said I would read it to him. He agreed! I am pretty sure I stayed in Van for a solid week so I could read to him every night, lol! He loved it just as much as I did! If you need a big fat lesson on unconditional love.......this book is for you!

Day 22

I wish I was better at baking. I think I am a pretty great cook but that is totally different from baking. Most days....ok everyday, all day I have the food network channel on and find neat recipes to try out and they usually turn out fab. Desserts, pastries, etc........not so much. My older sister on the other hand can bake like no other. She made this awesome 3 tier cake for my personal shower before I got married. She is a perfectionist and all her desserts look fake they are so perfect! I get an itch to bake something fantastic some day's but I don't even know where to begin:(

Day 21

A picture of something that I wish I could forget. If I wish to forget about it why would I post it? I don't want to be reminded of it every time I read my blog:( I have completely forgotten about Christmas 06'.

Day 20

I want to go back to our honeymoon spot. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! It was 7 days of pure wedded bliss! It took 14 hours, 2 planes and bumpy 3 hour hot bus ride to get there but it was so worth it. If only I could get over my fear of flying to go one more time!

I LOVE riding horses. Horses that I know and are comfortable with. These horses were CRAZY and I was scared out of my mind. They kept trying to race each other and bumping into each other and getting our legs trapped between them. It hurt and was NOT fun! This pic was taken before we ventured out for a ride and they turned crazy. They look all tamed and lazy in this pic..........they weren't!

The pool was amazing. It wrapped around the whole resort. You could basically get in from anywhere you were.

The beaches were so pretty. We had everything we needed on our resort alone. 12 different restaurants, snorkeling, body surfing, massages on the beach, a dance club, shopping stores, spa place and many more. The nice thing about our resort was, we could go to the beach and lay out and if we wanted to go eat or swim at the pool we could just leave our stuff there and no one would mess with it. They had like 2 staff for each couple there. We could have stayed at the resort for 7 days and never got bored but we ventured out one day for an excursion. We took a 30 minute SPEED boat ride to a small island. They cooked fresh lobster and shrimp out on the beach while every one layed out or snorkeled. It was sooo good! On the way back to the resort we were supposed to stop at a market place and shop but everyone on the excursion voted to go back to the resort. Everyone was exhausted and stuffed!

Day 18

Whoa, this blog is getting personal. My biggest insecurity is my bone disease. Although, I think the older I get the farthest from my mind it goes. I don't really like talking about it and when I do it usually brings tears to my eyes......not sure why and I break out in a sweat......Is that anxiety?

I was always aware of my legs when I was younger. They never touched and always had a bow. In most pictures I have of myself when I was younger I am standing with my feet turned in and on there side. I guess I did that on purpose so when I saw me legs bowed out I could just blame it on the way I was standing. When I was diagnosed with this disease Internet wasn't around so I couldn't google it and Dr.'s had barely heard about it. I actually googled it for the first time after I found out I was pregnant just to try to find more info on it. There was A LOT of info! It is actually way more common now. I know a couple of people who I think have this disease too. Sometimes it's hard to diagnose and most of the time it goes undiagnosed. I even found a FB page for a support group! I was way more insecure about my legs when I was younger. It seems the older I have gotten and the more prayer's prayed about it, the more I have "outgrown" it. If that is even possible! Dr.'s always told me I wouldn't be taller than 4'6. I am 5'4. They always told me I would need total hip and knee replacement by the time I was 30. I am 28, will be 29 in April. They told me I would have arthritis. I don't. They told me the rod in my femur would not fix the problem. Haven't had a problem since. They told me I would have problems carrying a child because of the extra weight. I didn't.

I have 5 long scars on my leg, a rod in my femur and 3 screws to remind me of what could have been. I am so thankful for unexplained miracles!

Day 17

This little guy has made a huge impact on my life recently

A pretty good impact though! Everyone says how much life changes after you have a kid and how much your relationship with your other half will change after children. Our life hasn't changed that much except it takes longer for us to get out of the house and be on time for an appointment:) It's not that life has changed much but a feeling I have has changed. There is more emotion, a deeper love, and a deeper connection with Cody. We enjoy when Jones takes naps because it gives us time together. Then when he sleeps so long we miss him and want to go wake him up. It seems like every night on the news there is a story about losing a child or some crack head being abusive to their baby. It has always pissed me off and I could never imagine how someone could do that, but now actually having a baby and thinking that makes me an emotional wreck.

Everyone always talks about how as soon as you see your baby you just have this flood of emotions and you think how you could love someone SO much. I didn't have that feeling then. I was in shock the first week I think. I couldn't wrap my head around what actually happened. I could hardly remember little details and think "did that really happen?' How can your body do that and survive. I had that flood of emotions probably a week and a half after he was born. I was rocking him to sleep one day for his nap and the water works came a flowing. It was like hyperventilating tears of joy, love and thinking if anybody tried to hurt my little man, momma goose would come pounding on your head! I was still in shock that he was actually here and I still couldn't believe it. I didn't want to put him down, I just kept kissing him and smelling him and just hugging him up. Apparently he didn't like it and woke up squirming and fussy and couldn't get out of my death grip fast enough. I layed him down and he went back to sleep. Every time I look at him I feel a flood of emotions, butterflies in my stomach and I get weak at the knees and now I can't ever remember life without him!

2 Months!.....and Day 19

A picture and a letter

Jones,

We cannot believe you are already 2 months! Time needs to slow down because you are growing and changing way to fast! I was watching you sleep the other day and you didn't even look like a newborn to me anymore. I just knew you were about to wake up and start talking to me because you looked so much older.

You weigh 13.4 pounds

You are 23 inches long

Not sure exactly what size you wear, in the above pic you have on newborn pants and a 6 month sweatshirt. Baby sizes are weird! and not accurate!

You are still sleeping through the night and after 2 months you still have not kept me up at night!

You still eat every 2-3 hours during the day and 6-10 hours at night

You finally stopped cluster feeding at night

You are taking your pacifier easier. Usually out in public when you get fussy

You have learned to love being swaddled! Every time we put you on your back you have a minor freak out and think you are falling. Swaddling has saved us both!

You still love to be rocked

You go to bed easier for daddy than you do me

You still sleep in your bassinet and it will be a sad day when we move you to your crib

When your fussy you love when momma wears you in your sling

You had your first date night with momma and daddy a few weeks ago and you did awesome!

You love taking baths in the big tub with us

I still haven't found a bottle you will take gracefully:( I know, I know...why would you take the bottle when momma has the goods!

You are the happiest baby in the mornings!

We are still waiting for you to laugh out loud! We get lots of giggles though

I pray you will get over your reflux soon

Day 16

The person that inspires me the most? There isn't just one person in particular. Everybody that reminds me that God is all I "need" inspires me. The one person that reminds me of that daily is a lady named Angie. I have an Aunt Angie that told me about this girls blog http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/01/beginning-of-story.html one day a few years ago and how she layed in her bed and cried all night reading her story. I had forgotten about this until last year. I had had a lot on my mind and been praying a lot and kind of mad at God and questioning him. I was blog jumping and came across her blog from my Aunts' page. I started reading and I finally put two and two together and realized this was the blog that I had heard about.

So I started from the beginning and started to read. I realized my problems were minute in comparison to what she had gone through. Now that I am a mother her story stirs my emotions on a deeper level. I went back the other night and reread her story again and sat at the computer bawling and thanking God for giving me Jones......a healthy Jones.

I have a friend who is either mad at the world or mad at God and sometimes I don't have the words to respond. Anytime she hears something evil about the world she gets mad at God and wonders why he "let" that happen. She always questions why he chose that person for tragedy and not that person? I get so frustrated talking with her and always end the convo with, "you just don't get it!" One day she asked me what I would do if something ever happened to Cody or Jones and that I would probably blame God and be mad at him. I had to think for a minute. I told her that of course I would probably have a mental breakdown for a bit, but that in the end God is the only person that you need, the only person that won't let you down. God has given me Cody and Jones and they are the icing on my cake! And it is really good icing! and if I didn't have that I wouldn't blame God. She still didn't get it......anyways.......


If you need a little inspiration in your life you should definitely read her story on her blog. You know that feeling you would get when you were younger after coming home from church camp? The high you would have for God? If you do read it, grab a box of Kleenex!


Sorry no picture again. I didn't want to steal a pic:(

Day 15

A picture of something I want to do before I die? Hmmmm. I am not a dare devil and don't want to jump out of a plane or anything crazy like that. I HATE to fly and would prefer never to get on another plane again, so I wouldn't want to travel the world.


an hour later..................


The only thing that I can think of is watching my little boy grow up. To experience every mile stone he takes and to treasure every minute of it. I look forward to the day he is running around the house naked like a wild indian, little league, school, crushes, girlfriends, calling in the middle of the night needing me and doing everything possible to keep a smile on his face.

and I don't have a picture of all that:)