One Year

One year ago today, our lives changed.... again. When Kennedy was born, we had no idea what we were doing. We were brand new parents without a clue. This time was completely different. I knew what to expect. I was prepared for the sleepless nights, poopy diapers, and the spit up.

But I wasn't emotionally prepared for the announcement that it was a boy. What a joyous moment for us. I had a scheduled c-section since I had a c-section with Kennedy. I went into the hospital very early that morning, dressed in my extremely attractive hospital gown, had my IV drip, and was ready to be wheeled in. Just a few hours later, I heard the gentle cry of a baby.....

The most memorable moment from the delivery was finding out that it was a boy. Chris, who was in the delivery room, had his mouth covered with a face mask for germ protection. All the doctors in the room had forgotten that I didn't know if it was a girl or boy. Chris was whispering what the baby was but with his mouth covered, I had no idea what he was saying. I kept looking at his face and saying, "What?? What is it??!!" After about three times of Chris whispering the news, the anesthesiologist said to the other doctors, "Would someone please tell her what the baby is???" Of course after hearing it was a boy, I burst into tears and thanked God for such a healthy baby boy... 8 lbs 11 oz of sweet boy.

It was an awesome moment and I just can't believe it's been a full year. Brady has been such a joy to watch change over the past year. He's starting to look more like a little boy and not a baby. I think boys look like toddlers faster than little girls.

So one year behind us, and I just know that it will keep getting better and better.

Happy 1st Birthday Brady!!

Swimming Lessons

Bonus feature of our neighborhood: A POOL! Having a pool in the neighborhood is going to be great during our hot Louisiana summers. We will be able to walk over to the pool, take a dip, and then come home and not have to worry about the maintenance of having one in our backyard. Having our own pool just seems like a lot of work to me!

But before we can dive in, Kennedy needs to learn how to swim. She took swimming lessons when we lived in Plano, but hasn't taken them since. So we're a little behind, but I'm hoping with her being older, she'll retain it.

Unfortunately, my sweet baby girl (who is scared of everything) has been timid in the water. Even with floaties, she's scared. She started swimming lessons Monday and she seems to be responding very well to the lifeguard instructors. I think she listens to them better than she does to me. We go every night for two weeks straight and then hopefully she'll be more confident and at the very least, but able to dog paddle and not cling for dear life to me! I want her to have fun in the pool and not be so scared. We shall see!!

Why I blog a lot

My sister noticed that I am blogging a lot. Yes, I am addicted to blogging. But there is a reason behind it. After my friend DeAnn showed me her blog book, I squealed with excitement!

BLOGS CAN BE PRINTED AND BOUND INTO BOOKS!

I used to keep a journal, but handwriting entries takes quite a bit longer. I can type very fast (thank you mom for MAKING me take typing in high school, against my will), so I'd much rather sit down at the computer, type up a quick entry in my "electronic journal" of sorts and then print a year's worth of entries in a book for my kids to read. They probably won't be interested in the stories until they're adults and have kids of their own, and that's okay. I know I would cherish any stories my mother had to share with me from my childhood. As it is today, we tell stories and look at photographs and reminisce. But in 30 or 40 years, I won't remember exactly every detail of the kids' birthday parties... or their first day in a new school... or any of the day-to-day stories that I recall on this blog.

And so I write.... and write... and write some more. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. And more importantly, I hope I am giving my kids and future grandkids a glimpse into my thoughts and feelings about anything and everything.

Enjoy!

Sunday .... Family Fun Day

I love Sundays. Absolutely... 100%.. LOVE Sundays. I get everything done I need to get done to prepare for the work week on Saturday. (...minus those last minute loads of laundry, of course). On Saturday, we run errands, we shop for groceries, have play dates, whatever it is that we need to do - we do it all... on Saturday.

Because on Sunday.... ohhhhh Sunday, how we love you.... we rest. We spend quality time together - just us four. We may not physically lay around all day (like Chris and I used to do before kids... THOSE were awesome Sundays), but we rejuvenate ourselves with activities that we don't have time for during the week.

As with most families these days, our weekday routines are pretty crazy. We rush around, work/school, eat on the go, quick bath time, read a book, throw the kids in the bed and then Chris and I veg out in front of the TV and practically shut off our brains. It's not a bad thing, it's just the way the weekdays happen. That's the life of two working parents. Don't get me wrong - we have a very good life! It's just hectic.

But on Sundays, we look like a different family! We rest our minds from television. We restore our energy for the week by playing games or riding bikes. We take a few minutes and make a batch of brownies. We snuggle (my favorite). Snuggling with the kids is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Rolling around on the floor with Chris and the kids is one of those activities that just totally renews my spirit.If the weather cooperates, we play love to play outside. I cook a family dinner. I really enjoy cooking, but it's hard to do with a near one-year-old who wants to eat the minute we walk in the door .... and a picky four-year-old. Since we have a little extra time on Sundays, I try to cook a real meal.

So Sunday, we love you. We miss you. We wish you would come around every other day or so because it's nice to just hang out with you. See you soon!

Sophie Amber Stinson

Four weeks early, but healthy as she can be! Sophie Amber Stinson made her entrance into this world last night and her momma was quite the trooper through 16 hours of labor! Rebecca and Brian couldn't be more in love with this sweet blessing, as all parents feel when they welcome a new baby into the world.
There is so much meaning behind this child. There is no doubt she will do great things.

Rebecca found out she was pregnant when Amber, her best friend, was going through her battle with cancer. Amber and Eric had been trying to get pregnant for a few years and were struggling with infertility. I don't know this for sure, but I can imagine it was a bitter sweet moment for Rebecca when she became pregnant when Amber could not.

Not too long after that, Amber passed away and Rebecca immediately knew that if she was going to have a baby girl, she wanted to name her Sophie Amber. So as a tribute to her friend, Rebecca and Brian's daughter has the most meaningful name. They asked Eric to be the godfather, another emotional part of this wonderful child's life.

I have no doubt that Amber is keeping an eye on this little one from up above.

Chore Chart Update

Week One: Very successful! Kennedy did a great job at completing five of the chores listed on her Chore Chart. I bought cute little teacher-like stickers for her to put in each square and it made it like a game for her.

This week, I am changing some of the chores because there are things that we cannot offer her everyday... like helping unload the dishwasher and folding laundry.

This week, we are going to add LISTENING! She is having a hard time with that right now and even though it's not a "chore" - we are going to make it one!! We are also adding "brush teeth in the morning."


Since she did complete five chores each day, she could either get $1 .... OR pick a goodie from the goodie bag (also known as Mommy's-Great-Finds-At-Dollar-Tree bag!). My baby girl loves a little trinket! She went straight for the bag.

Protecting the Earth

I will be the first to admit that I am not a tree hugger, but I am trying to do my part to conserve. We only have one planet, right?My parents have even gotten on the bandwagon. Shreveport offers curbside recycling and my mom is putting EVERYTHING in that bin. Yay mom! And her and my dad also drive Hybrid cars. Mom drives a Toyota Camry Hybrid. My dad drives a Tahoe Hybrid. It's funny because my dad makes it a competition for himself to see if he can get to work, to the store, anywhere, without the engine actually running. He tries to go entirely electric. He's so funny....

So I have decided that for every non-earth friendly act, I will do an earth-friendly act.

Non-earth friendly: My SUV. Chris bought me a Honda Pilot for my 30th birthday. I absolutely love it.

Earth-friendly: While I would much rather drive my big 'ol Pilot, when I don't have the kids to take to school (which is most of the time since Chris isn't traveling as much) - I drive the more gas-efficient 1997 Camry I had from college.

Non-earth friendly: I have electricity and air conditioning and love it, too. I did not build my house with solar-power or wind mills.

Earth friendly: We turn off all appliances, lights, fans, etc. when we're not using them. And during the day, we turn the AC up to 75.

Non-earth friendly: Recycling. Bossier doesn't have curbside recycling - booooo! When we lived in Plano, Texas - we had curbside recycling. It was awesome. I recycled everything! Newspapers, plastic bottles, cans, magazines. Our recycle bin was much heavier than our trash bin. But even if Bossier did have it, we live outside the city limits so that service would not be offered to us.

Earth-friendly: While I haven't come up with a complete recycling solution just yet - I do not buy bottled water. We drink filtered water from the tap and re-use any individual water bottles we do buy for water-on-the-go. And I take my daily Diet Dr. Pepper can into the office for the recycle bin in our building. All the cans collected are turned in and the money goes to athletic scholarships. Maybe I should consider bringing ALL my cans in? Hhhhmmmm....

Oh! And I also DO NOT use plastic bags at the grocery story. Even though it's a huge pain for the people behind the register at Wal-Mart, Target, wherever - I politely ask them to please use my recycle bags.

So I'm working on it... hope you are, too! It's our job to protect the earth!