the Love Dare

hi there! I still don't think anyone reads our blog, but that's ok. Its good therapy for me!
Greg and I started the Love Dare a couple of days ago. I am so excited to do it! The first day's dare was to not say anything negative to your spouse. We passed with flying color's! I think we try to be nice to each other most days, so it all worked out!
Today's dare was to do something your spouse would not expect you to do. Greg is so wonderful. First, he got up with Coen at 2:30 to feed him, then he got the kid's cloth's ready for the day and then this afternoon he sent me a very romantic poem, he is so sweet! I took an extra long lunch today and went out to his office and took him lunch. He was pretty excited. I never go out there b/c it is a good 20 min drive from my office.
I am so excited to see what all this Love Dare has to offer. We are trying so hard to be good examples to our kids and it is definitly hard sometimes. I do hope and pray they know how much mommy and daddy love each other and love God above all else!
We have been doing VBS this week, what a blessing! Avry is going to a 3 year old class, because that is the group she will be with in school. She has done an amazing job with the group and absolutely loves it! Coen on the other hand just cries and cries and cries in class, so he is hanging out with Mom and Dad and doing puppet's.
Avry turns 3 in 10 days! I can't beleive my baby is going to be 3!
Have a blessed 4th!

Vacation part 2

Avry and Alyssa
Pooped after the Zoo

My mother and father in law

Carla, Alyssa, Granna and Avry

Part 2.

Starting with the wedding. The whole reason we went to Ohio was to see Greg's youngest cousin, Angela get married. She got married on Saturday evening to her love Mike. We had a blast! They had a fancy dinner and dancing. Greg and I actually got to dance a couple of times, but mainly enjoyed dancing with Avry and Coen. Avry had a blast dancing-her favorite partner was Foy-Pa I think. Coen was a little grumpy during the wedding. Those dang teeth still haven't came through!

Sunday we visited the Akron Zoo. I was so amazed by how clean the zoo was. It was in wonderful condition, didn't smell like a zoo and had lots of educational information with each animal. My favorite was the jelly fish display. What an amazing creature!

Sunday evening was spend playing more corn-hole. Which is like bean bag toss Ohio style. Everyone enjoyed it alot! Greg and I got to sneak in a nap on Sunday-our kids wore us out!

We came home Monday evening late. Our flights were decent, I refuse to ever fly into Atlanta again. That airport was horrible, big, crowded, overbooked, unfriendly etc. We arrived home safely with everything but a car seat that got left in Houston or Atlanta (we can blame it on Atlanta).

Now, I am off to apply for jobs, work on birthday party invites, do homework, laundry, unpack, get ready for my sister's shower and Jadan's b-day. I better get busy!

Vacation part 1

Swinging at the Chappie's
Corn Hole-a crazy game for Ohio-an's

Proud new mommy

First Plane ride

I have had alot going on lately. I might have to blog in atleast 2 posts. First and foremost....I PASSED my teacher certification test. Now, if I can find a job, I can start teaching in the fall. Trick is finding a job. The major school districts arodund here don't hire on emergency cert.'s, so I will have to find a job outside of Lubbock. We have prayed about it and feel like it will be ok for me to drive. Next, VACATION!!!!
We left last Wednesday for our trip to Ohio. We had such a blast. The kids did marvelous on the flight there (the flight back was a little rough), and were troopers on the whole trip. No one had a good nap the entire 6 days we were gone and we all survived! The second day we were there, we took Avry to Belpre Ohio to the Lee Middleton Doll Factory so she could adopt her very own baby doll. She loved it. She picked out her own baby, got to dress it, brush its hair, name it and everything. She chose Joy, because it is close to her middle name of Joyce. What a big girl she is!

Friday we swam with the Chappie's and had the rehearsal dinner at Jeff and Carla's. Everyone played Corn-hole for hours. The weather was so beautiful. Not too hot, but not too cold. I was amazed at the tree's!

thoughts

Does anyone ever read my blog? LOL I just wonder sometimes....
We are just truckin along. Coen is fully weened from nursing now. It has been a very sad process for me, a little bit depressing actually. I made it for 10 whole months though and that is a huge deal considering that I didn't even make it a month with Avry. I think that the sadness comes from knowing that unless we have an accident there won't be anymore pregnancies for us. We know that God is going to bless us with another child-down the road- and we pray often that we find that child and bring it into our home ! I am partial to adoption because if some momma hadn't of been big enought to give away her baby to a loving family, I would not have my sister and my best friend. So-enough sadness, lets talk happy thoughts!
I started school on Wednesday, it is going to be time consuming and require alot of work and dedication! This is definitly not the easy way out. I am cramming atleast 2 semesters of work into a summer. Yes, I know I am nuts. I also have to find time to do 30hrs of classroom observation (when school is out I might mention), apply for jobs and take my TeXes test-which is in less than a week now. I feel really good about the test and am very hopeful that I will pass it the first time.
Something else that I have been thinking about is my 10 yr high school reunion. See, when you are from a small town, this is a big deal! Next summer will be 10 whole years for me. I am way excited about seeing old friends and catching up with them! It will be great to see how everyone is doing and how everyone has changed.
Kids are great, Coen is having some trouble switching to formula, but we will get it straightened out. Avry is speaking in full paragraphs now. She tells great stories....mostly about Mickey mouse, Jesus and Zacheaus. She is also making up her own songs, I catch her making up her own words to tunes from songs she knows quite often. It is precious! She is a complete joy-Eventhough Greg changed her name middle name when she was born from Joy to Joyce...:)
Well, I was taking a break from studying, so I better get back to the books!
Have a great weekend!
PS..today is the day that I got put on bedrest with Coen, I can't believe it has been a full year already!

The Lake!

Avry touching a real fish! GROSS

Chillin on the beach with Uncle David and George

Riding the Jet Ski with Dad

Eatin Cheeto's and lookin cool on the boat!

Holy Cow! What have I gotten myself into? In just a few short days, I am going back to school to get my teacher certification. This summer will be a whirlwind of events from me. I have school, vacations, birthday's, TeXes exit exam, finding a job etc. I am so thankfull that I am going to be able to finally teach. This is something that I have wanted to do since I was a little girl and I am whole heartedly into it. I can not wait to get in the classroom!

On another note, we went to the lake (Lake Meredith) this weekend with my family for the long weekend. We had so much fun. Avry touched a real live fish that little David caught! Coen and Avry both are sunburned (so are we) and I feel like a horrible mother for letting them burn. I did put sunscreen on them-often-and they still burned! Those are the pics above.

We leave in just 2 weeks for Ohio to go to Greg's cousin's wedding. We will fly out of Lubbock with Greg's whole family and then into Nashville and then onto Canton. We really don't have definite plans while we are there. Wedding is on Saturday though! I really hope that we will be going to either Cleveland or Cincinnati to the Zoo! I am just excited to go on vacation-and a big plus is that I love Greg's family, so we will have a blast!

Have a good week!

My babies

Just some pics, and a few thoughts.....

Coen's first taste of a chocolate spoon.
Coen just a few day's old-he is now 9months! How time flies!

Jadan, with Abbey and Cruz in the background.

Abbey and my soon to be brother in law, Cruz.

Wow! How time flies! Not too long ago I was taking my 3rd pregnancy test just 2 1/2 months after being married and it was positive...just like the first 2! Just yesterday I was sitting in Dr. Owen's office anxiously waiting to hear our new bundle of joy's heartbeat for the first time. Then, came bedrest and later a 10 day hospital stay and just a few seconds later the birth of a beautiful baby girl, who had a few complications upon her arrival but was the most precious little bundle of joy. She always was a little ball of fire-very outgoing and head strong. That little bundle is now potty trained, sleeps all night, can dress herself and can practically give herself a bath. That little bundle, my sweet Avry, my little lefty, is going to be 3 in just a few weeks! I can't beleive it!
Then there is Coen, who I am pretty sure was conceived, created wonderfully and fearfully made, and born all in a matter of moments. I think about my pregnancy, which was not fun at all, but I would do it all again-in a heartbeat! The day that we had the "big ultrasound" was a great day for us. God was blessing us with a son, one of very few in my family...ok the only one in my immediate family! We knew right away we would name him Coen James. He is my little Prince. Now, just 9 short months later, he is crawling and pulling up on everything. He eat's babyfood and some tablefood and he still wakes up to nurse during the night!! I will take it though, I might not ever have those moments with an infant again. Those sweet moments in the middle of the night when I am his world-I am all he needs! I love my babies!

The other pics are my sister's engagement pics. She is getting married at the end of July! We are thrilled for her. Can't wait for her to start her life with Cruz and Jadan!

Mayish

Avry playing Dress-up. Coen's new-d0!
Easter outfits

Avry loves her sandbox so much she hugs the sand!

Coen and his first chocolate spoon!

First-Holy Cow it is May! Where have the last 9 months gone? Speaking of 9 months, Coen will be 9 months old in just a few short days. He is crawling, eating 3 meals a day and still nursing like a champ! Since he got tubes 4 weeks ago, he has flourished into such a happy smart little thing! I estimate that he will walk before he turns one, he stood by himself the other day for just a few seconds. Amazing! Avry has started talking all the time, she is asking questions-and she wants real answers to those questions. Alot of her questions are about Jesus and Why? questions. She is really loving staying with Ms.Crystal-even though a kid asked her to smoke a cigarette the other day...lol We have been very blessed with a fabulous babysitter.

This summer is going to be a whirlwind of activity for us. First, I am hopefully going to start back to school on June 3rd to get my teaching certificate. If I can pass my TeXes test this summer, I can teach in the fall! We will be flying to Ohio with Greg's family in June, and then as soon as we come back I have my sister's wedding shower/jadan's 7th birthday (I know 7!!!). Then both kids have birthdays just in time for my sister to get married at the end of July. I am really excited for her wedding-It will be ton's o' fun! Then comes August, when I will hopefully begin teaching and be able to quit my current job. I like my job, but it isn't fulfilling-its just a job-I need some fullfillment in my life! Avry will start pre-k at Superkids in September. That will be a huge milestone for momma! She is going to be 3! Wasn't she born just yesterday?

I am home sick with a cold-so I should be resting. I am very much enjoying the quiet around my house. I highly doubt I can stay in bed all day-which is what Greg would like for me to do, any rest is more than I have been getting though!