Imaginary Friends

I am finally feeling better and not requiring a nap every day during Hayley's and Jack's naptime, so I'm hoping to be better about blogging more frequently. I'm finishing up week 10 of the pregnancy and happy to be close to the end of trimester #1. I cannot complain even a little bit about it though, b/c I am fully functioning and able to eat and keep food down. Christine, if you are reading blogs, I'm still praying for you that your sickness will subside. I wish so much there was more I could do for you and your family. I saw your precious Jack today and he is as cute as ever.

Okay--now for the connection to the blog title. Yesterday Hayley informed me that she was headed outside to see the ducks (our new "pets" that live in the pond next to our house---a mama and 12 babies) and that she was going to see if her friend "Nucy" was here to play today.

I said, "You have a friend Lucy who plays with you outside?" She said, "No! NOO-SEE!" Ohhhh. Like Lucy, but Nucy. So off she went. She came in later and I asked if Nucy was here today and she responded, "Nope."

My sister and I had 3 "imaginary friends" growing up. Their names were Nusha (pronounced "noo-shuh"), New Ryan, and Muh-Muh. We played with them a lot and I still have a mental picture of what Nusha and New Ryan looked like. So when I heard Hayley had one it got me thinking. I just wonder. . . are they imaginary? Or are we TOLD they are imaginary and that we are making it up in our heads? Did anyone else have "imaginary friends" growing up? I'd love to hear if you did and what their names were. : ) So I've decided not to call Nucy her "imaginary friend" but to treat her as if she IS here and that somehow she is related to Nusha and like Courtney said, "Maybe we have some family guardian angels hanging around." Kind of neat to think about.

My parents' 34th Anniversary is today. What a special day! And what a blessing it is to have them love each other more today than ever. What a gift to have their example for us and our children of a Christ-centered marriage. I love you guys and am proud to be your daughter!

Here are some recent pictures of Hayley and Jack. We've had a trip to Austin to "Nana's and Big D's house," a fabulous Mother's Day, a trip to the zoo---just the 3 of us, lots of playing outside w/ these gorgeous days, and the last day of school was this past Thursday! We're all looking forward to our fun summer days ahead!



Being silly













Gettin' muddy (she ended up taking the other shoe off and coming to the back door w/ mud everywhere!) Why didn't I get a picture of that???












Our new pets
A very happy Mother's Day


Jack loves playing with daddy!

Oh BOY!!! (or girl???)

I'm sure many have already heard our latest news, but the Lord has blessed us with another BABY!! We are thrilled. He/she should arrive around the 12th of December. That will make Hayley almost 3 1/2 and Jack will be almost 23 months. So we will definitely have our hands full, but we are blown away by this incredible blessing and so excited to have another little one around here to love on! It's interesting b/c my mom felt really strongly a couple of months ago not to recommit to a bunch of her activities in Austin for next year. She wasn't 100% why she felt like she shouldn't, but trusted it was what God wanted for her. YAY, GOD!! He was looking after ME!! She'll have much more flexibility to help us out and we are so happy about that. I ordered all new stockings for our family last Christmas and I went ahead and ordered one extra---not thinking I'd use it THIS Christmas!!! Too fun! We appreciate prayers for a healthy baby and a healthy pregnancy---and a supernatural gift of ENERGY this first trimester!

I went on a sister trip this weekend to a Joyce Meyer conference in Phoenix, AZ! My sisters and I hadn't spent good time together since we went to Europe for 3 weeks together and backpacked the year after I graduated from college. Abby was only 16, Angie was 21 and I was 23. Kind of hard to believe my parents went for that one! We're SO glad they did though! We had such a blast. We had some good quality time together and it went way to fast! Anyone who has never heard Joyce Meyer speak should seriously listen to her if you ever get the chance. She has a tv program on Daystar "Enjoying Everyday Life" and she has teachings on her website you can listen to. She's so encouraging and I have really grown to love her. It's a great way to get a "pick me up" during the day when kids are napping!

I think we're done w/ sicknesses around here for awhile. Hayley passed her pink eye to Jack--he came down w/ it last week and his also turned into an ear infection. I asked the dr. if he could pass it back to Hayley or if she was immune since she just had it and the dr. said, YES she could get it again! WHAT??? How on earth do you keep this vicious cycle from repeating? Lots of prayer is the answer. Looking forward to a great week and to getting to see the newest addition at my dr.'s appointment on Friday! Here we go again!!!

Happy Easter!

We got GREAT news on Friday! Jack does NOT have mono! His spleen was back to normal too. The doctor said he guessed it must have been some other random virus, but we're choosing to believe that we asked God to heal Jack and HE ANSWERED!

We found out the results to his bloodwork while I had Hayley there for pink eye! Friday morning her eyes looked TERRIBLE! There was so much yucky junk in them and it wouldn't go away. They checked her out and everything else looked fine. Got antibiotic drops and we were on our way.

Friday late afternoon was SO much fun! Tara, Aly, Abby and I took Donna to High Tea at the Ashton Hotel in Ft. Worth for her birthday. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to do that kind of stuff. It was so much fun being with all the girls! The 5 of us went on a trip to New York before Tara got married and I think it's the last time we all hung out together like that. Lots of fun! I love my in-laws. It's like I was born for 2 families. Mine and Tra's! From day ONE I've felt so comfortable w/ his sisters and parents. I LOVE spending time with them and can't imagine dreading being w/ my in-laws. It makes me sad for people who aren't as crazy about theirs. It's fun to love another family just like your own!

Saturday was going great until 5ish when Hayley woke up from her nap screaming that her ear hurt. She was running fever and miserable. Took her to the new Care Now right down the street (the web check-in is the way to go!) and she has an EAR INFECTION! Poor baby! I ended up sleeping w/ her last night b/c her fever was so high (103.5 ON MOTRIN) and she woke up in panic mode several times reaching for me. I think her fever is down and I'm hoping she wakes up feeling better. Do you kind of feel like I'm going to say "April Fools?" I feel like I've been in the middle of a very cruel April Fool's joke over the past week and a half or so. SURELY this is the last of the sickness around here for awhile!

I was asking God what else we needed to be doing? Sometimes you wonder if there is something in the environment causing the sickness (or maybe it's Chick-Fil-A and McDonald's playlands??) ha ha. So I told Him last night I was just going to be quiet and listen and wait for Him to tell me what we needed to do differently---a different way to pray, a sin we needed to repent of, WHAT??? I was in the kitchen making fruit salad for Easter lunch today and it was silent. Kids asleep, Tra at pharmacy getting medicine, and after a few minutes deep in my spirit I heard Him, "Praise ME." So I did. It's one of my favorite things to do. And it was good to be reminded to acknowledge God for WHO HE IS in the midst of the craziness of life. HE heals, HE loves, HE comforts us in our times of need, HE provides me with strength, HE showers us with BLESSING upon BLESSING! And today HE LIVES!! Praising God for the most precious gift of His Son and for giving Him up for us so that WE may truly LIVE!

POOP!!!

Today was another milestone in the Willbanks' household! Hayley pooped on the potty for the first time ever! It is really funny how excited I am about this. I never imagined I would be so excited about poop! So I thought I would share my excitement w/ all you other blogging moms out there who have experienced the same joy as you contemplate never changing a poopy diaper again (at least of HERS)! We'll see if it continues. We made a super big deal out of it today, of course, and went to Braum's for a family celebration tonight of ICE CREAM!!

Jack went in for bloodwork today and we'll get results tomorrow to see if it is (was) mono or not. His spleen was back to normal today, so that was GREAT news!

Other than that, pretty uneventful around here today. I'll take uneventful. We're excited about Easter weekend. It so much fun having Hayley get excited about Easter this year. Earlier she goes, "We'll say 'YOOOOO-HOOOOOO, Easter eggs!? Where arrrre youuuu?" I need to make



sure to talk as much about the REAL reason of Easter as much as hyping up egg hunts and candy.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

Weary. . .

Okay. I'm not sure what the deal is with me frequently having sick kids, but here we go again. I've heard of parents who conjure up their kids' sicknesses and of course hypochondriacs, but I assure you I'm not one of them. I would be THRILLED to go a whole month and not deal with some sort of infirmary around here. Before I begin the story of my drama for the day, I apologize that I informed almost nobody that this was even going on. Tra was out of town so I talked to him a lot of the day. And I'm sorry to all my friends/family who might read this and it will be the first you heard of it.

Last night Tra left to go out of town---actually out of country. He was on a short business trip to Mexico. So of course, I'm getting Jack ready for bed and realize he is HOT! Running 101. That's it though. Happy, smiling, typical Jack. Slept all night, still running fever this morning. Call dr. and they squeeze me in at 9:20 at my request to check his ears to rule out infection. Of course I have a hair cut at 10am b/c they are supposed to be at school. Cancel hair cut. Fight tears---it's WAY past due. Take Hayley to school, realize I don't have wallet when I contemplate driving through Starbucks, call doctor to tell them I don't have wallet and they say come anyway. Go to Dr. VERY hungry, craving coffee, needing gum that is in my purse at home. Try to find a way to look at the positive side of the morning so far. Struggle. Late to doctor. Nice receptionist---thanked God for her b/c I might have broken down if she was tacky. Contemplated asking her for money for coffee. Called my in-laws hoping I could go by after apptmt. and borrow money. No answer. See doctor. Ears clear. He feels around on his stomach---do you ever wonder what they're feeling for exactly? Today I found out one thing---an enlarged spleen. Are you kidding? I thought we had an ear infection. Doctor (who I'm a HUGE fan of by the way) says he wants to do bloodwork. I ask what it could be? He said most likely viral--like mono. And there are other things, but he'd talk to me about it after he got bloodwork results this afternoon and said, "Don't go home and look it up on the internet." Traumatize Jack w/ taking blood---although after all of Hayley's cathedars it was a piece of cake! He doesn't know how easy he actually had it today. Go home, feed Jack breakfast (late--thought I had money in car) put him down for nap. Go to computer (you didn't know I was so rebellious!) and look up "enlarged spleen." BAD IDEA. My heart sank. I saw the words leukemia and lymphoma. Needless to say you can imagine the state I was in the remainder of the day. I was supposed to hear back from Dr. by lunch(ish), he left message at home while we were picking up Hayley. I call back I felt like 500 times (only 2) and finally hear back a little after 5. Dr. says he was worried it could be leukemia but that it looks like it is not. (Deep breaths--thank you God, thank you God!) He has low white blood cell count but his platelet count looks good and he isn't anemic (sp?). If the latter 2 were off, we would have a problem. So he thinks it looks like mono. I didn't know 14 month olds got mono. He called a hematology oncologist to talk w/ him about the case and that guy agreed it sounded viral (mono). We're checking blood again Thursday. We're feeling pretty good about things and expect to see things looking better next week and not worse. Those few hours today were by far the scariest, most stressful of my life so far. And I've had some scary hours in my life. It was hard on both of us to have Tra gone during the time of waiting. So pray for Jack---his eyes look tired but he acts pretty normal. I'm thinking his throat hurts b/c he's not eating great or drinking as much as he usually does. We're going to do some smoothies tomorrow! Lots of vitamin C!

This is the day that the Lord has made! I will REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. It was hard to do at times throughout the day, but I will drift off to sleep with rejoicing in my heart tonight. And I will say an extra prayer of God's comfort and peace to all the moms and dads that heard the words today that their child DOES have leukemia. And for the ones in the midst of it---treatments, etc. Oh Father----COME QUICKLY!!!

My Courageous Girl!

Hayley's procedure went as smoothly as we prayed it would today! The staff was wonderful. The doctor was an hour late this morning, which meant we got there at 6am for a surgery time of 7:30ish and didn't go back to surgery until 9ish. Thankfully we came prepared w/ the portable DVD player, a new sticker book and a 38 cent bracelet that you would think was $380 as excited as she was about it! She was a trooper and handled everything beautifully. She was fussy from anesthesia and hurting from about 10:30-11:30, but by noon she was back to her old self! She has been napping since about 1:30 and it is 3:00 now. I'm so glad to have this part behind us. Now we just have to gear up for the VCUG in 3 months to see if this thing worked. In my opinion, the VCUG is one of the CRUELEST tests out there for little kids. I wish they could find a less traumatic way to check for kidney reflux. For those who do not know what it is, the kids have to be wide awake and have a cathedar inserted to fill up the bladder with dye. Then they take 5-6 x-rays as they pee the dye back out. Last time it took Tra, a nurse and me to hold her down as she was screaming, etc. SO I am not too excited about repeating that scenario. But the good news is I know exactly what to expect now and maybe this time Tra and I won't be as traumatized.

We are so thankful for Hayley's health and we know that this is VERY minor in comparison to a lot of other things that she could be dealing with. But as many times as I remind myself about that, my heart still can't help but ache as I have to watch my baby go through physical pain over and over again. I think it is really cool that the spiritual meaning of "Hayley" is "Courageous." And that she is! What a comfort it was today to know that as she left our arms and we went to the waiting room, she was being held by the GREAT PHYSICIAN in the operating room. Praising God for His peace that passes all understanding, strength and courage that he provided us all with today!

Happy Birthday!

Today is a special day---Tra's 30th Birthday! 2 of the girls at work (Chalyse and Melissa) surprised him w/ a small party at the office this afternoon. I brought Hayley and Jack up and a homemade carrot cake (his favorite) and he was surprised! Hayley and Jack picked out balloons at the store for him yesterday to bring to the party. Hayley chose a hot pink balloon w/ high heel shoes, a purse, and lipstick on it. : ) Ya gotta love little girls! I wish I could take some time right now to write down 30 things I love about Tra, but it's almost dinner time and Hayley is being very quiet in the other room---which always makes me a tad nervous. : ) I will say that I love my husband more today than I EVER have and I LOVE being his wife. We are a great team. So different in so many ways, which enables us to strike a pretty good balance in our marriage. I love sharing this journey of life with him, I love watching him with our kids and watching them LOVE him so much, I love going to dinner with him, watching 24, The Office and Lost with him, going to movies (a whopping 2 this year so far!) and I love seeing his goofy, silly side and at the same time have long talks about stuff that matters. Mostly I LOVE how much he loves the Lord and how he strives to be in His will for our lives. It makes him an easy person to submit to! (most of the time!) : ) It is such a huge blessing to be in love with my best friend. I don't thank God for the gift of him enough!!

A quick update on Hayley---we ended up scheduling her procedure for Friday, so we would appreciate your prayers for her that day! I am having a hard time figuring out how to order my pictures---blogger has a mind of his own most of the time. Anyway---here are Jack and Hayley helping to make the carrot cake.

Everyone is singing Happy Birthday here.

Attempting to blow out the "trick" candles. Pretty funny!

It was a happy birthday!

Big Day. . .

I met w/ Hayley's urologist today and she has an opening Wednesday to do the procedure to try to correct the kidney reflux. So since the next available wasn't until July, we jumped on it. I'm glad it worked out this way. Otherwise I'd have it hanging over my head for months. So please say a prayer that it works the FIRST time and that there are no complications w/ anesthesia and that I will TRUST God and not be anxious. He cares about her more than I do---which amazes me everytime I think about it.

Funny Hayley story---at the mall on Saturday she was walking along beside me when she suddenly stopped, stuck her hand down her pants and pulled out what appeared to be a cell phone b/c she "opened" it. (it was actually nothing---she was pretending) She proceeded to put it up to her ear and say, "Hello?" Then she kept walking and was talking and saying things like, "Okay. Yeah. I'm just going to go play on the slide, and . . . uh huh. Yeah." I said, "Who are you talking to?" She took the phone away from her ear, looked at me like, "You're interrupting my conversation--how rude," and then said very seriously, "I'm talking to Chesley." She talked a little more, said bye, flipped the "phone" down and stuck it back in her pants. It was the funniest thing I've seen her do in awhile. I LOVE this age!!!

Goldfish Anyone??

Apparantly Hayley doesn't get enough to eat around here and gets some serious cases of the munchies. Each of these pictures are taken on different days. I've got to give her credit for thinking to keep the floor clean.

I happened upon this scene one morning. I had been upstairs in her room trying to clean out her closet. She had gone downstairs to "play".

Caught in the act!

Encouragement. . .

The other day Hayley got very frustrated with me about something---most likely that I would not let her touch one of her new DVD's (or as she says, "DDD's"). She yelled and threw a fit on the floor. I went through the whole discipline routine and we went about our day. I'm going to be VERY vulnerable here and admit that I have a tendancy to lose my temper with her more than I wish. It is the thorn in my flesh that HURTS and I HATE it. I pray all the time for God to take this away from me. It is something that has been passed down for several generations in my family and I want to break the cycle. No one deserves to be talked to in an ugly tone of voice--especially my 2 year old daughter. So you can pray for me about this! But on with the story. . . I feel so guilty about this sin in my life so often and live under a spirit of condemnation and worry that she's going to have this picture of me in her head when she grows up being so ugly. Well, that day she came to me a little bit later and said in a sweet little voice, "Mom, I sorry I lose my temper." And the Lord spoke to my heart after she said that and said, "You are not perfect, nor will you ever be. Just make sure that you continue to model to her how to admit you are wrong and how to ask forgiveness. That is key for her salvation." One thing my mom was SO good about was coming to us after she did lose her temper and say, "I am so sorry I lost my temper. You do not deserve to be talked to that way. Will you please forgive me?" So that's something I have tried to do too, but now I will do even more of after that little conversation with God. Our kids, as much as we hate to admit it, really do need to see us making mistakes and asking either for their forgiveness or for others' forgiveness and especially God's forgiveness. Just thought I'd pass this along in the hopes I've used the Lord's encouragement to me to encourage someone else.

Quick funny story that my mom loves to tell about me---When I was 2 she came to me one night before bed and said, "Shelly, I am sorry I got so frustrated with you earlier. Do you forgive me?" I answered, "Nope, but God does."

Psalm 103 continued. . .

An update on sweet Hayley. Sunday things went from good to really bad again. We were sent to the emergency room with her Sunday night b/c she was hurting so badly and hadn't urinated from around 10am until 8pm. Long story short, we took her over to the urologist's office in Dallas this afternoon, had to do ANOTHER cathedar to get more urine b/c the results from Thursday's culture were negative (just got those this morning). The nurse's words were, "She has a raging infection." It has been a very traumatic day for all of us. I believe God was merciful to Hayley on Saturday by giving her a day of relief from her pain. We are still, of course, praising His Name as much today as we were Saturday when we thought she was okay. I keep thinking of the story of the "fiery furnace" when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to the king, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

The Lord did not heal Hayley completely from her infection or (as far as we know) from her kidney reflux. . .yet. We believe with our whole hearts that He will. Our prayer is that He will heal her before she has to go through the surgery to correct her reflux. We believe He can. We also know that it could be His plan for us to go down the road of doing the surgery. Please pray for us to be in tune with God's direction and wisdom regarding that decision, and that we will use this as an opportunity to tell nurses, doctors, people in waiting rooms, about what a MIGHTY God we serve and that others will come to know Him or grow closer to Him after encountering our family.

On a lighter note. . . I have the most INCREDIBLE sister in law. I actually have 3 of them, but today I am talking specifically about Tara. She has come to my rescue with keeping Jack twice over the last few days while we have taken Hayley to dr.'s appointments at a moment's notice. She has totally dropped what she was doing to help us out and met us with a smile on her face at the door as we blew in and out like a tornado trying to get to the doctor and then home again. She never complains or acts like it is any kind of inconvenience to help out. What a BLESSING to have that sweet woman in our lives. (her husband and son aren't all that bad either) : )

She lives out the verse, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men," Col. 3:23

What a gift you are in my life! I love you, Tara!

Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits---Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercy. (verses 1-4)

Thank you for praying. We truly believe that the Lord has healed Hayley of whatever the problem was on Thursday. She was back to normal Friday and has done great all weekend. We'll get the results from the culture on Monday, but as of Friday nothing had started growing. All glory and praise to Jesus Christ alone!

Prayers Needed. . .

I picked Hayley up from school today and she was burning up. I got her home and the fever was 105. She was just limp and wouldn't talk. She would only shake her head yes or no. THANKING God for Motrin!! It brought the fever down and she came alive again. Took her to the dr. and had her tested for flu (negative) and had the traumatic experience of cathedarizing her (I wasn't allowed in the room, but could hear her screaming down the hall----ripped my heart out) and the urine test was also negative. We will get results from the urine culture w/in the next 48 hours. I'm almost certain it is a UTI (urinary tract infection). She has kidney reflux and is on a low dose of antibiotics daily. It is hurting her to go potty SO badly. She just screams in pain. Thankfully tonight after she woke up in hysterics b/c she had to go to the bathroom and couldn't I thought about putting her in the bath (thank you, God, for that thought!) and she was able to go potty and feel better immediately.

So---please pray for the doctors' wisdom. Pray that her urologist can get her in quickly when I call in the morning. Pray for peace for Tra and me. It is SO HARD to watch your baby in SO much pain!!! And pray for COMPLETE HEALING. We believe God can heal her kidney reflux and we are boldly asking for that. I am so thankful that it is not something worse or life-threatening. But it is still gut-wrenching to see her hurt so badly. : (

A Big Week

Hayley decided this was going to be the week to potty train! I've been working with her on it for several months but I have let her just go when whe wanted to. My plan was to take year #2 to familiarize her with it and by this summer if she wasn't potty trained I would hit it harder. I think it was peer pressure at her school/BSF/church that led her to this decision. She has had dry pull-ups every day this week! Today she wore big girl panties all day (except for our trip to the mall---pull-ups) . It is a big adjustment for me trying to train myself to start asking, "Do you need to go potty?" everytime we leave the house.

Jack decided tonight was the night to start self-feeding! The boy will NOT put anything in his mouth on his own---until tonight. I put a piece of cheese on his tray at dinner thinking, "Maybe tonight will be the night." Sure enough, he just picked it up and put it in his mouth like he had been doing it his whole life! My jaw hit the ground! I gave him another piece and he did it again! WE CELEBRATED in the Willbanks' home this evening!

So that is 2 pretty major milestones all in one week. My children have this thing with wanting to do things their own way in their own time. We're not sure where they got that! : )

Jack's latest weird quirky behavior is wanting to be up on the couch and bury his face in the pillows. He is not happy anywhere else. He'll just throw his head in the pillows and lay really still for a few seconds and then pop up and look at us with this look like, "Am I not hilarious???" He'll occaisionally laugh at himself. What a stitch! Oh---he has also started crawling on his hands and knees over the past couple of weeks too! The army crawl is still his favorite, but if you watch him long enough he'll bust out into a full-on crawl! It is wild to watch the transition from baby to little boy!!

The other day, Hayley randomly said, "I like your earrings, mom." It was the first time I had ever heard her voice her own opinion on something. So cute! Actually, I take it back. One day in October or November I went in to wake her up one morning and she said, "I not like that shirt, mama! Take it off!!" I'm sure that won't be the first time in her life that she doesn't like my outfit! : )

Tra came home from work early today with a stomach ache. It has turned into an UGLY stomach BUG. I'm PRAYING it doesn't get me, Hayley, Jack, or anyone else at Anchor. YUCK.

Last thing: Hayley's latest thing is going into Jack's room when she wakes up and getting into bed with him. It's so sweet to see them play together and love each other!

One Year Old. . .

I am several days late with this birthday post to Jack (it was on the 23rd) but better late than never. It is so hard to believe you are ONE year old! My memories of the day you were born are still so vivid. I remember being so surprised at how FAST you were born! I had Oprah on at 4:00 and I was visiting with Poppy and daddy and at 4:30 I started feeling LOTS of pressure. You I only had to push a few times and you were OUT by 4:57! I remember the fear in my heart as the nurses suctioned out all the junk in your mouth over and over and told us they needed to take you to the NICU. You just looked SO perfect and I just wanted to hold you and not let go!!! Daddy and I prayed over you before we handed you over to the nurses and as quickly as you got here, you were gone. The next 3 hours were so strange not getting to be with you. I remember being so thankful that you were going to be okay and crying for my friends who have had to give their babies back to the Lord for good. The Lord used that moment in my life to give me a window into the hearts of these friends. Although I have never had to experience giving one of my babies back to the Lord, I had a very small glimpse of how much it has to hurt. My heart hurt so much giving you to those nurses, and that was a fraction of what my precious friends have felt.

What a BLESSING you are, precious Jack. Your little smile appeared within your first month and hasn't gone away! You have such a sweet disposition. My favorite memories with you during the past year are lots of nights rocking you (one of the last things my grandma said to me before she went to be with Jesus is, "You rock those babies!!" so sometimes I even go in and get you after you are asleep and rock you some more!), watching you suck that thumb and play with your ear with your other hand, seeing your face light up when you see your sister and your daddy, hearing you take deep breaths and seeing that big smile when a cool breeze (sometimes a cold gust) hits your face, watching you army crawl EVERYWHERE (crawling on your hands and knees is SO overrated!), putting you to bed at night and having you be fidgity and fussy until I start singing and you immediately relax and snuggle up to me EVERY time. My list could go on and on. You are a joy to your dad, sister and me and to SO many others. God has such a great plan for your life. You will be such a mighty warrior for Him and I am confident that the Lord will use you to bring multitudes to know and serve our Almighty God. Like the scripture says on your wall, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 The Lord will direct you and lead you in ways that are hard to understand at times. It won't always make a lot of sense in your mind and you might not want to follow His lead. Follow Him. Seek HIS face ALWAYS. TRUST HIM COMPLETELY. He is the only one in your world who will NEVER let you down. He will NEVER fail you. Take time to BE STILL before HIM, and LISTEN to HIM. As much as your dad and I love you, HE loves you even MORE!!

What a wonderful, fun first year! I love and adore you more and more every day. Next to your dad, you and Hayley are the greatest gifts in my life. I'm looking forward to year #2 with you! Walking, talking, talking back----not YOU???!!! I love you forever. . .

My New Hobby. . .

I think I've finally found a hobby that Tra will not steal from me. . .online scrapbooking!! I have never gotten into scrapbooking. I tried when Hayley was born and got through her 8th month or so. I just have a really hard time really getting into scrapbooking---getting ALL the stuff out, making a huge mess and having to clean it all up before the kids get into it. Take it out, put it up, take it out, put it up, etc. For Jack's birthday (which was yesterday. . .birthday post coming soon) I made a Kodak Easyshare book for him on the internet. I did his whole first year in 3 days or so. It was probably a total of 5-6 hours that I spent on the whole thing. And I LOVE it. Well, my friend Ashley told me about a website that is online scrapbooking---backgrounds, tons of layouts, places to journal, etc. It is www.picaboo.com and I cannot begin to describe how excited I am about it! I've already started on a little 1st Birthday book for Jack and it is so much fun! No scissors, no bits of paper, no mess!! I was so excited I had to share! Also, you can email the books out on this website and you can't on Kodak's (as far as I can tell). So for anyone out there who is interested in this stuff (Courtney), you have to check it out!

Cousins. . .

I should be in bed, but was just looking through some pictures and had to post some of these. It's wild to think that this time last year we only had Hayley and at Christmas this year we had Hayley, Jack, Adalyn and Scout! These little cousins have so much fun together and love to play with and on each other! What a joy they are to us all!

Jack (11 mos.) and Adalyn (8 mos.) smiling for the camera.

"What are y'all lookin' at?" This is Jack's favorite thing to do with Scout (6 mos.)

Hayley (2) is reading everyone a bedtime story. We did not make this happen---we looked over and yelled, "Get the camera!"

This is what happens when we try to line them up for a picture. Notice Jack is crawling over Scout AGAIN. Will we even be able to make all 4 stay still long enough to get a picture of them together next Christmas??? : )

Another year. . .

It was time for a change. I'm in a blue mood for 2007. Started out pink in 05, green in 06. I'm liking the blue. It is wild to think 2006 is over! Thinking about this time last year: I was LARGE pregnant and anticipating the arrival of our precious boy, Hayley had only been walking for 3 months, we had just moved to our new house, and so many more changes were ahead of us. I'm anxious (in a good way) to see what 2007 has in store for our family of 4. I was taking the ornaments off our tree today thinking about this time next year and how very different things will be around here. Jack will be weeks away from turning 2 years old and Hayley will be almost 3 1/2. It's hard to imagine!

Our Christmas was wonderful. It started out w/ Tra's family and ended up with mine. It was the first time since 2003 that I had gotten to be w/ my family for Christmas at my parents' house. It was SO good to be with everyone again. 2004 Tra was too sick to travel and 2005 I wasn't allowed to travel. It was fun w/ Tra's family to see all the kids. None of them were terribly "into" Christmas this year. I thought Hayley would be more into it, but she so was not. She IS enjoying her new toys though---even if she seemed like she could care less at the time she opened them. One of my favorite memories of this Christmas was being at Richland Hills on Christmas Eve morning for the candlelight service and there were about 5 baptisms afterwards. Hayley always goes to her class during service times but the kids don't have classes at the Christmas Eve service, so she had never seen a baptism until then. It totally left a huge impact on her. I think she has talked about it every day since. She'll randomly say, "Remember when that boy got ba-tized? He just JUMPED in that water and got soakin' wet!" And I'll say, "He said, 'Hey everybody!! I. . " and she finishes w/ ". . .love JESUS!!" Last night she brought it up again and she said, "And then it will be Hayley's turn to jump in that water!" I told her I couldn't WAIT for it to be her turn! SOOOOO precious.

I'll end this post w/ some of my favorite things Hayley has said lately. Obviously the baptism thing was one of my favorites!

"I need a wipe-a-towel!" (paper towel to wipe off her hands/face)

She'll cover Jack's head w/ a blanket and say, "Jackin in the box. . . PEEK-A-BOO!!!" The other day Tra goes, "Hayley in the box, peek a boo!" She goes, "Not Hayley!! JACKIN!!" Jackin???

Jack threw his sippy cup off his high chair the other day. She walked over calmly, picked up his cup, put it on his tray and said, "That's not a good idea, Buddy."

If she sees something out of place she'll laugh and say, "Where did come THAT from???"

We pass a donut place we go to occasionally and she says w/o prompting: "Donuts are too sugary. They'll make my tummy hurt. They're not good for you." I followed that statement the other day w/ "Yea, they're not healthy." She followed that with, "No. But M&M's are healthy!"

We were at my cousin's wedding and she went up to this little boy who was about 6 and patted him sweetly on his arm and said, "Hi little boy! You're so sweet!" You know that "little boy" loved that!

I could go on, but I'll stop for now. Praying for an extra BLESSED 2007 for all of us! Happy New Year!

Catching up. . .

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post! This time of year is too crazy. I'm finding myself looking forward to the new year and slowing down a little! But at the same time I want to savor every moment of this Christmas w/ my 11 month old and 2 year old! Hayley is understanding a little more about Christmas this year but not 100% into it, of course. She loves decorating and re-decorating the bottom half of the Christmas tree. Most of the time half of the ornaments are missing. I'll find them random places like under couch cushions. : ) We've finally made the successful transition to the big girl bed. Grant it, we do lock her in her room for now, but it works and we all get sleep. We've had lots of family time this month w/ my side of the family. One of my cousins got married 2 weekends ago and last weekend was our family Christmas lunch w/ my dad's side of the family in Dallas. It was interesting as usual.
Jack is going to be 11 months on the 23rd. I can't even believe he is almost ONE! He is an absolute JOY in our lives. He is the happiest kid I've ever known. He LOVES his sister and vice versa. He is happy w/ his style of crawling (army crawl) and has no desire to do things like everyone else does them. He loves naps, wheels, and playing outside!

I'm assuming I won't have a chance to blog again before Christmas, so Merry Christmas everyone!

The saga continues. . .

Yesterday at naptime Hayley mastered the art of climbing out of her crib. She did it over and over and over. It is actually very impressive---she can get out of it in a matter of seconds! So as of naptime yesterday she is officially in her big girl bed! Once she went to sleep last night she stayed in bed until 6:30am! I know it will just get easier and easier as the days go by. Hard to believe I have such a big girl already!! I'm so proud of her, but not nearly as proud of her as she is of herself! : )

EAT MORE PIE DAY!

From Judy (my mom):
I have officially declared November 7 "Peggy Baldwin Eat-More-Pie Day". Mom would have been 82 tomorrow--what better way to celebrate than to give ourselves permission to eat a big old piece of pie and make a toast (with a cup of coffee, of course) to her on her day!

Anyone who has been craving a bite of something sweet, here is your chance to indulge with no guilt! My mom sent this email out yesterday. We will be having my grandma's infamous Chocolate Merangue Pie over here this evening. She is dearly loved and missed terribly, but oh what a time she is having right now with our Jesus and the other saints who have gone ahead of us. I don't know if we will celebrate our earthly birthdays in heaven anymore, but it is a sweet thought that this is her first b-day with her mom in a really long time. So join us in having a little pie today in memory of my sweet grandma!

One step forward, two steps back. . .

At 3:00am last night I put Hayley's crib back together. Let's just say thunderstorms and a yucky cough do not mix with transitioning to a big girl bed. And sleep deprived mamas are just no fun. We're all looking forward to a good night of sleep this evening. Stay tuned for round 3---whenever we get gutsy enough to give it another try. : ) I'm open for any suggestions from other moms out there who have had smooth transitions, or rough ones that ended up working out eventually with no one harmed in the process. : )

My Little Tigers!

I have a very hard time getting into Halloween. Part of it is that I was raised with a mother who talked every year about how SHE hated it. I didn't understand what the big deal was as a young child, but now I totally appreciate her perspective on the "holiday." I really don't want my kids participating in a holiday that promotes evil. I have some friends who don't participate in any way during this holiday---no parties, no Fall Festival, nothing. Tra's family didn't trick or treat when they were little. We did, but we never wore scary costumes. I'm glad the churches in the area do Fall Festivals so that there is a safe place to go where Christian music is playing and there are not SUPPOSED to be scary costumes. ( I saw one this year and wanted to ask the guy to remove the mask.) It is fun to see the little kids in cute little costumes. This is one of the first years that I not only understood completely why those who choose not to participate don't participate, but I have great respect for that decision. I guess the bottom line is that you have do do what you feel convicted by the Holy Spirit to do with your own family. And to my friends who do not do Halloween---you know who you are---I am very proud of you for sticking with your convictions and graciously declining all parties, festivals, etc. The Lord has enabled you to do that without anyone else feeling judged in any way--at least from my perspective.

Anyway--on to another subject. HAYLEY!! We have had a huge weekend over here. We removed the front rail from Hayley's crib and tried the big girl bed again! This time, IT WORKED! She kind of has a hard time getting comfortable with going to sleep, but once she's out, she's out for good! The first time we tried this she was up ALL NIGHT, literally. It was awful. This time, she has slept w/o tears until 7am for 2 nights in a row!! We are so proud of her and are excited about this new transition and how smothly it is going.

One more funny Hayley story---one of her new favorite words is Hallelujah! We were watching "God Made Christmas" (DVD) the other day and one of the songs on it is Handel's Messiah and I, of course, sing along with it. So later that day we were strolling through Target (getting a new blanket to put on her big girl bed) and she was singing, "Halle-loo-uh! Halle-loo-uh!. . . " over and over and over. It was so precious! Christmas is going to be extra fun this year! I can't wait!

More Than a Mailbox. . .

Is anyone else out there tired of waiting in LONG lines at the post office? If you live in the Keller area I have found a GREAT solution. . .More Than a Mailbox in the Albertson's parking lot off of 377 and North Tarrant is the GREATEST place ever to mail packages. I walked in, there was no line, the lady politely asked how she could help me and SMILED, I handed her my item to ship that was not packaged, she took it and immediately went to find a box and carefully packed it FOR ME without any grumbling, I paid, she gave Hayley a lollipop and we were on our way! It was almost too easy. And as a bonus for all you scrapbook lovers, there is a ton of scrapbooking stuff in there---a whole wall of paper, stickers, etc. It's no Scrapbook Warehouse, but definitely has a good selection of stuff. They also have a table with books for kids to play and some toys. I will never go to the post office again!! This place is incredible!

My baby boy is 9 months old today. I do not have any pictures b/c my camera is broken and is the item I shipped off today. I REALLY hope we get it back by Thanksgiving!! Anyway---back to Jack. He seems to change every day lately. Last week he started crawling. He does the army crawl thing where he pretty much drags his legs behind him. I saw him do it for the first time and started boo-hooing! I have not been too emotional at Hayley's milestones for some reason. Jack's, on the other hand, I just can't hold myself together. I think it is b/c it just doesn't seem like he should be this old! Time has gone SO much faster with him than it did with Hayley when she was at the baby stage. He is such a JOY to all of us and I can't imagine my life without my happy baby boy!

Anyone else not looking forward to the time change this weekend? Before children, it was GREAT! Fall back--you get an hour more to sleep! But to my dismay last year, I realized Hayley got up at 7:00ish in the mornings, which is now 6:00ish after the time change. Her little body clock didn't automatically change. So this Sunday could be the first of many days for awhile that we are eating breakfast by 7:00 and it feels like it should be naptime at 9:00am! : )

Speaking of naptime, ours is over. : ( Time to begin the 2nd half of my day! Thank you, God, for naptime!!

Good-Bye Paci!

Last week was a monumental one at the Willbanks' household. Hayley bid farewell to her paci after never sleeping a night or a nap without it for 2 solid years. She has a chipped front tooth (a whole blog entry in itself) that is now very sharp. She gnawed halfway through her paci after her nap the other day. I hadn't planned on weaning her from it yet, but when I saw she could actually bite through the thing and potentially swallow it, I realized I had no choice but to tell her to throw it away and say good-bye for good. I have been AMAZED at how easy this transition has been. She still asks for it at bedtime but doesn't pitch a fit when I tell her they're all gone and we had to throw them away. She goes to sleep just fine. It has been wonderful to have it be this easy! She'll say, "I want paci and blankie! (And then looks at me with a silly face and says in a silly voice) Not paci!! Just blankie." I told her she could keep blankie when she sleeps as long as she wants. It will be interesting to see how long she holds on to that. My baby is growing up! I have a feeling Jack's thumb will be another story. : )

Waiting Patiently. . .

To read about a real-life encounter with an angel, click on Courtney's Blog.

Summer has a similar story on hers too.

I LOVE it when the Lord reveals Himself to us in such sweet, wonderful ways. He must know we are all needing faith-building this week. It is so hard to see friends hurting!! Our sweet friend Christine has been in the PIT over the past couple of weeks. It is very hard to pray for God to heal and have to wait and wait and wait on His timing. But we all know that He is Faithful. He loves Christine and Matt and Jack, the Tyndalls and the Pinsons. He will never leave them or forsake them. He does hear our every cry to Him about precious Christine. He has provided her with this new team of doctors in Dallas who are hopefully as I write this finished with her procedure and she may finally get on the road to full recovery. We love you, Christine!! We love being available to help you and your family out during this time too. So many of us have talked about it and what a complete JOY it is to get to cook for your family, sit with you, keep Jack, or whatever we need to do. You are loved more than you know and you are prayed for multiple times each day (if not each hour of each day!!) I have no doubt that the same angels (if not Jesus Himself!) that Hayley and Ava have talked about this week are just as visible to your sweet Jack---especially during this time while you are away from him. As God is healing you, He is also providing your baby with a peace and a comfort we can't even begin to see or imagine! Praising Him for who He is and thanking Him in advance for answering our prayers for you! He's got you and has already begun to lift you out of the pit. We will be anxious to literally hear the new song He puts in your mouth, dear friend! May this time be used to bring others to fully know the Lord and His power and strength by seeing how He works in YOU!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Catching up. . .

Lots to catch up on for the month of September. We had a small group over for Hayley's birthday this month---it was originally scheduled for her actual b-day on Aug. 30 but she got a stomach bug the night before, so we had to reschedule for later. I was glad we did---it was a fun day.

It is strange to me how blogger has good days and bad days with uploading pictures. Today is apparantly a bad day.

Anyway, on with my news from the month. Tra had a routine CT scan and all looks great! Praising God for another good report!

Jack had surgery Thursday to remove the cyst above his eye. He had to go under, but the surgery was only 20 minutes and he was an angel waking up from it. I was prepared to have a very unhappy baby, but he just snuggled down and ate his breakfast and went back to sleep! He is recovering really well too. The big bandage came off Sunday and the tape covering the incision comes off next Thursday! Thank you, God for a successful, uncomplicated surgery.

I am so excited that I get to keep my nephew, Scout, every Wednesday morning starting next week!! Tara is going to start BSF and Scout gets to come play with his cousins! We are all very excited and can't wait to spend Wednesdays with Scout. It is a perfect set up---they only live 3 miles away from us.

Tra is going on a work retreat this Thurs-Sat. and I am taking the kids to Austin Thursday through Sat. to see my parents and Papa Jack and Betty (my dad's dad and stepmom) They haven't seen Jack in person yet! Should be a great week! More pictures coming soon. . .

2 Peas in a Pod

I love these kids! I love it that they not only look close to identical, but that they also have similar facial expressions! It cracks me up. They are watching either BOZ or The Wiggles on tv in these pictures. I promise they don't do this all day. In fact these pictures make me want to limit the tv even more than I already do. : )

Happy Birthday, Hayley!

My baby girl is officially 2 years old as of last night at 9:31 pm. I had a little party planned for her and some of her friends/family yesterday at 11:00, but Tuesday night around 7:00 I was holding her in my lap while she was throwing up. It almost seems as if we are living under a little gray cloud of sickness as of about 2 years ago. Poor Hayley has had one thing after another for awhile now. We made the decision to cancel the party that night---no one wants to be in a house where a tummy bug is lurking. (Including me!!) She only got sick twice and was back to normal yesterday afternoon so it was just a 12 hour bug. We slept together on the couch Tuesday night and she actually went to sleep around 4:00am and was up playing with her toys at 7:00.

It ended up being a great birthday. I was super bummed not to have the party, but she was of course oblivious that anything would have gone on at all. My mom was here and they made banana bread yesterday morning. Then, while she napped from 10:30-1:30 I decided to go ahead and keep the balloon order b/c everyone needs balloons on their birthday!! When she got up from her nap she was so excited to see a living room full of balloons. Not ONLY were there balloons, there was a "Wiggles" balloon and a "Mickey Mouse" balloon! So funny what little it takes to totally make a toddler's day!

It is amazing to think that two years have gone by since I held that little 9 pound baby in my arms. Someone asked me if I was sad that she was 2---absolutely not!!! I LOVE this stage with her! Although it has its challenges (what stage doesn't?) every day is so much fun and filled with so much laughter and so much joy. I look forward to watching her grow this year and being amazed at how fast another year will go by. I'm enjoying each day, even the not so good days, as my heart continues to overflow with thankfulness to my God for the blesssing of my Hayley Brooke! I love you sweet girl! You are precious to me and even more precious to our God!

A Big Step. . .

It is a big day. Tonight we are leaving Hayley and Jack with their first non-family/friend real live babysitter. Tra and I have committed to start going out on dates every other Friday. I have been praying for awhile that God would lead us to a babysitter so that Tra and I could have more time together and not feel like we are imposing on our friends/family while we are out. God was faithful to lead us to not just one, but TWO girls who live minutes away from us, who are extremely reliable and responsible, and who are sophomores in high school! We get them both for 3 whole years!! I met them at church and already love them both dearly. I just finished typing out the 3 pages of instructions for sweet Jessica. I am a little nervous, but I know that everything will be just fine. I'm very thankful for cell phones. How did our parents leave us with babysitters and not have a way for them to be contacted most of the time?? YIKES!

I am so excited about being able to look forward to our new date nights. It is VERY easy to see how I could get so wrapped up in my kids that I could start putting them before Tra on my priority list. It is something I really struggle with and have to make a conscious effort to work on. My parents had date nights frequently growing up. I remember watching my mom get ready and putting on her "pretty" clothes and putting on her make up and smelling the scent of her perfume. I remember feeling really bummed out that they would leave, but the positive about that was that I felt good to know they liked going out together. It made me appreciate the times we all had family nights together too. I also remember, for the most part, liking my babysitters. It was kind of fun to have new routines when my parents were gone. I know they left instructions, but would you really be a fun babysitter if you followed them completely?? : )

Alright---time to go and figure out what to wear on my date tonight!!

Doctors. . .

Rejoicing today that we live in an area with such wonderful doctors! Hayley had her first appointment with her pediatric urologist today and we loved her. Not only did she answer questions about Hayley's refulx, she also solved a problem that we needed solved about a year and a half ago. I even remember blogging about this problem a LONG time ago---Hayley's constipation issues. Without being too graphic, the x-rays that we were looking at today showed that she is SEVERELY backed up. We were given a prescription for her constipation as well as hope that we should have a much happier baby girl once that junk gets moving. Hayley is a pretty happy kid overall, but some of you who have spent a lot of time with her lately might see what I'm talking about when I say she has random moments of extreme clinginess/ fussiness/irritability. It has just seemed so strange b/c it isn't "typical" for her. As I told the dr. today, I know she is almost 2 and that 2 year olds tend to be fussy sometimes, but I am anxious to see how she acts once her poor little tummy feels better. For more detailed info, feel free to inquire in person. I'll spare the random readers the description of my kid's bowels. : )

We take Jack to his surgeon on Thursday for a consultation. He has a cyst above his right eye (left if you're looking at him) that he was born with. It keeps getting bigger and will continue to do so. So between the 2 of them, we will most likely be doing 2 surgeries in the next few months. Tra and I need to decide what to do for Hayley---we do have an option of no surgery YET but it doesn't seem like a great option. What would I do if I didn't have full confidence in my God right now? I know He will give us wisdom in our decision making and that He will bring them both through their surgeries triumphantly. (if He doesn't heal them before)

I'm so thankful for my healthy babies and God continues to gently remind me that He is in control and keeps my perspective in check. The other day after walking through Cook's in Fort Worth and seeing some REALLY sick babies, I asked Him, "I know I've gone through some tough stuff, but how could I EVER handle having such a sick, sick baby?" Immediately I felt like He said, "You would handle it just fine. I would carry you right through it, just like I always have before." It was a sweet moment. What a MIGHTY, LOVING, PRECIOUS God we serve!

News. . .

Pictures are on the way of our night at The Wiggles, but it might be a week or so before I get them up. Check out Courtney's blog to get a report. It was so much fun!!

The big news of the week around here was that Hayley went tee-tee in the potty for the first time this week. She has a little "Winnie the Pooh" potty that several times a day she will ask to go sit on. She strips down, takes her diaper off and says, "I need to poop on the potty!" This has gone on for a few weeks now. We've done lots of running around with no clothes on lately. It's too exhausting to put her all back together, only to have her strip down within minutes. Well, one of my college roommates (Rae Hanan Boswell) was over with her little girl Macy last Tuesday (Aug. 1) when Hayley was sitting on her potty. After I told Rae that I hoped she didn't actually potty train until closer to 3 b/c I don't want to have to deal with stopping EVERY place we go to go "potty" I heard a noise coming from the bathroom. She did it! She tee-teed on the potty! We celebrated with her and called daddy and her grandparents to tell them the exciting news. She went twice the next day---once she came running out yelling, "I DID IT!!!!" and the other time she just went and then went about her day without telling me she went. I discovered it later when I was in the bathroom. It is apparantly not something she is 100% ready for b/c she hasn't gone since Wednesday. Ohhh, the things that we mommies get excited about. : )

Finally, for anyone interested there are pictures of Jack and Hayley up from his 6 month sitting. They can be found at www.memorablemomentsphotography.com Password: tra
I love Kristin, our photographer (and most of yours!) She is awesome. I am always amazed at how she totally captures their little personalities. It's hard to believe we're over halfway through his first year!

5 years ago today. . .

. . . at 2:00 in the afternoon I became Mrs. John D Willbanks III. (or as most of you know, Mrs. Tra Willbanks) I will never forget those double doors opening, everyone standing, and being so overwhelmed by the multitude of people at our wedding. I remember my dad whispering, "Walk slow---we're only doing this once." I got so overwhelmed by all of the people (around 600) that I didn't even see Tra until I had already started down the aisle. My "words of wisdom" to all brides are to take a minute before you begin walking down the aisle to stand there, take it all in, look down to see your groom (who is breathtaken by you, by the way), and THEN start your walk down the aisle to him. Our wedding was perfect---even with the whole unity candle fiasco. Five years ago as I was preparing to stand at that altar and promise to God, Tra and all of our friends and family that I would honor him and love him for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad until death parted us I sure didn't realize all that would entail in our first 3 years of marriage, much less 5. What a joy it is to go through this journey of life with my best friend. What a blessing it is to know that he loves me in spite of all of my faults and weaknesses. What a precious example he is to me of Jesus---who knows even MORE of my faults and won't only love me in spite of them, but who died for me because of them so that I could spend eternity with my Father in Heaven.

I wonder if Hayley would mind if I popped in our wedding video this morning instead of watching The Wiggles??

It's OVER!

YUCK. I am so happy to have that test behind us. Hayley was a trooper. There were a couple of times that I thought I was going to lose it. She was crying sooo hard laying on that x-ray table as they were prepping her. Then later when we were trying to get her to tee-tee the dye out I was next to her ear whispering, "Can you whisper?" hoping it would help her calm down and relax enough to go potty. She started whispering through her gasps of air (she was soooo worked up by now), "Mama, hold you. Mama, hold you." Keep it together, mama! It was almost too much for my heart to take. I was so thankful Tra was there with me. He held her little arms and had the idea to put her hand in warm water to help her go potty. YEA, daddy! What ever would we do without da-da?? Afterwards we went to get the meal of choice for Hayley---DONUTS!! Whatever she wants, she gets today. This afternoon after naps (mom included in the naps today) we're going to go ride the ducky merrigoround at the mall and have "Chicken and spinach" for dinner from Boston Market. (her favorite dinner) I'm trying very hard to help the worst day of her life so far be just a little bit better.

Thanks for the prayers, advice, calls and emails! I'm so thankful for my wonderful friends/family who prayed for us (again) and who would keep praying again and again. What would I do without you?? Tara--thanks again for keeping Jack for us. He always has fun with you and Scout. (and Dwight when he's home!)

Random Thoughts. . .

Diet Drinks---Over all I hate them. I drank Diet Coke for years but never really liked it. I just didn't want to get cavities or gain weight from drinking Coke (which I LOVE). I was so excited to have an excuse not to drink Diet Coke when I got pregnant with Hayley and I started drinking Root Beer or Sprite b/c no caffeine. Well, recently I've discovered Diet Root Beer. If you like Root Beer, you would like Diet Root Beer too. I think it is the only diet drink that tastes almost exactly like the real thing. No caffeine, no sugar, and not quite as sweet as the real root beer but that's one thing I like about it.

It is funny to me that with Hayley I couldn't wait for her to do the next new thing when she was a baby. Now with Jack it's totally the opposite. I'm not ready for him to start crawling yet or sit or do any big boy things. Of course when he does I'll be thrilled, but selfishly I know that my job is about to get 10 times harder when he starts moving around.

Hayley and Jack are now napping at the same time for 2 and sometimes 3 hours in the afternoon. I need to start using that time for rest and eat it up while I can, huh?

Jack started sleeping through the night last month finally and I feel like the old Shelma again. Last week he went to bed around 9:00 and woke up every morning at 8:00! Whoo-hooo! Thank you, God for my little sleepers!!

Tomorrow morning Hayley has to have a VCUG and a sonogram on her kidneys b/c of a urinary tract infection she had a couple of months ago. I keep getting really nervous about it and have to keep praying for God to take the fear and replace it with His Spirit of Peace!! I could use more prayers though---so lift one up for me if you will! The VCUG requires her to have a cathedar and they fill her bladder up with dye and watch what happens on a screen. I know several of my friends have had this done with their kids and they all survived it. I'm still dealing with some serious anxiety though.

We get to go to The Wiggles this Saturday! Who will enjoy it more---Hayley or mommy?? : ) I can't wait! John and Courtney are going with us and we're taking Emma with us too. Should be lots of fun!

SIX months old??!!

Is my baby boy REALLY six months old today?? It's just so hard to believe that he is already so grown up. I love my little Jack. He loves people---no matter who you are, if you have 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth he'll give you his big gummy grin. He loves to be held---something I prayed for and I'll admit sometimes ask myself why I thought I wanted that?? I do love it. He LOVES his sister. It is so cute to watch him as she walks (or runs) by. He'll immediately focus on her and smile and giggle and squeal. I was telling Tra the other day that I bet he totally wears her out once he's able to get around. She's such an independent player---I can hear it now, "MOM!! Will you tell him to leave me alone????!!" Although she sure loves her little brother. Sometimes when he's napping she'll be playing and randomly say, "I wanna go get Jack-ee!" And when she comes into the living room after a nap or in the morning and Jack is playing, she'll say excitedly, "Jack's awake!!" So sweet. She has always liked to give him his "pappy" (pacifier) from the 1st day he got home from the hospital. He actually stopped taking one around month 3. He has taken after his mama and is a thumb sucker. (I don't suck mine anymore.) Nevertheless, he'll take it from Hayley---even upside down---and suck on it for a little bit before spitting it out. (To which Hayley gives him an exasperated, "Jaa-aack!" What a blessing this little boy is to us each day. I'm so thankful for this
precious gift in our lives! Happy birthday, buddy!




CARROTS!! I can't believe you've been holding out on me! This stuff is delicious!

Some families have bedtime stories. Ours has "Laundry Basket Derby" several nights a week. The dog to the left is Sam. We got him my senior year of high school and he now lives with my granddad. We were dog-sitting at the time. We love Sammy, but we're VERY thankful that we do not have a dog full time. Jack was cramping Hayley's style here---she doesn't get to go as fast when he joins her.

Jack loves his BUMBO seat! What a great invention. He likes to sit in it and watch The Wiggles when Hayley watches them at breakfast. No Baby Einstein for #2! He's jumping right in to the big kid shows.

Happy Anniversary!

Two years ago yesterday was one that will be etched in my mind forever. Tra had surgery to remove the lemon sized tumor in his colon, and when the surgeon talked to Johnny and me (and Tra's granddad) afterwards he said, "From what I can tell it appears to be a malignant tumor. . ." I knew right then that my life had changed dramatically. The embrace that my precious father in law and I shared immediately after and the tears we shed together over the love of my life and his firstborn precious son was such a powerful moment. I just wanted to stay in that hallway and not move. I didn't want to have to go out in the waiting room and have to hear all of the, "We're so sorry" "What can we do for you?" But when we walked out after semi-composing ourselves and approximately 30 or so people were there, the sweetest thing happened. Someone said, "Let us pray with you." It brings me to tears as I remember holding hands with my sweet friend Julia and with Johnny as many prayers were lead on behalf of Tra and our family. How incredibly thankful I am for such a strong community of believers who encouraged us and lifted us up during that HARD time in our lives. And not only were those people in the waiting room during the surgery, they were also at Aly and Matt's wedding on this day 2 years ago. Sweet, wonderful friends who rode that roller coaster of emotions with us. It was such a wonderful day---strangely wonderful. Only God could give us all such joy as we all got dressed and took family pictures with beautiful Alyson as she and Matt prepared for the biggest day of their lives so far (besides the day they accepted Christ, of course).

I know it is hard for her because every year on their anniversary, there is not only talk of their special day, but also the "this time 2 years ago, Tra was in surgery, etc, etc." My prayer for Aly and Matt and for our whole family is that although we will always have the memories of Tra's surgery, as the years go on that we will just be thankful that the Lord carried us through it and that we will be able to truly celebrate this precious, wondeful union between Alyson and Matt.
Happy Anniversary, sweet sister and brother in law!! I love thinking about your beautiful wedding and the greatest reception I have ever attended! Isn't God the greatest---to not only give you each other but less than 2 years later your precious, beautiful Adalyn Kate! I love you 3!

"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

Snip, Snip, Snip!

Yesterday Jack got his very first hair cut! Yes, I know he's only 5 months old. But as everyone can see from the "before" picture, he was actually way past due for his first trip to "Cool Cuts." Nana got to go with us---she took the pictures while I held Jack in his cool car! Hayley keeps wanting to touch his hair---what's left of it. Pretty cute----


My mom is FINALLY taking me to get his hair cut! YES!!!






















This is more fun than I ever imagined!! This is the coolest chair EVER! Please make it look better than my comb-over, lady!

Uhhh, not quite what I had in mind, but definitely cooler. Dad would love this look! Don't mess with me!!

I'm gettin' hungry! My mom hardly ever feeds me.

Thanks mom and Nana! I love it! Let's go get some lunch!