Spring Photo Shoot

Well we did our annual spring photo shoot that we always do after their birthdays. I took a babysitter this year b/c there was no way I could do three kids plus wardrobe changes by myself. I think they turned out cute- it was fast and easy. I can't believe we got some with all three looking and smiling. And I'm laughing that Tucker is in a vest b/c I wouldn't have put Marky in anything not smocked during his first three years. But Marky really wanted to match his brother and I think it's cute. :)

Home again

Well we got back to the magic city today. The trip was fun and relaxing- not only was I able to visit Shelley, I also got to see Jen and meet her new baby Isabelle, and see a high school friend Allison and her new daughter, Ainsley. I'm telling you- we are in a baby boom.
P.S. I still love Cottage Hill Park (ah memories....tennis, rusty slide)....although a lot of things need repairing...it's still nice and SHADY...why do they keep making new parks in the blazing sun?

Don't you like to have time to relax? I slept in every day (thank you BB). Tucker slept a lot himself....

We love and miss you BB and Poppy. Hope to get "home" again soon.

Sweet and Sassy

Guess who got her FIRST hair cut ever today?!! Sweet little sissybug! It's hard to believe that in three years she never even had a trim, but it's true. So today she got a precious little bob. She was a very good girl and sat very still. I did have her thee-year portraits made yesterday pre-trim (I'll post those when I get home). We are in Mobile- I took a quick trip out-of-the-blue yesterday. We are having a blast riding bikes and scooters and swimming. This morning I got to see Shelley who just happened to be in town for less than 24 hours and I caught up with her a her precious boys (Ella was with Chip). What a treat!

I thought I loved you then....

So here we are at our anniversary- EIGHT years ago, May 26, 2001, we were married. I know you all know I'm crazy about my husband- he's just the most amazing man. I heard that new Brad Paisley song, "I thought I loved you then" for the first time in the car yesterday and started crying. Marc would say that I will cry at just about anything sentimental and that's really true. But that song just rang so true to me. Here I was eight years ago- 22 years old. I was so excited to be getting married, but I still had my sassy single self to deal with. I was in law school and on top of the world and was excited to be with Marc, but I didn't need him. I loved him, but I was an independent entity. And now eight years, three kids, one dog, two houses later we are ONE. Period. We are an indivisible unit and I cannot be without him- I don't even know who I am without him now. It's really like our wedding band says, God joined us. He is my best friend, comic relief, shoulder to cry on, protector, defender, counselor and cuddler. Thank you Lord for making us one and please keep us one in You.

P.S. Marc always makes fun of this picture and says the caption should read "MY DAY!" He said he could barely keep up with me. :)

Memorial Day

Just want to remember our precious military and their families today. Both my grandfathers, my dad, my uncle, and my cousin have served in the military. Freedom certainly is not free.

Can't help myself...

How can I help but adore this baby? He is such a happy fella! I really think his moniker "sack of sugar" fits him.
Speaking of sacks of sugar....this is the first baby I've ever used a sleep sack with. Do you use these? I LOVE it. We've always used blankets and footy jammies before. Now we still do footies and then slip into a sleep sack and he stays cozy all night. And I think there's a little assocation with "zipping me in...I better go to sleep" in Tucker's head. We also added a sound machine this week (why had I forgotten to start the white noise?) and he's sleeping better- especially in the daytime.

Also- did you know that the object pictured below is an ITD....that's "infant torture device". At least that's what Tucker told me every time I tried putting him in it. He'd be so happy and jolly and then the second his little tush hit the "baby bucket" he would start arching his back and fussing. Also- he's humongous and his little feet hung over the edge so it was time to let it go. I've had to move all my kids out of their infant car seats around 4 months old. That's the trouble with extra-tall kids. So now when we go to restaurants there's nowhere for Tuckerboy to sit because he can't sit up in a high chair yet. Tonight we took his stroller in the restaurant so he could recline. Grocery shopping will be an adventure as well until he can sit up on his own. For now, he is in Julia's Britax Marathon with the pink flowery cover. Julia got a big-girl seat and is so proud. We are giving away the old car seat- three babies- one bucket- many memories. It's hard to let it go!

It's a tough day when.....

....your 5-year-old throws up.....in the car....a lot......on top of a stack of library books.

Flirty 30

I want to give a shout out to my girl Shana for her birthday! Today we did our annual birthday celebration where we go to dinner and a movie. We also threw in a lunch since it was the big 3-0. We always have so much fun and laugh hysterically when we are together. Why is this girl single? She is quite a catch- not only is she pretty, smart and funny- the girl LOVES the Lord and has her own money....that's right....girl makes bank- owns her own house people! So this is going out to my favorite single lady- Happy Birthday Skrawny! I know this year has some more exciting adventures for you!

P.S. I need to throw in a second shout out to the lovely Ms. Skrelley who also has a birthday in May. Happy Birthday Skrell- I miss you!

This is my body given up for you...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the toll babies take on your physically. The effects are long-lasting and not necessarily pleasent. I heard a homily on Friday where the pastor talked about love being sacrifice and how Christ expects us to love others as He has loved us. He then pointed to the crucifix and said, "look how he has loved us". He crucified His own flesh for us. Do we love others with that love? So I've decided that my war-wounds from child-bearing are a wonderful reminder that Christ gave his body for me and I can happily give my body (and vanity) to my children in an act of love. All we have is His and we offer it back to Him- gladly presenting our bodies as living sacrifices.

Get the Kleenex....

My big boy "graduated" his moms-day-out program tonight. I thought the whole thing was silly- I mean, he went two mornings a week and they didn't really teach him that much. And he'd have another gradaution at kindergarten so why do this? But then they played pomp and circumstance and my little man walked down the aisle and mommy's eyes filled with tears. I'm so proud of this little guy. They broke the kids up into groups of 5 to do performances- some did the days of the weeks, others the months of the years, others letter sounds. Marky was in the last group that read a book aloud- I was so proud of my big reader. Afterwards we told him we could eat anywhere he wanted and he picked Ruby Tuesdays in the mall. It ended up being a super-sweet night.
Here's Marky and one of his best friends Emmie.

Sissy and brother were there to cheer him on.

Getting Outside

I've been reading this book In Defense of Childhood and have really enjoyed it. It talks aout the inner wildness that is in every child and how we have domesticated childhood so that children have very little freedom of choice or autonomy and have little time to be free to test themselves. The author thinks that children need much more freedom and exposure to risk than we allow them. Anyway, it's had me thinking a lot about getting our kids out and about and able to explore. That's why I love going to Virginia- there is room to roam and we live outside.

My grandparents gave Marky a brand-new bicycle and he loved it.

They also had this precious Mother's Day Cake made-

They got Julia a scooter and a helmet that she wouldn't take off.

Kids need so much more downtime than they get. The kids love going to Virginia and just hanging out.

In other news- when we got there Memaw surprised me with a new SEWING MACHINE! I've never sewed so much as a button, but she sat with me and showed me how. She had gotten some fabric and patterns and helped me make this dress for Julia (complete with ruffle hem and pocket). it's definitely not "easy", but it's not nearly as hard as I thought. I really think I'll be able to do some simple things now.

Also- Tuckerboy is teething (early) and living with his little hands in his mouth. He is adorable!

He totally won over his great-grandparents. They are smitten!

Hooray for Dollywood

I have to recommend to you to head to Dollywood next family vacation. I know it sounds cheezy, but we had a blast! It is super-clean and relaxed and just like Disney in the amount of restaurants and fun things to do. As we walked up there was a big sign that said, "Dollywood welcomes the Duggar family". All I could do was think of you, Hillary. I never saw them, but I did see several Duggar-like families. We DID see DOLLY PARTON herself! She was filiming a commercial and waved to us. Her waist is TINY- of course I've heard her say that things don't grow in the shade. :) Anyway, there were lots of shows and theater things. Here is Marky on stage at a show "Wings of America" where they showed us tons of eagles, owls, hawks, etc.

They had kiddie areas like sandboxes, water tables, fountains and baby rides that Julia could ride by herself.

Lots of country folks in the streets to talk to you- including this chicken lady who made Marc do a chicken dance. We also saw glass blowers, blacksmiths, men working with leather to make belts and hats and candy-makers.

Tucker was an angel and chilled in the stroller.

There were tons of places to eat and get treats like ice cream.

There were tons of water rides. Next time I wouldn't wear denim capris and get on this ride (below) as the FIRST ride of the day and walk around squishy.

Marky's favorite ride was the river battle where you had water guns and fought with other boats and the people on land who had water guns. They got SOAKED!

Thanks BB and Poppy for going with us! We had a blast and will definitely go again!

Marc on TV

Alright, so for those who are dying to know how my reformed presbyterian seminarian husband turned into a Catholic- his story will be on TV Monday, May 11, at 7:00 p.m. central on EWTN. It's an hour-long interview on a show called The Journey Home. Get your DVRs and TiVos set! I know we will!

Showers and Such

Yay Laptop- bringing momma back online! We've been doing well- we have had a lot going on. I kind of feel like I'm on a treadmill and I can see the light the end of the tunnel. There are only two more weeks of moms-day-out, sunday school (which I teach) was over this week for the summer, swim lessons are over, science classes are over, most of our "company to meet the baby" is done with and I really feel like we are going to have more time at home. In an AMAZING turn, Tuckerboy is sleeping like 12 hours straight at night. I wasn't sure this day would come- the day I could put him to bed at 7:30-8:00ish and not see him again until 7:30 in the morning...but I think we are here.

On having three- I really think it is a turning point. All during that girls trip to Hilton Head I kept telling them I think I'm on the cusp of some big life changes- especially in the areas of sleep, home management, weight, etc. I think I've been able to coast by filling in the areas that needed filling most urgently, but not having a real overarching plan for our homelife. I don't have a "regular" laundry or grocery schedule or a "regular" workout routine or a "regular" anything. It's "do it when you can" and it's been that way for years. And for the most part we've done okay that way- the house is reasonably clean, I'm reasonably thin, we're reasonably sane....but #3 is changing things. I really don't have the TIME to do what I want and BE what I want to be. This baby is going to be a big sanctifying agent in my life- I can feel it. We have had terrible sleeping habits (which you morning people can't fathom- especially since I don't drink coffee). And I'm not losing this baby weight easily. I know stars say the weight "falls off" from chasing thier kids, but I chase kids all day and am still quite poofy. And if I don't plan ahead for things to stimulate my kids spiritually, intellectually and physically, it just doesn't get done and the days pass by. Have you seen that Kate Goesslin has a "plan ahead" sign on her table. I want one of those. Anyway, don't know why I'm telling you all this- just wanted you to know that I'm hoping for big things for summer '09. P.S. I'm totally saying this with a happy spirit, I'm not sad at all- just aware that "getting by" is not getting by anymore.

Anyway, so that I don't post without pictures- here are pics from a baby shower we threw for Catherine on Sunday. She has two girls and this is her first boy so she needed a "something blue" shower. We had a great time. Now we are off tomorrow to Virginia to visit my grandparents and along the way we will go to DOLLYWOOD in Pigeon Forge. Mama is excited! The table- finally get to use that china and silver for something....

Blue punch- and it tasted great.

Computer is Down

Our computer is down so I can't really blog- just wanted you to know. It's not you...it's me. : ) I may try to use the laptop....