A poopy day, but not like you think!

It was a great day....well, atleast it ended well and that is what I remember most (except the poopy stories to come) so it was a good day! I had practice this morning...it was suppose to start at 9, at 8:59 I had 2 players and 1 manager there...I was a little upset by this. Anyway, eventually more of them showed up, but this isn't coming together at all as I had planned in my head. Oh well. Two practices down, 28 to go.
On to the poopy stories...
Jackson pooped this morning in his diaper, but I didn't realize that, because he told me he needed to poop...so I thought he hadn't done it yet. So we get to the toliet and he had already done so...so as I am getting another diaper and rounding up the wipes (how is it that they always disappear?) he pulls his diaper off and trots all over the house getting it EVERYwhere...nasty.
Later in the day, Creighton poops in her diaper...somehow it gets out and she is playing in it, eating it and it is EVERYwhere...I had no idea until I picked her up and was like "who fed her?" then realized no one did and smelled the awful all over her...in her hair, on her face, in her mouth, all over her hands and of course the floor, carpet, counter, diaper, clothes...and then me! Ahh...the stories of motherhood...
But that is okay. It wasn't a bad day...we had our first softball game since the flood (the fields finally were dry long enough to decontaminate them and then dry again). We won both games (by a landslide) but it was SOOOOO much fun. It was just great...I didn't realized how much I missed playing. It isn't even that we are that great (although we are good) we just have fun and it is such a sweet environment not sweet in the gooey way, because seriously, we ARE playing softball and everyone knows softball isn't sweet and gooey... more sweet in the way of just awesome and theraputic for me. I am always game for a little competition. I struck out twice tonight, got walked twice and had several good hits. I made a few good plays at first and no real errors...makes for an all and all good night for me! I love it!
Have practice early tomorrow again...all week actually, but I am looking forward to afterwards because Maria and Kara and their kids are coming over for a little fun! :)
I am thrilled.

family

My niece, Sarah, is staying with us for two weeks and I am excited to hang out with her. She is going into the 6th grade which is a great age...still a kid, but a HUGE help to me with the babies. I wish my sister and I got to hang out more. They are leaving, if they haven't already, this morning to go back to Texas. My brother and his girlfriend, Lacy, came in yesterday too to see everyone. It was a pretty boring day as far as the afternoon went, but then we went to the big park in Owasso and played on the set and played Bocce ball (which was way fun!) and then we went to eat at Fuddruckers and then to get snowcones....all of us in 2 HUGE SVUs all crammed in and it was a great time.
At Fuddruckers Jackson pushed the alarm door open and that took forever for the mgr to come turn it off...oh well...that was really the only bad thing that happened and with Jackson and Jacob (Christy's 3 year old) together in ANY setting, that was a miracle. It was fun watching them play together when they weren't trying to kill one another or destroy something . They are both firecracker-wild-all-boy-full-of-energy-non-stop toddler/preschoolers. They definitely kept the party alive and kicking the entire time they were together.
Off to practice, gotta go (19 games, 29 practices to go).

Blockbuster

Today Jeff and I are organizing our movie (dvd and vhs) collection. I swear we should be like Blockbuster and start renting things out for a little extra income. I am not even near finished as I have a whole DVD rack that holds 50 dvds to finish and we have already put in titles of over 160 dvds and over 120 vhs tapes. It is ridiculous....and none of those numbers count the ones I won't let him keep--garage sale or garbage. Crazy. Anyway, I like organizing and using Excel and so it is fun for me to organize it all!

Rambling

I have been running a volleyball camp ALL day for the past two days and I am exhausted. It was in Claremore, OK, so I had to over an hour each way and early since the camp started at 8. With Creighton not sleeping well or at all, it made it that much more difficult to be awake and chipper at 6:30 am, BUT I managed and made it through the camp and I made a little over $300 in just 2 days...fabulous! I am sore today though...yesterday I wasn't, but today it is starting to hit me....I am so old and out of shape! OH well, it was fun for the most part. I coached with the old TU coach Matt and so it was good to catch up with him and talk about his new job at a new college in South Carolina at Newberry.

I got a super depressing letter in the mail today (I actually had been forewarned though or I might have literally cried)...that Samantha Lin is no longer doing massages. I am utterly sad for her, on the one hand, because she loves it and can't do it now because she is sick possibly with lung cancer, and two, because I REALLY LOVED HER MASSAGES LIKE YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND. There is NOT another Samantha Lin in all of the world...she was fantastic! I asked for Samantha Lin appointments constantly for every occasion like Christmas, Birthday, Mothers Day, anything ever...all I ever wanted was money to go to Samantha Lin, and now there are no more days of massages....I sound very self-centered and selfish saying all that I know....but the thing is she is still doing accupuncture at her clinic, just not massages, so its like torturous to know she is working, just not doing the most incredible heavenly hour spent every six weeks. I am so sad. I know it sounds like I care more about me not getting massages than I do about her health, but really that isn't true...I love Samantha as a person too...she is really great and we had begun to build a friendship and so I am deeply saddened by her recent health blow...we are still waiting on the results for the biopsy to come back...I am praying for the best for her!

Jackson jumped off the diving board into 12 ft of water, by himself, without floaties...and loved it. I was in the water to catch him and swim him to the side...I was scared to death...but he is fearless about water again! He loved jumping off the side of the pool too....like a champ...I was way more okay with that because I could touch instead of treading water.

Creighton is doing better and slept better last night and actually took over an hour nap today...

Jeff had to take Jackson to the doctor today while I was at camp because he thought he broke his arm...thankfully he did not and only dislocated (again) his elbow. Jeff said he screamed and cried for 2 hours and they reset it and now he is fine. We loaded him up on tylenol though as the doc said he'd be sore for a few days. I hope he is okay! It makes me sad I wasn't here to comfort him, not that I probably could have...but still. It broke my heart I was so far away. I am glad though that it is not broken.

Enough rambles of my day....I am off to dinner with some small group girls! Tomorrow starts two a days practice for my freshmen girls. I am only practicing once a day though because I am the coach and I can do that...the kids are out of mothers day out for 3 weeks shoot me now and so I just can't do more than once a day...good thing they are freshmen :)

Doghouse

****Updated****
Jeff came in as I was typing this post, and it was way more "fun" typing it without him overlooking my shoulder and ruining my "mad" at him so that is why it abruptly stopped at the end. We ended up having a good time at Maggie Moos and discussing our calendars for the next few months. It was a good time away...and he isn't in the doghouse anymore...I don't ever stay mad at him for very long....:)

Okay, so Jeff totally slept through Creighton's wails last night for 2 hours...but she did have atleast a better night than the one before. I just hate it though...I hope she outgrows this soon. On to why the post is titled such.

Tonight my mom agreed to watch the kids so Jeff and I could go out and have a night together. SHe was willing to be home at 4:30....Jeff insisted on playing on the computer and lollygaggging along and we didn't leave our house till 5:30 and it is a 45 minute drive...THEN...we get there and he wants to eat at my mom's house WITH the kids...first off, that was huge brownie points I am sure for him according to my mom,...however, I am a little upset by this because I was desperate looking forward to not fighting being with them at dinner. THEN he goes off and begins asking my dad a BILLLION questions about Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages for atleast 30 minutes. And then He needed to poop....it is after 7 and we are just thinking of leaving....
UGHGHHGHGHHGHG!
Oh wel...I have a few hours now.

A Newborn at near 9 months?

I feel as if I have a newborn again because Creighton has forgotten how to sleep altogether. I just don't get it. She is acting like something is wrong/hurting, but I JUST took her to the doctor on Friday morning. She said her ears looked terrific and she couldn't see anything wrong. She won't nap longer than 15 minutes unless she is in the car (this weekend on the way to Kansas and back she slept both ways) and she won't sleep in her bed at night roughly more than an hour at a time. She wails in pain and I can do nothing for her but put her on the boob and then she'll fall back asleep (usually) and within minutes of me putting her down she is up again, unless by the grace of God she falls asleep for about an hour and then is up again. We raised her mattress finally last night so she is sleeping on an incline and that seemed to help a little I guess. She still woke up, but after 3am I was so tired, I just let her cry herself back to sleep about 2-4 times and I didn't feed her again until 8 this morning...but I canNOT handle that. I hate letting her cry when I think there is something wrong. If I thought that nothing was wrong it'd be different and I would force myself to let her cry knowing that it was in the best interest of EVERYONE in the household. I am so thankful that Jackson didn't wake up last night and I really don't knwo how he slept through it. She was just going ballistic and we (yes, even Jeff was up...it was that bad) had her in the living room trying to get her to calm down. She wanted to be held by me or her daddy when I wasn't in view .
I just don't handle life really well when I am exhausted and this is like the 3rd or more night like this and the 5 or so prior to those 3 weren't great, but they weren't this bad...

Sunday after church we went to lunch with Kylie because it was her birthday and 2 interns and Brittany came along too, and of course we had the kids, and were the only ones with kids there. Creighton thank God (seriously I prayed HARD for this) slept through the first 20 minutes or so of lunch. Jackson was acting horribly, throwing chips and spitting water and eating ice, then throwing ice, then just screaming, then finally the food came...his of course was last to be served, (WHY DO THEY DO THAT?!), and then mine was wrong so it went back and then when it finally came back out, that very second, Creighton woke up. Needless to say, as everyone was leaving lunch talking about how they were going to go play nintendo or take a nap in peace and quiet, I was jealous....VERY jealous VERY VERY jealous! For that brief not really brief at all moment I was wishing I was back sans kids. As I was daydreaming of what that would be like I was quickly knocked back into reality as Jackson was way overdue for a nap screaming and running through the parking lot. Then I felt guilty that I had wished I wasn't a mommy...I am just so tired. I could use some prayer...

Paved Roads

I drove out onto the main road near our house the other day and was thinking how nice it was...it was brand new dark black pavement that was SUPER smooth, no potholes, nothing, but smooth riding road....it didn't even make noise in the car. I liked it...alot. But it got me thinking that I was complaining because it was so pot-hole-y before, and then during the repair I certainly was complaining even more because it was "inconvenient" for me and it took more time and they seemed to have taken forever to finish the project, blah, blah, blah...without ever thinking of what it'd be like when they were finished...and it got me thinking about life and how God does the same thing with us in making us better. We have things in our life that are ugly and obnoxious and not good and so he sets about things to make us better and during the process it seems to take forever and it is hard and awful at times, but then once things are better or fixed you look back and say "wow, this is nice"...and kind of feel silly for complaining so much during the "fixing" because you don't always know exactly how it going to look or be when you are fixed but you have to know that it will all be worth it in the end... All of this was much smoother sounding and prettier in my head and I just don't know how to say things very eloquently, but I like small little glimpses of how God teaches us things today through our world around us...parables of today.

Water Park

Okay, so we all nine of us got in 2 cars and drove all the way to Independence Kansas to go the the waterpark up there and literally the MINUTE we pulled into the parking lot it started raining. No big deal...everyone is still enjoying the water so we unload 100 bags, 5 kids, 4 adults, put sunscreen on everyone, put swim diapers and swimsuits on come on inside only to have them blow the whistles as we are paying, for a "safety break" totally unrelated to the weather and assured us that at 3:15 everyone would be allowed back in the water. Well, at 3:15 it begins the DOWN pour of all time and they come over the loud speaker to tell us that the park is closed till 4 but then they will evaluate the weather and let everyone know at 4. So, we are all standing there in the rain with all of our stuff and all of us getting soaking wet and we hadn't even so much as stuck our toes in the water yet. At 3:59 they say the park is closed for the day and at 4:02 OF COURSE the sun is out and the rain is stopped....but they still close the park. So we drove all the way to Kansas for nothing and everyone is loaded with sunscreen and swim diapers and all for NOTHING....nothing.....nothing....ugh!
So, I am quite sad about that. We should have just gone yesterday...but we didn't and so now we didn't do anything. But I decided we were going to atleast get a chocolate dipped cone on the way home because we don't have Dairy Queen in Bville...and I love me a chocolate dipped cone. Then we drove home....in the rain.

New look

I am satisified with my new look. My friend Betsy helped me by making the collage of the kids and the zoo pic. I like it, alot!
Yeah for the new look!

Video

I can't figure it out, so I am trying this: Creighton It'll have to do for now...I have tried way too long and I am blogger dumb and video/youtube dummer.
I must say that this was way after she'd been doing it for awhile and I think she was very tired of walking by this point but she was still so determined. The first time when she came in my room, she was so smooth with it and it was natural, way unlike this video...but it was the best I could do, my first time!

Kids growing up!

Creighton is doing a better job of standing on her own and today I was in the bathroom and she just came walking in behind a little push cart as if she'd done it a million times (to my knowledge it was the first). She is SO strong and coordinated already at 8 months. I have a feeling she'll be walking within the next month or so. I have a picture that I took and I think she looks so big and old! I am also trying to download the video to youtube and then I will attempt to put it on here.

I just can't believe she is getting so big, but at the same time they are both growing up so much. Jackson is insisting on using the potty more and more often--and I have NO desire to potty train him right now. I actually would like him to be in diapers because they are easier for me at the moment. I hate public restrooms and he isn't well-behaved enough, nor does he listen well enough for me to want to attempt that venture right now. Of course he would be that kid that potty trains himself despite his moms wishes to wait! What luck, huh?

He is also talking A LOT more and saying or attempting to say just about anything. He is funny about "please" though...he will NOT say it, only sign it! I have tried and tried and the best I get out of him is "ppff" with the please sign of course right along with it. He doesn't really do many signs anymore, just please and occasionally he'll do finished. It cracks me up.

We went swimming tonight in our backyard. Creighton looked A-dorable in her swimsuit and Jackson "swam" without his floaties on. The water was only 8 inches deep at the most...but it was fun for them...Creighton LOVES the water and so does Jackson...I thought we'd have to force him to have fun in the water this summer after his little scare with drowning earlier this summer but he seems to have forgotten, recovered, or maybe it was just a lot more scary for mom than him all along! Either way, he is back and fearless. We are going to the Riverside Waterpark in Kansas this weekend with my sister and her 3 kids and my dad...I am excited. We haven't been yet this summer. I hope it is fun.

I forgot to mention that Jeff got his diploma in for his Masters....its official! Yeah!!!

Death

Such sad news here lately...Adam Miller's dad died last night. It breaks my heart for him because now he is without mom or dad. When I met Adam his mom had just died a few months prior, and now his dad as of last night. I am not really good with death...actually I am really bad withit. I never know how to respond or what to say, or think for that matter. Even when I know they were believers, it is still hard, because you never know exactly how to "comfort" someone, as if we even can though...thankfully I guess, Jesus knows how to comfort and he alone can do that. Maybe that is why I feel awkward when I try...lots of thoughts out loud sorry if doesn't make any sense...like I said I don't do death well. Just pray for my friend if you think of it. He and his wife, Emily, are friends of ours in Bville and do ministry with Klife...

Ramblings of the day

We had ladies night out last night at Chilis and it was great: fun, food, fellowship! My two late night buddies were on opposite coasts this time, so I called it an early night for fear of sitting at a table for 12 alone. Thankfully Larissa stayed with me for a little bit after everyone else left and that made for some sweet one-on-one talking that she and I rarely get. It was nice. Those nights always seem to come on days I really need them most. It has been a really neat ministry opportunity for me and for some other gals in Bville. We had 4 new ladies there last night and that was great...I just love it! And I realize what a desperate need and desire that it is for us Moms to have that time away.

Jackson has been sleeping in a bit later than normal these past 3 days (which I am ALL about) and it is great! Creighton only got up once last night and then was up for the day at 8:30. I can handle that! I hope that her ear infections are gone, but she seems to still pull on her right ear. She has been a little fussy too, which makes me worried. Oh well...hopefully nothing to worry about.

JEff and I just recently changed over to AT&T for our wireless services and I am so thrilled to have a phone that doesn't resemble the old bag phones for the car from the 80's. I got a FREE razr and I really like it for hte most part...it is totally different so there are some things to get used to, but overall I really like it. What I like even more is that I can call Jeff and my parents (and several other people too--62 million if you ask AT& T) all the time and never have to worry about my minutes. :)

Jackson and Creighton are at school today and I have decided I am going to be quite lazy & selfish take the day for myself. Jeff rented a movie for me and I have an appointment to get a pedicure that a SUPER sweet lady in the church bought for me awhile back. There are a million things I could do around the house today and I am just not going to do them. Today is my last day without anything to do until October....I think I can do that!

Back from Branson

We are back from Branson. We had a fantastic time, except for Jeff's migraines that decided to join us on our vacation. I wish we knew how to help those for him....oh well. That was really the ONLY down side to the entire weekend. Otherwise, it was incredible. We are so blessed. I love the people at Kamp. I love being there. My spirit thrives there, like it belongs there. I just LOVE it. We had the awesome blessing/opportunity to stay at K-Kauai the new family kamp in Branson next to K1/K-Kountry in one of the director's cabanas. It was fabulous and just perfect for Jeff and I. I tell you what, the family kamp ---a SUPER RESORT---was amazing. It was just crazy that its linked with kamp, because it isn't like kamp at all...it is like a reallly nice RESORT that people pay tons for per week...and yet, it is reasonable...and I have not heard anything negative about it. The food was great, the speakers were great, the cabanas are super nice and a/c everywhere. The pools/fun stuff were spectacular and everyone seemed like they were having a great time. I couldn't believe it, but Jeff said we were going to start saving up to go. I am thrilled. I think that in 2 years or so it would be fun to take the kids, but not really before then just because they are too little to enjoy it. But I highly recommend you all check it out.
Jeff and I returned late last night after getting the kids from Terrie/Philip and poor Jeff had an all night 8-8 lockin....ugh! He had a supersized migraine all day yesterday, but he said that the lockin went well. He is working today after all of that too with just like 2 hours of rest. I don't know how he does it!

I will say how thankful I am for my husband. He is just amazing and I love him so much. He is my rock on earth and I truly am loving the analogy of how husband and wife represent the chruch and Christ. It is just neat! Married life is great and our marriage is refreshed and renewed and thus, I am. Yeah for God...he is so great

A MUST read for anyone who might ever nurse, or if you just want a good laugh

http://amazingtrips.blogspot.com/2007/03/breastfeeding-basics.html This is the funniest, yet super informative, nursing/pumping story I have read...

I have tried to tell several people this over internet and that seems to be hard to explain, but I will try for all of you who don't want to shell out a ton of dough for a hands free nursing bra. If you have a sports bra and/or a loose fitting type (non underwire) bra, this will work. You can be handsfree yourself, as I am right at the moment WITHOUT the special bra.

If you haven't ever pumped and/or won't ever pump, you can disregard this information until a later date when you think you might need it or know someone who does....here goes: Pull your sports bra up above your breasts on both sides (as if you were trying to put it on and hadn't pulled it down yet)...then: Sitting in a chair is easiest (atleast until you get the hang of it)
Position the pump on your breast and pull one side of your sports bra (bra) over the top part of the shield with the bottle resting on your leg (a bare leg is much easier than clothing/pants/shorts because it "sticks"). You will have to kind of position the bottle at a slight angle to get it to hold in place. Do the same thing with the opposite breast/pump. Then start the pump and you should be good to go. If you are super engorged or just very large to begin with you might have to adjust some things to get this to work, but it should still work. Just make sure you check to make sure the nipple is in the correct position in the pump after you pull your bra down and start the machine...

If you have a question(s) please don't hesitate to ask me, because unlike the silly lactation consulatants (as mentioned in Jen's post above) I will tell you the truth and try to be helpful, not just a la leche freak. (not that anything is wrong with La Leche League-ers)---they are just a little intense and not always forthcoming with truth for fear you might give your baby formula!

Another Round of Antibiodics

Well, we are back from the doctor's office...and the Pharmacy...suprise, suprise.?!

Jackson and Creighton both need to be on Claritin for allergies...Creighton worse than Jackson and she also has to have expensive drops in her eyes twice a day everyday and she has a double ear infection which also has an antibiodic! Oh yeah, and Jackson has to have drops in his ears 3/week in each ear because he has excessive wax build up and she can NEVER see in his ears without digging to China first...which causes for some serious issues in my little (huge) 2 year olds world. It took all 3 of us to hold him down today on the table just to look in(and cleanout first) his ears. (I had Jeff go with me because I knew I'd never be able to do both of htem at the same time together with just me).

Anyway, nothing serious, which is good, but bummed that we had to pay $50 in co-pay (seriously, could she not have waived one of them?) and $50 in Rx. Oh well. She said she didn't need to see Jackson back until he turns 3. Um...I sure hope that happens, but I know that it probably won't. Our track record has us in the Dr. office atleast once every other month with him, and now with 2 kids I am in atleast 2 times a month almost. I would understand if my kids were sick, like really sick, or mentally handicapped or something "wrong," but on the health questionnaires, I am proud to write healthy on both of theirs...however our history in and out of the dr offices would deem otherwise.

Oh yeah, Jackson has had a heart murmor since birth that she likes to "watch"...but at his 2 year checkup, she said it was getting fainter sounding, so I am assuming that is good. That is about as serious or problems get, and for that I am VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY thankful!

Creighton: 17 pounds, 12 ounces (more than I thought she weighed) and 29 inches (LONG!)
Jackson: 32 pounds, 1 ounce, unofficial weight because he had clothes on and shoes and a diaper...but he wanted to be weighed like his sister!

Ear infection Rant and Branson coming

Jeff and I are headed to Branson all alone this weekend. The kids are staying with Terrie and Philip. I am excited!! However, I am taking both kids to the doctor in about 30 minutes because I am afraid Creighton has an ear infection and Jackson has his 2 week re-check from an ear infection he is (prayerfully) over. Oh, man! I was putting in all of our bills in a spreadsheet yesterday (oh what fun on my days without the kids...but seriously as if i'd be able to do it with them home). Anyway, our medical expenses this year *need I remind you that it is only the beginning of the 7th month* totalled $70.69 shy of $3000.00 and I HAVEN'T had a baby this year, nor a major medical catastrophe (Jeff was put in a cast and a boot and with xrays and such with all the visits that was a good amount but nothing to warrant 3000 in 6 months). I was in shock and disbelief! That is where all our money is going...the dumb doctors and insurance companies. I think that a recheck on an ear infection should be in the payment of the original diagnosis. $25 might not sound like a ton, but obviously when you add it up it is a LOT! Between the two kids this year alone I think they've had about 6 or 7 ear infections...and that means 12-14 copays, JUST FOR EAR INFECTIONS! (300-350, plus then the prescription is $10 every time (atleast)) Seriously, I think more and more of the European medical system and begin to salivate!
Anyway, I am excited to be going to Branson to visit old friends(family) and just to be alone with Jeff...hopefully we'll go shopping and eating! Fairy pumped!!!! And, we have a free giftcard to Chilis and OLive Garden too...and we are staying at a friends house or at camp for free...so it's only costing us gas to get there, which I noticed went above $3 again ...of course!
Sorry about my ranting and soapboxes on money...I hate it that our world is run by money...I wish I didn't have to worry about it all the time. I know the Lord will provide...and I am thankful for that. But it is hard to see how much money we are spending and how much we are making...does the color red come to mind?!
Oh well...

And, thanks for all of my comments below. It isn't that I write on this blog for comments, because I don't, but it certainly nice to know who's reading and what you think about my sweet babies! Have a great day all!

All about our Wedding!

1. When were/ will you married? Aug 16 2003

2. How long were.will you engaged? 6.5 months

3. How long did you know your fiance/how long did you date before you were engaged? met in Sept, dated in Oct, engaged in Jan, married in Aug (all the same year), so knew 2 months, dated 3 months, engaged 6.5 months

4. How old were you when you married? 23

5. How old was your spouse? 23 (turned 24 exactly one week after while we were on our honeymoon)

6. Did you have kids prior to your marriage, and did you acquire stepkids when you married? no, no

7. Was this your first marriage? yes

8. Was this your spouse's first marriage? yes

9. Did you have a big wedding? yes kind of.

10. Where was it held? Southern Hills Baptist Chruch, Tulsa, OK

11. What were your colors? Black White & Red

12. What decorations in the sanctuary? candles, candelabras, lots of flowers, and pew bows

13. Do you have regrets? nope

14. Who were your flower girls/ring bearer? my neice and nephew and jeff's neice and nephew

15. Maid of Honor/Best Man? My sister Christy, Jeff's dicscipler/fb coach Chris Creighton

16. Servers? lots!

17. Describe your cake: it was 4 tiers and white with the exact pattern of my dress as the icing...it was gorgeous!

18: Describe your dress: white strapless, medium train, beaded and patterned bodice that was not too much but enough to be elegant/classy, I LOVE(D) MY DRESS

19. Music? lots. Jeff sang to me "I will be here"

20. Officiant? Brother Denny (my pastor from when I was a kid) and Will Cunningham (Kanakuk Kamp director/did our pre-marital counseling)

21. Did your dad give you away? yep

22. The reception: it was really pretty and lots of food, lots of family & friends, lots of music/dancing...

23. Did you throw rice, bubbles when leaving? rose petals

24. wedding favors? chocolate bars with our pic/wedding info on them

25. Photographer/videographer? we had both, two different people. not impressed with videographer, but photographer was a family friend and i was pleased with them

26. How did you leave the weddding, a limo? in a rolls royce limo (it was cool)

27. Where did you stay the night? The Renaissance Hotel in tulsa, but then we left that morning early to go Florida for our honeymoon.

The Birthday Day and the Zoo

Here is the first picture of Jackson as a 2 year old. He went to church with Daddy about 8 minutes after he woke up...and Daddy looks a little tired too. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Seriously, WHEN did Rhinos get SO big. They were HUGE. it had been a while since I'd been to the zoo...

One of Jackson's most favorite things at the zoo had NOTHING to do with animals at all...he LOVED the chains that were in the indoor exhibits. He would run and run and run and then go through all the chains. I was having to chase him all over the place. I finally caught him and was coming back through the last set of chains and Daddy took the picture of us coming back.....I was sweating galore and he couldn't have been more happy.

This is the one we stopped on and as you can tell, it was way more difficult than we had anticipated to get us all looking and in a hole. It was fun though.

That's my little boy monkey for ya.

I did a good job of getting them to look and then I wasn't! AUHH...photoshop anyone?

I was holding Creighton here.
opps

I did get this one that I thought turned out pretty good! Jackson looks tired already and this was like only an hour into the zoo....we were there for 3!

He enjoyed the petting zoo for kids. It took him a little while to get comfortable/brave enough though to pet them and brush them. For some reason they had these balls in there for the animals to play with but the kids weren't suppose to touch the balls, that didn't go over so well with Jax. He wanted to play fetch with the goats...opps!

This was one BRAVE squirrel. Jackson had some goldfish in his seat and Creighton had some crackers. So, while we were in the petting part, he decided to have a snack of his own. I went back to the stroller to get something and he scared me to death. Jeff snapped this...

Creighton was really good at the Zoo. She road in the stroller most of the time but either way she was happy. She was laughing so hard and loud when I put her on my shoulders...it was priceless and this photo doesn't do it near the justice the memory in my mind holds! Here is Jackson kissing bye'bye to the tiger! Isn't he sweet!?

Here is our sweet family photo outside the Tulsa Zoo with the Tiger. We had a good time, this was on the way home and we were ALL tired and ready to be sitting in the car to go home. Jackson and Creighton both were out before we made it out of the parking lot!

The flood

Jeff took some pics of the flood here in Bartlesville. This is a major road in town Adams off of Silverlake Dr. Lowes is right behind them, the parking lot was totally flooded too.

This is a picture of the OWU baseball field. I am not certain how high the back fence is but you can see that it is OVER however high it is. The soccer fields for them are directly behind the field and you can see much of that either.

This one you will probably have to click it to make it big to see, but if you look in the water you can see the top of a 7 foot soccer goal post....that is an extremely low lying area, but still! It is just crazy stuff.

I talked to a friend of ours today and they are flooded IN their home. The water isn't inside, but they can't get out of their home either direction. Their neighbor has a boat and that is how he is getting to/from anywhere. He parked his car on the other side of all the places he knew would flood and he boats to his car everyday and boats back to the house after work. CRAZY! I hope this all goes away soon. I am sure there is going to be MUCH MUCH damage but it is still so high they can't even tell what/how much.

Independence Day and Today

We had a great (albeit, long) day yesterday. We drove and met up with my parents and then all piled and packed into the Yukon and drove together to Oklahoma City to go to the Omniplex. It was great! I knew Jackson would enjoy all of the hands on things to do. Creighton has been the best baby lately. She is just so happy-go-lucky most of the time. Here are a few pics of the day from the Omniplex. My brother and his girlfriend, Lacy, and her two little sisters, Taylor and Ryan, also met us there.












Yes Jackson has a Monkey on his back. It has a tail and so it is like a leash. It is the only thing that works with him. It is a necessity sometimes, although he did pretty well most of the time and it wasn't too crowded so we took the tail off and just kept the monkey on for good measure. (just in case).

This is the picture of my mom and Jackson sliding down a HUGE and LONG and FAST slide. I went down it once and I was dizzy afterward. Jackson loved it, I am not certain my mom hated it like she claimed, and she went on it several times...













After the Omniplex we stopped Jeff's Aunt Sherri's to say hello and then we headed back to Tulsa. We stopped off in Jenks and ate at Los Cabos and it was AMAZING. It was a really great atmosphere out there on the Riverwalk too. There were two sets of live music, people dancing, LOTS of people waiting for fireworks, people eating, kids playing in the splash water--it was just great! I love events like that and so I was really dissappointed when I was overruled and we left before the fireworks started up. We saw a ton of fireworks from the car on the way home, but that just isn't the same. Jackson LOVES fireworks and he really didn't get to see any on the 4th of July because it was too hard for him to see from the car...although once we got back to my parents house there were a few going off in her neighborhood, so he saw those for about 4 seconds! Then we got everything back in our car and headed home and the kids went to bed late. Unfortunately they were both up staggered throughout the ENTIRE night. I saw each hour from midnight to 4 on the clock at some point within that hour, adn then I got a bigger chunk till 7, then everyone was up at 8. AHHHH! I am tired. Oh well.


Today we spent the day up to this point cleaning and picking up and mowing. We are still far from finished but I was in need of food and a break. But the kids' rooms and the living room are good to go! I have laundry up to my ceiling in our bedroom and also huge piles in the garage. The kitchen looks as if a tornado came through, and the sunroom, I need a worse natural disaster than a tornado for that to be properly described...but the backyard and front yard are mowed...not edged or weeded or anythign of the sort, but we are making progress...and there was much progress to be made.

Good News/Bad News

Good news its Maria's birthday! Yeah for you Maria! Hope it is wonderful! Can't wait till you are back to OK so we can have a playdate!

Bad news: Kara's dog Lucy died last night and she is very sad by this obviously. It makes me really mad because the dogs next door attacked her. If you didn't know Lucy, she was like MAYBE 4 pounds at the most...TINY TINY TINY....and I feel so bad for them.

Good news: My friends in Dewey didn't get flood water in their home like they thought.
Bad news: softball fields are still swimming pools & I am sure there are people who were flooded in their homes.

Good news: Jeff is home from his trip
Bad news: Jeff is at work and swamped there

Good news: Creighton slept through the night for the FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!! 10-7:20 YEAH Creighton!
Bad news: I didn't sleep well. :(

Good news: Jesus died on the cross for all of us so we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven!
Bad news: if you don't decide to accept that FREE GIFT of salvation, you will spend eternity seperated from him in Hell.

Jackson, 2 years

I have posted several posts today, so read them all! :)

But here is an update on Jackson!

We went for his 2 year check up and the doctor was very pleased with his progress on his speech and hearing and so we don't have to do anything else for him (for now) as far as that is concerned. She thinks he is a little behind but will catch up now that he has started. His vocabulary is expanding daily....and as far as words he understands, there is endless...but for saying them, probably between 30-50. (the low end of normal).

He weighed 31 pounds 1 ounce and was 35.5 inches tall! He is almost 3 feet! He is 75% in height and 85% in weight. She said he needed to not continue on his increase in weight or he will be overweight....I don't think he has much hope in that area if you look at his grandfathers and daddy! He will just always be a BIG boy. I hope he continues to grow tall though!

He is happy and healthy! Yeah Jax!

I am not at home so I can't post pics from the zoo or the rest from the party, but I will when I get home!

daily ramblings

Jeff has been on a wild trip all over Texas with his senior guys bible study. They have had a great time so far and not too many crazy things have happened. I think that as it is wrapping up that he is ready to be home though. He is expected back tomorrow night! I am ready to see him! I miss my baby.
We were at Freedom Fest tonight in OWasso with my parents at their church (Freedom Church). It was really fun. There were lots of activities, jumpers for Jackson, food, live music, and fireworks! Jackson LOVED the fireworks and Creighton didn't like the loudness of it all. Everytime one popped she'd grab a hold of me for dear life...and cry! It was sad. I think she was very tired too though. She was THE BEST baby ever all day. She did great in the nursery this morning and then took a good nap twice and then tonight at the event she just smiled and cooed and talked and laughed and SMILED so big all the time! She was so sweet. Jackson has been a little pill today but I think it is a lack of sleep and a lack of seeing his Daddy and LOTS OF SUGAR. He hasn't had a good meal all weekend really, he just keeps eating snacks and sugar! Oh well...such is life of a toddler when there are all kinds of festivities going on. He will crash hard tonight I think. He played hard hard hard tonight and like I mentioned earlier,l he LOVED the fireworks. Everytime one went off, he scream, MORE MORE! and ohhs and ahhs and wows and excited smiles and laughs each time!
My dad and I participated in the egg toss and I got "yoked" on...and we lost! Oh well. My mom and dad and me all participated in teh golf contest and my dad got 3rd in the mens and my mom did okay a nd I did HORRIBLE! I haven't swung a golf club since I was 12 though...and it was noticible....BUT...I did learn how to throw a spiral and a good one tonight. My dad taught me. I was holding the ball too far down on the seam and when he adjusted my hand I threw spirals every time after that! So that was good.
I am sad that our softball games are cancelled for the rain ....it is like 4ft under water tonight and it is still raininga nd they haven't even released the dams yet....so it will get worse for sure! I LOVE playing softball. It is theraputic for me. I like getting out and being competitive and playing and being without my babies for 2 hours a week. It is NICE! ALthough, I must say that last week was a little rough (or I was) because I tackled 2 ladies and wiped one out on a tag. It was pretty funny hindsight, but at the time I was really sad about it because I was struggling with my identity. More on that later...but anyway, I play rough!

Rain Rain GO AWAY

Havent' posted in a few days...been crazy. We are at my mom's but we were suppose to be in Texas for the past few days and still suppose to have been there through the 4th, but Marble Falls, TX got 19.5 inches of rain and the town shut down because all of the water was contaminated! Well, now that has happened in Bartlesville too...I don't think our town has shut down, and our water is now up and running fine (last I heard), but there are lots of friends and family that are stranded from their homes due to water and more water is coming. They are releasing the dams and it is suppose to be 8 feet above flood level!!!! So scary! Our house is pretty high up in the town and neighborhood, so I think we are okay, but man, we certainly dont' have flood insurance if anything crazy happened!
I am so tired of all the rain! I bet there are lots of people that have said that here recently. Its crazy because when it does stop it is so humid you can cut the thick air with a knife! UGH!
Anyway, I think that it is raining as we speak in Bville, but it is nice in OWasso. I hope everything is fine when we get home.