The Ivy's

Santa Pictures 2010

2010-12-21T19:04:00.004-06:00

Here is the annual Santa picture. They did great! Haylee ran straight to him screaming SANTA!! LOL Katelynn did good but didn't want to leave bubba. She was not going to sit in Santa's lap.

Look at the difference in just 1 year. AMAZING! :)

We are moving!!!!!

2010-12-03T16:37:00.005-06:00

I know it has been FOREVER since I did any post on my blog. I have to be honest and say that I am not good about taking pictures of my kiddos. I am already kicking myself for that! It just seems like I am going non stop and pictures rarely cross my mind.

I am going to make it my new years resolution to take pictures every week. I can't guarantee that I will be posting them all the time but I know that I need to have them to look back on. :) So I wanted to share what has been going on with us for the past year or so. This may be a long post.

We made the decision in August for Ryan to go back to school full-time after being laid off from his job. We have prayed about this decision for many years. In fact, Ryan has started school several times but it seems like we let life get in the way. Over the past several years we have been able to eliminate wants and really find out what is a necessity so that we could be able and willing to go where God leads us. It has taken us almost are whole marriage (9 years) to get to this point where we can actually be available to God.

Ryan enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in August and he absolutely LOVES it! Ministry is definitely his calling and his passion. His happiness and his grades are proof of that. I started keeping my friends 2 little girls at home with my 2 little girls. It is a busy busy group in this small house of mine. This has been a huge blessing to be able to bring in some money for groceries and some bills.

In the past month or so we had been talking and praying about being closer to Ryan's school which is in Ft Worth. He drives there 4 days a week (Tues thru Thursday) and sometimes he is able to ride with a friend on Wed. and Fridays. The gas and mileage were a factor but the biggest hurdle was to continue our mortgage on a house that needs so much work done on it. We thought it would be best for us to look into student housing. We would have a cheaper monthly payment with utilities included and we wouldn't have to fix things that might break. We made up our mind that this is the route to go and Ryan went to get a application. He was informed at that time that there was a waiting list and that there were 5 families in front of us. This meant it would probably be Fall 2011 before we might be able to get in.

At this point we were at a loss. We couldn't afford anything else that would fit a family of 5 and we weren't sure what God was trying to tell us. We were getting behind on our mortgage and we knew we had to find some where to live. We waited on God and tried to come up with ideas of how we could stay out here so that I could go back to work full time and Ryan would have contacts and be able to work part time. We weren't feeling like anything was working out and we seemed to be hitting dead ends.

After a morning of Ryan praying for God to reveal Himself and asking Him to give us a sign that we are in His will and that He is with us a lady at school offered us her family's 2nd house on their land in Cleburne. It was so far from what we thought God would do. Ryan had asked for a angel of the Lord type moment and an hour later we got one. She said that she and her husband had been praying for us the past few weeks and that they had decided that past weekend that they were going to offer the house to us. Amazing!! It is a house that they bought from a couple that moved out a year ago. They fully had the intention of buying it to bless a family or missionary of some kind. We went out and looked at it and prayed about for a couple of weeks and decided about a week ago to accept their offer. I am so grateful for their generous heart. How crazy is it to offer a house you own to someone you don't really know all that well.

Several circumstances have helped us make that decision. We wanted to make sure that we weren't going to be a burden on anyone and force ourselves into a situation that would strain any relationships. The weekend that we went and looked at the house our heater AND air conditioner went out in our current house. It seemed like God was giving us a little nudge! :) Then, the Friday before Thanksgiving, our friend that offered the house to us shared with us that she has a way for me to start bringing in some income. The secretary at her husbands business (which is on the 21 acres of property) just had a baby and will be needing someone to watch the baby when she goes back after maternity leave. Wow! We haven't even moved out there and God has already worked that out for us!!

All this to say that God is so faithful and it is so neat to see how He has gone before us and knows all the plans. I have to admit that I am scared being further away from my family but I know this is what we need to do. Our plan is to move the week before Christmas and be out there for good by the time Tyler starts 2nd semester. Ryan will be out of school during this time as well which works out perfectly for the move. We will also be traveling back into this end of town for as long as needed so Ryan can continue his internship at our church and we can continue teaching our class. We will be able to spend the night with family and see everyone which will make this move much easier on me.

Please continue to pray for us as Ryan looks for part time work that will be flexible with his schedule around school. Pray for the kids adjustment to the new house. I think they are going to like all the land they will be able to run around and play in. Pray for me as I am trying to submit to God's will and that I will be supportive for Ryan and his goals.

Here is a picture of the house we are moving to......

Trick or Treat!!!

2010-10-29T06:33:00.002-05:00

Summer time!!!!!

2010-06-13T14:33:00.002-05:00

We stopped off at Sonic for $1 Vanilla cones for everybody......

They pile the ice cream so high that I ended up having to dump most of the girl's in a bowl. It was melting too fast.

Now a much more manageable size....

Just another cute picture of Haylee that I thought was cute. This was at Tyler's Tball game. She is a crazy climber!!!!

Surf and Swm

2010-06-13T14:12:00.003-05:00

We went to Surf and Swim for my nephew's (Maxwell) birthday. The kids had so much fun. I feel like my hands are always so full and busy I don't have time to snap pictures. Not to mention that there was water everywhere which made it hard to carry the camera around everywhere.

I was able to get the girl's still as we were packing up to go. We had already changed them out of their swimsuits and I set them up on this rock wall while we sat and waited for daddy and Tyler to change. Gotta have the sunglasses on!

Tyler decided to join in.

And then I had daddy get in!

We will definitely be going again. I loved the toddler area for the girl's. TONS of slash stuff and spray guns, buckets of water dumping and even a little carousel of baby swings in the water. They have inner tubes and life jackets which took so much stress off of me. Tyler loved the inner tube especially when the waves came on in the wave pool. Haylee didn't like the waves but Katelynn loved them. :-)

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T18:06:00.005-05:00

Yes, we are still around! I have camera issues and have had to go back to using my old camera. Here are some snaps of our Easter...........

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Girl time....

2010-02-05T13:46:00.002-06:00

These pictures are actually back from November. It seems I have a problem lately with taking pictures with my camera. I tend to use my iPhone to snap pictures mostly b/c it is always with me. Here are some pictures of the girl's in their matching outfits. After seeing these pictures, I'm amazed at how much longer Kate's hair is now! She's got lots of beautiful curls and Haylee's is silky and straight.

They sure are a pair and yes, the cat fighting has already begun! They have been playing together so much more lately and it just makes me happy to hear them and the things they say to each other! :o)

Tyler's 6th Birthday Party

2010-02-05T13:21:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I am still way behind on posting.....lots busy things and after of a month of sickness and hospital stays in December we had a wonderful Jan. with not one sickness. BUT, on Feb 1st, we started with a bang. Katelynn had the tummy bug which transferred over to Ryan and then to Haylee! SO FAR, Tyler and I have missed it but we will see how the next 2 days or so go!

Anyways, here are some pictures that I didn't want to skip......

We celebrated Tyler's 6th Birthday at a little place in downtown Wylie called Wylie Motor Speedway. They were very reasonable in price and it was right down the street! It was by far Tyler's favorite!!!

Since it was a "race car" place, we went with the Car's theme which is still one of Tyler's favorite things. See his big smile!

About to do some Drag Racing....this was so amazing to see. I think she said those cars go like 60mph on these tracks. This particular race was special. Only for Tyler and parents, grandparents and aunt and uncles. (More for adults but they allow the birthday boy to do it as well!)

Time to open some presents!!

And here is the racing for all the other kiddos. They got to do this part for over 30 min! The kids LOVED it!

So funny to see the cars spin out of control! Even the owner guy has a little announcing booth that he sits in and talks over the microphone like during real races on who is winning. So funny!

Before everyone got there they let Tyler have some practice on the small tracks with the bigger cars. He really had a great birthday and we may be using this place again!!

The Air Show

2010-01-09T15:30:00.007-06:00

So Grandpa took Tyler to the Air Show back in October. It was on a Sunday and since Ryan teaches our class we let Tyler spend the night with Grandpa on Saturday and he was with him all day Sunday. Looking at the pictures that Aunt Carrie took, we are sad we didn't get to go. :-(
Tyler had SO much fun. He has talked about it several times and remembers so many different stunts. We will definitely try to make it next time!

Tyler chilling with Aunt Carrie

The Blue Angels

Grandpa looks like he is enjoying himself! :-)

Tyler getting some autographs and pictures made with the Blue Angel Pilot's

Looking cool with Chentel's sunglasses

Every little boy's dream!

So cute!

Thanks Grandpa, Aunt Carrie, Chentel and Uncle RD for taking Tyler. I am sure he will have fun memories of this day!

The Girl's Birthday Party

2009-10-26T08:28:00.004-05:00

Sorry so late on all of the posts! I did the girl's Birthday party at my mom's house at my parents house on labor day weekend. As you can tell it was a Strawberry Shortcake party. It was just a small party and the girl's had tons of fun. Unfortunately my battery died on my camera so I didn't get many pictures of them opening presents, but here are some others!

Yummy snacks!

I had their adorable cake made by a lady at our church. I thought she did a GREAT job!

It was a strawberry cake on the inside....delicious!!

Cute little topper that we saved and put in the girl's room.

More of the table. I bought that Strawberry Shortcake House at a garage sale for $4 when I was pregnant with Haylee 2 years ago. One of their favorite toys!

Happy Birthday dear Haylee and Katelynn

Pretty little 2 year old

Smash cake time!!!!!

Big 1 year old! She did pretty good eating her cake.

Here is a great 1picture of Ryan and his dad taken by my sister. They got lots of fun girly gifts and we had a blast!

Our Class Costume Party 2009

2009-10-26T08:15:00.003-05:00

My brother Scott and his wife Stephanie as Julie and Julia....HILARIOUS!!

Ty and Sharon as a Biker Dude and a Go Go 70's girl!

Adam and Jaime as Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin

Steven and Deanna as little kid trick or treaters and...............

as little ghosts!

Nick and Dianna as Rock Star's....love the posing for the camera!

Ryan and Stephanie as the Hunter's!

Scott and Miranda as the crash test dummies

Don and Jasmine as President Obama and the Statue of Liberty

And finally Ryan and I as the Burger "King" and Wendy's!!

We had so much fun and have already come up with an idea for next year. Can't wait!!!

Eight years of Marriage

2009-10-06T21:49:00.003-05:00

Today marks our 8 year anniversary. We are going through such a rough time right now but I am amazed that Satan isn't attacking our marriage right now with everything going on. Ryan and I truly are growing closer and truly leaning on our Lord to get us through. I am so happy that we have Him as our foundation because I can see how so many marriages crumble when we are not centered around Christ. Not saying that everything is perfect because I have certainly had my days of doubt and tears but, I am able to find peace at the end of the day knowing where my trust is. Your prayers are certainly still needed.

Ryan is still pursuing employment. His long term plan is to start the Fire Academy in Jan and do a summer EMT course. This would allow him to be able to apply/test for almost any city in DFW area giving him so many opportunities. We understand that it is going to be a tough year or so but our goal of getting out of construction and having something that is stable is our focus. He has a heart of helping people and this would allow him to do that.

On to a few wedding pictures in lieu of our Anniversary

One of my favorite verses that I love for Ryan.....
As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19

Prayers today!

2009-09-24T07:46:00.002-05:00

Ryan will be taking the Civil test tonight for city of Garland to become a firefighter. Please be in prayer for him. The competition is so great that he has to score almost perfect to get through. We know that with God all things are possible. Ryan is feeling really good about it. He has had literally all day to study EVERY day the past month. I hope it pays off. If he does pass, the physical test will be on Saturday. I will be sure to put up a post as soon as we know something.

Thanks to everyone!

All about Tyler

2009-09-04T07:42:00.002-05:00

Tyler's just before we left for his 1st day of school!

He was really excited to go...can't you tell by the look on his face. He did great and I didn't cry til I got back in the truck.

Here he is at meet the teacher. This is his chair where he sits at. See his name on the table. Cute boy!

These picture's are kinda backwards. We took Tyler to his very 1st Ranger game the week before school started. He had a blast! He ate a hot dog and some of our cheese fries and ended off with some cotton candy. It was a great 1st game with 3 home runs and the Ranger's won!

Tyler also had a few cavities and had to get fillings the week before school. I fear that he is going to have my genes when it comes to teeth. I am religious about going for my cleanings every 6 months but just have had a rough time since all my pregnancies. Tyler did great the whole time. After his numbness went away we took him to get some ice cream. He came down with a HUGE headache and although this yummy ice cream looks very enjoyable, he was miserable. Poor baby....1 dose of Motrin and in 1 hour he was running around.

Evolv

2009-08-19T08:52:00.000-05:00

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Sincerely,

Robin Ivy

Will update soon...

2009-08-19T08:08:00.004-05:00

Sorry, I know it's been a while since I posted. There has been so much going on in the Ivy house. Most importantly, Ryan lost his job last Friday. We are really trusting in the Lord right now to get us through this tough season. Because I stay at home, this is our only income and our health insurance. To be honest, we are nervous because I have been looking on the job boards the past month or two and there has been NOTHING listed in construction. We are having to be creative to think of other careers and even something that he could do temporarily to get health insurance before we lose ours on September 15th. As sick as our kids were last year, we definitely need to get on some health plan which I have been working on. Please pray that we would know the right road to take and pray that Ryan's spirits stay up and that he doesn't get down.

Since I know you are looking for new pictures, here is a recent family picture taken at church.

Katelynn turned 1 yesterday!! She is such a blessing and I am so glad God surprised me with her.

Summertime pictures and some catching up.....

2009-07-21T10:24:00.006-05:00

I've noticed since I have gotten my iPhone that I haven't been as good about taking pictures with my camera. Something I am working on. All of these pictures were taken from my iPhone....some are pretty good some are not. Still learning!

An evening playing in the sprinklers in the front yard...love how Kate's hair gets curly when it's wet!

Haylee soaking wet in her outfit. It was totally not planned to let them play in the sprinklers so no swim suits are on.

Tyler and Katelynn....the only 2 that I can keep in one spot to snap a picture! ;o) Haylee is too busy to sit down for a picture these days.

Sweet little Katelynn

This is when Katelynn was sick (about a month ago or so)only I didn't know it. I thought is was just allergies or a cold or something. No fever and not really too fussy just allot of snot and congestion and coughing/wheezing. I finally took her to the doctor after 3 days of it and she tested positive for Flu A!! Whaa? I was shocked! HELLO, it's summer and we don't go anywhere! I just don't understand why she always gets these viruses. I can't complain too much....God has blessed her with about 2 months of being completely well.

Here's a picure of her at her doctors office before we found out about the Flu. On this visit I was told that she is going to be considered as a "asthma patient" because of her tnedency to ALWAYS have wheezing any time she gets a cold or any respiratory virus. So we were sent home with a long term asthma inhaler called Advair, a rescue inhaler called Proventil, singulair for allergies and cough and a 5 day course of oral steroids. We are also supposed to add Zyrtec on top of this. So much for me to absorb with all of the medicines and inhalers and just knowing that my daughter is diagnosed with true asthma. She will be on the inhaler every day for probably several years until they decide to wheen her off of it. The rescue inhaler is to be used during times where she gets a cold or is having respiratory problems. The Advair is more for preventative asthma and we are hoping we can get it all under control before this winter rolls around in hopes that she won't have another winter like she did last winter. She's a trooper!!

Haylee sliding down her slide. This was given to us by our next door neighbor. Their kids were too big for it and tried to sell it in the garage sale. It didn't sell so she just gave it to us. Haylee and Katelynn LOVE it along with their also FREE play house.

Tyler got to attend this years VBS at our church if I voluntered as a worker. Next year he will be old enought to go without me voluntereing. He had a blast and I was so busy I didn't get to snap hardly any pictures. Here is a picture of him during the worship time!

The theme this year was Crocodile Dock and the key passage was to "Fear Not". So they bring out a REAL crocodile for everyong to see.....Nice!

So proud of my husband!!

2009-07-21T10:02:00.004-05:00

Most of you have seen these on Facebook but for my blog readers that don't have FB here are some neat pictures of Ryan. He started eating healthier and working out back in January! We should have taken a "before" photo but forgot. Here is a picture form back in October that is close enough!

Here is Ryan (minus 85 lbs) now on his Birthday!!! That's right 7 months and he lost 85 lbs. He is looking great and feeling great.

Love that facial expression!

Here is the typical "Jared" picture. He is holding up his work jeans we had just bought 3 pairs of at Christmas....Urgh! You will have to excuse his wife beater shirt and yes he has on some gym shorts behind those jeans! :o) Way to go Ryan!!!! I am so happy for you. Love you babe!

My sister's website!!!

2009-06-29T09:12:00.003-05:00

My sister finally got her photography website up and running! Go and check it out....... www.brookeaphotography.com

Some Summer pictures made by my sister!!

2009-06-25T11:30:00.024-05:00

1st Dip in the Swimming Pool

2009-06-03T07:15:00.004-05:00

This was Katelynn's first time ever to get in the swimming pool and she loved it. My friend Scarlett from our ABF invited us over to swim in her neighborhood pool and then to have a picnic lunch. Tyler was so excited and couldn't wait. I must say I was nervous having 3 little one's who don't know how to swim around the big pool. I knew my friends were there but they also had their own kid who don't know how to swim either. But, they were such a big help. Haylee was the brave one and the one we really had to keep our eye on ALL the time.

The water here was only 6 inches deep but when I put her in it without a floaty, she immediatly wanted to take off and start crawling but would loose her balance and fall in the water. So into the floaty she goes. She still managed to crawl and get around even with this big thing on her.

Here she is standing up to the side of the pool all by herself. Yikes! A little of Haylee's braveness!

Haylee stayed in this all of about 2 minutes and then she wanted out. She does not like to be strapped in to anything. I got her out and she was all over the place. Several times trying to sneak in the adult pool.

Then there is my content little guy floating in a "My Baby Flaot." Yes, this is why he will be starting swimming lessons this summer. He is quite affraid of the water. We just haven't been around a pool that much so he hasn't had that much exposure either. But even when he takes a bath or shower he doesn't like his face to get wet.
He LOVED being in this floaty and in fact learned to kick his feet and paddle with his hands and he was all over the pool. He kept saying but I can swim now momma!!! :-)

Haylee and my nephew Maxwell playing in the kiddie pool.

Sweet boy just as content as can be! He had fun too. Check out his toes!!!

Funny little story about Tyler. There was a Splash area for kiddos that evidently had not been turned on that day. It even had a thing that you walk up to and put your hand on it (I guess a sensor) to make it come on and it wouldn't. Bummer! Ayways, there was lady from the neighborhood there with her baby that we didn't know. I heard Tyler saying something to her and she laughed. I always worry about what little comments comes out of his mouth lately. you know what I mean, he is just at that stage. I asked her what he said. She said that he told her the splash park doesn't work because the batteries are dead. I LOL and said NICE! She laughed and said that is awesome...yall must have some dead batteries at your house. Hilarious!

Memorial Day

2009-05-29T07:04:00.002-05:00

We had a fun, easy going and no plans kind of Memorial Day. We started by me mowing the yard. If you are in shock and wondering why I have never mowed a yard, it's because I always had my dad or my older brother doing it. Then I got married and my husband refused to let me mow. AND I have been pregnant for most of our married years! :-) I have been asking Ryan if he would let me try so I could get outside and enjoy some sun. He works outside everyday so he enjoys being inside. So he proceeded to show me how to start the mower and what to do, LOL! We traded roles for about 2 hours and I loved it. I did get some sun (pretty red on the shoulders) and got to enjoy Tyler helping me. I actually let him help me push the mower and he was in HEAVEN.

Here is a picture of the girls hanging out in the driveway while bubba and daddy are practicing catch for his Tee ball. They were so cute I didn't get a chance to take a pic of bubba! :-(

Little miss Katelynn wearing the same shirt her sister wore last Memorial Day. Click here to see her! It is my favorite and I hope it still fits for the 4th of July!!

Cutie Patootie!!!!!!

We also had some fun in the sprinkler. After all of the mowing, the yard needed water and I told Tyler he could go get his swimsuit on a run around in the sprinkler. He was thrilled. I got the girls in their swim suit and headed to the back yard.

Katelynn wearing sister's swimsuit from last year. So nice to be able to pass things down. Although, Katelynn is catching up because Haylee is so tiny. This swimsuit was big on Haylee and fits Katelynn perfect. :-/ Click here to see Haylee last year.

Haylee's cute little hiney!!

Daddy holding little bit.

I was finally able to get Tyler to run all the way up to the sprinkler and stand in the middle. He won't admit it but he is so afraid of the water. Even in the bath/shower he hates for water to be in his face. We will be enrolling him in swimming lessons this summer to try to help with that. Not Haylee though, she is my little dare devil. She was running all around in that sprinkler. Even in the bath tub she lets me just dump cups full of water on her head and that's how I get shampoo out of her hair. It just runs all down her face and she has her eyes open the whole time. She never even breathes in the water and never chokes on it. She will probably do great with swimming. We are going with some friends today so we'll see how she does.

Tyler is so sweet with his sisters. Love this picture.

A very happy boy that he made it to the middle.

Fun and relaxing day!

These are a few of my favorite things......(part one)

2009-05-25T16:02:00.007-05:00

This is something I have been wanting to post about for a while. In fact, I have been thinking of some favorite things for a while and if I get a chance I search for a pic of it. I have been saving them in a folder and waiting for my life to calm down so I could actually do a fun post about me. I would love to see your favorite things as well so feel free to jump on the bandwagon.

First and foremost are my necessity's that I just don't want to be without. My Lord and Savior Christ Jesus!

My amazing husband of almost 8 years! I am so blessed to have him!

My sweet family of 5 with 3 wonderful and beautiful kiddos!

This is my ESV Thinline Bible Ryan bought me several years ago. This has become our favorite translation of the Bible and have several others in fact.

Next are some nice things that I have that I do enjoy so much. My new Nike's I got this Mother's Day.....aren't they cute!

My Mother's Day present in 2006 before we had the girl's. This is Tyler's birthstone so Ryan thought I could have a "Mother's ring!" No what do we do with Haylee's Saphire and Katelynn's Peridot? LOL, get real! We have 3 kids now and I don't work to bring in any money so this will just have to be my only "Mother's ring" for a while. I absolutely LOVE it though and it is definitely a favorite!

A Few Favorite Foods/Drinks

If you know me, then you know that I love Chipotle. My absolute favorite is the Barbacoa Burrito. Ryan and I both eat it open style where we cut it open and eat the filling first then if we have room (which I have NEVER been able to finish one) we eat the tortilla last. Their chips are the best too!!!!

I don't go here that often now that I am a stay at home mommy but this is a favorite when I do get to splurge a little. I almost always get the Carmel Macchiato. YUM!

These go perfect with the above favorite thing! Lemon Madeline's from none other than LaMadeline's. I love so many things at LaMadeline's but I do think these are a favorite. SO yummy!

Are you hungry yet? I must admit that I did NOT have a sweet tooth prior to marrying my husband. Yep, I acquired that from him unfortunately. These Ghirardelli brownies are out of this world!!

A stapel in my house growing up was Kool-Aid. This was one of the one's my mom made allot but it is the one I make exclusively! Now in the past few months we have been trying to be healthier and we have been doing Crystal Light. It's just not the same and it's definitely NOT a favorite of mine but MUCH less sugar!

This is one of my favorite restarants that we don't get to go to enough. In fact, this is where Ryan and I had our Rehearsal dinner for our wedding. Everything we have had here is wonderful. They have the best fajita's but Ryan and I usually get the Chuychanga! :-)

I LOVE me some chocolate milk. Always have and I loved it even more when I was pregnant! :-)

Last on the food and drink catagory is Rocky Road!

Got to go now.....more later!

The move has finally been made!

2009-05-22T18:10:00.002-05:00

We finally moved Katelynn into Haylee's room to her own bed. She had been sleeping in a smaller version of a playpen but since she is getting so mobile and aware it was time to do the merge.

Our night always starts by reading a book for all to hear in Bubba's room. The girl's are starting to learn to listen when we read the book. We end our evening with our bedtime prayer which Haylee can almost say all of the words to. Katelynn just watches us all recite the bedtime prayer.

After putting Bubba to bed, we head to the girls room and put the girls in each of their beds. (Obviously for picture purposes we put them in the same bed this time!) They have done great. In fact, I have found that Katelynn does better if Haylee is in the room with her. For that reason, I have put Haylee back on a morning nap so Katelynn will go to sleep. :-/ I know soon Katelynn won't need that nap anymore and this way they can be on the same schedule. It has been a full week and they have both slept through the night every night!!!! I am so glad it went so well.

Cute little Katelynn!!

It's been a while.....

2009-05-22T17:54:00.002-05:00

Well, the last time I posted was when Haylee was sick. The next day, she got even sicker and we were told by her pediatrician to go to the Children's ER. The day was filled with tons of test and lots of torturing on this sick little girl. X-ray's, blood tests, several swab tests in the nose, Strep test in the throat and a urine test(which was attempted to be collected with a catheter but was unsuccessful; big ouch for little Haylee) so then a waiting game all day to try to bag her urine. All of this came back fine but when it took 14 hours to get her to pee, they then decided she needed IV fluids. She seemed to perk up some after that. Diagnosis; something Viral!!!?? I couldn't believe it. She was more sick than she had ever been with RSV and the Flu. She finally recovered after a few more days of fever. One of the hardest things for a mom to watch is your baby being poked and proded. Poor sweet Haylee!

Sorry for the delay.......ANOTHER sick kid!

2009-05-07T08:20:00.002-05:00

I had hoped to come home and post a update that evening after the pulmonology update but it just didn't happen. I had ha migraine all afternoon that day and it even kept me up in the night. Another short person in my house kept me up that night. Haylee was up coughing all night and since I had a migraine I asked Ryan to help. He went a dealt with her and when he came back to the room I just thought to ask him, was she warm? He said yeah, kinda! I knew it just by the sound of her cry she was sick.

So Tuesday morning I called and her doctor was out so we had to see the NP. They tested her for Flu and Strep which bot came back negative. They then decided she had croup by the sound of her cough. Tyler had croup a couple of times and Haylee has had it once so I knew what it sounded like and her cough did resemble the "seal bark" that you have with croup. So she was put on 3 days of Steroids to help w/ the inflammation in her airway.

Wednesday was difficult. Her fever was high she would cough so much she would vomit. She wouldn't eat or drink hardly at all. In fact, I only changed her diaper 3 times yesterday and one time was b/c I was putting her in the bath after she threw up ALL OVER ME. That's right! It was either me or my carpet so I took one for the team! :-) I decided that she seemed more sick to just have the croup so I called and got her in with her doctor who was back in the office. She is familiar with my kids and how sick Katelynn had been. Thankfully, my dad was able to come over and watch Tyler and Kate both days so I didn't have to expose them to more illnesses up there.

She decided to test her again for the Flu and also for RSV. BINGO...RSV was positive! What is it with this RSV? Why must it attack my family? Why won't it go away? I am so tired of it and ready for summer. Supposedly, that is what is going to cure my kiddos. Please Lord, take this away from my children. Help give their little bodies the strength to fight off the things. Help repair their little immune systems. Help me with my sanity. I so want to feel like a mom and not a nurse. Help me with my faith and that I can trust in you to heal them.

So, Haylee is still sick and the next step is to collect a urine sample from her and test to make sure there is not a infection going on there. We are just trying to cover all the basis because you are usually not running this much fever with RSV.

Back to the Pulmonologist appt! He really downplayed the whole 6 positive RSV test since Dec. He stated that it could stay in your system for a while and that maybe she got it 1st in Dec. but then got a few other viruses after that before her immune system was able to get back to normal and that might be what has kept her sick. I told him, I don't go anywhere!!!! In fact, because they have been so sick I have kept her especially at home most of the time with the exception of going to grandma's and grandpa's. I even kept her out of the church nursery for a month and a half and I kept Tyler and Haylee out for several weeks as well in hopes to get them better. I made sure Tyler knew not to put anything in his mouth especially his hands and that he was to wash his hands after church. I disinfected my home washed all sheets, pillows, animals and any other thing around them. I wiped down beds and toys and did all I knew to do. What is the chances of her getting it again if she doesn't go anywhere?

He said just going to the grocery store she could pick it up. I told him that I don't take them to the grocery store. I am literaly on house arrest in some cases because I have 2 that I have to carry and there is just no sence in me getting out with them. Now that the weather is getting better I would like to go to the parks and fun places but not until they are better. He basically came down to 3 conclusions. 1.) Acid Reflux ....prescribed her Prevacid 2.) RAD Respiratory Airway Disease .......prescribed her Advair and also a rescue inhaler 3.) Allergy to Irritants.....prescribed her Singulair. Does someone so young need this much medicine. I am not excited at all about all of these meds!

One topic that did peak my interest was in their routine questions they asked if there was mold in our house. YES!!?! I started thinking. Could that be what is causing all of the respiratory problems. It doesn't explain the +RSV test that were done but could it explain why their immune system has been down and why they keep getting sick?? This is something Ryan and I are going to check in to. We have a old friend that is in/or used to be in the mold remediation business. If any of you have any knowledge of this please let us know. I know that this was a big scare years back but haven't heard much on it lately and we don't want to get suckered in and scammed.

That's it for now. I will hopefully post another update soon on both girls but for now I need to administer some medicine to Haylee.
Thanks for all the prayers!

Prayers for Katelynn on Monday

2009-05-01T14:26:00.006-05:00

Well, we finally have gotten close to the pulmonology appointment that we have had for a month. I just wanted to ask if you would be praying for them to find out what is wrong with her. I haven't done a update on her for a few weeks because I was almost tired of complaining about her being sick and it was still the same same same.

I think the last time I posted about her was in March and she was on her 4th round of RSV. She now has tested positive 2 more times. Big shock!! Not for me it's like I almost expect it now. It's like Chronic RSV and it wont go away. She's not really getting better but some days are better then others. I am just so tired of using this nasal syringe and I know Katelynn is tired of seeing it!

I am also tired of seeing and using this. This little nebulizer however, will probably be staying around long term.

So, if you could just add Katelynn to your prayers and I will certainly do a update as soon as I am able to. Thank you friends!

Go Dodgers!

2009-04-17T17:46:00.001-05:00

Tyler has been enjoying his Tee Ball. He would really enjoy it if he could be up to bat the whole game. That is his favorite thing as I am sure it is everyone else on the team.

They're team has one 3 games and lost 2 so not too bad. I unfortunately have only been able to go to 1 full game and about 15 min of another game. Either the girls are sick or it is a early in the morning game and it is way too cold to get the girls out in the cold. I am anxious for it to warm up so I can see him play. Praise God Ryan's schedule has been better for him to be able to take him.

He gets VERY bored and distracted when he is in outfield. In fact he has been known to wonder right off the field. LOL it is too funny!

This is the kids favorite part of the game....Hi Five's and "Good Game!"

Haylee in her playhouse...

2009-04-17T17:12:00.002-05:00

We have enjoyed the weather the past couple of days. Haylee loves playing in her playhouse and sure was warming up to the camera. I know there is allot but they were too cute I couldn't choose between all of them. Enjoy!

Let the Children Come to Me...Luke 18:15-17

2009-04-06T16:13:00.003-05:00

Some of you may already know but Tyler had been asking for about the past month or so about "how he can get Jesus in his heart." In my faith, we believe in John 3:16 where when you come of age to have the decision to believe in God and give your life to Him and ask Him into your heart. Tyler has always loved praying and when he asked me about this I was really caught off guard. I kinda thought to myself that he's just curious and not really ready but maybe just has allot of questions. He's only 5! I called my mom and she said not to quench it so I kinda explained to him as much as I could on his level about that there is a prayer we pray when he is ready to make that decision and that at that time God would forgive him of his sins and Tyler would need to let Him be Lord of his life.

A got some books at Mardel's that explained the Easter story and helped him understand that Easter was not about hunting eggs and getting candy. The week Haylee had the Flu Ryan took Tyler to church with him and on their way Tyler asked the same question. "How do I get Jesus in my heart?" He told Ryan that he wanted Jesus in his heart. So Ryan explained the same thing over again and led him in the prayer.

They told me when they got home and it just make me cry. I am so thankful...I have always prayed for Tyler and his salvation and it just over joys me to know that he will meet his Savior someday!!

Tyler and some Tee Ball

2009-04-06T16:03:00.002-05:00

We enrolled Tyler in Tee bal'l this year. This is his first year and he is loving it! He is on the Dodgers team through Wylie Baseball organization. Ryan chose #14 because that was Ryan's # when he was a boy and it was also his dad's # when his dad was a boy. Kinda neat!!

I must say I am ready for it to warm up though. It is hard when you have babies to get them out in the cold like that. This is daddy trying to keep Miss Haylee warm at Tyler's game Sat morning.

I was holding Katelynn so I couldn't get a good close up and I missed his 1st game when Haylee had the Flu so I have yet to get a good picture of him.

They did win their game on Saturday. Yay!

My Brown Eyed Girl.....

2009-04-06T15:14:00.002-05:00

I like to sing that song to her. I am just in love with her more and more every day. You can ask my husband and my mom, I hold her WAY too much! It's just when you know she is your last how can you not hang on to those moments and I do hold her allot! :-) So here's my big 7 month old....

She has just cut her first tooth and is on her way to crawling. She cant do stride after stride yet but she certainly gets where she wants. I just want it all to slow down. To be honest, I don't want her crawling yet. I love the baby stage when they stay where you put them and play. She is so much fun right now and we are enjoying her so much!!!

The Beginning of Sisterhood

2009-04-06T15:04:00.003-05:00

Haylee and Katelynn were playing in the floor together one evening and it was so cute. (I just love this picture!!)

I really don't like for them to mess with each other's paci but they were having so much fun I just let them and took some pictures.

The minute Haylee would put it in her mouth Katelynn would do .........

....this and just attack it!! (Signs of a teething baby)

Haylee thought it was hilarious!!

It's Potty Time

2009-04-06T14:50:00.002-05:00

This plus......

...this equals.....

THIS!!!!!

Haylee has tee teed and poo pooed in the potty! She has only done the #2 one time but has gone #1 many times. It all started about 4 weeks ago when I went to get her out of her bed from her nap. She patted her diaper and said poo poo so I peeked and realized she had just barely started. So I ran her to the bathroom and sat her on the big potty and she did it....both #1 and #2!! She was so happy!

The next week she was successful 5 or 6 times but now she would mostly use her little potty. She also went at my mom's house when her Aunt Stephanie took her....no problem. Grandma even bought panties for her which are Ginormous and 100 times too big and they are the smallest size I have found. She just so tiny (still wearing 12 mo clothes mostly). So we have just kept her in diapers despite our efforts.

About a week or so into this adventure of running to the potty all the time she came down with the Flu. It was bad and she was sooo sick. Going potty was so far from her mind. So, we will see if she is able to get back in the groove. My mom said my sister and I were both potty trained at 18 mo. so we'll see. It sure would be nice to just buy diapers for one baby!! :-)

3 Sick Little Piggy's

2009-03-22T09:47:00.003-05:00

1st Sick Little Piggy:
Tyler has had the normal cold which was more than likely RSV since both the girls tested positive for it. He started last Thursday and so now it has been 10 days of snot and coughing. Thankfully he is older and knows how to blow his nose and doesn't require really any extra care than a normal day would require. He has improved tremendously in the last couple of days which is good because his first T-Ball game is Monday night....Go Dodgers!!!!

Sick Little Piggy #2: Poor Haylee is very sick! She was the 1st of the 3 to come down with the RSV. I had her Well Child appt on Friday (2 days ago) and since she wasn't getting any shots it was okay to bring her with the runny nose and cough. So everything looked fine, chest sounded clear and ears looked good. They went ahead and did the RSV test on her to make sure although we were sure she had it. And yes it was positive! Saturday morning she woke up with a fever and was vomiting. I thought oh no, she must have got something else at the doctor's office. At about noon I got her up from a nap and she was burning up. I tried to take her temperature but as many of you know with Haylee that was difficult to do. She fought me and fought me but by the timed she knocked it out it was 103.2 and it hadn't beeped yet. I was afraid it was 104 or close to it so we decided to take her to the ER. They basically said it's just a viral thing and gave us Zofran (sp?) for the vomiting. That has helped so far but she is still very sick. Please pray for her to get better fast and that no one else gets it.

Sick Little Piggy #3:
Miss Katelynn is hanging in there. She still shows all of the symptoms of the RSV but hasn't really gotten any worse. She still has the dreaded cough and her doctor is keeping her on the pulmicort for another 2 weeks because of the RSV she got again. After that we will see how her cough is and we will determine if she needs a pulmonologist. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for the kiddos. Thank goodness it's just 3 sick little piggies and not 5!! :-)

Finally an update on Katelynn

2009-03-18T21:53:00.005-05:00

Sorry for not getting her results posted sooner. I know most everyone knows that she is normal with a big beautiful head. Thank you for all your prayers. She had the sono on Monday afternoon and I got the results on Wed morning. It was so hard to wait on the words I wanted to hear. Praise God she is fine.

On another note, Haylee came down with some congestion (snotty nose) and a cough on Tuesday and I hoped it was allergies. Not so lucky! Katelynn and Tyler came down with the same symptoms on Thursday. I prayed that it was just a cold or something but in the back of my mind by the way Katelynn sounded I knew it was RSV. I took her to her pediatrician on Monday morning and sure enough she tested positive for RSV. So no this is 4 RSV's in 4 months for Katelynn. She just doesn't even get a chance to recover fully before she gets it again. I stay at home with the kids and you would think they would be healthier. The only place I usually take them is church.

Her doctor called me tonight at 7pm just to check on her. She is really trying to figure everything out. She wants to continue breathing treatments of Pulmicort for 2 more weeks then wean her off. I will be taking Katelynn back around that time to have her evaluate her. There may still be a possibility that due to her ongoing cough, she might want to check out the acid reflux stuff by a Barium Swallow and a Upper GI. I will try to keep everyone updated on what is going on . It's much easier to do a post when you don't have 3 sick kids at the same time. :-)

Update...kinda!

2009-03-09T22:23:00.003-05:00

I know I have had several people call me and email me to find out how Katelynn's test went. Thank you for all of your prayers and concerns. She did great and stayed real still for the sono tech so there shouldn't have to be any CT scans or anything. They said they got several good pictures. They couldn't give me any of the results but said they would sent the report to her doctor in 24 hours or less. So, I expext to get results tomorrow. I will post the results as soon as I know something. Thank you again for lifting her up today!

On a side note, after doing the post of Tyler and his bike I have to share this. He was so determined that he got out there and taught himself how to ride his bike all by himself. Now that is some determination!! He was so proud of himself and mommy and daddy were very proud as well. No I have to try to keep him from riding too far. :-)

Tyler learning to ride his bike!

2009-03-09T09:09:00.002-05:00

This is hard!!! He still has not learned completely but I'm sure he will get it soon. I kept telling Ryan I think you are supposed to hold the seat and not the handles. I don't know. We spent about a hour trying with him and I would hold the back of his seat. Neither way really worked to we agreed to try again some other day! :-)

Me holding the seat! Tyler had a hard time keeping his eyes on the sidewalk.

Daddy instructing him....and I'm sure trying to keep his patience with him. It was fun!!

All about Katelynn and some prayers too......

2009-03-08T16:56:00.007-05:00

So, Katelynn had her 6 month check-up on Friday. We had just been there last week for a follow up on her cough and to get the results of her chest X-ray. Her doctor decided to put her on breathing treatments twice a day for 2 weeks to see if her cough and wheezing would improve. It actually seems like it may be improving just as of these last few days. YAY! Poor baby has had this cough since the week after Thanksgiving when she came down with RSV the first time. If the cough continues she wants to do a Upper GI and a Barium Swallow to rule out Acid Reflux which also causes a cough. If that comes back normal, then she will refer us to a Pulmonologist. So after knowing all of this I was hoping to have just a normal "WELL child check-up."

Everything was going just fine then she was looking in her left ear and was looking a little too long. I knew it......a ear infection.....another antibiotic. Yeah! Still not much of a big deal. So the doctor said lets look at her growth chart:
Weight: 18lb 10.5oz (90-95%)
Height: 28.5 in (off the charts)
Head: 18 (off the charts)
As you can see from these lovely legs she weighs a good bit!!

Her doctor doctor did not like how her head had grown so much and had informed me at her last regular check up that they were going to watch the growth of her head closely. At 2 mos it was 55% and at 4 mos it was 75%. Now that it is off the charts she wants to get a sonogram of her head to check the fluid around the brain. They will be trying to rule out Hydrocephalus. Because her "soft spot" has not closed the sonogram should work but if they cant see enough they will have to do a CT scan (which requires sedation....Ugh!) The doctor asked me if there was a family history of large heads hoping that she could hang her hat on that. I don't know past my kiddos what the size of everyone's heads were as babies but Tyler and Haylee's both are 50% everytime. Ryan thinks my side of the family has big heads! HA!

Please keep little Katelynn in your prayers this week. They should be calling me on Monday to set up the Sonogram and I will be sure to post a update. The doc informed me that she thinks everything is fine. She said most Hydrocephalus babies are lower in the growth chart and have trouble gaining weight. Katelynn for sure isn't struggling in that area. :) If anyone has had any experience with this I would love to hear success stories and/or prayers. Also for her cough to go away completely in the next week so she doesn't have to go through those tests. Thank you so much!!

Some things she is doing:
Sits up
Rolls over (Front to back)
Rolls over (Back to front)
Rocks on hands and knees
Kisses mommy
Makes raspberry sounds
Sucks on toes :-)

She's just too "sweet"

Haylee Marie showing off

2009-02-20T08:36:00.002-06:00

Here are a few pictures of Haylee showing off with Aunt Brookie. She's saying "Where's Haylee?"

(I got these cute little jeans at a resale shop for $5 new and never been worn with the tags still on them from Macy's. I thought that were adorable with the red velvet bow and the flowers.)

Sweet little Ham!

Round 3 (please Lord, let it stop here)

2009-02-18T17:12:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm sure you know what I am about to say when I say "Round 3". Yep, you guessed it. Katelynn has RSV AGAIN for the 3rd time in 3 months!!!! Luckily this time hasn't been as bad as the other two times but I am worn out. I am so ready to be able to take her outside when it's a nice day and to be able to go to church each weekend which is usually one of my only outings. Poor baby has pretty much been sick since Tyler's birthday party on Nov. 22nd. That's 3 months of constant coughing, snot and sleepless days and nights for Katelynn and mommy.

Tyler started coughing and sneezing the end of last week and Saturday night Haylee and Katelynn started doing the same thing. RSV shows up as just a cold in older children so more than likely he gave both of them RSV. I can't keep him from kissing on those girls. Haylee is improving better and faster than Katelynn and I didn't see the need to pay 2 copays when I was sure they had the same thing so I just scheduled Katelynn. The doctor said she didn't hear any wheezing this time and that she didn't want to get a chest X-ray quite yet until the RSV is out of her system. If Katelynn is still coughing next week then she will order it then since she had the Pneumonia a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for her to completely heal this time and for her to have good health soon. I could use a little less drama around the house so I can focus on laundry and dishes instead of holding sick babies all day.

Here is a more recent picture of her. This was probably on one of her better days last week after the Pneumonia. She is such a sweet baby and has learned how to sit up and give me kisses. I'll have to get some pictures soon.

My tulips I got from my sweet husband for Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T14:20:00.003-06:00

I just wish they lived as long as roses. Oh well, I still have the gorgeous planter. Kinda funny my mom got the same thing except her's had red roses instead of tulips. Thanks honey!

A day outside

2009-02-14T17:29:00.003-06:00

I think this was a couple of Saturday's ago and it was a beautiful day. Ryan has been working every weekend since New Years so my mom came over to watch the kids so I could go get a much needed haircut. On my way out the door my mom mentioned that there was a playhouse that someone had set by the side of the road with a bunch of trash. I drove that way as I left to take a peek at it and called mom back to see if my dad could come snatch it up. Even if he could come get it I thought for sure that it would be gone. Well I got home from my hair appt and there it was in my driveway.

The kids loved it. Tyler is a little tall but it will be perfect for Haylee and Katelynn! It is in great shape.

Haylee checking out Tyler's Big Wheel.

And raking the leaves. We have 2 HUGE 50 year old Pecan trees in the back yard and they produce tons and tons of leaves. It's up to the kids knees when they walk in the back yard. And as you can see they blow to the front yard too. That's how tall these tree's are.

Peek a boo!

Haylee loves this dancing/singing Santa Tyler got from his Granny. She carries him around everywhere. I keep thinking after all the times she has dropped him he will stop working. Nope, it actually seems like he is getting louder and louder. I make Tyler keep him in the garage. It's mean I know but my stress level is high enough during the day without that Santa singing 12 days of Christmas! So she kept getting him out of the garage and taking him in her playhouse and making him sing. Neighbors were looking at me as if I had a radio turned on playing this Christmas song. LOL

Little Smirk

2009-02-03T07:08:00.002-06:00

This is the little smile/smirk Katelynn was always making. It's like she was trying to hide her smile and being bashful. I have actually noticed in the past few days that she doesn't seem to be doing this as much anymore. She still acts bashful but now she just tries to hide her face. Just thought I would post a few pic's so I could remember down the road that cute little smirk. LOVE IT!

Haylee's BFF Noah

2009-02-02T16:52:00.003-06:00

For Christmas, Haylee got a "Little People" Noah's Ark set. She has played with it very well and loves to take out all the animals then put them back in the boat over and over again. One night she brought the little old man up to me and I pointed to him and said "Noah." She replied back to me immediately "Wo wha" and immediately ran to bubba and streched her arm out and happily said "wo wha" and last ran to daddy and showed him wowha. After playing with him for a hour, she took him to sleep with her that night and not too long after I had laid her down I heard Noah hit her hard wood floor in her room. I thought to myself, don't forget to look for Noah in the morning. Here is a picture of Haylee's BFF Noah:

Tyler likes to get Haylee out of the bed in the mornings sometimes so I let him this morning and he must have grabbed Noah as well. Haylee saw the Ark and quickly remembered "wo wha" and she started looking everywhere for him. I told Tyler to go look for Noah that Haylee had dropped him last night out of her bed and he was somewhere in there. Little did I know he was playing his own little game. They looked and looked and I finally joined in looking everywhere. Haylee walked around just in her sweetest little voice pleaing for Noah to come out.....Wo wha, wo wha she said it probably 100 times almost crying for him.

We finally found him! HOURS later we found him.....Tyler had put him under the couch and has since hid him several more times just to torcher Haylee. This last time he had been gone for a couple of weeks and I thought Haylee would have forgotten about him. I found him when I was cleaning Tyler's room and I showed her and said, Haylee who is that. She just screamed, did a happy dance and grabbed and hugged him and said "Wo wha!" She remembered and it made her day! I have instructed Tyler that he will be in very big trouble if he hides Noah again.

Here are just a few extra pictures of this sweet funny girl. You can see Noah's Ark in the back of this picture.

Big O Grin! This is the biggest grin I think I have ever gotten on camera. (Love the Sponge Bob top two teeth.)She like to wear lots of bows now. If she finds a bow laying around, she thinks it needs to be in her hair regardless if she already has one or not. They don't even have to match.

Thought this one was cute. She is such a Sass!

The road to recovery...

2009-02-02T16:35:00.004-06:00

Katelynn is getting better! YAY! I took her to the doctor this morning and she listened to her lungs and gave me the thumbs up basically. No more wheezing which means no more breathing treatments. She has just 2 days left of one of the antibiotics and she will be done with the medicine.

She has been a happier baby and more herself for the past day or two. She is such a sweet baby and I am so glad for her to be through all of this. Thank you for all who were praying for her. Our prayers were certainly answered.

Now if I can just get her through the "I've been sick and I want to be held all the time" mindset, we'll be doing good!

Round Two..

2009-01-26T19:39:00.003-06:00

Hey sweet friends! Just a quick request for prayer for little Katelynn. As many of you know she had RSV in early Dec and has really never recovered 100%. She has continued to have a lingering cough that I have checked with her doctors about. They told me to watch it and if it was still going on mid to end of Jan then they would start ruling out other things. She suddenly got pretty sick on Saturday and was worse Sunday so we took her to Care Now to have her evaluated. We found out she has Pneumonia and that is in both sides of her lungs. I took her to her Pedi this morning and they did further test and found out she also has RSV again (another strand of it.) She is now on 2 antibiotics and breathing treatments. Please pray for her little lungs to heal. She is having these episodes where she is struggling to breathe and we had a scare today where we rushed her back up to her Pedi (thankfully they are in downtown Wylie just down a block or so!) Help me to know when it is urgent and when I can just trust in God that he will get her through these spasms and difficulty breathing. It is so scary when they are gasping for air and to know when to get her help. She has been sick for so long and I'm just ready for her to feel better. Thank you for your prayers!!! Here's a picture of her getting a breathing treatment. :-( Excuse the way I look....very little sleep for me plus I had a root canal, a crown and a filling done this morning. Yay!

I'm 5 months old....

2009-01-16T07:12:00.004-06:00

Katelynn will be 5 months old in 2 days. I can't believe how fast it is going. Not only is it going by fast but she is growing like a weed...Seriously!

Love this picture...she is shy/bashful because she is always trying "not to" smile or to barely smile and she try's to hide her smile by burying her face sometimes. My mom said I kinda did the same thing when I was little. Here are her new stats (supposed to be 4 months but we are about a month behind)
Weight: 16.7 lbs <95%
Height: 26 3/4 in <95%
Head: 17 in 90%-95%
When the doctor was showing me her big jump on her percentile chart, it looked like she was off the charts (above 100%) but they just kept saying she was "greater" than 95%. Oh well, I guess it's all the same....She's just a BIG girl and is trying to catch up to her little petite sister.

She is already wearing the same size diapers as Haylee (sz 3) and will probably be wearing the same size clothes in no time!

Haylee's 15 month check up (even though she is 16 months) will be next week so I am anxious to see how much she weighs and what the girls difference's are.

Katelynn got 3 shots and had a very rough night. Kinda weird b/c my kids usually sleep allot after their shots. Nope, she had me awake EVERY HOUR on Wed night. I was exhausted yesterday!

Here is a picture of her trying her cereal for the first time. We have tried this about 3 times and she doesn't have the tongue rolling back yet. She hasn't got much down yet. Man, it is though having to feed 2 babies especially when they eat completely different things. I am still trying to figure out if I should just put Haylee in a booster chair to the table or if I should add another high chair to my extremely crowded kitchen. I hate to think of the mess Haylee will make w/out the highchair! Any ideas?

Who wants to be the baby?

2009-01-13T13:47:00.003-06:00

Haylee does! She has started getting in what used to be her exersaucer lately. ALL BY HERSELF! Another one of those expert climbing things and I am not sure really how she gets in there. She hasn't yet figured out how to get out and I don't think there is a way but she always surprises me. She has been climbing up into what used to be her swing for several months now and she loves to sit in what used to be her bouncy seat. Poor Haylee! It was just a short time ago that I moved her from place to place in all of these entertainers and I think she still remembers them. She has had to grow up so fast. :-( Speaking of that, we found out she can count to 3! I figure it's because of me counting to 3 to Tyler all the time when he is about to get in trouble. :-)

The Girl's Room.....

2009-01-08T10:13:00.003-06:00

So here is the VERY full girl's room for those that want to see. This is a view from their door as you walk in. Check out the dated ceiling fan that needs to be replaced. We do have a new (but cheap) white ceiling fan that we bought before Haylee was born. Yep, it's still out in it's box in the garage waiting for my hubby to install it. :-)

Haylee's little reading corner. She LOVES books! The shelf is supposed to be a corner shelf but there are no corners in this room available! Oh well. We got it from Pottery Barn when Tyler was a baby. Notice Haylee's 1st Cabbage Patch Doll Aunt Brookie got her for Christmas. LOVE the smell of those doll's!

This is KATELYNN'S bed. I know it has Haylee's name above it but we needed to put Haylee's name here because Katelynn's name wouldn't fit. Ryan thought we could just move Haylee's bed over here and put Katelynn's bed in it's place. I thought no, it's gonna be enough change to put another bed in here and a baby sister, I don't want to change where Haylee has been sleeping. Less DRAMA! I got her just a bumper pad to go in her bed b/c I couldn't afford a whole bedding set. I got it on Ebay for like $14!!! I couldn't buy one for that price at any store and look how cute it is and it matches perfectly.

So here is HAYLEE'S bed with Katelynn's name above it. This bed is centimental to us especially to Ryan. He is really bummed that Katelynn won't get to use it. This was his sister's baby bed then his when he was a baby. His mom kept it all this time. It is a old Jenny Lind Crib. Funny how the white one we got from our friend Scarlett is identical to it except the color.

This is my mess corner and the dresser we got from Craigslist for very cheap. I just lay everything up here until I get a chance to hang things up. I hope I'm not the only one who does this. It has a mirror but the mirror broke when Ryan was trying to fix the backing on it with a staple gun. :-/So I'm sure we won't have a mirror for a while.

Also a messy corner, the changing table and dirty clothes hamper. This will be one of the first things I take out of here to make more room. I have thought several times, do I have to have this? It is so nice to have everything right there plus what do I do with everything in the baskets below?

Haylee's little piano she got for Christmas (thanks Grandma/Santa.) She loves this thing. I will be in the living room feeding Katelynn and I will here her go to her room by herself and just start playing away on it. Too funny!

This is something I found at Mardel's before I had Haylee. I had to get it...it matched her room PERFECT! I love the words too.

And here is where Katelynn sleeps for now. She has been sleeping on the couch pretty much since we brought her home from the hospital. We had a bassinet for her but Haylee wouldn't leave her alone and would climb up it and shake it. For some reason she would leave her alone when she was on the couch. I guess b/c she could see her and wasn't curious. Since the rolling had begun, we had to get something. I would love to have them in the room together but Katelynn still goes to sleep later (about 9-10) and wakes up earlier (about 6) and I don't want to mess up Haylee's schedule. Haylee is the lightest sleeper EVER! I thought once I get Katelynn on the same schedule then I will ease her in there!

This "travel lite crib" is perfect. Bigger than a bassinet but not as big as a play pen. The bassinet part can be lowered when she starts to raise up if she is still in it then. We got a GREAT deal on it on Craigslist also. She has slept in it wonderfully and it is good to have my couch back. Thanks for taking the tour!

It's been busy around here...

2009-01-07T06:53:00.002-06:00

I feel like I haven't posted hardly anything lately. To be honest, I have been so bad about taking any pictures. It seems like there is always a kid in my arms or I am feeding someone or making food for someone or changing a diaper. I have thought I ought to count how many diapers I change a day. I know it's allot b/c my hands are suffering from washing them so much. My hands have turned into "mommy hands" (no offense Mom!)

So here are a couple of recent pictures of the kids. Here is Haylee and Katelynn who are now wearing the same size diapers. We haven't taken Katelynn for her 4 mo checkup yet to see how big she is but she is 4 mo and is wearing 6 and 9 month clothes so she seems to be pretty big. Haylee is so small and petite I think Katelynn is going to catch up. You can also see Ryan's shoe that Haylee was playing with how big it is compared to them. That boy has some BIG feet. Just look below...

Tyler getting in on the picture...

Katelynn laughing. She is doing so much lately. I haven't actually seen her roll over but I know she has because I found her on the couch, she had rolled over from her tummy to her back and had scooted from laying against the back of the couch to laying long ways with her head hanging of the end of the couch upside down just watching TV. YIKES! Scared me to death. I had just left her there for a second but I guess that's all it took. So needless to say, no more sleeping on the couch for Katelynn. We put up the baby bed we got from a friend in our ABF ( thanks Scarlett) in Haylee's room and got it all set up and tried putting Katelynn in it. It has not gone so well yet. Haylee hates it and just cries and wants to get sister when she is in it. When they are both in their bed's they both cry and Haylee won't even lay down. All she wants to do is look at that other bed in her room and cry. I'm sure she just wants to get in it. Anyways, we ended up buying a miniature pack and play from craigslist to keep in the living room for now. It has worked perfect and I wish I would have had this all along. I will post pictures of it and the girls room soon.

Haylee has been a busy bee. She has been very clingy since she had the RSV and wants to be held allot. She has been saying tons of more words lately. She can say bath, bird, book, bubba, light, pa pa (for grandpa), Santa, Pretty, juice, Mmm-Mee (for yummy..ie food) Tee Tee and when she goes poo poo she says "Eeeww Weee" (for Shuuu Weee). She actually grabs her diaper any time she pees or poops so I have had several people telling me she might be ready to start potty training. My mom had me and my sister trained at 18 months. I just cant imagine her peeing in the potty. She is still so small but, it sure would be nice to not have to buy diapers for 2 babies. I put her on the potty before her bath everytime but she hasn't done anything yet. We'll see, not sure if I am ready to tackle that yet. Here is a picture of her eating some "yummy's" as she calls it.

Leave a comment....say Hi and let me know you visited !

Christmas Morning!

2008-12-29T11:20:00.003-06:00

We had a pretty good Christmas morning. How about yall?
Santa had been pretty good this year and brought each of the kids a couple of gifts. He brought Tyler a "train with a remote" and a flash light (just like he had asked for). He got a couple of other things and was very happy.

Haylee got a cute pink piano purchased at the resale shop! :-) and some cute Strawberry Shortcake books as well as a snow globe. She LOVES her piano and will sit down at it and play for 5 minutes at a time. So cute....I will have to post a pic later of her sitting at her piano.

Katelynn got a light up sea horse that plays music (kinda like a glow worm) and a snow globe too. She had no clue what was going but really enjoys her light up toy. They each got some fun stocking stuffers too.

I had already been awake with Katelynn for a little while and had just put her back to sleep. I was in the kitchen checking my email and heard Tyler open his door. He went straight to our bedroom and got Daddy up and I heard both of them come running into the living room and I came around the corner and Ryan flipped the light switch and the tree lit up and his train came on and started going around the tracks. Ryan yelled Tyler, he came! Tyler yells, Momma...Santa came and he brought me my train and my flash light!! It was priceless.

Playing with the train!

Check out his cool watch that was in his stocking.

Just saw her piano...

Testing it out.

Her Disney princess ride on toy from Ryan and I.
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A little bit of Katelynn.....

2008-12-20T07:00:00.003-06:00

Katelynn has really been enjoying the exersaucer lately. I will put her in there along with plenty of blankets around her and she will stay content in there for at least 15-20 minutes. Long enough for me to feed the older kids or to do some dishes or whatever it is that I need to get done.

I cant completely walk away though because of the crowd she attracts (ie Haylee). Haylee still has her moments of not understanding gentle and I will catch her hitting Katelynn or just being rough like she is with her brother. Or she will grab the exersaucer and just rock it making Katelynn very startled.

Here in these pictures, Haylee is enjoying popping the little apple up and then pushing (more like HITTING) it back down, also not so gentle. Poor Katelynn.

Tyler and Haylee finally get bored and go off to do something else. Katelynn can relax and smile!

Katelynn and her daddy. Everyone says she looks allot like I did but I totally see Ryan in her. I'm sure it's the dark hair and brown eyes but to me she just resembles him so much.

Poor daddy has been working mad, crazy hours and looks very tired in this picture. They are trying to finish his project and having lots of "big pushes" to get done which means late hours and working the weekends. Also crazy for me! I absolutely cannot wait for him to get home and am almost nuts, well not almost, I am nuts by the time Ryan gets home. I would say 4 out of 6 work days I am without Ryan while the kids are awake. He might get home in time to kiss them goodnight as I am putting them to bed but most of the time they miss him. I totally don't know how single mom's do it and I don't know some days if I can continue. Pray for my patience and my sanity as I am by myself so much.

Also, pray for Katelynn that she will get better soon. I cant tell if what she had is just lingering or if she's got something new. She has never really gotten better from the RSV and I might need to take her back to the doctor. I have been putting it off because she acts fine and is happy, no fever or anything. She just continues to have this horrible cough that sounds almost as bad as it did right when her and Haylee got sick. She has had some kind of cold symptom since Tyler's birthday (Nov. 21st). A FULL MONTH! It's time for my baby to feel better!

Ain't no mountain high enough......

2008-12-13T09:33:00.005-06:00

Haylee has been up to allot lately! She has discovered a new and exciting adventure. She learned how to climb up into our chairs at the kitchen table.

But that quickly was not good/high enough as she stands up to climb up to the table.

To a place where I put everything that I don't want on the floor for her to get as well as some plates and food left from lunch. In fact, the first time she decided to do this, neither Tyler or I saw anything until she was already up on top of the table. She discovered Tyler's cheetos (crunchy...not good for a baby without any molars) and was just eating away on them. YIKES! I screamed and got her down and said NO Mam! After pulling her off of the table 5 more times and spilling my cup of Koolaid on my freshly professionaly cleaned carpet I realized I needed to push the chairs all the way up. The 2 chairs on the end won't scoot up all the way because the legs are in the way and that is how she was getting up there. Problem fixed! Except when we get up from the table and we forget.....Haylee always notices it!!

As I was taking pictures of one of her adventures for my blog she found all of the stuff she is not allowed to touch. A knife.....oh good. This girl knows how to push over any boundary which is not a good sign for the teenage years.

Okay, got her down and pushed the chair in. Oh well, I'll climb up and see what bubba's doing. Yikes, so finger painting can only be done during her nap time.

She just amazes me! From splashing in the toilets, to the climbing....things that Tyler never even tried. So, she has successfully climbed the bookshelf, up my KING size bed, up any couch/recliner, on Tyler's desk and into his window, her changing table, the kitchen chairs and now the kitchen table. What will she climb next?

And finally the Christmas tree.....

2008-12-12T07:38:00.003-06:00

We have finally gotten the Christmas tree up. We have all been sick and I am ready to be well for a while. Katelynn started to get something all the way back to Tyler's birthday (Nov 21st) but it was just a typical cold. No fever just tons of snot and lots of coughing. I put off going to the doctor seeing that I am on my 3rd child and I know the drill. Nothing the doctor can do if it's just a viral thing. Finally right before Thanksgiving I was ready for her to sleep at night and I didn't want to get into the holiday weekend and her get worse so I broke down and took her into the doctor. Just as I had figured....there is nothing we can do it will just have to run it's course. They did check her for RSV and it was negative.

Then Thanksgiving evening I came down with probably what she had. I had no voice for literally 7 days. Horrible cough and lots of chest congestion. I was miserable and was still having to take care of Katelynn who was STILL sick. Well the following Wed after Thanksgiving, I am still sick, Katelynn is STILL sick (and now getting worse) and now Haylee started showing the same symptoms. I called and got a appt for the next day. I knew what they were gonna say. It's viral....YES but when does it go away? PLEASE make it go away!!!

We got to the doctor after having a horrible night with both girls! Mind you, I am still sick myself. They start to do the RSV test in the nose and I said, umm...I was just here last week and they tested Katelynn and it was negative! She said we have to do it again. The doc came in and said they both have RSV!! WHAT? From where? We don't go anywhere except for church. How did they get that? After examining the girls she said they both had Croup too! Okay, getting scared now b/c that is what Tyler was rushed to the hospital with by ambulance and had to stay for 3 days!

She thought we caught it early enough and gave both of the girls a steroid shot and then some steroid medication to take for 3 days. Thank God my mom was there to help me with these sick girls who both desperately want to be held. The key with Croup is to not let them get upset which triggers the air way to constrict which is what happened with Tyler. I was scared!! It's enough to be sick yourself but then to have to take care of not one baby but 2 babies who have this illness that could be dangerous.

I have the best family in the world. My mom was able to stay the night with me and my sister in law came and stayed with me that Friday which was really a hard day. Ryan and I both slept in the living room that Friday night b/c Katelynn was sounding really bad and we kept having to run and stick her in the Freezer so she could breathe. We were very close to going to the hospital that night. My mom came that Sat. morning and by this time Haylee was doing about 50% better. Katelynn is taking a little longer but I could hold her I just knew I couldn't hold both of them and that is what they were needing!

Now Haylee is 90% better with just a lingering cough and Katelynn is still struggling. Her cough still sounds just as bad. Her spirits are up and I can't tell if she is feeling better or if she is just getting used to feeling this way and trying to make the best of it. :-) I am hoping that next week we are mucho better!!! I personally am 100% better too by the way.

So with just one child sick I was able to get the tree up over the course of a few days. Here are some pictures of Tyler decorating the tree. This pic is of a picture ornament I bought a couple of years back. It is a snowflake and came as a set of 3. We thought who other than Tyler do we put in these ornaments. We ended up putting a pic of daddy in one and another of daddy kissing mommy in the other. Now we have 3 kids to put a picture of in the 3 ornaments. Funny how that worked out!

If you click on this picture, you can see the other ornament of mommy being kissed!

Haylee liked eating on the Christmas beads!

Nice hair Haylee

The finished product!!

Our tree topper the Star! (this one has the ornament with the picture of daddy!)

HAYLEE WON!!!!

2008-11-25T16:36:00.006-06:00

About a month or two ago I entered Haylee in a "Got Cute" contest (basically a cutest baby contest.) She won 1st place!!!!! For winning 1st place we got a free photo shoot and a CD with all of the images for free. I was so excited and my first thought was I wonder if she would take some family pictures too so we could get a picture for our Christmas cards. She was happy to take a few family shots for us and this is the only good one we got. I am SO thankful we got one family pose that was good. It was really a impossible hour. The culprit.....HAYLEE! We were at a park and she wanted nothing to being held for a family pic. This is the first one we got in our casual clothes. After dirty diapers from both girls, chasing Haylee everywhere and changing our outfits into our dressier Christmas outfits Haylee was a basket case. Throwing herself all around and crying huge tears. Not good foe Christmas card pictures. So we didn't get any in our Christmas outfits. :-( I was so bummed.

As you can see in this picture she is totally pulling away from her daddy. Cute picture though.

I love this one.

Tyler was GREAT for his pictures. I was so glad because it has been a long time since I have gotten his pictures made. It was perfect timing for his 5th Birthday.

This was also in the beginning before she got too upset and she was FREE to roam.

This is my favorite!

You have a Heart of GOLD!

2008-11-21T09:44:00.004-06:00

My big sweet boy is 5 years old today!
Ryan recently gave me this Willow Tree figurine along with a set of figurines for the girls as a present to me. This one for Tyler is perfect. It is exactly how I view him. He has such a sweet servant heart. Don't get me wrong, he's not perfect and we definitely have our moments but just his overall attitude every day truly shows his heart of gold.

His little routine every day is to wake up in the morning and get "sugars". Stinky breath and all. And it's not just momma sugars but sugars from his sister's and his daddy if he is home. He can't have enough sugars. In fact if he wakes up before Haylee, he will ask me over and over "when is Haylee going to wake up?" He can't wait to see his sister. During the day, I will catch him stealing kisses from Katelynn who WAS sound asleep. Or he will be "tackling" Haylee on the floor which makes start to fuss all to get sugars from her. Where did he get all of this love?

His favorite thing to do is help me with ANY task or chore during the day. This is where I certainly see how God has gifted him with a servant's heart. He loves to help me with laundry by putting clothes into the dryer or by taking clothes out of the dryer and sorting/matching socks for me. He is always asking to do dishes but we just recently got a dishwasher (well I still am the dishwasher but we got a electric one to help me) so it's easier for me now and I don't need as much help. He always wants to help me make my bed but wants nothing to do with making his bed which I don't understand!?! Vacuuming would probably be his favorite "chore." He even has his own little Dirt Devil that he follows my Dyson around with. I keep wondering when does this end, when does he turn into a normal boy that wants to play all the time and not help with chores. I am hoping it doesn't end anytime soon.

Another aspect of his heart of gold is how he cares for others. The minute he finds out someone is sick it's "can I make him/her a card mommy?" or he says "that makes me so sad!" When his grandma was in surgery recently I told him that grandma was at the hospital and going to have surgery on her neck like what happened to daddy's back. He says "NO, I don't want them to cut on her!" "They are going to hurt her!" Or the time when we were relying on MY grandma (Tyler's Great Grandma) to watch him while I was going to the doc when I was pregnant with Katelynn. She had fallen in her driveway and by the time we had drove up she the firemen were there. She eventually had to call 911 and the firemen had to come help her up. Tyler was SO distraught over this. I told Granny that I would just take Tyler with me so she could rest b/c she was pretty banged up. OH NO, Tyler was not leaving Granny. "She needs my help mommy, I need to take care of her." "I promise I will be good" Okay Tyler, and Granny agreed that he would be more help than harm. He still to this day will say, "my poor granny." "I feel so bad that she fell and there was no one to help her." He has mentioned that about 3 or 4 times and it happened early this past summer.

As we get near to the age of him being able to make the decision to come to know Christ. My heart leaps for joy just knowing how God has already equipped him with such a servants heart and a heart to want to help others. I can't imagine how much more God will equip him when he becomes a child of God and how his love for others will grow. He is very curious about God already and wanting to "talk to God." In fact the other day we were in the car and I was getting onto him for something. I told him that Christmas was getting close and Santa was watching him. He said, "No momma, God is watching me!" Just a huge smile all over my face. Here I was trying to bribe him by being good to get Christmas presents and he was remembering that God was watching us. I am amazed by all the little things he is picking up and learning.

Tyler, you are such a joy and you will always have my heart. You are going to start school this coming year and you are going to begin a journey of so much influence. I pray for you to keep this sweet spirit of just being who God made you to be with all of your wonderful gifts and your sweet sweet attitude. I pray that it will never change or be swayed. I pray that you see your need for your Heavenly Father at a early age. With the gifts you have now I see wonderful things being done for His kingdom. I know that you are scared to start school because of being behind a little bit in learning due to 3 years of speaking Vietnamese. (Lord, that's gotta help for something in that little brain of his!) But, you are going to bounce back and do fine. You make me so proud to be your mom and I know your dad is so proud too. You just keep that Heart of Gold and God will do wonders in your life.

Just some recent pictures of us......

2008-11-18T14:46:00.004-06:00

Sister is getting so big! :-( "Sister" is what we call her all of the time. I even call her sister!

My next post will be a pic of Haylee and Katelynn just like this one in the swing to see if you can tell them apart. They look so much alike!

Mr. Ty showing off his Pez.

Miss Haylee bug

All she wants to do is run for the street. How does she already know that it is off limits?

Tyler actually smiling for a picture.

Tyler took this picture of me.....Nice!

I totally feel like the mom in this video.....

2008-11-14T10:42:00.005-06:00

MAN, do I need a shower! If my girls would take a nap at some point I could get one. Not been a good week. If you saw me you would say who is that poor frazzled woman. (Pause the music before you watch)

ALL Haylee....

2008-11-11T08:30:00.003-06:00

A few words I use to describe her......

a party waiting to happen......

Miss Mischievous.....

a little pistol....

BEAUTIFUL!
These are just a few pictures of her lately!

Katelynn, Katelynn......

2008-11-06T07:15:00.002-06:00

why do you have to grow so fast? I wish you could just stay the size you are right now for at least a couple of months. You don't have to catch up to your sister. Your not even 3 months yet and you have outgrown all of your 0-3 month outfits. Something Tyler and Haylee never did. You are growing faster than your brother and sister did and your my "baby". Please slow down now because I want to remember and stay in each moment with you. Poor Haylee had to grow up so fast and I hate that I cant remember when things happened. I hate that I helped rush things along but I also knew you weren't far behind. Also, because I was pregnant with you her whole first year, I slept through allot of milestones I feel like. I don't want to miss those things with you and since you are my last I want it to go slow and I want to treasure it and enjoy those things. So I am asking you to please slow down.

Look how big she has gotten. Anybody else feel this way?

All about me......

2008-11-04T21:15:00.002-06:00

I thought this looked like fun!

I AM …in need of a vacation, even just a small one!
I WANT… a bigger car.
I HAVE …the cutest kids in the world!
I KEEP …tags in my new clothes.
I WISH I COULD ...get out of the house more!
I HATE ...arguments.
I FEAR …losing my husband or children
I HEAR …the election broadcasters talking.
I DON’T THINK …my house will ever be clean again!
I REGRET …crying and being upset when I found out I was pregnant with Katelynn.
I LOVE …being a wife and mom!
I AM NOT …good at math.
I DANCE …with my kids.
I SING ...all the time!
I NEVER …get out of my house anymore.
I RARELY ...get "me" time
I CRY WHEN I WATCH …Baby stories and deliveries.
I HATE THAT ...my baby is growing so fast.
I AM NOT ALWAYS …patient.
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT …where to put Katelynn's baby bed for now.
I NEED …REST!
I SHOULD ...spend more time in His word.

Being a Mother

2008-11-04T14:28:00.002-06:00

There is a blog that I frequent that is so encouraging. In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 is the name of her blog, something I am always striving for. I loved this post she has done and I thought you mothers might like to read her little bible study on "Being a Mother." She has some great ideas and insight if you want to browse around as well. Enjoy!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-02T21:36:00.003-06:00

Tyler getting the Fireman suit on....

Haylee having a quick ride on her pony.....

Everybody is ready to go now. (oops...me with no make-up)

Katelynn as a Chili Pepper! If you scroll down a little bit you will see Haylee wearing the chili pepper costume. They look allot alike!

Hope everyone had a good Halloween!

Happy Haloween!

2008-10-31T12:48:00.000-05:00

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man Proverbs 27:19

2008-10-28T15:49:00.002-05:00

I have to brag on my husband for a little bit. I must say in my opinion I have the best husband. I thought we had a good marriage because we didn't fight very often, we respected each others feelings and we liked being around each other. But, I didn't realize how good it could be. I must admit that we had been arguing more often towards the end of my pregnancy and right after the delivery. Satan was just finding ways to attack us and to stir things up. They were usually over something small or finances (surprise!)

About a month ago, Ryan and I went to see the movie Fireproof. It was a great movie! You have to expect the acting to not be wonderful but the content and the message they were portraying was excellent. We were so encouraged. I wasn't so much thinking that it applied to my marriage but was more thinking how that movie could help so many marriages in trouble.

Well, about a week later Ryan ordered the "Love Dare" book and he also ordered the DVD Fireproof Study to hopefully start with his guy group that he meets with every other week. He went ahead and started reading the Love Dare book and it is amazing. I haven't read it and in fact he keeps it in his truck so I can't see what each day is about. If you've seen the movie you kinda know what it is all about but if you haven't here is a little run down. Kirk Cameron is asked by his father to hold off on getting a divorce for 40 days and to read this book. The book is 40 days worth of "dares" so to speak. Things like don't say anything negative on this day and on the next day call her spontaneously just to see how she is and if she needs anything. Things like that and every day will give a little devotional, a dare and scripture to support you that day.

So, Ryan has shared with me that he has gotten so much out of this book. He realized within the first few days what was lacking in our marriage and what he didn't want to happen to our marriage. He realized that there was selfishness (which I can say that I have noticed my own selfishness so much lately) and that he had decided that he wanted our marriage to be so much deeper. What he did not want to happen is for us to wake up 15-20 years from now and be cohabitants. He expressed that there was so much more for our marriage and he just didn't want our marriage to be good but GREAT!

What wife doesn't want to hear these things? So, he continues to check in on me during the day, he comes home and immediately sees needs (diapers need changing or I haven't been able to start dinner and he just picks up the slack) and he has gotten me to be truly "in love" again. Not that I wasn't "in love" but I have felt more of what I felt for him in the beginning of our marriage before kids and craziness. I have felt like Ryan has truly become more of a spiritual leader for our home and our marriage. I love that my children are seeing what love looks like especially my daughters. He has encouraged me so much daily with his passion to be this husband God has called him to be. I haven't felt more treasured and set apart than I have in the past few weeks. He is truly and extraordinary husband and father.

So if you are having a hard time in your marriage or even if you aren't I can't express how much this movie and book has helped us and our marriage. I recommend it to any married couple!

Katelynn Joy

2008-10-24T08:13:00.004-05:00

I took Katelynn for her 2 month check up this week. She did great and didn't even cry that long after her shots. (But she made up for that the rest of the day!) Here are her stats and some of my favorite "newborn pictures" of her.
Weight: 11.6 75%
Length: 23.5 90%
Head: 15.5 50-75%

Family time at the Arboretum

2008-10-21T12:30:00.004-05:00

We decided not to go to the Fair on Sunday and to go to the Arboretum and have a relaxing (cheaper) day. So we dropped of Katelynn at my sister's house and we were off for a fun afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the family time. It seems like we haven't had any kind of family fun things for a long time. Between all of the pregnancies and babies and Ryan working so much and on weekends. He has had to use his vacation time to be with me when we had the girls. So, needless to say we needed the afternoon to spend time together. AND we only spent $$ on our lunch since my sister has a pass for the Arboretum. We were gonna do picnic but thought it would be hard to get Haylee to sit and eat in wide open spaces. She loved the pumpkins and the ability to walk and even run wherever she pleased. Tyler was not too much into the whole picture taking as you can tell. Even the one's where he is smiling you can tell they were forced. Oh well....just a stage I hope. We wanted to get a few pictures of them in there costumes with the pumpkins. Tyler was excited to put his on. I got some really cute "father/daughter" pictures of Haylee and Ryan. Hope you enjoy them.

Costumes 2008

2008-10-18T09:13:00.004-05:00

This is a picture of Tyler and Haylee from last year. Katelynn will be wearing the "chili pepper" costume this year and we retired the Spiderman costume this year after Tyler has worn it for 2 years now.

This year Haylee is a butterfly and Tyler is a Firefighter. Look how much they have grown. I got the best deal on this costume. I have been watching Craigslist and Ebay for a cheap Fireman costume but they haven't been cheap at all or they are for a 12 month old. I called Kid to Kid yesterday just to see if by chance they would have one and they said they did but they were looking for the jacket that went to it. They weren't sure if it was misplaced or if someone took it. I hung up and forgot to ask what size so my mom and I decided to go up there and look. When I walked in they had just found the jacket. It is so cute and obviously too big but Tyler was so excited to find one. Plus I told him he could wear it a few years. This is what he had been telling me all month he wanted to be. Did some researching and the tag in the costume had a website and I went there and found this costume for $59.95. SERIOUSLY? Who would pay that much? I happily paid $12.99. I still have to get Tyler a helmet but what a deal!

Proud little boy!

Sweet little butterfly.

As good as it gets

2008-10-17T11:34:00.002-05:00

I thought I would take some pictures of Ty an Haylee sitting on the porch by the pumpkins. It didn't go so well. This is as good as it gets. Maybe we'll try it again some other time.

Haylee's one year pictures....

2008-10-15T08:55:00.005-05:00

Here is a sneak peak of Haylee's one year pictures Brooke did. She hasn't given me the edited CD of them yet but I got these of of her blog
I well post all of the other and some "newborn" pictures of Katelynn soon. Just keep checking....

See Haylee CLIMB!

2008-10-13T10:56:00.003-05:00

This girl can climb. We found her on top of Tyler's bed at first and we got on to him for putting her up there. He swore to us that he didn't put her up there but that she got up there by herself. Unfortunately we didn't believe him and told him not to tell a lie. Ryan later had to apologize to Tyler when I saw her doing this.....

Climbing on our very BIG King size bed. WOW

I had already caught her climbing on our bookshelf. She had made it all the way up to the 3rd shelf by the time I caught her but since it was potentially very dangerous, I didn't get a picture of it.

Just look at the smirk on that face. It's like she knows she just did something she shouldn't have done. She is gonna give me a run for my money.

I stayed in there even though Tyler tried to convince me that he would watch her. They played and had so much fun. At the end she did end up getting down by herself by backing up and kinda sliding down the side of the bed. I was like, where does she learn these things?

A look at Katelynn.......

2008-10-10T16:11:00.005-05:00

Several people have been asking me to see some pictures of "the newest baby" so here you go. It seems my hands are always full and I haven't had time to take very many pictures of her. Plus, she just doesn't do that much yet! :) She is such a sweetie though.

She is sleeping through the night and has been for several weeks now with the exception of a few nights, thank you Lord! She beat Tyler who started sleeping through the night at 2 months and we all know Haylee just started sleeping through the night recently. In fact I have had one night where Haylee and Katelynn were both awake and crying at 2:00 in the morning. I got Ryan up that night to help with Katelynn so I could put Haylee back to bed.

Back to Katelynn, she is pretty calm and puts herself to sleep. She HATES to be in her car seat carrier and HATES being in the car sitting still or even driving. Just like Haylee she usually cries everywhere we go. Haylee still does this too sometimes and poor Tyler is right in the middle of them. He just puts his hand over his ears. :-)

She loves bath time but hates lotion time. She has just started smiling and cooing at me which is awesome. I love to look down while she is eating and see those big brown eyes looking back at me. It is so weird to look down and not see blue eyes looking back at me. But, I am so glad one of our kids has Ryan's eyes. It is so bitter sweet to have each and every moment with her knowing she is my last. I am trying to remember to enjoy each and every moment I have with her and not rush through all of the stages. So here are just some random pictures of her recently.

Look at those big brown eyes

A little spit up mess.

Sleeping beauty.

Haylee's 1st Birthday Party

2008-10-08T14:26:00.009-05:00

We had Haylee's 1st B-day party a couple of weeks ago. She had so much fun and got so many fun toys but most of all she got TONS of clothes!

This was her horsey Aunt Brookie got for her. We let her ride on it before she actually opened presents.

Here is her SMASH cake.....so cute!

And this is her actual B-day cake!

Picture with the candles....it says "THE BIG 1"

Singing Happy Birthday song and we let Tyler blow out the candles.

You can see Ryan's hand that he had just set it down on the tray and she slaps her hands on her cake immediately. Just her personality...Tyler starred at his a while then slowly tested it. Not Haylee she is our "No Fear/Brave one" and she just went for it.

Of course once she got it on her hands she what quite sure what to do with it but she knew daddy would. So she shared with daddy....

and shared with mommy before she ever took her first bite.

Now she understands what to do with it. Yummy!

A quick picture with the B-day cap on!

Sweet big brother. I felt so bad I didn't change his church clothes before we packed up everything for the party. He was so hot and I was just so busy trying to remember everything to bring that I forgot about him. :-( Sorry Bud!

And sweet little sister. Funny thing to think of......Katelynn will be able to say she attended her "big" sister's 1st birthday party! Weird!

Aunt Carrie and Haylee playing and being silly!

Present time...she had no patience for presents. All she wanted to do was crawl around and walk a little. She loved being outside and you could tell I don't get her out much these days. I think she sat long enough to open 2 maybe 3 gifts and the rest was all me and daddy.

Happy Birthday big girl!

Riding her horsey in her Tutu! Yay Haylee!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

2008-10-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

On Monday, Ryan and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary. I chose this song playing because it was the song we danced to at our wedding. I guess you could call it "our song." Wow, we have done so much in seven years and to think of how much we will still do. Thank you for your sweet loving heart and for how you care for our family. You work so hard for us to have all that we have and I am so appreciative. Thank you for partnering with me on this fun journey we are on and for leading our family so well. I love you and here's to many more years.

Tyler's 1st Bowling Experience

2008-10-01T09:34:00.002-05:00

This post is long overdue but I did want to post it. We went bowling a couple of months back with our ABF and Tyler had so much fun. This was his first time ever to bowl and he did a pretty good job. Look at that excited expression on his face.

Walk the Line

2008-10-01T07:12:00.004-05:00

Haylee has had her first B-day party but silly me didn't take my camera but I was so busy I don't think I would have been able to take any pictures anyway. My faithful photographer sister is who I always rely on and she took a bunch. I will post them as soon as I get the pictures from her. So, Haylee will be walking all the time pretty soon. I catch her walking short distances like from the couch to my chair or to the TV but long distances like our hallway is still much faster to crawl in her eyes. The most steps that I have counted is 11. Tyler started "full time" walking on Christmas Eve and he 13 months and it looks like she is on track to do the same.

Here is a few steps I caught in her adorable dress Grandpa Ivy got her. It also came with a little brown sweater to match for cooler weather.

Messing with sister's swing. This is one of the reasons I only put Katelynn in here when Haylee is napping.

More steps....Big brother gets so excited for her. Check out his face!

And down she goes. She didn't make it that far.

She's a tough girl...

2008-10-01T07:01:00.002-05:00

Well Haylee had her first accident. She slipped and fell into the wall. It looked like it was going to be a black or at least blue eye at first by the way it puffed out all of a sudden but as you can see in the bottom picture she only ended up having a small regular bruise.

She only cried for just a minute or so.

She even started laughing right away....

Poor baby.

See, all that worrying for nothing and I'm sure this isn't the last puffed out eye.

SIBLINGS

2008-09-23T14:01:00.005-05:00

I really have to keep my eyes on all 3 of them but mostly Haylee. Tyler is old enough to know not to throw stuff at "baby sister" and Katelynn is not old enough to know how to do anything!

Quick story....I was giving Katelynn a bottle and Tyler was screaming my name from his room. Not a uncommon thing in the Ivy household! I told (well, yelled) him to come here to talk to me. He screams my name and now he is getting louder and more intense and the next "MOMMA" came right after that with no pause. I got up and carried Katelynn in there only to find my 4 year old holding up his huge wooden closet door that had come off the tracks and was falling. The scariest thing was Haylee was sitting right under it bouncing up and down just having a ball. I laid Katelynn down on his bed and moved Haylee very quickly to the hallway in case I dropped it and then grabbed it from Tyler. Wow, this is what I saw looking at my boy holding up the closet door..

SUPERBOY! Obviously a car is much heavier but you get the idea. Wish I had gotten pictures but telling Tyler to hold that pose seems pretty cruel and risky. For those young ones out there this picture is from the original Superman when he was a boy.

So here is sweet Tyler lying around minding his own business watching the TV that I pretty much have on all the time :-(

and here is the little pistol barreling over sweet Tyler. He's so good about it he just jumps right up and starts playing with her. She usually doesn't respond and kinda whines to me if he tries to grab her feet or something. She will have to learn not to start things if she can't handle them directed towards her. She's a little mess.

So Tyler helps her put his boots on her and helps her "try" to walk in them. She loves wearing these things! Sweet big brother to help her all the time.

Then here is sweet baby sister sleeping away on my couch. I know I should have her in the bassinet but for some reason it is just easier to lay them there after a diaper change. She does sleep pretty well here too. :-) Look at those sweet little feet!

Here comes big sister with sweet intentions and just pure innocence. I caught her before she was able to do anything to her. Most of the time she has just taken her blanket off of her or is trying to reach her to give sister her passy. There has been a few times that weren't so innocent when I was holding Katelynn and Haylee would crawl up to me and I guess I was just distracted but she would haul off and hit her in the head and say aaaahhhh, as if Katelynn was so sweet like her baby dolls. She has even snuck in her cheerio container to use on Katelynn's head. That was in the very beginning and I am way more cautious now. Poor Katelynn!

By the way, Haylee has some new words (semi words that mom can understand.) Sha-sha (sister) Ight (light) and Na na (night night and also for her sippy cup?)

Haylee's 1 year stats

2008-09-20T09:20:00.003-05:00

I took Haylee to her 1 year appointment and she is doing good. They didn't give her the shots because she was running a fever. We have had a rough week but I just thought she was teething but when they went to examine her throat, they found white blisters in the back of her mouth/throat and said she has Hand, Mouth and Foot Disease. Anyways, we will go back in about a month for the shots. They are also going to do a "lead" test because of where Ryan works and what he is exposed to and exposes us to. :-(

Weight 18.7 (10-25%) petite little girl!
Height 29 (50%)
Head 18 (50-75%)

They are a little worried about her dropping in the weight percentile. They if she had always been 10-20% they wouldn't be as worried but the fact that she started in the top percentile and has steady dropped in to the bottom worries them. I told them Tyler was the same way and she said that made her feel better. I just have big babies and then they turn into tiny babies. :-)

Happy Birthday my sweet Haylee...

2008-09-17T23:29:00.005-05:00

I added this first song on for my daughters, particularly Haylee for her birthday. Such a crazy year for you Haylee but you have been so much fun. I love having a daughter although you are quite different from your sweet laid back big brother, it is truly fun for me to do the girl stuff and I look forward to doing this as you grow. You have such a fun spunky and very independent personality. I cant wait to see the young lady you will become.......but not too fast. Hopefully this next year will be nice and slow placed. Here are a collage of pictures of you from your first year. Your dad and I love you and we are blessed to have you.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Haylee's 1st PIGTAILS.....

2008-09-16T16:36:00.003-05:00

I LOVE them and she HATES them!

Miss Movie Star

2008-09-15T07:32:00.002-05:00

She tries to put her sunglasses on herself but,

she will eventually bring me them to put on her face for her and she leaves them on for a long time. She likes to wear them even in the car. When I put them on her she kinda shakes her head from side to side. Such a silly girl!

This girl is amazing at only two years old!

2008-09-15T07:27:00.000-05:00

Fireproof.....something we all need for our marriage!

2008-09-13T10:04:00.004-05:00

I found this movie trailer.....we'll definitely be heading to the theaters September 26th! It is from the creators of Facing the Giants. I think it's so important to support good movies with a positive message, especially when they focus on a reliance on God for support and healing. I challenge you to do the same! We so easily drop the $ to go see a chick flick that promotes many things other than the sanctity of marriage...so think about using your next date night to support Fireproof.

Three's a crowd!

2008-09-11T11:13:00.004-05:00

Many of you know that we were trying to get a new car. With the car seats we had, we weren't able to fit a 3rd car seat in the back seat of my 07 Camry. So here we have this new car that we signed a lease on in 06 and thought even if we got pregnant in the next year we would have room for 2 kiddos back there. We were trying to get out of my SUV (Grand Cherokee) and save on gas mileage by getting a more economic car such as the Camry. On a side note, we have saved in gas but would have noticed more of a difference if I continued to work. I don't drive anywhere now and therefore we only fill up usually once maybe twice a month. It would be great if we didn't get rid of the Jeep now. If we only knew a 2nd and 3rd child would be here soon.

Oh well, we did talk to all of the dealerships and we just weren't in a position to get out of this car. We are still very upside down in it and we cant just "break our lease". After extensive internet searching and lots of crunching numbers and measurements, we decided if we could get all new car seats (one's that were skinnier than the one's we had) it might work.

We made a trip up to Target with some gift cards I had gotten at my shower and started measuring car seats and booster seats. We knew it was going to be tight but thought let's give it a try. Ryan put them in and it does fit. It is tight as can be, in fact Tyler has to buckle his seat belt before we snap Katelynn down in her car seat base. Well, let me rephrase that , I have to buckle Tyler's seat belt because it is too much of a tight squeeze and he isn't coordinated enough to reach down there and buckle it.

Now our next purchase will be a seat belt extender and that should help tremendously with Tyler's car seat. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids lined up. It was too funny to Ryan and I at first to look back there and think man has our family grown fast. We would just laugh. We will keep this car until our lease runs out or we are able to get out of it and into a better deal. It would be nice to have a little more room because Tyler continuously pesters Haylee which causes her to scream which drives momma CRAZY! :)

Yes, we turned Haylee around a few weeks early but we literally had no other choice unless we took 2 cars everywhere. I was hopeful that she would like to be in the car more now that she is in her big girl seat. NOPE....she is just as fussy if not more. Or maybe she is just competing with Katelynn. They both cry in the car and poor Tyler just covers his ears.

My Birth Story......

2008-09-09T14:13:00.007-05:00

I have been meaning to put these on my blog but you have to have time for that. So, now that we are getting more into a routine, I am going to try. I know you have already seen most of these on my sisters blog but my blog looked like I skipped a important event so here we go.

Like my other 2 children, I was induced because we make big babies and my body doesn't know how to go into labor on it's own. We arrived at 7:30 and got started on the Pitocin right away. We knew from past experiences that I go fast after they break my water. So we were pretty surprised when they broke my water that I wasn't really dilating within the first couple of hours. She broke my water about 10:00 or so and I didn't get to start pushing until 5:30. I am pretty sure I was a 10 sooner but they were waiting for a my doctor to get over there before they checked me. I pushed 3 times in about 1-2 contractions and she was here. Longest labor I have had. Tyler was 3 hours after my water broke and Haylee was about 2 hours after my water was broken. Kinda like my friend Stashia who just had her 3rd, we had the longest labor for our 3rd too. Katelynn was born at 5:34pm on Monday 8/18/10. She weighed 8lb 8oz and was 20 3/4in long. She had beautiful dark brown hair and she would hold her breath when she was crying (and still does.) Here are my pictures:

This is the monitor that shows Katelynn's heart rate on the top bar and my contractions on the bottom. Notice her heart rate dropping with my contractions which were about every 2 minutes.

Sorry, I hope these aren't too graphic. Pushing! (stating the obvious)

The first time we got to see her, can't explain that feeling.

Daddy cutting the cord. This was the 1st time for him to be able to do this. Tyler and Haylee weren't doing good after they were born and we didn't get to experience this.

Both mommy and daddy admiring our baby girl.

They said that because she was 38 weeks she still had all of that "vernix" still on her.

Big girl for being a 38 week baby. Could have easily been a 10-11 pound baby!

Sweet little feet. She does have some crazy toes though! :)

About this time they had knocked me out and was having to remove my placenta. Pretty scary for us but thankfully they got it all and praise God we delivered early. My doctor said it probably wouldn't have made it to 40 weeks. It was already "starting to die". So in turn I missed all of the family coming in to meet her and I didn't get to hold her until the end or breast feed her til the next day.

So most of the pictures are of Ryan holding her! Tearful for him realizing we may/probably won't ever get to experience this again. Sorry I missed this moment, I was so out of it I couldn't stay awake. :(

Sweet kisses. Daddy's little girl!

Big brother Tyler meeting her for the first time.

Grandpa holding her for the 1st time.

Introducing her to big (little) sister Haylee.

Grandma and

Grandpa hold her!

Ryan brings her over to me after everyone leaves and lays her down beside me. I am trying my hardest to keep my eyes open.

I finally can't stand it and I have to hold her.

Just some new pictures of Katelynn!

2008-09-08T15:28:00.001-05:00

She is such a sweetie!