Tuesday, November 25, 2008

HAYLEE WON!!!!

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!

Friday, November 21, 2008

You have a Heart of GOLD!

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.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

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



















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!

Friday, November 14, 2008

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

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)


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

ALL Haylee....

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!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Katelynn, Katelynn......

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?

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

All about me......

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

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!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Trick or Treat

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!