The Cat is Out of the Bag!!!

Tonya and her family are in town and we have been enjoying a lot of family time just hanging out at my parents house.  The kids have enjoyed running around outside and playing on the Wii non stop.  All of us girls have enjoyed shopping online and catching up while sitting around talking.

Today we were all sitting around my parents table and Angela got to joking around with Kallaway about him not being a baby anymore.  She kept saying, "tell Mommy and Daddy that they need to have another baby because you aren't a baby anymore."  At some point I apparently had a guilty look on my face and my sister Angela guessed that I was pregnant.  Oops...I never had a good poker face!

We weren't planning on telling anyone until I was a little further along; however, I went ahead and confessed.  Once Chris got home from golfing we went ahead and told our kids that they were going to be blessed with a baby brother or sister.  Kallaway says he wants one of each!!  Here is a video of us telling our kids.....

I knew I was pregnant almost immediately.  I could just tell...call it a mother's intuition I guess.  I took a test the day before my period should have come.  You can see the second line...very faintly!!  I was ecstatic.  I immediately went and shared the good news with Chris, but he wasn't fully convinced with the faint line.  He was being cautiously optimistic!

So....I did what any woman would do to prove herself......

I took a test that clearly spelled it out for my sweet hubby!!  We are so excited about bringing another child into our family!  We are due July 17, 2013 and we can't wait to meet our newest bundle of joy!!  I have been feeling well...just extremely EXHAUSTED!!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, turkey and lots of food.  We had Thanksgiving at Brandon and Angela's house.  We had a wonderful time enjoying everyones company and ate way too much food.  We even managed to watch some football...imagine that.  The only thing we were missing was Tonya and her family.  Luckily they are coming into town this weekend and we will get to hang out with them some as well.

Our sweet little Pilgrim showing off his sticker turkey...he might have had some help! :)

Kallaway LOVES to help in he kitchen.  We were at my parents house last night helping my mom cook for Thanksgiving and Kallaway had to help.  He helped my mom ice the Italian Cream Cheese Cake.  He was sooooo proud that he was getting to help and he did an AWESOME job!!

Focusing very intently!

Mommy got busted taking his picture!

He definitely wasn't the fastest, but he did a great job!

Mini Vacays

Today I am thankful for mini vacations.  I know this sounds silly, but we are going out of town today for the weekend and I am so thankful that we have the ability to travel and take our children to fun places.  I know how blessed Chris and I are and I don't take that for granted at all.  We haven't been out of town in a long time and it is so refreshing to just getaway sometimes.

We are headed to Dallas to hang out with some of our friends.  We are taking our kids to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine.  This years theme is Merry Madagascar.  It looks like it will be very bright, detailed, cute and COLD!

Last year we all went to the ICE exhibit together and Kallaway managed to get lost in the Gaylord Texan for about three or four minutes.  That was a frightening moment that I am certainly praying does not repeat itself! 

Blessed

Today I am thankful for my wonderful parents.  They have been married for almost 49 years.  They have been wonderful role models for my sisters and I.  My dad is extremely hard working, honest, humble, faithful and unbelievably loving.  He has always shown each of us girls what to look for in a husband and father.  My mom is the most amazing mother anyone could ask for.  She is fun, beautiful, hard working, giving, faithful and will drop anything she has going on to help one of us girls.  My parents have seriously shown us what a successful and loving marriage is all about and for that I am eternally grateful for their love and guidance.

 Our entire family is so blessed to have these two amazing people!

FAITH

Today I am thankful for answered and unanswered prayers.  I know those two contradict each other, but it speaks so true to my heart.  Many times in our lives we pray for specific things and when those prayers are not answered we sometimes question why.  However, I have learned as I have gotten older that all unanswered prayers were because He had something greater in store for me.

It all boils down to one thing and that is FAITH.  I truly believe that as long as you have faith in God that He will help you weather any storm that you face.

Today has been a wonderful day....and I am eternally grateful for an answered prayer!!  His timing is always best!!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband.  He is an amazing man.  He is one of the most loving, caring, responsible, hard working, fun, energetic, life of the party, good looking, honest and loyal men I have ever met in my life.  He will do anything to make sure that our kids are taken care of and that they have everything they want.  Which includes saying "yes" to almost all of their demands!  Ok, so I am somewhat kidding!  He spoils us ALL rotten.  Today is his 34th birthday!!

Happy 34th Birthday, Babe!!  I love you to the moon and back!  I can't wait to grow old with you!

Kallaway helping Daddy open his present!

Daddy's very own iPad!!!

35

Today I am thankful for another year of life.  Today was my 35th Birthday!  I am so blessed and so lucky to be surrounded by so many loving and caring people.  All day long I kept getting emails from Facebook because of people posting to my wall and telling me Happy Birthday.  Over 100 people wished me Happy Birthday, they sure know how to make a girl feel special.

Tonight we cooked pork loin sandwiches for my birthday dinner.  Chris surprised me with some cookie cake slices from the Cookie Co.  I loooove cookie cakes.  He knows me well!  My wonderful husband and kiddos got me a pair of Coach sunglasses.  I absolutely love them!  My husband and kids are pretty great too! :)

A Cozy Home

Tonight I am extremely thankful for our Home!  Our home is not necessarily the biggest, cleanest or the newest, but it is HOME for us.  It is a safe haven for our children, a place where they can laugh and play and not worry about others.  It is a place where we can be together as a family of four and laugh, learn and dream together.  I am so thankful that we have a roof over our head with electricity, water, heat or AC.  I know there are so many around the world that are not this fortunate; therefore, tonight I am praying for those less fortunate.  Praying that God places his hands of comfort upon them and that somehow they may become more fortunate in their daily lives.

Friends

Today I am thankful for the wonderful group of people Chris and I are lucky enough to call our friends.  Some of them we have known all of our lives, some are new friends, some we work with and some are simply friends of friends.  However it is that we have crossed paths, I am extremely thankful for all of our friends.  They make "life" so much fun and I wish we were able to get together with them all more often.  

Today is the Texas Tech vs. UT game.  Let's keep our fingers crossed for the Red Raiders so we can all have Bevo burgers later!  We are "hosting" some of Chris' customers today so we get to spend the day taking them to the game and showing them around Lubbock.  Get your GUNS UP!!

LONG LIVE THE MATADOR!!

17 ~ Nieces & Nephews

Today I am thankful for our 17 Nieces & Nephews.  I know, 17 is ALOT of Nieces & Nephews...and I am willing to bet we aren't done!  Chris and I both have fairly big families and I absolutely LOVE it!  Holidays, birthdays, weekend get togethers and everything else where we are all together are so much fun.  Yes, it is crazy and hectic at times, but it is always a lot of fun and there is always a lot of love being passed around.

Chris' side of the family ~ MaKayla, Tyler, Joshua, Avaree, Gabby, Kallaway, Diego, Dirks, Kinsley and Bailey

For some odd reason I can't find any pics of all of our nieces & nephews on my side of the family together....we definitely need to get this done again soon!

Chelsea, Channing, Elizabeth, Courtly, Coleman, Jackson, Chisholm, Kinsley and Kallaway

Chandler 

Elizabeth & Garrison

Our niece, Channing, is 11 today.  I can remember the day she was born just like it was yesterday.  Yet, somehow, she is 11 now.  This hardly seems possible!  Channing, Chris and I hope you have had a wonderful birthday and we pray that you are blessed with many more!  Happy Birthday, Butter Bean!

Time for Thankfulness!!

While I believe that it is good to always be THANKFUL and praise Him for all we have, November seems to make everyone a little nostalgic about their thankfulness.  I cannot believe it is November!!  In less than two months it will be Christmas!  How in the world has time gone by soooo fast?!?  I decided that I wanted to "thankful" posts throughout the month of November.  I am going to try and post one for each day!  We will see if I can update this little blog of mine that much during a month's time.  The computer just might break!

So....here I go....

Today I am extremely thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me the way I am.  I am not perfect, heck... I am a sinner, but I love God more than anything in this world and I am extremely thankful that He constantly hears ours prayers and protects us.  While we may not always understand His timing or His ways, he is a sovereign God who gave his only Son for us.  I pray that my family and I will continue to follow His path and I pray that my children always know they can turn to Him no matter how dark their days.