Sweet 4 year old

Brian made this sweet card and hung it above Tatum's chair before breakfast on her birthday. One of the many reasons I love my man is because he does stuff like this for our girls. He is such a sweet daddy.
Tatum turned 4 on May 16. She has been looking forward to this day for so long. All our kids birthdays are within 5 months of each other and Tatum's is the last of the birthdays, so she has to be very patient to wait for her big day.

We took her to Build-A-Bear and she got to make and dress her own puppy,"Sophia." We've never been there before, but I thought it would be fun to try it with Tatum, and we had so much fun! We will definitely be back for more outfits and more cute stuffed animals.

Then we went to Tatum's favorite restaurant, Casa Ole! She loves it because her kids meal comes with a bowl of chocolate pudding. I reminded her that Chuy's has push pops for dessert, but she wasn't swayed, so Casa Ole it was. Here's our Tate being honored with the Chimichanga birthday song and a big bowl of sopapilla ice cream!

And her second present... her first bike!

I mentioned in a previous post... for Avery's kindergarten graduation, we got her a T.Bear just like the one her class had all year. I had it in the car when I picked her up on the last day of school. She was so excited! It was a great surprise! I thought she might want to come up with an original name, but she has decided it will be called T. Bear just like her class bear.

We also had Tatum's first dance recital this weekend. She did a tap dance to "Three little fishies" and danced ballet to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." All the tiny little dancers in her class stole the show! It was so cute!

After the show, we gave our dancer some pretty daisies.

Dance was extra fun this season because Tatum got to dance with her friend Brooke, whose parents are our good friends, Brian & Erica. Their older daughter Brea and Avery had so much fun playing and running around together. Here's our two families together after the recital. My Brian and Brian & Erica all went to high school together, so they are friends that go way back!

Here's Brian and Brian with their beautiful dancing daughters!

I caught my two men watching SportsCenter together and it was just too cute not to photograph.

Our Bodie was two months old yesterday! Here's his two month old photo shoot.

Gig 'Em Aggies

Laughing at mama

Trying to hold his head up all by himself

This smile melts me into mush

Sweet little Bo, we have enjoyed every minute of these two months with you. You are so easy going and happy. You smile all the time now. You have even laughed a couple times. You are never more happy then when you are right in the middle of all of us talking and laughing with each other. You are a reward from God and a dream come true in my life. I am so thankful God let me be your mama!

kindergarten, birthdays and smiles

Bodie and his two cousins are already becoming good pals. I'm so happy for Bo that he will have these two boys to play with as he grows up.

These pictures were a couple weeks ago... Matthew at 4 months, Bodie at 5 weeks and Tyson at 2 weeks old. Matt, Bo & Ty will have all kinds of fun together and probably get into a little trouble too. Such a cute little trio of boys, which is kinda fun and refreshing after all the girls before them!

We went to a free KSBJ brown bag concert at Chick-Fil-A with our friends, the Spenn's, a couple weeks ago. We heard Laura Story sing her song "Blessings" ("what if His blessings come through raindrops, what if His healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near...") Such a good song. Here's Bethany and her boys, Noah & Carson, holding Bodie. That was such a fun event, I love that KSBJ and Chick-Fil-A team up to offer such fun family events that are FREE!

Tatum got to celebrate her birthday at school a little early since her birthday is the same day as the super summer send-off. Here she is wearing her birthday crown, birthday medal and big sister medal she got at chapel that day.

Avery turned 6 on April 29 and all she wanted for her birthday was a real Jessie costume, the one in the Disney store. So here she is in all her glory. It's cute that she looks up to Jessie so much, and I think Jessie is a pretty noble character, but I must admit, I will be really excited when she moves on to another hero. I'm a little tired of the Toy Story gang.

Laney had her splash day at school last week. They had some very creative water activities set up for these little ones. Her favorite thing was using a paintbrush and water to paint the side of the church.
Oops, this picture was supposed to be with the other concert picture. Rylin wanted a turn to hold Bodie too, since her brothers got to hold him, so here's Rylin, Avery's BFF, holding Bo.
And the birthday party. It was such a fun day. Beautiful weather, lots of sweet friends, wonderful helpful family, wet little kids squealing everywhere you looked.



They wanted a cookie cake this year instead of a regular cake, which was fine with me! They wanted it to have the Toy Story characters, of course, but since they cookie place can't do copyrighted characters, we decided on a cowboy hat & boot. I can't believe these two are six and four years old! Happy Birthday Avery & Tatum!

I love that Martin & Dominique are Texans again! They have been in Michigan for 10 years, so we haven't gotten to have them be a part of our little parties and gatherings... until now! They drove in from San Antonio with my parents for the party and took over the photography job for the party, and did a way better job than I ever would have done, by the way. I love these two!

So we thought this would be Brian's last baseball game ever, but it looks like God has other plans. The AP job he was promised, fell through, so it looks like he will be back for another year of baseball! We don't see the big picture like God does, but we trust that He will provide for us and put Brian right where He wants him. That is the truth and we believe it. Anyway, here's Brian taking a quick break between innings to give the girls some love.





We do enjoy these baseball games, even though the season is long and exhausting for all of us. Part of me is glad we will be back next year for some more Eagle baseball. Hopefully we will get a few more "W"'s next season!

Avery officially graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. I can't believe her name and 1st grade are in the same sentence now. It seems like this year has flown by so fast. Here she is with her class singing "I am a promise." She is front and center.

She loved all her teachers, but Mrs. Joiner definitely had a special place in Avery's heart. She brought out the best in Avery and took a special interest in her and it meant the world to us.

Cake and punch after graduation

Blurry picture, but here is Avery with her Kindergarten diploma, along with Mrs. Young, the lead Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kunz, her computer teacher and Mrs. Joiner, her math teacher.

And it pays to be last sometimes. Avery was the last in line, when Mrs. Young told the kids to all turn around and walk the other way, which made Avery first in line! Which meant she got to hold T. Bear, the very special class bear and lead her class out of the sanctuary.

Tatum holding the gigantic "4" balloon from their party.

I love this little smile. When I put him on his changing table and lean over him and talk to him, he just smiles and coos and tries to talk to me. We just moved him up to size 2 diapers. His 0-3 month clothes are getting too tight, so he is already wearing a few of his 3-6 month clothes. He has a tiny bit of peach fuzz on the top of his head and some light brown hair on the back of his head. His eyes are still blue. He is about to outgrow his swaddlers and I'm not ready to un-swaddle him at night, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that one. I guess I need to buy the next size up. He goes to bed about 10 pm and wakes up about 5 am. He loves his paci. In two days, he will be 8 weeks old. I still almost have to pinch myself when I dress him in all his blue sportsy stuff. We are all so smitten with him.

We had award night at Awana last week and Avery finished her first Hang Glider handbook so she got a book award and ribbon. I'm so proud of all she has learned in Sparks this year. Next year she will still be in Sparks, Tatum will get to start Cubbies and Laney will be in Puggles!

I started back to work about two weeks ago. God has been so good to give me strength and grace to cover all the bases during this last crazy month before school is out. My mom is driving in every week to keep the kids for two days, my mother-in-law keeps them for two days and I have a couple sweet friends who are keeping Bodie one day a week while I'm at work. It has been exhausting, for all of them and for me, but I am so thankful for our moms and friends who love us enough to help us make it through these challenging times.

Two and a half weeks left!

One month with Bodie

Our little Bodie is one month old today! I can't even describe how much I love him, and how happy I am that he is our little boy. I love his cute little smile that accidentally happens sometimes when I kiss him. I can't wait until he smiles at me on purpose! I love that he is getting stronger and sturdier and that he is awake more often during the day. I love that he calms down when he hears my voice. I love his big blue eyes. I love that the girls hold his hands as they walk along beside the stroller, and I'm pretty sure he loves that too.

I had to take Laney to the doctor today for an ear infection and the nurse offered to weigh Bodie while we were there... at one month old, he weighs 10 lbs, 9 oz.! Brian said, "that's my Big boy!" He goes to bed around 9-10 pm and usually wakes up around 3:30 or 4 am to eat, but after I feed him, he sleeps until 7:30 or 8 am. When he is up for the day, he likes to sit in his bouncy seat, or lay on his playmat and listen to Mozart. Of course, his favorite thing is just being in my arms, roaming around the house or backyard or wherever we all are.

Bodie went to his first baseball game on Saturday to see the Cy-Falls Eagles. Sadly, it wasn't a win, but it was the first game we've been able to attend since Bodie arrived, so we enjoyed it! He slept most of the game while the girls got their sidewalk chalk and drew Rapunzel all over the ground behind the dugout. He got to meet all the moms of the boys and a special teacher friend, Evelyn, who has been so sweet to all of us.

Here's Brian & Bodie next to the Cy-Falls Wall of Fame (Brian's name is on the 1996 column).
It's bittersweet that this is Brian's last season coaching baseball at Cy-Falls. It has been a blessing in many ways and alot of fun for him over the past few years. The girls have grown up going to baseball games and cheering for the Eagles. We will still be cheering for the Eagles, but Brian will play a different role next year, which we are very excited about. More on that later.

Tate and Bo, my sweet little blondies

Brian's Aunt Shelia & Uncle Terry came in town last week to welcome their new grandson, Tyson David, who was born on Monday the 11th. Melissa's water broke almost a month before her due date, and Tyson arrived. Thankfully he is very healty, despite some jaundice, and we are very excited that Bodie will have a little cousin only 3 weeks younger than him. They will be good buddies I'm sure. Here's Shelia & Bodie...

Avery got to bring T.Bear home from Kindergarten last weekend, which always makes life extra exciting. She is very sweet about sharing him with Tatum & Laney. They all enjoy dressing him up and playing with him. We've never owned a Build-A-Bear, but after seeing how much Avery loves this class bear, we decided to buy her one just like it for her Kindergarten graduation present. Don't tell her... it's a surprise!

Here's our almost 6 year old with T.Bear!

It was her turn to lead her class through their daily calendar routine, so I went to school to watch her do it. If she doesn't end up as a teacher one day, I will be very surprised. She loves to get up in front of the class and call on her classmates to answer her questions. Sometimes while she's playing at home, she will invite me to attend her "Bible study," where she has lined up all her stuffed animals on the couch and is sitting in front of them with a Bible teaching them. Anyway, she did a great job leading her class through "calendar." I am very proud of her progress this year in Kindergarten.
Speaking of teaching, I officially resigned for next year. We have prayed and talked about it alot and both felt this is the right time for me to stay home. We're going to try it for a year and see how it goes. My feelings are extreme joy, mingled with a little bit of worry, not that I won't like it, but that it will cause more financial stress than we are prepared for, or that I will end up having to find some other part time work to make things work out. But mostly I am excited. For so many reasons. I am thankful that the Lord's timing is perfect... He knew this wouldn't have worked at any other time, but at this time all the pieces fall into place just right. It almost feels surreal.

But I do have to finish this school year and I'm trying not to go down the road of depression just thinking about it. I start back to work one week from tomorrow. It's only about 4 weeks until we're out for summer, and I want to finish well. I want to love my teacher friends and my students and my FCA kids, and I want the Lord to be pleased with me and the difference I've made at Cy-Springs. Now that I'm at the end of my career there, at least for now, my mind is flooded with all the great, amazing, wonderful memories and people God has blessed me with over the past 7 years. All this to say, I am eager to finish the year well and complete the work God has given me, but I'm also stressed about getting Bodie to take a bottle and pumping for him and figuring out a schedule for him and for the girls. I thank the Lord He has it all under control and He will carry us through May, just the way He always has carried us through.