Every time I get on here, I think 'even though my life is busy, no one really cares what we're up too'. Well, for any of those out there who do care what we are up to, here is a summary of our life the past couple of months.

Our summer started out kind of rocky with Phil's heart going into AFIB. That is all taken care of and he's doing great. He decided that he really need to relax and rest so he pushed his summer class back to the fall. He'll be loaded in the fall, but I know he can do it. He works so hard at his studies and I'm so proud of him for going back to school to finish his degree. He should graduate next May but if he starts to feel overwhelmed, he may push a couple of classes back to next summer and graduate in August. Either way is fine with me because he'll still be able to start teaching next fall. So we've all been home this summer (it's been nice to see what it will be like when we are both teaching or when I stay at home and he's teaching). We haven't done too much, just been hanging out at home a lot and spending time with Phil's family. We had to push our Tampa trip off until December. We'll get there sooner or later.

Lucas is just so much fun! He's walking and talking and being the cutest thing ever (well tied with his brother)! He loves to play in the water and play outside. He is such a big helper right now too. Anytime he sees paper or trash on the floor, he'll pick it up and go put it in the trash can. He loves to throw his diapers away too. He recently started saying "bubba" in reference to Taylor of course. It is just so cute. When Taylor spends the night at Phil's parents Lucas walks around the house saying "bubba, bubba?" It's cute and sad at the same time. Sometimes Taylor is the only one who can get him to eat things. He isn't a picky eater but he goes through phases. He'll eat something one day and then won't eat it the next time we have it. And he's over green beans for some reason.? Tonight we ate with Phil's whole family at his grandfather's and everytime Lucas would eat a piece of mango in the fruit salad he would say "mmmmm". too cute!

Taylor is enjoying his summer too. He plays outside and stays up late, which he loves. He is definitely a fish too. We bought the boys a kiddie pool and they just have so much fun splashing in it. He'll be going into the 2nd grade this year. Time flies! He bought his backpack and lunch box and he is soo ready to go get his school supplies, but Mama is not quite ready to go do that. I need a little more time before I start thinking about going back to school myself. One funny thing that Taylor said the other day: We have a suburb area called Valley Ranch. When Taylor saw the city flags he said "Oh, this is where they make the ranch dressing". No, Taylor, that is Hidden Valley. Well, it was a lot funnier in person I guess.

Nothing really exciting or that interesting is going on in our lives. We are just enjoying the time God has blessed us with and trying to relax before we all head back to school. I need to get out of the bad habit of staying up late and sleeping in late. Phil is so good to me to let me sleep in a lot!! He's more of a morning person anyway. :) I have a GT training all next week. I'm not really looking forward to being gone all day away from my babies. I wonder if Lucas will have a hard time adjusting. He's become such a mama's boy this summer. I'm definitely NOT complaining about that, I love it!! But, I don't want it to be too hard for either one of us when I have to start school.

I've been keeping busy with sewing projects. It is so much fun, and I'm getting much better at it! So far this summer I've made a baby quilt (that was a lot of work for a novice sewer like me, but it turned out so cute), a nursing cover, and 2 burp cloths with letter embrodery. Next week, I'll be making pillows for my students to use during "Read to Self" time.

Okay, that is about it. I should think about heading to bed. I have a baby shower for a dear friend in the morning. Hope everyone is staying cool in this summer heat (especially if you are in TX) Man! Talk about hot!! The last few days have been nice, but I've heard it will be blazing again next week :/

My niece Makayla was taken away from my sister by CPS a few weeks ago. My sister decided to terminate her parental rights and allow this AMAZING family to adopt her. We've been praying for this for such a long time! Makayla will now grow up in a God centered home with 2 amazing parents along with a wonderful extended family!! I'm sure the adoption process will take a while since CPS is involved but the judge allowed Mike and Carol to take Makayla home on Monday. God is Great, God is Good! Thank you for all the many prayers. :)

One year ago today my precious baby Lucas was born. I was due on the 13th of March and we decided that if I had not delivered before then we would induce on March 14th. The night before I couldn't sleep knowing that in a few short hours I would be heading to the hospital to have a baby! I woke up at 6am, got dressed, did my hair, put on some makeup, and Phil, my mom and I headed to the hospital. We got there a few minutes early and luckily I was the first one admitted out of the 4 or 5 women who were also being induced. That means I got a pretty nice room. My nurse came in right at 7 and started poking and proding me. I was hardly dialated at all when she started giving me the pitocin. ( Knowing what I know now, I don't think I would like to be induced again). Anyway, we sat around for hours and as she cranked up the pitocin I started having really hard contractions but I still was not dilating. They gave me some demoral ("to take the edge off")-that was horrible! I threw it up immediatly. I guess it was about 11 or so that I finally called in the anesthesiologist (sp?) to give me an epideral. After that I dilated 3 cm in less than 5 minutes. Needless to say, it must have scared Lucas or something or maybe he thought it was time to come out NOW but he decended down the Birth Canal very quickly. Both of our heart rates dropped quickly so they gave me oxygen, put a monitor on Lucas' head and then we were all good! Of course since this was my first time, I was freaking out (probably not very good either). It all happened so fast and then it was over in just a couple of minutes. After that, I was dilating quickly so my mother in law went and picked Taylor up from school thinking it wouldn't be too much longer. We were wrong-haha! I didn't have a very large dose of the epidural because I wanted to make sure I could feel when to push (I was terrified of having to have an emergency c-section). I think Lucas and I were both ready for it to be over becuase all I was doing was lying there sleeping off and on. I started pushing around 5. I was still only having contractions every 10 mins or so. So I would push and then rest for 10 mins. This went on for about an hour. Around 6 my doctor came in and said he wanted to be home in time for dinner (that was ok, I love my doctor and he always joked around) so I pushed hard for 45 minutes and then my precious miracle was born at 6:45pm!

It has been a whirlwind year with learning how to nurse, going back to work, and all the other things that comes along with having a baby. But, I wouldn't change it for the world. Having a baby is one of the greatest blessings the Lord could have ever given me!

Happy Birthday Lucas!

I was asked to post something new so...

We went to Toys R Us tonight to buy a birthday present for my niece and also ended up with a basketball hoop and ball for Taylor. It's technically for his birthday next week but I have a feeling Dad will put it before then.

I feel like this month is just flying by and one reason is because we have plans every weekend. This weekend we are going down to my moms (well what's left of my mom's...more on that in a minute) for my niece's birthday. Next weekend is Taylor's birthday party and the last weekend is the Women of Worthiness Retreat. I'm looking forward to that but a little sad about leaving all my boys at home.

We had some tornadoes Tuesday night and one went through my mom's town. I'm not sure if it was an actual tornado or straight line winds but basically the majority of her roof is gone as well as all the windows on the front of the house and the front porch. Thankfully she has home owners insurance and that will cover most if not all of the damage. We are all thankful they were not hurt!

If you are on facebook you'll have to check out Lucas' first experience with spaghetti. I'll try to post one on here later. It's getting late so I must head on to bed.

I'm hoping to survive our Valentine's Day party tomorrow. 19 first graders enjoying ice cream sundaes and cupcakes...I hope I have some hair left by the end of the day. :)

2008 was filled with much joy for us as we welcomed our little Lucas. Now I can't believe that he will be one in 2 1/2 months! Where has the time gone?? We baby proofed our house last weekend with a gate blocking off the hallway that leads to the bathroom and Taylor's room, a fancy-shamncy fire place bumper (ok, not really fancy-it's just a foam liner), oulet covers, and cabinet locks which Phil hasn't installed yet. I'm kind of dreading those. I can only imagine how many finger nails I am going to break as I try to open a cabinet! oh well, better safe than sorry, I guess.

2009 was a rough start for the little guy. On New Year's Day he fell off the bed (I thought I was going to Hyperventilate), smacked his head on the TV stand, and Taylor pulled his legs out from under him when he was crawling so he cut his lip with those new teeth! POOR BABY!! Hopefully, he's gotten it all out of his system.

During our break we took the boys to the zoo. Taylor loves the zoo and Lucas enjoyed his first trip. He didn't want to miss a single animal so he didn't nap at all but did great. We'll be heading back there towards the end of the school year on a field trip.

One last note:
I have recently finished reading "The Shack". I know there has been a lot of controversary over this FICTION book, but I found it very thought provoking. I don't want to give any of it away because I encourage you to read it, but it truly leaves you reflecting on your relationship with God.

If you have read it, what did you think?