Music

It is so good to my soul to praise and worship our Mightly God through songs and music. I am thankful for so many amazing bands and musicians to spend their efforts and time writing for the glory of God! This is the one that makes me turn up the radio and sing it out to Him!

Welcome Fall

I just love the cooler weather that rolls in with fall.  I just hope and wish that it will stick around awhile.  The weather has been great this week with cooler mornings and warmer afternoons..the sun has been beautiful and bright which makes for fabulous fall weather and makes me want to stay outside.  I love that I've had to wear long-sleeves in the morning to go running and get to pull out my boots to wear with my jeans..oh fabulous fall!

I have been inspired by several pinterest ideas and put together a new fall mantel and love it.  I made the wreath and couldn't find anything that I really liked to add to it so I just stuck the orange flower in there temporarily, it needs something but I am not sure what...  But over all I am happy with it and had a great time last weekend working on it and pulling it together.  Most of my pinterest efforts fall short or flop all together, so I was happy that this was an actual success.  Also, I am the queen of start a project and take 6 months to finish it.  So I started and finished this one!

 Wreath inspiration via here

Subway art via here

 Happy Fall Yall!

Soccer

 Collier is participating in a little after school soccer program through Soccer Shots. The couches pick the kids up from class on Mondays and they learn some basic fundamentals and activities for 45 minutes.  It is perfect amount of time and Collier thinks it is so cool that his couch comes to get them out of class.  Every Monday he says "its Socca Sots Day"!!  I think the majority of his class participates and they are just precious.  

Catch up

I have gotten so far behind...
Two weeks ago was grandparent's day at All-Saints.  Collier was blessed to have most of his grandparents and even his GREAT-grandmother make it.  How special and fun for him.

 Kenley got to partake in the festivities as well

Thanks you Mella, Nana, Papoo and Nunny for making the special trip.  And for Nammie for always being here for us!  We love you all.  Buzz and Pops - you'll have to make the next one!

We have also been trying to learn to share and play together!  Is this a possible leason to learn for a 3 year old?  We have taken out some 'new' toys for Kenley [aka..Collier's old baby toys].  Little did I know that Collier would be so interested in them all.  Not only does he not want to share his toys with her but he wants to play with her toys.   We are working to teach him that if he is playing with her toys he has to play WITH her...He is getting better.  It is usually one step forward and then two backwards...

 And look what else he likes of hers....yep.  Her puffs and yogurt melts.  He begs for them!

We are gearing up for Halloween.  Mella sent pieces to put together a halloween tree and Collier just loved it.  He couldn't wait to get home to 'dec-a-rate' last Friday.  

Ta-Da...my scary tree.  

Although I am not a big fan of anything scary, I do enjoy the fun part of Halloween in dressing up and trick-or-treating.  Plus it usually brings in the fall weather and I am a HUGE fan of that!

 This little Priss Pot got her first tooth last week.  She has done fairly good with this one...mostly crying and lots of snotty boogers.  We were glad to see that was the reason for lots of crying last Wednesday. She continues to be busy.  she is a very fast crawler, she can get across the room in a flash on her knees.  She is still not sleeping through the night.  Most nights she is up twice, although last night it was only once.   

 Sunday night they took their first bath together.  It was actually Kenley's first time in the big bath tub - kitchen sink is much easier on my back!  But this was Collier's idea.  He was already in the tub and I told him I was going to bathe Kenley in the kitchen and he told me to just let her get in with him.  Brilliant little man :)  He did really good and I think she liked it.  He played with her toys and she played with his.  I need her to be a little more stable for this to be a regular activity.  It was fun though and glad that he suggested it - it is always better when its their idea instead of me pushing it.  

That's enough for now.  I still have more to catch up on, but will continue the next few days.  

Work Balance

 I am so very lucky to work for a company who is truly so flexible and understanding of me.  I don't know of anywhere else that would give me the freedom to get my work done without someone watching the clock and constantly keeping tabs on where and what I am doing.  I work but don't have to miss out on everything with my kiddo's because of the flexibility I have. It is really a blessing and the next best thing to being able to stay home with my babies.  

All of that being said, I try to get to work on time in the mornings [8am] but I just can't seem to get it together.   I feel horrible when I am pulling into work at 8:45 on our non-school days, but that seems to be the norm.  I try getting in the shower earlier and that doesn't seem to make a difference.  Well this morning I was late as usual and rushing into Mom's with the kids...who where both still in their jammies.  I got Kenley out of her car seat and was trying to get some saline in her snotty booger nose before I rushed out the door.  I rolled her over and suddenly smelled the unpleasant smell of a messy diaper and looked down and it was all up my sleeve.  NICE.  Poopy covered shirt should linger a wonderful fragrance through the office.  Of course, I wouldn't really do that to the men I work with, so I went back home to change...which required shirt and shoe change...and then made it to work in time for a 9:15 conference call. I proceeded to accidentally close my eyes and nod off for a split second [oh and I was siting at the corner of my bosses desk] and have no idea if he saw me or not. It was just one of those mornings, but thankfully the rest of the day has been a little smoother.  Here is to hoping that one day I will be able to get to work on time!

on the home front.  Kenley is loving her solids so far.  She started carrots this week, after having bananas, apples and sweet potatoes last week.  I will try to get peas made this week to give her some greens!  She is trying to walk more and more...she can walk pushing something pretty good, although she falls a lot which results in lots of screaming as well.  She is quick as lightening on all fours.  Collier still isn't really interested in her and is not willing to share, but is really loving the baby toys that we recently pulled out.  We are working on how to play together...especially if he is playing with her toys!  Big lessons.  Collier continues to amaze me with his memory and at how funny that he is.  It is really amazing the things that they come up with at this age.  Keeps us all on our toes!

Pick'n and Giggles

Here are two of the latest pick'n session that Collier has had.  Maybe he can grow up and be a praise and worship leader.  Lets just pray that he doesn't get my voice...please try and ignore my out of tune/pitch singing...it just isn't one of my talents!






and I have to share one with Ms. Priss too.  I couldn't get the front of her so sorry you are seeing the back of her head, she was just a giggling and I am not sure what got her so tickled. A laughing baby/child is really music to my hears.

Kenley - 6months and more

This little stinker is already 6 months.  She is so busy and active. She has been pulling up and even start trying to take steps in the past week.  She has taken several steps when pushing something [Collier's step stool].  She is working hard to master climbing stairs at Mom and Dad's [YIKES].  Nothing is slowing this little monkey down.  

She has gotten brave enough to let go when standing a hand full of times just this week.  See what I mean when I say busy!  I always said my favorite stage with Collier was 7-9months because he was sitting up good and strong but not yet crawling.  I could leave him with toys and at least switch over the laundry or get dinner started with him on the kitchen floor close by.  Not so much with Kenley that sitting up stage with no crawling was only about a week long at 4 months.  Mom likes to remind me that I was fully walking by 8 months and it looks like Kenley is on the Shannon track, woopsy.  Pay back!

 Sleep is getting better.  Last week was awesome, including one ALL NIGHT sleep [Tuesday night].  But over the weekend she was up twice again.  The past two nights have been back to only being up once.  I will be honest that I just don't mind the once a night feeding.  That way I get at least one solid stretch of 4-5 hours sleeping.  Justin really has the magic touch of getting her down in the evenings..when I put her down she will just roll over and stand up reaching for me.  I wonder if this is because she can smell me, even though she isn't hungry she just thinks that she should be in my arms.  Who knows but since Daddy has the magic touch I let him put her down in the evenings.  I miss him greatly when he is out of town!

  I also am starting back with solids this week. I have randomly been giving her solids but nothing consistently and plan to get on schedule now that she has reached 6 months.  I really wanted to wait until 6 months to get her started and I am glad that I have. She has had bananas and oatmeal this week and is doing pretty good with it.  I am certain that more of it is on her hands and bib than in her tummy [although her diapers are starting to show otherwise] and she really does like playing, holding and biting on the spoon.   I am really excited about getting back to making baby food again, I really enjoy it and love doing it.  I know that Collier will also love helping me too.  This weekend Sweet Potatoes and Apples are on the menu to be made for our little Ms.Priss.

Her 6 month check-up was good.  Dr. Amy said that she is perfect, so how can you really complain about that.   She weighed 16lb 9oz [60th%].  She is 26.75" long [78th%].  She has 16.75" head circumference [60th%].  She also got 3 shots.  Collier went with me and he stood in the hallway while Kenley got her shots, he says he doesn't want to see her shots.  I think he doesn't want to hear her cry.
SideNote: It is really nice to have a female doctor who can relate to some of the sleepless nights and advise what she did with her own kids...and even more specifically with breastfeeding advice.  I am really glad that we have switched to Dr. Amy.

I look forward to seeing what the next months will bring.  I need to double check my baby-proofing around the house as she becomes more and more mobile.  She'll probably be driving next week, so look out!

I am thrilled about cooler fall weather being on the way.  I am praying that we'll have a nice and cool fall and winter this year!

Conversations with Collier

Let's be honest: if I don't put them on here or immediately write type them out I will forget.  I can hardly remember what I did 5 minutes ago.  Not to mention things that he says are just funny...and that could be because I am his mom and I think he is really funny in which case I am just posting so that when I read them later I will laugh again...even if I am the only one laughing! [can anyone scream run-on-sentence]

Let me give you a little background on this. Over a year ago Collier went to the doctor with my mom and in the waiting area they had tiny new testament bibles.  Collier took one and has called it his 'bibull' ever since. He likes to carry it and play with it and so we let him.  One day he took it with him for nap time and I haven't been able to find it for a few months....I looked under the bed, changed sheets,etc and couldn't find it.  Today I was getting some boxes out from under his bed and spotted it.  He was thrilled and it was one of his three book choices for bed time that night.  We read the other two and I asked if he wanted me to read out of his bibull and here is how it went down:
Me: do you want me to read you a story out of your bible
CH: no, its my bibull
Me: yeah I know but it has stories in it just like your other books but it just doesn't have pictures
CH: [opens to a page] Jesus loves me and you can't read any of it
Me: yes you are right, Jesus does love you.  you don't want me to read you a story from your bible
CH: no its mine.
Me: ok, I hear ya!
from the looks of it we need to be doing more reading and learning from Jesus....especially in the kind words and sharing lessons!  Oh in due time :)
------

Last week Collier hasn't been able to find his 'done' aka an old phone that we gave him and he used it to take pictures....I haven't seen it in weeks but he has been looking for it.  So after he and Justin looked around with no luck of finding it,  I heard him tell Justin he was going to get his 'bibull'.  I was in the kitchen giving Kenley a bath so I was not in the same room.
CH: I'm going to get my bibull
JH: ok
CH walks back in the den with the bible, opens it up 'reading': we are good boys and we can dine my done
JH: is that what it says....please go and tell you Mom what it says
CH walk into the kitchen opens his bible: My bable says dat  we can dine my doone.
Me: oh good.
JH; no tell her what it says first before we can find your phone
CH: that we are good boys and dat we can dine my done.
Me: oh boy...Jesus does know where your phone is we should ask Him to show us where to look to find it.

Nice! this is twice that he has read out of his bible and said that he and Justin are good boys.
Also reoccurring theme is that we losing things around our house...

I'll be back with some updates on Kenley and our sleep!

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Just got around to creating a book for Kenley's arrival.  Glad to have it done and have it ordered.  

Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Motherhood...the real thing

I love being a Mom and I love my children with all my heart.  It is easy some times to put on a smile and say that everything is fine and great!  I never want to seem to complain about my children because the fact of the matter is that they are a blessing.  A huge blessing and gift from God and for each of them I am oh so thankful.  That doesn't mean that parenting is all snuggles, smiles and happy bliss because it is hard!   God never promised that things would be easy and parenting is certainly not exempt from that. I am learning that not all babies are the same and that some babies are just harder than others.  Kenley qualifies for the latter.   Kenley is still doing a lot of crying and a lot less sleeping.  The doctor has recommended that we take our focus off of the day time naps [because it wasn't working and she cried more than napped] and redirect our efforts to night time routine and sleeping.  Strategy: cry it out.  aka: see how long momma can take it and not give in.  I've tried this before and she would escalate and get more upset as time went by instead of soothing and calming.  Plus my heartstrings get pulled at about 30minutes of crying.  I give in.  I want to hold her.  I want to comfort her.  I want her to know I am here for her.  I want to protect her.  I want to pour my love out with my arms wraped around her. It has been about a month since I last tried letting her CIO so this will be round two and I have back up [aka Justin who is not easy to give in] I am terrified at how this will unfold in the fear of her crying for 3 hours literally brings tears to my eyes.  I can not take that and I am praying hard that God will be the one to comfort. sooth. protect. wrap His arms around her and that she will sleep!

This will begin tonight and we will just see how it goes.  I will say that past two days have been slightly better with her going to sleep.  Yesterday she cried herself to sleep sitting up, but I left her because I knew if I went in to lay her down she would wake up.  Last night she was up twice [12:15a and 5a] and both times she was wide awake after eating.  After I was sure she was well burped and clean diaper I laid her down - wide awake - and she eventually fell asleep without a single peep.  It gives me hope that letting her cry will be ok and she will settle down.  She may be able to do it now that she is a little older.  Either way I am asking God to be the comfort for her and the patience for me!

As her Mom I want to make her feel better and not cry but sometimes there is just so much that I can do. In the midst of the screaming crying [have I mentioned how loud her cry is?] and she is pushing away from me and crawling up me and unable to relax...I just want to cry.  I am emotionally, physically and mentally tired.  I have felt that I have fallen short as a Mom for her and don't know what more to do. Sunday at the lake I had a complete melt down and I think it just helped and felt good to cry and cry hard! I love her and want her to be happy.  I've said this before, when she has had a good nap and is in a good mood she is precious.  She is crawling and standing up on anything that she can reach....this is way earlier than Collier ever thought about.  She loves for anyone to talk to her and has such a sweet smile.  She is very interested in Brinkley and will crawl all over her when she is near by.  She adores Collier and keeps her eyes on him anytime he is in sight.  She giggles at him a lot and that just makes me so happy.  She puts everything that she touches into her mouth and has started to drool quite a bit in the past week, it is probably safe to say she has teeth on the way.  She still loves to swing [and we are all ready for the cooler weather and less misquitos so that we can enjoy outside more].  All of this to say that she is precious.  She is my sweet baby girl who is just having a hard time right now.  I know that this is just a short phase and that it will be gone in a flash.  When I am up nursing her in the middle of the night I do love to hold her close and tight because in just a few short months she will not be so willing or wanting to snuggle up in my lap.

My verse of the day [via YouVersion] yesterday was Psalm 68:19
Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. And for that I am thankful.  It is He who carries me through each day and night!  And He also has Kenley wrapped in His arms safely as well! How great is He to give me this verse at such a time as this!

**I started this post this afternoon and am just now trying to finish it up....so I already have an update:
 After an hour of trying to get her to nap this afternoon, she was rubbing her eyes, long blinks and crying, she would not go to sleep.  So I bathed her and gave her to Justin while I bathed Collier and I just went in to check on her and she was sound asleep on the couch next to Justin.  Yep he just got a new job...Kenley is his every night after bath time! 
GOD.IS.GOOD!