We Elfed Ourself

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1126027521

Sometimes I wonder.....

...why I leave the house, esspecially if I haven't spent time with the Lord (seriously I feel like I am more vulnerable to the enemies attack). My two and a half year old wants and begs for everything now when at any store and doesn't understand why she can not have it all. Then on the other hand I have a 5 month old who hasn't had a poop in a couple of days and decides to have a major blowout at Target (this will now be the third time I have changed him b/c of dirty clothes). It's all good. Carlee wonders why mommy is upset and I tell her that she needs to stop talking so mommy can think, which is very difficult for me period and because breastfeeding takes a lot of your memory away. Ok, so we are at Target with a smelly infant and a cranky toddler and the cashier asks, "How are you?" I say good and then change my mind and say, "not really." I then tell her that my children are testing my limits today. She's a teenager, who doesn't understand and I don't blame her b/c I didn't when I was her age so she choose to ignore me the rest of the time while checking me out. I'm sure she was just hurrying so the awkwardness would soon be gone. I doudt she will ask that question again. Then I think about what I said and wonder if it was wrong, but I don't think it was b/c I was honest and I think we need to be honest about how we feel even if we are speaking to strangers. However, I did think to say to her that I just needed some good quality time with God so that He could fill me up (but I didn't say that). Maybe next time in my boldness will I approach a stranger and tell them the source of my strength. Anyways, now we are on our way to the car and by now Carlee is hysterical because all she wants is a drink and I forgot to bring one in the store (we are only going to be in the store for 30 minutes, so I think). Carlee then asks me, "Are you mad, mommy?" I tell her I am upset and she begins to ask, "Why?" I tell her that mommy has a hard time thinking when she is asking for everything in the store. Carlee says, "Oh, so you just want me to sing." I said, "singing was better than talking." So then Carlee tries the whole car ride home to make mommy happy by singing, "I Thank God For This Day" (one of my favorite songs she knows). I broke down in tears and could not believe what a blessing my daughter could be to me. I was feeling very empty and unsatisfied inside and then as Carlee sang to me all that emptiness was filled and I was restored. The power of Praise!! I am learning from this child and begin to be amazed by her maturity. Thankfully, she is learning from me as well.
I am not writing this to scare any of my friends who are about to have two or who already do, but because I am trying to be more open about my life so that those of you who know me will know that I am a complete and total mess without my Lord. He is the only thing that is good in me and I am ready for Him to live completely in me so all I have to do is trust Him to do His job. Doesn't that sound so much easier than trying to do it all on my own?! Help me Lord to release all control to You so that You are the only thing that lives in me.

Go Longhorns

The day after Thanksgiving, we went over to Greg's parents house to watch the Texas vs. A&M game. Unfortunately, the Longhorn's lost, but we still had a great time cheering for them and sporting our burnt orange sweatshirts. I have to share a little story with you about Greg's sweatshirt....Greg woke up at 4:30am this morning to be at Sport's Authority when they opened at 5. He was trying to be one of the 100th costumers to get a coupon for his purchase. He was there to get a new pair of running shoes that were on sale (he has been hoping that these shoes would go on sale ever since he bought his last pair four years ago), this longhorn sweatshirt which was half-price, and a basketball that was half-price. When he got up to the register he scratched off his coupon to see how much he would get off his purchase and it ended up being $50. WhaWHoo!! He got all these things for a total of $50. I'm so glad his early rising was well worth it. Thank you Lord for answering our prayers. We love a good deal and will do anything to save money sometimes.


Carlee opened an early Christmas present from Grammy and Paw paw. She got some Sesame Street ornaments for our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving

This is Rachel and my traditional thanksgiving picture. We both are brown fanatics. What can I say... great minds think alike! We are actually looking more like sisters the older we get. This is probably one of the first times our hair has been the same length. Kinda funny!
This year we celebrated thanksgiving at my Uncle Perry and Aunt Tamera's house. They live in Magnolia. I was responsible for making a veggie and a dessert. So I made some steamed broccoli and a blueberry pie. I am not a pie person, but let me tell you this was one of the best pies I have ever had and everyone that had a piece will tell you the same. Thank you Southern Living cookbook!! Carlee ate before anyone since she was starving. It was close to 2 o'clock (her nap time). She inhaled her food and went straight to bed. I've never seen her eat so good in my life.
Carlee played with my cousin Ellana (she is 12) all day. She dressed up in all her fun hatsand wigs and clothed herself in all the fuzziest, silkiest blankets. They would make an appearance every so often and always be dressed in something different. Anytime I went in Ellana's room, Carlee insisted that I leave the room immediately.If I were only a fly on the wall...Thanks Ellanna for watching her all day!
Here Carlee is wearing Ellana's blue wig (Carlee's favorite color right now).
Zachary enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He was held all day long by aunt's, uncle's, grandparent's and great grandparents. He loved every minute of it and they did too.
We are so very thankful for our family and friends. Praise God that John and Rachel are back home living in Houston. We thank the Lord for our children, especially Zachary (our new little one). God is so good to us and we give thanks to Him for life and a relationship with Him that is never-ending. I am truly blessed to know Him and be known by Him and to be called one of His children. It doesn't get any better than that. Happy Thanksgiving!

Precious Boy

Zachary is chewing on everything and has been for the last month. No sign of any teeth though.
We are slowly introducing some solid food. Here he is with some avocado. He really enjoyed it.
Zachary is sitting on big sister's bed trying to love on her raindeer. So Sweet!
He's getting a lot more steady in the entertainer now. He loves all the sounds on it and gets really excited when he finds a button that makes noise. He will get so loud in this thing.
Here he is sporting his new winter hat. I hope it gets cold enough for him to wear it soon.

Super Carlee

Carlee is growing "Big and Strong," as we like to say. Everything she does revolves around the "Super Readers," (which is a PBS show that comes on every weekday morning). In this picture she is eating her "Super Power food," like peas and carrot. Carlee got inspired to eat all her veggies while daddy took her picture. Carlee also drinks her "Super Power water," so she can grow to be healthy. It's because of this show that Carlee is learning how to spell words. She can spell her name and cat and dog. This little girl is a sponge. I could not believe the other day when she recited the Pledge of Allegiance in the car. She told me she learned it from her class at church. Greg and I have decided it is time to start memorizing scrpiture with her. One of Carlee's favorite things to do right now is to put on chapstick, which she like to call make-up. She only does this while I put on mine under plenty of adult supervision. She also enjoys going to the park. She will go down every slide now and has started to go down on her tummy. Mommy is having to watch her closely because she is becoming fearless. She goes up every ladder very carefully while playing on the playground. I am always right there to make sure she doesn't fall. It's amazing how big she is now. I love this precious princess she is so special to our family.

5 Months

After 5 months Zachary has finally decided to sleep through the night. He has for the last three weeks now. YEA!! He will sleep 10 to 11 hours. Although, for the last three nights he has woken up once... I think this is due to his teeth coming in. It's all good and we thank God for the sleep. Zachary is a wonderful baby. He is pretty much all smiles unless he is teething or gassy. He laughs pretty much every time we get in his face and play with him. He is a hoot! He continues to amaze us by all his activity. This little boy does not stop. He will kick and kick all day long. Greg thinks we have a soccer player in the making. He loves his big sister and watches her every action. You can tell he is always looking for her. Zac rolls both ways now and can get around pretty good. He is so close to sitting up by himself.... It won't be long. We are going to start trying rice cereal consistently soon. We are just waiting for his digestive system to handle it better. His tummy tends to get cramped up when eating it. It will take some time for his body to receive it well. I don't know what it is with my kids and rice. Anyways, Zachary is in love with me and wants to be held often and he really likes to be held facing out so he can see the world. If you turn him towards you he pulls hair and ears. His grasp is so tight too. We're in love with our son and couldn't be happier parents.