Puppy Niece!

I'm a bloggin' fool!

I had to introduce you all to the newest member of our family. Our puppy niece, Lyric. Adam and Laura have been talking about getting a dog for a while and finally did it a few months ago. We were all excited to meet her when we were in Houston. She is a sweet little, fluffy ball of energy. They already have her trained to be a good little dog, she even rings a little bell when she needs to go outside to potty (I'm not kidding!). The boys had so much fun playing with her, especially Sam, he wore her out pretty good! I was curious to see how Gabe would react to her since he's had a few, pretty big allergic reactions to dogs. Adam is allergic, but Lyric doesn't really bother him. Gabe did great until Lyric licked him on the face and he welted up, right were she licked him. So, we doped him up with some Benadryl and he was good to go. Looks like Lyric will be the closest we get to a dog for awhile! Here are some pictures of us with Lyric...

Sleepy Baby...and more

Ever since Luke was a newborn, he loved to be swaddled. I kept thinking that he would grow out of it, yet when I would try to put him down with out swaddling him, he would cry and cry, I would go in and wrap him and he would literally fall fast asleep in a minute. So we kept swaddling, and kept swaddling. We used the Miracle Blanket and he would rarely break out of it. This past week, when we go in to get him in the mornings, he has been breaking free. I decided to try putting him down again without swaddling him, just to see what he would do. He did great! He loves blankets right now, he would rather have a blanket to eat and play with than a toy, so I gave him his little nigh-night blankie and plopped the paci in and he was good to go. It's even more fun to go peek at him sleeping now, here are a few pics from the past few days. He is really under there, fast asleep... This last one cracks me up...this is really how I found him...

While I've already got a post going for the little guy, I'll just continue on with some more pictures of the cutie. When Sam was little, I was big time into Black and White photography. I did up this little collage of him...

My friend Christy coined it "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." I've done a few for some of my good friends and, of course, did one for Gabe when he came along...

I'm sure you see where this is going! After I hung Gabe's up next to Sam's on the wall, I thought about how much fun it will be one day to have a wall with three hanging next to each other. I finished Luke's HSKT photo shoot a month ago. I've got the pictures edited and the frame under my bed. I just haven't actually put it all together. I've already got that special wall picked out in the new house where they will all be displayed together. We'll have to wait a few months to see the actual finished product, but for now, here is a little slideshow of some of the pictures I will use for Luke's collage, I still haven't decided which ones will make the final cut. I threw a few others in from the photo shoot that I probably won't use, but will frame separately....

I know this post is getting ridiculous, you don't have to keep reading, unless you are family, then you are required to go to the very end of this post! Not much more, I promise...

Here is a (nother) slideshow of some random pictures. Luke thinking he's all big sitting up, or rather, propping himself up. He could probably do it by now, but I'm not allowing him to sit up yet, he's already got two teeth, he needs to wait awhile before he really starts sitting. This is what happens with your third, you don't want them to do anything because you know once they start doing stuff, they won't stop. I know I'm fighting the inevitable, but I'm just not ready for him to do big baby stuff yet! He has also mastered "the airplane" move, which cracks me up. He loves the Johnny Jump-up and his big brother Gabe, who decided Luke was interesting enough to play with for a little bit last week while Sam was at VBS. He even wanted to feed Luke his bottle...for 2 seconds, but I got a picture of it. Luke got the shaft big time when Sam got home, but he enjoyed his time with Gabe on the couch, however fleeting it was.

Now I feel bad because there is no picture of Sam in this post, even though it's a Luke post, Gabe is represented, so now I feel Sam needs to be...

There, now I feel better.

Mom, Dad, good luck reading this post with all these slideshows flashing.

Now...I'm done.

Houston Post #3

Neal's Grandmother, Aunt Helene, Uncle Jimmy, cousin Rachel, her husband Jason and daughter Kate and cousin Drew all travelled from Louisiana to spend a few days with us in Houston. We always have so much fun hanging out with them and just don't get to do it enough. So it's extra special when we are all in one place. We did a lot of eating, Kate's 5th birthday was celebrated with an RJ Goodies cake (delicious) and some Blue Bell, we pigged out at Houston's Aquarium Restaurant, and had an amazing brunch at Adam and Laura's house. Kate and Sam are 6 months apart and were quick buddies. Gabe kept up with them for awhile, but I think he started feeling a little left out and being exhausted didn't help. He spent a lot of time in my lap. They had fun running around the fountains at the Aquarium, swimming in Mimi's backyard, soaking Drew with water guns, holding frogs hostage in a big Tupperware container and trying to catch flies to feed the poor frogs. Thankfully, Jason had a little good-bye, send the frogs home ceremony with Kate and Sam before bedtime. We had a blast with everyone and can't wait to see you all again soon!

Huh?

Last night, as I was cooking dinner amidst the barrage of questions from my 5 and 3 year old (I don't want that, can I have a cookie, I want the red plate, can I have chocolate milk, I don't want water), I finally broke down. I'd had it up to my eyeballs with all the complaining, whining and questions about food. You'd think I never feed them the way they beg for food, then, when they get it, it's not good enough or, they really weren't hungry. I stopped cooking and sat us all down in the middle of the kitchen floor for a little meeting. Here is how it went...

Me: Guys, I'm sick of all the complaining and whining about meals. We are going to go over our food rules again because this has to stop...talk, talk, talk, blah, blah, blah...So, whatever I put on your plate is what's for dinner. If you don't like it, fine, you don't have to eat it, but you aren't getting anything else, especially no dessert if you haven't eaten what is on your plate. Do you understand?

Boys: Yes (nodding their heads).

Me: Gabe (who is now spinning around on the floor) What did I just tell you?

Gabe: (emphatically) Don't splash water out of the tub!

...nice

Decorating Magazines

I love magazines. Especially decorating magazines. I always have to resist buying a few every time I'm at the store. I have stacks laying around my house that I can't bring myself to throw away. Since we are moving in 7 weeks, I've started trying to get things organized to begin packing. I've been gathering all the magazines from around my house and have a huge stack to go through. My plan is to tear out ideas that I like, put them in a binder and then...throw the magazine away. That way I'll have a nice big book of ideas to go through when I need some good ideas for the new house. The new house that is decorated like a page out of Restoration Hardware...

in my head.

When you are taking a flight, going to the beach/pool, or just have a night to yourself, what are your favorite magazines to look through?

Houston - Part 2

One thing you've probably figured out by now - I take a lot of pictures. When you have a combo of my parents, me and lots of cute cousins running around, the amount of pictures triple; and, there are actually pictures of me spattered in there, which only happens when I make Neal take one, or when my parents are around. I guess they still think I'm "cute" enough to take a picture of, even though I'm not a toddler anymore! Of course, I'm always with a toddler (or kid) in the pictures they do take of me, but that's how I would want it anyway.

Thank goodness for Picasa slideshows - I couldn't just pick a few to put on my blog. Here are some random pictures from throughout the week we were there. I'm SO bummed that I didn't get a picture of Shana and I together. I got one of her and Luke, but that's it, and we had some perfect opportunities to get our picture taken too. It was so great to see Shana and get to spend some good time with her. I got to see some new stuff she has been working on at her house and was amazed (again) at how talented and creative this girl is. She sees something she likes, figures out how to do it, and the end result is fabulous. Maybe someday she will blog some pictures of her projects. I laughed until I cried when Cody, her husband, showed Laura and I some of their dog, Daisy's tricks. Cody is funny anyway, but watching he and Daisy play hide and seek was hysterical.

I also was able to see one of my best friends from MS and HS, Sarah, her husband Byron and their adorable daughter Bella. They came over for a visit at my parents house and I didn't get a picture of us either! She and Byron are both Doctor people and it's always fascinating to hear them talk about what they are doing at the hospital. She was amazing to talk to when all Luke's stuff was going on. I would call her and literally read the reports I had to her verbatim and she would translate them into normal words for me. It helped so much talking to her during that time, she helped me calm down quite a bit on quite a few different occasions. It was SO good to see you Sae!

I have one more Houston post in me, but I'm waiting on pictures from my beloved sis-in-law and cousin before the post can be correctly complied. (hint, hint) Then I will start torturing you with pictures from our summer, Luke being cute, thinking he's all big and the boys being crazy. :0)

Morgan

When I was planning our trip to Houston, I had to finagle a way to have some help with the boys on both flights. As I was trying to figure out how to get someone back to Nashville with me, I realized my niece Morgan would be a great help. We've always talked about her coming to see us for a week in the Summer, but have just never done it. This summer was the perfect time to do it. Morgan is 11, she has 3 younger siblings and is the most amazing helper. The boys absolutely adore her and will do anything she tells them to do. They all loved getting to sit on a row on the airplane together, the whole flight went so well. Once we were back in Nashville, we dragged Morgan around with us everywhere we went! We took her to see the new house, spent a lot of time at the pool (some of that time was spent waiting for it to quit raining), Neal took them all fishing out on the lake, Morgan and I went to see Prince Caspian, we watched a lot of movies, at a lot of ice cream and went to Sonic (probably every day, but who out there doesn't??). It was so much having her here, everyone should have an 11 year old girl come stay for a week. When I asked her what her favorite part of being here was, she said "just hanging out with you, Uncle Neal and the boys". It's fun being loved by an 11 year old to...she told me I was awesome a few times...who doesn't love to hear that? I love you and miss you Munchkin (your almost too old for me to call you that), we can't wait to have you out again next year!

Photo Disclaimer: I sent the small camera, in a plastic bag, with strict instructions to Morgan and Neal NOT to FORGET to take a picture while they were out on the boat. They, of course, forgot, so I had to make up for it by taking a picture of the kids on the boat right after Neal had put it back in the garage. Nice. At least their fishing trip was somewhat documented. Some of the first pictures are in Houston, before Morgan got her super cute new "do", very similar to mine, I might add!

Gabe

I took all of the boys to the Doctor today for Luke to get a little check up on his cough (he's fine). Gabe has been complaining that his back hurts so I asked him if he wanted to tell the Dr. about it. When he did, the Dr. asked him where on his back it hurt,

Gabe replied...

"behind me".

Goodbye

One of my best friends is moving away from me. 20 minutes to 3 hours away, from Nashville to Atlanta. We had our last Girls Night Out and cried together over our queso. Christy and I have been friends for 8 years. We knew each other when we lived in Houston. Her brother was my youth minister my senior year in HS. Christy and her husband, Nathan, lived across the street from my in-laws, they actually sang at our wedding. We knew of each other, but didn't know each other. She and Nathan moved to Nashville a year before Neal and I did. We actually ran into each other in the Target parking lot (love Target!) and reconnected. It was so nice for both of us to have history with each other in a city where everyone was new. I remember going over to her house after she had Noah, to hang out with him while she did some cleaning. We ended up talking the whole time and I don't think she got any cleaning done. We've always been really good at talking! In 8 years, we have walked through lots of life together. She has seen all of the boys take their first breaths of life, she went with me to the ultrasound that confirmed my second miscarriage (Neal was on a plane, flying home), she has prayed over me, taught me so much about what it looks like to seek the Lord, she is one of the most generous people I know. I'll miss her terribly, I'm so sad that she will not be in the same city anymore, I'm sad that I've taken for granted that she has been so close. However, I'm thankful that she is going to be an easy drive away, I have a feeling I'll be familiar with the road to Atlanta very soon. I know we will keep in touch. I'm excited for her and her family and the opportunities the Lord has placed in front of them in Atlanta.

I'm still sad.

It still stinks to say goodbye.

Paranoid Mommy?

Yep, that's what my baby wears to the pool. If only I could find swim pants and a long sleeved swim shirt!

Our Day with The O'Quinn's

Since Carly broke her finger and had surgery on it while I was in Houston, the boys and I went to see her and her kids at her parents house while she was recovering. She might have been a little dopped up from surgery the day before, but we all sure did have fun...especially the kids. Carly's parents have four wheelers, so we all (not Carly) had a blast riding through the woods and out to the pond. When we first got out there, Carly asked Maggie to take me out on the Green Machine, to show me how to use it. I assumed that we were going out to the pond, instead, Maggie cuts through the woods and takes me on this little tour. She knew exactly where she was going, what she was doing and how it should all happen. We were going down hills, on jumps and lots of bumps - keep in mind - she is driving...I'm just hanging on for dear life thinking that my life is in the hands of this 5 year old, I didn't even know where we were! She was so cute though, she kept telling me "this is the best part" and we would go on a little jump, or "this is the best part" and would show me exactly where the eagles' nest was. It was great! One time, she and Sam were out at the pond on the Red Machine (we could see them from the back porch) and my cell phone rings. It says "Carly Cell" on it, I did not realize that Carly had given Maggie her cell phone and told her to call mine if they needed anything. Maggie was calling to tell me the battery had died and asked if I would bring out the other battery. It was hysterical. When I was watching she and Sam on the tire swing (picture below) I was hit with how big they both are. Seeing them together, on that swing, riding four wheelers, remembering Sam, 2 weeks old, sitting asleep in his car seat in the corner of the hospital room when Maggie was born...very bittersweet. They have both turned into such sweet kids and good friends. Carly and I were pregnant with them at the same time and both of us were able to see them come into this world and take their first breath and hear their first cries. Maggie is so special to us. So, before I show the rest of the pictures, I had to put together this little slide show of Maggie and Sam from the past 5 years. Some of them are not the best quality, since they were scanned in. I was bummed that my scanner messed up before I could get the pictures of them together at the hospital after Maggie was born.



Maggie and Sam are 2 weeks apart, Gabe and Rory are 8 weeks apart and Luke and Sully are 5 weeks apart. It's so fun to see them all playing and having fun together. Carly and I have known each other for years, since middle school probably. We knew each other at church, but didn't get to be really good friends until we both moved to the Nashville area 10 years ago. We've walked through a lot of life together and I'm so greatful to have her in my life. It was so fun getting to meet Sully for the first time and squeeze on him. I love all those kids! Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Stone for letting us come hang out, for lunch and for the four wheeling fun!

Wilson Cousins

We are back from a whirlwind trip to Houston. I always pack our days so full when we are there, we leave exhausted, but satisfied with our time with family and friends that we don't get to see often. We spent a lot of time with my brother's 4 kids and I had so much fun being around my nieces. Addy is 18 months and a little spitfire! She keeps up with the big kids and doesn't need any help from anyone - thank you very much. I'm head over heels in love with her. She is beautiful, squeezable and adorable. I seriously couldn't handle her little piggy tails and big ole' belly. All she had to do was look at me and I would do whatever she wanted. Payton is 4 and a half and beautiful as well, my brother and sister-in-law make some beautiful girls! She had a blast feeding Luke his bottle and getting to do stuff for him, since Addy never lets her do anything for her. She is a girly girl who always has to have her hair done. I was always excited when, after a day of playing, her hair would come lose. I would jump at the opportunity to redo an ponytail or two, always with a little bow, barrette or flower. It was so fun for this mommy of boys to have a glimpse of girl world for a bit. Morgan is 11 and is actually in Nashville with us right now. She flew home with the boys and I and is staying with us for a week. It is going to be so much fun having her here. She is such a big help with the kids and is just fun to be around. She is beautiful as well! Jake, Payton's twin, is a big clown, as you will see in some of the pictures. I think he had fun having some boys to play with for once! You'll also see that Gabe does look like someone in our extended family! He definately takes after the Wilson side of things. We spent alot of time together and I can't even think of one episode where we had a problem...it was great!

We took a ton of pictures while we were there, so here are the first batch you will have to suffer through! I'm waiting for Laura and Rachel to email me their pictures from our Watson/Walker Cousin Extravaganza. That, and some of our other outings, will be another post one of these days.

Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting us for a week and a half. For putting up with messy, stinky, loud boys. We always love coming to your house and miss you already!

For now, it's good to be home. I'm waiting to crawl into my own bed and sleep the night away once it gets dark. We are meeting Neal at the new house after work so we can see the progress. The drywall is supposed to be all done and cabinets are coming in this week. I can hardly wait to see my kitchen cabinets - that is one of the things I'm most excited about. Pictures to come!

Houston

A good trip to Houston must always start with fajitas and queso at Lupe Tortilla. I drove straight from the airport to meet my sis-in-law, Laura at Lupe. Mexican food in Houston is divine as far as I'm concerned. I could eat it for every meal, but then that would really mess up my working out every day for the past few months...so I'll try to contain myself!

We've already gotten all the cousins together, and they are about to come over again for a fun day at Grandma's (my brother and his wife have 4 kids). The boys woke up this morning begging to go outside and play in the sandbox and the pool. They love it at Grandma and Grandpa's! Luke is getting lots of lovin' and will continue to as he is in Houston for the first time and meeting his cousins, aunts and uncles for the first time as well.

I'm going out tonight with Laura and Shana to celebrate Shana's 30th birthday from a month ago. I've also been greatly looking forward to seeing Carly, meeting Sully for the first time and her getting to meet Luke. My friend Carly...she likes to be a little dramatic at times...so instead of sitting on the couch, waiting for me to get to Houston, she and her husband went water skiing and she proceeded to break her finger and right now, at this moment, is in an OR having her finger repaired and will be in surgery for 2-3 hours. Carly doesn't just break her finger, she breaks her finger big time. Go look at her blog for a horribly disgusting picture and explanation. Hopefully, she will be lucid enough tomorrow for us to come see her!

I already have pictures to post, but haven't had the time to get them on my computer yet. We were up at 5am for an 8am flight and a full day, so I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep. The boys all did great on the plane and I need to send a big blog-o-sphere shout out to my mother-in-law, Lynn. She flew to Nashville on Thursday, spent the weekend with us and flew back with us to Houston yesterday. I wasn't about to fly with all three boys with no help, not while Luke is so little! So it was wonderful having her help - thanks again Mimi! And, thanks for letting me borrow the cruiser while I'm here!