Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Saturday Ramble

Wow I know it has been a while.  A lot has been happening and yet nothing has been happening all at the same time.  And to make things even harder our camera's cf card keeps tearing up the card reader, so now I have to get a new CF (old school style memry card) card AND a new card reader!  Grr!!  If anyone has one of these that they no longer use and would like to donate to the cause, I will gladly send you my address!

Our little man is steadily growing and showing us just how big and smart he is.  You can ask him where your nose is and he will point to it on your face, we ask him "Reid, how old are you?" and he will hold up 1 finger most of the time, he says "Dada, Mama, Night Night, Bite, Bubba, Baby" and laughs SO MUCH!  He keeps us on our toes that is for sure.  He is learning the meaning on "No touch" more and more, eating like a champ (we put whole milk in his sippie for the first time today, the kid loved it!), loves going to football games, is standing and can stand up in the middle of the floor unassisted as well as take a few steps.  I think he could walk is he wanted to, but crawling is still too fast right now.  He loves to pull up on my legs behind me and me grab his hands while he follows me around.  He claps for himself after he has done something right, loves to ride anything that has a motor, LOVES balls of any kind, and is all around just a super happy baby.  We are so blessed to have such a fun loving little guy in our lives.  God is good!

We are also getting closer and closer to his first birthday.  You don't know how sad that makes me, my baby is not really a baby anymore.  He is such a big boy, one who is too on the go for much cuddle time with Mama.  I know I had a hard time in the beginning, but I would give almost anything to go back to those early days when he was about 1-3 months old and just sit there and cuddle with him.  Never to be :(.  I am excited to see how much more he is going to learn the older he gets, and realizing what a blessing I have to be able to stay at home with him and teach him.

I have been struggling to recover my homemaking skills since the end of summer activities.  I am needing to get back into a routine (I am desperately missing this) for cleaning, shopping, cooking etc.  I am hoping after this next weekend to get much better.  My cousin is getting married on saturday, so I know there will be many new things cropping up this week that we do not normally have.  I am excited about her wedding, her marriage, and helping her celebrate!  It is going to be the fanciest wedding I have been too that is for sure.

Ok now that I have rambled your ear (or eyes) I promise I will have something more to say next time you hear from me.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Puppy Love (Had to Delete This Post)

So I had to delete this post because of some complications, but it is back again.  It was written sometime during November 2008.  Just didn't want to lose it, but couldn't put it back in the same spot.


So this past week was Thanksgiving and we had a lot of fun and a lot of driving to do!  We ended up going to Tyler on Tuesday night to be there so Mark could go and observe at a physical therapy place.  He really really enjoyed it and has pretty much decided this is what he is wanting to pursue as his career, which is very cool!  Now it is just a matter of getting into the classes!  So on Wednesday his mother and I just enjoyed the day together by going shopping and making Christmas pillows!!  This is a stretch for me considering my homemaking skills are virtually non-existent.  They turned out pretty good, with most of the credit going to Edith!

Thursday morning started off early with us heading out at 7 AM for Bryan for lunch with the Cliftons.  It was a long drive but we finally made it!  I got a chance to meet some family members that were unable to be at the wedding, and I have never met before.  It was nice just getting to know a new family, but I definitely missed my family back at home.  This was the first holiday away, and it was much harder than I had anticipated.  I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, or effect me as much as it did, but it was still all good.  We ate, sat around and talked some, and then headed back to Tyler just to get out of one car to go straight into another one and make the hour and fifteen minute drive back to Harleton to catch leftovers from lunch with my family.  I enjoyed getting to see everyone and was glad they had a good Thanksgiving.

Another recent happening is Mark and I have a puppy!  We got a miniature Shih tzu who is about 9 weeks and around just 1 pound.  He will end up at 3 pounds, but shouldn't become any bigger!  He is just adorable and I am definitely in love, and guess what. . . so is Mark!  I love it!  He loves him just as much as I do, and shows it.  My dad is allergic to just about everything, including most things with fur, so needless to say, dogs aren't his favorite animals!  I tell him he looks so cute to me when he plays with Gizmo, which is what we named him!  Unfortunately, there is a no pets rule here at ETBU, like it goes as far as no fish, so we cannot keep him with us constantly.  My Noni has offered to keep him for us until we are in a place of that will let us have one!  Such as great grandmother I know!  I will try to get a more pics, but here are a few:-)

Friday, September 2, 2011

Life is Precious. . .

I already knew life was precious, but I was reminded how much so in a very real way on Monday evening August 29, 2011.  You see on this day I was involved in a very real car accident with my mom, younger brother, and baby boy.  I will start from the beginning.

While Mark left to go to Shreveport I decided to stay behind and go out to eat with my paternal grandparents, great-grandmother, great aunt and uncle, mom, dad, and brother.  We had a great meal, with Reid eating SO MUCH FOOD I thought he would burst.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship and were in good spirits when we left.  Reid and I went with my mom and brother who were on their way to Kohls to get Adam some dress pants for a new job he started that very day.  On the way out I called "shotgun" on my brother (first one to call it gets to ride in the front), just to be funny.  So mom was driving, I was in the passenger seat, and Adam was in the back with Reid-Man, and the mood was joyful, we had talked about how we were gonna get ice cream after we got done shopping.  We needed gas, but decided to do that after shopping too.

We are on the road that will lead us to the opening of the driveway to the store.  There is a traffic light that conducts a four way stop.  It is quite a busy light because it directs traffic from walmart and into a big shopping center, restaurants, and a big movie theater.  Our light was green so we continued on down the road.  All the sudden we notice a green Tahoe turning left, right in front of us.  We all thought, surely he isn't going to keep going, surely we will miss him, surely, surely, surely. . . BANG.

We hit the side of their car with force.  Not as much as it could have been since mom wasn't speeding and had hit the brakes as soon as she realized what was happening.  She tried to swerve to miss them, but we think they might have hit their brakes when they realized what had happened.  Before I knew it we were stopped abruptly, the air bags had deployed, and I was screaming.  I didn't mean to at all, and it is one of the few times that things came out of my mouth that I didn't have control over.  I screamed "Oh my God, Reid!  Reid! Reid!!!"  (all the while thinking "I don't say 'Oh my God', why am I screaming it?") My brother is in the back saying "He's ok, he's ok!" and my mom telling me "He's fine, he's fine!!"  I couldn't turn around and look at him though.  I remember my brother unbuckling Reid and getting out of the car, my mom getting out and going around to grab him, and me just sitting there.  I couldn't move.  I remember seeing the kids who were in the Tahoe, scared looking, running around, not knowing what to do.  I remember being surprised we hit them, I really thought we were gonna miss it.

All I could think was, "I can't move, I really can't move, can't breathe."  My brother said he heard me say "I can't feel my legs" before he got out to which he thought "Oh man I don't want to see that."  I don't remember saying that I couldn't feel my legs, I do remember saying I couldn't move.  I was in shock.  Adam came around to my side of the car and told me I needed to get out.  I told him no, that I couldn't.  He said "Kristen, you have got to get out of the car."  This is where reason took over, I thought to myself, "The car could blow up, not matter if you can breathe or not, you have to get out."  I took off my seat belt and got out of the car and stumbled over to the grass, off the road, listening to mom ask people to call 911 and to stay as witnesses.  I get Reid, see he has blood in his mouth, but that he had only bit his lip.  I then realize I can't hold him for long, that my back is hurting.  I hand him to my brother who feeds him the rest of his bottle to calm him down before taking him to my grandmother who we called and came to help.  I sit down because I can't do anything else.

Someone brings me my phone from the car and I call Mark who had just reached Shreveport.  I told him what happened and he abruptly turns around, as does my dad, missing a meeting he had a work.  I am just sitting there, talking to the 911 workers, answering questions, waiting.  All the sudden this lady comes up and hands me an ice cold water in a cup from A&W (I don't think there is an A&W store in our town) and a sack full of cold bottle waters.  This makes me and my mom break down as we thank her, she tells us she is praying for us, and goes to hand some water to the other kids in the car.  We got her name, but that is all.  I don't know how she got their so fast, where she came from, or where she went, but we are so grateful to her.  She was the hands and feet of Jesus to us.  I told Mark that I would like to do that if we ever drive by a fresh wreck scene if it was at all possible.

They ask us if we need to go to the hospital, we say no, and then sort through what we need to do.  Our car gets towed away and we go up to the parking lot where my family is, as well as my mom's friends, a couple from church, who were in town that night.  We all decide that we need to go to the ER to be checked out.  We get there, Mark shows up, I break down again, get x-rays, get Reid checked out (fine except for a few scratches from the straps), get meds, and head home.

So yeah, super crazy, eye opening, and makes us so thankful that we are all ok.  It could have been much worse.  Here are a few pictures of the cars.  They are taken from my dad's iphone.

This is a frontal view of Mom's car

The vehicle we hit.
The kid driving the car was 16 years old and didn't have a license.  He admitted to looking at the wrong light and going when he wasn't supposed to.

View of the passenger side where I sat.


Seriously one of the scariest moments of my life!  I am blessed to be here another day with a wonderful baby boy to train up in the Lord.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Reid's First Haircut

So I am a little behind on the whole blogging spectrum as far as Reid is concerned.  I mean I haven't even put up his 10 month pictures for goodness sake!  Yeah I know, shame on me. . .

Anywho, I am going to just jump right in there and tell you about Reid's first haircut.  My 1st cousin, Kyndall, went to hair school in Dallas.  Since then she has come home, gotten engaged, and began working/planning a wedding.  Yeah crazy!  Anyway, Reid's hair was kinda getting away from him.  He had what she referred to as "wings" on the side of his head by his ears.  I held off cutting them for the longest, hoping they would turn into curls, but alas, Kyndall said I could go on no longer, so on July 20th, we broke out the shears.
The hair to the left would be classified as a "wing"
Needless to say this was a big day for Mama, baby, and stylist.  After much collaboration and some trial and error we figured out the best way to handle our "wingy" situation.
Forming a game plan.

Combined with some reassuring sugars.


Trying the whole sitting by yourself thing 
That didn't work out so good, so enter Mama

The first cut!


Hey, not so bad!

Until we had to get the back



"Aunt" Kyndall did a great job!


Until the end

Then it was time for Grammy
So there you have it, recorded for all eternity, Reid's first haircut.  And yes moms I did keep a tiny bit of it to go in his baby book.  Makes me sad, my baby boy isn't such a baby anymore!