I will name this later...

4-Alarm Fire

2012-02-15T14:57:00.000-06:00

Did you know you can take trips up to the fire station and the firemen will show the kids all around?!?! You don't even have to know anyone! Just call up at your local station and see when a good time to come by would be. Educational and exciting.

My friend, Mark, is a fireman so Nichole and I loaded the kids up and headed over to his station. He had the fire truck pulled out for the kids to climb all over.

This kid was in heaven!

The girls took a little bit longer to warm up to the truck.

But eventually, they did.

Before the horn.

During the horn.

And.... after the horn.

Brody was the only one up for trying on his gear.

This is his "tuff face." Love it!!

This one cracks me up. She is such a girl. SO not into putting on the fireman hat.

And while Brody was learning all about the jaws of life...

The girls were running around a water drain.

We got to go inside and see their living quarters. Trust me, those guys have a rough life. (Not!) The each have their own little bedrooms, huge kitchen, workout room, and giant tv room complete with giant leather recliners.

The guys were all super friendly and the kids were just eating it up of course. Great activity to do with the kids on a beautiful day!

Mark was showing us the controls on the fire truck - HOLY MOLY. I got overwhelmed just looking at them!

The end.

Inside Casa de Chelsi

2012-02-03T12:01:00.000-06:00

Pretty sure I promised a couple different people when I first moved in that I would post some pictures of the inside of my house. I think because I refinish furniture everyone thinks I'm going to have this house full of fabulous, redone furniture. Instead, I have a house full of waiting-to-be-done UNfinished furniture. I keep waiting to find time to do my own furniture and so far, that time hasn't shown up to say hello yet. And ideally, I'd like for every room to be completely finished before I post pictures of it, but alas - I've decided there is just no telling when that is going to happen. So I'm just posting two of the rooms that are mostly complete.

So without further ado, here are our bedrooms...

Brierley's room was my #1 priority when I first moved in. Sweet girl had moved 5 times in her short two years, so she never had a room that was even remotely done just for her. I was not going to let that happen again, so before I moved even a stitch of furniture into this house, I painted it Tiffany Blue.

My goal when starting was to make it bright and whimsy. I had this vision of pink and orange stripes against Tiffany blue since she was a baby, but could not, for the life of me, locate any such fabric. About a year ago though, I came across a blog that had my dream fabric. I emailed the girl, located the store she found it, and bought every inch they had. Brierley has two windows, so I made four curtain panels out of the fabric. Not long after, I stumbled upon a little lamp at Home Goods with a shade that had THE EXACT SAME FABRIC, just in polka dots. I snatched it up not even caring that the base was not my taste. What are the odds?!?!

The little wrought iron table she is playing at was a hand-me-down from my sister's boyfriend's mother's childhood. Did you follow all that?? It was was missing the glass top, so my dad and I attached a wooden round top - much safer anyways! The whole set is just waiting to be repainted.

The mermaid painting I started before Brierley had even turned one. I never seemed to find the time to finish it, so I hired a friend from an art class in college who paints professionally. He's got that amazing gift of being able to make a painting look like a photograph, so I was so grateful when he agreed to take on something a little beneath his caliber.

I LOVE how her room turned out. Just like I envisioned it would be. Now if only her floors STAYED that clean!

Here is my room. No where NEAR as complete as Brierley's. Part of my goal when moving in was to start over. I wanted each room to feel like us. I didn't use anything in the same room from the old house if I could help it, including decorations. So I've either repurposed things, or just given them away. I had my grandparents' bedroom suite from when I was growing up in the guest room, so I brought that into my room. My amazingly thoughtful and generous friend, Nichole, surprised me with a housewarming gift of a new duvet. I LOVE IT! I completely broke down in tears when I unwrapped it. She told me she hoped I could make new memories with it.

Then she realized how that sounded and retracted her statement.

We got a good laugh out of it. And maybe a few more tears. ;)

I've been working on what to put on the walls in there. For the wall to the right of the bed, I know what I want - just have to make the time to do it. It's above the nightstand that has me a little stumped. I'd put a big mirror back there but it's a mirrored nightstand. There's also a giant mirror to the left of the nightstand. Too much mirror is not a pretty thing when you're crawling out of bed in the morning...

Here's the other side. I'm still in love with these giant pictures of Brierley when she was a baby. They've been in her room in our Florida house, in the living room in our Lewisville house, and now in my bedroom in our current house. Pretty sure I like them here best. :) As you can see, that bed is definitely on my list of redo's!

Some new shams and a big zebra rug and I'll call it COMPLETE!

Alright, back to work. Go check out TwentyNine Magnolia's page for a recent job. Can't wait to show off the one I'm working on right now!!

Couldn't resist

2012-01-05T13:36:00.000-06:00

Nichole sent me this the other day.

How cute are they?!!? Finley is "straightening" Brierley's hair.

Brierley HATES having her hair messed with, so this is some true friendship going on here...

Latest favorite

2012-01-05T13:26:00.001-06:00

I posted about this little lady on my TwentyNine Magnolias page. Love unique pieces like this!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-22T10:19:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!!!

from Brierley and Chelsi

I might be famous

2011-11-22T11:19:00.002-06:00

I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal.

If you've never seen the blog BetterAfter, you should head on over there and check it out. Love this site! Lindsay features before and after projects every day, and she cracks me up while doing it. So pretty much she's like my best friend, she just doesn't know it.

You should also check it out today because little 'ol me was featured. Mmmhmm!!

Don't hate me because my dresser's beautiful.

A little side by side action

2011-11-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

Here is Brierley and me at exactly the same age on exactly the same day, just 27 years apart. One picture was taken with a Polaroid and one with an iPhone. Ahh, technology.

Since I'm born on Decmeber 14 and she's born on December 22, it doesn't get much closer than that.

I love that we both have whiskers.

I love even more than she has her finger in her nose :)

Mom of the year

2011-10-27T11:48:00.000-05:00

Nothing like going to the Halloween production at Brierley's school, pulling out my camera to take a picture, and realizing I left the memory card at home beside my bed. That would be what I get for uploading pictures at 1am.

Thank God for iPhones. Not quite the best quality, but I'll take it!

Here's my little Angelina Ballerina...

She rocked her performance on stage with her class and even took a proper {and dramatic} bow at the end. Cracked everyone up :)

Good job, Munch. Bravo, bravo!!

There is no title for this nonsense

2011-10-27T01:33:00.000-05:00

Can't sleep, so why not write a blog post.

That's my motto.

Too bad during the day I think of a million things I want to jot down, and then when I actually get a second to do it, I can't think of a single thing to say. Which makes this sucker SUPER exciting. Hope you're sitting down while reading this.

I think I just thought last week, "What happened to September?!?!" and here it is, almost November. Does anyone else feel like they're living in warp speed??

Brierley and I hit up College Station for a few days this month. Eleven to be exact. Which is twice as long as we had planned to be there. But I completely UNDERestimated the prep time for the furniture job I went down there for. And then I so gracefully tripped on what was to be the last day, spilling chocolate brown paint everywhere. So needless to say, I wanted to cry by the end of that job. Lessons learned: only paint in my own shop and stay away from spindled chairs.

It was a great trip though. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, so we went for lots of walks, bike rides, and spent many a mornings an evenings swinging on that back porch. Aunt Misty came in town while we were there and convinced me one night try my first sake bomb. (Any drink with the word "bomb" in it, I strategically avoided my during my college years). We got to meet up with some friends at the park which Brierley is all about when in town, and I even got to sleep in a couple of mornings thanks to Mama Hix. And I guess because of the weather, the deer were out by 5 everyday - which seeing them and their babies never gets old. Which by the way, I found out while on a walk with a friend that deer can and will attack you. Seriously??? We were walking the trails one evening and came up on a pack of 8. A couple started walking toward us and then started making this clicking noise. I was all excited, thinking I was about to get to pet me some deer. Until I was informed that that noise is not a good sound. Needless to say we scaddadled outta there! I'm not the luckiest of persons, so knowing my luck I would end up mauled to death by a deer while thinking it wanted me to pet it.

Wow, I should really not write at 1am because this is taking weird turns.

Now that we're back, I've been trying to play catch up on stuff. This week has been packed with painting pumpkins pink and trying to keep up with Brierley's ever-changing Halloween costume ideas. She settled today on Angelina Ballerina. Which was waaaaaaaay better than her previous Nemo idea. There's just no good way to make a fish costume. Nope. Not one. I looked. Angelina Ballerina though I can do.

Which leads me to her two current obsessions....

Ballerinas and pink.

Our house is littered with a plethora of tutus at any given moment, and she is constantly twirling and dancing about. I LOVE IT! Well, I love the dancing. The littered tutus I could do without.

And everything has to be pink right now.

I told her today that I got her some new clothes for the winter. Her first response was, "Pink clothes?"

When passing a baseball game tonight she said, "I don't like baseball. I like PINK baseball." Oooook.

I'm thinking if I could someone dye all her food pink, I might not have such a picky eater on my hand. I may try it...

Ah crap, speaking of Halloween costumes I just remembered I didn't finish Brierley's mouse ears earlier. That's a great excuse to wrap this pointless puppy up. I'll leave you with a picture from the parents' house. Or two or three.

I wish she'd stop growing up...

2011-10-06T10:51:00.002-05:00

He is jealous for me

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

When all of a sudden

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory

And I realize just how beautiful You are

And how great Your affections are for me

And Oh, how He loves us, Oh

Oh, how He loves us

How He loves us all

And He is jealous for me

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

When all of a sudden

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory

And I realize just how beautiful You are

And how great Your affections are for me

Oh how He loves

Yeah He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves

And we are His portion and He is our prize

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes

If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking

And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss

And my heart turns violently inside my chest

I don't have time to maintain these regrets

When I think about the way

Oh, how He loves us, Oh

Oh, how He loves us

How He loves us all

How He loves

Yeah He loves us

Oh how He loves us

Oh how He loves

10 Years

2011-10-05T17:05:00.004-05:00

Today my family is celebrating 10 years of my brother, Jarrod, being cancer free. He was 20, when he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. They discovered a germ cell tumor, roughly the size of a baby's head, located between his heart and his lungs. There's not a lot I remember about that time, I was 19, which wasn't all that terribly long ago - but that year for some reason its pretty foggy and fuzzy, like a bad nightmare you're not sure even happened. I do remember snippets though...

When I first heard the diagnosis in the doctor's office, and having to pull over on the way home because I couldn't drive. His prognosis was not good, not good at all.

How sick he seemed to get so quickly.

How reclusive he was when people came by to see him. He was not one to talk about what was going on.

How long he hung on to his hair. (my mom made me promise not to say anything to him when it started thinning out). ....You have to know my brother and his obsession with his hair to find this funny. The guy use to come knock on my cabin door at church camp at 6:30 in the morning to borrow my blow dryer! He will get ragged about that for the rest of his life!!

How he wasn't suppose to go to school or work, but rest. But that's not Jarrod. He stayed in school part time during his whole treatment, and would go into work as much as possible. His strength and determination amazed me. He was SO sick all those months of chemo, I didn't see how he did it all.

And then his surgery. I remember that day - it was a long day.

So yeah, those are about all the memories I have that year. It was a tough year for my family. Jarrod seemed the strongest of us all.

My dad told him they could shave their heads together when Jarrod was finally ready. I loved this day. It was actually kind of joyful, with lots of laughs. My dad even shaved his mustache off, which he'd had for the past 25 years! We didn't recognize him!

This is two days post surgery. He has the wickedest scar all down his chest from this. Its over a foot long. I can't even think about it too much - I hear phrases like, "Cracking his chest open" and "Surgical saws" and ahhhh, I just get the willies. Which is probably why I've never desired to be a doctor. Ever.

They were able to shrink the tumor with chemo down to the size of an orange, and then decided it was time to operate. The surgery couldn't have gone better.

That's Ann, btw the way. They got married a few years later. :)

And this is Jarrod today. 10 years later. Healthy as can be.

I love him because he is so this guy:

And so this guy at the same time:

I don't know why God choses to save some and not others. I actually can't think about it too much, because it's too painful and confusing. I've known other young people, kids, young adults with babies themselves, who weren't healed. All I know is He knows the number of our days, and He does things for His glory --- as painful as that can seem to us sometimes in this broken, fallen world.

And it helps me to remember that those who don't survive, they didn't lose. You think they are up in Heaven wishing they were still here? Good gosh, I don't! It's HEAVEN, for pete's sake. It's us that want them here, selfishly. And I understand that. And at the time, I'm sure they don't want to leave either - I know I wouldn't - not if my family and friends couldn't come with me. But to be with Jesus? You can't WIN more than that.

So I try to keep those things in mind, when days like today come. Days to celebrate life here. A life healed. And praise Him for His goodness in that.

And days like today when I'm grieved for those whose battles look bleak - who probably won't be here that much longer, short of an absolute miracle. Because there is His glory in that as well, we just don't see it this side of Heaven. That's the harder one to celebrate of course. But I know the Lord's promises for those who put their trust in Christ's sacrifice on the cross. They actually get to see, feel, and taste His glory first hand.

So today is a day of celebrating. Celebrating a few more days, months, years, with Jarrod here with us. Praising God for His goodness, in good times and in bad. For His healing, on earth and in Heaven. I've been blessed to get to know my brother better over these past 10 years. They haven't always been the easiest of years - we've had our differences, some fallouts and some make-ups. We have two very strong, very different personalities. I am also quite retarded and ridiculous sometimes. He has developed into a truly amazing man, and I am honored to know him. To love him. To learn from him.

I asked my mom today what she remembered about that year.

Her only response... "Everything."

My mom had lunch with Jarrod to celebrate today. She gave him the journal that she'd written while he was sick. She said it was the first and last time she's ever journaled, and that she goes back an rereads it every year at this time. She said giving it to him today was her way of burying it. I liked that. Painful times come. Suffering, inevitably comes. And it no doubt alters who we are. But it does not have to haunt us forever. I'm glad she was able to lay this to rest.

Cancer sucks. But...

God is good.

And now Beyonce's song Survivor is playing in my head. Awesome.

Finally

2011-10-03T18:06:00.001-05:00

Alright Julie, I finally updated TwentyNine Magnolia's blog with this guy.

I liked him so much, I'm showing him off here too. You can check out the before and after HERE.

Just let me dust off the seat

2011-10-03T10:13:00.000-05:00

And I can take you for a ride on my big green tractor
We can go slow or make it go faster
Down through the woods and out to the pasture
'Long as I'm with you it really don't matter

Climb up in my lap and drive if you want to
Girl, you know you got me to hold on to
We can go to town, but baby if you'd rather
I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor

Ahh, I couldn't not add this one. Check out that look! This is what I have to look forward to in the teenage years.

Sick days Pt. 3

2011-09-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

And when all else fails, just put 'em to work.

Sick days Pt. 2

2011-09-30T15:22:00.001-05:00

What do you do when your Munch is home sick from school, the summer is over and your skin is looking like a 60 year old farmer's, and you don't have a spa facial in the budget?

Step 1: Google
Step 2: Paint your face with a mixture of egg, honey, and apple vinegar
Step 3: Sit on the toilet for 15 minutes while it dries
Step 4: Regret adding the vinegar (that junk stinks)
Step 5: Wonder what the heck eggs, honey, and apple vinegar have to do with youthful, glowing skin
Step 6: Look at the clock and realize you still have 13 minutes to go
Step 7: Regret adding the vinegar again
Step 8: Rise with warm water
Step 9: Admire that your skin actually does look a little better
Step 10: Recall that you just spent 15 minutes staring in the bathroom mirror at your face covered in egg goop and think that this might have a slight effect on what you think "looks" better

Sick days

2011-09-30T11:56:00.003-05:00

What's the deal?!?

When I stayed home sick from school, all I wanted to do was curl up in bed, watch movies, and sleep.

(I might have done the same thing when I stayed home from school even though I wasn't sick).

(Which might explain why I had to repeat 11th grade history even though I had an A in the class but too many absences to receive credit, but whatever).

(And yes, my parents most definitely did make me pay the $400 fee to retake the class through Texas Tech Correspondence because there was no way I was giving up one of my off periods senior year to retake a class I'd already taken. But again, whatever.)

Brielrey on the other hand wants to throw her toy vacuum around the house, climb on top of everything above head level then scream until I come get her down, and pretty much just drive me completely bat #%@^&! crazy.

It probably doesn't help that she coughed 96.5% of the night away, so I only slept 3.5% of what I normally do.

All this to say, who's bringing the wine over tonight after she goes to bed??

Shark Attack

2011-09-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

Beware of the shallow waters of the pre-school playground.

They are prime feeding ground for Great White attacks.

Last week the school director informed me that there had been an "incident" on the playground that morning with a little girl biting Brierley. My first thought was, "Ok, these things happen. Ahh, I sure hope Brierley doesn't pick up that bad habit."

Then I saw her arm.

At which point I wanted to go find the little girl and bite her myself.

Don't worry, I didn't do it.

Things I don't want to forget

2011-09-19T00:06:00.001-05:00

There's often moments that happen that I want to write down so I can always remember them. Special moments that may seem trivial to anyone else, but I know otherwise - just in that moment. Tonight was one of those.

Oh two years old. They don't call them the terrible twos for nothing. I have been promised I'll get my sweet girl back when she turns three. Here's to hoping! I can't complain too much - she's not a complete terror. But boy, is she testy. She's two. I can't blame her. But I also can't let her get away with it, otherwise I'm not being her momma. One of her things the past couple months has been to vehemently reject any form of lovin'. Like she wants no hugs or kisses from ANYONE. Being a hugger and a kisser, well, this just about breaks my momma heart. But I know it's just a phase, and so I give her her space and I sneak in my little kisses when she's not noticing. Hugs are a little more tricky and I may or may not have bribed her with cupcakes for a big hug around the neck.

Anyways, this also includes hand holding. She wants none of that action either. Which can be a lot of fun when you're trying to walk through a busy parking lot and NOT allow your child to get run over. That kid screaming in the parking lot to LET ME GO, yeah - that's mine. Or the one who just sits down on the ground when you grab her hand? Yeah - that's mine too.

But tonight, tonight something happened. A small, sweet moment of my precious little Munch broke through.

We had just gotten home from home group (aka: church small group). I love these people. That's another story for another day though. But I rarely leave not in awe of how the Spirit moves through those in this group. Especially when we come together. So tonight as Brierley and I were laying in bed, in the pitch black, I started praying.

It's so easy to pray little easy prayers with her. The kind I think she'll understand. And then I'll ask her what she wants to thank God for, which usually consists of random things that I would never thank God for, like cupcakes, or Barney, or the kid that poo'd in the pool.

Yes, she actually thanked God for this MANY times over the summer (laughing the whole time of course.)

But tonight, I just started offering what was on my heart out loud, as if she wasn't even there. And within a couple minutes, that little girl reached over and tenderly grabbed my hand. The hand she won't hold for NOTHING. And scooted her way over and laid her head on my shoulder. And joined in. In the most sincerest voice I've heard from her EVER, she said "Thank you God for Chris and Drew. And for Home Depot. And God, thank you for church." And continued to hold my hand as I talked to God, with tears streaming down my face for this little soul laying next to me who seemed to get it for just a moment - that we are not just talking to the sky when we're praying, but actually talking to SOMEONE who is listening, who HEARS, and who cares.

Chris is our amazing home group leader who Brierley is very curious about, but often gets shy the second he starts talking to her. Drew is a guy in our group that she is completely smitten with, asking him to make silly faces for her and then dancing for him to get his attention. And Home Depot, well yeah, that is one of those random things I was referring to - though I do know she likes Home Depot because she points them out anytime we pass by one. Guess we spend a little too much time there :)

Tonight I go to sleep with a full heart. A heart knowing that honest prayers, prayers from the heart are what my Father desires - and what my daughter needs to hear from my lips, more so than prayers that maybe I think would make more sense to her. My hope is that Christ would capture her heart from an early age. That she'll know WHO He is, and not just have this concept of Him - but a deep passion and thirst. That He will be as important and vital to her as the air that she breathes, each and every day. Knowing His love for her is endless, and that He loved her FIRST.

Crack is whack

2011-09-13T23:21:00.002-05:00

One morning Brierley walked in to tell me she was wearing my necklace:

Oh Munch, you CRACK me up!

First day of school

2011-09-08T09:49:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday we had our official FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

This is what Brierley thought she should bring to school:

Yeah, I don't get the washrag either, but I love her crazy thought process!

She was so excited to go and see her Grady. Or "my Grady," as she calls him. This summer, her school offered a once-a-week day to get the new kids acclimated to school. I thought it was brilliant, and a perfect transition for us BOTH. Well, she loved it! She loved her teacher. She loved the songs. She loved the park and she loved the art projects. She also loved a boy named Grady. Oh heavens!

Brierley informed me after her meet and greet the teacher last week that Grady gave her kisses.

Grady and I might need to have a talk.

The first day went about how I expected - just like the summer. She was pumped until we got into the car, then she decided she didn't want to go to school.

"Um, I don't think so."

She repeated that the whole way.

Once we got there, she didn't want me to leave (like always). But within five minutes she had joined in on the action. And that's pretty much how the rest of this week has gone. Just the five minutes has turned into 30 seconds. A little shy at first, Brierley quickly warms up and dives in head first. That's my girl!

As for me, the time has been very productive. I've been able to get after some furniture projects that have been waiting patiently in my shop. AND I cleaned the entire house in 1.5 hours. Do you know how easy it is to clean a house when there are no kids around!?!?!

Recipe thanks!

2011-08-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to thank those of you who left recipes on my last post. I have been cooking away and loving them all! Tonight is crunchy chicken night!

It's nice to have a variety of things to try. I've found a few that I like in my new cookbook too. Now if I could only get the picky little miss to eat them too. What is so great about grilled cheese and chicken nuggets anyways?!?!

Butterfly in the sky...

2011-07-10T14:55:00.000-05:00

I can go twice as high

Ok sorry, that dang Reading Rainbow song gets stuck in my head every time I go to the library. And if you didn't watch Reading Rainbow growing up, you are probably wondering What the heck?! right now. Great show. Creepy opening song and animation. Well, it always was creepy to me anyways.

So single mom-hood has left me with very little time to myself. What little I did have once Brierley came along has gotten replaced with sleep. I use to could put her to bed between 8-8:30pm, and then I had a good 3-4 hours all to myself. Sleeping for Brierley has not been the breeze it once was the past 6 months, and by the time she falls asleep, I am usually so wiped I go to bed myself. I laugh when I fall into bed and it's still daylight outside. Actually, I'm usually too tired to laugh. But I think about how I would laugh if I had the energy. While I'm sitting outside her room waiting for her to fall asleep (its the only way she'll go to sleep now), I try to get some reading done.

Here's my current reading list:

Francis Chan's Crazy Love is a must read! I'm only a couple chapters in, and he never fails to stir my affections for the Lord with his words. His wisdom, insight, and understanding is incredible. He's motivating and challenging - two things I need in my relationship with Christ.

Did I mention we have a sleep problem?

Eating is important to me. Not just because I HAVE to do it. But what I put in my body is important. I hate the time it takes to cook, but I love eating healthy, fresh foods. So cooking is a must. Cooking for one ain't the easiest thing, so I did some research and found this book. It's been a big help - she covers not only recipes, but also how to shop and store foods efficiently.

This book came to me from Carol Floch herself. A friend who knows her had mentioned me and she sent this home with her. It is a daily staple for me these days, and I often go back over previous devotions when I'm having a particularly difficult day. If you know a single mom, this is a great source of encouragement. At the end of each devotional she also offers practical ways to remind your kids who God says He is.

We've also been hitting the library this summer. It's just a couple blocks away and is FREE. Books and movies for nada. Zilch. Does it get any better?? Brierley loves going and is surprisingly quite. It must be something in the air there, because she is NEVER quiet.

Anyone have any other summer reading recommendations?? Adult or kid books! I'm partial to fictional books myself (you wouldn't know with my above list), so if you have a good one, send my way. Oh, and if you have any recipes, send them too. I'd love to take advantage of my crock pot that sits lonely in the cabinet 364 days a year. ;)

The making of a water slide

2011-07-07T13:18:00.001-05:00

Brierley Beau 2.5

2011-06-15T14:09:00.001-05:00

My little big girl! Seriously, I woke up one morning about a month ago and you were no longer a toddler, you were a little GIRL.

You are a tiny little pixie of a girl in size, but you pack a big punch. You are a pistol for sure!! My little firecracker. I love you, Brierley Beau.

You are as beautiful on the inside as the out. God gave you a big, big heart little Munchy!

TwentyNine Magnolias

2011-06-03T15:03:00.001-05:00

When I first realized I would be supporting Brierley and myself, you can imagine the panic that swept across me. I've supported myself before, but that was long before there was another precious little person in the picture. How the heck was I going to provide for both of us and still have time to raise my daughter?

It had long been my desire to be a stay at home mom, but unfortunately you don't get paid to do that ;) So I immediately started praying and talking with family and friends on things I could do. My heart was heavy for a long time thinking about how I would have to take an full-time, 8-5 Monday-Friday job. I know many wonderful moms who find such joy in work and are still able to be incredible moms to their children when they are at home with them. I, well, I just didn't think I would be one of them. I'm not a good juggler that way. I'm also not ever dressed before 10am!

I began praying in the fear and panic that came in those times of not knowing what to do. Giving those fears over to God, knowing He already had our future mapped out, took the them out of my hands. I began asking Him to use the talents He has given me to bring glory to Him and financially support my little family. It never failed, each time I asked Him, within hours a furniture request would come in. I had been redoing furniture as a hobby for about a year as some of you know, and had just fallen in love. After about the fifth time this happened, I knew He was answering my pleas. He has since lined up everything I needed - a place to work, a school for Brierley, and clients to work with. Love how He does that!

I've started working on a website, but am kind of at a stand-still with that and am thinking I just need to hire me a tech-savvy person to set it all up. If you know any good (affordable) ones, send them my way! So until that site is launched, I've been posting redos on a blog.

twentyninemagnolias.blogspot.com

I also set up a Facebook fan page, so find me on there and "like" me. Gosh, that sounds so lame! I really wasn't into the whole Facebook fan page idea, but a girl who does what I'm doing down in Houston mentioned that she generates most her business from her Facebook fan page. Alas, I bit the bullet and just made one. It's pretty lame in terms of information, so I should probably spend some more time on that too.

But time, who has that??

Alright kiddos, that's the update on what has been going on down in my world lately. We are all moved in to our new house (love love love it!), working on getting out of boxes, and trying to find time to work while still having some fun. I'll get some pictures up soon of my little munchkin, because lets me honest - those are way more fun than long posts about life. ;)

Oh, and I might actually post some pics of the inside of our house this time around. I've had requests before, but never got around too it. Mostly because I never really got around to making the house feel like my home. Not this time buddy, this time she is oozing with Chelsi.

Loving this life God has given me!

God is so good.

Singing sweet praises

2011-04-27T16:48:00.002-05:00

It's not always an easy thing to share the ins and outs of our lives. Some of those things are quite painful. And some just plain don't make sense. We've had a lot of changes in our lives over the past few months (which would explain my lack of blogging a lot better than I'm just too busy. Not to say I'm not, I am, but I just haven't felt like writing much).

Life has been a season of storms the past six months. I know I shared some of that with losing the baby. Not too long after that I became a single mom. While I don't think this is the forum to share the details of all that, I will share how God has been a constant amidst these storms and how He is piecing together our lives.

Reshaping.

Rebuilding.

He has shown me that there is not one thing in this world that can't be stripped away from you. Not one thing but His merciful love.

He is a relentless God. And I am so grateful. I hate the pain I have to go through sometimes to truly know this, but I praise Him for always being there waiting, loving, providing.

The unknown is always a hard thing for me. I'm a girl who likes answers. Not a planner. But just the comfort of not having to worry. There has been a lot of unknown through this process. A lot of days where fear has barged its way into my thoughts. An unwelcomed guest whispering, "Where will you go? What will you do to provide for Brierley? You can't do this." And so many more unpleasant things . In those times I've learned that there is one place and one place only I can go - and that's to Him. He hears my cries. He answers my pleas. He is always there.

I called on your name, O Lord. From the depths of the pit! You heard my plea, "Do not close your ear to my cry for help!" You came near when I called on you; you said, "DO NOT FEAR." -Lamentation 3:55-57

Have you not known? Have you not seen? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength." -Isaiah 40:28-29

In those times of unknown, of fear, of pain, of uncertainty, of shear exhaustion God has continued to bring me back to these two verses. He has taught me to turn over EVERYTHING to Him. Not to hold one thing tight in my grip, but to hand it over to Him and HE will take care of it. And I'm telling you not. one. time. has He left me out in the storm. He has blown my mind for how He's provided for us and also how He's transforming my heart through this time by His love.

Through a series of events that could only have been pieced together by Him, Brierley and I will begin our new lives in this sweet little house.

I found out we got it a week ago, on one of the hardest days. It was 9:30 at night when I got the message it was ours. I'm pretty sure I ugly cried for about 20 minutes when I found out. I think my mom might have ugly cried with me. The sweet owner wrote that they were grateful to give us a new opportunity just as they had once been given. If that doesn't have God's love written all over it, I don't know what does!

My friends and I have dubbed it, "The Cottage." It is old and sweet and absolutely perfect. I am so undeserving of this house. I have prayed that this will be a home filled with love and peace and laughter. A place that we can grow in our affections for our Father. A place we can bring glory to Him.

Right now Brierley is sitting in my lap pointing to this picture and saying, "Brierley's new house."

That's right baby, this is your new house.

And I can't wait to move in and make it our HOME.

Praise God! He is SO good.

Hair Extraordinaire

2011-04-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

She just can't help it.

She's got fabulous hair that just does fabulous things on its own.

Iconic looks. Looks we ALL wish we could achieve with little to no effort.

I kid!

Healthy Alternative

2011-02-23T09:21:00.000-06:00

Brierley and I were making blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning when I thought of something...

My mom once told me you could substitute this:

For this:

I'm a "gotta try it to believe it" kinda girl. And the official verdict is.....

I'm sitting here devouring my healthier blueberry muffins as we speak and I gotta tell you - they are DELISH! You'd never know they have apple sauce in them.

I'm definitely going to try this with other recipes soon!!

Too busy

2011-01-25T11:57:00.001-06:00

This little girl

and I

(yes the one of the left, sadly)

have been too busy playing with this guy

to blog.

Sorry ladies, he's just too irresistible.

Brierley's play closet

2010-12-31T09:59:00.000-06:00

December has been a wild and crazy month (duh!), so one night I decided to tackle a smaller project I had in mind from the time we moved in. We have this large wrap-around under staircase closet downstairs. As a kid, I LOVED playing in these. Maybe it was the sloping ceiling, or the fact that I could turn the corner and feel like I was in my own little nook - whatever it was, I wanted to make this area Brierley's play closet.

Plus, who doesn't like an area to shove all those toys into once the kiddies go to bed?!!?

Here's the before picture.

And here's the after.

I got everything done in one night, so when Brierley woke up the next morning she was SO excited! She plays in it all the time. I still have some circles to paint, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Project 1: COMPLETE!

Yada yada

2010-12-15T14:34:00.001-06:00

It's probably about time for an update. Perhaps an update that isn't too gut-wrenchingly emotional to read. Maybe something a little more boring. I would love to say EXCITING!!! but let's be real, all I've been doing is unpacking boxes. And we all know how NOT exciting that is. I mean seriously, do the boxes ever end??? I definitely don't remember packing this many, so how are there so many to UNpack?!!?!

I guess I should be amazed that after everything we were even able to get moved. And on time. Thanks to some wonderfully helpful friends who donated their time and strength, and also many MANY trips back and forth over a period of 5 days, we finished up at 11pm the night before Thanksgiving. We are now all settled in our new house where I have no clue as to where half my stuff is.

It probably doesn't help that I spend half my time gazing at color swatches on my walls rather than unpacking, but heaven help me - I am NOT leaving the walls the mustard yellow and army green they are now. Whoever thought this was a good color combination either was color blind OR just had way too much school spirit for my blood. I feel like I should be walking around waving my Baylor flag, throwing my paw up in the air at all times. I am also constantly thinking, "Hot dog. A hot dog would go good with this mustard." Probably not a normal thing to think about hot dogs as much as I have been, especially since hot dogs kind of freak me out, just a bit.

ANYWAYS, I feel like I am getting off of subject here. Which would mean I originally had a subject in mind when I started writing this baby, and lets just be honest - I didn't.

Though I would like to know if everyone else's lawn guys ALWAYS show up during your kids' naptimes?? It's like they know when she goes down each week and decide THAT is the perfect time to show up and get to business right outside her window.

Wow, I must be in the mood to vent about trivial things at the moment so maybe I should wrap this puppy up and call it a day. I am excited to do a little before and after segment on the new Casa de Lewis once we get the downstairs all painted. I'm trying to stick with one project at a time, which is hard for me, when my mind is racing each time I walk into a different room. But first things first - downstairs.

I did turn 29 yesterday which is a pretty big milestone for me since I long ago decided that once I reached 29, I would be staying 29 for the rest of my life. Which I may decide soon to go back to 28 or something because I have a feeling I'm going to get sick of hearing people say, "Whu-oh! 29! One more year and you'll be 30." Like I haven't already thought that. So I'll get back to you on what I decide. I never really thought I'd care much about getting older till it happened, and I don't feel older. I want to tell people I'm 19 or 22. That's how old I feel. But then I try to dance with Brierley in the kitchen to Taylor Swift and 30 seconds into the song I'm gasping for air like I have the lungs of a 78 year old man climbing a mountain, being reminded that I'm not 19 or 22.

So CLEARLY I have major issues going on in my life right now and should be attending to them rather than rambling on this. Really though, I was just looking for an excuse to try out the new computer I was surprised with last night :) See - there really was a point to me writing this after all.

Oh, and I wanted to share with yall the best Craigslist find thus far.

This is quite the contender for most hideous yet hilarious lamp EVER, coming in just a few points behind the leg lamp from a Christmas Story. Pretty sure I just found what I'm getting my brother for Christmas. He doesn't read this blog, so it'll totally be a surprise. The more I look at it, the more I actually think it trumps the leg lamp. Yep, definitely getting it for him now.

Hope yall are having a fun December so far!!!

Short version

2010-11-10T07:05:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I sat down and wrote out everything I could remember about finding out I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. It's such a long post, I really don't expect anyone to read it all. I don't know why, but now I feel like I'm standing in school in my underwear. You know, those dreams where you just feel completely exposed?? Not sure why, but having it out there just feels really vulnerable.

So to save you 15 minutes of your life, that's what happened.

Thank you everyone who left me comments last week - they were all so sweet and thoughtful. I truly appreciated each of them :)

The longest post I'll probably ever write

2010-11-10T00:45:00.002-06:00

I wasn't really sure how to write this post. I'm still not. So please bare with me.

It's almost been two weeks. That night plays in my mind like a foggy bad dream that seems real, but not quite. I wish it wasn't.

I hadn't felt too good all day. Austin was out of town, Brierley was recovering from strep throat, and I had cramps. I packed us up and headed to my Wednesday night Bible study at our home group leaders' house 25 minutes away.

We call it, "Depth." And with reason. Never, never have I been with a group of ladies who go as deep as these. Real. As real as you can imagine. That junk you have, that filters into your life, that you hate, disgust, fear, pretend isn't there - yeah, that's the kind of stuff we share. Openly. Painful. Tearfully. Prayerfully. It's hard, it hurts. It's beautiful. Wanna know how to make sin smaller in your life? Talk about it. Sin loves secrets. Sin thrives in hidden places. We know that. We've seen it. We've lived it. And we're done with it. Each Wednesday, we get together, eat, and then dive into the life of Christ. We threw out all our preconceived, church answers of who He is, and started from the very beginning. We want to know Him, really KNOW Him. His beginning, His characteristics, His love, His mercy, His purpose, His pain, His suffering, His death. We wanted to dig into the meat of it all. Learn who He really is. KNOW HIM. Know Him like we know our best friend. Inside and out. Then we share. We share joys and pains. We share how God has been working in our life. Where we see His hand. How we're doing. Really, how we're doing. And then we pray. On our knees, hands over each other, we pray. Prayers like I've never prayed before. Praising God for His goodness, in good times and bad. Ask for His healing, His strength, His mercy. This is community. This is beautiful. This is has God's glory ALL over it.

Depth ended two hours earlier than usual that night. A first. My cramping pain was getting bad, and our home group leader, Dana, was concerned. She made me promise to call my doctor. I promised to call on the way home. And I did.

I'm skipping the whole how I got to the hospital part. Just know that God's hand was all in it. From who I called, to who didn't answer, to who did. God had a reason for it all.

When Allison and I got to the hospital, I was worried I might be miscarrying. My doctor had told me on the phone that was a possibility. It could also be a false miscarriage. All I knew was that I was in a ton of pain, but had never heard that it was so physically painful. So surely not. This could be something else. False miscarriage. That was my prayer.

God, please let this baby be ok. Please let this just be a false alarm. But God, prepare my heart for whatever it is.

We sat in the room, holding hands, asking God to protect the baby.

Surely there was something else wrong. They would detect it, tell me the baby was perfectly healthy, and that would be that.

False alarm. Heart break averted.

I loved this baby. Brierley was going to be a big sister. They'll be two and a half years apart - I couldn't have planned it any better.

And I hadn't. Just like Brierley, we weren't trying.

SURPRISE!

God constantly smiles at my plans, pats my little head, and tells me how cute I am. And in an instant, throws me His perfect curve balls. They always catch me off guard. And they are always, always, good.

This surprise was good.

Please, Father, let our baby be ok.

They hooked me up to IVs, took blood, offered me pain meds. I refused. Pain I can take, losing the baby I cannot. I didn't want anything that might harm the baby.

I had no clue what they were going to give me - I'm sure something that would be ok for the baby. But I just wasn't ready to risk it.

Peace of mind. At this point, that's all I wanted. No pain meds gave me better peace of mind. Tell me my baby is fine, that the pain meds are completely safe, and then we'll talk. But I want to know the baby is fine first.

The Rangers were on. Game 1 of the World Series. We were down by 3. Or maybe it was 4. All I remember was it was ugly. And not distracting.

Allison, tell me a story.

God gave her words, beautiful words of what He has been doing in her busy life, words that took my mind off the pain and fear just enough that I could manage.

Time to go to off to ultrasound. The tech just got off, but is still here. She can take you, or we can give you some pain medicine, wait a few minutes, and the next one will be here.

No, I just want the ultrasound. I'm ok.

They wheeled me down to the dark room where they do the ultrasounds. Jennifer, the tech, and I were alone in the room. Dark, quiet. She asked me how far along I was? 5 1/2 weeks. How long have I known I was pregnant? 1 week. As she set everything up, she talked to me about how she and her husband had been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby. My heart broke for her. I told her I was going to pray for her. She smiled at me and said thank you. She poured the goop on my belly and then placed the device on my belly. She turned the screen away from me.

Oh God, that can't be good.

Maybe that's just how she rolls though. Not losing faith.

God, please let the baby be ok.

She looked at the screen, down at me, and asked me with the strangest look if I had had any pain medicine.

No.

Why not?

Because I wanted to get down to ultrasound. Because I don't want to do anything that might hurt this baby.

I'm calling you in some morphine. Right now.

NO. NO. I'm fine, I promise. Please just do the ultrasound. I'm ok.

And with calmness, compassion, and intent in her eyes, she laid her hand on my arm, bent down, looked deep into my eyes, and told me I had fought long enough. I was done fighting.

And that's when the tears came. Streaming down my cheeks. Tears of surrender.

She walked off to use the phone, and returned with calming conversation. As she continued with the ultrasound, she asked me what church I went too. Smiled, and said she had a feeling that's where I went. It brought more conversation. And then I heard it.

Swoosh swoosh. Swoosh swoosh.

I know that sound. That beautiful sound of life, beating in my belly.

My eyes gave me away. They shot up too quickly in a glimmer of hope.

My baby's beautiful, newly beating heart!

She must have seen my eyes. Must have known. Because she quickly told me that it was something in my body. Something I don't remember. A part of my own body. And that's when knew... She didn't want me to get my hopes up. And my eyes had given that hope away.

Are you allowed to tell me what you see? Knowing smile written all over my face.

No. I could loose my job. But... I like you enough that if you asked, I might not be able to tell you no.

Jennifer. My hero with the answers.

I want to know.

She looked at me, and asked if I was going to be able to hold it together.

Jennifer, even if you give me good news, I probably won't be able to hold it together. I want to know.

The pain in my body had taken over. I had long since given into the shaking. She laid down her tools, took my hand, and told me that her news was not going to be good. Far from good.

You have a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. And you are hemorrhaging into your abdomen. I've been doing this for eleven years. And it's such a mess in there, there's so much blood, that I can't even tell which tube has ruptured. I don't even know how you laying here talking to me. Do you understand what I'm telling you?

With a calmness that could only have been from God above, I told her yes. There was no breaking down. No losing it.

I'm telling you this because the second I wheel you out of here, there will be a whirlwind of people around you, and you will be rushed into surgery. This is very critical. Do you understand what I'm telling you?

With a calmness that could only have been from God above, I told her yes.

God had wrapped His arms around me in a strength I never knew existed. Fear was there. Heartbreak was there. But He was bigger. Much, much bigger.

Will I have time to give my friend in my room instructions? I have a daughter that's asleep.

Yes. You'll have a few minutes.

In that moment, the nurse came in with the morphine. And the second she was done injecting it, I was wheeled out with Jennifer leading the way.

What I didn't know at the time, was that when she had left to call for pain medicine, she had also called for the surgical team. A call she wasn't technically allowed to make, but did anyways because she didn't think I had time to waste.

Twice that night she risked herself for me. In a way that I will forever be grateful for. In a way that I've thanked God for countless times as I've asked Him to breathe life into her belly. In a way I'll carry with me and continue to thank Him for.

From that point on it was blur. Doctors and nurses coming in and out. More needles and tubes. And Allison, pillar of strength and compassion, Allison. How Allison managed to hold it together with tears in her eyes, holding my hand, calling Austin to come home, Nichole to go pick up Brierley, and my family to tell them what was happening, I will never know. My doctor told me the next day what an INCREDIBLE friend I have. That, I know.

We prayed for my safety, we prayed for my fear. I have a bigger fear of being put under than I do of flying. And yet, that night as the fear swept in, God stepped in and washed it right back out. That is one moment I remember very clearly. Like two giant sweeping motions. Fear of something going wrong and dying, leaving Brierley without a mother. And then Peace. Peace that God was in control and everything was going to be ok. Whatever happens, it will be ok. Peace like a river.

Like a river His peace washed over me. A cool refreshing breeze that came from my head down to my toes, as if laying in an open field on a crisp Spring day. It washed over me.

My surgery could not have gone any better. My blood loss was just under the amount needed for a transfusion, which they had planned for. And most likely due to Jennifer's swift action to call in the surgical team without waiting for the radiologist to come look at my scans. They removed my fallopian tube and saved my right ovary with any complications. My left tube and ovary looked great. A few hours later I woke up in recovery and was wheeled up to my room where Austin had just walked in seconds before, and he and Allison were waiting with big smiles on their faces.

The next thing I remember was waking up in the morning to them taking more blood. It was still dark outside. And I was alive.

God is good.

There are scars far bigger than the three incisions marks on my belly that I will carry for the rest of my life. God knit that baby together inside me. From the moment of conception he had a DNA, a personality, hair and eye color decided, he was alive and was precious to me. I loved him. Dearly. I prayed for him. I pictured him in our family. Two car seats in the back of the tahoe. Which side would I put him on? Behind me or the passenger seat? Sleeping in the room closest to our bedroom. He was apart of me.

When did his heart stop beating. When my tube ruptured? Or after they removed my tube from my body?

That one haunts me the most. Creeps up and scratches me in the depths of my soul.

Was he a boy or a girl?

I won't know this one till I get to heaven. God knew. From the second of conception. God knew.

What does he look like in heaven now?

I know he's perfect. I know he never had to endure any of the pain or suffering that this world can bring. That he lives in the most magnificent place that I can't even imagine. I know that he had a purpose on this earth. However short his little life was, he had a purpose. And he fulfilled that purpose. And when God took him home he heard the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

These are scars that I will carry. God touches each one and tells me it's ok. They hurt, no doubt. But He is bigger than my hurt.

The days that followed that night were emotional for me, and ugly. They have gotten better. My body is healing, and so is my heart. It still hits me though at times. And will. And that's ok.

God has been so beautiful. His hands have been at work through so many around us. I have been humbled by the compassion and love that our friends and family have shown us. Completely humbled. Thank you. More than you know. More than I can ever say. Thank you.

My story is not unique. It is not the most painful. But it is mine, and all I know. God has used a friend that miscarried to help me. More than she knows - her words, her scars - they have brought comfort and healing. I would never wish losing a child on anyone. My heart grieves for her loss. I pray God can use me someday the same way He has used her in my pain.

For His glory

Obligatory pumpkin pics

2010-11-09T13:46:00.000-06:00

You just gotta do it.

When you have kids, come Fall, pumpkin pictures are A MUST. If you don't get them, it's like a Grandma's worst nightmare. I was such a fail last year - Brierley's first Halloween. We had two weeks to pack up our house in Florida and move back to Texas for Austin's new job. Pumpkin pictures just were not on my radar. So this year I decided there was no way I was crushing my mom's Fall-loving heart two years in a row.

ANNNNNND I rarely pass up a cute photo op of my little Munch. So last month Kate and I packed up the kids and hit up the Arboretum for pumpkins and pictures galore. Here's a few from that day.

Are these two little ones together not just the most precious things you've ever seen??

I've never seen so many mom with cameras in one place in my life! These pumpkin pics are serious business!

The kids had a blast climbing and wading through the sea of pumpkins. We had fun trying to keep track of them! They also hit up the petting zoo, bushed some goats and sheep, petted a pony, and chased a few chickens.

Good times, good times. :)

Carnivals and costumes

2010-11-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

A couple weekends ago, we headed over to Kate's house to get ready for their church's Halloween Carnival. This wasn't your typical Trunk or Treat. This thing was LEGIT. Full carnival, bounce houses galore, petting zoo, pony rides, games, music, train rides, funnel cakes... the works.

I had decided the night before that Brierley would go as Abby Cadabby, one of her favorite characters from Seasame Street. She probably would have picked Elmo, but since she won't wear anything on her head, I knew better.

Abby it was.

I spent three hours cutting fabric, tying knots for a tutu, and hot gluing the rest to make a dress. It's amazing what you can do without a sewing machine! Some yarn tied around hair bands, and voila! Abby Cadabby!

I was afraid she wouldn't want to wear it... she's pretty opinionated. But, I lucked out. She LOVED IT!

These two just melt my heart when they're together. She calls him, "Cake" (Caleb) and he calls her, "Miss Beek" (Miss B).

Caleb went as Thomas the Train. Huge props to Kate for making this costume with some boxes and paint!

The dads did an awesome job waiting in line for the pony rides while we played games with the kids. Brierley is an old pro at these horse rides. I'm seeing a pony in her future :)

After lots of time in the bounce houses, we closed out the evening with a ride on the Choo Choo Train. It was agreed that the tallest person should have to squeeze in with the kids.

It's always fun getting a good laugh at Austin's expense. :)

Thanks Kate, Jeremy, and Caleb for inviting us out to play at the carnival. The Lewises had a fabulous time! CHOO CHOO!!

Raw

2010-11-01T16:29:00.001-05:00

I don't have any other word to describe what I feel. My heart, my body, my emotions, they are all just raw.

And that's ok.

For the first time in my life, raw is ok.

This weekend I felt very alone. Alone in my grief.

No one cried with me. No one seemed to understand. The day after my surgery, my girlfriends who came by cried when they were with me, from the moment they walked in. My grandmother, sat and held me. Cried as I cried.

I felt understood.

Those I saw over the weekend didn't though. And I feel very isolated. Not angry, just isolated. They weren't doing anything wrong. I knew that. And yet my emotions were just so consuming.

They were all such a help. They cleaned. They broke down Brierley's crib. They put together her toddler bed, so she can crawl in and out without my help. They cooked. They kept me company. They filled up my water jug and brought my pain pills. They brought me Sonic drinks. One even dressed up as Rachel Zoe and did her best "ba-na-nas" impression to bring me a laugh.

I love them all. And am grateful for each one.

And yet, I felt so isolated.

And so in the moments of isolation, I cried. I screamed out to God. I shook and hit my fists into my bed. And cried. Cried out to God.

This is what grief looks like.

He catches each one of my tears.

He suffered more than anyone of us, and knows each of our pains.

I learned that Wednesday night at Bible study. The study I was at when the pain started to hit me in my abdomen.

And just when I think I am all alone, that no one is grieving with me, God sends me a text message from a friend reminding me that there is no pit where His love isn't deeper. That He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Or that someone just lifted me up in prayer. And that they love me. Or He sends me an email reminding me that it's ok to grieve. It's ok to cry. That He is holding my perfect little baby up in Heaven. Or beautiful flowers show up at my doorstep, reminding me that though I may not understand, God's timing and plan is perfect and absolute. Yesterday He sang my favorite song at the end of church, reminding me that He brings restoration. He even sends me messages that have made me laugh.

Just when I think I've had enough of the pain, physically, emotionally. He reaches down and holds me up.

He is my rescuer.

Quietness

2010-10-31T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's been four days.

Four days since the awful night I haven't quite been able to wrap my mind around. The night that so far seems like a bad dream. The details of that night, I hope to be able to write about sometime. But for now, it's just quiet here. And I need a little quiet to process.

I had no idea Wednesday when I posted my post about being pregnant, that it would be just a matter of hours and I would be rushed into emergency surgery to save my life while having to swallow the fact that the life inside me would be ending.

I can hardly breathe as I type those words.

But right now, I'm just trying, trying, to rest in the knowledge that God is good, in all things, He is good. The Bible tells me that. I know it's true. Even in the pain, it is true. I don't doubt that.

We've been surrounded by people since that night. So many have helped, have prayed, have loved.

We are blessed.

We are loved.

My family left today. Austin just took Brierley out for a little bit. This is my first time to be alone. I am surrounded by quietness.

I don't want to forget a single thing that happened that night. God's hand was all around. In real, tangible ways. I hope I can share those with you all sometime.

My sweet Mom asked me if I wanted her to take the previous post down. I said, no. I had a baby growing inside me. That is apart of my truth. It will always and forever be apart me. The excitement shared by our family, our friends, I don't ever want to forget that.

So for now, I'm going to go breathe in all this quietness. Watch the sun set. Not care whether the Rangers win or lose. And know that the sun will rise tomorrow just like always. And my Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday, as He was Wednesday, as He has always been.

I should have known

2010-10-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

I should have known the other day when I was driving down the road, belting out Reba's 1990 version of Fancy, and started randomly bawling when I reached the lyrics:

You know I might have been born just plain white trash

but "Fancy" was-uh my name!

Labor Day recap

2010-10-26T21:17:00.003-05:00

I want to say May, but I don't think Labor Day is that far back. It does feel like it was that long ago, so maybe I'll go with it. ANYWAYS, Labor Day we headed up to Kansas City to visit Austin's friend, Brandon, and his family. Without going into a super detailed explanation of all the fun we had, I'm just posting an insane amount of pictures. So, without further ado...

Our first stop was the Kansas City Zoo. I'm a sucker for a good zoo. This one did not disappoint. I only took one picture the whole time though. Of this guy. I was having serious hair envy. I pay good money for products to give me that kind of volume. And yet, my hair continues to fails me.

We got a sitter for the 3 kids one night and headed down to the Plaza. If you ever get a chance to visit Kansas City this is one area you don't want to miss. We dropped the boys off at Capital Grille to enjoy some StoliDolis (in hopes that enough StoliDolis would result in them forgetting to ask how much we spent) while Vanessa and I hit up some amazing shops. That girl can shop! I had a blast. We rounded out the evening with dinner and then off to a roof top bar to listen to some live music.

The next day we took the kids to this place called Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. Holy moly this place was rad! It was the cutest little farm/theme park. I say theme park but in a non-traditional sense. You can see all kinds of animals, feed some, ride some, fish, play in playgrounds built out of barns, play in an Indian reservation - anything you can think of that pertains to farm life, they had it in a super cute fun way kids can interact in and enjoy.

Here's Brierley mooing at a cow.

Brierley and Bella petting some goats.

As I was throwing some stuff away I turned around to find Brierley sitting on a bench, talking to a really friendly woman. She just chatted her up till I finally told her it was time to go. Sweet, friendly girl - you are such a little chatter box. :)

We bottle fed some rather aggressive baby goats.

Took a ride on a John Deer, while I continuously sang Jason Aldean songs a little too loud.

Oh sweet Munch, your little feet will reach one day.

Beautiful Bella, we are jealous you get to come play here each week.

She was all about the tractor rides. I eventually had to call in reinforcements.

She showed me how she can ride a duck with no hands. That takes talent I tell you. Talent.

And after a couple hours Brierley grabbed her blanket, crawled up on a ledge, and decided to nap.

As I was snapping pictures, I started to get the inclination that someone was really just playing opossum.

Ah I just love this girl!

Sweet Benjamin. He is just the happiest little boy. Looks just like his daddy :)

So long Deanna Rose and Kansas City! You were good to us!

It just wasn't meant to be

2010-10-19T05:35:00.000-05:00

I am sooooo not a coffee drinker.

I adore the smell. Coffee houses are one of my favorite places to hangout (though I rarely do that anymore now that Sweet Eugene's or Coffee Station aren't at my finger tips). I'll even linger a while through the coffee section at Sprouts. The smell just does something for me. But the taste? Yeah, I could do without that for the my entire life and not miss a beat.

And I pretty much have. Up until the other night.

A week ago a mom from playgroup made homemade pumpkin spice lattes. I will be the first to admit, I have no clue what a latte is. But pumpkin I do know. And pumpkin I like. And again, the smell - it just lured me in. So in my curiosity, I poured myself a small amount and equaled that amount with whip cream. Yes, I know that's something a 8 year old would do to their hot chocolate given their mom would allow. Well, two cups later, I was a hooked.

Fast forward to Sunday night.

In order to make it through my marathon grocery shopping night - two stores and two weeks worth of groceries (I hate grocery shopping, so I tried packing it all in minus some fresh produce we'll eventually need to replenish next week), I decided I should order a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks in on my way to the second store.

It was 9pm, I needed a little pick me up.

Within two minutes of exiting my car with said drink, I managed to spill it down my arm twice. My purse once. And aisle 3.

Clean up on aisle 3.

Did I mention that there was, in fact, a lid on my drink??

By the time I pulled myself together, there really wasn't any latte left to drink. And whatever pick-me-up I was hoping for died back on aisle 3 beneath the hands of a 17 year old kid with a mop.

I'm thinking I just need to stick with Sonic drinks.

Obsessions

2010-10-18T10:06:00.001-05:00

Oh Brierley Beau, your obsessions...

with blowing bubbles has left Momma lightheaded...

with painting has left our floors very colorful...

and with stickers has left our house covered with a plethora of Lisa Frank images.

But the smile all those things bring to your sweet, tiny face are worth every second!

On the move again

2010-10-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

Next month we're moving.

Again.

It's what we do.

But how cute is this place?!?!

In the past five years I have moved, oh... let me count... 7 times. Uhhhhhggg, does not begin to describe it. I don't enjoy moving. I like change, but packing and unpacking does not equate to fun times in this girl's world.

And let me just be honest - I just unpacked two boxes last month, and we've been here almost a year! And there are still four more that I haven't touched - that's due to the fact that we are officially out of room here though.

Oh but fear not! That sweet little abode up above features 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. And LOTS of cabinets and LOTS of closets. And a garage. OH HELLO SWEET SWEET GARAGE, HOW I'VE MISSED YOU! So needless to say, I will have no excuses for unpacked boxes.

So if I continue to be M.I.A. you'll know it's because I'm busy packing up the Lewis household. Not because I just can't seem to bring myself to update this bad boy. Or maybe I'll be busy picking paint colors. Because the current mustard yellow and moss green walls inside just aren't going to cut it.

Toodles!

iHeart iChat

2010-09-21T22:16:00.001-05:00

What are two sisters to do when they LOVE to watch a certain show together, but live 3 hours apart??

iChat!

Can I please just tell you how much I love this??

Misty just had an iSwitch. When her HP laptop bit the dust earlier this summer, she decided it was time to have an Apple-turnover. She had NO IDEA the computer love she was stepping into. She will never go back.

Last time she was down, I taught her how to iChat. We can now spend quality sisterly love tv time together, watching some of our favorite shows together, just like we were in the same room.

Sorry for catching you at an intense moment Shmist!

Alright, off to work! Yep, it's 10pm and I'm going to work. And by work, I mean out on the balcony sanding some dresser drawers. More on my "work" later.

Baby, baby, baby

2010-09-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

Having a 2 week old in the house for the weekend made my heart start longing for another. Well, actually watching Brierley with a baby did that. She wasn't so sure at first, but as the weekend went on, she starting becoming curious about little Miss Avery (Wade and Holly's baby girl). She loved pointing out Avery's little features. I had to continually remind her NOT to poke Avery in the eye when she said, "eye."

Sorry Holly!

But when she would come up and pat her on the belly, I would just melt. If Avery ever looked unhappy, Brierley would take our her paci and try giving it to Avery. Cracked me up! But it was when she wanted to hold Avery that I suddenly ached to have two little ones to love on each other. Brierley was just so happy to be "holding" her. (Avery on the other hand, not so sure!)

I suddenly thought, "Oh, two right now would be ok. I could do this."

Honestly, up until this weekend two scared the heck out of me. I want three or four, but I can't even wrap my mind around having two... How the heck am I going to get to three or four?!!? So, for now, I'm going rest in the knowledge that two might not be TOO overwhelming. And continuing enjoying and loving on the one that I've got :)

High Five to the Sister

2010-09-02T14:07:00.006-05:00

Recently, we headed to College Station for the 400th time this summer to celebrate two events. Both on the same day. Both for the same girl. On Friday the 13th (dun dun dunnnn), Misty turned 25 AND graduated from Texas A&M. And because I love that girl so much, I put my own mental health aside and endured 3 hours of painful whooping and a never-ending sea of maroon. Yep, I love her that much.

Ok, I can't lie - I showed up at the graduation about an hour and a half after it started, so I didn't quite have to endure 3 whole hours.

Oh Misty Misty, she's such a bright spot in our family. She was definitely my Mom's favorite, well, until Brierley came along. :) Just kidding, just kidding! Anyways, she's the one that never fails to make us all laugh, by far has the most sensitive heart, and also the one you can never stay mad at too long. Which is good, because she's always the LATEST one in our family. And by late, I mean like over an hour late. Every. Single. Time.

That I'm not lying on.

But like I said, what a joy she is to have as a sister. She's exactly why I hope to have another little girl. There's just something to be said about sisters. And I hope and pray Brierley gets to experience all the fun and crazy things Misty and I did growing up. And still do.

Growing up, we were always kind of into different stages of life. For the longest, she was like my little doll. I could dress her up and do her hair. She let me do anything I wanted. And then I hit junior high and suddenly she drove me bananas. She stole my clothes left and right without asking.

And at that point in time, there was nothing more annoying and tragic for a 14 year old than to go into your closet at 7:30am and find that the one shirt you had planned your whole school day around was missing, only to find it dirty, hiding in the bottom of the hamper in your pesky little sister's closet. Oh the fights we had over clothes!

Little did she know that she would develop an amazing sense of fashion come high school and I would spend the next several years getting even. :) Oh how the tables turned!

Anyways, I am just so proud of her. I even got a little choked up as she walked across the stage. That of course came after our clan screamed and hollered and cheered as she gracefully accepted her diploma.

I'm sure no one can see this, but Misty is the gold spot in the top right corner of the left group of students. If I knew how to add a bright white arrow to the picture, I would.

Here she is walking across the stage. See that little blip of maroon on the stage? Yeah, that's her. That's also her on the giant screen in the top right corner. What? You can't really make her out? Yeah, me neither.

Brierley coordinated wardrobe selections with Papa. She also decided it would be nice to represent with the A&M paci.

Here I am checking out Misty's blinged out graduation cap.

And here I am wondering why I stayed up till after midnight drawing the Superman logo with a "M" in it on that hat if she was only going to go home and cover the whole thing in gold jewels.

Yes, I know it was a super attractive face I was making. And I totally posted it too without even thinking about it. That's called, "security."

The cheering squad, minus Sarah (behind the camera) and Clint, who I'm not sure where he's at.

It's a graduation crime to look that good in your hat.

My Dad wanted a picture with his youngest.

Did you notice his subliminal message??

Here, let me help you.

He's a doll like that, what can I say.

Speaking of dolls...

Proud Aggies sporting their rings.

The Hix sibs.

It was definitely hot and windy. Brierley kept herself beautified with Sarah's brush.

The fam, minus Ann (Jarrod's wife).

Misty and her boyfriend, Clint.

Sweet Sarah caught us a runaway.

I asked Brierley if she was planning on following in Aunt Misty's footsteps and going to A&M. I couldn't have been prouder of her response.

You know you have a good friend when they'll drive 2.5 hours just to come watch you walk across a stage for 4 seconds. We heart Sarah!

My beautiful Grandmother (Hix) and our Jim. He is such a solider - he drives all Texas watching graduations for not only his grandkids, but all 10 of my grandmother's. That's some love!

After a celebratory dinner at a new restaurant I'd never heard of, we lit up some cupcakes and wished her a happy 25th year. I love you Misty!!!

Kinda Sorta??

2010-08-27T21:25:00.001-05:00

This was me when I wasn't much younger than Brierley is now. Everyone always tells me how much Brierley looks just like Austin.

I beg to differ.

Ok, I'm off to find that box of pictures from our rehearsal slide show because it's only fair if I post toddler pics of Austin too.

I'm so domestic

2010-08-23T08:52:00.001-05:00

I made Brierley a bedskirt!!

For years, my "sewing" abilities consisted of hot glue and the occasional hem tape that melts under an iron. So... basically my sewing abilities consisted of hot glue and... hot glue. But Nichole, being the brave and patient soul that she is, decided to take on the task of teaching me to sew. First, we made some fabulous curtains for Brierley's room out of the fabric above. And by "we" I mean SHE made them while I watched in amazement. They turned out so fabulous I forced her to make some for my living room.

This time, she taught me all there was to know about the simple world of curtain making. The hardest part was learning how to set up and thread the machine! Well, she started them off and let me do about half the sewing. Pretty sure half the lines are straight and half are NOT.

I'll let you figure out who the messy line culprit was in that equation.

After four panels for the living room, I felt confident enough with my jagged lines to go home and tackle some other projects in Brierley's room I'd been wanting to get done. My first was her bedskirt. I was quite pleased with how it came out.

I'm thinking if I hot glue some decorative border on the bottom, I can pass that hem for a straight line. :)

I should be doing laundry

2010-08-17T15:18:00.000-05:00

Little Miss B has been keeping us on our toes all summer. She's growing up SO much! Not in size, thank goodness (I don't think I could carry her up 3 flights of stairs everyday if she was any bigger), but has turned into such the little girl. And what a personality she's got! Full of spunk, humor, this little firecracker never ceases to trip me out and amaze me each and every day.

We've passed the 18 month and are half way through month 19. At her 18 month appointment she was 20 lbs. 2 ounces (4%) and 30 3/4 inches tall (25%). She was preforming at a 2 year old intelligence which scares me, because that means within a couple years she'll be smarter than me. I better start brushing up on those math skills! She says just about everything you can think of, talks in sentences most of the time (3-4 words), but still speaks a lot in french that I still don't understand. She says so many things now there's no way I could write them all but my favorites are:

"My goodness!"

"Awww man!"

"Wanna go outside?"

"Mommy" - how can I NOT love that

"Hi Tommie" - that's the girl at Sonic we obviously see way too much

"Bicycle"

"Where'd it go?"

"Where's da juice?"

"Yyyyyogart!" - always with a long draw on the "ya" part and said with excitement

"Nnnnnoodles!" - same as yogart, long draw on the "nu" part and said with excitment

If we start counting she knows where "two" and "five" go, and will scream them in excitement when it's time to say them. And her favorite shows are still Elmo ("Elbow" as she calls him) and Sid the Science Kid. She constantly asks to "color" and my walls have since turned into Michelangelos in the making. We spend most afternoons at the pool where she loves going down the slides and jumping off the edge of the pool to mom or dad. She claps for herself when she goes under water and comes back up. Shw calls all the male lifeguards "daddy" which is a little embarrassing, and she's been known to bust out in dance if the right song comes on, leaving the pool patrons in hysterics. She is DEFINITELY a little ham! She's decided to call her paci her "sassy" even though she can say "paci" and her night night blanket is officially "blanket." And it goes EVERYWHERE now. I had to throw it in the wash yesterday after a little accident happened when I didn't put a diaper back on her soon enough, and that determined little girl stood in the laundry room for the better of 10 minutes saying, "blanket... blanket..." in the saddest little whine imaginable. A few months back I bought an almost identical blanket (one side is just a darker pink than her original) for times just as these. But that little toot is just too smart and knows the difference.

Blanket: 1

Mom: 0

She's into the copycat game, and mostly likes to play at the dinner table while eating. She makes all kinds of faces and waits for someone to copy her. And likes to put clothes over her head and walk around laughing. (Most things she gets from me, this is not one of them!)

Austin says constantly she's a "little Chelsi" - a dare devil and firecracker, likes to ham it up and has the attention span of a mouse. Now if I can only teach her to sleep in, she will be PERFECT! ;) I kid, I kid.

We spent the weekend celebrating Aunt Misty's graduation from A&M, more on that later though. And while there, Great Grandmother got Brierley all ready for football season.

She literally slipped us this at lunch for fear the masses might turn on her in College Station.

And she's right, they probably would!

Who Wears Them Better?

2010-08-04T20:59:00.003-05:00

Beans that is.

Me...

Or Brierley??

Wednesday Rewind

2010-07-28T16:55:00.002-05:00

Back in June I hopped a plane, clinched my shaking sweaty fists (because I hate flying), and headed down to Florida to spend a weekend away with my girlfriends down there.

I love Austin's thoughtfulness when it comes to my flying fears - he booked me up in the front in hopes that a bigger seat and hot meal would distract me from having a complete meltdown when the turbulence that is bound to hit while flying over the ocean came. I'll give him this, it is a nice distraction, but I'm still sold on the idea of chartering a personal bus and driver to take me there.

Like with any trip I seem to take, I just never remember to bust out the camera. I did manage to get a few shots. Brooke and Kelsie, even though they live there, got a place on the beach with me for the weekend. Stay-cations are all the rage these days I hear! They picked me up Friday morning and we headed straight to the beach.

I totally forgot my sunglasses like a good beach-going girl should, so Kels let me borrow some of her BlueBlockers. While I think they make me look like a 60 year old man, I will say they are pretty fabulous to look out of. The colors were incredibly vivid. Then I realized that I couldn't see anything that was blue, hence the name I'm sure, and I decided these glasses just weren't for me. I missed the blue. What can I say.

The weather was hot. And I do mean HOT. So we spent lots of time in the water cooling off. Not long after getting there the cabana boy came by to check on us and told us we looked good on towels. I thought, "What an odd compliment, but I'll take it!!" And then felt stupid because he meant we looked good on the number of towels we had, as in he didn't need to fetch us anymore. Yeah, I'm a loser like that.

Saturday we spent with Todd and Nancy and their girls down at the Sandbox. It's how most of our Saturdays were spent while living there. I miss these folks so much! I swear their girls grew a foot each since we've moved. They're turning into such little ladies. (This pic was taken at church that Sunday btw).

It made me miss those Saturdays so much. The sun. The sand. The girls catching sea creatures. The chats with Nancy. The games played on the beach.

Brooke, Kelsie, and I took Todd's jet ski out for a ride and ended up in a pod of dolphins at one point. Where is my camera when I need it?!?!! One even had a little baby. Ahhh I just love dolphins.

Check out this giant frisbee thing. Loved it! I like to pretend that chasing frisbees in the sun is a good workout. But really I just like that the sun is able to tan my whole body at once.

Nights were spent perusing St. Armands Circle. And of course no trip would be complete without this...

I love my Florida ladies!! Can't wait to do it all again!!!!

Potty Training 101

2010-07-19T15:56:00.000-05:00

Warning: If you are completely opposed to reading about bathroom habits, then this post is not for you. I'm pretty much opposed to reading about any adult bathroom habits, but toddlers' don't bother me too much. Rest assured, this is completely about toddlers'.

A few weeks ago Brierley started telling us when she'd go "poo poo." I relayed the information to my mom, as I pretty much relay each day's information to her, and she mentioned it might be time to get Brierley a potty. I was potty trained at 18 months, and so since Brierley is that age, it might just be the time to introduce her to the world of big kid pottying.

I did my research on potties. And by research, I mean I read reviews on Babies'R'Us. Which, by the way, is the way to go! Anything I've bought that has had great reviews I have been totally pleased with. If I didn't check the reviews, came home, and was disappointed with something - I would find the same complaints on the reviews. Moral of the story: check reviews. ANYWAYS, I did my research, and came home with a white shiny little potty. Brierley LOVED it!!! I would constantly catch her in there playing with it, usually with reading material in tow. Too funny!

I had decided I wouldn't push the potty issue. She's only 18 months after all. Not all kids are as amazingly developed as I was at that age. Just kidding, just kidding! But I figured I would let her get use to it and when she was ready, she'd let me know.

And then this morning... it happened. She did her usual squatting action in the dinning room. I asked, "Do you want to go poo poo on your potty?" And the little girl's answer was "uh huh." So she stood up, followed me into the bathroom, I striped her down, she decided to play in the bathroom for a minute, and then TADA! She went! I suddenly had a Jon and Kate Plus 8 moment in my head, but quickly decided commemorating the occasion with a photo opt was just not in my book of things to put on display. But I was none the less proud of our little Munch. So we celebrated with a little dance in the bathroom together.

I'm still going to just let this happen naturally. Unless she turns like three and it hasn't, then we will be laying down the potty laws!

As for those cloth diapers I mentioned oh so long ago, yeah, totally didn't work out. It was actually pretty easy I thought. Wasn't much of a pain or anything. Of course, I only did it for two days. And most people can handle anything for two days. Except Brierley, who was not having the cloth diapers WHAT SO EVER. She hated those things. So... for the sake of peace and a happy baby, I folded up those expensive cute little cloth diapers and broke out the Pampers. Anyone needing some cloth diapers??

Say CHEEEESE!!!!!

2010-07-14T14:18:00.001-05:00

Sure these might look like simple little pictures of my munch sitting in a chair...

But I love them...

Because I know the whole time she was saying...

"Say CHEEEEEESE!!!"

And it was just too stinkin' cute!

And you should definitely check out the art work on her legs.

Comments

2010-07-14T13:51:00.000-05:00

Alright... I am all for some comments. Don't get me wrong. I like reading them, I like leaving them. I'm a give and take kinda girl. For the most part. I even like comments from people I don't know! That shows some courage. You might as well be saying, "Hey, I don't know you, you don't know me, but I stalk your blog and feel comfortable enough to write on it." I like that. I like for people to be comfortable with me, in person, and on my blog. And heck, I totally stalk blogs of people I don't know! But, BUT, is anyone else dealing with these comments written in chinese that always end with a bijillion of these "............" which link to sites I'd rather NOT know even existed??? Seriously, what the what?!?!

Yeah Kate, I told you I was stealing your "what the what" and I did. "What the heck" is soooo last season.

I really want to know, am I the only one who has to delete like 4 of these from every post???

Oh, and just so you know people who are leaving your chinese comments that lead to sites I'd rather not know existed - I will ALWAYS delete your comments. Your odd place of advertisement is in vain.

Ok, I'm done now.

Blogging Queen

2010-07-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

So for the 2 people that still read this puppy, I thought I might do a little update. I could blame my lack of posts on all the traveling we've been doing this summer (which is A LOT), but really I've just kind of been on an anti-blogging kick. But for the sake of documenting Brierley's life, I'm going to try and push through. I know I'll be glad in the long run that I soldiered on.

I like numbers, so we'll just stick with that system for the this one:

1. We've been traveling. A LOT. We've barely been home for more than a week at a time the past couple months. And we have no plans to slow down till October. We are loving all the good times we've been having with friends and family, but the actual traveling is rough. I'm not gonna lie, we have it easy with Brierley - she's phenomenal. Except... in the car. Poor girl just doesn't have it in her to sit still, strapped down to a seat. I don't blame her! So if you notice that I have significantly less hair on my head next time you see me, rest assured, I've been pulling it out in the car.

2. Brierley is one and a half!!! I can't believe she is now closer to 2 than 1. I see very little, if no, baby left in her. Other than she sleeps in a crib, and is hell bent on keeping her morning and night time bottles. That's right, my 18 month old still takes a bottle twice a day. Judge me if you will! ;) I'll write more on an separate 18 month post. But I can definitely say this is SUCH a fun age!!

3. We spent the 4th down in Crockett, TX for Austin and Wade's annual golf tournament they've been playing in together since the beginning of time. I didn't take any pictures, because I've been about as good at doing that lately as I have been about blogging. But it was a fun night - good BBQ, The Cody Johnson Band played - they were amazing, and we watched the firework show from the 8th hole green. The 4th of July is my most favorite holiday, and I've seen fireworks in many a different places. This was a first for me. And I can say that laying on the grass, surrounded by trees, watching the show, was pretty cool. :) Oh, and the boys won their tournament, so it made the weekend that much better!

4. Brierley is getting some more molars at the moment, so we've had a rough few days. One minute she'll be her happy silly self, and the next she'll just cry or whine in pain. Austin's been out of town all week too, so mom has gotten to take the brunt of it. I want to cry with her because other than some tylenol, there's not much I can do for her. Bless her heart. My sweet cousin did come over last night and give me a break for a while. Whew!

5. We had some family pictures made a few weeks ago. It was probably the single most humid and hot day we've had this year. 364% humidity + scorching hot sun = yucky pictures. We all looked frazzled. But there were a few cute ones of Miss B by herself, so I'll throw those up here later.

And well, I felt like I had loads to update on, but I guess I don't. There's a few more things we've been up to lately, but I might actually save them for something to write about. Well, my munch just woke up from a much needed cat nap and I can hear her giving Elmo kisses in her bed. Gosh I just love that girl!

Peace out!

This morning

2010-06-11T16:09:00.001-05:00

This morning I taught Brierley if she goes down her slide on her night night blanket, she goes totally FASTER!!!!

Just call me, "Mother of the Year."

Memorial Day fun

2010-06-07T22:20:00.006-05:00

"There are only 2 defining persons who have ever volunteered to die for you- Jesus Christ & the American soldier. One died for your soul, the other died for your freedom. Worship our Savior and give honor for our freedom to the men and women who serve our country THE United States of America."

We spent our Memorial Day out at what our friends refer to as "LaLa Land." You'll probably see why in the pictures below. It's pretty much an outdoor paradise to us big kids, so I can only imagine what the little kids think of it! There's playhouses and pools, swings and slides, sand pits and toys to drive, and lots and lots of room to drive them. Like I said, "LaLa Land"....

Here are the guys grilling up probably the best fajitas I've ever sunk my teeth into. The meat came marinated from deep in a part of town I would probably be way better off staying out of. Pretty sure I'd like to have connections down there though - I'd eat that meat everyday!

Ahh tether ball... Brought back memories from 5th grade P.E. class. Oakwood Middle School in the house!!!

She loved daddy swinging her on the big swing. You can't see it, but she is CHEESING!!

"Do you know how to drive this thing?"

"No. Do you??"

Don't worry little ladies, one day your feet will be able to reach the pedals. I promise!

Luckily, the girls had some fellas who were totally up for taking them for rides. Tucker was an excellent driver. I just only managed to get a shot of it on my phone. Oops!

Pretty sure we were laughing because someone in this picture kept scratching themselves every time I tried to get a good shot. Not naming names or anything!

Getting ready for another ride...

Here's my little water baby. She'd stay in the water all day every day if we'd let her.

Kisses :)

I'm pretty sure I'm in love with those little piggies. The same cannot be said for the sunglasses I thought were a good purchase the night before.

Once she discovered the goodness that is the slide, it's all she wanted to do.

Two kids. Now THAT'S impressive.

12 adults, 7 kids. Here's the littlest of the bunch. 10 week old Eli. It was his first swim :)

Them crazy Moores. Gotta love'em!

Brierley hearts Finley!

Love her little waves hello :)

Pretty sure she could be the 7th child of Brad and Angelina with those lips...

Sorry Munch, you got momma's lips ;) And according to Nichole, you also got momma's booty!

Sure, there's a perfectly good seat back there for him to sit on. But he insisted on hanging onto me like this the entire ride.

After all the little ones who still take naps were down for the afternoon, we decided to shake things up.

You know, Water Wonderland style!!!

(pretty sure only my family or a random person who grew up in west Texas has any clue what I'm talking about)

The boys jumped in on the action.

And then everyone just had to do it!

Slide + mat = whole new realm of water fun!!

Then there's those that are just too cool for school...

And when Brierley woke up, it was back to the slide.

That is the face of determination. Her head was staying above water if I could help it!

And here's LaLa herself... Giving tractor rides. Brierley thought her baby would enjoy a ride too...

(those are the baby's little feet hanging out of the back of the wagon)

I am just LOVING watching these two grow up together!

And by the end of the day, we all pretty much felt like Jack...

Lately..

2010-05-23T14:39:00.001-05:00

So lately I've been thinking a lot about comfort. Things I find comfort in and why. God has been pressing on my heart lately. Perhaps that is why I haven't felt much like writing. I've been trying to sort through all these thoughts in my mind. Thoughts about whose kingdom I'm trying to grow here. I say I want to grow his kingdom, but do I? Do I really? Because so much of what I do on a day to day basis says I want to grow MY kingdom.

Comforts.

I find comforts in the most silly places. In the air conditioning in my car after the 45 second walk from my front door to my car. In the fluffy security of the blanket that I wrap up in each time I sit on the couch. In having my root plump to put in my wet hair before I dry it. In knowing that I can go up to Hobby Lobby and buy that giant vase that will look good on top of my kitchen cabinets. In knowing that I have an ample supply of pacifiers in my car for me to hand back to Brierley after she chunks the one in her mouth down on the ground. In having a car to drive to my favorite Sonic, while not the closest one, but the one that makes my drink the best. And that at any time during the day, if I get a longing for one I can go get it. In the vast amount of information I can receive at any moment just by turning on my iphone and going to google. I even find comfort in standing in church worshiping while those around me tower over me in height. I never noticed it till today when I was standing surrounded by people my height or shorter. (Austin stayed home this morning). I don't often think of myself as a short person, but I guess at 5'2, it's pretty standard that the majority of those around me will be taller. But what a silly thing to find comfort in!

Why do these things bring me comfort? They are so worldy. So trivial. So meaningless in the scheme of things. I say I find comfort in Christ alone, but really, I don't. I'm not looking up all the time. I'm not keeping my thoughts on things above as Colossians 3:2 commands me too. Do I try to raise my family in the love of Christ? Sure. But I don't think I'm growing his kingdom anymore than I'm growing my knowledge by googleing what movies Luke Wilson has been in lately.

You see, I need to get out of my comfort zone. I need to be spreading the gospel further than just within the walls of my house.

God has been pressing on my heart lately. Am I listening? Am I looking to see what he wants of me? Or am I sitting idle in my faith. Content in the comforts of my family and things.

These are the thoughts I have been consuming my mind lately.

Can you say...

2010-05-17T21:29:00.004-05:00

After lunch I tried to video some of Brierley's favorite words. Obviously, she's not one to want to just sit there - she gets a little antsy and then starts longingly looking outside. No worries, I let her go play the second I quit filming. :)

Long time no see

2010-05-11T21:03:00.003-05:00

I just haven't been in the mood to blog the past few weeks. Which is probably apparent by my lack of blogging. So I decided to try and get back into with a little list of random things that has been going on in the Lewis household lately.

1. Austin was asked to speak at Baylor University's graduation. While I know this is his alma mater and all, I had to ask him if they knew he's not a former president, never walked on the moon, and hasn't received a Nobel Peace Prize. He had to agree - he was pretty dumbfounded as well. I am, however, extremely excited for him and I look forward to watching him work the stage.

2. Brierley had a rough few weeks last month. After 6 doctor visits, a trip to Children's Hospital ER (which I LOVE - can I say that about an ER???), four different antibiotics, three days worth of painful shots, and a couple trips to the ENT, Brierley had surgery to put tubes in her ears a couple weeks ago. She is like a new baby! Or actually, she's like my old baby - back to her happy silly self. I swear I couldn't get a smile out of her for an entire month. The surgery went smashingly well and we're keeping our fingers crossed to be ear infection free for good. And that her hearing loss will be fully restored.

3. We've got some piggies!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!

4. I am in love with Parenthood on NBC Tuesday nights. If you're looking for an awesome show that doesn't involve any form of reality television, I totally recommend it. It's got an incredible cast as well. Just thought I'd throw in that little tip for free.

5. I'm taking a little girls' vaca to the beach this summer. It will be Austin's first time to have the Munch by himself for more than a few hours. While leaving her is little scary for me, it's a much needed break. I know it's good to get away every now and then. I'm excited for Austin to see what it takes to care for a 1 year old 24/7. He thought he could invite friends up that weekend, but I quickly put a stop to that. There will be no outside help - he is riding this one solo!!!

6. Austin is in charge of getting Brierley dressed on Sunday mornings. I lay out her clothes and while I'm finishing up, he gets her all spiffy. Easter morning she came strolling in like this...

Austin said, "THIS is her Easter outfit??"

Guess he didn't see the matching dress hanging on the dresser. :)

15 months

2010-03-31T23:34:00.003-05:00

Hey Munchy Munch,

I can't believe you're getting so big. Ok, well you aren't exactly getting big size-wise, but you sure are getting big with all that you can do now. You are 15 months old, and turning into this little lady before our very eyes. I LOVE IT!!! You are just too fun!

You'd spend all day every day outside if we'd let you. You stand at the door patting your hand against it to let us know you want out. And you know the moment we put your shoes on that's where we're headed. One of your favorite things to do is go with Daddy to take Drake for a walk. As soon as you hear the hall door open you know that means Daddy is getting his leash, and you take off running to the front door. You also love to play out on the balcony, kicking your volleyball around, sitting in your chair, and talking to the people who walk by below. You're my little social butterfly - we can't go anywhere without you making friends.

You're running like Usian Bolt, and if I'm not careful, you can get away from me before I can even blink. Playing chase is you're new favorite game. You're not much into the chasing, you like to be chased - that's my girl, I taught you well!

You're finally getting some hair Munch! Enough that it blows in the breeze at least. :) The back is curly and everyone just thinks its the cutest thing ever. I agree, I love your little ringlets - especially right after you get out of the tub.

Oh yeah, the tub. Another place you'd stay in all day if we'd let you. You are still our little water baby, that's for sure. Whether its the tub, the pool, the dog bowl, or the toilet - you will dive right in and get to splashin'! (We now keep the bathroom doors closed after finding you playing in the potty - that, and you'll stand at the tub whining till we put you in!)

You are extremely determined. There is no diverting your attention. Trust me, we try! You see something you want, you go for it. And go for it. And go for it. Till you get it. Same thing if you're trying to figure something out. You've mastered the art of unlocking my iPhone, and have even managed to call a few people without Mommy's permission. ;)

You love talking on the phone though, so we call GiGi every few days so you can chat. Boy can you talk! We don't know what you're saying, but you sure do hold a good conversation.

Your current vocab consists of:

"Hi!!" (you're favorite word, which you say with such enthusiasm)

"Dad-dee" (you're 2nd favorite word)

"Uh-oh"

"Ma-ma"

"Bah-bah" (bottle, or anything to drink)

"Cook-kee" (your word for "cracker," you don't eat cookies but you love you some crackers!)

"Dog-gee" (dog)

"Shi" (shoe)

"Buh-bye" (bye bye - you put your purse on your shoulder, say this, and walk off!)

"Yuh" (yeah - this word you say really low for some reason, its funny)

"Uh-huh" (you're other way of saying "yes")

"Pap Pap" (PawPaw)

"Nana" (banana)

And your favorite thing - you sing the Elmo's World song. All. The. Time.

You also say, "Hi Dad-dee!!!" about 400 times a day, which trips me out every time for some reason.

You can point out your ears, belly, hair, and other people's noses. You especially like to grab Mommy and Daddy's noses in bed in the morning if you think we've dozed back off after bringing you to bed with us. You can point out the color purple on your bathtub toys, brush your teeth and hair, and feed yourself with a spoon. You give kisses now, but you are EXTREMELY selective when and whom you give them too. Same with hugs. But you will curl up and watch Sesame Street with me anytime I put it on. And I do this a couple times a day just to get some snuggles, not gonna lie.

You're 19 lbs. and 29 inches, which puts you in the 8th %. These are the same stats you were at 3 months ago, which had the doctors a wee bit concerned because you've gone from 50-70% at your 9 month appointment, to the 25% at your 12 month appointment, to now the 8%. They checked your blood (a highly traumatic process that I never want to experience again), but everything came back great so you're just going to be tiny. Which is ok with me!

Well, I'd write more but you just woke up with a temperature of 102, so I'm going to go play nurse.

You are just the brightest little light in our lives, and we couldn't love you more!

By the way, in EVERY SINGLE picture in this post you are running to get my Sonic drink. Just thought you'd want to know that some day. ;)

If She Can Do It...

2010-03-30T13:49:00.001-05:00

Foreword: Austin asked me last me last night if he could write a post for my blog. I'll be honest - after a not so happy anniversary weekend, I was quite hesitant. I asked him what he was going to write about and he was mum on the subject. Pretty sure 87% of me said, "Mmm... I think I'll pass on the anniversary blog offer this year." But, I reluctantly handed over my computer. Here's Austin's blog. I'll write my own thoughts at the end in this fabulous shade of peacock blue.

If she can do it then anyone can do it, including me.

When I met Chelsi Hix as a single woman she shared many things with me about her life including the fact that she always viewed herself as that cool aunt. You know, the 40 something who lived life to the fullest, was loved by her nieces and nephews because she was absolutely the coolest old person they had ever known in their entire 10 years on earth, but just never really had the time or found that right person that she truly believed was "the one."
Then she revealed her view of herself as an old lady, walking her two great danes down the street on a warm sunny day, wearing a sun dress and high heels, turning heads of 20 year old boys as she strutted her stuff.

Well as fun and sexy and cool as this all seemed, I was trying to figure out where her desire for a husband and a family fit into all of this. After listening more I heard her talk about her desire for a husband and of course for a family, but deep down it seemed like she really did believe she might always be that cool aunt.

So if you read last years post, we got married and were flying by the seat of our pants, and before we could blink we had a daughter on the way. Since then we have moved states, moved jobs, basically moved lives, things haven't really slowed down...for me at least.

For Chelsi, things have slowed down, not to the naked eye, not to the outsider looking in, not even for the hard core blog readers who never miss a beat and think they know us better then we know us. But for me, someone who sees it everyday, and every night, I can honestly say that things have slowed down. By slowed down I mean that Chelsi has turned into a mother, and turned into a wife. Not that she hasn't been those things already, but the big difference now is that Chelsi has put Chelsi on the back burner.

Chelsi loves lots of things, is passionate about life, needs to do her thing, but it now comes in bits and pieces, not chunks.
You see my friends, she has done what most of us know we should, she has chosen the selfless route. Of course you could say that the decision has been made for her. That you have to be less selfish when you have a newborn, that if you have a selfish husband you have to be less selfish for it to work. It is easy to say those things, the difference is, these days, in the 21st century, it is a pretty rare thing. It is a pretty amazing thing.

So if she can do it...I can do it. I have stood by for two years and watched as she has adapted and evolved and done what it takes to be a fantastic wife and an amazing mother. Now its my turn. She needs it from me, I need it from me. I know I can't do it alone. I need God's help, I am already getting her help, I guarantee you I have Brierley's help, so it is time. So bring it on year 3 of marriage! I am ready for you, my wife has been waiting for me to be ready for you, no more excuses, if she can do it, I can do it. Marriage on 3...1,2,3 MARRIAGE!!!

1. Pretty sure I've never wanted to wear a sun dress. Not quite sure if it's Austin's failed memory or failed listening at the time. But let me correct. When I get older I've always wanted to be that crazy, not sexy, old lady that lives in the big house down at the end of the street. Picture Great Expectations but less tragic. I want to walk around in my crazy colorful clothes, layers of costume jewelry, bright lipstick, huge hair, and ridiculous high heels. Perhaps even a mink shaw tossed over my shoulders on a warm summer day. I plan on walking down the street with my two spotted great danes, Solomon and Dane, in tow, carrying a martini glass (though I don't drink them) and a long cigarette holder (though I don't smoke). I want the neighborhood kids to ride their bikes to my house for freshly baked cookies, be slightly afraid of me because I say crazy things like, "Billy, if I ever hear you talk to your sister like that again I'm going to sick Dane on you and have him bite your fingers off in your sleep! Here, have another cookie," and to love coming to my house on Halloween because I hand out random things like tooth brushes and shoe laces instead of candy. Like I said, CRAZY! The only thing is, I won't really be crazy, I just think at 70 you're allowed to act however ridiculous you want because you've made it to 70.

We had a similar lady when I was growing up - she was known as Miss Jean, the cat lady. Her house was mysterious, filled with random art pieces and filled with tons of cats - she was a little cooky - but we were so intrigued by here we couldn't stay away. I was devastated when her house burned down and she had to move away. So, I want to be something like that - just minus the cats and throw in a little fabulous. NOW, perhaps Austin would LIKE me to be sexy as a 70 year old, turning heads of 20 year olds, but that was definitely not in my book. I guess he just substituted "sexy" for "crazy" and "kids" for "20 year olds," but whatever.

2. Cool Aunt - I did say that. But it more went something like I could kind of see myself just being that cool aunt. Two things played into that - a. I knew myself well enough to admit I was way too selfish to have kids, I mean HELLO - I liked to sleep till 10am. Ok, 11am. And b. I just got sick of guys too easily. I kind of had a 3 week limit. Needless to say, that whole "forever" concept scared me. So... perhaps it just wasn't in the cards for me. Now, I did desire it - but I also was just trying to be realistic.

3. And if you couldn't tell by the closing statement, we were watching a football show as he wrote that.

4. And on that note, I think I'm going to take a nap. Cheers!

"I've got to be back Saturday morning for my honeymoon!!"

2010-03-21T22:46:00.008-05:00

Holly and Wade came in this weekend so the boys could watch Baylor play on Saturday. Something about "Baylor sucking for the last 60 years" was said, so I guess them playing in March Madness was a big deal.

BIG.

HUGE.

After the first minute of the game, I turned to Holly and asked, "Are they really going to act like this EVERY time they score?" 3 hours later I realized why they call it March "Madness" - the sheer volume of the clapping, jumping, high-fiving, and screaming at the tv is enough to drive ANYONE MAD!!!

Btw, I made up that 60 number, I really wasn't listening, but the number was big.

Well, Baylor pulled through and won the game, so the boys immediately jumped online to buy tickets for Friday's game. I'm pretty sure there was some more jumping and high-fiving and I finally had to pull the "sleeping baby" card. Of course the way these boys' minds work they don't just stop with the game. They had to start planning for if there is another game. And by all means, of course they can squeeze in a round of golf before and after. Before I could count to 30 they had planned a weeks worth of events.

I did what I always do in situations like this: I sat and waited for the obvious to dawn on Austin.

"Wait... whatever we do, I've got to be back Saturday for my honeymoon!!"

And yes, yes he does. How cute is he that he calls our anniversary our "honeymoon"?!? Pretty sure I just chuckle every time he says it. I correct him on a lot of things, but not this. This is actually endearing. And I'm pretty sure we could use a little "honeymoon" right about now. It might just get me through the rest of March Madness, the MBA Finals, AND the Masters - of which we will be going to Wade and Holly's so the boys can watch it together. Notice a theme here?

Here's a little sneak preview for what our weekend entails:

We're starting out with a little of this action...

Followed by some of this action...

(those pineapples soaking in that jar go in our favorite cocktail - the Stoli Doli - YUMMY!!)

And lastly, at little of this action...

Here we are, two years ago on our actual honeymoon. I think I've mentioned Austin is about the biggest planner I know, so he had our honeymoon planned out to a T. And I wasn't allowed to know ANYTHING other than we were going to St. Lucia. He actually made me promise not to even google "St. Lucia" - which was pretty hard. I google at least 5 times a day after all!

How cute are we?!?! Brierley wasn't even a thought in our minds - little did we know she was just beginning her life in my belly!

Oh yes, I am definitely rocking that hairnet.

Here's our room. He did GOOD! And yes, that is a red pool in our room - I think I vowed after seeing it that I would one day have a red pool at my house. I'm not sure I'd still stand by that statement, but it definitely sounded like a great idea at the time.

And this, this was our view. Our room only had 3 walls, so we looked out at this all day, everyday. I made it hard to leave the room. It also made it hard to sleep past 5am when the birds would fly in and peck at themselves in the mirrors. EVERY MORNING. We eventually learned to cover the mirrors with towels before we went to bed.

He may look happy, but he's really freezing! Our pool was a weeee bit chilly. We'd fill our giant bathtub (which is where I am taking this picture) up with steaming hot water, sit in it for about 5 minutes, then run in jump into the pool just so we wouldn't freeze to death - we'd last about 2 minutes, then repeat the process.

I sent this picture to my mom while we were there. I had to tell her about the toilet - with a view like that, it was one of the best seats in the house!

Notice the candles that lined the bathtub? Within the first 10 minutes of being in our room, I managed to knock half of them off sending them crashing into the pool below. They had to send divers in to vacuum all the broken pieces out of the pool before we could get in. When reporting what had happened, Austin said, "I'm sure yall have this happen all the time." The resort people very politely replied, "No sir, we don't. You're the first."

Ah yeah, that's how I roll.

Just because it makes me happy

2010-03-19T21:11:00.000-05:00

The only thing that separates us from the animals

2010-03-17T19:25:00.009-05:00

...is our ability to accessorize.

Brierley cruises the house daily in fancy necklaces...

Oh so stylish purses...

And mommy's underwear...

**Don't worry, no actual underwear was used in the making of this post. Those are actually my swimsuit bottoms, of which she wears as well.

Ain't nothin' but a G thang baaaaby

2010-03-15T14:43:00.002-05:00

In the past couple weeks I've been on a mission. We've been working on some cha-cha-changes around here, all for the better of man-kind. And by man-kind, I mean our family.

First, I started working out again. Like seriously trying to work out. Ok, not seriously like Austin's 5:00am workouts, but more like 3 days a week working out. It helps to have a workout buddy, and luckily Nichole was totally up for the challenge of being mine. God bless her, because Austin and I just CANNOT workout together. It starts out promising, sharing a couple scoops of NOXplode, but usually within the first 10-15 minutes we end up getting into a fight about how many reps I should do and what weight I can lift without pulling something really painful, and I end up just walking off before it gets embarrassing. I dunno, maybe I should listen to him because he just did some fitness test at the gym and his scores came back that he has the body of a 21 year old. Shoot, I'm pretty sure I'd like my 21 year old body back! Anyways, Nichole is more on my level of working out - and I leave feeling happy and refreshed.

Second change is I've finally started decorating our house. I have commitment issues, so deciding on a couch has been more difficult that deciding on my child's name - and that was a weighty decision. I've almost completed the entry, dinning room, and Brierley's room. Maybe I'll take pictures when I'm done. I actually have found a couch (after months of searching), but since along with commitment issues, I also have been cursed with expensive taste, the couch will have to wait. While in Florida, we started a cash-only system to help us (me) cut back on spending. I've since gotten my check card back, but I am a changed woman - other than homes and cars, I'm a save and pay cash kinda gal. So in the meantime, I'm decorating around our lack of Chelsi-approved living room furniture.

And in the spirit of saving, I've been searching for ways to cut costs. I have decided that one way to save a good chunk of $$ each month is making the switch to cloth diapers. Oh my gosh, I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth, but they did. I decided on Gdiapers...

And these ain't your mama's cloth diapers!!

How adorable are those?!?!? So I made the plunge today, and will let you know how it goes. I'd like to say I'm switching to cloth diapers to help the environment, but really I just want my couch. ;)

Well done...

2010-03-09T16:28:00.005-06:00

I know I haven't been doing a good job of blogging lately - I'm sure Brierley is long past due for an update. It's been over two months I think! Sorry baby girl! I'll get on it soon!

I did want to post something about a little girl who has rocked my world.

Her name is Layla Grace...

I've been on my knees for this little girl and her family for a while now. As much as I hate reading stories that bring me pain (I'm ugly crying as I write this), I also know that this little girl's life had a purpose - a HUGE purpose - and what little I can do to spread her purpose, I will.

She has touched so many in her short two years and it brings joy to my heart to know God told her this morning, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Through her so many will come to know more about neuroblastoma, the most common form of cancer in infants and children outside of brain cancer. The more awareness, the more research and funding will go to finding better treatments, and hopefully, one day, a cure.

And also, through her, thousands have come to hear about Christ.

Even though I ache for this little girl I never met and her family, my hope lies in the glory she brought God. Reading her story may be painful, but it is so full of hope. I encourage you to grab some tissues, sit down, and read about her through her parents' words. Their strength and faith will encourage. And this little girl might just move you in ways you didn't know possible. I know she did me. If anything, please just lift her family up in prayer today.

You can read her story here: www.laylagrace.org

This turned into a random rant

2010-03-01T14:02:00.001-06:00

Last week Austin had to go away on business and then men's retreat for the whole week/weekend, so after attempting to walk the dog while carrying Brierley, then chasing the dog while carrying Brierley, then eating cement from tripping while chasing the dog while carrying Brierley, I decided I wasn't cut out for 6 days alone without any help. So off to GiGi's and PawPaw's we went.

It was my first attempt at a road trip with Brierley without Austin. We'd done the whole plane thing a time or two, but this was our first time in the car - not Brierley's favorite place. Typically, we only travel at night after she goes to sleep. But I was feeling brave I suppose, and decided I'd give a whirl during her afternoon nap. Ok, brave probably wouldn't be the correct term - desperate, perhaps. It was snowing down in CST, so night time just didn't feel all that safe with bad roads. All in all, I'd give our afternoon attempt a B-. We had about 20 minutes of unhappiness, but that's about it.

We had a great week with the fam. Lots of outside action with walking up and down the street, playing in the yard, playing at the mall playground*, and we even got one day warm enough to go out to the park for a bit. I took some pictures, but haven't seen if any came out yet - hopefully, I can get around to that later.

*Side note: what is up with Post Oaks nasty indoor playground?? Can they seriously not clean that thing? I think I used half my bottle of sanitizer on Brierley afterwards. Our indoor playground in Florida closed twice a day for cleaning. Vacuuming, sanitizing, the works! Maybe if I ever get around to writing that letter to the mall about how insanely rude their Santa's "helpers" were, I'll ask them if they could please clean their playground so I don't have to worry about my daughter picking up old band-aids off their grungy ripped carpeted floor.

Ok, I'm done.

Brierley totally held her own though. She jumped right in with the big kids, and spent a full half hour climbing the treehouse stairs and sliding down the slide all by herself. Over and over. She probably slid down that slide 50 times. When the bigger kids came up, she'd step back and let them slide ahead of her so she didn't feel rushed to get down. My mom and I were impressed! And she didn't even cry when one of the boys pushed her in the face because, well, he was just a mean boy.

Ok, maybe I'm not done: what is up with parents who don't discipline their children?? I've watched countless kids hit, kick, and shove other kids while their parents are watching and they just sit there. I don't get it?!?! I get that this is going to happen, they are kids after all - but letting them get away with this type of behavior?? Um, no. At first when it was my child taking the abuse, I was hesitant to say something - it just felt weird to get on to someone else's kid I didn't know. But that feeling has since past, and I don't think twice about yanking a kid off the slide and telling him sternly not to shove my little girl in the face. (Again, the parents usually just sit there and watch, then go back to playing on their cell phones). Grr!

Ok, now I'm done.

Ok, maybe not. One last thing:

I went to Target while in CS to look for Brierley some new toys. I think she's starting to outgrow a lot of hers, so I wanted to get some ideas. While perusing the aisles, I came across the Barbie section. Oh how I LOVED Barbie as a girl!! I could spend hours playing with all my Barbie dolls, arranging their furniture, and dressing them up for whatever event I had conjured up in my mind for that day. My mom would even play with me when I asked her too - so I always knew if I had a little girl, I would never turn her down for a good 'ol play session of Barbie.

I wanted to check out the new dolls, you know, see if they'd changed much. And yep, I'd say they have...

Mattel must be crazy if they think I'm going to give my impressionable daughter this. I mean really, are they serious?!?!?! Who are they trying to appeal to here? 6 year old girls, or 20 year old guys??? This is not ok in this mama's book.

So for now, I think we'll be planning the switch to these dolls:

That's what I'm talking about: cute, stylish, AND all their girly bits are covered. LIV dolls - as long as you keep your girls de-hoochified like this, you will have my business in oh, 3-4 years. :)

Ok, now I really am done.

A thought

2010-02-16T22:30:00.004-06:00

I read this quote today...

"What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"

After almost two years of marriage, I couldn't agree more. I think the first year I spent chasing happiness with Austin. This past year has been about chasing holiness.

Funny, in chasing holiness, I've found both.

White as snow

2010-02-12T09:55:00.002-06:00

Watch out Beyonce

2010-02-09T22:29:00.005-06:00

All I know is she better not dance like this at her prom!

(Sorry for the shaky video, I couldn't control my laughing - so I had to just stop filming!)

My Backyardigan

2010-02-01T20:17:00.004-06:00

Saturday morning rambling

2010-01-30T13:41:00.002-06:00

Eating: it's just not going very well.

The girl is like her dad - she's just not that big of a fan of eating. Austin could take a pill to get all his food needs met and be just fine. Not me. I want a plateful of yumminess prepared and set before me to dig into. To taste. To enjoy. I eat slow. I savor it. Sure, I don't eat a ton on my plate, but boy do I enjoy every bite. Well the little Munch is about as picky as they come. Grilled cheese, turkey and cheese, select fruits. That's about all I've got to work with. Oh, and some chicken. Sometimes. That was us trying spaghetti for the first time. Didn't go over so hot - as you can probably tell from her face. Or from all the spaghetti everywhere other than in her mouth. Grrr.....

I don't have a lot to report. We headed back to the CST for some meetings and because for some reason, we just can't seem to stay away from there. And what started out as a 2 day visit turned into a week.

The first day I was there my favorite police department obviously caught wind I was back in town and tracked me down to say hello. It was a costly hello. But apparently they wanted me to know they are also in the business of dispensing compliments these days along with over priced tickets - so while not signing my intent of guilt, I was bestowed with my old friend's appreciation of how courteous I am.

Well thanks, at least I got that going for me since half my grocery budget for the rest of the month just got wiped out.

We spent the rest of the day cruising the street because that's Brierley's new thing. And you can't get tickets while on foot. She brings me her little Nikes and waits patiently by the door till I let her outside so she can walk and walk. And walk. Till her heart is content. Or till the sun goes down and I drag her booty inside. Whichever comes first.

I woke up the second day feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. I reached for my phone to call Austin to tell him to send in reinforcements and found a voicemail waiting for me. It was my old friend I had run into the day before. And Christmas come early for Miss Chelsi this year - he was dismissing my ticket!

Now tell me friends, how often do you get that call?!!

After I let out a few "Praise Jesus!" I laid back down on the couch and asked Brierley to bring me some Pepto and Tylenol. By night fall when neither the Pepto had calmed my nausea nor the Tylenol my fever and chills, I knew something wasn't right. The pain in my back and abdomen was telling me I probably needed to see a doctor so off to the ER we went.

Kidney infection.

Which meant an extended stay in the place we can't seem to stay away from, nausea, throwing up, fever, chills, sweats, and just plain awfulness. Oh yeah, and some needles, IVs, and big pills I don't enjoy swallowing.

I shook my fists at the gods of health and screamed, "HAVE I NOT BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH?!!?!" And then remembered there are people out there with actual illness to shake their fists at so I put mine back in my pockets to keep them warm.

Well, it's Saturday and I'm still sick at my stomach and running a fever. If I hadn't just noticed Brierley has slept through lunch I might be more concerned. But for now I'm going to close this story up and go make sure she hasn't figured out how to put on her own Nikes, scale her crib, and walk out the front door without me noticing.

Ohhh excitement!!

2010-01-17T20:40:00.000-06:00

See that little beauty up there?? It's on it's way to my house :) :) :)

I've been eyeing it for a few months now and my sweet boy decided to make all my current camera hopes and dreams come true. Happy early anniversary to me!! Thanks love!

Typical

2010-01-15T16:46:00.000-06:00

I pretty much spend my day putting clothes back in the dresser...

Cleaning up toilet paper...

And getting pants...

Petite and proportional

2010-01-08T15:50:00.003-06:00

Today we had Brierley Beau's 12 month check up. Thanks to a great recommendation from a mom in our play group from church, I think we've found our new pediatrician. It's always a wonderful thing to like your doctor! Brierley seemed to like her too. She hammed it up for both the doctor and intern for a full 20 minutes.

She's such a little show boat! No clue where she gets that!!

So at 12 months Brierley weighs 19 lbs. and is 28 inches long. 25th percentile in both. "Petite and proportional" is what they called her. So we may have a short one after all! At our 8 month check up she was 70th percentile in everything. Developmentally she's at a 15 month old so my prediction while she was still in my belly of her curing cancer is still on the table. (Ok, maybe I really said something to the effect of, "this pregnancy is so insane this little girl better cure cancer!" But whatever.)

Just wanted to jot all this down before I forgot. I'll probably continue to be a little MIA until I get this place all set up. Things are finally starting to go on the walls, so we're definitely moving forward! But for now I think I'll go try to mend by broken heart from last nights game with a little Words with Friends on my iPhone. Yes, I'm addicted. But hey, it's Scrabble, it's educational right??!?! Wanna try and beat my vast vocabulary such as "slag" and "fart"? Look me up, Chelsibrea, and challenge me!! ;)

P to S - my heart may be broken, but I couldn't be prouder of my Longhorns. They fought the good fight. Had a phenomenal year. Colt McCoy is a class act - I admire him IMMENSELY, and will definitely miss the McCoy/Shipley combo next year. Alabama played a good game as well, no denying it - but Texas will always be National Champions in my heart!

Take 2

2010-01-05T21:28:00.001-06:00

Ok, I guess trying to be private on youtube just doens't work... The video should work!

Yo girl, bring me yo shirt!

2010-01-05T15:39:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the light coming in from the window, but after chasing Brierley around the house I finally decided to get a little video of her walking like a champ.

As for the gorilla move she's got going on, I did not teach her that.

Enjoy!