Four years, and still trucking!

On August 14, we celebrated our 4th anniversary. As it happened to be on a Thursday night, which is when we have Bible Study at our house, I didn't expect to do anything until that weekend. Well, I came home from meeting with my friend in Temple, to Chris being at home (at 3:30 in the afternoon). He hasn't been really busy at work, so that wasn't too surprising. I put John down to sleep, and then sat down to rehash the afternoon with him. He kept trying to offer me water, and finally I noticed what he was doing. In front of him on the bar was a humongous bouquet of flowers with a note on them, which said: "Surprise! Happy Anniversary! Be ready to go around 4ish to have a great dinner! I love you so much. You are the greatest wife in the world!!!" I got all schoolgirl giddy and nervous! I hadn't expected anything (well, except for a "Happy Anniversary" as he left for work on Thursday, indicating he had remembered it!) b/c we hadn't even talked about it.
Our first three anniversaries were a bit rough. On our 1st anniversary, I was recovering from emergency surgery, and we decided to start a Bible Study that evening with our former church in San Antonio. Our 2nd anniversary we attempted to do something special & fun by going to a bed and breakfast in Tyler for 3 days. We found out earlier that week that Chris's aunt had passed away, and he was asked to be the pall bearer at her funeral, August 14th! I knew we needed to be there for his mom and family, so there was no thought of saying no. I'm so thankful we were there, and we still were able to go to the bed and breakfast, it just put a little damper on my mood that evening. I have to process through things before I can switch gears and change emotions. The rest of the time was wonderful though! Our 3rd anniversary, John was 16 days old, and decided that day to scream the entire day. I was exhausted by the time Chris came home for work, so he made me dinner. I hadn't thought about anything but going to sleep, but we got a phone call from our neighbor to see how things were going, and she found out it was our anniversary, so she and her daughter came and held John for 30 minutes and made us go grab ice cream!! Being away from John was hard, but those 30 minutes were so precious! As I look back at what I wrote, I realize, that our anniversaries haven't been horrible, just out of the ordinary. We still found time for each other in the midst of each circumstance, and we were able to love and bless people as a married couple in each circumstance, which is what we are all about.
So, to have a romantic dinner with my husband was something special. Chris had arranged for our dear friend Laura to watch John while we went out. He had initially planned on going to Pignetti's (a fancy Italian restaurant) but happened to call to see if we needed reservations and found out they were closed for remodeling, so we tried out the Shilo Inn restaurant. It was perfect. We were the only ones there for most of the meal. The servers treated us like royalty. The food was spectacular, and the atmosphere was comfortable. Before our meal came out, Chris said he had to go find the bathroom, and left me. Well, instead of using the restroom, he came back with a gift. He had splurged and bought us a new camera so that we wouldn't be missing good pictures. Our old camera generally will snap the picture after the subject (most of the time John) has moved, and good pics are few and far between. I was in shock. I felt so blessed. I felt bad that I hadn't done more for him. I had gotten him a card, but couldn't find anything that was just perfect for him. It turns out that the camera has been more a gift to him, than to me, as he has become an expert at taking pictures with it!!! Here are some he took from that night. I made them into a chronology of our life:
It started out just me trying to figure out where God wanted me in the world.

Then along came Chris. We met at the perfect time in our lives. We both joke that if we had met at any other time we wouldn't have gotten married. He showed me Christ's love in action, both in his love for me and for other people, and continues to do so.

Three days after we returned from our honeymoon, we inherited Tess. A dear friend of mine had committed to going overseas as a missionary for 2 years, and needed someone to watch her cat. Well, she ended up marrying a missionary, and is serving the Lord long term overseas. So, Tess officially became ours! She was so much fun and kept us entertained for hours every night.

Three months into our marriage, Chris felt God calling him back into the military. He had told me when we met and married that he had no desire to go back in the military. As much as I didn't like it, primarily b/c it kept me away from my desires to go overseas as a missionary, I have come to love the military, the soldiers and their families. I love how we were able to make some dear friends in our ministry to single soldiers down in San Antonio, and I love that we have broadened that ministry to those in our neighborhood, church, & Chris's company. God has opened my eyes that the military is a huge mission field.

In December 2006, we decided to get a dog. Chris had been wanting one for a long time, and I finally conceded. My main concern was Tess. I didn't want her to change, but after watching a neighbor's dog down the street for a couple of weeks, and Tess doing fine with her, we decided to go ahead and get Kebap. We got him as an 8 week old, flea ridden puppy, and he has grown into part of our family.

Three days after we got Kebap, we learned we were pregnant with this little man. He has been the joy and delight of our lives this past year!


Now, we have another one on the way!

And, even our dog has friends!!! :o)


We are so richly blessed!

Mini Vacation to San Angelo (Aug 5-7)

So, what better way to recover from a birthday week, than to take a road trip!! We decided to go "with" my folks to go visit my grandparents in San Angelo the first week in August. Chris was able to get some time off, so we went. We left Tuesday morning around 9ish, and arrived in time for lunch. Pawpaw's oncology appointment was at 2 that afternoon, so John stayed with Chris while I went to the appointment. I didn't really have any questions, I just wanted to be there in case others did, so that I could explain what was said. It turned out to be very interesting. The doctor was very personable, and very "hands off" as far as treatment goes. He wasn't in it for the money, but for what was best for the patient, which I really appreciated. Pawpaw's previous doctor had been prescribing things that would give him the most money. It was neat to be able to explain the lab results to Grandma and Pawpaw, and point out ones to watch for as red flags that things weren't right.

Apparently instead of a blanket for comfort, John prefers cords & strings. He was playing with the cord to his monitor when he fell asleep.
We are such safe drivers!

After the appointment, Pawpaw & Dad headed home, while I took Mom & Grandma shopping at Walmart & Sam's for food. We got home, and Chris was napping while Dad & Pawpaw were taking care of John. It was really cute.
John learned that he could mooch from his Pawpaw!!




The rest of the evening, we pretty much hung out, and of course had to get a card game of Golf in. John fell asleep fine, but didn't do so well when we transferred him into the car to go to the hotel. Not sure if it was the short drive compared to the previous place we had stayed, or he was older and more aware of things, and afraid to miss something, but it took us another 45 minutes to get him to go back to sleep after we got to the hotel. We decided that we would switch with my folks, and just stay at Pawpaw & Grandma's the next night so that we wouldn't have to transfer him.
After a delicious continental breakfast (Their Belgian waffles were to die for, unfortunately I forgot to ask what mix they used), we headed over to Grandma & Pawpaw's. Chris got dropped off at McD's, to meet some of the older gentlemen who used to have coffee with Pawpaw, and who my dad was having coffee with. Grandma & Pawpaw weren't awake yet, so mom & I took John to the park down the street. He had a blast climbing up the slides, but was still a little afraid to go down them. He also thoroughly enjoyed playing Peek-a-boo with his Grandma.

Pawpaw had an appointment to get blood later that morning, so after John woke up from his nap, we went up to visit. I wasn't as impressed with the blood nurses, as I was with his nurses from the clinic. They weren't as friendly. We stole Grandma away for some lunch (at a yummy hole in the wall diner), and then headed back to the house, after grabbing food for Chris since he stayed back to take a nap.
Later that afternoon, we decided to get out John's present that he hadn't played in yet, his swimming pool. He wasn't sure what to think at first, especially when he felt the cool water, but quickly acclamated, and loved splashing around in it, and getting his toys.





After he had been in for a while we took him out, and he enjoyed playing with Pawpaw's walker. He showed Pawpaw how to push it around the couch (which is Pawpaw's exercise) & challenged Pawpaw to beat him in how many times he could go around. John pushed it around 6 times, quite a challenger!!




That evening, my Uncle Phil came over with his new truck, so we went out to see it. John had a blast playing in the bed of his truck.
Playing with Great Aunt Helen
Checking out all the nooks and crannies!
This is fun mommy!

Telling Great Uncle Phil what he liked about the truck!

Thursday morning, we hung out, and waited for Pawpaw's hospice nurse to come by. I had heard great things about her, and I couldn't wait to meet her. She was just how they had described her, feisty, fun, and perfect for Pawpaw to get him to do what he needed to do. She had served in the military, so she knew how to talk straight with him.
We left early afternoon, after lunch to head back home, hoping that John would sleep his afternoon nap in the car. Well, he slept 20 minutes, and then filled his britches. There is nothing like changing a poopy diaper on the side of the highway. You know you are parents then!!! :o) I'm so thankful that we've been able to spend bits and pieces of time together with my grandparents. I treasure every moment.

We're having a........ (ultrasound pics)

BABY!!! In case you didn't know from reading our posts a while back!! We didn't find out what we are having. We like the surprise! We probably will continue to be surprised with all of our kids. It makes life fun and interesting, trying to guess!

We had an ultrasound done in June. Chris finally brought home the pics so I could post them. Unfortunately, there aren't as many cute pictures of toes and profiles as we had with John. So, I chose the best two to show you.



I also updated our picasa web album with extra pics from July. Feel free to check it out here

The Party!

We had John's 1st b-day party on Sunday, August 3rd, as it worked best so that all of our immediate family could come. (My siblings were up in Dallas at a computer gamer conference until Sunday.) Of course as soon as I plan something definite, John went and changed his schedule (he always does, when I put an exact time frame on something). We planned the party for 4 that afternoon. Well, John decided to nap late for his morning nap, and then not want to go down for his afternoon nap. I was scared that he would be a bear for his party, but thankfully he only had one little time of fussiness.
We decided to have his b-day at a park, and we found the perfect one in Belton at Harris Park. Not only did it have a playground with swings and slides, but it also had a little splash area that had all sorts of toys and fun areas where you could shoot water at people. Plus the best part about it was it was free!
My mom and I spent most of Saturday "cooking," or baking rather. We made cupcakes, and John's cake, and the cake for everyone else, and "puppy chow", and Chex Mix, and Rice Krispy Bars, so all we had left to do on Sunday was frost the cakes, and make the drinks, and gather everything up that we needed (cups, plates, etc.) Chris headed out early to pick up the sandwiches & ice & stake out a spot, as it was first come first serve, and we followed within an hour.
When we got there, John was fascinated by all the food and presents that were on the table. He also enjoyed being past around between the grandma's and aunts and uncles and cousins.

Wow, check out those balloons

What is all this commotion for?

Man, it's hot out here! Thanks Uncle Stephen for the water!

We started off eating the sandwiches and snacks waiting for everyone to show up. Then it was cake time, aka John's first experience with sugar in large quantities. He went crazy, not in the wild crazy hyper, but he demolished his cake and got it all over him, perfect for pictures. Now, in general John LOVES to eat, and if you give him a whole slice of bread or pancake, he will try to shove entire slice in his mouth. He didn't fail us here. When he saw how much cake he got on his plate, his eyes got big, and he proceeded to try to shove the largest pieces he could possibly fit into his mouth.
Getting ready to dig in
Ok, seriously, what is this all about
This is all for me???

Pappy, don't steal.

One stuffing the face pic
This is the cake that we made for everyone else. Unfortunately in the transfer it got a crater in it. Booo!

This is how messy he got!
Daddy trying not to get dirty.
John showing off how he made it to the "Big One!"

By the time he was finished I was oh so thankful that we had done this at a water park, b/c instead of thoroughly cleaning him, Chris just took him into play in the water. He loved crawling around and splashing and trying to stop the water from spraying at him. He enjoyed watching all the people around him. All his cousins and his Uncle Dave joined him in playing in the water, and even his little friend from down the street, Mikaela and her dad, Kevin.
Getting used to the water

Splashing away!
Daddy figured out that if he sat on this pipe, it would look like he was peeing a huge stream of water! Wow, I'm so proud!

We finally had to drag everybody away, b/c it was getting late, or rather extremely hot, for those of us who didn't bring a swimsuit to open his presents. (Yeah, the only downfall about his b-day party was that it happened to be on the hottest day of the summer. I think the temps got up to 109 degrees.)
Opening presents was when he started to have his fussy time. He did fairly well, but it was hard to have him concentrate on pulling paper off or out of a bag. He was done with it after one pull, so daddy had to help him. Aunt Stacy and Uncle Stephen also pitched in. He wanted to look at what he got longer, but we had to keep him moving. I'm a little overwhelmed at all he received, but thankfully it was all stuff that he can use. I've kept some toys separate, so they will be new to him later on, and not overwhelm him with too much stuff all at once. We shall see how that works.
Getting started
Whoa, check this out
Hmm, what's this
Hmm, interesting
Ok, this is getting old!!

Please, someone, am I done yet!





Needless to say after his long exciting day, he went to bed early that night. Poor little guy was pooped, and so was mommy both physically and emotionally! My little boy is officially one! Wow!

The Haircut!

Saturday, August 2nd, John officially received his first haircut. If you saw his hair in these last few posts, he was starting to look very hippy, and some people had started asking how old our little girl was. We wanted to wait until his first b-day and do his first haircut then, but as you read earlier, it had to be postponed a few days.
I was surprised how emotional it was for me. Probably b/c he still had a few wisps of his baby hair, that never fell out. It was like the end of his babyness. I also enjoyed running my fingers through his "long" locks! However, he also enjoyed it, and would frequently run his fingers full of food through his hair, causing a daily need for hair washing.
Chris bought a new set of razors & clippers for the occasion. John actually sat fairly still, although he was awful curious about the noise the clippers were making. He was pacified by Grandpa feeding him goldfish and ice!
Here are some pics:

A before pic

The beginning



Taking a break to eat some ice

Cutting the bangs

Finishing touches


"Which side looks the best?"

"All done folks, thanks for watching!"