Another fast paced, yet wonderful week!

We went last week to see Baby Olivia once she got home. She is so sweet! Well done, Eric & Jen!! Justin, Audra, Finlee and Mom rode with us and we met Katy there. Needless to say the guys were highly out numbered. We all took turns holding the baby, even Bree and Finlee. They both liked to give her hugs and kisses. It was very cute. On Friday Bree spent the night with Nona. Kerry and I went to Pappadales and had supper with Chris and Donya. It was great to have some adult time and catch up. We also enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday. Although we both missed Bree, it sure was nice to get some rest. Mom hosted her 35th class reunion on Saturday, so of course Bree and I helped her with that. Most of her classmates brought their grandchildren with them. Bree had so much fun playing outside with the other kids. It was such a perfect day. I love this time of the year. Although, it is difficult to get my daily run in, being that by the time I get home from work I barely have time to change before dusk. Yes, I am a chicken and don't like running in the dark. Although, my running time has gotten better since I am trying to beat the dark. Sunday Kerry and I worked in the nursery and realized how rotten Bree truly is. I don't know if it is the fact that her great grandparents and Bebe keep her , or the fact that she is an only child, but she sure is bossy and she likes to have things her way. (Who doesn't, right?) But seriously we have got to schedule more play dates and teach her to be a little less aggressive. One thing is for sure, the girl is very expressive and has a way of getting her point across. Which is very cute, but I won't think so if she is known as the school bully. I guess we have some time to work on it, but seriously call me about the play dates....we both need them. Mom(Nona) and I introduced Bree to the simple game of ring around the rosie tonight. She thought it was hilarious. She chuckled the whole time. Except for when she was trying to tell Mom and I where to fall. See what I mean about bossy! It is so amazing how the simplest things can bring so much joy. We all enjoyed it. Thanks too, Mom, for the great supper. One of Bree's favorite things to do is "dip" food. She will eat anything if she has something to dip it in. It is so funny. If it can be dipped, she wants it. Mema made her sausage links and gravy to dip them in for breakfast this morning. From what I hear they were very yummy and Bree loved them. Bree is still doing pretty good with the potty training, although her sickness did set us back a little bit. It is hard to remember when she was the size of sweet Olivia. She has grown so much. Everyday she learns something new. These are definitely the best days of my life and I love that I have such a wonderful husband and daughter to share them with. God is so good!! What a blessing he has given me and Kerry. I hope everyone has a good rest of the week. As Bree would say, "Wuv Eww!"

Bree is on her way to recovering. She is feeling way better, however she has broken out in a horrible rash from the antibiotic. I guess she is allergic to the sulphur. So we have switched her medicine and she is seeming more and more like herself everyday. Hooray! She has been such a Momma's girl since she has been sick. sadly, I have loved how much she clings to me. But I am so glad she is feeling better. Monday, Oct. 13th Jennifer and Eric Tolar welcomed Miss Olivia Paige Tolar at 5:42pm. She was 7lbs 11oz. 19 3/4 in. She is absolutely beautiful! Bree has been saying baby a lot since we saw her at the hospital. Maybe she is ready for Mommy to have a baby??? Probably not. She doesn't share so well here lately. We really need to work on that more. She surprised Kerry and I the other night, we were playing outside in her wagon and she pointed to the sky and said "moon." The girl was pointing to the lite shadow of the moon that was coming in. How she knew that I have no idea, but she is talking and learning so much. She loves to read and color so much. She has also started to watch movies in the car lately. I mean really watch them , not just stare at the screen. she loves 101 Dalmatians. The other night she got so mad because the tv was not working and we had to drive home from Baylor Dallas home with out the tv. It was really sad. She just didn't understand. Well, we are hoping to go see baby Olivia again tonight, which I am really excited about. Although it does give me the baby blues. Which, if you need really cute baby accessories or bows, or outfits, check out my sister-n-laws page veryfullquiver.blogspot.com. She is super talented and has some adorable items for your little one or for a gift. Have a great evening! XOXOX

The past two weeks have been so busy. Oct. 3rd was Grand Saline's Homecoming.  It was a lot of fun to take Bree to the homecoming parade downtown.  Bree loves to people watch and the cars throwing candy really amazed her.  Friday night we dressed her in her cheer leading suit and tried to get her to wear the adorable mum Mema made for her, although she wasn't too happy to wear it.  I guess it got in her way.  She loved the game and kept trying to go through the gate to get out on the field.  This became a horrible fight, she didn't understand why she couldn't get out there and play.  The child is very strong willed.  I wonder who she gets that from???  We enjoyed seeing several friends and visiting with everyone.  And Bree slept like a rock that night.  Sat. morning Kerry , Bree and I went to Terrell to G& S to pick up the doors for our house.  Then we ate pizza at Cic's.  Hamburger pizza is one of Bree's favorite foods.  She ate a whole piece, including the crust.  She is such a big eater.  We went on Saturday afternoon with a big group from MSBC to see the movie Fireproof at the Carmike theater in Tyler. The church had a theater reserved all to our selves and it was full. The movie was very touching and seemed to be very beneficial. It really makes you think about how you act and react to situations in life involving you and your partner. I definitely recommend it to everyone, no matter what stage you are in in your marriage. After the movie we had dinner with three other couples at Roadhouse. Then Kerry and I went to Marble Slab for dessert. Mom kept Bree for us and we enjoyed our date so much. We worked some more on our house on Sunday and then spent the night relaxing at Mom's. Bree has been doing so well using her big girl potty. It is amazing how smart she is and how fast she learns. We are now spending some time staying with Bebe and Gramps at their house, and will hopefully be in ,our own home soon. Bree started running a fever this past Thursday evening and by Friday was definitely not feeling well. Her fever on Friday was up to 103.7 under the arm. I took a urine sample to Dr. Sherbert and he found blood and pus in there. So we started her on Bactrim for a urinary tract infection. However, we could not get her fever to break so we wound up taking her to Dallas to Children's ER based on advice from 2 different pediatricians. This was a very scary process for us all. Bree was very lathergic and burning up. She wouldn't eat or drink very much at all. Luckily as soon as we got there her fever broke for the first time in 30 hours and she seemed a lil better. We decided to get a hotel and take her to her pediatrician first thing Sat. morning. Good thing we stayed because as soon as we got into bed, boom her fever went back up to 103.4 under the arm. Her fever persisted and at the pediatricians office she got a white blood cell check that was elevated and they did a cath to get another urine sample. This was not fun for Bree, but in a few days we should know more about what is going on. Meanwhile we are still piggy backing motrin and tylenol to try to keep her fever down and giving her the antibiotic. On Sunday morning she awoke after finally getting some sleep and for the first time in three days was thirsty and hungry. Maybe the sweet girl is starting to feel a lil better. I sure hope so, this experience was very scary and hard on us all.  In the midst of all Bree's illness, Mom and I gave Pa and Mema a surprise 75th birthday party at the church. We were successful in keeping it a secret and very pleased with how it turned out. They enjoyed it very much. Please pray for Bree and for her recovery. Have a great week!! XOXOX

Making Progress

We worked so hard on Sunday afternoon on our house. We had a painting party and were amazed at how much got accomplished. We painted the entire house including the ceilings all except for the kitchen and family room ceilings. It looks great. The kitchen, main room and bath are painted kilim beige and our bedroom is done in hopsack. I am not sure as to what I am going to do to Bree's room yet. Her nursery in our old house was done in pink and cream stripes, which I absolutely loved but I can't decide if I want to do them on her room now. It is a smaller room and I just don't know how it will look. I have posted some pictures of her old room, and would love to know what you think. For now I did her room in the cream , which is actually antique white and am waiting to decide what else I should do. I have played with the idea of doing a chair rail and doing stripes half way down the wall. I know I am going to hang her name and do the same bedding and window treatment. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Kerry's talented Aunt Beth is coming in November and is going to help us again, so we have a lil time to decide. She did an excellent job on the stripes in the nursery, so I know whatever we come up with will be beautiful. We took Bree to the State Fair of Texas on Sat. and had a wonderful time. My Mom, Gramps, Bebe, Aunt Alice and Uncle Charlie went with us. Bree especially loved the bird show. Her favorite part was when a bird took a dollar out of her hand. She laughed so hard. She also enjoyed the rides and games. The ducky game was so fun to watch her play and we let her pick out her own prize. For those of you who know Aubree you won't be surprised that she picked a brown puppy dog. She grabbed it and instantly started kissing and hugging it. Probably not the most sanitary thing, but it was so sweet. The fun house was another one of her favorites. We all enjoyed watching her discover all the wonders of the fair. Kerry and I have been going to the fair since our first year together in 2001. We always enjoy all the neat shows and booths and loved sharing this special event with our daughter. Another highlight this weekend was the Marcus vs Lee football game in Tyler. We went with Justin & Audra to meet Katy Cranfill. Her husband, Greg is the quarterback coach for Marcus. What a game! We enjoyed it just about as much as we enjoyed visiting with Katy. Thanks for inviting us, Katy...hopefully we will see you again at Homecoming. Thanks for checking on us. I will try to post some house pictures soon. XOXOX

Bree is the silliest little girl. She loves to play and laugh. The other day she was laying on our bed and started saying "Binky" and had her hands turned up as if she didn't know where it was. so I started saying "Binky" too and looking for it. After searching for it for a few minutes she went to her secret hiding place and started laughing hysterically and grabbed her binky. I realized at this point that she had hidden her binky and was pretending that it was lost. It was too cute. And of course she wanted to do this about four or five more times. But it was worth it to see her get all worked up laughing at herself so hard every time she "found" it. She also loves to dance and sing and she finds it very amusing to have me dance and sing with her. This is pretty hilarious as I am sure you can imagine. Last Friday the 19th was Mema's 75th B-day and we enjoyed taking her out for dinner and having cake and ice cream with the family. We are so fortunate that Kerry and I have both sets of our grandparents still living. Saturday Bree and I went with Mom, Mema and Pa to Dallas to my great aunnt Doris' house for fun and then we went to lunch with my Pa's brothers and sisters and their spouses. It was great to spend time with everyone. That night we went to Gramps and Bebe's for supper and to watch the UT football game. And of course on Sunday we watched the Cowboys game with everyone at Bebe's as well. Bree especially enjoyed the pizza and playing with her cousins. Although, she is a bit jealous when her Mommy or Bebe or Gramps hold lil Kate. She instantly wants in the lap of whoever is holding Kate. We have had a pretty uneventful week. However, we did enjoy supper at Cecil and Sue's house on Tuesday night. They had the whole bunch over and Bree colored with the boys and played like she was as big as they were. I did see her running from Crew a few times. He likes to give her these huge bear hugs and she gets mad some times if they last longer than she thinks they should. I have been getting ready for a garage sale that Mema is having and Bree just doesn't understand why all our things are out in the carport. Kerry & I have been benefiting enormously from the marriage serious going on at MSBC. We are excited about seeing the movie next weekend, Fireproof. This weekend we are taking Bree to the State Fair in Dallas, so I will let you know how that turns out. Enjoy your weekend !!

Blessings beyond measure!

Blessed beyond measure is how I would describe my life. This past week has been one blessing after another. Bree has continued to talk non stop. Amazing me everyday with new words. She even said "I love you" to me today. Of course I said it to her first but it was still priceless to hear her say it back. She has recently started pointing her finger and saying "No,no, no." I don't do this too often, so I'm not sure where she picked this up, but she loves it. It is cute, for now. I still have to remind her not to say it to Mommy or Daddy, but its cute when she says it to our dog, Alex, or her babies. She also loves to play with her pretend camera and say" Cheese" as she takes a picture. She is at such a fun stage. We went to play with Finlee last night, Justin & Audra Phillips' daughter who is about a month younger than Bree. The girls have such good imaginations. They played with pots and spoons for the longest time. They would stir the invisible food and then take the biggest bites. They were such good sharers too. They had so much fun and we had as much fun watching them play. We spent the weekend mostly having family time. Mostly watching a bunch of movies together. Saturday I helped host a house warming for Lance & Jennifer Davis. They are good friends of mine from high school & also our soon to be neighbors. They have an amazingly beautiful home. Saturday night we hung out with Gramps & Bebe. Bree says "Gamps" for Gramps. Too cute! Sunday was another great message at church and a beautiful song by Bebe. Bree was waiving at Bebe from the congregation the entire song. I still don't know how Bebe kept from laughing. As for our house it is ready to be primed and painted which is what we intend to get done this next week and weekend. Having the walls textured really made a big difference on the looks of the house. Last Wed. the 10th was my 28th b-day. I had a wonderful day and felt like royalty. Kerry & Bree sent me a beautiful basket of flowers and Mom & Mema & Pa sent me a vase of flowers to work. Bebe brought Bree to the office and we had a yummy lunch at Red Lobster. After lunch the sweet girls in the office gave me presents and a delicious chocolate cake. That evening Mom, Mema, Pa, Uncle Kurtis, Kerry , Bree and I had supper at Papadales and then had cake and ice cream at Moms. I then went to pokeno at Cara's house where I had a great time and managed to escape with three lovely gifts. What a wonderful b-day, thank you for all the sweet cards, calls and gestures everyone did to make my day special. Then to keep the celebration going, Debbie(Bebe) had supper for me on Thursday night at their house with the family. This was very uplifting as I spent most of Sept. 11th remembering what tragically happened 7 years ago. My heart goes out to all of America for the pain we all experienced on that day. It was great to spend time with family and thanking God for all that he has done to rebuild the lives that were shattered on that horrible day. May we never forget 9/11. On a brighter note, we had so much fun watching Bree play with her cousins, Parker, Brett & Crew. She adores them and I think they are pretty fond of her too. She can't wait for Kate to get a lil bigger so she can really play with her too. Bree has mastered the art of climbing. She climbs on everything. And thinks she is so funny doing it. She really has a good sense of humor and can really laugh out loud at herself. She really likes to go riding in her wagon lately. That is a daily must right now. She is also getting good at the potty thing. A few times this past week she would take her diaper off and run to her potty to go the bathroom. Talk about exciting. We are so blessed by this precious little girl and all of the other wonderful people in our lives. May you all have a blessed week!

We love because He first loved us. I John 4:19

The sermon at church today was another wonderful message that moved me greatly. It was from I John 4:07-19. Bro. Ronald did an excellent job conveying the message. He spoke of how in order for us to truly love our partner, family and friends we must first accept and love God and rely on on the love God has for us. Very moving and has made me focus a lot on how I need to work on displaying God's love in my everyday behavior and actions. Bree has really grown to enjoy going to the church nursery. She loves to go in there and play and the past two Sundays she has not cried when I leave. This is such a blessing. I can really focus on worship and not worry as much about her because I know she is happy. Her latest is to say"Me need that." Talk about sweet...and hard to resist. Although I keep reminding her that she does not need it, she wants it, but she insist that she needs it. She also loves to play with her camera and say "cheese". It is precious! Friday night we went as a family to the Grand Saline football game. We met Gramps, Uncle Brandon and the boys and uncle Charlie and Martin. Bree was all decked out in her lil cheer leading suit along with her pom-poms. She had so much fun watching the boys run up and down the football field. She was definitely a tiny cheerleader clapping along with the cheerleaders and the band. Friday night football games are just one of my favorite things and I am so glad we get to experience this back in our hometown. What a fun night! Saturday was Jennifer Tolar's baby shower at the MSBC Hub. The old gang, Audra, Katy, Holly, Hollie, Jen and myself met at Papadales for lunch. After a nice visit we headed to the church to set up for the shower that was given by us girls. The shower was so much fun and Jen definitely got "showered" with gifts and love. It was so good to see all of my girls and I was reminded of how wonderful it is to have lifelong best friends who are such caring, wonderful women. It has been awesome to take our friendship to yet another level and experience raising our babies together. What a blessing! These extraordinary women have been close to my heart since elementary school and truly define what friendship is all about. We spent Saturday evening at the Phillips' residence with a few other wonderful couples. Mom took Bree with her and my grandparents to Tyler to a homecoming for my cousin Brad who just got back from serving in Iraq. We hated to miss this but it was definitely great to hang out with our friends. As for our house, it is being taped and bedded this week and will be ready for painting this next weekend. Then we have to tile & carpet the floors, put in the new doors, bathroom vanity and cabinets, light fixtures and appliances and a few other lil things and we should be ready to move in. Hurray!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to say thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family for all of your unconditional love and for being such an inspiration in my life. Hugs & Kisses to all!!