Happy Birthday Riley

Today is Riley's 13th Birthday. It seems like only yesterday that we brought that precious bundle of joy home with us. When I found out that I was pregnant with Riley, I just knew that I was having a girl. I already had Dakota, so I thought that having a girl next was just how things went. I didn't have an ultrasound to tell me the sex of the baby, so I went through the entire pregnancy referring to the baby as "she" and "her". Physically I had an easy pregnancy with Riley, however, it was my emotions that were painfully out of control. I just couldn't figure out how in the world I could ever love another baby as much as I loved Dakota. Dakota was my life and I was so afraid that I would not love this new baby as much as I loved him. I wondered if my heart could love that much, and I worried that I did not have enough love to give to another child.

I had the perfect delivery with Riley. I was the only one on the entire Labor and Delivery floor that night, so I had lots of attention from everyone. The epidural was heavenly, my doctor was a saint, and before long, I had this perfect, beautiful, dark-headed, pouty-lipped, angel. Kieth will tell you that when the doctor said "it's a boy" I had a look of puzzlement on my face. Afterall, I was expecting a girl. But that lasted for about as long as it took the nurse to lay Riley on my chest and I saw him for the first time. All the months of worry and stress about loving another child were forgotten and my heart completely melted. I loved this baby more than life itself and I was so happy that I got to be his mother. Riley was the best baby anyone could ask for. He never cried, which was such a blessing.

Riley is the most compassionate child I have ever known. He cares about others and their feelings and is always concerned when someone is hurting. He has always loved animals and when he was younger, I would find him sneaking the dog or cats into the house so he could take care of them. As Riley gets older, he is especially good with little kids. He is like a kid-magnet. All the kids gravitate toward Riley and I know it is because they can feel his love for them. Hunter has a special bond with Riley that is heart-warming to see. Riley spent a few days at grandmas house recently and after the third night, Hunter was so upset and told us that he needed his "Liley" to hurry up and get home to him.

I am so proud of the young man that Riley is becoming. He is strong, loving, compassionate, smart, genuine, devoted, brave, and an extremely important part of our family. Thank-you for giving me hugs when you know I need them, and for being the best son a mom could ask for.

Somewhere in the middle of Happily Everafter.....

**Disclaimer** So, I started writing this blog entry exactly one month ago. But then, I started looking through pictures to go with it, and that turned into a long walk down memory lane, and then I got busy, and then I procrastinated, and then I got overwhelmed, and then I finally decided to sit down and finish the entry. So here it is.

Today, Kieth and I celebrate our anniversary. Sixteen years ago on that sweltering day in July, many people thought we would never make it. People were crying, but somehow, I don't think they were tears of joy. Perhaps worry; definitely not joy. I was too young......he was too old, we didn't have jobs, we didn't have a place to live, we had very few possessions, and we didn't have a plan. Just about every card was stacked against us. However, the one thing that we did have was undeniable, unconditional, and unending love for one another. So, we found a house, we got jobs, we gathered possessions, we outlined our goals, and we started a life together.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we have lived a fairy tale all these years. In fact, quite the opposite. We have had many obstacles and bumps in the road on our journey. I'm pretty sure at some point throughout the years he hasn't liked me very much, and I certainly have not liked him at times. But through the years we have learned some very important truths that have sustained us and have brought us to the place where we are at today.

Foremost we love our children unconditionally and we believe that raising them in a loving, happy, secure home with both of their parents is the greatest gift we can give them. We are also learning to put each other first. When his desires come before mine and mine come before his, then someone is always first, and it works. We have learned to love each other even when we are being unlovable and to give respect even when we are not acting respectable. Choosing to love and respect, even when it is difficult, creates a deep and fulfilling joy in our marriage that can come from no other place. And because we are imperfect, we strive daily to strengthen our commitment and remember what truly matters most.

I have a picture in my mind of Kieth and I when we are older. We will be that little old grandma and grandpa rocking on the front porch, holding hands, sipping lemonade laced with fiber-lax, reflecting on our journey with joy and contentment. We will turn to each other fifty years from now and lovingly smile through our dentures and say "now which one of us has a doctor's appointment today"?

I love you Kieth, and I happily look forward to growing old with you and tackling whatever life throws our way. Happy Anniversary.

July boys embrace each day, celebrating life in every way.

Happy 15th birthday Dakota!

I really can't believe my first baby is 15. His birthday was the 8th, but I started writing this post on the 9th and here it is almost the end of the month before I am actually finishing and posting it. I think I get the award for super procrastinator. Or maybe I'm just busy, yes, that's it, I'm busy. (Justification is guilt relieving). Anyway, back to number 1. It's amazing how it seems like just yesterday that we brought home this little bundle of crying, pooping, nursing, crying, pooping, nursing, crying, and did I mention crying, bundle of JOY. In fact, to illustrate just how much this child cried, below is a picture of my sister Gina holding him at my baby shower. Here, Gina is vowing never to have children, my sister Kerri is in the background nervously laughing, my friend Jill is wondering when he will take another breath, Elizabeth is looking for her ear plugs and Dakota is wailing like it's his birthday. Good times, Good times.


Even though I read all the child-rearing books from cover to cover multiple times, nothing could quite prepare me for the insanity and noise level that Dakota brought into our simple, carefree, and very quiet home. If he wasn't eating, he was crying, and if he wasn't crying, he was eating. It was an exhausting cycle of white noise, tip-toeing, and praying for peace that thankfully only lasted about 3 months.

Here Kieth is enjoying a rare moment of quiet time while also rocking a sexy mullet. Yes, he used to have hair.

Bath time

Dakota was a curious and mischievous little guy.

Ready for church.

Dakota with grandma and grandpa, one of his favorite places to be.

Dakota loved to play in my bathtub.

Here is a good shot of his rooster cal lick.

Three cheers to an incredible 15 years and a lifetime of adventure ahead.

Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses

Kieth and I decided to take a vacation this year. With the exception of traveling to North Carolina to visit family, we have never been on a long trip all together with our kids. Dakota will be 15 in a few days and before I turn around again, he will be graduating high school. So, I thought we better take a little family vacation. The kids and I have never been to the ocean, so we decided to go to Gulf Shores. We got the van all packed up and had intentions of leaving at 2:00 on Saturday morning, but somehow we overslept and didn't end up leaving until around 6:30. In all the confusion, we left without getting map quest directions, so we had to stop in Memphis and call Lesli to get directions. We were told that the trip should only take about 9 or 10 hours. But after 5 bathroom stops, 3 food stops, 2 Wal-mart stops, and 1 minor detour, we finally arrived almost 13 hours later. Hey, that's how we roll.

On Father's Day we went to the beach bright and early in the morning. It was everything I hoped it would be. The sand was cool sugar white, the waves were crashing on shore, and the seagulls were soaring overhead. The boys went wild. They loved playing in the waves and discovering all the sea life. I didn't enjoy discovering the sea life too much because it kept touching me. I ventured out to my knees, but that's as far as I could go. I'm scared of sharks in the lake, so can you imagine when there really are sharks somewhere. My level of fright was in the red zone. The boys on the other hand had no feelings of fear or reservation. They were really good at catching the hermit and sand crabs. I had to caution them many times about going out too far, but eventually I gave up and took a chill pill. But, I did watch for shark fins like a hawk.

After we got finished at the beach everyday, we would go to the pool at the condo. Hunter loved all the attention he got from the little girls. He would scoot up next to them in the pool and ask them their names. Then he would come running to me and say, "mom, how old I am"? Then he would go back and tell them his age. He was trying to teach them how to do a cannonball and they would whine, "Hunter, is this how you do it"? He would say "no" and then show them for the hundredth time the right way. One lady that was there the week we were commented that other people may have had fun this week, but no one had more fun than Hunter.

In the evenings we would go back to the beach and look for crabs. They mostly came out at night. The boys would use their flashlights to spot them and then catch them in the net. Hunter ran all over that beach after the little sand crabs. They were fast, but not too fast for him. We let them all go, but I guess people were catching them to eat them. One word. GROSS. The boys loved playing in the sand too. We had such a great uncrowded portion of the beach. There were a couple of people farther down, but no one even close to us. The boys took turns burying each other and then making sand castles.

One of our favorite parts of the trip was looking for seashells. We finally learned a good technique to grabbing them before the waves took them off again. We found some magnificent shells. They are mostly small, but still beautiful. On our last day there, we were at the beach as usual in the morning and we saw a group of dolphins playing about 30 yards away. I was trying to get to my camera when one decided to put on a show and jump up out of the water and twist around 3 or 4 times. By the time I got ready to take a picture, he was finished playing. Oh well, we will remember it forever in our minds. We had such a wonderful time. The entire trip completely exceeded my expectations, and I have high expectations. It was fun to get away, but it was equally as fun to get back home. We missed our family and animals and were glad to see that none of our fish died. Here are some of the 200 pictures I took. I hope you enjoy them.

Birthday Boys

So much has been happening lately that I have really neglected my blog. Here it is the middle of May, school is almost out for the summer, and I am really not prepared, mentally or physically. I wanted to post a few pictures of our March and April birthday boys before their next birthday rolls around.

Jordan's Birthday at the park.

We had donuts instead of cake.

Ten squiggley candles.

It was cold that day, so Jordan was not too excited about the snorkel.
He will be happy he has it on our first lake trip though......if it's not lost.

Everyone enjoying the donuts.

We went to Silver Dollar City the day after Jordan's birthday also.
The first thing we did was take the cave tour. The kids absolutely
loved it; especially Hunter. Here are some pictures of us inside the
cave.

Here are some pictures of Hunter's birthday. Hunter made sure EVERYONE he saw that day knew that it was his birthday. Kieth and I asked him where he wanted to eat for lunch and he very enthusiastically shouted Chili's. Not only did he want to eat there, he also wanted a steak. The kids menu does not have steak so we had to order a man size plate for him. He is an awesome eater and he ate nearly every bite. The waiter said he could have a free sundae, but when the meal was over, he brought out a huge molten lava cake instead. Hunter's cuteness is hard to resist. Here he is enjoying his meal. I will let the pictures do the talking.

When the boys got home from school, we had a little celebration. Hunter loved his Cars cake, but yet again, I could not find the candles, so we used tealites. Hunter wanted a pet bird so bad that he cried about it for days. I do not like inside birds. I think they are nasty at times. So Lesli told me they had a new line of FUR REAL pets at Wal-mart. I happened to find a baby parakeet that needs fed with a bottle and chirps and moves. Holy Cow! What a life-saver. Hunter also got a new bike, but I guess I didn't take a picture. He is holding his plate up for it. Hunter still wants it to be his birthday. He had more like a birth-month instead of just a day. Actually, I think we may still be celebrating his birthday in the middle of May. He just won't let it go.

So that's the first two birthdays of the year. The next two come in July and August. I just don't know how the boys keep getting older and older and I look younger and younger.......yeah right.
Until next time.

April boys show they care; with gentle souls they are rare.

Today is Hunter's 4th birthday and even though he has only been part of our family for four short years, we have a hard time remembering what life was like before him. Kieth and I were pretty much finished having children after we had Dakota, Riley, and Jordan. We were blessed with three wonderful boys and we felt like that was enough. In 2004 we decided to build a house, which kept us very busy for over a year. The boys were also growing older and somewhere along the way my longing for another baby began to emerge. Actually, my aching desire for a daughter resurfaced. I told Kieth that I wanted to have another baby because I was sure it would be a girl. How could it not be? We already had three boys. He thought it would be a good idea, but we were both anxious because it was like we were starting all over. We finally had all of our kids potty trained, off of bottles, out of our bed, in school......and life was good. What were we thinking?

When I had my ultrasound, I could not believe the lady said it was a boy. I asked if she was sure, and......she was sure. I must admit, at first, I was sad. I knew that as I approached 30 years old that this would indeed be our last baby. I longed for a daughter of my own so deeply. I wanted to have a mini-me that I could dress up and go on mommy-daughter dates with. I wanted to paint her nails and brush her hair. I wanted to talk about boys with her and one day plan her wedding. I wanted to be the "mother of the bride" and be in the hospital room when she had my grand baby. And I wanted her to call me her best friend when she got older. But as sad as I was that I would never have a daughter, I was equally as happy about having another son. Boys love their mommy's so much. How could I be sad when Heavenly Father was giving me his precious child to nuture and love as my own. So, even though I may always wonder what my daughter would have looked like, I have faith that I have been given what I need.

We were almost finished building our house when Hunter arrived on April 20, 2005. We were partly moved in, but we had no running water yet. I told Kieth I wasn't coming home from the hospital until he had all the plumbing finished. So Kieth and dad worked 24/7 for 3 days to complete the task. Jordan had just turned 6, Riley was almost 9 and Dakota was almost 11 when Hunter was born, so needless to say, he received copious amounts of attention. Someone always wanted to hold him, and change his diaper, and feed him, and play with him. Life was all about Hunter, ( and still is), which I now attribute to his spoiled ways.

So here we are 4 years later. Hunter has been one of the highlights of our life. I love seeing his older brothers take care of him. They are, for the most part, gentle and kind to him. Sometimes they get annoyed or angry with him, but Hunter has a way of getting back in everyones good graces with his endless kisses and I love you's. He is an extremely affectionate child and you never hunger for attention in his presence. He readily and happily offers love to everyone in our family. Hunter has a strong sense of purpose and I believe he knows exactly where he came from. One day last year when Hunter had just turned three he told me a story that I will never forget.

I was ironing clothes one Sunday morning for church and Hunter approached me. He said, "mommy, when I was a baby I lived in the water". Since we had been going to the lake quite often, I thought he was talking about his newly acquired swimming abilities. So I just dismissed his statement as if he were recalling a recent lake outing. But then I got a strong feeling inside that Hunter was not talking about the lake. He was telling me something more important. So I turned to him and said, "what did you do in the water, Hunter, swim"? And he said, "no, I was waiting to come". And then I said "waiting to come where, Hunter"? He then looked up at me with his big blue eyes and said, "I was waiting to come Home". I can not help but believe that Hunter was revealing to me a small part of his pre-existence. We almost did not have him. We were done. But this precious child of God waited for his earthly mother and father to get ready, and finally, he got to come to earth after a long wait. I love this child so much. And I am so thankful that he waited to become part of our family. Happy Birthday Hunter.

March boys are filled with courage, strong and wise they don't discourage.

It's hard to believe that 10 years ago today, Jordan joined our family. Where did the time go? My pregnancy with Jordan was somewhat uneventful. I had all the normal check-ups and ultrasounds and my two previous pregnancies prepared me for most of the ups and downs. This was the first time that we actually found out the sex of the baby. When the doctor said it would be another boy, I was upset at first (I can't lie). After all, I already had two boys and I desperately wanted a daughter, and this was going to be our last baby (Or was it?). I eventually came to understand that I had been given what I was supposed to have. Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, I would embrace.

I gained around 40 pounds with Jordan and because I was bigger than a houseboat, I was scheduled to be induced on the 25th of March at 7:00 a.m. I was happy about the possibility of induction because even though I had given birth before, I always second guessed myself about if I was really in labor or not. This way, there would be no second guessing. What I did not count on was the fact that babies come when they are ready, not when you are.

I remember March 24, 1999, like it was yesterday. I got up that morning and felt really energetic, like I could conquer the world, or at least conquer the mounds of laundry that patiently awaited me. Kieth worked 12 hour night shifts at that time, so as me, Dakota (4) and Riley (2) would get out of bed, Kieth would retreat to bed for the day. I ran errands and got caught up on things I needed to do. I also hands and knees mopped my entire kitchen and dining room floor which was a day's work in itself. That was in the days before swiffer made it easy.

Kieth had taken off work that night because we would be going to the hospital the next morning. It was getting late in the evening and I was a little anxious about having the baby. I decided to go to bed around 10:00 and as I layed down I remember thinking that the baby was being extremely active. It felt like he was doing flip-flops and having a party. To say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement. All of a sudden Jordan kicked me really hard and I felt a pop in my stomach. It seemed like I heard it too, but I couldn't be sure. I thought to myself that it was really weird and a little concerning. Especially since Jordan immediately stopped moving.

I forgot to mention that I had a really bad cold at the time and I would have periodic coughing fits. Well, I started coughing and then I thought I was peeing on myself. I was thinking give me a break, I'm not that old! But, it turns out that Jordan's kick broke my water. I hollered to Kieth in the living room and told him that I thought my water just broke. He said there was no way and that he was pretty sure I was just peeing (Who gave him a PHd.) I got up and walked into the kitchen (on my newly cleaned floors) and water started gushing everywhere. I was more upset about the water on my floor than the fact that I was in labor. That's when Kieth got worried and called my mom. She arrived with babysitters in tow and we headed off to the hospital around midnight.

Jordan arrived with a full head of coal black hair at 5:19 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs.11.4 oz. and was 20 inches long. Kieth wanted to name him Jordan Michael but I vetoed that and named him Jordan Clay after my older brother Clay. Jordan was such a good baby. He never cried and mostly slept. Life was an adventure with a 4 yr old, a 2 yr old and a brand new baby to say the least. Here are some pictures of Jordan through the years.