Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

This weekend we began our sports journey with Isaiah! Who's to say that he'll enjoy sports in the long run, but he really wanted to play this year, so we signed him up. It's our first time to ever do organized team sports. It's been a lot of fun so far, and it's really low key, so I don't worry about scary baseball parents...YET. Anyway, Manly helped steer the kids around the bases, and really enjoyed that new hat. Isaiah got a good hit from the coach pitch his first time up to bat, and stayed turned around the right direction MOST of the second half of the game. Ha! Fun was had by all, which is our goal for the year. Enjoy these pictures from our weekend.

 

My baby boy at his first tee ball practice.

 

It was so fun to watch this tiny people on the field. They flocked together toward the ball like birds!

Brubbs up to bat for the first time!

 

Team huddle! So sweet!

 

My sweet boy on game day! He was SO excited!

 

Last night we went to the Travelers game with some of the people from Manly's  office. Manly's boss sprung for a suite, which was so nice for the kids. They had a GREAT time. Lots of baseball food, fun with other kids, and baseball too! We even got to meet the strange mascots. It's always fun to go to Tavs games, but this was an especially fun night!

The littles out in front of the stadium! This picture makes me feel so blessed! Look how SWEET!

My silly Mia looking like her sister Lulu.

The mascots came to visit. They were a little terrifying to me, but the kids liked them!

I mean, WHY is the mascot a opossum?!

My Lulu loving on her baby brother.

Sweet little kids.

Loving the game!

Smittles!

His Plans...

Yesterday Manly and I loaded up and headed over to the hospital for my ablation. Check in went great, and I was happy to hear that they were going to bump the surgery up a hour early. They got me ready, and I went in for the procedure.
When I started to wake up I was having TERRIBLE tremors, so the nurse gave me more meds to help with that which made me really groggy. While I was in and out of it she said, "Leslie, everything went great. You did great!" She asked if I was ready for Manly. He came in and asked if they had told me anything. I said the nurse said everything went great. He looked up at the nurse, then back and me. "They weren't able to do the procedure, babe." He says to me.  He must be wrong, I think.
I look over at the nurse who is chatting with a friend on the other side of the curtain. I say, "Maybe you can help me because I'm a little confused. You said everything went great, but my husband just came in and said they weren't able to even do the procedure." She looked about as confused as I did, looked at my chart, then apologized. Uhh, okay. Thanks nurse.
So, I went home and slept it off. Disappointed, confused, frustrated, and really sad that I wasn't going to be feeling better any time soon. I had myself a good cry, and talked with Manly about my feelings.
Today, at breakfast Manly led our family in morning worship time. He explained to the kids that the plan that the doctor had made with us didn't work out yesterday. He talked about how smart the doctor is and that even his well thought out plan didn't work out, but that God's plans were always good. My sweet Addi said, "Momma! That means that God has even better plans for you!" That's the outlook I'm going to try to have in all of this. I had my plans, but God has better plans for me.
I'll spare you the details, but afterspeaking to the doctor today I found out that there are other things going on inside of me that will need to be repaired. There were complications that kept him from completing the ablation, but they were able to do the d&c. The "plan" is to go back to the doctor next Thursday to see how things are going. From there my doctor will turn me over to another doctor who deals more with the kind of surgery that I'll need. I trust that my end result will be the same, GOOD HEALTH!
I appreciate your prayers, thoughts, calls, facebook posts, messages, meals, and giftcards so much. God has blessed me with the most amazing friends! You have no idea how much easier it is to have a good outlook when I have all of you standing behind me. Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Happy Easter!

Pics from our day.

My beautiful girls.

Mia looks WAY too old. Olivia is grown. Addi's hair is BEAUTIFUL, and my sweet sweet KK is so pretty!

Eli is really sick, bless his heart. He's also ALWAYS on the move, so trying to capture a GOOD picture of him is next to impossible. I was also having a TERRIBLE time trying to get Isaiah away from KK's face so that I could see BOTH of them.

LOVE Eli's face in this one. That boy is a MESS!

The best of the self timer tripod pictures.

 

L.O.V.E. these silly ones. I try to remember to let the kids do a few of these at the end to reward them for good behavior. These are CLASSIC!

Mia is trying to hold Eli in place. Ha!

Waiting to hunt eggs at Nana and Pop's house after church. My mom had TONS of eggs for them!

Notice Mia's Kool-Aid mouth! HA!

 

This boy loves his momma!

The egg hunt begins!

KK was all business. I kept chasing her around trying to get a picture of her. This is the closest I got.

Addi with her sack full.

Bubba searching eggs.

Olivia with her loot.

Mia finding eggs.

She said, "I FOUND THEM!!!"

My Lulu found the prize egg!!

She also got to get a bunny to keep at Nana and Pop's. This is Peter(I think. Maybe the other one. She got TWO!) This girl LOVES animals so so much! Love this picture of her!

My Mia, My Mia, My Darlin'

My sweet darlin' Mia is a HAM for the camera these days. She's always asking me to take her picture. I know that soon she'll be dodging the camera for greater things like everyone else, so I thought I'd share some of my recent favorites today.

She said, "Momma, take my picture with a pretty smile."

She has a current cape fascination. She wears them pretty much all the time. She decided to wear this small one(in comparison to the floor length one she usually wears) to a birthday party where she made this crown.

She LOVES this time of the year with all the pretty flowers.

With her long awaited piggy tails.

Dressed as Princess Merida. All the arrows are broken, so she decided to use a drumstick instead.

Buzz Lightyear and his Pilgrim Girl in their row boat in search of land. Ha!

More capes. Three to be exact.

Today she asked me to put her usual cape on as a hood. She said, "This is the booty-fuller way to do it."

I could eat her up!

I mean, come on! SO cute!

Sorry, I couldn't pick just one of these.

All You Need is LOVE...and a Few Other Things

Ahh, the first time momma. You find out you're going to have a baby! Great! Figure out a way to tell the fam, buy your first pair of elastic waist jeans, and take a deep breath. Next it's time to step into Babies R Us for the first time. You walk in and immediately want to cry yourself to sleep. Maybe it's the hormone induced exhaustion, or maybe it's the endless aisles of baby products screaming out to be swiped by your scanner deal for baby registries. You don't know where to start, or what you REALLY need for baby's first year.
You try to turn and run, but you can't because it's an entrance only door. You stand there looking lost and panicked until some teenage dude who has NO idea what he's talking about comes and thrusts a list in your hand with "MUST HAVES FOR BABY." You look at the list and feel that you might need to run out and buy a lottery ticket in order to try and pay for all the new items you MUST buy. Isn't there another way?! Oh but there is, dear first time momma!
We have become so commercialized that we've forgotten it really doesn't take a whole lot to have a baby. I'm here to tell you, aside from a whole lot of love, there's really only a FEW things you'll NEED.

• Diapers-It doesn't matter what kind of diapering you plan to use. You're going to need some! Start with newborn sizes, but know those little suckers will grow out of that size in a hot minute! Wanna use cloth? More power to you, sister. Don't ask me about that though because I have NO experience! Ha! We always used Pampers Swaddlers until around size three where we switch to Target brand.
• Burp Rags-My favorite are the really thinish cloth diapers. They work the best. There's also some by Gerber that I like that are a little thinner than a washcloth. They come in a package of about 8 and are always great to have for the diaper bag. No matter what you plan to feed the little dear, you can bet at one time or another it's going to come back up. They also make a great nose wiper for cold season. So much softer than tissue.
• Diaper Bag-Get one that can double as a purse. Put two changes of clothes for baby, 4 diapers, wipes, and at least 2 burp rags. I also include nursing pads for me and any other feminine products I might need. I've used all brands of bags, and don't really have a favorite. I do like materials that will wipe clean instead of it being machine washable just because it seems easier to keep clean in the long run.
• Carrier Carseat-Again, I don't have a favorite brand when it comes to these, but I have a LOT of friends who are hard core over one brand or another. My priority has always been that it's something that is safe, that I can carry without killing myself, and that is comfortable enough that the baby will sit in it without fussing the entire time. Again, if you have a baby and a vehicle, you'll HAVE to have a carseat.

So, that's IT as far as what you HAVE to have, but assuming you don't want baby sleeping in your bed and basically being connected to you for an entire year(plus the nine months he's cooking)here are some other options that have made life a LOT easier...

• Carrier-Do yourself and your baby a favor and go get yourself a baby carrier. It doesn't matter what brand you chose. What matters is how you feel wearing it. I love the Moby, but there are some who hate it! The key is going into the store and trying them on so that you find one that you love.
• Stroller-I rarely used a stroller in the first year just because I mostly wore our babies, but you might want one especially if you do a lot of shopping. Be sure to get one that matches up with your carrier so you can pull the carrier right out of the car and into the stroller without much fuss.
• Pack-and play(AKA Playpen)-They make these things in several varieties. My favorite is the kind with the bassinet(bed for tiny babies) insert. You can use it right after baby is born, then take it out and still have a safe place for baby to sleep for however long you need it. Our two youngest spent several months in these because we have a two story house with bedrooms FULL of siblings. You can also use it later when you need a good place for baby to play. I've used mine up to two years or so with toys when I need to do something and can't keep a constant watch.
• Bouncy seat/swing-they make a LOT of different combos, but I like a bouncy seat and a small travel size swing. Know that these are NOT a MUST MUST have, but you'll probably be glad you have one or the other. I used my bouncy seat on the counter while I was making dinner. Only for non-mobile babies. The mobile ones will figure out how to break free and be jumping of the counter! Ha!
• Swaddle blanket-I like the kind with Velcro, but Manly is good at the foldable kind. Get at lease two because you'll want to be able to wash them every now and then. My favorite are Aden and Anais. They're a little pricey, but look for them secondhand.

SO, in my opinion, aside from milk, these are the must haves for baby in the first year. I'm happy to chat more about brands if you're interested. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be glad to answer! Happy shopping!!

Cat Soup

If you know me, you know I'm not a fan of cats. They not only creep me out, but make my nose itch to no end, and I hate them clawing my legs and arms for fun. SO, this post is NOT about cats...Manly recently told the kids a wacky story. He had us all laughing hysterically about these silly cats that really loved this tomato based soup their owner made one evening. Because the man loved his cats he decided to start making it for them every day. He decided to call it cat soup because it was soup the cats loved. One day some friends came over to visit and saw his cats eating their "cat soup" and asked about it. The man told them it was their cat soup, and they took some home to feed their cats. Long story short. All the friends started wanting the cat soup, but they mispronounced the words cat soup. Suddenly everyone was asking for catsup. The next thing you know they were putting it on their dogs... All of that to say, this post was supposed to be a "CATCH up" post. Ha! Eh...

So, Manly and I recently celebrated ten years of wedded bliss by leaving the kids with Aunt Steph and loading up and heading to Dallas. We had an amazing time and I was able to shop until I dropped. Then we'd eat and shop some more. I got to visit IKEA for the first time, and needless to say, I'm hooked! We bought SO much stuff! Including this couch and light fixtures...

This one is in my dining room. It will soon hang over the farm table my man is making me! YaY!

This one hangs in our entryway. I know it looks wild, but I love it and the polkadots it makes on the walls around it!!!

This is big green. I have since bough new pillows and a BEAUTIFUL Pottery Barn rug.

This is how STUFFED the car was on the way back! Ha! I was still trying to stuff things in the NEXT DAY!!

Yes, we drove FIVE hours with this giant box on the top of the car!

Dorky photo booth at the rest stop. Manly MADE me stop and take a picture! SO embarrassing!

After seven straight months of Eli being sick, we were finally given some answers when we found out Monday that he has low levels of IgA. Basically this just means that his little immune system can't fight off illnesses as well as the child with normal levels of IgA. We will soon meet with an immunologist to discuss if there is anything we can do to help him or if he needs further testing. For now, we'll try to keep him as healthy as possible by avoiding places high in germs(like EVERWHERE! HA!) If you'd like, you can pray with us that, like normal cases, this is something he outgrows and won't suffer with forever.

The girls are completing their first ever standardized testing. KK actually finished hers last week, and Olivia will complete hers tomorrow. They seem to think they've done well, and were only nervous of the unknown. After the first day they were both really thinking it was easier than everyone was making it out to be.

Manly continues to be really nice and busy at work. Thanks so much for liking his clinic facebook page and telling your friends! We know you are, because we're getting a lot of word of mouth clients lately. That means so much to both of us! If you are looking for a great therapist feel free to let him know! If he can't help you he has other therapists he can get you connected with. He's thriving in his job, and I'm SO proud!

I found out yesterday that I need to choose between doing an ablation or a hysterectomy. We knew we were close to this decision, but it's still hard to make. I've decided to go with the ablation. It's going to be coming very soon. Bye-bye baby having days. Hello feeling better soon!! I would LOVE your prayers in this area. I've felt REALLY really really bad the last year now, and I've tried EVERYHING else there is to do. We feel confident with our doctor, and our decision. I look forward to healthier days. I'm happy to talk with any of you in more detail privately, but for the sake of my 2 poor male readers I'll leave it at that! Ha! (You're Welcome!)

Our house is really coming together. This is the biggest reason I've been MIA! I've had so many projects and tasks to do! I'll post pictures soon. We're close to that stage, but for now, I'll just tell you it's looking Bohofabulous!