7/30/08

Our Weekend in Arkansas!

We had been planning for a few months that we were going to take a trip up to Arkansas this last weekend. I had taken Friday off since I have more vacation on hand than Tim does. Turns out TJ had a doctors appointment Friday morning with his Urologist. They went ahead and scheduled his surgery for October 3rd. I'm actually trying to reschedule the surgery since we are having inventory that week at work. Not having much luck getting a hold of the nurse...doesn't suprise you does it?

Okay back to our weekend. Tim got off work early and we were on the road for Arkansas by 1:30. We got to Little Rock by 7 I think. Rick to us through his church and gave us a tour. Here is a few pictures from the tour:

Piper and the Bear

TJ and Piper in the table

Tim kissing the reindeer



We just hung out with them after we put the babies to sleep. Woke up, fed the babies, and were on the road by 9:30. Made it to the Leckie home by 12:30. That day we went up to the original Walton's 5-10 store. We went to the big shopping center (kinda like the highlands) got ice cream and walked into a few of the baby stores. The kids and grandkids got Bill a LSU jersey and Debra got him a Ipod Nano. Bill opened his presents after lunch so he could enjoy them all weekend. Then after the evening meal and staying busy all day the girls and Tim went up to the Bentonville Wal-mart...Woo hoo! I got a pair of shorts, Tim got a shirt and TJ got a onsie that says Born in 2008.


Sunday we went to church then to On the Border for lunch. Sarah, Piper, Debra, TJ and I all went to Belks for shopping. I got 2 pairs of dress shorts and a shirt. I saved 90 bucks!!! Tim and I said we were going to buy pizza for everyone but it took them over an hour to get us the pizza so we got it free. We headed out Monday morning at about 9. Bill was coming to Arlington for a Shady Grove get together so we caravaned down here. Bill headed back up to Bentonville on Tuesday morning at about 5, right when Tim left for work.
Walton's 5-10 store with Me and TJ in the front


TJ in his new onsie

TJ and Piper with their matching "I love Wal-Mart" shirts.


Me and Piper with our cool shades


Bill with his Grandkids. Its hard to tell but he is wearing his new jersey.

Here is all of us right after church.

If you don't know who all of there are here:

Debra holding Piper, Rick, Sarah, Tim, Me and then Bill holding TJ





We had a really good time and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

7/24/08

A Milestone for TJ

TJ of course started eating Rice Cereal this week but has discovered something new. Last night when I got home he was fussing because his mouth was hurting him real bad. I was trying to give Tim a break from listening to him cry. When he was laying on my lap he stopped for a second and he discovered his hands. Now if you spent any time with TJ at all you know that he holds his hands all the time, even when he was in the NICU he would put his hand around the other one that had the IV in it. It surprised me that it took him so long to actually find them, but I was definitely glad that I was there to see them discovered. He looked shocked that they were there.

We also put him in the box again last night. He was starting to get a hang of holding himself up. He was also getting pretty good at holding the teething ring in his mouth. He dropped it at first and when I picked it up and was trying to hand it to him, he just opened him mouth and leaned forward for me to hold it in his mouth for him. He was like a little bird opening his mouth as wide as he could.

He has been teething like crazy the last couple of days. Just fussing all day and inconsolable. We had been giving him Tylenol but it didn't seem to be helping him at all. At about 2:30 yesterday I remembered the orajel baby was in the bag and told my mom to try that, he was immediately happier. When we felt around in his mouth it feels like one of the eye teeth is coming in. Its been so bad he actually has been waking up in the night. He hasn't done that since he was about 3 weeks old. Happy times. He seems better today so hopefully he'll get through this before we are driving 6 hours in the car to Arkansas.

7/23/08

Rice Cereal for TJ

At TJ's appointment the Doctor talked about starting TJ on baby food. Well I wanted to feed him the rice cereal for the first time so last night when I got home I got his cereal ready. He thought it was funny, he kept laughing and smiling at me when I would put it in his mouth. He has really been fussy the last couple of days. I think his mouth is really hurting him. He ate about half of the bowl then got to where his mouth was hurting and just wanted his pacy in his mouth so he could chew on something. there are some pictures below of him eating. I have a video but as you can tell by my last blog I am kida behind on those. I still have about 4/5 more videos to put up on the blog.
He's trying to smile in this one.

Him messing with his Bib

Sitting there peacefully with his hands folded while he spits out the cereal.

7/22/08

Catch up on the Videos Part 2

This is a video of TJ first rolling over. Well I guess this isn't really a catch up since there is only one video. Enjoy!




Catch up on the Videos Part 1

Here is a video of TJ in the NICU!! oh I don't wish this on anyone. Not even my worst enemy!

We filmed this video when TJ was about a month old. This is the same nightgown Tim wore when he was a baby and his mom took a picture of him in this same cradle so we duplicated the picture with TJ. Its short but its him

This is a video at Lexi's Birthday Party on the 4th of July weekend. TJ loved the water but in this video he starts to fuss.



All Boxed Up!

I had to share this with all of ya'll and how cute my little guy is. We never got a Bumbo seat for him to learn to sit. He has really been trying to sit up on his own for a while. My parents did this today and my Dad just sent me this picture. He's just chillin in the box.

Timothy JR's 4 Month Appointment

TJ went to his 4 month appointment yesterday. He was suppose to get his shots yesterday but they failed to mention to me that the shots had to be at least 56 days from the last round. Well it had been 48 days. His nurse told me that all I needed to do was come in anytime but lunch time on August 7th to get his next round.
TJ weighed 15 pounds and 15.5 ounces, he is 25 inches long and his head is 17 inches around. He was so good, he was playing, talking and laughing with the doctor. On Friday I'm going to start him on rice cereal. I could have given it to my mom to do today but I kinda wanted to feed him the rice cereal for the first time. TJ is growing so fast. He is talking a bunch now, okay well talking like a baby. He actually kinda sings when he talks. He is rolling over from his tummy to his back. I have a video of TJ doing this on YouTube I just haven't put it on here yet. I'll get on that tonight. He is really trying to sit up and he is already starting to pull his knees up under him and push off like he is trying to crawl. Hold off TJ I like you being a baby that I can cuddle with that doesn't want to run off and play.


Here is a picture of TJ playing with Gracee's soccer ball. I know your thinking why would I give him a toy the dog was playing with. I actually just washed it and the spot on there is a stain I couldn't get out. I know you really can't see him but enjoy.

7/21/08

My Little Cowboy

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night we just spent the night at home and watched a movie. On Saturday Tim got up to go to a golf class and since he was going to be gone I decided to go again to Nick and Kelly's church. When Church got out TJ and I went and picked Tim up and met Nick and Kelly up at Kincaid's for lunch. We spent a couple of hours with them just talking about a bunch of different things. After that we did a little bit of shopping (well window shopping). Saturday afternoon we were playing with TJ and got him to roll over a bunch of times.

Tim was playing with TJ and put his cowboy hat on him. He actually stayed put long enough for me to take a picture:
My parents got home on saturday night from there trip to Florida. We went buy and picked them up and went to Elchico's for dinner. Yummy! Went back to there house and spent the rest of the evening chilling on the back patio.
Sunday we had my cousin lead worship. It was really good and Jayne preached so my parents actually sat with us on Sunday. Weird but fun! After church we went to Chili's for lunch and celebrated my parents Anniversary. They have been married 34 years! Way to go mom and dad! Happy Anniversary! We missed my parents and are glad they are back. BUT the left again after lunch to go up to OK for a meeting that is today. They will be back tonight and will watch TJ again tomorrow. He misses them so much.

Tim and I just went home after that and did some cleaning and hanging out at home. Wonderfull blessed weekend full of Church, family and friends.

7/17/08

I chose Life...I get Persecuted

I am a little frustriated with the way people who are not Christians think. Why do they think that if Christians get mad or mess up that they are no longer saved. Or why do they think once you are a christian that you no longer make mistakes. Why can't people simply be happy for people who choose life over death. My dad a couple of weeks ago talked about that God offers us everything (life, health, happiness, etc.) if only we choose him. It seems that people think that it is easier and more fullfilling to be mean and hateful than happy and nice.
I'm tired of getting attacked and persecuted for being a nice Christian woman. I guess I better get over it its going to happen. All I can do is be happy none the less. Maybe by prayer and me being a good Christian, God can reach their hard hearts. Well God can reach them but will they soften and live for him????


Matthew 5:10
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


Matthew 5:12
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.


thanks for letting me share my thoughts and frustrations =)

So Many Details...

Last night we had our weekly family night at our house. We grilled out hot dogs and hamburgers. So Yummy. Terry, Lizze and the kids, Rodney and Virginia, Amy, and us were all there. We just spent the night hanging out. All the guys played pool and us girls sat and talked. TJ got passed around and fell asleep on Lizzie for a while. My parents have spent the week in Florida and a book convention where my dad can promote his book. It went really well and passed out all the books they had for him. Since they have been out of town TJ has been staying with all different people this week and last Friday. Uncle Terry kept him last Friday, Virginia kept him on Monday and Tuesday, Yesterday and Today Amy has been home till about 11. I Drop him off with her in the morning then Terry comes and watches him for the rest of the day. Amy is going to be spending the night at out house tonight and TJ will just stay home for the most of the day tomorrow. I think Amy said she might go back to her house and take him with her.
I didn't get any pictures last night but here are some cute pictures of TJ from this last week:

TJ playing with Daddy



TJ in the same shirt Tim wore when he was a baby...TJ went Old School

7/14/08

Weekend

We had a wonderfull busy weekend. Friday night we went up to Lincoln Square to go to Family Christian Store to pick out some Bibles for Nick and Kelly. I wanted to get them Devotional Bibles (since that is what they asked for) and I spent so long there trying to find the perfect Bibles for them. We just hung out with Amy for dinner and then later went and picked the Bibles up from the store. We had their names put on them.

Saturday we got up pretty early and had breakfast before we started getting ready for church. We really liked their church. It was shorted they we are used to but the worship and preaching was really good. During worship Nick and Kelly got baptised. I was so proud of them and overwelmed with excitement for them. We all went out to eat afterwards and they got Bibles and journals from us and a Family Bible from Kelly's mom.
We of course went out to Southlake to try to get a Iphone for me. Yes we were one of the loosers that tried to get one at 2 in the afternoon. After the drive out there, they were sold out. We tried to make our trip worth it and were going to walk around the place. We got ice cream and got to hot so we left. After that we headed over to Nick and Kelly's to go swimming. TJ loves the water, he just sat back in a floaty kicking his legs. He did get tired of that after a while so Tim decided to pull him out and play. Here is TJ surfing on the boogie board and hanging out with his daddy.
Yesterday we had a nice day. Church, Lunch, Grocery Shopping, laundry, TV, Dinner, Washing TJ, and then Bed.

7/10/08

Little Rangers Fan

Last night was of course family night...
My mom, Austin, Tim, TJ and I were just hanging outside for a while before the Wirth's and Lizzie got there. Tim had brought some chips out to eat and was using one of those baseball hats from The Ballpark that they serve ice cream in. Once we was done eating them we cleaned it out and stuck it on TJ's head. He was so cute we just had to take a picture. Tim is also determined to get TJ to play the drums so we can have a little family band. So anytime TJ is sitting on Tim's lap and music is playing Tim moves TJ's arms to play the drums with the music. The funniest thing about him doing this is that TJ's face turns to serious and he looks like he is really focusing on playing. I've filmed it on our video camera but I'm going to film it with my small camera so it is easier for me to put it on YouTube. Once I do that I'll get it posted on here for you to see. ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!!!!

Here's the picture from last night:

7/7/08

Alexis' Birthday Party

Our friend Mike and Heather's little girl Alexis turned 1 last week. She had her birthday party at Bedford Splash at Bedford Boys Ranch. It was going to be TJ first time swimming...okay well getting in the water besides the tub. We took TJ out there all lotioned up with sun block and in his swimming suit. He absolutely loved the water. he didn't mind getting splashed and loved the lazy river. It was funny we were going around a few times and the sun was in my eyes so I decided to leave Tim and TJ in the river and I went to go get my sunglasses. Tim said the second I got out of the river TJ started to scream and all the people were looking at Tim like he was a horrible father. He was so embarrassed and got out as soon as he got around to the beginning and came and found me. I guess he just got bored of that. He just sat there with his sunglasses on. He was too cute and everyone was telling us what a wonderful baby we had. That he behaved himself wonderfully.

Lexi was cute she seemed to have a great time. When we left she was laying on a reclining chair with Mike eating her bottle. She didn't look like she was going to last much longer.
Here's TJ enjoying the water:

Happy Birthday Lexi!!! We love you!!

Happy 4th of July

Friday morning we woke up pretty early and were at my parents house ready to go at about 7. We headed off got gas in the van and got breakfast at McDonalds. Were in Oklahoma at about 11. We spent the day eating, hanging out and watching a bunch of the kids play in the water. TJ was obviously to little to play in the sprinkler and slip n slide. so we stripped him down to his diaper and let his feet and back get wet. He did pretty good outside till about 2:30 and he got a little fussy so Amy and I took him inside so he could cool off and play on the floor.
Pictures of the day:
TJ Right before we left for Papa and Kaykay
Right when we got to OK
Uncle Brian and TJ (they are really cousins)

Texas Assmebly

Thursday night we went up to Denton to the UNT basketball arena. My dad got tickets from Chuck Pierce for us to sit on the floor. We got there right when it was starting and when I walked through those curtains. I was almost knocked to the ground with the spirit. It was like I was walking on air but then like my body was full of metal. The worship was amazing and powerful. There were miracles happening right and left. Testimony after testimony of God's amazing power and love for us. This is just a short blip about what we experience. I heard that it went on till about 2 in the morning. We had to leave at 11:15 but we left with such a anointing of God over us.

7/3/08

Yummy in My Tummy


Last night we had our weekly Family Night and my mom made home maid Chicken Alfredo. Here is a picture of the whole dinner. We had the Alfredo, Salad, bread, and asparagus.












Right after I finished feeding TJ I set him in his car seat and handed him the hooter hider and he loved playing with it. He always likes playing with blankets.


















And then after dinner and hanging out for a while TJ was getting tired so we loaded him up and were going to leave but we ended up staying for a little while and talking about the plans for this weekend. Tim set him on top of the recycling bin and while he was there my mom needed to put something in it so Tim just put the Dr. Pepper bottle in his lap.


TJ is trying to put him self on his own schedule. We normally feed him at 6 and then 9. After he eats at 9 we tuck him in, say prayers and he goes to sleep. Well last night he ate at 6:30 and then went to sleep at 8. That was the evening, hope you enjoyed.

What I'd Get If Something Happened to Tim

Now Gracee is a good dog and she will protect me like nothing else. But wouldn't it be crazy if we had this dog....
This K9 is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord. He's huge - part Boxer and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs. His handler took the picture. Brutus is running toward his handler because he knows he has some Milk Bone treats, so he's slobbering away! He had to duck around a tree just before he got to him in case he couldn't stop, but he did. Brutus won the Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq. His handler and four other soldiers were taken hostage by insurgents. Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant 'go away but come back and find me'. The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door. He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being held in an old warehouse) until it opened. He went in and untied his handler and they all escaped. He's the first K9 to receive this honor. If he knows you're ok, he's a big old lug and wants to sit in your lap. Enjoys the company of cats.K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor WinnerThought you'd find this interesting. Talk about animal intelligence and bonding with humans!

7/2/08

TJ is the Cutest Little Aggie

About a month ago TJ was entered into a Aggie Baby contest. We got him all dressed up in Aggie gear and got a back ground set up and took some cute pictures of him. After deciding which one would be best we sent it to Andrea to enter him in the contest (the contest was held at the Mall in College Station) Well we got a call yesterday from the mall saying that TJ didn't make it to the top three in voting but he did get up pretty high and was receiving a gift for participating.
My thought was oh goodness how are we going to get the gift. Josh and Andrea are on there way to New York and Amy is up here for the summer. Luckly Andrea's sister Lynn still lives in College Station and she is going to go by and get the gift and mail it to us.


I don't know what it is but I'm sure it something baby and something Aggie.
Here is the picture we submitted:




















I think he is the cutest Aggie and I'm bummed he didn't win.

This 4th of July....Think about something else.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;

another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owner s; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.



Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

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