Cowboy Brothers and a little Cowgirl

***Click on the pictures to make them larger***

I asked my friend Heather to come and take a few shots of the kids in their costumes last night. She has a great camera, I've already asked for one for Christmas, and my point and shoot just can't capture these moments quite like this! They turned out GREAT! As you can see, Addison wasn't very interested in taking pictures. We made the most of it. It probably wasn't the best time of day for her but we had to try anyway! My friend Laura is taking professional pictures of our family on Saturday in the morning and I'm sure she'll be a much happier camper! :)

Mimi helped me sew the kids costumes this year, with a little help from Ma-maw on Addison's vest, so it was important to have memorable pictures! She got some great shots of the kids and it's amazing what bribing with candy will do for a child's attention span! :) They are going to have SO much fun tonight, and I think they'll be the cutest dressed kids in the whole neighborhood! A mommy should think nothing less! :)

Thanks Heather! Mimi and Ma-maw are going to LOVE these pictures!

a visit with Mommom

October 24, 2008 - Mommom's 82nd Birthday

Mommom, Jackson, Addison, & Harrison (Harrison is using his tongue to try and make his tooth wiggle and come out)

this little girl is the sweetest thing you'll ever meet! she is the most contented baby I have ever seen. yes, she's mine and naturally I'm biased, but I'll tell you when things aren't going well. she is SO happy and SO precious! everyone around her for any amount of time can't get over how calm and peaceful she is. I thank the Lord so much for giving us such a happy baby. we'd love her whatever her personality but this is AWESOME! :)

Mommom LOVES to get her hands on a baby. She is always saying, "mommom sure loves to rock a baby" and Addison enjoyed her time with Mommom in the rocking chair! :)

We had the BEST time visiting my Mommom! Anthony had to be in TN on business so I decided that the kids and I would go with him so we could spend some time with my grandmother. Friday was her birthday and it's been years since we were together on her birthday! She turned 82 and she is just as active as ever! The boys LOVE her and she LOVES them too! Such special times and memories for my children to get to know their Mommom! The kids did awesome on the drive there and back. Coming home we left about 12:30pm so we were in the Ashville mountains while it was still beautiful outside and the colors were gorgeous! I just love fall! It was a FABULOUS weekend!

Saturday marked 12 weeks

haven't updated in a while about my running.

it's going very well. saturday marked 12 weeks of consistent exercise. i've lost 11 pounds since i started this journey (35 pounds since i had Addison). i need to take my inches again. i'm sure i would be encouraged. my mommom was noticed the difference and that was exciting. i saw her last when Addison was 1 month old. she took me to get a couple of things and i was able to buy my pants another size smaller. there is always a thrill in that! :)

still loving running. i'm up to 3 miles. ran 3 this morning! :)

got myself some "new" running clothes. got ear muffs and gloves to keep me warm in this cold weather. makes me feel a little more like a runner. :) now i need to get new shoes. mine are not exactly what i need and as i'm running longer i'm realizing that more and more. have found one i'm interested in. hope to get to a store this week and narrow down my search AND make a decision.

going to run in a 5K on Nov. 8th with my friend Jen. she's been so sweet to encourage me and invite me to run in her neighborhood race. i can't believe that i'm going to do that and that it's actually achievable for me. it never has been before in my life.

it's weird to think i can run for a whole 35 minutes. it's weird to think when i've been going out to run that i'm running 3 miles in distance. i get so excited about it!

sometimes i think anthony and my family are in shock. this has NEVER been me. they're proud of me though and it's amazing what that encouragement can do for you. katy's a HUGE supporter and many other friends have been so kind to show interest in my running. i want you to know how much it means to me. i really appreciate all of you!

adjusted nicely

Just wanted to update you on Harrison....

He's doing absolutely fine with his broken arm. People said he would adjust and get to the point where he hardly noticed his cast and they were right. I think he's there! He doesn't want any more help dressing, brushing teeth, getting ready, buckling seat belts, etc... He does need help getting his shoes on. He is no longer wearing the sling. He's gotten used to the heaviness of the cast and feels a little restricted in the sling. :) He is using his left hand for writing and doing a great job. He's a bit tired of "trying" once he gets home from school so his teacher has said he just needs to do what he can for homework but won't be penalized for what he can't get done. Very helpful.

Oh, and he's lost his 5th tooth! This boy is loosing teeth left and right. He's lost both top and bottom middle teeth and lost his top left eye tooth while we were in TN. Today, his bottom left eye tooth is VERY loose. I'd give it another day or two. AND, he's still taking care of all of this by himself. He's pulled every one. :)

He's doing GREAT!!! I told him how great he was doing with his broken arm and he said "yeah, it can just stay broken, I'm fine." A good attitude to have, but I know he'll be excited November 17th when he'll get his arm back! :)

he's all fixed up

the first picture says it all, he was having a hard time! his poor little arm and hand were so swollen when they took off the temporary cast.

he chose dark blue for his cast. he said he wanted it because it matched his room. :) Anthony asked him if he was sure because one you picked you couldn't change your mind and a dark color wouldn't be able to be signed. he was very clear that he didn't want anyone signing it. i guess he thought that would mess it up or something! :)

Addison cried more in that office than she has since she was born. don't know why. think she was just over tired or extremely sensitive to her brother and all he was going through! :) Dr. Silver fixed Harrison right up! Doesn't it look nice! :)

We were SO happy to be able to get in to the Orthopedic this morning. Kelly was so kind to watch Jackson for us so we could both be with Harrison. I was worried it might be painful for Harrison for them to mess with his arm but he handled it like a man! I was so proud of him! The doctor said it was a "good" break to have and that it should heal up very nicely. It's broken on the top backside of the elbow. He'll have to wear the cast for 4 weeks, which I didn't think was too bad.

He fell asleep in the car on the way home around 11:45am and slept until 4:15pm. It's been a long weekend and he's had some sleepless nights. He said right away after the cast was on that it didn't hurt too bad and he was excited he could knock it on things and he couldn't feel it. He knocked on the stairwell on the way out of the Dr.'s office just to see. so funny! I'm glad he's feeling better! He's still a bit irritable and I just think he's uncomfortable. We've moved to Motrin today so I plan to send him to school tomorrow and have them call me if he has trouble. I hope he'll be fine but I know it's going to take time for him to get used to his cast. We'll just see how things go.

I feel better now that he's in his cast. I know he'll be in less pain and it's so hard to see your child in pain like that! He's already tired of his cast and itchy. Little does he know how long these four weeks are going to feel. Tonight he said he was tired of having a broken arm and he wanted his cast off. I think I'll be hearing that a lot, what do you think???

update on Harrison

Well, some of the "excitement" (if you can call it that) has worn off. Harrison had a very difficult night last night sleeping. He woke up around 3am in a lot of pain. He finally drifted back off to sleep about 4am. I had to sing today in the DLC so we decided to take him to church and see how he would do. We figured the distraction would be good for him.

He did have a good time but was just really complaining of the pain. We left after the service and came on home. All three of my boys and my baby girl took good naps while I took a quick trip to the running store to check out some new shoes (rabbit trail - didn't get any but found out what type I do need so very helpful). Once I got home, we went outside for a little while but he just is having a hard time.

His cast is not very sturdy, it's temporary so if the sling gets loose, the heaviness of the cast pulls the arm down and it's painful for him. We're trying to keep the medicine going every 4 hours to stay on top of his pain.

I'm very uptight about what to expect this week. I know I need to chill out but I'm stressing about all the things I don't know yet. I don't know what time we'll see the doctor tomorrow or IF they will be able to see us. I don't want him to go to school without a permanent cast. He's in too much pain and I'm afraid just a bump could mess things up further. He's on pretty strong meds for a kid so I'm not even sure if the school will want him there while he's on it or how long he will need to take it! I'm worried he could miss up to a week of school and while he's hardly ever sick and probably won't miss that much I'm just stressing! I'm worried about how they will work with him, how he will take tests, will everything be given oral, blah, blah, blah.... I know! I need to just go to school this week and talk things out with his teacher...but AFTER I've seen the doctor...so again, another thing to wait for to find out more information!

Why does this stuff always happen on the weekend? No doctors in the office, can't make any appointments, can't have all my questions answered when I want them to be! :)

I need to take a step back and breathe! He's gonna need a lot of help these next how ever many weeks. I can see that today. We'll get through it. I know many families have experienced things like this and get by, we will too!

Just going to pray for him that he will get good rest tonight, that whatever they say tomorrow will be good news, news we can live with. Going to pray that getting the new cast won't be too painful for him. :( I know he will feel much better once things are more secure. Gonna pray they will see us tomorrow! Pray with me, please!

Here he is, how he has been most of the day and will be for most of the night. He's relaxing and watching Tom and Jerry, his new favorite! So fun to hear him laughing down there watching my own personal favorite cartoon! :) I'll let you know how things go tomorrow...

a broken arm at date night, a first in so many ways!

Harrison talking to him Mimi and Papa, telling them about his broken arm!

Well, we never dreamed when we headed out tonight that we would be bringing Harrison home in a cast. It was our turn to watch kids at our Life Class's monthly date night. We were at the Richardson's and the kids were having a blast running around, playing with their friends. They had already eaten dinner and played outside and the night was half over, everything was going perfectly! Justin and Harrison started chasing the girls with a pretend snake and boy were they having a ball trying to scare the girls. :)

It was a blast until Harrison came running around the corner in the kitchen and slipped and fell. He started crying immediately and if you know Harrison he can get pretty excited and dramatic about an injury! He was wailing and screaming that his arm was broken while rolling on the floor. I was worried somewhat because he was crying so hard but felt sure that once he got settled down he would be off playing in no time.

He cried and cried for about 45 minutes. We checked his arm multiple times but didn't see anything that looked strange, no swelling, and he didn't even complain when we touched it. Finally, I lifted his arm to move him over a bit on the couch and he really wailed. I asked Anthony to come in, who was watching kids (what we were supposed to be HELPING with while instead tending to our own child!), and he continued to check Harrison out. We decided to take him to the Urgent Care knowing we didn't want to end up in the ER waiting and waiting until the wee hours of the morning. Chad had a recommendation of where to go and Anthony took off with our very upset child!

I called a few times and never got through to Anthony. Finally, about 7:30pm he showed up with Harrison in a cast and sling! Yes, he HAD broken his arm! Oh my goodness, was I glad they had gone and gotten things checked out!!! His right arm is broken right near the elbow. His cast is temporary and we will see an Orthopedic on Monday!

I can't tell you all the things I'm thinking about! School starts Monday for him, how is he going to write!!!??? We've never had a broken bone with our kids before so this is a FIRST. It's also the first broken bone at a date night and hopefully the LAST! :) I was at least glad that it was our child who was injured and not one of the parents out on their date! That would have been a horrible phone call to make! :)

He's fine. It hurts but he is being very brave. Interested to see how the night goes. I have him on a pallet on the couch. He would have too much trouble getting out of the top bunk if he needs us. Hopefully things will go well with the doctor on Monday. Anthony said the Urgent Care doctor said, "yeah, it's broken alright. I don't think he'll need surgery though." WHAT! That never entered our minds! I should hope not! :)

I know this post is long but I have to say everything I'm thinking for memories sake! I was just saying to Katy the other day, "can you believe that neither of us has been to the ER for a broken bone or stitches with these boys?" She said, "DON'T say it Beth! now it's probably going to happen!" I guess this is all my fault! I should've never said a thing! :) Harrison is quite proud of his cast! He LOVES to have a story to tell and he'll be sharing this one for a LONG time!!!

i want candy!

thanks Aunt Vonda and Uncle Ian for my "i want candy!" shirt! i really do think they should share some of that yummy candy my brothers have been getting in to! love you and can't wait to meet you!!!
your niece,
Addison

sweet cousins

aren't these girls precious??? Addison loved visiting her cousins in VA and she and Savannah had a ball getting to know each other! ;)

Cheering for my friend

(Josiah took this picture for us. Not bad. Except for the fact we were hot and sweaty we don't look half bad. :) )

Last Weekend (Oct. 9-12, 2008) was a big weekend for me! FIRST, on Thursday afternoon, I was able to run with Katy for the first time! It was Katy's last run before her race on Sunday so it was supposed to be easy! Ha! Good thing! I'm so new at this, it was probably more like a piece of cake to her! It was so fun to run together. I was SO nervous when I drove up to the YMCA. I had butterflies! You may think that is silly but I had been working at this for almost 10 weeks and had started from nothing. I was so afraid I woudn't be able to do it! She pushed me and I ran my first 1 1/2 mile stretch then walked for a few minutes and ran the rest back to the YMCA. Boy I wanted to stop, it was SO hard. She kept talking and I kept looking at the red roof praying I could just keep picking up my feet. It was the first time I had done 3 miles in distance so it was hard but good for me to see I could do it! She said to me while we were running, "I bet you never imagined a year ago that we would be running together!" and I didn't! Isn't that crazy???

On Sunday, I met her at 6:10am to pick her up and drive her to the race. I was SO nervous I would be late. I didn't want to mess her up or stress her out for her big day! I set two alarms, hardly slept the night (woke up in a panic at 12:40am thinking I had overslept!), and left 15 min. early, just in case! It worked out ok, I was able to feed Addison at her house. I had planned to feed her at the race but this just worked out so much better.

Here she is ready to go! Addison is probably wondering what in the world she is doing up. She sleeps until 8 or later every morning.

The port-o-potty stop. I guess that's a really big deal at a race! :) Here we are, me ready to cheer on my friend! I was so proud to be there. I had never been to a race before so it was great to see how it works and dream about the possibility of doing this someday...maybe!

one of the biggest stresses for me was worrying about getting a picture when she ran by! you only get one shot and I missed a few times! :)

see...here she is barely in the picture. oh, i'll catch her in the next one. nope. got nobody! :)

ok got her! as she's almost passing me! ahhh!!!

here i missed her friend Stephanie, you can see her legs behind the woman in the black cover up. and this random guy is my practicing. after i missed a few times, i thought i better get to a really good spot and practice to make sure i get her as she approaches the finish line. that's kind of an important part of the race! :)

here she comes! as she was passing I was SO proud! she was clearly ready to be finished but she did SO AWESOME! yeah Katy!!!

there she goes, almost there! and here she is, with her medal. she has completed her second 1/2 marathon! WOW!!! she finished in 2hrs 39seconds! whooowhooo!!!

it was breezy and chilly for us spectators so I had Addison all bundled up in her adorable bunny hat! is she cute or what??? she loved her first race, slept through most of it. :) here are Katy and Stephanie checking their times!

I think she is telling David that she beat his time for his 1st 1/2 marathon. He was it little bummed I think while being very proud of his girl! I think they may end up have a little competition going on.... :)

After the race, David and Anthony brought the kids up to eat and play. It was a fun time and we were SO proud of Katy! I'm so happy I was able to be there to cheer for her! I loved every minute of it!