Christmas with Uncle J

We most likely will not get to see Jordan over Christmas break. Chiropractic school is keeping him busy and he will not have much of a break. So, we decided to do a small Christmas with him while he was in for Thanksgiving. The boys always love it when Uncle J comes to visit. We enjoyed our time with him so much.

Saturday morning we had a big breakfast and exchanged gifts. Saturday afternoon Jordan and Brandon headed to Lowe's to pick out tools for Brandon's Christmas present. Then later that afternoon Jordan decided he had all of his long hair that he could stand. He had to go to Jackson right then to get his haircut and it couldn't wait. He asked me to come along. I was excited to get to spend a little one on one time with him.

Boy was the haircut interesting. We went to JC Penney's salon and he had a nut job cut his hair but she did a good job at least. We both had our doubts about how good she would do!

We ended the night grilled steaks and twice baked potatoes. It was a great end to a great day. We are so thankful that Uncle J chose to spend his last night in town with us and can't wait to see him again!

The "before haircut" picture:

The after:

Doesn't his hair look better???

The stockings were hung...

When we came home from Greenfield I was ready to get the Christmas decorations up! Truth be told I would have put them up before Thanksgiving but my husband would not allow it. So, I obliged and waited until the "appropriate" time. He was good to me and helped me drag everything out of the attic.

The boys helped spread the branches and put a few ornaments on the tree--mostly at the bottom. :) We tried telling them all the stories tied to certain ornaments. Almost every ornament on our tree has a story. They weren't very interested in many of the stories. They did enjoy seeing their "1st Christmas" ornaments. They had a big time though, listening to Christmas music and eating snowman cookies. I have been really sick over the past few days so I wasn't as good about taking lots of pictures. We just enjoyed the moment camera-less. I did snap a few though.

All of the decorations are up with the exception of a few outside things we would like to get up. I think everything looks perfect. I am basking in the glow of all my inside Christmas lights and in the smell of spiced apple candles. I love this time of year. Even if it's cold outside it always feels a little warmer with Christmas in the air! :)

Mumbo and Jumbo

My two biggies are always into something! We were trying to entertain before going to have pictures made on Thanksgiving day and gave them some glasses. Not just any regular pair of glasses but these! They were so funny and found themselves so amusing. They were kept occupied wearing and posing in the glasses as well as taking pictures of all of us wearing the glasses as well. I'm thankful for the Dollar Tree where we can find cheap entertainment for only $1!!! :)

Fried Pies!!!! Yum, yum!

Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving while we visited my grandparents my granddaddy gave a lesson on making home-made fried pies! My mom and I live and breathe chocolate so these are a favorite of ours. They were absolutely delicious. I hope that this will become a tradition over the years to make these before each Thanksgiving. :) Below are a few pictures of our process.Mom and Papa with the fried pies.

Our crust batter and one coming off the skillet.

Our frying pies. They were SOOOO yummy!

Thanksgiving and pictures

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We went to Greenfield on Tuesday to watch Jess play basketball. He had a great game and all my kids cooperated very well at the game. Other than it being REALLY hot inside the gym we had a great night.

Thursday before our Thanksgiving meal we all took time for a family picture. We had not had one made since my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary when we did one for their gift. We have since added three new family members with Jagger, Tucker and Rhett being born. It was a beautiful day for pictures. Boy am I glad we had them made before our meal!!! I couldn't hardly sit up after eating all the delicious food at our feast! :)

Hope everyone was able to enjoy good food, great blessings and wonderful families!

Our family picture

We decided to get a shot of just us girls. 

I don't guess we realized how outnumbered us girls were until we got all the guys together for the guy shot!

3 months

On Tuesday, the 25th, Rhett turned three months old. I can hardly believe as much time has passed since Rhett arrived. The dr. was right, though. Three months has been a major magic turning point for us all! Rhett is the happiest, funnest baby now. He smiles all the time and we can take him anywhere! He's friendly and will smile and go to anyone.

With each of the other two boys, on their three month old birthday we did foot and hand impressions in clay. We did the same for Rhett on Tuesday. The footprint size is almost the same as the other two. He's growing so fast I just wish I could slow time a little to enjoy him a little more!

Yay Rhett!!!

The past few nights have been GREAT! Beginning Friday night, Rhett started sleeping ALL NIGHT! I forgot how good it felt to get a good night's sleep. :) Actually, I haven't slept through the night since I was about 4 months pregnant with Rhett. Friday night he went to bed super early and I just knew he'd be up by 12:00 again. But, he slept from the time I put him down at 8:15 until 5:15 the next morning! Of course I didn't sleep that whole time. I woke up at 2:30 wondering about him but he was fine and we all went on sleeping.

Saturday we spent all day in Jackson shopping with mom. When I say all day, I mean just that! We left the house at 9:15 and didn't get home until around 7:00! We said we were not leaving Jackson without all of our Christmas shopping done--and we didn't! I figured he would be worn out from being drug across Jackson all day strapped in his car seat. Lucky for me, he slept from 8:30 or 9:00 (can't remember exactly what time he went down) until I WOKE HIM UP at 6:30 the next morning to get ready for church!

Then last night he went to bed around 9:30 and slept until 7:30 this morning. Last night, I'll have to admit, I did not wake up at all! I slept from the moment my head hit the pillow until 6:00 this morning when I had to get up and pump! I feel more rested today than I have in a LONG time.

I don't know if these sleeping patterns will last but even if they don't they sure have been good while they've lasted! :)

Who's Who?

I thought it would be neat to compare pics of the boys when they were all the same age. I tried to find a picture of each boy with a similar expression on their faces and with Sandy's help, I did a collage of all three of them side by side. It changes from day to day who I think Rhett looks like. I, personally, do not think Lawson and Jagger look anything alike, but oddly enough, I think Rhett looks like BOTH of them! I don't think this picture helps any! I can look at it once and think he definitely looks like Lawson, but then I look at it again and he looks just like Jagger! It is the strangest thing! Anyway, I thought it might be fun to find out if you all can tell them apart. I'll post the answers later on, possibly late tonight or tomorrow. Let me know who you think is picture number 1, 2 and 3 from left to right! It will be easy for those of you who know the boys really well. I can tell them apart right away. And no, they are not in birth order or any other particular order. Leave me your comments. Good luck! :)

Brotherly love.

I am so glad that my kids love each other. Sure they have their spats and, yes, even their knock-down, drag-out fights but at the end of the day they love each other deeply. My favorite times are waking in the morning to sweet little conversations between Lawson and Jagger. They seem to get along better first thing in the morning. Guess they haven't had as long to get on each others' nerves at that time. :) And yes, as frustrating as it sometimes is for me and especially Rhett, I'm glad that Jagger wants to hug and kiss and hold him all the time. I'm thankful that they are growing up in a loving home where we all mean so much to one another.

I snapped this picture one afternoon while they were playing. They were sitting in the coat closet and had pulled every hanging article of clothing off of the coat rack but they were huddled in deep conversation--something very important--SPIDERMAN talk. They were having such a good time and enjoying each other so much I never said a word about all of the clothes crumpled up beneath them. Just hung them all back up when they were finished visiting. I'm thankful for times like these!

They also enjoy imaginative play! We have started compiling a tub of dress up items--all manly! :) This year after Halloween was over mom and I hit the costume sale rack to add a few items to their box. This year for Christmas they will receive a Ninja outift, Knight outfit and Pirate outfit. Can't beat $4 each! We were thrilled to run across that!

Just a new pic

This is just a new pic. I thought it was cute of all three of my boys and wanted to share!

Tissue, please?

So this week has been a busy one. Now that I type that I can't actually think of one particular thing we stayed busy doing, but I know we were busy! Ha.

I did want to write about one thing that Jagger did this past week that had us all rolling. Sunday night at church we were sitting and Jagger was in Brandon's lap. He had been battling a head cold but wasn't really sick, still he had the sneezes and sniffles. He took a big sneezing spell, sneezing about three to four times in row. I watched proudly as he covered his face as he sneezed--something we had been working on. After his sneezing spell, he pulled his hand away, looked at it a brief moment and without batting an eye wiped his hand all the way down the back of Lawson's head--just like that was the proper place to wipe it! I was laughing too hard to be mad at him and Lawson had no idea what he had done or else it probably would have caused an even bigger scene. Even the row behind us was rolling in laughter. All I could do was reach down grab some tissue and pass it over.

Sometimes our lessons stick and sometimes they don't. Hopefully next time he will use the tissue instead of his brother's head!

Wishing, hoping, thinking and praying

The past few days have been hard. Hard because we've been faced with some real grown-up decisions to make. I hate those. I hate having to be responsible. I hate having to make choices that affect our family on so many levels.

I learned five years ago that being a working mom was tough. Sure, it has it's clear advantages and disadvantages. Still, it is tough, even in the best of circumstances.

I'm a firm believer that there is no one decision that is right for everyone. I believe with my whole heart that just because it is right for someone to stay home with their children, it is just as right for others to return to their jobs and be "working moms". Some are judgmental--that goes for both ways. I've known ladies that think the only right decision for everyone is to stay home with children, and I've known ladies who judge other ladies for giving up everything just to stay home. In my opinion, both of these views are very wrong. I think we women should embrace each others' decisions knowing that whatever decision was made was made by putting a lot of thought and prayer into it! We need to support each other in EVERY decision, whether or not we would have made that same decision.

Now, having said all of that, I've been faced with this very type of decision. Before I left for my maternity leave we had talked about the possibility of my returning to work on only a part-time status. How blessed am I to work for a place that will do anything to support young families?! I was thrilled at the possibility. Then, the economic tumble. It has all but squashed the prospect of me working part-time. I'm scared. We're scared.

These times have been tough on the trucking industry. This makes Brandon's job security not so secure these days. What would we do if he were to lose his job? Is it a sign of weak faith to plan for the worst or is it being a responsible parent to want to ensure there is food on our table and a roof over our head should the worse happen? Conflicted. That's what I am. I HATE feeling like my faith is less than what it should be. I've heard it said that you should have faith and KNOW that the Lord will provide. And I DO know the Lord will provide---but is He providing through MY job security?

I'm so blessed. I know I've said that so much, but I truly am. One thing that I've always been thankful for has been the caregivers for my children. I have never had to send any of my children to a daycare not even one day of their lives. From the first day I went back to work after having Lawson he stayed with his (and my) beloved Ms. Becky. What a blessing to be able to leave him with a Christian friend! Then, shortly after Jagger was born and I returned to work mom and dad had moved to town. Mom began keeping the boys two days a week while Becky had them the other three. Last year they started staying with Mom every afternoon of the week. So, my children have always had great Christian influences even when I wasn't there with them. I won't say it made my decision to keep working easy, but bearable.

My mom worked the whole time I was growing up. I don't feel slighted at all. We stayed with my Grandmother every day and enjoyed our time with her. Then we got to enjoy the time with Mom when she got home. Now, I know I'm not perfect but I think I turned out quite alright! :) And the ways I'm NOT perfect probably have nothing to do with her working--there was only so much she could do with me. Ha.

I know that my boys love me. I know that they've always loved me--even when I worked. I'll admit I do usually live for 5:00 just to hear the "Mom! You're HOME!"s and those welcome home hugs (they are the BEST!)

Whew! I know I'm rambling tonight! I just have all of these thoughts! I think I just needed to unload some things! After much thought and prayer, I've decided to return to work full time after my maternity leave is over. It's been a tough decision but I think under all the circumstances and knowing my children have a LOVING environment to stay while I'm at work, I think it's the right decision---FOR ME and MY family.

It starting out with a lot of WISHING for that part-time possibility and HOPING it would pan out. Then progressed to THINKING about whether this would really be the right decision for our family. But ultimately it was the PRAYING that led us to the decision that we believe is right for us for right now. I believe that as long as we let God lead us in our decision making we can't make a wrong decision.

NEVER a dull moment!

As you can imagine, our house full of boys never slows down! Not even at 12:30 at night! Last night when Brandon came in from work he checked on our biggies as he always does before coming to bed, this is what he found! (Now please forgive the picture quality--it was taken with a camera phone).

Jagger had his Halloween glasses on--SOUND ASLEEP! You can imagine what a kick Brandon got out of seeing this! He looked for the camera but couldn't find it and I was sleeping (he didn't want to wake me) so he snapped a quick pic with his phone. Not the best quality, but this moment couldn't go undocumented!

Brandon and I laughed and laughed about this. We didn't think anything could make it any funnier. We assumed he had been playing in those and fell asleep with them on...until this morning, that is!

Brandon asked Jagger if he had fallen asleep with his Halloween glasses on last night and he told us he had not. He looked a little confused. Brandon showed him the picture on his phone and Lawson started giggling. You know...that kind of giggle that lets you know he's up to something or has been up to something. Brandon asked him what was so funny and he giggled some more and fessed up that he was the one that put them on Jagger after he had fallen asleep. We got a good laugh today.

I'm so thankful for a house full of good times and laughter! And thankful for these boys that make it so abundant! :)

A few cute snapshots

Dad was able to snap a couple of cute pictures of Rhett a few days ago. I thought they were precious, but of course I'd say that! Anyway, the biggie boys got lots of pictures posted of them from the past weekend trip so I thought I'd post a few of Rhett tonight.

Speaking of Rhett, he's doing MUCH better! He's actually turning in to a happy baby. It is so great to see him smiling and feeling good. I'm so glad that he's more comfortable and that we are all able to enjoy all these moments with him.

He was in mid-laugh. Mom was holding him and he was laughing at me. I can be pretty funny-looking sometimes. :)

Sweet face. He's still such a good mix of Lawson and Jagger it is impossible to say who he looks more like!

Such a sweet baby! Have you ever seen such a sweet face??!

Gatlinburg, here we come!

This past weekend we took a little trip. We first headed to Gatlinburg for the night. We decided to take the boys to the Aquarium there and spend the night. It was just the five of us. We enjoyed the trip so much. The ride to Gatlinburg was AMAZING. The leaves were beautiful and the sun was shining. It was warm enough but not hot.

We arrived in Gatlinburg around 4:00. We checked in to a hotel and headed to the Aquarium (see post below). After the Aquarium we walked the Gatlinburg strip. They had their Christmas decorations out and everything was beautiful. We ate supper and had fudge for dessert. Yum! Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed to Inez to visit Mammy, Pappy and the Young and McGinnis clans. The ride there was pretty as well. I can't imagine how beautiful Virginia must have been the previous week. The leaves there were already turning brown and beginning to fall, but still beautiful. Below are some pics from our drives and stay in Gatlinburg. We are so blessed to have been able to make this trip!

The beautiful colors of Gatlinburg! It was gorgeous!

This was taken in Virginia on the way to Inez. These trees were beautiful and reminded me of those out of Stars Hollow!

The boys took airplane rides before heading out of Gatlinburg. This was Jagger in his plane.

Here was Lawson in his plane.

More pretty colors of Gatlinburg. I just LOVE fall!

The boys in front of the "decepticon" display.

Me and the boys with the Christmas light display on the streets of Gatlinburg.

My huggable little Rhett. :)

Go Vols! (yes, I can still say that even though they can't win a game this year!)

A trip to the Aquarium

While in Gatlinburg we took a trip to the Aquarium. This was something I had wanted to do with the boys so while I'm still on leave we took advantage of time off and made the trip. The boys had a great time and the trip was worthwhile. What a nice place! Oddly enough Lawson was more impressed with the moving walkway than the actual aquarium. Some of the pictures didn't turn out great because the flash made it impossible to see in the water but without the flash made it too dark to see peoples' faces. Oh, well. I still came away with some pretty cute pictures. Lawson, Jagger and Rhett came away with stuffed sharks to remember the trip by. Lawson named his "Cutter" and Jagger named his "Edgar". Of course, Rhett's doesn't have a name.

Enjoy the pics.

The boys.

Even Rhett got a turn.

Boys in a bubble.

Lawson, do you think the croc is after you? Ha.

Lawson told his brother to stay close to him. I snapped this picture seconds before they were fighting. :)

One of the sharks.

Looking at the sharks.

Ahhhhhh!

The boys would not touch these crabs. I wasn't surprised that Lawson wouldn't touch them, but a little surprised that Jagger wouldn't.

Pretty fish. Amazing!

Lawson in front of the dinosaur bones display.