Still an American

Well, the election didn't go as I had hoped and prayed. I will be honest and say that I went to bed defeated, disgusted and broken. I woke this morning with a new perspective, though. After all, I am still an American and proud.

The outcome of last night does trouble me, though. I honestly think I voted against Obama, rather than for McCain. I just did not feel like we had good options in this election. After all, I disagree with Obama's stance on almost every moral issue, if not EVERY moral issue. I don't really feel that McCain was the man to get our country on the right track, either though. Still, he did seem to have a stronger stance on things I consider to be just morally wrong. I don't think he was the best man, but, rather the better man.

It did make me thankful on one had to see that our nation has moved past some of our prejudices that once were so prevalent. It was a historic election and at least I got to voice my opinion and cast my vote, whether or not my choice coincided with the American majority voice.

Now we have a huge responsibility!!! It is up to us to pray for our country and, yes, pray for our new president! It is a critical time in our nation. America is such a wonderful place to live and we are so blessed! As Christians we need to support our leaders but most of all pray for their wisdom! We need to pray that they will ultimately look to God for guidance in the decisions that are being made. After all, God is in control and has a plan.

But, still, even today I am an American--not just an American, but a christian American who still has faith that our nation can be wonderful if we let God be the center of it!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Last night we enjoyed the trick-or-treating in a few of the dorms. Mom kept the cutest little superman I've ever seen (AKA Rhett) so I could take my biggies to a few dorms. They had a great time and we enjoyed getting to trick-or-treat with the Weekleys. Both my boys were very polite and that pleased me very much. Here are a few pictures from our night. I'm also adding a few pictures from Lawson's pre-school trick-or-treating and Halloween party. Enjoy!

Mom and Dad with me and the boys.

We felt VERY safe last night trick-or-treating with such great superheroes to protect us! :)

Sweet little Rhett...uhh-hmmm, I mean, Super Rhett.

Carter, Lawson, Pearce and Blake pose for a pic at pre-school.

Lawson's pre-school class

Pancakes and Pajamas

Last night when we got home I promised my two biggies that we would do something FUN today. Our lives have been so hectic lately! I foolishly thought that I would be able to sit back and enjoy my children while on maternity leave and take it easy. Our lives have us running in different directions every single day. Between soccer, pre-school two days a week and chiropractor appointments we run somewhere every morning.

Thursdays are usually playgroup mornings but today we "skipped it". I told my boys we could have pancakes on pajama day. I remember as a little girl my grandmother would make us pancakes in the shape of our initial. Not an easy or beautiful art but fun all the same. Today I made my boys initial pancakes like my grandmother used to make us. I made an "L" for Lawson a "J" for Jagger and "d" for dad. We also noticed that when we flipped the pancake it was a "b" for Brandon! They were impressed although they didn't eat much of them. I also got really creative (for me) and made a Mickey Mouse pancake. :)

My Mickey Mouse pancake. :)

The boys--Lawson with his "L" and Jagger with his "J"

We also had company this morning. Carter and Cecily came to visit for a little while while Ms. Becky attended a 1st grade activity at the elementary school. They kids all had a BLAST playing with each other and were all so well behaved. I had to snap a few pictures of course and managed to get one of Brandon reading to sweet Cecily. We don't often know how to act around sweet little girls and I told Brandon it would do him good to be around a little girl some. We laughed at how different she is from our rowdy boys!

Brandon reading to Cecily and Jagger.

All the kids.

We stayed in our pajamas until time to get ready to head to mom's. Tonight is trick-or-treating in the dorms so we will leave out in just a little bit to get ready. All three of mine are superheroes for Halloween so we should have some cute pictures in the next couple of days!

My birthday boys

My Jagger is three today. I can't believe that it's been three years since seeing him for the first time. He came earlier than his scheduled date and for a planner like myself it really threw me off. But once he was here I was in love instantly. His birth was so different from Lawson's. I was alert and fully awake and remember just being taken with him instantly. He was so small. 7 lbs, 11 oz. Not really small for a lot of people but for me who had previously birthed a 9 pounder 7 lbs was tiny. From that moment on, he has been our "peanut". 

Brandon's birthday was on the 26th. He had requested a meal of pork chops, corn on the cob and twice baked potatoes. That not being one of Jagger's favorite meals caused him to ask if we couldn't just go eat rice instead. I explained that it was dad's special day and he got to pick the menu. He informed us that when it was HIS special day he wanted to go eat rice. So, tonight we headed to his favorite--"Rice Portales" as he calls it. :)

He got to wear the big sombrero and had them sing to him. They even brought him a dessert which he only licked the cool whip on top. He enjoyed the big deal that was being made over him and grinned the whole time. It was a fun night. 

Happy birthday to both my sweet boys. They make my life wonderful!
Me and Brandon at his birthday supper.

Jagger and his cool whip dessert.

Me and my sweet peanut.

Two months old!!!

Today Rhett had his two month old doctor's visit. We all guessed he weighed around 15 lbs and found out that were were only a few ounces off. He weighs 14 lbs, 12 oz! The doctor was very pleased that all of his jaundice was gone away. He said that in all his years of practicing pediatrics he had never seen such a severe case of breastmilk jaundice, but had been confident with his diagnosis of it after all the test results came back ok and he had also consulted his colleague pediatricians. Still, he said it made him feel much better that there were no signs present today.

Rhett is in the 97th percentile of his weight and the 93rd percentile of his height (25 1/2 inches). Oddly enough, though, he is only in the 30th percentile of his head circumference. He said that there really is no relation between the percentiles of weight and height to the head circumference. He said head size is usually determined by genetics and is no indicator of intelligence, etc. I had to laugh a little to myself thinking he's going to be like his uncle Jordan. We always tease Jordan because of his small head. :) Guess that's where Rhett gets it. :)

I asked lots of questions about colic and got some answers. Don't know that they were exactly good answers, but still I got answers. The dr. says recent studies have indicated that colic is caused by developmental issues rather than stomach issues. He said that these studies have found that babies who have colic usually go on to be extremely intelligent adults and high achievers. He said the good news is that the colic will just magically go away, probably at around 3 months of age. So, 4 more weeks to go!

He got three shots as well as an oral vaccination for the rotavirus. This stomach virus can be especially dangerous for infants since they can dehydrate so easily. He will get this vaccination again at his 4 month visit.

I also had to get my flu shot today. That was NO fun. It hurt and my arm is still sore. I'm trying to prepare my biggies for the flu shot as well. They will have to get theirs at the Health Department next week. With a newborn in the house we just cannot risk someone coming down with the flu this year.

In all the shot excitement today I totally forgot about the trick or treating at the church tonight. Luckily my kids forgot about it as well and I have been spared being dubbed the world's worst mom. They'll still get to trick or treat at the college on Thursday night (that is IF I don't forget that!) so I'll hope to have some Halloween pictures up of them after Thursday.

Now I have to tend to my fussy sweet boy who is not feeling well and who hasn't slept much since all of the shots! Hope we sleep better tonight than we have today. We'll see!

How much can we fit into one weekend?

We stayed extremely busy this past weekend. Saturday was full of activities! First on the agenda was Lawson's last soccer game. He was so glad for the soccer season to finally be over. He was a trooper and stuck it out all season but was ready for it to end. He tells us he doesn't want to play next year. He may change his mind now that he had earned his first trophy. He was so proud of that and shined it the whole way home! He requested it to be placed in my curio cabinet but later declared that to be the wrong place. He didn't want it to get dusty and was afraid it would get dusty in there. What exactly is he implying? That the inside of the cabinet never gets dusted? Smart boy! Ha. Anyway, we (I) failed to check the soccer schedule to double check what time the game began. We missed about 3/4 of our game. Lawson only got (had) to play about 5 minutes on the field but was perfectly fine with that! Here are a few pictures of the last soccer day: a family pic, Lawson with his teammates and Lawson with his beloved trophy.

Next on the agenda: Jagger's 3rd birthday party. He got lots of cool presents and enjoyed licking the icing off of the cake toppers. Too bad he wasn't feeling very well. :( He has come down with a head cold and felt pretty rotten at his party. Still he managed to enjoy his day. He had to sing Happy Birthday to us first before lighting the candles just so we would know what song we were supposed to sing to him once the candles were lit. Funny boy!

Last, we headed to the Deffenbaugh's house for a pumpkin carving party. That was so much fun! Lawson enjoyed cleaning out the guts of the pumpkin. I told Brandon I was surprised at that but he reminded me that this is the child that doesn't mind getting his hands dirty! Anyway, below are some pictures from the pumpkin party. Enjoy!

P.S. Thanks to my good friend Becky for showing me posting how to do the collages. It makes posting all the pics so much easier!

Sweet dreams

Tonight was one of those nights. One of those nights where saying that my boys tried my patience is a huge understatement! I was so frustrated. Dad had put a movie on for them to watch and mom had given them a bag of marshmallows. We thought they were happily enjoying these treats but later found out that a marshmallow fight had in fact taken place. There were marshmallows EVERYWHERE! In the carpet, soles of shoes, on clothes, EVERYWHERE! Needless to say we hit the road after everything was cleaned up. I told the boys they were to go straight to bed once we got home. The came straight in the house, put their jammies on and were in the bed immediately. They knew I meant business! Rhett was screaming so I tended to him. By the time I was finished feeding him I went in to check on the boys and talk with them only to find that they were both sound asleep already. They were all hugged up with each other and I couldn't help but smile at how sweet they were laying there together. As frustrated as they made me tonight they looked like angels lying there. I couldn't resist snapping this picture. It is a little dark since I turned the flash off hoping not to wake them. I hope they have sweet dreams.