Beaming

Today in the Sunday edition of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal on the front page of the Local section in colored photos (that's a big deal!) you could find a feature story on my amazing husband! It publically praises him for all of the hard work he does, the lives that he impacts, and the heart that he has. I have grown to love, respect, and admire him more than I ever dreamed possible 7 years ago. If you have a minute, check it out! I am SO proud of him.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/102509/fea_508731440.shtml

Wordless Wednesday

Dodged a Bullet

Well, we have only dodged one so far! More on that later... We are hoping to dodge a HUGE bullet tomorrow. As some of you know, tomorrow is our first audition in the All-State process aka 'Carla's Job.' This audition and preparation is part of the reason we have been so stinking busy lately. We are hoping to dodge the flu bullet. As of yesterday, 6...SIX!...of my top students were running fevers and losing their voices. AH! So, my heart is in a panic for them, and I am so hoping that none of them actually have the flu. I am naive enough to pray that they are just tired and allergy-stricken...here's hoping. We'll see tomorrow if we did, indeed, dodge that bullet!

Yesterday, however, we dodged an even bigger bullet. (There shall be no comments on my poor parenting following this post! Got it?!) Lily was asleep on our bed while Jakob was watching morning cartoons. This is not uncommon in our home. I went to make his lunch, reminding him if they needed anything to call for me. Reminder...we live in a very small house. I'm not far away. So, I'm packing lunches when Jakob comes into the kitchen and whispers something to me. I thought, "Surely he didn't just say what I think I heard." Yep. I did. "Mommy, I dropped Lily." This is so surprising since he rarely takes interest in her! I walked back into my room to see my 3 month old laying prostrate, face planted into my bedroom floor. First time in a while my clothes laying everywhere actually served a positive purpose! I scooped her up, and her screaming became much more elevated. She just simply doesn't cry, so all that noise leaving her body FREAKED Jakob out...FREAKED! He starts screaming and throwing his hands from his head (classic Jakob drama) saying, "Oh, my Lord! Oh! My! Lord!" After I was certain that Lily was okay, I noticed that Jakob was sobbing into his hands. Broke my heart. I scooped him up with her, and we checked Lily out together to prove that she was okay. After things had calmed a bit, I asked him for more details and why he picked her up. As innocently as possible this is what he said, "I wanted her to see Mickey Mouse."

3 Months & Bedtime Stories

My sweet Lily Hope is three months old today. I am not as sad & sappy as I anticipated! She is coming into her own, sweet personality, & this time around I know the real fun is about to begin! Seriously (my friends will attest to this) she is the most easy-going baby EVER! She sleeps or plays during lessons, church, meetings, choir, small group...you name it! It is like she knows when it is time to just chill. She is MUCH more smiley than Jakob was at this age. He was dramatic from the very beginning! She loves to stand up while holding someone's fingers, coos back at you as though she's in a full on conversation, lights up when she hears Jakob or Daddy enter a room, and reserves her biggest smiles & sweetest moments for her momma. We have a very special knit to one another already, & I love it. In spite of our crazier than normal life these last few weeks, Lily has flourished...we are SO blessed & happy!


Jakob is as hilarious as ever...popping out one-liners more quickly than I can write them down! Last night at bedtime he decided he would tell Lily the story of Spiderman. Here was his intro: Lily...you're my original Lily. God made you that way. Just like God made Spiderman original. He lives in Lubbock, you know.

Alive...I think!

Yes, we are alive, but VERY behind! Why on earth am I writing a blog at 12:40 am when this week is going to be such a blur?! Because I have stinking cute kids! I'll explain a lot more about what we've been up to later on when I have a real second to sit and waste, but for tonight...enjoy! My dryer is calling me...bzzzzzzzzzz

Old Testament 101

Tonight at bed time, Jakob told us that Abraham's wife's name was Mallory. Nice.

Makes Perfect Sense to Me!

When you're putting off housework and cooking...write a useless blog entry!

Jakob has begun dressing himself, and mommy has decided it isn't worth the fight to make him match or look non-homeless!

Lily, the chunkiest ballerina of all! We're breaking the mold around here!

Sittin' pretty!

Finally...a picture where Lily resembles Jakob! They ARE siblings!!! But, really!? Is she this big already?!

Remind Me...

...why I do some of the bone-headed things I do! Friday night I packed up my two precious children and three precious students and headed to Frenship's football game in Abilene. I had worked all morning to get things together: blankets, changes of clothes and underwear, pull-ups for the trip home, snacks for the trip and the game, separate bags for the car and the stands, and the list could go on and on! I was prepared! What could I have possibly missed? Hmmm...how about checking a map and a weather report. We left as soon as sectionals were over, but still got off later than I had hoped. Jared texted me the directions as he was already there with the radio crew. Over half way there, we went through a small shower so I called Jared for a weather update. Rain. Nothing bad, just non-stop rain. "Surely it'll pass before we get there!" I thought, foolishly! No umbrellas. No hoods. No ponchos. Newborn and three year old. Good, Carla. Really good. I decided these were the things memories were made of, though! No worries! I brought long sleeves and pants for the two of them. It would be fine! About this time, it hit me that I had no earthly idea where on the road to Wylie Jared's directions began. I saw an exit that sounded familiar, but passed it. Bad idea. 40 minutes, one emotional melt down in front of my children and my students, and one gas station in the middle of no where we finally ended up at the stadium...after half time had ended. Great. I then dropped my son's pants in the mud and forgot just about all of Lily's stuff as we headed up into the stands and into the rain. I must have looked like the worst mom of the century as we walked up there without an umbrella with my 2 month old. Poor Jakob. He was so excited to go and see the Tigers. He LOVED sitting in the rain and refused the umbrellas that my sweet Jared had wrestled from somewhere. The only problem was that we were only there for about a quarter and a half with our sweet Tigers losing. Jakob was not too thrilled when the game ended. "Momma! We JUST got here!" No kidding, Buddy. So, we drove almost 4 hours (that includes the guided tour of the greater Abilene area!) to watch roughly 30 minutes of a game and then return home at 2 am. Thank goodness for Bryce, Barclay, and Lauren! They were such a HUGE help and are the ones who actually got us 'un-lost'! I took a huge humility pill and tried to find the humor! They say they'll even do it again with me, but with printed instructions!

Off To The Races

That's what we are...off to the races! This school year is in full swing already, but dare I say that we are enjoying this one more than any other?! My decision to cut the studio back has been one of the best I have ever made as we have MADE dinner and eaten it together nearly every night. I know, for some that seems so 'normal,' but it had never been the case with us because of my studio's schedule. We are LOVING the new year! With the new school year comes all kinds of other firsts for our little fam: Jakob's first day of PDO this year and Lily's first shots. Jakob has had a great first week of school, FREE FROM ALL POTTY ACCIDENTS! (free only at school...home is a totally other story!) Yesterday when we picked him up, his teacher from last year told us that he called out during nap time to his class, "Guys! God will be happy if we stay on our nap mats!" If that isn't the most ironic thing he has ever said since he is the great nap evader!

He wanted NO part of taking the 'first day' picture this year.
"Mom, if you make me take the picture, I'll just go back inside."
Okay, maybe I'll look at you for just a minute...
"Jakob, if you'll just fake one smile for me, we'll go get donuts!" Success!
Jakob found a very old pair of glasses of mine in a drawer this week and has been wearing them ever since. Jared took the lenses out so as not to hurt his eyes, and Jakob pitched the longest, most intense fit known to man. "Daddy! You make me blind!" He has a slight flare for the dramatic...

Lily had her 2 month check up yesterday with Dr. Liz! True to form, Lily did amazingly! She now weighs 11 pounds 12 ounces and is 23 inches long! That is in the 75 percentile for both height and weight. She got three shots and did wonderfully. Dr. Liz's nurse let me hold her during the shots, something we didn't ever get to do with Jakob. It was SO nice to hold her tightly during the shots. She cried at the initial poke, but finished within seconds of her shots. She went on about the day like nothing had happened. She is smiling SO much, starting to 'talk' back to us, and stay awake for much longer periods of time. She sat up in my lap on Sunday morning listening to every word of Todd's sermon without a peep. Precious!

Miss Lily working on tummy time. She usually just falls asleep when put on her tummy.
Sweet, smilin' girl
Hello, beautiful...
Completely limp...

There's my girl.

Lily can sleep anywhere.

hmmmm...maybe black hair doesn't become us!

Special Announcement!

Go and check out Lily's birth announcement! Ashley has once again out done herself! I LOVE them!!!