Texas Bred

Hobbies

2010-06-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have lots of them. I am officially "launching" BeckyLynn Photography, as of this weekend. I have done baby photos, senior photos, weddings, and birthday parties. I also do pics of nature and animals and am a bit of an addict! Check out my page on facebook and spread the word!

Here are a few of my favorites...

pregnant bellies

flowers

Snow Bunny

Oops! Won't get another shot like this any time soon!!
Snow day pictures are amazing - as long as I can drive to your house to take them!

Couples

Senior pics

Families

First Birthdays

Weddings (can't show many of these yet - they haven't seen them!)

Candid shot of my sweeties - one of my favorites ever!

Wildflowers make for great backgrounds

Babies - this one is only a few hours old!

Kiddos

Families

Another senior pic

I love to do natural light photos!!
I'm still learning, but it sure has been fun so far!

busy little bees

2010-05-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

As usual, we have been busy little bees lately!!
I photographed my first wedding (which I LOVED!),
did the Bride's make-up,
Jeff was the preacher,
and Ellie was the flower girl!!!
It was so fun, but a busy weekend. I had to recruit my sweet Mom and Nannie to come with us to help. I'll post more pics soon, but the bride hasn't seen them yet.
The above pic is our little fam at the wedding.

And the picture below is one of my favorite recent ones of my sweet girls!
We were playing outside and they didn't even have their hair fixed,
but I don't think a "posed" pic would be any cuter!!

Oh, but this one is pretty cute, too! Love the fields of wildflowers around here!
I used this field to take some senior pics, but the next day,
had to take my girls...and thank goodness I did.
They plowed this one the day after!!

You can see Ellie's missing tooth in this one!
The new one is coming in pretty quickly, though.

This one is older, but another one of our little fam.
This one was at the college spring retreat in Indy a few weeks ago.
(pre-sassy hair cut and color!)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-12T13:04:00.001-07:00

Landy and I shot targets with the guys!

Avie was so proud of herself for getting Ellie a "baby root beer"
from Poppa's man cave.

Issie and Nonee's daisies

Nannie, Mom, Me, and my girls.

The girls!

Finally!

2010-04-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post new pics for a very long time, we've just been so busy around here that I haven't had any free time?!? I have had several fun days with great friends, so I can't complain, but it's nice to have a day just to be at home once in a while!!

Nonee with all the grands

This girl was serious about her fishing!!
A girl after her Poppa's heart.

My Dad and my brother -
I think my niece took this. She's pretty good!

I know Dizzy took this one - super sweet pic of Ava snoozin' on Nonee

Another Dizzy pic - Ellie down on the pier

So, we went to the zoo and you would expect to see snakes in cages...
but this one was in the duck pond?!?!?
creepy!

Sweet Mary

Love this one!
We went to the zoo with some friends and had such a good time.
The weather was perfect!

Ellie by the new rhino

rhino close up

Cecilia and the rhino

Jeff gave me my mother's day present(s) early.
Wednesday, Ellie and I got to get dressed up and went out by ourselves.
We had tickets to see Lord of the Dance and it was AMAZING!
Ellie loved it and I really enjoyed watching it, but loved the time with Ellie mostly!
Ava and I are going this coming Wednesday to see Elmo live!My friend Lauren and I went to an Amish community for some girl time, grocery shopping, and lunch. Oh, and we bought some great homemade bread and cookies!!
It was funny to see vehicles sharing the road with the horse drawn buggies!

Frogs in one hand, cookies in the other. Yummy!
Our girls stayed with Lauren's in-laws while we shopped.
They had a blast!!!

We went to a neighbors house (Lauren's in-law's neighbors) to get fresh eggs and got to see
dogs, cats, goats, pigs, and chickens.

My girls LOVED playing with all the frogs. I was very shocked!!
I bet they found 30 or more, then let them all go on the trampoline!

What a week?!?

2010-02-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying, I love this picture of Ellie.
For several reasons.
One, because she is my first born and I love her dearly.
But also because I finally convinced her that a side ponytail would be cute.
And I can't help but notice the blue toothpaste on her shirt and the big wet spot where she tried to clean it off herself. :-)

We have had some good times lately...
and some really bad times.
I guess it could always be worse though, right?!?

Jeff's Christmas present:
UK tickets at Vandy.
GREAT game!!
Then, we spent the night with my parents because they kept the girls while we went to the game. At about 3am, my dad comes rushing in to my bedroom and said my mom was sick. I needed to get Ellie out of the bed with her. My mom was VERY sick. My brother and his family had it the week before and they were VERY sick.

So, we came home early the next morning and decided to play in the sunshine. That is, after we sprayed Lysol on everything, took hot showers, and washed all of our clothes. But, to no avail. This picture is amazingly cute and the girls look healthy as can be on their cute little scooters my parents gave them for Christmas...but Ava was SUPER sick that night.

Then, we got up Monday and everyone seemed fine, so we went about our business Tuesday.
Which is where this picture comes in. I get allergy shots now because I am allergic to EVERYTHING outside. They tell me not to let my injection site get larger than a quarter...uh, that was like 7 quarters?!? I finally measured it and it was over 3 1/2 inches! However, that turned out to be the least of my worries that night. Jeff came home SUPER sick...and I woke up at 1am SUPER sick. Thankfully (I guess is how you would put it), my parents had already had the bug and my amazing mom was able to come watch the girls. She stayed at our house, just in case Ellie got sick. Long story short, the girls ended up spending the night the next night at my parents' house and I don't remember much of any of it?!? It was HORRIBLE!!! I don't remember being that sick...except one time when we lived in Texas and I had to call my wonderful friend Sheri at 6am on a Saturday morning to come get Ellie because Jeff and I were so sick we couldn't get her out of her crib. Not fun! We are all over it now, though, and SO thankful...hope we are now immune to that stomach bug. (Everybody had different symptoms and thankfully, Ellie got the milder version with only a fever and sore throat.)

aaahhhh...back to my love of pictures.
I was so sick I didn't even LOOK at my camera those few days?!?
Now that I am better, let the nesting begin.
Not me, of course (although I have been doing some spring cleaning),
but we ALWAYS have little birds building nests in this house attached to our swing, so we watched out the window today as a bird chose this as its family's home.
The girls and I love watching the mama birds go out and get food for the babies, but have never seen them actually building the nest. Very cute!

Here's hoping for a better week.
Starting with Landy's (or Merk Merk's) birthday party tomorrow,
tubes again for Ava on Wednesday,
then we will be packing for a mission trip to Texas next week!

I'll tumble for ya...

2010-02-27T22:08:00.001-08:00

So, Ellie has been working really hard in her tumble class and it has really paid off!! She can do her back roll...but only on the trampoline. Not on the floor yet...but she will soon! She's such a hard worker!!

JD!

2010-02-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law had minor surgery last week and needed someone to watch her 15 month old, so my nephew came to stay with us for the first time ever. I was a little nervous, not knowing how he would do, but he was amazing! WE LOVED EVERY MINUTED OF IT! I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do, but here are a few.

Isn't this the cutest frog you've ever seen??

My girls LOVED having JD around.
Naturally, Jeff and I asked them if they would like to have a baby brother or sister sometime.
Ellie said, "Nah, we can just borrow JD!"
HA!!! Good plan.

My little ladybug isn't so little anymore.
We called her "Mama Ellie" while JD was here.
She was a HUGE help!
(FYI: Landy used to call me "Mama Becky")

Ava knew JD made a "cheesy" face for pics and this is her version.

He is such a doll!!
Cutest boy I've seen in a while!

Sharing a seat with Ava - and making more cheesy faces!

I was nervous about how he would sleep...
he slept WAY better than I expected! I can't complain one bit!
One night, Ellie even found him in my bedroom floor on his "bed" holding his pooh bear (which he called "pooh-pooh"!). I guess we wore him out - he was ready to sleep!

I Love...

2010-02-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

In trying to come up with a good valentine's day post, I thought I'd write about some things I love. One being a new blog I discovered of The Pioneer Woman. She's amazing. She does so many things that I love!! She started a list and I thought I'd do the same.

I love...

family. (I could list SOME of them individually, but don't want to play favorites, although I do have my favorites!!)

pictures. (Taking them and looking at them.)

babies.

hugs and kisses. (not the chocolate kind)

funny people who don't have to try to be funny. (Landy!)

good food and new recipes.

sweet tea.

Michael Jackson's music and dancing.

fun country music. (not the kind where your husband left, your dog died...)

music in general, most of the time.

adventures. (like the kind my parents took us on growing up)

bargain shopping.

my van.

my house.

Texas. (fort worth, anyway)

organization. (although I have none!)

snow days. (but only the first 1 or 2, then I'm done)

flip flops.

sunshine.

warm weather.

dancing. (although I want you to teach me the dance, I'm not good at freestyle!)

MY GIRLS (and almost everything to do with them!)

oh, my list could go on and on, but I want to go play with MY GIRLS!

letting some frozen rolls rise for a new recipe I'm trying

(tonight we're having chicken parmesan and rosemary rolls from the pioneer woman's recipes)

1. I have never used a cast iron skillet.
2. I have never made anything with rosemary in it.
3. I've never made chicken parmesan.

should be an interesting meal tonight!

my valentine's day flowers

He's a Hard Workin' Man!

2010-02-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

My Dad and My Husband worked their hind-ends off yesterday! My girls and I had a great day hanging out with My Mom and some great friends who brought ALL of us dinner. It was a good Valentine's Day celebration. Not romantic, just family friendly, productive, fun, and relaxing (for me, anyway). Our closets are impossible, especially the girls'. SO, my parents came and helped us organize (my mom put some shelves together for my bedroom closet).

They started by taking EVERYTHING out of the closet...

Then, built new shelves.
There were shelving units in the closet, but it was just one big tall one in the middle and the side space was lost because the doors made it impossible to get to.

Then I put everything back in the closet...
AND IT ALL FIT!!!
I was able to free up a lot of floor space in our tiny play room, which made it feel much larger, which makes for more space to make a mess in! :-)

THANKS MOM, DAD, JEFF, AND LAUREN!
for your work, entertainment, and yummy dinner - that I had nothing to do with!

my Tishie

2010-02-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

My sweet Tishie went to be with the Lord yesterday.
I know she is rejoicing with Him and loving on her Daddy ("Red") and Lista,
but she sure will be missed here on earth.

Lessons from my girls

2010-01-31T20:48:00.000-08:00

So, Ava asks me EVERY night, "Mommy, why it's night-night time?"

To which I respond (EVERY night), "Because God made the day and God made the night. When it is dark outside, it is night and we are supposed to rest."

Not satisfied, Ava says, "Why?" (every night...)

Me: "We have to sleep so we can feel good when it's day time tomorrow." (every night...)

Ava: "Why?" (every night...)

We go round and round and I continually try to answer her question until she is satisfied.

Ellie never asked why very much. I keep going, but we have the same conversation (and sometimes if she wakes up during the night) over and over and over again. She'll get it one day...right??

On another note, Ellie has really been thinking and talking about dying lately. This was one of our conversations...

Ellie: "Ava, we are going to live a long, long time. Longer than Mommy. Mommy will die before us because she is older than us."

Me: "Well, that is usually how it happens, but sometimes unexpected things happen and younger people die."

Ellie: "Like what?"

Me: "Well, like car accidents. People don't plan to have car accidents, but sometimes they are bad enough that the people don't live. We don't plan to get sick, but sometimes people get sick enough that people don't live..."

Ellie: "Like Lista. She died before Tishie and Tishie is her Mom."

Me: "You're right. She had cancer and the doctors couldn't save her. She was too sick."

Ellie: "Well, Lista just died because God needed another angel."

I had nothing more to say...
You're right, sweet girl. He needed a new angel and He got a good one!!

Maybe a dusting, even up to an inch in places...

2010-01-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

So, our "dusting" of snow that we were promised before we went to bed last night turned in to
7 1/2 inches!!!!! (and that's before the drifts)

It's a beautiful snow, all powder.
Perfect for skiing!

But since we can't ski here at home,
we made the best of it and played in the neighborhood.

Jeff built a snowman (with a little help from the girls), but I don't know how...
the snow is so powder"y" that it doesn't pack well.

Is this not the cutest little snow bunny you've ever seen?!?

And since Mickey Mouse is so popular around our house,
we thought it would be appropriate to make a Mickey Snow-Mouse!

The kids loved it!

Ava is still not too thrilled about walking in the snow,
but she sure enjoyed riding in the sled today!!
Our kids love the neighbors' kids and some of them came to play with us today.
A treat for all of us - they are all in school and play ball,
so we don't get to see them very often during the school year.

Snow and Buddies

2010-01-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

Ellie and her Diz

Ellie, Lydia, and Avie -
Lydia is Ellie's best friend that she met at Mother's Morning Out.
Lydia and Ava could pass for sisters!

Lauren, Me, and Erin
so nice to have good friends
They also have 2 girls each, so we hang out a lot!

Christmas in Murray
Ellie took this with her new camera - nice.
I've cut my hair since then...see below. One side is waaaayy shorter than the other!

So, I think they missed the forecast a little...they predicted less than an inch, possibly up to an inch...AND WE GOT 7?!? Seriously? It's a beautiful day...should make for some great snow day pics!

Happy Birthday, Issie!

2010-01-29T10:40:00.001-08:00

Issie opening her presents -
JD was not interested!

My princesses

Dad, Avie, Mom, Ellie, and Landy

Jeff and Me

Issie turned 6!

Tea partying
(notice her pinky - Landy taught her that!!)

At the tea party

More of the tea party

My mom made these - aren't they precious?!?

Ellie wasn't fond of the gloves!!

Somehow, I ended up with no pictures of my brother and very few of Elizabeth and Cathi - I have a few more on Ellie's camera, so I'll post those soon.

our snow bunnies

2010-01-28T10:53:00.000-08:00

Ava, 2 years 3 months

Ellie, 5 years 2 months

I love these pictures of our girls. We had a blast playing in the last snow we had. Ava was NOT so sure about walking in the snow...it took her a while. Ellie didn't think the snow on her face was as funny as I did, but I love the picture!!

Ava is now officially potty trained! It took until about 2 weeks ago for her to finally poop in the potty, but she's a pro now! No accidents ever, except occasionally at night.

Ellie is now tying her own shoes and is VERY interested in reading. We're working on sight words and she is beginning to really understand how to sound out words.

My aunt Tishie is finally home again from Arkansas. Please continue to pray for her strength and good health.

Landy is in nursing school and has this semester and one more to be finished.

My mom had surgery on her foot - left overs from the wreck they had over 3 years ago. She's doing well. Just trying to rest and recover now.

Dad is doing great! His hip gets better and better (after a long recovery from getting a rod put in his hip - also a result of the wreck) and he is out and about doing all of his projects as often as he can.

Pray for my sister-in-law. She is having a biopsy done on a spot that has been bothering her.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Our Christmas, 2009

2010-01-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

Oh, I could post hundreds of pictures from our Christmas this year. It was wonderful! My mom and I decided it was the best Christmas so far!! Here is the somewhat shorter version of some of our highlights...

So, my girls really don't care much for the "real" Santa. They like the idea, but refuse to sit in his lap. We got to go with some of our friends to have "Dinner with Santa", and Santa was nice enough to sneak in to this picture...of course once the girls figured out he was behind them, they were GONE in a flash!! I wish I had their reactions on camera, but I was so worried about rescuing them that I didn't snap a pic.

Our good friends we went with...notice Ellie is keeping her eye on Santa!! :-)

ET...phone home!

or it could be, I Spy a naked little girl named Ava!

The girls both had a little stomach bug, so Ava was playing Dr.

We got to celebrate Tishie being in remission, so we all put our hats on and went out to eat, then to a movie.

What a great night! Good company, good food, good news, and a great movie - Old Dogs.

My mom found Ava in her front window and she said,
"I watch my Dizzy to come!" She was so ready to see her cousins!

The cousins at Nonee's

One of my favorite pic of the girls this Christmas,
although I say that about every other picture of them!!

Christmas at Nonee and Poppa's was a HUGE hit!
Scooters for everyone!
I laughed so hard my stomach was hurting watching them ride in circles.

The grandkids in their jammies

When you push a button, Santa sings and dances. Ellie used to be scared half to death of him, but loves it now. This was one of my Grand-daddy's favorite Christmas decorations!

Christmas at Nannie's
I could kick myself...I did individual family pics of everyone, but we didn't get a big group picture this year...oops

Tishie with my brothers' kids.
She was feeling so good that day!!

My Tishie and me

I LOVE this one!

Ellie helped me make the cake that you'll see farther down in the pics...
(so did my mom, but it wasn't as cute to have a picture of me and her working on it together!!)

My Mom and Dad and Nannie came Christmas Day to our house.
This is the first year since Jeff and I have been a family for us to be home on Christmas Day and I was so thankful my parents and Nannie could come!! A new tradition at the Hughes house!

Avie showing Nannie her "Chicken monks" card!

Ellie was pretty excited about her new camera from us!

Something I never dreamed I would see...
my Dad brushed out Ava's hair after her bath.
They are so funny together - she loves her Poppa!
He does things with my kids that I don't remember him doing with me. Singing silly songs, combing out Ava's hair... Not to say he didn't enjoy being a Dad, he was just more worried about putting food on the table and carting us around to all of our activities...he is LOVING every minute of being a Grampa!

My cake. (with the help of Ellie and my Mom)
Paula Deen's peppermint cake.
I made one last year, one this year, and plan on doing it again next year!

My Avie and me in Murray

Luke, Meme, Ellie, Rosie, and Ava

Ellie is so proud of her "baby that looks like her"!
She changes her clothes ALL the time. When Ellie puts her pj's on, so does "Ella"

Decorating "cookies" (aka iced graham crackers) with Issy and Lydia (Ellie's bff)

BFF'S

Issy's first time ever to have Redi Whip squirted in her mouth...
that's common at our house!!

Headed out to see the Chipmunks Squeakuel!

New Year's Eve
(toasting with Ginger Ale!!)
Ava said, "Say Chairs!" (aka cheers)

Issy, Ellie, and Diz with Grandaddy Randy
Ava and Meemaw

The little girls in front of Nonee and Poppa's fire.

Blessings

2009-12-31T21:44:00.000-08:00

We have been counting our blessings around here lately! God has been so good to us this year. 2009 brought so many special blessings to our family.

My brother, who was told he had MS, got a call from the Dr. one morning and they said his brain scans look FINE - no MS!

My Dad has had several issues medically this year and has just been through all kinds of junk, but seems to be doing better, got some great news, and is enjoying life! He is the smartest man I know and I don't know what we would do without him!!

My mom has had a hard time because of everything going on around her, but she is our ROCK! I hope that I am half the mother to my girls that she is to me!!!!!

My cousin, Landy (aka Merk Merk), was able to re-enter nursing school and starts in a week or so! She'll be busy, but she will make an amazing nurse when she is finished!!!

And probably the best news of 2009 is that my favorite aunt in the entire world (and one of my favorite people in the world) is now in REMISSION!!!!!!!!! Never thought I would say that, but God had another miracle up his sleeve and He's not done with her yet! (and neither are we!)

I am so thankful for such a wonderful family and all of the blessings God has given me. My husband is amazing - he does things that girls are often jealous of, just to help me out. And my girls are such wonderful kids! I love being with them, even when they are not on their best behavior. Live and learn, right?

My resolution for 2009 is very simple: to be better. Whatever I am doing right then and there, whether it be cleaning my house, teaching my girls, working, or just being a wife, daughter, grand daughter, sister, cousin, friend, or Mommy, I want to be better.

Our Year in Review

2009-12-31T16:03:00.000-08:00

Go Colts!

Ice, Ice, Baby!!

Look out, Daddy!!

More ice at my parents' house

Neighborhood snow

My Dad rescued the girls and me from the ice and this was our view through his windshield...yikes!

Muwahaha...
Ellie was passing the time in the dark, waiting for Poppa

We thought Ava would be the brave, rough one, but she didn't care much for the snow

Ava and Tishie at a small concert at Mom and Dad's church with the Easter's

Landy's birthday party - 80's style

We played the best April Fool's joke on Dave and Kathy!
(decorated their new car with "Just Married"!)

Two of my favorite people

the cousins

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ava had a sleep study done and we found out she had the high end of sleep apnea for infants...she later had her tonsils out.

Easter at Nannie's - the kids were not happy about pictures before hunting the eggs!

Playhouse Disney Live!

Ava when she had her tonsils out - she was a trooper!

this is one of my favorites of Avie

Happy Mother's Day!

My sick Avie...she had a horrible case of hand foot and mouth here - plus pink eye

Hank - 1 day old
He ran away and we miss him so!

One of my favorites of Ellie

The girls' baby dedication

We had Easter early at Nannie's so that Tishie could be there,
but we got together at Mom and Dad's on the actual day

Ya-Ya's Island

Easter in Murray

BCM Spring Retreat

BCE's kids (some of them, anyway)
(Jeff's job is called a BCE - Baptist Collegiate Evangelist)

We went to visit Tishie in Arkansas and Ava walked right out of her pants!!!

Memorial Day weekend at KY Lake

Down by the river in Evansville

Hank with his eyes open!!

My Dad in one of our favorite places - KY Lake!

Ellie when she got her tonsils out - she did AMAZINGLY well recovering!
(we decided 5 episodes of strep in 8 months was more than enough -
and she hasn't had it since!!)

4th of July

My kids (and me!!) love being at Nonee and Poppa's house -
especially in the summer time!!!!!!!

4th of July parade in Murray

baby birds in our front tree

Landy thinks this pic of Ellie should be in a magazine!!
Ellie has really started doing well swimming and is very brave
at the Y when she goes for lessons!

I know - Ava is without a swimsuit in this picture, but it's in our backyard...
she had NO fear this summer swimming in our pool!!

Our little photographer took this picture (Ellie).
This was at Jeff's first wedding that he preached - he did really well!

Cade playing at Nonee's

a wedding Jeff was in - some of the college students

the ice cream truck started coming to our neighborhood
for the first time this year - SO fun!

Hank was the best cat - so funny!
Protecting his toys - he had no idea that at one point, there really were birds in here. He was too young to climb that high when they lived there. He thought the insides were toys for him to pull out of the house and play with.

Rose and Luke playing in our pool

My brother is now raising chickens...no, he doesn't normally kiss them - HA!

Ellie tried SO hard to be brave!!

Our Avie turned 2 (and is a big Mickey Mouse and friends fan)!

We made several trips to the zoo and got to see this baby zebra at 1 week old!

Meet the Pirate! (aka Dizzy)

a great vacation in FL - we went with friends and visited family

Disney 2009

the Jones' at Sea World - we had such a good time!!

a typical picture - Ellie being cute and Avie being silly!!

pumpkin patch 2009

some of our best friends!

Murray State Homecoming 2009

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

the horse down the street - we walk to see him often!
I have LOVED getting in to photography this year

our Dizzy (Elizabeth)

Ellie was in a program at Mother's Morning out and did SUCH great job!!

she really did wear these shoes to her snowball dance with her dress!! cute!

fall fun at the park

Ellie's new best friend, Lydia

cousins=bff's

Our Elf on the Shelf joined our home this year - his name is Clark

Thanksgiving 2009

sure missed Diz this day, but got some great pics of the little ones

JD turned 1! (my brother's boy)

another typical picture at our house!!
one of my favorites!

Happy Halloween, Annie style!

Our sweet Ellie girl turned 5!

Gaither concert, December 2009

I thought this would be a great idea, since I haven't been the best at blogging this year. I always have good intentions of updating more often, but life gets in the way! :-) So, here is our year in review (the short version). More Christmas pictures to come...

Family

2009-12-11T18:59:00.001-08:00

My family is very close. These pictures will forever be some of my favorite!!! We went to a Gaither concert together, like we have done for several years. A friend of mine made some special arrangements for us and we were able to get floor seats. What a great night together!

Oh, what fun!

2009-12-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

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2009-12-03T07:48:00.001-08:00

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My Ellie Kate is 5!

2009-11-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

Oh, how time flies. I can't believe it's been 5 years already since our first baby girl came into this world!! If you don't know Ellie, she is sweet, sensitive, obedient, loving, smart,......the list could go on and on. She loves her little sister, although if she has the choice, she will choose to play with someone older than her. She has always been a little mature for her age and is drawn to older kids. She loves people and always wants to help. Our Ellie is such a blessing to us and to the people around her! We call her Ellie Kater (alligator) or Eleanor Katherine...no, her real name is not Eleanor, but people still ask me if it is!! Her favorite things are music (anything from Barney to Hannah Montana), playing doctor, using a cash register, coloring, playing school, and riding her bike. She's very good in her swimming lessons and loves going to Mother's Morning Out. Like me, she would rather be with her Nonee than just about anyone else, but loves all of our family very much and prays for them often. She had a very special bond with my Grand-daddy, who is not with us any more, but she still says, "I miss Grand-daddy Red!" She still asks us, "Is tonight a special night?", which means she can sleep in the bed with us. She doesn't like to be alone, and I'm okay with that. Happy Birthday, sweet Ellie Kate! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!!

Ellie at Sea World - almost 5.

Ellie, Jeff, Becky, and Ava - Sea World, Sept. 2009

Daddy Warbucks, Miss Hannigan, Annie, and Sandy (2009)

ELLIE IS 5!!!

Ellie's 4th birthday - see our noserings?? :-)

Ellie is 4 (2008)

Christmas 2007 (Ellie is 3)

Look at those curls!?! Ellie's 3rd birthday (2007)

We moved back from Texas when Ellie was 18 months old.
She was turning 2 here with my Mom and Dad. (2006)

Our earlier pictures are on another computer...we have copies, but I can't post them on here right now. This was when Ellie was 1. My Mom and Nannie flew to Texas (yes, Nannie got on an airplane!!) to visit us. We loved being in Texas, but it was so hard being away from family. Thankfully, we visited each other as often as we could and we were only away for 3 years. I will have to find some baby pics to post. She was a pretty cute little baby, but has turned into a beautiful little girl!

Kindermusik

2009-11-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ava LOVES her Kindermusik class - and so does Ellie. The teacher is nice enough to allow siblings and since Ellie's class is much different, she just enjoys Ava's - along with 2 other little girls her age.

cleaning house

2009-11-05T18:35:00.000-08:00

The above picture is the "after" shot of the right side of our garage (plus some party supplies).

This one (above) is "before" of the left side.

"Before" of the right side.

"After" of the right side.

My mom came and helped me clean out the garage so we could have Ellie's birthday party out there and it was a huge hit!! My mom knows how to "get 'er done"!

2009-11-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

After school (Mother's Morning Out) with 2 of their new best friends (twins).

Landy, these are for you...

Avie

Ellie

So, I still don't have a "studio", so the lighting on these didn't turn out just right, but they are still pretty darn cute. The flowers are especially for Landy. She thinks flowers in your hair is the perfect accessory...flowers and feathers! :-) Love and miss you, Merk Merk!

Where's your pumpkin?

2009-11-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

This is Ava's version of "Where is Thumbkin"
I guess with all the talk of pumpkins,
she thought that was what we were saying. :-)

Happy Birthday and Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

Ellie will be 5 tomorrow!

Avie getting in the candy!

Bam Bam and Betty
(my sister-in-law and nephew)

Daddy Warbucks, Miss Hannigan, Annie, and Sandy

Ellie and Issy

Oh, we had such fun today!! Tomorrow is Ellie's birthday, so we had a big birthday party (pics to come), then everyone dressed up and we went trick or treating. LOTS more pictures coming soon!!!

Fall Fun

2009-10-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Our trees are losing their leaves fast, so even though their hair isn't fixed in some of them and they are wearing play clothes, I still thought these were pretty cute.

Kindermusik Halloween Party

2009-10-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Limbo to the Monster Mash

Running back to Mommy

Ellie and her little friend, Ava

Ava making her pumpkin

Ava, Ellie, and Ava
I think this one should be a Kindermusik advertisement!! :-)

My Sweet Ava Claire is TWO!

2009-09-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

At 2, Ava can count to 10 independently, sing her ABC's, recognize her name in print, sing Twinkle Twinkle, sing Hush Little Baby, sing It's a Small World, sing Happy Birthday, recognize the 8 primary colors independently, draw a line and a circle, pee in the potty (pooping is still in progress...) and is telling stories like crazy. Her sentences and questions amaze us every day!! We were checking out the sharks at Sea World and talking about how big they were...and she found a small aquarium and said, "See these tiny fish, mom?" Last night she brought me a Barbie and said, "See her shoes and her socks?" She is such a ham, happy, silly, smart, and LOVES her sister! She is also very strong willed, so it is sometimes hard to draw a line between disciplining her and breaking her spirit, which we don't want to do. Ava Claire, we love you to pieces and can't wait to see what the next year brings!!

Clearwater Beach, September 2009

2009-09-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

It was really windy on the beach, but I think our pictures turned out great!

Ava didn't like walking in this part of the sand -
there were several broken shells, so it kind of hurt to walk on them.

So fun!

One of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

Hughes' and Jones'

Madison, our cousin. She was 1 in August and is so sweet!!
She's very well behaved and a happy little camper!
This was our first time to visit and I was so glad we got to meet her and her mom.

Sweet picture of Hadlie and Julie.
Hadlie wasn't fond of the ocean, but this picture doesn't show it.

Avie loved the water - and Ellie like it more than I expected her to.

Disney 2009

2009-09-27T08:23:00.001-07:00

Oh, we had a blast at Disney!! Our good friends went with us and our girls had so much fun together. This was day 1 at Disney - the Not So Scary Halloween Party! Lots more pictures to come!!!

Dizzy

2009-09-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the girls' first day back to Mother's Morning Out. We call it "school" for both of them and Ellie's class is very much like preschool. They had a great time! Ellie loved it - Ava didn't like me leaving her and some of the other kids were already crying, so she cried for a little bit, but settled down and had fun. She only had one accident while she was there, which I thought was pretty good!

We finally got to go to one of Elizabeth's (Dizzy's) games. She is a cheerleader and it worked out for us to go to a football game to watch her cheer last night. She did really well and my girls loved watching her (so did the rest of us).

Tishie and Landy got to go, too!

JD looks like a little stinker in this picture. :-)

The star of the show!!

Hank!

2009-09-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our kitty is the best. He's just a great cat. Fun, easy going, playful...and he makes us laugh all the time. This morning, the girls were jumping on the trampoline with Jeff and I heard Jeff tell me to look at Hank. This is what I found. Looks like he is saying, "Back off, birds. This is my house!"

this one's for you, Landy

2009-09-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

this week in pics

2009-09-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

ellie was showing me how she can do a toe touch like her Diz

Mom and Dad took the girls to Dizzy's game to watch her cheer

I rode to Arkansas with Landy so she could go to Tishie's doctor appointment...
we slept in the same bed and as we were getting ready to lay down, we noticed a similar trend...
at least I'm not the only adult who still sleeps with my baby blanket!

Landy and Tishie on our way to IHOP

Avie saying, "So big" with her big girl panties on.
we decided to do the 3daypottytraining.com method.
the potty training is going...mostly still in the floor, but she has learned to stop mid-stream and finish in the potty - good progress, right?

Tishie

2009-09-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

I did this once before. This is a note that I copied from facebook from my cousin, Landy. This is for those of you who know Tishie, and to ask a favor of those of you who don't know her. Please keep them and the doctors in your prayers...

(from Landy)
Once again, I don't know where to start. We are beyond blessed to have such caring, concerned, and supportive family and friends. Y'all are the greatest. Too many to tag, so if I didn't tag you it doesn't mean I don't want you to know what's going on. And that you for being patient with me cause I know it takes me awhile to update you sometimes.

We met with her oncologist on Wednesday, expecting him to prep her for her long awaited second stem cell transplant. I don't know if I have ever explained what a transplant actually does, so here it goes just in case I haven't. They first remove stem cells from your own body by filtering your blood kind of like they do in dialysis, only they keep the stem cells. She has some "harvested" which means saved, at UAMS. They keep them frozen until they're needed. When it is transplant time, they give you a big load of nasty chemotherapy drugs then wait for all of your levels to drop. Once you have hit rock bottom, they transplant your stem cells back into your bloodstream. They are designed to help your body recover. The way the doctor described it to me is that by knowing they have these cells to replenish you, they can give you higher doses of chemo to kill the cancer without killing the patient. When we went in May, Mama wasn't strong enough to undergo one because she had been in and out of the hospital with infections. Her heart and lungs were not functioning well, and her kidneys only function at about 40 percent all the time. The risks were just too high, so he sent her home on some therapy to try to keep her cancer from growing until she could regain strength.

She is now much stronger than last time we went, so we were sure she would be ready for transplant. We found out, however, that her cancer has progressed greatly or "significantly" as he said, and that it is "not under proper control". She only has one new lesion, which is a good thing, but her cancer cells have multiplied greatly. Because she will only be able to have one more transplant due to her health status, she has too much cancer in her body for one to be effective right now. So this brought her back home for more lower dose treatment. It is the same as she had this summer (Velcade, Dexamethasone, and Thalidomide) except he is also adding a drug called Adriamycin. He said this has been effective for other patients who did not respond well to the combination of the other three drugs alone. His goal is for this new combination to decrease her cancer cells enough to be within a therapeutic range for a transplant. She will recieve this in two 28 day cycles, then we will return for further testing. Hopefully, she will finally get to have her transplant then.

I have no idea what God's plan for my mom is right now, and I may never understand why she has to have this horrible disease. I still don't know why Lista is gone, and I may never understand. One thing I do know is that although I may not understand, God does. His knowledge is far beyond anything I could ever comprehend, and I'm trying to put all my trust in Him. I don't always deal with my grief or frustration in the right ways, and not a day goes by that I don't wonder why two of the greatest people I've ever know have suffered so much. But to prove even further what amazing women they are, neither of them ever questioned any of it. They just accepted it and dealt with it, as Mama continues to do daily. I know that when Mama was scheduled to have her first transplant a little over two years ago, they kept turning her down. We didn't understand why. A couple months later, Lista was diagnosed. If Mama had been in the hospital (transplants are usually 1-2 month processes from beginning to end), she wouldn't have been home to spend that time with Lista. Shortly after Lista passed, the doctors felt she was finally ready. I know in my heart that God had a hand in that, because He wanted them to have those few months together before Lista went to be with Him. Knowing that gives me hope that maybe He has a bigger plan (obviously) just as He did before.

I don't know if I have explained things clearly or not, so if you have any other questions please don't be afraid to ask. We got some sucky news and Mama has a rough diagnosis, but I believe in God's timing, and I believe in miracles. I've been blessed enough to witness a huge one with her before. I am going to continue to pray for another miracle for the most deserving person, and I am asking you all to do the same. Please just try to remember her when you're talking to God. I hope her ears a burning for the next 2 months straight! We sure would appreciate it. Thank you so much.

More of the Zoo

2009-08-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

These birds were so cool. I've never seen them there before.
They were such a pretty pink and their bills were hillarious.

Look at that slobber!

This is how close they were - see his tail?

I love my camera - no way would I have gotten this picture with my old camera. The bats were SO fast flying in to get a quick drink and immediately moving on. They never sat still, except when they were hanging upside down.

Look at all those lily pads?!?

The baby camel was just born in April.
Her name is Miley, which Ellie loved, of course.
When baby camels are born, their humps lay over almost flat. As they grown and have more fat, the fat is stored in the hump, which is what makes it stand up. Didn't know that. Miley has 2 humps, but only one of them is standing as of now.
We have a book that says that a one hump camel makes a one hump poop. A two hump camel makes a two hump poop. Wonder if it's true?!?

The peacocks (or as Ava says, "peapock") were so pretty - but they are WAY too comfortable with people!! They wouldn't leave us alone! I learned something else, too - they shed their long feathers in late summer or early fall and grow new ones in the spring!

The Baby Zebra

2009-08-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo Friday and there was a baby zebra - he was only a week old!!!
We don't know yet if he is a boy or a girl, but Ellie decided he looks like a boy.

Ellie and the Wii

2009-08-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Ellie LOVES to play the Wii! She beats us almost every game. We'll be trying so hard to be strategic...and her ways are so non-conventional, but she manages to beat us - especially me!

Poppa feel better?

2009-08-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ava has been "calling" Poppa on the phone and asking if he feels better after he had surgery. She is very good at "pretend play". She'll make her little people talk to each other and ask each other questions. Her communication skills are through the rough. Poor girl. She gets it honest. My mom and I can talk to barn walls!!!!!

Ava can jump!

2009-08-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ava just learned how to jump with both feet off the ground. Ellie is over her fear of jumping high, so she's doing great, but she wouldn't jump with both feet until after she turned 3. Ava is our little daredevil!

Ava's ABC's

2009-08-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I think Ellie probably taught her how to sing her ABC's and how to count. She can do her entire alphabet, she just got camera shy on here. She can also count to 10 independently and to 20 with help?!? I don't think it's from Jeff and me teaching her, though. She tells us no, but will go along with whatever Ellie says!!

2009-08-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is a video of Ava's second Kindermusik class. She loves it! She's very good at listening to what the teacher says to do, until it comes to facing Mommy. She wants to see what the other kids are doing!! She does really well, though.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-08-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

sweet, sweet picture of Nannie and Ellie at mom and dad's house

Ava is a little water bug!

Jumping in with Daddy - something Ellie still won't do!

Ellie loves to swim when she can touch or hang on to something.
She did great in her swim lessons, though!

My mom and dad came to our house on my birthday. Jeff and Dad worked on projects around the house while Mom painted an accent wall in our living room.

Looks like a perfect place for a family picture.
Maybe when Dad is feeling better. This is in their back yard.

The baby birds (you'll see earlier pictures as you scroll down) are growing up.

With Julie and Hadlie at Ben and Michelle's wedding.

One of my favorite pictures of the girls swimming out back.

He's a hard working man!
My Dad loves his garden - and so do we!! He and mom work so hard around their house and in their yard. Dad just had surgery on his hip, but is doing well other than the normal pain. Although he just had another flare up of gout, which is horribly painful!

My mom's pretty flowers. I love how the one is in focus and the other is blurry.
Might have to blow this one up to put on our wall sometime.

Very telling of our girls and their personalities.
Ellie colored every little circle, then put a tiny dot of glue and a cheerio on each one.
Ava colored all over the place, used a ton of glue, and put cheerios wherever she thought they needed to be (beyond appropriate for her age)!! They both enjoyed it so much - think we'll have to do more like this.

Little Miss Ellie is quite the photographer.
Jeff and I haven't had a good picture taken of just the two of us in a very long time
and Ellie took this one!!!

Jeff's first wedding - Ben and Michelle.
It was a great wedding! For the rehearsal, Ben showed up in a costume with a ball and chain! Funny, sort of...

Our little friend that followed us from Nannie's house.
She sent a plant home with us and this little guy rode home with us.
I really thought they were very rare any more - almost extinct...guess we were the lucky ones.

This one is older, but so cute.
Ellie and her dance teacher at their "red carpet event" to watch their recital on the big screen.
No, they didn't match on purpose, but it made for a great picture!!

The girls enjoying Nonee and Poppa's corn.

It was storming and Dad went out in his rain coat to check on some things. He scared Ellie and she thought it was funny, but Ava still "tells" on him and says "Poppa scared me!"

Our baby birds not long after they hatched.
They are in our front tree, only I think they have now flown away. They grow up SO fast!

So, I'm a little obsessed with my new photography hobby. I have been taking my camera everywhere - and kick myself sometimes when I don't have it with me. BUT for my birthday, my hubby gave me a zoom lens for my camera and it has been so fun playing with it - it just makes me happy!!! Some of these are with the zoom, some are not, but I have gotten my money's worth out of this camera, that's for sure!

Oh, the things we've been doing...

2009-08-14T18:59:00.001-07:00

we went to holiday world today - had a blast!! It wasn't crowded, wasn't hot, didn't rain...perfect!
Ellie was driving us in the old cars - my Grand-daddy would be so proud!

Ava loves to take baths! She had a beard, but lost it before we could snap the picture.

bumper boats were popular today - ava is in the background

ellie's favorite was the lazy river

ava's favorite was Kima Bay - lots of water pouring, slides...
ellie didn't like the surprise water pouring on her head, so we watched

Ava started her Kindermusik class and LOVED it!!

We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse for my birthday!!

Jeff and Ellie at TX Roadhouse - when ellie was younger, we would ask her where she was born, expecting her to say, Texas. She almost always answered, "Texas Roadhouse!"

One of my favorite shows is America's Best Dance Crew -
partly because I love to see the dancing, but mostly because my girls love to try to dance like they do on tv!! They're both actually pretty good (and very entertaining)!

Jeff officiating his first wedding!! It was amazing!
More pictures on my other camera. I'll post those sometime...

Dancing the night away - literally! I was sweating and Ava wouldn't let me put her down or stop dancing!! Ellie had a blast! Cole and Christine were there, too.

my girls loved dancing at their wedding
- and Jeff and I weren't complaining about such great family fun!

Brett and Niccole's wedding

Mr. and Mrs. Luker!!
College students in Jeff's ministry at USI. They just graduated, got married, and are living in TX where Jeff and I did in seminary!! It was a beautiful wedding and such a fun reception!!

The HUGHES fam at their wedding

Ellie girl is tonsil-less

2009-07-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

These loaded backwards, so you might want to read from the bottom up! :-)

Ellie and her friend (a neighbor) had a tea party and a birthday party for her bears at 10:00 pm after she got her tonsils out?!? She started really feeling better, so I was baking cupcakes at 10:00 at night!! I was just glad she was feeling so good!

Jeff and Ellie napping before we came home.

She told us before they took her back that she wanted sprite when she woke up.
Jeff and I went back to recovery with her and the nurses were laughing saying the first thing she said was, "Can I have some sprite?"
(and of course they went on and on about how cute she was!)
We got a video of her drinking her sprite - her eyes were closed and she was so out of it, but if that straw ever left her mouth, she opened her mouth like a little bird and started drinking again!! It was hillarious!

This was before they took her back. She did great and only acted nervous when the doctors came to get her - 2 men?!? One finally offered to carry her and she was fine after that.
I was a mess, though!

and last but not least, this is the mark Ava left on poor Ellie's back from biting her!!!?!?!?!?
They were playing, so Ava wasn't mad at her - not sure why she did it, but she did it again the next day. We had just told our babysitter that we don't spank her - but we totally ate our words. She got a pretty good little spanking plus time out both times for biting!!!

Ellie is doing great! We went to Chuck-E-Cheese last night and she ate a whole piece of pizza and played harder than she ever has! She doesn't typically like the tunnels you climb up through, then slide down, but we took a friend who is 9 and she went up with them and both girls loved it! Ellie slept until 11 this morning!!

Grand-daddy "Red" and Lista

2009-07-20T19:52:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to put a couple of pictures up of Lista. We miss her terribly! She and Landy were such good sisters and Ellie and Ava remind me so much of them!! It will be interesting to see if they grow up to be like Lista and Landy.

We all love this picture of Lista, but I am especially fond of it because it's one of the few that I have of her holding Ellie. Sure wish my Avie could have known her.

Nannie and Grand-daddy
Ellie calls him Grand-daddy "Red"
(Red was his nickname that most people knew him as because of his red hair)

love this family picture
Christmas 2007

I got so emotional at the 4th of July parade when I saw all the antique cars!
Grand-daddy had several and boy did he love parades! He was all about the attention. He even drove Santa in some of the Christmas parades, and he loved driving the beauty queens around. It's funny because that is one of my favorite memories of being with Grand-daddy - his old cars and parades. Jeff's favorite memories of his gran-gran (one of them) is parades - he always put his horses in the parades.
Anyway, I got emotional again when we went to the Otter's game. When we walked in to the baseball game, there was a song playing from A League of Their Own, where Grand-daddy was an extra and his car was the one the teenager drove Gena Davis to the bar to warn the other girls in!! He drove the girls and me in to our wedding in their yard in that car.
I love the memories I have of my Grand-daddy and hope my girls always have special memories of their Papa and D!

July pics

2009-07-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Reading with Ms. Kathy - a sweet lady from our church (who happens to be our pastor's mom and our life group leader's wife, along with one of our lead teachers in children's church.) Our girls really like Ms. Kathy and she brought them this book last week.

Ellie has been reading a lot lately. One night, we read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss. I didn't catch this, but at the end of the book, she said, "They never said 'There's a wocket in my pocket!'" I'm so glad she comprehends things as well as she does! Like I said, I never even thought anything about it, but she was right, other than the title.

Our sweet, sweet girls.

all the cousins in Murray for the 4th of July

Grandkids!
These are Jeff's parents and his sister's kiddos.

runnin' on the quad

Right in the middle of campus at Murray State, there is a big open area everyone refers to as the "quad". That's where the famous shoe tree lives, only it was hit by lightening and the top is gone. If you don't know the story, when people meet at MSU and get married, they go back and nail one of each of their shoes to the "shoe tree". Jeff and I did - we'll have to find pictures to post...

Avie playing "ride a little horsey" with Nannie

Happy Birthday, Tishie!
We love you!!!
Landy laughs and says Tishie is like a cat and has 9 lives...and that she still has several left!
We sure hope so! I want my kids' kids to know my Tishie and how special she is!!!

Daddy's girls on the 4th of July

my clone :-)
Ellie has had a weird summer. She is so influenced by some of her friends in ways that I don't approve of, but when she's with us she is such an amazing kid!
I have to find a way to have some balance and continue to teacher her how to make good choices, even when everybody else doesn't.

cousins at the lake
My brother's kiddos with mine at KY Lake on the 4th.

Ellie loves to help Jeff shave!
He's nice enough to let her put the shaving cream on his face...although it doesn't always all end up on his face?!?

Ellie painting her own room!!!
She's so grown up!! My mom said, "Ellie, how many 4 year olds do you know that get to paint their own room?" Of course, my mom went back over her work with a roller to "smooth it out", but Ellie painted her little heart out!

I'll post pictures of before and after, but my mom painted the girls' bedroom pink!
It's perfect - the girls love it and so do I! They wore rags on their heads to keep the paint off their hair, but somehow ellie's hair ended up with pink highlights! :-)

another pic of my brother's kids with mine at KY Lake
my sister-in-law made all the little girls tutu's!
(and my other sister-in-law - Jeff's sister - made my girls hairbows for the 4th)

So, my sweet Avie is highly allergic to mosquito bites! She got one right between her eyes and her whole face swelled up. I laugh so hard every time I see this picture, but it wasn't funny at the time. She looks like she belongs in who-ville with Dr. Seuss. I know some people have to go to the emergency room because they can swell up so big they cut the circulation off. Thankfully, we haven't had to go through that yet. Just lots of repellant and a benadryl after bite stick.

money, money, money, money....MONEY!

2009-07-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

I feel like we've been out a lot of extra money lately. The girls both got tubes in December and Ellie got her adenoids taken out. Sleep study for Ava in March, Ava's tonsils out in May, and this Thursday, Ellie will be getting her tonsils out bright and early in the morning. I hope all of these medical bills turn in to something where we can say...

2 sets of ear tubes = lots of money
sleep study = lots of money
tonsils out = lots of money
more tonsils out = lots of money
a good night's sleep with very healthy kiddos = PRICELESS!

Avie is 21 months!

2009-07-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Our Avie is growing up way too fast!! She is talking in full sentences and you can understand about 90% of what she says, she is working on potty training and will go #1 in the potty most of the time, but we're still trying to convince her to do #2 somewhere other than her diaper while she's hiding behind a chair! She and Ellie are sharing a bedroom now, so we bought bunk beds, but they choose to sleep together in a twin bed on the bottom every night. She did not like the fireworks - they were way too loud for her, she is sleeping like a champ now that she has her tonsils out, and she is allergic to mosquito bites. They swell up way bigger than normal, get super hot, then eventually ooze and scab over. We're doing as much as we can to keep the mosquitos away - spray, candles, spraying mouthwash all around?!?, and I just bought an ankle bracelet that is supposed to keep them away, so we'll see. Her favorite "chores" are laundry and dishes (woohoo!). She loves putting the laundry in the washer, then the dryer and helping with detergent and fabric softener and she always puts the silverware away - although when she's not looking, I go back and sort them because she just puts all of it in the same slot. She loves for Ellie to read books to her and she tells her "dood dob" (good job) - I guess she's heard me tell Ellie good job when she "reads" (from memory) books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years and I can't believe how blessed we are with such great girls!

outdoor beauties

2009-06-29T20:21:00.001-07:00

Little Miss Ava Claire is growing like a weed! She talks better than most 3-year-olds and says new words every day. She loves her "Sissy" more than just about anything! Tonight, Ellie tripped and fell, so she was sitting in the floor crying. Avie said, "My help, Sissy tying (I'll help, Sissy is crying.)" and she took her a baby to make her feel better!!

Oh, how I love this picture! So innocent. Ellie has decided that she loves dancing and without any prompting, announced that when she grows up, she wants to be a dance teacher. You go girl! Dance your little heart out!

beautiful

2009-06-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Doesn't Ellie just look like a little doll in this picture??

pretty girls

2009-06-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

ellie in her tumbling costume

Avie before church one day - I was so surprised she would wear that on her head!

a humming bird at my parents' house

ellie at our family reunion

avie at the family reunion - Jeff threw her in the air and she loved it. he tried to get ellie, but she didn't think that sounded fun at all?!?

HSM2

2009-06-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

If you know Ellie, you know she loves music and movies that are musicals. Annie, The Wizard of Oz, Doodlebops, Hannah Montana, and of course, High School Musical! That is one of her favorites. Murray has a "Playhouse in the Park" and they put on some great shows. We got to take Ellie to see HSM2 with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and 2 of her cousins. Gabriella is her favorite in the movie and it was no different in the play. At the end, the "cast" was coming out taking their bows and Ellie kind of clapped, although everyone else was standing, but when Gabrielle came out, she jumped to her feet and clapped as hard as she could!!! Then, we got to get their autographs and she got her picture with what she calls "the real Gabriella!"

Tonsils

2009-06-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I loaded my pictures backwards, but here are some pics of Ava the day she got her tonsils out. It took her a while to really wake up good, but then she did fine and was able to go home later that same afternoon. They said it would take care of the sleep apnea and it seems to have done the trick. She still doesn't sleep all night, but she is doing much better (only up once last night) and she doesn't stop breathing!

Avie

2009-06-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

Our Avie is so funny! She's talking like crazy now and I had to share some of her phrases. This picture was of her eating her first ice cream cone. No, I'm not funny about what she eats. She has never liked ice cream - until this week. I don't know if having her tonsils out changed the way textures feel or what, but she loves it and asks for it now. OK, back to her phrases.

"Daddy a mess my dink."
(translation: Daddy, I made a mess with my drink."

"Daddy a poo-poo a potty!"
(translation: She was telling our company one evening that Daddy was going poo-poo in the potty!)

"Mommy, a Nick a Ambe a home?"
(translation: Mommy, are Nick and Amber at home?)

"Mommy, awnt my nummies!"
(translation: Mommy, I want my nummies *all food is nummies.)

She's also starting to pee in the potty and is wearing panties when we are home during the day.

Pretty good for just turning 20 months old, huh?

Tishie

2009-05-25T13:19:00.001-07:00

This is my cousin Landy's post from facebook about her mom, my aunt Tishie.

Well, I really don't even know where to begin. It's been a long, rough few weeks and will continue to be for awhile longer. I guess I just want to say thanks for all the support, cards, prayers, etc. and to ask you to please keep them coming.

About a month ago while she was still in Little Rock, Mama suddenly got more confused than usual and she was admitted to the hospital. My dad, Nannie, aunt, and cousins were all there and she didn't know or react to any of us. She eventually became completely nonresponsive to everything- voice, touch, even pain. A team of doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, and one neurologist even told me not to get my hopes up. So we prayed and waited and one night she just looked at me and said "I just don't understand." It was one of the greatest moments of my life. We talked and I explained some of what happened that week while she was out, and we had a great talk about miracles. She knew that's what it was, and so did the doctors and nurses. It was amazing.

We met with her oncologist after about another week, and he didn't have great news for us. He said that we had 3 options. 1)Go home and enjoy our time while nature took its course. 2)Go home on maintenance chemotherapy, but he was doubtful it would help her. 3)Come home for a couple of weeks then go back to have her second stem cell transplant. He said because her cancer is so aggressive, more than a month would be too long to be gone. Mama said she's not ready to give up, and she was gonna keep on fighting. She is so brave.

We have been home for a couple of weeks now, but she got really sick on Tuesday night. I took her to the ER and her temperature went up to 103.7, so they admitted her. She has some kind of infection but they're not sure where, so today they said she would be there for about 4-5 more days. She is doing better, but we are all nervous about what this means in terms of her treatment in Little Rock. She can't have anymore chemo until the infection is completely gone or the infection might kill her. But waiting means the cancer might be growing rapidly. We have no choice but to take one day at a time, but the dr's statement about a month being too long is in the back of all of our minds.

I know people probably get tired of me always talking about mama, but I don't know what else to do. I feel so helpless so the only way I know to help is by asking for prayer. I know that's what brought her out of her coma or whatever it was, and I know it's the only thing that will help her through the next few weeks. I don't know when we will be going back to Arkansas, but I do know it's going to be a difficult time. The first transplant was rough, and they say the second one is always harder. I'm trying to have a positive attitude about all of this and I know God has plenty more miracles in store, but the nursing side of me knows what can happen.

Mama and I have had lots of talks about life lately. She is not scared of death, because the worst thing that can happen is that she gets to be reunited with Lista. And I'm not scared of her dying, because I know there's a place saved for her in Heaven. BUT I'm not ready yet and she's still willing to fight. I know she can beat this, but not without prayer and not without truly believing that God can heal her. I'm asking you to pray hard and believe that she can beat this. Also pray for strength and comfort as she fights this.

I don't know if I used my words right, or even gave you a very good update. This was just on my heart, and I wanted to ask for help and I know there are a lot of people who care about her and want to help her. She is an amazing mother and role model, and I learn more from her each day. Thank you for your support; we wouldn't make it without it. I tagged a few people but not everyone who has asked about her cause I ran out. Must mean a lot of people love her!

a sweet visit with Tishie

2009-05-15T10:29:00.001-07:00

We had the best time visiting with Tishie and Landy yesterday. They wanted to see Ava after she had her tonsils out, so they came to our house for a little while. Ava was feeling really good, so she put on a good show!! We hope to have many more visits like this in the future!!! Keep praying for Tishie and her health.

P.S. Landy just found out she got in to RN school in the fall!!!

what we've been up to

2009-05-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

downtown evansville

my flash went off, but the sunset was perfect

ava stands on her tiptoes all the time now

ava had fun running, but I was nervous because we were so close to the river

ellie thought the word buoys was SO funny!

right after we got home from the surgery center
I was watering the flowers and Ava enjoyed being outside

my dad's beard is always a big hit!

Avie running in her new gown.

Issy smelling Mom's flowers - she LOVES flowers!

Dizzy and her friend Cailyn with Hank

my avie and me

my ellie and me

JD - he is SO happy and well behaved!

sweet girls - my girls love their DIZ

I've tried to post this picture twice and it keeps rotating it??
oh well, it's cute

ellie loves to drive the tractor with papa

Mother's day with my sweet babies!

Ava would only ride the tractor if someone carried her on the back.

down by the river last night

Jeff's mom came to visit and we went for a walk down by the river while he was at work.

18 months

2009-05-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

chillin' on her couch

she says, "mine toes, pretty!"

so serious!

this picture wasn't rotated when I loaded it...oops!

ELLIE

So, Ava is 19 months old now and this month is passing by just as quickly as the others, but I never posted her 18 month pics. I'm editing some right now, but here is a sneak peek, plus one of Ellie when she was 18 months for comparison.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

2009-05-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hope all the moms and moms-to-be reading this had an amazing Mother's Day! I can't thank my mom enough for all that she continues to do for me! We have become great friends over the years, but she started as my mom and remembered that as she raised me, instead of being a friend when I was growing up. That's how it should be and I try to remember that with my girls. I had such great examples of being a mom, first of all from my mom, but also from her mom (Nannie) and her sister (Tishie). I practically lived with them growing up. I didn't spend as much time growing up with my dad's mom (Meemaw), but we lived in different cities and we hung out when we could. I also have great sister-in-laws who I hope my girls can look up to as they grow like I did with my aunt, and I have a great Mother-in-Law who is a good example for my girls. I am so thankful to have such a close family and hope that we can continue to be a close family in location and in relationships. As my girls grow up, I hope they have the influences that I had as a kid so that when they become moms, they can be as thankful as I am for great examples! I love you Mom! I don't say it enough. I have some pictures to post and will get them up one of these days.

more pics

2009-04-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite shots of Ellie!

Avie (that's what she calls herself, so it's our new nickname for her)
and Landy Easter egg hunting

Dad, JD (my brother's boy), and Mom

Avie again with her "Andy" (Landy) Easter at my Mom's

Check out how curly Ellie's hair is underneath?!?

My girls love their Landy!

update

2009-04-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

So, I really need to post like a thousand pictures, but I thought I'd start with just a few.

My silly Ellie "posing" for Easter pics!

Believe it or not, Ava's fever was almost 104 not long after this picture.
It was the start of her hand, foot, and mouth.

She's so silly! (and awfully cute, too!)

My attempt at getting a good pic of all the grandkids Easter Sunday.

My beautiful babies at our Baby Dedication.

Silly Sisters
This was right before we left for Arkansas to visit Tishie.

I have the best mom in the world!!

My brother's kids and mine at YaYa's Island in Paducah.
It was such a great day! They are such good friends!!

Jeff's Dad "D" and the grandkids at his birthday dinner.
The weather was so nice that day and they all got to play outside together.

Trip to Indy for Spring Retreat with the college students.

swamped!

2009-04-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

1. I am completely swamped! I can't keep my head above everything that I need to be doing - especially after last week.

2. Please pray for my aunt. My mom and my cousin went to donate white blood cells to her this week, along with my uncle (who is staying there with her).

3. The kitty is great - he only cries when he's hungry or needs to go potty, which is amazing considering how young he is. His eyes are not even open yet. The girls love him - especially Ellie!

4. Ava is talking up a storm! She'll put at least 3-4 words together to make sentences we can understand now. Pretty good for an 18 month old! She didn't talk much last week, but is back to talking and drinking - still not eating well.

5. Ellie learned how to do her cartwheel and got to ring the bell at dance class tonight!!! We've been working on it at home quite a bit and she has really been trying hard. I got it on video, so I'll post it one of these days.

6. This is random, but funny. Ellie has great communication skills - something both of my kids are good at. (Horrible sleep patterns, but Ellie is doing better and Ava will one of these days!) Anyway, when Ellie says something incorrect, it's so cute. The other day, she said something was the "more-est" instead of most! :-)

GOOD NIGHT! I can't stay up late any more because I know Ava won't sleep well and I am always tired when I get up, so I'm trying to get to bed earlier, even though I still have a ton of things to get done. They'll be waiting for me tomorrow, though.

sick, again

2009-04-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Good grief! It has been a rough week around here. My sweet Ava girl had hand, foot, and mouth disease - and if you don't know what that is, consider yourself very lucky. Ellie, Ava, and Jeff all had it to an extent last summer and it was not fun, but Ava must have had a really mild case because she has had it times ten this week! It's been awful! She was miserable and I hate to see my kids hurting. High fever, then really sore throat, then horrible mouth sores - to the point that she wouldn't swallow her own slobber because it hurt so bad. She has cried so much this week! She was hoarse and how she has pink eye, on top of everything else. She slept much better last night and drank some milk this morning, so maybe she is past the worst of it.

We also found out she has moderate sleep apnea and will be getting her tonsils taken out May 12.

Ellie has been so sweet this week. Very patient, helpful, and so far, healthy!

We got a new kitty yesterday. A friend called and had found some kittens whose mother died, so we took one. He is tiny - probably only 2 weeks old, so we have to set alarms to bottle feed him every 4 hours. He's pretty cute and Ellie is loving being his "mama". We're calling him Hank. Pictures soon.

Hard at Work

2009-03-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ava is such a hard worker. She loves to problem solve and figure out how things work. She gets really frustrated if she can't figure something out, though. She loves to sit and do puzzles and she was trying to learn how to strap herself in to the stroller here.

We have been busy around here, as usual. And sick, as usual. Ava had her sleep study, then Ellie had strep again, then I had a stomach bug, then Ava got the stomach bug and Jeff says his stomach isn't quite right today...I was hoping it would end with Ava and me.

I did get a new camera and have loved taking pictures with it, just haven't had enough time to post many of them. I did put them on shutterfly, so I'll share them one day soon.

Please pray for my aunt, Tishie. She is back in Arkansas to try to get her cancer under control.

Sleep Study update

2009-03-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

oops - I uploaded in backwards order - this was this morning after they took everything off and we were at the hospital to get x-trays of her adenoids - smiley as ever!

my sweet girl, wrapped up like a mummy

the lady worked around her ponytails, which worked out nicely because she could get to her skin easier, plus Ava could still twirl her hair in the night

I had to be super careful and didn't sleep much because Ava kept turning over in the night and all of those wires would wrap around her neck - she did so well, though!!!

Ava and I went to her sleep study last night to check her for sleep apnea. Although the dr. hasn't read the results yet, the unofficial word from the lady doing the testing is that she will for sure have her tonsils taken out because at the very least, her oxygen levels dropped way too low several times last night. Ava was such a trooper. She never cried, just didn't like some of it, but sat and let me read to her while the lady put all the wires and gauze on , the I told her which colors people liked on the wires, since there were probably 30 or more. She would grab a pink one and say Papa and a blue one and say Sissy, which was opposite, but she had fun listening to me tell her that Nonee liked yellow and Daddy liked gray.

The Wheels on the Bus

2009-03-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

sleep apnea?

2009-03-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

on our way to the ENT check-up

I found the girls like this, laughing hysterically!

can she get any closer without falling off??

Landy and Ellie :-)

Landy came to visit Sunday and went to church with us,
so I had to get some good shots of everyone dressed up!!

So, we found out yesterday that our girls' tubes look great and Ellie took her failed hearing test (after her left ear ruptured twice) and passed with flying colors. However, we talked to the doctor about Ava's sleep cycle and some concerns we were having. I had discussed with our previous pediatrician the fact that she stops breathing sometimes and was assured that it was not sleep apnea. I was not convinced. For several reasons similar to this one, we switched doctors, I had a conversation with Ellie's old Occupational Therapist, and decided to ask the ENT about sleep apnea. Sounds like our sweet girl has a classic case, so Ava and I are headed to do a sleep study. Not sure when yet, but I'll let you know. More than likely, she'll get her tonsils taken out and that will be the end of it. Seriously?? I wish we had known that in December when we had her put under for tubes in her ears?!? Oh, well. If any of you have any insight on sleep apnea, I'd love to hear it. The only comments I've heard so far are, "I didn't know someone so young could have sleep apnea" and "it's only sleep apnea if she doesn't breathe for at least 20 seconds", which is not true. That is way too long to stop breathing, especially consistently! I'll keep you posted...

Valentine's Day, a little late

2009-03-05T14:24:00.001-08:00

Ellie's class at Mother's Morning Out:

she and I took cookies to decorate and a tub of goodie bags.
My cousin Landy came to play with the girls, so that Jeff and I could go out for Valentine's Day. We ate dinner together at home (I don't even remember what I cooked), then Jeff and I went to a friend's house to watch Fireproof. Great movie, especially if you are married!!

My sweet Valentine's!

I just think my girls make holidays that much more special!!!

I do remember what I fixed for breakfast.

I (heart) U pancakes for Ellie and chocolate chip and peanut butter pancakes.

And our favorite, strawberries!!

My pictures are a little out of order, but this was Valentine's Day morning. Our girls play so well together!! This rocking horse was made by Jeff's "Uncle Buddy". He is also fighting cancer right now, so pray for him and his family. He makes our kids such great wooden toys - a pull toy that is a duck, a truck to push, a pull toy that is a grasshopper and his legs actually move...and I think there is a baby cradle for the girls in the making. I don't always talk about Jeff's family on our blog - I don't mean to leave them out and it's not to say that they aren't as special to us, it's just that we don't see them as often, so I don't always have stories to tell or pictures to share.

What a great Valentine's Day! Our girls enjoyed our gifts to them - new art smocks and paint to use with the easel they got from Jeff's parents for Christmas. They also sent them money, and so did my parents and my Nannie, so we put that money toward tickets to see Playhouse Disney Live!!! Fun times - pictures coming soon...

what a great day!

2009-02-26T19:54:00.000-08:00

We had such a good day today!! Ellie was very obedient and just so sweet today! (Which was nice because she's been pouty and pushing buttons lately.) Anyway, as I was rocking Ava to sleep tonight, Ellie decided to have a birthday party for her bears with cake (play-doh), candles, drinks, and their "present" was a play house (which is what my parents built the girls for Christmas!) Cute and creative!

The weather was beautiful today!!! We HAD to go outside for a few minutes after Mother's Morning Out and before Ava's nap, so I brought my camera and snapped some pretty cute shots of my girls!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one of Ava!

It's been hard to get a good picture of Ellie lately. She's either acting silly or doing her fake smile or her hair is crazy...but this is one of my favorites of her EVER! Her hair was super cute today - she wears it like this a lot. Messy buns, is what we call them - dog ears with her hair only pulled half through. It was super curly today, too, which made it even better.

Ava has just switched to calling us Mommy and Daddy, rather than Mama and Dada - it's so cute!

Ellie cracks me up with how grown up she sometimes acts. Our babysitter came last night for us to go to life group and Ellie said, "So, Christine. What did you do this weekend?" Then she said, "My mommy BABYSITTERED Adaline." It was so hard not to laugh!!!!!

This is a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDY!!! My cousin turned 26 on Saturday and I was able to hang out with her some that night and we had a blast! I wish I could spend more time with her. Maybe when she finishes nursing school, we can live even closer together. Anyway, we love you, Landy!

random pics

2009-02-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

jumping at Pump It Up!
We had such a good time! Ellie got to go to a birthday party for a little girl she's in dance class with. Ava got to go too and she was such a little daredevil! She loved the big slides - she actually helped Ellie not be so timid.

my pretty girls - even in their play clothes, I think they're the cutest ever!
I guess my mom took this one while I was at work Monday.

on their way to school (Mother's Morning Out) - how did they get so big so fast?!?

this was Ava's expression the whole time at the party - she loved it!!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

2009-02-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

I could post hundreds of pictures from the ice storm, but here is a link to some of my favorites. We lost power for a few days, so my dad came and got the girls and me, since they have a generator, gas heat, and a gas stove. We ended up getting to spend some time with my cousin's kids, who we don't see very often, and with my brother's kids. My nieces actually came back to our house after we got power back and spend the weekend, which they don't get to do very often, either. We actually had a good time and were safe, so it wasn't bad at all. My parents just got power back last week, though, so they had a harder time than us. The ice was pretty when the sun hit it, but I'm over it and done with ice for a LONG time!!

Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79226&id=504816953&l=b9305

More new words

2009-01-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

Ava's favorite word

2009-01-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

Ava loves to walk around saying, "dubba dubba dubba" and it's SO cute!!

Ellie's first piano lesson

2009-01-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here is Ellie playing her song after her very first piano lesson.
I played piano growing up, so I'm teaching her instead of taking her somewhere and it's so fun!!

SNOW!!

2009-01-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

Ellie and Ashley

Ava and Emily - we call her Emmy, and Ava says, "Memmy"

Ellie girl making a snow angel

Ava going for a quick ride - she didn't stay on long. We use this sled inside and I pull them up and down the hall and Ava says "ride" over and over again, so I thought she would love it, but she just wasn't sure what to think about it.

All the kiddos

It snowed here today - and it is such a pretty snow!! We bundled the girls up and went outside. Surprisingly, Ellie loved it and Ava didn't know what to think about it. She wanted to be held most of the time and Ellie was right in the middle of it all. We played with our neighbors and it was so fun - nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air - even if it was cold air!! Makes me want to go snow skiing.