ABC's of Lately

A is for Austin.  We just got back from a weekend trip to Austin to hang out with Casey's friends from college (and my friends, too! I've now know them for as long as I've known Casey, minus 2 weeks.) We had a fun time hanging out, swimming, and catching up!


B is for baby #2. We have our next doctor appointment set for July 16th and are really hoping to find out the gender that day as well! Still trying to think of a creative way to tell friends & family…not sure I'll do the gender reveal party again, so I'm trying to come up with something new and fun!


C is for Casey. Sawyer & I are so lucky to have him as husband and daddy. We tried hard to make his Father's Day extra special. Seriously, it was as if Sawyer knew - she was extra sweet and extra "Daddy's Girl" for him. :)


D is for doctor. Sawyer had a pretty big fall out of her high chair--it's actually a booster seat in the regular chair of our kitchen table, which is a pub table, so that means a tall chair:( Not good. It ended with a very bloody nose, mouth, and bruised forehead. We took her straight to the doctor hoping that we wouldn't be sent to the ER. Fortunately, we weren't. They checked each one of Sawyer's teeth, her nose, and asked us a few questions about how she was acting. She was fine and happy, but gave us a good scare.


E is for Ezra the Escape.  He recently turned 100,000 miles and really it just made me miss Sally. I got Sally in 2002 with only 7 miles on her and I know it sounds silly, but I always thought I'd get to see her turn 100,000 miles and I didn't. Sad times. Ezra is a good car, but just not the same. 


F is for family & the Fourth of July. We are going camping with Casey's family for the 4th this year and I'm really excited! Casey's parents have an RV that easily holds the whole family (that's 6 adults, 1 kid, 3 babies to be exact! (4 if you count the one in my belly;)) and we've only taken advantage of going with them once and that was before we were even married! The night of the 4th we'll see fireworks and then we'll stay another couple of nights. Fun times!


G is for garden. Ours is going wild and I love it! We have about 25 tomatoes and half as many peppers getting huge! I can't wait to pickle some banana peppers and put home-grown tomatoes on my salad! Yum.


H is for Horton. That's my maiden name. I realized when one of my good friends didn't know my maiden name that it is actually very important to me that you know it! I have the book Horton Hears a Who (have had it since I was a little girl) and am just waiting on the elephant and movie to complete my collection. ;)


I is for ice-cream. I crave it like a mad fool when I'm pregnant. Okay, I always crave it, but I just feel more "okay" with eating it regularly when I'm pregnant. Heehee.


J is for Jerry. One of Casey's best friends turned 30 today - kinda crazy, and means that Casey will turn 30 in 7 months!! I'm gonna be married to an old man! ;)


K is for knocked up. It feels like half of the people I know are pregnant right now! Most of them are due sometime before me, and a few right after me. Excited for all of baby #2's playmates! Lots of babies bein' born in 2012!


L is for lobster. Casey is my lobster. *Name that tv show!!* (If you can't, we're probably not that great of friends. Haha!)


M is for masters degree. I am getting mine in counseling and taking 9 hours this summer. I am sooo close to being done, I can almost taste it! I have completed 27 hours of a 52 hour program and after this summer I'll have 9 more (totaling 36!). I am doing my first internship this fall (there are 3 semesters of internships) and am very excited!


N is for nanny. I think most people know that I keep 2 twin boys during the school year, but a lot of people don't know that I am keeping 1 little boy 2 days a week during the summer! I'm like an official nanny. Haha :)


O is for Obama or Oprah? If you had to vote for one of them for president of the United States who would you pick?? I would love to know your answer in the comments section. :) Might be a hard decision for some of you! Ha!


P is for Pets. I'm trying to talk Casey into letting us find a new home for both of ours…I know, it's super sad, but I really don't want to overwhelm myself anymore than I have to when baby #2 is born. I remember how stressed Lucy made me in the first few weeks when we brought Sawyer home. I think poor Lucy is going to get less and less attention and she deserves a lot! She is a very sweet dog. If I could give her to someone for 2 or 3 years and then ask for her back, that is what I would do. Sawyer loves her. (Casey doesn't like Ella, so I know he'll be okay with me finding a new home for her, but that makes me sad, too, and for some reason I can't get rid of just one of them without feeling guilty for keeping the other! Plus, Ella is way less work than Lucy, anyway). Pet owners - please don't hate me. :( I already feel bad about this and will probably take months to make this decision.


Q is for q-tip. Unfortunately Sawyer inherited my super waxy ears. Poor girl.


R is for reading. I haven't been hooked on a good book in a little while, BUT I started a new Bible reading plan on my iPhone in order to read the Bible in a year's time and I look forward to reading each day! Turns out the Bible can hook you, too. How 'bout that?!


S is for shoes. Sawyer got her first pair of "real" shoes (you know, the kind you can actually walk in)! She loves them and will pick them up and try to put them on her feet. Never before had she raised her foot to help me put her shoes on before these shoes. They must be really comfortable, or maybe she just knows they are better for your feet when you walk on hot surfaces. ;) Either way, she likes them and I'm happy with my purchase!


T is for tickle.  Casey tickles Sawyer to death and she giggles and giggles and giggles. It is so stinking cute!!! I need to video it, but every time she gets to giggling I don't want to leave the room to go get the camera! She takes my breath away when she gets like that. Pure joy.


U is for umbrella. A couple of weeks ago I met Alycia in Dallas for lunch at Sfuzzi! We had a grand ole time and about 2 hours in we were wrapping up and ready to head out when we looked outside to see a huge downpour of rain--really it wasn't coming down as much as it was coming sideways. It was more rain than I had seen in a while actually. So we decided to order dessert and ended up staying another 2 hours until the rain was completely gone. I never have my umbrella when I need it, but in this case it turned out to be fun! :)


V is for vision. Television that is! There is nothing on TV during the summer and I hate it! I watched an entire season of 24 and am just waiting to borrow the other seasons from my sister-in-law (hint hint! :) Casey and I enjoy Big Brother and are waiting patiently for July 12th. Ps. we don't have cable or netflix, so please don't start suggesting tv shows that we can't watch - it's mean! :)


W is for wagon. Sawyer loves her red wagon and takes rides around the backyard frequently! Casey pulls her around to water the garden and trees and she waves at me on the porch and smiles. So cute.


X is for x-ray. I'm supposed to go to the dentist next week and always think it's fun to tell them I can't get an x-ray since I'm pregnant! I don't like how often they x-ray my teeth anyway! I've never had a cavity and don't think I need an x-ray every year. They just want my money! haha.


Y is for yawn. I have just not been getting enough sleep lately! Or maybe I'm still extra tired from being pregnant. Either way, I'd like a nap! 


Z is for zoo. We have taken Sawyer to the zoo two times this year and she has loved it both times! I think she is going to be an animal lover for sure. 

Presidential Respect

The past week and a half my students and I have talked a lot about Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr....

Having gone to a private school full of white people, this has been the very first time that I have really thought about the impact of Martin Luther King on our country. Now that I teach a very diverse group of students I can see the impact that it has made on them. They can see a potential for their lives that boys and girls like them could not see in the 5o's or 60's and before that. The fact that we just elected our first black president speaks volumes to them. Regardless of political party, electing the first black man as president, having his 2 little girls in the White House, one of them the same age as some of my students is very powerful. I just love that we are a step closer to showing them that they are capable of anything.

I had my kids right a paper tying in Martin Luther King Jr. and yesterday's inauguration. A lot of them wanted to read their papers out loud. I felt overcome with emotion when I read some of them. I think they really get how important Obama's election is, and most of them aren't even "for" him (or their parent's aren't).

While I had opposing feelings about Barack Obama before he was elected, I very much respect him because he is our president. I had a long talk with my students on voting day...we talked about how once a new president is elected, we don't have to agree with what he believes or what he does, but we should respect him because he is our president. Our leader.

Our 44th president.

Political Talk

(Disclaimer: If you tend to get really steamed about politics when you don't agree...I would suggest you don't read it or if you are going to anyway, please don't leave me any "hate comments." Ha ha!)

Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit tugging at you when you're listening to someone talk? Have you ever just felt like you're being warned against what they were saying?

That's how I felt tonight while I was watching the presidential debate. In the beginning of this election year, I felt myself agreeing with Obama on several different topics. After listening to him for about a year now, I am beginning to see where I was "smooth-talked" or swayed by his eloquent speech. Tonight McCain said something about how we need to look past Obama's eloquent speech and listen to his words. He is SO right. Obama can really make you agree with him if you're not listening closely.

While I was listening to the debate, I felt myself being stirred. I felt uneasy about the things that Obama said. I really feel like it was the stirring of the Holy Spirit like I talked about before. I have only had that feeling that strongly a few times in my life. It is not just a "bad feeling" that you can sometimes get when you're walking down a dark alley, lol. It is a genuine stirring in your soul, where you know that what is being said is not truth. I felt especially grieved when they began debating abortion. I feel very saddened at the thought of losing millions more unborn babies at the hands of another careless political leader. While this will be my second presidential election to vote in, I feel that it is my first one to lean VERY strongly in one direction. Obama has been said to be perhaps the most liberal member of senate and perhaps the most liberal democrat to run the presidential race.