First day happenings

There is not too much to report. I sat in the car pool line for half an hour dying to talk to Matthew! I am told that the car congestion does get better so we will see.

In Matthew's words, school in awesome! They read stories today like Mrs. Bindergarten goes to Kindergarten. They took a tour of the school and met the P.E., music and art teachers. They played on the playground. All in a day's work.

His favorite thing was Sticky News. This is where Mrs. B asks the kids what they did this summer, writes in on tape and puts the tape on their clothes. Matthew came to the car with "I learned how to swim in the 8 feet deep water!" taped to his chest.

I am happy things went so well today!

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, Matthew is in school even as I write! He had a restless night of sleep last night. Around three he woke me and wondered if it was time to start getting ready for school! Then, Thomas came into bed with us and hit me over the head with his lunch box. He was convinced that he was going to school with Buddy so he held onto his lunch box (for 2 days straight) so as not to leave it behind!

When we got to school, I ran into a friend and started talking to her. Matthew walked up to the door and exclaimed in his "Moses voice", "Mom, hurry up! I have work to do!" OK, no fears about Matthew being scared! We walked into class, said our goodbyes, and left.

Thomas was quiet and sulking the entire way home. When I tried to get him out of the car, he said that he didn't want to get out. "I am thinking about how you wouldn't let me go to school." Rip my heart out.

I eventually coaxed him in and have been paying extra attention to him. He seems to be fine now. I keep thinking about Matthew and wondering what he is doing at this exact moment. I can't wait to pick him up!

'Twas the day before kindergarten

Today was mainly spent doing anything Matthew wanted. I told him that he was the boss for the day as long as he didn't abuse his powers! We played a lot of toys, watched TV and explored outside.

At one point, the boys were playing together and Matthew told Thomas that today was the last day he would be home during the day. Thomas got upset and said he wanted to go with Matthew. Of course, Matthew told him that he couldn't and Thomas began to cry.

"But Buddy, if you leave me, I will cry and cry!"

Very sweet. I think that he will eventually appreciate being top dog around the house.

Tonight, we packed Matthew's lunch, got his clothes laid out and read "The Night Before Kindergarten".

We are all going to bed early as our new schedule begins tomorrow!

Meeting the teacher

We just got back from "Blast Off" at Matthew's school! We were excited to meet his teacher, Mrs. B. I tend to get a little obsessive about things I can't control.

I felt this unease about not being able to pick Matthew's teacher so I have been praying that whoever would be the best teacher for Matthew be picked to teach him. When we went up to school on Friday to see whose class he would be in, we found out that he was getting a new to the district teacher. Still, I felt peaceful knowing that God was in control.

We were the first parents and child in the classroom tonight. I first noticed how bright and cheery the classroom was. Then, Mrs. B turned around with a huge smile on her face. She looked familiar to me so after doing some digging, we realized that we were in the same sorority at Baylor! She was a freshman when I was a senior. Her husband graduated from Baylor Law School and is a huge Baylor sports fan, just like Bryon! The more I thought about it (reversing 9 1/2 years) I remembered her sweet smile as a plege while I was a chairperson for our sorority's All University Sing act.

While knowing a person doesn't necessarily translate into a fabulous teacher, I know that Matthew will have a young, sweet, Christian woman to spend the majority of his day with. This is very comforting to me!

I feel so peaceful about the teacher that God chose for Matthew. It is going to be a great year!

Advertisements masked as comments

Is anybody else getting annoyed at the advertisements posing as comments? First advertisers started calling our homes, then put stuff in our mail, then cell phones, then email, now blogs. Nothing is sacred.

Mary Beth's party

Well, the birthday party is over and everyone has left. I have spent the last two days preparing my menu and making the cake.

I absolutely love having a lot of people over for a big meal. I get a rush out of making my to do list and checking off things as I go. I got the inspiration for ME's cake from a place called Sweet Lisa's. I love her cakes!

Today I had my family and Bryon's family over for a birthday cookout. ME loved eating her cake and she got some really nice presents.

My parents got her a doll and chair, she got clothes from Lauren and Mimi and Big Mack, and she got toys from Michael and Shari. The big hit was the doll and baby stroller. They were a hit with Matthew and Thomas that is! Matthew kept calling himself the Daddy, and kept saying, "Daddys need to feed babies, too!" I guess they were interested in all of the toys that we have never had in our house before!

We are all pretty worn out tonight. ME is sleeping, Bryon is watching golf on TV, and Nana and Deedah are taking the boys to see March of the Penguins tonight. I am looking forward to a quiet night!

A day to remember

Today is my daughter, Mary Elizabeth's first birthday!






The first time I saw your face



When I look at Mary Beth, I see hundreds of prayers answered. I see God's love for me and his desire to open the floodgates of blessings on me.

Growing up, I always wanted a daughter. My mother and I are very close, and I desperately wanted that same relationship with a daughter of my own. Through God's infinite wisdom, he blessed me with two sons first. Although I felt a pang of sadness when I found out they were boys, the moment they were born, I wouldn't have traded either one of them for all the pink dressed, bow headed, doll holding, tea party throwing girls in the world. I loved them dearly, but there was always a part of me that wanted a daughter.

On December 10, 2003, Thomas's 2nd birthday, I was sitting in a Beth Moore bible study and the question was asked, "What is the deepest desire in your heart?" I confessed that I wanted a daughter in addition to my two sons. That somehow I didn't feel completely whole without her. The very next day, I found out I was pregnant with Mary Elizabeth!



My pregnancy was happily uneventful. I survived the last trimester of pregnancy by spending a lot of time at the pool and even went to Schlitterbahn twice. At the beginning of August, I told my doctor that I was tired of being pregnant and he agreed to induce me on either Thursday, Aug 12 or Friday Aug 13. I told him that I did not want my daughter to be born on Friday the 13th! He laughed and agreed to induce me on Thursday August 12. I also thought that this would be a nice birthday, because it was my great aunt's (my grandmother's sister) 90th birthday.

Bryon went out of town the week of my induction because he had a meeting he couldn't miss. He took the boys down to Conroe and I had 4 days to relax and get ready for the birth. Bryon came home on Wednesday night and Thursday morning around 1 a.m. I started having contractions.



By the time I went to the hospital at 5:30, I had been having regular contractions for a few hours. My doctor checked me at 7 and said I was still a 1 and I would more than likely be there all day long. By 9 a.m. I was in serious misery and the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. This is when the fainting incident occurred that I blogged about previously! The epidural didn't take, and I was sweating and wanting to pull my hair out with the doctor asking, "Did you feel that?" I wanted to kill him.


She's here!
Finally around 9:50 the doctor agreed to do another epidural because the first didn't take. The nurse checked me and said I was a 5. Bryon called my mom to tell her she better hurry up and get to the hospital. I was still in misery, the worst pain I have ever experienced, and the doctor saying, "Did you feel that?"

The nurse checked me at 10 a.m. and I was fully dilated. She calls my doctor and he came in around 10:05. My mother came in around the same time. I pushed twice and my precious daughter was born at 10:13 a.m! This is right about the time that my second epidural kicked in!




The moment she was born, I felt a wave of peace like I had never felt before. I had my children, God had blessed me with a daughter, my family was complete.





I can't believe how quickly this year has gone. Not only did God bless me with the daughter of my dreams, she also looks like me, and she is the sweetest, happiest baby that I could imagine. She loves to dance, "talk", and be apart of the action. She always seems happiest when she is on the floor with the boys watching their antics. The boys adore her, Bryon has a new appreciation for the term "Daddy's Girl", and I have my prayers answered.

Life is good, God is good. Happy Birthday, Baby Doll!

A bad day followed by a good day

Yesterday was an awful horrible no good very bad day. We were cooped up in the house watching the rain falling. I was exhausted after 4 nights of poor sleep. Bryon has been out of town, so I have been doing all of the parenting. The kids were in desperate need of an outlet to burn off excess energy. Instead of riding their bikes, they took out every toy they could find and made a huge mess. We are having a lot of people over on Saturday to celebrate ME's first birthday, so I am trying extra hard this week to keep everything straight.

Around 5:30, I decided that we would go to church even though Bryon was going to be working really late. He had been in a conference the beginning of the week and would be in trial all of the rest of this week and into next week so he needed a long day at the office.

I raced around and got everyone fed, cleaned, and clothed. I got myself dressed, hair done, and make up on. I loaded everyone in the car, ran inside to get Thomas's shoes, and we were ready to go. Then I went inside to get my keys which were no where to be found. I had just been out on a drive and I had them less than an hour before so they had to be around here somewhere! I told Matthew to get out of the car and help me look. We looked in every room, in my purse, in the car. No keys. It is now 7 o'clock and there is no way to get to church. So I shakingly defeated get everyone out of the car, take off Mary Beth's dress, console the boys who were so excited to be going to church and getting out of the house. I put everyone to bed early and promised the boys that we would have a fun day tomorrow.

This morning I went back into my car to look one more time for my keys. I found them hidden in Thomas's shoes. On my way out last night, I had them in my hands and they must have slipped into his shoes!

I told myself that we would have a good day today, and so far so good. Matthew surprised me this morning by making my bed and brewing coffee for me. He made it perfectly with just the right amount of splenda and cream. We got dressed and headed out to Riverside to play at the park and swim. No one was around so it was very quiet. A cool breeze was blowing and everything looked green and fresh after the rain. I sat back and watched the boys laughing together in the pool and tried to savor every second. Next week at this time, Matthew will be at school and the lazy mornings will be gone. Although I am looking forward to getting back on a routine, I know I will miss moments like this.

A bone to pick with Mother Nature

It's one thing when my kids wake me up at night, but when Mother Nature rears her ugly head between 3-6 a.m. I get a little irritated! We had what I would guess to be one of the loudest and brightest thunderstorms I have ever experienced last night. The windows rattled every few seconds and the lightening literally never stopped for hours. We kept hearing the electricity turn on then off.

Thomas woke up at one point and came into our room. He was upset that the light in his closet was off. Remarkably, Matthew and Mary Beth slept through it. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Since I was awake most of the early morning, I am a little draggy today and the two kids are bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning!

I am concerned about Bryon today as he is going to be heading into the worst flooding in the area. I called him earlier and he said that I-35 looked like a battlefield. If you get the chance today, please say a little prayer for him. The rain still hasn't stopped and it is supposed to be this way most of the day. Oh, it's going to be a long day...

Official P.T.A. Mom

Tonight, I attended the first of what is most likely to be thousands of P.T.A. meetings! I was asked by a friend of mine who is on the executive board to be a member and of course I, Mrs. Overcommit, was only too happy to join! About 50 mothers met at On The Border for Mexican food, fellowship, and information about the coming year.

I am in charge of the birthday book club. This is a neat program that allows parents and grandparents to buy a book for the library in their child's honor. A name plate is put into the book and the child gets the honor of checking it out first. My duties are to work with the librarian, get the word out to parents, and most importantly, set up a booth on Grandparents Day. I have been told that more books are bought on that day than any other! Nana and Deedah, get your checkbook out! I am passionate about reading so I think that I will really enjoy this job!

I met several new people tonight as well as reconnected with friends from high school, college, and working days. I am excited about expanding my circle of friends by my volunteering at school.

I am so excited both for Matthew and for me about this year! We will both experience new things and make new friends. Only 9 days to go!!

Saturday night at the rodeo

I have lived in Texas for 24 years now and last night I experienced something that will lead me even closer to being Truly Texan: I went to my first rodeo! (See the side panel for pictures of the event.)

Bryon works in several small towns around the city where we live. One of these towns has a rodeo each year. Bryon helped sponsor the rodeo this year so we got tickets for whole family. The boys even entered an event, but I will get to that in a minute...

The rodeo we went to was relatively small so we were able to get choice seats. The first event was bronc riding. I had no idea what to expect, so my jaw dropped as I watched a man riding bare backed on a very angry horse, body flailing, for 8 seconds. Then, two other men riding very quickly on horses flanked the angry animal and the rider tried to jump onto another galloping horse to get off of the angry bronc. Wow...

About an hour and a half into the rodeo, the boys got to ride bare backed on sheep through the arena. This is known affectionately in the cowboy community as "mutton bustin'". This has been about all we have talked about for weeks. The boys couldn't wait to get their chance!

Finally it was time. Matthew was third in line. I watched as the first two children got onto the sheep and rode for a few seconds and fell into the mud. This was an outdoor arena and it had rained the past few days so it was very very muddy! Then, the announcer came on and announced "Matthew Barnhill!!!" The shoot opened and out came Matthew like greased lightening! He held on for dear life about 3/4 of the way around the arena. Over 6 seconds! People were screaming for him! (You know he LOVED that!)

Matthew ended up placing third among the 27 other children. Sadly, Thomas was so tired by the time it was his turn (almost 10 o'clock) that he decided that he should wait until next year! On the way back from the shoot, a bull rider came up to Matthew and told him that he was a real cowboy. So sweet.

Matthew was very disappointed that he only placed third. I told him that children in this little town don't have libraries, museums, and zoos to go to for entertainment. When they want something to do, they go outside and ride sheep. This gives them a distinct advantage over "city boys". For whatever reason, this explanation made him feel much better! I told him that there was always next year. He looked at me and said rather confidently, "Next year, I am not riding a sheep, I am riding a horse!" We'll see about that, little cowboy!!

Quotes from today

5 year old Matthew:
Matthew: "So I was talking to Matt the other day."
Me: "Who is Matt?"
Matthew (eyes rolling): "Mom, I was talking about myself metaphorically!"

Thomas: "Matthew hit me!"
Me: "Matthew, did you hit Thomas?"
Matthew: "Mom, he hit me first, it is true!"
Thomas: "But Mom, he hit me second!!"

Caution, next tale isn't for the faint of stomach:

Thomas came in smelling like poop. I realized it was coming from his hands. Apparently, it came from a whiping incident gone bad.
Me: "Thomas, what do your hands smell like?"
Thomas (rather sheepishly): "Poop"
I washed his hands really well with good smelling soap
Me: "Now what do your hands smell like?"
Thomas (taking a big whif of his hands and smiling): "Love"

Mary Beth is turning to the dark side

Around a year in age, both of the boys became unabashed Daddy's boys. They would cry everytime he left and would do about anything to be with him. I jokingly always called this turning to the dark side. Bryon called it turning to the dark side when they began seeing the light and became Mama's boys! (OK, Thomas is in the in between stage still!)

This morning, I was holding Mary Beth and talking to Bryon when she lunged over to him. I held my hands out to take her and she shrugged her shoulders and laid her head on Bryon's shoulder. You could almost see Bryon's heart melting. I took her back and a few minutes later, I kissed Bryon goodbye. She again lunged for Bryon and he couldn't resist one last hug. Mary Beth then looked at me with her sassy face (yes, my daughter already has a sassy face!) and waved goodbye to me! I couldn't believe it.

Use the Force, Mary Beth! Resist the Dark Side!!!

Happy Anniversary Bryon!!

Nine years ago I married the man of my dreams! Since Bryon is going to be very busy today, we decided to get up at 6:30, drink some coffee, and have a nice talk. Since the kids NEVER get up before 8 or 8:30, this would work out well. We were awoken before 6:30 by Mary Beth who I don't think has ever gotten up before 7:30 or 8 in her entire life. This woke up Matthew who insisted on staying up to play with sister. Thomas woke up because Matthew wasn't in bed with him. Bryon and I got a big laugh out of this and tried to have a conversation with our three rugrats crawling all over us! The events of nine years ago started the whole circus!

One of the most memorable moments of my wedding day was waking up early that morning to have breakfast with my Dad. We have always had an extremely close relationship and we wanted to spend some quality time together before the mayhem began. On the way to breakfast, Dad started crying. Up to this point, I had only seen my Dad cry once, so this was a little traumatic for me. I too began to cry. We went to Cracker Barrel and tried to eat between tears. When it was time to leave, the waitress came over and said that the person sitting right by us saw us together and paid for our breakfast! I don't know if she knew the reason for our tears but I am sure we looked pretty pathetic!

Our wedding was beautiful. Bryon looked so handsome in his tux. I just couldn't believe that I was going to get to spend the rest of my life with him. Our reception was also a lot of fun. We had a jazz band and lots of great food. After what seemed like only minutes, our reception was over and it was time to head to Dallas. We got into our limo and as we pulled away, I saw everyone cheering and I saw my Dad looking like he was holding back tears, and I began to cry. I don't think Bryon was expecting that reaction! I think it was just a let down response. My whole life I had dreamed of this day and had spent the previous nine months eating, sleeping, and breathing the events of the day and now it was over!!

We had a wonderful night in Dallas and headed for Bermuda the next morning. The alarm went off before 5 a.m! I was so happy looking at Bryon's hand with his wedding ring on. He would be wearing that ring forever.

That was nine years ago. All of the sudden, it is starting to feel like a long time ago. Our pictures show out of date hair and clothes. Cousins who were young in the pictures are now college graduates and married.

I feel so blessed to say that if I had to do it all over again, I still would marry Bryon. He is such a wonderful father and a thoughtful husband. I know that he would do anything for me. We love being together and feel like the other one is our treasure. Of course, we have had our ups and downs but we have always felt like God is in the center of our relationship. This is such a reassuring feeling.

Thank you God for nine years of marriage. May you continue to bless our relationship so that we may bless others by our relationship.

Last tuesday of the summer

I had a lot of fun on my last day of Mother's Day Out for the summer. I dropped the younger two off at church and took Matthew on a special date to get his school supplies. He was soooo excited! He wanted to hold the basket all by himself.

Then I took him to the dentist for his checkup. His teeth look great and he did his usual charming of the nurses. He informed them that he was working as a spy! The dentist was shocked when I told him that Matthew hadn't started kindergarten yet and had already lost 6 teeth! He told him to stop trying to grow up too fast. After buying school supplies, I felt the same way.

After I dropped Matthew off I ran a few errands and met a few girlfriends for lunch. We went to a really great little place here in town with incredible/overpriced/small portion food. Each time mother's day out lets out for spring or summer, we like to go to a nice place because it will be a few weeks before we can go out again!

Nothing else to report. I am watching a huge thunderstorm roll into our area which is always thrilling for me!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Cameron Park Zoo

The Playful Otters

A Lazy Leopard

Our zoo has made some huge improvements this year! It has always been nice and shaded, but they have added a new exhibit called the Brazos River Country. It takes the seven geographical regions that the Brazos River runs through and shows the wildlife found in that region. From pelicans and beavers at the gulf to cougars, bears, and otters in the Piney Woods, this exhibit is a must see! My favorite new part is the otters. They seems to want to play with the kids and there is a slide that runs through the water they are in so the kids can get even closer to the otters. When we went today, the bears were swimming and got within an inch (separated by plexiglass) of the kids! I am so proud of our little zoo!

Poison ivy and babysitting

I am suffering with the worst case of poison ivy that I have ever experienced. I guess I brushed up against some in my garden last week, but I now have it on both of my arms, fingers, stomach, back, neck, legs, and toe. I am about to go insane!

Today, one of my best friends is leaving her daughter with us all day. Her sister is having a baby and she, of course, wanted to be there. Her daughter and Matthew are great friends so it should be fun. I think I will take them to the zoo this morning to get out of the house. It should be interesting to have 4 kids 6 and under all day. Wish me luck!

Red Eye and Rounding off the Celebration

Today started off strangely. Thomas came in to our room this morning and one of his eyes was almost completely swollen shut. I told Bryon that it might be pink eye and he said, "Noooooo! Red Eye!!!!!" Knowing his obsession with red, we played it up and he was excited about having red eye rather than complain that his eye hurt.

Thomas and I spent the morning at the doctor which was not fun because I had to assure him every 7 seconds that he wasn't getting a shot. "This isn't a shot room, Thomas." Then he would give me an unbelieving look and point his finger to the needle disposal box.

This afternoon, my whole family went to the Parade of Homes again. I wanted to get Mom and Dad's opinion on certain details of the house to help with our house plans.

Tonight was birthday dinner at my parents. We had a delicious meal and I got to open presents. Lauren got me a piece of Waterford, Michael got me books, and my inlaws got me 4 plates and a platter that match my new summer dishes. Then Mom and Dad presented me with a list of 100 memories they had of me. Dad read them and kept getting choked up when he was reading. Of course this got me choked up as well. They also got me a beautiful clock. Mom gave Dad a clock on his 30th birthday, so they wanted to continue the tradition.

From the video last night, to Lauren's blog, to my brother's famously sweet card, to parents list, I feel so loved and so blessed by my family. I have enough warm fuzzies to last all year!!

Tonight

Wow! What a fun night! I feel so loved.

Most of the day was business as usual. Bryon did take Matthew to work with him and I got a glimpse of what life will be like in a few weeks. Very calm and quiet!!

I got to meet Michael's girlfriend, Jilinda, for the first time. Although she was sick, she came down from Dallas to help celebrate the day. She is very nice, down to earth, and a speech pathologist to boot. Sounds like a winner!

Bryon came home before the party and presented me with my present. A ruby and diamond ring. I have been wanting a ruby (July's birthstone) ring for a while but hadn't found the right one. Bryon and Lauren picked one out together and I just love it!

We got to the party around 6:30. Lauren and Bryon had worked so hard setting up our church community center for the party. There were pictures of me in various stages of life on the table as well as a bouquet of 30 roses. Bryon had On the Border cater fajitas and it was good like always. My closest friends were able to come which meant so much to me.

After dinner and cake, there was an announcement that everyone had to go in the other room to view a video. I had no idea this was coming! I knew that Lauren and Bryon had been burning the midnight oil getting ready for something, so this was the big surprise. It was a video of pictures of me from infancy to today. Each of my family members spoke on the video and it meant so much to me! I welled up with tears as well as the rest of the family. There were some comical moments as well. When Bryon asked Thomas why he loved me, he said, "I don't mememer!" I get no respect!

I feel so blessed to have a family who loves me so much. I couldn't love them any more! Tomorrow is my family party, so the festivities are only half over. Have a great weekend everyone!!

I posted a few pics of the party on my picture link.

My Birthday!!

Well, I woke up this morning not feeling any different than I did yesterday! The kids were very excited and sang Happy Birthday to me.

One of the things I love about birthdays is remembering what I have done almost every year on this very date. I was trying to remember yesterday some of my more memorable birthdays.

3-One of my earliest memories. We were living in Illinois. I had my church friends over and I had a cookie monster cake.
4- We went to New York and celebrated my birthday at my aunts house
6-I woke up this morning to watch Princess Diana and Prince Charles get married. Wasn't it sweet for them to get married on my birthday?
8-Mom and Dad took me to see Annie at the movie theatre and then bought me an Annie doll.
9-Again back at my aunt's house
10-One of my favorite birthdays. I got a new blue bike that I adored. Mom and Dad took me to a Hibatchi grill.
13-My aunt came down from Rhode Island to celebrate with me.
14-I had a swimming party at our house in Abilene
15-I was in Connecticut celebrating with my uncle's family and my cousin took me to the Milli Vanilli concert!
16-We had moved to Waco 2 months before and my parents took me to Dallas to meet my two best friends from Abilene at the Hard Rock Cafe.
17-I was at choir camp. This was also the first day of my training to work at HEB our local grocery store.
18- Went to Dallas and ate at Pappadeaux
19-Was on Cape Cod at my uncle's house. I was on crutches as I had broken my foot a few weeks before.
20-I was in the Lake District in England and Bryon graduated from law school that day.
21-5 days before my wedding!!
23-Lauren and Bryon took me to Ninfas. I had just attended a seminar which was mandatory at my work of what to do if someone attacked me. Examples were given such as shoving a pencil in an attackers eye. These images stuck with me all day and I was in a very back mood!
24-Pregnant with Matthew.
25-My friends through a surprise party for me. I was going to England/Scotland the next day.
26-Back at the Cape. Pregnant with Thomas.
29-Awaiting the birth of Mary Beth. I got my beloved camera.
30.....Who knows?

My sister and husband are throwing a party for me tonight. I don't know any of the details but I am so excited!!
Have a great day everyone, I am sure that I will!!