Monday, June 30, 2008

Wisconsin Here We Come!

Well, by this time on Wednesday we will be all settled in and visiting with MiMi & YaYa, The Mork's and The Gasser's and WE CAN'T WAIT! How fun will it be with a 4 1/2 year old sweet girl, and four boys under 22 mos running around for the 4th! For those of you in Wisconsin that might have checked in and seen this post - we are arriving on Wednesday and hope to catch as many of you as we can before we head on back to Alabama on Sunday. We are really looking forward to our first Racine 4th of July parade in years and the first for the boys - we know Jack will have a blast. We are staying at Josh & Clare's new place, so give us a ring or send an email (I'll have my blackberry) if you'll be around!

Dad - this one's for you!

This One's for Grandma!

Grandma hasn't visited in a while and we just knew she had to hear Duke's very sweet laugh or she might not make it till the next visit! So enjoy Grandma!

Love you - Duke & Jack!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

QUICK QUICK

I should't do this from the office, but since my poor little Duke seems to always take the back seat to all his brother's budding accomplishments, I just had to highlight a big one for him today!

I just got the phone call from Odyssey Day School and was suprised to hear "Duke's got a tooth!" Yep, it just poked through today!

So here you have it, news of the day (from a Mom that's feeling just a tad guilty that she didn't even notice it was on the way!)

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Time to Play

As you can see, I'm playing with some layouts, so don't be suprised if our blog seems different to you. Keep checking in. I hope to have a few more videos coming soon. Things have been a little crazy around here with a few of the usual run of daycare illnesses in the past week; pinkeye, hand-foot-mouth (which just sounds gross but is nothing but a virus), ear infection (poor Duke!) and now I think Mommy, Jack and Duke all have a bit of a cold coming on. We are all trying to get it out of the way before our big trip to Wisconsin in 2 weeks for the 4th. Hope to catch many of you while we are there!

On top of that, Cory and I have started a new routine (thanks to Cory my high energy morning person husband) of getting up at 5am and getting in a little exercise...(keep it clean people!) On the days he's in town, which are more than the usual these days with the price of gas, he runs or I walk every other day (one of us has to stay behind of course) and on opposite days we find other stretching, lifting, etc. exercises to do at home. So far so good...of course, he's been doing this for 2 weeks and I just started today, so not so tough so far! Let's see where we fall out in a month. (Really I think it's just his way to use his new iPod Nano the boys gave him for Father's Day!)

Seriously, things are going well here. Thanks for all the emails and I hope to get a moment to write back to many of you soon. I also have some catching up to do on baby book additions. Cory and I often wonder what we did with our time before we had kids...looking back, it wasn't very productive - well, maybe for the office!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Testing Out Some New Technology

Well folks, if this works you should be able to watch a fun little video of Jack from earlier this month. Mommy has spent a couple of weeks learning some new techie things (of course I could have probably hired a 12 year old to do this in about an hour, but what fun would that be?!!)


Friday, June 6, 2008

My Son's First Year

Well...I guess I could have written this blog twice in 2 years, couldn't I? Ha ha - yes for all of you that may not be aware, when my sweet little Jack turned 6 months, that beautiful age when babies really start to take on a personality and you begin to see the little person in them, I discovered I was going to have another blessing in my life! My sweet baby Duke.

So it was just 14 mos ago, yes, last April, as Jack blissfully began sleeping through the night, that I discovered we would be welcoming a second baby into our world. The only word that can describe that moment is shock. Cory, Jack and I were headed to the beach at Destin, FL for a long weekend and for some reason I decided that I wanted to use up that last pregnancy test. Well...you can imagine the suprise, and although many thoughts of what I had been through in the past 6 months with a newborn terrified me into what I would be facing with another newborn so quickly, I knew God had a plan for us and knew I would be able to handle it.

So here I sit, with my second (and last) baby at the same age as his brother was when I learned of his impending arrival and I am...

Happy, because my Baby Duke, who has lived thus far so closely to his namesake, his maternal great grandfather, as a sweet, caring, never fussy, always dear child, has really begun to show such incredible personality. Amazed, that Cory and I have managed to survive such a chaotic 2 years since we started this journey of parenthood. Blessed, that God granted us the one wish to have a child after we took such great lengths to prevent it, and blessed beyond belief that he decided to give us more than we even requested from him.

But a little part of me is sad, because today I sit and realize, that my baby Jack is growing so quickly and not even a baby anymore, and my baby Duke has reached the age that his brother became his brother! I really only had one Mother's Day which I was a mother to one - and that was the year I was pregnant with Jack! Since then, my life has always been filled with 2 wonderful children who God blessed me beyond my imagination. My sadness isn't selfish, but rather for those in our family that aren't able to be with us everyday and see the wonderful, funny, amazing, crazy, (sometimes whiny!), sweet, loving, beautiful children which we are able to be with each and every day.

So stay tuned, as I have been testing out a few new gadgets that I feel with help us get closer to you all and enjoy just a little more of the "everyday fun" Cory and I experience.

And for those of you in Racine - we are headed your way! We will be arriving to celebrate July 4th 2008 so please check in with us if you can!