We're just a bunch of Big Hams!

Honestly

2011-10-31T10:18:00.002-05:00

I don't know what makes me want to blog or not blog. I think sometimes there's so much going on that I forget to, sometimes I don't know how to put it into written words and other times I struggle with how much is too much. Am I the only one that struggles with this? Honestly?

While the menu on the right shows only 4 posts for 2011, you know there's been alot more than 4 things going on in our life. I love reading other blogs but I often wonder "Who in the world would want to read about us?" Honestly?

My desire is for this blog to be uplifting and encouraging. But more importantly, when I share I want it to glorify God in every word. There are sometimes when I want to blog but don't feel it can be all of those things...uplifting, encouraging and glorifying to God and HONEST at the same time. I'm not saying that I lie about anything, but sometimes I might omit a feeling or statement that could be construed as a negative. Call it Pollyanna syndrome or whatever but I was always taught to find the good in every situation before looking for the bad and I honestly TRY to do that everyday.

I read a blog this morning from a mother who has a child with similar issues to Brynne. She was so open and honest about how she felt and what was going on with him. It wasn't a negative post...just honest. It was so encouraging to me to read from her heart. How she actually put it into words I'll never know, but I felt a kinship and connection with her. I felt able to relate. I appreciate her...honestly.

So what does all of this mean?

Big changes? No. Will I post more often? Can't promise anything :) Will I share every detail? No. (& I can guarantee that)

BUT, after reading that mother's post today I felt God telling me I needed to be more honest because maybe, just maybe, what is posted might be encouraging and uplifting to someone else and in that I will be glorifying Him.

So there it is...honestly.

The big 6!

2011-08-02T11:17:00.001-05:00

Oh Kodabug! Happy 6th Birthday sweet boy!

I thought I would be able to type pages and pages about this day but I find myself speechless...in awe, of the amazing young man you have already become. You are the comedian, the "ham", the encourager, the friend, the great reader, the shoe tier (a BIG deal!), the athlete, the hugger, the constant helper, and the most amazing big brother. Oh how I love you!

and I thank God for you everyday!

Catch up...

2011-05-17T20:33:00.000-05:00

Here's an update in pictures...

Taking after her momma!

with Aunt Cawey at Casey's graduation...

so proud of their Uncle Casey...

Supposed to be a picture of the Bigham men...Brynne didn't want to leave her Biggie!

Quick snapshot on the sidewalk after Casey's graduation...

Koda had a hard time "versusing" his friend Hayden during his first T-ball game

Koda's 1st at bat = Koda's 1st home run!

Datch & his biggest fan!

Craig was really excited about pictures as we had a blast at Aunt Christy & Uncle Zach's for Easter...

Here we go....

Payce, look...there's some over there...

Even Knox got in on the action with a little help from his daddy...

Cutest little bunny!

CHHHHEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEE!

1st T-ball practice

Game faces on!

Trooper McDonald Golf Tournament tee off!

Sports, phonics & gammaglobulin...

2011-03-26T00:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, so are you wondering how those are related? Well, those are the new things in our life. It's Koda's first year for "organized" sports. We started with in-door soccer in Lubbock and even though I know it is organized...watching a bunch of 5-6 year olds running around chasing one soccer ball looks anything BUT organized. But Kodaloves it and I definitely see a lot more of his daddy showing up...the desire to win, the frustration of not and the definite love of anything called a "sport"! Next, is t-ball... Craig is not only coaching Koda's team this year but he is also in charge of the t-ball program. He loves it (& is awesome at it)! and I am so excited he is finding his place here in Post. I've had fun helping him organize, proofread, schedule and even name the teams...our team is the "Lugnuts"!

So where does phonics fit in? Koda is READING and doing so well. It is one of my favorite times of the day when we get to sit down and listen to him read and with such EXPRESSION! and to hear him practice the same phonics rules as I learned...and Brynne is picking up on some of it. Koda even reads her favorite book "Pete the Cat" (which, if you haven't read it...you need to). I've videoed it a couple of times but every time we've had some sort of interruption. I'll get it done and be sure to share it. I figured I better get their love for each other on video as proof to show them when they're teenagers!

The gammaglobulin?.I'm sure I've misspelled it but today we got a slight glimmer of hope in the mystery that is our Brynne Brynne. We have been doing some immunology testing and today we got a phone call that one of the tests actually came back not "normal". My hear jumped! Ok, I know you are thinking....WHAT? You were happy about this? YES! With pretty much every test over the last two years not really showing ANYthing close to an answer...we might actually have something to focus on. PRAISE GOD! We still don't have an actual name but we do know that at least part of what Brynne has been dealing with is an IDD (Immune Deficiency Disorder). She will start undergoing a monthly treatment to, in non-medical words that I can't pronounce, basically give her immune system a huge boost. We are so excited to have a glimmer of hope of a name of something. We have been repeatedly reminded that the doctor's believe this is only part of what's going on in her body...but we'll take it! Thank you Lord for your continued faithfulness!

In other news, we are completely and totally excited about what God is going to do through Brynne's Smiles. You can read more about it at http://www.brynnessmiles.org/.

Thank you for keeping up with us...we love having you as part of our lives!

Trooper McDonald Memorial Race

2011-03-05T14:38:00.000-06:00

Today was an awesome event...the Trooper McDonald Memorial Race! We got the amazing opportunity to celebrate the life of our good friend Jonathan McDonald and show Laura and Kacyn how much we love them. We are humbled by the fact that Laura chose to donate the proceeds of the race to Brynne.

If you don't know Laura or didn't have the chance to know Jon, you are missing out on some amazing people. Alison & Stuart Blalock are two other people we are blessed to know and are looking forward to getting to know better. Jon was Stuart's best friend and he and Alison organized the race. It was AMAZING! There are over 275 people there to run a 5k or walk 1 mile. Brynne & I walked the mile and Craig and KODA ran the 5k. I'm so proud of my boys!

We are so blessed by the outpouring of love and support and some day we WILL pay it forward.

Jon, we miss you! And I know you are proud of Laura and the amazing woman, mother and friend that she is.

I didn't have the chance to take as many pictures as I would've liked but there were cameras everywhere so I'm sure we'll get some awesome shots to remember this amazing day.

Our Rainbow

2010-10-18T20:39:00.001-05:00

Sunday we went to the corn maze after an exciting session of family pictures! It was weird being on the other side of the camera but Jamie of JamieLynne Photography did an awesome job of entertaining us. (You should see her dance! Love you Jamie!) Biggie & Bma (Craig's parents) accompanied us to the maze.

On the way to the maze we saw an awesome rainbow and Koda said "Momma, look how beautiful God's promise to never flood the earth again is, but you know what? You can't have a rainbow without the rain!"

How true is that?

Brynne & her spaghetti

2010-10-13T23:58:00.000-05:00

Ok, why is it that I only post every 3-6 months? I have no idea really, but tonight at dinner was a 1st for Brynne...SPAGHETTI! Not that she really "eats" it but she trys and she really wants to do everything Koda does. So tonight she had her first experience with spaghetti. I couldn't help but share!

California

2010-07-10T00:23:00.002-05:00

Well, we're back! (ok, yes, we've been back over a week and I'm just now getting to this!) Before going on this trip we were unsure of what would actually happen but hoped even though we were going for Brynne's appointment we would have a little time to at least go to the beach. When the appointment was scheduled, we were told Brynne might have to spend some time in the hospital so to plan to be there several days. Well, God truly blessed us with not only a great appointment with Dr. Martin but with several days of rest and fun! WARNING: I didn't plan this to be a long post but it turned out to be that way...feel free to skip to the end if needed!

Here's what our schedule looked like:

Wednesday: We had a great flight to LA on Southwest Airlines! We were blessed by someone we don't even know with 4 tickets to/from California. WOW! Isn't our God awesome? We anticipated having problems with taking liquid, syringes, etc on the plane but Southwest had already been notified about it and there was no problem at all. On the flight Brynne loved looking out the window and kept saying "You see that?' "You see that?" pointing at everything. Koda got his "wings" and was allowed to see the cockpit and even sit in the captain's chair. Talk about excited! After landing in LA, we got a rental car and a GPS!! and headed to the hotel in Santa Monica. Our hotel was about 5 blocks from the ocean and as soon as we dropped the bags off in the room we headed to the beach. (If you haven't ever used priceline.com, you should! we got a great hotel for a really good price...thanks abby for the idea!) Santa Monica pier was great! Although a little breezy, I enjoyed watching Koda & Craig enjoy the beach for the first time. Brynne wasn't too sure about the sand but she had a blast watching Koda. We enjoyed fresh seafood and walking around the pier. Koda never quit smiling and told me "Mom, this is the best day of my ENTIRE life!"

Thursday: Thank you Lord for the GPS! Well, sort of :) As we headed to UCLA for our 8 am appointment we couldn't quite get the thing to work but we finally did and got to the address listed in plenty of time for the appointment. Or so we thought! After walking in a maze of hospital halls for what seemed like miles we finally figured out the GPS had taken us about 3 blocks from where we should have been. Oh well! After a nice walk, we ended up at the right place, right time and Dr. Martin (pronounce Marteen) was waiting on us. No long wait, no crazy paperwork, we walked right in... and no rush to see the next patient. Dr. Martin has patients world wide and his specialty is rare pediatric diarrheal disorders so he doesn't have a ton of patients. He spent 2 1/2 hours with us before his conference call with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and then after his conference call spent another 1 1/2 with us. During his conference call we went to have several tests done. After the appointment he even took us to see the lab where they will do all the further testing. A treat for us & the lab technicians because they never get to see the patients they are researching and trying to find a diagnosis and possibly a cure. He even walked us back to our car (good thing, cause we probably wouldn't have been able to find it!) I had spoken to Dr. Martin on the phone & by email several times but meeting him in person was great because he took the time to explain things in terms we could understand, answer our 1,000,001 questions, and was great with Brynne & Koda.

After the appointment we had time to head back to the beach. I took them down the coast a few miles south to Venice beach. So relaxing and fun! Craig was like a little kid in the waves and Koda couldn't get enough of the sand and water. Brynne and I hung out on the towel and enjoyed the sun! For four hours we did nothing but play...it was awesome!

Friday & Saturday: We were also blessed with the opportunity to go to Disneyland & California Adventure. What fun!!! We met Pluto, Mickey, & Sully and saw Woody and several others. Brynne absolutely loved seeing Mickey & Minnie and pointed them out everywhere we went. The rides were great, the weather was nice, the time together was amazing...and we were worn out! Again Koda never stopped smiling and Brynne did really well the 1st day. The 2nd day was a bit much for her but she was a trooper and we enjoyed some Mom & Brynne time while Koda & Craig finished their list of rides. The only mishap was the spilling of bubbles on my camera which caused me to temporarily stop breathing :)! (Fortunately after three days of drying out it seems to be working perfectly now!)

Sunday: We were all worn out so we slept late and rested for a while. By noon, Koda was ready to get out of the room so we headed out to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was packed but still a lot of fun. We got to pet sharks, stingrays and starfish! Koda also enjoyed learning how to be a vet. So much fun!

Monday: Koda begged to go back the beach and since our flight wasn't until late afternoon we spent all morning at the beach building a sandcastle and enjoying the fog & mist. Again, so much fun! We headed to the airport early to make sure we would have time to handle any issues with Brynne's medical equipment getting through security. It of course took longer than the Lubbock airport but no major issues. The flight home was uneventful and the feeling of our own bed was definitely nice!

So....what did we learn? Was it worth going all that way? Yes. Of course the unexpected vacation was absolutely amazing but most of all we got some answers. Not necessarily all the answers we were hoping for but none the less they were answers. After looking at all of her medical records over the last 18 months and then actually seeing her (& her hair!) Dr. Martin gave us a diagnosis of a genetic disorder which will have lifelong effects. Because her symptoms and characteristics don't match any known disorder she will be part of a research grant from the NIH to use a new DNA technology. He was hopeful because of her development being on track and was amazed at how she happy and cheerful she is. With some minor modifications, we'll carry on with what is working and feel blessed everyday that God has blessed us with a wonderfully happy, very special Brynne and her amazing big brother who couldn't love her more! Someday we may even have a Brynne's Syndrome in the books!

Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We know that God has an amazing purpose for all of this and we know in His time He will reveal it to us!

not sure what to title this one...

2010-06-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while...7 months actually. Though there have been short updates and progress reports on facebook, I haven't written on this blog since Brynne's 1st birthday. I didn't really realize why I didn't write until June 10, when she turned 18 months. It's because I couldn't. It's not that my fingers couldn't type but that my brain and my heart couldn't get on the same page.

So why am I writing now? Because today is the start of what I pray is a new beginning. We are heading to California today to see Dr. Martin (pronounced Marteen) at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA. Our appointment is at 8:00 tomorrow morning. My expectations of this trip are mixed and I'm truly not expecting a miracle cure but a new direction to research or perhaps a diagnosis would be nice.

We have come to realize whatever this is will be with Brynne for a while. We are ok with that. We praise God everyday that she is a happy, smiling, wonderfully spirited sweetie and that she doesn't know anything is even wrong. As she grows, we know that she will come to understand more but we also know God's plan will be revealed.

We have also been greatly blessed by the generosity of our community from "old" to young. I'm not calling the Post Lion's Club old :) but they are older compared to the Cardinal's Little League team that held a car wash and raised money for Brynne. We also received passes from Southwest Airlines to make the trip to LA. I am truly overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support from our community, surrounding areas, and of course our friends and family. Some day we will be able to pass on the blessings to others.

We are also so excited to be able to take Koda on this trip with us. He has been a trooper for sure and is so excited to take this trip. The other day he asked me to help him make a list. "A list?" I asked. "Yes, of all the places I want to go." he said. So we made the list...it has five items.
1. Sea World
2. Zoo
3. Beach
4. Barn (a real one, you know that's red and has animals in it, not a gray one with tractors in it :) )
5. On an airplane

And the list is hanging on our bulletin board. Two weeks ago we went to Abilene for Megan & Travis' wedding and marked one thing off the list...the Zoo. We had a blast! This week we will mark two more things off the list...the beach and the airplane. Surely there's a red barn around here somewhere! and well maybe Sea World someday!! It blessed my heart that he already has goals and such an imagination.

Well, its time to pack the car and get on the road. I ask that you pray with us for God's plan to be revealed and our attitudes to be loving, giving and at all times to exude the awesomeness of our Heavenly Father.

I end with our family moto:
Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. Psalm 103:2-3

Happy Birthday Brynne!

2009-12-11T08:12:00.005-06:00

I meant to do this yesterday on her actual birthday, but it got to be a crazy day!

Wow! 1 whole year! Sometimes I think she should be way older than 1 and other times I can't believe it's already been a year. It's definitely been an interesting year, but we made it!

We still don't have an answer of what is causing whatever it is that is going on but we feel we have the right team of doctors that are not giving up! We've even added a new one this week and sent him a hair sample to see if something can be figured out through that avenue.

Brynne weighed 19 -9.5 on Monday! She's crawling everywhere and has been pulling up on furniture for a while now but in the last few days she has really been acting like she will walk soon. Her favorite person in the world is Koda and I am just thrilled that they love each other so much. Maybe it will continue throughout the teen years??!!

Brynne's birthday party is tomorrow and I know it sounds stupid but I'm really struggling with the fact that she can't eat cake. Seriously Maggie, how DUM is that? But she's here and she's still smiling so I'm going to focus on that. I've been looking for a sugar free cake to at least let her blow the candle out and if she happens to try to dig in it hopefully won't make her sick. I haven't quite convinced myself of that so we'll see what happens!

Craig, Brynne & I went shopping for her birthday yesterday and I came to a not so surprising conclusion...she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger! I'm going to have to watch those two in the future because if she just looked at something he tried to put it in the basket! Good thing I was there to control the spending! Not that she's not already spoiled by her daddy...

Well, Happy Birthday Brynne Brynne! We love you!

Look at the difference...

2009-11-17T11:28:00.004-06:00

I didn't realize how thin Brynne used to be. I mean I was frustrated with her not being able to gain weight and wearing size 0-3 month clothes until she was over 8 months old but I really never realized how thin she looked until I took the picture below and compared it with the picture on our blog header....WOW! How awesome is that? She weighed 18-12 yesterday!!! Thank you Lord!

I stand in awe...

2009-11-16T15:47:00.002-06:00

Saturday was the benefit for Brynne and I cannot tell you how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends, family and communities in our support system. Over 300 people were there, some of whom we didn't even know. They just heard or read about Brynne and they showed up. What a testament to God's unending faithfulness. I had a conversation with Luanne Terry about how shocked we were about the turn out and she said something I will never forget. She said, "Sometimes I wonder if God gets irritated with us when we are shocked at what He does. I mean, we ask Him for something, He does it, and then we're shocked? Doesn't He tell us that He's going to do it and yet we're still shocked?" There was definitely some silence after that one...what a humbling experience.

I was humbled in many more ways on Saturday...from people traveling from other cities and even other states to be there, to complete strangers taking the time to bless us, to a group of wonderful ladies taking their entire day to make sure every last baked good was sold! That's all in addition to the many people that cooked, cleaned, served and most importantly have prayed for Brynne (& the rest of us!)

This morning on the way to work I was listening to the radio and the hymn "I Stand Amazed" came on. I think it expresses exactly what has been on my heart for the last two days.

I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.

How marvelous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful
is my Savior's love for me!

Words cannot express our gratitude to all of you that have been such a blessing to us. We pray that God will continually bless you for being such a wonderful living example of His love and mercy.

Holy Cow...It's been three months!

2009-10-23T16:55:00.002-05:00

I was just reading a few other blogs when I looked over and saw that my last update was 3 months ago. Wow! I mean what else have I been doing that I have avoided my blogging responsibilities :) Anyway, lots of things have been going on and it's on my weekend plan to get a full report done and posted by Monday. It's a plan...not a promise!

Brynne - 7 months

2009-07-20T13:24:00.002-05:00

I finally had a few seconds to snap some shots yesterday...here are Brynne's 7 month pics...

From Brynne 7 months

She's way too smart!

2009-07-10T09:03:00.005-05:00

Abby just sent me this picture on my phone...I would've never thought to hold a bottle with my feet!

And Daddy was pretty proud of these pics...

And here's my new favorite pic...

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T20:25:00.007-05:00

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday...yes, I love it more than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and especially more than Valentine's Day. My favorite things about it are that you don't have to worry about finding gifts, cooking a big meal or dressing up and you still get to hang out with your favorite people! I was raised in a very patriotic family and I love my country.
I'm thankful for those who have and do put their lives in danger to protect mine, I'm very proud of my grandfathers, dads, friends and former students who have/do serve and am very thankful for the freedoms we have today.
Six years ago, I got another reason to love this day...Craig proposed on July 4, 2003 under the fireworks. It was perfect. It's been an awesome six years...I love you, Craig!
This year we went to our friends Michael & Missy's house and I got to get some great pics of Koda & Brynne and some fireworks. I wanted to get a pic of all four us but I never could track Koda down...he had a blast.
Here's some of the pics...God Bless You & God Bless America!

Craziness

2009-06-30T09:19:00.003-05:00

I was just reminded that it's been almost a month since we got out of the hospital! Wow, time flies. We've had lots going on and lots more to come. I've got a ton of pictures to post once I actually sit down and do it but Mom emailed me this picture of Brynne and I thought I'd post it so you can all see how good she looks. She's doing great. GI appointment went well last week and she weighed 12 lbs 3 oz. (she gained 1 lb & 1 oz in two weeks!). ENT appointment this Thursday.

Thank you Lord for your continual faithfulness and showing it through friends, family and happy babies!

Can you say DIVA?

2009-06-15T15:10:00.004-05:00

Here's a pic from last weekend...she looks like such a little diva with her lips like that! :)

Quick update...initial liver biopsy results were good...nothing unexpected. We went to an ENT as soon as we left the hospital on that Thursday (& I do mean "as soon") and he immediately suggested ear tubes and then put them in the next day at 7:00 am. So far, they've worked GREAT! She's back to her pre-hopsital weight of 11lbs. 2 oz. But she REALLY needs to gain a couple of pounds to at least be on the growth chart!

Thank you again for all you're prayers, calls, meals, cards, emails, etc. WE LOVE YOU!

Keep Prayin'!

P.S. Are you happy now Mrs. Lewis????

Still waiting...

2009-06-04T12:35:00.003-05:00

We're still waiting for the results of the liver biopsy...AND someone to tell us we can go home. The GI doctor went to look at the pathology report this morning and we still haven't heard the results. I guess no news is good news but we just want to know. She did really well and there is no bleeding from the biopsy site. So as we're waiting here's some pics from the hospital...they're not great because they're from my phone.

And we're back...

2009-06-02T17:46:00.003-05:00

We're back in the hospital after a crazy weekend. Friday afternoon Brynne started running a high fever and threw up, we immediately called Dr. Landry. She told us if she threw up again to go to the ER. She did, so we did. THEN, they sent us home...ear infection & some amoxicillin.

She seemed to be ok until late Saturday afternoon when she started throwing up again. Since the ER doc didn't seem too concerned we decided we'd give the medicine time to work and watch her until Sunday morning. She had some good hours and then some not so good hours and back and forth. So finally Sunday morning we went back to the ER.

They tried to send us home again...uh, I don't think so. We could tell she had lost weight (11 ounces from Friday night to Sunday morning) The nurse said we could stay until we felt comfortable leaving...again, I don't think so! I finally called our dr and left a message saying they were trying to send us home and before she could call back, Brynne threw up again. That was all that was needed for her to be admitted.

So here we are Day 3 is coming to a close and what do we know? Nothing more really, except that the IV fluids have really helped rehydrate her, she's not losing weight, and we're consulting an ENT & Geneticist. Her liver levels are elevated again so she will have a liver biopsy tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 8 am.

So far, we've consulted a cardiologist, gastrointernologist, immunologist, allergist, and several other "ologists" from Lubbock and all over and have had loads of all sorts of tests sent all over the country. All which have come back negative. We've had lots of suggestions and comments of where to go, who to contact etc and we appreciate all of it. We truly trust our doctors and all they are trying. As one put it today, "All of her symptoms just don't fit into one nice little package that says 'Hey, this is what is wrong.'" We're very thankful for their open-mindedness and their teamwork. They all work so well together and none of them have the attitude of "I am a doctor, do not question me."

Thank you all for your prayers, calls, meals, gifts, visits, etc. You all have continually been a blessing in our lives!

Please continue to pray for Brynne, her doctors, nurses, lab techs, etc; Koda - for understanding, patience, and good behavior; my Mom - she's in Uruguay and is having a hard time being so far away with all this going on.

Again...Thank you!

Quick Update

2009-05-27T18:53:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to put an update on here for a while but as I'm sitting at work waiting for the a few more files to export I thought I'd let you know the few details we know about Brynne.

1. She's doing sooooo much better. No vomiting in 10 days, that's a record!
2. One of the tests showed she hasn't built up an immunity to tetanus, but she's gets another dose at 6 months and we'll watch it from then on to see how it goes.
3. Two of her immune levels are lower than normal but not low enough to cause concern, we'll just have to watch those too.

It's crazy busy at work, but always is this time of year. Koda's doing great and is growing like crazy. I can't believe he'll be 4 in a couple of months!!!!

Please pray for the following:
1. My PawPaw, he had a pace maker put it and its not working quite right
2. My mom, she's headed out on her yearly trip to Uraguay for a mission trip
3. My friends Trisha & Kevin, Kevin's dad passed away yesterday unexpectedly

Love y'all!!!

Brynne Update

2009-05-13T12:57:00.003-05:00

So we're in the hospital again. We came in Saturday night to the ER because she was vomiting, etc and seemed to be doing the same as she did before we came in March. We had a cookout at our house on Saturday and left both sides of the family to clean up the mess...sorry guys!

So the main question is...What's going on? Well, we don't know. We do know that she does not have cystic fibrosis. THANK YOU LORD! Our pediatrician and gi specialist are working well together and have brought in an immunologist. He had decided to run A LOT of tests, mostly blood tests. So she's been stuck a few times but if we can find out what's causing all this it'll be worth it. On Friday, she will have an upper & lower gi and they will biopsy the intestines to see if MAYBE there's something in there that's causing all the fun stuff. Most of the other test results should be back today.

She's in a great mood and smiles alot! They took her off IV fluids to see if she can maintain her weight and hydration levels on her own. Please pray that she does.

Please pray for our doctors, nurses, technicians, etc...they're trying to figure it out and have been really really good to us.

Also, please add Claire Gill to your prayer list...she's 7 weeks old and has been our next door neighbor for the last couple of days. It's a small world because I used to work with her mother!

Thank you all for all your prayers, calls, meals, cards, emails...EVERYTHING! We are truly blessed and love you all.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-26T20:28:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I'm a little late but here's some pics from Easter weekend. We had two egg hunts & Emily's birthday party. Lots of fun!

Thank you Lord, March is over!

2009-04-08T19:40:00.003-05:00

So, let's just say March was not the greatest month of our lives...except for ONE thing! ABBY's PREGNANT! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Thank you Lord! I am so excited...and I just know there's more than one baby in there. She has a sonogram in the morning and I can't wait!

Kristol is due any day now and I can't wait for Kalyn to get here...I hope she has red hair just like Grady!

Brynne Update: This week has been an amazing turn around. For pretty much the entire month of March we could only get her to eat about 3 ounces per feeding. This week she's jumped to 4 to 6 ounces per feeding. We are going to do bi-weekly weight checks starting tomorrow.
When we left the hospital on the 12th, she weighed 8-4, then on the 25th she weighed 8-9. Just a little gain but she was gaining. Two days later she had lost 3 ounces and was back down to 8-6. So we went back into the hospital, when we left the hospital the second time she weighed 8-13...tonight our scales said 9-6. I know the scale is a little off but I know she's gained some. I can't believe how much she's eating! She turns 4 months old on Friday...pictures will come soon.

Koda's doing great...he did great while we were in the hospital but you can tell he missed us. Everytime we leave the house he says "Are we all going together or where am I going?" He's such a trooper.

Tonight Koda & Craig sat out on the porch and played checkers "until the stars came out". They had a blast!

HOME!

2009-03-13T09:56:00.002-05:00

I don't think I've ever appreciated my own bed like I did last night. After 12 days of sleeping in a hospital bed, we're HOME! Well, actually I'm at work and C, K & B are at Abby's house but anyway, we're not in the hospital. Praise the Lord! We still have no idea what actually caused all the fun we had the last few weeks but thankfully it's over. What ever it was, it was bad. Brynne turned 3 months old on Tuesday and weighed 7lbs. 15 ounces. When we left the hospital yesterday she weighed 8 lbs. 3 ounces, so we're on our way up! Thank you all again for everything you did for us...especially the prayers. We truly believe that God placed His healing hand on Brynne and without your prayers we would still be in the hospital.

I have too many emotions right now to fully explain in words but all I can say is Thank you! and I hope you know how much we love & appreciate you all.

Keep Brynne in your prayers, she needs to gain some weight...I asked if I could be a fat donor...the doctors didn't think it was as funny as I did. :)

We close on our house today at 11:00!!!! Thank you Lord!

In the Hospital :(

2009-03-07T17:26:00.004-06:00

As most of you know, Brynne has been in the hospital since Sunday, March 1. We still don't know what has caused her to be so sick but it looks like she'll be here a little while longer. We had to put in a feeding tube with special formula, but as bad as it sounds, it has actually been really good for her. She has been able to keep nutrients in her little body long enough to absorb them. She's definitely progressing but it is & will be a slow process. God has provided wonderful nurses & doctors and family & friends to visit and take care of us during this really "unfun" time. Thank you all for your prayers, visits, calls, texts, emails & gifts. We are truly amazed at how God has blessed our lives and are trusting Him to bring Brynne back to complete health.

SOLD!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-20T08:42:00.003-06:00

Yea! We sold our house in New Deal! Thank you all for praying for us during the last five months. God is truly awesome and found a great couple to buy it. We have a tenative closing date of March 14...We're excited but sad to leave our first house & our awesome neighbors! And thanks Janice for working so hard for us...We love you!
P.S. If anyone needs a realtor...call Janice Jones at The Real Estate Company!

Brynne 2 months

2009-02-07T20:59:00.002-06:00

I finally had a few minutes this morning to take some real pictures of Brynne...she did great! And yes...she's usually this happy. :)

Truly Blessed!

2009-01-30T09:19:00.002-06:00

This week has been an awesome week...other than the icy roads! Which actually were a blessing because I got to work from home on Tuesday. It's amazing how much more work I get done at home than at the office. Also, our Sunday School class has cooked us dinner EVERY night this week. Every night has been extremely good and enough for lunch the next day. I could get used to that...anyone know a FREE chef? PLUS, today the Lord provided some much needed "extra" funds for all those "extra" medical bills. We are so grateful to all of you who have been such a blessing in our lives.

Craig & I have been reading the Love Dare book. It has been so good for us, in just the first week we've both seen such a change in our relationship. If you haven't read it or even heard of it...click here. It's great!

Brynne Update: We went to the doctor last week because she's been spitting up/throwing up once or twice a day for a couple of weeks. I thought at first it was because she was getting too much milk, so we switched to bottles so we could control the amount she was getting. Then, I gave her a couple of days to really get used to the bottle but nothing really changed. I was afraid she had reflux, which after a barium test & x-ray, was confirmed. She's doing much better now but requires sitting up for at least 20 minutes after eating which is NOT so fun at night. At 6 weeks, she weighed 7lbs. 13 oz. & 20 1/2 inches long. I really do have a ton of pictures but haven't found the chance to edit them!

Koda Update: I can't believe how much he's grown - height & maturity. He's 41 inches & 42 lbs. He loves to "read", tell us what time it is and say his Bible verses. He especially loves to help with Brynne, making sure we feed her is his favorite "Big Brother duty". He told me the other day..."Mom, I'm just doin' my job!" We'll hopefully get a lot done on his room this weekend and finally get him in there. Hunting season is over so Craig will be home for awhile!

Please pray that our house in New Deal sells soon...I know God has a perfect plan, just keep wondering what it is? :)

Pictures of Brynne

2009-01-14T15:14:00.006-06:00

I know I know I know! I really have been taking pics but the time has just been flying by. Brynne is 5 weeks old today and I cannot believe it. I'm back to work part time so its making me actually get dressed & leave the house! I definitely have enjoyed my time off work but I know I have to go back. It's really nice to be able to take Brynne with me so I don't feel like I'm completely abandoning her this early!! Anyway, here's some pics from the last couple of weeks...more to come...someday! (are you happy now Trajina?) :)

Oh yeah...we went to the doctor last week & she weighed 7 lbs. 5. oz & was 20 1/2 inches.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:00:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year to you all. Here's what I woke up to this morning and the only thing that could've made it better is Craig being here. He's at the deer lease trying one last time to shoot SOMETHING!!!
No new resolutions for me this year...they haven't worked out well in the past, so I'm just gonna make this year my no resolution year. Let's just live it and see what happens!
We've had an awesome holiday season and still have a few more family gatherings to attend, then its back to school & back to work. I've got tons of pics to post...I'll do it soon! Look for more home makeover pics to come.
Have a safe and happy new year. I pray God's richest blessings on you all in 2009!

A VERY busy first week!

2008-12-20T09:52:00.005-06:00

Brynne's first 9 days of life have been ridiculously full of fun events.
Day 1 - Well, birth!
Day 2 - Lots of visitors
Day 3 - First car trip
Day 4 - Big Brother Koda's Christmas program & first Holly's experience
Day 5 - First shopping trip to Lubbock and first visit to Mom's office
Day 6 - Aunt Abby & Cousin Glyn came to visit (with her first Baylor blanket!)
Day 7 - Big Brother Koda's Christmas party
Day 8 - Daddy's Christmas party
Day 9 - First doctor's appointment (she's up to 6 lbs 9.5 oz), Mom's Christmas party...oh yeah, and a car wreck! (We're all fine, got rear ended in the wonderful holiday traffic!)
WHEW!
She's been a trooper. She's been really alert and GREAT with the passing from one person to the next.

I know, I know... Brynne's story!

2008-12-19T15:40:00.008-06:00

So the last time we "talked" I was having contractions and not sure if they were real. Well, they were! And if I had waited any longer I might have had Brynne at work. About 10:45, I called Dr. Burke's office & asked if they thought I should come in & get checked. The nurse said to wait until they were progressively stronger and consistently timed, to take some Tylenol to see if that helped and then decide. That took about 15 more minutes for me to decide to go in. I sat at my desk with my feet propped up.

Megan got me some tylenol & Jordan, Ann, & Stephanie stood watch. 10:55, 11:00, 11:05, 11:10...ok, uh Megan...call Hottie! Operation baby (as Megan called it) was underway. I called Craig and told him I was going in to get checked and he said he had already left work and was headed to Lubbock. (He's never driven that fast...EVER!)

Hottie called Abby and then we headed to the hospital. Hopsital arrival time 11:40 am...I walked up to the 4th floor nurses desk and calmly explained that I thought I was in labor. They had me fill out one piece of paper and room 1 was mine. I was at a 6! So, we stayed...Craig arrived right around noon. No epidural yet...still waiting

About 12:40, the anesthesiologist got out of a C-section (with Dr. Burke) and I finally got what I thought was going to be some relief...not so much. Too bad the shot wasn't satisfaction guaranteed because the pain medicine never caught up with Brynne. They checked me again and I was at a 9. About two seconds after they said they'd be back to check in a little bit, I demanded that Craig go get 'em cause she was coming. One very loud yell & only one push later, Brynne was here. 1:58pm 6 lbs 6 oz & 20 inches of beauty.

I never believed I could do the "all natural" delivery...but we did it. I say "we" because the only way I made it through that was the Lord & Craig! Suprisingly, I feel better now than I did after Koda.
Everyone made it in time for her birth. Bill & Kathy are especially excited to have their 1st granddaughter after 4 grandsons! And Mom & Billy Max now have 5 granddaughters & three grandsons with one more girl on the way!
I'll have to think about how many great-grands on both sides but I think she's #10 on the Norman side, #11 on the Bigham side, and #5 on the Flanigan side. I could be wrong... AND she's also a great great grandchild - #17 I think.

Koda is very excited about his little sister and wakes up wanting to hold her & kiss her!

Contractions!

2008-12-10T09:30:00.002-06:00

So I've been having some contractions this morning. Not sure how "real" they are since I was induced with Koda and was feeling goooooood with the epidural by the time I had any contractions. It could be today...AHHHHH!!

I've been meaning to list my thanks for the last couple of days and I know it's really only for me but writing it down in a "public" place makes me feel MUCH more appreciative for all we've been blessed with.

So today, I'm thankful for...
1. Craig - he's so awesome!
2. A boss that doesn't drive me crazy
3. New friends & the rekindling of old friendships
4. God's amazing ways of reminding us that HE is in control
5. Grandparents & parents that are amazing examples of what a true Christian is supposed to be

Brynne's Room!

2008-12-09T09:45:00.007-06:00

Yeah Jaryd! If you haven't met this guy, you need to! He ROCKS! We had some "slight problems" with the bed, basically we wouldn't have had a crib without Jaryd's engineering & welding skills. I was the genius who thought "No need to go buy a new crib, let's take an antique one that's been sitting in this house for 3 years and who knows where else for how long and redo it without putting it together first!" So Abby redid it and when we tried to put it together we were missing a very important part that connected the springs that hold the mattressto the bed. Ha! kinda need that. So, we enlisted Jaryd...actually I think Hottie volunteered him! It took a few tries, but yesterday he finished it and had it loaded in my car before 5:00, even in the yucky weather! I'm telling you, he's a keeper! (Hint, Hint, Hottie!)

Ok...it's 95% done. Just a few little things that can wait until after she's here! Thank you to everyone that helped in this craziness. You will never know how much we appreciate you willingness to help. Mom, Billy Max, Nick, Kristol, Abby, Bill, Kathy, Cari, Barbara, Hottie & Jaryd all had a major part in getting this room together. I can't find the before pictures but those that have seen it can truly appreciate the magnificent transformation! Have I metioned how thankful I am?

7 Days & Counting!

2008-12-05T09:42:00.003-06:00

So pretty much any day now could be Brynne's birthday! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Translation: How have I waited so long to get all this stuff done? There are just not enough hours in the day. Last night I taped the 900 windows in Kodas room (ok not 900 but it felt like it on those French doors!) and the next thing I knew it was already 9 o'clock. How does that happen? Anyway, we're getting there. I even washed a couple of loads of Brynne's clothes, so she'll have something to wear when she does get here. NOW, I just have to pack my bag. I still haven't done it. I've thought about it, BUT unfortunately just thinking about it doesn't quite get it done. AND I just talked to Janice and she thinks we should get all of the personal items out of the New Deal house to make it look more "move in" ready. Add that to the list, well add that to Craig's list!

Trajina (our neighbor in New Deal) is pregnant too & she's having a boy! She finally got sonogram pics up on her blog...yeah!! We miss the Russells a lot. Koda said the other day that Emily was his girlfriend and that he wanted to go play at her house "next Saturday." He cracks me up.

Today's to-do list:
1. Go to New Deal & pack up as many "personal" items as I can.
2. Paint those aggravating French doors in Koda's room.
3. Do some of my own laundry.
4. Pray for energy!

Today I'm thankful for:
1. Sheri Poole - my favorite teacher
2. Koda & the fact that he said I was his best friend
3. Kendra - her strength amazes me
4. A healthy pregnancy
5. Bill and his furniture delivery service!
6. Family - especially those that offer to do the boring stuff like take things off the walls, pack boxes, etc.

Today I'm thankful for...

2008-12-04T09:20:00.002-06:00

1. Sisters! (biological ones, in-laws, & those who are practically biological)
2. Abby - who spoils me!
3. Seat warmers!!
4. Jaryd - for being awesome & making her so happy!
5. Debbie Duckworth - for naming her daughter such a cool name, so I can name mine too!
6. Billy Max - what an awesome dad & car rental agency!
7. The deer lease - it makes Craig happy
8. A God who reminds me everyday how much He loves me
9. Air1 Radio
10. Megan - who remembers things that I try to

The Polar Express

2008-12-03T10:39:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday night, Koda, Craig, Haddie, Melissa & I went to the North Pole...Seriously! And it only took about an hour! Tyler & Cari were supposed to go but poor Tyler got the croup and wasn't able to go. We were afraid that we'd have two tickets and nobody to go at such short notice but Yea! Haddie & Melissa got to go with us. Koda is still talking about how cool it was and how he wants to go again. If you get the chance this year or even next year, it's a great time for everyone.

I know Thanksgiving is past BUT...

2008-12-03T09:37:00.003-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I know Thanksgiving was last week but I've been so focused on getting things ready for Brynne and what I "NEED", that I really haven't taken the time to be thankful for what I already have. It's been on my heart for a little while and I know that I've been asking for so much that God finally said, "Maggie, you need to thank Me for what you HAVE." So here's my Thanksgiving resolution...to post at least one thing/person/event etc. that I'm thankful for EVERYDAY. Yep...everyday. I should've started on Thanksgiving so today's list will be a little longer...

Thursday, Nov. 27th...I'm thankful for...
1. the fact that we can afford to heat/cool our house even if I'm burning up & everyone else is freezing
2. Craig has a consistent job, that's in town, even if he did have to work part of the day on a holiday
3. Friends & family to spend the day with even if it gets crazy & loud
4. Sharron

Friday, Nov. 28th
1. Kathy's awesome breakfast making abilities
2. Cousins
3. The day off from work to do nothing but sit on the couch

Saturday, Nov 29th
1. The Bartlett Family...that was a fun photoshoot!
2. The crazy Norman family (& lots more cousins)
3. All the good cooks
4. Abby's chocolate cake
5. Time to spend with Koda & Craig (we went to the North Pole!)
6. A husband that can sometimes read my mind!

Sunday, Nov 30th
1. An awesome Sunday School class
2. A pastor with a servant's heart
3. Mom & Koda time

Monday, Dec 1st
1. God's providing of random & unexpected checks!
2. Dr. Burke & her wonderful staff
3. A flexible & supportive workplace
4. Hottie
5. Billy Max

Tuesday, Dec 2nd
1. Koda's smile
2. Craig's ability to know when I need him (which is always, but you know what I mean)
3. Craig's cooking skills
4. Friends that show up when you need them (thank you Laura & Melissa)
5. Hottie's decision making, creativity & "heavy" lifting skills

Wednesday, Dec 3rd
1. God's unconditional love & forgiveness
2. Working vehicles
3. Technology
4. Educational opportunities
5. Freedom

Today isn't over yet, so I'm sure I'll have more!

I was Tagged...8 Things

2008-11-25T15:36:00.006-06:00

8 Shows I Love to Watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Knight Rider
3. Lipstick Jungle
4. How I Met Your Mother
5. Big Bang Theory
6. Two & A Half Men
7. My House is Worth What?
8. Anything other than hunting shows!

8 Restaurants I Love:
1. Holly's (Post)
2. El Camino (Tulia)
3. La Fonda (Artesia, NM)
4. Cheddar's
5. El Jalapeno (Lubbock)
6. Texas Roadhouse
7. Zoochini's
8. Arby's

8 Things That Happened Today:
1. Exchanged some "stuff" at Target with Hottie
2. Ate a PB&J Sandwich
3. Blogged instead of working!
4. Ate Chocolate cake for breakfast
5. Ordered a ton of Christmas cards
6. Actually did a lot of work
7. Thanked God for awesome friends!
8. Did some sneaky "investigation" work...ha hahahahahaha! (that's my evil laugh!)

8 Things I am looking forward To:
1. Thanksgiving FOOD
2. Seeing friends and family
3. Putting up Christmas decorations
4. Going on the Polar Express Train ride with Koda
5. A healthy baby girl
6. NOT being pregnant
7. Eating dinner with Jon & Laura (yea!! for new friends)
8. Kissing Craig when I get home

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. Non-swollen feet
2. Aunt Marsha's stuffing smothered in Meme's gravy!
3. A "SOLD" sign outside the New Deal house
4. A raise!
5. The Post house to be finished
6. Microsoft to be OVER
7. More time to read books with Koda
8. Another awesome date with Craig

8 People I tag to do this on their blog:
1. Abby
2. Hottie
3. Trisha
4. Christy
5. Tiffany
6. Stephanie
7. Trajina
8. Bre

Are we there yet?

2008-11-24T15:29:00.004-06:00

37 1/2 weeks down...2 1/2 to go. Not quite there yet, but everything is looking good. We're not QUITE done with Brynne's room yet, still figuring out how to fix the bed (Pray for Jaryd!) and Hottie did come down and paint...she's almost through, one more flower to go! It looks AWESOME! Now, if I can just get Craig to finish the last little touchups & get the rest of the blue tape down, we'll be ready to go.

Koda's been doing really well in school. He has memorized a new bible verse each week and can still say 90% of them without help. His memory amazes me. His class will be saying John 3:16 for the Christmas program and he's already got it memorized too. He recognizes almost all of the letters of the alphabet and how they sound. It cracks me up to here him as we're driving or walking..."Mom, look there's a capital A" or "That says H, O, W, D, Y". And he has questions about everything, "Do we eat cotton?" "Why not?" "What does cotton do?" "Where does it go?" Sometimes I just have to say "I don't know, Koda, but we can go look it up!"

They made pilgrim hats & collars at school today...I love it because we did the same thing when I was in school there "several" years ago. Craig sent me this picture to me, the wind was blowing the back of the collar up. Surely Mom took some other pics inside the school!

Mom

2008-11-14T09:53:00.005-06:00

As I was reading this morning the subject of honoring your parents was mentioned. And it made me think...do I really honor my mom? I hope I do, I want to. But then I thought, "Am I a parent worth honoring?" WOW! So that's where I stop & as tears are pouring down my face...I honor my mom with this scripture that defines her in detail.

Proverbs 31:10-31

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

The Final Countdown!

2008-11-12T14:52:00.002-06:00

I cannot believe it but we're down to 30 days until my due date. Today is November 12th, so this time next month she'll either be here or I'll be about to go CRAZY! We still have a ton of stuff to do, including selling our house so PLEASE continue to pray for that.
I've been uncomfortable the last few days but I know there is an end in sight so I think I can handle it! Hopefully I'll have pictures of the nursery to post soon...we've hit a couple of small snags with the bed but I've got "handy dandy" Jarryd on the case!
Hottie, Abby & Kendra hosted a baby shower for me on the 1st and I am so grateful for wonderful friends and family who came to share this exciting time with us. All of the gifts are truly appreciated! We can't wait to see her in all of the adorable outfits.
Koda is very excited about being a big brother and has already started reading books to Brynne. It's so funny to hear his intrepretation of books we've read SOOOOOO many times that he has them "memorized"!

Twins?

2008-11-05T14:19:00.002-06:00

I actually dressed up for Halloween this year. I wouldn't have, but Gordon (our CEO, aka Gordo) has been giving me heck about being too big to fit through the doors at work. SOOOOOOOO, I decided to dress up as HIM! The funniest thing about it was that he didn't get who I was...everybody else did, but not Gordo. Then I ended up on his team for PuttPutt that afternoon and of course he called me "Junior" the whole time and after looking at me for that long period of time he said he could see some similarities. HA! P.S. Funny note: One of my girls dressed up as ME!! Pregnant with a fan around her neck...I have to admit I do freeze them out some days!

Koda faces!

2008-11-05T14:06:00.001-06:00

Koda & I had a little fun as he made lots of different faces and of course I took pictures of them...my favorite is the "thinkin'" face. He cracks me up!

Halloween

2008-11-05T13:49:00.003-06:00

This year was different for us as we were in a new place and not quite sure what the plan was. Thankfully Haddie & Datch (& Doug) came to the rescue. We went to a couple of houses, the sheriff's department and a harvest festival. That pretty much did it for us! Koda had a blast and dressed as Uncle Doug, who I'm sure everyone knows is a FIREFIGHTER! It's amazing to me that he has stuck with being a firefighter so long, but I guess it's a good thing that he can focus!
Of course, here's some pics...

Carvin' a pumpkin!

2008-10-29T13:55:00.005-05:00

This was Koda's first pumpkin carving...actually it was my first time too, but of course my job is taking pictures, not actually doing the carving!

Don't Worry...

2008-10-28T09:16:00.002-05:00

Every morning I read three different daily devotionals. Usually they cover very different subjects but this morning I THINK He was trying to tell me something! Here's the three verses from today's lessons....hmmmm, you think if He tells us at least these three times to NOT worry and He'll take care of us that He actually means it?

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track." Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. (Philippians 4:6)

"So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.” (Matthew 6:25–27)

“Lord, here is my problem. I am putting it in your hands. I am going to trust you.”

Reminders of how awesome He is...

2008-10-23T16:56:00.004-05:00

I'm not usually the one capturing all living things in photos...I leave that to Mom. But lately I've been amazed at how awesome God is and He's showed that to me recently in nature. Here's a couple pics that completely blow the "big bang" theory right out of the water...I mean how could these things just "happen".

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-17T16:36:00.001-05:00

So, I know I'm about a week behind on posting these pics but we've had a lot going on this week! (I realize we're not the only ones, believe me!)

We went to the "pumpkin patch" last Friday with B-maw, Christy, Zach & Payce, and Cari & Tyler. Craig was at the deer lease so he missed out on all the fun. The "pumpkin patch" was actually owned by some of Cari & Kathy's patients which also turned out to be where Abby & Jantzen first lived...it's a small world after all, it's a... ok enough! They were sweet enough to let us pick several pumpkins and the boys had a blast as usual.

Here's the pics!

Voice of Truth...Casting Crowns

2008-10-16T10:35:00.002-05:00

I know this isn't a new song...but I heard it this morning on the way to work and I needed it today...so I'm sharing it!

Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns

Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win, you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh, what I would do to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me time and time again
"Boy you'll never win, you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
But the stone was just the right size
to put the giant on the ground
and the waves they don't seem so high
from on top of them looking down

I will soar with the wings of eagles
when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
singing over me

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says do not be afraid
And the voice of truth says this is for my glory
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will choose to listen and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the voice of truth

I will listen and believe
'Cause Jesus you are the voice of truth
And I will listen to you.. oh you are

Duh Maggie!

2008-10-15T16:09:00.002-05:00

Does anyone else ever feel like you've got so much on your shoulders you don't know what could make it worse? Yeah, well for some reason I've been feeling a little sorry for myself. Honestly, I have no "real" reason to. I mean God has blessed me with sooooooo many awesome things (& people) in my life, but for some reason lately my heart has been really heavy. Craig always tells me "things could be worse, look at what we have that so many others don't". He is so right! This time though it took someone telling me what's going on in their life that really made me realize, WOW Maggie you are being ridiculous! How in the world could I feel sorry for myself when their really are much worse things in life than paying utility bills at two houses and wondering if your house is going to sell. AT LEAST you have a place to live and the money to pay the bills and a healthy husband and son you get to see everyday! And people that love you and put up with you! And there you go...DUH Maggie!

Yes I could take more pics of this kid!

2008-10-10T10:59:00.010-05:00

I know my whole blog is basically pictures of Koda...just wait til Brynne's here! Anyway, I was driving home last night and then sun was bouncing off the grass and all I could think was...I want to take pictures...RIGHT NOW! So who better to take pics of than the cutest kid in the world...and he can't tell his momma NO! He really did a great job and I thought they turned out pretty cute. So guess what...here's MORE pics of Koda. P.S. Tonight we're going to the Pumpkin Patch with Tyler & Payce so they'll be even MORE pics. Hope y'all don't mind!

My future businessman

2008-10-07T14:46:00.001-05:00

Mom took this a few weeks ago after church...is this his future? Who knows! Just thought it was cute.

Yeah ABBY! Brynne's crib is done!

2008-10-06T15:46:00.007-05:00

With only 9 1/2 weeks to go, we're definitely in the home stretch. This weekend I got a lot of painting done (thank you Koda for ALL your help!). We got the first coat of paint on the walls and the first of many coats on the trim and doors. Thankfully we've only had to buy the blue paint because the other colors we are using are leftovers from when we built the New Deal house...even the trim paint. I couldn't believe how much paint they left in our garage but I sure am glad we kept it!

Abby emailed pics of the crib today...finished already! Check that one off the list...sisters are awesome aren't they? This crib actually belonged to my mom's cousin when she was little and it was being stored in the Post house. My mom has one just like it in her house that she uses for the grandkids. I had thought about using Koda's crib but it didn't really match my idea for Brynne's room, so I volunteered Abby to redo this "antique" crib.

Here are the before & afters.

THANK YOU ABBY!

Brynne at 30 Weeks

2008-10-03T14:33:00.005-05:00

This morning we had our last sonogram. The next time we see her it'll be in December! Only 10 weeks left. Koda went with us to see Brynne on "TV", he thought it was really cool. She seemed to be moving quite a bit so it took them awhile to get some really good pictures and she had her hands crossed in front of her face for a while, but she finally cooperated.

Koda's at work with me today 'cause he ran fever again last night but seems to be doing ok. We bought paint for Brynne's room at lunch and are ready to get started!

The Fair!

2008-10-02T14:29:00.017-05:00

I'm a little late in posting this one but I've had a cold this past week and now Koda has it. Please pray that he gets over it quickly and it doesn't turn into the respiratory nightmare we've had the last two fall/winters.

ANYWAY, the FAIR! Craig & I had used the Fair as a reward for good behavior for the last couple of weeks and we were running out of steam. Koda kept asking to go and Saturday was the last day. So, I doped up on as much cold medicine as is allowed for pregnant women and we went to the fair. Parts of that day are still a little hazy but Koda had a blast and is ready for next year. I wanted one thing out of the fair and that was FOOD! Out of the five things I REALLY like I got two...a corn dog & strawberry lemonade. I really didn't need anymore than that anyway but I did enjoy that corn dog.

Tyler & Cari came along and it was good for the boys to have a ride partner...and CRAIG had a blast riding with them while Cari & I watched!

We went to all the exhibits but Koda's favorite part was the animals. I thought the rabbits in costume were hilarious. This one's for Uncle Dave!

The lamb show was going on and the steer show was coming up so I didn't get to take any pics of them but Koda kept saying "I wanna pull a cow Mama". It took me a minute to figure out what he meant but all the kids were walking in the barn "pulling" their animals to the show barn. I told Koda he'd have to go to Uncle Doug's and we'd see if he'd let him "pull" anything.

It was fun and the boys were worn out afterwards...mission accomplished!

Imagine Photography & Design

2008-09-22T10:58:00.002-05:00

Most of you know that I have a photography business on the side. Well, just FYI...I have a blog for that too, if you're interested. I decided to keep the family blog & work blog separate so you don't have to look at the one if you don't want to! Anyway, the address is imaginephotodesign.blogspot.com or click on the link on the left side of this blog. I had some great shoots this weekend, so check 'em out if you have time. Have a great day!

A busy weekend...

2008-09-22T10:32:00.007-05:00

We had a few unexpected events this weekend but it all fell into place and we had a blast. Friday night we had dinner at Cari's house with Cari, Tyler, B-ma & Biggie. Koda got to spend the night with Tyler which he was very excited about. The boys were supposed to play with B-ma & Biggie the next morning while I took a set of pictures and Craig went to the New Deal house and packed some more, BUT Uncle Casey "decided" to have his appendix out so Biggie & B-ma left about 3:00 am to head to Amarillo. That left the boys with us and it turned out great! While I was taking pictures, Craig took them to the park. They got to feed the ducks, watch the fish jump and play on the playground (which didn't have a slide and they figured that out very quickly!). Saturday evening I had another shoot and then we hung out with our neighbors the Russells & the Boyds. Soooo much fun! We miss you guys! (Needless to say we didn't get anything done at the ND house...oh well, we had fun!)

Buddies!

Get your guns up!

Craig made it all the way across!

Fabric...Finally!

2008-09-18T11:35:00.011-05:00

Last night it finally sunk in...we have 12 weeks til Brynne will be here! (By the way that means about 14 weeks til Christmas!) That put me into overdrive mode. I knew in my head it was only 12 weeks but when I started thinking about everything that needs to be done between now & then I got a little worried. Thank you Mom, Abby, Holly, & Cari for calming me down just a little bit but the main thing for me was that I hadn't even decided on a fabric. So of course nothing else could be decided. Well, this morning I went to finally order the fabric online and guess what...it was backordered. That did not help the anxiety level at all. So I checked another web site...sold out, the third web site had it but it was WAY overpriced. I went straight to Holly and told her we needed to go looking for it here in Lubbock during lunch (since I knew she didn't have anything better to do). Well long story short, we didn't find the one we were looking for but we did find this one that Holly & I both liked instantly. (Abby didn't answer quickly enough so I didn't have her opinion...which I need on practically everything!) After a quick call to Christy to confirm what type of fabric to get, we even got a striped material that matches. YEAHH!!!! Thank you Lord for answering my prayers so quickly. Thank you Holly for being a master packer, heavy lifter/loader, and putting up with me as I go from one idea to the next and even adding to the idea (better yet, taking away from the idea!). I'm so excited about it and now Cari (& Kathy) has some sewing to do, Abby - furniture redoing, Holly - painting, and Mom & I have lots and lots of cleaning out to finish. I am so thankful for everyone that has offered their talents & advice...it's greatly appreciated and definitely needed. (If anyone else NEEDS something to do...applications are now being accepted...we still have to refinish some floors, paint the rest of the house, fix a ceiling, and the list goes on & on & on!) We are truly blessed to have so many awesome family & friends. We definitely don't say it enough...THANK YOU! & WE LOVE YOU!

Can you say HOT?!

2008-09-18T11:35:00.003-05:00

According to my husband, if Matthew McConaughey walked through the door I'd forget Craig even existed. NOT true! I would remember to kiss him goodbye as I followed Matthew right back out the door! (Just Kidding!) You always hear about "celebrity crushes", well Matthew is definitely mine. I don't know what it is but man, he's hot! Anyway, JoAnna at work brought me the new Texas Monthly today and I didn't know why until she turned it around and beautiful Matthew was on the cover...and whaddya know? He's even wearing BROWN! Sigh...it can't get any better than that! Anyone out there agree? Leave me a comment if you do agree...if you don't...well...go get your eyes checked! :)

P.S. Thank you JoAnna!!

We're on the "market"!

2008-09-15T14:33:00.002-05:00

We finally put our house on the market! We tried to do it ourselves but only had a few hits, so we decided to put it in the hands of Janice Jones. Janice is a friend of Craig's family (and I had her son John in class at New Deal) and she helped Christy & Zach, Cari, and Zach's parents in their recent home purchases. We couldn't be happier about her helping us. It's definitely a decision with mixed emotions. We loved our house and the fact that we had planned it ourselves AND especially loved our neighbors. But we feel like Post is where we're supposed to be and we KNOW that God knows what He's doing!

Help us pray for the right buyer and hopefully one before Brynne gets here!

http://www.homesoflubbock.com/index.php?action=closer&mls=9961599

Playin' in the Rain

2008-09-12T14:15:00.016-05:00

The pictures will say it all but I let Koda play in the rain yesterday and he had a blast. He was a little upset when I made him come in but he got over it pretty quickly. It wasn't raining too badly at first; then it poured! So we came in and had some of Bma's famous hot chocolate....mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

1st Day of School!

2008-09-03T09:14:00.008-05:00

This morning Craig & I dropped Koda off at his first day of school. He's in the Pre-K 3 class at the school I went to thru 8th grade. My mom is the administrator and Kindergarten teacher there. The first day was actually last Monday but Koda had the chicken pox so we did all the picture taking today! Craig was rushing me or I probably would've taken a lot more, but we got it covered! (and no, I didn't even shed a tear!)

He found his desk!

I got it Mom...you can go now!

Koda & Mrs. Reyna

Gi Gi (my mom) reading Noah's Ark!

He's on his own!

Kids say the Darndest Things

2008-08-28T20:50:00.004-05:00

Two funny stories from this past week:
Story #1: Koda came running in from the other room and said "Momma, Momma, my "dinger" (finger) hurts." So of course I kissed it and then tried to correct him by saying "ffffffff finger". We practiced for several minutes and then he got tired of it and went back to playing. About 10 minutes later I went in to his room and held up my hands, wiggled my fingers and said "Koda, what are these?" He looked at me with a cute grin and said "phalanges!" I didn't stop laughing for about an hour. Craig said "Well, he's definitely your kid...he can't say finger but he can say phalanges!"
Story #2: We were watching a movie and a Jenny Craig commercial came on and of course at the end it says "have you called Jenny yet?" Koda was sitting in my lap and I tickled him a little and said "Koda, Have you called Jenny yet?" He turned around and said "NO, I don't have a cell phone yet!" Again, quite a bit of laughing ! Now everytime he hears the commercial he says..."Can I call Jenny on your cell phone?" or "Have you called Jenny yet, Momma?" ...not yet Koda...give me a couple of months and I'll need her!

The Chicken Pops!

2008-08-27T11:14:00.009-05:00

Friday night when I got home from work, I noticed that Koda had some "mosquito bites" on his forehead and hands. Craig said the mosquitos were pretty bad in New Deal and that's where he thought he had gotten the bites. So I didn't think anything about it. Saturday I noticed more bites but again ignored them as "squita bites". By Saturday evening Koda was running fever and as I put him in the bath tub I began to see more "bites" on his stomach and neck. That night we fought fever all night and by Sunday morning I had a pretty good clue of what the "bites" were. When Craig came home for lunch that day he didn't believe me but as he looked him over he agreed...THE CHICKEN POX! Great! I called Dr. Landry on Monday morning and she told me not to even bring him in...that my "diagnosis" was right but since Koda had the vaccine that it should be a mild case and not last the full 10 days. Thankfully I have a really good boss and have been able to work from home this week and keep track of the spots! This morning they have started to get a lot better and hopefully we'll be back on our regular schedule by Friday. It's been nice to be at home with him but being stuck in the house isn't so fun! We've read a ton of books...even the "T" encyclopedia because he loves to learn about Texas and Trains and of course watched so many episodes of the Backyardigans I think I've got 'em all memorized! Thanks for all the calls & emails...he's doing fine. Tyler, Haddie & Datch were here this weekend so I'm praying they don't get 'em and Baby Payce was around him on Friday but so far no spots on anybody else. Although their parents may want to get 'em over with!

Here's a few pics of the chicken pox boy! As you can see, he's acting really "sick" and he's lived in his undies cause clothes "hurt". Oh to be 3 again!

Puckett, Jerry & the Reservation

2008-08-25T09:40:00.005-05:00

The last few days of the work week were a new experience for me. Well, not exactly new but definitely hilarious. I had to go to a couple of schools in Northern New Mexico to help a few teachers implement our curriculum. Ours is a little different as it is ALL multimedia...bye, bye printed 30 lb textbooks...hello DVD, PowerPoint & CD-ROMs. The teachers seem to love it, it's just a little hard to get used to when you've used a textbook for your entire school life.

Anyway, the hilarious part was spending three days with Mr. Puckett & Mr. Franklin (aka Puckett & Jerry-our New Mexico sales guys). These guys are a hoot to say the least. Ever said "oh to be a fly on that wall"? Well that's pretty much what I was as we were driving all the way to Aztec, Bloomsdale & Dulce, New Mexico. Poor Holly (Hottie) had to put up with my incessant texting as I had to document the things these guys were saying. Picture being with the "Odd Couple" or "Grumpy Old Men" characters. I laughed the whole time. The drive was definitely an experience as Puckett was sure that there had to be elk somewhere round here and Jerry pointing out "elk" just to see Puckett jump!

As for the Reservation...Dulce is actually on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. It was a different world for me as I've never been to that part of New Mexico (almost Colorado) and watching the kids in the classroom was an experience as well...not bad, just different. We spent two hours with two great teachers that are ready to use something they really think can make a difference in their classrooms.

All in all, it was a great trip and I had a blast with my two favorite sales guys. And of course, I learned A LOT! and ate green chile on EVERYTHING!

P.S. To Jerry & Puckett...thanks for the entertainment, close watch over the baby, and of course the help in locating the "snake toy", Koda loves it. & Mr. Puckett...you don't look a day over 64!

Brynne!

2008-08-15T14:22:00.006-05:00

This morning I had another sonogram and I was happily surprised by Aunt Abby showing up to be there with me. (Craig had to wait on the cable guy & was very disappointed that he wasn't there.) We had this sonogram because they couldn't quite get all of the pictures of Brynne's heart on the last one. And of course, I don't mind more pictures! Everything looks great and we actually got some 3D pictures, which at 23 weeks, is WAY earlier than when we got those with Koda. She tried to hide behind her hands, but she moved one of them when we asked her to, to get this cool shot of her with a "smile."
She's been kicking & rolling A LOT, especially right after lunch and right before we go to bed. Koda thinks it's so cool and loves to talk to her and give her zerberts! He keeps saying "That's MY sister in there!" And "when is she coming out?" Not yet Koda...but soon enough! We're so excited for her to be here.

Oh yeah, my brother Nick & his wife Kristol announced this past weekend that they're expecting again...another Flanigan will be here in April! Congratulations...we hope its a girl! Brynne's gonna need some help dealing with all these boys.

A First "Date"

2008-08-15T13:36:00.007-05:00

Koda & Alyssa were born two days apart and have become big buddies. Their daddies are on a deer lease together and their mommies have had a blast following them (daddies & kiddos) around to hog hunts, lake trips, etc. Melissa & I had planned a while back to take Koda & Alyssa to the Backyardigans Live (the Backyardigans is Koda's favorite cartoon & second to Dora in Alyssa's book!). Poor Melissa ended up having surgery on Monday, so I decided that I could handle the two of them by myself. We did great and it was definitely preparation for my future of being a mother of two. Here's a few pics of Koda & Alyssa's 1st date...chaperoned of course! They wouldn't let me take my camera into the show but we got a few cute ones before & after.

Hope you feel better Missy!!

Koda's 1st HARADE & RADEO (aka Parade & Rodeo)

2008-08-12T13:14:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday was a big day for Koda. His first Post Rodeo & Parade! He had blast as Uncle Doug pulled up in front of our "new" house and picked him up in a REAL fire truck. He rode the fire truck in the parade and was so disappointed when they got done. Then he got to watch over two hours of cowboys & cowgirls, horses, bulls and SHEEP! Cousin Haddie got 2nd in the Mutton Bustin' and Koda has decided that he wants to try it. We'll see about next year! He kept telling me "One more horse and then it's MY turn!" Oh BOY!! It was nice to have some time as a family and finally be together after almost two years of Craig traveling and not knowing a real schedule. Thank you Lord for always answering prayers, even if its not in OUR time!

The Big 3

2008-08-07T20:41:00.000-05:00

Koda & Tyler are 3! It's hard to believe they're growing so fast, but they have truly blossomed into two sweet boys. We had a blast at the birthday party and were blessed to have a TON of family and friends to share it with us. Thank you to all of you who took the time to come play with us out in the HOT sun and a special THANK YOU to Uncle Steve & Aunt Sheri for sharing the awesome water slide with us. WE LOVE YOU!!

It's just Post!

2008-08-07T13:47:00.001-05:00

So, we're about to make a big change and a few people are not exactly excited about it. We know they support us but just to make them feel a little better below is a map from New Deal to Post...just to prove that its really not that far!!! We love you all and will miss our Justin Street gang but it's not like we're moving somewhere far away...like Houston (love you Bryce!). Now you have a good reason to get out of town...do a little shopping...or go to the lake!

View Larger Map

It's a girl????

2008-08-07T11:39:00.000-05:00

We've already announced it...but I think it's finally sunk in. It's a GIRL!!! I'm sure you're all thinking I'm crazy but after having the greatest blessing of a little boy, I'm not quite sure what to do with a girl. I know it'll come...I'm just a little nervous. Craig, of course, has no worries what so ever...all he needs is a shot gun! :) Anyway, here's a sonogram pic...we have another one scheduled for August 15th.

Koda's on ESPN

2008-08-05T16:46:00.001-05:00

So, after we got back from PK for the 4th of July, my friend Larry said I should send some of the pictures of Koda fishing into ESPN's Web site and Outdoor Life. Thinking he was crazy, I did and then forgot about it. Yesterday I was curious to see if he made "the cut"...and whadda ya know...he did! AND he's on the cover of the album! Needless to say I was totally shocked and Craig was pretty excited.

Check it out at http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/gallery?page=gallery_fish_08#

Here's a screen shot!

We're blogging???

2008-07-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

This is a new one for me but I've been asked several times why we don't have a blog...so here goes. It's gonna take me a little bit, but I usually catch on pretty quickly!