There you are . Like a dream I never knew I had.
There you are . Like a dream I never knew I had.
Summer’s over, big girl. You were absolutely giddy with excitement in the days, OK weeks, leading up to this morning. I keep hoping to somehow bottle up the excitement and release a little each morning so that it continues, and I SO hope it does.
Prominent memories of the morning:
“Mom, I sat up so fast this morning when my alarm went off that I nearly fell straight out of the bunk bed. I was so excited because its the first day of school finally”
“So, Mom, you ARE staying the entire day with me right??? That’s what ‘room mom’ means, right???” (uh oh…thought you were going to freak out a little when you realized I wouldn’t, and I totally wasn’t prepared for your misunderstanding, but we worked it out and you were ready to go!)
“I already figured out what to say to the kids in my class ‘Hi, I’m Hayden, lets be friends, OK?!?!” (You are one of three new kids in your class and I know you will make great friends.)
You had a backpack in mind all summer and picked out an adorable one that was exactly what you were looking for. You wanted a tuna sandwich, with five cup salad and oreos for lunch and were so excited to use all your new things.


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2nd grade…wow. What an exciting year that awaits you little one. You aren’t so little anymore and each year it seems like you grow so much. You are starting at a new school this year and we couldn’t be more excited for you and with you. You have counted down the days and hours with such joy and I hope that joy continues all year long. God has such an amazing year ahead for you and we can’t wait to see all the things you accomplish and discover. 2nd grade was such a pivotal year for your Mama. That’s the year I met some of my best friends that are still with me today (Hello TARA!!!) and I even met your Dad that year! Oh the possibilities and friendships that await you. Open up that brain and your heart and I know that God will fill it with all that He has for you.
I love you BIG BIG BIG!!! (ok…there come the tears that I’ve been holding back) It’s pretty quiet around here….your sisters are playing their hearts out together and I’m figuring out how to spend my time waiting to pick you up and hear all your stories.
P–Hope you do good and on your spelling test and have great learning.
Knock it out of the park, kiddo! We’re all rootin’ for ya!

Today Hayden graduated from Kindergarten. We are so proud of her and her first year of school. She far exceeded any of our expectations and excelled in every way.
She was honored to get to lead the American Flag pledge, which is a HUGE deal for her that she stood up there and didn’t get scared. Her class performed a really cute dance that they had practiced and all of their personalities really showed. It was hilarious! Great way to help all of the parents make it through without crying!
Hayden had an amazing teacher this year (Ms. Moake) and we are really glad that her first experience in school was a good one!
Some of her accomplishments for Kindergarten were:
~Perfect attendance
~A honor role all year
~Level I reading group (this was the highest and she was alone in her group so she asked to go back down to H so she could read with her friends)
~Scored either a 100 or a 105 on every single spelling test the entire year
~Achieved the excellence in Art award for the first semester (second semester awards are Friday)
She is reading and writing and growing up right before our eyes. We are so thankful for the person she is becoming and the character that she is developing.
As she was receiving her diploma, they read some things about her
-Favorite color is red
-Likes to eat guacamole
-Wants to be a doctor when she grows up
Hayden is so excited for the summer but also to head off to first grade!

Hayden has been enjoying her last few days as a five year old and I’m stockpiling on kleenex boxes. I cannot believe I’m about to have a SIX YEAR OLD. I cannot even comprehend that.
On Sunday, right before bed Hayden came in and was complaining about her loose tooth. Its been “on the verge” for a while now and we had made a couple of lousy attempts at pulling it, but never could get that sucker to pop out. I always chickened out She would always say it hurt and we’d say ok, we’ll try again when it gets a little more loose.
So, I felt the tooth and thought, wow, I really think this could actually come out. But also wondered how we’d get it out without her freaking out and it hurting her. I knew we’d probably only have one shot at it.
The situation could go down one of two ways:
1. It fly out on the first shot and it be a great experience, pain free and happy!
2. I could pull it, it not come out and Hayden punch me in the face from pain and be terrified of losing tooth from now until forever.
Oh the pressure.
Thank goodness for technology. I had the bright idea to let her play a game on my phone to distract her from what was going on. So we got our supplies. Washcloth, dental floss and the phone. I was terrified. To purposefully, potentially inflict pain on your child by means of pulling out a tooth suddenly felt like some sick torture ritual. Ughhhhh.
I prepared. I tied the floss on while she logged on to her game and asked her to keep her mouth open so I could see it. I slowly moved the floss lower into the gum and kind of back and forth to see what progress we could make without her realizing. I had my washcloth ready. I held onto the floss with washcloth in hand and closed my eyes and pulled as hard as I could. I heard Hayden gasp. I opened my eyes and saw the empty spot! I screamed. She screamed. I looked at the floss. The tooth was gone. (Uh oh.) I found it close by on the bed and then Hayden started crying. She had immediately tasted the blood and was freaking out. Then she saw the tooth and got so happy.
So she rinsed her mouth out with salt water and showed off her new smile!
She told us that tooth fairies bring you 5 bucks! WOW! What a high roller! I told her that was probably her initiation fee and the rest of the teeth might be less valuable.
So Hayden finally lost her first tooth. She was so happy and kept telling us all the tricks she was going to do with her gap. Drinking with a straw through it, keeping her mouth closed at the water fountain and slurping the water in through it..on and on.
Of course we cross another milestone right before her birthday…just kick me when I’m down why don’t ya 😉 Can this mama get an emotional break once in a while, please!

So the first event was the baptism. Hayden had been really interested in baptism at the beginning of the year when BJ and I did the Daniel Fast. One of the suggested childrens passages that we read with the kids was about Jesus being baptised. Of course she was very curious and asked lots of questions and then at the end said that she would like to be baptized. Of course our hearts swelled with joy and excitement, knowing what a big step in her faith this would be. Then the very next day was her Pre-K graduation. Oh was I a mess!! I felt like I had a lump in my throat for a week. I cried saying thank you to her teacher at the end of the day. She started crying. She was probably so glad to be finished with the year, but I was so thankful for what an amazing teacher she had been for Hayden. How well she had understood her needs as a first-born, strong willed, genius child. I pray Kindergarten is the same way and her teacher just as amazing.
Anyway, I wisked her home from her last day to get her changed and ready for graduation. This is when I decided making her a new dress was a must. Me and my crazy ways. It turned out pretty good, with a few snags along the way but nothing major. Then we headed back to see our little graduate. The program was so cute. Hayden sang her little guts out and did all her hand motions perfectly. I was so thrilled that tears welled up in my eyes. SHOCKER. I was just so proud of my little child. She has the worst stagefright and I was so panicked that she would run off the stage screaming as she had done in the past. But she didn’t. She did exactly what she had practiced. She was so proud of her little medal that she got to wear and getting her diploma as they announced that she had told them, that when she grew up, she wanted to be a cotton candy person. That’s my little girl! 🙂 I felt like my heart would explode with pride and love for her. September
(Storm clouds rolling in in California)
This has been such a crazy month. I have sat down a few times to blog and just the thought of all that has occurred makes me exhausted and I walk away without writing. There is just too much to pass up.
We started the month off with our big move. It was a nice weekend and not too hot, thankfully. Our sweet friends Billy, Holly & Kris, and Chris and Kaitlin and wonderful family, Sean, Britton and PawPaw Boardie graciously helped us get the bulk of our belongings over. I finished all the painting except for one wall in our room. I would have been finished except for that the paint store gave me the wrong finish on my last trip to the store for paint. So I decided to stop and do the move, well since then i have purchased the paint but one thing has led to another and our room is yet to be completed. 😦
Then on to the wedding for our nanny. She has been planning it forever. September 12. Then the hurricane kept coming and coming and they had to postpone their actually big wedding and went ahead and did a small ceremony so they could still get married. So all the bridesmaids were at my house that morning getting hair and makeup done and then we sent them off to the wedding. By this time people were boarding up their homes and gas was getting scarce. Hayden and I rushed down to the wedding and back before the weather got nasty so we could witness the actual marriage. They are still going to do a big wedding later with all the decor and dresses, etc. Misti was beautiful and we pray blessings on her new marriage and life. We will miss you 🙂
So after we rushed back we prepared for the hurricane. It was pretty nerve wracking with three little girls. We put Hayden’s mattress on the floor next to ours, which was on the floor due to the non ability to set up our bed, due to the unfinished painting. (Yes, it is still on the floor today.) And the babies we put in pack n plays in my new huge walk in closet. It had a vent in it so we figured it would be our “go-to” spot in case of a tornado or a tree falling on the house or something. Early that morning around 4:30am we lost power. That was on Saturday. So we packed up all our food in our fridge, formula, supplies and clothes and headed to the in-laws to wait out the power outage. We started hearing reports that it could be weeks until it was restored. Gas was no where to be found and stores were closed. I got a little worried about having formula and diapers to last that long. Plus we needed gas for our generator to keep working so I called my cousins in college station and they hit the stores and gas station for us and we met halfway to make the swap. They were such a blessing! We were stocked up on food for the girls and for us for a while and they gave us 10 gallons of gas. (thanks so much john and tyan). Thankfully with the hurricane a cold front rolled in and we were graced with 60-70 degree weather for several days. It was fabulous. We had all the windows open and the breeze felt awesome. God does take good care of us!
So we adapted to the power outage. It took some planning to figure out when we could take showers and then when we would have power to cook the meals, but it was an adventure. Wednesday we flew out to California with Hayden and the girls stayed behind with BJ’s parents. Right as we arrived at our hotel we found out that our power came back on!!! THANK YOU JESUS!
California was beautiful! We loved the area we were in. It was Morgan Hill, just outside of San Jose. The mountains were amazing. The trip was very stressful with Hayden. She was out of sorts and off her routine, which made for a very rough time. But we made the most of it. I was so thankful I had left the babies at home or I would have just been a basket case.
My brother got married on Friday and the wedding was wonderful. We had such a fun time and were so happy to welcome Alexis into our family. We love her to death and are so glad to have her as a sister.
The flight home was much better than the flight going. Hayden was pretty well behaved for the most part. At one point, we were sitting 10 rows from the bathroom, someone came out of the bathroom and Hayden stands up in her seat with a scrunched up face and looks at BJ and says, LOUDLY, “DAD, I smell your poop.” It was so hilarious! Hopefully the person who came out didn’t hear her, but it was so funny.
While we were gone the girls both started standing on their own. I was so nervous that they were going to walk and I wouldn’t see, but they waited. It is so neat to see them stand though. They will be walking soon that’s for sure. Ella can do it for a while, but Preslyn is still just a few seconds at a time.
Here is a pic of them both sitting together. I don’t think I have ever gotten a pic of that yet. (Preslyn left, Ella right)
Well I have so much still to do so I must go. My goal is to have the house totally unpacked and set up for the babies birthday party, so we can have it here at the house, so I have my work cut out for me!
Take care and I am praying for the power to come on for all of you who are still without.
July Already???
Ok, where has this year gone?? I can’t believe its already July! There is so much going on this year it seems. The time is just flying by. I’m already thinking towards my three girls birthdays. Being that they are exactly one month apart, I feel is going to make for some interesting party planning in the years to come. And for those who have wondered if we will just combine them. Nope. Pres and El already have to share, so I’m not going to throw Hayden in there too. Plus, its each of their own special days. So until otherwise, we will have separate birthdays 🙂
Anywho…..so what’s been going on with us….well, we had our fun 4th of July partay. Did some fireworks…Hayden got some gravel in her eye and came in screaming her guts out. Very eventful. Even better, literally 30 minutes before that, Preslyn grabbed a glass candle and accidentally broke it and sliced two fingers open. It took a little while for the bleeding to stop and I was so freaked out. She on the other hand, NEVER MADE A PEEP! It was kind of freakish! My poor babes, had so many IV’s that nothing phases them now. 😦 Anyway, it was fun overall. I was just convinced we would end up in the ER by nights end, but we didn’t. Wahoo!
Other things….oh yes, I had a yard sale…cleaned out my house and am now transforming my office into a playroom. Super fun. Since the economy is in the gutter momentarily (we hope) we are going to hold off on the ole builder-oo until the cost of everything isn’t double what it normally is. We don’t need a new house THAT bad. I mean we DO, but well, you know what I mean. I haven’t reached celebrity pay status yet, so we’ll have to hold off just a little while longer. We did meet with our builder though and LOVED him. He is going to be a perfect fit for our lifestyle and what we want. PLUS he’s a Christian and has wonderful values for his business. How could you ask for anything better!?? So we are really excited, just waiting for the timing still.
Lots of fun things happening with our pals these days. My friend Holly had a sweet baby boy Ethan, my BIL got engaged, my grandparents moved WAAAAYYY closer to all of us, my pals Jamie and Billy are preggers as are my pals Lindsey and Brian, and my pals Aaron and Rachel got engaged! Wow!! Good thing for all those wonderful things, since one BIG TIME bummer is that my pal Jordan moved away. 😦 😦 Big time stink. We can’t wait for her to come back.
My brother is getting married in 2 months so BJ and I have been working out like crazy and eating really healthy. No fries please 🙂 We are doing this workout called PX90 by Beachbody.com…its insane. We are literally dead on the ground after every single workout. But we are getting results and that is always wonderful and makes you keep going! Did I mention that MY BROTHER IS GETTING MARRIED IN TWO MONTHS!!! That is so crazy. My little bro bro…I’m so going to cry, I can just tell ya that right now. Hayden is beyond thrilled to get to fly on an airplane for the first time that she remembers. (she’s been to Acapulco but was only 9 or 10 mo. for that one. ) So she talks about it all the time as does she talk about her birthday. Poor thing. I have to tell her literally at least once a week, no its not your birthday yet. She will tell you all the details like it is tomorrow. She is just waiting for the day that she wakes up and we say “Ok, today is your birthday!”
I’ll update you on the girlies :
The Hayden-cane is on the move…wow that girl keeps me on my toes. She is starting to learn how to be really funny. And she loves when she genuinely makes you laugh. Then she will repeat whatever it was that made you laugh about 10 more times. 🙂 She has suddenly turned to allllllll girly girl. She puts on a dress every morning before she comes out of her room and she wears her little plastic high heals every day ALL day! She watched Hairspray recently and ever since then it has been all dresses every day. And usually she will go through about two or three dresses per day. The other day I came in her room after her naptime and she had 4 dresses layered on her and 1 skirt underneath, then she had a bucket fishing-type hat on and flip flops WHILE SHE WAS ASLEEP, she had all this on! It cracked me up!!! She is growing like CRAZY and getting so stinking tall and Sassy. She has started rolling her eyes now. (not a good thing) We are working on learning how to spell her name right now. Since she is out of school for the summer, I’m trying to keep her learning new things all the time. She is counting to ten in spanish now and still doing well with potty training. She is a big time helper, when she wants to be and is starting to pray some “not so standard” prayers here and there. I love to hear her little heart talk to God. Its so precious! Sometimes she gets really carried away with telling stories and they are like “oh the other day my mom, was walking and then she opened the door… and she will just be cracking up like it is the funniest thing ever.” and she will always follow it up with, “oh that was hiyarious.” ( I know I’m not really THAT funny 😉
Ella has started saying Dada and Bubububu…Its adorable. She is crawling much better and has started taking more of an interest in Preslyn. She is still the best sleeper of the bunch. Goes down when she wants to, usually she fusses if you don’t take her to her bed fast enough. She is eating her foods and HATES sweet peas. Tonight she literally SPIT them out at me. I was covered in peas. She is in the 18lb range and still only has her two bottom front teeth. She has started holding her bottle if she has to. She loves her butterfly lovie that my cousin Allie gave her. She will crawl to it immediately when she gets in her bed and cuddles it. She still is a two-middle-finger sucker, but our pediatrician says that is ok for now. She had a really rough start in life so it can be attributed to that. Overall, she is a very pleasant child!
Preslyn is also in the 18lb. range. She is getting up on her knees to crawl, but still isn’t too coordinated at it. She covers her ground though. She on the other hand is ms. pull-up queen. She started grabbing onto things and trying to pull up but wasn’t going anywhere really…until today. This is what I found ……
…..two times! So down went her mattress to the bottom. She is also clapping! She will do it on command sometimes, but gets bored of it. While she claps she tries to say the ca sound. It is adorable. Still two bottom teeth for her, but today she started getting a runny nose so I’m thinking a new tooth is on the way. She has started holding her bottle as well and is getting easier to put to sleep. I have put her in bed a few times lately when she is sleepy but awake and she will jabber a bit and then fall asleep. She has turned into a side sleeper. She is totally not interested in food at all. I have to force her to eat, in which every time I get a “mom this is gross” face. So we are trying to get her to eat more, but its not working too well.
I can’t believe that they are 8 months old. That just blows my mind. Recently I was put in contact with a woman pregnant with twin boys, staying in the same hospital that I was in, same drs…very same situations. Was expected to deliver at 32 weeks, just like us. It was very weird to relive some of those emotions and thoughts that I have tried to put behind me forever. But I was thankful to get to be a help to her. She had lots of questions about the NICU and what to expect and it was so hard to tell her the reality of what to expect. No one can understand the agony that a mother goes through when she has to leave her sick baby at a hospital and go home. It is something that no words of encouragement can make better. You just totally have to lean on the Lord for comfort. Anyway, her babies were born and are doing well. I am so thankful for her though because I prayed all along during my pregnancy that God would send someone someday that I could help somehow through a similar situation, and here she was. She reminded me so much of myself, my nurses said that we even look alike, which is so strange! Anyway, just another testimony of God’s faithfulness!
So that’s about it…oh and I started making some hair bows 🙂 I was really proud of them! I have 4 now. So I’ll be eventually selling them once I get a few more made, so all you ladies with girly girls at home….stay tuned!!!
Well I just wanted to update and remember some things going on lately. After all this is my journal that you are all just peeking into from time to time 🙂
Ok ok ok
So since my last post we have done tons of stuff. Too much for just one post and too long for me to sit down and blog it. So I’ll give a bit of a recap:
We had fathers day. BJ is such an amazing dad. This last year he had to really step up and do things that he wasn’t used to and been the mom and dad alot of the time. He has totally amazed me and pretty much everyone around us at what a wonderful husband and father he really is. I am so thankful to have him as my partner.
We got the babies dedicated. They were so so cute and did amazingly. I on the other hand, wept during the whole time they were reading our life verse and praying over us. The verse that we chose for them was this:
~Romans 12:2, 6-8 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. ~
It was so wonderful to stand up there and show our whole church what a miracle these babies are. I just couldn’t contain my sheer gratitude to God for allowing us to be standing there with both of them. Totally healthy and happy and more beautiful than ever. The miracle of it all just really hit home in that moment.
We also had a surprise birthday party for my BFF and we actually pulled it off. It was really hard but we did it somehow. One thing about Deb is that she is a super-sleuth, so we were all thrilled that we actually surprised her!
My babies turned 7 months old! Ella got another tooth, so that is two bottom fronts for both babies and they are both working on the side ones now on the bottom. Hayden cut her top 2 year molar so we only have one more for her and we will be rejoicing when that sucker comes in!
Ella also started crawling about a week and a half ago!!! I have video of this, but I forgot my camera at my parents house so I’ll have to post when I get it back. Pres just started today as well!!! They are really starting to cover some ground, especially Ella.
We took the babies swimming for the first time! I feel like I have posted this already but maybe not, anyway I have pics of this too.
What else….Oh yes, My friend Holly had her baby boy Ethan, on his due date, Thursday. He is adorable!
And one last thing, my husband surprised me with a wonderful anniversary band. It is gorgeous! It is an eternity band and I absolutely love it!
So we’ve been busy…we’re here 🙂 We are sorry for the lack of posting! I’ve been reading up on all of you bloggers, just haven’t had a chance to post yet.
Hayden is doing incredible on her potty training. She only has an accident ever so often and I am still so nervous when we go out with panties on, but she is doing well. I’m so proud of her!
So hopefully it won’t be so long until my next post 🙂 These girls are keeping me on my toes so I’m sure we will have lots of funny adventures to post about from time to time!
Until the next one………….Goodnight
Milestones to record
I have been so busy lately that I haven’t had a chance to record the things my kiddos have been doing….First, Ella got her first tooth, the lower right front one on May 24. It is so sharp!!! Both of the babies have been reaching up for you to pick them up…I LOVE THAT. I think its my second favorite thing, aside from when they start calling me Mamma. Hayden has been out of school now for one week so, the plan was to really buckle down on potty training since she would be here every day. She has done so good and has FINALLY started pooping on the potty. During the last year of potty training “awareness” she has gone pee zillions of times on the potty, but would never go poop. So finally I made her sit there until she went. She read and sang…and finally called out, “Mommy I did a Taco!” Don’t ask me why she calls her poop that, but for whatever reason, I could care less, I was just so excited that she finally actually went! So her big reward for going was she could have gum. She always begs for gum, but we never let her have any. So I decided a while back that I would reward her for going poop with gum. So a gum chewer she now is 🙂 She has had about 4 accidents in a week, but that is not bad considering! We are on our way to one child out of diapers!! WHooHOO!!!
I also one of my close friends got married on the 24th. Lindsey and Brian were wed in a fabulous ceremony that I was so happy to be a part of. Your happiness and love brought tears to my eyes. I wish you so much happiness and adventure in your lives! They are headed to Africa for at least a year to help run an orphanage that Brian’s cousin runs. Pray for their safety and for them to have lots of wonderful stories to tell when they return! I’m so sad because Lindsey is my in home hair stylist…it is so wonderful to just call her up and she comes to my house and I don’t have to leave all of my kiddos or take them all with me. Good thing I’m growing my hair out! 🙂