AMBER'S WORLD

I'm Back!

2010-10-26T15:02:00.001-05:00

Well, I haven't blogged in 8 months. Our computer crashed awhile back and by the time we got our hands on another one I was out of the habit of blogging. Honestly the only reason I'm doing it right now is because the boys are at Mothers Day Out and I'm at home sick as a dog with asthma. I'll try to do better. I know Net-Net (in New Mexico) and Taryn (in New Jersey) would appreciate it! The next several posts should catch everyone up on the past 8 months. You won't find a ton of details in these posts, mainly pictures. Be sure & click on the PHOTO GALLERY icon to see more pictures if you so desire!

Pictures!

2010-10-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

Kolt's 2nd Birthday

2010-10-26T14:58:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe my baby is 2 years old. This is going by way too fast for my liking. He is almost 39 inches and 37 pounds, which is the average size of a 4 year old. The doctors told us to expect Kolt to be anywhere between 6'4" and 6'8". But he's my precious baby. How on earth will I be able to rock him when he's all grown up? Just kidding (though my mom still rocks me occasionally if I'm having a bad day - I know it's weird & awkward, but I think she still likes it so I play along)! Kolt loves "La-La" (Elmo) so naturally we went with the Sesame Street theme. Between all of my family, we've amassed such a Sesame Street collection that the only thing I had to buy were the plates, streamers, etc. I made the cake which only took me forever, but I really enjoy baking so it was fun to me! Kolt got lots of great loot. Honestly, my house looks like a daycare with all of the toys. Thanks everybody for all the goodies!

Kelton's 5th Birthday with Friends

2010-10-26T14:57:00.000-05:00

Kelton has been asking to have his birthday party at Flips gymnastics since last February. It is such a great place to have a party. All you have to do is show up with plates, napkins & a cake and they do the rest. I was actually able to relax & take pictures the whole time. In years past I always felt like I was so busy organizing things and making sure they ran smoothly that I never got to just be in the moment. The kids all had a blast!

Kelton's Family Birthday!

2010-10-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

Kelton could not decide between a Toy Story 3 & or a Scooby Doo theme for his birthday, so we went with Scooby Doo for his family birthday party. Kelton loves all things Scooby Doo, he even speaks their language. You hear lots of "jeepers" & "zoinks" in my house. We had some pulled pork sandwiches, scooby doo cake & even some Scooby snack cupcakes!

Roswell VBS 2010

2010-10-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

Kelton got to go to VBS at Net-Net & Poppa's church in New Mexico this year. Net-Net worked up at VBS so everyday kelton would tag along with her and go to class. I wondered how Kelton would handle spending the week at a new church without knowing any of the kids, but true to form, he fit right in. He has never met a stranger! We spent the week in New Mexico & took the boys to the park where James used to play when he was little! We always love spending time in New Mexico with James' family!

Lego day at the Mayborn Museum

2010-10-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

Easter 2010

2010-10-26T14:52:00.000-05:00

Random Photos

2010-10-26T14:51:00.000-05:00

More Snow!

2010-10-26T14:50:00.000-05:00

It rarely snows here, so when it actually does snow, we cannot wait to get out and play in it. Kolt was not too sure about it at first, but he came around. Of course, Kelton flew out the door as soon as I unlocked it. I couldn't wait to make snow ice cream, which Kolt loved, but Kelton would not touch. That kid is funny about cold food. He doesn't care for ice cream or popsicles, which baffles me because who doesn't like ice cream? Anyhoo, the boys had a blast making a snowman and dog piling Daddy!

SNOW!!!

2010-10-26T14:49:00.000-05:00

Waiting for Daddy to come home so we can play in the snow!

Valentine's Day 2010

2010-10-26T14:48:00.000-05:00

I love Valentine's Day. James is not much of a fan. I know, surprise, surprise. I just love all my boys! This year was really neat because as I was making supper, it began to snow! Yee haw! Kelton sat there staring out the window off and on all night long. I made a homemade chicken pot pie, but instead of doing the usual lattice work I decided to cut out hearts! It was almost too cute to eat, but we managed.

Brothers

2010-10-26T14:47:00.000-05:00

I love these pictures! Kelton loves to get out his sleeping bag & watch t.v. while lounging on the floor in his pajamas. Anywhere Kelton goes & anything Kelton does, Kolt will surely follow. Kolt wants to be just like his big brother. I know I joke about how crazy Kelton is a lot of the time, but I have to brag on him for a minute. He is the sweetest most protective big brother. I can count on one hand the times I've seen Kelton get upset with his little brother. He told me the other day that Kolt is his best friend! James has informed me that this will change one day & that at some point in the future I will be breaking up fist fights between them, so for now I'm gonna relish this precious, "fist free" time.

Mealtime with Kolt

2010-10-26T14:46:00.000-05:00

I know it's important to let little ones learn how to feed themselves, but honestly it is such a mess, I find it stressful to watch! BTW, Kolt does not eat vegetables of any kind. I just threw them on the tray so people could see that I at least offer them to him!

Christmas in Roswell 2009

2010-10-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Christmas at Rockin' H Ranch 2009

2010-10-26T14:44:00.000-05:00

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-10-26T14:43:00.000-05:00

My mom, sisters & I took all of the kids (except Kolt - he was too young) to Dallas for a few days to get ready for the holidays. We went and saw the ice exhibit at the Gaylord, which was incredible. It was based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which Kelton must have watched 20 times leading up to Christmas! It was incredible! The kids had a blast looking at all of the ice sculptures. The next day we spent time at the Galleria ice skating & shopping for Christmas presents!

Random Photos

2010-10-26T13:45:00.002-05:00

Random Photos

2010-10-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

Halloween 2009

2009-11-18T15:35:00.000-06:00

Kelton wanted to be Batman this year. Not real sure why. He's never seen the cartoon & certainly not the movie, but for whatever reason, this kid wanted to be batman. He wanted Kolt to go as Robin, but I couldn't really find any Robin costumes that I was crazy about, so he went as a horse! My little Kolt was a colt. Aahh, how cute. We had Trunk or Treat at church on Wednesday night, Mother's Day Out Trick or Treat on Thursday, Trick or Treat at Daddy's office on Friday afternoon and of course, Halloween & Big Daddy's birthday were on Saturday. I feel like we really got our money's worth out of our costumes this year. It was so cute to see Kelton actually go knock on doors with all his cousins. Kolt just galloped around like a horse. He never once tried to take his hat off. For more Halloween pictures, be sure to click on the photo gallery!

Kolt's 1st Birthday!

2009-11-17T16:55:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe my little Kolt is 1! I feel like we just brought him home from the hospital a few months ago. He had a great birthday and loved every minute of it. Everyone came over to our house for some yummy cake and presents. Kolt was pretty laid back about everything. Just smiling, like always. For those of you who have not spent much time around Kolt, he is almost always smiling and laughing. He does have his moments, but for the most part, this kid is just happy to be alive! If you want to see more pictures of Kolt's birthday, be sure to click on the photos icon!

Super Kelton's 4th Birthday!!!

2009-08-23T06:41:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe my baby is 4 years old! It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital a few months ago and yet it's hard to remember how life was before he came along! What a joy he has been. This kid is so funny & entertaining. Now, I have always been a pretty happy & jolly person, but this kid has me laughing so hard everyday that I wonder if he's gonna be a stand up comedian. And boy-hidey, does he love to ham it up & be the center of attention?!?! Not sure where he gets that from! This year he decided he wanted a super hero birthday party. He refers to himself as "Super-Kelton" so we thought it would be an appropriate birthday theme. We had it out at Mamasue & Big Daddy's house so we could swim, but the swimming only lasted 15 minutes since it decided to rain.We still had a blast. James' grandmother, Nanny, was able to come down from Oklahoma and spend the weekend with us! Nanny & Kelton actually share the same birthday and Kelton is actually named after Nanny's late husband (James' grandfather) so this was an extra special weekend for all of us! Kelton got lots of cool toys, like GeoTrax, games for his Leapster, puzzles, Leapster Read Along books, etc.!!!

Entertaining Kolt

2009-06-23T08:49:00.001-05:00

I mixed a couple of drops of blue food coloring with some Cool Whip & put it on Kolt's highchair tray. He had so much fun & was fully entertained for a good 20 minutes, just banging away on his tray & squishing the cool whip between his fingers. Messy, but entertaining!

2009-06-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

Justin spent the night with us this past weekend. You would not believe h ow many pictures were taken to capture just one picture of all 3 boys smiling (even if Kolt still has peaches from breakfast on his nose). Justin is our 7 year old nephew, but he could pass for one of my boys. He has blonde, curly hair just like Kelton. We went out to my parents on Saturday. Ty, my sisters boyfriend, breaks & trains cutting horses for a living. This really impresses Kelton, so he decided he was gonna be a "cowboy" like Ty & ride Sway. I offered to ride with him, but I wanted to ride with Aubin instead. Whatever. Sway is such an old, gentle horse. No saddle or bit required. I cannot figure out why this is blue, much less why it is underlined?!?!?

MAY 2009

2009-06-23T08:36:00.000-05:00

Wow, I cannot believe May is already over. I guess with a 3 year old and an 8 month old, every month flies by. Kelton had his end of the year program for Mothers Day Out & it was really cute. He actually sang this year. Last year he was like a deer in headlights. James' dad passed away very unexpectedly from an aneurysm on May 24th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As you can imagine, we were all in total shock. We spent 5 days in Albuquerque & Roswell with everyone, which was nice, though we wish it had been under different circumstances. Still, it was good to spend time with everyone. James has always and continues to amaze me with his maturity & wisdom when it comes to dealing with difficult situations. He is truly one of the strongest people I know. He gets that from his mama. This May has been very bittersweet for us. Keith's death has made all of us extra grateful for all of our friends and family and the blessings that they are to us.

Kolt at 7 months

2009-05-05T07:48:00.000-05:00

We went to the doctor last Thursday & Kolt now weighs 23 pounds (95th percentile) & he is 27.5 inches (90th percentile). The doctor guessed he would be at least 6' 4" by the time he's finished growing. Who knows? Anyway, he has lots of cute chub that I cannot seem to kiss enough. He now loves to eat graham crackers & he loves most veggies & all fruits. I would like to think that will keep up, but I won't hold my breath. Ever since the middle of March, Kolt has forgotten how to sleep. Seriuosly, no matter what we did, he would wake up around 1:00 am & be wide awake and many nights, would not go back down until 5:00 or 6:00. James & I felt like we had a newborn again. We let him "cry it out" several times, which would usually be about 2 hours of him crying in his crib & me crying on the couch. We were losing our minds. Took him to the doctor for his check up & he got 5 shots. He has pretty much slept through the night ever since. Go figure. He ran fever for several days after that & felt lousy. Hopefully, he's back in the habit of sleeping on a better schedule. James is wondering if we can ask for vaccinations on demand.

Mr. Personality

2009-05-05T07:32:00.001-05:00

Kelton won't really cooperate for pictures right now. He always says "I'm too busy to take a picture". Most of my pics of Kelton are either of him hamming it up or pictures he has no idea are being taken. I feel like these capture little Kelton & his big personality.
P.S. He loves to be naked right now. I cannot keep clothes on him. We always start out with clothes on, but he strips down & streaks everywhere. Wearing nothing but his rain boots, he likes to have Lyla chase him around the back yard!

Easter 2009

2009-05-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

We spent Easter out in the country at my parents house. Actually, we always eat lunch at my sisters house & then mosey on next door to my parents for some Easter egg hunting & to watch the Masters. As always we had lots of fun, complete with 15 adults & 10 children. I have a big family. It's always loud & crazy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

My Kelton

2009-04-05T17:14:00.003-05:00

People are always telling me that Kelton is the most energetic child around. Really, I never noticed! He has ALWAYS been this full of energy. Even in utero. I never once had to stop & count baby kicks to make sure he was okay in there. He is such a fun kiddo. He is very curious & loves getting into things, which is exactly how I was growing up. And this kid is as STRONG WILLED as they come. (I've also been informed that I too was strong willed... imagine that). He loves to sing & dance and entertains us with his BIG personality! Here are a couple of things that I especially adore about Kelton at this age:
1. I love the way he talks!
"up-stayers, thay-er & hay-er" (upstairs, there & hair)
"Wobby, Wia & Sweet Gwill" (Robby, Ria & Sweet Girl)
"Koat" (Kolt), etc. I could go on forever just listing words
that he says incorrectly, yet are so cute!
2. He is borderline obsessed with Scooby Doo!
He is constantly saying things like "zoinks, jinkies, come
on gang, After them!" One day he tried to pull the
"mask" off of my face & then replied "Aha! Just as I
suspected". He also likes to pretend that he's Velma
& get on all fours, & pretend he's looking for his glasses
while saying "my gwassws, I can't see without my
gwasses"
3. I love how sweet he is!
This child tells me at least 15 times a day, "I love you
Mama" & he is such a sweet big brother. Every time
Kolt wakes up from a nap, Kelton says "Good morning
Sunshine!
4. I love his sayings!
He refers to his private parts as his "tail & tenders"!
He always refers to his cousins/friends as "my kids"
or "my guys". Everyone is "my" fill in the blank.
"My Mamasue", "My Aubie", "My Justin". etc.

Kolt at 6 months

2009-04-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

Not much different to report since last month. He's busy turning over constantly. He now sits in a tripod position, but falls over pretty easily. He weighs 21 pounds now & has outgrown his infant seat. He is still the happiest baby around & he just laughs & coos a lot! He really only cries when he's sleepy. He's so awesome!

Bluebonnet Pictures

2009-04-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of our bluebonnet pictures this year. It was way too bright so a lot of the pictures are fuzzy. I did not manage to get one picture of the boys together where they were both looking at the camera. I know I should take them back out when it's not as bright, but frankly, I'm still tired from this photo session.

Kolt at 5 months!

2009-02-18T14:03:00.001-06:00

We've got a big, healthy boy! Kolt now weighs 18.2 pounds & is 27.5 inches. He is the happiest baby I have ever been around. It doesn't matter if it's 4 a.m., this kid always greets you with a smile! He's now rolling over every which way. He will hold himself up on his elbows, but he won't yet push up where his arms are completely straightened. Every time I put him on his back, he tries to sit up. You would think his abs would be pretty muscular, but they aren't. They are wonderful, glorious chub & I love 'em. Besides Mama, Daddy & Kelton, his favorite people are Mamasue & Aubie. Anytime my mom walks in the room he gets so excited, he can hardly stand it. The months are going by way too fast, but he has been such a joy!

Kelton, the artist!

2009-02-18T13:56:00.000-06:00

The other day, I wanted to take a cat nap on the couch. Got Kolt down for a nap & got Kelton situated in a highchair with paper & markers. I woke up 10 minutes later & this is what I found.

Cousins in Crime

2009-02-18T13:51:00.001-06:00

James went to Houston for a couple of days 2 weeks ago so Kelton, Kolt & I headed out to my parents house. They have the greatest house for kids. The kids can run around out side for hours and jump on the trampoline, hit golf balls with Big Daddy, feed the horse, etc. However, the inside of the house has lots of breakable & irreplaceable things. My folks have an entire nursery/room set up for the kids, complete with lots of toys, but they always seem to end up in the formal living room, where they are not allowed. Susannah, my niece, was over playing with Kelton one evening. Mama & I were back in her room & I thought the kids were occupied watching a movie. They weren't anywhere off limits so I figured they'd be okay for a bit. When I went to check on them a little later, this is what I found. Upon entering the kitchen, the first thing I noticed were grapes everywhere. Then I rounded the corner and saw that an entire bottle of soy sauce had been dumped everywhere. Then I saw the pantry & saw they had dumped out an entire bag of puppy food. Kelton had 4 miniature Reeses Peanut Butter Cups in his mouth & Susannah had soy sauce all over her. Needless to say, they sat in timeout for a long time. They don't look too remorseful, huh? There are some things that are just worth the punishment. My parents kept saying, "Amber, this is something you totally would have done. We were always cleaning up after you". I tried to have Susannah & Kelton help me clean everything up, but they were squishing grapes & slipping in soy sauce, so my parents & I cleaned it up. What a mess. Next time Kelton decides to make such a mess, I'm hoping James will be in town to help clean up.

Kelton's Room

2009-01-08T16:34:00.001-06:00

I've had several people ask me to post pictures of the boys' rooms. I had so much fun putting these rooms together. We went with a sports theme for Kelton's room because James' grandpa ( Big Kelton) was a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. Like every other male in the family, Kelton already has a passion for sports and just like his daddy, he is good at every spot he tries to play!

Kolt's Room

2009-01-08T16:24:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2008

2009-01-08T16:18:00.001-06:00

Christmas was much fun this year. Obviously, it's fun every year, but this was the first year that Kelton really understood what Santa was all about. Up until Christmas all I heard was, "we gotta tell Stanta Cwaus about that toy, Mama". I'll be real honest, Santa came in pretty handy. There was a lot of, "Kelton, I'm gonna have to call Santa and let him know you're not obeying me" and it worked like a charm. Now that Christmas is over, I'll have to find a more effective way to discipline him. Anyhoo, we spent the 23rd and 24th at my parents house and our days were filled with lots of cooking & baking, game playing, spending time with my large family. It was a blast. Kolt wasn't as excited about the holidays. He was quite happy to sleep the majority of the time, but he is the happiest little baby & I'm sure next year will be even crazier at my parents since he'll be up & walking by then. The day after Christmas we headed to New Mexico to stay with James' family, which was also lots of fun. The boys did absolutely wonderful on the 10 hour trip there (the trip home was a different story)! They got tons of great presents from everyone. So far Kelton's favorites seem to be his "cool" Batman toys from Net-Net, his Hungry Hungry Hippos game from Aubie and his dinosaur from Mamasue and Big Daddy. You should see it. It roars & sings. You can feed it & ride it. Our dog is scared to death of it.

Kolt at 3 months

2008-12-12T11:49:00.000-06:00

I love this picture! This is Kolt's face when he is about to get upset. He sticks his lip out & tries to hold his cry in. About 10 seconds after this picture was taken, his face was beet red & he was wailing. How can you not give him what he wants when he makes this face! We went in for Kolt's 3 month checkup this week and he is a healthy boy! He now weighs 15.4 pounds and is 25 inches long! He is such a happy & laid back baby. He smiles all the time & loves to coo & sing. He gets so excited everytime he sees Kelton & Kelton now says, "hey brudder" when he sees him. He usually also says "he's soooo tyute (cute)"! The other day my sister asked Kelton who his best friend was and he said "my brudder, Kolt"! Life is good!

My Sweet, Sweet Boys

2008-11-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

Poor Kelton has a carpet burn on his little nose & remnants of supper on his face, but I thought it was a cute photo. Now, if I could only get them to smile at the same time!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-21T10:44:00.000-06:00

Kelton wanted to be a fireman this year & Kolt had 2 costumes. He was both a dragon and a horse (or a "colt", if you will). This is the only picture I got of the 2 boys together & you can tell Kelton is much more interested in playing with his friends than photography. Oh well, it was a fun night!

Kolt's Birth

2008-10-15T14:04:00.001-05:00

James and I went to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. on September the 9th for an induction. They started me on pitocin around 8:00 and we waited for contractions to start. Dr. Sawyer checked me around noon & I was still only 1 cm dilated. Even though I was only a 1, I was having some serious contractions every 3 to 4 minutes so I asked for an epidural. I don't see the point in being in pain when you don't have to be. I had the hardest time sitting still for my epidural because of my contractions. James kept reminding me to breathe because I have a bad habit of holding my breath when I am in pain. They told me that the epidural should start working within 30 minutes. Funny, I thought, with Kelton it worked instantly. Anyhoo, 30 minutes came & went and nothing. No relief at all. The doctor came back and re-threaded my epidural and still nothing. It was at this point I began to panic. I was already in so much pain & I now knew that an epidural was not going to work at all. Blast!!! They gave me some phenegran so that I could hopefully "sleep through the pain". Good one. All that did was make my eyes heavy. I could not sit still. I literally went from lying on the bed to sitting up & trying to hold myself off the bed with my arms over and over. I was dilated to a 3 at 3:00 p.m. & the nurse told me that we probably wouldn't have a baby until later that night. At that point, I started crying & moaning. I have never felt pain like that before and it is absolutely impossible to describe. Finally, Dr. Sawyer came in at 5:00 p.m. and I immediately started begging her to knock me unconscious & just pull the baby out. I was completely irrational. I felt like Elizabeth McGovern from She's Having a Baby when they are telling her to calm down & she won't listen. Fortunately, I was dilated to a 10. Hooray. Wait, did that mean I was actually going to have to push this thing out with no pain medicine. All the sudden that hit me & I started telling everyone that I was not going to push & they could not make me. As if that could be avoided. I was trying to think up every possible excuse as to why I could not do this. I couldn't really come up with a legitimate excuse so I finally started pushing. I was assured it would feel better to push than just sit there. Whatever. It hurt even worse. James, my mom and my 2 sisters were in the room with me. Poor Aubin, I looked up at one point and she was at the foot of the bed with tears streaming down her face. She said I made noises she had never heard a human make. Thankfully, I only had to push for 15 minutes. At 5:22 p.m. Jeffrey "Kolt" made his debut at 9 pounds & 1 ounce, 21.5 inches and with a head measuring in at 15.5 inches. Yikes. The weird thing was that as soon as he exited my body, I felt completely fine. Sore, obviously, but the pain was gone instantly. Well, I was able to deliver a large baby naturally, but I would never choose to do that again. Seriously, if my epidural does not work next time then I may take my own hammer to knock myself out. Every contraction, every wave of nausea, every bit of fear...it was worth it because now I have Kolt! WHAT A BLESSING!!!

Baby Kolt

2008-09-14T19:50:00.000-05:00

Jeffrey "Kolt"
9 pounds & 1 ounce
21.5 inches
September 9th, 2008
5:22 p.m.

My Little Kelton

2008-09-08T15:14:00.001-05:00

Kelton is getting so big and it would seem the older he gets, the bigger mess he makes. He speaks so well and is so funny. Ever since the Olympics he enjoys lining pillows up and racing from one end of the room to the other while jumping "hurdles". The other day he said "dad, I am so fast because I have fire in my diaper"! We've been trying to potty train him and have even resorted to bribing him with stickers. Last week he pooped in his diaper & I caught him dumping the poop in the potty. When I asked what he was doing he said, "I get a sticker now, Mama". He loves to sing and entertain everyone and revels being the center of attention. Last week Mothers Day Out started back up. When I dropped him off he hid behind my legs and I feared he was about to have a bad case of separation anxiety. However, he jumped into the room and shouted "taa daa, here I am!" I have really tried to soak in the last few days I have with just Kelton and part of me is almost sad that I will no longer be able to hang out with just him. Don't get me wrong, we are thrilled to have another little one, I just hope I will be a good enough mother to take care of a newborn and make sure that Kelton doesn't feel left out or threatened by the baby. My mom & sister said they felt the same way right before they had their other kids so I guess this is pretty normal! It's just crazy to think I could ever love another child as much as I love Kelton. He has been my best bud the past 3 years and we've had a blast. He is so much fun & I cannot believe that in 24 hours I am going to have another precious baby!

Kelton's Birth

2008-09-08T14:01:00.002-05:00

***Being that this time tomorrow I will be in labor with my 2nd child, I've had babies & labor on the mind here lately. It occurred to me that I've never actually blogged about Kelton's birth so now is as good a time as any. This is a long story, but I wanted to write every little detail down so I didn't forget it. Also, there are some graphic descriptions, but I've never been one to hold back much. So, here it goes!

Let me first start by saying, James & I didn't want to find out ahead of time what we were having. I'm all about surprises & to me there is no greater surprise than waiting 9 months to find out whats been kicking you the whole time! I get ragged about this a lot. "How on earth can you wait...that would drive me up the wall"! Well, I absolutely love the fact that I've waited. I understand why some people find out, that's just not me, I'm old-fashioned & love that James got to be the one to tell everyone (including ME) what we had! Anyway, the baby was due August 12, 2005. By the time July 26th rolled around, the doctor already guessed that I had a 9 pound baby inside of me. It had been over 100 degrees every day the previous week & we hadn't even hit August yet. Both my pediatrician & obstetrician were leaving town right around my due date. After lots of begging & pleading my doctor finally agreed to induce me on August 1st! Amen! James & I arrived at the hospital around 6:00 a.m. the morning of the induction. It's kinda funny, I remember going into the bathroom to put on my hospital gown because I didn't feel like I knew the nurse well enough to be disrobing in front of her. (which cracks me up b/c the same nurse would be checking my hoo-haa through out the entire day & by the end of labor, you couldn't care less who has seen you naked...so much for keeping your privates private during labor & delivery)! They hooked me up to an IV & started the potocin drip. All was smooth sailing. I made all of my family promise to be there by 10:00 a.m., because I just knew that I would deliver really fast, like in the movies. At one point I looked around the room & there were 12 people in the room & that was all immediate family. Yes, I have a large family. I was having so much fun! Everyone was laughing & joking & having a grand time. The doctor came in & checked and told me I was 1 cm dilated! Hmm, okay so maybe this was gonna take longer than I thought. I'm pretty sure my dad, brother & brother-in-law decided it was safe to go to work for a couple of hours, but all the gals stayed & hung out. Around 1:00 that afternoon, I was having some painful contractions, but more than anything, my back was killing me. Every time I exhaled it literally felt like someone was hitting me with a metal bat. Because I like to avoid pain at all cost, I got my epidural around 2:00 ( I think I was dialated to a whopping 4 cm at this point)! Seriously, I'm sure I could deliver a baby naturally if I had to, but that makes about as much sense to me as going to the dentist and saying "hold the novicane, doc...I think I can handle it". An epidural is the greatest invention since Dairy Queen's Blizzard & my anesthesiologist was never far away. I think I fell in love with him. By mid afternoon, I began running fever & became so nauseated that they gave me some phenegran, which was good because I never slept the night before due to nerves! I looked over at one point & poor James was covered with a blanket from head to toe because I had the AC so cold in our room! What a sweetie. He never left my side. He just sat there watching ESPN & freezing all day long! About 8:00 that night the doctor came by & announced I was an 8. I wanted to avoid a c-section at all cost. Again, I'm not big on pain & I just wanted to try & do it myself. Around midnight, I was a 10 & it was time to push. I think I faked the first few pushes because I had no idea what to do. I just figured if I held my breath & pretended to push they would never know the difference. Wrong, Dr. Sawyer said "okay, Amber I really need you to push this time"! That was kinda embarrassing. My mom was also in the delivery room, which was really comforting, even though at one point she began to chant "push it out, push it out...way out"! I wasn't amused, nor was I amused when James said "Okay, Amber, make this push count", as if I'm trying to hold the baby in longer just to build up the suspense. Finally, at 12:59 a.m., I gave one final push & heard the sweetest cry I've ever heard. The doctor let James tell me & with huge tears in his eyes he said, "babe, it's a boy...IT'S A BOY"!!! I couldn't believe it. I was so excited. James "Kelton" weighed 9 pounds & 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. I gave birth to a toddler. They handed him to me & I immediately said "take him, I don't feel right". I handed him to James & then I passed out. I awoke awhile later to James holding my hand & my mom rubbing my forehead. I felt her playing with my hair long before I realized where I was or what was happening. It's strange, I knew something was wrong, but I knew I was safe because I could feel James & hear & smell my mother (for anyone that knows my mama, you know what I mean...she has worn Estee Lauder Private Collection for 30 years). I drifted in & out of consciousness several more times, but finally was able to open my eyes & ask about the baby. He was healthy as could be & apparently he had a very large head. 15.5 inches to be exact. I was later told that Kelton was born with his soft spot already fused. So, when passing through the birth canal, there was no overlapping of the skull, as normally happens when babies are born. So basically 15.5 inches came through something that was dilated 10 cm. You can imagine what that did to my body. I lost a tremendous amount of blood & the doctor was stitching on me for the next 1.5 hours, much of the stitching was way up inside of me. All that to say, all of our family piled into the room around 2:30 in the morning. By this time, there were probably 15 people piled in there, including Aubin's boyfriend at the time & somehow my dad's business partner was even in the room. James was holding the sweetest little baby in the world & he was the one to tell everyone "it's a boy"! Everyone screamed & jumped up & down. It was the hardest & best night of my life. We named him after James' grandpa so that's where Kelton comes from. In all seriousness, how can anyone ever witness the birth of a child and question God's existence? I feel like this was one time in life when I truly got to assist God in a miracle. I was on an IV for the following 3 days & they checked my blood pressure every 30 minutes for the following 24 hours. Being that I once again passed out the following day, fell off the commode & tore some of my stitches, they decided to keep me in bed until I was finally allowed to go home Thursday night! Kelton was worth every bit of discomfort & pain. All that to say, I would also be very happy if this time around I delivered a 7 pound baby with a smaller noggin. ***Okay, I just re-read this and I'm not sure if I am more scared or excited about having a baby tomorrow. Well, I guess it's too late now so I better go ahead with the induction, as if I have a choice!

Kelton's 3rd Birthday

2008-08-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe my little Kelton is 3 years old! I feel like I just brought him home from the hospital. He has been such a joy. He's got so much energy & personality and he's endlessly amusing to us. We had a fun birthday party out at Mamasue & Big Daddy's house filled with presents, swimming & cake! Everyone had lots of fun & the birthday boy got lots of goodies.

His Aunt Aubie gave him a cool "Super Teton cape so he can fwy (fly)"!

Baby Belly

2008-08-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

Kelton kissing Mama's big baby belly. Seriously, can it get any bigger? I've still got a month to go!

Miss Lyla

2008-05-17T15:33:00.001-05:00

Well, we finally decided to get a dog. We thought Lyla was a nice southern & motherly sounding name. (Though honestly, we mainly named her Lyla b/c James loves Lyla Garrity off of Friday Night Lights)! She's a Great Pyrenees, which are the kind of dogs I grew up with. They are so good with kids & they are not hyper. Plus, they are fiercely protective of their family. According to vets, they are very intuitive & can sense whether or not someone has good intentions. Sounds goofy, but I believe it. Like I said, I grew up with this breed of dog & they are friendly to pretty much anyone. However, a worker showed up at my parents' house one day & instead of sniffing & greeting them as they normally would, Bear & Oso (my parents' dogs) immediately jumped up, got in between my mom & the worker and began growling. My mom tried to settle them down, but they would not let the worker in the house. When Bear began to show his teeth, the worker decided to leave. Anyway, my dad later found out that particular worker had a pretty shady past. By the way, Bear weighed 120 pounds & Oso was a whopping 160 pounds. Hopefully, Lyla will only weigh around 100 pounds. I highly recommend this breed of dog to anyone who wants a kid friendly & protective dog. My folks got another one right after Kelton was born & that dog let Kelton climb all over it & pull at his tail & ears all day long!
Kelton & Lyla are already best buds. She follows him all over the house & plays with him. First thing when he wakes up Kelton says "where's 'Yila'"? Anyway, enough about my dog!

Update & Pics

2008-05-15T18:48:00.002-05:00

The first picture were taken in my parents' back yard. Check out the storm damage to the trampoline from the previous night. The other pictures were taken out at the golf course with Daddy. We played a couple of holes. I'm pretty sure Kelton will be out driving me by next year (though that's not exactly an impressive feat)! Speaking of Kelton, he's now 2 1/2 years old & full of ENERGY! He is like a little boy now. I can carry on conversations with him now, though there is still lots of interpretation on my part! He speaks so well for the most part. Horses are no longer "horny's" & 6 is no longer pronounced sh*t. However, he does call strawberries, "strawboobies". He is the sweetest little thing, but as stubborn as they come. I like to think he got that from his daddy, though some might argue it's all from me. I've had a really hard time disciplining him lately because nothing seems to work. Time out is for the birds as far as Kelton is concerned. He does things like say "sorry mama", as he colors on the wall with his crayons. Last week at Children's Place he was trying to wiggle out of his stroller and as I attempted to tighten the lap harness, he began screaming "HELP!" at the top of his lungs. I guess they've heard that before, b/c everyone just looked at me & laughed! I wasn't happy about it at the time , but I laughed about it later! It's hard being pregnant & keeping up with him but he's worth all the exhaustion!

Baby Sonogram

2008-05-15T18:12:00.001-05:00

This is from my ultrasound last month. I'm not sure why these are so blurry. They were so clear in person. I'm now 5 months along & feeling much better. Still get pretty nauseated in the morning but it's usually gone by noon, so that's a huge improvement. I haven't thrown up in over a month so things are definitely looking up! By they way, if some of you are trained to read sonograms, please do not let me (or anyone else) know what the sex of this baby is. We love surprises & are looking forward to September!

Is that Scarlett O'Hara or Kelton?

2008-04-18T16:51:00.001-05:00

I couldn't resist posting this picture. Nothing goes better with cammo pants than a pink hat adorned with roses!

James' Family Reunion

2008-04-18T16:44:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we went to Lawn, Texas for a family reunion on James' side of the family. We had lots of fun. We were able to catch up with lots of cousins, many of whom had never met Kelton. As you can see, Kelton's favorite thing to do while there was to throw rocks into the pond where he carried on conversations with the sticks that were poking out of the water. Poor Papa & Uncle Jeff were probably worn out after taking him to & from the pond all weekend. Kelton also enjoyed playing with his cousins' Cy & Fyn all weekend. We stayed in a really neat ranch house that housed the whole family. Special K decided that the walls were too white so he decided to color them with a black crayon. It was everywhere. Luckily Uncle Jeff was going to Abilene to get something so he was able to buy some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers while there. Those things are amazing. Who ever invented those needs to be commended. That invention creation has saved my house from Kelton.

Guess What?!?!?

2008-03-06T13:53:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am alive! I just haven't felt like blogging here lately. If you haven't already heard, I'm 14 weeks pregnant! Once again, I have been extremely sick this pregnancy, though the doctor put me on some anti-nausea meds that are usually given to chemo patients. I'm still nauseated 24 hours a day ( I'm even sick in my dreams), though the vomiting has improved. All that to say, we are thrilled to be adding to our little brood, even though we weren't planning on trying until this summer! You see, I really wanted to avoid being big & pregnant in the summer like I was with Kelton. So much for my plans, this one's due in September!!! Here are some pictures of Kelton the last couple of months.

P.S. Every time my dad or James call & ask me what I'm doing, I always reply, "thinking of you", which my dad loves! Anyway, the other day I asked Kelton what he was doing because he looked very mischievous. He replied, "finkin' of you"! I just about died laughing. It didn't even matter what mess he'd just made, I was putty in his hands!

What's In a Name?

2008-03-06T13:00:00.000-06:00

This is a silly little game, but hey, I like silly little games!
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Puffy Accord
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Chocolate Fudge Reef
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Red Dog
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): ElPaso (i have no middle name)
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name):Rusam, though I prefer E-Boo Won Kenobi
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Blue Tea (unsweet)
7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): Fred Caskey
8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy):Amarige KitKat (really? my name is amber-which hasn't always been, but now is commonly used by strippers)
9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Turbeville Tuscon
10. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Winter Peony (right up there with Jason Bourne)
11. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing rightnow):Pink Lady Apple Shorts
12. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Donut Texas Live Oak (it's my birthday & James surprised me a chocolate crunch donut - my favorite)!

Christmas at the Rockin' H Ranch 2007

2008-01-01T15:19:00.000-06:00

Since we were in New Mexico on actual Christmas day, we didn't get to open presents with my side of the family until the 28th. All of my siblings live within a 20 mile radius of my parents. We get to see several times a week. Nonetheless, my mom likes for all of us to pack and head out to their house in the country to spend the weekend with them. We always have so much fun eating, opening presents, playing games, watching movies, playing outside, feeding the horse, etc. We didn't make it back to our house until Sunday afternoon. Monday night we headed over to my aunts house for New Years Eve. Between 16 adults & 9 kids under the age of 9, we had a packed house!

Christmas in Roswell 2007

2008-01-01T15:03:00.000-06:00

We left for Roswell Wednesday night around 7:00. We knew it would be a long drive, but we figured Kelton would sleep and we wouldn't waste an entire day driving. At 4:00 a.m. we were about 40 miles outside of Roswell & we could already see the city lights in the distance. Right about then, we had a flat tire. For anyone that has ever made the drive to Roswell you know that it is about the loneliest stretch of highway around. There are no trees to block the wind and absolutely no light on the roads. My poor husband had to get out there in 25 degree weather (probably 15 degree windchill) and attempt to change a flat tire without a flashlight. The only light we had to help was from my cell phone. Don't know if any of you have ever tried to change a tire in the dark, but it's pretty tricky, not to mention dangerous. About an hour later, he finally had the spare on & lowered the jack only to discover the spare was flat as well. We called his folks and they came to the rescue with some Fix-A-Flat. We pulled into Roswell at 7:00 a.m.! Besides that, we had a wonderful time in New Mexico. Two of James' cousins & their wives came in from Florida & Colorado & his sister flew in from California. We had lots of good food, quality board game time & it even snowed! Plus, it's always nice to have Kelton's Net-Net, Poppa, Jop (AKA Uncle Jeff) & Tawyn (AKA Aunt Taryn) there to chase him around and give us a break. We came home the day after Christmas & the trip home was much less eventful, thank goodness!

Getting Ready for Christmas

2008-01-01T13:56:00.000-06:00

December has flown by. Kelton has been sick off and on with allergies/virus since Halloween. It became a full blown virus the very beginning of December. We snuck out of the house to see the Christmas program at church, which was so cute. Besides that we spent the majority of the first 2 weeks of December at home. Kelton was well in time for us to make it to the last day of Mothers Day Out, which is always fun! Since we are leaving for Roswell on the 19th, I've got lots to get done in a short amount of time. Excluding Kelton, I have bought 1 Christmas present(1 down, 19 to go)!

Bath Toys

2008-01-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

90% of the time Kelton takes a shower with me. It's much easier and faster to throw him in there with me. Plus, I don't have to wonder what he's destroying in the other room while I'm in the shower by myself. Anyhoo, the other day I turned on the shower & told Kelton to get some of his toys (meaning from the bathtub). I went to the other room to get a diaper and I came back a minute later and this is what I found: his cash register, 2 of his golf clubs, his Little People bus and several balls, including some of Daddy's golf balls, plus a fully clothed child in the shower. I must have spent 10 minutes drying off all of his toys. I got so tickled, I couldn't help but take a picture. Maybe next time, I'll get the toys!

Random Pictures

2007-11-26T23:46:00.000-06:00

I put some makeup on Kelton, which he's not so sure about!

And he put some makeup on me. James doesn't much like the
thought of him dabbling in the world of makeup artistry.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-26T23:40:00.000-06:00

My 2 Turkeys! I can't believe Thanksgiving has already passed and it's almost time for Christmas. We had a great Thanksgiving, though it went by too quickly. Pretty much all of my family lives in the same town so we see each other all the time, but it's still nice to go home and sleep in the house where I grew up so we always spend a couple of nights at my parents' house (even though ours is 20 minutes away)! I feel like a kid again & my folks "baby" me the whole time I'm there, so that's always nice. Who wouldn't want to go home to that? Kelton loves to go out & hit golf balls & feed the horse & all those fun things that you get to do in the country. One of my parents' Great Pyrenees keeps managing to get out of the fence so my dad took Kelton with him to inspect the fence. Kelton got a kick out of that. I was watching them through the window & it was so funny. My dad would bend over & look at the fence & kinda pull on it to examine it. Right behind him, Kelton would kinda bend over & check out the fence himself. I never knew the fence was so interesting out there, but that kid would've stayed out there forever had we let him!

My little sister, Aubin & me. Isn't she cute? We shared a bedroom until I was 13, when I was finally brave enough to sleep in a room by myself (though honestly, I would still have her come sleep in my bedroom when I got scared......I had a very overactive imagination & just knew she could protect me if harm came my way which is funny b/c I'm 4 years older)! Not that she needs protecting, but I am fiercely protective of her all the same. I often call her when she's out with friends & she gets to hear a lot of, "where are you?" "when are you headed home?" "have someone walk you to your car when you are leaving" & "if no one will walk you to your car, call me....I'll send James!"I love to bust out with "nothing good happens after 12:00 so there is absolutely no reason for you to be out past then", which is what my dad used to tell my when I was in high school. At 25, Aubin doesn't find it very amusing, but I think she knows I just worry about her & that I'd be lost without her. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture with my 2 other siblings. Probably a good thing. Otherwise who knows how long this paragraph would be?!?!

Golfing in the pasture. That's how we do it in the country!

My little Indian! This picture is out of focus because he was standing so close to me, but I had to post it to show off his feathers & vest he made at Mothers Day Out!

Mispronunciations

2007-11-26T23:37:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I last blogged. We've been so busy here lately , though honestly, I have no idea what we've been doing. Kelton has been sick off & on for three weeks with the same bloomin' virus. He threw up all over mat the doctor's office. It was down my shirt, in my socks, in my hair - EVERYWHERE, which was delightful. He cracks me up. He talks constantly & I know ya'll can't imagine where he gets that from! He says "E-I-E-I-you, mama", which means I love you, all day long, which of course melts my heart & probably allows him to get away with more than he should. He likes to sing his ABC's & Jesus Loves Me and he can count to ten. Six is his favorite number & he likes to say it all the time. In fact almost all numbers are 6's in his mind. The problem is when he pronounces 6, everyone else thinks he's saying the four letter word, sh*t. Which brings me to his favorite animal, a "horny", which is Kelton code for horsey. So every time we go to a store my sweet little boy points & yells, "sh*t, "horny", & "my body", which is Kelton code for his blanky. So basically the entire time I'm at HEB I'm walking around smiling wondering who is gonna turn me into CPS first. This kid cracks me up. I'm so thankful he's mine!

Big Daddy's Halloween Birthday

2007-11-02T15:32:00.000-05:00

My dad's birthday is on Halloween, so my mama has always made October 31st extra special. She has always jumped at the chance to dress up & this year she decided to be an officer in the navy (though I'm not sure why she decided to draw a large, fake mole on her cheek). Since we had Trunk or Treat at church we decided to postpone my dad's birthday dinner until Saturday night. After Trunk or Treat, we headed over to my cousin's house to have some cupcakes and let the kids get even more hyped up on sugar! I have got the greatest dad ever and as far as I'm concerned that's a fact, not a biased opinion! He's always been so loving, giving, patient and wise. He's eager to help any way he can, even if it means spending all weekend at my house helping James put a swing set together for Kelton. When I was growing up he used to say, "your mama and I are your biggest fans" and I always knew he meant it. He's the first man I ever loved and I couldn't wait for him to get home from work everyday so I could help him take off his cowboy boots and we could hang out! Growing up, he would take all of his daughters' on "date nights" & let us decide where to eat, etc. He still takes us on date nights & I so enjoy getting to have my dad all to myself for a couple of hours! One of my favorite things about my dad is the way he loves my mother. I love to watch him while he's watching her. He is endlessly amused by her (honestly, we all are - she's pretty entertaining) and you can tell she is his world. I hope James is still that smitten with me after 38 years of marriage! Another thing I love about my dad is the way he is with his grandkids. It doesn't matter how tired he is, that man gets down on the floor and "wrastles" with them just because it makes them happy and he lives to make them laugh! My dad is one of the biggest blessings in my life! My mom says that I have him wrapped around my little finger and truth be told, he's always had me wrapped around his!

Halloween 2007

2007-11-02T14:34:00.000-05:00

Kelton was not a big fan of his dinosaur costume. In fact, this may be the only picture of him where he is actually wearing the dinosaur head. Poor Kelton has been sick with a virus for over a week & I came down with it Monday night. We missed the Halloween party at Mothers Day Out on Tuesday so I refused to let us miss the festivities on Wednesday night. I gave Kelton some medicine to nip that runny nose in the bud & off we went! We first stopped by Daddy's work to trick or treat around the office and then we went to Trunk or Treat at church. You can tell from the pictures that Kelton is a little groggy. We had lots of fun, but hopefully we will feel better next year.

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-30T14:22:00.000-05:00

Visiting the pumpkin patch with Kelton's buddy, James!

My Fella'

2007-10-22T18:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been tagged by Lauren & Daley to write all about my fella'!
1. Who is your man? James
2. How long have you been married? 6 years
3. How long did you date? first date to engagement was 9 months; first date to wedding was 18 months
4. How old is your man? just turned 30
5. Who eats more? James (unless you're talking about dessert & then I challenge anyone to try & out-eat me)
6. Who said “I love you” first? Back in college I was sick one night, so James came over & brought me soup & was tickling my back. As I started to fall asleep, I was thinking in my mind, "I love you", & then all of the sudden James said "what did you just say?" I immediately opened my eyes, played dumb & made up something. We'd only been dating a few weeks & I didn't want to scare him off, plus I kinda wanted him to tell me first. Anyway, a couple of minutes later when he left to go home, he stopped at the door, turned to me and said, "Oh, by the way, I love you too" and then he smiled.
7. Who is taller? James is 6'2 & I'm 5'7
8. Who sings better? me
9. Who is smarter? James has a photographic memory (except when we argue & then his remembrance of events becomes fuzzy)
10. Whose temper is worse? we're both pretty hot-headed, luckily it's usually about different things so one can usually put things into perspective for the other
11. Who does the laundry? me
12. Who takes out the trash? James
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? James
14. Who pays the bills? me
15. Who is better with the computer? James
16. Who mows the lawn? James, but I usually mow the front a couple of times a month
17. Who cooks dinner? me
18. Who drives when you are together? James
19. Who pays when you go out? James
20. Who is more stubborn? James (though he would probably say me)
21. Who is first to admit when they are wrong? probably me
22. Whose family do you see the most? mine, we live in the same town
23. Who kissed who first? James kissed me after I baited him by saying, "so, you think you might ever kiss me"?
24. Who asked who out? I asked James to a grub for our sorority
25. Who proposed? James
26. Who is more sensitive? me, I cannot watch Extreme Home Makeover without falling apart
27. Who has more friends? we both have a lot though almost every time I'm in an airport with James, he manages to run into to some long lost friend he hasn't seen in ages (including the guy who was scanning me with a metal detector wand in airport security after my underwire in my bra set it off; I guess I was the only woman wearing a bra that day at DFW)
28. Who has more siblings? me (I'm the 3rd of 4 & he's the 1st of 3)
29. Who's wears the pants in the family? We both do, but he's definitely the disciplinarian & head of the household

Aaron Watson

2007-10-15T15:02:00.000-05:00

We have a good friend from college named Aaron Watson. He was always fiddlin' around with his guitar in college. He'd sing for us & we always knew he was really talented. Well, Aaron decided to enter a contest for up and coming musical talents while we were in college. He and James drove down to Luckenbach and hand delivered Aaron's demo CD to Larry Gatlin during Willie Nelson's Annual Picnic. Aaron won the contest and has since become quite the little singer. He came to town this past weekend for a concert. James, Matt & Aaron golfed Saturday morning and then he spent the day at our house. We had the best time remembering the good old college days. Aaron has not changed a bit. I am so proud of him. He doesn't drink or cuss and his songs are all clean too, which is nice in this day and age. He has this huge following and he is still as sweet and humble as he's always been. He travels and sings on Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights and he's at church on Sunday mornings. We went and saw his show at the fair Sat. night with Hilary and Bird. It's so cool to see thousands of people cheering for him and screaming his name. Those of you who haven't heard any of Aaron's music, I highly recommend you look at his website (http://www.aaronwatson.com/) & listen to some of his music. He's really talented. My favorites are Off the Record, San Angelo, Shut Up and Dance, and I Don't Want You to Go! Well, there's my shameless little plug for Aaron, not that he needs it!

My little Evil Knevil

2007-10-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been busy trying to keep Kelton out of the Emergency Room here lately. He mistakenly thinks that he has the coordination of a professional athlete and the daring bravery of Evil Knievel. This kid is not afraid of anything (except squeaker shoes) and he is in fact a little too daring for my comfort. As a result, he keeps standing on any surface that he can climb and jumping out into the great unknown. It's really more of a dive rather than a jump because he has landed on his face about 7 times in the last week, as evidenced in the pictures of him. He has face planted off of the couch, off of our bed and as of today, off of a bench in a Target dressing room. I had just taken my clothes off so I could try something on, when I heard him say "one...free...JUMP". Well his feet got tangled in the diaper bag, so they never made it to the ground to break his fall, but his face did. He landed directly on his nose, which then began to bleed profusely. So I'm standing there in my unmentionables trying to assess the situation and decide if a trip to the hospital would be necessary. I used his blanket to try & stop the bleeding. Once I was finally able to get my skirt on & my shirt half way on, I ran out to ask for some Kleenex. I'm sure the dressing room attendant saw more of me than she cared to, but you mothers understand . . . when your baby is bleeding everywhere & crying hysterically, all modesty goes out the window and not much else matters. It eventually stopped bleeding and we left Target. We were covered with blood from head to toe. I got home & looked in the mirror & realized what everyone had been staring at. I had blood smeared all over my neck and chin. I even managed to get some in my hair & poor Kelton looked like he had been playing with red paint in a spin art machine. Well, we're okay, thank goodness. God is so clever. I think he must have had Kelton in mind when he decided that kids' bones should not fully harden until the first couple years of life are out of the way. Otherwise we'd probably be on broken nose #10 by now! Here are a few pictures of the last couple of weeks. Kelton is trying to catch a raindrop in the first picture. Susannah turned 2 & Justin had his 6th birthday party as well, so we had a busy weekend! Special K was tuckered out by Sunday! In the last picture, he is sound asleep with his face pressed against the bars of his baby bed!

Special K's Fashion Sense

2007-09-25T15:36:00.000-05:00

This is what Kelton wanted to wear to bed the other night. I can't really argue with the Cowboys jersey, but I'm not sure why he felt the need to wear his swimming suit. I guess he was planning on sneaking out during the night to go swimming. Too bad for him, we put a tent on his crib to prevent such events!

Who Knew Cool Whip was so Entertaining?

2007-09-24T18:45:00.000-05:00

Not much new to report. We started back to Mothers Day Out a couple weeks ago. Kelton has one of the teachers that he had last year & he loves Miss Jari, so that's nice to leave him with someone familar! I'm teaching the 3 year old class this year. I've got 9 students, including my niece, Whitney and one of my friends daughters, Mary Elizabeth. They are so cute & fun and Whitney just about has the enitre class calling me "E-boo" instead of Miss Amber. E-boo is what all of my nieces & nephew call me! I don't mind it at all though! James & I went to Dallas last weekend and hung out with a bunch of our college friends, which is always lots of fun. On Saturday we went to a baby shower for some of our friends who are expecting a little boy next month, which is kinda funny because she had a little girl today! The sonogram was 99% sure she was pregnant with a little boy, but that 1% margin of error turned out to be correct. Apparently the umbilical cord was placed just perfectly between her legs! It's been so hot & humid lately, we've been trying to entertain ourselves indoors, hence the blue cool whip on his face!

Look what Kelton got into!

2007-09-07T14:08:00.000-05:00

My adorable son is MISCHIEVOUS! Yesterday afternoon he was playing in my room while I did laundry. When I went to check on him I found that he had gotten into my makeup & "wrapped" my bathroom with toilet paper! I couldn't help but laugh & pull out the camera. He hammed it up & said "TEEZ", which means cheese in English! My mom has a picture of me after I did the same thing in her bathroom when I was little. Except, I also dumped a jar of baby powder all over the bathroom. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but he also drew all over his arms & legs with my eyeliner. There is never a dull moment with Kelton around.

James' Birthday Weekend

2007-09-07T13:51:00.000-05:00

September the 5th marked James's 30th birthday. I had a small surprise party for him this past weekend. Our closest friends & family (locally) were pretty much all able to come. His sister flew in from California & his folks came in from New Mexico. We actually pulled off the surprise & he didn't have a clue. I think everyone had a really good time. . . except me. I got sick with the stomach bug (which James had earlier in the week) a couple of hours before the party. I was able to "lure" him to the party & visit with everyone for a couple of minutes before heading back home with fever. All in all, we had a good time with family and I've enjoyed making fun of how old James is. If you ask me, he's still pretty cute . . . for a geriatric.

Playing Soccer

2007-09-06T18:55:00.000-05:00

Justin ( my nephew) had his first soccer (or "hoccer" as Kelton says it) game last weekend. Justin scored several goals & had some impressive assists. He was worn out by the end of the game. He immediately jumped into Mamasue's arms while Kelton took off for the field!

Taking a road trip!

2007-09-06T18:48:00.000-05:00

Kelton & Susannah singing while driving around the living room!

2007-08-29T10:03:00.000-05:00

Is that a Milkdud?

2007-08-25T19:39:00.000-05:00

Well the other day I was giving Kelton a bath. I had already washed him from head to toe and I was letting him play in the water while I sat on the floor beside him. I was looking down at the carpet and then it happened. I got hit on the side of my face with something. As I examined the thrown article I thought to myself, "is that a Milkdud"? Upon closer examination I determined in fact it was a small piece of Kelton's poop. I looked in the bathtub and saw that in fact he had pooped in the bathtub. I'm not sure why he felt the need to throw it at me, but with perfect aim, he nailed me directly on my cheek. Of course I had to drain the bathtub, clean it out, wash Kelton again & then scrub my face repeatedly. James was hysterical when I told him about our little incident. I'm glad he found it so amusing; as a matter of fact I think I'll let him bathe Kelton from now on (or at least until I know it's safe for me again).

Could he be any cuter?

2007-08-24T17:32:00.000-05:00

What am I eating?

2007-08-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

Oh, beans...I like beans!

Air Force One

2007-08-24T17:02:00.000-05:00

James has become friends with some of the Air Force One pilots & engineers. We've been lucky enough to visit the plane a couple of times & we were able to take the rest of my family out to visit last Sunday. I've never seen Robby or David so fired up!

2007-08-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

2007-08-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

Kelton's first visit out to Air Force One

Summer Highlights

2007-08-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe summer is almost over. We have been so busy the last couple of months. We went out to Malibu for Taryn's college graduation in late April/early May. We then went to Washington D.C. for a week with Mom, Dad & Aubin in June. Kelton stayed behind and spent the week with Net-Net, which was wonderful because we didn't have to worry about him, but also difficult for me because I've never been away from him for a week. I just knew he would forget who I was and start thinking of Annette as his new Mama! Three of my best friends in the world became mama's (Andi had twins in late May, Lauren had a boy the following day & Melissa just became a mama to sweet little Brodie last week)! Kelton turned 2 years old on August 2nd and I'm still in denial about that. He is an angel & a holy terror all at the same time. The child began climbing out of his crib around 16 months. We put him to bed in Wranglers for a couple of months b/c they were so tight he couldn't hike his leg over the bed (thanks for the idea, Elizabeth)! He then figured out how to take them off and I promptly ordered a tent for his bed. Without sounding too cheesey, being that kid's mom is without a doubt the biggest challenge of my life & the greatest thing I've ever done in my life. Here are some highlights of our summer!

2007-08-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

My bestest Friend Melissa & her sweet baby boy Brodie!

2007-08-24T16:47:00.000-05:00

Like his mother, Kelton loves anything chocolate!!!

2007-08-24T16:46:00.000-05:00

Kelton's 2nd Birthday Party!

2007-08-24T16:42:00.000-05:00

Kelton looks really pumped about his birthday, huh?

2007-08-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

Fun at the spray park.

2007-08-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

Our trip to Washington D.C.!

2007-08-24T16:35:00.001-05:00

This was the view from our hotel.

2007-08-24T16:34:00.001-05:00

Washington Monument

2007-08-24T16:34:00.000-05:00

Malibu, California