new addition

hahaha now that i have your attention... this is clous the philodendron, our new plant and playmate of paul the peace lily and the sickly bamboo i rescued from work.

also, this is the work bench with vice cody made with the lowes gift card from the drake family. (mom, he got zip ties with your... also very important work related things )(and he says thanks you thank you thank you, he is sitting right here)
thanks family for being so supportive of both of us.

i love you and miss you all.
mucho mucho.

love
lindsey (and cody)

Conversations I've had with my Oldest 2 year old latley.

#1

Briceson from his highchair at dinner " can i have a cookie now?"

Me " No, Briceson, you didn't eat your dinner so you can't have a cookie."

Briceson " Sure I can! " said with a big cheesy grin.

This was repeated several more times till he finally got it, and got down to go play.

#2

Me upon catching Briceson pushing the buttons on the dishwasher:

" Briceson Gene, did you touch the dishwasher?"

Briceson as he jumps and quickly puts both hands behind his back " um....yes"

Me " why did you touch it, mommy has already spanked you two times for doing that"

Briceson still with his hands behind his back and looking at me with very big eyes and a puffed out bottom lip " I a baby mommy, I just a baby"

and then he put his arms around my neck and patted my back, and continued to remind me he is just a baby.

He did not get a spanking that time.


#3

Briceson wile setting in my lap in the living room on Sunday morning. Daniel was changing EveyLynn's diaper. No one else was talking.

Briceson" Daddy, You are my Sunshine!" said with a big sweet grin


Daniel about cryed. Well not really cause he doesn't really do that, but he was speechless and smiled so big he looked as if he was going to burst.

It's so nice to give your blood, sweat, and hair ( mine all fell out from stress i'm sure) to a child to make sure they grow up to be happy, healthy, loving, compassionate adult, only to have them shower someone else with such sweet, spontaneous, and loving words! : )

Oh, well. Maybe one day I will be his Sunshine too!


Every single other conversation we have had with the boy for the past 3 weeks has contained " I don't like it" " I don't want to" " no" , or some form of all three so I will spare you the details of all of those.

Next Up : Potty Training!

I have decided i can put it off no longer cause he gets really mad and crys when he asks to go on the potty and I tell him he isn't old enough to use the big potty. So I give in and let him go, and he jumps up there, pees EVERY TIME and then gets down, closes the lid and flushes. Suppose that means he is ready? I'm not sure EveyLynn is aware she pees! Could be a wile for her. Maybe it will be better doing one at a time. I read some were that by the time a child is 2.5 they will have used 5,000 diapers. Thats 10,000 if you have 2-both ( that is EveyLynn's word she made up to refer to her and Briceson both) If i had time I would translate 10,000 diapers into a dollar amount for you all but E is in my lap and I am typing with one hand. I can't do math with one hand! Sorry, cause I know you all were extremely interested. But rest assured that my motivation to potty train is not related to the money, cause I have a potty training phobia ( thank you Alison for the super traumatic experience) and would gladly let them both stay in diapers till the 3rd birthday for sure. But Briceson has practly asked for " potty training" for Christmas, so........HERE WE GO!

Mom's Not Broken

Well, Dr. Benafield (he's a wrist guy) has confirmed that my wrist is NOT broken! It is badly sprained, and could take 6 to 8 more weeks to heal, but I can maintain my 53 year no-cast record! He was quite impressed that I was roller skating "at my age" (whatever THAT means!) Love you all! -- Mom

Creative Cooking!

Well, it's a little chilly here today, so I was thinking about what I could have for lunch that would be warm, and filling, and free (meaning it was something I already had here at the office and not something I would have to go buy!) - so, I've invented this Asian soup - it's a can of green beans, a can of mushrooms, a can of chicken broth, a few slices of turkey lunch meat, a chopped up tomato, about a 1/4 of a green pepper, chooped, a few shakes of Shirache sauce (not sure about that spelling...), one Mini-Moo (a/k/a one of those little bitty coffee creamers), and last, but not least...about a teaspoon of peanut butter! Heat that up until it's really hot and bubbly, and my-oh-my - that's some pretty tasty stuff! - Just keepin' you in the loop in case you find yourself wondering what to fix for lunch! -- love you all! Mom

From The Lone Star State to The Natural State: Our work in progress...

Hey there family! Roxie has started something that in the future she may have to pay for... I have begun an new addiction to blogging I think.  Here is a blog that I have set up for Brannon and I to share with you all what's going on with the move to Arkansas and the productivity on the house. Hopefully I don't get too carried away with this whole blogging thing that it keeps us from actually getting work done on the house.  Can't wait until you all get to come and visit us and see the final product. Love you all very much!!!

From The Lone Star State to The Natural State: Our work in progress...: "I'm back in Texas today after another long extended drive to/from Arkansas and Texas. Today really wasnt bad at all. Our little girl Charli ..."

Dear Dad got a Deer....

Well, sorry, no pics to prove it, but your Dad got a deer....hit it with my car...would rather he'd have used a gun...or a bow...but to each his own I suppose! He was actually pretty shaken up (Dad, not the deer, although I'm sure the deer was quite shaken too!) It hit the hood of the car, and then bounced around and hit the driver's door -- Dad said he thought it was coming through the windshield! So, the lesson for today my babies, is "beware of deer!" (I've already called Arkansas Collision Center - they have a loaner for me, and Doddie said she would try to save me my $500 deductible since I'm "such a good customer"! -- Love to all! Nonnie

Charli Jo turned O.N.E.

Well everyone ... the time has come for those long awaited photos of our sweet Charli Jo "Chuckles" turning one year old for your viewing pleasure. I deeply apologize for the super long wait but I know it was all worth it. Also a special thanks goes out to Roxie for getting me added to the blog as a contributer so I could make posts of my own. Thank you Rocket! I'm going to try my darndest to post here on a regular basis but with the moving situation and house remodeling situation I'm not making any promises.

On the morning of C.J.'s birthday I had to take a picture of her first thing waking up on her 1st Birthday. I felt sooo bad after I had done it and caught that "what are you thinking" look on her face but it was so worth it though. I can only imagine all the looks I'm going to get through out the years if I keep doing this. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Later on that day her daddy and I took her to play for the first time at the mall that we all went to to walk around at when we were waiting for her to make her special appearance one full year ago. We walked around window shopping, had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Afterwared we took her to where she got to play in the mall's toddler play place with kids more her size and she was able to explore all on her own. I was really surprised to see how independent she already was when she

wouldn't let us help her do a thing except for help her up the steps at the slide.

There Charli Jo had made her first little friend all on her own. It was soo cute, she had made friends with this 20 month old little boy and they had played so well together until Charli started playing keep away with his sippy cup. Then the little boy had enough and wanted it back so they began a little game of tug of war over his sippy. She finally gave in and gave it back to him when she realized it wasn't hers. I just think the picture of the two fo them staring each other down while guzzling down there drinks is just adorable.

Charli seemed to of really had a ton of fun at the mall. Afterwards we stopped by Babies 'R Us and got her a new pair of jeans. When we got home Brannon pushed her up and down the street on her new Radio Flyer Tri-Cycle that was given to her she can't quite reach the pedals to yet. I think that for her that may have been more fun than playing at the play place at the mall.

As for Charli's Birthday Party we had rented a gazebo at Trinity Park in downtown Fort Worth next to the miniature train depot. We had a small gathering of local friends and family out for a picnic of burgers and hotdogs at the park. After we all ate we took a ride around the park on the train and Charli and all the kids had a great time. It was still on the hotside outside around then but we all toughed it out okay.

When we were done with the ride we came back to open presents and for Charli to have her first birthday cake. I had stayed up the night before making her a double layered strawberry cake with real strawberries in the middle and with white whipped icing. It had sliced strawberries decorated around the bottom with pink and red icing piped around the bottom and top. It was a great little cake even though as soon as we got to the park it melted within the first five minutes even with it sitting in the fridge over night. I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of how pretty it was. Thank goodness Charli was only turning one and not thirteen because she didn't even know the difference. At first she really didn't even know what to think about it. She just sat there and stared at it with this look on her face wondering what in the world she was supposed to do with this big blob of a thing sitting in front of her. Destiny had to help her with her first bite and after that she just picked at it a little bit here and there. I think it may have been too sticky for her liking. Either that or else she was in sugar shock from the first bite. Overall it turned out to be a good day at the park but I think next time we'll just stick to having a gathering either around the house or somewhere inside.

That's all for now folks. I've gotten more pics of Charli today here in Arkansas that I will have to post up next time. Until then we are Charli and I are headed bak to DFW tomorrow morning after visiting Brannon and everyone and working on the house. I think Brannon also took some pictures tha I'll have to get posted up to show ya'll the progress of how the house is going. Hope to see or hear from you all soon. Have a great rest of the week everybody and know that we love you all very much. xoxoxo