The Skaggs Family

Changing Seasons...

2011-09-06T20:31:00.002-05:00

Woo-Hoo!!! All of you who also live in this South-Central section of America are welcome to join me in letting out another big WOO-HOO!! Because ya'll, it was not 100 degrees outside yesterday, or today for that matter!! And tomorrows forecast: much of the same!! Let's all say it again: WOO-HOO!!!!

Whew, I feel better after that little celebration of cooler weather :)

The seasons are beginning to change, and because I am an oh-so deep person, please allow me to share the many different ways the seasons are changing in my life... :)

First and foremost: For those that don't know, the Skaggs family has recently up and moved to another state - Oklahoma to be exact! We've lived here for exactly 23 days, and it already feels like "home", which only goes to show you how AMAZING these Okies are! We have settled in quite nicely, and we have wonderful friends and colleagues to thank for it. Oh, and we also have a very big, and very gracious God to thank too - let's not forget Him :)

Second: My baby girl is in Kindergarten :( She looks so unbelievably big walking into her big-girl school, carrying her big-girl back pack, with her very BIG big-girl grin on her face! She is loving school and all her new little friends, and I am loving/hating watching her grow up before my very eyes.

Third: Take that 3 and multiply it by 10 and you have my new age - that's right, I'm finally a for-real adult, ya'll! I still don't like the sound of it though, 29 has a much better ring to it, so I may just continue to use that :)

Fourth: I'm officially done... blogging, that is. Seeing as how I've only been logging one pathetic little post a month, I do believe my blogging days are over. I know this may cause an uproar among all my die-hard fans out there, but let's face it, we all knew this day was coming, it's just taken a long drawn-out year to make it happen :)

Thank you for caring about us enough to read all this nonsense over the past 3 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my family with you, thank you for reading! :)

A difference of opinions...

2011-08-10T09:32:00.005-05:00

Sydney is getting all jazzed up about started Kindergarten next week. We've bought our school supplies, a backpack and a lunch box, and yesterday I took her to buy a new dress for her first day. I told her I'd let her pick out whatever dress she wanted, thinking for sure that out of all the adorable little dresses Target has to offer, she surely wouldn't pick out something I'd disagree with...

Turns out I was wrong...apparently my daughter and I have a VERY different taste in clothes. She turned her nose up at all the cute plaids and stripes, and made a bee-line for the roses. Yes, ROSES! BUT, true to my word, I let her pick out her own dress, because I was trying to be a good mom and all...

So here's our first day of school outfit...roses in all their glory... :(

Maybe it'll look really good on? OR maybe I really do have terrible taste in clothes, and this is considered cute by everyone else?? Maybe?? :)

This is the life...

2011-07-18T13:26:00.007-05:00

My, my...I had already forgotten how quickly life changes when you bring a new baby home! What a blessing it is that the Lord allows my memory to block out all the difficulties and mainly remember the good of all this - because whew! it's not easy! :) BUT, despite the difficulties, it is SO GOOD! Bennett is doing amazingly well, and the older kids are doing AMAZINGLY well with him! They love him more than I ever dreamed they would, and neither have yet to show any sort of jealousy or anger towards him. They're all just plain incredible.. :)

LOVE Bennetts face in this picture! How pitiful... :)

This is a little better...
Poor little Bennett has the worst baby acne of all my kids - I sure hope for his sake that it's not a prediction of what his teen years will hold...
Brady absolutely ADORES Bennett. He is constantly asking to hold him and kiss him. And if Bennett is crying, you can count on Brady to come and get me and lead me towards Bennett...I LOVE seeing that brotherly love!
This picture was taken pre-baby acne :)
I LOVE these skinny little legs! If the boy turns out anything like his big brother though, they'll only be skinny for a short time :)

This girl is a GREAT big sister to both her brothers - she is patient and kind, and I will miss her help in just another month when she starts Kindergarten... oh my goodness, I'm fixing to have a Kindergartner! :(

I was also going to explain our name choice to those of you who may be confused... We chose the name Bennett because 1)we both thought it was dang cute, and 2) it means "Little Blessed One", and who doesn't want a little blessed baby?! And his middle name, Green, is an old family name on both my grandfathers and grandmothers side. I like the shout-out to the family, and I also really like that Brandon, Brady, and Bennett all share the same initials. So...there ya have it, Bennett Green Skaggs!! :)

L.O.V.E

2011-06-18T13:54:00.016-05:00

L - is for the way you look at me...

O - is for the only one I see...

V - is very, very... extraordinary

E - is even more than anyone that you adore can...

LOVE is all that I can give to you...

LOVE is more than just a game for two...

Two in LOVE can make it, take my heart but please don't break it...

LOVE was made for me and you...

Bennett Green Skaggs - June 13, 2011. 6 lbs 11oz, 20 in.

We've got lots and LOTS of love happenin' around here! :)

All filled up...

2011-05-27T21:32:00.006-05:00

OK, I'm not at all sure what happened to the last 3 1/2 weeks. Seriously, I think I JUST posted that blog, and yet here we are, 26 days later! And due to those 26 days, I am now a mere 15 days away from having yet another baby. How do I keep getting myself into this?! :)

I still don't feel ready, I still don't feel the reality of what is upon us yet. It seems VERY surreal that I'm having a baby at all, really. And I think I've found the reason, and it's probably a reason many of you have experienced as well. When I was pregnant with Sydney, I wanted to experience motherhood so badly that I NEEDED a baby in my arms in order to feel even remotely complete. And when I finally got her, it was absolutely perfect. When I was pregnant with Brady, I NEEDED a baby in my arms that were still miserable and aching from losing Elliot. Every day of my pregnancy with him, my heart and my arms physically longed for him, and it was absolutely perfect when I finally got him. But this time around feels so different. My arms, my hands, my feet, my head, ALL of me is constantly full, and constantly busy. I have plenty else going on around here to have the luxury of time for them to feel empty and ready for another baby. Does that mean that I want or love Bennett any less than the others? Absolutely NOT! I am so excited to see him, to hold him, to smell him, and to physically LOVE him in the exact same way I have all my other children. I just don't feel the NEED to have him ASAP, like I have with the others. BUT, I know that as soon as he gets here, it will be absolutely perfect as well. All this makes sense in my head, I hope it makes sense to you, too. :)

How great is my God, and how great is my life, that I have a plethora of children to love? Sydney and Brady drive me absolutely crazy - (especially these past 10 days while Brandon has been out of the country!), and pregnancy is no cake-walk, but I would have my life NO other way. I love them with all my heart, and I LOVE the little ways that they love me back, and I can't wait to experience it all all over again with Bennett...in just 15 days! :)

33 weeks...AHHH!

2011-05-02T09:28:00.005-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:33 Weeks...and again I say: AHHH! That does NOT seem like a very long time left, and I'm not sure I'm ready yet!

Size of baby: 4-1/2 pounds-ish

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 23 pounds - the baby gains 1/2 a pound a week, I gain a pound...hmmm, wonder where that other 1/2 pound is going??

Gender: Boy, and the boy shall be called Bennett. At least we think so...I'd say we're about 90% sure. I told you that we have a hard time making decisions :)

Movement: He moves pretty constantly. I had forgotten about all the pelvis-pushes that occur this late in pregnancy! :)

Sleep: Hmmm, not sleeping as well as I was 5 weeks ago. I wake up quite a few times each night, moving to the couch and back usually at least once.

What I miss: Exercising. Yeah...it surprised me too!

Cravings: Not much, actually. My need for massive amounts of food seems to have subsided a tad.

Symptoms: A little pressure, but nothing too bad. As long as I take it easy (which I don't have a problem doing!), I feel pretty good :)

Best Moment this week: Switching the kids rooms around! We moved Sydney and Brady into the same room so Bennett can have his own. I love it, the kids seem to love it, and it felt GREAT getting to re-arrange and CLEAN STUFF OUT! 'Cause we have got a LOT of stuff to fit in a LITTLE bit of room! :)

Best Moment this week (non-baby-related):

This is Brady's new "cheese" face. I have no idea where he learned it, but every time we say, "say cheese!", he squints up those eyes and exaggerates his grin, and it is PRECIOUS! And the boy LOVES him some screw drivers - he tries to help daddy fix everything.
This child LOVES his Daddy. And not just a little bit, I'm telling you...he absolutely cannot get enough of the man. I wouldn't let him outside while Brandon mowed this week, and so the boy stood with his bowl of raisins and watched his daddy the ENTIRE time he mowed the grass. And once Brandon moved to the back, Brady followed the sound of the mower and grunted and pointed to where he knew Daddy was. It is TOO sweet how crazy he is for his Daddy :)

The alter flowers on Easter Sunday were given to us by an anonymous donor in memory of Elliot. The arrangement was GORGEOUS, and though we didn't take the whole thing home, we grabbed a few on Elliots actual birthday. Sydney was in flower Heaven :)
Elliot's birthday celebration at his tree. This will always be a favorite moment for me. It's a day of us being together, with nothing to do besides enjoy being together and remembering our boy. It was perfect this year, as it has been the past 2 years, and I feel confident in saying it will continue to be perfect as the years go by. And notice the "cheese" face on Brady once again! :)

I was attempting to snag some pictures of Brady, who wasn't being completely cooperative. But this girl, Lord knows where she came from, came up and said "I'll let you take my picture, Mom." And then stood there with her eyes actually looking at the camera and smiled! For those that know her, know how crazy, and yet how welcome, this circumstance was! :)
Hope your week is off to a great start! :)

All our love...

2011-04-28T12:37:00.004-05:00

Sweet, sweet baby boy...we love you and miss you everyday, but especially today on your 3rd Birthday. I will always and forever love you with all my heart...

Revision...

2011-04-18T19:01:00.003-05:00

OK, so after re-reading my last post, I felt like a total Debbie Downer, and I just have to apologize ! I don't want to seem quite so cynical about the facts of my life, so I'm gonna give it another go:

1) Sydney had an awesome day at the zoo! Being that I am 7 months pregnant and already had a Dr. appointment scheduled for that day, I did not go with her. BUT, I am so thankful for her school and it's incredible leadership which I feel SO comfortable with, allowing me the confidence to let her go without me, and still knowing she would be well taken care of. I know I would have had a great day with my baby girl and her friends, and hopefully next time I'll be able to go :).

2) The new paint really does look great! It's nice and neutral, and it flows quite nicely with the rest of the house. And honestly, I have been meaning to paint trim and doors since we moved in 2 1/2 years ago, and this was a great way to light a fire up under me! And also, having it all done means being one step closer to being ready for baby to come, and that's always exciting! AND, my fabulous parents are in the process of making adorable decorations for Sydney's and Brady's walls, so they won't be bare for long. :)

3) Brady really IS awesome. Yes, we have our daily struggles and battles, but more than anything he is a really great kid. He smiles and he laughs, and he makes us smile and laugh constantly. When he runs, his left arm stay perfectly still while his right arm just goes to TOWN, and it's absolutely precious! He's only going to be my "baby" for another 8 weeks, and I better shape up and enjoy it, despite any difficulties.

4) I do still love food. And I plan to love it FULLY for the next 8 weeks before I have to start back with all the exercising and rationing. Unless the nursing works well, in which case I'll just be starting back with the exercising, and not-so-much the rationing! YAY for pregnancy and breastfeeding! :)

5) Sydney is amazing. Though it IS true that our little beauty is not an athlete, she does try her best, and she ALWAYS has a good attitude about it. And yes, (Kelley!), she takes after me in this area, and I happen to think I turned out pretty awesome even though I was never a soccer (or drill team!) star! Haha!! :)

Whew! Now isn't that better! :)

Let's roll it into one...

2011-04-14T13:12:00.005-05:00

Seeing as how my blogs are so few and far between these days, I decided that maybe I'd write a post giving a synopsis of what I'd be blogging about if I were still a good blogger:

1) Sydney went to the zoo yesterday on a field trip for school, and she did not want me to go. She likes to ride in the van, because apparently even when you're only 5 years old it's much cooler to ride with friends than it is to ride with Mom. What I'm wondering is: Is it sad that that did not bother me at ALL? Am I a bad mom that my actual thought was "HECK to the YES!" Because the zoo is fun and all, but not so much with 1) 30 Pre-K kids and 2) with a 31 week pregnant belly attached to me.

2) We(with the help of Milo!) painted baby-no-name's room this past weekend. YAY! It is now a nice, neutral shade of tan that does nothing for me but showcase how very LITTLE we had hanging on Sydney's walls. Those huge pink and brown polka-dots made the walls look a lot more full than tan does. AND, tan makes our off-white trim look very dull, which means I've been taking on a whole other project that I didn't realize I'd be tackling. Painting trim and doors is awesome, let me tell you... and apparently you can't just paint one off-white door in your house, you have to paint them ALL or it looks slightly awkward. Dang-it.

3) Brady is awesome - I love him with all my heart. I just have to get that out there before I admit this: I do NOT like the 1 year old stage. It is a whiny, drooley, tantrum-y, snotty, VERY picky phase, and I think I'm ready for it to be over. I believe God made 1 year olds extra cute on purpose - because otherwise this particular one year old may not make it through another day.

4) I love food. And I don't want good-for-me food. I want casseroles, topped with a pound of sharp cheddar cheese, and I want some greasy and delicious garlic bread to go with it. And maybe I want some stewed okra to go with it, because for some odd reason that particular veggie is my current fave. How bizarre am I that I would rather eat a whole casserole with tomato-y okra on the side than a whole mess of fajitas? Or even steak. Yep, I'll take a casserole, thank you very much! And then maybe I'll take some cookies and ice cream afterward, because that ALWAYS does my body good :)

5) Sydney is playing soccer for the first time this year - and by "playing", I mean "she looks really cute out there". God bless her, the girl just doesn't have an athletic or competitive bone in her skinny little body. BUT, she has touched the ball 3 times in her 4 games thus far, and for that, we are pretty darn proud. When the coach told her to play the "sweeper" position, she took it to mean, "stay in one spot, and sometimes do a pretty twirl". But like I said, she does look really cute out there :)

Have a great weekend! :)

28 Weeks...

2011-03-27T20:28:00.004-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:28 Weeks (though that picture was actually taken at 27 weeks)

Size of baby: 2 1/2 pounds-ish

Total Weight Gain/Loss: If you MUST know, I've gained about 18 pounds. 2 whole pounds less than where I was at this point in my pregnancy with Brady! Man, now I feel skinny! :)

Gender: Boy. Though the boy is still nameless :(

Movement: Lots of it! He shakes and wiggles pretty constantly, and I can't get enough of it!

Sleep: Yep, I like it a lot! I've still been sleeping great, I only get up at night when I have to for one of the other kids.

What I miss: Bending over with ease.

Cravings: Anything that consists of food.

Symptoms: Does hunger count as a symptom? If so, that's my main one :)

Best Moment this week: I was VERY excited that we bought some primer at the Home Depot! Even though it's still sitting in the garage unopened, we are one step closer to getting the kids rooms ready for baby boys arrival!

I really am feeling great, though don't ask Brandon b/c he may tell you differently. Maybe...sometimes...I complain a tiny bit to him, but all-in-all, baby and I are doing very good. :) He's growing just like he's supposed to, I'm growing where I'm supposed to, (and growing few other places as well!), and we're just enjoying the relative peace and quiet before he comes out in 11 weeks!

Got it good...

2011-03-03T15:13:00.006-06:00

My heart is so full today, so full that I just have to share... (but I have never been truly eloquent with words, so please bear with me as I try to get it all out!)

For starters, the weather is absolutely gorgeous. It is sunny and warm, and the perfect time of year to be a Texan. So, as I'm driving down the road today, and I see all the Bradford Pear(I think?!) trees starting to bloom in all their white gorgeous-ness, I couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed with the JOY and goodness my God has given me.

For the past year or so, I've been going through a very rough time spiritually, struggling with and doubting things I've known to be truth my entire life. Honestly, Jesus just hasn't seemed REAL to me, and for someone who's been a Christian their entire life, this has been a new, and very scary place to be. But with this Spring, I truly feel change coming. I've been making concentrated efforts to do my part in getting my heart right with my Savior, and I feel like He is beginning to bless those efforts. I feel his truths are becoming TRUTHS to me again, and I feel his forgiveness and grace more than ever before. I feel like I'm getting to know a different Jesus, not that He's changed at all, but I have - and my grown-up perception of Him is different, and in many ways better, than that of my childhood. It's a place I've needed to be for a long time now, and it feels so refreshing to finally be getting there.

Next to my salvation, the gift God freely gives that I am most thankful for is JOY. I LOVE the feeling of joy. I oftentimes get so overwhelmed with joy that I honestly feel it bubbling up inside me, and can't hardly contain it. I feel so much JOY in this life He's given me, because there's literally nothing I can think of that I want, that I don't already have. I have a husband who loves me, beautiful children I adore, the "job" I've always wanted, a little healthy miracle kicking me from the inside all day long, and family and friends who support and encourage me without fail. We enjoy health, wealth, and happiness, and the time to enjoy every bit of it. (A saying which I totally stole from Bebe's house!) Despite the fact that a piece of my heart is residing in Heaven, it somehow still feels SO full and overflowing. What more could a girl ask for?!

I know this whole post is completely jumbled and disjointed, but I hope it still makes a little sense. In a nutshell, what I am trying to say is this:

I've got it very good. And I'm so thankful that my God has given me the where-with-all to know exactly how good I've got it. And Spring is good. Spring brings new growth, and welcomed warmth, and it just feels...fresh - and I am feeling it, and needing it, and fully embracing it, in all aspects of my life, and to the very best of my ability. :)

We're stuck...once again...

2011-02-20T21:28:00.002-06:00

Brandon has many, many strengths. If I can brag slightly, I have a few strengths of my own somewhere up my sleeve. BUT, one strength neither of us possess is "decisiveness". This, in the past, has caused us many-a-headaches as we must make certain life-changing decisions such as: "what do you want for dinner?", and "what movie do you want to watch?", etc. These discussions inevitably turn into:

"It doesn't matter to me, what would you like?..."

"...Oh, I don't care, why don't you pick?"...

And we end up eating wherever our car drives itself (or Chili's is always a good fall-back!), and we end up doing a sort of lottery to decide which movie we care to see.

Sometimes, it's simply exhausting being us :)

Thankfully though, Brandon is extremely laid-back and I am somewhat relaxed some of the time, so everything always works out in the end.

In other news... I value (ahem...maybe the correct word is crave) other people's opinions. Maybe that's not so much a strength as it is a weakness, but either way, it's who I've always been. I need to know that people approve. Don't judge me :)

What all this information boils down to is this: We once again cannot decide on a name for our baby. Surprise, Surprise!!! :)

SO, me being the kind of person I am, I want your opinions. And my husband being the laid-back person HE is, doesn't mind that I ask! And We, being the indecisive people we are, need your help!

We have a list going, but the ability to narrow the list down to just one perfect name seems a near impossible task for us. So there's no poll (yet), but I thought I'd ask for some feedback as to some names we're considering. Leave a comment and let me know your favorite(s)! :)

**These are just first names - the middle name is a whole other can of worms!**

1) Beau 0r Bo (Which spelling would be cuter with "Skaggs"?) (Or are both too country?)

2) Bennett

3) Colby

4) Drew

5) Grant

6) Ty

So there ya have it: our list. Please feel free to be honest if you don't like one, or if you REALLY like another - those are the opinions I crave! Just don't be mean, please. THAT, I don't care for :)

A few of my favorite things...

2011-01-09T19:30:00.006-06:00

Forget "Raindrops on Roses, and Whiskers on Kittens", these are the things that top my short list today:

#1) This guy. Because he's spectacular in more ways than you can imagine, and also because he gave me #2 (and #3, and #4!) (see below)

#2) This girl. Because she, too, is spectacular - in the fall leaves...

and in the winter snow. And because she's absolutely beautiful to boot!

#3) This boy. I really wish he could get a little cuter, but sadly, he cannot :)
because just look at those gap teeth and those blue eyes and just TRY to tell me you're not in love too... :)

#4) Myself. Or more specifically, the 17 week old baby I'm carrying inside myself. I've felt exactly 2 kicks so far, and that's apparently all he had to do to steal my heart completely :)
#5) These brownies. In all honesty, I simply cannot tolerate any other brand of brownie anymore - none can compare to the deliciousness that these hold. I could seriously rely solely on these for sustenance right now. Eating for two, right?!

#6) This lady. She's right there with me on my quest to find a name for the man child growing inside of me, and I appreciate her for it! (And Dad too, for finally signing Mom up for texting!))
#7) This apron. One of my all-time favorite Christmas presents EVER, because it, just like my kids, could not possibly get any cuter.
#8) These kids. Because one more picture never hurt anybody :)

I'm BLUE, dadadedadadoo :)

2011-01-05T15:17:00.004-06:00

In our household we are feeling very BLUE - not in the sad sort of way, but in the BOY sort of way! I knew from the very beginning of the sonogram what the verdict was going to be b/c as soon as the wand touched my belly my doctor said "oops, I know what it is!" I figured there was only one thing he could have seen to be so certain so quickly!

All of us are thrilled - yes, even Sydney! While we were still in the sonogram room, we asked her what she thought of having another brother and while squeezing Brady's cheeks, her response was: "It's great! I LOVE chubby little boys!" I guess we'll just have to make sure this one chunks right on up just like his big brother:)

Sydney also declared in the sonogram room that the baby's name shall be "Jack", and has not changed her mind one bit since. While I think "Jack is a really great name, I don't think it's 'the one' for us, even though we're not the least bit certain what 'the one' will be! Who knows, it may all come down to a poll once again! :)

Thanks to those of you still reading - I know you really must love us! :)

I haven't taken a belly picture in the last few weeks, so I'll work on that and get it up for you soon. Until then, just take my word for it that it's BIG! :)

And the verdict is....

2010-12-28T14:42:00.000-06:00

BLUE!!! :)

Guess what??...

2010-12-20T10:37:00.001-06:00

I'm still alive..if you can believe it :) I suppose it's finally happened though... I fell off the face of the Earth. Even when just last month I said it was unacceptable. So, I apologize for my absence...

But then again, I take my apology back. Sorry for ya'! I've finally reached a point where I don't feel guilty about not blogging, and to be honest, it's quite freeing. I apparently reached my creativity maximum, and it seems I've got nothing left to give - I'm back to the original, stuck-in-a-box-and-can't-get-out Sara, and it feels pretty good right now. I like being in a box :)

So though these infrequent, uninspired blogs may be few and far between, I am not above giving basic updates:

All is well in the Skaggs household! Brandon & I are happy and well, Sydney & Brady are healthy (for the most part) and happy (for the most part), and Baby Skaggs is doing well! She's already doing a good job of making me fat, because obviously it's her fault and not all the food I feel at liberty to eat, right?

We should find out at the end of this month if she is, in fact, a "she", and I'm so excited I can hardly wait the more days! The kids all get excited and anxious for Christmas this week, and I get all geared up for a sonogram! Merry Christmas to me!

(BUT, if you're reading this and you've already bought me a present, I'll gladly still accept :), just FYI... )

If I can brag on myself for a minute... I'm doing a fairly good job of NOT being a total Scrooge this year, I've bought and wrapped almost all our presents, and I've actually enjoyed doing it. Surprise, surprise! However, no Christmas card this year - and no Christmas family picture to post either. It's funny how the only times I think of taking a picture, are the times that I'm in sweats, no make-up, and really bad hair. Of course, if I'm being honest, that IS how I look most days. :)

Stay tuned for the blue vs. pink update in 8 DAYS! And maybe I'll even dress up to take a family picture...maybe... :)

Introducing...

2010-11-04T16:44:00.001-05:00

Please allow me to introduce you to our newest baby Skaggs:

I know she may not look like much now, but come June 19th, she'll be a lot cuter - I promise :)

(Syd is SO insistent that this baby has to be a girl, that I will refer to "her" as such until we find out differently!)

I'll paraphrase the rest of what I'd write if I were to keep writing:

HAPPY!!! and BLESSED!!! :)

Still Kickin' it...

2010-10-29T20:32:00.004-05:00

WOW! I just looked on the side of my blog and realized that I've only blogged ONCE this month. And then I realized that this month is gonna be over in TWO days. Whoopsie!

(On a side note, I get on my blog everyday, (or maybe more accurately: a few times each day) just to check and see those blogs of people I love that have been updated. And I'm not gonna lie, I get awfully frustrated when they're not updated regularly. So...get with the program folks! Because I stick by the old cliche, "Do as I say, not as I do"! HA!)

Anyway, this current blog is for the sole purpose of getting another blog on my page before the end of the month. Because even in my slacker-self, one blog a month is simply uncalled for.
How do you feel about some random information?:

Brady is walking now. Skipped right on over that crawling business and took his first steps earlier this month. He's getting pretty stable, though he's had his fair share of head bruising. I keep wondering how many head bruises I'm supposed to let my kid get before I take him to the doctor.? Ahh, maybe at least one more...

Lately I've been spending practically all my free time reading. I'm not sure where books were when I was a teenager and into my early twenties, but I'm awfully glad they've finally found me. But because I'm a late-comer to the hobby, I've had some serious catching up to do, reading the books everyone else read way back-in-the-day. For instance, the "Twilight" saga. No lie, it took me about a week to force myself into the mindset that vampires and werewolves don't actually exist. I felt so engrossed in their world that it was a very tough reality to accept! Anyway, now I'm working my way through the "Hunger Games" trilogy, and will probably have just as difficult a time pulling myself back to reality. Does it make me nerdy to be so enthralled with "teen" books? Maybe that's why I never used to read. Maybe I was cool back then :)

Alright, that's all I've got. And I can see my book sitting across from me on the couch and it's calling my name... I think it's technically calling me a nerd, but whatever, either way I'm gonna cave :)

For your viewing pleasure...

2010-10-15T14:28:00.009-05:00

Thanks must go out to Beth, for once again giving my blog a much-needed face-lift! This particular update was especially important because all I could think when I looked at those other pictures for the past 11 months was: "You're baby is obviously no longer in your belly, WHY the heck are you still wearing maternity pants?! " Blech...

So, we had some new pictures taken by the very talented Scott Wade, this time sans the fat-girl pants, and I just have to share, mainly because they're just too lovely NOT to share:

Two very cute kids...

Six very cute kids... :)
There was a chunky fellow in a bright orange shirt over there in the darkness when we took this pic, isn't Photoshop amazing?!
L.O.V.E them :)
GORGEOUS!, though I may be a tad biased :)
Brady & cousin Charly...
So freakin' HANDSOME...
Sydney & cousin Sam - they are the best of buds...
All us Skaggs's. (I have no idea if that is correct English. Not sure how to appropriately pluralize my last name...)

The kids and our legs...
Playground magic...
See, I just had to share! Thanks for viewing! :)

It's what we do...

2010-09-30T20:59:00.007-05:00

Around here, we be doin' lots of stuff...

We be blueberry-in'
We be cruisin' (like a mad-man, I might add - and yet, still no crawling :) )
We be teethin'...

We be fixin'...

We be skippin'...
We be pettin'...(NOT our dog...heavens NO!)
We be walkin'...
We be swingin'...
We be NEW phonin'...
We be bleedin'...
HA! Only kidding - that's just more blueberry-in' :)

And more importantly, we be partyin'...
And even MORE importantly, we be partyin' with Cinderella... because that's how we roll...

"She came here all the way here from DisneyWorld, JUST for my birthday party! But she had to leave Prince Charming at home because he had a sore throat, and she had to leave her carriage at home with him, just in case he needed it." -Sydney :) (TOO precious!)

After the Cinderella-in', we be movie watchin'...
And lastly...FINALLY... we be (eventually) sleepin'...
And that, my friends, is what we do :)

Smarty Pants...

2010-09-10T20:25:00.003-05:00

First things first: Hi. My name is Sara, and I've been absent from my blog for quite a while now. But I do think I forewarned you, so I am not sorry. There. I said it... :)

Now, onto the purpose of this post:
I've mentioned this before, but when Brandon & I were dating in college we had a very "Ross & Rachel" kind of relationship. As in, we broke up and got back together a lot. :)
The last time we broke up, I was certain that it was for good, and that Brandon was definitely NOT the right guy for me. In fact, I had a whole list of things that were "wrong" with him to prove it.

Well, obviously God changed my heart, but He also changed a lot of things in Brandon, even though Brandon knew nothing of my list. I'll spare you all the totally rational items on my "wrong" list, except for one: The 20 year old Sara was very upset about the fact that her 20 year old boyfriend wasn't serious enough about school. He just didn't seem to care about it, nor did he have a drive and a passion about what he wanted to do with his life. Hello? He was 20 YEARS OLD! Of course he didn't care about school. I was, and still am, so very sensible.

Anyway, God answered my prayers for this man to find passion and drive in a very real way. He's now been in school for 6 of the 7 years we've been married, and will probably continue to take classes and pursue some sort of degree for the rest of his life. Awesome.

Sometimes God takes a 20-year-old's request a little too literally, don't you think?! :)

Anyway, all that to say that today, I am IMMENSELY proud of my man. He found out today that he PASSED his comprehensive exams, and is now clear to start on his dissertation. That means sometime in the near future, you will all need to start referring to him as "Dr. Skaggs". Thank you very much :)

He has flown through the past three years of course work with relative ease, and I know that this gigantic paper will be no different. He is, and I mean this in the most sincere way possible, a real smarty-pants :)

I love you with all my heart, Babe, and I am so very, very proud of you...

One step closer...

2010-08-23T14:14:00.003-05:00

I just love birthdays, don't you?! I feel like birthdays should be celebrated elaborately, like a big drawn out party where the world revolves solely around me for 72 hours. Because let's face it, 24 just isn't enough, the party should at least include the day before and the day after.

Apparently all people don't agree with me though. I was slightly appalled today that the oil change man just chuckled when I asked if I got a discount since it's my birthday. Ummm, hello? I was not joking.

Anyway, the fact that I'm turning 29 for the first time today has seriously started resonating with me. Anyone remember my post a few months ago about becoming an adult? I had decided that 30 was the official "adulthood" milestone, and today just means that I'm one step closer to being there.

30?? Geez...

I have had 2 situations recently in which I actually FELT like an adult, though, so I guess that's progress! The first occurred on our way to Destin in June. We stayed the night in a hotel, a hotel WE had to pay for. I know it sounds ridiculous, but as I laid in that (AWESOME!) bed with Brandon, with Brady resting in the pack-n-play and Sydney in the bed next to us, I felt it. I had the overwhelming sensation that I was a for REAL grown up, that I had to provide this lodging for my children, and that I was actually in CHARGE. It felt weird.

The next "adult" situation occurred this past Sunday. I totally made lunch for my family, and it was a big deal. Usually our Sunday lunches consist of either tuna sandwiches or leftovers. And I don't ever consider what we'll eat until we're on our way home from church, all of us absolutely famished. But not this Sunday. This Sunday I made pulled pork, and I remembered to turn on the crock pot before leaving for church. I felt like a REAL mom, preparing a big Sunday lunch for my family. Again, it felt weird.

BUT, on Sunday at church, as I was going back to my seat after the welcome time, I do believe I lost some "adult" points. I probably lost "cool" points, too, come to think of it. Because for some reason my legs did not WALK the 3 steps back to my seat, they galloped... And people saw me... And I'm not 100% sure, but I am fairly certain that galloping is a practice not found anywhere in the adult handbook. Dang it.

Two steps forward, one step back...at least I'll make my way there eventually :)

Blessings in boxes and bags...

2010-08-16T13:34:00.006-05:00

Sometimes I have a tendency to be frugal...

OK, fine...that's a lie. I go right on past frugal and head straight in the direction of cheap. But that's the way my Daddy raised me, and I like to call it "smart" instead of "cheap". But whatever, that's beside the point...

The actual point I was trying to make is that this "smart" girl is OVERWHELMINGLY blessed by hand-me-downs.

I love hand-me-downs for two big reasons:
1) I hate shopping. Despite the fact that shopping necessitates spending money, I just don't like it. Shopping does not bring me the joy that it brings to other girls, it brings me anxiety and fear (yes, FEAR!) and I avoid it at all costs. So to have a box of clothes (CUTE clothes at that!) handed over to me that I don't have to sift through racks and racks to find...well, it's better than Christmas in my book.
2) Without the gift of hand-me-downs, my children would not have clothes. Alright, that's a lie, too. They definitely would not have to be running around town naked, but they would have a much smaller (and probably a lot less cute) selection!
(Or maybe naked wouldn't be such a bad idea, just look at that cute little butt!) :)

We have hand-me-downs stored in the garage, in closets, and under beds...some they've outgrown, and some will still have a few years until they're grown into! Just a small sampling:

Sydney's summer closet, at least 3/4th of which was given to us through hand-me-downs:

I am one thankful girl.

Nope, that's a lie, too. I am SO FAR beyond thankful for these clothes, shoes, toys, strollers, etc. that I don't know an adequate way to express it. I would love to pay you back for all these gifts, but then if I had the money to do that, I guess I wouldn't need the hand-me-downs in the first place! :)

Thank you Stacey, Thank you Mylia, and thank you to a few others - your hand-me-downs make this "smart" girl very happy and VERY blessed :)

No substitutions required...

2010-08-07T11:06:00.008-05:00

Take a walk with me, if you will, down a little path I like to call "memory mane" (because it has to do with hair...get it?!):)

When Sydney was born, she had just the tiniest bit of fuzzy black hair:

What little there was promptly fell out and she spent the first year of her life not completely bald, but awfully close to it. But let's face it, lots of babies are bald:

Second year of life produced some hair, but we still had high hopes that it was going to start growing "just any day now"...

Then we get to her third year of life, still with no major growth spurt. But we could tell there was at least a little coming out of that head because we had to give her her first little haircut. I had no idea what the heck I was doing, but I managed to ward off the mullet, so I'd call that a success...

Then entered this phase of her life, which anyone who knows her well will surely remember...She created her own solution to not having long, flowing hair and made some herself...a pink, satin pillowcase was as close as she could get to the real thing:

As Sydney entered into her 4th year of life, the hair still had yet to come. Home girl was still getting mistaken for a boy, so we poked some holes in her ears just to clear up any confusion:

In the middle of this year we were finally able to fix her hair (somewhat) into stubby little pigtails. That, my friends, was a glorious day...

End of the 4th year looked a little like this. Still short, but still beautiful:

In this 5th year of Syd's life, we can say with certainty that her hair is definitely growing. However, due to the generosity of her father in giving our munchkin his wonderful hairline, there seems to be lots more hair in back than on the top or sides, but we're confident that those will fill in soon enough. Thanks a lot for that, Brandon... :)

As now, as Sydney's 6th year of life is just around the corner, we've finally reached a monumental milestone. Her first OFFICIAL hair cut:

One day it will be thick, long, flowing hair down her back, but for right now, we're pretty happy with what she's got. There's no more resemblance to a boy, no more need for pink, satin-y long hair, just a beautiful princess in all her glory!

And that's the end of the "mane" for now...

Man, am I funny :)

Group therapy...

2010-07-20T15:42:00.010-05:00

Hi, my name is Brady, and I'm 9 months old...

I am an awesome baby. Mom says I'm a toot sometimes, but she doesn't know what she's talking about. I mean, seriously, just look at me. I'm awesome.

I just got over my first bout of sickness, and I have red bumps all over my body to prove it. They do NOT look awesome.

Good thing is, though, that even though I went through a few days of not wanting to eat, it didn't hurt my figure at all. Whew!

If I wanted to learn how to crawl, I totally would, but I have no interest whatsoever. I CAN do this now, but this is as far as I get before plopping back down on my rump. Again, I would totally learn to crawl, but I prefer to make my mom crazy - life's more fun like that.

Know what's NOT fun? Being on my belly. Man, I hate that thing. So if I ever find myself on it, I just do this (most of the time while whining so I can FULLY get my point across) and life gets better once again.

Why would anyone ever need to move on their own, though, when they have this to get them around? You people have cars, I have a walker. I'm a whiz in this thing - I can turn, reverse, and charge forward with the best of 'em. Sometimes I get lost in the laundry room and it freaks me out a little, but mom pops her head around the corner and I find my bearings once again. Plus, it has a tray for food. Food, a car, and a woman who tells me which way to go... what else could a man ask for?!

Speaking of food... I love it. I haven't found too much that I won't eat - leading us right back into talking about my awesome figure. Don't be jealous :)

I love to laugh. I laugh the most with my Dad, because he's awesome like me. But I also like to join into adult conversations and laugh about whatever they're laughing at. I have no idea what those crazy people are talking about, but it doesn't really matter to me. If someone laughs, that means something funny happened and it's time to laugh, so I join right in. Fake it till you make it, right?!

Lets see...what else? Oh yeah, I love my sister. She makes a ton of racket around the house, but man does she love me! She's always up in my business, sometimes a little too much, but usually I just laugh at her. She takes great care of me, and she makes me extremely happy, and I like to think I make her pretty happy too...

So to sum up: I'm Brady, I'm 9 months old, and I'm awesome. Peace out! :)

Burnin' up...

2010-07-15T21:15:00.003-05:00

Alright, guys... I'm sorry to say it, but I'm feelin' pretty done. As in, this Turkey is burnin' :)

A few nights ago I was feeling guilty that I hadn't posted anything for a while, so I started contemplating what to blog about. And because I had nothing exciting to say, I started writing a blog about what books I've been reading lately.

Uh-huh...books I've been reading... I'll be the first to say that it was a little less than thrilling.

And then as I sat there staring at a terribly boring post, I started feeling guilty for feeling guilty about not blogging!! It was a messed up kind of night :)

So anyway, I say all that to say this: I think I'm just a tad burned out on the blogging business right now. I seem to be fresh out of ideas, and I don't want to have to feel guilty about not posting new blogs every few days. Not that anyone has ever held me to any kind of schedule, but that's not the point. Mostly, I don't want to be the person who just abandons my blog and leaves everyone wondering if I died. So, this is a blog to tell you all that I might not be blogging too much for a while - I need a little break. I'm not saying I'm completely quitting, I'm just saying posts may be few and far between for a while - just a heads up.

And after this turkey is done smoldering, we'll get a new turkey and pop it back in the oven.

Does that analogy make sense to anyone but me? Oh well, I told ya I was fresh out of ideas :)

The ease of one...

2010-07-01T14:56:00.006-05:00

So apparently when Sydney is having the time of her life spending a few days at Aunt Nessa's house, Mom here has a little more time to get stuff done. Not gonna lie, I'm feeling just a tad proud of all I accomplished TODAY...

-Made a trip to Home Depot
-Vacuumed the entire house
-Dusted the entire house
-Washed, folded, and put away 4 loads of laundry
-Cleaned the oven (Granted, it does self-clean, but it does NOT wipe itself off when it's done self-cleaning!)
-Swept the front porch (which I found out is a breeding ground for tiny little spiders - gross.)
-Cleaned both bathrooms
-Re-caulked both of our bathtubs (What?! Never done THAT before!)
-Put felt tabs on bottoms of all chairs (which I've been meaning to do since we got the table...7 years ago!)
-Cleaned (as in, not just wiped-down) all the kitchen surfaces
-Put the new registration sticker & license plates on my car (which required me to not only FIND the right tool, but correctly USE the right tool!)
-RE-CAULKED BOTH OF OUR BATHTUBS! (I know I mentioned this already, but I think it's worthy of a double feature :) )
-And finally, I got a pedicure (with Brady in tow! - I'm utilizing the fact that he's so content & easy-going :) )

...And I did all that while still doing all the normal daily activities like working out, taking a shower, having a devotional, and feeding, changing & entertaining a baby.

...And then when Brandon got home from work at 6:30, I was dressed and ready for a little date with just the three of us. Well, we left right after Brandon installed a new light fixture I bought today at The Home Depot. :)

I may get a lot more accomplished with just one kid in the house, but I miss that beautiful girl so badly I can hardly wait until I get her back tomorrow morning. I'll take my Sydney over to-do-lists any day of the week!

But for now I'm gonna sit on the couch for a little while and enjoy my leftover cheesecake from P.F. Changs...and I'll relish some more in the fact that I re-caulked our bathtubs today...because that's just awesome :)

Dare to compare...

2010-06-28T15:00:00.007-05:00

My sweet, sweet Brady boy is 8 months and 1 week old. Can't. Hardly. Believe it!

And my sweet, sweet 8 month old Brady boy is happy and healthy and has one little tooth on the bottom that shines every time he smiles his adorable little smile. He's no doubt one of the most precious babies in the entire world. Seriously.

BUT, my sweet, sweet Brady boy is showing himself to be just a tad on the lazy side. The boy won't move. If you put him on his tummy, he immediately rolls to his back. He CAN roll back to his tummy, but never, and I do mean NEVER chooses to do so. He has NO interest in scooting or crawling, or even pushing up on his arms for that matter! When he's on his tummy, his sole focus at that point is which way he plans to roll so he can get back to his back. And then he lays there. And then he'll kick a little and wave his arms and gurgle. And then he lays there some more. And then he whines for me to come play with him. All day long!

He sits by himself great, his fine motor skills are great - he can put away cheerios with the best of them! I know that nothing is wrong with him, he just has NO desire to MOVE! I've tried enticing him with toys: he couldn't care LESS about them. I've even tried giving him the off-limit things that ALL kids love: the TV remote and my cell phone - he'll look at it and reach for it, and then just give up and start waving his arms some more. I've tried enticing him with food, but this just makes him mad and I feel like a terrible mother so I've stopped that. :)

In a way it is nice to know that wherever I set him is where I'll find him, and I do LOVE that he's content enough to let me hold him close but I also would like for him to gain some independence one of these days! I mean seriously, I can still put the boy on my bed when I get ready everyday because I know there's no way he's going to fall off! He'll just sit tight until I come and get him. Lazy bum... :)

So that's right, I'm doing what we ALL do but all know we shouldn't do; I'm comparing my kid to other kids. Don't judge me. Is there anyone out there who can please tell me that he's not the only lazy 8 month old out there? I just want to know we're not alone in this baby laziness/severe easy-going-ness issue we have going on. Anyone else out there ever have an easy-going baby who's in no hurry to get moving? Just wondering :)

Happy maybe?!

2010-06-17T14:59:00.004-05:00

Here we come, Destin, and I think it's safe to say we are EXCITED to see you!

I changed my mind...

2010-06-10T20:22:00.006-05:00

I changed my mind in that I do NOT, in fact, like change.

Change this past week has brought about seizures in one member of my family, and cancer in another.

Change in the next few weeks will bring about one of my best friends moving to another state, and another friend and soldier being deployed to Afghanistan.

Lord, I know you know what you're doing, but I'm just saying, this is NOT what a meant when I asked for a change. But we trust You and your plan regardless :)

Please pray for these people, who are all VERY close to me, as we go through these changes.

An Itch...

2010-06-03T17:29:00.008-05:00

I've got an itch, and NO, it's not the gross kind. :)

I've got an itch for CHANGE, and it's driving me crazy! Unlike most normal people I know, I like change, and I like it a LOT. I may have mentioned this before, but Brandon & I just celebrated our 7th anniversary 2 months ago, and we are currently living in our SEVENTH abode! You heard that right - SEVEN! We've lived in 6 different towns, 3 apartments, 2 rent houses, and 2 homes that we've bought. Our longest streak was in a rent house we lived in prior to the house we now own. That stint lasted 22 1/2 months, and at the end of this month we will break that previous record.

Maybe it's the upcoming record, or maybe it's just ME, but I'm ready for a move. Go ahead and call me crazy - everyone else does :) I want new everything: I want a new house, I want a new yard, I want a new neighborhood, I want a new city, I want a new church, I want new friends, I want new everything! The weird part about it is that I can honestly say that I LOVE everything that I currently have! I love my house, my yard, my neighborhood, and my city. I LOVE my church and I seriously LOVE my friends! There is just something about me that craves change every once in a while, and simple changes just don't give me the fix I need.

Because you might say, "Well dang, Sara - rearrange your living room or paint your bedroom for goodness sake!"

And to that I would respond, (in just the tiniest hint of a whine, and maybe a stamp of my foot) "That's just not good enough!"

I love the thrill of being surrounded by the unknown, I love the excitement of making new friends. I love packing up all our belongings and I love finding a new place for those belongings to belong! I want a NEW living room to rearrange my furniture in, and I want a NEW kitchen in which to arrange all my dishes and gadgets! So it's not that I don't LOVE everything I am currently surrounded by, it's just that I'm bored. I have an itch for a new space.

But God has us here, in this space, and I know that. He has made it pretty clear to Brandon & I that He has us in this house, in this town, and in this job right now, so in this space is where we will stay. So now it's kind of like the dreaded poison ivy: I have an itch that I want to scratch the be-geez-es out of, but I can't because I'm not supposed to. If I do scratch the itch, it'll only make things worse because the Dr. (hint: God) told me not to, and he (again: God) knows what's best. Good one, huh?! I thought so :)

So though it's hard for me to stay here, while I have such strong desires to GO, here we will stay. And maybe someday soon, whenever he decides it's the right time, the Good Doctor will let me scratch my itch :)

Rock star...

2010-06-02T09:30:00.009-05:00

WOW - thank you to everyone who took the time to leave me a comment! It's been SO FUN for me to read all your comments and check all your blogs! It's taken me a ridiculous amount of time, and I've absolutely loved it! :)

Now to everyone who read, but did NOT comment: I have a stat-counter, so I know your town and I know your computers IP address so I am totally gonna come and hunt you down. Not really, I'm not that crazy, nor am I that smart - I have NO IDEA what an IP address even means! I'll just leave it to the Holy Spirit to convict your souls instead :)

Seriously, I've loved having a better feel for who all comes to visit this little page of mine - I feel so honored to have so many friends, family, and perfect strangers care about me & my family. I'm not gonna lie, it kinda makes me feel like a rock star :)

But no matter how much I love the fact that you all took the time to comment, I don't love it quite as much as I love this:

but then again, who would?!

Holla' Back ya'll!

2010-05-27T13:47:00.002-05:00

Please let me share just a few observations I had from this past weekends wedding events...

1) I need to get married again. Do people bring gifts to a vow-renewal ceremony, because if so, I am totally up for it. "I still love you, Brandon...and now bring on the gift cards!"

2) I will be having a wedding planner (Cici) when Sydney gets married one day. I tried to pay attention to all the details of this particular wedding, and there were TONS of beautiful little details, WAY too many for this girl to ever put together. "And what's that, Cici? You want to PAY for the wedding, too?! How wonderfully generous, and YES you may!" :)

3) I thoroughly enjoy photo booths, and am fairly certain that every event I attend should have one.

4) I can't dance - especially compared to Sydney's groom choices I listed out in my previous post. Man those boys can bust-a-MOVE! Yet another reason for her to love them :)

5) My man looks GOOD in a tux.

6) Old friends are fun. But running into old friends made me realize that I have no idea who reads my blog. I must say that it's a little disconcerting to run into people I haven't seen in years, who I know nothing about anymore, but who know all kinds of details about my life because they have read it on my blog! While I was incredibly flattered, it also caused a serious bout of "Crap! What all have I said on there?!"

So here's where the "Holla Back ya'll" title comes in: It's a totally fun game I thought I'd give a try. Believe me, you want to play along! I'd like to know who all is up-to-date on my life by reading little blog of mine! So whether you're my best friend, a long lost friend, a family member, or a perfect stranger - comment and let me know you were here! Won't that be so fun?!! I thought so :)

It will be fun for me because I love getting comments, and it will be a blast for you because I've disabled the security word nonsense so it'll be easy as pie to say a quick "how-do!" And additionally, let me know if you have a blog that I can follow as well - maybe I want to stalk you and your life a little :) So Holla' Back Ya'll!! :)

In transition...

2010-05-24T14:05:00.006-05:00

The transition from "nap-time" to "rest-time" is proving to be a little difficult around here... I keep finding a certain "NOT tired" girl passed out all around my house :)

How will she ever choose?

2010-05-17T22:11:00.009-05:00

A few weeks ago, Sydney approached me with a very serious problem. She came up to me all flustered and exasperated, mustering up all the drama a 4-year-old girl can manage, and sighed,

"Mom, I just don't know WHO I'm going to marry!"

Well girl, I've got a couple good options for you:

First we have West:

He's a tad younger than you, but only by a few months, so there'll be no "cougar" jokes necessary. He's about the sweetest little boy I've ever met, he loves lettuce, and he loves babies. You can't find that type of guy just anywhere, you know...

And just maybe he'll be an astronaut when he grows up, which would be a really cool occupation for a husband...

Next we have Banner, who already gets all dreamy-eyed when he looks at you...

Plus, he's good with kids too, and handsome as all get-out...

And Banner is tough enough to always protect you - even with a very large stick if necessary. You want a man who'll fight for you...

You also have the camera-elusive Parker to choose from, but he's a few years older, so you may have your work cut out for you in snagging him before the other girls his age do.
There's of course, always sweet little Clark, but seriously Syd, we don't tolerate "cougars" in this family :)
Whichever boy you choose, you can guarantee that I'll be pulling out this picture at your wedding to make the joke that you slept together when you were just 4 years old. It'll be hilarious, you just wait...

And for a few more laughs, I'll probably throw this one in the wedding album too, just to show that you've already seen your soon-to-be husband in his underwear:

So there you have it Sydney. Being the good mom that I am, I've narrowed it down to three, now it's up to you to pick which one. But no pressure or anything... :)

What's that word??

2010-05-08T10:57:00.005-05:00

Say you take your kids out to the mall for a little outing. And say you know you'll be gone over lunch, so lets say you decide to pack a lunch. Maybe a few PB&J's, some Cheeze-its, and applesauce to bring to the mall instead of spending money to eat in the food court... Let's just say that happens...

What would be the word you'd use to describe that type of situation? I think I'd call that person smart and resourceful...

What would you call her??? :)

Adding a healthy option...

2010-05-07T17:48:00.005-05:00

Toy Story mac-n-cheese with some fatty (and delicious!) sausage on the side...

makes this little Beauty very happy...

Trying a new vegetable to add a little nutrition to the meal...

doesn't have quite the same effect...

I can't blame the girl, though - Brussels Sprouts really are pretty gross. What are they anyway, tiny little heads of lettuce? Gross. We'll just stick with the good stuff next time, and maybe throw in a Flintstones vitamin for good measure. :)

I remember...

2010-04-27T12:34:00.003-05:00

I remember...

-I remember praying with my entire family the night before you were born. Their words brought me hope for the day to come.

-I remember driving to the hospital with Brandon & Mom, feeling as if I was watching my life happen through someone else's eyes.

-I remember hearing you cry, even though the doctors said you wouldn't.

-I remember laughing at how funny your Dad and your Grandma's looked in their surgical cover-alls, hats, and booties.

-I remember the music that was playing in the delivery room - I don't remember the song, but I do know that it was Christian words that sang over us all. I wondered who I had to thank for picking it out, because I hadn't thought to ask for it.

-I remember the photographer. I didn't know it at the time, but her words to me after you died would mean more to me than she will ever know.

-I remember your soft little "ohhh"'s in the moments right after your delivery. You were alive, and you were making sounds to prove it.

-I remember your extra flappy ears. They had told us that the development of ears corresponds with the development of the kidneys, and that yours might be a little different. They were different, and I loved every bit of them.

-I remember being so angry with the doctor who had told us you would look like you "had been run over by a truck". How dare he ever say that about my baby. You were perfect - way to prove that Doctor wrong, Elliot!

-I remember whispering to you in the moments right before your final "ohhh" sound - I will hold to those promises for the rest of my life.

-I remember the white outfit I had the honor of dressing you in. It fit you perfectly, I wonder how Mrs. Wanda knew exactly what size to make it.

-I remember watching your birth in the lights above the operating table. It wasn't a clear view by any means, but I could see your shape and form, and I was grateful for it.

-I remember holding your body and sobbing as your father and I watched the balloon release for you outside our window. Did you get our messages, baby? Or were you too busy praising our Father by then?

-I remember being grateful when your body started to eventually get cold - it assured me that the doctors hadn't made a mistake.

-I remember the joy and peace that surrounded me that day. Only the Lord could have made that possible. He was in that room with us, there's no doubt in my mind.

-I remember the deep ridge on your forehead, and I remember that you, too, had your fathers hairline. Don't worry baby, your brother & sister got it too! :)

-I remember staring at your face, knowing I only had a few precious hours to memorize it forever.

-I remember our Sunday School teacher, sitting in the waiting room of the hospital all day long. What an amazing act of love that was to us.

-I remember the picture of a leaf with a single rain drop hung on the door of my hospital room. It was the secret signal to all the staff, letting them know that something devastating had happened to the people inside those doors.

-I remember having to turn on Barney so your sister would sit on the bed with us for a family picture. What a toot :)

-I remember the care the nurses in the hospital took with me, they treated us with special attention, and it was much appreciated.

-I remember having to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, even though I begged to just walk. I sat holding a blue box of your belongings instead of holding you, and it was excruciating.

-I remember sweet final moments with just me, you, and your Dad. It was tender, and it was devastating, and it was peaceful all at the same time.

-I remember handing your body off to the nurses. We knew you no longer occupied that physical form, but that knowledge didn't make it any easier to say goodbye.

I remember these things and so much more.

I remember YOU, my Elliot, and I will never forget.

Happy 2nd birthday, my Love...

I am a woman of very few words...

2010-04-22T12:42:00.005-05:00

OK - that's not exactly true, but it IS true for this blog post!

I couldn't love these crazy kids more...

Here's to you, my friends...

2010-04-14T10:37:00.014-05:00

Here's to synchronized N*Sync dances (and pleather pants)...

And to two months of hotel room homes...

Here's to participation in the Couch Cru...

And to the best Stunt Night ever! (and there's those pleather pants once again!)...

Here's to school formals...

And to the Incredible Insomno-flat...

Here's to Gameboy Tetris...

And to pink flamingo decor...

Here's to boyfriends who turned into fiancées, who then turned into husbands...

And here's to the boyfriends who didn't turn into anything but were still fun while they lasted (HA!)...

Here's to committees and bible studies galore...

And here's to Red Team flag football (and volleyball, and softball)...

Here's to 9, 10, 15, and 28 years of knowing you,

And here's to many, many more! Love you girls! (And missed you, Mandy!)

You're welcome, all my beautiful friends, for posting these lovely pictures for all the world to see :)
And just for kicks... The aforementioned Stunt Night really was awesome, these guys? Not so much... (Just HAD to throw this in there, Brandon & Milo!! HA!)

Stolen...

2010-04-07T09:29:00.005-05:00

These baby blues...

and these sweet little rolls...

steal my heart every time!

My Handyman...

2010-04-06T16:05:00.004-05:00

Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm....There may be nothing better than a sweaty man in dirty clothes with tools in his pockets...I LOVE it!
My handyman (and my Mom's handyman) installed recessed lighting in our living room this weekend, and I couldn't be more happy! We have moved out of the dim and into the LIGHT!
My man has gone from zero to hero in the handyman department in the last few years, and I for one think the handyman look suits him VERY well!:)

Thank you for bringing some much needed light into our home, boys!!

The factory is closed!

2010-03-30T20:15:00.002-05:00

***Just to clear up any confusion: NO, I am not pregnant again. :) When I said we'll hopefully "open up shop again in a few months", I just meant that Brandon & I still want more children down the road. THEN we'll open up the pregnancy/nursing shop once again! Believe me, I'll let you all know when that time comes - you know by now that I don't do secrets! :)***

The milk factory, that is! Some women absolutely love breastfeeding, and others just tolerate it. I am proud to say that I tolerated it for 5 whole months and SO happy to say that I am now officially DONE!

I think that motherhood is a roller coaster in just about every sense of the word. All of it. And breastfeeding is no exception. During Brady's 5 months of life, I have wavered literally hundreds of times as to whether or not I wanted to continue nursing him. I've stopped, I've started again, I've cried, I've pumped, I've bottle-fed, I've stopped again, I've cried again, I've started again, and I've used LOTS of Lanolin. I must say that it feels good for this particular roller coaster to pull into the station and finally come to a stop.

We all know I like lists, so I've compiled a nice little pros and cons list to celebrate quitting breastfeeding. Here goes!

The cons of quitting:
1) Paying for formula. It's really not TOO expensive, especially since I am lucky enough to have a baby with a pretty tough tummy who can handle the cheap Sam's brand formula (which has the exact same ingredients as the much more expensive Enfamil, thank you very much!), but any formula is more expensive than FREE. But whatever, we're totally made of money, I'll just grab some off the tree in our back yard and it'll be just fine!

2) The release of pregnancy hormones. My hair is already starting to fall out by the masses, and my face is on the edge of exploding. Keeping my hair in tact and a nice, clear face are two of the things I like best about those lovely pregnancy hormones, and I will miss them...

3) The extra calories. I like to eat lots of food, and I like to eat LOTS of ice cream, and it's a real bummer that I'm going to have to start cutting back. Nursing burns a lot of calories, so now if I keep eating the way I have been, which has been BLISS to say the least, those extra calories are going to go straight to my butt. And no one like a butt calorie.

The Pros of quitting breastfeeding:
1) My personal intake of water. All through pregnancy & nursing, you're supposed to drink water, and drink LOTS of it. I am not a big drinker, except for those of the alcoholic persuasion, that is -HA! :), so I can go the majority of the day without having a sip of anything and be just fine. So when I'm pregnant and especially when I'm nursing, I have to make a concentrated effort to have water in front of me at all times. And then I have to pee like crazy. It's simply awful.

2) Nursing in public. Let me just say: waiting room of the oil change place, and the floor of our local Kroger bathroom. Yes, that actually happened, and yes, I STILL feel dirty...

3) Regularly shaped (and sized!!!) bras. Nursing bras are terrible - I searched every store I know to search, and never found anything remotely close to a good fit. Decent regular bras are much easier to come by, and I love that I can shop in the normal sized sections once again :)

4)Me, myself, and I...After 14 months of using my body to grow and nourish another human being, it feels good to have myself back. I like being able to do the things I want to do without having to stop and think about whether or not it'll affect my baby. I get to smell cleaning supplies without worrying about the fumes (HELLO Pine-Sol!), lift heavy things and climb on my roof if I want to, I get to eat broccoli, onions and mushrooms without the fear of what it might do to my child's tummy later! All those good things in life! Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE that God equipped my body to grow and nourish another human being, and I LOVE that He has allowed me the opportunity to do it, but it's always nice to get back to normal.

So I think the Pro's have it! Overall I'd say I'm pretty glad for this factory to be closed for a while...and Lord willing, in a few months we'll open up shop once again :)

My thoughts on cleaning...

2010-03-26T17:12:00.004-05:00

I just mopped my floors for the first time in...well...let's just say it's been a LONG time. It smells FABULOUS in my house.

If it wouldn't result in the burning off of all my skin, I think I'd bathe in Pine-Sol. Would you all still be my friends if I bathed in Pine-Sol? Of course you would, you know it smells fabulous.

I think I'm going to mop my floors more often. But first I have to buy more Pine-Sol...because I used it all...because it smells so fabulous!

You know you want to go mop your floors now so your house can smell as good as mine does. Go ahead and bust out that mop, it's totally worth it :)

Day by day...

2010-03-23T10:45:00.004-05:00

On Friday, Sydney got her first bicycle...

And on Friday, Sydney learned how to ride her new princess bicycle...

On Saturday & Sunday it was cold and rainy, so no bike riding was happening...

On Monday, Sydney rode her new bike for the second time...

And on Monday, Sydney went to the Emergency Room and got 4 stitches to fix her busted chin after falling off her new princess bike for the second time...

On Monday night, Sydney got a special treat of popcorn, ice cream, & a movie before bed...

And on Wednesday, Sydney gets to go to the dentist once again (her favorite place on Earth), and get her chipped molar fixed...

Never ending excitement here in the life of the Skaggs family! :)

5 months old...

2010-03-22T09:55:00.003-05:00

And too cute for words...

I hate it...

2010-03-18T14:10:00.004-05:00

I hate daylight savings time. Every time the clock moves backward or forward, my whole life & schedule feel completely off. And every time it happens, I remember how much I've hated it in the past and how my hatred of it grows a little more with each bi-yearly hourly adjustment.

Brady has slept through the night since he was 3 months old. Let me rephrase: Brady DID sleep through the night - until this past Sunday. Stupid Daylight savings time... Now, I could be honest here and tell you that this could be caused by the fact that my mom has been in town and Brady has not been sleeping in his normal bed, nor his normal room. Or that his feeding routine is in the process of a pretty big change. Or that his tiny little nose is all congested. But no, the sole blame of this atrocity will be placed on daylight savings time, and daylight savings time alone. Because I hate it. Have I already mentioned that?

Can anyone tell me a good reason why daylight savings time exists? Or can anyone tell me a number I can call or a petition I can sign so I can do my part in getting rid of the stupid thing once and for all? If not, maybe I'll just start one myself, or maybe I'll call my Governor and make him handle it. Can anyone tell me who my Governor is? Thanks, that'll save me from having to Google it. :)

Maybe a move to Arizona or Hawaii will have to be in my families foreseeable future because I mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating: I hate daylight savings time... :)

Are we there yet??

2010-03-07T19:47:00.009-06:00

There are certain simple things in life that make you stop and think about much larger circumstances, and one such pondering instance happened to me a few days ago when Sydney wrote a letter to Brandon. The letter simply said "Thank you Daddy, Love Sydney" - (She wanted to thank him for writing her a note in the snow a few weeks ago - how sweet!) She wrote the letter all by herself, and it was almost entirely legible! I was immensely proud of her, albeit a little shocked, and was completely baffled to realize that I have a daughter who is old enough to write. Since when did I become a grown up?!

Call me crazy, but I have a very hard time accepting the fact that I'm an adult. I mean, seriously, when does that official day come? Was it when I got married? When I graduated from college? When I bought my first home? (Alright, Brandon technically owns it, but I know my name has GOT to be in there somewhere. I did sign LOTS of papers after all!) Was it when I had my first child? Or maybe it was when I survived the death of my second? Somewhere amidst all those milestones, I think I became an adult. But does it count even if I still don't feel like one? Does anyone ever feel like one?

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be an adult than a kid, or worse yet: a teenager! Those days were good, being free of responsibility and worry, but they were a pain in the rear too. There was way too much drama and WAY too many hormones floating around to produce anything worthwhile. And, on top of that, I like being able to decide things for myself, even if I do still ask my parents advice on most things. I just still don't feel like a REAL grown up, it's almost as if I'm a college student parading around in an adult body, pretending to know what I'm doing in the world.

Maybe I will be feelin' it a little more when I turn 30, that is a pretty big milestone after all. Yeah... I think I'll take that as my answer - that means I still have a year and 5 1/2 months until I inherit the title of "ADULT". Maybe by that time I'll be a little more accepting of it. Maybe by that time I won't feel like such a fraud. :)

Rain, rain, go away...

2010-03-01T16:30:00.002-06:00

I'm feeling very uninspired, unmotivated, un-peppy (hey, that's a real word) lately. I'll blame it on all the cold & rain. Hello, Spring... I'm ready for you, where are you??!!

Yesterday, I was completely unmotivated to go grocery shopping. But I went anyway, which resulted in me purchasing a lot of random food that won't make very quality meals. It's gonna be a sausage & maccaroni kind of week around here...

Also yesterday, I finished watching Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone. I'll be honest, it was not good. 11 year olds are not good actors, and there are a LOT of 11 year olds in that movie. Do they do a better job when they're 12, because if not, I may be unmotivated to watch the rest...

Sydney's been trying to make me be peppy all day, and it just ain't happening. I'm all pepped out for some reason, maybe I used up all my pep last week. I need to find more pep. Maybe if I say "pep" a few more times....

The uninspired feeling in me comes in relation to my blog, these last couple posts are VERY uninspired. Sorry folks, I just don't have anything exciting to say. Not that my life isn't exciting, because it is, I just can't seem to make it come across that way! I'm in a funk today, maybe tomorrow will bring warmth & sunshine, along with a little motivation, inspiration, and that all-important PEP!

Officially a fan...

2010-02-23T11:48:00.003-06:00

Or maybe a more accurate statement is that I'm officially a nerd. Whatever. But if you, too, hold a fondness in your heart for a certain boy with a lightning shaped scar, an immense hatred for You-Know-Who, and a secret desire to join a Quidditch team, then you're a nerd right alongside me!

Last night I finally finished reading the 7th & final book in the Harry Potter series, and to tell the truth, I'm a little sad! I think I'm going to miss good ol' Harry, Hermoine, and Ron. They've been a part of my daily life for the past few months while I enjoyed all of the books, and I feel a little lost now that I won't have their companionship any longer! I do, of course, realize that it's all fiction, but my heart is still so happy to realize that Snape wasn't a Death Eater after all! And so relieved to know that Voldemort is long gone. And it makes me smile just to think about Harry & Ginny, all married with their three little kids! Yep...sign me up for the fan club, I'm officially a fan.... Nerd.... Whatever!

And now if you'll excuse me, I have 6 movies to go rent...can't wait to see how my imagination differs from the big screen versions of all the characters! Brandon's gonna be so excited! (hmmm, sense the sarcasm...) :)

Not much has changed around here...

2010-02-19T16:22:00.008-06:00

For starters, these two still look exactly alike. Well, except for that one major difference, of course! :)

This girl still loves her little brother like CRAZY!!!

And we still like to spend a lot of money at the dentist office!

What a trooper Sydney was! She not only tolerated her first dentist appointment ever, she LOVED it! That night when we were in the car, she spotted the first star in the sky and said,

"I wish I could go to the dentist EVERY DAY!" And has said the same thing every day since! Guess she likes her clean teeth! :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...a LOT!

2010-02-11T18:32:00.006-06:00

I'm sorry, but I do still live in Texas, right??!! Just wondering, because last time I measured, the snow was 7 1/2 inches deep... and it is still falling! What a BLAST!!! I was kind of bummed when Sydney got too cold and decided to come inside, it is SO FUN to play in the snow! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves... :)

LOVE it!!

Retraction...

2010-02-08T17:33:00.002-06:00

Just to make myself feel better, I need to clarify that I did NOT have 6 cavities that needed to be filled. I had 5 new cavities and one old silver filling that needed to be replaced. That makes me feel a tad bit better about myself.

Yes, I do brush my teeth, and YES, I do floss! I just have deep crevasses... :)

Takin' care of business...

2010-02-03T19:37:00.004-06:00

Sometimes being a grown up really sucks...

Brandon made a premonition about 2 weeks ago that I originally laughed at, but am now starting to fear is really true! We were driving to church and he randomly said "You know, for some reason I feel like we're going to be spending a lot of money this year. I think 2010 is going to be a year of replacing and fixing all kinds of stuff". The only money we'd spent thus far was on our new garage door opener (YAY!), and that was completely optional, so like I said, I just laughed and wondered why he came up with such random nonsense...

But then that week I went to the dentist. For the first time in a (ahem) year and a half. And it was not good. It was not good at all. I don't have dental insurance, so I knew I'd be spending a couple hundred dollars or so. But when I walked out of the office with clean teeth and a scheduled appointment to get my 6 CAVITIES filled, along with a bill for $1100, I was a little bummed to say the least! hmmmm, premonition being fulfilled...

Also, last week I noticed that the tires on the car were starting to make a lot of noise, so I made a quick trip to see the friendly folks at Discount Tire, hoping a little rotation would take care of the problem. Nope. I needed new tires in a major way. So, $500 later, I was once again bumming, and bumming hard.

Being that it's just now the beginning of February in 2010, I'm thinking I should not have laughed so much at my sweet husbands premonition...

Luckily though, Uncle Sam is going to be giving us a nice little tax refund to help take care of this stuff. I'm hoping this premonition is fulfilled completely now, and that 2010 will just be looking up from here on out!

Speaking of Uncle Sam, I wanted to share an idea with you all that we do each year. My beautiful friend Natalie, (who just gave birth to her BEAUTIFUL daughter, Anna), gave me this idea when Sydney was little, and we've done it every year for her and plan the same for Brady. You know that sweet $1000 credit that our wonderful government gives us each year for each of our children? Well, every year we put that $1000 into a separate savings account for them. Since you know you'll be getting that money each year, it's an easy way to keep it aside to save. And then when each kid turns 18 (pending the continuation of the WONDERFUL child tax credit, Lord willing), they'll have $18,000 plus interest of their own! Or when they turn 16 and are begging for a car, poof! they've got the money for it! Or maybe by then the cost of college will dramatically decrease and that cool $18,000 will be enough to send them to school for 4 years! Hey, it could happen... :)

Can't let go...

2010-02-01T12:32:00.002-06:00

I am by no means a pack rat, I think we clarified that in some of my previous posts. But there are of course some things that are more difficult than others to let go.

Current example: my Bible.

Brandon bought this Bible for me shortly after we were married, he had my new last name engraved on it, resulting in probably one of the best and sweetest gifts he's ever given me. But a lot can happen in 7 years. Like, that sweet husband that bought such a thoughtful gift, can USE that thoughtful gift as a hammer when there is nothing else within his reach to use. Yep...a hammer. So there are a few little nail-sized reminders of that incident on the back cover. Also, sometimes hot chocolate gets a little too close to my beloved Bible, and that hot chocolate might accidentally spill all over it. It wasn't too bad in the beginning, it dried out OK. But now, a year later, the pages are all crumpled and sticking together, and the residual hot chocolate has now turned into mold. Yep, a hole-y, moldy Bible is what I have. Maybe that's why my families allergies have been flaring up so much lately!

But this Bible & I have been through a lot together. For instance, I read Lamentations 3:22-23 SO often during my pregnancy with Elliot, there is a permanent invisible bookmark there so that the pages automatically fall open to it. My new Bible doesn't have that. And I'm not one to write in my Bible too much, but sometimes I do. And am I just supposed to copy all those notes & underlined passages over to my new one? Or do I just wait for opportunities to make new notes?

And am I supposed to just throw this moldy Bible into the trash? Or do I keep it hidden in a chest for years to come while the mold slowly takes over?? I'm apparently having a very hard time with this...any suggestions??

Snap Happy...

2010-01-28T12:54:00.006-06:00

You know how every parent has tons of pictures of their firstborn? Albums are full of them doing just about anything, or really nothing, worthy of a little snap-shot. And then comes the second child, and the albums seem to be a little more sparse? And then comes yet another kid and they basically have to draw their own self portraits in order to make it into an album?

Yeah, well, I'm trying to beat the odds...but I will admit that it's a little difficult! I'm finding that I have to remind myself to jump and get the camera when Brady does something picture-worthy, or just when he's being his too-cute self. When Sydney was a baby, I had her pictures made (at Wal-Mart!) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. It cost me a grand total of $4 each shoot :) Brady was 3 months last week, and this week it finally hit me that if I don't want to join in on that lousy parent trend, I needed to go get his pictures made. We're making a little bit more money now, so off I went to the local JC Penney, this time spending a whopping $9! I'm all about cheap pictures :) Hopefully I won't need a little reminder in 3 months when it's time to go back! :)

I do think that thus far I've done pretty well with chronicling Brady's life as well as I did Sydney's, if I do say so myself. For instance, I've been keeping up with Brady's baby book, as well as keeping a special calendar that I write on a few times a week about what all he's doing and how he's changing. And I also thought to grab the camera the first time he grabbed this:

Just like I did with his sister:

Hey, maybe Brady will be a lefty like his daddy...

But if it's already this difficult to remember to stay snap-happy with the camera, how much worse will it be when we have another kid??!! Myabe he or she will be a good artist... :)

The REALLY good things in life...

2010-01-21T17:44:00.004-06:00

I figured you all didn't care too much about my garage door opener - even though I was pumped about it. So I decided to post on something you might care a little more about, and I suppose I care a little more about it too :)

This precious little boy is 3 MONTHS OLD today!

Can you believe it?? Because I surely can't!! How and why does time pass by SO quickly!!??

Brady is just about the best baby I could ask for. He is happy, he is predictable, he is easy-going, and he has a smile that absolutely melts my heart! Plus, he sleeps...and sleeps well! He takes 4-5 long naps during the day, and has just recently started sleeping 9-10 hours at night! And to make life even better, all I have to do is lay the boy in his bed and wrap him up in a blanket, and he's out! It makes for a very happy baby, and a VERY happy mommy!

He's 12 pounds of pure JOY!:

The good things in life...

2010-01-21T12:01:00.002-06:00

Technology is wonderful, isn't it?? I love that I can write something on my computer while sitting on my couch, and within seconds it can be shared with the world. And I love that I have a machine that not only washes, but dries my clothes as well. And I love the fact that I have a automobile, that allows miles & miles of traveling ease. And I love that I have a garage to park that automobile in, and right now, I am LOVING that I have a garage door opener to make it SO MUCH EASIER to park my beloved Pilot in said garage!

For two and a half years, we have had an ongoing battle with our garage door opener. It'd like us for a while, and then we'd apparently do something to tick it off and it'd crap out on us for extended lengths of time. Then we'd make amends once again and go a few weeks without mishaps. But inevitably the sucker would once again get angry, and we'd have to resort back to pulling the car out, turning off the car, manually closing the garage door, and walking through the house to go out the back door to start the car once again. When this happened during the "Arctic Blast" a week or so ago, I knew it was the end of our on-again/off-again relationship. It's funny how such simple technology can make or break a day in the life of Sara! We said "goodbye" to that old, crappy thing, and said "HELLO!" to a newer, fresher, much more user-friendly model, and I am looking forward to a long, lasting, healthy relationship!

And that's it. Seriously, this blog was solely about my new garage door opener. :)

10 good years...

2010-01-12T13:05:00.006-06:00

This is January 2010 (believe it or not)...which means that 10 years ago this month, in the wake of a brand new millennium, I started dating my husband.

It was the start of our second semester at UMHB, and Brandon & I started hanging out mainly because our best friends were "hanging out". In the world of a college-aged-girl, the idea of two best girl friends dating two best guy friends is an absolute dream come true. So, after lots of quality "hanging out", Brandon & I became an official couple. Sadly, the other half of our best friend dream team didn't pan out, but luckily, it worked out just as wonderfully again a few years later!

And that was it, throughout the rest of our college days we were a couple, we were "Brandon & Sara", despite even a few break-ups here and there. It's kind of like "Ross & Rachel"! We were "on a break" three times to be exact, one of which lasted for 5 months and in which I had vowed that we would never get back together. But God changes hearts, and God changes circumstances, and here we are now, many years later, and just as happy as ever. To use all the cliches in the book, he truly is my better half, and he truly does complete me. To be 10 years into a relationship, and still be amazed and surprised at how perfectly he complements me, is a true testament that God knew what He was doing when He pushed us together.

I've decided to celebrate the man that I've adored for 10 years now by making a (by no means exhaustive) list of reasons why I love him...

1) He's driven. He has so many goals and ambitions floating around in his head that it makes my head spin...

2) He's devoted. Despite the many goals & ambitions that he's working towards, his priorities are always in order. He puts God, me & our children before everything else in his life, it's a place we love to be!

3) He's funny. Those of us lucky enough to know him well, know that his quick wit humor is beyond HILARIOUS!

4) He's easy-going. And that's a HUGE understatement - nothing stresses the man out!

5) He's Godly. He knows what he believes, and he lives it out daily.

6) He's stylish. He wore vests before vests were cool, and he can rock a sweater/button-up combo like no other.

7) He's a servant. He will do just about anything for anyone. He would literally give a stranger the shirt off his back if needed.

8) He's clean. I don't have to tidy up after him, he likes our home to be clean just as much as I do!

9) He's a family man. And not just with our little family. He makes a very concentrated effort to love & spend time with not only his family, but mine as well. And he truly loves them all.

10)He's sacrificial. He would give away all our money & possessions if I let him.

I love you more than ever, Brandon, and I will gladly spend the rest of my life right by your side...

January 2000 - Look at those earrings! And you can't see it here, but there's one in his tongue as well...
Just starting out...
And look at us now...crazy as ever! Sad, but true, this is the only recent picture of just us!! And what a good one it is... :)

Unintentional, but kinda nice...

2010-01-03T14:41:00.007-06:00

Whoops!!...How interesting it is that I write a blog threatening my friends to update their blogs, and then I go and leave my own blog blank for 2 whole weeks! I guess an apology is in order, but I do have an excuse, of course! With all the holiday festivities happening over the past week and a half, we have been gone A LOT, and I have literally been on a computer TWICE - and one of those times was strictly to pay the bills :) I didn't intentionally plan this long of a hiatus from the familiar clicks of the keyboard, but I will say that it's been pretty nice. It's not like I've been hanging around in the boonies for the past week and a half, (well...except for those 2 nights in Stockdale), so I've had computers all around me, I just never had the urge to open one up. I've been too busy having fun with wonderful family and friends to seclude myself with the internet :) It was a whirlwind of a holiday, coming and going more than ever before, and throwing a two month old into the mix made it all VERY interesting, but like I said, it was wonderful! We got tons of presents from our overly generous families, we're so lucky to have parents that totally spoil us rotten :) Our gift from Brandon's family was a family-wide trip to the Great Wolf Lodge where we spent New Years - see, told ya we've been gone a lot! So, here's a few pictures to get you through our Christmas vacation:

Santa Brady...
The boys gift to each other was a night of beer tasting - 17 different beers!!
Pappy & Brady...
The girls kissing their frogs in hopes of a Prince!
These cousins couldn't love each other more!

Great Wolf Lodge has anything and everything a child could ever wish for, including face painting...Getting ready for a New Years celebration...
Champagne tastes best when consumed from a Dixie cup... Ringing in the New Year with my main squeeze...
Brady looks mighty fine in his swim trunks, don't you think?? Look at that belly - the boy is apparently getting plenty to eat! :)
Sydney LOVED the waterslides... and I'm not gonna lie, us "grown ups" thought they were pretty great too - the red "Tornado" slide was amazing! :)

Happy New Year to you all! Hope your holidays were as blessed as ours! :)

Consider yourselves warned...

2009-12-18T12:45:00.007-06:00

I am not a girl who likes clutter. My Mama taught me long ago that everything has a place it belongs, (and contrary to what my sweet husband sometimes thinks, everything has a certain place it belongs), and she also taught me that anything NOT being used needs to find a NEW home, as in, the trash. (My sister, however, did not learn this lesson as well as I did from good 'ol Mom, but that's beside the point :)! Love you, Nessa! ) This rule holds true for my car, for my closets, for my home, and as is the point of this post, it holds true for my blog as well.

I have a nice list going down the right-hand side of this page of peoples blogs that I LOVE to read. But as I go down the list, it seems that MANY of those blogs have not been updated in a VERY long time. And it makes me very sad, because these are blogs of people i LOVE and of whom I would LOVE to read about, but sadly, they are just not giving me the chance. And like Momma says, if it's not being used, it gets thrown away. So I won't name any names, but those of you who have a blog, but haven't updated in months, (ahem...curly-haired college roommate, sister-in-law, fellow lover of Nokia Snake, and fellow former Silvie, just to name a few...) you have one week. One week to update, or your link gets deleted. I was going to make the time limit be only 3 days, but being that it's Christmas and all, I decided to have a heart and be a little more lenient. It's sad, I know, and I hate to be so harsh, but the clutter has got to go! You have officially been warned... :)

Peanuts, Part II

2009-12-18T12:38:00.004-06:00

Since a few people asked, I thought I'd tell you all that NO, Sydney was NOT in trouble for the packing peanuts fiasco a few days ago. I mean, really...who's fault is it when there's an entire box of potential messy FUN sitting right in the middle of the living room? I can't think of a single 4-year-old who wouldn't have unloaded all that fun if just given the chance. So I'll take the blame for this one, because like I said in the previous blog, it was I who neglected to throw the "Fun Box" away. Sydney's off the hook this time! :)

Peanuts...

2009-12-16T09:52:00.004-06:00

You know those days when you feel like you've got it all together? Last load of laundry is in the dryer, dinner is on the stove, baby is sleeping like a log, and 4-year-old is gleefully playing by herself...? So you think, "I'll be extra ambitious and go ahead and get those bathrooms cleaned!"? And then while you're in the back of the house and said 4-year-old is playing very quietly by herself, you think to yourself, "she's such a good little girl!"? And then you walk into the living room a few minutes later to find this:

...and you suddenly remember that the one thing you neglected to do today was throw that box of packing peanuts away... You know those days??!!

I'm not one to curse, but can I just say that static, smashed up packing peanuts are a real b@*#! to clean up!!?? :)

What do ya think??

2009-12-04T14:44:00.003-06:00

Could I pass these two off as brother & sister??

Sydney - 6 weeks

Brady - 6 weeks

'Tis the season...

2009-12-02T10:08:00.008-06:00

Those of you who know me well, or who may have read my holiday post from last year, know that I'm more or less a holiday Scrooge. I just can't find it in me to get all pumped up about the craziness of the holiday season. BUT, so far this season is already shaping up to be pretty fantastic, despite my usual bah-humbug nature. For instance, we "decorated the house for Christmas" recently, and I found that it's a lot more fun when you have a spunky 4 year old to help. (I use the quote marks because the decorations you see in the pictures below are the only decorations I have in my house. I'm not sure if it really counts as "decorating")...

We started the festivities off with a little hot cocoa with LOTS of marshmellows...

Then began the process of decorating the tree...

Brady helped in the best way he can...

And next came busting out the MANY holiday decorations that adorn my house...

Christmas can't be complete without Ernie the Elf...

And as if God wanted to give me an added push towards getting in the holiday spirit, he gave us this today...

Fun, huh?! And, as an added bonus this Christmas, I am sending out REAL Christmas cards! "What??" you say... Well, remember that contest I told you about that my beautiful friend Beth was having on her Scoop website? I totally won.. Haha losers! I get free Christmas cards and you don't! Yes...there's that holiday joy coming out in me...

Anyway, like I said, things are shaping up to be a little more festive than usual in my world, and I kind of like it! Still have yet to buy a single Christmas present, but I'm sure I'll have many more trips to Target in the next 23 days, so I still have plenty of chances to finish that up :) Happy Holidays!! Hope you're enjoying yours too! :)

Not enough brain power...

2009-11-22T21:47:00.004-06:00

I realize that my last blog post was 2 weeks ago. And I also realize that it merely consisted of a list. But, not much is happening in my life besides Brady, and much like my friend Leslie, my mind often works in the form of lists. They're short, simple, to the point, and just what I need. Too much thought is required to write an insightful blog, and honestly, I just don't have the capabilities to have too many thoughts right now! I actually tried one out a few days ago, but didn't post it. Went and re-read that sucker today, and believe me, it's not good, it's not even what some might call "coherent". So today's blog is yet another listing of random things that are going through my mind, and it's going to have to suffice as a quality blog post for now...

Thought #1) I'm tired. I am a woman who likes sleep - at least 9 hours of it preferably. I've had a good 3 1/2 years of non-interrupted sleeping bliss, and it's a little difficult getting used to not having it anymore! This may be a reason for the aforementioned lack of coherent thoughts.

Thought #2)I don't like breastfeeding. I know it's the "perfect food" for my baby, and I know it's free, but I also know that I just don't like it. It hurts, it's uncomfortable, and it's just plain weird. It's not right for a grown woman to spend the majority of her day with her boob hanging out. I'm still trying to make it work, but I'm not making any long-term promises, and I'm definitely not going to be joining any La Leche League or anything...

Thought #3) A little advice for you: Don't run a 1/2 marathon a month before getting pregnant. It makes regaining your pre-pregnancy shape & weight practically unattainable, and it's very disheartening. Or, if you DO run a 1/2 marathon a month before you get pregnant, maybe don't eat ice cream almost every night during your pregnancy, because apparently that slows the process of losing baby weight too...I'm just saying...

Thought #4) I can't quite stress this one enough: my husband is AMAZING! He is the greatest husband, father, supporter, provider, helper & encourager this girl could ever ask for. The grace & ease with which he handles all the different parts of his life baffles me. He truly is wonderful, and I am SO thankful that he is mine!

Thought #5) I don't like BabyWise. I tried it for two days, and it totally stressed me out. And I'm a girl who thrives on schedules - you'd think I'd love it!

Thought #6) The kids are doing great. All I wrote in the last post still holds true for Brady, he's generally a very happy baby, and he's cute as all-get-out, so even when he's not happy, his dashing good looks make up for it :) Sydney has been wonderful with Brady, she genuinely loves the boy, and shows her affection all throughout the day. It's pretty nice to have a 4-year old around to help out, too - she really has made things a lot easier for me!

That's it for now - I've written this in two different sittings, and I do believe my brain is once again maxed out. Sad, isn't it?? This girl needs some sleep! :)

In the swing of things??...

2009-11-08T11:34:00.002-06:00

So...life gets a little more hectic when you add a new baby to the mix!

It's been 2 1/2 weeks now, and I can't quite say that we've got a good rhythm going just yet! We're still trying to figure Brady out, and I'm sure he hasn't got us figured out yet either, but we're working on it! Here's a list, though, of things I already know:

1) His urinary tract is working properly! Man, this kid can pee with the best of 'em! He can pee on the floor, on the couch, on his clothes, give him an hour and he'll completely fill up a dry diaper! It's quite impressive...

2) He's a good sleeper. (Hopefully saying that won't jinx me like the whole acne fiasco a few months ago...) He sleeps in his bed, and he stays asleep for hours at a time - even at night already! Granted, we have mishaps, but thus far he's doing pretty well. LOTS better than his sister was doing by this time - that's for DARN sure! :)

3) He likes to be jiggled. I'm pretty sure he could spend the majority of his day in his vibrating bouncy seat and be perfectly content.

4) He's not a sucker. He'll take his paci sometimes, but doesn't seem to need it often, and doesn't need it to fall asleep! Can I get a "hallelujah"??!!! Sydney was a Paci Baby to say the very least, she had that huge green thing in her mouth constantly, and we had to wake up COUNTLESS times each night just to pop it back in there for her. So to say I am thankful that Brady seems to not need it so much is a HUGE understatement!

5) He is cute as can be. He looks a LOT like Sydney's baby pictures, and I think she turned out pretty good :)

6) He hates sponge baths. But then again, who wouldn't?? Thankfully, though, his umbilical cord finally fell off last night so we can begin having those nice, warm, calming bath times instead of the awful, cold, screaming ones! :)

He's a tiny little 6 1/2 pound absolute JOY, and has already succeeded in stealing my heart :)

The Missing Piece of Me...

2009-10-27T12:14:00.005-05:00

In the very early hours of last Wednesday morning, as I was sitting in a hospital bed being prepped to deliver Brady, my nurse said something which she thought to be basically meaningless, but struck very deep with me.

We were sitting there talking about the c-section, and all the fun that goes along with being cut wide open. And that's when she casually brought up how neat it is to watch them remove the prior c-sections scar. As I then quickly learned, in repeat c-sections, the Doctors cut along the old scar on both sides, pull it out, and sew it back up, leaving no traces of the original scar whatsoever. Only a new one remains.

Conversation moved right on past it, but my head and my heart were stuck on that one simple statement: The old scar is gone...Elliot's scar is going to be gone...

After Elliot died, I was absolutely fixated on my scar, the scar that showed me where Elliot was born, the scar of the place where he came out crying - if even only for a minute. That scar was the part of me that was always supposed to be Elliots...and now it's gone. Now I have Brady's scar, and don't get me wrong, I absolutely love and adore it just as much - I love to have the reminder of the place Brady was born. But, thankfully, I also have Brady. I have his coos, and I have his cries, I have his smell and I have his warmth - I don't need any reminders of his physical existence here, because I have him here.

I guess I had never thought of losing that old scar, and it was a tough concept to accept, but at the same time, it felt OK to move on. I don't feel like Brady has taken the place of Elliot, because in my heart, my love for them is very separate. Just like all mothers, I love all my children the same amount, and yet I love them very differently. I love Sydney for different reasons than why I love Elliot, and I love Elliot for different reasons than why I love Brady. They all hold their own special, yet absolutely complete part of my heart. To me, Brady has in no way replaced or over-shadowed Elliot, he has instead brought to us a renewed joy, a renewed sense of hope and of peace.

There's more to the story, though, because Elliot's birth was a little difficult. There was no amniotic fluid in my uterus, and Elliot had decided to position himself very high up in there, so therefore my doctor had to cut my uterus not only horizontally, as he did the outside skin, but also vertically in order to get him out. After Brady was born, I asked Dr. Daum whether or not he had to cut my uterus in a "T" again, and it turns out that he didn't. So there remains a vertical scar that still belongs solely to Elliot. Even though my outside scar no longer belongs to him, his place remains deep inside of me. His mark on this earth is hidden deep within his mother, where it will never be removed, where it will never go away. He is not, and will not ever be forgotten. He has not been, nor will he ever be replaced in our hearts by Brady, or by any of our future children -(Yes, I'm already thinking about future children!) And even though there is now a missing piece of me that once belonged to him, he will be with me always. Always...

And did I mention renewed joy and hope?? Because here he is... :)

I mean seriously...

2009-10-22T18:12:00.005-05:00

How precious is this little kid??!!

I am already SO unbelievably head over heels in love with him! Sorry it's taken me a while to get some pictures up on here, but we've been very busy, what with all the holding of my little man!

He's doing really great, he's been getting rave reviews from each Pediatrician check up, and he just came out of his little 'snip-snip' procedure without even shedding a tear! What a man! :)

I, too, am feeling very good. Not gonna lie though, I had kind of forgotten how much c-sections hurt. And then the added fun of the uterine contractions that come with breastfeeding (that I had totally forgotten about) - good stuff! All worth it though, completely all worth it! We're planning to head back home tomorrow, which I'm very excited about. At least at home I'll only have a screaming baby to wake me up at night - not nurses, blood takers, incision-checkers, and room cleaners! Brady's a cinch compared to them! :)

Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement, support and love - not only these past few days, but over the course of the past 9 months. What a joy it has been to walk through this pregnancy with you all! Can't wait to share more of the life and love of the Skaggs family with you :)

He's Here!!

2009-10-21T11:02:00.002-05:00

And he's absolutely PERFECT!

Weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs 4oz, Brady Gantt made his way into our world this morning at 8:13! And again, he is perfect!

Right now they have stolen him and taken him back into the nursery for a while, so when he comes back in we'll try to get a good picture. He'll be all bathed up and beautiful :) Stay tuned! :)

WOW - THANKS!!

2009-10-19T08:35:00.002-05:00

My goodness you all have a lot to say about coupons and cloth diapers! Thank you so much for all the web sites and tips, I spent HOURS yesterday pouring over them all trying to find my personal favorites, and I definitely thing I've landed on some! There's a lot of very thrifty people out there! :)

Sadly, though, my husband has informed me that cloth diapers are most definitely not an option in our household! I guess I neglected to mention this crazy idea to him before posting for the world to see, and while he's totally on board with me cutting all the coupons I want, he has some very strong feelings against using the cloth! He says the Lord made disposable diapers for a reason. :) I guess I'll just have to use my mad new coupon skills for finding great deals on diapers :) But again, thank you for all the wonderful comments and suggestions about it!

And lastly today, I want to invite you all to head on over to my friend Beth's website, SCOOP! She's got TONS of amazingly cute Christmas Card designs, and she just happens to be having a give-away for one very lucky entrant! (Although I may throw a tantrum if one of you win and I don't!) Enter to win some free stuff, and then hang around and see how else she could fill all your Christmas/Birthday/blog/etc. needs! :)

Oh, and FYI, 48 hours from now I will have my baby boy in my arms!!!!! Who doesn't love a good countdown?? :)

In need of feedback...

2009-10-16T20:28:00.007-05:00

As I mentioned a few blogs ago, I am now a 100% full time mom. Thus, the available funds in our household have dwindled down a tad and I am ready to look for ways to compensate!

First idea of mine is to start using coupons. I've dabbled in this effort some, but have yet to go full force with it. I've searched and signed up for a two coupon websites, but have found that they're really pretty useless. For me, a good coupon is at least $.75 or a $1 off, and all I seem to be able to find are piddly little ones for $.20 off name brand items which I already buy the off-brand of! We don't get a newspaper, so I don't know if there are any hidden treasures in there or not, or if it would be worthwhile to even get a Sunday paper each week. Surely there's some great place to find good deals out there, I just need to know how to find it!

I'm looking for some sturdy coupon advice, and figured some of you might have some to give! So please, offer any info you've got - I'm new at this and need to learn all the tricks of the coupon trade! :) Websites, magazines, papers, mailings... if you've found something that's worked for you, please let me know!

Second idea... I'm contemplating using cloth diapers. Am I totally crazy, or what??!! Most of the ones I've found on-line are EXPENSIVE, so I've wondered if it'd really be worth it or not. Have any of you used cloth diapers and can truly attest to the money you saved by doing it?? Or is the money saved totally not worth the effort of having to wash dirty, nasty diapers every other day??

As with coupons, this idea is very new to me, I'm what you'd call a coupon/cloth diaper virgin. Actually, no one would probably ever call me that...but you get my point! If you've got any great advice to share, I'm ready and willing to hear it!

And on a side note...BRADY WILL BE HERE THIS WEDNESDAY!! HIP-HIP-HOORAY! :)

Pray today...

2009-10-15T14:39:00.002-05:00

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, so this is just a friendly reminder to pray, especially today, for those you know who have lost a baby in some form or fashion, whether it be miscarriage, stillbirth, early infant death, or even abortion. The pain of losing a baby is very real, not matter how that baby was lost, so please join me today in lifting up those who have suffered this heartbreak...

A little better than expected...

2009-10-11T21:10:00.004-05:00

I realized the other day that in just a week and a half the URL link to my blog will no longer be correct. My family will no longer consist of just B(randon), S(ara), S(ydney), and E(lliot) Skaggs anymore. So the thought occurred to me, "Why the heck did I pick a URL that I knew would change one day"? And then I remembered the answer I gave myself almost a year and a half ago:

"Ah, I doubt I'll still be writing on this by the time that happens..."

Dude, I'm still writing on this! I totally exceeded my own expectations of myself! So, maybe it's not the most profound blog, nor the most frequently updated, nor (by far) the most entertaining, but again I say: "I'm still writing on this darn thing!" That's an accomplishment and a little personal pat-on-the-back in my book. :)

Now this begs the question of, "Should I change the URL to become the BSSEB family, or just leave Brady out of it for a while, waiting for one of the following to happen: 1)I actually do stop writing on this darn thing, or 2)We have yet another kid? I'm thinking I'll just have to leave it the way it is. I wouldn't want to lose all my fans, after all! All 11 of you would be highly disappointed... :)

Brady's room...

2009-10-07T14:58:00.005-05:00

I cannot possibly describe to you in mere words the joy I feel just by stepping in Brady's room. Of course, it's a massive improvement from what it looked like only a few weeks ago, but that's not why. I love being in it because it holds the promise of what's to come in just two short weeks. It's honestly very hard for me to believe that we will soon have a crying baby in our home again, my mind still cannot wrap itself around the idea of not coming home from the hospital empty handed once again. It's a fear that won't let go, at least not until he's really here with us. But I've had so much fun getting to prepare this room for him! From the paint to the fabric, it has been the only room in my house that I've actually enjoyed spending time, effort & money on! (Nobody has ever accused me of being a "decorator", to say the least). Just pulling the car seat, stroller, bouncer, and swing down from the attic was thrilling! I have never enjoyed cleaning so much! But it's all washed and ready to go now, all we need is for two weeks to pass by quickly!

This is the view right as you walk in the door: My mom found his bedding at Ross for a STEAL, and I completely LOVE it! And you can't really tell in this picture, but his walls are almost an olive green color, which I also love - I didn't want his room to be all babied out :)

A broader view: That's Brady's little diaper bag under the window, all packed and ready for the hospital :)
The guest bed: My fabulous mother made all the pillows, which I LOVE...
And she also painted this sign for him which I adore...

Our Craigs List glider and ottoman (that site is WONDERFUL), and Brady's dresser. My mom also painted his lamp, isn't it adorable??! And try to ignore the empty picture frames, they'll be filled soon!

And that's it! Eventually we'll get more things to go up on the walls, but right now I feel like it's at least ready enough for Brady, and that's all I need.

He's really going to be here with us, and he's really going to be here soon. And even if I can't wrap my mind around that fact yet, my heart is definitely ready... :)

Princess Sydney Turns 4!...

2009-10-04T15:55:00.005-05:00

Sydney's 4th birthday was this past Tuesday, September 29th, and we had a Princess Party to celebrate! She had told us months ago that she wanted a Disney Princess birthday party, which came as such a huge surprise to us since she usually never has anything to do with the Disney princesses. (That last sentence was one big, giant sarcastic lie - her whole world revolves around those 8 lovely ladies, much to my chagrin!) But, a princess party my Princess wants, a princess party my Princess gets!

We invited her whole class at school, plus a couple Sunday School friends, plus a few others, so we had 14 friends show up - plus parents and plus a couple siblings! Talk about crazy!! But, I can handle just about anything for a certain amount of time, and as it turns out, an hour and a half was that limit! :)

We really did have a great time, with lots of good friends showing up, and lots of princess presents to enjoy, but I won't lie, I'm kinda glad we still have about 360 days until the next one!! I understand now why people hold to the rule that however old you are is how many friends you get to invite! :)

The Birthday Princess opening presents on her throne... It turns out that 4-year-old kids like to actively participate in the opening of presents - BEWARE - they don't just sit and watch! :)

Princess Birthday cake...

And what Princess would be complete without her very own castle??!!...

Good friends and good pizza, always a great combination...
Sydney with one of her best friends from school, Caitlyn...such a doll!

A totally worn out Royal Family...

Princess Sydney, I could not be more proud of you! At 4 years old, you are a joy and a delight to everyone you come in contact with. You are sweet, gentle, and obedient, yet full of some very fun spunk that keeps us on our toes. You are playful and imaginative, thoughtful, tender-hearted, and considerate. You are my Princess, and I love you with my whole heart...

Foot Loose and Fancy Free!

2009-10-02T19:16:00.003-05:00

As of yesterday, I am officially unemployed! And boy, does it feel good! Brandon & I decided a while back that it would be awfully nice for me to not have any responsibilities that would have to take me away from taking care of Sydney and (soon) Brady. OK, to be honest, it was more me who decided that it would be awfully nice, and Brandon was gracious enough to comply, but let's not dwell on the specifics here. Even though my job was only 10 hours a week, I hated the idea of having to lay Brady down in an effort to jump on the computer to get my hours in. I would much rather just sit on the couch and be able to hold him as long as I want! And while this adjustment is going to make things a little more tight around here, I think the benefits will more than make up for it! For the first time in 3 years, I am once again a full time mom :)

So now all I need is my Brady!!! And, due to scheduling conflicts with my Doctor, my c-section date got bumped up a whole day and Brady will now be born on the 21st of October!!! That's only 19 days away!!! Do all the exclamation points make it clear to you all that I'm just a tad excited???!! Oh, I am SOOO ready...just in the past few days I've noticed that I've been getting more and more uncomfortable, unable to breathe, to sit, to walk, to sleep...all natures way of saying "It's totally time for this baby to get on out of here!!" :) Come on Brady, we're ready for ya!!!

A couple things...

2009-09-19T09:07:00.002-05:00

First, am I just a total wuss, or does everybody's arm hurt for DAYS after a flu shot?!! Geez, I can't even sleep on my left side!

Second, in case anyone out there is also tempted to test the magical little acne fairies by mentioning in a public blog how clear and wonderful your face is - DON'T DO IT! Apparently I made the acne fairies mad, because my face has been a MESS ever since! I'm sorry, little acne fairies, I take it back!!

And third, I bought the new Selah CD this week, and I want to encourage you all do to the same! It is a WONDERFUL cd, Selah always does a superb job of taking some beloved songs and turning them into something so much more beautiful. But, as a bonus track on the CD, there is a song they wrote for their daughter, Audrey, who passed away three weeks before Elliot. Audrey and Elliot had many, many similarities, from the same life-taking symptoms, right down to the same due date. Angie (who is Todd's - who sings in Selah's - wife) and I developed a friendship during our pregnancies with our sick babies. We had this immediate connection, and it blossomed into a relationship that helped us each deal with the grief we were experiencing. Brandon & I have spent time with Angie & Todd on more than one occasion, and there will always be a very special place in my heart for all of them. Anyway, the absolutely beautiful song, called "I will Carry You", was written for Audrey, and therefore includes female wording. And we are beyond humbled to say that Selah has also recorded a male version of "I will Carry You", in honor of our Elliot. His name is even mentioned in the CD booklet! What a joy it is to see our sons name on such a beautiful project!
Thank you, Angie and Todd, for including us in what I know is something so near and dear to your hearts. Love you guys...

My Sydney...One year later...

2009-09-15T16:19:00.006-05:00

A year ago this month I wrote a post solely on Sydney, listing a few things describing the way she was at that time. So, now that it's a year later, I thought it might be fun to see how much has changed in my baby girl. So here's some insight into her life NOW, 13 days before her 4th birthday (CRAZY!!!)!

1) First and foremost, she's still as sweet as ever. I honestly couldn't ask for a more well-behaved, agreeable, obedient little lady. She has the most tender little heart, and she truly hates for us to be upset with her, usually resulting in her doing nothing to deserve us being upset! Call me biased, being her mother and all, but after watching lots of other kids at church and at school, I definitely think that her little personality is something special! I wrote in her baby book, before she was even born, that I wished for her personality to be similar to Brandons, to have a sweet, easy-going spirit, and I do believe God answered this prayer of mine!

2) She's a tattle-tell. She comes home from school every Tuesday and Thursday recounting all the things that happened with the other kids that day: who hit who, who spilled their yogurt on the floor, who was bossy, who ran in the hallway, ...seriously, she remembers it all in great detail! I try to explain that she really doesn't need to tell me all this stuff, that it's just her teachers job to handle it and not hers, but so far she just doesn't care so much. What a busy-body she is, all up in everyone else's business! :)

3) She's not all too interested in learning. She's very smart, and she probably knows more than most kids her age, but if I try to make her sit down and practice writing letters or numbers, or the sounds each letter makes, she VERY quickly loses interest and refuses to play along. So I try to sneak the lessons in during regular play time, finding random letters or numbers to point out, but after only a few questions she quickly catches on to what I'm doing and once again refuses to play along. It's like she's saying "Geez, Mom, can't you just let me be a kid and play!!" She still has 2 years until she'll start Kindergarten, she has plenty of time to learn the basics!

4) She's getting more hair! I still don't know that I'd call it a major growth spurt, but it's not physically reversing and going back into her scalp, so I'd call that progress! Brandon & I think it'll be so funny if Brady comes out all covered in hair and quickly passes his 4 year old sister! :)

5) She has a very odd set of taste buds. Her favorite meals consist of Ramen noodles and hard boiled eggs - odd, huh?!! And she doesn't care for many "kid" staples, including Mac-n-cheese and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches! Over anything else, the girl prefers soup - anytime we go to a restaurant, that's what she requests! One of her favorites is La Madeleine's French Onion soup - but then again, who's isn't! That stuff is DELICIOUS!

6) While she's still not what I'd call a regular socialite, she has turned a major leaf when it comes to connecting with other people. It started New Years 2009 - almost like she made a resolution to herself to be a more outgoing person! At Christmas she was so shy she was borderline rude to people, and come Valentines day she'd run up to strange friends in the bookstore announcing her arrival! Her little personality just opened right on up with very little hesitation, much to my delight!

7) She's kind of annoying. (Did I really just say that about my own daughter!??!!) Sorry, but it's true! And I just mean annoying in the way that all kids are annoying. She likes to make up words and won't stop saying it until I laugh along with her. Or she'll hit herself on the head, stick out her tongue, and fall down thinking it's the most hilarious thing that's ever happened. Sorry, but some days it's simply exhausting to fake laugh that much! She really is a funny kid, doing and saying things all the time that are genuinely hilarious, it's just the fake stuff that I can't handle! Maybe it's a short lived phase??

8) You might as well be torturing her when you ask her to play by herself. Some days are better than others, I'll give her that, but most days consist of her following me around the house insisting on helping me do my chores instead of playing. She just doesn't like to be alone! Or perhaps I'm just that fun to be around :)

9) She's still very much a princess, I suppose like most 4 year old girls are. She requests to wear a dress every single day, but graciously relents if I offer another suggestion. She loves to have her hair done, especially now that we can fix her hair a couple of different ways, ribbons and all!

10) She's getting much better at gymnastics! OK, maybe MUCH is a bit of an overstatement, but she is at least progressing! We started classes in August, and she's gotten to where she's not just galloping anymore! She can jump on 2 feet, at least a couple of times in a row, and she can do a front roll with the best of them! More than anything, I love how hard she tries and how much she enjoys it, we'll just have to continue working on the actual technique of it all!

11) She still gets some words mixed up, which I LOVE. Though she has grown out of her "My" stage ("my love you" instead of "I love you" for example), which makes us all very sad, she does still say "got-for" instead of "forgot". Sometimes it even turns into "got-forgot", but either way, it's adorable!

12) She's VERY excited about Brady coming. She loves to give my belly kisses, and shake it to feel him move. She speaks of him often, and loves to recount the things she will be able to do for him - she's even very excited to change his poopy diapers! I just might let her have it! :) She knows that she's already a big sister to Elliot, but she's very anxious to have a little brother here for her to love on - aren't we all!

So there's a few things about my Sydney. I absolutely love her with my whole heart. She brings more joy into my life than I could ever express. I can hardly remember what life was like before her, but I do know that I was not complete until she entered in. She is my precious baby girl, and I treasure everything she is, and everything she will become...

Bad blogger....

2009-09-11T14:50:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the serious slacking in my blogging world! I have all kinds of things in my head to blog about, just haven't taken the time to sit down and blog about them. And, today's not the day that I'm planning on blogging about them either! This post is short and sweet, just a note to say that we have picked out a date!

OCTOBER 22ND, 2009 will be Brady's birthday!

That's only 6 weeks from yesterday, so I finally feel like we're starting to get a little closer. 6 sounds so much better than 10, but then again 3 sounds a awful lot better than 6! :)

He looked wonderful yesterday on the sonogram - all bouncy and beautiful. We got a good shot of his face - could see his lips and nostrils and everything! He is breech, but since I'll be having a c-section, it doesn't matter at all! All it means is that I don't have to be kicked in the ribs! :) 41 days and counting...

Full Time...no thanks!

2009-08-28T12:56:00.004-05:00

I can sum up this past week in two words: TOO MUCH!

I have a part time job for DBU that I do from home, usually only 10 hours a week (or less!). Well, since school started this week, my boss requested that I come into the office 2 days last week to help make sure everything was ready to go. So both Thursday and Friday, I dropped Sydney off at a friends house, and logged two true work days at an office. Then, this week, I have worked Monday through Thursday at my church's Child Development Center keeping 5-6 babies each day. Then, after 6 hours of keeping babies, I have come home everyday to time spent on the computer getting my hours in for DBU. Include on top of that the time spent getting each of us ready for a day away from home, and preparing and packing lunches for all of us, and it made for very long days! To sum up, I basically have worked full time for the past 6 work days, and I am EXHAUSTED!

Seriously, I have no idea how working mothers survive. It's just too much! After coming home from a full day of work, I had no energy at all to play with Sydney, much less enough to get in the kitchen a cook a meal for my family! And forget trying to find the time to keep a house clean! I haven't even had the energy to muster up enough words to form a conversation with my husband! I feel like over the past 8 days I haven't exactly been what I'd call a "quality" wife or mother.

I am, apparently, a woman who just can't swing it. And frankly, I just don't want to! I feel so abundantly blessed that I don't have to work full time, and that I can instead focus my time and energy on my family. Brandon works so hard to provide for our family, and while we may not be the richest family on the block (by far!), we have everything we need, and honestly couldn't want for more! I will gladly take my target clothes, simple home cooked meals, and local TV channels if it means that I can be for my family what they need me to be. It's the whole purpose of my life - I am here to serve Christ by being a servant to my family, and I know I wouldn't be doing it justice if I lived everyday like I have the past few. SO, here's to a much more simple week planned for next week! :)

The Pros & Cons...

2009-08-18T13:08:00.003-05:00

I like lists. They keep everything nice, neat, and organized, just the way I like it! So, I thought it might be fun to give you my list of the Pros & Cons of pregnancy:

We'll start with the Pros:
1) MOVEMENT - No doubt about it, the best part of being pregnant is being able to feel the baby move inside of you. I don't care whether he's shifting, kicking, pushing into my pelvis, or grabbing my bladder, it never stops being amazing. There's a living thing growing inside of me, and to have the honor to feel that life move around in there is something I will forever cherish. I almost feel bad for men that they don't get to experience it :)

2) MY COMPLEXION! - I have terrible skin, my dermatologist in high school told me it was too mild to do anything about, and that my acne problems would go away by itself. Yeah, well he was a big, fat liar - because I'm 27 years old (at least until Sunday!) and my face is still one big red, blotchy, flaky, pimply mess. That is, of course, with the exception of when I'm pregnant! For some reason my face loves pregnancy hormones, and from about the 3rd month on, I have relatively no zits! It's a pregnancy miracle!

3) TEMPERATURE - Sure, it's the middle of summer, so it's dang hot. BUT, when I'm not pregnant, I am ALWAYS cold, so being pregnant kind of makes it "just right". It gives me those added few degrees of heat so that I'm not miserable cold every (indoor) place I go. Now, I guess outside is a whole different story, but let's be honest, it's Texas! You definitely don't have to be pregnant to be HOT!

4) CONFIDENCE IN SWIMWEAR - Every woman I know (that is at least, all the normal shaped women I know, so therefore excluding my sister and sister-in-law) dread swim season. To have to get out in front of people and showcase everything you got is no fun at all. BUT, when I'm pregnant, I suddenly have this amazing boost of self-confidence in myself. "What? My thighs are a little jiggly?? It don't bother me at all, because take a look about a foot higher and you'll be smacked in the face with my big, round excuse." And I'm proud of it!

5) OOHS & AAHS - I don't care who you are, it's nice to have people say you look fantastic. And if it takes a big belly to make it happen, all the better! Sure, people are "oohing & ahhing" over Brady, but that's just a little technicality that I have no problems overlooking! :)

OK - THE CONS:

1) SLEEPING - It's really no fun at all - especially for all of us back sleepers out there. All night long I move from one side to the other, only to find that the other side is no less uncomfortable than the one before! I even have a pregnancy pillow that a friend was generous enough to let me borrow, and while it helps a little, it still doesn't allow me the comfort that my back does. I miss my back... :(

2) BOOBS - This area of growth might be on the pros list for some of you out there, but not for this Chesty Lady. It's actually one of the things I dread most about pregnancy! The fact that normal maternity stores don't even carry nursing bras close to the size I need is reason enough for me to believe that they are just too dang big. And with breastfeeding on the horizon, it's not gonna be getting better any time soon!

3) BENDING OVER - This is a task that should not have to be difficult...EVER! It's just bending over for goodness sake! But the fact that I grunt every few seconds doing something as trivial as giving Sydney a bath?? Seriously...it's just not right...

4) MISCELLANEOUS - I won't go into details here, but every woman who's ever been pregnant knows that there is a long list of misc. "inconveniences" to being pregnant. We all deal with our own "inconveniences", and while I'm glad to not have to deal with some that others may, I have my fair share. And I'll stop there...

5) NO BABY - This tops my list of the cons of pregnancy. The fact that I'm still pregnant means that I don't yet have a baby in my arms. And I am SO READY to have a baby in my arms! These next 10 weeks are going to be torture! We already have Bradys room painted, his crib put together, and all his clothes washed and folded, and yet I still have 10 weeks to go! I wonder how early Dr. Daum will consider doing a c-section???...

Make new friends, but keep the old...

2009-08-11T20:44:00.003-05:00

One is silver and the other's gold...

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with one of those very precious "Gold" ones: my best friend from 8th grade, Leslie, came to Dallas for no other reason that just to hang out with me! What an honor!

With Leslie, it's always easy. We've known each other long enough, and in-depth enough to be comfortable with each other in a way I share with very few other people. Whether it's just sitting and chatting about the old days, or detailed discussions of life's current storms, it's always good...really good.

We didn't do a whole lot, mainly just some good, old fashioned hang out time. Though on Saturday we did brave the Dallas World Aquarium with Sydney. And I say "Brave" because again let me say that it was SATURDAY, so about half of the Dallas population also decided to go to the aquarium on that day. Side note: after being spoiled by staying at home with Syd for the past 4 years, I can hardly stand to do anything on the weekends - there's WAY too many people out and about! I much prefer my mid-day, mid-week trips out on the town! But, regardless of the massive amounts of people, we did have a really good time at the aquarium. Even though this was Sydney's first time to ever be around Leslie for an extended period of time, she took right to her and thoroughly enjoyed her presence over the whole weekend.

We rounded out the weekend with a little extended session duty at church on Sunday morning, which Leslie was kind enough to participate in with us! What a trooper - Fifteen 18-month olds is no picnic! :)

I have to say that I was reminded of quite a few things this weekend. First, I was reminded about how absolutely enamored I am with my husband. He took very well to our constant reminiscing, even adding his two-cents in every once in a while. He also put up with our very girl-y silliness and laughter, even staying in the room while it was happening - that's gotta be tough! :)
And secondly, I was reminded about how important it is to keep this 'old' friend close. I am blessed to have a few very good 'new' friends here in Dallas, ones that I am honored to share daily life with, but there is just something to be said about having such a long and detailed history with the 'old' ones. Leslie and I realized this weekend that we're almost to the point that we've known each other longer than we've NOT known each other! We've shared half our lives together, the good, the bad, the very ugly (think: tight fade), and somehow we've always managed to love each other through it all!

And we have a winner!

2009-08-02T22:24:00.003-05:00

Our sons name is officially BRADY GANTT!

I am SO excited! Although we really did love ALL of the name options, we are SO HAPPY with the final results of the poll! It's been so fun calling him by name these past few days and weeks - 'cause if you ever looked at the poll results, Brady Gantt has been winning by a landslide for quite a while! Brandon just wouldn't let me call it until the poll was officially over :)

Thank you to everyone who voted, and took part in the fun of naming our little boy! We feel so blessed to be able to share this process with so many people we love and so many who love us and our boy - and all you strangers out there too! :)

So I leave you with a picture of our little Brady in all of his 28 week glory!

The tough questions...

2009-07-30T17:43:00.005-05:00

At the ripe old age of three, Sydney has already had to deal with her fair share of death. When Elliot died, we didn't want to hide what was happening from her, so we explained it all as best we could. We explained that Elliot was sick, and that he was not going to be coming home to live with us, but would instead go to live with Jesus in Heaven. She took it all very well, of course she didn't really understand any of it, though. Then again, who really does?

A few months ago, we lost my Great-Grandmother, and once again Sydney was forced to accept the fact that another loved one was going to live with Jesus in Heaven. This time, though, she was a little older, a little wiser, and asked a lot more questions. Mammaw's death also got her thinking quite a bit more about Elliot, prompting even more questions that no three year old child should even know to ask.

Not long after Mammaw died, a good friend's dog died. Now I realize this is only a dog, but it was yet another death that Sydney overheard and had to deal with. This again led to more tough questions from her. She now knew that death didn't just affect the young and the old, it affected everything.

Last night we were praying for a good family friend of ours who is sick with cancer. Sydney has been very worried about her, and we pray for her often. Praying for her led once again into a discussion about death, with Sydney asking more questions, trying to gain some sort of understanding in her young little mind.

"So Mommy, if she's so sick, is she going to die?"

"Oh no! Lots of people get sick, and very rarely do people die from it. But that's why we pray for God to heal her body, and make her feel all better."

"After people die, when do they come back to life like Jesus did?"

"Well, we don't come back to life like Jesus did. Instead, we get to live up in Heaven with Him! Just like Elliot, Mammaw & Ryrie are all in Heaven living with Jesus right now!"

"Mommy, am I going to die?"

Deep breath..."Honey, that's not something you need to worry about. That's hopefully not going to happen for a long, long, long, long, long time."

"Will I die before Jesus is going to come back?"

"I'm really not sure, Honey. We don't know when Jesus will return to Earth, that's something that only He knows. We just have to watch and pray, and make sure that we're ready for it when He does!"

She took it all in, but you could tell her mind was still reeling. I kissed her goodnight, and quickly left her room, grateful to be done with a conversation that left me absolutely breathless. She was left alone for a while to read some books and wind down, as we do every night. But I was soon beckoned to return.

"Mommy, Mommy...I need to talk to you...(with tears in her eyes) I don't want to live with Jesus, Mommy, I want to live here with you & Daddy..."

I sat in her room & held her for a very long time, trying to reassure her it was not something she needed to worry about. Adequate words continued to fail me, because I didn't want to lie to her and tell her she would never die, or that we would never die. I couldn't tell her that it was only the elderly who get sick and die, because I know she knows better than that. It was so difficult to look into her sweet, innocent, frightened little face and assure her that everything would be OK, when she knows darn well that things aren't always OK.

Not too long after that, Brandon got home from class and I gave him a quick run down on all that had just happened. We both rushed into her room, eager to sweep her up, hold her, and comfort her, and try our best to get her mind off of the current topic, and back onto something more appropriate for a 3-year old little girl.

My heart was just so broken after that evening. It just made me question the decisions we've made regarding her access into a very grown-up world, decisions that we obviously can't take back. She so inquisitive, and so darn(pardon the motherly bragging) SMART that I think even if we'd done things differently, she would still have tried to figure it all out. Heck, I'm still trying to figure it all out, too - I guess it'll just be something we have to figure out together...

Darn honesty...

2009-07-22T12:27:00.004-05:00

I've never been a good liar. But not for lack of effort, that's for sure! Apparently when I was young, I lied...a LOT. And it didn't have to be about anything important, either. I lied just for the sake of lying, I guess I thought it was fun, rebellious, and a tad exciting. But, my parents, of course, did not, so they basically beat the lying out of me. They'd even trick me into lying, just to see if I'd do it, and then proceed to spank me for falling for their trick!

Sound mean to you? Yeah, I thought so too!

But, their discipline worked it's magic, because from that point on, I've lost all abilities to conceal the truth. You can see it plainly spread across my face if I ever even attempt. So usually I don't even bother trying, I instead tell everything I know, whether I'm supposed to or not. And I definitely can't tell just a bold-faced lie to someones face - they'd never in a million years believe me.

Anyway, all of this to say, that sometimes I just wish I could! Last example having to do with our cable service. We have cable, but we only pay for the local channels. Well, the other day it mysteriously went out, warranting a call to the nice guys at Time Warner. And as any good company does, they sent a guy out to fix it for us. And then the very nice guy informed me to restart our Tivo once the cable was reconnected, apparently we'd be able to get quite a few more channels than we pay for! Awesome!

So once the cable was reconnected, we restarted our Tivo as the very nice cable guy suggested, and were DELIGHTED to find that we not only had a few extra channels, we had ALL the extra channels! TLC, The Disney Channel, ABC Family, TNT, ESPN, All of them! We were, to say the least, VERY excited - all that cable goodness for a very small local cable price!

But all too soon, that darn honesty streak in me started to come forth. Darn that need to tell the truth, darn that conviction!!

So I once again call the cable company, this time to inform them of the error, and I was secretly hoping they'd be so impressed with my honestly that they'd just let us keep the channels.

No such luck, they cut it off 2 days ago. :(

And now we're back to the good ol' local channels. It was a good few days we had with the expanded package...goodbye expanded package...

I blame you, Mom & Dad...I know in reality I have to blame my relationship with Christ and the convictions he places on my heart, but it's easier right now to blame you, and so I do. :)

Future Gymnast?...maybe not so much...

2009-07-16T20:44:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I took Sydney to a gymnastics class for the first time. She had been there for a birthday party a few months back, and hasn't stopped talking since about how much she wanted to return, so I thought we'd try it out for a trial class. The structure of the actual class was a little different format from the party, of course, and she had a little problem with waiting her turn to do the different events, and had a hard time paying attention to the teachers instructions, but overall I was very proud of her! She was not timid at all about jumping right into the class, and really seemed to enjoy each station they did.

Poor girl tried her best, but sadly, she just wasn't all that good. I definitely am taking into consideration that this was only her first class, but I do have to admit she comes by it honestly. Poor thing inherited my lack of coordination and athleticism, and Brandon's lack of rhythm, so unless something crazy happens later on in life, I just don't know that she'll grow up to be an all-star of much of anything - kinda like her daddy and me!!

One thing that made me laugh so hard, was watching her try to jump down a long trampoline. They were asked to jump with both feet all the way down, and then do a forward roll on the mat at the end. Well, Sydney has never been a jumper, it wasn't until a few months ago that she could actually jump with both feet off the floor, something I think kids are supposed to be able to do by about 20-24 months! And even then, it only happens once in a blue moon. Instead, she just does a type of gallop, no matter our efforts to try to teach her an actual jump.

So down the trampoline Sydney would go, galloping all the way, and then proceed to do a face plant into the mat. And then climb off proudly like she had just done exactly what she was supposed to! It was adorable, and I was so unbelieveably proud of her for being so proud of herself, even if it wasn't quite what the teacher had asked her to do.

Here's her with her class:

Doing a little back roll:

Here's what you call a quality 'gallop'...

And a little twist in the center, just for fun...

And then, Sydney's favorite activity of the day, the always popular Foam Pit:

Hopefully we'll be able to go back for a few more classes soon, and hopefully she'll be able to pick up a few 'tricks of the trade' and get the hang of this gymnastics business. And if not, we'll still always love our little galloping girl! :)

You get to pick!

2009-07-05T21:22:00.003-05:00

I know you're probably tired of hearing about our constant baby naming dilemmas, so Brandon and I have decided on a solution: We're leaving it up to you! We've narrowed it down to two first names and two middle names, and we both like them all equally. So we thought it might be fun to take a poll for the month of July and whatever the winner is on August 1st will be the name of our son!

Our first name choices are Barrett and Brady, and the middle name choices are Allen and Gantt. Barrett & Brady are really just names we both liked a lot, neither has a great meaning to it or anything.

Allen comes from some good friends of ours, Luke & Ashley Allen, who we love and respect very much. It also is the middle name of one of our favorite friends, Milo (aka Richard Muske), who we also completely love & admire.

Gantt is Brandon's middle name, which is also his mothers maiden name. Sydney has my middle name, so we thought it might be neat to allow our son to have Brandon's.

So, there's your choices! The poll is over on the right side above all the pictures.

PLEASE ONLY VOTE ONCE - we'd prefer the results to be an accurate representation of all your choices!

I guess that's it - have fun, and choose wisely!! :)

First and Final letter of warning...

2009-07-01T11:00:00.004-05:00

Dear Poison Ivy,

I'm generally a pretty nice person, but I've got to be brutally honest here. You suck. I wish you were never created.

I am not one to question the sovereignty of my God, but I have to beg the question of WHY you exist. What could POSSIBLY be the purpose of your stupid red vine with three leaves, except only to make us miserable??

You've gotten me too many times, Ivy. You got me good once, a few months back, but this time wasn't near as bad. That's because I'm learning your tricks - I'm a human with highly evolved reasoning skills, and you are merely a stupid plant. Actually, I take that back, you're not even good enough to be called a plant, you're just a lowly little weed that takes up precious space in my backyard! And guess what, Ivy, I've got my tricks too. They're called Round Up and a shovel, and they're coming for ya! I refuse to let you win.

I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to kill you good. You've not only hurt me, you've hurt my husband as well, and frankly, that's just unacceptable. The only thing I can say in your defense is that you've yet to get to my daughter. Which, I'll let you know right now that if that EVER happens, the ferocity with which I hate you will only be multiplied beyond comprehension. Do NOT mess with my kid!

Let me reiterate my point here, Ivy. I hate you. And I'm coming for you (or probably more accurately Brandon is going to be coming for you), but either way, prepare to die...

Restored to the Land of the Living...

2009-06-30T08:27:00.003-05:00

This post is a quick shout-out for Lanessa, who recently had her book published that recounts everything she went through last fall. Just days after giving birth to her 4th son, she was diagnosed with Encephalitis and underwent brain surgery! There are lots more details of course, and even more ways that God proved His grace and His sovereignty, so I'd encourage you to go to the website below to order your copy today! It's sure to be a good read, and I can't wait to get mine in the mail!

Here is the ordering information:

Click HERE
OR
go to www.authorhouse.com (search bookstore for author Lanessa Allman)
OR
call 1-888-280-7715

Lanessa, I am BEYOND proud of you for doing this, for sharing your story for all of us to learn from. You not only handled a life-threatening illness with unbelieveable faith and peace, but you have continued to promote God's grace in all the months that have followed. I know that this book honors His will and plan for your life, and I am so proud of you for following this conviction! I know so many lives will be blessed! LOVE YOU!

I know you know, but...

2009-06-26T21:27:00.007-05:00

So, here's the deal: I know you all know that I'm pregnant, and I also know that you all know I had a baby that died. I know that I don't have to bring it up all the time in order to make everyone remember, and I hope that it doesn't come across that way to you. I don't want my blog to be a constant in-your-face reminder about Elliot or about my current pregnancy. I just don't want you to feel like that's all I ever blog about. But, after saying all that, I figure I'm cleared to talk about both those things, right? 'Cause that's what this blog is about...So here goes:

I've realized in the recent week or so that I am really, and I mean REALLY excited about having this baby! The idea of holding him, of rocking him, of feeding him, just the mere idea of having him in our home makes me get all anxious and giddy inside. I'm so ready, and yet I still have 17 more weeks. When the excitement takes over, though, I still get nervous, and I still get scared. I have a whole stack of baby stuff in the corner of his room, but I'm too scared to wash it all and set it out yet. I'm not ready to start decorating the nursery, I still feel like there's too much time left, that too many things could still go wrong. Even though sonogram after sonogram reveals a perfect little boy, I can't get past the fear that it won't end perfectly. And I want it to SO BADLY! While in my heart I feel peace about this pregnancy and about our son, my head gets too in-the-way sometimes. I guess it still remembers the pain all too well.

Sometimes, though, a good day comes that is able to break through the fear barrier. One such day was yesterday when I went to a garage sale! I'm SOOO not a garage-sale-frequenter, I only went because the house is literally about 100 steps away from my back door. But, I'm SO GLAD we went! A bunch of the stuff was totally gross and covered with mold - one item of which Sydney HAD to have and therefore bought with her piggy bank money. I'm hoping some bleach & scrubbing will make the OLD pretend washer/dryer look like new. So, because of all the old, moldy toys, I wasn't expecting too much when I wandered over to the baby clothes that were laying on the hood of a car. BUT, to my delightful surprise, the clothes were great! Barely used, in great shape, very cute (i.e: not covered with cartoon characters - I'm SO not a cartoon character clothing kind of person), and only $.25 a piece! So, I gathered up 9 items for a whopping $2.25 and came home a VERY happy mom! And the lady said she'd have more stuff to put out in the morning, so I trudged the 100 steps back over there today. The very nice garage sale lady and I hit it off very well, and turns out she had heard that we lost our son last year. AND, turns out she was just going to give away everything she didn't sell, so I picked out a few more items I wanted and she told me not to pay. SCORE! Then, this afternoon after the garage sale was over, we see her walking up to our back door with a box full of more little boy goodies! AND she said she has more at home that she'll be bringing to me this week! Multiple SCORE! I laid it all out, and I'm figuring our boy is pretty much set for the first 6 months or so of his little life! And it wasn't all just clothes, she also gave us infant towels, toys, an infant tub, and a sleep positioner!

Thank you, Lord, for using a random garage sale to bless us so greatly! And thank you, Lord, that you can use a random garage sale to bring just a little bit more peace, comfort, and assurance into this mothers heart (and head)!

Seeing the adorable little outfits definitely makes me all the more ready for our boy to get here.

And per Natalie's request, here's a belly picture, along with one of my favorite $.25 onesies! I LOVE that his tiny little body is going to fit in there!

Also per Natalie's request, here's a picture of Sydney. She's all dolled up in her authentic Korean dress from Daddy - she loves feeling like Mulan :) And if you happen to remember the Brown Faces post from a while back, I'd like you to know that Sydney now loves all three of the Brown Face Princesses. Mulan and Pocahontus especially! At least she didn't stay a racist for long! :)

As far as the name game goes: we've narrowed it down to two, and I've asked Brandon to make the final decision. I know (and he knows) which one I want, but he's a little more of a procrastinator than I am and might take a while to decide. I'll keep you updated. :)

Super-Mom

2009-06-19T15:23:00.003-05:00

Ya missed me? Sorry for the long delay in writing, I guess I just haven't been all too 'inspired' lately! Well, either that, or just really nothing has been going on :)

Brandon left for Korea a week ago, and finally gets home tomorrow evening. He's about halfway through his doctoral program, and instead of having traditional class time for their summer courses, they take a trip! Suffering for his education, right? But, here at home, in an effort to NOT suffer, my amazing mom came to spend the week! It's been awesome to have her here to keep us company and to help me out with Sydney, and as an added bonus she's been working hard from day one, getting stuff done around here that Brandon & I have put off for a long time. One such thing has been finishing our kitchen table & chairs! We got our table when we got married, and after living in a few too many places with tiny breakfast areas, I grew to hate the 'larger than necessary' chairs. So in January, after shopping around for new ones, and realizing that good chairs are ridiculously expensive, my dad had the wonderful idea of cutting off the tops of our chairs so that we could sand them down and re-finish them. Cheap-o that I am, I LOVED the idea, until of course, we started to actually SAND the chairs. Long story short, it's now been 5 months, and the project is still underway. And our current kitchen table consists of a card table with a piano bench & a cooler for chairs. (and a word of advice here, if you want smaller chairs, just spend the money and get some new chairs!) But here to save the dayis Super-Mom, who jumped right in and tackled the long overdue project right away! The staining is done and the first coat of varnish is now drying in my garage, and the 'new' table & chairs look amazing! Left up to just Brandon & I, it probably would have taken us at least a couple more months to finish this up!

Of course she's not only good for working on MY house, though. We've been up to Vanessa's new house north of Dallas for a few days where mom has been steadliy working her magic there, too! Painting, glazing or decorating, moms taken her talents and shared them VERY generously all around the Dallas area! Mixed in with all the labor, she's somehow managed to entertain a very cute 3-year-old, who absolutely adores her Cici. She's not only Super-Mom, she's Super-Cici as well. Able to paint cartruses on a fireplace all while still making Sydney happy is no easy task, but Super-Cici seems to handle it all with ease.

I am SO ready for Brandon to be home, but I do have to say a huge public "Thank You" to my amazing mother for coming here to be with us, and as an added benefit, for being willing to share some of your many talents with us. Even though she won't have the talent portion to enjoy, I hope that when Sydney is 27 years old, that she still needs me as much as I need you, mom. Thank you, and I love you!

The Name Game...

2009-05-28T08:38:00.004-05:00

I've never been too much of a reader, TV is definitely more "my thing". But I have this amazing book sitting next to me, one that I haven't been able to put down for the past few weeks. It's titled "45,000 Baby Names", and I have been pouring over it since we found out that we're having a boy! But do we have a name for our son yet?? Oh, heck no!

It's so unbelievably frustrating! I'll come up with a name I think is absolutely perfect ("Toby" - which I think is adorable and just happens to mean 'God is good') only to have it almost immediately vetoed by my wonderful husband. But he can't solely be pin-pointed as the bad guy here, because I've definitely had my share of vetoes for names he's liked (Uh, "Barrington" - which means 'fenced town', but Brandon thinks is cool because we could call him "Bear"...I'm thinking that's not so cool.) Then there's the inevitable names of kids we remember (but rather forget) from our school days, or names of boyfriends I'd like to just leave in high school, or names that are simply already taken by people close to us. Occasionally, of course we'll come up with some names we like (Beau and Grant for example), but can't for the life of us come up with a good middle name. I'd like a name that isn't completely mainstream (like "Ethan", or "William"), but also one that isn't totally unheard of either (like "Barrington" or "Sliver" - Sorry, Milo). Additionally, I'd like our sons name to have a good background, too - whether it be Biblical, after a good friend or family member, or by the actual meaning of the name. Our family name options on that are slightly limited, though. My dads name is "Delwin Earl", which he's already released us from, asking us to please not carry on! Brandon's dads name, Charles, is already taken by Brandon's brother & sister-in-law who are expecting a son in September. Past that we have names like: Bobby, Alvin, Robert, Hershel, Joe and Malcolm. None that I'm exactly 'sold' on, to say the least!

(I also wanted to clarify about the name Samuel, which a lot of people commented on when I first wrote that we are having a boy. Our nieces name just happens to be Samantha, which is more often shortened to Sam or Sammy, so we just don't think it'd be a good idea to have 2 Sams in the family. But it is a great name.)

So, we're still just stuck. I'm hoping something magical will happen someday soon, and the perfect name will just be dropped into our laps. Like when we couldn't find a good name for Elliot: Just a normal day, watching TV, and I stumble across "Just Shoot Me", and hear the name "Elliot". I think, "hey, that's kinda cute, so I look it up in my handy-dandy name book to see what it means: "The Lord is my God". And done, we found our name. Who knew "Just Shoot Me" with our old friend David Spade would ever be so enlightening!

Despite the horrific 'name-game' we're finding ourselves in, we did have an 'anatomy scan' sonogram this past week, and everything with baby boy Skaggs looks really good! And there is no denying the fact that his anatomy is DEFINITELY that of a little boy, so the name search must go on!! As always, I'm open to any and all suggestions!

It's all over...

2009-05-20T20:36:00.006-05:00

It's always such a bittersweet moment when vacation comes to an end. On one hand, you can't wait to get home and get settled back into a normal routine, living out of a closet, not out of a suitcase, and sleeping in a cozy, familiar bed instead of a squeaky and uncomfortable couch bed. BUT, in order to get those wonderful comforts of home, sadly, you have to leave the beach. And that part of it kinda just sucks!

At least our time at the beach was wonderfully fun and relaxing while it lasted! We had three days to just lay and play on the beach, and we got the joy of doing it beside lots of people that we love! Our best friends, Jay & Lanessa & their 4 boys who all live in Alabama, joined us all day Saturday, and it was such a blessing to be able to spend an entire day with them! Living 1000 miles away, we don't get that opportunity too often so we relished in it for those few precious hours. And let me just say that if I wasn't exactly pumped up about having a boy before going to Destin, I am now! Those 4 boys might have been a little crazy & energetic, but they were also so precious & sweet that I couldn't help but leave that day with a mixed set of emotions. I felt torn as I witnessed all the joys we missed out on with Elliot, but SO EXCITED as we anticipate life with another boy! To say the least, it got me pumped up :)

So, here's a quick picture recap of our trip:

Testing out the waters...

It's always safer with Dad...

Vacationin' family...

Aunt Carly & Syd...

The whole group - 9 of us in an 8 person condo, we know how to economize!

The whole Allman/Skaggs group (minus Clark)...

After being home for 2 days, I'm already feeling the need for another vacation! Oh wait, one reason for that might be the fact that as soon as we got home (at 9:00 Monday night, after being on the road for over 13 hours) we smelled quite a stench coming out of Sydney's room. Found out that our very kind neighbor, who we asked to water our flower beds, and who was only trying to help, accidentally left the water on too long and it seeped right into Syd's room. We had to end up pulling up all the carpet & padding, and we're still waiting to see if it will dry up or if we'll be buying new carpet! Oh, the joys of home ownership!

Seriously...when's the next vacation??!!

Some beach...somewhere...

2009-05-12T20:49:00.003-05:00

And we're off to the BEACH! So maybe it's not going to look exactly like the one above, but take away the mountains and add in a LOT more condos, and suddenly you're in Destin, Florida!! We have a good friend getting married on the beach this weekend, so we're taking advantage of the excuse and making a little trip out of it. Also both sets of our parents are coming, along with Carly & Jacob (Brandon's sister and her husband), so it should be a roarin' good time! I'm just excited to see Sydney get to finally enjoy the beach. Two summers ago we went to Galveston with my family and she absolutely freaked out at the waves and the sand. But then again, it was Galveston, what rational person doesn't freak out a little? But, even last summer when we went to the lake, it took her a long time to get used to the water and the sand, never fully accepting the fun it could potentially hold. But, she's done some serious growing up lately, and I'm fairly confident that she's really going to love it. So here we go - we're takin' two cars, eight adults, one very energetic 3 year old, lots of luggage and beach toys, and one big ol' belly to Florida! See ya next week!

15 week Dr. appointment...

2009-05-05T16:37:00.004-05:00

15 weeks today and we had another sonogram (already our 4th sonogram - how awesome is my doctor?!) Dr. Daum was able to see lots of good things inside our little baby's body, which made the day absolutely wonderful! The best news is that we were able to see baby's bladder; this is a good sign since Elliots bladder never formed and was possibly the root of all his problems. We also saw a cystic-free kidney, a heart with 4 chambers, and two arms and two legs. And we also saw a pee-pee. We're having another BOY! :)

I totally did not expect to feel this way, but I am so excited! I have always held to the idea that boys kinda freak me out, and definitely felt that way when we found out Elliot was a boy. But for some reason, the 'freak out' mindset has somewhat been lifted, and I am finding myself totally pumped up about having another son!

Of course it would work out that Brandon & I had a perfect girls name picked out and ready, and we're basically at square one for a boy! I guess that's how it goes :) So, anyone have any awesome suggestions for us??!!

What the day boils down to, is the fact that so far it looks like our son is growing and forming perfectly, and I couldn't be more happy! :) Thank you, Lord!

One year...

2009-04-29T20:13:00.006-05:00

Let me just start off by saying that yesterday was a really good day. We were together all day long, which makes for a good time any day, but yesterday was, of course, extra special. It was a bittersweet celebration of the missing 4th member of our family, and it was a day spent rejoicing in the fact that we know where he is.

We started off the day with something fun for Sydney, a trip to Pump It Up, an incredible, inflatable wonderland! She absolutely loved every minute of it, and first thing today asked if we were going to go again :)

Next we headed to Elliot's tree. It is a tree that was planted in Elliots memory by some amazingly thoughtful friends of ours, and it is appropriately placed right next to the new childrens wings of our church. We brought along some balloons and shared some sweet words to Elliot before releasing them up to Heaven. Sydney really loved the idea of Elliot being able to grab the balloons once they went all the way up to Heaven. It was an incredibly sweet time for our family, and one that we plan to recreate every year on his birthday.

After that we all headed home for much needed naps (that Pump It Up place REALLY takes it out of you!) We then headed back to the church, as we were told there was a surprise waiting for us. Turns out, the surprise was amazing gift in Elliots honor. Both sets of our parents, along with the Child Development Center that I work with, donated money to have new bibles bought for each classroom in the entire preschool and childrens wings of our church! And there is a sticker placed in each one saying the Bible was given in loving memory of Elliot Skaggs. It was an absolutely perfect gift, and I am beyond grateful for our wonderfully thoughtful and supportive parents and church family.

That evening we made a cake for Elliot, and apparently we didn't wait to take a picture before digging right in. So a picture of the cake making process and the cake eating process will have to do. I'm no Betty Baker, so it's not too big of a loss, the cake didn't look all that great anyway. It tasted good, though! We all sang "Happy Birthday" to our boy, and then let Sydney blow out the candle.

During the day we also took time to look through our boxes of Elliots things, and dug into some precious memories that hadn't surfaced since last year.

It was a good day, a day filled with remembrance and love, and a day that will be replayed every year for a long time to come. And I want to say "Thank You" to everyone who called, emailed, sent a card, sent flowers, or sent a text. And of course a huge "Thank you" to everyone who prayed for or thought of us on Elliots birthday :)

We miss you, Elliot. We wish this birthday could have been celebrated in a much different fashion, but we are content in the fact that a party in Heaven is much better than anything we could have planned here. We love you, with all our hearts, we love you...

Big Haircut...

2009-04-25T16:30:00.005-05:00

***FYI, I had a few people ask about the actual donation of my hair, so I wanted to include that info for you. I donated my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, (I actually mailed it off today!) which only requires 8 inches for a donation. They take the hair and make wigs to give to the American Cancer Society wig banks which provide free wigs for cancer patients. I opted to not do Locks of Love, mainly because they require 10 inches and I just wasn't willing to wait it out for 2 more inches!!***

"You are no longer Big Tuna. From henceforth, you shall be known as Big Haircut." -Andy from The Office

And I think that might just be what I'm now known as! Goodness gracious, 8 inches is a LOT of hair to cut off! So, without further adieu, here's the pictures:

Geez, just look at all that long, dark hair...

You see those top rubber bands?? Yeah, that's where he's fixin' to cut it :)

After the big cut... I think my face reflects exactly what I was feeling at that point...

Sara's big haircut!

And here's the back...

While there's a few places that will need to grow out a little to be ideal, I actually think I kind of like it! Which is incredibly surprising, because I NEVER like a haircut. Of course, I still haven't fixed it myself, so we'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow holds :)

The countdown...

2009-04-22T12:01:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited! Two really good things are coming up this week!

First, in just 3 DAYS I get to FINALLY chop off all my hair! If you remember this post from back in November, I was trying to decide back then whether or not I should cut my hair, or if I should grow it out a little longer to donate it. The overwhelming response from my poll was to grow it out, so grow it out I did. And now it's finally time. It's FINALLY long enough to chop off and help out in making a wig, and I am SO PUMPED up about it! I've realized that I like my hair shoulder length, but grow it any longer past that, and it just become too much dang hair. And it's all going to be gone in 3 DAYS! I haven't really decided yet what kind of style I'm going to get, I think it'll all just depend on how short it has to be cut to make it to the 8 inches! At this point I don't even care if I come home with a buzz cut, it's comin' off this weekend no matter what!!

Then, just 3 days after that will be Elliots first birthday. I'm so excited about it coming up! Brandon & I are both taking off work, and we're going to have a family day together. There's a lot of Elliots things that I haven't really allowed myself to look at these past few months, I guess I just havent' felt like I've had the time to sit and surround myself with just him. But I'm going to take that time on Tuesday. And I'll probably bawl my eyes out, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm praying for God to flood my mind with vivid memories of Elliot and the day he was born, and I'm so anxious to see what all God brings. It's going to be a good day, I know it.

I'll make sure to post about each one, so stay tuned! :)

12 weeks!

2009-04-14T21:55:00.004-05:00

I made it! I can see the end of my first trimester just around the corner, and it honestly feels pretty darn good!

I had another Dr. appointment yesterday, and Dr. Daum spent a LONG time doing as thorough a sonogram as you possibly can at 12 weeks. I actually got some really great pictures, but can't for the life of me figure out how to take a picture of a picture adequately, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Little Baby Skaggs #4 was moving all over the place, and everything looked and measured just fine. We tried to look for the baby's kidneys, but seeing as how the little thing is only a few inches long, it was all still just guesswork. I thought it was awfully sweet of Dr. Daum to take the time to check it out as thoroughly as he could, though.

We got a really great "right between the legs" shot, and could definitely tell that the baby is either a boy or a girl - you just couldn't really tell which one yet :) He did say that if he had to guess, he'd say...GIRL! But he said he's still just guessing :) Hopefully next month baby will cooperate and we'll get the same great inappropriate shot! :)

Here's to a successful first trimester! :)