Twas the night before Christmas...

We arrived in Melber yesterday evening. Aaron has been pretty much all smiles since we arrived, which I am so proud of. This morning I got up and Aaron and I went to have breakfast with my parents. I loved the time we spent together. Then Jenny and I ( and Aaron) went to the mall/kmart/dollar store and what seems like one million other stores to get last minute shopping done. Aaron was a trooper, but the day definitely wore him out. He was exhausted. I am glad that tomorrow will be a slower day so that he can catch up on his sleep. We had our annual dinner at Mark's uncle and Aunts tonite too. Aaron was hilarious with everyone. He seems to especially love Robbie (Mark's cousin). Tonite as I put him to bed I had a lot of things going through my head. Tomorrow is a big day. Aaron's first Christmas. More reflexion later. For now, here are a few pictures...

playing in the bath tub at Grandmommy

opening a present early from cousin Amy

playing with Grandmommy's tree

Question?

I asked Aaron how he felt about going to Melber tomorrow and this was his reaction...

Sometimes you just need to cry.

What's wrong with my child today...no clue. I fed him, changed his diaper, he has taken a nap (not very long one), gave him motrin just in case he doesn't feel good - which I think he feels fine, and STILL, he is crying, fussy, and/or just plain grumpy. My conclusion: sometimes you just need a good cry. I can understand this, sometimes I just need to cry and I feel much better after I do. Life just happens and we aren't happy with it...so for now...here's what we look like...

Feel sorry for him?...don't. Feel sorry for his mother who has to listen to it ALL day.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Mark and Marlee! Five years ago, Mark and I were married. I can't believe it's been 5 years already. It seems like yesterday to me. What a great 5 years it has been. I am so thankful for our fun adventures together. There is never a dull moment. We were made perfectly for one another.

December 18, 2004

I just really like my husband. He is the funniest person I have ever met. He is constantly challenging me to think about new things. He is my best friend and I can't wait to see where God leads us during our next 5 years together. Last night Mark took Aaron and I to Nashville. We went out to eat and then headed over to Opry Land Hotel to look at all the lights. We loved it! It was so pretty and HUGE! Aaron was amazed at the lights. He did so great, even though we had to walk in the rain a long way from the parking lot over to the hotel . He just kept looking up at Mark and I all night smiling, and giving us a look like he was so proud to be with us. We even went over to the mall to get a few Christmas presents and ended up staying until after 9pm. Aaron was worn out by the time we left and I think he was asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot. It was a good night. We loved being together as a family.

Aaron: right when we got to Opry Land

Pretty Christmas tree in the hotel

Aaron: when we got home

Dinner with the Adams

Tonite at the dinner table, Aaron decided to try and feed himself his mashed potatoes. I fed him some, and then let him take over after that....

who doesn't love green beans and mashed potatoes

mixed together

a boy trying to eat all by himself...uses a sippy cup and everything

Digging Trenches...

Mark and I have been digging trenches. No, that's not a metaphor for a particular spiritual battle...we are actually digging trenches outside our house.

This is supposed to take the water that is coming from the gutters of our house out to the field instead of under the house. We'll see if it works the next time we have a good rain.

Christmas shopping done!

Christmas shopping is done!!!!! For those of you that know me well, know that this is a HUGE accomplishment for Mark and me. Yesterday Aaron and I left for Gallatin to visit Aunt Rachel. We went to her basketball games last night and spent the night. The night went 'ok.' Aaron actually slept better than I thought he would, but still not great at all. I slept worse than he did. Why? Rachel's animals could not handle someone else in the bed other than them. I finally (about midnight) went to the couch just in time for my son to wake up screaming. It was a tough night, but well worth it. We loved watching Aunt Rachel coach basketball and meet all of her kids and coworkers. It was Aaron's first time to go to a basketball game, so of course we had to take pictures. He did really well, especially since he missed his evening nap. He loved watching all the different things that were happening in the gym, especially the cheerleaders. I'm gonna say he liked them because of all the bouncing around they did.

Friday morning we left Aunt Rachel's (very sad) and headed off to shop for the day. Again, my child is an angel baby and didn't hardly fuss ALL DAY. I stopped at Babies R Us and got a new stroller with some gift cards that I got as late baby presents. I had the bright idea that it would be nothing for me to just buy the stroller and put it together in the parking lot before we went to the mall. Boy was I wrong! I forgot to take into account two things. 1. It is below 30 degrees (felt like 2 degrees) and 2. you actually have to put the stroller together which means it's not just taking it out of the box and flipping it open. So, being the genius I am (with Aunt Barbara and Jenny's help) we got the stroller together and everything went awesome! At the end of the day I had a very sleepy but yet still very happy 6 month old baby and ALL my Christmas shopping done! YEAH! Mark was so happy to see his family when we got home. We really missed him too. Aaron just looked up at me when I put him in his crib tonite for bed and smiled, turn over, put his thumb in his mouth, and squeezed his eyes shut. What a good day.

Shopping wore him out

New stroller...

skyping with daddy Thurs. night before bed -

Mark really missed us

(sorry it's blurry)sitting on the bleachers

at his first basketball game.

Alone time

Sometimes a person just needs to be alone.

After his 2 hour morning nap, Aaron was extremely fussy. Wasn't hungry, wouldn't sleep, didn't want to be held. So I tried something new...put him on his blanket with pillows surrounding him and left him alone. We are going on 30min now...he's happy as a lark just talking, talking, talking. To who?...no clue.

'Chillin' out, maxin',relaxin,' all cool'

For those of you who watched Fresh Prince will get the title of my post...for those that didn't - sorry about your luck, cuz it was freakin' hilarous! I thought of that song as I watched my son in the bath tub tonite. Thought I would share.

On another note...

If anyone has seen the matches to any these socks I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know. Most likely they are in the parking lot of Walmart, Walgreens, Cedar Lane church of Christ, or possibly in any of those actual stores. My mother-in-law says that if I put shoes on him the sock loss will decrease - probably right. Until then, my one-sock-wonder of a boy will continue to wear one sock into every store we enter because somehow from the car to the inside of the store we WILL lose ONE sock.

Random

2 very awesome UK fans

This weekend was kinda a random weekend. Aaron has started really eating a lot of different things now. He has tried squash, rice cereal, and oatmeal. He seems to like all of those, which makes me happy because I was afraid he would be like his daddy and be picky. So far we have a very good eater. Rachel also came to visit this weekend. She is such a big help while she is here...it's so great! It's like having a whole other me with me. She even let Mark and I work with the horses on Saturday afternoon for a while during the baby's nap and meltdown because he needed to nap more. Sunday Everette Hufford (hopefully I got that right) spoke during worship. I love this time our elders have used while we are looking for a new preacher to get different men in to speak to us. I am so challenged with every different speaker! I also made out our Christmas cards this afternoon. Hopefully I will get them out this week. I have never done this before, but figured it was a good year to start with a new baby and all. This afternoon we are watching football (yuck!), playing with Aaron, going over to Steve and Margaret's to help put their tree up (they need someone tall to help with the last part), eating with small group at 5pm and then off to the building to watch the Christmas play put on by the kids in the church. Busy busy! Unfortunately we have to say good bye to Aunt Rachel, but just for a week. We'll see her again at the end of the week! Now it's off to make homemade hot chocolate and watch tv. I love winter time!

Just before eating squash

Pumped up for the UK game - Go Cats!

Reading with Daddy Saturday morning

while mommy made breakfast

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Good morning friends and family! I love Saturday mornings. Why? When I wake up my husband is right next to me. This morning my child woke up a little earlier than usual (that's not what I love about Sat. mornings). I went and got him and put him in our bed. We just laid there and talked and laughed having what I call 'family time.' I just happened to look up out the window and what did I see.......SNOW! It snowed last night! I immediately made (this actually was more like forcing) Mark get up and put clothes on, put Aaron in his warm body coat thingy, and we went outside for some pictures! Aaron pretty much just starred at it. I just love snow...it makes me so happy.

very warm!

looking at the snow

Horses sure are pretty in the snow

6 months

Wow! Where has the time gone. Aaron is 6 months old today! I was looking back through all of the pictures we have taken for the past 6 months (which took a very long time) and saw how much this little guy has changed. Here are two pictures for a comparison.

June 3, 2009

This was taken at Thanskgiving - almost 6 months

So here's an update.

Aaron is starting to sleep through the night pretty well now. This makes me VERY happy. We are on a 3 nap a day schedule now, and that is staying consistant (except when we go out of town, then it's "try and guess when I need sleep mommy" schedule. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm, but would go to bed at 6:30 if I would let him (he got this from my mom and Jerry). He LOVES the song "This little Christian Light of Mine." He especially loves the verse "won't let satan (blow) it out." I blow in his face and he has gotten to where he can recognize that I am going to blow before I actually do...I think this means he's gifted! He sits up all by himself now and only falls over sometimes. His favorite toy is the remote control. If I don't let him have that he has a little toy giraffe or his toy fish that plays music when he pushes the button - almost means he's gifted. He has gotten to where he gets excited when he hears the skype ring on the computer whenever someone calls us, not sure if that's good or not. Mark seems to be his favorite person right now. He just sits and stares at Mark non-stop when he is at home, and whenever Mark looks over at him he smiles bigger than I have ever seen him. We have started rice cereal which he seems to really like. I haven't given him anything else yet, mostly because I keep forgetting to get baby food at Walmart when I go. He does get to taste whatever mommy has on her plate, ice cream and whipped cream are his favorites. He has started sticking his tongue out, it almost seems like he is trying to touch his nose - his tongue is very long. He is also getting very good at reaching for things and actually picking the up. Must more aware of his surroundings now, seems to be aware of people around him. The biggest change is that Aaron is now in a big boy car seat (still turned around backwards). We had to graduate because I could no longer snap him in. The past 6 months have been a whirlwind of emotions; happy, sad, confused, tired, and many more. It has been so awesome. We are totally blessed. God has given us a great healthy, wonderful, beautiful child. I can't wait to see what the next 6 months brings!

PJ's

During our Thanksgiving visit we got to see cousin Weston and his parents Josh and Lori. We love Josh and Lori. They are very great friends of ours (as well as family). They both have the hearts of servants and really honestly would do anything for anyone. There little boy Weston is SO cute. He has so much energy, he never stops. He says "I love you baby Ace" to Aaron.

On Thanksgiving night when it was time to go to bed, they put Weston in his bed which happened to be next to the room where our family slept. All the cousins went out to eat (except me who was feeling horrible and exhausted), and left the aunts to watch the kids. I was heading back to bed, and as I walked past Weston's room I heard this sweet little voice singing "Old McDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. and on that farm he had a pig, e-i-e-i-o." I quickly ran to get Aunt Rachel, Aunt Phylis and Jenny. We sat by the door for a few minutes and listened to him sing all about the pig going oink, oink on Old McDonald's farm....ha ha. Weston is getting ready to be a big brother in a few months. Lori and Josh are expecting a baby girl (Taylor). I am so excited! They are the best parents I can think of and I can't wait to meet her.

Dinosaur PJ's from cousin Weston - they are my favorite

I'm not sure if I mentioned how fast Aaron is growing. Most things don't fit in the length. He is in 6-9 mo. clothes for the most part now, but I was running out of those quickly. I mentioned this to Lori a few weeks ago. So I was blessed at Thanksgiving (or should I say Aaron was blessed) with an entire box full of clothes! This has saved my life and Mark's checking account (most important). There was everything from cute, cute PJ's (Aaron is modeling in this pic) to adorable little pants and socks. The Dinosaur PJ's are my favorite, mostly because Mark told his parents he wanted to be a 'pay-we-n-tow-a-gist' when he grew up. Kinda fits for our kid to have some dinosaur PJ's.

Thanks Josh and Lori and Weston too! We love you guys so much.

Mark and Lori

GOOP

Probably one of the best memories of my childhood is when my mother made 'goop'. This is known to the rest of the world as "chocolate no-bake cookies." Mom made these wonderful little cookies most Sunday afternoons. My mom's Goop was so popular to all my friends in grade school that I used it to trade during lunch for things my friends brought that I loved; example...fruit rollups or fruit snacks. It would only take 1 piece of goop of mine for 2 fruit rollups from my friend. There was only one rule that had to be followed when mom made goop: SHE got to lick the pan. This was the one pan that us kids were not allowed to lick. We fought that rule all growing up and still fight it to this day with no success. Goop tastes the best when eaten right after it is put on the wax paper - while still hot, scoop it up with a big spoon, and let it melt in your mouth. I prefer to drink a very large glass of water along with my goop.

So tonite, I made my first attempt at making my family some Goop. I think it was a pretty good success. Mark said they tasted great. So here's a picture of my first 'goop' attempt. And guess who got to lick the pan?

First Thanksgiving

We went home to Melber for Aaron's first Thanksgiving. Most of Mark's cousins were there. We all stayed at Luke and Sarah's house - all 19 of us. Thank goodness they have a huge house and were able to fit everyone comfortably. I think we had a record at Thanksgiving - about 44 people. We started a few years ago having Thanksgiving at the building in Melber that Dado bought which fits everyone around one table - well several tables put together in a 'U' shape. It was so good to see everyone but I have to say...I am EXHAUSTED! Aaron slept pretty much the worst he's every slept in his whole 6 months of life. I think he slept better when he was a new born than he did this past week/weekend. As a result, mommy is exhausted and didn't get to enjoy everything as much as I normally would. Still, it was nice to spend time with family. Matt and Lori brought Elijah for his first Thanksgiving, VERY sweet. Aaron tried a lot of good food, including his first taste of prunes. So far, my child will eat anything! He is scarfing down his rice cereal now. We are going to try some squash tomorrow, curtsy of Corynn who gave us a ton of frozen squash she made that Cambree didn't eat. I'll let you know how it goes. I will put some more pictures on here when I get them from the family...I was a bad mommy and didn't take pictures like I should have. Here are some pictures I took!

LOVE Aunt Sarah - we were off to see Santa

Daddy, Aaron, Aunt Phylis

Aaron's seat at Thanksgiving - it was nap time

Aaron with cousin Casey

Family time

Today was so beautiful. Perfect day to be outside together as a family. We worked at the barn cleaning things up and setting up the round pen. Aaron loved helping his mommy and daddy by getting in the horses feed bucket, sitting in the grass, and playing with some wood. It was so much fun!

Daddy helped Aaron sit on the wood fence inside the barn

Perfect play pen

Just practicing on daddy's saddle!

First time sitting in the grass

A visit from Elijah

Yesterday Lori drove down with Elijah for a visit. I loved spending the day with them! In the car both kids fell asleep in almost the same position. It was hard to get their picture, but if you look closely you can see how both are sleeping. Both of their heads are sitting forward in their car seats. Aaron sleeps like this every time he falls asleep in the car. No matter how many times I try to push it back to a 'normal' position, he goes right back to sleeping on those puppies attached to the car seat straps. Hilarous!

Poor Elijah hasn't gotten used to having to stay in his car seat for an extended period of time. Lori said that he cried for half of the way here and then again on the way home. He was a very good baby though all day long. Thanks for coming cousin Eli. Aaron can't wait for next week at Thanksgiving!

Thanks!

Great news...Aaron stayed in bible class last night the ENTIRE time and didn't cry even once! I am so proud of my son. Maybe we are past our little phase and mommy can go to bible class and feel good about leaving this little boy in the nursery.

On another note. Over the past year I started studying the subject of "The Lord's Supper." As I studied more and took a few different opportunities to give small talks on this subject, I started to think about teaching a class for church. So after A LOT of prayer and thought, I got up the courage to ask around about the possibility. After a lot of encouragement from my family and friends, I accepted my challenge and dove in head first. It's the first time I have ever taught women my age and older all by myself. So I'm happy to announce that after last night, this quarter was completed for bible classes. I am done with my Wednesday night class now.

Reflections: I really did enjoy all of the study I was able to do. I have learned to much than I could have ever imagined. I am proud and thankful that I was able to step up, put my big girl panties on (that's for you Meg) and follow through with this all the way. Along the way God blessed me with people who constantly encouraged me. Mark never stopped telling me how proud he was of me and how awesome I was. Coming from him, those words meant SO much. I am convinced that Jan Muse is the woman being talked about in Timothy who the younger women are supposed to learn from. She never ceased to give constant encouragement and support. Margaret Bills was so great to say the right words at the right time to me. She's my 'Tullahoma mom,' I can talk with her about anything. Megan (and sometimes Greg) was ready for me every Wednesday night to call and talk about my frustrations or excitement. My sister listened to me 'teach' her what I planned on saying every week to make me feel more confident. Andi never forgot to hug me after each class and gave a word of encouragement. Sheree was always telling me she enjoyed my class. Finally, John Mark Hicks who was so patient to write me back constantly answering questions and making comments. So many other men and women have been such a huge part of this. Last night we ended the class with prayer together. It was perfect. I'm glad it's finished, but so glad I was able do it.

Just when you think...

Just when you think you have your child figured out...they change. All my friends told me this very fact I have just mentioned. However, I didn't realize just what this meant exactly. Honestly, I thought (for some unknown reason) that the things he would change would be things like what toys he wanted, or maybe what foods he liked. I even thought that naps would change as he got older, my line of thinking was: it would probably take a few days to figure out what he needed, then we would be good to go. Boy was I WRONG!

Just when you think you FINALLY have a schedule down of the following:

7am - wake up, eat, play

9am- take a nap - usually 45min-1 hour

12 or 1pm - another nap - usually longer (about 2 1/2 hours)

5pm - another nap if 2nd nap wasn't long enough

7:30 - bedtime

It stops working!

Once we got it down which seriously was just a week or so ago, he has NOW decided to change. Now I am back to having no idea how long his morning nap will be which TOTALLY throws off the rest of the nap schedules for the day. So again, our life is a 'try to guess what I need mommy' life which unfortunately comes with the 'I get to whine until you figure it out and I still might whine then.' So I have decided from now on to just go with the flow. I will try and keep some sort of schedule as much as I can, but will NOT stress about it. It just makes life worse. Because how could you stress out over such a cute little boy as this....

The end.

To Melber we go!

This weekend we went home (to Melber). It's the first time we have been to Kentucky since August. Aaron is pretty much a totally different baby now. The weekend was SO full things to do and people to see, but we loved it. One of the highlights...I rode on Saturday with Mark and Jerry. I absoultely love riding. Ever since we had Aaron, riding doesn't happen as often, so when it does I am pretty much in the best mood ever for a long time afterward. It is one of the things that made me fall in love with Mark. Riding with him reminds me of such great times together.

With Uncle Luke at lunch on Sunday

Mark called this his "Mario Brothers" outfit

With Alex, Lauren and cousin Elayna

Again, I have to brag on my child. He will sleep anywhere I put him down. He went right to sleep in his bed at his grandparents (Adams) house and slept really well at night and for naps. He also slept at my parents cabin in a pack-n-play while I planted trees and plants with mom and Raich, at Aunt Sarah's house (in her bed) Sunday afternoon during a ladies get together, and in his car seat the entire 3hr15min to Kentucky and back home to Tullahoma. Do I have the most perfect baby or what?

Mom and Dad's cabin is coming along nicely. Rachel and I helped mom finish planting her trees and bushes outside around the house while Mark and dad worked on the tile in the kitchen. I think it's going to be a stretch for them to get in by Christmas but we are all going to try to help them as much as possible so we can have Christmas dinner there. It is such a beautiful cabin. I'm excited for mom and dad to finally have their own house!

We got home last night late, but happy. It was good to get home to our own house and our own beds. Of course we have pictures (thanks to Grandmamma Adams) of our wonderful weekend!

O'Pa trying to sneek in a drink of diet coke...caught red handed!

my favorite picture of my son right now

Grandmommy taught me in bible class

Sweet, sweet boy!

What a sweet, sweet, sweet baby I have. I just love this child of mine. Today I went to Nashville to meet Jenny, Aunt Rachel (Jenny's sister), Lori, Weston, Barbara, and Felicity, oh yea and uncle Jim was there for a while too! We spent the ENTIRE day shopping all over Nashville. My wonderful child just happily went wherever his mother took him. Never made a peep, slept whenever he needed a quick nap, and smiled at whoever gave him attention, but really was happy to just be along for the ride. What more can you ask for from a little boy?

Baby Ace (as Weston says) with a very happy grandmamma

alright...are you ready for this next announcement....maybe you should sit down. Are you sitting? The fence is done....AND....WE HAVE HORSES! Yes, I love looking out my any and all of my windows and see horses! So here they are, for your viewing pleasure. I would love to give you their names...but they don't have any. Open for suggestions.

Special day with mommy

Mark went on a small business trip to Mississippi Wednesday morning, so Aaron and I got to spend some extra time together. Since it was Wednesday we went to bible class as usual. This time Aaron had to stay in Bible class even if he started crying (this was definitely going to happen). The wonderful nursery staff said that he screamed for about 20min and they finally decided to try and put him one of the swings where he pretty much immediately stopped crying and went to sleep. Interesting...

So Thursday, Aaron and I spent the day together in Murfreesboro shopping (mostly for Christmas stuff). And of course we couldn't go that close to Aunt Rachel without visiting. We went to her basketball practice, saw her classroom, and then went out to eat (with a stop by Starbucks). We ended the day by going to pick daddy up at the airport. I'm not sure who was happier to see daddy, me or Aaron. I know this seems weird because he's so young, but Aaron seemed so happy to see his daddy. When we got home, Aaron spent a very long time 'talking' to his daddy. I did learn something about myself though. I am NOT good single mommy. I know Mark was only gone for 1 day, but man did I miss him.

Aunt Rachel and Aaron at Starbucks

Aaron has a new development. For some reason, every time we first arrive somewhere, (ex. church) if people try to talk to him (even look at him) or heaven forbid take him from his mommy, he starts crying and screaming. No clue why. I'm chalking it up to 'a stage he's going through'. He even cried with Aunt Rachel. Very sad. Once he got comfortable he was fine and was smiling and giggling like his usual self.

Conclusions: 1. for now, my son seems to not like people (we really hope this changes)

2. we really missed daddy while he was gone and don't want him to leave again anytime soon

3. Aunt Rachel loves her job and coworkers, and her kids love her too.

4. I still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do.

I think that's plenty for now.