Dad's Day Early

TJ, J and I are heading out of town for a week on Monday, so I thought that I might should do the Father's Day post early. There are so many amazing dad's in our lives. We are truly blessed beyond measure.
Dad #1---TJ!!!!!!!!!!!! This is not TJ's first father's Day. That was 2 years ago. We should have had a one month old baby or been 7 months pregnant at the time. We had a low key father's day because apparently no one else thought that TJ was a dad that time. But he was and we celebrated. I cooked his favorite meal, he got a card and a round of golf.
On to this year though... TJ is the best daddy that any child could ever ask for. He works really long hours and still comes home every night and plays with J. He gives him his bath every night and rocks him and sings every night no fail. TJ was made to be a daddy and J loves him to pieces. J idolizes his daddy and wants to be just like him. My prayer is that my baby boy will grow up to be half the man that my husband is. TJ is so strong. He has been the rock of this family for so long. Through the tough times of losing our babies, to family issues to the good times TJ has been the head of this household. I may stay home and "run" the house as far as keeping the house together and cooking. But TJ is definitely the boss! TJ is everything that I ever wanted in a husband. He is a tough country boy with a heart of gold. TJ is actually a pretty gentle spirit. He likes for everyone to get along and not have any issues. He is a fixer and wants to fix things when it is not even his fault. He is tender hearted and really feels for others. But he is also strong and stands up for what he knows is right. He loves God more than anything and after that comes me and J. That is how it should be. I am so thankful that God brought TJ to be my Boaz and to be Jerrett's daddy.

Dad#2--- My dad!! Where do I begin? Describing my dad is tough. Just like he is. Dad doesn't fit neatly into any box or label. My dad is a fortress. And that doesn't even have anything to do with his size! TO me he was always this strong hold and a shelter. Nothing could come close to me or hurt me when he was around. Dad is just that kind of man.He demands respect and he gets it. He is a hard worker and has drilled that into me since I was young. My parents got married really young. My dad was 20 and Mom had just turned 19. Dad was going into his senior year of college when they got married since he skipped a grade and started college at 17, Mom was a lowly freshman! Anyway, after they got married Dad dropped out of school and started working in the oil field. He did this for quite a while until he decided to go back to school. He graduated college when I was in kindergarten. Then we picked up and moved to a new town where he started his banking career. As I said, Dad has always been a hardworker. He is now a president of a bank. That is amazing for the short amount of time that he has actually been in banking! Anyway, Dad taught us so much more than just about hard work. He rally valued our education. Since we were young we always knew that our parents put money away for our college education. It was never if we went to college but when and where. As I kid I took that for granted but never once did I have to take out a college loan or get a job. Dad always told us that school was our job. He demanded that we make grade though. But he also gave us our love for sports. Dad was a college basketball player. The pics of him in those little bitty shorts make me laugh and cringe at the same time! Anyway, for as long as I can remember we were an active family. Mom and Dad played church league everything and us kids played whatever sport was in season.
All these were good lessons but there were 2 that stood out more than anything. The first was that no matter what, God should always come first. I can probably count on both hands the number of times that we missed church when I was growing up. That is quite a feat when there were baseball tournaments and soccer tournaments almost every weekend. Dad didn't just preach religion though. He lived it. Through the way that he loved on his family to the way that he took care of the finances. He showed us how to live Godly lives.
The other lesson that he taught us was about how to treat a lady. Or in my case to not settle for anyone that would not treat me as a lady. Dad treats Mom like a queen. Even when we were young and mom stayed home with us all day, Dad would come home and not rest and expect her to cater to him. He would help with whatever needed to be done. Dad can cook a mean pot of home made marinara sauce! He can iron and garden and knows how to change a diaper! He was always respectful and never demanding of my mom. And because Dad helped my mom out so much and treated her with so much respect, he got that 10 fold from her and from us kids. My dad always expected us to fall in line and be respectful. We did not have any real rules growing up other than curfew. But we definitely knew if we stepped out of line! I am so lucky to have him as my dad and Jerrett gets to have him as his grandpa!
Dad#3--- Terry. Terry is amazing. I love my father in law. There is so much of him in my husband. Terry works hard. Harder than most men I know. He works harder than he should. He loves than land and the animals that he has on it. He takes pride in taking care of it and in the way that he cares for his animals. He is kind and gentle and so patient. Those traits are not only traits he uses with his animals but also with people. He has a wicked since of humor and just shocks me at times with the things that he says. I can always count on him giving me a huge hug.
My lively 3 year old is now awake and trying to jump off the back of the couch onto a pillow so I better get of and get us both outside in the sunshine. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Father's Day! We love the dads in our lives!

Accidents

Jerrett is definitely all boy. He has 3 speeds, fast, faster and fast asleep. This has been a rough week for our little guy. Tuesday we had a playdate with Cher, Zoe and Raiden. All was going well, we had a picnic, played in the sandbox and pool. The kids get along great and Cher and I got a chance to talk. We had come in because Raiden was hungry and it was getting close to nap time. Long story short. Jerrett was running down the hall and tripped. He chipped his front tooth. He was screaming so hard his face turned blue. So I called TJ and we took him to the dentist immediately. We thought that all they would do was smooth out the rough edge and leave the chipped tooth. But nope, much worse. He broke the tooth and killed the nerve in it. Not only that but he completely broke the root on the tooth next to it. So the dentist told us that they are going to have to surgically remove his front two teeth. Yep loads of fun for our little man. Once they remove the teeth, they are going to create what is called a pedi partial which is like a permanent retainer with two false teeth attached. He will wear this until his permanent teeth start coming in. I took J to see the oral surgeon today and got some not so great news. J and I both love the guy that will do the surgery so that is not a big deal the problem is with his insurance. Since J's adoption is not final, he has medicaid. Once the adoption is final, we will be able to put him on our insurance. The problem is that medicaid does not think that J's accident was an emergency so the paperwork is going to take a while. 2 months. My poor baby boy is going to have a cracked tooth that will hurt every time he tries to eat. I hate all the crap that comes with dealing with medicaid.
Too top off the chipped tooth and swollen mouth look, yesterday, J was running through the house again. This time he slipped and fell and landed face first on a toy. So he has a wonderful bruise that covers more than half of the left side of his face. He looks like a prize fighter right now. I feel like a horrible mom but the truth is that he gets in trouble all of the time for running in the house. but the kid just doesn't walk anywhere. He runs. TJ and I will put him in time out for running and then as soon as he gets up he starts running again. We are running out of ideas. Oh well. I would much rather have an active little guy who would rather run and play than sit on his bottom and watch tv or play video games!

6th anniversary

Our 6th wedding anniversary was this past Saturday. I know I am behind! We really did not do much. We have been so tired from traveling and having people visit that we really just wanted time as a family. The only thing that we really did was go to J's best friend's birthday party. What a way to spend an anniversary right? About 12 4-5 year old kids decorating cookies, cupcakes and individual cakes with frosting and gummies! It was a blast though. Now Sasha is officially the older woman!
Oh yeah!!! Before we went to the party, we registered J to play soccer this fall!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!! This is one excited momma! TJ is excited to because we immediately went and bought equipment. Not WM stuff for our boy. TJ went all out and is really excited even though TJ himself knows nothing about soccer. But I am all about J following in Mommy's footsteps. I mean I played all the until my JR year of college. There is nothing better. It will take some getting used to bc little guys don't really know the rules yet and TJ and I are both very competitive. Oh well. My parents and brothers are already planning on coming to watch some games. We are definitely a soccer family and we all love J to bits so they go hand in hand! Watch out Coby Jones, Jerrett P is coming for your position!
So back to our anniversary. The rest of the weekend we spent outside. We put J's swing set together, played in the pool and just played. There is nothing better than being with my boys and spending time outdoors. It was so much fun and a nice time to just relax and be together. There is nothing better than that.

Grandma and Great Grandma M visit

We have been so busy lately! We came home from the Panhandle on Sunday and then on Wednesday my mom and grandma came up for a few days! Jerrett loves his Grandma and his Grandma M very much and is always excited when he gets to see them. And this was the first time that Grandma had ever seen our new house! They got here Wednesday mid afternoon and we just hung out and played with J until dinner time and close to time for TJ to get off of work. Mom took us to eat Mexican food! It is so much fun to see how much J has my mom and grandma wrapped around his little finger. They let him get away with so much more than we were ever able to! So after we ate it was time to come home and play some more. When it was time for a bath J wanted mom to give him his bath. So I got a little time to spend with my grandma.
Thursday morning we got around and packed a picnic lunch and went to the park. There is the nicest little park about 15 minutes from our house. It has a little stream that runs through it and a small lake. There are play things and ducks to feed. Since it was a weekday, there were hardly any people at the park. J got to play on everything that he wanted. I love getting to sit and watch my mom go down the slides with J and swing on the swings and just to love on my little boy. Once J got tired and hungry we brought out the picnic and sat by the water to eat. If you know our boy than you know that he doesn't sit still long. After lunch he and grandma M went wading. Due to all of the rain we have gotten that water was frigid!!! But the things that J can get people to do with him! So they waded and Mom and I sat on the bank with our feet in the water. We floated sticks in the rapids and watched them go over the little waterfall. Then we took bread to feed the ducks. They are the cutest little things!
Thwn off we went for nap time. It must have worn everyone out because we all needed to relax for a little while. Mom and I with books and Grandma M and J took naps. Once J woke up we were off again. This time to Lowes to get flowers! Mom helped me to shape and plant a butterfly garden under Jerrett's bedroom window. He is so excited to see the butterflys, frogs and hummingbirds that like the flowers we planted. We also got Jerrett two different pools. One we filled with water so that he could swim and the other we filled with play sand so that he can have some dirt to play with other than what is in my flowerbeds. My dad is drawing up plans to build J a sandbox and fort like my brothers and I had growing up. But since he was not able to come when mom did this time, we will build that later this summer. But J's swingset was delivered on thursday! Tj and I built it on Sunday and can't keep J off of it now!
Anyway, we had so much fun just getting to visit with mom and grandma. J is such a lucky little boy to have them in his life! Just as they are blessed that he is in theirs. Grandma always talks about how J is not just a blessing to me and TJ but to the whole family. It is so nice to have such a wonderful upport system and to know that he is loved. Jerrett is the first grandchild and great grandchild on this side of the family so he is well loved! He deserves it though! I am one blessed momma. I have an amazing husband who I love more than anything, a wonderful son who is the center of everything that we do, and a family that is my rock. I know that I can do anything with them behind me. Even my tough as nails brothers melt into puddles whn J is around. He is such a blessing!
We had so much fun with TJ and my famnily lately. There are more plans in the works for being with family over the summer but what is next for us is church camp! We leave on June 20 to go to camp with 60+ youth plus J! Should be exciting!

Catch up

Here are a couple of my favorite pics from our time in the Pan Handle. The first is 4 generations of TJ's family and the second is J's new best friend, his cousin Wyatt. We had so much fun while we were up there. I LOVE going and spending time with the family up there. We left home on Thursday morning and slowly made our way west. We made it to Liberal by mid afternoon. Jerrett DOES NOT travel well. He is just too active. The toys only hold his attention for a short amount of time and even though we have the dvd player in the tahoe, he won't even watch a full movie. It makes driving long distances really rough. We got about an hour away before he hit total melt down thankfully. Once we got there, we went to Papa's shop. Jerrett loved it there. There were tools and fun things to play with and he got nasty! But that is what little boys are supposed to do. After we played at the shop for a while we went out to the ranch so that J could meet his great grandma. J loved it at first sight. Great Grandma has a big dog named Sheba who is a total sweetheart. She attached herself to J right away. And then there was great grandma and nanna to play with. What a loved and spoiled little boy J is! We ate pizza and hung out for a little longer before heading back into town to stay with TJ's step sister. We almost always stay with them when we go up there because TJ likes to go ride along with Paul when he is on duty. Anyway, Amanda and Paul have the cutie in the pic above. Wyatt is one year and one week younger than Jerrett. Getting the two of them together was awesome! They quickly became the best of friends.

The next morning we got up and drove back out to the ranch. This was a work day, we had to get everything ready to work cows the next morning. And we put J to work! We had to go out and chase some heifers that had gotten out. Jerrett thought that driving through the bumpy fields without his car seat was quite the adventure. Papa even let him drive the feed truck through the fields. I was a little nervous that the cows would scare J, but he did awesome and even wanted to pet them. He is such a little country boy! After we ate lunch, J and papa drove the big tractor out to the North Place. J loved getting to drive the tractor on the road! A dirt road that stretches from one field to another so no traffic! I promise I am not putting my son in any danger. J was totally worn out that night and crashed.

One Sat we woke up early and drove back out to the North Place to work cows. Dirty messy and so much fun! J better get used to it because he will be doing it for many many years to come. He actually was a big help. He helped us sort by sitting on the fence and pointing out the babies from the mommas. He is still a little small to actually be in the corral with us but it wont be long! He wants to be big so bad but I wish that I could keep him small forever! Jerrett was concerned when I started giving the calves their shots. He was concerned that they were sick but we told him that the shots were so that they would not get sick. Then he was ok with it. He didnt mind them being loud or the branding. He read all of the numbers on the ear tags for us so that we could match mommas and babies. Such a big boy! When we finally got done, Papa treated us to hamburgers in town.

We had so much fun getting to work cows with Papa. J still talks about it. Jerrett is definitely our son and fits in with our families. He loves to be outside, loves animals of any size and kind and loves to work hard. I think that he makes his Papa proud.
I can for see many summers with Jerrett out there helping his papa work and then hanging out with Wyatt. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family. I love my father in law so much. He is the nicest guy and took the time to let J help even though I know that it took twice as long with his help. It reminds me so much of my granddad who I miss like crazy to this day. I am so glad that J is going to be able to make those same type memories with his papa and cousin. I am so glad that Jerrett has so much family to love him and accept him for who he is. He asks every day still when we can go back over to Aunt Manda's house so that he can play with her and Wyatt. He brags to people in town that his Uncle Paul is a policeman who helps people. He talks about his Uncle Brad's big truck and big dog and how loud the truck was. He talks about Papa and his cows all the time and how he wants to go back and help feed the orphaned calf. So blessed!

storms!

Wow it has been a busy week. We have been having horrible storms for what seems like forever now. Monday evening was the worst. We were outside until about 7 that night and had no idea that within an hour it would be full out devestation all around! Joplin which is not too far away was hit really hard at about 530. It was supposed to be the deadliest tornado in recent history. It is heartbreaking. I have had several calls to go up there and offer medical help with the Red Cross. I have been a member of the Red Cross since I was in high school. As much as I would love to go, I now have J. And we dont have anyone to watch him if I did go. We have only left him with 3 different people since we brought him home. Alison, who I dont even think that he realized that we were not with him when he stayed with her and the girls. He is so used to seeing her and being around that family that he is just fine. He has also stayed with my parents for a couple hours when TJ and I went on a date. He also stayed with TJ's sister that lives about 20 minutes away. I think that he slept for a good part of that time. He was only over there for about an hour or so. Neither TJ nor I are very comfortable leaving him yet. We were actually told that we should not leave him with anyone until he had been with us for a full 6 month time span!
Anyway, back to the storms. I would so love to be out there helping and doing what I was trained to do but right now I am a mommy and that is my top priority. Doesn't make me wish any less that I could help though!
We rode out the storms in our safe spot. We have an alcove where the interior garage door is. We grabbed a screaming kid out of bed and his mattress and the dog and huddled down until the sirens stopped. Fun times let me tell you! For the rest of the night we had a 3 year old sleeping in our floor and a scaredy cat dog under our covers!
THen last night the y predicted more storms that were supposed to hit between 8-9. So TJ and I thought we would be smart and camp out in the living room with J on his mattress so that we could grab it if we needed to take cover. THe sirens did go off once. But there was no tornado in sight. Thankfully all we got that time was a little rain. We are so ready for tomorrow morning when we load up and head to the panhandle of OK and away from the storms and the rain for a while! I will have lots of pics from then I am sure. This will be J's first time at the family ranch. He is so excited to help his PaPa work cattle and drive the tractor. He will also get to meet another one of his great grandmas!! So excited for that. The three of us are staying with TJ's step sister which is always a blast. We LOVE the Browns and are so excited to get Wyatt and J together to play. They are so much alike I am sure that it will be a riot. Two dirty little boys who we will have to drag inside the house every night. We will be there Thursday early afternoon through sometime on Sunday evening or Monday morning. TJ and I both love it up there and wish that there was some way to actually make money living up there and we so would! But no real oppertunities to do anything. Maybe one day! I w ill post pics and stuff when we get back! Have a great week, stay safe, and pray for those who have lost so much in these horrible storms!

House in chaos

Our house has been in total uproar since Friday afternoon. As some of you know, we are doing some remodeling on the house. Most of it has been pretty easy and clean until this weekend. TJ and I had to remove all the tile in both bathrooms and the kitchen in preparation for the granite being installed and new back splashes. Let me tell you how not fun that was! Actually it was fun. TJ and I worked hard but got to spend a lot of time together doing it. Saturday afternoon, Jerrett went and spent some time with TJ's sister so that we could get more done with out him around and he would be safe.
Once we got to a stopping point on Saturday, we went and picked up J and went to the Demolition Derby! What redneck fun! We had a blast and J loved it. He told my parents on the phone as we were driving home that when he turns 5 he is going to drive a race car. Hate to tell him that it will be a few more years than that! But maybe he will like to drive motocross. That would be awesome!
Back to the house... On Sunday, it was more ripping out tile. That evening our friend Scott came over to help TJ get the counter tops and sinks ripped out. That was an ordeal in itself. But oh so sweet to watch. Jerrett loves his daddy and Scott and wants to be just like them. He stood there and watched them work for a little while before he went to his room. When he came out of his room, he had his toy tools and he told the guys that he wanted to help. So totally cute. And the guys let him pretend to remove screws and to use his wrench. Just love that the guys were willing to let the project take a little longer so that they could teach Jerrett. So Sunday we had to eat out because everything was torn apart and totally nasty.
Monday morning brought the granite guys. I am so totally happy with the job that these guys did. The granite is awesome and they got it installed in a matter of about 2.5 hours. It looks so good! I will post pics later. Monday night was another fun evening of eating out and having to brush our teeth in the bathtub because we had to let the adhesive on the sinks sit for 24 hours before we use them. But on top of that, our faucets weren't installed until today, Tuesday. The house is finally starting to come together I am so excited!
Right now I am sitting on the couch with J and Capone outside playing so that they are out of the way. Listening to the plumbers install the faucets. This coming weekend, TJ and I are installing the kitchen bathroom. And Hopefully Rafeal will get around to doing the bathroom back splashes this week too. Then all i have to do is paint the cabinets and finish sewing the curtains. All done!
PS... I am so tired of eating out! Ready to be able to use my kitchen again!