Little Baller

We just got home from a nice relaxing night of dinner and movie with Mom and Jake...no kids =). My cousin Brandon watched the kids for us. We were supposed to go to the Kiss the Pig Gala tonight, but with everything that is going on, a Black Tie event really did not sound like a good idea =). But since we did have a sitter lined up, we still took advantage of our night free! We went to the early movie and were home much earlier than usual (we saw Taken, AWESOME!).

Claire was asleep already, but Owen was still up in rare form. Shane was in the kitchen starting the wind-down process, when Owen came to him with his baseball (over sized stuffed one) and a sock. Shane did not know for sure where he was going with it, but he had an idea and was right. Owen gave Shane the ball and put the sock on his right hand (he is left handed) and was using it as a mitt! Now, we have told yall all about his love for football, really his obsession with the sport. Of course Shane loves that he loves football so much (his Poppy too), but he never forced it on him and Owen lives and breathes it! Football has been the extent of Owen's sports fanatics as far as we knew. Baseball has barely been mentioned...so Shane was floored when O figured this out tonight. Shane said "When I think about Claire's brain, I think of tons of wheels, cogs and clocks just constantly moving. When I think of O's I think of balls being thrown back in forth with mitts and goals." =) So of course we broke out the camera for some shots of "sock baseball" =)!

Apparently Oscar Chang loves baseball too =)!

Throw it me up here!! Once they played for a bit, Shane went and got Owen's first baseball mitt upstairs (persuaded by me as it is late, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity). Shane's office gave it to us a baby gift before O was born. I remember looking at it thinking he would never be big enough to use it!! We were waiting to give it to him until he knew what it was....

Daddy showing how it works....it was a right hand glove, but we managed =)LOVE IT!! (excuse the dirty house)Figured it out! Got his pitcher stance and stare =)Playing catch with Daddy!

I know that he is my sweet boy and I am impressed, but hey it made for a fun end to the night...now the little baller is falling asleep on Daddy...with his mitt still on =)!!

First 24 hours...

So far in the first 24 hours of "taking it easy", Claire cut her hair!

She cut herself a nice set of about 2in bangs at the very front of her head, sticking straight up....but why stop there, she cut in some extra layers all on the right side.

How did we find out? She hid it well for a couple hours until Shane got home. He went back to our bathroom and came right back with a handful of her hair. Shane asked her about it and then started examining her head to find her handy work. She had done a pretty good job of hiding it, I just thought it was a bad hair day (she had her hair fixed that morning at Nana and Papa's). I was also pretty much out of it as all the stress caught up with me last night and I was exhausted. But once I realized what Shane was confronting her with, I was livid!!!!! How could she cut her pretty hair??? But I am so glad it was not any worse! She will not let me take a picture of her as she is now embarrassed and we have hid it the best we could. Let's just say that we will not be having any ponytails for awhile =). When I was getting ready this morning, I noticed this.....She tried hiding some of the hair in an empty product jar...at least she is crafty in her hiding =)!

Have a great weekend!!!

Takin it easy...

Thank you so much for all the prayers!! As well, so many of you emailed, texted and left messages, they really got me through the day. I am so sorry that I did not give you any details yesterday, but I was terrified when I first wrote the post as I really did not know what was going on with me and the baby. So let me start from the beginning (FYI - this is probably TMI)...

As yall know, I was in Dallas for business through Wednesday. I woke up Wed morning, feeling great. As I was getting ready, I started bleeding....then bleeding alot! I could not leave the bathroom. I panicked and called Shane. I could not believe that this was happening while I was away from home and I was for sure I was losing the baby. After getting some help from one of my wonderful female co workers, I calmed down in time to call the Dr's office when they opened. After speaking with them and Shane, the best plan was for Shane to drive down to Dallas (6 hours from home) to pick me up. In the meantime, I would have time to be on bed rest for hours and hopefully stop the bleeding. The Dr did not want me to try to fly home as we really did not know what was to come of this and the last place I needed to be was in a plane. As well, all the walking was not going to help the bleeding. So I laid in bed all day yesterday, waiting on Shane to get there. I cannot tell you how much I felt all of your prayers throughout the day... by the time Shane got there, the bleeding had slowed down and almost stopped.

My family helped us out so much. Of course Mom was there to take care of the kids all day (Tara was there too) and then Shane's parents took them for the night last night. So we were able to take our time getting home, stopping for me as needed. We got home about 11 last night. As much as I missed my kids (I was an emotional basket case yesterday) I passed out as soon as we got home. I woke up this morning and the bleeding had stopped!!!

We had an ultrasound first thing this morning and the baby was perfectly fine, THANK GOD!!!!! The little sweetie was just moving and jumping around, and had a heart beat of 160!! That is way faster than Claire or Owen, we are thinking it is a girl now =)! The tech did find some issues with me and we had to come back in a few hours to meet with the Dr. I have a hemorrhage that is causing me to bleed. It may or may not go away and I will be bleeding as long as I have it. I was not put on bed rest, but I have to "take it easy", no stress, and no physical activity for 8 weeks. I will see the Dr every 2 weeks from now on. They hope by 20 weeks, the baby will have grown enough to push out the hemorrhage and it will go away. They also changed my due date to Sept 7th, which puts me further along at 12wks and 3 days.

We are so relieved that the baby is fine! It is going to be different around here for awhile as "take it easy" has never really been in my vocabulary, but I am sure I will be able to figure it out =)!!! Shane and I thank everyone so much for their prayers as God is what got us through these last 2 days. It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, but He was with me the entire time. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and that everything heals and the baby keeps growing and being it's little spunky self =)!!

The ultrasound tech was so good to us and even gave us this great 4D shot of the little one - it is kind of hard to see, but I think he or she is absolutely beautiful!!!

We love you all!!!

Prayers Needed NOW!

Hey ladies - I really need your prayers now! I am having a very very rough morning and me and this baby need your prayers more than we ever have before. I am still in Dallas, away from my family and this is the closest thing to home for me right now.

Thank you so much...more later.
Love, Rachel

Not so much a Mama...

...for 36 hours =(! I am in a hotel room in Dallas, BLAH! I have been stuck in training all day, and will be again tomorrow before I leave for NWA tomorrow night. I hate being away from the kids...and Shane =)! Of course, it is nice to get away and get a good night's sleep, but it never really works that way. I spend most of my time talking about Claire and Owen, and the baby on the way...and the other times I am checking in at home. This trip is a quick one and not so much fun, but a few things have pissed me off today...

1. Why can't anyone figure out leggings for pregnant women!! I made a trip to the bathroom at least 7 times today to adjust the stupid leggings that had literally shimmied down between my knees!!! I am already mad to have to be dressed in "business casual"...I am used to wearing whatever I want at home, but to have wardrobe malfunctions all day....BLAH!!!!

2. I am a grown adult. When in training, I do not need to be treated like a 16 year old in History class. This training is not even that relevant to me and Mr. IT guy that came by and insisted that I boot my computer back up so that I can make sure the application is loaded correctly at 5:15, you can leave me alone. Also, I am still pissed at your clumsy as* for tripping over my purse and kicking it across the aisle!!!

3. I am pregnant and NutriGrain bars and Snackwells cookies are not good enough snacks for our afternoon break!! I know we are a snotty French company and are practically forced to look nice and "fabulous", but if you want me to stay awake the entire afternoon, give me a BUTTERFINGER!!!

4. And last, being pregnant for the third time is not CRAZY!!!! I have listened to multiple co-workers tell me that they "just can't believe that we are going to have another kid" and "you are going to have your hands full with 3 kids under 6" and "Man, you are going to have such a tough time when they are all teenagers". LEAVE ME ALONE!! I am a hormonal pregnant woman and do not need your negativity!!! And guess what, there are many many MANY families with more than 2 kids and they manage just fine!! My Mom and Dad had 3 girls, GIRLS, and they all were teenagers once, 2 at the same time twice and they handled it just fine! Shane's parents had 4 kids and OMG, 2 were twins, they are still alive and not in a mental hospital. Shane and I want a large family. Yes, it will be a circus most of the time, but me and Shane love our lives and cannot wait to have another clown in the ring =)!

I feel better now! Thanks for listening. Now I am going to get in this big King bed all to myself with room service DESSERT!! But before I go, I went back and looked for old pictures around this time a couple years ago of Claire and Owen....

Claire - January 2006 at Hobby Lobby, look at how little she is!!!

Owen - February 2007 - Cheesing it up as a cute little butterball!!!!

Happy Monday!

We finally made it to dance class this morning after a month hiatus of sickness!! So Claire wore her brand new Valentine's Day tutu made by the ever so talented Amanda at Bibs and Cribs! Yes we are late with it, but we just HAD to wear it!! Here are some cute pictures of her modeling this morning...and one with her brother!

Latest Owen story - yesterday afternoon, Shane went to the shooting range and I spent most of that time in my office looking up beach houses for beach trip this summer. Both kids were upstairs playing. When Claire is around Owen, she keeps me posted on anything he is doing wrong, so I was not too worried about him. Well Shane came home and walks in and is greeted by Owen...with the toilet plunger?? Shane asks me, "Rachel, do you know where Owen has been?" I say, "yes, upstairs with Claire". Well apparently, I was wrong, he was in our bathroom and had proceeded to dump an entire box of tampons in the toilet, flush it, and then I guess try to plunge it??? I thought he was upstairs the whole time!!!!!!!!!!

Later that night, we all loaded up to go to our small group and all I could smell was my perfume...I was not wearing any. Owen also drenched him self in my perfume while he was exploring our bathroom....needless to say, that perfume is done. Can you imagine smelling it all night....sooooooo strong??!! Owen - you are one of a kind Son!!!!!

Easy Weekend and Bag Tag

Hey yall!! Hope you had a great weekend!! For the first time in months, we had a weekend that not only was not full of plans, but also not full of illnesses!!!!! YAY!! We did a lot around the house and just chilled! I am finally starting to feel better...a couple days now without any nausea and the tiredness is not as bad. I am craving club sandwiches and sweet tea =)....and anything sweet!! I am still always wanting Mexican food, or anything smothered in guacamole! I had a dream the other night that I had a 10lb, red headed, dark eyed little boy!! He was so sweet and I actually woke up in a panic that he was not there...CRAZY!! But I am pretty much set that we are having a little Rhett. Another boy is fine with me, I think I am surrounded by awfully handsome boys... That is my gut, so we will see. I do not get to find out until April (BOOO!) but that is not too far considering March is like next week!!!! Time is flying by...tomorrow morning I register Claire for kindergarten...cue the tears =(! I cannot believe my baby girl is going to school this fall...I also cannot believe I will be 9 months pregnant taking her to school this August! Never a dull moment for us...Claire has grown up so much lately, I just can't believe it. She is so excited for the baby. At first she was certain that we would have a girl, but the other day she says "Mama, I want a little brother!". When I say "Okay, but you do have a little brother, Owen", she says "No, he is a bad brother, I want a good one!" =). I realized today in church that we have to work on a few other things before we go to school...As we were walking through the partially full lobby after church this morning, she proceeded to stop, lift up her dress and correct her tights that had fallen between her knees!!!! =) I felt her pain as I had to do the same, but I did it in a bathroom stall before I picked up the kids (tights when pregnant, SUCK), but when I explained that is what she should do, she told me "Mama, you are silly, you should have done it right here!" Now that would have been a show!!!

We did have a couple great Owen moments this weekend...yesterday he was playing upstairs and was waaaay too quiet. Just as I was going up, he came down stairs, COVERED in Hannah Montana make-up! We later found out he covered the walls and the carpet as well. While I was cleaning the carpet, he came up to check out what I was doing. He was watching and telling me "good job" when he says "hold on", reaches in his pocket and pulls out my cell phone from his pocket!!! He opened it, talked for a minute and put it back in his pocket =)! Then as I was asking him where he got that, he proceeds to go back downstairs...this kid kills me =)!!

It was hard to get a picture of him, but here is the best I could do =).

Finally - I was tagged by one of my favorite bloggers, More Wine Please a couple weeks ago with the Bag Tag - here are the rules:

1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house. No cheating!

2) I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

3) Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your bag.

I am kind of a crazy about purses!! This is my newest one - Kate Landry Gray - I usually would not tell you how much I spent...only because Shane reads this blog =), but I am proud to say that I got this on sale at Dillards during the New Years Sale for $85!! I love it because it can not only hold diapers and sippy cups, but it can also carry folders and notebooks for work. I will probably only carry it for one more month and Mom or Tara will have it since I am kind of nutty when it comes to handbags, but whatever!! I tag: Carolyn, Ashley, and Lane!

Here's to a great week!! Hopefully I have a cute tutu shot tomorrow...Claire has not been to dance in a month due to being sick so much, so we are ready to break out a tutu!!

Random Update

Well, I have not been around much lately AGAIN, we have been sick AGAIN!! I swear if spring does not come soon enough, there is going to be one CRAZY PREGNANT WOMAN IN ARKANSAS!! We have all had a nice 6-12 hour bug of stomach issues, GOOD TIMES!! Luckily it has passed through each and every one of us and I think we are good!! I don't think (insert knocking on wood) there is anything left for us to get at this point...As well as all that, I have been having issues with my pcsyatic nerve already!! I could barely walk Wednesday due to the pain up and down my leg! Luckily it has calmed down and I am better today, but I have a long road ahead...YAY!!

Here are some pictures that have been filed under "Heisman Pictures" =). As yall know, Owen loves him some football. It is really become crazy how much he loves it, to the point that you rarely ever see him without his helmet on or carrying a football. The first words out of his mouth in the morning and after naps "Where's my football?". So I have been snapping pictures of all the funny times I catch him with this obsessions and just know that they will come in handy when he is up for the Heisman in 2026-2027 and ESPN requests photos from his childhood days of loving football =). Enjoy...

Owen falling asleep but still keeping it nearby =)...

And asleep =)...
He loves Shane's ESPN mags...His beloved helmet!Breakfast of Champions - Claire had the virus at this point and Mom was just trying to appease Owen for the moment =)

DISCLAIMER: Shane has warned me that if I do this he will become a ballerina and have no interest in the sport, but we would love him anyway, even in tights =). But I can say from the looks of him now, sitting in my lap as I type, with a HUGE busted lip from falling into a toy while running with his beloved football, I really think Shane has nothing to worry about =) (also, he keeps asking me to kiss his lip over and over again hoping it will stop hurting... MELT. MY. HEART).

Can't have a post without a couple cute pics of Miss Claire...her aspirations...to be on TV =)!

HAPPY FRIDAY AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Valentines' Day Weekend!

We had a great Valentine's Day Weekend!! Friday, me, Mom, and the kids met Shane, Jake, and Tara for Lunch. While Shane knew we were out of the house, he dropped off 5 purple roses for Claire (5 because she is 5), and a dozen red, with 7 white (7 for how many years we have been married) for me, so when we came home from lunch they were waiting on us!! Too sweet!! At lunch, he had Claire and Owen give me a small vase with 2 red roses from them...even sweeter =)! Then that night, he surprised us again...

We were the Valentines...

These handsome devils were our dates =)!

Shane first took all of us on a date to see "Coraline". Claire loved it and was so excited!!

Then he was even full of more surprises...Shane bought me and him tickets to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" right after the kids' movie! Between movies he ran them over to his parents' house (they live close)! I was so excited!

Saturday night - Mom and Claire threw a Valentine's Day Party at Mom and Jake's! Since we had the kids and Mom and Jake had Jace, we really could not go out, so Mom decided that Claire would help her put together a candle light dinner for all of us! It was so good and just too cute!! Everyone had a good time!! Tara and Drew stopped by on their way to dinner and they wanted to stay with us =)!!

Hope you had a great weekend!!!