Mary's Baby Shower

This weekend I had the opportunity to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Bost #2!  Some girl friends and I threw Mary a shower, and it turned out so nice.  Mary got lots of cute things for baby.  If you can’t tell form the pictures her theme for the nursery are Giraffes, and she is using lots of greens and yellows.  It is killing me not knowing what this baby is.  I can’t believe they are not finding out, but that was the most fun surprise Ryan and I ever had with Emma Grace.  I think Mary is ready for baby because she got lots of wonderful things.  Happy Baby Shower Sister!

Isn’t this cute! 

My coworker/dear friend Tiffany made it.  She is so very talented.

Yummy Rick's cake! (I am going to miss Rick's when we move.)

Isn’t this one cute as well! 

My boss/dear friend Kellie made this.  She too is so very talented. 

My BFF Jennifer!  I am going to miss her. 

My sisters!  I am going to miss them.

The hostesses (aka my friends).  Oh how I am going to miss them.   

 Becky (Mary's MIL), mom to be, my mom.

Mom to be!  Doesn't she look great!

 

This is Maxine Hines.  She is almost 90 years old, but acts like she is about 30 years old.  Her husband is Ben Hines, the preacher that married me and Ryan, and baptized all of my children.  Man am I going to miss her and Rev. Ben. 

These are some more of my friends, and my beautiful SIL is in the pink.  And yes I am going to miss her and Lila and Aaron so very much.  I wish I could pick my family up and move them with us. 



Goals for New Job

Each year for the last 10 years of my corporate career I have been responsible for identifying and meeting annual and quarterly goals. I am trying to go into my new job as a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) with the same mindset. As I think through things that are most important to me here is my list:


1) Plan daily learning activities for each of my children

2) Get my big kids involved in extracurricular activities
     -Emma Grace = Gymnastics
     -Taylor = Tiquando
     -Both kids = swim lessons

3) Set a budget and adhere to it, with the whole family
     -I have never been much of one for budgeting. I have really never had time to budget and try to save money. I have always done things for convenience. Easy meals, housekeeper, $35K a year on childcare. Well I am hoping this changes, and I have more time to consider options in the future.

4) Limit TV time to Saturday mornings only

5) Try to cook healthy for my family

I will check back in at 90 days, 180 days, 270 days and a year and see what kind of progress I have made. I don’t think that SAHM’s get annual raises, and that is going to take some getting used to!

Turning Food into Food

This is a new Vietnamese restaurant that when have in Bentonville, and they serve this really strange soup called Pho Thanh. I have to admit that it was not my favorite experience but it was not my worst. But I do have to commit on the extreme increase in breastmilk that I got after having a serving of this soup. I have tried a lot of different things to help increase my supply, but this was an amazing phenomena. It would take a scientist to tell me why it worked, but I have to admit that it did really work.

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Gifted and Talented

Last night was Taylor's Gifted and Talented showcase.  Taylor has been studying money, and he taught me all about everything I would ever want to know about money.  I am so proud of Taylor and all that he has learned at school this year and in the Gifted and Talented program!

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Adventure to Crystal Bridges

The kids, Emily, and I all had a wonderful time on our afternoon adventure at Crystal Bridges on Sunday.  It was nice to get out of the house for a few hours and let the kids burn off some energy.

  If you are ever in Bentonville you need to make sure you check out our world renowned museum.  It is incredible!  Ryan and I keep saying we can't believe that we are leaving now that this town is just starting to get good!



Special Visitor - Candice

We had a very special visitor last seek.  Ms. Candice is one of my dear friends and this was the first time she has gotten to meet the babies.  I think she loved them!  She brought them the cutest bows and burp cloths that she hand made.  She is such a smart talented person!  I am going to miss her dearly when we move.  



First Tooth

Look who has her first tooth! She could not stand being behind brother.

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Emma Grace Stories

Packpack:
On Friday, Emma Grace got to bring her own lunch to School, and she was so excited because she knows that is what Taylor does (and he is such a big boy). We worked very hard to pack it together. And she insisted that she was going to put it in her “packpack” just like Taylor. She was so very cute. She was a little bit disappointed when I dropped Taylor off first and realized that she did not get to go to school with him even though she had her big girl “packpack.” I guess she thought she was ready for big girl school.




Day 11:
I am happy to report that we are on day 11 with Daddy being gone in his first round of Atlanta before we move, and Emma Grace has done great! I was so worried about her being without her daddy for so long. Before daddy left we were talking about him having to go to work for a little while, and how he would be gone, and her response was “I don’t want daddy to have to go to the hospital.” Poor precious child, she was so devastated last summer when I was in and out of the hospital with the twins, and kidney problems. I hope one day she will forget about that experience.

Boogers (Don’t ready if you have a weak stomach or are easily offended):
The other night I was reading the big kids a story in Emma Grace’s bed, and the next thing I know I hear Emma Grace say “Taylor you want to eat this?” And I looked and she had the biggest booger I have ever seen on the end of her finger.


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First Teeth

Look who has his first two teeth as of this week! We thought Sissy would get them first but Preston's just popped up. I hope he is always this easy to teethe!  But Sissy has been so fussy, so I am convinced that she is having sympathy pains for her BBF Preston. 

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Best Friends Forever!!!

Emma Grace and cousin Lucy have always been best friends, and probably always will be best friends.  I am praying really hard that I can talk them into moving to Atlanta with us, a living just down the street, and going to the same church as us, and making things just the same as they are now.  I love my sister and her baby girl, and uncle pooky, and their new baby that will be here on May 17th. 

Wyatt Kristopher Russell

I can’t tell you how long I have been waiting on this precious little baby!  His momma is Jennifer, who is one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world.  We were sorority sisters in college, and I have been blessed with her friendship ever since.  My kids call Kris and Jennifer “Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Kris,” and it brings joy to my heart.  Wyatt was born on Saturday March 31^st via emergency C-section,  He is Jennifer and Kris’s first baby, and he is simply perfect.  Mary and I showed up just as we thought would be time for Jennifer to start pushing, but instead we showed up and found out she had had a long night of labor, and baby was not interested in coming out, so C-section it was!  I am so honored that I was there to see him when the nurses brought him out of the nursery and introduced him to the world!  I just love him to pieces, and I know that Kris and Jennifer are going to be awesome parents. 

Desperation and Breastfeeding!

Funny the things those stress us out in life.  I am not super stressed about our move, or being a single mom for the next 5 weeks, but I am stressed that my milk supply is going down with is stressing me out about everything else.  These are some of the products that I have tried to help de-stress me, or help boost my milk supply.  I went out and spent a small fortune on the Aveda stress fix line, and I have purchased every natural solution offered for lactation increases.  Which I am not 100% sure that any of it really works.  Just for reference I do really like the Motherlove products (Move Milk Plus).  I am not sure that any of them really work because I am still stressed about my milk.  Why does being a mother put so much stress on you?

My mother-in-love and sister keep telling me to “turn it over to Jesus.” I love the Max Lucado daily devotional that my sister sent to me today entitled: “Pray About Everything”


Pray About Everything – (Even your Breast milk and Stress!)


“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7”

Rather than worry about anything—pray about everything!

Everything? Diaper changes and dates? Business meetings and broken bathtubs?

Philippians 4:6 says, “In everything, let your requests be made known to God.”

When we lived in Brazil, I would take my daughters on bus rides. For a few pennies, we could ride all over the city. It may sound dull to us, but when you’re two years old, it’s World Cup excitement! The girls did nothing. I bought the token, carried the backpack and chose the route. My only request? “Stay close to me!” I knew the kind of characters who might board a bus. And God forbid my daughters and I get separated.

God makes the same request. Stay close. Talk to me. Breathe me in and exhale your worry. God knows what can happen on this journey, and he wants to bring us home.

Pray about everything!

7 Months Old

Boy does it make my heart hurt to see how fast my babies are growing up.