Running, moving, and mommying

Some late February morning mom looked at me and said, "You should go running." I dismissed the idea almost completely, but then realized how much I needed a moment. I can't remember what was going on exactly, but I needed to get out for a minute. Bodie was busy following my mom around, Beckett was sleeping, and I hadn't actually gotten "ready" for the day yet... the conditions were perfect. So, I got my favorite falling apart tennis shoes on, ipod strapped to my arm, and headed out.

As I slowly, oh so slowly (I hadn't ran since pre pregnant days with Beckett), ran past mom and dad's house, I felt the smile slowly spread across my face. I ran for about 30 minutes with a great soundtrack of music and I wasn't even close to dead by the end of it. I love to run. I miss running. Fawn and I have discussed doing a half marathon in the near future. I am super excited. I have never done one. I have a workout plan and am waiting for some dry, warmer weather where I can take the kids with me. Otherwise running "ain't gonna happen!" Also, we just moved into our house again... which bring me to my next topic.

We moved! Since January I have been trying to slowly move things into the house. I did ok, but this past Saturday was still insane. All Snowden/ Thomas kids have been so sick lately and the parents have slowly gotten the yuck too. So, just as we move, I get it, then David about a day later. This first week home has been rough. I think we'll survive. David got me some really cool, rustic end tables, and a coffee table for Christmas and also painted my living room and more pleasant color- latte- so I am enjoying those "new" things right now. I will say this though: I am counting the days, again, to get out of this house PERMANENTLY! We are going to try to sell the old furniture so David took a picture of the pieces outside of the storage unit. I just want to show you the picture so you can see in the background the approximate size of the really small unit we were able to fit most of our stuff in.



My last piece here and I gotta go.... babies are waking from their naps. I love being a mommy to Bodie and Beckett, I was reminded of this role I have (as if a mother could ever forget or turn it off) as I cleaned up throw up from Bodie at 1 this morning. (A freak thing- he's not sick anymore. This was my first real throw up experience though... gross! That part of mommyhood I could do without.)

Then, Beckett today was being such a pain for his 2:00 bottle, but finally, after about 30 minutes of screaming, holding, laying on the floor, hanging upside down with my tongue sticking out, he finally took it. That's my Beckett. I don't think I've written about him much. We found out his belly couldn't break down the milk/ soy proteins. So we spent all kinds of ridiculous money on the really expensive formula. Then the pediatrician told me about Carnation Good Start... good stuff! It's not as broken down as Allimentum, but still broken down. I'm thankful that his belly can handle it because it's not quite as expensive. He's also got reflux. So he gets cereal in every bottle to keep the spit up down (spit up gave him an ear infection recently) and a pill at night to keep the burning away. Poor baby. But he really is so much happier these days than about a month or two ago. He's also reaching 5 months, which helps.

All that to say... I love my boys. David included. :)

I am a horrible blogger...

Well it snowed Feb 12 I think. It was much better than the Jan snow we had. Bodie loves the snow. He got so "freezin cold" as he says, but would not come in. There were some neighborhood girls, who are maybe 10 or so, playing outside and Bodie had to be with them. They thought he was cute, so it worked. At some point while everyone was outside, Dad figured if he tied the toboggan to the back of the golf cart it would be really cool. Bodie and his two girlfriends agreed. Check out the photos...




They are attached to the golf cart. Crazy!! A few times I just had to hold my breath. I am all about my boys truly being boys ,but he is only 2 years old!



I think Bodie looks like a little Quiksilver model here.



My Beckett...



Bodie's probably grunting here and saying, "heaby" (or "heavy"). He's real good at the sound effects.



This made him very proud.



This is me wishing I was actually in some real snow... with some skiis on my feet... out west... you know...

Let it Snow!

It snowed last night... yahoo!

David was like a 5 year old waiting for that snow! He stayed up until after 11:30 last night waiting for Fayette Co Board of Ed's website to flash the news. Of course, I didn't know this because as soon as my head hit the pillow at 10:30, I was out. While I was up at 5:00 am feeding Beckett, I saw the ticker at the bottom of the screen.... "School closings.... Fannin County, Fayette County...." My smile was slow, quiet, and big.

After Bodie ate breakfast, we got him all dressed in his "Christmas Story" attire. Papa took him outside to ride the toboggan. He had big smiles! Mommy even got on for a few rides. Papa's steering almost had Mommy's head chopped off by a tree, but we survived.







So there is a cool children's book called Flat Stanley. I have it, but can't remember all the details and it's packed in a box "who- knows- where." My Aunt Connie works at an elementary school in Weaverville, NC. Some of the students there recently read the story and sent little paper Flat Stanley's out around the nation to see what kind of adventure's he'd end up on. Then he gets sent back to the kids. They'll map his adventures, as well as learn about the places he came from. We'll send the Bodie and Flat Stanley pic back to the kids, along with a few other photos and interesting facts about our area. Pretty cool, huh?


This is a picture from our dinner at David's mom's on New Year's Day. The other two kids- Joseph and Sarah are David's nephew and niece. Bodie loves playing with them!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! This will have to act as my Christmas card for this year. I had great intentions... and that was it. As usual we spent Christmas Eve with David's family and Christmas Day with mine. We had a great time at both. Bodie has way too many toys now and loved every minute of ripping through presents to see what was inside. He wasn't quite sure what we were doing when we put cookies and milk on the fireplace hearth. However, Santa's toys were awesome!

Last year we- my side of the family- decided that we would make our Christmas gifts. I was so excited about it that I decided to make everyone's gifts- including those for David's family. I started in the summer and got everyone's done in time, except my mom's, unfortunately. But it's almost done and she saw a partial on Christmas night. Anyways, Dad kicked butt!! We got a toy box, these beautiful and very detailed picture frames, a cutting board, and an entertainment unit to match my new coffee and end tables David got me. All of dad's pieces were made of wood. All of my gifts were sewn. Fawn knitted some super cool beanies and scarves for my boys. It was so much fun to see what everyone made. Each gift was so awesome!! I never want to exchange gifts any other way. I say that now, but next year when I can't think of anything to make again, I will be singing a different tune! ha!

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I realized recently that I have not taken any pictures of the kids lately, especially Beckett, since everyday he's getting older looks about him. So, The Boys and I headed outside a few days before Christmas to take some pictures. Here are two from that afternoon.




This one was taken on Christmas Eve while we were playing outside. We have been going on "adventures" and "exploring" a lot since we've been at mom and dad's. They have the perfect yard/ neighborhood for that. If any of you know where my house is, you'll know why it's not so perfect. Bodie loves being outside! The more sticks, acorns, and leaves we find for the house, the better, in his little mind. I love this picture. He's on his way to give Summit (mom and dad's dog) the stick so he can eat it!



Giving Santa his cookies and milk...



Here's Caedmon, Bodie, Avonlea, and Beckett in their matching Christmas outfits. They were adorable! Beckett is just about to scream in this picture. We ended the session shortly after. :)

Babies, Moving, and More Moving

Holy Cow! It's been forever and I am still figuring out this blogging thing. I have to figure out how to make uploading the pics on here quicker or else I am never going to be able to keep up with a blog the way I would like.

So, since the last time I wrote so much has happened. Let's start with a baby...
On October 19, at around 4:00 am, I woke with horrible contractions. I was scheduled to go in that morning for a c section with our second son. I got ready as planned and we headed to the hospital. However, on our way, those contractions got nasty and were about 2 minutes apart. By the time we got upstairs to Labor and Delivery I was 7 cm and in pain! After getting permission from my doctor to go ahead with a vbac, the nurses got me all ready for the anesthesiologist. I never wanted an epidural, but I was so out of it and not thinking right, along with the fact that all of this happened SO FAST, that I never stopped them. What I would do to take back time to that moment...

As soon as that doctor got that needle and medicine in my back, everything started going numb- and I mean everything! I mentioned to the doc that I felt like I couldn't speak (the nurses kindly said, "You're talking to us now." What they didn't realize at the time was that I had thought it way before I got it out of my mouth.) and that I couldn't breathe. Just a few moments later I was unconscious as they rushed me to surgery. I was dilated at 10 cm, with my water broke, and I was totally unable to do anything about it! Next thing I knew I woke in ICU about 4 hours later with a tube down my throat and handful of nurses at my side. WHAT HAPPENED!?

It turned out that I received a spinal on accident, rather than an epidural. I was really upset about how all of that turned out and still am sometimes. I do know that God was in it, no matter what happened. I really prayed so much before this birth that whatever He wanted to happen would- without me or doctor's opinions getting in the way. Maybe he was protecting me from something or maybe he wanted to teach me something... I don't know. I may never, but it's ok. I will just be open to whatever he does show me today or years from now.

We now have a precious, very healthy, little boy named Beckett Jackson Thomas who weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. and looks just like his big brother!




*****
MOVING...

A few weeks after Beckett was born we got an offer on our house. After a couple weeks of "counter offering" back and forth, we finally agreed on a price. We moved out of our house and into my parents so that we could save up some money for another home. We currently have our stuff between two parent's homes and a storage unit. We were supposed to close the 14th of this month. However, a couple of days before that, some major stuff happened and it's not sold. I am not going into detail about it because I am still too attached to this event or whatever it is you say when you can't talk about something without getting really mad! Basically the buyers messed up some paper work, which, in the end, canceled the deal. We will be moving back into our home after Christmas. Ugh... It's been really nice at mom's though since I have been getting so much help with Beckett, who has turned out to be quit a little stinker in the crying and no sleeping department. It's a good thing he is so cute... And once again, I still know God's in control.

Here are some random pics that I thought I would stick in here. Bodie was Nemo for Halloween. He loves Nemo! His butt/ fin wiggled when he walked and it was so cute! The other precious kids are Caedmon and Avonlea- my niece and nephew.

Florida Vacation and 4th of July

We took a family vacation to Florida the first week of July and all I can say is those boys are trouble! They are so cute and mischievous. Bodie loved the beach and hated the pool. Caedmon, on the other hand, is fearless about the pool. When we got back from the beach we celebrated the 4th at Fawn and Chad's then took the golf carts over to the golf course nearby to check out the fireworks. Can I just say that I love the community we live in! Yeah it can be "snoody" and blah blah blah, but I haven't felt this type of "community" anywhere else. For example, I was out on a golf cart ride with Fawn and the kids on our way to grab dinner recently. The weather was beautiful and people were out everywhere. The best part was everyone waving at each other and saying hi. I mean, even the teenagers, who are too cool for their own selves most of the time (I love all of you still!), were saying hi. What a joy!

Anyways... Here are some of the pics from those two events.



Poor Avonlea! Getting a pic with all three looking or smiling was a joke!



Caedmon and Bodie with (Great) Grandpa, Nana, and LuLu (that's my name... it's a long story!)


Isn't Avonlea beautiful?!

A sweet moment... Bodie and Grandpa

Caedmon on the golf course

Bodie on the golf course

My First Blog

I love John Eldredge's writings. His writings have inspired me to pursue adventure every day and most importantly to pursue that adventure through seeking the heart of Christ. Since having Bodie we definitely have adventure happening every moment. (And with #2 on the way...yikes!) And how can you deny the amazing heart of Christ at the sight of your child?! What a creative way God has for humbling us and teaching us a few lessons, huh? Anyways, so here's to this amazing and sacred adventure God has set before us!