Pigtail Pie

Welcome Home

2011-08-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Another blog in less than month? We are making progress! (wink).

Life around here has started to pick up and be busy again, slowly but surely. Jadyn continues to do gymnastics on Monday nights (and loves every minute of it!), and starting mid-September, she will be playing on a soccer league for 3-4 year olds! I'm so excited to be a 'soccer mom', and I hope she has fun playing! It will DEFINITELY be a learning experience for her (and her parents)! Anyone who wants to come see her play (or atleast look cute in her little soccer uniform), email me and I will send you her schedule when it comes out.

Eli...how do you describe Eli but pure cuteness? Even when he throws himself on the floor in slow-mo in an attempt at a fit, we still find ourselves having to hide the laugh building up at how comical he looks! He's an AVID Ranger fan....LOVES baseball! It is not uncommon these days to see him pretending to 'throw a ball' at you so you can pitch it back to him, while he 'batter's up!' I'm enclosing a video so you can see just how much fun he has doing this! He loves his drumset almost as much as baseball. He's your typical boy, in to everything, making messes, hopping around, and loving life to the fullest. I love when he comes to sit next to me and cuddle up, and when he sits right next to daddy to watch the Rangers play. He and Jadyn LOVE cuddles! And for that, I am grateful. I know the day will come when neither one of them want cuddles and hugs!

A dishwasher in the making. Clothes optional.

Both kids are learning responsibilities around the house. We started Responsibility charts last week. It's been GREAT with Jadyn and a work in progress with Eli. He is learning that to get the sticker reward, he has to actually clean up his toys. :)

I am now over 12 weeks along in my pregnancy. My appts have gone great with the midwives. I love to hear this little one's heartbeat. I could listen to it all day and never grow tired of it's sweet assurance. The nausea has been waning and I'm slowly starting to get my energy back (which is good, because I don't think that mound of laundry could get any higher!!!). We plan to do some things different with this pregnancy. For starters, we don't plan to find out the gender. That's right, this baby will be a surprise as to whether the kids are getting a baby brother or a baby sister! Baby A (we've already got the names picked out, and both start with 'A') is this little one! Another thing I plan to try differently is to go 'all natural' in the delivery, and do a water birth. My midwives are WONDERFUL and my hospital now offers water births with the midwives. Those of you who know me and my pain tolerance know I have a LOT of toughening up and mental preparing to do to be able to have a natural delivery. So, start praying for me now! :)

Jay has been handy man around the house these days. He's been building us a pantry (this house never had one). It will be soooooo nice to have a pantry! He's been working hard and it's almost done! He continues to stay busy at work, then to help hold the house together while I've been sludging through the 1st trimester. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I can start pulling my weight again around the house! ;) Jay is such a great husband and father. I love seeing him play baseball with Eli or reading a book to Jadyn. Love it!

Our brother, Jed, has moved in with us now. He's a college boy and a working boy, who was looking for a fresh start, and we were super eager to come have him join our household. We can't wait to see what the Lord does in his life this year. As are all of our siblings, he's very special to us. Jadyn and Eli were also super excited to have him move in. Thanks to uncle Jed, the kids now share a room, and they could not be any more EXCITED! Jadyn asked me ALLLLLLL afternoon and last night if it was time for bed. She could not WAIT for it to be bedtime for her and her brother! I've never seen her so excited for bedtime! LOL The kids were FULL of giggles and laughs last night as it was their first night together. It brought back fond memories of my twin sister and I growing up. We shared a room together from the time we were born until we were 21 years old and Sara got married. At one point, our sister, Jennifer, also shared a room with us while growing up! Imagine...3 girls in one room! Yeah, I bet that drove my parents NUTS! haha! I have such great memories of sharing a room with my sister (and some not so great ;), and it is neat to see my kids so eager and excited to be sharing a room. I think it's now an official done deal and if we were to try and separate the kids now, there would be fits and lots of tears for days to come!

Life is full these days, and several changes have happened in our life lately, but Jay and I feel so blessed. God has always been faithful to us, and we look with anticipation to see what wonderful things He will do in the future.

News around here

2011-08-10T10:59:00.001-07:00

Ok, blogging has been calling my name lately. So is the laundry and the coupon-cutting! I have much to share, but I will make this short.

Here we go:

Biggest news of all....Eli is going to be a BIG brother around the beginning of March! Jadyn and Eli are both excited to be BIG siblings together! Jadyn already makes such a great big sister. She is such a great helper and loves to take care of her brother, Eli. I am due around March 5th. We can't wait to meet our new little one (even though we have a looooooong way to go until he/she gets here!). I am a little over 10 weeks along. We have seen our little jelly bean on the sonogram and got to see the heartbeat. I go to my next midwife appt on Monday, Aug 15th and we are looking forward to hearing the precious little heartbeat!
Speaking of being pregnant, I am in the throes of "morning" sickness. Lots of nausea and headaches, the worst being at night. If I could choose when to be sick, I think nighttime is best, because you can just go to bed and sleep it off! Only two more weeks until we are out of the first trimester! Praise the Lord! This life growing inside of me makes it all worth it!
I am the new assistant director of Children's Ministry at church. I oversee the 1st-5th grade and the Nursery. I take care of lesson plans, scheduling, and making sure the teachers are taken care of. I am enjoying my new role, and am honored to serve in this capacity. My heart's desire is to serve the Lord where ever He needs me. I work with a great group of teachers and leaders. It really blesses me to serve the Lord with them.
Jay is busy as usual at work. (always a good thing!) He's a hard worker!
We are co-owners of a boat! We, along with 3 other friends of ours joint-own a seadoo boat. No, I don't know what kind (but, Jay does!) I do know it's a ski boat. Jay's buddy, Adam, found this used boat for a great deal and it came with skis, a tube, and life jackets! We have already made use of it several times this summer!
My nephew (one and only so far) just turned 9 years old on Aug 5th. NINE?! I remember the day he was born....just like it was a couple of years ago. He's going into 4th grade this year. That's the grade I taught for 4 years. I look at him, and I am amazed at how time flies and how big he is getting. He is VERY smart! As a teacher, I am very proud of how academically advanced he has become. In 3rd grade, he already knew his multiplication and division facts forwards and backwards! I had 4th graders that struggled with that all the way through 4th grade!!! A part of me wishes I was still teaching just to see what it would be like to have him in my class. :)
My niece is soon to be 7 years old on the 23rd of this month. That, too, amazes me! I remember when she was born too! I watched her come into this world. And she has been a diva ever since! :) I kinda wish my sister would have more, just so I can attend more births! haha
I love births. I am fascinated with the whole pregnancy and birthing process! If I wasn't so turned off by having to give shots or learning the ins and outs of medicines and bones and muscles in the body, I would consider becoming a midwife! Maybe I should become a doula....haha! Being pregnant again has me watching birth stories, youtube videos, and just learning, learning, learning. We plan to go all natural with this baby's delivery, and to do a water birth. My midwives now offer water births at the hospital I deliver at, and I can't wait to try it! (I know, I know...I only have about 30 weeks to go!)

That's about it in a nutshell. Except, I just have to add how much I love my husband. He takes such good care of the kids and I. When I am hormonal and short on patience, he never loses his cool. When I am craving a certain food for dinner, he never complains about spending more money eating out. When I am nauseas as all get out and my head is pounding like a jackhammer, he's there to caress my back until I fall asleep at night. He is patient, kind, and loving. He is my husband, and I am so thankful for my helpmate. He is a gift from the Lord....I love you, Jay.

I hope you guys have a great week! Please keep my family in your prayers, especially this new life growing in me.

Love, Shannon

Life lately...

2011-05-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

A very giggly and amused 3-year-old came out from the Autozone restroom last night after having a 'little' accident in her panties (after she said she didn't have to go...ahem)...."Mommy, I'm pretending to wear panties...tehhehehehe." Daddy was very smart! To get a horrified little girl to come out of the restroom to the car where her change of garments were, he got her to play the pretend game. Horrified protests turned into absolute amusement and giggles....so much so, she wanted to remain an exhibitionist in the car (mommy won and soon Jadyn was fully dressed again).

A very smart almost-2-year-old watching Rangers baseball on tv last night had this to say every time a batter swung at the ball (hit or miss)..."Agh!!!!" Daddy and I were giggling behind him. :) Tonight, we are going to see the Rangers live. Can't wait to see his reaction!

We are now co-owners of a boat. Jay and 3 other guys are all joint owners of it. Pretty cool, since I've never owned a boat. Now, I can say I do...and the cost is split 3 ways! woohoo! I can't wait to finally learn how to ski after all these years, or to get back on a tube behind the boat! I won't tell you how long it's been since I've been tubing!! Ok, ok, I was a teenager....a loooooooonnngggg time ago! As I type, the boat is being cleaned and detailed so that it sparkles and shines like a beacon on the lake....making me all the more noticeable when I become air born, flying off the tube behind Jay's mad driving skills! Yes, you know where to find me this summer!

This evening, we are taking the kids to the Rangers game (compliments of CMJ Engineering....thank you!!!). First game for us this season. First game where Eli is an avid baseball lover. First game where Jadyn gets to wear her little Ranger cheerleader dress. First game when both kids can say, "Let's go, Rangers!" First game when hopefully neither kid will be scared of the firework show, should there be any! First game where the Sappingtons will be present, showing our support! :) Guaranteed to be an adventure when small kids are involved! Family time = fun time. I am so blessed!

I look at my husband, my kids, and I can't help but praise the Lord. I am so richly blessed! I look at this day the Lord has made....I will rejoice and be glad in it! Live each day to the fullest!

Each day is a gift from the Lord...how will you spend it?

Catchin' up...

2011-05-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I've slacked off...again! But, today's a new day and I'm feelin' the need for bloggin'!

Here's a catch up of what's been going on, picture style!

Jadyn had her first ever teeth-cleaning experience at the dentist in April. She did GREAT!

She even got to help the hygenist clean her teeth!

Also, in April, Jay and I ran our first ever 5k obstacle course! The Warrior Dash was a lot of fun! We even had our own little fan to cheer us on!

Like father, like daughter...

Also in April, we found out a wonderful surprise that warranted new shirts for the kids...

Unfortunately, the excitement was short lived, as we miscarried at 5 weeks. We were sad, but praise the Lord that we were pregnant, even if it was so short. We look forward to trying again VERY soon! Eli can't wait to wear his Big Brother shirt again!

We had a great Easter weekend! On Saturday, we took the kids to a couple of local egg hunts. This was Eli's first time, and he learned VERY quickly! He is now an egg hunting pro!

I love this picture. It reminds me of what wonderful blessings I have in my life. God has been SO good to me! My cup runs over!

Easter Sunday was spent with family. Nothing says lots of pictures will be needed to get just ONE good snap shot when kids are involved! Cousins...

Ok, so I couldn't get this picture turned the right way (I don't know why), but it is too cute not to include! So, just turn your heads side ways. :)

All of this great weather has warranted several trips to the park! At the end of April, we had a family date night and went and grilled some burgers and dogs at the park while the kids played. It was a great night (even if Jadyn has an intense fear of flies that interrupted the happy flow of dinner time).

We've been seeing a lot of Grandpa these days as I (Shannon) have been doing some part time work for him. The kids love seeing their grandparents, and Eli has a special fondness for his grandpa. I love this picture of them.

So, that's pretty much what we've been up to lately, besides a little fender bender the kids and I were in right after Easter weekend. My back bumper had some damage (& is currently in the shop getting fixed), but the car who hit me definetely got the worst end of the deal. Her front end was crumpled! No one was hurt, thank the Lord. And I am also thankful of the 'tank' that I drive as we had minimal damage!

Well, now you are caught up. :) So, what's in our near future? Eli turns TWO in June!

Love you guys! Hope you are all doing well!

Like father, like daughter...

Achievements...

2011-03-29T18:15:00.001-07:00

Somebody around here has been hitting some pretty big achievements lately...

Learning to write her name...

Practicing her letters...and teaching her little brother...

Learning gymnastics...

And working hard at it...

And loving every minute of getting bigger....

Jadyn, you go, girl! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!

"Bye-Bye Pacie"

2011-03-28T07:41:00.001-07:00

Eli echoed my words as he ceremoniously dropped his pacie into the open trash can. "Bye-bye, Pacie". The tears that soon flowed once we put Eli to bed last night weren't his, but mine actually. After doing some "fake" crying, he then talked and giggled to himself before falling asleep all without the help of his beloved pacie. I on the other hand, cried as I figuratively let go of my baby and allowed him to get bigger. My baby is really not much of a baby anymore. He talks in complete sentences, makes jokes and laughs at them, likes to play pretend, LOVES to drum (he is especially fond of doing his air cymbal!), helps get himself dressed, feeds himself, and is even asking to go potty (it's just a game to him, but he does ask occasionally).

Jay and I have talked about giving up the Pacie for months now, but until recently, we didn't feel Eli was ready. Now, it has been me who hasn't been ready. It's convenient, comforting, and a symbol that reminds me very much of the tiny baby boy I held in my arms for so long. It has occurred to me lately though, even though it's just a pacie, it represents something I'm not ready to let go of...my baby. Am I holding my child back from becoming more independent, learning to self-soothe on his own (and not messing up his teeth)? Am I holding my child back from taking on the world because I'm not ready?! That pacie has been a symbol, a barrier in taking the blinders off of my eyes to realize how much my baby boy really is SO BIG in so many ways! I had to realize last night (as I boohooed in my husband's arms) that Eli was handling it SO WELL, like a BIG BOY! He never shed a tear and he fell asleep happy! I have to give thanks to the Lord for such an easy transition. God is so good and His timing is always perfect. My son is ready to move up in the world. No more pacies. As his mommy, my role is to encourage him, cheer him on, high five him, and let him grow up. I will always do my best to be right there if and when he does fall or stumble, but I won't always be able to catch him. That's life. We can't protect our kids from everything, but we can teach them the skills and allow them to learn the skills needed to not only deal with life, but to be confident and grab life by the horns! Eli is such a laid-back, deal with it as it comes kind of kid. Already, I see his personality showing forth. He has little to no fear, he's confident (he'll dive into your arms whether you're ready or not!), and he's almost always happy, and he has such a loving heart (just ask the kitty who keeps getting all the hugs)!

Even though I mourn another chapter closed in my not-s0-baby boy's life, I look forward with anticipation what the next chapter holds. Last night, it started with the pacie...baby steps for mommy....BIG BOY steps for Eli!

I love you, my son. You are one of my greatest treasures from the Lord.
Love,
Mommy

Fall Blessings and Christmas Wishes

2010-12-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

My little Monkey will soon be 18 months old. He has stolen mommy's heart.

My little Pigtail Pie is three years old and will captivate you with her eyes and smile. Her big heart will be ready to envelope any one who will pay her attention. (will smile for jellybeans...)

I am so humbled and blessed with a wonderful family that God has given me. I have so much that I am thankful for. I am making an early New Year's Resolution...to blog more in the upcoming year! I miss doing it.

From my house to yours with love, Merry Christmas.

Three times as nice...

2010-11-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

My little Pigtail Pie will be turning 3 on Sunday. We will celebrate tomorrow with cake and balloons, a bounce house, twinkling lights, playing dress up, and lots of giggles, surrounded by many family and friends! It will be quite memorable and I will cherish the memories of her third birthday. In the midst of preparations for it, Jay has come down with fever and sore throat, Eli has diarrhea, and I am overwhelmed with trying to get everything ready! Tonight was spent bathing the kids, finishing up last minute cleaning yet to be done, and following Eli around as he went commando to air out his little bum which is quite red and rash-ravaged from the diarrhea. I have to say, I think he rather enjoyed the 'freedom', if you know what I mean. He was quite content to 'whiz' on my floor, and I was quite grateful for stained concrete! Haha! At one point point (ok, ok, several times, I have found myself wanting to selfishly yell at my husband and say, "Why did you have to get sick now!?" (real loving wife there, eh?) As if he can control it! Thankfully, I've not humiliated myself in saying that to him, but have left him pretty much to fend for himself unfortunately while I prep for the party. He's on antibiotics and should hopefully be feeling better in time to party. :-)

This one has been QUITE mommy's helper though! :-)

So, it's now after 11 p.m. at night, the kitchen's a wreck, the couch is full of party supplies waiting to be unpacked from their shopping sacks, goody bags are waiting to be assembled, and pretzel rods are waiting to be turned into princess wands (or knight swords, if you're a guy....). Instead of continuing to be overwhelmed, I've decided to think about what all this is about...WHO all this is for....it's for Jadyn. My...OUR Pigtail Pie. Jay and I have been watching her and amazed at how much she's blossoming and growing these days in knowledge and helpfulness (and talkativeness). I can't believe it's been three years since we held her in our arms for the very first time. What a blessing she is to us!!! I cannot imagine my life without this precious little girl. She warms my heart with her unconditional love for me, for others. She's always ready to give a hug (and always ready to receive one, too!) Her favorite things to do are to cuddle with mommy or daddy and spend time with us, to be our helper, to hop hop hop, giggle giggle giggle, take care/boss Eli around (ahem), play dress up, watch Sesame Street or Dora, learn about Jesus, and play outside. She loves to show off her skills, whether it's jumping ("Look how high I jump, mommy!"), coloring, sharing, eating her vegetables (yes, getting her to eat her vegetables is a skill). She never ceases to amaze me. She is a reflection of Jesus' unconditional love for His Children. She knows Jesus loves her. I am humbled and awe-struck with the task of teaching her the love of Christ. I fail at it many times, but am grateful that each day is a new day, and she is an eager learner. I am so blessed to be her mommy.

Happy 3rd Birthday, my little Pumpkin! I love you.....

videos

2010-08-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

These are the videos I was trying to include in my last blog....

Eli scoots
http://picasaweb.google.com/shinnin1171/Jadyn2YrsEli1Yr#5506066117701700482

Eli laughing and talking
http://picasaweb.google.com/shinnin1171/Jadyn2YrsEli1Yr#5506067978790132850

Father/daughter dance
http://picasaweb.google.com/shinnin1171/Jadyn2YrsEli1Yr#5506122072921617122

Let's see if this works...
enjoy

Firing my writer...

2010-08-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Just kidding! I have been terrible about posting blogs! Sorry to all my fans out there...all two of you. ;-)

Life around here...
Eli is 14 MONTHS TOMORROW!!! My little guy that's not so little (he is over 24 lbs, y'all) is sooooooo cute...and I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. It's the truth. Really. His blonde spikes and chubby cheeks will melt your heart. And if neither of those get ya, his adorable light brown eyes will! These days, you can find Eli cruisin' the joint...literally. He's really good about holding on to something (or someone) and walking around. What he's most famous for though, is his scoot. We like to call it his happy scoot. It's his preferred method of getting around. Whenever we go somewhere that he can get down on the floor, that's the first thing people comment on is his scoot. It's the funniest thing to them! To us, we are used to it, so it's always enjoyable to see people's reactions. Eli is also starting to increase his vocabulary little by little. He's learned: "Up, Ba-oon (balloon), bawwww! (ball - his most favorite toy ever), down, dada, momma", and who knows what else he'll decide he's ready to say tomorrow! He can nod yes and no. I've been trying to get him to talk more, but he looks at me and laughs like I'm some silly person for wanting him to say that word when I already know he wants it.

Our little princess is going to be THREE in THREE months! Yikes! I mean ~ Yeah!!! I really am excited! It's fun seeing her grow and develop her girly girl personality. She LOVES shoes! She sat in the kitchen floor (why there, I don't know, but hey...) for over 30 minutes last night buckling and unbuckling, putting on and taking off her newest pair of shoes....a bling bling pair of silver shoes for her growing feet. She loves to wear princess gowns, to dance and twirl, hop hop hop, and is the snacking queen! She probably asks for a snack about twenty times a day! Ok, maybe not twenty....but, realistically more like 12-15 times.....you'd think I hadn't just fed her lunch ten minutes ago when she declared she was no longer hungry when all that was left on her plate was the steamed broccoli covered in ketchup. (She eats ketchup like it's dessert, so I thought why not see if she'll eat it with broccoli.....turns out she only sucks the ketchup off the broccoli and then is full. Go figure!) Lately, she likes to refer to her father as "my daddy". "Mommy, where's my daddy?" "Mommy, I want to ride in my daddy's truck." "My daddy". ....I have yet to be referred to as 'my mommy'. She recently figured out that others call me Shannon. She's tried to call me 'Shannon' a few times, but THIS mommy is quick to point out that others call me Shannon, but Jadyn calls me Mommy. One time she kept calling for me ("Mommy"), but when I didn't respond within the first 3 times of her calling, she switched tactics, "Shannon". "It's mommy to you, Jadyn"..... She got my attention really quick with that one! I put down whatever I was distracted with and turned to look at whatever she was trying to show me!

I have video that I have spent the last day trying to get uploaded with this blog, but no success. So, here's the blog sans video...which is a shame, because it was some darn cute videos! :)

Love to you all!

It's been a year...

2010-06-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Since my little chunky monkey made his debut. Born June 16th, 2009, weighing in at 8 lbs 3.5 ozs, he has since more than tripled his weight. I took him for his one year appt yesterday and he weighed over 22 lbs!! He's now 2 feet 4 inches of crawling machine. The pediatrician said Eli is above the 90% for his head size and weight, but the 20% for his height. What does that mean? He's a big-headed chunky healthy boy! It also means he probably will not be very tall (like his mommy and daddy). He has a repertoire of words now: 'bu' (ball), 'buh-oon' (balloon-his most favorite words right now), 'no!' ([mental picture of his hand slapping down on table, lips forming an O]), 'uh-ooooh', 'dada', 'bye-bye', and 'yeah'! It's really cute to hear him talk. Did you notice a word NOT in that list? Yup, 'mama'. I have tried and TRIED to get him to say mama, but to no avail. I have fed him, changed his poopy diapers, cleaned up his vomit, and cleaned up his baby food-throwing messes. The LEAST he could do is humor me by saying 'mama'! Sigh. All in good time. All in good time. :) Enjoy some highlight pictures of his first year.

Dear Eli,

You are the son I've always wanted. You bring more joy to my life than I could ever express. Everyday, as I hold you close, I thank the Lord for giving you to me. You are a precious gift from Him. You bring joy to our family. Your daddy loves you and is so proud of his son! Your big sister adores you and loves to play with you and give you hugs and kisses! I pray that the Lord continues to show me how to teach you about His unending love for you and to teach you His Ways! I can't wait to see what He has in store for your life. He has BIG plans for you, my son. I am blessed and honored to be a part of your life.

All my love,
Mommy

p.s. Eli, it's pronounced..."Ma-ma!" Say it with me....'ma-ma!'

Go night night, Jadyn!

2010-04-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hello world! It's been over 2 months since I last posted! I've 'written' many a blog in my head, and snapped several pictures that I knew would make a great blog. But, when it actually came down to it...it didn't happen, peoples.

Well, I'm here now and I'm finally writing...at least as much as I can in between a very affectionate cat who won't quit rubbing up against the computer keys and my hands, therefore causing all sorts of errors and functions to happen on the computer that I didn't intend. This cat also thinks she's part dog as she likes to lick your hands, your toes, your arms...most especially if you just put on lotion. I don't know why she likes lotion. Maybe it conditions her fur when she subsequently licks herself after licking the lotion off of my recently hydrated (and sanitized) hands. But enough about Squared...who is now content to sit NEXT to the computer.

I'm also having to frequently call out to Jadyn to "Go night night" during this blog-making, who was supposed to have fallen asleep for her nap a LONG time ago. She's taken to playing for long periods of time again, so nap-time and bed-time have been a struggle lately. Excuse me...brb...she's now CALLING me to her room! Oh the joys....

Speaking of Jadyn...we are STILL potty training. This has been going on since she was a mere 18 months old. She wasn't ready at the time that, so we ended up holding off for a few more months and tried closer to age 2. She's now almost 2 and A HALF! grrrr! She knows what to do and how to do it...we are just stuck in the 'when' to do it....catching herself BEFORE she 'goes'. She's wearing panties during the day when we are home. I constantly have to take her potty. She seldom initiates it herself. BUT, we are NOT giving up. I refuse to go back to diapers or invest in pull ups on a regular basis! Not when she knows and IS doing it. I'm having to remind myself to be patient with her and one of these days....sigh....one of these days, it will click in her precious little brain and diapers/pull ups will be just a memory.

Jadyn has promoted from her pack n play to a travel cot for when we are, well, traveling. She outgrew the pack n play (you know it's time to get rid of it when your child fills it from head to toe with no room to turn around). So, mommy got her a cot and a Disney princess sleeping bag to go with it. Jadyn LOVES them! She got to try out her new cot at Aunt Jenn's house last weekend when Eli had his surgery.

Speaking of Eli's surgery...last Friday, he had outpatient surgery. The doctors and staff called it this long 2-word phrase that simply means, they surgically dropped his testicle. Yes, my friends, I said it...testicle. It was too shy to come down on it's own, and we had been waiting since birth, giving it the opportunity to drop without force, but alas, it didn't happen. And due to that along with some other things at birth, Eli hadn't been circumsized yet either. So, on Friday, he went to sleep (sedation), and woke up a changed man - er, boy. The surgery went great and Eli came out of sedation with no problems (praise the Lord!). We were heading home by 10:30 that morning. He was VERY VERY sore for the first couple of days, but is healing quickly and doing great. The only problem has been with his breathing as a result of being intubated. He's back to his 'noisy' breathing, something we haven't heard in a long time with him (when he was 8 weeks old, Eli had a bronchioscopy done and we learned he has long voice box that 'flaps' when he breathes, thus making him a 'noisy breather'. He grew out of it, or rather, into it). Sunday morning, he seemed to be gasping for breath and 'working' to breathe, so we went to the ER, where they gave him a steriod and breathing treatment to help open up his airway. What happened was his already small airway had become inflamed/irritated from the intubation. He is doing better today...still noisy in his breathing, but better. At least, we know he's going to be ok. Through all of this, he is still his happy, cute self. Such a trooper! He's also crossed a milestone! The same day of his surgery, he officially became a crawler! I guess there's nothing like having your boy parts worked on to be the deal sealer of finally crawling. I can't blame him either. I wouldn't want to get around on my belly either when I had such an owie! So, now he is Mr. Mobile, which means it's time to get out Mr. Clean on a more frequent basis to mop the floors!

Jay's grandmother, Marge Sappington, passed away yesterday. She had been rapidly declining in health since her lung cancer came back and she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor about 4-6 weeks ago. We had been planning to make a trip to Phoenix this summer so she could see her great grandkids at least one more time before she lost her cognitive abilities, but she was declining so fast that we made an emergency trip out there 2 weeks ago to see her. We are glad we did and got to spend 3 precious days with her. One thing about such times in our lives is that it brings families together. Even though the circumstances weren't ideal, we also got to spend time with family members we don't see on a regular basis. We got to be with Big Daddy ( who is James P Sappington II...Jay is James P Sappington IV) who is Meme's husband, Aunt Cal and Uncle Jim (thank you for giving us a place to stay), and I got to meet Aunt Karen for the first time (she was unable to make it to our wedding 4 years ago). I also loved to opportunity, even if it was so short, to see my grandma who also lives in Phoenix. We met her for breakfast (at 5 a.m....EARLY!!!), on our way out of town, heading back to Texas. It was a bittersweet visit, but we know Meme really enjoyed seeing us and her great grandkids. We will be heading out there again this week for the funeral. Meme was a Christian, and in that, we find comfort in knowing we will see her again one day when the Lord returns. Please pray for everyone who is not a Christian, that through this, they will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour. Please also pray for safe travels for everyone.

Well, this email is a mile long already. That's what happens when I don't update on a regular basis! Jadyn is FINALLY asleep! Eli has been asleep for awhile. Hmmmm...what to do, what to do....I could work on the MILE HIGH mound of laundry OR, I could take a nap....or I could take advantage of this 'me time' and finally brush my teeth and shower today........hmmm, choices, choices......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

"Mommy, I go potty!!!"

2010-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, I hear those words alot these days. I've spent a good part of this week following Jadyn around saying, "OK, time to go potty." She's doing great about taking care of business on the potty. You should see her sticker chart! She has enough stickers on there to supply....well, I don't know what it could supply, but she definetely has earned a lot of stickers! We have already filled up the chart with pink stars that came with a potty book we bought when we started this process. We have since had to dispose of the book when, ironically, one of the cats peed on it while we were away on vacation. But, who needs a book when you've read it so many times you now have it memorized! And speaking of the chart that came with that book, what were the publishers thinking? Four rows of 10 stars would be enough to say a child is officially potty trained? Not! We have filled up the chart and are not fully potty trained. Yes, Jadyn does good about going on the potty, but she's also still really good about going in her pants and doesn't at all seemed bothered by a wet diaper, pull up, or panties! So, we are 'recycling' the chart and are now putting new pretty foil word stickers OVER the pink stars every time she goes potty. Jadyn loves it and doesn't seem to mind that she's covering up her previous accomplishments! :-)

Little Miss Pigtail Pie is becoming quite the independent. These days, she's taken to saying, "No, mommy, I do it!" She continues to amaze me with the sentences coming out of her mouth. Here are some of the things I hear from her these days:

"I want suh-um, mommy! I want suh-um!"
"I hungee, Mommy. I hungee."
"Jadyn's cup. Jadyn's cup."
"I pee pee in the potty!"
"Eeee-Li!"
"Eee-li wake. Eee-li wake, mommy."
"Eee-li hungee, mommy. Eee-li hungee."
"Go outside? Outside?"
"Pay wid pay-dough? Pay wid pay-dough?" (Play with playdough)
"Big girl bed? Big girl bed?"
"No, no, No! (tone change) No thank you"

It's funny how she has to repeat everything she says twice. I guess she's concerned I won't understand it if she says it once. Or maybe, mommy repeats everything she says to Jadyn and that's where she learned it. Hmmmmmmm.

It's been a rather trying few days this week as Jadyn is learning and exerting her independence. She's testing boundaries and patience. Bed/Naptime have been battle grounds the past couple of days. She's not staying in bed and it's been a battle of the wills. Jay and I have been trying out different discipline methods to see which fits best for Jadyn and for us. Spanking seems to have lost its power. I've realized that I use it too much and am changing tactics up a bit. When it comes to going to bed, we do the same routine we always do, but now when she disobeys and gets out of her precious and oh-so-neat big girl bed, we pop out the pack n play in the middle of her room and put her in it with just a pillow and a blanket. No snugglies, no stuffed rabbits, no baby dolls, nothing of luxury. We then say good night again and leave her to wail her complaints out. Once she calms down from the injustice that's been served her, one of us goes back in. Her first words uttered tonight were, "Big girl bed?" I put her back in the 'big girl bed' with all her luxuries, and reminded her it's time to go night-night and no getting out of bed. I left the pack n play set up as a reminder. I didn't hear a peep after that, and upon a recent check on her, I found her to be sound asleep! Yes!

I tend to want her to catch on to things the first time or in a day or two. I have to remind myself to be patient and it may take more than one time. The pack n play seems to be working though, and she seems to be getting the message. As for other discipline issues during the day, we still use spanking some, but also use time outs as well. She's learned that time outs aren't fun places to be. But, no matter what, she's always quick to say, "Hug? Hug?" when it's over. My sensitive little girl...melts my heart to see her cry in sadness! Parenting sure pulls at the heart strings!!!

Well, this post took me only 2.5 days to write. :-) I'm hoping to post some more sooner. More stories to share, like Jadyn's not the only one getting bigger around here. Eli and his oh-my-those-are-some-big-cheeks has now been officially promoted tonight to a bigger carseat (still rear-facing, though). Good times, good times! :)

Uh, yeah...we are still here.

2010-01-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hi! Remember me? I know, I know...it's been FOREVER since I've blogged! Sheesh, you'd think that as a stay at home mom, I'd be blogging daily with all the extra time I now have! But, I find (rather frustatingly) that it's now over 7 months since I've had my son and I'm still trying to find the balance of full-time mommy and wife, aspiring blogger, and barbie-body seeker. :-) Anddddddddd, this is where you say, "Hello, Shannon? Get real. Not everyone can be an aspiring blogger...". Haha, you thought I was gonna say 'have a barbie body', didn't you? :)

Ok, well, I really am trying to find the balance and it's still a MAJOR work in progress. Now that Eli is old enough, I'm trying to work up the nerve to go to the gym during the day (you know, that place where we donate to monthly that has all that work out equipment in it?). I don't know why I'm being such a sissy, but I keep holding off until Jay and I can go together with the kids so I don't have to go the first time by myself. I know, I know...quit being a ninny and just go. Got it.
As a family, we are all doing well. The holidays and birthdays flew by in a blur and now things are SORT of winding down. We are now finding about a couple nights a week where we AREN'T doing something or going somewhere. We got to welcome into the world some new friends this past week. Our friends, the Delgados and the Chadwicks, now have new members of their families and we were priveleged to meet the little ones and spend time with the familes! Welcome baby Judah and baby Aubrey! We enjoyed a fast-paced trip to Phoenix a couple of weeks ago to see family. Relatives got to meet Eli for the first time and see how big Jadyn has grown! We enjoyed seeing everyone and look forward to our next trip there!

Little Miss Pigtail Pie has promoted in the toddler world to a toddler bed. She absolutely LOVES it!! The first night, mommy and daddy made about 12-13 trips into her room to put her back in bed and tell her to stay there and no playing, but since then, it's been pretty smooth sailing! The second night, we put her down and she stayed down and went right to sleep! I was so impressed with my big girl! We are also back to working on potty training. It's a work in progress, but we are chipping away at it. I knew it was time to get back to it when she started telling me when she pooped and was trying to assist in taking off her diaper. So, yeah...pull ups and frequent potty visits with sticker rewards it is. She loves the stickers and she loves to sit on the potty! Two plusses!

Eli is HUGE! He is 7 months old, 20 lbs, and wearing 12 month shirts and clothes! He's outgrown his car seat pretty much, so we are having to shop for the next step up. He'll be rear-facing still for atleast 5 more months, but poor guy is wedged into the car seat he has now! He's also the same size diaper as his 2 year old sister. Yup, my 2 yr old and 7 month old wear size 4 diapers. At least it makes for packing the diaper bag easier...only one size diaper to pack! No more rustling around for the right size diaper for the kid you are changing. Well, so Jadyn's mostly in pullups now, but still. If we need a diaper for her, we just grab one of his! How crazy is that!? :) Eli is a pro at sitting up on his own now. You can sit him down and he'll be content for a long time playing. He's recently taken to rolling over more frequently, but still is not an avid roller just yet. We're getting the ball 'rolling' on that though, by putting him on tummy time more.

And that's the gist of it. Now you know...we are alive and kicking and havin' a good ole time! :)

Turning 2 and getting ready for Christmas

2009-11-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

Wanna see more? :)

My Little Pony can be frightening!

2009-11-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

Jadyn has recently started playing with My Little Pony. She got one from her cousin, Rebekah, and enjoys playing with it, carrying it around, feeding it, etc. It is a toy that has brought her much enjoyment...that is until........we put batteries in it and now it TALKS AND MOVES!!! Ah!!!! THE HORROR!

All of the sudden, she was scared of it! LOL! We have no idea why, but being the kind and sensitive parents that we are....we just had to record her reaction! :)

Parenting top ten things...

2009-11-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

No child has ever died from:

1. Screaming his lungs out (the lungs don't literally come out)

2. Not getting the latest handheld, GPS-encoded musical thingamabob that all the other kids have. (Even if all the other kids really, truly do have it)

3. Eating cheese sticks exclusively from age 2 to 3

4. Taking 30 seconds to think about what he's thankful for before lunging for the sweet potatoes

5. The heartbreak of a hopelessly twisted Slinky

6. Having to put her arm around her brother for five seconds for your family Christmas-card photo

7. Being left with-gasp!-Dad while you go off for a much-deserved girls' weekend

8. Seeing the Hannah Montana movie the day after it opens

9. Having to wait till he's older before he gets to use the pocket-knife his clueless uncle got him for his birthday

10. Too many hugs and kisses

(Taken from Parenting Magazine)

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

2009-10-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

We've been on a roll around here. Jadyn's on roll of repeating everything you say (and getting quite clearer in her annunciation). Today, she learned that the cats have actual names. Now, she can say their name as she's running after them to terrorize (I mean, love on) them.

Potty training is rolling along slowly but surely. She goes potty at least once a day, and this book is a MUST! She requests it EVERYTIME she sits down. In fact, I can recite "Big Girls Use the Potty" from memory now. It just rolls right off my tongue...

Jay and I are rolling into our 4th week of jogging training. We are almost half way through the program! We are officially registered for the Fort Worth Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.

Eli's been hard at work at practicing his rolling. He can almost roll all the way over! In fact, by the time I finish this blog, he'll probably have mastered it! It seems like overnight he decided, "OK, I'm going to roll now." And BAM! He nearly has it!
Here is some footage of him practicing.

Kenya's 3rd birthday rolled around and we went to her birthday party at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch this past Saturday. Jadyn and Eli got to go on a hayride, and then Jadyn picked out pumpkins for Eli and herself.

We're getting excited for the holidays to roll in! Jay and I are also looking forward to getting away this weekend, kid-free. We're headed to Houston where Jay has an ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) conference. Hotel room, here I come!!! :)

Well, that's pretty much what's been rolling around over here. How about you?

Autumn = changes

2009-10-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year! The crisp cool air, the changing of leaves and falling to the ground, hot chocolate, and fires in the fireplace! It's also a great time to take up a new hobby....jogging! I have taken up this hobby in the past week. I did it once several years ago and even ran/walked in a 5k. It was one of the greatest sense of accomplishments I have ever felt. And then....I quit right after the 5k. Why? Who knows? But, I'm turning over a new 'leaf' (since it is Fall) and have begun again. I'm doing this program called C25K, which stands for from the Couch to (2) a 5K. It's designed for all of us who are couch potatoes and not used to any kind of excercise and get us running a 5k. It's a 9 week program and I am now on week 2. Week 1 felt great! I look forward to my walk/jog today as I start the 2nd week. To seal my commitment even more, I purchased a double jogging stroller off of Craigslist.com last week. I got a great deal on it for $70!!! It's practically brand new and hardly used!!! The kids love to go for a ride in it. In fact, the jogging stroller is sitting right next to the car in the garage, and whenever we leave to go somewhere, Jadyn runs to the stroller and climbs in rather than head to her carseat in the car. I have to pry her squealing body out of the stroller as I lift her into her carseat almost every time. AND, to go a step further in my commitment to live healthier, I am running in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. I'll be around week 7 of my training, so I'm not going to run as a competitor, but I will run nonetheless. My goal is to be a 5k competitor by April for Race for the Cure.

Eli will be 4 months old on the 16th. I know I always say this, but, man! Time flies! He's a bald baby now since I shaved his quickly-falling-out hair about a week ago. The new hair is already getting longer and it looks like he's going to be fairly blonde! :) I can't shower enough kisses on his adorable head! I figure the day is going to come when he'll squirm out of my arms, not wanting all of mommy's kisses and hugs, so I have to do it while he's too young to get away! ;)

Jadyn is about to turn 2 in a month. She is interested in potty training, but not yet serious about it. And quite honestly, I am not sure how much of it she understands. She doesn't seem to make a connection with the whole reward system, and I sure don't want to FORCE her to go potty, since she's not even TWO yet! So, I keep telling myself that we'll continue to sit on the potty at her own pace for a while longer. Most of the time, she'll sit on the potty, but GOING potty is another story! Even though she's 'pee-peed' twice out of the 50 million times we've gone, I don't think she still comprehends that when you sit on the potty, that's when you 'go'. You don't 'go' after we sit on the potty and pull the training pants back up. Sigh.

On another Jadyn note, she has changed from a toddler of any play toy, to a little girl who likes girly things. These days, she can be found carrying around her doll or My Little Pony. She likes to feed her doll and pat her, then put her in the Bumbo. Then, she'll pick up her doll, feed her, then put her in the Bumbo. And, repeat. :) I love seeing her carrying around her 'purse' or looking at herself in the mirror, or 'fixing' her hair after mommy already has. I love having a girly girl. She's starting to sit for longer periods of time too. She enjoys coloring and reading books. Her still all time favorite are BALLOONS! This child will spot a balloon from a mile away! She'll play with balloons for hours! (when you add up all the increments of minutes she plays with balloons, it really will equal hours!) She's even started calling me "momma" sometimes. A couple of times, she yelled "Mom!" from her crib, as she was ready to get out. When I went in there, I reminded her that I am still Mommy and that she was too young to be referring to me as "Mom" already! :)

Work has been kind of slow for Jay these days, but we're praying it picks up soon. He has an engineering conference coming up at the end of this month in Houston, and he and I are looking forward to the getaway time with no children. While he's at workshops, I'll be enjoying the quietness of the hotel room...sleeping in, reading books, watching movies all kid free! And of course, I'm still going to miss my kiddos! I don't think I'll ever get used to being away from them. Originally, we were going to take them with us, but I decided it was time for a little just 'us' time. :) Jay was really excited when I told him the kids were going to Grandma's. Haha! :) I'm looking forward to just 'us' time too. :)

Well, the chili is simmering and the family is ready to head out for a family 'jog' before dinner. Week 2 Day 1 of C25K, here I come! :)
Catch ya later!

Potty?

2009-09-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Time sure flies these days! Here I thought I'd be having more time to blog once I was a stay at home mommy, but time has yet to prove that I do. I think part of my problem is that I take pictures with the thought that they'll make good blogs, then I get overwhelmed with all the pictures I haven't blogged about!!! I have to remind myself that not EVERY blog needs pictures, right? :)

So, we have been busy around here. Busy with what? Well, with cleaning, playdates, shopping, naps, and good books, time gets away from us before we know it. I know, I know...hard life, huh?
I love going to the public library and picking out books for Jadyn and for me. Now that I'm home, I love that I finally have some time to READ! Jadyn loves to 'read' too. :) Our current book of interest is an ABC book about 'gogs' (aka dogs). Little Ms. Jadyn is nearing her 2nd birthday and is growing so much these days. I can't help but smile at how she says some of her words. Here are just a few for entertainment:
beghky - vitamin (why it comes out beghky, I have no idea, but it's cute!)
reesins - raisins
gog - dog
Micky - Mandy
Intrew - Andrew
Dagdy - Daddy
pock - park

Jadyn's also taking an interest in potty training. Over the past several weeks, I've been casually asking her, "Want to go potty?" "Potty!" So, we 'go', but until recently, nothing 'came'. The other night, when I once again sat her on the potty and sang the little "Pee pee in the potty....pee pee in the potty.....pee pee in the potty....pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss", SHE DID IT!!!! I was so excited that I had to contain myself from screaming out in excitement (less I frighten my little apprentice balanced on the toilet seat). We did the happy dance afterwards and celebrated with high-fives and 'good job'! That's the only time she's gone so far, but I figure that with my next trip to the store, I'll be buying pull-ups. :) Who thought potty-training could be so exciting! LOL

Jadyn's also in to feeding her doll now. She'll carry it around, feed it, rock it, and put it in the chair. It's very cute to watch her in action being a mommy. :)

She's also now understanding the concept that towers are not only fun to knock down, but you can build them again! She's finally stacking blocks. It used to be that she would just knock down what I built, but now she's self-sufficient at building and tearing down all on her own! :)

Mmmmm, chocolate ice cream!

This past weekend, we had fun going to the Rangers game....

and the Cowgirl Museum. Giddy up, horsey! Hold on, Eli!!! Jadyn's got the reigns!

So long! My man and I are headed for the sunset!

Eli is growing by leaps and bounds. He's only 3 months old but is now wearing 6 MONTH outfits!!! He's long in the torso, but short in the legs. Poor guy...he might be short like his daddy and mommy. :) But, good things come in small packages. He's cooing, gurgling, giggling, and smiling these days. He's also rapidly losing his hair. Unlike his sister who never lost ANY of hers, Eli will soon be bald. I foresee many hats in his future....I love my little man!
My cool friend, Michelle Monk, recently took Eli's 3 month pictures. These are just a sample of what's to come.

I am blessed... God is so good to our family. I thank Him that I am able to stay home with my children. I am thankful for the husband He has given me. May I never take a day with them for granted...

The love of my life...
"I have found the one my heart loves." Song of Solomon 3:4

Love Never Fails
1 Corinthians 13:8

Going to the park

2009-08-29T17:40:00.001-07:00

Jadyn's 1st Slumber Party/Cousins' Birthday Party

2009-08-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Jadyn experienced her first slumber party last weekend. Her cousin, Rebekah (4th from the left), had one to celebrate her 5th birthday! Jadyn had a lot of fun getting her nails painted, jumping in a bounce house, taking a bubble bath....

watching a barbie movie while eating popcorn and grapes....

and of course doing what girls do best...chatting at bedtime!

The next day was the birthday party and girls came dressed as their favorite Barbie and boys as their favorite Justice League Superhero.
Jadyn dressed as Ballerina Barbie.

Aunt Sara said she was Barbie and the Rockers, so mommy decided to be...
Fashion Girl Barbie! :-D

Every princess loves to look pretty! This was one of Jadyn's favorite areas of the party...getting to put on jewelry! She'll always be my princess...

Eli came dressed as Superman.
Great minds think alike.
Eli and his cousin, Josh, were the same superhero. Josh turned 7 and it was his party we were at. I can't believe that he's now 7!!! O, how time flies...

Happy 5th Birthday, Rebekah. We love you, little Princess!

Happy 7th Birthday, Joshua! You are our Big Superhero!

Sibling Resemblance

2009-08-23T13:41:00.001-07:00

Some people have asked how similar Jadyn and Eli looked at birth. I personally think they both look different from each other. I see the resemblance of siblings but Eli is definetely a "Little Jay". Looking at him reminds me of the baby pictures of Jay I've seen. :-D

Here are some pictures I dug up of my two little blessings to see how they compared around the same age. Doing so sure brought back memories of when Jadyn was soooo little. My, how time flies! But, don't we all seem to say that these days? I'm really trying to enjoy Eli's tiny-ness for as long as I can, because it won't last long. Before I know it, he'll be turning the corner of his 2nd birthday just like his sister is!

Jadyn - 3 days old

Eli - 3 days old

Both of them definetely have BIG cheeks! That is one resemblance they share. Eli tops the cake though on the size of his chubby cheeks, though! He has since 'slimmed down' and his chubby cheeks aren't quite as chubby. :-)

Jadyn - 2 weeks old

Eli - 2 weeks

Jadyn - 1 month

Eli - 1 month

It's amazing to me how similar they are in some ways, yet so different....each with their own personalities. They bring me joy unspeakable and bless me beyond measure. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for each of them.

I love being mommy to both of them...

Busy Summer Days...in reverse

2009-08-07T10:16:00.001-07:00

It's been really busy around here these days! I've made a few attempts to sit down and update the blog, but haven't been successful! And, boy, do I have several blogs waiting to be done! :)
But, here's a quick picture update to catch you up on our summer so far. And to make it a little different, we're going to go in reverse order!

Our little man is now 8 weeks old in this picture! By the time this blog posts, he'll be 9 weeks. This was his first time in the Bebe pod chair. He did pretty good and lasted several minutes in it before getting worn out from trying to keep his head up. He's getting stronger everyday, holding his head up longer, kicking his feet to move his body, and he's also cooing and smiling all the time! It melts my heart when he smiles and coos at me. I'd give him the world if I could every time he does that!

Our big girl is now sitting at the table instead using a booster tray. She's also pacie free! The day she turned 21 months old, we said bye bye to the pacie. Jay and I had decided it was time since she was starting to chew through them. Not wanting her to choke on them, we said goodbye. I let her put it in her mouth one last time as she and I walked to the trashcan that night at bedtime. I opened the trash lid and said for her to throw it in. Normally, she's really good at putting the pacie back in her crib or on the shelf (so she can't get it when it's not naptime) when mommy or daddy picks her up after naptime. But, there was no way she was going to throw it in the trashcan! She knew she wasn't getting it back once it went in there! So, mommy had to do it. And although, Jadyn complained a little bit that night, she did really good and fell asleep pacie free. The next morning, she even woke up with a smile! It's been 3-4 days now without the pacie. She's asked for it a couple of times, but all I have to do is remind her that pacie's all gone and she's fine. Now, she asks for her 'bwankie'. :-D It's funny that she's always had the blankie and the pacie, and it was always the pacie she asked for. She didn't skip a beat in now asking for the blankie since there's no more pacie.

Here's the pacie collection the night we said goodbye to them. (Can you say A LOT! LOL) Not pictured are the 2 I had already thrown away since they had been chewed through. I didn't have the heart to throw these away and have safely hidden them in a drawer high out of reach of Jadyn. They are one of my several reminders of my once baby girl....
The Sappington Family enjoyed a night at Six Flags on Aug. 7th. It was Jadyn's and Eli's first trip there. It was a very HOT and HUMID evening, but it was a fun one spent with family and friends!

Relatives come a calling!

Aunt Kim and cousin Heidi came for a whirlwind visit a couple of weeks ago. The picture above shows siblings (Eric, Stephanie (my mom), and Kim. Uncle Eric lives in Dallas and my mom lives in Mansfied. The picture below shows Aunt Kim getting to meet Eli for the first time. She had lots of smooches for him! We loved getting to see her and Heidi and look forward to our visit with them when we go to Phoenix in January!!!
We have had many playdates with our buddies this summer. One of Jadyn's best buds is Andrew. One day, we went to the mall to stay out of the heat and to play in their playplace and ride the carousel.

Going to the mall is fun for everyone and it's great at wearing out little bodies before naptime. :-D

Jadyn LOVES shoes! She likes to 'walk' around in daddy's and mommy's shoes. See the big smile on her face? Yup, my girl's a shoe lover! I can already tell she's going to also a lover of shoe shopping!!

I got to join my sister, Sara, and buddy Liz on a girls' weekend getaway. It was great to take a break and get away (Eli went along with us). We drove to Avinger, TX and stayed in a cottage where Liz's in-laws own property. We enjoyed the shops and sites in Jefferson, TX while there. Lots of laughs and smiles happened that weekend!

Jadyn also LOVES to dance! :)

She's quite the girly girl! She likes, shoes, dancing, hats, and...

jewelry!

My little Pigtail Pie is also a cleaner! Here, she's having 'fun' cleaning the floor! I wonder if that'll continue as she gets older....? hmmmm?

Eli's getting bigger all the time. He's more alert now...cooing and smiling. I love to just hold him and 'talk' to him. One of my favorite things to do is to lay in bed and cuddle with him.
Jadyn has become quite the copycat these days. She's such an observer and quick to learn. I 'caught' her one day (and several times after that) trying to pump just like mommy does. LOL!!! I had never even shown her how to do that. She learned just by watching mommy! I thought it was the funniest thing!
Chunky man snoozes while his Aunt Jenn graduates from culinary school.
He's our little pea pod...in more ways than one! This kid sure goes through his diapers! :-D
Here, he's chilling in the backyard while his big sister plays. Our times outside are short as it gets hot FAST!
Jadyn loves to play on her playground. Thank you to cousins, Josh and Rebekah, for passing it on to her after they outgrew it!!!

So, that's a quick update on some of what we've been up to! We've had many more playdates and friends come to visit us. Go to our Picasa web page to see who we've seen and what else we've been up to!

I hope to have more time to blog soon. One blog to come soon...how much Jadyn's baby pictures compare to Eli's... :)

Love you all! Goodnight

The many faces of Jadyn...

2009-07-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

The face of pure and unhindered excitement

She's getting so big and boy, is her personality really starting to come out! She has so many facial expressions that I thought I'd do a blog and pay tribute to her personality. :-D

I have this headband that Jadyn loves to put on. I never actually taught her how to wear it. She learned all on her own from watching me that it goes in your hair. I think she's going to be a girly-girl, which I totally love! Now, if she'd only sit still when I try to fix her hair...

The "I have stolen my mommy's heart because I'm so beautiful inside and out" face

The "I'm so silly" face

The "I don't want to hold him in my lap" face

The "I crack myself up" face

The "Huh?" face

The "I'm happy" face
I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her as she grows. I am honored to be a key instrumental part of her life and to be entrusted with raising her in the admonition of the Lord.

I love you, my sweet girl....
Love, Mommy

Catching up and settling down...

2009-07-10T13:42:00.001-07:00

Eli is now 3.5 weeks old...time is passing quickly! It seems like he's been with us always and already, we can't imagine life without him. He is such a GOOD baby! He hardly complains and is sleeping well at night, waking every few hours too eat. We have had some weight gain issues. I was nursing and he dropped a pound in the first 5 days of life due to latch on issues. It's normal for babies to lose 5-7 % of their birth weight in the first few days, but Eli had lost 13 %....not good! He went from 8 lbs 3.5 oz to 7 lbs 3 oz. Needless to say, I was quite shocked and very concerned. I saw a lactation consultant and got the latch on 'issue' fixed. He began eating MUCH better and slowly putting weight back on. I took him every few days for a weigh-in and even went and did a weigh-feed-weigh. That's where you weigh him, then nurse him, then weigh him again and you can tell how much breastmilk he took in (pretty cool, huh?). At the time, he was taking in nearly 3 oz! Granted, it took him FOREVER (and I do mean that!) to eat...on average, it took an hour...yes, an hour for him to nurse. But, it was worth it as he began gaining weight ounce by ounce. We took him for his 2 week check up last Thursday (even though he was already 3 weeks by then) and he was back up to 8 lbs again. Our pediatrician wanted us to do one more weigh in just to be sure Eli was still gaining. This past Monday, I took him in for that weigh in and he was still only at the 8 lb mark. I was so bummed. I had this feeling he just wasn't getting enough milk from me anymore, so that evening, we began supplementing feedings with formula. I began pumping so I could see how much milk he was getting from me. My feeling was right....for some reason, my milk supply has decreased. On average, Eli's eating 3-4 oz now at every feeding and I'm only producing about 1.5 oz. Yup, do the math and you see that's not enough for a growing boy. So, for now, he's getting 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula at each feeding until I decide to set aside the whole pumping thing. I took him in today for another weigh in and PRAISE THE LORD...I'm very relieved and happy to report that Eli's now a whopping 8.6 lbs!!! The pediatrician says he's doing great.

Jadyn is doing great with Eli. She loves her baby brother and is constantly giving him kisses, and is now bringing his pacifier to him. She'll walk up to his bassinet, stand as far as she can on her toes and try to see him in there. It's the cutest thing! :) She even loves to 'bounce' him in the bouncer and swing him in the swing. We have to keep an eye on her so that she doesn't 'bounce' him right out of there! haha! She'll be 20 months old in a few short days...20 MONTHS, people!!! My baby girl is getting so big! She's mastering all kinds of things these days. We've had to lower her crib mattress as she was on the VERGE of mastering how to climb over the rail (and heading for the concrete floor below!). Now the rail is up to her eyes! Haha! Try and get out of that! (Not really!) She's also mastered (ahem) how to take her clothes and diaper off and smear the contents of said diaper in her crib. (Nasty! Mommy is NOT happy with that one!!!). So, nap time now has to be done with a diaper on backwards so that our genius keeps her diaper on and the sheets stay clean! On a more prouder note, she's also starting to count 1-2-3 and is speaking more clearly on her words. Today, we were having lunch with daddy at his work when we heard the phone ring in the other room. Jadyn piped up, "Hewo?" It was sooo cute! Wherever we go, she wows people with her beautiful eyelashes and cute personality, taking only a mere few seconds to wrap them around her pinky. She'll blow you kisses and tell you 'tank woo' whenever you give her something. (Have I mentioned she's adorable???)

I'm getting more comfortable as a mother of 2 and learning through trial and error was to be more efficient and effective with taking care of them. Today, when I took Eli to the pediatrician, I put Jadyn on my back in the Ergo carrier so that she would be, ahem, contained and so that my hands would be free to take care of Eli. Let me just say that that doctor's office of staff thought that was the NEATEST contraption having her on my back like that! Jadyn loves to be close to mommy and was as happy as a lark in there. I kid you not that there were probably about 10 people in that office that came to our room in there to see us. Hahah!

God is good and as I look at my husband and children daily, I cannot help but think at how blessed I am. As we are slowly settling in and even more slowly finding a routine, I look forward to having quiet times with the Lord (as I already should be...), having time to scrapbook, make bows, have playdates, run errands, WORKOUT!, and serve the Lord in whatever capacity I can.

This is probably long enough, so I'll wrap up for now and leave you with the picture below. :)

Changes...A new season begins

2009-06-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I recently said goodbye to my teaching job and to my classroom and my co-workers of the past 4 years. It was a bittersweet moment for me taking this picture. I am sad to be leaving such a GREAT team and will miss seeing them everyday once school starts back up in the Fall. Yet, I am excited as I begin this new chapter in my life staying home with my kids. I know it's what the Lord has as the next step for me in my life and I look forward to seeing His Hand work. Below is from Monday, June 8th...my last day of work. That now empty classroom in the back has been mine for the past 4 years and holds lots of memories for me. I'm going to miss it. More so though, I am going to miss the people pictured with me and the ones not pictured. I can say without hesitation that I loved the people I worked with. They aren't just my coworkers, but they're my dear friends as well. I will miss you guys and look forward to coming to visit you next year! It's one thing to have a job, but it goes even further when the people you work with reach to your heart and leave lasting impressions. Love you guys!

This picture was taken on June 15th. I am 38 weeks and 5 days preggo here and literally about ready to pop. Jay and I were about to head to the hospital to get for my induction the next day. This is the last pregnancy picture taken of me (at least with makeup and not in labor) before my son was born. I have to be honest and say it was definetely a rough pregnancy for me there at the end (and for my husband as well who had to shoulder the family load alone while I was on bedrest! But he never once complained! I truly am blessed with a wonderful husband!!) I was glad to be taking this picture knowing this pregnancy would soon be over and the road to recovery would soon begin! The Lord is faithful and His strength is my strength. Even when I didn't think I could go a moment longer in this pain and discomfort of the pregnancy, He carried me through. Thank you, Lord.

And the Lord has blessed me with another gift....
My son, Eli James Sappington, is here! He was born June 16th at 10:30 p.m. after a looooong day of waiting for him to come! (Thank you to all you troopers who came to the hospital to wait out his arrival! I love you!) He is doing very well and is (so far...thank you, Lord....may it continue!) a content baby and sleeping well.
8 lbs 3.5 ozs
19.69 inches long
Happy Birthday, my son. The Lord has great plans for your life. I am priveleged to be your mommy!

Proud big sister, Jadyn got to hold her baby brother for the first time on June 17th. This is her facial expression every time she sees him. She is enraptured with him and loves to look at him and give him kisses. When she came in to meet him for the first time the night he was born, her face was one of complete amazement, and then it was followed with, "Uh-Oh!" Haha! I wonder what she meant by that! :) I am happy she is liking her baby brother. This is an adjustment phase for her as she's no longer the only child, but at least she likes the new addition to the family! :) For that, I am thankful and praise the Lord for answered prayer.

We are doing well around here. God has blessed us tremendously with great family and friends! Thank you to everyone who's taken care of Jadyn, sent us words of encouragments, visited us, prayed (and continue to pray) for us. God is so good and it's you guys who continue to show us that His Love Never Fails.

Love,
Shannon

Maternity Photo shoot

2009-06-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

We had the fun experience of getting a photo shoot with a photographer who is starting up her business. We had a really good time doing it and she seemed please with the photos she got. Her name is Michelle Monk and her business is Beautiful You Photography.

You can check out her website at http://www.beautifulyouphoto.blogspot.com/

Go to my picasa web album to view more of her shots and to also see updated pregnancy shots. http://picasaweb.google.com/shinnin1171

Baby update

2009-06-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we have reached the 37 1/2 week mark and baby boy has been on the move!
I went to my weekly midwife appt yesterday to discover that I'm still dilated to a 1 cm (for the 3rd week in a row, y'all....), but that things are 'loosening up' down there! We also learned that Baby boy has now turned himself head up! Yup, he's breach. My original due date was June 24th, but after a sonogram appt about 3 weeks ago, they moved the date up to June 16th. And now, after yesterday....it's been moved up to this Tuesday, June 9th! The plan is that I'll go in sometime Monday afternoon to the doctor my midwife works with. The doctor will do another sono to make sure I still have plenty of amniotic fluid in there (which as of yesterday, I do), and to make sure the umbilical cord is not around baby's neck. If all that checks out, then they'll give me a shot to relax my uterus and the doc (who's one of the best around!) will then do an aversion (he'll manually turn the baby back to head down). From there, we walk on over to Labor and Delivery (the doc offc is next to the hospital), check ourselves in, and that evening the nurses will insert cervadyl into my cervix to hopefully get the ball rolling and get my cervix fully ready. They'll then give me a sleeping pill and it's lights out for the night! Tuesday morning, bright and early, my midwife will come in and start the induction. So, if all goes according to that plan, we should be welcoming a VERY healthy and bouncing baby boy!

The alternatives if the aversion isn't possible Monday or doesn't work, then we either schedule a c-section or we wait it out til the 16th to see if he turns on his own. If I go into labor before he turns head down again, then it's a c-section as well. We know that either way, the Lord is in control.

Please be in prayer that he'll decide to turn head down on his own (thus no need for the aversion) and that labor and delivery will go smoothly. I've been put on bed rest for the weekend to get the massive swelling in my legs and lower belly to go down. It's been less than 24 hours since being put on bedrest, and I'm already bored, peoples! LOL

God is good. We can't wait to meet our son.

One Thing...and then some...

2009-05-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well, y'all, we're gettin' there....to the end of this pregnancy, that is. I'll be 35 weeks this Wednesday, and time sure is flying. I had the fun experience of having a maternity photo session this past Tuesday with Jay and Jadyn done by an aspiring photographer who is building her portfolio. We met at the Botanical Gardens, where the scenery was absolutely gorgeous! I look forward to seeing her results when she gets them posted. Here is her website: http://beautifulyouphoto.blogspot.com. She also has a blog, which she posted a humerous story about our experience with a SNAKE during our photo shoot. Go here: http://monkswife.blogspot.com/2009/05/still-herebarely.html. Her name is Michelle Monk if anyone's interested in maternity/birth/newborn pictures.

I had my checkup last week at the midwife's office. I get another sonogram this Wednesday! Yeah! When the midwife said she wanted to send me for another sono, I said, "Good! I want to see how big this boy is!" To which she replied..."Yeah...so do we!" LOL! Maybe we'll get to meet Baby boy about 3 weeks from now instead of 5! :-) That would be sweeet!

So, I was looking at pictures of my first pregnancy compared to this pregnancy. Here's a picture of when I was 38.5 weeks pregnant with Jadyn...2.5 weeks before she arrived.

And here's a picture of my 32 weeks along with this pregnancy. Granted, it was 3 weeks ago, but here you go...in this picture, I'm 8 weeks away from my due date....

What do you think? Am I bigger, smaller, or the same as last time????

On another note, I went to a Ladies' Annual Tea at my church this past Saturday. Now, I know what you're thinking...a bunch of old ladies in their big fru-fru hats sipping tea. Well, there were some of those, but actually, there were a variety of ages there. And, I have to admit, it is fun to get 'dolled' up and have a 'spot of teh'. And the food was scrumptious! But the best part of all was the time in the Word. It was very refreshing. The theme of the Tea was "One Thing". This came from Psalm 27:4 ...

"One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."

David, the Psalmist, wrote that the one thing that matters most is to seek the Lord. When we seek Him, everything else falls in to place. The Lord never leaves us lacking for anything. The point is that no matter what we face in life, no matter what we need, desire, or going through...the ONE THING we need is to seek Him....worship Him, spend time with Him, and He will take care of everything else.

"And the Lord shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

Oh, how good God is....
I am complete in Him...I have all I need, when I have Him.

Firsts and more...

2009-05-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

Jadyn continues to amaze us, sometimes on a daily basis! She's getting big so fast.

Not a baby anymore....a toddler she has become....full of energy...full of giggles...emotions....and personality.....

She's full of firsts these days.....
I was at a friend's house the other day and Jadyn was asleep in her pack n play in the other room. When she woke up, I went in to get her and found her smiling in there without any pants on!! She had managed to take them off! LOL This morning, when she was ready to get out of her crib and I went in to get her...I found her shirtless! There she was just a smiling and grinning at me. Her shirt...it was around her waist! She had somehow managed to get her arms out of the sleeves and the neckhole was around her waist! It was rather cute. I would have taken a picture if I could have found the camera fast enough! It was definetely a kodak moment.

Thursday morning, she came out of her room carrying a pink teddy bear that she had taken out of her play cradle (which she now likes to rock also). She was hugging the bear to herself and said, "Baby".

For the first time yesterday, she was digging through mommy's purse, then carrying it around the house. :)

She has been able to climb down from the couch for awhile now. For the first time a couple of days ago, she figured out how to climb ON the couch! She figured out how to hike that leg up just high enough to get a good grip and pull herself up. As cute as it is, it makes me nervous. Last night, she climbed up one side of the couch, and ran across it to the other side in pursuit of the cat. In her unsteadyness, she began to fall, at which my motherly instincts took over as I jumped out of the recliner and ran for her before she tumbled off the couch headfirst onto the concrete floor. I tripped trying to reach her and ended up sliding on my knees somehow to her before she went over. Needless to say, we were BOTH surprised at what just happened. She was just fine, but being 8 months pregnant, I was then nervous about baby boy. My stomach never hit anything, except my knees. After several minutes (probably in shock), baby boy began to move again. I took it easy the rest of the night as I was having all kinds of Braxton's after that! All is well though.

Within in the last week or two, she has taken to getting her pacie, snuggly, and blankie out of her crib and carry them around the house when she is sleepy. :) My little cuddle bug...

Here our precious Pigtail Pie is taking a nap in her new room...how peaceful they are when they are sleeping......sigh.

I am blessed.

Update

2009-04-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

As usual, it's been awhile. Let's get caught up, shall we? :)

Welllll, I PASSED with flying colors that silly 3-hour glucose test! Praise the Lord! Not too many people saw much humor in my looooooooonnnnnnnngggg blog about it, but I tried. :)

All is going well in this pregnancy thus far (Praise the Lord for that too). We did take a little trip to the maternal observation ward at the hospital last Friday night since I was having a few too many contractions. Everything turned out fine and Baby Boy is still tucked safe and sound in my womb. My midwife told me to slow down and take it easy for a few days. When I told a friend of mine that, she laughed and said I already move slow enough! haha....

We are still undecided on a name for our son...sigh. The Lord will reveal it in due time, I am sure. Hopefully before we take our son home from the hospital. ;)

Jadyn has become quite the toddler these days. She continues to amaze me with how 'big' she's getting and how fast she's growing. She 'talks' up a storm these days and has quite the personality to go with it. Her favorite fascination is with belly buttons...or 'beh buh" as she says. She likes to lift your shirt and poke her finger into your belly button as many times as you'll allow it too. :)

We finally got the pictures and wall decor hung up in Jadyn's room last weekend. It finally looks like a kid's bedroom! :) All we still lack for it is a hot pink rug and clothes hamper. (It's on my to-do list) Her room is echo-ey now since there is no rug to deaden the sound, so when she's complaining from her crib...it can be rather loud! She has also taken quite the attachment to her blankie, pacie, and snuggly. She can 'retrieve' them from the crib now when she wants. It's actually quite cute to see her dragging her blankie around the house. As cute as it is though, I hesitate to let it become too much of a habit, so that she's not dependent on them 24/7. So, I let her drag it around for a little bit, and then we go put it back in her crib. She'll usually have no problem with taking them and 'tossing' them back in there for later when she's laying down. I love spending time with her. I love it when she crawls in my lap with her blankie and pacie and cuddles up. It usually will only last for a short minute before she's wanting to play with my nose or 'beh buh' though. Still, I enjoy those precious moments with her. I love to watch Jay play with her and see her giggle as he tickles her and tosses her up in the air! I fall all the more in love with him when I see him spending time with her and taking care of her.

Speaking of Jay...what a wonderful hubby he is! He has been quite the worker around the house these days as he keeps up with house chores, organizing the garage, taking care of Jadyn, the lawn, and his pregnant wife. We are in the uncomfortable part of the last trimester of pregnancy, and he never complains about my lack of energy for anything (or my snoring at night due to pregnancy-induced stuffy nose...). I am truly blessed to have such a loving and godly husband who takes such good care of his family! I am looking forward to being able to hug him and cuddle up with him without this huge basketball in between us! :) I love my husband and I thank the Lord for him daily..... I am humbled by his servanthood and dedication to me and our children.

One last note of update: due to the swine flu going around the nation, my school district has closed it's doors through at least May 11th. We've had one confirmed case of it in a middle school, and to try and prevent it from spreading further, school's closed. So, I find myself with some unexpected time off!!! Wow! What to do!? Rest is at the top of my list....especially after completing two days of TAKS testing. I'm also using this time to catch up on my to-do list and to enjoy Jadyn and mommy time together before baby brother arrives in just a few short weeks. Have I said how much I love to spend time with her? :) OH, and I finally have time to update this blog too! :) In the words of my good buddy, Pam...How 'bout that?

Well, Jadyn's napping, or at least she's laying in her crib quietly, so I think I'll go use this time to relax and shower! :)

Coming soon...updated preggo pics and Jadyn pics!

Diary of a Hungry Pregnant Woman Doing a 3-Hour Glucose Test...

2009-04-12T13:14:00.001-07:00

Recently, I failed my routine 1-hour glucose blood test by one point. One point! If it hadn't been for baby boy measuring big the past few months, I probably wouldn't have had to do the 3 hour test, but alas, I did. The following is my "humerous" diary of this experience. It is intended to be funny....let's hope you find it as such....

Monday 4-6-09
In my attempt to improve my chances of passing tomorrow's glucose test, I am abstaining from all sweets and eating healthy. My day's already off to a rough start when I am running late for work and don't have time to toast my standard English muffin with peanut butter. As I run out the door, I weigh all fast food options and try to determine which one would be the most 'healthiest'. I opt for the breakfast burritos and milk from McDonalds over the sausage rolls from the donut place. As I scarf my breakfast on the way to work, I eye the bag of M&M's that are used as rewards (and bribes) for my students. I resist the temptation. Throughout the day, I am offered desserts at 2 separate times and pass that bag of M&M's all day long, yet successfully resist the desire for sweets. Dinner that evening consists of veggies and pork chops. Two hours later, I'm already hungry, but know I am pass the time of eating and must fast. My body is already missing food....sigh.

Tuesday 4-7-09
3:30 a.m.
AHHHH!!! My body is already feeling deprived of nutrients as I jump out of bed with a charlie horse in my right calf muscle! As it slowly subsides, I crawl back into bed and fall asleep.

5:00 a.m.
AHHHH! Again, my calf muscle is attacked by another Charlie Horse as I slide off the bed (literally, as my body is great with child) and once again, ease the calf muscle down. It's like my body senses it's desire for potassium as my stomach growls and I think of the bananas sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I look at the clock and realize I still have about an hour left of sleep, so i climb back in bed liked a beached whale and close my eyes and drift off to sleep, putting the bananas out of my mind.

6:30 a.m.
I hit the snooze button for the last time and crawl out of bed to get ready for the day. As usual, about half way through my morning routine, my stomach begins to growl. I try to suffice it with lots of water. It's only half satisfied, but it calms down. Knowing I'm going to be REALLY hungry once this 3 hour test is done, I pack myself a peanut butter and honey sandwich, grab a banana, and put them in my backpack full of school work. I leave the house and get in the car and it feels like I'm forgeting something.....Oh wait; I know...it's my usual breakfast. Sigh. Empty-handed, I climb into the 4Runner and head to my appointment. Along the way, it seems like every other radio commercial and every billboard that morning is advertising food. Sheesh! Do you know how many Sonic billboards I passed??? Focus..focus...focus!

8:00 a.m.
I arrive at the midwife's office prepared to see an empty waiting room all to myself. Afterall, they (the office staff) did say they schedule me for a day when no other patients would be there so I wouldn't have to deal with a waiting room full of wacky people! I step into the waiting room and ta-da! There's another preggo with her boyfriend and aunt (?) waiting. Not only is there someone else there, but she doesn't look happy to be there! Great! A preggo grump in the waiting the room! This should be pleasant. The nurse calls preggo #1 back around 8:20ish and I sit there patiently awaiting my turn. I am wondering when they are going to get this show on the road, because the longer they take to call me back, the longer it is until I get to eat. Just as I consider taking a bite of that PB and honey sandwich to tide me over, the nurse calls me back.

8:25 a.m.
The nurse directs me to the lab where the blood lady will take my first blood sample and then have me drink the sugar syrup, thus beginning my glucose test. I walk around the corner to the lab and there's preggo #1, sitting in THE one and only chair, sipping her sugar syrup drink (aka glucose drink), chatting away to the blood lady. After sitting in the 'waiting chair' for several minutes, I realize preggo #1's taking her sweet time to finish off the drink. I resist the urge to yell at her to hurry up as she's holding me up from getting in the chair! She climbs out of the chair while the blood lady runs to get her (preggo) some water. While she waits for blood lady to return, preggo #1 starts to chat with me. Turns out this is her first baby, it's a girl, and she's due the exact same day as me (June 24th), and she too is doing the 3 hour glucose test. How cool is that? Now, get out of my way, so I can start this test too, lady! Ok, so I don't really say that, because she is nice and hey, I'm nice too. Preggo #1, who has now become my comrade leaves back to the waiting room and I climb into the chair. Determined to be a good and positive patient, I greet the blood lady with a smile and ask how she's doing today. She's very nice and we've met before (after all, it was only 2 weeks ago that she took my blood for the 1-hour test). She does her thing while I look at the pretty pictures on the wall. Afterall, I make a better patient if I'm not watching the needle suck the blood from me!

8:30
Blood lady gives me a choice of either the orange sugar syrup or the clear sugar syrup. I have no preference, so she opts to give me the clear, as I've had the orange before. Unlike my comrade, I down the drink in about 3-4 drinks. Blood lady says she'll see me again at 9:31 a.m. and off I go back to the waiting room. I get back to the waiting room and set about pulling out my work to keep me busy. I take over my area of chairs and set up a system of inputing grades into the computer from the mound of papers I've brought along. About 15 minutes into this, I'm overcome with lightheadedness and feeling really blah as the sugary syrup begins to takes effect on my empty stomach and system. Ughhhhhh! This could be a long morning! I feel miserable! Throughout the next hour, I resist the urge to curl up in the chair I'm sitting in and close my eyes, especially since I can't curl up anyway as I have this huge basketball-sized stomach in my way. I plug on through continuing to input grades, all the while changing sitting positions every several minutes. At one point, I am sitting cross-legged on the floor working and doing my best to not be dramatic about how uncomfortable and lousy I feel, when the receptionist walks through the waiting room and asks why I'm sitting on the floor. "Trying to get comfortable," I reply with an amused grin. She grins back and continues to her destination. Meanwhile, my comrade and her entourage across the room carry on several kinds of interesting and not so pleasant conversations that I do my best to ignore. Preggo #1 gets up at one point and waddles across the room towards the exit to head to the restroom. She and I give each other sympathetic looks, and I tell her that this really sucks (as by this time, I've probably changed sitting positions about 10 times, and she replies, "I'm just trying to keep it down". Oh my! I am suddenly overcome with gratitude that I don't feel nauseated...just miserable, uncomfortable, and hungry. If I could just have some graham crackers or something , I know I'd feel better.

9:25 a.m.
My unhappy comrade and her boyfriend head back to the lab to have her second round of blood work taken. Aunt waits here and curls up in a chair. A couple minutes later, boyfriend returns for aunt and mumbles something about needing her back there. I pack up my papers and laptop and watch the clock to soon follow her. I wait until 9:3o and I too get up and head to the lab. I notice that one of the patient room doors are now closed as I walk down the hall. I am feeling woozy and VERY miserable by now and I'm wondering if anyone's ever passed out during this test. I make my way to the chair, a bit unsteady, but make it nonetheless to my destination. As I sit down, I ask blood lady if anyone's ever passed out during this, and she says no, that some tend to get nauseaus and throw up. THROW UP! Ugh! There's nothing more horrible than that! I hate to throw up! I begin to pray that the Lord will get me through this without vomiting and heaving, as I know there's nothing in my stomach since I haven't eaten in a week (it seems). Blood lady takes my blood and says she'll see me at 10:31. I get up and head back to my post in waiting room. As I pass the closed patient door, I hear the awful sounds of someone heaving her guts out, and I know it's my comrade. Ugh!!! I pick up my pace to the waiting room, sit back down, and again pull out my work, trying to take my mind (and my stomach) off of what I just heard. A few minutes later, my fallen comrade and her gang emerge and head to the exit and leave. Apparantly, throwing up disqualifies you from finishing this race. Again, I pray that the Lord will get me through this...

Over the next hour, I start to slowly feel better as the glucose syrup runs it's course. I only change positions about 7 times this time. There are a few times that I try to coax baby Ian/Eli from kicking me and somersaulting within in. He too is apparantly feeling the sugary effects and is hopping around in there like a kid on a trampoline! As this hour finishes, I am thankful that I am a little bit more steady in my walk down the hall to the blood lady.

10:31
As I sit in the chair, I comment to the lady that apparantly throwing up disqualifies you from the test (referring to my comrade). She said yes, and that depending on the doctor, most of the time, the doc will prescribe a nauseau pill and then have you come back and do it again. DO IT AGAIN?!??! Are you nuts?!? I resist the urge to tell her that if I pass out or vomit, that this is all she gets. There's NO WAY I'm doing this again! I decide instead to pray once again that the Lord will get me through this so I won't have to endure it again.

Over the next hour, I continue to feel a little bit better and I silently rejoice that the end is in sight! I can't wait to chow down on that PB and honey sandwich. I begin to pick up the pace a bit on the pile of work I've brought. I mind my own business as more patients come in and out of the waiting room (so much for no other patients, but hey, that's ok...I'm nearing the end of my test!) I'm concentrating on my work, when another patient walks in with her rambunctious 3 year old and her mother (Grandma). Both mother and daughter strike up conversation with me and feel the need to point out the obvious..."Oh, you grading papers! You a teacher?" Of course, their English grammar was not correct and I swallowed the urge to correct them, and just smiled and said yes. They then go about their business of filling out paper work and scolding the 3-year old to sit down and be quiet. They alternate the threats to him from that if he didn't behave, the doctor was going to come out and give him a shot and that they were going to take him to school because he didn't know how to behave. At least with the other patients who've come and gone, they've smiled and nodded at me, but were quiet for the most part. THIS patient and her entourage were NOT that way. The boy was all over the place and he knew that his mother's and grandmother's threats were empty. I tried to keep working and ignore the urge to tell the mother that in all that time she's wasted on telling her son to come sit down that she could have long ago just gotten up, spanked his rear, told him he needed to listen and obey, and set him in line. Instead, she's teaching him to be scared of doctors and school! She needed to be teaching him to listen to her the FIRST time.... Focus, focus, focus...input grades, mind your own business, you're almost done, Shannon! Not all parents parent in the same way...

11:25 a.m
I pack up my school work and things for the last time and eagerly watch the clock. I'm almost there! I'm going to make it through! YES!!!! I'm feeling pretty good despite the weakness from hunger and having my blood sucked from my body 3 previous times! At 11:30, I pick up my things and head through the door from the waiting room, and break out in the Rocky Balboa victory dance as I pass the receptionist desk and make my way to the lab. The nurses smile at me as I pass, and I am relieved to be on the last leg of this journey! Ok, so I don't really do the victory dance, but I could almost swear I hear the theme song from that movie! I get to the lab, get my last blood drawl, thanking blood lady and telling her that I hope I don't see her for quite some time after this. She laughs in total understanding! I leave the lab and head to my car. I can't believe it's over and I made it! I survived! I get to my car and quickly climb in and pull out the peanutbutter and honey sandwich from my backpack. I jump all over it like a duck on a junebug! I don't even care about getting out of the parking garage until I can get some sustenance in me. My body is weak with hunger and still feeling woozy, I make myself take my time eating it though. Whew! It's over...I made it! I survived and live to tell the story. I feel for my comrade who's going to have to repeat the process, though. No more starvation, no more sugary syrup, no more blood drawls for me! Yeah!!! I'm alive! I start my car and leave the parking garage, thanking the Lord for getting me through this ordeal. I call my husband and make plans to meet for lunch. I head to the nearest restaurant by my his work, where I debate ordering half the menu! Food....mmmmmm!

Pictures

2009-04-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Aunt Sara's yesterday and had fun taking pictures in the bluebonnets.
It was very windy and very chilly, but we had a lot of fun. This was Jadyn's first time and though she was hesitant at first, she soon got into the fun of it! We were all laughing and having a great time! Of course, when you have 3 young children, it's ALWAYS an adventure trying to get them all looking in the right direction in the right pose and with a smile on their faces AT THE SAME TIME! :-D

We even attempted a cute family photo, but it was not meant to be. Oh well... we tried! We definetely had fun, though!

This is Jadyn's second Easter. This morning, before we left for church, I took her picture with her Easter basket (before she got all wrinkled and dirty :-D). She didn't quite know what to do with her Easter basket, but as soon as I said, "Praise the Lord!", her face lit up and her hands started praising Him...and I got it on film! :)

May this Resurrection Sunday be not just about egg hunts and candy, but may the true reason and real meaning of it come alive in your hearts. Jesus died for our sins and He rose again just as He said.....He is not dead...He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Love,
The Sappingtons

What will his name be?

2009-04-05T12:28:00.001-07:00

Well, the naming poll was quite interesting on what Baby Boy Sappington should be called. 3 out of 5 of the names on there were no longer in the running, but added to the list just to have variety. :) The votes were quite interesting! Cobi is a name I liked, but Jay has never cared for it. Shiloh and JPS V are nice names, but didn't make the cut either. Which brings us to the last 2 names: Eli James and Ian James. When people ask me what we're going to name him, I always have to shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't know what to name him!" How ironic is it that here I was hoping for a boy this go around, yet, I have no name for him! So, let me give you a little history behind the meaning of both names...

Eli is Hebrew in origin and is a form of Elijah which means "The Lord Is My God".
Eli is also a form of Elisha which means "God Is My Salvation".

Ian is Scottish in origin and is another name for John, which is Hebrew for "God Is Gracious".

We like the meaning of both names. Eli is cool because it's totally different sounding than Jadyn. Ian is cool, because he would be named in honor of my brother, John.

James is carrying on the family name on Jay's side. James, just so you know, is Hebrew for "Supplanter".

I have this feeling that we won't know exactly what to call him until we see him face to face. I think this is one of those times that when you meet him face to face, then the name just clicks. Maybe it'll click before he arrives....which would be nice, because I am so indecisive!

So, what do YOU think??? Ian or Eli??? :)

God is faithful

2009-03-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, one of my goals when I stay home is to be able to update this thing on a regular basis. :-D
Here goes another update:

Our floors are done and we are pretty pleased with how they turned out. We have been in the process of moving everything back in. It's a slow, but steady process. I've never been so thankful to have my fridge back in the house! LOL It's amazing how appreciative we can become of everyday basics when we don't have easy access to them. Our fridge was in the garage for about 3 weeks, so every time you needed something out of it (which is like 15 times a day!), you had to go to the garage to get it! At least, we were getting more excercise! God is good and we are thankful to have the floors done and be settling back in. We are also thankful to our good friends, The Chadwicks, who let us stay with them while our floors were being done. Thank you!!! You are a blessing!

Jadyn is now 16 months old and blossoming so much these days! She is now starting to say more words. She'll now say "Eeee, Eeee" while she signs the word "Eat". She'll sing, "B-I-B-L-E, Bible!" She's adorable and is a sponge soaking up so much these days! It's crazy to think she's going to be a big sister in just a few short months! She's used to having a playmate, though, which is great. She LOVES to be with her buddies: Andrew, Kenya, or Elisabeth!

Speaking of baby boy Sappington...I put up a fun little Survey to the left of the blog screen. Here's your chance to vote for which name you like! :-) We've actually already pretty decided on a name, but we'd thought we'd have a little fun and see what our 'fans' vote for. So cast your vote! Polls close on April 2nd!

The Sapps just got back from a quick vacation. We had a great trip to Connecticut and New York with our dear friends, the Chadwicks, for a few days over Spring Break. Check out my Picasa web album for pictures from our adventure. Jay and I just celebrated our 3rd Anniversary a couple of weeks ago too. It's hard to believe how fast time has flown for us! God is good and faithful. I am blessed with a godly, loving man.

I am down to 12 weeks left of school...12 weeks!!! Sweet!!! That means only 14 weeks til Baby Boy Sapp debuts around here too. I am looking forward to the last 14 weeks of this pregnancy, but am enjoying my time with just having Jadyn. I am also looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom. It'll be an adjustment in many areas of our lives, but it'll be a good one, no doubt. I am looking forward to the challenge and adventure of being at home.

On one last note, but a very important one....please be praying for our friends who just learned this week that they miscarried. This was their first pregnancy and they had been trying for quite some time. Our hearts are broken for them. Please pray for the Lord's comfort in their lives as they grieve this loss. (We love you guys).

Love,
The Sapps

Long time, no blog...

2009-03-02T20:05:00.001-08:00

Life sure is busy these days! I am always checking others' blogs but have not found the time to update ours! In a nutshell, we are in the midst of home remodeling. We tore out the linoleum and csrpet and had the concrete stained last week. We are now the happy owners of stained concrete! That has been a big undertaking and we had to move EVERYTHING we own that touches the floor into the garage. We are truly thankful and appreciative to our dear friends, the Chadwicks, for opening their home to us while our floors were worked on. Staying at Hotel Chadwick has been a blessing to us. While the house is empty, we are taking advantage of that and are in the process of redoing ALL the baseboards in the house and painting. Jadyn's getting a new room so her little brother can move into her old room (since it's painted neutral). Jadyn's girly room should be done with painting by the end of this week so we can start moving her things in. :) We are also doing touch up painting around the house where needed. Oh, and the dust MESS that was left behind from having the top layer of concrete ground off!!! I'll be cleaning concrete dust off of things for MONTHS!!! Whew! But, praise the Lord that we can do all this and get it done. It should look really good when it's all finished.

I'm almost 6 months along in my pregnancy. Time is flying as life keeps us very busy. So, four months away from having a son to hold and 4 months away from being a stay-at-home mommy.

Prayer requests and praise reports:
Please pray for our dear friends, Curt and Mandy, who just learned of the miscarriage of their second child. Praise the Lord that He is in control and knows all things. Please pray for Mandy's body to heal quickly and the miscarriage process to be as painless as possible. Praise the Lord that He is the God of all comfort.

Praise the Lord for the pregnancy of our friends, The Murphy's! Kelly's in her first trimester and baby Murphy #1 is on it's way! Pray for a safe, healthy, and uncomplicated pregnancy for Kelly.

Please pray for our unborn baby boy that the pregnancy will continue to go smoothly and without complication. Pray that at the end of June we will be able to welcome a healthy baby boy into the world. It's our prayer that the Lord's will be done and Him be glorified. Everyday, Jay and I pray for a happy, healthy, whole, beautiful, and smart son. You know, when you look around you and you watch those closest to you go through the heartache of losing their child(ren), your heart breaks, and you realize what a true miracle life is and to be able to go full-term and deliver a healthy baby is an amazing miracle that God alone do. He is the giver and author of life. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to carry this second child and can only believe and trust in the Lord that all will continue to go smoothly for the rest of the pregnancy.

And I praise the Lord for each of you. You are invaluable and precious to me.

I love you all.

Good night.

Jadyn's baby brother...

2009-01-31T18:21:00.000-08:00

We went for our sonogram on Friday morning. Baby is measuring at 19.5-20 weeks along... right on schedule! We were excited to find out if we were having a boy or girl. Looks like we are getting a BOY! :-D Jay and I suspected it, but were happy either way. The baby was very active during the sonogram and didn't want to sit still for long, so the sonographer said she's going to lean towards it being a boy, but to not be set on it, just in case. We are going to have another sono sometime down the road (around 32 weeks, I think...?), so hopefully we'll be more sure then. But this sonographer was the second person to say she was voting boy. A couple of weeks ago, the nurse did a quick sono for us and that was her vote too! Soooo, it looks like it's a boy, but we aren't going to settle in on that til we know for sure! We are still deciding on a name, but I am making a list. As soon as I get through the name book, I'll post a fun survey and see what you vote for! We already have the girl's name: Annika Mae. Atleast, that's what we are pretty certain we will name her if it turns out to be a her! LOL Here are some video clips of the sonogram...enjoy!

In this clip ~ no, you are not seeing 2 heads! The sonographer would freeze frame a picture of the top of the baby's head on one side of the screen, then try to get a 'better shot' on the other side of the screen. Pretty cool feature.

To view more sono clips, check out my Picasa Web Album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shinnin1171

:)

Goodnight! May the Lord bless you as He has blessed us!

A Piece of Pigtail Pie's Life...and Our's

2009-01-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

This is her "I'm cute" look...she's realized that when she does this, she gets an 'awwwww'! LOL She's developing quite the personality too. It's amazing the 'pickiness' she's developed in foods and in playtime. She would much rather be close to mommy and daddy than off across the room playing with her toys. Yet, she's full of giggles and smiles! She's starting to say words, like "dad-dy!" and 'wow'. She's also mastered the concept of saying please (in sign language) whenever she wants something...including your food! It never fails that we will feed her and set her down to play while we eat our dinner, and she wants what we are eating! Even though she has a full tummy, she seems to find more for whatever's on your plate. As cute as she is with her 'please, please, please' for what's on your plate, we are trying to teach her that once she's eaten, she's done and no more snacking. Then, she pulls out the "I'm cute" face (see above)! Boy, it's hard to not give into that face! :) She brings us much happiness, and we can only imagine the adventure it will bring when we add Baby #2 to the family.

Speaking of which, we go Wednesday for our official sonogram. We will find out officially if this baby is truly a boy or was he/she fooling us a couple of weeks ago on the sneak peek sonogram. :) Please pray that all goes well and Baby Sapp is a healthy, complete, happy baby. We are happy with boy or girl. We just want him/her to be healthy. God is good and we are so blessed with the family He has given us. I love feeling the movements of this little one growing inside of me. I can't wait until he/she's big enough so that Jay and others can feel those little kicks too! :) And, our search for the 'right' name for the baby continues. If it is a girl, we have her name picked already. But, if it's a boy....he is still nameless! We have a list going, short as it is, but a list nonetheless, and we continue to work our way through the baby boy name book. I am nearly half way through this pregnancy...already! Time has been slow, yet fast at the same time! Slow, in seems like it's taken awhile for me to feel much movement, but fast in that I'm already half way!!! My headaches and migraines have subsided tremendously in the past couple of weeks. It's been a rough first half of the pregnancy and it's a relief to finally be virtually headache free. I haven't had to take anything but tylenol maybe 3 times in the past two weeks...that's GREAT for me! God is good!

Life continues to be busy in the Sapp house. We are getting ready to very soon have our whole entire flooring replaced with stained concrete. That'll be taking place in the next 2-3 weeks probably. We've been getting bids and meet with our last contractor on Wednesday. Our dear buddies, Curt and Mandy have graciously allowed us to stay at the Chizzlewick hotel while our house is under construction. Speaking of them...they too are expecting baby #2! It's exciting to see what the Lord's unfolding in their lives. Looks like Baby Chizzlewick #2 will debut sometime in September! Yeah for babies! We have several other friends that are either pregnant, going through final adoption process, or working on 'expanding' their families as well. It's so neat to see God working in each of their lives and we are blessed to be a part of their lives.

Well, I was supposed to work on laundry and school work tonight...none of which I've done! Sigh...oh well. I should atleast make some kind of effort and go change the sheets on the bed. My dear hubby has helped tonight by putting away the laundry that's already been cleaned and stripping the desperately needed-to-be sheets from our bed. Did I mention what a wonderful man he is? He never complains for my lack of being able to keep a clean house, or of my preggo hormones and mood swings, or of the fact that I can never seem to get the laundry ALL OF THE WAY FINISHED! LOL He is a blessing and completes me. I love my husband and am blessed to be his wife. He truly is a gift from the Lord and one of the best things that have ever happened to me! I love you, Jay.

"I have found the one my heart loves."
Song of Solomon 3:4

On a funny note...Sara (my twin sis) and I turned 31 a little over a week ago. Jay bought me a WII for my birthday (thank you, honey!). It was quite a blast having family and friends over that night and playing the Wii. This is what boxing looks like for a spectator...LOL! Enjoy as Sara demonstrates boxing. :-D

Pregnancy update

2009-01-15T17:42:00.000-08:00

We went to our 4 month check up yesterday. Baby's heartbeat sounded good and everything went well. We weren't scheduled for a sonogram, but nurse Janet was very gracious to let us try and take a sneak peek at what Baby Sapp is...boy or girl. The good sonogram cart was in use, so we had to use the 'dinosaur'. The picture below shows her pointing at a certain part of Baby. The angle of the sonogram in this pic would be if we were looking up at the baby who is in a sitting position. The video that follows under the picture is the actual footage we got from the sono. Tell us...what's your vote, boy or girl? :-) We won't know for sure until our REAL sonogram in 2 weeks, but we are atleast pretty sure which sibling Jadyn is getting!

And, here are a couple of pics of my pregnancy so far. I've been reluctant to take them this time around as my first pregnancy has left me more flabby than I started with! Nonetheless, here you go. Now, that my belly is actually starting to look preggo and not just chunky, I'll try to take more pics on a monthly basis.

12 weeks

Almost 17 weeks

Roadtrip to Phoenix

2009-01-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

The Sapps set out for Phoeniz, AZ on Friday, the 26th for a week long stay, visiting family. We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing our loved ones. Jadyn did a really good job on the road. We traveled at night so she'd sleep most of the way. I posted pics of our trip on our Picasa web album. Go check it out @: http://picasaweb.google.com/shinnin1171. We rang in the New Year with our aunt Carol and uncle Jim. Jadyn even joined in a little bit of the dancing while we watched the ball drop in New York. Tried as I might, I was unable to stay up til midnight in Arizona, but I did make it til midnight, Texas time...barely! :)
We are back safe and sound and as ready as we'll be to return to work tomorrow. We took down the Christmas decorations today. It's hard to believe the year is now 2009. We look forward to what the Lord has in store for this year and our prayer is that we will be ready and always listening for His voice.

We love you guys! Enjoy the pics!

Ephesians 5

2008-12-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

For the first time in a long time, I had a quiet time reading my Bible the past two mornings. Time and time again, I find myself drifting away from the Lord. I get so caught up in MY life and MY world that I forget about Him and spending time with HIM! It never fails that when I drift from the Lord, I open myself up to the attacks of the devil. I find myself under spiritual, mental, emotional, and even phyical attack. It's like swimming and playing out in the ocean. You get caught up fooling around or beating the waves, and before you know it, you've drifted and then you find yourself trying to stay afloat in the ocean and you struggle and struggle and can't understand why you are going through all this trouble and getting nowhere. The ocean is no longer fun. It's drowning you. Then, you realize, "Oh, yeah, just put your feet down on the Solid Rock, Shannon." When I take my eyes off the Lord, it doesn't take long before I'm struggling. My wonderful husband helps me realize that I've taken my eyes of the Lord and gets me back to the Solid Rock. Jay is my helpmate, my best friend. I am so thankful that the Lord gave him to me. Together, we help each other and grow in our marriage as we grow in the Lord.

So, I was reading Ephesian 5 today. What an awesome chapter! The 4 main topics are: Walk in Love, Walk in Light, Walk in Wisdom, and Marriage. It hit me how we are to walk in love....total unconditional love just as Jesus Christ has shown us. He died for MY sin in MY place so that I can accept the FREE gift of salvation from our Father in Heaven. He didn't have to do that. God's Word, the Bible, says that the cost of my sin is death. Every mistake I've made, every rule I've broken, every commandment I've broken... God says that the penalty is death. Yet, Jesus took my place, paid for my sin so that I can not only have everlasting life and get into heaven, but so that I can have a RELATIONSHIP with the Lord. So many people believe that just by going to church or believing in a god will get them to heaven, but that's not so. There's so much more than just filling a pew or seat on Sunday. It's about relationship. We are to love God and be imitators of Him. In Eph. 5, it says to be imitators of God as dear children. As I think about that and I look at Jadyn, I think how she so openly and willingly loves people. She is trusting, nonjudgemental, and happy. Whenever I don't feed her soon enough or change her diaper soon enough or even spend enough time in the day with her, she still greets me with a smile and open arms. It doesn't matter to her if I look nice or smell good or have done great things. She still loves me....unconditionally. That's how I'm supposed to imitate Christ.

The next part of Eph. 5 says to Walk in Light. Jesus is the Light of the World. We live in such a dark and fallen world...I can't even watch the news anymore without being disturbed of all the killings and robberies going on around us. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light...finding out what is acceptable to the Lord." (Eph. 5: 8,10). Things we try to hide from the Lord by keeping them in the dark will become the next area of attack in our lives. When I have something bothering in me in the back of my mind and I don't deal with it, it continues to fester and grow and before I know it, at some point, it can become a stronghold in my life. "But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light." (Eph. 5:13). When I don't hide things from the Lord or even from my husband, for that matter, I don't leave room for darkness to grow. I turn it over to Him and where there once was darkness, the Light of Christ now shines. Not to say that the dark corner won't try to return, but as long as I turn it over to Christ, and then His Light will overcome. Think of how powerful a little match is when it is lit in a dark room...the Light of Lord is beyond measure of that! My mind cannot grasp that! Those who don't know the Lord, have not given their hearts to them, they walk in darkness. Many people don't even know it that they are walking in darkness...no hope, no light....they are a dead man walking. But Eph. 5:14 says "Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light". It says He GIVES you light...no strings attached! It is a free gift! Praise God! How thankful I am for the Lord's Light in my life. I pray that His Light shines through me that when people look at me, it's not Shannon they see, but Jesus Christ shining through me....

Then there's Walk in Wisdom. Walk in the Wisdom of the Lord. He gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us and give us wisdom. The days are evil, full of foolish men. We must be careful and walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil. "Redeeming the time".....How soon until the Lord's return? How much time do we have here on Earth. All you have to do is turn on the news and hear of global warming, wars, killings, robberies, earthquakes, fires, this and that and you wonder...how long do we really have? How long do I have to tell people that there is a God Who loves them and saves? Redeeming the time....

And as fear so often tries to set within my mind and heart, I know that I cannot live in fear. His word says in Eph. 5:20 "Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". I thank Him that in the midst of this fallen world, in the midst of the darkness around me...I have Hope, I have the Light of the world...I have Jesus Christ living in me and the Holy Spirit guiding me. And I know that this world may fall away, but the kingdom of heaven will not! I know that when the Lord returns for His Bride, the church (all those who believe in Him), I will be ready! That leads into the last part of Eph. 5...Marriage. God compares the church as a bride preparing for her groom. Jesus is the Groom and He will be coming for His bride...the church. Eph. 5 talks about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church, even giving Himself for her. And just as wives desire love, husbands desire respect. I need love and my husband needs my respect. I am to respect my husband. He is the spiritual leader of our family. Just as Christ deserves my respect as He is the Groom and I am part of the church, the Bride. I pray often that Jay will continue to seek the Lord and that the Lord will give him wisdom as he leads this family.

Eph. 5 has so much in it! I can chew and meditate on it for days and I think my mind would still be blown away at the Word of God. I know this is long, but it's my thoughts...jumbled as they are. I am thankful to the Lord for saving me. I am thankful that He is my Light and my Salvation. I'd be lost without Him....

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

\]]We had a great time this Christmas spending time with our families. We woke up Christmas morning...surprisingly, before the kids! As we waited for the kids to stir (and the rest of the adults, for that matter, we enjoyed sitting around the table eating Christmas breakfast that Dad has made. For the first time in 8 years, all of the family woke up Christmas morning at my parents' house. It was a fun time.

Jadyn was all smiles as we began to gather in the living room! Before we began opening gifts, Dad said a prayer thanking the Lord for His Best Gift of all...His Son, Jesus Christ. We give gifts as we celebrate His precious Gift. Happy Birthday, Jesus....

Rebekah and Josh, my neice and nephew, were very excited to start opening gifts!

Meet my brother and sister, John and Jennifer. John is 28 and a police officer and Jennifer is 23 and in culinary school. In this picture, neither look excited, but don't be fooled...they had a good time! :) I love my bro and sis and am so proud of each of them. It was great to get to spend Christmas with them.

My beloved husband...he never ceases to amaze me in his love and thoughtfulness. He was one of the best gifts the Lord's ever given to me! He is too cute! I love you, my one and only!

I love this picture of how Dad and Jadyn are looking at each other....You can see how much Dad just loves her and Jadyn finds him quite curious! :-) Love you, Papa!

I love the look of anticipation on her face as she starts tearing the present open. She didn't quite get fully unwrapping gifts this year, but she was definetely liking the sound of tearing paper! She got a cabbage patch in this present. It's a twin cabbage patch and her cousin, Rebekah, has the other twin. This is cool because each cousin has a twin cabbage patch AND they each have a twin mommy! :-)

The best part of Christmas is being with the ones you love...

I love this time of year!

Jadyn's officially walking!

2008-12-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Jadyn finally did what we've all been waiting for...she took off walking! We couldn't catch it on video until today. All of the sudden, she's decided she's done with crawling and walking's the way to go! It happened just like I thought it would...she would just decide to take off! And she has! Enjoy! We are very proud of her! :)

Hello again

2008-12-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

Hello all our fans! It sure has been hard to find time to update this thing since going back to work! Sheesh! I miss blogging on a regular basis! :) Well, here's our update! I am now 12 weeks along in my pregnancy and am starting to feel better now that I'm at the end of my first trimester! Whew! 12 weeks already! I'm definetely wearing maternity clothes! At work, my students enjoy keeping track of baby Sappington's growth. Every couple of weeks, we measure out how much growth it has made. Everyday, several of them ask me how Baby Sapp is doing. It's very cute! :) We should find out around February whether Jadyn's getting a brother or a sister!

Speaking of Jadyn, she is such the cutie! Her newest achievement is saying, "Yuck--kee!" Haha! Jay taught her that! She says it for everything! We've learned that she is allergic to dairy....at least to milk. For the past 6 weeks, we've been trying to figure out what's going on with her. It started when she woke up on a Sunday six weeks ago today, covered head to toe in a rash. Her skin color was also turning an orangish yellow. After several weeks and a few different treatment approaches, we took her to another doc who had us take her off all dairy and carrots. In a matter of 2 weeks, her skin is completely cleared up except for a few patches of excema and her skin tone is not so yellowish-orange. We take her in tomorrow for bloodwork (per our request). We want to make sure there's nothing else going on internally, as she's still a bit yellow. We are also going to schedule her for allergy-testing to find out specifically what she's allergic too. In spite of it all, she still remains her happy, bright-eyed self! What a blessing she is! We love our Pigtail Pie!!!

On an annoying note...maybe someone out there has advice. Our cat, Gretta, is 3.5 years old. About 2 years ago, we got another cat, and Gretta began acting out by peeing on our futon. We thought it was Squared, our other cat. The peeing increased when Jadyn was born and has gone downhill since then. She pees on the carpet (futon's been gone since shortly after we got Squared). We figured out that it was Gretta when we caught her in the act!! All this time, we'd been blaming Squared. We have tried EVERYTHING we can think of! We changed the type of litter, we added another litter box, we've cleaned the litterboxes daily, we've tried different chemicals to clean the spots she's marked as well as to keep her from going back to there, we tried foil, we've moved her food to those spots, and so on. Our latest endeavor was buying the litter robot (very cool invention, by the way). It will eventually pay for itself by saving in cost of litter. It is on a timer and self-cleans every time it's used, so the litter stays fresh. We are going to have to replace the carpet, no doubt. Our house STINKS!!! It's horrible! Gretta won't use the new litterbox and now defecates on the floor. Every day, Jay's having to clean up poop and treat that area, in hopes she won't do it again. Gretta's a part of the family, and we are not wanting to get rid of her. Jay jokes that we need to get the cat whisperer here! :) We are going to start looking into bids on stained concrete to replace the carpet. It has to go. Our house smells bad, and defiled! Gross! Sooo, any other advice!!???

We are looking forward to Christmas break! After Christmas break, we're going to Phoenix to visit family! I can't wait to see all our family, especially my grandparents and Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim!! :) My aunt Dorothy's turning the big 5-0 while we are out there too! whoo hoo!

Well, there's more to write, no doubt, but presents need wrapping and Christmas cards need addressed! :) I hope to update a LOT more on my Christmas break!

Love you guys!

Life of a 1 year old...and other things....

2008-11-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

Well, my week off from work is now over. It didn't go quite according to plan, but I can't complain. I still enjoyed being off. My plans of visiting friends, coffee with my twin sis, making hairbows, and blogging all went down the tube as Jadyn and I have been sick all week. Tuesday, we both woke up with colds and have been trying to get over them all week. Now, both of our colds have turned into infections. I'm now on antibiotics and I have a feeling she soon will be too. But, praise the Lord for medicine! :) And, I wouldn't trade this week off with her for anything. I am so thankful for my family and for this gift God has given Jay and I. Jadyn is such a joy and happy little girl. She definetely lights up our lives. I can only imagine what joy the next little Sappington growing inside of me will bring. Sometimes I can't imagine having so much love for more than one child...but, I hear it comes naturally. :) God is so good to us.

Here, Jadyn sports her new ride...she digs it. She seems to like facing forward. She can definetely see what's going on around her. The cool thing about this car seat is it's a 3-in-1...which means it eventually converts to a booster seat that she can be in til she's like 8-9 yrs old. AND, it has received great reviews. It's a Graco Nautilus, in case you are interested. :)

I didn't really get any good pictures of Jadyn on her birthday. Note to self...at birthday parties, designate someone to take pictures...otherwise, you aren't going to end up with many. So, I put her birthday bib on her and took a picture of her with her birthday balloon. She's such a happy 1 year old!

On another note...Jay and I went to put Jadyn to bed the other night and this is what we found! Looks like Jadyn's not the only one who uses the changing table. Seems Gretta has found a new place to relax. :)

Jay and I became offical participants of Black Friday. We got up at 3 a.m and were hitting our first store at 4 a.m.! It was a really fun time! We joined my dad, Sara, and Fidel and all the early bird shoppers catching GREAT deals! Suprisingly, customers and employees of every where we went were nice and even had a sense of humor. I was impressed. Now, I'm curious to know how it was by the end of the day. :) Jay and I were able to get most of our Christmas shopping all done. I am definetely hooked on Black Friday! It was sssssawwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Until next time...

Happy 1st Birthday, Jadyn!

2008-11-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

Our Pigtail Pie is officially ONE! I can't believe it! This past year has flown by in the blink of an eye. I am so thankful to the Lord for this precious gift! Jadyn means "God has heard". The Lord heard my desire to be a mom, and He answered. I am blessed beyond measure! From the day I knew she was growing in me, I couldn't wait to meet this precious one. Then, finally, the day came when she made her entrance into this world...and she's had my heart eversince. I love her with all my heart. It's amazing how true it is that you would give your very life for your child. And then I think how the Lord God did that for us, His Children...He gave His Son so that we can have everlasting life...to have a relationship with Him. There's nothing I wouldn't do for my child. I am amazed at this little being that the Lord created. What plans does He have for her life? What does He have in store for her? What will she grow up to be? ("For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11)

I love watching my husband be a father to her. It's one of the most endearing qualities about him. I love how he prays over her and me in the mornings before leaving for work. For Jadyn's birthday, he brought her home a bouquet of flowers. Her face lit up when he said, "Here you go, Jadyn. Happy Birthday!" It was priceless! My husband is the sweetest, most caring man on this planet! :-)

For her party, Jadyn looked so cute in her little matching crown, onesie, and tutu. Surprisingly, she even kept the crown on for the most part! She didn't quite know what to do with the cake, but it didn't take her long to make a mess! :-

Jadyn, one year ago....

To Jadyn, now...

I love it when her face lights up in a smile...my little Bright Eyes. She can light up a whole room! I love you, Bright Eyes....Happy 1st Birthday, my love.

Love, Mommy.

Thank You, Lord, for this precious gift You've given me....

Melody Hope and Madison Joy

2008-11-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

Our dear friends, Jason and Vanessa, welcomed and said goodbye to their precious twin baby girls this evening. For those of you who don't know the story, go check out their blog, Good Times Delgado Style. When Vanessa was approximately 20 weeks along in her pregnancy, they found out she was carrying conjoined twin girls. The girls shared a heart and a liver. Jason and Vanessa have been an AMAZING witness of the Lord through this entire journey. The outpour of support they have received and will continue to receive in the upcoming days to follow is a testament of God's love. Madison Hope and Melody Joy were born via c-section around 6:25 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2008. And they passed into Heaven a little after 7 p.m.

Tonight, as I held those precious baby girls who were no longer living on this earth, I was amazed at God's creations. Amazed at these perfect baby girls who were blessed to have such a loving family. I am in awe of God's sovereignty and am reminded of King David who pleaded before the Lord without ceasing to save his infant son from death. When the infant passed away, David rose up from the floor, cleaned himself off, and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. (2 Samuel 12: 16-23) David continued to give praise to the Lord. Even though God had not given David the answer he had hoped for, the Lord had answered him nonetheless by taking the child to be with Him. God's answer may not always be what we want to hear, but He is faithful and He is Sovereign. He is our great Comforter and Healer. I find comfort in knowing that Melody and Madison are in the arms of Jesus and wait for their family and for the family in Christ to one day join them as we worship our Heavenly Father. They have forever touched my life...

A song that kept coming to mind throughout the afternoon and evening was this...
God is so good
God is so good
God is so good
He's so good to me

He answers prayer
He answers prayer
He answers prayer
He's so good to me

God is so good. I will praise Him at ALL times. His praise shall continually be on my lips. In all things, I will give thanks unto the Lord.
Thank you, Lord, for Melody and Madison. The love we have for them can't even compare to how much you love them... May Your comfort and peace envelope and surround Jason, Vanessa, Destiny, and all their families and loved ones...

In the words of our friends, the Delgados...to God be the glory. Amen.

Harvest Time

2008-11-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I've even had TIME to update. I miss blogging....I find it rather relaxing. But, work keeps me so busy and first trimester pregnancy nauseau keeps me blah and tired all the time that I do good just getting Jadyn taken care of in the evenings. And even then, I have to rely on Jay a lot to even do that! I don't know what I'd do without my hubby. I sure am blessed! He keeps the house from being a total wreck. Nonetheless, all is going well here. We are enjoying watching Jadyn change and grow before our eyes. She never ceases to bring smiles to our faces! :-D Here's a little (or long) update on what's been going on in our world the past few weeks.

We had a great time going out to a local pumpkin patch on Oct. 18th. Jadyn had her first ever Pumpkin Patch experience. She got to share it with her good buddy, Drew. Go check out our Picasa website for pictures of our little Punkin' and her pumpkin patch experience.

October is a busy month for family birthdays! My (Shannon) brother turned 28, then came Dad's (Sappington) birthday a few days later. Then, it was time to celebrate Joel's (Jay's bro) birthday. But, wait! We aren't done! Jed's (also Jay's bro) birthday followed several days later! :-D Here is a pic of the Sappington brothers in order from oldest to youngest (funny too that Jay's the oldest yet the shortest :-D). Jay, Joel, and Jed.

We recently signed on a gas well lease (just in time, too). Using part of the money, we bought a new flat screen HD TV at a discount (said it was slightly damaged, yet we can find no problems... :-D). Here, Jay and Jadyn share a fun moment...I'm not sure if Jay's excited and celebrating his new 'toy' or if they actually had a funny moment. Who cares though, right? Nothing warms my heart when I see my husband play with his daughter. God is good...I am truly blessed.

This past weekend, Jadyn and I tried out a waterbabies class at Emler Swim School. It was a free orientation class to see what they teach and how. I liked it....Jadyn loved it! She LOVES to be in the water! We are now deciding if we are going to take the plunge and enroll her in the spring semester. It goes from January to June, every Saturday, for 3o minutes. By the end of it, she should know basic water survival skills: know how to turn around and swim to the edge of the pool and hold on, if she were to fall in; hold her breath for up to 8 seconds; and did I mention how to swim?

One of Jadyn's latest accomplishments is standing for several seconds with no problem. In fact, I've even seen her go from a crawling position, to squating, on up to standing. She's even taken a few steps with coaxing! She's taken her first steps, but she has yet to put them all together and take off walking! But, that will all come in the Lord's timing. In fact, the day has already come when we look at her and say, 'How did you grow so fast?' Today, when I was at work, I put on my coat to go outside. When I did, I reached into my pockets, and with surprise, I pulled out one of Jadyn's pacies from last winter. It was so little! Just like she used to be! Where has the time gone? In just a few short days, our little bright eyes is turning one....what a blessing she is to us. She's brought such joy and happiness to my life. I am amazed at how one minute, she looks like her daddy, and then in an instant, I see resemblances of me. What an awesome creation the Lord has made!

Last for now, I am about 8 weeks along in my pregnancy. So far, it is very similar to how it was with Jadyn...all day nauseau, spicy food cravings.... Could this mean it's another girl??? :) Time will tell. I go for my first appt on Nov. 18th with the midwife. I'll be about 9 weeks then...maybe I'll get a sneak peak sono then??? We don't care either way if it's boy or girl...we just pray for a healthy, happy, beautiful, calm baby. ('For the Lord knit you together in my inmost being...before I ever knew you were there...' - found in the Psalms. When I get a chance and am more awake, I'll post that scripture. The Lord brings it to my mind so often during my pregnancies.... How faithful He is....

Well, it's past my bedtime. Another thing about being pregnant...I can't stay up late anymore and hang with the big dogs...too tired. :) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Until next time!

Love Never Fails

Jadyn has news!

2008-10-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

To be fulfilled June 2009! :-D
Stay tuned for Sappington #4!

Heavy Heart

2008-10-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

My heart is heavy this evening as I think about some things in life around me. You know how life has a tendency to change relationships over time and friends come and go? Whether the Lord moves them elsewhere or they feel drawn away, change happens. Sometimes it's immediate, and sometimes it's gradual and impending. Well, this has been happening in my life with some of my very close friends over the past couple of years, and it really bums me out, to be honest. I am not one to take change lightly or easily, and it really saddens my heart when I think about all of the 'gang' that used to hang out together, and it's not so anymore. There's a few of us that get together from time to time, and I really enjoy those times. I just wish sometimes that we could go back to yesterday... Life has become so busy, beliefs have changed, kids are a factor, as well as distance too. Why do things have to change? (Rhetorical, I know). Sometimes, I feel like I am looking around me and wondering, Where did my friends go? Now who will I play with, talk with, confide in, share with, shop with, laugh, cry, pray.....???? I am sure some of you are saying the same thing about me as I am always busy with work, family, house, life, etc. I know, I know...you are saying.. "We are right here. We haven't gone anywhere!" Truth is, I fear being alone (without friendship). I have my beloved husband who's my bestfriend and Godsend who is wonderful! I dread/grieve the day when my bud, Mandy, moves away. She's been one of my dear best buds these past several years. I can't imagine not having her around the corner anymore. I know, I know...I can't get swallowed up in the what-if's or self-pity parties or worry about bridges that are not yet here to be crossed. I guess I just needed to unload and be transparent for a minute... I need a hug....sniff!

Ok, now enough about me...

A much-needed change of subject, another reason why my heart is heavy....please pray for my dear friends, the Delgados. They are really going through it and I can't even imagine being in their shoes. Vanessa is just a few short weeks away from the end of her pregnancy and they struggle with what little time that means they could have left with feeling the life of their conjoined twins move within her. Please be in prayer for my dear friends. God is a BIG God...there is nothing too hard for Him. I know that the Lord will heal Melody and Madison...whether it's here on earth or in heaven. It is amazing how much these babies have touched so many lives out there through their story.

I pray for Jason and Vanessa, Lord, that Your hands of comfort and peace are wrapped around them right now. Lord, You are a God of comfort and You are Jehovah Jireh, my Provider, and Jehova Rapha, my Healer. I pray that You lay Your healing hands be upon Melody and Madison at this very moment...that you work a miracle. To You be praised....

God Answers Prayer

I know not by what methods rare.
But this I know, God answers prayer,
I know that He has given His Word,
Which tells me prayer is alwasy heard,
And will be answered soon or late,
And so I pray and calmly wait.

I know not if the blessing sought,
Will come in just the way I thought,
But leave my prayer with Him alone,
Who's will is wiser than my own.
Assured that He will grand my 'quest,
Or send some answer for more blest.
Author Unknown

Trip to the Fair - finally posting

2008-10-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago, our bro, Jed, came to spend the weekend with us. He's never been to the Texas State Fair. So, on Saturday, we packed up the car and headed to Dallas. Jadyn was quite fascinated by her surroundings. She couldn't fall asleep because there was so much going on!

What's a trip to the fair without trying out their unique creations. Here, Jay tries out chocolate-covered strawberry waffle balls. It was literally a chocolate covered strawberry fried in waffle batter and sprinkled with powder sugar. It was really good! We also HAD to try fried oreos, a turkey leg, fried grilled cheese (tasted pretty much like a grilled cheese...), the aforementioned on the left, nachos, funnel cake, fried cheesecake (it was FABULOUS!) and fried pickles. I spent the whole night in search of fried twinkies and never found them! :( I later heard that my Vice Principal at school, Misty was there and she saw the fried twinky stand. Shucks! Everything we tried was fabulous! And, we left there with bellies aching from consuming fried food than we had in a year combined! Ok, maybe like 6 months...

Jadyn's new game!

2008-09-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

Jadyn continues to amaze us with the 'new' tricks she is learning daily. This video is already a couple of weeks old! It's been so busy around here that it took me that long to get it edited and 'short' enough to fit on blogville. Her longest time to stand by herself was tonight at my school program. She stood for 10 seconds!!! All by herself! Tonight, after I had fed her dinner, I said "All done!" and showed her it in sign language. She picked that right up! Now, all I have to say is "All done!", and she immediately starts to sign it! She also knows 'please' in sign language. Right now, she's really only saying please at mealtimes, but we are working to extend that to any time she wants something.

Jadyn's officially11 months old. The other night, we were standing in the kitchen and I looked at Jay and said she was now that old. The loving and goal-setting father in him came out as he looked at her and said, "Now, Jadyn, you only have a month left to be walking by your first birthday. Come on. I know you can do it." It was quite humerous!

The Sapp household has been going nonstop, it seems, for many weeks. Jay's been hard at work, busier than he's ever been. School keeps me busy, as usual. As I mentioned before, the 3rd-4th grades Program was tonight at school. We had a combined program of about 200 kids (whew! wouldn't want to do that again!). Our theme was "Music Around the World". It went pretty well. The kids were very excited. They did a really good job. And the teachers are relieved it's over! :)

Jay and I recently signed on a gas lease (just in time, too) and used a portion of that money to buy a much needed new bed. The first mattress we bought about 2 weeks ago ended up being too firm, so we went back to the store and exchanged it for a different kind. Last night was our first night with the new mattress and we both slept much better! Praise God for providing the new mattress. We are also going to use another portion of the gas lease to get a much-need paint job and face lift on the exterior of our house. It has needed it for at least a couple of years now. Praise the Lord for always meeting our needs.

On another happy note...The Sapps are officially and totally credit card DEBT FREE!!! Praise be to God! It's been a work in progress for exactly 2 years. When we got married, and shortly after, we had built up quite a debt and were not good stewards of the money that the Lord has given us. With conviction and repentance, we began to follow the Dave Ramsey plan. Slowly, but surely, we began paying off each credit card one by one and closing them out once they were paid off. It hasn't been an easy two years, and we've had some fallbacks along the way, AND had a kiddo. But, God is faithful, and we continued to press forward. No more credit cards for us! We are FREE! I say all that to encourage you who are in the same boat of debt. You can google Dave Ramsey and find out about his financial plan. Crown Financial is another good one. My church has a ministry that teaches families to be better stewards of their money and get out of debt and encourages them along the way. Now, we can take that money that was once put towards credit card debt towards other things. Our next goal is to pay off the 4Runner, then my student loans, and so on.

Let's see...what else? It's been so long since I've been able to update! I miss getting to my blogs! Like I said, school has been so busy, even on weekends (I hate having to do school work on the weekends... :( I've made several attempts in the past 3 weeks to update this and haven't had a chance until now. I have new pics of Jadyn to post on our Picasa. I will try to do that this weekend.

Now that I've chatted your ear off :-D, I am going to head to bed and try that bed out again..... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.....sigh.

Goodnight!

Weekend update

2008-09-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

Jadyn's changing so much these days. She's losing the infancy look and is metamorphing into a toddler. We are daily amazed at God's precious gift! She'll be walking any day now!

Before we know it, we'll be celebrating her first birthday. Our little bright eyes...stealing our hearts and brightening our lives!

The Sappington's
September 28, 2008

(Me, a very pregnant Vanessa, Mandy, Kelly)

On Saturday, we celebrated Mandy's 30th birthday. She actually hit the big 3-0 in July, but we just now got around to celebrating (better late than never, right?). It was a fun day filled with clues, fun, relaxation, and smiles! The first part of the day was spent doing girl time with some of her closest friends! What better way to celebrate than over a light lunch? We then went to the nail salon where we got our nails dolled up and some of those pesky hairs waxed! :) While we enjoyed our girl time, the men single-handedly took care of the babies and even got in a football game! We met up with them for a delicious dinner at La Hacienda Ranch. We topped off the evening with some (slightly overdone) brownies and ice cream. I hope Mandy had a really good day. Good friends are a treasure...Mandy is one of those treasures. Happy Birthday, my dear friend.

Today has been a relaxing day overall. The message at church was really good. We are made new in Christ. When we walk with Him daily, He renews our minds, giving us peace, hope, and a sound mind. We spent the afternoon chillin'. Jay watched the Cowboys lose and I got to get out and hit up a few stores. Working on laundry, updating pictures, doing grades, and tending to Jadyn. And that wraps up this weekend. On that note...Jadyn is 'calling' from her high chair...ready to eat. Toodles...

We make you great deal!

2008-09-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today, we are having a garage sale...you know...one man's junk is another man's treasure....at first, not a whole lot of people were convinced or at least seemed to realize this is treasure! Business has been increasing as time goes on, and overall, it's a perfect-weather Saturday. I keep trying to convince my husband to dress up in a gorilla suit and stand at the busy intersection and wave people in our direction. He's not going for it.

We advertised on Craigslist.com. We are wondering if we should have done the newspaper as well. But, we'll see what happens by the end of the day. Come and see us...we make you great deal! :-D

My brother, Jed!

2008-09-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Jay is the oldest of 3 boys...Jay, Joel, Jed (and all of them have the initials J.P.S....!) I love each of my brothers. In total, I have 4 of them (my side of the family and Jay's side of the family). This blog is dedicated to my brother, Jed. I love my brother, Jed. He came to stay the weekend with us. I always love it when I get to see him. I loved this kid before I even got to meet him face to face. Jay used to tell me stories of them growing up, and so once I finally got to meet Jed, I felt I had already developed a special place in my heart for him. He's not such a kid anymore...he's 16, soon to be 17 and wayyyyyyyyyy taller than me! :) He can always make me laugh and he's just one of those all-around good kids. I know the Lord has great plans for his life, and it's such an honor for me to get to see God's plan unfold in his life.

So, he's staying the weekend with us. Being that he's allergic to our cats, we locked them up in the office (our only spare room) and Jed slept on the air mattress in the living room. Anyways, I am minding my own business, putting a trashbag in the diaper champ, when I look up to see this! Jed is deflating the air mattress and sinking into it! LOL We had a good laugh over it and I had to snap a quick picture or two!

I go about my business of putting things away, and jed continues to deflate the air mattress. I go in my bedroom and come out to see this! LOL Doesn't he look like he's posing for a photo shoot with the wind blowing his hair? 'Where is the wind coming from?', you wonder...

Why, it's coming from the pump deflating the air mattress! He cracks me up. He was kind enough to pose a few times while I gave him an actual photoshoot!

I love you, Jed. Thanks for coming to stay the weekend with us. Our house is your house. We are always here for you....

Now get that homework done! ;)

Hairbow making - my new found hobby!

2008-09-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

So, eversince I started buying bows for Jadyn, and forking over the money at the ridiculous (in my opinion) cost for them, I realized that I needed to learn how to make them myself! Really, people can sell them and make 90 % profit off of them! Ok, maybe I'm exaggarating, but still. Really, how hard can it be? So, I set out to the store, bought some ribbon (2 spools for HALF the cost of buying one bow!), hot glue gun, wire, hairclips, and off we go! I did my first bow (see blue one to the right) by comparing it to one of Jadyn's pre-made bows I had purchased. If you look closely enough and got very nitpicky, you'll notice that it's slightly uneven, but hey, it was my first bow! Excited with my new endeavors, I had Jay go buy me some pink ribbon, while I surfed the wide world web on directions to make a beautiful bow. I found a whole slew of directions for making all kinds of cool bows! Upon Jay's return, I eagerly snatched up the pink ribbon (by the way, good job, honey!) and went to work creating my new masterpieces! After 3 rounds of bowmaking and one burnt thumb later, I came out with 2 (yes, one bow didn't turn out and had to be disassimilated...) cute little pink bows. I eagerly put them in Jadyn's hair so she could relish and ooh and ahh over her newest beautiful treasures that now adorned her hair. Only...I couldn't get her to sit still long enough for her to even notice let alone coo and babble over them! When I asked Jay and Jed (our bro who is spending the weekend with us) what they thought... they thought that just maybe with the 3 bows in her hair it was just slightly over the top..... ok, so maybe they are right. But, ooo, I can't wait to make more bows! :)

Fun in the yard

2008-09-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

This evening, we went to join daddy out in the yard. Jadyn has been VERY cranky these days in the evening. So, we decided to go for some fresh air in the yard. This was only her 2-3 time to be in the grass, so she's very fascinated with it. Her fussiness temporarily disappeared while she enjoyed exploring the outside world.

These days, she's constantly on the move! She has mastered the crawling business!

This picture here looks very familiar! I've seen this look before in Rebekah, my neice, and also in my twin sis. I think that somewhere in the records of our past photos as wee children, my parents have a picture or two of my twin and I with this same expression. When I saw Jadyn make this face (from looking up at the bright sky, and she was squinting), I was instantly reminded that she looked like Sara (my twin). Ironic as it is, I know Sara and I are twins, but it's weird for me to think of that face as my face...it reminds me of Sara, not of me. Funny, huh? Anyways...

My wonderful and handsome husband...hard at work in the yard!

The reason for Jadyn's crankiness these days is the breakthrough in teething! If you look closely enough in this picture, you can see the tooth on the bottom left, and she's getting her two top teeth...ALL at the SAME time!!! Needless to say, the teething cream business has increased in our household this past week, and we've invested in a couple of teethers...oh, and tissues! Nothing like having your little Bright Eyes bury her face in your shirt, smearing the ever-running nose and constantly drooling mouth all over you! Yet, when you look at this face, it's all worth it. :-D

Goodnight!

This and that

2008-09-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been trodding along the past few weeks, and adjusting to mommy being back to work. I want to insert a little blurb right here about how wonderful my husband is. I am so blessed to have him as my better half. He reminds me to 'lighten up' and can make a remark that will make me bust out laughing. He's my lover, my support, my right-hand man, my best friend. I thank the Lord for the gift and companion He's given me. He is self-less and makes me feel like I am the most beautiful being he's ever seen. I love you, Honey!

So, Jay , my wonderful hubby, takes Jadyn to the sitter's, our dear friend, Mandy, in the morning and I usually pick her up. The days are flying by and it seems like every other day, Jadyn's doing a new thing. She's closing in on 10 months old. Where does the time go? Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Bath time is always fun! And now, it's gone to a whole new level! She's learned how to stand up in the tub AND as a result, she's discovered that there's another side to the bathtub and it's fun to drop toys over the side and watch them fall.

Last night, we went to the wedding of a friend of ours, and were joined by some of our partners in crime, the Chaddywacks. We caught them in a cute, intimate pose, but by the time we snapped the pic, this is what we got:

We've been working to put Jadyn down to bed between 7-7:30 p.m. now that she has to get up at 7-7:30 a.m. to go to Mandy's. She will sleep a full 12 hours usually. Well, we took her with us to the wedding last night, and needless today, it was not even 8 p.m. that she got to go to bed. At 10:30 p.m., when we were getting her ready for bed, she was all smiles! We were relieved as there have been many times when we've put her to bed late and she's all but smiles. She was so cute, we had to snap a pic or two...

Until next time... :-D

Crawling and Teething

2008-08-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Jadyn has been crawling now for about 2 weeks. She's been perfecting the skill and is becoming quite quick in her movements! We are amazed every day at how much she is changing and growing up! Now that I am back to work from summer break, every moment I have with her in the evenings is cherished. I can't get enough of her.

Below is a picture of her doing her very best to cram as much of that blue ring in her mouth as she can! As of today, she is officially cutting her first tooth! We can see it popping out of her bottom gums! She even let me rub my finger on her gums, and I could feel it! It is so exciting! Just think of all the things she can 'chomp' on once she gets those teeth in! Soon, she'll be leaving her little signature of teeth indentions all over the place! :) I welcome it... as it is a reminder of the precious gift the Lord has given Jay and I. I often tell Jay that giving me a child is the best gift he has ever given me. How blessed Jay and I are to be entrusted with her, this gift from the Lord, to raise her up and teach her the ways of the Lord. Only through God and His infinite grace can we even accomplish such a task! God is so good....we are deeply blessed.

Back to work...

2008-08-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

I returned to work a week ago. It's been a very busy week full of staff developments, meetings, and classroom preparation. Jadyn got to visit several buddies last week as she was with someone different every day! We went through babysitter changeouts and are now settling in with our buddies, Mandy and Drew! We are sooooo thankful to everyone who stepped up to help us out last week as Mandy was out of town til Friday. What a blessing to have someone we know and trust to watch our little Pigtail Pie. Since Jadyn's birth, we have been blessed to have her in good hands while I am at work. We are praying that the Lord will continue to let it be that way until I can stay home.

Speaking of our little treasure, she is now 9 months old and on the crawl all throughout the house! Beware! Nothing is safe! :) Just kidding! She loves being mobile and exploring. She enjoys pulling herself up to a standing position and is so proud of herself when she does! She has such an infectious smile! Now that she's mobile, it's now due time to install safety locks in the kitchen cabinets! Jadyn's also 'talking' up a storm these days too! Boy, can that girl chatter! I guess she takes after her momma in that area. :-D We are amazed at all the new things she can do now...like wave bye-bye, clap her hands when she hears "Yeah!", walk behind her little pusher-walker (very shaky, though), throw her pacies out of her crib, along with the blankie, the snugglie, and the mobile sometimes! Her top gums are swollen these days. Looks like she'll be cutting teeth before too long. Ahhhh, I love my baby girl. This has been a great summer with her, and I have truly enjoyed being home with her. I am really going to miss those summer days of sleeping in and being with her all day. It makes the weekends all the more sweeter!

Well, it's late, and I must rise very early. Students start back tomorrow, so I plan to arrive earlier so I can do final preparations. Goodnight and may the Lord bless you.

Shannon

p.s. I have some pics to post, but will have to wait til I get a chance to download them off the camara.

Zoo Trip!

2008-08-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Mandy and I took Andrew and Jadyn on their first trip to the Fort Worth Zoo! We've been wanting to do it since I've been out of school for the summer, and now that it's almost time to go back, we figured we better go, heat or no heat!
We had a really good time. Jadyn and Andrew were very excited to be there, as you can see by the big smiles in their strollers!

We saw lots of monkeys. This orangutan was silly playing with the sack cloth.

This white tiger was crazy! Good thing there was glass between us and it! I think it was trying to get a little 'snack'...

Alas, all the fun proved to be too much for the young 'uns about half way through the zoo. So, Mandy and I enjoyed the rest of the zoo while the kids napped in their strollers.

All in all, it was a great day! :)

On another note, tomorrow, I return to work. :( I have such mixed emotion about it. I know that it's where the Lord wants me to be, and yet, at the same time, it's so hard to leave Jadyn. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this summer with her. One of my favorite parts was both of us sleeping in late. :) We'd wake up on our own (no alarm clock), I'd feed her breakfast and eat some cereal for myself, then we'd sit down and I'd read to her a little bit out of her Children's Bible, then let her play on the floor while I read my Bible. I love putting her down for her naps, and tiptoing in there to check on her once she's asleep. Even in the 'frustrating' moments when she was a grump and/or so was I, I didn't want to trade the moment to be at work. Please pray for me as I begin this new school year. I really like teaching and I love the people I work with along with the kids. Ever since I had Jadyn though, my heart has been at home with her... My prayer is that the Lord strengthens me and refreshes my heart and mind....that He will help me to give 110% into my work and into the kids I will teach this year, that I'll be excited about a new year and new memories to make. I pray that the Lord uses me to love on these students and the people I teach with....and that through it all...To God Be the Glory!

Goodnight

Traveling fun

2008-08-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday, Sara and I 'traveled' to Alvarado to see our very dear friends, the Wilson's! Marq and Diane were our youth pastors while growing up, and their whole family is very special to us. They have 8 kids! Yes, 8! :) 6 still live at home and each one of them are such good kids. Josh and Bekah had a great time playing with Rain and Noah, the two youngest of the family. Bliss was very sweet to watch the small ones as they played in the kiddie pool while the adults visited. We had a great time and look forward to hangin' with them again. Here's a group pic of all of us! (L-R) Marquis, Rain, Marq, Noah, Bliss, Diane, Jadyn, Sara, Bekah, Josh, Baylee, and the goofy one in front is me. Thank you, Wilson's, for a great lunch and great fellowship! We love you!

On Thursday, Jay, Jadyn, and I headed to Kerrville, TX where Jay had a Professional Engineer conference. Jadyn and I had fun tagging along and 'chillin' in the hotel room. Jadyn was of great help, and even let mommy sit back and relax while she packed up the suitcases. I have proof! :)
Here, Jadyn loads the suitcase with her beachbag. She checks to make sure that is her name on it and not someone else's as she gives it one final mash down into the suitcase.

Here, she puts all her weight on the suitcase so she can zip it close!

Now that her work is done, she is free to crawl (yes, crawl!) around the hotel room. She is happy her work is done! :)

Good times good times

2008-08-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

Jay and I kept our neice and nephew this past weekend. Josh just turned 6 yrs old on Aug. 5th, and Rebekah will turn 4 on Aug. 23rd. Keeping them is always an adventure and they can usually get a laugh or two out us at their antics. :) There's never a dull moment when they are here. We had fun going to Incredible Pizza in the HEB area on Saturday evening with a bunch of friends.

What kid doesn't like a bath? :) Here, Rebekah shows off her 'floating' skills.

Here, Josh shows off his 'loungin' skills in the tub.

On Sunday, we got to celebrate Josh's and Bekah's birthdays at a public pool in Arlington. Jadyn LOVES loves loves the water! If we are near water, whether it's a pool, a lake, or a bathtub...that's what she hones in on! She had fun at her cousins' party.

On Monday...nearly 24 hours after Josh and Bekah left, my friend, Lu, pointed out the new candle decor on the fireplace. Thanks, Josh.... Haha!

And, here's my dear friend, Lu, with her son, Caleb. In the background is my other buddy, Allyson. I teach with them, along with Pam (not shown). We make a great team teaching 4th grade. Each of them bless me. Caleb and Jadyn had their first play date today. At one point, I saw Caleb putting the moves on Jadyn and going for her, ahem, rearend. Tsk Tsk...what would his daddy say? Heck...what would Jadyn's daddy say?! haha

I love these guys! :)

The 5 Stooges

2008-08-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

There's a group of us who've been hanging out for a few years now, and it's been really neat to see the Lord work in each of our lives. For many of us, we've watched each other grow up, find the love of their lives, get married, and now have babies. Here are our firstborns, who are quite the characters! This photo session was taken at Noah's first birthday party tonight.
It was a rather comical time trying to get all 5 to not only sit still, but to smile too. I am sure any onlookers were much entertained by the silly and crazy antics of some of the parents to get the kids to smile while cameras flashed! Below are just a few of some of the humerous pictures that were taken...Enjoy!

L-R Noah, Kenya, Elisabeth, Jadyn, and Andrew.

And, here they are... the same 5 stooges just 6 months ago on Super Bowl Sunday. My, my, how they've grown...

Living with a cold...continued.

2008-08-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sad again... All day long was a rollercoaster of emotions. Towards the end of the day, her sad moments increased. To get her to fall asleep, I had to carry her around in the sling so she'd get some rest. We kept a regimen going of liquids, Tyenol, nose aspirating, and LOTS of nose-wiping. What was precious about it all were the moments of cuddling I got out of her. Nothing like some TLC... makes it worth being snotted on and slimed all day long with baby cold germs.... :)

So, then bedtime came. After bathing, diapering, dressing my child, and prayers, I lay her down for the final time today...or so I hoped. With the sound of the musical mobile playing and lulling her to sleep, I tiptoed out of her room to have some 'me' time. First things first...changing out of these now very messy clothes, and doing something to make me feel more like a woman rather than the used-up, grimy tissue I'd turned into through out the day. So, I head off to my bathroom and begin my transformation! Only problem was, the mobile finished playing, and laying in her crib was NOT how Jadyn wanted to go to sleep! So, barely into my 'me' time, I head back to Jadyn's room to console her. THIS is the look that greeted me as I entered her room...part cry, part amusement that mommy came, and part 'ewww, what's wrong with your face?!'......and here's what she saw.......

Daddy soon came to the rescue to hold and comfort Jadyn while Mommy washed off the cucumber/avocado mask (which was quite refreshing, by the way...). Jadyn finally went to sleep in the sling again and I was able to peacefully transfer he to the crib, where she rolled right onto her tummy and kept on sleeping. Whew! What a day! We're praying that tomorrow finds Jadyn feeling MUCH better and minus the cold!

On another note...Jay and I have started to FINALLY plant the flower bed in the front yard. Here are a couple of pics.

These pretty flowers are from a rosebush that is called Knockout Rose. I like the color of it.

Goodnight!

Living with a cold...

2008-08-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

So, today's plans were changed with Jadyn woke up with a nasty cold. Instead of going to a playdate with our buddies, we ended up staying home while I nursed little Miss Pigtail Pie. Here are a few pics that display the roller coaster of emotions she felt today...

Happy girl...

Curious...

Frustrated and determined...

Sad...

Pondering God's Grace

2008-08-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

So, in creating this blog, I've decided to be transparent - to open up- and share what I am learning in all walks of my life. Today, I'd like to share some about my walk with God.

Yesterday at church and this morning, I read about God's grace. I've heard it before...God's grace is sufficient for me, God's grace is His unmerited favor toward us, grace that abounds, the grace of God... and so on. I've known it in my head and can recite it with no problem. But, when I stopped and really THOUGHT about it...pondered on it, I am awestruck.

The topic of yesterday's sermon at church (www.calvarychapelftw.org) was from Ephesians 2:1-10, talking about grace through faith. As I reread the passage this morning, I was and am still amazed at the grace of God. Even when I didn't love Him, before I ever became saved and gave my life to Him, He loved me so much and in His great grace that knows no bounds, He showed kindness to me by giving my a precious gift...salvation. Salvation is a GIFT He freely gives to us. No strings attached. Salvation from what? From the hopelessness of this life and hope for eternal life to come.

"For God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...that in the ages to come He mght show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:4-5, 7-10

There's nothing I can do to EARN His grace or salvation...not by living a 'good' life, being a good person, doing good things...NOTHING I can do can earn His salvation. He gives it to me freely so that to Him is the glory, not me. I am nothing without Him. Yet, with Christ living in me, I am created to do good works for Him. I am His workmanship...a work in progress. :) Thank the LORD! He's not finished with me yet. In my prayer time this morning, saying thank you to Him seemed so inadequate....not enough. How do you thank the One who gave you salvation??? By living for Him...

Thank you, Lord, for saving me. I love you.

Garage Sales

2008-08-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

So, a couple of my buddies and I spent the last two mornings hitting the garage sales. Our mission: to find kids' toys at great buys! As Jadyn's getting older, she's getting tired of the small basket of toys I have for her. So, I bring home my great buys to show my little angel, and turns out, all she wanted was a FREE piece of paper to play with! haha Oh well, it was a fun time with my buddies. Once I sanitize these toys and the others, I know Jadyn will like them. Her favorite kind of toys at the moment are balls. My good buddy, Vanessa, found the gumball machine that has balls you drop through it. Now, the Sit N' Spin might have to wait til she's older, but I couldn't pass it up! Do you remember playing on these as a kid??? My twin sister and I used to love to sit on one together and spin around on it at the same time. Good times, Good times! Of course, they used to be MUCH bigger than they make 'em now and they were made of that hard plastic, but that's all good. Now they are fancy with lights and music! I got this one for $1.50. Can't beat that! Of course...I haven't checked to see if the lights and music still work on this one.....maybe I should have only paid $1.00..... :)

Joining the Blogging Ranks!

2008-08-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

As my friends who have broken ground before me and made way the path of blogger-hood, I know join ranks with them. So, you can now share in the ups and downs, the laughs and not so funny times, the aha-s, and the duhs of the Sappington's!

Our sweet little Pigtail Pie herself, Jadyn.

I look forward to learning how to be creative in these posts and give my page some 'Shannon'-style creativity...or lack thereof...
What do you think of the name, Pigtail Pie? Do you have name suggestions? Heck, I don't know if it's even possible to change the name once you make one! I guess I will soon learn!

So, to all my friends and family, let me begin my BLOGS with HELLO! :)

To be continued...