The Smiths

Six Years Old

2011-09-25T14:52:00.001-07:00

I am a month late getting Kya's pictures taken but here they are. They did not turn out as good as I wanted because I had to take them mid-day which makes the light horrible :( But here they are finally.

She is now Six years old. For her birthday we had her party at Bodyworks Family on 82nd and they did such a great job!! Definitely recommend them for kids bday parties. She had such a good time with all of her friends and I really appreciate everyone coming!

I have not taken her in for her check up to see how tall she is (I know Im behind on everything) but she is growing like a weed. Since Kya has turned six, it seems like she has grown up so much. She is not near as whiny and I am loving it even though its only been a month. However, she still gets up in the middle of the night to come get in bed with us but we are working on it :)

Right now, Kya is into a lot of different things. Her favorite things are still dogs, dancing, and now we have added playing with our sister to things she loves. I cannot say how great of a big sister she is. She wants to play with her constantly, which is not a good thing sometimes. But overall she is an awesome big sister.

She also recently started first grade. She loves her teacher and we are working on listening. She is already reading much better since she started school and are currently on our second book of the year. She is trying to hurry and read 10 because she gets a prize from the teacher when she gets them read.

Overall, she is doing great and I cannot believe it has already been another year :(

8 Months and Counting....

2011-08-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Baby is 8 Months and in to EVERYTHING! THis is semi-new territory for us due to the fact that Kya never really paid attention to anything but us. Not the case with this one. She started crawling on 7-1-2011 and is going everywhere. Almost immediately after beginning to crawl, she also started to pull up. She is already walking while hanging on to something so Im guessing the actual walking will come very soon.

As far as general well being, she is great! We finally sleep through the night and are up to eating 6 oz at bottle feedings. She LOVES to eat. We have yet, to find anything that she really doesn't like including vegetables. She also eats puffs and loves Malt-o-Meal cereal. She can eat almost entire bowl by herself.

She already has such a huge personality as well. She can be the sweetest little girl or the meanest. Can be screaming her head off one minute and giggling the next. All I can say is if she isn't happy, you will know.

Im not quite sure how much she weighs because she doesn't have a check up until later this month. However, I am sure she is well over 20 lbs. Imagine that with as much as she eats :) Either way she is growing way too fast.

Swim, Swim, Swimming

2011-07-19T09:06:00.001-07:00

I know its been a couple months but this summer has been pretty busy. One thing we have done a lot of this summer is swim. One of the main reasons for that is Kya has finally learned how to swim (well for the most part). I took her to swimming lessons at Pete Ragus Aquatic center and they were soooooo good with her. She absolutely loved it. It has always been a little bit of a struggle to get Kya comfortable in the water but she has done much better since her lessons. I definitely think we will do the next level next summer.

Kaleigh has also done some swimming. Unlike Kya she LOVES the water. She loves baths, showers, and pretty much anything that involves water. It amazes me how different they are already. Will's mom even got her a floaty to sit in the pool in and she does very well in it. It is honestly a fight to get her out of the water sometimes :)

Here are some pics of Kya's lessons and Kaleigh in her floaty (yes, she was falling asleep in it)

Finally.......Summer and Six Months!!

2011-05-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 6 months last Sunday and I cannot believe it is going by so quickly. And it is finally summer so we are actually getting to enjoy time with her and Kya :)

Right now, Kaleigh is sitting up on her own and is trying to figure out how to get moving. She still does not crawl yet but in all honesty she does not want to crawl at all but would much rather walk instead. She still eats about 5-7 oz at each feeding every 3-4 hours. She has finally started to take baby food and her favorite is bananas. She has also tried apples, peaches, and sweet potatoes. She has 2 teeth on the bottom and I think is cutting another one as well. She is such a smiley baby for the most part but has a temper if she gets mad. Either way, she is finally starting to play so life is getting much more eventful.

As for Kya, the only thing that can be said is she is now a big 1st grader! And her teacher next year is Mrs. Tickle! Although she is excited to be going to the first grade, she is really excited for it to be summer because as she says, "we are going to have sooooooo much fun!!"

4/5 months

2011-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Between AP prep, spring football, Easter, baby showers, and birthdays, March and April were extremely busy so forgive the long delay in posting an update on the girls.

Kaleigh is growing more and more everyday. In the last month, she has started to sit up for longer periods of time with minimal assistance, has finally started eating cereal (she still doesn't really like it), and her personality is showing more and more every day. She laughs, smiles, and coos all the time. She has started rolling over both ways and is ready to stand even though she cant even crawl. She still does not sleep all night but is going longer without waking up. We are also starting to see the beginnings of her first tooth. Therefore needless to say she is growing way too fast.

Interestingly enough, as Kaleigh's first tooth is coming in, Kya has lost her first tooth (See picture below). It seemed like it was loose one day and came out the next.

Kya is also currently wrapping up Kindergarten and presented her first project over television last week. She did a report on the past,present, and future of television and made what she thought a TV would look like (Essentially a huge iPad). She did such a good job with it and was so proud herself because she said she presented it all by herself! I think that's awesome considering I can't even get some of my freshmen to do that lol.

Kya is also Student of the Month for her class this month! Wooowhooo! We are so proud of her! She is wearing her student of the month T-shirt in the picture below :)

Other than that, Kya is also growing and learning sooooo much everyday! Her vocabulary is much more extensive than mine was at her age and she is able to read several books with minimal help from Daddy or I. She will be 6 in August and I cannot believe how fast it has gone!

We are so proud of our girls and must say that motherhood is by far my greatest accomplishment!!!

3 Months

2011-03-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

I finally got to take Kaleigh's 3 month pictures this morning even though she is actually 3 1/2 months now. She is growing way too fast. She is such a sweet baby and so cuddly. I wish time would slow down and she would stay this size longer. Since she is my second baby, I am trying so hard to soak up every second because I am well aware that I will turn around and it will be her 5th birthday.

She has changed so much in the last 3 weeks alone. She is now 15 lbs and Im not sure how long she is. She started rolling over at daycare 2 weeks ago and we started her on rice cereal about a week ago. She is also starting to try to sit up. She can sit in a semi-tripod right now with help and she has started sitting in her bumbo a lot lately. I also think she is starting to teeth. I know it is early but she is drooling a lot and this is about the same time that her sister started (it took her 2 more months to cut her first tooth though).She is the happiest and most laid back baby Ive ever been around (so needless to say she is like her daddy). She laughs a lot now and constantly trying to "talk" to us.

As for big sister, she is still great with her. She is always trying to help me do things for her and she wants to hold her a lot more. So...she is still an awesome big sister :)

Here are here 3 month pictures that I took this morning. She has been sick for the last 3-4 days so I was really glad that I was able to do these with absolutely no whining.

2 Months

2011-01-30T17:01:00.001-08:00

My baby turned 2 months old yesterday and I can't believe how fast its going by.

She is still a good baby. She has been a little colicky lately for about an hr in the evenings but other than that, she only cries when shes hungry or needs to be changed.
She gets to stay with her granny during the day and loves it. And mommy loves it too because I don't have to worry at all.

She had her six week check up two weeks ago and she weighed 11.4 lbs so she probably about 12 now. That did not surprise us at all because she is an EATER! She loves to eat! She is a great sleeper too. Right now she sleeps for about 5 hr her first stretch at night and 3-4 her second. So we are only getting up once. Hopefully she will start sleeping longer in the next month.

She is also very cuddly and is starting to smile more and more each day as you can see in the pictures. I honestly cannot say enough how much I love her! Kya is also doing great. She is still such a good big sister. The only thing she really does not like is when Kaleigh cries at night. However, she kisses her often and tells her how cute she is (probably because we always say how much she looks like Kya). I am hoping that never changes!

1 Month Old

2010-12-31T15:33:00.000-08:00

Kaleigh turned 1 month old on the Dec. 29 and it amazing how much she has changed in just one month. At first, she was not a big eater at all but now she eats about 3-4 oz every 2 1/2 hrs. As a result, we are switching her to formula a lot quicker than we expected. We estimate that she weighs about 10-11 lbs which means she has gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks. She has her 6 week check up soon so we will find out how much she has grown then.

Kya is still doing great with her. She is such a helpful big sister and is so careful with her sister. She is already trying to carry her by herself and wants to feed and burp her. So as of right now, we are still waiting for her to get jealous of her baby sister.

Here are few pictures from Kaleigh's first month. I am ashamed to say that I have yet to take Kaleigh's 1 month pictures yet. Maybe I will get them done next week before I have to go back to work. :)

2 Weeks Old

2010-12-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

Well Im a couple days late but here is an update of how Kaleigh is doing.

She is a little over two weeks old now and is doing great. She had her first check up last Friday and is growing so fast. She was one ounce shy of her birth weight then but I know she is well past it now. She measured 20 1/4 inches at the doctors office even though she was 20 1/2 at birth.

The first couple weeks have gone well. Kaleigh is very laid back and sleeps a lot more than her sister did. She doesn't eat as much as Kya did either. I had to wake her up to eat for almost every feeding for about the first week but she is eating every 3 hours now. Will and I also gave her her first bath and she did not like it all. However, she is such a good baby...and I hope that doesn't change :)

As far as how Kya, she has been such a great big sister! She loves her little sister and is constantly saying how cute she is :) We just tell her that she should be because she looks just like Kya. Kya helps us with anything we ask her to and she even helped give Kaleigh a bath the other day. So far Kya is doing good with her and I hope that doesn't change either.

Introducing....

2010-12-02T18:53:00.001-08:00

Introducing Kaleigh Rena Smith. Born 11/29/2010. She was 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. I had a c-section and delivered Kaleigh at 12:28 pm. She is everything we could ever hope for.

Baby Room, Shower, and the Big Day

2010-11-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

We had one of our last dr. appt. on Monday and we met our new doctor. Her name is Dr. Hatton and she is on Dr. Burke's on call list so we chose her. She is really nice and really laid back just like Dr. Burke so I felt really comfortable with her. We are still somewhat disappointed that Dr. Burke could not deliver Kaleigh but we meeting Dr. Hatton has calmed the anxiety a bit.

She said that everything with Kaleigh sounded and looked good. She also said that it was okay for me to go to Canyon next Tuesday for our first basketball game :) At the end of our appt. we were actually able to pick the day that Kaleigh will be here since I will be having another C-section. The day is November 29th! We are extremely excited that we know the date and cannot wait to meet her!

Up until then we will be doing everything we can to get her room ready, which I am ashamed to say is far from finished. However here are some pictures of the progress. Hopefully Will will be able to finish painting her dresser after football is over (which may be a while since they are in the playoffs!).

I have also included pictures from my baby shower that my wonderful friends threw me a couple of weeks ago. It was so much fun and they did such an amazing job! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them!

The awesome gift from my hostesses!

Kaleigh's Sonogram Pictures Part II

2010-10-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our last sonogram for Kaleigh so it was the last time we will see Kaleigh before she comes at the end of November. At 31 weeks she is 4.1 lbs, which is about 6 oz bigger than her sister was at this point. And for the post part, she is going to look a lot like her sister, as far as we can tell anyway.

Here are some of the best pictures we were able to get yesterday.

Baby Update

2010-09-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

So I think its time for a baby update:

Little Kaleigh is doing amazing! She is moving more and more everyday and we are getting very excited for her arrival. We have not set the day yet but the dr. has moved me to biweekly visits. Our next appt. is Sept. 30, which is also the day of our last ultrasound. We should find out how big she is at this one and get more pictures (which I will post)

We did find out that our dr. will be having her baby in October so she will not be able to deliver Kaleigh. However, we will get to meet the dr. who is in November. And that is when we will set her delivery date.

So stay tuned and I will have pictures and more info next week!

Its a Girl

2010-07-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

So if you've read facebook then you know we are having a another girl! It was really a shock for me when they told us because I just knew it was a boy. Lol! It wasn't! A lot of people have asked if Will is ok with another girl and I have simply answered with when we found out, he soon was discussing how many guns he was going to need :) Haha. In all honesty though, I think very few men are strong enough to handle two girls and I think he is one of those few. Either way we are very excited!

As far as baby girl Smith...she looks amazing! We have 10 fingers, 10 toes and her bones look very health, as well as her heart. So a healthy baby is all we can truly ask for! As for the name...I think it is safe to say we have chosen Kaleigh for her first name but we are still debating on the middle name =)

Here are few pics of Kaleigh....and yes, she looks even more like Will than Kya did if thats possible.

5 Year Pictures

2010-07-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today I attempted to take Kya's 5 year pictures. I realize she is not 5 yet but she will be in less than a month so its all the same to me. This morning was not optimal to say the least. First we didnt get out of the house until 10 so needless to say it was a little hot when we got started. Also, Ive been having problems getting pictures that are in focus these last few times I have taken pictures due to the fact I need new contacts. However, Kya was pretty cooperative and I did get a few good ones. Ive included my favs below.

On another note, as Ive said we find out what we are having on Thurs. It feels like it is taking forever to get here. But as soon as we know, I will post!

The Zoo and a Reunion

2010-06-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well summer has finally started and we have been very busy for the first couple of weeks...

As soon as school was out we headed to Albuquerque to see Aunt Tina and A.T. We didnt stay for long but had a good time while we were there. We took Kya to her first zoo and she loooooovvveed it! Surprisingly, the Albuquerque Zoo is really nice and had a lot of shade :) So if you ever make it out that way I highly recommend it. However, I dont have hardly any pictures of that trip because my camera battery was not charged before we left.

After our Albuquerque trip, we stayed home a few days and then headed to Lake Palestine for Wills family reunion. Again, we didn't get to stay long but we had a great time while we were there. The best part of the whole trip was the kids talent show on Friday. Tyrie performed first with Kya and Destiny has his dancers. He did such a good job and Kya did a great job dancing. After they were done, Kya sang and danced to "All the Single Ladies." I was a little nervous that she wasn't going to do it but she did such a good job! It was a surprise to Will because we kept it a secret and he couldnt believed Kya actually performed all by herself (See picture of his face below). All in all, we had a great time with Will's family.

As far as the baby, we have an appt. on Monday and we find out what we are having July 15th. Below are some pictures from the reunion....

Baby Update (May)

2010-05-22T16:12:00.001-07:00

This past week, Will and I went to our first dr. appt. with our doctor. Our dr. didnt make it the appt. because she had an emergency C-section so we only got to see the nurse. I was really excited to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time but we didn't get to. The nurse said that it was still a little early and she went ahead and did an ultrasound so we did get to see the baby's heart beating. The baby is already growing limbs and it was bouncing around the whole time we watched it. The baby is about the size of a lime. I am three months now and we will find out what we are having July 15th.

As for being sick, I am still pretty sick. The nurse said it should begin to gradually disappear in a couple of weeks. At least I hope that is the case anyway. Other than that everything is going smoothly and we are just waiting for summer break. Only 1 week to go!!

Baby's First Picture

2010-04-25T11:24:00.001-07:00

I had my first ultrasound this past Friday and the result was baby's first picture.

As of right now, this pregnancy has been nothing like the first one. I have been sick literally all day every day so far, which unfortunately is only cured by eating :( So needless to say, I am ready for the 1st trimester to be over already (only 5 weeks to go). That will be about the perfect time too considering there are 5 weeks left until summer vacation! So I am definitely looking forward to the summer!

The Smith's + 1

2010-04-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

So I told myself I was going to wait and let everyone know until I had had my first sonogram but I just can't anymore. Its true...there is going to be a baby in our house soon! I cannot tell you how excited we are! We really didn't get to truly celebrate Kya's birth the way we wanted considering the circumstances so we are going to make up for that with this one!

I found out on April 5th. I was almost a week late and I had actually taken a pregnancy test the week before (it was negative) but I knew something was up. So I went home at lunch and took one. Well low and behold...it was true! I called Will immediately and he was so excited. At first it was very surreal but after I took another one when I got home, it began to set it. It has definitely set in this past week due to the fact that I have been sick. This is something I never experienced with Kya and I am for sure not a fan of it.

According to the Dr.'s conception calculator, I am due December 9th. I actually think that might be a little early but considering I will be scheduled for a C-Section at some point...that is about right :) Will's birthday is actually December 8th so I think thats the perfect birthday present!

We will know more on April 23rd when we have our first sonogram. As I said, we are sooooo excited and hope that everyone will pray with us for a healthy baby! I will post more when we know more!

The 1st "Photo Shoot"

2010-03-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here recently I have become somewhat obsessed with photography. It is something that I have always been interested in but my interest has only increased since I got a new camera for Christmas. Thus, I'm in the process of learning about the art of photography and have been practicing on whatever subject I could find especially my daughter.

My latest subject is a sweet little baby by the name of Miss Abby Kate and I recently had the opportunity of having my first "photo shoot." I call this my first photo shoot because this is the first time I have really taken pictures of a child that is not mine or a relative. The whole thing came about on a whim when I got the idea to ask a pregnant friend of mine from work if it could possibly take pictures of her baby. I explained that I don't necessarily want to make photography a career but that I really just want to learn more about it! Thus, I was ecstatic when she said yes!!

Below are some of the pictures that resulted from the experience. Although I realize they are not perfect and I have tons to learn about light usage, aperture, etc., I like the result as do Abby's parents! All in all, I'd say it was a success and I had a lot of fun!

Update of Life with the Smith's

2009-12-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy for us this year and thus, this is my first post since October. So here's an update of life at the Smith household....

For the most part, school and sports have taken up our lives since August. I had cross country and Will had football. We have been extremely blessed with the jobs that we have even though life has been difficult at times. We did not know that Will was going to be varsity football coach because he was originally supposed to coach at a jr. high in town. However, he was pulled up in mid-August and it as such a blessing. He absolutely LOVES his job! It was somewhat of an adjustment for me however. For those of you who do not know, football coaches put in some work. However, as long as Will loves his job that is all that matters :)

I have also been coaching. From August to October, I coached cross country and I absolutely enjoyed it. The head coach his hilarious and is great to work with. Then after that was finished, I began coaching basketball. So far basketball has been time consuming to say the least but I have a great group of girls and that has made it all worth it.

Now for the most important part of our family. Kya has been growing like a weed! In December we had our first emergency room visit after Kya slammed her finger in my classroom door. I know slamming a finger doesn't seem like much but it was really an ordeal. She ended up having surgery on her finger and she went through it like a champ. Other than that, Kya is just being Kya. She laughs all the time and is sooo silly. She also keeps asking when God will bring her a baby sister but we just keep avoiding the question. Im pretty sure she just thinks a baby sister will be just a be live doll that she can play with at will. Other than that, she is just growing and learning more every day.

Well there's an update....I have added pictures below. I will hopefully be able to post more as we get closer to the end of the school year. Until then, God Bless!

Will and Kya at the park

Kya after her surgery...she was really tired.

Painting ceramics

Summer 2009

2009-09-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post in I think over a month and I can only expect that the next few months are going to be even busier so here is my somewhat modest attempt at keeping up with this blog :)

As you know, this summer has been extremely eventful in that we have both gotten new jobs and bought a new house as well. And most of our so called summer was tied up in

fixing up our house and while I have posted a couple of pictures of Kya's room....I failed to follow up with other parts of the house so here ya go....Below are more pictures of our house.

Living Room

Yes, it is still relatively bare but it is a work in progress.....

The Dining Room

Its somewhat small but its perfect for our family....

And the best part.....the view of the park two houses down......

Now for the important stuff....

Kya had her 4th Birthday this year and we had her party at Kennys Korral again. The biggest present was her new bike that we now have ride any day that Will and I are home before sunset :) Here are some pictures of the event:

First Day of School

Kya also had her first year of pre-K this year. Her first day of school was on August 24th and while she was soooo excited, Mommy wasnt so great. I told myself I wasnt going to cry and I didnt great until I had to leave her at school. That was when the tears came (Not alot but some). However, I got over it quickly. So far it has gone pretty good and she seems to like it a lot.

Kya on her 1st day.

So that was our summer for the most part.......Stay tuned throughout the year :)

Life in General

2009-07-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hi All! Well it has been a while since I posted and there is a lot that has been going on with us. We did get most of the house painted and yes, I will have pictures up soon :) Its just I am trying to get our house "together" as best I can before I take the pictures to demonstrate the before and after. The house has been what is taking up the majority of our time but there are a couple other things that are going on that I would like to share with you also.

First, Will and I have just recently started attending a new church and it is amazing. Some of you may have heard of it....Its called ExperienceLife. And no it is not your typical church. We were lead to go to this church gradually. We had been hearing about it through various outlets but we finally decided to attend when our home inspector told us about it. Most people wear whatever they want,,,be it dressy or casual. And the best part about it is their motto is NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED. This really

rings true for us because Will and I will be the 1st to admit that we are NOT perfect whatsoever. Everyone welcomes you with very open arms. and our preacher is amazing!! Well I could continue to tell you all about the wonder that is ExperienceLife but it would probably be better if you just checked it out yourself. Just go to ExperienceLifeNow.com. You can download his sermons onto your computer or ipod if you do not live around here or just wanna see it before you go.

Second, this past week has been difficult. On Thursday we found out that my 87 yr old Memaw has cancer. They took a lump out of her breast on Wed. and the test results came back positive on Thurs. We do not know much about it yet because she has not been to an oncologist....so for right now, we just know she has it. The reason I am sharing this with everyone is to ask you for prayer. I know that God is a God of healing and there is nothing impossible for him....so just please pray for her strength and healing throughout this ordeal. And pray that our family gives her the support she needs. Having already been through cancer with my mom (survivor for 16 yrs now!!) , I know that it is a very trying time for everyone involved. Thank you so much.

Kya's Room

2009-06-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

So since we just bought a new house I am certain this is only the first of several posts showing the progress we are making. We are soooooooo excited about our very first home and all the painting we are going to do to it. We started by painting Kya's room and I must say it turned out so much better than expected! I still would like to tweek several things about it like put crown molding and painting the doors white but for now it works just great for her! And the best part about it.....she is sleeping in her own room FINALLY! She has slept in it every night since we have finished her room and we are SOOOO excited about that! Of course she is not going to sleep until 12 now because there is a TV for her to watch cartoons on in her room but hey its a work in progress also :)

Here are some pictures:

She loves her new pink room!

Its Official!

2009-06-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

Its Official!! We are homeowners!

Will and I signed on our very first home yesterday! Although it was stressful...it has been such a wonderful experience!! Our loan officer, Dorinda Sherwood, and our realtor, Tarvis Grant, were absolutely amazing!!! They did most everything and just told us what they needed from us! We also got a great deal on the house we bought, it appraised for well over what we paid so that made it even better. Kya is excited as well (see pictures below).

Here a few pictures from yesterday:

Our first home...

All of us...

She is becoming a little Ham for the camera

Finally a Vacation...

2009-06-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

So the first week of summer has come and gone already....And although it was slightly unproductive on my end, we did get to go on our first family vacation!

Yes, I know I know...some of you are surely saying the first one?? Well, between getting married, going to grad school, finishing a master's thesis, getting our first "real" jobs...life has been hectic these past few years. So we were definitely exciting to go on our first vacation even if it was just to Fort Worth.

We went to go see Will's little cousin Olden graduate (Everyone is soooo proud of him!). Well we were not supposed to leave until Friday afternoon but we ended up leaving Thursday night because Olden's dad, Uncle David, had a heart attack (Keep reading to see how good God is). So we road down there with Will's mom and dad and got there about 2 A.M. Needless to say...we were tired!

Friday, we really did not do much...Jackquline cooked as she is always asked to do because her food is AMAZING! And I just helped her however I could. We really just go to start getting everything ready for Saturday.

Saturday came...Olden's graduation was at 10 AM and it was soooo wonderful to see him walk across the stage! We did not get to see David, his brother graduate 2 yrs ago so we really felt like we needed to make it this one. Olden will be going to school on a basketball scholarship starting in the fall and I am fairly certain he is ready for college (as all hs graduates are)! After the graduation...we ate, chilled with family and just relaxed as much as possible.

Then, on Sunday morning...Uncle David came home!!! It was soooo awesome because he was home just two days after having a heart attack!! And it was such a wonderful surprise to Aunt Rena because he did not tell her he was coming home yet....so when Will's dad brought him through the door, walking on his own, Rena was sooooooo excited!! God is good!

That afternoon we took Kya and Tyrie swimming. Although she is really not sure about the whole swimming thing...we did our best to begin teaching her and Ty how to swim. They did really good and I think they are becoming more comfortable with the water now. We had Olden's party Sunday night and again just got to chill with friends and family! I got to meet more of Will's family and really just got to relax a little bit more.

We came home yesterday and although it was a wonderful weekend...we were so glad to be home.

Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Kya eating food in the backseat of the car...sorry I just thought this was cute.

Kya swimming

Family Photo

Goodbyes

2009-05-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well it is officially the first day of summer vacation and all though I am extremely excited about that....these past two days have been extremely sad.

Yesterday I was my last day at FHS and it was so much harder than what I thought it was going to be. I have enjoyed being there so much this year dispite the daily drives and everyone has been so great and it is for this reason that I cried almost the entire day. And the kids...well lets just say they are the best around. One of classes threw me a going away party and almost all of them gave me hugs and told me they would miss me. Then, my freshmen basketball girls threw me a party also. And while I loved all my kids, I grew closest to these girls. They had such wonderful attitudes, worked so hard and I am so proud of them! So naturally I cried during the party and was so sad to have to tell them goodbye. But that was not the end of my tears.

I had my exit interview with my principal, Mr. Morren, and the waterworks came then too. I cannot say enough about Mr. Morren. He is probably one of the best people I have ever met. He has taught me so much about how to teach and care for students, I know I will be a better teacher just for having been at FHS. I also had to say goodbye to some other very special people which made it even harder. Almost everyone I met at FHS and FISD were extremely supportive and did everything they could to make me feel welcome. Therefore, this district and school will always remain special in my heart!

Nonetheless, I am still relieved that summer is here and I am exstatic that I will be able to stay home with Kya the whole time!!! For the most part, I think we will just be getting moved and the house set up but I am still excited all the same. It has been a horribly long year due to all the driving and I am ready for some time with my family. Not to mention that I am ready to begin getting ready to start at Coronado...GO MUSTANGS!!!

HAPPY SUMMER everyone!!!

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

Me and my freshmen girls

One of the signs they made me

Me, Lana, and B (two of my driving buddies) before graduation last night

New House/ End of School/ Beginning of Summer

2009-05-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hi All! I know it has been a while but it is getting close to the end of the year so things are crazy!!

Needless to say there has been a lot going on with our family these past few weeks. Just recently Will and I decided it was time for us to buy our first home and due to the fact that we have been driving around every Sunday for the past year trying to find one.....we found one we liked within about 1 week. Quick huh?!?! So right now we are in the process of buying. We have the inspection today and hopefully everything works out so that we can close NEXT WEEK!!!

As for Kya, she is growing steadily and I pretty sure she is going to be hitting her annual summer growth spurt early this year because I have already bought her summer outfits that are already too small. This Friday will be her last day at Kids Are Cool. I am having mixed feelings about this as of right now because on the one hand Kya gets to stay home with Mommy all summer (this is the good part) and on the other hand, she is leaving a wonderful daycare :( I cannot say enough about Kids Are Cool. We were so lucky to have found this daycare. They have such an amazing staff that actually loves the kids and the Mr. Bill (the owner) is probably one of the best around. He and the other administrators do soooooo much for the kids and their families!! Seriously....they are the best daycare in Lubbock by far!! Therefore, although we know we will be taking our second child there also....it is going to be somewhat of a sad day Friday :(

Other than that...our family is basically in the very busy process of finishing up the school year, changing jobs, and hopefully changing houses soon! Sooooo....we are Busy!

APRIL

2009-04-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

So April has been an extremely busy month for us so we have lots to share.....

Well Easter came and went very quickly. We did not even get to do much but we did get to see family, which is always nice. We went to church and then we went immediately to Mimi and Pa's house for lunch. Then after that, we went to Memaw's house to see her and Nana. Getting to see our families is always great because it has been so rare now a days...hopefully that will change after this year.

Kya in her Easter dress

Then Kya's second ballet recital was on April 17th. She DANCED this time!!! If you did not know, she did not dance at all at the first one and instead simply stood next to the teacher the WHOLE TIME. So... we were a little hesitant about leaving her in it but Renee (the head of Stretch N Grow) assured us that many lil dancers do this their first time out so we tried it again. AND IT WORKED!! Kya did so good! She was still very shy but she eventually got into it and did a great job! See pictures below of our little ballerina.

With her certificate

One of the tallest ones in her class...

with the flowers that Pa bought

Finally...And the most important thing that has happened this month.... Will and I both just got new jobs with Lubbock ISD. Both of these jobs are such a blessing for our family. Those of you who did not know, we have been commuting to work for the last year. Will goes to Levelland (30 mi. away) and I go to Floydada (50 mi away)....needless to say we are tried of driving. And besides our new jobs cutting down on the driving, they are also jobs that we have both been dreaming of for a while. I will be teaching AP and Dual Credit U.S. History at Coronado High School (Yes...I will be a PONY) and Will shall be teaching P.E. and coaching at O.L. Slaton!! Talk about being BLESSED!!! Praise GOD!!

Spring Break...A Lil Late

2009-04-05T11:59:00.001-07:00

Yes, Yes, I know Spring Break was 2 weeks ago but I have not updated in a while so....

Spring Break brought nothing exciting for us except a little rest, relaxation and time with family. And I must say that time off was much needed!! Between driving 100 miles everyday back and forth to work, school, softball, being junior class sponsor....life is hectic to say the least. So I was definitely ready for Spring Break.

I got to keep Kya home 3 days out of the week and she and I had a great time together. That Monday we went to help Memaw do some things around the house and got to see Nana and Pa too. Kya had a great time with Memaw (and vice versa) and we took our puppy Princess with us so she could play with Patches (Mom's dog) and Andre (Memaw's dog). Needless to say...the house was lil busy that day. All the dogs and Kya wanted to be in Memaw's lap but they could hardly fit :)

After we went to Memaw's....Kya also got to go see Pa and some cows. Kya LOVES cows. She will stand there and just watch them as long as you let her. And Pa loves that because he loves being at the farm! Kya also got to play on the swings with Pa! It was really nice for both Kya and I to get to see Pa...Below are our pictures from our visit to the Pa and the cows.

Other than Monday...we just rested and spent some much needed time as a family. The only thing bad about Spring Break was that it was only a tease before we get out for summer. Thank God we only have 8 more weeks!!

Apple

2009-02-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

Today is one of those days that I am so thankful that all of our students have Apple Laptops. These days have been few and far between lately but today I was extremely glad. These laptops enable the students to access the World Wide Web quickly and it really helps when they need to do research for something really quickly.

I also love having an Apple Laptop myself and will forever be a fan. One of my favorite things about the laptop is Photobooth. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it is a little camera that can capture pictures of pretty much anything from your computer. My students love it and are constantly taking pictures of themselves and their friends and making them look extremely cute. Kya and I experimented with Photobooth not too long ago and I posted some of the photos from our session. She loved it and we had sooo much fun with it as you can see.

And one of the other great things I love about my Apple is iMovie. I can record pretty much anything and I have made one podcast on it so far. I have also posted one of the videos that my student made me....its really funny and I think its great that this is what they do in their spare time. Who knows maybe they will be our next great music video producers :)

So last word......I'm definitely a HUGE fan of Apple since I have been at Floydada ISD.

First Post

2009-02-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hello....

Ok so a lady at work showed me this website to help students keep up with missing work but she also said that she uses it for her family and friends. So I thought I might try it to give updates on our busy lives to family and friends! So this is my first blog.....

I could not figure out what to really blog about today but then Will called and told me that Kya got into the SOUR program with Lubbock ISD. It is pre-K program in LISD in which kids start a year early and they get a little bit of a head start on school.

We are sooooooo for her excited but at the same time we are still a little apprehensive about our baby starting school. We knew it would come eventually but we didn't think it would be this fast. She will be going to Waters, which is where Ty and all the other kids go so we know she will love it all the same.

Well this is the end of my first blog.....I will be writing more very soon I am sure!!