Fathers Day followed by Growth Spurts and Teething

Well, let me start off by saying that Anslee is truly lucky to have the Father she does, and I certainly look forward to the day that she can recognize that and show him how much he means to him! We spent Father's Day at home together, since Tyler had the day off from patrolling. We got up, and Anslee had put up every picture she had ever taken with Tyler on the table for him to see when he woke up. She had also bought him a nice Polo shirt and put that out on the table for him to see as well. She served him a Sausage McGriddle biscuit from McDonalds because she knows that breakfast is always a treat for her daddy! Tyler loved looking at all the photos (there are already so many!) of him with her. From the first time he held her until just days before Father's Day, he was able to look back at the 5 months he has shared with her. All of those photos are going to be put into an album that will eventually be filled with lots of pictures of Daddy and Daughter in her first year. We then went to church, and then ate out at the Lone Star Cafe. Its Fine Dining in Hillsboro! We lazed around the rest of the afternoon and then I made some chicken salad sandwhiches, and we headed to the Old City Park to have a picnic dinner. We had the best time together as a family, and I think Tyler felt appreciated...as he should! He has enjoyed every minute of being a daddy, and I know he looks forward to watching Anslee grow into a beautiful young lady. Here is a picture of Anslee with her Daddy on Fathers day at the park!





Speaking of growing...my my are we doing a lot of that these days! We are currently going through Anslee's 3rd major growth spurt. Growth spurts are not fun for Mom, Dad, or baby! I am always aware of when growth spurts come on, but somehow, I feel like I am always taken by surprise too. This is what happens:

Week 1 of growth spurt: Anslee eats like she will never eat again and sleeps like she will never sleep again
Week 2 of growth spurt: Anslee does not like to eat as much, cries before each of her 3 naps and before bedtime, and is cranky a good part of the day.

Then, the growth spurt ends and life is back to smooth sailing again. Week 2 of the growth is really hard. I feel like I can't do enough to keep her happy and I hate that I can't take away those growing pains that make her life so uncomfortable. I remember having growing pains (I know you are all thinking, with as small as she is, she probably didn't have that many, but none the less, I did people!) and they are not fun. Its a deep pain in the bone that no massaging or moving about can relieve. I also get frustrated when I do all I can do, and put my all energies into making her day go as easily as I possibly can, and the crying does not stop. I find MY comfort in knowing that it won't last and the sweet will ooze out her once again soon! Until then, we are just loving on her as much as we can to make her feel as comfortable as she can feel until it ends! Thank you baby tylenol, you have been of great help these days!

Teething! On June 18th, at just a few days shy of being 5 months old, Anslee's first tooth cut through the gums. I knew she had been teething for about a month, as the drool was flowing abundantly, some fussiness came and went, and anything she could bring to her mouth she would. Out of all items I have for her to chew on, she enjoyed my (clean, always clean) finger. So on June 18th, I offered my finger to her because she started some fussing...and OUCH! She bit me with her brand new tooth! There it was, barely poking itself out of the gums! Now its even come up further! The drooling had subsided for a few days after that tooth came through, I noticed, but it has returned....are we awaiting tooth #2? Who knows...but we shall soon see! I can't get a good picture of the tooth right now, because Anslee likes to stick her tongue out (covering the tooth) whenever I try. Maybe I can catch one next time around.

Tyler has told me that he has appreciated my experimenting in the kitchen lately! I have thrown together some random dinner ideas, and some were actually pretty good...others not so much, but you can't blame a girl for trying. I have cooked 4meals in a row! This is a big deal for me, as I am a "heat something up" or "sandwhich" kind of a chef. This week I actually made two different styles of chicken spaghetti, fajitas with beans and rice, and a quiche. I am thankful for some family recipes I have that I will start on next week, and I am continuing to become a little more confident in the kitchen. Any other recipe ideas are welcomed, as I need to be a little more creative in meal planning.

Well time is flying by, with watching our little grow, I have just now realized that we have been in Hillsboro now for 9 months! Almost a year, and we have had some great experiences here. We do know that we won't be here for much longer, but we are so thankful for the opportunity we have had to grow as a family here. Tyler was trained by a GREAT trooper who really taught Tyler all the little things (and big things) he needed to know about being a Trooper. If that was the ONLY reason we were supposed to be here, that would have been enough, but I know its not. We have learned a lot, and will take so much with us wherever we go next! We should find out in about a months time or so where we might possibly be going if we end up going some where else. No matter what though....owning a home is in our near future! We have decided we will buy a home before this year is over, and for this, I could not be more excited for! All of this will certainly be expanded upon in upcoming blogs!

Stay tuned!

Tales from the Life of a Trooper Wife....

A great friend of mine told me that since I have a blog, I should blog about the experiences I have as a Texas State Trooper's wife. I feel like as Christian women, we are called to support our husbands in their mission field, in their role as fathers, and in their work place. Proverbs 31 paints a very clear picture of what a Holy wife and mother look like. I have to stop sometimes and ask myself, "Why is this concept easy to understand, but hard to actually put into practice sometimes?" I have not met a Christian woman who says that they don't want to look like the woman who is described in the 31st chapter of Proverbs, and I feel like its another one of those things that is much easier said than done.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I must be honest. I have had my moments over the past year in being wholeheartedly and selflessly supportive of Tyler's job as a Trooper. Since Tyler has been gone, I have had some time to think about how I put the "supportive wife" hat on. I wonder if I really do that good of a job sometimes. I wonder if Tyler is really getting what he truly deserves. Do I REALLY work hard enough at that? While it brings me nothing but pure joy to know that when he goes to work everyday he is enjoying himself and confident that he is good at what he does, its still hard for me at times. As you all know, this blog was started when Tyler had to basically move to Austin for 6 months while I lived in Abilene still. We had been married for 4 months when he left. I found out we were pregnant 2 months after he left. I hated being away from him. I know he hated being away from me too, but he knew this is the profession he was called into. I knew it too. I knew it when we married, but for some reason when you are surrounded by wedding plans, and the excitement of being married, you push the unfavorable realities out of your mind for a while. Though the thoughts of him leaving haunted me, I still had some time to push them out of my mind for a while. Tyler had to again leave for additional training last week, and will be back at the end of this week. Two weeks was nothing compared to the 6 months I had already dealt with, however, this time when he left, I got a little picture of what single motherhood would be like. A whole new experience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't get me wrong when reading this. I am so proud of my husband and his work. I would not have him do anything else. I am proud to tell others what he does. He is a true public servant, and how can anyone say that is something we should not be proud of! I will say, though, that its hard at times. As a wife, I worry about the dangerous nature of the job and the horrifying things that he has to see. He has worked several fatal crashes and even a murder. So, at times, I worry about how he deals with those things emotionally. Now, law enforcement was not my calling. It was Tyler's. I feel that when we married his calling became mine (and vise versa of course). This is where my trouble lies I think. At times I try to just make that his "thing". Its easy to get upset about certain aspects of his job too. No holidays, or weekends. Night Shifts. There are many things to complain about. I guess I just wonder if other law enforcement wives ever have their days. I have mine, and I won't for one minute claim to be perfect and say that I don't. One thing remains though, and that is that I am so proud of Tyler and happy that he is happy and good at his job. I am so blessed to have found a man that knew what he wanted out of life and went after it. He has accomplished so much, and should be commended for what he has overcome to get to where he is now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So proud of that Badge he wears. So with Father's Day coming up, and just thinking about how blessed I am to have him as my husband, this post is dedicated to Tyler. I could not be more blessed and more happy than I am with him (even when I have my days!)

I love you babe!



So this is my tribute to Tyler, All Law Enforcement Officers who serve us everyday, and the wives that are doing their best to support them!

New Ideas

Since Tyler has been out of town this week, and Vacation Bible School is next week, I took the free time I had (during nap time...the only "free" time)and really started reading other peoples blogs. I love the blogging world. Its so wonderful to read other people thoughts and experiences. Its nice to have a place to sort of journal your thoughts and allow other people to read and react to them. I read The Conservative Mommy blog and appreciated how she practices her right to freely express her views. I look forward to reading what other people are writing about, and hopefully finding more "blog buddies". I started this blog over a year ago just to keep anyone who was interested up to date on Tyler's progress as he went through the DPS Training Academy. I used to think, why should I blog, there is not that much interesting things going on in my life that people would just want to sit down and read about. I have recently come to realize that the internet is a great way to get helpful advice and share ideas. So, I figured, if I enjoy reading what others have to say, maybe there is someone out there that will really enjoy what I have to say. So heres to viewing my blogging experiences in a whole new way!

To celebrate my new love for the blog I went to the website: http://pinkarmchairdesigns.blogspot.com/ and ordered a new "cuter" blog. I am hoping that this will help keep me devoted to sharing my thoughts, and my day to day experiences as a Mommy and Wife!


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tyler will be coming home this weekend. Thank goodness for husbands who are active in their kiddos lives. Tyler is so excited about coming home and loving on his baby girl. I am of course going to hand her over and take a well deserved break from the hectic "single mom" life I have been living this week. Not to say that it has been bad, because I clearly enjoy my time with her. I think all moms would agree that getting away, or just being able to take a nice long shower, is healthy and should be practiced! I am so anxious to hug his neck when he gets home. I am thankful for him going to Austin, as he is doing it to provide for our family financially, but I am so happy to get him home for this weekend. The REAL celebration will be NEXT Friday when he is back home for good and we can get back into the swing of life again!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tyler and I are doing P90X, which is an extreme home fitness program, to keep in shape. We did a week of it, and then he had to leave for two weeks, so we are basically just going to start our 90 day journey over again when he returns for good. I am hoping we are satisfied with our results, as the workout is extremely difficult. Its nice to have a good challenge ahead of you though, right? Must keep telling myself this....

Now...cleaning must happen before Tyler returns, and I can no longer put it off...

Zoo-riffic!

I guess it has been a while since I last blogged, but lately it is just so easy to let time get away from me! This have been wonderful and life has been busy, but good. We took Anslee to the Waco Cameron Park Zoo for the first time this past Tuesday. Tyler had the day off work and a friend (Susan) from church invited us to go with her and her two kiddos, Cash (4) and Ava (10 months). We had a blast. Here are a couple of pictures of Anslee enjoying her first Zoo experience.




This is Anslee watching the fish in the Aquarium


This is Anslee with her Dad...taking a breather!


Here is a family shot of us in front of the TeePee (Buffalo area)


And finally, Anslee had all the excitement she could take!


We really had a good time, and hope to go back someday, maybe when Anslee is a little older and can really get excited as she learns about and sees all the animals!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tyler will leave tomorrow to head for Austin, Texas (yet again) for more training. He will taking Crash Reconstruction level 2 courses. While it is very necessary for him to go, I am always sad to know he won't be coming home in the evening. He will be gone for two full weeks, but luckily he will be able to make it back to Hillsboro for the weekend in between. This will be the first time I have Anslee all to myself, 24 hours a day, without the sight of any relief. I am confident that we will all still be living and breathing, I have also come to realize what a great help Tyler is, and how I have really depended on him for a break here and there. I have not had the easiest time swallowing the fact that the State is requiring him to leave AGAIN, when it has not even been a year since they required 6 months of his life for training. Its just one of those things that goes with the Trooper title, but I will say its not my favorite aspect of his profession. He will do great while he is there, and will certainly benefit from the classes he will take. I just ask for prayers that nothing come up that I can't handle on my own! Thank goodness he will be off for 3 full days when he returns from the school!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will be teaching Vacation Bible School at FBC Hillsboro next week! I am excited about what God will do in the lives of the children that attend. Please pray for all of our kids, and that I (and the other teacher) can effectively speak truths to the 3rd and 4th graders. We have an "Austrailian Outback" theme and will talking about everything from Boomerangs to Sheep Shearing all while incorporating The Gospel to these kids.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An update on Anslee! We had our 4 month well baby appointment on May 28th. She was actually 4 months and 1 week to the day when we visited Dr. Nesmith (who we love!) At the appointment she was 13.7 lbs and 24.5 inches long. This puts her in the 50th percentile for growth and development and her height and weight were perfectly proportional. The Dr. commented on how well tempered she is, and he said that it was time to start the big girl on solid foods. He told us to start out with rice cereal and to introduce it slowly, a little bit at a time, and once daily for a while.

Anslee enjoying her first experience with cereal!


We have found that Anslee has just developed a whole personality all of a sudden. She enjoys her new found "voice" and loves to listen to herself and certainly wants to make sure everyone in a shouts distance can hear her clearly. She loves to eat her toes, play with and grab at toys, and smiles almost the entire time she is awake. I never get tired of seeing that smile or hearing her laugh. I will say that going out in public is an interesting endeavor...as people look at us while she squeals and shrills at the top of her lungs in her amusement. We love her though, and so glad that the Dr. gave nothing but good reports after checking her over...and giving her the dreaded shots. Thank you, Tyler, for staying in the room while I left in order to NOT hear the sad cries of Anslee being pricked by needles!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hate to end on a sad note, but Tyler had to work a very unfortunate situation last night. A woman, in her early 30's, called herself into the sheriff's office for the murder of her 13 year old daughter and major injury to her 12 year old daughter. I know it takes a special kind of person to be able to stand strong through working these kinds of crime scenes, and proud of Tyler I am, as he was courageous and professional while dealing with such a gruesome situation. Prayers go out to the young girl who survived and for the family in general. It really hits home when things like this happen within a 7 mile radius of where you sleep at night. Thank you to all who support Tyler and his job, he is doing well and standing strong as always.


Here is a link to the news story if you want to read about the case

http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/breakingnews/entries/2009/06/06/hill_county_woman_charged_with.html

More updates on the Moses home as they arise!