6 months

In my recent stalking of othger blogs, I have seen several of my friends write letters to their little ones as they reach "birthdays" or significant times in their young lives. I loved the idea, so I thought I would copy it and write My precious Ans a letter on her 6 month birthday!


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Sweet Anslee,

6 months old today. I almost want to push a pause button on our lives so I can freeze frame you as you are right now. Its hard to know where to start when wanting to describe to you the most precious 6 months of our lives. You have changed our world in such a way that I would never want my life the way it was before you arrived. I remember the feeling I had when I saw your face for the first time, and its a feeling that I will never forget. Your Daddy and I had never seen anything so beautiful and so perfectly innocent. After seeing you and holding you for the first time I wondered how anyone who had experienced the miracle of a baby could not believe in God. I had no doubt that you came to us as a gift from God. There was no other way to describe what a miracle you truly were to us. You have been nothing but a joy to us since we found out we were expecting you. I know that the future is bright for our family, and bright for you.

I have watched you so closely over the past 6 months. You have become my best little friend, and I feel like I know you so well. I have enjoyed watching you, learning about the little person that you are becoming to be, and doing life with you by our sides. There is so much you have already accomplished in your short time here with us!

You can now play with toys, sit and play in your exercauser, and roll all over the place! You reach and grab for everything in your line of vision and want to put everything you get your hands on in your mouth. You squeal with delight, and when you smile your eyes light up a room. The first time you smiled, I cried. I felt like I had waited so long to see you communicate happiness. I only had to wait 8 weeks and it felt like an eternity, but when you did, my heart just melted. You have two teeth now, so each time you smile now I am reminded of how you are growing and developing so fast already! You babble all the time. Its your way of talking to me, so I just talk right back to you. I enjoy our conversations and know that I will continue to love our conversations as you get older. A talker you already seem to be! We predict a very outgoing personality as you are content to smile and talk with anyone who comes your way. You get a lot of attention, and you really seem to like it that way.

You have become so incredibly mobile! You are starting to crawl and can get up on your hands and knees. You are so strong! You seem to always be on the go! Sitting up on your own is no longer enough! You like to move from place to place and you are exploring new ways to get from where you are to where you want to be. You have us laughing all the time. We know that you will continue to astonish us with how quickly you grow and meet all your milestones!

As you develop physically, you are also developing the character to who you will become. What you will be known for, and how you will always be remembered. My prayer for you as you grow, is this: That you are happy and confident. Sensitive and caring, wise and likable. Most of all, I pray that you have a clear understanding of salvation and that your life be aligned along that understanding. I pray your life bring nothing but Glory to our Father who so perfectly planned your arrival to our family 6 months ago today.

We love you!
Mommy and Daddy

Here are some pictures to visually mark your growth and development over the last 6 months!

Your first few seconds outside the womb! 1/22/2009


2/2009 (one month)


3/2009 (two months)


4/2009 (3 months)



5/2009 (4 months)



6/2009 (5 months)



7/2009 (6 months)

Hunt 3

Well, today is the big day! We are so excited to get to Waco and actually walk through these houses. We are seeing 5 houses today. We will be walking through the 2 homes that I have posted pictures of earlier this past week, this one I am posting photos of today, and two others. One of them is still being built, and the other I do not have any photos of, as it was just listed. I will be taking pictures myself during our walk through and will probably end up posting those some time later. Here is the 3rd house we will look at. This home is a little bit smaller than the other two, which is fine, considering we know that this is our first home and there will always be time to "grow" especially as our family grows!

Front outside view
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Window


Dining Area


Kitchen


Master bath: Shower/tub


Guest Bathroom


Driveway into backyard


There are some things I already have questions about on this one. I still certainly want to go and take a look at it, but it seems to be on a busier street. I have never wanted to live on a busy street, but that will have to be something I consider more so once I have seen it in person. I do like that the bathrooms and kitchen counters have been updated. I would like to see some bedroom pictures and maybe the living room too, so there is just more that I need to look at on this one. Worth a drive out to see though! Price wise, they are all extremely reasonable, but this one is really the most reasonable and that is always an attractive attribute!

Please pray for us as we begin this decision making process. We are excited about this time and just want God's will above all else!

More updates to come!

House Hunt via the Blog part 2

I appreciate the feedback on house #1 (on here and on faccebook!). I like the house from what I can tell, but like I mentioned, I have questions that I want to get answered before just falling in love with any house. On that note, here is another house that is a good option for us as well. We really like this house as well.

Front outside View


Bedroom 1


Bedroom 2


Guest Bathroom


Dining Room


Living Room


What we are missing (in photos) of this house would be the 3rd bedroom, master bathroom, and the kitchen. All big selling points, of course. I like what I see, but need to see a whole lot more. I also am NOT a fan of the wood paneling on the walls of the living room. I LOVE that its on a half acre of land. I know that is not just a TON of land, but its more than a city lot, so the yard size is nice. Its an easy fix though, as painting will probably be a "must" anywhere we move to! Its hard to not get in a rush when doing this, but making a well thought out decision is important and I know that despite how my excitement wants me to sign papers in a big hurry!

Well, that is option #2, a strong option, for now at least!

Will put a possible 3rd maybe later today as we are headed out for the weekend. By Monday, I hope to have lots of questions answered! We are very excited about meeting up with our realtor. Her name is Whitney, and she is a reference from Tyler's sister, Jacy. They went to Baylor together and was in the same sorority as Jacy as well. My lender had called her and visited with her and after their conversation my lender, Moo, said that she was an excellent realtor to work with and that this should be a fun process for us! I felt so reassured after hearing that from Moo, as being a first time home-buyer is nerve wrecking! I feel like she will be working to find us the most house for the best price and that is all we can ask for!

*on a different note*

Parenting...not so perfectly

This has been another rough week with Anslee. I hate to think that she might be feeling uncomfortable, but I am beginning to think she has a form of reflux called GERD. The symptoms include:

excessive spit up
food aversions
irritability
more intense pain when laid down
waking early from naps

All of these Anslee has been experiencing for the last two weeks. I have to remember that she is teething and growing too. I have talked to the nurse at Dr. Neesmith's office several times, and we think that GERD could be a possibility, so we will see if a medication (in drop form) called Axid will help. I think lessens the amount of acid in the stomach and esophagus. Vomiting, and coughing are also symptoms of GERD. We are thankfully not having any of that going on though.

GERD is not a sickness, in fact it is the same thing as severe heartburn in adults. Happily, this is not anything that would require Anslee staying at home in order to not pass on to anyone else. Its due to an immature gastrointestinal track.

We try to do our best to comfort her, but we are not able to fix this ourselves. Hopefully the drops will ease her discomfort!

We take off for the Gaylord Texan Resort today! We are excited to have a weekend away, and get in some relaxing! Anslee is thrilled to hang out with her Aunt Jacy and Uncle B all weekend! :)

Pictures to come soon!

House Hunt via the Blog part 1

I have decided that over the next 3 days, I am going to post pictures of a couple of the houses we are looking at in the Waco area. I love to share what is going on with us, and I would love to get feedback from blogging friends! So to start off the house hunt with us, look at the below photos, and feel free to tell us what you think!

Here is photo #1 The view of the home from the street


The living room view #1


Breakfast Area


Kitchen


Bedroom 1


Bedroom 2


Bedroom 3


Living Room View 2


I really like this house, its a 3 bed/2 bath, and in a nice neighborhood. I feel like with of course adding our own personal touches we could really enjoy living in this home. I just hate that there are no photos of the bathrooms. Bathrooms and kitchens are big sellers for me, so its important to see them! Tyler and I will be making a personal visit to this home on Monday!

This house is within 30 miles from the Hill County DPS office, which makes it even more attractive to us, because nothing would change with Tyler's duty station!

I have a few more homes to post pictures of, so stay tuned tomorrow for a view at another option!

All Things "Mommy"

What a busy first part of July it has been! I can't believe that a year ago on July 9th, I heard Anslee's heart beat for the very first time. I was 8 weeks and 4 days along in my pregnancy. My first doctor's visit and sonogram. Pregnancy was such a joy for me (I say this with caution, as I feel I may jinx myself with the next pregnancy!) Wow. Now she is here. She was living and had a beating heart then...for more than a year she has been living, and for almost 6 months I have been able to hold her in my arms. I still can't get over how fast time flies, and I will never be able to capture each moment in a photograph or on film...but I am certainly doing the very best I can!

Teething
On July 3rd, we noticed Anslee's 2nd tooth sprouting above the gum line. I knew again this was happening, as the drooling that had somewhat subsided after the first one sprout had returned. Needless to say, we wear a bib everywhere we go. I hate it, as it always seems to be covering up the cute outfits she is dressed in! She enjoys putting everything she can get her grubby little hands in her mouth, I suppose to ease any pain she is feeling. However, she gets bored with each item shortly after she discovers it, and is always wanting to move on to something else. What keeps her attention the most is a wet wash cloth, but only while bathing. She is a particular child, and I wonder if this part of her little personality settling in, or if she is just temporarily exploring all that is offered to her. Thankfully, I use Hyland's homeopathic teething tablets for instant relief. They dissolve immediately in under her tongue, and she seems to calm as soon as they are given. I like these better than baby orajel, only because she seems too.

Developmental Milestones
Anslee has been rolling over from side to side and front to back now for about 2 months. Now, at 5.5 months, she is almost sitting up independently. She sits in front of her baby gym set and will play with the toys that dangle from it. She is grasping objects with both hands and is really getting good at it. She of course, takes everything straight to her mouth. She can pass toys/objects from one hand to the other. Anslee does tend to drop things a lot. I am starting to wonder if the notorious "dropping game" is starting, or if she is just trying to hear different sounds. I try to keep several toys at arms length, so that when one is dropped she can simply amuse herself with another. Anslee is cooing and babbling and screeching and squealing almost every moment that she is awake. Tyler says that she is already a talker. I hope so, I try to talk a lot and read a lot to her for language development purposes. She tends to really get vocal when we are in public places. Thats really my favorite...you know when you get those stares from the nice old couple in the booth next to you. I always wonder what they are thinking. Are they thinking "gosh, if that were my child....." I guess we will never know, Anslee is happy and healthy, developing right on pace with her age group (or so I read...and read and read...) so I have NOTHING to worry or complain about at this point. Our favorite book this past week has been "Abby Learns her Shapes" (its a sesame series book). Anslee also is trying to work on her "crawling" muscles. She fidgets around, and pushes up onto her hands and knees but then is quickly back down to her belly again. She has mastered the art of backward crawling...which I think is cute, and at least she is moving about...no matter what direction! Here is a photo of Anslee sitting up and playing



GRRRRR....Growth Spurt Again?
This week (week 24 of development) Anslee has been bad at feeding, and not going down as easy for her naps during the day. Oh yeah, and as far as solids go: Not happening. I hate feeling like I am forcing her to eat them, but I do feel that way. I only started them because I under instruction to by my pediatrician, who is wonderful and who I very much trust. I think with Anslee its just going to be a learning process that takes a little longer. Its especially frustrating this week. I feel like she is going through growth spurts all the time lately. I can't understand why...she has only grown 8.5 inches and put on 4 X's as much as weight from birth...no, so it seems likely that we could again be victim to the dreaded growth spurt again this week. This is always...without a doubt...how she handles them. Fusses a little, does not eat well, and does not go down for naps as well or for as long. I take heart in knowing its temporary, and thankful that it does not disrupt her night time sleep pattern.

Extras!
Tyler and I are looking forward to being homeowners in the next few months, and starting the process in which it takes to become homeowners. Even though we do not know for certain where we are going to be, we are committing the next 3 to 5 years wherever we go, as we see this decision best suits our family! We are excited and ready to know where 1st God and 2nd the DPS is leading us!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July! I got to make a fast trip to Abilene and visit with my family, and then we went on to Coleman, where the 4th is bigger than Christmas. Anslee participated in the 1st Annual Family Parade, and we played games, ate a lot of food, played more games, and ate more food. Here is Anlsee as she "paraded" down Walnut Street in Coleman. (She has her Grandad to thank for pushing her in the stroller the whole way!)



We also took Anslee swimming for the 1st time! We bought her a floatie, and she so enjoyed it. The water was warm (how could it not be? clearly its 108 degrees!) and so it probably felt nothing more to her than a big bath that she could splash around in! She laughed and giggled and relaxed as well. Here is a photo of her floating and enjoying life to end this post with!

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.
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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.

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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.
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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!