The World Through My Eyes

This post is the full version of the "Hall of Fame Hubby" entry that is in the June edition of The Journey magazine. I was going to wait until Father's Day to post it, but I changed my mind. Happy Father's Day, Babe!! I’ve been married to my husband Justin for nearly eight years now, and it’s hard to believe we’ve been together that long. We married pretty young (20 and 22), finished college two years later and quickly entered the world of parenthood. It has been nothing short of a privilege sharing the joys, as well as frustrations, of raising three children with him. I truly would not want to do this with anyone else. I don’t think marriage gets the credit it deserves sometimes. It has been an honor to be Justin’s wife and watch him grow into a respected Christian man and father over the past eight years. Although Justin has many great qualities and characteristics as a husband and father, his simple kindness and gentleness is what makes him so great! Justin has a...

I think Justin and I have had to clean up a mess of poop in Paisley's bed about 20 times now. It happened again today. I am determined to find her some one piece suits for her to wear to bed so she can't take her pants off anymore, but I haven't been able to locate them yet. Anyway, after I got her all bathed cleaned up and changed her bed sheet, I layed her back in her crib and decided to give her Sidney's Dora doll to snuggle up to. She stopped crying right away and later I went to peek in on her and found her like this. I had to take a picture it was too cute. I never really thought about giving her a stuffed toy to sleep with; maybe that's all I needed to to do to stop her from playing with her diaper contents. This is what I like to see in my sweet little girl's crib. So sweet!! Lachlan loves to make messes whether it's dumping an entire toy box full of toys out on the floor or entire can of formula, he's the best boy for the job. The most recent me...

I went to a psychologist, Dr. Sid Epperson, today to see about getting tested for ADD. My family Doctor referred me to him. The following happenings and situations should prove that I have ADD and do not need a test to tell me this....... -My appt. was at 1:00 and they told me to get there early. I planned to leave my house at 12:40 and didn't walk out the door until 12:50 and then still had to go back inside to get my phone which I could not find and ended up being under the sheets on my bed... yes, I made the bed with my phone in it. So, I didn't actually leave until 12:56. -I had to call on the way to find out where they were located b/c, no, I hadn't even done THAT yet.......ugh!!!!! Luckily I knew right where it was and it wasn't too far away. -I have no clue what time it was when i walked in the door and they just put me straight back and let me fill out my paper work afterwards (since I was late, obviously). It didn't even cross my mind to tell them on ...

Ok, I'm dedicating this post to my brother and sister-n-law who will soon be parents for the first time. This is the beginning of what I'm afraid will be a long running list of rules that you only learn from not-so-pleasant real life experiences. Even after three kids I'm still learning lots of things about raising kids. Some of these I already learned in the past, but I've saved the most recently learned rule for the end, which is really not the end, but the end of this list today. So here it goes. Hope it helps, Jase and Rach, and remember, this list is not to scare you or overwhelm you, but to make your life WAY easier than mine. Consider it the best baby gift you could ever receive, minimizing stress, disasters, and unnecessary spending. Rule #1: Do not under any circumstance leave the following products within a 3 ft. reach of your under 3 years old child.... Vaseline, lotion, soap, detergant, matches, pills, batteries, cereal, oatmeal, sugar, flour, formula,...

I asked Sidney what she wanted for Christmas tonight and this is the list. It's very specific and I'm not sure where she's even seen some of this stuff. 1)2 Baby Ponies exactly like the ones she has with a stroller just like the one she has. I asked her why she wants the same thing she has and she said, "Because it doesn't make the sounds anymore." I guess I could go the easy route and just replace the batteries and wrap it up. Merry Christmas!! 2)Toy Jewelry box with a sparkly ring that says, "I love Mommy and Daddy." 3)Hannah Montana Lamp and if it breaks she wants the High School Musical one. 4)A skateboard with white and purple flowers on it that says, "Go Slide." We questioned this one too and she said, "....cause it's like sliding on the street." 5)Hot Pink Scooter with purple and white streamers on the handles. "And that's ALL," Sidney says. Sidney's Dictionary : "drug" -- to think "bluc...

1) Jennifer was a very popular name in the late 70s and early 80s; however its only ranked #6 of the most popular first female names, but i know more Jennifers than any of the top five names. I can name about 8 or 9 right off the top of my head, but that number even seems a little low to me. I was thinking I knew more Jennifers than that. So, just for the heck of it, count all the Jennifers you remember from kindergarten til present and comment back with your number. If you are really ambitious, you can try and guess the top 5 I didn't mention without looking it up. There's no prize, just wasting time mainly. 2)I've caught myself doing really stupid things as a parent. I've actually said, "Now, you can't have any fruit snacks or candy until you finish your food, which sometimes happens to be "Deep friend chicken nuggets and French Fries." I mean really, fruit snacks have to be healthier than that stuff, right? There's this mentality that j...

I came home after church today my house was totally clean my HUGE mound of laundry was gone. I knew right off it had to be my mother-in-law cause, as Justin said, "She's the only would who could have humanly possibly done it," (speaking from his experience living at home). So, I called her and sure enough I was right. She cleaned my entire house and took my laundry to her house to wash, dry and fold. I was in complete shock at this wonderful surprise. Now, I have to say, a couple of years ago that might have made me mad or frustrated. I have sort of a complex when it comes to people helping me. Especially when it's the one person I feel like I'm being compared to daily by my husband. (He says he doesn't do that, but I'm not convinced). Anyway, I tend to take other people's help as an insult as if they think I'm not doing a good job or just don't know how to do it effectively. Surprisingly, I did not feel that way today at all. I felt blesse...