New Years

There is a lot that has happened this year that I am so thankful for. I am truly blessed in my life and 2009 has been one of the bests so far. I am lucky and I know it. I know it and I feel it, but yet I don't always show it.

Here are a few of my New Year's Resolutions: (These usually don't stick so I am documenting them. If I have them written down, there is a greater chance for my follow through and I really want to strive to be better.)

1. Try to be the best person I can be, and be happy with whomever that person is. Shortcomings and all.
2. Feel less guilt, shame, etc. and replace it with more joy and self-confidence.
3. Be a better friend. If I am missing someone, call or write instead of letting the moment pass and the distance widen.
4. Be a better wife. Give more of myself to Franklin. Put the laundry, book, or phone, down and devote more attention to him.
5. Be more present and live in the moment. Less planning for the future, or looking back at the past. Less agonizing about what is going to happen, or what has already happened, and more focus in the right here and now.
6. Worry less about what others think of me. Worry more about what God thinks.

Wow, these are going to be HARD!!

My husband, my son, our families, our friends (old and new), you are my biggest blessings and I'm so grateful for you all. Happy New Year's to you. May this one be even better than the last as we enter a new decade. Cheers!!

Fallen

My new SIL is a pretty big deal, truly. She is a fiction writer and has 2 new books out. The biggest one is called Fallen and if you are Twilight fans, this book will appeal to you. It is about fallen angels, no vampires, and is ranked #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list right now!! She and Jason have been staying with us over Christmas holiday and I have just started reading it (my copy was a Christmas present wrapped under the tree). I'm only on Chapter 2 and completely hooked. I have to stop myself from coming out of my bedroom and asking her- what happened with Trevor in the cabin?!

She is a really great author and it's so much fun to read her stuff. I have read her books before and I find myself asking, Has she been there in real life, is this about something that has happened to Lauren or is this purely fiction? It is neat to try to look through her eyes and I am sometimes right and catch little things that she has inserted that really do pertain to her life....like her love for my bro :)

Random House shipped 300 books for her to sign today and she has been very busy autographing copies for all of our friends and family. She had a "photo shoot" today for a local paper who is going to be doing a feature on her and of course we had to do some with her adoring nephew. He calls her "YaYa" which is what her 20 month niece, Jordan started and seems to have stuck.

We are VERY proud of Lauren and her accomplishments. Keep your eyes peeled for Fallen in your bookstores and on the silver screen in the future- Disney has just bought the movie options!!!! It has been one of our favorite things to do this holiday, look at movie stars and think about who should be in the movie. Ed Westwick? Liam Hemsworth?

Merry Christmas!

Enjoying red velvet cake balls- or "yum yums"

Here we go!

Santa's loot


The packaging is fun too!









Santa came to our house! Although David Franklin doesn't get that at all, and can barely even open presents, he does love toys!! And boy-oh-boy, did he get some toys!

Christmas Eve we had dinner with my mom, Jason and Lauren after a candle light service at church. They all spent the night so they could all be here in the morning for Santa Claus. It was really cute, DF got really excited when he came out of the hallway, but I don't think it was because of his presents at first, I think it was because he had so many people watching him who were more excited than he was. He actually turned his back to his gifts and started waving and just watching all of us!

My mom's side of the family came over for lunch, minus Pap-paw because he is STILL in the hospital, (but all of the grandchildren went to visit him in the afternoon) and it was good to get to see everyone and lunch was great! Franklin and my mom basically cooked the whole thing.

After a quick nap we went over to Meme's and Grampe's for dinner with the Vaughts, Boo, and Robbie. It was very nice. We had another big dinner and lots of fun surprises! We had such a generous Christmas and feel so very blessed. We have good family and friends and our health and even had a bit of a white Christmas- if you call less than an inch for a couple hours in the morning "white".... I do!

Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad I'm not a fool.... any Billy Madison fans out there :) One thing about me is I LOVE movie quotes- ask any of my friends because it often embarrasses them to death. So of course, I can't resist including them on the blog, dorky as it may be.
David F got to go back to First Methodist this morning! He has been home with me for over a week and I'm pretty sure, I was boring him to death. I have not truly noticed the benefits of "school" as much as I did this week. (Even just the 2 days a week!) He loves to be with other kids and play and it's good for him to not see "Maaaaa-maa" every minute of every day. He had even started calling Franklin, Mama. When our friends came over, he would cling to me and start climbing up my body. He usually goes to everyone and is super friendly. At music together class, I often have an empty lap, because he's gone and sat in the teacher's lap. A few weeks ago, I took him to the DMV with me to renew my licence and he walked up to an nearly toothless old man and reached his arms up to sit in his lap! This baby knows no strangers- which isn't always a good thing, as the old man obliged and was holding my baby.

We go back to the doctor tomorrow to check on those ears... so here's hoping!

We have had lots more going on than just sickness, which is on the up and up. This time of year is so special and just magical. It's so fun to have parties and get togethers, burn yummy candles, eat lots of good food, and see lots of pretty colors and lights.Experiencing it with a child makes it even more so. Only 2 days away!!

Oh What a Night!

Look how long he is getting!


We have turned a corner, Praise Jesus! Last night was the best night sleep all 3 of us have had in over a week. David Franklin work up late, no crying, with an appetite, and his body actually felt cold. He has been burning up every time I get him up lately.

David Franklin went back to the doctor yesterday and we got the news of him having a double ear infection and strep throat. His antibiotics weren't working and he was having fever every 4-6 hours (when the Tylenol or Motrin wore off) for the past full week! And HIGH fever at that, I lay awake one night counting up the days of his fever thinking about brain damage, I have been exhausted and delirious. The doc gave him a powerful injection which is supposed to clear the infections in 1 dose. We are going back today, just in case it didn't work and he needs another shot, this was one sick baby.

He has been so clingy and has just felt miserable, but today he woke up smiling and happy, and not needing to be in my lap, with clear white eyes, and he even smells different. I am pretty oratory, so I could smell the infection. This may gross you out, but his breath, diapers, even body has not smelled right no matter how much Baby Magic I was sweeping all over him.

This has been the sickest he has ever been, or at least the longest and it has been tough. I'm so glad he is feeling better, I had almost forgotten how easy and happy he was when he feels good... almost. He was still a sweet boy and would smile and play but it took much more effort to get those smiles. He only gets his little blanket or "ni-ni" he calls it in his bed and he has one in the car, but this week I have let him carry it everywhere. This is the only time I'm seeing tears, when I try to take it away....

Santa X2

Also on our busy day Sunday, we went to the club for brunch with Meme, Grampe, the Vaughts, and Santa Claus! That Santa is one busy guy, he keeps showing up everywhere.

Meme and Grampe were trying for their Christmas card pic. This is no small task, here are some of the rejects which are pretty funny!

Santa is going to the bank tonight. Franklin wanted him to go, but the ear trouble (fever) isn't backing down. If it is still there tomorrow, we are heading back to the doctor.

Central Lanes

Uncle Jase wanted to go bowling for his birthday and it was a lot of fun! David Franklin tried to make a few fast breaks down the lanes- but luckily we caught him before we were slipping down into the gutters. We just left that up to our bowling balls. He had his very own terribly tacky neon bowling shoes! My Uncle Bob joined us and told us he hadn't bowled in 30 years- he ended up being the highest scorer!

The double ear infections have struck again and he had 103 temp this morning. Franklin said, "let's go and get him the tubes." Like we can go buy them for him for Christmas or something :) The doctors aren't there yet, but we won't be opposed when they are. We are ready for this ear junk to go away! I'm so sorry these ears are giving him so much trouble and hurting my baby!!

Rub a Dub Dub

Look who likes the big tub! He has discovered our bathtub and he tries to climb in and/or run the water almost everytime he comes in our bathroom. He loves the bubbles too. After I broke down this morning and gave him a bath (which is usually right before bed) he got pretty sleepy and took a nice long morning nap, heavenly!

He may get his love for the tub from his Uncle Jase, who LOVES baths. It also happens to be his Uncle Jase's birthday today. Happy Birthday Jason!! We can't wait for you and Aunt Lauren to get here soon!

It's the hap-happ-i-est season of all

Yesterday was our big, once a month playgroup and Santa (Josh Hurst) came to surprise the kids. David Franklin hasn't seen Santa since last year (he was asleep and 2 months old then) so he was mesmerized. He started inching his way up, side stepping around kids and scooting to the front, but not quite sure who that person was. He stood at a distance and looked for a while but eventually made it up to his lap, not for long, but with no tears. This is a really big playgroup- last month 40 kids were there so it gets pretty wild! We tried to get a group picture, but it wasn't very successful. All of these kids are 0-4 so imagine that. I must say, as I was watching and observing, David Franklin is really and truly a great child. Even other moms were commenting. I know I am very biased, but some kids threw fits and David Franklin was literally blowing kisses. As my mother-in-law says, He's Amazing.

Today, we loaded up and went to a Christmas tree farm and got our tree! It is humongous. It looked so different outside in the wide open than in my living room. I'm in love with it- I think it's the prettiest tree I've ever seen. I know so many people have color coordinated, themed, trees. I don't. Those are so pretty and well put-together, I just can't pull it off. My tree is a mix of ornaments from all different times, looks, and colors. I have dollar store ornaments and expensive ones right there side by side, and it makes me so happy! I read in People magazine that everything tacky is in this year- so I'm embracing it. I even have the silver tinsel up. Franklin is having a hard time with that, but he will get over it.

It was a blast out there today. DF wanted to help his daddy and is so observant. Franklin laid on the ground, so did DFB. Precious! He is such a helper, too bad he kept tripping over all of the stumps and couldn't stand up long enough to understand what was going on. This is such a stressful time of year- I had a very productive day today and still have a million things on my list. Among all of the chaos, there is a special joy of Christmas. I had to restrain from telling strangers in the parking lot at the grocery store, Merry Christmas.

Shout Out to Grampe!

Tomorrow is Grampe's birthday and David Franklin told me to give him a shout out on the blog. Afterall, he is one of our most faithful readers! :) Notice anything Grampe-ish in this photo?

Happy Birthday Hal, we look forward to celebrating with you and Meme tomorrow night!!

*Hint- The vest and the book

Yeast rolls

(I'm email blogging if you can't tell because my computer died, So this is all via my iPhone)

Franklin and I are in a marriage study right now with several other couples. This week our lesson is on leaving a legacy; how to do that and what you want yours to be. It asked us about our influences and has been very insightful for us both.

We were asked questions about lessons we were taught as children. For
example who taught you about work ethic, how to tie a shoe, pray, etc.. Most our our answers were our parents, but a lot had our grandparents as well.

My mind flashed to this picture- earlier this week David Franklin went to my mom's house while I went to feed my grandfather his lunch in the hospital. I came back to find her kitchen and the both of them a MESS, and my mother unable to hold in her smiles and giggles.

She is famous for her yeast rolls, they are her signature dish and a
secret recipe. She was making them and decided to "teach" DF to make
them too. She claims (although she has no witness) that he would pat the dough, push the cup down and even place them on a seperate tray. She is pretty generous in what she thinks he can say and do but either way, he helped. I just watched and looked at the flour all in his ears and down my mom's shirt and thought of the mess they had made. I couldn't think about that long when I saw her face and the pure joy she was feeling. What precious time they were spending as she was building a legacy with her grandson.

We ate his rolls for dinner that night. They were flat and even a little hard but they were the sweetest rolls I've ever tasted in my
life. Hands down.