Huh??

Taydem is beginning to say more and more sentences (well they are sentences to us, but mainly three word sentences!). Here are some of her new phrases.

DUM: Means "gum". Everyday I pick her up from school she says, "Momma, dum?"

MEAN and NICE: If she gets in trouble by myself or by Leven she will say, "Daddy mean." She will also say who she thinks is being nice at that moment.

BAF: Which means "bath." She loves being in the bathroom period. She knows this is the room where Momma and Taydem get pretty.

TB: Means "TV" of course. She's not that much into watching TV but if we are watching something that looks like it has monsters on the screen she won't take her eyes off. She's a scardy cat. On Saturday mornings she will come into our room and say "Momma I wanna wash Bawney."

DIS WAY: Now while driving she thinks she knows where we are going and will tell me to go "Dis way."

PAY WIF BABY: She absolutely loves her babies. She loves to comb their hair, swaddle them up in a blanket, rocking them, tell them "NO", putting them in Time Out (this is my favorite), kissing them, hugging them, pushing them in their stroller, giving them a bottle, and saying "I wuv you!" I just love how a little girl knows what to do with a baby. The motherly instinct comes out at such a young age.

Pay: Which also means "PRAY." She loves to say the prayer at dinner. But it's so funny b/c none of us can understand what she's saying. It's all mumble jumble. Everynow and then you will hear, Nana or Papa, or Bubba, I heard Dain once (my sister Danin) and of course Momma and Daddy. Cracks us up!

Her songs she loves to sing: Twinkle Twinkle, Baby Bumble Bee, Jesus Loves Me, Wheels on the Bus, ABC's, This Little Light of Mine, and I love you (Barney song).

We had our first visit with the speech therapist last week. She gave me some ideas that I can work with Taydem on myself. The next visit she will go to Tay's school and visit with her there. Hopefully we will start seeing some improvement.

CrawDaddies!

This past weekend my company had a crawfish/fish party out at Lake Cherokee. Everything was so yummy! We had chips, dips, crawfish, corn, potatoes, fried catfish, french fries, hushpuppies and desserts! And our crawfish were really HUGE! Made it all the worth while peeling and eating those suckers! We also got tons of sun! Just a few pics.....

Just a few shout outs this week!

My great, sweet, thoughtful, fun friend Alicia turns the big 29 today.

My parents are celebrating the big 37 years of MARRIAGE tomorrow! Wow! That is a really long time to be with someone. I love them so much and I'm so glad that got together 37 years ago! This is mom and dad with all their grandbabies!

And last, my crazy, beautiful, smart, PREGGO cousin Chelsea is turning the big 27 at the end of May! An oldie but goodie!

Summertime in East Texas........

is mostly spent on Lake Cherokee! My parents bought a lakehouse a few years back along with a boat! When we lived in Mexia we didn't get out on the water much simply b/c we didn't come in very often. So last summer we were actually living at the lake while we were getting our house built so we had tons of time on the lake! This year we've already been out there twice and I love every minute of it. Lake Cherokee has "The Island" where most people end up. You just drive your boat up on the bank and leave it there! They have a volleyball net, tons of sand, a playground set for the kiddos, tons of pavillions, grills, etc! We love it out there. We usually pack a cooler and we are set for the day! We really enjoying playing volleyball and the competition gets pretty stiff out there. Especially on holiday weekends like Memorial Day and the 4th of July. This weekend we will have another packed house with friends and family. We need to get the most out of the house as we can b/c the 'rents have now put it up for sale...tear. They are getting ready to build their new home at the farm in Tatum and it will just be too much of a headache keeping up with it both homes. So we are praying no one buys the house this summer (sorry mom!) Just a couple of pictures from the first time on the lake this summer. The bad thing is Taydem isn't into swimming at all this summer! She loves the boat ride, but hates the water!

Pneumonia~ Who would have ever thought?

I still can't believe Tay had pneumonia this week.

Monday night she had a really low grade fever and she wasn't acting like her crazy happy self, but I assumed she would be better in the morning. And so she was. She went on to school Tuesday morning, but I told her teachers to call me if she starts feeling bad. Sure enough about 3:00 they called and said she hadn't left their laps since lunch time. Awh...poor baby didn't feel good at all. She went to bed pretty early that night and about 11:00 she comes in our room ON FIRE! She was so hot. Her temperature was at 104. We put her in a warm bath, gave her tylenol (well a generic brand), put a rag on her forehead and she still never got under 103. The last time I took her temperature was at 7:00 that Wednesday morning and it was still at 103!!. Got her to the doctor about 9 and he said it wasn't her ears this time. He wanted to do a chest x-ray b/c there was a lot of congestion plus she still had a high temperature. X-rays came back showing she had pneumonia! Who would had ever thought that? He said it wasn't real real bad and wanted to keep her out of the hospital if he could. They gave her shot and put her on an antibiotic. Once we got home she slept ALL day! And she was so weak. I had never seen her this sick before. We stayed home yesterday as well and by last night she was starting to come around. This morning, OMG, she was wild as ever! I knew she was back to her crazy happy self! Thanks Dr. Hudson! Now if we can just get rid of that cough!

A star in the making...........

And his name is Trever B! Trever had his last choir performance this past weekend. He got so into his dancing that he didn't sing half the time! He did a really good job and I'm super proud of him. I recorded some of the songs and I was cracking up the whole time b/c he was so into the dance moves. Check out this one video clip! The kid will do anything.........WTG Trever!

Spelling Bee....

Don't get me wrong....I'm not trying to knock Mexia or anything. But this sign was on the corner of a street in Mexia last weekend. I made Leven turn around b/c I wanted to see if I really saw the spelling. Cracks me up. We were always told to spell it like it sounds......hahah!

Mother's Day Card

For Mother's Day I am getting a facial done this Saturday. I've never had a facial so I'm pretty pumped about it. Thanks Leven!

This is the card he gave me this year. Fits us perfect:

~ Honey, it's your special day, so just:
Ignore the phone
The chores can wait, so sleep in late or spend some time alone
Enjoy your favorite magazine
Veg out and watch TV
Sit back, relax and snarf some snacks.....

In short, pretend you're ME!

Perfect, right?

Mexia

We had a good visit in Mexia this past weekend. We got there kind of late on Friday night and Gwen and Louie had supper waiting on us. (Well Gwen had supper waiting for us!) We visited with them that night and Gwen cooked us a good breakfast the next morning. On Saturday we caught wind that the Mexia baseball team was playing their first playoff game at 2 and it was in Fairfield (which is only 20 minutes from Mexia). So we drove over there for the afternoon. Tons of people came out to watch them so we got to see a lot of our old friends and students! After the game we headed back to Mexia to stay the night with Ann and Mike. Taydem had a ball with those two. Ann always has some neat stuff to do with her. I was hoping the bluebonnets would still be around, but I was too late. Here are just a few pictures I took:

Crafty? Not so much

Yes, I know I have been blessed in so many ways. But one thing the good Lord didn't give me was being CRAFTY. I can't draw, paint, sew, knit, etc. I can do just enough to even decorate my house. BUT thank goodness I have wonderful family members that can. My Meme and my Uncle Ed are both very talented artists. (Uncle Ed if you are reading this I would love a painting soon for my house!) My Aunt Connie can turn a white bare room into something magical overnight! My Nannie was always so good at sewing. I can remember every Easter as a child. My sister and I had our dresses made by her. My Meme can also knit, crochet, make quilts, etc! I think I need her to teach me how one day. That's something I would love to be able to make Taydem or even my grandchildren one day! Maybe I just need to join a quilting class SOON! My mom can pretty much make or do anything. She's one super mom alright. She use to help us with our school projects, make our Halloween costumes, sew (if she had too), etc! AND NOW....my cousin Peyton is starting to show off her secret talents! Check out this dress she just made for Taydem. I love this dress! Thanks again Peyton. She also painted this to put in her baby boy's room.

Peyton you need to go into business! I know TONS of women who would be your best clients!

We are headed to Mexia this weekend for a visit. Taydem hasn't seen Leven's dad since Christmas and Ann and Mike are ready for a much needed visit from us. They came to see us last time so it's our turn now! Hopefully I will get some pictures taken. Until next time...

DB

"Just tell them when you saw me I was on my way!"

Well I made it through all three church services. Of course every time I sang the song I messed up somewhere, but it wasn't too noticable. I'm just too hard on myself! I got my sister to record it for me (actually Brandi recorded it!)!! I was glad once it was over but I really had a good time on stage. It's been way too long. Have a nice day everyone!