Lady Pirates

Leven's volleyball team is 13-6 right now! looking good looking good! Today they will start pool play in the Tyler tournament, tomorrow they play Brownsboro at home, and then Saturday they will finish up the Tyler tournament. This team has heart! You can teach fundamentals, you can run their butts, but you can't teach them to play with their heart! These girls want to win and they want to win for Leven. They are ALL really good girls that come from good families! They LIVE~EAT~Breath this sport! Here are a few pics of the team:

Happiness comes from giving

I have tubs and tubs of Taydem's clothes packed away in our attic! I didn't want to get rid of them bc MAYBE just MAYBE we might have another girl one day! So I've been holding on to all of them for 3 years now. If I do get pregnant soon and find out it's a boy, then I'm sure my sister or sister-in-law will get first dibs! If it's a girl, then I will have the most fun going through all the tiny clothes. So last week I decided to go through all her clothes again that were in her drawers and closet and take out the clothes she has outgrown. While doing this I find 2 bags that are full of clothes that I completely forgot about. My cousin's sweet wife, Karen, gives me her daughter's clothes!! And I'm so thankful for this. These clothes were all 3T's and came at the perfect time. So again, I felt like it was Christmas time going through all Addyson's clothes. I set aside two piles. One pile was set aside for nicer clothes and the other pile was set aside for "play" clothes. The nicer clothes would be put in the attic for a future "Barker", "Turner" or "Anthony" child and the other pile I thought about taking up to Taydem's daycare. I also threw in about 4 pairs of shoes!

So yesterday I dropped off the bag of clothes and told Tay's teacher to give them to whoever they wanted too. I get to the school today and the teacher pulled me aside to tell me she gave the clothes to a little girl named Chloe. She also told me that Chloe's mom wanted to send me all her thanks bc the clothes came at a perfect time for them. I look over at Chloe and there she sits in Taydem's clothes and a pair of her shoes. I just almost teared up right there. It made my day knowing that I had helped someone in need by simply taking the time to gather up the clothes and bringing them to the daycare. I feel that you don't need to have tons of money to help someone out. All it takes is a giving heart and a little of your time.

I want to adopt an elderly person at a nursing home soon. Can you imagine sitting in a place like that all day long and not having one visitor?? I want Taydem and Trever to appreciate the love they have in their lives. My children, my niece and my nephews are truly blessed! I hope one day they will all agree.

New style

Taydem's hair is so different than mine. Right now it's so fine and thin and looks so stringy. So I set her up an appointment to get a new style. It turned out adorable! It looks so much more healthier and fuller. But now she doesn't look anything like a little baby. She's 3 and is growing up every single day. Take a look:

BEFORE

AFTER

The sun was too bright for her!

Weekend birthday fun!

So my little tooter poot is now 3! OMG....she had a blast at her party! We had a really good turn out and all the kiddos splashed in the pool. So thankful that both of Leven's parents drove up to help celebrate. It meant a lot to Leven and of course Taydem! I'm also so thankful for my parents letting us have the party at their house and also helping me clean everything up! I was worn out once I got home. Taydem fell asleep in the car and could not wait to play with all of her toys before going to bed. She's such a joy!

August 22 !

Taydem Elizabeth will turn 3 years old this Sunday! I love thinking back on the birth of Tay. My parents and Danin drove down the night before so they could be there with me from start to finish! Leven and I headed to the hospital bright and early (I was being induced, so my water wouldn't break right in the middle of teaching!). She was being induced only a day before her due date. They broke my water around 8 a.m. and I started feeling pressure around an hour later. I wanted to be all big and bad and not have the epidural until I really needed it. After I started feeling the pressure, it didn't take long before she was poking me in the back! Thank goodness for drugs! Taydem FINALLY arrived that NIGHT around 6! I pushed for an hour and a half! OMG. I could NOT figure out how to push correctly. After she was finally out I was worn out and cried and cried. Not only do women cry bc this little miracle is now in the world, but heck....you cry bc it's finally over with! Such a happy moment that I will treasure forever. Taydem is the sweetest thing I have ever met. She is so full of energy and is always smiling. Everyone always tells me that she has the sweetest smile! She is my "mimi-me" for sure! I want her to stay this age forever!

There will come a time when she stops:

kissing and hugging me in public

letting me rock her

giving me details about everything she does

telling me when she goes "poopoo" or telling me when she has "punted"

holding my hand when she sleeps

taking baths with me

coloring with me

reading with me

letting me do her hair

playing babies with her

Makes me sad even sitting here thinking about it! Here are a few pics of my growing baby girl!

Heat + Pregnant = some pretty moody women!

The heat outside is killing me! I feel so sorry for every pregnant lady right now. The summer I was pregnant I had it made. It rained pretty much every week and never got over 100 degrees outside. And right now there are sooooooooooo many women that I know who are pregnant. Let me see if I can name everyone:

Brittany (good friend, she also is my hairstylist) Due Oct-boy
Chelsea (cousin)-She's due in November-girl (Carolina)
Katy (she's married to a friend of mine that I graduated with)- Due early Oct-boy (Jax)
Corrina (also married a good friend of mine)-Due early Oct-boy (Mason)
Sally (also married a good friend of mine from school)- Due early Oct-boy (Nolan "Levi")
Briann (girl from high school, going to be Danin's new neighbors soon) Due Jan-boy
Candice (graduated with Molly) Due Jan-boy
Tiffany (married a good friend of mine) Due around March I think-?
Lauren (my new neighbor, I met her yesterday!) Due Nov-girl (Kennedy)
Audrey (also another friend that married a guy from school) Due April-?
April (I graduated with her sister, she's closer to Danin) Due Jan-girl- Emma

Ok, I think that's all I can think of right now! It's in the water for sure! I can't wait to meet all these precious miracles soon! Babies are too sweet. NOW if I can only talk Leven into having ONE MORE! That's all I want...one more!

Beautiful wedding

We had a very busy weekend getting prepared for Danin and Eric's big day. To start everything off we headed to Tatum Friday morning for Danin's bridal luncheon. It was so perfect for her. We each wrote a letter to Danin (without her knowing) and read it to her while sitting around the table together. The tears FINALLY fell! We ate lunch and visited for a couple of hours then headed back to Longview. Mom needed my help carrying some things to the Summit II club where the reception was to take place. After that I headed to the gym to catch about an hour of the vball scrimmage and then it was time to get ready for the rehearsal/dinner! The rehearsal went very smoothly and the dinner was sooooooo yummy!

That next morning all the bridesmaids and Danin came over to my house to get their hair ready. My sweet friend Brittany and Leslie came over to help get us beautiful! My Aunt Connie and Uncle Ed also dropped by to bring us food and champagne! Once we were all ready, Leven and Peyton's hubby dropped us off at the church. It was time to get dressed and start taking tons of pictures! And that we did!
6:30 finally arrived and it was time to get the wedding started. Everyone looked so pretty and the kiddos all did exactly what they were suppose to! I was so proud of them. Danin CRIED all the way down the aisle. She couldn't get it together. So of course the whole audience was reaching for a tissue. Dustin and I made it through our song and I thought we sounded pretty good! My sister was thrilled after Dr. Stone announced "Mr. and Mrs. Turner!" Such a perfect wedding for them two.

The reception was so fun! I love weddings and having a huge reunion with all our family and friends. My maid of honor speech went well too. I had everyone crying! I kept it together thank goodness so everyone could understand me. I had written Danin and poem about 4 months ago bc I knew I was going to have to give a speech. What better way then to read something. But I wanted it to be special. I hadn't told anyone about the poem except a few people. I will try and post it soon on my blog! Enjoy some of the pics! There are sooooooooo many to look at!

Wedding weekend.....

So the moment has finally come around.......Danin is getting married on Saturday! This week has been jam packed with excitement. Leven started 2 a day practices on Monday, Trever is not playing football this year, but is playing fall baseball, and Taydem and I have been running around crazy getting ready for the wedding. So far:

We have gotten our pedicures
I'm getting my spray tan put on this afternoon
I've practiced my song with the other 3 for the wedding (Dus and I are singing "When You Got a Good Thing" by Lady A)
Tonight we are putting truffles in boxes and ribbon around the boxes (this will take awhile)
Tomorrow we have the bridal luncheon and the rehearsal dinner
Sataurday ALL the girls are coming to my house to get their hair put up and makeup on the faces!

Time will really fly by now and she will say "I do" before we even know it! I'm so thrilled for her. I'm smiling right now as I type. She's had a wonderful summer (hmmmm, new house, new car and now a hubby!) I love weddings so much and her's is the only one this year! It's a great time to get with friends and family and get ALL dressed up! We will all look pretty snazzy in our get it! Can't wait to share the photos! Until next week.....

Taydem and the robe

She loves to watch herself on the computer! She cracks up at herself everytime! Thank you Mike and Grans for the Mickey Mouse robe! It finally fits her and she loves it!