Impetigo

Yesterday morning when Tripp woke up, he had little sores on his face. I didn't know what it was. I thought maybe his skin was just extremely dry and he had been scratching at it. As the day went on though, it looked like it was starting to spread on his face. I talked to my parents and they told me that it sounded like impetigo. (Which, by the way, if you look at pictures of impetigo on the internet, they will COMPLETELY freak you out). I went ahead and took him to the doctor this morning and my parents were right. It is impetigo. Right now, it's around his mouth, his nose, a little on his cheek and beneath his eye. It's itching him really bad and he can't scratch it. It's reminding me of chicken pox and I feel really sorry for him. The doctor said that I caught it really quick and the antibiotics and cream should clear it up quickly. However, it's extremely contagious and I am praying that Makinley doesn't get it. I took a few pictures after laying him down tonight. You can't see it very well, but it's there!

That one on his bottom lip worries me the most because he keeps chewing at it with his teeth because it itches him so bad. You can't see it in the pictures, but his nose looks really bad too. He actually has a really bad spot inside his nostril. In fact, a few nights ago, he told me that his nose was hurting really bad on the inside. I just assumed he had scratched the inside of it (you know, since kids have an obsession with sticking their fingers up their nose and I am constantly telling one of them to stop). I think that that is when the impetigo started.

We leave for the beach on Saturday and I am PRAYING that it has cleared up by then...and that it hasn't shown up on any of the rest of us!

She kills me...

I've posted about it before, and I'm sure I'll post about it again...but Makinley cracks me up. I don't ever know what is going to come out of that child's mouth. A couple of examples just from this past weekend:

On the ride to Wilmington, Makinley looked at Jennifer and said:
"Is 'da baby go-een come out when you change you clothes?" Jennifer told her no and she said, "My will hold 'da baby when you change you clothes."
Apparently, Makinley believes that Jennifer's clothes are what holds the baby inside her belly!

Another day we were out shopping. My mom, me, and Mak were in the dressing room. My mom was trying on a shirt. Makinley said, "GiGi, are dem you big boobies?" We busted out laughing. She then proceeded to point to her own chest and she said, "My got wittle boobies wike my mommy." Nice...thanks, Mak. I hope mine are quite THAT small! :-)
Oh, how I love that child. Never a dull moment!

Father's Day

We headed to Wilmington this past weekend to honor my cousin, Matt, and his wife, Liz, for a baby shower in honor of "Doc". We don't know his name yet, so we call him Doc! Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend visiting with family and we finished off the weekend at the beach. I was thankful to be able to spend Father's Day with my dad, my husband, my brother, my uncle, and my cousin. They are all fine examples of what Godly fathers should look like!

Trey and Jen and "Baby Shene"! Not too much longer and we'll know if it's a boy or a girl! I know what I think, but I L.O.V.E. antagonizing my sister in law. Don't know what I'm gonna do for fun when we know for certain!

This is my cousin, and Mak's new best friend, Mark!
The one I'm blessed to have as the father of my children!

The best daddy on the planet...and he's mine! The sacrifices he has made for my family are more than I can count. I'm so thankful that God chose me to be his daughter. There are not enough words to express how much I love him.

I know it's kinda hard to tell...but I'm NOT the one that's pregnant! Doesn't she look great?!

I had to post the one with his eyes open...even if he is looking away from the camera!

Again, Mark and Mak. He gave my arms a much needed break for the weekend. It's funny- Makinley is going through a phase where she doesn't want ANYONE but me to do ANYTHING for her. But she immediately took to Mark. She loved him (and I think the feeling was mutual). She let him take her anywhere. She even fell asleep on his shoulder (and then proceeded to pee all over him!)

My cousins, Matt and Mark, and my Uncle Derrick. I bet you can't look at them and tell they're related, huh? Love these three!

The loves of my life!

Matt, Liz, and "Doc"! He will arrive in August and we can't wait to see him (and know what his real name is!) Praying God continues to watch over them. They are going to make amazing parents!

Just hanging out

The one whole group shot I got turned out extremely blurry and you can't see anything. So frustrating! We had a wonderful weekend. When I'm with my family is when I realize how unbelievably blessed I am.

Name Changes

I just noticed tonight how Makinley's name has grown and changed over the years the older Tripp has gotten. Case in point:

Newborn- Year- "Sissy"....pretty much EVERYONE in the family called her "sissy" because that's what Tripp could say at the time. Heck, he was only 18 months old when she joined us! But, I began to wonder if she would even know what her real name was.

1st Birthday-2nd Birthday- Mak, or Mak-Mak. Again, we all pretty much called her that because that's what he called her.

2nd Birthday-Present- Makinley. He ALWAYS calls her by her full name now. He never calls her Sissy or Mak or Mak-Mak. It's always Makinley. Joey and I pretty much call her Makinley all the time now too. "Mak" does still show up on occassion, though. If you ask HER what her name is, she says "Mak-Mak" Sometimes, she will say "Kinwey".

Just thought it was funny that Joey and I have followed suit with whatever Tripp has called her at the time.

Shaping Up

Well, it was time. I've put it off and put it off, but I couldn't put it off any longer. Makinley's hair was starting to look rough. My friend Christen trimmed it for me a while back, but Mak wouldn't be still and she couldn't get a good trim. So, today was the day. I really wasn't sure what I was going to do. For a very brief second, I actually thought about chopping it. Maybe into a bob at her chin. But, when it came down to it, I just couldn't do it. We just shaped it up. In fact, you really can't tell that we had it cut, but it does look healthier. The curls are bouncing better again.

Before....see how stringy her ends were.

Such a big girl in the chair. You would have thought she's been doing this her whole life instead of it being her very first time.
Getting some layers

Look how long it is!

My big girl...all shaped up! Didn't get one of the back; she was ready to go!

Another "first" in the books for Makinley. I wish she would slow down just a little!

Buckaroos

We spent the last week at Saddle Ridge Ranch! We had vacation bible school (or as Tripp called it, "creation bible school") from Sunday to Thursday nights. It was SO much fun. I was so busy having fun that I forgot to take my camera every day until Thursday. One funny story. Because of Makinley's birthday, she hasn't been promoted yet at church, so she is still in the 1 year old class. Obviously she is way bigger and way more advanced than most of the kids in there considering she's almost 3! On Sunday night, the first night of VBS, her teacher came out and told the director of the kid's program, "You have GOT to promote Makinley. She is fully potty-trained, carrying on full conversations, and bored out of her mind in here!" :-) So, Mak got to move up to the 2 year old class which meant she was able to participate in all of the activities. She loved it so much that she wanted to sleep with her "crap" (craft) that first night. Precious!

Each age group had their own bandana colors. The 2 year olds were purple and the 3's were green!

Quick picture with my little buckaroos
Do you see her clutching her offering?

Tripp was ready for the worship rally. My favorite time of every night!

Sitting with her new friends

The beginning of worship rally

Our motto for the week. Each day the kids had to memorize a verse that went along with the motto. Tripp won the prize the first night for his class for memorizing his verse!

The overall verse for the week

Brad and Jason, otherwise known as "Earl" and "Cletus" our Saddle Ridge Ranch Cowboys! Yee-Dawgy!

Waiting his turn to dunk Pastor Vic in the dunking booth

Almost.....!

Proudly holding the flag for his class

What a wonderful week as a family! It was tiring, but worth every second of it. I loved seeing my kids flourish and make new friends. Joey and I were able to get to know more people and actually begin to feel connected. Tomorrow morning, the kids get to perform all of their songs on the big stage!

More Swimming

Since this blog acts as my scrapbook for my children, and YouTube videos won't appear when Joey prints my blog book at Christmas, I needed to post some pictures from their lessons this past week!
Tripp continued to do well all week. He hit a little wall on Thursday. He swam across the deep end 3 times by himself on Wednesday, but on the 3rd time, he got tired and he panicked a little bit. So, on Thursday, he was scared to do it again. We had some tears. But, by Friday, he was back at it. He even jumped off the diving board and swam to the shallow end.

Makinley continued to show no fear! In fact, she ended the week with a bang by jumping into the pool when no one was ready for her. Needless to say, she sank for a minute before someone could grab her. Lesson learned? Who knows? It didn't seem to bother her one bit!

We'll continue working with them as the summer goes along. Anxious to see where they are come August!

Super Powers

This is what I accomplished this week:
1. Taking care of both kids (which we all know is a completely full time job)
2. Swim lessons every day
3. VBS Sunday- Thursday nights from 4:30-9:00
4. Read around 400 pages for grad school
5. Answered 6 reflection questions
6. Typed a 4,500 word double sided journal reflection over one of the books I had to read

After going through this list with Joey, I jokingly said, "So, what's YOUR super power?!" Haha! I am pretty amazed that I got it all done, but there is definitely a sense of accomplishment. If I can just stay one step ahead this summer, I'll be okay! My kids are going to get so used to seeing me walking around with a book or printed off pages that they are going to think it's our new normal.

Littlest Fish

My girl has been doing just as well in her lessons. She has amazed me at her lack of fear. Amazed and slightly terrified! Definitely don't need her near a pool unattended because she would be the first to jump in! She's doing awesome though. Jennifer is even taking her above her head and letting her go. She looks like a little fish and she's the youngest one in her group. I'm so proud of her. We definitely won't be letting go of swimmies anytime soon, but I think she'll be a natural! This video is a little longer....but family enjoys seeing them!

Deep End!

Tripp has been doing AWESOME this week in swim lessons. He's been swimming in the deep end. The only time he has to grab onto Jennifer is when he is coming up for his quick breath. He's trying to stay above water a little too long and it scares him when he starts to sink. But, he's done awesome swimming from one end of the pool to the other and he's even jumped off the diving board! I know that by the end of the week, he'll be doing even better. Who knows? By the end of the summer, we might have a full fledged swimmer on our hands!

Better Late than Never

Here is a short video of our Chipper....oh, I mean TRIPPER!

Low Expectations

Please keep extremely low expectations for my blog this summer. Grad school is going to KICK MY BUTT. No lie. Here is what I have to do:
1. Read 8 books cover to cover. Literally.
2. An 8-10 page paper
3. A powerpoint presentation
4. A website
5. A Gajillion reflections

And I've only been to two of my classes so far!!! Um....holy cow. I don't even know what my other two classes are going to entail other than 4 of those books that I have to read are for those classes. But as far as assignments for my other two classes, I don't know what to expect. So, needless to say, I'm not going to be doing much besides reading, reflecting, and writing. Pray for me. It's going to be a long 7 weeks.

Prayers Appreciated

A few months back, my brother found out that his contract at his school wasn't going to be renewed. He's been searching for another job, but so far it's been to no avail. Well...yesterday, my sister-in-law found out that she has also lost her job for next year. Yep. They are both unemployed right now....with a baby on the way. Needless to say, they need your prayers. There have been times when I have felt like I'm more worried about the whole situation than they are, but I think it's finally starting to overwhelm them a little bit. Please pray that God will open doors. I know we serve a mighty God that can heal this whole situation. My prayer is that He continues to provide for them in every way....in their job hunts, in the preparations for the baby, and in all the emotions that I know they are feeling. I'm thankful to serve a God that has already gone before them, but please pray.

Don't Like What I See

To All my SKINNY friends out there...I need your help!!! Bathing suit season is here, and I'm no where NEAR where I want to be. NO WHERE NEAR. I haven't been for the last 4 years (minus the months I spent pregnant. Then I thought I looked cute big!) My problem? Lack of time...and energy. The next few weeks are going to be INSANE for me. Between 4 grad school classes, vacation bible school, swim lessons, annual family beach trip, etc, I have no idea when I'm going to find time to breathe, much less exercise. I do plan on attempting to exercise at least some, but I just don't know when it will be. 10:00 at night, maybe? 5:00 in the morning? I don't know.

I'm having a really hard time lately with comparing myself with other people. I know I'm not supposed to do that. Believe me, I know. I know I should maybe wear these extra 15 pounds as a badge of honor because I did give birth to two of the most beautiful children to ever grace this planet (bragging? Maybe. But, I'm just sayin'. Haha! :-)) But I really do. I have plenty of friends that have also given birth to two (or more) of the most beautiful children on the planet and they don't carry around an extra 15 pounds. They still look the way they did in college. So, what's MY deal? It's really hard for me because before becoming pregnant with Tripp, I never had an issue with my weight. In fact, if anything, there were many times in my life when I was WAY too skinny (to the point where I looked like a bobble-head doll). I honestly never once thought I would have trouble losing baby weight. I thought it would just magically drop off my body once my kids were born. Needless to say, that has not happened and it is becoming an almost obsession with me. I HATE what I see when I look in the mirror. I'm so thankful for my husband who constantly compliments me. His flattery does help, but I'm still seriously struggling. I just don't know what to do. Our diet has been awful lately with all the tee-ball games, end of the year school stress, never being home, etc. I know I have to make some changes there. But, the exercise part is really killing me because I never have time. I know I need to make time. I really do. I LOVE how I feel after a good workout.
I'm just rambling. But, it's where my heads been for the last several weeks, and it very well may be why I haven't blogged as much. Who wants to read my pity party sob story? I've got to get past this comparing myself thing. But my two closest friends both look amazing after two kids and it's just really hard for me to look at them and then look at myself.
There you go....just puttin' it all out there.