Anniversary #2

Well, here we are 2 years later! We had a great date night for our Anniversary. My sweet Randy, got a sitter for the kids and reservations at one of my FAVORITE places, Texas de Brazil! I SO love this place! It was so good to just sit and be "Randy & Tomi" We just chatted about all kinds of things, where we wanted to be in the next 5 years, the best and worst part of this year, how our lives have changed, you get the point. I still learn new things about him all of the time. And the longer I am with him, I learn more about myself. He has been the most wonderful blessing! I love his sense of humor, I love that he thinks that I am funny too, I love the dad that he is, I love the commitment that he has to our family, I love how he provides a safe, happy environment for me, I love that he always thinks that I am cute (even when I am clearly not), I love that he calls me "Baby" (before him, I always thought that was so corny), I love his family, I could go on and on. More than anything, I just love that he picked me to marry. I tell him all of the time, "Sugar, you are my favorite husband that I have ever had!" AND...I love that he thinks that is SO funny and just laughs. He loves me unconditionally, the good and the bad. I can't wait to spend the next year with him. I love you Sugar!!!

The night we were married, on our way to the hotel, I was DYING of thirst. 

So, in all of our wedding business, we drove through Sonic and

got a Route 44 Coke. SO good!

This night, we decided to go through the same drive through every year,

order the same drink (for old time's sake), 

and have the guy at the window take our picture. 

I wish we had thought about it on our wedding night and last year.

It's never too late to start a tradition. 

So here's to a 3rd year and looking

forward to sharing another Coke with you Randy!

Soccer

This was the last game of a fairly sad soccer season. Chandler was THRILLED to be back playing with his old team "The Bulls" The kids just had a hard time coming together as a "team" and actually "listening" to the coach. I think that maybe they won one game all season. BUT, let's focus on the good...He loves it. And as this last game rolled around we actually saw our son, who is usually fairly mild mannered, actually get some attitude and aggression. I watched him nearly tackle and take out one kid several times and he almost got a red card and tossed out of the game. I have to say, I kinda loved seeing him get a little mean. :) Hopefully, next year will be a different season, where we actually win. But for this year, we are just happy to see him loving something and enjoying the sport. 

This is just before he knocked this kid on his rear. It was really great!

Mothers Day 2009

Better late than never....we had a super laid back day. We are always so busy and my people are always in several different places, so I just wanted everyone in the same house for the day and working on a "honey-do" list. It was great! Lots of things accomplished, Sterling's room finished, laundry done, floor's cleaned, miscellaneous things fixed= a happy mom. Then Chandler had his last soccer game of the season, so we packed up for that and then on to dinner, at our old stand by- chili's! I guess that I am old, because the less exciting the better. :)

Mother's Day always gives me a whole roller coaster of emotions...I am extremely blessed to have these two precious ones call me mom. They bring me so much JOY. I can barely wrap my brain around how much they have changed me. They have made me more patient, more laid back, more silly, more worried, more fulfilled, more happy, just more everything. I love them to pieces! I also think about the two babies that I have lost. I wonder about what they would be like, look like, and how they would have changed me. Finally, I think about two more. The two who I got to be mom to for just a little while. In my heart, deep down, they are still mine. I still love them so much. I am so thankful for the time that I had them in my house and also so thankful for how they each changed me too. 

I am also blessed to have not just one mom of my own, but several. God so graciously orchestrated a team of moms for me. My Mom, my G-mom, my precious mother-in-law (who I adore), and so many other's that took me in and loved me, supported me, gave me a safe place to fall, made me feel at home, taught me how to love unconditionally, showed me great sacrifice, taught me how to love my children, and one who raised a boy who would one day become my husband. Oh how I love them all! 

Lastly, thank you to that husband of mine for being on this journey with me. There is no one else that I would rather parent with in the world. Thank you for letting me be a stay at home mom to my kids...you will never know how much I love them and that I get to spend so much time with them. It is such a sweet gift that you give me everyday.

Happy Mother's Day to me! 

Living with a teenager!

Our sweet little man has been fairly interesting to live with lately. I promise you the day he turned 13 something in him snapped and he has been in FINE FORM. He truly is, for the most part, precious. Kind, thoughtful, respectful, funny, a great big brother and all around happy child. He has also always been one to drop a few funny lines on me over the years and he is still catching me off gaurd from time to time  and making me laugh so hard that I nearly wet my pants. And, even though I "think" that I will remember all these silly little stories, I know that one day they will slip my mind, so I wanted to write them down for my memories sake. Here are a few of the things that he has said in the past few weeks that have both infuriated us, left at as a loss for words, or made us laugh out loud.

*We were having a simply normal afternoon. He and I were standing across the bar from one another in  the kitchen talking about our day and what needed to be done that evening. I simply said, "Hey, when you are done with your snack, could you please switch the laundry over?" He then dropped his snack, threw his arms in the air, and attacked,"WHY DO WE HAVE TO DO LAUNDRY? LAUNDRY IS STUPID. I HATE LAUNDRY. STUPID LAUNDRY. WHY DON'T WE HAVE A ROBAOT TO DO THAT? STUPID LAUNDRY!!!!!" First of all, we don't even say the word "stupid" in our house, but, that was the least of the issues.  I calmly said "Ok. Clearly we have laundry because we like to wear clean clothes. If you would like to wear dirty ones, go right ahead, but for now you need to get your happy hiney in there and switch the laundry. And furthermore, we DO have a robot that does the laundry. It is called the 'Washing Machine' Now hush up."  I am telling you it was like he was from another planet! He did the laundry and hasn't said another word about helping with the laundry or the robot.

*Randy has TERRIBLE hearing. Chandler is REALLY soft spoken. This is generally cause for arguments around here. Randy is CONSTANTLY saying "What? Speak up son." And usually Chandler says something like "You are deaf." rolls his eyes a little bit and then repeats himself. One afternoon, it went something like this.... Randy- "What did you say?" Chandler- "I said it loud enough for this whole house to hear me and I am NOT repeating myself!" I thought Randy's head was going to spin around. I COULDN'T believe that he said it. It is SO not like him. That boy is testing his parents like crazy. It is funny now, but at the moment-it was NOT pretty!

*And finally.... there is a sweet family that lives across the street from us. They have a young boy and then two teenage daughters (who by the way, are BEAUTIFUL). Little brother thinks that Chandler is great and wants to play with his ALL the time! And Chandler will always say yes and happily goes over to their house and plays. He has NEVER once mentioned the girls (or the tons of super cute friends that are over there all the time too). Well... the other night I was over there too, and on our way back across the street, I said "Dude. Are you telling me that you have NEVER noticed how cute those girls are? I mean, it's fine if you have, I would think it was weird if you hadn't." He looked over his shoulder at me with a HUGE grin and  said "Mom, c'mon. I am weak. I AM a man!" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! I laughed so hard.

He is really so entertaining. We are blessed every day (even the ones that we want to ring his neck and throw him in the dryer) by him and the young man that he is growing up to be.  I am not sure what other "teenage" moments are around the corner, I am positive there will be some doosies, but I am going to treasure each one!

THE NORRIS FAMILY

This is a special family to us. Really they are like family.

We love them so very much. They are the people that you call

when you need a piece of furniture moved, a quick bite to eat,

your hair fixed (thank you amber), help fixing something around the house

(thanks scott), or someone to run to your side when your family is in crisis.

It was a joy to FINALLY get to 

have a session with them!

i LOVE this picture of scott & amber. love it!

this is kaylyn.

 she is a MESS. and so darn cute. she defiantly has a mind of her own!

this is big sister mikayleigh.

 she is truly one of the most

precious children EVER! and just look at those eyes of hers! 

so BEAUTIFUL!!!

this is the "family" picture. it is SO them.

amber looks great. scott is trying to get kaylyn to cooperate.

mikayleigh is rolling her eyes at her sister.

and kaylyn is in her own world and is NOT interested in the "family" picture

thank you norris family! 

i love yall so much!

Sterling and Chandler

These two adore each other! I love watching them. Sterling looks at Chandler in a way that she doesn't look at ANY ONE else. As an only child, it really is fascinating to see the relationship that they have with one another. Precious. 

Sterling is 6 months old!

We can't believe that our girl is 6 months old! We had some family pictures taken again. She WAS NOT HAPPY!!! This sweet little girl is always smiley and happy and Miss Personality...except for on the day of these pictures. She was a CRAB! We finally stuck her in the bath tub (her favorite pass time). Even though she wasn't super happy, I do love that we have these photos of her in the tub. She really does LOVE it and I love all those rolls and I love when her eye lashes are wet and stick together. So cute. Enjoy our little lady bug! (pictures are by Kate Mefford- she is fab)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Chandler Garrett is 13!!!!

13. 

I can barely wrap my brain around it. 

13!

Every year, I am sure like every other mother, I can't believe that my baby is another year older. Another year further from the tiny little baby that scared and thrilled me all at the same time. And another year closer to leaving me to be on his own, in his own world. Also, every year, I have another thought that maybe not all moms have. Every year, with out fail, I sit in amazement, that we are BOTH still alive. Not just alive, but THRIVING, and HAPPY. Since I was such a baby when I had him, I just prayed and prayed that I somehow wouldn't hurt him or lose him, or screw him up beyond repair (I am also amazed at  the same for me). I have done my fair share of messing up, no doubt, but with the sheer grace of God, we are here. We are blessed. We are healthy-mentally, physically, and emotionally (relatively speaking). 

13.

I am so so proud to be this kids mom. He is funny. He is kind. He has a tender heart. He is smart. He is ornery. He has a great laugh. He is inquisitive. He loves to read.  He is creative. He is an amazing big brother. He loves Jesus. He is loyal. He loves his family. He is talented. He is a pure JOY. 

This year for his birthday, he chose to not have a "party" with the bounce house and all that mess (first sign of a teenager). He picked to go to a birthday lunch at Los Vaqueros (he loves mexican food) then we wandered the Stockyards, rode the mechanical bull, and went through the human maze (so fun). We also had "family" birthday at our house. He requested mom's famous hamburgers and a peanut-butter cup cake. And of course, no party at our house is complete with out the "Birthday Sombrero" 

He's a teenager now. A whole new world is before us. I can't wait to enjoy this part of his life and share it with you!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So this is my attempt to "catch up" We have had SO much going on and I will never truly be on top of things, so here are a few quick points and pictures so you can see what we've been up to!

This was Easter morning before church...so so cute!

Our sweet friend Elizabeth got to marry her best friend in April... 

no picture of her, but here we are after the wedding. We are SO happy for her...

(Jaclyn Hatcher, Me, Kim Kaercher, Linsey Bellows)

Our girl LOVES a bath! Look at those rolls! So precious!

Sterling @ 5 months!

....and @ 6 months.

She is teething, and this is her LOVING a cold piece of watermelon!

She chewed on this for a long time and was a happy happy girl!

We bought a camper (we are officially trailer trash) In April, we took our very first camping trip to Glen Rose, TX. We had a great time! 

This is us at the MOD. We walked 3 miles and raised $2450!!!

We are thrilled with our success and are already looking forward to next year!

In May, we went to Sea World. We camped out and celebrated birthdays with dear friends!

This was Sterlings first time in the pool! She was super happy about it!

Us at a show at Sea World show. So Fun!

There have been some other important events too that I will give their own posts.

So, look for mothers day, Chandler's 13th birthday and Sterling is 6 months old coming soon!