Sick as a dog....

Will the sickness EVER leave our house?! Just when we thought we were in the clear. Yesterday, I should say in the middle of the night Friday night/Sat morning, I woke up with a stomach virus. YAY Or not so much. Try nursing an infant when you have a stomach virus....ugh! It was no fun. Thankfully it was just a 24 hr thing and I was over it in the middle of the night Sat night. Yeah well kind of had to be since Will woke up Sat night throwing up. Guess there was a reason I got it first---so I could take care of everyone else. BUT thankfully, Will only threw up the one time and then went back to sleep that night and today he has been just fine. Thank you Lord! Now cootie bugs.....STAY AWAY FROM MY HOUSE...did you hear me?!!!

And she's off.....

Well there goes my baby sister.........
with her best sad face and little wave as my mom laughs because I popped out of my door to take the spur of the moment picture.

Well Stefanie left for England today. Oh sad day.... Not really just can't believe she is going to be gone for 4 months!!! Crazy.

What is she doing you ask?? Let me just tell you and mind you I'm not jealous AT ALL! =)

She is attending Harlaxton College in Grantham, England this semester. University of Evansville where she goes has a college in England that they send their students to study abroad for a semester. Stef got the opportunity to go this semester and she jumped at the chance!! She will be doing British Studies for about half of her time there and then her Theater class and she is taking Norse Mythology. Pretty cool if I do say so myself. She has lots of plans while she is over there. She has friends from high school that go to school in Ireland, friend from high school that lives in Germany, someone she knows is in Italy this semester too. So needless to say she has lots of weekend trips planned not including the ones she gets to go on with school because oh yeah they only go to school Monday thru Thursday so plenty of time for weekend trips. She is going to have a blast and I am just so thankful that she gets this opportunity and now hopefully she'll have all kinds of tips when I go over there......one day......probably when my kids are grown....maybe...who knows....but it will be ONE day before I die.

Check out where she is by clicking here. It is the coolest place ever--it really is a castle property. Just sit and watch the pictures scroll on the home page to see a picture of the school.

We are all set up to chat with her online though. She got everyone webcams and microphones for Christmas. We are using Skype which is super cool and can call her for free and even see her on the computer if we want and actually have a conversation {did I say for free--isn't that cool} which the boys think is awesome. So we will be able to keep in touch with all of her big adventures. Check out her blog every once in awhile and you too can keep up with her. That is if she keeps up the blog. ?? It is over on the right side of my page listed under blogs, too, if you want to check it out.

So HAVE FUN Ni Ni!! We will miss you but know that you are having the time of your life. Don't do anything I wouldn't do {no comments from the gallery here} and BE SAFE!! We love you!

End of 2007

Wow have we got alot to say for this year! 2007 has been good to the Spence House as I hope it has been to you and your family. We have laughed, cried, played and gone a little bit more nuts. All in all it was a good year. Lots of it is on the blog already. Will celebrated his 1st birthday, lots of fun and good times with the family, Jake turned 3, both the boys went to Mother's Day Out, James turned 35 with a bang!, my mom moved in next door, it was the best Halloween ever, we celebrated the birth of our first baby girl Alaina Claire, we had an awesome Christmas and I turned 30!! WOW what a year. We have lots and lots of good, bad and indifferent memories of 2007, each just as special as the first. We can't wait to see what 2008 has in store for us. We do know that we are blessed to be together as a family and relish in all of the wonderful things our kids teach and show us every day. Thank you God for that!

As for resolutions---I'm not really big on them but here are a few I've come up with:

1. patience--it is a virtue and one I wasn't blessed with much of--so more patience in 2008
2. cook dinner more often
3. finish Jake's 1st year scrapbook
4. start on Will's 1st year scrapbook (hehe)
5. spend more time with my hubby alone (don't laugh--this is like 0 right now so anything is better than nothing even if it is 5 minutes)

6. volunteer my time (don't ask how--I'm just gonna do it)

7. Actually keep up with/write down the 1st year things Alaina Claire does (poor Will)
8. Exercise
9. Prioritize my time during the day to be able to enjoy my time with my children
10. Take my Southern Living at HOME business to the next level

That is it for me--as I look at them--that is an awful lot to strive for---but I am pretty sure I am up for the challenge this year. I will be coming back to this to check in on myself periodically as I am so sure I will forget half of these as soon as I post. =)

Many blessings to all of you in 2008!!

I'm baaaack!

Yep that's right folks. I'm back on the blogging map. I know it has been awhile but with the holidays and throw a newborn on top of that---what can I say?! You gotta forgive me.

So what do you think of my new blog design!! Doesn't it rock? Check out Peekaboo Greetings if you want yours to look as cool as mine does. Thank you blog fairy!!

I wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has posted a comment in the past couple of weeks. There are a few of you that I was wondering if you were out there and then lo and behold---you commented!!! you know who you are AND if you are still out there and don't comment--that is what this thing is for people---post a comment--promise it won't hurt you---we would love to hear from you. =)

So I have updated some and am still working on more but be sure to go all the way back to like Dec 16th because I have added lots of stuff.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Be safe!!

Picnic with NiNi

My sister came in for her holiday break from college for a couple weeks now and the boys have had a blast with her. They LOVE playing with their NiNi. She has been spending as much time as she can with them because she is going to England this semester to study abroad. She won't be home until mid April!!!

Anyway, tonight they decided to all have a picnic underneath one of our end tables. They brought all their food from their kitchen under there. It was too cute and I got a picture:

2 week checkup

We took Alaina Claire for her 2 week check up today. All is well and she is doing great. She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. (remember her birth wt/ht 7lbs 15.5 oz and 19 inches. The dr said the goal was to have gained back to her birth weight and she did that plus ~ 2 oz. Of course we are used to our aggressive eating boys who had gained 1lb 5oz by this check up. WOW!!!! That is the difference in kids and in my opinion between boys and girls. She is doing great and precious as ever. I'm quite sure she won't have any trouble catching up to them and they better watch out one day when she "grows to a big girl" as Jacob says.

Cart Christmas

Christmas night is always reserved for Christmas with the Carts. This is James' mom's side of the family. (for those who have been around--you know the one with 60+ people in it). We always gather at Aunt Shelia and Uncle Kenny's house they have a big open downstairs and that is where we do Christmas. Yet again I wish I had taken a picture but alas I did not. With all the gifts that everyone brings plus all the people that pile in down there it's hard to see across the room or for that matter there could be someone amidst the gifts in the middle of the room and you would never know. I had never seen anything like it until I came here for the first time. All of the kids have an awesome time because it is just mass chaos. No matter what we do every year to try to keep it organized so we know who got what and can possibly get to see the kids open gifts---it just turns into mass chaos.

So in the spirit of mass chaos there were no pictures taken of anyone opening anything. We had to have help from Lea Ann just to keep it all straight with all 3 of our kids!!

Needless to say all of our children well and Mommy and Daddy included were very blessed with Lots and lots of cool clothes and toys and other fun stuff at the Cart Christmas. Thanks everyone for always making it so special for the kids. They LOVE IT!!!


We did get one very special picture while we were there. This was the first time James' grandmother got to see Alaina Claire:

Alaina Claire with her Great Granny Gaynell

The boys did get to rough house some with their Great Uncle Phillip once some of the people cleared out and there was room to run around. You can see where he was bonking their heads together and then throwing them in the floor. What a fun uncle!!! (HAHA I am SOOOO just kidding about that he would never hurt them but that sure is what it looks like in the pictures) hee hee =)

5 down.....NONE to go---whoopee!!!!! hi ho hi ho its off to our house we go......

Christmas at Yaya and Papa's

In the afternoon we packed it up and headed over to Papa and Yaya's house to have Christmas with them and Aunt Abbey and Uncle Dustin. Yet again we got to eat before we opened gifts and Papa out did himself with a full spread for breakfast in the afternoon with YUMMY food including chocolate milk (my fave). I didn't get a picture of it but can I just tell ya under their tree looked like there were enough presents for the entire neighborhood. And this year (unfortunately) our kids were the only kids there. Amy, Riley and Brad stayed in TX and Dave and Liz celebrated with her family in MD. So it was us, Abbey & Dustin and Papa & Yaya and enough presents for 100 people. (a little exaggerated but not much--haha) Needless to say the kids racked up with all their cool clothes and toys that they got.


I think Jake got 2 favorite gifts one is a super cool dragon/dinosaur thing to go with his big T-Rex one he got for his birthday.






The other was a dinosaur "costume" if you will it was a head and two feet and when you move it roars and sounds like a dinosaur stomping--Aunt Abbey found that cool gift. He loves it!!






By far Will's favorite gift was his very own, looks really real Dirt Devil Vacuum!!! You heard it Will got his own vacuum--for those that have paid attention to the blog you will note Will LOVES to vacuum. That is the coolest gift ever for him--Thanks Papa and Yaya!!

Alaina Claire got some super cute clothes--much needed--yay!! Check her out in the background of the first picture with her little santa hat on! The boys had a blast and got to hang out with everyone and play for a good bit afterward before we headed over to Yaya's family Christmas (the Carts). All in all it was a success!! 4 down.....1 more to go.....

Aunt Abbey was holding Alaina Claire and as you can see someone was jealous

Christmas Morning

Santa did a good job this year. The boys were super excited about all of their loot. Will was so funny--he could care less about his presents or what was in his stocking--he would not leave the kitchen alone about 15 minutes later he decided to check out his other stuff. Jake on the other hand quickly realized there were more things for him in his stocking and actual presents so he went for it. Alaina Claire peacefully slept through it all--she got her picture made with some of her stuff just to prove she WAS in the room on Christmas morning. Santa dropped a kitchen with food and dishes, some Veggie Tales videos (woo hoo), books, a little computer for Will, Big Diego Coloring book for Jake and a cutie patutie Tea Set for Alaina Claire--well Mommy and Daddy did some of that but who can keep track. They had a big Christmas!! Net Net, Gramps and Ni Ni even came over later in the morning to check out what they got and then we went and had Christmas breakfast at Net Net's. This mom living next door thing seems to be working out REAL WELL for us!! =) This was Christmas #3 for us only 2 more to go later today. And we're off...........









Milo patiently waiting to open his gifts
(really they are Will's that he has forgotten for the kitchen)

Daddy and baby girl taking a Christmas mid morning nap together...awww!

Merry Christmas!

We wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Hope your holiday is full of joy and laughter as ours has been! To you and your family--many blessings!

James, Rachel, Jake, Will & Alaina Claire

Santa made his stop!!

Lucky for 3 little sleeping kiddos--Santa decided to come to our house again this year! Although it took Santa quite a bit longer to put together the big gift he had for Jake, Will and Alaina it all got done and was ready when they woke up Christmas morning. {10 minutes.....yeah ok....an hour and a half later....hehe...and thus begins our long Christmas Eve nights I can imagine!} The big deal this year was a kitchen with all the bells and whistles. Plenty of things to open and buttons to push, noises, a oven light and a real clock--not to mention all the food that both boys love to eat. really

Here is what our living room looked like once Santa left and no there aren't any other presents under the tree because one little almost 2 year old would have opened them for all of you. So the tree looks a little bare not to mention no ornaments at the bottom of the tree because of same said little person who liked to take them all off. haha

Christmas with Net Net and Gramps

Tonight on Christmas Eve we had our Christmas with Net Net, Gramps and Ni Ni. Great thing was we only had to travel a few feet across the driveway and Boom! there we had arrived at our destination. Man this my mom living next door thing really rocks!! Hope you still think so too mama. =) Above is our attempt at a picture of course James took it and keeping the boys still long enough was a chore so this is what we got and who knows about the lighting--what mode was the camera on?!! We all had a great Christmas and had a good time hanging out together!




Here is Jake opening his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse from Net Net! He was stoked!!









Will was all about his new shirt and shoes from Gramps. He wanted to sleep in those shoes! He loves clothes and shoes along with his cars and airplanes I'm telling ya--he's got some GQ in him.







GETTING READY FOR SANTA


Here are the boys in their Christmas PJ's WITH their shoes on because neither would take them off. hee hee

Baking cookies for Santa

I had been telling Jake forever now that we were going to make some Gingerbread Man cookies. Since before Alaina Claire was born and he has been asking diligently. So this morning in the midst of the clutter we decided to do that so that Santa would have some cookies tonight when he comes. Here are a few pictures of our escapade. Will of course was more concerned with walking around in daddy's crocs. Also stuck in our santa hat pictures.

See his little rolling pin--he was a BIG helper!!! and they turned out yummy!

Childress Christmas

We started our "christmasing" today. We made the trip down to Pulaski to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Always a good time!! The kiddos got some great things and so did James and I. We had a great time getting together and I do believe everyone enjoyed seeing Alaina Claire for the first time. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful meal and great Christmas!! you know what we forgot to do???? get the grand kids picture on the steps like we have done the past couple of years--darn it! Always something---hey at least everyone didn't get mixed up and leave someone out of the Christmas presents when we drew names {Stefanie} hehe Guess you get a pass--but hey! Wake up and write down who you got next year somewhere where you will remember it!! Lucky for Richard your gift was transferable. HAHA =)Anna Grace finally got a girl cousin on the Childress side!! Aren't they cute!

The kids oh so patiently waiting to open their gifts.











Heath and Will are checking out Heath's new toys probably much to Heath's dismay as Will attempts to destroy whatever it is.

Merry Christmas and Happy Belated Birthday Rach!

Hi Rach...

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE! I hope you LOVE your new blog design. Let me know if you would like to make any changes. There are a few things I still need from you but we'll take care of that later. Hope all is well with the Spence family.

Love,
your blog fairy

Newborn pictures

SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THESE PICTURES:

Today my friend Courtney {I think I can call you my friend now--started as a friend of a friend but I'm thinking we've moved on---haha} came to take pictures of Alaina Claire at only 8 days old. I was so excited about this as I have always wanted to have these done. She came and set up a whole studio at our house to get these shots. She was amazing!!! Thanks Courtney! She has posted one of the pictures on her blog and I can't wait to see the rest of them. Check out baby Alaina Claire in all her glory at Courtney Marler Photography Blog



ON A DIFFERENT NOTE:






Our friends Denise and Steve stopped by with their daughter Megan and her friend for a quick visit today. Denise works with James. It was so good to see them!! Denise has a knack for taking pictures too and always catches a good shot. Here is one of the ones she took right after her professional photo shoot which you can tell she is super tired from!

Happy Birthday Uncle Dave!

We have so many December birthdays in this family it isn't even funny and now baby girl joins the ranks too! Today is James' brother David's birthday. So Happy Birthday David!! He is joining me in the ranks of the 30 somethings this year too!!


We love ya!

FAMILY

In the spirit of Christmas, Life and Family I wanted to share something personal with all of you. Every year as Christmas approaches I find myself stopping to try and slow down a little and be mindful of all of the gifts that God has given me. Since this year had a little "extra" busy-ness with the approaching birth of Alaina Claire, I was especially mindful of these gifts. Three very special gifts that I am grateful for are my three departed grandparents. I probably didn't take enough time while they were alive to fully understand their traits which live in me or to thank them for their love.

As Alaina's birth approached I wanted to have my departed grandparents there with me, not only in spirit, but in a symbolic or physical way and so I come to the picture above. The three things in the picture are a knife that belonged to Grandaddy, a rosary that belonged to Gran-Gran and a pen that belonged to Grandpa. Last Friday morning I carried these items in my pocket from the time we left for the hospital, through the delivery room, and until late that night. I can't tell you how many times that day I found my hands sliding into my pocket to hold one or all of these precious items as a source of strength, never to be let down.

And so to explain a little more about the three items and honor the memory of my departed grandparents I want to share with you the significance of each item. It is my hope that the qualities I speak of that I remember so well regarding each of my departed grandparents continue to be strengths of mine and things that I can pass on to Alaina as well as Jacob and William.

The Pocket Knife (Grandaddy)

Grandaddy had many traits that I admire so much and try hard to emulate. He especially was a man that was prepared for whatever may come his way and had a special way of not worrying about things which he could not control. To this point, he always had a liking for pocket knives and I can remember giving him one on several occasions for birthday or Christmas gifts. To me, the liking of knives is a reminder of the preparedness that Grandaddy always seemed to have; that by being prepared and not caught off guard allowed him to live what I remember as a life that was slower and less worrisome. I admire that tremendously. I love you Grandaddy.

The Rosary (Gran-Gran)

Honestly, I do not know much about Gran-Gran's rosary. My dad gave it to me after her passing. However, it reminds me tremendously of her faith and how though it wasn't something that stood out about her, but was something that was always there, hidden at a much deeper, personal level, driving her actions and acting as her foundation. In a way, not knowing or remembering the specifics about her rosary fits this trait. You see, like Gran-Gran's faith the rosary wasn't something obvious and noticeable everyday, but was always there acting as a reminder to her of the importance of God in her life. What I do remember about Gran-Gran, as would most who knew her, is that she was a woman of tremendous strength to the point that sometimes caused her to be a little bull-headed (a Wilson trait). It is now after her passing that I realize that her strength was rooted in her faith. As strong-willed and maybe even stubborn as she could be, I think it was always a distant second to the strength of her faith. Truly a gift that I am proud of and hope that I can instill in my children. I love you Gran-Gran.

The Pen (Grandpa)

This pen was a gift that I gave to Grandpa and that I am told he loved very much. The picture may not show it, but the pen is engraved "Grandpa". Grandpa loved a good pen and seemed to always have a pen on his person. To me the pen symbolizes Grandpa's assertiveness. When it came to faith, Grandpa had a strong one, and with it came opinions on most everything. He loved to "share" his beliefs with anyone that would listen and to this point he reminds me of the evangelist that God has called each of us to be. Grandpa read and studied his bibles constantly. A reminder of this is the number of bibles he left behind and all of his thoughts and notes written (with his pens) in the margins of those bibles. His bibles were truly working bibles and a record of his thoughts and his dedication to wanting to know and understand God's will for us. I think this sort of effort, in and of itself, is a humble discipline and something that pleases God very much. I hope that a little of that is in me. I love you Grandpa.

This Holiday Season it is my wish that each and all of us can recognize the importance of the gifts that God gave our departed loved-ones. That we can each find the will to work hard to strengthen those qualities in our own lives as well as teach those qualities to our children.

Call me a new mama....

So I started freaking out a little this morning. =) I'm guessing it is because it is a girl. Everything is so different or at least I think it is. I'll brief you. So from the beginning this little bundle of joy decided that she will take at least an hour to nurse and during that time I am having to try to keep her awake the entire time because really she just wants to sleep. SO that is what I have been doing since she has been born. Really nothing else but trying to feed her and then by the time I am done I am doing it all over again. I KNOW I am preaching to the choir to several of you out there. Those that did this and tried to do this I am forever amazed at your patience now because if this happened on my first kid--not so sure I would have done as good or had as much patience as I do now. BUT ANYWAY.....the reason I say all of this is because both experiences I have had with breastfeeding my boys have been just easy breezy. They latched on they ate like gangbusters and then they were done. 20 minutes flat!! They meant business!!!! Not my sweet girl--she likes to take her time. And all of that is fine as long as she will eat......and to the point of this post.

So last night she decided to go like almost 8-9 hrs of no eating--couldn't wake her up to eat longer than like 3 minutes for ANYTHING. {I know some of you are saying are you crazy let her sleep--but folks she is just 4 days old at this point--can't do it yet sorry!} So being that we have this whole tint of jaundice thing going on (remember that I am not familiar with) I started to get nervous. Is she gonna wake up and eat or just sleep the day away?!! OF course I am looking at her thinking that her color has gotten worse but I think that had alot to do with my 3 year old----

here is that quick story--last night he was looking at her hands, feet, etc. He said what color hair does she have and we said dark brown--he just said black and then he said what about her face and of course I looked at James and back at Jake and said I don't know what color do you think it is {remember the dr telling me only if she looks orange like a pumpkin should I be worried} So again I ask what color he thinks her face is----ORANGE!!! My 3 year old said my infant's face looked orange.

SO this morning when I was worried about her eating all I could hear in the back of my head was Jake saying her face looked orange on top off all of that. YES I KNOW...he is a 3 yr old....but he knows his colors and that is what he saw!!! Good grief.

So anyway, we trekked to the dr today. He promptly looked at her and she had not lost weight since the hospital #1 good sign and #2 he looked at her and said her color looks fine. Uh ok Dr K so maybe we jumped the gun but better safe than sorry--holiday coming up you know. {insert cheesy grin here}

OF course as soon as I called the dr this morning as I am trying to change her to go she decided she was hungry--when we got to the dr she decided she was hungry again AND she was AWAKE the entire time we were gone to the dr. Gotta love how kids prove you wrong every time no matter how little they are!

Bottom line she is fine and like the dr said I just have a lazy eater and just wait she will wake up and figure it out soon enough. Ok so I feel better even though I probably could have figured it out on my own given a few more hours but Oh well it's nice to have the Dr say she's ok too. =)

Daddy had to make sure his little girl got her sticker at the dr's office today--nobody is too little for a sticker from the dr you know! {see wide awake!}

Happy Birthday to Me!!

WOW!! What better birthday gift for your 30th!!!! {oh my gosh am I really that old!} birthday than to be able to be home with your happy, healthy precious family. God has truly blessed me these past 30 years! What wonderful family and friends I have, an awesome husband who can put up with me (HAHA) and now THREE beautiful children. I can't wait to see what the next 30 years has to offer..... bring it on I'm not scared

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to Rachel...happy birthday to me!

Off to changing diapers and nursing a baby--that is what my birthday consisted of--but I wouldn't have it any other way! Oh I did get supper and birthday cake--thanks to my mom AND my dad came over since my sister came home from college today. All was good! Oh and how can I forget what my loving husband did. He framed our engagement picture and my bridal portrait that we have had in a closet for 5 years now. They look awesome and we can finally hang them up!!! Thank you honey!!

Check out my babies.....