every captive thought

Today was such a great day! We bumped into my parents this morning, ran some errands, then got to see my sister-in-law, Karin and her family. Karin, JT, and the girls moved to Lubbock a while back and we haven't gotten to see them since. They were in town today for a wedding so we all met up over at Brad and Karin's parents. The girls have grown so much since I saw them last. James and Addi are only 2 months apart and he adores her. They had so much fun together. I think the most fun they had was when JT pushed them around in this tub. It's the simple things in life. Kissing cousins. Mmmmmuuuuaaaahhhhhhh! James looked at some pictures with Aunt Karin. Baby Lauren. Jude and Lauren will only be 9 months apart. Addi and Grandma. All the cousins playing. James and Addi just hanging out. Lauren likes her toes. I think they are pretty cute too. And one more of James and Addi. I love Addi's cute little white shoes and ruffly socks. Such a little lady.

Since I'm pregnant and have pretty much given up on sleeping...and since I've been up since 4:00 this morning with nothing to do but blog...I thought I would tell you about a scrumptious recipe I tried last night. Brad is a health-nut. I am not. But he has been telling me that we need to eat more fish. So being the submissive and sweet wife that I am (don't hurt yourself laughing too hard), I complied. Seeing as how we live in the Texas panhandle, I am a bit skeptical about how fresh the fish is around here. But off to the market I went and got two fat tuna steaks and prayed they weren't old and rotten and riddled with mercury. I guess I had tuna on the brain since seeing the opossum's rabid love for the StarKist. So here is the recipe: Seared Tuna on Fettuccine with Green Olive Tapenade and Spinach 12 ounces fettuccine 1 small jar green olive tapenade spread...

Today is my grandmother, Dee Dee's 92nd birthday and my nephew, Grant's 8th birthday. ( I think I have those ages right. If not, sorry). So... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEE DEE!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT!!!! I love you both!

Fun! I Am Blessed at Miscellaneous Musings Of A 5x Mom gave me this blog award! It's called the Naughty Or Nice Award. These are the questions I am supposed to answer: 1. What is the silliest prank you ever played on someone? I'm not much of a prankster because I am too afraid of retaliation. But one time when I was a little girl I made some milk really nasty by putting lots of gross stuff in it and then went and put it by my sister's bedsides thinking they would drink it when they woke up (that made perfect sense in my 5 year old mind). My mom caught me and made me drink every last drop. Perhaps that is what fuels my fear of retaliation. Lesson learned. 2. If you could take a trip anywhere out of the country where would you go? Why? Italy. For the food. 3. Who plays the most influential role in your life? Jesus, Brad, James and my Mom and Dad. 4. Are you ok with your significant other being friends with an ex? Sure. Not like slumber party friends or anything lik...

Yall, I'm not even kidding...Mom and Dad caught a second and much larger opossum last night. For reals. What is up with the opossum population boom? Mom said that this one was rocking back and forth. That gives me the creeps. Goshawful animals. This morning, as Brad and I were staring at this picture over breakfast all agog and whatnot, I shared with Brad that opossums are marsupials...meaning the mother opossum has a pouch that she carries her babies in. He said, "That's gross. Why did you have to tell me that while I'm eating my Wheaties?" You just never know what is going to be a turn-off to some people.

A couple of summers ago, when I was pregnant with James, Brad and I had a pesky opossum that would visit our backyard every night. We hated it. We were scared it would eat our dog George. So we got a trap from the nice people down at the animal control and waited. We never caught it. So one night I saw the nasty animal up on the fence and Brad went out after it. At first he tried shooting it and missed. The gunshot was loud and I was worried the neighbors would complain so he resorted to more archaic methods. He got a flag pole and tried beating it to death. The crazy thing about opossums is that they really do "play possum". Brad beat the crap out of that thing and went out later to check on it. It wasn't dead! Five times he tried beating this thing with the flag pole and it would. not. die. So the sixth and final time he just bashed it in the head with a big rock. That did the trick. That's how we do things here in the south...just beat it to death. No...

Today was a momentous day. James went into the church nursery this morning with a smile and came out with a smile for the first time!!! Up until today he has not been a big fan of the nursery. It was so bad that he would start crying when we pulled into the church parking lot. But we persisted and finally had success! Aside from that, James was just adorable today. Although he is going through a bit of an ornery stage (terrible 2's maybe?), he still is such a sweet boy and keeps us smiling. His new thing is to say "NO!" to lots of things. Even when I think he means "yes". And I don't think he really knows what "no" means. Or maybe I am just naive and am letting him get away with too much. This morning Brad told me that we need to get serious about making James obey and behave. Which is a little bit hard for me because although he is very compliant and easily corrected, when I do have to correct him and he gets sad, I get even more sad. I c...

I've mentioned before that Brad and I are not-so-slightly compulsive when it comes to organization and tidiness. So today when I noticed James taking his toys from the toy box and organizing them on the ottoman, I have to admit, I felt a little twinge of pride...and guilt.

James discovered a tiny flashlight in my drawer today and found it extremely handy for lighting up his nose. Then this evening we went over to visit with Nana and Papa. James had some serious things to discuss with his Papa. Things that little James' can only discuss with big James'. Then they watched a little tv together. Finally Jamesie decided he needed to try on his Papa's boots. They are still a little too big. But it was good for a laugh.

My beautiful niece, Morgan has started a blog and it is fabulous! Check it out and leave her a comment. http://morgan-headintheclouds.blogspot.com/

A couple of mistakes actually. A few months ago, we decided to grow James' hair out and the back and sides needed to be trimmed up so... Mistake #1: We tried to trim it ourselves. We DID NOT miss our calling. Barbers we are not. Mistake #2: We went to get his hair cut this morning. Before. After. I'm sad. I miss his long hair. And his hair grows sllllllllllooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww. I just kept looking at all of that beautiful blond hair on the floor and felt sad. Oh well. It'll grow.

My nephews caught a turtle the other day at the park. At first they were going to name him "Tinkles" because...well...because according to Will "he got nervous and tinkled when we caught him". Later they collaboratively decided on "Peter". No idea where that one came from. But a very fine turtle name indeed. Anyhow, I wanted James to see him. He wasn't that interested. And Peter was pretty stinky. Did you know that turtles are stinky? I found this out several years ago while Brad and I were dating. They used to have these little tiny turtles for sale at the mall around Christmas time. I decided I wanted one and told Brad I was going to get one. He told me that I didn't want a turtle because "turtles are stinky". To prove his point he took me out to the mall, to the turtle kiosk, and told me to take a whiff. Yup! Sure enough. Peeeeyewwwww! Turtles are stinky. And he was right...I did not want one.

Today was a VAST improvement over yesterday. Jamesie and I ran our errands this morning and then looked forward to Will and Brock coming over to swim this afternoon! We all had a great time. At least until Brock scraped up his little foot really badly. We went upstairs to get some medicine on it and a band-aid. The best part was that he propped his foot right up on my belly like that is just what it was there for. It is pretty convenient for setting stuff on.

What a day! Whew! I am thankful it is over. I think that this is for sure the busiest day I've ever had in my life. Well...at least in my pregnant life. First off this morning I had an appointment with my ob...just a typical weight, heartbeat, measurement, blood pressure kind of ob appointment. And I took James with me which always adds an element of excitement to any situation. Usually these appointments take about 10 minutes and I'm out of there. Yeh...not s'much today. I had to wait for an hour before seeing the doc...which usually I would be totally fine with because I assume he is seeing to some woman who is in labor and I would want him to make his non-laboring patients wait if it was me. But today I had a very important appointment scheduled for James from 1:30-3:30 and I had it planned just right so I could slip in his nap after my appointment and before his. But that's just life...it seldom works out like you plan. But then the doc drops the bomb on m...

Happy anniversary Bradley! You are the love of my life and these have been the best four years of my life! I love you so much!

Today Mom, James and I went to Lubbock to meet my sister and bring home her three boys for a visit. While we were there, we went to see my Uncle Gerald. James thought about warming up to Uncle Gerald but then he changed his mind. After our visit, this pregnant girl needed some nourishment. And I got these glorious little beauties! I ate two of them while parked under a tree for shade...the red velvet and the birthday cake. My Mom seemed somewhat astonished and maybe a little bit afraid that I annihilated two cupcakes in one sitting without even coming up for air. But to be fair...that red velvet was kinda on the tiny side. In my opinion. So after my cupcake feeding frenzy, we went to Dee Dee's to meet Christi and the boys. James was THRILLED to see his aunt and cousins. He has so much fun with them. And Brock, Christi's youngest, took this picture for us. Before we left for Lubbock, we drove through the car wash. James hates going to the car wash. I can relate to this f...