Team Tristan

Rufus

2012-01-26T03:34:00.000-08:00

The house at the end of our street is home to one of the coolest dogs ever. Rufus is a bull mastiff. He is adorable. Rarely do we see Rufus outside but when we do, we stop the car, roll down the windows, and cheer his name. This sends Rufus into a tailspin where he runs in circles over and over again.

Last Monday I came home from work to see my 2 boys hanging out with Rufus. (surprisingly) Hays wasn't scared of him at all and stuck his little nose right up to the fence.

In case you are wondering, I have no idea what Frank is wearing.

Bye, Rufus!

Rufus was out in the yard at 2:50am this morning while I was driving into work. I decided NOT to stop and starting yelling his name.

Also, Baby Girl Tristan is doing great! Fluid levels look good and she is doing perfect. She also has hair!!! Enough hair to see it clearly in the ultrasound. Her eviction notice comes on March 28th at 7:30am. (That is IF she doesn't exit on her own sooner)

Lately

2012-01-24T04:22:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've updated our little blog.

Not much has been going on. We are trying to soak up every minute, day, and weekend left with this little boy as our only child.

(According to my ticker, we are down to the mid-60's until Baby Tristan #2 arrives!)

He is growing like crazy. I'll have his 18 (actually 19) month update soon. Whenever he will actually sit still for a picture.... which doesn't happen now days.

I caught this sweet picture just last week. Hays was watching Elmo with his Elmo.

The minute he sees me get the camera out he goes crazy wanting to see his pictures. That's why I haven't taken the time to put any new pictures on the blog. They really are just a blur since he is fighting to get the camera out of my hand.

Hays does NOT stop talking. Frank and I just look at each other and laugh because he is such a chatter box. Yesterday we were in the car and I was reaching back to tickle him and he said "Momma, please stop!". Last week we were at the Dr. for his well-baby check up and he kept saying "Down please! Down please!". The Dr. said he was one of her more well-mannered patients.

We get to see our girl this afternoon. And hopefully we will schedule our C-Section. It'll be nice to have an END date in sight!

It's the Simple Things

2012-01-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

Like playing with a Jack in the Box.

You would have thought this was his first time seeing Jack pop up. Nope, this was probably about the 15th. And he was still just as excited as the first time.

We really love this little boy. And all of his fun expressions.

Big Boy Room

2012-01-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

I think we have set ourselves up for failure. Here is the super cute entrance to Hays' (work in progress) big boy room.

Now the pressure is on for the rest of his room to be super cute.

Hays LOVES books. The lowest 2 shelves he can easily get to... but the top 2 are saved for the books with paper pages. You know, the kind he can tear easily and cause his momma to cry.

Not the best picture, but I think you get the idea. We bought a piece of crown molding from Home Depot. Sanded it down, painted it Candy Apple Red, added another piece of wood to it (thanks to Adam and Uncle Jim), and wa-la. Warning: Crown molding is expensive. Wall shelving is more expensive. In the end, this ended up being way cheaper... just don't go to the store and buy oodles of it!

Of course the idea is courtesy of Pinterest!

Potty Training 101

2012-01-04T04:25:00.000-08:00

I don't think this is how potty training is supposed to look.

For some silly reason, Hays just wanted a hug while he was trying to use the potty. Some day he will HATE this picture.

Hays' love language is NOT physical touch. He is a quality time kid. Rarely does he cuddle or want to be loved on. So I guess I'll take his affection however I can get it.

A few people have asked how his potty training is going.... well, his parents have failed him. We should have been better back in October when he was interested. He goes from time to time, but not with the same accuracy as he did.

One Last Christmas Post

2012-01-02T04:31:00.000-08:00

Looking back at posts from last year... Hays has come a LONG way.

This was taken after church. Hays really didn't want his picture taken, but I hadn't got any pictures of him in front of our Christmas tree. He didn't have a choice.

From this point on, Frank and I witnessed a 45 minute fit from the likes we've never seen. It was unbelievable. I think Hays likes to take 1 picture and then look at it on the camera. After 1 picture he is officially done.

Yesterday was one of those days that we hope to not repeat anytime soon.

A bad picture of our Christmas tree. But I really enjoyed it this year and want to have it documented in case I need ideas for next year. (our Christmas tree leans, so adding the netting makes it appear to be more upright!)

And here is a look at 27 weeks. (Thank you Frank for the camera positioning). I have successfully stayed away from the camera this entire pregnancy... well, except for being on-air E.V.E.R.Y day. Don't get me started on that! I am very, very ready to have this baby. (but I do understand that she needs to wait a few more weeks!)

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T16:04:00.000-08:00

I sure do love these boys!

We started our Christmas on Friday, December 23rd. Santa came early since we would be at church on Sunday morning.
Hays got a basketball hoop... and he LOVED it. He probably shot 100 baskets that morning. He loved it so much that he didn't even take a time-out for his bottle.

We didn't want to overindulge Hays with Christmas gifts. We got him his hoop, a travel magna doodle, a new book, and Christmas pajamas. It was perfect. He wasn't overwhelmed and he loved playing with his new toys. He actually didn't enjoy opening gifts. Crazy kid.

Oh! I also got him play dough for his stocking.... he HATED it.

Friday afternoon we packed up the car and headed to the lake to be with my family for Christmas Eve.

This year was extra special. My 94 year old Grandma is living at my parent's house. She got to take in all of the festivities from her comfy chair.

In my immediate family we have 16 family members. Next year it will be 17. I can't imagine what it will be like once my neices and nephews start getting married. Ellie got a guitar for Christmas. She opened it and said "I've waited for this my whole life!" I think this picture of her is so sweet.
Hays 2nd favorite gift of the year was his rock band Elmo. (Remember his favorite was the hoop) He loves to dance with Elmo. It is very cute.

Hays and his cousins. Ellie, Bo, and Bear.
This may be the first picture taken of all my parents grandkids. Dallas, Ellie, Sophie, Hays, Bear, Bo, Jackson, and Cooper.
We left the lake to drive home on Christmas Eve. Sunday morning we woke up and went to church. We spent the morning working in the nursery.

Christmas Day we opened gifts and had lunch with Frank's family. I'm so mad because I didn't take my camera. Hays got the CUTEST motorized 4-wheeler that is just his size. I will put video of him driving it, because he is hilarious. There is NO steering abilities at 18 months.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. And that you were able to slow down and it enjoy it and remember The Reason for the season.

He's a Cowboy

2011-12-16T03:04:00.001-08:00

My dad got Hays a rocking horse quite a few months ago. Recently, Hays spends every evening riding Bullseye (Frank and Hays named him).

Things I notice about this video:

1. Hays is so left handed that he only can mount Bullseye from the left.

2. His pajamas don't match.

3. The room is very bare. This will soon by Hays' new room. I plan on working on it after the 1st of the year.

4. Frank and I can be obnoxious.

5. Hays likes to "Praise Jesus"... and it melts our hearts every time.

6. He runs over to watch his video at the end.

We really love this little cowboy of ours.

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

This is simply how we feel this year. Very blessed. And happy.

I can't get enough of this picture... and I figure it is the cutest one we have so I had Hays be the star of our card this year!

We used Tiny Prints. They had a problem with the printing. I called on Monday, they fixed the problem and they were at my doorstep on Tuesday. I was very impressed with their customer service.

Hays looks like such a big boy compared to last years card: HERE. ( I too look a whole lot bigger ...pregnant... this year, too!)

We hope your Christmas is as happy as can be, and that your New Year is blessed beyond measure.

Thanks for stopping by, and I can't wait to see everyone elses Christmas cards HERE.

Our Trip South

2011-12-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday Frank and I packed up our car and hit the road. Our reason for the trip was to celebrate the marriage of this couple.

Haley is one of my very best friends. She and Luke got married quickly last year. Like the day he deployed for a year in Afghanistan.
Luke is home and they finally had the chance to have their wedding reception.

Haley's family lives in Natchitoches, Louisiana. This is the same town that Steel Magnolia's was filmed. Remember the Christmas festival that Julia Roberts was at? That's the place! Haley and Luke will be moving to the St. Louis area in 2 weeks. I am SO excited to have them closer.
Haley is one of those people who is insanely talented. She is the smartest person I know, she can sew, make jam, basically anything she tries... she is good at. We can add cookie decorating to her list of things she should become professional in. We left Springfield on Wednesday night, drove to Dallas. Spent Thursday in a town called Waxahachie. Friday I got to spend 1 hour with another of my best friends... Rebecca. I finally got to meet Mr. Eli.

He was the BEST baby.

How cute are they? Rebecca lives in Tuscon so we don't get to see each other much at all.
From Dallas we went to Nachitoches on Friday. Saturday evening we drove to Little Rock. (we were missing our baby like crazy) In Little Rock we stayed with another one of my best friends, Amy. (I didn't get a picture of the Tracy family... so this is as close as I could get)

Frank and I had a lot of quality time together. I'm lucky that I still really like hanging out with the guy! It was a great trip, but we won't be leaving the Hays man for that long for quite some time.

Daddy's Mini-Me

2011-12-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

Frank is an amazing dad. He takes time to include Hays into everything. Often times I find myself wanting to get something done quickly and I forget what it means to let Hays help.

If Frank is sweeping, he hands Hays an extra broom. If he is unloading the dishwasher, Hays is right there helping. It is precious to watch.

Wherever Frank is... Hays is certain to be close behind.

Santa Baby

2011-12-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning was the annual trip to Bass Pro to visit Santa. It's an impressive set-up in Santa's Wonderland this year.

It didn't seem to impress Hays all that much.

I didn't figure he was going to participate. Being the first one up, he cried. He didn't scream... just cried. BIG difference.

Dalton sat on Santa's lap like a pro!

And Cruz was TERRIFIED!

Hays thought it would be much safer to sit beside Santa.

I love the pictures of him sitting beside Santa.

(Yes, I do know that placing our 17 month old on elevated surfaces isn't a good idea. He LOVES sitting up high. )

If you were to ever 2nd guess that our son was a red head, the above picture proves otherwise.

Frank put him on the Polar Bear since he was wearing his Polar Bear sweater.

Hays showing his teeth.

I love this last picture of our boy. He is growing up so fast. I feel like most of our days are spent with his hair a little messy and his big brown eyes looking up at me wanting my full attention. We love him so much and can't get enough of him.

I can't wait to see what next year will be like. Hays will be 29 months and baby girl will be 9 months. WOW.

Before We Move On...

2011-11-28T04:27:00.000-08:00

I have been a very bad blogger. The last week of November is crazy at work. Thanksgiving isn't quite Thanksgiving when you work Thursday and Friday mornings. And then the Saturday night newscasts. Saturday I got home around 12am, and was up working in the church nursery the next morning.

Even though it was full of work, we still got time to spend with family and it was wonderful! We have so much to be thankful for.

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago, but I figure I need to document fall 2011 for Hays.

Over the past year Hays had gained a LOT of red hair... and sweet brown eyes. He's got all of his teeth (minus those 2 year molars) and that same double chin.

We sure do love this little boy.

Now we can move onto Christmas.

Even though it's been Christmas INSIDE the Tristan home for 3 weeks now.

Our Days Lately

2011-11-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

We are spending a lot of time parenting scenes that look a whole lot like this.

We've got a fit thrower on our hands. Every situation is super dramatic now days. If I don't give him a cookie on demand... fit. If I reprimand him for throwing something at me, fit. If I don't read the book he wants, fit.

Yesterday Hays took off for the road in front of our house. I asked "Hays, do you want a spanking?" He stopped dead in his tracks, thought about it... looked at me and shook his head and said "NO!". I was impressed with his reasoning ability.

After fit #573 for the evening Frank and I just looked at each other and laughed. And let me tell you, that makes little fit-thrower even more mad... and that brings on another fit.

Miss Teen Pageant

2011-11-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend Frank and I went to St. Louis for a quick trip to support my niece, Dallas, in a pageant.

(This is a completely unknown territory for Frank)

source

Dallas did an UNBELIEVABLE job.

Following in her mom's footsteps.

A few years ago, or almost 20 =), my sister won Miss Missouri.

Dallas is only 14 years old. This is her in her evening gown group. She is on the far left.

Dallas was the youngest girl in the pageant. She was competing against girls in college. She's in 8th grade!

Can you imagine being the youngest girl on this stage? It would be a little intimidating. This is Sophie and Dallas. Sophie is in 8th grade too. Sophie is my other niece. Her and Dal are 1st cousins.

Sophie was 13 in this picture, she is now 14! Happy Birthday, Soph.
For some reason I don't recall looking quite like they do back in 8th grade. Do you?
I'm so proud of both of them. They are great girls with high convictions. Most importantly, they love Jesus.

Sophie, my momma, me, Dallas, and Stephanie.

Sophie, Dallas, and Stephanie.

Frank and I were only able to stay for the preliminary night.
On the Finals night Dallas made it into the top 15. She came up short on the top 5, but she still gets an amazing scholarship to a college.

Frank really enjoyed it. He said he would like to stay for the finals night. He compared the competition to a sport.
Whatever works!

Cousin Luke is Married!

2011-11-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Around 11pm Thursday Frank made the last-minute decision to fly out to Connecticut. We left the house around 4:30am Friday.

This is Hays first flight. He was such a trooper... not perfect... but what 16 month old is?

(I'm so glad we did it this way. I would have lost so much sleep worrying about him on the flight.)

The reason for our trip was that Frank's cousin Luke married his beautiful girlfriend Summer. This was actually our first time to meet Summer, and unfortunatly it was only for a split second.

Frank giving the toast.

The wedding and reception were beautiful and we were so glad we got to go last minute.

Hays did an amazing job. He just didn't sleep much.
From 4am Friday to 4am Sunday he got about 10 hours of sleep.

We were all very, very tired.

Finally, at 6:30am on Sunday Hays fell asleep. Out cold.

Introducing...

2011-11-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to introduce you to the newest member of our family.

This little lady is going to change our life for the better.

This is Baby Girl Tristan.

I had the feeling of a little girl all along, and my instincts were right. I had many ultrasounds with Hays and I never got such good pictures. She is very laid back compared to her brother.

After finding out the big news, Frank got very worried about having a little girl.

The first thing he told me was that he was worried that his fingers were too fat to french braid her hair. (How sweet is that?)

He also hopes she has a lot of hair like Hays so her bows stay in.

And he asked that she not be dressed in all pink all the time.

Boy or Girl ?!?!?

2011-11-03T03:09:00.001-07:00

What will Baby Tristan #2 be?

We find out this morning, but I thought it would be fun to look at some of the Old Wives Tale to see what their guesses are.

Chinese Gender Chart: GIRL (This was wrong with Hays)

Morning sickness: They say that little girls make their mama's sick... I was much more sick with #2 than I was with #1. I'll say GIRL on this one.

Soft or dry skin? Mine is ALWAYS dry which indicates BOY!

Are you craving citrus? Not craving, but I do love to eat oranges right now. GIRL!

Have you felt glowing or less than beautiful and had lots of breakouts? My skin is usually very clear. I haven't dealt with any breakouts but I do have a few bumps on my nose right now. So I will say GIRL!

Heartbeat indicator: Taking it that we have only heard the heartbeat once and our Dr. doesn't count it, I have no idea. I do know it wasn't as fast as Hays.

Craving fruit or meat?: Neither. But I would eat both right now. I have no idea.

Pendulum test: I haven't done the pendulum test during this pregnancy, but it says I'm having a BOY!

Frank's Guess: BOY!

My Guess: GIRL!

5 GIRLS vs. 3 BOYS vs. 2 NO GUESS

I guess we will know soon enough. So excited!

New England Snow

2011-11-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend during our quick trip to Connecticut... it snowed! And it snowed! And it SNOWED a little more.

Yes, we were in the middle of that freak fall snowstorm.

Before our trip I looked at the forecast and it said there was a 20% chance of frozen precip. As a meteorologist, 20% might as well be a dry forecast.

(or so is the case in Missouri)

The first picture was taken about noon.

Probably about 1 hour later.

Hays with his pop-a. (That's how he says it!) Probably 2pm.

And by 3pm it was still coming down!

Some how, we never lost our power at the hotel or at Frank's Uncle Mark & Aunt Deb's house. We got up Sunday morning and our flight was still scheduled for 12:20pm. Once we got to the airport in Bridgeport (the same airport where that JetBlue plane sat for 7.5 hours on Sat.), we noticed that all of the stoplights were out.

We got to the rental car company and they were without power. The attendant told us in a round about way that we would not be leaving Sunday.

At the airport there were cots set up Everywhere. I looked at the board and by the grace of God our flight was one of 3 scheduled to leave. Once we got to security we weren't so lucky. The line was the longest I've ever seen. Bridgeport isn't a big airport and it couldn't keep up with all of the people. It was going to take us at least 3 hours to get through.

Frank is the most passive person EVER. He was just going to wait it out. I started praying for favor in getting through the line and that our flight would be delayed by a few minutes. BOTH THINGS HAPPENED! We were delayed enough to miss our flight in Dallas, but we still made it back to Springfield by 7pm. Not too bad.

It was a long weekend but we are so glad we made the last minute trip.

This is what yesterday felt like....

2011-10-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

These pictures were NOT taken yesterday... but they might as well have been.
Our entire day and my house felt about like this picture looks.
Around 5:30 I called Frank and told him that if I have one more hard object thrown at my head.... or if one more bite of food gets chewed up, spit out, and handed back to me, I was going to go crazy.

I put the house on lock down, let Hays run crazy, and I got into the shower. I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry or pray so I did a little of both.

Here's to hoping today is better.

(And here's proof that Hays isn't an angel. He is into everything.. it's just usually not this bad.)

Why I Love This Guy...

2011-10-18T03:05:00.000-07:00

Morning Email from Frank:

My Favorite,

Our little baby is the length of your mascara tube that you just used and I have also read that our little baby is starting to perform facial expressions. I wonder if Tristan #2 will be as expressive as #1.

My response to Frank:

How sweet.
Where are you getting your measurements from... the Covergirl website?

It's fun to think about what the new one will be like. I can already tell they are very different. With this baby I can feel large, fluid movements. With Hays... it was karate chops from about 14 weeks on.

In order to keep up with big brother, I have a feeling this baby will be every bit as expressive.

Park Days

2011-10-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hays LOVES going to the park.

I can't blame him. I remember begging to stop at every park I saw. On road trips as a little girl I remember playing in random parks. Thanks, dad, for indulging that request much to mom's disapproval.

There is this really great, new park in east Springfield. (On Blackman Rd for all you in the area). It's great for little kids because it is super safe. I'm pretty sure it was built specifically for kids with special needs. A lot of it is wheel chair accessible.

Hays is able to run all over the equipment.

It surprised me a little when my super cautious kid went down the big slide all by himself.

I have no idea why that slide had a sunroof... but it allowed for me to video him all the way down.

Also, it may qualify me as a bad parents because I let him have the run of the place... I promise it's pretty safe.

Fall Festival Food

2011-10-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

Frank, Hays, and I went to the Fair Grove fall festival on a perfect Saturday afternoon. Frank and I had talked about what food we were going to get. I wanted the Tornado Tators... Frank didn't.

This little guy got the final say. Corn on the cob was the ONLY thing we bought. I will say that it was the best corn we've ever tasted.

Plus, Hays LOVES corn on the cob.

Whoever came up with the Corn Shack idea is making a killing! They sell an ear of corn for $2. You can buy corn for 1/8 of that. The line outside the Corn Shack was crazy long.

I love spending Saturday afternoons with my 2 favorite boys.

Sunday Lunch

2011-10-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

This time of the year Frank and I become extremely scheduled. I think we have to do it in order to survive with Hays and crazy hours.

Sunday I decided we need to take the afternoon to do something different instead of the normal groceries, nap, and late lunch.

When we got to church the nursery was SWAMPED. We took Hays to his class and there were probably 20 kids, 3 teachers, and 10 of the kids were crying. Frank and I stayed and took some of the kids into a different room.

After church we decided to head to Branson and eat lunch on The Landing. The weather was just perfect!

We ate lunch on the patio at Old Chicago. Hays was great (which is rare treat at restaurants right now).

It's amazing how fast they grow. I would have never thought he would like to color like a big boy, but he does! There's our little lefty in action.

2.5 more weeks of football (until playoffs at least).
3 weeks until we found out if Baby #2 is a boy or girl.
73 days until Christmas.
169 days until Little One arrives.

We can.not.wait.

Potty Talk

2011-10-07T03:07:00.000-07:00

To potty train or not to potty train (right now), that is the million dollar question in the Tristan house. Maybe not million dollar question, but the $15 question of the week... that's the amount we pay in diapers.

To be honest, I just typed out a long lengthy post on reasons why Hays is and isn't ready to potty train and it comes down to the fact that... he is.

I don't want to be THAT mom who thinks her son is ready to potty train at 15 months. Honestly, Frank and I don't have the time right now. This is our busiest time of the year. How selfish are we?

Here is why Hays is ready:
*He tells us when he needs to go. Not a ton of fair warning, but enough.
*Whenever I put him on the potty at random times, he tries and tries and tries to go.
*Our babysitter's son has been potty training for the last few weeks and Hays is so interested.

As of now we plan to continue to set him on the potty a couple of times a day. No pressure. Christmas break we have nearly 3 weeks where one of us will be with him the entire time. We plan to hit potty training bootcamp hard!

Any advice? Are we crazy? Is he way too young?

Our Newest Addition

2011-10-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

I've been hesitant to blog much about our little one until now. Today was the first day I heard a strong, perfect little heartbeat. There is a part of me that has been worrying for 4 weeks now.

We'll start from the beginning. Back in July Frank and I took a week to fast and pray. We cut out the TV and internet while at home and we cut out sugar, carbs, flour and anything else worth eating. We prayed and by the end of that week we felt the Lord gave us a the desire and peace to expand our family.

On our anniversary I took a pregnancy test.... and our world was forever changed for the better!

Our doctor's office decided I needed to come in sooner than later in order to get my blood work and thyroid on the right track. We had 2 appointments in August but both were too early to hear the heartbeat.

The first week of September I had my 10 week appointment scheduled. Like a mother of a 1 year old or simply a pregnant woman, I completely missed my appointment. I was rescheduled with the PA the next day.

Frank met me at the Doctors office to hear our new little one for the first time. A sweet nurse tried and tried to find the heartbeat. Seriously tried for a solid 5 minutes.... nothing. She left the room and we sat there for what seemed like a year. She came back and tried for another 5 minutes....NOTHING. By now I am crying. And it's not a pretty cry.

Our nurse that I usually have came in and tried.... nothing.

Finally the PA came in and brought the little bitty ultrasound machine. Quickly an itty bitty baby popped up on the screen moving around like crazy. At 10 weeks they are still so little we couldn't see the heartbeat but the Dr. assured us everything looked great. I was also told I had a tilted uterus. (HOW did I not know this? I had weekly ultrasounds with Hays and nobody ever brought this to my attention)

Even after seeing a little baby, there is something about the heartbeat that this momma needed to hear.

TODAY I heard that heartbeat. We have a strong little baby. Praise the Lord.

The heartbeat was just perfect... and much slower than their high strung older brother was. (I'm praying this means we will have a laid back newborn. Worth asking for, right?)

The great thing now is I'm feeling movement. Perfect tiny tickles every couple of hours. I'm enjoying this stage because I know the tiny movements are soon going to turn into painful thuds in a matter of weeks.

Only 4 more weeks until we find out the gender. Time is flying by!

(The pictures are from Hays' haircut the other day. Hays did an amazing job. The stylist, not so much.... but he certainly was excited about it.)

Friends

2011-10-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

Cruz and Hays are just 10 weeks apart. We think they will be great friends as they grow up.

I'd say these sweet little boys do resemble their daddies a bit.

On this day we were celebrating Cruz's 1st birthday. This is about as good as the picture gets with a couch full of 1 year olds.

In pregnancy news, we are about 14 weeks along. It does go by so much quicker your 2nd time when there is a little one to chase around. We will hear the heartbeat for the first time on Wednesday.... we can't wait!

Hays' Christmas Wish List

2011-09-29T03:30:00.000-07:00

It may be a little unfair to say that this is Hays Christmas wish list. More of his mom's, but I did get input from his dad and we both agree.

Also, this is just to give his grandparents ideas. I know you all are faithful readers. AND I know how much Grandma Beckee loves personalized items as much as I do.

Wouldn't a moose sleeping bag be fun? What's better than a moose with Hays' name! I think it would be perfect for all of those father/son camping adventures. (I like to camp so I will be tagging along)

I think Hays would love this? I mean, what kid wouldn't? I read the reviews and people say it's basically a square bean bag... it's not stuffing. I may want this just as much as Hays.

Anyone that knows Frank will appreciate this, a monogrammed robe. I even love the slippers! Hays and Frank could sit around and eat breakfast in their robes every morning.

Hays will be moving into our guest bedroom when the new baby arrives. Right now all we have in there is a twin sized bed. I would love to put a little table in there, but I think he is a little too young. This maybe a request next Christmas. I like the storage underneath the table shown above.

(Everything shown above is from Pottery Barn Kids)

Moving on to another one of my favorites.... Land of Nod:

I LOVE this table, but he wouldn't be able to pull up a chair to the side. The storage is great and I really like the paper roll on the side of it.

This table and chairs is my absolute favorite. I love the storage options underneath the table. AND LOOK AT THOSE CHAIRS! What a great place to keep pens and paper so he can get to them easy.

TV Announcement

2011-09-28T05:46:00.001-07:00

I'm so glad I remembered to clip this announcement this time around.

I didn't do this with Hays, and I want to be better at appreciating pregnancy with Baby #2.

(This is more for my "scrapbook" than anything else...)

London Nicole

2011-09-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

On the last day of August our best friends, The DeVizia's welcomed a perfect little girl into the world! London weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces, and despite making everyone think she was going to come early... she waited to be induced.

Olivia is unreal at this labor thing! I was standing in the hall.... and heard the Dr. walk in... and bam, there was a baby. It took her like 2 pushes. She's amazing.

We were all surprised with London's dark hair. Her big brother Dalton didn't have a hair on his head until he was over a year old.

I love this above picture of Olivia. She was trying to get Dalton to be interested in his new sissy. He wasn't that interested at first, but from what I hear, he has made an amazing transition.

Welcome to the world, London. You are very loved and very protected thanks to these two dudes. We hope a lifetime of adventures are in store for you and Dalton, Hays and baby Tristan #2.

When London was about 1.5 weeks old, she was rushed to the hospital very sick. It turns out she had pneumonia and viral meningitis. It certainly was a scary time but she has made an amazing recovery! Her health is an answer to many prayers.

This weekend I'm helping with a Sip and See for Olivia and London. It should be a lot of fun!

4th Largest Home...

2011-09-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

Have you all heard about the castle being built in Highlandville? (It's a tiny town off the highway between Branson and Springfield) It's been top secret until now....

Turns out it will be the 4th largest home in the United States.
About the size of Buckingham Palace.
(The story is technically from the competition, but it's too interesting not to show)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Thank you all for the kind words about Baby #2. I'll post more soon. We are very excited. We still haven't heard or seen the heartbeat but we did see our little one move around in an ultrasound. (that was an emotional Dr.'s visit!)

Hays Has A Secret!

2011-09-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled... and by the looks of it, Hays is too!

Baby Tristan is set to arrive late March.

We are very excited and can't wait for the next few months to fly by!

( This pregnancy is a THE reason our little blog has been left out. I'm slowly gaining my energy back to where I feel like I can semi-function again. )

Family Pictures

2011-09-12T03:05:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I love this kid. He had SO many expressions this day.

In early August we woke up early and took our family pictures before it hit 100 degrees.

Hays did an amazing job!
(I actually bought our picture package off our stations deal of the day site. SO worth it! $75, 1 hour shoot, 1 11X14 print, and rights to 10 pictures.... you should sign up for the daily email HERE) Andrew Bowser Photography did the pictures and we couldn't be happier!

We're Still Alive!

2011-09-08T03:05:00.001-07:00

Days have been long and transitioning back into Frank's busy time has been tough. (I think I'm the only one that is taking it hard!)

His season is going well. Hays LOVES going to the games.

Hays has been a lot of fun and a little challenging. He likes to throw fits. This will come to an end soon because I don't enjoy it when an entire hospital lobby is staring at me as my son screams and flails.

I promise I will bring more updates and pictures soon... Until then, I'd thought I'd share a couple of pictures of Hays and his best buds, Dalton & Cruz.

I'm really going to miss this....

2011-08-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

This summer has been (near) perfect. Frank, Hays, and I have spent nearly every afternoon together. Is there anyone Frank and I could BOTH be stay-at-home parents? Nah, probably not.

We've spent many afternoons at the pool or taking adventures around town.

The end of summer marks the start of a very busy time for us.

The start of school & football season.

This means Hays and momma will have a lot of alone time. (don't get me wrong, I love it. It's just when 6:30pm rolls around and Hays is tired and fussy and I've been awake since 2am... I'm tired and fussy too.)

I'm so going to miss our summer days.

Here's to hoping for snow days in November.

Morning Snuggle Time

2011-08-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for this for a VERY long time. There's been a few things standing in the way.

1. Tug dislikes being anywhere near Hays. (We had a semi-breakthrough this week)

2. I work mornings so rarely am I home at 7am.

3. Hays isn't much of a snuggler.

Thursday morning we were scheduled to take family pictures at 7am. I had us up and ready to go. Unfortunately, it was stormy (for the first time since what, May?) so the pictures were cancelled. Fortunately for me it was stormy so Tug and Hays both crawled up in my lap. I love it!

Notice how tan Hays is. I know he isn't the color of brown sugar, BUT he gets a nice little tan. I'm so thankful because I'm not the most hardcore sunscreen applier around.

Oh, Summer!

2011-08-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

We have been MIA on this blog for the past couple of days. Can we blame it on the weather?

Like most other places in the country it has been awful here.

Frank and I visited Silver Dollar City on Tuesday. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was 110 degrees on my car thermometer (which isn't that accurate)!!! Inside the park wasn't bad at all. With all of the trees, the shade made everything very bearable. Luckily, I know SDC like the back of my hand and I had us in and out of there in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Frank and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary over the weekend. We spent a night in KC. We saw Zac Brown and Kenny Chesney. Super hot, but it was fun.

We have spent all week long at home with this super cute little red head and a big, fat bulldog. It's been nice having a lazy week. (You can't spend much time outside these days)

Maybe soon I will actually pick up my camera, take pictures, and blog about our lives.

Truck Stop Missouri

2011-07-22T08:14:00.001-07:00

If you live in Missouri... this is a MUST see!

I don't know about you, but this brightened my Friday. I think everyone in the newsroom is looking forward to August 3rd!

Splash Pad

2011-07-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of Saturday mornings ago we took Hays to the splash pad in Nixa. Hays is a cautious little dude. He certainly didn't go wild at the pad.

Our little family. I have no idea what I'm hiding behind my back (and I realize no part of me matches, I was a navy/black mess... but I don't seem to mind)

We met cousin Dalton. Dalton doesn't have a cautious bone in his body and was going crazy at the pool.

This was the first time I had been to a public pool in years. Like 12 years to be exact. It always weirds me out having to prance around in a swimsuit with complete strangers. I'll have to get over it. For the next few years I have a feeling we will frequent city pools in the summer. They have really become fancy in the past 12 years!

A New Favorite Toy

2011-07-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

Hays wants to say a BIG THANK YOU to Grandma Beckee for the new Lightning McQueen toy.

He LOVES it!

Aren't baby laughs the best?!?!

Happy Wednesday.

The Weekend!

2011-07-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

First, thanks for all your kind words on my working mom post! AND thanks to all my new readers. I'm so glad you're here.

Why is it that weekends seem to FLY by?

I took a 3-day weekend and loved just about every second of it. (except for our early dinner yesterday, I'll get to that later!)

2 of my closest college friends will be moving south. Brittni and Sharah (Sharah is in the white, Britt in the purple) are moving to Florida at the end of the month. I'm so sad to see them go but I'm excited to visit. Frank LOVES West Palm Beach and Brittni will be very close in Boca.

Thursday night we had dinner at Aviary in downtown Springfield. It's an adorable little bistro. Good place for a girly get together.

(3 people in this picture are pregnant. I'm not one of them. Brittni isn't married so she is safe too!)

My best friend Olivia (the one in the jean jacket) will be having a baby sometime soon. She is due in early September, but because of complications, little London could come at anytime.

I spent Sunday working on London's baby quilt.

Isn't this a cute idea? I love the bunting and it is very, very easy to make.

I found it on Pinterest.

The wrinkles are thanks to this little guy.

Sunday afternoon we took Hays to dinner at Jimm's Steakhouse. The little boy that used to be an angel in restaurants is starting to grow up. Frank said his new rule is that we can only visit eating establishments that don't have waiters.
Ha! That will last all of 1 week.

Working-Mom Post!

2011-07-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

Later today I will be guest blogging for Melissa over @ Stafford Stories.

She is doing an AMAZING series on working-moms. I've really loved reading all of the posts!
If you're visiting from Melissa's blog, THANKS & WELCOME!

(By the way, is anyone else having troubles leaving comments and doing other simple things on blogger? It's very frustrating!)

My name is Natalie. I'm wife to a really great guy, Frank. Momma to a 1 year old, red head, Hays. And I work in TV News.

My day starts at 2:30am. Yes, 2:30 in the morning. I am a meteorologist for a morning news show. I love my job. It gives me the best of both worlds. I'm a full-time employee... and pretty much a full time mom.

Exhausting? I can't even begin to tell you....

Here's what our day looks like:

2:30am- I wake up, get my stuff together, kiss my husband good-bye and say a prayer outside my son's door.

3:00am- Arrive to work (in my pajamas), read over emails, and get ready for the days show. Most mornings I apply two separate under eye concealers. HD is a curse =)My day is full of a 2 hour show, 2 hours worth of cut-ins, and 2 hours worth of meetings and catching up on stories or emails.

BY 11am- I'm home ready to start my favorite part of the day.I catch up all of the morning info from Hays' babysitter. He may be awake or he may be a sleep when I get home. I never know.We eat lunch, play a little bit, and head to the gym. Some afternoon's I have appearances or school visits, and if I do. Hays usually is with me.

4:00pm-We cook dinner and eat early. Spend family time with dad. And I start getting ready for bed around 5pm.

7:00pm- I'm snuggling with my boys about to wipe out for the night.

I've been a working momma for 10 months. I am no expert, but, here's what works for us.

1. Set priorities. Hays has a set bedtime @ 7:30pm. Most nights we don't deviate. This allows for me to put Hays to sleep by myself in case my husband isn't able. Nap time isn't something I can micromanage so I let it go.

2. Ask for help. My husband is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. We have a partnership. He does laundry, cleans the floors, feeds our son dinner, gives him baths, and puts him to sleep. I'm not the only one in charge of the household chores and I couldn't be more thankful to my husband.

3. Learn to say NO! Before baby I would do just about any event I was asked to do. Now, if it's not baby friendly or something I am passionate about, I pass. My family is my priority and I want them to know that. Time with my husband is few and far between. During football season, time together is non-existent. We've had to take a break from church small groups or other volunteering positions because our time as a family is so valuable.

4. Find a babysitter/nanny/childcare you trust. We are blessed to have a babysitter come to our home. It puts our minds at ease that our son is in an environment that he knows and he can stay in his PJ's for as long as he wants. If you like the sound of that, do your research. You may be surprised to find that an in-home nanny might be more cost effective than a daycare. (It is for us!) Our nanny has a baby 9 months older than Hays. It's great for the socialization aspect.

5. Find ways to make your life easier. I've stared freezing meals. If I make lasagna, I freeze half for a meal later. Some evenings this is a lifesaver! When Hays was starting to eat baby food I was ambitious and made it all. For me, my time is too precious to spend all of it in the kitchen. Now, we buy it.

6. Pray. Alot. At times you’ll be overwhelmed. Or you might feel guilty. Knowing the Lord has it under control when I don’t sets my mind and heart at ease.

With my job I am under contract. When I was pregnant it wasn't an option for me to stay home. In a year my contract is up. We've started to pray and talk about the next step for our family. My husband and I both know I probably wouldn't be an effective full-time at home momma. BUT, my desire is to be home more. (Or not be exhausted when I am there) At this point of my life I know I'm called to be where I am. When I have hard, stressful, or long days I remember that this is only a season and it too shall pass.

AND… that this little man is SO worth it!

I'd love to hear your stories or comments on what works for your family. I'm certainly open to ideas on how to make my life easier!

Mini-Me

2011-07-14T04:19:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I received the sweetest message:

It all started the other day when my 6 year old cried, yes CRIED because I had put a clip in her hair. When I asked her why she didn't want the pretty clip in her hair, she responded "because Natalie Nunn wears her hair like THIS". She then proceeded to take the clip out and carefully position her hair over her shoulder! I thought it was so cute that I posted about it on facebook. A girl I used to teach with commented that she had a friend that worked at the station and that she would ask her if I could take Austyn (my daughter) to see the studio. The friend suggested that I send you a msg on facebook. If I am being intrusive, I am so sorry! Feel free to not respond! I just wanted you to know that my daughter is inspired by you. She wants to be just like you one day, and if you ask her she'll say it is because you are "a wezzer person AND a mommy!" She watches the weather all of the time. She even has different weather sites bookmarked on her web browser! Thanks for giving my little girl a good role model to look up to... and to watch every day! :-)

How sweet is that?
Of course I HAD to meet Miss Austyn. I invited them to come to the station to take a tour. You could tell she was really excited but she was very quiet and shy.
Since she wouldn't wear bows or clips for her momma, I bought her and I matching clips. She is wearing hers in the picture above.

(the fact she wants to wear her hair like me probably cracks people up! My hair is out of control 89% of the time.)

I LOVED meeting Austyn and her momma, Stacy. Austyn was adopted from the foster care system as a baby. Her parents have adopted 6 children total from foster care (If I remember right, all 6 are under the age of 10). How amazing is that?

I'm becoming a big advocate for foster care adoptions. Each week I do a story on a child up for adoption in the Missouri foster care system. http://www.kspr.com/wednesdayschild/
Eventually Frank and I want to take the classes required to become foster parents.

Miss Austyn, it was a pleasure to meet you!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-07-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

For Hays' 1st birthday we celebrated with a few of his favorite things.

Cracker Barrel with his favorite dish of chicken & dumpling's.

Cupcakes from Brenda in Rogersville.
(Ok, so maybe this is more of his parents favorite thing. But after his 1st birthday, I'd say he's a fan of Brenda's cupcakes.)

Swimming with cousin Ellie.
He LOVES Ellie... even though she has him in a headlock in this picture.

(Speaking of swimming with cousin Ellie...we were swimming on Friday while the 3 of us were sitting on the steps. I looked away and Hays leaned forward and fell in. Ellie did a great job and grabbed his arm. He was only under for a few seconds at the most. He did amazingly well. His eyes were as big as saucers but no crying. I think I'm going to start swim lessons next summer, I feel like this summer maybe a little premature. For parents who have babies in swim lessons, is it worth it????)

Splash in the Sink

2011-07-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

The other day Frank wanted to give Hays a quick bath. To my surprise he stuck him in the sink. I know a lot of people give babies baths in the sink.... but he just looked so big (& silly.)

We had such a fun Saturday. Hays spent time at the splash pad with Dalton, Frank and I had a lunch date, and we had dessert at his parents house with family.

And now? Well now we are starting our obsession with Friday Night Lights. We are on episode 4 of season 1. We've got a long ways to go!

Evangel University

2011-07-06T04:25:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's been 5 years since I went to college at Evangel.

For those of you not familiar with Evangel.... here's some info.

*Evangel is private Christian University of about 2,000 kids (less when I was there).
*It's an Assemblies of God University (AG's world headquarters is located in Springfield). *There's a dress code, curfew, code of conduct, and you have to attend chapel 3 days a week. (Seriously... you HAVE TO.)
*When I went to school there they actually took a picture of the chapel and counted attendance that way. If you were sleeping or had a hat on, your attendance didn't count.
*Finally, it's a GREAT school.

Since I graduated in 2006 it has turned into a beautiful campus. All the academic buildings are new and beautiful to look at.

When I first went to Evangel, all of my broadcasting classes were held in the barracks. What's that you may ask? Ta-da... Evangel was a WWII army hospital. The barracks were part of the hospital. Some of the classrooms actually had tile on the walls and slanted floors so the blood could drain from the patients.

Despite the looks and circumstances of the "old" Evangel.. I am so grateful the Lord called me there. I know I would have never of met by best friends and I don't know how Frank would have come into my life.

Evangel does an amazing job at preparing Christians for careers outside of the ministry. I was asked to do a promotional video for EU a couple of weeks ago and I think it turned out pretty darn good. My small part in the video comes in at 0:32.

ACSD 2011 - Evangel University President's Welcome from evangelCS on Vimeo.

If anyone did a google search on Evangel and ended up here... if you have any questions, let me know! It really is a great place.

Tug Tuesday

2011-07-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a LONG time since I've had a Tug Tuesday. The reason for that is simple.

Tug can't stand Hays.
To be honest, this is the closest Tug has ever been to Hays and it's only because Hays had a cupcake smashed all over his body.

The feeling isn't mutual.
Hays thinks Tug is pretty darn cool.

After leaving the lake (where Tug spends the majority of his days now, he's retired) I told Frank I thought Tug tolerated Hays well.

Frank said if you consider Tug only snapping 4 times at our son progress... yes, he is doing better.

Tug finds Hays as such a bother. He likes to sleep about 20 hours a day and with a baby following you around and poking you all the time, that doesn't happen. And for Tug, underneath the bed is no longer a safe place... Hays has figured out how to crawl underneath the bed to get to Tug.

I love that bulldog like crazy. Again, I'm not sure the feeling is mutual.

I also love this feisty little red head like crazy.

I know the feeling is mutual because he won't stop following me around crying "Mommmaa".

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

A lot of things can chance in a year!

We spent the weekend at my parents house on the lake. I believe Frank asked why he was so tired after a "relaxing weekend at the lake". I guess that is how it is when you have kids.

We took this picture before going to church. I curled my hair up nice and big because the minute you step out the door it becomes as flat as a pancake.

In a perfect world Springfield wouldn't have any humidity.

This was our family picture from last year. Hays was 1.5 weeks old.

Notice Frank's hair? I've never shared this story because it was so traumatic we needed time to get over it...

A couple days after I had Hays Frank asked me to cut his hair. I usually complain about it and find some reason to put it off. But, for the first time, I decided why not? I was tired of sitting around.

We got all of the supplies and set up the barber shop on our back deck. We laid our newborn in the shade and I started trimming Frank's hair. Everything went perfectly until I was finishing up at the very end. I was switching between 2 razors.... Frank was handing them to me. I asked for a different razor, Frank handed it to me and I went in to trim a few stray hairs right at the front of his head. BAD IDEA.

Frank had taken off the guard and forgot to put it back on.

Basically I butchered Frank's hair 5 days before we were to take professional family pictures.

I lost it. I sat and cried for about 20 minutes. I was dealing with hormones and still taking strong pain medicine from the surgery.

Moral of the story: Don't do anything drastic a few days after you have a baby and are still on pain meds.

Wedding Weekend

2011-06-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago a good friend from High School tied the knot to her life's love. Congrats Chris & Ashley!

You're about to start the most fun adventure ever.

Haley made the trip from Texas and it was so much fun to have time to spend with her.
We went and ate lunch downtown, got manicures, and got ready for the wedding in record time.

The wedding was HOT!

(Funny story about Frank's shirt... I bought it thinking not many guys would have it. Boy, was I wrong. There were 3 other men at the wedding alone with the same shirt. Good thing Frank wore it better than all the rest! I am bias... but he looks good =) Hays was a little flirt at the reception.

We often joke that Hays could easily be confused for Haley's child. They have the same color of hair. While we were at the wedding some lady asked Haley a question assuming he was hers.

It's (un)official... Haley and Luke's children will resemble the Tristan kids closely!

St. Jude Dream Home

2011-06-29T04:25:00.001-07:00

Every year KSPR is involved with the most rewarding telethon imaginable. This year's St. Jude Dream Home raised $600,000 for St. Jude! I LOVE this campaign and all the stories we get to tell.

(If you aren't familiar with the dream home giveaway... people buy tickets for $100.... and they are put in a drawing for that house behind us in the picture. It's AMAZING on the inside. Like, $400,000 of amazingness)

This year, I met a precious little 5-year old girl named Emma Grace Heppner. Emma is in the middle of a 3 year battle against cancer and she is doing amazing. Here is Emma's story.

I got to follow Emma on her Chemo day. I couldn't believe how brave this little girl, and all the other little kids in the hospital were.
I feel like Emma and I have a special bond. Emma's older siblings are both in college. My older siblings were both in college by the time I was 5.

Last year during the week of the giveaway was when Hays made his unexpected arrival. I remember crying and telling the Dr. I couldn't have him because I was supposed to work all weekend. Thankfully, Dr. Stamps didn't follow my time schedule =)

5x7 Folded Card

2011-06-26T11:02:00.001-07:00

With Gratitude Thank You 5x7 folded card

Click here to see graduation announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Letters to Hays (1st Birthday addition)

2011-06-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

A year ago today I held you in my arms for the first time. It was amazing watching your little eyes trying to focus on the outside world for the first time. Since then you have brought so much laughter and exhaustion to your mother and I. From the nights spent sleeping on the couch with you on my chest to the nights where I just prayed that your ear pain would stop. Your mother and I have found so much joy in your learning and growing that we are so excited to see what happens in this next year.

Hays you are truly a special child not just because you are our child, but because you are God's child. Your heavenly father has a special plan for your life and our prayer is that you discover that plan and continue to pursue it all the days of your life.

Hays, as your mother can attest to, I am a list maker so I though I would tell you my top favorite Hays moments from your 1st year.

10. Changing your diaper and wondering if they fed you tar in the hospital nursery.
9. Watching you sleep in the nursery and realizing for the 1st time that you were my son.
8. Witnessing you poop in the bathtub.
7. Dressing in matching shirts.
6. Playing catch in the bathtub with you sun ball.
5. Watching you chase Tug around the living room.
4. Feeding you new foods and watching your facial expression.
3. Helping you turn off the light and turn on the sound conditioner for mommy.
2. Observing your gifted crawling ability.
1. Watching you read books!

I love you Hays and I am proud to be your dad.

Hays Tristan-

It's amazing that 366 days ago, we didn't know you. You came into our lives and immediately fit perfectly. You made us... us. A family.

From your first day of life I loved you but, I had no idea what was in store. My love has quadrupled ten thousand times since then.

I love your laugh. And your giggle! Oh, that giggle, it's the most amazing sound I've ever heard. Your smile makes any sacrifice more than worth it.

We can't wait to watch you grow, little man. I pray that you become more and more like your daddy every day. He is the greatest man I know and you are lucky to have the best role model possible living in the same house as you! We pray that you find a real and personal relationship with Jesus early in life. I want you to know that doing the right thing is sometime the hardest thing to do. But, in the end, it's worth it.

Your biggest fan,
MAAA (that's what you call me!)

Hays' Hawaiian Luau

2011-06-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hays celebrated his 1st birthday last week. We decided to do his 1st birthday at the lake on my sister's dock.

Hays LOVED his cupcake. He's tasted plenty of sweets in his first year of life but he has never been allowed to go all out.

He LOVES sweets... definitely our child!

He ate the entire over sized cupcake.

Dalton & Cruz were on hand for the party.

(I had Hays a special shirt made. It has his name and age on the surf board)

Notice Dalton and Hays sitting at attention in front of Jen. Jen had goldfish crackers and was trying to teach the boys sign language. It was really sweet!

Nonni Nunn and Hays.

Hays has 3 favorite people... Ellie and his two Grandma's.

This is one VERY tired mommy. It had been a VERY long week at work. With a few of my mornings starting at midnight. (Just a season in my life, right?)

Cruz and Hays loved the sand beach. They sat and played for a long time.

A few of the decorations. I hung up Hays monthly pictures. It was really fun to see how much he had grown. If you are about to have a little one, I highly recommend taking a set picture each month. I didn't realize how much I would treasure them until now.

My first time to make fruit kabobs. They turned out great and everyone seemed to love them.

The Tristan's favorite part of the party: Brenda's cupcake.

If you live in SW MO and have never been to Specialty Sweets in Ozark. GO! I cannot recommend it enough. She has an adorable little shop in Rogersville and she makes the BEST cupcakes.

(Her number is unlisted and she only takes cash or checks. If you need her information... I'd be glad to pass it along)

For all those who made the trip... thank you. I know it's a long drive for a short day. You made Hays' 1st birthday so special. We can't say "Thank You" enough!

June 23rd is the real deal birthday. We will be taking Hays to do all of his favorite things. I think Frank and I are more excited than he is!

Little Red Head's 1st Haircut

2011-06-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hays did a great job... Holly did even better.

Suckers are a lifesaver =)

So much has happened....

2011-06-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

A lot of things worth updating have been happening around the Tristans... the pictures are loaded and posts will come throughout the week.

Here's some ideas:
- Vacation try-out in Rogers, Arkansas (Has didn't make the team)

- 1st Birthday Party (we had it a week early, real birthday is this week)

- Good friends wedding

- Haley comes to visit!

Until then... here is a sweet picture of Ellie and Hays. Currently, Ellie ranks as Hays' favorite person. I think the feeling is mutual.

What's In A Name

2011-06-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

I get so excited every time our new Pottery Barn Kids catalog arrives in the mail.

RARELY do I buy anything.... but I LOVE flipping through the pages to find name ideas. There perfectly southern monogrammed names give me ideas for any future children we may be blessed with.

Is that weird? (I'll answer that... it IS weird!)

Frank and I have a little girl name picked out and yes, it comes from PBK.

When we picked out the name Hays we wanted something simple and different. A name not too many kids had. A name that he could spell in Kindergarten.

So I have mixed emotions when I see this:

Splish, Splash!

2011-06-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today was Hays' first trip (this summer... remember last year he HATED it) to the pool!

It took a while but he really warmed up to the experience.

(You may want to turn the volume down... he was cracking me up!)

Lake Days

2011-06-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

Frankie was out of town this past weekend so Hays and I decided to head the the lake. This was Hays' first time in the water, at the sand beach and out on the boat.

He was a little overwhelmed with the experience.

(Who wouldn't be, there were like 50 kids there!)

He looked cute in all of his swim gear.

It was nearly 100 degrees this weekend. The best way to go was just in a diaper. Here he is looking over the edge. (Don't worry. I had a very close eye on my little guy since he was without his life jacket. In a couple weeks when he is walking well, this will not be allowed!) While we were out on the boat Hays wanted to be held by Poppi. He sat in the captain's seat for nearly 30 minutes just looking around. So sweet.

Miss Ellie Bellie. She loves her cousin and spends most of her time trying to hold him. Hays is nearly as big as Ellie.

Next week we are Having Hays' Hawaiian Luau at the lake. His 1st birthday party. We can't wait!

11 months!

2011-05-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hays Tristan... I simply cannot believe it. You are (less than) one month away from being 1 year old. Could we PLEASE slow this next month down a little bit?

Yes, you have very red hair. Everyone and their mother comments on it. I love your coloring. Even though you have red hair, you get this great little tan.

You seem to be left handed. You mainly use your left and you are a pretty good shot with it.

You are on whole milk. We switched you over about a month ago and you are doing great.

Breakfast consists of yogurt. Lunch we do a fruit baby food and some crackers. Dinner is still baby food. We do give you table food, but right now you prefer baby food.

You have the craziest gorilla crawl. It is a quick crawl, however.

You have a set bed time of 7:30pm. 9 out of 10 times you go right to sleep.

You're not as disciplined on your wake-up time. It's anywhere between 5-7am.

You do great with your babysitter, at the Y, and at Sunday School and Wednesday night church. You are social.

You are close to walking. Your dad thinks it will be sometime in the next 2 weeks.

You love, LOVE, love books right now. You would rather look at a book than play catch.

You are mimicking all the words and sounds we make. You can say "Ball" "Dadda" "Momma" "Ba" (bottle).

You are 100% boy. You need to take a bath every night because you are filthy.

We are crazy about you little man. Each month that goes by gets better and better. You are strong willed and you already understand the word "no". You even talk back with your baby babbles. We wish we could slow down time. We are so excited it's summer time. We can't wait to take you to the pool and to the lake. We can't wait to picnic any afternoon we choose. You are going to love all things summer.
Next month is it. The big ONE.
We love you Hays.... and we are better people because of you.

We've got a walker! (Kinda)

2011-05-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Hays is learning to walk!
The first of the video isn't all that exciting... but when he gets going... he's goes quick. (It also helps he is going downhill)

2011-05-24T04:08:00.000-07:00

I look at these pictures and can't even imagine the depth of destruction 1 tornado has brought to 1 town.

1 tornado.

On the ground for 9 minutes.

And 7 miles.

3/4 mile wide.

Winds up to 198 mph

That makes it an EF-4 tornado (But you can't tell me it didn't grow to an EF-5 in spots)

In my line of work we deal with video.

But, there is something about a picture that speaks 1,000 words without saying one thing. No distinguishing landmark was left in the path of the storm.

Trees and debris looks like match sticks. Cars look like the ones Hays throws around.

"X"s mark the cars and homes where searchers have already been.

Pets AND PEOPLE are searching for missing loved ones. I read emails and facebook posts describing 12 year old boys that are missing or a 16 month old who has been found without parents.

The two top floors of the hospital were ripped off.

1 nursing home had 11 deaths.

People are being told to not light a match in fear that gas leaks could cause explosions.

Growing up and living in Missouri , you hear storm sirens multiple times a year. It's so easy to hear of a tornado warning and somewhat blow it off. I'm guilty of not respecting the power of mother nature.... and I'M A METEOROLOGIST!

Please keep this tragedy in mind. Luckily, there was nearly 20 minutes warning before the storms hit. Can you imagine the death toll if there hadn't been that great of a warning?

So many thoughts and prayers going to the people of Joplin.

All of these pictures are from my company's website: KSPR.COM

How?

2011-05-20T03:54:00.000-07:00

How could my baby be almost 1 year old?
Unbelievable how time flies!

There's not been a lot to blog about lately. Or maybe, most of my time at home is spent trying to get a grumpy baby to stop fussing. (We have a feeling he is still sick... after nearly 10 weeks on antibiotics).
Can't wait for our weekend! Friday nights are my favorite. Frank and I go to the gym while Hays plays with his friends. Then we go out to eat and it's an early bedtime for us all. Our perfect night =)
Have a good weekend!

Best Buds & Starting School Question

2011-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

(These pictures are long overdue... )

Dalton, Hays, and Cruz shopping with their dads at Bass Pro.
We left the boys with their dads while we were looking at something, and this is what we found.

Cruz is super tall and skinny. He's adorable. He looks just like his momma but is colored like his daddy.

Hays looks a little scared. Cruz and Hays man are 10 weeks apart.

Hays' birthday falls to where he could be in the same grade as Dalton, or the same grade as Cruz. Granted, they probably won't go to the same schools.

I know some people are passionate about starting kids or holding them. My sisters for instance. I don't mind sending Hays to Kindergarten as a newly turned 5 year old. I have more of a problem of sending my newly turned 18 year old to college. I guess I have a while to think it over! What do you all think? Do you think it's a good idea to be the youngest or oldest in your class? My teacher friends, do you see a difference?

1st Baseball Game

2011-05-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

The company I work for gives away great seats for the Springfield Cardinals games. (For those who don't live around here, the SGF Cards are one of STL Cards minor league teams)

We can choose from box seats or front row behind home plate. We took Hays for his first game on Saturday. Choosing front row seats probably wasn't the best idea.

Once somebody hit a home run, the crowd goes crazy and the music starts playing...and for a little guy... that was really scary.

(Plus... being a mom now, foul balls totally freak me out. As soon as a ball hits the bat, I frantically search for what direction it's going)

Scary... but nothing a little daddy time can't solve.

Well, daddy time or goldfish. Either one.

We only stayed for about 4 innings. It was well past bedtime and we had an unusually cranky baby. We put Hays to bed but, he had other plans. About 11:30pm, he woke up screaming and stayed that way much of the night. (Thank you Frank for the Mother's Day gift of staying up with our cranky baby) It turns out he has an ear infection.

THIS IS EAR INFECTION #3. I know this is something moms have to go through all the time... but can I say that I'm tired of it!

End of March- Ear Infection #1- 1st round of antibiotics

Early April- Ear Infection #2 - 2nd round of antibiotics
Mid-April- Strep Throat - 3rd round of antibiotics

Reaction to antibiotic- 4th round of antibiotics

Early May- Ear Infection #4 - shot, 5th round of antibiotics

To sum it up, 5 rounds of antibiotics in about 1.5 months. UGH.

We are praying that this is it... our son is going to be better for the summer. He just is. (As hard as it is for Frank and I watch our son be sick, we can't imagine those families who have very sick children. Breaks our hearts.... we have it very good)

First (really bad) Haircut

2011-05-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I felt really crummy all weekend long. I had no energy, I was sick of working, and I just wasn't my normal self.

Perhaps that's why I allowed this to happen:

Frank decided Hays needed a haircut. I agreed.

(What was I thinking?)

(Isn't this a sweet picture of my boy... so innocent. Not knowing his dad was about to butcher his beautiful red hair.)

We only cut right above his ears. Frank started one side, Hays moved, Frank cut much higher and choppier than he had planned.

At that point, Frank was benched and I stepped in.

Hard to tell, but a very choppy haircut.

I may have drawn blood, but my side did turn out much better.

Next time, we are paying a professional. Hays looks like he got a pair of scissors and cut his own hair... we can't have the rumor going around that we let our 10 month old play with sharp objects.

1,000 Days

2011-05-04T04:24:00.000-07:00

Last week Frank told me we had a big day coming up. I asked for clues and he told me they were coming and that I'd just have to wait.

Clue #1. He brought this to me after work one day.

Clue #2. "The first leap year"

Clue #3. I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do I do....
(Written 1,000 times.)

Still, I was clueless!

Clue #4. My surprise.

As of last Wednesday, we had been married 1,000 days. (He even counted 1 leap year)

Frankie,

I'm one lucky girl. I have loved just about every minute of our last 1,000 days. (Let's be honest, there are a few days we could have skipped over)

You are the best husband and an unbelievable dad. When I met you 4 years ago, I knew that you would be good... I just didn't know you'd be THIS good.

Thank you for being my partner. For not expecting me to work, take care of Hays, and take care of all of the cooking and cleaning. You never complain about doing the dishes after I go to bed. You never complain about having to wake up early with Hays, as a matter of fact, you told me you missed him when he slept through his early morning bottle. You are a man that leads by example. You love me perfectly and I couldn't be happier.

Here's to 20,000 more days with you. I can't wait for the adventures. For the early Sunday mornings when we decide last minute to clear the refrigerator before church. To the lazy picnics in OUR park. To all the goodnight kisses from you and hays. For all the roads you get lost on in the middle of Springfield. To all of our planned vacations (even when we don't agree on the next destination).

I love every bit of you!

*OH! And next time you declare a relationship holiday... can you let me in on the secret. Maybe I could cook a special meal or at least get you a little gift too!

This picture was taken at the Ozark Empire Fair the first summer we dated 4 years ago.

Happy Birthday, Eli!

2011-05-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

One of my very best friends is having a sweet baby boy today.

Welcome to the world, Eli!
Hays cannot wait to meet his newest friend. We just hope it is sometime this year.

Rebecca... I pray this day goes quickly and easy for you. I can't wait to see what the little guy looks like. I also can't wait to hear about your adventures in motherhood. Nobody can make me laugh quite like Becca so I know it will be fun.

I'm so grateful that our sweet baby boys will only hear of a man named Osama Bin Laden in history books. Never will they feel fear in their hearts because of the terror this man tried to hard to spread. I heard about the news while I was driving to work this morning. It was on KTTS' 3am news update... the first thing I said was "Praise the Lord" and I got goosebumps. Being in the news business we aren't supposed to give our opinions. This morning, I just can't help it. It's a great day to be an American and I am so thankful for our servicemen.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

This Easter was very soggy for the Ozarks. I doubt any Easter Egg hunts happened outdoors on Sunday morning.

Friday afternoon we headed to the lake to spend time with my family and Hays' cousins. Saturday morning Frank and I took the girls to a church event and did a little shopping for Hays once we dropped them off. It's amazing how much you can shop for somebody so little.

We had an amazing lunch and time with my family.

We headed home... put Hays to bed... filled up his Easter eggs and fell asleep by 8pm.

Easter baskets look so.... feminine. We opted for a sand pail and shovel. That way he can use it this summer too. It's a win/win.

We filled up his eggs with goldfish crackers and teddy grahams. That way his parents wouldn't eat all of his candy.

Notice his cute little sandal already thrown off. Those didn't last long.

Sunday morning we volunteered during the first service at church. I was in Hays' Sunday School room. He is so much more needy when I am with him... they need to start putting me in a different room.
After going to the first service we tried to take Hays to the 2nd service. That lasted about 20 minutes before we had to leave. What we did see was amazing! We tried to explain to Hays that this day was bigger than Christmas... I'm not sure he understood!
Sunday afternoon we had lunch with Frank's family and we got to play a little with cousin Dalton. Dalton was a sharped dressed man for his 2nd Easter.

And for the sake of being completly transparent... this is how our Easter morning started off.

(Haha... I think we need to clean that mirror)

I love my sweet little red head.

More Tulips...

2011-04-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Mainly for the grandparents viewing pleasure...

Mr. Mean Jeans.

(Doesn't he look like such a big boy just sitting there???)

New Purchase!

2011-04-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've had my eyes on these beauties for quite a few months now. Every so often they post them on Zulily for $12.99 but the go so quick!
TODAY IS MY DAY!

If you aren't a member of Zulily... JOIN!

Just CLICK HERE.

They have great stuff for a crazy reduced price. Boys stuff tends to be a little blah.. but little girl stuff is adorable.

Tulip Time

2011-04-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Hays was in THE BEST mood after church yesterday so we decided we should stop by Evangel to take his picture.

Every spring Evangel plants thousands of tulips and they are simply beautiful to see. (Add another thing to the list of things I like about spring)

I've always wanted to take pictures by the tulips and I decided Hays was the perfect reason....

Ha...

What was a perfect mood quickly turned sour. I'll post some of our pictures later. But let's say that this is close to the best picture we got.

Park Days

2011-04-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

I've never liked spring. There's something about spring being sandwiched between winter (I love cold weather and snow) and summer (I love the lake and taking drives on hot summer nights) that just leaves me less than thrilled.

Having Hays this spring has forced me to enjoy it much more than I have in years past.

He loves to explore and I'm beginning to realize he has a taste for dandelions.

Some afternoons we leave all of our responsibilities and normal schedules and we spend the hours at our park.

Our park of choice is Phelps Grove.

It's got a great walking track, lots of big shade trees, and a playground for some fun. Frank and I have started making it a habit to take Hays on a picnic at the park as often as we can.

It's so easy to grab our favorite blanket, pick up a quick dinner, and let our baby boy explore.

The other day Frank called me while he was at school and Hays and I were spending our afternoon in the park. I could tell in his voice that he was so jealous that he wasn't sprawled out on our comfy blanket soaking up the day. This weekend we may have to take some time to do just that as our family of 3.

Like Father Like Son

2011-04-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

These two boys make my heart SO, so, so happy.

The other night Hays and Frank dressed just alike. (I don't condone this on a regular basis, but it was cute since we were just going over to a friend's house for dinner) (And yes, we let Hays keep his diaper dash medal on all day long. It helped his morale after the terrible loss)

Nope! Not me!

2011-04-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

About 3 years ago I got a call asking if I had posed for any male enhancement ads.

Ha!

NO!

This add showed up in the sports section of the Springfield Newsleader one day and the buzz around town (on sports radio) was that it was "that weather girl".

Even my own flesh and blood quizzed me about it.

My boss called me into his office.

My sister Stephanie's mother in law gave her a newspaper swearing it was me.... Stephanie came to the conclusion it wasn't because her teeth were just a little bit bigger and I had on fake nails. I've never worn fake nails a day in my life.

Such a funny memory. Fact is, I was really stressed out about it for a short time. I'm thankful I have different priorities and concerns in my life 3 years later. I guess I don't care nearly as much as what others think. That's a very good thing.

Diaper Dash

2011-04-03T05:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday Hays participated in his first diaper dash. We had been preparing him for days... and we felt that he was ready for the big race.

My sweet little boy waiting for his turn at the YMCA gym. Go #52! It's a good sign... my basketball number from high school. Well, I was 52 or 53, I really can't remember. Clearly I have no real strong feelings to that number.

Getting some pre-race stretches in.

Getting a pep talk from daddy.

There were only 3 participants in the diaper dash. Little girl on the far left had literally just woken up from a nap. We knew the little girl in the middle would be a tough competitor. We saw her crawling before the race.

And there off.... there goes Speedy Gonzalez.

At this time Frank knew we were loosing BIG TIME so he gave Hays a little nudge.... basically he pushed our son face first into the gym floor.

Hays cried...

and cried....

and cried...

(Speedy's dad is trying to comfort him to no avail.)

Finally, daddy picked him up. I was laughing so hard I was crying at the half court line. Post game picture.

Hays got a medal because he was first in the male division. Ha! We probably should have given the medal to the little girl that actually finished that just got the ribbon.

Our first diaper dash was a major failure. We are searching for more dashes to be a part of... but we are working on limited time because he will be walking soon. We feel like Hays has a lot of potential and a lot to prove.

What a funny memory!

9 Months!

2011-03-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

9 months old... I can't believe it. I really can't believe it!

These pictures are my favorite because it reminds me most of what your personality is like these days.

You have a twinkle in your eye, you stick out that little tongue, and you melt your parent's hearts.

You've definitely filled out recently.

20 Pounds 50%

28 Inches 70%

* You are starting to become uninterested in your bottles. I don't know if it's because you are sick, or just ready to move on to the next thing.

* You love table food and I give you bites of just about everything.

* Your daddy and you eat dinner every night together. (Momma usually eats at 3:30 so you wait for dad)

* You like most all baby food but you'd prefer not to eat peas.

* I hand you a cracker and you are one happy baby.

* You have 6 teeth and you are a great chomper....

* You like to bite. And yes, you get swated when you bite. It's usually when you are very tired and grumpy, but still, that isn't allowed.

* You have a great crawl. It's a little unconventional but it gets you where your going FAST. I think it is because we have wood floors... it hurts to put your knees on it.

* You get into everything. You love pulling out all of the DVD's from the basket there in. It makes a mess but it makes you happy so it's worth it. * You are a rough kid. You may wrestle too much with your dad because your mom can't handle the roughness quite the same way.

*I love sharing afternoon snacks with you. You can beg food with the best of them. * You love Tug... Tug doesn't love you but we are praying that changes soon. *You really enjoy being around other kids. You love Sunday School and playing at the Y. Your teachers never have problems with you.

* You took your first steps the other day. It's only a short matter of time before you start walking.

* You go to sleep at 7:30 and usually wake up at 6:30.

* You spent the first extended time away from mom and dad. You did a great job and I think you had a lot of fun!

*You have your first ear infection. You are awesome... other than being a little extra sleepy and fussy, you've been great.

Every month it is hard to think we could love you more but somehow.... we do! This month has probably been my favorite. I love when you wake up from a nap and you're sitting up waiting for me to come get you. I love when you pull up on the couch to come say Hi to me. You are scrunching your nose and making the most awful looking face, but we find it hilarious! You have a great personality... you are easy to have around (granted, you are very opinionated and you let your wishes be known! ). Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know and we pray for you every single day. You are loved little boy.

Tug's Story

2011-03-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

My Tug is 5 years old! He celebrated another birthday last week.

How could 5 years go by so fast?

And after last week, we are lucky this dude is still around.

(Disclaimer, this is long and drawn out... if you have a bulldog, you need to read it, the information could come in handy... Jordan =)

Sunday afternoon Tug was at my sister's house. He had a really good visit and entertained himself by chewing up one of Ellie's Barbie Dolls. For about 20 minutes Tug was out on the deck and when he was let back in, his breathing was a little different. It was like he could get a breath in but he couldn't get it out. He went back to my parent's house and continued to struggle to breathe.

It went from Tug being able to get a breath, to a few minutes later he was gasping for breath. He wasn't getting any oxygen and his tongue turned BLACK. (So scary!) By the time I heard from my parents they were on the way to the Emergency Vet Clinic in Springfield. My mom was crying on the phone and I could hear Tug gasping in the background. I kept reminding my mom to put her fingers in his mouth and push down his tongue. (Something we had read in a bulldog book long ago... it ended up saving his life) It takes a little over an hour to get to Springfield and I kept praying that he would make it.

We met Tug at the clinic. The Vet on duty came out and immediately sedated him and put a tube down his throat. Her name was Dr. Bonnie Toner... she saved his life. She was surprised he made it and told us that most bulldogs that come in in Tug's state don't live through it. (So not what we needed to hear!) She stabilized Tug and got his oxygen levels to where he could live. She started running tests and did the dye test (It has a fancy name that I just don't know). The dye would not make it through the esophagus. We came to the conclusion that Tug had a piece of Ellie's Barbie doll caught in his throat and we needed a scope to get it out... they didn't have that piece of equipment. Plus, Tug would have to leave by 8am Monday morning, it's an emergency clinic only open on weekends and overnights. We knew if we could get him to his vet, Dr. Mallard, he has every tool imaginable and would be able to do any surgery necessary. We LOVE Dr. Mallard's entire clinic.

Our next concern was how to transport Tug from his Emergency Clinic to Dr. Mallard's 15 minutes down the road. He was unable to be pulled off of sedation because he couldn't breathe on his own. Frank and Mom (Hays too) were at the clinic bright and early ready to make a B-line for Strafford. (I had no choice but to be at work, I made all of the calls and had everybody ready and waiting) Tug made it safely to Strafford and upon arrival was quickly sedated once again. Dr. Mallard's office scoped every inch they could and they came to the conclusion that there was no blockage (Barbie) present. Tug's soft palate was enlongated and (a big issue for Bullies) was blocking any air from leaving his airway..... when bulldogs can't breathe, they start overreacting and their esophagus starts to close up. Dr. Mallard trimmed his soft palate with a laser surgery procedure. We are so thankful for him and his staff. He then took him home and monitored him overnight so we could get some sleep.

I now know that Tug never had a blockage. His esophagus was so enlarged that nothing was getting in and out. What caused this? It's likely allergies. Remember he was out on the deck for 20 minutes?... that's all it takes for our super sensitive bulldog.

A couple of days ago we found out that Dr. Toner called Dr. Mallards to see if Tug the bulldog survived. She was certain he hadn't but she was holding out hope.

HE SURVIVED! HE'S DOING WELL.... well, as well as he possibly can.

If you have a bulldog and breathing issues like this, there's a few things you can do to save their lives.

*Keep them cool. Usually when dogs get so worked up their temperature spikes. My parents had Tug under the AC the entire trip so he was nice and cool.

*Hold down their tongue. This can help separate the soft palate and air can get through.

* You may want to ask your vet if your dog is starting to show signs with his soft palate. It can be treated. This was Tug's first symptoms, but it could have been his last.

Tug has been with us for the past 5 years and I have to say it's a 5 year time period that has held a whole lot of heart ache and transition. I know it sounds silly... but he has been such a constant and such a joy through it all. We just couldn't loose him like that.

As I type this, Tug is laying at my feet.

I'm so thankful the Lord heard our prayers and let him stick around.

Spring Break: Las Vegas

2011-03-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Spring break this year was such a needed trip for Frank and I. I'm in the middle of working 6 days a week for work. Lots of extra hours on top of a schedule that wakes me up at 2:30am is exhausting! It's crazy to think we went to Vegas to get REST.

I really enjoyed spending uninterrupted time with this guy. Frank and I rarely have date nights and Hays never stays overnight with people.... we just love being a family of 3. But focusing on just us two for a couple of days was nice.

I did win about $16. I would put a dollar in a penny slot, if it hit... I cashed out. We visited the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum at the Venetian. Frank LOVED it. It was his favorite part of the trip. Here he is with Jessica Simpson. Godiva dipped bananas and strawberries for a little snack.

Inside the Venetian. I love this hotel.

They have a new, huge candy shop and I got a red velvet brownie.

Frankie outside Caesar's Palace. (The weather was chilly and very, VERY windy)

Inside Caesar's shopping area. I really like the spiral escalators.

My favorite in Las Vegas is Bellagio's. I love the flower garden inside!

This was a little fountain over a walkway. It looks like a tub of water, but you can touch it. Frank was mesmerized.

And that is it! Here we are leaving the hotel at 4am to go home. We were SO ready to see our little man.

We had a great time. A BIG thank you to my parents and sisters for watching Hays man. I know having a near-death rehabbing bulldog, on top of a very active 9 month old is overwhelming... but I know Hays had a great time!

We have NO desire to leave Hays anytime soon. It just feels like a third of us is missing when he isn't with us. We may just take nannies on our next vacation . I have 7 nieces and nephews that could compete for that position!

In other news... Hays has an ear infection. Tug came as close to death as he possibly could (this deserves a post all its own). And I have been functioning on an underactive thyroid since I've had Hays (this explains a lot about my unending coldness, tiredness, and inability to loose the rest of my weight despite working out like a mad woman.)

Frank's take on Vegas. "It was great to see. I had a great time. I have no desire to go back".

Too Long!

2011-03-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's been way too long.

I've been crazy busy with work.... For the month of February and March I agreed to way too many appearances. I will be retiring those for April. (Except for the one or two I have already agreed to)

Hays is growing and going like crazy. We have now cut 6 teeth and he crawls all over the house. It's a crazy crawl where he scoots one leg and drags the other. He loves to clap for himself.

Yesterday Hays learned how to click his tongue. He did it for hours. I'm hoping he forgets how to do that while he is sleeping.

1 week from now Frank and I will be in Las Vegas.

If I think about it too much I start to cry. Last time I was in Vegas was with these girls. That was 4 years ago. WOW! (Right before I met Frank for the first time)

Tug still doesn't like Hays. I'll have to go into detail with that a little later.

My computer card reader hasn't been working. Since I have no new pictures, I've not posted. Once we get our tax returns we will be getting a new computer. (Thanks for doing our taxes, Dad)

We hope there IS a return.

Hays' Look Alike

2011-03-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

When people first see Hays they comment on how much he looks like his dad. And I agree.... yes, he DID.

He looked a lot like him... but as he gets older, Frank and I agree that Hays looks more like me. (Frank and I really don't have many opposite features. I mean Hays will probably have freckles, brown hair, he'll likely be tall and thin. )

As Hays' babysitter Lindsay put it, "This is Hays in a dress"! I'm not sure how old I was in this picture. I was a little older than Hays.

My first birthday party with my momma. Frank thinks this one looks identical to our son.
So there you have it. Hays is mine. He looks like me.

As for his red hair. I think he gets it from my sister, Stephanie. She had very red hair. I'll have to find some pictures of her and compare the two.

8 months (2 weeks late)

2011-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

8 months... time really flies. It's hard to believe you are already 8 months old.

What have you been up to?
*You cut your first tooth right before you were 8 months.

* You learned to crawl 2 days before you turned 8 months.

* You LOVE chewing on your toes.
* New foods this month include yogurt, fresh strawberries, peaches, cut up bananas, and graham crackers.

*For the first time in your life you started taking 2 naps. CRAZY!

* I have no idea how much you weigh but I do know you run pretty true to size.

*You wear 6-9 months and a few jeans are still 3-6 months (Aren't the sizable Gap jeans the best???)
* You don't have a consistent wake-up time for your daddy. You normally sleep 7:30pm-5:30am, but sometimes it is as early as 4:30am or as late as 6:30am. You are an early riser like your parents.

*There is no question about the color of your hair. You baby boy, are a RED head.
*For the first time you started having separation anxiety. Nothing too severe.
* You are sensitive to the ladies. A couple times this month I have picked you up at Sunday School or from the Y daycare and you were crying big tears because a little girl started crying.
* You are wonderful when we eat out. You love trying bites of what we eat.
* You are HORRIBLE to take shopping. If you were old enough to get a spanking the other day, you would have been spanked at the Battlefield Mall.

We love you so much little man. You get more fun by the day and we love every second we spend with you.

Hodge Podge

2011-02-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

I'm going to request to be fonted like this from now on.

I had to work Saturday night. It's so hard to do a 10pm show when you are normally in bed by 8pm.

The director was kind and made my night by changing my font. (No, it did not air like this...booo)

Sunday morning I woke up and went to a chilly judging competition in Strafford. I judged 60 bowls of chilly. 60! Talk about being full.

Sunday night I had to work on the red carpet for Oscar Night America. It was a lot of fun... but I was so unprepared. I decided to wear one of my sister's dresses about 20 minutes before I had to be there. I had NO shoes. NO jewelry. Just a dress. Oh yeah... and I wore my hair in a pony tail.

The back of the dress is very cool. You can see a little peek right here.

In other news... Frank picked up the new Oatmeal Squares cereal. LOVE IT. It's healthy, but not in the low calorie kind of way. We've already went through a whole box since Sunday.

Does it mean I'm getting old when I am really excited about a new cookbook I got? I'm really into freezing meals right now. It's just so easy on those crazy days. You can cook 1 time a month, or 2 times a month with the way this cookbook is designed. I'm probably going to stick to cooking a couple times a week. I just really wanted the freezer friendly recipes.

21 days before Frank and I go on vacation.

That makes me feel a little sick.

I have SO much to do before then.

AND... I'm going to miss my sweet little man like crazy.

Think Again...

2011-02-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think my son doesn't have red hair... and then I see pictures like this and I realize he does. He really, really does.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Where'd My Mind Go?

2011-02-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

Before I was pregnant I could remember anything. I didn't have to keep a calendar because I had a mental note of what I had to do.
Now... I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten appointments, dinner dates, times of events, locations.. you name it!

My boss handed me a day planner the other day and let me say, I need it!

Saturday we had a wedding to attend. We rushed home from the lake, got ready in about 30 minutes and showed up to the church only to find out we were 30 minutes early.

We decided to take Hays to the park. We looked ridiculous at the park dressed in our Sunday best playing on the slide with our little man.

I love this picture of Hays. I wish I would have taken with my good camera.
Hays cut 3 teeth in about 24 hours so he didn't want to smile much at all. I can't blame him for being so serious.

Hays did OK at the wedding. At the reception he was starting to get tired. I put him on the floor and let him pull everything out of my purse.

Hays started crawling yesterday. 1 day before his 8 month birthday!

Our world could start to get much more busy.

My First Thin Mint

2011-02-21T16:31:00.000-08:00

Hays cut 3 teeth in a matter of 24 hours on Friday/Saturday.

I'm ok with knocking them all out at once! He did remarkably well. He was just a little clingy for mom and dad.

I had put a thing of Thin Mints in the freezer. I would let Hays gum it a little and then give him a bite.

While I was in the shower Frank gave Hays an entire thin mint cookie and let him go at it.

I think he will probably have his momma and daddy's sweet tooth.

(2 things about this picture. How funny is his little arm.... chubby, chubby. I cringe about the stains on his new little blue polo shirt)
I love when Frank takes pictures of Hays whenever I'm not around. The pictures he chooses to capture crack me up.

I'm not sure if this picture had any significance, but he does look pretty cute.

Cake Pops?

2011-02-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

Yes Please!

For Valentine's Day we had a $15 limit.

You probably have heard of cake pops but, have your tried the Cake Pop Company in Springfield?

Last year I did a live interview with Deb, the owner. At the time business was going well and she was shipping all over the country.
Now, business is booming and she opened a store in Springfield.

I had won a dozen free cake pops from a facebook giveaway and I decided to give them to Frank for Valentine's day.
I cut out hearts, wrote love notes on the back, and hid them around the house. We even delivered a few to school.

It was a fun little Valentine's Day surprise that lasted for a couple days as he was finding them. Frank never sticks to the $ limit. We weren't supposed to get each other anything big for Christmas and I got a pearl necklace! I'm not complaining but I should stop setting boundaries.

For Valentine's Day Frank got me a big jewelry box to hang from my wall. He filled the frames with pictures... I was quite impressed.

I love it!

(I also got him a Hillsong CD. I didn't just give him free cake pops!)

We were talking over dinner on Monday and it came up in conversation as to what we did last year for Valentine's Day. Neither of us could remember. (That's sad)

So next year when we ask, here's what Valentine's Day 2011 entailed:

Friday night: We got all dressed up and went to a fundraiser/dinner at the Tower Club. We had a really great time. I didn't get a picture of us but I did get one of our dessert. Weird. (this was the 5th time Frank and I went somewhere WITHOUT Hays since he was born)

Saturday: We went to the gym in the morning and then went to dinner at Red Robbins with the DeVizia's & Obremski's. Very kid friendly place. After dinner we visited Scott and Jen's new house.

BEAUTIFUL!

Sunday: Church in the morning. It was Mission's Sunday and they had the cutest video with kids singing "This Little Light of Mine". After church Hays was pooped out from playing at Sunday school so we took him home to nap. We had an early dinner at Houlihans. Really good.

Monday: Hays and I surprised Frank at school with a cake pop. For dinner we had Frank's favorite of chicken enchiladas. After dinner we did get Andy's. We have a rule that we can only eat Andy's once a month. We felt like Valentine's Day was a good enough reason.

Fairly uneventful but we have a spring break trip to look forward to. I don't know if I have mentioned it or not, but Vegas, here we come!

You Should See The Other Guy!

2011-02-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

Hays got his first real owie this weekend... and of course it is all his parents fault. I figured I should show the "after" pictures first. As soon as he took his spill we put ice on his lip. It turned huge pretty quickly but thankfully went down within a few hours.

We decided we would try to mask his injuries a little and put a baseball cap on him. A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E

Here is the "before" pictures.
Saturday was almost 50 degrees and it was just perfect to let Hays play in the snow.
It was right after this picture that he fell face forward into a retaining wall. Frank and I were both RIGHT there.
Luckily he didn't fall off the retaining wall... that would have been really bad.

I love these boys so much.

Tug has been visiting for the weekend.

I really wish I could say that Tug liked Hays.

But that would be a big FAT lie.

Some of our Favorites

2011-02-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

I LOVE wrapping up in a soft, comfy blanket and little Hays is no different.

Haley made the most beautiful blanket for Hays. I know this pattern was super time consuming and I'm so thankful for her time.

I really enjoy sewing in what little free time I have.

I made this blanket for Hays. I've had numerous people come up and ask me where I got it.

I came up with the idea when I was looking to buy one and it was nearly $100. This was a much cheaper option. ( I did have a local company embroider his name)

My Husband Is The Best!

2011-02-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

Last week was crazy. CRAZY! By Thursday I had had it. I was exhausted from going into work early and leaving late and I was also dealing with a teething baby (with lots of help from Frank, he was off last week with the snow)

Thursday morning Frank left for a football clinic in Kansas City. I wasn't excited about it.

He made up for it!

Saturday he came home a little early AND he brought the best gift ever with him!

Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake.
Adam's Ripple has always been a favorite. Really... I'd say that is the cheesecake of our relationship. We found in in Texas while we were dating.

It was the favorite UNTIL...

We met the Red Velvet Cheesecake on Spring Break '10. WOW!
If you have not had it, please try it. You won't be sorry.

If we had a Cheesecake Factory closer than 3 hours away, we'd be in trouble.

Oh The Places You'll Go!

2011-02-06T05:46:00.000-08:00

Hays is really close to crawling.... He does a good job of going backwards.
Frank and I found him under the couch. Knowing my little man well, I am baffled that he isn't screaming his head off.

I guess he was proud of himself. We've been cheering him onto crawling for a while... next we need to conquer going forward.

Hays' First Blizzard!

2011-02-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

And it wasn't from Dairy Queen.
(Dairy Queen blizzards are my favorite! I would choose DQ over Andy's any day. That's just some extra information....)

Yesterday we were under a blizzard warning. Of course I had to work but I was able to start home around noon.
I had never drove on roads like that in the middle of town. It was HORRIBLE!

After a few prayers, I made it home to my boys.

All in all we got 10" of snow in Springfield. My parents got 21" in Camdenton. Branson got about 2". Do you guys understand how difficult that is to forecast? (I stressed the fact that there would be a distinct cut-off, but people don't listen!)

I wanted Hays to witness his first blizzard warning. In all honesty, I can't remember the last time we had one and it may be YEARS before we have one again.

He's like his momma. He likes extreme weather.

(I have shorts on because we literally just ran outside for the picture. I also had just gotten done with my 30 Day Shred work out)

My Happy Birthday

2011-02-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

My 26th birthday was last week.

I woke up and was in a really crummy mode... I guess the whole "getting older" thing was getting to me. I had to have a serious self check because I am one blessed girl and my life has only gotten sweeter as I've added years to my age.

The week before my birthday I woke up to a surprise from Frank and Hays.

(Yes, I know we desperately need a new oven)

They bought me another band for my engagement ring/wedding band. They engraved "Mom 6-23-10 on the inside. I LOVE IT!

Here is the gist of this post. When I got my new ring, it was clear that my other two had aged a lot. We went to a local jewelry store and had them redipped. I cannot tell you how good they look! It's like I have new rings.

If anybody has 14K gold rings and has never had them redipped... DO IT! Most jewelers do it for free. Since our rings were bought out of state we had to pay $25 a ring, but it is SO worth it. I plan on doing this more often.

Now if I could only get a band for every baby we have...

Just kidding, honey! I do NOT expect that.

We LOVE the Park!

2011-01-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

I LOVE living in the Ozarks. I love that we have a near 70 degree one day and in two days we are expecting a major winter storm.

Saturday was Hays' first time to the park. He LOVED it.

His arms and legs would kick and he would squeeeelll. Things going fast and high are totally his style. The faster the better!

This spring will bring nearly daily trips to the park.. luckily we have a school near our home.

This week looks really interesting weather wise. We have our food, we have our batteries and we have a plan. If we go out of power and everyone else we know does, we will be camping out at the station with Hays to keep the little dude warm.

7 Months!

2011-01-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

Aren't these boys sweet? This picture was taken after Hays' baby dedication at church on Sunday. I dressed my sweet boy like his daddy.

I know that they look a lot alike but I do want to point out that Hays has my eyes, my cheekbones, and maybe my lips.

Haysie, how is it you are already 7 months old?

*You've really gotten chubby this month. (Can you tell by the double chin?) I don't know how much you weigh but I can tell you have packed it on!
* You love to eat. You love your bananas, sweet potatoes, apples, green beans, and the carrots have grown on you.
* I've been giving you table food when we go to restaurants (like brothy soups and mashed potatoes). You love it!
* Right now you take 7 5ounce bottles a day and you eat a fruit at lunch and a vegetable at dinner.

* You can roll over, you do it in your sleep. Any other time you WON'T roll over. You expect us to do everything for you.
* You are SO close to crawling. You can scoot backwards, you just haven't got that forward thing down.
* You love to sit on the floor with all of your toys and play. This makes my life so much easier. Thank you for that!

(Notice that beautiful blanket behind him? My friend Haley made it, I will have a post on that later!)

*Daddy has been putting you to bed between 7:30 or 8:00. You wake up in the morning sometime between 4:30-7:00am. We would like it if you could get this to be a consistent time.

*You take 1 nap a day. It's usually about 2 hours.

*You LOVE Tug. Tug doesn't LOVE you yet, but we are getting closer to somewhat of a relationship.

We love you so much. You get more of a personality with every passing month! We can't wait to introduce you to all things February.

Lazy

2011-01-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

I have been such a lazy blogger lately. Really, our days have been pretty much the same. It's been SO cold that I hate to get Hays out in the afternoon to go to the gym or go run errands.

Last weekend there was a free ice carving event at the Titanic in Branson. Frank and I had no plans so we went.

Ice is very difficult to take a picture of!

These carvings were a-m-a-z-i-n-g. It's hard to believe they do these with a chainsaw.

This one was.... interesting.

I just look to see and I think this one won 2nd.

I really liked the fish. It had a lot of detail.

This picture cracks me up. Frank was trying to put butt paste on Hays one night. Notice how tightly his little cheeks were pinched together.

We weren't getting ANYTHING through there.
I was laughing to the point of crying.
I love those little sweet cheeks.

Our Baby Must Haves!

2011-01-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

One of my very best friends is having a baby. Rebecca is clueless when it comes to babies so I love it when she calls and asks questions because she can always make me laugh.

I wanted to make a list of the things we couldn't have gone without in Hays' first 7 months!
(I know when you ask 10 people you will get 10 different responses.)

Frank and I have the goal of raising a pretty low maintenance kid so we stick to the basics!

I looked and looked for a really deep shelf to put over his changing table... I couldn't find what I wanted so we improved and Frank made one with 3 items from Home Depot.

LOVE this shelf. The basket keeps our butt paste, nose sucker, and thermometer. It's always in one place.

Our changing table is from a local wood store. We painted it and changed the knobs. I love this because it keeps all of our diapers and wipes (with the warmer). And the bottom two drawers hold his clothes. Some people don't use there changing table but I do 90% of the time.

The Bouncy.

This is key to getting a shower. Stick the baby in the bouncy. Stick the bouncy in the bathroom, turn on the vibrating chair and you are good to go for a few minutes! (We call this Hays' steam time) Hays is at the age where he wiggles out of it. Frank found him with his head on the scale and him turned upside down. Our bouncy days are coming to a close. It's a sad time.

The Humidifier.

We have pretty much run this every night since Hays was probably 5 weeks old. It is a must in our books.

The Jumper.

This has kept Hays occupied for many minutes at a time. This one is a little fancier than the one we have. Ours is an eye sore, but it is worth it. I picked ours up at a resale shop for half the price. He jumps so much that his legs are very muscular. (Our Dr even said so)

The Sound Maker.

We can't go without the sound maker. I grew up on one of these and I still use it to this day (or night, much to Frank's dismay). This has been great for establishing his bedtime routine. It also has a night light so I can change his diapers in the middle of the night without turning on the lights. It also plays classical music which is fun during play time. And if your fancy with an Ipod... you can plug it in and play your music. That would be super neat. But remember, we are very low maintenance and we don't do cool things like that.

The Bathtub.

Not fancy. He could spend hours in here. He splashes so much we actually use it in the big bathtub. You need one of these!

The Wipe Warmer.

Our one luxury item =). We love our wipe warmer. The wipes aren't always dispensed the easiest but you can flip the lid and pull a few out. Hays loves having warm wipes. And it's also great for when I need to wipe him down. As a baby it didn't shock him because they were already warm.

Receiving Blankets.

I don't even know what all we used these for, I just know we used them ALL OF THE TIME! We swaddled a lot with these. Just have some on hand.

I'm sure I am missing a few things. Any other new moms have favorite items for Rebecca? She can use all the help she can get! (You know I am so excited for you!)

Our Week

2011-01-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

On Monday Hays witnessed his first snow. It was a little underwhelming.. I really hope we gets a BIG SNOW to play in this year!

This past week was SO cold that we didn't get Hays out of the house until Wednesday afternoon. It was a high of 13 degrees that day but he was getting a big case of cabin fever.My little monster.

(His Aunt Stephanie got him this adorable outfit. I think he looks so cute in it!)

Dressed and ready to go to Weds. night church with dad.
He is getting so close to crawling. He gets on all fours and just rocks back and forth.

I thought this was a funny picture. We were playing on the floor one afternoon and I had a story on the news and he looked up and got really quiet for a few seconds.
It was the first time I had him acknowledge me on the news.
Luckily m camera was laying right by me.

Trying

2011-01-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby boy getting home from Sunday School.

I bet he is a charmer with the ladies in his class.

We went to drop Hays off in the Butterfly room at church and we realized he wasn't a Butterfly anymore... he has been promoted to a Bumblebee. His teachers hated to see him go and they had me in tears because he is growing up so fast. It really hit me at church on Sunday how quickly time goes. I was on the verge of a complete breakdown the entire service.

Beautiful sunset at our house last weekend.

A friend from college is getting married next month. Her and her husband have the NEATEST story on how they met on an overnight layover in Miami This girl flies all over the country and she meets her husband (who is from Springfield) in Miami. We had her shower last Saturday.

Another picture of my little red head.

I'm trying to jump on the bandwagon of taking a picture everyday. So far I have been that good. Clearly my attempt is less than stellar. Starting this weekend I PROMISE I am going to be better.

Sweet as Can Be!

2011-01-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hays wishing his best friend Dalton a Happy Birthday.

Too cute for words!

Dalton's Party!

2011-01-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it was 1 year ago today Dalton was born. It was a VERY cold AND snowy day ( I only remember because I was doing a live shot for the 4pm news while Olivia was in labor). Adam's mom made this adorable cake! Isn't that cute?

He LOVED his cake!

While the kids were lined up getting their picture taken everyone was trying to get their attention... Hays LOVED it. He thought everyone was yelling for him. There's the little peanut on the end.

3 best buddies.

Hays, Cruz, and Dalton.

They will be trouble.