Corey's 1st Birthday Party

Even though we still have 4 days till Corey turns 1, we wanted to celebrate this special day with our families over Labor Day weekend when they were mostly available. We also invited a few family friends to celebrate with us. It was a simple party...hot dogs (because they are shaped like the number 1), chips, cake, and ice cream, but it was really perfect for our sweet little guy. He loved watching everyone. My family calls Corey "pointer" because he points at EVERYONE and ANYTHING he likes. Cody said the sweetest prayer thanking God for our sweet boy, that we weren't sure we were ever going to have. Corey loved his cake, when we all cheered as he dove into his cake and scared him half to death. Carley loved giving him her card that she made and the present she picked out. She was one proud Big Sister today.

Granny's 90th Birthday

Cody's sweet Granny turned 90. Cody loves Annie Nelson with all of his heart. Granny was a constant in Cody's life. She was always there to love him, direct him, talk to him, and support him. This weekend was the big family reunion on her side of the family. Her brothers and sisters that are still living and their children, grandchildren, and great grand children were all together to celebrate.

Corey walked!

I don't have pictures or video, but he took his first steps today, 2 weeks and 1 day before his first birthday. He has taken one step before, but never more than one and never with the intent of walking.

He is getting SO big. I am getting SO weepy! My sweet baby is getting bigger each day!

Newest Nightly Ritual

My sister describes Carley as whimsical and that is really a good term for her. She loves to live in a world of make believe, princesses, weddings, dancing, and love. It is so funny, so cute, and so precious. I love her innocence and her perception of what life is like.

Every night for the past couple of weeks, she has slipped away to her room and come out in a night gown, slippers, and a crown. She stands at the door and waits for Cody to notice her and ask her to dance. The look on her face is priceless. She usually blushes and quietly walks to her daddy and lets him hum to her while the dance. Usually it is just for a couple of minutes, but OH it warms my heart each time. Cody loves it too. She just adores her daddy right now.

Back to School, week 1

The kids did great back at Daycare. Carley loves being in the oldest group and was excited to see all of her friends. This year she takes a backpack because she has homework every day. She feels very grown up in the Owl Class. (hence her new favorite picture pose with her arms out)

Corey has a little bit of a hard time this week, just because it was a big change to his schedule. His teachers could not be sweeter. He is used to a morning nap and they don't do those, so he gets tired. Little guy has been asleep before 7:00 pm each night this week.

We are getting more used to it and back into the swing, though!

11 months

How is Corey Wayne Nelson 11 months old?

My favorite new trick of Corey's is that he is starting to talk more and more. This week he started saying "Quack, Quack, Quack" at his bath ducks. These are precious moments.

Fabulous K did it again!

Thank you so much, for the face lift of my blog! I love it! She always does a great job and makes your blog SUPER cute and personal.

http://www.fabulouskcreative.com/

Thanks, Kelly!

Heigh Ho

..It's off to work I go.

To quote Phinneas and Ferb -
There's 104 days of summer vacation
And school comes along just to end it

Today is my last day of Summer Break and tomorrow starts another year of being an employee of Public Education. I always face this day with mixed emotions. It is SO hard to leave my kids and my laid back summer lifestyle. This time it is MUCH harder than I remember. Maybe it is having two, maybe it is Corey's 5 tooth smile, maybe it is Carley's precious personality, maybe it is that this was a summer without pregnancy or infertility, maybe it is all the changes at work, and maybe it is all of it, but I am not ready for tomorrow. Not at all. Not even a little.

I am excited that my kids are going back to the same childcare facility as last year that I feel really good about. Carley is excited to see her friends. Corey will be in a room filled with great toys and experiences for him. Man, I am going to miss them both so much. I will love seeing my friends and getting back on routine. I will love adult conversation. I will miss filling sippy cups, cooking mac and cheese, reading and rocking, kissing my babies a million times a day, laughing with Carley, cuddling with Corey, and family dates with Cody. This year I am just not ready, not at all.

Please say a little prayer for us Nelsons in the next couple of weeks and we move into a new year and adjust. Once we get into the swing of things, it will just fine like always. It just take more Sonic drinks then usual to get in the groove.

Carley and Corey, thank you for the most wonderful summer I have ever had. I love you both so much!

The Cutest Campers

Cody and Carley are camping in the backyard tonight. They set everything up, made smores on the grill, talked about life, and are going to hit the sack before too long. They are a precious sight and bring such joy to my heart to see. Carley is a lucky girl to have a daddy that loves her as much as Cody does and Cody is a lucky to have a daughter that adores her daddy so much. They are a cute little couple.

Bangs

Carley got a big hair cut today. She has been wanting to do her own hair for awhile now and does not want to wear twisties, bows, headbands, clips, or anything of the "keep my hair out of my eyes" nature.

I have tried lots of different ideas and even some major layers but can't get her hair to stay out of her face. I finally decided that some bangs might help. She got a big girl hair cut today and LOVES IT! I hope we end up as happy with it as she has been the past couple of hours and I hope it slows down some early morning fights!

Alyssa is having a....

...precious, healthy girl. I am so excited to meet my third niece in December. I am also excited to see Lauren and Camryn get another sister.

The kids and I spent last week with Alyssa's family. Her girls were wonderful to baby Corey and all of us. They will adore their new sister. Alyssa is generous and kind to a fault and never made us feel like we were imposing. Poor Corey was sick most of the trip. He had a fever, an ear infection, and a throat infection. It was awful. But Alyssa and my mom helped me with Carley and Corey and let me spend some time with both of my kids. Alyssa wrote a great post about Corey being girltrapped by his cousins and I know he is thrilled to have another buddy. I am thrilled to watch Clint be girltrapped even more.

Every life, every pregnancy, every baby is a miracle. Alyssa and Clint, and many of their friends and family have prayed for this baby and the future of the O'Rear family way before there was ever a positive pregnancy test. Take a moment and thank our Father, the Great Physician, and the Creator of Life for this little life and that the rest of her pregnancy is healthy and perfect.

Love you SO much, little baby girl O!

Carley and Religion

Oh man, this girl keeps me on my toes! At 4 1/2 she says some of the funniest things, in my opinion. Lately she has said some funny things about religious things and I want to write them down before I forget:

1. We were drinking grape Gatorade last week and she said, "Mom, this is SO good. It tastes just like Jesus's blood".

2. Last year a man at our church named David passed away. He was someone Cody and I thought a lot of. He is also the first person that Carley was aware of that went to Heaven and she has been processing it in bits and pieces over the past year. We were at Abuelos waiting for a table the other day and she and I started playing 20 questions. My first question was "Is it a boy?" She said it was. I asked if he lived in Lubbock and she said yes. 99% of the time that means it is either my dad or Cody. When those answers were wrong, she whispered. "He lives in Lubbock, and in Keller, and in Texas, and in Heaven". Her sweet person was Mr. David and because he is in Heaven he is always with us.

3. We were in the car and she asked me if I was one of God's children. I told I was and that we all were. Then she started naming people and asking if they were His children too. I told her they were and she was quiet for a minute then said, "Goodness, Mom, God has some OLD children". I laughed and agreed then she said, "I bet we wear God out. You only have two kids and me and brother wear you out all the time. I bet God is tired of all the whining". Pretty profound and true, I am sure.

4. Tonight I was singing her songs before bed when she said, "Who is Bruce?". I asked her which Bruce and she said the boy from the Bible, Bruce. I asked her to tell me a story with Bruce and she couldn't. She said I knew Bruce because he had a book in the bible. She meant Hebrews which sounded to her like He Bruce. :)

5. And my favorite story was after singing the New Testament Books of the Bible in bed she asked me wrote that song. I told her I didn't know. Carley asked if it was someone on my IPOD. I told her no and that the song had been around way before mommy was even born. They she said, "I bet I know who wrote that song". I asked her who and she said, "Babe Ruth. He was on a baseball show me and Daddy were watching and Daddy said he did a lot of great things. That is a pretty great song so I bet Babe Ruth wrote it". I tried so hard not to laugh and came out and told Cody and then called my dad. The baseball men in her life thought it was a great idea.

6. We were headed to lunch the other day and I asked Carley where she wanted to go. She said, "As long as we don't go to jail or hell, I am okay with whatever".

7. In Bible class they were studying Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the firey furnace. Carley was recapping the story for me and she said, "Since they didn't have cell phones to call 911, God sent an angel to protect them".


I love you, Carley girl, and my prayer is that you always question and go deeper in your faith. You are a joy.

Happy 31st Birthday- Cody

Happy Birthday, to this sweet boy who turned into our sweet Cody. We love him so much and are so thankful and honored to have him in our world. Happy Birthday, babe.

Cousin Picts

Here are some cousin pictures from the O'Rear's most recent visit. It brings me such joy to see how much our kids love and enjoy each other. It is also cute to see a little boy in this mix of girls!

Let Freedom Rain...I mean Ring

Our 4th of July was rained out! The parade and fireworks in Lubbock were canceled. Rain isn't something we are very used to in Lubbock, so it was a very different 4th. Alyssa's family was here. We had a great time with the O'Rear's and celebrating Clint's 40th bday. What a special brother-in-law I have! The rest of the time we just hung out at Mom and Dad's. It was wonderful to have so much down time and family time over the weekend. It was also a very interesting feeling to "miss" celebrating the 4th. It has never been a major holiday in my world, which obviously means I take it for granted. I can promise that next year, I will celebrate with a more genuine heart because I missed so much this year. It is a very good thing to stop and celebrate our country, our freedom, our history, our heroes, and our future.

VBS - Egypt

Well, we have been visiting Egypt each night this week and the jet lag is starting to get to me! :) I loved being Ashley-patra this week. It was a blessing to be part of leading the worship and seeing these precious kids sing and dance for the Lord. We had about 130 kids this year. Carley loved VBS and learning about Joseph. She is sad that this is our last night. We had a couple of fun things happen at VBS this week. Lauren and Camryn came to town. They have been with us each night. Seeing my sweet nieces have a blast each night has been a ton of fun! Also, Carley brought her buddy and neighbor Elise each night and loved getting to be in group with her. Group 2 was a pretty cute little group of buddies, Carley, Camryn, Cora, and Elise. Baby Corey had his own little VBS fun in the nursery where Nana got to rock and play with him each night. He loves his Nana!