Two weeks and doing great

Hi! My name is Grant. On Monday I was two weeks old. At my check-up I weighed 8 lb 4 oz. and was 21.75 inches long.

My favorite thing to do is sleep.

I especially like to sleep on people. Grandma was going to leave today but she could not bear to leave me. My mom claims her flight got cancelled but I know the real truth.

These three kids are always around my house and on certain days my mom makes sure their clothes all match.

I am not sure who was in charge at this moment but I don't think my mom would approve of this little girl holding me.

This is what bedtime looks like at my house. I think we need a bigger bed.

I am doing really well and so is my family. I still refuse to nurse but my mom is being patient with me. Feel free to come visit me anytime.

H-U-G-E

No I am not talking about this little guy:

I am talking about this girl:

Everyone warned me that Abby would seem big once Grant was here. I expected her to seem big, but I did not expect her to seem huge. She is like a minature jolly green giant Abby. She is also adjusting well to not being the baby anymore. It helps that she has Grandma to fulfill all of her wishes and desires.

Grant is doing well. He is officially one week old. I ask that you pray for our breastfeeding efforts. So far he is unable to eat from me so I am pumping and feeding him bottles. My hope is that as he gets a little bigger he will be able to transition back to me.

The cutest thing ever

'Little' man

He is here!

Grant Timothy Dallas.

He is adorable.

And much loved.

We are blessed by this 8lb and 2oz miracle.

Thank you dear God for this precious gift.

Success with soccer so far

We signed both Zach and Calyn up for Upward soccer. Calyn was very eager since her cousin, Ashley, plays. Zach was not eager but did not want his sister to have fun without him.

It turns out that Zach is actually pretty good. We have had two games and three practices. Zach appears to really understand the concept and does not mind being aggressive. Surprising! Calyn is also doing well but tends to hang back until she 'remembers' to get into the action. Or hears her mom and dad yelling at her from the sidelines.

The requirement is that the players had to be 4 by September 1 but Zach and Calyn are likely the oldest. They definitely tower over the other players. I have been very impressed with the program so far and would recommend it to anyone wanting to expose a younger player to soccer. The neat part is that they have a short devotional at each practice and are responsible for memorizing a Bible verse each week.

A couple of you have expressed interest in seeing them play, so I am including their schedule.

9/ 19 field C

9/26 field E

10/3 field C

10/10 field D

10/17 field E

10/24 field E

All games are on the back lawn at Southcrest Baptist Church.

The countdown has begun!

We are so excited to meet this big little guy only one week from today.

What Abby does while the big kids are at preschool?

What once was old

I saw a painted rocking chair on one of my favorite blogs recently. It can be seen at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2009/09/chair.html. I immediately thought to myself, I just happen to have a similar rocking chair sitting in my garage. Here is a before picture after Tim sanded it for me.

And here is the finished project. I think I went a little crazy with the polka dots but it was fun. Hopefully baby boy Dallas will enjoy it. His big sister Abby tried it out and it has her seal of approval.

First Day

Today was the first day of preschool for Zach and Calyn. They will go on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9-12. I was surprised to find Tim still home when I woke up this morning. Usually he goes to work early. Today he decided to be apart of the first trip to school. He also took pictures before we left.

He snapped a few more pictures at school.

Pictures from last year for comparison.

I had trouble finding out if they had a good day or not. Their teacher informed me that Calyn was the line leader and that Zach was the caboose. No surprise there. Zach also apparently prefers to be called Zachary. Who knew? When I picked them up they were both ticked that they did not get to stay for lunch like some of the kids. Their preschool is also a parent's day out and some kids stay for the rest of the afternoon. At least they enjoyed themselves enough to want to stay longer.

It's funny how...

The one person I thought would enjoy reading this blog doesn't even read it.

I can fall asleep next to one member of my family and wake up next to another without even knowing the switch occurred.

Calyn and Zach can make up random songs that still speak truths about God (for example: I don't care what God does because he takes care of me).

Abby can sing along to the song "Here I am to worship."

Every time that I gain weight with pregnancy, my husband looses weight so that our weights are almost equal (he finds this funnier than I).

Someone (and I am not really sure who) taught Abby to say "Gosh." This word is forbidden in our house but I can't get her to understand that she is not supposed to say it and she is saying it a lot.

My easiest child has become my most difficult.

A baby that is not even here has more shoes than his other five family members combined.

It seems that God has created Calyn to excel in sports but has provided her with just enough of my clumsiness to keep her humble.

One of my new step-sisters (who I grew up with) remembers spending the night at my house as kids a lot. And I don't remember her ever spending the night at my house. Likewise, I remember spending the night at her house a lot and she doesn't remember it.

Calyn wanted to know if God was in TV shows. How would you answer that one?

Labor of Love

Just before Calyn's third birthday we (mainly Tim) built this for her.

Since it took many, many hours and consisted of over 10,000 pieces, we put the project on hold before finishing the inside. While waiting for our new family member to arrive, we (mainly me) are trying to get unfinished projects finished. So with Calyn as our interior designer, we have finally finished her dollhouse. Here it is:

The top floor with bathroom, kids room, and nursery

The middle floor with master and spare bedrooms

The bottom floor with living room, kitchen, and dining room

View of all three floors

Side view with grill set and lawn chairs.

I think Tim did a wonderful job on the house and hope that our girls have a lot of fun playing with it. Also, the inside is completely wired for electricity but we decided to wait until Abby is a little older before putting up the fixtures.

It's all good in here

We had another ultrasound recently to check on this growing boy. He gave us a thumbs up as if to say he was enjoying his environment. He must be enjoying himself as he is already 7 and one half pounds. Yes, you read that right! He is huge. He may be big, but everything looked great. He is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 am on September 17.

Big sisters need big girl beds

Leah's latest blog entry and the fact that the company I work for keeps taking their site down for maintenance has urged me (and given me the time) to update you on what is going on around here.

Last weekend Abby's room was changed from pink to blue. I told Tim I had chosen a paint color on Saturday morning and by Sunday night the nursery was transformed (pictures will come later). So after a few days of Abby sleeping in our closet, she moved into Calyn's room. Since Calyn refuses to sleep on her top bunk, they are sharing the bottom queen size bed. The first night Zach woke me up at 4 am by handing me Abby's blanket and telling me she was on the stairs. The next night (we put up the gate) and both girls slept through til morning. The third night, Abby slept fine but Calyn somehow traded places with Tim during the night. Tonight is the fourth night. I really thought getting the girls to fall asleep together was going to be the problem. So far this has not been an issue and the transition is going much better than anticipated. The only sad thing is that when Abby is playing upstairs she will run into the nursery and just stop and stare. I think she is still surprised by the the blue color and that all of her stuff is gone. However, I think in the future she will enjoy having a baby brother more than her own room. I'll keep you posted on that one.

P.S. We are super excited about Baby Dooley #2 and maybe Abby can give Annerson some advice about being a big sister in the near future.

Big Decisions

Zach and Calyn invited Jesus into their hearts on Saturday night. We (especially Tim) had been having an on-going conversation leading up to their decision. They both decided that they were ready and Tim and I felt confident that they understood the decision they were making. Thank you to all of you that have prayed for them over the course of their lives and please join Tim and I in praying that they will follow Christ all of the days of their lives.

Two months from today...

we will welcome this little guy.

Did I say little guy?

I meant big guy. The doctor is estimating that he weighs 4 pounds now and told us to expect a 9-10 pound baby at birth.

So mark your calendars for September 17, 2009.

And maybe he will have a name by then.