Pumpkin Patch 2007

Fall is here and we can not wait to take the "itty bitty" to the Pumpkin Patch this year. She was only 3 1/2 months old last year when we took her, but she still managed to pick the pumpkin she thought was best. Yes, we had to get it for her and I would still have it today if it had not rotted. We will be returning to the same patch this year for our 2nd year of fun and photos. I love the idea of this one...it is at a Methodist Church and this is the youth groups yearly fundraiser. The teens are out there working, pulling wagons, shuffling pumpkins around, loading your stuff, taking family photos, helping you select the perfect one, checking you out and then they walk you to your car and send you on your way.

I am sure our experience this year will be much different than last. Emma will be running through the pumpkins, touching them and probably attempting to pick them all up. It is amazing how much she has grown in a year. I always tell the HOTY that every age is my favorite and I don't want her to get any bigger, but I am here to tell you...she is SOOOOO much fun right now and every age just gets better and better. I am amazed at how independent she has already become and how good of a communicator she is at such a young age. I could talk about her forever, she is just the sweetest and most loving little person.

We are welcoming Fall with open arms at our house. The house is decorated for the season and the scent of pumpkin and apple spice are everywhere. Our decorations consist mostly of pumpkins and things that can be left out through Thanksgiving. I have gotten rid of the ghost, cats, bats and witches around here. However, the "itty bitty" did get a little spider candle holder the other day from Kirklands. We always sing the "itsy bitsy spider" and do the hand motions that go along with the song. Well, the other day when we were shopping she kept saying, "spider, spider, spider". To be honest with you, I was quite surprised because I did not know she knew what a spider was or had ever seen one. Sure enough it was a spider, so we bought it and she carries that little spider around everywhere. So we do have a few Halloween decorations, but primarily "punkin" stuff...that's what the "itty bitty" calls it.

Bo~Bo

Nope, I am not misspelling Boo & this post has nothing to do with Halloween. The "itty bitty" had a little accident last night and now she has a really bad "bo~bo" to prove it. Last night I was taking a bath and the HOTY and Emma were in the bathroom talking to me. Emma was standing outside the tub (which has no corners on it at all) and she lost her footing and fell and hit her cheek bone on the side of the tub. I knew when she hit that it had to hurt. The HOTY immediately jerked her up and it was already bruised and swollen.

We felt HORRIBLE that this happened to her and the HOTY said, "you know I was just thinking today that with all the tile in this house, she really hasn't fallen and gotten hurt that many times". Needless to say, this picture does not do it much justice...it looks BAD!

We go back to MDO tomorrow after our 3 week HURRICATION, so hopefully things will go well and the "itty bitty" will get right back into the swing of things. I am hoping they don't call the authorities on us after seeing her little face all bruised up.

She has the best attitude about it and just continues to smile. However, she loves to look at herself in the mirror and point to it and say "bo~bo, bo~bo, bo~bo". Of course she knows the perfect way to get to her Daddy...we might have the pink kitchen before Christmas if she keeps this up.

We have LIGHTS

Yes, yes, yes... our power was restored yesterday afternoon & it was better than winning the lottery. I told the HOTY that we would not be going camping anytime soon, after 16 days without power. The good news is...we are all okay, the refrigerator has been restocked, the house has been cleaned, the Fall decorations have been put out, 9 loads of laundry have been done, "itty bitty" slept in her bed last night, the yard is freshly manicured (thanks to Green Gardens Landscaping), caught up on all my favorite blogs, checking account has been balanced, my housekeeper comes on Thursday, we are having Mimi's meatloaf for dinner tonight, my kids are coming back to school tomorrow and Curtis has been cleaning and organizing the garage all weekend.

Long story short, we have a 3 car garage and the 3rd bay has been loaded with stuff/junk that is just stacked from ceiling to floor since we moved in 18 months ago. We purchased shelves and it is looking good and I am so darn excited. He actually came in a little bit ago all dressed up in a Halloween costume he must have stumbled upon while he was cleaning. It was definitely from his single days, when he went to a party as...uh, I don't even know what to call it...maybe a pimp. It was a purple suede jacket with leopard trim, big necklace and some brass knuckle dollar sign ring. For those of you who know my husband...he is super conservative, so of course I was like, what the heck when he came in wearing that. I am sure the neighbors enjoyed watching him put that get up on before coming in here to show me how "pimpin" he was back in the day. Remember, this is the same guy that did not think it was cute his daughter had on a 2 piece bathing suit in the backyard. I managed to get a picture of him, but he made me promise not to post it on my blog. Trust me, it was funny!

The littlest Frazier must be really excited the power is back on too...because I felt that sweet baby kick around 10:00 this morning and he/she has not stopped since. I use to love feeling Emma move all the time and kick when I was pregnant with her ~ I have missed those days, so I am glad they are back.

I am off to fold another load of laundry. Thank you for all that kept us in your prayers during the storm and the days that followed.

Oh, let me not forget those Centerpoint Energy fellas that are working from sun up to sun down restoring power all over the area. I appreciate all that you have done for my family and my community. Hopefully you will all be home with your families soon and getting some rest and relaxation. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed.

Pictures of IKE & Normalcy

After 13 days I have returned to work and I am feeling a little bit of normalcy this morning. I can not wait for our lives to be completely back to normal. We are beyond ready for our power to be restored and for the "itty bitty" to be back in her nursery where she is most comfortable.

Upon returning to work this morning, these pictures were in an email I received from a colleague. My heart breaks when I look at these and for all the families that are experiencing grief and loss in Galveston and surrounding communities.

http://www.tpicks.com/pictures%20people%20have%20sent%20me.html

They are allowing the residents of Galveston to enter the island today to assess the damages to their homes and property. Please pray for these poor people today and for their safety as they return. My prayer for each of them is that God will bring them through this more abundantly blessed then they were before IKE made his appearance.

I had a Drs. appointment last week and all is well with the 4th Frazier. My initial test came back from the chromosome disorder testing and everything looks great. Even though I am 36, Dr Irwin was more than pleased with these results and does not recommend that I have an amniocentesis, unless I just really want one. I mean who really wants one, right? We are scheduled to have an Ultrasound on October 16th to find out if we will be blessed with another baby girl or baby boy. We will be happy and content with whatever God chooses to send our way. I am updating my baby website weekly, so that is where I journal about the 4th Frazier. I have chosen to keep that up and running, because I can save that information on disc, just as I did for Miss Emma.

I am at work, so I better get busy...lots to do.

Thank You for your Kindness

So, I must be honest and say that I am so ready for my life to be back to normal. Today is the 10th day we have gone without power. We are projected to get our power back at the end of the week, however I am praying for it to happen sooner. We managed to stay at our home through all of this, but the last few nights have been rather toasty so we have stayed at my BFF's house. Emma and I have been hanging out here in the day also, while the HOTY has been at work.I can never Thank this family enough for opening their home, their pantry and their hearts to us at such a time. Of course they have always unconditionally loved us and done very unselfish things for us and this is just another to add to the very long list. I am so appreciative and grateful for their friendships.

Robin and I have been friends for 24 years now and their is not much we have not experienced together in life. Of course our husbands think we are the biggest dorks, because yes... we still have BFF shirts, frames and other memorabilia. We say it every chance we get because we know they think we are so darn silly and plus it keeps us feeling young.

As for their 3 little girls...aren't they beautiful? They are sweet, funny, thoughtful and oh so entertaining for us. The "itty bitty" wants to be so big...just like them.

Today leaves me feeling very thankful for the Lemoine family and so blessed that they are a part of our lives.

Robin ~ you are the very Best Friend in the whole world & it is all going to be worth it when... you know the rest!

Fun without Power

We have had to find many ways to entertain ourselves and a 15 month old with no power for the past 8 days. Thought I would share one of the ways with all of you. We decided to put stickers all over the "itty bitty" for some fun. She seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.


Please continue pray for everyone that has suffered a loss from Hurricane IKE!

We are safe & sound!

Ike has come and gone, but we still have reminders of him everywhere. The biggest one is NO POWER. This is a house a couple streets over from ours that did not fare well in the storm. Our home is in great shape, Thank You JESUS. However, I have friends and colleagues that have lost their homes and many are not in the shape to be lived in for many months. I have a co-worker that lost her home to a fire the night after Ike. We were truly blessed and have so much to be thankful for and will rejoice when our power is restored. Unfortunately, our neighborhood lost so many trees and power lines that we have been told we would be without power for quite some time.


We have a couple lakes in our neighborhood that are filled with ducks and turtles and these guys seemed to be the ONLY ones enjoying the storm.

The "itty bitty" has been such a trooper during all of this. She turned 15 months old on Monday, so I took her in the yard and took a few pictures of her to add to her baby website. I am amazed at how big she has gotten and how fast the time has flown by.

This baby girl definitely holds the key to my heart. Being a Mommy is the best job I have ever had in the whole world. I can not wait to spend the rest of my life watching my babies grow up.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as our neighbors and schools continue to recover from the storm. Our school district is closed indefinitely... and I am missing my kiddos at school ~ hoping & praying they are all safe.

Throw up & Must have

Let me start with the cute stuff and then I will tell you all about the "throw up". Last week when we went to Pottery Barn Kids, the "itty bitty" spotted this grocery cart. Needless to say, we were not leaving there without it. I think she feels the same way about the pink kitchen, but we have not talked Daddy into that just yet. Something tells me that Santa might be bringing it on Christmas morning. This grocery cart is too cute...she loves to put her baby & bear in it...grab her purse and travel all over the house adding things to her cart. Right now it is full of vegetables and a pink race car (that her RaRa got her). Her Daddy is wishing we would have bought the plastic Fisher Price one, because she is steadily running it into the walls and cabinets.

About the throw up...we had a 1st this morning. About 6:30 I heard Emma crying on her baby monitor and the cry was quite different then her normal morning, I am awake come get me cry. I got out of bed and went into her nursery and immediately I could smell this awful smell. I turned on the light and one end of her bed was full of "throw up". I picked her up and went back to our bedroom and told the HOTY to get up, I needed help. About that time, we went into the restroom and it was all in her hair and I went to gagging. I can do alot of things, but I can not do throw up at all. Isn't that horrible, not even with the "itty bitty"...how sad. The HOTY said, just give her to me I will do it and I continued to gag for about the next 30 minutes. It took 2 baths to get the smell out of her hair and off of her. This is the 1st time she has ever thrown up. I felt horrible that I could not help, but I appreciated the HOTY for getting it all cleaned up.

The reason I am sharing this story with you is because every Mommy needs the Ultimate Crib Sheet. They sell these at Babies R Us for less than $20.00 and they are awesome. It snaps on the crib on top of the regular sheet and it is waterproof. However, it does not show from the side of the bed, it actually only covers the top. It is really soft on one side and very comfy for them to sleep on. When you are ready to wash it, you just unsnap it and wash it and your other sheet is still in perfect condition. Not to mention, when people come into your nursery they never see it from the side, only if they look down in the crib. I am telling you, it is a must have and it protects your sheet and mattress at the same time.

We actually have it on the bed in this picture and you can't even see it, but you can still see your sheet from the side. I am telling you...if you have never seen the Ultimate Crib Sheet, you need to check it out.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as IKE gets closer to us.

Scrappin through Ike...

I am sure that many of you have heard that we are bracing for a major hurricane here in Texas and his name is Ike. It has been pretty crazy around here today and folks are in a panic. It started this morning when I stopped to put gas in my car (the HOTY usually does this), but I was worried there would be none left by the time he was able to do it. It took me about 35 minutes to get gas, between the wait... 20 minutes of pumping $19.69 of regular...turning the pump off, reinserting my debit card...starting the pump over with Supreme gas and of course it went super fast from there. I wonder if they just wanted the extra .33 a gallon from me. Finally made it to school and today was a late arrival, the kids get there at 9:15 every Thursday. To find out that the district is releasing everyone at 10:30...I know it made very little sense to me either. Made it back home, and thought what in the world am I going to do for 4 days being barricaded up in the house, besides play with the "itty bitty"? I quickly called my BFF and asked her to go to the grocery store with me and to Micheal's to pick up additional scrap booking stuff. We made it to the store and it was a mad house. There was no bread anywhere in sight, can goods were few and far between, cereal boxes were slim to none and batteries were flying off the shelves like they were free. I must admit that I sort of giggled walking through the store and seeing the emptiness of the shelves and people scattering around like mad. Perhaps I won't be giggling when Ike finally makes his appearance early Saturday morning. Our plan is to stay home and ride the storm out here. In the meantime, I will keep myself entertained with blogs, Emma, Scrapbooking and catching up on Emma's Baby Book.


Yes, I have temporarily converted our formal dining room into my little Hobby area...till the storm is over.

I will be working on Emma's Scrapbook throughout the storm and did I mention, I love this book. I got it from Creative Memories, then I sent it off and had it imprinted with her name, date of birth & birth statistics. It is the cutest thing ever & I can not wait to buy one for the 4th Frazier. I wonder will it be another pink one or will I get to buy it in blue and have a rocking horse put on it?
All kidding aside, please pray for us and our neighbors in surrounding counties. I am really concerned about this storm. We are predicted to have anywhere from 85-115 mph winds at our home in the next day or so. Please pray that those traveling get to where they are going safely and those choosing to stay will be protected and safe. No matter what happens, I will praise you in this storm...

Once in a lifetime friendship...

Let me introduce you to one of my dearest and closest friends of all...TEDRA. This is probably one of the kindest and sweetest people that God hand picked to put on this earth and in my life and as a result, I am a better person and oh so blessed. Tedra and I have been friends for a very long time and know each other inside and out. When I say this girl is special...I mean really special. She has been by my side through the good times and the bad...building a home, dating, engagement, marriage, college, pregnancy, death of my Daddy, birth of my baby girl, my Mom's battle with Cancer & Bone Marrow Transplant and many many more. This is my friend I can laugh with, cry with, pray with and share anything and the best part of all...she never judges me. I could go on forever about the bond we share that I am so very grateful for and will cherish for the rest of my life.

She left this sweet little comment on my blog a couple days back and I had to share it with all of you and ask you to pray for her. She is my SINGLE friend that is praying and longing for the perfect husband and that is exactly what she deserves.

I'm so thankful that God gifted you with such an amazing husband...you so deserve every minute of blessing and happiness that you have been given and will continue to experience. I know that above all the qualities I'm looking and praying for in a husband...my #1 is a man that can be the leader of our family and one that can pray over us! You certainly have one of those!

Love Tedra

I want more than anything for her to meet the perfect man that will sweep her off her feet, accompany her to church, study the Bible with her, pray for her and with her, love her unconditionally, be a Godly Man, desire to have children and raise them in the church, be a wonderful provider, a good leader, a powerful prayer, a family man and most of all love the Lord with all his heart.

Next time you pray, lift sweet Tedra in your prayers and ask God to give her the desires that are in her heart. Remember, we don't just want any man...we want a GOOD man.

This is the way...

...we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth, this is the way we brush our teeth, early in the morning.

The "itty bitty" loves to brush her teeth and she loves for us to sing to her when she does it. We just make up different words to the song depending on what time of day or night it happens to be. She is quite the brusher too, she really wants to get her hands on our electric toothbrush. I am afraid she would look like a little bobble head if she ever got it in her mouth and turned on.

Hope you all had a Marvelous Monday.

More Baby Peyton

We got meet the newest addition to our family today and she is beautiful. We could not be more excited for Dwain and Marla...these two are thrilled beyond belief. When Emma saw Peyton she just kept saying, "Baby, Baby, Baby" and of course she wanted to touch her and hug her. She did not seem to mind when I held Baby Peyton, however she did not like it when her Daddy held her. Look at these sweet cheeks...

Peyton and her Daddy ~ this little girl already has him wrapped around her finger.

She seemed so little to us. I do not remember Emma being this small.

Yes, her Mommy already has a bow on her tiny little head. Emma kept saying , "bow, bow, bow".

Peyton slept the entire time we were there, hopefully we will get to see her little eyes next time we visit.

Today was a great day for us...we took the "itty bitty" to Barnes & Noble and read some books, had lunch at PF Changs, hung out in Pottery Barn for a bit, got to see this sweet baby and went to Target to pick up things we needed for the week. We love Target!

After we put Emma down for bed, I went outside on the back porch to water my plants. The HOTY came out there and said, "what is that"... of course I said, "what"...he was looking on the arm of one of our patio chairs and said, "oh, its a black widow"...I immediately turned around to look and I said, "how do you know"...he replied, "well, its spouse is no where around"...ha ha ha...and I wonder where the "witty itty bitty" gets it. He is pretty hilarious and keeps me laughing ALL the time.

Reach Out to Dropouts 2008

I must be honest and tell you that I was not looking forward to getting up at 6:00 in the morning on my day off. Not to mention, spending the day away from my sweet little family as they attended my Nephew Hunter's 7th Birthday Party without me. If you know me very well, you are fully aware that my weekends are devoted to spending time as a family, because work consumes our week.

Today was a day in our school district devoted to going to the homes of students that had dropped out of school. We had over 230 volunteers show up from different schools, communities and local businesses to help us in our effort. This event was very organized and in my opinion turned out to be a great success. We were divided up into teams and sent out into the community with packets of information along with the names and addresses of the students we were suppose to make contact with that had previously dropped out of school. We were placed on a team that consisted of a school administrator, secondary teacher, elementary teacher and community members. I was a little worried about our team at first when one generous team member spoke up and said, "I can drive, it might be a little tight but I don't mind". I politely asked, "what do you drive?" he quickly answered, "a Toyota Prius"...uh and he was serious! I told him I thought it would be in our best interest to just take 2 cars. On our way out the door, the Director of Student Services stopped me and asked me if I minded if the community newspaper followed along with our group. "No, the more the merrier" I said. So here we are, my team of 5 members and the paparazzi from the local paper going to knock on the doors of 6 kids to find out why they had not reported back to school this year. The sad part was...4 of ours were Seniors, one 9th grader and one 10th grader. I know you are asking yourself, what makes a Senior drop out of school? Out of 6 homes, we made contact and got information on 5 of these students by way of a parent, friend or concerned neighbor living next door. One of the homes was abandoned, but I took it upon myself to look in the mailbox and it looked as if they had not been gone long. I am hoping the efforts of the 230 volunteers who sacrificed their Saturday pays off. It is my belief that if we just bring 1 kid back to school that goes onto Graduate, then today was a HUGE success.

This is the group of administrators that I am blessed to work with on a daily basis. The man on the far right (holding the paper) is our new Principal and the other 6 of us are Assistant Principals. I am in the back center, looking like I just rolled out of bed and grabbed the nearest pony tail holder.


This is my dear friend Monelle that I worked with for 3 1/2 years before she moved on to become an Assistant Principal at another school in our district. She is a BLOG STALKER, so I wanted to put her on my blog and one of the sweetest people I know. I have begged her to start her own blog, but she has not given in to peer pressure just yet. For now, she will continue to stalk, stalk, stalk!

Today left me thankful for many things:

• Grateful that my parents valued and placed an importance on me getting a good education
• Thankful that we did not move around all the time and I was in a stable environment that allowed me to get a good education
• Good teachers that kept me engaged, involved and excited about learning
• Extracurricular activities that made me love school
• My education that has allowed me to be involved in the school system as a teacher, counselor and administrator
• A School District that believes in kids and wants them to be successful
• Being raised in a clean home that always had lights, food and water
• Good health that allowed me to participate in today's walk
• A beautiful day to be outside
• Always knowing my 5 basic needs would be met when I was in school
• Everyone who volunteered
• A good mind that is capable of learning more and more everyday
• Friendships with my co-workers
• Knowing I was safe and protected knocking on the doors of families I had never met
• Public schools

I am so glad that I participated in today's walk and I hope that the students homes that we went to realize that we were there because we care about them and want them to be successful in life.

Oh, one last thing...I posted a picture of Baby Peyton in the blog below.

Saving $$$ & Peyton has arrived!

I finally purchased the "itty bitty" a piggy bank today. I have been wanting to find the perfect one since she was born and had seen this one before, but at the time thought it was a bit pricey and did not want to spend the money on it. After looking at a bag of change in a Ziploc bag for a while now, I thought it was time to go ahead and splurge. We stopped at a Florist on the way home where I had previously seen this one and decided to bring him on home with us. Tonight after Emma's bath we decided to put her up on the table and put her first deposit in the bank. Needless to say, we did not have to show her but once how it worked and she got after it.

After she had been putting coins in it for a while, she turned it over and looked at its side for a while and seemed really confused. We quickly realized that she thought this piggy bank was similar to a toy one that she plays with often where you put the coins in, but you can also get them back out. We could not help but laugh once again at the "witty itty bitty" ~ nothing gets past this kid. We got the toy one out after we realized what she was doing and of course she had to put coins in it too.

So, when the pig gets full (which should be a while)...we will take her to the bank, set her up on the counter and let her make her first official deposit. I can not take credit for this idea, I am copying a friend that did this with her son about 8 years ago. Just thought this would be another way to teach her a little responsibility and to save along the way.

Now for the good stuff.....guess who is here?

PEYTON STERLING CARNES

7lbs 4 oz. & 20.5 inches long

The newest ANGEL God has blessed our family with!

We got a call this afternoon about 5:30 that said our cousins Dwain & Marla had just welcomed their baby girl into the world about 20 minutes prior to the call. We do not have alot of details, but should know more tomorrow. They were still in the delivery room when we got the call and we were so surprised that Marla was induced today, but she was ready. We had spent the day with them on Sunday before Emma got sick and she appeared to be miserable and hurting.

We are so super happy for these two and are just giving them their space for now. If you have been following my blog, you know that Marla & Dwain lost their only child 2 1/2 year old Sterling Scott Carnes 18 months ago to a drowning accident. As much as we want to call and CONGRATULATE them and find out all the details, we feel like we should give them their privacy for the night. Someone said she weighed about 7lbs 4 oz. and that is little for them...Sterling weighed almost 10 lbs when he was born. Oh, I can not wait to see her and hear all about her. I wonder who she looks like? I wonder how long she is? I want to hear all about her birth. I can not wait to smell her, hold her and touch her. I am so excited for this family, they have been longing for the day to hold this baby in their arms. I just can not imagine the emotions they are going through right now. Baby Peyton is going to be one blessed little girl and she is going to have 2 wonderful parents. We plan to see her on Saturday, if they are welcoming company and I will get some pictures of Little Miss Peyton to post. Please keep these guys in your thoughts and prayers.

Sick Baby and Feeling Guilty

It has been a while since I have blogged...We have had a sick "itty bitty" since Sunday morning, so I have been devoting all my time to her. She is starting to feel better now, but she had a rough couple days and nights. Her Daddy took her to the Dr. on Tuesday morning and she has a Urinary Tract Infection, Viral Infection and a very sore throat. We have been pumping her full of antibiotic, Motrin and prayer for the past couple days and it seems to be helping. It is a great feeling to watch your Husband pray over your sick child...I love him for so many reasons and this is another one of them. I know that everything is going to be fine and I did not even know if this was worth sharing because there are so many people out there with way bigger concerns than ours. However, I felt like since I had not blogged...I had a little explaining to do.

About the guilt, please lift me in your prayers. I have been experiencing and enormous amount of "Working Mommy's Guilt" for about 2 weeks now and I am struggling. I plan to post more about this later.