Date with Daddy

She may have red hair, blue eyes and look like a Frazier...but today she proved to be a Fabian (my side of the family) at heart. Oh, this made me so happy and I know that my sweet Daddy was smiling down from Heaven yesterday when he saw the "Itty Bitty" rolling around in the petting zoo at the Livestock Show.

You see, I grew up with lots of animals, a Daddy who made a living in the agriculture business, a family that supported 4H and FFA and the list goes on. The HOTY grew up in a Museum where the house was spic and span and animals were not liked, nor allowed.

These days, we reside in a community with strict deed restrictions and our only animal is a weenie dog, the occasional spiders that come in and the deer that come from the woods to eat my flowers. However, I have always known that my baby girl is a LOVER of animals and not just dog-dogs.

This picture was actually taken by a reporter and listed in our local newspaper today. He was so impressed at how little she was and how she was not afraid and loved all the animals.

This is where her Daddy won her heart forever, when he stood in line for her to ride the pony. She did not want any assistance at all, she kept telling him "No Daddy, I do it, I do it."

Good thing we don't live on some land or she would be asking us for a pony. I can guarantee you if my Daddy were still here, she would have had a pony by this morning.

I am just amazed at how she was not afraid of any of the animals.

I am certain that this was the point that totally disgusted the HOTY when she decided to start hugging and kissing all the animals.

Her Daddy said it did not matter how big, small or how many there were...she would just walk right up in the middle of all of them. That's my GIRL!

This big white sheep was her favorite, she just could not get enough of him.

Do you think the kid would live on a Farm if she could?

Of course, they had to watch some chickens hatch out.

One last hug before it was time to leave the petting zoo. Something tells me we will be making another trip there before it is all over.

Looks like our 2nd Birthday might be a Farm theme, petting zoo and some overalls adorned with some Bling!

This my friends is just one more reason why I love my husband so much. I am certain he could have lived without hanging out with a bunch of animals for the day, but he did it because he is the Best Daddy ever and he loves me and Emma so much. Thank you Curtis...you are a trooper.

Baking with my Baby

The "Itty Bitty" and I decided to bake some cookies the other night and it was so fun to watch her get into it.

She could not put them on the cookie sheet without taking a bite of each one first. Yes, I let my child taste raw cookie dough.

Here she is tasting another one. I did not have the heart to move the cookies after she put them on the sheet, so they baked exactly how she placed them on there.

She was very anxious for them to get done, so she could take one to her Daddy who was busy rocking Baby Gavin.

I think she probably stayed in this position for about 10 minutes looking at them bake with her spatula in her hand.

Finally...they are done and ready to be put on the plate. This Big Sister made some awesome cookies and she was so proud of herself.

Could not post without a picture of the Fourth Frazier the day we brought him home from the hospital. Our "little man" is doing great and his jaundice levels are decreasing daily ~ thank you for your prayers.

Oh he is so sweet...whoever said "snips and snails and puppy dog tails...that's what little boys are made of"...this little boy is certainly the sweetest thing I have laid eyes on since the last time I looked at the "Itty Bitty".

Our days are becoming less chaotic and more routine around here. We are getting plenty of sleep at night and Gavin is able to make it anywhere between 4-6 hours at night between feedings. Need I tell you, I am so PROUD to be a Mommy of 2 and even more PROUD to be one of the Frazier Four!

8 Days Ago

It is hard for me to believe that 8 days ago I headed home from work with the "Itty Bitty" planning to get some last minute things accomplished before Gavin's arrival. Yep, I had worked all day and planned on returning to work the very next day to say goodbye and tie up loose ends before leaving to have Baby Gavin the next day (which would have been Thursday ~ I was scheduled for a C Section).

Needless to say, Gavin's plans were a little different then mine. When I arrived home from work and stepped out of the car to get Emma out, GUSH....my water had broke. I was caught off guard, but knew exactly what had happened. I got Emma out of her car seat and asked her to follow me in the house and she proceeded to tell me, "Mommy, you spilled water", clearly it was not the water she was thinking. She followed me to the bathroom where water was still gushing...I am not kidding there must have be 4 gallons of water in there at a minimum. I began making phone calls and making plans. I called the HOTY at work, of course he thought I was kidding. However he made it home in 18 minutes and his normal commute is about 35, thank God he arrived safely.

We made our way to the hospital, fighting through 2.5 hours of traffic and finally arrived around 7:25 to labor and delivery. They checked me and sure enough I was in active labor and it was on from there. My Dr. arrived as they prepped me for surgery .

Let me just tell you that as prepared as we thought we were...we were so unprepared. My suitcase was NOT even packed, nor was the HOTY's. Needless to say I wore pajamas home from the hospital when I was released. It was a crazy 3 days and I did not get to prepare my sweet little Emma the way I really wanted to, however we are all doing fine and things worked out for the best.

Looking back, I think I was in labor all day at school and just did not realize it. You see, I never labored with Emma...so I had no idea what to expect. I can tell you that I did not feel good when I woke up, felt a little strange all day and had symptoms all day that should have made me realize I would be having a baby that day.

God is good and I am so glad things happened just as they did. I think I would have died of embarrassment had my water broken at school in front of 726 Seniors that I met with for the last time on Tuesday for 4 hours while the rest of the school was engaged in testing.

Even though I had a C Section, it was still very interesting and a somewhat scary journey for us. The surgery went well and my Dr. was wonderful, of course. Gavin had to be delivered using the forceps even though it was a C Section because he was so large and had already positioned himself for delivery. However, my cervix was still hard and I had not dilated at all. There was a point during the surgery when a Dr. was on top of me pushing as hard as he could and the other was pulling, that was the point I heard him call for the forceps (of course he used the medical term). I sensed that something was not right and I started asking questions, especially when I saw my husbands face turn white as a ghost. It was then that I decided to just start praying out loud and continued until the Dr. finally had Gavin out and assured me everything was okay.

Many of you asked to see pictures of me pregnant...the truth is I did not take them weekly or monthly because I did not do that with Emma. My plan was to get dressed and let the HOTY take one last picture of me looking cute before delivery. Well, I did not have the chance to get dressed up, only to grab a towel and head for the hospital (ha). However, I did want to make sure that I got one picture before delivery, so here you go.

All in all, this was a great pregnancy and I gained a total of 21 lbs. I felt huge and I looked huge, so I was glad to get the little man out.

Things are still going really well, just very busy around here. We have been to the Dr. 2 times in the past 2 days and will be returning tomorrow. Gavin is VERY jaundice and they have been testing his blood daily. We plan on returning first thing in the morning for the final testing. If the numbers are still elevated, they will begin to do photo sessions on him to lower the numbers. They will do these treatments in our home, so we will not have to go back into the hospital. Please say a little prayer that Gavin's numbers will be lowered tomorrow....because we had our own little photo session planned with our photographer in our home tomorrow to get our birth announcements started.

Oh, our cousins Melissa and Sean welcomed their twins yesterday evening, Brynlee and Chance. You can see pictures of them and read more about them on her blog...please pray for them, she delivered Brynlee and Chance came via C Section. We are so excited to meet these two sweet babies and look forward to the next family function where babies will be everywhere.

Sweet Sweet Baby

Rough Night...

Last night was a VERY rough night, but tonight has proven to be much better. Thank you Jesus for the power of prayer because that is what carried us through. Our "little man" screamed at the top of his lungs for about 5 1/2 hours straight. He was very uncomfortable and was experiencing lots of stomach issues. I finally figured out that it was the roast, carrots and potatoes my sweet MIL had prepared for us when we arrived home from the hospital. Needless to say, I have eaten nothing but sandwiches today and am willing to live off that for the next month or so to avoid another night like last. When I say it was rough, I mean ROUGH! We finally got in bed and asleep at around 4AM and slept for about 2 hours and we have been up ever since. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining... I thanked God all night for my healthy baby and the fact that he was home in the arms of Mommy & Daddy.

Today has been a great day... he has been so peaceful and rested all day long. Poor little guy is so hoarse from crying so much last night and we feel awful for him. I am watching his Daddy rock him right now and I must say, that is one sweet sight. I love the Daddy that Curtis has been to Emma and oh, it is just as sweet to watch him with Gavin. God blessed me ten fold with an amazing husband and a wonderful Daddy for my sweet babies.

As for the Big Sister...she is something else right now. Let me just tell you that she is very amazed by Gavin and keeps talking about my belly. I think she is fully aware that he has left my belly and is now here to stay. I am not certain that she would not be for him crawling right back into my belly and just staying there for a while longer. She is jealous, confused and full of life these days. I will have to share some of those stories with you a little later.

However, she likes to tell us that Gavin eats "boodie"... she is not too sure about the whole nursing thing either and yes, she calls it "boodie" opposed to boobie. I wonder what they will think at MDO when she returns saying that?

Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we continue to adjust to being the Frazier Four.

We proudly present

...the Fourth Frazier and let me just tell you, we are madly in love with this healthy little guy and feel so incredibly blessed.

He is still a little swollen from labor and C section, but he is doing very well.

This Big Sister is going to be just fine. She is really exhausted and tired, but she has done so well accepting Gavin. She constantly says, "my brother, my baby, hold it, touch it, I like him, my brother and my Gavin."

Here he is getting ready to take his hospital pictures. This is his Daddy's outfit that he wore home from the hospital and it was so sweet on him.

Needless to say, we are very busy and exhausted. We had tons of visitors yesterday and got very little rest, so we are going to try and catch up on our sleep today before heading home tomorrow.

I will be sharing more pictures and our birth story a little later on. Remember, I was scheduled for my C Section today at noon. Well, Gavin had other plans for us and I am so glad he did. God is good.

Thank you for your prayers, comments, calls and text messages. We are doing great and are so excited about going home and spending time as the Frazier Four!

Yes, My Friends...

We have a baby! Little Gavin Thomas was due to arrive on March 5th but he had other plans. Laura gave birth to a precious, beautiful and perfect in every way little Gavin tonight at 9:05 P.M. He has dark hair, weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces and is 20.75 inches long. Mom, Dad, Emma and Gavin are all doing wonderful. This is Laura's friend, Darla, blogging for her. I won't spoil her fun by giving all of the details, I will leave that fun for her. Just know that we are counting blessings tonight and I know that Laura and Curtis both appreciate and cherish your thoughts and prayers. I had the video camera tonight so I didn't get any pictures but I know others did and will see if it is okay to post one or two soon.

Big Sister / Little Brother

We decided early on in our pregnancy and requested that we not have a Baby Shower for our newest arrival for many reasons. First and foremost, I am a much better giver than a receiver so I have never been comfortable accepting gifts from others. It creates alot of anxiety in me and makes me real nervous. Yes, I even feel like this when the HOTY gives me stuff.

Literally, I thought I was going to have a heart attack through out my wedding showers and baby showers for Emma. So yes, early on we told everyone NO SHOWERS and we have received somewhat of a hard time about it from people in our family and my work. Some say it is old fashion, others say it is ridiculous and others are grateful they don't have to worry about it...I am okay and respect all of that.

We also decided that it was our 2nd baby, we just did all this 20 months ago and the economy has everyone stressed out as it is and we did not want to add to that stress for anyone. We are truly blessed and just appreciate everyone being so excited and continuing to pray for us. Believe it or not, it has worked out just fine and we have every single thing we need and more to welcome the Fourth Frazier. Trust me when I say...he is not doing without. Everyday we thank God for all he has done for us and for the wonderful life we are so fortunate to live.

There are a couple people who would not accept no for an answer...my Sister in law being one of them. She came by on Saturday with her sweet family with this bag of goodies and let me just tell you that I love it all! Thank you Aunt Stacey, Uncle James, Hunter & Camryn...we can not wait for you all to meet Baby Gavin.


Is this stuff not the cutest? I can not wait to see my sweet babies in all of this...this is what I call eye candy ~ yummy, yummy, yummy!

On Safari...Nursery Debut

Finally, 4 days before little Gavin Thomas Frazier is scheduled to arrive...his Nursery is complete. We finally got our 2nd crib in that we ordered, so we were able to move the "Itty Bitty" into her new crib and move our other crib over just in time for the little guy's arrival.

I am so excited to share Gavin's Nursery with all of you and we are so proud of the finished product. I am going to post lost of pictures, so here we go. Sit down, buckle up for your Safari Jeep tour and enjoy your visit through our wildlife reserve.

Sign that hangs over the door on the way out of his room.

We plan to quickly add a picture to the frame over his bed of his sweet little self as soon as we can get one of him. The sign over the bed reads "All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all."

Book shelf and another picture frame that will be filled with a picture of Gavin and his Big Sister.

View from the door of his room.

This Orangutan is one of our favorite parts of his room and Emma's too.

The frame on the wall will hold two pictures of Gavin and the matte will be signed by all our visitors with a Brown Fine Tip Sharpie. Our photographer will come and do hospital shots of us soon after Gavin's arrival and we plan to use those in this frame.

There is that striped wall Daddy worked so hard on.

Could not help but get a close up of this cute little guy.

Another view from the corner of the room.

View from inside the crib. Emma had to get in it, so the sheet is a little messed up.

The vines that the monkey hangs on are also located in the corners of the room on the striped wall.

Another crib view

Of course I had to share his monogram with you, that also happens to be one of my favorite things.

This is it...I am so proud of the HOTY for the wonderful job he did and for devoting so much of his time to making sure that Gavin had the perfect nursery. It is everything I dreamed of and more!

It is Official...6 more days

Yes, next Thursday is the day. I will be having Gavin via C Section at noon 6 days from today and I can not wait. Please lift me up in prayer if you think about it ~ I am a little nervous. I visited my Dr. yesterday and my cervix is still hard as a rock, no dilation and nothing has changed. He quickly informed me that he did not suspect that anything would change and he planned to see me in the operating room next week on Thursday. This is the same way it worked out with the "Itty Bitty" which required me to have a C Section last time too. I must admit, I asked him if we could go ahead and take care of it right then and there. I am so ready and so BIG! Things still look really good and Gavin's heartbeat is strong and healthy.

I could not help but look back at some pictures of my sweet baby girl on the day she was born when our lives changed forever....oh it seems like so long ago, but it really wasn't. I can not wait to see Baby Gavin for the first time.

Here is a picture of Emma the very 1st time we laid our eyes on her, it was amazing how we fell in love with her instantly. Oh, the days can not come quick enough till my Dr. holds my little guy up for the first time and I lay eyes on him too.

I had a little scare this morning and did not feel Gavin moving like his usual little rowdy self. Thank goodness, I have a connection through a teacher at my school that volunteers at the Pregnancy Crisis Center and we ran over and got to have a quick little ultrasound. Uh, no wonder the poor little guy was not moving ~ there is NO room left in there. I am not kidding his arms are so close and tight to his little body and up under his chin. Poor thing...he is ready to come out and meet his Mommy. I am thinking he is going to be a really BIG BOY and so is the Dr.

From the looks of today's ultrasound, he looked alot like Emma to me. Big round face, very little hair and really big cheeks. The truth is...I don't care what he looks like, I just want him to be healthy and be here.

Please keep us in your prayers over the next week as we grow from 3 to the Frazier Four!

Do you see what I see?

The time is near and I am getting nervous as a cat around a swimming pool. I guess reality set in even more when I got in the car earlier this week, looked in the rear view mirror and BOOM this is what I see. Exactly what I have always wanted and dreamed my life would be like, but it is still a little hard to believe. Yes, I have become a SUV driving, two car seat toting, 2 crib having, pony tail wearing, diaper bag carrying MOMMY! I like it, I love it...I want some more of it! I am sure that I am not the only one in shock...those of you who knew me in my single days are probably asking yourselves...what the heck too?


Oh, our life is about to change in only 13 short days. I can not help but sit around and wonder...What is it going to be like? Will I ever sleep? How is Emma going to be with a baby Brother? What is he going to look like? Will he be like Emma? Is he going to be a good baby or a fussy one?

I have been talking to a couple friends about what they think Gavin is going to look like and they all think he is going to look like a Fabian (my side of the family...dark hair and dark eyes). Time will tell, my gut tells me he is going to be red headed and blue eyed like his Big Sister.

Uh, when I looked at this....I am thinking we might have to move our Little Man over. I can just see Emma now trying to Mother him to pieces from her seat. I am sure she will be poking her fingers everywhere she can, touching him, trying to share her sippie cup with him, putting dog-dogs on top of him and no telling what else.

I can not wait to put Gavin in his little seat and bring him home, so we can start our life as the Frazier Four!

So Little & So Much Love

We celebrated our last Valentine's Day as a family of 3. It was pretty laid back, but it was fun. No fancy meals, no reservations, no lavish gifts... just a simple day. We actually went to a little neighborhood Mexican Restaurant called LaVilla where the bill totaled $18.00, exchanged cards and gave the "Itty Bitty" the new Space Buddies movie (which we have watched about 4 times already). Simple and sweet just the way I like it!


Our littlest Valentine...oh she is so sweet! Notice, she has a dog-dog in her arms.

Opening her new Space Buddies movie...and yes it is about dogs. She will not watch any other movies, but the ones about the Buddies. We are excited, they will be releasing another new one in time for Christmas.

Here she is reading her dog-dog book that one of her little friends gave her for Valentines Day. Her latest thing she walks around saying is "I love it, I love it"...oh I wish she could stay this small forever. I am enjoying this age so much.