Lesson Learned

Today was a usual Monday. Andrew had the day off which was nice. I got mine and Eden’s things together for our trip to Springdale tomorrow. (We’re really sad daddy can’t go, but he has to stay home and wear the big boy pants and work.)

Let’s see, we kind of laid around and relaxed. Played a lot with Eden, went to see a sweet couple from church at the hospital and their new baby girl. Oh she was the cutest thing!
I then made it to my 6:00 spray tan appointment. Yes, I did say spray tan. I am very white and feel like I need a little help being fake. (HAHA, fake tan that is.) I’m not going to say that it looks good because it looks really bad, and I feel like I need to jump in a swimming pool just to get it all off. But, I’m not going to do that because I paid good money to look this way, so I guess I’ll just have to deal with it.

Enough about the spray tan, although I think that would be considered a lesson learned.

Here is the real lesson I learned today.

On the way back to Hooks, Eden after waiting so patiently with daddy in the car decided to start whining and throwing a fit. I had a Passy for her but I was not about to give it to her because it fell on the nasty hospital floor. Enough said!

So, I thought very quickly and came up with Veggie Tales. I turned up the radio and braced myself for some outrageous singing and dancing that would be coming from yours truly.

Guess What…


It Worked! All she needed was some good entertaining. I think Andrew felt the same way. I should probably not brag, but I was pretty good.

So lesson learned. All you need is some good tunes that you know the words to, some awesome dance moves and you got the whining, fit throwing situation under control (At least until dinner time, when the food gets thrown on the floor. Needless to say, we’ve been reading The Strong-Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson)

Congratulations!

Welcome to motherhood!

Oh and a few pictures of our Strawberry loving little girl.

Cheese Mom!

I love Strawberries!!!

Happy Fathers Day

What a wonderful Father’s day.

We started out a little slow this morning, which is very normal in this family.

While we waited on Daddy to finish getting ready (Yes us girls waited on daddy for the first time.) Eden decided to test drive her car.

(Sorry about the pictures being blurry, I need a new camera.)

So, we ended up filing in a little late to church. No big deal though, everyone was standing up singing. Our being late was not that noticeable.

Now, as parents we feel like it is very important for Eden to sit through the first part of worship service until after communion is over. Our reasoning is that it is good for her to see others singing and praying to God. It is also good for her to learn to sit still. That being said, she is almost 15 months old, so sitting still is something that doesn’t really happen. She tries, but she is just to busy.

Today daddy was on the communion table, so when it was time for him to serve, Eden watched very closely to see where he was going. After the first prayer Eden stood up on the pew with goldfish crackers in her mouth and yelled Dad-da. She smiled so big. It was really cute, but me being the mom, I had to sit her down on the pew and tell her that yelling is not allowed in the church building. In fact I had to wrestle with her the whole time until we stood up to sing. I know that one day she will sit still, and oh will that be a glorious day.

So after communion all the children are dismissed to discovery hour, this is when Andrew or I take Eden to the nursery. Needless to say she knows right where to go and enjoys playing with her friends.

Services were great and we are all very blessed to have such wonderful fathers who love, care and support us. I know that I am so proud of Andrew for being a great father. He is so good with Eden. I love watching them interact.

So, to appreciate my wonderful husband we went out after church and ate with some friends from church.

After a great lunch that made us so full, we all were ready to go back home and take a nap. So, a nap is what we took.

After a refreshing nap Andrew and Eden went outside to water our droopy flowers.

This is the after affect.

Now, I know that this might look mean, you know Adnrew sparying Eden with a hose, but she truly thinks this is the funiest thing in the world.

While they played in the water I cooked dinner.
Ham, butter and onion potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and peas and carrots

It was a wonderful dinner I thought. I know Andrew seconds that.

Before I end this great Fathers day post I must not leave out Eden’s card to her daddy.



What a sweet little girl.

H2O Is Good!

I recently bought a small pool for Eden to play in, and let me just say, she loves it!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

No I don't always let my child drink the water, but if I told her no, I knew she would have kept on drinking. By the way she was fine at the end. She did get a little water up her nose but she was fine and dandy and continued to play.

Stay tuned for new pictures of our slightly new looking house.

We are finally back in!!!

Happy Anniversary

Old Main was where our big day took place 2 years ago

My sweet husband who I love dearly and will continue to love the rest of my life

Our Sweet Family

The Bridal Party


This was taken right after we saw each other for the first time.
I had butterflies in my stomach.

Taking a little stroll
Our first kiss as husband and wife in the rain.
Our first dance. (It was to "You and I" by Michael Buble)

A great ending to a magical night. That was one day I would play over and over again if I could.

Rain and all!


It has now been two years since we were married. I can proudly say that I am as happy now as I was then. Andrew has been an amazing husband. He has truly taken care of me in every way possible and I am so thankful for that. As I am writing this, I am replaying all the memories we have made together over the past two years.

We have been through different trials in our marriage some tough others not so much, but as a husband and wife we stuck together. We’ve encouraged each other, held each others hands, and communicated through those tough times.
Marriages most defiantly have their frustrating moments, if they didn’t this world would be perfect.
I can truly say we have had our frustrating moments with each other, but that’s just small stuff, stuff that’s just silly to get in a tizzy about. You want to know what we do in frustrating moments?

We keep on loving each other and do better the next time, just a little tip.
....................................................................................

Now, I would like to reminisce for a few minutes about things that have taken place with in our two years of marriage. I’m doing this one for my sake and two because I didn’t get to do this the first year due to a lot of things that I will explain below. So feel free to just mosey on, or stay and share some memories with me.

We were married June 1, 2007 on a Friday. The wedding was outside in the front of Old Main on the UofA campus.

After the wedding and reception which was at the Springdale Country Club. Andrew and I made our way to James at the Mill at quaint hotel in the heart of Johnson, Arkansas.

The next day we were off to our honeymoon in Destin, Florida, were we stayed for a week.

Soon after our honeymoon we made it back to Springdale, where we packed up all our things and headed to Searcy, AR to live so I could finish school.

Not to long after we moved back to Searcy we were presented with, as I like to say it, A GREAT blessing (you could also say it was a BIG surprise) which was baby Eden.

Once we got over the surprised part, we worked together to figure out a plan to bring our sweet baby into this world, by being able to provide for her every need; because not only were we trying to support ourselves we had a third person to think about now. Let me just say my maturity level jumped up a great deal.

After a lot of conversing between Andrew and I. We both decided it would be in our families best interest for Andrew to join the DPS with the state of Texas.

To make a long story short Andrew was hired on and left for training for 6 months in Sep of 07.
I stayed in Searcy to finish up my senior Fall year and then moved back to Springdale to live with my parents, while Andrew was in Austin, TX.

March 21 of 08 Andrew came home from recruit school not because he was finished but because I was to be induced March 23.

Forget about being induced Eden was ready to come a little early and I started having painful back contractions early Saturday morning. These contractions lasted 41 hours until the hospital said I was ready to come in.

I checked in to Willow Creek Womans Hospital Sunday March 23, 2008. I got my wonderful epidural and was ready to have Eden.

Eden graced this world with her presence around 6:30, weighing 7lbs 12ozs and hitting the height marker at 21 ½ inches long.

The next day Andrew had to go back to Austin, TX to graduate form recruit school.

I stayed in the hospital Sunday night and Monday night and went back to my parents house with our brand new baby Tuesday morning

Andrew finally returned home on Friday after graduating first in his class.

We worked together and learned a lot about being parents the first two weeks.

Finally it was time to move to Texas after a two week break for Andrew.
Both our families helped us move into a temporary home in DeKalb, which was also a blessing for us.

We lived in the country (as I would call it, because we were so far away from everything), for four months while looking for a permanent home.

During that time Andrew and I celabrated our 1st Anniversary. We were able to take a trip to Branson just me and him.

My parents celabrated their 40th Ruby anniversary. June the 3rd. A party was held in their honor.

We found our permanent home the end of July and closed on it the beginning of August. We are now proud home owners!

Grandma and Grandpa Everhart come and visit us not to long after we moved in.

August through October flies by and in the mean time Eden is growing like a weed and has started to crawl and has cut 2 teeth

Eden also had her first Halloween and dressed up like a poodle and looked so precious. (I don’t really like poodles but that’s the only costume I could find that was halfway cute.)

November came quickly and we had our first Thanksgiving as a family at Andrew’s parents.

Next was Christmas and I was so excited to decorate! My parents came down for Christmas and spent Christmas day and the rest of the weekend with us.

Before we knew it, it was time to ring in the New Year. For this special occasion Andrew’s parents, sister, Mark & Renee, and g-ma & g-pa Venable came to visit.

The day they left Eden started walking, the first week in January @ 9 months.

MyBest Friend Hannah got engaged

Eden celebrated her first Valentines day and received several stuffed animals

My Best Friend Addy got engaged

March came way to quick just like every month does, and Eden turned the BIG
O-N-E!

May 9th Megan my sister in-law graduated from Harding University

That same night our house flooded. Thank goodness for flood insurance and good friends that took us in for a few days. (We are still waiting for our floors to be put down so we can move back in.)

It is now June the first 2009 and I have successfully shared all of our two year highlighted memories with you.

Now it’s time for some much needed sleep.

I'm 14 months old

Eden you are now 14 months old and my how much you have grown.
What have you been doing lately?

For one I’ve been talking a lot! You can only understand words like: ball, baby, go, mama, dada and few others but I am trying to talk in sentences. I know what I’m trying to say.

I am on the go all the time. I rarely stop for a break.

I take two naps a day and sleep 10 to 11 hours at night.

I love talking to people everywhere I go. What can I say I’m a friendly person.

I LOVE bath time still. If I could I’d stay in the tub all day.

My favorite place to be is outside. I love going on walks, riding in my pink car, playing at the park, throwing my ball, and chasing dogs.

I would have to say I’ve been throwing more fits lately. I understand the meaning of No because I shake my head no when I know I’m doing something bad. I do my best to listen to my parents, but what can I say I’m only 14 months old.

Another favorite thing I love to do is eat. (Just like my mom) I’ll try just about anything. One thing I know for certain I don’t like is milk. (Mommy’s trying to help me like it though).

My motor skills are pretty good (Not to brag). I can match my shapes to their proper slots with a little help from mommy.

I really enjoy taking things out of bags, drawers, or where ever there are things for me to take items out of. I’m also good at putting things back on occasion.

I love giving kisses and hugs!!!

I also love my baby dolls. I like to feed them, rock them, take them for walks, and give them their Passy when they get cranky.

This is me at 14 months.

Cinna-Burritos and The Horny Chair

First off, let me say that this post is being written by Whit Bit's amazing, wonderful husband. One of our friend's is a manager at the local Ta Molly's. Now, they have the best dessert ever, called a Cinn-A-Molly (I'm not sure how they spell it, but this seems correct). Well anyway, I thought that if this small Cinn-A-Molly was good, a bigger one would be better. I told my buddy about my idea, and that they should call it the Cinn-A-Burrito. Not as catchy as the Cinn-A-Molly, but it serves the purpose. Well, last Friday night we ate at TaMolly's, which is always a good choice. And it just so happened that my good friend was managing that night. He stopped by our table and said, "Hey Andrew, I"ve been working on that Cinn-A-Burrito for you." I laughed and told him that I had given up on that idea, but I would come up with something great to add to the menu, or I would open up a competing Tex-Mex joint across the street named "Tia-Molly's". So, we continued to eat, and that's when it happened. The waiter brought out desert plates with two Cinn-a-Molly's and one giant Cinn-a-Burrito, or at least a Cinn-a-chimichanga. Words cannot describe the joy that was in my heart. So, I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Incredible!! It was great to see something in real life that you thought would never exist. It's like meeting Sasquatch. Something you never expect, but once you've expierenced it you're never the same.

Which brings me to my next item of discussion. This also requires a little back story to understand the true meaning of the Horny chair. About five years ago, my grandparents moved to the Northwest Arkansas Metroplex city of Springdale. One of thier neighbors was 91 years old Ethel Preston. As time went on, my grandparents, and eventually my family adopted Ethel as our Great-Great Grandmother. She came to our wedding and was included as family. She also got to hold our little bit when she was a tiny little baby. Believe it or not, that was the first baby Ethel had held. Well, anyway, one Thanksgiving we were gathered at my Grandparent's home, and we needed some extra chairs. Ethel quickly rose to the occasion, not literally because she was 94, but was willing to let us borrow some of her folding chairs. So, my brothers and I marched over to her house, and grabbed a couple chairs each. While in her home, I noticed a chair sitting in one of the corners. It was literally made of horns. I was in disbelief. It was the single, ugliest, piece of furniture I had ever seen, but at the same time it was marvelous!! I could not believe that Ethel had been hiding that chair from the world for the last 40 years. Well, fast forward to the present. Sadly, Ethel passed away a few weeks ago. While sad, she did make some comments about her last few years were some of her happiest because she got to feel like part of a family. My parents and grandparents sat with her until she passed on. I'm not sure how this years holiday gatherings will be without her, but we'll make the best of it. Anyway, Ethel made the choice to leave everything in her home to my grandparents, minus the jewlery and money which she gave to chairty (mainly the Jones Center, at least I think that's where it went). She spent a lot of time there volunteering. Well, prior to the great flood, my grandparents announced that there was only one place for a chair with horns, TEXAS! I was floored. The chair of my dreams was coming home!! The only question would be if Whitney would let me keep it. I felt like the kid who wanted the Red Ryder BB gun in the Christmas movie that everyone hates but still watches. I wanted the one thing nobody wanted in the house. Well, this last weekend we traveled home for a three-day mini-vacation. This was where I got to lay eyes back on the chair of destiny! I was able to convince Whitney that this horribly ugly chair had a place in our home. In fact, Whitney has even gotten excited about creating a "Western" room. So without furthur ado, I give you the Horny Chair!!!!!!!!!!

I know it needs to be recovered, it's an ugly 70's green. I'm thinking we need to cover it in cowhide. It might make the horny chair look a little better.

Hope... Are you out there?

As I sit in my un-flooded but really messy house (messy is an understatement right now), several things go through my head.

One, will this mess be cleanable? There is dust everywhere do to the fact that we are taking up our tile floor in the living room. Cough Cough! Maybe I should have a dusting party when all these shenanigans are over with.

Second, I started painting the kitchen this beautiful red that Elizabeth helped me pick out. It was looking really good till it started peeling off the walls. After getting really frustrated and kicking the big blue beanbag that I got for Andrew when he was in College, which is now ruined due to it taking in a lot of water. I decided the walls can be fixed, but I’m not going to be the one to fix them. I think I might just call someone. It looks really bad!
(Life lesson number who knows when in doubt, just call someone)

Third the only thing getting me through this mess is my husband Andrew who is always giving me hugs saying, everything will work out just fine; my parents who stepped in to take care of Eden for a few days so we can get some things done, and all my blogging friends who leave comments checking in on us.

It’s so uplifting to know that people care and are willing to step in and help.