Life Lately

We went to the park over by AC Steere in Shreveport - If you live in the Shreveport area, have kids that like parks, and haven't been - I highly suggest you go! It's AWESOME! You can't go during school hours, because the school uses it. But seriously - its pure awesomeness! (little Kung Fu Panda reference there!)

Anyways - some big things are happening for us in May. In 2 weeks Jamon will have completed his Bachelors Degree in Psychology and Pre-Med. Exciting but just a baby step - med school next!

As for me - I was recently hired full-time at a local Kool Smiles office!
Even though this will end up being really long, I would like to share the whole story!

During April I worked as a temp on Thursdays for 5 weeks at a Kool Smiles office in Texarkana. The Office Manager there told me they were opening an office in Shreveport and that she would like to help me get a job there! I, of course, was like YES PLEASE! Ha ha Anyways, so I interviewed a few days later and felt really, really good about it! Jamon and I have been praying ( for about a year now! ha ha) That I would find a permanent position somewhere local and I felt really strongly that this was where I was going to be working.

The next Friday Jamon and I decided to drive to his Mom's house in Ben Wheeler, Texas and then go to the temple! His mom lives right off the highway about half-way to Dallas from Shreveport. On the way I decided to call Kool Smiles, since they said they would contact me by Wednesday. When I talked to the man who I was hoping would offer me the job - he instead said they hadn't found a second dentist and so they were only going to hire one hygienist. And that one hygienist wasn't going to be me. To say I was devastated would have been an understatement. I was driving,crying, and trying not to cry :) I told Jamon that my weekend was ruined and I just wanted to go home (We were about an hour out of Shreveport) Jamon - who happens to be very rational (good thing!) said we should keep going and that everything was going to be alright. I had my doubts. :)

Once we got into Tyler, Jamon suggested we stop at a park to let Molly get out of her seat and play for awhile before we met up with his Mom and siblings. I agreed and played with Molly on the slide and swings all puffy-eyed! I started to feel a little better, but still very stressed out!

We stayed at Jamon's Moms house that night, there was a big storm, and we lost power. Bleh. But we got up and made it to the 11:30 session. As soon as we stepped into the temple I felt the Spirit. Once the session started - I started crying. I was so overwhelmed with everything and I just had to give it all up. I knew that I had been relying too much on the "arm of man" (myself) and I needed to just be still and trust that my Father would take care of me and my family. We prayed a lot and felt that what we originally decided (about 3 years ago) was still what we needed to do. That I would work so Jamon could focus on school. I left feeling 150% better.

We left that night so we could make it back for Sunday's Stake meeting. All throughout the meeting I kept hearing the speakers talk about Heavenly Father's love for us. Again I felt the Spirit very strongly and knew that everything was going to work out.

Two days (TWO DAYS! How quick is that!) later I worked in Longview and after I got home we went to the Brownlee park so Molly could play some. I left my cell phone at home and when I got back there was a message from Kool Smiles. They had changed their minds and offered me a full time position (paying more than they had originally told me they would!) It was my miracle!

I cried and danced and prayed a very grateful prayer to my Heavenly Father.

I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us more than we can understand. I know that if we obeying his commandments, trying our hardest, and trusting Him; that he will ALWAYS bless us. He will bless us in ways that we don't expect and don't understand. I know that the Temple is the House of the Lord and when we go there we can be closer to Him than in any other place. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and understands every hurt, worry, and hard thing that we go through. He has suffered all for us and will take those burdens from us, if we only trust him. I love my Savior and am so very grateful for all He does for me.

Smiles!

David's first smile was March 22 ~ these were a few days later that I caught on camera!
Happy Boy!

Pretty Babies!

Over Easter we had the opportunity for my cousin's wife, who is an amazing photographer, to take some pictures of Molly and David! She just sent them to us and I am super excited to have some "real" pictures of the babies!

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This is David on top of an upside-down old john boat out at Merrimac - no worries - I am actually holding him up from the back side!

He didn't stay happy for very long - so these are the best two we got!
I LOVE these overalls and think it is a super sweet picture!

At this point in the afternoon Molly wasn't all to happy to be taking pictures . . . again!
What got her to smile? Talking about suckers and her Daddy!

Charissa (my cousin-in-law!) was taking pictures of my sister and cousin - Molly kept running into the picture! She wanted to pose here too!

She kept telling me it was "whinny" [windy!]

We tried to get a picture of the two of them together, but Molly wouldn't hold David- she would just push him over =( Maybe next time!

Thanks Charissa! They look great!

Easter

Okay - Since I was uploading pictures already I thought I would go ahead and upload from Easter!

Excuse the layout - I was trying something new!

On Saturday Mom, Ava, Molly, David, and I left for Winnsboro to stay the weekend with Nana! The plan was for Jamon and Dad to come up later that night - but Dad got sick and Jamon was exhausted after re-doing our roof, so they stayed home. :(

We had a great time though! We dyed Easter eggs, had the egg hunt, and got to spend some time with the fam!

Easter morning Molly got a big lollipop from the Easter Bunny and almost died until she got to eat it. . . . :)

While we dyed eggs she insisted on kissing quite a few of them - the end product being purplish-blue lips!

And during the egg hung she had to eat each piece of candy she found before she would look for another one - so we didn't get a whole lot of candy - oh darn . . .

David was super spoiled and got held by just about everyone over the weekend! The Easter Bunny left him a sucker for Molly to eat, some 2 month and older pacifiers, and a rattle toy!

I love spending holidays with all the fam and even though Jamon didn't get to make it (which made us very sad) we had a great time!

March!

March was a big month for us! Here is a little update!

After 20 loong months of waiting - Molly FINALLY has enough hair to do pig tails! I can't wait for it to get long enough for us to really "do" her hair!
Hopefully all the little old ladies in Wal - Mart will now know she is a GIRL! :)
So cute!

David is getting to be quite a cutie! At his 2 month appt he weighed 11 pounds 1 ounce and was 23.5 inches long! He did really well with the vaccinations and lucky for momma, Grandma Blood came to visit and loved on him all day! He was pretty cranky the rest of the day (I would be too!) It was great to have the extra set of hands so I could try to keep up with Ava and Molly!

As of last week he started smiling a lot, but I have yet to catch one on camera!

Molly has learned to open mascara! At least she knows it goes on your face!
I'm always telling people she's crazy and now I have the picture to prove it!
This is what she did when I told her to smile!

Jamon turned 26 on March 22! We ate homemade carrot cake to celebrate and he got the
laser-guided jig saw of his dreams. . . . . . :)

Ava turned 3 on March 20! We ate pizza; Molly and Ava decorated their very own cupcakes, and opened presents! It was a great party!

Molly really just wanted the icing off the top!

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and after many moons of trying I have finally decided to stick to a bed time routine for Molly! She is really a great sleeper, but I thought this might help her relax and fall asleep more quickly!

I have read a lot of articles that suggest giving your baby a bath every night before bed. That is way to much of a commitment for this momma! (We bathe Molly once a week whether she needs it or not! :) Anyways - so we decided putting on some lotion would be a good alternative for us! She smells good and enjoys getting squirts out of the lotion bottle!

After the lotion, we put on our pajamas and brush (and floss!) our teeth! This is by far Molly's favorite part of the night! I get to brush her teeth first, then it's Molly's turn, and then I floss her teeth! She is more cooperative with this part than I really thought she would be! She hates leaving the bathroom after we finish! She would sleep with her toothbrush if I would let her!

And last we go ready her scriptures together! She doesn't really listen, I think she just enjoys the rocking, but it's a start! She does like to look at the pictures! After we read, we say our prayers, give kisses to anyone who will take one, sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Popcorn Popping, turn on her music, turn off the lights, more kisses, and finally a sleepy little girl goes to bed! It's working pretty good for us so far and Molly enjoys her special time with us!

Easter pictures next!