Wednesday, March 02, 2011
What's in a name...
One thing I had secretly dreaded about having another boy was to come up with a name that Bobby and I BOTH loved. We already decided on a girls name YEARS ago that we both still adore, so that part seemed easy if that was what God chose to give us. When I heard boy, my mind immediately spun to his name and hasn't quit spinning until we finally decided this past weekend as we had some time together away. We decided on Brooks Haylor Qualls for our son. We both adore it. One of the things we love most about it is that it gives all THREE men in our family the same BHQ initials. I really believe that will be so special to them some day. Bobby has many engraved things that will be fun to pass on to BOTH sons and not just the one that bears his name. And of course, one of the sweetest things to me is that it gives this son the namesake of my precious Grumpies (Haylor) who you all know I adored. And Brooks will share the middle name Haylor with my precious brother and nephew. I just LOVE family names and names that bear meaning. So, we are SUPER excited for Brooks to make his arrival and to be able to pray for him, BY NAME. Now if we could just get this house built in time....
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Its a.....
For those of you that haven't heard via facebook, we found out unexpectedly Friday that we will have another SON in August! We are truly and absolutely thrilled. So many had asked what we wanted and we really were so blessed to be completely excited about either. Logistically, we knew a boy would be great due to he and Bo being so close in age and being born in the same season. We saved all our kids clothes for future children so it would have been SUCH a shame to have 200 tubs of girls clothes I couldn't use due to one being born in August and one in December! And we would love for them to share a room, which will work out so much better in the long run with our boys.
The kids came down with a VERY nasty bug, most likely the flu though we didn't swab them, and then later in the week, I caught it too. I think it would have missed me but I was so run down with being up with them through the night. It was all respiratory stuff with a high temp so after so much stress on my body, we checked to make sure this little one was okay....and he was! The finding out was SO unexpected. Abby Kate was the only one with me because we were up at our small hospital and Bobby was still at CLEET. AK did not hear her say it was for sure a boy so I rushed home to call Bobby and tell him (which was a few hours later due to him not getting a break until lunch). He told me to go ahead and tell Abby Kate, and my Mom was sitting there waiting to hear as well. Let me preface this by saying Abby Kate has been adamant this was a girl. She has refused to even think it may be another brother. So when I told her, I knew it was going to be hard but had NO CLUE how emotional it would be. She started to SOB, which caused me and my Mom to sob. She was SO SO heartbroken, which broke my heart into a million pieces. So my joy was dampened a bit in the beginning but after much talking and encouragement, she came around a few hours later. I told her how she was going to be our only princess, that we would have special Mom/Abby Kate trips and do fun girly things together, just us....while the boys stayed home with Daddy on the farm. She looked at me a few hours later with such a mischievous look on her face and said....
"Mom?" "There will now be 3 boys in our family and 2 girls. We HAVE to play tricks on them!"
That's my girl. A PERFECT big sister for two little brothers. I cannot wait to see how in love with him she will be! She said to me today, "Mom, I am going to love my new baby brother so much!" And she so will. And I can only dream of the kind of relationship he and Bo will have. We have already started praying SO SO hard.
We have it narrowed down to a few names we love. It feels weird this being the first child I knew the sex of but didn't know his name! Anxious to have that nailed down. CANNOT wait to meet our newest little man! We feel SO SO blessed.
The kids came down with a VERY nasty bug, most likely the flu though we didn't swab them, and then later in the week, I caught it too. I think it would have missed me but I was so run down with being up with them through the night. It was all respiratory stuff with a high temp so after so much stress on my body, we checked to make sure this little one was okay....and he was! The finding out was SO unexpected. Abby Kate was the only one with me because we were up at our small hospital and Bobby was still at CLEET. AK did not hear her say it was for sure a boy so I rushed home to call Bobby and tell him (which was a few hours later due to him not getting a break until lunch). He told me to go ahead and tell Abby Kate, and my Mom was sitting there waiting to hear as well. Let me preface this by saying Abby Kate has been adamant this was a girl. She has refused to even think it may be another brother. So when I told her, I knew it was going to be hard but had NO CLUE how emotional it would be. She started to SOB, which caused me and my Mom to sob. She was SO SO heartbroken, which broke my heart into a million pieces. So my joy was dampened a bit in the beginning but after much talking and encouragement, she came around a few hours later. I told her how she was going to be our only princess, that we would have special Mom/Abby Kate trips and do fun girly things together, just us....while the boys stayed home with Daddy on the farm. She looked at me a few hours later with such a mischievous look on her face and said....
"Mom?" "There will now be 3 boys in our family and 2 girls. We HAVE to play tricks on them!"
That's my girl. A PERFECT big sister for two little brothers. I cannot wait to see how in love with him she will be! She said to me today, "Mom, I am going to love my new baby brother so much!" And she so will. And I can only dream of the kind of relationship he and Bo will have. We have already started praying SO SO hard.
We have it narrowed down to a few names we love. It feels weird this being the first child I knew the sex of but didn't know his name! Anxious to have that nailed down. CANNOT wait to meet our newest little man! We feel SO SO blessed.
Friday, February 04, 2011
A whole mess of catching up!
The glasses have been a hit. THANK GOD! What a praise. I was SO nervous it would not be good investment but I truly believe they have been. He still takes them off occasionally, but NOTHING like his old ones. They are so lightweight I think he forgets they are on. I am counting on the 31 days to make a habit thing and maybe he will never take them off again! Isn't he SO SO SO handsome in them?
The beautiful weather pre-snow was SO SO SO wonderful and made me SO hungry for spring and our farm. We played outside for 4 straight hours and only went inside for supper. BRING ON THE WARM WEATHER! I miss it so! I loved the pics of Abby Kate and Bo in their jeep. They just love each other so stinking much. Most the time he is so busy but every morning he runs to her as if he hasn't seen her in a year and screams SISSSSSYYYY!!!! and gives her the biggest hug ever. My heart overflows. I cannot wait to add number three!!!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Updates...
I really feel like this month has been a blur. I have no idea how it is almost February. I literally have taken no pictures. Not. A. One. I really should get a bad Mom award. I spent the majority of the month throwing up, seeing as we are expecting child #3. Most of you know that I think. So this will be a modpodge of updates, mostly to help me remember what went on with my precious kiddos this month.
First off, telling Abby Kate that she was going to have another brother or sister was one of the funnest nights of my life. She is so giddy and absolutely convinced it is a girl. She refuses to call the baby anything but "she." Because I am considered high risk, she went with me when they did an early ultrasound (7 weeks) and was so cute and excited. She showed the pictures to everyone as we exited the doctors office. And my sweet brother scanned me last weekend and she got to see it too and exclaimed, "look how big she has gotten!" And the sweet one sucked his/her thumb and moved all around for us and every time he/she did something new, she cried "OHHHH! How SWEEEEET!" I really could not ask for a more perfect or precious firstborn.
We went for our eye check-up which I asked to be moved up. Bo has refused to wear his glasses since he began walking. As I understood it last time, I needed to try to keep them on him but if he wouldn't wear them, he would eventually see that he desperately needed them and would keep them on. I think this is easy when they are older. We have had NO problem with Abby Kate. And she has corrected so quickly. Both of them have astigmatism. Bo's is more severe than Abby Kate's. His vision is worse too but both of them have a dominant eye. In this case, you have to strengthen the weak eye which we did with Abby Kate by patching after she had worn her glasses for 6 months with little improvement. After the patching, which we did for 4 months, her eyes seemed to correct quickly. This appointment, she had 20/20 for the first time with her glasses. We were thrilled! She is very responsible and has been SO good at wearing them all the time. She never fights me.
Bo, on the other hand jerks them off the second I put them on him. I could hold his hands down and try to get him distracted but the second my hands moved, it was seconds and he had them pulled off. Most of you have seen the pictures of his glasses. They are adorable and VERY durable. Perfect for a baby. But they have not fit him well since the beginning. They have a strap and his ears have always folded down when he wears them. I am sure this is annoying to him. He also has his Daddy's super-duper long eyelashes so they also are being smashed seeing as these particular frames have no nose piece. They rest right against the face. So I am not sure if it is his head size and shape or what but they don't seem to fit well.
But Bo's eye started turning in when he was tired. It wasn't super noticeable but I noticed he couldn't bring it to mid-line when he was sleepy. It then began watering all the time. Their sweet opthamologist got us in and we got very hard news with him. His vision had moved into the severe range. He literally is seeing very little. He is compensating, but my sweet Daddy and OT SIL both reminded me of how important vision was in preventing learning disabilities. Just another added urgency. SOOOO, we decided to invest in a very expensive pair of glasses for him. We are praying this was a wise decision. They are a frame that is so lightweight you barely know they are on. They have a cable arm that loops around his ear and they are custom fitting the lens and frame to fit him perfectly. Because his prescription is so strong, they are also specially making the lens to be as thin as possible. The frames are rimless so he looks like SUCH a little man. Please pray with us that he will wear them with little or no resistance and that his vision will begin improving immediately. I know God can heal ALL things and I just pray my children's vision will be restored fully.
And sweet Bo has finally dropped down to one nap and has stopped waking at the crack of dawn, which is a GIANT blessing for this tired Momma! Abby Kate is still loving school and thriving and learning a ton. She has been fascinated lately with learning (at home) about the Devil and more about Jesus. She has asked us literally thousands of questions and is SO curious about good and evil. It has made for such interesting and GOOD discussion!
I will leave you with a prayer Abby Kate said last week that made her sweet Daddy and I roll and tear up at the same time,
"Sweet Jesus, we want to bless your name. We want to baptize you. We love you Jesus. And we love all the people in the world. Even the bad guys. Amen"
First off, telling Abby Kate that she was going to have another brother or sister was one of the funnest nights of my life. She is so giddy and absolutely convinced it is a girl. She refuses to call the baby anything but "she." Because I am considered high risk, she went with me when they did an early ultrasound (7 weeks) and was so cute and excited. She showed the pictures to everyone as we exited the doctors office. And my sweet brother scanned me last weekend and she got to see it too and exclaimed, "look how big she has gotten!" And the sweet one sucked his/her thumb and moved all around for us and every time he/she did something new, she cried "OHHHH! How SWEEEEET!" I really could not ask for a more perfect or precious firstborn.
We went for our eye check-up which I asked to be moved up. Bo has refused to wear his glasses since he began walking. As I understood it last time, I needed to try to keep them on him but if he wouldn't wear them, he would eventually see that he desperately needed them and would keep them on. I think this is easy when they are older. We have had NO problem with Abby Kate. And she has corrected so quickly. Both of them have astigmatism. Bo's is more severe than Abby Kate's. His vision is worse too but both of them have a dominant eye. In this case, you have to strengthen the weak eye which we did with Abby Kate by patching after she had worn her glasses for 6 months with little improvement. After the patching, which we did for 4 months, her eyes seemed to correct quickly. This appointment, she had 20/20 for the first time with her glasses. We were thrilled! She is very responsible and has been SO good at wearing them all the time. She never fights me.
Bo, on the other hand jerks them off the second I put them on him. I could hold his hands down and try to get him distracted but the second my hands moved, it was seconds and he had them pulled off. Most of you have seen the pictures of his glasses. They are adorable and VERY durable. Perfect for a baby. But they have not fit him well since the beginning. They have a strap and his ears have always folded down when he wears them. I am sure this is annoying to him. He also has his Daddy's super-duper long eyelashes so they also are being smashed seeing as these particular frames have no nose piece. They rest right against the face. So I am not sure if it is his head size and shape or what but they don't seem to fit well.
But Bo's eye started turning in when he was tired. It wasn't super noticeable but I noticed he couldn't bring it to mid-line when he was sleepy. It then began watering all the time. Their sweet opthamologist got us in and we got very hard news with him. His vision had moved into the severe range. He literally is seeing very little. He is compensating, but my sweet Daddy and OT SIL both reminded me of how important vision was in preventing learning disabilities. Just another added urgency. SOOOO, we decided to invest in a very expensive pair of glasses for him. We are praying this was a wise decision. They are a frame that is so lightweight you barely know they are on. They have a cable arm that loops around his ear and they are custom fitting the lens and frame to fit him perfectly. Because his prescription is so strong, they are also specially making the lens to be as thin as possible. The frames are rimless so he looks like SUCH a little man. Please pray with us that he will wear them with little or no resistance and that his vision will begin improving immediately. I know God can heal ALL things and I just pray my children's vision will be restored fully.
And sweet Bo has finally dropped down to one nap and has stopped waking at the crack of dawn, which is a GIANT blessing for this tired Momma! Abby Kate is still loving school and thriving and learning a ton. She has been fascinated lately with learning (at home) about the Devil and more about Jesus. She has asked us literally thousands of questions and is SO curious about good and evil. It has made for such interesting and GOOD discussion!
I will leave you with a prayer Abby Kate said last week that made her sweet Daddy and I roll and tear up at the same time,
"Sweet Jesus, we want to bless your name. We want to baptize you. We love you Jesus. And we love all the people in the world. Even the bad guys. Amen"
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Christmas....
Abby Kate is crazy about her cousins. Literally, each one. Kourtney is her idol. Liv is the "Cutest thing she has ever seen" and then Luke has become SO special to her too. She just "loves him SO SO much!" She wants to hold him ALL the time when we are together!
Christmas jammies!
Um, strong much? This pic scared me to death. I was just waiting for Bo to wallop Luke on the head.
With Aunt Krista
We had a WONDEFUL time with our family this Christmas. These last few pics are of our time with B's family and we went to look at a nearby town square the looked straight out of the movies! It was so magical and the kids LOVED it (me too!). It was FREEZING but such fun memories singing Christmas carols on the way down and just being together!
We really had so much fun this year. I definitely want to be more intentional next year with things that will keep the focus more on Jesus. But overall, it was so special and being together was SUCH a precious gift. Having Daddy gone all week has been tough so getting uninterrupted time was so wonderful!
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Making sugar cookies with Sweecie!
School Christmas pics
Singing at her Christmas program
With class at program
At Christmas party
Making reindeer food
Making her gingerbread house
Ornament exchange
Bubby watching and playing
We have been MORE than thrilled with Abby Kate's school this year. She has THRIVED and to think, I drug my feet like crazy about putting her anywhere this year. I knew all day, every day was not right for us but she goes 3 days a week for 3 hours and it has been PERFECT. She has absolutely loved every second and is so sad the days she doesn't go. We feel so blessed that God has provided such a special place for her to learn, most importantly, more about Him!
She had a PRECIOUS Christmas program on Monday and we all got to go. Daddy was home, Neannie, Pop and Sweecie all took off to come. It was so fun and special to watch her and see how excited she was about her grandparents being there. Yet another reason I am SO thankful we are now close to family! And her Christmas party was SO fun! They did so many fun activities and she left just more excited about Christmas!
Thursday, December 09, 2010
She's FIVE!
How in the world is my BABY five years old?!!! We have spent the last few days constantly hearing, "M-ooom, I can do that now, because I am 5." Lets just say she is 5 going on 15. We had SUCH fun celebrating her and will finish this weekend. Last year we gave her the option to have a party at home or go to a hotel for a night with her Daddy and I. She chose the hotel and we had a BALL eating pizza and junk food and swimming. B and I both had winter birthdays so we remembered how fun it is to swim in the middle of winter! We gave her the same option this year and she chose the hotel again. We are super excited!
We got to go to Neannie and Pop's last weekend for a thanksgiving/Christmas/birthday celebration and had a wonderful time with the whole fam! Abby Kate loved every single second of it!
The day of her birthday, we celebrated with birthday doughnuts, a cake party at school and then Sweecie let her chose what she wanted for supper and she wanted to make her own pizza, which she did with perfection! We then ordered Mazzios Oreo Pizza (another one of our favs) for dessert. It was a FULL, FUN day!
We literally are amazed at this child. She is one of the most observant people I have ever met. She drinks in EVERY detail of life. She loves people. She is interested in everything (asking why no less than 5 million times a day). She has an amazing imagination. She is witty. She laughs a lot. She makes the best, most expressive expressions. She is earnest. She is kind. She is a perfectionist. She has a VERY strong will. She loves adventure. She has a constantly working brain. She is very sensitive. She truly is an amazing creation!
Answers to fun questions at 5~
Favorite color: Pink and purple
Favorite food: (Eating Out) Taco Bell, (Home) Spaghetti and garlic bread
Favorite Toy: Still in love with her bunny (who is a brownish gray now and simply worn out) and she said her books
Favorite Song: Proud Mary, Glee version
We could not be more humbled to be entrusted with Abby Kate. Father, please parent her through us. Grow her into a woman of intense character. May she reflect YOUR glory and find her worth and identity in You alone. Please let her be head over heels in love with You and Your Word. Please harness her will and quench any rebellious spirit that may arise within her. May she constantly surrender to Your Lordship in her life. Continue to give her a sensitive heart. Please protect her beautiful innocence. May she see the world through Your eyes, feel with Your heart and speak with Your words. Thank you Father for giving us such an amazing gift. We are so unworthy...
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