Hannah's Hope

No More "Baby Jude"....

2011-03-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

It looks like it's going to be big brother Jude! We are expecting again and are so excited about it. I'm due in November, So I have a long way to go. Hopefully this one will fly by. We have been really busy and have a very busy summer planned, so I think that it will. I have been working more too, so that helps time go by.

I broke the news to my family in a cute way this time. In the past I have just called them and told them that we were expecting but this time I ordered some cute shirts for the boys. This is what Jude's looked like. On the front it says "I have a secret...". I went to my mom's work and let Jude and Carter walk in first, and I told my mom to look at Jude's new shirt and of course she screamed. She is pretty excited too. My siblings are all very excited to being Aunts and Uncles x 3.

We have all be sick a lot lately, so we are very much ready for some warm sunny days around here so we can all get to feeling better, but we are having some good family time from it.

Leaves and Trees

2010-12-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

LOVE

Play

The

Leaves

And

The

Trees.

How

Bout

You?

We have so much fun! I love my boys.

Fun Stuff We Like to Do

2010-11-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

We love the state fair.....

We love cold weather...

We love trains...

We love Corndogs...

We love cousins...

We love cousins who eat corndogs...

We love powdered sugar...

on beignets...

We ~~love~~ don't love babywearing very much...hah!

We love wearing our Sunday winter coats...

We love birthday parties...

with lots of dirt...

We love hard hats...

and dirty friends...

We love brothers...

We love friends that ride on toys...

We love bikes even though we're too small for them.

We love Holidays and the fun that they bring!!

First Engagement Shoot

2010-11-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

I have been a horrible blogger these past few months, but I have been working on getting my Photography business going right now. Here is a fun photo shoot that was my first engagement shoot. I was very please with the results. Hope that you enjoy them. This couple actually wasn't engaged at the beginning of the shoot, but by the end they were. It was a complete surprise.

I enjoyed have the privilege of capturing one of the most important important events in their lives.

Far Too Long

2010-07-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

I know, it has been so long since I have posted, but we are just loving the summer around here and I just haven't found the time to post about it. LOL. We have been playing in fountains, sliding down slides, playing at the beach, having VBS, going on family vacations, trying to potty train, doing Bible studies, mowing the yard, well, I haven't been mowing, but you know. Rearranging furniture, celebrating birthdays, doing photoshoots, and the list goes on. There you go, now you are caught up. HAH!

Time is just flying. I cannot believe that August is here and my baby is going to be a year old next month. So hard to believe. Time to start thinking about another one. LOL. I'm trying to hold off till spring, though, so we will see. Lord willing, we will be blessed with many more little souls to train up.

Well, hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. We will be heading out to the Hough family vacation next week, so it should be fun and excited with all the cousins running around. I will be sure to post pictures when we get back

My dad is buying me a used piano tomorrow and I am so excited. Casey and my dad are going to pick it up tomorrow. I can't contain my joy. This will be my first piano to have in either of my houses, and I can start to play again. I played for so many years and it has been sad to not have one to play. I can't wait.

Photo Session with Jude

2010-06-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some of pictures from the photo shoot my sister and I did of Jude at 9 months old.

I just love this age. They are so sweet, cuddly, and cooperative. Hah!!!

This is one of my favorites. I printed this one and need to go and buy some fun frames

Love this one too

And this....

My sweet sweet baby Boy!

I'm taking more and more pictures and am having a blast doing it. I'm hopefully going to do a fun photo shoot with a friend soon.

Slip 'N Slide

2010-04-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

Slip

Slide

Season

Here!!

Go out and buy your own tarp and slide and slip till your hearts content. :-)

Dream Bedroom

2010-03-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

When we first moved into this house we took the bedroom that had the bathroom attached, but it was the smaller of the two bedrooms upstairs. Our bedroom was blah, unexciting, and downright depressing. So, we decided to switch rooms with Carter so that we could have a larger bedroom. When we first got married our family loaned us some master bedroom furniture. It was nice, but not what we wanted. We wanted to have a king size bed for the whole family to fit in. :-) I ordered some bedding for the new bed a few months ago, but we had not bought a bedroom suit yet. I was shopping around and price matching and trying to find the best deal, but still get something that we would both like. One night when I was browsing on craigslist I found an Ashley bedroom suit for 2000 dollars that included a king size bed, a dress, two side tables, and a vera wang pillow top mattress. I was interested in it, but we were not able to do it at the time. A few weeks later the price had dropped some and I talked to Casey about it and we decided that we would make a lower offer and see if they accepted. I sent the owner a message and said that I had 1400 dollars cash if she would take it. She sent me a message back and said it was a deal. I was so excited, but didn't quite know what to think. I hadn't even seen the furniture except for a few small pictures. Casey went on Saturday to pick it up and it turned out to be wonderful and in great condition.

Mom and I wanted to paint the room and really make a statement with the color. We went and picked out some paint and a glaze to go over it. We brought it home, painted one wall and decided that it wasn't going to work. We took the paint back and got our money back, which was pretty amazing, because Lowe's doesn't usually give money back for tinted paint. We decided to go with another option and went straight home to get to painting, because we only had two days to finish before Casey brought the furniture.

Here's the beginning of the makeover

The first color that was oh so bad!

More mess

Tada!!

The new pretty glazed walls

Love it!! Such a cozy oasis!

Mom is such a wonderful designer. Didn't we do well?

My new chair that my mom got me for my birthday. I love it

Just makes me want to go take a nap, as if I need more encouragement to take a nap. :-)

Well, I think that it turned out so well. It is a perfect Indian/Boho oasis and we love it. Hope you enjoyed the process. I know I'm just glad that it's done. From start to finish it took 5 days. Pretty good, huh?

Well, hope you have a great week. Lord bless you.

The View From Here

2010-03-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

We went to the park as a family the other day, actually, Sunday after church. We grabbed some icees and skittles and headed to the park. I had to bust out the camera and take some fun shots. I was trying to snap pictures from different angles than what I normally do. It was fun and I liked the way some of them turned out.

Here is my precious serious baby J.

A cool wind chime thingy

My precious big boy digging in the dirt

Baby J and Daddy

Baby J and Mommy

Carter riding on a turtle

So fun!

Climbing up to have some fun

Slides are fun

Jude's first ride down a slide!

Jude's second ride down the slide!

Chillin!

On the run!

I have so much to do today, so I better run on and get started. Have a great weekend everyone.

Not me Monday!!

2010-02-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

Happy February to everyone. I cannot believe that it is February already. I have a feeling that this year is going to fly by. This time last year I had just found out that I was pregnant and this year I have two precious little boys. The Lord is so good to us beyond what we deserve.

I love to do Not Me Mondays and I have a little down time this evening, so I'm going to throw one together real quick. Hope you enjoy and get some laughs and somehow in a sick way feel better about yourself through my shortcomings. :-)

I am most certainly NOT the mom that puts my infant in the bathtub everyday and proceeds to feed him his cereal so that we don't make a big mess everywhere and ruin his clothes in the process, nope not me.

When my sister stayed the night with me last week I definitely did not offer for her to use Carter's toothbrush instead of mine to brush her teeth. Nope, not me. That would be gross to make her use my son's tooth brush since we all know what two year olds put in their mouth- EVERYTHING! Nuuuhh!!!

Yesterday at church I did NOT give my son two desserts so that he would sit longer in the highchair and then send him to the nursery for the nursery workers to handle his sugar high. Nope Not me!

Last night at dinner, there is no way that I let my oldest son think his roast and potatoes were actually apples, so that he would eat them, because he hates carbs! Nope, not me!

If you want to do a not me Monday as well, go and link up to McMama's blog and join in on the fun.

I hope that everyone has a Happy Monday. I know that Mondays can be tough. Here is a picture of mischief makers that make my Mondays SOOOOO much better. :-)

My Little Snow Bunny

2010-01-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

I love...

...to see...

...this boy...

...in his...

...snow bunny...

...outfit...

Don't you?

As much as we do love to wear our snow bunny outfits we are definitely ready for some warm weather around here. I just had to share these pictures, because I thought they were pretty precious. Hope you enjoy. :-)

Should we name him Rufus?

2010-01-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I hope that you all had a wonderful new year. I know that we did. We have gotten to hang out a lot with friends and family and that is so much fun. I have really enjoyed having my husband all to myself as well, with NO school. I only have two more weeks of this, so I'm going to try enjoy every minute of it.

The most exciting thing that has been going on is that we have a new rodent, I mean pet. I want you to try to picture this with me. Sometime last week when we got home in the evening I went into the kitchen and turned on the light and shrieked. This is what went through my head "It's a rat! No it's not a rat. It has hair on it's tail. It's a mouse! No, it's not a mouse, it's a squirrel. Oh my it's a flying squirrel!" So, I ran out of the kitchen and jumped on the couch with Carter and sent Casey in. I gave Casey a box and told him NOT TO KILL IT, but try to catch it and we would put it outside. I then here Casey screaming as well. The squirrel and evaded him, run over his foot, ran straight through the living room where Carter and I were perched on the couch and ran up the chimney. Needless to say, we were all a little shook up. Then began to laugh at how scared the squirrel must have felt. Since then he has come out several times to say hi and we have tried to catch him to no avail. He is very sneaky. We have tried to chase him out the door with a broom, block the chimney while another person chases him out. It never works. He always makes it back up the chimney. We figure he lives up there. We thought at first that maybe he was stuck and needed food, so we left bits of food which he sneakily retrieved. I don't think he's stuck at all. I think he is very happy with his new home. I talked to someone at work about it and she brought me a little live trap to catch him. This is what it looks like before we all go to bed.

And this is what it looks like in the morning. No acorns, No squirrel, and the trap unsprung.

This is not an actual picture of our new "pet". We have been too busy running from him or trying to catch him, but this is what he looks like.

So it appears that we have a new pet until he decides to find a new home. Hope you all get a laugh from my silly story and if anyone has any non killing, squirrel catching tips let us know.

Lord bless, Hannah

Not me! Monday

2009-12-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

So, last week was Christmas week and I had a wonderful time with family and friends, and I hope you all did as well. Christmas pictures will be coming soon. So stay tuned...

When I would go out and run errands last week, no I did NOT tell my son I was getting more "pessants" so he wouldn't fuss when I left.

No, I definitely did not take a present to my in-laws that my son had semi-unwrapped in it's pitiful state. Nope, not me!!

I most certainly did not take my 3 month old son to a 10:30 pm movie on Christmas night because I wanted to have a little fun. And there's no way that I wore my pjs to afore mentioned movie. Not Me!!

When we got home from Christmas my husband and I most certainly did not hide my older son's gifts, because we didn't want to put them together yet. What horrible parents--Not us!

My husband has been out of school for about a week now, and I have been wanting to have some good hang out time with him, but he loves to read all the time and there is absolutely no way that I would ask him not to read for a few days, so that he would spend time with me. That's so selfish- Not Me!!

I got photoshop CS4 for Christmas and I would surely not neglect my children, because I want to play around and learn all kind of cool stuff. No, Not Me!!

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my Not Me post this week. This is the first one that I have done and I will try to do more in the future. If you also would like to do a Not Me! Monday post just follow this link to McMama's Blog and join in the fun.

In Christ, Hannah

Tackiest Christmas Ever

2009-12-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

We had a tacky sweater Christmas party this past week and it was so fun. I think that everyone that came had a wonderful time. I (plus my sister and mom) made chicken spaghetti, salad, and french bread and we had all kind of desserts. Last year we did a gingerbread decorating contest and everyone loved it so we did it again this year. Here are some pictures of our tackiness for you all to enjoy.

These are some of our precious high school girls

This is Heather getting rejected by Carter. Hah!

Here are Casey and Stephen and Heather being goofy

Here my second sister Hope with her boyfriend, Corey

Shannon and AJ

Charlie and Elizabeth

Hope and Emily

My mom and dad

Ivy and Elizabeth

Stephen and Morgan

Joseph and Stephen being TOO friendly

They 80s are back!

And here is one supremely tacky family

The best one of the four of us and Jude is spitting up all over the place. Gross. The story of my life. :-)

Lovely ladies

This just cracks me up.

Making gingerbread houses

My dad made yummy lattes for everyone. They were so good! Better than starbucks if you ask me

Love you daddy! What a good sport you are

This is the double wide Christmas trailer in the making

This is what Carter looked like at the end of the evening. This poor kid. Does he even have a mother?

The three teams' houses. The winner was the Wood's house. Tiger Woods to be exact. It was pretty funny. It's the one all the way to the right. The lovely blond there in front had a bat.

Well, that was our fun this week. I'm enjoying my clean house and Christmas decorations and sweet boys. Casey has finals this next week, so I am definitely looking forward to some quality time with him. He's my best friend and I miss him. :-) Good thing we get to spend the rest of our lives together.

Hope yall had a great week as well.

God bless, Hannah

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

2009-12-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas is here already. The years seem to be flying by. This year I get to celebrate with three boys. I'm extremely outnumbered, but no worries. I'm pretty spoiled!. I have been Christmas shopping like a mad woman this year, primarily on the internet, and I just love it. It is so easy and I can spend way too much money very fast. Hah!!

I wanted to post a few pictures of my house that is all pretty and decorated for Christmas. We are having a Christmas party at our house for the first time since we have lived in this house, so it's exciting and I want the house to be beautiful and festive.

This is my centerpiece on my table

This is on the sideboard in the kitchen

This is my big helper hard at work

(eating his peanut butter)

My other big helper

This week we have two Christmas parties, so this is a fun time. I have to go and find a tacky sweater for our Christmas party, so that should be fun. I will be sure to put pictures up.

I have so much to be thankful for this season. I have such a wonderful family, wonderful kids, a husband that puts up with all of my imperfections, and a savior who loves me unconditionally. Most of all this season we need to remember that we are celebrating Christ's birth. Christmas is not in the Bible, but the birth of Christ is and we can celebrate Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection. So, let's not get too caught up in all the shopping and getting of gifts, let's slow down and contemplate the true reason for the season. We all have so much to be thankful for. The Lord is so gracious and merciful to us, far beyond what we could think or deserve. He is the one and only GIFT that anyone could need or want. The gift of life everlasting.

^{John 6:35-40}³⁵Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Lord bless, Hannah

Blues and Jazz Festival Outreach

2009-11-16T08:10:00.000-08:00

Last year we had a booth at the local Blues and Jazz festival and we sold beignets 3 for a dollar, so this year we decided to do it again. It was a lot of fun and we made a lot of beignets. We would have just given the beignets away, but you have to sell something to have a booth, so we just sold them for a dollar and they were a huge hit. We actually had people from New Orleans say that they were awesome and come back for more, so we were pretty excited about that. I spent most of my time back in the booth making beignets, but it looked like people were having good conversations with people. We used it as an opportunity to get out in our church community to share the gospel.

Here are some of our guys hanging out. You can actually see our church in the background of this one. Our church is the red one behind the first guy (AJ) in this pic.

Here is Bro Paul and Joseph setting up the tables

Here are Casey and Russell. Casey is my wonderful husband who headed up the whole venture

Our booths

Casey took a few pictures of the band that was playing

There were so many people there. I heard the number 6000 mentioned. It was a great turn out

Here is my precious babe just hanging out. He has such a serious look, but so cute. He's going to be our thinker. LOL

Here are Joe and Caleb jamming some blues

Here is a shift frying the beignets. That's me, Hope (my sister) and Zive

Here is Russell (the flamewatcher) and Meagan, a fryer

Here is Heather, Hilly, and Holly, two of my sisters and my mom

Here is Stephen sharing the gospel with a guy

Casey's parents came to hang out and get some baby boy lovin

She just eats it up!

Yummy!!

Overall, I think that we had a great day. We will continue to pray that the word of the Lord would go forth and that people would be saved. We just know that there is about to be a revival in our church neighborhood. We are seeking the Lord and giving him no rest until he Blesses us!

Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Hannah

2009-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have a funny story for you. Carter's birthday was on the 30th of last month and we were going to have a birthday party later on with my family, so on his actual birthday we just let him open presents. I was a bad mom and I didn't make a cake, but I thought it would be fun to go and get ice cream and let Carter pick what he wanted in it. We went to marble slab. I asked him if he wanted strawberry ice cream and gummy bears and sprinkles and of course he said yes. So here is Daddy paying for his ice ice cream.

There were some nice people in line that were talking about how cute Carter was and smiling at him. So, when he got his ice cream he was really excited and proceeded to dig in! Looks yummy doesn't it?

Here is is getting ready for the first bite.

...wait for it, wait for it...

Well, let me tell you what happened next. He took a bite and started chewing. Well, apparently gummy bears cause Carter to gag. So as soon as he swallowed the first bite he vomited everywhere. This is with those "nice people" watching and they almost vomited as well. The little boy walked past us with his hand over his mouth as I tried to decide what to do next. So I took him to the bathroom and got him cleaned up and then we came back out. Well, that was enough ice cream for Carter. He was DONE!! Casey kept laughing at me saying that I picked horrible ice cream and toppings, but I thought kids liked that kind of stuff. Well, apparently not. The rest of the ice cream was uneaten....

...and thrown away.

So much for my "good" ideas. While we were eating our ice cream Carter kept saying "my car, my car" Which translated means, "Can we leave now?" So hopefully Carter did have a good birthday even though mommy "made him" vomit.

'nough said

2009-11-05T06:48:00.000-08:00

This

Just

Makes

Laugh

Gotta love the faces that babies make. Don't you? I think Jude is going to be a thinker because he is always making this face.

Halloween and Birthdays

2009-11-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our birthday weekend. Carter turned two years old and my sister Heather turned 23.

Here is a picture of Carter opening his thomas the train present. He was so excited that Daddy had to set it up immediately. He is addicted to Thomas the Train. It might even border on being unhealthy. LOL.

Here Daddy was making him wait to put the train on till he was completely done setting the track up.

Finally, Daddy let him play with it.

Heather's birthday is on Halloween, so the girls decided to dress up for the family. LOL

Hope was a fairy

Heather was a gogo dancer and Hallie was Snow White

Here is Jude making a face at me. This picture just makes me laugh.

Here is Carter. He was a little Indian. We named him "Pale Face Dark Pants". I'll let you figure out what the dark pants stands for.

Here is the cowboy and the Indian together...and mom is just a prop.

Here is Carter opening his gift from Auntie

Jude and mommy just hanging out.

The four lovely ladies

Here is Heather with some of her presents

What a cute little cuddle bug

Opening more gifts

Here is a side view of Carter's hair. It definitely took lots of hairspray

Mimzy and Gramps got him his first bike.

This is what Jude did during the celebration

Finally one picture looking at the camera

Well, I hope that you had a good time looking at my pictures. I love to take pictures if you can't tell. :-) Carter and Heather had great birthdays, so it was a success. Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday weekend as well.

My Big Boy is 2!!

2009-10-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a big day here. Carter is going to be 2 years old. It is hard to believe that he is going to be 2. Time flies when you are having fun, huh? He is the sweetest child ever. I mean don't get me wrong he has his moments of "terror" but he is so sweet. Here I am holding my firstborn son.

October 30, 2007

Here he is with his Daddy. Daddy was instantly in love--never to be the same again.

We are so thankful for our sweet big boy. He is a wonderful big brother to baby Jude. They are going to be best friends, I think.

My prayer for my big boy, Carter: Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for giving me this precious little boy. He is so precious to us. We pray that you would allow him to grow up and be a Godly man after your own heart. Please, help him to obey us and love us. Please teach him your truths and keep him on the straight and narrow path. We trust that you will do great things in and through him. Thank you for these 2 years with him and we pray that you would give us many more.

In Jesus' name, AMEN

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend. Hopefully we won't float away here in Louisiana.

Giveaway

2009-10-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a great giveaway. yall go enter to win.

Stacy's blog

have a great day

Baby J's first month of life!

2009-10-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the sweet little boy that made his appearance on September 19, 2009 at 3:56 pm. He knew exactly when he wanted to come. :-)

Here is our first family photo. I'm pretty much outnumbered.

Here is big brother giving kisses. He comes up to me all the time and says "take him, take him" which means that he wants to hold him.

After his first bath at the hospital

Leaving the hospital to head home!

Sweet baby boy!

First bath that Mimzy helped with. PS. He loved it

Three generations. Excuse how bad I look. It was a rough first few days.

Photoshoot of the boys

At the pumpkin patch

At the Revel. Jude took his first bottle at the revel. He loved it, so that is good for the future.

He isn't happy about something. Lol

Hanging out in his swing.

Hope you enjoyed some pictures from Jude's life. As you can see he has been pretty busy. He loves going places and so does big brother. I hopefully will have more time to post since things have kind of gotten into a routine and I don't feel quite to overwhelmed at having two children.

Jude's nursery

2009-10-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of baby Jude's nursery! We just love it. My mom and sister painted the murals in his room and they did an excellent job.

A little of this and that

2009-09-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I have posted. A lot has been happening these last few months. The Summer has flown by and Fall is in the air and that always makes me excited. I just love fall when the leaves start to change and the weather cools off. Carter and I have even been able to go outside some and he loves that. Before this week it had just been too hot for this pregnant momma. I will post outside play pics soon.

Here are some photos from a little trip that our family took to New Orleans about two weeks ago. Casey had to go down to take some seminary classes, so Carter and I tagged along for the fun. We were able to go to the aquarium, some fun restaurants, cafe du monde, and I was able to visit with an old friend of mine

Here's Carter goofing off in the French Quarter

Carter and Lindsay and of course the bus that he had to have. :-)

Here is Carter and Casey and the aquarium being silly. I thought this was a cute picture

We were so glad that Daddy got to go with us to this aquarium

They had some fun kids stuff to climb on

One of the many exhibits

Here we are at a little cafe getting breakfast. Love that face.

I also had the privilege of getting to throw a little baby shower for a friend of mine that was due three weeks before me. We had a great time and columbia cafe and I just loved how the cake turned out. She gave birth last week to a healthy baby boy. I'm sure that Jude and little Noah are going to be great friends. I was pretty jealous that she went into labor two weeks earlier, because I'm sure that I wont. LOL

Here is the cute cake from Lila's cakes

Well, I have more to post about, but I'm going to save that for a later date. We are just waiting on this little guy to make his appearance. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, because everything is getting really hard to do, such as picking up toys off the floor, etc. This big belly really limits what I can do.

I have been working on Carter's scrapbooks trying to get them caught up before Jude gets here. We'll see if I can make it. :-)

Hannah

Weekend in Houston

2009-07-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm planning a weekend trip to Houston for two of my sisters and Carter Man of course. We are going to go to the Downtown Houston Aquarium because Heather and Carter are in love with fish, and we definitely want to keep the both of them happy. LOL..No really, it's supposed to be a really neat aquarium. We are staying in a lovely hotel downtown. I was also thinking we could go to Ikea and try to find some other fun places to shop. We will also be doing lots of eating of course. :-) I want to find a fondu restaurant because I have never eaten at one and I hear they are really cool. Casey is not coming but I know that he is going to enjoy some study time and some man only time, but we are going to miss him. I'm also a little worried about navigating around Houston by myself, but I'm sure we will manage. I just need to make sure that I have a good Atlas with me. I have printed directions to several places, so hopefully that will help me not get SOOO lost. LOL

On another note, it seems that we have conquered the "big boy bed". Carter simply loves going to his big boy bed each night to read a Bible story, and it is precious. It was much easier than when I tried it a few months ago. He just needed a little maturing. So, now I can begin to get baby J's room together. We are going to paint a mural, so I will be sure to take pictures when it is all finished and put them up.

Well, I better run. I have physical therapy this morning and then got to run home and pack a few things for C and me.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

My Wedding Dress

2009-07-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Kelly over at Kelly's Corner is having a show us your wedding dress Friday, so I figured for old time's sake I would put up a few pictures from that wonderful life-changing day when my best friend became my husband.

It was a little warm in the church on that June evening as I'm sure you can tell. lol

I believe my favorite part of the wedding were the gorgeous flowers everywhere!

And here is one of my bridal portraits.

Now I'm feeling quite nostalgic from all the memories of that day. Life is so very different now

three years down the road and one and a half children later. But marriage gets better and better.

My mom and dad have been married for 27 years and that's what she tells me all the time. Hope

that everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am off to a date night with my hubby.

The Summer is Flying By

2009-07-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Carter was up really early this morning, and I just laid him down for a nap, so I figured I could blog and then get a little nap in. I'm in my third trimester now, so naps are quite often a necessity. I am 29 1/2 weeks right now and everything is looking good. I do have a lot of contractions, but they don't seem to be causing any harm, so that is wonderful. I have been going to physical therapy twice a week, which is quite comical as you might imagine. Big Kahuna waddling into therapy with all the other fit and thin clients is quite a site. I am looking pretty big these days and my belly button is beginning to push it's way out. I'm sure you all wanted to know that right? LOL. Well, it's my blog and I can say what I want to say. hehehe

Carter is doing so well these days. He is such a joy. We have had to tighten up on our discipline with him, but it is really paying off. He is becoming very obedient and sweet. I will take a few more just like him. LOL We have started having Bible time with him every night as our schedule allows and he just loves it. He loves to pray too. He puts his little hand in ours and while we are praying he promptly says "ahhhmeeen" and takes his hands away. Then he gives them back and we pray a little more and then "ahhhhmeeen." It is pretty cute stuff.

Casey is on break from Seminary this summer and that has been very nice. We have been having some good quality time together. I'm going to be spoiled and then he will go back to school. What a bummer!! I will have a new little one to keep me busy or should I saw busier.

We are having VBS at our church this week and it is going so well. We have had a ton of kids and it has been a great blessing. I pray that the Lord is using us to show them their need of a savior, even at such a young age. I am in charge of the oldest group's crafts (10-12 y/o) so that has been fun and busy. I did get the room with the best AC so that has been very nice. I guess they know that "preggo" aka "big kahuna" needs to be cool. LOL

Here is the baby nursery for VBS

Here is the opening assembly with all the kids

My Craft Room

The Space Station

Here I am trying to talk and no one is listening. LOL

So, I think I am ready for that nap now. Off I go. Hope everyone is having a wonderful, relaxing, 100 degree heat FREE summer. LOL

Prayer Need

2009-05-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I have been on here and a lot has happened in the HHH (Happy Hough Home). We went on the cruise and had a good time. There were both highs and lows. I definitely think that maybe that will be the last cruise that we take. It is just hard not being able to do what you want to do it when you want to do it. Getting off the boat at the stops was fun in the Bahamas. BUT on the second stop I took a misstep walking down to the beach and KNEW that I had torn my ACL again. I have done this before when I was sixteen and it was tough then. Now I am pregnant and have another life to think about but both of my doctors seem to think that things will be fine. Last week I went to see the Orthopedist and today I went to see my OB and they both say that surgery is necessary at this time. My OB said today that I needed to have surgery before 24 weeks gestation and I am 22 and a half weeks right now. (This is all a ~~little~~ ok a lot overwhelming). My husband has no time to take off of work and my parents are going out of town soon and we have stairs in our home which I will not be able to climb for several weeks postop. Well, today my mom had an appt to see the same orthopedist because she is having the same surgery at the end of the month, so I tagged along with her. So he said we would schedule the surgery asap which means TUESDAY!!

Just pray that the Lord will watch over baby Jude and take care of him during and after the surgery and also pray for Casey because he is going to have to pick up the slack around here. He is going to have to be both mom and dad for a while and I know it is going to be tough for him. I know that he will do great, though. He is awesome.

I am glad to be getting this whole ordeal over with before I get too huge to even be able to walk. I will start physical therapy immediately, which will hopefully help with weight gain. I am relieved that I have done this all before, and so I know what to expect.

I know that God is sovereign and is in control of all the details of mine and Jude's and Casey's lives and this is all in his perfect timing and for that I am thankful.

Well, I'm going to spend some time with my little man before I head off to work. Take care God bless

Time to Cruise

2009-05-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

So, cruise time is almost here. We busy packing and trying to remember everything that we might even think about needing. lol. I don't want to forget anything because I know they will charge us an arm and a leg to buy it on the ship. My sisters, Heather and Hope, are going to sleep at our house, so that we can leave promptly at 5 am. It is supposedly about a 5 and 1/2 hour drive and we sure don't want to get left behind. :-( We are going to drop Carter off and my mom's tonight so we don't have to wake him in the middle of his good sleep. He is serious about his sleeping, but he came by that honestly from his mom and dad. I am going to miss him so bad. I really don't know how I am going to handle it. I haven't left him for more than two or three days at a time. I also am not going to be able to call and talk to him because it is too expensive. I will try to write a few emails to check in. Maybe when we dock we can find some phone to use.

I am sad that I'm not going to be able to be with my mom on mother's day, but I did get her a good present. I bought her some of these shoes for Christmas, and she loves them. She wears them all the time and says they are the most comfortable shoes ever. I may have to get me some of these. :-) This is the color that I got her this time. I am also going to take her to lunch today for an early celebration. It should be fun.

Well, I better get back to the packing and such. I am sure going to miss this face! Hopefully he will still remember when I get back. If any of you see him while I am gone then please give him a big squeeze for me!

Oh Boy, it's Another Boy!!

2009-05-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

So, as you can tell we found out what we are having this week. We are very excited about another boy. Boys are so much fun, and I really feel like the Lord has given me the gift to mother boys. I am very laid back and relaxed and that's about the only way that you can survive with boys. We are having difficulty with names right now. I have several names that I like, but everyone has different ideas of what it shoudl be. Ex. Jude, Cole, and Abram. We are settled on the middle name Alexander, though. I guess we may just have to wait and see what the little man looks like before we can decide.

Here is the cute little guy

Here's the proof of the manhood :-)

I am excited because we are having a young ladies night tonight with the Heritage women and we are going to dinner at Cheesecake Bistro, which is always yummy. I have a babysitter which makes it even better. I do have to work so I won't be able to go to the movie with the girls, but it will still be fun.

We have great news about our cruise. Because of all this swine flu stuff we were afraid that our cruise would be cancelled since we had some ports in Mexico where we were supposed to go, but we found out the other day that they have rerouted us to the Bahamas!! I am just crying tears about that----NOT!!! We are so pumped. Not to mention that they added two extra days to the cruise, for which, we didn't have to pay. I have never been to the Bahamas and it is going to be a blast. We leave next Saturday. I am going to miss little man pretty badly. A week is a really long time to be away from him. I have never been gone from him for more than two or three days at a time. I know he will have so much fun with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.

I am also beginning to realize as I look down at my navy shirt that mom's will always have baby mess on their clothes. It just comes with the territory. I don't get so stressed about it anymore and good thing cause there is another mess-maker on the way.

During the ultrasound we were very glad to find that the baby looks healthy and no clubfeet were visible which is a blessing. The whole clubfoot thing makes it kind of a rough few months. Everything looked good and that is an answer to prayer. I have been reading so many blogs from people who are are suffering with the illnesses of their children and I need to never take my children's health for granted. The Lord is so good to us!

Before I head off to do chores I can't not put a picture of Carter up for you guys. We were clowning around the other morning like we always do. lol

Like mother like son!

As you can see we are trying to grow his hair out.

Tooky Tooky

2009-04-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a quick post since Carter is sleeping and I have a few minutes to myself. I do have a huge pile of clothes that needs ironing calling my name, but they can wait a little while. Things are going well around our house these days. Tooky Tooky is just getting bigger and more rowdy every day. I am getting excited about finding out whether this is a boy or girl coming to join us in September. I did a test that you get at walgreens and that said that is was another boy. It is supposed to be able 82% accurate, so we will see in two weeks whether it is or not. I was really hoping for a girl, but the Lord knows what is best for me and he won't give me more than I can handle, right? One thing's for sure. I will not be spending near as much money if this is indeed a boy.

I went and took a CPR class for work today and that was fun, and that meant that Carter got to go and visit with his Nana which he always enjoys. Then we ran into some friends at Chick-fil-a and ran in to eat and play with them, and of course, Carter loved all that.

Casey has been working very hard on all of our rental properties, so that is good, and hopefully we will be making money one day. lol. I guess, we just need to look at it as an investment for the future. He is also trying to finish up this semester of seminary. I will be very happy when he is done, because he has had to spend a lot of time away from Carter and me.

The summer is here in full swing today. Upper 80s. That's "normal" for Louisiana in April I'm afraid. Here is a cute photo of one of our excursions to the park

And here he found a little lady bug to play with

Well, that's about all I have for now. I hope that everyone has a great week in the Lord and gets to enjoy this wonderful weather, if you are in Louisiana, that is.

New Post Now

2009-04-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

My sweet hubby informed me that I need to update my posts more often. He comes by and wants to comment, but says my posts are too old, so I am going to try to keep things more current around here. This should be made easier by my having quit work in the last week. I have definitely been able to get more done around the house, but find myself getting bored and worn out and it hasn't even been a week. This gets tiring!!! I got tired before, but when I got extremely tired of one thing, I then went to work and came back refreshed. Se getting refreshed is going to have to come from another source, which I believe is a step in the right direction. I want to get refreshed by getting in the Word regularly and having a closer walk with the Lord. Can I get an AMEN to that. lol.

Last weekend Casey and I were able to take Carter to Dallas for a little "Carter weekend" as I like to call it. It revolved completely around one special boy who made it so very worthwhile for us. We also played in the hotel pool and hot tub, and he loved pressing the buttons on the sleep number bed. I wish I could say that he loved sleeping with us in the big king size bed, but alas, he did not. It took many spankings and cuddlings to get him to settle down. Friday night we went downtown to the Fort Worth stockyards and a enjoyed a lovely dinner. Did I mention that I almost ordered calf fries. Very scary. If you don't know what they are I encourage you to look it up. On Saturday we took Carter to the Fort Worth Zoo and had an awesome time. We all loved it. The highlight was getting to the feed the birds in the aviary. They came right down and ate off of your hand. So neat. We had a great time and will have to plan more weekends like this in the future. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Preggo Pic at 15 weeks

And we tuckered the poor boy out!!!

Lazy Saturday

2009-03-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Boy, it has been a while since I have been on here, but things have been really crazy in the Hough household. I have been working a lot lately, which I don't really enjoy, but that is ok. I guess the extra money is good. I think I'm going to put my two weeks notice in tomorrow at work. I just feel like I would like to spend these last few months with Carter before his little world is turned upside down. He actually probably would rather me keep working because he loves going to his Nana's and Mimsie's.

I'll be twelve weeks pregnant tomorrow so that is kind of exciting. I feel like it is flying by. I just haven't been thinking about it much and that just makes it fly by. lol. I have a doctors appt. on Monday, so that is exciting except I hate having to wait. I have been looking at the maternity styles and they are just the cutest. I'm pretty excited about getting a few new things. I'm going to get a formal dress for the cruise and that will be a lot of fun. Casey, Heather, Hope, and I are going on a Caribbean cruise in May and that will be a lot of fun.

My birthday is coming up and I can't wait for some carrot cake. I just love my mom's carrot cake with he cream cheese icing. It is to die for. I think Casey is going to get me a new purse because that is all I want. lol

Well, hopefully I won't take so long to past next time.

Peace and Quiet

2009-02-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Casey is at the church getting ready for Bible study tonight and Carter is napping, so things are kind of quiet around here. I'm just listening to a little Marvin Gaye since it is Valentine's day and everything. Casey and I had a lovely dinner with Meagan and Heather last night at Outback Steakhouse. I'm not too big on Valentine's Day, so we decided it would be fun to eat with some single ladies and we had a blast.

Casey got me this beautiful necklace from James Avery and I just love it. He is so sweet and thoughtful. He didn't have many ideas, but he knows when in doubt go to James Avery. lol

I had taken some pictures of our Highland community, so I printed those and had them framed for him for his office and he loved them. I also got him a love mug and some chocolate and a card believe it or not. I never get cards. I'm just not that sentimental, but I did get one this time, so I was pretty happy with myself.

I am really excited about Bible study tonight. We are going to have a great speaker and some wonderful music and I'm looking forward to worshipping with the Saints. Hopefully, we can grab some dinner before I have to head in to work tonight. I wish that I didn't have to work on the weekends. I hate having to miss church because of sleep. At least it's only once a month and I won't be working much longer because of the new little one on the way.

Hannah

Wednesday At Our House

2009-02-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have updated, but there really isn't a whole lot of exciting things going on in our lives right now. We are just plugging along trying to still get over this cold and take plenty of naps. Carter likes to take naps and that works out really well for me because I'm always very tired early in pregnancy. I have enjoyed being home with little man this week, but I am also ready to work a little bit this weekend, so that is always good to be excited about going to work. I just love the kids at work. They are so cool. They really teach me how blessed and fortunate I am because they all have so many problems and still they are so happy and content. There are the occasional difficult kids that I think should just be given a good spanking but the majority of them are really cool.

Poor Carter is having a tough time with these molars coming in. They are causing him a lot of pain and he has been pretty grumpy, but today seems to be a little bit better. I'm just trying to get his appetite back up because he hasn't been eating much since his cold.

So, I really wish that pregnancy was about half as long as it is. It seems like it goes by fast for everyone but me. lol...6 weeks and 4 days. Only 32 left to go. I don't count forty weeks because I will not be waiting that long. Induction at 39 weeks definitely. lol. Today I felt a tinge of nausea, so I'm thinking that this time is going to be different from last time. With Carter all I had was heartburn and fatness. hehehe. I'm hoping to not have either of those, but we will see. I am determined to remain fit and in shape during this pregnancy. I will be swimming and walking when the weather gets better. I haven't gained any weight yet, so that is good. I think that for the first pregnancy I must have eaten like I was going to be sacrificed at the end of the pregnancy, but not this time.

So, American Idol was last night and it was interesting. I'm pretty glad that the judges are going to be able to pick who stays and goes ultimately. I think that America tends to pick their favorites and not who is actually the best sing/performer, but there were definitely some great singers last night. That black guy that begged to be kept on the show cracked me up when he got kicked off. He was pretty funny.

I wanted to ask everyone to pray for a man in our church. His name is Jimmy Durham and he has been diagnosed with cancer. He had a lymph node in his neck that had swollen up and he had it removed and they have now said that it is cancer. We don't know too much, but it appears that the prognosis is good. I encourage everyone to go to their respective prayer meetings tonight because it is always a blessing for the body of Christ. We have not been going lately because of all the sickness, but Lord willing we will be there tonight. Everyone have a great day.

Hannah

On The Mend

2009-01-29T16:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I think that we are finally getting over this cold that has had the whole family down for the count. Carter seems to be feeling better from his ear infection. After two antibiotics both of which cost 200 dollars that didn't work he is now getting anitibiotic shots. I had to take him for his second shot today and we didn't have to wait at all so that was nice. We always have to wait so long to the see the doc. They did let me take his shot for tomorrow so, I can give it to him and not have to go back up there. Poor little guy, I have been feeling so bad for him. He just hasn't been himself. I have had to work the last two nights without much sleep, so I have been pretty tired. I did get to sleep for about six hours today, so that was much needed, and I am off work tonight. Casey is feeling better today as well, and I can finally breathe. So, needless to say, I think the worst is over and I am so relieved. These last few weeks have been really hard on me. I've been ready to just quit work, but I think I'm going to stick it out a few more months, so I can guy some good stuff for the new baby on the way. lol....especially if it is a girl. I haven't had any morning sickness, so maybe I won't have any with this pregnancy and that would be very nice. Last night I had a little trouble holding my stomach in, lol, so I guess things are starting to stretch out in there. Little peanut is starting to grow.

hmmmm...what do I want for dinner? I think we are going to go out and eat for dinner because today was pay day. I'm pretty excited. Casey and Carter are taking a nap, so I am enjoying some quiet time. I hope you all are staying warm and cozy out of this winter weather.

If the equate brand says positive it must be true!

2009-01-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well, we have some news in our little home. We are expecting a baby in September. We were not planning on getting pregnant for another year or so but the Lord had different plans. We just happened to have a perfectly timed accident and believe me it only takes one. :-) The Lord opens and closes the womb and I am thankful that the Lord even allows me to get pregnant because so many people are not able to. I'm pretty much in shock about it. Casey is really really excited but it's taking me a little while to get used to it. I just really hate being pregnant. I feel so ugly and fat and I can't sleep and it just isn't fun to me and I have really bad heartburn the whole way, but maybe this time will be different. I know that the Lord will give me strength to get through it and I pray the Lord will give me another healthy child. I will be sure to take lots of pictures this time. I didn't do very well with that last time, but I was also in school.

I think that I'm going to quit work in a few months because I really don't want to be working with the two children and I wanted to be able to have plenty of good time with Carter before the new baby comes, So that is what has been going on around here. :-)

Hannah

Veggie Tales and Swimming

2009-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well, for the 1 millionth time we are watching veggietales in the morning. I think I have formed a bad habit. Carter wakes up in the morning and we play a little while then he goes and sits in from of the tv and then if I don't come and put his DVD in then he begins to open the entertainment center and pull out DVDs. It is pretty funny to watch, actually. My favorite one is the Gideon one. It tells a story about George Mueller and it is really good. There are a lot of Bible verses in it and there is also lots of dance music which is our favorite. We love to get low!! lol.

I get to go swimming today and then have lunch with a friend. I'm so excited. I have an awesome mother-in-law and she is going to keep Carter for me, so I'm going to get a nice break and some exercise after a tough week with Carter being sick.

I have been having a tough time spiritually and I haven't been getting into the word like I should but yesterday I got to have an awesome devotional time. I felt so renewed and invigorated. I read Hebrews 12 and it was such an encouragement to lay aside every weight that entangles us and to run the race that is set before us looking to Christ the author and finisher of our faith. I was so convicted about how I let the cares and wants of the world dictate how I live instead of the scriptures. It was an awesome time. I would encourage anyone that is feeling like they are being carried along by the world to read this awesome chapter for encouragement. Hopefully I will be able to have another good bible time today. :-)

That's about all I have for now. Continue to pray for Harper.

I'm new at this

2009-01-22T11:10:00.000-08:00

I'm new to the whole blogging thing, but I have recently started viewing people's blogs, and I think that that is a really neat concept. My life is not that exciting but I would love to be able to share it with all that care to read. :-) Right now I am caring for my little boy, Carter, who has a cold, and ear infection, and is cutting three molars, so it has been a rough week as you other mothers can imagine. I just wish that he would let me cuddle him. He has never been much of a cuddler, though, so I hope one of my future children likes to cuddle. lol. He is taking a nap right now, but I expect him to wake at any moment.

This is Carter. Isn't he cute? We think he is, but we may be a little bit prejudiced. He loves playing outside as I'm sure you can tell.

I love to take pictures. My sweet husband bought me a nikon D90 for Christmas, so I am trying to practice a lot with that. Well, I hear the little man now, so I better go tend to him.