It's a...

BOY!!!! Before the technician could even tell me that the sex was, I saw "it" very clearly. I asked her if that is what I thought it was, and she said, "oh yes, it's a boy, 100%". His name will be Jack Preston Sanders. We named him after my grandad, Jack, and I am pumped to tell him this Friday. (as long as he does not read this blog..probably not!) We are very excited for Keegan to have a brother so close to his age and feel very blessed. We might not be seeing pink for a while, or at all, but blue will be just fine with me.

Arranged Marriage

Before Keegan was born, we already had hand picked his future wife. Our friends Scott and Mariana had a beautiful girl named Audrey about 14 months before Keegan came into this world. We feel in love with her and her full head of hair! :) Of course, we can only hope that they eventually will have the hots for each other, but in the mean time we are hoping that our frequent playdates will amount to something later!

Last November (Keegan is playing it cool..uninterested...not sure what think.)



Last Friday (A little different Keegan, just look at his hands and eyes! Can anyone say ladies man?)





Keegan might be changing his mind on Audrey after all!!

Almost Half-way There!

Double Strollers, New Furniture, Starting Over..OH MY! Today it really hit me when we went to Babies R Us to get a gift, and we checked out the newest Graco double stroller that folds up 20% smaller than other double strollers. That was a great feature, but they need to say on the box, "But still weighs a ton!" I tried to lift that thing up and lets just say...I will need to work out my arms..NOW!! I started wheeling it around thinking, "Do they make bathroom stalls big enough for this??" "Does it need signals in the front to tell others where I am headed?" Good gosh...

It looks like it would not be bad here, but it is photographed at a great angle to make it look small. I have to say it is pretty snazzy...although monstrous!

I am still amazed at how I can love Keegan so much, but be every enamored by the small being that is growing in my womb. I started feeling the baby kick last week and I forgot how much I loved this. I am still as much giddy as when I was waiting for Keegan to arrive. I wonder if this baby will look anything like Keegan, if he or she will have as much personality as him, and if he or she will actually like to sleep in. God do you hear my small request? I am looking forward to holding a new baby again, falling asleep with the baby on my chest, and smelling even those new little diapers. I can not wait to smell the Dreft on the tiny clothes and cuddle him or her up in a fresh receiving blanket. Those things I will never get over, even after the second one gets out of that stage.

On Tuesday, we find out what we are having. Hopefully it will be accurate, because if they tell us it a girl... you know that nursery will be decked out with pink very soon!!! But know if it is a boy, we are excited too! Just means the same blue, green and red combo! :) We are praying that the the technician gets the anatomy correct and that the baby is in the right position. I just heard about my friend April in Mansfield, who was told that she was having a boy, just had all over her showers...with a blue theme. At the last ultrasound, they found out they were having a girl who was holding her umbilical cord when they first checked the sex. Goodness...talk about having to reshift your thinking! So everyone...pray for a CLEAR reading! We have names picked out, so we are ready to put a name with the sonogram! WOO-HOO!!

Summer Fun on a Cloudy Day!

When you have no sunny days to enjoy the pool, you have to get out when you can, even if it means on a cloudy day! Keegan and I went with Fay Habermehl, Diana Parker, and Paige Goodson (a soon to be Senior at our church) and the kids to a pool called "Noah's Ark". Keegan and I went down the rainbow slide, which was a true delight for both of us. Soon I can see him begging me to go down a slide that gives you major wedgies... so I knew that I was introducing him to something that would come to haunt me in the future.

Ross Family Reunion

Before I married in Jonathan's family, I knew exactly what I was getting into. I was inducted early on in I-Hop. Why I-Hop? This is the first exposure to the Ross Twins, who were turning 90 something. Janet's (my mother in law) dad, JB, had a brother named Tony and they were the cutest twins at an old age that I have ever seen. Janet asked me to come along because she thought it might be the last time that I saw them together before one of them passed away. I decided to go without Jonathan, and I was in for a real treat. We were smack dab in the the middle of I-Hop having a big birthday party one morning, eating some breakfast, and we sure did make a scene. Janet, her sister Charlene and cousin Pat were talking rather loud at these two men because they had some hearing loss or better said, "they heard what they wanted to". I guess when you are 90 something, you get the privilege of having selective hearing. Everyone around us was staring at us trying to figure out what was going on, and most were enjoying the show. The two men have passed away in the past 4 years, and I am sad that I never got to spend much time around them. I only get to hear the stories that they left behind.

So onto what this post is about. This last weekend, I finally was able to make it to a Ross Family Reunion and meet the family that came from these two crazy men and their siblings. The Ross family are made up of very animated individuals and I loved just observing the family dynamics. They reminded me of my cousin Johnnie, who would fit in very well. I have never been part of a family reunion, so this was a treat. I spent most of my time connecting the dots and figuring out who went to who! We had it in Edom, Texas (East Texas) and had a fun time eating some great food and shoooing all the flies. (You would have thought it was a plague of flies, but I have to admit, much better than the mosquitoes.)

Leigh and Laura, Jonathan's Twin Sisters (I had them in a summer bible study when they were sophomores in high school, and they always thought I would like their brother! Sure enough, I guess I liked him a little.)

Leigh and Keegs

Shannon is Jonathan's first cousin, and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and her husband Bill. Such a neat couple!

Another one of Jonathan's first cousins, Kurt. (He has such a sweet disposition, and has been very welcoming!)

Mae and Brianna. Don't you love the beginning of babies smiling?? You just can't get enough!

Keeg's favorite past time...swinging! He thinks it is the best thing in the world and squeals with delight! So did Granny J!


Keeg's had fun daddy time..I think he is becoming a Daddy's Boy!

Jonathan decided to take Keeg's on the trampoline. I thought at first, "Over my dead body!!!", but Jonathan was good with him of course!



It was 4 hours up there and 4 hours back all in the same day, but it was fun to have a little road trip to have something to write home about.

Mean Girls...I Mean Women

I have been walking through this devotional that our church has been doing together called "At His Feet". I really recommend this book because it is a little more in depth that some of the others. Recently it has been going through a series called Radical Love, Radical Behavior, and Radical Generosity. Radical Love is the one that I have been tested in as of late.

One thing that I have no patience for is mean girls and mean women. I hate when I start showing signs of this disease, and for sure despise this characteristic in other women. I was told this weekend that a mean woman said something about me that could not be far from the truth. Way far from the truth! It cut deep and if she knew me or spent any time with me at all she would know better. Knowing the source, it is easy to let this comment go a bit, but Satan still got the best of me with my insecurity and my flesh wanting to scream at her.

I read this devotional last week sometime and I chewed on it for a few days and then put my thoughts back on the shelf with that subject. I think we do this and then we forget about it when a real life experience comes our way where we have to put it into action. Here are is a couple of quotes that God reminded me of today.

"Most of us are conditioned to love those who return the sentiment. But in the kingdom, love is not a sentiment; its a choice. We would hope that eventually the choice will be followed by sincere feelings and genuine compassion, but it starts with a choice. The agape love that Jesus compels us to have for others cannot be answered with an "I don't feel like it." Feeling isn't the issue. The issue is whether we will live according to our citizenship in this kingdom of God"

"Love means loving the unlovable-or it is no virtue at all"

Luke 6:32 says, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?"

it is hard to love someone that has so little respect for others, but in the same, I am called to love her. I am not saying it is easy, but I have to someday get to the point where I love my enemies no matter how it hurts. For if He can release us from the debt we owe by making the ultimate sacrifice, how small of a task is it to just forgive?

Farewell Habermehls

Life always takes funny turns and sometimes you wish time would just stand still just enough for you to enjoy it. We have really bonded with the Habermehls over the past few years and always have a fun and unique experience when we hang out with them. Their family consists of CM, Fay, Mitchell, Addison, Parker and Tyler all of which is one big ball of energy. The dynamics of this one of kind family keeps you moving and on your toes! When we moved out to our new house we were excited because they would be right around the corner but knew that that they could move. Jonathan and I are very pumped for them as they make this move to Dallas and are at perfect peace. It has been unique the past couple of years to see God speak to CM through the Word and different books to engage him in the smaller community church. I am so thrilled for them in this new opportunity and can not wait to see what God will do through the Habermehls at Southlake 11:7.

CM is a rare individual that you would be hard pressed to find anyone with more personality. I remember the first time I met him 8 years ago, I was in John Durham's office about to sing with "Not the Nine", our college band, and he comes in and jumps on the couch with so much enthusiasm. In my head, I thought, "Who is the crazy bald man??" He never meets a stranger and is so funny. He used to come in my office and jump on my desk to see if he could make it. I named it the "fat pigeon" stance, to make him stop, but he began to like the title. He has his own personal phone booth in his office that he has made his library. You will always see him with the latest greatest book, a composition book, a pen in his ear, his cell phone and i-pod. He is usually going to the bathroom when you see him decked out like this. I once got a phone call and his voice had a echo to it. Reluctantly, I asked him if he was in the bathroom and he laughed...he did not even realize it. He practically lived there with the continuous flow of coffee in his system. Once exiting the bathroom, he would come by my office and read a quote that in his wording would, "rip your face off!" This guy has a story for anything and if he were the only one alive on this earth he would talk to a tree. He would be bored with it, but he would not be able to contain himself. I can not count the amount of hours we have spent on the phone. (His number is one of the very few that I have memorized!) I love his drive for missions, his passion for Jesus, and his charisma for life. He is the most sensitive man I have ever met and have cried with him many times. You just see those tears coming and you know that yours are about to come pouring out as well. I love this guy so dearly (a cm phrase) and will miss him with every inch of me.
(CM swears that he is Keegan's favorite non-family member and has been whispering that into his little ear since he was born...brain washing I tell you...brainwashing.)

Fay is CM's "Fine-Wife" Every time he is on the phone with her he says, "She's so fine!" Okay gross...but so adorable in the same too. Fay is without a doubt one of the busiest women on the face of this earth. I have no idea how she gets it all done and manages to be a mother of 4 spunky children. She always knows how to have a good time and can make you laugh. Fay also knows how to make you blush too, but we won't go into that! :) In fact, I am thinking of many funny stories, but I just can't write about them. Durn! I love her because she is so spontaneous, which is quite opposite of me. She never lets schedules, time frames, or kids get in the way of an adventure. (I wish I was more like that.) She is a good friend and helps you out in way she can. This year we really bonded over organizing the girls retreat. I knew I could not do it myself since I was not on staff and she took on so much of the responsibilty to help me get it done. She gets jazzed over the little things and wants to be involved in it all. Fay is a awesome cook. When I first got married, she printed off a word document of all these recipes to help me get started. She knows how to make a whole weeks worth of meals and use every inch of leftovers. Fay knows every good deal in town, especially at Wal-Mart and will make sure you know about it. Fay geniunely cares about you and calls to check up on every part of your life. I can not repay her for the amount of advice she gave me since Keegan has been born. She needs to write a baby book for sure. She will drop anything she is doing or move things around in her schedule if you need her. Us too have shared many conversations over the phone where we ached, laughed, vented and cried together. What I love most about Fay is that she cares.

These are two of their four children Mitchell and Addison. These pictures were taken the summer that Jonathan and I met on square dancing night. Ironically, we both matched the kids without planning it. I love their kids and their little personalities. I hate that I do not get to watch them grow up here, but will have to watch from a-far. There are so many stories to tell about them, but this blog is getting to long. Oh well...here are a couple about Addison. The first time I met Addison, she glared at me and then proceeded to spit on me. Fay was so embarrassed, but I thought it was hilarious! I also have a mark on the inside of bible from her scribbling in it. She just did what she wanted...in her own little sassy way. The children could really have their own seperate post, they are that fun.

I am tearing up here as I am writing this blog, because I am so sad they are moving. Southlake, you are so lucky, very lucky and thank you for taking them in with open arms. We love you Habermehls, and you will always be like family to us.

We are getting somewhere people!!!

After offering the sippy cup to Keegan for several months and him throwing it at me and on the floor, he finally drank from it by himself!! I know this sounds so minimal, but to me it is HUGE! Keegan never likes to hold his own bottle and I thought that it was going to carry over to the sippy cup. Not only did he take some sips, he drank all of it. He still tosses it at me, but at least I know he can do it! So, I am just taking a second to celebrate a big boy moment in the life of Keegan. (It's the little things in life...)

Our First Grown-Up Home

Per request, here are some pics of our new house. I have not done the kids rooms yet, so I will save those pictures for a later date. As of right now, Keegan is sleeping in a room with butterfly border! :) (What he does not realize won't scar him! Besides, maybe it will inspire him to be a butterfly museum manager like his dad one day! Good thing Jonathan does not keep up with my blogs as much because he might just flip over the uncovering of his past jobs!)

Kitchen Angle #1

Kitchen Angle #2 (across from table and chairs)

Living Room Angle #1

Living Room Angle #2

Play Room (used to be dining room) This is right off the kitchen so I can watch him while I blog and cook!

Dining Room (used to be formal living room) We need need to find some chairs! :)

Our Bedroom

Our Bathroom (I love the jacuzzi tub!)

Guest room (It was this yellow when we bought it and liked it a little bit more when I put our stuff in it.) So if you come stay with us you might have to wear sunglasses in your room! The previous owners left this bed for us! They did not have room to take it with them in their truck, so they gave it to us for free!

The Birthday Bash

Here are a few more pics from his party....
Tyler Habermehl

All the kids found the gifts more exciting than Keegan!

Keegan and his red, white and blue celebration shirt.

My fabulous niece Jacey and not so bad Brother Matt :)

Aunt Char's patriotic necklace was Keegan's favorite thing to play with that night!

The Sproule Family posing for a pic that would be soon used against them!

Watching Keeg's dig into the cake..those cute pics are in a previous post.

A New Praise

This morning on our walk around the neighborhood, Keegan and I passed a mom my age with a baby strolling around. I went and introduced myself because the area where we live has mainly elementary age kids. She lives one street over and has a baby that will turn one later in July. She made mention that there are not any babies her daughters age and have been watching houses that sell to see who moves in. So she had been waiting to see who was moving in our blue house. I was talking to her for a while and noticed she had a baby bump. I boldly asked her if she was pregnant, hoping that I would not regret it, and she is due late December! The Lord is good. He knew I desperately needed someone in the same boat as me that lived around. We already are going to go walk in the mornings and set up some playdates. Thank you Lord for your attention to the details of my life and my dying need for fellowship as a stay at home mom.

A new start...and a new oven?

We finally feel settled in our new house! Pictures to come I promise..just a little lazy right now. Really..I am okay with that after being so durn busy last week. I have to report the good and the bad...so we will start with the only bad thing thus far. I have already burnt a roast in my oven and then I proceeded to burn my arm. The oven is original in the house and wow, does it have issues. I was very put out with this because roast isn't cheap and my cook-book thought that a roast could be cooked in an hour. When you put the oven on 450 degrees it never gets there, but somehow it came out so tough you had to saw to cut a slice. My first home cooked meal gone sour!

But on a better note there are some neat things to report. On the 4th of July we popped some fireworks outside and our neighbors were out as well. Jonathan and I were able to introduce ourselves and he has already been invited to play golf by the golf pro that lives across the street. Jonathan hit the jack pot. As he was rubbing elbows with the pro, a guy from down the street came by and introduced himself. He was talking about his daughter and how she just graduated high school. I made mention that I used to work with girls at a church and he said that we went to church at Cypress Bible. He wants us to go visit out there with them. While I am sad to possibly leave HFBC, I am excited to see what the Lord has for us out here in close proximity to our home.

Yesterday, I spent my morning on the phone with all the churches in the area trying to find a mother's day out program. They were either full because registration started in February or they don't take babies until they are 18 months. One church called me back late, Cypress Bible Church of all churches, and she thought they had one spot left. She called back today and they did!!! So Keegan gets to play for a day while mom gets to do what she wants! It will be interesting to see if God set this all up for us to attend this church. (and for me to meet my neighbor last week whose family goes there!)

The last thing that has made me smile is our use of baby monitors. We never had to use them in the condo because it echoed and you could hear Keegan clearly! I get to hear my husband read Keegan a story and wish him sweet dreams while I do the dishes. A beautiful thing to hear at the end of the day.

KEEGAN is ONE!

It is hard to believe that he is already one! 365 days have passed so quickly. My heart swells everytime that I look at him and hold him. It amazes me that God could give us such a precious gift that fills our life with so much joy and excitement. You never know what your baby will be like when he is your womb. You wonder and dream about his little personality and what he is going to look like. God met my expectations and more with this little one. There are so many things that I love about Keegan that I just don't know where to start.

His gorgeous blue eyes and long eye lashes
His unique laugh that makes his face turn red sometimes
His fun personality that wakes us up at 5:30 in the morning
The many noises that he makes: screaming, indian and chinese noises
His toothy smile
The way he looks back over the car seat when I drive just to make sure that I am stil there
His fascination with fans, door stops and cabinet doors
His screams in places that echo.
HIs buzzy lips
HIs fat feet
The way he shakes his arm up and down to say "bye"
I love to watch him try to stand on his head
How his whole body jolts when he is excited
How he smiles when the camera is on him
I love his bald head and big toe
How he shakes his head left to right
How he he just stares at you intently, face goes red...and you know exactly what he is up to
I love when someone that he knows is on the phone and his whole face lights up.
At what I like the most is that he reaches for me and lays his head on my shoulder when tired. :)

Just a few pictures from his birthday party... a blog update to come.

July 6, 2006

I have never written out this story, so I thought that I would take a moment and document it. My original due date was August 2. He came almost a month early so when you read this story remember I was not expecting it.

That thursday morning, July 6th, I woke up at 4:30 am and my water broke...but I thought I had lost control of my bladder. (lovely pregnancy occurrences) So, I laid back down in bed and Jonathan left for San Antonio. At 6:30 am I started getting cramps and I thought that it was false labor. I started noticing that they were coming every 5 minutes and lasted for over 30 seconds. I called my mom in Dallas and she said, "You better call the doctor and tell Jonathan to come right away". So he left after only being In San Antonio for an hour or so. At 8:00 my labor started getting more intense that I knew that it had to be "it". I called the doctor and they told me to come right away but don't drive. The only problem was that there was no one to take me! I called my friend Christine over and over again but she never heard the phone. I called my sister in law, Leigh, who just took my in-laws to the airport to go to Hawaii!! She came right away, and my in-laws were sitting on the plane hearing that I was possibly going into labor. So, I arrive to the hospital and they said that I had already dilated to a 7! I immediately start crying because they said my husband was not going to make it and I was having this baby! (nurses should take some etiquette courses) They took me to labor and delivery and within 20 minutes I was dilated to a 9. They gave me an epidural and praise the Lord it stopped him from coming so soon. Jonathan got there at noon, my mom at one, and my dad at three. I pushed for the afternoon and at 4:51, Keegan entered the world weighing 5 pounds and 11 ounces. As far as my in-laws...they had to sit on the plane for 8 hours wondering what was going on! My brother and wife were at camp in Tennessee. My other sister-in law was in Mexico City. I hated it so much for them! But...God is good and my husband and parents made it for the special delivery! (along with all the HFBC student staff and many friends) It was such an exciting day and I must have been the happiest mother in the labor delivery rooms. I never thought that I was wired to be a mother because I had never changed a diaper in my whole life! As soon as I left that hospital, I felt equipped and ready for the adventure. This last year has had its ups and downs but after one year it has been worth every second.