Catching up on Keegan

I realized that it has almost been a month and I have not documented anything on Keegan. Can you believe that he has almost hit the 15 month mark?? I have been amazed on how much he has developed lately. Everyday I feel like I am seeing him do something new. He has made me laugh so much and also worry a little bit more. He is officially walking more than crawling and getting faster everyday.

His first bruiser. I am not sure exactly how he did this, but somehow he tripped outside, fell on his face, and ended up on his back. Poor guy ate it for the first time. Dirt in his mouth and all.


I thought he was getting into everything before now. This picture was taken at my parents house and before I knew it he had all tupperware out of the cabinet. He also has learned how to drink out of a cup and insists on drinking from my cup all the time. Usually it ends up all over his shirt, but I just let him do it. One less fight you know??



He is our little sponge. He knows what a dog is and when our next door neighbor's dog barks he points at it and says, "DA!" I find him doing things that he sees us do on a daily basis. This has been the best development yet, because it for sure gets lots of chuckles. I find him trying to put on Jonathan's belt, watch, hat and college ring. He loves his dad! But my favorite is that he has taken our remote control and made it into his phone. Upon putting it to his ear, he says "HAWA??" At first I did not catch on, but then I realized that he was saying "HELLO"!! He then walks around the house as if he is in conversation with someone. The start of make-believe makes me smile.


Here is one with his cousin Brianna on his new ride. She looks absolutely adorable in this picture.


Lastly, Keegan is sitting with his half American, half Scottish, friend Kyle. Sadly, he will be returning to his new home Scotland in 2 weeks so we are getting visits in while we can. I have to say that this picture has a bit of foreshadowing going on! 2 boys sitting on Jonathan!! Can we say reality?

My 10 Year High School Reunion

So it has taken me a couple weeks to put my reunion into words. You never know what to really expect when you got to your reunion. You step out of your car with tons of butterflies in your stomach, and say to yourself, "Here we go..."

On the way over I was telling Jonathan about my freshman boyfriend, (first boyfriend) that dumped me a week before Homecoming. I had creatively made a garter for him and was so giddy only to feel totally rejected the next day. Luckily a senior felt bad for me and took me. So, the letters on the garter were switched from Mark to Jake..just switching around the "k" and adding the "j" and "e". So guess who the first person was to welcome me to the reunion??...Mark. Nothing like starting out the evening a little strange.


We walk in and luckily the first people that I find are my good friends, David and Chalise. Those were the people that I came to see and I felt a HUGE sense of relief that they were the first two people to welcome me. We scoped the room for a good hour sometimes in shock at how people have changed, and also spending the time trying to remember people with usually a "oh yeah.." attached at the end.

Chalise and I were neighborhood buddies and lived across a field from one another. We were the best of friends in junior high and both went through some awkward times for sure. We loved our Girbaud jeans, Genesis and Bryan Adams music, and had the best time prank calling. (So sorry for all those people we disturbed!) Together we roughed the puberty waters and through it all tried to figure out who we were. The one thing that she mastered best were the split bangs. Somehow she could get those things perfect and mine always flopped halfway through the day. (Only to find out that I was using the curling iron the wrong direction!) Chalise and I had our differences and somewhere and somehow we lost some good years in high school. It was so sweet to reunite and giggle like we were still 12.

David and I go back to 6th grade where we had every History and English class together until we were seniors. He was the braniac and I was lucky enough to have him as a study buddy. Not that I was not smart, but he was one of the chosen few that did not have to study. David soon after graduating revealed that he was gay and I lost touch with him. He thought I freaked out after hearing the news, (maybe I did a little) and then he was really gone for a good 11 years. I searched for him high and low through every means, and prayed that God would reunite us. Our reunion coordinators had a website where we could reconnect with people and that is where I finally found him. I nearly flipped. I e-mailed him through the site and learned that he had been in Houston the same amount of time as me. Go figure. David holds a special spot in my heart and I love that God was so gracious to allow me another chance.

Somehow reunions can make old insecurities flood right back in. I am a different person than I was in high school, and really I can only attribute that to the Lord instilling a confidence in me that was nothing I could apply on my own. So there I was not budging to the left or the the right as soon as I walked into the room. People for sure that knew me in in high school did not remember me now. Some of it could be attributed that I look totally different with my hair being short and blonde, but most of it was that they forgot who I was. Part of why I stepped into girls ministry was based on my junior high and high school years. Lord, help us that Satan can still attack us the same way he did 10 years ago.

So on a lighter note: If you are at all interested, two graduates from Mansfield High were on tv shows as of late. If you remember the show "I Want To Be A Hilton", the winner of that show, Jaret, graduated with us.

*On the show "Rollergirls", Sister Mary Jane was also a 1997 Mansfield graduate.



I think this reunion does it for me. I told Jonathan how thankful I was that he came with me about 3 times during the night. I am not sure this was something I would of liked to go to without him. I have reunited with two really good friends from high school and that was worth every penny.

The Observance of Pheromones

Pheromone definition:
Pheromones are naturally occurring substances the body excretes externally, conveying an airborne message to trigger a response from the opposite sex of the same species.
*****
Jonathan and I at the last minute yesterday were offered tickets to attend the Astros game with the Mangrums on HFBC night. I was so excited to find out that we were sitting by Nancy Monarch and her friends. By the time we made it to our seats, the Cubs were already three in the lead. Overall the game was a yawner, but of course, when you are with Mangrums and Nancy you can sure find another way to have fun.

So back to my opening definition. While were were sitting at the game, talking more than watching, our eyes caught this couple sitting in front of us. The woman in this relationship was on pheromone factory overload. This caused the man sitting next to her to respond to her in a rather "groping" way. There is just no another good way to put it. He could not keep his hands off of her and the woman seemed aloof, almost as if she just puts up with it on a regular basis.(or maybe she was playing hard to get.) She had no idea the triggering that was occurring in the opposite sex to her left. Of course, we all noticed and it was one of those situations where you hate to keep watching, but you can't stop. For the full story on this "groping" situation, you will have to read Nancy's blog. She creatively, and more humorously than I, describes the play by play and even has a "Take Me Out to the Ballpark" rendition of our observances.

But really, I want to understand something. Why in the world do people think this is okay? I remember one time I was in Paris with my mom, and we saw this couple on the corner literally making out with no care in the world. We then went to Hard Rock Cafe to only find out that they went there too and were in the booth across the way from us. They really should have gone back to their rooms, instead of preceding with the indecency that they subjected us to. But it ain't just Paris, the love capital of the world, it is everywhere.

Maybe I am a little stiff-necked and mucho anti PDA, but I can't help feel a eeeeeeeeewwwwwww, gross, gagging, sick feeling that comes all over me in moments such as these. So, to the pheromone seduced man at the Astros game, I am sorry you are being written about, in not one blog but two, but next time you sense that airborne message, spare us and go get something else to munch on.

I've Been Tagged...

Somehow I have remained under the tag radar until now thanks to my friend Mariana. So I can appreciate this "tagging" because I think all the time....I have some strange characteristics and habits!

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here we go:
* I have a great memory when it comes to people, things I need to do, or how to get different places. BUT, what I suffer from is the ability to memorize words from a song. You ask, how can this be? She sings in wedding and on praise teams! There is always words in front of me somewhere. Paul had a thorn in his flesh, and this is mine. It is always there to keep me humble. Jokingly, some of my good friends, thought I should go on the Singing Bee. I am not sure I would make it through one phrase. However, I am known to make up some great verses when I forget them, so at least I can recover.

* I have admitted this before, but I still sleep with the blanket that I have had since I was two. For those of you who think I am Linus with a little blue blanket, mine is a twin size pink blanket. For some reason, this makes it a little more justifiable and maybe a little less weird.

*Before I eat at a meal, I usually have to go and tinkle. Something makes me not enjoy it when I know I have to go. (or think I have to go) It is all in my head...I am pretty sure.

*I never eat the last bite of my sandwich. It just is not appetizing.

*Every outfit has to match. I have tried to stretch myself and wear things that don't go together. Somehow it ends up working out and I get lots of compliments on my mismatch. However, I always fall back into my same habit of matching.

*I have to fold laundry right when it comes out of the dryer. I hate wrinkled clothes and hate ironing even more. However, sometimes, I let myself go and leave it in a basket for days.

*I like writing with pencils. I like my handwriting better and I like erasing. Jonathan thinks I am a total weirdo, but brings me home boxes of pencils as if they are a dozen roses. (What he does not know is that one does not equal the other...although it is the thought that counts.)

*Since Mariana wrote about self-checkouts in her tagging, I need to add my two cents and annoying habit. If someone is in the self-check out line in front of me with a whole cart full of items, I spend the unnecessary waiting time to count every item they scan to make sure they don't go over their 15 item limit. This my friends really annoys me, but somehow there is some strange gratification if I caught them in their sneaky act.

Matt (take a break from seminary and do this!), Amber, Nancy, Lynsey, Andrea and Mel...you are up next! Tag you are it!

Nancy's Monoblog

It is amazing how you can be friends with someone and not know some of their story. I encourage you to read Nancy's latest blog on 9/11. I know that Amanda linked it to her blog, but please don't miss reading this. This for sure will remind you how God is ever present and speaks to us in powerful ways. It is up to us to listen.

Ava Elizabeth Self is HERE!!!

I am so excited to announce that little miss Ava arrived yesterday at 12:45 p.m. Mama and baby are both healthy and props to Lauren...no epidural! Can not wait to meet her!

Three Churches in Three Weeks

We have been church scouting, church hopping, and church reviewing. We have been to three different churches and the only thing that they have in common are blended services. Not something we are used to. It really has made us contemplate what is important and which things we give a little on. First Baptist is one of a kind and is really hard to match. I actually have been missing it A LOT! I just don't know how we can have true community that far out, with two little ones, when you maybe see people once a week for maybe a brief conversation. One of the things that we love about HFBC is the people and that you feel "life" when you enter into the doors. What we have boiled it down to is that we need to pick a church based on the community and the life it exhibits. We think we have found that church, but maybe have to sing praise songs that are at least five years old. (I am hoping that it was just that one Sunday!) Pray for us as we revisit these churches and that the Lord will make it perfectly clear.

Keegan's 1st Day at Mother's Day Out

Today was the start of something different in the life of Keegan and Michelle. Keegan gets a new environment to play with kids his age and mommy gets a tiny break! Actually it was hard leaving him because every child in the class was screaming. He looked at me like, "You are leaving me with THEM??" I went home, got some things done without distraction, and was ready to pick up my little man by the time two o'clock came around. His teachers said that he was really laid back and played almost the whole time. Towards the end of the day, they found him sitting in a yoga position with his head down asleep. Why I never see this I may never know. This picture totally cracks me up because the backpack is so huge!! I can not believe he kept his balance. What makes me a little sad is that he is going to grow into it. So Thursdays, from now until May, we get to work on separation anxiety from both ends...and God saw that it was good!

Labor Day Weekend

One word for this past weekend: Labor. Good Labor. My loving husband who had Friday from 1 pm to Monday night off, checked off things off our list. I would say honey-do list, but it was a we-do list.

Jack's room was painted...




This is to match Keegan's blue stripe room that Jonathan painted a few weeks ago...


Our upstairs bathroom (the boys and guest bath) was finished with new light fixtures and decor. The shower curtain has monkeys on it. I love it! This is my favorite room in the house so far.




Zach and Christine came over for 8 hours on Saturday to help us paint, and finish our dining room in helping us hang up curtains and artwork. It was like old-times, but better because we got to hang out as couples for the whole day.



Besides all the work, Keegan and I went to celebrate Audrey's 2nd Birthday (his girlfriend) at a merri-go round. This was his first experience on it and I practically had to pry him off the horse! I think we need to do this some more!


It was one of those weekends that felt really good. That is if you are a "check-it off the list" person. I am taking a big break...starting now! :)