Family Fun on the Fourth

Me, Cambell, Morgan and Matthew.  Mammaw can never get a normal picture of her kids and grandkids!

Corey and I were able to take a much needed break from moving and studying to spend some time with our families on the fourth of July.  Corey's parents had their annual 4th of July tent sale at William's General Store.  This is the first year in quite some time that Corey and I were able to spend the holiday together.  He was even able to work for his parents at the store.  He really enjoyed getting to do that and I think his parents enjoyed it as well.  We had a good time hanging out and having a break.  We even got to visit, although briefly, with our good friends Katie and Josh and their son Brayden.  The biggest surprise of the weekend was the arrival of my brother from Pheonix.  It has been about 6 months since we've seen Morgan and he called Thursday to tell me he was going to fly down for the weekend.  He wanted to keep it a surprise to my mom so we all worked very hard to change our plans and have good reasons to tell my mom.  It all worked out and my mom was shocked when she walked into her living room at 11pm to see her baby boy standing there.  It was so great to see my brother.  He is awesome.

Granny Dawn got Cambell this adorable outfit and this picture makes me laugh everytime with that funny look on her face and her panties falling down!  

We kept Matthew up late to watch the fireworks and it ended up being really late after a rain delay.  He had a great time watching and was not at all afraid of the noise.  This is Corey and Matthew watching the show.  He spent much of the show sitting with his Grandad Roger.

Cambell and Pappaw after the parade

Matthew watching the parade and loading his pockets full of candy.  He was fun to watch.  He would collect candy from one float and then throw it back to the next. 

Here we are swimming with Katie and Brayden.  The kids had a blast in the pool.

Sweet water babies!

2 Months....2 Many Changes.

I think I've started several posts saying something like "life is crazy," or "we've been so busy lately."  Well this one tops them all!  It has been two months since I've posted.  My life has changed and my family has made some major transitions in the past two months.  

1.  Moved out of our house

2.  Moved in with our Grandpa

3.  Moved our stuff to Plainview

4.  Graduated residency

5.  Took board exam

6.  Corey retired from his job

7.  Moved to Plainview

8.  Went on vacation

Where do I begin?  

In June I completed my last month of residency!  Yeah!  That is a huge deal for me.  No more school.  I am 29 and finally done with school.  I have been in school for 11 years past high school and I am finally done.  We had a graduation ceremony for my residency class the end of June.  

These are the residents in my class (from left to right) Travis, Jon (I am going into practice with the first two), Malik, Cynthia, Marbella and Me.  What a group!  We have spent a long 3 years working together!

Corey and I rarely get to dress up and go out together, we had a good time.

During the month of June we also moved out of our house.  We moved in with our grandad (PapaT, Tommy) to live until I finished up residency.  We had a wonderful time living with our PapaT, especially Matthew.  Everyday when we would get home he would go straight to Tommy's room to rock and eat a snack.  I sure enjoyed not being home alone in the evenings while Corey was working and we are all going to miss seeing our PapaT everyday, he is very special to us.

Matthew playing outside with PapaT

Since we moved out of our house obviously that mean we moved into a new house.  We found and bought a house that we love in Plainview.  My mom has worked so hard helping us out with the house...from painting to cleaning windows and putting in new contact paper and moving.  She has been amazing.  We don't know how to thank her.  Grandad Roger and Granny Dawn have been down helping us with the kids and unpacking.  We have worked them so hard also and we still wouldn't be unpacked without everyone's help.  I will post some pics of the house when I get them!  Moving is not fun.  We are still living out of boxes!  

Next on the agenda was to spend some time in Muleshoe for July 4th. We had a great time and I will post a blog with our pictures.  After that I had the task of taking my board exam and finished the grueling 7 hour, $1200 test on July 8th.  Results are still pending.  

Boards finished, residency completed..sounds like time for a vacation, so that is just what we did.  We went to the Keys with our good friends Jon and Page and Haley and my mom.  Yet another post for that one.   

Another huge transition for us was a very difficult decision for Corey to make.  He decided to temporarily retire from his job with LPD.  This was a very difficult thing for him to do because he loves his job.  It is a huge sacrifice he has made for our family.  Corey was very sad when his last day on patrol was completed, but he is looking forward to being here for me and the kids as we get the clinic up and running, and will be anxious to return to work in the winter.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband.  I couldn't do it without him.  He is amazing.  

We are so ready to be settled and get into a routine.  This all has been very hard on Matthew and he is happier the past two days since we have been home and he is in his own bed.  We have been living out of suitcases for the past 6 weeks and are so thankful to be home.  I am leaving on Monday for a week to go work, but Corey and the kids are going to stay home and try to relax.

Matthew playing with the coconuts in the backyard at my parents.  He is growing up so fast.  His vocabulary is amazing and he is saying up to five word sentences.  He has finally gotten all those stubborn teeth in for now.  He is becoming more and more adventurous and climbing and running more and more.  He loves his dogs and will tell them, "Harley, hold my hand!"  He loves to talk about airplanes, boats, buses, trains, and cars.  What a sweet boy.  He is 22 months old.

She will hate me for this someday.  I just couldn't resist.  Cambell is on the move.  She is army crawling and getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She can definitely get where she wants to go.  She is eating some cereal now and can sit up for a few seconds on her own.  She is almost 7 months old.  She weighs about 14 pounds and is 24 inches long.

Mammaw, Pappaw and the kids.

Who needs a ball when you have coconuts!!

Ahhhh!

My crazy month is over and everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.  I am so glad to be done with that exhausting month.  Thanks to everyone who helped us out last month, and sorry to everyone I have neglected.  I can't wait to start catching up with everyone.  Now on to preparing for my board exams and moving my family!  We have started getting our house in Plainview ready to move in and we have to be out of this house on the 10th!  We are going to live with our Papa T for a while!

The kids are doing great.  Cambell is growing up so fast.  She will be crawling any day.  She is so active and rolls everywhere she wants to go.  She has just discovered her feet and her tongue.  It is getting hard to catch a picture without her tongue sticking out!  She sleeps like a rock and is usually in bed by 8pm and we have to wake her up around 9:30 in the morning.  She is still only taking breast milk, but I think we will try some cereal again soon since Mammaw had some luck getting her take some.  She is 5 months old now.  Matthew is as active as his little sister and loves to run and jump and throw balls (and anything else).  His vocabulary is amazing and he has now started to copy just about anything we say!  He is such a sweet little boy and ALL boy at that. He loves boats, cars, trains, and planes!  

Sweet little tongue, look at how strong she is!

Both of my babies with their tongues sticking out!

Nothing is better than a boy and his dog (googie Harden, ie Doggy Harley)

Halfway There!

I am not one who normally wishes time away...except for when I am on hospital service.  This month I have been praying for patience, peace, energy, and sanity!  So far, so good; I am doing much better than I usually am by this time of the month.  I sure sound proud of myself, but it has little to do with me.  My family has been spectacular!  I have someone arranged to be "on call" with me every call day to watch the babies for me.   My mom has been here (even when I just need some rest and an extra hand at night) to watch the babies for me (and she somehow manages to cook more than one meal, clean up the house, and finish up any laundry!).  Aunt Carrie and Leslie came and helped one night and the babies had a blast playing and being held.  Dawn and Roger have been here to play and let me rest and help around the house.  Aunt Lydia and Uncle Dan have the kids right now!!  They are great with the kids also...and Matthew loves playing with them.  They are going to make wonderful parents someday.

That is basically my life right now.  Here is a quick recap of my week if you are wondering why I am so proud of my sanity!

Monday:  get up at 4:30 feed Cambell, shower, pump, off to rounds, finish rounding before all of the other residents so I can pump before checkout at 8:30, finish rounds at 1pm, pump, start clinic at 1-5pm, on call as soon as clinic finishes, put in about 7 people to the hospital overnight, sit down at 4 am for the first time (to pump of course), wash my face, brush my teeth and start rounding again, finish rounds at 1pm, sign papers to close on our house, go home to see my babies.....(oops, now it is Tuesday...aren't you supposed to sleep between the days??)

Wednesday:  sleep in today (until 5:30), pump, rounds, pump, eat lunch, clinic, pump, people getting very sick right at 4 o clock, late to leave the hospital, late to pick up the kids, barge into Page's house for dinner, eat dinner, kids baths and kids to bed, me bath, pay bills, read some journal articles, off to bed.  Matthew needs him mommy to rub his back at 2am...repeat.....

Thursday...same

Friday...now I am on call!  I at least have a second to sit here and type!

...it will all be worth it soon!  Thanks again to everyone for helping and for the prayers!

Mother's day was wonderful. I had the day off and Corey was off also.  He pampered me and the babies and we had a great day!  

My little water bug!  He love putting his face in the water.

What could be better than playing in a basket of balls?    Playing in a basket of balls with your sister of course!

Cambell has been so hungry lately that I though I would give her some cereal.  She acted like I was trying to poison her!

Matthew playing with one of his new toys and Aunt Lydia, Uncle Dan, and Grandpa Roger.

It May Be a While....

I am coming up on my last month of service as a resident, EVER! :) I will be so glad when this month is over. It is a stressful exhausting month for me working an average of 80 hours a week with 30 hours stretches of call at a time. I LOVE my job and my patients, but this will not be something I miss. Needless to say I barely have time to love on my babies so I doubt I will have time to blog (unless it is during a lull in the middle of the night!). BTW...early thanks to all of my family who pitches in to help me care for the babies and even volunteer to watch the kids while I have a nap. Here are some pictures we took over the last week. They are growing up so fast. Cambell's newest thing is that she loves to be tossed up in the air (I guess she must have some of that Locker daredevil blood in her!) and she will talk and squeel to you. Matthew is so cute putting words together to make sentences like "da ball go?" for where did the ball go. He says "back back Harden" for get back Harley (the dog) when we go outside (E-ow). He runs everywhere he goes and is into everything! He occ. has to be put into time out for throwing fits or throwing balls in the house! He is such a sweet little man.

The expression on her face is so cute! What a darling little angel.

More of the Locker blood, look at those cute little hands.

Corey can't get over her beautiful eyes.

Fun!

Corey got Matthew a seat for the back of his bike. Matthew had a blast riding on it with Corey. I don't think I feel confident enough to ride with a baby on back, but Corey is great on bikes. He actually taught the bike officers last week how to ride for work.

Sweet Babies!

This weekend my mom came and gave me some much needed rest.  Corey has gone back to his usual schedule and I have had a hard time being by myself with the kids again (even though they are the most amazing and well behaved kids ever!).  My mom decided to come and spend the night with us Friday night and let me play doctor.  I cut off some skin lesions that she had!  It was a little stressful using a scapel on my mom!  :)  We had a great time.  As usual my mom seemed to work the whole time she was here, and I appreciate all she does for us.  

Also this past Tuesday I got to babysit little Jackson while his mom and dad got some much needed alone time!  We had a good time with Jackson, he is such a little miracle baby and it is just precious to watch him in action.

Miss Cambell all dressed up in her jeans, looking way to grown up.  She is the happiest little girl.  She will just talk and coo until she totally wears herself out!

Mammaw reading to the babies.  Matthew has become very interested in choo choo trains lately and that was the only page he wanted to look at.  His new word for the day is booger!  

Laundry basket filled with 100 balls!  What could be better??  Nothing.

Last Thursday we had some very intense Thunderstorms.  The hail was pounding down at this point and it was so loud inside the house, but it didn't seem to bother Matthew at all.  He was quite amazed!

Cambell and Jackson laying in the floor together.  It is amazing that this 6 week old little baby wasn't even due until later next week!  What a blessing that he is here and healthy.  It won't be long until he is bigger than Miss Cambell!

Easter 2009

Easter is an amazing time and it is truly wonderful to reflect on and to remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us, for all of us.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

We had a wonderful Easter in Muleshoe.  This was the first year that Matthew is old enough to hunt Easter Eggs (aka Easter Apples).  I wasn't sure how he would do, but he caught on immediately and had a great time playing with all of his cousins.  We also got to color Easter Eggs and spend time with Mammaw and Pappaw.  We also spent some time with Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Roger and Papa T and Aunt Carrie.  It was a lot of fun for the babies and for us as well!  

Cambell watching Matthew color Easter Eggs

This was SO much fun!

Matthew and Mommy getting ready to hunt Easter Eggs (inside, b/c it was so cold!)

Cousin Emma decided it would be a lot easier to hunt out of Matthew's basket!  He didn't really mind!

Matthew and his cousins Emma, Hannah, Kateland, Jordan (inside Elli and Ellie) waiting for the Easter Bunny to come!