A family full of Hamms

My sleeping Angels

2012-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do is take pictures of the kids when they are sleeping...

When did Roscoe get So BIG

2012-01-02T19:55:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe that Roscoe is already in preschool. He went into the same preschool that Roxy went too, at Clear Brook High school. He Loves IT!!! This kid was not scared at all to start a new adventure! I am so proud of him, but it makes me a little bit sad that he is getting so old and brave.

He loves his shark shoes!

Look at him run for the door!

Roxy's First Day of School

2012-01-02T19:33:00.001-08:00

This year Roxy started Kindergarten with the beautiful Ms Coffey. She was so scared the weeks leading up to school starting but relaxed as she go to pick out her many outfits. It also helped when she got to go up to the school to be assessed and meet one of the teachers.

Here is the newest Dolphin!!

This lucky little girl got the have Gramma Chris and Grampa Johnt take her to school for her first day!

Now here is just a collection of the MANY outfits that Roxy had to debut during the first couple of weeks of school!

New Years Resolution

2012-01-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

BLOG!!!!

All Grown Up

2011-06-22T07:41:00.001-07:00

My first baby graduated from preschool and let me tell I was just a little emotional. To say that I love my daughter is an understatement. To say she can do no wrong in my eyes would be close to the truth. Watching the little ceremony and her interact with her classmates and teachers was so much fun and filled me with pride that I cannot describe. Here are the things that loved about that day.

1. I gave her flower and she shoved them in her backpack.

2. She watched and waved to me the whole time.

3. That there 3 other kids there graduating that i really love and was excited for too.

4. How excited Roxy was to see her brothers.

5. That Roxy did not get most "spirited"this year.

6. That i am pretty sure that Roxy was one of the favorite kids because we could not get out of that place since all of the teachers wanted to get a picture with her.

7. Ms Smith

The Third Child

2011-06-19T13:57:00.001-07:00

You may or may have not noticed a lack of posting on the blog. And you may or may not have not have noticed a lack of posting about our third child Rogan. Well, it is true what they say about taking fewer pictures and documenting fewer things. I have no idea what he weighed at each appointment or his height or percentiles. He is my true Third Child. So I will document what I know right now.

Name: Rogan Clarence Hamm

Nick Names: Rogey, Rogey Bogey, Rogey Bear, Bogers, Rickey Bobby.

Accomplishments: Crawling, pulling himself up, walking along the couch, sitting himself back down, sleeping through the night, eating solid food, chasing dogs.

Weight: about 18 pounds

Heights: no idea

Head: the Hamm head (BIG)

Loved By: Mommy, Daddy, Roxy and Roscoe, Liked by Goldie

This kid has the best smile and the craziest longest hair ever. I love it and never want to cut it. Its funny because Roscoe did not get a hair cut till he was 2 and Roxy was 3.

He is so loved by his brother and sister. Roscoe refers to him as his baby. And when grandpa Dave was in town and left Rogan in the living alone for like 5 seconds she went up to him and said "Someone isn't supposed to leave Rogan by himself..."

He loves the pool and his floatie. He loves going in the kiddie pool with it and using it as a walker because he can touch the ground and walk with it. He LOVES that.

When ever he is upset just take the kid outside to his swing and he shuts right up. As you can see one night he fell asleep blowing raspberrys on the side. Rich thought he was getting awfully quiet.

His reflux has been the bane of my existence. I stopped nursing because of it. Roxy had a mild case of it and at six months I took her off the meds and switched her to normal formula and she was fine. I have tried to do the same with Rogan and he has def not out grown the reflux. I actually spent two weeks thinking he was teething. Screaming, not eating, spitting up, before I thought about trying the meds again. And what do you know, he is happy again and still toothless.

This boy also love Goldie like no other. He will follow our dog all around the house. Goldie has two tags on her collar, one for her rabies shot and one with our address, so she makes a jingling where ever she goes. Rogey knows the jingle and perks up whenever he hears it.

In short, we love him, but we have not written a lot down.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

This was Rogans first Easter and i think that he had a pretty good day! We didn't get him a basket because he was so little but we did get him a toy, that Roxy and Roscoe played with more than him!

I can't believe how big the kids have gotten. With Rogan being our last child, it feels weird knowing that with Rogan this is the end of the firsts.

We hide a ton of eggs for the kids, as you can see. They have so much fun!

Roscoe turns 3

2011-04-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

I did not want to host a party this year, so Mr. Cheese was nice enough to do it for me!

We had so much fun and Roscoe had a blast.

Rogan invited a few of his own friends...

...and Daddy had some fun of his own.

He did get a bit scared in the Ticket Blaster, but caught some tickets in his birthday crown.

THe Blankies

2011-02-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

The kids all have their own Blankie and are very attached to them. They cannot sleep without them. I wanted to document over the years the kids with their blankies. Sorry for them being all sideways.

Who is the match maker?

2011-01-25T18:24:00.001-08:00

This year we really wanted to take the time to teach the kids about real meaning of christmas. So I bought this Little People Nativity set. And it really worked, they totally got it. What was weird was that everytime I walked but the set they people were all matched up in couple.

I am pretty sure it was Roxy making sure everyone had someone to marry.

She is a funny girl.

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-25T18:03:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas morning like a fat kid loves cake. It is so much fun to be a parent on Christmas morning, especially with my kids!! They get so excited about all of their gifts.

Well, maybe Rogan doesn't get that excited...

We make sure that the kids always get gifts for each other.

Aunt JoJo made that blanket for Rogan.

Rich loves Christmas as much as the kids.

Mommy was awfully tired

WE LOVE THIS GAME

The kids had a great christmas and really made it great for us too.

New Years Eve

2011-01-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

It is legal in our neighborhood to set out fireworks, even the ones that go in the air, on New Years Eve. So Rich and the kids grabbed their chairs and sat in the front yard and watched the show.

They had a great time.

Even Rogan got in on the action.

mailing letters to santa

2011-01-25T17:43:00.001-08:00

The kids were so excited to go to Macy's and mail their letters to Santa. I missed it this year and stayed home with Rogan. Sometimes it is not worth the hassle of getting the baby in and out of the car.

The nativity

2010-12-28T18:57:00.001-08:00

I came home from an errand to find a curtain pinned in the entry way of my front door. While I had been away Rich and the kids had decided to act out the nativity.

As you can see Roxanne was Mary and Roscoe was Joseph.

As you may have guessed there was no room for them in the inn

but after they found room in the stable the wisemen came bringing gifts for the new born baby

They did a fantastic job

A Visit from Grandma Debbie and Pappa Johnt

2010-12-09T14:29:00.001-08:00

My parents got to come and visit to be here for Rogans blessing right before Christmas. As soon as they got here we went and picked out a tree and let them help the kids decorate the tree.

Roscoe is concentrating very hard

My mom made us these awesome Santa beanie hats. She made for the kids last year and the rest of us this year. Roscoe seems to really like his.

I love this kid.

On sunday morning we had a mini christmas morning with my parents. They opened the presents for and from them and had so much fun. Roscoe got so excited opening his Toy Story figures and Roxy got real sassy in her new tutu

She also got the whole set of all the princess dolls.

oh, heres Rogan in his precious little santa beanie. It took us a while to get this shot, so please enjoy it!

He is wearing a diaper underneath, I swear. Sunday night the kids just enjoyed playing with their grandparents. The closet was Never Never Land and Roxy was wendy and Dad was John and Roscoe was Michael.

I am not sure how Rogan feels about his new cookie monster toy.

blessings

2010-12-09T14:11:00.001-08:00

All of my children have been wonderful blessings in my life in their own way. Her they all are in their blessing outfits.

Rogan

Roscoe

Roxanne

Rogans Blessing Outfit

2010-12-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

My Mom made Rogans blessing outfit. We did not get a picture that day, but took one later that week. It actually worked out pretty good because look at what a good mood e is in. She also makes them blankets to go with their outfits.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

We stay home for thanksgiving every year. And it has started to be our tradition that the week of thanksgiving we think, Oh we should invite someone over. Just to realize it is too late to invite someone over since it is the week of thanksgiving and people already have plans. Oh well. This Thanksgiving we especially great for no reason at all. We did nothing. We watched the parade. We cooked dinner. We made hats that Richs Aunt Vicki sent the kids. We ate. I shopped. It was really great.

I do not think that I will ever get a great picture of all three. sigh...

At least Roscoe is a happy kid

Rogan

2010-11-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post some super cute pics of my new little man.

He is my one and only kid to have dimples. He has them on both cheeks but it is impossible to get a pic of both

Roscoe LOVES him

Rogan loves taking baths

Roxy LOVES changing his diapers

And she loves him

I LOVE their faces when they just wake up and are stretching

Rosoe's Birth Story

2010-11-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

I am writing this almost three years after Roscoe was born so I am not sure how many details I will be able to remember or how accurate the rendition will be but here goes:

With Roscoe I was induced. At 38 weeks I was dialated to 5 and 80% effaced and still had not had one contraction. Plus, the Dr did an ultrasound that said he was going to be a big baby. So in the wee hours of the morning on February 21, 2008 Rich and I went to the hospital to have our second baby. It was funny, because a friend from church was being induced at the same time, by the same Dr.

The Dr came in and broke my water, but not much happened. I was only having a few contractions and they were not strong. So she came back to start the pitocin. I was a smart girl and asked for the Dr to order the epidural before she left and the contractions got bad. Smartest thing I ever did. The put in the epidural before things got painful, so I did not feel much of anything this delivery.

Like with Roxy, Roscoe's heart rate was not steady so the nurse actually put a tube in my cervix to put saline in my uterus to let Roscoe float to keep the pressure off of the umbilical cord. But his delivery was pretty uneventful. AND QUICK.

I got to the hospital at about 7 and when the nurse checked me at about 11:30 I was at a ten. It happened a little too quick for Rich because when they said that I was ready to push, he had to excuse his himself because he got light headed. It all happened to fast for him. When he came back he was good to go.

I pushed for about half an hour, but it was funny because I faked some of my pushes. I COULD NOT FEEL ANYTHING. When the I had contraction I could not feel one bit of it, so I never felt any need or desire to push. So when she told me to push, sometimes I would just make the face and not really push. At one point I asked for the mirror in the room. They had one of those mirrors that lets you watch the delivery. Let me tell you that was a mistake. Child birth is disgusting. I told the Dr that and to take the mirror away. She told me that it was not disgusting and it was beautiful. I told her she was wrong. When he finally came out, he was the only one of my babies that they put straight onto my chest and I got to hold when they were all squishy and gross. I remember being surprised that he smelled bad. No one had told me to expect that. It was a really special moment to have him skin to skin with me right away. He was 8 lbs even and 20 inches long and looked just like Rich and Roxy.

Final pregnancy shots

2010-11-10T13:43:00.001-08:00

Since this is my last baby, I just wanted to document the final few pictures of me pregnant. I love the one above simply because of Roscoes face in it, its not so flattering of me.

Roscoe fell asleep on the way home from church. I almost never get to hold him when he is sleeping. It was a treat for me.

Roxannes Birth

2010-11-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

I was due on July 5^th, which is actually the anniversary of when Rich and I met. I was getting pretty miserable and had been on maternity leave for about one week and was already bored out of my mind. Someone had old me that using yoga balls helped you to dialate so I was trying that. At my doctors appointment that Tuesday I was already dilated to two. I also took a prenatal aqua aerobics class having heard that someone went into labor right after class. My mom had called and said that her boss said it would be great if I had the baby that weekend so that she could be back on Monday. Rich’s mom was passing through town visiting Rich’s sister. I was ready to have this baby and so were the people around us. My water broke Friday night/Saturday morning at 1:30 and a dashed into the bathroom. It was really weird because I knew what was happening as soon as I woke up. I went back in to the bedroom and woke up Rich and we called the hospital. I wasn’t having any contractions so they said to wait two hours and then come in.

Well, with two hours to kill Rich cleaned up the mess in the bed and I did the dishes. Then I sat down to watch Nightmare on Elm Street V and eat brownies. Then the contractions came on. Holy cow they come on fast. They did not hurt very much at first and I was thinking that I would not need the epidural that I was hoping for. We left about ten minutes after the contractions started because as soon as they came, they were about three minutes apart. On the way to the hospital they kept getting stronger and closer.

We got checked in and got up to our room. The nurse who took us back to our room did not notice that the bed was on the highest level and I didn’t know so I climbed up and lay down. The next nurse who came in was amazed that I had climbed up into the bed on my own and apologized for the first nurse not noticing. I quickly realized that I was not going to be able to have this baby without the aid of drugs. My contractions were about a minute and half apart after an hour and lasting about 45 seconds. I had no time to recover and I did not know how to handle the pain.

My mom got to the hospital about an hour after I had the epidural and I was flying high. I was able to rest, get a little sleep, we watched Run Away Bride three times. Then the epidural started to wear off on my right side and this is where it starts to get bad.

I was having the worst pain on my right side but there was nothing that they could do. After about four hours there they came and checked and I was dilated to four. I was so ticked because I was to two four days before, why wasn’t I further? So the time is not going by very quickly at this point and I am hurting on my right side and then about two hours later I just get the feeling that I have to push this baby out. I buzz for a nurse and ask her to get the doctor to check me, I am certain that I am at 10 and ready to start pushing. I can’t fight this urge to push, it was the most overwhelming feeling that I have ever had in my life. So they finally get the doctor in there and sure enough, TIME TO PUSH. Now the whole time that I have been here they were having problems with the monitors staying on the right part of my stomach to monitor what they were supposed to. I gave a few cursory pushes and we were still having trouble getting the heartbeat. I can’t really remember why or when but at one point they put an internal monitor inside me on to Roxy’s head to monitor her heartbeat. This is when they found out that whenever I was pushing that Roxanne’s heartbeat would drop dangerously low. The cord was around her neck. For some reason my body produced too much placenta and gave this girl plenty of room to move around. They tried having me get on all fours and push, but with the epidural I could barely keep myself from toppling over, let alone stay up and push out a baby.

We tried a few different things for me to push and not put Roxanne in danger. The one position that we tried that seemed to work was my laying part way on my left side and having Rich hold up my right leg. Not the most flattering of positions. It was really hard because I was never really able to bear down. I could not use the stirrups as leverage. One leg was just lying next to me and the other was in Rich’s arms and he was not quite sure what to do. But her heart rate was doing great. After a while we tried the other side but her heart rate dropped again. So it was back on to the left for me.

Now this is where it gets pretty hazy. I know that they gave me an oxygen mask that I hated because it made my face all wet and I hate having a wet face. My mom said that I kept asking her what the dripping noise was. (It was the oxygen tank.) I was told that I pooped on the table a few times (YUCK). I felt like I was pushing forever, and after about an hour and half I asked the nurse how much longer that she thought it was going to take and she said about 20-25 minutes and I replied, “SHIT.’’ In front of my mother. Rich thinks this is the funniest part of the whole day.

So I do eventually get to the point where the real doctor comes in catch the baby. Problem is that I am done. I have been pushing for two hours and I am tired, soaking wet, exhausted and I am not pushing anymore. Then they tell me that Roxanne’s heartbeat has dropped again and is not coming back up. Then they finally let me use the stirrups and get in the good pushes because I have to get her out now. They decide that I need an episiotomy if I am to get this child out. I am pushing as hard as I know how and she is just stuck and not coming out. Her heart rate is not looking good. The doctor asks Rich to push the little red button behind me. There are three doctors in my room and one of them gets out the vacuum. I ask them to use it because I am exhausted and scared and I need help. They finally use it after a few more pushes. The NICU team comes in (that was the red button). The doctor gets Roxanne out halfway using the vacuum and stops so that she can cut the cord. The cord is stretched so tight that blood shoots across her mask as she cuts it. Once the cord is off of her neck the NICU team takes over and Roxanne is put on a table and bagged to help her breathe. I remember thinking that it was like a scene from ER and it scared me to the very core. After a minute or so they got her crying and she was fine.

I don’t really remember what happens right after that but I know that they tried to hand Roxanne to me and I did not want her. I never cried from joy and I wasn’t emotional. I think that I was scared because of everything that had just happened. Maybe it was because the doctor was still stitching me up. Maybe I was in shock, I don’t know. It was not until the next day when we got home and we were alone that I was able to really FEEL it all. We laid Roxanne down and Rich and I went and laid down in bed and I just started bawling. I cried for about ten minutes. Tears of fear, joy, apprehension, everything. We had been preparing for this baby for the past nine months, but nothing prepares you for the overwhelming emotions that go along with the babies.

Rogan's Birth

2010-11-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

I like to get the birth stories down before baby amnesia sets in and I can't remember a thing. So here is the story. I woke up on 10/20/2010 (love the date) and needed to go to the bathroom. While I was sitting doing my business I felt Rogan jerk really hard and I remember thinking, "wow, I can't believe that did not break my water." So I finish up and start to go back to bed and what do you know, my water breaks. I go back to the toilet and and sit there and drip for a while, then grab a towel and head back to bed to let Rich know the news.

I wake him up and tell him that my water broke and you know what he says to me, "Are we still going to work?" Really sensitive right? We think about what to do. I am not having any contractions yet so I don't see the need to go to the hospital quite yet. We decide to go ahead and go in since with Roxy my water broke and I did not have any contractions for about an hour, but once they started they went straight to a minute apart.

We let Rich's mom know we are going to the hospital, we both put in for subs for work and off we go. We get there about 1:30 and get a room. The contractions still have not been too strong and the monitor is not picking them up to well anyways. The monitor is also not getting Rogans heart rate since he is moving around too much. The nurse is in all the time rearranging the monitor. Not much is happening, but I am dialating like a champ. Rich decides to try and catch some sleep before the big show starts.

While Rich is sleeping the real contractions start and they HURT and are coming FAST. I immediately ask for the epidural and the nurse calls for the anesthesiologist and starts the fluids so that when he gets there he can put it in right away. The contractions are really killing me and some how Rich still sleeps through all the noise. The nurse notices that Rogan's heart rate is slowing during the contractions, but also that the monitor is having a hard time picking him up. They decide to put a monitor on his head so that they can get an accurate reading at all times.

Rich finally wakes up right before the anesthesiologist gets there and is really surprised by how much has happened since he fell asleep. The Dr asks Rich to leave before they enter the epidural. At some point we now have 4 nurses in the room and they are all very concerned about Rogan's HR. It is getting very slow during all the contractions. They begin having me roll over during every contraction to see find a position that Rogan likes. He does not like anything. His heart rate is getting for slow and nothing is working to keep it up. They give me a shot to stop my contractions and it DOES NOTHING. Contractions are still a minute apart. The nurses are sounding very worried. They give me another shot and still the contractions keep coming.

I am still feeling contractions since the epidural has not fully kicked in and they are rolling me over and I am not very aware of anything but the pain. Finally, the epidural starts to kick in and I open my eyes to see my lead nurse in surgery scrubs and I then realize how big the problem is with Rogan's heart. Rich still has not come back in the room from when they put in the epidural. This is when I ask them to please go and find my husband. When he comes back in, they hand him scrubs and tell him to prepare for a c-section.

At some point my Dr finally arrives and assesses the situation. She sees the babies HR and how strong the contractions are and that the Rogan is still pretty high. She is worried about the baby, but since I am already to ten and ready to deliver wants to see if I can just get the baby out really fast. She lets me try pushing for a few contractions and this kid is going no where, but his heart rate is still scary and she decides that we are going in for a c-section.

I can't really remember much between then and the surgical room. I remember just thinking, "holy crap, is this really happening?" Then I really remember when I think that they are cutting me open and Rich is still not in there and asking them to go and get him. I was worried that if he saw something he would faint. Rich gets to come in finally and he comes over to me and in minutes we hear Rogan crying.

When I had the other two, I never had that moment when you are so glad that the baby is there and you are so emotional that you just cry. With the others that moment happened once we were home. With Rogan I broke down. Between losing a pregnancy right before him and then having to have an emergency c-section, it was too much when I heard him cry. It was such a relief to know he was out and healthy.

Rich went over to see him, and once the nurses had cleaned him they brought him over to show me before they took him away. I did not get to hold him till almost 2 hours later. But he was here.

Rogan Clarence Hamm, 19 inches, 6 lbs 10 oz.

Halloween

2010-11-03T20:00:00.001-07:00

Our tradition has been to go to my friend, Babbi's, neighborhood for trick or treating. The community has started a tradition of meeting in one location and having a parade for all the kids, and then proceding into trick or treating. It is really fun and the kids of course love it. They are both in the front row if you are looking for them.

Little Rogan is a very precious little bat. Isn't he tiny!!!

Roxy is one of the fairys from Tinker Bell, Rosetta. And after working our way through two other costumes, Roscoe was Thor.

Ward Trunk or Treat

2010-11-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

So I missed the ward Trunk or Treat since I had the baby. I didn't want to bring Rogan out quite yet and I was not really feeling up to walking around after my c-section. Rich, Grandma Chris and Grandpa Johnt got to take the kids.

Appatently face painting is very stressful and maybe even painful, but look below to see how cute she turned out.

Rogan has arrived

2010-10-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well even though the whole pregnancy I had planned on Rogan coming 2 weeks earlier since the other two were, I was shocked to discover in wee hours of Wednesday October 20, that my water had broken (especially since I was scheduled to be induced on Friday.) But break it did. So off we went to the hospital to get our son.

Most of you know that it did not go as planned and I wound up having to have a C-Section. During labor Rogans heart rate would drop to as low as 50. Safe range is from 120-160. They tried to put my in several different positions and nothing worked. They tried giving me two shots of a medication to stop my contractions, but they never stopped and continued at a minute apart. When the Dr arrived she assessed the situation and actually let me push a few times to see if I could maybe just get him out really fast. He went no where, so they made the decision that they needed to go in and get him. THey did discover that he was face up, and the cord was wound around his neck. So they made the right decision and now I have a really neat scar. It is kind of funny that now I have had a baby all three ways. Naturally, induction and now cesarean.

So Rogan came at 5:53 on October 20, 2010. He was 6 lbs 10 oz and 19 inches long.

37 weeks

2010-10-10T19:27:00.001-07:00

SO I am in the final countdown, 37 weeks. I am doing pretty good. I would love to be able to stop working, but that is not going to happen. The kids are excited and Roxy keeps asking when he is coming and Roscoe keeps saying that Rogan is a girl. Hopefully he will be here soon. I will keep you posted...

One last outing just the four of us...

2010-10-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

You may have guessed our outing took us to the movies, this picture was taken by Roxy on the way home from the movies. She loves pop corn and taking pictures. We just decided that we should go do something fun with the kids before the baby comes because we wont be doing anything for a while once it comes.

After the movie Roxy and Rich thought they would be cute and shake their booties at me and Roscoe

Aren't they the cutest?

Preschool starts again

2010-10-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

Roxy attends a preschool at the local High School where the High School students teach the class. SHE LOVES PRESCHOOL. She was so excited that it was starting again as you can see in the pic above, not so much in the pic below.

Roscoe wanted to get in on the photo shoot session, and really wanted to show off his bootylicious booty.

AAAAWWWW they are best friends.

My new Niece

2010-09-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

So this is Marys new little girl Iliana Tapia Storz. As you can see things have not smoothly for little this little girl. Everything seemed fine until a few days ago when she wasn't eating and her temp was low. Luckily Mary followed her intuition and took her to the Dr to discover that there was something wrong with Iliana's heart. Long story short, Iliana had surgery today on her Aortic arch is should be fine. She is 13 days old. Mary and Nolan will need to watch her heart the rest of her life, but she is good and should be going home in 1-2 weeks.

33 Weeks

2010-09-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Not much to report, I am 33 weeks. The baby is great. I have now passed 2 kidney stones, but the baby looks great and we have nothing to worry about him. His name is Rogan Clarence Hamm. Rogan because we liked it, Clarence after my grandpa Jensen. I am doing good with weight this time. I have only gained 12 pounds, where as with Roxy I gained 70 pounds, and with Roscoe I gained 40. So yeah. The kids are super duper excited and cant wait for him to be born. Roxy has actually started asking to change Roscoes diaper to practice for the baby. She kisses my stomach just as often as she kisses me. You cannot say a prayer near Roscoe without blessing the baby, or he will say his own prayer next. But we are really doing good and are not ready at all. But we are trying to get there. We still have plenty of time!!

Blast off to NASA

2010-09-12T07:22:00.001-07:00

It may not seem apparent here, but the kids had a blast at the Space Center. They ran all around and had a great time seeing the exhibits and playing with all of the play areas.

Rich had a great time too.

Roscoe is super strong.

Fun at the Pool

2010-08-20T16:49:00.001-07:00

As you can see below Roscoe loves the new splash pad at the community pool. Unfortunatly it only opened for the final few weeks of the summer, but the kids have loved it. Roscoe especially.

Its got these awesome water guns that the boys love to squirt at each other.

San Antonio

2010-08-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

We took an unexpected trip to San Antonio. Rich's brother's wife was having complications in her pregnancy and had her baby about 10 weeks early in San Antonio. (They live about 4 hours south of SA and six hours south of us, but needed to be in a bigger hospital.) So we packed up and took the opportunity to see David and his new step kids when they were much closer and we going to try and see the new baby, which we never did get to see. Caleb, was still just too small and having some problems, but he is looking great and should be just fine.

We had never been to San Antonio before so we were excited to do the touristy things there. The DVD player right before we left so the driving was not as smooth as it could have been , but the kids were pretty great.

We went on a River Boat on the River Walk which was really cool. Next time we go though I really want to walk it without being pregnant and without kids.

This is the stage were they filmed the scene form Miss Congeniality for the bathing suit contest. Cool huh?

After that we walked over to the Alamo and walked around.

The kids and Rich had lots of fun staying in the hotel. Roxy was so excited about everything that she saw in the hotel. It must be nice to be a kid and everything is so exciting.

This is Roscoe's super triple decker lunchable sandwich. What can I say, he is such a man.

Aren't they cute?

Eight Years

2010-07-31T12:19:00.001-07:00

This was the day that Rich and I were married. Rich is the best thing that has ever happened to me. When I met him I never knew how great life could be. I was happy when I met him and happy with myself. With him, I am content, blissful, and striving to be the best person, wife and mother that I can be for him. Our marriage has had its ups and downs, but they have been the best ups in my life, and the downs that have taught me the things that I have needed to learn. I am so in love with the man that I married and more in love with the man that he has become.

After eight years you can almost forget about the early part of your relationship. So I put up a few pics of the beginning. This was at our engagement party.

This was at our one year anniversary when we were sealed in the Oakland Temple. We went home and ate the top of our wedding cake. Since my mom had requested that not smash cake at the wedding, we got a little violent at the anniversary, you know all that pent up cake-smashing-frustration for a year.

Which leads us to know. For our anniversary we went to a cooking lesson at Sur La Table. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. We have always wanted to do that and finally did it. We took a grilling class and it was awesome. We made tri-tip, ribs, porkchops, and tuna. We made a few side dishes but the best things we made were, was two BBQ sauces. THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS. But we just had so much fun and ate really good food and met fun people, and had a really good time. I love my husband and the time we spend together. Happy Anniversary Muffin.

This is our Roscoe Cheese Face.

Cheese Fries

2010-07-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

One night I was watching on of my favorite trashy reality shows and they were eating cheese fries. I have not been able to stop thinking about them ever since. Not the kind of cheese fries with shredded cheese melted on top, but the kind with melted cheese poured on top. These are hard to find, let me tell you. I tried to satisfy this craving by eating hash browns and melting american cheese on top, eh. Not the same. Finally one night Rich and I went to the Star Cinema Grill which for those of you who do not live in Houston, is a movie theater that also has a full restaurant menu. AND THEY HAD CHEESE FRIES. Specifically, they had "say hello to my little fries, add queso" And they were the most delicious thing I had eaten in my whole life. OMG. I was so happy. Rich loved them, we made sure that the other person was not taking more bites than the other so it was equal. They we so good. Then the other night I went Cheddar's with friends and got cheese fries again and they were okay, but they were the shredded-cheese-melted-on-top kind of cheese fries, but they also had bacon and a side of ranch. BUT I HAVE NOW FIGURED OUT HOW TO HAVE THEM ALL THE TIME. I made queso the other when we had tacos for dinner, and had some left over. That night I sent Rich out for a pregnancy craving of a banana cream pie blizzard from frosty and with inspiration asked him to get me some fries, heated up the queso, and viola. I have the good kind of cheese fries. I have done twice since. You may ask, why in the world is Rachel taking up an entire post talking about cheese fries? Because I am pregnant, they make me happy and I LOVE CHEESE FRIES.

Baby Update

2010-07-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

I am almost 26 weeks and feel about 36 weeks. Actually I am doing okay but I am to the point where I feel pregnant and waddle and have changed the way I get up. Things are doing really great. The baby looks great and he is looking pretty big, the ultra sound Dr had fun showing us his big fat thighs and also his big giant Hamm head. I will be starting at a new school this year and that is exciting. I plan to take off until christmas break. Rich plans to take off the month of January. Then my mom and Richs mom are going to come out and help take care of the kids through part of April. We haven't figured out after that, but that gets us pretty far.

This is one of my close friends out here in Houston, who is due in about 3 weeks. I am excited that we will again have kids the same age. Roxy and her daughter Savanna are the same age and best friends.

Fourth of July Traditions

2010-07-11T08:33:00.001-07:00

I am happy that we have been able to make our own traditions here in Texas. Our fourth of July traditions include the Friendswood Parade with Babbi and Liisa and a BBQ at the Dunns.

Gotta love donuts with red frosting

Here is our group. Liisa is to the far left and Babbi to the far right. They are sisters.

Roxy became the photographer of the day and took tons of pics. She took this one of her BFF Savannah.

Her is one she took of one of my BFFs Babbi

All of the ones of the parade she took herself. She did a pretty good job and I never had to get up.

We were pretty hot and tired by the end. Too bad Rich has yet to make it to the parade. After the parade we went home for naps and to make treats to take the Dunns. I saw these in a magazine and copied them. How cute right.

the steak is a caramel and milk candy.

the hot dogs are hot tamales

and the cabobs and cut up gum drops.

Now the Dunns have been doing this party for years and they do it up right, they rent a HUGE water slide...

they have THREE trampolines...

they rent a snow cone machine...

and a friend brings over their horse.

Needless to say the kids always have a great time and go home all tuckered out.

FLORIDA WITH NO KIDS

2010-07-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that we got to go to florida with no kids for 3 days. It was amazing and relaxing and I slept in everyday. This was the view from our room, which was just yards from the pool.

We went to down town Disney twice but never made it into a Disney park because of the weather. It was rainy and unpredictable so we did not want to chance spending so much on tickets and only getting to go then turn around because of the rain.

So the main reason for the trip was that Rich had a volleyball tournament there. The last day it was held at the Sports Center complex which was pretty cool.

Here is the team and they placed top 30 in the nation. GO AVA!!!

Roxy turns 4

2010-07-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

This was this the first year that I did not throw a big party for Roxy for her birthday. A bunch of Richs family had flown out, so we just had two families over and made it pretty small.

My friend Amy made this adorable outfit. I bought the shirt, and then she bought the material and ribbons, and then made the skirt and bows to match. She was the cutest birthday girl EVER!!!!

Look how good kids can be when candy is involved

I love that Rebekah is trying to blow out the candles in the background. You can't see it, but Roscoe is trying to do the same thing on the other side.

Roxy's first bike!!!

She looks safe and happy right?

We didn't want her to mess up her birthday outfit, so she changed and the other kids had brought their bikes and everyone went outside to ride their bikes.

Baby News

2010-06-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

Can you guess?

Kids say funny things

2010-06-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Roxy-

The other day in the car...

Roxy- Mom, are you my real mom?

Me- What? Of course Roxy. Why would you ask me that.

Roxy- Sometimes mommys are robots, I wish you were a mermaid mommy.

Roscoe-

He just likes to grab his penis and say "BIG BIG BIG" in his man voice

at the car wash

2010-05-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

On mothers day Rich and the kids went out and washed my car for me. Roxy of course had to dress up for the occassion. And Roscoe needed to have a back-pack for some reason.

Wax on, wax off

My kids are the best.

Mothers days tradtions

2010-05-08T10:40:00.001-07:00

This has to be the best Mothers Day tradition ever. Family portraits every year at the same time. Rich can't argue with any thing. I get to pick the outfits, the time, where we eat afterwards, the poses. I LOVE IT.

My super cute kids

All three of my babies

I thought this was so cute, Roscoe could have fallen on his head and thought it was hilarious

Roxy's Hair

2010-05-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Roxanne has never been that great at growing hair. She had her first hair cut in December and her hair has really been really filling in and looking like kid hair instead of baby hair. Even the baby sitter has been doing her hair lately and i asked her the other day if she would teach me to french braid and do a bunch of stuff with Roxys hair.

Isn't her hair pretty, well no more. Roxy cut her hair today.

notice how in the front you cannot see any long hair in the front but one long hair coming from the back.

See how in front of her ear it is awfully short.

Oh and did I mention that we are taking family portraits this saturday.

Thanks Jen

2010-05-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

Thank you Jen for sending me these great pics of the kids

Roxy Reads

2010-04-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

the birthday box

2010-04-17T19:07:00.001-07:00

Since my mom could not be here with me on my birthday so she sent me a birthday in a box. The box was filled to the brim with confetti and 30 balloons each with a 1 dollar bill. It also had a box of cake mix, a can of frosting, candles, a banner and pin the tail on the donkey.

Here is my money

Roxy had so much fun making confetti angels

Roxy took this pic. They had the most fun dumping the confetti on me.

washed my cell phone

2010-04-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hey I washed my cell phone and lost all of my numbers, can you please give it to me again? My number is still 281-832-8017.

Rach

Nine long weeks, and 31 more to go...

2010-03-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

So if you can add to 40, you have probably figured out that I am pregnant. Yes we did it again, this time on purpose and things are going much better. It has been a tough road so far but things are looking really good.

At six weeks I went to the doctor for the first time. She was hesitant to do an ultrasound so early because she knew how much I was hoping to hear a heart beat and I would fear the worst if I did not. I assured her I knew the likelihood of hearing a heart beat and that I would be fine but that I just needed to see that the baby was there and the right size. It wasn't. She kept asking me about my LMP and when I got the first pregnancy test and the dates just did not add up. She told me things did not look good, she was not seeing a fetus at all, and that by this point we should and that we would test my HCG levels to see if anything else was appropriate.

I went home that day and cried for hours, I knew that I had lost another pregnancy. I mourned. I grieved. I ate a lot. I went back to the Dr two days later and had the second HCG test done and the results were GREAT. I was so shocked and so excited. The Dr and I set up an appointment for the following Friday, giving the baby time to grow so that the Dr would be able to see a difference.

Well we did not get that far. On Tuesday at about 8 pm I got the worst pain ever in my right side, that went all the way down to my groin. I did not know what it was, but I never thought it was the baby. After enduring the pain for about 2 hours I went to the ER and was seen faster than I have ever been seen in my whole life. The Dr's initially were thinking ectopic pregnancy and one Dr even told Rich that I might DIE. We got an ultrasound done, and it was not the baby. They baby was great and Rich got to see the heart beat. Turns out it was kidney stones.

So I get checked into the hospital and am sent up to post partum, since I am pregnant. The OB comes to see me and lets me know the baby looked good but that I was a week later than I had thought (which was why they could not see the baby yet) BUT that I had a sub-chorianic hemorhage. (total misspell). She gave me some shots that I had to take once a week to "keep my uterus quiet."

Things are going great, I feel pregnant, hungry, tired, all of the things that I am supposed to feel. Until today, I started spotting. It took everything I had to keep it together. Luckily I happened to have a Drs appt today after work. I get there and the nurse does the doppler and I hear the heart beat for the first time. I have never felt such relief and joy. So Rich and the kids are there when the Dr does the ultrasound, and the baby looks great. She ( I want it to be a she) is moving everywhere, I could see her little arm buds waving about.

Then the Dr discovers something else. What she had that was a Sub chorianic hemrage was actually another baby, a twin that was not viable. Now you would think that I would be really sad, but all I can feel is grateful that the one baby is okay. I never thought about two babies, I was always just worried about getting one to stick. And one of them is fine and I am still pregnant and 3 weeks further than I was when I miscarried last time.

I am so excited and can't I have held it this long, well kind of, alot of people already know. So please be excited for us. Don't ask if we are sad or worried because we are not. We are beyond happy and so are the kids. Roscoe has two big brother shirts already and when he wears them he gets really excited and pulls it out for everyone to see. And well Roxy is demanding a girl...we will keep you posted.

2010-03-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Rich is going to be out of town for Easter so we celebrated a week early. Here they are in their Easter outfits. The hunt pictures will come later.

Big boy bed and boots

2010-03-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

Right before Roscoe turned 2 we got him his big boy bed and holy cow does he love it. I love it too because he sleeps so much better in than he did in the crib. He was way to big for that little bitty thing.

His GAV got him these awsome fire truck boots, that he loves. He got a rain jacket to go with it, but he does not love that so much. Look at his little bootie!!

Rodeo Stompin Fun

2010-03-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

So I took Sarah and Melissa to the Rodeo but apparently did not take any pictures of us. I actually enjoyed the Rodeo his year. We watched some horse races, shopped, played tons of games and enjoyed humid free weather for a change.

why is it impossible to take a good picture of four people

Roxy wanted to ride the ponies the instant she walked through the gate, although she had just ridden a pony on Saturday. She was really mad that she had to wait in line

I scream, you scream, roscoe takes all the ice cream

2010-03-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

While my sisters were in town I wanted them to try every flavor of the infamous blue bell ice cream. So I went to the store and bought every flavor they had in pint size. As you saw roscoe enjoyed it a bit too much.

bayou wild life park

2010-03-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

While melissa and sarah were in town I wanted to take them to the places they do not have in Cali. The first place we went was the bayou wild life park. They had a blast

While we were riding I looked over to see Roxy lifting some of Roscoes food Copy and paste this and you can watch Roxy being sneaky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Z0Are950Y

Roscoe was actually really scared and stayed in my lap most of the time. I should have seen that coming since he is afraid of the cow at chick fil a.

he got brave in the petting zoo and fed the goats.

Sarah was brave too.

Roxy is not afraid if much

this was before the animal part

Girls Galore

2010-02-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

Roxanne went to a birthday part yesterday that was so much fun. we went to a local beauty school and the little girls got their hair and nails done, They had so much fun. Roxanne loved it. The next day Rich asked her what they did at the beauty school and she said they made her beautiful!!!

Bethany is the one who did her hair and nails

It was hard trying to get her to look away from the mirror

Look how pretty we are

This is Roxy's BFF savannah, she loved having her hair washed

here is Roxy and Lizzie

Lizzie loved it as much as Roxy

This the birthday girl Bella

This is how Roxy walked when her nails were finished, she was being very careful to not mess them up

Here are all the little Beauty Queens at the cafe for lunch. Roxy would not move her hands, don't ask me why

Twoo Twoo

2010-02-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

So my tiny little bubba turned two. Well technically he turns two on Sunday but we had his party last night.

When Chris was blowing up balloons Roscoe happened to get naked and pose on his own, how cute is this shot. You should see the 18 other obscene ones we got.

Roscoe got so excited when everyone sang to him, which was funny since when we sang to him at breakfast he yelled at us to stop

Opening presents

Biggest Blunder In my History

2010-02-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

So here is what happened to me today at work. I went to Rich's classroom to say and he was not there. I sat down at his desk talking to one of his aides. I get up to leave and the chair that I am sitting in hits the fire extinguisher and knocks the thing to the floor. The thing starts spraying yellow powder every where. Rich's kids are low functioning autistic kids and they start freaking out. the fire extinguisher wont turn off and I am not sure how it is going off because no one is pushing the lever thing Mean while Richs room is getting a lawyer of yellow dust all over the room, over everything. We get the kids out of the room and into the other room. The administrator gets there and we are trying to get a game plan for cleaning up the mess. Then the fire alarm goes off and we have to evacuate the entire school, which 1/3 of them are sitting at lunch. Richs kids start freaking out again, they are crying and running around. It is a mess. Then later that day one of Rich's kids has not gotten over it and starts biting himself and gets blood all over Rich and then bites Rich. My kids, who are high functioning autistic kids are shot for the day. One of them tries to leave the school. Gotta say that is was a pretty crappy day, and all because I wanted to say to my valentine.

2010-02-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Roxy was in the living room drawing and brought me this picture and said, "This is me angry"

Gotta say I am a little scared.

ROXYS FIRST FIELD TRIP

2010-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Roxys preschool class took there first trip this week and I was so nervous. Just the thought of her on a big yellow school bus made my stomach sink. It worked out that I called in sick that day because my babysitters kids were sick so I got to take her to preschool and pick her up which I love. They went to the Childrens museum, which she loves

She was so excited and go to wear these shirts that they made at preschool

yeah the teacher does not look that excited

This was the picture that made my heart sink to see her on the school bus

This is Andy who goes to our church. he got me the pictures of on the field trip, since i could not go.

This is Roxy, Madeline and Lizzie. maddy and Lizzie are cousins and we all go to the same church.

Roxy had the best time, but was certainly worn out after the trip.

Roscoe is a Boy

2010-01-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

Now I know that Roscoe is a boy, I call him a boy all the time. Somehow he has picked up some girl tendancies, Maybe because he is around Roxy and I all the time. Or maybe because he goes to the sitters and there are 5 girls and no boys, I am not sure but the kid needs some help.

He likes to wear my makeup

and play with my tampons,

any suggestions?

Big Girl Time

2010-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

I am very lucky to have kept a small group of friends since high school, especially living 2000 miles away. When I come into town I try to go out with them at least once. This time I did not get to see everyone but I did get to see Dezi, Adrian, and Jamie.

Notice Dezis tummy, she is having her first baby girl in March, I better get working on those bows.

Aren't we pretty

I did not really want this picture, but Adrian insisted on my taking it

It was fun to see them and catch up. I don't get to see them often but when I do I always have tons of fun and miss them even more. Look how short Ade is, hehehehehe.

Fun with my Cousins

2010-01-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

The worst part about living in Texas is that the kids do not get to play with their cousins very often. So we try really hard to make sure that when we are in town that they get to see all of them and that they have fun.

What is more fun than tongues sticking out?

Roxy and one of the few girl cousins, Dani

Our newest little cousin, Oliver

Roxy had a ton of fun in the bathtub with all of Bens kids.

Sophie does not like many people, but she loved her auntie Ray Ray.

Roscoe and Sam are only about two weeks apart, but always on the same mind set.

Christmas Number 6

2010-01-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

We got to go over to Rich's sister Kelly's house for our final Christmas visit. I did not get any pics of presents but I did get pictures of the musical buffet we were served. All of Pauls and Kellys kids are so talented musically and they shared with us their talents. Roscoe tried and really loved the drums

Here are Roxy, Dani, Nic, Roscoe, and Tommy.

Roxy tried to play the guitar like her girl cousin

Paul also loved playing for the crowd

Dani played the guitar and sang for us. You will probably see her on American Idol someday.

Tommy played the piano

Nic rocked the drums

Christmas Number 5

2010-01-01T06:49:00.001-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows how big my family is, well here we all are in all our glory. There are 2 parents, 10 kids, 7 in-laws and 10 grandchildren with one on the way. We have grown to be quite big.

This the Original Jensens Jungle

Here are my parents with all of their grandchildren, my mom made all of the hats. I cant believe they left them on.

Roxy really loved the make-up that Aunt Melissa gave her.

They have the same sense of style.

Santa came and made a special appearance for the grandkids. Roscoe was not so happy

Christmas Number 4

2009-12-31T18:20:00.001-08:00

We were with Richs mom for the actual day of christmas and we got to make cookies the day before to leave out for Santa Clause.

As you can see Roscoes cookies are quite good, and he is very proud of them

Roxy and Grandma Chris put them beside the tree for Santa, along with carrots for the reindeer and cheese for Santa Mouse.

The next morning Roscoe got to be Santa again and pass out presents

Roscoe LOVED these shoes from aunt JoJo

There is nothing better then sitting on the coffee table playing with your toys

Apparently the festivities were too much for the old guys.

Christmas Number 3

2009-12-31T10:15:00.001-08:00

Number three was with Rich's Dad. Or Silly Dave as Roxy calls him.

Sorry that is not the best picture silly Dave

Juel, Richs step-mom is a wise with anything crafty and made Roxy the cutest scarf that has little puppets on the ends to let her have fun and stay warm. She also made Jody and I scarves, just as cute, but not quite as fun.

Roscoe got this awesome backboard, that can tell the difference between the two colored balls to keep score. It was pretty awesome.

Christmas Number 2

2009-12-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas number two was with Rich's Aunt Vicky (GAV, Bobs wife, the pronoun, her- she goes by many names) She was only able to be there for a few days so we exchanged presents with her early.

This is GAV and the kids. GAV bought that santa suit for Roxy two years ago, and Roxy wore it then and last year. This year it just barely fit him, but Roscoe was totally the cutest...

and you can see he loved passing out the presents.

Roxy really loved the bows everywhere

and so did GG

This is Richs mom's family ( the Jarvis', where Roscoe gets his middle name.)

Christmas Number 1

2009-12-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

We are leaving for Cali on Monday so for the Hamms Christmas is today and it is very rude that no one has called. Just kidding. This morning was awesome. This was the first year that Roxy was so excited that she could not sleep last night. It was very cute. Except when she walked in and saw me wrapping presents and yelled for her to go back to her room. When I went in there here is how our conversation went;

Me; whats wrong

Roxy- I am angry

me- why

Roxy- you wont let me in the living room

me- well mommy was wrapping a present for you

roxy- brothers not getting me a present (they bought presents for each other)

me- no, brother bought you a present and so did mommy but you can't come out there so santa can come. Santa cant come if you are awake.

roxy- brother did buy me a present

me- yes

I don't know if she thought I was unwrapping her presents from santa or if she was catching on to the whole santa thing, but oh well

Roxy got a doll house and Roscoe got a train table

He woke up pretty cranky but cheered right up when he saw that table

Roxy's jaw actually dropped when she saw the doll house

notice the adorable cowboy boot slippers

When she opened this she said, Santa went to Target and got this for me. yes Roxy santa loves target, just like mommy

Putting together Roscoe work bench that you put together with the tools that it comes with

Roxy wanted to hide behind the doll

Card board is always a winner

Polly pocket yacht. Totally awesome

MERRY CHRISTMAS

First Hair Cuts for Both Kids

2009-12-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

Funny that both kids got their first hair cuts at the same time, but Roxy is not very good at growing hair. We went to Cool Cuts Kids and they had a blast (most of the time). Roxy loved it from the start.

BEFORE

Look how long it really is when wet and pulled down. She kept watching herself in the mirror instead of watching the movie she picked out.

This is her very pleased with her hair.

AFTER

Now Roscoe on the other hand had some reservations at first.

BEFORE

here are those reservations I was talking about.

But then he got into his car and watching Thomas the Train

He did not like the clippers to trim around his ears

AFTER

He obviously thinks it looks good.

What is it about cameras

2009-12-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

What is it about cameras that make kids

run away...

look weird

make funny faces

do weird things

and generally look ridiculous

Santa Clause

2009-12-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

We got to go see santa at a work thing. Roxy loved it and roscoe was not such a big fan.

A little tense are we?

The Country of Texas

2009-11-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

I copied this from a native texans facebook.

THE COUNTRY of TEXAS

In case things get a little tough during the next few months we Texans have a plan.

Maybe you don't know it, but Texas is the only state with a legal right to secede from the Union . (Reference the Texas-American Annexation Treaty of 1848.)

We Texans love y'all Americans, but we'll probabl y have to take action since Barack Obama won the election and is now the President of the U.S.A. We'll miss ya'll though.

Here is what can happen:

1. Barack Hussein Obama, after becoming the President of the United States , begins to try and create a socialist country, then Texas announces that it is going to secede from the Union .

2. George W. Bush becomes the President of the Republic of Texas . You might think that he doesn't talk too pretty, but we haven't had another terrorist attack and the economy was fine until the effects of the Democrats lowering the qualifications for home loans came to roost.

So what does Texas have to do to survive as a Republic?

1. NASA is just south of Houston , Texas . We will control the space industry.

2. We refine over 85% of the gasoline in the United States .

3. Defense Industry--we have over 65% of it. The term "Don't mess with Texas ," will take on a whole new meaning.

4. Oi l - we can supply all the oil that the Republic of Texas will need for the next 300 years. What will the other states do? Gee, we don't know. Why not ask Obama?

5. Natural Gas - again, we have all we need and it's too bad about those Northern States. John Kerry and Al Gore will just have to figure out a way to keep them warm...

6. Computer Industry - we lead the nation in producing computer chips and communications equipment - small companies like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer, EDS, Raytheon, National Semiconductor, Motorola, Intel, AMD, Atmel, Applied Materials, Ball Misconduct, Dallas Semiconductor, Nortel, Alcatel, etc. The list goes on and on.

7. Medical Care - We have the research centers for cancer research, the best burn centers and the top trauma units in the world, as well as other large health centers. The Houston Medical Center alone employs over 65,000 people.

8. We have enough colleges to keep educating and making smarter citizens: University of Texas , Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas Christian, Rice, SMU, University of Dallas , University of Houston , Baylor, UNT ( University of NorthTexas ), Texas Women's University, etc. Ivy grows better in the South anyway.

0A 9. We have an intelligent and energetic work force and it isn't restricted by a bunch of unions. Here in Texas , we are a Right to Work State and, therefore, it's every man and woman for themselves. We just go out and get the job done. And if we don't like the way one company operates, we get a job somewhere else.

10. We have essential control of the paper, plastics, and insurance industries, etc.

11. In case of a foreign invasion, we have the Texas National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, and several military bases. We don't have an Army, but since everybody down here has at least six rifles and a pile of ammo, we can raise an Army in 24 hours if we need one. If the situation20really gets bad, we can always call the Department of Public Safety and ask them to send over the Texas Rangers.

12. We are totally self-sufficient in beef, poultry, hogs, and several types of grain, fruit and vegetables, and let's not forget seafood from the Gulf. Also, everybody down here knows how to cook them so that they taste good. We don't need any food.

13. Three of the ten largest cities in the United States , and twenty-three of the 100 largest cities in the United States a re located in Texas . And Texas also has more land than California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut , Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont combined.

14. Trade: Three of the ten largest ports in the United States are located in Texas ....

15. We also manufacture cars down here, but we don't need to. You see, nothing rusts in Texas so our vehicles stay beautiful and run well for decades.

This just names a few of the items that will keep the Republic of Texas in good shape. There isn't a thing out there that we need and don't have.

Now to the rest of you folks in the United States under President Obama:

Since you won't have the refineries to get gas for your cars, only President Obama will be able to drive around in his big 9 mpg SUV. The rest of the United States will have to walk or ride bikes.

You won't have any TV as the Space Center in Houston will cut off satellite communications.

You won't have any natural gas to heat your homes, but since Mr . Obama has predicted global warming, you will not need the gas as long as you survive the 2000 years it will take to get enough heat from Global Warming.

In other words, the rest of ya'll in the USA are screwed!

Signed, The People of Texas

P.S. This is not a threatening letter - just a note to give you something to think about!

Sleep well tonight 'cause the eyes of Texas are on YOU!!

One Nation Under God!!

''Life's tough...it's even tougher if you're stupid.''
-- John Wayne

Thoughts of Rachel

2009-11-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

Having a miscarriage has been really hard to deal with. Rich and I were joking a few weeks ago that we have not had any real tragedies in our marriage. We have yet to have any major illness or a death. And this happens. We get so cocky in our own invisibility and for me in our fertility. We started telling people we were pregnant the day after we took the test. We did not wait at all. A few women even questioned me,"I can't believe that you are telling people already." To which I replied, "Oh we are fine, trust me. No one in my family has ever had a miscarriage. My mom had ten healthy babies in twelve years. I tried for a combined total of 2 months for all three of my pregnancies. Trust me we will be fine." I was so cocky that the mere thought of losing the baby was not something that ever crossed my mind.

Then how when I found the smallest trace of blood did I know what it meant. I remember sitting in the bathroom thinking "I am losing this baby." I had almost no pain and almost no blood, but I knew what was happening before the Dr said anything. Rich was at work while all of this was happening and I called a friend to come over and give me a blessing and in the blessing he did not say anything about the baby being healthy and safe, but talked about me and me being okay and my heart being strong.

Do I regret having told people that I was pregnant so early, not really. I dont have to explain why I sit in church in cry, or why I missed work. People understand why I am not quite myself. Hopefully people aren't taking it personally that I have not returned any calls in about a week. There are people who understand what am I going through and let me just cry or talk or can just distract me.

So what am I thankful for this year. EVERYTHING. I am thankful that Rich is my husband and he is the one I went through this with. I am thankful for Roxy who misses the baby and tells me if we have another baby not to give it to Jesus. I am thankful for Roscoe who is a constant distraction from my own head. I am thankful for Melissa and my mom whose first instinct was to fly out here and be with me but instead just let me blubber on the phone. I am thankful for Babbi who took my kids trick or treating so that Rich could be with me in the hospital. I am thankful that I lost the baby early enough that I did not have to go through any painful procedures. I am thankful for my siblings understanding why I have still not talked to them. I am thankful for the church that I go to whose beliefs let this whole thing be easier because I know that this was done with a purpose.

I am still sad and I think that I will be for a while. Like when I forget that I lost the baby and start thinking about the things we needed to buy. Or when I find those couple of maternity tops that I bought and don't know what to do with now. I am sad, but I know that I will get through this. I know that I am going to be okay.

Sad News

2009-11-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

We found out this week that we lost the baby. We are doing really good considering, but do not want to talk about it very much. We appreciate all sympathy and concern.

Roxys preschool treats

2009-10-28T19:23:00.001-07:00

Roxy attends a lab-preschool at a high school. The high school offers an extra curricular class for the seniors to teach the preschool on campus. It is an awesome program and Roxy loves the school. Well for halloween they let all the teachers sign up to do trick or treat around the school to all the classes. Well who would not sign up for the that, REALLY. Roxys entire back pack was filled with candy, including the little pocket. I think the picture can tell you how much fun she had at preschool today.

Pregnancy Update

2009-10-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well there is not actually anything to update. i still have not been to the Dr and probably wont for another month. I am feeling fine, but man am I b***hy. I feel really bad for Rich because most of it is taken out on him. Roxy is super excited to have another baby, but unfortunately wants to name the baby "Sexy." Don't ask. My top boy name is Reid Christensen and for a girl I like Reagan Eleanor. Rich likes Royal Clarence for a boy and for a girl he likes Roman Kae. Well see though.

frick or freat

2009-10-24T09:35:00.001-07:00

Roxy could not get the Ts so it turned into Frick or Freat at the trunk or Treat last night. We had so much fun at the event. There were so many people and so many cars. The cars completely filled two sides of the church. The kids had the best time and got TONS of candy.

Roxy was Ariel and Roscoe is a little chef and the kid should get a medal because he kept his hat on the whole time. My mom made the costumes, aren't they great.

Richs parents were in town so they got to come with us.

We won for the spookiest trunk. Way to go Rich.

is he not the cutest kid ever.

Roxys First Day of Preschool

2009-10-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

Roxy started her first day of preschool today at the Clear Brook High School preschool. It is program ran through the high school and the high school students run the preschool. The waiting list is pretty long, but Roxy managed to sneak in.

Yes it is still dark out, preschool starts at 730.

Rich gave her a blessing this morning.

She got so excited when she saw her teachers

This is her little cubbie

and mommy did not even cry