Monday, August 22, 2011

First Day of School

Today was Rylan's first day of 3rd grade! Where has the time gone?

He was sad that summer is over and school has started, but I think after a pep-talk last night, that he is excited to start his new journey!

Talon wasn't too happy about having to wake up early and I could not get him to cooperate for a picture!


Rylan, I can't believe how big you are and what a handsome young man you are turning out to be. I love you more than air! I hope you have a wonderful 3rd grade year.
Until next time...

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Baseball

Rylan plays pitcher for the Rangers this season. Here are some action shots I caught of him at one of his games this season.









Until next time...

Friday, May 13, 2011

Life Goes On

My absence is inexcusable, but life has gone on and the blog has been neglected as a result.
We are in the final count down phase of school and looking forward to a fun summer. Rylan is still playing machine pitch baseball, but the season is winding down along with school. I shot some good pictures at his game the other day, so I will do my best to get some uploaded on here. Until then, here is a life recap in some pics:


My Valentine's gift from Ky. He dressed them up and shot a picture and had it in a frame waiting on me when I got home from work!

Brecken at 3 months old



Swimming, swimming and more swimming! We will be doing this a lot this summer!

Brecken in his first Easter outfit

Don't you just love all those cheeks!

All ready for the baseball game!
Until next time...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Reflecting

As I look back at the past 9 years, I am certain I have been incredibly blessed!

As I look around me, I see a lot of young girls pregnant and excited to be pregnant. Showing off their baby bumps, picking out things for their baby, doing all the exciting things that go along with having a baby. Seeing these young girls makes me reflect 9 years ago when it was me in their situation. Nine years ago, I was 16 and pregnant. And it wasn't glamorous and fun.

Ky and I had been dating for about a year and a half and were truly in love. I was a Junior and he was a Senior in High School and we were planning our lives together. We were both going to go to college and then we were going to get married when I was 20 and he was 22. Little did we know, our plans were about to be rocked!

We found out at the beginning of February that I was pregnant. We went on a date and stopped by a CVS on the way back to his mom's house to buy a pregnancy test. We both knew the answer without the test, but we were clinging to all hope. We got to his mom's house and I went in the bathroom and used the test. It was already positive before I was even done. I came out crying and we stayed up most of the night crying together. We were so scared!

Ky's mom lived in Canyon at the time and I somehow managed to talk my parents into letting me stay the night at her house. After Ky and I had cried together, and talked, and just held each other, we knew we had to tell his mom. The hardest thing to do as a child is to admit to something you knew you weren't supposed to be doing to your parents. Imagine telling them the most devastating news of their life and your life, that you were doing something you knew wasn't right and the consequence is going to take away everything you ever wanted as a child and make you become and adult. Make you become a Mom and Dad.

His mom cried with us and we decided we had to keep it a secret until the basketball season was over and keep things as normal as possible. A couple of days later, we were going to tell my parents the news together after a basketball game. I told them we needed to talk to them and they knew immediately something wasn't right, so they took me while Ky was still playing his game and I had to tell them the devastating news all by myself. To this day, that is still the hardest thing I have ever had to do... They were devastated and wanted to know if we were going to get married first. I told them that we wanted to and they said OK.

March came and so did state basketball. I played in the state basketball tournament 3 months pregnant. We won the state game, but lost the Texas Cup. All the Seniors were crying because it was their last game ever. All I could do was watch. I never cried even though I was dying inside knowing that it too was my last game of a game I loved so dearly. I was afraid if I cried they would know our secret.

Our secret came out eventually as did my growing belly. A belly I did not enjoy. I am not really sure how the secret got out, maybe it was my throwing up everyday before math class or before lunch, but it didn't take long for everyone to know.

May came and as Junior class president, I had to make a speech to the Senior class during baccalaureate at church on Sunday morning. There I was 16, 5 months pregnant, standing at the front of church addressing the entire congregation. That was probably the second hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

Graduation came and went and so did all the other fun, memorable things Seniors do. Walking the field last football game, receiving the State Championship trophy in Austin on center court, Senior prom, baccalaureate Sunday, hanging your Senior class picture up in the hall as the entire school watches, walking the stage to receive your high school diploma just to name a few. All things I was never able to do as a Senior.

From the day they found out, my parents made it very clear that if we wanted to get married and be adults, we were going to have to be adults and do everything by ourselves with as little as support as possible. We knew we would have help from both our parents anytime we needed it, but we were so determined to do it on our own. We both knew were grown up enough to be making grown up choices about sex, then we were grown up enough to have a family and make it work the best we knew how. Between doctor appointments, wedding planning, and school, before we knew it, it was June 1.

June 1, 2002 brought one of the happiest days of my life. I didn't care what I had on, what my hair looked like, who was in attendance or anything. The only thing that mattered to me was the man that was standing beside me. The man that had stood beside me through everything. My best friend, the love of my life and the soon to be father of my baby. I was 6 months pregnant when we were married. There was no time for a honeymoon, because 2 days later I had a 7am Economics class at AC. Ten days after that, I turned 17.

We made our home in a little blue trailer house in a trailer park in Canyon. Ky took a job at K-Mart in Amarillo to pay the bills. I took 4 summer classes at AC for dual credit so I could graduate from high school in August before the baby came.

Everyday as I would walk around campus, there was no denying I was pregnant. I was just hoping I looked older than I was and that everyone would see my wedding ring. I didn't want any cute maternity clothes to draw attention to my belly, so I lived in baggy sweats and t-shirts. We never got a baby shower, so we bought most of our baby things at a second hand store and some of it we were blessed with from a family friend.

August came and Ky took on a full-load at WT and I was finally finished with high school. Before we knew it is was Sunday, September 8, 2002 and we were timing contractions in our bedroom at 11 o'clock at night.

On September 9, 2002 our little surprise was welcomed into the world by family and a few friends. Ky proudly walked out of the delivery room with a little baby and proudly announced, "It's a boy!" Rylan was 7 pounds 14 ounces, had blue eyes, two bottom teeth, a sprinkle of brown hair, and had melted his parent's hearts.

There is not a single day that passes that I wish things had happened differently. I love that little boy more than life itself and would not think of my life without him. He has brought so much joy into our lives and has grown up into such a handsome and charming young man. I just know now looking back, that everything should have happened so differently.

Seeing so many young girls pregnant today makes me so sad. I am sad for knowing what they will have to give up. Sad to know they are no longer children.

A lot of good has come out of our story. We now both have graduated from College, moved to a bigger city, bought our first house, got our first real jobs with insurance, bought our second house, and have had 2 more beautiful boys.

Ky and I often struggle thinking about the values and morals we are instilling in our precious little boys. I often find myself praying that they will be able to make the right decisions when faced with life choices, and not follow our mistakes.

Looking around I know I am blessed. Blessed when things could have turned out so badly. I could easily have become a single mom by choice or from divorce. Blessed with a God that had a plan. Blessed with family that loves us. Blessed that Ky and I's love for each other is bigger today than it has ever been, and knowing that it will continue to grow everyday...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Bath Time With My Bubba

I'm pretty sure that we have fish for children!! All of the boys LOVE the water. Talon loves anything to do with water. Swimming, washing his hands, splashing in other peoples bath water and occasionally going overboard and ending up in the water himself, and taking baths. He would take 20 baths a day if we let him and he hates getting out. Even if the water is freezing cold, he is still not ready to get out. Every time someone is running bath water or turning on the shower, you can bet Talon is right behind them saying it is his turn to get in.
Many of the bath times in our house consist of more than one person in the tub at a time. Rylan has decided he is a shower kind of guy now, but he still likes to play in the bathtub with Talon from time to time. In fact, Rylan will even completely wash Talon for us, so that makes bath time for this Mom and Dad really easy!
When you welcome another child into the world, you always wonder how they will be similar and different from your other children. Brecken certainly inherited his love of the water from his brothers!
"Does this double-chin make me look fat?"
For some reason these big old ear to ear grins are my favorite! The boy's Nana and Pops just built a new house this winter complete with a big beautiful pool in the backyard. We anticipate spending many hours at the pool this summer and will hopefully have some really good swimming fish by the end of the summer! Until next time...

Sunday, January 16, 2011

War

A new game the boys like to play, is a game Rylan calls "War". Each of the boys picks out toys and they are lined up across from each other ready to battle.
Rylan's army actually makes contact with Talon's army. Talon's army ends up flying across the coffee table and end up on the floor all over the living room!
They have mighty warriors in their armies.But I always feel like I am the winner in the "war" because I love watching my boys use their imagination and play together with love! Until next time...

Friday, January 14, 2011

A Little Late...Christmas

Our Christmas this year was good and has come and gone. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures for some reason. I had my camera with me, but I guess my mind was preoccupied with a newborn and a 2 year old. We had fun with both sides of our family and got lots of goodies from everyone. These pictures went on our Christmas cards this year.
I didn't get a great picture of Brecken, but a 3 week old isn't too cooperative at picture taking. Neither is a 2 year old for that matter.
Our year has started off with a bang! We have helped Ky's Mom and Dad move into their new house. School has started back and we are slowly getting back into a routine. Rylan has started his first year of basketball. He has had several practices and has his first game coming up next week and we are very excited! I'm going to try and remember to take more pictures and keep this thing updated more often. Until next time...