Friday, August 29, 2008

ears

Thank you God for ears to hear


How great you are, Oh Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. 2 Samuel 7:22



Barron's surgery went well this morning. After a short fussy spell he is back to his old self. Except that now- his ears hear clearly! His doctor said it was like he had rubber cement in his little ears. Can you imagine? I am so grateful we have doctors who can fix these things.

Thanks for remembering us in prayer.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

request

a little request...

please keep Barron, his mommy :), and the doctors and nurses who work on him in your prayers

he goes in at 7am Friday morning for his ear tubes

thanks for lifting us up!






Monday, August 25, 2008

let the planning begin...

this pic is from sunday 8/24/08

the party planning has begun because i have only a few short weeks until my baby turns one.

i am not ready for this. honestly, i want to slow down time. i was soooo excited for Briley and Braxton's first bdays, but, i want a few more months until this guy hits 1 year. time flies when you are having fun!! the Bear is everywhere now making this pic hard to come by. how soon we forget how they get into absolutely everything at this age.


30 days until Barron Hudson turns ONE!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

team time

Friday nite we celebrated the first game of the Page Patriots football season.

It began with a fun food filled tailgate...

5 little LANKFORD's are ready to cheer!!!!!

What a crew:)


Barron and Colby pull for their uncles...

(#2 LANKFORD) and (#87 WATSON get better soon)


cousin Tyler and Braxton love a good game!


my 3 fans go in for a closer look at the game, oh - i mean the cheerleaders!!!


On the field celebrating an exciting victory with Uncle Taylor and sweet Lanie! Yippee!

Way to go #2. Can't believe this is your senior year.

Oh, and we did a little campaigning too!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

news

a quick update...
last week we received our approval letter, aka our I-171H form, from the USCIS granting us permission to pursue our international orphan adoption. this is a giant step in our adoption process. u see this paper means we can "get in line" for our referral. but, this news is clouded by the fact that Vietnam is not letting anyone "get in line" right now. That's because as of september 1st they are closed for adoption if they can not reach an agreement with the US goverment. so, my friends, we wait. i, not as patiently as my husband- wait. we wait for september 1st to come and go, and we wait for any answers, and we wait for God to show us His perfect plan. right now my heart aches for the child that will one day be mine. i do not know her, where she will come from, but i know she is already loved. please keep us in your prayers as we continue this journey. but mostly pray for the sweet children that need homes.

Monday, August 18, 2008

it's football time in Tennessee...

Joey and I decided that our "big kids" were finally old enough to attend their first ever Titans game! So, we dropped Barron off with Padre and headed out on an adventure! We grabbed a super quick dinner and took the long walk over the bridge to the stadium.

Our first stop - the gift shop. I was in such a hurry I ran off without Braxton's V.Y. jersey. Joey said his son wouldn't wear a fish shirt to an NFL game (don't get me wrong- it is a cool fish shirt -but...). Soooo, we ended up with a Titans tee for Brax (to hold him over until we could get the jersey back at home) and a cheerleading outfit for Briley!

Go Titans Go!!

They did great the 1st quarter. Got some ants in their pants the 2nd quarter, realized Uncle Taylor (though he is awesome) didn't play on this field, and played musical chairs. Halftime required snacks. The 3rd quarter Briley looked at me and said, "Hey mom, do you want to play I Spy?" I said, "Right now? Are you serious?" "Yeah", she answered. So we played a few impossible rounds of I Spy. (You try and play it at an NFL stadium- not so easy!!) Then, Joey and I decided it was time for this dog and pony show to hit the road. They did pretty well for a first time. We had tons of fun!!!

Here they are on our way out sporting their new tee and cheerleading attire!
Our favorite fall activity has begun...football!!
We are looking forward to Uncle Taylor's senior year of football which begins this Friday!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

newness

NEWNESS... Lots of newness! Don't go away -It's still me! I have tried once before to change things up a bit on the ole blog and finally I am successful. Don't get used to it too long, though, because this change is fun!

I decided that since so much else has changed in my life this week - What's one more change?

Here's a few differences around here this week...
  1. Braxton now can open the car door and buckle all by himself! (wow- this is a new sense of freedom for me)
  2. Barron now eats mostly table food- esp when we are at home! (I still rely on those nice gerber packs to help me out though) AND he is a pretty efficent cruiser! One day he's just going to take off!
  3. Briley can take a shower and wash her hair now -all by herself !(I'm sure she could have done it before, but, I am a bit controlling about cleanliness and I just couldn't decide if she was really washing up just the way I thought it should be done. Then, I had one of those "let her go, she can do it, she's growing up" moments and she proved successful!!!)
  4. Briley started 1st Grade. (enough said - she's getting old and so am I)
  5. Briley rode the bus to/from school! (I wouldn't let the tears come, though, they wanted to. She was super excited! She has had help from Braxton both days so far. He stands beside her with his lunchbox or backpack in hand and watches her board the bus and as it pulls away his sad face and shoulders make me want to squeeze him tight with love. He is distraught and wants to know when he can ride. I explain, "Maybe next year." He asks, "How many sleeps is that?". I say, "about 365". "That's how long until kindergarten, huh mom?" he asks. Then, I feel as if I really will lose it because what in the world will I do when they both go to school and get on that darn bus?!


P.S. A Happy Anniversary shout out to Mimi & Padre (32 yrs) and Mike & Hayley (9 yrs)!!!!!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

1st

You Go Girl! Mommy is so proud of her 1st Grader!
It was just as hard as I thought sending my 1st grader off to school. Even though it was only a half day- I felt as if it just drug along. Brax was a bit sad too! He loves playing with his Sissy. I can't believe we aren't in kindergarten anymore.

Briley was super excited - as you can tell by the big smile on her face. She was ready to use her new backpack -though there wasn't much to put in it since the school supplies were already in her desk waiting for use. Whoever came up with the order school supplies and have them waiting for the kids at their desks is a saint.


She's still smiling as she sits at her desk and begins her "work". I am not needed so I take my pic to remember all this by and drag myself away with the boys.

After school, yep, she was still smiling. She had a great day in the 1st grade.

The super duper most hardest part for me will be here in a day or two when I get her signed up for the bus. Oh, the tears that scenerio will bring from mommy. But, it must be done...Barron must have naps and they fall, of course, during am drop off and pm pick up. What's a gal to do? Plus, she wants to ride because her daddy has talked it up so big! Geez, I get anxious just thinking about it. Keep me in your prayers:)

p.s. i just got off the phone with the bus garage and she will get picked up in the morning! oh what have i done?!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

the last of summer

We are counting down the hours until Monday August 11th (aka the first day of 1st Grade). Here's a snippet of how we celebrated the last week of summer...


playing little chefs at Nana and Papa's!
And this to me epitomizes summer! Look at the pure uninhibited joy on their faces!




The end of summer is marked each year by a steamy hot time at The Fair!

Would you please check out the rope?! I talked all summer about taking the kids to Nashville's Bicenntenial Mall and Fountains- would you believe it was closed- oh, good grief!
So, we moved out adventure to Centennial Park for snowcones...
and monkey bars...
and duck feedings...

and of course, The Parthenon. Does anyone think it slightly odd we have a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece smack dab in the middle of downtown Nashville?


We have rang out the summer with a bang...from swimming, to playing at home, to The Parthenon, to Campaigning, to sleepovers, to The Fair, to Uncle Rich's Graduation Party, and so much more.

I will miss the freedom of summer days... Of Briley and Braxton playing for hours together upstairs. Of swimming. Of PJs until whenever. Of no schedule. Of just seeing her pretty face whenever I please.


But on a good note, we got to meet Briley's new 1st Grade teacher. Mrs Neal seems awesome!
Here's to the start of a new school year!




Friday, August 8, 2008

and the winner is...

"My Pollsters" - Joey put in all day at our designated poll site. But... the kids and I didn't last too long. Braxton wanted to know where all the people were?! It was quite slow. Briley had to potty, then Brax and... well, you just can't sit in the grass and wait for cars or people to come by with no tent and just a few snacks for very long with 3 kids. We did give a few waves and recruit a few votes for Papa.
Feeling good about the results we are seeing stream along the bottom of the tv @ Logan's!!

Papa and Joey are very excited Grandpa Wayne and Helen made the Poll Party!!
Papa's WINNING SPEECH!!! You're looking at the republican nominee for Tennessee's United States Congress 4th District. Go LANKFORD!!


And...MaryKate, Papa, My Dad (aka Padre), and Nana celebrating a victory!

All the hard work paid off! Now, we will dig in even harder as we go up against the Democratic incumbant Lincoln Davis and go for the Big Win in November's election.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

outnumbered


We are now outnumbered. 7 animals. 5 humans.

Daddy's hard work fencing our property (a big thanks to the guys who chipped in their time and muscle) finally paid off on Tuesday nite. The big trailer arrived from Papa's farm with 3 horses! We excitedly watched as Braxton's Grey II (aka GreyGrey) unloaded along with Sunny D and her baby Briley named Tigerlily.

It's so peaceful to look out back and see them grazing. And it's wonderful to see the kids already putting in hours petting them and running along the fenceline.

Oh, and the 7 animals (in case you don't know) are...
the 3 horses mentioned above
2 German Shepherds Silas and Slater
1 fish Sonya
1 cat Solomon

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

so I don't forget...




Ok, I must confess... I am addicted to these legs. I love the fat feet and dimples in the knees. I love to rub them because they are so soft. I love that they tan so easily. I love the creases that are oh so white. I love that they can stand for several seconds unassisted. I love that they crawl and climb and cruise. I love that flexibility is not an issue, since the toes can still make it to the mouth. I just love everything...


I don't won't to forget these legs. And sadly, I know the memory will fade, just as it has with the bigger kids. But I know, every time I can get my hands on a set of baby legs, the memories will come rushing back!


What will I do when I must cover them this fall? Just another reason to hate the cold weather - you have to cover these precious baby legs and feet.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

my girl

I got to spend some time with just my girl last week and I loved it! A shout out to Aunt Tiff's mom, Mrs Connie, for hosting the annual get ready for football t-shirt making party. This is our last football year, as Uncle Taylor ( #2) is a senior. I am not sure what this crew will do next fall. Football has been our big adventure since Joe and I got married 8 1/2 yrs ago and the kiddos have just jumped right in and had a blast. Anyways, Briley polka-dotted her #2 tee all by herself - after she had scarfed down a few chocolate chip cupcakes! My girl has her mommy's sweet tooth. She was so proud of her work and her nite out with the big girls. I am so blessed to have this incredible girl as my daughter.
Another adventure for Briley - passing out the winning ribbons in the "cow show" @ the fair. She had some help from an older girl, thank goodness, because it looked as if she could've easily caused a cow-tastrophe.


The entire crew had fun at the fair. I'm sure we'll hit it again this week so, I'll post about it later.

Sweet Briley has begun the countdown to 1st grade! This is our last week of summer vacation. And we are relishing every last minute!

Oh, and a cute little story...
Anyone with big kids knows it's hard to keep them quiet and paying attention in big church.
Well, Briley is stretched out in her Mimi's lap this am supposedly listening to the preaching. Brother Mike is getting hard core with his sermon about the roles of husbands and wives and about our society spending so much time on our outsides that we neglect the insides.
He says why worry so much about the outside anyway because ..."gravity wins!"
Everyone laughs loudly.
Briley raises up and in her normal loud voice says, "Is that funny?"
Those around us snicker.
"Shhh!" I say.
Once again - in a loud voice..."Mmooommm, What is gravity?"
"Shh! I'll tell you later. But, I am glad you were listening..."
And I used to wonder if she got anything out of the service?!

I love my girl!

Friday, August 1, 2008

sinkin'


One of my most favorite things... clean kids! I love the water, the bubbles, the smell of soap, and lastly- the lotion. Thank goodness, Barron loves a bath. Here he is in our sink. I had to post it because he is almost too big to do it anymore - He fills up the entire thing. And, it's becoming slightly hazardous because he turns the hot water knob and tries to climb around. He also throughly enjoys a jacuzzi bath with the big kids. I tried to find a good pic of that circus act, but, none were exactly appropriate. Check out that cute bottom!! Here's to warm baths and clean babies...