Must Read

Go here to my Aunt Lynne's blog. She writes about the battle that Dom/Luke and the rest of the family are facing right now as Gus continues to struggle. More importantly you will find hope in the one who knows the future. Please pray today for Gus. Pray for healing, pray that God would give him strong lungs. Pray for Dom to be encouraged and held up on all sides. For Luke as he works while his family sits at the hospital. God is the healer, He is the one who sustains and gives life.

Back in Business

Well, life is getting back to normal after more than a week of holiday festivities. I will post pictures soon when I get a chance. Cliff and I enjoyed the holidays with lots of family. Our travels took us to Dallas, New Braunfels, Jacksonville, Kennedale and then back home this past Saturday. Then Sunday our friends Jon and Lindsay arrived for a visit! THey are staying through Wednesday and we are really enjoying hanging out and talking babies (their baby Eli will be here in about 8 weeks). I did have to go back to work Monday and will work through Thursday but we have lunches and evenings to hang out.

Here is a break down of our Christmas week:
Friday, Dec. 18- I flew to Dallas, was picked up by Debbie and Kimberly
Saturday - shopping and Rockettes with the ladies on Cliff's side
Sunday - I got to see Gus, Dom and Luke for a bit at the hospital, more shopping, and then picked up Cliff in Waco, drove to New Braunfels
Monday - Wednesday - hanging out with family in NB, trip to Landa Park, decorating sugar cookies, resting
Wednesday - drive to Jacksonville
Thursday - prepare for Parson's Christmas, hang out with family
Friday - Christmas extravaganza, passing around cousin's tiny baby, eating
Saturday - begin trip home, stop in Arlington for lunch with my family in Kennedale, drive the rest of the way to Amarillo

Whew! It was a busy week with lots of driving!

It is absolutely dead around the office today. Ugh! I've already just about finished a book I started yesterday. Cliff woke up this morning with a low grade fever. I am praying he doesn't get really sick. He showed up to work a while ago so he must not be too ill. Of course he would die if he missed having to hunt this weekend so sick or not he'll just keep on trucking I'm sure.

Please, please please continue to pray for Gus, Dom and Luke. God is sustaining them and continues to work in Gus' body but they continue to wait it out at the hospital.

More to come, just wanted everyone to know we are still around!

Please be Praying

Please be praying for my cousin and best friend Dominee and her family right now. I know they are coveting everyone's prayers today. Gus is her four month old son and will be having heart surgery in the next week or so. We are confident that God will provide for all their needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. It is still a very very scary time for Dom and Luke and the rest of the family. Thankfully, Gus is a happy boy right now getting every need met by Dom and Luke. I know Jesus will be with him speaking sweet things in his ears as he undergoes surgery very soon. You can see updates at their blog .

Baby Cary Pics

The sonogram went great today. We had the same tech as last time and she was AMAZING. She definitely knows how to make you feel comfortable and normal. The baby is a little over 2 pounds now and looks beautiful!

Check out the pictures! The first is my favorite. Our baby has some lips! I can't wait to kiss them. If you want to see the pictures bigger you can click on them to enlarge. The tech tried to do 3D but the baby didn't cooperate very well. The last one here is the best we got.

Baby Update

I am now 26 weeks along in the pregnancy. I went to the doctor today, had to get blood drawn and all that jazz. I get to have a second sonogram tomorrow afternoon. We are excited about that. It will be fun to see what the baby looks like now! I am getting closer now, marked by the joy of going to the doctor every two weeks. I really hate going to the doctor!

I'll post more tomorrow after the sonogram. Baby Cary will be here very soon. My doctor was pretty much telling me that time was running short. We have to register for baby classes and get all the paperwork done at the hospital already. I guess we need to pick up the pace here a little bit. Let me get through Christmas first and then I will be in full blown baby mode. Only two more weeks of the holidays to go!

Updated Format

I updated our background. I'm still not very happy with it, but it is definitely an improvement from the last one. Robbie, I still want you to show me how to make it look cool!!

I have added a poll on the sidebar for you to vote on whether or not you think Baby Cary is going to be a boy or a girl. Cast you vote, you have until March 1st. I am guessing that we are having a girl, but Cliff insists that it is a boy! He better be coming up with a good boy name since we have had trouble nailing one down! Of course in the end we will be thrilled no matter what.

Dad, you can find other family member's blogs to the left. I think they should all be correct now!

MSSW Graduation Extravaganza

What a wonderful week last week was! After the excitement of Thanksgiving was over Mom and I flew back to Amarillo very early Monday morning. She came to spend the week with me and help me prepare for company that planned to come in Thursday and Friday. I graduated with my Master's in Social Work from UTArlington last Saturday. Dad brought Leigh and the girls with him Thursday evening and then on Friday Cliff's parents, sister Kimberly and Grandparents arrived. They all made me feel very special and helped me celebrate the occasion!

Below are a few pictures of the weekend. I felt so blessed to have everyone in town!!

Check out this link for more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016159&id=100400212&l=e2927a31c2

Thanksgiving II

Thanksgiving continued for the Donaldson family in Midlothian on Saturday. Cliff was so nice and let me stay in Arlington for the weekend so that I could see my Dad's side of the family too. It has been a couple of years since I have gotten to spend a day with them and we had a good time together. The food was delicious, but it was also good to sit and play games together. I remember as a kid at holidays we would all sit around the glass table at Grandmama's house and play all sorts of games. I know Dad and all of his sisters must have had fun growing up because they all enjoyed playing games together. This year we sat around the table at Aunt Kathy's house and played Apples to Apples. Grandmama made her yummy chocolate pie and Uncle Shea grilled delicious ribs for all of us! I also had the wonderful privelege of meeting my cousin Brittanie's baby Peyton!

Below from left to right: Drew, Bubba, Trish, Meagan standing, and Brittanie on the floor.

Talking and playing games.

This is Aunt Carol and her first grandbaby Peyton! Isn't she cute!


Uncle Josh and Peyton.

Grandmama and some of us sitting around in the living room. It was a relaxing Saturday afternoon.

Dakota bonded with Aunt Beth. This is a pic of Dakota, Drew and Aunt Beth. Fun people!

Thanksgiving in Glen Rose 09

Below are a smattering of pictures from our Thanksgiving in Glen Rose. For some reason I was too busy living life, enjoying my family instead of taking pictures. I didn't get shots of many of the family members that were there!! I'm sad about that but I'm hoping that my family can make up for that. (send me links to your pictures if you have them: Aunt Laura, Mimi, whoever else may have taken some!)

Praise God for Dad's new hip! He hiked to the river with us and did all sorts of crazy stuff that he was not able to do for many years! Robbyn took her first hike to the river with us too. She did great walking most of the way. Greg and Kathy hiked too...we had fun!

My beautiful girl Lerin!

We had family pictures done. Hopefully I'll be able to share those soon when Trish gets them all done. This is one taken beforehand of Cliff and I. You can see the baby in this one! The baby is growing and kicking all the time. We can't wait to meet him or her!

My beautiful Aunt Lynne! It was so good to get to visit some!

Check out these happy faces!!! We were on our way to the playground and these kiddos could not be having more fun! From left to right: Robbyn, Calvin, Cybil, Lerin, Clinton, and Carsen.

Dakota and Cliff playing outside. Dakota had a ball playing with her cousins!

This is baby Elizabeth. She is my cousin Chase and his wife Melissa's baby. She looks just like a Rampy baby to me!

And here's Ruby! She is Chuck and Ginger's baby. She'll be having a baby brother very soon!

And here is baby Aleigh, my neice. She is precious! Check out her happy smile while she sleeps. She was also happy to be surrounded by family!

Before Cliff and I got to Glen Rose we stopped to have lunch with our good friends Chris and Laura and their baby Faith. We are so thankful that we got to visit!

Here is a link that should get you to the rest of the album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016093&id=100400212&l=9ed15eb013

Cinnamon Rolls...DONE

Two batches of cinnamon roll recipe = 95 cinnamon rolls. LOL!!!

It definitely took me most of the day to complete the cinnamon roll process, but they are finished! And they are yummy. Cliff and I had to try them of course! We'll be taking some to Sunday school in the morning, but the rest are going to Glen Rose for Thanksgiving. Family, get ready to enjoy! I sure hope they are good then too! I've crammed my freezer with them. I'm pretty confident they'll still taste good.

I am so pumped about this next week. I get a preview visit with the Green's on Monday night. Aunt Laure, Uncle Dale, Tristan, Alyssa and Tory will be coming through town to have dinner with us. They probably won't stay the night, but I'd sure love it if they would!! They are driving all the way from California to Texas and will be making a stop in with us. I am so thankful!

Then it is on to Glen Rose Tuesday night for us. We'll stay the night at the land first to let Cliff hunt Thursday morning, then we'll head to the camp by lunch time. So so so so so excited to be around family. There is nothing like hanging out with people who understand you, who know your history, and who love you no matter what. Plus, they are all just fun people....crazy, but fun! There will be lots of babies to cuddle, toddlers to giggle with and so many more! I hope the week creeps by!

I have a ton to do before then. My house needs to be clean, I need to come up with one more recipe to make for Thanksgiving and pack.

My tiny neice Aleigh was in the hospital yesterday and today with a high fever and cough. She went home tonight and has been fever free most of the day. I'm not sure what was wrong but she came up negative for the flu and menengitis. I am thankful it was nothing serious! Pray for Leigh to get some sleep tonight. I know they are both exhausted!

Searching

I have spent most of my day at work searching online for cute baby room stuff. Man! This is hard!! I know what I like and I know what I don't like, but still this is tough. Cliff might say I have expensive tastes, and maybe he's right, but I will always deny this fact. Why must we pay extra for unique things?!?! I do not want to do anything with a real theme in the baby's room. No animals or anything like that. Not knowing the sex of this baby has made decorating and nailing down ideas very, very difficult. I wish I were a seamstress and could whip out anything because it would make this process so much easier!



I found several sites on Etsy that will make custom bedding. You can even pick from awesome fabric paletes like this one: But alas...a four peice bed set costs $300! And that is just rediculousness. So...I continue my hunt for the perfect crib set that will work for a boy or a girl and will allow me to feel satisfied with the finished product.


In other news:

• I have some ideas in my head for Christmas gifts, but don't have many bought yet.
• Cliff had a blast hunting over the weekend. He shot an 8 point buck. I'll try to get him to post a pic of himself and grandpa with their kills.
• The baby is moving a ton these days! I love feeling it wriggle around. Had a doctor's appointment Monday. I'm almost 23 weeks now. Doc says everything looks beautiful. I got the H1N1 shot so no getting sick for me....let's hope! (Funny story about my doctor: I told her what people had said about my growing hind end. I told her people speak from their own experiences and feel they must share their opnions often. She fired back with, "Well, they must have had a big butt to being with!" She made me feel very normal and helped me laugh about it all!)

Friday Update

I have not taken stats on phone calls this afternoon, but I can tell you the phone hasn't been ringing off the desk that's for sure! Ha! Only one more hour before my weekend begins. Weekends and I have a love/hate relationship these days. I LOVE the freedom I have on the weekends (Saturday in particular), but I hate that they fly by so fast and I only get so much done on my to do list.

Cliff left to go hunting yesterday so I'm left in Amarillo by myself until tomorrow night. I always have mixed feelings when he leaves. I know he loves going out to the land. It is so beautiful and peaceful, plus it is an opportunity to spend time with family. I love that he has the freedom to go. However, I do not like the feeling of being out of sorts when he's gone. It's a strange feeling. I am not afraid or anything, in fact I enjoy the chance to hear myself think and have alone time, it's just wierd not having any family here...no emergency contact, if you will, available. Sure, lots of people say they're around if I need anything, but it still doesn't feel the same to me. Plus, I'd rather be there counting Cliff Sr.'s cats at the land than sitting at this crazy desk!!!

Anyway, I plan to enjoy tonight and tomorrow and hopefully be really productive. I had originally planned to paint the baby's room, but the furniture did not get moved before Cliff left and I won't be moving it on my own. So, I will be grocery shopping for Thanksgiving baking needs, doing laundry, cleaning the house, and hopefully finding some Christmas presents. Christmas shopping seems so overwhelming to me at this point! When I go in to stores I see so much to buy I am practically frozen by the possibilities. Maybe this weekend will be a dry run to get some ideas. Also...I will hopefully be baking some cinnamon rolls!! Pioneer woman cinnamon rolls to be exact! I just need to move stuff around in my freezer to make room for them. Family be ready because I plan on bringing several pan fulls for our week in Glen Rose. I have made them once before and they are delicious!! I will definitely be enjoying some this weekend.

Well, I'm off to surf the web for another 40 minutes before I get out of here. Cold weather is coming this weekend, maybe 4-5 inches of snow. We'll see if the weather man is right or not!

Glorieta with Friends!

We had such a wonderfully relaxing weekend at Glorieta! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the company we kept was so nice. There were only a few of us since several couples had to cancel at the last minute. We were sad more couldn't join us, but we really had some great conversations and got to know each other better! Below are some pictures from the weekend.

My friend Mikea and her baby Kenlee.

This is Logan, Adam and Mikea's oldest son. He was sleeping after walking around Santa Fe. His face doesn't show it, but we were buds all weekend!

We were walking around and found this bull with a name tag on it's nose that said Cliff! We had to get a picture of it.

Hannah and Joe! I cannot tell you how thankful I am for their friendship. God knew we needed them when they moved from Brownwood to Amarillo.

The FBC Lodge at Glorieta. Nice joint!

This was our whole group: (L-R) Joe, Hannah, Mikea and sweet baby Kenlee, Adam holding Loga, Me, Cliff, Liberty and Frank)

Cliff and I in Santa Fe. Baby is growing and kicking more all the time! Cliff hasn't felt it move on yet, but I am thinking he will very soon.

We ate lunch and walked around Santa Fe most of the aftenroon on Saturday. The weather was perfect!

Glorieta

Today I only work half day and then Cliff and I are headed to Glorieta, NM with our Sunday School class. It is a small group going, but it should be a really relaxing weekend. I am looking forward to being out of Amarillo and just hanging out! I'll post pictures of the weekend adventure.

The Imitation of Christ: Thomas A Kempis

I have been reading this book off and on for the last month or so. It was loaned to me by our associate pastor. He randomly tosses books my way. I think I am going to have to get me a copy of this one because it is one of those books that you could read over and over again and glean more wisdom each time. Today I am pondering this chapter titled 'Of the few who love Jesus' cross.' It begins like this:

"Jesus has many lovers of his heavenly kingdom these days, but few of them carry his cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire affliction. He has many friends to share his meals, but few to share his fasts. Everyone is eager to rejoice with him, but few are willing to endure anything with him. Many follow Jesus up to the breaking of the bread, but few pursue the shame of the cross. Many love Jesus as long as no difficulties touch them. Many praise and bless him as long as they receive comfort from him. But if Jesus hides himself and leaves them awhile, they either complain or fall into a deep depression."
and the chapter is ended with this:
"No one is richer, no one more powerful, no one more free than the person who can give his whole life to God and freely serve others with deep humility and love."

I wonder what my life would be like if I lived out this kind of love for Jesus. How would my life impact friends and family and those who I pass by each day if I lived this way. What about our churches? I imagine a church full of people who love the cross of Christ more than themselves. People who care less about gossip, less about fashion, less about programs and more about their neighbor who has never heard the hope of Jesus.

I am so thankful to God for showing me his transforming power at an early age, not only in my own life, but in the lives of those close to me. I am convicted though that I now live a very comfortable life and do not look for his transforming power with great expectation. It is not that he has ceased to be the miracle worker, it is me who loves myself and my comforts too much to live a life expecting great things! My own desires to fit in and live a mediocre life have blinded me from seeking Jesus everyday. I forgot that I am an alien in this world.

20 Week Picture

Today I am officially 20 weeks pregnant. I am feeling great. No sickness or pains. Baby is growing normally. I was going to post a few sonogram pictures for everyone to see, but the pictures remain sitting on Cliff's desk. I don't know how to scan them in so there they wait for him to scan. You'll probably just have to come to Amarillo to see those! I am posting a picture of the growing belly with much reluctance. While I feel good, I hate looking at pictures of myself. Pregnancy has definitely not been good for the self esteem, but I know that lots of family have asked to see pictures lately. So here you go...


I've had two people tell me that they think we're having a girl. Of course I have to ask, "Why do you think that??" You know what they said?!?! Essentially, I have grown a big butt and big hips. Awesome, huh? Needless to say, I'm praying often that God would remind me about what really matters. I know he made me beautiful and he is knitting together a new life in me. I can be thankful for the changes when I remember that!! I'm growing a thick skin through all of this!

So take note, when you see a pregnant woman...just tell them they are beautiful and don't make any guesses whatsoever. Only God knows if it is a boy or a girl, we're all different so leave it at that!

I am getting so excited about the holidays! Cliff and I sat down over the weekend to map out holiday plans. I need to get organized on gifts for Christmas because the next few months will be hectic with lots of travelling! I can't wait for Thanksgiving. It is going to be awesome to spend time in Glen Rose with the Clary bunch! Then the next weekend I have lots of family coming in for my graduation. And then Christmas is just around the corner after that! Fun times to come, I'm pumped!

20 Minutes

I have 20 minutes left of my Friday afternoon at work. Today has not been too terribly long. I've watched 2 episodes of Mercy and 1 episode of The Office online. A little over 100 minutes of tv time. I've checked facebook an inordinate amount of times and read all of your blogs. :)

I've also been taking stats on phone calls since 2pm. My little yellow post it note reads 14 total calls and 4 actual people stopping by. And here's the break down of why people called or came in:
3 scruffy looking guys with packs on their backs wanting bus tickets - sent away cause Tom is out
1 walk-in needing Judy I think

1 call for Jeff
1call for Judy
1 call for Donna
2 calls with no one on the other line
2 calls from same lady wanting to get a gift to Robby's son who got married a week or two ago. Robby has Friday's off.
1 or 2 sales calls that I hung up on immediately.
I didn't start recording the reasons for the calls until about 3 or so and I can't remember the ones I didn't write down.

Actually, keeping stats was kind of interesting. I think I'll continue and see what I find. :)

I really am very thankful for my job! Who gets paid to watch tv online?? I mean come on!
The previous account just shows you what one must do on a Friday afternoon when they are a receptionist at a church. Fun times!

Right after work I'm headed to payless to see if I can find some cute shoes. I found a coupon on Debbie's blog for 50% off my entire purchase. Something Oprah did. Thanks Debbie! I'm hoping for a successful trip. :)

Weekend plans: It will be a quiet weekend for the most part. Cliff's not feeling great so I am going to fix dinner and then we'll probably watch a movie. Saturday will be a day of cleaning and then we have to be at the fall festival tomorrow night. The costumes are cute...the masses of people kind of make me cranky, but overall I'm sure it'll be a fun time. Sunday will be church, church and more church...maybe a nap in between.

Bring on the weekend! I'm ready for some rest and relaxation.

Must See

If you are friends and family and know Aaron and Patricia you must go see their web site at http://www.donaldsonfamily-lifewithdakota.blogspot.com/. You will find the cutest pics of Dakota!

Happy Birthday Lerin!

The adorable munchkin that you see below is four years old today! Lerin had her birthday party at the Park's Mall on Saturday. It was a carousel party and it sounds like she had a blast. Robbyn informed me this morning that her next birthday party was going to be at the mall as well. They had pizza, birthday cake and got an all day pass to ride the carousel! Sadly, Cliff and I had to miss it, but I am determined that me and this new baby will be making all of my neices birthday parties in 2010!


It is hard to believe that it has been four years since Lerin made her appearance. It is hard to describe all of the things that run through my mind when I think of her birth. She was the answer to so many prayers and such a miracle to our family! Her birth represents a fulfillment of God's great promises and a wonderful blessing to us all after many years of struggle. She is a miracle and I am so thankful to God for showing his mighty power all throughout our lives. She has brought much joy to all of our lives! She keeps us all laughing with her antics and adorable words.

This picture of Lerin and Trish is one of my all time favorites! She was such an adorable baby and has grown into a beautiful little girl! I remember the wonderment of her birth and how cute her little nose was!!


Below are two pictures of her that was taken just a few weeks ago. Lerin has such an exciting imagination and never lacks for energy. She loves life and remembers every promise made to her. She loves surprises and loves that she is old enough for school, dance and choir at church.

I feel like I have missed out on so many fun days of her life, but I am unbelieveably thankful to call her my neice, my family! She is now the big sister to her two adorable little sisters, Robbyn and Aleigh. I know she will be a great leader for her family. I pray that she would accept Jesus with her childlike faith and that the Holy Spirit would give her understanding of his mighty strength and love! I pray that she will be protected from the scary and hurtful things in this life, but more than that, that her heart will be hidden in the one who knows her future!

Thank you Lord for giving us such a prescious gift four years ago!!

The End is Near!

Last night I received the grade for my big final paper. My palms were sweaty as I opened the e-mail, and guess what??? I got an A! Woohoo!

Last night I also turned in the last paper for the supervision class I'm in. One more small essay and a final exam left. I will be done with schooling forever!

I can taste the end. I will walk the stage in Canyon, TX on December 5th at 1pm. What a great day that will be!



In other news:
Cliff informed me earlier this morning that Southwest Airlines has a 72 hour sale going on right now. Only $25 one way! Any of my Dallas family and friends want to come visit?!?! You have to book the flights before Thursday of this week and the dates for the deal are Dec. 2-16th and Jan. 5-Feb. 10th!

Brown Eyed Beauty

I had to share this photo of Dakota that I snagged off of facebook. The picture was taken on Aaron and Trish's Sunday School camping trip last weekend. Is this not the most prescious picture you've seen?!?! She has the biggest brown eyes and the sweetest little red lips. :) Enjoy!

Best Day!

The sonogram today was amazing! The baby is growing and developing normally. The lady doing our sonogram was great...totally on board with us not finding out the sex of the baby. I was put at ease when she squeeled with excitement at finding out we did not want to know boy/girl. I was kind of expecting her to give me a hard time.

I think Cliff and I were both floored watching the baby on the screen. It has a perfectly rounded forehead...well, pretty much everything about it is sweet to us!

Just had to share what a great day it has been so far. I think I'll be able to make it through three hours of boring class without griping once today! We'll see about that one. :)

Just pressed Send

Well I just pressed send on an e-mail containing an attachment of my big final paper of grad school. Thankfully, I will have an opportunity to revise it if I am not happy with the grade. O how I wish to be happy with the grade...sadly, only an A will suffice and I'm pretty sure the paper I sent isn't really A material. These things are subjective though so mayby the prof will be in a great mood when she grades it....or maybe she'll be so busy she just can't spend much time ripping it apart.

I will have up to two weeks before I get the verdict. Either way it goes I am so glad it is in her hands now. I'm sick of thinking about it and trying to type stuff.

Tomorrow is the big sonogram day and I'm just now allowing myself to get excited!! Can't wait until tomorrow at noon. I'll post when we get back to share the experience with all of you friends and family.

3 Years!

Today Cliff and I celebrate three years of marriage in different towns: he's in Arlington and I'm in Amarillo. Three years! I can hardly believe all that has happened in our three short years of marriage.

Just to recap:
-Amazing wedding day on Oct. 14, 2006
-Summer 2006 we both begin new full time jobs (Cliff at FBCB and me at ECI)
-Bought our first home...the home I will love forever!
-In three years three new neices were born bringing the grand total so far to 4
-Loved on our Brownwood family
-Received God's call to move....agreed to go after lots of wrestling with God
-Sold the house
-Moved Aug. 2007
-Jess starts grad school Aug. 2007 at WTAMU
-Cliff continues seminary with BHCI
-Lovely memories of the 1 bdrm apartment
-Jess gets fit
-Cliff gets comfortable and thrives in his new position
-New home bought Fall '08
-Summer '09: Find out baby Cary will make his/her appearance in Spring 2010

God has been so faithful to us. I look forward to the years ahead that will be marked by very different milestones. Happy Anniversary Cliff. I love you!

Cliff in Arlington

As the title of the post suggests, Cliff is away at a children's ministry conference in Arlington. You may be asking why in the world I didn't take the chance to go with him considering it would have meant 4 days with my family? I'm asking the same question...ha! Well kind of. He has planned to go to this conference for many months now and I just couldn't get away from work and school again. I took a week off when Aleigh was born so that counted as some really good family time...with both sides! While I'm a little bummed, it has been a busy week so far.

For family and old friends...guess who is helping to run the conference??? Laura Fillingim! She works for Lifeway up in Nashville and came to TX to help out. I told Cliff she was going to be there and told him to say hi and be really nice since Laura is one of my oldest friends and since she came all the way from Georgia for our wedding! Cliff says he's gotten to say hi and chat with her a few times...although he called her "Audra" when he first saw her. HAhahah! That must have been awkward.

Anyway, yesterday I had work and school all day until 9. Also, my HUGE paper is due on Monday. I am totally stressed about it. It is sort of like my thesis for graduation although not quite as long as a traditional thesis. This one paper has challenged me more than anything else from the past two years, which is pretty annoying considering I just want it OVER with and for December to be here.

Tonight I get to go hang out with my friend Emily and her two boys! I'm looking forward to spending time with them and getting my mind off this paper.

Tomorrow is work and church till late and then Cliff will be home on Thursday!

No baby news really. I'm feeling great and the baby appears to be growing. I have a sonogram on Monday! Can't wait to see the first pictures! I'll throw this in though for all of you who might be wondering...Cliff and I decided not to find out if it is a boy or a girl. We're shooting for the big surprise at the end!

Cliff Sr.'s Birthday Surprise

To conclude the awesome week that I had in Arlington with my side of the family, we went to the land to surprise Cliff's Dad and celebrate his birthday! Mom and Trish along with three silly girls, Lerin, Robbyn and Dakota, drove me to Brownwood where they dropped me off and met Cliff for dinner at Prima Pasta. Cliff loved getting to love on the girls for a little bit! We were able to have the place to ourselves at the land that night since the rest of the family wasn't coming until Friday. It was so beautifu land peaceful out theree!

Below are some pictures of the festivities. Cliff Sr. had no idea that Cliff and I and Kimberly and her boyfriend Alex were there. He only expected to see Grandpa and Kenneth. They didn't get in until around 8:30, but we saved dinner and cake for their arrival.

Nana couldn't make it out to the party weekend, but she definitely made her prescence known by making two delicious German chocolate cakes! One with coconut and the other without.

Below is Cliff and Alex, Kimberly's boyfriend. This was the first time we got to meet him and they have been dating for two years!


Grandpa and Kenneth enjoying life!

Aleigh Elizabeth's birth event!

Aleigh Elizabeth Aquino was born September 28, 2009 at 9:20 PM. She was 7# 1oz and 20 inches long. She was alert and wide eyed. Aleigh is a beautiful little girl! She has the perfectly rounded head just like her two older sisters. I think she looks a whole lot like her Mama. She has a long neck, small dimples around her mouth and the most adorable puffy cheeks. Leigh did great. She was induced that morning and labored all day. She didn't make much progress until the very end when Aleigh decided to come all of a sudden! Mom and I missed being there for the actual birth by about 10 minutes!

Below you can see Lerin's version of holding Aleigh. She was kicked back with a baby on her lap watching cartoons on the TV. Miss Aleigh is definitely going to have to be one tough little chick!

There she is just minutes after her birth! Wide eyed beauty!

Here is Dakota playing outside the day of Aleigh's birth. The three couins had a ball playing outside finding sticks and helping grumps kill all of the fire ants! Notice Miss Priss and her bracelets on each wrist!

Lerin and Robbyn excitedly anticipating the birth of their new baby sister!
Robbyn holding Aleigh for the first time. Robbyn said, "She's an angel!"
Proud Mama loving on her baby!
Aleigh already trying to talk minutes after her birth. Definitely a part of our family!!