New Posts

So today my mom and Robyn left to head back to Tyler with 2 extra packages in their car - my boys!!! I am so thankful to have a mom who is willing to take my very active boys back home with her for a week. On my agenda today is today pick up and organize the house, as well as, get caught up on my blog and downloading pictures. I have spent hours catching up and getting all of the pics uploaded on our Picasa site. Enjoy!!

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve our tradition is for me to make shrimp bisque and cheddar biscuits and then we turn all of the lights off in the house, except the tree and read the Christmas story. After the story, we all sang Christmas carols while Hudson "played" the guitar and Landon did the motions to Away in a Manger. It was an extra special time, since my mom and Robyn got to be with us.

The next morning the kids woke up and had a blast getting into their stockings and then were extra patient while we transitioned from stockings to presents. In the transition, Robyn did a little project with them while I got breakfast ready and we ate and then tore into the packages. It blessed my heart to hear Hudson say Thank You after each gift that he opened. I pray that my boys will always have a grateful heart and remember that Christmas is so much more than just presents. The big present for the boys was a drum set. Yes, I know we are crazy parents for giving our boys drums, but they are all about music and so we decided to just go for it. :)

We had a great weekend with Mom and Robyn. The boys have played with all of their gifts and given many concerts. :) They've put on a puppet show with BB and RoRo, colored, played games, etc. To see all of the pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

The Christmas Train

There is a Christmas Train(http://www.thechristmastrain.org/) that is in Alvin, TX about 30 minutes south of us. It is put on by a church at it's campgrounds. It was so neat! There was a live band playing Christmas music, food and hot chocolate and the train ride took everyone through a display of lights that spelled out the Gospel. It was a great time and we look forward to going next year.

Baker Family Time

After Robyn's graduation, everyone came back to my house since College Station is about an hour and 45 minutes from my house. We had a great time of family all weekend! Katie has taken up running and getting ready to do her 2nd half marathon and Rick is doing it with her. So Saturday morning, Rick, Katie, Robyn, and Mom went on a walk/run while Hudson rode his bike. They had a great time together! Later that afternoon we had a big traditional Christmas lunch complete with Greenberg turkey :) and then we exchanged gifts with Rick and Katie. I got the cookbook by Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking and a new cookie sheet, Ben got a Lowe's gift card, and the boys got TONS of art supplies to go with their new easel. Our big family gift is that Mom is taking all of us to the Medina River Ranch Resort www.medinariverranchresort.com this summer. The place looks amazing and we all are looking forward to it. To see all of the pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

RoRo's graduation from Texas A&M

We had a great day in College Station the Friday before Christmas. Mom treated everyone to a really nice lunch at Cafe Eccell and then we headed to Reed Arena. The boys did terrific as we sat through a 2 hour ceremony. Ben throughouly enjoyed being surrounded by all things Aggie! :)

Daddy would have been so proud to know that he had an Aggie graduate. He always felt that having Eagle Scout or Texas A&M on your resume made you a winner!

Hudson's Christmas Party

Some yummy goodies that I made for the boys teachers - chocolate coverd pretzels, peanut butter balls, oreo balls and fudge.

Making gingerbread houses at the party.

Hudson's Green Belt Test

Hudson had his 2nd belt test a few weeks ago. He did a great job and loves TaeKwonDo!

McLain Christmas Letter?

I know that everyone has been on pins and needles anxiously awaiting our annual letter. :) This year I decided to send out a New Year's letter along with a baby announcement instead of doing a Christmas letter and then a few weeks later sending out the announcement. Call me cheap or extra productive by killing 2 birds with 1 stone. :) So no you haven't been forgotten or crossed off the list just be patient. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday and remembers that it is all about Christ and His perfect gift to us!

Is He Enough?

Lately I have felt blah in my relationship with the Lord. During the 20 months that my Dad battled brain cancer, I was constantly on my knees before the Lord. The year and a half after his death, I wrestled with God. It was a great place to be, but very difficult. I came through all of that with a new understanding of who God is and a deeper love for him, but in my flesh I have allowed myself to dwell in the valley once again. The enemy of busyness, lack of sleep, and the sense of being overwhelmed by life has crept in and I have given into it.

The Lord has been pricking my heart. On the way to my doctor's appointment this past Thursday, I had Christmas music playing and an old Wayne Watson christmas song came on and I started balling. Feelings of joy for my Savior, but also feelings of inadequacy mixed in with longing for my earthly daddy. This year I am hosting Christmas at my house and how I would love for my Daddy to be here. I have been rather emotional lately which is partly due to hormones, but also because I know that the Lord is convicting me.

On Thanksgiving day, Matt Chandler, lead pastor at the Village Church in Dallas, suffered a seizure and he found out that he has a tumor in the right frontal lobe of his brain. That is the exact location of dad's. He had surgery on Friday and is supposed to receive the pathology report this week. He is only 35 with 3 kids and is kind of a young John Piper. Ben and I were planning on hearring him preach the Sunday after Thanksgiving, since we were in Dallas, but then he had the seizure. He has written some things on his blog and also did a video that the elders showed the church this morning(http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/). While I watched the video and heard him talk about how he would love to be around 35 years from now, but if that is not God's plan that's okay because God is Enough, I began to question if I really feel that way. I even remember watching my Dad display full confidence in the Lord during his battle. Daddy was more in love with his Savior during his battle with cancer than I had ever seen before. That spoke volumes to me and yet I still struggle. If God truly is enough, then I should be in His word daily and in constant communion with him. I should do nothing apart from Him and yet so many days I try to do everything in my own strength and I wake up the same time the kids do and never open the Word. The Lord has reminded me too many times that life changes in an instant, but am I letting myself be changed?

Behind again :)

Once again, I have gotten very behind in blogging. Tonight I got totally caught up so check out all of the new posts and all of the pics on the picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Tree Trimming

Friday night we trimmed the tree with falling snow in the background. :) Ben and the boys put all of the ornaments on while I rolled out the dough for cinammon rolls. Growing up, we always had tree trimming food. :) It consisted of finger foods that we could snack on while we decorated. I made sausage balls, pigs in a blanket, and chips and RoTel dip. For dessert, we had cinammon rolls and hot chocolate with whipped topping. :)

Snow in Houston - who'd guess!

Almost There :)

I've lost track of exactly how many weeks I am, but I think I am about 32 weeks. :)

32 is the new 22 :)

My birthday was this past Monday and the boys got me a Snoopy card. My Dad always bought Snoopy cards for my mom and us kids so it was really special to get one from my boys!

Ben got a terrific sampler cheesecake that had 5 different kinds of cheesecake slices in it. As you can tell, Landon had to have the Triple Chocolate Cheesecake!!

Me and my sweet boys! They got me a brown necklace and earrings and a gray necklace and Ben got me a prenatal massage.

That morning both boys told me Happy Birthday and gave me hugs. I had to go to church to help out for a women's event, so while I was getting ready I overheard Hudson talking to Ben. He said, "I think I'll get Mommy a toy, no I'll get her a real nice movie. She'll like Cinderella. Do I draw lots of pictures of Cinderella and then record it? Is that how you make a movie?" Too Sweet!!

Thanksgiving with the McLain's

Since we've been married, we've traded off holidays with each family. This was our year to have Thanksgiving with Ben's family and Christmas with mine. Most of Ben's dad's family live in the DFW area, so we met up with everyone there. Ben's parents drove in from Omaha, his youngest sister flew in from Nashville and his brother flew into Houston and drove with us. We had a great time visiting with everyone and catching up. The boys loved playing with their older cousins! We stayed in Dallas for the weekend so we could spend more time with Ben's family and we also exchanged Christmas gifts. Ben's brother, Jordan, came back to Houston with us and then flew out that next Tuesday. To enjoy all of the pics go to our picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Pre Thanksgiving Events

We made Pumpkin Pancakes one morning with the kids. The boys loved helping Ben stir!

The last Sunday before Thanksgiving, the kids were supposed to dress up for Awana's. Hudson wore Ben's Indian costume. Ben's mom made this costume for Ben when he was in elementary school. Hudson had so much fun dressing up like an Indian at the first Thanksgiving Feast. :) Hudson had a feast at his school complete with an Indian headband, vest and necklace. Each kid brought a different fruit and they ate fruit salad.

Many New Posts

Life has been really hectic for the last month and I have neglected my blog. Enjoy scrolling through all of the new posts!

RoRo is back in the US!!

Robyn, my sister, flew back into the states this past Sunday. She had been student teaching at a private school in the Dominican Republic through an international program with Texas A&M. She flew into Bush airport here in Houston. Originally the plan was for the boys and I to go to the airport, but at the last minute I changed our plans. Sunday nights we have AWANA's and Hudson has been working so hard on his verses and he didn't want to miss. Also, the airport is an hour away from our house, it was raining, and a massive airport and 2 little boys can sometimes mean chaos. :) My Nanny's (mom's mom) 82nd birthday was that Monday and since my mom was going to be on the north part of town which is on the way home to Tyler, she decided to go ahead and drive back with Robyn that night so they could be with Nanny on her birthday. We are looking forward to seeing Robyn in a few weeks at her graduation and hearring all of her wonderful stories.

Bunk Bed Boys

We decided to move the boys into one room. This way we can still keep our guest room and play room. The boys were so excited about being in the same room and I think it will help their friendship grow even stronger. They have done extrememly well and obey the rules about going to sleep. Each kid stays in their own bed and so far they don't seem to talk much at night. I love waking up each morning and hearring their conversations on the monitor. They are best buds! Hopefully soon we will get the room painted and decorated. Hudson had an airplane themed room, but I really want to change it and do a horse theme. All in due time. :)

Halloween 2009

The happy family picture, well least one kid is happy. :) Hudson told us that he wanted to be a fireman and he wanted Landon to be his fire dog. I jumped on that idea, because he already had fireman suit that he got for his birthday and I found Landon's dalmation "fire dog" costume on CraigsList for $5.

Our church hosted a Trunk or Treat event. I had heard of these before, but never gone to one. We volunteered to be a trunk and so we decorated our car, but I was amazed at home many cars were decked out. One van decorated the inside like it was an aquarium with fish hanging from the ceiling and they even had a fishing game. I'll know next year to step up my game. :) There was also a fire truck and ice cream truck that came, as well as, a bouncy house and hay ride. We had over 500 people come and many were from the community. It was a great night of outreach! To see more pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Bethel Women's Retreat 2009

Our women's retreat was at Round Top Retreat Center which was an amazing place! I was in charge of room decor. Our theme was Texas Girls Rock so I did Texas cookie cutters and then small bouquets of lavender along with scripture tea bags. There were 80 women and 4 houses that we stayed in. In each of the houses, I had flavored water (lime rosemary, lemon, cucumber) and lavender scones in the shape of Texas. This is the meeting room where we would come together for our sessions. We would have a time of worship that included a piano and violin and it was so peaceful. Our speaker was Donna Otto who has a foundation called Homemakers by Choice.

Here is a picture of one of the rooms. I stayed in a large room with 8 twin beds. It was like I was back in college. :)

The retreat was a great time of being away and being renewed. It was nice to have lots of girl time and hear from the Lord. The retreat was Friday night until Sunday mid morning. The last morning of the retreat, Donna spoke and then we had a time of communion. It was such a special time. The worship team sang and when each lady was ready you could come to the front and kneel and receive the elements from Donna. There was also a team of ladies who would come and pray over you while you were kneeling. I felt showered with love that morning. I am so thankful that the Lord brought us to Bethel!

In an instant!

Ben, the boys and I were on our way to church (on a Sunday night) for a meeting before Awana's got started. We were on Hwy 59, which is a major freeway throughout Houston, and we were changing lanes to get ready to exit. All of a sudden, the truck in front of us stopped and we slammed into him. Apparently there was a cooler that was in the lane and the truck guy just stopped instead of swerving. I saw the guy stop about 1 sec before we crashed. It was by far the most traumatic thing I've been through besides Daddy's cancer. The boys had fallen asleep in the car and they awoke to the air bags being deployed and smoke filling the car. They were screaming and of course I was crying and immediately jumped into the back seat. Hudson was very scared and kept saying, "I need my Daddy". When Ben and I smelled the smoke we decided to get out of the car. Apparently air bags let off smoke when deployed, but we didn't know that at the time. So we slowly got out of the car and tried to be very careful since we were in the 4th lane of 59. There wa a rapid response crew there immediately to take care us. Everything happened so quickly and I think I grabbed Landon from Ben, because I just wanted to hold one of my kids. As I began to walk, I felt my body beginning to black out. I was so afraid that I would pass out while holding Landon and he would fall and then a car would hit him. I screamed for Ben and down I went. I layed on the highway trying to breathe and not totally black out. Hudson began to totally freak out and thought that I was dead. I remember him crying and saying, "Mommy are you dead? No, you're not dead you're just tired. Say you're tired Mommy." I knew that I had to stay in control and show Hudson that I was okay. I prayed for strength and began counting to myself to get up. I have passed out many times in the past and usually once I feel it coming on I don't have any control, but the Lord gave me strength and enabled me to not fully black out. I got up on my knees and held Hudson. The ambulance came and checked me out and then took us to a nearby gas station to talk with the police.

Once again the Lord has reminded me and my family that we are not invincible and that life does change in an instant. I decided that driving is no small task. You have to constantly be thinking about what the other person might do. When I started driving my sweet Daddy told me, "Everyone else on the road is an idiot". I remember thinking that was a rude statement, but you never know what the other person might do and many times it is something stupid and you have to anticipate that and know how to react.

So our Mazda CX9 was declared totalled so we are now apart of the minivan club. :) In a way it is a blessing. We bought our Mazda when Landon was a week old. It has a 3rd row and a fair amount of storage, but now that we have 2 kids in big car seats and a third on the way it would have been a little difficult. Hudson is still in a 5 point harness seat, which I am so glad that we had that car seat for the accident, which means that I usually have to help him buckle part of the harness. He would have been in the back seat when the new baby comes and getting back there and helping him would have been a challenge. Now we have a Honda Odyssey with lots of room and the fabulous power sliding doors. It is so nice to push a button and the kids can start getting in the car without my help. Plus we have bucket seats and it is easy to get to the 3rd row. Maybe when the kids are all out of car seats and they care what kind of "cool" car we drive we will get a suburban, but for now the most practical and easy access is the minivan. I must say I LOVE driving it and it has lots of cool features. :)

TaeKwonDo - Yellow Belt Test

We enrolled Hudson in a TaeKwonDo class to help with self control and self discipline. He has really enjoyed it and even used a technique the other day to control his anger. He had his first belt test last night and did great! He is oficially a yellow belt - YEA!! To see more of his TaeKwonDo pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Bike Day

Hudson is one of those kids that wants to do everything pefect the first time. I feel certain that he could've crawled before 10 months and walked before 14 months, but he just wasn't ready. He didn't want to have to "practice" crawling/walking, he just wanted to do it. :)

That same attitude has carried through to bike riding. We have been working with him on riding his tricycle that he got at 2 1/2 for a long time. He didn't quite get the pedaling down at first so he wasn't interested. Well, it is Bike Day at school today and I hated to see him go without a bike and he is too big for his tricycle (the one that Landon is riding). So we decided to get him a bike as an early Christmas present from his great grandparents, Nanny and Granddad Charles, and he was SOOO excited! He wants to practice, even though he would rather go flying down the driveway instead of pedalling. :) Thanks Nanny and Granddad Charles for this fun gift!

Landon's 2nd Bday Party - Bob the Builder

Landon had his 2nd bday party this past Saturday and we had a blast! Our theme was Bob the Builder. I bought nail aprons from Lowe's and covered up the Lowes's logo with fabric, bordered it with ribbon and put the kids names on them. They also got a building kit that I found at Michael's on the Dollar aisle. :) The cake was complete with grass, dirt and construction vehicles.

The kids had a terrific time playing with all of our tools and trucks, as well as, reading lots of Bob the Builder library books and coloring Bob the Builder coloring sheets. Landon was showered with fun gifts from his friends and family. To see all of the pictures go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Cook a Book

If you love cooking as much as I do then everyone needs to see the movie Julie and Julia. Several girls from church plus my lifelong friend, Carissa, went to see it awhile back. Carissa and I were so inspired that we decided to start a cooking club. We searched through tons of cookbooks and decided on Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. We've invited friends from our church to be apart and we are going to attempt to cook 2 recipes a week. Every 4-6 weeks we will have a potluck and everyone will bring their favorite dish that they have cooked. Carissa's friend, Amy, set up a blog for us so everyone can write reviews of what they cooked. This is going to be so much fun! I cooked my first 2 recipes tonight and made Ina's crab cakes and sugar snap peas - yummy!

My love of cooking began way back when I was still in elementary school. I always loved to help my Nanny(my mom's mom) cook, as well as, watch my dad's parents make all sorts of yummy things like Angel Biscuits, gumbo, and dilly bread. Yes, I said "parents" because both my Grandmommy and Granddaddy loved to cook and were very good at it. Of course it goes without saying that I enjoyed helping my parents in the kitchen, too. My Daddy was famous for bringing yummy desserts to work for all of his employees. :) In the 5th grade, I was in 4H. I entered a chicken pot pie in a contest and got to go to district. The cooking continued from there on. In junior high, I would cook for people in order to raise money to go on mission trips. I even got to "cater" a teacher's luncheon when I was in the 8th grade. I'm sure they let me do this, because they wanted to help out a girl not because I was amazing. :) Since Ben and I got married in the summer, before school started, I cooked HUGE meals because I had nothing else to do during the day. Nowadays life is so hectic with raising 2 boys that many a week I call Ben and I say, "I am too exhausted and have no patience for cooking so bring home pizza. " I am looking forward to recapturing my love for cooking with exciting new recipes. To check out the cooking blog go to http://projectcookabook.blogspot.com

The Three Musketeers!

Yesterday was the big day for the sonogram. Our sonographer was very thorough and spent 45 minutes checking the baby out. She did confirm rather quickly that we are having another boy! During the appointment I was trying to take it all in. I was very glad to see that he has 2 hands, 2 legs, 2 eyes, his heart has 4 chambers, etc. The sonographer couldn't say whether anything was wrong and if there is any concern my doctor will call me. From what I could tell he looks healthy and normal. The sonographer commented on how active he was (making it hard to get a good shot of him)and called him a bucking bronco to which I looked at Ben and said, "We already have 2 of those at home." :)

To be real honest with you the rest of my day was challenging. I had hoped that we might have a girl, but I also thought about how fun it would be to have 3 boys. I really thought that I would be okay if a girl wasn't in the picture for us, but my emotions quickly kicked in and I did feel somewhat of a disappointment which startled me. I got in the car and quickly called my mom. I was trying to be upbeat, but she could tell even though she didn't say anything. I then called her back a few minutes later and could hardly get any words out of my mouth. I knew that I would love this baby no matter what, but I still wondered what it would have been like if the sonographer had said GIRL. Part of it was the obvious of wanting to have tea parties and paint toe nails, but the other part was for Ben. I so wanted him to experience what a father daughter relationship was like. Of course that made me think of my own Daddy. Even as I type that tears begin to come. My Daddy loved his girls!! He went above and beyond in loving us and making Robyn and I feel cherished. For example, he would leave me notes in my lunchbox, he was very involved and interested in my dancing, he sent me a dozen red roses on Valentine's Day while I was in college. He was thoughtful, understanding, and showed me what a husband ought to be like and more importantly he was a great Earthly picture of my Heavenly Father. No one can explain the uniqueness in a father daughter relationship unless you've experienced it. I wanted Ben to be able to have that and for me to be able to watch it unfold. The Lord knew all of those things, but he chose to give me another son. He is in control and knows what our family needs.

Thankfully my feelings of disappointment only lasted a little while. On the way home from school, I watched as the 2 boys gave each other high 5's and bumps in the car and my heart melted!! I love my boys and they give me such joy each day. Yes, they have LOTS of energy but they keep me on my toes and nothing is better than having your boys run and give you hugs and say I Love You Mommy!!!

Check out more sonogram pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

1st Day of School

Both boys are in school this year. Landon(toddler class) goes T and Th and Hudson(PreK) goes T, W, Th and both go from 9-1:30. Tuesday morning Ben and I took both boys to meet their new teachers and check out their classrooms. We are looking forward to a great year! You can check out more school pics on the picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain