First time for everything

In my Christmas post below, I forgot to mention how our first meeting with Santa went. My sister and I took Knox and Kailea together to meet Santa for the first time. We had no idea what to expect so we expected the worst, at least I did. I thought for sure Knox would at least scream or "sing" as I like to call it. However, it went as smooth as possible. Kailea tried to cry a few times, but never fully shed a tear. Knox studied Santa, as he does with all new faces, and pulled at his beard out of curiosity. It's so funny to me that these two 9 month olds are already showing their "male" and "female" personalities. Here is the snapshot we got of these two sweeties. You better believe they will take their picture with Santa every year together :) 

So serious. . . 

Until Next Time, 

Peace and Happiness

All things Christmas

What an eventful first Christmas we had! Knox didn't get a single thing. . . . haha! We started our Christmas celebration early with Christmas at Grand Lake with my mom, dad, sister, brothers and their families. It's always a good time at the lake, but Christmas at the lake tops my list. . actually just getting to be with my entire family tops my list :) There's never a dull moment when ALL of us get together. I am looking forward to our new tradition of meeting together the weekend before Christmas every year. 

         Here's my dad with all of his grandkids

Our next stop on our Christmas celebration was Christmas at our house with my Mom and Dad. Knox scored a wonderful new red wagon and a riding bull along with some more toys. Thanks PaPa and Mamie!

The next stop was Dallas. It was our turn to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas with Scottie's family this year. I am so thankful to say, I love my extended family so much and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Like my family, there is never a dull moment with the Shumsky's. Scott's mom and sis planned tons of fun activities and games for us to play this year. They always come up with the most creative things for us to do. One of my favorites this year was Top Chef. Each couple had to cook a meal for everyone and we were graded on taste and presentation. Everyone did an awesome job, literally. In the end, we all walked away with a prize because the "judge" couldn't choose her favorite. I hope this is on the list next year because it was a lot of fun preparing for it! Anyways, they did a great job having fun stuff for us to do as a family. Christmas morning is one of my favorites with the Shumsky's. This year while reading the story of Christmas, Harper ran and got her version of baby Jesus in the Manger. . it melted my heart. . 

Another tradition we have on Christmas morning is opening matching pajamas, the girls have matching ones and the guys all have matching ones. We open them, put them on, and usually don't change out of them until the next day. . . Wish I would have gotten a picture but I forgot. . anyways, I love it and I LOVE THEM!

We got to spend 5 days in Dallas, with the entire family. . it was wonderful! 

Our last stop on our Christmas celebration was my Granny's house. As soon as we got back into town we headed over to celebrate my Aunt's 50th birthday and we celebrated Christmas with my Granny. 

Needless to say, Knox's first Christmas was a success. It's so much more fun when you have a kid. I can only imagine what next year will be like when he will be running around like a mad man. I am so thankful we got to celebrate with all of our families. The 3 of us are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. God is Good!

Weekend with Kaile'a

This past weekend Scottie and I got to watch our sweet niece, Kaile'a Jane. As you know, she is a little over a week younger than Knox, so we got a teeny tiny taste of what life was like with twins :) I am so incredibly lucky to have such a fun, loving, and kind spirited niece. . not to mention son! They are seriously some of the easiest babies to take care of. It was a lot easier than what I anticipated it to be. By the end of the weekend they were "talking" back and forth with each other and getting jealous over each other's toys. Such a blast! I cannot wait to see what life with them is like in the next few months/years. Here are a few pictures and videos of these two sweeties. . 

Peace and Happiness :) 

big FAT update!

Has it really been almost 2 months since I have written a new post? I wish I had an excuse as to why I haven't kept up with my blog, but truthfully, instead of using my free time to keep up with my posts I have been using it to catch up on my t.v. shows. . . like I said, I wish I had a better excuse! So here's to a big fat update. A LOT has happened in these past two months with Knox and changes in my life as well. First we will start with me, as my changes aren't as big as Knox's accomplishments :) A few months ago my dear friend, Katie Christy, approached me to help her out with her growing photography business. She took on her own business and it grew faster than I think she knew it would, which is an awesome thing, but overwhelming for her. I felt really fortunate and honored that she asked me to be her assistant. I hope to help her out as much as possible. She's a great boss, awesome photographer, and more importantly, an awesome friend. I'm excited to help her with her business and watch it grow. There are exciting things happening! If you haven't seen her work, here are a few candid moments of our family captured by her amazing eye. . .

Anyways, as you can see, she is super talented! Click here to check out some more of her awesome work!

On to Knox. 

Can you believe our little guy is 8 months old! It's so hard to believe in 20 days he will be 9 months . . time truly does fly by in the blink of an eye. At his 7 month check up (yes, I said 7. . I'm a horrible mom and didn't schedule his 6 month check up until he was 7 months. . forgive me.) Anyways, at his well child check up his awesome doctor, Dr. Julie Morrow, said he is right on track and he looks/acts fantastic. Have I mentioned how much I love her? He weighed in at 20lbs and was 28 1/2 inches long! Our son has almost tripled his weight and almost grown 10 inches! I look at newborns now and find it hard to believe he was once that size.  He hasn't started crawling yet, but he "rocks" on all 4's constantly. . . so I'm guessing crawling will be any day now (which I am secretly dreading!) I would be perfectly fine if he didn't crawl or walk at all :) Not really, but I'm not ready to leave behind the days when I can walk out of the room knowing he is perfectly fine. . . and in the same place as I left him. He is showing signs of wanting to walk, so he could be one of those babies that never crawls and goes straight to walking. . we shall see! I just realized I haven't updated since Halloween so here's a recap of then until now:

For Halloween Knox was a big, bad, BAT :)

He hated every second of being in this costume :) Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, so hopefully he will be more excited to dress up next year!

This month was full of lots of new tricks. . 

and. . 

October was also a big month for words and expressions :)

"Hey"

I'm horrible, but I can't remember if Knox started feeding himself his bottle this month or 7 months. . . either way,  he can now feed him self which is like a whole new world to Scottie and me :)

7 months was a blast. . they seriously get more fun the older they get. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the newborn days of when he use to sleep on my chest. . 

Knox loves cows :)

Knox also found out in order to add a few inches to his "reach" lifting a leg in the air would help :)

And here we are at 8 months! My life with this little guy is so fulfilling! I honestly can say, I can't remember life without him in it. He's the best thing that has ever happened to Scottie and I. He continues to teach us something new about ourselves every single day. My favorite moments are watching my two boys play together. I love being in the other room listening to Scott teaching Knox new things. Knox has made Scott grow into a loving, responsible, Dad. It's incredible to watch, and I am so glad I can witness the love in Scottie's eyes grow day by day for this little guy :) God is good. 

Like I said, here we are at 8 months, and Christmas is approaching! Christmas is one of the best memories I have as a child. I remember getting home from my Granny's on Christmas Eve. . setting out cookies, milk, and carrots for the Reindeer of course, then going to bed anxiously peeking out my window looking for "Rudolph." I could hardly wait for Christmas morning. . and I don't think I missed a year that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night to get a peek at what Santa had brought me :) I can only hope Knox will have these same memories. . I am SO SO excited for Christmas with a kid! 

Peace, Happiness, and until next time. . . 

beyond thankful

My heart is heavy tonight as I came across a recent post on a friends blog. I truly hope she doesn't mind me sharing, but for some reason I feel the need to. . I guess to get the word out so all of you reading this can keep her and her family in your prayers.  Leslie was pregnant with twins. Her water broke when she was at 19 weeks. They were able to stabilize her and the babies up to 21 weeks. Then baby a, a girl was born stillborn this last Sunday. They tried to keep her from having baby b and she unfortunately did and that baby was unable to make it due to lack of lung function. Leslie, had an amniotic embolism which supposedly hasn't been heard of since the 40's and only one recorded time since this. But, she had a heart attack, and was without oxygen for 17 minutes, her kidneys have failed and she's been put on dialysis, she's been placed on a ventilator and started at 100% oxygen but has started breathing at 60% on her own, which is good. She was seizing but that has decreased, and her blood pressure was low, however, that has gone up to normal and meds have been reduced which is good. There is risk of brain damage, heart problems and other organ damage. EEG shows improvements and stabilization, Leslie hasn't responded to touch or sound but her pupil's dilate with light- which is good. Please join the Loving Leslie facebook page for complete updates and progress on her condition. . 


http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106113632785516


It's stories like this that make me beyond thankful to have such a healthy son. . to see him grow and develop each and every day. . . to see the innocence and love in his beautiful blue eyes. To see how excited he gets at discovering and trying new things. Like today for instance, he had his first ride on a swing. . 

I don't know what I did to deserve such great joy, but I am beyond thankful to have so much love in my life. . and I am beyond thankful to be a mother. . 

My everything. . . 

Please continue to pray for Leslie and her family in this challenging time. Be thankful for what you have and don't take anything for granted. . 

1 year ago. .

Happy Anniversary to us! It is truly hard to believe I became Mrs. Shumsky one year ago yesterday, but I remember the night like it was last weekend. It was a perfect fall day, which is something I asked friends and family to pray for. October weather can be very tricky, especially for an outdoor wedding. Prayers were answered. It turned out to be a gorgeous sun shiny day, without a cloud in the sky. . temperature was in the upper 70's, my idea of perfect. I remember being amazed at how calm I was. I was pretty sure, up until the "big day" I would be a total nervous wreck. Come to find out, Scottie was the one who almost fainted minutes before we took the plunge :) Everything went the way I imagined. I walked down the isle at sunset to Coldplay, of course, to a teary eyed Groom. It was really sweet. We said our vows, shared some intimate moments with our family and friends, then danced the night away at our reception. We topped the night off with a limo ride to the Colcord. A special thanks to my mom and dad who took the "tab" that night. Without them, it wouldn't have been possible. Another thanks to all of our family and friends who shared our special night with us. People say your first year of marriage is the hardest. Try throwing a kid in the mix, then come talk to me :) No, really, marriage is nothing short of amazing. I cannot imagine life without Scottie. We have definitely had our trials and tribulations, but those challenges have only made us stronger. Scottie is my best friend, of course we don't always agree on everything, but the Lord brought us together 5 years ago for a reason. Marriage is a journey, something that you have to work at every single day. It is also the best journey I have been on so far. . . motherhood being the second best!


So here's to 10.2.2009! What a wonderful, crazy, hard, amazing, challenging, life changing year this has been. . I can only imagine what the future holds for us. Enjoy a few pics from our wedding night. .

who knew?

Who knew the sound of hocking a loogie could be so hilarious? *Please note no actual loogies were hocked during the making of this video :)

Gross? Maybe. But I have nothing to hide. . . . . 

1/2 a year!

Two days ago Knox turned 6 months! He is already 1/2 a year old and I can't believe it. Time has escaped me these past 6 months, it literally has. He is growing into such a sweetie, and such a boy. He loves, loves, loves people. Period. He will sit there and study a new face for what seems like hours. He is very intrigued and curious. As soon as he is done "investigating" you. . he will give you non stop smiles from there on out. Like I said, he just turned 6 months. What better way to celebrate 1/2 a year old? The Great State Fair of Oklahoma, of course! That's right, on his 6 month "birthday" we decided to open his eyes to this big event that happens every year in September. He absolutely loved it. Knox stayed awake the entire time we were there. . which, if you know Knox, this is pretty unusual because this boy loves his naps. . and we went during nap time. Anyways, he did outstanding. I think there was so much to see, smell, and hear it kind of distracted him from thinking about any sort of nap he might want to take. However, as soon as we were on our way back to the car. . I looked down and saw this...

passed out cold. . . such a big day for a 6 month old!

Enjoy a few more pictures from Knox's 1/2 a year birthday celebration!

keeping up with the posts. .

Posts two days in a row?! It is now my new goal to try and keep up with my blog. I know I only started it about 2 months ago, but I feel like I am already falling behind. So here goes another post! Knox is "officially" sitting up on his own without ANY help at all. .  just in time for 6 month pictures this weekend! Thank you son for listening to me when I asked to please, please sit up by the weekend of your 6 month pictures. I owe you a nice car when you turn 16 now, like I promised :) Knox magically started sitting up one day like he had known how to do it all along. It's pretty unreal to watch a baby discover something and master it so quickly. I think the key to him sitting up is curling his toes. Every single time he sits he has to curl his toes. . for balance I suppose. He will not relax them at all, it's adorable. But hey, whatever works! So of course, I captured this new balance act in some photos. . Enjoy!

I am a mom. . and a chef too!

Here it goes. . I am not the best cook in town, there I said it. Actually, when I cook, my food is edible. . but me actually cooking doesn't happen very often. Scottie has taken on this role as the cook in the house. I know, how did I get so lucky? Beats me. Anyways, I knew the time for me to start making Knox's baby food was fast approaching. . I just didn't know it would approach this fast! My little man will be 6 months in 5 days! Oh my. . 6 months? Half a year! That just really hit me. . I need a few seconds. . I seriously cannot believe he will be 6 months! Sniff, Sniff, Sniff. . . Okay, where was I? Baby food. . o yes! So like I said, cooking is not my favorite thing to do. I would much rather order take out, pop a frozen DiGiorno in the oven, go to my parents for dinner :) and so on. Preparing food just takes too much time, then there's clean up after it's all said and done. Call me lazy, that's fine, but I will probably never absolutely LOVE cooking. But as soon as I found out I was pregnant I started making all these plans about how I wanted to raise my child. Making his baby food was one of those "plans." The past couple of weeks Knox has been showing signs that he is ready for solids. I would feed him as much as I could at every sitting, but he still wasn't satisfied. . my son LOVES to eat! One night, while at the store, I picked up a jar of sweet potatoes for him to try. I just wanted to see if he liked it. .  When I got home, I warmed up the sweet potatoes (slightly) and served them to him. I was expecting him to dive right in but I got the complete opposite reaction. He was NOT a fan at all! It was too cute. I figured it was the texture and the taste he wasn't use to so I saved the rest for the next night. Same thing. He hated them! I took this as a sign. God was teaching me a lesson! I needed to make Knox's baby food like I planned all along. . so thats what I did. I went to the store, got some fresh sweet potatoes. . peeled them, chopped them, steamed them, pureed them, and froze some for later. Knox absolutely loved my HOMEMADE sweet potatoes. He devoured them. This honestly made me feel great about my cooking abilities. Maybe I will start using recipes and start cooking more. . . . eh, maybe not BUT I will continue to make Knox's baby food. A special thanks to my wonderful sister in law who let me borrow all of her baby food making supplies, you rock Sara. . love you! And thank you Lord for teaching me a wonderful lesson. Follow through with your goals or "plans", even if it does take a little extra preparation :) 


So far Knox has tried sweet potatoes and butternut squash. He has loved both of these new additions to his diet. This week I am going to make green beans and peas for him. . hope he likes the green veggies! Enjoy a few pics of his first taste of solids :) 


Store bought sweet potatoes :)
                                            

Mommy's homemade sweet potatoes 

Butternut Squash

Sisterly Love

October 18, 1984 my sister, along with the rest of my family, welcomed me into the world. My Granny took my sister out for a really nice dinner in honor of being a new big sis. . . anywhere she wanted to go, the option was hers! Out of all the nice places in Oklahoma City my wonderful sissy chose Taco Bell. She wanted a bean burrito with no onions and extra cheese! Who would have known that 25 years later we would share this craving of bean burritos together. . while pregnant! That's right, my sister and I had the luxury of being pregnant at the same time. Being 7 years apart we never imagined we would be pregnant together, but that's how the story goes. Almost 1 week from the day my sister announced to us that she was pregnant, I found out I was pregnant. . . you can only imagine how shocked my parents were when I made the call telling them that they would have another grand baby. If you can imagine that, try imagining the shock on all of our faces when we found out I was due 2 days after her. Yes, that was a shocking month for us all, but what a great shocking month it was :) Being pregnant at the exact same time as your sister is not something that happens in every day life, we are part of the lucky few. Being pregnant together was simply amazing. We got to share our "crazy pregnant lady" stories, our cravings, our tearful moments, the feeling of the first kicks, the gas pains, indigestion, and everything else that comes a long with being pregnant. We were there for each other. I'm so thankful I didn't have to go through it alone. . she knew how I was feeling most days and vice versa. Not everyone could relate, but she could. Being born 6 years and 364 days apart, thats right. . our birthdays are one day a part. . . I should have known something great was in store for our future, I just never would have guessed it would be this. Now we have the luxury of watching our kids grow up together. We will get to share the first day of school tears, the many birthday parties, the first prom laughs, and sending our kiddos off to college together. I tear up just thinking how lucky I am to have such a great sister who I get to share parenthood with. Just another awesome chapter in my book of life. . . . Love you Sissy!

5 months

As soon as you publicly announce you are pregnant, a lot of "experienced" moms feel the need to tell you what to do. By the end of my 9 months of pregnancy I was over hearing "do this, do that, you need to buy this, you have to have that, you can't do that, you are drinking that??" Now that I have a child of my own I catch myself becoming one of those "experienced" moms. Shameful? Nah. . I just know where those moms are coming from now. I will try my hardest not to share every little thing I have experienced as a mom to all of my first time pregnant friends out there . . you can thank me later :) saying that, I have to share one piece of advice I heard over and over. . take lots and lots of pictures because time will fly. And that my friends is a very true statement. Knox is now 5 months and time has literally flown by. He is a completely different person from 5 months ago, physically and mentally. I have taken that piece of advice and probably gone overboard with the pictures, but I have to warn you, the pictures will not stop. My photo albums pretty much consist of only Knox now and I am so thankful. Today I was looking back at some of the very first moments I captured of him and I was completely amazed at how fast he has grown. Of course it brought tears to my eyeballs, but I am so happy I have those moments to look back on. As I mentioned above, Knox is 5 months! He is an absolute character these days. When this little guy learns to crawl I am going to be in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. I am already trying to prepare myself, sorta. He is almost sitting up by himself these days, which is a great achievement. He is also learning to "scoot." And of course he is still screaming at the top of his lungs. I don't know how I am going to break him of this habit, but for now I will let him enjoy his voice. He has to have something in his mouth at all times.. fingers, blankets, teething toys, which probably means he is about to start teething. . something I am dreading. Oy. A few posts ago, I mentioned I was going to drop the "dreamfeed". .success! He now goes to bed around 7:30 or 8 and sleeps until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. It's amazing. Some days I have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming bc I still can't believe I am a mother. I can't imagine life without this little guy. . . . 

Below are some pictures (of course!) of Knox's life as a 5 month old

 

And here are a few videos. . . 

"Screaming"