Newest Addition - Landry Tayte

How sweet to hold a newborn baby... to feel the joy and peace she brings!

Landry was born on August 30th at 6:38 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

So, where did her name come from!? We've liked the name Landry since I was pregnant with Luke. He would've been Landry if he'd have been a girl. We looked at name after name seeing if we liked anything else better, but we still just liked it more than anything. Her middle name is something we just stumbled on one day. I had downloaded an app ad was looking up meanings of names when I came by Tayte.... it means "brings joy." It's significant to us, too. A good friend of Heath's passed away last year.. his middle name was Tate. Coincidentally, Landry's due date was based off of his birthday, and she was also born on his youngest son's birthday! We felt like it was fitting. Landry Tayte. It's still fun to say it out loud after keeping it a secret for so long.

We are thrilled to have her here. She just completes our family and has deepened our love. Crazy how it happened so fast! I feel like I love Luke more now that she's here.. just because the depth of my love has grown. She's (so far) one of the easiest babies I've ever known. PTL.

Getting her here was not all that easy! I think it took 18 or more hours. I was induced, but I was in pretty active labor when we got to the hospital the night of the 29th. I had contractions 3-5 minutes apart all night long. I had some pain meds and got a little spacey at about 3 a.m., and I can remember telling Heath, "All I can think about is pump jacks." Haha. If all had went as planned, I would've had her by 11 that morning (after an epidural at 9), but she was facing the wrong way. Her head was down, but her belly was up. They thought breaking my water would get her in to position, but that didn't work. All afternoon, they had me laying in different positions to try to get her turned. If she didn't turn, I was going in for a c-section to keep my uterus from rupturing. At the last minute, my doctor and nurse were able to force her to turn. Once they flipped her (no simple task), she was here in no time!

We were supposed to get to come home from the hospital the day after she was born, but some tests they ran on her 24 hours after birth kept us there another night. I was discharged, but I got to stay at the hospital with her while she slept on the jaundice bed. Staying that extra night kept her levels down and prevented us from having to bring the bed home. Thank goodness.

I think if Heath had any more kids, he'd be so soft I couldn't stand it. He's can be a pushover with these kids! He enforces boundaries, don't get me wrong, but I can just see him melt over them sometimes. The night we went into the hospital, we had taken Luke to my parents and came back home to load up. We were just having small talk, and he said, "I heard that song on the radio today, 'I Loved Her First'......" I looked at him and could see the knot in his throat. I said, "No. Not now." Haha. :)

Luke has been wonderful with her. I think he nested in his own way before she got here. He helped me get everything ready for her. He's freaked out in the past over me loving on other babies, but he's just fine with us loving on her! She sleeps so much, he hardly remembers she's here, I think. Her being such a good baby has helped him transition pretty smoothly. We just praise and praise her for how easy she is. Our first night home, I didn't set an alarm to wake up and feed her because I just expected she'd wake me up. I woke her after 5 1/2 hours! She's awesome. She sleeps better than her brother some nights!

So, here she is....Landry Tayte. We love her more than life itself. We look forward to watching her grow, loving on her, and making memories.

And last, this song reflects our hope for our kids... We pray He makes their hearts His home. We pour our best into them on a daily basis, but even then, we are human and lack the ability to give the gift offered to them through Christ.

Luker, Lake, and Early Settlers!

Sometimes, when I sit down to write these out, it feels like I'm scrounging for enough to make a legitimate post....... Today, that's not the case!

On top of fighting the drought, we've been getting our new house ready to move into. We've had some work done over there in the past 2 or 3 weeks, and we'll get to move in in about a week! I'm getting antsy to get settled in and finish of my check list of things I needed to accomplish before this baby gets here. Potty training is the first thing we'll be checking off! Luke does really good and is interested... I've just put him off because we've had so much going on.

I'm 32 weeks along now... I think it's fiiiiinally sinking in that we're gonna have a little girl around here. :) I've been buying stuff for her... outfits and nursery stuff. It's helping it feel more real for me. I think we might even have a name for her! I'm excited. We're keeping it to ourselves though... Partly for the thrill of the secret, and then also because we've had a hard enough time deciding, we don't want to hear any opinions on it. :) -- I'm to the point of being really tired again, and by the end of the day, my walk turns into a pretty severe waddle... but I'm soaking up these last few weeks of our current "normal". I'm anxious to meet her, love on her, and welcome her into this family, but the thought of leaving our first house where we were first married with our first baby gets me to feeling sappy sometimes! :)

Feeling sappy is ok around here... but one tear shed by the Mama, and Luke is right in my face saying, "You kay, Mama? You kay?" -- He's sweet to me most of the time! He'll kiss me over and over, tells me "Good job" and wants a high five when I've pottied, and he thanks me for every sippy cup I fill up for him during the day. The sentences he comes up with make us laugh every day. Yesterday, we were close to Blue Sky at lunch time and he begged to go back saying, "Eat! Eat!" He was looking for the restaurant after we gave in and turned around, and when we pulled up, he said, "There you are, eat!" -- A few days ago, we rode with Heath to turn some pivots off, and Luke asked, just as he does every time he checks water with Heath, at every well, "Daddy, check water?" Heath says, "Yeah, I'm checking water." So, when we pulled away from the last pivot to head to town, Luke says, "Bye check water!"

I think I've mentioned how quirky he can be on here before... He's still one of the quirkiest kids I know. He's got so many fears, it breaks my heart sometimes. He gets spooked extremely easily and hears EVERYTHING. When the a/c kicks on, he stops dead in his tracks and asks in some sort of a panic, "What's that?" We tell him, "It's the air." He asks the same thing for every time a loud truck is driving by, plane flying over, refrigerator kicking on, freezer dropping ice, washer changing cycles, etc.

Despite his fears, he's getting more and more independent all the time. He insists on shaking his own sippy cup of chocolate milk.. He wants to approve of his clothes before I dress him every day.. He wants to dry himself off after a bath or shower.. Climb up in my car to get in his seat by his self... Put his own shoes on... Walk up stairs without any help.. Brush his own teeth. He has oatmeal every morning for breakfast and wants to open and close the microwave door and push the "30 Second" button twice. All of this is bitter sweet for me! I want him to need me one second, but the next, I'm thankful that he's gonna be able to put his own shoes on and get in his car seat by the time sister gets here!

Now for pictures! We got to go and have a wonderful time at PK with friends for the 4th.

We watched the fireworks at Hell's Gate from a distance.

We love Elise! She is such a sweet girl. Her and Luke are buddies. :)

Traci (aka "Chasey") is a true blessing... Her and that little Pale! :)

We swam at Hell's Gate one day... Kale is a little fish!

Luke likes anything with a steering wheel.

Kale! Sweet boy.. He makes me giggle.

Len pulling Elise on the wakeboard.. a one-of-a-kind Papa, for sure.

We were all so proud of her! She's about to go over the wake here. :)

One-shoe Kade and his water repelling hair. :)

"Leese" and Luke again... He wants nothing to do with me when she's around!

Heath entered his water truck in the parade this year for Early Settlers' Day. He took Kade as his riding buddy. I had to get pictures because this is the cleanest that truck will ever be! :)

My brother, Dustin, and his kids entered, too!

Wish I had pictures of pretty cotton to post! - Oh well.. Maybe next time, I'll have new house pictures. And then not too long before new baby pictures! Woohoo!

Happy Father's Day!

So this one is for one of the best daddies I know... :)

I knew he'd be a good one. When we decided it was time for kids, we were excited to begin that phase of our lives, but from day one, I enjoyed watching Heath prepare for Luke's arrival. He wanted me to get up early one morning and take a test to see if I could be pregnant, and I didn't expect to be, but I did anyway. I sat waiting for the result, and when I told him from the bathroom that it was positive, I could hear him throwing covers back as fast as he could and jetting to the bathroom. He sat down on the floor, stared at the test, shook nervously, and fought back tears. We had lots of complications early on in the pregnancy... We had plans to go to Dallas one day and pick up my car, and that morning, I started showing signs of miscarriage. My doctor told us going to Dallas wouldn't help or hurt, so we went on with our plans. Things turned from bad to worse before we got there... We signed the papers and left to meet some friends for dinner. We were both just sick about it. Heath ordered food at the restaurant that night and never even touched his fork. We were back home the next day and tried all weekend to analyze different scenarios. We went back to the doctor after the weekend, and we thought we'd seen a miracle when we saw that heartbeat. My doctor said he never expected to find one. We were thrilled! -- Heath was hands-on in putting together the nursery.. He'd take people in there to show them what we'd bought even when it was just piled up in the floor of the empty room. Towards the end of the pregnancy, he'd cup his hands around his mouth, get right up to my belly, and say, "Luuuuke, I am your faaather." :)

After Luke was born, to say Heath was "in shock" would be an understatement! He went through the motions of helping... He'd hold him when he came home, take him to the other room when I needed a break, get him out of his bed at night and bring him to me to eat. But I guess like most men, the fun for Heath started when he could get a reaction out of Luke. I think if Luke could comprehend the idea of it, he'd tell you that his Daddy is his best friend. When he hears the garage door open up, he takes off running and meets Heath at the door of his pickup. They dance and sing together, watch movies, play with tractors, swim, and play hide-and-seek. Heath will do things I don't think of... He duct taped a box and drug Luke around on the carpet, dumping Luke out at every turn from going so fast. He pops wheelies in the stroller for him and bounces him all over the place. He sits with him and shows him farm equipment on his iPad in the evenings. When Luke's been with Heath out to the farm or to run errands, he always comes in walking tall and telling big stories.

I'm thankful... extremely thankful. Watching Luke and Heath makes me want to be a better Mama. It's refreshing to see them interact - especially when I'm running low on patience. I think I've said it before, but I'm excited for this little girl to get to experience the love that Heath gives.

So, here's a look back at Heath and Luke. :)

Happy Birthday, Luke!

I have a 2 year old..!? What? - Still blows my mind. I looked at Heath the other day and thought back about our times in high school as purely friends and how we'd talk about wanting to be young when we start our families and what all we hoped to be doing in our 20's... I don't know if either one of us (at the time) planned on living that dream together, but it all turned out that way and I couldn't be more thankful. Jordan (brother) told me the other day, "Sara, 24 with 2 kids is young." - And yeah, I'll technically be 25... but I always wanted to be a young Mom. I'm glad to be living this life. :)

My mom has a tradition where she calls us every day on our birthdays and tells us about the day we were born. We give her a hard time about it, but I guess all parents think back on it when that day rolls around every year. We'll say "Hello".. She sings her version of "Happy birthday" - always ending with claps and whistles... and then she says, "Ok, let me tell you about the day you were born.." - I could tell you about that day almost verbatim, I'm sure. But, Heath and I have found ourselves, just in the past 2 years, thinking back on the events leading up to Luke's birth. Here's a recap of how it went down. --- After an appointment on the morning of the 4th, we were supposed to check in to the hospital that night to get a jump start on some medication and then they'd induce me on the morning of the 5th. We got everything ready for the hospital that day, and I had been having some contractions.. but nothing alarming or regular. I think we were supposed to be there around 9 or 10, but about that time, a storm blew in. My mom was here (their house had burned in January), so to keep her car from getting hail damage, we took our cars to the barn to wait for the storm to pass. The storm ended up being really bad, and I was having more contractions while we waited.... I was refusing to let that baby be born in a barn! haha :) - So, we finally got to the hospital around midnight, and they gave me some pre-labor medicine and some ambien. Would've been nice for that to go as planned, but the pre-labor medicine put me into full fledged labor, and so I was all wacky in labor at about 2 a.m. on ambien. I was hallucinating, crying, laughing all at the same time! Once I finally got comfortable (around 4 or so), everything was better, and little Luker was born just after 1 o'clock that afternoon. He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. -- Mama was instantly head over hills... Daddy wondered when his head would go back to normal. haha :) -- Oh, and he was back in the field the next morning to sandfight and replant.

I wonder what our story will be with this little girl... I'm anxious to find out. :) She still has no name.... we've made a little progress, but still nothing close to definite.

So, here's a look at Luke's birthday party!

We had his party at a park in the Vintage Township in Lubbock. We rented an inflatable bouncer... Luke loved it!

Sliding with cousin, Emma.

Friends Ryder Stracener and Gracyn Kauffman.. and their Mama's, Summer and Gina.

Family catching some shade.

More partying...

Cake and presents...

(I must've folded the cake getting it out of the pickup... oops!)

Silly boy!! :)

It's fun having friends and family with kids our kids' ages. They nail gift giving and make birthday parties fun to plan. :) - Luke loved all of his gifts. We boxed up all of his baby toys for sister so that we could make room for his new toys. He's been pretty occupied lately! - He got lots of Cars stuff... He took Mater to bed with him last night! He got a Buzz sit and scoot car, too. He took it out in the garage and parked it yesterday, and when I asked him if he was gonna leave it out there, he said, "Uh huh... Seep." Haha :) He let his Buzz car take a nap in the garage. He sits on it and wants it to "fye." :)

So, thanks again to everyone who came... You are all the ones Luke thanks Jesus for in his prayers!

Luke - Almost 2!?!

As long as I'm living, my baby he'll be... right?! - I hope so... because he's not a baby anymore. I don't think he was even walking when I started this blog last year. Now, here's what he's up to...

- He has developed some fears. Heath's touch on his nursery was the stuffed animal heads, and he got so scared of them, we had to take them down! There was a moose and a deer. He'd come running out of his room and say, "Cows, Mama." - Heath was disappointed to take them down, but it's only temporary, I'm sure! If Luke hears the freezer dropping ice or a loud car driving by, he comes running to us in a panic. I get sad for him though.. I see a part of his innocence going away with these fears.

- I don't think I can put enough O's in looooooves to explain how much he likes tractors. From day one, I never wanted to label him as a future farmer. I want him to choose his own path. If he wants to farm, great! If he doesn't, that's great too. I want him to do what he is good at and loves. Being married to Heath is made easier by him loving what he does. With that being said, Luke has developed an infatuation with farming and tractors. Before we take Heath lunch, Luke's job is to turn off the TV and get his backpack. He tries turning the TV off at about 10:30 every day because he's ready to go. He'll say, "Bye-bye Dadda tractor." One thing that can always occupy him is for us to show him the google images when we search for "John Deere".

- He is a really good eater. He's not very picky at all. His favorite breakfast food is oatmeal. He'd take it over pancakes. He likes to help me make peanut butter and jelly.... He eats it much better when he helps make it, too. He'll eat any kind of meat and likes it with salad and bread. He's not big on potatoes unless it's fries. He'll eat green beans and strawberries until you think he's gonna pop. He likes chips and hot sauce. He loves his chocolate milk.. he calls it "cha-o-moke".

- He still likes Toy Story, but he also likes Cars, Thomas, and Nemo. Toy Story used to be "Buzz and Buzz", now it's "Toy Tory". His favorite cartoon is probably Blue's Clues ("Coo-Coos"). When the Farmer's Insurance commercial comes on (Ya know, "We are Farmers. Bum Bum Dum Bum Bum Bum Bum."), he stops a cuts a quick jig and says "Bum Bum Bum". He sings the "I'm a big kid now" part on the Huggies commercials, too. He'll sing, "I now now!"

So, he's in a pretty cute stage, as you can probably tell... But he's also turning 2 in about a week, and I now know why they're called the "terrible 2's." I thought the 2's would be easier because they have more defined boundaries that they understand. They're exploring still, but they know they're limits. WELL. This is why they are so terrible! They know their limits, but they still choose to test them. He wasn't ready to come inside when we got out of the car the other day, so he took off running down the street from me. When I caught him and spanked him, he kicked and screamed the whole way back to the house! We've used his time-out chair more in the last 2 weeks than we ever have. He tests my patience... I have to make a conscious effort to show him that I'm disciplining out of love because, sometimes, it's easy to let my frustration take over!

When I look back on the last 2 years of our lives, I'm amazed at how fast it's changed. Sometimes, motherhood makes for the longest days. The big picture is extremely fulfilling though. I've learned that kids are like mirrors.... they look like us, they talk like us, they act like us, they value things we value. He keeps us on top of our games, for sure, and I'm thankful for it! Here's a quick look back..

Fresh from the womb... :)

STILL belly crawling on his first birthday..

Driving Daddy's spray rig... (He just saw this, btw.. He says, "Tractor!? Cooool!")

When we ask him how old he is, he says, "Two!!" and holds up 5 fingers. We have some work to do on that before next weekend. :)