Shepherd's Stats & Pictures

... wondering how big Shep has gotten the past 3 months.

Weight has tapered off at 23 lb 7.5 oz (62%)
Height 32.2" (97%)
Head 19.25" (97%)
He got two shots today and I cant say he handled it well. He is quite irritable anytime the nurse or the doctor were checking him over.... all he wanted to do was crawl on the floor with Ashton.

So, he is long and getting lean. He finishes off his last bottle of breastmilk tonight so hopefully this will also be his last bottle.

Here are some pictures from his 1 year photos.

You will see this one again on our Christmas card! - probably my favorite

I blew this shot with the light when I switched to automatic but still liked it.

This was on his actual birthday - he really did not want his picture taken though so this was the best I got.

Which one of these 3 black and white ones do you like best? Each of the kids has a framed 4 month, 8 month, 12 month series of pictures of just a headshot. They also all wore this shirt for their 12 month shot. They all show aspects of his personality but I just cant decide which one will be the permanent picture.

I really like this one but I am nervous that it will be too pixelly as I had to crop it wwwaaayyy in... I only need a 4*6 but am still not sure if it will be blurry.

just too cute

classic distraction... nothing like a lego tree to distract

Still can't believe he is one. He is an awesome baby!

Thanksiving

... so thankful for so many things... I neglected to post my a "thankful" list or to update with our Thanksgiving happenings!

I was absolutely awful about taking pictures. Somehow the camera only made it out once and that was just for a bit.

I did get a good picture of Molly though.

First, it was so nice to see my husband for more than 1 hour in the evening. He was home from Wednesday to Sunday with NO FOOTBALL!

On Thanksgiving, we made trip up to GrandmaDean and GrandpaGordie's house. It was so good to see my family. The only ones missing were Zach, Anna, and Owen. I saw my cousin, Anthony and his wife, for the first time in 2 years and saw my other cousin, Stephanie and her (hopefully) soon to be fiance as well. It was a good time of catching up. Mom and Chad did a good job of taking kid-duty so I actually had like 2 hours of adult conversation!

Friday was wonderful in that I got to see my absolute best friend, Olivia, and her precious boys. They made the trip down from Hickory and spent the afternoon into the early evening with us. This is the only time my camera made it out of the bag and I most of the pictures were blurry.. so I only got one decent one of the boys (Shep was sleeping so he did not have a picture this Thanksgiving).

Here is Luke (8 months), Ashton, Noah (2 years), and Hunter swinging outside before the rain came.

Thanksgiving continued into Saturday when I went to my parents to help decorate and Chad and the boys went to his parents to play. I met them their around 3 and had some delicious steak and Chad's mom gave the boys their Christmas clothes! Gotta love new clothes! She also cleared out the top of their barn that had a ridiculous amount of Christmas decorations from Chad's sister's wedding 5 years ago... so I got some free stuff.... a lot of free stuff that I am still trying to sort through!

Sunday started the Christmas decorating.

It was an amazing time of friends and family and we are so thankful for each of you!

Shep's Party

... so busy the past few days that I almost forgot Shepherd's party pictures. Thanks mom for the reminder... gotta love accountability!


We just had our family over for dinner, cake, and presents. Shepherd seemed to know that the day was all about him. We were surprised when GrandmaDean and GrandpaGordie pulled up in the driveway so Shepherd had great grandparents from both sides of the family.

The cake cutting. - Though I am not a cake decorator, I did the cake and I was so happy with the way it turned out (plus it was REALLY good)... thanks again mom for helping ice those little blocks!

The singing- Hunter and Ashton were all about blowing the candles out.
Digging in- in true 1 year old fashion- he did it the dirty way!


He was quite proud of himself...
until he rubbed the icing into his eyes.

Thank you guys for coming to his first birthday and for the sweet gifts. Let's see if I can remember what he got...
table and chairs for outside
Toby the train
winter coat
Sesame street ride along
football
truck
Radio Flyer ride along
VeggieTales DVD
Zoo passes for the year
Money from a few people

You can see by the pictures that he was quite excited to get some "baby/ toddler" toys that actually work!

Shep playing with his singing card while the brothers opened up presents.
Grandma giving some help with the toys
Showing everyone how his toy works- thanks Queenie!
His new coat.

Shepherd- I love you baby and hope you had a great birthday!

The PAP Nation

... neck deep in football for the past few months.

Chad arguing with the refs!

picture courtesy of Susan McCall

As this football season comes to a close, I am amazed at how successful it was. God's sovereignty has been so completely evident that I can only stand in awe. I love it when you can actually see God's hand and boy, have we seen His hand on our family this past year.

Though I dont often do this, I must brag on my husband. He will chuckle at this but he is such a good example to me on how to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again. After his previous head coaching stint, I would have forever thrown in the towel. He didn't... instead, he interviewed for COUNTLESS jobs with many rejections and a few offers. After prayer, we decided that this area was where we were supposed to be and though no football jobs were offered, we came. Five months later- boom- head football coach of a 4A floundering high school!

8 months later- boom- beginning of the PAP nation. Your phrase of Practice After Practice (PAP) has somehow become The PAP Nation and has given this community and your players something to hang their hat on.

The PAP Nation

picture courtesy of Susan McCall

2 more months - boom- a team that won only one game last year just finished the 2010 season 9-4!!! What? It is awesome!

Chad's post game speech after the playoff win from last week... first playoff win since 1997

picture courtesy of Susan McCall

Chad, I am proud of you. However, I was also proud of you when you were a head coach at Northern and when you were an assistant at RM. I think it is amazing how much you love your job! The hours you invest into these young men has to do some good. I love you and hope you know how much you are looked up to by not only our little men but me.

Welcome home Daddy!

Most important!

Happy Happy Birthday Shep Shep!

I am in absolute disbelief that I am already writing this…
Happy 1st Birthday Shepherd!

3 days old

2 months

4 months

6 months

8 months

10 months

1 year old!

You are such a gift. I was in complete and utter shock when I found out I was pregnant with you. I had my own plan on when it would be time to have another baby and God decided to go another route and I thank Him daily for His wisdom. Now when I look at pictures of just your brothers, I realize that there was a huge piece missing. You fit in that spot perfectly. And I love you more and more each and everyday.

You are not walking yet but I am finally able to see a bit of progress with standing totally unassisted. You took one baby step at Queenie’s house last week and took another baby step today, however, it will still be awhile before you are walking… part of me is glad that you are taking your time with this milestone and part of me knows that you will be much more content when you can keep up with your brothers.

Your personality finds a good middle ground between Hunter and Ashton. You get frustrated easily and oddly enough, to be the youngest of three, are not very patient. So you are not as emotional as Ashton but not as laid back as Hunter. You love to be outside and enjoy playing by yourself or with your brothers (actually, you enjoy destroying anything your brothers are playing with or building). You love to play ball and will “throw” and “catch” or push a few balls around the house or yard for a long time.

You are a pretty good eater. You definitely have your favorite foods like hot dogs, mac n cheese, spaghetti, but will not turn down most other foods. You much prefer to feed yourself but if you really like the food then will let me feed you (cereal, yogurt, ice cream). You still cherish your nighttime bottle and are a great sleeper.

You can say “mama” “dada” “dog” “juice”. Hunter swears you have said “hunter” and “ashton”. You give kisses on command and love to be loved on. You love sucking on your blankie just like Hunter did and are quite content when your blankie is in your hands.

Shepherd, I love you so much. Your big smile and bright eyes can light up any room. I love on Wednesday mornings when your brothers are at “school” and I get one on one time with you. I can see when you are going to be quite the cool and funny kid.

My prayer for you is that you will love Jesus. He is our everything. I pray that you will serve Him with every ounce in your being. I fully believe that He has you in His hands and has your way mapped out.

Happy Birthday baby boy!

Love ya bunches and bunches
Mommy

To my Veterans.

... blessed my entire life to have great dad and grandpa.

Not only have these two men been pillars of my family but they have been prepared to give everything for our nation, our family, and for me.

My Dad... Mantis (for those who dont know me well, yes, that is a nickname that everyone uses)

My dad is amazing. He joined the United States Air Force at my mom's prompting before I was born. He served for 15 years and retired early (which he regrets to this day). I believe he would jump right back into active duty if they would let him. I have learned more about respecting our nation and our flag through him and my mom. I was given the opportunity to live up and down the entire east coast (from Maine to SC) and even Germany and wouldn't change those moves for anything. If you know Mantis, you see how he and the military were a perfect fit.

GrandpaGordon

My GrandpaGordie served in the United States Navy as an enlisted man for my mom's childhood. He was often deployed for long stints and had to leave my GrandmaDean and their two daughters. I often complain about Chad's 80+ hour work weeks during football season and when thinking about deployment versus coaching hours, I realize I should shut my mouth. GrandpaGordie has instilled a true reverence for our nation and the sacrifice that accompanies my freedom. He will still tell you all about it if you give him your ear!

My other grandfather even served in the military/ Army (though he died long before I was born). He received a purple heart while fighting. So to say that red, white, and blue pulses through my veins is an understatement. If it wasn't for my fear of boot camp, it would be fairly accurate to say that I would have joined the military. And I have this sinking suspicion that I will be the mom of at least one military man. I just cant see the military link skipping more than one generation.

More important than their service to America, they have served Jesus and modeled Him to my brothers and me. Just as GrandpaGordie would share his war stories, he will share Jesus to anyone. My dad has always been faithful with studying the Bible and has had a deep desire to know Him more. He challenges me in my walk and prompts me to study and know my facts.

Thank you dad and my GrandpaGordie for being willing to give it all. I am proud to call me you my dad and grandpa and you can be assured that I will train my boys as I was trained.

I love you!

Finally.. it feels like fall

Chad had to work on Saturday so the boys and I crashed in on mom and dad. We decided, kind of last minute, to go walk around Clemson and watch the pre-game festivities plus it was Military Appreciation Day and they were having a fly over right before kick off.

It started off rough as Ashton threw up right when we got there. He is the last one to be hit by this mysterious "bug" that had already nabbed the rest of us. He seemed to be ok by the end though.

Hunter getting to look inside the "tank" thing.
Little snack time and Uncle Nolan makes an appearance!
CHASE!
Ashton decides he is feeling ok.
Mom getting a workout.

The fly over. Mantis missed it because he was hiding under a tree... not sure if Hunt and Ash got to see because they were also under the tree.

The best part... the balloons... we also got to see the players unload off the bus. The boys loved it!
More balloons... orange and blue and red, white, and blue!
Little ones watching balloons (Shep had fallen asleep)
and the big ones watching the balloons... something about balloons- you never outgrow it
Thanks mom and dad. We had a lot of fun. Definitely a nice ending to a llllooonnnggg week!

Movie Night

The day after Ash's birthday, we watched his new Shrek movie.... here is just a cute picture of the boys eating their popcorn (Shep had cheerios) and watching the movie.