An Excuse

To post cute pictures this afternoon....

He looks like he is trying out for the baby version of "world's strongest man" here...
Loving books these days..each morning we play a little game. I tell him to go get me a book and he runs over to his little book nook, pulls a book, and excitedly comes to me saying "ba, ba"..and then climbs on my lap for me to read it to him. Then, if you know Rody, he throws the book down or across the room, and I tell him to go get another one...he sometimes gets sidetracked and will pick up the said book that was just thrown--this is how I read "Corduroy goes to the Doctor" 5 times in a row yesterday...I'm just saying...


He can climb on all of our furniture now...

And is getting so many teeth. He now has 5.5 on top, 2 on bottom, the left molar is already in and the right molar is rearing it's white head as we speak...

You've got to see him in action....

We've got a very active, entertaining boy on our hands...who by the way is 14 months old today!!! He loves to make you laugh and seems to be quite the jokester...

Happy 14 months old, Rody!!!

So Proud!

GPS competed at the Tennessee State Track and Field meet over the last few days. In years past, GPS as a team has won state...many times. However, this year we only took about 15 athletes to state, but we did really well with just those girls.

And I am especially proud of my throwers!!! Here is Simone, a 9th grader and she qualified for state and even better...SHE WON!!! I was so excited...just to have your athlete compete and do their best at a meet of that caliber is awesome. I know the feeling of the pressure in those meets--I've experienced that many times---both resulting in defeat and a few times victory...

Simone threw 35'9.5'' to win the event. The top three girls all threw over 35'...this is pretty good for our division

And my discus girls...both seniors...I have coached them since the 10th grade...track is not their primary sport, but they were dedicated during the season!

Gwyn is on the left and Heather on the right.
The proud coach!Funny...Heather is taller than me, but somehow this picture doesn't show it!!!

Heather was ranked #1 and she finished as #1...what an accomplishment! She threw 114'2'' to win...a PR for her as well. She just started spinning this year. She has the potential to be an amazing discus thrower---6'1'' tall, athletic, strong, but volleyball is her love and she is playing volleyball in college in the fall at UTC...

Gwyn qualified for State as a wild card and really wanted to throw over 1o0'. She just started spinning about a month ago...and three of her four throws were PR's...2 of them over 100'!!! I cried...seriously..I was so excited for them!

To make it even sweeter, it was Heather's 18th birthday!!! So, she won state on her 18th birthday- how memorable!

Congratulations, girls! I'll miss y'all Heather and Gwyn....

It's been an amazing ride and I'm proud to have been your coach!!!

FUN

Well, we didn't have our camera for the discovery museum yesterday, but we did for Mayfield Dairy today!

The Barnett's have been in town visiting..it's been nice having them here...and the extra help with Rody is always great!

I think I was saying "ooh, this is hot.." in this picture

For you, my darling sister Maggie!
Did you know that you had your own parking place at the diary??

Yes, Rody enjoyed the ice cream. I had 1 scoop of birthday cake and 1 scoop of low fat banana pudding. He loved the birthday cake ice cream. When that was gone, I gave him a taste of banana pudding and he cried! Don't try to fool that boy with "low fat"!

who is this man with the curly hair? Why that is Randy!!!

cute pic...

Now off to eat grilled chicken and sweet potatoes!

Doing my part to save the world

I am excited. I've wanted to cloth diaper for a while, but honestly we did not make it a priority to shell out the initial costs of the diapers. But, praise the Lord, my friend that I teach with gave me her ENTIRE stash of diapers, liners, and water proof covers! I am totally pumped!!! We have literally like 30 diapers...which is incredible!

Rody doesn't know the difference...but I think he likes them!

I've changed his room around a little bit...I bought these letters at Hobby Lobby for $1 each and then painted them black to match the room...

And we moved the crib away from the window and in the back of the room to avoid the hallway light...and we had to hang the pictures MUCH higher this time...so as to avoid Rody banging on them and pulling them into his crib...

And, here is a cute little video of today. He is saying "yum" when eating dinner...He is a total table food eater now. We do buy the gerber toddler meals for when we are in a bind, but he basically eats what we eat now...which is much easier...and this boy loves water! That is all he drinks- no juice--and we still can't get him to drink milk from a sippy cup...sigh....

And have I mentioned that I teach AND coach? I don't really talk about work much on here, but I am in the tail end of a coaching season...I'm just glad I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I coach the throwers on the GPS track team (check out my school - an all-girls private school in Chattanooga, TN...website is www.gps.edu)

Anyways, tomorrow is a big day- STATE qualifying for the field events. I have three shot putters ranked 1, 2, and 3 in the region and 3 discus throwers ranked 1, 3, 5 in the region...GO BRUISERS!!!

Lately

We've been busy lately...busy making sure our little "big" 13 month old boy doesn't fall off one of the couches...he loves to climb now...anything and everything!

And we've been to the park....
And we've been sneaking into the dining room to pick onion peels...

And we've been eating KIDS MEALS!!! Other than a chick-fil-A kids meal, this is Rody's first kids' meal out...at Cracker Barrell today...he ate the whole grilled cheese sandwich and some green beans...this boy loves CHEESE!! (He gets that from his daddy...)...and will eat anything if you put cheese on it...or mix it with mac-n-cheese

And we've celebrated Mother's Day! This little man has made me a mom and completely changed my life!

And to all the moms out there who read my blog (specifically my mom, randy's mom, and my sister molly...) HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I love you!

Randy's Birthday Pics

We had fun celebrating Randy's birthday last week...funny thing about this cake...I thought it would be funny to add the #'s "31" to the cake b/c I can't stand the thought of Randy being younger than I am...

And yes, the cake was "tested" earlier that day...Randy got a nice chuckle when I came out of the kitchen with those numbers on his cake....
Rody enjoying some naked time...

Hope you had a happy birthday babe!

Hand of Hope- and the National Day of Prayer

Do y'all remember seeing this picture? It has captivated millions of people around the world. This is a picture taken in 1999 of a 21 week old fetus (baby in the womb) during a risky surgery to correct his spina bifida.

THis is what the photographer had to say concerning that photo:

"Clancy, who was a freelancer for USA Today when he photographed Samuel's fully-formed hand, now works as a motivational speaker at pro-life events. Prior to the picture, Clancy said, he was pro-choice. "And that's what I'm going to do, keep telling this story," he said. "It can change people's hearts. What started off as an assignment turned into a responsibility to keep telling the story behind it." A crucial part of the story, Clancy argues, is whether Samuel reached through the 8-inch opening in his mother's uterus and grabbed Dr. Joseph Bruner's hand, or if the doctor manipulated the hand during surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. "I could see the uterus shake violently and then this little fist came out of the surgical opening," Clancy recalls. "It came out under its own power. When Dr. Bruner lifted the little hand, I fired my camera and the tighter Samuel squeezed, the harder Dr. Bruner shook his hand."

Wow! Here is that baby 10 years later... a healthy, vibrant little boy...who says he is honored that he is that "mircale" baby whom God has been using to change the hearts of so many. This photo was one reason why the partial birth abortion ban was signed in 2000....

And why we keep fighting today...and keep fighting for FOCA to NOT be signed by Mr. Obama

Would you pray with me for our nation today? For other Christians to take a stand and make their voice heard? For the Lord to forgive us as a nation for taking so many lives of unborn children? For the leadership of this great country?

Amen.

Happy Birthday (yesterday) Randy

Happy 28th Birthday, Randy! Sorry I am a day late on the blog...and I will upload some photos later on tonight...

Hope you had great day! We love you,
Katie & Rody

Behaviors to AVOID...

*Update...I don't want to spread the propoganda around that you can contract swine flu from eating pork...that is why this pic is funny! People- eat pork--you cannot get swine flu from eating pork--it is scientifically and biologically proven...

*Just had to do that for my good friend, Katie, who has has issues with this in her agricultural adverstizing company....Want some barbeque tonight??!!

If you want to steer clear of the swine flu!
Ha! I cannot take credit for this photo, however. It was on Big Mama's blog the other day and when I saw it, I peed my pants...just a little....

Happy Monday!

this post in no way intends to offend any of you who may or may not have contacted the swine flu...ahem..

"Green" Thumb

We've been playing outside a lot lately...dodging the rain...and Rody loves to pick the flowers and give them to me...

I found these Nike sandals at consignment...so cute!

Welcome to our garden! Randy has quite the green thumb...we've planted lots...in this plot are onions and okra

And here are our tomatoes

And we also have green peppers and carrots

Rody loving to look outside...and climb on top of the couch

I think he looks so much like Randy here...

And welcome baby Ria Bowe!!!! Our friends V & J had Ria (Gloria Jenelle I believe) on Friday morning. We went to see them on Saturday. V has the same doctor I had- we love him!

Oops..didn't realize this was turned until I posted...sorry J!

Does Randy look different? This is the longest his hair has ever been...I really like it. Who knew his hair would be curly???!!!