might as well sing along

So....looks like I missed Christmas. Oops. At least this time I have a GOOD reason, seeing as how I'm pregnant. Again. And the 3rd trimester is a doozy, so I should get plenty slack for forgetting to post. I think I may have a few pictures from the past few months of our new life in Fort Worth, so I'll really try to get those up here. We're enjoying being in FW, have finally found a church home, and are starting to make friends and develop a routine. Baby will wreck that routine of course, so I know this is temporary. If all goes as planned and I stay healthy, I'll be delivering the new little bugger at the folks' house in San Antonio, so that I can use my lovely midwife whom I adore. So you can at least count on my posting again when I announce who showed up, and some cute pics of whoever it is!

I'm older now and still running against the wind

Top 10 reasons why Kristen is a bad blogger:

#10 "I'm just technologically impaired" (thanks, Weird Al, for the idea)

#9 Dave got a new job, moved to Fort Worth, we moved out of our house, into my parents' house, are living out of suitcases, and Shelley keeps making oatmeal raisin cookies to keep me full which makes me sleepy and then I forget I have a blog.

#8 Fussing about missing Dave takes up a large part of my day.

#7 Henry is in charge of reminding me.

#6 I feel the need to take large breaks to find out who my true bloggity friends are.

#5 My computer died. (last week, but still....it DID die)

#4 My friends' blogs are all way cooler and there is no way I can keep up.

#3 I'm busy reading an awesome book about beer.

#2 So you'll have something to nag me about.

and the best reason of all.......

#1 I was predestined to be that way, so, what are ya gonna do?

I have no pictures of my growing-way-too-fast kids because my computer is on life support. Would you just believe me if I tell you they are cute? We are incredibly thankful that Dave has a job! He was hired by Farmers Insurance Group in Plano, and is now finished with his training. He is a property claims adjuster, and really likes his job. Right now he is camping out with my grandparents in Fort Worth, while the kids and I camp out at the Warren homestead. Later this summer we hope to be moving, and are praying that God leads us to the right house, church, friends, etc at just the right time. It will be nice to be closer to our FW family, though we are sad to be leaving our SA family behind (again! sheesh....common theme). And my sister CJ is getting married in October, so we're busy planning that and looking forward to welcoming another bro-in-law to the crowd. They'll live in Shawnee, OK, so we'll actually be much closer to them once we're moved north. Sister Annie just had her 3rd kiddo, Savannah Joy, and I'm sad they are so far away and I can't hold my new niece!! Can't wait to see them this fall!

I'm out of news, so, next up....Christmas!

I learned to laugh through my tears

What's better than girlfriends??? Girlfriends and new babies!! Last weekend I got to hang out with my 3 college buddies in South Carolina. We hadn't seen each other in 2 years, and it didn't look like Posse 09 was going to be a possibility, but graciously God allowed it to happen and we spent 3 fabulous days together. Jackie flew in from Utah, Janelle drove down from the DC area, and I jetted from TX. Amy, the baby of the Posse, had struggled with infertility for years, and was finally blessed with little Jackson in August. Naturally, as his favorite Posse Auntie, I felt that I needed to see him at as young an age as possible, to confirm my favored status. I was right. Duh! Seriously, we ate too much food. I will say that as the only Posse member who does not possess a sweet tooth, its hysterical to watch 3 girls put away 2 bags of Snickers in the blink of an eye. Hehe. Some celebratory beverages were had, we watched some football, fought over Jackson, played fetch with Lucy a mind-numbing number of times, and it was all wonderful. These girls are fantastic, and I'm truly blessed that God brought us together those 14 years ago and has kept our friendship strong. If you don't have a Posse, go get yourself one!

I told Jackson he didn't need to be nervous since he has the fanciest baby bath I've ever seen.

Whoever feeds him is the favorite. Score!!

Lucy, waiting for us to pay attention to her instead of Jackson.

Ames and me

taking a much needed walk (remember the Snickers?), and Janelle looking illegally cute for her 30-something weeks of pregnancy.

Jackie woke up extra early the first day to hog him first.

Glitter toes!!

He's digging me. I can tell.

Can't wait for next year!!

he's going the distance...he's going for speed

Runners are an interesting breed. They obviously love punishment and inhuman amounts of perspiration, or maybe those are just the necessary trade-offs to be in better shape than the rest of us. Whatever. My husband loves to run, and started running more regularly this summer, presumably so that he can be a "bona fide" runner, and talk all the crazy, mumbo-jumbo runner language with all the other interesting people. I fully support this. And he fully supports my support-without-participation. Its a good thing we have going. So he signed up for an 8-miler (his first race since we've been married), along with my brother Nathan and some of our friends. Of course I went along to cheer and congratulate, and Beth kept me company, snapping pics. All of them did great, and Dave was happy to beat his target time. I'm proud of him!! We're a fabulous, glamorous couple, and here is some proof:

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Ok, ok...keeping it real. it was early. and cold. and early.

The two bros trying to stay warm before the gun

they are in that crowd somewhere, promise.

here he comes! woo-hoo, Babe!

Celeste was next. she runs like a gazelle. you'd hate her for it if she weren't such an awesome girl. I don't even think she was breathing hard when she crossed the finish line. **sigh**

then came Blair and Candace! look! see Candace trying to cut Blair off and beat her to the line?? man, I love this competitive vibe!

and then came Cheyenne and Nathan! he wasn't very sweaty, so I was suspicious that he had made Chey carry him part of the way. and she looked just as cute as before the gun. argh!

Dave, Blair, Candace, Chey, Nate, Celeste, a.k.a. "Team CoG" (Covenant of Grace, our church)

one step at a ti-i-ime!

I really had planned to blog this sooner, but once again, if I keep your expectations low, it works to my advantage. In my reality, 2 weeks late really isn't late at all! Earlier this month, our kiddos joined in a production of Psalty's Camping Adventure, with all the kids from our church (I think there were 36 performers). My sister CJ was the director, and some of my other siblings, along with friends, were involved somehow in putting on this fabulous musical. For about 7 months they worked, memorized lines, learned songs and dance moves, built sets (Dave was resident set builder), and made costumes, culminating in a show that was fun and creative. A couple of my children actually cried when it was over because they were so sad. Dave's parents got to visit and see the performance, and they kids had a total audience of over 150! Here are a few shots:

That's Molly in the middle. She was a total ham (I'm sure that comes from Dave).

Henry was hysterical to watch, totally into his character! Warren was Farley McFirefly, and did great!

Carrie is a drama queen. Again, the Slaughter side....

The whole crew!

Oh, and if you're wondering where Liam is, and if he was in the musical.....

I ask you, would you let this character in your play? I rest my case.

gimme, gimme that high-ten

My baby turned 3. "They" said it would happen, but I hardly believed "them". I've never had a 3 year old and not had a younger child, so this feels really weird, but wonderful too. Liam is so good to remind me though, that babies aren't the only tough children, and a life without babies is not a life without stress, mess, and insanity. He had a great party, with all 4 grandparents and whole mess of other relatives. Since he loves trucks, he got a couple of those, and since he loves hurting people, he got a sword. One of his Aunties was sweet enough to buy him several packages of pasta. Did I ever mention that pasta is all Liam eats? He asks every night if I'm making pasta for dinner, and if I say "no", he says, "OK, I'll take noodles". Oddly enough, he's my child and he hates meat...go figure. Obviously the large quantities of steak I consumed while pregnant with him did not have the desired effect. Anyway, this cake was his favorite part of the party....blowing out his 3 candles made him feel important. Its the little things, you know? For those of you with that question in the back of your mind....NO, he is not potty-trained. After over 2 months, we're still battling. I.hate.this.more.than.anything. Hopefully he'll decide to figure it out before Christmas.

waiting for the world to turn

So Liam will be 3 in 2 months. Aside from the fact that that detail is impossible, that also means my procrastination in potty-training must come to an end. I'm not hyper about early training, in fact I waited until Henry was 3 1/2 before even starting, and it went beautifully/quickly. But with Liam having a fall birthday, I didn't want training to linger into the holidays. I also don't like to put a training kid into pants (or even underpants), to avoid excess laundry and the problems of them not being able to pull pants up/down alone, so it helps to train during warm months. Uh...no problem there. Today its 103. Sufficiently hot for nudity. Anyhoo...I'm giving it a whirl. If we do not have quick success, with signs that he is self-motivated, we'll pack it up and wait until spring. He's not my easiest kid, definitely a hard-headed little peanut, so I'm crossing all my fingers and toes.