4 Months-Kennedy Kate

Oh I can't even remember life without this little joy. She is our little sunshine. Pretty much always happy, smiling and giggling. Josh told me the other day "she makes me feel so good about myself" and I couldn't agree more. All you have to do is look at her and you can get a huge grin. 

At four months old, she is:

-Sleeping from about 7:30 pm to about 6:00 am (sometimes its 5:30, others its 6:30)

-Still napping pretty good throughout the day

-Eating about 4 1/2 oz every 2 1/2-3 hours (but Dr. G told us today that we need to bump that up, and maybe she can go longer)

-has been sitting in the bumbo some and loves it

-super giggly and loves to squeal

-only a fan of tummy time for a few minutes

-holds a little ball that she can shake

-pulls your arm hair if you have any, if not she just scratches you, constantly

-has found her hands and likes to try and eat them

-is very difficult to dress or feed because she attacks your hands

-will look at you when you say her name

-tracks you around the room as you walk

Dream Job

See this handsome fella? He is finishing up his first shift as a Lubbock Firefighter! 

Yes, he got hired in June and yes, it is now November. 

In those 6 months, we have moved, he completed Rookie School (6 weeks), had a baby, completed EMT-Advanced class (4ish weeks), and then completed a ridiculous amount of hours in the ER, OR, L&D, Burn Unit, and ambulance!!

I am so, so proud of this man. He managed to do all of that and still make time for me and the girls, even when he was exhausted. I am blessed to be his wife and I am so thankful he is Hensley and Kennedy's daddy. I told him the other day that even though the shift work will take some getting used to again, I have my dream job and I am SO happy that he gets to have his, too. 

I love you, Josh Tanner! 

*Clearly, I'm not the only one who adores him :)

Potty Training

So with the weather turning cold, I knew we wouldn't be getting out much so I decided I should probably just bite the bullet and start potty training Hensley. We've been talking about it a lot but buying 2 set of diapers for several months quickly got me on the ball. Tuesday and Wednesday of last week I half-heartedly did it….Mainly because by about 4:00 on Tuesday, she was DONE. Like sobbing, hysteria, DONE. I wasn't sure if I was going to scar her for life so I decided to try again the next day. It wasn't the best either but after talking to my sister-in-law who potty trained my nephew at 18 months over a weekend, I got a few more ideas. 

                                 

Thursday morning started off GREAT…we went in the potty, got a sticker and wanted to send a picture to Uncle Lutey. Woohoo, go us. I knew we were on the right track. 

Annnd again, yay for going in the potty. Insists on me texting Uncle Lutey again (no I'm not kidding. Yes, he was laughing by this point)

Unfortunately, we hit a rough patch and we went back to sobbing. I wasn't going to be deterred though..we could do this. 

*If you are my husband or mom or sisters, you might disagree since I was calling and texting SUPER frustrated but I'm just going to say I wasn't going to be deterred. *

Our efforts prevailed and we even went #2 in the potty and got m&ms! :)

I have been SO proud of her. Since Thursday morning she hasn't had an accident and has gotten to where she has started telling me when she needs to go. 

I have learned though, that most of the fits are thrown because she really doesn't need to go and is frustrated I am trying to make her. So I've been trying to let her go as long as she can and have her tell me. I'm sure we aren't completely out of the woods but she has filled up a chart with stickers and when daddy gets home tonight we are going to pick out a toy at the dollar store. WOOHOO!!!!

                               
This is what saved us that my SIL told me about…BOOKS IN THE BATHROOM!! Serioulsy, saved me. I am pretty sick of all of them but they were a huge help. 

Not Just a Real Estate Agent

***I started this back in August and never got a chance to finish and post. Its long and I rambled…but I don't want to ever forget any details, and I want to brag on the best realtor EVER!!***

With as crazy as our life has been, I have never gotten the chance to publicly brag on this amazing woman. The first time we moved, I dreaded having to look at houses and make a decision. I had watched enough HGTV where I knew most couples disagreed and got into big fights over it. Josh and I really do not fight. I hardly ever even get annoyed with him---part of it is my choice not to let things bother me, but the other part is--he is just the best husband. :)

 Anyways, getting back on track, I just really didn't want to go through the stress of buying a home. Then, I meet this lovely lady! Y'all---if you EVER need to buy a house in the Lubbock area, this is the most amazing woman you will ever meet. It didn't take us many days of looking to narrow down our choices when we moved to Brownfield. But I seriously LOVED every minute of it. She made it so much fun and was definitely our voice of reason. 

I will never forget her taking us to our house that was not even on our list because it wasn't in our price range. She just really insisted saying we needed to look. We instantly fell in love, despite the baby blue beams and huge window drapes on every window. It was perfect. We were somewhat bummed though because no matter how perfect it was--it was still out of our price range. As we were about to leave the house, she stopped us and told us we needed to pray right then and there. She spoke the most beautiful blessing over us and our new home. Asking God to have His hand on where we were supposed to live and to give us his guidance. Through God and Judi, we were able to buy the home we wanted. I have no doubt, her listening to Him was the only reason this was possible. 

Fast-forward two and a half years---Josh gets on with the Lubbock FD and I am 7(ish) months pregnant. We know he will be going to Lubbock M-F, 8am-5pm every day for several months. I REALLY wanted to move back to Tahoka, near our family and friends, before the baby was born because I knew it would be so hard once she came. He would still be traveling to Lubbock daily and I didn't want to be alone in Brownfield without help! We knew it was going to be tough to make it happen but we started praying. Asking God if it was His will….please help us find away to get to Tahoka. Help us KNOW what we were supposed to do. If that wasn't what He wanted, shut the door and we would be ok with it. 

So we called Judi and just started playing out a few scenarios. We got the paperwork done- just in case- and waited. He officially got the job, we called Judi, she posted our house on her websites and Facebook around 4:00 pm and we all sat back to see what God had planned. 

Josh was on shift at Brownfield and I was calling him to tell him goodnight. At around 10:30 pm, while I was on the phone, Judi beeped in. I told Josh.."Uhhhh I gotta go…Judi is calling". After quickly clicking over, she tells me that I will not believe this. Not only had someone called, they had made an offer and were sending her over a contract---AND THEY HADN'T EVEN SEEN THE HOUSE IN PERSON!!!! (And just because I don't want to forget…it was ALL because she couldn't quit bragging on our utility room in the post and that is just what this lady had been praying for!) In case you missed it, this was only HOURS after she had posted it.  I mean, if that isn't God stepping in and giving us an answer I don't know what is! :)

Long story short (Ha…or shorter), we found a house in Tahoka and got our house sold and a house bought before Kennedy arrived. It was a little much on our plate but seriously such a miracle and a God-send. We are super thankful for the people who sold us our house too and let us move in early…just so we could be here. 

Anyways, that's all to say…JUDI FILLINGIM, you are absolutely amazing. I treasure the friendship we now have with you because we asked you to be our realtor. I am so thankful for your relationship with God and you listening to Him in every area of your life. You are such a witness and your light is always shining for Him. Thanks for making both experiences something I never want to forget!

We love you more than you know. 

Hensley turns TWO!

How on earth is Hensley two?!

What an adventure these last two years have been! I am so blessed to be this beautiful girls momma. She seriously brings so much joy and life to our lives. 

She is smart, has an incredible memory and is hilarious. She loves to make people laugh. 

She is really into building towers with her blocks, MINNIE MOUSE, reading books, coloring, and helping me with Kennedy. She LOVES to "help"---she will pick on Josh's shirt in the morning, show him where his socks and pants are, and even help him put on his boots. It truly is the sweetest thing. 

I've started really noticing she wants everything in its place. She lines things up, if a drawer is a little open when she walks by--she shuts it, when she takes off her socks and shoes-she always stuffs her socks in her shoes. 

Hensley, 

You have brought more joy to your dad and me in the past two years than I ever dreamed possible. You are the one who made me "mommy", what I have wanted to be for as long as I can remember….and you blew all my dreams out of the water. You are so full of life and I am amazed by you daily. Your daddy and I pray that you will always be the sweet-spirited, kind-hearted girl you are today. We pray that you will love God more than anything and know He is all you truly need. We know He has great plans for you and we can't wait to see you live out those plans.

We love you more than you can ever fathom, Hensley Sue. 

Happy 2nd birthday. 

Love, 

Mom and Dad