4: A Letter to My Big Boy

My Sweet Isaac,

Someday, many years from now, you'll look back on your life. If you are like me, it will naturally divide itself into very distinct chapters.

Less Than 2 Weeks Old You.

My chapters look like this:

Chapter 1: My Childhood: Mullets, Music, and Magic
Chapter 2: And Then There Was Ryland....
Chapter 3: College, Marriage, and Teaching
Chapter 4: The Infertility Fog
Chapter 5: God Gave Me You
Chapter 6: Tunia, the One Month Whirlwind
Chapter 7: (TBA, In Progress, Under Construction)

Beautiful new you.

6 -Month-Old, Sitting-Up, You.

 

9-Month-Old, Crawling, You.

Chapter 6, your chapter started exactly 4 years ago. I spent a day in labor with you amazing Dad. We had waited for years and figuratively climbed deserts and swam oceans to get to that sweet day. Then you came. Angels danced and a waiting room full of praying family members rejoiced. Years of saddness melted away for me, and you were one of the greatest gifts in my life.

1st Birthday, Cupcake Face, You.

I cannot believe that I've taken 4 rides around the sun with you. I will treasure those sweet first weeks and months of your life where my joy was to sit and hold you and talk to you for hours. What a gift it was as I watched you roll, sit up, crawl, walk, run! The sweetest music was the first "momma" you spoke. As you discovered your first books, tastes of food, movies, and friendships, you brought me along and I got to experience the thrill of rediscovering them with you.

20-Month-Old, Halloween Costume, You.

And now you are spelling words, recognizing and writing letters, loving your friends, playing sports, and growing. Your love for God and tender heart for people is inspiring. You love bigger than anyone I've ever known.

2-Year-Old, Painfully Cute, You.

 

You are excited about everything. You enjoy everything and make the best out of every situation. Sometimes you ask deep questions, and understand things far beyond your years. You are a constant reminder of God's goodness, and not a day goes by that I am not thankful that God chose me (ME!) to be your Mom. No one deserves a child as wonderful as you, but I am glad for the opportunity.

2-and-a-half, Silly, You.

My prayer for you is that you will be brave, that you will love God more than anything, and that you will become more and more like God as you grow. I pray that your innocence will stick for a LOOONG time, that life won't make you jaded, that you won't worry about the small stuff. I hope you'll find a girl that loves you (almost as much as me) and that you'll love her and care for you just like your Dad does for me. Speaking of your Dad- you already love music and are a song-bird like him. You are sweet like him. And you have the cutest little tushkin just like him. (Go ahead, be embarrassed, someone has to preserve your history!)

3rd Birthday, First Friend Party, You.

Isaac, I love you more than you'll ever know. I love that you are the one that made a Mom out of me 4 years ago. I love that I am the receipient of all of the hugs, questions, and memories, that will form your Chapter 1. It is an honor that I take seriously, I hope I help you to write it well.

You. 2 Weeks Ago. Perfect.

I hope that someday that my Chapter 6 ends with "......and he changed the world." My big boy, no longer a baby, I believe you can.

Love , Momma

2012 Russell Family Digital Christmas Card- the Late Edition

I usually post an end of year wrap up on my blog before Christmas as a "Russell Family Digital Christmas Card". And I usually do it before Christmas , but at the moment it is December 26 and I am in the car on my way to see my hubby's family in Chickasha. It has been a wonderfully busy Christmas season and I haven't had the time to sit and formulate ideas like I wanted to. As I have stated several times, my intent for my blog is to be a gift and a chronicle to my kids. The end of year letter is the "Cliff's Notes" version of each year, so it is important to me to finish it.


This makes me want to cry. She was so tiny in January!

A brother/sister moment.

A midwinter zoo trip.

January - We rang in the new year at home with my Mom and Dad. I tried my best to re-create some of my favorite dishes from the now defunct Bahama Breeze in OKC. I made jerk chicken pasta, Cuban bread, chocolate tres leches, and Mimi Cyndi's mandarin orange salad. I started the year with my sweet but still-in-diapers boy and my tiny, baby, pacifier sucking, barely walking/talking, diaper wearing baby girl. Ryland and I did something different this year with our New Years resolutions. We wrote family expectations. We wrote personal goals, marriage goals, and goals for our kids. Happily, we reached many of them and we made great progress towards many others. Being the visual person that I am, I highlighted/marked off each goal as we reached it. At year's end, I am happy to report that there are more things highlighted and marked off than left blank. The kids both had yucky ear infections most of this month which resulted in many doctor's visits and bills.

Tunia's surgery with her happy napper and paci.

Isaac cried when he found out we couldn't keep his tiger gown.

My husband indoctrinating our children early.

February- My honey turned 28 and my baby boy turned 3. We celebrated Isaac's birthday with an indoor pool party with his best buddies and we took our annual trip to Arkansas to celebrate with Mimi and Poppy. Isaac and Hope both received new tubes & lost their adenoids within 5 days of each other. That was not fun, but we were so glad to see them have relief after months of ear infections and the sickies.


Isaac grew out his stache for his party, but we made him shave it.

Isaac and his buddies at his party.


The birthday boy at Aunt C's homecoming.

 

March- We happily marked off several New Years Expectations! My Isaac finally became potty trained. We were overjoyed that after several hard-fought days he decided to be a big boy. He did great and has had very few accidents. We also paid off our last car in an effort to be completely debt free. Mimi, Poppy, Aunt Hilary, and Uncle Hayden came to visit us and we got to take Hil and Hay to see the Hunger Games on opening night. Isaac also started his first season of soccer. He did more sitting & flower picking than scoring and assisting but he looked adorable in his white sweatband and cleats. Hopey quit the paci for good. She really quit being a baby after this, she literally started speaking in complete sentences.

My soccer star.

April- I reached a personal goal by completing my first 5K. I finished at a time that was better than what I anticipated, and it felt great! We had our annual Easter service at Central and as usual, I was so proud of my husband's creativity and God given gift of leading others in worship.

First "tigtails".

May- It was the end of the kids & my school year at GCK. We left on the last day of school to celebrate the retirement of my sweet friend, Donna Burkey, and to attend high school graduation parties for our cousins/greatly loved ones- Dana, Carly, Jordan, Mary Ann, Mary Kathleen and we had to miss Brittany's but we love her too!

Mothers Day gifts.

June- Daddy left for a few weeks of camp season and the kids and I enjoyed summer session at GCK. We spent lots of time swimming at Miss Ash-a-ley's house and being lazy. We overnighted at KMAK with Daddy and grieved when our beloved OKC Thunder lost the NBA title to the Miami Heat.

Big girl bed.

The sweetest picture of Hope and her Daddy.

The big boy bed.

July- We celebrated Independence Day at the Kaiser Hood Pig Roast. Our friends Jase and Riley joined us two days a week to play. We spent a week at Greers Ferry in Arkansas with both sides of Ryland's family. We did a lot of boating, swimming, eating, and just being together.

Dock time.

Cousins at breakfast.

August- I got a wild hair and cleaned out and re-organized every closet, cabinet, and drawer in the house. It took the whole month. Geesh. I had a nasty case of strep throat. Yuck. We moved Hopey from her crib to a toddler bed, and Isaac from a toddler bed to a big bunk bed. My cousin Riann and her husband Trent, and big brother Parker welcomed their gorgeous baby girl, Karla "Sloan" at the end of the month. Isaac and Hope were immediately smitten with baby "Fwoan".

September- The kids and I packed our backpacks and headed back to school. The kids loved their teachers and were excited to be back with their friends. Sadly we lost our precious Pawpa Kenneth to a very rare brain disease. We miss him dearly but we are so thankful that we know that we will see him again someday. The theme of his life was quiet service to those who had needs. He gave generously of his time, talents, and treasure, and was truly the hands and feet of God. He is one of the kindest men I've ever known. I'm so proud that I had the privilege to marry into and raise a new generation of his legacy.

Us.

First day of school.

First day of school.

We miss you Kenneth.

October- My tiny, spicy, fun, little rinka (princess) turned 2. We celebrated with a pumpkin patch party with some of her dear friends. And I turned 29 again. Ok, I turned 30. My husband took me to Galveston where we boarded a cruise ship, set sail for Cozumel, and spent 4 glorious days on the ocean. It had been nearly 4 years since we had spent more than 1 night alone together and I had no idea how much I missed Ryland Russell, my best friend. At home we are so often mom, dad, music guy, preschool teacher, fixer, diaper changer, cook-er, clean-er, do-er. It was refreshing to be us, the old us, the us who fell in love and had a history before kids and jobs and lives. For the record, we are insanely thankful for the kids, jobs, and lives that we have, but a respite gave us time to reconnect, clear our minds, and come home refreshed. It was just what we needed. I'm sad we didn't do it sooner! We came home to our pukey boy. And a week later my sweet hubby planned a surprise party for me with some of my very best people. I was loved into my 30's for sure. We celebrated Halloween as grapes ( Ryland and I ) and the kids were Buzz Lightyear and Baby Buzz.



Cinderella and Grapes.

 

Hope's birthday hayride.

 

Hope's birthday cook-in

 

Me and my boyfriend.

 

Buzz and Baby Buzz.

November- I spent the first weekend in November helping my parents to move my baby brother to San Antonio. When the lovely (and by lovely I mean completely horrible) moving company, All Star Movers didn't do what they said they would do, we ended up having fun anyways. We're Harmons, that's what we do. At the Russell house we decked our halls early. The kids helped and absolutely loved having our home draped in the colors of the season. We spent Thanksgiving with all four sides of our families and came home stuffed, loved, and exhausted. My little girl came home and decided that she was over diapers and promptly potty trained herself. No joke. She started "going" on her own, has had very few accidents, and even stays dry most nights. I am simultaneously weirded out and completely amazed. Way to go baby! Her determination served her well this time. My sweet hubby went in to high gear with his preparations for our church Christmas musical.

Random, every day antics from these two.

December- December is always a marathon month for us. Holiday parties, family gatherings, Christmas musical, and other little fun bits. We loved watching "the Grunch", "necorating" Christmas trees in the kids rooms, and getting deliveries from our elf Sherry, to put in our nativity. Our church's Christmas musical was my husband's best ever. Everything was perfect from the music, to the special effects, the drama, the videography, it was amazing. You can watch it here: http://vimeo.com/55698999 . My preschool music program was the next week. The highlight was a 27 piece nativity made entirely of pre-k cuties as the sang a song called "Was He a Boy Like Me". Ryland and I took the kids to visit Santa at Bass Pro Shop. Isaac asked for a "whiting mckeen gi-tawr" and new Toy Story friends, Hope wanted "Anastic Inastics Dora". We ended the evening with a visit to the lights at Rhema and dinner at Teds. We attended the Owasso Christmas parade. We had parties with our staff, choir, Sunday school class, polar express at the preschool,and then had Christmas celebrations with (deep breath) ... The Harmon's at the Scully's, the Russell/Gardners at our House, the Clapp's at the Upton's, the Harmon's at my parents, and the stinking stupid snow that wasn't bad except for where we were headed delayed us for a day but then we celebrated with Gram Rosie at her place, and the Russell/Rose/Allen/ Burruss families at Angie's. I returned home with my husband, kids, a mountain of gifts, and a bad cold. Santa brought my kids all they wanted and even though it is a lot, and is rushed, we are so thankful that we have so many beloved family members that want to spend time with us. It is wonderful. And my kids are so blessed with family that adores them.

My favorite Christmas picture of '12.

The Russell babies with Mimi and Poppy.

Christmas eve with Jeje and Pawpa.

2012 has been a peaceful year. There have been some sad and stressful moments, but it has mostly been a season of good health, happy marriage, and uneventful life. I know that in the years where life has been stressful and hard that my character and faith have been strengthened, but in a year where there has been rest and sabbath I have been made keenly aware of how sweet and blissful the small moments are. God is in the small stuff- kids potty training, snuggling, dishes, laundry, running, pre-school, and vacations. The small stuff, and our gratitude for it, are just as important as the monumental life changers to God. He is in it all, He doesn't miss a thing, and it all passes through his hands. For that I am thankful.

 

I am finishing the editing process today: December 30, 2012. Less than 48 hours from 2013. I have no idea what my future holds. I have no idea what my letter will say this time next year, if I am blessed enough to be here to write it in a year. I hope it says that we prayerfully considered buying a home, that we are somewhere in a continuum of bringing a new person into our family (not an announcement- just a hope at the moment), that my kids and husband are healthy and well, and that I know then just as I know now that God is good, He is for me, and He loves you and I, whoever "you" may be.

Dear friends, God bless you in 2013. I pray that you'd find something in every day and hour and minute to be thankful for. I guarantee that you won't have to look far.

 Merry Late Christmas and Happy Early New Year.

From Me and My Forever Boyfriend.

 

 

30 Days I'd Like to Re-Live

Please note that I didn't say 30 days I'd like to go back and change. The older that I become, the more I realize the fragile nature and unreliability of memory. And because of that, there are days I wish I could go back & visit- like watching a movie for a second time. You always see things in more detail the second time. And having lived so much life since these days my life experiences have made the memory of these days so much more precious. These are my choices. 

30. The day my brother was born. I was only 3 but I wonder what I thought and felt that day. 

29.The day I received the PLC scholarship at UCO. Life changer. 

28. Any day from my trip to Disney World. 

27. Any day where I used to be a size 6. 

26. Any Friday night I spent in the sidelines as a high-school cheerleader. 

25.The day I moved away from my parents. 

24. A day from one of my summers in Grove at my grandparents lake house. 

23. The first time Ryland kissed me. 

22. Any of the nights I spent in my grandparents' Barnsdall homeplaces.

21. My 16th birthday. 

20. A lazy summer day poolside with my family as a teenager. 

19.Any night where my babies were tiny enough to sleep all night on my chest. 

18.A day from my time as an RA working for my friend Steph. 

17.A day from Energy Camp where I met my Morgan. 

16.Any Miriam adventure from any decade. 

15.Any Falls Creek day from my teen years. 

14. The day Ryland proposed to me over a picnic at Birch Lake.

13.Any Christmas Eve/Day of my childhood. I am so homesick for the magic of those sweet days. 

12.The days that my kids said their first words and walked for the first time. 

11. Graduations- high school & college. 

10.The first time I saw the ocean in junior high. 

9.Any post-football game cruising session with Aubrey and Charity in the Merc. 

8. The first time I ever sang in church. It took so much courage. Still makes me a nervous wreck. 

7.The day after fall finals at college- any year. What feels better than Christmas break at home during college? 

6. My first day as a teacher in 2005. 

5.Any of the days of my honeymoon in Jamaica. 

4.The days I found out I was expecting my kids- June 13, 2008 and February 6, 2010. 

3.The days my children were born. 

2. My wedding day. 

1.  The day that Jesus became more than a story, he became mine. The most important day. I'm so thankful for this. It truly gives meaning & purpose to all the other days. I hope each of you have experienced this "day" in your life. 

What day would you like to re-live? 

Christmas Take 2

I have tried twice to post these pictures. I have tried twice to blog our magical Christmas experiences. I had this post completely finished, scheduled to post, edited, etc. And it did post, but it was empty, the whole thing eaten by some internet monster. I was T.O.'d. Now it is almost March and I am going to hum "Jingle Bells" and try to muster up nostalgic holiday feelings so I can caption these as beautifully as I did the first time.

Tunia: Holiday Fashion

Comfy.

 Unwrapping a smile.

 Deck the halls.

 Momma's favorite- a Christmas tutu!

 Elmo pj's from Mimi.

Chritsmas Eve Couture.

A Visit to the Man in Red

We went to Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa this year. This was Isaac's first experience with the big guy. The only gift he consistently asked for was a Dragon Happy Napper.

 Waiting in line.

Tunia is happy here. But five minutes after this photo I handed her to Santa where she screamed her guts out. We have a great photo of it, but alas, it is packed away. It's an actual picture- not digital. I'll apologize to her in the form of paying her therapy bills for her irrational fear of red velvet.

Polar Express Party- GCK

Have I ever mentioned that I love my job? Our pre-school had a Polar Express Party as one of several celebrations of the season.

At this party our assistant director thought it would be fun to use packaging popcorn as snow. After this the assistant direction was tar-and-feathered. Just kidding, she was just fired. Just kidding again, she was chastised in good fun.

The kids voted her as queen of the universe. They loved every minute.

Isaac had a grumpy minute. I sympathy grumped.

This is his buddy, M.

His other little buddy, A, was having a moment.

These kiddos had a Polar Express Parade, and marched through the church office ringing their bells.

The Christmas Train

We went to Dry Gulch USA to ride the Christmas Train. Of all our Christmas outings, this was the one that Isaac talked about the most. He loved it! You take a train ride where you get a kid friendly, reader's digest, pictoral version of the Bible. I am looking forward to taking the kids back when they are a little older and we can discuss what they see.

Isaac with his boarding pass.

Tunia and Daddy, ready to ride.

I had stomach flu the day before, but I was NOT going to miss. I'm glad I sucked it up and went.

They may have been a little nervous about this one...

Stockings!

Our Christmas plans change from year to year. But we have decided that our "thing" that we will keep just for us, is the stockings. This year we did them before any family arrived. Even though it was mostly dollar store goodies, the kids loved it. And it was great to get to watch them enjoy their gifts in a non-rushed environment.

Bubba is ready to dig in.

Sissy loves it!

So many fun treasures.

The loot.

This.

We tried this:

It didn't work. I hope his college room mate will be cool with changing his diapers.

Russell/Gardner Christmas

Mimi, Poppy, and the Gardner cousins came over to our house on the 23rd for what I hope will be an annual holiday get-together.

Gram Rosie went on a cruise (the nerve!) and sent her gifts to the great grands.

Joia gave Hopey a ride on her new princess scooter.

Digging in.

"The Grinch" was Isaac's favorite holiday movie this year. So naturally we had to have this shirt!

Hope's biggest cousin giving her princess couch training.

"Why can't my grandkids just smile for ONE picture!?!?  Everyone else gets cute pictures of all their grandkids!"- Mimi Cyndi

At least Jaisa was smiling.

Candlelight Christmas Eve

Our church has an annual Christmas ever service. We sing Christmas carols by candelight and reflect on the birth of our savior. This year we were joined by Mimi and Poppy. Mimi joined Ryland onstage at the piano, and Poppy held Petunia who was bribed to sit still with a sucker.

Poppy and Petunia.

Isaac and "My" Kara onstage listening to the message.

Later we went to Dewey for dinner at Aunt Judy's and gifts at Jeje and Pawpa's house.

Jeje and Uncle Lane.

So sweet.

Feeding the Reindeer

At my Grandma Bonnie's house, the little kiddos have began feeding the reindeer a bag of glitter and oats in recent years- oats to eat and glitter to reflect the moon and help them see where to land.

Daddy and Isaac pouring out the feed.

Christmas Morning

This was the first year EVER in the history of my life that I spent Christmas morning in my own house. It was glorious. Waking up, being home, having a big yummy breakfast. Lovely.

Isaac got Buddy the T-rex from dinosaur train.

Hope got purple fairy princess things.

She also got a sing-a-ma-jig that Pawpa enjoyed too.

Somehow I won the Christmas morning lottery and I got ALL the kid's grandparents. I get teary thinking about it because it was so precious and I doubt it will ever happen again. I loved every minute.

Having a yuletide cinnamon roll.

Such a happy boy! Fueling up for more presents.

Grannie B's

Great Aunt Glenda and Chris helped Isaac open his gift.

This is the last Christmas we will spend in Grandma's home of over 30 years. There are a million images in my mind like this one. All precious. All greatly treasured. All will be very missed.

The kids and I made all the Grandmas and Great Grandmas a hand painted calendar. Isaac delivered Grannie B's to her and identified EVERY picture to her.

Chickasha All the Way!

Our last scheduled stop was at Angie's house in Ry's hometown of Chickasha. The Gardner girls and Isaac decided to sing and dance for us.

So painfully shy.

They dressed Isaac like this. He liked it for approximately 10 nanoseconds.

Isaac decided HE needed a solo. Again, so shy. Not.

His adoring fans.

Even Hope was bitten with the performance bug.

When his cousins did this to him, we knew we needed to call it a day.

We retired to our hotel, only to wake up in the night with a very sick Hopey. I took her to the ER with a high fever and a respiratory infection. And hopefully we will have the ER bill paid off by next Christmas.

Yes, we were sad to see Christmas go, but we know it will be back before we know it.