Tag's surgery

Tag had his eye surgery on Tuesday and everything went really well. The doctor said about 80% of these types of surgeries never need anything else to be done so we will just have to wait and see how straight his eye ends up being. She is a good doctor and I am very hopeful that this will be his last surgery for awhile.

Tag graduated from preschool last Thursday which is exciting for me for next year because we have full day kindergarten here. Whitley and Taggert are starting to act like twins so it will be good to seperate them for awhile. Then maybe they will miss each other enough to be nice to each other when they are together. I am going to try and tackle potty training with him this summer. If you have any suggestions, let me know. I've tried putting him in underwear and he just pees and keeps playing so he could give a darn if he is dripping wet. I've joked that Whitley will be potty trained beforel he will, but it may not be a joke(:

Tanner is done with school next Friday and he has decided that he wants me to homeschool him next year. I just laughed at him. That's not going to happen because I would kill him. He would drive me crazy. Besides, we've got some good things going on at our school, and I would hate for him to miss out on all the fun there(:

Whitley is becoming quite the little talker. I think her favorite word is "NO". She and Tag were fighting yesterday morning and I started singing "Love at HOme" and she was waving her hand at me to stop and saying NO, NO. I had to laugh.

I am 33 weeks pregnant and I am getting very hot and miserable. I split my pubic bone when I slipped in the bathroom chasing after Tag and it has been very painful. I will have to ask my doctor today what that means for delivery because I don't think it's going to heal until I'm not pregnant anymore. I hope this kid doesn't split me in half coming out. It is driving me crazy not to know for sure what this baby is. Yesterday, I washed some tiny boy clothes and some tiny girl clothes, and I guess I will just have to be okay with that. So, that's all for now, hope everyone is doing good.

Happy Mother's Day!

So, it's another Mother's Day, and I find myself evaluating my own mothering skills and where I stack up to all the great mother's I know, and then my sister-in-law (Thanks Shanie) gives me this book, "A Mother's Touch" today at church. I started reading through it and came across a quote that has just become one of my favorites. It goes like this, "Motherhood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow, too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a perosn develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own."-Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons

I love that because being a mom is hard. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, and I think it's hard because it's not what I expected it would be. And, I am not the mother I thought I would be. It is exhausting some days and I wonder if I am really doing any good, but I am slowly learning to cling to the little joys that happen, maybe not every day, but when they happen. I love each of my children so much and they all bring something different to our family. Our life is going to get a little crazy this summer with another little one on the way, but it will be fun to see how each of my children reacts to their new sibling. It is crazy how with each new baby I wonder if I will be able to love them as much as I do the children I already have and then I see their tiny, new face and all doubt disappears, and it's like they were always a part of the family.

I just want to tell my sister, my sisters-in-law, my mother-in-law, and all those woman in my life who are examples to me of great mothers Happy Mohter's Day! I want my own mom to know that I thought she was a great mother, too. She helped mold me into the woman and mother I am today. She had such a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she was a strong example of living an honest, virtuous, and service filled life. Oh, how I wish she were still here so that I could call her today and complain about how big and uncomfortable I was getting and to hear her say that it would all be worth it once I held that baby in my arms. I miss her a lot! But, then I think of my mom and my sister, Kay, and both of my grandmothers all on the other side, and I have to laugh because, for those of you who know these woman, can you imagine the good they are doing over on the other side? Can you imagine that foursome coming in to teach you the gospel? And what fun they are having together? That is a comforting thought because I know that those who are for us are more than those who are against us. I am grateful for these good women who helped raise my parents to be my good parents. I strongly believe I was "born of goodly parents", not perfect, but they were what I needed and my life has been blessed!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Tag's eye surgery

Tag's surgery was postponed because the eye doctor was unable to see him for his pre-op appointment after we waited for an hour and a half. I was so mad. We waited for about an hour and 10 minutes and they finally took us back, and then we waited some more. Then, they came in to tell us that the doctor had an emergency come in and that they would have to reschedule. Well, we were leaving for Disney World the next week and his surgery was supposed to be this last Tuesday. I really, really like the eye doctor. She is great, but I hate her office. I would switch, because I just really don't put up with this kind of crap, but it's not the doctor I have a problem with. So, needless to say, we will probably have to wait until after the baby is born to get his eye taken care of, unless by some miracle, she can squeeze him in somewhere in the next month):

Sorry, getting back to reality is hard!

Sorry about the last post. We had some technical difficulties last night. So, I think we are all recovered from our whirlwind vacation! It was a lot of fun, and I have to say, I have some good kids. I only wanted to beat them a couple times the whole trip! We were able to visit the Magic Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Sea World, and Universal Studios which I do not recommend for people with small children. I really enjoyed Epcot and Sea World myself. Trent loved the pass they gave us that got us to the front of every line, and he loved It's a small world. Tanner loved all the "big" rides that only he and his dad could go on. Taggert loved the flying Dumbo ride and meeting the princesses. He was kissing and hugging all of them and they loved it. Whitley was very easy going and never cried on any ride. She enjoyed all the boat and train rides we went on, which was a lot! So, here are some of our favorite pics, I wish I knew how to do a slide show, but this will have to do(:

Our first day in the Magic Kingdom!

Sea World was a lot of fun. We saw two shows there A dolphin show and then the Shamu show. It was amazing. Whitley wanted to reach out and touch that eel. It's pretty freaky.This is the Animal Kingdom. The huge tree in the background has all kinds of animals carved in it. Tanner and Taggert trying to measure up to the Silver back gorilla.

Minnie was standing by me and Whitley, but she didn't like it one bit so Minnie moved.

Taggert is loving on Cinderella and Cinderella is loving on Tanner. He was so embarrassed.

This was Epcot. I thought the characters cut out of the bushes was so cool. This isn't even the half of our pictures. We took like 243! I know Whitley probably won't remember this trip at all, but already Tag knows who Mickie and Minnie are so I hope they will have good memories when they see in the pics all the fun we had. Thanks to Make a Wish Foundation!!!!

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She should start her own boutique!

My awesome sister-in-law is giving away some really, really cute SPRING blocks. For a chance to win, just visit her site and comment on your favorite cleaning tip-you won't be disappointed, especially if you win!!! She makes all kinds of cute, fun stuff, like clay Christmas ornaments, rag blankets, halloween costumes, curtains, aprons, the list goes on and on. She is amazing!!!! You can find her at www.sjcclewis.blogspot.com or just click on her link on my page to the right (Steve and Jen or Jen and Steve).

Taggert is 5!!!!

Trent decorated Tag's cake! Cute, huh?!!!!

He got new boots!

Taggert's birthday was on Friday and it is so hard to believe he is really five. He started out so tiny and fragile and he has grown into an overly active ball of energy. After his heart surgery, and his first few hospital visits, I knew I had to change doctors. I was hoping to make the change without the old doctor even knowing we had switched, but alas, it was not to be. My last confrontation with Tag's former doctor just proved to me all the more that I was doing the right thing by switching. He said to me, "He's never going to get better." To him I would say, "In your face, porker!" I think Tag has quite a bit of Lewis in him and you just don't say that kind of stuff to a Lewis because, we will prove you wrong if it's the last thing we do!!!! He is such a fighter, and he is truly a miracle.

So, ten things I love about my Taggert:

1. His pretty blue eyes and long eyelashes

2. His goofy little grin

3. His cute little naked bum

4. His ability to draw people to him, especially the older people; we are still working on people

his size

5. His happy-go-lucky attitude

6. His resilience and his strength

7. I love the fact that my son will be made perfect one day and have all his mental capacities, and I suppose he and I will have a good talk together, maybe even cry, and surely a good laugh

8. He is a lover

9. He's not a wussy

10. He really does love his little sister, I've actually witnessed him hugging her

I love you Tag and I am grateful for your little spirit that found it's way to our home.

P.S. Happy Birthday Kassie!