Shelton Family

New Blog Address

2010-10-22T23:26:00.003-05:00

I could not get blogger to cooperate me over the past few weeks and I wanted a new look so we are moving on to a new site. Please, keep following us!

www.sheltonfam.blogspot.com

Who will write your name? love this video from church!

2010-10-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

Why the forgiven, forgive....

2010-10-07T20:02:00.000-05:00

A Texas Ranch Party....

2010-10-03T21:10:00.004-05:00

My sweet small group girls who are now seniors!

Love my cowboy, not so sure about the shirt:)

Love to dance and country music.

A cold night for Mike to be dunked!

Illustrating the two-step.

Every fall the high school ministry puts on a country ranch party called The Draw. It is so fun and a yearly favorite for the students. It was at a great venue this year called Fairview farms that does big parties and has a huge barn for dancing. It is funny cause it is literally right off of a major interstate, but it did feel like you were in the country. We had a burgers, root beer, smores, mechanical bull, and a dunking booth. However, the main highlight is the dance party. It is so fun to see students excited to bring their friends and everyone has a great time. A few of my small group girls are on a country western dance team at their high school called The Wranglers and they are awesome. They taught us all some new dances and impressed the crowd. They've performed in many parades and the inauguration a few years back for President Bush to add some Texas flair. I've loved co-leading this group of 9 senior girls. They are all deciding where to go to college and I know they will make an impact on people wherever they choose to go. My co-leader Lan has been with them since the 4th grade. Our church tries to keep the same small group leader all the way through high school. She knows them so well and has been so loyal. Anyways, it was a great night with wonderful fall weather. I am so glad it is October!

A fun day at the park...

2010-09-28T20:09:00.002-05:00

It was a great weather day in TX on Monday so we headed to the park. I can't believe the girls wore jackets and it felt so good. We've been outside so much this week and it makes everyone have a better attitude! The long hot summer really wore us out cause it was really difficult for me to take all 3 to the pool and it be a successful trip:) I am sure it will be back up to 90 degrees soon, but I think we are past the 100 degree days. Ellie and Anna love meeting friends at the park. We took the bike and scooter this past week and they really enjoyed having a flat sidewalk to ride on. Mary kind of crawls around on the mulch and gets really dirty! I have to bring lots of snacks to occupy her. She's getting a little closer to walking which will help.

First Day of School....

2010-09-28T20:03:00.002-05:00

Well, the first day of preschool was a few weeks back and both girls are going T/TH. Anna was really sick the first day so she stayed home. However, Ellie was really excited and has enjoyed everyday. Her class is more of a pre-k class that has two teachers and 15 kids. Anna is in the older 3's class and has really enjoyed learning songs, letters, and numbers. We love our school and all of our friends that go there. We are so blessed to be with sweet families and teachers!

Happy 5th Birthday Ellie!

2010-09-25T21:39:00.004-05:00

Katrina and I co-hosted the swim party

Katrina and I with our kiddos. Canon's 2nd birthday and Ellie's 5th

Love all of these people!

Mike, Ellie, and her new friend Maya

3rd year in a row for a pool party. What else do you do in TX in August?

Ellie and her best bud Emerson and her sister Rylie.

Love my family and celebrating Ellie

I am so behind on the blog, but is is still 90 degrees in Texas so a pool party blog post felt okay! We had Ellie's 5th birthday at a local pool and shared the party with the Saugier family. They were celebrating Canon's 2nd birthday. It worked out great cause Ellie and Canon both loved the Toy Story theme. Katrina and I think alike on parties as in keep them simple. We were fine with sam's club cupcakes, capri sun's and balloons. We love this family and are beyond blessed to call them friends.

Ellie is one sweet 5 year old. She's really maturing and I am so glad that I did not start her in Kindergarten. I would really miss her all day and I think she will do awesome next year being the oldest in her class. She's such a fun kid and so laid-back. She never meets a stranger and gets along really well with people. She's developing a heart for God and loves to tell us how Jesus would act. She enjoys being with friends and preschool/church are her favorite days of the week. I let them pick one activity each semester and she really wanted to do tap dance! I found a class that was ballet, tap, and gymnastics all in one hour. It is perfect cause E and A get to be in the same class. She still loves Mary and is super sweet with her. She begs me to wake up Anna and Mary during their naps so she can play with them. However, we have a good time resting together and the house being quiet which is very rare. Ellie is very even tempered and happy with almost anything I give her to wear or eat She loves to travel and she got to go on quite a few trips over the summer to GA and all by herself to KS to visit Mimi! She will be an excellent Kanakuk Kamper in just a few years!

Ellie we are so proud of you and can't believe you are 5 years old. We love you so much!

My dad is amazing...

2010-09-17T09:28:00.002-05:00

Here is the latest update on my dad from his perspective of his battle with cancer...

http://dougb-thoughtsonlife.blogspot.com/

We are so thankful!

I forgot how encouraged I am by this video!

2010-09-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

Mountains!

2010-09-04T22:26:00.004-05:00

When we were in Georgia recently visiting my parents. We took a short drive up to the North Georgia Mountains. We left Mary with Nana and took the big girls. We try to do this every time we go visit cause there are no sights like this in TX. It was so much cooler there and it felt great. We did a short hike up to this waterfall and took some great pictures. The girls got a little tired, but overall we are at a fun age to try some new adventures!

Life Lately....

2010-09-02T23:02:00.002-05:00

Well, I have been so bad at updating the blog lately, but with no pictures it just doesn't seem fun. However, it is September and we've had a few "cool" days which makes me so very happy. It was 109 a couple of weeks ago and it just felt depressing outside. I have lots to update, but thought I would just update the best I can and then give more detailed updates soon!

The best thing happened today as many of you know my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer back in June. He's been through quite a few rounds of chemo. He had scans done yesterday and met with his doctor today for the results. The doctor only had good news! All of the different areas of cancer looked so much better and some of the tumors had shrunk in size. My dad was able to play golf and go back to work a few days this week. We are all thanking God for this awesome news. I will write a post about it all soon.
The other great thing that happened this week was we sold our house. Well, I guess it is now under contract, but it all looks like it will go through. We've been on this journey for well over 6 months of processing it and then deciding to sale at the first of June. There are many reasons, but the main one is to get the girls into an elementary with many other Watermark kids. It will be so neat to see them grow up together and just have that support at our school. We spoke with a teacher tonight at the elementary school Ellie could possibly attend. It was so encouraging to hear from her and to hear her excitement in knowing that their are so many upcoming Watermark members at her school.
The sad thing is the house we loved sold last week. We are now back to searching and so far we've not found much. We are trying to network with so many people in the neighborhood, school, pta, church friends, etc... to see if any new houses might be coming up in the next couple of weeks. We know God has a plan and are excited to see it unfold.
I will do a post soon of trying to sale your house with 3 children under 5. It was quite the experience and let just say I have not cleaned all week and it feels soooo good. It is also very messy tonight and I'm sitting on the couch enjoying it.
Everything starts back next week so our lives will be much more busy. I am excited for routine and to get back into Wednesday morning Bible study, preschool, community group etc...
Student ministry events started back on August 22nd and it is going great. I love seeing Mike at work. He loves it and God is doing some neat things already this school year. My small group that I co-lead are now seniors. They are such awesome girls who've been so committed since 6th grade. It is really neat to see a group of girls be together for that long. We've also added 2 girls this year and they've been great at being authentic with each other.

I will do a kid update soon. It is sad that I haven't blogged Ellie's 5th birthday. She's really starting to mature and is at such a fun age. Anna is enjoying all things girl and makes us laugh quite often with her curiosities. Mary is 15 months and still seems so young to me. She's standing up, but not taking any steps so far. She's so sweet and a funny little girl.

God has blessed us with a great end to a difficult summer. I continue to be reminded that I am glad that our house was built upon the rock. It has been a summer full of storms and life just being hard. He has truly sustained us.

The battle of food....

2010-08-17T19:05:00.002-05:00

Well, I would love any advice on this subject as it is becoming a daily battle in our house! It is so unique in that with 3 girls who are all eating table food and all have different appetites, tastes, etc... It just stresses me out:) Anyways, Ellie is a very normal 3 meals a day kind of girl. She will try almost anything and eats almost everything on her plate. She likes milk, but prefers water most times. She is still small.... around 31 pounds at 5, but is starting to wear 4T clothes etc....

Anna is tiny. She is a little ball of muscle. She weighs about 26 pounds at 3 1/2 and is just super petite. She mainly wears 2T, but can fit into some Mary's shorts etc...She's never been that interested in food, but has atleast liked some things. Lately, it seems like every meal is a battle and she is starting to be more picky about wanting things bland. She is at the point of not wanting certain foods to touch or no salt/pepper on it. She often tells me "I don't like food". There is not much that tempts her. She never finishes anything and might eat a 1/4 of a cookie or treat. I want her to be healthy and nutricious, but at the same time not force it. She's the kid who does not want things forced on her. The doctor has said she will eat if she is hungry. She does love milk so I know she is getting some calories, but I have to limit the milk or else she will for sure not eat. Any ideas on how to get them to try new foods or do they just grow out of the pickiness? When we eat dinner we do require her to eat 3 bites of everything? I am taking her to the doctor next week to make sure she is not losing weight.

Mary loves food and cannot get enough. She eats double what Anna eats and possibly as much as Ellie. She loves to feed herself and will try almost all new foods. I need to remember to offer her many new things so we can avoid pickiness later!

Anyways, would love to hear your thoughts on your food battles or if you have lots of successful tips that would be great!

A photo shoot in Kansas..

2010-07-31T21:21:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we drove up to Lawrence to visit Mike's family. It was a great time and one morning since we were all clean I thought it would be great to attempt a family picture! I love the way they turned out as in everyone is looking at the camera. When you have 3 kids under 5 it is quite the feat. We love going to Lawrence and seeing grandparents. Our girls are so blessed with fabulous grandparents! Some fun things we did was go to the indoor pool, park, sno cones, grocery store, church, and seeing KU (Rock Chalk Jayhawk). A highlight was getting to hear MiMi play the bells on campus. She has taken lessons and now climbs to the top of the high bell tower to play. It is right by the football field and the girls are still talking about MiMi climbing the spiral staircase to play the bells. It was such a fun trip and great to get out of hot Texas!

Conversations in the minivan and important stuff....

2010-07-28T15:01:00.003-05:00

The girls have really been making us laugh lately with their amazing insights and childlike faith!

I love how Mike is the best story teller ever and is basically like a big kid. Most mornings he sits down with the girls to eat breakfast and I get ready/read Bible in 20 minutes these days!

Anyways, Ellie out of the blue said "Daddy, tell me the important stuff". Mike said "Ellie, what is the important stuff?" She said you know a Bible Story. It was a quick reminder of how they yearn for truth and important stuff at the young age of 4.

Yesterday, I took the crew to the free movie cause Veggie Tales Jonah was playing and I knew it would be okay if Mary was crawling around. In the middle of the movie Ellie says:

"Mommy, I want the real Jonah".

Me: Ellie. what is the real Jonah. Do you mean the Bible Story?

Ellie: Yes, Mommy there are no veggies in the Bible.

The minivan is always full of talking and wonderful conversations most of the time. We recently drove 9 hours to Kansas to visit Mike's family. It was a great trip, but Ellie does not stop talking all 9 hours. Anna sucks her thumb and looks out the window. She's the best traveler ever. On the way home after we learned our lesson on the way there. Mike told Ellie she could only ask 5 important questions before lunch. She tried so hard to think of what her 5 important questions could be and when to ask them. After, about 30 minutes she says

" Daddy, God made me to ask questions and that's the way that I am"! We could not stop laughing at our sweet talkative little girl.

The last one occurred recently as we were driving by the high school close to our house. Ellie asked when she will go to that school and I said well, I am not sure Ellie. If we move to a new house you will go to a different school.

Ellie: Mommy, we need to pray for someone to buy our house. She started praying in the back seat. It was so cute.

Anna: Mommy, I think Jesus will buy our house. Then, there was an argument about how Jesus could not buy our house cause He was in heaven!

Love these girls even though today I thought they were going to send me to the crazy house!

Anna at 3 1/2

2010-07-19T20:14:00.003-05:00

You love all thing princess and enjoy playing dress up!

The faster/scarier the better for you! You loved all the "scary" rides at Disney.

I love this picture of you cause it reminds me of your sweet spirit and all of your potential.

You are a monkey and can climb up anything. You are really strong and will start gymnastics soon!

You sometimes can show lots of attitude and have a stubborn personality aka not wanting to take pictures for mommy.

You are a beautiful girl whom I know God has wonderful things to accomplish.

Anna here are some things about you at 3 1/2 in no particular order:

You've grown a lot over the last 6 months emotionally and in maturity. You've pretty much outgrown separation anxiety! There for awhile you really did not like it when mommy left your side. You've gone to art camp and two different VBS weeks this summer. You loved each one and did great.

You are still our climber and you are really good at it. You end up in some crazy places at times, but you always figure out how to get down. You love to hang on the monkey bars or any bar for that reason. You love for daddy to push you super high on the swings and to run really fast.

You are in love with Mary. You are so kind to her and it really shows us that you have a compassionate heart. You love to share with her and often times find her milk for her. You also love to share your blankie with her when she is upset. You still love this one blankie that has a tage. You tend to not care what the object is as long as it has a tag that you can hold on to while you suck your thumb.

You tend to not care for food. Lately, you've told us I don't like food! You do like crackers, cereal, eggs, spaghetti, mac n cheese, ice cream, bacon, yogurt, fruit. However, you just don't eat very much of it. You might finish 1/2 a cookie if we gave it to you.

You and Ellie still share a room and you love your new bunk beds. You all talk a lot at night and it normally takes 30 mins. to an hour of talking prior to sleep. We start early with bedtime.

You are still our best sleeper. You still love to take a nap and it can last up to 3 hours if you are really tired. We often have to wake you up which you do not like.

You are still pretty determined and I know one day that determination will go a long ways. You are determined in what you wear each day, taking toys everywhere, not holding our hand etc...

You respond well to discipline and you tend to easily ask for forgiveness.

You did great at swim lessons this summer and we are thankful that you are loving the water this summer.

We love you so much Anna and it has been so neat to see you grow into an awesome little girl. You will do great things for God and we can't wait to see it all unfold!

Mother's Day Tea

2010-07-06T10:29:00.004-05:00

Anna always loves a tea party.

LeeAnn and Grayson. Anna's favorite classmate

Ellie and Aubren loved carpooling all year to school!

The girls preschool had a Mother's Day Tea in May. I am so far behind on blogging:) The children served us punch and cookies. Ellie's class sang a few songs and did a great job of making us feel special. I love our school and am so thankful for all the work the teachers do with our girls!

Mary's First Birthday Party!

2010-07-06T10:13:00.003-05:00

Anna and her friends. Can't believe they were all smiling!

Ellie loved this float.

Family picture attempt-Anna who did not want in it.

Mary was not to sure of the cupcake that was half melted cause it was 100 degrees that day.

Singing happy birthday and she was so sweet.

We had a fun first birthday party for Mary at a local pool. It was perfect cause it was 103 degrees that day (June 4th)! It was super fun and easy. I love pool party birthdays. Ellie will also have a pool party in August. We had popcicles, water, and cupcakes. She loved the water and was happy for her first party!

Watermark Baptism Day

2010-06-08T19:48:00.001-05:00

Watermark Baptism Day 2010 from Watermark Community Church on Vimeo.

Memorial Day and the lake...

2010-06-07T21:56:00.003-05:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend and a fun trip to the lake from Monday to Wednesday. We had some good friends come to visit from Missouri and a family from our church are so sweet to let us use their lake house. The girls love it here and I love this lake. It is small and surrounded by pine trees. It is very quiet there and so nice to be out of the city. The girls are not to fond of swimming in the lake, but they will ride the jet ski. Mike and I love to drive them as well. Shadow also enjoyed a dip in the lake and loved to chase us on the jet skis. What a great time away and the weather was perfect as in the lake feels like bath water!

Loves a lifejacket as long as it is pink.

A big step for Ellie to conquer this fear.

Shadow has turned out to be an excellent dog.

Love spending time with Mike at the lake.

Mary's first swim of the summer at a crawfish boil we went to prior to the lake.

Happy First Birthday, Mary

2010-06-07T21:16:00.003-05:00

Well, my sweet Mary turned one years old on June 4th. It has been a fabulous year with her. I feel like I really enjoyed her baby stage so much cause I know how quickly it goes by. I was laid back with her and she developed that personality as well. She has the best smile and loves people. She's yet to cry when I drop her off anywhere and will still go to whoever! She started to really crawl and pull up this month. She is everywhere now and I need to baby proof our house. She loves to be around her sisters and puts up with them pretty well. She loves the water and I am so glad cause we are spending a lot of time at the pool this summer. We had her party at a pool and it was so fun. She's a pretty good eater and is still drinking milk out of a cup. Even though nursing her exclusively for 11 months was difficult. It taught me so much about not being selfish and how to be a servant in the midst of chaos a.k.a 3 kids under 4:). These are some of my favorite pictures over the past few months. We love you, Mary

Perspective....

2010-05-25T23:40:00.002-05:00

I've had two situations since Sunday that have really given me perspective on how blessed I am in my life. The first occurred on Sunday. We mentor a student who lives in West Dallas in Gov't housing and we normally take them to church with us on Sunday's. Well, Mike had another mentor call him to see if we could pick up his student cause he was out of town and DeAngelo hated to miss church. We pick up Kaylin and DeAngelo off the 4th floor cause they had been to Jr. High ministry and they are having so much fun. We take them to CiCi's and DeAngelo was the most polite boy. He is kind of heavy with big brown eyes and I kept telling Mike he reminded me of Michael Orr from the Blind Side. He loved his pizza and quickly said thank you. They go back to Watermark on Sunday nights for a Bible Study. We normally take the boys home after church and someone else takes/picks them up for Sunday night. We decide just to bring them home with us and then Mike would take them to the Apple Store at the mall cause they love his IPhone!

We bring them in and DeAngelo quickly tells me how much he likes our house. He comments on our double oven and commented that is so neat you can use one for dinner and one for cookies. He asked me how big our t.v. was cause you know it has to be big for March Madness Basketball:) I tell him and he tells me his mom has one that she pays $50 a month for in rent and that is almost paid for.

It really showed m how blessed I am to raise my girls in a house with a yard where it is safe.

The second time was tonight at church. Mike spoke to our young adult ministry which is like young 20-30 somethings who are single and I am so not in the crowd so it is funny when someone asks me "how long have you been coming to the porch?" and I say that I have 3 kids and have been married for 9 years. Anyways, I was picking the girls up from childcare and their are a few divorced parents that attend. A mom was picking up her 4 kids and told me how great Mike did tonight. She has a 6,4, 2, and 1 year old. I ask her how long she has been coming to Watermark and she says 2 months. She said the single parent ministry is what brought her and that her husband left her with 4 kids and she is now living with her parents. They are sending her back to school. I just cannot imagine having 4 kids all by myself without Mike. It is amazing what draws people to Watermark, but one thing for sure is that it is authentic and they feel loved like Christ would love them.

Epcot....

2010-05-23T21:31:00.004-05:00

We went to Epcot on our last day of our trip. Mary was with us, but fell asleep so missed all the pictures. It was really warm that day and crowded which meant for a tough day. Epcot was for sure not for small children so we did not last long. However, we did get some good family pictures and enjoyed the Nemo exhibit which was awesome!

The Nemo ride and exhibit were for sure a highlight!

Anna liked the octopus cause it was pink!

The crew minus our favorite aunt who flew home a few days before us!

Our 4th day of Disney and the girls are about done with smiling.

beach day....

2010-05-20T21:50:00.003-05:00

We broke up our trip to Disney and spent a day at Daytona Beach. The weather was perfect and it was a blast. It was very relaxing after the lines, heat, and crowds of Disney. We've been to Daytona a few times while we lived on the East Coast so it all seemed familiar to us. It was fun to go back there and take the girls. Ellie loved it and could not get enough of the sand and water. Anna enjoyed it, but was really afraid the waves would take her out to the sea. She was afraid for any of us to get to close. We also spent time at the pool that is a part of the timeshare. It was a great day!

We love the beach and each other!

Anna loves her daddy

Mike was brave enough to let the girls bury him in the sand.

Anna sat in the shade with me... smart girl!

Ellie loved playing in the waves and jumping over them.

Building sandcastles was fun!

Anna meeting Belle and Mike calling her Sleeping Beauty!

2010-05-17T20:47:00.002-05:00

Anna loved meeting all of the princesses, but Mike forgot which one was sleeping beauty. Belle was quick to correct him!

Hollywood Studios

2010-05-17T20:18:00.006-05:00

We loved this park. It was for sure our second favorite after Magic Kingdom. The day we went it was a little cooler and less crowded which made for the perfect day. The girls loved all of the shows and meeting so many characters. The parade was super fun as well. We got to enjoy a fun character lunch with some of the Playhouse Disney characters and Anna loved it! She was obsessed with June from Little Einsteins. She wanted June to come back to our hotel with us to go swimming with her. I loved seeing Disney through the girls eyes. There was also a lot of Toy Story characters, ride, etc.. and that was fun cause the girls recognized the characters. I have way to many pictures, but these are a few highlights!

Anna looking a little scared of Mr. Incredible. Don't blame her.

Anna loved June from Little Einsteins. She gave her many hugs.

Mike being silly with Handy Manny... He tried to speak spanish to him:)

Always excited to get a hug from Mickey and we only waited 10 minutes!

excited to meet a Little Einstein!

3 under 4....

2010-04-26T21:54:00.002-05:00

I still can't believe sometimes that we have 3 little girls under 4 years old. 3 little hearts to mold and love. It scares me lots of times on how I want to teach, love, share, mold, and serve these girls with all of my heart. I think like Paul in Romans 7 that I know what I want to do, but I don't often do it. It is a struggle and I fail many times during the day. However, I think of the verse that His mercies are new every morning! Amen! I can say that parenting is the most difficult thing I've ever done. I feel like I am learning everyday and no matter what we will never figure it out. I am glad that I can't figure it out cause it constantly reminds me to rely on Christ.

We have 3 very different little girls that each need different love and attention. Here's a little glimpse into their current personalities and how we are trying to mold them!

Ellie (4 1/2 yr. old) is the happy, friendly little girl. She loves life, people, family, school, church and playing outside. She has never struggled with being in new places or around new people. She's always loved going to church and I can never remember her getting upset when left anywhere. She is a problem solver and always has a new idea! She wants to know what we are doing each day and tries to arrange our schedule for me. She will come up to me with something like this "Hey, mom I really think it might be a good idea if we call someone's mom and see if they can meet us at the park". She will follow it up with "don't you think that is a good idea mom"! She will be our child who will go to kanakuk for 2 weeks and never miss us once. She really does not like to sleep especially during the day, but I can still get 2-3 good naps each week from her. She tells me often that "naps are weird and hard". She is so like her daddy in that she has lots of energy. She is a great eater and will try almost anything for which I am so thankful. She loves the color blue and prefers superheroes over princesses. She loves for babysitters to come over and asks for them frequently. Ellie loves her daddy and spending time with him. She loves his stories and the way he makes her laugh.

We are currently working on focusing on the tasks that I give her in a timely manner and doing them the first time. She is learning more about not worrying about her little sister or friends and taking care of her behavior. She is a leader and rule follower so it is difficult for her not to tell on others.

Anna: ( 3 yr. old) Anna is such a fun little girl. She loves to play and laugh. She is always on the move and scares me often with her climbing/running skills. She is determined and awesome at completing a task when she puts her mind to it. She is into doing everything on her own. I often here "I do it by myself" and she normally can do it by herself. She can get herself dressed and put her shoes on the right feet. She loves all things pink and princess. She loves makeup and nail polish. The nail polish is currently hidden cause of her sneaky skills of finding it and polishing her nails. We often think she will be a cosmetologist. She is very observant and will tell my friends or me that she loves my sparkles on my eyes (eye shadow). My dad was here recently and he was wearing a pink striped polo. Anna said right away to him "Papa, I really like your pink shirt". She loves it when I wear a dress or skirt and notices when Mike looks nice as well. She loves animals and our dog, shadow. Anna is obedient at school and church. She gets along well with other children and loves to play with her friends.

We are currently working on lots of things. We are struggling with not throwing tantrums when things don't go our way. These are normally related to clothing battles ( sparkle shoes or flip flops), dresses when playing at the park, etc.. I am trying to be more creative with laying out things the night before with her help. We are working on how we respond with our words and actions. I am so excited to see what God has in store with Anna. She has so much determination and will. She will be amazing at whatever she puts her mind into which is awesome!

Mary (11 months): Mary is so sweet and I don't know what her personality will be like as he gets older. I know that Mike and I often say that all she has brought is joy. She is a great baby and sleeps like great. I think it is so true that third kid has to be flexible. She can sleep with the girls running around like crazy kids and wherever we put her down. I think she is just happy to get a nap cause I am always having to wake her up or she has to skip her nap. I think the big thing so far is that she is on a sippy cup with whole milk! It was a long 11 months with no bottles. I loved nursing her and it makes me a little sad that it is over. She was so particular about it all that I knew it had to come to an end somehow. I was running out of milk and I didn't know what to wean her to since she would not do formula. I found this one sippy cup that she loves and warm up the whole milk. She loves it and I love it as well!

I think she is going to be a daddy's girls. She lights up when she sees Mike and her first word was da-da which she says on command. It is so cute and makes us all smile. We love our Mary!

I really think I will never have all the answers on how to parent each child with what they need, but I am thankful that God created each of them in His unique way. Thank you, for our sweet girls!

For the record....

2010-04-10T21:52:00.002-05:00

I don't want to forget these stats:

Ellie scored her first goal of the season in soccer and she was so excited! It happened that Luis a teammate of Ellie's kicked the ball down the field and Ellie followed him. When they got closer to the goal Ellie got the ball and kicked it in for the goal! She was so excited and has been talking about it all day. After, the game she said "mommy, I did not sit down or pick flowers during the game"! She wanted to tell daddy all about it. Mike was away for the weekend so I got to coach. It was quite the experience and it is a good thing I was a P.E. major in college!

Mary's 10 month stats:

Weight: 15lb. 6 oz. (-5%)

Height: 25 1/2 in. (5%)

She also started to sit up this month and is starting to crawl. She's not to fast yet, but I'm sure she will be everywhere soon! She's still taking a sippy cup and I feel like a new woman!

What's been happening in TX!

2010-04-06T19:23:00.011-05:00

Easter Sunday was wonderful. We had an awesome service at Watermark. We attended the 9:30 service and there were 3 on Sunday morning. The one on Saturday night was completely full and so was the 9:30. It was really awesome to see the hope we have in the Resurrection and to celebrate with our church family. We celebrated with 3 Easter Egg hunts as well. We had one with our preschool ministry at Watermark, our preschool party, and while Mike was away fishing I took the girls to one at a local church. They love the thrill of the hunt and opening the eggs. They don't love candy, but do love to open it. We had some crazy messes and all eggs have been thrown away. Anna was funny cause she would only pick up the pink eggs so her basket was full of pink! Here are some pictures from our church hunt:

Anna and her best bud Grayson. They are 3 weeks apart and together a lot!

Anna and Grace. She is our neighbor and classmate at school!

Ava Morrison (Julia's for all my NC readers)... she cracks me up and she will be a big sis to another little girl. 18 months apart is so fun!

Ellie loves to hunt eggs and likes them to be difficult to find!

Mike's fishing trip

Mike got to go on a fishing trip to Port Aransas, TX. I have no idea where it is, but that they flew into corpus christi. I am guessing it is a long ways from Dallas and is on the gulf of mexico. We've only traveled to San Antonio once since we've lived here so we don't know much about Texas besides Dallas. He loved it and so enjoyed his time with Jake and his dad. Jake is in our student ministry and we love his family. We got to go over to their house on Easter Sunday night to enjoy some yummy fish that they caught.

Ellie got to go on a wonderful trip to Kansas to visit her Mimi and Granddaddy. Her Mimi flew to Dallas to pick her up and flew back with her. It was so sweet of her and Ellie loved it! She will for sure be the kid who will go to summer camp (Kanakuk!) and never miss us at all. She loves new adventures and is not shy at all. She cried cause she did not want to leave Kansas. She got to do so many fun things like swimming at the indoor pool, museums, grocery shop, Easter Egg Hunt, meet new friends at the park, play with Uncle Dave and Leeanna, eat yummy food and drink chocolate milk. She loves to inform me that I need to go to the store to get her real chocolate milk and that I do not make it very good. She was there for 5 days and loved every minute. Anna, Mary, and I had a great time as well with some extra bonding time. It is sooo interesting to see how they behave differently when they are not together. Mike and I really enjoyed our time with Anna and getting to love on her extra special.

Mary is doing great and I will do a separate post on her soon. I am trying to wean her cause my milk is running out and she has 4 teeth etc... It is time and I am a little sad, but know that our 10 months of no bottles was quite the journey. I was not sure what to wean her to since she has only had b-milk for 10 months and has refused everything else especially a bottle. I read online about trying vanilla pediasure cause it has more calories than whole milk and is sweet tasting unlike formula which she gags on every time. I also bought a special nuk sippy cup that was for 6 month olds and she took to it great! I was really praying cause we have a trip to Disney coming up and I really did not want to take her. I love her lots, but she would not enjoy it cause she loves her sleep! My mom has offered to watch her if I can get her weaned! I think I can do it in a month. She eats food great so that is really helpful. She is still a really happy, laid back baby and I am so glad. She is so sweet and you can't help, but smile at her all day!

Blue Lightning...

2010-03-28T16:40:00.003-05:00

Ellie and her teammates

Poor Mary.. It has been so windy at the games.

Silly Ellie.. she's happy to be there!

Ellie is on her first soccer team this year through our city parks and rec. Mike is the coach and doing a great job. Our team is the blue lightning and since Ellie's favorite color is blue it works out great. The arrange the teams according to your neighborhood school so all of the kids live close to us. Most of them speak spanish and Mike is not quite sure how much they understand. They are such sweet kids and it has been a fun season so far. Ellie thinks they have one every game and that she scores 3 goals. We have a few more games so I will have to get some on video.

Past Spring Breaks....

2010-03-13T21:26:00.003-05:00

Well, our spring break plans for this year are pretty much nothing and I am a little sad. I love spring break and always did something in college and when we were first married. We do have a really fun April and May planned so I keep thinking about these upcoming trips!

I think when I was a college student or teacher I needed spring break so much. I remember being so burnt out and longing to just lay on the beach and do nothing. I doubt I will be doing much of that this week with my 3 energetic girls! Anyways, I was thinking back to all the fun trips I was able to go on in the past and wanted to see if I could remember them all!

Freshman year of college: Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. My track team at Arkansas went there and I was in awe. They have the best weather and everything was so nice. I remember getting to do a little shopping and eating yummy food after the meet.

Sophomore year: Southern California for the Mount Sac Relays. It was another track meet and we went to the beach after.

Junior Year: Naples, Florida with two friends. We drove from Northwest Arkansas to Southern Florida in her old honda accord. It was like 23 hours or some length of time. We did not stop overnight and got to stay at her grandmother's old beach house.

Senior Year: Destin, Florida with a whole group of people from SBU. We rented a nice beach house and had an awesome time. It's funny cause Mike was in Orlando at Disney with his family and I remember us talking on the phone some.

Married Life:

Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA on a trip when we lived in Raleigh, NC. I love both of these cities so much and they are beautiful during the spring.

Myrtle Beach, SC was another great trip with Mike and it was really close to Raleigh.

Williamsburg, VA and Washington D.C. with Mike. It was full of history and culture. We loved going to both of these cities for the first time.

Married life with kids:

Well, the spring break trips have kind of ended:) We normally, go somewhere in July or with family now cause it is not really a break with 3 kids. It is nice to have some extra hands!

However, last year we went to the KOA outside of Dallas. It was hilarious cause I was very pregnant with Mary and we rented this tiny cabin. We left at 2:30 in the morning cause neither of us could sleep and the kids were coughing all night. It did not feel like camping cause we were right off of a major interstate in Dallas.

Dallas will be very busy this week cause people from small towns in TX and OK drive to Dallas to shop, go to six flags, museums, zoo, etc... We have some fun stuff planned with friends so I am sure it will be a nice week where we do not have to be anywhere by 9:30 A.M..

What was your favorite spring break trip?!

Love Her!

2010-03-08T23:07:00.004-05:00

I decided to get the camera out to snap a few pictures of this cutie after church on Sunday. I am so glad that I did cause I know I will treasure these precious pictures in the future. Mary is 9 months old and changing everyday. She is sooo happy and full of life! She's laid back for the most part, but really loves anyone to interact with her. She lights up when her sisters talk to her and smiles great for the camera! She is such a doll and we love her so much!

yummy food....

2010-03-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

Mary is loving food lately and lots of it! She likes fruit baby food, but no veggies. I can't blame her... green bean baby food is yucky. She does like real veggies and tonight she enjoyed some mashed potatoes and peas/carrots.

Today, I gave her a cheerio and she picked some up to put in her mouth. I'm pretty excited we have some more options since she is still anti-bottle at 9 months. We love this girl!

Lake Weekend!!!

2010-03-01T21:25:00.015-05:00

We went to the lake this past weekend with some good family friends. We were blessed to be able to use a families lake house and it was so fun! It really was a perfect weekend. All the kids got along and we had so much fun. I've known Katrina since we first moved here. I was able to join her play group and through church etc.. we've been friends ever since. Ellie is 9 months older than Carsen and Anna is 9 months younger. Their little boy Canon is such a cutie as well. Ellie and Carsen shared a bottom bunk together and all 3 girls shared a room. Ellie said the bunk beds were her favorite part. Mike and Simon enjoyed lots of adventures together like 4 wheelers, Rhino truck, ping pong, and a campfire with the big girls. I stayed at home quite a bit with Mary which was great with me. She enjoyed her sleep and is such a good traveler. It was such a nice break after a busy February!

Good times at the dinner table with 5 kids under 4!

Our attempt at a family picture

Simon and Katrina with their great kids!

Daddy and his 3 girls including Shadow.

Ellie and Carsen. Sweet girls and friends!

Love this picture

Sweet sisters on a hike to the top of a "mountain".

Anna and Carsen... sweet girls!

Daddy fell asleep a little early....

A yummy dinner at the Steak Shed. It is only open on Friday and Saturday nights from 6-9!

Mary at dinner... she loves all food!

rocking on the front porch

We had a fun campfire!

NBA All Star Game!

2010-02-24T10:41:00.008-05:00

A great Valentine's Day Date!

We saw Wolf Blitzer from CNN!

Alicia Keys was the halftime entertainment along with Shakeira. I was not a fan of Shakeira!

The huge screen really is pretty amazing!

Usher was the pregame entertainment

Lebron James... my favorite basketball player. He is amazing and huge!

Life Lately....

2010-02-23T21:17:00.002-05:00

Well, I have been bad about blogging lately cause if I don't have pictures I don't seem to post as much. I have pictures on Mike's computer and he is at church right now! I will have to post some more later with some very fun pictures! February, has been a very busy month and full of all kinds of crazy fun! Here's what we have been up to lately in no particular order:

It has been really cold here this winter as far as a Texas winter goes. I don't remember the last time we went to the park and so we've had to be creative with playing inside etc...I am so thankful for preschool or else we would all be getting a little stir crazy. Yesterday, Mike had the day off so we went to the Children's Museum of Dallas. Our sweet, Mimi got us a family membership which I know we will use all the time! The girls love it and it is manageable for me to take all 3 girls by myself. Our playgroup goes sometimes as well so it will be fun to go with friends on cold, winter days or blazing hot summer days!

We just had D-Town at Watermark which is our version of Disciple Now. It was so awesome and such a blessing to so many kids. It is the student ministry teams biggest event so many hours and hard work were invested into the weekend. There were 480 students and 120 leaders involved. It was A LOT of people and so much fun! Mike was the speaker and he came up with the theme which was " 5 Dangerous Prayers" from Psalm 51. He made the curriculum which went great with their being 5 sessions of either small group/large group time. The prayers were
Clean Me, Teach Me, Mold Me, Use Me, and Break Me.
The other staff did all the creative parts, music, videos, etc... They did such a good job and are so creative. The ideas they come up with are awesome. My favorite part was on Friday night during the first session. They rewrote the Black Eyed Peas Song "Tonight is going to be a good night". It was awesome and so loud in there. It for sure set the tone for the weekend. They went on to rewrite "Party in the USA" and a Taylor Swift song all about DTOWN.
I was able to host my small group girls who are in 11th grade. They are so much fun and so committed. I love their passion and faithfulness when we meet each Wednesday or for big events. Mike was with his 9th grade boys and they stayed up much later than we did. I don't know how he does it. He really has so much energy. He is speaking tonight to our Young Adults cause JP is sick.

Teeth or Ears? I'm sure most of you who have a little one have wondered what is wrong with them. Mary was really fussy today and not sleeping well. I couldn't tell which one it was and she didn't have a fever so I was really confused. I decided at 5:00 that I didn't want to risk a sleepless night so we went to the Dr. It was an ear infection and I am so glad I took her. The Dr. gave her some meds. and I'm sure she will be great soon!

Well, I am watching American Idol for the first time this season. We always have something on Tuesday night and I never get to watch. It seems pretty good so far. I hope we can keep up with it till the end. Have a great week!

Great State of Texas....

2010-02-17T22:42:00.002-05:00

I love "Baby Bangs" post today on why she loves Texas. She described it so perfectly and for our friends and family from out of state I think it will give you a good taste of life in Texas. I know that Dallas is different than Houston, but what she writes describes our lives here. I've never seen such a different culture. It really is unique to Texas. Our students who are "preppy" wear wranglers and boots. Car Hart jackets are in style and these are not "redneck"people. However, you also feel the desire to dress up to go to a fancy mall or to dinner.

Mike wears boots often and looks pretty cute in them! He also got a "western/car hart" jacket from Watermark as a staff gift. It is amazing how we can live in this huge city and have all the conveniences, but at the same time drive an hour away and be on a ranch. I'm guessing soon we we might have to decide if we will be Aggies or Longhorns! ha! I think we will stay Jayhawks....

Adventures with Daddy....

2010-02-11T21:46:00.005-05:00

Mike is such a fun, creative Daddy. He is the best at coming up with random/creative ideas that our girls love. Many, people told us when you have 3 kids you really have to tag team and divide them up for it to really work. We were learning the hard way that weekends were sometimes really difficult with the kids cause there is lots of down/unstructured time which is good for a little while, but our girls love need a plan! We now sit down every Thursday night to plan the weekend. I normally take the girls on Friday morning (Mike's day off) and we go do something together and let Mike rest, exercise, or do whatever he likes. I come home by noon and then we spend the rest of the day together. He takes E and A on Saturday mornings on some sort of adventure.

Last weekend they went to some horse ranch in Frisco that also hosts birthday parties. They loved it and got to jump in bounce houses, ride ponies, pet goats, and play on the playground. Anna is free so we only had to pay for Ellie which was $7. Another guy in our community group took his boys and said "it was the most fun he's ever had with his boys". Mike is quite the planner and always has a fun event for the girls on Saturday mornings. They also love to go to White Rock Lake to the dog park. I am so thankful to have a husband who loves me and loves our girls!

How will we respond?.....

2010-02-04T23:10:00.004-05:00

The Future Leaders of Uganda from Watermark Community Church on Vimeo.

Our church has been opening my eyes to what the world is like in Uganda, Dallas, or Haiti in the last month. We support a certain ministry in Uganda and are building water wells, sponsoring children etc.. Our community group has been working through how we should respond. The main message I have gotten over the last month is that I need to think about what am I doing right now where I am at in life with my family, neighbors, friends, West Dallas etc..I am beyond blessed and am so thankful that my church cares for the rich and poor!

Check out www.watermarkworldwide.com

Anna's 3rd Birthday Party!

2010-02-04T20:55:00.012-05:00

Anna turned 3 and her birthday finally came! The girls have been anticipating this day for months. They play birthday party all the time and Anna was so excited. I am soooo not the birthday party planner where everything is cute with lots of crafts. We had her party at a gymnastics place and it was awesome. They had 2 teachers who led the kids in games, trampoline, obstacle course, and lots of other fun activities. I only had to bring the cupcakes and drinks. It was so easy and low stress. It was so fun to see all the kids really enjoy themselves and for the parents to be able to talk with one another! I am so thankful for Anna and what an amazing little girl she is becoming each day. We also survived her being 2 which was quite a year full of discipline, potty-training, and all of those fun things that happen when you are 2 years old!

Anna with her good friend Grayson. I love his face!

Gretchen and I with Preston and Mary. They are one month apart.

Everyone loved the trampoline.

Anna loved the parachute!

Big sister loves to party!

Mary loves her Daddy!

Anna and Jack or (Jackman as she calls him)

Ellie and Anna with their good friend Carsen

All of the kids stretching listening to their teachers!

Little Anna.....

2010-01-31T10:50:00.008-05:00

Anna turns 3 tomorrow and I wanted to post some pictures of her early days. I don't remember that much of her baby stage. Ellie was 18 months old when she was born and we moved to TX when she was 6 months old so there was A LOT going on. She has been the most tiny of the Shelton girls. She is still small, but very mighty! She weighed 15 lb. 15 oz. at year and 22 lbs. at 2 years old. I don't know what she will be at 3. She is one sweet little girl who makes us laugh all the time. We love you sweet Anna and I am so glad you are our little girl!

Anna 6 months old!

We used the double stroller all the time!

Daddy and the girls at a beach house in NC right before we moved to TX. Anna was 4 months.

Sweet sisters!

Anna always looked like such a doll baby cause she was so tiny. Ellie was about 20 months.

Anna at 2 months!

I can't forget...

2010-01-30T12:10:00.002-05:00

Anna this morning was dressed in a night gown, shirt, and headband.

Mommy: Anna that is a pretty outfit.

Anna: I am a teacher

Mommy: What are you teaching today?

Anna: I am teaching kids new skills.

Mommy: Really, what kind of skills?

Anna: Pink skills and purple skills.

I have no idea where she learns these words, but I laugh often at her vocabulary these days.

Today, is her birthday party even though her birthday is on Monday. We are so excited to celebrate with her. I am a little worried as she keeps telling Ellie that she cannot come to her party and then Ellie cries. They are so kind to one another!

Superman and Ballerina....

2010-01-23T21:32:00.003-05:00

We got new jammies for Christmas

Anna showing off Ellie's cape!

We have two little girls who are very different. Anna loves pink and purple. Ellie prefers blue. Anna loves anything princess and Ellie likes robots and superheroes. Some of their pretend play is pretty hilarious!

Big Girl....

2010-01-23T21:16:00.003-05:00

Showing her new boots off!

Showing her "new" tooth!

Love that smile!

Ellie is 4 1/2 years old and is for sure becoming a big girl. I love having a 4 year old. She is independent in so many things, but still loves to be with mommy and daddy. These are some things about Ellie:

She loves playing with friends and going to preschool. She has always been this way. I never remember her ever crying when dropped off at the nursery or with friends.

She loves to ask questions as in all day! Her favorite one right now is to ask me "How old are you, mommy"? She knows the answer, but still asks it all the time. She also wants to know when she will be 15 or 6.

She loves to play outside with Anna doing all kinds of crazy things.

She takes gymnastics once a week and loves it so much.

She loves to have a babysitter and asks me frequently if a babysitter can come over.

She loves to sing and our favorite song right now is on the North Point church live cd.

Her favorite color is blue and anytime she draws something it has to be with blue.

She still loves Mary and entertains her a lot during the day.

She loves going on outings with just mom or dad. She really can tell when Anna and Mary are not with us. She tries to arrange it so they stay home.

She has super curly hair and gets lots of compliments on it.

She is still pretty small, but seems to be catching up with some kids. She wears 3T clothes.

Ellie is such a sweet, friendly little girl. She has a very calm personality and not much makes her upset. We love her so much!

Sweet Sisters....

2010-01-23T21:09:00.001-05:00

Watermark 10 year Anniversary Party!

2010-01-23T20:56:00.005-05:00

Watermark celebrated there 10 year anniversary last week. It was quite a party and so fun. There has been so much to celebrate over the past 10 years and it was neat to see videos etc.. from the early days in a hotel or school. It was kind of like the State Fair with corn dogs, cotton candy, sausage on a stick, funnel cakes, and lemonade! The girls enjoyed all the bounce houses and pony rides. It also happened to be a beautiful day for January!

Ellie loves pony rides

Anna and Daddy

Ellie and her friend Olivia going down the slide. A Cowboys slide on the day they lost!

Smiles..

2010-01-23T20:48:00.001-05:00

All in one day...

2010-01-11T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today, is one of those days that in a couple of years when you know I have a 7, 6, and 4 year old I will wonder how I got through some long days of toddlerhood! It all started out okay except E and A were just not listening very well. Mary was sleeping for a morning nap before we had to go to gymnastics for Ellie at 10. I think their bedroom door slammed a few times with sweet reminders from me to shut it quietly. I am so thankful that so far if Mary gets to sleep she can sleep through anything including two very loud children! We make it to gym and drop Ellie off. I take Anna and Mary to do a few errands. We pick Ellie up and they are asking to go to the park for a picnic. It is not quite warm enough yet so I tell them we will go home and do a picnic inside on a blanket. I'm thinking this day is not so bad. I think we will take early naps then head to the park cause it will be warm after naps. In the meantime there are lots of messes today. I think when we are stir crazy they tend to want to open every drawer or explore closets or change clothes for dress up. Anyways, we clean up and start nap time early. Anna always sleeps, but I wasn't thinking that an early nap might not work. We try for a good hour with much discipline occurring throughout the hour. Ellie cannot close her eye etc... Mary is sleeping away!! Eventually, I decide we will just wait on Mary to wake up. I put coats on the girls to outside and play with the dog etc... (a very good form of entertainment)! While I am nursing Mary they take off their shoes and socks to put them in our water filled sandbox. Does anyone want it?!! More discipline. We finally get to the park to meet my friend Katrina and we are there for 5 minutes and I look over to see Ellie peeing her pants. What? She hasn't had an accident in forever. She told me she couldn't hold it. Well, we have no change of clothes so I call Katrina to see if she's left. She's gone so I decide it will dry and Ellie is crying cause she doesn't want to go home. She proceeds to play just fine!
Anna is now climbing to the top of a very high play area. She decides to go down the slide on her tummy and falls really awkward on her face. I picture her front teeth laying on the ground, but thankfully she is okay just a bleeding lip. She shakes it off and does the slide many more times this day:)
Mike calls and asks how the day is going by a number of 1-10. I honestly say probably a 1. He's sweet and tells me to take a break when he gets home. He gives them baths etc.. and they are in bed by 6:30 P.M.. I'm now sitting on the couch thankful that the Lord's grace and mercies are new every morning. I know my attitude was not so great either in the midst of a stressful day. These little girls can wear me out, but they also teach me to serve with a loving heart. I'm looking forward to a new day tomorrow!

Mary 7 months stats...and more.

2010-01-10T22:22:00.003-05:00

My baby is 7 months old! Wow! I can say it has gone by fast and somewhat slow as I have tried to enjoy each day with her. She is precious and such a joy. She's for sure the laid back third child. She follows her big sisters schedule and can sleep through pretty much anything which is a good thing cause you know our house can be kind of loud at times! I really think the transition to 3 was not to bad. The first two months was pretty tough cause she was so fragile and Ellie liked to sneak in and pick her up. However, now that they are used to her and she's on a schedule it has been really good. I know that we all try to plan out how far apart our kids are and there is no perfect plan except God's plan which for us was to have 3 kids under 4! I have no regrets and I'm soooo glad that E and A are 18 mos. apart and then we had nice 2 1/2 year break before Mary. Mike and I have been talking a lot lately about things being somewhat easier. 4 is a really nice age and sweet Ellie is thriving at 4. She's so active and pretty much done with the nap, but she doesn't have to have one which is nice. Anna is almost 3 and praise God we are kind of nearing the end of the terrible two's. There were lot of terrible moments during her 2nd year, but she is growing into a really funny, smart, and curious girl. She's so determined and is pretty much P.T. mainly cause she refuses to wear a diaper ever.
We had a funny moment yesterday as I was standing in line at Wal-Mart with E, A, and a cart full of groceries. Anna starts to pull down her pants right there in line and I thought "she is going to pee on the floor". I quickly grab her and tell Ellie to run. We ran right to the bathroom and she made it. The line was so long at the cashier that we got right back in line! She loves to pick out her own clothes ( a dress) if I allowed it everyday and insists on getting herself dressed. She's pretty good at it so it is saving me some time.
Anyways, back to sweet Mary. I took her to the doctor for her 7 month check-up. Here's what she is up to these days:
Weight: 14 lb. 1 oz. (10th %) She's quite a bit bigger than E and A at 7 months.
Height :25 1/2 inches. (25th%)

Likes:
Rolling over
Sisters love to make her laugh
Sleep- She wakes up at all different times in the morning, but normally gets a morning nap at home or in the car. She takes one really long afternoon nap and then goes to bed most nights by 7:00 P.M.. She would be really fussy if she didn't get a nap.
Baby food- She really prefers table food so I just mash up whatever we are having that night. She's had pasta, meat, green beans, rice, mashed potatoes, and she loves all fruit baby food.
Nursing- Still no bottle and I think we are month or so away from a sippy cup!
Daddy-She loves to be held by daddy and see him each day.
Car Seat- We did a trip to KS and she did so much better than in earlier months where she would have cried the entire time.

Dislikes:
Teething- She can be pretty fussy if her teeth are bothering her, but a dose of tylenol and teething tablets seem to work.
Cold- It has been so cold here lately and she will cry if she gets to cold at night or getting into the car.
She hates to be put down if she is hungry or when she first wakes up.

We love her so much and she is so much fun. She has yet to meet a stranger and has such a big smile!

A Texas Snow...

2010-01-04T22:36:00.002-05:00

We've already had two different days of snow so far this year. The first which is the pictures above was about 1/4 inch and not a big deal. However, for two little girls it was a huge deal. We went outside in our jammies and ran around in it. If you look closely you can see Anna has a dress and tights on which happened to be the previous nights jammies cause mommy was to exhausted to do baths etc... Our second snowfall happened on Christmas Eve. It was so pretty and about an inch. It made for a crazy Christmas Eve as most people attended the 4:00 service at church. They had a 2, 4, 6, and 11 o'clock service, but it was to cold and icy to get out after 4. The entire worship center and a few overflow rooms were packed! We are hoping for more snow so maybe we can build a snowman.

Anna the ballerina....

2010-01-04T22:14:00.007-05:00

Anna with her sweet teacher.

Check out her form!

Each girl got a rose at the end of their performance!

Anna had some stage fright and coped with her fingers in her mouth

stretching is always important

Anna finished a semester of "baby ballet" at our parks and rec center in December. She LOVED it and really enjoyed her class. All the girls were really sweet and she has the best teacher. Mrs. Horn is in her 70's and still wears the leotard and ballet shoes. She knows each girls name and really holds their attention. Anna loves to wear any ballet outfit and the shoes so I have to hide them most days! We can't wait till the class starts again in January.

Like to cook?

2010-01-04T21:42:00.002-05:00

I have a friend whose sister is adopting from Ethiopia and made a cookbook to help raise funds. I know they would love to have them all sold so they can be one step closer to their babies! I'm sure all the recipes are great and we all need some new ideas! Go here to read more!

Join The Journey: Home

2010-01-03T21:53:00.000-05:00

Each year our church studies the Bible together through something called "Join the Journey". It is a great way to study the Bible daily and you get an email each day with that days scripture! There is even an iphone app which I use often to look at throughout the day. I'm excited this year as we study the gospels. If you are looking for a yearly Bible plan check it out!

Join The Journey: Home

Watermark Family Christmas!

2009-12-12T22:30:00.004-05:00

We had such a fun night on Friday at the Watermark Family Staff Party. Every other year we bring the kids to the party . Next year will just be adults. Our church can for sure throw a party and we are so blessed to be a part of such an awesome church. The church just opened a new part of the building area with a new lobby which has a fire place, couches, coffee bar, etc.. it for sure has a Texas look to it. We are so excited to be able to use this new space for meeting people, student ministry events, etc... we are running out of room which is a great thing! Mike and I often lay in bed talking about how thankful we are that God brought us here to serve Him and for our family to grow. We've been challenged so much with the truth that is taught every Sunday and how we are challenged to live it out daily.

Anyways, the party was so fun. They really want kids to grow up thinking their dad or mom works at the greatest place. We want our girls to grow up excited that their dad is a pastor at a church. They had bounce houses set up, skee ball, basketball, pony rides, a photo booth, and more. There is always a game that we all play each year with some fun prizes. There were all kinds of presents for kids set up under the tree. We played family bingo so each child received a present as they got a bingo. Anna got a princess memory game and Ellie got a fun remote control puppy. The big prize was given for the adult who could "black out" their bingo card first. Jarrod our new student worship leader won! We were so excited for he and Whitney!

It was such a fun night and the girls are still talking about the Watermark Party!

Nutcracker!

2009-12-12T22:21:00.003-05:00

We got to take the girls to see The Nutcracker last weekend. Two of my high school small group girls were in it. Rebekah got to play Clara the lead part. She is an amazing ballerina and it was so fun to see her perform. It was performed by the Dallas Ballet Center and had dancers from the age of 4 to 18. The little girls were precious and Anna loved to watch them. I know she was dreaming of being on stage one day as she is always acting like she is a ballerina! We all really enjoyed it and I hope to take them in the future.

Shadow....

2009-12-12T22:11:00.002-05:00

We had a family from church offer us their dog. Mike loves dogs and I am okay with them as long as I have little responsibility over them. Our last dog was a pretty bad/strange dog. He got dropped off at the pound before we made the big move from NC to TX! The girls love dogs and always are asking for a puppy. I would love to have a cute little Shitzu or Yorkie, but with the barking etc... I realized that might not be a good idea with 3 kids.

We did a 10 day trial with Shadow to see how she did with the kids and if we liked her. She is the best dog. She is really obedient, doesn't bark, sleeps in a crate, gentle, etc...Ellie and Anna LOVE her! Anna especially has bonded with Shadow. They love to walk her around the yard with a leash. Shadow has even gotten to go down the slide. Shadow has gotten stickers put on her and all kinds of other exciting things. Mike needed a dog with all the pink around here. We thought Shadow was a boy, but sure enough Mike now lives with 5 girls!

Video from Matt

2009-12-08T15:49:00.000-05:00

Video from Matt

This was a video posted on Matt Chandler's church's website over the weekend. Incredible faith, greata encouragement for life. Enjoy.

Dresses.....

2009-12-07T17:47:00.002-05:00

Anna is obsessed with wearing a dress. My mom had to bribe me into wearing one and forget the tights. I was all about playing outside, shooting baskets, etc.. so this whole princess thing is all new to me! She is so sweet each morning begging me to wear one of many Christmas dresses we have in our closet. Some nights we just leave the dress on and sleep with the sparkly shoes as well. I try to not force her in jeans as I want her to enjoy what she wears, but I also don't let her play in the mud in a good dress. Lately, we've been wearing playclothes with the sparkly shoes which seems to be a good compromise. I have a feeling she is going to be quite the leader one day as she is very bold and sharp with her words. She is not afraid to tell me:
"mommy, I'm cute as she fluffs her hair" or "mommy, I will be a princess and Ellie will be a super hero and she cannot come into my castle or my party". We are working on kindness these days! Any tips for the wardrobe battle would be helpful. At least, they are not fighting over clothes yet as Ellie begs me not to wear tights or a dress. Blue Jeans are just fine with her.

Ellie...

2009-12-03T23:31:00.002-05:00

Mike took this picture of Ellie and I think it is one I will always love. She gets excited about seeing any water fountain and is so proud cause she can do it by herself now.

Santa....

2009-12-03T23:22:00.003-05:00

When we were in Georgia over Thanksgiving we drove to a small mountain town. When we arrived there they were having all kinds of fun Christmas events going on. The girls spotted Santa and he was there with his sleigh. The pictures were free so they jumped on his lap! I was so excited cause every time we are at a mall they beg me to go sit on his lap and I really don't want to pay the $20 for a 5x7 that I won't know what to do with the picture.

Anna told Santa she would like a present. Ellie said she would like a super hero computer for her room! ha! They are funny girls that make me laugh daily. Mary was asleep at home during this trip.

We love this girl....

2009-12-03T22:59:00.002-05:00

Mary is 6 months old tomorrow. I can't believe it and it has been such a great 6 months. I can really say that I have enjoyed her baby stage so much. I think because I know how quickly they grow and how the baby stage is so easy compared to her big sisters! She is so sweet and happy most the time. I love her sweet smile and her laugh. She loves her family and smiles so much when her sisters talk to her. Here's what Mary has been up to this month:

She sucks her two middle fingers to calm down or go to sleep.

She wears size 1/2 diapers.

She wears 3-6 month clothes.

She loves the exersaucer and just rolling around on the floor.

She finally is liking the car seat! I am so thankful cause there for awhile it was some pretty loud car rides.

She loves Ellie and Anna. They love her as well and are such good helpers. They never miss telling me when she spits up!

She loves her crib. When she is tired she really just wants to go to bed.

She started eating baby food this month to gain some weight. She has liked it all, but rice cereal. She spits it out.

She still loves to nurse and is anti-bottle. She has not taken a bottle in 6 months. It is crazy for me to think of how dependent she is upon me. It has gotten a lot easier since she is eating food and I can be gone a little bit longer than 3-4 hours. I'm thinking I will make it all 12 months unless she weans herself.

She loves her Daddy and when he talks to her each night.

She does not like getting new teeth. She's been somewhat fussy on the days that her little front tooth is hurting her.

She still spits up pretty often. It is not to fun now that it is orange. I am becoming quite acquainted with oxi clean.

She's starting to realize when I leave the room. She will cry sometimes when she can't see me.

We love her so much and are excited to see her grow each day. I saw this verse the other day and am once again so glad we named her Mary.

" But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart." Luke 2:19

I love that Mary treasured Jesus and remembered Him in her heart. It has been our prayer this Christmas season that we would treasure Jesus and think about Him during Christmas.

Watermark Conspiracy

2009-11-21T16:22:00.002-05:00

With Holly out of town I figured I would post this video about a little campaign at our church...Enjoy this video and feel free to check out the website...

www.watermarkconspiracy.com

Watermark Conspiracy 2009 from Watermark Community Church on Vimeo.

Fall Happenings...

2009-11-12T16:29:00.002-05:00

I wish I had pictures to show for October, but I never have Mike's computer which has all of our pictures on it! It was a really fun month full of lots of fun and long days...
In no particular order....
* Mary got put on prevacid for her spit up issues! I am so thankful and on some days I think it is working on other days my shirt is soaked and there is spit up all over our house.
* Mary's 5 month stats are 11lb. 5oz and 23 1/2 inches long. She's a petite one just like her big sisters.
* Ellie loves to sound out letters and ask me what all kind of words start with and then she will sound out the word!
* Anna is so into dress-up and playing princess Anna. She pretty much thinks she is the queen of the Shelton home. However, sometimes I have to remind her who is on the throne. There has been LOTS of discipline going on these days.
* Anna is loving preschool and loves that she only goes one day per week. She loves to stay home with mommy on Thursday and we go to playgroup with our friends. It is a special day just for her!
* Mike is telling the girls Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednigo (sp?) and they love it! He is a great story teller and a great daddy.
* We got to go on a fun date with our good friends from our community group.
* Watermark hosted a community group leaders conference. We got to stay at the Embassy Suites for a night and learn more about community. We love our church and how they value community groups.
* The High School ministry hosted its annual Country Western Party called The Draw. It was super fun and a great outreach to high school students. Every student had on boots. We've never lived in a state where any students had a pair of boots! Mike had quite the outfit on that I will have to try and find a picture of his cowboy gear.
* We've played outside a lot this month since the rain stopped. The girls still love the $75 swing set we got off of Craigs List. They come up with all kinds of games to play on it.
* Daylight Savings Time was pretty rough and I think we have a new schedule of getting up at 6:30 and going to bed at 7:00. I don't know if I like it, but it is starting to feel like normal.
*We are mentoring a little girl in West Dallas which is the 11th poorest neighborhood in the U.S.. Our church is supporting an elementary school there and many families are mentoring a child. Our little girl, Nekeiya is in 4th grade and is such a sweet girl. We've been to her school for lunch, ice cream, and are looking forward to many more opportunities to show her God's love!
*Ellie is in Gymnastics once a weekand Anna takes ballet once a week through our city's rec center. They both love it so much and it is neat to see them like different activities.

Hope you all are enjoying the fall! Christmas will be here before we know it!

Quotes from Anna

2009-11-06T14:50:00.002-05:00

Anna is talking so much these days almost as much as her big sis. Ellie pretty much does not stop talking unless she is asleep. Anyways, Anna has a lot going on in her mind. Here are a few:
" One day mommy I will get a white car and I will drive it very fast"
" I want my own stage and I will sing and do ballet on it"
" Ellie you cannot come to my pink castle. I am the princess!"
" I want Angelina (ballerina) to come to my party and go to my dance class"
" I will not say sorry" (hear that one a little to often)
"Trick or Treat, Smell my feet"

She is for sure becoming more independent and although the days are long she melts my heart so often!

Fall Fun!

2009-11-02T21:29:00.005-05:00

We had a great time trick or treating with some neighborhood friends! We have a great street right by our house where the houses are amazing and the people just sit outside and pass out candy. Ellie and Anna both walked the whole time while Mary rode in the stroller. Anna was totally into getting the candy although she does not have a sweet tooth at all. I don't think she has eaten any of her candy. When we got home we had a few people knock on our door and Anna would hand them her candy. We went with a blue m&m with a cape that you cannot see. Ellie was "Super Ellie" and she loved it so much. Anna chose pink and wore a pink tutu. I planned on Mary being a cat like Ellie and Anna were so I could have all three in the same costume. I couldn't find the ears or tail so she was a cute pink bunny. It has been a really pretty fall here and we've loved the "cooler" temperatures. It was 65 deg. on Saturday and we saw people with winter coats, gloves, etc... waiting at the bus stop!

Sad Story...

2009-11-02T14:15:00.002-05:00

We lived in Charlottesville, VA for about 1 year and worked at a church. It is an awesome town where the University of Virginia is located and is in the mountains. A little different than Dallas:)!
Anyways, I saw this story on the news the other day and have thought about this poor girl who was most likely abducted right outside the basketball arena. I'm sure it is really a big story in VA as not much happens in this small town. Anyways, go here to read more.

Mary is 5 months old!

2009-10-29T21:46:00.002-05:00

It is quiet at our house tonight as Mike is getting to be an usher at the David Crowder concert at Watermark (tough job)! I wish I had his computer cause it has all of our pictures on it, but I thought it would be a good idea to do an update on Mary! She will be 5 months old in a few days.
Here's what Mary likes and dislikes:
Playmat and Exersaucer
She loves people and someone to talk to her. She never cries when given to a new person. She loves her sisters to talk to her.
She loves to suck her two middle fingers to go to sleep or in the car. I've now had a paci girl, thumb girl, and a fingers girl!
Daddy
She loves her crib and really does not sleep anywhere else besides the car. She sleeps on her stomach and moves really close to the crib rails. She's still sharing a room with Ellie. Ellie cannot sleep unless Mary is in the room with her. She sleeps through Ellie talking herself to sleep and with the lamp on cause of Ellie!
She loves her grandparents and got to spend some special time with them this month when I had surgery.
She loves to go on walks and we do this about once a day to get everyone out of the house!
She has a very strange schedule, but it is working well for us. She goes to bed between 7-7:30 and wakes up around 7 to eat. I then put her back to bed and normally wake her up around 9:30 to feed her and most days put her in the car for wherever we have to be that day. We then come home by 12:30-1 most days and she goes down for a LONG nap 3-4 hours most days. I think she's combining her morning and afternoon nap all in one! We will see how long this lasts, but I really like it right now cause it gives me time to get E and A ready in the morning while she is asleep.
She's still bottle free and it is one tough road that is for sure. She will not take one for anything, but at least she will go 3-4 hours between feedings so I can time how long I can be gone. I think maybe when we start baby food in a couple of months it might help. I'm so thankful for my milk, but there are times when it can be difficult to make it all work especially when I have to be gone.
She's starting to like the car seat more which is so nice. I think it might be cause she is spitting up a little less these days. I still get thrown up on a lot each day, but it is getting better.
She wear 3 month clothing and is pretty small like her sisters.

Mary we love you so much and your sweet smile makes my day. You are for sure the laid back baby that I needed during this stage of life and I am so excited to see what your personality will be like one day. We thank God for you every day!

A cute kitty and ballerina....

2009-10-26T21:55:00.002-05:00

I was flipping through pictures tonight and found these two cute girls from two years ago. Wow they have sure changed! There is no way Ellie would dress up as a ballerina at 4 years old and Anna would still probably enjoy being a cat. However, this years costume choice has been quite dramatic! I'd borrowed a "Dorothy" costume that was super cute and had this great idea of Ellie being Dorothy, Anna the scarecrow, and Mary as Toto! Well, Ellie has been really wanting to be a super hero with her favorite color blue and Anna is super into pink and princesses. I really didn't want a super hero and a princess? What would Mary be? So I started to think what I could do that would involve blue and pink? I'm hoping the costumes turn out okay and the girls agree with them. Ellie is going to be a Blue M&M with a red cape. Anna is going to be a pink M&M (most likely with a tutu) and Mary will be some color of M&M probably whatever solid color onesie I can find! Anyways, this years costume choice is for sure not my choice. However, I want the girls to be able to be who they are even if the current stage is super heroes and princesses! Have you had any Halloween Drama?!

Picky Eater Tips?

2009-10-25T21:39:00.002-05:00

Ellie and Anna are total opposites when it comes to food. Anna's not eating much these days and really doesn't seem hungry. I would say it is a phase, but it's been a long phase that is for sure! Any tips out there for the girl who does not like very much at all?!

In Sickness and In Health...

2009-10-22T20:59:00.002-05:00

Mike and I have learned a lot lately about caring for one another or our kids with the swine flu and then I was supposed to have a normal outpatient surgery last Thursday. I will try to not give you to much information and since I know I only have girl readers I really don't care to much!
I've had a fibroid (similar to a cyst) attached to my uterus for almost 2 years. However, I didn't know it until I was pregnant with Mary. It has caused much pain and drama over the past 2 years. It seemed to really act up when we traveled so I've ended up in the emergency room in Kansas and Colorado. Both times they thought I had a kidney stone or a kidney infection cause my lower back would be in horrible pain as in I vomited many times from the pain. In Colorado they thought I was vomiting from altitude ha!
The first trimester with Mary the pain came back on strong like the worst it ever was and I could now feel something on the outside of my stomach like a small ball. I ended up in the ER in Dallas. It always happens on the weekends when I can't get to my OB. They do a sono to make sure Mary is okay and she is fine. They move the wand to the spot where it hurt and there was a fibroid the size of a baseball. I was so relieved to know I was not crazy and that something was wrong with me. There is nothing they can do cause I am pregnant and it attached to the uterus. However, my dr. thought I was mostly in pain cause it was growing and it should stop once my hormones calm down near the end of the first trimester. The pain went away and I was fine the whole pregnancy.
I see my Dr. in September and he does a sono to see if the fibroid has shrunk which they tend to do after you deliver a baby. It is still large and he wants to removei as do I. We've also met our deductible this year so I really wanted him to remove it! He said it would most likely be "scope" outpatient surgery and I would be fine.
However, last Thursday he told me that things can change and that to be prepared for whatever. I was and totally trust my Dr. and am so thankful for his care. He is wonderful!
I wake up from surgery and am still a little groggy, but he tells me that everything is fine. However, the fibroid was actually a tumor and that it had moved to overtake my ovary. He ended up having to remove the tumor, ovar, and fallopian tube. I still have all the right side, but it was quite and ordeal. I stayed in the hospital for two nights and during this time my bladder would not cooperate do to the trauma of surgery. Let's just say that me and a catheter were very good friends for 5 days!
I've learned so much from this situation, but here are a few!
* I have the best husband ever as he remained calm for me during it all and has been a rock for our family.
* I forgot to mention the tumor was benign! I am so thankful and blessed to not have a malignant tumor.
* I always get regular checkups, but will continue to do so no matter what. I encourage you if you have any doubts about something go ahead and get it checked.
* You must trust, respect, and like your doctor. I moved here not knowing who to choose so I asked a few people from church and come to find out there are tons of Watermark women who go to the practice that I do. He is such a Godly man who uses his gifts to bless others not only in Dallas, but Guatemala as well.
* Family is so important and I am so grateful that Mike's parents were here to watch E and A. My mom flew in this week to help for a week or so.
* Friends are the best. I love my c.g. and playgroup friends so much for their care, prayer, and help! Remember, my sweet Mary has refused the bottle for four months. I thought it would be outpatient and I could feed her shortly after. Well, since it was not I had to wait 24 hours to feed her. My sweet friend watched her for the day cause she had compassion on me as her daughter did not take a bottler. I have another friend who is a lactation consultant at a hospital and she has a baby as well. She offered to "feed" Mary for me and I still can't believe Mary did it twice. She slept all night after as well.
* We haven't told to many people as in posted it on fbook mainly cause we did not want to explain all this to teenagers at church!

The Lord has truly been our strength as a family when things have been chaotic and scary at times. I am so grateful to be healthy and feeling so much better!

Pumpkins!

2009-10-13T21:09:00.004-05:00

More Favorite Florida Pictures....

2009-10-13T20:58:00.001-05:00

Student Ministry Swine Flu PSA

2009-10-07T22:12:00.001-05:00

Stick with it to the end, my husband is a carrier monkey!

First Day of School....

2009-10-02T16:06:00.002-05:00

Ellie and Anna both started preschool at the beginning of September. They are going to the school that I taught at last year. There is no way I could have taught this year especially since Miss Mary is anti-bottle. Anna is going one day a week and Ellie goes two days a week. They both love it and I love my little break. It has been such a blessing. We love our school, the teachers, and all the sweet families that go there. It is at a local church, but a lot of the students attend Watermark. Anna is in the older 2's class and Ellie is in the older 3's class rather than the 4/5 yr. old class. It has worked out well for Ellie cause she is only 1 month older than the majority of the kids in her class rather than being a full year younger than the other kids. I love my girls and am so glad they have a great preschool to attend.

Mike's Staff Picture...

2009-10-02T16:02:00.003-05:00

Every year the student ministry team does a staff picture for the website or promotional items. I really like this years picture although Mike thinks he looks like he can't stop laughing during it. We are so thankful he is a part of such a great team. It really does make a difference that he does not have to do it all like he's had to in the past. They have a new part-time student ministry worship leader from Kentucky. He and his wife have been married for 3 months and moved here without really knowing anyone. It makes me think back to our early seminary days. I know they will end up loving it here and Jarrod is doing an awesome job!

Anna the ballerina....

2009-10-02T15:52:00.002-05:00

Anna started "Baby Ballet" this fall at our local parks and rec. center. She was so excited and truly loves it. Her teacher is probably close to 70 years old and has taught there forever! Anna loves to pick out which ballet outfit she will wear every week. She is obsessed with the shoes and often time sleeps in them at nap time. She makes me laugh cause she is such a rule-follower (for other people) and follows every instruction the teacher makes while the other 2 yr. olds are running around! Ellie does not like ballet so much so we are switching her to gymnastics. We love our rec center cause it is close and cheap!

Anna and the potty!

2009-10-02T15:43:00.002-05:00

I guess for Anna to go potty she has to pick her nose and hold her blankie! I started potty training Anna about a month ago. I went with the laid back approach. When we were home I let her wear undies and when we went out I put a diaper on her. It's worked really well and this week she's worn undies quite a bit when we go out. I think next week I will try sending her to school and church in undies. She's hilarious about the potty and here are a few of her funny quotes or things she does:

* She always says " I go on the potty train" when she needs to go.

* She insists on wearing underwear over her diaper.

* Her treat of choice was always a skittle.

It will be awhile before I train her at night or naps cause she drinks a ton during the day. However, it felt pretty good to buy our last box of 176 diapers at Sam's the other day in hopes that it would last us for a couple of months!

Ellie at music camp

2009-10-02T15:36:00.001-05:00

Ellie attended a music camp at a local church in August. The theme was "Hermie the Caterpillar" and she has seen some of the movies so she was really excited. She loved every minute of it and they had a performance on Friday evening. Anna wants to go next year when she is three. We will sign up for it again next year!

The Shelton Swine....

2009-10-01T20:00:00.001-05:00

Well, it has been an eventful two weeks to say the least and I am so glad I think I am seeing a light at the end of this very long tunnel. It all started two weeks ago when I had chills, aches, and a high fever one day. I took care of the kids all day during it and just toughed it out. I went to bed really early with some tylenol p.m. and woke up with no fever and feeling much better. However, poor Mary had no milk from her mommy. Whenever, I am sick it tends to wipe out my milk supply. So I tried to feed her and it just wasn't enough. I tried so many different types of bottles, formula, etc.. I even had a friend try and give her a bottle with no success. She basically didn't eat for 7 hours. She knows what she wants that is for sure. I take her to the doctor to make sure nothing is wrong with her. The nurses try to give her a bottle with no luck. Mike just so happened to have a very busy day and leaders meeting so he could not help. We get home from the dr. and I send Ellie and Anna next door for an hour so I could try and feed her in peace. It works and I start a vitamin to help with the supply and it is all much better! It was such a scary day for me that I totally forgot about being sick. I am convinced I had a mild case of the swine flu that day and just couldn't really be sick so I just dealt with it. I go on a girls weekend that weekend and still feel kind of out of it, but had a great time. It is also intresting that none of those girls got the swine from me that weekend :)
I get home on Sunday and by Tuesday evening Mike comes home from community group and has chills, aches, fever etc... He is way worse off than I was and I tell him to go to the doctor to get a swine test. It was positive and they put him on tamiflu. He can now not go to work for 7 days and just feels awful. He was sick till Saturday and pretty much just stayed in his room.
On Friday, I see that Mary has watery eyes, red cheeks, and feels warm. Her temperature was 101.5 so off to the doctor we go. They do a test on her and it is positive. The dr. was very concerned because she is 3 months old. He tells me all the warning signs of when I would need to take her to the hospital. The main thing is that she needs to stay hydrated and avoid major congestion. It also was a little scary when I asked the doctor how old is youngest confirmed case was this year and he replied he'd seen one 11 month old, but Mary was the youngest so far.
She cannot be given tamiflu unless her fever continues for more than 3 days.
Saturday, she does not have a fever, but is incredibly fussy. She didn't want to eat or sleep which was a little scary. She was starting to resist nursing so I take her the ER on Saturday night along with tons of other flu patients. We get there and she is smiling wouldn't you know? We see a nurse in triage and I decide she is fine rather than waiting for countless hours.
Sunday, she is great and starting to see more like herself. Mike is also feeling better by this point. We decide to get out of the house and went to "Big Shucks" our favorite local catfish place. We sit on the patio for all the germaphobes out there! We are the only people on the patio at the time. Ellie and Anna are still abounding with energy and no symptoms. I am so glad that I've already had it cause if we we would have both been sick it would have been really rough.
Monday morning comes and Anna is sitting on the couch. She comes to me with vomit all over her. She is not warm, but I can tell she is a little congested. I had to take Mary back to the doctor for a follow-up visit. Also, her fever has returned along with the watery eyes etc... I'm beginning to get a little discouraged cause she was doing so much better. I figure I might as well get Anna tested as well. We get to the Dr. and we now have a "special" waiting area since they know we have the flu. Anna vomits in the waiting area and poor Mary is not feeling well. Dr. Morchower sees me and says "Oh Gosh". It was like he knew instantly what was about to occur.
He gives me a prescription for Mary of tamiflu and Anna tests positive. We head to the pharmacy with 3 prescriptions cause he goes ahead and puts Ellie on tamiflu as well as a preventative. You have to go to a compounding pharmacy to get liquid tamiflu cause they don't make it except for in pill form. We have a compounding pharmacy really close to our house so it worked out well during all of this ordeal. I give all three girls their meds and at this point Anna feels awful. Her fever is 102.7. She sleeps for 4 hours that afternoon.
I lay down with Ellie and she is a wreck. She is so upset that everyone is sick and that she can't do anything like Preschool, church, playgroup etc... I ask Ellie if she wants to do somehting fun with mommy that night and she says in this super sad voice "you take me to the pumpkin patch"? I took her to dinner that night and to do some errands. We saved the pumpkin patch for when Anna could go as well. They all take a long nap which was glorious!
Mike watches Anna and Mary that night. After, two doses of tamiflu Anna and Mary are doing great! It worked almost instantly. Anna no longer had a fever and was running around. Her swine flu ordeal lasted all of 5 hours. Mary is also doing great.
Ellie has still not gotten it and I think she is in the clear. She's been such a trooper during all of the boredom in spite of not knowing what was really going on. Here's a few things I've learned during this whole ordeal in no particular order.
* I am so glad that our pediatrician is 5 minutes away from our house and how important it is to really like and trust your doctor. He was amazing and told me to call with any questions over the weekend. He also really monitored Mary by seeing her 3 different times just to check her out.
* I've learned that for the most part the body is very resiliant and it is pretty difficult to catch the flu in most cases. Of course, it was easy when we all live together every day. However, no one at my girls weekend caught it and no one in our community group got it even though Mike and I both were contgious when we were around them.
* I am so glad that I am breastfeeding Mary. The Doctor kept reiterating how important it was for her immune system and it was the best thing I could do for her. So even though she's yet to take a bottle and it has been 4 long months of nursing her exclusively I know God had a plan for it.
* I've learned to not live in fear. There was only one point where Mike and I were pretty scared for Mary, but he told me we have to give her up and know that God has ordained her days.
* I learned that having sickness in a family for even 2 weeks is stressful. There was no one who could help us cause they would get it and it was pretty hard to not have any family in town.
* I will not stop my life. My kids will be back in the church nursery and at preschool. Of course, they are immune now except for Ellie, but she must have quite the immune system. I realized how much I missed community and friends. I cannot determine when or where they will get sickness from, but just have to trust that we can handle whatever comes our way.
* I learned that the swine flu was not that bad at all in our situation. I can see how it could get bad really fast especially if you had a cold prior to getting it to where it really went to your lungs.
*One thing that was really a bummer was that it was staggered in our situation. I kept Ellie and Anna home from preschool and church for almost 2 full preschool weeks even though they were not sick just to make sure they didn't carry any of the flu back to school. The Dr. kept telling me if they don't have a fever and are not positive for the test then send them. I just couldn't risk it for other people. Anna will get to go back next Tuesday and Ellie went back today. She was so excited and did great!
* I learned more about compassion. I had one friend who called every day during the whole time we were confined to the house. I knew no one could come see us, but just to have someone to talk to was so encouraging each day. We also had a sweet friend bring us dinner that was so yummy. I was capable of cooking, but just to have a little break and for someone to think of you was really sweet! I want to be more like that with others.

All in all I'm glad it is over and that normal life can resume on Sunday, but we did learn alot through it all. God was so faithful to us and answered many people's prayers to keep sweet Mary healthy. Thanks for all your prayers! Hoping for a healthy rest of the year!

I spoke to soon...

2009-09-23T18:23:00.002-05:00

I should not have done my previous post on the swine. Mike got diagnosed with it today. Good times at our house let me tell you! Please, pray that sweet Mary does not get it. He feels really yucky. I feel so bad for him and there is not much I can do in fear of catching it. He got on Tamiflu and hopefully will feel better soon. I guess his busy season just got slowed down in a major way! Thank goodness for Blockbuster as I checked out 3 new movies for the girls!

The Swine....

2009-09-20T21:55:00.002-05:00

I was with some mom friends recently and we were talking about actually being a little nervous about the swine flu this year. I'm normally not a germaphobe and my kids are rarely sick. I wash their hands, but do not own hand sanitizer and Mary started in the nursery at 4 weeks. I've always taken them to childcare at the gym, preschool, play group, church, etc...with little to no worry. Well, this week I got a pretty high fever, chills, sore throat, etc.. and I googled swine flu symptoms cause I feared the worst. I do not have it and felt better by the next day. However, the spread in our area is pretty scary. I know when it gets to be "flu" season a lot of schools will have to close and a few small children have died in TX. My family never mentions it being talked about much in GA and I don't hear my out of state friends really mentioning it. Most of the children who haved died have been hispanic and TX is about 50% hispanic so I don't know if that has anything to do with it? Anyways, I'm wondering if all my dear friends from NC, CO, FL, etc...are worried about the swine or do you hear it talked about much in your state?

A mess filled morning....

2009-09-11T13:45:00.003-05:00

I don't want to forget all my kids messy habits and one day I know I will wish I could clean up their mess when they are away at college and I miss them so much....
They say being a mom is a full-time job, but I think cleaning up all that occurs in our house on a daily basis is a full-time job not to mention all the other things we do during the day:)
Our morning started off okay and then it tends to get a little crazy when we all start getting ready for the day. Their are lots of clothes to put away, jammies, diapers, sippy cups, etc....
Anna can now reach the water dispenser on our fridge. She LOVES to find a plastic cup and fill it up with water. I catch her and she spills the water all over the couch. Ellie then shows me her plastic cup full of ice water and she takes a drink and it spills all over her shirt.
Mary wakes up and I feed her. We both get dressed into clean clothes and she spits up (more like vomits) all over her and all over my clean shirt. It happens all the time so now I just rub it into the carpet, clothing etc....!
I am in the bathroom to come out and both girls have gotten into the fridge to get a drink which is not allowed. They are sitting in a chair with two cans of diet coke opened and now spilling down their shirts and onto the chair. I take them away and put them in separate rooms in time out. I start a timer and they actually stay in their rooms for 10 minutes until the timer went off which was very impressive! We are almost out the door and Anna has an accident on the couch of pee so I clean that one up before we leave...
I call my friend Katrina cause we needed to get out of the house asap and our new meeting spot for lunch is Burger King. I know it is so yummy and exciting, but when you have 5 kids under 4 Chcik fil A is no longer fun. BK never has anyone in the play area and it is easy!
We get to BK and are everyone is doing good until Katrina's daughter Carsen spills almost a whole bottle of chocolate milk all over the floor. We wipe that one off and then discuss for awhile how hard being a SAHM really is right now. I am so thankful for sweet friends who are going through this stage with me. All the kids are asleep now for a nap and I think I need one as well!

Prayers from Anna....

2009-09-08T13:41:00.001-05:00

Well, preschool started today and I am not working which is a very good thing since Mary wants nothing to do with the bottle. It is a different feeling on this side of the MDO program. I can now see why the mom's so looked forward to Tuesday's and Thursday's. Ellie is going 2 days a week and Anna is going 1 day a week. Last year, we got into the habit of praying in the car before school mostly cause I needed to calm down from the madness of getting everyone ready and myself to school by 9 A.M. and a calm heart to teach 2 yr. olds all day! The girls quickly remembered on the way to school that we needed to pray. We prayed for Mrs. Elaine and Mrs. Gigi along with every other staff member at our preschool. We then proceeded to pray for all our playgroup friends who are starting school today and their classmates. Anna then said "Mommy, We pray for Tinkerbelle and Cinderella"! We went ahead and prayed for them. She was very sincere and it brought joy to my heart! I had a wonderful morning of doing lots of errands with Mary and then came home to relax/clean a little bit. I think I will really like Tuesday's this year!

She's growing up....

2009-09-04T23:09:00.003-05:00

My sweet little Mary is 3 months old today. I love this picture cause don't we all wish we could just hold them like this forever. Life is pretty simple with a little baby. I cannot imagine life without her in our family. In some ways I've kind of forgotten what it was like to just have two girls. She's such a blessing to us and such a reminder to me of how I want to treasure these early days. Here's what Mary is like at 3 months old.

* Most people immediately say she looks just like a Shelton girl. I'm thinking we will be hearing this a lot in the upcoming years.

* Weight 10 lb. 110z. (25%) Height 23 1/2 inches (50%) She may tower over her big sisters someday!

* Mary has a great smile that is really big and she smiles instantly when someone looks at her.

* She does not like the bottle and loves her mommy's milk.

* Mary does well in the church nursery and has been going since she was about 4 weeks old. They all love her and always comment on how petite she is... another comment we hear often!

* Ellie still adores Mary. It is really sweet when she is upset the girls will sing to her or try to comfort her. Ellie and Mary sleep in the same room and it is working really well. It actually helps Ellie to go to sleep knowing that Mary is right next to her.

* Mary loves her crib. She's a tummy sleeper and is pretty much done with the paci. I don't know if she will like her fingers or thumb more. I don't have to do anything to get her to go to sleep.

* Mary DOES NOT like the car seat which can make for some interesting car rides when all three girls are upset. She really does not even want to sit in when we are out somewhere. I have to use the baby bjorn or just hold her when we are out. However, how often am I out with all three girls unless we are with Mike or friends.

* Mary loves a routine and is pretty much a typical "Baby Wise" baby and has followed the routine part really well.

* Mary spits up a lot and Mike loves it when it is on a nice clean shirt:) I've gotten used to it and have gotten pretty good at just rubbing it in to whatever surface it lands on.

* Mary is sleeping 12-14 hours. Everyone should have a third baby to experience this joy! Ha!

* Mary loves to lay on the floor to look around or in her bouncy chair. She does not like the swing very much.

* Mary is quite the little baby doll for Ellie and Anna. They love to put dress up stuff on her like sunglasses, crowns, shoes, and necklaces. She also has been through a lot in her first 3 months and I've learned that she is pretty tough. Anna accidentally stepped on her head. She's always getting her arms pulled or her feet. They love to blow bubbles on her tummy. She does love it and I'm just enjoying the days where I don't have three girls fighting over the same toy!

We love our sweet little girl so much and are so blessed with three uniquely different little girls. I really cannot picture our house when they are older, but that it will be full of all kind of different personalities! What a gift our children are from God.

Conversations....

2009-09-02T22:46:00.001-05:00

We have quite the interesting conversations some day. Today, we were riding in the van which my friend Caren has nicknamed her van the FUV (Family Utility Vehicle). I think I could agree that it has many great things for our family! Here's the conversation:
Ellie: "Oh my gosh, that is the most ammmmaaaazzzing car" as a convertible drives by.
Ellie: That's what my daddy would say!

It is so true and reminded me that they really do pick up on everything we say which can be very scary sometimes.

I cut Anna's hair today cause she's yet to enjoy a trip to a kids salon. She pretty much would not allow it! I have to put her in the high chair with a lollipop and Barney on T.V. for it to really work. She sat pretty still and even let me dry it. It looks so much better and even though it is not totally even it will work.
She was very proud of her hair cut and the first thing she asked me was "I go show my hair to Mrs. Horn" . She is Anna's ballet teacher and her first class was yesterday. She's totally obsessed with ballet and has been since last spring when she would have to sit and watch during Ellie's class. She wears the outfit constantly and sleeps with her ballet shoes. I was a little nervous about signing her up cause almost everywhere I drop her off at lately she cries and gets scared. She told me " I be brave and happy at ballet class"
She was soooo happy yesterday. Mike took her cause I had something and he said she obeyed perfectly and came out with the biggest grin. She has continued to talk about it all day and apparently next week we will show Mrs. Horn her hair!
Anna also is very into a routine lately when it comes to bedtime. We now tell Jonah and David every nap/night time. She can repeat the story completely and it is so cute.
I love my girls so much and for the record sweet Mary slept almost 14 hours last night!

Ellie's 4 yr. stats....

2009-08-27T16:30:00.002-05:00

I took Ellie to the dreaded 4 yr. appointment last week and she endured her 4 shots. They were not to bad and she was really brave. She really enjoyed the sticker and band-aids she received.
Her weight was 28 lbs. (0-5%)
Height was 10-25%

She sure is a big girl.....I'm thinking she might hit 35 by Kindergarten (maybe)! It is a really good thing she will start when she is 6.

Life with two...

2009-08-27T16:19:00.002-05:00

Ellie has been quite the traveler this summer. She went to my parents house for 2 weeks and this week she got to go to Mike's parents house for a week. She loves every minute of it and there is no homesickness from her. She loves the attention and all the fun things she has gotten to do. There is quite a bit more you can do with one 4 yr. old than a 4 yr. old, 2 1/2 yr. old, and 2 month old!
Anna has gotten to have a pretty fun week as well. I've loved this one on one time with her. I forget how sweet my girls can be when they are alone. They are sweet together sometimes, but we have lots of fights and arguments over sharing etc... during our day. I don't think I've had to really discipline Anna all week and it has been so nice. She sure does miss her sister so I know it will be nice for them to play together when Ellie returns tomorrow! Mimi has done so many fun things with Ellie like swimming at the indoor pool, museums, story time, cupcakes, ice cream man, book store, books, singing songs in the car, seeing relatives, and open gym at a gymnastics place. I am so thankful for our sweet grandparents and for the mini-break I've gotten this week! Yes, when you have 3 children when you only have 2 it is a significant change!

Anna and I have been working on P.T. . I've kind of approached it with a laid-back approach and she is doing great. When we are at home she is not in a diaper and when we go out I make her wear one. She's done it a couple of times unprompted and had just a few accidents. I'm so proud of her!
Today, we went with our playgroup to a children's museum. She had a really good time and enjoyed the "farm" area the most. It was kind of our end of the summer activity for the kids. Next week lots of activities start back. Anna's dream occurred this week when I registered her for ballet class at our city rec center. She pretty much requests to be in ballet attire all day long. I told her she had to be brave and not cry when she went to the class by herself. She told me "mommy, I be happy and not cry". We will see on Tuesday when her class starts.
Anyways, I'm excited to see my sweet Ellie tomorrow, but am so glad she's gotten to have so much fun!

Miss Mary.....

2009-08-18T15:43:00.002-05:00

When we were in FL with my family we did the traditional family pictures on the beach. 296 pictures to be exact!! I am so glad we were able to capture Mary in her newborn phase. There are so many other good ones of the girls that we are not quite sure what we are going to do with all of them yet. We had to be at the beach by 6:30 A.M. that was sure fun, but the morning time ended up being great cause it wasn't to hot and there were no bugs!

Mary is now 10 weeks old and is precious. I was wondering how I would even have time to enjoy her, but I must say on the third baby I think you realize the baby time is so short. I have loved having a "baby" in the house and it just so happens that she is pretty easy!

It seems like each week she would add another hour to how long she sleeps at night. This past week we've had quite a few 10-11 hour stretches. She loves her crib and does not love her car seat so we seem to try and take most naps at home. Ellie is still very much in love with her. I thought maybe it was a phase, but she is still very into her. They are actually sharing a room at night since Anna crawled out of the crib and we only have one twin bed in Ellie's old room.

Mary weighed 9 lb. 11 0z. at her two month appointment so she is a little bigger than the other girls at that point. We will see if she starts to slow down like they did. Ellie goes to her 4 yr. apptmt. tomorrow. It will be interesting how that goes. I haven't told her anything about it cause I don't want her to get upset before we have to get there!!

Mike has been at "Lake Day" with the staff from Watermark. He said it was so fun. They go away for a day once a year to just play at the lake and go to someone's lake house. We stop each other often and remember how blessed we are to serve at Watermark. It is one incredible place to be for so many reasons!

Ellie's FOUR!

2009-08-10T21:05:00.009-05:00

Sweet Sisters

Ellie and her Backyardigans Cake

Mike got to hold Mary all night; a HUGE help!

Ava, Mary, and Milia; all 3 weeks apart!

Big Sisters and Little Sisters

What was I thinking.....?

2009-08-02T17:03:00.002-05:00

Well, I think after having Mary and currently with three kids under three I might have lost a few brain cells. So on Friday night.... I planned a date for Mike and I which we were both so excited about... I got some friends to watch the girls and we had a nice gift card to a fancy restaurant! Our entire date was going to be free which is rare. I planned our day so that it would be Mary's sleepy time and it was a 20 minute drive to get there so I figured she would fall asleep in the car seat. We didn't know to much about the place, but just that it was really nice as in our gift card was for $100. We get there and she is asleep until we get her out of the car. She is wide awake.... Normally, when she wakes up it is time to eat so I figure I will nurse her in the bathroom. We open the door to the restaurant. It is really small, dark, fancy, and for sure we did not see any car seats! Mike assures me she will go back to sleep and it will be okay. However, I get really nervous. I go to the bathroom which happens to be a one stall bathroom. I lock the door and nurse her with people knocking on the door. I hurry and start to get really nervous cause after she eats the last place she wants to go is her car seat. Mike orders for us while I'm in the bathroom. I put Mary in the car seat with the paci and she is okay for about 3 minutes. We then take turns holding her while many people are looking at us thinking "can't you get a sitter"? They just didn't know that my sweet Mary will only take about 1 ounce from a bottle and doesn't like it to much. We each take turns holding her and she starts to get fussy which at a loud restaurant would have been fine, but not while people are trying to enjoy their anniversary dinners etc.... So I get my food to go and go outside with her. I really have no idea why I didn't think more about taking her there!!! We ended up going to Barnes and Noble to relax after that stressful event. It was a moment I never want to experience again and hope I think a little more clearly someday soon!!!

Our Trip to Naples, Florida...

2009-07-27T08:24:00.001-05:00

We just finished up a trip to Naples, Florida with my parents. We had so much fun! Here's a slideshow Mike put together. Enjoy!

Naples, Florida (so far) from Mike Shelton on Vimeo.

Mary's first couple weeks.....

2009-07-13T22:03:00.003-05:00

We are learning to be gentle
Happy 4th of July!
She likes her paci!
5 Weeks Old!

We've enjoyed baby Mary so much these first 5 weeks. She's fitting right in to our family of 5! She's for sure had the laid back "third child" personality. I really don't know what I would do if she was really hard. Here are some things she likes and dislikes:

Likes:

When things are chaotic she loves to be in her crib where it is quiet

Riding in the car!

She's been so good at nursing and I am so glad.

She is really good at spitting up all over mommy. I pretty much smell all day and I've learned to just wipe it off or else I would be changing my shirt all the time.

Mommy and Daddy time after Ellie and Anna go to sleep

She is waking up around 3:30 a.m. every night and then back to sleep right away.

She is really sleepy in the morning which is good cause it helps me to start our day.

She loves to be outside in the shade while we are at the pool. She sleeps really well there.

She sleeps the best on her tummy. I've never had a tummy sleeper this early, but it is working well.

Dislikes:

She always hates being put right back in her car seat after she eats.

Her sisters shoving the paci in her mouth which makes her gag.

She does not like the swing very much (bummer).

The sun in her eyes which is kind of hard when you live in Dallas.

Wet/Poo diapers

Bath time

Swimming with Rosey....

2009-07-13T21:46:00.005-05:00

Ellie took private lessons for two weeks and it was so great! She has been terrified of anything, but the baby pool so I knew I could not teach her. It worked out well cause it was in her teachers back yard and there were two teachers and four kids all her age. I did not stay which was also really helpful cause she couldn't cling to me. It was amazing to see her progression and confidence grow after each lesson.

* I couldn't get these videos to line up right!

Camp Barnabas...

2009-07-03T08:48:00.005-05:00

Mike just got back from taking his students to Camp Barnabas. Grab some tissues, and to watch this best, turn the HD on, and watch in full screen :)

Miss Independent.....

2009-06-27T21:24:00.002-05:00

My sweet, determined 2 yr. old Anna has been growing up before my eyes this past week. In one week she has decided she wants to be potty trained and she has learned how to climb out of the crib. I was not ready for either of these cause you know our world just changed with Mary arriving 23 days ago. I know that P.T. and using a big girl bed require lots of energy and discipline. However, she's the type of kid that if she sleeps in a big girl bed once it will be the end of the crib so that is what is happening tonight. She's in Ellie's bed because Ellie is currently in trouble for getting out of her bed way to many times tonight so it worked out well. Ellie is sleeping in the guest bed in Mary's room. I'm guessing it will have to be this way for awhile until we have the time to look for Anna a bed. She is such a climber and I'm pretty sure with her stubborn determination she will be in some sport to get all of her energy out!

When she climbed out she told me "it's tall and I brave"! I am really hoping the P.T. will be easy cause with Ellie it was quite the long process. I'm not going to really stress to much about it and give it a week or so to make sure she is really ready to try it.

We went to visit my brother's family over the weekend in OKC and it was lots of fun! The girls got to play with their cousins which was a blast for them. It was really fun for my mom to see all 5 granddaughters together. Mary did great in the car, but the 3.5 hour trip was for sure an extra 1.5-2 hours longer with the stops for the 3 girls! It was a good change and I am so glad we got to all go! I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Life with Three.....

2009-06-22T22:03:00.003-05:00

Well, as you can tell my blogging has been kind of absent lately. I'm so sad as well cause Mike is at camp with our computer so I can't update with pictures. However, we are doing really well. It seems like Mary has been here forever and the adjustment time is now pretty much over for the girls. I am still adjusting with little things like getting everyone in the car etc...! Mary is so sweet and is just like she was in the womb which was very calm. She's going with the flow so far just as many mom's of three expressed that their third was really laid back. She seems similar in many ways to Ellie and Anna especially with her tiny little features on her face and tiny little feet. I have been so blessed with lots of help so I'm sure when everyone has left it will be more difficult. Mike's family was here right after she was born for a week. Ellie went to VBS at Prestonwood Baptist along with 4,000 other kids! It was craziness, but such a blessing as Mike would take her every morning and Mike's parents would watch Anna while I slept! We had lots of fun with Mimi and Granddaddy. We had a week alone which went well as both girls went to VBS last week at the church where they go to preschool. I've loved VBS that is for sure! My mom came late last week and will be here till the first of July while Mike is on a trip to Camp Barnabas in MO with the students. Ellie will be flying home with my mom for 2 weeks so it will be a nice little break as Anna still naps for 2-3 hours every afternoon. I am excited for Ellie to get lots of attention and do all kinds of "big girl" things with Nana and Papa! It has been a great way to transition into being a family of 5!

Mary has been pretty easy so far. I cannot imagine if she was really difficult as my main focus is still E and A. I am thrilled that nursing is going better this time and she seems "full" most the time! She loves her crib and the bouncy chair. She's not a fan of the swing. She likes it quiet can you imagine why? I try to put her in the crib in her room when we are home so she can get a nap in peace. There have been lots of funny things have happened so far and she's survived them all! Here's a few:

Ellie for some reason thinks she should put her hand over her mouth when she is crying so she will be quiet.

Ellie has stuck her finger in her mouth lots of time instead of the paci. (yuck)!

Ellie was very confused by the "pump". After, I was done she said "mommy can you hook me up to that and proceeded to lift up her shirt".

The girls found a sticker book today and Mary was very decorated with stickers and she slept through the whole thing.

Both girls are very into her "spitting up" and insist on helping her immediately.

Some hard things:

Getting everyone into their car seat is beyond exhausting and I think we need a new plan. It might be that the girls argue over who can have the blue car seat in the back of the van. I've taken all three quite a few places, but not the grocery store. I really don't ever want to do it for a very long time!

Nursing time is interesting cause Ellie is very into sitting right next to me the whole time and patting the baby. I don't want to discourage her loving spirit, but I am a little touched out by the end of it.

There is not much alone time these days so I really have to pray throughout the day to have patience and joy in the midst of it!

I am so thankful for all the help we have received and Mike has been amazing. He was somewhat nervous about doing it all, but he has stepped right up and done awesome! I am so proud of him and we had a great Father's day together!

Quick Slideshow of Our Girls at the Blueberry Farm!

2009-06-13T23:32:00.003-05:00

Blueberry Farm from Mike Shelton on Vimeo.

Mike has been taking LOTS of pictures with our new camera lately, and so here's a look at the trip we took today to a really fun blueberry farm outside of Dallas...

Mary Caroline's Birth Story......

2009-06-12T23:28:00.003-05:00

Mary Caroline

7lb. 12 oz.

20 inches

3:34 P.M.

I went to the doctor on a Monday and I was 3cm dilated. He said my body was ready for labor and that if I wanted to I could get induced later that week. I was a little hesitant, but knew it would be easier with someone watching the girls etc... We decided to go ahead and schedule it. I was induced with Ellie and was not with Anna. I felt like I had experienced both and was did not favor one over the other. The only weird part is trying to get to sleep the night before knowing what you are doing the next day!

I got to the hospital at 8 A.M. and around 9:15 they started a slow drip of pitocin and I was still 3 cm when we arrived. The pitocin did not do much to me except start regular contractions about 5 minutes apart. I was not in any pain and the plan was for the doctor to break my water around noon.

Dr. H came to break my water at 12:30 and I was 4 cm. He said to get ready cause on most third children they come really fast after the water is broken. I started to be in pain around 1:15 and so I asked for the epidural. I was 6 cm when the epi was inserted. Mike is always amazed at how the epidural does not scare me. He sees the needle and almost passes out. However, if he only knew as a woman you see the epidural as an amazing gift! I felt much better after the epi and then it was just time to relax a little bit. I was not feeling to much at this point. I progressed really quickly and by 2:30 or so they said we would have a baby within the hour. I was 8 cm at this point. I started to feel a little more pressure and at around 3:00 I could feel quite a bit and realized I could move and feel my legs. I asked the nurse if I should be feeling pressure etc... she checked the pump and it was time to change the batteries?!!!! I did not want to hear those words. She changed the batteries and gave me an extra dose, but at this point the doctor said it was time to push. I for sure felt different than with Ellie and Anna. I am so glad that I only pushed for 15 minutes or so, but the doctor said it was pretty much all natural. I can now say I've pretty much experienced it all in child birth and it is still one of the most amazing things I've ever gone through. It goes so fast and before you know it you have another precious baby in your arms that you cannot imagine loving so much. I am so thankful for my wonderful doctor. He is a Christian and was always so kind. I felt so comfortable with him in any situation. I could totally trust his judgement especially when Mary was breach. He always took his time to visit with us and prayed with us after her birth. I've had 3 different doctors with all the girls and I think he was my favorite. I loved the others as well, but Dr. H is a really special person who has a gift and calling to be a OB/GYN.

I am so thankful that God was in control the whole day and I can say He was my strength the whole pregnancy. It was a really long 9 months and it really felt like I was training for a marathon and just wanted race day to come. I can say that chasing two toddlers and being pregnant is really hard. You have no energy left at the end of the day to do anything else and it was really overwhelming emotionally. I was so relieved on June 4th that I did it and that Mary was here healthy!

The hospital stay.....

2009-06-12T23:14:00.003-05:00

Mike and I really enjoyed our hospital stay which might sound a little strange. However, it was pretty much just the three of us the whole time. It was really sweet to get such alone time with Mary and also time with Mike. We talked a lot and watched lots of TV and movies. Our hospital was amazing. It is a small hospital that almost looks like a clinic. My Dr. is only there one day a week and I was able to get induced on his day where he works in Frisco. The hospital is really unique in that the women's unit was designed by doctors and how they wanted to do extra things to make it different. I think the best thing was that the nurses station had a camera to where they can see into your room so if you had visitors or were asleep they didn't bug you about taking your blood pressure etc... It seemed like we were not bothered from 10 P.M. till 7 A.M. cause they took all my vitals before we went to sleep. They also were really fast about picking Mary up to take her to the nursery etc.. and it didn't seem like you were annoying them.

Mike's favorite thing was the food cause it seemed like we were on a cruise ship. It was incredible and if you didn't like what they were serving that meal you could have them go downstairs to the cafeteria and order anything off the menu. Mike was given a meal every time I did so we enjoyed it together. Your last night at the hospital they serve you a "congratulatory" dinner of steak and lobster. It was really yummy and I especially loved the chocolate cake!

I really cannot think of one negative aspect about our stay and the fact that we both slept better there than at home was impressive. However, we also didn't have someone coming into our room at 7 A.M. to ask for breakfast!

Big Sisters.....

2009-06-12T23:03:00.004-05:00

Ellie and Anna are doing great at being big sisters and the adjustment has not been as difficult as I thought it would. I would say the first couple of days they were a little confused and out of sorts (mainly cause of mommy being in the hospital). However, it seems like Mary has always been with us and I cannot imagine her not being a part of our family! Ellie has been very interested in all things baby related and Anna doesn't seem to care very much. They have both been very gentle and I am so thankful that they have not been jealous when I am holding her. Ellie loves to throw away diapers and get the paci for me. Anna loves to tickle and give hugs. I've had some interesting conversations about nursing. Ellie really thought that babies only got bottles so I've had some explaining to do in which I am not sure I've done a great job at it! They are also very intrigued by her umbilical cord and I have been a little nervous that they will touch it. I have noticed that once I put Mary in her crib that they kind of forget about her so she rarely takes a nap out in our living room. I'm sure she enjoys the quiet of her room! I am so proud of the girls and it is really fun to have three little Shelton girls!

Johnny and Chachi...at Willow Creek!

2009-06-11T10:52:00.003-05:00

Tonight Mike's boss is performing at Willow Creek's worship conference with his friend Rob as Johnny and Chachi. They've been making videos for years now, and lately they've been getting requests to do some of their stuff live! Here's one of their videos...funny stuff!