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Monday, December 27, 2010

HE is THREE


3 years ago today.

Today is a BIG day in the Hill house.  Today we get to celebrate Gannon's 3rd birthday.  Are you kidding me...I can't believe he is already three.  I remember so clearly waking up to a ton of snow outside wondering if we would make it to the hospital.  After a slow drive to Liberal, and an even slower wait on this little guy, he finally arrived and he has been such a joy to have in our family. 





A few of Mommy's favorite things about Gannon this year...
  • Gannon says a prayer each night before supper, it goes something like this.
    •  "Dear God, thank you for my tractor, my combine, the wheat dump it in the pit, thank you for my tractor my combine dump it in the pit...(repeat several times) thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Hudsen and Ryker and Mommy and Daddy and Hudsen and Ryker and GANNON... Amen. "
  • Each night before Gannon can fall asleep he gives each of us Hugs, Kisses, High Fives, and Knuckles (in that order or it does not count).  He also gets up several times in the night just to tell us "Love You"  I would be a little upset about this, but his sweet little voice just brings a smile to my face and the words "I love you Gannon, to my lips" .
  • Gannon has also been a huge help around the house, he unloads the dishwasher, he puts his shoes in the closet, and he can put his dirty clothes in the laundry room.  (These are huge things when so many people live in this house.)
  • Gannon has learned that if you go into the bathroom and get toilet paper, you can blow your nose on it.  Love this one.  He has also informed Levi and I that he can't sleep because he has boogies.
  • Gannon loves Tractors, Combines, and Wheat.  He would spend everyday at the Farm with Grandpa Kinley if we would let him.  To occupy his time and keep him up-to-date on all things farming, we let him watch combines cutting wheat on youtube.  No sound required, he just loves to watch them cut wheat and dump it in the truck.  This would provide hours of entertainment for him if we would let him watch it that long. 
  • All toys containing John Deer belong to Gannon in this house, and DON"T even think about touching them Ryker and Hudsen.  "Come to think of it, don't even look at my toys."
  • Gannon's favorite movies are How to Train your Dragon and Ice Age. 
This year we will be working really hard on these THREE things...
  1. POTTY TRAINING (Gannon is strong willed about this and he has NO desire to learn this new trick.)
  2. Counting and ABC's (Gannon is strong willed about this too, and well NO desire to learn this either.)
  3. Sharing his toys (Guess what... Strong willed and NO desire to do this or even think about doing it.)
Today, Gannon woke us up with his big smile and big heart.  We started today off exactly like we did THREE years ago, being greeted by such a gift from God. 
Gannon, my life is full of love, hugs, and kisses because of you.  You are a true treasure that I fall more and more in love with daily.  With ALL my heart, Gannon James, I LOVE YOU!

Hugs, Kisses, High Fives, and Knuckles,

Mama


Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

I will write in detail about our 2010 Christmas, but tonight I only have one thought on my mind...
I am SO BLESSED to be loved and surrounded by my wonderful boys.


Sunday, October 24, 2010

Major Overhaul

I almost forgot I had a blog... So many changes have taken place over the last few months.  Some good, Some not so good.  Of course, the boys are all getting so big. 

Hudsen's Stats: 
  • 1st Grade (went to Parent Teacher Conferences, his teacher said he was Perfect- umm...?)
  • We now come home and do homework and study spelling words.  Where did my baby go?
  • Playing Flag Football.  He moved up a division and is not sure he likes playing against bigger boys.
  • Attitude, oh my! 
  • In charge of cleaning his room.  I love this one. 
  • Hudsen is going to be Iron Man for Halloween, can't seem to break away from that Super Hero Theme.

Gannon's Stats

  • 2 years old (almost 3)
  • Talking and telling on his brothers all day long
  • He loves anything to do with the Farm.  He carries combines, tractors, and grain bins wherever he goes.  He sleeps with an entire farm in his bed.
  • He thinks the world of his older brother, and well, he still is not sure about the younger one.
  • Gannon is going to be a little monster for Halloween.  Very fitting





Ryker's Stats
  • My baby is 1.
  • Walking everywhere, Climbing on everything.  He fell off the kitchen table today. 
  • Ryker does not talk much with his voice, but he can tell you a thousand stories with his eyes. 
  • Ryker is going to be a Skeleton for Halloween.



I am sure there are many more activities that these 3 are doing, but I don't have time to type them all down.  As I type, I hear screaming outside.  Crying from somewhere in this house and Daddy yelling NO.  Not sure what is going on, but I am glad I am in my little room of the house right now.

I decided to follow my heart this summer, and I resigned from my Elementary Teaching job in Hooker.  I went out on a limb and decided to go "home".  I took a job in Texhoma as the High School Computer Teacher.  I love working with computers and this has been a great job!  We did not move, so I get up really early every morning and drive to work.  This is not as bad as I thought.  There are very few people on the road at 6:45 am and I have a chance to just think, relax, and drink my coffee before beginning my day.  I really do miss seeing the boys in the morning, it has always been my favorite part of their day.  I am very lucky because I have a great boss that lets me leave at 2 so that I can be home to pick them up from school.  I have loved picking them up outside after school.  As Hudsen says "I am a real mom now".  I have found myself not being as annoyed with them after work as I was in the past.  I think not working with young children all day and coming home to more young children helps more than I thought it would. 

Levi is still loving his job as a Trooper.  This job has allowed him to have "Daddy's Daycare"  three times a week.  He stays home with Gannon and Ryker while I go to work.  This makes it a little easier working so far away.  His nerves are a little shot by 3:30, but it has been great for the boys.

Levi and I have even managed a little getaway this month.  We left the boys with my parents and went to the Balloon Festival in New Mexico.  What a wonderful trip.  Very relaxing and the show was beautiful, just as I remembered it being. 

The big TTU vs OSU game was next.  And well, the Red and Black were very disappointing. 

Levi and I have also had to deal with the loss of two of our Grandparents the last few months.  First, after a very full loving life, my Papa Rex left this world.  He was a fighter and he has been greatly missed since his passing.  It is hard to believe that my Grandparent's are gone.  I miss them greatly.  Levi's Granny passed away a couple weeks ago.  She too was such a fighter.  She was stronger than anyone thought.  She was able to show each of us how much she loved us with her eyes, and her wonderful hugs.  She too is very missed.  I have been thinking a lot about life since these passing, and the one thing both these wonderful people had in common was the way they "showed" their love.  I say that I love people, but I have been wondering how I show my love.  Several stories were told about each of these people being kind and giving of their time and selves.  What wonderful examples we have in our lives if we just stop for a minute and watch.

This post should last me for the next couple months.



Sunday, May 23, 2010

SUMMER!


WooHoo it's SUMMER!  Can't wait to spend the next few months with my 3-4 favorite guys.  Little League is in full swing.  Games start this week and so we will be busy busy busy!  I am so excited.  Hudsen has been practicing and is ready for another season of T-ball.  Well not excited about playing t-ball again, he thinks he is too old, but he is excited to be out at the field with all his friends.  I love watching him play, he really is great at baseball. 
Gannon, he is wild as ever and has started sneaking out of the fence to go visit the neighbors.  I do recall Hudsen doing the same thing.  Good thing our neighbors are great friends.
Ryker is crawling everywhere.  He has started saying Mama- which I adore.  He is playing with the boys more and more everyday.  I can't believe how big he is getting.  He is almost wearing the same size clothes as Gannon.  Poor Gannon.
This summer we will once again try this potty training thing once again.  Gannon has NO desire to even talk about it so I think we are in for a long summer of wet pants and no mamas.
We have already had an exciting start to our summer.  We had 2 fabulous speakers come speak to our kids at the All Sports Banquet.  We had the honor of listening to Andrew McGee and Jessica Lewis give great talks to our kids.  And for me a HUGE Texas Tech fan to say that these 2 OSU athletes were fabulous, well they must have been fabulous.  After the banquet, they stopped by the house to meet Hudsen and they were wonderful with him.  Andrew signed Hud's OSU poster and Hudsen told him all about his "stick" horse, OSU.  I think they got a kick out of the stick horse's name.  Jessica, a member of the OSU track team, was great too.  What a kind, and quite funny lady she is.  I really enjoyed talking to her.  And I never thought I would say this but I can't wait to watch these two OSU athletes do great things.  Not only on the field but in their Christian lives as well.  If you have children, Andrew and Jessica are GREAT role models for our kids.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Mother's Day

Well, do I begin with my mother, her mother, or with me, a mother myself.  Let's start with my Grandma Thelma shall we.  Now let me tell you, this lady was to die for.  Her irresistible laugh, which she always covered up with her hand, brought a smile to my face often.  When she laughed, it was like watching a little girl giggle.  Her smile always contagious and her love unconditional.  Her time was not her own, but belonged to so many of her children and her grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.  I always knew that we would see my grandmother, either in her chair by her reading lamp or on the second row of a basketball game.  She had to have been an amazing mother because when I see my mother, I see my grandmother.  Oh, and my Mom, what an amazing mom.  Sometimes when my kids are not feeling well, I will rub their heads like my mom did and still does and I wonder if my touch is as comforting as hers.  I wonder if my kids know that no matter what, I will come running when needed.  I hear my Mom was a working Mom, but I never knew it because when needed, wherever needed, she was and is always there.  The comfort and reassurance of my Mom is all I need sometimes to get me through my day.  Which leads me to well, me,  a Mom of three amazing boys.  I write this often but these little guys are truly the greatest gift a Mother could ask for.  As their Mom, I get to see those little smiles brighten up our home.  I get to hear those little giggles from two little boys that should be asleep.  And I get to see my baby learning something new daily.  There is nothing more fulfilling in this world than the voice of a little boy telling me how much they love me.  These guys mean the world to me and I honored to be their Mom. 

  • I love my open mouth slobbery kisses from Ryker.

  • I love my knuckles, high fives, hugs, and kisses from Gannon.

  • I love my To the Stars and Back, Like the Sun Sun Sun, and With All my Heart from Hudsen.

 
I love being Hudsen, Gannon, and Ryker's Mom.

 
So Happy Mother's Day

 
To Valerie (you raised an amazing Son) 

 
To Fonda (you are truly of lady of love)

 
To Tonia (you are a wonderful friend and mother)

 
To Kristi (you teach me daily)

 
AND

 
To MY MOM (there is no one that even touches your place in my heart!)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Dax the Man

My wonderful outgoing 2 year old nephew has been having several stomach problems.  He has been in and out of the hospital and doctor's offices for the last few months.  Kristi (his mom) was told today that he has celiac disease.  This is a disease that prevents you from eating anything with gluten.  If you research gluten you will see that it is in almost EVERYTHING we eat.  This disease (in a lack of better words, seems to eat away at your intestines if you don't take care of it).  They go to a specialist tomorrow for more tests and options.  I am typing this in hopes that you will pray for Dax and his family.  This is a life changing disease that will be very hard to grow accustomed to.  All prayers will be greatly appreciated by Kristi and Garrett.  If you have a means of getting a prayer request out, please do so.  I know several of you have several friends and family members that can help us pray for them.  Also, she has a blog http://godlygossips.blogspot.com please stop by and leave her a comment, I know she would appreciate it.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

I Love Him

All I can say is....What a GREAT man I married!  I LOVE YOU, always and forever babe, always and forever!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Someone's Having a Birthday...

Oh wait, that someone is me... I only write this because 5 years ago, my birthday became much more than My birthday.  Five years ago, I was sitting in a specialist waiting room waiting to find out what exactly was wrong with my firstborn.  Two months prior to this I was told that my baby would be born with down's syndrome and I would need to see a specialist to find out how severe it would be.  So there I was sitting in a waiting room on my birthday holding my stomach and praying to God to PLEASE let my baby be "normal".  My parents, Levi's parents, and Levi were standing outside the waiting room visiting while I sat there.  The longer I sat the more nervous I became and the harder I began to pray.  I watched parents sitting there with their grown children, all with downs, pleading with them to just be still.  I watched as an older father tied the shoe of his now grown child adult.  I turned to see another mother cover her head just wishing her son would stop yelling.  That is when it hit me, what am I going to do if something is wrong with my baby?  How am I going to do this for the rest of my life.  I instantly had two emotions running through my head, selfishness and shame.  Selfishness because I did not want my life to be this way, and shame for thinking that of my unborn baby.  But then in the middle of my prayer-plead to God I heard the sweetest words, Thanks Daddy, Love You-coming from the "shoe child".   The selfishness was gone and the love of my child no matter what the problems, it was mine and I would love him or her no matter what.  But the greatest feeling was that this baby would LOVE ME BACK.  Not to long after that our name was called, they took us into a tiny room to explain what they would be looking for, and our options.  Options, we don't need options.  After our "little conversation" they took us to a larger room and set up the sonogram.  As she moved around, there it was our baby, the greatest birthday gift ever.  There it was, she moved it here and moved it there looking for "markers"  very few words came out of her mouth as she did, then she said it...This is a very HEALTHY little baby.  Oh, tears of joy and love from answered prayers.  Our baby was/is healthy.

So on this day, my birthday, I found out that trusting God, believing that he is in charge, and allowing myself to love unconditionally would be the greatest birthday- life -gift of all.  On this day, five years ago, my birthday would forever be about unconditional love.  This special day will always be the day I found out that I was going to be the Mommy of a beautiful HEALTHY little BOY!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Well believe it or not there is life in the Hill house.  You probably would not have guessed it by my lack of blogging, but we are alive and we are busy.  One of these days when I get a few minutes, I will update this blog.  Know this, the boys are all doing great.  Levi and I are trying to update our bedroom right now.  We hope that one day, we will get to do more than just paint and trim.  I am loving the new color, gray.  I knew if I picked Levi's favorite color, then he would for sure let me do it.  The first mention of gray and he was all for it.  We have also decided to tackle a job that I have been wanting to do for about 7 years now, new baseboards.  First up, our room, then slowly the rest of the house.  I am sure that my husband can't wait for summer to get here so that I will stop starting all these projects for him to finish.  I am going a little crazy, I am not much for cold weather and it seems as though this winter has been extra long, or maybe I have more kids this winter and the house seems a little smaller than in the past.  Whatever the case may be, I am ready for HOT weather.  I promise to get back to this blogging thing once I have a few minutes to myself.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Look Who Turned 2!











I am a little late on this post, BUT he has been on my mind a lot! Gannon James Hill turned 2 years old December 27th. That little bug is growing so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on my couch 9 months pregnant, trying to open Christmas gifts. My belly was HUGE and I was miserable. As the snow fell on that very cold morning, Levi and I drove to the hospital (icy roads!!!) once again to welcome another baby boy. This little guy took forever to get here, but once he did, of course love at first sight. I remember holding him and looking out the window at the most beautiful winter scene. Snow covered everything and the flakes were huge. I held that little guy and together we were one and warm.




Fast forward through 2 RSV hospital stays and lots of bumps, falls, Popsicle sticks and we are here, 2 years later. My little guy is growing up way to fast. He is now trying to talk in sentences, which I understand. And just like that, he is crawling OUT of his crib. He never attempted this before, but it's like, hey, I am 2 I think I will start crawling out of this thing. And so I debate, should I keep him in there and just get up and put him back, or should I take down the crib and let him sleep in a big boy bed. YIKES! a big boy bed! NO!!!




I so love watching my boys grow up and each new stage brings lots of new things that I love. Can't wait to see what Gannon has in store for us this year! Happy Birthday Gannon James!