Santa's Message

Santa left Lawson a message. Click here to see his message for my sweet baby boy. OR for a good laugh click here for Shad's message.

cousins

Shauna this is for you!

Christmas #1

We had the Schipke's Christmas this past weekend. I have some pictures of the mommas and babes I'd like to share.

Kristy and her girls, Audrey and Ava.

Shauna and Cait.

and us. Lawson opening his first Christmas present.

work

Sorry, about being a little M.I.A. lately. I went back to work on December 6th, and as you can guess, my nights and weekends only consisted of loving this little boy. It hasn't been too bad at work...you can ask me again in January when Christmas break is over and Lawson starts daycare... I'm thankful for Shad's mom and grandma who came down to stay with us for the past two weeks which allowed me to go to work knowing that Lawson was being taken care of with love. Hopefully, this has gotten my feet wet so when January 3rd comes I won't have a complete melt down and quit my job. Please start praying for me now.... I need strength to hand him to a stranger, turn my back, walk away, get into my car and drive off. I hope I am strong enough. As of now, I'm not...tears are rolling down my face.

MD Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with my Maryland cousins....it was loud and fun! "Kids" pic.

Christmas Present

I know some of you may be looking for a gift idea, and I have a great one that I'd love to share. This year, Brad drew my name and luckily for him, I knew exactly what I wanted. A handstamped necklace from Heartstamped.

I ordered it through Bella Bella (a shop in Laurel), but you can get it on Etsy. I think it makes a beautiful gift for Christmas, birthday, or Mother's Day. The chain is a perfect length, and I can't wait to unwrap it on Christmas!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Heartstamped?page=1

Silly

The second rainy day in south Mississippi...

they really wished it would stop so they could go outside and play.

I just found this picture again...sorry it cracks me UP!

Doctor Checkup

Lawson went for his two month checkup today. We got 5 shots; he got four, and I got a flu shot. I know..I know... what a mean mommy; I would have taken them for him. He did good on all of them, but the last one was pretty bad. The nurse said it was the worst. He doubled his birth weight, which was his 4 month goal...he weighed in @ 13.8 lbs., and he is 23 1/4 inches long. I think he's going be a powerful defensive end just like his daddy. We don't call him the milk monster for nothing!!!

Oh, Ivory Bear went for her checkup today too. She weighed in @ 96.8 lbs. I don't know her length, but I'm pretty sure she is in the 100 percentile. :)

Our Tree

I've been working on this project for a while now. It's Lawson's family tree, and I think it's a sweet idea. Basically, I painted the background of this canvas cream, brushed it with silver paint for a little shine, and then placed it on the floor. I stood over it and poured black paint on it to make an organic tree. I felt very much like Jackson Pollack. The next step was to get our families' thumb or index finger print. The last couple of weekends the canvas has attended family get-togethers for it's final touches as our members chose their paint color, stamped their print, and I wrote their name under it. I think it's pretty special. It's hanging in Lawson's bathroom now even though it's missing four prints... I guess the canvas will have to make the trip to Tupelo for Christmas.

I Hear Bells...

Well, every year my mom comes down the weekend before Thanksgiving, and we start on my Christmas decor. And this year was no exception. We got the tree and mantle finished by Saturday night. Everything was a little slower this year... you know when you throw a baby in the mix and a last minute trip to Hattiesburg! Mom really helped a lot with Lawson so I could get creating and complaining that "nothing" looked right. I think my favorite thing this year is my mantle...it looks much better in person. I really need to read the directions about my camera..I can't figure out the lighting.
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I got the front door finished this morning. Last year, I did the front porch windows too. I want to do them again, but last year, I used metal brackets with heavy-duty double sided tape...every few days the left window would fall on one side which would leave me angry. Shad won't let me drill into the brick (I can't blame him) and so I'm waiting on the "engineer" to come home BEFORE I make the window pieces. If you have ANY suggestions let me know on how to hang them without blocking the view from inside the window!!!

I still lack table arrangements, but that's for another day! My little helper and I are tired....

The Fam. i.ly

We've had a couple of Schipke weekends here lately, and it's been fun with all the new babies together.

Shauna and William hosted their annual "Hutton/Schipke BBQ" a few weekends ago. There are three new members added from last year's picture (Miss February, Miss May, and Mr. September.) Last year, while taking the Hutton/Schipke photo, Shauna and William announced that they were pregnant with Miss May...Cait. It was a great way to capture all our faces of excitement. The invitation this year had the announcement group photo on it. It was great to think back to that special day when we all learned about baby Cait. So while taking the big group photo we were all curious what the announcement would be... :)... William informed us that their wasn't announcement.

This past weekend was our first weekend in Tupelo since Lawson's arrival. We had a very special weekend for Miss February...Audrey, and Ava. On Sunday, Audrey was baptized. It was very sweet and she did so well. Check out our little three pounder below... she is so big and we are so glad!

On Sunday, we also celebrated Princess Ava's third birthday with a princess party. She has gotten so big and is so smart. We know she is going to teach her little sister and cousins so many GOOD things.

I had to show her birthday outfit that Shauna and I gave her. She looks so beautiful! We have had such a great time being with our fam.i.ly the past two weekends.

Sloth is done

Finally, D-O-N-E! I like it...it's bold, but that's me.

YAY! CHRISTmas and sparkle is near!

Nine day hunting trip is really close. I know this because...#1 Camo is everywhere, #2 the UPS guy keeps showing up with boxes that I didn't order, #3 I'm getting asked, "Love, what all do you want me to do," and #4 my Christmas deco was brought downstairs. So Friday, while Shad is flying away...everything will turn into a sparkling winter wonderland... the outside, the mantle, table arrangements, and the tree!

A Dog's Life

Warning: Pictures are made with our cellphones...5 mega pixels just doesn't cut it anymore.

Our dogs are privileged...if Blue and Ivory could talk they would tell you this too. Since Lawson's arrival, the only major change is that Blue doesn't sleep with us anymore. Partly because I sleep in the guest room...I'm slowing getting Lawson use to laying FLAT in his crib (he has done great THREE night in a row!) Every night Lawson gets up between 2-3:00 am and this is what I see...

This is their "new" room. Together these little doggies weigh over 200 pounds...I honestly don't think anyone in their right mind would bother baby Lawson, because they would have a HUGE problem on their hands. I just laugh when I think of Lawson toddling around the house and how protective they will be. Blue already HATES when Shad hugs me...and heaven forgive if I scream! Don't tell Blue, but sometimes I scream just to watch him bark with his chest high and butt low and watch him push Shad out of the way...it's really funny, as long as your not Shad; in that case it's more dangerous! So I can only imagine that Lawson will be one protected little boy. A man told us one time at Petsmart that his American Bulldog was so protected of his child that the man couldn't spank or act like he was going to spank his child because the dog would not allow it.

This next picture is at 6:00 am on Friday. The time and day is very important to these two...why you may ask! Because it's their favorite day and time of the week! Garbage day...which mean: fiercely attack the window, barking their heads off, running around the house. The crazy thing is that you can barely see the road from the house- so I can't imagine how bad this would be if they could actually SEE the men and garbage truck. I hate that they pick our garbage up SOOOOO EARLY!

Just a BOOtiful Weekend

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween, and I loved this beautiful weekend! Did you see my sweet little giraffe? He was the cutest thing! Well, Saturday I made cookies for Halloween; it is my favorite cookie recipe...they are WONDERFUL. I made them for our trick-AH-treaties, but sadly, we didn't have any! HA, oh well! If you know where we live, you'd know that it would be amazing to have any Halloween guest. That just means more cookies for us and for Shad's coworkers!

Here is the best recipe EVER!
Sugar Cookies:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioners sugar

For Sugar Cookies: In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside, In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes (depending on size) or until they are brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours.)

For Royal Icing with Egg Whites: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use. I used the color gels from Wilton that you can get from Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby to color the icing. Just a small little dab with a toothpick will color it plenty.

LAS

I've been working on a project that goes over Lawson's bed. It took FOREVER to find these lovely canvases...the size is kinda strange, I guess- they are a 16 x 40. Once I found them, I had to wait for them to so on sale...I'm was not going pay $40 a piece for them plus replace a bunch of paint! So I've got them now, obviously, and I'm slowing starting on them...like the sloth in Eric Carle's book. (I know my Teachy friends know the book)

Oh, I had a little helper too. He chilled on the couch and listened to Jack Johnson-

Month One

What you are doing, Lawson? We usually get up three to four times in the night to eat and then we rock-rock to drowsy land. I'm still staying in the guest room with you, but you sleep in your bouncy. I'm hoping you can get in your big boy bed soon. You've gotten so big! We went to the doctor a little over two weeks ago and you weighed 8.12! You are smiling, and you laugh in your sleep which totally cracks me up! What is so funny?!

Wishlist

I go for my checkup on Thursday...I'm not sure if I want to get on the scale or not. I just feel flabby, but I haven't done one single thing to get back into my old clothes! Well, unless lifting Halloween Oreos counts. I have ALWAYS had a sweet tooth, ALWAYS! But, when I was pregnant with Lawson the sweet tooth VANISHED! I couldn't think of sugar without feeling sick...or passing out. Yuck, only meat and whole milk please.

A couple of weeks ago Shauna, William, and Cait brought us these...it was a sugar celebration! I really want one. Lawson and I may talk Shad into going to Jackson to the Bass Pro Shop...and then stopping my Gigi's.

Fall Loves

Fall lets me love-

Ditch flowers....

They make great arrangements. I hate picking flowers out of my yard to put in the house...I want my yard to be blooming too! So in the fall, I jump ditches.

There is something about Halloween Oreos. I seriously could eat a whole pack.

Door arrangement- my aunt and mom made. I love it.

Doggies

Everyone always ask....How are ya'll doing? - they are referring to Handsome, and the new mommie... then 9 out of 10 times the second question is...How are the dogs doing? I love this- everyone knows that Blue and Ivory are our children too, and they have always lived like a princess and prince. The answer to their question is always the same...Ivory is great, but we knew she would be. And Blue is good. He actually listens better now...he's still wild, but he is very curious and wants to smell. So we let him, and he gives Handsome the softest licks...so very soft. Blue has always been a lover.

However our attention just isn't on our 4-legs anymore, and Blue requires A LOT of attention. The first week Blue was very blue... he would not have anything to do with me. He wouldn't love on me, give me hugs, come when I called, and he wouldn't even take a nap with me.

J-E-A-L-O-U-S.

So we have had to put some extra effort into loving on Blue, making him feel special, and letting him break a few rules... BIG NO NO- Sitting on the couch. He was actually asleep in this position, but when the camera was brought out he woke up.

Wildlife

Since we live in the middle of NOWHERE...we see quite a bit of wildlife. We have all kinds of babies at our house...and I'm thinking they are twins though. We didn't see their momma...Shad promised she was in the woods. The sweet babies were eating acorns.

Newborn Pics

So PANIC attack last week...but it's done; newborn pictures are DONE! So I'm able to breath again. It was a really stressful day for both of us, but Lawson did fairly well- mom, the photographer, and I watched him for at least two hours as he looked at us with big blue eyes. We did EVERYTHING trying to get him to sleep...fed, rock rock, used the bouncy, fed, rock rock, turned on noise...anyways you get the point. His sweet eyes were sooo heavy, but as they would start to shut....BAM they were right back open, scared he would miss the excitement. But FINALLY, he gave in and went to sleep and the fun could begin. I'm posting a link from the photographer's site. I hope you enjoy looking at our sweet little one. We love the pics near the end when he has his little mouth opened. :)

http://www.photodex.com/share/ChuckSimsImages/k44b8mg4

Mine

All mine.....and overfilled with love and gratefulness.

Now

New life....

given to us....

totally stole our hearts with just one breath....

forever changed with God's blessing.

Lawson Allen

September 20th at 11:55 PM

6 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 in. long

Work Shower

Casey, Jodi, Sara, and Lavonette threw us a wonderful baby shower at school a couple of weeks ago. I love these girls...they really know how to make someone feel special. Our school is such a special work place and everyone has been so supportive during my entire pregnancy. We were given such great things, and some of the cutest clothing. I'm so thankful to work with such caring, creative, loving group of teachers. Nora Davis rocks! Here are just a few pictures from the shower.