The Rays of Sunshine

                                                            Merry Christmas!! This is a special time of year, as we rush around, trying to make all the stops on our list, visit family and friends, and eat good food, But Remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas.                                         From My Family to yours, Merry Christmas!

This past weekend was awesome, but do to work being so busy, and spending time with the family at night, I am just now getting around to post this.   We took Derek to his Grandma and Grandpa's this weekend so we could get some shopping done.  Ricky and I had a great time, shopping for Derek, talking, and date night.  It was so much fun being Santa for the second year. I am more excited as a parent that I ever had been and I know Derek is going to be so happy with all his gifts. After all the shopping, we decided that since we were kid free, we would embrace the moment and have a date night, so we spent the evening at the movies and eating at Texas Roadhouse.  I had a great time, spending the evening with my best friend.  Earlier that week, I was expecting my Christmas gift to arrive. Ricky wanted to get me an IPad Mini, and of course,I said "No I don't need an IPad", but Ricky insisted.  Turns out that Wal-Mart over sold the IPads, and ...

Be prepared for a lot of cuteness, and a few selflies. We had a great week, although it was hard to get back into the swing of things after our long Thanksgiving break. It has been such a great time watching Derek grow and learn new words each and every single day. I know that daycare has a lot to do with this, and I am so grateful.  Daycare, by the way, is going great. Derek has brought home some of the cutest art projects, and that is all thanks to his teacher Sarah. Every time Derek sees one of his painting hanging on the fridge, he will run to me saying " Sarah paint." Well this weekend we made that a possibility at our house as well. We went to Hobby Lobby and got him all he would need to "paint."  Later that night, I had on my "fuzzy" socks, and Derek went crazy, saying "socks, Socks', and I quickly came to realize that he wanted fuzzy socks also, so here he is wearing my other pair of fuzzy socks and looking proud.  Here we ...

After traveling over 1,000 miles, family gatherings, and a water pump car repair, we ended this month on a high note. We had a great Thanksgiving week. Derek went to daycare on Monday and Tuesday, while mommy and daddy had to go to work. On Wednesday, we loaded up and headed to Panama, OK. We were able to spend the whole day with Ricky's family that we only get to see once a year. It was nice to have the opportunity to let Derek spend time with his Grandpa Rikk and Grandma Saundra. We all had a nice visit as we sat around the dinning room table and visited. On Thursday we loaded up and headed to Mena, AR to have Thanksgiving Dinner with my family. We had a really nice time, and were able to enjoy great food and wonderful company. On the way home we were able to find the Cowboys game on the radio, but eventually turned it off in disappointment. On Friday I loaded my car, and got ready to head to Owasso, OK to see my brother and his family. I backed my car out of the garage a...

Wow I can't believe how much daycare has grown up my little boy.  We knew this time would come, but I didn't know it would come so soon. Each day I see a new change in him. It may be a new word, a new sentence, or the new adventurous side I see in him. He has also be "talking" about the potty, "cause all the other kids are doing it." This weekend we decided to buy him a potty seat.  Of course all he wants to do is play with it! Well I made him wait 20 minutes, then let him "go potty" and after a few grunting noises, he "made potty" in his potty seat! I decided to spare all pictures.  Big moment... At that moment, my baby was no longer a baby. I got a tear in my eye! Now on to pull-ups...

So I got busy/ lazy and have not posted an update for this last week of daycare, so I have decided to combine 2 weeks. Things are daycare are going GREAT!!! He no longer cries, when we pull into the parking lot, and he goes inside without a fuss. This morning, he went right in, and sat down on the mat to watch TV, and only fussed, which is awesome. When I come to pick him up, he is very calm, yet happy to see me. The other day, he saw me, went right to his cubby, got his blanket and headed for the door, while telling everyone " bye", which melted my heart. We have also been trying to break him of his habit of waking up in the middle of the night, My fault, since I would get up with him, and snuggle with him, as we laid on the air mattress in the living room. The other night, we were there, and he would not go to sleep. For 2 hours, he would wiggle, roll, and touch my face, or try to put his fingers in my mouth, AT 2AM, so I told him to go to sleep or he was going to his...

Praise the Lord! This week at Daycare has been so much better. When we pull into daycare he will still cry, but not cry with tears. I am constantly telling him we will come back for him.  He will walk in daycare, without resistance, and go straight to the morning teacher. However he does get a little upset, when we tell him bye, but he stops crying shortly after we leave. When I go to pick him up, he doesn't scream and cry when he sees me, he will call Mamma, and run to me. All these are wonderful things that everyone said would come, but would take time, and I am so grateful that he feel comfortable enough not to be so upset. This daycare is keeping him active, and you can tell they really care for the kids they keep. Now at home that has been a different story, I don't know if it is because he is overstimulated, or if he is tired and hungry, or a combination of both, but he has been very fussy, and clingy this week. Most of the times it only lasts a few minutes but one...

Another week of Daycare is in the books, and although it is still hard, it may be getting a little bit easier. I will be the first to say that taking Derek to daycare alone, was to much for me to handle emotionally, so Ricky has gone with me each day, to help both of us cope. It is so hard, to do something with Derek and him not understand that this is the best for everyone. There were a few days where I cried, but it was so nice to have Ricky there, reassuring me that this was the right step, and it will get better. By the end of the week, the mornings were still rough, and I would have to force him to walk through the door, but the ladies assured me that within 5 minutes he has stopped crying and had begun to play. He still has his moments through out the day where he will fuss, and whine, but realizes that it will not get him what he wants, and he will stop fussing. He has also started to eat and nap, which is a BIG relief, and shows us that he is growing more comfortable with th...

If you listen to Christian radio, then you have probably heard about the book, It's a God Thing, where people are telling their stories about how God has been present in their lives. If you know God, then at some point, I am sure he has presented himself in your life wither it be by speaking, providing a miracle, or showing his presence. Today I would like to share a few of the stories of how he has reminded me that he is always with me. I would love to hear your stories as well, please leave them in the comments, and let us all see how Great our God Is: When I was about 18- 19 years old, my best friend, her Boyfriend, and I decided that we wanted to go on a cannoning trip. Sounded like a good idea, but 3 teenagers+ no canoeing experience= disaster. We were in the water maybe 10 minutes and we had already flipped twice, but we were having a good time. It had rained recently so the water was moving at a good speed. We get to this one bend, and there were some trees down, and som...

One week after our move, and it is time to start Derek in Daycare. We knew this time would be hard, but we had no idea it would be this hard.  Prior to his first day of daycare, I talked to the owner of the daycare to see if we could come for a visit, so he could be there, and me be with him. They told me to come between 9-9:30, and I didn't want to be there right at 9, so we got there about 9:20, and they were outside playing. Derek did ok, but it took him a while to leave his safe spot. About an hour later it was time to go in to get ready for lunch, and since we were not eating, I felt it best we leave. One hour of daycare was no match for a day of daycare, and really there was no way that we could have made this easier. The first day was hard on both of us. I really didn't know what I was doing and Derek didn't have a clue what was going on. I left him crying, as I walk to my car, crying. This was also the week I had to be in Little Rock for work. BAD IDEA.. De...

What a month!!! We have Moved!!! Yay!!! We have been looking to move for quite some time, and Mid-September, Ricky went to look at a few houses, and we turned in our application for the house and 2 hours later, we were approved. Talk about fast moving. I was speechless, and excited. This move that we have talked about for so long was finally happening. We were slowly going to get things packed, so when moving day came, we would be ready. Well after making all the arrangements, we realize that it would be easier and more cost-efficient if we moved in a week early, no pressure. So on the 10th we loaded all our big stuff onto a trailer and headed south. My family was a great big help with the move and there was no way we would have been able to do it without them. The first night in the house, with a 2 year old, was a rough one. We had decided, new house, Derek will begin to sleep in his room, all on the same night, BIG MISTAKE!!! He was not a happy camper. I wound up sleeping w...

After a fair nights sleep, I wake up the next day in San Diego, and the moment my feet hit the floor they start screaming at me, oh they HURT. Ricky had to be at his conference early, so I seen him off, and I began to start my day, but I was slow moving. I could not get motivated to get out of the room. Finally I made my way down stairs, and headed to Starbucks for breakfast. After that I hopped on a bus and headed to the San Diego Zoo. Thanks to Google Maps, and my GPS I knew right where I was going and when I needed to get off the bus. It was a lifesaver. How did people travel to a new city before Google maps, LOL. I actually got off the bus a little early, but the weather was wonderful, so I didn't mind it to bad.    Now if you have ever heard of this zoo, you know it is a well known zoo, and it should be, it was great, and HUGE!!! Instead of showing tons of pictures of animals, I will only show a few and move on. I spend al...