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A New Blog
Monday, March 28, 2011
Posted by The Tenner Family at 11:24 PM 0 comments
Playing Catch Up
Thursday, November 11, 2010
OK, Sarah, friend-on-bedrest-bored-and-needing-things-to-read, this if for you. And the other dozen or so of you who actually read this silly blog of mine. :) Yes, it's been forever since I last posted. Having two kids seriously increases my time away from the computer! :) So, to catch you up on what we've been doing for the past four months, I thought I'd give you a list. I am such a list-er. I don't want to weigh you down with paragraphs, so hopefully this will be quick and easy. I'm not promising to be better about updating this blog, because I'm afraid I won't be able to keep that promise! Ha!
Things/observations/goings on from the past four months:
1. Having a second child is like looking at your first one all over again. It's uncanny. Macy looks SO much like Abby did. Granted, that doesn't always show up in photographs, but in person, it's like I get to see Abby all over again at age three months. I love it!
2. Abby LOVES being a Big Sister. And she particularly loves playing with Macy's little baby ears. Oh, they are a joy to be around. I can already picture the "shows" they're going to put on in a couple of years.
3. Macy started sleeping through the night at 13 weeks, and she has yet to wake up in the middle of the night since then. HALLELUJIAH!!!!! It's AMAZING what uninterrupted sleep will do for a body!
4. I've started working out. Yes, me, Mrs. Doesn't-Break-A-Sweat Cathy. I started to jog, but I admit, I HATE jogging. So, now I'm doing the bike, and I LOVE it! (Clarification: I love the feeling afterward--NOT the actual biking. Pain sucks, plain and simple.) I'm already back into pre-pregnancy jeans, so I feel like it's paying off. Yay for sweat!
5. I love how Abby uses her imagination all of the time. If this girl could play with her little princess dolls all day, she would. Every day, I hear her giving the dolls voices. And she still loves villians. During the week, I am told to be numerous characters: Cruela DeVil, Maleficent, the mean stepsisters, Scar, Gaston...the list goes on and on. And don't even get me started on how many poisoned apples I've pretended to eat! I think I lost count at 100...
6. She is also obsessed with letters. On TV, on a billboard, at the grocery store, it doesn't matter, the girl is reeling off letters that she sees. "T-A-R-G-E-T" is a favorite of hers! :) She has her alphabet down, and she LOVES to write too. I'm SOOOOOO thrilled that she loves to write. Let's hope she keeps it up! :) Although, I have a feeling with her long line of journalist blood, I shouldn't be too worried about it!
7. SOOO many people I know are pregnant. There must have been something in the water over the past few months! Or perhaps it's because it was so darn hot this summer and people wanted to stay inside and not venture out in the heat. :)
8. Macy's smile makes my heart melt. And I Love how she "talks" back to us. Oh, she's going to be a talker alright. Sorry, Matt! Poor guy. You really do need a man cave.
9. Abby loves school! Her teachers are absolutely fabulous this year, and she loves going there three times a week. She thrives there, and I couldn't be happier with how much she is learning! Although, Mrs. Tara, a New York native, did bribe all of the kids with lollipops to say, "Go Yankees!" during the championship series. I talked with the director about giving her the ol' pink slip, but that never happened. Ha! :) We quickly taught Abby, "Go Rangers!" Too bad they lost!
12. She is a chunk. I mean it. My friends who haven't seen her in a few days will see her and say, "Holy cow! When did she get so big?!" :)
13. The second child gets toted around town WAY more than the first child! I remember with Abby we wouldn't leave the house more than once a day, or every two days. Poor Mace is getting hauled to church, grocery store, etc. all the time! She's probably memorized every square inch of the back seat of the Tahoe.
17. I think Macy is going to look like me! Finally! Matt says that Abby looks like him but acts like me. We think Macy is going to be the opposite.
21. My biggest challenge with two children is actually devoting enough time to either of them. Sure, we do things together, but it's difficult because it's IMPOSSIBLE to give 100% attention to either child. I've come to the realization that that's just how it is. Now I understand why I don't have nearly as many photo albums of me as a baby than my brother does. As a mom of two, I just have to let things go. And you know what gets "let go" too often?! Putting up the darn laundry. If I could hire someone to fold and put up clothes for me, I WOULD! Sorry, Matt. I am a horrible clothes-putter-upper. All too often he hears, "Yeah, it's clean. Look on top of the dryer." Oy! The only remedy (besides making the time for it...winning the lottery!)
22. I am so, so blessed. I love my life. I never thought I could be this happy. Stacked up laundry and all. :)
Posted by The Tenner Family at 11:02 AM 3 comments
Miss Macy is Here!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Posted by The Tenner Family at 1:38 PM 3 comments
Abby's Program
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Abby's Spring Program for school was last night at our church. Her class sang two songs: Jesus Loves Me and He's Got The Whole World In His Hands. Abby has been singing the songs at home quite a bit. Luckily last night she didn't sing "He's Got The Whole World In His Booty" like she does at home. Ah, almost-three-year-olds. Gotta love 'em, right?! :)
Abby barely sang, but she did do some of the hand gestures as you'll see in the video. She was a bit distracted when one of her classmates decided he didn't want to sing anymore, and I think she was people-watching the entire time! Ha!
Enjoy! :)
Posted by The Tenner Family at 11:03 AM 1 comments
Saying Goodbye to Grandma
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thank you for all of the prayers and sweet words you have sent our way. This weekend was a wonderful celebration of Grandma's life! She was one of the most spirited, funniest, wittiest, fun-loving people I have ever known. She was certainly not your "typical" grandmother. Our bond exceeded that beyond grandmother and granddaughter. As my dad put it, she was the Matriarch of our family, and boy did that mean we had some good times with Grandma around!
My dad and brother both spoke at her memorial. They both did an amazing job. Grandma would have been so, so proud! While we miss Grandma so very much, we know she is in a much better place. Heaven is a much happier place with Grandma there now. :)
Chris's memorium:
For those of you that knew Dorothy, you know that she wouldn’t want today to be a sad occasion. Dorothy was always Grandma to myself and my sister, Cathy, and she always will be.
She was truly a person that always made the best of every situation--typically with laughter. She could make people laugh…sometimes even when she wasn’t trying to be funny.
Those who met her have described her as: contagiously funny, full of spirit, a positive person and a real hoot to be around. That’s how me and my family will always remember her. But I’d say she loved three things most: God, her family and making people laugh.
GROWING UP
Growing up, my sister and I always looked forward to the weekends when we could to to Grandma‘s and Grandan‘s house, and even spend the night on numerous occasions.. They were special occasions--filled with lots of opportunities to get away with things that we couldn’t always get away with at home.
Grandma would always feed us good food. And when I say good food, I don’t mean good-for-you food. At Grandma’s, we’d eat our weight in popsicles, ice cream, shoestring potatoes and Frito Pies. I can’t even remember how many HyTop Pizzas she cooked for us, but it was a ridiculous amount. But she was happy when she knew we were happy.
That’s just the type of person she was. She wasn’t happy until she could make other people happy.
She brought happiness to others through laughter. I really think it was her best quality.
She would always introduce myself and my sister as, “this is my favorite granddaughter” or “this is my favorite grandson.”
Our response would always be, “Grandma, I’m your only granddaughter,” or “Grandma, I’m your only grandson.” She’d always reply, “That’s why you’re my favorite.”
After Cathy married Matt, she always loved to pick on Matt, who was the new guy in the family. Every time Matt would get a phone call while he was over, she would always say to my sister, “Yep, there’s that little blonde calling again that he’s seeing.”
You just couldn’t help but laugh.
STUBBORN
For those of you who knew her well, you probably knew that she was stubborn. No, she wasn’t stubborn in a mean way--she just had her own idea about things.
She loved game shows. Especially Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud. One day, while watching Family Feud, she insisted that it wasn’t fair that the person on the right had an advantage because his buzzer was closer than the one on the left. We tried to convince her that they were equal distance, but with no accord.
When you tried to argue with her about “her opinion” about something, and she still didn’t agree, she would always say, “Well, I guess…” We would drive ourselves crazy trying to explain some things to her, but once she had her mind set about something, there was just no changing.
She also had her own opinions about the local and national news. Grandma was so intrigued by breaking news and she loved to discuss it.
I’ll never forget a phone call I got in 1994. I answered, and Grandma said, “Are you watching this?” I said, “Watching what, Grandma?”
She said, “O.J. Simpson’s on the run and it’s on TV. Hurry, turn your TV on!” I turned the TV on and we stayed on the phone with each other for about an hour commenting on every turn the infamous white Bronco made. I think she stayed up later that night than I ever remember her staying up…which was probably about 10:30.
Also, if you ever rode in the car with her driving, it was well advised to buckle your seat belt tight. You see, she drove with two feet--one on the gas and one on the pedal. At red lights, you could hear the engine roaring, and you had better be holding on to something when the light turned green. I would ask her why her engine was making such a weird noise, and she’d just say, “What noise?”
That brings us to the other characteristic about Grandma. She was hard of hearing, but I think she made her mind up in 1980 that she would never get a hearing aide, and she never did.
In recent years, it had gotten much worse. When we’d mention a hearing aid, she’d always say, “Oh, it’s just people’s tone.” They can’t fix that. Or, “Oh, they’re just mumbling. They need to speak clearly.”
On a trip to the doctor in the last few years that Mom took Grandma to, the doctor told Grandma that she was a hoot.
Grandma’s response was, “I need to eat more fruit?”
SHE LOVED TIGER
Grandma also had another love. Tiger the Chihuahua. My sister and I were dying for a dog when we were little. Our parents surprised us with a little three-pound spotted Chihuahua we named Tiger.
Grandma loved this dog so much, and Tiger felt the same. We’d always take Tiger over to Grandma’s. As soon as we got two-to-three blocks away, Tiger would start panting and barking with excitement. He knew he was headed to Grandma’s and couldn’t wait to get there.
Arriving at the house, Tiger would jump out of the car, rush to the screen door and begin scratching to alarm Grandma that he was there. She usually couldn’t hear him scratching since the TV was turned up so loud, so we’d poke our heads in and say, “Grandma, we’re here!”
Tiger would immediately rush to Grandma, who would pick him up. They were both content.
If Tiger spent the night with Grandma while we were on a trip, she would always insist that Tiger said “Goodnight” before they went to sleep. Grandma said she would say, “Goodnight Tiger,” and his response was a “chirp, chirp” signifying “goodnight.”
We had a hard time believing this, but it was too funny to picture.
Grandma always said, “If everybody loved me as much as Tiger, I’d have it made.”
LUCKY
Truth is, we were all lucky to have known Dorothy, or Grandma as I know her. She was one special person. As she got older, and couldn’t take care of herself as well, she moved in with my parents. She wasn’t able to get out as much as she wanted to.
On Sundays, when we’d get home from church, she’d be watching TV, and I’d ask her what she was watching. She’d say, “Oh, I was Baptist today” or “Oh I was Methodist today” referring to the church service she saw on TV that morning.
She always had such a wonderful peace about her and trusted in God through all of what she loved to call “life’s little trivials.”
I probably heard her say that a million times.
When trouble would arise in her life, she’d always say, “You know…I’m an old Presbyterian… what’s meant to be, will be.”
That’s pretty much how she lived life. She rolled through the tough times with laughter and the good times with pure joy.
The first time I remember seeing Grandma sad was when my grandfather, that we called Grandan, passed away in 1988. I was 12 years old. In typical Grandma fashion, though, she wiped away her tears, hugged us and assured us that everything would be OK.
She loved Grandan, my mom and dad, and me and my sister and her husband, and especially her great grandchild, Abby, who affectionately called her MoMo with all of her heart. Her love for family was evident every time we were around her.
Even when she couldn’t walk anymore and was bedridden, she was still positive for the most part, accepting what God had planned for her life.
On the last day she ever spoke, she told me in a broken, weak voice, “When something happens to me, y’all don’t fall apart. We had some great times. I love you.”
We did have some great times, Grandma, but I know that now your great times are greatness that we can‘t even imagine on earth…
…you know a peace that we humans cannot comprehend… and I also know that the other angels are laughing in Heaven like they never knew they could.
Posted by The Tenner Family at 11:16 PM 2 comments
Prayers Needed
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Please pray for my grandmother as she is nearing the end of her life. Grandma has put up a tough fight with her cancer, but it has finally caught up with her. Luckily she is resting comfortably, which is good. The nurses put her on oxygen this morning to help make her more comfortable. Matt and I were able to see her for a few minutes this weekend, and even though the moments of lucidity were short, I was able to tell her how much I loved her, and she reciprocated again and again. Oh how that made my heart swell with joy.
Please pray she continues to be comfortable and that my family can get through these difficult next few days/weeks.
Posted by The Tenner Family at 1:21 PM 0 comments
Recent Happenings
Friday, March 26, 2010
It's time for an update! Here is what has been going on with us:
- I feel GREAT! Nausea has ended completely, and I finally feel good and energized! Woo-hoo!
- Our little peanut moves around A LOT. I forgot how wonderful it was to feel that little human being inside of me. Matt felt her for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I love being able to share that feeling with someone else too.
- Our little girl has a name: Macy. We love it. I hope you do too.
- Potty training has been hard core around here, and I am pleased to say that it's going exceptionally well. Abby stayed dry for 12 hours yesterday (even during school, which I was so proud of!) and she has been initiating more potty time, so that's great. It doesn't hurt that she has a Pretty Pink Princess Potty that plays a royal tune every time she goes. :)
Here is our little girl, all smiles.
We have taken advantage of the beautiful weather and hit up the park. Here is Abby cheesing it up before going down the slide. And here she is with her pal Ava, swinging. Oh to be two again!
One of Abby's favorite things to do: blow bubbles!
Our little Sweet Pea!Abby and I ventured to Longview for five days during Spring Break, and we had a WONDERFUL TIME! We got to spend real quality time with all of our family, which was the best. On Monday of Spring Break, we traveled to Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden in Gladewater for some picture opportunities. Here we are. With the famAbby and Nana
Abby's obsession with all things Princess continues, and she is fascinated with marriage and weddings. I promised her that while at BeBe and Pops' house, she could try on my veil. Here's our pretty little future bride (hopefully not TOO soon though!) :)
Abby with her new Stick Horse, Major. Thanks, Nana and Papa and Cracker Barrel! :)
OK, I'm off to get this little rugrat in bed. Wish me luck! :) Enjoy this beautiful weather! :)
Posted by The Tenner Family at 2:26 PM 1 comments
It's a Girl!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
She weighs about 10 ounces and is 7.6 inches long. Here are some pics from this morning. Seeing our little girl on that screen was such a reminder of how miraculous all of this really is. Do you ever feel blessed beyond belief?
Posted by The Tenner Family at 4:26 PM 4 comments
Belly Shot!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Here is proof that I'm actually pregnant. My Baby Bump seemed to get progressively bigger over the past week, and for the first time, I feel like I actually look pregnant.
Here's me at 5 weeks:
And here's me today, at 17 weeks. Am I starting to look pregnant? I must admit, though, that my belly has been known in the past to swell to this size after a particularly good meal at On The Border. :) Only this time, it's full of amniotic fluid and not chips and salsa.
One thing that I absolutely love is that Abby is obsessed with my growing belly. She'll look at it and proclaim excitedly, "Your tummy!!!!! It's getting bigger!!!!" And she likes to lift up my shirt and "pet" the baby or kiss my belly. My heart swells with joy. Except when she tries to lift up my shirt in front of people. Not so cool. We're still working on concepts like "appropriate" and "privacy" at our house. :)
Only 10 more days until we find out the sex! We can't wait!!! I'm off to snack. :)
Posted by The Tenner Family at 3:50 PM 1 comments
A night with Kids
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A Typical Night BEFORE KIDS:
11:00pm-Go to bed. Head hits pillow. I'm out.
7:00- Alarm goes off. Slept like a baby all night.
Our Night Last Night:
11:00pm-Go to bed. Head hits pillow. I'm out. Looking forward to getting a solid eight hours of sleep.
3:00am- Wake up to Abby yelling, "Daddyyyyyy! Daddyyyyyy!" quite nonchalantly, I might add. I get up. Discover she has wet all over the bed. Awesome!
3:05- Diaper, PJ, and blanket change.
3:07- Abby informs me that she's "done going night night." I beg to differ, and the battle begins.
3:09-Abby requests a reading of The Three Little Pigs, to which I respond a resounding NO! The tears flow.
3:10- We rock. And rock and rock and rock. Girlfriend seems to be wide awake. My eyelids are getting heavier and heavier.
3:20- Success! She's almost asleep, but she re-requests The Three Little Pigs. We compromise: she can sleep with it in her bed. Matter resolved. Whew.
3:21- She's back in bed. A hug and a kiss later, I'm out the door. But not for long...
3:21:30- I'm not two steps out her door before she starts crying that she wants her Mickey Mouse doll in bed with her. Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!
3:22-4:05-I am now in bed, awake, and can't go back to sleep. Good times.
4:16- Abby sneezes. Loudly.
4:16:30- "Mommmmmmmy!" I go in her room. "I need to wipe my nose!"
4:17-I wipe her nose. A hug and a kiss later, I am out the door.
4:18-Back in bed, I finally fall back asleep. Woo-hoo! However, I will soon discover it is short-lived.
5:00- "Mommmmy! Mommmmmy!" This time, Matt gets up. Poor guy only has 60 minutes left before his alarm goes off!
5:02- Matt returns. Apparently Abby had lost her Bobby blanket. Crisis averted, thanks to good ol' Dad!
5:03- We're all back to sleep. Thank goodness. I still have two hours of good sleep ahead of me before my alarm goes off.
6:00- Fussing again. You've got to be kidding me! Matt jumps up, to which I say, "Be nice! Be nice!" (Not that he wouldn't be, but at 6:00 and being awakened three times already, it's always nice to have a friendly reminder, right?!) :)
6:03- Matt returns. "What did she want now?" I asked. Matt responds, "SHE WANTED A FREAKIN' CHEESEBURGER!" Seriously, folks. Matt doesn't bother getting back into bed. His day has begun. Poor guy. No rest for the weary. The shower turns on. I finally fall back asleep.
7:00- My alarm goes off. My head hurts and my eyes are heavy. No Slept-Like-A-Baby Sleep for us. Nosiree. Instead, we got the Slept-Like-A-Two-Year-Old Sleep!!
Just another unexpected night with a two year old! Oh, how boring was life before kids, right?? :)
Posted by The Tenner Family at 10:39 AM 2 comments