The Reeds and Pumpkins

Casey and I went to a Halloween costume party when I was 8 months pregnant with Landry. I had a hole cut out in my shirt and we painted my tummy like a pumpkin. Casey was a farmer and I was his first place prize at the County Fair. Lauren, Luke, and Maggie dog with the Great Pumpkin in our yard.
My little Iowa 3 year old posing with the pumpkins she and daddy cut out.
One of the sweetest pumpkins I have ever seen.
Lauren and I posing in an Iowa field while I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Luke. That night I had bad contractions and ended up in the hospital. It was hard to explain the orange and black paint in my belly button that I couldn't get out. ha! This is one of my ultimate favorite pictures of Lauren and Luke with their pumpkin tummies.

Luke showing me where his baby brother is.

Halloween is around the corner and I can't wait to see what kind of pumpkin pictures we will have for this year. Fun times ahead!

Thomas, Dirt, and a Fave Friend

These are the 3 things that can make the 3L's day! Brothers at play. ha!

It amazes me that you can have ALL the toys in the world but nothing beats playing in the dirt! It really was a perfect Fall day here in Texas. Might as well let them enjoy it.
Thanks for letting us "dirty" up your trains Walker.

Meet the other 2 L's

You have met the 3L's (Lauren, Luke, and Landry). Meet the other 2L's. This is Lola and Lucy. I know we have gone a little crazy with the L theme! Lola (on the right) is the mom to Lucy. Back in April Lola had 6 English Bulldog puppies. They were so darn wrinkly and cute. We decided to keep one of the females to hopefully have more puppies someday.

Landry loves Lucy. Sometimes a little too much!

And yes their tongues hang out all the time. ha! They are sweet, low key, and extremely lazy dogs. I think that is why we love them so much!

Woo-hoo!

What do you think? A little early birthday gift to me from the love of my life. Thank you honey!Blogging has become a guilty pleasure for me. I enjoy reading about others and posting about The Reeds. I can't wait to show my kids someday about this fun way I am journaling their lives. Now I can print these off in style:) If you are looking to pimp your blog I so recommend the sweetest and most talented Jennisa. Scroll down to click on her site.

Girl just want to have fun!

Friday night Lauren had one of her good friends Tate spend the night with her. They had a blast together! We all loaded up and went to see the new Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie. It was a really cute movie. Then of course some late night swimming.
Sweet Girls having fun!
I am sure our neighbors loved the midnight splashing.

I loved hearing them giggle all night long. These two girls definitely had some fun.

Pumpkin decorating contest.......need some help!

Lauren and Luke have a pumpkin decorating contest at their school. They are to decorate a pumpkin (not carved) based on a character in a book. The past three years Lauren and I have done this together. It has become something we really look forward to doing.

The past years she has done Elmer The Elephant, Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, and Clifford The Big Red Dog. This year we will have to decorate 2 pumpkins. One for Lauren (9) and Luke (5). I am looking for suggestions. Does anyone have any favorite character in childrens books that you think would make a great pumpkin?

Wordless Wednesday!

Can I brag on.......

(pay no attention to the goofy brother in this picture. ha!)

Someone who isn't blood but is the closest thing I have to a sister........my beautiful sister-in- law, Julie. She is an amazing woman. I truly don't know where to start to tell you all about this special person in my life.

Julie married my oldest brother Brett. They were high school sweethearts. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect for my brother. She quickly became like a sister to me and I asked her to be my Matron of Honor in my wedding. She is such a blessing to our family.

Julie's mom died of breast cancer last year. Jenna was the sweetest, kindest, and most caring person you could have ever known. Everything Julie is she got it from her mom. She always had a smile on her face and loved the Lord. She was one of those people you wanted to be around. Her smile was infectious. The passing of Jenna was extremely hard. This horrible disease has not only taken the life of Julie's mom but also Jenna's twin sister. There isn't a day go by that Jenna isn't missed by so many. We loved her so much!


This weekend my amazing sister-in-law will take part in the Susan G Komen 60 mile walk in Washington. Yep, you heard right...60 miles in 3 days! She and a good friend have been training for this weekend coming up. She will walk in honor of her mother. I know Jenna will be smiling in Heaven to see Julie accomplish this. They will be meeting lots of new people and hearing their stories of courage and hope. I am sure this Washington DC trip will be very memorable. If you think about it during the weekend, please send up a little prayer for Julie and Susan and those for whom they are walking...the brave women who are battling breast cancer today.


Love you dearly Julie. We are so proud of you and will be praying you through this!





Julie and Susan

www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/WashingtonDCEvent?px=1244264&pg=personal&fr_id=1192

Suckers from Grandad

Only in Texas will you find a cow sucker on a stick. Thank you Grandad. haha! A Hereford Whiteface cow to be exact. Go Herd! Yes, that was my High school mascot. I was a Drill Team officer for the Hereford Heifers (As we were called. Nothing to do with how the dance team was but more less at how funny the football players thought it would be to call us......boys!) Oh the memories of growing up in a cattle town. haha! "Smell the money" as they say. eww..... Back to the suckers.....the kids thought they were funny and tasted pretty good. eww.......

What is up with Halloween these days?

(Just a fun picture)

Is it just me or is Halloween getting scarier in the stores? I am not one to really get scared of spooky things but lately I feel like I am walking right into a horror movie just going down the Halloween isle. I can't even take my kids down one now for fear of them seeing something that will give them nightmares. Is the blood and guts really necessary? I hate to sound like an old person but "back in my time" we just had sweet mask. Remember Holly Hobby? Smurfs? and if I remember right the scariest thing they had was a green witch mask with a wart on her nose. I thought that was a big deal then. ........but now?? Not trying to sound like a Debbie Downer but I am really not enjoying going to the grocery store lately for fear of my 9 year old will start crying because of the shaking skeleton with glowing eyes yelling at her. Yuk!

In our neighborhood we get a TON of kids (I do mean they bus them in!) mainly because of a nice preacher that lives down the street. He throws a Halloween party (blow ups, games, candy) at his house. This makes it a little crazy and hard on the other neighbors because we quickly run out of candy. My kids almost like giving out candy more than trick or treating because they get to see all of the costumes.......but the past two years it has not been as fun for them because of bloody costumes that some kids like to wear. Casey has even stopped them halfway up the sidewalk to tell them to go to another house with that on.

Call me old I guess......Halloween just isn't what it used to be!

Luke's Invention

At 5 years old, Luke has created the "Vacuum sucker" with a bungie cord, skateboard, small air compressor that is used to blow up a blow up travel mattress, and a small part from a broken weed-eater. We were amazed! This kid has always been very meticulous. I think we have a future engineer on our hands. (turn off the Mp3 player to hear him on the video). Silly boy!

I have a new respect......

for photographers! This weekend we tried to get a few pictures of Lauren, Luke, Landry, and cousin Zoe. We took them to a beautiful place and just let them play. I could get a nice shot of each child having fun but when it came to a group picture....look out!

This is when it all started to go down hill. I will spare you all of the 125 group pictures that I took. It really is a chore to take a bunch of kids pictures! Now I know why photographers cost so much dang money. haha. I even tried bribing them with suckers! (a brave thing to do when they are all wearing white I might add. I was desperate) Still no luck. If my friends saw me they would have thought I had lost my mind. I was trying anything and everything to get them to ALL look at me and SMILE. How in the world does a professional do this? I guess I just answered my own question. That is why THEY are a professional! haha

You ask sweet Zoe to give Landry a hug and she gives him a tackle!
Here are the only 2 that might work.

I have to say as silly, nutty, frustrated, and a chicken with my head cut off (a Texas saying) it was still fun to watch them giggle and run around. I guess sometimes you just have to give it your best shot and just let a kid be a kid..........or hire a PROFESSIONAL! haha.

Happy 2nd Birthday Zoe!

This weekend we got to celebrate Zoe Kate's 2nd birthday at our house. It is hard to believe this little girl was once 3 pounds when she was born. This really is a special day for us to help celebrate how far she has come. She is simply perfect in every way!
We had hot dogs and enjoyed the pool. Zoe and Lanny (as she calls him) were like two peas in a pod. They had so much fun together. I love this picture of these two until I noticed all the icing on Landry's face. ha!
Landry, Uncle Coby (Casey's brother), and Zoe
Happy Birthday Zoe Zoe! Uncle Casey, Aunt Robin, Lala, Wuke, and Lanny love you sooo much!

My sun bathing beauty!

Here is sweet Lauren soaking up some rays by the pool reading her American doll magazine. I can only imagine what life will be like in a few years with her. Laying out by the pool, working on a tan in her bikini, and reading her Teen magazine. I am sure daddy will be close by to make sure no boys are around!
I love this time with her. She is growing up way to fast!

Loving Life!

I can't begin to tell you what a great feeling it is to see this little boy so happy at Miss Heather's school. (what Landry calls it) When I was given the opportunity to go back to nursing part time I really hesitated because of one thing, Landry. With his allergy what would I do with him? He is my last child so should I stay home with him full time? I decided that if this is something God wanted me to do then I would wait and let him show me what to do with my sweet boy. Things quickly fell into place (thanks to a beautiful friend)and looking back I see God's hand in every part of it. He led the way. Landry couldn't be any happier at this place. He has the best time and is surrounded by some beautiful girls! This is Landry and Camy. They are two peas in a pod from what I hear.
He is one lucky kid. Haddie, Landry, and Lucy
I truly thank God for this time in my life on getting to be a nurse and a stay at home mom.
Here is my little ray of sunshine!

Subject: Hair removal

TRY & PUT YOURSELF IN HER SHOES, THIS IS HYSTERICAL!(I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but....WHAT A HOOT!) I normally would not post something so out there but since most of the people who read my blog are women I thought you would get a kick out of this! (warning: a little graphic)

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax. Read on......... My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!)I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skinextraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY .......!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand, into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!* I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bot tom of the tub....in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bot tom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter. 'So,my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bot tom of the tub!' There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?' She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor .. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY .......!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. IT WORKS!! It works !!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point. Next week I'm going to try hair color......

I can't believe it has almost been 2 years.....

since Landry's allergic reaction to antibiotics. This had to be the hardest thing Casey and I have ever gone through. I remember it like yesterday. It started off with a simple strep throat. A doctor gave him penicillin to help him get well. We met our Arkansas friends in Dallas for the weekend. He developed "bug bite" bumps on his face and then they spread to the trunk of his body. We went to the ER in Dallas only to be told it was a bug bite. I knew in my heart it was something else. After a phone call to the pediatrician on call he told us to go to the Waco ER. They said it was a simple penicillin allergy, gave us some different meds, and sent us home. That night he was so swollen. He was leaking fluid out of his skin everywhere. Another trip back to the hospital they said it was Erythema Multiforme which is a severe allergic reaction. One more time we were sent home with another antibiotic. The nurse in me was determined this was not right. There was more to this. Why is he not getting better? He was getting worse. Temperature was 105 and the hives were traveling (eyes, throat, bottom of his feet, etc.) Baseball size bruising all over his body. By now we were on our 4th antibiotic. He couldn't bend his little fingers because they were so swollen and leaking. He was in severe pain, crying, hungry, and tired. Casey and I were scared to death. We prayed and everyone we knew was praying for him. Finally our pediatrician was back from vacation. He called us in after he heard about Landry and was shocked at what he saw. Landry's body was shutting down. His kidneys were not working. They put him in the hospital. He had Steven Johnson Syndrome (the worst allergic reaction). They had the hardest time getting an IV on him and talked about doing his neck vein instead. The POWER of prayer was all over Landry that day. They got it on the last attempt. After several days in the hospital we now know he is allergic to ALL antibiotics. The more antibiotics he was given the more his body hated it.

Here are a few pictures of what happens to Landry if he takes antibiotics. These are not even the worst ones.

Since going through this, we have been to several Immunologist and Allergist on what to do if he ever needs an antibiotic. Their answer? They don't know. This is so rare. They want us to be admitted to the hospital if he gets sick to where he needs an antibiotic so they can "try" ideas on him. This is something he will not out grow. We have done the testing, invited to be part of research, and taking the precautions to prevent illness ( had tubes put in his ears so he will never have to take antibiotics for ear infections). Landry does not go to preschool because of the amount of sick kids he would be exposed to. He goes to a sweet lady who keeps 3 other kids. Fall and winter times he doesn't go to church. Casey and I take turns staying home with him. He stays home!

So why is two years such a big deal to me? Two years of a HEALTHY Landry! God has covered this little boy with so much protection over the past two years. I can't begin to express how that feels. With tears in my eyes, I am so grateful for Landry being so healthy. Thank you Lord! I know there will come a day when we will have to face the next challenge on this and make some hard, hard decision. I know God will lead us through that too!