Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Food Wars!

Emerson is quite the laid back little dude...that is until food enters onto the scene. He cannot stand to see everyone else eating and him not partaking! The child can put it away too...he eats a huge bowl of banana and rice cereal most mornings and at lunch and dinner has the equivalent of two jars of baby food and still acts hungry sometimes! He really does seem like a bottomless pit but isn't he the cutest little eater?!
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I recently ran across this Baby Safe Feeder and LOVE it! Wish that I'd had it with the other boys. I've used it with a banana and cantalope so far, but just about any soft fruit or vegetable would work.
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He loves holding it himself and gumming it up real good, he keeps a death grip on it and never lets go without a fight!! I use it a lot while I'm finishing up dinner when he needs a little afternoon "happy"!

And here's just a cute picture...He was getting quite the workout the other day, he was jumping like crazy...while I was helping the older boys get a few toys down, he must've gotten tuckered out, cause when I came back, this is how I found him! What a sweet heart!
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Monday, August 15, 2011

Trip to the Dentist!

I took the boys to have their teeth cleaned on Friday, thankfully my Mom was here to help me with Emerson. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive as to how it would go. I took Peyton and Lawson to a Pediatric Dentist here in Birmingham, and our experience could NOT have been better! When we got there, they had an area decorated like a drive in movie...the boys loved "driving" the cars and getting to watch a movie while we waited!
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When we were called back they had several colorful chairs lined up and there were tv's with the movie playing in the ceiling. Peyton was great, he laid back like a big boy and let the hygenist do her job...Lawson on the other hand, had quite the melt down, which they said was normal for his age. The staff was so kind and comforting, they worked fast to get him finished and settled again.

After the cleaning they took Peyton to have "pictures" taken of his teeth and they said he looked great, NO CAVITIES! YEAH! Both boys had good reports!
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After their cleaning, they painted the boys hands and did their hand prints on a ceiling tile and took their pictures for the "good report" bulletin boards. They staff has done lots of these little hand print tiles, they're pretty cute and something for the kids to look at when they're laying in their chair!

As for Lawson and his thumb sucking, the Dr. said we need to get him to stop that as quickly as possible because his teeth are shifting. He gave us a polish to paint on it and he's NOT been sucking his thumb at all! I've been painting it at night and it's been lasting throughout the next day, here's hoping it's that easy!!

To celebrate their good reports, we went and ate lunch at Johnny Rockets, and had a burger, fries and of course a tastey shake!
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

8 Years and Counting!

Eight years ago today I became Mrs. Courtney Head! It was the culmination of all my dreams and many prayers. It took place at Fellowship Bible Church and the reception followed at Chenal Country Club. We had a large turn out of family and friends, it really was so much fun to see and feel such support!
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We've been so blessed to have always had such a great support group which has really been huge as we have walked through many challenging days in our 8 years together. Here's a fact: We've been married 8 years but only lived together 6 and a half and we have had 3 kids in a little over 4 years!

In our first year of marriage we were only together for 7 months before he had to go to his Office Basic Course in San Antonio. I was finishing my Senior year at the UofA in Fayetteville so I moved in with my discipleship leader so I wouldn't have to live alone. Three months later we moved to Ft. Benning, GA where he immediately left for a month of training in Ft. Polk, Louisianna. He came home and we had 3 more wonderful months together, traveling several weekends out of the month to Atlanta to do "big city" things (staying in 5 star hotels, shopping, going to the theatre, watching Hawks games, etc) then in January, specififcally, on Jan. 11th, he left for a year in Iraq. That was a hard, hard day!
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We got through the deployment and God was so faithful. On Jan. 19th, after a year of short conversations and computer Instant Message dates, we were back together again! God was so gracious to have held us together, to have even drawn us closer to one another and Himself during that time, despite the thousands of miles between us. That year we each had the priviledge of leading several people (Adam with the Soldiers and me with the Officers Wives) to the Lord so neither of us would change that year for anything, but neither of us would choose to do it again, we enjoy being together, rather then apart.
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Shortly after his return home we found out we were expecting our first little one! What a blessing, what excitement! We prayed for a healthy baby and on Nov. 16th, Peyton Thomas Head joined our family! With the unit we were in, we knew we'd only have a year together before the whole deployment cycle would begin again. We began praying for a different job in the Army and God opened a door at Martin Army Community Hospital on Post. Adam worked there for two years when an opportunity opened up in Little Rock, which is home for us.
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In July of 2008, when Peyton was 18 months old, we made the glorious move home, and enjoyed being near family and close friends! Adam settled in at the Heart Hospital and life seemed to slow down a little. Oh, but just for 30 days or so, shortly after all the boxes were unpacked and pictures were hung we found out that we were expecting again. On March 2, 2009 Lawson James entered our world. He was such a sweet and welcomed addition to our family.
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We enjoyed those two and half years at home, getting the chance to make awesome couple friends who really challenged us spiritually and being able to enjoy regular family events was so refreshing after all the years away in Georgia.

In May of 2010 we found out that God had once again blessed our nest. We were honestly a little shocked but pleasantly surprised! I have really been blessed in that all of my pregnancies have been fairly easy, which was a good thing especially with this one. In November, God provided the next job for Adam, but this time, unfortunately, it would be a move away! So on Thanksgiving weekend, at almost 8 months pregnant, we left to come and scout out the Birmingham area for homes. After 5 days of searching non-stop, we didn't find anything. We prayed about it and really had a peace that God would provide in His time. We made the 6 hour drive home feeling a little apprehensive but confident that God would provide! The very next day, Adam got an email for an available home for rent, thank you Lord, for answered prayers! We immediately put our home on the market and within two days it was SOLD for top price, what an amazing blessing! We enjoyed the holiday season and spending Christmas morning in our home with the kids! What fun memories we made! On Jan. 9th 2011 our precious Emerson Clark was born on a blizzardy Arkansas night! The next day the moving company came to pack up our home, my parents took Emerson and I home to their house from the hospital, while Adam stayed with the moving company. We enjoyed a week together as a family unit then Adam took off for Birmingham to meet the moving truck and get things "settled" a bit. The following week, with a two week old baby, a 1 year old and a 4 year old I set out for my new reality! Thankfully my wonderful Mom and Sister came to help us unpack and get settled!
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In these 8 years we've moved 5 times, had to start over with friends, find and dig into several churches and really depend on one another! We're greatful for these years because its FORCED us to truly leave and cleave, which was hard no doubt, but such a strengthening agent for our marriage! Though our locations have changed numerous times and our family has significantly grown, our love for one another continues to blossom. I love Adam Head more today then I did when I said "I do", he truly is my best friend and closest confidant. I can honestly say that I can't wait to see what the next years hold for us, I look forward with eager anticipation!
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Monday, August 8, 2011

Family Visit!

This weekend we got to spend a wonderful time together with Adam's family. They stopped in for a few days on their way to the port where they're going on a cruise.

It started off wonderful with them keeping the boys so that Adam and I could have a date to celebrate our anniversary, which is August 9th; there will be a blog about that tomorrow! Though it was great for us, it was not so good on the home front. Lawson, out of the blue, started throwing up and having diarreah and that lasted for the next day, yuck! It was weird because he would seem normal and his happy go-lucky self, then he'd just throw up a couple times in a row then get right back to his activity, it was strange!

That night we enjoyed a good movie together, let's see if you can guess the name, here's a portion of a quote: "Son I have neither the time nor the inclination...You want me on that wall, you need me on that wall..." It was "A Few Good Men" with that intense scene between Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.

Sunday we stayed home from church because of Lawson but he seemed better mid morning so we decided to get out of the house and go to Aldridge Botanical Gardens here in Birmingham. It was nice to get out and see some pretty scenery right in the middle of town just minutes from our house. It has a nice walking trail and a beautiful pond (with snakes, water moccasin to be exact, glad they stayed in the water and didn't come up on the trail!) The hydrangeas and other plants really were so lovely.
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Later in the day, while the boys napped, Donna, Bill, Adam and I did P90X's Kenpo X. I think Bill stated it so aptly, "a family that Kenpo's together, stays together!" It was fun!
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That evening we enjoyed chicken and steak fajita's, a new Paula Deen side dish, zuchinni stuffed with spanish rice (this is so tastey the recipe is coming) and of course salsa and cheese dip! Afterwards we learned a new card game called Phase 10. It took a little bit to catch onto, but we had a great time and laughed a bunch. Adam was super tired so his comments and expressions were quite funny and grew funnier as the night went on.

We always have a good time together; we are so blessed to have family that we enjoy being with! Thank you Lord for your great provision!

Spring Break: The Sweet Spot

I've been running mach 2 with my hair on fire and have not been posting as much as I'd like to on this here blog.  I'm a few wee...