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?!


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.


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!

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!




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!


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!

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!






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!


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.




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.


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.


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!



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!

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.









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!



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!

Cooling off at the Zoo

Today we planned to eat a picnic lunch at the zoo then go into the splash pad. When we arrived we sat down and started pulling out all our food only to have a bunch of bees swarm us...so we ended up eating off the back of the suburban...I'm sure people thought we were crazy since we were parked beside all these rows of picnic tables, but honestly the bees were everywhere!

Here's all my boys!


The Spash Pad is a nice place to go because there's shaded seating for you to enjoy while you watch your kids. It was fun to have Adam with us!



The kids loved splashing in the water and running around getting wet!



And here's my sweet lil' monkey...how adorable is he?!

And Then I Had Kids...

My Mom recently gave me this book, "And Then I Had Kids". I've started reading it and several times I have either broken out into laughter or lots of tears...I can relate so much with what the author is saying! Motherhood, while being the fulfillment of so many of my dreams, is quite challenging at times and some days are just plain yucky, mundane and at the end of the day I'm COMPLETELY spent!


I've found great encouragement from Susan Yate's book and I wanted to share a few excerpts with you, my Mommy friends!

She describes how frustration for Mom's can be caused by monotony, lack of accomplishments, seeing others acquire recognition, etc. She says, "Every day is likely to be the same, and there appears to be no end in sight to the runny noses, dirty diapers and cereal all over the floor! Days run into weeks. Weeks run into months. Life begins to blur into one long mind-numbing series of chores!"

I think most of us can relate with the fact that with small children, it's diffcut to do anything that lasts. It seems that just as you've mopped the floor one spills their juice, or after you've rounded up all the toys and put them away, more are dragged out downstairs, and that pile of laundry just keeps on coming...so the feeling of accomplishment quickly fades!

She goes on to say, "There's a sense of feeling overwhelmed with things that have no "lasting value". The tendency is to equate progress with self-worth. In the home with young ones, there is often little progress to see. I've wondered about how much we talk about material progress and accomplishments in this century. In a sense, progress seems to have become an idol. Progress is considered to be inherently good. According to the logic of the day then, what she's doing is not particularly worthwhile, and consequently she's not particularly worthwhile"...the Mother struggles with the feelings of lack of accomplishment.

Later she says, "As we attempt to cope with frustrations common to all mothers, we need to see ourselves as God sees us. We must realize afresh that our self-worth is not dependent upon seeing material progress, success, or accomplishment each day. God's love for us is not dependent on how much we seem to get done or how successful we seem to be. He loves us just because we are His, and nothing we do or don't do can change that! In times of frustration I have found it very comforting to curl up with one of the Psalms. They are full of frustrated pleas, and yet peace always is within reach as we focus on God's goodness and faithfulness. His joy is far greater than our frustrations. So when those inevitable moments come, we can be encouraged by meditating on His love for us."

Psalm 145:8-9 "The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works."

Hope you are encouraged a little. As you focus on God's unconditional love for you, you begin to realize that all the little frustrations pale in comparison! Hallelujah, praise the LORD!!

A Tribute To Our Pal "Tucker"

Well, today was a very sad day in the Head house hold, we found out our sweet Tucker-Man had passed away. It was such an unfortunate chain of events that were completely out of mine and Adam's control, we have to keep reminding ourselves of that with the waves of questions from the boys and floods of memories in our own minds.

Last night we were having a terrible thunderstorm with lightening and loud claps of thunder, and if you've spent any time with us during a bad storm you know our dog has severe storm anxiety so we let him into the garage to sleep. Around midnight our electricity started going on and off then randomly both of our garage doors came up (on there own). Adam went down to check on it and found Tucker had run off. That's when it all started...our neighbor called my cel phone because that's the number on his tag to say he was out running (in the rain and lightening), for some reason she didn't hold onto him! Adam quickly got dressed and started calling for him to no avail. After 45 minutes to an hour he came home with no Tucker-Man. We woke up this morning, I made signs and took 20 to all the stop signs around our neighborhood, I was almost finished getting them out when I got the phone call, "Ma'am, I think your black lab with a blue collar may be on the side of Shades Crest Road." Unbelievable...I was stunned. Then my phone started ringing again and it was yet another person relaying the same message. I immediately called Adam and told him the news...he came home and took care of picking him up and burying him.

I've cried off and on all day, it seems silly but when an animal walks through life with you, you kind of get attached I guess. It honestly surprises me how emotional I've been since I wouldn't consider myself much of an "animal lover"...but Tuck was a good dog! He obeyed on most occasions, and except for the few times he's run off and had to be tracked down, he was easy! He loved our boys and would let them hang and love on him!

Tucker's been apart of our family since Peyton was 6 weeks old, when we lived at Fort Benning, GA. He would run around Post with Adam in the mornings and play with our neighbors dog, Dixie. That's where we took him to a pond for the first time to let him swim and he acted so afraid of the water...we were like "what is wrong with this dog?"...turns out that alligators lived in the pond, which is a good reason not to want to get in...but he also wasn't a huge fan of water, which confirmed what we already knew, that he wasn't all Lab!! Here, he did get in water to cool off in a tiny baby pool...but it was a hot Georgia day!


He grew along with Peyton, then he followed us to Little Rock and befriended both our boys! He even got to enjoy a beautiful Arkansas snow!




He finally followed us to Birmingham and had a life of ease, taking runs with Adam in the morning and walks in the evening with our family...he had balls to play with and bones to chew...honestly, life for Tuck was easy, and unfortunately cut short!!


It's been a good life lesson for all of us: first, that we must live each day to glorify God, because we don't know when our time will be up and we'll have to give an account of how we've lived on Earth, but secondly that we must make the most of each moment of every day because we are definately NOT guaranteed tomorrow! It's been difficult to explain the finality of death to Peyton because he has many many questions, but we're facing them head on.

We are grateful to have had such a loving dog! "Tucker, we will miss you!"
There is Peyton with his dog, Tucker!!