She's Here!

Baby Katie Nicole arrived Friday 12/12/08 at 11:48 am. She weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 19 1/2 in. long. Believe it or not she has dark hair, not red, and is doing really well. Thank you for all of your prayers. Her delivery was very smooth, our nurses were great, and we praise God for His blessing of new life.

Still waiting

I know many of you are wondering whether baby no. 3 is here yet, and no, she's not. I'm pretty surprised myself. We are still patiently waiting. Well, trying to, at least. We are praying that she will be here soon, like today. Here are some pictures of the kids to tide all of you over. Hopefully the next pictures posted will be of their new sister.

Big Shoes to Fill

Well, boots, to be more accurate. What boy doesn't want to wear his dad's boots? Sorry the pictures are so dark and fuzzy. Our camera has been through a war zone, literally.

Happy Birthday!

Rachel is 1 year old today! It's hard to believe a whole year has already gone by. Here are some pictures of our birthday celebration we had today at lunch. She got a popper vacuum cleaner and some necklaces that we are hoping will replace her current fascination with the USB cord and unplugged computer mouse. She'd walk around all day with those around her neck if we let her. It's quite cute. She got to eat her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich yesterday. Strawberry, for those of you wondering. And most of her cupcake ended up either on her face or in her high chair. She reminded me a lot of Jaxson when he turned one because all of a sudden she was highly motivated to sign "more."

We took the kids to Mr. Gatti's in Abilene on Sunday night. For those of you not familiar with the establishment it's like Chuck-e Cheese. On a side note, while we were there I mentioned to Shawn that I think I've been at the ranch too long because being around all those people was a bit overwhelming. He agreed with me.
Anyway, Jaxson won a little plastic piggy bank with his tickets and was of course very excited to put some change in it. I asked him what he was saving his money for and he said he was going to take it to Heaven. Just when I was going to have that whole "You can't take it with you" conversation with him, he said, "I'm going to give it to Jesus." I just kept my mouth shut.

For those of you who don't know, we like to keep the kids with us during church. It is sometimes difficult up here because most of the children here go to the nursery. I'm always concerned about the kids being too loud or too much of a distraction. I have to add that no one has ever asked us to keep them in the nursery, and the older folks are always very encouraging about the kids' "participation" in the service.
Yesterday the pastor was preaching on praising God in all things and Psalms 150 that states, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." He then asked who should praise the Lord. Well Jaxson doesn't understand the concept of rhetorical questions yet and he replied rather emphatically, "Everything!" My first instinct was to tell him to be quiet, but God quickly stopped me. He then reminded me that this is why we keep the kids with us during church. Even when we think Jaxson's not listening or learning, he is. It turned out to be an encouragement, and a little humorous.

The First Thanksgiving

Jaxson and I have been talking about the first Thanksgiving lately. One day last week while playing with Playdough I was quizzing him about the parties involved. I asked him who came to America and he appropriately answered with the Pilgrims. I asked him why they came and said it was because the king wouldn't let them say their Bible verses. Then I asked him who they met when they came to America and he said, "John McCain!"

We closed on the house last week, and what a relief! We are so glad to be finished with it. It was a wonderful house and a wonderful place to live. We will always remember it fondly, but we are also grateful to God for where He has us now.
Needless to say selling our first home was a big learning opportunity. That's Pollyanna for we didn't know what we were getting into. The short story is that we ended up with very unexpected closing costs, to the tune of about $2900. Yikes! Well the week before God provided us with two checks. One from the insurance company due to some damage caused by Hurricane Ike and the other was a refund from the IRS due to a tax error. We were told that the check from the IRS would be arriving sometime in August, but government bureaucracy isn't exactly keen on being punctual. Long story short, the two checks totaled out to $2800. Imagine that! God's timing and provision is perfect. Only He could turn IRS red tape and snail's pace into a good thing!

Miss Rachel

She finally has enough hair for a clip, although it doesn't take long until I find it dangling precariously from a single strand. Still, it's a big milestone in a girl's life. She also has a new winter hat that she is sporting. Oh and Rachel was in the middle of eating her banana snack when I decided to take these pictures, hence the beauty treatment to her face.

Our Family

Here is a recent picture of the McCreight Clan.

Ah, the English language

The other day I was making chocolate chip cookies and Jaxson asked what was in the mixing bowl. I told him it was cookie dough, and when I put it into the oven it will turn into cookies. He thought for a few seconds and then asked if it could turn into a deer. It took me a minute but then I realized he wasn't thinking of "dough", but "doe".
Then last weekend we were going on a picnic to a really picturesque area of the ranch that Shawn found. It was this really beautiful creekside spot with lots of shade (granted they were mostly mesquite trees but we'll take what we can get) and full of monarch butterflies. I was getting the kids ready to go and Jaxson insisted that he needed his ant farm. I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn't even think he knew what an ant farm was. I said, "Jaxson, you don't have an ant farm." He said, "Yes I do. It's what deer hunters wear." "Oh," I said, "You mean a uniform?" "Yes," said Jaxson, "My ant farm."
And while we're talking of words Rachel said her first, besides of course Ma-Ma and Da-Da. She really loves ducks. Somestimes it's "du" and sometimes it's "cks" but she recognizes the pictures. Her other current favorite activities include feeding herself (whether it's food or not), playing peekaboo, cruising around the house, and watching the dog.

Another Jaxsonism

"Honey-supper"---Honeysuckle
"Cackle-barrow"---Cracker Barrel

Out of the mouths of babes...

Today we were up at the office faxing some paperwork and one of the ladies asked Jaxson, "Where'd you get that red hair?" A question he gets often. He first replied, "The haircut store," and then after a few seconds he said, "God made it."

Career change

Many people have asked how I've enjoyed being a stay at home mom. Obviously the biggest change would be the fact that I am not near as sleep deprived. Energy-wise I feel much better. Of course this will all change in December when baby no. 3 comes. No, we don't have a name yet. But it is a girl for those that don't know.
The biggest adjustment has probably come from the fact that my priorities and goals for the day or moment just don't mean anything sometimes. I'm currently reading through Matthew and many times Jesus gets interrupted by the multitudes. How does he respond? With compassion and mercy. I pray my family would receive the same from me. Thankfully I don't have multitudes to deal with.

Friday night fun

Friday night we took a trip to the quarry located here on the ranch. Talk about exciting! Jaxson got to see earth movers, rock haulers and other various mighty machines. Even Rachel had a good time watching all the action. I looked at Shawn and asked him if he ever thought we'd be spending our Friday nights watching rock hauling at the quarry. He chuckled and said no but I know neither of us would have rather done anything else. We weren't the only ones out there either. We passed three trucks with kids on our way out! I guess that's what happens when the football game is out of town and the nearest movie theater is an hour away.

Ranch life

The other night Shawn, Jaxson, and I went down to the dock after Rachel went to bed. Don't worry, we have a good monitor that reaches that far. Jaxson wanted to wear his "muddy boots" down there so he went to the back porch, grabbed them, and ran back through the house leaving the back door open but the screen door shut. The weather has been so nice lately that we've left the screens open on both the front and back screen doors.
When we returned Jaxson and I walked through the living room into the kitchen and the smell about knocked me over. Skunk! It was so strong I thought the creature had gotten in the house, but thankfully, it hadn't. I flipped on the back porch light and saw BoBo frantically rolling around in the grass trying the get the smell off. For those of you who have never experienced the smell of a skunk up close there comes a point when it ceases to smell like what you experience in the car after passing one and morphs into a distinct burning garlic aroma. It was unbelievable. Fortunately we were able to clear the smell out of the house pretty quickly, but BoBo remains in the kennels guests use to keep their dogs in out by the workshop.

New Friends

A few weeks ago the Houston Grand Opera came for a visit to the ranch, and this young lady accompanied her parents. Her name is Varvara (similar to Barbara but the emphasis is on the second syllable), and she is Russian. She and Jaxson had a marvelous time together given the fact that he is 1.) quite the social creature and 2.) rather friend deprived at the moment. If y'all could pray that he meet some friends that would be greatly appreciated.

She happened to be on the playground when Jaxson saw her and yelled, "A friend!" He ran over to her, they chased each other briefly and she left saying, "I be back." Imagine a Russian accent. When she came back she had something in her hand and went up to Jaxson asking, "You vant a cookist?" She had cookies in her hand, and was offering one to Jaxson. Of course Jaxson never turns down cookies. The really funny thing is that for several days after she left Jaxson continued to refer to them as "cookists" in his best Russian accent. I'm not sure if he was just being funny or if he really thought they were called cookists, but it was hilarious.

Cute Kids

Peek-a-Boo

Home Sweet Home

This is a picture of our humble abode on moving day. Of course the boxes are off of the front porch and the moving truck is gone. The smaller section on the right side is the kids' room.
Sorry to rub it in, especially for those of you down in Alvin, but today's high was 82 and the low for tonight is forecasted at 62. Talk about nice! It made the playground much more pleasant today.
Miss Rachel took a few steps today. It was only with a lot of encouragement from Daddy, but she really enjoyed herself. She crinkled her nose, flashed a big two-tooth grin, and cackled. She was quite proud.

Various Events

The other day the kids and I took a trip to downtown Albany just to check out the shops, and it was like stepping back in time. I put Rachel in her stroller and Jaxson, Rachel, and I were able to browse around, get a delicious old-fashioned chocolate malt from the pharmacy, and check the mail at the post office in one trip. We really had a good time. There is a great kitchen supply store that I will have to check out at a later time when I'm not maneuvering a stroller and four grabby hands.
Jaxson is becoming an expert fisherman. We were down on the pier yesterday morning and he dropped his hook in the water without any bait. A few seconds later he yanked up his line and plopped a little perch right onto the pier.
I have to brag on my husband. When we moved in we realized we didn't have a dishwasher so Shawn insisted that I order a portable dishwasher. I roll it up to the sink and hook it up each night and in the morning it rolls back into the corner. It has just enough room for all our plates, bowls, silverware, cups, bottles, etc. I didn't realize how much time it takes to handwash all those dishes until the first day I used it. It really is a great time saver.
Last, but not least, this morning we were getting ready for church when all of a sudden there was a really loud noise outside. Long story short, it was a helicopter! The guys, Shawn and Johnny, were wanting to do a deer census for the ranch, but Shawn assumed it would be cancelled because of the weather last night. Well as it turned out the weather was just fine this morning so Shawn went on a helicopter ride before church. He had a blast and Jaxson was very impressed too. When Shawn got out of the helicopter Jaxson told him he had to take him for a ride. Shawn's dad was here visiting and was able to get some pictures so hopefully I will be able to post some.

Adventures

The kids and I made our first trip to Abilene this morning. It was a bit of an adventure only because I didn't study my map as well as I should have before I left. It all turned out fine though. I miraculously ended up where I needed to be and then we went on to Walmart. FYI, Abilene has the biggest Walmart I've ever been in. It's new and very clean. Jaxson helped me with our shopping, and Rachel helped by being very cheeful and having fun. I even let Jaxson get a gel filled "Scooshy Ball" at the check out. Of course everyone can relate to having to learn the layout of a new Walmart.
I was a little nervous about the trip home due to the fact that we were loading up for the forty-five minute trip home right at Rachel's lunch time. Thanks to a teething biscuit though it was just fine. We only had to make two stops. I noticed a bee trying to get out of the back window as soon as we got on the highway so I had to stop and let it out. The second stop came when I heard Jaxson say, "Look mommy, an elephant!" I looked back to find the scoosh dripping out of the scooshy ball. Thankfully it was a very easy clean up. I can't say the same for Rachel and the teething biscuit, but I knew that was going to happen. It was either a biscuit covered baby or a forty-five minute miserable car trip.
Oh, I have another addition to the Jaxsonism list. A "tickle box" is a tackle box to the rest of us.

Jaxsonisms

I know every kid makes up their own words. I thought I'd share a few of Jaxson's recent sayings that make us chuckle.

"Winter vines"--Wind turbines
"Goggly-ears"--Binoculars
"Blood juice"----Fruit punch
"It's not conformance"--I have no idea what this means.
"Gatorater"--A Gator utility vehicle and Gatorade
"Wronghorns"--Well, that sounds good to us.

Jaxson is really enjoying his time here at the ranch. His favorite part of everyday, and I think Shawn's too, is after dinner when they take a ride on the Gatorater. They are usually gone for about an hour and Jaxson comes home talking about all the wildlife he's seen. He's also very familiar with Sunflowers and Snow on the Mountain Flowers.

Miss Rachel

Here is a recent picture of Rachel. We were at a birthday party for some friends at the beginning of August and their mom took this picture of Miss Rachel playing with a ball.

Sunflowers

Jaxson and I were looking at a book with paintings in it and there was a picture of a sunflower. The book asked why the sunflower is named such so I asked Jaxson. He said, "Because they have to shine."

Then we came to a painting with purple trees and I asked him if he'd ever seen a purple tree. He said yes so I asked him where had he seen a purple tree. He pointed to the picture in the book and said, "Right here."

We made it!

Well we made it to Albany thanks to lots of help from many wonderful people, but especially my father-in-law Don, aka Paw-Paw. First things first--apparently the mail doesn't deliver out here so we have a new address:
PO Box 524
Albany, TX 76430
And for those of you interested our phone # here at the house is 325-762-3530. We still have the same cell # for now. We are doing well, starting to settle into a routine. And boxes are slowly disappearing. Shawn has hit the ground running with Johnny, literally. They are out hiking right now. Shawn has spent the majority of his time learning the layout of the land with Johnny, who knows just about every square inch of the 25,000 acres. He's a great guy to which Jaxson has taken an especial liking. Johnny is the current wildlife manager, by the way.
Rachel is doing well too. She's adjusting to having to share a room with her brother. Really the only issue is naptime when they just want to stay up and talk with each other. I just decided to put Jaxson in our bed for naps. Although today it seems he has decided to sing The Ants Go Marching instead of sleeping.

Where we're headed

For those of you wondering our new address will be:
PO Box 524
Albany, Tx 76430

Here's the link to the ranch's web page for any that want to check it out:
http://www.stasneyscookranch.com/

Graduation Pictures

What a Weekend!

Well Shawn managed to get his ring and a diploma all on the same day. It was very busy but a whole lot of fun. I've never been more proud, and that ring sure looks good! We thank God for His grace and provision that got us through these years. Now all that's left is to pack up the house and move! Oh and when Jaxson saw his daddy in the cap and gown he said, "I want to be a pirate too!"

No mas escuela, no mas libros....

We are officially done with school and espanol! I say we like I was the one taking the classes. Graduation is 2pm Friday and I will post pictures of Shawn in all his glory. Hooray, or should I say, "WHOOP!!"

First Post

Well I managed to at least get it started. I have grand intentions of keeping you posted on our Wildlife Adventure. We'll see if Shawn likes the name.