Ready... set... SOCCER!!!

Tagen had his first "Little Passers" soccer practice today, and I have to admit we were pretty excited!!! In case you didn't already know, it really helps if you stick out your tongue... sideways :)) HA! He had a blast and so did we!!!

Tatum's 2nd Birthday!!!!

Tatum turned TWO on June 28th!!!! Ross, Jayme, Cayden, Rylie, Easton and my mom all drove up to stay with us. I absolutely loved having everyone and we had such a fun time celebrating Little Mister. Before I post any pictures, let me just warn you that Tatum had a little accident a few days before his birthday. Tagen and Tatum were chasing each other and he fell. The door hinge caught him and I guess you can say it won. Yikes. 6 stitches later...

We were just leaving the ER after they removed the stitches. Let me just say it looks MUCH better here than it did five days before when it happened. He was such a trooper!!! Mommy and Daddy on the other hand were NOT so much! But we're so thankful because it could have been way worse.

Tagen surprised him with a giant Mickey Mouse balloon and he was soooo excited :))

You are so sweet and such a blessing. Your little smile and voice melt my heart each and every day. I love you more than you'll ever know. You are one STRONG LITTLE MAN!!!

Here's the rowdy crew of cousins... Cayden, Tagen, Tatum, Rylie and Easton. The only cousin missing from the picture is sweet Laney Joy. And I never could round up all the kiddos for a group picture, but it sure was fun!!!

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Tatum and Pawpaw. Makes my heart smile :)

And I couldn't resist posting this cute picture of my nephew, Easton!!!

Pictures GALORE!!!!

The boys are getting so big so fast and are such a blast!!! A few new little things they do that I LOVE... Tagen will tell you that his favorite word is "GREAT!" He says it all the time and the way he says it is too cute. We've been swimming alot and I have been so amazed at how Tagen has progressed since the beginning of the summer. He didn't jump in the water or like to go under because he's always had this little "thing" about water getting in his eyes. Now, you'd never guess that. He's not afraid at all and jumps in ninja style, goes under and is so proud of himself because he "doesn't hold his nose!" He swims all over the pool. He loves the water just like I do :) Now Tatum, on the other hand, completely relaxes in the pool. When we're inside he never slows down, but is so calm and just hangs out when we're swimming. Cracks me up! Tagen has learned to spell and write his name. I'm so proud of him. I know I've mentioned this before but he has a REALLY GOOD memory (just like his daddy)! I'm still waiting for the Lord to give me a memory like that. It blows me away how they both remember every little detail!

Tatum is just as sweet as ever and still gives the biggest hugs. I love checking on him during naptime because he's usually laying on his tummy, sound asleep, with his little bottom in the air. Love it! He started walking at 11 months and now he runs everywhere he goes. Between the both of them, they're keeping this momma in shape :) He turned one on June 28th and just last Friday (July 22nd) he received a "GREAT" report from the neurologist. He was so calm and still while they were putting everything on for the EEG and then he slept through part of it. I was amazed at everything (BIG and small) the Lord did that day. He cares so much about the details and I'm truly thankful for that. The EEG took an hour and then we met with the neurologist. He looked over the EEG, walked in the door and said, "Well... Are you ready to get off that medicine!?!" It was music to my ears. Then he sat down and what he said only got better... "the EEG was PERFECTLY NORMAL!!!" Praise Jesus!!! We've already started reducing the medicine and he will completely finished with it on September 2nd. Woohooo!!! We are beyond excited and oh-so thankful :) Please continue to pray for Tatum. Being off the medicine and seizure-free for six months will be another major milestone for him. We are trusting God and holding Him at His word that Tatum is healed by the blood and stripes of Jesus!!! We know God is faithful and will fulfill His purpose for Tatum.

The Lord gave me such an amazing word the day before his appointment... "The Lord is GOOD - indeed, He is a fortress in time of distress and He PROTECTS those who seek refuge in Him... affliction will NOT rise up a SECOND TIME!" Nahum 1:7,9. Amen to that!!! Yet another promise we can stand on!!!

I haven't posted pictures in a really long time so here you go (hope you're sitting down)...



Easter... my three handsome boys before church :)


Just swingin'!!! I absolutely LOVE his sweet smile!!!!

In May, we went on our first family vacation to Ruidoso. I posted about this trip last time, but never put up any pictures. The boys slept in one morning and this is how they were sleeping. I thought it was too cute and couldn't resist taking a picture...

Swimming and LOVIN' it!!!!




I FINALLY painted and decorated their playroom. There was brick on one of the walls, and it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to paint. I probably painted all the trim and walls in the same amount of time it took me to prime and paint the brick. It was worth it though. I decided against chocolate brown walls and went with a chocolate brown rug instead. I'm excited about how it all turned out!
Tagen and his buddy, Tucker Bear!!! He is the BEST dog in the entire world and so loyal. He follows the boys around everywhere and has the sweetest, most laid back temperament.

We visited Nana and Pawpaw one weekend, and before we even left Lubbock we received the call that someone made an offer on our house. Praise the LORD!!! After an entire year, it FINALLY sold!!!! YAY! That was a great start to a super fun weekend :) We went to the zoo while we were there and it was such a blast!


Kickin' back and enjoying the ride!!!

He was worn smooth out by the end of it...
Look who found Daddy's Bahama Bucks in the freezer!!!! Pina Colada/Blue Coconut get in my belly :)

Tatum Elijah Hayes turned ONE on June 28, 2011!!! Happy Birthday sweet boy!! You're such a blessing to us and the definition of JOY! We love you and are BEYOND blessed to be your "Mom-mom-mom" and "Da-da-da-da!!!"




Just getting started...

But boy it didn't take him long!! He put one MASSIVE dent in his cake. Cracks me up especially when I think about Tagen's first birthday. He didn't even TOUCH his cake :) Tatum does have a little sweet tooth I must say!!!

Uncle Tye gave him a bucking bull and he was so excited. Now he can ride and play with brother!

Awwww... BEST BUDDIES!!!!! Wow, I am so blessed to have you two!!!
Running through the sprinkler :D


My friend, Denae Hutson, took some pictures of Tye, Kara, Trey and I for Kimmy's 50th birthday present and here's one of our favs of just us two. I sure do love this amazing man!!!


Praying God blesses you today and captures your heart!!! He loves you and has MIGHTY, MIGHTY plans for you!

LOVE is all we need

Last weekend we went on our first family vacation to Ruidoso— just the four of us. Trey actually surprised me and had the entire trip planned and booked. Niiiiiice!!!! And, of course, what did I do when he told me?!?! Yep, I cried!!! The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We played putt-putt, rode go-carts, went swimming, and just spent some much needed time together as a family. It was AWESOME and such a blast!!! That would have been enough for me, but the Lord didn’t stop there…

I love my husband with all my heart and to be quite honest I didn’t know I could love him more. But I DO!!! The Lord multiplied the love I have in my heart for him!!! It’s hard to put into words what happened and honestly I’m not sure I even know… but God did it and it’s AMAZING! My heart is flooded and overflowing with an even greater love for this man. Trey is my very best friend in the entire world. He loves me and believes me. He has seen my worst but has also seen my best. He defends me and prays for me. He encourages me and is extremely patient with me. He makes me laugh. He is a mighty, mighty man of God and an amazing Dad. He protects me and gives his all in everything he does. His heart is so pure. I see a glimpse of the Lord when I look at him and its such a beautiful sight. I could go on and on. I spent so much of our time there just watching him with the boys. Wow, our boys are so blessed to have him as their dad and I am without a doubt VERY blessed to have him as my husband and best friend. We celebrated our Sixth Anniversary on May 7th and it was a monumental one for sure.

I have been praying the Lord would help Trey and I to love each other the way He loves us and to see each other the way He sees us. To give us an even deeper, stronger love for each other. God chose this trip to answer that prayer. I guess I wasn’t surprised that He answered because He always answers… it was more of “how” He answered. It far exceeded what I even hoped or imagined. I’m so thankful for this sweet gift. If we have everything and don’t love… we have nothing and are nothing (1 Corinthians 13)! Love truly is the perfect and best gift!!! God, you never cease to amaze me!!!

This year has been a very, very tough year for us as a family and for our marriage. All the trials and stress, but I stand here today in awe of God’s grace that covered us and how far he has brought us. Sure we still have things we need to work on, but I’m thankful we aren’t where we were. We are stronger!!! God is so good! He is faithful and hears our every prayer! What a mighty God we serve! I pray we walk each day in the power of His Spirit and honor Him in all we say and do! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!!!

“The fire of love stops at nothing—it sweeps everything before it. Flood waters can’t drown love, torrents of rain can’t put it out. Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold.” Song of Solomon 8:6-7

Our Boys!!!!

Tatum is nine months old!!! He weighs 21 pounds 6 ounces and is 29 inches tall. He is quite the muscle man!!! He is on the go and I absolutely love watching him crawl. He’s super fast and grunts while he’s doing it. Cracks me up! Tagen decided to skip crawling altogether so this is a first for us. So fun! He has the sweetest spirit, just like Tagen does, and smiles all the time. His name means JOY and he overflows with joy to say the least. He has been seizure-free for almost three months now. Praise Jesus!!!

Tatum, “The JOY OF THE LORD is YOUR STRENGTH.” (Nehemiah 8:10).

I would like to say his favorite person is Mommy, but I’d be lying ;) He adores Tagen and I wouldn’t have it any other way!!! They have the sweetest brotherly love I have ever seen. Tagen can look at Tatum and he cracks up. Seeing how close they are is already a sweet answer to prayer and we pray their relationship only gets stronger!!!



What Tatum’s been up to lately:
*Growls (I guess it's his language for now)
*Laying to sitting to crawling position
*Went from rolling everywhere to army crawling
*Pulls up on everything
*Tolerates baby food
*Prefers to feed himself finger foods
*Whatever we’re eating he wants to try
*Likes: roasted red bell peppers, guacamole, apples, waffles, French toast sticks, tortillas, potatoes, donuts (I have a funny story about that), pretty much anything I give him
*Favorites are strawberries, blueberries and yogurt
*Loves to cover his face and play peek-a-boo
*Hard to hold because he turns circles
*Takes 2-3 naps a day
*Still not sleeping through the night
*Wakes up once or twice to snuggle with me (very sweet so I can’t complain)
*Laughs and smiles all day
*Lifts his shoulders when he starts laughing hard (usually at Tagen)

We have donuts every Sunday morning and I decided to share a little of mine with Tatum. Trey honestly couldn’t believe it because I NEVER would have given Tagen donuts so young. Hahaa. Oh how it changes with your second!! Anyway, I tore off a little piece and let him try it. Then I asked Trey to take a picture of him getting a bite. So I proceed to put the chocolate covered donut up to his mouth, Trey snaps the picture, and then Tatum grabs hold of the donut with BOTH hands and shoves it in his mouth. Can’t blame the kid… who would want just a little taste of something so good!!!!

Now for Mr. Tagen!!! He's 3 ½ and such a blast. I constantly have to pray for energy to keep up with him and a little caffeine sure helps, too. Funny story… Trey and Tagen were outside working in the backyard. Trey taps on the window to get my attention because a rabbit was back there. Next thing I see Tagen running full-speed ahead chasing the rabbit and yelling, “HEEEEYYY!! Bunny Rabbit!!!” We were laughing so hard!


T started parent’s day out in February and he goes one day a week. As we were pulling out of the garage for his first day of school he shouts from the back seat, "PRAISE JESUS! I’M GOING TO SCHOOL!!!” What sweet words! That made it a little easier for me or at least until we dropped him off. I sat in the car and cried. I will be the first to admit that I'm quite the ball-bag. I called Trey because I was almost certain I couldn’t leave, but needless to say I finally did. A few of his friends are in his class and he absolutely LOVES it. WOW! He's getting so big so fast!

His 1st “job” (that’s what he likes to call it) is putting a new trash bag in the trashcan. He is a very good helper! He counts to ten, knows all his colors (even turquoise and will correct me if I call it blue), writes the letter “T” and recognizes that Tagen has one “T” and Tatum has two. He has such a great memory (the mind of Christ), just like Trey does. He enjoys doing his devotional, coloring, playing, and helping me with anything around the house, especially cooking. He even puts the clothes in the washer and dryer for me. Turns it on and everything!!! Praying he’s always so willing to help ;) He calls Sundays… “Sunday Funday’ because Daddy doesn’t go to work.” He is Trey’s little shadow the entire day. He has his own pair of miniature work gloves. Too cute. He even struts around with his chest bowed out because he is quite the “big boy” helping Dad outside. I love it!

We absolutely love our life!!! God is so good and has graciously blessed us beyond what we ever asked for or even imagined!!! Thank you JESUS!!!

God is good!!!!

Well I have to admit I've been quite the blog slacker. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to since my last blog...

June 28, 2010, our sweet baby Tatum was born. He is such a joy!! He just turned five months old. He smiles ALL THE TIME and looks so much like Tagen when he does. When they smile their eyes smile and I absolutely love that. Tatum loves to grab, touch and feel everything especially our mouths for some crazy reason. He almost falls over backward when I get a drink of water because he can hardly wait to get that cold water bottle in his hands. He loves people and I'm almost certain he loves his big brother most of all. They are so sweet together. Tatum belly laughs at Tagen daily. Tagen adored his baby brother from day one and still does. He uses a different, even sweeter tone of voice when he talks to him. One of my favorite things to do is watch them playing on the floor together. Tatum can roll over and sit up on his own. When we lay him on the floor to play with him... he smiles huge, his arms go straight out to the side and he kicks his feet 100 mph. It's hilarious how excited he gets!!!

As for Tagen, he is definitely all boy. Here are just a "few" of his favorite things to do: wrestle with daddy, tackle, play catch, kick his football, dominate us in wii, draw, ride "daddy" his bull, and cook us hamburgers on his grill. Just recently he really started using his imagination and pretending. It's pretty entertaining. He loves to play with his barn and all his animals. He also talks non-stop :) I will give you one guess who he gets that (and his good looks) from... HIS DADDY :) Hahaa no doubt about that! One of our favorite Tagen words is "hanitizer." He says it instead of hand sanitizer. I love it! He also says "walkle" when he wants a popsicle. He keeps us in stitches with some of the stuff he comes up with. Ever since T was a little boy we would dance with him. One of our favorite songs to dance to is "Stuck like Glue" by Sugarland, and just the other day he added a very fun version of "Jingle Bells" to the list. I'm glad no one has a camera when we're all breaking it down. Hahaa. We almost always have the music on and are dancing together... in the living room, kitchen, car, anywhere and everywhere!!!

In September, we moved into another house and oh boy was that stressful! But we made it :) We are all moved in and loving it. This has definitely been a season of change, but we are so thankful for God's grace and all that He has blessed us with. He is so good!!!! I will end with a few pics of the boys...

At the hospital after our sweet baby Tatum was born:

Tagen and Tatum are so sweet together:

Pictures of the boys that my friend Denae Hutson took:




Bath time:

Tagen's 3rd Birthday Party. It was such a blast!!!


Ruidoso, New Mexico:

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