Your First Royal Ball

Cameron,
Have we told you lately how proud of you we are?  You are such a wonderful big sister and helper to us.  You take responsibility for your own things and are generally quick to complete tasks when we ask.  You are on your best behavior at school and all your teachers say what a good leader you are.

So Mommy and Daddy wanted to do something extra special just for you to do.  A friend told me about Reece's Royal Ball, an annual fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald house put on every year by a family here in San Antonio whose daughter had cancer.  You thought the chance to wear a princess dress and go on a special date with Daddy sounded just perfect.

Mommy got to take you to get a haircut and a fancy undo.  You especially loved that the hairdresser sprinkled glitter all over your beautiful braids!  We had a quick lunch date and then I helped you get ready in your new princess dress, which we ordered just for the occasion.  It was time to get you a Merida dress (the girl from the movie Brave who also has fiery red hair) because you outgrew the last one.  You were so excited to even wear a tiny bit of makeup since it was such a fancy  date!

Here you are with your special date, Daddy!  Just remember that the first man to get all dressed up and take you out to make you feel like a princess was your Daddy.  You will always be his little girl.

Love always,
Mama

While We Can Still Call You Ours

Today we had the great joy of dedicating our sweet boy Rhys to the Lord today at church.  We also did the same with Cameron when she was a little girl.  It is not anything we do to impact your salvation, but rather a time when we commit ourselves as your parents to honor the Bible's instructions for us and to try and teach you how to become a man of God.  We hope that as you grow and get old enough to make those choices for yourself that you will see the beauty and adventure that is free as a gift through the love of Jesus.

I did really appreciate that we were asked to listen to some CD sessions that discussed the meaning behind what we were doing as well as think ahead to your future.  We know that being a parent doesn't mean that you are guaranteed happiness or health.  We are entrusted to be your protectors and guides while we can still call you ours.  No one knows the amount of time they will be given.  So we hope that we show you every day that we love you and are so glad that God chose us for you.  You were the perfect addition to our family, so sweet and full of joy.

We were specifically asked to "imagine the end" and think of the characteristics that we hope you possess when you turn 18 and the world sees you as an adult.  Your dad and I came up with this list, although we hope you will have many more admirable traits!  Knowing how we hope you turn out should impact how we teach and discipline you in these early years, as well as how we will make things a priority in our household.  Here is what he hope for you…

1.  That you will be confident and never ashamed to share your faith.
2.  That you will stand up to help others and stop injustices when you see them.
3.  That you will be a leader among your friends and teammates.
4.  That you will humbly accept both praise and criticism.  You won't be entitled or always demanding recognition over others.
5.  That you will balance your adventurous heart with kindness and compassion for others.
6.  That you will know how to love and respect women.
7.  That you will share your laughter and encouragement through life's ups and downs.
8.  That you will not be self-centered but rather honoring God in all you choose to do.

We had a great time of prayer with you and our church family and we were so proud to dedicate you to the Lord.  Here we are with our Pastor Ken.  We sure do love you, Rhys Man!

Hugs and Kisses,

Mama

Sometimes Life Just Happens

Let me give you a little back story…..

We had just had such a wonderful Christmas, and then Cameron got hit with a stomach bug that seemed to be going around everywhere.  We survived and made the trip home from Abilene, but for quite a while afterward I was feeling a little off.  So I finally made an appointment to see a general family doctor close to my office.  I was very concerned that I might have a lingering virus or stomach ulcer or something that was brought on by stress.  The doctor told me he needed to run a whole bunch of tests to rule out things, so I left all the samples and headed home.  Then as I was getting on the highway, my doctor called me and asked if I could turn around and come back.  He said he meant to talk with me before I had left.  I was a little alarmed but I headed right back there.  He immediately told me that one of my test results was already in and he didn't want to give me the news over the phone while I was driving.

I had a positive pregnancy test.

And I immediately said, "That's not possible, my husband had a vasectomy in March!"

He assured me that it was possible, but that he would do another blood test and give me the results the following Monday.  Well, thanks for the setting me up for a horribly worrisome weekend Doc!  Because not only did I have to freak out about the possibility but I had to go home and tell my husband…

And you can imagine why that conversation was not possibly going to go well.  Let's just say that Bo went back to his doctor five days later to have a test run that confirmed that his vasectomy GREW BACK TOGETHER.  He had a test 6 weeks after the initial procedure that confirmed it had worked, and just 6 months later, it had miraculously reversed itself.  The doctor told Bo that he was the 4th patient that this had happened to in the last 26 years.  So as much as we were not thrilled that Bo has such miraculous super genes, at least I could say that there was no doubt that this was a miracle that God had to ordain for our family.

But here is the problem.  After Rhys was born with so many problems, our doctor made a strong recommendation that we not have any more children.  So we took that as a clear sign that our family was finished with babies and we were perfectly happy to cherish our two.  We had a garage sale last October and cleared out all the baby toys and little tiny clothes, and I happily gave away or sold every scrap of maternity clothing that I owned.  We mentally closed that chapter of our lives and were making lots of plans for 2014.

Cameron would start Kindergarten and our daycare bill would be gloriously cut in half.  We were going to take a fabulous summer trip for our 10 year anniversary.  Rhys would hopefully be out of diapers by the end of this year and we would be rid of them forever!  And now we are starting all over…

Selfishly, Bo and I both thought of all the reasons why we didn't want God to change all our plans.  This is going to change a lot of things financially and logistically for us.  (I can't drive my Toyota Camry with three car seats in the back!)  And I will admit that I didn't know if I could handle the emotional roller coaster of another baby born with a myriad of health issues caused by my own blood. For an explanation of why my antibodies are a problem for this baby, this is a really good site that explains the condition.  But God is softening our hearts and showing us that trusting his plan for our family can't have self-imposed limits.  We cannot be afraid to open our hearts and love a baby that may be sick for the first few months of its life, or may be at risk to not even survive past delivery.

I have already been seeing my regular OB that delivered both Rhys and Cameron, as well as a maternal fetal medicine specialist who are regularly monitoring my blood levels (which are already increasing in levels related to those antibodies).  For now we are praying for as uneventful of a pregnancy as possible, and my doctors say the magic number is try and make it to 35 weeks so we can do a C-section.  We are sharing the news so that we can ask for your prayers for our family and this sweet little miracle.

Here he or she was the day before Valentine's Day…

We are now fourteen weeks along and are slowly getting over the shock.  We are so touched by the joy and support that our family and friends have shown us.  We are very blessed to have a network of love and prayers working on our behalf already to petition the Lord for this baby.

This is the scripture that is written on our bathroom mirror as a reminder to be thankful in all circumstances for this blessing:

Psalm 127: 3-5 "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.  Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warriors hands.  How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!"

Party of Two

Cameron & Rhys,

I am so proud of the way that you two are becoming such good friends.  You love to laugh at one another being silly, you are kind and share things, and you seem to understand each other so well.  Cameron is still memorizing lots of books rather than really reading the words, but that doesn't stop her from sitting down and "reading" them to Rhys.  I absolutely love when he brings a little board book to me and backs himself right up and sits in my lap.  He will happily let you read 4 or 5 books in a row before bed every night if you let him.  His continual favorites are Busy Chickens, Little Blue Truck, and Chugga-Chugga Choo Choo. (Apparently he and Grammy have the same taste in books since she bought them all for him!)

Bathtime is occasionally a rushed thing, but it brings my heart joy when these two sweethearts manage to fit together in our little tub and play together.  Rhys loves his submarine and turtle bath toys, and Cameron is actually pretty good and washing his hair for him, so it's a win-win!  It is quite a challenge to get Rhys to actually get out when he is done… I make the mistake of asking him if he wants to get "up" (since he calls everything up rather than down or out) and he always sweetly replies no.

Cameron thinks she is also Rhys' personal speech therapist.  She practices words with him all the time!  He has gotten pretty good at saying "Sissy" but Cameron is too hard.  He has his own little sounds for a  lot of things like pizza, cheerios, and even dinosaur.  I guess we are in the phase where we can interpret things and explain them to everybody else.  :)

I am so grateful for both of you and your sweet spirits.  Thank you for filling our home with laughter and joy.  In the words of the beautiful Psalms, "My cup runneth over."

Love,
Mama

10 Truths of a Coach's Wife

Here are some truths that I thought I would share for those that fully understand and those that haven't the slightest idea what it is like being a coach's wife….

1.  You are the sounding board.  When they win, he wants to talk about it.  When they lose, he wants to talk about it.  Game nights are late and exhausting but his mind is still racing anyway.  Even after a victory, he is thinking about the next opponent.

2.  That's why it is so wonderful to him that you understand at least the basics of the game and can intelligently discuss it.  He doesn't want you to tell him what to do, just not sound like an idiot when he explains routes and defensive strategies and role players.  Bonus points if you take your interest to the next level and get your own fantasy football team.

3.  Sometimes your own children will suffer because he is focused on mentoring and coaching other people's children.  This is not a dig at their parenting skills in any way, but if your coach is like my coach, he still sees opportunities to teach his players character and faith and the value of positivity while you put in hard work.  He will spend thousands of hours with students in the course of one school year, and some weeks he may only see his children for 30 minutes before bed each night.

4.  You will have to inevitably deal with overbearing (usually well-meaning) parents that think your coach doesn't understand how to best utilize their child in their sport.  I have had parents interrupt my husband while he was literally holding one baby and had another practically hanging off his leg by asking him if it was a good time to talk about their own child's amount of playing time.  There are also the parents that refuse to believe that their angelic descendant is completely incapable of being disrespectful, lazy, stupid, or below par in any way.  This will either make you realize the kind of parent that you absolutely DO NOT want to be when your own children play sports or you will turn into the biggest monster of them all.

5.  You will accept at some point that you will never be rich.  Public school teachers are never in it for the money.  He may find his way into bigger schools or more administrative positions, but you will never have the earning potential of those in the business world.  Unless you completely sacrifice both of your careers to the gods of sport (thereby probably moving every few years to climb the ladder), your coach will probably not make it to a level greater than high school.  Large college and professional coaching positions are few and far between, and you will probably know early on in your marriage if you plan on chasing that dream.  Heaven help you if you are married to one of those coaches.

6.  Unless you are also a teacher or coach yourself, you will have to endure a short span of 8 - 10 weeks each summer when you must pretend to be happy for your spouse to not have to go to work.  You will still get up early and drudge to work while he plans golf games and sleeps in.  This is just as difficult for me as it is for him to just not be home during September entirely.

7.  You will learn to stop buying your coach expensive and/or fancy clothes.  He may need the occasional dress shirt and khaki pants, but odds are he will turn his nose up at the words "suit and tie."  He will need a new pair of tennis shoes every six months but he can keep the same pair of brown dress shoes for decades.  Your laundry room will be filled with athletic shorts and moisture-wicking shirts that you can thankfully hang up to dry and never iron.  If he stays at the same school for a long period of time, his closet will be almost entirely two colors.  Better hope it is a flattering color palette for the both of you.

8.  There will always be turnover.  You will see friends move away to take better jobs.  You will enjoy getting to know certain families only to have them leave after a year or two.  Some coaches' wives form intense bonds with their own kind because they don't have long enough to really make any other friends.  You hope and pray that your husband has support and friendships with the other members of the staff.  You love to hear stories of camaraderie and brotherhood (occasionally displayed through pranks and mild hazing) because you know you could never get away with any of that stuff in a tax office.

9.  But there will be people that your coach will love and remember forever, both players and co-workers alike.  It is always touching to have students come back years later and share their successes with gratitude for your coach's influence.  My coach proudly wears t-shirts from universities all over the county that his students have attended.  He still has former co-workers that he calls up for advice and reassurance.  He has learned the type of leadership that he admires and plans to emulate when he is someday in charge of an entire staff.

10.  You will love and admire your coach for teaching his athletes how to give their all and display honorable character, win or lose.  You will be able to tell him with complete honesty that you respect him for all the effort he pours in.  You will beam with pride when parents tell you how much they appreciate your coach for leading their child by example.  And you will be thankful that his love of sports gives him a love of teaching others.

Kilpatrick Family Picture

This Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to have all the Kilpatrick family together to take a huge family portrait.  My sister Rachael was even gracious enough to come take it and also do smaller family shots.  Here we are with Bo's brothers (Chance on the left and Tanner on the right), his stepmom Gaila (AKA Gigi) and Bo's dad Billy (Grandpa!).  Not much of a smile out of Rhys, but at least he wasn't crying or trying to escape!

The Running List

Rhys Man,
I sure do love you.  You are adorable and funny and showing us every day how smart you are.  Check out your cuteness before and after your last hair cut:

But I gotta be honest, the list of words that you have learned to say is somewhat troublesome because it very clearly does not include the word Mama.  Check this out:

1.  Dog

2.  Dada

3.  Cracker

4.  Touchdown

5.  Apple

6.  More

7.  Please

8.  Nana (banana)

You also attempt to say bath time, Cameron, your name and a few others.  But definitely no Mama.  Cameron is already a pretty strong Daddy's girl, so you are not allowed to also be on Team Daddy.  We have to start showing Mama a little love.

Happy Halloween 2013

This year, we decided to go all out for our Halloween costumes!  Cameron made the executive decision that she and Rhys should have coordinating costumes, so she was Jessie and he was Woody from Toy Story.  (I secretly wished that Bo would be Buzz Lightyear, but we couldn't convince him…)

 Cameron's sweet friend Hallee threw a party for some of our friends at her house, so we had an extra chance to wear their cute outfits.  Hallee loves to play dress up any day of the year!

All the kiddos - Cuteness overload

Here is Mommy in full Snow White mode.  The wig was tough to wear all day, but we were having an office costume contest!  Rhys and Cameron actually liked it when I surprised them at school like this!

Some of my crazy co-workers all dressed up!

Here we are at the end of the night, all worn out!  Not many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, but we had a great time anyway.  I would say Halloween 2013 was a success!

Running for More

I remember the day when my friend Christy Pool was talking to me about their pending adoption of a sweet baby boy from China and I first felt the tug on my heart to help her.  She and her husband Levi were the very first friends that we made in San Antonio from our church.  We loved spending time with them long before either of us had any kids and truly think of them as part of our family.

She and Levi decided to form a team for this year's Chosen Marathon.  When you sign up to be part of their team, 100% of the registration fee is donated to them to be used in their adoption process.  (I now know how expensive it can be and what a tremendous gift it is to them when they have over 100 people support them!)

So this year, I did something I NEVER would have thought I would do.  I started running.  On purpose!  And I truly mean it when I say that I don't like to run.  I don't even really like to be sweaty, and training in 100 degree weather in the San Antonio summer was truly the bardest thing I have ever had to make myself do.  But I started not being able to run a mile at all and about six months later, I finished the half marathon.

Thankfully, Bo was super supportive and allowed me lots of weekend mornings to go do my longer runs.  He and the kids even showed up to cheer me on as I finally finished!  This is when I saw Cameron right before the finish line, and then she decided to run and cross it with me.  Love that girl!

The most important part is that Levi and Christy will soon be welcoming home their new son, Elliott Levi Pool from China.  We love him already and can't wait to meet him face to face!

Happy Birthday Daddy

For Daddy's 32nd birthday, we toughed out the long wait to go to one of the most fabulous places in downtown San Antonio, La Gloria.  They make mexican street food, which means you want to order a whole bunch of individual tacos and appetizers to fill you up.  We invited lots of friends from church and Daddy's school and had a great time.  The food was fabulous and we had a wonderful waitress that was patient with our big group and all the kids!  We even finished off our meal with Gigi's Cupcakes for everyone!

We are very blessed to have such a wonderful man to be the head of our family.  Bo gives his all to his athletes, the coaches and his loved ones.  We are so proud of him and pray we get to celebrate him for many more years to come!