Happy 30th Birthday Wes!!

In honor of Wes' 30th birthday, I wanted to write him a tribute blog. Let me warn you, there may be ups and downs as you read this. You may shed tears of joy and tears of sadness as you read this. All in about the span of two minutes. Kind of like a bad Lifetime movie. You ready?

Wes and I met our freshman year of college. I was with my roommate visiting a church in Anderson when in walked in a blond haired, blue-eyed, tall, husky, not quite muscular beauty. He changed my life! After he swept me off of my feet, we spent the next 4 years of college by each other's side. We loved our college years. Wes would finish my food, my sentences and would take me on dates to the computer lab on Friday nights. Everything was perfect.

One of the conversations we had as we realized the next step was marriage for us was about our family. How many children would we have? Would they have big heads like Wes with skinny bodies like mine? Would I stay home with our kids or work? How would we afford it? During that time of discussions, two things happened that I believe changed the course of our early marriage and subsequently our lives:

1.) Wes started working a factory job during our senior year. He made a pretty decent salary and he saved it all. It was hard to watch him work so hard and get so little sleep. But he was setting the foundation for our lives together.

2.) We decided once I started working after graduation, all of my money made would go straight into savings. I wouldn't see a dime. We would live off of his income only and all the money I made would go to fund us during the time where I wouldn't be working and would be taking care of our kids.

Once we go married, we stuck fiercely to these. Wes worked hard, and I saved all I got. I know I am here today because of the sacrifices we made early on. I hope you don't see this as me bragging. I just want to give props to one of the people who taught me that good things come to those who wait. Wes got a lot of flack in high school and college for being cheap. But as I look back at our lives together, I wouldn't change a thing. I hope he feels the same way.

When it came time for us to have our children, I told my mom I was worried that he wouldn't be as into it as I was. Boy was I wrong! The second I had Preston, he snatched him out of my hands and I have yet to get him back. And I love that! I love that he is so hands-on. He's not too proud to change diapers, get thrown-up on, or help someone up after they have fallen. He is right there to play with the boys, to teach them new things and to guide them in the right direction if they are misbehaving (which they never do by the way).

As a husband, I hoped that the man I met in college would be the man that he would always be. But he has changed. I have seen him come into his own. He went from a boy who would sleep through his alarm clock to a man that jumps up quickly to turn off the alarm so he doesn't wake me up. He has gone from a boy who holds back when it came to projects because he thinks he doesn't know what he's doing to someone who takes on home improvment projects and car fixing projects head on. He is so loving and so kind. I just can't express that enough! We don't fight very often. I would love to say the reason we don't is because I'm so likable but that would be a lie. It's because he respects me as we fight. He has never called me names or belittled me or tried to break my spirit. Things don't usually end up in giant fights because his cool head doesn't allow them to escalate. Even when we do fight I can feel his love coming through.

Lastly, I have seen Wes become a wonderful spiritual leader for our home. I have seen him go from going to church on Sunday's to now seeing his faith permeate his whole life. He has a huge desire to know more about God and His plan for the world. I have seen his love for people grow. I have seen him become more generous towards others because he has realized that all we have is from God anyway.

Wes, you have no idea how much you mean to me. I never imagined the life I have with you would be so wonderful. You have made the 11 years or so that I have known you the best of my life. Happy 30th birthday!

10 things I'm learning, cont.

**I had so much fun writing my last top 10 list that I thought I might try it again! Goodness knows I have enough material these days.**

1. No matter how exhausted I am, if I have told my child something, I have to follow through. I have been struggling with consistency in punishments since Cameron came along. I will tell Preston and Owen if they do X, Y or Z, I will do A, B or C to them. The problem is when they test me, which you better believe they do, sometimes I am just sooo tired. The thought of following through with the punishment is tough! Someone once told me before you start to discipline your child, think : "Is this the hill I want to die on?" Meaning, is this issue important enough for me to fight with my child tooth and nail until I win? If it's not, don't even go there. This saying has saved me from overreaction a lot!

2. When I find money in the laundry, this money no longer belongs to the family as a whole. It now belongs to me and will go in a fund called "Keep Stacy Sane." The money will be used to buy a McDonald's coke or perhaps even a Chick Fil'a milkshake if I find a lot of money!

3. When you have older siblings, the typical floor-mat that a baby plays on becomes an "put up-on-the-ottoman-so-that-your-siblings-don't-accidentally-step-on-you-and-re-arrange-your-face-mat." And then when Cameron starts rolling over, we are going to have to change the name to "good-thing-I-didn't-fall-on-my-head-when-I-fell-off-the-ottoman-mat." Don't even think about stealing these names, by the way. I have them trade-marked and submitted to Fisher Price. I'm still waiting to hear back.

4. If you are going on a trip, double or triple check your packing before you go or you will end up like we did this past weekend. Preston ended up wearing Owen's jeans because I forgot his, they both didn't have socks and also didn't have winter coats. Just because it's warm in Indiana doesn't meant that Michigan is going to be warm. I pretty much avoided eye contact with anyone that weekend for fear they would turn me into child services!

5 Also, take this next travel tip to heart. If you are changing your babies diaper in the car, don't do it on your lap! While I was changing Cameron, he was kind enough to give me 2 warning farts before he pooped all over me. Thankfully I had my hand there so he filled up my hand with poop and didn't stain my clothes. Haven't I told you how thoughtful he is?

6. You can hope and wish all you want that your children will love each other and share and do all the other things that good siblings do, but it isn't magic. It's something that takes practice because let's face it; little brothers are annoying. That's just the way it is! One of the things that has helped the boys get along better is to share a room with each other. Do they annoy and cry and scream about it? You bet! But it's those times where they are supposed to be sleeping but instead are both sitting in one of their beds together reading that makes you know you're doing the right thing.

7. I thought I learned this, but I guess I'm just too dense to get the lesson. Don't make plans. They never work out. Last night the kids were in bed by 7:45pm so Wes and I had a nice night planned of watching a movie and just relaxing. We were so excited! But by the time all was said and done, Owen was up with a fever, throwing up all over the place. So, instead of a calm evening spent together, this whole family of 5 ended up sleeping in the same room hoping that we wouldn't get puked on. So much for plans.

8. This may get me barred from all mom's groups from here to Timbuktu but I'm going to say it anyway. TV is my friend. TV keeps my kids occupied when I can't stand to hear anymore whining, complaing or fighting. And now is when I'm supposed to say that there are some really great educational programs out there...yada yada yada. When you were little, did you only watch PBS? I don't think so. So, people, I think we need to get over ourselves, give ourselves a break or whatever we need to do and not feel guilty when we slap on a Disney movie or something that is just for fun!

9. I have learned that the more kids we have, the more we turn into a giant freakshow. My sister Lindsay calls us because she can't believe some of the stories I tell. It's like a car accident. You know you shouldn't stare but you just can't help it. And my sister Sara doesn't call for the exact same reason. Haha. Just kidding Sar!

10. On a more serious note, I am reminded daily that God is the One providing for our needs. I know many people who are nervous about having more children because of the financial burden. I understand that. And I also understand that God wants us to be smart about how we plan. But sometimes I wonder if we go too far and take all of the control out of God's hands (if that were possible) in the name of being "smart." As I'm given 2 bottles of detergent from a friend that doesn't need it anymore, I'm reminded that God provides for us. As my neighbor who works at Frito-Lay stops over with 3 huge bags of chips, 36 individual bags and two boxes of the peanut butter crackers that Owen loves, I am reminded that God provides for us. I chose to live my life looking for these moments.

3 packs of Huggies diapers for $13!

Hey everybody, there's a relatively easy diaper deal that you can do if you are in need of diapers for your little ones!

First, go to www.coupons.com and print out the Huggies coupons that are there. There should be a $3 off and a $2 off. (remember you can print each twice. After you have printed once, go back to the site and the coupons will be at the end of the list and you just select to print them again.

Next if you want to get a few more coupons, go to http://huggies.socialtwist.com/fb.html?src=facebook. Send this link to 3 people and you can print out 2 more $3 off coupons. After you print the coupon once, just hit the back button again and you can print out another one.

Now, Target has Huggies $8.99 a pack this week and if you buy 3 packs, you get a $5 Target gift card. So here's what your deal should look like:

3 packs of diapers: $27 plus tax

Minus 3 $3 off coupons: $18

Minus Target gift card: $13 plus tax

$13 for 3 packs of diapers!!

I'm going to try this deal tonight so I will post if I have any problems!!

***Update***This deal worked like a charm! I had Wes print out some coupons at work so I'm going to do this deal again today but use the gift card I got yesterday. Hope you will give it a try!

Happy Easter!

I love seeing kids during Easter egg hunts. It reminds me of how excited I was during our Easter egg hunts at Nana's.

Preston is getting so old. He's been very excited about talking about Jesus and His resurrection this year. Oh and Easter eggs.

I love this picture. Cameron is a peach. In the past two weeks he has started letting me get 8 hours of sleep at a time. That's why my smile is so big and I don't have bags the size of Texas under my eyes.

If there was any doubt that Preston was birthed by me, this photo is the proof. Hello, squinty eyes. Oh, and his folded over ears.

Cameron just melts my heart. He is such a sweetheart. He had something on his face that I scratched off right before this picture. I guess that was a bad idea.

Whew! All the Easter festivities were enough to wear out my little Owie. He was having so much fun hanging out with his older cousins pretending that he was 4 years old like everyone else.

Hope your Easter was a blessed reminder of our risen Savior!

Glorious Day ~Casting Crowns

My father-in-law just shared this video and it was such a great reminder as we head into Good Friday and Easter about the sacrafice and the love that our Savior has for us! Take a few minutes and listen to the song and I know it will touch you! Without Jesus, we would have nothing!

Things I'm learning....

(Multi-tasking at it's best!)

Here's a list of the 10 latest things that being a new mother of 3 is teaching me! Hope you can glean something useful from this list!!

1. If you want your child to talk: You should not wish for your child to talk because once he starts, he will never stop! Preston is the resident chatterbox at our house. I am currently shopping for a muzzle.

2. If your child says he's bored: Don't ever tell your bored 4-year old to go and find something to do, because he will. And then he will come to you looking like a smurf because he stamped his hands and arms with a blue stamp pad. Of course, why didn't I think of that when he asked for something to do??!

3. Breaking habits: Break habits in your kids when they are young. The older they get, the harder habits are to break.

4. Go dark: I've decided I need to re-carpet the house with black carpet so that my boys who love playing in the mud outside won't have to be hosed off before coming inside. Or maybe I will carpet with that cheap, fake grass they sell to put outside campers.

5. Set boundaries: This summer, we will be planting a garden again, but this time we will be surrounding it with chicken wire to keep out the bunnies....and the 2 year olds.

6. Don't be prideful. I had to pass off my newborn to a complete stranger at the park the other day in order to peel Owen off of a slide that was too high for him. I felt like an idiot but then she told me how long it had been since she held a newborn. Life's too short to try and do everything on our own. Next time you see me at the park, I might just pass Cameron to you and go to Starbucks and read a book.

7. Put your maternity clothes away as soon as possible! Nothing makes me feel frumpier than wearing giant clothes after the baby is born. That's why I have decided it's okay to have a muffin-top and wear my pre-pregnancy jeans. (For those who don't know what a muffin-top is, it's when your belly is so big it hangs over your jeans like the top of a muffin hangs over the bottom. See, you learn new things everyday! Now go use muffin-top in a sentence this week!)

8. Savor each moment. Just this week, my sweet Cameron has started cooing. Wes and I can't remember either of the boys cooing this early. It is such a sweet sound to my ears. I just love it. So, each time he starts talking around, I drop whatever I'm doing and just listen, because I know it won't be long before that cooing will turn into "Mom, I brought a frog into the house last week and I can't seem to find it anywhere."

9. Take time for yourself. Right after dinner, I high-tail it outta there and go spend about 30 minutes by myself. I doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as I'm by myself. It is so refreshing. Caution: you will probably have to lock yourself away if you're going to stay at your house because there is nothing more fun for your kids than to try and bug you while you are having "alone time."

10. Let your kids be kids. This one is a big one for me because I would love it if my kids would be little robots and say and do only what I had pre-programmed them to say or do. But then I started thinking, what's the fun in that? So now I tell Preston how cool his burps sound and I laugh with Owen when he toots because that's showing them the lighter side of life. I didn't freak out when the boys decided to flip over all of the dining room chairs while I was on the phone because they are just being kids. Can it be annoying? Yes!! But before too long, they will have a lot more pressure on them than they do now. So, why rush it by getting mad about stuff that doesn't matter. Like they say, "Don't sweat the small stuff!"

A lesson for us all

It has been exciting to live in Indiana the past few weeks because we have had both a men's team and a women's team in the Final Four. Now I will not pretend that I am a sports fan by any stretch. We do not watch any sports in the Cook house. Shocked?? So is everyone else. It is almost the unpardonable sin to live in Indiana and not watch the Colts and root for a college sports team from here. So, we keep it on the downlow and pretend we watch! Shhh...don't tell. Anyway, unfortunately the Butler Bulldogs couldn't clinch the title this year but I learned a great lesson from their rise to fame. I learned some background on one of their players, Matt Howard, that I thought was truly inspirational and a great lesson for us all. I thought I might share it here. Matt grew up in Southern IN in a family of 10 children. His father has been a mail carrier for 30 years. As you can imagine growing up in a family with 10 children to provide for, money was tight. His father said that it was just understood that none of the children would be able to do a lot of extra-curricular activities that would cost money because they just didn't have it. As Matt grew older, his family noticed that he seemed to be a very talented basketball player. So, one night his dad gathered the family together and asked all 10 of them if they would be supportive of the family putting some extra money towards Matt being able to play basketball. They all agreed as they saw that their brother definitely had something worth investing in. Isn't that great? I just love the thought that all the other 9 of those children were able to put their own wants and needs aside to be supportive of one of their own. What a selfless act. And look at how it paid off. They now have a very talented brother who is living his dream. Sometimes we get asked whether we worry about being able to provide for our children in the future. I can't speak for Wes, but for myself, I don't worry very much. First of all, I know that we serve a God that will give us all that we need. Maybe not all that we want, but all that we need. Secondly, I don't worry about trying to keep my kids as cool as the next kid out there. The thing about that is there is always going to be someone who is cooler than they are! I think it's my job to provide for all of my children's needs, but defnitely not all of their wants. Now, they haven't been informed of this yet, but that's the way it's going to be. Because we have chosen to have more children, I know that my kids are going to have less than others around them. My hope is that instead of this becoming a negative thing, Wes and I will be able to make it a positive thing. I want our lives to be about each other, not about things or activities. I hope that one day, our children will be able to put aside their own wants and decide instead to invest in a life of another. I think that is something that money can't buy.