The Seatons

Addy's 1st Birthday

2012-01-22T23:29:00.001-06:00

This post is dedicated to our daughter Addison Grace Seaton. Today Addy turned 1!!! It is amazing how fast a year flies by. We had a fun party yesterday to celebrate her big day, but before I post about that...I wanted to post a little about how Addy has blessed our lives during this first year. :)

It was a miracle from God to even have Addy--some know our story, but in a nutshell it took us almost 2 years to get pregnant and stay pregnant and so to us...you have always been a miracle. With that perspective..every moment of the first year (even the really hard times and sleepless nights) have been such a blessing. You have challenged your dad and I to work even harder as a team. You have challenged us to know Jesus more, so that we might set that example for you. You have given us countless smiles and happy tears as we have watched you rapidly grow up into a beautiful little girl. Your smile melts us and only allows us to smile back--this is especially hard when we are telling you "NO." We are sure we will have to work on that. The older you get, the more fun it gets and each day we spend with you we love you more. You have taught us so much about being selfless and finding joy in all things. We thank God each day for you and we pray each day that the Lord would draw your heart to know him in a deep way and that your life would ultimately bring him glory in all that you do! We know that he has great plans for you. :) We cannot wait for the rest of life that the Lord allows us to spend with you. We love you so much!

Children truly are a blessing from the Lord...of course they are a life changer, but for us...a great life change indeed. I have realized how selfish I was (and of course still am), but hopefully God us using that to mold me.

Enjoy some of the highlight pics from Addy's 1st Birthday Party! It was owl themed in case you can't tell. :)

Our family...minus Lily--she was MIA

Started out the cake eating with a scare...she went for the flame, but my cat like reflexes prevented a burn. :)

Addy was not sure about this cake thing at first!!!

But....she obviously grew to like it...okay LOVE IT!!! SUGAR!!!

Ireland and Addy--Ireland is my best friend Amber's daughter..they were due on the same day, but are 2 weeks apart in age. The wagon is from my parents--it is also what Darrick got on his 1st birthday--so fun.

Addy's birthday cake

Birthday Banner with pics from each month--thank you Pinterest

So...we decided to take a kids picture at the end (bad idea) with the remaining kids there--Addy was not a fan and therefore neither was Claira. It was at least an hour after nap time...and well...this is what you get. ;)

Surprisingly...this pic is after the above pic--but Addy and Claira were much happier with Kyle in the wagon!!

I would say that Addy's first birthday was a success!! Good food, great friends, precious children, fun times and fun pictures, generous gifts and lots of books--yeah, and celebrating the first year of life to our baby girls life!!

Happy Birthday Addison Grace Seaton and thank you God for blessing our lives with is precious life!!!

2011....an AMAZING year in a nutshell

2012-01-08T22:15:00.000-06:00

Well...I thought that I might do a better job of updating the blog last year with the arrival of a new baby and maybe more to actually blog about....but well I was wrong. With balancing life as a new mom, a wife, and working part/full time :), updating the blog well......was not a priority. I am a scrapbooker as well so doing both well might be a challenge but I did want to capture at least the highlights of 2011 and HOPE to do better in 2012--maybe one a month--that's not too tough right? So here goes my recap of an amazing year!!!

January 2011

Well of course the highlight of this month was the birth of our daughter, Addison Grace Seaton on January 22nd at 12:49 pm! :) She weighed 8 lbs and 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long-perfect in every way. Here is a picture of her shortly after she was born. Notice her sweet little Caddo Heart birthmark on her forehead between her eyes--my Camp War Eagle friends will appreciate this part.

Addison Grace

Being parents has been the biggest blessing in life thus far...it has truly stretched us and challenged us to keep God number 1 in our lives, even when it seems that there is not enough time in the day to even take a shower. :)

February 2011

This month started out with a record breaking snowstorm which stranded our newly expanded family at home. We got a whopping 24 inches of snow in one day! The snow was taller than our dog Lily (who loves snow btw). Here is a pic of Lily galloping through the snow. She was in heaven.

Darrick also took advantage of the photo opp for our new family and made a snow angel with our baby who was 2 weeks old. :) We are pretty laid back parents if you haven't noticed Here is a pic of our little angel with Daddy.

Addy looks like she is hating life and crying...she is not-it was just bright :)

The month of February was also about figuring out this thing called parenting. :) Addy was super easy the first week or so...but after that...well let's just say she wasn't exactly the easiest baby--she cried a lot, didn't sleep a lot, but liked to be held a lot (okay all the time--which is not always a bad thing). See my other blogs about this joyful time. :) But all worth it of course. And well...it was short lived.

One other fun thing I have to for sure mention is that my best friend from grade school Amber Miller Godfrey had her precious baby girl Ireland Elise Godfrey on February 3rd, 2011. Pretty great to be pregnant with your best friend--if only she lived closer. Addy and Ireland were actually due on the very same day, January 25th, but neither one held true to that contract. Oh well...2 weeks apart is not bad. Best friends in the making.

We also had some really great pics done by our great friend Sarah Estelle Barrow. She is wonderful. Here are a few.

Happy even at 1 month :)

March 2011

If I remember right--because well this was a long time ago, this was the breakthrough month. :) When Addy was about 9 weeks old I was on the verge of losing it....and so was she. She was one tired baby. My dear friend Jen Shipman helped me with helping Addy learn to sleep on her own. Literally after a day or two of quality sleep she was a different baby--happy, smiling, eating better and well mom and dad were also a lot happier with a bit more rest for us as well. So thankful for wisdom from great friends.

Also in March I turned 30! And much to my surprise my sweet amazing husband Darrick threw me a surprise 30th birthday party...let's just say that I was so surprised that according to those at the party, I looked mad...so mad in fact that they didn't really know what to say when I walked in the room--the "SURPRISE" was a bit weak needless to say. :) I wasn't mad at all...just REALLY REALLY REALLY surprised. My sweet friends Hanna and Lyndsay hosted it at their house. Here are a couple pics from the big day.

Cara (with Baby Claira), Les w/ Addy, Leah (with Baby Levi) This is a fun pic because we all techinally have babies in the picture...Cara and Leah's are just still inside. :)


Darrick and I at my 30th Bday party

In March we also said goodbye to Darrick's beloved hunter green 2000 Toyota Tacoma because...well it only had 2 seats...it was such a great truck--Darrick almost cried when he sold it. But that also meant we said hello to a new truck for Darrick. Thanks to Dave Ramsey (check him out at www.daveramsey.com) we had been saving for a few years for a new truck so it did not really put a strain on us even with the new addition.

April 2011

April was spent mentally and physically preparing for another summer of Camp War Eagle. I was done with my maternity leave and starting to work a bit more (not full time yet) while the amazing Cassi Dime watched Addy at our house. We are so thankful for Cassi--she is amazing with babies for all of your information. Here is a sweet pic of Cassi and Addy.

Addy was also preparing for some summer fun. This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Addy pre summer.

Look at this adorable muffin!

May 2011

In May I went back to work full time for the summer (while for the first 2 weeks sweet Sam watched Addy--she has also been Addy's nanny this fall and is AMAZING)...which was very hard for me to do. I so cherished all the time I had with Addy, but knew that the summer would be manageable for sure because even though I was working full time, I could pretty much see Addy whenever I wanted. May is usually THE HARDEST month of the year for me....all related to my job. I am in charge of training our summer staff at Camp War Eagle and well...that is 1/2 of the month of May. After that...it's smooth sailing for the summer...ha....usually.

But before the craziness of summer started...we made the trip to Oklahoma--God's country to celebrate Mother's Day with my family. Mom and Dad were thankful to see baby Addy before the craziness of summer started. Mom and Dad with Addy below.

During May Darrick celebrated his 31st birthday--at camp as always....I did manage in all the craziness to get him his favorite...an Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen.

On the first day of Pre Orientation (when all new staff arrive to camp for certifications) we had a bit of "weather." We made the Camp Tornado Shelter our home, not once, but twice in one night. This was a bit more challenging with a newborn strapped to my chest--thank goodness for baby wraps--Addy slept through it all, but it did bring a bit of stress to the opening of our summer. This was the same night that the F5 tornado destroyed the city of Joplin, MO, which is only about 1.5 hours from Camp War Eagle. We were thankful that going into the tornado shelter ended up only needing to be a precaution, but it did make the fact that Darrick and I were staying in a trailer at camp during the summer a bit harder.

Pre O and Orientation went great--yes a bit more challenging juggling all of my roles as the Staff Coordinator, but also as a wife and now a new mom--but we survived and Addy seemed to love it all. It was really great for her to be at camp. It was hilarious when everyone commented on how happy she was (which she was all the time for the most part). So many people asked if she ever cried...which I thought was hilarious...if they has only known her start to life. Here are a few pics of our happy baby in May.

June 2011

The 6th Summer of Camp War Eagle was fully in motion by June. This was definitely the most challenging summer for Darrick and I for a number of reasons, but still so great to be able to serve the Lord through this ministry. I work mostly with the staff and Darrick co-runs the program, focusing on the Lake and Spiritual Emphasis program at camp. The experience that these kids get thanks to the support of the Walton Family Foundation is truly Amazing.

Addy was loving camp...every ounce of it. She still at this point slept a good portion of the day, but when she was awake, she was a fun one. We were blessed to have sweet Chancie as our nanny during the month of June. She faithfully served our family in so many ways. (We had other nannies for short stints as well like Adrian-so thankful for their service). Here is a sweet pic of Chancie and Addy.

A fun moment in June....Addy Swimming for the first time!!

July 2011

Camp was still in full motion...the great thing about July was Addy finally started sleeping through the night in mid July....imaginE working 16 hour days and having to get up during the night to feed an infant...not the greatest of situations, but so worth it. I think moving home to our house across the lake from the trailer and just boating every day helped that out a bit. :)

July was a fun month--we had visitors at Camp...my parents, Darrick's parents, and my dear friend Lacey Bailey and her adorable daughter Annalee--Lacey used to work for camp. Here are a few pics of Lacey and I and our girls.

We also had another blessing in another Amazing nanny for July and August--Shelby. Addy loved her as well and she become a part of our family, as did Chancie. Shelby is going to be Addy's nanny for the entire summer for the summer of 2012...we are so so so blessed by her service to our family. Addy adores her. Here is a great picture of the both of them.

One more other great thing from July was that Darrick's brother Dustin and his wife Victoria moved to Fayetteville. We are so excited to have them so close.

August 2011

Mid August marked the end of the Summer of 2011. We always end the summer with a really fun Banquet that celebrates the great summer behind us. Mid August also marks the start to what most would consider "normal" life again. :) Although we love our job...we could love live that pace all year long. It is a blessing to do things like go to church, have two days off in a row (a weekend), make a visit to family, etc. :)

We also got a week off of work in August. We took advantage of this time and visited friends and family in Oklahoma.

Here are a few pics from our visit to Amber and Stuart...Ireland their daughter is almost Addy's exact age.

On August 30th, we also welcomed my 2nd nephew Levi Michael Metscher to the world. He was born on my sweet late Grandma Jean's birthday. So special. Here is the little muffin.

We also had some AMAZING family pictures made with Callie Granderson. She is very talented and if you need pictures of any kind I suggest checking her out. She is based out of Northwest Arkansas. http://calliegrandersonphotography.zenfolio.com/ Here are a few of my favorite pics from the shoot, although I loved them all.

September 2011
Probably the most eventful thing in September was a mini vacation for Darrick and I!! We took a trip that was also work related to San Antonio in September. It was our first time away from Addy which was of course hard, but she was in great hand with Grandma and Grandpa Seaton...she did great and so did we. We really loved our time away together there. It was so relaxing. My favorite parts....the Lazy River at the resort, my Spa day, and the Riverwalk of course....but better than all of that was quality time with Darrick..much needed for sure. Here is a pic from the Riverwalk.

A few other fun things about September were cheering on our OSU Cowboys in Football! Addy almost had the Go Pokes down!!!

One other highlight of this month was that Darrick and I both began studying the book of Acts intently while going to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). It has been such a blessing to grow in God's word together and Acts is such a powerful book--explaining the origins of the early church. It is so cool that we are both studying the same thing. The children's program with BSF is amazing too and such a blessing that Addy gets to learn these truths right along side us. The infant and children's program is truly incredible.

October 2011
There was so much fun that happened in October...I guess I will start with Addy fully mastering crawling...she had been "mobile" since August but in October...she took off and never looked back. Here is our little speedster in action.

Let's see there was also the first annual pumpkin carving for the Seaton Family. Vic, Dustin, Bill, & Marsha came over for all the fun. Here is a pic of the finished pumpkins.

The pumpkins then provided lots of fun fall photo opportunities at the Seaton Casa for our family. :)

WE also celebrated Darrick's Grandma Medley's 80th Birthday at our house...it was sweet and simple with some Pioneer Woman Lasagna and a beautiful cake from Rick's that Victoria picked up. Grandma was pleasantly surprised.

For Christmas a few years ago we gave Marsha a family photo shoot to replace some pictures in her house....the pics then just didn't turn out well so we tried again and well...they were amazing. I have another photographer Robyn Cloud and so we used her for this big family shoot. She is also wonderful. Her website is http://www.robyncloudphotography.com/
Here are a few of the great pics from her shoot.

We ended a great, but obviously very busy month with Halloween!!! Addy was an adorable baby turtle. I have to brag a bit because I was so proud that after 13 years, I still could use my sewing machine and make her turtle costume. I of course could have just bought one, but all of the costumes looked like little boy turtles and we needed some hot pink in there. Here are a few pics of our little baby crawling turtle.

Whew....October was a fun month!!!

November 2011
November was a bit less eventful...thank goodness. :) It was a good slow month to be thankful for all of our blessings. Addy's baby dedication was this month at our church the grove and we of course celebrated Thanksgiving. We traveled 5 hours to Caldwell, KS to be with my family and much extended family for Thanksgiving. Addy did great. Here are a few pics from the big day.

December 2011

And now to the month of December! It has been such a great month however one big confession I must make is how sad I get thinking that January is upon us and that Addy will be 1! I cannot believe it. She is absolutely the sweetest little baby and although she gets more fun the older she gets, I am going to miss these times so much.

We started out the month right by having a small watch party at our house with Lyndsay for the OSU/OU Bedlam game!! Let's just say OSU dominated them to say the least (OSU 44 OU 10) ...it is about time!!! OSU has had the best year in their football history--in fact if we had not lost to Iowa State, we would have been in the National Championship. But, I am completely satisfied with our great season. Here are few pics from the watch party!

Next on the docket a few pics of our two little Christmas puppies.

Adorable...I think so!!!

And then there is Christmas...oh Christmas...and getting ready for Christmas...and shopping for Christmas.........etc. Here is a quick summary of Addy's first Christmas.

First there was decorating our house for Christmas. I was so thankful that Darrick caved and we got to get a real tree this year!! Yeah!!! Addy especially liked the lights that went on the tree.

While we are on the lights theme...we also took a trip to downtown Fayetteville square to look at the lights...beautifl as always.

Before we took her out of her adorable Christmas dress we took some pics by our tree at home!

Before I get to the actual big day of Christmas I should include a picture with Santa....this was the successful one...we had a rough day another day and well...I wasn't about to buy those pics for $16.99 for one picture...call me cheap, but they aren't good anyway. ;) But this one is...and it was free. ;)

And now Christmas Day! I will say that Christmas day was one of the roughest days that Addy has had since she was first born....she was fighting a cold along with teething and lack of sleep...needless to say....the only person she was not screaming with was me, which was nice and also exhausting at the same time. But we did manage to get some happy moments during the day and the next day she was back to normal. We opened her 1000 gifts from grandma and grandpa in shifts. :) Here are a few pics from the morning time in her Christmas dress.

The afternoon was when we got most of our "happy addy" but only if she was naked so we opened presents in the buff.. ;) Here are a few great ones.

Oh...and I almost forgot...the gift from Santa.

Christmas is always such a great time of year as we celebrate our Saviors birth--oh what a mess we would be without him. Our biggest prayer that that Addy would come to know him and walk with him and serve him in her life!

We ended the new year with my parents in Oklahoma. We did Christmas with them as well...but I will have to upload those pictures at another time.

So that is 2011 in a nutshell. It was an incredible year and it flew by as they all do. So thankful for all the blessings that the Lord has given us. Excited to see what he has in store for 2012.

SLEEP was WHAT we needed!!!

2011-03-26T22:03:00.002-05:00

I hesistate to post this to prematurely because it has only been 3 days and I hope its not just a treat, but a trend.......but.....so far, SLEEP seems to be the magic medicine for both Addy and mom and dad!!!

We had Addy's 2 month check up Wednesday and as we were talking to Dr. Simmons about Addy's fussiness and suspected colic, he asked us how much she was sleeping. (His son apparantly had similar symptoms at Addy's age) We shared with him about how the ONLY way she would sleep was on us and that really the only decent sleep she was getting was at night from like 8 pm to around 3 am. The rest of the time she was restless and during the day only sleeping in 20-30 minute chunks! This of course is not super normal for a newborn who is "supposed" to sleep ALL the time...or at least this was my expectation....It was correct, but this is not how Addy slept. He gave us some tips on how to get her to sleep better and in her crib--Praise Jesus!! We love her more than anything, but she is getting big and therefore uncomfortable (10 lbs 1.5 ounces to be exact & 23 inches--long and lean baby were Dr. Simmons exact words)!!! She was not getting good sleep and nor were we, but the second we would lay her in her crib she would cry about 10 minutes later...and in order to get sleep, we let her sleep on us. :)

His tips along with some great coaching from my friend Jen has really helped her a ton. She is much much more content (or at least she has been so far) and feeds better and is SLEEPING, well at least at night (and in her crib--for a while I thought I had bought her crib for no reason--ha!!). Her naps are still a bit of a challenge--but she is getting better.

We have had to let her cry a bit so that she could learn to self soothe, which kills me since I have soothed and held her and prevented most crying for the first 2 months of her life non-stop, but for her health and our sanity...we tried it. She really adjusted well to it truthfully and only 3 days in generally only cries around 5-10 minutes before falling asleep on her own. At night she has been crying none the last 2 nights!!! The method was a lot gentler than some that I have read about because it allows her to cry for a bit, and then be loved on and held by mom and dad after 10 minutes if still crying, then 15, and so on!! She never made it past 25 minutes before falling asleep--thank God--I am not sure I would have had the strength to let her. Needless to say this process has truly been the hardest thing I have ever done...in fact I think on Thursday I cried more than she did!!! But things are improving for sure.

(Disclaimer: I have no problem at all with those who co-sleep with their babies--in fact, I am thankful for that sweet time we had with Addy during her first few weeks--that turned into first 2 months :). It just started to not work out for all of us--Addy included and so we had to do what worked for us...but for some...co-sleeping even longer works great...and it is so great and healthy for the babies security and even health!! It is also precious bonding time. We just had to make a change for Addy's health because well, sleep is pretty important for us all)

Anyways...if you read this...please PRAY that this continues! God has been so faithful to help us through this hard, but also amazing time. We are thankful for a baby that seems to be a lot happier and content, which probably means even healthier!! (We would still be thankful even if she was still super fussy and cranky, but of course it is nicer when she is happier).

I am not sure I could post this blog without including my favorite sleeping picture of Addy!! :) Love you all!!!

The First 8 Weeks!! How time STANDS STILL and FLYS BY at the same time

2011-03-16T20:33:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that Darrick and I welcomed a new life into this world almost 8 weeks ago. Addy will be 8 weeks old on Saturday. I can hardly believe it. Here are a couple pics of her since the last time we posted.

Darrick and Addy in the Nursery

Trying to get a big/little sister pic--neither one would cooperate. ;) Ha!!!

Momma and her angel!!

Here are a few pics from the informal photo shoot that Sarah Barrow did for us one afternoon!!! She is super talented. She is 1 month old in these pics.

Look at that booty!! Precious!

I love when she smiles and sleeps

So precious!

I was hoping to post this blog weeks ago, but I have learned that you only can do so much and well....blogging had not made it into the priority list, but I have been thinking about this blog for so long and so I thought i would reflect on the last 8 weeks by sharing how time can STAND STILL and also FLY BY at the very same time.

I always like to end on the positive, so we will start with the harder one.

HOW TIME STANDS STILL WITH A NEWBORN:

When you spend your entire day walking and bouncing your baby because when you sit down, she starts screaming--symptom of colic we think
When at night you are exhausted and the only way your sweet baby will sleep is on your chest
When you have fed her all you have and she still seems hungry--thank God for expressed and stored milk!!
When her pacifier falls out every 5 seconds--duct tape anyone
When at 5 weeks you finally decide that your baby probably has colic!
When you drive anywhere--she for some reason hates her car seat and SCREAMS the entire time!!
When she unloads and massive diaper everytime she rides in the car seat :)

HOW TIME FLYS BY:

When you see her smile at you for the first time (especially after saying the phrase: Do you love your momma?)
When you see your husband soothe her and love her and kiss her and hold her!
When you see her sleeping soundly on your husbands chest!
When your sweet but sometimes crazy dog Lily kisses her on the hand or head when she is crying uncontrollably--and she stops
When you remove her from her carseat after a drive and she immediately stops crying and melts in your arms.
When you watch her sleep and your see her smile
When she starts to coo and talk to you
When she recognizes you and follows you with her eyes wherever you go
When she immediately calms at your touch
Bathtime--she loves it, loves it, loves it now-it's a fun time every night for us to see her so relaxed

Those are just a few!! Raising a baby is so amazing, but also so so so incredibly hard at times, but for sure all of the good totally outweighs the bad. She is such a precious gift to us. Before we know it she will be walking, and then running, and then running from us, and then hopefully running back to us.

We pray daily for our precious gift. She is so beautiful, but truly we pray that her beauty on the inside would be the most important, that she would be a girl that loves and seeks Christ in all aspects of her life.

We thank God daily for this gift, even in the midst of all the fussing and all the crying...we love our precious Addison Grace Seaton. Here are a few more pics from Sarah's photoshoot! Enjoy!!

Our Sleeping Beauty (Sarah made her headband...so so cute)

Addy and Daddy's Hand

Her massive feet, let's hope she grows into them. ;)

It's amazing how much you can love someone!!!

There are so many more, but I will save that for another post!!! Les and D

Our Snow Angel Blizzard 2011!!!

2011-03-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

After being home for a week with Addy, we got a lot more quality home time (2 weeks worth pretty much) with the blizzard of 2011!!! One week we got about 6 inches of snow which is a lot for this area normally, but that was nothing in comparison to the 2 feet of snow (literally 24 inches) that we got the next week. It was a record amount for sure. The snow was over our retaining wall in our front yard.

Here are a few pics.

It is hard to tell, but we have 2 feet of snow!!

Lily looked like a horse galloping through the snow. It was over her head. She loved it...every moment. :)

Darrick thought it would be fun to make snow angels with Addy, so he did...check it out!!

I will end this blog with a precious picture of Darrick and Addy!!!

Blizzard 2011: Thanks for the fun memories and for keeping my husband stuck at home during the early weeks of Addy's life!! :) What a blessing.

Our Precious Addition--Addison Grace Seaton

2011-02-06T19:15:00.000-06:00

Our New Family!!!

Darrick and I proudly (and painfully I might add) welcomed our little girl Addison (Addy) Grace Seaton into this world on Saturday January 22nd, at 12:49 pm!!! After 38 hours of labor, she finally came. I had an emergency C-Section (that turned out to not be much of an emergency--oh well) so I did not get to hold her until about an hour after I had her. Here is the picture of our first meeting.

She weighed a whopping 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Here are a couple of pictures!

Notice the Caddo Heart on her forehead

I love how she sleeps!!

We had tons of visitors at the hospital! I would love to add a picture of you all, but that would be a ton of pics. I will at least include some of family. ;)

Darrick and his Dad Bill

Darrick's mom Marsha

My mom and dad--Charley and Terrye

Leaving the hospital was a bit scary to say the least, but we were also ready to be home. Here are a few going home pics. ;)

It is crazy to think that we have had her for two weeks now. Oh how time flies. Our first week was a bit of a rollercoaster with us both figuring out how to get her to sleep and eat, but with the help of my incredible husband Darrick (and he has been amazing to say the least) we have managed! The first week was hard because I was starving her...not purposely of course, but I just did not have much to give the poor child. She lost 17 ounces in a matter of 4 days--gripes! With the help of our doctor though, we were able to put on 18 ounces in a matter of days after that!! The doctor was actually in shock that she gained that much weight! That was our only homework from the doctor and we got and A++++. She is perfectly healthly now and no longer starving!

The next project will be to learn how to get her to sleep on her own. Currently the only way or place she will sleep is on our chest! She loves the comfort and the warmth I guess. I know you can't spoil them this early, and we love love love holding her, but we are getting to the point where we are ready for her to sleep on her own! Any tips are welcomed. I will say I am not emotionally ready for her to "Cry It Out" yet, so that suggestion will have to wait.

We have also been a little stir crazy. We have pretty much been confined to our house for the last two weeks. The first with just staying home to attend to her needs, and the second with a massive snow storm! :) I finally can drive again, so I pray this week that the weather is nice to me.

One thing it has done so far is strengthen our marriage. It has been teamwork for sure. In fact it has made me fall even more in love with Darrick. He loves her so much. He loves to hold her and care for her and he has been the most amazing servant to me through it all! Here are a few pics of them together.

Doesn't this just melt your heart

Maybe now that we have her we will do a better job of actually adding to our family blog!! That is my hope.

Signing off with one of my favorite new pics of Addy!!

Our AMAZING Dog LILY :)

2008-04-06T19:03:00.000-05:00

Wow...what a pleasure a dog can bring to your life. I had tons of pets growing up, but never an inside pet, so I never realized how they become part of the family. I decided that I should at least post a few pictures and thoughts about the dog that has become such a huge part of Darrick's and I's life.

Lily is an Australian Shepard, although, she looks somewhat like a Border Collie, but has a bobbed tail...(which is super fun to watch wag...especially when she is excited). We got Lily from a nice farmer south of Fayetteville. Why did we decide on an Aussie you might ask...well...they are known to be one of the smartest breeds, they are very active and love to play (which is good for all the running that I do), they are great with kids, and are very loyal. Lily has proved this true in all areas.

When we first met Lily, she was 6 weeks old, but we couldn't bring her home yet. Here is a picture of her at 6 weeks. :)

We got Lilly when she was 9 weeks old...she was so so shy at first...we thought that she would never warm up...but after about 5 days..she did. Here is Lily at that stage. :)

Things I love about her being a puppy...how she plays, how she sleeps, and how curious she is/was. Lily had some weird sleeping positions.
We took some fun family pictures at about 3 months!!!

They grow up so so fast...Lily was potty trained in about two weeks for the most part...she can sit, lay down, shake, give a high five, fetch, and sometimes on a really good day, she can play dead. She loves people, running, the park, other dogs, playing, the snow, and of course eating. She also loves her time at camp...what a blessing she is for sure. She does not like....baths, grooming, and being told no. :) Surprise surprise. Here are a few more pics...she is looking like a big dog now. Well...Lily and I are signing off!!! :)

Reflections from Spain

2008-03-25T21:40:00.000-05:00

Well...now I am home and I am able to reflect on this amazing and crazy trip. I have to say one...I love home and I am glad to be back...but there were so many amazing things there.

Some of the best things were:

The slow pace: Even though it drove me crazy...it was good for me to slow down a little, reflect, relax, and spend time with the Lord. (I mean...crazy by...taking 4 hours to eat...because....that is how it is done)
Spending time with my cousins and Laura and meeting some really nice German girls that room with Chels and Laura--I miss the time we have together for sure, and that was so great
The food was so great...rich, great, interesting and unique.....my favorite being Paella (an amazing rice dish that I will learn how to make)
The beautiful Architecture (Not only the city, but the parks, the City of Arts and Sciences, the Cathedrals, the Flats, the Flowers, everything)
Celebrating my birthday there with family...fireworks...and fun
The Fallas...it made the city crazy...but exciting...I will show the fires below.
The Aquarium and The Dolphin Show...so fun
Our day in the park...playing four square
The Amazing fireworks at night
Eating dinner in the flat...love talking
Tea Time....3 times a day

Some of my least favorite things:

Our Iberia Flight...somewhat nasty...I wouldn't use them...but it was cheap
Spanish Men and Women making out everywhere...get a room please
Rude people...teenagers the most...but people just shove you and never say sorry
Guys peeing in the street
Having to watch ever step so a teenager would not throw a Cherry Bomb at my feet to blow up
The Bombs...it never was quiet...for the first 5 days (Fireworks...24/7)

but...for sure the good outweigh the bad...I am very different from their culture for sure, my life is fast paced, I like a schedule, I don't sleep until 2 pm each day, and I don't go to bed at 4 am...but hey...like I said, no jet lag. I loved seeing the different culture for sure. I guess that is why God put me in America. :) right???

To end it off...here are the finale pictures of the Burning of the Fallas. Fireworks almost flew inside our flat from the burning of this one. So fun and scary as well.

Well...that is about it...Great Trip...signing off. :)

Living in a War Zone--Valencia part 2

2008-03-18T08:25:00.000-05:00

So much is going on here....it is normally not this crazy from what my cousin says, but right now, there is constant booms and fireworks, etc. We are here during Las Fallas...so that is why. It is really fun though. Las Fallas is a festival of Fire...basically, the entire city of Valencia makes a Fallas for their little area of town. A Fallas is a Statue Type thing that is wood in the middle and then styrofoam on the outside, but made to look like a float/statue type thing. Then on the last night, the burn them all...it is like the whole city is on fire. Here is our Fallas and another before the burn.

I have to say that I had a super amazing birthday though...very eventful on Saturday....not sure it could be more exciting. I started out the day and Chels had given me birthday croisants...they had chocolate in the middle with a candle to wish on. ;) Here is a pic of my birthday breakfast.

Then we toured Valencia. We went to another Muscleta (lots of really loud fireworks and booms) where I got in a shoving fight with a 14 year boy on a bike....you see...Spanish Teens here have no respect for anyone or any thing...he kept rolling over my toe on purpose and so....finally I got so peaved off that I shoved him. :) Ahh....the nerve. Then...we toured the city for about 8 hours...on foot...I loved it. :) One thing that is so funny and weird here is that spanish men and women make out like crazy.... I mean tongue and all right in front of everyone...it is so awkward and kind of gross in public....

Then we came home nad the German girls that we are here with (Chels roomies) made me Birthday Schnitzel---so great...also with birthday candles.

We topped off the night with the most amazing fireworks I have seen. 20 minutes long...Then...as I thought the night was over, it was not...we went to an outside Dancing Disco Tech, until 4:30 in the morning...what.....these people are crazy and never sleep....but it was really fun. I think that my body tells me I am too old for that....but....I guess, I will make the most of it. :)

Sunday, was a little more relaxing for sure. :) I needed that. We slept till about 11:30 our time, but considering we went to bed at 5:30 am, it was good.we then ventured into the suburbs of Valencia to an amazing park and had a BBQ/picnic.It was so nice.Then we just hung out there all day long....laid in the sun, played 4 square for about 3 hours with a bunch of Germans (Chelsea's roomates friends), talked, etc. It was great and relaxing. Then we came back and I was able to have some Jesus time, and then....took a nap at 9:30 pm...woke up...ate dinner (that is when they do it here....weird huh?Then of course a parade at 12:30 am and fireworks again at 1 am...then.....tea and talking....and bedtime at around 4 am....well at least when I come home, I will be on about the same schedule...since that is 10 pm Arkansas time currently.

Monday the 17th (yes I forgot to wear green) was a super eventful one as well. We went to the City of Arts and Sciences today....(sounds boring) but it is really amazing. Here are some outside pics of it.

IT had a huge aquariam, we watched a dolphin show, and then went to an IMAX film. It got pretty cold though, so that stunk and I was in shorts....but...hey...what can you do? Then we came back to the flat...relaxed until about 10 pm and then and ate some Paella....so so good. I loved it. We watched a parade and watched them put flowers on the Virgin Mary here (part of their celebration of Easter) Here is the Virgin with Flowers.

Then we went to a Jazz Bar for some live music...it was funny because most of the people there were exchange students who spoke English and all the songs were American Rock Songs, so that was a nice part of home. It was fun, but, my feet were about to kill me..not from my shoes, just from being on them for so long....ahh....it was crazy. Oh...and the German guy I was talking to had not a clue what a summer camp was...he kept thinking I taught Summer School for my job...anyways.....We went home at about 3:45 am...

Today (Tuesday the 18th), we are heading to the Beach..I am excited to read, relax, and sleep some....yeah for the beach.

I will say, that even though it is great here, I miss the states, and some of its comforts for sure....being away from Darrick this long is a challenge and also being away from my precious little Dog Lily as well....she is not so little anymore...I need to add her to this blog. :)

Alright...off to the beach.... Leslie

Trip to Valencia--Day One

2008-03-14T15:21:00.000-05:00

We (my cousin Ash and I) arrived in Valencia at 1:30 pm (about 7:30 am Central time)...we are about 6 hours later than Ark time are just to give you an idea. We dropped all of our luggage off at Chelsea's house and then immediately ....got into action. We went to a thing called a Muscleta today at 2 pm (It happens every day here for the Las Falles Festival and it basically is a lot of fireworks (I mean a lot--sound like Armageddon is coming--so loud for so long). Then we searched a long time for a place to eat....finally just ate at the Pizza place...not the best, but oh well...food is so expensive here....everything is really. But oh well. I got 200 Euros out of the bank today....then thought...yikes...that is 300 dollars...but i have saved about 500 to spend..so I should be okay. ;)Then we came back to their Flat (apt) and hung out. They have two German roomates that are so so so sweet and really funny and very beautiful but so down to earth. We talked for about 2 hours...drank tea...and just had fun...I am super tired so I just took a shower to wake up...they say not to sleep or take a nap till night or you will get Jet Lag...so I hope I can hold on. The flight was really not that bad...6 hours only. But I really couldn't sleep at all...not much room...kind of hot...you know..the works.Then when we got to Madrid...we only had like 45 min to make our connection...which sounds like a lot, but we had to go through Passport check and also security checkpoints like three times and really walk at least 1.5 miles to get there...crazy.Then on the plane to Valencia....the stewardess....somehow dumped the entire drink tray thing....and Orange Juice and Ice went flying on the tiny plane...I was far enough back that nothing happend, but Ash got a good spray of OJ in the face. :) Needless to say, things are great, I am excited to have some down time. Tonight we went to market to cook dinner..I had some amazing conversations with Laura about her walk with God and I was able to share what the Lord was doing in my life as well.....

Pictures of the city of Valencia:

My cousins and I in a park in the city:

The Bull Fighting Arena: (Sad...I know)

Community

2006-09-08T10:38:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I am very challenged by the community that I have with our church and small group. We are studying 1 Corinthians and it has really made the scripture come alive. I feel like I have not been challenged to think in a long time and it has been really refreshing. The summer has been a great summer, but a challenge as well. WE have missed our friends, although, we have made a ton of new ones. :)

Anyways...thanks to our community group for its challenge to grow in God's word. WE are loving it.

The Seatons

2006-09-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Seatons

What an amazing summer it has been. We cannot believe it is over. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am not overcommited. IT is great. It has been really neat to see all of the plans God has laid out for this fall. We are really excited about continuing the relationships that we have started with our community group. I have really enjoyed the fellowship....things like scrapbooking and cooking with them. How relaxing. Darrick is now playing in a softball league on MOnday nights. It is good competition for him. I love watching him play as well. He is a stud at it. I am training for a 1/2 marathon. I really have not ran consistently since April of 2003 when I ran my marathon. I have forgotten how much I love it. IT is a great time to relax and spend time with Jesus. I am going to try to be more consistent of blogging. It is a great way to get my thoughts out. :)

Christmas 05

2005-12-22T09:18:00.000-06:00

It is official

2005-12-21T09:31:00.001-06:00

Darrick and I now officially have a blog. Get excited.