Life with the Whittemores

Xavier is 2 months old!

2011-01-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

The Weekend Is Here!

2011-01-17T06:54:00.001-08:00

The weekend is here! Well at least it's my weekend. Working as a part-time stylist my weekend is Sun,Mon,Tues. And Randy being a pastor his weekend is Sat,Mon. Yes I know it's a little strange but we love it. And even better this week Farrah has off of school this Monday! Woo Hoo!

Last week was my first week back to work since having the baby. It was very bitter sweet. As much as I love my job, and the people I work with I really loved being at home with my kids. I feel so blessed that I am able to work part time. The salon is such a great place to work and be able to raise a family at the same time. And I thank God everyday for leading me to Alan Murphy Salon everyday! But like I said I am glad it's the weekend!

Farrah got to experience her first "big girl" thing last night with a non family member. She had her best friend from school over for a play date on Sunday afternoon. Her friends mom called and said she was going to take her oldest child to the movies and wanted to know if Farrah would like to go with Jenna. There is a movie theater in the front of our sub division so I knew she would not be to far from home. I said Farrah would love that. They went to see tangled. Farrah was on cloud 9 when she got home. It made my heart so happy to see her that way, but so sad to see her growing up so fast. She is such a big girl now. I can't wait for all the big girl things we will get to do soon! At this rate it's a good thing we only had one girl and two boys I don't know if my bank account could handle another girl! lol.

To day Farrah and I are going to make a craft I have been wanting to do for a while now and have not had the time. I wonder why? lol. I will post pics when we are done and blog a little more about it then.

Thank you God for letting me get to spend Monday with all my babies again.

Farrah's Birth Story

2011-01-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

I have not recorded any of the kids birth story and I feel that I need to do it while it's still fresh. So here it goes.

The Birth Story of Farrah Grace Whittemore

Farrah is our first child and we could not wait for her to get here. She was also the first grandchild on my side, and the first girl grandchild on Randy's side. Needless to say we were not the only one's who could not wait! We did a lot of searching for the perfect name. We chose Farrah Grace which means beautiful grace of God. And she is just that. I had a wonderful pregnancy with her, everything went just the way it should. So after nine long months the BIG day finally came. I had a planned c-section. So on September 28,2004 we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get dressed and leave for the hospital. At 5:30am we arrived at Cy-Fair hospital,we were taken to our room so they could prep me for the surgery. Farrah came into this world at 7:20am on September 28,2004. She was 7lb 11oz 21in, she was the most beautiful baby! She had a head full of black curly hair, and super chubby cheeks, she was perfect! She was delivered by Dr. Chong Pham. The took her from the O.R. to the transition room to be watched and make sure everything was ok. They are supposed to say in that room for about two hours to be watched. Randy went with the baby while the doc's finished up with me. When I was done the took me right back to my room, I was in there for about 30 min when a nurse came in with Farrah. I was surprised because it had not been two hours. She told me she brought her in so I could feed her, that she was hungry and she was crying and upsetting the other babies. We got a good laugh about that. To this day the girl can eat! After she ate they took her back to give her a bath. When they brought her back she smelled like vanilla, she smelled so good. Later we found out the vanilla sent was the binkey they had given her. The vanilla sent helps soothe the babies.We stayed in the hospital for four days before we got to come home(we were so ready to come home). She came into this world as such a sweet blessing and continues to bless every single day. We love you Farrah Grace Whittemore.

The Birth Story of Aden Nathaniel Whittemore

Aden was my second birth. I was so excited to be having a boy. I did not have any brothers growing up so I could not wait for this little man to come. He would be the third boy born into the family on Randy's side, and this first boy in forty-eight years to born into the family on my side. Again we searched for the perfect name for this little boy. We chose Aden Nathaniel which means Little fire ball of God. And he is just that. I had a great pregnancy with him as well, heartburn and all. He would be my second planned c-section. The BIG day finally came. We woke up at 4:30am on July 7,2006 to get ready, and go to the hospital. He was also born at Cy-Fair hospital. When we got there is was about 5:30am, they took me to my room to prep me for the surgery. At about 7:00am I was told there would be a delay on my surgery because there was an emergency that my doc. had to attend to. It was finally my turn. Aden came in to this world at about 7:45am on July 7,2007. He was 6lb 15oz 19in and he was so handsome.Aden was also delivered my Dr. Chong Pham. He had a darker complication than Farrah did and had light brown wavy hair, and lots of it. He was a very healthy boy. He would prove to be out most interesting birth. Aden was born with two, yes two thumbs on each of his little hand.( He had one removed the day after birth, and the other removed at 1yrs old. He had to have two surgery's to correct that one.)But he was perfect in our eyes. He was taken from the O.R. to the nic u. He would spend the next two days there to make sure there were no other problems. There were not. He came into my room on the evening of the second night at the hospital. We spent a total of four days there, and we were so ready to get home to sissy. He has been a little fire ball from birth and still is, but he brings us so much joy everyday. We love you Aden Nathaniel Whittemore

The Birth Story of Xavier Zechariah Whittemore

Xavier is my third birth. He is the second boy to be born into our little family and we could not have been happier. Well Farrah wanted a girl, but got over that as soon as she saw little Xavier. He is the fourth grandson on Randy's side and the second on my side. After all these years we are getting some boys on my side. Again we searched and searched and searched for the perfect name for him. We chose Xavier Zechariah. It means Strong house of God. And he is just that. I had a great pregnancy with him as well. Randy and I both had a dream about Xavier, before we knew he was going to be a boy. In both dreams he was a boy, he was a big, chubby baby with light hair and blue eyes. A few week later on Aden's birthday we found out we would be having our second boy. As time went on I was sure he was going to be my largest baby, but my doc. was not so sure. He was thinking he would be about the sames size as Farrah. I would be having my third planned c-section. On November 29,2010 we woke up at 4:30am to get ready and get to the hospital. We arrived at Methodist Willowbrook hospital at 5:30am. At this hospital they take you to triage to prep you for the surgery. So that is where we spent the early morning. We finally got to go into the O.R. Little Xavier was born at 7:28am. He was 8lb 3oz 21 1/2in. He was so handsome. He looked just like Farrah. Head full of light brown curly hair and chubby cheeks.(I knew he was going to be big!) He was delivered by Dr. Jonathan Russell. He was perfect. He and daddy went to the transition room. Right after they left I heard the doc. ask the nurse if she was ok, and did she need to sit down. I thought that was strange. Right after that she passed out onto the floor right next to the table I was on. The called a team in to tend to her, she was fine. After they were done with me I had to go into the recovery room for an hour. After that I got to go to my room. About 20 min later they brought Xavier to me. He spent the rest of his stay in my room with me. We were in the hospital for four days, and were ready to get home to brother and sister. He has been such a big, strong boy from birth and still is at 6 weeks old. We love you so much Xavier Zechariah Whittemore.

A new baby, a new year, and a new start on blogging.

2011-01-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time, and I am ready to start fresh with keeping my blog up dated. A lot has changed at our house in the past two months. Our new sweet little boy came into this world on November 29,2010 via c-section. His name is Xavier Zechariah. He was 8lb 3oz. He has already brought so much joy into our home. And has big sister and brother wraped around his sweet tiny fingers.

Farrah started Kinder back in Aug. It is such a blessing to see her learn new things everyday. She is such a smart beautiful blessing. She turned six back in Sept. It makes me sad for them to grow up so fast, but on the same hand I love seeing them grow and thrive. She asked us to take the training wheels off of her bike on tues and have been trying to master the two wheeler. She is doing great at it. Just tonight she went from our drive way to the one next door all by her self. More on that to come.

Aden is still at home with us during the week. During the time between Farrah starting school and the arrival of Xavier we got to have some awesome one on one time. He is such a sweet boy. And boy is he ALL boy. He turned four back in July. He will start school next Aug so I am really enjoying my time with him right now. He is also such a big helper with the baby during the day. He will be such a protector when they all get older, and that makes my heart smile.

My goal for this year is to dwell more in the Lord, and to pick back up my blogging. I think it's important to keep an account of what is going on in our family during this season with little one's. These are moments we will never get back and I don't ever want to forget them. I will leave it at this for now. I here baby X and he needs his mommy.

CrockPot Chicken and Quinoa

2010-04-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

I made this for dinner tonight and the family loved it! Farrah had two bowls herself and I think there will be enough to freeze for another time!

1C Quinoa- soaked over night
2C Chicken broth
2C Water
2t Thyme
1t Salt
4-6 Carrots, peeled and cubed
3 Celery, diced
1 Onion chopped fine
2 Chicken breasts
3T Butter

Cook for 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high. When done shred chicken and stir back in.

Summer Fun

2009-05-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well I have done something I have not done in a LONG time. The kids Randy and I stayed outside all day yesterday. It's so had to be at home and take a day "off". I was great! The kids played in the pool and Randy and I did yard work and worked in the garden. I am so happy everything is starting to pop out and the fruit trees are starting to produce fruit!! I can't wait. Well this is short but Randy came home early and we are going to grill burgers so I gotta go!!!!

grocery budget

2009-05-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today I sat down and really thought about how much we spend at the store each week. I started playing the grocery game a few months back so that in it's self has saved us a ton. So easy to do using the grocery game. But I really wanted to see how much more I could save. So I sat down and planed out a monthly budget and then broke that amount up into four week amounts . I challenged myself tonight to see if I could stay under or just right at, and still get the things I would need to last me all week and still be able to stock up on the items I had extra coupons for. I did! I came in 2.19 under budget!! Not as hard as I thought it was going to be when you are paying attention.

Our Garden

2009-05-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have been think for the past few week of how we could cut down our grocery bill and came up with a plan. I thought it would be a great idea to start my own garden. So I did.

We got up this morning and after I made eggs and pan cakes we went to Lowe's. We got several plants and some seed packs. We don't have a very big backyard so we planted in window planters. We planted patio tomatoes, egg plant, green and red bell peppers, jalapenos, radish and cucumbers. We also planted a blueberry bush. The kids love blueberries. We also have a few more things we are going to plant at my in-laws. They have a huge backyard and don't live very far for us so it will still be easy to take care of the plant at there house. There we will have lettuce, cantaloupe, greenbeans, peas, yellow squash and watermelon. We also have a lemon drop tree and our house we planted last year the we are getting fruit off of this spring! Farrah and Aden also planted little watermelon seeds in these all in one cups. They had a blast getting the little hand dirty.

In addition to the cost cutting garden I am also going to start making my own bread, and I have already started making my own laundry soap. I also plan to make my own fabric soft and soon as I run out of the dryer sheets I have stocked up.

I will let you know along the way what works best for our family and maybe you can find some tips to help you cut your cost at well!

Magic eggs

2009-02-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Do you want to hear something really cool? I bought magic eggs! Where did I get these magic eggs you ask. Well H.E.B. of course. How are they magic you ask. Well let me tell you. The other day I was doing some baking and I noticed that a few eggs went missing out of the box. I asked Randy if he took them and he said no. I asked Farrah if she took them and she said no. So that left Aden and he said no. Can you believe that no one knew where the went? A couple of hours later I went up stairs to clean the game room and guess what I found. The eggs!!!! All over the toy kitchen. Those eggs took them selves all the way upstairs and broke them selves all over the kitchen. So let this be a warning to you! Don't buy magic eggs they make BIG messes!!!!

Lazy day at home

2009-01-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

Randy and I both have Monday off. We love having Mondays off because we use it like most people use Saturday. Go shopping.movies,the zoo etc.... It's great because there are hardly and people out and about. So once Monday rolls around we are up and on the go until late afternoon! But not today! We got up late and have been just being lazy around the house. It's been a great day to do this because it's so gray out you don't want to leave the house. At this rate we might just order pizza for dinner!

little kids BIG hearts

2009-01-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

I just love the BIG hearts of little kids. On Wed night I got home from work about 6:30 and I still had the headache I had all day. I put yo gabba Gabbi on tv and make dinner. We eat the go right up the stairs for a bath. I still have a headache and they keep asking what is wrong. I let them know everything is fine and mommy is just a little tired. They get out of the bath and get pjs on. Farrah being the "little mommy" brings me the colors and color book and lets me know coloring will help my head feel better. So the three of us start to color. About 30 min later Randy gets home from church and comes up to see what we are doing. He and I start to talk and as I am telling him about the headache I could not get rid of it hits me! It's gone. Farrah was right! Coloring helped my head feel better. I guess I just started relaxing as we all colored. What a little mommy. Aden helped me feel better to. He is my little snuggle bug. He just likes to be close to you and there is nothing better than relaxing with your little ones.

Dance Class

2009-01-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

We had to go to bed early last night because today was Farrah's first day at her new dance school. She was so excited! We got up early and got dressed. Rushed out the door to get there early to meet her new teacher. It's a hour long class. 30min of ballet and 30min of tap. This was her first time to take a tap class. She had a blast!

We came home did a little cleaning then went to the park. Aden and Farrah both love to go to the park. The swimming pool is right next to the playground and they both stand at the gate begging to get in the water. I keep telling them it's to cold but the don't care. They just want in. From the park we had to go to HEB. Came home and made dinner.

So all in all we had a full day. Farrah can't wait until next week to go back to dance.