Category: Family (Page 1 of 13)

And … we’re back!

10/04/2019 / Blake

Welp, it’s been over six years since there has been a new post here. I’ve kept the ole blog online, but it’s been pretty dormant. I’ve thought a few times about firing something out. I used to be pretty frequent with this thing back in the day, but then it turned into a now and then. And then life got flipped, turned upside down and I’ve not posted in over six years!

I actually started a post earlier today, but it was getting too detailed with the last six years. But I realized I just need to knock the rust off of things at first. So I’ll try to give a very brief overview of where I am in life at the moment, maybe a little glance backward and who knows about the future?

Since I’ve last posted I’ve had four different jobs. Many overlapped, but now I only have one job. I’m a Realtor here in Oxford. Been working in real estate for five years but an actual Realtor for four years.

I enjoy it. It’s great working with people in what is usually one of if not the biggest transaction they’ll ever be a part of. The hours are weird and kind of flexible, but it’s definitely not an eight to five job.

We sold a house, rented a condo, bought a house and renovated it in the last few years. After a time of not knowing if we’d stay in Oxford or leave the area, we bought a home that needed ~~some~~ a lot of TLC and made it into a cozy home. It’s not large, but we love where it is and our neighbors and all.

Addie is now in college. She is a Bulldog down in Starkville, and Ella is a freshman at OHS (yes, our “new” house is in the Oxford School District now). Rowan (6th) and Quinn (3rd or 2nd?) are still homeschooled at this point. The girls went to public school starting in Middle School. Rowan most likely will do the same next year.

At the MSU football game Addie’s freshman year

Working as a Realtor is way different than working at a church. Being 100% commission based can be a little scary. You can have a good month and then you can have a next month of nothing at all. I’ve had combinations of both of those it seems. Like church work, the schedule can be weird and you phone can ring/ding at just about any time. And like church work you get super involved in the lives of the people you’re working with. I intend to talk more about this line of work in future posts.

We have a new dog now. The first Christmas we were in this house we got him for the kids. He’s pretty awesome Here’s a video of it.

Anyhow, I’m going to wrap up this ice breaker of a post. I have a lot more thoughts. I want to talk about different jobs I’ve had. Places we’ve been. Struggles we’ve endured. Projects I have on my mind. Side hustles I want to pursue. But I can’t put that all in one post can I?

So if you have any questions, ask them in the comments below. I’ll get to them. Nothing like the first week of October to start a blogging project right? Who said blogging was dead?

Things I’ve [re]learned w/ Baby #4 after one month

09/14/2011 / Blake

Yesterday marked my new baby’s fourth week of existence. Come Friday he’ll be exactly one month old. And I really assumed that being the fourth time I’ve brought a baby home from the hospital I’d be really used to things. But you really do forget some of the rougher parts of having a baby. I think your mind purposefully forgets some things as a coping mechanism.

Now don’t get me wrong. Having a baby is awesome. I mean, I’ve not birthed one myself, but welcoming a new child into the family…words can’t describe.

But after one month or so of having him home here are some things I’ve [re]learned:

People will tell you your baby is beautiful even if they only see a blurry picture from your phone on the internet. People think they must say it no matter what. But who can really tell? My friend Jeremy says they all look like aliens [but I didn’t know he’d seen an alien.]
When a diaper is really messy, the pooh seems to find every crevice/wrinkle it can to seep into. You can use a lot of baby wipes in a single diaper change.
A warm baby seems to think a room temperature babywipe is like a sloppy wet kiss from an arctic glacier breeze.
Sometimes a baby would rather sit in your lap in a darkened living room at 3:31 a.m. than lie in his own bed under a really soft blanket.
A wet belch can be the most beautiful and eagerly anticipated sound of the day.
I don’t like close talkers in my space. And I don’t like close baby talkers in my kids space either. Especially when I’m holding him and they are in our space.
Babies fool you the first few days. They let you think they’ll be awesome sleepers through the night. In reality, they’re awesome sleepers all around at first. Then they have no clue what time it is and don’t care what you think about sleep cycles either.
Wet diapers have a weird smell.
Your wife nursing your baby is lots different than mixing formula and cleaning bottles.
Having older kids makes having a baby both easier and harder. Easier: they can help out in a number of ways. Harder: they still have needs for you to attend to, and sometimes you tend them with one arm while holding a [hopefully] sleeping baby in the other.
I’m still not sure if you can or cannot spoil a baby by holding him too much. Looks like we’ll find out.
I’m finally over being scared to break him. At first he seemed tiny. Changing a diaper or shirt was a big deal. Didn’t want to dislocate a hip or shoulder.
What worked to calm him down five minutes ago might not work again for another five days. SMH.

The newness of fall

08/30/2011 / Blake

So it’s usually spring when people talk about seasons of newness. But now we sit here at “his” two week birthday. Yep, the boy I’m referring to here is my new son. The one I’ve not blogged about ever here. The one I never mentioned we were adopting. The adoption process that I’ve not addressed here on this blog. Ever. Sure, I mentioned that we had had thoughts of adoption before. Had encountered people who had adopted and been challenged by them. But never really mentioned it here. At all.

Now I did mention it over here. Actually set up a new blog for my wife (and I) to use for more family centric things. It started off with a bang but it has suffered from lots of ideas for posts but not as much execution.

But anyway, here’s where we are now. My wife and I have adopted a biracial boy. He is awesome. He sleeps a lot, eats a pretty good bit, and cries and poops. His brother and sisters absolutely adore him. They’re big helps. And sometimes minor annoyances. But it’s all in love. I know that. And I’m glad of that.

Having a new baby changes things. Especially coming at a time when things are getting busy: soccer games started up this week for our girls, small groups start up this week for us, Oxford gets full and busy in the fall, college football (GO DOGS!) starts up this week, and Fantasy Football is gearing up as well. Lots going on with time, work, schedules, and life. But I really wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s been a joy so far to see the impact this little boy has had on our family.

Adoption. There was a time in my life when I never would have considered it. At all. And now, here we are. We encourage others to think about it, pray about it, consider it, and see where God leads.

I’m looking forward to the fall. And to the changes in life. And writing about it here.

It’s been two years

01/14/2011 / Blake

Well, it seems the flu bug is back on the prowl.

In the middle of the night Wednesday Ella woke up with a sore throat. After a second time waking up she ended up in bed with us. You know it goes, sometimes it’s gone by morning. Sometimes not. This was one of the “not” times.

Still hurting in the morning and a fever. So we went to the doctor and turns out it’s THE FLU! The dreaded flu!!!!

But she got a bit of medicine, threw up once last night, and now seems to be doing much better today. Has energy back to near normal. Eyes are bright again. But still the sore throat. So though we seem on the upswing with her, our prayer is that the other two kids do not end up with it.

Sometimes I almost want to give them all a big cup to share so they’d all get something at once and get it over with. Otherwise, if it does make the rounds through the family, then it could get spread out over a few weeks instead of just a handful of days.

Christmas 2010

12/27/2010 / Blake

This was probably one of the most relaxing Christmases I’ve had in the past few years. In times past it seemed like there were more things to get done than time to fit it all in. But this year we kept on the move some, but then had some time to sit back and just enjoy the days as well.

Friday we went to Amory to spend the day at my mom’s. We exchanged gifts with her, hung out for a while, and then went to my grandmother’s house to eat supper with all the uncles/aunts/cousins and then open a few presents there. It’s always a lively bunch. And a crazy bunch.

We left late that night, found a gas station still open after 10pm on Christmas Eve, and drove home. The kids went right to bed and Bev and I got everything set up for the next morning by the tree. The kids were not expecting Santa Clause to come. They’ve never been big Santa kids, but they still look forward to Christmas morning to get presents.

The next morning I woke up at 7:55 a.m. On Christmas morning. And I woke up on my own. No kids waking me up. I was amazed. They were all still asleep! But with in three minutes Addie comes running in telling me it’d snowed! And indeed it had. Supposedly the first snow in Oxford on Christmas day since 1913. Oh, and my mother in law hadn’t showed up yet! Now, I don’t mind her coming over on Christmas…quite the contrary. But last year she called a six-something in the morning asking if we were awake yet. I said, “nope”. I thought she was about to leave Tupelo to head our direction. Turns out she was about to turn into our neighborhood!

Anyhow, she came over for a late breakfast and stayed til early afternoon. Then my dad and step-mom came by later that day too. So the day was filled with more family and a few more presents and lots of candy being eaten. The kids had a blast, and we only had about two real times where they were about to fight over toys! It seems that six year old girls and two year old boys can be quite opinionated and possessive at times.

I know in times past I’ve bemoaned that Christmas time doesn’t seem like the same feeling I used to have. But maybe I’ve gotten past that. Or maybe I’ve gotten more involved with my kids at Christmas instead of the “cultural” feeling of Christmas. Or maybe I’ve realized ….I don’t know. Maybe it’s that it is what you make it, and now that I’m a big boy it’s up to me to put more effort into it. And I still don’t want to let myself or our kids fall into an idea of Christmas being about gifts and decorations and candy/food and everything.

I don’t think we do, necessarily. And you can ask our kids what Christmas is about and they’ll tell you straight up. Rowan even went around singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jesus for a few days. But when I look back over the last week and month, I realize that we, as a family, didn’t spend enough time discussing, praying about, and looking towards Christmas and the coming of the Christ Child.

Next year, that will change.

Two of my favorite memories from Christmas: one was when the kids ran from their room to see their gifts out by the tree (we left most unwrapped (we’re strange like that )) they were really excited. But as they sat side by side infront of their gifts, Addie, our oldest, kept talking to her brother and sister about all the cool things they got. She was so excited for them. It was awesome. Then she moved on to take a closer look at her gifts as well. But seeing her excitement and encouragement for her sister and brother was heart warming.

And another was how I punked my mother in law on Christmas morning. I’ll post about it next!

I’ll be home for the holidays

11/23/2010 / Blake

Well, not really sure. But there’s a good chance.

Turns out Addie has strep throat. Sunday afternoon she was acting really tired and said her head hurt. Yesterday it turned into a headache and sore throat. And fever. But just a little. It never hit triple digits.

But this morning she woke up still feeling bad. Head still hurt and throat sore. So I took her temp and it was 101.6. Nothing to be alarmed about, but with how she felt yesterday too we decided to take her to the pediatrician. And it’s strep.

She had a choice of taking medicine for a few days and it feeling better in a couple of days. Or taking this big, thick shot and being better tomorrow. Surprisingly she chose the shot.

So depending on how she feels in the next few days, we may be sticking around Oxford for Thanksgiving.

Addie and Ella :: What’s The News? [ep1]

09/09/2010 / Blake

Okay, I’ve been late with this. The girls recorded this a couple of weeks ago. But I’ve been lax at getting it ready to upload. So here it is. (And they’ve got one more ready for me to edit as well.)

Forgive the hum you hear. I’ll take care of that next time.

If you want to leave a question for them, put it in the comments.

Addie and Ella :: Part II

08/12/2010 / Blake

Here’s the second part of the news show from a few days ago. This time they tackle sin, grandparents, lying to parents, and books.

And sadly the memory card had gotten full, and things ended too soon. But they still had a good time with it.

Addie and Ella’s Newscast

08/10/2010 / Blake

Ever since Addie got a mp3 player with a voice recorder she’s played around with making her own “news podcast” as she calls it. She would invite her sister to do the news with her. They’d have fun with it, making up silly things while we were on a road trip. They’d sit next to each other in the van and record themselves, then listen back through together and just laugh and laugh and laugh.

This weekend I discovered them making their first video newscast. I have to admit that I have laughed more at this the past few days than I ever would have expected. The following video is about the first half of their first newscast. They said they’ll probably make more in the future.

Ella and her mask

07/10/2010 / Blake

So yesterday we participated in Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. It’s where you can dress up like a cow and get free food. It was a good deal. My family of five ate for $0.82. Not bad, huh? Here’s a pic of the kids in their home made cow costumes.

But today Ella wanted to make a few alterations to her cow mask. She decided she wanted to make it into a “Super Hero Mask”. But the more I look at it, it seems less “super hero” and more “sinister. Here’s a short video. What do you think?

Ella and her mask from Blake Thompson on Vimeo.