Table Talk:The Giant

The past 8 months, my family and I have been living with my parents in Conroe, Texas. They were having some health issues and requested we come down to help. I have really enjoyed being around my family. Most nights we have dinner at the table and after everyone is done eating, the adults sit and talk. We tell stories and laugh. I really love it. Tonight we got to talking about movies. The story that follows was told by my mother, Tanna Hughes.

When she was a little girl, her family was driving when they came across a sign that said a movie was being filmed up ahead. So her daddy just drove on up and parked the car right outside a tent they had set up. She mentions that this was a time where people didn't make such a fuss over celebrities and movies being made. They were the only ones there, beside the crew and actors. 

The crew showed them around and let her mom sit in Liz Taylor's chair! Afterwards, the cast came over. Rock Hudson kissed her mother on the cheek and she just about fell over! She thought he was just the bees knees.

They also got to meet a very young (approx. 18-19 years old) Liz Taylor. She said she remembers her being very shy about coming to meet them.

I love hearing these stories my parents share with us. 

The Story of David

David Bowen Shoemaker was born on May 11th, 2008.

Tomorrow he will be 5 years old.

I realized I had never written out his birth story. I still need to because right now I want to write about my pregnancy with him. Let me tell you....it was a crazy ride!

It all started when Matt decided to join the National Guard. He had talked about wanting to join for years. But we had Matthew and he was still quite young and I was afraid he would miss out on all his firsts so I never gave him my consent.

From the time Matthew was 3 we had been trying for baby #2. For years nothing happened. I knew I could get pregnant, I got pregnant so easily with Matthew. I just couldn't figure out why it was taking me so long to conceive again.

Matthew was 6 when Matt brought up wanting to join the Army again. We were having lunch at the local pizza shop in Maryville, MO. At the time I realized I didn't want to hold him back from his dream and Matthew was getting older so I told him to do it, join the Army. I told him we'd just try again when he got back. I laugh just thinking about that now because that's not how it turned out at all.

Matt left for basic training on Matthew's 7th birthday. With basic training and A.I.T. (where they train him for the job he had in the National Guard) he would be gone for 8 months. So we decided to stay with my parents in Arizona while he was gone. I knew having him be gone that long would be hard but I really had no idea just how hard it would be.

About 2 weeks into the 8 month stay I start complaining to my sister-in-law, Adrienne,  about having body aches. She instantly perks up with "You are pregnant!" I just brush her off because we had been trying for over 3 years. I was certain I was not pregnant. A couple of weeks (if not days) later she bought me some pregnancy tests. I just rolled my eyes. I told her "fine, I'll take these just to prove you wrong."

Well, imagine my surprise when I get back to my parents house, take the test and it shows up POSITIVE!

I was elated. I couldn't believe it was actually happening...finally! I then realized that Matt would miss my entire pregnancy and possibly the birth of our second child. What a roller coaster of emotions that was!

Later that day I picked up Matthew from school and told him in the school parking lot. His reaction? "I'm not changing diapers." {He totally did though.} He had been asking for a baby sibling for a while and I was so happy to finally give him one.

In the end Matt was able to see me 4 times during my pregnancy. Once when he graduated from basic training. (I was only a couple months along) Another time when we found out we were having another bouncing baby boy. Again when I was about 6 months along. And finally in the end he made it home 48 hours before I went into labor.

That last week or so before he made it home were some of the hardest days of my life. I wanted him with me for the birth so very badly. He was there, and with his help I was able to give birth to the best Mother's Day present I could ever ask for.

David was born healthy and screaming at 8lbs. 15oz. The joke was if he hadn't pooped on the doctor he would have been an even 9lbs.

Now here we are, 5 years later. Our life wouldn't be the same without our David. He has brought so much joy {and mischief} to our lives.

Happy Birthday baby boy. I love you.

Journey to Health

I think it's safe to say I have struggled with my weight my entire adult life. I probably would have struggled with it during my teen years, but I'll be honest...I did drugs. So eating was not a priority to me, therefore the weight stayed off. It wasn't until I became pregnant with my now 12 year old son that the weight started piling on. I did not make healthy eating choices. It was from then on that I started the terrible habit of eating for comfort. I would eat if I was happy. I would eat if I was sad. I would eat if I was confused about a problem. I always thought everything could be solved with food. I self sabotaged. I really wanted to lose weight but deep down I hated myself for the way I looked therefore I punished myself with more food. It was a vicious cycle.

This continued for years. I am now in my early 30's an have finally found myself in a place where I just want to change. I'm tired of feeling the way I do. I know the only way I'm going to be able to change is to end that vicious cycle.

So on New Years Day 2013 I started going to the gym.

I have not gone everyday. But I have gone quite a lot since then. I take Yoga at least once a week and I try to get my cardio in by walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day. I am proud to say that just the other day...I actually jogged. I was so excited, I started looking around at the other people at the gym. I just wanted to scream at them "DID YOU SEE WHAT I JUST DID!!!"

I know I have a long road ahead of me. I try not to pay too much attention to that blasted scale. With my thyroid disease, it doesn't want to budge much anyways. So I've been paying attention to how all this exercise is making me feel.

To tell you the truth, at first I hurt. A lot. For a good month or so I was constantly in pain. My muscles hated me. I could hardly walk one day. But I pushed through it. Yes, I am still sore most days. But I FEEL stronger. I can walk to the park with my boys without feeling like I'm going to die when I finally get there. And that's why I'm doing all of this. I want to have a healthier life. I want to be able to play with my boys. I want to give them the mother they deserve. I just wasn't doing that before.

This is the beginning of my journey to a healthier me.

I'm not there...but I'm on my way.

Gun Safety & Target Practice

This morning we went out with 2 other home schooling families to learn about gun safety and to do a little target practice. I had only shot a gun 1 other time in my entire life so I was pretty hesitant to get out there. But I did it, and {SUPRISE} I was actually a pretty good shot!

The Marshmallow Experiment

I have to give credit where credit is due. Matthew found this experiment on Youtube and came to me asking if we could try it on David. 

Obviously I jumped right on that bandwagon!

It starts off kind of rough. I had a hard time trying to explain it to him what he was supposed to do and after watching it I realized I explained it kind of wrong.

But either way the end result is pretty funny. 

If you don't know what the "marshmallow experiment" is I'll explain it briefly before you watch the video.

You take a child, preferably a young child, and you give them a marshmallow. You tell them they can eat this one now or wait 5 minutes and get another marshmallow. 

Train a camera on them, leave and let the fun begin!!

David's Story

While going through my previous posts I found this draft that I had not finished. So I figured I'd go ahead and upload the whole shebang. 

These were taken at the Armory Christmas party last year.

I'm not really sure what I was going for when I put this together.

 I think I remember that I was going to make up a story to go a long with the pictures. 

This last picture cracks me up. I'm pretty sure this started the whole thing.

Moral of the story: Don't mess with this boy while he's eating or he will give you this face. 

Storytime

I used to read to the kids every night before bed. But we have the same books and I really got tired of reading the same ones over and over and over again. (really need to get some new books)

It was then that I remembered we used to do story time with Matthew when he was little because we would giggle at the adorableness that would come out of his mouth. 

So I've started back up this tradition of storytelling with David. 

We usually do the back and forth storytelling. I tell a little bit until he feels like filling in. 

This was his story the other day. 

A:Once upon a time, there was a little boy named...

D: DAVID!!

A: David and his mommy decided to go into the garden to pick some vegetables for a salad!

D: then they found a worm!!

A: yes, they found a worm and David picked it up and the worm crawled all over his arm.

D:  then David climbed on da worm and they flew away!! (makes flying noises)  Then the worm fell out of the sky!! (AAHHHH!!!) And David broke his foot.

A: So then his mommy picked him up and took him to the doctor to get his foot fixed. The End.

D: Awww....Phank you Mommy.