Because I love him =)

Today is my husband's birthday. I love him so much but I am not very good at verbally expressing how I feel (just ask him) so I decided I would publicly declare my love for him to the cyber world =)
Thirteen years ago, I started the eighth grade at Vandalia Christian School. We were getting a new student in our class named "Cletis Titus" and we were all wondering what this redneck or possibly African-American kid was going to be like. It turned out he was a super-cute. athletic guy with a Nick Carter hair cut (those were totally in back then.) It didn't take long for me to figure out that I really wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure he didn't know I existed. So I went on my merry, dating way and dated 2 or 3 guys (who's counting?). I had always had a place for him though in the back of my heart. There was just something about him. He wasn't the most popular guy in our class, although most of the girls would have loved to have "gone out" with him. He wasn't a class clown but he was very funny and always had (and still does) a witty comeback or zinger to through at someone. But besides that I think what attracted me most to him was and is his character. In my mind he had so much integrity and wisdom. And I wasn't the only one that saw that in him. Not to say he never got in trouble but there was something about the way he handled things and people that I admired (and he did tend to man-handle some of the guys at school, which I also found attractive.) Anyway, thanks to my now mother-in-law and a certain sister-in-law who is about to get married herself, he finally noticed me. I had to break up with my boyfriend first but we started dating the second semester of my senior year. I honestly can't remember life without him and really don't care to.
I could not have asked for a more godly husband or a better best friend. We have been through so much and I would not have wanted to go through it with anyone else. He has taught me so much and I am grateful for his patience with me. He has been such an encouragement to me in my walk with the Lord and in the things I struggle with. He is an amazing daddy to our two precious children. Hailey adores him. She can't wait till he gets home from work everyday and loves to go on dates with him. I know Caleb will adore him also but right now his clothes tell how he is thinking =) We just love Randy so much and thank God for the blessing of a man that He put in our lives! Happy 25th BIrthday Randy!

Our sweet Caleb

Our sweet Caleb is 2 months old today. I can't believe it has been 2 months already! He is such a sweet (and fat!) baby. His Nena (Randy's mom) wrote this about the day he was born and I wanted to share it because I thought it was so sweet....




It is spring in North Carolina. The grass is as green as I have ever seen it....perhaps that is because I rarely see pretty green grass anymore. Everything is in bloom..and my itchy eyes alert me to that each day. There are budding flowers and signs of new life everywhere. New Life....nothing better. I arrived back in North Carolina on Mothers Day and just in time for the birth of our third grandchild, Caleb Joshua Titus. He is 6 lbs 11 oz of pure preciousness-sent straight from Heaven. (Think I'm kiddin'? Check out the attached picture!) He is also the spitting image of his daddy, our oldest son Randy. He is of course beautiful....and a reminder of all things new. A brand new little human miracle from God. The day he was born we also realized that there were four more new additions born on the Titus property. As Hailey (Caleb's big sister) and I were swinging on the front porch swing that evening, we noticed four little baby birds had hatched in their nest in the bush beside the front porch. We snuck over and peeked in to see four little featherless chicks just chirping away for their mommy to return with their meal for the day. (I captured the moment in an awesome picture) It was a teachable moment as Hailey and I talked about what a great God we have, the God that not only gave us Caleb out of mommy's tummy that morning, but also the God that gave us new life in the four little baby birds all snuggled up in their nest. Each day since then we always stop to sneak a peek at the growing baby birds and marvel at our great God's creation. Something so simple, yet so profound. A creator that gives us little baby Titus'es is the same creator that gives us little baby birds....and He loves and cares for us all.
This is just another rambling of one tired Jamerican.....SELAH

"God is sad. Him needs his mommy."

It has been a while since I have posted. About five months to be exact. Our sweet little Hailey is getting to be such a big girl. I was going to do another post about "hailey-isms" but her speech has gotten so good that you (or at least I) can understand most of what she is saying. I do however, need to write down the things that she is saying because there is almost nothing better than the thoughts of a 2-year-old.
This morning she and I were sitting down reading her little Bible and we were talking about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and it was talking about how it makes God sad when we disobey Him. I was trying to explain it to her in a way she could understand. She sat there for a minute with a sad look on her face and said "God is sad. Him needs his mommy." I honestly didn't know what to say. Can you explain to a 2-year-old that God doesn't exactly have a mommy? And then we were doing the questions at the end of the story and the first one was "Can you think of something you have done to disobey your mom and dad." She replied after a moment to think, "Yeah...I dit out of my bed." HALLELUJAH!...she is learning! It's the little things , ya know!
As most of you know we have added a new addition to our home, Caleb Joshua Titus. He has melted my heart already. He is so sweet and cuddly. I love seeing Hailey interact with him, too. It is just so sweet. She is always telling me " Mommy, he tho thweet" and "mommy, him pwecious" and "Mommy, him twying. Him needs hith pathy." I am surprised how gentle she is with him. She is not normally a rambunctious kid but i didn't expect her to be as gentle as she is with him.
As good as she has been, I know it has been hard on her not getting as much attention as she was getting before her little brother came along. She has had her share of meltdowns but she really has been great. I have been trying to take her out once a week even if it's just a couple of hours just so I can spend some time just me and her. I have been taking her to the water park the last couple of weeks. She loves to go on dates. I'm not sure if she considers it a date when it's just me and her. She usually goes on dates with her daddy and her Beepa (my dad.) Either way I enjoy my time with her. If you take her on a date and ask her where she wants to go she will more than likely tell you she wants to go to "Chit-Lay" (Chick-fl-A.) And if you ask her what she wants to eat she has her list down pat of what she wants...." Chitten, fwies, chotalate molt, and ithe tweem." If you didn't catch that, it was chicken, fries, chocolate milk, and ice cream. Healthy and nutritious, I know. But it's a date. You're allowed to splurge on a date, right?
Last story for the day...our pastor's wife, Holly, is Hailey's buddy, and every wednesday and friday we go over to the church to see Holly and Holly gives her candy. Holly has taught Hailey about putting candy in her pockets. So now, every time she wears something that has pockets on it she thinks she needs some candy to put in it. Yesterday morning, i put a little sundress on her and it had pockets. When I got the dress on her, she immediately put her hands in her pockets and said, "Mommy, I dot pottets! I need tanny for my pottets!" Like I said, it's the little things in life =)

It's that time again...

I really enjoy writing hailey-isms. I really write them to keep a record of the cute stuff she says but I also hope that those who do read it find humor in her little 2 year old language. So here are the latest hailey-isms...

-"buff-a-teef"- brush teeth. This is one of my faves.
-"alonen"- another one
-"tuvey-dup"- cover up
-"pay tado"- play play-doh...her newest obsession
-"chotolate molt"- chocolate milk. The kid seriously LOVES chocolate milk... so much so that her and randy made a "chocolate milk dance" that they do every time she gets chocolate milk. Her father has created a monster.
-"toot"- cute
-"heydoo usut"- hey dude, what's up. She has been listening to her daddy and uncle Seth too much.
-"uhhdooooin"- what are you doing. and yes she does say it just like that.
-"waaayeeeer"- where. She doesn't have much of a country accent but this particular word makes up for all of it.
-"wite"- why. For some reason she puts a "t" on the end of it.
-"i wunnin"- I'm running.
-"dive-a-hair"- dry your hair
-"odirt"-yogurt



I also wanted to right a couple of cute things she has been doing recently:
-We just moved and she has a new room that has a big girl bed in it which she loves and we are so happy about. But every time someone comes over she wants to show them her new room with her big girl bed and she goes around to each wall in her room and says "peent" (pink.) She is very excited about the fact that her room is pink and she wants everyone to know it.
-Also at our house we have our church right behind us which comes in handy when hailey wants to play outside because we have the playground right there. But she calls the church's playground "Nena's park" because Nena used to live here and would take her over there to play. She still calls this Nena's or Poppa's house sometimes and sometimes she will point to something and say that it is there's but she does understand that it's her house so it's all good.
-She has gotten to where lately she has to be wearing some type of jewelry and has to have a purse. I'm not sure where this girly-girl came from but it's super cute.
-Two of her most recent phrases that we hear a lot are "I'n play with boys" and "I'n doe shoppin." She is only, two mind you, and she already wants to play with boys and go shopping. Help.

The start of a new adventure!

I am one of those people who actually enjoys grocery shopping. But I hate the drive home. I bite my nails and sweat the whole way in fear that I just spent WAY too much at the grocery store. I really feel like I do the best I can. I buy pretty much Wal-mart brand everything and still end up with a ridiculous grocery bill and nothing to make for dinner. I don't know if anyone else out there is feeling my pain on this but I have to say I think I have had enough.
I have recently started clipping coupons. I have been inspired by a lady on the internet that a friend referred to me. She is the coupon queen. I used to clip coupons but I honestly never felt it was worth the time to sit and clip. But I have been introduced to a new way of shopping...and it really is going to be a new adventure for me. I have always watched for sales at Lowes Foods and places like that but I have recently learned that with a little bit of time and a little bit of thinking skills (which I try to use occassionally!) you really can save a ridiculous amount if money at the grocery store...and better yet the drug store.
Below are two seperate shopping trips that I took. I did have to clip coupons and I did have to sit down and map out my shopping trip but it was totally worth it in the end. I saved a grand total of $67.05.
My first trip was to Lowes Foods yesterday afternoon. I already knew I needed cake stuff for Hailey's party this weekend and they just happened to have a sweet deal on their Betty Crocker Stuff plus I had some coupons. With a little effort I was able to turn a $36.18 trip into a $16.97 trip. Here is my pic from that trip:

---4 boxes of supreme brownie mix, 2 boxes of cake mix, 3 packages of cookies, 4 tubs of frosting, and 12 cups of yogurt---

This next pic is from my trip today which I am very proud of because I saved $47.84 and I worked pretty hard on it. I owe it to my friend Chantelle who walked me through over the phone how to make the separate transactions at Walgreens because they are kind of picky and I have never really shopped there before. I also thank DeShawn, the lady at Walgreens, who helped me when the other check out lady didn't know what to do with all of my coupons. My total bill was $76.99 and I paid $26.15

---4 canisters of Lysol wipes, 2 Lysol toilet cleaners, 2 Crest pro health moushwashes, 2 Gillette Fusion razors, 2 bottles of Downy fabric softener, 1 oral-b toothbrush and 1 tube of Crest toothpaste---

I spent all together $43.12 on everything you see here! I can honestly say it was well worth the time I put into clipping coupons and navigating sale papers. I think I may have found a new hobby!

"Mo" Hailey-isms

After I wrote the last post on Hailey-isms I thought of a lot "mo" that I could write. I'm sure there will be "mo" to come later.

-"wowies"- flowers
-"nuts"- lips. This one is too funny. She calls lips "nuts." And she LOVES chapstik so several times a day she will come over to me and hold up a tube of chapstik and say "Mommy, pudit onda nuts!" She will hear about this for years to come.
-" meemos"- movies. The first movie that we really sat and watched with her was Finding Nemo and we always just asked her if she wanted to watch Nemo. So now any movie is "meemo"
-"tato"- veggie tales movies. Kinda' weird but that is what she has always called anything veggie tales. She does know Bob and Larry's names but still calls anything veggie tales "tato." And she does love to watch "tato."
-"muh-may"- mermaid. Her favorite "meemo" of her almost 2 years of life is The Little Mermaid. She has started quoting it, which is sad, which is why I have started limiting her time watching it...but it's really cute. it's actually pretty comical to watch her watch it.
-"I shinish"- I'm finished.
-"I'ne shanish"- I want a sandwich.
-"hi-bies"- hiney-buns. That's what we call her rear end.
-"molt and mutties"- milk and muffins...a favorite breakfast of ours.
-"fote"- fork...or spoon...whichever one she is currently holding.
-"messin"- medicine
-"Teenup teenup ebody ere. Teenup teenup body sare"- "Clean up, Clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up clean up everybody do your share."
-"ronies"- macaroni and cheese. Other than candy it's her favorite food. She asks for it every day for lunch. I would actually eat it every day too because it's one of my favorites but come on...we have to have some variety.
-"titten"- kitchen...or chicken. Just depends on the situation.
-"A B Thee"- She loves to sing her "A B Thees"
-"baby butter Taylobe"- baby brother Caleb. This is one of my favorites. The other night she told me she was "cited bout baby butter Taylobe"
-"bayntee"- blankie. She has a favorite that her Aunt Candy gave her for a shower gift and she loves it. She has told me that she is going to give it to "Taylobe." That was cute because it was just a random statement she made one night.
-"wuv too much"- I love you very much.

That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed!

Really...again?

This morning I found myself, once again, wide awake way before the sun came up. Pretty much since the very beginning of this pregnancy I have woken up at 4:30 every morning. I am actually sleeping better than I was so this morning 4:30 was the only time I woke up, but still...what's the deal?!? I am starting to wonder if there is something about Caleb (the baby on the way) and 4:30 am. This morning as I laid in bed I started pondering all the things that it could mean. I thought maybe my water would break at 4:30 in the morning. Or maybe that would be the time he is actually "birthed" into this world. Or maybe it will be our little morning feeding time. I would be okay with any of these. Especially if 4:30 is the only time he wakes up...that is as long as he is 6 weeks or under. Hailey started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and I am trying not to get my hopes up with this one but it's hard to think of a baby not sleeping when Hailey has always been such a good sleeper. I was going to get up and write this blog at 4:30 but instead I decided I would get up and use the bathroom and check on Hailey. I had only taken 2 steps into her room when she popped up, grabbed both of her "bayntees" (blankets) and staggered to the front of her crib with her arms up in the air. I couldn't resist so I picked her up and let her lay with us for a while. For the next hour i laid there while Randy slept and Hailey tossed and turned between us (which is what she does when she sleeps in our bed...which is why she never sleeps in our bed). Finally, I picked her up and put her back in her bed and laid back down and decided I would pray. I was asleep in no time. Don't you hate that. Anyway, that is my rant about 4:30 am. I guess I will be seeing it for at least the next 4 months.

On a completely different note...one of my new years resolutions is to memorize a verse of Scripture a week. I figured since I have most of Hailey's books memorized I would fill my mind with something a little more "filling." My verse for this week is Deuteronomy 15:10 "Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on that account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake." I figured if I kept track of them on here I could keep myself accountable.

And my fingers hurt so I am finished!