PROM 2010

Introducing Emily, Astrud and Jena.....aren't they just beautiful!!! I just dont know how the time goes so fast. It seems as if just yesterday that Princess in the middle was just a baby and now look at her, she is a beautiful young lady!!! They all 3 are...gone are the days of watching them on the monkey bars, BUT I know the best is yet to come.
Astrud and her great friend Dual.....he is such a gentleman!
Jena and Trevor
Pretty girl!
Big brother Christopher!!! He got there late so he got a picture all by himself with his little sister!
Our kiddos.....Megan, Steven Traci, Astrud, Craig, Chas,Amy, Joshua and one of my granddogs Brinkley!!! (minus Christopher, Kellie, Jon, Liam, Rory and of course Franceska)

There always has to be a "Silly Pic"!!
The Group
I just love this picture, she is just so pretty.....

Here is Astrud with my momma and daddy (Nonny & Poppy) It was a special moment for me. I remember when Astrud was little and my mom and I used to talk about these special days and oh how I wish that things were different but at least she is here.
Big sister Chas putting the finishing touches on her makeup, in baby sister Franceskas room!!!

That's me lacing her up, I am so proud of her.
They went bowling after the prom........
Em, Jena and Astrud
That's ladylike!!! lol


This is Kyle her cousin, he is my cousin Tracy's son, Tracy and I are the same age and Kyle and Astrud are the same age, aren't they just a nice looking pair!!
This is Michelle , another cousin, they are such special friends, I love this picture!!
Poor Dual doesnt she look Psycho!!!
The next two pictures are at the top of the Tower of the Americas. This is where they all went and ate dinner.



I know there are alot of pictures here, trust me there were alot more! After the prom alot of us parents, Frank and I along with our kids and my sister and girls had hamburgers in our backyard and sat by the firepit , it was a really nice evening and all of us were so proud of these kids. These kids are the whole package, they are not just pretty, they are all just as pretty on the inside and have great hearts and are not afraid to love God outloud!!!!

Oh this is such a HAPPY DAY!!!

YES INDEED HE HAS RISEN!!!!!! For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in HIM might not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Thank you Father for loving ALL of us the way you do............................................

Lots of things to say......

This week should be when rumors start flying about the next batch of Special Deliveries!!! Rumors have it that they might go thru the 20th of April '06 and we are the 21st, so we will see. One thing I do know is that it will be soon, I just feel like the first week of May we will finally see the precious face of our Franceska....so say your prayers okie dokie!!!! And I will keep you posted!!

Most of you know that my Momma has Alzheimers. It is heartbreaking......It hurts!!!! Last week in particular was a rough week for me. I am now the nurturer when I really still just need and want my Momma!!!! The prom is coming up, Franceska is on her way, I want to share my grandbuttons with her and so many other things!!! I just want to be able to pick up the phone and call her and just talk about it, but I cant so instead I go over there and let her lay her head on my shoulder. Now dont get me wrong those are precious times that I will forever cherish, BUT it wasnt supposed to be that way. So I know that this is alot to ask but if any of you ever at any time have a few extra dollars, even if it is $5.oo dollars please go to http://www.alz.org/ and make a donation to stop this monster of a disease. I would never ever, ever want any of you to go thru this. ALZHEIMERS SUCKS!!!!! You can even find your local organization if you want to. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. God bless all of you. (These are just some emblems I found that I would love to wear on a Tshirt)

And I totally forgot to commemorate our 47th LIDversary!!!! I dont think we have have many more!!!!! FINALLYYYYYYYY......

Happy Birthday Momma and Bubba

Today is our Stevens (Bubba) 25th , and my Momma's 67th birthday!! And my prayer for the day is that Steven always knows how proud of him we are and just how much we love him!! And also Father if you could please for nothing but sellfish reasons give my momma just half a minute of clarity so she knows it is her birthday, and that she knows she is surrounded by her girls, her devoted husband and almost all of here grandchildren that love her oh so much!!! Having her family all around her was always her favorite thing in the whole world. I pray this prayer in your sons precious name....Amen

p.s.

I am not taking anything away from our son, but he knows how I feel and I can still say things to him, so Happy birthday Momma, there is none like you in all the world. Even when we could be screaming at one another one minute we were cracking up laughing together the next. There are so many things about me that are YOU. You have been robbed of so much and for that my heart breaks every single minute of every single day. It breaks my heart that new people in our life just dont know who you really were and I feel like they have been robbed . Because you were so unique and funny, you were feisty, and mouthy and thats putting it gently, lol.....and at the same time so darn loving and nurturing, you loved everyone and you never met a stranger. Momma my promise to you is to always make you look pretty, keep your hair pretty even if that means following you all around the house with scissors to cut it because you dont know how to sit down anymore, that means always keeping your nails pretty and clean and your toenails the same, I will continue to fight you so I can bathe you and even though you and daddy always tortured us with your false teeth, I proudly will continue to take them out and clean them for you even though sometimes you tell me you are gonna knock the crap out of me....I know you dont mean it, I will keep following you with the bowl of water all over the house trying my best to keep your legs shaved and I will keep your eyebrows tidy. I will do all of the things it takes to care for someone in your condition and as long as you continue to let me do these things for you I will do them as long as I have life in my body, you are my MOMMA and I owe you so much. Momma I know that God has a plan and all I can pray for now is that even if for one second you will know who I am talking about when I am finally able to say, "Look Nonny here is your granddaughter Franceska". Happy Birthday to you my sweet little Momma, I love you more than word could ever express.

Love you "favorite" daughter...LOL

Kristy Lynn

Seattle and Grandbutton bound...

Frank, Astrud and myself have a flight leaving at 5:45a.m. in the morning!! We are so excited!! We are going to see our daughter Kellie, son in law Jon and our two little Grandbuttons Liam and Rory!! It will be our first time seeing Rory and we are just besides ourselves !! So I will see all of you on thursday!! Have a great weekend!! GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU.

p.s. It has been sunny and about 78 degrees here and absolutely beautiful....hmmmm wonder how it will be in Seattle??? It dont matter I just want to get my hands are those boys!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

Once upon a time......

Once upon a time in my life I thought I would never be a Mother. I went thru alot of heartache, feeling very sorry for myself, feeling worthless and hating myself among other things. Living in the small town I grew up in , me and all of my friends and cousins were getting married around the same time, I was in about 15 weddings in let's say a 6 year timeframe, and then everyone starts having babies and me.......NOTHING, not for 1 or 2 years but for 5 years!!! I went thru horrendous infertility treatment. When we were growing up and everyone else was wanting to be Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Dental assistants, Teachers.......Not me...I just wanted to be a Mommy and be married. After all the time of friends and family kind of hiding from me or coming to my home to tell me they were pregnant as if to let me know gently, after hearing the remarks people say because you always have someone elses children with you and learning to just reply the same way when God is ready for me to have a baby I will, but really not putting all your faith in HIM, putting more faith in your Infertility Specialist because to you he was the person that would help you get pregnant!!!! BUT then one week 3 of my friends give birth to their beautiful children and it was as if I really was having a mental breakdown, I just threw my hands up in the air and said, "OK God if you want me to have children you are going to have to make it happen , because I can't do it anymore. I was spent mentally, physically and financially, and just could not get a hold of myself.................3 hours later we got a phone call that would change my life forever.........I named her Astrud. AND SHE WAS THE ABSOLUTE BLESSING OF MY LIFE. HE was just waiting for me to rely on HIM.

But sadly to say a year and a half later my marriage broke. I own that. IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT. After five years of being told when to do this and when to do that, the passion died for me. We had grown up together, our parents, grandparents and great grandparents had grown up together and when I left it hurt ALOT of people. Not my proudest moment. He was my best friend when he should have been my lover, but I lost that.

So there I was on my own with my baby girl, scared to death!!! Moved away from my small town into San Antonio knowing that everyone was either mad at me or severely disappointed in me. And when I say alot of people...remember its a small town, Have you ever been the talk or disappointment of a small town???? It's not pretty.

I was working in the OR at a San Antonio Hospital , and to alot of peoples dismay I met Frank. He worked in the same OR as I did. So now I was not only the hometown girl that totally went against the grain, I was a tramp , a bad mother and a horrible daughter , friend, and granddaughter according to THEM. And to top it all off he was MEXICAN.

(I KNOW ALL OF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS STORY....JUST PLEASE WAIT FOR IT, IT DOES HAVE MEANING. I HAVE NEVER TOLD THIS WHOLE STORY ON THIS BLOG, I DONT KNOW WHY NOW, I JUST THINK IT IS TIME)

We were friends for a while and I did fall head over heels, no turning back, in LOVE!!! And all the while I was actually afraid to tell him that I could not have children. So him and I along with Astrud which was 2 and his son Steven was 8 were moving along kind of like a little family. He had Steven and alway did have him. Then one day he told me that he needed to talk to me and I was so scared that he was gonna leave me. He says I have to tell you something!?!? And I said what.....he says I have 5 other children!!!! And you have to know that to me that was music to my ears!!! Frank s 10 years older than me and even though these other kids were a bit older , I DID NOT CARE!!!!! Then I finally got up the nerve to tell him that I could not have children , he then tells me that he had been "fixed" lol (good thing right....). To me it was a perfect match, he could give me what I could not give myself!!!! Thank you God!!! And 4 years later we were married and although just like any other marriage with its ups and downs....I am a truly BLESSED woman. Steven is MINE , and Astrud is HIS, and the relationship with the others (they lived far away), has grown into a true love story. Our kids are NOT our step children , they are all of our children, and they are NOT step brothers and sisters, they are all fiercely protective of each other, love each other, and even though Steven (Bubba), and Astrud, grew up in the same house, and are just like any other brother and sister, ALL of them spoil and love Astrud in a way that just makes my heart smile. I can't explain to you how I love these kids. I love them so much and are so proud of them sometimes it hurts!!! Chastity our oldest daughter is only 10 yrs younger than me, she is one of my Best friends. You cant imagine the looks that we get when she introduces me as her "Other Mother", To her I am Kris, to Craig I am Kma, to Christopher I am either Kristy but I get referred to as Mom, to Kellie I am Kristy, these kids have a wonderful mother and I am forever grateful that they are so graciously shared with me! I am otherwise Mom to the other two, and when I hear that word "MOM", it just never gets old!!! I just can't wait to see the love envelop Franceska by her big brothers and sisters, it will just complete that circle of life for me.

There are heartaches that comes with all of this and they are all in regards to my MOM, but there will be no tears on this post, I just rely on 3 simple words.....The Heart Remembers.....

And if any of you are wondering about all of Those people that judged Frank and I....well lets just say alot of Crow has had to be eaten. Everyone loves him, and feels blessed to have him by their side. God is good that way.

So in review here is a list of all my blessings:

First I have Frank , my incredible loving, giving, selfless husband that I just can't deserve but am so glad I have.......I have 3 INCREDIBLY HANDSOME sons, Steven 24, Christopher 30 and Craig 26, 4 AMAZING GORGEOUS daughters, Chastity 32, Kellie 22, Astrud 17 and soon to be Franceska, 3 ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL daughter in laws, Amy, Traci, and Megan, 1 EXCEPTIONALLY LOVING son in law, Jon, and now 3 of the most SPIRITED, ALLL BOY, CUDDLY AND SO CUTE I COULD EAT THEM UP WITH A SPOON GRANDBUTTONS, Joshua, Liam and Rory!!! For those of you who follow my blog no doubt you have seen multiple pictures of all these beautiful people!!!! I really should scan alot of old pictures one day of our kids so all of you can see them thru the years. One day when I have time I will do that.

OK for the reason of this post. On Saturday night my dearest, sweetest, oh so beautiful friend Gretchen told me she had a verse in the Bible that had ME written all over it. When she read it to me it left me with goosebumps and almost speechless......this is it.

"Sing O childless woman! Break forth into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, even though you never gave birth to a child. For the woman who could bear no children now has more than all the other women, " says the Lord. Enlarge your house; build an addition, spread out your home! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will take over other nations and live in their cities.

Isaiah 54: 1-2

Now that leaves me speechless!!!! Thank you my Father in Heaven for blessing me beyond my wildest dreams. I promise even though I am an "Older" mother now, for I know this is all part of your plan, so bring Franceska home to us, and we will make you proud. And I will live the rest of my life for you, and with you, knowing that I am not worthy of the love you show me but I will live my life striving everyday to be more like you. Thank you Thank you Thank you.

Thank you to you to Gretchen, you know how much I love you.....

Some of you might be wondering what was the point to this post?????? Maybe there wasn't any point. Maybe I just wanted to share a part of me I had never shared before. But I do know that I just wanted to give credit where credit was due.......

What RQ is saying......

RQ 's projection for April referrals is April 20th!!!!! ((((((((SCREAM))))))))!!!!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!! I would be lying if I said I wasn't secretly praying for that number to be the 21st or more when that time comes, But heck after 4 years ....what's another 30 days or so!!! Regardless of what happens our time is coming and it feels oh sooooo good!!!! Frank and I were talking tonight and just talking about some things that we need to prepare for and it was just so awesome talking about the "NOW" and not the "WHEN". So stay tuned.....

THE C2C2 IS THRU THE 11TH!!!!

So many of my Flying Tiger Yahoo group friends got "the call" today about their babies!! It is so much fun seeing all of these ladies and their families get their babies pictures that they have been waiting so long for!!!!

One of the most exciting things for me is that the C2C2 has done 6 days!!!! Can you believe that!!! Not their usual 2 or 3!!! We are only 10 days out!!! I dont think we are NEXT ....But I think we will see Franceskas precious face in May and we will be in China by July!! Franks birthday is June 30th and mine is July 11th..... I can't think of a better birthday present!!!

I better get busy!!! I have been nesting like a mad woman around here. Frank and Astrud better not stand still, because they might get organized, reorganized, or thrown away!!!!

So please pray that this trend keeps up. It won't be long now. We have been waiting so long that I have to admit that it feels a little surreal. Frank and I were talking a while ago and I said to him , "Can you believe that we are there"? And he just looked at me and smiled real big. It's really happening, for real!!

My arms just ache to hold her , my eyes strain to see her, and my heart aches to love and adore her..........soon babygirl...soon... Love, Mommy

OK some of you asked for it ......

Ok I got several emails from friends wanting to see more of Franceskas room , and Lesa asked for the closet picture and Daleea wanted to know who the little feet in the previous post belonged to. So as annoying as "those" kind of Moms are ...I confess I am one of "them", I am gonna show off a little bit okay!! Here you go Daleea, they belong to the fairies that my neice Jade had and wanted them to be in Franceskas room. I think they have been waiting on that shelf for about two years! lol

There are 8 of them and they each have their own little personality...here is one of my favorites!

I made this verse with my Cricut yesterday.....

I KNOW.....isn't this unbelievable!!! Now before you all start thinking I am a shopaholic, you have to remember my sister Kerry has been giving me all of our favorite little things of Rayns. That poor little thing, she has been told all her life (she's 5) to not get that outfit dirty because we have to save it for Franceska!! lol... One day about a year ago she came thru my door..put her hands up in the air and in her tiny little bossy, sassy voice said....I KNOW MEME......(rolling her eyes) ... DON'T GET IT DIRTY SO FRANCESKA CAN HAVE IT!!!! It was just priceless..

Actually I do shop a little!!!

My very special friend Taylor made me this sign at Christmas and it is going over the door....love it!

My precious daughter in law Amy bought this for me. I had mentioned that I wanted one and one day she called and said she found it and brought it to the house...how sweet is that!!!! It is for the bathtub , it hangs on the wall and toys go in it....Love it too!!!

This little putter and golf glove was bought about 2 1/2 years ago by Frank. One day he just walked in the door with it....just simply precious don't you think!!!

This hangs on the inside of the closet. It is from my sister Kerry. Her and her husband Ricky were in a Chinese restaurant in Goliad ,Texas and she said she just had to buy it...Love it !!

About 3 years ago Kerry bought this diaper bag for me, isn't it pretty!!! It's full of toys that Im hoping will win our daughter over when we first meet her!!! lol

Franks ex wife Stacye, the mother of my older children bought this little ladybug bible for Franceska 2 years ago. Isn't is sweet, I just love it!!!

These crack me up!!! They are Baby's 1st Christmas ornaments , I kind of have a collection of them, this is two of them and the one in the box is from 2006!!! Cracks me up!!!

Now this is so special to me, that little star toy was Astrud's absolute favorite toy when she was a baby, and the praying angel sings "Silent Night", when Astrud was a baby the only way she would fall asleep is if I sang the song to her, well when she was about 4 yrs old I found this and everynight for years I would push the button and out like a light she would go!!! And I just cant part with either of them even though they are like 17 yrs old!!!

This is Franceskas little Preemie Asian Cabbage Patch , her name is "Annette Mara"!

And this is an Asian Cabbage Patch and her name is "Riley Magdalena"! Isn't that just too funny!!!!

Just another view....Ok thats enough for now, BUT as soon as I get the bedding put back on I will show all of you her crib!!! I just cant tell you how special it is for me to share all of this with you....my FAMILY. I think our time has come and it is going to happen soon, I guess we can finally say I am in my last trimester!!! I love all of you soooooo much!!! Blessings you all are.

OK just one more.... And she has 9 drawers and you dont even want to see them they are FULL!!!!

A peek at Franceskas room...

The other day Frank came home with a big bag with tissue flowing out of it and handed it to me and it was just the cutest thing ever, it was a bag full of Ladybug goodies for Franceskas room!!! He is starting to show his excitement and I think is letting himself realize that it is going to happen soon. It was several little Ladybugs magnets, a picture holder, a coffee cup for me, that matches a teapot that I already had, 2 picture frames, a 2 packages of of ladybug chocolates. You can see that one is missing....Well they will go bad so somebody has to eat them!!! I know that those of you who have been following for a while now has seen the next picture before. I made these what seems like forever ago and they hang over her crib. I think I am going to take the little ladybugs and hotglue them on the flowers.

And I know you have seen this picture also of the shelf that I stained, but I just wanted to show where some of the ladybug things are going to live.....

I also wanted to show you a picture of a present that our son Steven and our daughter in law Megan gave Franceska for Christmas. She is so sweet , she always remembers her at Christmas.....we've had 5 while waiting for her!!! This year they gave her this precious frame
and height measuring ribbon. (I think that is what you call it) The frame says Sweet Baby Girl on top of the frame and the height chart ribbon is just so cute.

There has been so much happening around here and so much that I havent blogged about, but I am on my way to catching up!!! Have a very blessed weekend!!! We will be here praying that the rumors are good and accurate ones!!!!

So much going on...

There has been so much going on here....one being that I have shingles !!!! Yes shingles and it HURTS!!! I just realized today that our 46th LIDversary has came and gone, so there I marked it! How many more???????

A step into the past that became our future....

My amazing husband gave me a Mac for Valentines Day and I have to admit that I am very intimidated by it!!!! lol So I decided to try to scan some old pictures and share a little piece of history with you about my family, and I sure hope you like it.....

The little girl in this picture is my Mom and her big brother my Uncle Bob!!
And one day they grew up..... met another brother and sister team , which is my Daddy and my Aunt Mary dated , fell in love and then back in 1962 they were both married 21 days apart!!! My poor Granny and Sugarbabe and Grandpa and Grandma!!!

This is my Mom and Daddys wedding portrait on July 21, 1962
This is my Granny, with her only daughter...........Oh how I loved her.....
My Momma and Daddys hands....
This is my Sugarbabe with "empty pockets"!!!!!
Oh how perfect she is to me.....My Momma, I just wish she knew I was honoring her like this.....
This picture was taken on June 30, 1962, My Aunt Mary and Uncle Bobs wedding portrait...
Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob...1962

There is a whole lot more family where this comes from, trust me ALOT, but for this part there have been 5 children, my sisters, Kim, Kerry, my cousins Tracy, and Bubba, and myself, our spouses, our kids, our kids spouses, grandkids etc etc etc .....now there is 33 of us just between these two couples that started all this in 1962!!!

As for my sisters and two cousins, we shared 4 grandparents, and countless memories of our childhood and we are still making memories. We were so blessed to have the grandparents we had, they were AWESOME and we all loved them so so much!! They are all missed more than they could ever have known!!! Every generation has always had kids in litters and we have never "wanted "for anyone to play with, there was always your "age" group of cousins...lol We all live right around here by each other and that is the way I like it!!!!

I just wanted to share this with all of you, now that I know how to do it, I plan on posting some baby pictures of my sisters and I soon.

Lots of Birthdays, and lots of Nesting.......

I am sorry I have not been around alot lately, we have been super busy and I am totally guilty of Facebooking more than blogging.....but I will get back on track!!



In addition to being gone on our Europe trip and then New Mexico we have had so many birthdays here lately....Our daughters Chas and Kellie in December, our daughter Astrud and our son Christopher, and our daughter in law Megan all in January , along with Garett, Jacob, our daughter in law Traci just on the 6th, our grandbutton Liam on the 8th, my sister Kerry and her daughter ,my neice Jade on the 21st, also in February Zane, Emily and Alex and Carol I think??? Then in March my mom and our son Steven on the 21st, Ricky and also Jena. Our neice Lily, and Amy in April and daughter in law Amy in May!!!! And June starts a whole slew of summer bdays!! Whew!!!! If I forgot anyone I am sorry, it was not done on purpose, Im just absentminded!!! So I think we have alot in the near future to celebrate as we wait the last months for our Franceska.

I have also been finishing some projects around the house that I want finished before our lives change completely. I am painting our bedroom right now and then for the finishing touches on Franceskas room!!! I also have been going thru every cabinet and closet. I have been getting rid of things I dont necessarily need or that we dont use anymore. Frank has been known to say , to not stand still too long or you may go to goodwill!!! So I will get caught upon all of you, I actually got started this morning!!! Have a happy Wednesday!!!

Introducing Miss Shauna......

My Aussie friend Fliss and her husband Mike just received their referral yesterday , so after waiting 4 years her she is.......Miss Shauna!!! Isn't she beautiful!!!!

The CC@@ is thru the 5th of April 2006, we are the 21st .....we are almost there!!!!!