Checkups

Tonight was our third night of VBS and goodness I'm tired! I forgot how exhausting it can be. I've been leading the music this week. It's not just teaching them a song with a few hand motions..it's seriously like a dance routine on some of them! But it's fun and I really enjoy teaching kids music. They love learning new songs and singing. Also, Luke maybe the cutest boy ever when he sings and dances...not maybe..he is.

See...cutest boy ever. 

Today I took both the boys for a checkup. My mom went with me. I'm still way too scared to take both my boys places by myself. (Jude is a grumpy child) The idea of being outnumbered by my children in a public setting freaks me out a little. One day I may do it..and I will if it's absolutely necessary but if I don't have to..I won't!

Grumpy face.

Both of their checkups went good. Except Jude will have to start a little physical therapy soon. Yes...my dear child is still not walking and he's 15 months. He actually just started standing up on his own last week. He will walk when I hold his finger. I'm not worried about it. I just wish he didn't have to do it and would just walk on his own. Hopefully the therapy will help him start walking pretty fast. This boy is heavy!

Some good news: I only have 5 pounds left to lose to be at my goal weight! It's just going very, very slow. I am noticing big differences in the way my clothes fit and I'm feeling more in shape than I have in a while...despite my exhaustion during Bible school!

Tomorrow night Luke will have his first sleep over. His best friend Malachi will be coming to spend the night and go to VBS with him Wednesday and Thursday. He's super excited. He says he's going to teach him all the Bible school songs and let him play with all his toys. They are such big boys now! I love it. :)

Enjoy the rest of the week my friends!

The Weekend

Moms and Dads, remember what it was like before you had little children and it was just you two? No? Me either. I think about that sometimes and I really can't remember what that was like. I mean...what did we do?  I know at the time I had a outside the home job, so I guess my time was spent with that. I know we watched movies more and slept in more I'm sure. 

Well Justin and I got to experience what it was like with no children this weekend. And needless to say it was wonderful. My awesome sister kept our kids Thursday-Saturday so Justin and I could have some alone time while celebrating our 5 year anniversary. Thursday night we did some shopping. I was in desperate need of some clothes that fit me. All of the ones I had were too big. (which is a great thing!) I also purchased some pants 4 sizes smaller than what I was wearing! (I rewarded myself later by eating some delicious movie popcorn) So that was nice shopping trip. After that we went bowling. And I pretty much beat Justin in every game but one...because I'm awesome. 

Look at that great form! Too bad it didn't help. Hehe. I can't read that score but it says I won and he lost. 

Actually I didn't really know if I was good or not. I haven't played in forever. But turns out I wasn't too bad. It was lots of fun! We plan to do that again. 

After our fun bowling trip we went and saw the midnight showing of Superman. But first I had to have this. 

So yummy.

This was my first showing of a midnight movie. I am not a late night person. And if I am going to stay up late I better be able to sleep in the next morning or I will not be happy. The movie was just okay for me. I do love those kinds of movies...superhero stuff. But I've never been a fan of Superman and this movie was a little weird for me. I think I just compare every superhero movie to the Batman movies and nothing compares to that. (sorry Superman fans...please don't hate me) 

The next day we watched Iron Man 2 at home and then went and saw Iron Man 3 in Memphis....we had to make up for the lack of superhero awesomeness in Superman. And it did. We went to Huey's for supper and I had my first real burger in months! Oh it was marvelous. No regrets there...except for how miserably full I was after. 

Saturday we slept in and then went and picked up our boys. And after them being home for a few hours we were ready for another break...just kidding...maybe. But seriously, I'm so thankful my mom and sister live close so we can get breaks every now and then. I really think it's a must. I'm most importantly thankful my boys get to be around my mom and sister a lot. My boys love their Nana and Juju! Now if I could just get my mother-in law to move closer...that would be even better! 

I hope everyone had a good weekend and a Happy Father's Day! The rest of my week will be spent learning VBS music..that will be stuck in my end for years to come. 

5 Years and Counting...

June 14, 2008

That's the day I married my best friend y'all! That was 5 years ago tomorrow. So, today in honor of our anniversary I'm going to share how we met and started dating. I may also say some mushy sweet things about my dear husband, so if you don't like that...too bad. Also, as a special treat for you I have made asked my longtime boyfriend to share something sweet about our dating years and how we met. He's pretty funny so I'm sure it will be enjoyable for you.

I remember the first time I saw Justin Heck. It was the first day of Singers (the singing group we sang in together at Williams Baptist College) in the Fall semester of 2005. Here walked in this bearded man who was dressed really nice (for a college student anyway). My first thought was he looked like an old, really serious guy. Which just goes to show you shouldn't judge people by their looks! It was not a love at first sight reaction for me. We actually didn't even become friends until later on in the semester. Justin had a girlfriend at the time. I was single but not looking into dating anyone then. But we started hanging out with the same group of people and became friends first. It slowly began to become more as the months went by. I realized I was starting to really like this strange bearded man. He was a lot of fun to be around and of course made me laugh and I loved that! Our first (unofficial) date was Winter Formal at our college. I remember being in my suitemates room, on her computer and talking to him on MSN messenger (so cool). He then asked me if I'd like to go with him to formal and I said sure!

Formal 2006-So young.

Soon after formal we went on our first date, and soon after he asked me "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Cute huh?

This was one of the first times he met my whole family. 

Second Formal-2007

There are a lot of other details I could go into but I guess you could say the rest is history after that. We continued to date for another year and a half and then he proposed the summer of 2007 and we were married the next year. I knew I was going to marry Justin just a few months after we started dating. (I didn't tell him that then...pretty sure he would have been freaked out) I don't know if any of you ladies (men too I guess) ever made a list of the characteristics you would want in a man/woman you marry some day but I did on several occasions I'm sure. After getting to know Justin he really was everything I ever wanted in a guy (minus the beard...now I love it. :) ) His love for the Lord and desire to know Him more was encouraging to me and helped me want to know Him more. I could also trust him, which is something I had struggled with in other relationships. He was liked by lots of people and was super funny. Justin also has this really great singing voice that you wouldn't expect to come out of his mouth. I remember the first time I heard him and I'm pretty sure I was in shock for about 3 seconds. He treated and still treats me with respect and takes care of our family. I feel safe with him. He's also a pretty awesome dad.

He became my best friend and our love has grown a lot since that really hot day in June 2008.  These 5 years have not been easy and all lovey dovey like it may have been when we were dating. But I can't imagine spending these years with anyone else besides him. I want to grow old with you my love!

Uh, hello.  I'm Justin.  

What first attracted me to Laura Beth was her Southern charm and intellect.  Just kidding.  It was her good looks.  My wife has already gone into detail on how we met, so I'll skip that part.  I guess I developed a crush on her sometime in January of 2006.  I don't remember if this happened before or after the crush, but I found out that her grandpa (Dr. Millikin), was one of my favorite preachers who I'd heard preach for years.  And I was like, I should marry this girl because her grandpa is cool.  (Her grandpa is cool, but that's not why I married her).

Sometime after the formal, my crush blossomed into a genuine liking.  So I asked her on a date.  We went to Jonesboro.  At Lazzari (they didn't have all the good restaurants back then), the attendant sat us down at the longest table ever.  We were literally 6 feet apart.  Uber awkward.  I moved to the side of the table so we could actually hear each other.  It was a good date.  We were the hottest couple in Jonesboro that night.

After a few more dates, I went to her mom's house in Trumann.  It was during March madness.  I was sitting in the recliner watching basketball with Laura Beth and Julie.  I think Rhonda was in the kitchen.  Something exciting happened on the game and I jumped up and yelled and tooted on accident.  I was super embarrassed but I guess they didn't hear me.  That was the closest I ever came to ruining our relationship.  (I don't toot anymore).

I stayed in Mammoth Spring that summer, serving at a church as the youth intern.  At some point during that summer, I knew I'd marry Laura Beth.  I asked her to marry me the next year (summer 2007), and we got married in 2008, hence the 5-year anniversary. 

5 years.

Half a decade.

1/5 of a quarter of a century.

2 kids.

She is my best friend, and I love her tremendously.  It's a heck of a life.  Teehee.


Thanks love! That was sweet and weird....just what I expected. Thanks for reading our "love story" of sorts. Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend (yes I know it's Thursday..early weekend wish)! We are about to go drop off our kids with my sweet sister. We won't see them until Saturday...so our weekend will be pretty great I'm sure.

So, I did a 5k.

Yes, it's really me and I'm updating this blog two days in a row! Crazy. Today was the Stars and Stripes Festival here in our little town. They have lots of booths/food/carnival rides/parade. It's pretty fun. Here are some pictures from the day.

Luke watching the "hip hip parade" Yes that's what he called it. 

Jude wasn't impressed...or just confused. 

Juju came and rode some rides. I have no idea why this picture is weird. 

This ride was super spinny. I was a little worried Luke was about to vomit on me or I would.

Riding the carousel with Juju. He loved it! 

That was our afternoon fun. But before all this started I did a little 5k. As I mentioned in my last post this was my first one to do where I tried to run the whole thing. I went in not really expecting to run the whole thing but try real hard! I wasn't concerned with time but I was hoping to get under 35 minutes. 

Before Race. I never know how to pose for pictures by myself. 

I was able to run a good majority of the race. I ran a lot more than I thought and I am super happy about that! There were about 5 of us who ran the whole thing and others who walked/jogged or just walked. I placed 5th out of the runners. I only had to stop and walk two times and it was only for maybe a minute or so. I also did my best mile! I ran a mile in 10 minutes. I know for some that's nothing but for me that's good! My final time was 30:48. I am very pleased with that time. I feel like I did pretty good with where I am in my training. I sill have not completed the C25k app. I learned a lot doing this 5k and how I can do better. So, I plan to use that in my next one and I can't wait to do one again! 

After Race. So much sweat is pouring on me.  Also my pose is so awkward. Justin told me to flex my muscles.

I also think every carnival/fair should have a 5k in the morning. That way you don't feel too bad about the yummy food you will consume later...and yes I did! 

Have a good rest of your weekend my friends!

Happenings

So, my new goal is to update this blog more than twice a year. We will see how that goes. I have just a short time to update and discuss a few things so I'm going to do be pretty brief (as brief as I can be)

- We are about to head to Conway to pick up my big baby boy. He's been in Oklahoma since Tuesday with his Gran Jan! I officially miss him now. Justin asked me on Wednesday if I did and I said not really. (is that bad?) I think it's good to get a break from our children every now and then. It doesn't have to be for four days but Moms and Dads we need breaks!

- I need someone to come teach my little baby boy how to walk. He will be 15 months this month and still no walking. Yes, I know he will walk when he's ready...blah blah...but I want him to now! This child is getting heavy. I'm pretty sure he wakes up and walks around his crib and does flips....he's a sneaky thing.

- I have officially passed my prebaby weight! But that's not my official goal. I need to lose about 10 more and I'll finally be in my "normal/healthy weight range" and "pre-pregnancy with Luke" weight. I haven't been there since Justin and I got married! So close...but still work to do. Losing weight after the second baby is a lot harder! But I love how healthy I feel and my clothes fit so much better. Actually, they really don't...they are getting too big! I guess Justin needs to take me shopping.

- Tomorrow I will be running/(a little bit of walking) my second 5k! I did one a couple of years ago in Jonesboro, but I didn't really train for it and my friend and I pretty much walked most of it. I have been training (using the c25k app) for about 7-8 weeks now. This is the farthest I've got with the program. My goal when I signed up was to run the whole thing, but I got behind in my training and got stuck on one of the days for a while so I probably won't be able to this time. I'm okay with that! I can run without stopping for almost 2 miles. So, if I can do that and then do intervals of running/walking the rest I will be super happy! I can do a mile in about 11 minutes. I'm trying not to focus on a time but if I can get under 35 minutes that would be cool. We will see and I'll be sure to update about it soon..not two years from now.

-My brother came to visit last week. We had not seem him in a year! I love when he's here and Luke adores him. Can someone please convince him to move back home?

- Next Friday will be our 5th anniversary! 5 years...it seems like it's been longer than that. I don't mean that in a bad way but I feel like Justin has been a part of my life forever.

Well that's what has been going in our little world. I wanted to post some pics but I'm out of time. We got to go get my big baby.

Have a good Friday my friends!