Our little flock of...five??

Yes, you read it right, that says F-I-V-E five!! On September 4th, which also happened to be our 7th anniversary, I took a test, a very simple test. It was confirmed.. + 2!!



Of course the test did not tell us there were two, thanks to early ultrasounds we found that I have, not one, but two peas in the pod.







Not exactly the plan for the first semester of grad school in a brand new city but, hey, we're used to curve balls, Er, sort of. Okay, truth be told, maybe this is the biggest curve ball we've ever been thrown. I was happy and at the same time I felt all of the blood leave my face as the ultrasound tech tilted the screen my way telling me that she was seeing "not one but TWO".












Our bambinos are due in late April. I have a doctor's appointment this Friday morning with a specialist who will look at the babies more closely. They will be able to determine the level of risk as far as how much they will be sharing (amniotic sacs, placenta etc.) while in utero.


We are excited and scared but we are trusting in our God "who gives life to all things". 1 Timothy 6:13

Excuse me while I wipe the dust from this page.

My words are coming and I do have a good excuse for my Summer hibernation mode. I really do.
In the meantime here is what I have been missing lately...

Here is where our lives have been planted...


...and we are praying that they will soon take root and come out of this Season of change. It has been a long Season.

This face has brought me so much JOY and LAUGHTER and EUCHARISTEO! These past few months...


You knew most of this of course but I just needed to write it. I promise there is more! Stay tuned for another update VERY VERY Soon!!!

Love!

Impromptu road trip!

Backing up a week...just before Cannan's little birthday shindig we headed south for a few days to say hello to the fam and wish Cannan's best friend Cash a Happy Birthday. We visited Mawmaw, aunt Karen, uncle Brooks & cousin Ashley in Mobile (kicking myself for not taking pictures. Could've been the 15 hour car ride that fried my brain???) then headed down to New Orleans to spend some QT with the Mitchell family. We absolutely LOVE this family and I could write a book telling you the millions of reasons why. Since Jaime has already put pen to paper I'll hold off. when she's published I'll blog about it and you can find out for yourself why this girl is so lovable.
One of Jaime's [many] talents is photography which you can find here and so we managed to steal some time away to do an impromptu photoshoot during a picnic in the park. This was by far the funniest photo session EVER!!! I wish I had video. Memories were made.








There are no coincidences.

These boys are my reminder.

March was the best kind of Madness

It's been a fun ride these past few months. We've been making fun little family memories, staying caught up and swinging from our coat strings trying to keep our feet grounded in St. Louis as our home prepares to depart on a four year journey into the Southeastern most state. I was just a tad disappointed that I won't be adding another lived in state to my list of 11 but I'm chocking it up to life purpose, providence and complete clarity of direction as the main reason for that.

On another note... I haven't caught you up on any postings since Cannan turned 1...here are a few tidbits from Cannan's 1st Birthday! Can you believe our baby boy is becoming a little man so fast!?

Cannan's very own Berry Chantilly Cake (Mini Version) Thanks to Josh Jones' for the picture.



Almost ready to eat cake!


Cannan's Party People




Allie helping Cannan open presents


Crazy stumbling baby after the Cake Smashing and Gifts


Hair style by mom. Hair product made of 100% cake and cream cheese icing.

Letter to my son

Happy Birthday to my little Cannan ball!
9:30 PM 3.17.2010


8:02 PM 3.17.2010


8:38 PM 3.17.2010




Oh my little Cannan! Today is your 1st birthday and I have so many feelings about this that I don't quite know where to begin. I honestly never thought I would love being a mother so much. You have rocked our world and changed our lives in the most wonderful, amazing and beautiful way! I LOVE being your mommy and your daddy LOVES being your daddy. Looking back on this past year I would not change minute of our lives together. Your daddy is a full-time student and a professor's assitant at UMSL and I work from home most days. What I love about this is that we have been able to spend a lot of time together as a family during this 1st year of your life. We take none of this for granted because we know that this is an incredible blessing and rare opportunity that many families don't get to do. Many of our days are spent playing on the floor, reading books (when you'll sit still), talking to you about the new things you're exploring and learning about in the world and laughing at the many hilarious things you do and 'try' to say. Your first word was da-da. Your daddy told me that. Your second word was mama. I actually got to hear you say it for the first time. We live in St. Louis....Gateway to the West! On nice days we find any reason to get outside. You are mesmerized with all things outdoors. You started crawling at 4 1/2 months and walking at 8 1/2 months and you haven't stopped since. You are adventurous and fearless and I love it and it also scares me like nothing else. I want nothing more than to protect you my dear son but I realize that ultimately it is God who protects you and provides for you and he knows you from beginning to end. It is our deepest hope that someday you will KNOW and BELIEVE this too and that He will be your ROCK in times of both joy and trial.
Cannan, I hope you will always know just how much you are LOVED and WANTED. You have enriched our lives in the most beautiful way. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Christmas Part Deux

...I know I know. It is the end of February and I have no excuse for doing a Christmas Blog NOW. But, I am.

Enjoy :-)

Since all of the Flummer's were in San Antonio for Christmas we decided to go. We wrapped up the last day of the Coca Cola Holiday Happiness campaign on the 26th around 8pm. Matt & I came up with a master plan to drive all night in hopes that it would shorten the car ride and help Cannan sleep better. Double fisted coffees in hand we loaded up the Element, ice and snow behind us, warm sunshine and 70degrees on the horizon, destination...Southwest! Since I am the nocturnal one I agreed to take the second, late night/morning leg. I slept and Matt drove the first leg. A superb and wonderfully executed plan it was...until 6am. After sleeping two hours unsoundly I found myself carrying on multiple conversations in my head to keep myself awake. Did you know that southern Arkansas and northern Texas don't seem to be aware of the fact that 1) many americans drink coffee and 2) like it strong. Praying for a Starbucks or a Pilot or a Gas Station that wasn't called "Cum N Go" we continued on until we found an IHOP somewhere just north of Austin. Lovely!!! Cannan was well rested and we were a little delirious but hey, that's what road trips are about right!?!?

With our minds a bit scrambled and our eyes a tad hazy we made it just in time for an awesome Tex Mex lunch with the whole family!



The next morning it was Christmas all over again!

Cannan with his cousins: Bethany, Zachary & Jackson
















Cannan loved playing with all of his cousins and he really took to his cousin Bethany who was always right there to help him when it was time to eat...




We had a great time and although we might think twice next time we decide to drive 14 hours straight in the middle of the night with a 9 month old, it was worth it and a lot of fun...especially when Matt got a lap dance by Marilyn Monroe when the family took us out for dinner on his birthday. Ask him about it sometime...

A Little Christmas I

Since I was working on the Coca Cola project it meant that we needed to stay in St. Louis until the day after Christmas. It was pretty quiet around our house, which is actually how I prefer it. Cannan was 9 months and he was perfectly content with boxes & paper, but we got him a couple of books and a new pair of shoes since his feet seemed to be hitting the ground a lot more often. He is officially a walker...It was a Merry Christmas, with a beautiful fresh blanket of snow that we just HAD to get out and play in!

Spreading Happiness

In December I got hired by Coca Cola to run a short sampling program over the Holiday Season. It was part of the 'Spread Happiness' campaign, you probably saw some commercials, it was a really fun project where I got to hand pick a team of "Happy People" to help me sample miniature cans of Coca Cola to mall shoppers at select shopping malls around St. Louis...not a bad gig. The best part, I got to work with some of the greatest people!!!

Spreading Happiness!


I love these guys, SUCH troopers, it was SOOOOOO Cold!!!

Inevitable Changes + 11 New Resolves

I'm thinking of changing the name of my/our blog...it's SOOO LAST YEAR!!! Don't you think? Sometimes you just have to step away from the tree to see the forest (my favorite saying) and since I am part of a small flock I actually live IN the tree so it's hard to see the big picture...So, help me out...send me your thoughts...suggestions...I promise I won't be critical, you should have heard some of the ones Matt and I came up with. I'll spare you...fun times!

Okay, so moving on to the WHOPPING year of TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN!!! Seriously??? I really believed we'd be living the life of the Jetson's by now. I also thought that same thing in 2000, 2001, 2002, etc...I accidentally added an extra 0 in that last one and saw 20002...WHOA! Can you imagine THAT?!?!
Well anyway I knew it was time to put together a few goals for this year since I am super task oriented and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to go back and see how I've made progress...well here they are 11 RESOLVES for 2011….

1) Consistently EXERCISE…yoga, running, calisthenics. Maybe even tennis? I love tennis but it’s always hard to find someone to match my skill level…which is someone who can only hit the ball half the time.

2) To CHEER Matt on in his first Tri-Athlon. Hey, this is a goal for me as much for him. This means we need to eat better/differently AND I want to be SO ENCOURAGING so he can accomplish this. He has really wanted to do one for a long time and I know he will LOVE it. Ok, so for me...I'll run a 5K. How's that?

3) READ one book per month. I know this little goal may sound quite trifling but if you knew my reading habits over the past 9 months you’d realize this is actually a pretty lofty goal so I want to keep things realistic here...hey give me a break..my first thought was to read one book per WEEK!!! HA! That’s already out the window.

4) Regular FAMILY DINNER’s. A HUGE desire for both Matt and me. We've always believed that core family time is shared through communing around the dinner table. Real, sit down, nowhere else to go, talk about stuff, reconnecting time. I want to start this early in our little family so that it becomes a habit and something we all look forward to. It may not happen every night but at least 4-5 nights a week.

5) COMPLETE my WEDDING ALBUM. Yeah...I’m serious and yes, this year we will have been married 7 years. Stop judging me.

6) To be a BETTER LISTENER and ask twice as many questions as I answer.

7) To BLOOM WHERE I am PLANTED. Soon we will most likely be uprooting to a new city and a new home and I am getting tired of making new friends and trying to invest in relationships that I have no idea will last or fade away. I don’t want to arrive in that place tired and reserved. My goal is to give it all I’ve got...HA! that sounded SO cliché...but seriously, please pray for this. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked if my father was in the military simply because I’ve lived in 9 states and counting. My parent’s are hippies and my husband LOVES school. ENOUGH!!! Praise God for a cool enough job that accommodates our life in boxes!

8) To LEARN how TO USE my new previously loved CAMERA. I want artwork for my walls...which leads me to my next resolve...

9) To make, create, photograph, design artwork for the walls...I’ve got some things in mind ya’ll ;-)

10) To stop being so analytical and realize that sometimes it just is what it is.

11) To LOVE MY HUSBAND better. I could write a book about the ways he loves me SO WELL. I love our life together and I’m determined to strive for SPIRITUAL DEPTH, LOVE and FRIENDSHIP in our marriage. Hard with a child. SOOOO worth it.

There are a few more I have in mind but I'll save those for a conversation over coffee where I can hear about YOURS too :-)

Happy TWENTY ELEVEN!

Oh, and just for fun...We had a White Christmas Eve. More pics to come on that topic.