Justin, Angela and Turner Renee

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

2011-05-05T22:00:00.001-07:00

This is a bittersweet week for our family. Friday is Jennifer's last day with Turner...and with us. We hired Jennifer a few months after we moved to Springdale to take care of Turner. She's been such a blessing in our lives. She's really seen Turner change and grow over the last year. She's spent a lot of long days and nights (when J travels) at our home...and driving nearly 45 minutes back home in the rain, hail and snow (thanks). We are really going to miss her, but I think Turner may take it the hardest.

Somewhere along the way Turner started calling Jennifer...Delbo. Not sure where it came from, but it stuck. She loves her Delbo..loves going to the park, the mall when it rains and hanging out with Matty (Jenn's hubby).

Did I mention Jennifer is super creative? She's made her some of the cutest outfits and hair bows. Oh, and she's a fantastic cook! (she makes killer enchiladas!)

Needless to say...we love you Jennifer and wish nothing but happiness in the future! We can't wait to see where life takes you. And anytime you want to babysit...Just call :)

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

2011-05-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! We made the trip to McKinney to spend Easter with our family. We had a wonderful weekend. Turner was spoiled rotten (as usual) by her GaGa, Aunt Nana, Aunt T and Papa. We were nonstop during our short trip, but it was worth it.

Turner ended up with five, yes... that's right...five easter baskets before it was all said and done. We have candy that will probably last us until next year.

Last Easter Turner was just learning to walk so hunting wasn't exactly exciting. This year was a whole different story. We didn't have to tell her what to do. She just picked up the eggs and tossed them in her basket. And guess who made a surprise visit? The Easter bunny! (Aunt Nana) Amanda was so excited to dress up! I think Turner loved it!

Flipping For Fun

2011-03-01T21:34:00.000-08:00

Turner is a ball of energy and has been since the day I could feel her move in my tummy. (remember she was born with a true knot in her cord because she flipped around so much.)

I only felt it was appropriate to sign her up for gymnastics! I know you're thinking..what in the world can a 22 month old do? Believe it or not, she's a natural. She's a pro when it comes to front rolls :) She loves the trampoline and jumping into the ball pit. Even if she doesn't quite understand what gymnastics is all about...I know she's enjoying it by that sweet smile on her face.

I'm 'Snow' Over it!

2011-02-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Please forgive me for complaining, but I've had enough of this snow already! It started Tuesday and five days later the roads are still a mess. Did I mention we're expecting more snow this week? I'm blaming the weatherman (Drew!)

Snow Closes Schools, Slows Traffic In River Valley - Video - KHBS NW Arkansas

I've been working nonstop so I was happy to see Saturday come. Turner was up bright and early (I promised her we'd go sledding). Justin was sick with the flu so he couldn't come, but we still had a blast because Drew and Brett met up with us. (Adrienne was also sick with strep so she had to stay home)

Although I'm sick of the snow...we had a blast sledding. Turner and Brett were troopers. Here are a few pics from the day!

Brett and Drew

Turner and Mommy

Superdad!!

Sweet Turner eating the snow

Stay warm until next time...

Sunny Day Sweepin' The Clouds Away

2011-01-30T11:29:00.001-08:00

It's been a cold winter in Northwest Arkansas forcing us to spend most of our time indoors. But what a surprise Saturday was! It was 70 degrees and we spent the entire day outdoors. Turner has always been an outside baby. We'd always say, "If she's crying just step outside and she will stop." Here are some pictures of her soaking up the sun.

"I Wub Woo"

2011-01-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

It's 2011 which means Turner will be 2 this year! It's bittersweet because I want her to stay little forever, but at the same time she's becoming this beautiful and amazing person, both inside and out.

It's important for me to tell Turner I love her every day...and I've been waiting for the day when she would finally say it back. That day came just a few weeks ago!! It's not exactly clear, but this mommy knows exactly what her sweet baby girl is trying to say!

Whoa! It's Been A Year!

2011-01-14T21:36:00.000-08:00

We've been terrible about blogging, but we're back! So much has happened since we last wrote! Our family made the move to Arkansas in June of 2010. No hillbilly jokes. We actually LOVE it here. We live in the Ozark Mountains with rivers, lakes and beautiful green trees. It's a big change from the desert lands of West Texas. I started a new job as the anchor of an ABC affiliate, 4029 news. Bigger market, more money and more opportunities for our family. We bought a beautiful home in Springdale (just 10 minutes from the University of Arkansas) and it sits just off Turner street. That's a sign, right?

Speaking of Turner...she's amazing! She'll be 20 months on January 19th. She's learning to talk more everyday. We're in the "Elmo, Grover, Abby" stage right now. It's Sesame street all day, everyday. She's also started gymnastics which she loves. Justin caught her jumping off the couch today. She has no fear! We're excited to see what she's doing next.

In the meantime, enjoy these pics from our first snow of the season! We got down to 0 degrees just a few days ago, but that didn't seem to bother Turner.

Christmas-Part Two

2010-02-07T11:18:00.001-08:00

I know I'm a little behind, but I wanted to include Turner's first Christmas pictures. At least some of them. It was so wonderful being able to spend the holidays with family!

Christmas-Part One

2009-12-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

I have to split the Christmas blogs up because we spent first part of the break in Philadelphia with our wonderful friends Robin and Jeff. This vacation was double the fun because our beautiful baby girls and best friends finally got to meet. Turner and Campbell were quite the pair. After getting delayed an entire day (I'm sure you all heard about the massive snowstorm) we finally arrived on Sunday. Turner saw snow for the first time and it was my first time seeing more than a few inches. We took the girls all over Philly, even to the indoor swimming pool. I think we both have future swimmers on our hands, which is great news because we're heading back to Clearwater in the near future with them.

Although Campbell is 3 months younger than Turner the two girls got along great. In fact, when we left Campbell learned to roll over. I think our little bug rubbed off! Thanks Team Baxter for inviting us to spend part of the holidays with you! We miss you guys!

Happy Half Birthday

2009-11-21T19:33:00.000-08:00

Birthdays are a big deal in our family, even half birthdays. Turner turned 6 months on November 19th. What a wonderful day full of cupcakes and big smiles.
Turner now weighs 13.8 pounds and is 24 inches long. She's only in the 10th percentile for her age, but Dr. Wiley said she's right on track. She's going to be petite, but that's perfectly alright with us.

This month she's learning how to sit up and she's so close to crawling. She knows how to get up, but she just rocks back and forth. We're thinking any day now she'll be making her way down the hallway.

We're also eating big girl food. Turner loves bananas, but isn't too happy when we feed her peaches. She's really getting the hang of it and even tries to feed herself. Such a silly girl.

Today Turner met Santa for the first time. She cried for the first picture, but was good after that.Until next time...

Beautiful Baby Girl

2009-11-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to add a few pictures of our little doll! She's growing so fast. Check back Thursday for a 6 month update.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T06:26:00.001-08:00

Turner celebrated her first Halloween as a ladybug! She did great and even had the chance to go trick or treating with mommy and Aunt NaNa! We all had a great time spending the spooky holiday with family in McKinney.
Until next time....

4 Month Check-Up

2009-09-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our little monkey is 4 months old! Boy does time fly when you're having fun.
Let's break down the numbers from her visit to the doctor. Turner weighs 12 pounds and is 23 inches long. That's the 25% percentile for both height and weight. While she may be on the small side, Dr. Wylie says she's very advanced for her age. He was impressed she could roll over, of course she had to show off at the doctor's office.

It's amazing how alert she is. She loves being outside and grabs at everything near her. She loves to listen to us read and loves when daddy does his rapping (weird, I know). She loves riding in the car, taking walks in the stroller and going shopping with mommy! Everyone tells me how lucky we are to have such a wonderful baby, but we already know that. We're so very lucky to be blessed with a happy, healthy little girl.

Such a happy girl!!!

Until next time....

Roll Over, Roll Over

2009-09-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

That's right, friends! Turner rolled over for the first time today.
Justin and I were just hanging out, getting our little bug ready for bed. She wasn't ready to hit the sack, instead she wanted to show us her newest trick!
Hope you enjoy!
ps-Sorry for the insane cheering. You know how first time parents can be:)

Turner Takes a Trip

2009-09-15T17:20:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful weekend to visit Indiana. Turner and I left on Friday for her first plane ride. We went from Abilene to Dallas, then on to Evansville, Indiana to spend the weekend with Lauren and Laryen . What a wonderful time we had. Turner was amazing on all four flights.
She didn't cry, only laughed and "talked" to everyone around us. I was surprised at how well she did, even with a 3 hour delay in Evansville.

We had so much fun on our mini-vacation. We hit up several cute little baby boutiques (Christmas PJ's were bought), ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant and even made a trip to the casinos. Of course Turner wasn't able to go inside, but she did get her picture taken out front. Since Kentucky is just over the Ohio River, we also took her there. Two states in two days! Boy were we exhausted!

Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Her first flight! She loved it!

Pilot Mark Glassman...sorry about the poop on your shirt! Turner
was excited:)

Laryen will make a great daddy one day!

Leaving Kentucky and going back to Indiana!

Turner at the casino

We love the green grass! Not like that in West Texas.

Taking in the Ohio River

They finally got to meet! They became great friends!

Loo Loo and Turner

Thanks L&L for the fabulous weekend! We miss and love you....don't worry, Aruba is just around the corner.

Until next time....

Turner Laughing

2009-09-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Turner is really starting to become her own little person. She's got the smile down, now it's all about laughing. It doesn't matter what Justin does, she cracks up!

On another note, Turner is doing amazing. We head back to the doctor at the end of September for our 4 month check-up and***sigh***shots. We're still exclusively breastfeeding, which I'm so excited about. We know she's getting all the vitamins and nutrients that she needs. It can be challenging at times, but she deserves the best.

Until next time...have a great week!

Making the Trip Home

2009-08-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

It was off to Dallas for a wonderful weekend with family and friends. Turner is so good in the car. If she's not sleeping, she's cooing or laughing. It all seems to fly by when we make the trip back home. It makes me miss everything about McKinney, the one place I swore I never wanted to go back to. :)

My good friend Rachel got married on Saturday. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was amazing. It was a chance for me to catch up with old friends and we can do that back home because we have more babysitters than we know what to do with.
Here are a few pics from the night.

And as always...here are some new pictures of beautiful Miss Turner Renee. The bigger she gets, the more everyone says she looks like me and her Aunt Nana (my oldest sister). She does have her daddy's nose!!!!

3 Months Old

2009-08-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Turner turned 3 months today and I can't believe it's taken us this long to update our blog. She's amazing. Today she's learning how to hold her head up and laugh. It sounds more like a smoker's cough, but we still think it's cute. Sunday night, Justin and I woke up to the sound of Turner's sweet little voice. She was cooing and making the sweetest noises. We were both so exhausted, but we couldn't miss out on it. She's changing everyday and we just want to take it all in.

We've been busy during these past 3 months. She's gone to Houston to see Aunt Boix...traveled to Dallas many times to visit my side of the family...and even made a few trips out to the Farmer family ranch house. We've had guest come from all over. Lauren from Indiana, Aunt B and Uncle Erik from Oregon...plus all of our amazing family in Texas. Next month Turner takes her first plane trip up to Indiana to visit her godparents. Life is great. Being a mommy is wonderful and Justin is the greatest dad.

We've got lots of big changes in our future so stay tuned!

Turner Renee is here!

2009-05-20T20:11:00.001-07:00

It's been a long 24 hours, but Turner arrived May 19th at 9:10pm...she was 7 pounds 1 ounce, 20 inches.

Here's her story.

We were at the doctor on Monday for our regular check-up. I was thinned out and 1cm dilated. I told Dr. Mascorro about my minor contractions on Saturday, so she wanted to measure them. During this she noticed that every time I had a contraction Turner's heart rate would drop. She sent me to the hospital for further monitoring. After a few hours, it showed we were fine...so off to work I went. We were scheduled to be induced on Thursday, instead of waiting longer. Later that night, I started feeling them again, but this time they were much, much worse. I called my mom who "just knew" I was in labor. I didn't think so since we were just at the hospital earlier that day. It turns out that she was right!! At 8:15 Tuesday morning my water broke! I told Justin as he was moving all his Thursday and Friday work to the following week. So, he frantically started getting ready and throwing things in his overnight bag. Then, after the car was packed, I decided that I needed Chick-Fil-A. Oh yeah, and the car needed gas!! We realized later...we should have gone to the doctor first :) After getting to the hospital and being there for a couple hours my contractions still hadn't started so I was given some medicine to kickstart them. Then came the epidural, which was awesome! Then came Turner, almost 12 hrs. after checking in to the hospital. Luckily, I only had to do the 'pushing' for about an hour and a half. Whew!!

So now let me talk to you about our miracle baby, literally...
When Turner came out, not only was her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, it was in a knot! It only occurs in about 1% of babies. Luckily, the knot wasn't too tight, otherwise it could have cut off vital nutrients and oxygen. Our doctor just couldn't believe it. She says my water breaking was His way of saying it's time for her to get out...before something serious happens.
He works in amazing ways. We have a healthy, active, alert little girl! Thank God!

Anyways, we are home now and loving it! We'll try to update a little more often:)

Maternity Photos

2009-04-24T21:03:00.001-07:00

We wanted to share with you some of our maternity photos. Amie Brady did a fantastic job.

34 Weeks

2009-04-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

Turner is 5 pounds 8 oz today! Woo Hoo. Due date is May 29th, but it looks like she may be early. She's already dropped and in position. We'll keep you posted.

Here's the latest pict...34 weeks and growing!!!!

So Many Updates

2009-04-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

We can finally start counting down the weeks until Turner is here without feeling like it's forever away!! May 29th is the due date, but we'll see if that's when she comes:)

We have both been so busy the past couple of weeks, but here is a quick update.

At the end of March my work hosted a baby shower. It was so much fun and we took home a lot of great gifts. A big thanks to all the wonderful people I work with everyday.

Just one week later my best friend Boix flew down. We drove to San Angelo for the Angelo State University Alumni Soccer game. What a wonderful treat to spend three days with her and catch up with my old teammates. Can you believe 4 of us are pregnant? So exciting!!

Justin has some exciting news. He started his master's degree in Information Security. It's a computer thing that I don't understand :) He's been working really hard and I'm so proud of him. He should be finished in about a year and a half.

We were back at the doctor on Monday. Turner is doing great, but as always it's nearly impossible to get her heartbeat because she is moving so much. Dr. Mascorro keeps telling us to prepare for a pretty active baby. I always knew she'd take after me in that department. :) Here's my latest belly picture.....growing more and more everyday.
Until next time...

A Perfect Mix

2009-03-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Justin and I got a glimpse of our baby girl today. We went to Stork Vision (thanks KTAB for setting that up) and saw Turner in 4d! At first she was a little camera shy, but after I drank some OJ, she started moving all around.

We think she has Justin's nose, my chubby cheeks and we're not exactly sure where those pouty lips came from?! Oh, sweet baby girl. She's going to be just beautiful.

Here are some of her pictures. Enjoy!

Family Visit

2009-03-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

We are exhausted! Justin and I spent the weekend finishing up Turner's new room, but we did not have to do it alone. My mom, Amanda and Rob all came down for the weekend, bringing with them Turner's bedroom furniture, 40+ outfits and a whole bunch of baby things. When we found out we were pregnant, Aunt NaNa (aka Amanda) really wanted to doing something special for her first niece. She insisted on buying her new furniture. We were excited she wanted to be such a big part of this. So, this weekend Rob and Justin put it all together while the three of us just shopped until we couldn't do it anymore.

The final touches are now complete. Her bedroom is ready, but we'll have to be patient. We still have a few more months until our little Turner makes her debut.

The next few weekends will be busy for us. Baby showers, pictures, a few road trips here and there....I don't know how we're gonna keep up. I think it's just preparation for May!

Home Sweet Home

2009-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Turner officially has a room of her own. My amazing best friend Lauren came all the way from Indiana this weekend to help paint the room, along with my running partner and friend Dee who lives in Abilene.

Since day one Justin and I discussed using ladybugs as a theme. They're a symbol of luck, love and faith. When Justin and I found out we were pregnant we started cleaning out all the rooms to make room for our little one. We pulled back a curtain and found a bunch of ladybugs hidden behind it. We knew that meant good things ahead for our little girl. It was then we decided that ladybugs would be our theme.

The bedding has been bought (thanks mom) but won't arrive for another two weeks. We knew now would be the best time to get the room painted and touched up before we moved everything in. I took off work on Friday so Dee, Lauren and I could get the room finished. Justin let me handle the color decisions, but was on standby for emergency trips to home depot, diet cokes and keeping Dixie occupied while we worked. We started
at noon and had the room completed by 6!! It came out better than any of us thought, even Justin was impressed with our color choices. The finishing touch came from Lauren. She decorated letters with Turner's name to put on the wall...she even went to Babies R U to find the exact pattern to make sure they matched the bedding just perfect. Justin and I both LOVED it! What an amazing friend I have!

Here's the baby update: My waist is now 34 inches. Justin pointed out that we wear the same size:) ha! She's as active as always, kicking and moving constantly. She loves cream cheese and crackers, bananas, apples and bologna.

Just three more months and she's here! We can't wait to bring her home.

Goodbye January

2009-02-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

January is finally over, but not without a little bit of excitement. My best friend Emily tied the knot to Brad. It was one of the most beautiful weddings we have ever seen. While all the food looked fantastic...I only managed to eat a hot dog (remember it was baseball themed) because my dress was waaaaaaay tooooooooooo tight! I underestimated how much my body was going to change in five months.
Congrats Mr and Mrs Canon!

January 12th our doctor confirmed it was a girl. We already knew that, but were happy hearing it a second time. She's a little small right now, but Dr. Mascorro is confident she'll be just perfect when she's born! She is constantly moving...kicking..and punching my belly! For being so little she sure is active. Justin falls asleep with his hand on my stomach every night so he can feel her. It's the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

I'm still going back and forth with the sick thing. With that being said, Dr. M is keeping me on Zofran until she's born. It helps me get through really bad days at work.

Here are the latest belly pictures....24 weeks and still growing! The other two people are co-workers...Brandi is due in April and Victor just likes to poke out his belly:)

I have so much more to tell you, but I'll wait until next time.

Halfway There

2009-01-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

While at home on Christmas my mom took Justin and I to her hospital to get a sonogram. I just couldn't wait until January 12th to find out if it was a boy or girl. As most people know...I hate surprises so the suspense was killing me. Drum roll, please: It's a GIRL! Ahh the excitement! I had to share it with you. We're back at the doctor this week and then our "official" sonogram is next week. Until then...here's my growing belly at 20 weeks. We're getting closer....

So, this is the New Year huh?

2009-01-01T07:46:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone! I figured that's the best way to start our first posting of 2009! Hopefully everyone had a fun New Year's eve and was safe doing whatever it was that you did.

Yesterday was an interesting day! For starters Angela and I went to the grocery store to get a few things and spent half our time looking for non-alcoholic champagne. Oddly, there were only 2 left on the shelves! But while we were there, I was recognized as 'Angela's husband' for the first time ever! It was different, typically I'm the 'guy with Angela'. I'm sure people put 2 and 2 together and figure it out without saying, but this time I was actually told that they 'knew who I was'. Talk about eerie, but funny non-the-less. The day before, Angela actually unveiled 'her mysterious' husband in her work blog that she has along with a picture of the two of us. So..., that would explain it! Goodbye anonymity!

We went to hang out with a friend of Angela's and her co-workers to play some games, watch the rerun of the ball drop, and to drink our non-alcoholic champagne! To my surprise, it didn't actually taste all that bad. Very, very bubbly though! After some time passed we all decided to depart and call it a night.

On the way home, at 1am in the morning, she decides that she wants some donuts (hello cravings!)!! I was hoping nothing was open, but there is this 24/7 donut shop up the street that ruined my hopes!! Oh yeah, and it doesn't take anything but cash (which neither of us has). So, we took a trip to a nearby ATM, got some dough and moved on to the donut place, where we got a few donuts and a coffee for me, which was way to hot to drink! We sat there for a bit while we ate the donuts, chatted and waited for my coffee to cool.

After the coffee cooled, I decided to add some sugar to it using the big sugar shaker on the table. I start pouring and *PLOOOOP*, the freaking lid falls off, along with a ton of sugar right into my coffee cup! Oh yeah, let's not forget about the splash, which was a tidal wave of hot coffee landing all over my crotch! While I just sat there, trying to figure out what happened, Angela's eyed widened with concern for a moment, then got narrow as she started to laugh hysterically! I just sat there dumbfounded!

On that note, I decided we collect our things and head out. I grabbed the sugar shaker and my overflowing coffee cup and took it up to the counter and told them what happened. The worker offered me another coffee, but I graciously declined fearing what I could do with it next.

As we were heading home, Angela said something that struck me: "Oh honey, I hope this isn't how 2009 is going to go for us." Yes, it's true that my first official act of 2009 was getting hot coffee spilled in my lap, but I think things are going to be just fine. I decided to look on the bright side: My manly parts were not burned, My wife got a good laugh, and we have a little girl on the way. What more can you ask for? Personally, I think 2009 is going to be full of great little surprises!!

17 weeks and moving right along

2008-12-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

We were back at the doctor on Tuesday and all is well with Baby Turner. The heartbeat is at 153 and he/she is about 5 ounces. (that's about as heavy as a baseball) My nausea is getting better, but is not gone. I still cannot smell Chinese or Italian food. That would guarantee a trip to the bathroom. The doctor is going to keep me on Zofran until I'm 20 weeks. Hopefully by then I'll feel better!!!

I'm starting to show a little bit. My clothes are getting snug and I've had to stop wearing some of my work pants. My husband says I'm still beautiful ha!

We're heading to Justin's parents for three days before Christmas then it's off to Mckinney to visit my family. We're excited to get away from Abilene and celebrate Christmas with both of our families this year.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Elf Yourself

2008-12-02T10:17:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My boss thought it would be funny to "Elf" the KTAB News Team. It aired on our 10pm show Monday the 1st. We all got a kick out of it.
ps-We're back to the doctor a week from today! Be looking for a new post!

Happy, Healthy and Active

2008-11-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

We're at 13 weeks and Turner is right on schedule. (we've already picked out a name...Turner either way) Today our doctor counted four fingers and a thumb on each hand....That's great news. He/She is really active..tossing and turning...Justin and I are the same way. We're always running around. I guess we've passed that on. Our doctor also said Turner has really long legs....he/she gets that from Justin:)
I'm not showing yet, but as soon as I am I'll post some pictures. Here's the latest sonogram...

Tying the knot...almost

2008-11-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

Justin and I traveled down to Houston for the weekend! (10 hours and several "sick" stops later...we finally made it) My best friend from college, Boix, is getting married in January! Emily (aka Boix) and Brad are huge baseball fans...which explains the sports themed shower....What a great idea!

We had a great time! Justin even got a little daddy practice in while we were there...

Making room for one more....

2008-11-11T21:21:00.001-08:00

It's our first post! Where do I start? Justin and I have been married for a little over 2 years. It's been amazing. We have the greatest Dog Dixie (who will be mentioned often so take notes). She's our little Doodle Bug...and we're expecting our first baby in May! Wow! I can't believe we'll both be parents. I'm almost through my first trimester so let's just pray this puking thing will go away. Did I mention that pregnancy does not agree with me? For all you women who LOVE being preggo...I admire you! I spend more time in the bathroom than I do working. As for Justin..he's the amazing soon to be dad I knew he would be. For example he now buys just one item at the grocery store if I crave it...something that was not tolerated before:) OK enough about that.... Here's our latest sonogram. Baby Farmer is in the "Teddy Bear" phase..and very healthy!

We decided to start this blog to keep our family and friends (who are all far away) updated on everything!!!