baby pictures.

i was getting a pedicure today (finally, after a month and a half) and the lady asked me how many babies i had. we'd previously been talking about my husband, and i don't think she'd yet realized i was pregnant. i said, "one" and pointed to my tummy. she got very excited and asked how far along i was. i said,"three months." we went along for awhile, and then she said, "you look bigger than three months. that's good. it means healthy." i'm not sure whether to be happy or depressed.

aren't weekends supposed to be relaxing and refreshing?

umm... yeah. not so much.

friday night we had a party over here. was fun, but not quiet in the dozing-off-on-the-couch-with-popcorn-trickling-down-your-tummy kind of way that is the ultimate veg out.

saturday was a (fairly successful) garage sale in the stifling heat for eight hours. then straight to church to sing praise and worship, and attend the highly anticipated dodge ball tournament. well, the dodge ball tournament was a success, but we had a kid go down and blow out his knee. had to call an ambulance, go to the hospital until 12:30 - the whole shebang. oh, and it takes 30 minutes to get home. then we had someone calling us at 2:30 a.m. to give an update on the poor kid.


sunday had to wake up at 6 a.m. to get to church (i hate living in bfe) by 7:45 to sing praise and worship. did that, went to lunch. then had to take pictures of my sister for the birthday present she's making her boyfriend. after that, had to clean the house to get ready for a showing. and since then i've been writing a story and planning my story list for the week.

ahhhhhhhhh... i'm pregnant, and i just want to sleep.

i totally neglected my cowboys blog this weekend. not good since training camp practices started this weekend -- hello! already have two injuries (one surgery and one season-ending) and a bevy of t.o. news i'm missing out on.

crap, crap, crap.

can't decide whether to go to bed now or try to write something coherent on there.

they've waited this long. maybe they can wait just a little...while...lon...zzzzzzzzzzzzz

can a blog be jealous of another blog?

because there is now another blog for this one to be jealous of - Cowgirl Post.

a post is something you hitch a horse to, a route in football AND what you do on a blog. too clever, huh? i have to give my moms the credit. she worked hard helping me with that one.

check it out here. comment. give me some feedback. something. anything.

go cowboys!

too excited to hold it and help desperately needed.

for the longest time, the dallascowboys.com (which you all know is my third, uh, make that fourth love now, behind landon, doc and the new baby) staff has been discussing the implementation of a blog. everybody has a blog. every media outlet has a blog. they needed a blog.

well, my friends, the time has come.

and mickey always said he wanted me to post on it because he's read mine. plus he thinks it's just the sort of thing i could do in order to stick around the cowboys without being employed there in any sense of the word. of course, i was more than happy to oblige that request of his.

so i discover the blog today and ask mickey about it. he says he's spoken with derek about needing a "female presence" on the blog, and derek agreed it's a good idea. mick gave me derek's number and told me to call to set it up.

my thinking is, it's a blog like this. the one page that i post on. only this would be various people posting like on the frontburner blog or the dmn blogs or whatever. well, it turns out you click the blog link on the homepage and there are various blogs you can link to. one by the writers, one by rob phillips, one by derek, a couple by the interns. that kind of thing. still, i only thought i'd be a contributor to someone else's on occassion.

i call derek and he says, "ok. what do you want to name it?" what?!?!

yeah. i get my own. isn't that incredible?! i'm so excited.

but here's the problem. i have no freakin clue what to call it. this is a very big deal. thousands of people read this website every day. i may get some loyal readers on MY dallas cowboys blog. i need a name. crap. so much pressure.

i think it has to make it obvious that i'm a woman -- i'm the only female blogger. it has to be obvious that it'll be an interesting, different perspective, one from a woman. it has to be clever. not cheesy. easy to remember. but not too dull.

i need suggestions! i want to post my first entry on thursday (the day the team arrives at training camp in cali) so i have approximately 24 hours.

please help... put on your best creative writer caps - this means you, natalie and molly.

i'm eternally grateful in advance.

ahhhhhh!!!!!

ob appointment no. 2 and other baby news.

blah. i don't want to start anything because i have to leave in an hour to get to my second doctor's appointment. but an hour is a long time to do nothing. no one is updating their blogs. i'm bored with researching cars. the hotmail fighting has died down. and our friend who is gonna get us a mortgage for a condo (fingers crossed) is taking a long time responding. all my "do nothing" options are useless at the moment.

not that you, dear bloggy blog, were last choice or anything... yeah.

so i don't really know what to expect at this appointment. i only know i'll be weighed... dear god, please help me to have not gained more than four pounds. otherwise, i'm gaining too fast, and i just don't know if i can handle that. oh. and i also know we're supposed to have a $580 check for our first payment for this crazy expensive baby. and i also know that we don't have it. do you think they'll send us home? maybe they'll tell us, "screw you!" and send us to have the baby on the living room floor or something. or maybe they'll be understanding. which is what i'm hoping for, personally.

so yeah. that's all i know. no sonogram. no internal exam, that i know of, at least.

the last appointment was two hours, and this one is only supposed to be 30 minutes. thank heaven.

***

in other baby news, my friend and coworker jay and his lovely wife joanne welcomed jane ashlyn sparks into the world on thursday at 8:11 p.m. she weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. you'll just have to trust me that she's beautiful because jay is super smart and made it so links to his flickr account and pictures pulled off of it don't work for some reason... already protecting that precious bundle. love it.

quote of the weekend.

a teenager giving a testimony about the mission trip to mexico last week.

during [r]evolution on sunday morning:

"before i left, i was talking to landon - and sometimes you should listen to landon, he has some pretty good things to say - but he said i'd be praying with someone and i'd look up and think, 'this is what it's all about.' and i was there, praying with someone, and i looked up, with tears streaming down my face, and i thought, 'this is what it's all about.'"

-sam solano, 9th grade

the truth, spoken aloud.

as i was in line at la madeleine, purchasing the aforementioned ceasar salad, there was a black man who looked, shall we say, just the slightest bit out of place in the university park restaurant.

i'd seen him walk in with a cane, his legs obviously handicapped in some way. he was sweating as if he'd walked a long way. or who knows? maybe walking in his state made him sweat even if it was a short way.

i was outside on the phone for a bit. but when i walked in and got in line, he was squished into this corner right next to the to-go cash register, perched on the window sill, sipping ice water through a straw in one of those clear plastic cups they give you for free.

i smiled at him. he smiled at me. i waited for my salad.

then he leaned over to me and whispered, "these good lookin' people in here sure are good lookin', but they sure ain't nice to you."

i looked into his eyes as he laughed a painful, sort of bitter laugh.

and i said, "i know."

sometimes i think i lean slightly with the democrats.

wow, today is just politically charged on the ol' henry home blog, isn't it? strange since i think i've posted just about, um, never regarding anything political since i've had this blog. until today, that is. but i digress...

here i was, minding my own business, eating a ceasar salad from la madeleine for lunch, catching up on my daily dallasnews.com reading and i come across this story.

basically, it talks about how the texas legislature is debating about whether they should pass something that says electricity companies cannot shut off the power of elderly and poor families in texas during this scorching summer heat. the democrats, of course, are leading the charge saying the electricity companies have the money to afford it. and the republicans are saying it'll get out of hand, and people will abuse the priviledge.

both arguments are valid.

however, i think the legislation could be worded specifically enough to require people who could afford it to continue to pay. and i think if a little abuse slips through the cracks, it's worth the lives that could be saved of poor, elderly people and single mothers with four babies who could die after an extended time without air conditioning in the 100-plus degree texas summer heat.

see? democrat. i know.

and action could be taken against those people who abuse it. the work required, again, worth the lives that could be saved.

it just seems to me that operating on a "let's help others" mentality instead of "let's protect ourselves from possible scammers" is the more rewarding, human-interest way to go. sure, no one likes to lose money and being cheated out of it is worse, but... sometimes you gotta risk a little to get a lot.

to me, that five-month old baby's life is worth the risk.

tacky.

i saw this bumper sticker on a little hybrid car occupied by two lesbians on the way to work this morning. i am all for expressing your opinion, and i am glad not everyone loves president bush because otherwise, we wouldn't be such a wonderful democracy here in the ol' u-s-of-a. but this, this is just crude. kind of gross actually. and i think we can be a little more grown up. don't you?

for natalie.

editor's note: this post started out as a comment left on my beautiful friend natalie's blog. seven hundred words later...i decided i'd put it up here.

girl...

not to be a bible quoting queen, but this situation calls for my favorite bible verse. jeremiah 29:11: "for i know the plans i have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

i'll say this, you are an incredibly talented woman. you have a wonderful marriage and a wonderful education and a wonderful life ahead of you.

no, you do not make six figures, and maybe you never will. no, you do not have a supermodel's body, but who really does? besides the supermodels, i mean...

you're creative. you're intelligent. and i think that's what gets you into these funks. you need a challenge. and creativity makes artists restless unless it can be properly released. i know the feeling. i think it's normal to question your job and whether you're in the right place. i do it all the time. and the funny thing is, i've considered exactly, i mean, exactly - down to the student loan and the master's in education (there’s a great one at SMU – we could do it together! discounted for poor teachers) - what you're considering. and maybe that's the right thing.

but here's what you have to do: you have to rest. and i don't mean stay home and sleep rest. i mean rest your mind and your spirit. you have to trust that things are going to work out. you have to trust that the opportunities of a lifetime are not going to pass you by. and you have to trust that right now, you're OK. that it's alright to just be content in the place you're in. you're 24 years old for god's sake. you aren't expected to have accomplished the ultimate goal yet. you have a good 30 years for that, at least.

i do the same thing. i look at writers around me or around this city and think, 'oh god. i'm pathetic.' but they are 45 years old. they are 55 years old. i'm 23. 23! think about how much you've learned just since you graduated college. how much better you've gotten at things like taking care of yourself and writing and being an adult. you're only going to continue improving at whatever you put your hand to. i have to remind myself of that. we aren't born prodigies. again, very few people are. we have to learn from hard work, from practice, from good ol' blood, sweat and tears. and then we'll be there. more than developing our talents that way, we have to put in our time. to put it another way, we have to be faithful.

i have no doubt in my mind, natalie, that you are going to write novels and be a world-famous author. i will be hoping you still remember my name when i'm hopping up and down in the autograph line at borders, trying to get your attention. i'm not just saying that either. i've seen your writing. your writing was in southern living, for heaven's sake! you're amazing.

i say this on my myspace profile, and it's true. "i lean and know that He is, but sometimes it’s hard."

you have to. you have to trust. God has gifted you with so many blessings, and it's absolutely human nature to be thinking, "this is it? what's next? why do i not feel complete yet?" but it's a process. philippians 1:6 says this, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

He's not going to give you every blessing and beautiful thing He has planned for you all at once. right now, He wants you to enjoy your great job with great hours - you are making a difference. you're working for kids. that always makes a difference. He wants you to enjoy your amazing husband - at whatever odd hours you're able to do that. and He wants you to trust. that more is coming. that everyday of your life He has a blessing to give you. all you have to do is open your eyes, and look for it. it's as small as a sweet, genuine small from damion. or as big as the inspiration to write a really great chapter for your someday-to-be-published novel.

just look. and realize, not to be cliché, but i will, that the best is yet to come. it only gets better from here.

i love you, natalie. i'm so lucky to have you as a friend.

i took my baby to the pool today. and there were teenagers. and i was terrifed.

there was a beautiful girl, probably 16 or 17 years old, in a tiny bikini that showed off her perfectly tan, perfectly toned body. she was making out and being groped graphically by her equally tan and toned boyfriend. she egged him on by suggestively biting his muscular shoulder while keeping demure eye contact and squealing pleasedly when he swam under the water to grab her heaven-knows-what beneath the surface.

they were there with eight to 10 more boys, obviously athletes. they were all bulky with intense tatoos blazing on their backs with green, mesh prosper high school athletic shorts on.

i sat quietly in the corner of the pool, with my pooching belly and no-so-toned anything else either, drinking my sparkling tangerine flavored water, watching them wrestle and swear heartily, loudly at each other.

and i prayed. eyes closed. hands pressed into my belly.

i prayed my baby wouldn't be like that girl. that she wouldn't be like me. that she wouldn't feel the need to be sexy and available for sex in order to feel worthy of acceptance and love. i prayed landon and i would do the best possible job conveying that her worth far surpasses the affections of football players. i prayed she would save her beauty, seduction and love for the man she'll marry. and i prayed the same for my boys. i prayed they'd know how to respect a girl and love her for more than her flat tummy and her clevage. i prayed my son would be a man of God, realizing the great responsibility he's been charged with to model Christ's love to those around him. in particular, his future wife.

i don't know. maybe i'm just an emotional pregnant girl. maybe i'm just getting old much too fast.

or maybe i should keep praying.

i'll probably err on the safe side.

if you need me, i'll be feverishly praying for all my precious babies.

Lord, please help them save themselves the heartache.

i've been there, and the torn shreds of your heart take so long to patch back together.

the most perfect pregnancy moment.

last night landon and i were laying in bed. we knew we needed to sleep because we have a lot to do today, but our 3.5 hour sunday nap was causing us a little trouble. we were talking and laughing and being silly - i love the talking we do right before we fall asleep and right after we wake up. and i started getting hungry! this was like midnight, mind you. but i can only eat small amounts at a time. it's like i'm ravenously hungry, but then i can't eat a whole lot. then, i get hungry again in like two hours. very weird. anyway... i figured i'd just fall asleep and ignore it. but then i got thirsty, too. and landon is very insistent that i drink water while i'm pregnant. he read in his daddy book that it's really important. so.. he gets up without a word to go downstairs. when he comes back, he has a bottle of water and a little, individually-wrapped piece of cheddar cheese - basically my saving grace when i need some protein, which is almost always. i almost cried. it was the sweetest thing. he said, "was that a good choice" all hopeful and approval-needing.

baby, you don't need me to tell you you're doing an incredible job as a daddy already. it's just a fact. and i'm so excited for what that means for our new baby and our whole family. how lucky we are to have you... i love you.

doesn't he just brighten your day?

holding for the TEA communications director...

i know i haven't posted much since the vacay update and the origins excitment. work has been crazy. it seems everyone is unavailable this week, and i've had to be super creative in finding the people i need. i'm a day past deadline (thanks to a generous extention from my assistant me), and i wish i was done already at 4 p.m. on a friday.

right now i'm holding for debbie radcliff with the texas education agency. crap...her voicemail just came on.

remind me why i love this...

me: before and after. (SCARY!)

i wiped this lipstick off after i left. it was too...something. i didn't really like it. rebecca had the same one, and it looked great on her. just not my color. but everything else...i bought! shhh...don't tell landon.

kayci: after. (somehow i missed the "before" here, and there's no during because i was getting mine done at the same time.)

penny: before and during. (somehow i missed the "after" photo.)

rebecca: before, during and after.

girls' night at origins.

last night, kayci, rebecca, penny and i were treated to mini-facials and makeovers at the origins at willow bend mall. kayci invited us after she got a gift certificate for her birthday. we used all kinds of products to clean and rejuvenate our faces. then two sweet girls did our makeup for us. following posts are pictures from the good times. the picture here is the group of us after we were all beautified.

camp: more than pictures could ever tell.

our youth summer camp was called vertical this year. the theme was about how to get vertical with God - how to move up in your relationship with Him. the week was completely exhausting. we had so much damage control to perform. but the memories for me will not be about the difficult parts, but of this picture of 12 girls who i cannot imagine not knowing like i do now. so many cool things happened in all our lives, mine included. and remember what i said about developing what landon calls, "the burden?" yeah, i did. before summer camp, i loved kids. i know what it was like when i was a kid and how bad i needed God. but it was still a struggle for me to get out of bed on sunday mornings and drag myself to church. it was a struggle to get there early and to engage sleepy teenagers in conversations it appeared have no affect on their lives whatesoever. but after camp, i realize the desperate need these girls have for God. and how a simple note, smile or word of encouragement can take them from a really, really bad day, to a great day. they seem confident and i-don't-need-you-ish. but it's a front. they need you a great deal. i knew i'd developed the burden when i went out of town the weekend after camp to see my dad in alabama, and i cried because i wasn't going to be there to see my girls at church. i didn't want them to think i'd left them. i want them to see me. just see me around. so they know i'm still here. it wasn't just a week of camp thing. it's an all the time thing. no matter what, i'm ready to help them face their problems with the power we're given from the Most High God. it was also amazing to get to spend a whole week with my little brother, travis. he's the best.

following are pictures from the week (from top to bottom):

*this is a (not so good) shot from the back of a service at camp.
*the great sam solano and jacob park playing in the talent tour.
*this are my incredible campers. i adore every single one of them.
*morgan bell doing a dialogue between two characters from lord of the rings in the talent tour. quite amazing really.
*miranda (aaron & jeanette's cousin) doing impressive gymnastics during the talent tour - she's in sixth grade!
*amy, jeanette and me. everyone is so beautiful at camp!
*me and my handsome brother travis.
*me and my handsome husband landon.
*cami and lauren singing a duet during the talent tour.

tiny baby.

have you ever seen a smile so big? this is cherie's granddaughter, audrey. i love her dark hair. cherie was sweet to write me when she found out i didn't feel good.

an excerpt:

"You are going through a LOT right now with that little one growing and developing. Your body is accomplishing a miracle. The adage of "taking it easy" when being pregnant is not inaccurate, Sarah. It is both to your benefit and the baby's to not overdo. You may feel more energetic later in the pregnancy. For now, please please please listen to your body and rest. It's really important for more reasons than I can go into here. I promise you will feel better because of it and little baby will be better off as well...So...please try to do a bit less and pamper yourself a bit more."

now that's advice i don't mind taking!

in other news.

...it is hot as h-e-double hockey sticks in the office today. what's up with that? pregnant ladies are hot in a 65-degree room. Seventy-eight in the office is unacceptable.

people better not piss me off today.

home from hiatus.

i can't quite call it a vacation because the meaning of the word vacation is this: a period of time devoted to pleasure, rest or relaxation.

what i've just experienced over the last 11 days was not vacation by that definition. starting off with the fact that friday night, the first day of my vacation, we were moving out until 3 a.m. then saturday we were recovering. then sunday we were getting ready for camp. then monday through friday we were at camp, and the drama that ensued is too much to even begin to be explained through the headcold that i now possess.

and then friday evening i left for birmingham, which was a bit more like a vacation except for the fact that i developed this horrible headcold and was unable to sleep the entire time i was visiting.

besides that - vacation was great.

no really, summer camp was amazing. exhausing, but amazing, nonetheless. i developed what landon calls "the burden" while i was there. more on that later.

and birmingham was lovely. it's quite beautiful in alabama. i had no idea. and we shopped most of the time. and except for the fact that my nose was dripping off my face the majority of the time, what can be more fun that a weekend of shopping? it was good spending time with my dad and the t-rav. love both of them. more on that later as well.

i'm going home early today because i need a nap. yeah. a nap after my vacation.

but later, i will elaborate, with the aid of photographs, my most exciting vacation.

until then...