New Life

Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16

In these days, we honor the creative work of Jesus in our lives. We shared with our families over Thanksgiving our wonderful news: we're expecting another little Bybee baby in 2007! We found out we were expecting about a month ago and it's been so difficult keeping the news to ourselves for so long! But we wanted to share this news with our families first and we felt that Thanksgiving was the perfect time. Now we share this news with all our friends. We solicit your prayers over these next few months. And we thank God for the wonderful gift of life He's blessed us with. Praise God, the Creator of life!

Jason & Sunny

Where Is It Momma?

Thought I would share...

Tonight while getting dinner ready, Joshua and Abby Kate were keeping themselves entertained playing together. Abby Kate was lifting up her shirt showing Joshua were her belly was. Joshua was wearing a onesie and kept on pulling at his shirt to find his belly. He became very frustrated with his shirt and started asking me "where is it momma?". I asked him what he was looking for and he said, "Where is my belly, where did it go?".

Thanksgiving 2006

The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity around our house. On Wednesday, Jason and I decided to try and take the kids to see a movie at the theater. We were hoping to be at the one that started at 11:30, but Andy changed our plans. While cleaning up after breakfast, Andy jumped up to the table to look for any scraps. I don't really know what happened to him, but he started yelping and running around the kitchen. We checked him out and everything seemed okay, but he kept on crying and would not put any weight on his back paws. Andy spent most of the morning resting and crying. I called the vet and they told us to come in at 11:30. I took Andy to see the vet and was very scared at what expenses might be incurred. Our vet did a very thorough exam and came back with the conclusion that he either pulled a ligament or had a muscle spasm. Andy received a steroid shot and a 10-day antibiotic treatment. Poor Andy!

I got back home around noon and we decided that we would be able to make it to the 12:30 showing of Flushed Away. We talked to the kids the whole way to the theater telling them that we were going to see a movie. They were so excited! Our theater was giving away a free bag of popcorn with every ticket purchased, so Jason and I both got a bag of popcorn to share with Joshua and Abby Kate. They loved the movie and popcorn! They were so intrigued by the movie and eating the popcorn. Fortunately there were only about 3 other families (with small children) in the theater. Abby Kate made a stinky diaper in the middle of the movie and I quickly found out that our movie theater does not have a changing station. I think that Jason and I had just as much fun as they did in taking them to see their first movie.

We decided to drive up to Nashville after church on Wednesday night for Thanksgiving. We all had so much fun celebrating Thanksgiving with my parents, grandparents and brother. My dad fried the best turkey and my mom and grandmother outdid themselves with all of our favorite vegetables, salads and desserts. Abby Kate and Joshua loved telling everyone what a turkey says. That evening we went over to Jason's grandmothers and had another wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. We saw my sister-in-law and her family, Jason's grandmother, and lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. Joshua and Abby Kate made quite a scene once all of the chocolate settled into their system. Later on that evening, Jason and I dropped the kids off with my parents and we went to see The Santa Clause 3 with Jason's sister and all of her family.

My mom and I decided to venture out for the second year on Black Friday. We left the house at 4:15 and finished up shopping around 11:00. Once again, we got some great deals!

Last night, Jason and I went to Guntersville to visit our friends, Lane and Kristen. We ate dinner together at Top O' The River and went over to their house afterwards. Unfortunately, Abby Kate turned the knob of a door that led down 10 wooden steps. She fell down all 10 steps and has the bruises, scrapes and knots to prove it. We ended up taking her to the ER just to make sure that everything was okay. The doctor examined her thoroughly and did not see anything that concerned him. We made it home about 11:30 and she has been fine since.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dixie Chicks

I just bought my concert tickets to see the Dixie Chicks in Nashville!!!! I am so excited about getting to see them perform.

The Case of the Runny Noses

Joshua and Abby Kate have each had a runny nose for the past two weeks. We have gone through two boxes of tissues. They are both constantly asking to "peez - bow". I have tried Tylenol and Benadryl. I've actually had to use their bulb syringe from when they were babies!

Anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to get rid of the runny noses?

Bye Bye Pacies; Hello Andy

Tonight Jason and I made it official. Our house is finally rid of all pacies! We got rid of Joshua's pacies a few months ago. One afternoon when I went to lay Joshua down for his nap, I noticed that he had chewed quite a few bits and pieces out of his treasured pacy. I quickly pulled on what was left and off it popped. Joshua tried taking his pacy, but no longer liked it because it did not work. We ended up throwing it in the trash and Joshua talked about his pacy for weeks. "My pacy broken. It's in the trash. Pacy bye bye." Needless to say, Joshua has not missed his pacy and seems to be doing fine without one.

Abby Kate, on the other hand, would be a different story. We have dreaded taking away her pacy, but knew that the time was quickly approaching. Jason and I talked on the way home from church this morning about doing it after Thanksgiving, since we would be traveling and the pacy might actually bring a sense of security. For some reason, I decided just a few minutes ago that tonight would be the night. I hid all of her other pacies and took one to the kitchen to cut. I brought it back to Abby Kate and she did not like her new pacy. It took a little longer to get her calmed down, but she eventually went to sleep. Without her pacy! I know that the next few days and possibly weeks will be a little more challenging, but the pacies are gone!

On another note, we have decided to keep our cocker spaniel of 6 years, Andy! There had been much talk and deliberation about getting rid of Andy. I could not let him go to the pound and finding someone just right would have been exhausting. For now, we are keeping him. Andy is very excited to be back in the house and playing with the kids. He really is a good dog and he is great with the kids!

Look Momma! I Found Your Mascara!

My Crazy Last Three Weeks

The last three weeks have been full of adventure and challenges. Jason has been in Nashville for two of the last three weeks. Yes, he is working on his graduate degree and will be for the next five years! (Baby, I'm REALLY looking forward to my trip to Europe!) On the weekends, we have had two fall youth retreats. We took the kids to the Senior High retreat, but I let Jason brave the cold weather of the Junior High retreat without us. I am so happy to have Jason home! It's really hard when you are outnumbered on the homefront by two - two year olds! (And to think of all the grief that I got for his Mommy MIA posts when I went to the beach!) They have really missed their daddy and will not let him out of their sight now that he is home.

Jason turned 30 at the beginning of the month! Wow! I am married to a man in his 30's!!! I had a lot of fun surprising him for this birthday. I had been working on getting him 30 gifts for the big day. I pulled it off in the end and he was very surprised. (Now I don't have anything left to get him for Christmas.) I also worked on a Surprise Party. I was able to pull this one off and he was totally shocked. We all had so much fun celebrating Jason turning the big 3 - 0!

On the way to church tonight, I got really tickled with the kids. They started arguing over seeing a helicopter or an airplane. Joshua kept on telling Abby Kate that it was an airplane and she would yell back "no, bubba, helicopter!" They went back and forth for a few minutes and then Abby Kate said it was an airplane and Joshua got mad at her because it was now a helicopter. Now that they are really talking, they like to debate!

I entered the kids into a Halloween Costume Contest and I am happy to announce that my kids tied for first place. They won a gift certificate to Toys'RUs. Jason and I are really excited about that.

I had to snap a couple of pictures of my macaroni disaster. I always buy my macaroni noodles from Sam's Club (the big 8 pounder). The other morning, I reached into the pantry to get Abby Kate some cereal. For some reason, my big bag of noodles began to spill all over the place. It made such a mess. Abby Kate stood frozen in her tracks and could only say "Uh, Oh Momma!" I lost about a 1/3 of the bag. It took quite awhile to clean up my mess, but I could only laugh.

Am I Not Worthy?

So, Jason called me last night to let me know that he saw Nicholas Sparks at Davis Kidd Bookstore in Nashville. That's right - Nicholas Sparks in person! He was there signing autographs for his newest book. Jason told me that he was going to get me an autographed copy, but chose not to.

The reasons...

1. He would have had to buy me another copy of the book (I still have my receipt from Books-A-Million).

2. The line was really long. He said that he would have been in group number 13. Each group had 25 people in it already.

3. He was hungry.

I must say, I was a bit disappointed! Nicholas Sparks is only my favorite author of all time! What are the chances of me ever getting the guy's autograph?

Watch Her Carefully

That's right! My Abby Kate is known as the "one to watch". Apparently Abby Kate loves to put everything in her mouth. Tonight, she ate the red playdough in Bible Class. Her teacher had to pick it out of her teeth. At dinner, Abby Kate put the whole peanut (shell and all) from Logan's in her mouth. I actually had to floss her teeth to remove a shell husk! She has also been known to try the glue, eat buttons, crayons, colored pencils, paper, rocks and lipstick!

Musicals, New Books and Christmas Music

This weekend Jason attended the Junior High Fall Retreat. I stayed home and kept the kids. A good friend of mine had invited me to see the musical Hairspray on Saturday night. I was thrilled and asked my parents to come down to keep the kids. I met my friend for dinner and then we headed over to the VBC for Hairspray. I had so much fun! I always love going to the theater. When Jason and I lived in Kingsport, we bought a season pass to the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia. We really enjoyed getting all dressed up and going to dinner and to see a play.

For those of you that do not know, I not only enjoy going to see the plays, but I enjoy being in them! In high school, I was in about 9 plays. When Jason and I lived in Kingsport, I decided to try out for a role in The Wizard of Oz at the Bristol Theater. I received the part of Glenda, The Good Witch. I performed in front of over 9,000 people (not all at the same time). Since we moved to Huntsville, I have performed in one play, My Fair Lady. My role was very small, but it was fun!

My favorite author is Nicholas Sparks. I have read all of his books and am always anxiously awaiting his next. Jason bought his latest, Dear John for me this week. I plan on curling up and reading my book this week. I have found that I have to pace myself in his books. If not, I will read the entire book in one sitting and then find myself waiting for another 6 months for one more book.


Many of you know that my favorite time of the year is Christmas. I usually pull out the Christmas music in October, but I ended up waiting until November this year. So far, I have played Amy Grant's Christmas album. I have plenty of time to cycle through all of my Christmas tunes.

Happy 30th Birthday Jason!

Happy Birthday Baby! We all love you so much! 30 Years! May God continue His many blessings! Baby, you're the GREATEST!