Since my last blog post on July 26, 2015, A LOT has happened! Picking up where I left off, sweet baby Tatum was one year old. ONE YEAR! Where has the time gone? We continued loving being outside the city limits and loved our brand new home. Addison was on the tractor on the weekends, we took Mule rides (like a gator) around our 10 acres and just enjoyed being us three! Until one day we decided it might be fun to add another little monkey to the mix. We found out we were expecting another precious baby in January of 2016. I didn't want to know what the gender was, but ofcourse Addison had to find out (Type A), so at our 20 week appointment, the nurse told Addison that we were having a boy and he kept it a secret from me for the next 20 weeks. (I had a feeling it was a boy, but still wanted it to be a surprise!)
We went through a very hot summer, swam a lot, napped a lot and mainly I just tried to survive being huge and pregnant in the middle of summer while keeping up with a two year old. I remember praying constantly for cooler weather. I felt like I could barely get a breath most days, which lead to me going to the ER just to make sure everything was still ok. Welp, everything was. Turns out I was just huge pregnant in the middle of a Texas summer. My due date was September 11th, but do to there being too much fluid around the baby, the fetal care doctor decided it was best to go ahead and get that baby out of there early.
I was in to the hospital one hot August 31st afternoon and Morris Cope Templeton was born on September 1, 2016. 7 lbs 7 oz of pure sweetness. I was so ecstatic when I saw that I had given birth to a precious baby boy. What could be better? The Lord blessed me with a strong, determined, beautiful baby girl and now, a perfect little boy. Words cannot explain what I was feeling in that moment. I would give anything to go back to both of my births and hold them for the first time again. The Lord is just so sweet to give us moments like those.
Adjusting to two kids was hard. Tatum absolutely loved Cope, but decided that I was not her favorite person anymore. I was so thankful to have my mom (Sugar) close by during those first few
We had a wonderful Fall and Thanksgiving with family. Back in September, mom surprised me a trip back to our favorite place-New York City! We hadn't been since 2009 when I graduated High School, so we were so excited to go back and at winter time nonetheless! We had a blast looking at all the lights, the famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree, shopping, eating some yummy food and just being together! We decided to try and make it an annual tradition and we cannot wait to go back this December!
Christmas was so fun seeing it through the eyes of a 2 year old and having Morris Cope with us. After the New Year, Addison decided to play indoor football at Prime Time (against my wishes). Sometimes momma's (or wives) just know best. Am I right or am I right? A couple games in, I get a call from Add that he had hurt his shoulder and it was serious. Someone had pushed him down after his flag was pulled. That night he went to see a doctor friend in which he told him he needed x-rays the next morning. We found out that Add had a Grade 4 AC Joint Separation which would require surgery to fix. He had surgery that week or the following. He was on strong pain meds, contracted an infection for 6 weeks after his surgery, could not lift the kids for a significant amount of time and was still trying to take on the same work load, not only at home but at FDLIC. He was so worn out.
We were hopeful that the infection and his shoulder would heal soon and life could go back to normal, but unfortunately it did not. His shoulder, although the tendons/muscles/whatever was healed, it was still aching and giving him constant trouble. Being on the tractor, mowing the lawn and playing golf became a nuisance. In late Spring of 2017, we decided to put our land up for sale and move in to town. Maybe this change would give us a little reprieve from our duties of taking care of 10 acres while having two young kids, a hurt shoulder and a momma that was starting to go a little bit crazy? We got a solid offer on our house and part of the land and moved in to town to start our new adventure as city folk. We have taken to it quite well, I must add.
At that point, Add was able to play golf more, we went on walks almost every night and were (still are) only one mile away from my parents! (Praise hands) However, Add's shoulder was still killin' him. He was just not the same happy go lucky person he normally was. It was starting to wear both of us out and took a pretty good toll on our marriage. There were times when Add would be asleep on the couch for the night by 7pm and not wake up until work the next morning, and this was with no medication or anything of the sort. He just wasn't himself, but it was like we could barely come up for air (work was getting even more demanding at this point) to realize something was really wrong.
Finally, early this year I urged him to back in to the doctor and get checked out. Sure enough, for about the past 10 months, ever since he had surgery, his hardware had been infected. We now knew why he felt so awful all of this time. We were frustrated with the results, but knew that the only solution was to take the hardware out, so on February 8, 2018 Add went in for his second shoulder surgery. All they had to do was take the hardware out, since his shoulder had already healed from the injury. With no hardware in and with home IV antibiotics (just call me nurse Charlee) for 6 weeks after surgery, he felt like a champ! I finally had my husband back, or that's what it felt like. He had tons more energy and was finally able to live normally. We were so very thankful. We had a fun rest of our winter and when the weather got a little bit warmer, we started to spend all of our time outside either jumping on the kids new trampoline, taking walks around our neighborhood or having picnics!
March rolled around and our sweet Tatum Blair, turned 4 years old! We had a surprise ice cream themed birthday for her at our house and she just ate it up! She went from being a toddler to a big girl all in one day. She is almost 4.5 now and I have never met a more determined, strong-willed, snuggly, tender and smiley girl. She is learning more and more every day. She just makes us so proud. She loves riding her bike, snuggling with mommy and watching Netflix, she still loves for us to lay with her at night and cannot wait to share a room with her brother one day (or so she thinks.)
Morris Cope is also growing and learning. Being around the 90% for height and weight, he is one hefty lovable boy. He is little guy of few words, but understands everything. He loves to be held, snuggled, read to, rocked, played with and absolutely loves being outside. I still cannot believe the Lord blessed Addison and I with these precious souls. We are so very thankful.
Summer 2018 has been one for the books. In April, Add and I had the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic with FD, while mom and dad kept the kids. This is my second incentive trip to accompany Add on and it did not disappoint!
In May, we had our highest high and our lowest low. There are no words to express the amount of sadness we felt when our precious nephew, Harrison went to be with Jesus. After having a heart condition for 9 years, his body could not fight any longer. We know full well that he is doing all the things he loves with some very special people in Heaven, but we still miss him so. We always will. Today, August 20th (the day I am writing this) is actually his birthday. He will always be in our hearts. The day of Harrison's funeral, I got our sweet girl ready for her first ballet recital and then flew to Houston to be with of our family. I try to cherish every single minute with our precious babies.
Add has gotten to play quite a bit of golf this summer, in which we love to go with him and ride along when it is not too hot. My parents decided to put in a pool, so we have spent many a days and nights cooling off in the water and cooking out! Tatum was in Moana ballet camp, and while she loved it she has decided to try out gymnastics in which she will start in just a couple of weeks.
In July, my parents took our family to Seagrove/Seaside, FL. This was one of the best trips we have ever been on. Traveling with an almost 2 year old is no joke, but we made the absolute best of it. Both kids loved the beach and the water. Their favorite thing was to float over the waves and go really high! It was just a really sweet week being with family.
In August, we sold the other 6+ acres we were still holding on to and bought a lot just a couple houses down from us. We're still praying about what we are supposed to do as far as build on that lot or buy another house in the future. Only time and lots of prayer will tell!
So that leads us to today! Our precious boy turns 2 years old this Saturday, Add will be gone all week for work, Tatum is looking forward to meeting her teachers on Thursday and I am getting ready for a dinosaur birthday party and preparing my heart to send my babies off to Mother's Day Out next week! Happy Monday!
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