The Flanagan Family

A new Job

2011-05-15T17:06:00.002-05:00

So, I was looking on craigslist.org one day while TJ was napping (I was bored), and came across a posting for a preschool teacher needed at a local daycare here in Haughton. I curiously sent in my resume just to see if anything would come of it. Keep in mind I was not looking for a job, I didn't need one. The next day I got a phone call to set up a time that was good for me to go in and be interviewed. I went, just for kicks, 2 days later and was interviewed for about an hour. I had to bring TJ with me and figured they wouldn't mind since they are a daycare and he would have to be in the daycare while I worked, if I were to get the job. Halfway through all of the questioning, the daycare owner came in the office I was being interviewed in and asked if I would be willing to teach the infant/toddler room instead of the preschool room since they had already hired a preschool teacher. I, of course, said yes. They finished questioning me and then I was shown around the facility. I was offered the job on the spot right there and they wanted me to start the next morning! How cool is that?! So now I work at a daycare Monday thru Friday, full time, and get to teach the class that TJ is in! I am so blessed :D

Family Pictures

2011-05-12T10:14:00.000-05:00

When we went to Katy, TX for the Easter weekend we had our family pictures taken by a high school classmate, Kayta Fagan. She did an awesome job! Here are some of my favorites...

April 23, 2011

2011-05-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a really long time since I have posted anything, so I owe you a huge update!

Here is everything that has been going on in our lives...

On January 19, 2011, our beautiful baby boy was born in Katy, Texas. He was 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long. Here is Tyler James Flanagan, aka TJ:

(January 2011)

TJ is such a cutie!

(January 2011)

(February 2011)

His smile lights up my world :D

(February 2011)

Tyler got a new job in Louisiana in the oil business. At the end of February we packed up and moved from Katy, Texas to Haughton, LA. It is about 4.5 hours away from Katy. We really love it here!

(March 2011)

I love putting TJ in his cute little man outfits...

(March 2011)

We went to the Pierre Bossier Mall, one of the malls in the Shreveport area, so that TJ could take a picture with the Easter Bunny! He didn't know where to look and was staring at the ceiling so the photographer had me stand on the side of him so I could make him smile. That is why he is looking to the side.

(April 2011)

For Easter, we went to Katy and stayed with Tyler's parents. We had a good time there and finally got to have family pictures taken. (I will add these pics to the next posting.) TJ got in the pool for the first time. At first he was screaming, I don't blame him, it was even too cold for me! But after a few minutes he just decided to tolerate it - he didn't like it, but wasn't crying. He and Ty are so cute together :)

(April 2011)

TJ likes to sit in his Bumbo. It helps him sit up without being held. The only bad thing is that his chunky legs get stuck in the leg holes LOL. Poor little guy.

(April 2011)

TJ is now big enough to play in his Exersaucer. He like to bounce in it but his little arms can't reach the toys yet haha.

(April 2011)

This next picture was taken about 3 minutes after the picture above. This cracks me up LOL!

(May 2011)

And this is TJ now. He is growing up so fast! I cannot believe he is already 4 months old!

(May 2011)

Side note: At 3 and a half months, TJ was 16 pounds and 25 inches long!

Twenty Four and Counting

2010-10-03T15:43:00.018-05:00

I am now in my 24th week! Last week I had a detailed ultrasound to measure different parts of the baby, it was really neat! The ultrasound tech gave us a CD of pictures that were taken :) She also said that our baby was the best she had seen all day! TJ is now 1.5 pounds...We are so happy to know that our baby is growing and healthy.

TJ is pretty active...he is always squirming around! It just puts a smile on my face every time :D I know once he is born I am going to miss his kicking.

Yesterday, my friend Kristin took some pictures of me. Here are a few of them...

I am having trouble sleeping at night now. I wake up about every 30 minutes due to the huge production of turning over in bed. It takes a couple motions to turn my body over (i know...sad!) and then my body pillow has to turn with me. But when trying to bring the body pillow to the other side, it pulls all of the sheets along with it. So now that my sheets are on the opposite side of the bed, I have to fix the sheets and get comfortable again. Its too much of a production!

Baby's room is put together now (all of the furniture). It was actually done last month. We are all ready for TJ!!

On another note....

We are pretty much settled into our house. We definitely like house living more than apartment living. And of course Jazmin is loving it! A great advantage to renting a house is the back yard! Mowing, of course, is the downside....especially if you have an electric lawn mower like the one that came with our house! I had never even heard of an electric lawn mower, but they exist, and yes, it has to be plugged in while in use. This is so annoying! I know Tyler hates it :(

Jazmin loves having a place to run around and play freely...in the back yard and in the house. She even loves having friends over!

And she loves to go swimming with Tyler!!

This is all of the updates for now!

Size of a lemon

2010-08-02T12:57:00.002-05:00

Brittney is now into her second trimester! At 14 weeks, our baby is the size of a lemon, about 1 1/2 oz. and 3 1/2 inches long. She is starting to feel better and better every morning but she still has a weak stomach. We can't wait to find out the sex :)

Brittney is going to be a great mom i know it!

New Roads Visit

2010-05-02T10:47:00.010-05:00

For Easter 2010, we drove to New Roads, Louisiana, a very small town about an hour from Baton Rouge, to visit the Ducote Grandparents (Grammy and Pops).

We got to visit with my Aunt and Uncles, Grammy and Pops, and some old friends. It was so nice to see everyone again.

Apart from visiting family and friends, we also enjoyed fishing off of my grandparents pier. Using worms and crickets (Tyler had never heard of using crickets to fish with), we caught 12 fish! After a good scaling and cleaning, these are all conveniently located in our freezer now :)

Check out Tyler and my grandma fishing...

The cleaning of the 12 fish. We caught 8 catfish and 4 perch. I caught the biggest one, haha. I kinda felt bad though, because it was pregnant. Well, it was the most pregnant - just about all of the catfish that we caught where at some stage of pregnancy.

We really loved going to New Roads. It gave us a chance to escape from work and school and just relax for a few days. Hopefully we will be going back soon!

Let Me See You Get Low!

2009-12-03T20:56:00.008-06:00

This is a video clip from the movie "The Proposal" that absolutely makes both of us crack up laughing every single time we watch it. So we thought we would share it with you!

Comment Box and Other Circles

2009-11-30T20:41:00.002-06:00

For some lame reason the template that we chose for our blog does not allow comments to be left on our posts...bummer! I love this template so much that instead of finding a new one, I made a Comment Box. This Comment Box is a gadget located on the bottom of our blog for all of your thoughts or...comments!

On another note, Grammy and Pops (my grandparents) made Tyler and I a plate of Thanksgiving Dinner for my mom to bring back to us. It was absolutely delicious! Ham, Smoked Turkey, Dirty Rice, and Candied Yams - YUM! Thank you! You see, Ty and I were supposed to go to Louisiana and have Thanksgiving with my family but the day before we were supposed to head out, I came down with Laryngitis. Since I was in bed sick all day Wednesday and had no voice at all, we decided it would be best for us to stay at home for me to get well. So, even though I was sick and still not feeling well, on Thursday we went to Tyler's parents house. Luckily, I was able to hold down a small amount of food :)

"Jazmin, Get the whip!!"

2009-11-29T18:42:00.002-06:00

Jazmin goes crazy when we mention "The whip". She really hates the whip and gets angry with it. She's so goofy!

In the Arms of an Angel

2009-11-29T10:40:00.004-06:00

It tears me up inside to see people be so cruel to all of these innocent animals around the world. Something needs to be done...

Living in Cairo, Egypt with my family in 2003 opened my eyes to reality of beaten and abused animals. Walking the streets in Maadi, I would see dozens of wandering cats, kittens, puppies, and dogs doing anything and everything possible to survive. I remember there was a litter of orange kittens, whose mother was no longer with them, living in some bushes around the corner from my school, Cairo American College. For weeks my friends and I would walk over there after school and feed and play with them, until one day they were no longer there. Another incident that killed me happened while I was at my friends house after school. We were hanging out in her room when we heard this awful screeching sound. We ran to the window and there across the street was an Arab woman holding a cat by its tail, swinging and slamming its delicate head and body into the concrete wall of her home beating it to a bloody pulp. It was then that I first realized how sick and cruel some people are to these innocent, loving animals. All they want is our love and attention, just like little kids.

When we moved into a villa (house with a yard) a year later, I decided that I needed to do something to help. Yes, I realized, and still do, that I can't help every animal out there, but know that helping a few can go a long way. Imagine if everyone helped one or two abandoned animals in their community... At our villa, a cat would come and hang out in our yard all day and night and would never leave. I started to feed it and finally convinced my parents to let it live inside the house with us. This became my cat. In the process of me feeding this cat (before it became an inside cat) I think other cats smelt the food and started to make their way over. To make a long story short, Within 2 weeks I was feeding 13 cats 2 meals a day regularly. None of the cats that came into my yard were turned down, none left without a meal. Going through that routine, feeding those cats everyday, making sure they were all fed fulfilled me, it brought me pure joy and happiness.

Now, I am proud to say that Tyler and I have rescued 2 animals. We hope to continue to be blessed to care for and contribute to saving abandoned, beaten, and neglected animals and we hope that you will too.

The Recipe Book

2009-11-15T16:37:00.001-06:00

We have made a second Blog where we will be posting all of our favorite family recipes. Look under "Our Favorites" on the right hand side of this blog to get to The Recipe Book blog, or go to flanaganrecipes.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

First Post

2009-11-15T15:00:00.003-06:00

Ok, I don't really have anything to blog about at this moment, BUT our page looks so empty! So this is the first post of many to come.